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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/19539-8.txt b/19539-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..342fb75 --- /dev/null +++ b/19539-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9890 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Stowaway Girl, by Louis Tracy + +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: The Stowaway Girl + +Author: Louis Tracy + +Illustrator: Nesbit Benson + +Release Date: October 14, 2006 [EBook #19539] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STOWAWAY GIRL *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + + + + + + +[Frontispiece: Hosier tightened a protecting arm around her waist] + + + + + + +THE STOWAWAY GIRL + + +By + +LOUIS TRACY + + + +AUTHOR OF + +THE WINGS OF THE MORNING, SON OF THE IMMORTALS, CYNTHIA'S CHAUFFEUR, +THE MESSAGE, THE SILENT BARRIER, ETC. + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS BY + +NESBIT BENSON + + + + +NEW YORK + +GROSSET & DUNLAP + +PUBLISHERS + + + + +Copyright, 1909, 1912, + +By EDWARD J. CLODE + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + + I. THE "ANDROMEDA" + II. WHEREIN THE "ANDROMEDA" BEGINS HER VOYAGE + III. WHEREIN THE "ANDROMEDA" NEARS THE END OF HER VOYAGE + IV. SHOWING WHAT BECAME OF THE "ANDROMEDA" + V. THE REFUGEES + VI. BETWEEN THE BRAZILIAN DEVIL AND THE DEEP ATLANTIC + VII. CROSS PURPOSES + VIII. THE RIGOR OF THE GAME + IX. WHEREIN CERTAIN PEOPLE MEET UNEXPECTEDLY + X. ON THE HIGH SEAS + XI. A LIVELY MORNING IN EXCHANGE BUILDINGS + XII. THE LURE OF GOLD + XIII. THE NEW ERA + XIV. CARMELA + XV. SHOWING HOW BRAZIL CHOSE HER PRESIDENT + XVI. WHEREIN THE PRESIDENT PRESIDES + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +Hosier tightened a protective arm around her waist . . . _Frontispiece_ + +"Is that the Southern Cross?" + +"How did I come here?" + +"Well, gimme your 'and on it" + +A withering volley crashed through the window + + + + +THE STOWAWAY + + +CHAPTER I + +THE "ANDROMEDA" + +"Marry Mr. Bulmer! That horrid old man! Uncle, what _are_ you saying?" + +The girl sprang to her feet as if she were some timid creature of the +wild aroused from sylvan broodings by knowledge of imminent danger. In +her terror, she upset the three wineglasses that formed part of the +display beside each _couvert_ on the luncheon table. One, rose-tinted +and ornate, crashed to the floor, and the noise seemed to irritate the +owner of Linden House more than his niece's shrill terror. + +"No need to bust up our best set of 'ock glasses just because I 'appen +to mention owd Dickey Bulmer," he growled. + +The color startled so suddenly out of the girl's face began to return. +Her eyes lost their dilation of fear. Somehow, the comment on the +broken glass seemed to deprive "owd Dickey Bulmer's" personality of its +real menace. + +"I'm sorry," she said, and stooped to pick up the fragments scattered +over the carpet. + +"Leave that alone," came the sharp order. "So long as I've the brass +to pay for 'em, there's plenty more where that kem from, an' in any +case, it's the 'ousemaid's job. Leave it alone, I tell you! An' sit +down. It's 'igh time you an' me 'ad a straight talk, an' I can't do +wi' folk bouncin' about like an injia-rubber ball when I've got things +to say to 'em." + +He stretched a fat hand toward a mahogany cigar-box, affected to choose +a cigar with deliberative crackling, hacked at the selection with a +fruit knife, and dropped the severed end into an unused finger-bowl; +then he struck a match, and puffed furiously until a rim of white ash +tipped the brown. This achieved, he helped himself to the port. +Though he carefully avoided glancing at his companion, he knew quite +well that she had drawn a chair to the opposite end of the table, and +was looking at him intently; her chin was propped on her clenched +hands; the skin on her white forehead was puckered into nervous lines; +her lips, pressed close, had lost their Cupid's bow that seemed ever +ready to bend into a smile. Meanwhile, the man who had caused these +signs of distress gulped down some of the wine, held the glass up to +the light as a tribute to the excellence of its contents, darted his +tongue several times in and out between his teeth, smacked his lips, +replaced the cigar in his mouth, and leaned back in his chair until it +creaked. + +Iris Yorke was accustomed to this ritual; she gave it the unobservant +tolerance good breeding extends to the commonplace. But to-day, for +the first time during the two years that had sped so happily since she +came back to Linden House from a Brussels _pension_, she found herself, +even in her present trouble, wondering how it was possible that David +Verity could be her mother's brother. This coarse-mannered hog of a +man, brother to the sweet-voiced, tender-hearted gentlewoman whose +gracious wraith was left undimmed in the girl's memory by the lapse of +years--it would be unbelievable if it were not true! He was so gross, +so tubby, so manifestly over-fed, whereas her mother had ever been +elegant and _bien soignée_. But he had shown kindness to her in his +domineering way. He was not quite so illiterate as his accent and his +general air of uncouthness seemed to imply. In his speech, the broad +vowels of the Lancashire dialect were grafted on to the clipped +staccato of a Cockney. He would scoff at anyone who told him that +knives and forks had precise uses, or that table-napkins were not meant +to be tucked under the chin. In England, especially in the provinces, +some men of affairs cultivate these minor defects, deeming them tokens +of bluff honesty, the hall-marks of the self-made; and David Verity +thought, perhaps, that his pretty, well-spoken niece might be trusted +to maintain the social level of his household without any special +effort on his part. + +Shocked, almost, at the disloyalty of her thoughts, Iris tried to close +the rift that had opened so unexpectedly. + +"It was stupid of me to take you seriously," she said. "You cannot +really mean that Mr. Bulmer wishes to marry me?" + +Verity screwed up his features into an amiable grin. He pressed the +tips of his fingers together until the joints bent backward. When he +spoke, the cigar waggled with each syllable. + +"I meant it right enough, my lass," he said. + +"But, uncle dear----" + +"Stop a bit. Listen to me first, an' say your say when I've finished. +Like everybody else, you think I'm a rich man. David Verity, Esquire, +ship-owner, of Linden House an' Exchange Buildings--it looks all right, +don't it--like one of them furrin apples with rosy peel an' a maggot +inside. You're the first I've told about the maggot. Fact is, I'm +broke. Ship-ownin' is rotten nowadays, unless you've lots of capital. +I've lost mine. Unless I get help, an' a thumpin' big slice of it, my +name figures in the _Gazette_. I want fifty thousand pounds, an' oo's +goin' to give it to me? Not the public. They're fed up on shippin'. +They're not so silly as they used to be. I put it to owd Dickey +yesterday, an' 'e said you couldn't raise money in Liverpool to-day to +build a ferry-boat. But 'e said summat else. If you wed 'im, 'e makes +you a partner in the firm of Verity, Bulmer an' Co. See? Wot's wrong +with that? I've done everything for you up to date; now it's your +turn. Simple, isn't it? P'raps I ought to have explained things +differently, but it didn't occur to me you'd hobject to bein' the wife +of a millionaire, even if 'e is a doddrin' owd idiot to talk of +marryin' agin." + +"Oh, uncle!" + +With a wail of despair, the girl sank back and covered her face with +her hands. Now that she believed the incredible, she could utter no +protest. The sacrifice demanded was too great. In that bitter moment +she would have welcomed poverty, prayed even for death, as the +alternative to marriage with the man to whom she was being sold. + +Verity leaned over the table again and finished the glass of port. +This time there was no lip-smacking, or other aping of the connoisseur. +He was angry, almost alarmed. Resistance, even of this passive sort, +raised the savage in him. Hitherto, Iris had been ready to obey his +slightest whim. + +"There's no use cryin' 'Oh, uncle,' an' kicking up a fuss," he snapped +viciously. "Where would you 'ave bin, I'd like to know, if it wasn't +for me? In the gutter--that's where your precious fool of a father +left your mother an' you. You're the best dressed, an' best lookin', +an' best eddicated girl i' Bootle to-day--thanks to me. When your +mother kem 'ere ten year ago, an' said her lit'rary gent of a 'usband +was dead, neither of you 'ad 'ad a square meal for weeks--remember +that, will you? It isn't my fault you've got to marry Bulmer. It's +just a bit of infernal bad luck--the same for both of us, if it comes +to that. An' why shouldn't you 'ave some of the sours after I've given +you all the sweets? You'll 'ave money to burn; I'm not axin' you to +give up some nice young feller for 'im. If you play your cards well, +you can 'ave all the fun you want----" + +The girl staggered to her feet. She could endure the man's coarseness +but not his innuendoes. + +"I will do what you ask," she murmured, though there was a pitiful +quivering at the corners of her mouth that bespoke an agony beyond the +relief of tears. "But please don't say any more, and never again +allude to my dear father in that way, or I may--I may forget what I owe +you." + +She was unconscious of the contempt in her eyes, the scornful ring in +her voice, and Verity had the good sense to restrain the wrath that +bubbled up in him until the door closed, and he was alone. He grabbed +the decanter and refilled his glass. + +"Nice thing!" he growled. "I offer 'er a fortune an' a bald-'eaded owd +devil for a 'usband, 'oo ought to die in a year or two an' leave 'er +everything; yet she ain't satisfied. D--n 'er eyes, if I'd keep 'er as +scullery-maid she'd 'ave different notions." + +With the taste of the wine, however, came the consoling reflection that +Iris as a scullery-maid might not tickle the fancy of the dotard who +had undertaken to provide fifty thousand pounds for the new +partnership. And she had promised--that was everything. His lack of +diplomacy was obvious even to himself, but he had won where a man of +finer temperament might have failed. Now, he must rush the wedding. +Dickey Bulmer's Lancashire canniness might stipulate for cash on +delivery as the essence of the marriage contract. Not a penny would +the old miser part with until he was sure of the girl. + +So David Verity, having much to occupy his mind, lingered over the +second glass of port, for this was a Sunday dinner, served at mid-day. +At last he closed his eyes for his customary nap; but sleep was not to +be wooed just then; instead of dozing, he felt exceedingly wide awake. +Indeed, certain disquieting calculations were running through his +brain, and he yielded forthwith to their insistence. Taking a small +notebook from his pocket, he jotted down an array of figures. He was +so absorbed in their analysis that he did not see Iris walk listlessly +across the lawn that spread its summer greenery in front of the +dining-room windows. And that was an ill thing for David. The sight +of the girl at that instant meant a great deal to him. + +He did happen to look out, a second too late. + +Even then, he might have caught a glimpse of Iris's pink muslin skirt +disappearing behind a clump of rhododendrons, were not his shifty eyes +screwed up in calculation--or perchance, the gods blinded him in behalf +of one who was named after Juno's bright messenger. + +"Yes, that's it," he was thinking. "I must wheedle Dickey into the +bank to-morrow. A word from 'im, an' they'll all grovel, d--n 'em!" + +The door opened. + +"Captain Coke to see you, sir," said a servant. + +"Send 'im in; bring 'im in 'ere." + +The memorandum book disappeared; Verity's hearty greeting was that of a +man who had not a care in the world. His visitor's description was +writ large on him by the sea. No one could possibly mistake Captain +Coke for any other species of captain than that of master mariner. He +was built on the lines of a capstan, short and squat and powerful. +Though the weather was hot, he wore a suit of thick navy-blue serge +that would have served his needs within the Arctic Circle. It clung +tightly to his rounded contours; there was a purple line on his red +brows that marked the exceeding tightness of the bowler hat he was +carrying; and the shining protuberances on his black boots showed that +they were tight, too. It was manifestly out of the question that he +should be able to walk any distance. Though he had driven in a cab to +the shipowner's house, he was already breathless with exertion, and he +rolled so heavily in his gait that his shoulders hit both sides of the +doorway while entering the room. Yet he was nimble withal, a man +capable of swift and sure movement within a limited area, therein +resembling a bull, or a hippopotamus. + +The hospitable Verity pushed forward the mahogany box and the decanter. + +"Glad to see you, Jimmie, my boy. Sit yourself down. 'Ave a cigar an' +a glass o' port. I didn't expect you quite so soon, but you're just as +welcome now as later." + +Captain Coke placed his hat on top of a malacca cane, and balanced both +against the back of a chair. + +"I'll take a smoke but no wine, thankee, Mr. Verity," said he. "I kem +along now' 'coss I want to be aboard afore it's dark. We're moored in +an awkward place." + +"Poor owd _Andromeeda_! Just 'er usual luck, eh, Jimmie?" + +"Well, she ain't wot you might call one of fortune's fav'rits, but +she's afloat, an' that's more'n you can say for a good many +daisy-cutters I've known." + +Verity chuckled. + +"Some ships are worth less afloat than ashore, an' she's one of 'em," +he grinned. "You want a match. 'Ere you are!" + +Whether Coke was wishful to deny or admit the _Andromeda's_ +shortcomings--even the ship herself might have protested against the +horror of a long "e" in the penultimate syllable of her name--the other +man's rapid proffer of a light stopped him. He puffed away in silence; +there was an awkward pause; for once in his career, Verity regretted +his cultivated trick of covering up a significant phrase by quickly +adding some comment on a totally different subject. But the sailor +smoked on, stolidly heedless of a sudden lapse in the conversation, and +the shipowner was compelled to start afresh. He was far too shrewd to +go straight back to the topic burked by his own error. His +sledge-hammer methods might be crude to the verge of brutality where +Iris was concerned, but they were capable of nice adjustment in the +case of wary old sea-dogs of the Coke type. + +"It's stuffy in 'ere with the two of us smokin'--let's stroll into the +garden," he said. + +Coke was agreeable. He liked gardens; they were a change from the +purple sea. + +"It's the on'y bit of green stuff you seem to be fond of, Mr. Verity," +he went on. "You keep us crool short of vegetables." + +David's little eyes twinkled. Here was another opening; it would not +be his fault if it led again up a _cul-de-sac_. He threw wide the +window, and they crossed the lawn. + +"Vegetables!" he cried. "Wish I could stock you from my place, an' I'd +stuff you with 'em. I can grow 'em 'ere for next to nothing, but they +cost a heap o' money in furrin ports, an' _your_ crimson wave-catcher +doesn't earn money--she eats it." + +"Even that's one better'n her skipper, 'oo doesn't do neether," +commented Coke gloomily. + +His employer seemed to find much humor in the remark. + +"Gad, we both look starved!" he guffawed. "To 'ear us, you'd think we +was booked for the workhus or till you ran a tape round the contoor, +eh?" + +But Coke was not to be cheered. + +"I can see as far into a stone wall as 'ere a one an' there a one," he +said, "an' there's no use blinkin' the fax. The _Andromeda_ was a good +ship in 'er day, but that day is gone. You ought to 'ave sold 'er to +the Dutchmen five years ago, Mr. Verity. Times were better then, an' +now you'd 'ave a fine steel ship instead of a box of scrap iron." + +They were passing the rhododendrons, and Verity's quick eyes noted that +a summer-house beneath the shade of two venerable elms was unoccupied. +The structure consisted of a rustic roof carried on half a dozen +uprights; it had a wooden floor, and held a table and some basket +chairs. The roof and supports were laden with climbing roses, a +Virginian creeper, and a passion flower. The day being Sunday, there +were no gardeners in the adjoining shrubbery or rose garden, and anyone +seated in the summer-house could see on all sides. + +"Drop anchor in 'ere, Coke," said Verity. "It's cool an' breezy, an' +we can 'ave a quiet confab without bein' bothered. Now, I reelly sent +for you to-day to tell you I mean to better the supplies this +trip--Yes, honest Injun!"--for the _Andromeda's_ skipper had clutched +the cigar out of his mouth with the expression of a man who vows to +heaven that he cannot believe his ears--"I'm goin' to bung in an extry +'undred to-morrow in the way of stores. Funny, isn't it?" + +"Funny! It's a meracle!" + +Though not altogether gratified by this whole-hearted agreement with +his own views, Verity was too anxious to keep his hearer on the present +tack to resent any implied slur on his earlier efforts as a caterer. + +"It's nothing to wot I'd do if I could afford it," he added graciously. +"But, as you said, let's look at the fax. Wot chance 'as an iron ship, +built twenty years ago, at a cost of sixteen pound a ton, ag'in a steel +ship of to-day, at seven pound a ton, with twiced the cargo space, an' +three feet less draught? W'y no earthly. We're dished every way. We +cost more to run; we can't jump 'arf the bars; we can't carry 'arf the +stuff; we pay double insurance; an' we're axed to find interest on +more'n double the capital. As you say, Jimmie, wot bloomin' chanst +'ave we?" + +Coke smoked silently; he had said none of these things, but when the +shipowner's glance suddenly dwelt on him, he nodded. Silent +acquiescence on his part, however, was not what Verity wanted. He, +too, knew when to hold his tongue. After a long interval, during which +a robin piped a merry roundelay from the depths of a neighboring pink +hawthorn, Coke dug out a question. + +"Premium gone up, then?" he inquired. + +"She's on a twelve-month rate. It runs out in September. If you're +lucky, an' fill up with nitrate soon, you may be 'ome again. If not, +I'll 'ave to whack up a special quotation. After that, there'll be no +insurance. The _Andromeeda_ goes for wot she'll fetch." + +Another pause; then Coke broached a new phase. + +"Meanin' that I lose the two thousand pounds I put in 'er to get my +berth?" he said huskily. + +"An' wot about me? _I_ lose eight times as much. Just think of it! +Sixteen thousand pounds would give me a fair balance to go on wi' i' +these hard times, an' your two thou' would make the skipper's job in my +new ship a certainty." + +Coke's brick-red face darkened. He breathed hard. + +"Wot new ship?" he demanded. + +Verity smiled knowingly. + +"It's a secret, Jimmie, but I must stretch a point for a pal's sake. +Dickey Bulmer's goin' to marry my niece, an' 'e 'as pledged himself to +double the capital of the firm. Now I've let the cat out of the bag. +I'm sorry, ole man--pon me soul, I am--but w'en Dickey's name crops up +on 'Change you know as well as me 'ow many captain's tickets will be +backed wi' t' brass." + +This time, if so minded, the robin might have trilled his song _adagio +con sostenuto_ without fear of interruption by those harsh voices. +Neither man spoke during so long a time that the break seemed to impose +a test of endurance; in such a crisis, he who has all at stake will +yield rather than he who only stakes a part. + +"S'pose we talk plainly as man to man?" said Coke thickly, at last. + +"_I_ can't talk much plainer," said Verity. + +"Yes, you can. Promise me the command of your next ship, an' the +Andromeda goes on the rocks this side o' Monte Video." + +Verity jumped as though he had been stung by an infuriated wasp. + +"Coke, I'm surprised at you," he grunted, not without a sharp glance +around to make sure no other was near. + +"No, you ain't, not a bit surprised, on'y you don't like to 'ear it in +cold English. That's wot you're drivin' at--the insurance." + +"Shut up, you ijjit. Never 'eard such d--d rot in all me born days." + +"Listen to it now, then. It's good to 'ave the truth tole you some +times. Wot are you afraid of? I take all the risk an' precious little +of the money. Write me a letter----" + +"Write! Me! Coke, you're loony." + +"Not me. Wait till I'm through. Write a letter sayin' you're sorry +the _Andromeda_ must be laid up this fall, but promisin' me the next +vacancy. 'Ow does that 'urt _you_?" + +Verity's cigar had gone out. He relighted it with due deliberation; it +could not be denied that his nerve, at least, was superb. + +"I'm willin' to do anything in reason," he said slowly. "I don't see +where I can lay 'ands on a better man than you, Jimmie, even if you +_do_ talk nonsense at times. You know the South American trade, an' +you know me. By gad, I'll do that. Anyhow, it's wot you deserve, but +none the less, I'm actin' as a reel friend, now ain't I? Many a man +would just lay you up alongside the _Andromeeda_." + +"I'll call at your office in the mornin' for the letter," said Coke, +whose red face shone like the setting sun seen through a haze. + +"Yes, yes. I'll 'ave it ready." + +"An' you won't back out of them extry stores? I must sweeten the crew +on this run." + +"I'll supply the best of stuff--enough to last for the round trip. But +don't make any mistake. You must be back afore September 30th. That's +the date of the policy. Now let's trot inside, an' my gal--Mrs. Dickey +Bulmer that is to be--will give you some tea." + +"Tea!" snorted Coke. + +"Well, there's whisky an' soda on tap if you prefer it. It _is_ rather +'ot for tea. Whew! you're boilin'? W'y don't you wear looser clo'es? +Look at me--cool as a cucumber. By the way, 'oo's the new man you've +shipped as second? Watts is the chief, I know, but 'oo is Mr. Philip +Hozier?" + +"Youngster fillin' in sea-service to get a ticket an' qualify for the +Cunard." + +"Thoroughly reliable sort of chap, eh?" + +"The best." + +It was odd how these men left unsaid the really vital things. Again it +was Coke who tried to fill in some part of the blank space. + +"Just the right kind of second for the _Andromeda's_ last cruise," he +muttered. "Smart as a new pin. You could trust 'im on the bridge of a +battleship. Now, Watts is a good man, but a tot of rum makes 'im fair +daft." + +"Ah!" purred Verity, "you must keep a tight 'and on Watts. I like an +appetizer meself w'en I'm off dooty, so to speak, but it's no joke to +'ave a boozer in charge of a fine ship an' vallyble freight. Of +course, you're responsible as master, but you can't be on deck mornin', +noon, an' night. Choke Watts off the drink, an' you'll 'ave no +trouble. So that's settled. My, but you're fair meltin'--wot is it +they say--losin' adipose tisher. Well, come along. Let's lubricate." + + * * * * * * + +The _Andromeda_ sailed on the Tuesday afternoon's tide. She would drop +the pilot off Holyhead, and, with fair weather, such as cheered her +departure from the Mersey, daybreak on Thursday would find her pounding +through the cross seas where St. George's Channel merges into the wide +Atlantic. If she followed the beaten track on her long run to the +River Plate--as sailors will persist in miscalling that wondrous Rio de +la Plata--she might be signaled from Madeira or the Cape Verde Islands. +But shipmasters often prefer to set a course clear of the land till +they pick up the coast of South America. If she were not spoken by +some passing steamer, there was every possibility that the sturdy old +vessel would not be heard of again before reaching her destination. + + * * * * * * + +But David Verity heard of her much sooner, and no thunderbolt that ever +rent the heavens could have startled him more than the manner of that +hearing. + +Resolving to clinch matters with regard to Iris and her elderly suitor, +he invited "Owd Dickey" to supper on Sunday evening. The girl endured +the man's presence with a placid dignity that amazed her uncle. On the +plea of a headache, she retired at an early hour, leaving Bulmer to +gloat over his prospective happiness, and primed to the point of +dementia. + +He was quite willing to accompany Verity to the bank next morning; a +pleasant-spoken manager sighed his relief when the visitors were gone, +and he was free to look at the item "bills discounted" on Verity's page +in the ledger. More than that, a lawyer was instructed to draw up a +partnership deed, and the representatives of various ship-building +firms were asked to supply estimates for two new vessels. + +Altogether Dickey was complaisant, and David enjoyed a busy and +successful day. He dined in town, came home at a late hour, and merely +grinned when a servant told him that Mr. Bulmer had called twice but +Miss Iris happened to be out on both occasions. + +Nevertheless, at breakfast on Tuesday, he warned his niece not to keep +her admirer dangling at arm's length. + +"E's a queer owd codger," explained the philosopher. "Play up to 'im a +bit, an' you'll be able to twist 'im round your little finger. I +b'lieve he's goin' dotty, an' you can trust me to see that the marriage +settlement is O. K." + +"Will you be home to dinner?" was her response. + +"No. Now that the firm is in smooth water again I must show myself a +bit. It's all thanks to you, lass, an' I'll not forget it. Good-by!" + +Iris smiled, and Verity was vastly pleased. + +"I am sure you will not forget," she said. "Good-by." + +"There's no understandin' wimmin," mused David, as his victoria swept +through the gates of Linden House. "Sunday afternoon Dickey might ha' +bin a dose of rat poison; now she's ready to swaller 'im as if 'e was a +chocolate drop." + +Again he returned some few minutes after midnight; again the servant +announced Mr. Bulmer's visits, three of them; and again Miss Iris had +been absent--in fact, she had not yet come home. + +"Not 'ome!" cried David furiously. "W'y it's gone twelve. W'ere +the--w'ere is she?" + +No one knew. She had quitted the house soon after Verity himself, and +had not been seen since. Storm and rage as he might, and did, David +could not discover his niece's whereabouts. He spent a wearying and +tortured night, a harassed and miserable day, devoted to frantic +inquiries in every possible direction with interludes of specious lying +to the infatuated Bulmer. But enlightment came on Thursday morning. A +letter arrived by the first post. It was from Iris. + + +"MY DEAR UNCLE," she wrote: "Neither you nor Mr. Bulmer should have any +objection to my passing the few remaining weeks of my liberty in the +manner best pleasing to myself. On Sunday evening, in your presence, +Mr. Bulmer urged me to fix an early date for our marriage. Tell him +that I shall marry him when the _Andromeda_ returns to England from +South America. You will remember that you promised last year to take +me to Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Ayres this summer; I have been learning +Spanish so as to help our sight-seeing. Unfortunately, business +prevents you from keeping that promise, but there is no reason why I +should not go. I am on board the _Andromeda_, and will probably be +able to explain matters satisfactorily to Captain Coke. The vessel is +due back at the end of September, I believe, so Mr. Bulmer will not +have long to wait. It is more than likely that Captain Coke will not +know I am aboard until Thursday, and I have arranged with a friend that +this letter shall reach you about the same time. Please convey my +apologies to Mr. Bulmer, and accept my regret for any anxiety you may +have felt owing to my unaccountable absence. + +"Your affectionate niece, + +"IRIS YORKE." + + +David narrowly escaped an apoplectic seizure. When he recovered his +senses he looked ten years older. The instinct of self-preservation +alone saved him in his frenzy from blurting forth the tidings of the +girl's flight. Incoherent with fear and passion, he contrived to give +orders for his carriage, and was driven to his office. Thence he +dispatched telegrams to every signaling station in England, Ireland, +and Spain, at which by the remotest possibility the _Andromeda_ might +be intercepted. He cabled to Madeira and Cape Verde, even to Fernando +Noronha and Pernambuco; he sent urgent instructions to the pilotage +authorities of the Bristol Channel, the southwest ports, and Lisbon; +and the text of every message was: "_Andromeda_ must return to +Liverpool instantly." + +But the wretched man realized that he was doomed. Fate had struck at +him mercilessly. He could only wait in dumb despair, and mutter +prayers too long forgotten, and concoct bogus letters from a cousin's +address in the south of England for the benefit of Dickey Bulmer. + +Never was ship more eagerly sought than the _Andromeda_, yet never was +ship more completely engulfed in the mysterious silence of the great +sea. The days passed, and the weeks, yet nothing was heard of her. +She figured in the "overdue" list at Lloyd's; sharp-eyed underwriters +did "specs" in her; woe-begone women began to haunt the Liverpool +office for news of husbands and sons; the love-lorn Dickey wore Verity +to a shadow of his former self by alternate pleadings and threats; but +the _Andromeda_ remained mute, and the fanciful letters from Iris +became fewer and more fragmentary as David's imagination failed, and +his excuses grew thinner. + +And the odd thing was that if David had only known it, he could have +saved himself all this heart-burning and misery by looking through the +dining-room window on that Sunday afternoon when his prospects seemed +to be so rosy. He never thought of that. He cursed every circumstance +and person impartially and fluently, but he omitted from the Satanic +litany the one girlish prank of tree-climbing that led Iris to spring +out of sight amid the sheltering arms of an elm when her uncle and +Captain Coke deemed the summer-house a suitable place for "a plain talk +as man to man." + +So David learnt what it meant to wait, and listen, and start +expectantly when postman's knock or telegraph messenger's imperative +summons sounded on door of house or office. + +But he waited long in vain. The _Andromeda_, like her namesake of old, +might have been chained to a rock on some mythical island guarded by +the father of all sea serpents. As for a new Perseus, well--David knew +him not. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +WHEREIN THE "ANDROMEDA" BEGINS HER VOYAGE + +The second officer of the _Andromeda_ was pacing the bridge with the +slow alertness of responsibility. He would walk from port to +starboard, glance forrard and aft, peer at the wide crescent of the +starlit sea, stroll back to port, and again scan ship and horizon. +Sometimes he halted in front of the binnacle lamp to make certain that +the man at the wheel was keeping the course, South 15 West, set by +Captain Coke shortly before midnight. His ears listened mechanically +to the steady pulse-beats of the propeller; his eyes swept the vague +plain of the ocean for the sparkling white diamond that would betoken a +mast-head light; he was watchful and prepared for any unforeseen +emergency that might beset the vessel intrusted to his care. But his +mind dwelt on something far removed from his duties, though, to be +sure, every poet who ever scribbled four lines of verse has found rhyme +and reason in comparing women with stars, and ships, and the sea. + +If Philip Hozier was no poet, he was a sailor, and sailors are +notoriously susceptible to the charms of the softer sex. But the only +woman he loved was his mother, the only bride he could look for during +many a year was a mermaid, though these sprites of the deep waters seem +to be frequenting undiscovered haunts since mariners ceased to woo the +wind. For all that, if perforce he was heart-whole, there was no just +cause or impediment why he should not admire a pretty girl when he saw +one, and an exceedingly pretty girl had honored him with her company +during a brief minute of the previous day. + +He was superintending the safe disposal of the last batch of cotton +goods in the forward hold--and had just found it necessary to explain +the correct principles of stowage with sailor-like fluency--when a +young lady, accompanied by a dock laborer carrying a leather +portmanteau, spoke to him from the quay. + +"Is Captain Coke on board?" said she. + +"No, madam," said he, lifting his cap with one hand, and restraining +the clanking of a steam windlass with the other. + +"I am Mr. Verity's niece, and I wish to send this parcel to Monte +Video--may I put it in some place where it will be safe?" said she. + +Hoping that the rattling winch had drowned his earlier remarks--which +were couched in an _lingua franca_ of the high seas--he began to tell +her that it would give him the utmost pleasure to take charge of it on +her account, but she nodded, bade the porter follow, ran along a +somewhat precarious gangway, and was on deck before he could offer any +assistance. + +"You are Mr. Hozier, I suppose?" said Iris, gazing with frank brown +eyes into his frank blue ones. She, of course, was severely +self-possessed; he, as is the way of mere man, grew more confused each +instant. + +"Well, I will just pop the bag into Captain Coke's stateroom, and leave +this note with it. I have explained everything fully. I wrote a line +in case he might be absent." + +All of which was so strictly accurate that it served its purpose +admirably, though the said purpose, it is regrettable to state, was the +misleading and utter bamboozling of Philip Hozier. Miss Iris Yorke +knew quite well that Captain Coke was then closeted with David Verity +in Exchange Buildings; she knew, because she had watched him pass +through the big swing doors of her uncle's office. She also knew, +having made it her business to find out, that in fifteen minutes, or +less, the crew would muster in the fo'c'sle for their mid-day meal. +Not having heard a word of Hozier's free speech to the gentlemen of +various nationalities at the bottom of the hold, she wondered why he +was blushing. + +"Shall I show you the way?" asked Philip, finding his tongue. + +"No, thank you. I have been on board the _Andromeda_ many times. Ah, +Peter, I see you. What is it to-day, scouse or lobscouse?" + +"Scouse, miss," said the ship's cook, grinning widely at her +recollection of the line drawn by both his patrons and himself between +ship's biscuit stewed with fresh meat and the same article flavored +with salt junk. + +Peter's recognition placed Iris's identity beyond doubt. She said +nothing more to Hozier, but tripped up the companionway. Soon he saw +her paying the man who had carried the portmanteau. She herself seemed +to be in no hurry. She walked to the rails beneath the bridge, and +found interest in watching the loading operations, which were resumed +as soon as the second officer saw that his services were not wanted. +Time was pressing, and a good deal yet remained to be done. + +Mr. Watts, the chief officer, who was called ashore by urgent business +five minutes after the "old man" left the vessel, chose this awkward +moment to appear from behind a bonded warehouse. He was walking with +unnatural steadiness, so Hozier made some excuse to meet him and +whisper that the owner's niece was on board. + +"Sun's zhot," remarked Mr. Watts cheerfully. + +"Go and lie down for a spell," suggested Hozier, and Mr. Watts thought +it was a "shpiffin' idee." When Hozier was free to glance a second +time at the cross rail, Iris had vanished. He was annoyed. Evidently +she did not wish to encounter any more of the ship's officers that +morning. + +The hatches were on, and everything was orderly before Coke's squat +figure climbed the gangway. Hozier reported the young lady's visit, +and the skipper was obviously surprised. As he hoisted himself up the +steep ladder to the hurricane deck, the younger man heard him +condemning someone under his breath as "a leery old beggar." The +phrase was hardly applicable to Iris, but Coke came out of his cabin +with an open letter in his hand, and bade a steward stow the +portmeanteau in some other more hallowed and less inconvenient place. + +And there the incident ended. The _Andromeda_ hauled down the Blue +Peter for her long run of over 6,000 miles to Monte Video, and Hozier +had routine work in plenty to occupy his mind during the first +twenty-four hours at sea without perplexing it with memories of a +pretty face. Soon after Holyhead was passed, it is true, a sailor +reported to the second officer that he had seen a ghost between decks, +in the region of the lazarette. It was then near midnight, a quiet +hour on board ship, and Hozier told the man sharply to go to his bunk +and endeavor to sleep off the effects of the bad beer imbibed earlier +in the day. + +Now, on this second night of the voyage, while the ship was plodding +steadily southward with that fifteen point inclination to the west that +would bring her far into the Atlantic soon after daybreak, Philip +remembered Mr. Verity's niece, and felt sorry that when she paid those +former visits to the _Andromeda_, fate had decreed that he should be +serving his time on another vessel. For there was an expression in her +eyes that haunted him. Though she addressed him with that absence of +restraint which is a heaven-sent attribute of every young woman when +circumstances compel her to speak to a strange young man--though her +tone to the more favored cook was kindly, and even sprightly--though +Philip himself was red and inclined to stammer--despite all these +hindrances to clear judgment, he felt that she was troubled in spirit. +His acquaintance with women was of the slightest, since a youth who is +taught his business on the _Conway_, and means to attach himself to one +of the great Trans-Atlantic shipping lines, has no time to spare for +dalliance in boudoirs. But it gave him a thrill when he heard that +this charming girl knew his name, and it seemed to him, for an instant, +that she was looking into his very soul, analyzing him, searching for +some sign that he was not as others, which meant that there were some +whom she had bitter cause to distrust. Of course, that was mere +day-dreaming, a nebulous fantasy brought by her gracious presence into +a medley of hurrying windlasses, strenuous orders, and sulky, panting +men. + +At any rate, she had left a memento of her too brief appearance on +board in the shape of the bag. He would contrive to take on his own +shoulders its mission in Monte Video; then, on returning to Liverpool, +he would have an excuse for calling on her. He did not know her name +yet. Possibly, Captain Coke would mention that interesting fact when +his temper lost its raw edge. As a last resource, the cook might +enlighten him. + +It was strange that he should be thinking of Iris--far stranger than he +could guess--but his thoughts were sub-conscious, and he was in no wise +neglecting the safety of the ship. The night was clear but dark, the +stars blinked with the subdued radiance that betokens fine weather, and +ever and anon their reflection glimmered from the long slope of a wave +like the glint of spangles on a dress. But it was a garment of +far-flung amplitude, woven on the shadowy loom of night and the sea, +and from such mysterious warp and weft is often produced the sable robe +of tragedy and death. It was so now, within an ace. At one instance, +the restless plain of the ocean seemed to bear no other argosy than the +_Andromeda_; in the next, Hozier's quick-moving glance had caught the +pallid sheen of some small craft's starboard light. No need to tell +him what might happen. A sailing vessel, probably a fishing smack, was +crossing the steamer's course. He sprang to the telegraph, and +signaled "Slow" to the engine-room. Simultaneously he shouted to the +steersman to starboard the helm, and the siren trumpeted a single +raucous blast into the silence. With the rattle of the chains and +steering-rods in the gear-boxes came a yell from the lookout forward: + +"Light on the port bow!" + +Hozier repeated the hail, but promised the blear-eyed sentinels in the +bows of the ship a lively five minutes when the watch was relieved. +Slowly the _Andromeda_ swung to the west. Even more slowly, or so it +appeared to the anxious man on the bridge, a red eye peeped into being +alongside the green one. A blacker smear showed up on the black sea, +and a hoarse voice, presumably situated beneath the smear, expressed a +desire for information. + +"Arr ye all aslape on board that crimson collier?" it asked in a +Waterford brogue. + +"Got the hooker's wheel tied, I suppose?" retorted Hozier, for the now +visible schooner had not attempted to change her course by half a +point. She was now bowling along with every stitch set before a +five-knot breeze from the east; the tilt of her sails was such that she +practically presented only the outline of her spars when first sighted +from the steamer; and her side lights probably had tallow candles in +them. + +"Bedad, it's aisier in moind we'd be if you were tied to it," shouted +the voice, and Hozier felt, like many another Saxon, that an Irishman's +last word is often the best one. + +The engines resumed their cadence, and the _Andromeda_ crept round +again to South 15 West. She was back on her proper line when a heavy +step sounded on the iron rungs of the bridge ladder. + +"Wot's up?" demanded Coke, who was fully dressed, though Hozier thought +he had retired two hours earlier. "Oh, the beer is frothin' up to +their eyes, is it?" went on the skipper, after listening to a brief +summary of events. "I thought, mebbe, the wheel had jammed. But those +lazy swabs want talkin' to. I'll just give 'em a bit of me mind," and +he went forward. + +Hozier heard him reading the Riot Act to the shell-backs who were +supposed to keep a sharp lookout ahead. But the captain did not +monopolize the conversation. His deep notes rumbled only at intervals. +The men had something to say. He returned to the bridge. + +"One of them scallywags sez 'e 'as seen a ghost," he announced, with +the calm air of a man who states that the moon will rise during the +next hour. + +"I wish he could see less remarkable things, such as schooners, sir," +said Hozier. + +"But 'e swears 'e sawr it twiced." + +"Oh, is he the man who reported a ghost outside the lazarette last +night?" + +"I s'pose so. Did 'e tell you about it? That's where she walks." + +"She!" + +"That's his yarn--a female ghost, a black 'un, black clo'es anyhow. +He's a dashed fool, but he's no boozer, though his mate's tongue is a +bit thick yet. I'll take the forenoon watch, an' you might overhaul +the ship for stowaways after breakfast. Never heard of one on this +journey--I've routed out as many as twenty at a time w'en I was runnin' +between Wellington an' Sydney--but you never can tell, so 'ave a squint +round." + +"Yes, sir," said Hozier, and that is how it fell to his lot to discover +Iris Yorke, looking very white and miserable, when the hatch of the +lazarette was broken open at half-past eight o'clock on Thursday +morning! + +A tramp steamer is not a complex organism. She is made up of holds, +bunkers, boilers and engines, with scanty accommodation for officers +and crew grouped round the funnel or stuck in the bows. When the boats +were stripped of their tarpaulins, and a few lockers and store-rooms +examined, the only available hiding-places were the shaft tunnel, the +holds, and the lazarette, a small space between decks, situated +directly above the propeller, where a reserve supply of provisions is +generally carried. + +But the door of the lazarette was locked, and the key missing, though +it ought to be hanging with others, all duly labeled, on a hook in the +steward's cabin. A duplicate set of keys in the captain's possession +was far from complete. As the steward was certain he had fastened the +lazarette himself early on Tuesday morning, there was nothing for it +but to force the lock. + +Even that would not have been necessary had the carpenter slackened his +efforts after the first assault. Iris cried loudly enough that she +would open the door, but the noise of the shaft and the flapping of the +screw drowned her voice, and she was compelled to stand clear when the +stout planking began to yield. + +It was dark in there, and Hozier was undeniably startled by the +spectacle of a slim figure, wrapped in a long ulster, standing among +the cases and packages. "Now, out you come!" he cried, with a +gruffness that was intended only to cover his own amazement; but Iris, +despite the horrors of sea-sickness and confinement in the dark, was +not minded to suffer what she considered to be impertinence on the part +of a second officer. + +"I am Miss Yorke," she said, coming forward into the half light of the +lower deck. "Any explanation of my presence here will be given to the +captain, and to no other person." + +That innocent word "person" is capable of many meanings. Hozier felt +that its application to himself was distinctly unfavorable. And Iris +was quite dignified and self-possessed. She had given a few deft +touches to her hair. Her hat was set at the right angle. Her dark +gray coat and brown boots looked neat and serviceable. + +"Of course I did not know to whom I was speaking," he managed to say, +for he now recognized the "ghost," and was more surprised than he had +ever been in his life before. + +"That is matterless," said Iris frigidly. "Where is Captain Coke?" + +"On the bridge," said Philip. + +"I will go to him. Please don't come with me. I tried to tell you +that I would unlock the door, but you refused to listen. Will you let +me pass?" + +He obeyed in silence. + +"Well, s'help me!" muttered a sailor, "talk about suffrigettes! Wot +price _'er_?" + +Iris hurried to the deck. The light seemed to dazzle her, and her +steps were so uncertain that Hozier sprang forward and caught her arm. + +"Won't you sit down a moment, Miss Yorke?" he said. "If you searched +the whole ship, you could not have chosen a worse place to travel in +than the lazarette." + +"I was driven out twice at night by the rats," she gasped, though she +strove desperately to regain control of her trembling limbs. + +"Too bad!" he whispered. "But it was your own fault. Why did you do +it? At any rate, wait here a few minutes before you meet the captain." + +"I am not afraid of meeting him. Why should I be? He knows me." + +"I meant only that you are hardly able to walk, but I seem to say the +wrong thing every time. There is nothing really to worry about. We +are not far from Queenstown. We can put you ashore there by losing +half a day." + +The girl had been ill, wracked in body and distraught in mind, with the +added horror of knowing that rats were scampering over the deck close +to her in the noisy darkness, but she summoned a half laugh at his +words. + +"You are still saying the wrong thing, Mr. Hozier," she murmured. "The +_Andromeda_ will not put into Queenstown. From this hour I become a +passenger, not a stowaway. My uncle knows now that I am here. Thank +you, you need not hold me any longer. I have quite recovered. Captain +Coke is on the bridge, you said? I can find my way; this ship is no +stranger to me." + +And away she went, justifying her statements by tripping rapidly +forward. The mere sight of her created boundless excitement among such +members of the crew as were on deck, but the shock administered to Mr. +Watts was of that intense variety often described as electric. In the +matter of disposing of large quantities of ardent spirits he was a +seasoned vessel, and, as a general rule, the first day at sea sufficed +to clear his brain from the fumes of the last orgy on shore. But, to +be effective, the cure must not be too drastic. This morning, after +leaving the bridge, he had fortified his system with a liberal +allowance of rum and milk. Breakfast ended, he took another dose of +the same mixture as a "steadier," and he was just leaving the messroom +when he set eyes on Iris. Of course, he refused to believe his eyes. +Had they not deceived him many times? + +"Ha!" said he, "a bit liverish," and he pressed a rough hand firmly +downward from forehead to cheek-bones. When he looked again, the girl +was much nearer. + +"Lord luv' a duck, this time I've got 'em for sure!" he groaned. + +His lower jaw dropped, he stared unblinkingly, and purple veins bulged +crookedly on his seamed forehead. He was bereft of the power of +movement. He stood stock-still, blocking the narrow gangway. + +"Good morning, Mr. Watts. You remember me, don't you?" said Iris, +showing by her manner that she wished to pass him. + +A slight roll of the ship assisted in the disintegration of Watts. He +collapsed sideways into the cook's galley, the door of which was +hospitably open. Somewhat frightened by the wildness of his looks, +Iris ran on, and dashed at the foot of the companion rather +breathlessly. The keen air was already tingeing her cheeks with color. +When she reached the bridge, where Captain Coke was propped against the +chart-house, with a thick, black cigar sticking in his mouth and +apparently trying to touch his nose, she had lost a good deal of the +pallor and woe-begone semblance that had demoralized Hozier. + +Coke heard the rapid, light footsteps, and turned his head. At all +times slow of thought and slower of speech, he was galvanized into a +sudden rigidity that differed only in degree from the symptoms +displayed by his chief officer. Certainly he could not have been more +stupefied had he seen the ghost reported overnight. + +"They told me I should find you here, Captain," said she. "I must +apologize for thrusting my company on you for a long voyage, +but--circumstances--were--too much for me--and----" + +Face to face with the commander of the ship, and startled anew by his +expression of blank incredulity, the glib flow of words conned so often +during the steadfast but dreadful hours spent in the lazarette failed +her. + +"You know me," she faltered. "I am Iris Yorke." + +Not a syllable came from the irate and astonished man gazing at her +with such a bovine stolidity. His shoulders had not abated a fraction +of their stubborn thrust against the frame of the chart-house. His +hands were immovable in the pockets of his reefer coat. The cigar +still stuck out between his lips like a miniature jib-boom. Had he +wished to terrify her by a hostile reception, he could not have +succeeded more completely, though, to be just, he meant nothing of the +sort; his wits being jumbled into chaos by the apparition of the last +person then alive whom he expected or desired to see on board the +_Andromeda_. + +But Iris could not interpret his mood, and she strove vainly to conquer +the fear welling up in her breast because of the grim anger that seemed +to blaze at her from every line of Coke's brick-red countenance. In +the struggle to pour forth the excuses and protestations that sounded +so plausible in her own ears, while secured from observation behind the +locked door of her retreat, she blundered unhappily on to the very +topic that she had resolved to keep secret. + +"Why are you so unwilling to acknowledge me?" she cried, with a nervous +indignation that lent a tremor to her voice. "You have met me often +enough. You saw me on Sunday at my uncle's house?" + +"Did I?" said Coke, speaking at last, but really as much at a loss for +something to say as the girl herself. He had recognized her instantly, +just as he would recognize the moon if the luminary fell from the sky, +and with as little comprehension of the cause of its falling. + +Of course, she took the question as a forerunner of blank denial. This +was not to be borne. She fired into a direct attack. + +"If your memory is hazy concerning the events of Sunday afternoon, it +may be helpful if I recall the conversation between my uncle and you in +the summer-house," she snapped. + +Some of the glow fled from Coke's face. He straightened himself and +glanced at the sailor inside the wheel-house, whose attention was given +instantly to the fact that the vessel's head had fallen away a full +point or more from South 15 West owing to the easterly set of a strong +tide. Vessels' heads are apt to turn when steersmen do not attend to +their business. + +"Wot's that you're sayin'?" demanded Coke, coming nearer, and looking +her straight in the eyes. + +"I heard every word of that interesting talk," she continued valiantly, +though she was sensible of a numbness that seemed to envelop her in an +ice-cold mist. "I know what you arranged to do--so I have promised--to +marry Mr. Bulmer--when the _Andromeda_--comes back----" + +A light broke on Coke's intelligence that irradiated his prominent +eyes. His heavy lips relaxed into a cunning grin, and he flicked the +ash off the end of the cigar with a confidential nod. + +"Oh, is _that_ it?" he said. "Artful old dog, Verity! But why in--why +didn't 'e tell me you was comin' aboard this trip? We 'aven't the +right fixin's for a lady, so you must put up with the best we can do +for you, Miss Yorke. Nat'rally, we're tickled to death to 'ave your +company, an' if on'y that blessed uncle of your's 'ad told me wot to +expect, I'd 'ave made things ship-shape at Liverpool. But, my +god-father, wot sort of ijjit axed you to stow yourself away in the +lazareet? Steady now; you ain't a-goin' to faint, are you?" + +Coke's amiability came too late. His squat figure and red face +suddenly loomed into a gigantic indistinctness in the girl's eyes. She +would have fallen to the deck had not the captain's strong hands +clutched her by the shoulders. + +"Hi! Below there!" he yelled. "Tumble up, some of you!" + +Hozier was the first to gain the bridge. He had followed the progress +of events with sufficient accuracy to realize that Miss Iris Yorke had +met with a distinct rebuff by the skipper, and, judging from his own +experience of her physical weakness when she emerged into daylight, he +was not surprised to hear that she had fainted. + +"'Ere, take 'old," gurgled Coke, who had nearly swallowed the cigar in +his surprise at Iris's unforeseen collapse. "This kind of thing is +more in your line than mine, young feller. Just lay 'er out in the +saloon, an' ax Watts to 'elp. His missus goes orf regular w'en they +bring 'im 'ome paralytic." + +Philip took the girl into his arms. To carry her safely down the steep +stairway he was compelled to place her head on his left shoulder and +clasp her tightly round the waist with his left arm. Some loosened +strands of her hair touched his face; he could feel the laboring of her +breast, the wild beating of her heart, and he was exceeding wroth with +that unknown man or woman who had driven this insensible girl to such +straits that she was ready to dare the discomforts and deprivations of +a voyage as a stowaway, rather than be persecuted further. + +Iris was laid on a couch in the messroom, and the steward summoned Mr. +Watts. The chief officer came, looking sheepish. It was manifestly a +great relief when he found that the "ghost" was unconscious. + +"Oh, that's nothing," he cried, in response to his junior's eager +demand for information as to the treatment best fitted for such +emergencies. "They all drop in a heap like that w'en they're worried. +Fust you takes orf their gloves an' boots, then you undoes their stays +an' rips open their dresses at the necks. One of you rubs their 'ands +an' another their feet, an' you dabs cold water on their foreheads, an' +burn brown paper under their noses. In between whiles you give 'em a +drink, stiff as you can make it. It's dead easy. Them stays are a bit +troublesome if they run to size, but she's thin enough as it is. +Anyhow, I can show you a fine trick for that. Just turn her over till +I cast a lashin' loose with my knife." + +Watts was elbowed aside so unceremoniously that his temper gave way. +Hozier lifted Iris's head gently and unfastened the neck-hooks of her +blouse. He began to chafe her cold hands tenderly, and pressed back +the hair from her damp forehead. The "chief," not flattered by his own +reflections, thought fit to sneer at these half measures. + +"She's on'y a woman like the rest of 'em," he growled, "even if she +_is_ the owner's niece, an' a good-lookin' gal at that. I s'pose now +you think----" + +"I think she will want some fresh air soon, so you had better clear +out," said Philip. + +His words were quiet, but he flashed a warning glance at the other man +that sufficed. Watts retired, muttering sarcasms under his breath. + +Iris revived, to find Philip supporting her with a degree of skill that +was remarkable in one who had enjoyed so little experience in those +matters. She heard his voice, coming, as it seemed, rapidly nearer, +urging her to sip something very fiery and spirituous. Instantly she +protested. + +"What are you giving me?" she sobbed. "What has happened?" + +Then the whole of her world opened up before her. Her hands flew to +her throat, her hair. She flushed into vivid life as the marble +Galatea incardinated under Pygmalion's kiss. + +"Did I faint?" she asked confusedly. + +"Yes, but you are all right now. You did not fall. Captain Coke +caught you and handed you over to me. I wish you would drink the +remainder of this brandy, and rest for a little while." + +Iris pushed away the glass and sat up. + +"You carried me?" she said. + +"Well, I couldn't do anything else." + +"I suppose you don't realize what it means to a woman to feel that she +has been out of her senses under such conditions?" + +"No, but in your case it only meant that you sighed deeply a few times +and tried to bite my fingers when I wished to open your mouth." + +"What for? Why did you want to open my mouth?" + +"To give you a drink--you needed a stimulant." + +"Oh!" + +By this time a few dexterous twists and turns had restrained those +wandering tresses within bounds. She held a hair-pin between her lips, +and a woman can always say exactly what she means when a hairpin +prevents discursiveness. + +"I am all right now," she announced. "Will you please leave me, and +tell the steward to bring me a cup of tea? If there is a cabin at +liberty, he might put that portmanteau in it which I brought on board +at Liverpool." + +Hozier fulfilled her requests, and rejoined Coke on the bridge. + +"Miss Yorke is quite well again, sir," he reported. "She wants a +cabin--to change her clothes, I imagine. That bag you saw----" + +"Pretty foxy, wasn't it?" broke in Coke, with a glee that was puzzling +to his hearer. + +"The whole affair seems to have been carefully planned," agreed Philip. +"But, as I was saying, she asked for the use of a cabin, so I told the +steward to give her mine until we put into Queenstown." + +Coke, who had lighted another black and stumpy cigar, removed it in +order to speak with due emphasis. + +"Put into h--l!" he said. + +"But surely you will not take this young lady to the River Plate?" +cried the astounded second officer. + +"She knew where she was bound w'en she kem aboard the _Andromeda_," +said the skipper, frowning now like a man who argues with himself. +"There's her portmanter to prove it, with a label, an' all, in her own +'and-writin'. It's some game played on me by 'er an' 'er uncle. +Any'ow, the fust time she sees land again it'll be the lovely 'arbor of +Pernambuco--an' that's straight. 'Ere she is, an' 'ere she'll stop, +an' the best thing you can do is spread the notion among the crew that +she's runnin' away to avoid marryin' a man she doesn't like. That +sounds reasonable, an' it 'appens to be true. Verity an' me talked it +over last Sunday, p.m." + +"To avoid a marriage?" repeated Hozier, who discovered a bluff honesty, +not to say candor, in the statement, not perceptible hitherto in his +commander's utterances. + +"Yes, that's it," said Coke, waving the cigar across an arc of the +horizon as he warmed to the subject. "But look 'ere, me boy, this gal +sails under my flag. I'm, wot d'ye call it, in locomotive parentibus, +or something of the sort, while she's on the ship's books. You keep +your mouth shut, an' wink the other eye, an' leave it to me to give you +the chanst of your life--eh, wot?" + +Philip Hozier did not strive to extract the precise meaning of the +skipper's words. The process would have been difficult, since Coke +himself could not have supplied any reasonable analysis. Somehow, to +the commander's thinking, the presence of the girl seemed to make +easier the casting away of the ship--exactly how, or what bearing her +strangely-begun voyage might have on subsequent events, he was not yet +in a position to say. But when the second officer left him, and he was +steeped once more in the fresh breeze and the sunshine, with his +shoulders braced against the chart-house, he looked at a smoke trail on +the horizon far away to the west. + +"Queenstown!" he chuckled. "Not this journey--not if my name's Jimmie +Coke, the man 'oo is stannin' on all that is left of 'is 'ard-earned +savin's. No, sir, I've got me orders an' I've got me letter, an' the +pore old _Andromeda_ gets ripped to pieces in the Recife, or I'll know +the reason why. Wot a card to play at the inquiry! Owner's niece on +board--bound to South America for the good of 'er health. 'Oo even +'eard of a man sendin' 'is pretty niece on a ship 'e meant to throw +away? It's Providential, that's wot it is, reel Providential! I do +believe ole Verity 'ad a 'and in it." + +Which shows that Captain Coke confused Providence with David Verity, +and goes far to prove how ill-fitted he was to theorize on the ways of +Providence. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +WHEREIN THE "ANDROMEDA" NEARS THE END OF HER VOYAGE + +"Five bells, miss! It'll soon be daylight. If you wants to see the +Cross, now's your time!" + +Iris had been called from dreamless sleep by a thundering rat-tat on +her cabin door. In reply to her half-awaked cry of "All right," the +hoarse voice of a sailor told her that the Southern Cross had just +risen above the horizon. She had a drowsy recollection of someone +saying that the famous constellation would make its appearance at seven +bells, not at five, and the difference of an hour, when the time +happens to be 2:30 instead of 8:30 a.m. is a matter of some importance. +But, perhaps that was a mistake; at any rate, here was the messenger, +and she resolutely screwed her knuckles into her eyes and began to +dress. In a few minutes she was on deck. A long coat, a Tam o' +Shanter, and a pair of list slippers will go far in the way of costume +at night in the tropics, and the _Andromeda's_ seventeenth day at sea +had brought the equator very near. At dinner on the previous +evening--in honor of the owner's niece fashionable hours were observed +for meals--Mr. Watts mentioned, by chance, that the Cross had been very +distinct during the middle watch, or, in other words, between midnight +and 4 a.m. Iris at once expressed a wish to see it, and Captain Coke +offered a suggestion. + +"Mr. Hozier takes the middle watch to-night," said he. "We can ax 'im +to send a man to pound on your door as soon as it rises. Then you must +run up to the bridge, an' 'e'll tell you all about it." + +If Iris was conscious of a slight feeling of surprise, she did not show +it. Hitherto, the burly skipper of the _Andromeda_ had made it so +clearly understood that none of the ship's company save himself was to +enjoy the society of Miss Iris Yorke, that she had exchanged very few +words with the one man whose manners and education obviously entitled +him to meet her on an equal plane. Even at meals, he was often absent, +for the captain and chief officer of a tramp steamer are not altruists +where eating is concerned. She often visited the bridge, her favorite +perch being the shady side of the wheel-house, but talking to the +officer of the watch was strictly forbidden. In everything +appertaining to the vessel's navigation the discipline of a man-of-war +was observed on board the _Andromeda_. So Coke's complacency came now +quite unexpectedly, but Iris was learning to school her tongue. + +"Thank you very much," she said. "When shall I see him?" + +"Oh, you needn't bother. I'll tell 'im meself." + +She was somewhat disappointed at this. Hozier would be free for an +hour before he turned in, and they might have enjoyed a nice chat while +he smoked on the poop. In her heart of hearts, she was beginning to +acknowledge that a voyage through summer seas on a cargo vessel, with +no other society than that of unimaginative sailormen, savored of +tedium, indeed, almost of deadly monotony. Her rare meetings with +Hozier marked bright spots in a dull round of hours. During their +small intercourse she had discovered that he was well informed. They +had hit upon a few kindred tastes in books and music; they even +differed sharply in their appreciation of favorite authors, and what +could be more conducive to complete understanding than the attack and +defense of the shrine of some tin god of literature? + +While, therefore, it was strange that Captain Coke should actually +propose a visit to the bridge at an unusual time--at a time, too, when +Hozier would be on duty--it struck her as far more curious that he +should endeavor to prevent an earlier meeting. But she had never lost +her intuitive fear of Coke. His many faults certainly did not include +a weak will. He meant what he said--also a good deal that he left +unsaid--and his word was law to everyone on board the _Andromeda_. So +Iris contented herself with meek agreement. + +"I shall be delighted to come at any time. I have often read about the +Southern Cross, yet three short weeks ago I little thought----" + +"You reely didn't think about it at all," broke in Coke. "If you 'ad, +you'd 'ave known you couldn't cross the line without seein' it." + +Here was another perplexing element in the skipper's conduct. That +Iris was a stowaway was forgotten. She was treated with the attention +and ceremony due to the owner's niece. Coke never lost an opportunity +of dinning into the ears of Watts, or Hozier, or the steward, or any +members of the crew who were listening, that Miss Yorke's presence in +their midst was a preordained circumstance, a thing fully discussed and +agreed on as between her uncle and himself, but carried out in an +irregular manner, owing to some girlish freak on her part. The +portmanteau, with its change of raiment, brought convincing testimony, +and Iris's own words when discovered in the lazaretto supplied further +proof, if that were needed. Her name figured in the ship's papers, and +the time of her appearance on board was recorded in the log. Coke +might be a man of one idea, but he held to it as though it were written +in the Admiralty Sailing Directions; not his would be the fault if +David Verity failed to appreciate the logic of his reasoning long +before an official investigation became inevitable. + +A keen, invigorating breeze swept the last mirage of sleep from the +girl's brain as she flitted silently along the deck. A wondrous galaxy +of stars blazed in the heavens. In that pellucid air the sky was a +vivid ultramarine. The ship's track was marked by a trail of +phosphorescent fire. Each revolution of the propeller drew from the +ocean treasure-house opulent globes of golden light that danced and +sparkled in the tumbling waters. It was a night that pulsated with the +romance and abandon of the south, a night when the heart might throb +with unutterable longings, and the blood tingle in the veins under the +stress of an emotion at once passionate and mystic. + +Iris, spurred on by no stronger impulse than that of the sight-seer, +though not wholly unaware of an element of adventurous shyness in her +expectation of a _tête-à-tête_ with a good-looking young man of her own +status, climbed to the bridge so speedily and noiselessly that Hozier +did not know of her presence until he heard her dismayed cry: + +"Is _that_ the Southern Cross?" + +[Illustration: "Is that the Southern Cross?"] + +He turned quickly. + +"You, Miss Yorke?" he exclaimed, and not even her wonder at the +insignificance of the stellar display of which she had heard so much +could cloak the fact that Hozier was unprepared for her appearance. + +"Of course, it is I--who else?" she asked. "Did not Captain Coke tell +you to expect me?" + +"No." + +"How odd! That is what he arranged. A man came and rapped at my door." + +"Pardon me one moment." + +He leaned over the bridge and hailed the watch. The same hoarse voice +that had roused Iris answered his questions, and, in the faint light +that came from the binnacle, she caught a flicker of amusement on his +face. + +"Our excellent skipper's intentions have been defeated," he said. "He +told one of the men to call him at seven bells, but not to wake you +until the Cross was visible. His orders have been obeyed quite +literally. He will be summoned in another hour, and you have been +dragged from bed to gaze at the False Cross, which every foremast hand +persists in regarding as the real article. The true Cross, of which +Alpha Crucis is the Southern Pole star, comes up over the horizon an +hour after the false one." + +"But Captain Coke said he would see you and warn you of my visit." + +"I can only assure you that he did not. Perhaps he thought it +unnecessary--meaning to be on deck himself." + +"Must I wait here a whole hour, then?" + +Hozier laughed. It was amusing to find how Coke's marked effort to +keep the girl and him apart had been defeated by a sailor's blunder. + +"I hope the waiting will not weary you," he said. "It is a beautiful +night. You will not catch cold if you are well wrapped up, and, no +matter what you may think of the real Cross when you see it, you will +never have a better chance of star-gazing. Look at Sirius up there, +brighter than the moon; and Orion, too, incomparably grander than any +star in southern latitudes. Our dear old Bear of the north ranks far +beyond the Southern Cross in magnificence; but mist and smoke and dust +contrive to rob our home atmosphere of the clearness which adds such +luster to the firmament nearer the equator." + +Under other circumstances, Iris would have reveled in just such an +opportunity of acquiring knowledge easily. Astronomy, despite its +limitations, is one of the exact sciences; it has the charm of +wonderland; it makes to awe-stricken humanity the mysterious appeal of +the infinite; but to-night, when the heart fluttered, and the soul +pined for sympathy, she was in a mood to regard with indifference the +instant extinction of the Milky Way. + +"I am glad of the accident that brought me on deck somewhat earlier +than was necessary," she said. "You and I have not said much to each +other since you routed me out of the lazaretto, Mr. Hozier." + +"Our friends at table are somewhat--difficult. If only you knew how I +regretted----" + +"Oh, what of that? When I became a stowaway I fully expected to be +treated as one. I suppose, though, that you have often asked yourself +why I was guilty of such a mad trick?" + +"Not exactly mad, Miss Yorke, but needless, since Captain Coke partly +expected to have your company." + +"That is absurd. He had not the remotest notion----" + +"Forgive me, but there you are wrong. He says that your uncle and he +discussed the matter on the Sunday before we left Liverpool. His +theory is rather borne out by the present state of the ship's larder. +I assure you that few tramp steamers spread a table like the +_Andromeda's_ mess during this voyage." + +Iris laughed, with a spontaneous merriment that was rather astonishing +in her own ears. + +"Being the owner's niece, I am well catered for?" she cried. + +"Something of the sort. It is only natural." + +"But I think I have read in the newspapers that when some unhappy +creature is condemned to death by the law, he is supplied with luxuries +that would certainly be denied to any ordinary criminal?" + +"Such doubtful clemency can hardly apply to you, Miss Yorke." + +"It might apply to the ship, or to that human part of her that thinks, +and remembers, and is capable of--of giving evidence." + +She paused, fearing lest, perhaps, she might have spoken too plainly. +Coke's counter-stroke in alluding to her dread of the proposed marriage +was hidden from her ken; Hozier, of course, was thinking of nothing +else. For the moment, then, they were at cross purposes. + +"Things are not so bad as that," he said gently. "I hope I am not +trespassing on forbidden ground, but it is only fair to tell you that +the skipper was quite explicit, up to a point. He said you were being +forced into some matrimonial arrangement that was distasteful----" + +"And to escape from an undesirable suitor I ran away?" + +"Well, the story sounded all right." + +"Hid myself on my uncle's ship when I wished to avoid marrying the man +of his choice?" + +Hozier was not neglecting his work, but he did then take his eyes off +the starlit sea for a few amazed seconds. There was no mistaking the +scornful ring in the girl's words. He could see the deep color that +flooded her cheeks; the glance that met his sparkled with an intensity +of feeling that thrilled while it perplexed. + +"Please pardon me if the question hurts, but if that is not your +motive, and there never was any real notion of your coming with us on +the this trip, why are you here?" he said. + +"Because I am a foolish girl, I suppose; because I thought that my +presence might interpose a serious obstacle between a criminal and the +crime he had planned to commit. If one wants to avoid hateful people a +change of climate is a most effectual means, and I had not the money +for ordinary travel. Believe me, Mr. Hozier, I am not on board the +Andromeda without good reason. I have often wished to have a talk with +you. I think you are a man who would not betray a confidence. If you +agree to help me, something may yet be done. At first, I was sure that +Captain Coke would abandon his wicked project as soon as he discovered +that I knew what was in his mind. But now, I am beginning to doubt. +Each day brings us nearer South America, and--and----" + +She was breathless with excitement. She drew nearer to the silent, and +impassive man at her side; dropping her voice almost to a whisper, she +caught his arm with an appealing hand. + +"I am afraid that my presence will offer no hindrance to his scheme," +she murmured. "I am terrified to say such a thing, but I am certain, +quite _certain_, that the ship will be lost within the next few days." + +Hozier, though incredulous, could not but realize that the girl was +saying that which she honestly thought to be true. + +"Lost! Do you mean that, she will be purposely thrown away?" he asked, +and his own voice was not wholly under control, for he was called on to +repress a sudden temptation to kiss away the tears that glistened in +her brown eyes. + +"Yes, that is what he said--on the rocks, this side of Monte Video." + +"He said--who?" + +"The--the captain." + +"To whom did he say it?" + +"Oh, Mr. Hozier, do not ask that, but believe me and help me." + +"How?" + +"I do not know. I am half distracted with thinking. What can we do? +Captain Coke simply swept aside my first attempt to speak plainly to +him. But, make no mistake--he knows that I heard his very words, and +there is something in his manner, a curious sort of quiet confidence, +that frightens me." + +After that, neither spoke during many minutes. The _Andromeda_ jogged +along steadily south by west, and the threshing of the propeller beat +time to the placid hum of her engines. The sturdy old ship could +seemingly go on in that humdrum way forever, forging ahead through the +living waters, marking her track with a golden furrow. + +"That is a very serious thing you have told me, Miss Yorke," muttered +Hozier at last, not without a backward glance at the sailor in the +wheel-house to assure himself that the man could not, by any chance, +overhear their conversation. + +"But it is true--dreadfully true," said Iris, clasping her hands +together and resting them on the high railing of the bridge. + +"It is all the more serious inasmuch as we are helpless," he went on. +"Don't you see how impossible it is even to hint at it in any +discussion with the man principally concerned? I want to say this, +though--you are in no danger. There is no ship so safe as one that is +picked out for wilful destruction. Men will not sacrifice their own +lives even to make good an insurance policy, and I suppose that is what +is intended. So you can sleep sound o' nights--at any rate until we +near the coast of Brazil. I can only promise you if any watchfulness +on my part can stop this piece of villainy---- Hello, there! What's +up? Why is the ship falling away from her course?" + +The sudden change in his voice startled the girl so greatly that she +uttered a slight shriek. It took her an appreciable time to understand +that he was speaking to the man at the wheel. But the sailor knew what +he meant. + +"Something's gone wrong with the wheel, sir," he bawled. "I wasn't +certain at first, so I tried to put her over a bit to s'uth'ard. Then +she jammed for sure." + +Hozier leaped to the telegraph and signaled "slow" to the engine-room. +Already the golden pathway behind the _Andromeda_ had changed from a +wavering yet generally straight line to a well-defined curve. There +was a hiss and snort of escaping steam as the sailor inside the +chart-house endeavored to force the machinery into action. + +"Steady there!" bellowed Hozier. "Wait until we have examined the +gear-boxes. There may be a kink in a chain." + +A loud order brought the watch scurrying along the deck. Some of the +men ran to examine the bearings of the huge fan-shaped casting that +governed the movements of the rudder, while others began to tap the +wooden shields which protected the steering rods and chains. In the +midst of the hammering and excitement, Captain Coke swung himself up to +the bridge. + +"Well, I'm blowed! _You_ here?" he said, looking at Iris. "Wot is it +now?" he asked, turning sharply to Hozier. "Wheel stuck again?" + +"Yes, sir. Has it happened before?" + +"Well--er--not this trip. But it 'as 'appened. Just for a minnit I +was mixin' it up with the night you nearly ran down that bloomin' +hooker off the Irish coast. Ah, there she goes! Everything O.K. now. +W'en daylight comes we'll overhaul the fixin's. Nice thing if the +wheel jammed just as we was crossin' the Recife!" + +Hozier tried to ascertain from the watch if they had found the cause of +the disturbance, but the men could only guess that a chance blow with +an adze had straightened a kink in one of the casings. Coke treated +the incident with nonchalance. + +"Thought you was to be called w'en the Cross hove in sight, Miss +Yorke?" he said abruptly. + +"I am sorry to have to inform you that some people on board cannot +distinguish between falsity and truth," she answered. "But please +don't be angry with any of the men on my account. Mr. Hozier tells me +they often confuse the False Cross with the real one, and the mistake +has been enjoyable. Now I know all about it--what were those stars you +were telling me the names of, Mr. Hozier?" + +Philip took the cue she offered. + +"Sirius, and Orion, and Ursa Major. I shall write the names and +particulars for you after breakfast," he said with a smile. + +"Reg'lar 'umbug the Southern Cross," grunted Coke; "it ain't a patch on +the Bear." + +"Mr. Hozier said something like that," put in Iris mischievously. + +"Did 'e? Well 'e's right for once. But don't you go an' take as +Gospel most things 'e says. Every shipmaster knows that the second +officer simply can't speak the truth. It ain't natural. W'y, it 'ud +bust a steam pipe if 'e tole you wot 'e really thought of the ole man." + +Coke grinned at his own pleasantry. To one of his hearers, at least, +it seemed to be passing strange that he was so ready to forget such a +vital defect in the steering gear as had manifested its existence a few +minutes earlier. + +At any rate, he remained on the bridge until long after Iris had seen +and admired the cluster of stars which oldtime navigators used to +regard with awe. When shafts of white light began to taper, +pennon-like, in the eastern sky, the girl went back to her cabin. +Contrary to Hozier's expectation, Coke did not attempt to draw from him +any account of their conversation prior to the inexplicable mishap to +the wheel. He examined a couple of charts, made a slight alteration in +the course, and at four o'clock took charge of the bridge. + +"Just 'ave a look round now while things is quiet," he said, nodding to +Hozier confidentially. "I'll tell you wot I fancy: a rat dragged a bit +of bone into a gear-box. If the plankin' is badly worn anywhere, get +the carpenter to see to it. I do 'ate to 'ave a feelin' that the wheel +can let you down. S'pose we was makin' Bahia on the homeward run, an' +that 'appened! It 'ud be the end of the pore ole ship; an' oo'd credit +it? Not a soul. They'd all say 'Jimmie threw 'er away!' Oh, I know +'em, the swine--never a good word for a man while 'e keeps straight, +but tar an' feathers the minnit 'e 'as a misforchun!" + +Hozier found a gnawed piece of ham-bone lying in the exact position +anticipated by Coke. An elderly salt who had served with the P. & O. +recalled a similar incident as having occurred on board an Indian mail +steamer while passing through the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb. He drew a +lurid picture of the captain's dash across the forms of lady passengers +sleeping inside a curtained space on deck, and his location of the area +of disturbance with an ax just in time to prevent a disaster. + +The carpenter busied himself with sawing and hammering during the whole +of the next two days, for the _Andromeda_ revealed many gaps in her +woodwork, but the escapade of an errant ham-bone was utterly eclipsed +by a new sensation. At daybreak one morning every drop of water in the +vessel's tanks suddenly assumed a rich, blood-red tint. This unnerving +discovery was made by the cook, who was horrified to see a ruby stream +pouring into the earliest kettle. Thinking that an iron pipe had +become oxidized with startling rapidity, he tried another tap. +Finally, there could be no blinking the fact that, by some uncanny +means, the whole of the fresh water on board had acquired the color if +not the taste of a thin Burgundy. + +Coke was summoned hastily. _Noblesse oblige_; being captain, he +valiantly essayed the task of sampling this strange beverage. + +"It ain't p'ison," he announced, gazing suspiciously at the little +group of anxious-faced men who awaited his verdict. "It sartinly ain't +p'ison, but it's wuss nor any teetotal brew I've tackled in all me born +days. 'Ere, Watts, you know the tang of every kind o' likker--'ave a +sup?" + +"Not me!" said Watts. "I don't like the look of it. First time I've +ever seen red ink on tap. For the rest of this trip I stick to bottled +beer, or somethink with a label." + +"It smells like an infusion of permanganate of potash," volunteered +Hozier. + +"Does it?" growled Coke, who seemed to be greatly annoyed. "Wot a pity +it ain't an infusion of whisky an' potash!" and he glared vindictively +at Watts. "Some ijjit 'as bin playin' a trick on us, that's wot it +is--some blank soaker 'oo don't give a hooraw in Hades for tea an' +corfee an' cocoa, but wants a tonic. Stooard!" + +"Yes, sir," said the messroom attendant. + +"Portion out all the soda water in the lockers, an' whack it on the +table every meal till it gives out. See that nobody puts away more'n +'is proper allowance, too. I'm not goin' to cry hush-baby w'en the +_Andromeda_ gets this sort of kid's dodge worked off on 'er." + +"If you're alloodin' to me," put in the incensed "chief," whose temper +rose on this direct provocation, "I want to tell you now----" + +"Does the cap fit?" sneered Coke. + +"No, it doesn't. I never 'eard of that kind of potash in me life. +D'ye take me for a--chemist's shop?" + +"Never 'eard of it!" cried the incensed skipper, who had obviously made +up his mind as to the person responsible for the outrage. "There's +'arf a dozen cases of it in the after hold--or there was, w'en we put +the hatches on." + +"Even if some of the cases were broken, sir, the contents could not +reach the tanks," said Hozier, who fancied that Coke's attack on the +bibulous Watts was wholly unwarranted. But the commander's wrath could +not be appeased. + +"Get this stuff pumped out, an' 'ave the tanks scoured. We'll put into +Fernando Noronha, an' refill there. It's on'y a day lost, an' I guess +the other liquor on board 'll last till we make the island. Sink me, +if this ain't the queerest run this crimson ship 'as ever 'ad. I'll be +glad w'en it's ended." + +Coke lurched away in the direction of the chart-room. Hozier found him +there later, poring over a chart of Fernando Noronha. Iris, on hearing +the steward's version of the affair, came to the bridge for further +enlightenment, but Coke merely told her that the island was a Lloyd's +signal station, so she could cable to her uncle. + +"Can I go ashore?" she asked. + +"I dunno. We'll see. It's a convict settlement for the Brazils, an' +they're mighty partic'lar about lettin' people land, but they'll 'ardly +object to a nice young lady like you 'avin' a peep at 'em." + +As his tone was unusually gruff, not to say jeering, she resolved to +find an opportunity of seeking Hozier's advice on the cablegram +problem. But the portent of the blood-red water was not to be +disregarded. Never was Delphic oracle better served by nature. The +_Andromeda_ began to roll ominously; masses of black cloud climbed over +the southwest horizon; at midday the ship was driving through a heavy +sea. As the day wore, the weather became even more threatening. A sky +and ocean that had striven during three weeks to produce in splendid +rivalry blends of sapphire blue and emerald green and tenderest pink, +were now draped in a shroud of gray mist. With increasing frequency +and venom, vaulting seas curled over the bows, and sent stinging +showers of spray against the canvas shield of the bridge. Instead of +the natty white drill uniform and canvas shoes of the tropics, the +ship's officers donned oilskins, sou'westers, and sea-boots. Torrents +swept the decks, and an occasional giant among waves smote the hull +with a thunderous blow under which every rivet rattled and every plank +creaked. Despite these drawbacks, the _Andromeda_ wormed her way +south. She behaved like the stanch old sea-prowler that she was, and +labored complainingly but with stubborn zeal in the teeth of a stiff +gale. + +Iris, of course, thought that she was experiencing the storm of a +century. Badly scared at first, she regained some stock of courage +when Hozier came twice to her cabin, pounded on the door, and shouted +to her such news as he thought would take her mind off the outer +furies! The first time he announced that they were just "crossing the +line," and the girl smiled at the thought that Neptune's chosen lair +was uncommonly like the English Channel at its worst. On the second +occasion her visitor brought the cheering news that they would be under +the lee of Fernando Noronha early next morning. She had sufficient sea +lore to understand that this implied shelter from wind and wave, but +Hozier omitted to tell her that the only practicable roadstead in the +island, being on the weather side, would be rendered unsafe by the +present adverse combination of the elements. In fact, Coke had already +called both Watts and Hozier into council, and they had agreed with him +that the wiser plan would be to bear in towards the island from the +east, and anchor in smooth water as close to South Point as the lead +would permit. + +As for Iris's wild foreboding that the ship was intended to be lost, +Philip did not give it other than a passing thought. Coke was +navigating the _Andromeda_ with exceeding care and no little skill. He +was a first-rate practical sailor, and it was an education to the +younger man to watch his handling of the vessel throughout the worst +part of the blow. About midnight the weather moderated. It improved +steadily until a troubled dawn heralded some fitful gleams of the sun. +By that time the magnificent Peak of Fernando Noronha was plainly +visible. Coke came to the bridge and set a new course, almost due +west. The sun struggled with increasing success against the cloud +battalions, and patches of blue appeared in sky and sea. Soon it was +possible to distinguish the full extent of the coast line. Houses +appeared, and trees, and green oases of cultivation, but these were +mere spots of color amid the arid blackness of a land of bleak rock and +stone-strewed hills. + +There was a strong current setting from the southeast, and the dying +gale left its aftermath in a long swell, but the _Andromeda_ rolled on +with ever-increasing comfort. Even Iris was tempted forth by the +continued sunshine. + +Coke was not on the bridge at the moment. Mr. Watts was taking the +watch; Hozier was on deck forrard, looking for gravel and shells on the +instrument that picks up these valuable indications from the floor of +the sea. Suddenly the captain appeared. He greeted Iris with a genial +nod. + +"Ah, there you are," he cried. "Not seen you since this time +yesterday. Sorry, but there'll be no goin' ashore to-day. We're on +the wrong side of the island, an' it 'ud toss you a bit if you was to +try an' land in eether of the boats. Take 'er in easy now, Mr. Watts. +That's our anchorage--over there," and he pointed to the mouth of a +narrow channel between South Point and the Ile des Frégates, the latter +a tiny islet that almost blocks the entrance to a shallow bay into +which runs a rivulet of good but slightly brackish water. + +The ship slowed perceptibly, and Hozier busied himself with the lead, +which a sailor was swinging on the starboard side from the small +platform of the accommodation ladder. Iris did not know what was said, +but the queer figures repeated to Coke seemed to be satisfactory. +Headlands and hills crept nearer. The rocky arms of the island closed +in on them. A faint scent as of sweet grasses reached them from the +shore. Iris could see several people, nearly all of them men in +uniform, hurrying about with an air of excitement that betokened the +unusual. Perhaps a steamer's advent on the south side of the island +was a novelty. + +Now they were in a fairly smooth roadstead; the remnants of the gale +were shouldered away from the ship by the towering cliff that jutted +out on the left of the bay. The crew were mostly occupied in clearing +blocks and tackle and swinging two life-boats outward on their davits. + +"All ready forrard?" roared Coke. Hozier ran to the forecastle. He +found the carpenter there, standing by the windlass brake. + +"All ready, sir!" he cried. + +Coke nodded to him. + +"Give her thirty-five," he said, meaning thereby that the anchor should +be allowed thirty-five fathoms of chain. + +From the bridge, where Iris was standing, she could follow each +movement of the commander's hands as he signaled in dumbshow to the +steersman or telegraphed instructions to the engine-room. It was +interesting to watch the alertness of the men on duty. They were a +scratch crew, garnered from the four quarters of the globe at the +Liverpool shipping office, but they moved smartly under officers who +knew their work, and the _Andromeda_ was well equipped in that respect. + +The turbulent current was surging across the bows with the speed of a +mill-race, so Coke brought the vessel round until she lay broadside +with the land and headed straight against the set of the stream. It +was his intent to drop anchor while in that position, and help any +undue strain on the cable by an occasional turn of the propeller. + +"Keep her there!" he said, half turning to the man at the wheel; he +changed the indicator from "Full speed" to "Slow ahead"; in a few +seconds the anchor chain would have rattled through the +hawse-hole--when something happened that was incomprehensible, +stupefying--something utterly remote and strange from the ways of +civilized men. + +The _Andromeda_ quivered under a tremendous buffet. There was a crash +of rending iron and an instant stoppage of the engines. Almost merging +into the noise of the blow came a loud report from the land, but that, +in its turn, was drowned by the hiss of steam from the exhaust. + +Coke appeared to be dumfounded for an instant. Recovering himself, he +ran to the starboard side, leaned over, looked down at a torn plate +that showed its jagged edges just above the water-line, and then lifted +a blazing face toward a point half-way up the neighboring cliff, where +a haze lay like a veil of gauze on the weather-scarred rocks. + +"You d--d pirates!" he yelled, raising both clenched fists at the +hidden battery which had fired a twelve-pound shell into the doomed +ship. + +The _Andromeda_ herself seemed to recognize that she was stricken unto +death. She fell away before the current with the aimless drift of a +log. + +"Let go!" bellowed Coke with frenzied pantomime of action to Hozier. +It was too late. Before the lever controlling the steam windlass that +released the anchor could be shoved over, another shell plunged through +the thin iron plates in the bows, smashing a steam pipe, and jamming +the hawser gear by its impact. The missile burst with a terrific +report. A sailor was knocked overboard, the carpenter was killed +outright, two other men were seriously wounded, and Hozier received a +blow on the forehead from a flying scrap of metal that stretched him on +the deck. + +The gunners on shore had not allowed for the drifting of the ship. +That second shell was meant to demolish the chart-house and clear the +bridge of its occupants. Striking high and forward, it had robbed the +_Andromeda_ of her last chance. Now she was rolling in the full grip +of the tidal stream. It could only be a matter of a minute or less +before she struck. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +SHOWING WHAT BECAME OF THE "ANDROMEDA" + +The island artillery did not succeed in hitting the crippled ship +again. Three more shells were fired, but each projectile screamed +harmlessly far out to sea. A trained gunner, noting these facts, would +reason that the shore battery made good practice in the first instance +solely because its ordnance was trained at a known range. Indeed, he +might even hazard a guess that the _Andromeda's_ warm reception was +arranged long before her masts and funnel rose over the horizon. That +the islanders intended nothing less than her complete destruction was +self-evident. Without the slightest warning they had tried to sink +her; and now that she was escaping the further attentions of the field +pieces, a number of troops stationed on South Point and the Isle des +Frégates began to pelt her with bullets. + +Iris, when the first paralysis of fear had passed, when her stricken +senses resumed their sway and her limbs lost their palsy, flinched from +this new danger, and sank sobbing to her knees behind the canvas shield +of the bridge. Somehow, this flimsy shelter, which sailors call the +"dodger," gave some sense of safety. Her throbbing brain was incapable +of lucid thought, but it was borne in on her mistily that the world and +its occupants had suddenly gone mad. The omen of the blood-red water +had justified itself most horribly. The dead carpenter was sprawling +over the forecastle windlass. His hand still clutched the brake. The +sailor at the wheel had been shot through the throat, and had fallen +limply through the open doorway of the chart-room; he lay there, +coughing up blood and froth, and gasping his life out. The two men +wounded by the second shell were creeping down the forward companion in +the effort to avoid the hail of lead that was beating on the ship. +Hozier was raising himself on hands and knees, his attitude that of a +man who is dazed, almost insensible. Watts had gone from the +bridge--he might have been whirled to death over the side like the +unfortunate foremast hand she had seen tossed from off the forecastle; +but Coke, whose charmed life apparently entitled him to act like a +lunatic, was actually balancing himself on top of the starboard rails +of the bridge by clinging to a stay, having climbed to that exposed +position in order to hurl oaths at the soldiers on shore. He had gone +berserk with rage. His cap had either fallen off or been torn from his +head by a bullet; his squat, powerful figure was shaking with frenzy; +he emphasized each curse with a passionate gesture of the free hand and +arm; he said among other things, and with no lack of forceful +adjectives, that if he could only come to close quarters with some of +the Portygee assassins on the island he would tear their sanguinary +livers out. It is an odd thing that men made animal by fury often use +that trope. They do really mean it. The liver is the earliest spoil +of the successful tiger. + +The _Andromeda_, uncontrollable as destiny, and quite as heedless of +her human freight, swung round with the current until her bows pointed +to the islet occupied by the marksmen. All at once, Coke suspended his +flow of invectives and rushed into the chart-room, where Iris heard him +tearing lockers open and throwing their contents on the deck. To +enter, he was obliged to leap over the body of the dying man. The +action was grotesque, callous, almost inhuman; it jarred the girl's +agonized transports back into a species of spiritual calm, a mental +state akin to the fatalism often exhibited by Asiatics when death is +imminent and not to be denied. The apparent madness of the captain was +now more distressing to her than the certain loss of the ship or the +invisible missiles that clanged into white patches on the iron plates, +cut sudden holes and scars in the woodwork, or whirred through the air +with a buzzing whistle of singularly menacing sound. She began to be +afraid of remaining on the bridge; her fear was not due to the really +vital fact that it was so exposed; it arose from the purely feminine +consideration that she was sure Coke had become a raving maniac, and +she dreaded meeting him when, if ever, he reappeared. + +A bullet struck the front frame of the chart-room, and several panes of +glass were shattered with a fearful din. That decided her. Coke, if +he were not killed, would surely be driven out. She sprang to her +feet, and literally ran down the steep ladder to the saloon deck. +Through the open door of the officers' mess she witnessed another +bizarre act--an act quite as extraordinary in its way as Coke's jump +over the steersman's body. In the midst of this drama of death and +destruction, Watts was standing there, with head thrown back and +uplifted arm, gulping down a tumblerful of some dark-colored liquid, +draining it to the dregs, while he held a black bottle in the other +hand. That a man should fly to rum for solace when existence itself +might be measured by minutes or seconds, was, to Iris, not the least +amazing experience of an episode crammed with all that was new, and +strange, and horrible in her life. She raced on, wholly unaware that +the drifting ship was now presenting her port bow to the death-dealing +fusillade. + +Then, from somewhere, she heard a gruff voice: + +"Hev' ye shut off steam, Macfarlane?" + +"Ou ay. It's a' snug below till the watter reaches the furnaces," came +the answer. + +So some of the men were doing their duty. Thank God for that! +Undeterred by the fact that a live shell had burst among the engines, +the oil-stained, grim-looking engineers had not quitted their post +until they had taken such precautions as lay in their power to insure +the ship's safety. A light broke in on the fog in the girl's mind. +Even now, at the very gate of eternity, one might try to help others! +The thought brought a ray of comfort. She was about to look for the +speakers when a bullet drilled a hole in a panel close to her side. +She began to run again, for a terrified glance through the forward +gangway showed that the ship was quite close to the land, where men in +blue uniforms, wearing curiously shaped hats and white gaiters, were +scattered among the rocks, some standing, some kneeling, some prone, +but all taking steady aim. + +But it showed something more. Hozier was now lying sideways on the +raised deck of the forecastle; he partly supported himself on his right +arm; his left hand was pressed to his forehead; he was trying to rise. +With an intuition that was phenomenal under the circumstances, Iris +realized that he was screened from observation for the moment by the +windlass and the corpse that lay across it. But the ship's ever +increasing speed, and the curving course of her drifting, would soon +bring him into sight, and then those merciless riflemen would shoot him +down. + +"Oh, not that! Not that!" she wailed aloud. + +An impulse stronger than the instinct of self-preservation caused the +blood to tingle in her veins. She had waited to take that one look, +and now, bent double so as to avoid being seen by the soldiers, she +sped back through the gangway, gained the open deck, crouched close to +the bulwarks on the port side, and thus reached unscathed the foot of +the companion down which the wounded men had crawled. The zinc plates +on the steps were slippery with their blood, but she did not falter at +the sight. Up she went, stooped over Hozier, and placed her strong +young arms round his body. + +"Quick!" she panted, "let me help you! You will be killed if you +remain here!" + +Her voice seemed to rouse him as from troubled sleep. + +"I was hit," he muttered. "What is it? What is wrong?" + +"Oh, come, come!" she screamed, for some unseen agency tore a +transverse gash in the planking not a foot in front of them. + +He yielded with broken expostulations. She dragged him to the top of +the stairs. Clinging to him, she half walked, half fell down the few +steps. But she did not quite fall; Hozier's weight was almost more +than she could manage, but she clung to him desperately, saved him from +a headlong plunge to the deck, and literally carried him into the +forecastle, where she found some of the crew who had scurried there +like rabbits to their burrow when the first shell crashed into the +engine-room. + +Iris's fine eyes darted lightning at them. + +"You call yourselves men," she cried shrilly, "yet you leave one of +your officers lying on deck to be shot at by those fiends!" + +"We didn't know he was there, miss," said one. "We'd ha' fetched him +right enough if we did." + +Even in her present stress of mixed emotions, the sailor's words +sounded reasonable. Every other person on board was just as greatly +stunned by this monstrous attack as she herself, and the firing now +appeared to increase in volume and accuracy. Several bullets clanged +against the funnel or broke huge splinters off the boats. + +"Gord A'mighty, listen to that," growled a voice. "An' we cooped up +here, blazed at by a lot of rotten Dagos, with not a gun to our name!" + +Iris was still supporting Hozier, whose head and shoulders were +pillowed against her breast as she knelt behind him. + +"Can nothing be done?" she asked. "I believe Captain Coke has been +killed. Mr. Hozier is badly injured, I fear. Bring some water, if +possible." + +"Yes, yes, water. . . . Only a knock on the head. . . . How did it +happen? And what is that noise of firing?" + +Hozier's scattered wits were returning, though neither he nor Iris +remembered that the _Andromeda_ was waterless. He looked up at her, +then at the men, and he smiled as his eyes met hers again. + +"Funny thing!" he said, with a natural tone that was reassuring. "I +thought the windlass smashed itself into smithereens. But it couldn't. +What was it that banged?" + +"A shell, fired from the island," said the girl. + +Hozier straightened himself a little. He was hearing marvels, though +far from understanding them, as yet. + +"A shell!" he repeated vacantly. Had she said "a comet" it could not +have sounded more incredible. + +"Yes. It might have killed you. Several of the men are dead. I +myself saw three of them killed outright, and two others are badly +wounded." + +"Here you are, sir--drink this," said a fireman, offering a pannikin of +beer. It was unpalatable stuff, but it tasted like the nectar of the +gods to one who had sustained a blow that would have felled an ox. +Hozier had almost emptied the tin when an exclamation from an Irish +stoker drew all eyes to the after part of the ship. + +"Holy war! Will ye look at that!" shouted the man. "Sure the skipper +isn't dead, at all, at all." + +Iris had failed to grasp the meaning of Coke's antics in the +chart-room, but they were now fully explained. The bulldog breed of +this self-confessed rascal had taken the upper hand of him. Though he +had not scrupled to plot the destruction of the ship, and thus rob a +marine insurance company of a considerable sum of money--though at that +very instant there was actual proof of his scheme in the preparations +he had made to jam the steering-gear when the anchor was raised after +the tanks were replenished--it was not in the man's nature to skulk +into comparative safety because a foreigner, a pirate, a +not-to-be-mentioned-in-polite-society Portygee, opened fire on him in +this murderous fashion. Moreover, Coke's villainy would have +sacrificed no lives. The _Andromeda_ might be converted into scrap +iron, and thereby give back, by perverted arithmetic, the money +invested in her. But her white decks would not be stained with blood. +Whatever risk was incurred would be his, the responsible captain's, his +only. It was a vastly different thing that shot and shell should be +rained on an unarmed ship by the troops of a civilized power when she +was seeking the lowest form of hospitality. No wonder if the +bull-necked skipper foamed at the mouth and used words forbidden by the +catechism; no wonder if he tried to express his helpless fury in one +last act of defiance. + +He rummaged the lockers for a Union Jack and the four flags that showed +the ship's name in signal letters. The red ensign was already +fluttering from a staff at the stern, and the house flag of David +Verity & Co. was at the fore, but these emblems did not satisfy Coke's +fighting mettle. The _Andromeda_ would probably crack like an eggshell +the instant she touched the reef towards which she was hurrying; he +determined that she would go down with colors flying if he were not put +out of action by a bullet before he could reach the main halyard. + +The swerve in the ship's course as she passed the island gave him an +opportunity. In justice to Coke it should be said that he recked +naught of this, but it would have been humanly impossible otherwise for +the soldiers to have missed him. And now, while the vessel lay with +straight keel in the set of the current, the national emblem of +Britain, with the _Andromeda's_ code flags beneath, fluttered up the +mainmast. + +There are many imaginable conditions under which Coke's deed would be +regarded as sublime; there are none which could deny his splendid +audacity. The soldiers, who seemed to be actuated by the utmost +malevolence, redoubled their efforts to hit the squat Hercules who had +bellowed at them and their fellow artillerists from the bridge. +Bullets struck the deck, lodged in the masts, splintered the roof and +panels of the upper structure, but not one touched Coke. He coolly +made fast each flag in its turn, and hauled away till the Union Jack +had reached the truck; then, drawn forrard by a hoarse cheer that came +from the forecastle, he turned his back on the enemy and swung himself +down to the fore-deck. + +He was still wearing the heavy garments demanded by the gale; his +recent exertions, joined to the fact that the normal temperature of a +sub-tropical island was making itself felt, had induced a violent +perspiration. As he lumbered along the deck he mopped his face +vigorously with a pocket handkerchief, and this homely action helped to +convince Iris that she was mistaken in thinking him mad. His words, +too, when he caught sight of her, were not those of a maniac. + +"Well, missy," he cried, "wot'll they say in Liverpool now? I s'pose +they'll 'ear of this some day," and he jerked a thumb backwards to +indicate the unceasing hail of bullets that poured into the after part +of the ship. + +The girl looked at him with an air of surprise that would have been +comical under less grievous conditions. She knew, with a vague +definiteness, that death was near, perhaps unavoidable, and it had +never occurred to her that she or any other person on board need feel +any concern about the view entertained by Liverpool as to their fate. +Before she could frame a reply, however, Hozier seemed to recover his +faculties. He stood up, walked unaided to the side of the ship, and +glanced ahead. + +"Shouldn't we try to lower a boat, sir?" he asked instantly. + +"Wot's the use?" growled Coke. "Oo's goin' to lower boats while them +blighters on the island are pumpin' lead into us? And wot good are the +boats w'en they're lowered? They've been drilled full of holes. You +might as well try to float a sieve. Look at that," he added +sarcastically, as the side of the cutter was ripped open by a +ricochetting shot, and splinters were littered on the deck, "they know +wot they want an' they mean to get it. Dead men tell no tales. It +won't be anybody 'ere now who'll 'ave the job of lettin' the folk at +'ome know 'ow the pore ole _Andromeda_ went under." + +"Are none of the boats seaworthy?" + +"Not one. They're knocked to pieces. Sorry for you, Miss Yorke. But +we're all booked for Kingdom Come. In 'arf a minnit, or less, we'll be +on the reef, an' the ship must begin to break up." + +Coke was telling the plain truth, but Hozier ran aft to make sure that +he was right in assuming the extent of the boats' damages. One of the +men, an Italian, climbed to the forecastle deck in order to see more +clearly what sort of danger they were running into. He came back +instantly, and his swarthy face was green with terror. Though he spoke +English well enough, he began to jabber wildly in his mother tongue. +None paid heed to him. It was common knowledge that the vessel must be +lost, and that those who still lived when she struck would have the +alternatives of being drowned, or beaten to pieces against the frowning +rocks, or shot from the mainland like so many stranded seals, if some +alliance of luck and strength secured a momentary foothold on one of +the tiny islets that barred the way. And at such moments, when the +mind is driven into a swift-running channel that ends in a cataract, +elemental passions are apt to strive with elemental fears. Few among +these rough sailors had ever given thought to the future. They had +lived from hand to mouth, the demands of a hard and dangerous +profession alternating with bouts of foolish revelry. Most of them had +looked on death in the tempest, in the swirling seas, in the uplifted +knife. But then, there was always a chance of escape, an open door for +the stout heart and ready hand; whereas, under present conditions, +there was nothing to be done but pray, or curse, or wait in stoic +silence until the first ominous quiver ran through the swift-moving +ship. So, all unknowingly, they grouped themselves according to their +nationalities, for the Latins knelt and supplicated the saints and the +Virgin Mother, the Celts roared insensate threats at the islanders who +had thrown them into the very jaws of eternity, and the Saxons stood +motionless, with grim jaws and frowning brows, disdaining alike both +frenzied appeal and useless execration. + +Someone threw a cork jacket over the girl's shoulders, and bade her +fasten its straps around her waist. She obeyed without a word. +Indeed, she seemed to have lost the power of speech. Everything had +suddenly assumed such a crystal clear aspect that her eyes were gifted +with unnatural vision though her remaining senses were benumbed. The +blue and white of the sky, the emerald green of the water, the russet +brown and cold gray of the land--these shone now with a beauty vivid +beyond any of nature's tints she had ever before seen. She was +conscious, too, of an awful aloofness. Her spirit was entrenched in +its own citadel. She seemed to be brooding, solitary and remote, yet +shrinking ever within herself; quite unknowing, she offered a piteous +example of the old Hebrew's dire truism that man came naked into the +world and naked shall he depart. + +In a curiously detached way she wondered why Hozier did not return. +The prayers and curses of the men surrounding her fell unheeded on her +ears. Where was Hozier? What was he doing? Why did he not come to +her? She felt a strange confidence in him. If he had not been struck +down by that calamitous shell he would have saved the ship--assuredly +he would have devised some means of saving their lives! Perhaps, even +now, he was attempting some desperate expedient! . . . The thought +nerved her for an instant. Then a rending, grinding noise was followed +by a sudden swerve and roll of the ship that sent her staggering +against a bulkhead. An outburst of cries and shouting rang through her +brain, and a shriek was wrung from her parched throat. + +But the _Andromeda_ righted herself again, though there was another +sound of tearing metal, and the deck heaved perceptibly under a shock. + +Ah, kind Heaven! here came Hozier, running, thundering some loud order. + +"The port life-boat . . . seaworthy!" + +There was a fierce rush, in which she joined. She was knocked down. A +strong hand dragged her to her feet. It was Coke, swearing horribly. +She saw Hozier leap against the flood of men. + +"D--n you, the woman first!" she heard him say, and he sent the leaders +of the mob sprawling over the hatches of the forehold. + +Coke, almost carrying her in his left arm, butted in among the crew +like an infuriated bull. Some of the men, shamefaced, made way for +them. Hosier reached her. She thought he said to the captain: + +"There's a chance, if we can swing her clear." + +Then the ship struck, and they were all flung to the deck. They rose, +somehow, anyhow, but the _Andromeda_, apparently resenting the check, +lifted herself bodily, tilted bow upward, and struck again. A mass of +spray dashed down upon the struggling figures who had been driven a +second time to their knees. There was a terrific explosion in the +after-hold, for the deck had burst under the pressure of air, and +another ominous roar announced that the water had reached the furnaces. +Steam and smoke and dust mingled with the incessant lashing of sheets +of spray, and Iris was torn from Coke's grip. + +She fancied she heard Hozier cry, "Too late!" and a lightning glimpse +down the sloping deck showed some of the engineers and stokers crawling +up toward the quivering forecastle. She felt herself clasped in +Hozier's arms, and knew that he was climbing. After a few breathless +seconds she realized that they were standing on the forecastle, where +the captain and many of the crew were clinging to the windlass, and +anchor, and cable, and bulwarks, to maintain their footing. Below, +beyond a stretch of unbroken deck, the sea raged against all that was +left of the ship. The bridge just showed above the froth and spume of +sea level. The funnel still held by its stays, but the mainmast was +gone, and with it the string of flags. + +The noise was deafening, overpowering. It sounded like the rattle of +some immense factory; yet a voice was audible through the din, for +Hozier was telling her not to abandon hope, as the fore part of the +ship was firmly wedged into a cleft in the rocks: they might still have +a chance when the tide dropped. + +So that explained why it was so dark where a few moments ago all was +light. Iris pressed the salt water out of her burning eyes, and tried +to look up. On both sides of the narrow triangle of the forecastle +rose smooth overhanging walls, black and dripping. They were festooned +with seaweed, and every wave that curled up between the ship's plates +and the rocks was thrown back over the deck, while streams of water +fell constantly from the masses of weed. She gasped for breath. The +mere sight of this dismal cleft with its super-saturated air space made +active the choking sensation of which she was just beginning to be +aware. + +"I--cannot breathe!" she sobbed, and she would have slipped off into +the welter of angry foam beneath had not Hozier tightened a protecting +arm round her waist. + +"Stoop down!" he said. + +She had a dim knowledge that he unbuttoned his coat and drew one of its +folds over her head. Ah, the blessed relief of it! Freed from the +stifling showers of spray, she drew a deep breath or two. How good he +was to her! How sure she was now that if he had been spared by that +disabling shell he would have saved them all! + +Bent and shrouded as she was, she could see quite clearly downward. +The ship was breaking up with inconceivable rapidity. Already there +was a huge irregular vent between the fore deck and the central block +of cabins topped by the bridge. And a new horror was added to all that +had gone before. Swarms of rats were skimming up the slippery planks. +They were invading the forecastle and the forecastle deck. They came +in an irresistible army, though, fortunately for Iris's continued +sanity, the greater number scurried into the darkness of the men's +quarters. + +She was watching them with fascinated eyes, though not daring to +withdraw her head from under the coat, when she heard a ghastly yell +from beneath, and an erie face appeared above the stairway. It was +Watts, mad with fright and drink. + +"Save me! save me!" he screamed, and the girl shuddered as she realized +that the man did not fear death so much as he loathed the scampering +rats. He had no difficulty in climbing the steep companion, though, by +reason of the present position of all that was left of the _Andromeda_, +its pitch was thrown back to an unusual angle. He scrambled up, a +pitiable object. A couple of rats ran over his body, and as each +whisked across his shoulders and past his cheek he uttered a +blood-curdling yell. A big wave surged up into the recesses of the +cleft and was flung off in a drenching shower on to the forecastle. It +nearly swept Watts into the next world, and it drove every rodent in +that exposed place back to the dry interior. + +To return, they had to use the unhappy chief officer as a causeway, and +the poor wretch's despairing cries were heartrending. He was clinging +for dear life to a bolt in the deck when Coke joined hands with a +sailor and was thus enabled to reach him. Once the skipper's strong +fingers had clutched his collar he was rescued--at least from the +instant death that might have been the outcome of his abject terror, +for there could be little doubt in the minds of those who saw his +glistening eyes and drawn lips that it would have needed the passage of +but one more rat and he would have relaxed his hold. + +Coke pulled him up until he was lodged in safety in front of the +windlass. The manner of the welcome given by the captain to his _aide_ +need not be recorded here. It was curt and lurid; it would serve as a +sorry passport if proffered on his entry to another world; but the +tragi-comedy of Watts's appearance among the close-packed gathering on +the forecastle was forthwith blotted out of existence by a thing so +amazing, so utterly unlooked for that during a couple of spellbound +seconds not a man moved nor spoke. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE REFUGEES + +Watts was whimpering some broken excuse to his angry skipper when a +coil of stout rope fell on top of the windlass and rebounded to the +deck. More than that, one end of it stretched into the infinity of +dripping rock and flying spray overhead. And it had been thrown by +friendly hands. Though it dangled from some unseen ledge, its purpose +seemed to be that of help rather than slaughter, whereas every other +act of the inhabitants of Fernando Noronha had been suggestive of +homicidal mania in its worst form. + +Coke and Hozier recovered the use of their faculties simultaneously. +The eyes of the two men met, but Coke was the first to find his voice. + +"Salvage, by G--d!" he cried. "Up you go, Hozier! I'll sling the girl +behind you. She can't manage it alone, an' it needs someone with +brains to fix things up there for the rest of us." And he added +hoarsely in Philip's ear: "Sharp's the word. We 'aven't many minutes!" + +Philip made no demur. The captain's strong common sense had suggested +the best step that could be taken in the interests of all. Iris, who +was nearer yielding now that there was a prospect of being rescued than +when death was clamoring at her feet among the trembling remains of the +ship, silently permitted Coke and a sailor to strip off a life-belt and +tie her and Hozier back to back. It was wonderful, though hidden from +her ken in that supreme moment, to see how they devised a double sling +in order to distribute the strain. When each knot was securely +fastened, Coke vociferated a mighty "Heave away!" + +But his powerful voice was drowned by the incessant roar of the +breakers; not even the united clamor of every man present, fifteen all +told, including the drunken chief officer, could make itself heard +above the din. Then Hozier tugged sharply at the rope three times, and +it grew taut. Amid a jubilant cry from the others, he and Iris were +lifted clear of the deck. At once they were carried fully twenty feet +to seaward. As they swung back, not quite so far, and now well above +the level of the windlass from which their perilous journey had +started, a ready-witted sailor seized a few coils of a thin rope that +lay tucked up in the angle of the bulwarks, and flung them across +Hozier's arms. + +"Take a whip with you, sir!" he yelled, and Philip showed that he +understood by gripping the rope between his teeth. It was obvious that +the rescuers were working from a point well overhanging the recess into +which the _Andromeda_ had driven her bows, and there might still be the +utmost difficulty in throwing a rope accurately from the rock to the +wreck. As a matter of fact, no less than six previous attempts had +been made, and the success of the seventh was due solely to a favorable +gust of wind hurtling into the cleft at the very instant it was needed. +The sailor's quick thought solved this problem for the future. By +tying the small rope to the heavier one, those who remained below could +haul it back when some sort of signal code was established. At +present, all they could do was to pay out the whip, and take care that +it did not interfere with Hozier's ascent. They soon lost sight of him +and the girl, for the spray and froth overhead formed an impenetrable +canopy, but they reasoned that the distance to be traveled could not be +great; otherwise the throwing of a rope would have been a physical +impossibility in the first instance. + +Once there was a check. They waited anxiously, but there was no sign +given by the frail rope that they were to haul in again. Then the +upward movement continued. + +"Chunk o' rock in the way," announced Coke, glaring round at the +survivors as if to challenge contradiction. No one answered. These +men were beginning to measure their lives against the life of the wedge +of iron and timber kept in position by the crumbling frame of the ship. +It was a fast-diminishing scale. The figures painted on the +_Andromeda's_ bows represented minutes rather than feet. + +Watts was lying crouched on deck, with his arms thrown round the +windlass. Looking ever for a fresh incursion of rats, he seemed to be +cheered by the fact that his dreaded assailants preferred the interior +of the forecastle to the wave-swept deck. He was the only man there +who had no fear of death. Suddenly he began to croon a long-forgotten +sailor's chanty. Perhaps, in some dim way, a notion of his true +predicament had dawned on him, for there was a sinister purport to the +verse. + + "Now, me lads, sing a stave of the Dead Man's Mass; + Ye'll never sail 'ome again, O. + We're twelve old salts an' the skipper's lass, + Marooned in the Spanish Main, O. + Sing hay---- + Sing ho---- + A nikker is Davy Jones, + Just one more plug, an' a swig at the jug, + An' up with the skull an' bones." + + +After a longer and faster haul than had been noticed previously, the +rope stopped a second time. Everyone, except Watts, was watching the +whip intently. His eyes peered around, wide-open, lusterless. The +pounding of the seas, the grating of iron on rock, left him unmoved. + +"Wy don't you jine in the chorus, you swabs?" he cried, and forthwith +plunged into the second stanza. + + "The _Alice_ brig sailed out of the Pool + For the other side of the world, O, + An' our ole man brought 'is gal from school, + With 'er 'air so brown an' curled, O. + Sing hum---- + Sing hum---- + Of death no man's a dodger, + An' we squared our rig for a yardarm jig + When we sighted the Jolly Roger." + + +He grew quite uproarious because the lilting tune evoked neither +applause nor vocal efforts from the others. + +"Lord luv' a duck!" he shouted. "Can't any of ye lend a hand? Cheer +O, maties--'ere's a bit more---- + + The brig was becalmed in a sea like glass, + An' it gev' us all the creeps, O, + Wen the sun went down like a ball o' brass, + An' the pirate rigged 'is sweeps----" + + +"There she goes!" yelled the sailor in charge of the line; he began to +haul in the slack like a madman; Coke's fist fell heavily on the +singer's right ear. + +"Wen your turn comes, I'll tie the rope round your bloomin' neck!" he +growled vindictively, though his eyes continued to search the dark +shroud overhead that inclosed them as in a tomb. A dark form loomed +downward through the mist. It was Hozier, alone, coming back to them. +A frenzied cheer broke from the lips of those overwrought men. They +knew what that meant. Somewhere, high above the black rocks and the +flying scud, was hope throned in the blessed sunshine. They drew him +in cautiously until Coke was able to grasp his hand. They were quick +to see that he brought a second rope and a spare whip. + +"Two at a time on both ropes," was his inspiriting message. "They're +friendly Portuguese up there, but no one must be seen if a boat is sent +from the island to find out what has become of the ship. So step +lively! Now, Captain, tell 'em off in pairs." + +Coke's method was characteristic. He literally fell on the two nearest +men and began to truss them. Hozier followed his example, and tied two +others back to back. They vanished, and the ropes returned, much more +speedily this time. Four, and four again, were drawn up to safety. +There were left the captain, Hozier, and the unhappy Watts, who was now +crying because the skipper had "set about" him, just for singin' a reel +ole wind-jammer song. + +"You must take up this swine," said Coke to Hozier, dragging Watts to +his feet with scant ceremony. "If I lay me 'ands on 'im I'll be +tempted to throttle 'im." + +Watts protested vigorously against being tied. He vowed that it was +contrary to articles for a chief officer to be treated in such a +fashion. He howled most dolorously during his transit through mid-air, +but was happily quieted by another sharp rap on the head resulting from +his inability to climb over the obstructing rock. + +Before quitting the deck, Hozier helped to adjust the remaining rope +around the captain's portly person. They were lifted clear of the +trembling forecastle almost simultaneously, and in the very nick of +time. Already the skeleton of the ship's hull was beginning to slip +off into deep water. The deck was several feet lower than at the +moment of the vessel's final impact against the rocks. Even before the +three reached the ledge from which their rescuers were working, the +bridge and funnel were swept away, the foremast fell, the forehold and +forecastle were riotously flooded by the sea, and Watts, were he +capable of using his eyes, might have seen his deadly enemies, the +rats, swarming in hundreds to the tiny platform that still rose above +the destroying waves. Soon, even that frail ark was shattered. When +keel and garboard stroke plates snapped, all that was left of the +_Andromeda_ toppled over, and the cavern she had invaded rang with a +fierce note of triumph as the next wave thundered in without hindrance. + + * * * * * * + +It was, indeed, a new and strange world on which Iris looked when able +to breathe and see once more. During that terrible ascent she had +retained but slight consciousness of her surroundings. She knew that +Hozier and herself were drawn close to a bulging rock, that her +companion clutched at it with hands and knees, and thus fended her +delicate limbs from off its broken surface; she felt herself half +carried, half lifted, up into free air and dazzling light; she heard +voices in a musical foreign tongue uttering words that had the ring of +sympathy. And that was all for a little while. Friendly hands placed +her in a warm and sunlit cleft, and she lay there, unable to think or +move. By degrees, the numbness of body and mind gave way to clearer +impressions. But she took much for granted. For instance, it did not +seem an unreasonable thing that the familiar faces of men from the +_Andromeda_ should gather near her on an uneven shelf of rock strewn +with broken bolders and the litter of sea-birds. She recognized them +vaguely, and their presence brought a new confidence. They increased +in number; sailor-like, they began to take part instantly in the work +of rescue; but she wondered dully why Hozier did not come to her, nor +did she understand that he had gone back to that raging inferno beneath +until she saw his blood-stained face appear over the lip of the +precipice. + +Then she screamed wildly: "Thank God! Oh, thank God!" and staggered to +her feet in the frantic desire to help in unfastening the ropes that +bound him to the insensible Watts. One of the men tried to persuade +her to sit down again, but she would not be denied. Her unaccustomed +fingers strove vainly against the stiff strands, swollen as they were +with wet, and drawn taut by the strain to which they had been +subjected. Tears gushed forth at her own helplessness. The pain in +her eyes blinded her. She shrank away again. Not until Philip himself +spoke did she dare to look at him, to find that he was bending over +her, and endeavoring to allay her agitation by repeated assurance of +their common well-being. + +But her distraught brain was not yet equal to a complexity of thought. +Watts was lying close to her feet, and it thrilled her with dread and +contempt when Coke bestowed a well-considered kick on his chief +officer's prostrate form. + +"Oh, how dare you?" she cried, indignant as an offended goddess. + +"Sorry, miss," said Coke, scowling as if he were inclined to repeat the +assault, though he was not then aware of the more strenuous method +adopted by the rock as a sobering agent. "I didn't know you was there. +But 'e fair gev' me a turn, 'e did, singin' 'is pot-'ouse crambos w'en +we was in the very jors of death, so to speak." + +"He must not sing," she announced gravely, "but really you should not +kick him." + +"Come, Miss Yorke," broke in Hozier, who was choking back a laugh that +was nearer hysteria than he dreamed, "our Portuguese friends say we +must not remain here an instant longer than is necessary." + +"Yes," said a strange voice, "the sea is moderating. At any moment a +boat may appear. Follow me, all of you. The road is a rough one, but +it is not far." + +The speaker was an elderly man, long-haired and bearded, of whose +personality the girl caught no other details than the patriarchal +beard, a pair of remarkably bright eyes, a long, pointed nose, and a +red scar that ran diagonally across a domed forehead. He turned away +without further explanation, and began to climb a natural pathway that +wound itself up the side of an almost perpendicular wall of rock. + +Hozier caught Iris by the arm, and would have assisted her, but she +shook herself free. She felt, and conducted herself, like a fractious +child. + +"I can manage quite well," she said with an odd petulance. "Please +look after that unfortunate Mr. Watts. I am not surprised that he +should have been frightened by the rats. They terrified me, too. Oh, +how awful they were--in the dark--when their eyes shone!" + +Her mind had traveled back to the two nights and a day passed in the +lazaretto. She sobbed bitterly, and stumbled over a steep ledge. She +would have fallen were it not for Philip's help. + +"Watts is all right," he soothed her. "Two of the men are seeing to +him. And the rats are all gone now. There are none here!" + +"Are you sure?" + +"Quite sure." + +"What became of them?" + +"They are all--we left them behind on the ship." + +Suddenly she clung to him. + +"Don't let them send me back to the ship," she implored. + +"No, no. You are safe now." + +"Of course I am safe, but I dread that ship. Why did I ever come on +board? Captain Coke said he would sink her. I told you----" + +"Steady! Keep a little nearer the rocks on your left. The passage is +narrow here." + +Hozier raised his voice somewhat, and purposely hurried her. But she +was not to be repressed. + +"Poor ship! What had she done that she should be battered on the +rocks?" she wailed. + +"You must not talk," he said firmly, well knowing that if the sailors +and firemen lumbering close behind had not heard her earlier comment it +was due solely to the blustering wind. They were skirting the seaward +face of the rocky islet on which they had found salvation. The sun was +blazing at them sideways from a wide expanse of blue sky. The rear +guard clouds of the gale were scurrying away over the horizon in front +of their upward path. Somehow, Philip's sailor's brain was befogged. +Those clouds must have blown to the northeast. If that were so, what +was the sun doing in the southeast at this time of the day? It had +hardly budged a point from the quarter in which some fitful gleams +shone when that mad thing happened near the windlass. Thinking he was +still dizzy from the effects of the blow, which the girl had ascribed +to the bursting of a shell, Philip glanced at his watch. It was +twenty-five minutes past eight! Yet he distinctly remembered eight +bells being struck while Coke was telling him from the bridge to give +the anchor thirty-five fathoms of cable. Was it possible that they had +gone through so much during those few minutes? If he were really +light-headed, then sun and clouds and watch were conspiring to keep him +so. + +Iris, chilled by his stern tone, nevertheless noted his action. Still +unable to concentrate her thoughts on more than one topic, and that to +the exclusion of all else, she asked the time. He told her. He +awaited some expression of surprise on her part, provided it were, +indeed, true that only twenty-five minutes had sped since the +_Andromeda_ was quietly preparing to drop anchor off South Point. But +she received his news without comment. She would have been equally +undisturbed if told it was midnight, and that the vessel had gone +ashore on the coast of China. + +Just then the track turned sharply away from the sea. A dry +water-course cut deeply into the cliff where torrential rains had found +an upright layer of soft scoria imbedded in the mass of basalt. Their +guide was standing on the sky-line of the cleft, some forty feet above +them. + +"Tell the others to make haste," he said. "This is the end of your +journey." + +It did not strike either Hozier or the girl as being specially +remarkable that a man should meet them in this extraordinary place and +address them in good English. Iris, at any rate, gave no heed to this +most amazing fact. She merely observed for the first time that the +elderly stranger, while dressed in a beggar's rags, assumed an air of +command that was almost ludicrous. + +"Who is he?" she asked, being rather breathless now after a steep climb. + +"I don't know," said Hozier. + +"How absurd!" she gasped. "I--I think I'm dreaming. Why--have +we--come here?" + +She heard a coarse chuckle from Coke, not far below. + +"Let 'im cough it up," the skipper was saying. "It'll do 'im good. +I've seen 'im blind many a time, but 'ow any man could dope 'isself in +that shape in less'n two minutes!---- Well, it fair gives me the +go-by!" + +Two minutes! Hozier listened, and he was recovering his wits far more +rapidly than Iris. Was the skipper, then, in league with nature +herself to perplex him? And Watts, too? Why did Coke hint so coarsely +that he was drunk? He was on the bridge while he, Philip, was +attending to the lead, and at that time the chief officer was perfectly +sober. + +Iris, once again, was deeply incensed by Coke's brutality. + +"Horrid man!" she murmured, but she had no breath left for louder +protest. It was hot as a furnace in this narrow ravine; each upward +step demanded an effort. She would have slipped and hurt herself many +times were it not for Hozier's firm grasp, nor did she realize the +sheer exhaustion that forced him to seek support from the neighboring +wall with his disengaged hand. The man in front, however, was alive to +their dangerous plight. He said something in his own language--for his +English had the precise staccato accent of the well-educated +foreigner--and another man appeared. The sight of the newcomer +startled Iris more than any other event that had happened since the +_Andromeda_ reached the end of her last voyage. He wore the uniform of +those dreadful beings whom she had seen on the island. + +She shrieked; Hozier fancied she had sprained an ankle; but before she +could utter any sort of explanation the apparition in uniform was by +her side, and murmuring words that were evidently meant to be +reassuring. Seeing that he was not understood, he broke into halting +French. + +"Courage, madame!" he said. "Il faut monter--encore un peu--et +donc--vous êtes arrivé . . . Ça y est! Voilá! Comptez sur moi. +Juste ciel, mais c'est affreux l'escalier." + +But he worked while he poured out this medley, and Iris was standing on +level ground ere he made an end. He was a handsome youngster, +evidently an officer, and his eyes dwelt on the girl's face with no +lack of animation as he led her into a cave which seemed to have been +excavated from the inner side of a small crater. + +"You can rest here in absolute safety, madame," he said. "Permit me to +arrange a seat. Then I shall bring you some wine." + +Iris flung off the hand which held her arm so persuasively. + +"Please do not attend to me. There are wounded men who need attention +far more than I," she said, speaking in English, since it never entered +her mind that the Portuguese officer had been addressing her in French. + +He was puzzled more by her action than her words, but Hozier, who had +followed close behind, explained in sentences built on the +Ollendorffian plan that mademoiselle was disturbed, mademoiselle +required rest, mademoiselle hardly understood that which had arrived, +_et voilá tout_. + +The other man smiled comprehension, though he scanned Hozier with a +quick underlook. + +"Is monsieur the captain?" he asked. + +"No, monsieur the captain comes now. Here he is." + +"Mademoiselle, without doubt, is the daughter of monsieur the captain?" + +"No," said Hozier, rather curtly, turning to ascertain how Iris had +disposed of herself in the interior of the cavern. It was his first +experience of a South American dandy's pose towards women, or, to be +exact, toward women who are young and pretty, and it seemed to him not +the least marvelous event of an hour crammed with marvels that any man +should endeavor to begin an active flirtation under such circumstances. + +He saw that Iris was seated on a camp stool. Her face was buried in +her hands. A wealth of brown hair was tumbled over her neck and +shoulders; the constant showers of spray had loosened her tresses, and +the unavoidable rigors of the passage from ship to ledge had shaken out +every hairpin. The Tam o' Shanter cap she was wearing early in the day +had disappeared at some unknown stage of the adventure. Her attitude +bespoke a mood of overwhelming dejection. Like the remainder of her +companions in misfortune, she was drenched to the skin. That physical +drawback, however, was only a minor evil in this almost unpleasantly +hot retreat; but Hozier, able now to focus matters in fairly accurate +proportion, felt that Iris had not yet plumbed the depths of suffering. +Their trials were far from ended when their feet rested on the solid +rock. There was every indication that their rescuers were refugees +like themselves. The scanty resources visible in the cave, the intense +anxiety of the elderly Portuguese to avoid observation from the chief +island of the group, the very nature of the apparently inaccessible +crag in which he and his associates were hiding--each and all of these +things spoke volumes. + +Hozier did not attempt to disturb the girl until the dapper officer +produced a goatskin, and poured a small quantity of wine into a tin +cup. With a curious eagerness, he anticipated the other's obvious +intent. + +"Pardon me, monsieur," he said, seizing the vessel, and his direct +Anglo-Saxon manner quite robbed his French of its politeness. Then his +vocabulary broke down, and he added more suavely in English: "I will +persuade her to drink a little. She is rather hysterical, you know." + +The Portuguese nodded as though he understood. Iris looked up when +Hozier brought her the cup. The mere suggestion of something to drink +made active the parched agony of mouth and throat, but her wry face +when she found that the liquid was wine might have been amusing if the +conditions of life were less desperate. + +"Is there no water?" she asked plaintively. + +The officer, who was following the little by-play with his eyes, +realized the meaning of her words. + +"We have no water, mademoiselle," he said. Then he glanced at the +group of bedraggled sailors. "And very little wine," he added. + +"Please drink it," urged Hozier. "You are greatly run down, you know, +though you really ought to feel cheerful, since you have escaped with +your life." + +"I feel quite brave," said Iris simply. "I would never have believed +that I could go through--all that," and her childish trick of listening +to the booming of the distant breakers told him how vivid was her +recollection of the horrors crowded into those few brief minutes. + +"Be quick, please," put in the elderly Portuguese with a tinge of +impatience. "We have no second cup, and there are wounded men----" + +"Give it to them," said Iris, lifting her face again for an instant. +"I do not need it. I have told you that once already. I suppose you +think I should not be here." + +"I am sure our friend did not mean that," said Hozier, looking squarely +into those singularly bright eyes. He caught and held them. + +"I did not mean that the lady should be left to die if that is the +interpretation put on my remark," came the quiet answer. "But it was +an act of the utmost folly to bring a delicate girl on such an errand. +I cannot imagine what your captain was thinking of when he agreed to +it." + +"Wot's that, mister?" demanded Coke. Now that his fit of rage had +passed, the bulky skipper of the _Andromeda_ was red-faced and +imperturbable as usual. The manifold perils he had passed through +showed no more lasting effect on him than a shower of sleet on the +thick hide of the animal he so closely resembled. + +"Are _you_ the captain?" said the other. + +"Yes, sir. An' I'd like to 'ear w'y my ship or 'er present trip wasn't +fit for enny young leddy, let alone----" + +"That is a matter for you to determine. I suppose you know best how to +conduct your own business. My only concern is with the outcome of your +rashness. Why did you deliberately sacrifice your ship in that manner?" + +The speaker's cut-glass style of English left his hearers in no doubt +as to what he had said. During the tense silence that reigned for a +few seconds even some among the crew pricked their ears, while Hozier +and Iris forgot other troubles in their new bewilderment. There were +reasons why the drift of the stranger's words should be laid deeply to +heart by three people present. Coke, at any rate, found himself nearer +a state of pallid nervousness than ever before in the course of a +variegated life. It was impossible that he should actually grow pale, +but his brick-red features assumed a purple tint, and his fiery little +eyes glinted. + +"Wot are you a-drivin' at, mister?" he growled at last, after trying +vainly to expectorate and compromising the effort in a husky gargle. + +"Do you deny, then, that you acted like a madman? Do you say that you +did not know quite well the risk you ran in bringing your vessel to the +island in broad daylight?" + +Then Coke found his breath. + +"Risk!" he roared. "Risk in steamin' to an anchorage an' sendin' a +boat ashore for water? There seems to be a lot of mad folk loose just +now on Fernando Noronha, but I'm not one of 'em, an' that's as much as +I can say for enny of you--damme if it ain't." + +Evidently the Portuguese was not accustomed to the direct form of +conversation in vogue among British master mariners. He bent his +piercing gaze on Coke's angry if somewhat flustered countenance, and +there was a perceptible stiffening of voice and manner when he said: + +"Who are you, then? Who sent you here?" + +"I'm Captain James Coke, of the British ship _Andromeda_, that's 'oo +_I_ am, an' I was sent 'ere, or leastways to the River Plate, by David +Verity an' Co., of Liverpool." + +It must not be forgotten that Coke shared with his employer a certain +unclassical freedom in the pronunciation of the ship's name; the long +"e" apparently puzzled the other man. + +"_Andromeeda_?" he muttered. "Spell it!" + +"My godfather, this is an asylum for sure," grunted Coke, in a spasm of +furious mirth. "A-n-d-r-o-m-e-d-a. Now you've got it. Ain't it up to +Portygee standard? A-n-d-r-o-m-e-d-a! 'Ow's that for the bloomin' +spellin' bee?" + +But Coke's humor made no appeal. The staring, brilliant eyes fixed on +him did not relax their vigilance, nor did any trace of emotion exhibit +itself in that calm voice. + +"You are unlucky, Captain Coke, most unlucky," it said. "I regret my +natural mistake, which, it seems, was shared by the authorities of +Fernando do Noronha. You have blundered into a nest of hornets, and, +as a result, you have been badly stung. Let me explain matters. I am +Dom Corria Antonio De Sylva, ex-President of the Republic of Brazil. +There is, at this moment, a determined movement on foot on the mainland +to replace me in power, and, with that object in view, efforts are +being made to secure my escape from the convict settlement in which my +enemies have imprisoned me. I and two faithful followers are here in +hiding. My friend, Capitano Salvador De San Benavides," and he bowed +with much dignity toward the uniformed officer, "came here two days ago +in a felucca to warn me that a steamer would lie to about a mile south +of the island to-night. The steamer's name is _Andros-y-Mela_--it is +rather like the name of your unhappy vessel--so much alike that the +_Andromeda_ has been sunk by mistake. That is all." + +Coke, listening to this explanation with the virtuous wrath of a knave +who discovers that he has been wrongfully suspected, bristled now with +indignation. + +"Oh, that's all, is it?" he cried sarcastically. "No, sir, it ain't +all, nor 'arf, nor quarter. Let me tell you that no crimson pirate on +Gawd's earth can blow a British ship off the 'igh seas an' then do the +dancin'-master act, with 'is 'and on 'is 'eart, an' say it was just a +flamin' mistake. All! says you? Don't you believe it. There's a lot +more to come yet, take my tip--a devil of a lot, or I'm the biggest +lunatic within a ten-mile circle of w'ere I'm stannin', which is givin' +long odds to any other crank in the whole creation." + +And Coke was right, though he little guessed then why he was so +thoroughly justified in assuming that he and the other survivors of the +_Andromeda_ had not yet gone through half, or quarter, or more than a +mere curtain-raising prelude to the strange human drama in which they +were destined to be the chief actors. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +BETWEEN THE BRAZILIAN DEVIL AND THE DEEP ATLANTIC + +There was an awkward pause. Coke, rascal though he was, and +pot-bellied withal, was no Falstaff. Rather did he suggest the +present-day atavism of some robber baron of the Middle Ages, whose +hectoring speech bubbled forth from a stout heart. But the ragged +ex-President heeded him not. After a moment of placid scrutiny of his +enraged countenance by those bright, watchful eyes, Coke might have +been non-existent so far as recognition of his outburst was apparent +during the sonorous discussion that ensued between Dom Corria Antonio +De Sylva and the Señor Capitano Salvador De San Benavides. + +The latter, it is true, betrayed excitement. At first he favored Iris +with a deprecatingly admiring glance, as one who would say, "Dear lady, +accept my profound regret and respectful homage." But that phase +quickly passed. His leader was not a man to waste words, and the +gallant captain's expressive face soon showed that he had grasped the +essential facts. They did not please him. In fact, he was distinctly +cowed, almost stunned, by his companion's revelations. + +It fell to De Sylva to explain matters to his unexpected guests. + +"My friend agrees with me that it is only fair that the exact position +should be revealed to you," he said, addressing Coke, though a +dignified gesture invited the others to share his confidence. + +"It don't take much tellin'," began Coke. De Sylva silenced him with +an emphatic hand. + +"Please attend. The situation is not so simple as you seem to imagine. +The loss of your ship cannot be dealt with here. It raises issues of +international law which can only be settled by courts and governments. +You know, I suppose, that nothing will be done until a complaint is +lodged by a British minister, and that hinges upon the very doubtful +fact that you will ever again see your own country." + +The ex-President certainly had the knack of expressing himself clearly. +Those concluding words rang like a knell. They even called Watts back +from the slumber of unconsciousness; the "chief" stirred himself where +he lay on the floor of the cavern, and began to quaver. + + "----twelve old salts an' the skipper's lass + Marooned in the Spanish Main, O. + Sing hay----" + + +Coke, taken by surprise, was unable to stop this warbling earlier. But +his hand clutched Watts's shoulder, and his venomous whisper of "Shut +up, you ijjit!" was so unmistakable that the lyric ceased. + +De Sylva seemed to be aware of some peculiarity in the symptoms of the +wounded man's recovery, but he continued speaking in the same balanced +tone. + +"It happens, by idle chance, that my enemies have become yours. The +men who destroyed your ship thought they were injuring me. I have just +pointed out to Capitano De San Benavides the precise outcome of this +attack. Until a few moments ago we shared the delusion that the troops +on Fernando de Noronha believed we were now on our way to a Brazilian +port. We were mistaken. More than that, we know now that they have +obtained news--probably through a traitor to our cause--of the +_Andros-y-Mela's_ voyage. They were prepared for her coming. They had +made arrangements to receive her--almost at the place decided on by our +friends in Brazil. It is more than likely that the _Andros-y-Mela_ is +now lying under the guns of some coast fortress, since the presence of +troops and cannon on this side of the island is unprecedented." + +"I don't see wot all this 'as to do with me," blurted out Coke +determinedly. + +"No. It would not concern you in the least if you were safe at sea. +But, since you are here, it does concern you most gravely. From one +point of view, you served my cause well by preparing to lower a boat. +You misled my persecutors as to locality, at least. Of course, I saw +you, and thought you were mad, but your action did help to conceal from +the soldiers the secret of my true hiding-place. I wish to be candid +with you. If my friends and I had realized that you were here by +accident, we ought to have taken no steps to save you." + +"Really!" snarled Coke, eying the unruffled Brazilian much as an +Andulusian bull might glare at a picador. A buzz of angry whispering +came from the crew. Even Iris flashed a disdainful glance at the man +who uttered this atrocious sentiment. De Sylva raised his hand. He +permitted himself the luxury of a wintry smile. + +"Pray, do not misunderstand me," he said. "I am humane as most others, +but it is difficult to decide whether or not mere humanity, setting +aside self-interest, would not rather condemn you to the speedy death +of the wreck than drag you to the worse fate that awaits you here. And +please remember that we did succor you, thus risking observation and a +visit by the troops when the sea permits a landing. But that is not +the true issue. An hour ago there were four people on this bare +rock--four of us who looked for escape to-night. We were supplied with +such small necessaries of existence as would enable us to live if our +rescuers were delayed for a day, or even two. Now, there will be no +rescue. We are--" he looked slowly around--"twenty instead of four; +but we have the same quantity of stores, which consist of a +half-emptied skin of wine, a bunch of bananas, a few scraps of maize +bread, and some strips of dried meat. Do you follow me?" + +Coke, who had been holding Watts in a sitting posture by a firm grip on +his collar, allowed the limp figure to sprawl headlong again. He +wanted to plunge both hands deeply into his trousers pockets, because +men of his type associate attitude so closely with thought that the one +is apt to become almost dependent on the other. And so, for the +moment, the safeguarding of Watts was of no consequence. But Watts had +benefited much by the sousing of the spray, while his recovery was +expedited by the forcible ejection of the salt water he had swallowed. +He raised himself on one hand, and looked about with an inquiring eye. +The Brazilian officer's uniform seemed to fascinate him. + +"'Ello!" he gurgled. "Run in? Well I'm----" + +"Is not that man wounded? I thought I saw him dashed against the +rocks," said De Sylva. + +"'E ought to be," said Coke, "but 'e's on'y drunk. A skin o' rum, 'arf +empty, too, just like your skin o' wine, mister." + +"Let him be taken outside and gagged if he resists." + +There was an uneasy movement among the men. Their common impulse was +to obey. Coke spread his feet a little apart. + +"Leave 'im alone. 'E'll do no 'arm now," he said. + +"I cannot be interrupted," cried De Sylva, whose iron self-restraint +seemed to be yielding before British truculence. + +"I'll keep 'im quiet but I can't 'ave 'im roasted afore 'is time, an' +that's wot's 'ul 'appen if you tied him up in that gulley." + +"Thanke'ee, skipper. You allus were a reel pal," murmured Watts. + +Coke bent over him. + +"If your tongue don't stop waggin' it'll soon be stickin' out between +yer teeth," he hissed. "This ain't no fancy lock-up in the East Injia +Dock Road, Arthur, me boy. They won't bring you a pint of cocoa 'ere, +an' ax if you're comfortable. You 'aven't long to live accordin' to +all accounts, so just close your mouth an' open your ears, an' mebbe +you'll know w'y." + +De Sylva regained his self-possession with a rapidity that was +significant. He had not climbed to the presidential chair of the +Republic from a clerkship in the London Embassy of the Empire without +acquiring the habit of estimating his fellow men speedily and +accurately. Here was one who might be led, but would never permit +himself to be driven. Moreover, this dethroned ruler was by way of +being a philosopher. + +"I hate drunkards," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "You cannot +trust them. If I had been surrounded by trustworthy men, I should +not----" + +He broke off. There was a sound of hurrying footsteps on the steep +pathway. A figure, clad in rags that surpassed even De Sylva's, +appeared in the entrance. A brief colloquy took place. De Sylva's +eager questions were answered in monosyllables, or the nearest approach +thereto. + +"Marcel tells me that one of your boats is drifting away with a man +lying in the bottom," came the uneasy explanation. + +Coke's face showed a degree of surprise, which, in his case, was almost +invariably akin to disbelief, but an exclamation from Hozier drew all +eyes. + +"Good Lord!" he cried, "that must be the lifeboat I was trying to clear +when the ship struck. Macfarlane was helping me, but he was hit by a +bullet and dropped across the thwarts. I thought he was dead!" + +"Dead or alive, he is better off than we," said De Sylva. He +questioned Marcel again briefly. "There can be no doubt that the man +in the boat cast off the lashings when he found that the ship was +sinking," he continued in English. "Marcel saw him doing that, and +wondered why he was alone. At any rate, if he is carried beyond the +reef, he has a fighting chance. We have none." + +"Why not? Are these men on the island so deaf to human sympathies that +they would murder all of us in cold blood?" + +The girl's sweet, low-pitched voice sounded inexpressibly sad in that +vaulted place. Even De Sylva's studied control gave way before its +music. He uttered some anguished appeal to the deity in his own +tongue, and flung out his hands impulsively. + +"What would you have me say?" he cried, and his eyes blazed, while the +scar on his forehead darkened with the gust of passion that swept over +his strong features. "I might lie to you, and try to persuade you that +we can exist here without food or water, whereas to-morrow, or next day +at the utmost, will see most of us dead. But in a few hours you will +realize what it means to be kept on this bare rock under a tropical +sun. You can do one thing. Your party greatly outnumbers mine. Climb +to the top-most pinnacle and signal to the island. You will soon be +seen." + +He laughed with a savage irony that was not good to hear, but Coke +caught at the suggestion. + +"Even that is better'n tearin' one another like mad dogs," he growled. +"I know wot's comin'. I've seen it wonst." + +Hozier made for the exit, where Marcel stood, irresolute, apparently +waiting for orders. + +"Where are you going?" demanded De Sylva. + +"To see what is becoming of the lifeboat." + +"Better not. You cannot help your friend, and the instant it becomes +known to the troops that there is a living soul on the Grand-père rock +they will come in a steam launch and shoot everyone at sight." + +"Will that be the answer to our signal?" + +It was Iris who asked the question, and the Brazilian's voice softened +again. + +"Yes," he said. + +"Why, then, do you advise us to seek our own destruction?" + +He bowed. His manner was almost humble. + +"It is the easier way," he murmured. + +"Is there no other?" + +"None--unless we attack two hundred soldiers with sticks, and stones, +and three revolvers, and a sword." + +Hozier came back. He had merely stepped a pace or two into the +sunlight. Through the northerly dip of the gulley he had seen the +ship's boat whirled past an islet by the fierce current. Macfarlane +was not visible. Perhaps that was better so. At any rate, the sight +of the small craft vanishing behind one of the island barriers brought +home with telling force the predicament of those who remained. Now +that the sheer frenzy of the wreck had relaxed, Philip's head was like +to split with the throbbing anguish of the blow he had received. But +his mind was clearer. De Sylva's words, amplifying his own vague +recollection of the scene on board the _Andromeda_, enabled him to +construct a picture of events as they were. And his blood boiled when +he thought of Iris, snatched many times from death, only to face it +once more in the ravening form of starvation and thirst. + +"Attack!" he said hoarsely. "How is that possible? A deep and wide +channel separates us from the main island." + +The Brazilian, who seemed to have argued himself into a state of stoic +despair, gave a startling answer. + +"We have a boat, a sort of boat," he said quietly. + +"How many will it hold?" + +"Three, in a smooth sea, and with skilled handling. It nearly +overturned when I and two others crossed from the island, a distance of +three hundred yards." + +"But we have ropes, clothes, perhaps some few pieces of wreckage. Can +nothing be done to repair it?" + +"Meaning that we draw lots to see who shall endeavor to escape +to-night?" + +"The men might even do that." + +"Ah, yes--the men, of course. I think it hopeless. But, try it! Yes, +certainly, try it!" + +A pause, more eloquent than the most impassioned speech, showed how +this frail straw, eddying in the vortex of their fate, might yet be +clutched at. San Benavides, trying vainly to guess what was being +said, blurted forth an anxious inquiry. His compatriot explained +briefly. Somehow, the measured cadence of their talk had a less +reliable sound than the vigorous Anglo-Saxon. They were both brave +men. They had not scrupled to risk their lives in an enterprise where +success beckoned even doubtingly. But they were lacking when all that +remained to be settled was how best to die; in such an hour the men of +an English speaking race will ever choose a fighting death. + +This time, it was a woman who decided. + +Iris rose to her feet. She brushed back the strands of damp hair from +her face, and with deft hands made a rough-and-ready coil of her +abundant tresses. + +"Are you planning to send me with two others adrift in a boat, while +seventeen men are left here?" she asked. + +The Brazilian ceased speaking. There was another uneasy pause. Hozier +felt that the question was addressed to him, but he was tongue-tied, +almost shame-faced. Coke, however, did not shirk the task of +enlightening her. + +"Something like that," he said. "We can't let you cut in with the rest +of us, missy. That wouldn't be reasonable. But it's best to fix the +business fair an' square. We ain't agoin' to try any other way, not so +long as _I'm_ skipper," and he looked with brutal frankness at De Sylva +and the anxious but uncomprehending San Benavides. + +The ex-President knew what he meant; even in his despondency he +resented the implied slur on his good faith. + +"You cannot examine the boat until darkness sets in," he said. "Then +you will find out how frail a foundation you are building on. It is +absolutely ridiculous to assume that she can be made seaworthy. Her +occupants would be drowned before they were clear of the islands." + +"In any case, I refuse to go," said Iris. + +De Sylva smiled gloomily. + +"You are courageous, senhora, and, in some respects, you are wise," he +said. "Yet . . . I must admit it . . . I would urge you to select the +boat--in preference . . ." + +Marcel, the Brazilian who had come to tell them of the drifting +life-boat, turned away from the mouth of the cavern, and scrambled down +the ravine. + +"Wot's 'e after?" demanded Coke, suddenly suspicious. + +"He and Domingo are keeping a lookout," said De Sylva. "If the +soldiers intend to visit us we should at least be warned. The boat is +hidden among the rocks on the landward side," he added, not without a +touch of scorn. + +"That man has taught us our own duty," cried Iris. "The boat that +brought these men to this rock can bring nineteen men and a woman to +Fernando Noronha. We must land there to-night. With those to guide us +who know the coast, surely that should be possible. We have a right to +struggle for our lives. We, of the _Andromeda_, at least, have done no +wrong to the cruel wretches who sought to kill us without mercy to-day. +Why should we not endeavor to defend ourselves? There is food there, +and guns in plenty. Let us take them. Above all, let us not dream of +any such useless device as this proposal to send three to drown +somewhere in the sea and leave seventeen to perish miserably here. We +are in God's hands. Let us trust to Him, but while doing that fully +and fearlessly, we must seek life, not death." + +"Bully for you, miss!" roared a sailor, and a growl of admiration rang +through the cave. Instantly a hubbub of talk showed how intent the +crew had been on the previous discussion, but Coke shouted them into +silence. + +"Oo axed wot _you_ think, you swabs?" he bellowed. "Stow your lip! +Sink me, if you don't all do as you're bid, an' keep still tongues in +your 'eds, I'll want to know w'y--P.D.Q." + +A big, blond Norwegian, Hans Olsen by name, strode forward. Unlike the +usual self-contained Norseman, he was reputed a "sea-lawyer" in the +forecastle. + +"We haf somedings ter zay for our lifes, yez," he protested. Coke bent +and butted him violently in the stomach with his head. The man crashed +against the rocky wall, and sat dazed where he had fallen. + +"You've got to obey orders--savvy?" growled Coke. + +"Yez," gasped Olsen, evidently fearing a further assault. + +The incident ended. Its outstanding feature was the amazing activity +displayed by the burly skipper, who had rammed his man before the big +fellow could lift a finger. It might be expected that Iris would show +some sign of dismay, owing to this unlooked-for violence. But she was +now beyond the reach of merely feminine emotions. She had protested +against the kicking of Watts because it seemed to lack motive, because +Watts was helpless, and because she herself was half-delirious at the +time. Olsen's attitude, on the other hand, hinted at mutiny, and +mutiny must be repressed at any cost. + +De Sylva's incisive accents helped to bridge a moment fraught with +possibilities, for it would be idle to assume that this polyglot +gathering was composed of Bayards. Self-preservation is apt to prove +stronger than chivalry under such circumstances. Let it be assumed +that three among the twenty could escape that night, and it was +horribly true that the field of selection might be narrowed by a +wild-beast struggle long before the sun went down. + +"The young lady has at least given us a project," he said. "It is a +desperate one, Heaven knows! It offers a fantastic chance, and I can +see no other, but--what can we do without arms?" + +"Use our heads," put in Hozier. He had not the slightest intention of +making a light-hearted joke at that crisis in their affairs, but he +happened to look at Coke, and an involuntary smile gleamed through the +crust of clotted blood and perspiration that gave his good-looking face +a most sinister aspect. The Irishman cackled with laughter. + +"Begob, that's wan for the skipper," he crowed; then some of the others +grinned, and the _Andromeda's_ little company stood four-square again +to the winds of adversity. Having blundered into prominence, the +second mate was quick to see that he must hammer home the facts, though +in more serious vein. + +"Bring us to the island, Senhor De Sylva," he said, "and we will make a +fight of it. In any case, even if we fail, they will not deliberately +kill a woman. There must be other women there who will intervene in +behalf of one of their own sex. But we may succeed. It is improbable +that the whole of the troops will be gathered in one spot. Why should +we not take some small detachment by surprise and secure their weapons? +If we can land unobserved, we ought to be able to drop on them +apparently from the skies. I take it that the presence here of Captain +San Benavides is unknown, and the leadership of an officer in the +enemy's own uniform should turn the scale in our favor. Have you no +followers among the troops or islanders? Suppose we make good our +first attack, and seize a strong position--isn't it probable we may +receive assistance from your partisans?" + +"Perhaps--among the convicts," was De Sylva's grim reply. + +"No officials, or soldiers?" + +"Not one. They are chosen for this service on account of their +animosity against the former Government. How else could you account +for their treatment of unarmed men on a ship crippled by their first +shell?" + +"You spoke of a steam launch. Where is that kept?" + +"At a wharf under the walls of the citadel which commands the town and +anchorage." + +"Assuming we have a stroke of luck and rush some outpost, would it be +possible to cross the island before dawn and board the launch or some +other craft in which we can put to sea?" + +"There is only the launch, and some small fishing catamarans. No other +boats are allowed to exist on the island, in order to prevent the +escape of convicts. The boat we possess is really a badly-constructed +catamaran, without a sail, and minus the out-rigger which alone renders +it safe for the shortest voyage." + +"Wy didn't you say that sooner, mister?" put in Coke. "If some of +these jokers knew wot sort of craft it was, mebbe it wouldn't 'ave +needed a shove in the stommick to bring Hans Olsen to heel." + +"I am sorry," said De Sylva. "You see, I realized the utter folly of +trying to escape in that fashion." + +The two men looked each other squarely in the eye. The ex-President of +a great republic and the master of a worn-out tramp steamer were both +born leaders of men. Whatsoever prospect of a cabal existed +previously, it was scotched now, beyond doubt. Henceforth, no matter +what ills threatened, surely the little army mustered on the Grand-père +rock would stand or fall together! + +An unerring token of unity was forthcoming at once. + +"Please, miss, an' gents all, may we smoke?" pleaded a voice. + +Iris was for an immediate permission, but De Sylva shook his head. + +"Not until the tide falls," he said. "There is a very real fear of a +visit from the launch. It has passed this spot four times during the +past two days--ever since my absence was discovered, in fact. The +soldiers have searched every outlying island, but they have avoided +Grand-père because it is believed that a landing is highly dangerous if +not quite impracticable. My friend Marcel, a fisherman, discovered by +accident the only safe means of reaching the path which winds round the +island. Happily, the wretch who betrayed the mission of the +_Andros-y-Mela_ did not know the secret of my refuge. And I see now +that the Governor must be convinced that I am still hiding among the +cliffs, or your vessel would not have appeared off South Point this +morning. No, there must be no smoking as yet. In this clear air the +slightest cloud might be seen rising above the rocks from without." + +Marcel reappeared at the entrance. With him was another man, whom +Hozier remembered seeing when he was hauled up from the ship with Iris. + +"Ah, I was not mistaken," went on De Sylva. "Here comes news of the +launch! They have signaled for it across the island." + +Marcel entered the cave with an expressive gesture, for long habit had +almost robbed him of his native vivacity. His companion, Domingo, +climbed the opposite wall of the ravine and stretched himself at full +length in a niche where there was room for a man to lie. Some tufts of +rough grass grew there in sufficient density to conceal his head while +he peered between the stalks. They could see him quite plainly, but no +one wanted to speak. Though the unceasing wash of a heavy swell +against the rocks would have drowned the noise had they shouted in +unison, there was no need to tell anyone present that a very real and +dangerous crisis had arrived. The slow change in the direction of +Domingo's gaze showed the approach and passing of the hostile vessel. +It was evident that a long halt was made in the channel close to the +wreck, of which some fragments remained above water. Still, curiously +enough, it was impossible for those on board the launch to read the +ship's name, since the word "_Andromeda_," twice embossed on the sharp +cut-water, was hidden by the jutting rocks on both sides of the cleft. + +But it was not the fear of instant death following on the discovery +that the Grand-père islet was inhabited that kept tongues mute and ears +on the alert during a quarter of an hour that seemed to be protracted +to a quarter of a day. At present they were shut off from hostile +bullets by the walls of a fortress stronger than any that could be +built by men's hands. The greater danger was that the enemy's +suspicions might be aroused. Let those who held Fernando Noronha with +the armed forces of Brazil once come to regard the isolated rock in mid +channel as providing even a possible refuge for the ex-President and +his friends, and it would mean the complete overthrow of the slender +chance of saving their lives that still offered itself. + +So they waited in silence, watching the rigid figure of the prostrate +Brazilian, just as those among them who were saved from the _Andromeda_ +had watched the arch of spray and spindrift from the slowly sinking +forecastle. + +At last Domingo turned his head slightly, and gave them a reassuring +little nod. He said something, which De Sylva translated. + +"They have a photograph of the wreck," he said, "and are now steaming +through the northerly channel to the anchorage on the west side of the +island. Most fortunately, they do not seem to be aware of your +drifting boat." + +Then he added, with a courtliness that was so incongruous with his +unkempt appearance and patched and tattered garments;--"If the Senhora +permits, the men may smoke now. In another hour the channel will not +be navigable. We have a hot and tiring day before us, and I advise +sleep for those to whom it is vouchsafed. If the weather continues to +improve, the next tide will bring us a smooth sea. Given that, and a +dark night--well--we may make history. Who knows?" + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +CROSS PURPOSES + +Though Iris gave such warlike counsel, it would be doing her a grave +injustice to assume that her gentle disposition was changed because of +the day's sufferings. The erstwhile light-hearted schoolgirl and +youthful mistress of her uncle's house had been subjected to dynamic +influences. The ordeal through which she had passed, unscathed bodily +but seared in spirit, had left her strung to a tense pitch. Relaxation +had not come--as yet. She only knew that she resented to the uttermost +the Brazilians' malevolent fury. Hers was a nature that could not +endure unfairness. It was unfair of David Verity to seek to mend his +shattered fortunes by forcing her into a hateful marriage; unfair of +both Verity and Coke to found their new venture on a great fraud; and +monstrously unfair of these island factionaries to vent their spite on +an innocent ship. So, for the hour, she was inspired. It is the +high-souled enthusiast who devotes life itself to a cause; those who +practice oppression have ever most to beware of in the man or woman +whose conscience will not condone a wrong. + +Of course, in this present clash of emotions, Iris little understood +what her advice really meant. She was appealing to heaven rather than +to the force of arms. To one of her temperament, it seemed incredible +that a number of inoffensive strangers should be slaughtered because a +South American republic could not agree in choosing a president. Such +a thing was unheard of in her previous experience, built on no more +solid foundation than the humdrum existence of Brussels and Bootle. +And the inhabitants of neither Brussels nor Bootle settle their +political differences by shooting casual visitors at sight. + +Oddly enough, the only professional soldier present condemned her +project roundly when it was mooted. + +"In leaving the island to-night you are acting on an assumption," +protested Captain San Benavides to his chief. "You cannot be sure that +the _Andros-y-Mela_ will not appear. The arrangement is that she is to +send a boat here soon after midnight, yet, if this mad scheme of an +attack on armed troops by unarmed men is persisted in, we must begin to +ferry to the island long before that hour. In all probability, we +shall be discovered at once. At the very moment that our friends are +eagerly awaiting us on board the ship we may be lying dead on the +island. The notion is preposterous. Be guided by me, Dom Corria, and +decline to have anything to do with it. Better still, let these +English boors promise to forget that we are alive; then Marcel can +guide them to the landing-place, where they will be shot speedily and +comfortably. There is no sense in sacrificing the girl. She must be +kept here on some pretext." + +The ex-President took thought before he answered. He did not deny +himself that the confident air of these hard-bitten sailors made strong +appeal to his judgment. He had his own reasons for distrusting some +among his professed supporters, and he did not share his military +aide's opinion as to the coming of the promised vessel. + +"There is a good deal in what you say, senhor adjudante," he announced +after his bright eyes had dwelt on San Benavides' expressive face in +thoughtful scrutiny. "In England they have a proverb that a man cannot +both run with the hare and hunt with the hounds, but such maxims are +not framed for would-be Presidents. I fear we must fall in with our +allies' views, _faute de mieux_. You and I have to lead a headstrong +army. That little Hercules of a commander is stubborn as a mule--a +mule that has the strength and courage of a wild boar. The younger man +thinks only of the girl's safety. He, at least, will not consent to +leave her. Both, backed by their crew, will not scruple to sacrifice +us if their interests point that way. Trust me to twist them into the +course that shall best serve our own needs. I am now going to tell +them that you approve of their plan." + +Forthwith he launched out into an English version of the excellent +captain's comments. His precise, well-turned periods were admirable. +Their marked defect was that he said the exact contrary to San +Benavides. + +Iris, having a born aptitude for languages, spoke French and German +with some proficiency. She had also devoted many hours to the study of +Spanish during the past winter, and it happens that the Portuguese of +Brazil is less unlike Spanish than the Portuguese of Lisbon. In +Europe, national antipathies serve to accentuate existing differences +between the two tongues, but the peoples of the South American seaboard +feel the need of a common speech, and local conditions have +standardized many words. Hence, the Spanish language will serve all +ordinary purposes among the Latin races who have made their own the +vast continent that stretches from Panama to Tierra del Fuego. + +So the girl's super-active brain was puzzled by De Sylva's rendering of +his military friend's remarks. With the vaguest knowledge of what was +actually said, she suspected that San Benavides had opposed the very +project which, according to the President, he favored. She had caught +the name of the relief vessel, the words _bote_, "boat," _las doce_, +"twelve o'clock," _à bordo de buque_, "on board the ship," and others +which did not figure in the translation. She wondered why. + +The long day wore slowly. The heat was intense. Even the hardened +sailors soon found that if the atmosphere of the cavern were to remain +endurable they might not smoke. So pipes were extinguished, and they +tried to better their condition. Water-soaked coats and boots placed +in the sun were dry in a few minutes. Iris was persuaded to allow her +dress to be treated in this manner. She was still wearing the heavy +ulster of the early morning--when the aftermath of the gale was chill +and searching--and the possession of this outer wrap made easy the +temporary discarding of a skirt and blouse. + +Unhappily, she answered in French some simple query of the dapper +officer's. Thenceforth, to her great bewilderment and Hozier's +manifest annoyance, he pestered her with compliments and inquiries. To +avoid both, she expressed a longing for sleep. It seemed to her +excited imagination that she would never be able to sleep again, yet +her limbs were scarcely composed in comfort on a litter of coarse grass +and parched seaweed than her eyes closed in the drowsiness of sheer +exhaustion. This respite was altogether helpful. She had slept but +little during the gale, and its tremendous climax had surprised her +vitality at a low ebb. + +When she awoke, the ravine was in shadow and the interior of the cave +was dark. Her first conscious sensation was that of almost intolerable +thirst. Her lips were blistered, her tongue and palate sore, and she +asked herself in alarm what new evil was afflicting her, until she +remembered the drenching she had received and the amount of salt-laden +air that had passed into her lungs. Nevertheless, she cried +involuntarily for water, and again she was offered wine. She managed +to smile in a strained fashion at this malicious humor of fortune. By +a freak of memory she called to mind the somewhat similar predicament +of the crew of a storm-tossed ship that she had once read about. They +ran short of water, but the vessel carried hundreds of cases of bottled +stout. During three long weeks of boating against the wind those +wretched men were compelled to drink stout morning, noon, and night, +and never did temperance argument apply with greater force to the +seafaring community than toward the end of that enforced regimen of +malt liquor. + +Hozier, who had aroused her by touching her shoulder, fancied he saw +the gleam of merriment in her face. + +"What is amusing you?" he asked. + +She told him, though she spoke with difficulty. + +"It is not quite so bad as that," he said. "If there is no hitch in +our plans, we should be on the island within five hours. We have +everything thought out as far as may be in view of the unknown. At any +rate, Miss Yorke, if we succeed in getting you safely ashore, you +personally will have but slight cause for further anxiety. The +proposal is that Marcel shall take you at once to the hut of an old +convict whom he can trust----" + +"A convict!" she gasped. The word was ominous, and she was hardly +awake. + +"The population of Fernando Noronha is almost entirely made of convicts +and soldiers," he explained. + +"But am I to be left there alone?" + +"What else is there to be done? You cannot join in the attack on a +fort--and that offers our only chance, it would seem. Granted an +effective surprise, we may carry it. Then your guardian will bring you +to us." + +"What if you fail?" + +"We must not fail," he said quietly. + +"Please do not hide the alternative from me," she pleaded. "I have +endured so much----" + +"Well, don't you see, this man--who, by the way, is married, and has a +daughter aged fourteen--will, if necessary, reveal your presence to the +Governor. By that time, say, in a day or two, the excitement will have +died down, the news of your escape will be cabled to England, you will +be sent to the coast on the Government steamer, and you can travel home +by the next mail." + +"That sounds very simple--and European," she said, and the pathetic +sarcasm was not lost on him. + +"It is reasonable enough. Unfortunately for us, all the bother centers +round Senhor De Sylva, to whom we owe our lives. He is outside at the +moment, showing our skipper the lay of the land before the light fails, +so I am free to speak plainly. When he is dead there will be no +further trouble, till the next revolution. But why endeavor to look +ahead when seeing is impossible? At present, what really presses is +the necessity that you should eat and drink. We have shared out the +whole of the available food. Here is your portion. We deemed it best +to give the men one square meal. They know now that they must earn the +next one." + +With each instant her perceptive powers were quickening. She was aware +that he had deliberately avoided the main issue. De Sylva's probable +death implied a good deal, but it was the supreme test of her courage +that she refrained from useless questioning. Yet she thrust aside the +two bananas and supply of dried meat and crusts that Hozier placed +before her. + +"I cannot eat," she murmured, striving to control her voice. + +"But you must. It is imperative. You would not wish to break down at +the very moment your best energies will be in demand. Our lives, as +well as your own, may depend on your strength. Come, Miss Yorke, no +woman could have been pluckier than you. Don't fail us now." + +The gloom was deepening momentarily. Hozier's back was turned to the +entrance, and, in the ever-growing darkness, she was unable to see his +face; but his anxious protest in no wise deceived her; she even smiled +again at the ruse that attempted to saddle her with some measure of +responsibility for the success or failure of the raid. + +"If I promise to eat--and drink this sour wine--will you be candid?" +she asked. + +"Well----" + +"One must bargain. There is no other way. . . . Promise!" + +"I suppose you mean that I must agree to please you by wild guessing +about events that may turn out quite differently." + +"Candid, I said." + +"Yes--that most certainly." + +"In the first place, may we go into the fresh air? I must have slept +many hours. What time is it?" + +"About seven o'clock." + +"Seven! Have I been lying here since goodness knows what time this +morning?" + +"You were thoroughly used up," he said, and he added, with a laugh: "If +it is any consolation, I may tell you that, to the best of my belief, +you never moved nor uttered a sound." + +"For instance, I didn't snore," she cried, rising to her feet, and +thanking the kindly night that veiled her untidiness. + +"I--don't--think so." + +"Oh, please be more positive than that. You send a cold shiver down my +back." + +"Several members of the _Andromeda's_ crew also indulged in a prolonged +siesta," he said. "I assure you it was almost out of the question to +divide the sleepers into snorers and non-snorers." + +A man will talk harmless nonsense of that sort when he is at his wit's +end to wriggle out of a perplexing situation. Hozier was deputed to +obtain the girl's consent to the proposal he had already put before +her. He feared that she would refuse compliance, for he understood her +fine temper better than the others. He was a young man--one but little +versed in the ways of women--yet some instinct warned him that there +was a nobility in Iris Yorke's nature that might set self at naught and +urge her to share her companions' lot, even though certain death were +the outcome. + +They passed together through the cavern. Watts, sound asleep, was +lying there. The majority of the men were seated on the rocks without, +or lounging near the entrance. They were smoking now freely, the only +stipulation being that matches were not to be struck in the open. +Their whispered talk ceased when they saw the girl. Absorbed in the +prospect of a fight for life, for the moment they had forgotten her, +but a murmured tribute of sympathy and recognition greeted her +appearance. + +The Irishman found his tongue first. + +"Begorrah, miss," he said, "but it's the proud man I'll be the next +time I see you smilin' from the kay side at Liverpool, no matter +whether I'm there meself or not." + +No one laughed at the absurd phrase which so clearly expressed its +meaning. But the ship's cook, Peter, noting the strips of dried meat +in her hands, raised a grin by saying: + +"Sorry the galley fire is out, miss, or I'd 'ave stewed 'em a bit." + +This kindly badinage was gratifying, though it helped to reveal the +interrupted topic of their conversation. There was no hiding the +desperate character of the coming adventure. The _Andromeda's_ crew +did not attempt to minimize it. The choice offered lay only in the +manner of their death. As to the prospect of ultimate escape, they +hardly gave it a thought. Some among them had served in the armies of +Europe, and they, at least, were under no delusion concerning the issue +of an attack on a fort by less than a score of unarmed men--seventeen +to be exact, since two of the ship's company were so maimed by the +bursting of the shell on the forecastle as to be practically helpless; +it was by the rarest good fortune that they were able to walk. + +Iris smiled at them in her frank way. + +"I hope you will all be spared to ship on a new _Andromeda_," she said. +No sooner had the words left her lips than the thought came unbidden: +"If my uncle and Captain Coke wished the ship to be thrown away, +nothing could have better suited their purposes than this tragic error." + +For the instant, the unforeseen outcome of that Sunday afternoon's +plotting in the peaceful garden of Linden House held her imagination. +She recalled each syllable of it, and there throbbed in her brain the +hitherto undreamed of possibility that Coke had brought the _Andromeda_ +to Fernando Noronha in pursuance of his thievish project. + +At once she whispered to Hozier: + +"Is there anyone on the path below?" + +"No," he said. "The Brazilians are with Coke at the top of the gully." + +"Is it safe for us to go the other way." + +"I think so. But you must be careful not to slip." + +She caught his arm, little knowing the thrill her clasp sent through +his frame. This simple gesture of her confidence was bitter-sweet. He +resolutely closed his eyes to the knowledge that this might be their +last talk. + +"I shall not fall," she said. "I am a good mountaineer. I learnt the +trick of it in Cumberland. Come with me. There is a pleasant breeze +blowing from the sea." + +They climbed down. Neither spoke until they stood on the curving ledge +that had proved their salvation. Though the tide was rising again, the +heavy sea was gone. The current still created some spume and noise as +it swept past the reef, but its anger had vanished with the gale. +Beyond the fringe of broken water a slight swell only served to mirror +in countless facets the tender light of a perfect sunset. The eastern +horizon was a broad line of silver. Nearer, the shadow of the island +created bands of purest green and ultramarine. + +They reached the place from which the Brazilians had thrown the rope. +They could hear the quiet plash of the water in the cleft. Piled +against a low-lying rock were the funnel and other debris of the +_Andromeda_. The black hull was plainly visible beneath the surface. +Even while they were looking at the wreck a huge fish curled his ten +feet of length with stealthy grace from out some dim recess; it might +be, perhaps, from out the crushed shell of the chart-room. + +Hozier glanced at his companion. He half expected her to shrink back +appalled at this sinister sight; it was her destiny to surprise him not +once but many times during that amazing period. + +"Is that a shark?" she asked quietly. + +"Yes. . . . You stipulated for candor, you know." + +"I had no notion that such a monster could move with so great elegance. +I think I would rather be eaten by a shark than lie at the bottom of +the sea like our poor vessel there." + +"Even a shark would appreciate the compliment," he said. + +Her eyes continued to watch the terrifying apparition until it prowled +into hidden depths again. + +"I am not sorry I have seen it," she murmured. "It helps one to +understand. We are glib concerning the laws of nature, and seem to +regard them much as the printed regulations stuck on hackney carriages, +whatsoever they may be. Yet, how cruelly just they are! I suppose +that the finding of the ship's booty by that huge creature has given a +new span of life to some weaker fish." + +Hozier did not know whether or not she had realized the shark's real +quest. Her next words enlightened him. + +"If we follow the others, will the soldiers throw our dead bodies into +the sea?" she asked. + +"I want you to believe that you will be absolutely safe if we escape +being discovered during the crossing of the narrow strip of water that +separates this rock from the island," he hastened to say. "That is +your only risk, and it is a light one. Senhor De Sylva is sure that +the troops will not keep the keenest lookout to-night. They are still +convinced that the insurgent steamer is sunk. Our chief danger will +date from to-morrow's dawn. Marcel reports that a systematic search of +the island was begun to-day. It will be continued to-morrow, but on +new lines, because, by that time, they will have learnt the truth. The +_Andros-y-Mela_ is not lying in pieces at the foot of this rock, the +President has not escaped, and every practicable inch of Fernando +Noronha and the adjacent islands will be scoured in the hope of finding +him. At first sight, that looks like being in our favor; in reality, +it means the end if we are discovered here. The soldiers will shoot +first and inquire afterwards. I have not the slightest doubt but that +plenty of evidence will be forthcoming that we were a set of +desperadoes who had unlawfully interfered in the affairs of a foreign +state." + +She appeared to be weighing this argument, sitting in judgment on De +Sylva and his theories. + +"I want to do that which is for the good of all," she said at length. +"Do you ask me to go to this convict's house, Mr. Hozier?" + +"I urge it on you with the utmost conviction. With you off our hands, +we can act freely. We must deliver an attack to-night. God in Heaven, +you cannot think that we would expose you to the perils of a desperate +fight!" + +His sudden outburst was unexpected, even by himself. He trembled in an +agony of passion. Iris placed a timid hand on his shoulder. + +"I will go," she whispered. "Please do not be distressed on my +account. I will go. I brought you here, not to discuss my own fate, +but yours. These Brazilians will not scruple to make use of you, and +then throw you aside if it suits their purpose. That man, De Sylva, +does not care how he attains power, and I know that he and the officer +entertain some plan which they have not revealed to you." + +"You . . . _know_." + +"Yes. I understand a little of their language. I have a mere glimpse +of its sense, as one sees a landscape through a mist. When De Sylva +told you to-day that San Benavides was with you heart and soul, he was +lying. There were things said about a ship, and midnight, and a boat. +I watched the officer's face. He was wholly opposed to the landing +to-night. My mind is not so vague now. I think I can grasp his +meaning. Was it not to-night that the _Andros-y-Mela_ was to appear?" + +"Yes." + +"Well, may they not hope secretly that she will keep to the fixed hour? +Once you and I and the others are on the island, and an alarm is given, +the Brazilians could slip away unnoticed. Yes, that is it. I do not +trust them any more than I trusted Captain Coke. Don't you realize +that he brought the _Andromeda_ to this place in order to wreck her +more easily? It was to supply a pretext for the visit that he made +undrinkable the water in the ship's tanks." + +That appealing hand still rested on Philip's shoulder. Its touch +affected him profoundly. With a lightning dart of memory his thoughts +went back to the moment when she lay, inert and half-fainting, in his +arms on the bridge, after he had taken her from the lazarette. But he +controlled his voice sufficiently to say: + +"You may be right; indeed, I know you are right, so far as Coke is +concerned. When I went aft to find out if one of the boats could not +be cleared, I noticed that a steering-gear box had been prised open +again. I had time for only a second's glance, but I was sure the +damage had not been done by a bullet. So the _Andromeda_ was doomed to +be lost, no matter what happened. By ----, forgive me, Miss Yorke, but +this kind of thing makes one savage." + +"Perhaps it is matterless now. Coke will stand by the rest of us in +our struggle for life, at any rate. But the Brazilians----" + +"Have no fear of them. I, too, have watched San Benavides. I don't +like the fellow, and wouldn't place an ounce of faith in him, but De +Sylva has brains, and he knows well enough that no ship from Brazil +will come to Fernando Noronha in his behalf. In fact, he dreads a +visit by a Government vessel, in which event our frail chance of +seizing that launch----" + +She felt, rather than saw, that he had suddenly grown rigid. His right +arm flew out and drew her to him. + +"Sh-s-s-h!" he breathed, and pulled her behind a rock. Her woman's +heart yielded to dread of the unseen. It pulsed violently, and she was +tempted to scream. Despite his warning, she must at least have +whispered a question, but her ears caught a sound to which they were +now well accustomed. The light chug-chug of an engine and the flapping +of a propeller came up to them from the sea. The steam launch was +approaching. Perhaps they had been seen already! As if to emphasize +this new peril, there was an interval of silence. Steam had been shut +off. Philip touched the girl's lips lightly with a finger. Then he +lay flat on the ledge and began to creep forward. It was impossible +that he should run and warn the others, but it was essential, above all +else, that he should ascertain what the men on the launch were doing, +and the extent of their knowledge. + +He found a tuft of the grass that clung to a crevice where its roots +drew hardy sustenance from the crumbling rock; he ventured to thrust +his head through this screen, following Domingo's example some hours +earlier. Almost directly beneath, his eager glance found the little +vessel. She was floating past with the current. He peered down on to +her deck as if from the top of a mast. A few cigarette-smoking +officers were grouped in her bows. Apparently, they were more +interested in the remains of the _Andromeda_ than in the natural +fortress overhead. Clustered round the hatch were some twenty +soldiers, also smoking. + +One of the officers pointed to the ledge; he was excited and emphatic. +Philip could not imagine that they had detected him, but he feared lest +Iris, in her agitation, might have moved. In that clear, calm air, not +even the growing dusk would hide the flutter of a skirt or the altered +position of a white face. A man in charge of the wheel replied to the +officer with a laugh. The first speaker turned, glanced at the +Brothers reef, behind which the _Andromeda's_ boat had vanished that +morning, and nodded dubiously. The man at the wheel growled an order, +and the engine started again. Though Hozier knew not what was said, +the significance of this pantomime was not lost on him. The local +pilot was afraid of these treacherous waters in the dark, but next day +Frade de Francez (which is the islanders' name for the Grand-père Rock) +would surely be explored if a landing could be made. At a guess, the +silent watcher took it that the steersman had declined to make a +circuit of the rock until the light was good. + +Away bustled the launch, but Hozier did not move until there was no +risk of his figure being silhouetted against the sky. Even then, he +wormed his way backward with slow caution. Iris was crouched where he +had left her, wide-eyed, motionless. + +"Good job we came here," he said. "It is evident they mean to maintain +a patrol until there is news of De Sylva one way or the other. It will +be interesting now to hear what the gallant San Benavides says. If any +ship comes to Fernando Noronha to-night she will be seen from the +island long before any signal is visible at this point." + +"Do you think the others saw the launch?" she asked. + +"No--not unless some of the men strayed down the gully, which they were +told not to do. The breakers would drown the noise of the engines and +screw." + +There was a slight pause. + +"Will you tell them?" she went on. + +"Why not?" + +This time the pause was more eloquent than words. Quite unconsciously, +Iris replied to her own question. + +"Of course, as you said a little while ago, we owe our lives to Dom +Corria De Sylva," she murmured, as if she were reasoning with herself. + +By chance, probably because Hozier stooped to help her to her feet, his +arm rested lightly across her shoulders. + +"I will not pretend to misunderstand you," he said. "If the Brazilians +do not mean to play the game, it would be a just punishment to let them +rush on their own doom. But De Sylva may not agree with this fop of an +officer, and, in any event, we must go straight with him until he shows +his teeth." + +"You seem to dislike Captain San Benavides," she said inconsequently. + +"I regard him as a brainless ass," he exclaimed. + +"Somehow, that sounds like a description of a dead donkey, which one +never sees." + +"Mademoiselle!" came a voice from the lip of the ravine. + +"One can hear him, though," laughed Hozier, with a warning pressure +that suspiciously resembled a hug. These two were children, in some +respects, quicker to jest than to grieve, better fitted for mirth than +tragedy. + +They moved out from their niche, and San Benavides blustered into +vehement French. + +"We are going to the landing-place before it is too dark," he muttered +angrily. "We must not show a light; in a few minutes the path will be +most dangerous. Please make haste, mademoiselle. We did not know +where you had gone." + +"The men knew," suggested Hozier in the girl's ear. He dared not trust +either his temper or his vocabulary. + +"We shall lose no time, now, monsieur," said Iris, hurrying on. + +"This way then. No, we do not pass the cave. We go right round the +cliff. Permit me, mademoiselle. I am acquainted with each step." + +He took her hand. Philip followed. He was young enough to long for an +opportunity to tell San Benavides that he was a puppy, a mongrel puppy. +Just then he would have given a gun-metal case, filled with cigars--the +only treasure he possessed--for a Portuguese dictionary. + +After a really difficult and hazardous descent, they found the others +awaiting them in a rock-shrouded cove. The barest standing-room was +afforded by a patch of shingle and detritus. Alongside a flat stone +lay three broad planks tied together with cowhide. The center plank +was turned up at one end. This was the catamaran, which de Sylva had +dignified by the name of boat. The primitive craft rested in a black +pool in which the stars trembled, though they were hardly visible as +yet in the brighter sky. The water murmured in response to the +movement of the tide, but to the unaided eye there was no vestige of a +passage through the volcanic barrier that reared itself on every hand. + +"Were 'ave you bin?" growled Coke. "We've lost a good ten minnits. +You ought to 'ave known, Hozier, that it's darkest just after sunset." + +"We could not have started sooner, sir." + +"W'y not? We were kep' waitin' up there, searchin' for you." + +"That was our best slice of luck to-day. Had any of you appeared on +the ledge you would have been seen from the launch." + +"Wot launch?" + +"The launch that visited us this morning. Ten minutes ago she was +standing by at the foot of the rock." + +Philip spoke slowly and clearly. He meant his news to strike home. As +he anticipated, De Sylva broke in. + +"You _saw_ it?" he asked, and his deep voice vibrated with dismay. + +"Yes. I even made out, by actions rather than words, that the darkness +alone prevented the soldiers from coming here to-night. The skipper +would not risk it." + +De Sylva said something under his breath. He spoke rapidly to San +Benavides, and the latter seemed to be cowed, for his reply was brief. +Then the ex-President reverted to English. + +"I have decided to send Marcel and Domingo ashore first," he said. +"They will select the safest place for a landing. Marcel will bring +back the catamaran, and take off Mr. Hozier and the young lady. +Captain Coke and I will follow, and the others in such order as Senhor +Benavides thinks fit. The catamaran will only hold three with safety, +but Marcel believes he can find another for Domingo. Remember, all of +you, silence is essential. If there is an accident, some of us may be +called on to drown without a cry. We must be ready to do it for the +sake of those who are left. Are we all agreed?" + +A hum of voices answered him. De Sylva was, at least, a born leader. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE RIGOR OF THE GAME + +In obedience to their leader's order, Marcel, the taciturn, and +Domingo, from whose lips the Britons had scarce heard a syllable, +squatted on the catamaran. Marcel wielded a short paddle, and an +almost imperceptible dip of its broad blade sent the strangely-built +craft across the pool. Once in the shadow, it disappeared completely. +There was no visible outlet. The rocks thrust their stark ridge +against the sky in a seemingly impassable barrier. Some of the men +stared at the jagged crests as though they half expected to see the +Brazilians making a portage, just as travelers in the Canadian +northwest haul canoes up a river obstructed by rapids. + +"Well, that gives me the go-by," growled Coke, whose alert ear caught +no sound save the rippling of the water. "I say, mister, 'ow is it +done?" he went on. + +"It is a simple thing when you know the secret," said De Sylva. "Have +you passed Fernando Noronha before, Captain?" + +"Many a time." + +"Have you seen the curious natural canal which you sailors call the +Hole in the Wall?" + +"Yes, it's near the s'uth'ard end." + +"Well, the sea has worn away a layer of soft rock that existed there. +In the course of centuries a channel has been cut right across the two +hundred yards of land. Owing to the same cause the summer rains have +excavated a ravine through the crater up above, and a similar passage +exists here, only it happens to run parallel to the line of the cliff. +It extends a good deal beyond its apparent outlet, and is defended by a +dangerous reef. Marcel once landed on a rock during a very calm day, +and saw the opening. He investigated it, luckily for me--luckily, in +fact, for all of us." + +Watts interrupted De Sylva's smooth periods by a startled ejaculation, +and Coke turned on him fiercely. + +"Wot's up now?" he demanded. "Ain't you sober yet?" + +"Some dam thing jumped on me," explained Watts. + +"Probably a crab," said De Sylva. "There are jumping crabs all around +here. It will not hurt you. It is quite a small creature." + +"Oh, if it's on'y a crab," muttered Watts, "sorry I gev' tongue, +skipper. I thought it was a rat, an' I can't abide 'em." + +"Then you must learn to endure them while you are in Fernando do +Noronha itself," went on the Brazilian. "The island absolutely swarms +with rats; some of the larger varieties are rather dangerous." + +"Sufferin' Moses!" groaned Watts. "It'll be the death o' me." + +"Wot color are they?" asked Coke. De Sylva's reply was given in a tone +of surprise. Certainly these hardy mariners had selected an unusual +topic for discussion at a critical moment. + +"The common dark gray," he said. + +"That's all right, then," sneered Coke. "Watts don't mind 'em gray. +They're old messmates of his. It's w'en they're pink or green that he +fights shy of 'em." + +"I hate rats of any sort----" began Watts hotly, spurred to anger by an +audible snigger among the men, but De Sylva stopped his protest +peremptorily. It was idiotic, this bantering when the next half hour +might be their last. + +"You must learn to guard your tongue," he said with harsh distinctness. +"We cannot have our plans marred by a fool's outcry." + +Nevertheless, the chief officer of the _Andromeda_ was far from being a +fool. He had cut an inglorious figure during the wreck, but he was +sober enough now, and it hurt his pride to be jeered at by his own +skipper and treated with contumely by one whom he privately classed as +a Dago. He had the good sense to realize that the present was no fit +time for a display of temper; but he nursed his wrath. Dom Corria +would have been well advised had he followed the counsel given so +ungraciously, and guarded his own tongue. + +It might well be that the ex-President, whose fortunes were on the +tiptoe of desperate hazard, was beginning to despair. He may have +scanned the meager forces at his disposal and felt that he was asking +the gods for more than they could grant. A few minutes earlier he had +put forth the suave suggestion that Hozier should be given the +speediest chance of securing the girl's safety. That was politic; +perhaps his stanch nerve was yielding to the strain, now that the two +islanders were gone on their doubtful quest. Be that as it may, his +attitude did not encourage light conversation. Even Coke withheld some +jibe at the unfortunate mate's expense. A chill silence fell on the +little group. The more imaginative among them were calculating the +exact kind of lurch taken by the unstable raft that would mean +"drowning without a cry." + +Thus the minutes sped, until a dim shape emerged from the opposite +blackness. It came unheard, growing from nothing into something with +ghostly subtlety. Iris, a prey to many emotions, managed to stifle the +exclamation of alarm that rose unbidden. But Hozier read her distress +in a hardly audible sob. + +"It is our friend, Marcel," he whispered. "So Domingo has made good +his landing. Be brave! The sea is quite calm. This man has been to +the island and back in less than a quarter of an hour." + +His confidence gave her new courage. She even tried to turn danger +itself into a jest. + +"We seem to be living in spasms just now," she said. "We certainly +crowd a good deal of excitement into a very few minutes." + +The catamaran swung round and grated on the shingle. Marcel was in a +hurry. + +"Are you ready?" asked De Sylva, bending toward Iris. + +"Yes," she said. + +"Then you had better kneel behind Marcel, and steady yourself by +placing your hands on his shoulders. Yes, that is it. Do not change +your position until you are ashore. Now you, Mr. Hozier." + +Marcel murmured something. + +"Ah, good!" cried De Sylva softly. "Domingo, too, has secured a +catamaran. He is bringing it at once in order to save time." + +A second spectral figure emerged from the gloom. Without waiting for +further instructions, Marcel swung his paddle, and the one craft passed +the other in the center of the pool. Iris felt Hozier's hands on her +waist. He obeyed orders, and uttered no sound, but the action told her +that she might trust him implicitly. When the narrow cleft was +traversed, and she saw the open sea on her right, there was ample need +for some such assurance of guardianship. Viewed from the cliff, the +swell that broke on the half-submerged reef was of slight volume, but +it presented a very different and most disconcerting aspect when seen +in profile. It seemed to be an almost impossible feat for any man to +propel three narrow planks, top-heavy with a human freight, across a +wide channel through which such a sea was running. Indeed, Hozier +himself, sailor as he was, felt more than doubtful as to the fate of +their argosy. But Marcel paddled ahead with unflagging energy once he +was clear of the tortuous passage, and, before the catamaran had +traveled many yards, even Iris was able to understand that the outlying +ridge of rocks both protected their present track and created much of +the apparent turmoil. + +At last the raft, for it was little else, bore sharply out between two +huge bowlders that might well have fallen from the mighty pile of +Grand-père itself. Pointed and angular they were, and set like a +gateway to an abode of giants. Beyond, there was a shimmer of +swift-moving water, with a silver mist on the surface, though from a +height of a few feet it would have been easy to distinguish the bold +contours of Fernando Noronha itself. + +Marcel plied his paddle vigorously, and Iris thought they were heading +against the current, since there was a constant swirl of white-tipped +waves on both sides of the curved plank, and her dress soon became +soaked. But Hozier knew that one man could not drive a craft that had +no artificial buoyancy in the teeth of a four-knot tidal stream. +Marcel was edging across the channel, and making good use of the very +force that threatened to sweep him away. Indeed, in less than five +minutes, a definite clearing yet darkening of the atmospheric light +showed that land was near. The hiss of the ripple subsided, the tide +ceased its chant, and a dark mass sprang into uncanny distinctness +right ahead. + +The girl's first sensation on nearing the island was an unpleasant one. +She was conscious of a slight but somewhat nauseating odor, quite +unlike anything within her ken previously. It suffused the air, and +grew more pronounced as the catamaran crept noiselessly into a tiny bay. + +Hozier sympathized with her distress; knowing that acquaintance with an +evil often helps to minimize its effect, he bent close to her ear and +whispered the words: + +"Mangrove swamp." + +Iris had read of mangroves. In a dim way, she classed them with +tamarinds, and cocoa-palms, and other sub-tropical products. At any +rate, she was exceedingly anxious to tell Hozier that if mangroves +tasted as they smelt she would need to be very hungry before she ate +one! + +Marcel was endowed with quick ears. Though Hozier's whisper could +hardly have reached him, he held up a warning hand, even while he +brought the catamaran ashore on the shingle, so gently that not a +pebble was disturbed. He rose, a gaunt scarecrow, stepped off, and +drew the shallow craft somewhat further up the sloping beach. Then he +helped Iris to her feet. She became conscious at once that his +thumb-nail was of extraordinary length, and--so strangely constituted +is human nature--this peculiarity made a lasting impression on her mind. + +Hozier, thinking that he ought to remain near the catamaran, stood +upright, but did not offer to follow the others. Iris, filled with a +sudden fear, hung back. The Brazilian, aware of her resistance, sought +its cause. He saw Hozier, grinned, and beckoned to him. So the three +went in company, and at each upward stride the disagreeable stench, +ever afterwards associated with Fernando Noronha in the girl's +memories, became less and less perceptible, until, after a short walk +through a clump of banana trees, it vanished altogether. + +At that instant, when Iris was beginning to revel in the sweet incense +of a multitude of unseen flowers, Marcel halted, motioned to Hozier to +stand fast, and indicated that Iris was to come with him. At once she +shrank away in terror. Though in some sense prepared for this parting, +she felt it now as the crudest blow that fortune had dealt her during a +day crowded with misfortunes. In all likelihood, those two would never +meet again. She needed no telling as to the risk he would soon be +called on to face, and her anguish was made the more bitter by the +necessity that they should go from each other's presence without a +spoken word. + +Nevertheless, she forced herself to extend a hand in farewell. Her +eyes were blinded with tears. She knew that Hozier drew her nearer. +With the daring of one who may well cast the world's convention to the +winds, he gathered her to his heart and kissed her. Then she uttered a +little sob of happiness and sorrow, and fainted. + +It was not until she was lying helpless in his embrace, with her head +pillowed on his breast, and an arm thrown limply across his shoulder, +that Philip understood what had happened. He loved her, and she, the +promised wife of another man, had tacitly admitted that she returned +his love. Born for each other, heirs of all the ages, they were +destined to be separated under conditions that could not have been +brought about by the worst tyrant that ever oppressed his fellow +creatures. Small blame should be his portion if in that abysmal moment +there came to Philip a dire temptation. There was every reason to +believe that he and Iris, if they found some hiding-place on the island +that night, might escape. He could send Marcel crashing into the +undergrowth with a blow, carry the unconscious girl somewhere, +anywhere, until the darkness shrouded them, and wait for the dawn with +some degree of confidence. In a red fury of thought he pictured her +face when she regained possession of her senses and was told that they +had no more to fear. He saw, with a species of fantastic intuition, +that the island authorities would actually acclaim them for the tidings +they brought. And then, he would find those grave brown eyes of hers +fixed on his in agonized inquiry. What of the others? Why had he +betrayed his trust? Dom Corria de Sylva had sent him ashore in advance +of any among the little band of fugitives. Marcel and Domingo were +outside the pale. Their lives, at least, were surely forfeit when +recaptured. It was not a prayer but a curse that Hozier muttered when +Marcel whispered words he did not understand, but whose obvious meaning +was that now the girl must be carried to the convict's hut, since they +were losing time, and time was all-important. + +So they strode on, across ground that continued to rise in gentle +undulations. Even in his present frenzied mood, Hozier noticed that +they were following the right bank of a rivulet, the catamaran being +beached on the same side of its cove-like estuary. Progress was rather +difficult. They were skirting a wood, and the trailers of a great +scarlet-flowered bean and a climbing cucumber smothered the ground, +canopied the trees, and swarmed over the rocks. He could not +distinguish these hindrances in the darkness, but he soon found that he +must walk warily. As for the effort entailed by his forlorn burden he +did not give a thought to it until Marcel indicated that he must stand +fast. The Brazilian went on, leaving Hozier breathless. Evidently he +went to warn the inhabitants of a wretched hut, suddenly visible in the +midst of a patch of maize and cassava, that there were those at hand +who needed shelter. + +A dog barked--Marcel whistled softly, and the animal began to whimper. +The Brazilian vanished. Hozier still held Iris in his arms; his heart +was beating tumultuously; his throat ached with the labor of his lungs. +His straining ears caught rustlings among the grass and roots, but +otherwise a solemn peace brooded over the scene. Just beyond the hut, +which was shielded from the arid hill by a grove of curiously contorted +trees, the inner heights of the island rose abruptly. Something that +resembled a column of cloud showed behind the rugged sky-line of the +land. Even while he waited there, he saw a glint of light on its +eastern side. He fancied that under stress of emotion and physical +weakness his eyes were deceiving him; but the line of golden fire grew +brighter and more definite. It was broken but unwavering, and black +shadows began to take form as part of this phenomenon. Then he +remembered the giant peak of Fernando Noronha, that mis-shapen mass +which thrusts its amazing beacon a thousand feet into the air. The +rising moon was gilding El Pico long ere its rays would illumine the +lower land--that was all--yet he hailed the sight as a token of +deliverance. It was not by idle chance that that which he had taken +for a cloud should be transmuted into a torch; there sprang into his +heated brain a new trust. He recalled the unceasing vigilance of One +All-Powerful, who, ages ago, when His people were afflicted, "went +before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way, and by +night in a pillar of fire, to give them light." + +Then Marcel came, and aroused him from the stupor that had settled on +him, and together they entered into the hovel, where a dark-skinned +woman and a comely girl uttered words of sympathetic sound when Iris +was laid on a low trestle, and Hozier took a farewell kiss from her +unheeding lips. + +The Englishman stumbled away with his guide; he fancied that Marcel +warned him several times to be more circumspect. He did his best, but, +for the time, he was utterly spent. At last the Brazilian signified +that they were near a trysting place. He uttered a cry like a +night-jar's, and the answer came from no great distance. Soon they +encountered Coke and De Sylva, who were awaiting them anxiously, and +wondering, no doubt, why Hozier was missing, since Domingo and Marcel +had fixed on an aged fig-tree as a rendezvous, and Hozier was not to be +found anywhere near it. + +The two boatmen hurried away, and De Sylva placed his lips close to +Philip's ear. + +"What went wrong?" he asked. + +"Iris--Miss Yorke--fainted," was the gasping reply. + +"Ah. You had to carry her?" + +"Yes." + +De Sylva fumbled in a pocket. He produced a flask. + +"Here is some brandy. I kept it for just such an extremity. We cannot +have you breaking down. Drink!" + +Two weary hours elapsed before the little army of the Grand-père Rock +was reunited on the shore of Cotton-Tree Bay. Then there was a further +delay, while their indefatigable scouts brought milk and water, some +coarse bread, and a good supply of fruit from the hut. It was part of +their scheme that they should give their friend's habitation a wide +berth. If their plans miscarried he was instructed to say that he had +found the English lady wandering on the shore soon after daybreak. In +any event, there would be no evidence that he had entertained the +invaders in his hovel; otherwise, he would lose the first-class badge +that permitted him, a convict, to dwell apart with his wife and +daughter. + +It was with the utmost difficulty that the men could be restrained from +expressing their delight when they were given water and milk to drink. +The water was poor, brackish stuff; the milk was sour and had lost +every particle of cream; yet they deemed each a nectar of rank, and +even the miserable Watts, who had long ago ascertained that the +rustlings in the herbage were caused by countless numbers of rats and +mice, was ready to acclaim beverages which he was too apt to despise. + +About midnight there was a bright moon sailing overhead, and De Sylva +gave a low order that they were to form in Indian file. Marcel led, +the ex-President himself followed, with San Benavides, Coke, and Hozier +in close proximity. Domingo brought up the rear, in order to prevent +straggling, and assist men who might stray from the path. + +Avoiding the cultivated land surrounding the creek, the party struck up +the hillside. A few plodding minutes sufficed to clear the trees and +dense undergrowth. A rough, narrow path led to the saddle of the +central ridge. They advanced warily but without any real difficulty. +Hozier took a listless interest in watching the furtive glances cast +over his shoulder by San Benavides so long as the south coast of the +island was visible. At each turn in the mountain track the Brazilian +officer searched the moonlit sea for the agreed signal. At last, when +the northern side also came in sight, and the whole island lay spread +before them, San Benavides resigned himself to the inevitable. For a +little while, at least, he was perforce content to survey events +through the eyes of his companions, and throw in his lot irrevocably +with theirs. + +Roughly speaking, Fernando Noronha itself, irrespective of the group of +islands at its northeasterly extremity, stretches five miles from east +to west, and averages a mile and a half in width. From Cotton-Tree +Bay, to which the catamarans had brought the small force, it was barely +a mile to the village, convict settlement, and citadel. Some few +lights twinkling near the shore showed the exact whereabouts of the +inhabited section. Another mile away to the right lay Fort San +Antonio, which housed the main body of troops. Watch-fires burning on +South Point, whence came the shells that disabled the _Andromeda_, +revealed the presence of soldiers in that neighborhood. De Sylva +explained that a paved road ran straight from the town and +landing-place to the hamlet of Sueste and an important plantation of +cocoanuts and other fruit-bearing trees that adjoined South Point. It +was inadvisable to strike into that road immediately. A little more to +the right there was a track leading to the Curral, or stockyard. If +they headed for the latter place the men could obtain some stout +cudgels. The convict peons in charge of the cattle should be +overpowered and bound, thus preventing them from giving an alarm, and +it was also possible to avoid the inhabited hillside overlooking the +main anchorage until they were close to the citadel. Then, crossing +the fort road, they would advance boldly to the enemy's stronghold, +first making sure that the launch was moored in her accustomed station +in the roadstead beneath the walls. San Benavides would answer the +sentry's questions, there would be a combined rush for the guard-room +on the right of the gate, and, if they were able to master the guard, +as many of the assailants as possible would don the soldiers' coats, +shakos, and accouterments. Granted success thus far, there should not +be much difficulty in persuading the men in charge of the launch that a +cruise round the island was to be undertaken forthwith. Marcel would +remain with them until the citadel was carried. He would then hurry +back to bring Iris across the island to an unfrequented beach known as +the Porto do Conceiçao, where he would embark her on a catamaran and +row out to the steamer, which, by that time, would be lying off the +harbor out of range of the troops who would surely be summoned from the +distant fort. + +The project bristled with audacity, and that has ever been the soul of +achievement. Even the two wounded men from the _Andromeda_ took heart +when they listened to De Sylva's low-toned explanation, given under the +shadow of a great rock ere the final advance was made. If all went +well at the beginning, the small garrison of the citadel would be +astounded when they found themselves struggling against unknown +adversaries. Haste, silence, determination--these things were +essential; each and all might be expected from men who literally +carried their lives in their hands. + +A keen breeze was blowing up there on the ridge. A bank of cloud was +rising in the southwest horizon, and, at that season, when the months +of rain were normally at an end, the mere presence of clouds heralded +another spell of broken weather, though the preceding gale had probably +marked the worst of it. Indeed, valuable auxiliary as the moon had +proved during the march across rough country, it would be no ill hap if +her bright face were veiled later. The mere prospect of such an +occurrence was a cheering augury, and it was in the highest spirits +that the little band set out resolutely for the Curral. + +Here they encountered no difficulty whatever. Perhaps the prevalent +excitement had drawn its custodians to the town, since they found no +one in charge save a couple of barking dogs, while, if there were +people in the cattle-keepers' huts, they gave no sign of their +presence. A few stakes were pulled up; they even came upon a couple of +axes and a heavy hammer. Equipped with these weapons, eked out by +three revolvers owned by the Brazilians and the dapper captain's sword, +they hurried on, quitting the road instantly, and following a cow-path +that wound about the base of a steep hill. + +They met their first surprise when they tried to cross the road to the +fort. Quite unexpectedly, they blundered into a small picket stationed +there. Its object was to challenge all passers-by during the dark +hours, and it formed part of the scheme already elaborated by the +authorities for a complete search of every foot of ground. But +Brazilian soldiers are apt to be lax in such matters. These men were +all lying down, and smoking. For a marvel, they happened to be silent +when Marcel led his cohort into the open road. They were listening, in +fact, to the crackling of the undergrowth, though utterly unsuspicious +of its cause, and the first intimation of danger was given by the +startling challenge: + +"Who goes there?" + +It was familiar enough to island ears, and the convict answered readily: + +"A friend!" + +"Several friends, it would seem," laughed a voice. "Let us see who +these friends are." + +Luckily, in response to De Sylva's sibilant order, most of the +_Andromeda's_ crew were hidden by the scrub from which they were about +to emerge. + +The soldiers rose, and strolled nearer leisurely. + +"Now!" shouted De Sylva, leaping forward. + +There was a wild scurry, two or three shots were fired, and Hozier +found himself on the ground gripping the throat of a bronzed man whom +he had shoved backward with a thrust, for he had no time to swing his +stake for a blow. He was aware of a pair of black eyes that glared up +at him horribly in the moonlight, of white teeth that shone under long +moustachios of peculiarly warlike aspect, but he felt the man was as +putty in his hands, and his fingers relaxed their pressure. + +He looked around. The fight was ended almost as soon as it began. The +soldiers, six in all, were on their backs in the roadway. Two of them +were dead. The Italian sailor had been shot through the body, and was +twisting in his last agony. + +The bloodshed was bad enough, but those shots were worse. They would +set the island in an uproar. The reports would be heard in town, +citadel, and fort, and the troops would now be on the _qui vive_. But +De Sylva was a man of resource. + +"Strip the prisoners!" he cried. "Take their arms and ammunition, but +bind them back to back with their belts." + +"Butt in there, me lads," vociferated Coke, who had accounted for one +of the Brazilians with an ax. "Step lively! Now we've got some +uniforms an' guns, we can rush that dam cittydel easy." + +Hozier was busy relieving his man of his coat. When the prone warrior +realized that he was not to be killed, he helped the operation, but +Philip was thinking more of Iris than of deeds of derring-do. + +"Why attempt to capture the citadel at all?" he asked. "Now that we +can make sufficient display, is there any reason that we should not go +straight for the launch?" + +"Hi, mister, d'ye 'ear that?" said Coke to De Sylva. "There's horse +sense in it. The whole bally place will be buzzin' like a nest of +wasps till they find out wot the shots meant." + +"I think it is a good suggestion," came the calm answer, "provided, +that is, the launch is in the harbor." + +"She's just as likely to be there now as later. If she isn't, we must +hark back to the first plan. Now, you swabs, all aboard! See to them +buckles afore you quit." + +A bell began to toll in the convict settlement. Lights appeared in +many houses scattered over the seaward slope. In truth, Fernando +Noronha had not been so badly scared since its garrison mutinied three +years earlier because arrears of pay were not forthcoming. It was +impossible to determine as yet whether or not the island steamer was at +her berth, so they could only push on boldly and trust to luck. +Hozier, never for an instant forgetting Iris, saw that Marcel still +remained with his leader. Under these new circumstances, it certainly +would be a piece of folly to send back until they were sure of the +launch. So he hurried after them, struggling the while into a coat far +too small, though fortunate in the fact that his captive's head was big +in proportion to the rest of his body. + +Some few men were met, running from the town to the main road where +they had located the shooting. Each breathlessly demanded news, and +was forthwith given most disconcerting information by a savage blow. +The _Andromeda_ had received no quarter, and her crew retaliated now. +They did not deliberately murder anyone, but they took good care that +none of those whom they encountered would be in a condition to work +mischief until the night was ended. + +It was a peculiar and exasperating fact that although they were +descending a steep incline to the harbor the presence of trees and +houses rendered it impossible to see the actual landing-place. Hence, +there was no course open but to race on at the utmost speed, though De +Sylva was careful to keep his small force compact, and its pace was +necessarily that of its slowest members. Among these was Coke, who had +never walked so far since he was granted a captain's certificate. He +swore copiously as he lumbered along, and, what between shortness of +breath and his tight boots and clothing, the latter disability being +added to by a ridiculously inadequate Brazilian tunic, he was barely +able to reach the water's edge. + +Happily, the launch was there, moored alongside a small quay. From the +nearest building it was necessary to cross a low wharf some fifty yards +in width, and De Sylva's whispered commands could not restrain the +eager men when escape appeared no longer problematical but assured. +They broke, and ran, an almost fatal thing, as it happened, since the +soldiers whom Philip had seen from the rock were still on board. One +of them noticed the inexplicable disorder among a body of men some of +whom resembled his own comrades. He had heard the firing, and was +discussing it with others when this strange thing happened. + +He challenged. San Benavides answered, but his voice was shrill and +unofficer-like. + +The engines were started. A man leaped to the wharf. He was in the +act of casting a mooring rope off a fixed capstan when De Sylva shot +him between the shoulder-blades. + +"On board, all of you!" shrieked the ex-President in a frenzy. + +"At 'em, boys!" gasped Coke, though scarce able to stagger another foot. + +The men needed no bidding. Sheets of flame leaped from the vessel's +deck as the soldiers seized their rifles and fired point-blank at these +mysterious assailants who spoke in a foreign language. But flame alone +could not stop that desperate attack. Some fell, but the survivors +sprang at the Brazilians like famished wolves on their prey. There was +no more shooting. Men grappled and fell, some into the water, others +on deck, or they sprawled over the hatch and wrought in frantic +struggle in the narrow cabin. The fight did not last many seconds. An +engineer, finding a lever and throttle valve, roared to a sailor to +take the wheel, and already the launch was curving seaward when Hozier +shouted: + +"Where is Marcel?" + +"Lyin' dead on the wharf," said Watts. + +"Are you certain?" + +"He was alongside me, an' 'e threw is 'ands up, an' dropped like a shot +rabbit." + +"Then who has gone for Miss Yorke?" + +"No one. D'ye think that this d--d President cares for anybody but +hisself?" + +Philip felt the deck throbbing with the pulsations of the screw. The +lights on shore were gliding by. The launch was leaving Fernando +Noronha, and Iris was waiting in that wretched hut beyond the hill, +waiting for the summons that would not reach her, for Marcel was dead, +and Domingo, the one other man who could have gone to her, was lying in +the cabin with three ribs broken and a collar-bone fractured. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +WHEREIN CERTAIN PEOPLE MEET UNEXPECTEDLY + +Iris came back from the void to find herself lying on a truckle bed in +a dimly-lighted hovel. A cotton wick flickered in a small lamp of the +old Roman type. It was consuming a crude variety of castor oil, and +its gamboge-colored flame clothed the smoke-darkened rafters and mud +walls in somber yet vivid tints that would have gladdened the heart of +a Rubens. This scenic effect, admirable to an artist, was lost on a +girl waking in affright and startled by unfamiliar surroundings. She +gazed up with uncomprehending eyes at two brown-skinned women bending +over her. + +One, the elder, was chafing her hands; the other, a tall, graceful +girl, was stirring something in an earthenware vessel. She heard the +girl murmur joyfully: + +"Graças a Deus, elh' abria lhes olhas!" + +Iris was still wandering in that strange borderland guarded by unknown +forces that lies between conscious life and the sleep that is so close +of kin to death. If in full possession of her senses, she might not +have caught the drift of the sentence, since it was spoken in a +guttural patois. But now she understood beyond cavil that because she +had opened her eyes, the girl was giving thanks to the Deity. The +first definite though bewildering notion that perplexed her faculties, +at once clouded and unnaturally clear, was an astonished acceptance of +the fact that she knew what the strange girl had said, though the +phrase only remotely resembled its Spanish equivalent. She gathered +its exact meaning, word for word, and it was all the more surprising +that both women should smile and say something quite incomprehensible +as soon as Iris lifted herself on an elbow and asked in English: + +"Where am I? How did I come here?" + +[Illustration: "How did I come here?"] + +Then she remembered, and memory brought a feeling of helplessness not +wholly devoid of self-reproach. It was bad enough that her presence +should add so greatly to the dangers besetting her friends; it was far +worse that she should have fainted at the very moment when such +weakness might well prove fatal to them. + +Why did she faint? Ah! A lively blush chased the pallor from her +cheeks, and a few strenuous heartbeats restored animation to her limbs. +Of course, in thinking that she had yielded solely to the stress of +surcharged emotions, Iris was mistaken. What she really needed was +food. A young woman of perfect physique, and dowered with the best of +health, does not collapse into unconsciousness because a young man +embraces her, and each at the same moment makes the blissful discovery +that the wide world contains no other individual of supreme importance. +Iris's great-grandmother might have "swooned" under such +circumstances--not so Iris, who fainted simply because of the strain +imposed by failure to eat the queer fare provided by De Sylva and his +associates. She hardly realized how hungry she was until the girl +handed her the bowl, which contained a couple of eggs beaten up in +milk, while small quantities of rum and sugar-cane juice made the +compound palatable. + +"Bom!" said the girl, "bebida, senhora!" + +It certainly was good, and the senhora drank it with avidity, the +mixture being excellent diet for one who had eaten nothing except an +over-ripe banana during thirty hours. Indeed, it would be no +exaggeration to extend that period considerably. Iris had left +practically untouched the meals brought her by the steward during the +gale, and the early morning cup of coffee, which would have proved most +grateful after a storm-tossed night, was an impossible achievement +owing to the lack of water. + +So Iris tackled the contents of the bowl with a vigorous appetite oddly +at variance with the seeming weakness that ended in a prolonged +fainting fit, and the hospitable Brazilians, to whom this fair English +girl was a revelation in feature and clothing, bestirred themselves to +provide further dainties. But, excepting some fruit, Iris had the +wisdom to refuse other food just then. Her thoughts were rapidly +becoming coherent, and she realized that a heavy meal might be +absolutely disastrous. If the men made good their project she would be +called on within an hour to cross the island. It seemed reasonable +that, hungry though she was, she would be better fitted to climb the +island hills at a fast pace if she ate sparingly. Still, she longed +for a drink of water, and taxed her small stock of Spanish to make +known her desire. + +"Agua, senhora," she said with a smile, and the delight of mother and +daughter was great, since they thought she could speak their language. + +Therein, of course, they were disappointed, but not more so than Iris +when she tasted the brackish fluid alone procurable on the south coast +of Fernando Noronha. That was a fortunate thing in itself. Only those +who have endured real thirst can tell how hard it is to refrain from +drinking deeply when water is ultimately obtained; but the mixture of +milk and eggs had already soothed her parched mouth and palate, and she +quickly detected an unpleasantly salt flavor in the beverage they gave +her. + +Then she set herself to discover her whereabouts. The women were eager +to impart information, but, alas, Iris's brain had regained its +every-day limitations, and she could make no sense of their words. At +last, seeing that the door was barred and the hut was innocent of any +other opening, she stood upright, and signified by a gesture that she +wished to go out. There could be no mistaking the distress, even the +positive alarm, created by this demand. The girl clasped her hands in +entreaty, and the older woman evidently tried most earnestly to +dissuade her visitor from a proceeding fraught with utmost danger. + +Being quite certain that they meant to be friendly, Iris sat down +again. She knew, of course, that Marcel would come for her, if +possible, and the relief displayed by her unknown entertainers was so +marked that she resolved to await his appearance quietly. She would +not abandon hope till daylight crept through the chinks of the hut. +How soon that might be she could not tell. It seemed but a few seconds +since she felt Hozier's arms around her, since her lips met his in a +passionate kiss. But, meanwhile, someone had brought her here. Her +dress, though damp, was not sopping wet. Even the slight token of the +beaten eggs showed how time must have sped while she was lying there +oblivious of everything. She tried again to question the women, and +fancied that they understood her partly, as she caught the words "meia +noite," but it was beyond her powers to ascertain whether they meant +that she had come there at midnight, or were actually telling her the +hour. + +At any rate, they were most anxious for her well-being. The island +housewife produced another dish, smiled reassuringly, and said, +"Manioc--bom," repeating the phrase several times. The compound looked +appetizing, and Iris ate a little. She discovered at once that it was +tapioca, but her new acquaintance suggested "cassava" as an +alternative. The girl, however, nodded cheerfully. She had heard the +gentry at Fort San Antonio call it tapioca, and her convict father +cultivated some of the finer variety of manioc for the officers' mess. + +"Ah," sighed Iris, smiling wistfully, "I am making progress in your +language, slow but sure. But please don't give me any mangroves." + +The girl apparently was quite fascinated by the sound of English. She +began to chatter to her mother at an amazing rate, trying repeatedly to +imitate the hissing sound which the Latin races always perceive in +Anglo-Saxon speech. Her mother reproved her instantly. To make +amends, the girl offered Iris a fine pomegranate. Iris, of course, +lost nothing of this bit of by-play. It was almost the first touch of +nature that she had discovered among the amazing inhabitants of +Fernando Noronha. + +These small amenities helped to pass the time, but Iris soon noted an +air of suspense in the older woman's attitude. Though mindful of her +guest's comfort, Luisa Gomez had ever a keen ear for external sounds. +In all probability, she was disturbed by the distant reports of +fire-arms, and it was a rare instance of innate good-breeding that she +did not alarm her guest by calling attention to them. Iris, amid such +novel surroundings, could not distinguish one noise from another. +Night-birds screamed hideously in the trees without; a host of crickets +kept up an incessant chorus in the undergrowth; the intermittent +roaring of breakers on the rocks invaded the narrow creek. The medley +puzzled Iris, but the island woman well knew that stirring events were +being enacted on the other side of the hill. Her husband was there--he +had, indeed, prepared a careful alibi since Marcel visited him--and +wives are apt to feel worried if husbands are abroad when bullets are +flying. + +So, while the girl, Manoela, was furtively appraising the clothing worn +by Iris, and wondering how it came to pass that in some parts of the +world there existed grand ladies who wore real cloth dresses, and lace +embroidered under-skirts, and silk stockings, and shining leather +boots--wore them, too, with as much careless ease as one draped one's +self in coarse hempen skirt and shawl in Fernando Noronha--her mother +was listening ever for hasty footsteps among the trailing vines. + +At last, with a muttered prayer, she went to the door, and unfastened +the stout wooden staple that prevented intruders from entering unbidden. + +It was dark without. Dense black clouds veiled the moon, and a gust of +wind moaned up the creek in presage of a tropical storm. Someone +approached. + +"Is that you, Manoel?" asked Luisa Gomez in a hushed voice. + +There was no answer. The woman drew back. She would have closed the +door, but a slim, active figure sprang across the threshold. She +shrieked in terror. The new-comer was a Brazilian officer, one of +those glittering beings whom she had seen lounging outside the +Prindio[1] during her rare visits to the town. She was hoping to greet +her Manoel, she half expected to find Marcel, but to be faced by an +officer was the last thing she had thought of. In abject fear, she +broke into a wild appeal to the Virgin; the officer merely laughed, +though not loudly. + +"Be not afraid, senhora--I am a friend," he said with quiet confidence, +and the fact that he addressed her so courteously was a wondrously +soothing thing in itself. But he raised a fresh wave of dread in her +soul when he peered into the cabin and spoke words she did not +understand. + +"I think you are here, mademoiselle," he said in French. "I am come to +share your retreat for a little while. Perchance by daybreak I may +arrive at some plan. At present, you and I are in difficulties, is it +not?" + +Iris recognized the voluble, jerky speech. A wild foreboding gripped +her heart until she was like to shudder under its fierce anguish. + +"You, Captain San Benavides?" she asked, and her utterance was +unnaturally calm. + +"I, mademoiselle," he said, "and, alas! I am alone. May I come in? +It is not well to show a light at this hour, seeing that the island is +overrun with infuriated soldiers." + +The concluding sentence was addressed to Luisa Gomez in Portuguese. +Realizing instinctively that the man came as a friend, she stood aside, +trembling, on the verge of tears. He entered, and the door was closed +behind him. The yellow gleam of the lamp fell on his smart uniform, +and gilded the steel scabbard of his sword. In that dim interior the +signs of his three days' sojourn on Grand-père were not in evidence, +and he had not been harmed during the struggle on the main road or in +the rush for the launch. + +He doffed his rakish-looking kepi and bowed low before Iris. Perhaps +the white misery in her face touched him more deeply than he had +counted on. Be that as it may, a note of genuine sympathy vibrated in +his voice as he said: + +"I am the only man who escaped, mademoiselle. The others? Well, it is +war, and war is a lottery." + +"Do you mean that they have been killed, all killed?" she murmured with +a pitiful sob. + +"I--I think so." + +"You . . . think? Do you not know?" + +He sighed. His hand sought an empty cigarette case. Such was the +correct military air, he fancied--to treat misfortunes rather as jests. +He frowned because the case was empty, but smiled at Iris. + +"It is so hard, mademoiselle, when one speaks these things in a strange +tongue. Permit me to explain that which has arrived. We encountered a +picket, and surprised it. Having secured some weapons and +accouterments, we hastened to the quay, where was moored the little +steamship. Unhappily, she was crowded with soldiers. They fired, and +there was a short fight. I was knocked down, and, what do you call +it?--_étourdi_--while one might count ten. I rose, half blinded, and +what do I see? The vessel leaving the quay--full of men engaged in +combat, while, just beyond the point, a warship is signaling her +arrival. It was a Brazilian warship, mademoiselle. She showed two red +rockets followed by a white one. It was only a matter of minutes +before she met the little steamship. I tell you that it was bad luck, +that--a vile blow. I was angry, yes. I stamp my foot and say foolish +things. Then I run!" + +Iris made no reply. She hid her face in her hands. She could frame no +more questions. San Benavides was trying to tell her that Hozier and +the rest had been overwhelmed by fate at the very instant escape seemed +to be within reach. The Brazilian, probably because of difficulties +that beset him in using a foreign language, did not make it clear that +he had flung himself flat in the dust when he heard the order to fire +given by someone on board the launch. He said nothing of a tragic +incident wherein Marcel, shot through the lungs, fell over him, and he, +San Benavides, mistaking the convict for an assailant, wrestled +furiously with a dying man. He even forgot to state that had he +charged home with the others, he would either have met a bullet or +gained the deck of the launch, and that his failure to reach the vessel +was due to his own careful self-respect. For San Benavides was not a +coward. He could be brave spectacularly, but he had no stomach for a +fight in the dark, when stark hazard chooses some to triumph and some +to die. That sort of devilish courage might be well enough for those +crude sailors; a Portuguese gentleman of high lineage and proved mettle +demanded a worthier field for his deeds of derring-do. Saperlotte! If +one had a cigarette one could talk more fluently! + +"Believe me, mademoiselle," he went on, speaking with a proud humility +that was creditable to his powers as an actor, "the tears came to my +eyes when I understood what had happened. For myself, what do I care? +I would gladly have given my life to save my brave companions. But I +thought of you, solitary, waiting here in distress, so I hurried into +the village, and my uniform secured me from interruption until I was +able to leave the road and cross the hills." + +Then the lightning of a woman's intuition pierced the abyss of despair. +Surely there were curious blanks in this thrilling narrative. As was +her way when thoroughly aroused, Iris stood up and seized San Benavides +almost roughly by the arm. Her distraught eyes searched his face with +a pathetic earnestness. + +"Why do you think that the launch did not get away?" she cried. "It +was dark. The moon might have been in shadow. If the launch met the +warship and was seen, there must have been firing----" + +"Chère mademoiselle, there was much firing," he protested. + +"At sea?" + +The words came dully. She was stricken again, even more shrewdly. The +gloom was closing in on her, yet she forced herself to drag the truth +from his unwilling lips. + +"Yes. Of course, I could not wait there in that open place. I was +compelled to seek shelter. Troops were running from town and citadel. +I avoided them by a miracle. And my sole concern then was your safety." + +"Oh, my safety!" she wailed brokenly. "How does it avail me that my +friends should be slain? Why was I not with them? I would rather have +died as they died than live in the knowledge that I was the cause of +their death." + +San Benavides essayed a confidential hand on her shoulder. She shrank +from him; he was not pleased but he purred amiably: + +"Mademoiselle is profoundly unhappy. Under such circumstances one says +things that are unmerited, is it not? If anyone is to blame, it is my +wretched country, which cannot settle its political affairs without +bloodshed. Ah, mademoiselle, I weep with you, and tender you my most +respectful homage." + +A deluge of tropical rain beat on the hut with a sudden fury. +Conversation at once became difficult, nearly impossible. Iris threw +herself back on the trestle in a passion of grief that rivaled the +outer tempest. San Benavides, by sheer force of habit, dusted his +clothes before sitting on the chair brought by Luisa Gomez. The +woman's frightened gaze had dwelt on Iris and him alternately while +they spoke. She understood no word that was said, but she gathered +that the news brought by this handsome officer was tragic, woeful, +something that would wring the heartstrings. + +"Was there fighting, senhor?" she asked, close to his ear, her voice +pitched in a key that conquered the storm. + +He nodded. He was very tired, this dandy; now that Iris gave no +further heed to him, he was troubled by the prospects of the coming day. + +"Were they soldiers who fought?" + +He nodded again. + +"No islanders?" + +Then he raised a hand in protest, though he laughed softly. + +"Your good man is safe, senhora," he said. "Marcel told him to go to +Sueste and tend his cattle. When he comes home it will be his duty to +inform the Governor that we are here. He will be rewarded, not +punished. _Sangue de Deus_! I may be shot at dawn. I pray you, let +me rest a while." + +The girl, Manoela, weeping out of sympathy, crept to Iris's side and +gently stroked her hair. Like her mother, she could only guess that +the English lady's friends were captured, perhaps dead. Even her +limited experience of life's vicissitudes had taught her what short +shrift was given to those who defied authority. The Republic of Brazil +does not permit its criminals to be executed, but it shows no mercy to +rebels. Manoela, of course, believed that the Englishmen were helping +the imprisoned Dom Corria to regain power. She remembered how a mutiny +was once crushed on the island, and her eyes streamed. + +Meanwhile, Luisa Gomez was touched by the good-looking soldier's +plight. Never, since she came to Fernando Noronha to rejoin her +convict husband, had she been addressed so politely by any member of +the military caste. The manners of the officers of the detachment at +Fort San Antonio were not to be compared with those of Captain San +Benavides. Her heart went out to him. + +"We must try to help you, Senhor Capitano," she said. "If the others +are dead or taken, you may not be missed." + +He threw out his hands in an eloquent gesture. Life or death was a +matter of complete indifference to him, it implied. + +"We shall know in the morning," he said. "Have you any cigarettes? A +milrei[2] for a cigarette!" + +"But listen, senhor. Why not take off your uniform and dress in my +clothes? You can cut off your mustaches, and wear a mantilha over your +face, and we will keep you here until there is a chance of reaching a +ship. Certainly that is better than being shot." + +He glanced at Iris. Vanity being his first consideration, it is +probable that he would have refused to be made ridiculous in her eyes, +had not a knock on the door galvanized him into a fever of fright. He +sprang up and glared wildly around for some means of eluding the +threatened scrutiny of a search party. Luisa Gomez flung him a rough +skirt and a shawl. He huddled into a corner near the bed,--in such +wise that the figures of Iris and Manoela would cloak the rays of the +lamp,--placed his drawn sword across his knees, and draped the two +garments over his head and limbs. + +Then, greatly agitated, but not daring to refuse admittance to the +dreaded soldiery, the woman unbarred the door. A man staggered in. He +was alone, and a swirl of wind and rain caused the lamp to flicker so +madly that no one could distinguish his features until the door was +closed again. + +But Iris knew him. Though her eyes were dim with tears, though the +new-comer carried a broken gun in his hands, and his face was +blood-stained, she knew. + +With a shriek that dismayed the other women--who could not guess that +joy is more boisterous than sorrow, she leaped up and threw her arms +around him. + +"Oh, Philip, Philip!" she sobbed. "He told me you were dead . . . and +I believed him!" + +The manner of her greeting was delightful to one who had faced death +for her sake many times during the past hour, yet Hozier was so +surprised by its warmth that he could find never a word at the moment. +But he had the good sense to throw aside the shattered rifle and return +her embrace with interest. Long ago exhausted in body, his mind reeled +now under the bewildering knowledge that this most gracious woman did +truly love him. When they parted in that same squalid hut at midnight, +he took with him the intoxication of her kiss. Yet he scarce brought +himself to believe that the night's happenings were real, or that they +two would ever meet again on earth. And now, here was Iris quivering +against his breast. He could feel the beating of her heart. The +perfume of her hair was as incense in his nostrils. She was clinging +to him as if they had loved through all eternity. No wonder he could +not speak. Had he uttered a syllable, he must have broken down like +the girl herself. + +San Benavides supplied a timely tonic. + +Throwing aside the rags which covered him, he tried to rise. Philip +caught a glimpse of the uniform, the sheen of the naked sword. He was +about to tear himself from Iris's clasp and spring at this new enemy +when the Brazilian spoke. + +"Mil diabos!" he cried in a rage, "this cursed Inglez still lives, and +here am I posing before him like an old hag." + +His voice alone saved him from being pinned to the floor by a man who +had adopted no light measures with others of his countrymen during the +past half-hour, as the dented gun-barrel, minus its stock, well showed. +But the captain's mortified fury helped to restore Philip's sanity. +Lifting Iris's glowing face to his own, he whispered: + +"Tell me, sweetheart, how comes it that our Brazilian friend is here?" + +"He ran away when some shots were fired," which was rather unfair of +Iris. "He said the launch had been sunk by a man-of-war----" + +"But he is wrong. I saw no man-of-war. We captured the launch. By +this time she is well out to sea. Unfortunately, Marcel was killed, +and Domingo badly wounded. There was no one to come for you, so I +jumped overboard and swam ashore. I had to fight my way here, and it +will soon be known that there are some of us left on the island. I +thought that perhaps I might take you back to the Grand-père cavern. +These people may give us food. I have some few sovereigns in my +pocket. . . ." + +"Oh, yes, yes!" She was excited now and radiantly happy. "Of course, +Captain San Benavides must accompany us. He says the soldiers will +shoot him if they capture him. I, too, have money. Let me ask him to +explain matters to this dear woman and her daughter. They have been +more than kind to me already." + +She turned to the sulky San Benavides and told him what Hozier had +suggested. He brightened at that, and began a voluble speech to Luisa +Gomez. Interrupting himself, he inquired, in French, how Hozier +proposed to reach the rock. + +"On a catamaran. There are two on the beach, and I can handle one of +them all right," said Philip. "But what is this yarn of a warship? +When last I sighted the launch she was standing out of the harbor, and +the first clouds of the storm helped to screen her from the citadel." + +Iris interpreted. San Benavides repeated his story of the rockets. In +her present tumult, the girl forgot the touch of realism with regard to +the firing that he had heard. Certainly there was a good deal of +promiscuous rifle-shooting after the departure of the launch, but +warships use cannon to enforce their demands, and the boom of a big gun +had not woke the echoes of Fernando Noronha that night. Philip deemed +the present no time for argument; he despised San Benavides, and gave +no credence to him. Just now the Brazilian was an evil that must be +endured. + +Luisa Gomez promised to help in every possible way. Her eyes sparkled +at the sight of gold, but the poor woman would have assisted them out +of sheer pity. Nevertheless, the gift of a couple of sovereigns, +backed by the promise of many more if her husband devoted himself to +their service, spurred her to a frenzy of activity. + +There was not a moment to be lost. The squall had spent itself, and a +peep through the chinks of the door showed that the moon would quickly +be in evidence again. It was essential that they should cross the +channel while the scattering clouds still dimmed her brightness; so +Manoela and her mother collected such store of food, and milk, and +water, as they could lay hands on. Well laden, all five hastened to +the creek, and Hozier, Iris, and San Benavides, boarded the larger of +the two catamarans. The strong wind had partly dissipated the noisome +odor, but it was still perceptible. Iris was sure she would never like +mangroves. + +Having a degree of confidence in the queer craft that was lacking +during their earlier voyage, they did not hesitate to stack jars and +baskets against the curved prow in such a manner that the eatables +would not become soaked with salt water. Then, after a hasty farewell, +during which Iris showed her gratitude to those kindly peasants by a +hug and a kiss, Hozier pushed off and tried to guide the catamaran as +Marcel had done. + +Oddly enough, he and Iris now saw the majestic outlines of the +Grand-père for the first time. The great rock rose above the water +like some immense Gothic cathedral. The illusion was heightened by a +giant spire that towered grandly from the center of the islet. It +looked a shrine built by nature in honor of its Creator, a true temple +of the infinite, and the semblance was no illusion to these three +castaways, since they regarded it as a sanctuary to which alone, under +Heaven, they might owe their lives. Hozier, of course, realized that +there was a certain element of risk in returning there. The island +authorities would surely endeavor to find out where the party of +desperadoes had lain _perdu_ between the sinking of the ship and the +attack on the picket. But the ill-starred Marcel had been confident +that none could land on the rock who was not acquainted with the +intricacies of the approach, and Philip was content to trust to the +reef-guarded passage rather than seek shelter on the mainland. + +Once embarked in the fairway, the management of the catamaran occupied +his mind to the complete exclusion of all other problems. He was +puzzled by the discovery that the awkward craft was traveling too far +to the westward, until he remembered that the tide had turned, and that +the current was either slack or running in the opposite direction. +Changing the paddle to the starboard side, he soon corrected this +deviation in the route. But he had been carried already a hundred +yards or more out of the straight line. To reach the two pointed rocks +that marked the entrance to the secret channel, he was obliged to creep +back along the whole shoreward face of the Grand-père; and to this +accident was due a surprise that ranked high in a day replete with +marvels. + +When the catamaran rounded the last outlying crag, and they were all +straining their eyes to find the sentinel pillars, they became aware +that a small boat was being pulled cautiously toward them from the +opposite side of the rock. + +Iris gasped. She heard Hozier mutter under his breath, while San +Benavides revealed his dismay by an oath and a convulsive tightening of +the hands that rested on the girl's shoulders. + +Hozier strove with a few desperate strokes of the paddle to reach the +shadows of the passage before the catamaran was seen by the boat's +occupants. He might have succeeded. Many things can happen at night +and on the sea--strange escapades and hair's-breadth 'scapes--thrills +denied to stay-at-homes dwelling in cities, who seldom venture beyond a +lighted area. But there was even a greater probability that the +unwieldy catamaran might be caught by the swell and dashed side-long +against one of the half-submerged rocks that thrust their black fangs +above the water. + +Happily, they were spared either alternative. At the very instant that +their lot must be put to the test of chance, Coke's hoarse accents came +to their incredulous ears. + +"Let her go, Olsen," he was growling. "We've a clear course now, an' +that dam moon will spile everything if we're spotted." + +In this instance hearing was believing, and Philip was the first to +guess what had actually occurred. + +"Boat ahoy, skipper!" he sang out in a joyous hail. + +Coke stood up. He glared hard at the reef. + +"Did ye 'ear it?" he cried to De Sylva, who was steering. "Sink me, I +'ope I ain't a copyin' pore ole Watts, but if that wasn't Hozier's +voice I'm goin' dotty." + +"It's all right, skipper," said Philip, sending the catamaran ahead +with a mighty sweep. "Miss Yorke is here--Captain San Benavides, too. +I was sure you would look for us if you cleared the harbor safely." + +Then Coke proclaimed his sentiments in the approved ritual of the high +seas, while the big Norseman at the oars swung the boat's head round +until both craft were traveling in company to the waiting launch. But +before anything in the nature of an explanation was forthcoming from +the occupants of either the boat or the catamaran, a broad beam of +white light swept over the crest of the island from north to south. It +disappeared, to return more slowly, until it rested on Rat Island, at +the extreme northwest of the group. It remained steady there, showing +a wild panorama of rocky heights and tumbling sea. + +"A search-light, by G--d!" growled Coke. + +"Then there really _was_ a warship," murmured Iris. + +"Ha!" said San Benavides, and his tone was almost gratified, for he had +gathered that Hozier was skeptical when told of the rockets. But in +that respect, at least, he was not mistaken. A man-of-war had entered +the roadstead, and her powerful lamp was now scouring sea and coast for +the missing launch. And in that moment of fresh peril it was forgotten +by all but one of the men who had survived so many dangers since the +sun last gilded the peak of Fernando Noronha, that were it not for Iris +having been left behind, and Philip's mad plunge overboard to go to +her, and the point-blank refusal of the _Andromeda's_ captain and crew +to put to sea without an effort to save the pair of them, the launch +would not now be hidden behind the black mass of the Grand-père rock. + +Nevertheless, the fact was patent. Had the little vessel sailed to the +west, in the assumption that her only feasible course lay in that +direction, she must have been discovered by the cruiser's far-seeing +eye. And what that meant needed no words. The bones of the +_Andromeda_ supplied testimony at once silent and all-sufficing. + + + +[1] The Governor's residence. + +[2] The Brazilian milrei is worth 55 cents, or 2s. 3 1/2d. The +Portuguese is worth only one-tenth of a cent. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +ON THE HIGH SEAS + +Again did that awe-inspiring wand of light describe a great arc in the +sky. But it was plain to be seen that it sprang from an altered base. +The warship was in motion. She was about to steam around the group of +islands. + +Boat and catamaran raced at once for the launch; a Babel of strange +oaths jarred the brooding silence; alarm, almost panic, stirred men's +hearts and bubbled forth in wild speech. Under pressure of this new +peril the instinct of self-preservation burst the bonds of discipline. +The first law of nature may be disregarded by heroes, but the +_Andromeda's_ crew were just common sailormen, who did not know when +they were heroic and did not care if they were deemed bestial. It may +be urged that they had suffered much. Out of a ship's company of +twenty-two exactly one half had survived the day's rigors. Domingo was +lying in the cabin, too seriously injured to be concerned whether he +lived or died. With him were two wounded soldiers, happily saved from +the ruthless ferocity of the fight alongside the wharf, when every +Brazilian in uniform found on deck was flung off to sink or swim as he +was best able. Indeed, it was during this phase of the struggle that +Hozier managed to scramble on shore unnoticed. He landed at the same +moment as enemies who were blind to every other consideration except +their own dangerous plight. + +Small wonder, then, if authority was cast to the winds now that capture +seemed to be unavoidable. Coke tried to still the tumult by thundering +a command to Norrie, second engineer, to throw open the throttle valve. +He took the wheel in person, meaning to shape a course due east, and +thus endeavor to avoid the cruiser's baleful glance. But some of the +men realized instantly that this expedient would fail. They were in no +mood for half measures. Norrie felt a bayonet under his left +shoulder-blade. Coke was roared down, and a hoarse voice growled: + +"Me for the tall timbers, maties. It's each one for hisself now." + +"Aye, aye!" came the chorus . . . "Shove her ashore! . . . Give us a +chanst there. . . We've none at sea." + +Dom Corria, being something of a fatalist, did not interfere. On this +cockleshell of a craft, among these rude spirits of alien races, he was +powerless. On land a diplomat and strategist of high order, here he +was a cipher. Moreover, he was beaten to his knees, and he knew it. +The arrival of the warship had upset his calculations. After many +months' planning of flight, he had been forced, by the events of a few +hours, into an aggressive campaign. His little cohort had done +wonders, it is true, but of what avail were these ill-equipped +stalwarts against a fast-moving fort, armed with heavy guns and +propelled by thousands of steam horses? None, absolutely none. Dom +Corria drew San Benavides aside. + +"All is ended!" he said quietly. "We shall never see Brazil again, +Salvador _meu_! Carmela must find another lover, it seems." + +Salvador did not appear to be specially troubled by the new quest +imposed on Carmela, but he was much perturbed by an uproar betokening +disunion among the men who had already saved his life twice. He was +beginning to believe in them. It was night, and they possessed a +vessel under steam. Why did they not hurry into the obscurity of the +smooth dark plain that looked so inviting? + +It was left to Hozier to solve a problem that threatened to develop +into a disastrous brawl. Danger sharpens a brave man's wits, but love +makes him fey. To succor Iris was now his sole concern. He swung a +couple of the excited sailors out of his way and managed to stem the +torrent of Coke's futile curses. + +"Give in to them!" he cried eagerly. "Tell them they are going ashore +in the creek. That will stop the racket. If they listen to me, I can +still find a means of escape." + +"Avast yelpin', you swabs!" bellowed Coke. "D'ye want to let every +bally sojer on the island know where you are? We're makin' for the +creek. Will _that_ please you? Now, Mr. Norrie, let her rip!" + +The head of the launch swung toward the protecting shadows. The men +knew the bearings of Cotton-Tree Bay, so the angry voices yielded to +selfish thought. If it was to be _sauve qui peut_ when the vessel +grounded, there was ample room for thought, seeing that each man's +probable fate would be that of a mad dog. + +Hozier seized the precious respite. He spoke loudly enough that all +should hear, and he began with a rebuke. + +"I am sorry that those of us who are left should have disgraced the +fine record set up by the _Andromeda's_ crew since the ship struck," he +said. "Your messmates who fell fighting would hardly believe St. Peter +himself if he told them that we were on the verge of open mutiny. I am +ashamed of you. Let us have no more of that sort of thing. Sink or +swim, we must pull together." + +There was some discordant muttering, but he gained one outspoken +adherent. + +"Bully for you!" said the man who had suggested tree-climbing as an +expedient. + +"Shut up!" was the wrathful answer. "You've made plenty of row +already. I only hope you have not attracted attention on the island. +You may not have been heard, owing to the disturbance on the other +side, but no thanks to any of you for that. Our skipper's first notion +was to put to sea. Wasn't it natural? Do you want to be hunted over +Fernando Noronha at daybreak? But he would have seen the uselessness +of trying to slip the cruiser before the launch had gone a cable's +length. Now, here is a scheme that strikes me as workable. At any +rate, it offers a forlorn hope. There is a sharp bend in the creek +just where the tidal water ends. I fancy the launch will float a +little higher up, but we must risk it. We will take her in, unship the +mast, tie a few boughs and vines on the funnel, and not twenty +search-lights will find us." + +A rumble of approving murmurs showed that he had scotched the dragon. +It was even ready to become subservient again. He continued rapidly: + +"No vessel of deep draught can come close in shore from the east. The +cruiser will have the Grand-père rock abeam within an hour, but, to +make sure, two of you will climb the ridge and watch her movements. +The rest will load up every available inch of space with wood and water +and food. How can we win clear of Fernando Noronha without fuel? It +is a hundred to one that the launch would not steam twenty miles on her +present coal supply. Such as it is, we must keep it for an emergency, +even if we are compelled to tear up the deck and dismantle the cabin." + +"Talks like a book!" snorted Coke, and some of the men grinned +sheepishly. + +Hozier was coolly reminding them of those vital things which frenzy had +failed wholly to take into account. Confidence was reborn in them. +They wanted to cheer this fearless young officer who seemed to forget +nothing, but the island promontories were so close at hand that +perforce they were dumb. + +The simplicity of the project was its best recommendation. Sailors +themselves, the mind of the cruiser's commander was laid bare to them. +He would soon be convinced that the launch had passed him in the dark +ere the search-light looked out over the sea. Long before the circuit +of Fernando Noronha was completed he would be itching to rush at top +speed along the straight line to Pernambuco. It was a bold thing, too, +to land on the island and stock their vessel for a voyage, the end of +which no man could foresee. The dare-devil notion fascinated them. In +that instant, the _Andromeda's_ crew returned to their allegiance, +which was as well, since it was fated to be stiffly tested many times +ere they were reported inside 1 degree West again. + +Unfortunately, Coke was in a raging temper. Never before had his +supremacy been challenged. Having lost control over his men, he owed +its restoration to Hozier. Such a fact was gall and wormwood to a man +of his character, and he was mean-souled enough to be vindictive. +Promising himself the future joy of pounding to a jelly the features of +every mother's son among the forecastle hands, he began to snarl his +orders. + +"Watts, you must leg it to the sky-line, an' pipe the cruiser. Olsen, +you go, too, an' see that Mr. Watts doesn't find a brewery. Hozier, +p'raps you'd like to rig the mistletoe. Miss Yorke 'll 'elp, I'm sure. +It's up to you, mister, an' his nibs with the sword, to parly-voo to +the other convicts about the grub. Is there a nigger's wood-pile +handy? If not, we must collar the hut. I'll take care of the stowage." + +He meant each jibe to hurt, and probably succeeded, but Watts was too +despondent, and Hozier and De Sylva too self-controlled, to say aught +that would add to their difficulties. Nevertheless, he was answered, +from a quarter whence retort was least expected. + +"You must modify your instructions, Captain Coke," said Iris with quiet +scorn. "It would be a shameful act to destroy the house of those who +befriended us. They gave freely of their stores, as you will see by +the supplies lashed to the catamaran, and will assist us further if +Senhor De Sylva appeals to them----" + +"You can safely leave that to me," broke in Dom Corria. + +But Iris was not to be placated thus easily. + +"I know that," she said. "I only wished Captain Coke to understand +that if he cannot make clear his meaning he should obey rather than +command." + +"The lady 'as 'ad the last word. Now let's get busy," sneered Coke. + +Hozier, who had not quitted his side since the incipient outbreak was +quelled, gripped his shoulder. + +"There is a pile of wood near the cottage," he said in Coke's ear. "I +saw it there. It must be paid for. Have you any money?" + +"A loose quid or two--no more." + +"A sovereign will be ample. Miss Yorke has already given the owners +two pounds." + +"Wot for?" + +"For their kindness. You are all there when it comes to a scrap, +skipper, but at most other times you ought to be muzzled. No, don't +talk now. We will discuss the point on some more suitable occasion, +when we can deal with it fully, and Miss Yorke is not present." + +Philip spoke in a whisper, but the low pitch of his voice did not +conceal its menace. He was longing to twine his fingers round Coke's +thick neck, and some hint of his desire was communicated by the clutch +of his hand. Coke shook himself free. He feared no man born, but it +would be folly to attack Hozier then, and he was not a fool. + +"Let go, you blank ijjit," he growled. "I've no grudge ag'in you. If +we pull out of this mess you'll 'ave to square matters wi' David Verity +an' that other ole ninny, Dickey Bulmer. She's promised to 'im, you +know. Told me so 'erself, so there's no mistake. I got me rag out, I +admit, an' 'oo wouldn't after bein' 'owled down by those swine forrard. +My godfather! Watch me put it over 'em w'en I get the chanst. Stop +'er, Norrie! There's plenty of way on 'er to round that bend." + +Hozier reflected that he had chosen an odd moment to quarrel with his +captain, whose mordant humor in the matter of the mistletoe was only +accentuated by his reference to Iris's reported engagement. The +pungent smell of the mangrove swamp was wafted now to his nostrils. It +brought a species of warning that the disagreeable conditions of life +in Fernando Noronha were yet active. It was not pleasant to be thus +suddenly reminded of pitfalls that might exist in England; meanwhile, +here was the launch thrusting her nose into the mud and shingle of this +malevolent island. + +To his further annoyance, San Benavides, who depended on his compatriot +for a summary of the latest scheme, asked Iris to accompany De Sylva +and himself to the hut. + +"They are stupid creatures, these peasants," he said. "When they see +you they will not be frightened." + +There was so much reason in the statement that Iris was a ready +volunteer. Soon all hands were at work, and it was due to the girl's +forethought that strips of linen were procured from Luisa Gomez, and +healing herbs applied to the cuts and bruises of the injured men. +Sylva was all for leaving the two soldiers on the island, but Coke's +sailor-like acumen prevented the commission of that blunder. + +"No, that will never do," he said, with irritating offhandness. "These +jokers will be found at daylight, an' they'll be able to say exactly +wot time we quit. The wimmin can make out they was scared stiff an' +darsent stir. It 'ud be different with the sojers. An' we ain't goin' +to have such a 'eart-breakin' start, even if the cruiser clears away +soon after two o'clock." + +"Where do you propose to make for?" + +"Where d'ye think, mister? Nor'-east by nor', to be sure, until we +sight some homeward-bound ship." + +There was a pause. The pair could talk unheard, since they were +standing on the bank, and the men were either loading firewood and +fruit and cassava, or stripping trees and vines to hide the +superstructure of the launch. + +"You mean to abandon everything, then?" said De Sylva. He seemed to be +watching the onward sweep of the search-light as the warship went to +the north. But Coke was shrewd. He felt that there was something +behind the words, and he suspected the ex-President's motives. + +"I don't see any 'elp for it," he answered. "Gord's trewth, wot is +there to abandon? I've lost me ship, an' me money, an' me papers, an' +'arf me men. Unless one was lookin' for trouble, this ain't no +treasure island, mister." + +"Yet it might be made one." + +"As how?" + +"Do you not realize how greatly the members of the present Government +fear my return to Brazil? Here, I am their prisoner, practically +friendless, almost alone. They dare not kill me by process of law, yet +they are moving heaven and earth to prevent my escape, or shoot me down +in the act. Why? Because they know that the people are longing to +hail me as President again. Suppose you and your men took me to +Pernambuco----" + +"S'pose hell!" snapped Coke. + +"Please listen. You can but refuse when you look at the facts fairly. +If, as I say, I were put ashore at Pernambuco, or at any other of half +a dozen ports I can name, I should be among my own followers. You, +Captain Coke, and every officer and man of your ship, and her owners, +and the relatives of those who have lost their lives, would not only be +paid all just claims by the new Government, but adequately rewarded. +In your own case, the recompense would be princely. But, assuming that +we board a vessel bound for Europe, what certainty have you that you +will ever receive a penny?" + +"Oh, reely, that's comin' it a bit thick, mister," growled Coke. + +"You believe I am exaggerating the difficulties of your position? Pray +consider. Your vessel is broken up. She was fired on while at anchor +on the wrong side of the island, on the very day selected for my +escape. You and your men manage to dodge the bullets, and, under my +leadership, assisted by Captain San Benavides, you overrun the place by +night, kill several soldiers, seize a launch, despoil peasants of their +crops and stores, and make off with a good deal of property belonging +to the Brazilian Government, not to mention the presence in your midst +of such a significant personage as myself. Speaking candidly, Senhor +Captain, what chance have you of convincing any international court of +your innocence? Who will believe that you were not a true filibuster? +That is what Brazil will say you are. How will you disprove it? In +any event, who will enforce your claims against my country? English +public opinion would never compel your Government to take action in +such an exceedingly doubtful case, now would it?" + +"If we was to try and land you in Brazil, we'd bust up our claim for +good an' all," muttered Coke. Though this was a powerful argument +against De Sylva's theory, it revealed certain qualms of perplexity. +The other man's brilliant eyes gleamed for an instant, but he guarded +his voice. He was in his element now. When words were weapons he +could vanquish a thousand such adversaries. + +"I think otherwise," he said slowly. "A judge might well hold that in +a small vessel like the launch you were entitled to make for the +nearest land. But I grant you that point; it is really immaterial. If +I fail, you lose everything. Accept my offer, and you have a +reasonable chance of winning a fortune." + +"Wot exactly is your offer?" + +"Ample compensation officially. Five thousand pounds to you in person." + +"Five thousand!" Coke cleared a throat husky with doubt. He scratched +his head under the absurd-looking kepi which he was still wearing; for +a moment, his lips set in grim calculation. "That 'ud make things +pretty easy for the missus an' the girls," he muttered. "An' there's +no new ship for me w'en Dickey Bulmer cocks 'is eye at Hozier. It's a +moral there'll be a holy row between 'im an' David. . . . D'ye mean +it, mister?" + +"Even if I fail, and my life is spared, I will pay you the money out of +my own private funds," was the vehement reply. + +"Well, well, leave the job to me. You sawr 'ow them tinkers jibbed +just now. I must 'umor 'em a bit, d--n 'em. But wait till the next +time some of 'em ships under me. Lord luv' a duck, won't I skin 'em? +Not 'arf!" + +De Sylva, with all his admirable command of English, could not follow +the Coke variety in its careless freedom. But he knew his man. Though +bewildered by strange names and stranger words, he was alive to the +significance of things being made easy "for the missus and the girls." +So, even this gnarled sea-dog had a soft spot in his heart! On the +very brink of the precipice his mind turned to his women-kind, just as +De Sylva himself had whispered a last memory of his daughter to San +Benavides when their common doom was seemingly unavoidable. + +He would urge no more, since Coke was willing to fall in with his +designs, but he could not forbear from clinching matters. + +"I promise on my honor----" he began. + +But the nearer surface of the sea flashed into a dazzling distinctness, +and Coke dragged him down to the launch. The cruiser had rounded Rat +Island, and was devoting one sweeping glance eastward ere she sought +her prey in creek or tortuous channel. The men were summoned hastily. +Watts and Olsen had been warned to crouch behind the rocks on the +crest, while those who remained near the launch were told to hide among +the trees or crowd into the small cabin. Movement of any kind was +forbidden. There was no knowing who might be astir on the hills, and a +sharp eye might note the presence of foreigners in Cotton-Tree Bay. +Hozier had not forgotten the risk of detection from the shore, and the +vessel was plentifully decorated with greenery. The long, large-leafed +vines and vigorous castor-oil plants were peculiarly useful at this +crisis. Trailing over the low freeboard into the water, they screened +the launch so completely that Watts and the Norwegian, perched high +above the creek at a distance of three hundred yards, could only guess +her whereabouts when the search-light made the Gomez plantation light +as day. + +The cruiser evidently discovered traces of the _Andromeda_ on +Grand-pere. She stopped an appreciable time, and created a flutter in +many anxious hearts by a loud hoot of her siren. It did not occur to +anyone at the moment that she was signaling to the troops bivouacked on +South Point. De Sylva was the first to read this riddle aright. He +whispered his belief, and it soon won credence, since the warship +continued her scrutiny of the coast-line. + +At last, after a wearying delay, she vanished. Five minutes later, +Watts and Olsen brought the welcome news that she was returning to the +roadstead. + +It was then half-past two o'clock, and the sun would rise soon after +five. Now or never the launch must make her effort. Ready hands tore +away her disguise, she was tilted by crowding in the poop nearly every +man on board, the engines throbbed, and she was afloat. + +At daybreak the thousand-foot peak of Fernando Noronha was a dark blur +on the western horizon. No sail or smudge of smoke broke the remainder +of the far-flung circle. The fugitives could breathe freely once more. +They were not pursued. + +Iris fell asleep when assured that the dreaded warship was not in +sight. Hozier, too, utterly exhausted by all that he had gone through, +slept as if he were dead. Coke, whose iron constitution defied +fatigue, though it was with the utmost difficulty that he had walked +across the narrow breadth of Fernando Noronha, took the first watch in +person. He chatted with the men, surprised them by his candor on the +question of compensation, and announced his resolve to make for the +three-hundred-mile channel between Fernando Noronha and the mainland. + +"You see, it's this way, me lads," he explained affably. "We're short +o' vittles an' bunker, an' if we kep' cruisin' east in this latitood +we'd soon be drawrin' lots to see 'oo'd cut up juiciest. So we must +run for the tramp's track, which is two hundred miles to the west. +We'll bear north, an' that rotten cruiser will look south for sartin, +seein' as 'ow they know we 'ave the next President aboard." + +Coke paused to take breath. + +"Wot a pity we can't give 'im a leg up," he added confidentially. "It +'ud be worth a pension to every man jack of us. 'Ere 'e is, special +freight, so to speak. W'y _'e'd sign anythink_." + +Once the train was laid, it was a simple matter to fire the mine. When +Hozier awoke, to find the launch heading west, he was vastly astonished +by Coke's programme. It was all cut and dried, and there was really +nothing to cavil at. If they met a steamship, and she stopped in +response to their signals, her captain would be asked to take care, not +only of Miss Yorke, but of any other person who shirked further +adventure. As for Coke, and Watts, and the majority of the men, they +were pledged to De Sylva. Even Norrie, the engineer, a hard-headed +Scot, meant to stick to the launch until the President that was and +would be again was safely landed among his expectant people. + +Watts let the cat out of the bag later. + +"Those of us 'oo don't leave Dom Wot's-'is-name in the lurch are to get +ten years' full pay, extry an' over an' above wot the court allows," he +said. "Just think of it! Don't it make your mouth water? Reminds me +of a chap I wonst read about in a trac'. It tole 'ow 'e took to booze. +One 'ot Sunday, bein' out for a walk, 'e swiped 'arf a pint of ginger +beer, the next 'e tried shandy-gaff, the third 'e went the whole hog, +an' then 'e never stopped for ten years. My godfather! Ten years' pay +an' a ten years' drunk! It's enough to make a sinner of any man." + +Hozier laughed. Two days ago he would have asked no better luck than +the helping of Dom Corria to regain his Presidentship. Now, there was +Iris to protect. He would not be content to leave her in charge of the +first grimy collier they encountered, nor was he by any means sure that +she would agree to be thus disposed of. He was puzzled by the singular +unanimity of purpose displayed by his shipmates. But that was their +affair. His was to insure Iris's safety; the future he must leave to +Providence. + +And, indeed, Providence contrived things very differently. + +By nightfall the launch was a hundred miles west of the island. Norrie +got eight knots out of her, but it needed no special calculation to +discover that she would barely make the coast of Brazil if she consumed +every ounce of coal and wood on board. The engines were strong and in +good condition, but she had no bunker space for a long voyage. Were it +not for Hozier's foresight she would have been drifting with the Gulf +Stream four hours after leaving the island. As it was, unless they +received a fresh supply of fuel from another ship, they must +unquestionably take the straightest line to the mainland. + +During the day they had sighted three vessels, but at such distances +that signaling was useless, each being hull down on their limited +horizon. Moreover, they had to be cautious. The cruiser, trusting to +her speed, might try a long cast north and south of the launch's +supposed path. She alone, among passing ships, would be scouring the +sea with incessant vigilance, and it behooved them, now as ever, not to +attract her attention. They were burning wood, so there was no smoke, +and the mast was unstepped. Yet the hours of daylight were tortured by +constant fear. Even Iris was glad when the darkness came and they were +hidden. + +At midnight a curious misfortune befell them. The compass had been +smashed during the fight, and not a sailor among them owned one of the +tiny compasses that are often worn as a charm on the watchchain. This +drawback, of little consequence when sun or stars could be seen, +assumed the most serious importance when a heavy fog spread over the +face of the waters. The set of the current was a guide of a sort, but, +as events proved, it misled them. Man is ever prone to over-estimate, +and such a slight thing as the lap of water across the bows of a small +craft was sure to be miscalculated; they contrived to steer west, it is +true, but with a southerly inclination. + +At four o'clock, by general reckoning, they were mid-way between island +and continent. They were all wide awake, too weary and miserable to +sleep. Suddenly a fog-horn smote the oppressive gloom. It drew near. +A huge blotch crossed their bows. They could feel it rather than see +it. They heard some order given in a foreign language, and De Sylva +whispered: + +"The _Sao Geronimo_!" + +"The wot-ah?" demanded Coke, who was standing beside him. + +"The cruiser!" + +Coke listened. He could distinguish the half-speed beating of twin +screws. He knew at once that the ex-President must have recognized the +warship as she passed the creek, but, by some accident, had failed to +mention her name during the long hours that had sped in the meantime. +The sinister specter passed and the launch crept on. Everyone on board +was breathless with suspense. Faces were shrouded by night and the +fog, but some gasped and others mumbled prayers. One of the wounded +soldiers shouted in delirium, and a coat was thrust over his head with +brutal force. The fog-horn blared again, two cables' lengths distant. +They were saved, for the moment! + +In a little while, perhaps twenty minutes, they heard another siren. +It sounded a different note, a quaintly harsh blend of discords. +Whatsoever ship this might be, it was not the _Sao Geronimo_. And in +that thrilling instant there was a coldness on one side of their faces +that was not on the other. Moist skin is a weather-vane in its way. A +breeze was springing up. Soon the fog would be rolled from off the sea +and the sun would peer at them in mockery. + +Coke's gruff voice reached every ear: + +"This time we're nabbed for keeps unless you all do as I bid you," he +said. "When the fog lifts, the cruiser will see us. There's only one +thing for it. Somewhere, close in, is a steamer. She's a tramp, by +the wheeze of 'er horn. We've got to board 'er an' sink the launch. +If she's British, or American, O.K., as 'er people will stand by us. +If she's a Dago, we've got to collar 'er, run every whelp into the +forehold, an' answer the cruiser's signals ourselves. That's the +sittiwation, accordin' to my reckonin'. Now, 'oo's for it?" + +"Butt right in, skipper," said a gentleman who claimed Providence, +Rhode Island, as the place of his nativity. + +Hozier, who had contrived to draw near Iris while Coke was speaking, +breathed softly, so that none other could hear: + +"This is rank piracy. But what else can we do?" + +"Is it wrong?" she asked. + +"Well--no, provided we kill no one. We are justified in saving our own +lives, and the average German or Italian shipmaster would hand us over +to the Brazilians without scruple." + +Iris was far from Bootle and its moralities. + +"I don't care what happens so long as you are not hurt," she whispered. + +"Mr. Hozier," said Coke thickly. + +"Yes, sir." + +"You've got good eyes an' quick ears. Lay out as far forrard as you +can, an' pass the word for steerin'." + +Hozier obeyed. The discordant bleat of a foghorn came again, +apparently right ahead. In a few seconds he caught the flapping of a +propeller, and silenced the launch's engines. + +"We are close in now," he said to Coke, after a brief and noiseless +drift. "Why not try a hail!" + +"Ship ahoy!" shouted Coke, with all the force of brazen lungs. + +The screw of the unseen ship stopped. The sigh of escaping steam +reached them. + +"_Holla_! _Wer rufe_?" was the gruff answer. + +"Sink me if it ain't a German!" growled Coke, _sotto-voce_, "Norrie, +you must stick here till I sing out to you. Then open your exhaust an' +unscrew a sea-cock. . . . Wot ship is that?" he vociferated aloud. + +Some answer was forthcoming--what, it mattered not. The launch bumped +into the rusty ribs of a twelve-hundred ton tramp. A rope ladder was +lowered. A round-faced Teuton mate--fat and placid--was vastly +surprised to find a horde of nondescripts pouring up the ship's side in +the wake of a short, thick, bovine-looking person who neither +understood nor tried to understand a word he was saying. + +These extraordinary visitors from the deep brought with them a girl and +three wounded men. By this time the captain was aroused; he spoke some +English. + +"Vas iss diss?" he asked, surveying the newcomers with amazement, and +their bizarre costumes with growing nervousness. "Vere haf you coomed +vrom?" + +Coke pushed him playfully into the cook's galley. + +"This is too easy," he chortled. "Set about 'em, you swabs. Don't +hurt anybody unless they ax for it. Round every son of a gun into the +fo'c'sle till I come. Mr. Watts, the bridge for you. Olsen, take the +wheel. Mr. Hozier, see wot you can find in their flag locker. _Now_, +Mr. Norrie! Sharp for it. You're wanted in the engine-room." + +And that is how ex-President Dom Corria Antonio De Sylva acquired the +nucleus of his fleet, though, unhappily, an accident to a sea-cock +forthwith deprived him of a most useful and seaworthy steam launch. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +A LIVELY MORNING IN EXCHANGE BUILDINGS + +Coke and his merry men became pirates during the early morning of +Thursday, September 2d; the curious reader can ascertain the year by +looking up "Brazil" in any modern Encyclopedia, and turning to the +sub-division "Recent History." On Monday, September 6th, David Verity +entered his office in Exchange Buildings, Liverpool, hung his hat and +overcoat on their allotted pegs, swore at the office boy because some +spots of rain had come in through an open window, and ran a feverish +glance through his letters to learn if any envelopes bearing the +planetary devices of the chief cable companies had managed to hide +themselves among the mass of correspondence. + +The act was perfunctory. Well he knew that telephone or special +messenger would speedily have advised him if news of the _Andromeda_ +had arrived since he left the office on Saturday afternoon. But it is +said that drowning men clutch at straws, and the metaphor might be +applied to Verity with peculiar aptness. He was sinking in a sea of +troubles, sinking because the old buoyancy was gone, sinking because +many hands were stretched forth to push him under, and never one to +draw him forth. + +There was no cablegram, of course. Dickey Bulmer, who had become a +waking nightmare to the unhappy shipowner, had said there wouldn't +be--said it twelve hours ago, after wringing from Verity the astounding +admission that Iris was on board the _Andromeda_. It was not because +the vessel was overdue that David confessed. Bulmer, despite his +sixty-eight years, was an acute man of business. Moreover, he was +blessed with a retentive memory, and he treasured every word of the +bogus messages from Iris concocted by her uncle. They were lucid at +first, but under the stress of time they wore thin, grew disconnected, +showed signs of the strain imposed on their author's imagination. +Bulmer, a typical Lancashire man, blended in his disposition a genial +openhandedness with a shrewd caution. He could display a princely +generosity in dealing with Verity as the near relative and guardian of +his promised wife; to the man whom he suspected of creating the +obstacles that kept her away from him he applied a pitiless logic. + +The storm had burst unexpectedly. Bulmer came to dinner, ate and drank +and smoked in quiet amity until David's laboring muse conveyed his +niece's latest "kind love an' good wishes," and then---- + +"Tell you wot," said Dickey, "there's another five thousand due +to-morrow on the surveyor's report." + +"There is," said Verity, knowing that his guest and prospective partner +alluded to the new steamer in course of construction on the Clyde. + +"Well, it won't be paid." + +David lifted his glass of port to hide his face. Was this the first +rumbling of the tempest? Though expected hourly, he was not prepared +for it. His hand trembled. He dared not put the wine to his lips. + +"Wot's up now?" he asked. + +"You're playin' some underhand game on me, David, an' I won't stand +it," was the unhesitating reply. "You're lyin' about Iris. You've bin +lyin' ever since she disappeared from Bootle. Show me 'er letters an' +their envelopes, an' I'll find the money. But, of course, you can't. +They don't exist. Now, own up as man to man, an' I'll see if this +affair can be settled without the lawyers. You know wot it means once +_they_ take hold." + +Then David set down the untasted wine and told the truth. Not +all--that was not to be dreamed of. In the depths of his heart he +feared Bulmer. The old man's repute for honesty was widespread. He +would fling his dearest friend into prison for such a swindle as that +arranged between Coke and the shipowner. But it was a positive relief +to divulge everything that concerned Iris. From his pocket-book David +produced her frayed letter, and Bulmer read it slowly, aloud, through +eyeglasses held at a long focus. + +Now, given certain definite circumstances, an honest man and a rogue +will always view them differently. David had interpreted the girl's +guarded phrases in the light of his villainous compact with Coke. +Dickey, unaware of this disturbing element, was inwardly amazed to +learn that Verity had lied so outrageously with the sole object of +carrying through a commercial enterprise. + +"'Tell him I shall marry him when the _Andromeda_ returns to England +from South America,'" he read. And again . . . "'The vessel is due +back at the end of September, I believe, so Mr. Bulmer will not have +long to wait.'" + +If, in the first instance, David had not been swept off his feet by the +magnitude of the catastrophe, if he had not commenced the series of +prevarications before the letter reached him, he might have adopted the +only sane course and taken Bulmer fully into his confidence. It was +too late now. Explanation was useless. The only plea that occurred to +him was more deadly than silence, since it was her knowledge of the +contemplated crime that made Iris a stowaway. He had never guessed how +that knowledge was attained and the added mystery intensified his +torture. + +Dickey rose from the table. His movements showed his age that night. + +"I'll think it over, David," he said. "There's more in this than meets +the eye. I'll just go home an' think it over. Mebbe I'll call at your +place in the mornin'." + +So here was Verity, awaiting Bulmer's visit as a criminal awaits a +hangman. There was no shred of hope in his mind that his one-time +crony would raise a finger to save him from bankruptcy. Some offenses +are unforgivable, and high in the list ranks the folly of separating a +wealthy old man from his promised bride. + +Now that a reprieve was seemingly impossible, he faced his misfortunes +with a dour courage. It had been a difficult and thankless task during +the past month to stave off pressing creditors. With Iris in Bootle +and Bulmer her devoted slave, Verity would have weathered the gale with +jaunty self-confidence. But that element of strength was lacking; nay, +more, he felt in his heart that it could never be replaced. He was no +longer the acute, blustering, effusive Verity, who in one summer's +afternoon had secured a rich partner and forced an impecunious sailor +to throw away a worn-out ship. The insurance held good, of course, and +there simply _must_ be some sort of tidings of the _Andromeda_ to hand +before the end of September. Yet things had gone wrong, desperately +wrong, and he was quaking with the belief that there was worse in store. + +He began to read his letters. They were mostly in the same vein, duns, +more or less active. His managing clerk entered. + +"There's an offer of 5s. 6d. Cardiff to Bilbao and Bilbao to the Tyne +for the _Hellespont_. It is better than nothing. Shall we take it, +sir?" + +The _Hellespont_ was the firm's other ship. She, too, was old and +running at a loss. + +"Yes. Wot is it, coal or patent fuel?" + +"Coal, with a return freight of ore." + +"Wish it was dynamite, with fuses laid on." + +The clerk grinned knowingly. Men grow callous when money tilts the +scale against human lives. + +"There's no news of the _Andromeda_, and _her_ rate is all right," he +said. + +David scowled at him. + +"D--n the rate!" he cried. "I want to 'ear of the ship. Wot the----" + +But his subordinate vanished. David read a few more letters. Some +were from the families of such of the _Andromeda's_ crew as lived in +South Shields, the Hartlepools, Whitby. They asked as a great favor +that a telegram might be sent when---- + +"Oh, curse my luck!" groaned the man, quivering under the conviction +that the _Andromeda_ was lost "by the act of God" as the charter-party +puts it. The belief unnerved him. Those words have an ominous ring in +the ears of evil-doers. He could show a bold front to his fellowmen, +but he squirmed under the dread conception of a supernatural vengeance. +So, like every other malefactor, David railed against his "luck." +Little did he guess the extraordinary turn that his "luck" was about to +take. + +The office boy announced a visitor, evidently not the terrible Bulmer, +since he said: + +"Gennelman to see yer, sir." + +"Oo is it?" growled the shipowner. + +"Gennelman from the noospaper, sir." + +"Can't be bothered." + +"'E sez hit's most himportant, sir." + +"Wot is?" + +"I dunno, sir." + +"Well, show 'im in. I'll soon settle 'im." + +A quiet-mannered young man appeared. He ignored David's sharp, "Now, +wot can I do for you?" and drew up a chair, on which he seated himself, +uninvited. + +"May I ask if you have received any private news of the _Andromeda_?" +he began. + +"No." + +"In that case, you must prepare yourself for a statement that may give +you a shock," said the journalist. + +David creaked round in his chair. His face, not so red as of yore, +paled distinctly. + +"Is she lost?" said he in a strangely subdued tone. + +"I--I fear she is. But there is much more than an ordinary shipwreck +at issue. Several telegrams of the gravest import have reached us this +morning. Perhaps, before I ask you any questions, you ought to read +them. They are in type already, and I have brought you proofs. Here +is the first." + +David took from the interviewer's outstretched hand a long strip of +white paper. For an appreciable time his seething brain refused to +comprehend the curiously black letters that grouped themselves into +words on the limp sheet. And, indeed, he was not to be blamed if he +was dull of understanding, for this is what he read: + + + "REVOLUTION IN BRAZIL. + + "SERIOUS POSITION. + + "STARTLING ESCAPADE OF A BRITISH SHIP. + +"RIO DE JANEIRO, September 5th. A situation of exceptional gravity has +evidently arisen on the island of Fernando do Noronha, whence, it is +said, ex-President De Sylva recently attempted to escape. A battleship +and two cruisers have been despatched thither under forced draught. No +public telegrams have been received from the island during the past +week, and the authorities absolutely refuse any information as to +earlier events, though the local press hints at some extraordinary +developments not unconnected with the appearance off the island of a +British steamship known as the _Andromeda_. + +"_Later_--De Sylva landed last night at the small port of Maceio in the +province of Alagoas, a hundred miles south of Pernambuco. It is +currently reported that Fernando Noronha was captured by a gang of +British freebooters. De Sylva's return is unquestionable. To-day he +issued a proclamation, and his partisans have seized some portion of +the railway. Excitement here is at fever heat." + + +Verity glared at the journalist. He laughed, almost hysterically. + +"The _Andromeda_!" he gasped. "Wot rot! Wot silly rot!" + +"Better withhold your opinion until you have mastered the whole story," +was the unemotional comment. "Here is a more detailed message. It is +printed exactly as cabled. We have not added a syllable except the +interpolation of such words as 'that' and 'the.' You will find it +somewhat convincing, I imagine." + +The shipowner grasped another printed slip. This time he was able to +read more lucidly: + + +"PERNAMBUCO, September 4th. Public interest in the abortive attempt to +reinstate Dom Corria De Sylva as President was waning rapidly when it +was fanned into fresh activity by news that reached this port to-day. +It appears that on the 31st ulto. a daring effort was made to free De +Sylva, who, with certain other ministers expelled by the successful +revolution of two years ago, is a prisoner on the island of Fernando do +Noronha. Lloyd's agent on that island reports that the British steamer +_Andromeda_, owned by David Verity & Co. of Liverpool, put into South +Bay, on the southeast side of Fernando do Noronha, early on the morning +of August 31st, and it is alleged that her mission was to take De Sylva +and his companions on board. The garrison, forewarned by the central +government, and already on the _qui vive_ owing to the disappearance of +their important prisoners from their usual quarters, opened fire on the +_Andromeda_ as soon as she revealed her purpose by lowering a boat. + +"The steamer, being unarmed, made no attempt to defend herself, and was +speedily disabled. She sank, within five minutes, off the Grand-père +rock, with all on board. With reckless bravado, her commander ran up +the vessel's code signals and house flag while she was actually going +down, thus establishing her identity beyond a shadow of doubt. A note +of pathos is added to the tragedy by the undoubted presence of a lady +on board--probably De Sylva's daughter, though it was believed here +that the ex-President's family were in Paris. Telegrams from the +island are strictly censored, and the foregoing statement is +unofficial, but your correspondent does not question its general +accuracy. Indeed, he has reason to credit a widespread rumor that the +island is still in a very disturbed condition. No one knows definitely +whether or not De Sylva has been recaptured. It is quite certain that +he has not landed in Brazil, but the reticence of the authorities as to +the state of affairs on Fernando Noronha leads to the assumption that +he and a few stanch adherents are still in hiding in one of the many +natural fastnesses with which the island abounds. + +"The British community on the littoral is deeply stirred by the drastic +treatment received by the _Andromeda_. It is pointed out that another +ship, the _Andros-y-Mela_, believed to have been chartered by the +insurgents, is under arrest at Bahia, and the similarity between the +two names is regarded as singular, to say the least. Were it not that +Lloyd's agent, whose veracity cannot be questioned, has stated +explicitly that the _Andromeda_ put in to South Bay--a point +significantly far removed from the regular track of trading vessels--it +might be urged that a terrible mistake had been made. In any event, +the whole matter must be strictly inquired into, and one of His +Majesty's ships stationed in the South Atlantic should visit the island +at the earliest date possible. _Delayed in transmission_." + + +Something buzzed inside Verity's head and stilled all sense of +actuality. He was unnaturally calm. Though the weather was chilly for +early September, great beads of perspiration glistened on his forehead. +His eyes were dull; they lacked their wonted shiftiness. He gazed at +the reporter unblinkingly, as though thought itself refused to act. + +"Is that the lot?" he inquired mechanically. + +"Nearly all, at present. These cablegrams reached us through London, +and the agency took the earliest measures to substantiate their +accuracy. The Brazilian Embassy pooh-poohs the whole story, but +Embassies invariably do that until the news is stale. By their own +showing, Ambassadors are singularly ill-informed men, especially in +matters affecting their own countries. Here, however, is a short +telegram from Paris which is of minor interest." + +And Verity read again: + + +"PARIS, September 6th. The members of Dom Corria De Sylva's family, +seen early this morning at the Hotel Continental, deny that any lady +connected with the cause of Brazilian freedom took part in the +attempted rescue of the ex-President. They are much annoyed by the +unfounded report, and hold strongly to the opinion that the revolution +would now have been a _fait accompli_ had not a traitor revealed the +destination of the _Andros-y-Mela_ and thus led to that vessel's +detention at Bahia." + + +The lady! Iris Yorke! At last David's supercharged mind was beginning +to assimilate ideas. He was conscious of a fierce pain in the region +of his heart. The buzzing in his head continued, and the journalist's +voice came to him as through a dense screen. + +"You will observe that the former President's relatives tacitly admit +that there was a plot on foot," the other was saying. "It is important +to note, too, that the long message from Pernambuco, marked 'delayed in +transmission' seems to imply a prior telegram which was suppressed. It +alludes to a revolt of which nothing is known here. Now, Mr. Verity, I +want to ask you----" + +The door was flung open. In rushed Dickey Bulmer with a speed +strangely disproportionate to his years. In his hands he held a +crumpled newspaper. + +"You infernal blackguard, have you seen this?" he roared, and his +attitude threatened instant assault on the dazed man looking up at him. +The reporter moved out of the way. Here, indeed, was "copy" of the +right sort. Bulmer held a position of much local importance. That he +should use such language to the owner of the _Andromeda_ promised +developments "of the utmost public interest." + +David stood up. His chair fell over with a crash. He held on to the +table to steady himself. Even Bulmer, white with rage, could not fail +to see that he was stunned. + +But Dickey was not minded to spare him on that account. + +"Answer me, you scoundrel!" he shouted, thrusting the paper almost into +David's face. "You are glib enough when it suits your purpose. Were +_you_ in this? Is this the reason you didn't tell me Iris was on board +till I forced the truth out of you last night?" + +The managing clerk came in. Behind him, a couple of juniors and the +office boy supplied reënforcements. They all had the settled +conviction that their employer was a rogue, but he paid them in no +niggardly fashion, and they would not suffer anyone to attack him. + +This incursion from the external world had a restorative effect on +Verity. Being what is termed a self-made man, he had a fine sense of +his own importance, and his subordinates' lack of respect forthwith +overcame every other consideration. + +"Get out!" he growled, waving a hand toward the door. + +"But, sir--please, gentlemen----" stuttered the senior clerk. + +"Get out, I tell you! D--n yer eyes, 'oo sent for any of you?" + +Undoubtedly David was recovering. The discomfited clerks retired. +Even Dickey Bulmer was quieted a little. But he still shook the +newspaper under David's nose. + +"Now!" he cried. "Let's have it. No more of your flamin' made-up +tales. Wot took you to shove the _Andromeda_ into a rat-trap of this +sort?" + +David staggered away from the table. He seemed to be laboring for +breath. + +"'Arf a mo'. No need to yowl at me like that," he protested. + +He fumbled with the lock of a corner cupboard, opened it, and drew +forth a decanter and some glasses. A tumbler crashed to the floor, and +the slight accident was another factor in clearing his wits. He swore +volubly. + +"Same thing 'appened that Sunday afternoon," he said, apparently +obvious of the other men's presence. "My poor lass upset one, she did. +Wish she'd ha' flung it at my 'ed. . . . Did it say 'went down with +all 'ands,' mister?" he demanded suddenly of the reporter. + +"Yes, Mr. Verity." + +"Is it true?" + +"I trust not, but Lloyd's agent--well, I needn't tell you that Lloyd's +is reliable. Was your niece on board? Is she the lady mentioned in +the cablegram?" + +Then Bulmer woke up to the fact that there was a stranger present. + +"'Ello!" he cried angrily. "Wot are you doin' ere? 'Oo are you? Be +off, instantly." + +"I am not going until Mr. Verity hears what I have to ask him, and +answers, or not, as he feels disposed," was the firm reply. + +"Leave 'im alone, Dickey. It's all right. Wot does it matter now 'oo +knows all there is to know? Just gimme a minnit." + +Verity poured out some brandy. Man is but a creature of habit, and the +hospitable Lancastrian does not drink alone when there is company. + +"'Ave a tiddly?" he inquired blandly. + +Both Bulmer and the journalist believed that David was losing his +faculties. Never did shipowner behave more queerly when faced by a +disaster of like magnitude, involving, as did the _Andromeda's_ loss, +not only political issues of prime importance, but also the death of a +near relative. They refused the proffered refreshment, not without +some show of indignation. Verity swallowed a large dose of neat +spirit. He thought it would revive him, so, of course, the effect was +instantaneous. The same quantity of prussic acid could not have killed +him more rapidly than the brandy rallied his scattered forces, and, not +being a physiologist, he gave the brandy all the credit. + +"Ah!" he said, smacking his lips with some of the old-time relish, +"that puts new life into one. An' now, let's get on with the knittin'. +I was a bit rattled when this young party steers in an' whacks 'is +cock-an'-bull yarn into me 'and. 'Oo ever 'eard of a respectable +British ship mixin' 'erself up with a South American revolution? The +story is all moonshine on the face of it." + +"I think otherwise, Mr. Verity, and Mr. Bulmer, I take it, agrees with +me," said the reporter. + +"Wot," blazed David, into whose mind had darted a notion that dazzled +him by its daring, "d'ye mean to insiniwate that I lent my ship to this +'ere Dom Wot's-'is-name? D'ye sit there an' tell me that Jimmie Coke, +a skipper who's bin in my employ for sixteen year, would carry on that +sort of fool's business behind 'is owner's back? Go into my clerk's +office, young man, an' ax Andrews to show up a copy of the ship's +manifest. See w'en an 'ow she was insured. Jot down the names of the +freighters for this run, and skip round to their offices to verify. +An' if that don't fill the bill, well, just interview yourself, an' say +if you'd allow your niece, a bonnie lass like my Iris, to take a trip +that might end in 'er bein' blown to bits. It's crool, that's wot it +is, reel crool." + +David was not simulating this contemptuous wrath. He actually felt it. +His harsh voice cracked when he spoke of Iris, and the excited words +gushed out in a torrent. + +The reporter glanced at Bulmer, who was watching Verity with a tense +expectancy that was not to be easily accounted for, since his manner +and speech on entering the room had been so distinctly hostile. + +"The lady referred to was Miss Iris Yorke, then?" + +"'Oo else? I've on'y one niece. My trouble is that she went without +my permission, in a way of speakin'. 'Ere, you'd better 'ave the fax. +She was engaged to my friend, Mr. Bulmer, but, bein' a slip of a girl, +an' fond o' romancin', she just put herself aboard the Andromeeda +without sayin' 'with your leave' or 'by your leave.' She wrote me a +letter, w'ich sort of explains the affair. D'you want to see it?" + +"If I may." + +"No," said Bulmer. + +"Yes," blustered Verity, fully alive now to the immense possibilities +underlying the appearance in print of Iris's references to her +forthcoming marriage. + +"An' I say 'no,' an' mean it," said the older man. "Go slow, David, go +slow. I was not comin 'ere as your enemy when I found this paper bein' +cried in the streets. It med me mad for a while. But I believe wot +you've said, an' I'm not the man to want my business, or my future +wife's I 'ope, to be chewed over by every Dick, Tom, an' 'Arry in +Liverpool." + +The reincarnation of David was a wonderful spectacle, the most +impressive incident the journalist had ever witnessed, did he but know +its genesis. The metamorphosis was physical as well as mental. Verity +burgeoned before his very eyes. + +"Of course, that makes a h-- a tremenjous difference," said the +shipowner. "You 'ave my word for it, an' that is enough for most men. +Mr. Andrews 'll give you all the information you want. I'll cable now +to Rio an' Pernambewco, an' see if I can get any straight news from the +shippin' 'ouses there. I'll let you know if I 'ear anything, an' you +might do the same by me." + +The reporter gave this promise readily. He scented a possible scandal, +and meant to keep in touch with Verity. Meanwhile, he was in need of +the facts which the managing clerk could supply, so he took himself off. + +Bulmer went to the window and looked out. A drizzle of sleet was +falling from a gray sky. The atmosphere was heavy. It was a day +singularly appropriate to the evil tidings that had shocked him into a +fury against the man who had so willfully deceived him. David picked +up the proof slips and reread them. He compared them with the +paragraphs in the newspaper brought by Bulmer, and thrown by him on the +table after his first outburst of helpless wrath. They were identical +in wording, of course, but, somehow, their meaning was clearer in the +printed page: and David, despite his uncouth diction, was a clever man. + +He wrinkled his forehead now in analysis of each line. Soon he hit on +something that puzzled him. + +"Dickey," he said. + +There was no answer. The old man peering through the window seemed to +have bent and whitened even since he came into the room. + +"Look 'ere, Dickey," went on David, "this dashed fairy-tale won't hold +water. _You_ know Coke. Is 'e the kind o' man to go bumpin' round +like a stage 'ero, an' hoisting Union Jacks as the ship sinks? I ax +you, is 'e? It's nonsense, stuff an' nonsense. An', if the Andromeeda +was scrapped at Fernando Noronha, 'oo were the freebooters that +collared the island, an' 'ow did this 'ere De Sylva get to Maceio? Are +you listenin'?" + +"Yes," said Bulmer, turning at last, and devouring Verity with his +deep-set eyes. + +"Well, wot d'ye think of it?" + +"Did you send the ship to Fernando Noronha?" + +It is needless to place on record the formula of David's denial. It +was forcible, and served its purpose--that should suffice. + +"Under ordinary conditions she would 'ave passed the island about the +31st?" continued Bulmer. + +"Yes. Confound it, 'aven't I bin cablin' there every two days for a +fortnight or more? B'lieve me or not, Dickey, it cut me to the 'eart +to keep you in the dark about Iris. But I begun it, like an ijjit, an' +kep' on with it." + +"To sweeten me on account of the new ships, I s'pose?" + +"Yes, that's it. No more lyin' for me. I'm sick of it." + +"For the same reason you wanted that letter published?" + +"Well--yes. There! You see I'm talkin' straight." + +"So am I. If--if Iris is alive, the partnership goes on. If--she's +dead, it doesn't." + +"D'ye mean it?" + +"I always mean wot I say." + +The click of an indicator on the desk showed that Verity's private +telephone had been switched on from the general office. By sheer force +of routine, David picked up a receiver and placed it to his ear. The +sub-editor of the newspaper whose representative had not been gone five +minutes asked if he was speaking to Mr. Verity. + +"Yes," said David, "wot's up now?" and he motioned to Bulmer to use a +second receiver. + +"A cablegram from Pernambuco states specifically that the captain and +crew of the _Andromeda_ fought their way across the island of Fernando +Noronha, rescued Dom De Sylva, seized a steam launch, attacked and +captured the German steamship _Unser Fritz_, and landed the insurgent +leader at Maceio. The message goes on to say that the captain's name +is Coke, and that he is accompanied by his daughter. . . . Eh? What +did you say? . . . Are you there?" + +"Yes, I'm 'ere, or I think I am," said David with a desperate calmness. +"Is that all?" + +"All for the present." + +"It doesn't say that Coke is a ravin', tearin', 'owlin' lunatic, does +it?" + +"No. Is that your view?" + +Bulmer's hand gripped David's wrist. Their eyes met. + +"I was thinkin' that the chap who writes these penny novelette wires +might 'ave rounded up his yarn in good shape," said Verity aloud. + +"But there is not the slightest doubt that something of the kind has +occurred," said the voice. + +"It's a put-up job!" roared David. "Them bloomin' Portygees 'ave sunk +my ship, an' they're whackin' in their flam now so as to score first +blow. A year-old baby 'ud see that if 'is father was a lawyer." + +The sub-editor laughed. + +"Well, I'll ring you up again when the next message comes through," he +said. + +But to Bulmer, David said savagely: + +"Wot's bitten Coke? 'E must 'ave gone stark, starin' mad." + +"Iris is alive!" murmured Bulmer. + +"Nice mess she med of things w'en she slung 'er 'ook from Linden +'Ouse," grunted her uncle. + +"I don't blame 'er. She meant no 'arm. She's on'y a bit of a lass, +w'en all is said an' done. Mebbe it's my fault, or yours, or the fault +of both of us. An' now, David, I'll tell you wot I 'ad in me mind in +comin' 'ere this morning. You're hard up. You don't know where to +turn for a penny. If you're agreeable, I'll put a trustworthy man in +this office an' give 'im full powers to pull your affairs straight. +Mind you, I'm doin' this for Iris, not for you. An' now that we know +wot's 'appening in South America, you an' I will go out there and look +into things. A mail steamer will take us there in sixteen days, an' +before we sail we can work the cables a bit so as to stop Iris from +startin' for 'ome before we arrive. The trip will do us good, an' +we'll be away from the gossip of Bootle. Are you game? Well, gimme +your 'and on it." + +[Illustration: "Well, gimme your 'and on it"] + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE LURE OF GOLD + +"Philip, I want to tell you something." + +"Something pleasant?" + +"No." + +"Then why tell me?" + +"Because, unhappily, it must be told. I hope you will forgive me, +though I shall never forgive myself. Oh, my dear, my dear, why did we +ever meet? And what am I to say? I--well, I have promised to marry +another man." + +"Disgraceful!" said Philip. + +Though Iris's faltered confession might fairly be regarded as +astounding, Philip was unmoved. The German captain had given him a +cigar, and he was examining it with a suspicion that was pardonable +after the first few whiffs. + +"Philip dear, this is quite serious," said Iris, momentarily +withdrawing her wistful gaze from the far-away line where sapphire sea +and amber sky met in harmony. Northeastern Brazil is a favored clime. +Bad weather is there a mere link, as it were, between unbroken weeks of +brilliant sunshine, when nature lolls in the warmth and stirs herself +only at night under the moon and the stars. That dingy trader, the +_Unser Fritz_, ostensibly carrying wool and guano from the Argentine to +Hamburg, was now swinging west at less than half speed over the long +rollers which alone bore testimony to the recent gale. Already a deep +tint of crimson haze over the western horizon was eloquent, in nature's +speech, of land ahead. At her present pace, the _Unser Fritz_ would +enter the harbor at Pernambuco on the following morning. + +Iris, her troubled face resting on her hands, her elbows propped on the +rails of the poop on the port side, looked at Philip with an intense +sadness that was seemingly lost on him. His doubts concerning the +cigar had grown into a certainty. He cast it into the sea. + +"I really mean what I say," she continued in a low voice that vibrated +with emotion, for her obvious distress was enhanced by his evident +belief that she was jesting. "I have given my word--written +it--entered into a most solemn obligation. Somehow, the prospect of +reaching a civilized place to-morrow induces a more ordered state of +mind than has been possible since--since the _Andromeda_ was lost." + +"Who is he?" demanded Hozier darkly. "Coke is married. So is Watts. +Dom Corria has other fish to fry than to dream of committing bigamy. +Of course, I am well aware that you have been flirting outrageously +with San Benavides----" + +"Please don't make my duty harder for me," pleaded Iris. "Before I met +you, before we spoke to each other that first day at Liverpool, I had +promised to marry Mr. Bulmer, an old friend of my uncle's----" + +"Oh,--he? . . . I am sorry for Mr. Bulmer, but it can't be done," +interrupted Hozier. + +"Philip, you do not understand. I--I cared for nobody then . . . and +my uncle said he was in danger of bankruptcy . . . and Mr. Bulmer +undertook to help him if I would consent. . . ." + +"Yes," agreed Philip, with an air of pleasant detachment, "I see. You +are in a first-rate fix. I was always prepared for that. Coke told me +about Bulmer--warned me off, so to speak. I forgot his claims at odd +times, just for a minute or so, but he is a real bugbear--a sort of +matrimonial bogey-man. If all goes well, and we enter Pernambuco +without being fired at, you will be handed over to the British Consul, +and he will send a rousing telegram about you to England. Bulmer, of +course, will cause a rare stir at home. Who wouldn't? No wonder you +are scared! It seems to me that there is only one safe line of action +left open." + +Iris did not respond to his raillery. She was despondent, nervous, +uncertain of her own strength, afraid of the hurricane of publicity +that would shortly swoop down on her. + +"I wish you would realize how I feel in this matter," she said, with a +persistence that was at least creditable to her honesty of purpose. "A +woman's word should be held as sacred as a man's, Philip." + +He turned and met her eyes. There was a tender smile on his lips. + +"So you really believe you will be compelled to marry Mr. Bulmer?" he +cried. + +"Oh, don't be horrid!" she almost sobbed. "I cuc--cuc--can't help it." + +"I have given some thought to the problem myself," he said, for, in +truth, he was beginning to be alarmed by her tenacity, though +determined not to let her perceive his changed mood. "Curiously +enough, I was thinking more of your dilemma than of the signals when we +were overhauled by the _Sao Geronimo_ this morning. Odd, isn't it, how +things pop into one's mind at the most unexpected moments? While I was +coding our explanation that we were putting into Pernambuco for +repairs, and that no steam yacht had been sighted between here and the +River Plate, I was really trying to imagine what the cruiser's people +would have said if I had told them the actual truth." + +His apparent gravity drew the girl's thoughts for an instant from +contemplating her own unhappiness. + +"How could you have done that?" she asked. "We are going there to suit +Senhor De Sylva's ends. We have suffered so much already for his sake +that we could hardly betray him now." + +Hozier spread wide his hands with a fine affectation of amazement. + +"I wasn't talking about De Sylva," he cried. "My remarks were strictly +confined to the question of your marriage. I know you far too well, +Iris, to permit you to go back to Bootle to be lectured and browbeaten +by your uncle. I have never seen him, but, from all accounts, he is a +rather remarkable person. He likes to have his own way, irrespective +of other folks' feelings. I am a good guesser, Iris. I have a pretty +fair notion why Coke meant to leave our poor ship's bones on a South +American reef. I appreciate exactly how well it would serve Mr. David +Verity's interests if his niece married a wealthy old party like +Bulmer. By the way how old is Bulmer?" + +"Nearly seventy." + +Even Iris herself smiled then, though her tremulous mirth threatened to +dissolve in tears. + +"Ah, that's a pity," said Hozier. + +"It is very unkind of you to treat me in this manner," she protested. + +"But I am trying to help you. I say it is a pity that Bulmer should be +a patriarch, because his only hope of marrying you is that I shall die +first. Even then he must be prepared to espouse my widow. By the way, +is it disrespectful to describe him as a patriarch? Isn't there some +proverb about three score years and ten?" + +"Philip, if only you would appreciate my dreadful position----" + +"I do. It ought to be ended. The first parson we meet shall be +commandeered. Don't you see, dear, we really must get married at +Pernambuco? That is what I wanted to signal to the cruiser: 'The +_Unser Fritz_ is taking a happy couple to church.' Wouldn't that have +been a surprise?" + +Iris clenched her little hands in despair. Why did he not understand +her misery? Though she was unwavering in her resolution to keep faith +with the man who had twitted her with taking all and giving nothing in +return, she could not wholly restrain the tumult in her veins. Married +in Pernambuco! Ah, if only that were possible! Yet she did not flinch +from the lover-like scrutiny with which Philip now favored her. + +"I am sure we would be happy together," she said, with a pathetic +confidence that tempted him strongly to take her in his arms and kiss +away her fears. "But we must be brave, Philip dear, brave in the +peaceful hours as in those which call for another sort of courage. +Last night we lived in a different world. We looked at death, you and +I together, not once but many times, and you, at least, kept him at +bay. But that is past. To-day we are going back to the commonplace. +We must forget what happened in the land of dreams. I will never love +any man but you, Philip; yet--I cannot marry you." + +"You will marry me--in Pernambuco." + +"I will not because I may not. Oh, spare me any more of this! I +cannot bear it. Have pity, dear!" + +"Iris, let us at least look at the position calmly. Do you really +think that fate's own decree should be set aside merely to keep David +Verity out of the Bankruptcy Court?" + +"I have given my promise, and those two men are certain I will keep it." + +"Ah, they shall release you. What then?" + +"You do not know my uncle, or Mr. Bulmer. Money is their god. They +would tell you that money can control fate. We, you and I, might +despise their creed, but how am I to shirk the claims of gratitude? I +owe everything to my uncle. He rescued my mother and me from dire +poverty. He gave us freely of his abundance. Would you have me fail +him now that he seeks my aid? Ah, me! If only I had never come on +this mad voyage! But it is too late to think of that now. Perhaps--if +I had not promised--I might steel my heart against him--but, Philip, +you would never think highly of me again if I were so ready to rend the +hand that fed me. We have had our hour, dear. Its memory will never +leave me. I shall think of you, dream of you, when, it may be, some +other girl--oh, no, I do not mean that! Philip, don't be angry with me +to-day. You are wringing my heart!" + +It was in Hozier's mind to scoff in no measured terms at the absurd +theory that he should renounce his oft-won bride because a pair of +elderly gentlemen in Bootle had made a bargain in which she was staked +against so many bags of gold. But pity for her suffering joined forces +with a fine certainty that fortune would not play such a scurvy trick +as to rob him of his divinity after leading him through an Inferno to +the very gate of Paradise. For that is how he regarded the perils of +Fernando Noronha. He was young, and the ethics of youth cling to +romance. It seemed only right and just that he should have been proved +worthy of Iris ere he gained the heaven of her love. There might be +portals yet unseen, with guardian furies waiting to entrap him, and he +would brave them all for her dear sake. But his very soul rebelled +against the notion that he had become her chosen knight merely to +gratify the unholy ardor of some decrepit millionaire. He laughed +savagely at the fantasy, and his protest burst into words strange on +his lips. + +"I shall never give you up to any other man," he said. "I have won you +by the sword, and, please God, I shall keep you against all claimants. +Twenty-two men sailed out of Liverpool on board the Andromeda, and it +was given to me among the twenty-two that I should pluck you from +darkness into light. I had only seen you that day on the wharf, yet I +was thinking of you constantly, little dreaming that you were within a +few yards of me all the time. I was planning some means of meeting you +again when our surly-tempered skipper bade me burst in the door that +kept you from me. And that is what I have been doing ever since, +Iris--breaking down barriers, smashing them, whether they were flesh +and blood or nature's own obstacles, so that I might not lose you. +Give you up! Not while I live! Why, you yourself dragged me away from +certain death when I was lying unconscious on the _Andromeda's_ deck. +A second time, you saved not me alone but the ten others who are left +out of the twenty-two, by bringing us back to Grand-père in the hour +that our escape seemed to be assured had we put out to sea. We are +more than quits, dear heart, when we strike a balance of mutual +service. We are bound by a tie of comradeship that is denied to most. +And who shall sever it? The man who gains three times the worth of his +ship by reason of the very dangers we have shared! To state such a mad +proposition is to answer it. Who is he that he should sunder those +whom God has joined together? And what other man and woman now +breathing can lay better claim than we to have been joined by the +Almighty?" + +The strange exigencies of their lives during the past two days had +ordained that this should be Philip's first avowal of his feelings. +Under the stress of overpowering impulse he had clasped Iris to his +heart when they were parting on the island. In obedience to a stronger +law than any hitherto revealed to her innocent consciousness the girl +had flown to his arms when he came to the hut. And that was all their +love-making, two blissful moments of delirium wrenched from a time of a +gaunt tragedy, and followed by a few hours of self-negation. Yet they +sufficed--to the man--and the woman is never too ready to count the +cost when her heart declares its passion. + +But the morrow was not to be denied. Its bitter awakening had come. +In the very agony of a sublime withdrawal Iris realized what manner of +man this was whom she had determined to thrust aside so that she might +keep her troth. She dared not look at him. She could not compel her +quivering lips to frame a word of excuse or reiterated resolve. With a +heart-breaking cry of sheer anguish she fled from him, running away +along the deck with the uncertain steps of some sorely stricken +creature of the wild. + +He did not try to restrain her. Heedless of the perplexed scowl with +which Coke was watching him from the bridge, he looked after her until +she vanished in the cabin which had been vacated for her use by the +chief engineer of the vessel. Even her manifest distress gave him a +sense of riotous joy that was hardly distinguishable from the keenest +spiritual suffering. + +"Give you up!" he muttered again. "No, Iris, not if Satan brought +every dead Verity to aid the living one in his demand." + +Coke, to whom tact was anathema, chose that unhappy instant to summon +him to take charge of the ship. The German master and crew had not +caused trouble to their conquerors after the first short struggle. +They washed their hands of responsibility, professed to be satisfied +with the written indemnity and promise of reward given by De Sylva, and +otherwise placed the resources of the vessel entirely at his disposal. +A more peaceable set of men never existed. Though they numbered +sixteen, three more than the usurpers, it was quite certain that the +thought of further resistance never entered their minds. If anything, +they hailed the adventure with decorous hilarity. It formed a welcome +break in the monotony of their drab lives. Of course, they were +utterly incredulous as to the ability of a scarecrow like Dom Corria to +fulfil his financial pledges. Therein they erred. He was really a +very rich man, having followed the illustrious example set by +generations of South American Presidents in accumulating a fine +collection of gilt-edged scrip during his tenure of office, which said +scrip was safely lodged in London, Paris, and New York. But the world +always refuses to associate rags with affluence, and these worthy +Teutons regarded De Sylva and Coke as the leaders of a gang of +dangerous lunatics who should be humored in every possible way until a +port was reached. + +It was precisely that question of a port which had engaged Coke in +earnest consultation with De Sylva and San Benavides on the bridge +while Iris and Hozier were lacerating each other's feelings on the poop. + +Apparently, the point was settled when Hozier joined the triumvirate. +Coke glanced at the compass, and placed the engine-room telegraph at +"Full Speed Ahead," for the _Unser Fritz_ had once been a British ship, +and still retained her English appliances. + +"Keep 'er edgin' south a bit," said he to Hozier. "There's no knowin' +w'en that crimson cruiser will show up again, but we must try and steal +a knot or two afore sundown." + +The order roused Hozier from his stupor of wrathful bewilderment. + +"Why south?" he asked. "If anything, Pernambuco lies north of our +present course." + +"We're givin' Pernambuco the go-by. It's Maceio for us, quick as we +can get there." + +Hozier was in no humor for conciliatory methods. He turned on his +heel, and walked straight to where De Sylva was leaning against the +rails. + +"Captain Coke tells me that we are not making for Pernambuco," he said, +meeting the older man's penetrating gaze with a glance as firm and +self-contained. + +"That is what we have arranged," said Dom Corria. + +"It does not seem to have occurred to you that there is one person on +board this ship whose interests are vastly more important than yours, +senhor." + +"Meaning Miss Yorke?" asked the other, who did not require to look +twice at this stern-visaged man to grasp the futility of any words but +the plainest. + +"Yes." + +"She will be safer at Maceio than at Pernambuco. Our only danger at +either place will be encountered at the actual moment of landing. At +Maceio there is practically no risk of finding a warship in the harbor. +That is why we are going there." + +"And not because you are more likely to find adherents there?" + +"It is a much smaller town than Pernambuco, and my strength lies +outside the large cities, I admit. But there can be no question as to +our wisdom in preferring Maceio, even where the young lady's well-being +is concerned." + +"I think differently. At Maceio there are few, if any, Europeans. At +Pernambuco the large English-speaking community will protect her, no +matter what President is in power. I must ask you to reconsider your +plan. Land Miss Yorke and me at Pernambuco, and then betake yourself +and those who follow you where you will." + +Coke jerked himself into the dispute. + +"'Ere, wot's wrong now?" he demanded angrily. "Since w'en 'as a second +officer begun to fix the ship's course?" + +"I am not your second officer, nor are you my commander," said Philip. +"At present we are fellow-pirates, or, at best, running the gravest +risk of being regarded as pirates by any court of law. I don't care a +cent personally what port we make, but I do care most emphatically for +Miss Yorke's safety." + +"We've argied the pros an' cons, an' it's to be Maceio," growled Coke. + +Dom Corria's precise tones broke in on what threatened to develop into +a serious dispute. + +"You would have been asked to join in the discussion, if, apparently, +you were not better engaged at the moment, Mr. Hozier," he said. "I +assure you, on my honor, that there are many reasons in favor of Maceio +even from the exclusive point of view of Miss Yorke's immediate future. +She will be well cared for. I promise to make that my first +consideration. The army is mainly for me, and Senhor San Benavides's +regiment is stationed at Maceio. The navy, on the other hand, supports +Dom Miguel Barraca, who supplanted me, and we shall surely meet a +cruiser or gunboat at Pernambuco. You see, therefore, that common +prudence----" + +"I see that, whether willing or not, we are to be made the tools of +your ambition," interrupted Hozier curtly. "It is also fairly evident +that I am the only man of the _Andromeda's_ company whom you have not +bribed to obey you. Well, be warned now by me. If circumstances fail +to justify your change of route, I shall make it my business to settle +at least one revolution in Brazil by cracking your skull." + +San Benavides, hearing the names of the two ports, understood exactly +why the young Englishman was making such a strenuous protest. He moved +nearer, laying an ostentatious hand on the sword that clanked +everlastingly at his heels. He had never been taught, it seemed, that +a man who can use his fists commands a readier weapon than a sword in +its scabbard. Hozier eyed him. There was no love lost between them. +For a fraction of a second San Benavides was in a position of real +peril. + +Then Dom Corria said coldly: + +"No interference, I pray you, Senhor Adjudante. Kindly withdraw." + +His tone was eminently official. San Benavides saluted and stepped +back. The dark scar on De Sylva's forehead had grown a shade lighter, +but there was no other visible sign of anger in his face, and his +luminous eyes peered steadily into Hozier's. + +"Let me understand!" he said. "You hold my life as forfeit if any +mischance befalls Miss Yorke?" + +"Yes." + +"I accept that. Of course, you no longer challenge my direction of +affairs?" + +"I am no match for you in argument, senhor, but I do want you to +believe that I shall keep my part of the compact." + +Coke, familiar with De Sylva's resources as a debater, and by no means +unwilling to see Hozier "taken down a peg," as he phrased it; eager, +too, to witness the Brazilian officer's discomfiture if the second mate +"handed it to him," thought it was time to assert himself. + +"I'm goin' to 'ave a nap," he announced. "Either you or Watts must +take 'old. W'ich is it to be?" + +"No need to ask Mr. Hozier any such question," said the suave Dom +Corria. "You can trust him implicitly. He is with us now--to the +death. Captain San Benavides, a word with you." + +"South a bit," repeated the skipper. "Call me at two bells in the +second dog." + +He was turning to leave the bridge with the Brazilians when a cheery +voice came from a gangway beneath. + +"Yah, yah, mine frent--that's the proper lubricant. I wouldn't give +you tuppence a dozen for your bloomin' lager. Well, just a freshener. +Thanks. Ik danky shun!" + +"You spik Tcherman vare goot," was the reply. + +"Talk a little of all sorts. Used to sing a Jarman song once. What +was that you was a-hummin' in your cabin? Nice chune. I've a musical +ear meself." + +Someone sang a verse in a subdued baritone, tremulous with sentiment. +The melody was haunting, the words almost pathetic under the conditions +of life on board the disheveled _Unser Fritz_. They told of Vienna, +the city beloved of its sons. + + Es gibt nur eine Kaiser Stadt, + Es gibt nur eine Wien. + + +"Shake, me boy!" cried the enraptured Watts to the ship's captain. "I +do'n' know wot it's all about, but it's reel fine. Something to do +with a gal, I expect. Well, 'ere's one of the same kidney: + + I know a maiden fair to see, + Take care! + She can both false and friendly be, + Beware, beware! + Trust her not, + She is fooling thee!" + + +Mr. Watts was both charmed and surprised when the friendly skipper +joined in the concluding lines in his own language. But his pleasure +was short-lived. Coke's inflamed visage glowered into the mess room. + +"Sink me if you ain't a daisy!" he roared, pouncing on a three-quarters +filled bottle of rum. "D'you fancy we're goin' to land you at Maceio +cryin' drunk? No, sir, not this time. Over it goes, an' if you ain't +dam careful, over you go after it!" + +Watts could have wept without the artificial stimulus of the rum. To +see good liquor slung into the sea in that fashion--well, it was a sin, +that's wot it was! But Coke's furious eye quelled him; and revel and +song ceased. + +Above, on the bridge, Hozier smiled sourly at the squall which had so +suddenly beset the fair argosy of the convivial-minded Watts. He tried +to invest the incident with an excess of humor. Any excuse would serve +to still certain disquieting doubts that were springing into alarming +activity. Had he gone the best way to work in allaying Iris's +conscience-stricken qualms? Was he justified in adopting such a bold +line with De Sylva? Could it be possible--no, he refused to harbor any +mean thought of Iris. She loved him, he was sure; his love for her was +at once a torment and an excruciating bliss, and both of these wearing +sensations sadly detracted from the efficiency of the officer of the +watch. So our distracted Philip pulled himself up sharply, paced back +and forth between port and starboard, and surveyed ship, binnacle, and +horizon with alert vigilance. + +On the fore-deck groups of sailors and firemen belonging to both +vessels were fraternizing. There could be little room for speculation +as to the subject of their broken talk. It was of De Sylva, of +Brazil's new dictator, of the gold he would control when he became +President again. The slow-moving Teutonic mind was beginning to +assimilate the notion that there was money in this escapade. That the +tatterdemalion then closeted with the _Unser Fritz's_ captain could +obtain a certified check for a million sterling, and twenty-five times +as many millions of francs, and even then remain a man of means, was +unbelievable; but if he regained power, that was different. _Ende gut, +alles gut_. There might be pickings in it. + +Soon after sunset Iris reappeared. She walked on the after deck with +San Benavides, and seemed to be listening with great attention to +something he was telling her. Hozier was often compelled to look that +way in order to make certain that the _Sao Geronimo_ was not +overhauling the ship in one of her circling flights over the wide +channel. He wondered what in the world San Benavides was saying that +his chatter should be so interesting, and he acknowledged with a pang +that Iris was deliberately avoiding his own occasional glances in her +direction. + +There is no saying what would have happened had he known that the +Brazilian was relating the scene that took place on the bridge, +suppressing its prime motive, and twisting it greatly to Hozier's +detriment, though with an adroit touch that deprived Iris of any power +to resent his words. Indeed, she read her own meaning into Philip's +anxiety to reach Pernambuco, whereas San Benavides was striving to +instill the belief that she would find excellent friends at Maceio. +She was far too loyal-hearted to suspect Philip of a hidden purpose in +urging that the voyage should end in one port rather than another. But +she could not forget that he said repeatedly they would be married in +Pernambuco. Indeed, the promise had a glamour of its own, even though +it could never be fulfilled. More than once her cheeks glowed with a +rush of color that San Benavides attributed to his own delightful +personality, and, when she paled again, his voice sank to a deeply +sympathetic note. + +And here came Watts, rejuvenated, having imbibed many pints of the +despised lager, and humming gaily: + + Beware, Beware! + Trust her not! + She is foo-oo-ooling thee! + + +Confound the fellow. Why could he not chant the piratical doggerel +that Coke abhorred? That, at least, would have been more appropriate +to present surroundings? But would it? Ah, Philip felt a twinge then. +"Touché!" chortled some unseen imp who plied a venomous rapier. Thank +goodness, a sailor was standing by the ship's bell, with his hand on a +bit of cord tied to the clapper. It would soon be seven o'clock. Even +the companionship of the uncouth skipper was preferable to this +brooding solitariness. + +When Hozier was relieved, and summoned to a meal in the saloon with +Norrie and some of the ship's own officers, Iris was nowhere visible. +He went straight to her cabin, and knocked. + +"Who is it?" she asked. + +"I, Philip. Will you be on deck in a quarter of an hour?" + +"No." + +"But this time _I_ want to tell _you_ something." + +"Philip, dear, I am weary. I must rest--and--I dare not meet you." + +"Dare not?" + +"I am afraid of myself. Please leave me." + +He caught the sob in her voice, and it unmanned him; he stalked off, +raging. He remembered how the fiend, in Gounod's incomparable opera, +whispered in the lover's ear: "Thou fool, wait for night and the moon!" +and he was wroth with himself for the memory. While off duty he kept +strict watch and ward over the gangway in which Iris's cabin was +situated. It was useless; she remained hidden. + +The _Unser Fritz_ was now heading southwest, and "reeling off her ten +knots an hour like clockwork," as Norrie put it. The Recife, that +enormous barrier reef which blockades hundreds of miles of the +Brazilian coast, caused no anxiety to Coke. He was well acquainted +with these waters, and he held on stoutly until the occulting light of +Maceio showed low over the sea straight ahead. It was then after +midnight, and the land was still ten miles distant, but the ship +promptly resumed her role of lame duck, lest a prowling gunboat met and +interrogated her. + +As Coke had told Iris she might expect to be ashore about two o'clock, +she waited until half-past one ere coming on deck. Despite her +unalterable decision to abide by the hideous compact entered into with +her uncle and Bulmer, her first thought now was to find Hozier. Though +the sky was radiant with stars, a slight haze on the surface of the sea +shrouded the ship's decks and passages in an uncanny darkness. Coke's +orders forbade the display of any lights whatsoever, except those in +the engine-room and the three essential lamps carried externally. So +the _Unser Fritz_ was gloomy, and the plash of the sea against her worn +plates had an ominous sound, while the glittering white eye of the +lighthouse winked evilly across the black plain in front. + +In a word Iris was thoroughly wretched, and not a little disturbed by +the near prospect of landing in a foreign country, which would probably +be plunged into civil war by the mere advent of De Sylva. It need +hardly be said that, under these circumstances, Hozier was the one man +in whose company she would feel reasonably safe. But she could not see +him anywhere. Coke and Watts, with the Brazilians and a couple of +Germans, were on the bridge, but Hozier was not to be found. + +At last she hailed one of the _Andromeda's_ men whom she met in a +gangway. + +"Mr. Hozier, miss?" said he. "Oh, he's forrard, right up in the bows, +keepin' a lookout. This is a ticklish place to enter without a pilot, +an' we've passed two already." + +This information added to her distress. She ought not to go to him. +Full well she knew that her presence might distract him from an +all-important task. So she sat forlornly on the fore-hatch, waiting +there until he might leave his post, reviewing all the bizarre +procession of events since she climbed an elm-tree in the garden of +Linden House on a Sunday afternoon now so remote that it seemed to be +the very beginning of life. The adventures to which that elm-tree +conducted her were oddly reminiscent of the story of Jack and the +Beanstalk. For once, the true had outrivaled the fabulous. + +The steamer crept on lazily, and Iris fancied the hour must be nearer +five o'clock than two when she heard Hozier's voice ring out clearly: + +"Buoy on the port bow!" + +There was a movement among the dim figures on the bridge. A minute +later Hozier cried again: + +"Buoy on the starboard bow!" + +She understood then that they were in a marked channel. Already the +road was narrowing. Soon they would be ashore. At last Hozier came. +He saw her as he jumped down from the forecastle deck. + +"Why are you here, Iris?" was all he said. She looked so bowed, so +humbled, that he could not find it in his heart to reproach her for +having avoided him earlier. + +"I wanted to be near you," she whispered. "I--I am frightened, Philip. +I am terrified by the unknown. Somehow, on the rock our dangers were +measurable. Here, we shall soon be swallowed up among a whole lot of +people." + +They heard Coke's gruff order to the watch to clear the falls of the +jolly-boat. The _Unser Fritz_ was going dead slow. On the starboard +side were the lights of a large town, but the opposite shore was somber +and vague. + +"Are we going to land at once, in a small boat?" said Iris timidly. + +"I fancy there is a new move on foot. A gunboat is moored half a mile +down stream. You missed her because your back was turned. She has +steam up, and could slip her cables in a minute. They saw her from the +bridge, of course, but I did not report her, as there was a chance that +my hail might be heard, and we came in so confidently that we are +looked on as a local trader. Come, let us buy a programme." + +He took her by the arm with that masterful gentleness that is so +comforting to a woman when danger is rife. Even his jesting allusion +to their theatrical arrival in port was cheering. They reached the +bridge. Some sailors were lowering a boat as quietly as possible. + +Dom Corria approached with outstretched hand. + +"Good-by, Miss Yorke," he said. "I am leaving you for a few hours, not +longer. When next we meet I ought to have a sure grip of the +Presidential ladder, and I shall climb quickly. Won't you wish me +luck?" + +"I wish you all good fortune, Dom Corria," said Iris. "May your plans +succeed without bloodshed!" + +"Ah, this is South America, remember. Our conflicts are usually short +and fierce. _Au revoir_, Mr. Hozier. By daybreak we shall be better +friends." + +San Benavides also bade them farewell, with an easy grace not wholly +devoid of melodramatic pathos. The dandy and the man of rags climbed +down a rope ladder, the boat fell away from the ship's side, and the +night took them. + +"What did he mean by saying you would be 'better friends'?" whispered +the girl. "Have you quarreled?" + +"We had a small dispute as to the wisdom of landing you here," said +Philip. "Perhaps I was wrong. He is a clever man, and he surely knows +his own country." + +"Mr. Hozier!" cried Coke. + +"Yes, sir." + +"Is all clear forrard to let go anchor?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Give her thirty. You go and see to it, will you?" + +Hozier made off at a run. + +Iris recalled the last time she heard similar words. She shuddered. +Would that placid foreshore blaze out into a roar of artillery, and the +worn-out _Unser Fritz_, like the worn-out _Andromeda_, stagger and +lurch into a watery grave. + +But the only noise that jarred the peaceful night was the rattle of the +cable and winch. The ship fell away a few feet, and was held. There +was no moving light on the river. Not even a police boat or Customs +launch had put off. Maceio was asleep; it was quite unprepared for the +honor of a Presidential visit. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE NEW ERA + +A swaggering officer and a man habited like a beggar landed unobserved +at a coal wharf, moored a ship's boat to a bolt, and passed swiftly +through a silent town till they reached the closed gates of an infantry +barrack perched on a hill that rose steeply above the clustering roofs +of Maceio. + +Though the seeming mendicant limped slightly, his superior stature +enabled him to keep pace with the officer. The pair neither lagged nor +hesitated. The officer knocked loudly on a small door inset in the big +gates. After some delay it was opened. A sentry challenged. + +"Capitão San Benavides," announced the officer, and the man stood to +attention. + +"Enter, my friend," said San Benavides to his ragged companion. The +latter stepped within; the wicket was locked, and the click of the bolt +was suggestive of the rattle of the dice with which Dom Corria De Sylva +was throwing a main with fortune. Perhaps some thought of the kind +occurred to him, but he was calm as if he were so poor that he had +naught more to lose. + +"Who is the officer of the guard?" San Benavides asked the soldier. + +"Senhor Tenente [Lieutenant] Regis de Pereira, senhor capitão." + +"Tell him, with my compliments, that I shall be glad to meet him at the +colonel's quarters in fifteen minutes." + +The queerly-assorted pair moved off across the barrack square. The +sentry looked after them. + +"My excellent captain seems to have been brawling," he grinned. "But +what of the _mendigo_?" + +What, indeed? A most pertinent question for Brazil, and one that would +be loudly answered. + +The colonel's house was in darkness, yet San Benavides rapped +imperatively. An upper window was raised. A voice was heard, using +profane language. A head appeared. Its owner cried, "Who is +it?"--with additions. + +"San Benavides." + +"Christo! And the other?" + +"One whom you expect." + +The head popped in. Soon there was a light on the ground floor. The +door opened. A very stout man, barefooted, who had struggled into a +pair of abnormally tight riding-breeches, faced them. + +"Can it be possible?" he exclaimed, striking an attitude. + +Dom Corria spoke not a word. He knew the value of effect, and could +bide his time. The three passed into a lighted apartment. De Sylva +placed himself under a chandelier, and took off a frayed straw hat +which he had borrowed from someone on board the _Unser Fritz_. The +colonel, a grotesque figure in his present _deshabillé_, bowed low +before him. + +"My President!--I salute you," he murmured. + +"Thank you, General," said Dom Corria, smiling graciously. "I knew I +could depend on you. How soon can you muster the regiment?" + +"In half an hour, Excellency." + +"See that there is plenty of ammunition for the machine guns. What of +the artillery?" + +"The three batteries stationed here are with us heart and soul." + +"Colonel San Benavides, as chief of the staff, is acquainted with every +detail. You, General, will assume command of the Army of Liberation. +Some trunks were sent to you from Paris, I believe?" + +"They are in the room prepared for your Excellency." + +"Let me go there at once and change my clothing. I must appear before +the troops as their President, not as a jail-bird. For the moment I +leave everything to you and San Benavides. Let Senhor Pondillo be +summoned. He will attend to the civil side of affairs. You have my +unqualified approval of the military scheme drawn up by you and my +other friends. There is one thing--a gunboat lies in the harbor. Is +she the _Andorinha_?" + +The newly-promoted general smote his huge stomach with both +hands--"beating the drum," he called it--and the rat-tat signified +instant readiness for action. + +"The guns will soon scare that bird," he exclaimed. As _Andorinha_ +means "swallow" in English there was some point to the remark. Nor was +he making a vain boast. The most astounding feature of every +revolution in a South American republic is the alacrity with which the +army will fire on the navy, _et vice versâ_. The two services seem to +be everlastingly at feud. If politicians fail to engineer a quarrel, +the soldiers and sailors will indulge in one on their own account. + +It was so now at Maceio. Dawn was about to peep up over the sea when +twelve guns lumbered through the narrow streets, waking many startled +citizens. A few daring souls, who guessed what had happened, rushed +off on horseback or bicycle to remote telegraph offices. These +adventurers were too late. Every railway station and post-office +within twenty miles was already held by troops. Revolts are conducted +scientifically in that region. Their stage management is perfect, and +the cumbrous methods of effete civilizations might well take note of +the speed, thoroughness, and efficiency with which a change of +government is effected. + +For instance, what could be more admirable than the scaring of the bird +by General Russo? He drew up his three batteries on the wharf opposite +the unsuspecting _Andorinha_, and endeavored to plant twelve shells in +the locality of her engine-room without the least hesitation. There +was no thought of demanding her surrender, or any quixotic nonsense of +that sort. In the first place, no man would act as herald, since he +would be shot or stabbed the instant his errand became known; in the +second, as Hozier had explained to Iris, the gunboat could slip her +cable very quickly, and Russo's artillerists might miss a moving object. + +As it was, every gun scored, though the elevation was rather high. The +shells made a sad mess of the superstructure, but left the engines +intact. The sailors, on their part, knew exactly what had happened. +Every man who escaped death or serious injury from the bursting +missiles ran to his post. A wire hawser and mooring rope were severed +with axes, the screw revolved, and the _Andorinha_ was in motion. +Though winged, she still could fly. The second salvo of projectiles +was less damaging; again the gunners failed to reach the warship's +vitals. Her commander got his own armament into action, and managed to +demolish a warehouse and a grain elevator. Then he made off down the +coast toward Rio de Janeiro. + +The sudden uproar stirred Maceio from roof to basement. Its +inhabitants poured into the Plaza. Every man vied with his neighbor in +yelling: "The revolution is here! _Viva Dom Corria_! _Abajo São +Paulo_!" + +That last cry explained a good deal. The State of São Paulo had long +maintained a "corner" in Brazilian Presidents. De Sylva, a native of +Alagoas, was the first to break down the monopoly. Hence the cabal +against him; hence, too, the readiness of Maceio, together with many of +the smaller ports and the whole of the vast interior, to espouse his +cause. + +For the purposes of this story, which is mainly concerned with the +lives and fortunes of a few insignificant people unknown to history, it +is not necessary to follow in detail the trumpetings, proclamations, +carousals, and arrests that followed Dom Corria's first success. It is +a truism that in events of international importance the very names of +the chief actors ofttimes go unrecorded. Future generations will ask, +perhaps:--Who blew up the _Maine_? Who persuaded the Tsar to break his +word anent Port Arthur? Who told Paul Kruger that the Continent of +Europe would support the Boers against Great Britain? Such instances +could be multiplied indefinitely, and the rule held good now in Brazil. + +If any polite Pernambucano, Maceio-ite, or merchant of Bahia were +informed that President De Sylva's raid was alone rendered possible by +the help of a truculent British master-mariner and a dozen or so of his +hard-bitten crew, he (the said Brasileiro) might be skeptical, or, at +best, indifferent. But let the name of some puppet politician hailing +from São Paulo be mentioned, and his eyes would flash with angry +recognition; yet the _Andromeda's_ small contingent achieved more than +a whole army of conspirators. + +The one incident, then, of a political nature, in which the victors of +the tussle on Fernando Noronha were publicly concerned, was the outcome +of a message cabled by Dom Corria while the smoke of Russo's cannon +still clung about the quay. + +It was written in German, addressed to a Hamburg shipping firm, and ran +as follows: "Have sold _Unser Fritz_ to Senhor Pondillo of this port as +from September 1st, for 175,000 marks. If approved, cable +confirmation, and draw on Paris branch Deutsche Bank at sight. Franz +Schmidt, care German Consul, Maceio." + +This harmless commercial item was read by many officials hostile to De +Sylva, yet it evoked no comment. Its first real effect was observable +in the counting-house of the Hamburg owners. There it was believed +that Captain Schmidt had either become a lunatic himself or was in +touch with a rich one. Schmidt was so well known to them that they +acted on the latter hypothesis. They cabled him their hearty +commendation, "drew" on the Paris bank by the next post, and awaited +developments. To their profound amazement, the money was paid. As +they had obtained 8,750 pounds for a vessel worth about one-quarter of +the sum, they had good reason to be satisfied. It mattered not a jot +to them that the sale was made "as from September 1st," or any other +date. They signed the desired quittance, cabled Schmidt again to ask +if Senhor Pondillo was in need of other ships of the _Unser Fritz_ +class, and the members of the firm indulged that evening in the best +dinner that the tip-top restaurant of Hamburg could supply. + +They were puzzled next day by certain statements in the newspapers, and +were called on to explain to a number of journalists that the ship had +left their ownership. She was at Maceio. Where was Maceio? Somewhere +in South America. + +"_Es ist nicht von Bedeutung_," said the senior partner to his +associates. "Schmidt will write full particulars; when all is said and +done, we have the money." + +Yet it did matter very greatly, as shall be seen. Here, again, was an +instance of an humble individual becoming a cog in the wheel of world +politics. Within less than a month Schmidt was vituperated by half the +chancelleries of Europe. A newspaper war raged over him. He became +the object of an Emperor's Jovian wrath. "What's the matter with +Schmidt? He's--all--right!" thundered the whole press of the United +States. And all because he had made a good bargain at a critical +moment! + +But no one on board the _Unser Fritz_ was vexed by aught save present +tribulations when De Sylva and his _aide_ quitted the ship. Be sure +that not a soul thought of sleep. Every man, and the one woman whom +chance had thrown in their midst, remained on deck and watched the +slumbering town. It was only a small place. The _Andorinha_ lay at +one end of the harbor, the _Unser Fritz_ at the other. They were +barely half a mile apart, and Maceio climbed the sloping shore between +the two points. + +Hozier, of course, had forgiven Iris for her aloofness, and Iris, with +that delightful inconsistency which ranks high among the many charms of +her sex, found that "Philip dear," though she might not marry him, was +her only possible companion. He, having acquired an experience +previously lacking, took care to fall in with her mood. She, weary of +a painful self-repression, cheated the frowning gods of "just this one +night." So they looked at the twinkling lights, spoke in whispers lest +they should miss any tokens of disturbance on shore, elbowed each other +comfortably on the rails of the bridge, and uttered no word of love or +future purpose. + +They were discussing nothing more important than the sufferings of +Watts--whom Coke would not allow to go out of his sight--when a +lightning blaze leaped from the somber shadows of some buildings on the +quay lower down the river. Again, and many times again, the sudden +jets of flame started out across the black water. Iris, or Hozier, for +that matter, had never seen a field-piece fired by night, but before +the girl could do other than grip Philip's arm in a spasm of fear, the +thunder of the artillery rolled across the harbor, and the worn plates +of the _Unser Fritz_ quivered under the mere concussion. + +"By jove, they're at it!" cried Philip. + +Iris felt the thrill that shook him. She could not see his face, but +she knew that his blue eyes were shining like bright steel. She was +horrified at the thought of red war being so near, yet she was proud of +her lover. At these mortal crises, the woman demands courage in the +man. + +"Oh!" she gasped, and clung to him more tightly. + +Under such circumstances it was only to be expected that his arm would +clasp her round the waist; Disraeli's famous epigram was coined for +diplomacy, not for love-making. + +Hozier strained his eyes through the gloom to try and discover the +effect of the cannonade on the gunboat. He was quickly alive to the +significance of the answering broadside. Then the black hull grew dim +and vanished. His sailor's sympathies went with the escaping ship. + +"She has got away! I am jolly glad of it," he cried. "It was a dirty +trick to open fire on her in that fashion. Just how they served the +_Andromeda_, the hounds, only we had never a gun to tickle them up in +return." + +"Do you think that many of the poor creatures have been killed?" asked +Iris tremulously. The din of ordnance and bursting shells had ceased +as suddenly as it began. Lights appeared in nearly every house. +Shouting men were running along the neighboring wharf. Maceio, never a +heavy sleeper in bulk, dreamed for a second of earthquakes, leaped out +of bed, and ran into the streets in the negligent costume which the +Italians describe by the delightful word, _confidenza_. + +"I don't suppose so," Hozier reassured her. "If the artillery had made +good practice at that short range the gunboat must have sunk at her +moorings. Her men naturally couldn't miss the town. There was a rare +old rattle among the crockery behind the soldiers. Did you hear it? I +wonder what went over?" + +He was as excited as a schoolboy, almost jubilant. Poor Iris! Though +she was now a veteran in scenes of death and disaster, she realized +that fate had erred in choosing her as a heroine. + +Coke and Watts drew near. + +"Dom Wot's-'is-name wasn't long in gettin' busy," chuckled Coke. "Gev' +her a dose of the _Andromeda's_ physic, eh? I'm sorry the blighters +managed to 'ook it." + +Though he had just uttered an opinion directly contrary to his +captain's, Hozier deemed it wise to be non-committal. + +"The guns must have been laid badly," he said. + +"Mebbe, an' wot's more, d--n 'em, they knew there was something in +front that could shoot back." + +So Coke was at least impartial. He cared not a jot how the Brazilians +slaughtered each other so long as De Sylva established the new regime +speedily. + +"I never was a fightin' man meself," murmured Watts weakly. "That sort +of thing gives me a sinkin' sensation in me innards." + +"Wot you want is a drink, me boy," said Coke. + +Watts brightened. He drew a deep breath. + +"I reelly believe that's wot's wrong with me," he said. + +"Then I'll just ax the cook to 'urry up with the corfee," guffawed the +unfeeling skipper. "We'll all be the better for a snack an' somethink +'ot." + +Iris managed to choke down an hysterical laugh. Coke was incorrigible, +yet she was conscious of a growing appreciation of his crude chivalry. +He boasted truly that he feared neither man nor devil. His chief +defect lay in being born several centuries too late. Had he flourished +during the Middle Ages, Coke would have carved out a kingdom. + +Even while the men were thus callously discussing the tragedy that had +been enacted before their eyes, the miracle of the dawn was +transforming night into day. In the tropics there is no hesitancy +about sunrise. The splendid imagery of Genesis is literally exact. +"Let there be light; and there was light . . . and God divided the +light from the darkness." Long before the _Andorinha_ had crept round +the southern headland of the Macayo estuary she became visible again. + +About six o'clock a grand review was held in the Plaza, or chief +square. Dom Corria, a resplendent personage on horseback, made a fine +speech. He was vociferously applauded, by both troops and populace. +General Russo, also mounted, assured him that Brazil was pining for +him. In effect, when he was firmly established in the Presidency, the +people would be allowed to vote for him. + +"We have borne two years of misrule," vociferated the +commander-in-chief, "but it has vanished before the fiery breath of our +guns. We hail your Excellency as our liberator. Long live Dom Corria! +Down with----" + +The fierce "Vivas" of the mob, combined with the general's weight, +proved too much for his charger, which plunged violently. Russo was +held on accidentally by his spurs. There was a lively interlude until +an orderly seized the bridle, and the general was able to disengage the +rowels from the animal's ribs. When tranquillity was restored, the +soldiers marched off to their quarters, and Colonel San Benavides +boarded the _Unser Fritz_. He invited Iris, Schmidt, Coke, and Hozier +to breakfast with the President at the principal hotel. + +Watts was not included in the list of guests. Being indignant, he +expressed himself freely. + +"Nice thing!" he said to Norrie. "We're not good enough to be axed. +It was a bit of all right w'en we 'elped 'im out of quod, but now 'e's +a bloomin' toff we're low-down sailormen--that's wot we are." + +"Man, ye're fair daft," growled the Scot. "It's as plain as the neb on +yer face that he canna dae wi' a', so he just picked the twa skippers +and the lassie; he kent weel she wadna stir an inch withoot Hozier." + +Norrie was right, as it happened, but Watts added another grudge to his +score against De Sylva. + +Now, though dynasties totter and empires crash, the first thing a woman +thinks of when bidden to a public gathering is her attire. Iris +declared most emphatically that to expect her to go ashore and meet +certain military and civic dignitaries while she was wearing a costume +originally purchased for mountaineering, which had endured the rough +usage of the past two days, was "for to laugh." She was speaking +French, and that was the literal phrase she used. The courteous San +Benavides smiled away her protest. His Excellency had foreseen the +difficulty. Those who knew Dom Corria best would not credit that he +should forget anything. The Senhora Pondillo awaited Iris at the hotel +with a supply of new clothing. Captain Schmidt, of course, could +depend on his own wardrobe, but Captain Coke and the Senhor Hozier +would find a tradesman in their rooms who had guaranteed to equip them +suitably. Moreover, the same outfitter would visit the ship during the +morning and make good the lost raiment and boots of the other officers +and men of the _Andromeda_. San Benavides spoke like the ambassador of +a prince, and, in the sequel, there was no stint of deeds to give +effect to his promises. + +On the way to the hotel Iris saw a large building labeled "Casa do +Correio e Telegraphia." It was not surprising that she had not thought +earlier of the necessity of cabling to Liverpool. She blushed, and +looked involuntarily at Hozier. + +"I must send a message to my uncle," she said. + +Were Philip a professed spiritualist, the spectral shapes of David +Verity and Dickey Bulmer could not have been more effectually +"projected" into his astral plane at Maceio than they were at that +instant. He had not set eyes on either of the men, but the girl's +words conjured them into being, and the vision was vastly disagreeable. + +San Benavides, of course, was anxious to oblige Iris in this as in +every other respect. He procured the requisite form, told her the +cost, which led to a condensed version of the original draft, smoothed +away the slight hindrance of foreign money tendered in payment, and +arranged the due delivery of a reply. Perhaps he smiled when he read +what she had written. The words were comprehensible even to one who +did not understand English: + +"_Andromeda_ lost. Arrived here safely. Address, Yorke, Maceio." + +There was a space at the foot of the form on which it was necessary to +subscribe her name and local address. So she wrote, "Iris Yorke, +steamship _Unser Fritz_, Maceio harbor." Hozier was standing by her +side as she printed the words legibly. She looked up at him with a +curiously tense expression that he did not fathom immediately. They +were in the busy main street again ere its meaning occurred to him. +The cable committed her irrevocably. She felt that she was signing her +own condemnation! + +Among the four people, therefore, who entered the Hotel Grande in the +Rua do Sul there were two whose feelings were the reverse of cheerful. +But convention is stronger than the primal impulses--sometimes it +triumphs over death itself--and convention was all-powerful now. It +led Iris away captive in the train of the smiling and voluble Senhora +Pondillo, and it immersed Hozier in a tangle of fearsome words which +turned out to be the stock in trade of a clothier. The mere male of +Maceio decks himself with gay plumage. Philip was hard put to it +before he secured some garments which did not irresistibly recall the +heroes of certain musical comedies popular in England. + +Coke experienced worse vicissitudes. Even the variety and richness of +a master mariner's vocabulary was taxed to its utmost resources when he +was coaxed into "trying on" a short jacket apparently intended for a +toreador. Such minor troubles, however, were overcome in time. A +razor and a hot bath were by no means the least important items of the +rejuvenating process, and when the two men entered the salon where Dom +Corria was holding an impromptu reception they looked like a couple of +coffee-planters from the Argentine. Schmidt was there already. For +some reason, the new President seemed to be so fond of the _Unser +Fritz's_ commander that he refused to be parted from him. It was not +until long afterward that Hozier discovered the reason of this mushroom +friendship. The German consul was in the room. + +The appearance of Iris caused something akin to a sensation. The Dona +Pondillo could not create English clothes, nor bad copies of French, +but her own daughters dressed in the height of local fashion, and Dom +Corria's earnest request had made them generous. The dark-eyed, +olive-complexioned women of Alagoas are often exceedingly beautiful, +but few of those present had ever seen a brown-haired, brown-eyed, +fair-faced Englishwoman. Iris was remarkably good-looking, even among +the pretty girls of her own county of Lancashire. Her large, limpid +eyes, well-molded nose, and perfectly formed mouth were the dominant +features of a face that had all the charm of youth and health. Her +smooth skin, brown with exposure to sun and air, glowed into a rich +crimson when she found herself in the midst of so many strangers. The +slightly delicate semblance induced by the hardships and loss of rest +which fell to her lot since the _Andromeda_ went to pieces on the +Grand-père rock in no wise detracted from her appearance. She wore the +elegant costume of a Maceio belle with ease and distinction. If she +was flurried by the undisguised murmur of admiration that greeted her, +she did not show it beyond the first rush of color. + +Dom Corria, dragging Schmidt with him, hurried to meet her. Surprise +at his gala attire helped to conquer her natural timidity, for the +President was gorgeous in blue and gold. + +"My good wishes are soon changed into congratulations, Senhor," she +said. + +"Ah, my dear young lady, I am overjoyed that you should be here to +witness my success," he cried. Then, as if he had waited for this +moment, he turned to the assembled company and delivered an eloquent +panegyric of the _Andromeda's_ crew and their _deusa deliciosa_--for +that is what he called Iris--a delightful goddess. He had made many +speeches already that day, but none was more heartfelt than this. His +eulogy was unstinted. Luckily for Iris, she was so conscious of the +attention she attracted that she kept her eyes steadfastly fixed on the +carpet. Otherwise, having a well-developed sense of humor, she must +have laughed outright had she seen Coke's face. + +He, of course, understood no word that was said. But De Sylva's +animated gestures and flashing eyes were enough. Ever and anon, the +excitable citizens of Maceio would turn and gaze at one or other of the +three, while loud cries of "Bravo!" punctuated the President's oratory. +When Coke's turn came for these demonstrations, he tried to grin, but +was only able to scowl. For once in his stormy life he was nonplused. +His brick-red countenance glowed with heat and embarrassment. At the +close of the speech he muttered to Hozier: + +"Wish I'd ha' known wot sort of beano I was comin' to. Dam if I ain't +meltin'." + +This ordeal ended, déjeuner was served. The President took in Iris and +the Dona Pondillo. They were the only ladies present. The three +sailors, some staff officers, and a few local celebrities, made up the +rest of the company. + +Hozier, though by no means indifferent to the good fare provided, was +wondering how many hours would elapse before Iris's cablegram reached +Verity's office, when some words caught his ear that drove all other +considerations from his mind. + +"I am sorry to say that, in my opinion, there is not the slightest +chance of your message reaching England to-day, Miss Yorke," the +President was saying. + +"But why not?" she asked, with an astonishment that was not wholly the +outcome of regret. + +"The cable does not land here, and the transmitting stations will be +closely watched, now that my arrival in Brazil is known. Even the +simplest form of words will be twisted into a political significance. +No, I think it best to be quite candid. Until I control Pernambuco, +which should be within a week or ten days, you may rest assured that no +private cablegrams will be forwarded." + +"Oh, dear, I fully expected a reply to-day," she said, and now that she +realized the effect of a further period of anxiety on the Bootle +partnership she was genuinely dismayed. + +"You may be sure it will not come," said Dom Corria. "Indeed I may as +well take this opportunity of explaining to you--and to my other +English friends"--with the interpolated sentence his glance dwelt +quietly on Hozier and Coke--"the exact position locally. You see, +Maceio is a small place, and easily approached from the sea. A hostile +fleet could knock it to pieces in half an hour, and it would be a poor +reward for my supporters' loyalty if my presence subjected them to a +bombardment. I have no strong defenses or heavy guns to defy attack, +and my troops are not more than a thousand men, all told. It is +obvious that I must make for the interior. There, I gather strength as +I advance, the warships cannot pursue, and I can choose my own +positions to meet the half-hearted forces that Dom Miguel will collect +to oppose me. In fact, I and every armed man in Maceio march +up-country this afternoon." + +Iris, by this time, was thoroughly frightened, and Hozier, who read +more in De Sylva's words than was possible in her case, was watching +the speaker's calm face with a fixity that might have disconcerted many +men. Dom Corria seemed to be unaware of either the girl's distress or +Philip's white anger. + +"You naturally ask how I propose to safeguard the companions of my +flight from Fernando Noronha," he went on. "I answer at once--by +taking them with me. The Senhora Pondillo and her family will +accompany her husband to my _quinta_ at Las Flores. A special train +will take all of us to the nearest railway station this afternoon. +Thence my estate is but a day's march. You and my other friends from +both ships will be quite safe and happy there until order is restored. +You must come. The men's lives, at any rate, would not be worth an +hour's purchase if my opponent's forces found them here, and I feel +certain that one or more cruisers will arrive off Maceio to-night. For +you, this excursion will be quite a pleasant experience, and you can +absolutely rely on my promise to send news of your safety to England at +the very first opportunity." + +Iris could say nothing under the shock of this intelligence. She +looked at Philip, and their eyes met. They both remembered the glance +they had exchanged at the post-office. Preoccupied by their own +thoughts, neither of them had noticed the smile San Benavides indulged +in on that occasion, nor did they pay heed to the fact that he was +smiling again now, apparently at some story told him by General Russo. +But San Benavides was sharp-witted. He needed no interpreter to make +clear the cause of the chill that had fallen on the President's end of +the table. + +"He has told them," he thought, perhaps. And, if further surmise were +hazarded as to his views, they might well prove to be concerned with +the wonderful things that can happen within a week or ten +days--especially when things are happening at the rate taken by events +just then in Brazil. + +Of course, as a philosopher, San Benavides was right; it was in the +role of prophet that he came to grief, this being the pre-ordained fate +of all false prophets. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +CARMELA + +Among the many words borrowed by the Brazilians from their +Spanish-speaking neighbors, that for "to-morrow" is perhaps the most +popular. The Spaniard's _Mañana_ is so elastic that it covers any +period of time between the next twenty-four hours and the indefinite +future. When, therefore, Dom Sylva spoke of controlling Pernambuco +before the month of September was barely half sped, he was either too +sanguine, or too literal in his translation of easy-going Portuguese +into vigorous English. + +His _quinta_, or country house, was situated on the upper watershed of +the river Moxoto. There he raised his standard, thither flocked rebels +galore, and in that direction, with due caution, President Barraca +pushed columns of troops by road and rail from Bahia, from Pernambuco, +and from Maceio itself. For Barraca held the sea, and the wealthy and +enterprising south was strongly opposed to war, while Dom Corria +trusted to the mountains and drew his partisans from the less energetic +north. This bald statement has an unconvincing sound in the ears of +races which dwell north of the equator, but it must be remembered that +Brazil, in more respects than one, is the land of topsy-turveydom. +Were it not that the mass of the people was heartily sick of a corrupt +regime, De Sylva would have been dead or in irons on his way back to +Fernando Noronha well within the time allotted for the consolidation of +his rule. As it was, minor insurrections were breaking out in the +southern provinces, the reigning President could trust only in the +navy, and the conservatism of commerce and society, as represented by +the great landowners of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Minas Geraes, +alone stifled the upgrowth of an overwhelming national movement in Dom +Corria's favor. + +In a word, De Sylva commanded public sympathy but small resources; +Barraca was unpopular but controlled the navy and part of the army. +Given such conditions--with the added absurdity that the troops on both +sides were most unwilling to face long-range rifle fire but would +cheerfully hack each other to mince-meat with knives--and a tedious, +indeterminate campaign is the certain outcome. De Sylva had said that +local conflicts were usually "short and fierce." Applied to such +upheavals as had taken place in the capital during recent years, the +phrase was strictly accurate. He himself had been bundled out of +office between Mass and Vespers on a memorable Sunday. But a convict +on a remote island cannot organize such a perfect example of a +successful revolt. He had done much in gaining a good foothold; the +rest must be left to time and chance. + +A few indecisive but sanguinary engagements were fought in the +neighborhood of Pesqueira, a town in the hills about one hundred miles +from the seaboard. These proved that General Russo was a valiant +fighter but a poor tactician--and that was all. He was opposed by a +commander of little courage but singular skill in strategy. To restore +the balance, Dom Corria took the field in person, and Dom Miguel +Barraca hastened from Rio de Janeiro to witness the crushing of his +arch-enemy. + +The position was complicated by the arrival at Pernambuco of a German +squadron bearing a telegraphic cartel from the Emperor. A German ship +had been seized on the high seas. Why? And by whom? And how could +anybody dare? Then Brazil quivered, for every South American knows in +his heart that the great navy of Germany is being created not so much +to destroy England as to dispute the proud doctrine of the United +States that no European power shall ever again be allowed to seize +territory on the American continent. + +So there were strenuous days and anxious nights at Las Flores, where +President De Sylva sought to equip and discipline his levies, and at +Carugru, where President Barraca called on all the gods to witness that +De Sylva was a double-dyed traitor. + +Under such circumstances it is not surprising that a grand display of +money and audacity, backed by sundry distant roars of the British lion, +should enable two elderly Britons and a young Brazilian lady to pass +through the lines of the Exercito Nacional, as Barraca had christened +his following, in opposition to De Sylva's army of Liberation. Lest +too many people should become interested, the adventure was essayed on +the night of October 2d. Early next day the travelers and their guides +reached the rebel outposts. The young lady, who seemed to be at home +in this wild country, at once urged her horse into a pace wholly beyond +the equestrian powers of her staid companions. They protested vainly. +She waved a farewell hand, cantered over several miles of a rough road, +and dashed up to the Liberationist headquarters about eight o'clock. + +There was no hesitancy about her movements. She drew rein in approved +Gaucho style, bringing her mount to a dead stop from a gallop. + +"Where is the President?" she asked breathlessly. + +"There, senhora," said an orderly, pointing to a marquee, open on every +side, wherein De Sylva sat in conference with his staff. + +So many officers and mounted soldiers were coming and going, so great +was the bustle of preparation for some important movement then in +train, that no one specially noted her arrival. She dismounted, and +drew the reins across the horse's head ere she tied him to a tree. She +saw a tall young man emerge from the tent, jump on a charger held by a +soldier, and ride off at a fast pace toward the house of Las Flores, +which stood in a large garden on the slope of a neighboring hill. His +appearance seemed to puzzle her momentarily. His attire was that of +Brazil, but neither his manner nor horsemanship was typical of the +Brasileiro. In walking, he moved with an air of purposeful +concentration that differed singularly from the languorous stroll of +the average Brazilian officer, while his seat in the saddle, though +confident enough, could not be mistaken for that of a man who never +walks a yard if there is an animal to bestride. + +The new arrival was, however, at once too weary and too excited to give +further heed to one who was an utter stranger. She pushed her way +through knots of smoking loungers, entered the tent, and uttered a +little scream of delight when the President, who was writing at a big +table, happened to glance at her. De Sylva rose hastily, with an +amazed look on his usually unemotional face; forthwith the girl flung +herself into his arms. + +"Father!" + +"Carmela!" + +San Benavides, whose back was turned, heard the joyous cries of the +reunited father and daughter. They were locked in each other's +embrace, and the eyes of every man present were drawn to a pathetic and +unexpected meeting. For that reason, and because none gave a thought +to him, the pallor that changed the bronze of his forehead and cheeks +into a particularly unhealthy-looking tint of olive green passed +unnoticed. He swallowed something. It must have been a curse, for it +seemed to taste bitter. But he managed to recover some shred of +self-control ere the Senhora De Sylva was able to answer her father's +first eager questions; then, with a charming timidity, she found breath +to say: + +"And what of Salvador--is he not here?" + +Yes, Salvador was there--by her side--striving most desperately to look +lover-like. They clasped hands. Brazilian etiquette forbade a more +demonstrative greeting, and Carmela attributed Salvador's manifest +sallowness to the hardships of campaigning no less than the shock of +her sudden appearance. + +But the business of red war gave little scope for the many confidences +that a girl who had journeyed more than four thousand miles for this +reunion might naturally exchange with a father and a lover. Some +important move was toward, and the President and his chief-of-staff had +no time to spare. + +"You have come to bring me luck, Carmela meu," said De Sylva, stroking +his daughter's hair affectionately. "To-day we make our first real +advance. Salvador and I are going to the front now, almost this +instant. But there will be no fighting--an affair of outposts at the +best--and when everything is in order we shall return here to sleep. +Expect us, then, soon after sunset. Meanwhile, at the _quinta_ you +will find the young English lady of whose presence you are aware. Give +her your friendship. She is worthy of it." + +"Adeos, senhora!" echoed San Benavides, bringing his heels together +with a click, and saluting. He gathered a number of papers from the +table with nervous haste, and at once began to issue instructions to +several officers. De Sylva renewed the signing of documents. Russo +and he conversed in low tones. A buzz of talk broke out in the tent. +Carmela felt that she had no part in this activity, that her mere +presence was a positive hindrance to the work in hand. A trifle +disappointed, yet not without a thrill of high resolve to create for +herself an indispensable share in the movement of which her father was +the central figure, she went out, unhitched her tired horse, and walked +to the house. + +In Brazil, a _quinta_, or farm, may range from a palace to a hovel. +Dom Corria was rich; consequently Las Flores attained the higher level. +It was a straggling, roomy structure, planned for comfort and +hospitality rather than display, and the gardens, to whose beauty and +extent was due the Spanish name, used to be famous throughout the +province. Carmela had not seen the place during five years; she +expected to find changes, but was hardly prepared for the ravages made +by neglect, aided by unchecked tropical growth, as the outcome of her +father's two years in prison. The flowers were gone, the rarer shrubs +choked by rank weeds, the trees disfigured by rampant climbers. But, +in front of the long, deep veranda, even the attention of a month had +restored much of its beauty to a widespread lawn. Here, at that early +hour, the air was cool and the shade abundant; indeed, so embossed in +towering trees was the wide greensward, that it seemed to flow abruptly +into the veranda without ever a path or garden gate to break the solid +walls of foliage. + +Filled with tumultuous memories, her heart all throbbing at the +prospect of her father's fortunes being restored, the Senhora De Sylva +was entering a gate that led to the left front of the house, when the +young man came out whom she had seen leaving the headquarters tent. +Again he rode like one in a hurry, and she noted that he emerged from a +side path which gave access to the lawn. He gave her a sharp glance as +he passed. She received an impression of a strong face, with +stern-looking, bright, steel-blue eyes, a mouth tensely set, an aspect +at once confident yet self-contained. She was sure now he was not a +Brazilian, and he differed most materially from the mental picture of +Captain James Coke created by the many conversations in which he had +figured during her long voyage from Southampton in company with David +Verity and Dickey Bulmer. + +So Carmela wondered now who he could be, nor was her wonder lessened +when she peered through the screen of trees, and saw a girl, whom she +recognized instantly as Iris, furtively dabbing her tear-stained face +with a handkerchief. + +Unhappily, the President's daughter was not attractive in appearance. +She had fine eyes, and she moved with the natural elegance of her race, +but her features were somewhat angular for one of pure-blooded +Portuguese descent, and a too well-defined chin was more effectual as +an index of character than as an element of personal charm. Close +acquaintance with the cosmopolitan society of Paris and London had +familiarized her with many types of European and American beauty, and +her surprise that such an uncommonly good-looking girl should be the +niece of David Verity was not unmingled with pique at finding her +already installed in remote Las Flores. + +The veranda seemed to be a hive of feminine industry. The Dona +Pondillo and her daughters, together with the female relatives of +several noted men among the insurgents, were cutting and stitching most +industriously. Iris Yorke's advice, perhaps her assistance, was +evidently in demand. Assuming that the young man who rode thither so +rapidly had gone to see her, she could not have been absent from the +sewing party more than five minutes, yet half a dozen ladies were +clamoring for her already. The truth was that many of them had never +plied a needle before in their lives. They had to be taught +everything. One peasant woman would have accomplished more real work +than any five of the Librationist _grandes dames_. + +Despite her firm chin, Carmela De Sylva did not contemn the +meretricious aid of dress. Iris looked fresh and cool in soft muslin, +whereas the newcomer was travel-stained and disheveled. The pack-mules +were lagging on the road, but a wash and general tidying of +dust-covered garments would help the President's daughter to regain the +assurance, now sadly lacking, which would be necessary ere she won her +rightful place in a community largely composed of strangers. As she +led her horse back into the main avenue, she was sorry that her father +or Salvador could not spare even the few minutes that would have +sufficed for an introduction. At any rate, she would probably find an +old servant at the back of the house--some family retainer whose +welcome would charm away this displeasing sense of intrusion. + +On the way to the stables she heard a man singing. The words were in +English. They were also quaint, for they dealt with life from a point +of view which differed widely from that presented by Dom Corria's +_finca_. + + "Oh, it's fine to be a sailor" [sang Watts], + "an' to cross the ragin' main, + From Hooghly bar to New Orleens to roam, + But I 'ope that my old woman will put me on the chain + Next time I want to quit my 'umble 'ome." + + +Possibly the verse was an original effort, because there followed a +marked change in tune and meter. + +"'Mid pleasures an' palaces----'" he began, when Senhora De Sylva came +upon him as he sat on a fence, pipe in hand, with his back braced +comfortably against a magnificent rosewood tree. He stopped, grinned +sheepishly, and, not recognizing the lady, tried to cover his confusion +by lighting the pipe. + +"Are you one of the _Andromeda's_ men?" asked Carmela, speaking in the +clear and accurate English used by her father. + +It was well for Watts that the tree prevented him from falling +backwards. He was quite sober, but cheerful withal, as he had nothing +to do but sleep, smoke, eat, and drink the light wine of the district, +of which his only complaint was that "one might mop up a barrel of it +an' get no forrarder." Nevertheless, he received a positive shock when +addressed in his own language by a young woman who was obviously of +Brazil. He stared at her so hard that he forgot the steady progress of +the slow-burning tand-stikkor match recently ignited. Its sulphurous +flame reached his fingers and reminded him. + +"My godfather!" he howled, springing from the rail, and recovering his +wits instantly. "Beg pardon, mum, but you took me aback all standin' +as the saying is. Christopher, didn't that match wake me up!" + +"I am afraid it is my fault," said Carmela, who could look sympathetic +where Iris would want to laugh. "I have just arrived here, and +everybody seems to be so full of troubles that I am glad to hear you +singing." + +"Oh, that's just hummin', mum. If you're fond of music you ought to +'ear Schmidt, Captain Schmidt of the _Unser Fritz_----" + +Carmela struck an attitude. + +"Wot, d'ye know 'im?" asked Watts. + +"No, it is something--rather important. I must go back to my father. +Ah, I ought to explain. I am the Senhora De Sylva, Dom Corria's +daughter." + +"Are you really, mum,--miss?" exclaimed Watts, highly interested. "'Ow +in the world did ye manage to come up from the coast? Accordin' to all +accounts----" + +"Yes, what were you going to say?" for the man hesitated. + +"Well, some of our chaps will 'ave it that we're runnin' close-hauled +on a lee shore." + +Carmela knit her brows. The Watts idioms were not those of her +governess. + +"We had no great difficulty in passing through Dom Barraca's lines, if +that is what you mean," she said. "Mr. Verity and Mr. Bulmer had +obtained special permits, but in my case----" + +"Mr. 'oo, did you say, miss?" demanded Watts, whose lower jaw actually +dropped from sheer amazement. + +"Mr. Verity, the owner of the _Andromeda_. You are one of the crew, I +suppose?" + +"I'm the chief officer. Watts is my name, miss. But d'you mean to +tell me that ole David Verity 'as come 'ere--to Brazil--to this rotten +. . . Sorry, miss, but you gev' me a turn, you did. An' Dickey +Bulmer--is _'e_ 'ere too?" + +"Yes, or he soon will be here. I rode on in advance of the others." + +"Well--there--if that don't beat cock-fightin'!" cried Watts. "Wot'll +Coke say? W'y, 'e'll 'ave a fit. An' Miss Iris! She's to marry ole +Dickey. Fancy 'im turnin' up! There'll be the deuce an' all to pay, +now, wot between 'im an' Hozier an' the dashin' colonel." + +The horse, trying to nibble some grass at Carmela's feet, suddenly +threw his head up, for the cruel South American bit had tightened under +a jerk of the reins. + +"Who is Mr. Hozier?" asked the girl calmly. + +"He is, or was, our second mate, but since the colonel an' 'e got to +loggerheads 'e took an' raised a corps of scouts. Some of our fellows +joined, but not me. Killin' other folks don't agree with me a little +bit. I don't mind a shine in a snug or a friendly scrap over an extry +drink, but w'en it comes to them long knives----" + +"And the colonel--what is _his_ name?" broke in Carmela, turning to +loosen the surcingle. She could control her voice but not her eyes, +and she did not wish to startle this open-mouthed gossip. + +"San Benavides, miss. Captain 'e was on Fernando Noronha; 'e took a +mighty quick jump after we kem ashore. But I ax your pardon for +ramblin' on in this silly way. Won't you go inside? There's a useful +ole party there, name of Maria----" + +"Ah, Maria--dear, good Maria--she at least will not have forgotten me," +sobbed Carmela in her own tongue, and Watts afterwards informed Coke +that although the inhabitants of China were noted for their peculiar +ways, when it came to a show-down in that qualification, the average +woman could beat any Chinky ever born. Had he but known more, Watts +was also in a position to state that he had squared accounts with the +scornful President. + +For the Senhora De Sylva might have been seized with mortal illness if +judged solely by the manner in which she staggered into her father's +house, threw her arms around the neck of an elderly woman whom she +petrified by her appearance, and almost fainted--not quite, but on the +verge, much nearer than such a strong-minded young lady would have +thought possible an hour earlier. + +Maria screamed loudly. Tongue-tied at first, she was badly scared when +Carmela collapsed on her ample bosom. Restoratives and endearments +followed. Carmela asked to be taken to a room where she might wash and +shake the dust from her hair and clothes. Maria considered ways and +means. Every room in the big house was crowded. + +"Who is in my own apartment?" demanded Carmela. + +Even before the answer was forthcoming she guessed the truth. The +Senhora Ingleza, of course. Those fine eyes of hers flashed +dangerously. + +"What, then? Does this woman come here and take all?" she cried. + +"Ah, _pequinina_, do not be angry," said Maria. "Who save the good God +could tell that you would come from Paris to-day? And the Senhora +Ingleza will be glad to give place to you. She is so kind, so +unselfish. All the men adore her." + +"So I hear," murmured Carmela, trying to still the passion that +throbbed in her heart, since she was aware that neither Maria nor any +other among the old domestics at Las Flores knew of her engagement, and +pride was now coming to her aid. + +"She will have no word to say to any of them," gabbled Maria. "There +is a young Englishman--well, it is no affair of mine, but I am told she +loves him, yet is promised to another, an old man, too. _Santa Mãe_! +That would not suit me if I were her age!" + +This home-coming of Carmela was quite an important event in its way. +At first sight it bore the semblance of a mere disillusionment such as +any girl might experience under like circumstances. She had been taken +from Las Flores to occupy a palace at Rio de Janeiro, and was driven +from the palace to the hotel life of the Continent. During two years +she had not seen either father or lover; and lovers of the San +Benavides ilk are apt to console themselves during these prolonged +intervals. Yet Carmela's shattered romance was the pivot on which +rested the future of Brazil. + +Had she gone straight to Iris on leaving her father, and made known the +astounding tidings that Verity and Bulmer were riding up the Moxoto +Valley barely three miles away, Iris would surely have devised some +means of acquainting Philip Hozier with the fact. In that event, +assuming that he awaited their arrival, the first march of an extended +reconnaissance which he thought desirable would necessarily be +postponed. And then--well, the recent history of Brazil would have to +be re-written, since there cannot be the slightest doubt that Dom +Corria De Sylva would never have occupied the Presidential chair a +second time. + +It would be idle now to inquire too closely into the springs of +Philip's resolve to take service under a foreign flag. Perhaps the +irksome state of affairs at Las Flores, where there was no mean between +loafing and soldiering, was intolerable to a spirited youngster. +Perhaps San Benavides, constantly riding in from the front, irritated +him beyond endurance by his superior airs. Or it may be that a growing +belief in Iris's determination to sacrifice herself by redeeming her +bond made him careless as to what happened in the near future. The +outcome of one or all of these influences was that he sought, and was +readily given, a commission in the Army of Liberation. Like all +sailors, he preferred the mounted arm, and De Sylva, having the highest +opinion of his thoroughness, actually appointed him to command a branch +of the Intelligence Department. + +Philip, trained to pin his faith in maps and charts, came to the +conclusion that Las Flores could be attacked from the rear, which lay +to the northwest. The Brazilians laughed at the notion. Where were +the troops to come from? Barraca must bring all his men by sea. There +were none stationed in those wild mountains. + +"Better go and make sure," quoth Philip. + +He ascertained the President's intentions as to the next twenty-four +hours, assembled his little body of scouts, saw to their forage and +equipment, took leave of Iris, and hurried off. + +When two stout and elderly fellow-countrymen of his climbed the last +mile of the rough valley beneath the Las Flores slope, Philip and his +troop were a league or more beyond the Moxoto's watershed. + +Meanwhile, Carmela De Sylva proved that her resolute chin was not +deceptive as a guide to temperament. The Dona Pondillo deemed her a +spirit when she appeared on the veranda, but Carmela's impetuous kiss +soon disabused the worthy dame of her error. + +Iris, wondering why the lively chatter of her Brazilian friends was so +suddenly stilled, to be succeeded by a hubbub of excited words as the +older ladies present gathered around the new-comer, asked one of the +Pondillo girls what had happened. + +"It is Carmela, the President's daughter," giggled the other. "Mother +says she is engaged to San Benavides. What fun! But where has she +come from? When last I heard of her she was in Paris." + +A month of close companionship with people who spoke Portuguese all day +long, and often far into the night, had familiarized Iris with many of +the common phrases. Thus, she gathered one fact as to Carmela, and +more than suspected another. For a reason that every woman will +understand, she felt a subtle thrill of fear. If San Benavides were +really Carmela's accepted lover, then, indeed, Iris had good cause for +foreboding. Though the Brazilian had never directly avowed his +passion, since he knew quite well that she would refuse to listen, she +could not be blind to his infatuation. Only the threat of her dire +displeasure had restrained Hozier from an open quarrel with him. Her +position, difficult enough already, would become intolerable if De +Sylva's daughter became jealous, and she had no doubt whatsoever that +San Benavides would seek to propitiate the woman he loved by callously +telling the woman he had promised to marry that his affections were +bestowed elsewhere. + +Her heart sank when she discovered this new maelstrom in her sea of +troubles; but here was Carmela herself speaking to her, and in English: + +"So you are Iris Yorke!" the girl was saying. "I have heard so much of +you, yet you are so utterly different from what I imagined." + +"You have heard of _me_?" repeated Iris, and surprise helped her to +smile with something of her wonted self-possession. + +"Yes, on board the steamer. We sailed from Southampton, and had little +else to talk of during the voyage. But, of course, you cannot +understand. Among my fellow-passengers were your uncle and Mr. Bulmer." + +Iris had long relinquished any hope of communicating with Bootle until +the present deadlock in the operations of the two armies was a thing of +the past. Completely mystified now by Carmela's glib reference to the +two men whose names were so often in her thoughts though seldom on her +lips, she could only gaze at the Senhora De Sylva in silent +bewilderment. + +Carmela, feeling that she was gaining ground rapidly, affected a note +of polite regret. + +"Please forgive me for being so abrupt. Perhaps I ought to have +prepared you. But it is quite true. Mr. Verity and Mr. Bulmer came +with me from Europe. We all reached Pernambuco the day before +yesterday. Indeed, if it were not for them, and the assistance they +gave me, I would not be here now. No one recognized me, fortunately, +and--I hope you will not be vexed--I passed as Mr. Verity's niece. In +fact, I took your place for the time." + +A notable feature of the De Sylva utterance was its clearness. +Carmela's concluding words could not possibly be mistaken for anything +else. Their meaning, on the other hand, was capable of varying shades +of significance; but Iris was far too amazed to seek depths beneath +their literalness. + +"If Mr. Verity and Mr. Bulmer are in Brazil----" she began tremulously, +but Carmela broke in with a shrill laugh. + +"There is no 'if.' Look below there, near my father's tent! They have +arrived. They are asking for you. Come, let us meet them! I must see +my father before he departs." + +Iris's swimming eyes could not discern the figures to which Carmela was +pointing. But this strange girl's triumphant tone rang like a knell in +her heart. She was not thinking now of the complications that might +arise between San Benavides and his discarded flame. She only knew +that, by some miracle, her uncle had come to bring her home, and with +him was the man to whom she was plighted, while Philip, only half an +hour ago, had told her he would not see her again until the following +evening. + +So this was the end of her dream. Bitter-sweet it had been, and long +drawn out, but forthwith she must awake to the gray actualities of life. + +She felt Carmela dragging her onward, irresistibly, vindictively. She +saw, as through a mist, David Verity's fiery-hued face, and heard his +harsh accents. Yes, there was no mistake. Here was Bootle transported +to Brazil, Linden House to Las Flores! + +"By gum, lass," he was bellowing, with a touch of real sentiment in his +voice, "you've given us a rare dance afore we caught up wi' you. But +'ere you are, bright as a cherry, an' 'ere is Dickey an' meself come to +fetch you. Dash my wig, there's life in the old dogs yet, or we'd +never ha' bin able to ride forty mile through this God-forgotten +country. An' damme if that isn't Coke, red as a lobster. Jimmie, me +boy, put it there! Man, but you're a dashed long way from port!" + +Happily, Iris was too stunned to betray herself. She extended a hand +to the sun-browned, white-haired old man standing by her uncle's side. + +"I am very glad to see you, Mr. Bulmer," she said simply. And, in that +hour of searing agony, she meant it, for it is easier to look back on +suffering than to await it, and she had been living in dread of this +meeting for many a weary day. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +SHOWING HOW BRAZIL CHOSE HER PRESIDENT + +Two thousand five hundred years ago the prophet Jeremiah expressed +incredulity as to the power of an Ethiopian to change his skin or a +leopard his spots. The march of the centuries has fully justified the +seer's historic doubt, so it makes but slight demand on the critical +faculties to assume that two years' residence in Europe had not cooled +the hot southern blood flowing in Carmela's veins. + +She had hated Iris before she set eyes on her; she hated her now that she +had seen her rare beauty; she gloated on the suffering inflicted by the +presence of the faded old man who claimed her as his bride. Though it +was of the utmost importance that she should hasten to her father, she +returned to Las Flores in her rival's company, their arms linked in +seeming friendship, and the Brazilian girl's ears alert to treasure every +word that told of Bulmer's wooing. + +Therein she greatly miscalculated the true gentility of one whom his +cronies described as "a rough diamond." Bulmer realized that Iris was +overwrought. Vague but sensational items in newspapers had prepared him +in some measure for the story of her wanderings since last they met in +quiet, old-fashioned Bootle. He felt that she was altered, that their +ways in life had deviated with a sharpness that was not to be brought +back into parallel grooves simply because he had traveled many thousands +of miles to find her. + +So Dickey contented himself by listening to Coke's Homeric account of the +_Andromeda's_ wrecking, and if he interposed an occasional question, and +thus drew the girl's sweet voice into the talk, it was invariably germane +to the strange history of the ship and her human freight. + +Coke's narrative was picturesque and lurid. At times, he called himself +to order; at times, both Iris and Carmela affected not to have heard him. +But Carmela's interest never flagged. Nor did Bulmer's. As the yarn +progressed--for Watts and Schmidt and Norrie had joined them, and the +whole party was seated in an inner room where an impromptu meal was +provided--both the woman of Brazil and the man of Lancashire seized on +the same unspoken _motif_. Every incident centered in the striking +personality of Philip Hozier. From the instant the second shell struck +the winch, and laid him apparently dead on the forecastle, to the very +hour of this coming together at Las Flores, Hozier held the stage. It +was he who took Iris on his shoulders and brought her to safety through +the spume of the wrathful sea, he who carried her to the hut, he who +crossed Fernando Noronha alone to protect her. + +Coke was impartial. He would have minimized his own singular bravery in +running up the ship's signals had not Iris given him a breathing-space +while she enthralled the others with her description. Otherwise, Coke +skipped no line of his epic. + +"You'll rec'lect," he wheezed, in a voice that rasped like a file, +"you'll rec'lect, Mr. Verity, as I said to you that Hozier was good +enough to take charge of the bridge of a battleship. By--well, any 'ow, +if I'd said the Channel Fleet I shouldn't 'ave bin talkin' through me +'at. Look at 'im now. 'E's the on'y reel live man Dom Wot's-'is-name +'as got. Sink me! if it wasn't for the folks at 'ome, an' the fac' that +the _Andromeeda's_ skipper ought to keep clear of politics in this +crimson country, I'd 'ave a cut in at the game meself." + +It might be hoped that Carmela's mood would soften when she discovered +her rival's hapless love, but that would be expecting something which her +bursting southern heart could not give. A volcano pours forth lava, not +water. It scorches, not heals. Iris, willing or not, had sapped her +Salvador's allegiance. Carmela wanted to see those curved lips writhing +in pain, those brown eyes dimmed, that smooth brow wrung with the grief +that knows no remedy. + +A fierce joy leaped up in her when Verity spoke of an early departure. + +"You see, Iris," he explained, "these Brazilian bucks may be months in +settlin' their differences. Dickey an' me, 'elped a lot by our Consul, +squeezed a pass out of the President--beg pardon, miss, but 'e is +President, in Pernambuco, at all events," he said in an apologetic +"aside" to Carmela--"an' the sooner we make tracks for ole England the +better it'll be for all of us. Wot do you say to an early start +to-morrow? We'd be off to-night, on'y I'm feared my rheumaticky bones +wouldn't stand the racket." + +The color ebbed from Iris's face, but she said at once: + +"I shall be ready, uncle dear. I promised Dom Corria to look after the +hospital appliances that are so much needed by the poor soldiers, but the +Senhora De Sylva will attend to that much more effectually than I." + +"Good! Then that's settled." + +David pursed out his thick lips with a sigh of relief. Though he had +watched the spoken record of the _Andromeda_ and her company for craftier +hints than was suspected by his fellow travelers, he was not deaf to +Coke's appreciation of Hozier. The silence of his niece on that same +topic was alarming, but the position could not be so bad if she was +willing to leave for the coast without seeing him again. No secret was +made of Philip's errand into the interior. The homeward-bound cavalcade +would be at Pesqueira ere he returned to the _finca_. + +Carmela, of course, did not believe in a woman's complacency in such a +vital matter. She was ever prepared to spring, to strike, to wrench +their plans to suit her own ends; but, contrive as she might, she could +not succeed in leaving Iris alone with Bulmer. Full of device, she was +foiled at each turn. The day wore, the sun went down, the starlit sky +made beautiful a parched earth, but never a word in privacy did Iris +exchange with her husband-to-be. Carmela's malice was not hidden from +her, but she despised it. There was some ease for her tortured brain in +defeating it. If the Senhora De Sylva had only understood how thoroughly +the Englishwoman loathed her petty jealousy, it was possible that the few +remaining hours of their enforced intimacy might have been rendered less +irksome. + +But, by this time, fate had gathered the slackened strings of their +destinies. Thenceforth they became her puppets. Permitted for a little +while to play the tragi-comedy of life according to their own +inclinations, now the stern edict had gone forth that they were to act +their allotted parts in one of those fascinating if blood-stained dramas +that the history of nations so often puts on the stage. The future is +the most cunning of playwrights. No man may tell what the next scene +shall be. And no man, nor any woman, could guess the mad revel of hate +and war that would rage that night around the placid homestead of Las +Flores. + +Behind the veranda was a huge ballroom, converted, by the exigencies of +the campaign, into a dining hall for the many inmates of the _finca_. +The Brazilian ladies, the sailors, some sick or wounded officers who were +not confined to bed, even the household servants, took their meals there +in common. Supper was served soon after nine o'clock. When cigars and +cigarettes were lighted, and the company broke up into laughing, +gossiping, noisy groups, the place looked more like a popular Continental +cafe than a room in a private mansion. + +Though De Sylva, General Russo, San Benavides, and some score of members +of the President's staff who usually dined at the _finca_, were now +absent, there was no lack of lively chatter. A very Babel of tongues +mixed in amity. The prevalent note was one of cheery animation. Carmela +exerted herself to win popularity, and a President's daughter need not +put forth very strenuous efforts in that direction to be acclaimed by +most. + +Iris was listening, with real interest, to Verity's description of the +finding of Macfarlane in the _Andromeda's_ boat by a Cardiff-bound +collier three days after he had drifted away from Fernando Noronha. + +"The yarn kem to us through the Consul at Pernambuco," he said. +"Evidently, from wot you tell me, it's all right. Poor ole Mac 'ad a bad +time afore 'e was picked up, but 'e was alive, an' I'm jolly glad of it, +for 'e'll be a first-rate witness w'en this business comes up in court." + +"Wot court?" demanded Coke sharply. + +"The court that settles our claim, of course," retorted Verity, with a +quick ferret look at his fellow-conspirator. + +"There'll be no claim. The President means to stump up in style. You +take my tip, an' shut up about courts," said Coke. + +"It'll cost Brazil a tidy penny," remarked Bulmer thoughtfully. "Nobody +would ever imagine wot bags of gold an' parcels of di'monds sailors an' +firemen carry around in their kit-bags till a ship is lost an' a +Gover'ment 'as to pay." + +Watts deemed this an exquisite joke. He laughed loudly. + +"That reminds me," he cried. "W'en the _Gem of the Sea_ turned turtle on +the James an' Mary----" + +A _criado_, a nondescript man-servant attached to the household, stooped +over Iris and whispered something. She gathered that she was wanted in +the _patèo_, or court-yard, which, owing to the construction of the +house, stood on one side instead of in front, where the lawn usurped its +usual position. + +"Who is it?" she asked. + +The voice sank even lower. + +"Colonel San Benavides, Senhora." + +She had gathered sufficient of Brazilian ways to understand that the man +had been bribed to convey this request to her without attracting +attention. + +"Tell him to wait," she said, hoping to gain a moment wherein to decide +how best to act. + +"It is urgent, Senhora--_ao mesmo tempo_, the colonel said." + +"Go! That is my answer." + +The man's unwillingness to obey showed how imperative were his +instructions. She rose, and the _criado_ hurried out, satisfied that she +would follow. But Iris had no wish to meet San Benavides. If she were +seen with him in the dark _patèo_ at this late hour, fuel would be added +to the fire of Carmela's foolish spite. She was aware of Carmela's +covert glance watching her from the other end of the long room. What was +to be done? Why not send Carmela in her stead? They were almost of the +same height, and dressed somewhat alike in flowered muslin. It would be +an amusing mistake, though annoying, perhaps, to San Benavides; at any +rate, Carmela would not object, and Iris was fully resolved not to keep +the tryst in person. + +She walked straight to her enemy. + +"Colonel San Benavides awaits you in the _patèo_," she said in English. + +"Awaits _me_!" + +There was no mistaking the gleam in those jet-black eyes. The smoldering +fire flamed into furnace heat at the implied indignity of such a mandate +being delivered by Iris. + +"I suppose so," said Iris carelessly. "A servant brought the message. +He came to me in the first instance, but I am just going to my room to +pack my few belongings. We leave here at daybreak, you know." + +Carmela tried to smile. + +"I shall be sorry to lose you," she said, "though I admit it will be +pleasant to occupy my own room again." + +Then Iris was genuinely distressed. + +"I had not the least notion----" she began, but Carmela nodded and made +off, saying as she went: + +"What matter--for one night?" + +So, at last, she would learn the truth. Salvador was out there, alone. +She would soon judge him. If he were innocent, she would know. If he +had merely been made the sport of a designing woman, she was ready to +forgive. In a more amiable mood than she had displayed at any moment +since her arrival at Las FIores, Carmela hastened along a dark corridor, +crossed a bare hall, passed through a porch, and searched the shadows of +the patèo for the form of her one-time lover. + +A voice whispered, in French: + +"Come quickly, Senhora, I pray you!" + +It startled her to find San Benavides talking French, until it occurred +to her that Iris and he must converse in that language or hardly at all. +The thought was disquieting. The volcano stirred again. + +"Senhora, je vous prie!" again pleaded the man, who was on horseback +under the trees. + +She did not hesitate, but ran to him. Without a word of explanation, he +bent sideways, caught her in his arms, drew her up until she was seated +on the holsters strapped to a gaucho saddle, and wheeled his horse into a +gallop. Filled with a grim determination, she uttered no protest. Not a +syllable crossed her lips lest he should strive to amend his woeful +blunder. She noticed that they were not going toward the camp, but +circling round the enclosed land in the direction of the hills. Though +the night was dark, the stars gave light enough for the horse to move +freely. Carmela's head was bent. A gauze-like mantilla covered her +black hair, and, strange though it may seem, one woman's small waist and +slim figure can be amazingly like the same physical attributes in another +woman. + +But San Benavides wondered why the cold Ingleza had surrendered so +silently. He expected at least a scream, a struggle, an impassioned +demand to be released. He was prepared for anything save a dumb +acceptance of this extraordinary raid. + +So he began to explain. + +"One word, Senhora!" he muttered. "You must think me mad. I am not. +All is lost! Our army is defeated! In an hour Las Flores will be in +flames!" + +The girl quivered in his arms. A moaning cry came from her. + +"It is true, I swear it!" he vowed. "I mean you no ill. I fought till +the end, and my good horse alone carried me in advance of the routed +troops. Dom Corria may reach the _finca_ alive, but, even so, he and the +rest will be killed. I refused to escape without you. Believe me or +not, you are dearer than life itself. In the confusion we two may not be +missed. Trust yourself wholly to me, I beseech you!" + +He spoke jerkily, in the labored phrase of a man who has to pick and +choose the readiest words in an unfamiliar language. + +Carmela, with a sudden movement, raised her face to his, and threw aside +her veil. + +"Salvador!" she said. + +His eyes glared into hers. His frenzied clutch at the reins pulled the +horse on to its haunches. + +"My God! . . . Carmela!" he almost shrieked. + +"Yes. So you are running away, Salvador--running away with the English +miss--deserting my father in the hour of his need! But she will die with +the others, you say. Well, then--join her!" + +During that quick twist on the horse's withers, she had plucked a +revolver from a holster. She meant to shatter that false face of his +utterly, to blast him as with lightning . . . but the lock snapped +harmlessly, for San Benavides had, indeed, borne himself gallantly in the +fray. He struck at her now in a whirl of fury. She winced, but with +catamount activity drew back her arm and hit him on the temple with the +heavy weapon. He collapsed limply, reeled from off the saddle, and they +fell together. The frightened horse, finding himself at liberty, +galloped to the camp, where already there was an unusual commotion. + +Carmela flung herself on the man's body. She was capable of extremes +either of grief or passion. + +"Salvador, my love! my love!" she screamed. "What have I done? Speak to +me, Salvador! It is I, Carmela! Oh, Mary Mother, come to my aid! I +have killed him, killed my Salvador!" + +He looked very white and peaceful as he lay there in the gloom. She +could not see whether his lips moved. She was too distraught to note if +his heart was beating. It seemed incredible that she, a weak woman, +should have crushed the life out of that lithe and active frame with one +blow. Then a dark stain appeared on the white skin. Her hands, her +lips, were covered with blood. She tasted it. The whole earth reeked of +it. It scorched her as with vitriol. She rose and ran blindly. The +darkness appalled her. No matter now what fate befell, she must have +light, the sound of human voices. . . . And she sobbed piteously as she +ran: + +"Salvador! Oh, God in heaven, my Salvador!" + +It is not the crime, but the conscience, that scourges erring humanity. +Carmela needed some such flogging. It was just as well that her fright +at the horrible touch of blood was not balanced by the saner knowledge +that a ruptured vein was nature's own remedy for a man jarred into +insensibility. Long before Carmela reached the _finca_, San Benavides +stirred, groaned, squirmed convulsively, and raised himself on hands and +knees. He turned, and sat down, feeling his head. + +"The spit-fire!" he muttered. "The she-devil! And that other! Would +that I could wring _her_ neck!" + +A sputtering of rifles crackled in the valley. There was a blurred +clamor of voices. He looked at the sky, at the black summits of the +hills. He stood up, and his inseparable sword clanked on the stony +ground. + +"Ah, well," he growled, "I have done with women. They have had the best +of my life. What is left I give to Brazil." + +So he, too, made for Las Flores, but slowly, for he was quite exhausted, +and his limbs were stiff with the rigors of a wild day in the saddle. + +Carmela went back to a household that paid scant heed to her screaming. +Dom Corria was there, bare-headed, his gorgeous uniform sword-slashed and +blood-bespattered. General Russo, too, was beating his capacious chest +and shouting: + +"God's bones, let us make a fight of it!" + +A sprinkling of soldiers, all dismounted cavalry or gunners, a few +disheveled officers, had accompanied De Sylva in his flight. With +reckless bravery, he and Russo had tried to rally the troops camped at +headquarters. It was a hopeless effort. Half-breeds can never produce a +military caste. They may fight valiantly in the line of battle--they +will not face the unknown, the terrible, the harpies that come at night, +borne on the hurricane wings of panic. Unhappily, De Sylva and his +bodyguard were the messengers of their own disaster. The cowardly genius +at Pesqueira had planned a surprise. He would not lead it, of course, +but in Dom Miguel Barraca he found an eager substitute. It was a coup of +the Napoleonic order; an infantry attack along the entire front of the +Liberationist position cloaked the launching against the center of a +formidable body of cavalry. The project was to thrust this lance into +the rebel position, probe it thoroughly, as a surgeon explores a gunshot +wound, and extract the offender in the guise of Dom Corria. + +The scheme had proved eminently successful. The Liberationists were +crumpled up, and here was Dom Corria making his last stand. + +He deserved better luck, for he was magnificent in failure. Calm as +ever, he tried to be shot or captured when the reserves in camp failed +him. Russo and the rest dragged him onward by main force. + +"They want me only," he urged. "My death will end a useless struggle. I +shall die a little later, when many more of my friends are killed. Why +not die now?" + +They would not listen. + +"It is night!" they cried. "The enemy's horses are spent. A determined +stand may give us another chance." + +But it was a forlorn hope. As San Benavides lurched into the _patèo_, +the horses of the first pursuing detachment strained up the slope between +house and encampment. + +Carmela, all her fire gone, the pallid ghost of the vengeful woman who +would have shattered her lover's skull were the revolver loaded, was the +first to see him. She actually crouched in terror. Her tongue was +parched. If she uttered some low cry, none heard her. + +Dom Corria, striving to dispose his meager garrison as best he could, met +his trusted lieutenant. His face lit with joy. + +"Ah, my poor Salvador!" he cried. "I thought we had lost you at the +ford!" + +"No," said San Benavides. "I ran away!" + +Even in his dire extremity, De Sylva smiled. + +"Would that others had run like you, my Salvador!" he said. "Then we +should have been in Pernambuco to-morrow." + +The Brazilian looked around. His eye dwelt heedlessly on the cowering +Carmela. He was searching for Iris, who had been compelled by Coke and +Bulmer and her uncle to take shelter behind the score of sailors who +still remained at Las Flores. + +"It is true, nevertheless," he said laconically. "I knew the game was +lost, so I came here to try and save a lady." + +"Ah--our Carmela? You thought of her?" + +"No!" + +Then the spell passed from Carmela. She literally threw herself on her +lover. + +"Yes, it is true!" she shrieked. "He came to save me, but I preferred to +die here--with you, father--and with him." + +Dom Corria did not understand these fire-works, but he had no time for +thought. Bullets were crashing through the closed Venetians. Light they +must have, or the defense would become an orgy of self-destruction, yet +light was their most dangerous foe when men were shooting from the somber +depths of the trees. + +The assailants were steadily closing around the house. Their rifles +covered every door and window. Each minute brought up fresh bands in +tens and twenties. At last, Barraca himself arrived. Some members of +his staff made a hasty survey of the situation. There were some three +hundred men available, and, in all probability, Dom Corria could not +muster one-sixth of that number. It was a crisis that called for vigor. +The cavalry lance was twenty miles from its base, and there was no +knowing what accident might reunite the scattered Liberationists. One +column, at least, of the Nationalists had failed to keep its rendezvous, +or this last desperate stand at Las Flores would have proved a sheer +impossibility. + +So the house must be rushed, no matter what the cost. This was a war of +leaders. Let Dom Corria fall, and his most enthusiastic supporters would +pay Dom Miguel's taxes without further parley. A scheme of concerted +action was hastily arranged. Simultaneously, five detachments swarmed +against the chosen points of assault. One crossed the _patèo_ to the +porch, another made for the stable entrance, a third attacked the garden +door, a fourth assailed the servants' quarters, and the fifth, strongest +of all, and inspired by Dom Miguel's presence, battered in the shutters +and tore away the piled up furniture of the ballroom. + +The Nationalist leader's final order was terse. + +"Spare the women; shoot every rebel; do not touch the foreigners unless +they resist!" + +With yells of "Abajo De Sylva!" "Morto por revoltados!" the assailants +closed in. Neither side owned magazine rifles, so the fight was with +machetes, swords, and bayonets when the first furious hail of lead had +spent itself. No man thought of quarter, nor ceased to stab and thrust +until he fell. Not even then did some of the half-savage combatants +desist, and a many a thigh was gashed and boot-protected leg cut to the +bone by those murderous hatchet knives wielded by hands which would soon +stiffen in death. + +When three hundred desperadoes meet fifty of like caliber in a +hand-to-hand conflict--when the three hundred mean to end the business, +and the fifty know that they must die--fighting for choice, but die in +any event--the resultant encounter will surely be both fierce and brief. +And never was fratricidal strife more sanguinary than during the earliest +onset within the walls. Each inch of corridor, each plank of the +ballroom floor, was contested with insane ferocity. This was not +warfare. It savored of the carnage of the jungle. Its sounds were those +of wild beasts. It smelled of the shambles. + +By one of those queer chances which sometimes decide the hazard between +life and death, the window nearest that end of the room where the sailors +strove to protect a few shrieking women had not been broken in. Here, +then, was a tiny bay of refuge; from it the men of the _Andromeda_ and +the _Unser Fritz_, Bulmer, Verity, Iris, and such of the Brazilian ladies +as had not fled to the upper rooms at the initial volley, looked out on +an amazing butchery. De Sylva, no longer young, and never a robust man, +had been dragged from mortal peril many times by his devoted adherents. +Carmela had snatched a machete from the fingers of a dying soldier, and +was fighting like one possessed of a fiend. + +Once, when a combined rush drove the defenders nearly on top of the +non-combatants, Iris would have striven to draw the half-demented girl +into the little haven with the other women. + +But Coke thrust her back, shouting: + +"Leave 'er alone. She'll set about you if you touch her!" + +Dickey Bulmer, too, who was displaying a fortitude hardly to be expected +in a man of his years and habits, thought that interference was useless. + +"Let 'er do what she can," he said. "She doesn't know wot is 'appenin' +now. If she was on'y watchin' she'd be a ravin' lunatic. God 'elp us +all, we've got ourselves into a nice mess!" + +Somehow, the old man's Lancashire drawl, with its broad vowels and +misplaced aspirates, exercised a singularly soothing effect on Iris's +tensely-strung nerves. It seemed to remove her from that murder-filled +arena. It was redolent of home, of quiet streets, of orderly crowds +thronging to the New Brighton sands, of the sober, industrious, +God-fearing folk who filled the churches and chapels at each service on a +Sunday. These men and women of Brazil were her brothers and sisters in +the great comity of nations, yet Heaven knows they did not figure in such +guise during that hour of intense emotions. + +But if Dickey Bulmer's simple words exalted him into the kingdom of the +heroic, David Verity occupied a lower plane. Prayers and curses +alternated on his lips. He was stupefied with fear. He had never seen +the lust of slaying in men's eyes, and it mesmerized him. Many of the +sailors wanted to join in on behalf of their friends. It needed all +Coke's vehemence to restrain them. "Keep out of it, you swabs," he would +growl. "It's your on'y chanst. This isn't our shindy. Let 'em rip an' +be hanged to 'em!" Yet he was manifestly uneasy, and he kept a wary eye +on De Sylva, whom he appraised at a personal value of five thousand +pounds "an pickin's." + +A tall, distinguished-looking man, wearing a brilliant uniform, his +breast decorated with many orders, now appeared on the scene. He shouted +something, and the attacking force redoubled their efforts. He raised a +revolver, and took deliberate aim at Dom Corria. Coke saw him, and his +bulldog pluck combined with avarice to overcome his common sense. +Without thought of the consequences, he sprang into the swaying mob and +pulled De Sylva aside. A bullet smashed into the wall behind them. + +"Look out, mister!" he bellowed. "'Ere's a blighter 'oo wants to finish +you quick!" + +De Sylva's glance sought his adversary. He produced a revolver which +hitherto had remained hidden in a pocket. Perhaps its bullets were not +meant for an enemy. He fired at the tall man. A violent swerve of the +two irregular ranks of soldiers screened each from the other. An opening +offered, and the man who had singled out Dom Corria for his special +vengeance fired again. The bullet struck Coke in the breast. The +valiant little skipper staggered, and sank to the floor. His fiery eyes +gazed up into Verity's. + +"Damme if I ain't hulled!" he roared, his voice loud and harsh as if he +were giving some command from the bridge in a gale of wind. + +David dropped to his knees. + +"For Gawd's sake, Jimmie!" he moaned. + +"Yes, I've got it. Sarve me dam well right, too! No business to go +ag'in me own pore old ship. Look 'ere, Verity, I'm done for! If you get +away from this rotten muss, see to my missus an' the girls. If you +don't--d--n you----" + +"Fire!" shouted a strong English voice from without. A withering volley +crashed through the open windows. Full twenty of the assailants fell, +Dom Miguel de Barraca among them. There was an instant of terrible +silence, as between the shocks of an earthquake. + +[Illustration: A withering volley crashed through the window] + +"Now, come on!" shouted the same voice, and Philip Hozier rushed into the +ballroom, followed by his scouts and a horde of Brazilian regulars. No +one not actually an eye-witness of that thrilling spectacle would believe +that a fight waged with such determined malevolence could stop so +suddenly as did that fray in Las Flores. It was true, now as ever, that +men of a mixed race cannot withstand the unforeseen. Dom Miguel fallen, +and his cohort decimated by the leaden storm that tore in at them from an +unexpected quarter, the rest fled without another blow. They raced madly +for their horses, to find that every tethered group was in the hands of +this new contingent. Then the darkness swallowed them. Dom Miguel's +cavalry was disbanded. + +At once the medley within died down. Men had no words as yet to meet +this astounding development. Dom Corria went to where his rival lay. +Dom Miguel was dying. His eyes met De Sylva's in a strange look of +recognition. He tried to speak, but choked and died. + +Then the living President stooped over the dead one. He murmured +something. Those near thought afterward that he said: + +"Is it worth it? Who knows!" + +But he was surely President now; seldom have power and place been more +hardly won. + +His quiet glance sought Philip. + +"Thank you, Mr. Hozier," he said. "All Brazil is your debtor. As for +me, I can never repay you. I owe you my life, the lives of my daughter +and of many of my friends, and the success of my cause." + +Philip heard him as in a dream. He was looking at Iris. Her eyes were +shining, her lips parted, yet she did not come to him. By her side was +standing a white-haired old man, an Englishman, a stranger. Bending over +Coke, and wringing his hands in incoherent sorrow, was another elderly +Briton. A fear that Philip had never before known gripped his +heartstrings now. He was pale and stern, and his forehead was seamed +with foreboding. + +"Who is that with Miss Yorke?" he said to Dom Corria. + +The President had a rare knack of answering a straight question in a +straight way. + +"A Mr. Bulmer, I am told," he said. + +There was a pause. General Russo, carved from head to foot, but so stout +withal that his enemies' weapons had reached no vital part, approached. +He thumped his huge stomach. + +"We must rally our men," he said. "If we collect even five thousand +to-night----" + +"Yes," said De Sylva, "I will come. Before I go, Mr. Hozier, let me +repeat that I and Brazil are grateful." + +"May the devil take both you and Brazil!" was Philip's most ungracious +reply, and he turned and strode out into the night. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +WHEREIN THE PRESIDENT PRESIDES + +Before the exciting story so rudely interrupted is resumed, it may be +well to set down in their sequence the queer workings of fortune which +led to Philip's timely reappearance at Las FIores. + +His troop of scouts consisted of twenty-eight men. Five were sailors +and firemen from the _Andromeda_; three were Germans from the _Unser +Fritz_. But the whole eight were ex-soldiers, and one man-at-arms +trained on the European model is worth ten of the Brazilian product. +The remaining twenty were hillmen, good riders, excellent shots, and +acquainted with every yard of the wild country within a radius of a +hundred miles. They would fight anybody if well led, and here it may +be observed that when Philip called on them to storm the ballroom, he +said, "Come on!"; between which curt command and its congener, "Go on!" +these half-breed warriors drew a fine distinction. The language +difficulty was surmounted partly by an interpreter in the person of one +of the Germans, who spoke English and had lived in Bahia, partly by +signs, and largely by Philip's methods as a leader. + +He never asked his men to do anything that he did not do himself, and +they were never dubious as to his tactics, since he invariably closed +with any Nationalist detachment met during the day's operations. + +About mid-day, then, they came upon the advance guard of a column sent +off a week earlier by the expert at Pesqueira with instructions to +arrive at Las Flores before sunset that very day. Instantly the +twenty-nine charged; with equal celerity the advance guard bolted. +From the crest of a rocky pass Philip looked down on a column of fully +a thousand men. The situation was critical. It called for prompt +handling. Five men held the horses; twenty-three spread themselves +among the rocks; Philip unslung his carbine; and twenty-four rifles +indulged in long-range practice on a narrow mountain path crowded with +men and animals. + +Nothing more was needed. It has been noted already that the Brazilians +disliked long-range shooting. There was a stampede. The scouts +occupied the ridge until sundown, and were returning leisurely to +report the presence of the column, when they fell in with the first +batch of fugitives from the valley. Forthwith, Philip became a general +and each scout an officer. They reasoned and whacked the runaways into +obedience, picked up quite a number of men who were willing enough to +fight if told what was expected of them--and the rest was a matter of +simple strategy such as Macaulay's schoolboy would exhibit in the +escalade of a snow fort. But it was a near thing. Five minutes later, +and Hozier might have seized the presidency himself. + +And now, as to the night, and the next day. + +Russo and his diminished staff took Philip's little army as a nucleus. +Brazil had duly elected Dom Corria, as provided by the statute, and the +news spread like wild fire. Before morning, the Liberationists were +ten thousand strong. Before night closed the roads again, the +Pesqueira genius wrote to Dom Corria under a flag of truce, and pointed +out that he served the _President_, not any crank who said he was +President, but the honored individual in whom the people of Brazil +placed their trust. Dom Corria replied in felicitous terms, and, as +the newspapers say, the incident ended. The navy sulked for a while, +because they held that Russo's treatment of the _Andorinha_ was not +cricket, or baseball, or whatsoever game appeals most to the Brazilian +sportsman. It was not even professional football, they said; but an +acrimonious discussion was closed by a strong hint from the Treasury +that pay-day might be postponed indefinitely if too much were made of a +regrettable accident to the guns of the Maceio artillery. + +Meanwhile, Dom Corria, the man who did not forget, was puzzled by two +circumstances not of national importance. San Benavides, never a +demonstrative lover where Carmela was concerned, was a changed man. He +was severely wounded during the fight, and Carmela nursed him +assiduously, but there could be no doubt that he was under her thumb, +and would remain there. The indications were subtle but unmistakable. +Carmela even announced the date of their marriage. + +Dom Corria remembered, of course, what San Benavides and his daughter +had said when they all met in the ballroom. It seemed to him that +Salvador was telling the truth and that Carmela was fibbing on that +occasion. But he let well enough alone. It was good for Salvador that +he should obey Carmela. He blessed them, and remarked that a really +"smart" wedding would be just the thing to inaugurate the new reign at +Rio de Janeiro. + +He was far more perplexed by the untimely wrath of Philip Hozier. He +thought of it for at least five minutes next morning. Then he sought +Dickey Bulmer, who had just quitted Coke's bedroom, and was examining +the rare shrubs that bordered the lawn. + +"What news of that brave man?" asked Dom Corria, and his deep voice +vibrated with real feeling. + +"First-rate, sir," said Dickey. "The bullet is extracted, and the +doctor says 'e'll soon be all right. Leastways, that's wot Iris tells +me. I can't talk Portuguese meself, an' pore old Jimmie's langwidge +ain't fit to be repeated." + +The President laughed. + +"He is what you call a bundle of contradictions, eh?--a rough fellow +with the heart of a bull. But he saved my life, and that naturally +counts for a good deal with me. And how is your niece after last +night's terrible experience?" + +"My niece? D'ye mean Iris?" demanded Bulmer, obviously somewhat +annoyed. + +"Yes." + +"She's not my niece; she's----" + +"Your grand-daughter, then?" + +"No, sir. That young lady 'as done me the honor of promisin' to be my +wife." + +"Oh!" said Dom Corria, fixing his brilliant eyes on Bulmer's vexed face. + +"There's no 'Oh' about it," growled Dickey. "It was all cut an' dried +weeks ago, an' she 'asn't rued of 'er bargain yet, as far as I can make +out." + +"You mean that the marriage was arranged before the _Andromeda_ +sailed?" said Dom Corria gently. + +"W'y, of course. It couldn't very well be fixed after, could it?" + +"No--not as between you and her. I can vouch for that. Forgive me, +Mr. Bulmer--I have a daughter of marriageable age, you know, and I +speak as a parent--do you think that it is a wise thing for a man of +your years to marry a girl of twenty?" + +"If I didn't, I wouldn't do it." + +"But may it not be selfish?" + +Then downright Lancashire took hold of the argument. + +"Look 'ere, wot are you drivin' at?" demanded Dickey, now in a white +heat of anger. He had yet to learn that the President preferred a +straight-forward way of talking. + +"I want you to forego this marriage," he said. + +"Why?" + +"Because that charming girl loves another man, but feels that she is +bound to you. I understand the position at last. Mr. Bulmer, you +cannot wish to break her heart and drive that fine young fellow, Philip +Hozier, to despair. Come, now! Let you and me reason this thing +together. Possibly, when she agreed to marry you she did not know what +love is. She is high-minded, an idealist, the soul of honor. What +other woman would have consented to be separated from her friends on +Fernando Noronha merely because it increased their meager chances of +safety? How few women, loving a man like Philip Hozier, who is assured +of a splendid reward for his services to this State, would resolutely +deny the claims of her own heart in order to keep her word?" + +Bulmer had never heard anyone speak with the crystal directness of Dom +Corria. Each word chipped away some part of the fence which he had +deliberately erected around his own intelligence. Certain facts had +found crevices in the barrier already; Dom Corria broke down whole +sections. But he was a hard man, and stubborn. Throughout his long +life he had not been of yielding habit, and his heart was set on Iris. + +"You are mighty sure that she is wrapped up in this young spark," he +growled. + +"Were I not, I would not have interfered. Take my advice. First, ask +yourself an honest question. Then ask the girl. She will answer. I +promise you that." + +"I'm a rich man," persisted Dickey. + +"Yes." + +"Nobody forced 'er, one way or the other." + +"Possibly. One wonders, though, why she hid herself on the +_Andromeda_." + +"It's true, I tell you. David said----" + +"Who is David?" + +"Her uncle." + +"In England, I take it, if a man wishes to marry a girl he does not woo +her uncle. Of course, these customs vary. Here, in Brazil----" + +Then Bulmer said something about Brazil that was not to be expected +from one of his staid demeanor. In fact, he regarded Brazil as the +cause of the whole trouble, and his opinion concerning that marvelous +land coincided with Hozier's. He turned and walked away, looking a +trifle older, a trifle more bent, perhaps, than when he came out of the +house. + +An hour later, Dom Corria and Carmela met in a corridor. They were +discussing arrangements for a speedy move to the capital when Iris ran +into them. Her face was flushed, and she had been crying. Much to +Carmela's amazement, the English girl clasped her round the neck and +kissed her. + +"Tell your father, my dear, that he has been very good to me," she +whispered; then her face grew scarlet again, and she hurried away. + +"Excellent!" said the President. "That old man is a gentleman. His +friend is not. Yet they are very much alike in other respects. Odd +thing! Carmela _cara_, can you spare a few minutes from your invalid?" + +"Yes, father." + +"Go, then, and find that young Englishman, Philip Hozier. Tell him +that the engagement between Miss Yorke and Mr. Bulmer is broken off." + +Carmela's black eyes sparkled. That wayward blood of hers surged in +her veins, but Dom Corria's calm glance dwelt on her, and the spasm +passed. + +"Yes, father," she said dutifully. + +He stroked his chin as he went out to pronounce a funeral oration on +those who had fallen during the fight. + +"I think," said he reflectively, "I think that Carmela dislikes that +girl. I wonder why?" + +Philip had never, to his knowledge, seen the Senhora De Sylva. Watts +spoke of her, remarking that she was "a reel pleasant young lady, a bit +flighty, p'raps, but, then, 'oo could tell wot any gal would do one +minnit from the next?" And that was all. + +It was, therefore, something more than a surprise when the +sallow-faced, willowy girl, black-haired, black-eyed, and most demure +of manner, whom he remembered to have met in the gateway of Las Flores +early on the previous day, came to his tent and asked for him. + +She introduced herself, and Philip was most polite. + +"My father sent me----" she began. + +"I ought to have waited on the President," he said, seeing that she +hesitated, "but several of my men are wounded, and we have so few +doctors." + +She smiled, and Carmela could redeem much of her plainness of feature +by the singular charm of her smile. + +"Dom Corria is a good doctor himself," she said. + +"His skill will be much appreciated in Brazil at the present moment," +said he, rather bewildered. + +"He mends broken hearts," she persisted. + +"Ah, a healer, indeed!" but he frowned a little. + +"He is in demand to-day. He asked me to tell you of one most +successful operation. The--er--the engagement between Miss Iris +Yorke--is that the name?--and Mr.--Mr.--dear me----" + +"Bulmer," scowled Philip, a block of ice in the warm air of Brazil. + +"Yes, that is it--well--it is ended. She is free--for a little while." + +There was a curious bleaching of Philip's weather-tanned face. It +touched a chord in Carmela's impulsive nature. + +"It is all right," she nodded. "You can go to her." + +She left him there, more shaken than he had ever been by thunderous sea +or screaming bullet. + +"They are cold, these English," she communed, as she passed up the +slope to the house. "It takes something to rouse them. What would he +have said were he in Salvador's place last night!" + +It did not occur to her that Philip could not possibly have been in +Salvador's place, since God has made as many varieties of men as of +berries, whereof some are wholesome and some poisonous, yet they all +have their uses. And she might have modified her opinion of his +coldness had she seen the manner of his meeting with Iris. + +Visiting the sick is one of the Christian virtues, so Philip visited +Coke. Iris had just finished writing a letter, partly dictated, and +much altered in style, to Mrs. James Coke, Sea View, Ocean Road, +Birkenhead, when a gentle tap brought her to the door. She opened it. +Her wrist was seized, and she was drawn into the corridor. She had no +option in the matter. The tall young man who held her wrist proceeded +to squeeze the breath out of her, but she was growing so accustomed to +deeds of violence that she did not even scream. + +"There is a British chaplain at Pernambuco," was Philip's incoherent +remark. + +"I must ask my uncle," she gasped. + +"No. Leave that to me. No man living shall say 'Yes' or 'No' to me +where you are concerned, Iris." + +"Do not be hard with him, Philip dear. He was always good to me, +and--and--I have grown a wee bit afraid of you." + +"Afraid!" + +"Yes. You are so much older, so much sterner, than when you and I +looked at the Southern Cross together from the bridge of the +_Andromeda_." + +"I was a boy then, Iris. I am a man now. I have fought, and loved, +and suffered. And what of you, dear heart? We went through the +furnace hand in hand. What of the girl who has come forth a woman?" + +There was an open window at the end of the passage. Watts had bought, +or borrowed, or looted a bottle of wine. Schmidt and he were in a +shaded arbor beneath, and his voice came to them: + + "It is always fair weather + When good fellows meet together . . ." + + +But another voice, hoarse as a foghorn, boomed through the door which +Iris had left ajar. + +"Bring 'er in 'ere, you swab. D--n your eyes, if you come courtin' my +nurse, you'll 'ave to do it in my room or not at all. Wot the----" + +"Come in, dear," said Iris. "The doctor says he is not to excite +himself. And he will be so glad to see you. He has been asking for +you all day." + + * * * * * * + +At Pernambuco, his excellency the President of the Republic of Brazil +was waited on by Admiral Prince Heinrich von Schnitzenhausen, who was +attended by an imposing armed guard. After compliments, the admiral +stated that his Imperial master wished to be informed as to the truth +or otherwise of a circumstantial statement made by the German Consul at +Maceio, and confirmed by functionaries at Pernambuco, that on a certain +date, to wit, September the 2d, he, Dom Corria De Sylva, aided and +abetted by a number of filibusters, did unlawfully seize and +sequestrate the steamship _Unser Fritz_, the said steamship being the +property of German subjects and flying the German flag. + +Though the admiral's sentence was much longer than its English +translation, it only contained a dozen words. Its sound was fearsome +in consequence, and its effect ought to have been portentous. But Dom +Corria was unmoved. + +"There is some mistake," said he. + +"Exactly," said the admiral, +"an-error-the-most-serious-and-not-easily-rectifiable." + +"On your part," continued Dom Corria. "The vessel you name is the +property of my friend and colleague Dom Alfonso Pondillo, of Maceio. +He purchased and paid for her on September 1st. Here is the receipt of +the former owners, given to the Deutsche Bank in Paris, and handed to +Senhor Pondillo's agents. You will observe the date of the +transaction." + +The admiral read. He read again. + +"Ach Gott!" he cried angrily. "There are some +never-to-be-depended-upon fools in the world, and especially in +Hamburg." + +"Everywhere," agreed Dom Corria blandly. Carmela's memory was not +quite of the hereditary order. She had forgotten, for three whole +days, that the letter containing the receipt was in her pocket. + + * * * * * * + +When Coke was pronounced fit for comfortable travel, David Verity and +Dickey Bulmer conveyed him home. They took with them drafts on a +London bank for amounts that satisfied every sort of claim for the +sinking of the _Andromeda_. Judged by the compensation given to the +vessel's survivors, there could be no doubt that the dependants of the +men who lost their lives would be well provided for. Even Watts vowed +that the President had behaved reel 'andsome, and, as a token of +regeneration, swore that never another drop o' sperrits would cross his +lips. Wines and beers, of course, were light refreshments of a +different order. Schmidt, too, sublimely heedless of the diplomatic +storm he had caused, seemed to be contented. He taught Watts "_Es gibt +nur eine Kaiser Stadt_," and Watts taught him the famous chanty of the +_Alice_ brig and her marooned crew. But the latter effusion was +rehearsed far from Coke's deck-chair, because the captain of the mail +steamer said that although he liked Coke personally, some of the lady +passengers might complain. + +At odd moments David and Dickey Bulmer discussed the partnership. The +young people would be home in two months, and then Philip was to come +into the business. + +"We're growing old, David," said Dickey. "I've got plenty of money, +an' you'll 'ave a tidy bit now, but there's one thing neether of us can +buy, and that's youth." + +"I don't want to be young again," said David, "but I'd like to go back +just a year or so--no more. + +"Why?" + +"Well, there's bin times w'en--w'en I'd 'ave acted different. Wot do +you say, Jimmie?" + +Coke, thus appealed to, glowered at his employer. + +"Say!" he growled. "I say nothink. I know you, David." + +Philip and Iris attended Carmela's wedding during their honeymoon. The +cathedral at Rio de Janeiro was packed, and Iris was quite +inconspicuous among the many richly-attired ladies who graced the +ceremony by their presence. Nevertheless, Colonel Salvador San +Benavides favored her with a peculiar smile as he led his bride down +the central aisle. + +She laughed, blushed, and looked at her husband. + +"Yes, I saw him," he whispered. "But I never feared him. It was you +that made me sit up. By the way, old girl, let us cut out the +reception. I want to call at the bank, and at a shop in the Rua +Grande. You will be interested." + +Well, being a good and loving wife, she was interested deeply. Ten +thousand pounds was Dom Corria's financial estimate of the services +rendered by Philip, and Iris was absolutely dumfounded by the total in +milreis. But her voice came back when Philip took her to a jeweler's, +and the man produced a gold cross on which blazed four glorious +diamonds. Dom Corria had given her a necklace many times more +valuable; but this---- + +"For remembrance!" said Philip. + +"Oh, my dear, my dear!" she murmured, and her eyes grew moist. + + + + +THE END + + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Stowaway Girl, by Louis Tracy + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STOWAWAY GIRL *** + +***** This file should be named 19539-8.txt or 19539-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/9/5/3/19539/ + +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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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: The Stowaway Girl + +Author: Louis Tracy + +Illustrator: Nesbit Benson + +Release Date: October 14, 2006 [EBook #19539] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STOWAWAY GIRL *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + +</pre> + + +<A NAME="img-front"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-front.jpg" ALT="Hosier tightened a protecting arm around her waist" BORDER="2" WIDTH="387" HEIGHT="552"> +<H3> +[Frontispiece: Hosier tightened a protecting arm around her waist] +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +THE STOWAWAY GIRL +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +By +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +LOUIS TRACY +</H2> + +<BR><BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +AUTHOR OF +<BR> +THE WINGS OF THE MORNING, SON OF THE IMMORTALS, <BR> +CYNTHIA'S CHAUFFEUR, THE MESSAGE, THE SILENT BARRIER, ETC. +</H4> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +ILLUSTRATIONS BY +<BR> +NESBIT BENSON +</H4> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +NEW YORK +<BR> +GROSSET & DUNLAP +<BR> +PUBLISHERS +</H4> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H5 ALIGN="center"> +Copyright, 1909, 1912, +<BR> +By EDWARD J. CLODE +</H5> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CONTENTS +</H2> + +<BR> + +<CENTER> + +<TABLE WIDTH="100%"> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">CHAPTER</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> </TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">I. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap01">THE "ANDROMEDA"</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">II. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap02">WHEREIN THE "ANDROMEDA" BEGINS HER VOYAGE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">III. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap03">WHEREIN THE "ANDROMEDA" NEARS THE END OF HER VOYAGE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap04">SHOWING WHAT BECAME OF THE "ANDROMEDA"</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">V. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap05">THE REFUGEES</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap06">BETWEEN THE BRAZILIAN DEVIL AND THE DEEP ATLANTIC</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap07">CROSS PURPOSES</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap08">THE RIGOR OF THE GAME</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap09">WHEREIN CERTAIN PEOPLE MEET UNEXPECTEDLY</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">X. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap10">ON THE HIGH SEAS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap11">A LIVELY MORNING IN EXCHANGE BUILDINGS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap12">THE LURE OF GOLD</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap13">THE NEW ERA</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap14">CARMELA</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap15">SHOWING HOW BRAZIL CHOSE HER PRESIDENT</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap16">WHEREIN THE PRESIDENT PRESIDES</A></TD> +</TR> + +</TABLE> + +</CENTER> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +ILLUSTRATIONS +</H2> + +<BR> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-front"> +Hosier tightened a protective arm around her waist . . . <I>Frontispiece</I> +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-050"> +"Is that the Southern Cross?" +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-172"> +"How did I come here?" +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-238"> +"Well, gimme your 'and on it" +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-326"> +A withering volley crashed through the window +</A> +</H3> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +THE STOWAWAY +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER I +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE "ANDROMEDA" +</H3> + +<P> +"Marry Mr. Bulmer! That horrid old man! Uncle, what <I>are</I> you saying?" +</P> + +<P> +The girl sprang to her feet as if she were some timid creature of the +wild aroused from sylvan broodings by knowledge of imminent danger. In +her terror, she upset the three wineglasses that formed part of the +display beside each <I>couvert</I> on the luncheon table. One, rose-tinted +and ornate, crashed to the floor, and the noise seemed to irritate the +owner of Linden House more than his niece's shrill terror. +</P> + +<P> +"No need to bust up our best set of 'ock glasses just because I 'appen +to mention owd Dickey Bulmer," he growled. +</P> + +<P> +The color startled so suddenly out of the girl's face began to return. +Her eyes lost their dilation of fear. Somehow, the comment on the +broken glass seemed to deprive "owd Dickey Bulmer's" personality of its +real menace. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm sorry," she said, and stooped to pick up the fragments scattered +over the carpet. +</P> + +<P> +"Leave that alone," came the sharp order. "So long as I've the brass +to pay for 'em, there's plenty more where that kem from, an' in any +case, it's the 'ousemaid's job. Leave it alone, I tell you! An' sit +down. It's 'igh time you an' me 'ad a straight talk, an' I can't do +wi' folk bouncin' about like an injia-rubber ball when I've got things +to say to 'em." +</P> + +<P> +He stretched a fat hand toward a mahogany cigar-box, affected to choose +a cigar with deliberative crackling, hacked at the selection with a +fruit knife, and dropped the severed end into an unused finger-bowl; +then he struck a match, and puffed furiously until a rim of white ash +tipped the brown. This achieved, he helped himself to the port. +Though he carefully avoided glancing at his companion, he knew quite +well that she had drawn a chair to the opposite end of the table, and +was looking at him intently; her chin was propped on her clenched +hands; the skin on her white forehead was puckered into nervous lines; +her lips, pressed close, had lost their Cupid's bow that seemed ever +ready to bend into a smile. Meanwhile, the man who had caused these +signs of distress gulped down some of the wine, held the glass up to +the light as a tribute to the excellence of its contents, darted his +tongue several times in and out between his teeth, smacked his lips, +replaced the cigar in his mouth, and leaned back in his chair until it +creaked. +</P> + +<P> +Iris Yorke was accustomed to this ritual; she gave it the unobservant +tolerance good breeding extends to the commonplace. But to-day, for +the first time during the two years that had sped so happily since she +came back to Linden House from a Brussels <I>pension</I>, she found herself, +even in her present trouble, wondering how it was possible that David +Verity could be her mother's brother. This coarse-mannered hog of a +man, brother to the sweet-voiced, tender-hearted gentlewoman whose +gracious wraith was left undimmed in the girl's memory by the lapse of +years—it would be unbelievable if it were not true! He was so gross, +so tubby, so manifestly over-fed, whereas her mother had ever been +elegant and <I>bien soignée</I>. But he had shown kindness to her in his +domineering way. He was not quite so illiterate as his accent and his +general air of uncouthness seemed to imply. In his speech, the broad +vowels of the Lancashire dialect were grafted on to the clipped +staccato of a Cockney. He would scoff at anyone who told him that +knives and forks had precise uses, or that table-napkins were not meant +to be tucked under the chin. In England, especially in the provinces, +some men of affairs cultivate these minor defects, deeming them tokens +of bluff honesty, the hall-marks of the self-made; and David Verity +thought, perhaps, that his pretty, well-spoken niece might be trusted +to maintain the social level of his household without any special +effort on his part. +</P> + +<P> +Shocked, almost, at the disloyalty of her thoughts, Iris tried to close +the rift that had opened so unexpectedly. +</P> + +<P> +"It was stupid of me to take you seriously," she said. "You cannot +really mean that Mr. Bulmer wishes to marry me?" +</P> + +<P> +Verity screwed up his features into an amiable grin. He pressed the +tips of his fingers together until the joints bent backward. When he +spoke, the cigar waggled with each syllable. +</P> + +<P> +"I meant it right enough, my lass," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"But, uncle dear——" +</P> + +<P> +"Stop a bit. Listen to me first, an' say your say when I've finished. +Like everybody else, you think I'm a rich man. David Verity, Esquire, +ship-owner, of Linden House an' Exchange Buildings—it looks all right, +don't it—like one of them furrin apples with rosy peel an' a maggot +inside. You're the first I've told about the maggot. Fact is, I'm +broke. Ship-ownin' is rotten nowadays, unless you've lots of capital. +I've lost mine. Unless I get help, an' a thumpin' big slice of it, my +name figures in the <I>Gazette</I>. I want fifty thousand pounds, an' oo's +goin' to give it to me? Not the public. They're fed up on shippin'. +They're not so silly as they used to be. I put it to owd Dickey +yesterday, an' 'e said you couldn't raise money in Liverpool to-day to +build a ferry-boat. But 'e said summat else. If you wed 'im, 'e makes +you a partner in the firm of Verity, Bulmer an' Co. See? Wot's wrong +with that? I've done everything for you up to date; now it's your +turn. Simple, isn't it? P'raps I ought to have explained things +differently, but it didn't occur to me you'd hobject to bein' the wife +of a millionaire, even if 'e is a doddrin' owd idiot to talk of +marryin' agin." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, uncle!" +</P> + +<P> +With a wail of despair, the girl sank back and covered her face with +her hands. Now that she believed the incredible, she could utter no +protest. The sacrifice demanded was too great. In that bitter moment +she would have welcomed poverty, prayed even for death, as the +alternative to marriage with the man to whom she was being sold. +</P> + +<P> +Verity leaned over the table again and finished the glass of port. +This time there was no lip-smacking, or other aping of the connoisseur. +He was angry, almost alarmed. Resistance, even of this passive sort, +raised the savage in him. Hitherto, Iris had been ready to obey his +slightest whim. +</P> + +<P> +"There's no use cryin' 'Oh, uncle,' an' kicking up a fuss," he snapped +viciously. "Where would you 'ave bin, I'd like to know, if it wasn't +for me? In the gutter—that's where your precious fool of a father +left your mother an' you. You're the best dressed, an' best lookin', +an' best eddicated girl i' Bootle to-day—thanks to me. When your +mother kem 'ere ten year ago, an' said her lit'rary gent of a 'usband +was dead, neither of you 'ad 'ad a square meal for weeks—remember +that, will you? It isn't my fault you've got to marry Bulmer. It's +just a bit of infernal bad luck—the same for both of us, if it comes +to that. An' why shouldn't you 'ave some of the sours after I've given +you all the sweets? You'll 'ave money to burn; I'm not axin' you to +give up some nice young feller for 'im. If you play your cards well, +you can 'ave all the fun you want——" +</P> + +<P> +The girl staggered to her feet. She could endure the man's coarseness +but not his innuendoes. +</P> + +<P> +"I will do what you ask," she murmured, though there was a pitiful +quivering at the corners of her mouth that bespoke an agony beyond the +relief of tears. "But please don't say any more, and never again +allude to my dear father in that way, or I may—I may forget what I owe +you." +</P> + +<P> +She was unconscious of the contempt in her eyes, the scornful ring in +her voice, and Verity had the good sense to restrain the wrath that +bubbled up in him until the door closed, and he was alone. He grabbed +the decanter and refilled his glass. +</P> + +<P> +"Nice thing!" he growled. "I offer 'er a fortune an' a bald-'eaded owd +devil for a 'usband, 'oo ought to die in a year or two an' leave 'er +everything; yet she ain't satisfied. D—n 'er eyes, if I'd keep 'er as +scullery-maid she'd 'ave different notions." +</P> + +<P> +With the taste of the wine, however, came the consoling reflection that +Iris as a scullery-maid might not tickle the fancy of the dotard who +had undertaken to provide fifty thousand pounds for the new +partnership. And she had promised—that was everything. His lack of +diplomacy was obvious even to himself, but he had won where a man of +finer temperament might have failed. Now, he must rush the wedding. +Dickey Bulmer's Lancashire canniness might stipulate for cash on +delivery as the essence of the marriage contract. Not a penny would +the old miser part with until he was sure of the girl. +</P> + +<P> +So David Verity, having much to occupy his mind, lingered over the +second glass of port, for this was a Sunday dinner, served at mid-day. +At last he closed his eyes for his customary nap; but sleep was not to +be wooed just then; instead of dozing, he felt exceedingly wide awake. +Indeed, certain disquieting calculations were running through his +brain, and he yielded forthwith to their insistence. Taking a small +notebook from his pocket, he jotted down an array of figures. He was +so absorbed in their analysis that he did not see Iris walk listlessly +across the lawn that spread its summer greenery in front of the +dining-room windows. And that was an ill thing for David. The sight +of the girl at that instant meant a great deal to him. +</P> + +<P> +He did happen to look out, a second too late. +</P> + +<P> +Even then, he might have caught a glimpse of Iris's pink muslin skirt +disappearing behind a clump of rhododendrons, were not his shifty eyes +screwed up in calculation—or perchance, the gods blinded him in behalf +of one who was named after Juno's bright messenger. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, that's it," he was thinking. "I must wheedle Dickey into the +bank to-morrow. A word from 'im, an' they'll all grovel, d—n 'em!" +</P> + +<P> +The door opened. +</P> + +<P> +"Captain Coke to see you, sir," said a servant. +</P> + +<P> +"Send 'im in; bring 'im in 'ere." +</P> + +<P> +The memorandum book disappeared; Verity's hearty greeting was that of a +man who had not a care in the world. His visitor's description was +writ large on him by the sea. No one could possibly mistake Captain +Coke for any other species of captain than that of master mariner. He +was built on the lines of a capstan, short and squat and powerful. +Though the weather was hot, he wore a suit of thick navy-blue serge +that would have served his needs within the Arctic Circle. It clung +tightly to his rounded contours; there was a purple line on his red +brows that marked the exceeding tightness of the bowler hat he was +carrying; and the shining protuberances on his black boots showed that +they were tight, too. It was manifestly out of the question that he +should be able to walk any distance. Though he had driven in a cab to +the shipowner's house, he was already breathless with exertion, and he +rolled so heavily in his gait that his shoulders hit both sides of the +doorway while entering the room. Yet he was nimble withal, a man +capable of swift and sure movement within a limited area, therein +resembling a bull, or a hippopotamus. +</P> + +<P> +The hospitable Verity pushed forward the mahogany box and the decanter. +</P> + +<P> +"Glad to see you, Jimmie, my boy. Sit yourself down. 'Ave a cigar an' +a glass o' port. I didn't expect you quite so soon, but you're just as +welcome now as later." +</P> + +<P> +Captain Coke placed his hat on top of a malacca cane, and balanced both +against the back of a chair. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll take a smoke but no wine, thankee, Mr. Verity," said he. "I kem +along now' 'coss I want to be aboard afore it's dark. We're moored in +an awkward place." +</P> + +<P> +"Poor owd <I>Andromeeda</I>! Just 'er usual luck, eh, Jimmie?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, she ain't wot you might call one of fortune's fav'rits, but +she's afloat, an' that's more'n you can say for a good many +daisy-cutters I've known." +</P> + +<P> +Verity chuckled. +</P> + +<P> +"Some ships are worth less afloat than ashore, an' she's one of 'em," +he grinned. "You want a match. 'Ere you are!" +</P> + +<P> +Whether Coke was wishful to deny or admit the <I>Andromeda's</I> +shortcomings—even the ship herself might have protested against the +horror of a long "e" in the penultimate syllable of her name—the other +man's rapid proffer of a light stopped him. He puffed away in silence; +there was an awkward pause; for once in his career, Verity regretted +his cultivated trick of covering up a significant phrase by quickly +adding some comment on a totally different subject. But the sailor +smoked on, stolidly heedless of a sudden lapse in the conversation, and +the shipowner was compelled to start afresh. He was far too shrewd to +go straight back to the topic burked by his own error. His +sledge-hammer methods might be crude to the verge of brutality where +Iris was concerned, but they were capable of nice adjustment in the +case of wary old sea-dogs of the Coke type. +</P> + +<P> +"It's stuffy in 'ere with the two of us smokin'—let's stroll into the +garden," he said. +</P> + +<P> +Coke was agreeable. He liked gardens; they were a change from the +purple sea. +</P> + +<P> +"It's the on'y bit of green stuff you seem to be fond of, Mr. Verity," +he went on. "You keep us crool short of vegetables." +</P> + +<P> +David's little eyes twinkled. Here was another opening; it would not +be his fault if it led again up a <I>cul-de-sac</I>. He threw wide the +window, and they crossed the lawn. +</P> + +<P> +"Vegetables!" he cried. "Wish I could stock you from my place, an' I'd +stuff you with 'em. I can grow 'em 'ere for next to nothing, but they +cost a heap o' money in furrin ports, an' <I>your</I> crimson wave-catcher +doesn't earn money—she eats it." +</P> + +<P> +"Even that's one better'n her skipper, 'oo doesn't do neether," +commented Coke gloomily. +</P> + +<P> +His employer seemed to find much humor in the remark. +</P> + +<P> +"Gad, we both look starved!" he guffawed. "To 'ear us, you'd think we +was booked for the workhus or till you ran a tape round the contoor, +eh?" +</P> + +<P> +But Coke was not to be cheered. +</P> + +<P> +"I can see as far into a stone wall as 'ere a one an' there a one," he +said, "an' there's no use blinkin' the fax. The <I>Andromeda</I> was a good +ship in 'er day, but that day is gone. You ought to 'ave sold 'er to +the Dutchmen five years ago, Mr. Verity. Times were better then, an' +now you'd 'ave a fine steel ship instead of a box of scrap iron." +</P> + +<P> +They were passing the rhododendrons, and Verity's quick eyes noted that +a summer-house beneath the shade of two venerable elms was unoccupied. +The structure consisted of a rustic roof carried on half a dozen +uprights; it had a wooden floor, and held a table and some basket +chairs. The roof and supports were laden with climbing roses, a +Virginian creeper, and a passion flower. The day being Sunday, there +were no gardeners in the adjoining shrubbery or rose garden, and anyone +seated in the summer-house could see on all sides. +</P> + +<P> +"Drop anchor in 'ere, Coke," said Verity. "It's cool an' breezy, an' +we can 'ave a quiet confab without bein' bothered. Now, I reelly sent +for you to-day to tell you I mean to better the supplies this +trip—Yes, honest Injun!"—for the <I>Andromeda's</I> skipper had clutched +the cigar out of his mouth with the expression of a man who vows to +heaven that he cannot believe his ears—"I'm goin' to bung in an extry +'undred to-morrow in the way of stores. Funny, isn't it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Funny! It's a meracle!" +</P> + +<P> +Though not altogether gratified by this whole-hearted agreement with +his own views, Verity was too anxious to keep his hearer on the present +tack to resent any implied slur on his earlier efforts as a caterer. +</P> + +<P> +"It's nothing to wot I'd do if I could afford it," he added graciously. +"But, as you said, let's look at the fax. Wot chance 'as an iron ship, +built twenty years ago, at a cost of sixteen pound a ton, ag'in a steel +ship of to-day, at seven pound a ton, with twiced the cargo space, an' +three feet less draught? W'y no earthly. We're dished every way. We +cost more to run; we can't jump 'arf the bars; we can't carry 'arf the +stuff; we pay double insurance; an' we're axed to find interest on +more'n double the capital. As you say, Jimmie, wot bloomin' chanst +'ave we?" +</P> + +<P> +Coke smoked silently; he had said none of these things, but when the +shipowner's glance suddenly dwelt on him, he nodded. Silent +acquiescence on his part, however, was not what Verity wanted. He, +too, knew when to hold his tongue. After a long interval, during which +a robin piped a merry roundelay from the depths of a neighboring pink +hawthorn, Coke dug out a question. +</P> + +<P> +"Premium gone up, then?" he inquired. +</P> + +<P> +"She's on a twelve-month rate. It runs out in September. If you're +lucky, an' fill up with nitrate soon, you may be 'ome again. If not, +I'll 'ave to whack up a special quotation. After that, there'll be no +insurance. The <I>Andromeeda</I> goes for wot she'll fetch." +</P> + +<P> +Another pause; then Coke broached a new phase. +</P> + +<P> +"Meanin' that I lose the two thousand pounds I put in 'er to get my +berth?" he said huskily. +</P> + +<P> +"An' wot about me? <I>I</I> lose eight times as much. Just think of it! +Sixteen thousand pounds would give me a fair balance to go on wi' i' +these hard times, an' your two thou' would make the skipper's job in my +new ship a certainty." +</P> + +<P> +Coke's brick-red face darkened. He breathed hard. +</P> + +<P> +"Wot new ship?" he demanded. +</P> + +<P> +Verity smiled knowingly. +</P> + +<P> +"It's a secret, Jimmie, but I must stretch a point for a pal's sake. +Dickey Bulmer's goin' to marry my niece, an' 'e 'as pledged himself to +double the capital of the firm. Now I've let the cat out of the bag. +I'm sorry, ole man—pon me soul, I am—but w'en Dickey's name crops up +on 'Change you know as well as me 'ow many captain's tickets will be +backed wi' t' brass." +</P> + +<P> +This time, if so minded, the robin might have trilled his song <I>adagio +con sostenuto</I> without fear of interruption by those harsh voices. +Neither man spoke during so long a time that the break seemed to impose +a test of endurance; in such a crisis, he who has all at stake will +yield rather than he who only stakes a part. +</P> + +<P> +"S'pose we talk plainly as man to man?" said Coke thickly, at last. +</P> + +<P> +"<I>I</I> can't talk much plainer," said Verity. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, you can. Promise me the command of your next ship, an' the +Andromeda goes on the rocks this side o' Monte Video." +</P> + +<P> +Verity jumped as though he had been stung by an infuriated wasp. +</P> + +<P> +"Coke, I'm surprised at you," he grunted, not without a sharp glance +around to make sure no other was near. +</P> + +<P> +"No, you ain't, not a bit surprised, on'y you don't like to 'ear it in +cold English. That's wot you're drivin' at—the insurance." +</P> + +<P> +"Shut up, you ijjit. Never 'eard such d—d rot in all me born days." +</P> + +<P> +"Listen to it now, then. It's good to 'ave the truth tole you some +times. Wot are you afraid of? I take all the risk an' precious little +of the money. Write me a letter——" +</P> + +<P> +"Write! Me! Coke, you're loony." +</P> + +<P> +"Not me. Wait till I'm through. Write a letter sayin' you're sorry +the <I>Andromeda</I> must be laid up this fall, but promisin' me the next +vacancy. 'Ow does that 'urt <I>you</I>?" +</P> + +<P> +Verity's cigar had gone out. He relighted it with due deliberation; it +could not be denied that his nerve, at least, was superb. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm willin' to do anything in reason," he said slowly. "I don't see +where I can lay 'ands on a better man than you, Jimmie, even if you +<I>do</I> talk nonsense at times. You know the South American trade, an' +you know me. By gad, I'll do that. Anyhow, it's wot you deserve, but +none the less, I'm actin' as a reel friend, now ain't I? Many a man +would just lay you up alongside the <I>Andromeeda</I>." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll call at your office in the mornin' for the letter," said Coke, +whose red face shone like the setting sun seen through a haze. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yes. I'll 'ave it ready." +</P> + +<P> +"An' you won't back out of them extry stores? I must sweeten the crew +on this run." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll supply the best of stuff—enough to last for the round trip. But +don't make any mistake. You must be back afore September 30th. That's +the date of the policy. Now let's trot inside, an' my gal—Mrs. Dickey +Bulmer that is to be—will give you some tea." +</P> + +<P> +"Tea!" snorted Coke. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, there's whisky an' soda on tap if you prefer it. It <I>is</I> rather +'ot for tea. Whew! you're boilin'? W'y don't you wear looser clo'es? +Look at me—cool as a cucumber. By the way, 'oo's the new man you've +shipped as second? Watts is the chief, I know, but 'oo is Mr. Philip +Hozier?" +</P> + +<P> +"Youngster fillin' in sea-service to get a ticket an' qualify for the +Cunard." +</P> + +<P> +"Thoroughly reliable sort of chap, eh?" +</P> + +<P> +"The best." +</P> + +<P> +It was odd how these men left unsaid the really vital things. Again it +was Coke who tried to fill in some part of the blank space. +</P> + +<P> +"Just the right kind of second for the <I>Andromeda's</I> last cruise," he +muttered. "Smart as a new pin. You could trust 'im on the bridge of a +battleship. Now, Watts is a good man, but a tot of rum makes 'im fair +daft." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" purred Verity, "you must keep a tight 'and on Watts. I like an +appetizer meself w'en I'm off dooty, so to speak, but it's no joke to +'ave a boozer in charge of a fine ship an' vallyble freight. Of +course, you're responsible as master, but you can't be on deck mornin', +noon, an' night. Choke Watts off the drink, an' you'll 'ave no +trouble. So that's settled. My, but you're fair meltin'—wot is it +they say—losin' adipose tisher. Well, come along. Let's lubricate." +</P> + +<BR> +<HR WIDTH="60%" ALIGN="center"> +<BR> + +<P> +The <I>Andromeda</I> sailed on the Tuesday afternoon's tide. She would drop +the pilot off Holyhead, and, with fair weather, such as cheered her +departure from the Mersey, daybreak on Thursday would find her pounding +through the cross seas where St. George's Channel merges into the wide +Atlantic. If she followed the beaten track on her long run to the +River Plate—as sailors will persist in miscalling that wondrous Rio de +la Plata—she might be signaled from Madeira or the Cape Verde Islands. +But shipmasters often prefer to set a course clear of the land till +they pick up the coast of South America. If she were not spoken by +some passing steamer, there was every possibility that the sturdy old +vessel would not be heard of again before reaching her destination. +</P> + +<BR> +<HR WIDTH="60%" ALIGN="center"> +<BR> + +<P> +But David Verity heard of her much sooner, and no thunderbolt that ever +rent the heavens could have startled him more than the manner of that +hearing. +</P> + +<P> +Resolving to clinch matters with regard to Iris and her elderly suitor, +he invited "Owd Dickey" to supper on Sunday evening. The girl endured +the man's presence with a placid dignity that amazed her uncle. On the +plea of a headache, she retired at an early hour, leaving Bulmer to +gloat over his prospective happiness, and primed to the point of +dementia. +</P> + +<P> +He was quite willing to accompany Verity to the bank next morning; a +pleasant-spoken manager sighed his relief when the visitors were gone, +and he was free to look at the item "bills discounted" on Verity's page +in the ledger. More than that, a lawyer was instructed to draw up a +partnership deed, and the representatives of various ship-building +firms were asked to supply estimates for two new vessels. +</P> + +<P> +Altogether Dickey was complaisant, and David enjoyed a busy and +successful day. He dined in town, came home at a late hour, and merely +grinned when a servant told him that Mr. Bulmer had called twice but +Miss Iris happened to be out on both occasions. +</P> + +<P> +Nevertheless, at breakfast on Tuesday, he warned his niece not to keep +her admirer dangling at arm's length. +</P> + +<P> +"E's a queer owd codger," explained the philosopher. "Play up to 'im a +bit, an' you'll be able to twist 'im round your little finger. I +b'lieve he's goin' dotty, an' you can trust me to see that the marriage +settlement is O. K." +</P> + +<P> +"Will you be home to dinner?" was her response. +</P> + +<P> +"No. Now that the firm is in smooth water again I must show myself a +bit. It's all thanks to you, lass, an' I'll not forget it. Good-by!" +</P> + +<P> +Iris smiled, and Verity was vastly pleased. +</P> + +<P> +"I am sure you will not forget," she said. "Good-by." +</P> + +<P> +"There's no understandin' wimmin," mused David, as his victoria swept +through the gates of Linden House. "Sunday afternoon Dickey might ha' +bin a dose of rat poison; now she's ready to swaller 'im as if 'e was a +chocolate drop." +</P> + +<P> +Again he returned some few minutes after midnight; again the servant +announced Mr. Bulmer's visits, three of them; and again Miss Iris had +been absent—in fact, she had not yet come home. +</P> + +<P> +"Not 'ome!" cried David furiously. "W'y it's gone twelve. W'ere +the—w'ere is she?" +</P> + +<P> +No one knew. She had quitted the house soon after Verity himself, and +had not been seen since. Storm and rage as he might, and did, David +could not discover his niece's whereabouts. He spent a wearying and +tortured night, a harassed and miserable day, devoted to frantic +inquiries in every possible direction with interludes of specious lying +to the infatuated Bulmer. But enlightment came on Thursday morning. A +letter arrived by the first post. It was from Iris. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"MY DEAR UNCLE," she wrote: "Neither you nor Mr. Bulmer should have any +objection to my passing the few remaining weeks of my liberty in the +manner best pleasing to myself. On Sunday evening, in your presence, +Mr. Bulmer urged me to fix an early date for our marriage. Tell him +that I shall marry him when the <I>Andromeda</I> returns to England from +South America. You will remember that you promised last year to take +me to Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Ayres this summer; I have been learning +Spanish so as to help our sight-seeing. Unfortunately, business +prevents you from keeping that promise, but there is no reason why I +should not go. I am on board the <I>Andromeda</I>, and will probably be +able to explain matters satisfactorily to Captain Coke. The vessel is +due back at the end of September, I believe, so Mr. Bulmer will not +have long to wait. It is more than likely that Captain Coke will not +know I am aboard until Thursday, and I have arranged with a friend that +this letter shall reach you about the same time. Please convey my +apologies to Mr. Bulmer, and accept my regret for any anxiety you may +have felt owing to my unaccountable absence. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +"Your affectionate niece, +<BR> +"IRIS YORKE." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +David narrowly escaped an apoplectic seizure. When he recovered his +senses he looked ten years older. The instinct of self-preservation +alone saved him in his frenzy from blurting forth the tidings of the +girl's flight. Incoherent with fear and passion, he contrived to give +orders for his carriage, and was driven to his office. Thence he +dispatched telegrams to every signaling station in England, Ireland, +and Spain, at which by the remotest possibility the <I>Andromeda</I> might +be intercepted. He cabled to Madeira and Cape Verde, even to Fernando +Noronha and Pernambuco; he sent urgent instructions to the pilotage +authorities of the Bristol Channel, the southwest ports, and Lisbon; +and the text of every message was: "<I>Andromeda</I> must return to +Liverpool instantly." +</P> + +<P> +But the wretched man realized that he was doomed. Fate had struck at +him mercilessly. He could only wait in dumb despair, and mutter +prayers too long forgotten, and concoct bogus letters from a cousin's +address in the south of England for the benefit of Dickey Bulmer. +</P> + +<P> +Never was ship more eagerly sought than the <I>Andromeda</I>, yet never was +ship more completely engulfed in the mysterious silence of the great +sea. The days passed, and the weeks, yet nothing was heard of her. +She figured in the "overdue" list at Lloyd's; sharp-eyed underwriters +did "specs" in her; woe-begone women began to haunt the Liverpool +office for news of husbands and sons; the love-lorn Dickey wore Verity +to a shadow of his former self by alternate pleadings and threats; but +the <I>Andromeda</I> remained mute, and the fanciful letters from Iris +became fewer and more fragmentary as David's imagination failed, and +his excuses grew thinner. +</P> + +<P> +And the odd thing was that if David had only known it, he could have +saved himself all this heart-burning and misery by looking through the +dining-room window on that Sunday afternoon when his prospects seemed +to be so rosy. He never thought of that. He cursed every circumstance +and person impartially and fluently, but he omitted from the Satanic +litany the one girlish prank of tree-climbing that led Iris to spring +out of sight amid the sheltering arms of an elm when her uncle and +Captain Coke deemed the summer-house a suitable place for "a plain talk +as man to man." +</P> + +<P> +So David learnt what it meant to wait, and listen, and start +expectantly when postman's knock or telegraph messenger's imperative +summons sounded on door of house or office. +</P> + +<P> +But he waited long in vain. The <I>Andromeda</I>, like her namesake of old, +might have been chained to a rock on some mythical island guarded by +the father of all sea serpents. As for a new Perseus, well—David knew +him not. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER II +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +WHEREIN THE "ANDROMEDA" BEGINS HER VOYAGE +</H3> + + +<P> +The second officer of the <I>Andromeda</I> was pacing the bridge with the +slow alertness of responsibility. He would walk from port to +starboard, glance forrard and aft, peer at the wide crescent of the +starlit sea, stroll back to port, and again scan ship and horizon. +Sometimes he halted in front of the binnacle lamp to make certain that +the man at the wheel was keeping the course, South 15 West, set by +Captain Coke shortly before midnight. His ears listened mechanically +to the steady pulse-beats of the propeller; his eyes swept the vague +plain of the ocean for the sparkling white diamond that would betoken a +mast-head light; he was watchful and prepared for any unforeseen +emergency that might beset the vessel intrusted to his care. But his +mind dwelt on something far removed from his duties, though, to be +sure, every poet who ever scribbled four lines of verse has found rhyme +and reason in comparing women with stars, and ships, and the sea. +</P> + +<P> +If Philip Hozier was no poet, he was a sailor, and sailors are +notoriously susceptible to the charms of the softer sex. But the only +woman he loved was his mother, the only bride he could look for during +many a year was a mermaid, though these sprites of the deep waters seem +to be frequenting undiscovered haunts since mariners ceased to woo the +wind. For all that, if perforce he was heart-whole, there was no just +cause or impediment why he should not admire a pretty girl when he saw +one, and an exceedingly pretty girl had honored him with her company +during a brief minute of the previous day. +</P> + +<P> +He was superintending the safe disposal of the last batch of cotton +goods in the forward hold—and had just found it necessary to explain +the correct principles of stowage with sailor-like fluency—when a +young lady, accompanied by a dock laborer carrying a leather +portmanteau, spoke to him from the quay. +</P> + +<P> +"Is Captain Coke on board?" said she. +</P> + +<P> +"No, madam," said he, lifting his cap with one hand, and restraining +the clanking of a steam windlass with the other. +</P> + +<P> +"I am Mr. Verity's niece, and I wish to send this parcel to Monte +Video—may I put it in some place where it will be safe?" said she. +</P> + +<P> +Hoping that the rattling winch had drowned his earlier remarks—which +were couched in an <I>lingua franca</I> of the high seas—he began to tell +her that it would give him the utmost pleasure to take charge of it on +her account, but she nodded, bade the porter follow, ran along a +somewhat precarious gangway, and was on deck before he could offer any +assistance. +</P> + +<P> +"You are Mr. Hozier, I suppose?" said Iris, gazing with frank brown +eyes into his frank blue ones. She, of course, was severely +self-possessed; he, as is the way of mere man, grew more confused each +instant. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I will just pop the bag into Captain Coke's stateroom, and leave +this note with it. I have explained everything fully. I wrote a line +in case he might be absent." +</P> + +<P> +All of which was so strictly accurate that it served its purpose +admirably, though the said purpose, it is regrettable to state, was the +misleading and utter bamboozling of Philip Hozier. Miss Iris Yorke +knew quite well that Captain Coke was then closeted with David Verity +in Exchange Buildings; she knew, because she had watched him pass +through the big swing doors of her uncle's office. She also knew, +having made it her business to find out, that in fifteen minutes, or +less, the crew would muster in the fo'c'sle for their mid-day meal. +Not having heard a word of Hozier's free speech to the gentlemen of +various nationalities at the bottom of the hold, she wondered why he +was blushing. +</P> + +<P> +"Shall I show you the way?" asked Philip, finding his tongue. +</P> + +<P> +"No, thank you. I have been on board the <I>Andromeda</I> many times. Ah, +Peter, I see you. What is it to-day, scouse or lobscouse?" +</P> + +<P> +"Scouse, miss," said the ship's cook, grinning widely at her +recollection of the line drawn by both his patrons and himself between +ship's biscuit stewed with fresh meat and the same article flavored +with salt junk. +</P> + +<P> +Peter's recognition placed Iris's identity beyond doubt. She said +nothing more to Hozier, but tripped up the companionway. Soon he saw +her paying the man who had carried the portmanteau. She herself seemed +to be in no hurry. She walked to the rails beneath the bridge, and +found interest in watching the loading operations, which were resumed +as soon as the second officer saw that his services were not wanted. +Time was pressing, and a good deal yet remained to be done. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Watts, the chief officer, who was called ashore by urgent business +five minutes after the "old man" left the vessel, chose this awkward +moment to appear from behind a bonded warehouse. He was walking with +unnatural steadiness, so Hozier made some excuse to meet him and +whisper that the owner's niece was on board. +</P> + +<P> +"Sun's zhot," remarked Mr. Watts cheerfully. +</P> + +<P> +"Go and lie down for a spell," suggested Hozier, and Mr. Watts thought +it was a "shpiffin' idee." When Hozier was free to glance a second +time at the cross rail, Iris had vanished. He was annoyed. Evidently +she did not wish to encounter any more of the ship's officers that +morning. +</P> + +<P> +The hatches were on, and everything was orderly before Coke's squat +figure climbed the gangway. Hozier reported the young lady's visit, +and the skipper was obviously surprised. As he hoisted himself up the +steep ladder to the hurricane deck, the younger man heard him +condemning someone under his breath as "a leery old beggar." The +phrase was hardly applicable to Iris, but Coke came out of his cabin +with an open letter in his hand, and bade a steward stow the +portmeanteau in some other more hallowed and less inconvenient place. +</P> + +<P> +And there the incident ended. The <I>Andromeda</I> hauled down the Blue +Peter for her long run of over 6,000 miles to Monte Video, and Hozier +had routine work in plenty to occupy his mind during the first +twenty-four hours at sea without perplexing it with memories of a +pretty face. Soon after Holyhead was passed, it is true, a sailor +reported to the second officer that he had seen a ghost between decks, +in the region of the lazarette. It was then near midnight, a quiet +hour on board ship, and Hozier told the man sharply to go to his bunk +and endeavor to sleep off the effects of the bad beer imbibed earlier +in the day. +</P> + +<P> +Now, on this second night of the voyage, while the ship was plodding +steadily southward with that fifteen point inclination to the west that +would bring her far into the Atlantic soon after daybreak, Philip +remembered Mr. Verity's niece, and felt sorry that when she paid those +former visits to the <I>Andromeda</I>, fate had decreed that he should be +serving his time on another vessel. For there was an expression in her +eyes that haunted him. Though she addressed him with that absence of +restraint which is a heaven-sent attribute of every young woman when +circumstances compel her to speak to a strange young man—though her +tone to the more favored cook was kindly, and even sprightly—though +Philip himself was red and inclined to stammer—despite all these +hindrances to clear judgment, he felt that she was troubled in spirit. +His acquaintance with women was of the slightest, since a youth who is +taught his business on the <I>Conway</I>, and means to attach himself to one +of the great Trans-Atlantic shipping lines, has no time to spare for +dalliance in boudoirs. But it gave him a thrill when he heard that +this charming girl knew his name, and it seemed to him, for an instant, +that she was looking into his very soul, analyzing him, searching for +some sign that he was not as others, which meant that there were some +whom she had bitter cause to distrust. Of course, that was mere +day-dreaming, a nebulous fantasy brought by her gracious presence into +a medley of hurrying windlasses, strenuous orders, and sulky, panting +men. +</P> + +<P> +At any rate, she had left a memento of her too brief appearance on +board in the shape of the bag. He would contrive to take on his own +shoulders its mission in Monte Video; then, on returning to Liverpool, +he would have an excuse for calling on her. He did not know her name +yet. Possibly, Captain Coke would mention that interesting fact when +his temper lost its raw edge. As a last resource, the cook might +enlighten him. +</P> + +<P> +It was strange that he should be thinking of Iris—far stranger than he +could guess—but his thoughts were sub-conscious, and he was in no wise +neglecting the safety of the ship. The night was clear but dark, the +stars blinked with the subdued radiance that betokens fine weather, and +ever and anon their reflection glimmered from the long slope of a wave +like the glint of spangles on a dress. But it was a garment of +far-flung amplitude, woven on the shadowy loom of night and the sea, +and from such mysterious warp and weft is often produced the sable robe +of tragedy and death. It was so now, within an ace. At one instance, +the restless plain of the ocean seemed to bear no other argosy than the +<I>Andromeda</I>; in the next, Hozier's quick-moving glance had caught the +pallid sheen of some small craft's starboard light. No need to tell +him what might happen. A sailing vessel, probably a fishing smack, was +crossing the steamer's course. He sprang to the telegraph, and +signaled "Slow" to the engine-room. Simultaneously he shouted to the +steersman to starboard the helm, and the siren trumpeted a single +raucous blast into the silence. With the rattle of the chains and +steering-rods in the gear-boxes came a yell from the lookout forward: +</P> + +<P> +"Light on the port bow!" +</P> + +<P> +Hozier repeated the hail, but promised the blear-eyed sentinels in the +bows of the ship a lively five minutes when the watch was relieved. +Slowly the <I>Andromeda</I> swung to the west. Even more slowly, or so it +appeared to the anxious man on the bridge, a red eye peeped into being +alongside the green one. A blacker smear showed up on the black sea, +and a hoarse voice, presumably situated beneath the smear, expressed a +desire for information. +</P> + +<P> +"Arr ye all aslape on board that crimson collier?" it asked in a +Waterford brogue. +</P> + +<P> +"Got the hooker's wheel tied, I suppose?" retorted Hozier, for the now +visible schooner had not attempted to change her course by half a +point. She was now bowling along with every stitch set before a +five-knot breeze from the east; the tilt of her sails was such that she +practically presented only the outline of her spars when first sighted +from the steamer; and her side lights probably had tallow candles in +them. +</P> + +<P> +"Bedad, it's aisier in moind we'd be if you were tied to it," shouted +the voice, and Hozier felt, like many another Saxon, that an Irishman's +last word is often the best one. +</P> + +<P> +The engines resumed their cadence, and the <I>Andromeda</I> crept round +again to South 15 West. She was back on her proper line when a heavy +step sounded on the iron rungs of the bridge ladder. +</P> + +<P> +"Wot's up?" demanded Coke, who was fully dressed, though Hozier thought +he had retired two hours earlier. "Oh, the beer is frothin' up to +their eyes, is it?" went on the skipper, after listening to a brief +summary of events. "I thought, mebbe, the wheel had jammed. But those +lazy swabs want talkin' to. I'll just give 'em a bit of me mind," and +he went forward. +</P> + +<P> +Hozier heard him reading the Riot Act to the shell-backs who were +supposed to keep a sharp lookout ahead. But the captain did not +monopolize the conversation. His deep notes rumbled only at intervals. +The men had something to say. He returned to the bridge. +</P> + +<P> +"One of them scallywags sez 'e 'as seen a ghost," he announced, with +the calm air of a man who states that the moon will rise during the +next hour. +</P> + +<P> +"I wish he could see less remarkable things, such as schooners, sir," +said Hozier. +</P> + +<P> +"But 'e swears 'e sawr it twiced." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, is he the man who reported a ghost outside the lazarette last +night?" +</P> + +<P> +"I s'pose so. Did 'e tell you about it? That's where she walks." +</P> + +<P> +"She!" +</P> + +<P> +"That's his yarn—a female ghost, a black 'un, black clo'es anyhow. +He's a dashed fool, but he's no boozer, though his mate's tongue is a +bit thick yet. I'll take the forenoon watch, an' you might overhaul +the ship for stowaways after breakfast. Never heard of one on this +journey—I've routed out as many as twenty at a time w'en I was runnin' +between Wellington an' Sydney—but you never can tell, so 'ave a squint +round." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, sir," said Hozier, and that is how it fell to his lot to discover +Iris Yorke, looking very white and miserable, when the hatch of the +lazarette was broken open at half-past eight o'clock on Thursday +morning! +</P> + +<P> +A tramp steamer is not a complex organism. She is made up of holds, +bunkers, boilers and engines, with scanty accommodation for officers +and crew grouped round the funnel or stuck in the bows. When the boats +were stripped of their tarpaulins, and a few lockers and store-rooms +examined, the only available hiding-places were the shaft tunnel, the +holds, and the lazarette, a small space between decks, situated +directly above the propeller, where a reserve supply of provisions is +generally carried. +</P> + +<P> +But the door of the lazarette was locked, and the key missing, though +it ought to be hanging with others, all duly labeled, on a hook in the +steward's cabin. A duplicate set of keys in the captain's possession +was far from complete. As the steward was certain he had fastened the +lazarette himself early on Tuesday morning, there was nothing for it +but to force the lock. +</P> + +<P> +Even that would not have been necessary had the carpenter slackened his +efforts after the first assault. Iris cried loudly enough that she +would open the door, but the noise of the shaft and the flapping of the +screw drowned her voice, and she was compelled to stand clear when the +stout planking began to yield. +</P> + +<P> +It was dark in there, and Hozier was undeniably startled by the +spectacle of a slim figure, wrapped in a long ulster, standing among +the cases and packages. "Now, out you come!" he cried, with a +gruffness that was intended only to cover his own amazement; but Iris, +despite the horrors of sea-sickness and confinement in the dark, was +not minded to suffer what she considered to be impertinence on the part +of a second officer. +</P> + +<P> +"I am Miss Yorke," she said, coming forward into the half light of the +lower deck. "Any explanation of my presence here will be given to the +captain, and to no other person." +</P> + +<P> +That innocent word "person" is capable of many meanings. Hozier felt +that its application to himself was distinctly unfavorable. And Iris +was quite dignified and self-possessed. She had given a few deft +touches to her hair. Her hat was set at the right angle. Her dark +gray coat and brown boots looked neat and serviceable. +</P> + +<P> +"Of course I did not know to whom I was speaking," he managed to say, +for he now recognized the "ghost," and was more surprised than he had +ever been in his life before. +</P> + +<P> +"That is matterless," said Iris frigidly. "Where is Captain Coke?" +</P> + +<P> +"On the bridge," said Philip. +</P> + +<P> +"I will go to him. Please don't come with me. I tried to tell you +that I would unlock the door, but you refused to listen. Will you let +me pass?" +</P> + +<P> +He obeyed in silence. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, s'help me!" muttered a sailor, "talk about suffrigettes! Wot +price <I>'er</I>?" +</P> + +<P> +Iris hurried to the deck. The light seemed to dazzle her, and her +steps were so uncertain that Hozier sprang forward and caught her arm. +</P> + +<P> +"Won't you sit down a moment, Miss Yorke?" he said. "If you searched +the whole ship, you could not have chosen a worse place to travel in +than the lazarette." +</P> + +<P> +"I was driven out twice at night by the rats," she gasped, though she +strove desperately to regain control of her trembling limbs. +</P> + +<P> +"Too bad!" he whispered. "But it was your own fault. Why did you do +it? At any rate, wait here a few minutes before you meet the captain." +</P> + +<P> +"I am not afraid of meeting him. Why should I be? He knows me." +</P> + +<P> +"I meant only that you are hardly able to walk, but I seem to say the +wrong thing every time. There is nothing really to worry about. We +are not far from Queenstown. We can put you ashore there by losing +half a day." +</P> + +<P> +The girl had been ill, wracked in body and distraught in mind, with the +added horror of knowing that rats were scampering over the deck close +to her in the noisy darkness, but she summoned a half laugh at his +words. +</P> + +<P> +"You are still saying the wrong thing, Mr. Hozier," she murmured. "The +<I>Andromeda</I> will not put into Queenstown. From this hour I become a +passenger, not a stowaway. My uncle knows now that I am here. Thank +you, you need not hold me any longer. I have quite recovered. Captain +Coke is on the bridge, you said? I can find my way; this ship is no +stranger to me." +</P> + +<P> +And away she went, justifying her statements by tripping rapidly +forward. The mere sight of her created boundless excitement among such +members of the crew as were on deck, but the shock administered to Mr. +Watts was of that intense variety often described as electric. In the +matter of disposing of large quantities of ardent spirits he was a +seasoned vessel, and, as a general rule, the first day at sea sufficed +to clear his brain from the fumes of the last orgy on shore. But, to +be effective, the cure must not be too drastic. This morning, after +leaving the bridge, he had fortified his system with a liberal +allowance of rum and milk. Breakfast ended, he took another dose of +the same mixture as a "steadier," and he was just leaving the messroom +when he set eyes on Iris. Of course, he refused to believe his eyes. +Had they not deceived him many times? +</P> + +<P> +"Ha!" said he, "a bit liverish," and he pressed a rough hand firmly +downward from forehead to cheek-bones. When he looked again, the girl +was much nearer. +</P> + +<P> +"Lord luv' a duck, this time I've got 'em for sure!" he groaned. +</P> + +<P> +His lower jaw dropped, he stared unblinkingly, and purple veins bulged +crookedly on his seamed forehead. He was bereft of the power of +movement. He stood stock-still, blocking the narrow gangway. +</P> + +<P> +"Good morning, Mr. Watts. You remember me, don't you?" said Iris, +showing by her manner that she wished to pass him. +</P> + +<P> +A slight roll of the ship assisted in the disintegration of Watts. He +collapsed sideways into the cook's galley, the door of which was +hospitably open. Somewhat frightened by the wildness of his looks, +Iris ran on, and dashed at the foot of the companion rather +breathlessly. The keen air was already tingeing her cheeks with color. +When she reached the bridge, where Captain Coke was propped against the +chart-house, with a thick, black cigar sticking in his mouth and +apparently trying to touch his nose, she had lost a good deal of the +pallor and woe-begone semblance that had demoralized Hozier. +</P> + +<P> +Coke heard the rapid, light footsteps, and turned his head. At all +times slow of thought and slower of speech, he was galvanized into a +sudden rigidity that differed only in degree from the symptoms +displayed by his chief officer. Certainly he could not have been more +stupefied had he seen the ghost reported overnight. +</P> + +<P> +"They told me I should find you here, Captain," said she. "I must +apologize for thrusting my company on you for a long voyage, +but—circumstances—were—too much for me—and——" +</P> + +<P> +Face to face with the commander of the ship, and startled anew by his +expression of blank incredulity, the glib flow of words conned so often +during the steadfast but dreadful hours spent in the lazarette failed +her. +</P> + +<P> +"You know me," she faltered. "I am Iris Yorke." +</P> + +<P> +Not a syllable came from the irate and astonished man gazing at her +with such a bovine stolidity. His shoulders had not abated a fraction +of their stubborn thrust against the frame of the chart-house. His +hands were immovable in the pockets of his reefer coat. The cigar +still stuck out between his lips like a miniature jib-boom. Had he +wished to terrify her by a hostile reception, he could not have +succeeded more completely, though, to be just, he meant nothing of the +sort; his wits being jumbled into chaos by the apparition of the last +person then alive whom he expected or desired to see on board the +<I>Andromeda</I>. +</P> + +<P> +But Iris could not interpret his mood, and she strove vainly to conquer +the fear welling up in her breast because of the grim anger that seemed +to blaze at her from every line of Coke's brick-red countenance. In +the struggle to pour forth the excuses and protestations that sounded +so plausible in her own ears, while secured from observation behind the +locked door of her retreat, she blundered unhappily on to the very +topic that she had resolved to keep secret. +</P> + +<P> +"Why are you so unwilling to acknowledge me?" she cried, with a nervous +indignation that lent a tremor to her voice. "You have met me often +enough. You saw me on Sunday at my uncle's house?" +</P> + +<P> +"Did I?" said Coke, speaking at last, but really as much at a loss for +something to say as the girl herself. He had recognized her instantly, +just as he would recognize the moon if the luminary fell from the sky, +and with as little comprehension of the cause of its falling. +</P> + +<P> +Of course, she took the question as a forerunner of blank denial. This +was not to be borne. She fired into a direct attack. +</P> + +<P> +"If your memory is hazy concerning the events of Sunday afternoon, it +may be helpful if I recall the conversation between my uncle and you in +the summer-house," she snapped. +</P> + +<P> +Some of the glow fled from Coke's face. He straightened himself and +glanced at the sailor inside the wheel-house, whose attention was given +instantly to the fact that the vessel's head had fallen away a full +point or more from South 15 West owing to the easterly set of a strong +tide. Vessels' heads are apt to turn when steersmen do not attend to +their business. +</P> + +<P> +"Wot's that you're sayin'?" demanded Coke, coming nearer, and looking +her straight in the eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"I heard every word of that interesting talk," she continued valiantly, +though she was sensible of a numbness that seemed to envelop her in an +ice-cold mist. "I know what you arranged to do—so I have promised—to +marry Mr. Bulmer—when the <I>Andromeda</I>—comes back——" +</P> + +<P> +A light broke on Coke's intelligence that irradiated his prominent +eyes. His heavy lips relaxed into a cunning grin, and he flicked the +ash off the end of the cigar with a confidential nod. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, is <I>that</I> it?" he said. "Artful old dog, Verity! But why in—why +didn't 'e tell me you was comin' aboard this trip? We 'aven't the +right fixin's for a lady, so you must put up with the best we can do +for you, Miss Yorke. Nat'rally, we're tickled to death to 'ave your +company, an' if on'y that blessed uncle of your's 'ad told me wot to +expect, I'd 'ave made things ship-shape at Liverpool. But, my +god-father, wot sort of ijjit axed you to stow yourself away in the +lazareet? Steady now; you ain't a-goin' to faint, are you?" +</P> + +<P> +Coke's amiability came too late. His squat figure and red face +suddenly loomed into a gigantic indistinctness in the girl's eyes. She +would have fallen to the deck had not the captain's strong hands +clutched her by the shoulders. +</P> + +<P> +"Hi! Below there!" he yelled. "Tumble up, some of you!" +</P> + +<P> +Hozier was the first to gain the bridge. He had followed the progress +of events with sufficient accuracy to realize that Miss Iris Yorke had +met with a distinct rebuff by the skipper, and, judging from his own +experience of her physical weakness when she emerged into daylight, he +was not surprised to hear that she had fainted. +</P> + +<P> +"'Ere, take 'old," gurgled Coke, who had nearly swallowed the cigar in +his surprise at Iris's unforeseen collapse. "This kind of thing is +more in your line than mine, young feller. Just lay 'er out in the +saloon, an' ax Watts to 'elp. His missus goes orf regular w'en they +bring 'im 'ome paralytic." +</P> + +<P> +Philip took the girl into his arms. To carry her safely down the steep +stairway he was compelled to place her head on his left shoulder and +clasp her tightly round the waist with his left arm. Some loosened +strands of her hair touched his face; he could feel the laboring of her +breast, the wild beating of her heart, and he was exceeding wroth with +that unknown man or woman who had driven this insensible girl to such +straits that she was ready to dare the discomforts and deprivations of +a voyage as a stowaway, rather than be persecuted further. +</P> + +<P> +Iris was laid on a couch in the messroom, and the steward summoned Mr. +Watts. The chief officer came, looking sheepish. It was manifestly a +great relief when he found that the "ghost" was unconscious. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, that's nothing," he cried, in response to his junior's eager +demand for information as to the treatment best fitted for such +emergencies. "They all drop in a heap like that w'en they're worried. +Fust you takes orf their gloves an' boots, then you undoes their stays +an' rips open their dresses at the necks. One of you rubs their 'ands +an' another their feet, an' you dabs cold water on their foreheads, an' +burn brown paper under their noses. In between whiles you give 'em a +drink, stiff as you can make it. It's dead easy. Them stays are a bit +troublesome if they run to size, but she's thin enough as it is. +Anyhow, I can show you a fine trick for that. Just turn her over till +I cast a lashin' loose with my knife." +</P> + +<P> +Watts was elbowed aside so unceremoniously that his temper gave way. +Hozier lifted Iris's head gently and unfastened the neck-hooks of her +blouse. He began to chafe her cold hands tenderly, and pressed back +the hair from her damp forehead. The "chief," not flattered by his own +reflections, thought fit to sneer at these half measures. +</P> + +<P> +"She's on'y a woman like the rest of 'em," he growled, "even if she +<I>is</I> the owner's niece, an' a good-lookin' gal at that. I s'pose now +you think——" +</P> + +<P> +"I think she will want some fresh air soon, so you had better clear +out," said Philip. +</P> + +<P> +His words were quiet, but he flashed a warning glance at the other man +that sufficed. Watts retired, muttering sarcasms under his breath. +</P> + +<P> +Iris revived, to find Philip supporting her with a degree of skill that +was remarkable in one who had enjoyed so little experience in those +matters. She heard his voice, coming, as it seemed, rapidly nearer, +urging her to sip something very fiery and spirituous. Instantly she +protested. +</P> + +<P> +"What are you giving me?" she sobbed. "What has happened?" +</P> + +<P> +Then the whole of her world opened up before her. Her hands flew to +her throat, her hair. She flushed into vivid life as the marble +Galatea incardinated under Pygmalion's kiss. +</P> + +<P> +"Did I faint?" she asked confusedly. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, but you are all right now. You did not fall. Captain Coke +caught you and handed you over to me. I wish you would drink the +remainder of this brandy, and rest for a little while." +</P> + +<P> +Iris pushed away the glass and sat up. +</P> + +<P> +"You carried me?" she said. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I couldn't do anything else." +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose you don't realize what it means to a woman to feel that she +has been out of her senses under such conditions?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, but in your case it only meant that you sighed deeply a few times +and tried to bite my fingers when I wished to open your mouth." +</P> + +<P> +"What for? Why did you want to open my mouth?" +</P> + +<P> +"To give you a drink—you needed a stimulant." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh!" +</P> + +<P> +By this time a few dexterous twists and turns had restrained those +wandering tresses within bounds. She held a hair-pin between her lips, +and a woman can always say exactly what she means when a hairpin +prevents discursiveness. +</P> + +<P> +"I am all right now," she announced. "Will you please leave me, and +tell the steward to bring me a cup of tea? If there is a cabin at +liberty, he might put that portmanteau in it which I brought on board +at Liverpool." +</P> + +<P> +Hozier fulfilled her requests, and rejoined Coke on the bridge. +</P> + +<P> +"Miss Yorke is quite well again, sir," he reported. "She wants a +cabin—to change her clothes, I imagine. That bag you saw——" +</P> + +<P> +"Pretty foxy, wasn't it?" broke in Coke, with a glee that was puzzling +to his hearer. +</P> + +<P> +"The whole affair seems to have been carefully planned," agreed Philip. +"But, as I was saying, she asked for the use of a cabin, so I told the +steward to give her mine until we put into Queenstown." +</P> + +<P> +Coke, who had lighted another black and stumpy cigar, removed it in +order to speak with due emphasis. +</P> + +<P> +"Put into h—l!" he said. +</P> + +<P> +"But surely you will not take this young lady to the River Plate?" +cried the astounded second officer. +</P> + +<P> +"She knew where she was bound w'en she kem aboard the <I>Andromeda</I>," +said the skipper, frowning now like a man who argues with himself. +"There's her portmanter to prove it, with a label, an' all, in her own +'and-writin'. It's some game played on me by 'er an' 'er uncle. +Any'ow, the fust time she sees land again it'll be the lovely 'arbor of +Pernambuco—an' that's straight. 'Ere she is, an' 'ere she'll stop, +an' the best thing you can do is spread the notion among the crew that +she's runnin' away to avoid marryin' a man she doesn't like. That +sounds reasonable, an' it 'appens to be true. Verity an' me talked it +over last Sunday, p.m." +</P> + +<P> +"To avoid a marriage?" repeated Hozier, who discovered a bluff honesty, +not to say candor, in the statement, not perceptible hitherto in his +commander's utterances. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, that's it," said Coke, waving the cigar across an arc of the +horizon as he warmed to the subject. "But look 'ere, me boy, this gal +sails under my flag. I'm, wot d'ye call it, in locomotive parentibus, +or something of the sort, while she's on the ship's books. You keep +your mouth shut, an' wink the other eye, an' leave it to me to give you +the chanst of your life—eh, wot?" +</P> + +<P> +Philip Hozier did not strive to extract the precise meaning of the +skipper's words. The process would have been difficult, since Coke +himself could not have supplied any reasonable analysis. Somehow, to +the commander's thinking, the presence of the girl seemed to make +easier the casting away of the ship—exactly how, or what bearing her +strangely-begun voyage might have on subsequent events, he was not yet +in a position to say. But when the second officer left him, and he was +steeped once more in the fresh breeze and the sunshine, with his +shoulders braced against the chart-house, he looked at a smoke trail on +the horizon far away to the west. +</P> + +<P> +"Queenstown!" he chuckled. "Not this journey—not if my name's Jimmie +Coke, the man 'oo is stannin' on all that is left of 'is 'ard-earned +savin's. No, sir, I've got me orders an' I've got me letter, an' the +pore old <I>Andromeda</I> gets ripped to pieces in the Recife, or I'll know +the reason why. Wot a card to play at the inquiry! Owner's niece on +board—bound to South America for the good of 'er health. 'Oo even +'eard of a man sendin' 'is pretty niece on a ship 'e meant to throw +away? It's Providential, that's wot it is, reel Providential! I do +believe ole Verity 'ad a 'and in it." +</P> + +<P> +Which shows that Captain Coke confused Providence with David Verity, +and goes far to prove how ill-fitted he was to theorize on the ways of +Providence. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER III +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +WHEREIN THE "ANDROMEDA" NEARS THE END OF HER VOYAGE +</H3> + + +<P> +"Five bells, miss! It'll soon be daylight. If you wants to see the +Cross, now's your time!" +</P> + +<P> +Iris had been called from dreamless sleep by a thundering rat-tat on +her cabin door. In reply to her half-awaked cry of "All right," the +hoarse voice of a sailor told her that the Southern Cross had just +risen above the horizon. She had a drowsy recollection of someone +saying that the famous constellation would make its appearance at seven +bells, not at five, and the difference of an hour, when the time +happens to be 2:30 instead of 8:30 a.m. is a matter of some importance. +But, perhaps that was a mistake; at any rate, here was the messenger, +and she resolutely screwed her knuckles into her eyes and began to +dress. In a few minutes she was on deck. A long coat, a Tam o' +Shanter, and a pair of list slippers will go far in the way of costume +at night in the tropics, and the <I>Andromeda's</I> seventeenth day at sea +had brought the equator very near. At dinner on the previous +evening—in honor of the owner's niece fashionable hours were observed +for meals—Mr. Watts mentioned, by chance, that the Cross had been very +distinct during the middle watch, or, in other words, between midnight +and 4 a.m. Iris at once expressed a wish to see it, and Captain Coke +offered a suggestion. +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Hozier takes the middle watch to-night," said he. "We can ax 'im +to send a man to pound on your door as soon as it rises. Then you must +run up to the bridge, an' 'e'll tell you all about it." +</P> + +<P> +If Iris was conscious of a slight feeling of surprise, she did not show +it. Hitherto, the burly skipper of the <I>Andromeda</I> had made it so +clearly understood that none of the ship's company save himself was to +enjoy the society of Miss Iris Yorke, that she had exchanged very few +words with the one man whose manners and education obviously entitled +him to meet her on an equal plane. Even at meals, he was often absent, +for the captain and chief officer of a tramp steamer are not altruists +where eating is concerned. She often visited the bridge, her favorite +perch being the shady side of the wheel-house, but talking to the +officer of the watch was strictly forbidden. In everything +appertaining to the vessel's navigation the discipline of a man-of-war +was observed on board the <I>Andromeda</I>. So Coke's complacency came now +quite unexpectedly, but Iris was learning to school her tongue. +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you very much," she said. "When shall I see him?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, you needn't bother. I'll tell 'im meself." +</P> + +<P> +She was somewhat disappointed at this. Hozier would be free for an +hour before he turned in, and they might have enjoyed a nice chat while +he smoked on the poop. In her heart of hearts, she was beginning to +acknowledge that a voyage through summer seas on a cargo vessel, with +no other society than that of unimaginative sailormen, savored of +tedium, indeed, almost of deadly monotony. Her rare meetings with +Hozier marked bright spots in a dull round of hours. During their +small intercourse she had discovered that he was well informed. They +had hit upon a few kindred tastes in books and music; they even +differed sharply in their appreciation of favorite authors, and what +could be more conducive to complete understanding than the attack and +defense of the shrine of some tin god of literature? +</P> + +<P> +While, therefore, it was strange that Captain Coke should actually +propose a visit to the bridge at an unusual time—at a time, too, when +Hozier would be on duty—it struck her as far more curious that he +should endeavor to prevent an earlier meeting. But she had never lost +her intuitive fear of Coke. His many faults certainly did not include +a weak will. He meant what he said—also a good deal that he left +unsaid—and his word was law to everyone on board the <I>Andromeda</I>. So +Iris contented herself with meek agreement. +</P> + +<P> +"I shall be delighted to come at any time. I have often read about the +Southern Cross, yet three short weeks ago I little thought——" +</P> + +<P> +"You reely didn't think about it at all," broke in Coke. "If you 'ad, +you'd 'ave known you couldn't cross the line without seein' it." +</P> + +<P> +Here was another perplexing element in the skipper's conduct. That +Iris was a stowaway was forgotten. She was treated with the attention +and ceremony due to the owner's niece. Coke never lost an opportunity +of dinning into the ears of Watts, or Hozier, or the steward, or any +members of the crew who were listening, that Miss Yorke's presence in +their midst was a preordained circumstance, a thing fully discussed and +agreed on as between her uncle and himself, but carried out in an +irregular manner, owing to some girlish freak on her part. The +portmanteau, with its change of raiment, brought convincing testimony, +and Iris's own words when discovered in the lazaretto supplied further +proof, if that were needed. Her name figured in the ship's papers, and +the time of her appearance on board was recorded in the log. Coke +might be a man of one idea, but he held to it as though it were written +in the Admiralty Sailing Directions; not his would be the fault if +David Verity failed to appreciate the logic of his reasoning long +before an official investigation became inevitable. +</P> + +<P> +A keen, invigorating breeze swept the last mirage of sleep from the +girl's brain as she flitted silently along the deck. A wondrous galaxy +of stars blazed in the heavens. In that pellucid air the sky was a +vivid ultramarine. The ship's track was marked by a trail of +phosphorescent fire. Each revolution of the propeller drew from the +ocean treasure-house opulent globes of golden light that danced and +sparkled in the tumbling waters. It was a night that pulsated with the +romance and abandon of the south, a night when the heart might throb +with unutterable longings, and the blood tingle in the veins under the +stress of an emotion at once passionate and mystic. +</P> + +<P> +Iris, spurred on by no stronger impulse than that of the sight-seer, +though not wholly unaware of an element of adventurous shyness in her +expectation of a <I>tête-à-tête</I> with a good-looking young man of her own +status, climbed to the bridge so speedily and noiselessly that Hozier +did not know of her presence until he heard her dismayed cry: +</P> + +<P> +"Is <I>that</I> the Southern Cross?" +</P> + +<A NAME="img-050"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-050.jpg" ALT=""Is that the Southern Cross?"" BORDER="2" WIDTH="412" HEIGHT="597"> +<H3> +[Illustration: "Is that the Southern Cross?"] +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +He turned quickly. +</P> + +<P> +"You, Miss Yorke?" he exclaimed, and not even her wonder at the +insignificance of the stellar display of which she had heard so much +could cloak the fact that Hozier was unprepared for her appearance. +</P> + +<P> +"Of course, it is I—who else?" she asked. "Did not Captain Coke tell +you to expect me?" +</P> + +<P> +"No." +</P> + +<P> +"How odd! That is what he arranged. A man came and rapped at my door." +</P> + +<P> +"Pardon me one moment." +</P> + +<P> +He leaned over the bridge and hailed the watch. The same hoarse voice +that had roused Iris answered his questions, and, in the faint light +that came from the binnacle, she caught a flicker of amusement on his +face. +</P> + +<P> +"Our excellent skipper's intentions have been defeated," he said. "He +told one of the men to call him at seven bells, but not to wake you +until the Cross was visible. His orders have been obeyed quite +literally. He will be summoned in another hour, and you have been +dragged from bed to gaze at the False Cross, which every foremast hand +persists in regarding as the real article. The true Cross, of which +Alpha Crucis is the Southern Pole star, comes up over the horizon an +hour after the false one." +</P> + +<P> +"But Captain Coke said he would see you and warn you of my visit." +</P> + +<P> +"I can only assure you that he did not. Perhaps he thought it +unnecessary—meaning to be on deck himself." +</P> + +<P> +"Must I wait here a whole hour, then?" +</P> + +<P> +Hozier laughed. It was amusing to find how Coke's marked effort to +keep the girl and him apart had been defeated by a sailor's blunder. +</P> + +<P> +"I hope the waiting will not weary you," he said. "It is a beautiful +night. You will not catch cold if you are well wrapped up, and, no +matter what you may think of the real Cross when you see it, you will +never have a better chance of star-gazing. Look at Sirius up there, +brighter than the moon; and Orion, too, incomparably grander than any +star in southern latitudes. Our dear old Bear of the north ranks far +beyond the Southern Cross in magnificence; but mist and smoke and dust +contrive to rob our home atmosphere of the clearness which adds such +luster to the firmament nearer the equator." +</P> + +<P> +Under other circumstances, Iris would have reveled in just such an +opportunity of acquiring knowledge easily. Astronomy, despite its +limitations, is one of the exact sciences; it has the charm of +wonderland; it makes to awe-stricken humanity the mysterious appeal of +the infinite; but to-night, when the heart fluttered, and the soul +pined for sympathy, she was in a mood to regard with indifference the +instant extinction of the Milky Way. +</P> + +<P> +"I am glad of the accident that brought me on deck somewhat earlier +than was necessary," she said. "You and I have not said much to each +other since you routed me out of the lazaretto, Mr. Hozier." +</P> + +<P> +"Our friends at table are somewhat—difficult. If only you knew how I +regretted——" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, what of that? When I became a stowaway I fully expected to be +treated as one. I suppose, though, that you have often asked yourself +why I was guilty of such a mad trick?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not exactly mad, Miss Yorke, but needless, since Captain Coke partly +expected to have your company." +</P> + +<P> +"That is absurd. He had not the remotest notion——" +</P> + +<P> +"Forgive me, but there you are wrong. He says that your uncle and he +discussed the matter on the Sunday before we left Liverpool. His +theory is rather borne out by the present state of the ship's larder. +I assure you that few tramp steamers spread a table like the +<I>Andromeda's</I> mess during this voyage." +</P> + +<P> +Iris laughed, with a spontaneous merriment that was rather astonishing +in her own ears. +</P> + +<P> +"Being the owner's niece, I am well catered for?" she cried. +</P> + +<P> +"Something of the sort. It is only natural." +</P> + +<P> +"But I think I have read in the newspapers that when some unhappy +creature is condemned to death by the law, he is supplied with luxuries +that would certainly be denied to any ordinary criminal?" +</P> + +<P> +"Such doubtful clemency can hardly apply to you, Miss Yorke." +</P> + +<P> +"It might apply to the ship, or to that human part of her that thinks, +and remembers, and is capable of—of giving evidence." +</P> + +<P> +She paused, fearing lest, perhaps, she might have spoken too plainly. +Coke's counter-stroke in alluding to her dread of the proposed marriage +was hidden from her ken; Hozier, of course, was thinking of nothing +else. For the moment, then, they were at cross purposes. +</P> + +<P> +"Things are not so bad as that," he said gently. "I hope I am not +trespassing on forbidden ground, but it is only fair to tell you that +the skipper was quite explicit, up to a point. He said you were being +forced into some matrimonial arrangement that was distasteful——" +</P> + +<P> +"And to escape from an undesirable suitor I ran away?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, the story sounded all right." +</P> + +<P> +"Hid myself on my uncle's ship when I wished to avoid marrying the man +of his choice?" +</P> + +<P> +Hozier was not neglecting his work, but he did then take his eyes off +the starlit sea for a few amazed seconds. There was no mistaking the +scornful ring in the girl's words. He could see the deep color that +flooded her cheeks; the glance that met his sparkled with an intensity +of feeling that thrilled while it perplexed. +</P> + +<P> +"Please pardon me if the question hurts, but if that is not your +motive, and there never was any real notion of your coming with us on +the this trip, why are you here?" he said. +</P> + +<P> +"Because I am a foolish girl, I suppose; because I thought that my +presence might interpose a serious obstacle between a criminal and the +crime he had planned to commit. If one wants to avoid hateful people a +change of climate is a most effectual means, and I had not the money +for ordinary travel. Believe me, Mr. Hozier, I am not on board the +Andromeda without good reason. I have often wished to have a talk with +you. I think you are a man who would not betray a confidence. If you +agree to help me, something may yet be done. At first, I was sure that +Captain Coke would abandon his wicked project as soon as he discovered +that I knew what was in his mind. But now, I am beginning to doubt. +Each day brings us nearer South America, and—and——" +</P> + +<P> +She was breathless with excitement. She drew nearer to the silent, and +impassive man at her side; dropping her voice almost to a whisper, she +caught his arm with an appealing hand. +</P> + +<P> +"I am afraid that my presence will offer no hindrance to his scheme," +she murmured. "I am terrified to say such a thing, but I am certain, +quite <I>certain</I>, that the ship will be lost within the next few days." +</P> + +<P> +Hozier, though incredulous, could not but realize that the girl was +saying that which she honestly thought to be true. +</P> + +<P> +"Lost! Do you mean that, she will be purposely thrown away?" he asked, +and his own voice was not wholly under control, for he was called on to +repress a sudden temptation to kiss away the tears that glistened in +her brown eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, that is what he said—on the rocks, this side of Monte Video." +</P> + +<P> +"He said—who?" +</P> + +<P> +"The—the captain." +</P> + +<P> +"To whom did he say it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Mr. Hozier, do not ask that, but believe me and help me." +</P> + +<P> +"How?" +</P> + +<P> +"I do not know. I am half distracted with thinking. What can we do? +Captain Coke simply swept aside my first attempt to speak plainly to +him. But, make no mistake—he knows that I heard his very words, and +there is something in his manner, a curious sort of quiet confidence, +that frightens me." +</P> + +<P> +After that, neither spoke during many minutes. The <I>Andromeda</I> jogged +along steadily south by west, and the threshing of the propeller beat +time to the placid hum of her engines. The sturdy old ship could +seemingly go on in that humdrum way forever, forging ahead through the +living waters, marking her track with a golden furrow. +</P> + +<P> +"That is a very serious thing you have told me, Miss Yorke," muttered +Hozier at last, not without a backward glance at the sailor in the +wheel-house to assure himself that the man could not, by any chance, +overhear their conversation. +</P> + +<P> +"But it is true—dreadfully true," said Iris, clasping her hands +together and resting them on the high railing of the bridge. +</P> + +<P> +"It is all the more serious inasmuch as we are helpless," he went on. +"Don't you see how impossible it is even to hint at it in any +discussion with the man principally concerned? I want to say this, +though—you are in no danger. There is no ship so safe as one that is +picked out for wilful destruction. Men will not sacrifice their own +lives even to make good an insurance policy, and I suppose that is what +is intended. So you can sleep sound o' nights—at any rate until we +near the coast of Brazil. I can only promise you if any watchfulness +on my part can stop this piece of villainy—— Hello, there! What's +up? Why is the ship falling away from her course?" +</P> + +<P> +The sudden change in his voice startled the girl so greatly that she +uttered a slight shriek. It took her an appreciable time to understand +that he was speaking to the man at the wheel. But the sailor knew what +he meant. +</P> + +<P> +"Something's gone wrong with the wheel, sir," he bawled. "I wasn't +certain at first, so I tried to put her over a bit to s'uth'ard. Then +she jammed for sure." +</P> + +<P> +Hozier leaped to the telegraph and signaled "slow" to the engine-room. +Already the golden pathway behind the <I>Andromeda</I> had changed from a +wavering yet generally straight line to a well-defined curve. There +was a hiss and snort of escaping steam as the sailor inside the +chart-house endeavored to force the machinery into action. +</P> + +<P> +"Steady there!" bellowed Hozier. "Wait until we have examined the +gear-boxes. There may be a kink in a chain." +</P> + +<P> +A loud order brought the watch scurrying along the deck. Some of the +men ran to examine the bearings of the huge fan-shaped casting that +governed the movements of the rudder, while others began to tap the +wooden shields which protected the steering rods and chains. In the +midst of the hammering and excitement, Captain Coke swung himself up to +the bridge. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I'm blowed! <I>You</I> here?" he said, looking at Iris. "Wot is it +now?" he asked, turning sharply to Hozier. "Wheel stuck again?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, sir. Has it happened before?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well—er—not this trip. But it 'as 'appened. Just for a minnit I +was mixin' it up with the night you nearly ran down that bloomin' +hooker off the Irish coast. Ah, there she goes! Everything O.K. now. +W'en daylight comes we'll overhaul the fixin's. Nice thing if the +wheel jammed just as we was crossin' the Recife!" +</P> + +<P> +Hozier tried to ascertain from the watch if they had found the cause of +the disturbance, but the men could only guess that a chance blow with +an adze had straightened a kink in one of the casings. Coke treated +the incident with nonchalance. +</P> + +<P> +"Thought you was to be called w'en the Cross hove in sight, Miss +Yorke?" he said abruptly. +</P> + +<P> +"I am sorry to have to inform you that some people on board cannot +distinguish between falsity and truth," she answered. "But please +don't be angry with any of the men on my account. Mr. Hozier tells me +they often confuse the False Cross with the real one, and the mistake +has been enjoyable. Now I know all about it—what were those stars you +were telling me the names of, Mr. Hozier?" +</P> + +<P> +Philip took the cue she offered. +</P> + +<P> +"Sirius, and Orion, and Ursa Major. I shall write the names and +particulars for you after breakfast," he said with a smile. +</P> + +<P> +"Reg'lar 'umbug the Southern Cross," grunted Coke; "it ain't a patch on +the Bear." +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Hozier said something like that," put in Iris mischievously. +</P> + +<P> +"Did 'e? Well 'e's right for once. But don't you go an' take as +Gospel most things 'e says. Every shipmaster knows that the second +officer simply can't speak the truth. It ain't natural. W'y, it 'ud +bust a steam pipe if 'e tole you wot 'e really thought of the ole man." +</P> + +<P> +Coke grinned at his own pleasantry. To one of his hearers, at least, +it seemed to be passing strange that he was so ready to forget such a +vital defect in the steering gear as had manifested its existence a few +minutes earlier. +</P> + +<P> +At any rate, he remained on the bridge until long after Iris had seen +and admired the cluster of stars which oldtime navigators used to +regard with awe. When shafts of white light began to taper, +pennon-like, in the eastern sky, the girl went back to her cabin. +Contrary to Hozier's expectation, Coke did not attempt to draw from him +any account of their conversation prior to the inexplicable mishap to +the wheel. He examined a couple of charts, made a slight alteration in +the course, and at four o'clock took charge of the bridge. +</P> + +<P> +"Just 'ave a look round now while things is quiet," he said, nodding to +Hozier confidentially. "I'll tell you wot I fancy: a rat dragged a bit +of bone into a gear-box. If the plankin' is badly worn anywhere, get +the carpenter to see to it. I do 'ate to 'ave a feelin' that the wheel +can let you down. S'pose we was makin' Bahia on the homeward run, an' +that 'appened! It 'ud be the end of the pore ole ship; an' oo'd credit +it? Not a soul. They'd all say 'Jimmie threw 'er away!' Oh, I know +'em, the swine—never a good word for a man while 'e keeps straight, +but tar an' feathers the minnit 'e 'as a misforchun!" +</P> + +<P> +Hozier found a gnawed piece of ham-bone lying in the exact position +anticipated by Coke. An elderly salt who had served with the P. & O. +recalled a similar incident as having occurred on board an Indian mail +steamer while passing through the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb. He drew a +lurid picture of the captain's dash across the forms of lady passengers +sleeping inside a curtained space on deck, and his location of the area +of disturbance with an ax just in time to prevent a disaster. +</P> + +<P> +The carpenter busied himself with sawing and hammering during the whole +of the next two days, for the <I>Andromeda</I> revealed many gaps in her +woodwork, but the escapade of an errant ham-bone was utterly eclipsed +by a new sensation. At daybreak one morning every drop of water in the +vessel's tanks suddenly assumed a rich, blood-red tint. This unnerving +discovery was made by the cook, who was horrified to see a ruby stream +pouring into the earliest kettle. Thinking that an iron pipe had +become oxidized with startling rapidity, he tried another tap. +Finally, there could be no blinking the fact that, by some uncanny +means, the whole of the fresh water on board had acquired the color if +not the taste of a thin Burgundy. +</P> + +<P> +Coke was summoned hastily. <I>Noblesse oblige</I>; being captain, he +valiantly essayed the task of sampling this strange beverage. +</P> + +<P> +"It ain't p'ison," he announced, gazing suspiciously at the little +group of anxious-faced men who awaited his verdict. "It sartinly ain't +p'ison, but it's wuss nor any teetotal brew I've tackled in all me born +days. 'Ere, Watts, you know the tang of every kind o' likker—'ave a +sup?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not me!" said Watts. "I don't like the look of it. First time I've +ever seen red ink on tap. For the rest of this trip I stick to bottled +beer, or somethink with a label." +</P> + +<P> +"It smells like an infusion of permanganate of potash," volunteered +Hozier. +</P> + +<P> +"Does it?" growled Coke, who seemed to be greatly annoyed. "Wot a pity +it ain't an infusion of whisky an' potash!" and he glared vindictively +at Watts. "Some ijjit 'as bin playin' a trick on us, that's wot it +is—some blank soaker 'oo don't give a hooraw in Hades for tea an' +corfee an' cocoa, but wants a tonic. Stooard!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, sir," said the messroom attendant. +</P> + +<P> +"Portion out all the soda water in the lockers, an' whack it on the +table every meal till it gives out. See that nobody puts away more'n +'is proper allowance, too. I'm not goin' to cry hush-baby w'en the +<I>Andromeda</I> gets this sort of kid's dodge worked off on 'er." +</P> + +<P> +"If you're alloodin' to me," put in the incensed "chief," whose temper +rose on this direct provocation, "I want to tell you now——" +</P> + +<P> +"Does the cap fit?" sneered Coke. +</P> + +<P> +"No, it doesn't. I never 'eard of that kind of potash in me life. +D'ye take me for a—chemist's shop?" +</P> + +<P> +"Never 'eard of it!" cried the incensed skipper, who had obviously made +up his mind as to the person responsible for the outrage. "There's +'arf a dozen cases of it in the after hold—or there was, w'en we put +the hatches on." +</P> + +<P> +"Even if some of the cases were broken, sir, the contents could not +reach the tanks," said Hozier, who fancied that Coke's attack on the +bibulous Watts was wholly unwarranted. But the commander's wrath could +not be appeased. +</P> + +<P> +"Get this stuff pumped out, an' 'ave the tanks scoured. We'll put into +Fernando Noronha, an' refill there. It's on'y a day lost, an' I guess +the other liquor on board 'll last till we make the island. Sink me, +if this ain't the queerest run this crimson ship 'as ever 'ad. I'll be +glad w'en it's ended." +</P> + +<P> +Coke lurched away in the direction of the chart-room. Hozier found him +there later, poring over a chart of Fernando Noronha. Iris, on hearing +the steward's version of the affair, came to the bridge for further +enlightenment, but Coke merely told her that the island was a Lloyd's +signal station, so she could cable to her uncle. +</P> + +<P> +"Can I go ashore?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +"I dunno. We'll see. It's a convict settlement for the Brazils, an' +they're mighty partic'lar about lettin' people land, but they'll 'ardly +object to a nice young lady like you 'avin' a peep at 'em." +</P> + +<P> +As his tone was unusually gruff, not to say jeering, she resolved to +find an opportunity of seeking Hozier's advice on the cablegram +problem. But the portent of the blood-red water was not to be +disregarded. Never was Delphic oracle better served by nature. The +<I>Andromeda</I> began to roll ominously; masses of black cloud climbed over +the southwest horizon; at midday the ship was driving through a heavy +sea. As the day wore, the weather became even more threatening. A sky +and ocean that had striven during three weeks to produce in splendid +rivalry blends of sapphire blue and emerald green and tenderest pink, +were now draped in a shroud of gray mist. With increasing frequency +and venom, vaulting seas curled over the bows, and sent stinging +showers of spray against the canvas shield of the bridge. Instead of +the natty white drill uniform and canvas shoes of the tropics, the +ship's officers donned oilskins, sou'westers, and sea-boots. Torrents +swept the decks, and an occasional giant among waves smote the hull +with a thunderous blow under which every rivet rattled and every plank +creaked. Despite these drawbacks, the <I>Andromeda</I> wormed her way +south. She behaved like the stanch old sea-prowler that she was, and +labored complainingly but with stubborn zeal in the teeth of a stiff +gale. +</P> + +<P> +Iris, of course, thought that she was experiencing the storm of a +century. Badly scared at first, she regained some stock of courage +when Hozier came twice to her cabin, pounded on the door, and shouted +to her such news as he thought would take her mind off the outer +furies! The first time he announced that they were just "crossing the +line," and the girl smiled at the thought that Neptune's chosen lair +was uncommonly like the English Channel at its worst. On the second +occasion her visitor brought the cheering news that they would be under +the lee of Fernando Noronha early next morning. She had sufficient sea +lore to understand that this implied shelter from wind and wave, but +Hozier omitted to tell her that the only practicable roadstead in the +island, being on the weather side, would be rendered unsafe by the +present adverse combination of the elements. In fact, Coke had already +called both Watts and Hozier into council, and they had agreed with him +that the wiser plan would be to bear in towards the island from the +east, and anchor in smooth water as close to South Point as the lead +would permit. +</P> + +<P> +As for Iris's wild foreboding that the ship was intended to be lost, +Philip did not give it other than a passing thought. Coke was +navigating the <I>Andromeda</I> with exceeding care and no little skill. He +was a first-rate practical sailor, and it was an education to the +younger man to watch his handling of the vessel throughout the worst +part of the blow. About midnight the weather moderated. It improved +steadily until a troubled dawn heralded some fitful gleams of the sun. +By that time the magnificent Peak of Fernando Noronha was plainly +visible. Coke came to the bridge and set a new course, almost due +west. The sun struggled with increasing success against the cloud +battalions, and patches of blue appeared in sky and sea. Soon it was +possible to distinguish the full extent of the coast line. Houses +appeared, and trees, and green oases of cultivation, but these were +mere spots of color amid the arid blackness of a land of bleak rock and +stone-strewed hills. +</P> + +<P> +There was a strong current setting from the southeast, and the dying +gale left its aftermath in a long swell, but the <I>Andromeda</I> rolled on +with ever-increasing comfort. Even Iris was tempted forth by the +continued sunshine. +</P> + +<P> +Coke was not on the bridge at the moment. Mr. Watts was taking the +watch; Hozier was on deck forrard, looking for gravel and shells on the +instrument that picks up these valuable indications from the floor of +the sea. Suddenly the captain appeared. He greeted Iris with a genial +nod. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, there you are," he cried. "Not seen you since this time +yesterday. Sorry, but there'll be no goin' ashore to-day. We're on +the wrong side of the island, an' it 'ud toss you a bit if you was to +try an' land in eether of the boats. Take 'er in easy now, Mr. Watts. +That's our anchorage—over there," and he pointed to the mouth of a +narrow channel between South Point and the Ile des Frégates, the latter +a tiny islet that almost blocks the entrance to a shallow bay into +which runs a rivulet of good but slightly brackish water. +</P> + +<P> +The ship slowed perceptibly, and Hozier busied himself with the lead, +which a sailor was swinging on the starboard side from the small +platform of the accommodation ladder. Iris did not know what was said, +but the queer figures repeated to Coke seemed to be satisfactory. +Headlands and hills crept nearer. The rocky arms of the island closed +in on them. A faint scent as of sweet grasses reached them from the +shore. Iris could see several people, nearly all of them men in +uniform, hurrying about with an air of excitement that betokened the +unusual. Perhaps a steamer's advent on the south side of the island +was a novelty. +</P> + +<P> +Now they were in a fairly smooth roadstead; the remnants of the gale +were shouldered away from the ship by the towering cliff that jutted +out on the left of the bay. The crew were mostly occupied in clearing +blocks and tackle and swinging two life-boats outward on their davits. +</P> + +<P> +"All ready forrard?" roared Coke. Hozier ran to the forecastle. He +found the carpenter there, standing by the windlass brake. +</P> + +<P> +"All ready, sir!" he cried. +</P> + +<P> +Coke nodded to him. +</P> + +<P> +"Give her thirty-five," he said, meaning thereby that the anchor should +be allowed thirty-five fathoms of chain. +</P> + +<P> +From the bridge, where Iris was standing, she could follow each +movement of the commander's hands as he signaled in dumbshow to the +steersman or telegraphed instructions to the engine-room. It was +interesting to watch the alertness of the men on duty. They were a +scratch crew, garnered from the four quarters of the globe at the +Liverpool shipping office, but they moved smartly under officers who +knew their work, and the <I>Andromeda</I> was well equipped in that respect. +</P> + +<P> +The turbulent current was surging across the bows with the speed of a +mill-race, so Coke brought the vessel round until she lay broadside +with the land and headed straight against the set of the stream. It +was his intent to drop anchor while in that position, and help any +undue strain on the cable by an occasional turn of the propeller. +</P> + +<P> +"Keep her there!" he said, half turning to the man at the wheel; he +changed the indicator from "Full speed" to "Slow ahead"; in a few +seconds the anchor chain would have rattled through the +hawse-hole—when something happened that was incomprehensible, +stupefying—something utterly remote and strange from the ways of +civilized men. +</P> + +<P> +The <I>Andromeda</I> quivered under a tremendous buffet. There was a crash +of rending iron and an instant stoppage of the engines. Almost merging +into the noise of the blow came a loud report from the land, but that, +in its turn, was drowned by the hiss of steam from the exhaust. +</P> + +<P> +Coke appeared to be dumfounded for an instant. Recovering himself, he +ran to the starboard side, leaned over, looked down at a torn plate +that showed its jagged edges just above the water-line, and then lifted +a blazing face toward a point half-way up the neighboring cliff, where +a haze lay like a veil of gauze on the weather-scarred rocks. +</P> + +<P> +"You d—d pirates!" he yelled, raising both clenched fists at the +hidden battery which had fired a twelve-pound shell into the doomed +ship. +</P> + +<P> +The <I>Andromeda</I> herself seemed to recognize that she was stricken unto +death. She fell away before the current with the aimless drift of a +log. +</P> + +<P> +"Let go!" bellowed Coke with frenzied pantomime of action to Hozier. +It was too late. Before the lever controlling the steam windlass that +released the anchor could be shoved over, another shell plunged through +the thin iron plates in the bows, smashing a steam pipe, and jamming +the hawser gear by its impact. The missile burst with a terrific +report. A sailor was knocked overboard, the carpenter was killed +outright, two other men were seriously wounded, and Hozier received a +blow on the forehead from a flying scrap of metal that stretched him on +the deck. +</P> + +<P> +The gunners on shore had not allowed for the drifting of the ship. +That second shell was meant to demolish the chart-house and clear the +bridge of its occupants. Striking high and forward, it had robbed the +<I>Andromeda</I> of her last chance. Now she was rolling in the full grip +of the tidal stream. It could only be a matter of a minute or less +before she struck. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +SHOWING WHAT BECAME OF THE "ANDROMEDA" +</H3> + + +<P> +The island artillery did not succeed in hitting the crippled ship +again. Three more shells were fired, but each projectile screamed +harmlessly far out to sea. A trained gunner, noting these facts, would +reason that the shore battery made good practice in the first instance +solely because its ordnance was trained at a known range. Indeed, he +might even hazard a guess that the <I>Andromeda's</I> warm reception was +arranged long before her masts and funnel rose over the horizon. That +the islanders intended nothing less than her complete destruction was +self-evident. Without the slightest warning they had tried to sink +her; and now that she was escaping the further attentions of the field +pieces, a number of troops stationed on South Point and the Isle des +Frégates began to pelt her with bullets. +</P> + +<P> +Iris, when the first paralysis of fear had passed, when her stricken +senses resumed their sway and her limbs lost their palsy, flinched from +this new danger, and sank sobbing to her knees behind the canvas shield +of the bridge. Somehow, this flimsy shelter, which sailors call the +"dodger," gave some sense of safety. Her throbbing brain was incapable +of lucid thought, but it was borne in on her mistily that the world and +its occupants had suddenly gone mad. The omen of the blood-red water +had justified itself most horribly. The dead carpenter was sprawling +over the forecastle windlass. His hand still clutched the brake. The +sailor at the wheel had been shot through the throat, and had fallen +limply through the open doorway of the chart-room; he lay there, +coughing up blood and froth, and gasping his life out. The two men +wounded by the second shell were creeping down the forward companion in +the effort to avoid the hail of lead that was beating on the ship. +Hozier was raising himself on hands and knees, his attitude that of a +man who is dazed, almost insensible. Watts had gone from the +bridge—he might have been whirled to death over the side like the +unfortunate foremast hand she had seen tossed from off the forecastle; +but Coke, whose charmed life apparently entitled him to act like a +lunatic, was actually balancing himself on top of the starboard rails +of the bridge by clinging to a stay, having climbed to that exposed +position in order to hurl oaths at the soldiers on shore. He had gone +berserk with rage. His cap had either fallen off or been torn from his +head by a bullet; his squat, powerful figure was shaking with frenzy; +he emphasized each curse with a passionate gesture of the free hand and +arm; he said among other things, and with no lack of forceful +adjectives, that if he could only come to close quarters with some of +the Portygee assassins on the island he would tear their sanguinary +livers out. It is an odd thing that men made animal by fury often use +that trope. They do really mean it. The liver is the earliest spoil +of the successful tiger. +</P> + +<P> +The <I>Andromeda</I>, uncontrollable as destiny, and quite as heedless of +her human freight, swung round with the current until her bows pointed +to the islet occupied by the marksmen. All at once, Coke suspended his +flow of invectives and rushed into the chart-room, where Iris heard him +tearing lockers open and throwing their contents on the deck. To +enter, he was obliged to leap over the body of the dying man. The +action was grotesque, callous, almost inhuman; it jarred the girl's +agonized transports back into a species of spiritual calm, a mental +state akin to the fatalism often exhibited by Asiatics when death is +imminent and not to be denied. The apparent madness of the captain was +now more distressing to her than the certain loss of the ship or the +invisible missiles that clanged into white patches on the iron plates, +cut sudden holes and scars in the woodwork, or whirred through the air +with a buzzing whistle of singularly menacing sound. She began to be +afraid of remaining on the bridge; her fear was not due to the really +vital fact that it was so exposed; it arose from the purely feminine +consideration that she was sure Coke had become a raving maniac, and +she dreaded meeting him when, if ever, he reappeared. +</P> + +<P> +A bullet struck the front frame of the chart-room, and several panes of +glass were shattered with a fearful din. That decided her. Coke, if +he were not killed, would surely be driven out. She sprang to her +feet, and literally ran down the steep ladder to the saloon deck. +Through the open door of the officers' mess she witnessed another +bizarre act—an act quite as extraordinary in its way as Coke's jump +over the steersman's body. In the midst of this drama of death and +destruction, Watts was standing there, with head thrown back and +uplifted arm, gulping down a tumblerful of some dark-colored liquid, +draining it to the dregs, while he held a black bottle in the other +hand. That a man should fly to rum for solace when existence itself +might be measured by minutes or seconds, was, to Iris, not the least +amazing experience of an episode crammed with all that was new, and +strange, and horrible in her life. She raced on, wholly unaware that +the drifting ship was now presenting her port bow to the death-dealing +fusillade. +</P> + +<P> +Then, from somewhere, she heard a gruff voice: +</P> + +<P> +"Hev' ye shut off steam, Macfarlane?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ou ay. It's a' snug below till the watter reaches the furnaces," came +the answer. +</P> + +<P> +So some of the men were doing their duty. Thank God for that! +Undeterred by the fact that a live shell had burst among the engines, +the oil-stained, grim-looking engineers had not quitted their post +until they had taken such precautions as lay in their power to insure +the ship's safety. A light broke in on the fog in the girl's mind. +Even now, at the very gate of eternity, one might try to help others! +The thought brought a ray of comfort. She was about to look for the +speakers when a bullet drilled a hole in a panel close to her side. +She began to run again, for a terrified glance through the forward +gangway showed that the ship was quite close to the land, where men in +blue uniforms, wearing curiously shaped hats and white gaiters, were +scattered among the rocks, some standing, some kneeling, some prone, +but all taking steady aim. +</P> + +<P> +But it showed something more. Hozier was now lying sideways on the +raised deck of the forecastle; he partly supported himself on his right +arm; his left hand was pressed to his forehead; he was trying to rise. +With an intuition that was phenomenal under the circumstances, Iris +realized that he was screened from observation for the moment by the +windlass and the corpse that lay across it. But the ship's ever +increasing speed, and the curving course of her drifting, would soon +bring him into sight, and then those merciless riflemen would shoot him +down. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, not that! Not that!" she wailed aloud. +</P> + +<P> +An impulse stronger than the instinct of self-preservation caused the +blood to tingle in her veins. She had waited to take that one look, +and now, bent double so as to avoid being seen by the soldiers, she +sped back through the gangway, gained the open deck, crouched close to +the bulwarks on the port side, and thus reached unscathed the foot of +the companion down which the wounded men had crawled. The zinc plates +on the steps were slippery with their blood, but she did not falter at +the sight. Up she went, stooped over Hozier, and placed her strong +young arms round his body. +</P> + +<P> +"Quick!" she panted, "let me help you! You will be killed if you +remain here!" +</P> + +<P> +Her voice seemed to rouse him as from troubled sleep. +</P> + +<P> +"I was hit," he muttered. "What is it? What is wrong?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, come, come!" she screamed, for some unseen agency tore a +transverse gash in the planking not a foot in front of them. +</P> + +<P> +He yielded with broken expostulations. She dragged him to the top of +the stairs. Clinging to him, she half walked, half fell down the few +steps. But she did not quite fall; Hozier's weight was almost more +than she could manage, but she clung to him desperately, saved him from +a headlong plunge to the deck, and literally carried him into the +forecastle, where she found some of the crew who had scurried there +like rabbits to their burrow when the first shell crashed into the +engine-room. +</P> + +<P> +Iris's fine eyes darted lightning at them. +</P> + +<P> +"You call yourselves men," she cried shrilly, "yet you leave one of +your officers lying on deck to be shot at by those fiends!" +</P> + +<P> +"We didn't know he was there, miss," said one. "We'd ha' fetched him +right enough if we did." +</P> + +<P> +Even in her present stress of mixed emotions, the sailor's words +sounded reasonable. Every other person on board was just as greatly +stunned by this monstrous attack as she herself, and the firing now +appeared to increase in volume and accuracy. Several bullets clanged +against the funnel or broke huge splinters off the boats. +</P> + +<P> +"Gord A'mighty, listen to that," growled a voice. "An' we cooped up +here, blazed at by a lot of rotten Dagos, with not a gun to our name!" +</P> + +<P> +Iris was still supporting Hozier, whose head and shoulders were +pillowed against her breast as she knelt behind him. +</P> + +<P> +"Can nothing be done?" she asked. "I believe Captain Coke has been +killed. Mr. Hozier is badly injured, I fear. Bring some water, if +possible." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yes, water.… Only a knock on the head.… How did it +happen? And what is that noise of firing?" +</P> + +<P> +Hozier's scattered wits were returning, though neither he nor Iris +remembered that the <I>Andromeda</I> was waterless. He looked up at her, +then at the men, and he smiled as his eyes met hers again. +</P> + +<P> +"Funny thing!" he said, with a natural tone that was reassuring. "I +thought the windlass smashed itself into smithereens. But it couldn't. +What was it that banged?" +</P> + +<P> +"A shell, fired from the island," said the girl. +</P> + +<P> +Hozier straightened himself a little. He was hearing marvels, though +far from understanding them, as yet. +</P> + +<P> +"A shell!" he repeated vacantly. Had she said "a comet" it could not +have sounded more incredible. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. It might have killed you. Several of the men are dead. I +myself saw three of them killed outright, and two others are badly +wounded." +</P> + +<P> +"Here you are, sir—drink this," said a fireman, offering a pannikin of +beer. It was unpalatable stuff, but it tasted like the nectar of the +gods to one who had sustained a blow that would have felled an ox. +Hozier had almost emptied the tin when an exclamation from an Irish +stoker drew all eyes to the after part of the ship. +</P> + +<P> +"Holy war! Will ye look at that!" shouted the man. "Sure the skipper +isn't dead, at all, at all." +</P> + +<P> +Iris had failed to grasp the meaning of Coke's antics in the +chart-room, but they were now fully explained. The bulldog breed of +this self-confessed rascal had taken the upper hand of him. Though he +had not scrupled to plot the destruction of the ship, and thus rob a +marine insurance company of a considerable sum of money—though at that +very instant there was actual proof of his scheme in the preparations +he had made to jam the steering-gear when the anchor was raised after +the tanks were replenished—it was not in the man's nature to skulk +into comparative safety because a foreigner, a pirate, a +not-to-be-mentioned-in-polite-society Portygee, opened fire on him in +this murderous fashion. Moreover, Coke's villainy would have +sacrificed no lives. The <I>Andromeda</I> might be converted into scrap +iron, and thereby give back, by perverted arithmetic, the money +invested in her. But her white decks would not be stained with blood. +Whatever risk was incurred would be his, the responsible captain's, his +only. It was a vastly different thing that shot and shell should be +rained on an unarmed ship by the troops of a civilized power when she +was seeking the lowest form of hospitality. No wonder if the +bull-necked skipper foamed at the mouth and used words forbidden by the +catechism; no wonder if he tried to express his helpless fury in one +last act of defiance. +</P> + +<P> +He rummaged the lockers for a Union Jack and the four flags that showed +the ship's name in signal letters. The red ensign was already +fluttering from a staff at the stern, and the house flag of David +Verity & Co. was at the fore, but these emblems did not satisfy Coke's +fighting mettle. The <I>Andromeda</I> would probably crack like an eggshell +the instant she touched the reef towards which she was hurrying; he +determined that she would go down with colors flying if he were not put +out of action by a bullet before he could reach the main halyard. +</P> + +<P> +The swerve in the ship's course as she passed the island gave him an +opportunity. In justice to Coke it should be said that he recked +naught of this, but it would have been humanly impossible otherwise for +the soldiers to have missed him. And now, while the vessel lay with +straight keel in the set of the current, the national emblem of +Britain, with the <I>Andromeda's</I> code flags beneath, fluttered up the +mainmast. +</P> + +<P> +There are many imaginable conditions under which Coke's deed would be +regarded as sublime; there are none which could deny his splendid +audacity. The soldiers, who seemed to be actuated by the utmost +malevolence, redoubled their efforts to hit the squat Hercules who had +bellowed at them and their fellow artillerists from the bridge. +Bullets struck the deck, lodged in the masts, splintered the roof and +panels of the upper structure, but not one touched Coke. He coolly +made fast each flag in its turn, and hauled away till the Union Jack +had reached the truck; then, drawn forrard by a hoarse cheer that came +from the forecastle, he turned his back on the enemy and swung himself +down to the fore-deck. +</P> + +<P> +He was still wearing the heavy garments demanded by the gale; his +recent exertions, joined to the fact that the normal temperature of a +sub-tropical island was making itself felt, had induced a violent +perspiration. As he lumbered along the deck he mopped his face +vigorously with a pocket handkerchief, and this homely action helped to +convince Iris that she was mistaken in thinking him mad. His words, +too, when he caught sight of her, were not those of a maniac. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, missy," he cried, "wot'll they say in Liverpool now? I s'pose +they'll 'ear of this some day," and he jerked a thumb backwards to +indicate the unceasing hail of bullets that poured into the after part +of the ship. +</P> + +<P> +The girl looked at him with an air of surprise that would have been +comical under less grievous conditions. She knew, with a vague +definiteness, that death was near, perhaps unavoidable, and it had +never occurred to her that she or any other person on board need feel +any concern about the view entertained by Liverpool as to their fate. +Before she could frame a reply, however, Hozier seemed to recover his +faculties. He stood up, walked unaided to the side of the ship, and +glanced ahead. +</P> + +<P> +"Shouldn't we try to lower a boat, sir?" he asked instantly. +</P> + +<P> +"Wot's the use?" growled Coke. "Oo's goin' to lower boats while them +blighters on the island are pumpin' lead into us? And wot good are the +boats w'en they're lowered? They've been drilled full of holes. You +might as well try to float a sieve. Look at that," he added +sarcastically, as the side of the cutter was ripped open by a +ricochetting shot, and splinters were littered on the deck, "they know +wot they want an' they mean to get it. Dead men tell no tales. It +won't be anybody 'ere now who'll 'ave the job of lettin' the folk at +'ome know 'ow the pore ole <I>Andromeda</I> went under." +</P> + +<P> +"Are none of the boats seaworthy?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not one. They're knocked to pieces. Sorry for you, Miss Yorke. But +we're all booked for Kingdom Come. In 'arf a minnit, or less, we'll be +on the reef, an' the ship must begin to break up." +</P> + +<P> +Coke was telling the plain truth, but Hozier ran aft to make sure that +he was right in assuming the extent of the boats' damages. One of the +men, an Italian, climbed to the forecastle deck in order to see more +clearly what sort of danger they were running into. He came back +instantly, and his swarthy face was green with terror. Though he spoke +English well enough, he began to jabber wildly in his mother tongue. +None paid heed to him. It was common knowledge that the vessel must be +lost, and that those who still lived when she struck would have the +alternatives of being drowned, or beaten to pieces against the frowning +rocks, or shot from the mainland like so many stranded seals, if some +alliance of luck and strength secured a momentary foothold on one of +the tiny islets that barred the way. And at such moments, when the +mind is driven into a swift-running channel that ends in a cataract, +elemental passions are apt to strive with elemental fears. Few among +these rough sailors had ever given thought to the future. They had +lived from hand to mouth, the demands of a hard and dangerous +profession alternating with bouts of foolish revelry. Most of them had +looked on death in the tempest, in the swirling seas, in the uplifted +knife. But then, there was always a chance of escape, an open door for +the stout heart and ready hand; whereas, under present conditions, +there was nothing to be done but pray, or curse, or wait in stoic +silence until the first ominous quiver ran through the swift-moving +ship. So, all unknowingly, they grouped themselves according to their +nationalities, for the Latins knelt and supplicated the saints and the +Virgin Mother, the Celts roared insensate threats at the islanders who +had thrown them into the very jaws of eternity, and the Saxons stood +motionless, with grim jaws and frowning brows, disdaining alike both +frenzied appeal and useless execration. +</P> + +<P> +Someone threw a cork jacket over the girl's shoulders, and bade her +fasten its straps around her waist. She obeyed without a word. +Indeed, she seemed to have lost the power of speech. Everything had +suddenly assumed such a crystal clear aspect that her eyes were gifted +with unnatural vision though her remaining senses were benumbed. The +blue and white of the sky, the emerald green of the water, the russet +brown and cold gray of the land—these shone now with a beauty vivid +beyond any of nature's tints she had ever before seen. She was +conscious, too, of an awful aloofness. Her spirit was entrenched in +its own citadel. She seemed to be brooding, solitary and remote, yet +shrinking ever within herself; quite unknowing, she offered a piteous +example of the old Hebrew's dire truism that man came naked into the +world and naked shall he depart. +</P> + +<P> +In a curiously detached way she wondered why Hozier did not return. +The prayers and curses of the men surrounding her fell unheeded on her +ears. Where was Hozier? What was he doing? Why did he not come to +her? She felt a strange confidence in him. If he had not been struck +down by that calamitous shell he would have saved the ship—assuredly +he would have devised some means of saving their lives! Perhaps, even +now, he was attempting some desperate expedient!… The thought +nerved her for an instant. Then a rending, grinding noise was followed +by a sudden swerve and roll of the ship that sent her staggering +against a bulkhead. An outburst of cries and shouting rang through her +brain, and a shriek was wrung from her parched throat. +</P> + +<P> +But the <I>Andromeda</I> righted herself again, though there was another +sound of tearing metal, and the deck heaved perceptibly under a shock. +</P> + +<P> +Ah, kind Heaven! here came Hozier, running, thundering some loud order. +</P> + +<P> +"The port life-boat … seaworthy!" +</P> + +<P> +There was a fierce rush, in which she joined. She was knocked down. A +strong hand dragged her to her feet. It was Coke, swearing horribly. +She saw Hozier leap against the flood of men. +</P> + +<P> +"D—n you, the woman first!" she heard him say, and he sent the leaders +of the mob sprawling over the hatches of the forehold. +</P> + +<P> +Coke, almost carrying her in his left arm, butted in among the crew +like an infuriated bull. Some of the men, shamefaced, made way for +them. Hosier reached her. She thought he said to the captain: +</P> + +<P> +"There's a chance, if we can swing her clear." +</P> + +<P> +Then the ship struck, and they were all flung to the deck. They rose, +somehow, anyhow, but the <I>Andromeda</I>, apparently resenting the check, +lifted herself bodily, tilted bow upward, and struck again. A mass of +spray dashed down upon the struggling figures who had been driven a +second time to their knees. There was a terrific explosion in the +after-hold, for the deck had burst under the pressure of air, and +another ominous roar announced that the water had reached the furnaces. +Steam and smoke and dust mingled with the incessant lashing of sheets +of spray, and Iris was torn from Coke's grip. +</P> + +<P> +She fancied she heard Hozier cry, "Too late!" and a lightning glimpse +down the sloping deck showed some of the engineers and stokers crawling +up toward the quivering forecastle. She felt herself clasped in +Hozier's arms, and knew that he was climbing. After a few breathless +seconds she realized that they were standing on the forecastle, where +the captain and many of the crew were clinging to the windlass, and +anchor, and cable, and bulwarks, to maintain their footing. Below, +beyond a stretch of unbroken deck, the sea raged against all that was +left of the ship. The bridge just showed above the froth and spume of +sea level. The funnel still held by its stays, but the mainmast was +gone, and with it the string of flags. +</P> + +<P> +The noise was deafening, overpowering. It sounded like the rattle of +some immense factory; yet a voice was audible through the din, for +Hozier was telling her not to abandon hope, as the fore part of the +ship was firmly wedged into a cleft in the rocks: they might still have +a chance when the tide dropped. +</P> + +<P> +So that explained why it was so dark where a few moments ago all was +light. Iris pressed the salt water out of her burning eyes, and tried +to look up. On both sides of the narrow triangle of the forecastle +rose smooth overhanging walls, black and dripping. They were festooned +with seaweed, and every wave that curled up between the ship's plates +and the rocks was thrown back over the deck, while streams of water +fell constantly from the masses of weed. She gasped for breath. The +mere sight of this dismal cleft with its super-saturated air space made +active the choking sensation of which she was just beginning to be +aware. +</P> + +<P> +"I—cannot breathe!" she sobbed, and she would have slipped off into +the welter of angry foam beneath had not Hozier tightened a protecting +arm round her waist. +</P> + +<P> +"Stoop down!" he said. +</P> + +<P> +She had a dim knowledge that he unbuttoned his coat and drew one of its +folds over her head. Ah, the blessed relief of it! Freed from the +stifling showers of spray, she drew a deep breath or two. How good he +was to her! How sure she was now that if he had been spared by that +disabling shell he would have saved them all! +</P> + +<P> +Bent and shrouded as she was, she could see quite clearly downward. +The ship was breaking up with inconceivable rapidity. Already there +was a huge irregular vent between the fore deck and the central block +of cabins topped by the bridge. And a new horror was added to all that +had gone before. Swarms of rats were skimming up the slippery planks. +They were invading the forecastle and the forecastle deck. They came +in an irresistible army, though, fortunately for Iris's continued +sanity, the greater number scurried into the darkness of the men's +quarters. +</P> + +<P> +She was watching them with fascinated eyes, though not daring to +withdraw her head from under the coat, when she heard a ghastly yell +from beneath, and an erie face appeared above the stairway. It was +Watts, mad with fright and drink. +</P> + +<P> +"Save me! save me!" he screamed, and the girl shuddered as she realized +that the man did not fear death so much as he loathed the scampering +rats. He had no difficulty in climbing the steep companion, though, by +reason of the present position of all that was left of the <I>Andromeda</I>, +its pitch was thrown back to an unusual angle. He scrambled up, a +pitiable object. A couple of rats ran over his body, and as each +whisked across his shoulders and past his cheek he uttered a +blood-curdling yell. A big wave surged up into the recesses of the +cleft and was flung off in a drenching shower on to the forecastle. It +nearly swept Watts into the next world, and it drove every rodent in +that exposed place back to the dry interior. +</P> + +<P> +To return, they had to use the unhappy chief officer as a causeway, and +the poor wretch's despairing cries were heartrending. He was clinging +for dear life to a bolt in the deck when Coke joined hands with a +sailor and was thus enabled to reach him. Once the skipper's strong +fingers had clutched his collar he was rescued—at least from the +instant death that might have been the outcome of his abject terror, +for there could be little doubt in the minds of those who saw his +glistening eyes and drawn lips that it would have needed the passage of +but one more rat and he would have relaxed his hold. +</P> + +<P> +Coke pulled him up until he was lodged in safety in front of the +windlass. The manner of the welcome given by the captain to his <I>aide</I> +need not be recorded here. It was curt and lurid; it would serve as a +sorry passport if proffered on his entry to another world; but the +tragi-comedy of Watts's appearance among the close-packed gathering on +the forecastle was forthwith blotted out of existence by a thing so +amazing, so utterly unlooked for that during a couple of spellbound +seconds not a man moved nor spoke. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER V +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE REFUGEES +</H3> + + +<P> +Watts was whimpering some broken excuse to his angry skipper when a +coil of stout rope fell on top of the windlass and rebounded to the +deck. More than that, one end of it stretched into the infinity of +dripping rock and flying spray overhead. And it had been thrown by +friendly hands. Though it dangled from some unseen ledge, its purpose +seemed to be that of help rather than slaughter, whereas every other +act of the inhabitants of Fernando Noronha had been suggestive of +homicidal mania in its worst form. +</P> + +<P> +Coke and Hozier recovered the use of their faculties simultaneously. +The eyes of the two men met, but Coke was the first to find his voice. +</P> + +<P> +"Salvage, by G—d!" he cried. "Up you go, Hozier! I'll sling the girl +behind you. She can't manage it alone, an' it needs someone with +brains to fix things up there for the rest of us." And he added +hoarsely in Philip's ear: "Sharp's the word. We 'aven't many minutes!" +</P> + +<P> +Philip made no demur. The captain's strong common sense had suggested +the best step that could be taken in the interests of all. Iris, who +was nearer yielding now that there was a prospect of being rescued than +when death was clamoring at her feet among the trembling remains of the +ship, silently permitted Coke and a sailor to strip off a life-belt and +tie her and Hozier back to back. It was wonderful, though hidden from +her ken in that supreme moment, to see how they devised a double sling +in order to distribute the strain. When each knot was securely +fastened, Coke vociferated a mighty "Heave away!" +</P> + +<P> +But his powerful voice was drowned by the incessant roar of the +breakers; not even the united clamor of every man present, fifteen all +told, including the drunken chief officer, could make itself heard +above the din. Then Hozier tugged sharply at the rope three times, and +it grew taut. Amid a jubilant cry from the others, he and Iris were +lifted clear of the deck. At once they were carried fully twenty feet +to seaward. As they swung back, not quite so far, and now well above +the level of the windlass from which their perilous journey had +started, a ready-witted sailor seized a few coils of a thin rope that +lay tucked up in the angle of the bulwarks, and flung them across +Hozier's arms. +</P> + +<P> +"Take a whip with you, sir!" he yelled, and Philip showed that he +understood by gripping the rope between his teeth. It was obvious that +the rescuers were working from a point well overhanging the recess into +which the <I>Andromeda</I> had driven her bows, and there might still be the +utmost difficulty in throwing a rope accurately from the rock to the +wreck. As a matter of fact, no less than six previous attempts had +been made, and the success of the seventh was due solely to a favorable +gust of wind hurtling into the cleft at the very instant it was needed. +The sailor's quick thought solved this problem for the future. By +tying the small rope to the heavier one, those who remained below could +haul it back when some sort of signal code was established. At +present, all they could do was to pay out the whip, and take care that +it did not interfere with Hozier's ascent. They soon lost sight of him +and the girl, for the spray and froth overhead formed an impenetrable +canopy, but they reasoned that the distance to be traveled could not be +great; otherwise the throwing of a rope would have been a physical +impossibility in the first instance. +</P> + +<P> +Once there was a check. They waited anxiously, but there was no sign +given by the frail rope that they were to haul in again. Then the +upward movement continued. +</P> + +<P> +"Chunk o' rock in the way," announced Coke, glaring round at the +survivors as if to challenge contradiction. No one answered. These +men were beginning to measure their lives against the life of the wedge +of iron and timber kept in position by the crumbling frame of the ship. +It was a fast-diminishing scale. The figures painted on the +<I>Andromeda's</I> bows represented minutes rather than feet. +</P> + +<P> +Watts was lying crouched on deck, with his arms thrown round the +windlass. Looking ever for a fresh incursion of rats, he seemed to be +cheered by the fact that his dreaded assailants preferred the interior +of the forecastle to the wave-swept deck. He was the only man there +who had no fear of death. Suddenly he began to croon a long-forgotten +sailor's chanty. Perhaps, in some dim way, a notion of his true +predicament had dawned on him, for there was a sinister purport to the +verse. +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"Now, me lads, sing a stave of the Dead Man's Mass;<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em">Ye'll never sail 'ome again, O.</SPAN><BR> +We're twelve old salts an' the skipper's lass,<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em">Marooned in the Spanish Main, O.</SPAN><BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 5em">Sing hay——</SPAN><BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 5em">Sing ho——</SPAN><BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em">A nikker is Davy Jones,</SPAN><BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 3em">Just one more plug, an' a swig at the jug,</SPAN><BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em">An' up with the skull an' bones."</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +After a longer and faster haul than had been noticed previously, the +rope stopped a second time. Everyone, except Watts, was watching the +whip intently. His eyes peered around, wide-open, lusterless. The +pounding of the seas, the grating of iron on rock, left him unmoved. +</P> + +<P> +"Wy don't you jine in the chorus, you swabs?" he cried, and forthwith +plunged into the second stanza. +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"The <I>Alice</I> brig sailed out of the Pool<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em">For the other side of the world, O,</SPAN><BR> +An' our ole man brought 'is gal from school,<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em">With 'er 'air so brown an' curled, O.</SPAN><BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 5em">Sing hum——</SPAN><BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 5em">Sing hum——</SPAN><BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em">Of death no man's a dodger,</SPAN><BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 3em">An' we squared our rig for a yardarm jig</SPAN><BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em">When we sighted the Jolly Roger."</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +He grew quite uproarious because the lilting tune evoked neither +applause nor vocal efforts from the others. +</P> + +<P> +"Lord luv' a duck!" he shouted. "Can't any of ye lend a hand? Cheer +O, maties—'ere's a bit more—— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +The brig was becalmed in a sea like glass,<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em">An' it gev' us all the creeps, O,</SPAN><BR> +Wen the sun went down like a ball o' brass,<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em">An' the pirate rigged 'is sweeps——"</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"There she goes!" yelled the sailor in charge of the line; he began to +haul in the slack like a madman; Coke's fist fell heavily on the +singer's right ear. +</P> + +<P> +"Wen your turn comes, I'll tie the rope round your bloomin' neck!" he +growled vindictively, though his eyes continued to search the dark +shroud overhead that inclosed them as in a tomb. A dark form loomed +downward through the mist. It was Hozier, alone, coming back to them. +A frenzied cheer broke from the lips of those overwrought men. They +knew what that meant. Somewhere, high above the black rocks and the +flying scud, was hope throned in the blessed sunshine. They drew him +in cautiously until Coke was able to grasp his hand. They were quick +to see that he brought a second rope and a spare whip. +</P> + +<P> +"Two at a time on both ropes," was his inspiriting message. "They're +friendly Portuguese up there, but no one must be seen if a boat is sent +from the island to find out what has become of the ship. So step +lively! Now, Captain, tell 'em off in pairs." +</P> + +<P> +Coke's method was characteristic. He literally fell on the two nearest +men and began to truss them. Hozier followed his example, and tied two +others back to back. They vanished, and the ropes returned, much more +speedily this time. Four, and four again, were drawn up to safety. +There were left the captain, Hozier, and the unhappy Watts, who was now +crying because the skipper had "set about" him, just for singin' a reel +ole wind-jammer song. +</P> + +<P> +"You must take up this swine," said Coke to Hozier, dragging Watts to +his feet with scant ceremony. "If I lay me 'ands on 'im I'll be +tempted to throttle 'im." +</P> + +<P> +Watts protested vigorously against being tied. He vowed that it was +contrary to articles for a chief officer to be treated in such a +fashion. He howled most dolorously during his transit through mid-air, +but was happily quieted by another sharp rap on the head resulting from +his inability to climb over the obstructing rock. +</P> + +<P> +Before quitting the deck, Hozier helped to adjust the remaining rope +around the captain's portly person. They were lifted clear of the +trembling forecastle almost simultaneously, and in the very nick of +time. Already the skeleton of the ship's hull was beginning to slip +off into deep water. The deck was several feet lower than at the +moment of the vessel's final impact against the rocks. Even before the +three reached the ledge from which their rescuers were working, the +bridge and funnel were swept away, the foremast fell, the forehold and +forecastle were riotously flooded by the sea, and Watts, were he +capable of using his eyes, might have seen his deadly enemies, the +rats, swarming in hundreds to the tiny platform that still rose above +the destroying waves. Soon, even that frail ark was shattered. When +keel and garboard stroke plates snapped, all that was left of the +<I>Andromeda</I> toppled over, and the cavern she had invaded rang with a +fierce note of triumph as the next wave thundered in without hindrance. +</P> + +<BR> +<HR WIDTH="60%" ALIGN="center"> +<BR> + +<P> +It was, indeed, a new and strange world on which Iris looked when able +to breathe and see once more. During that terrible ascent she had +retained but slight consciousness of her surroundings. She knew that +Hozier and herself were drawn close to a bulging rock, that her +companion clutched at it with hands and knees, and thus fended her +delicate limbs from off its broken surface; she felt herself half +carried, half lifted, up into free air and dazzling light; she heard +voices in a musical foreign tongue uttering words that had the ring of +sympathy. And that was all for a little while. Friendly hands placed +her in a warm and sunlit cleft, and she lay there, unable to think or +move. By degrees, the numbness of body and mind gave way to clearer +impressions. But she took much for granted. For instance, it did not +seem an unreasonable thing that the familiar faces of men from the +<I>Andromeda</I> should gather near her on an uneven shelf of rock strewn +with broken bolders and the litter of sea-birds. She recognized them +vaguely, and their presence brought a new confidence. They increased +in number; sailor-like, they began to take part instantly in the work +of rescue; but she wondered dully why Hozier did not come to her, nor +did she understand that he had gone back to that raging inferno beneath +until she saw his blood-stained face appear over the lip of the +precipice. +</P> + +<P> +Then she screamed wildly: "Thank God! Oh, thank God!" and staggered to +her feet in the frantic desire to help in unfastening the ropes that +bound him to the insensible Watts. One of the men tried to persuade +her to sit down again, but she would not be denied. Her unaccustomed +fingers strove vainly against the stiff strands, swollen as they were +with wet, and drawn taut by the strain to which they had been +subjected. Tears gushed forth at her own helplessness. The pain in +her eyes blinded her. She shrank away again. Not until Philip himself +spoke did she dare to look at him, to find that he was bending over +her, and endeavoring to allay her agitation by repeated assurance of +their common well-being. +</P> + +<P> +But her distraught brain was not yet equal to a complexity of thought. +Watts was lying close to her feet, and it thrilled her with dread and +contempt when Coke bestowed a well-considered kick on his chief +officer's prostrate form. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, how dare you?" she cried, indignant as an offended goddess. +</P> + +<P> +"Sorry, miss," said Coke, scowling as if he were inclined to repeat the +assault, though he was not then aware of the more strenuous method +adopted by the rock as a sobering agent. "I didn't know you was there. +But 'e fair gev' me a turn, 'e did, singin' 'is pot-'ouse crambos w'en +we was in the very jors of death, so to speak." +</P> + +<P> +"He must not sing," she announced gravely, "but really you should not +kick him." +</P> + +<P> +"Come, Miss Yorke," broke in Hozier, who was choking back a laugh that +was nearer hysteria than he dreamed, "our Portuguese friends say we +must not remain here an instant longer than is necessary." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said a strange voice, "the sea is moderating. At any moment a +boat may appear. Follow me, all of you. The road is a rough one, but +it is not far." +</P> + +<P> +The speaker was an elderly man, long-haired and bearded, of whose +personality the girl caught no other details than the patriarchal +beard, a pair of remarkably bright eyes, a long, pointed nose, and a +red scar that ran diagonally across a domed forehead. He turned away +without further explanation, and began to climb a natural pathway that +wound itself up the side of an almost perpendicular wall of rock. +</P> + +<P> +Hozier caught Iris by the arm, and would have assisted her, but she +shook herself free. She felt, and conducted herself, like a fractious +child. +</P> + +<P> +"I can manage quite well," she said with an odd petulance. "Please +look after that unfortunate Mr. Watts. I am not surprised that he +should have been frightened by the rats. They terrified me, too. Oh, +how awful they were—in the dark—when their eyes shone!" +</P> + +<P> +Her mind had traveled back to the two nights and a day passed in the +lazaretto. She sobbed bitterly, and stumbled over a steep ledge. She +would have fallen were it not for Philip's help. +</P> + +<P> +"Watts is all right," he soothed her. "Two of the men are seeing to +him. And the rats are all gone now. There are none here!" +</P> + +<P> +"Are you sure?" +</P> + +<P> +"Quite sure." +</P> + +<P> +"What became of them?" +</P> + +<P> +"They are all—we left them behind on the ship." +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly she clung to him. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't let them send me back to the ship," she implored. +</P> + +<P> +"No, no. You are safe now." +</P> + +<P> +"Of course I am safe, but I dread that ship. Why did I ever come on +board? Captain Coke said he would sink her. I told you——" +</P> + +<P> +"Steady! Keep a little nearer the rocks on your left. The passage is +narrow here." +</P> + +<P> +Hozier raised his voice somewhat, and purposely hurried her. But she +was not to be repressed. +</P> + +<P> +"Poor ship! What had she done that she should be battered on the +rocks?" she wailed. +</P> + +<P> +"You must not talk," he said firmly, well knowing that if the sailors +and firemen lumbering close behind had not heard her earlier comment it +was due solely to the blustering wind. They were skirting the seaward +face of the rocky islet on which they had found salvation. The sun was +blazing at them sideways from a wide expanse of blue sky. The rear +guard clouds of the gale were scurrying away over the horizon in front +of their upward path. Somehow, Philip's sailor's brain was befogged. +Those clouds must have blown to the northeast. If that were so, what +was the sun doing in the southeast at this time of the day? It had +hardly budged a point from the quarter in which some fitful gleams +shone when that mad thing happened near the windlass. Thinking he was +still dizzy from the effects of the blow, which the girl had ascribed +to the bursting of a shell, Philip glanced at his watch. It was +twenty-five minutes past eight! Yet he distinctly remembered eight +bells being struck while Coke was telling him from the bridge to give +the anchor thirty-five fathoms of cable. Was it possible that they had +gone through so much during those few minutes? If he were really +light-headed, then sun and clouds and watch were conspiring to keep him +so. +</P> + +<P> +Iris, chilled by his stern tone, nevertheless noted his action. Still +unable to concentrate her thoughts on more than one topic, and that to +the exclusion of all else, she asked the time. He told her. He +awaited some expression of surprise on her part, provided it were, +indeed, true that only twenty-five minutes had sped since the +<I>Andromeda</I> was quietly preparing to drop anchor off South Point. But +she received his news without comment. She would have been equally +undisturbed if told it was midnight, and that the vessel had gone +ashore on the coast of China. +</P> + +<P> +Just then the track turned sharply away from the sea. A dry +water-course cut deeply into the cliff where torrential rains had found +an upright layer of soft scoria imbedded in the mass of basalt. Their +guide was standing on the sky-line of the cleft, some forty feet above +them. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell the others to make haste," he said. "This is the end of your +journey." +</P> + +<P> +It did not strike either Hozier or the girl as being specially +remarkable that a man should meet them in this extraordinary place and +address them in good English. Iris, at any rate, gave no heed to this +most amazing fact. She merely observed for the first time that the +elderly stranger, while dressed in a beggar's rags, assumed an air of +command that was almost ludicrous. +</P> + +<P> +"Who is he?" she asked, being rather breathless now after a steep climb. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know," said Hozier. +</P> + +<P> +"How absurd!" she gasped. "I—I think I'm dreaming. Why—have +we—come here?" +</P> + +<P> +She heard a coarse chuckle from Coke, not far below. +</P> + +<P> +"Let 'im cough it up," the skipper was saying. "It'll do 'im good. +I've seen 'im blind many a time, but 'ow any man could dope 'isself in +that shape in less'n two minutes!—— Well, it fair gives me the +go-by!" +</P> + +<P> +Two minutes! Hozier listened, and he was recovering his wits far more +rapidly than Iris. Was the skipper, then, in league with nature +herself to perplex him? And Watts, too? Why did Coke hint so coarsely +that he was drunk? He was on the bridge while he, Philip, was +attending to the lead, and at that time the chief officer was perfectly +sober. +</P> + +<P> +Iris, once again, was deeply incensed by Coke's brutality. +</P> + +<P> +"Horrid man!" she murmured, but she had no breath left for louder +protest. It was hot as a furnace in this narrow ravine; each upward +step demanded an effort. She would have slipped and hurt herself many +times were it not for Hozier's firm grasp, nor did she realize the +sheer exhaustion that forced him to seek support from the neighboring +wall with his disengaged hand. The man in front, however, was alive to +their dangerous plight. He said something in his own language—for his +English had the precise staccato accent of the well-educated +foreigner—and another man appeared. The sight of the newcomer +startled Iris more than any other event that had happened since the +<I>Andromeda</I> reached the end of her last voyage. He wore the uniform of +those dreadful beings whom she had seen on the island. +</P> + +<P> +She shrieked; Hozier fancied she had sprained an ankle; but before she +could utter any sort of explanation the apparition in uniform was by +her side, and murmuring words that were evidently meant to be +reassuring. Seeing that he was not understood, he broke into halting +French. +</P> + +<P> +"Courage, madame!" he said. "Il faut monter—encore un peu—et +donc—vous êtes arrivé … Ça y est! Voilá! Comptez sur moi. +Juste ciel, mais c'est affreux l'escalier." +</P> + +<P> +But he worked while he poured out this medley, and Iris was standing on +level ground ere he made an end. He was a handsome youngster, +evidently an officer, and his eyes dwelt on the girl's face with no +lack of animation as he led her into a cave which seemed to have been +excavated from the inner side of a small crater. +</P> + +<P> +"You can rest here in absolute safety, madame," he said. "Permit me to +arrange a seat. Then I shall bring you some wine." +</P> + +<P> +Iris flung off the hand which held her arm so persuasively. +</P> + +<P> +"Please do not attend to me. There are wounded men who need attention +far more than I," she said, speaking in English, since it never entered +her mind that the Portuguese officer had been addressing her in French. +</P> + +<P> +He was puzzled more by her action than her words, but Hozier, who had +followed close behind, explained in sentences built on the +Ollendorffian plan that mademoiselle was disturbed, mademoiselle +required rest, mademoiselle hardly understood that which had arrived, +<I>et voilá tout</I>. +</P> + +<P> +The other man smiled comprehension, though he scanned Hozier with a +quick underlook. +</P> + +<P> +"Is monsieur the captain?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"No, monsieur the captain comes now. Here he is." +</P> + +<P> +"Mademoiselle, without doubt, is the daughter of monsieur the captain?" +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Hozier, rather curtly, turning to ascertain how Iris had +disposed of herself in the interior of the cavern. It was his first +experience of a South American dandy's pose towards women, or, to be +exact, toward women who are young and pretty, and it seemed to him not +the least marvelous event of an hour crammed with marvels that any man +should endeavor to begin an active flirtation under such circumstances. +</P> + +<P> +He saw that Iris was seated on a camp stool. Her face was buried in +her hands. A wealth of brown hair was tumbled over her neck and +shoulders; the constant showers of spray had loosened her tresses, and +the unavoidable rigors of the passage from ship to ledge had shaken out +every hairpin. The Tam o' Shanter cap she was wearing early in the day +had disappeared at some unknown stage of the adventure. Her attitude +bespoke a mood of overwhelming dejection. Like the remainder of her +companions in misfortune, she was drenched to the skin. That physical +drawback, however, was only a minor evil in this almost unpleasantly +hot retreat; but Hozier, able now to focus matters in fairly accurate +proportion, felt that Iris had not yet plumbed the depths of suffering. +Their trials were far from ended when their feet rested on the solid +rock. There was every indication that their rescuers were refugees +like themselves. The scanty resources visible in the cave, the intense +anxiety of the elderly Portuguese to avoid observation from the chief +island of the group, the very nature of the apparently inaccessible +crag in which he and his associates were hiding—each and all of these +things spoke volumes. +</P> + +<P> +Hozier did not attempt to disturb the girl until the dapper officer +produced a goatskin, and poured a small quantity of wine into a tin +cup. With a curious eagerness, he anticipated the other's obvious +intent. +</P> + +<P> +"Pardon me, monsieur," he said, seizing the vessel, and his direct +Anglo-Saxon manner quite robbed his French of its politeness. Then his +vocabulary broke down, and he added more suavely in English: "I will +persuade her to drink a little. She is rather hysterical, you know." +</P> + +<P> +The Portuguese nodded as though he understood. Iris looked up when +Hozier brought her the cup. The mere suggestion of something to drink +made active the parched agony of mouth and throat, but her wry face +when she found that the liquid was wine might have been amusing if the +conditions of life were less desperate. +</P> + +<P> +"Is there no water?" she asked plaintively. +</P> + +<P> +The officer, who was following the little by-play with his eyes, +realized the meaning of her words. +</P> + +<P> +"We have no water, mademoiselle," he said. Then he glanced at the +group of bedraggled sailors. "And very little wine," he added. +</P> + +<P> +"Please drink it," urged Hozier. "You are greatly run down, you know, +though you really ought to feel cheerful, since you have escaped with +your life." +</P> + +<P> +"I feel quite brave," said Iris simply. "I would never have believed +that I could go through—all that," and her childish trick of listening +to the booming of the distant breakers told him how vivid was her +recollection of the horrors crowded into those few brief minutes. +</P> + +<P> +"Be quick, please," put in the elderly Portuguese with a tinge of +impatience. "We have no second cup, and there are wounded men——" +</P> + +<P> +"Give it to them," said Iris, lifting her face again for an instant. +"I do not need it. I have told you that once already. I suppose you +think I should not be here." +</P> + +<P> +"I am sure our friend did not mean that," said Hozier, looking squarely +into those singularly bright eyes. He caught and held them. +</P> + +<P> +"I did not mean that the lady should be left to die if that is the +interpretation put on my remark," came the quiet answer. "But it was +an act of the utmost folly to bring a delicate girl on such an errand. +I cannot imagine what your captain was thinking of when he agreed to +it." +</P> + +<P> +"Wot's that, mister?" demanded Coke. Now that his fit of rage had +passed, the bulky skipper of the <I>Andromeda</I> was red-faced and +imperturbable as usual. The manifold perils he had passed through +showed no more lasting effect on him than a shower of sleet on the +thick hide of the animal he so closely resembled. +</P> + +<P> +"Are <I>you</I> the captain?" said the other. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, sir. An' I'd like to 'ear w'y my ship or 'er present trip wasn't +fit for enny young leddy, let alone——" +</P> + +<P> +"That is a matter for you to determine. I suppose you know best how to +conduct your own business. My only concern is with the outcome of your +rashness. Why did you deliberately sacrifice your ship in that manner?" +</P> + +<P> +The speaker's cut-glass style of English left his hearers in no doubt +as to what he had said. During the tense silence that reigned for a +few seconds even some among the crew pricked their ears, while Hozier +and Iris forgot other troubles in their new bewilderment. There were +reasons why the drift of the stranger's words should be laid deeply to +heart by three people present. Coke, at any rate, found himself nearer +a state of pallid nervousness than ever before in the course of a +variegated life. It was impossible that he should actually grow pale, +but his brick-red features assumed a purple tint, and his fiery little +eyes glinted. +</P> + +<P> +"Wot are you a-drivin' at, mister?" he growled at last, after trying +vainly to expectorate and compromising the effort in a husky gargle. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you deny, then, that you acted like a madman? Do you say that you +did not know quite well the risk you ran in bringing your vessel to the +island in broad daylight?" +</P> + +<P> +Then Coke found his breath. +</P> + +<P> +"Risk!" he roared. "Risk in steamin' to an anchorage an' sendin' a +boat ashore for water? There seems to be a lot of mad folk loose just +now on Fernando Noronha, but I'm not one of 'em, an' that's as much as +I can say for enny of you—damme if it ain't." +</P> + +<P> +Evidently the Portuguese was not accustomed to the direct form of +conversation in vogue among British master mariners. He bent his +piercing gaze on Coke's angry if somewhat flustered countenance, and +there was a perceptible stiffening of voice and manner when he said: +</P> + +<P> +"Who are you, then? Who sent you here?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm Captain James Coke, of the British ship <I>Andromeda</I>, that's 'oo +<I>I</I> am, an' I was sent 'ere, or leastways to the River Plate, by David +Verity an' Co., of Liverpool." +</P> + +<P> +It must not be forgotten that Coke shared with his employer a certain +unclassical freedom in the pronunciation of the ship's name; the long +"e" apparently puzzled the other man. +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Andromeeda</I>?" he muttered. "Spell it!" +</P> + +<P> +"My godfather, this is an asylum for sure," grunted Coke, in a spasm of +furious mirth. "A-n-d-r-o-m-e-d-a. Now you've got it. Ain't it up to +Portygee standard? A-n-d-r-o-m-e-d-a! 'Ow's that for the bloomin' +spellin' bee?" +</P> + +<P> +But Coke's humor made no appeal. The staring, brilliant eyes fixed on +him did not relax their vigilance, nor did any trace of emotion exhibit +itself in that calm voice. +</P> + +<P> +"You are unlucky, Captain Coke, most unlucky," it said. "I regret my +natural mistake, which, it seems, was shared by the authorities of +Fernando do Noronha. You have blundered into a nest of hornets, and, +as a result, you have been badly stung. Let me explain matters. I am +Dom Corria Antonio De Sylva, ex-President of the Republic of Brazil. +There is, at this moment, a determined movement on foot on the mainland +to replace me in power, and, with that object in view, efforts are +being made to secure my escape from the convict settlement in which my +enemies have imprisoned me. I and two faithful followers are here in +hiding. My friend, Capitano Salvador De San Benavides," and he bowed +with much dignity toward the uniformed officer, "came here two days ago +in a felucca to warn me that a steamer would lie to about a mile south +of the island to-night. The steamer's name is <I>Andros-y-Mela</I>—it is +rather like the name of your unhappy vessel—so much alike that the +<I>Andromeda</I> has been sunk by mistake. That is all." +</P> + +<P> +Coke, listening to this explanation with the virtuous wrath of a knave +who discovers that he has been wrongfully suspected, bristled now with +indignation. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, that's all, is it?" he cried sarcastically. "No, sir, it ain't +all, nor 'arf, nor quarter. Let me tell you that no crimson pirate on +Gawd's earth can blow a British ship off the 'igh seas an' then do the +dancin'-master act, with 'is 'and on 'is 'eart, an' say it was just a +flamin' mistake. All! says you? Don't you believe it. There's a lot +more to come yet, take my tip—a devil of a lot, or I'm the biggest +lunatic within a ten-mile circle of w'ere I'm stannin', which is givin' +long odds to any other crank in the whole creation." +</P> + +<P> +And Coke was right, though he little guessed then why he was so +thoroughly justified in assuming that he and the other survivors of the +<I>Andromeda</I> had not yet gone through half, or quarter, or more than a +mere curtain-raising prelude to the strange human drama in which they +were destined to be the chief actors. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BETWEEN THE BRAZILIAN DEVIL AND THE DEEP ATLANTIC +</H3> + + +<P> +There was an awkward pause. Coke, rascal though he was, and +pot-bellied withal, was no Falstaff. Rather did he suggest the +present-day atavism of some robber baron of the Middle Ages, whose +hectoring speech bubbled forth from a stout heart. But the ragged +ex-President heeded him not. After a moment of placid scrutiny of his +enraged countenance by those bright, watchful eyes, Coke might have +been non-existent so far as recognition of his outburst was apparent +during the sonorous discussion that ensued between Dom Corria Antonio +De Sylva and the Señor Capitano Salvador De San Benavides. +</P> + +<P> +The latter, it is true, betrayed excitement. At first he favored Iris +with a deprecatingly admiring glance, as one who would say, "Dear lady, +accept my profound regret and respectful homage." But that phase +quickly passed. His leader was not a man to waste words, and the +gallant captain's expressive face soon showed that he had grasped the +essential facts. They did not please him. In fact, he was distinctly +cowed, almost stunned, by his companion's revelations. +</P> + +<P> +It fell to De Sylva to explain matters to his unexpected guests. +</P> + +<P> +"My friend agrees with me that it is only fair that the exact position +should be revealed to you," he said, addressing Coke, though a +dignified gesture invited the others to share his confidence. +</P> + +<P> +"It don't take much tellin'," began Coke. De Sylva silenced him with +an emphatic hand. +</P> + +<P> +"Please attend. The situation is not so simple as you seem to imagine. +The loss of your ship cannot be dealt with here. It raises issues of +international law which can only be settled by courts and governments. +You know, I suppose, that nothing will be done until a complaint is +lodged by a British minister, and that hinges upon the very doubtful +fact that you will ever again see your own country." +</P> + +<P> +The ex-President certainly had the knack of expressing himself clearly. +Those concluding words rang like a knell. They even called Watts back +from the slumber of unconsciousness; the "chief" stirred himself where +he lay on the floor of the cavern, and began to quaver. +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"——twelve old salts an' the skipper's lass<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em">Marooned in the Spanish Main, O.</SPAN><BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 5em">Sing hay——"</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Coke, taken by surprise, was unable to stop this warbling earlier. But +his hand clutched Watts's shoulder, and his venomous whisper of "Shut +up, you ijjit!" was so unmistakable that the lyric ceased. +</P> + +<P> +De Sylva seemed to be aware of some peculiarity in the symptoms of the +wounded man's recovery, but he continued speaking in the same balanced +tone. +</P> + +<P> +"It happens, by idle chance, that my enemies have become yours. The +men who destroyed your ship thought they were injuring me. I have just +pointed out to Capitano De San Benavides the precise outcome of this +attack. Until a few moments ago we shared the delusion that the troops +on Fernando de Noronha believed we were now on our way to a Brazilian +port. We were mistaken. More than that, we know now that they have +obtained news—probably through a traitor to our cause—of the +<I>Andros-y-Mela's</I> voyage. They were prepared for her coming. They had +made arrangements to receive her—almost at the place decided on by our +friends in Brazil. It is more than likely that the <I>Andros-y-Mela</I> is +now lying under the guns of some coast fortress, since the presence of +troops and cannon on this side of the island is unprecedented." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't see wot all this 'as to do with me," blurted out Coke +determinedly. +</P> + +<P> +"No. It would not concern you in the least if you were safe at sea. +But, since you are here, it does concern you most gravely. From one +point of view, you served my cause well by preparing to lower a boat. +You misled my persecutors as to locality, at least. Of course, I saw +you, and thought you were mad, but your action did help to conceal from +the soldiers the secret of my true hiding-place. I wish to be candid +with you. If my friends and I had realized that you were here by +accident, we ought to have taken no steps to save you." +</P> + +<P> +"Really!" snarled Coke, eying the unruffled Brazilian much as an +Andulusian bull might glare at a picador. A buzz of angry whispering +came from the crew. Even Iris flashed a disdainful glance at the man +who uttered this atrocious sentiment. De Sylva raised his hand. He +permitted himself the luxury of a wintry smile. +</P> + +<P> +"Pray, do not misunderstand me," he said. "I am humane as most others, +but it is difficult to decide whether or not mere humanity, setting +aside self-interest, would not rather condemn you to the speedy death +of the wreck than drag you to the worse fate that awaits you here. And +please remember that we did succor you, thus risking observation and a +visit by the troops when the sea permits a landing. But that is not +the true issue. An hour ago there were four people on this bare +rock—four of us who looked for escape to-night. We were supplied with +such small necessaries of existence as would enable us to live if our +rescuers were delayed for a day, or even two. Now, there will be no +rescue. We are—" he looked slowly around—"twenty instead of four; +but we have the same quantity of stores, which consist of a +half-emptied skin of wine, a bunch of bananas, a few scraps of maize +bread, and some strips of dried meat. Do you follow me?" +</P> + +<P> +Coke, who had been holding Watts in a sitting posture by a firm grip on +his collar, allowed the limp figure to sprawl headlong again. He +wanted to plunge both hands deeply into his trousers pockets, because +men of his type associate attitude so closely with thought that the one +is apt to become almost dependent on the other. And so, for the +moment, the safeguarding of Watts was of no consequence. But Watts had +benefited much by the sousing of the spray, while his recovery was +expedited by the forcible ejection of the salt water he had swallowed. +He raised himself on one hand, and looked about with an inquiring eye. +The Brazilian officer's uniform seemed to fascinate him. +</P> + +<P> +"'Ello!" he gurgled. "Run in? Well I'm——" +</P> + +<P> +"Is not that man wounded? I thought I saw him dashed against the +rocks," said De Sylva. +</P> + +<P> +"'E ought to be," said Coke, "but 'e's on'y drunk. A skin o' rum, 'arf +empty, too, just like your skin o' wine, mister." +</P> + +<P> +"Let him be taken outside and gagged if he resists." +</P> + +<P> +There was an uneasy movement among the men. Their common impulse was +to obey. Coke spread his feet a little apart. +</P> + +<P> +"Leave 'im alone. 'E'll do no 'arm now," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"I cannot be interrupted," cried De Sylva, whose iron self-restraint +seemed to be yielding before British truculence. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll keep 'im quiet but I can't 'ave 'im roasted afore 'is time, an' +that's wot's 'ul 'appen if you tied him up in that gulley." +</P> + +<P> +"Thanke'ee, skipper. You allus were a reel pal," murmured Watts. +</P> + +<P> +Coke bent over him. +</P> + +<P> +"If your tongue don't stop waggin' it'll soon be stickin' out between +yer teeth," he hissed. "This ain't no fancy lock-up in the East Injia +Dock Road, Arthur, me boy. They won't bring you a pint of cocoa 'ere, +an' ax if you're comfortable. You 'aven't long to live accordin' to +all accounts, so just close your mouth an' open your ears, an' mebbe +you'll know w'y." +</P> + +<P> +De Sylva regained his self-possession with a rapidity that was +significant. He had not climbed to the presidential chair of the +Republic from a clerkship in the London Embassy of the Empire without +acquiring the habit of estimating his fellow men speedily and +accurately. Here was one who might be led, but would never permit +himself to be driven. Moreover, this dethroned ruler was by way of +being a philosopher. +</P> + +<P> +"I hate drunkards," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "You cannot +trust them. If I had been surrounded by trustworthy men, I should +not——" +</P> + +<P> +He broke off. There was a sound of hurrying footsteps on the steep +pathway. A figure, clad in rags that surpassed even De Sylva's, +appeared in the entrance. A brief colloquy took place. De Sylva's +eager questions were answered in monosyllables, or the nearest approach +thereto. +</P> + +<P> +"Marcel tells me that one of your boats is drifting away with a man +lying in the bottom," came the uneasy explanation. +</P> + +<P> +Coke's face showed a degree of surprise, which, in his case, was almost +invariably akin to disbelief, but an exclamation from Hozier drew all +eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Good Lord!" he cried, "that must be the lifeboat I was trying to clear +when the ship struck. Macfarlane was helping me, but he was hit by a +bullet and dropped across the thwarts. I thought he was dead!" +</P> + +<P> +"Dead or alive, he is better off than we," said De Sylva. He +questioned Marcel again briefly. "There can be no doubt that the man +in the boat cast off the lashings when he found that the ship was +sinking," he continued in English. "Marcel saw him doing that, and +wondered why he was alone. At any rate, if he is carried beyond the +reef, he has a fighting chance. We have none." +</P> + +<P> +"Why not? Are these men on the island so deaf to human sympathies that +they would murder all of us in cold blood?" +</P> + +<P> +The girl's sweet, low-pitched voice sounded inexpressibly sad in that +vaulted place. Even De Sylva's studied control gave way before its +music. He uttered some anguished appeal to the deity in his own +tongue, and flung out his hands impulsively. +</P> + +<P> +"What would you have me say?" he cried, and his eyes blazed, while the +scar on his forehead darkened with the gust of passion that swept over +his strong features. "I might lie to you, and try to persuade you that +we can exist here without food or water, whereas to-morrow, or next day +at the utmost, will see most of us dead. But in a few hours you will +realize what it means to be kept on this bare rock under a tropical +sun. You can do one thing. Your party greatly outnumbers mine. Climb +to the top-most pinnacle and signal to the island. You will soon be +seen." +</P> + +<P> +He laughed with a savage irony that was not good to hear, but Coke +caught at the suggestion. +</P> + +<P> +"Even that is better'n tearin' one another like mad dogs," he growled. +"I know wot's comin'. I've seen it wonst." +</P> + +<P> +Hozier made for the exit, where Marcel stood, irresolute, apparently +waiting for orders. +</P> + +<P> +"Where are you going?" demanded De Sylva. +</P> + +<P> +"To see what is becoming of the lifeboat." +</P> + +<P> +"Better not. You cannot help your friend, and the instant it becomes +known to the troops that there is a living soul on the Grand-père rock +they will come in a steam launch and shoot everyone at sight." +</P> + +<P> +"Will that be the answer to our signal?" +</P> + +<P> +It was Iris who asked the question, and the Brazilian's voice softened +again. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, then, do you advise us to seek our own destruction?" +</P> + +<P> +He bowed. His manner was almost humble. +</P> + +<P> +"It is the easier way," he murmured. +</P> + +<P> +"Is there no other?" +</P> + +<P> +"None—unless we attack two hundred soldiers with sticks, and stones, +and three revolvers, and a sword." +</P> + +<P> +Hozier came back. He had merely stepped a pace or two into the +sunlight. Through the northerly dip of the gulley he had seen the +ship's boat whirled past an islet by the fierce current. Macfarlane +was not visible. Perhaps that was better so. At any rate, the sight +of the small craft vanishing behind one of the island barriers brought +home with telling force the predicament of those who remained. Now +that the sheer frenzy of the wreck had relaxed, Philip's head was like +to split with the throbbing anguish of the blow he had received. But +his mind was clearer. De Sylva's words, amplifying his own vague +recollection of the scene on board the <I>Andromeda</I>, enabled him to +construct a picture of events as they were. And his blood boiled when +he thought of Iris, snatched many times from death, only to face it +once more in the ravening form of starvation and thirst. +</P> + +<P> +"Attack!" he said hoarsely. "How is that possible? A deep and wide +channel separates us from the main island." +</P> + +<P> +The Brazilian, who seemed to have argued himself into a state of stoic +despair, gave a startling answer. +</P> + +<P> +"We have a boat, a sort of boat," he said quietly. +</P> + +<P> +"How many will it hold?" +</P> + +<P> +"Three, in a smooth sea, and with skilled handling. It nearly +overturned when I and two others crossed from the island, a distance of +three hundred yards." +</P> + +<P> +"But we have ropes, clothes, perhaps some few pieces of wreckage. Can +nothing be done to repair it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Meaning that we draw lots to see who shall endeavor to escape +to-night?" +</P> + +<P> +"The men might even do that." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, yes—the men, of course. I think it hopeless. But, try it! Yes, +certainly, try it!" +</P> + +<P> +A pause, more eloquent than the most impassioned speech, showed how +this frail straw, eddying in the vortex of their fate, might yet be +clutched at. San Benavides, trying vainly to guess what was being +said, blurted forth an anxious inquiry. His compatriot explained +briefly. Somehow, the measured cadence of their talk had a less +reliable sound than the vigorous Anglo-Saxon. They were both brave +men. They had not scrupled to risk their lives in an enterprise where +success beckoned even doubtingly. But they were lacking when all that +remained to be settled was how best to die; in such an hour the men of +an English speaking race will ever choose a fighting death. +</P> + +<P> +This time, it was a woman who decided. +</P> + +<P> +Iris rose to her feet. She brushed back the strands of damp hair from +her face, and with deft hands made a rough-and-ready coil of her +abundant tresses. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you planning to send me with two others adrift in a boat, while +seventeen men are left here?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +The Brazilian ceased speaking. There was another uneasy pause. Hozier +felt that the question was addressed to him, but he was tongue-tied, +almost shame-faced. Coke, however, did not shirk the task of +enlightening her. +</P> + +<P> +"Something like that," he said. "We can't let you cut in with the rest +of us, missy. That wouldn't be reasonable. But it's best to fix the +business fair an' square. We ain't agoin' to try any other way, not so +long as <I>I'm</I> skipper," and he looked with brutal frankness at De Sylva +and the anxious but uncomprehending San Benavides. +</P> + +<P> +The ex-President knew what he meant; even in his despondency he +resented the implied slur on his good faith. +</P> + +<P> +"You cannot examine the boat until darkness sets in," he said. "Then +you will find out how frail a foundation you are building on. It is +absolutely ridiculous to assume that she can be made seaworthy. Her +occupants would be drowned before they were clear of the islands." +</P> + +<P> +"In any case, I refuse to go," said Iris. +</P> + +<P> +De Sylva smiled gloomily. +</P> + +<P> +"You are courageous, senhora, and, in some respects, you are wise," he +said. "Yet … I must admit it … I would urge you to select the +boat—in preference …" +</P> + +<P> +Marcel, the Brazilian who had come to tell them of the drifting +life-boat, turned away from the mouth of the cavern, and scrambled down +the ravine. +</P> + +<P> +"Wot's 'e after?" demanded Coke, suddenly suspicious. +</P> + +<P> +"He and Domingo are keeping a lookout," said De Sylva. "If the +soldiers intend to visit us we should at least be warned. The boat is +hidden among the rocks on the landward side," he added, not without a +touch of scorn. +</P> + +<P> +"That man has taught us our own duty," cried Iris. "The boat that +brought these men to this rock can bring nineteen men and a woman to +Fernando Noronha. We must land there to-night. With those to guide us +who know the coast, surely that should be possible. We have a right to +struggle for our lives. We, of the <I>Andromeda</I>, at least, have done no +wrong to the cruel wretches who sought to kill us without mercy to-day. +Why should we not endeavor to defend ourselves? There is food there, +and guns in plenty. Let us take them. Above all, let us not dream of +any such useless device as this proposal to send three to drown +somewhere in the sea and leave seventeen to perish miserably here. We +are in God's hands. Let us trust to Him, but while doing that fully +and fearlessly, we must seek life, not death." +</P> + +<P> +"Bully for you, miss!" roared a sailor, and a growl of admiration rang +through the cave. Instantly a hubbub of talk showed how intent the +crew had been on the previous discussion, but Coke shouted them into +silence. +</P> + +<P> +"Oo axed wot <I>you</I> think, you swabs?" he bellowed. "Stow your lip! +Sink me, if you don't all do as you're bid, an' keep still tongues in +your 'eds, I'll want to know w'y—P.D.Q." +</P> + +<P> +A big, blond Norwegian, Hans Olsen by name, strode forward. Unlike the +usual self-contained Norseman, he was reputed a "sea-lawyer" in the +forecastle. +</P> + +<P> +"We haf somedings ter zay for our lifes, yez," he protested. Coke bent +and butted him violently in the stomach with his head. The man crashed +against the rocky wall, and sat dazed where he had fallen. +</P> + +<P> +"You've got to obey orders—savvy?" growled Coke. +</P> + +<P> +"Yez," gasped Olsen, evidently fearing a further assault. +</P> + +<P> +The incident ended. Its outstanding feature was the amazing activity +displayed by the burly skipper, who had rammed his man before the big +fellow could lift a finger. It might be expected that Iris would show +some sign of dismay, owing to this unlooked-for violence. But she was +now beyond the reach of merely feminine emotions. She had protested +against the kicking of Watts because it seemed to lack motive, because +Watts was helpless, and because she herself was half-delirious at the +time. Olsen's attitude, on the other hand, hinted at mutiny, and +mutiny must be repressed at any cost. +</P> + +<P> +De Sylva's incisive accents helped to bridge a moment fraught with +possibilities, for it would be idle to assume that this polyglot +gathering was composed of Bayards. Self-preservation is apt to prove +stronger than chivalry under such circumstances. Let it be assumed +that three among the twenty could escape that night, and it was +horribly true that the field of selection might be narrowed by a +wild-beast struggle long before the sun went down. +</P> + +<P> +"The young lady has at least given us a project," he said. "It is a +desperate one, Heaven knows! It offers a fantastic chance, and I can +see no other, but—what can we do without arms?" +</P> + +<P> +"Use our heads," put in Hozier. He had not the slightest intention of +making a light-hearted joke at that crisis in their affairs, but he +happened to look at Coke, and an involuntary smile gleamed through the +crust of clotted blood and perspiration that gave his good-looking face +a most sinister aspect. The Irishman cackled with laughter. +</P> + +<P> +"Begob, that's wan for the skipper," he crowed; then some of the others +grinned, and the <I>Andromeda's</I> little company stood four-square again +to the winds of adversity. Having blundered into prominence, the +second mate was quick to see that he must hammer home the facts, though +in more serious vein. +</P> + +<P> +"Bring us to the island, Senhor De Sylva," he said, "and we will make a +fight of it. In any case, even if we fail, they will not deliberately +kill a woman. There must be other women there who will intervene in +behalf of one of their own sex. But we may succeed. It is improbable +that the whole of the troops will be gathered in one spot. Why should +we not take some small detachment by surprise and secure their weapons? +If we can land unobserved, we ought to be able to drop on them +apparently from the skies. I take it that the presence here of Captain +San Benavides is unknown, and the leadership of an officer in the +enemy's own uniform should turn the scale in our favor. Have you no +followers among the troops or islanders? Suppose we make good our +first attack, and seize a strong position—isn't it probable we may +receive assistance from your partisans?" +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps—among the convicts," was De Sylva's grim reply. +</P> + +<P> +"No officials, or soldiers?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not one. They are chosen for this service on account of their +animosity against the former Government. How else could you account +for their treatment of unarmed men on a ship crippled by their first +shell?" +</P> + +<P> +"You spoke of a steam launch. Where is that kept?" +</P> + +<P> +"At a wharf under the walls of the citadel which commands the town and +anchorage." +</P> + +<P> +"Assuming we have a stroke of luck and rush some outpost, would it be +possible to cross the island before dawn and board the launch or some +other craft in which we can put to sea?" +</P> + +<P> +"There is only the launch, and some small fishing catamarans. No other +boats are allowed to exist on the island, in order to prevent the +escape of convicts. The boat we possess is really a badly-constructed +catamaran, without a sail, and minus the out-rigger which alone renders +it safe for the shortest voyage." +</P> + +<P> +"Wy didn't you say that sooner, mister?" put in Coke. "If some of +these jokers knew wot sort of craft it was, mebbe it wouldn't 'ave +needed a shove in the stommick to bring Hans Olsen to heel." +</P> + +<P> +"I am sorry," said De Sylva. "You see, I realized the utter folly of +trying to escape in that fashion." +</P> + +<P> +The two men looked each other squarely in the eye. The ex-President of +a great republic and the master of a worn-out tramp steamer were both +born leaders of men. Whatsoever prospect of a cabal existed +previously, it was scotched now, beyond doubt. Henceforth, no matter +what ills threatened, surely the little army mustered on the Grand-père +rock would stand or fall together! +</P> + +<P> +An unerring token of unity was forthcoming at once. +</P> + +<P> +"Please, miss, an' gents all, may we smoke?" pleaded a voice. +</P> + +<P> +Iris was for an immediate permission, but De Sylva shook his head. +</P> + +<P> +"Not until the tide falls," he said. "There is a very real fear of a +visit from the launch. It has passed this spot four times during the +past two days—ever since my absence was discovered, in fact. The +soldiers have searched every outlying island, but they have avoided +Grand-père because it is believed that a landing is highly dangerous if +not quite impracticable. My friend Marcel, a fisherman, discovered by +accident the only safe means of reaching the path which winds round the +island. Happily, the wretch who betrayed the mission of the +<I>Andros-y-Mela</I> did not know the secret of my refuge. And I see now +that the Governor must be convinced that I am still hiding among the +cliffs, or your vessel would not have appeared off South Point this +morning. No, there must be no smoking as yet. In this clear air the +slightest cloud might be seen rising above the rocks from without." +</P> + +<P> +Marcel reappeared at the entrance. With him was another man, whom +Hozier remembered seeing when he was hauled up from the ship with Iris. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, I was not mistaken," went on De Sylva. "Here comes news of the +launch! They have signaled for it across the island." +</P> + +<P> +Marcel entered the cave with an expressive gesture, for long habit had +almost robbed him of his native vivacity. His companion, Domingo, +climbed the opposite wall of the ravine and stretched himself at full +length in a niche where there was room for a man to lie. Some tufts of +rough grass grew there in sufficient density to conceal his head while +he peered between the stalks. They could see him quite plainly, but no +one wanted to speak. Though the unceasing wash of a heavy swell +against the rocks would have drowned the noise had they shouted in +unison, there was no need to tell anyone present that a very real and +dangerous crisis had arrived. The slow change in the direction of +Domingo's gaze showed the approach and passing of the hostile vessel. +It was evident that a long halt was made in the channel close to the +wreck, of which some fragments remained above water. Still, curiously +enough, it was impossible for those on board the launch to read the +ship's name, since the word "<I>Andromeda</I>," twice embossed on the sharp +cut-water, was hidden by the jutting rocks on both sides of the cleft. +</P> + +<P> +But it was not the fear of instant death following on the discovery +that the Grand-père islet was inhabited that kept tongues mute and ears +on the alert during a quarter of an hour that seemed to be protracted +to a quarter of a day. At present they were shut off from hostile +bullets by the walls of a fortress stronger than any that could be +built by men's hands. The greater danger was that the enemy's +suspicions might be aroused. Let those who held Fernando Noronha with +the armed forces of Brazil once come to regard the isolated rock in mid +channel as providing even a possible refuge for the ex-President and +his friends, and it would mean the complete overthrow of the slender +chance of saving their lives that still offered itself. +</P> + +<P> +So they waited in silence, watching the rigid figure of the prostrate +Brazilian, just as those among them who were saved from the <I>Andromeda</I> +had watched the arch of spray and spindrift from the slowly sinking +forecastle. +</P> + +<P> +At last Domingo turned his head slightly, and gave them a reassuring +little nod. He said something, which De Sylva translated. +</P> + +<P> +"They have a photograph of the wreck," he said, "and are now steaming +through the northerly channel to the anchorage on the west side of the +island. Most fortunately, they do not seem to be aware of your +drifting boat." +</P> + +<P> +Then he added, with a courtliness that was so incongruous with his +unkempt appearance and patched and tattered garments;—"If the Senhora +permits, the men may smoke now. In another hour the channel will not +be navigable. We have a hot and tiring day before us, and I advise +sleep for those to whom it is vouchsafed. If the weather continues to +improve, the next tide will bring us a smooth sea. Given that, and a +dark night—well—we may make history. Who knows?" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap07"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CROSS PURPOSES +</H3> + + +<P> +Though Iris gave such warlike counsel, it would be doing her a grave +injustice to assume that her gentle disposition was changed because of +the day's sufferings. The erstwhile light-hearted schoolgirl and +youthful mistress of her uncle's house had been subjected to dynamic +influences. The ordeal through which she had passed, unscathed bodily +but seared in spirit, had left her strung to a tense pitch. Relaxation +had not come—as yet. She only knew that she resented to the uttermost +the Brazilians' malevolent fury. Hers was a nature that could not +endure unfairness. It was unfair of David Verity to seek to mend his +shattered fortunes by forcing her into a hateful marriage; unfair of +both Verity and Coke to found their new venture on a great fraud; and +monstrously unfair of these island factionaries to vent their spite on +an innocent ship. So, for the hour, she was inspired. It is the +high-souled enthusiast who devotes life itself to a cause; those who +practice oppression have ever most to beware of in the man or woman +whose conscience will not condone a wrong. +</P> + +<P> +Of course, in this present clash of emotions, Iris little understood +what her advice really meant. She was appealing to heaven rather than +to the force of arms. To one of her temperament, it seemed incredible +that a number of inoffensive strangers should be slaughtered because a +South American republic could not agree in choosing a president. Such +a thing was unheard of in her previous experience, built on no more +solid foundation than the humdrum existence of Brussels and Bootle. +And the inhabitants of neither Brussels nor Bootle settle their +political differences by shooting casual visitors at sight. +</P> + +<P> +Oddly enough, the only professional soldier present condemned her +project roundly when it was mooted. +</P> + +<P> +"In leaving the island to-night you are acting on an assumption," +protested Captain San Benavides to his chief. "You cannot be sure that +the <I>Andros-y-Mela</I> will not appear. The arrangement is that she is to +send a boat here soon after midnight, yet, if this mad scheme of an +attack on armed troops by unarmed men is persisted in, we must begin to +ferry to the island long before that hour. In all probability, we +shall be discovered at once. At the very moment that our friends are +eagerly awaiting us on board the ship we may be lying dead on the +island. The notion is preposterous. Be guided by me, Dom Corria, and +decline to have anything to do with it. Better still, let these +English boors promise to forget that we are alive; then Marcel can +guide them to the landing-place, where they will be shot speedily and +comfortably. There is no sense in sacrificing the girl. She must be +kept here on some pretext." +</P> + +<P> +The ex-President took thought before he answered. He did not deny +himself that the confident air of these hard-bitten sailors made strong +appeal to his judgment. He had his own reasons for distrusting some +among his professed supporters, and he did not share his military +aide's opinion as to the coming of the promised vessel. +</P> + +<P> +"There is a good deal in what you say, senhor adjudante," he announced +after his bright eyes had dwelt on San Benavides' expressive face in +thoughtful scrutiny. "In England they have a proverb that a man cannot +both run with the hare and hunt with the hounds, but such maxims are +not framed for would-be Presidents. I fear we must fall in with our +allies' views, <I>faute de mieux</I>. You and I have to lead a headstrong +army. That little Hercules of a commander is stubborn as a mule—a +mule that has the strength and courage of a wild boar. The younger man +thinks only of the girl's safety. He, at least, will not consent to +leave her. Both, backed by their crew, will not scruple to sacrifice +us if their interests point that way. Trust me to twist them into the +course that shall best serve our own needs. I am now going to tell +them that you approve of their plan." +</P> + +<P> +Forthwith he launched out into an English version of the excellent +captain's comments. His precise, well-turned periods were admirable. +Their marked defect was that he said the exact contrary to San +Benavides. +</P> + +<P> +Iris, having a born aptitude for languages, spoke French and German +with some proficiency. She had also devoted many hours to the study of +Spanish during the past winter, and it happens that the Portuguese of +Brazil is less unlike Spanish than the Portuguese of Lisbon. In +Europe, national antipathies serve to accentuate existing differences +between the two tongues, but the peoples of the South American seaboard +feel the need of a common speech, and local conditions have +standardized many words. Hence, the Spanish language will serve all +ordinary purposes among the Latin races who have made their own the +vast continent that stretches from Panama to Tierra del Fuego. +</P> + +<P> +So the girl's super-active brain was puzzled by De Sylva's rendering of +his military friend's remarks. With the vaguest knowledge of what was +actually said, she suspected that San Benavides had opposed the very +project which, according to the President, he favored. She had caught +the name of the relief vessel, the words <I>bote</I>, "boat," <I>las doce</I>, +"twelve o'clock," <I>à bordo de buque</I>, "on board the ship," and others +which did not figure in the translation. She wondered why. +</P> + +<P> +The long day wore slowly. The heat was intense. Even the hardened +sailors soon found that if the atmosphere of the cavern were to remain +endurable they might not smoke. So pipes were extinguished, and they +tried to better their condition. Water-soaked coats and boots placed +in the sun were dry in a few minutes. Iris was persuaded to allow her +dress to be treated in this manner. She was still wearing the heavy +ulster of the early morning—when the aftermath of the gale was chill +and searching—and the possession of this outer wrap made easy the +temporary discarding of a skirt and blouse. +</P> + +<P> +Unhappily, she answered in French some simple query of the dapper +officer's. Thenceforth, to her great bewilderment and Hozier's +manifest annoyance, he pestered her with compliments and inquiries. To +avoid both, she expressed a longing for sleep. It seemed to her +excited imagination that she would never be able to sleep again, yet +her limbs were scarcely composed in comfort on a litter of coarse grass +and parched seaweed than her eyes closed in the drowsiness of sheer +exhaustion. This respite was altogether helpful. She had slept but +little during the gale, and its tremendous climax had surprised her +vitality at a low ebb. +</P> + +<P> +When she awoke, the ravine was in shadow and the interior of the cave +was dark. Her first conscious sensation was that of almost intolerable +thirst. Her lips were blistered, her tongue and palate sore, and she +asked herself in alarm what new evil was afflicting her, until she +remembered the drenching she had received and the amount of salt-laden +air that had passed into her lungs. Nevertheless, she cried +involuntarily for water, and again she was offered wine. She managed +to smile in a strained fashion at this malicious humor of fortune. By +a freak of memory she called to mind the somewhat similar predicament +of the crew of a storm-tossed ship that she had once read about. They +ran short of water, but the vessel carried hundreds of cases of bottled +stout. During three long weeks of boating against the wind those +wretched men were compelled to drink stout morning, noon, and night, +and never did temperance argument apply with greater force to the +seafaring community than toward the end of that enforced regimen of +malt liquor. +</P> + +<P> +Hozier, who had aroused her by touching her shoulder, fancied he saw +the gleam of merriment in her face. +</P> + +<P> +"What is amusing you?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +She told him, though she spoke with difficulty. +</P> + +<P> +"It is not quite so bad as that," he said. "If there is no hitch in +our plans, we should be on the island within five hours. We have +everything thought out as far as may be in view of the unknown. At any +rate, Miss Yorke, if we succeed in getting you safely ashore, you +personally will have but slight cause for further anxiety. The +proposal is that Marcel shall take you at once to the hut of an old +convict whom he can trust——" +</P> + +<P> +"A convict!" she gasped. The word was ominous, and she was hardly +awake. +</P> + +<P> +"The population of Fernando Noronha is almost entirely made of convicts +and soldiers," he explained. +</P> + +<P> +"But am I to be left there alone?" +</P> + +<P> +"What else is there to be done? You cannot join in the attack on a +fort—and that offers our only chance, it would seem. Granted an +effective surprise, we may carry it. Then your guardian will bring you +to us." +</P> + +<P> +"What if you fail?" +</P> + +<P> +"We must not fail," he said quietly. +</P> + +<P> +"Please do not hide the alternative from me," she pleaded. "I have +endured so much——" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, don't you see, this man—who, by the way, is married, and has a +daughter aged fourteen—will, if necessary, reveal your presence to the +Governor. By that time, say, in a day or two, the excitement will have +died down, the news of your escape will be cabled to England, you will +be sent to the coast on the Government steamer, and you can travel home +by the next mail." +</P> + +<P> +"That sounds very simple—and European," she said, and the pathetic +sarcasm was not lost on him. +</P> + +<P> +"It is reasonable enough. Unfortunately for us, all the bother centers +round Senhor De Sylva, to whom we owe our lives. He is outside at the +moment, showing our skipper the lay of the land before the light fails, +so I am free to speak plainly. When he is dead there will be no +further trouble, till the next revolution. But why endeavor to look +ahead when seeing is impossible? At present, what really presses is +the necessity that you should eat and drink. We have shared out the +whole of the available food. Here is your portion. We deemed it best +to give the men one square meal. They know now that they must earn the +next one." +</P> + +<P> +With each instant her perceptive powers were quickening. She was aware +that he had deliberately avoided the main issue. De Sylva's probable +death implied a good deal, but it was the supreme test of her courage +that she refrained from useless questioning. Yet she thrust aside the +two bananas and supply of dried meat and crusts that Hozier placed +before her. +</P> + +<P> +"I cannot eat," she murmured, striving to control her voice. +</P> + +<P> +"But you must. It is imperative. You would not wish to break down at +the very moment your best energies will be in demand. Our lives, as +well as your own, may depend on your strength. Come, Miss Yorke, no +woman could have been pluckier than you. Don't fail us now." +</P> + +<P> +The gloom was deepening momentarily. Hozier's back was turned to the +entrance, and, in the ever-growing darkness, she was unable to see his +face; but his anxious protest in no wise deceived her; she even smiled +again at the ruse that attempted to saddle her with some measure of +responsibility for the success or failure of the raid. +</P> + +<P> +"If I promise to eat—and drink this sour wine—will you be candid?" +she asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Well——" +</P> + +<P> +"One must bargain. There is no other way.… Promise!" +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose you mean that I must agree to please you by wild guessing +about events that may turn out quite differently." +</P> + +<P> +"Candid, I said." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes—that most certainly." +</P> + +<P> +"In the first place, may we go into the fresh air? I must have slept +many hours. What time is it?" +</P> + +<P> +"About seven o'clock." +</P> + +<P> +"Seven! Have I been lying here since goodness knows what time this +morning?" +</P> + +<P> +"You were thoroughly used up," he said, and he added, with a laugh: "If +it is any consolation, I may tell you that, to the best of my belief, +you never moved nor uttered a sound." +</P> + +<P> +"For instance, I didn't snore," she cried, rising to her feet, and +thanking the kindly night that veiled her untidiness. +</P> + +<P> +"I—don't—think so." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, please be more positive than that. You send a cold shiver down my +back." +</P> + +<P> +"Several members of the <I>Andromeda's</I> crew also indulged in a prolonged +siesta," he said. "I assure you it was almost out of the question to +divide the sleepers into snorers and non-snorers." +</P> + +<P> +A man will talk harmless nonsense of that sort when he is at his wit's +end to wriggle out of a perplexing situation. Hozier was deputed to +obtain the girl's consent to the proposal he had already put before +her. He feared that she would refuse compliance, for he understood her +fine temper better than the others. He was a young man—one but little +versed in the ways of women—yet some instinct warned him that there +was a nobility in Iris Yorke's nature that might set self at naught and +urge her to share her companions' lot, even though certain death were +the outcome. +</P> + +<P> +They passed together through the cavern. Watts, sound asleep, was +lying there. The majority of the men were seated on the rocks without, +or lounging near the entrance. They were smoking now freely, the only +stipulation being that matches were not to be struck in the open. +Their whispered talk ceased when they saw the girl. Absorbed in the +prospect of a fight for life, for the moment they had forgotten her, +but a murmured tribute of sympathy and recognition greeted her +appearance. +</P> + +<P> +The Irishman found his tongue first. +</P> + +<P> +"Begorrah, miss," he said, "but it's the proud man I'll be the next +time I see you smilin' from the kay side at Liverpool, no matter +whether I'm there meself or not." +</P> + +<P> +No one laughed at the absurd phrase which so clearly expressed its +meaning. But the ship's cook, Peter, noting the strips of dried meat +in her hands, raised a grin by saying: +</P> + +<P> +"Sorry the galley fire is out, miss, or I'd 'ave stewed 'em a bit." +</P> + +<P> +This kindly badinage was gratifying, though it helped to reveal the +interrupted topic of their conversation. There was no hiding the +desperate character of the coming adventure. The <I>Andromeda's</I> crew +did not attempt to minimize it. The choice offered lay only in the +manner of their death. As to the prospect of ultimate escape, they +hardly gave it a thought. Some among them had served in the armies of +Europe, and they, at least, were under no delusion concerning the issue +of an attack on a fort by less than a score of unarmed men—seventeen +to be exact, since two of the ship's company were so maimed by the +bursting of the shell on the forecastle as to be practically helpless; +it was by the rarest good fortune that they were able to walk. +</P> + +<P> +Iris smiled at them in her frank way. +</P> + +<P> +"I hope you will all be spared to ship on a new <I>Andromeda</I>," she said. +No sooner had the words left her lips than the thought came unbidden: +"If my uncle and Captain Coke wished the ship to be thrown away, +nothing could have better suited their purposes than this tragic error." +</P> + +<P> +For the instant, the unforeseen outcome of that Sunday afternoon's +plotting in the peaceful garden of Linden House held her imagination. +She recalled each syllable of it, and there throbbed in her brain the +hitherto undreamed of possibility that Coke had brought the <I>Andromeda</I> +to Fernando Noronha in pursuance of his thievish project. +</P> + +<P> +At once she whispered to Hozier: +</P> + +<P> +"Is there anyone on the path below?" +</P> + +<P> +"No," he said. "The Brazilians are with Coke at the top of the gully." +</P> + +<P> +"Is it safe for us to go the other way." +</P> + +<P> +"I think so. But you must be careful not to slip." +</P> + +<P> +She caught his arm, little knowing the thrill her clasp sent through +his frame. This simple gesture of her confidence was bitter-sweet. He +resolutely closed his eyes to the knowledge that this might be their +last talk. +</P> + +<P> +"I shall not fall," she said. "I am a good mountaineer. I learnt the +trick of it in Cumberland. Come with me. There is a pleasant breeze +blowing from the sea." +</P> + +<P> +They climbed down. Neither spoke until they stood on the curving ledge +that had proved their salvation. Though the tide was rising again, the +heavy sea was gone. The current still created some spume and noise as +it swept past the reef, but its anger had vanished with the gale. +Beyond the fringe of broken water a slight swell only served to mirror +in countless facets the tender light of a perfect sunset. The eastern +horizon was a broad line of silver. Nearer, the shadow of the island +created bands of purest green and ultramarine. +</P> + +<P> +They reached the place from which the Brazilians had thrown the rope. +They could hear the quiet plash of the water in the cleft. Piled +against a low-lying rock were the funnel and other debris of the +<I>Andromeda</I>. The black hull was plainly visible beneath the surface. +Even while they were looking at the wreck a huge fish curled his ten +feet of length with stealthy grace from out some dim recess; it might +be, perhaps, from out the crushed shell of the chart-room. +</P> + +<P> +Hozier glanced at his companion. He half expected her to shrink back +appalled at this sinister sight; it was her destiny to surprise him not +once but many times during that amazing period. +</P> + +<P> +"Is that a shark?" she asked quietly. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes.… You stipulated for candor, you know." +</P> + +<P> +"I had no notion that such a monster could move with so great elegance. +I think I would rather be eaten by a shark than lie at the bottom of +the sea like our poor vessel there." +</P> + +<P> +"Even a shark would appreciate the compliment," he said. +</P> + +<P> +Her eyes continued to watch the terrifying apparition until it prowled +into hidden depths again. +</P> + +<P> +"I am not sorry I have seen it," she murmured. "It helps one to +understand. We are glib concerning the laws of nature, and seem to +regard them much as the printed regulations stuck on hackney carriages, +whatsoever they may be. Yet, how cruelly just they are! I suppose +that the finding of the ship's booty by that huge creature has given a +new span of life to some weaker fish." +</P> + +<P> +Hozier did not know whether or not she had realized the shark's real +quest. Her next words enlightened him. +</P> + +<P> +"If we follow the others, will the soldiers throw our dead bodies into +the sea?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +"I want you to believe that you will be absolutely safe if we escape +being discovered during the crossing of the narrow strip of water that +separates this rock from the island," he hastened to say. "That is +your only risk, and it is a light one. Senhor De Sylva is sure that +the troops will not keep the keenest lookout to-night. They are still +convinced that the insurgent steamer is sunk. Our chief danger will +date from to-morrow's dawn. Marcel reports that a systematic search of +the island was begun to-day. It will be continued to-morrow, but on +new lines, because, by that time, they will have learnt the truth. The +<I>Andros-y-Mela</I> is not lying in pieces at the foot of this rock, the +President has not escaped, and every practicable inch of Fernando +Noronha and the adjacent islands will be scoured in the hope of finding +him. At first sight, that looks like being in our favor; in reality, +it means the end if we are discovered here. The soldiers will shoot +first and inquire afterwards. I have not the slightest doubt but that +plenty of evidence will be forthcoming that we were a set of +desperadoes who had unlawfully interfered in the affairs of a foreign +state." +</P> + +<P> +She appeared to be weighing this argument, sitting in judgment on De +Sylva and his theories. +</P> + +<P> +"I want to do that which is for the good of all," she said at length. +"Do you ask me to go to this convict's house, Mr. Hozier?" +</P> + +<P> +"I urge it on you with the utmost conviction. With you off our hands, +we can act freely. We must deliver an attack to-night. God in Heaven, +you cannot think that we would expose you to the perils of a desperate +fight!" +</P> + +<P> +His sudden outburst was unexpected, even by himself. He trembled in an +agony of passion. Iris placed a timid hand on his shoulder. +</P> + +<P> +"I will go," she whispered. "Please do not be distressed on my +account. I will go. I brought you here, not to discuss my own fate, +but yours. These Brazilians will not scruple to make use of you, and +then throw you aside if it suits their purpose. That man, De Sylva, +does not care how he attains power, and I know that he and the officer +entertain some plan which they have not revealed to you." +</P> + +<P> +"You … <I>know</I>." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. I understand a little of their language. I have a mere glimpse +of its sense, as one sees a landscape through a mist. When De Sylva +told you to-day that San Benavides was with you heart and soul, he was +lying. There were things said about a ship, and midnight, and a boat. +I watched the officer's face. He was wholly opposed to the landing +to-night. My mind is not so vague now. I think I can grasp his +meaning. Was it not to-night that the <I>Andros-y-Mela</I> was to appear?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, may they not hope secretly that she will keep to the fixed hour? +Once you and I and the others are on the island, and an alarm is given, +the Brazilians could slip away unnoticed. Yes, that is it. I do not +trust them any more than I trusted Captain Coke. Don't you realize +that he brought the <I>Andromeda</I> to this place in order to wreck her +more easily? It was to supply a pretext for the visit that he made +undrinkable the water in the ship's tanks." +</P> + +<P> +That appealing hand still rested on Philip's shoulder. Its touch +affected him profoundly. With a lightning dart of memory his thoughts +went back to the moment when she lay, inert and half-fainting, in his +arms on the bridge, after he had taken her from the lazarette. But he +controlled his voice sufficiently to say: +</P> + +<P> +"You may be right; indeed, I know you are right, so far as Coke is +concerned. When I went aft to find out if one of the boats could not +be cleared, I noticed that a steering-gear box had been prised open +again. I had time for only a second's glance, but I was sure the +damage had not been done by a bullet. So the <I>Andromeda</I> was doomed to +be lost, no matter what happened. By ——, forgive me, Miss Yorke, but +this kind of thing makes one savage." +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps it is matterless now. Coke will stand by the rest of us in +our struggle for life, at any rate. But the Brazilians——" +</P> + +<P> +"Have no fear of them. I, too, have watched San Benavides. I don't +like the fellow, and wouldn't place an ounce of faith in him, but De +Sylva has brains, and he knows well enough that no ship from Brazil +will come to Fernando Noronha in his behalf. In fact, he dreads a +visit by a Government vessel, in which event our frail chance of +seizing that launch——" +</P> + +<P> +She felt, rather than saw, that he had suddenly grown rigid. His right +arm flew out and drew her to him. +</P> + +<P> +"Sh-s-s-h!" he breathed, and pulled her behind a rock. Her woman's +heart yielded to dread of the unseen. It pulsed violently, and she was +tempted to scream. Despite his warning, she must at least have +whispered a question, but her ears caught a sound to which they were +now well accustomed. The light chug-chug of an engine and the flapping +of a propeller came up to them from the sea. The steam launch was +approaching. Perhaps they had been seen already! As if to emphasize +this new peril, there was an interval of silence. Steam had been shut +off. Philip touched the girl's lips lightly with a finger. Then he +lay flat on the ledge and began to creep forward. It was impossible +that he should run and warn the others, but it was essential, above all +else, that he should ascertain what the men on the launch were doing, +and the extent of their knowledge. +</P> + +<P> +He found a tuft of the grass that clung to a crevice where its roots +drew hardy sustenance from the crumbling rock; he ventured to thrust +his head through this screen, following Domingo's example some hours +earlier. Almost directly beneath, his eager glance found the little +vessel. She was floating past with the current. He peered down on to +her deck as if from the top of a mast. A few cigarette-smoking +officers were grouped in her bows. Apparently, they were more +interested in the remains of the <I>Andromeda</I> than in the natural +fortress overhead. Clustered round the hatch were some twenty +soldiers, also smoking. +</P> + +<P> +One of the officers pointed to the ledge; he was excited and emphatic. +Philip could not imagine that they had detected him, but he feared lest +Iris, in her agitation, might have moved. In that clear, calm air, not +even the growing dusk would hide the flutter of a skirt or the altered +position of a white face. A man in charge of the wheel replied to the +officer with a laugh. The first speaker turned, glanced at the +Brothers reef, behind which the <I>Andromeda's</I> boat had vanished that +morning, and nodded dubiously. The man at the wheel growled an order, +and the engine started again. Though Hozier knew not what was said, +the significance of this pantomime was not lost on him. The local +pilot was afraid of these treacherous waters in the dark, but next day +Frade de Francez (which is the islanders' name for the Grand-père Rock) +would surely be explored if a landing could be made. At a guess, the +silent watcher took it that the steersman had declined to make a +circuit of the rock until the light was good. +</P> + +<P> +Away bustled the launch, but Hozier did not move until there was no +risk of his figure being silhouetted against the sky. Even then, he +wormed his way backward with slow caution. Iris was crouched where he +had left her, wide-eyed, motionless. +</P> + +<P> +"Good job we came here," he said. "It is evident they mean to maintain +a patrol until there is news of De Sylva one way or the other. It will +be interesting now to hear what the gallant San Benavides says. If any +ship comes to Fernando Noronha to-night she will be seen from the +island long before any signal is visible at this point." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you think the others saw the launch?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +"No—not unless some of the men strayed down the gully, which they were +told not to do. The breakers would drown the noise of the engines and +screw." +</P> + +<P> +There was a slight pause. +</P> + +<P> +"Will you tell them?" she went on. +</P> + +<P> +"Why not?" +</P> + +<P> +This time the pause was more eloquent than words. Quite unconsciously, +Iris replied to her own question. +</P> + +<P> +"Of course, as you said a little while ago, we owe our lives to Dom +Corria De Sylva," she murmured, as if she were reasoning with herself. +</P> + +<P> +By chance, probably because Hozier stooped to help her to her feet, his +arm rested lightly across her shoulders. +</P> + +<P> +"I will not pretend to misunderstand you," he said. "If the Brazilians +do not mean to play the game, it would be a just punishment to let them +rush on their own doom. But De Sylva may not agree with this fop of an +officer, and, in any event, we must go straight with him until he shows +his teeth." +</P> + +<P> +"You seem to dislike Captain San Benavides," she said inconsequently. +</P> + +<P> +"I regard him as a brainless ass," he exclaimed. +</P> + +<P> +"Somehow, that sounds like a description of a dead donkey, which one +never sees." +</P> + +<P> +"Mademoiselle!" came a voice from the lip of the ravine. +</P> + +<P> +"One can hear him, though," laughed Hozier, with a warning pressure +that suspiciously resembled a hug. These two were children, in some +respects, quicker to jest than to grieve, better fitted for mirth than +tragedy. +</P> + +<P> +They moved out from their niche, and San Benavides blustered into +vehement French. +</P> + +<P> +"We are going to the landing-place before it is too dark," he muttered +angrily. "We must not show a light; in a few minutes the path will be +most dangerous. Please make haste, mademoiselle. We did not know +where you had gone." +</P> + +<P> +"The men knew," suggested Hozier in the girl's ear. He dared not trust +either his temper or his vocabulary. +</P> + +<P> +"We shall lose no time, now, monsieur," said Iris, hurrying on. +</P> + +<P> +"This way then. No, we do not pass the cave. We go right round the +cliff. Permit me, mademoiselle. I am acquainted with each step." +</P> + +<P> +He took her hand. Philip followed. He was young enough to long for an +opportunity to tell San Benavides that he was a puppy, a mongrel puppy. +Just then he would have given a gun-metal case, filled with cigars—the +only treasure he possessed—for a Portuguese dictionary. +</P> + +<P> +After a really difficult and hazardous descent, they found the others +awaiting them in a rock-shrouded cove. The barest standing-room was +afforded by a patch of shingle and detritus. Alongside a flat stone +lay three broad planks tied together with cowhide. The center plank +was turned up at one end. This was the catamaran, which de Sylva had +dignified by the name of boat. The primitive craft rested in a black +pool in which the stars trembled, though they were hardly visible as +yet in the brighter sky. The water murmured in response to the +movement of the tide, but to the unaided eye there was no vestige of a +passage through the volcanic barrier that reared itself on every hand. +</P> + +<P> +"Were 'ave you bin?" growled Coke. "We've lost a good ten minnits. +You ought to 'ave known, Hozier, that it's darkest just after sunset." +</P> + +<P> +"We could not have started sooner, sir." +</P> + +<P> +"W'y not? We were kep' waitin' up there, searchin' for you." +</P> + +<P> +"That was our best slice of luck to-day. Had any of you appeared on +the ledge you would have been seen from the launch." +</P> + +<P> +"Wot launch?" +</P> + +<P> +"The launch that visited us this morning. Ten minutes ago she was +standing by at the foot of the rock." +</P> + +<P> +Philip spoke slowly and clearly. He meant his news to strike home. As +he anticipated, De Sylva broke in. +</P> + +<P> +"You <I>saw</I> it?" he asked, and his deep voice vibrated with dismay. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. I even made out, by actions rather than words, that the darkness +alone prevented the soldiers from coming here to-night. The skipper +would not risk it." +</P> + +<P> +De Sylva said something under his breath. He spoke rapidly to San +Benavides, and the latter seemed to be cowed, for his reply was brief. +Then the ex-President reverted to English. +</P> + +<P> +"I have decided to send Marcel and Domingo ashore first," he said. +"They will select the safest place for a landing. Marcel will bring +back the catamaran, and take off Mr. Hozier and the young lady. +Captain Coke and I will follow, and the others in such order as Senhor +Benavides thinks fit. The catamaran will only hold three with safety, +but Marcel believes he can find another for Domingo. Remember, all of +you, silence is essential. If there is an accident, some of us may be +called on to drown without a cry. We must be ready to do it for the +sake of those who are left. Are we all agreed?" +</P> + +<P> +A hum of voices answered him. De Sylva was, at least, a born leader. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap08"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VIII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE RIGOR OF THE GAME +</H3> + + +<P> +In obedience to their leader's order, Marcel, the taciturn, and +Domingo, from whose lips the Britons had scarce heard a syllable, +squatted on the catamaran. Marcel wielded a short paddle, and an +almost imperceptible dip of its broad blade sent the strangely-built +craft across the pool. Once in the shadow, it disappeared completely. +There was no visible outlet. The rocks thrust their stark ridge +against the sky in a seemingly impassable barrier. Some of the men +stared at the jagged crests as though they half expected to see the +Brazilians making a portage, just as travelers in the Canadian +northwest haul canoes up a river obstructed by rapids. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, that gives me the go-by," growled Coke, whose alert ear caught +no sound save the rippling of the water. "I say, mister, 'ow is it +done?" he went on. +</P> + +<P> +"It is a simple thing when you know the secret," said De Sylva. "Have +you passed Fernando Noronha before, Captain?" +</P> + +<P> +"Many a time." +</P> + +<P> +"Have you seen the curious natural canal which you sailors call the +Hole in the Wall?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, it's near the s'uth'ard end." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, the sea has worn away a layer of soft rock that existed there. +In the course of centuries a channel has been cut right across the two +hundred yards of land. Owing to the same cause the summer rains have +excavated a ravine through the crater up above, and a similar passage +exists here, only it happens to run parallel to the line of the cliff. +It extends a good deal beyond its apparent outlet, and is defended by a +dangerous reef. Marcel once landed on a rock during a very calm day, +and saw the opening. He investigated it, luckily for me—luckily, in +fact, for all of us." +</P> + +<P> +Watts interrupted De Sylva's smooth periods by a startled ejaculation, +and Coke turned on him fiercely. +</P> + +<P> +"Wot's up now?" he demanded. "Ain't you sober yet?" +</P> + +<P> +"Some dam thing jumped on me," explained Watts. +</P> + +<P> +"Probably a crab," said De Sylva. "There are jumping crabs all around +here. It will not hurt you. It is quite a small creature." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, if it's on'y a crab," muttered Watts, "sorry I gev' tongue, +skipper. I thought it was a rat, an' I can't abide 'em." +</P> + +<P> +"Then you must learn to endure them while you are in Fernando do +Noronha itself," went on the Brazilian. "The island absolutely swarms +with rats; some of the larger varieties are rather dangerous." +</P> + +<P> +"Sufferin' Moses!" groaned Watts. "It'll be the death o' me." +</P> + +<P> +"Wot color are they?" asked Coke. De Sylva's reply was given in a tone +of surprise. Certainly these hardy mariners had selected an unusual +topic for discussion at a critical moment. +</P> + +<P> +"The common dark gray," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"That's all right, then," sneered Coke. "Watts don't mind 'em gray. +They're old messmates of his. It's w'en they're pink or green that he +fights shy of 'em." +</P> + +<P> +"I hate rats of any sort——" began Watts hotly, spurred to anger by an +audible snigger among the men, but De Sylva stopped his protest +peremptorily. It was idiotic, this bantering when the next half hour +might be their last. +</P> + +<P> +"You must learn to guard your tongue," he said with harsh distinctness. +"We cannot have our plans marred by a fool's outcry." +</P> + +<P> +Nevertheless, the chief officer of the <I>Andromeda</I> was far from being a +fool. He had cut an inglorious figure during the wreck, but he was +sober enough now, and it hurt his pride to be jeered at by his own +skipper and treated with contumely by one whom he privately classed as +a Dago. He had the good sense to realize that the present was no fit +time for a display of temper; but he nursed his wrath. Dom Corria +would have been well advised had he followed the counsel given so +ungraciously, and guarded his own tongue. +</P> + +<P> +It might well be that the ex-President, whose fortunes were on the +tiptoe of desperate hazard, was beginning to despair. He may have +scanned the meager forces at his disposal and felt that he was asking +the gods for more than they could grant. A few minutes earlier he had +put forth the suave suggestion that Hozier should be given the +speediest chance of securing the girl's safety. That was politic; +perhaps his stanch nerve was yielding to the strain, now that the two +islanders were gone on their doubtful quest. Be that as it may, his +attitude did not encourage light conversation. Even Coke withheld some +jibe at the unfortunate mate's expense. A chill silence fell on the +little group. The more imaginative among them were calculating the +exact kind of lurch taken by the unstable raft that would mean +"drowning without a cry." +</P> + +<P> +Thus the minutes sped, until a dim shape emerged from the opposite +blackness. It came unheard, growing from nothing into something with +ghostly subtlety. Iris, a prey to many emotions, managed to stifle the +exclamation of alarm that rose unbidden. But Hozier read her distress +in a hardly audible sob. +</P> + +<P> +"It is our friend, Marcel," he whispered. "So Domingo has made good +his landing. Be brave! The sea is quite calm. This man has been to +the island and back in less than a quarter of an hour." +</P> + +<P> +His confidence gave her new courage. She even tried to turn danger +itself into a jest. +</P> + +<P> +"We seem to be living in spasms just now," she said. "We certainly +crowd a good deal of excitement into a very few minutes." +</P> + +<P> +The catamaran swung round and grated on the shingle. Marcel was in a +hurry. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you ready?" asked De Sylva, bending toward Iris. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," she said. +</P> + +<P> +"Then you had better kneel behind Marcel, and steady yourself by +placing your hands on his shoulders. Yes, that is it. Do not change +your position until you are ashore. Now you, Mr. Hozier." +</P> + +<P> +Marcel murmured something. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, good!" cried De Sylva softly. "Domingo, too, has secured a +catamaran. He is bringing it at once in order to save time." +</P> + +<P> +A second spectral figure emerged from the gloom. Without waiting for +further instructions, Marcel swung his paddle, and the one craft passed +the other in the center of the pool. Iris felt Hozier's hands on her +waist. He obeyed orders, and uttered no sound, but the action told her +that she might trust him implicitly. When the narrow cleft was +traversed, and she saw the open sea on her right, there was ample need +for some such assurance of guardianship. Viewed from the cliff, the +swell that broke on the half-submerged reef was of slight volume, but +it presented a very different and most disconcerting aspect when seen +in profile. It seemed to be an almost impossible feat for any man to +propel three narrow planks, top-heavy with a human freight, across a +wide channel through which such a sea was running. Indeed, Hozier +himself, sailor as he was, felt more than doubtful as to the fate of +their argosy. But Marcel paddled ahead with unflagging energy once he +was clear of the tortuous passage, and, before the catamaran had +traveled many yards, even Iris was able to understand that the outlying +ridge of rocks both protected their present track and created much of +the apparent turmoil. +</P> + +<P> +At last the raft, for it was little else, bore sharply out between two +huge bowlders that might well have fallen from the mighty pile of +Grand-père itself. Pointed and angular they were, and set like a +gateway to an abode of giants. Beyond, there was a shimmer of +swift-moving water, with a silver mist on the surface, though from a +height of a few feet it would have been easy to distinguish the bold +contours of Fernando Noronha itself. +</P> + +<P> +Marcel plied his paddle vigorously, and Iris thought they were heading +against the current, since there was a constant swirl of white-tipped +waves on both sides of the curved plank, and her dress soon became +soaked. But Hozier knew that one man could not drive a craft that had +no artificial buoyancy in the teeth of a four-knot tidal stream. +Marcel was edging across the channel, and making good use of the very +force that threatened to sweep him away. Indeed, in less than five +minutes, a definite clearing yet darkening of the atmospheric light +showed that land was near. The hiss of the ripple subsided, the tide +ceased its chant, and a dark mass sprang into uncanny distinctness +right ahead. +</P> + +<P> +The girl's first sensation on nearing the island was an unpleasant one. +She was conscious of a slight but somewhat nauseating odor, quite +unlike anything within her ken previously. It suffused the air, and +grew more pronounced as the catamaran crept noiselessly into a tiny bay. +</P> + +<P> +Hozier sympathized with her distress; knowing that acquaintance with an +evil often helps to minimize its effect, he bent close to her ear and +whispered the words: +</P> + +<P> +"Mangrove swamp." +</P> + +<P> +Iris had read of mangroves. In a dim way, she classed them with +tamarinds, and cocoa-palms, and other sub-tropical products. At any +rate, she was exceedingly anxious to tell Hozier that if mangroves +tasted as they smelt she would need to be very hungry before she ate +one! +</P> + +<P> +Marcel was endowed with quick ears. Though Hozier's whisper could +hardly have reached him, he held up a warning hand, even while he +brought the catamaran ashore on the shingle, so gently that not a +pebble was disturbed. He rose, a gaunt scarecrow, stepped off, and +drew the shallow craft somewhat further up the sloping beach. Then he +helped Iris to her feet. She became conscious at once that his +thumb-nail was of extraordinary length, and—so strangely constituted +is human nature—this peculiarity made a lasting impression on her mind. +</P> + +<P> +Hozier, thinking that he ought to remain near the catamaran, stood +upright, but did not offer to follow the others. Iris, filled with a +sudden fear, hung back. The Brazilian, aware of her resistance, sought +its cause. He saw Hozier, grinned, and beckoned to him. So the three +went in company, and at each upward stride the disagreeable stench, +ever afterwards associated with Fernando Noronha in the girl's +memories, became less and less perceptible, until, after a short walk +through a clump of banana trees, it vanished altogether. +</P> + +<P> +At that instant, when Iris was beginning to revel in the sweet incense +of a multitude of unseen flowers, Marcel halted, motioned to Hozier to +stand fast, and indicated that Iris was to come with him. At once she +shrank away in terror. Though in some sense prepared for this parting, +she felt it now as the crudest blow that fortune had dealt her during a +day crowded with misfortunes. In all likelihood, those two would never +meet again. She needed no telling as to the risk he would soon be +called on to face, and her anguish was made the more bitter by the +necessity that they should go from each other's presence without a +spoken word. +</P> + +<P> +Nevertheless, she forced herself to extend a hand in farewell. Her +eyes were blinded with tears. She knew that Hozier drew her nearer. +With the daring of one who may well cast the world's convention to the +winds, he gathered her to his heart and kissed her. Then she uttered a +little sob of happiness and sorrow, and fainted. +</P> + +<P> +It was not until she was lying helpless in his embrace, with her head +pillowed on his breast, and an arm thrown limply across his shoulder, +that Philip understood what had happened. He loved her, and she, the +promised wife of another man, had tacitly admitted that she returned +his love. Born for each other, heirs of all the ages, they were +destined to be separated under conditions that could not have been +brought about by the worst tyrant that ever oppressed his fellow +creatures. Small blame should be his portion if in that abysmal moment +there came to Philip a dire temptation. There was every reason to +believe that he and Iris, if they found some hiding-place on the island +that night, might escape. He could send Marcel crashing into the +undergrowth with a blow, carry the unconscious girl somewhere, +anywhere, until the darkness shrouded them, and wait for the dawn with +some degree of confidence. In a red fury of thought he pictured her +face when she regained possession of her senses and was told that they +had no more to fear. He saw, with a species of fantastic intuition, +that the island authorities would actually acclaim them for the tidings +they brought. And then, he would find those grave brown eyes of hers +fixed on his in agonized inquiry. What of the others? Why had he +betrayed his trust? Dom Corria de Sylva had sent him ashore in advance +of any among the little band of fugitives. Marcel and Domingo were +outside the pale. Their lives, at least, were surely forfeit when +recaptured. It was not a prayer but a curse that Hozier muttered when +Marcel whispered words he did not understand, but whose obvious meaning +was that now the girl must be carried to the convict's hut, since they +were losing time, and time was all-important. +</P> + +<P> +So they strode on, across ground that continued to rise in gentle +undulations. Even in his present frenzied mood, Hozier noticed that +they were following the right bank of a rivulet, the catamaran being +beached on the same side of its cove-like estuary. Progress was rather +difficult. They were skirting a wood, and the trailers of a great +scarlet-flowered bean and a climbing cucumber smothered the ground, +canopied the trees, and swarmed over the rocks. He could not +distinguish these hindrances in the darkness, but he soon found that he +must walk warily. As for the effort entailed by his forlorn burden he +did not give a thought to it until Marcel indicated that he must stand +fast. The Brazilian went on, leaving Hozier breathless. Evidently he +went to warn the inhabitants of a wretched hut, suddenly visible in the +midst of a patch of maize and cassava, that there were those at hand +who needed shelter. +</P> + +<P> +A dog barked—Marcel whistled softly, and the animal began to whimper. +The Brazilian vanished. Hozier still held Iris in his arms; his heart +was beating tumultuously; his throat ached with the labor of his lungs. +His straining ears caught rustlings among the grass and roots, but +otherwise a solemn peace brooded over the scene. Just beyond the hut, +which was shielded from the arid hill by a grove of curiously contorted +trees, the inner heights of the island rose abruptly. Something that +resembled a column of cloud showed behind the rugged sky-line of the +land. Even while he waited there, he saw a glint of light on its +eastern side. He fancied that under stress of emotion and physical +weakness his eyes were deceiving him; but the line of golden fire grew +brighter and more definite. It was broken but unwavering, and black +shadows began to take form as part of this phenomenon. Then he +remembered the giant peak of Fernando Noronha, that mis-shapen mass +which thrusts its amazing beacon a thousand feet into the air. The +rising moon was gilding El Pico long ere its rays would illumine the +lower land—that was all—yet he hailed the sight as a token of +deliverance. It was not by idle chance that that which he had taken +for a cloud should be transmuted into a torch; there sprang into his +heated brain a new trust. He recalled the unceasing vigilance of One +All-Powerful, who, ages ago, when His people were afflicted, "went +before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way, and by +night in a pillar of fire, to give them light." +</P> + +<P> +Then Marcel came, and aroused him from the stupor that had settled on +him, and together they entered into the hovel, where a dark-skinned +woman and a comely girl uttered words of sympathetic sound when Iris +was laid on a low trestle, and Hozier took a farewell kiss from her +unheeding lips. +</P> + +<P> +The Englishman stumbled away with his guide; he fancied that Marcel +warned him several times to be more circumspect. He did his best, but, +for the time, he was utterly spent. At last the Brazilian signified +that they were near a trysting place. He uttered a cry like a +night-jar's, and the answer came from no great distance. Soon they +encountered Coke and De Sylva, who were awaiting them anxiously, and +wondering, no doubt, why Hozier was missing, since Domingo and Marcel +had fixed on an aged fig-tree as a rendezvous, and Hozier was not to be +found anywhere near it. +</P> + +<P> +The two boatmen hurried away, and De Sylva placed his lips close to +Philip's ear. +</P> + +<P> +"What went wrong?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Iris—Miss Yorke—fainted," was the gasping reply. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah. You had to carry her?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +De Sylva fumbled in a pocket. He produced a flask. +</P> + +<P> +"Here is some brandy. I kept it for just such an extremity. We cannot +have you breaking down. Drink!" +</P> + +<P> +Two weary hours elapsed before the little army of the Grand-père Rock +was reunited on the shore of Cotton-Tree Bay. Then there was a further +delay, while their indefatigable scouts brought milk and water, some +coarse bread, and a good supply of fruit from the hut. It was part of +their scheme that they should give their friend's habitation a wide +berth. If their plans miscarried he was instructed to say that he had +found the English lady wandering on the shore soon after daybreak. In +any event, there would be no evidence that he had entertained the +invaders in his hovel; otherwise, he would lose the first-class badge +that permitted him, a convict, to dwell apart with his wife and +daughter. +</P> + +<P> +It was with the utmost difficulty that the men could be restrained from +expressing their delight when they were given water and milk to drink. +The water was poor, brackish stuff; the milk was sour and had lost +every particle of cream; yet they deemed each a nectar of rank, and +even the miserable Watts, who had long ago ascertained that the +rustlings in the herbage were caused by countless numbers of rats and +mice, was ready to acclaim beverages which he was too apt to despise. +</P> + +<P> +About midnight there was a bright moon sailing overhead, and De Sylva +gave a low order that they were to form in Indian file. Marcel led, +the ex-President himself followed, with San Benavides, Coke, and Hozier +in close proximity. Domingo brought up the rear, in order to prevent +straggling, and assist men who might stray from the path. +</P> + +<P> +Avoiding the cultivated land surrounding the creek, the party struck up +the hillside. A few plodding minutes sufficed to clear the trees and +dense undergrowth. A rough, narrow path led to the saddle of the +central ridge. They advanced warily but without any real difficulty. +Hozier took a listless interest in watching the furtive glances cast +over his shoulder by San Benavides so long as the south coast of the +island was visible. At each turn in the mountain track the Brazilian +officer searched the moonlit sea for the agreed signal. At last, when +the northern side also came in sight, and the whole island lay spread +before them, San Benavides resigned himself to the inevitable. For a +little while, at least, he was perforce content to survey events +through the eyes of his companions, and throw in his lot irrevocably +with theirs. +</P> + +<P> +Roughly speaking, Fernando Noronha itself, irrespective of the group of +islands at its northeasterly extremity, stretches five miles from east +to west, and averages a mile and a half in width. From Cotton-Tree +Bay, to which the catamarans had brought the small force, it was barely +a mile to the village, convict settlement, and citadel. Some few +lights twinkling near the shore showed the exact whereabouts of the +inhabited section. Another mile away to the right lay Fort San +Antonio, which housed the main body of troops. Watch-fires burning on +South Point, whence came the shells that disabled the <I>Andromeda</I>, +revealed the presence of soldiers in that neighborhood. De Sylva +explained that a paved road ran straight from the town and +landing-place to the hamlet of Sueste and an important plantation of +cocoanuts and other fruit-bearing trees that adjoined South Point. It +was inadvisable to strike into that road immediately. A little more to +the right there was a track leading to the Curral, or stockyard. If +they headed for the latter place the men could obtain some stout +cudgels. The convict peons in charge of the cattle should be +overpowered and bound, thus preventing them from giving an alarm, and +it was also possible to avoid the inhabited hillside overlooking the +main anchorage until they were close to the citadel. Then, crossing +the fort road, they would advance boldly to the enemy's stronghold, +first making sure that the launch was moored in her accustomed station +in the roadstead beneath the walls. San Benavides would answer the +sentry's questions, there would be a combined rush for the guard-room +on the right of the gate, and, if they were able to master the guard, +as many of the assailants as possible would don the soldiers' coats, +shakos, and accouterments. Granted success thus far, there should not +be much difficulty in persuading the men in charge of the launch that a +cruise round the island was to be undertaken forthwith. Marcel would +remain with them until the citadel was carried. He would then hurry +back to bring Iris across the island to an unfrequented beach known as +the Porto do Conceiçao, where he would embark her on a catamaran and +row out to the steamer, which, by that time, would be lying off the +harbor out of range of the troops who would surely be summoned from the +distant fort. +</P> + +<P> +The project bristled with audacity, and that has ever been the soul of +achievement. Even the two wounded men from the <I>Andromeda</I> took heart +when they listened to De Sylva's low-toned explanation, given under the +shadow of a great rock ere the final advance was made. If all went +well at the beginning, the small garrison of the citadel would be +astounded when they found themselves struggling against unknown +adversaries. Haste, silence, determination—these things were +essential; each and all might be expected from men who literally +carried their lives in their hands. +</P> + +<P> +A keen breeze was blowing up there on the ridge. A bank of cloud was +rising in the southwest horizon, and, at that season, when the months +of rain were normally at an end, the mere presence of clouds heralded +another spell of broken weather, though the preceding gale had probably +marked the worst of it. Indeed, valuable auxiliary as the moon had +proved during the march across rough country, it would be no ill hap if +her bright face were veiled later. The mere prospect of such an +occurrence was a cheering augury, and it was in the highest spirits +that the little band set out resolutely for the Curral. +</P> + +<P> +Here they encountered no difficulty whatever. Perhaps the prevalent +excitement had drawn its custodians to the town, since they found no +one in charge save a couple of barking dogs, while, if there were +people in the cattle-keepers' huts, they gave no sign of their +presence. A few stakes were pulled up; they even came upon a couple of +axes and a heavy hammer. Equipped with these weapons, eked out by +three revolvers owned by the Brazilians and the dapper captain's sword, +they hurried on, quitting the road instantly, and following a cow-path +that wound about the base of a steep hill. +</P> + +<P> +They met their first surprise when they tried to cross the road to the +fort. Quite unexpectedly, they blundered into a small picket stationed +there. Its object was to challenge all passers-by during the dark +hours, and it formed part of the scheme already elaborated by the +authorities for a complete search of every foot of ground. But +Brazilian soldiers are apt to be lax in such matters. These men were +all lying down, and smoking. For a marvel, they happened to be silent +when Marcel led his cohort into the open road. They were listening, in +fact, to the crackling of the undergrowth, though utterly unsuspicious +of its cause, and the first intimation of danger was given by the +startling challenge: +</P> + +<P> +"Who goes there?" +</P> + +<P> +It was familiar enough to island ears, and the convict answered readily: +</P> + +<P> +"A friend!" +</P> + +<P> +"Several friends, it would seem," laughed a voice. "Let us see who +these friends are." +</P> + +<P> +Luckily, in response to De Sylva's sibilant order, most of the +<I>Andromeda's</I> crew were hidden by the scrub from which they were about +to emerge. +</P> + +<P> +The soldiers rose, and strolled nearer leisurely. +</P> + +<P> +"Now!" shouted De Sylva, leaping forward. +</P> + +<P> +There was a wild scurry, two or three shots were fired, and Hozier +found himself on the ground gripping the throat of a bronzed man whom +he had shoved backward with a thrust, for he had no time to swing his +stake for a blow. He was aware of a pair of black eyes that glared up +at him horribly in the moonlight, of white teeth that shone under long +moustachios of peculiarly warlike aspect, but he felt the man was as +putty in his hands, and his fingers relaxed their pressure. +</P> + +<P> +He looked around. The fight was ended almost as soon as it began. The +soldiers, six in all, were on their backs in the roadway. Two of them +were dead. The Italian sailor had been shot through the body, and was +twisting in his last agony. +</P> + +<P> +The bloodshed was bad enough, but those shots were worse. They would +set the island in an uproar. The reports would be heard in town, +citadel, and fort, and the troops would now be on the <I>qui vive</I>. But +De Sylva was a man of resource. +</P> + +<P> +"Strip the prisoners!" he cried. "Take their arms and ammunition, but +bind them back to back with their belts." +</P> + +<P> +"Butt in there, me lads," vociferated Coke, who had accounted for one +of the Brazilians with an ax. "Step lively! Now we've got some +uniforms an' guns, we can rush that dam cittydel easy." +</P> + +<P> +Hozier was busy relieving his man of his coat. When the prone warrior +realized that he was not to be killed, he helped the operation, but +Philip was thinking more of Iris than of deeds of derring-do. +</P> + +<P> +"Why attempt to capture the citadel at all?" he asked. "Now that we +can make sufficient display, is there any reason that we should not go +straight for the launch?" +</P> + +<P> +"Hi, mister, d'ye 'ear that?" said Coke to De Sylva. "There's horse +sense in it. The whole bally place will be buzzin' like a nest of +wasps till they find out wot the shots meant." +</P> + +<P> +"I think it is a good suggestion," came the calm answer, "provided, +that is, the launch is in the harbor." +</P> + +<P> +"She's just as likely to be there now as later. If she isn't, we must +hark back to the first plan. Now, you swabs, all aboard! See to them +buckles afore you quit." +</P> + +<P> +A bell began to toll in the convict settlement. Lights appeared in +many houses scattered over the seaward slope. In truth, Fernando +Noronha had not been so badly scared since its garrison mutinied three +years earlier because arrears of pay were not forthcoming. It was +impossible to determine as yet whether or not the island steamer was at +her berth, so they could only push on boldly and trust to luck. +Hozier, never for an instant forgetting Iris, saw that Marcel still +remained with his leader. Under these new circumstances, it certainly +would be a piece of folly to send back until they were sure of the +launch. So he hurried after them, struggling the while into a coat far +too small, though fortunate in the fact that his captive's head was big +in proportion to the rest of his body. +</P> + +<P> +Some few men were met, running from the town to the main road where +they had located the shooting. Each breathlessly demanded news, and +was forthwith given most disconcerting information by a savage blow. +The <I>Andromeda</I> had received no quarter, and her crew retaliated now. +They did not deliberately murder anyone, but they took good care that +none of those whom they encountered would be in a condition to work +mischief until the night was ended. +</P> + +<P> +It was a peculiar and exasperating fact that although they were +descending a steep incline to the harbor the presence of trees and +houses rendered it impossible to see the actual landing-place. Hence, +there was no course open but to race on at the utmost speed, though De +Sylva was careful to keep his small force compact, and its pace was +necessarily that of its slowest members. Among these was Coke, who had +never walked so far since he was granted a captain's certificate. He +swore copiously as he lumbered along, and, what between shortness of +breath and his tight boots and clothing, the latter disability being +added to by a ridiculously inadequate Brazilian tunic, he was barely +able to reach the water's edge. +</P> + +<P> +Happily, the launch was there, moored alongside a small quay. From the +nearest building it was necessary to cross a low wharf some fifty yards +in width, and De Sylva's whispered commands could not restrain the +eager men when escape appeared no longer problematical but assured. +They broke, and ran, an almost fatal thing, as it happened, since the +soldiers whom Philip had seen from the rock were still on board. One +of them noticed the inexplicable disorder among a body of men some of +whom resembled his own comrades. He had heard the firing, and was +discussing it with others when this strange thing happened. +</P> + +<P> +He challenged. San Benavides answered, but his voice was shrill and +unofficer-like. +</P> + +<P> +The engines were started. A man leaped to the wharf. He was in the +act of casting a mooring rope off a fixed capstan when De Sylva shot +him between the shoulder-blades. +</P> + +<P> +"On board, all of you!" shrieked the ex-President in a frenzy. +</P> + +<P> +"At 'em, boys!" gasped Coke, though scarce able to stagger another foot. +</P> + +<P> +The men needed no bidding. Sheets of flame leaped from the vessel's +deck as the soldiers seized their rifles and fired point-blank at these +mysterious assailants who spoke in a foreign language. But flame alone +could not stop that desperate attack. Some fell, but the survivors +sprang at the Brazilians like famished wolves on their prey. There was +no more shooting. Men grappled and fell, some into the water, others +on deck, or they sprawled over the hatch and wrought in frantic +struggle in the narrow cabin. The fight did not last many seconds. An +engineer, finding a lever and throttle valve, roared to a sailor to +take the wheel, and already the launch was curving seaward when Hozier +shouted: +</P> + +<P> +"Where is Marcel?" +</P> + +<P> +"Lyin' dead on the wharf," said Watts. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you certain?" +</P> + +<P> +"He was alongside me, an' 'e threw is 'ands up, an' dropped like a shot +rabbit." +</P> + +<P> +"Then who has gone for Miss Yorke?" +</P> + +<P> +"No one. D'ye think that this d—d President cares for anybody but +hisself?" +</P> + +<P> +Philip felt the deck throbbing with the pulsations of the screw. The +lights on shore were gliding by. The launch was leaving Fernando +Noronha, and Iris was waiting in that wretched hut beyond the hill, +waiting for the summons that would not reach her, for Marcel was dead, +and Domingo, the one other man who could have gone to her, was lying in +the cabin with three ribs broken and a collar-bone fractured. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap09"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IX +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +WHEREIN CERTAIN PEOPLE MEET UNEXPECTEDLY +</H3> + + +<P> +Iris came back from the void to find herself lying on a truckle bed in +a dimly-lighted hovel. A cotton wick flickered in a small lamp of the +old Roman type. It was consuming a crude variety of castor oil, and +its gamboge-colored flame clothed the smoke-darkened rafters and mud +walls in somber yet vivid tints that would have gladdened the heart of +a Rubens. This scenic effect, admirable to an artist, was lost on a +girl waking in affright and startled by unfamiliar surroundings. She +gazed up with uncomprehending eyes at two brown-skinned women bending +over her. +</P> + +<P> +One, the elder, was chafing her hands; the other, a tall, graceful +girl, was stirring something in an earthenware vessel. She heard the +girl murmur joyfully: +</P> + +<P> +"Graças a Deus, elh' abria lhes olhas!" +</P> + +<P> +Iris was still wandering in that strange borderland guarded by unknown +forces that lies between conscious life and the sleep that is so close +of kin to death. If in full possession of her senses, she might not +have caught the drift of the sentence, since it was spoken in a +guttural patois. But now she understood beyond cavil that because she +had opened her eyes, the girl was giving thanks to the Deity. The +first definite though bewildering notion that perplexed her faculties, +at once clouded and unnaturally clear, was an astonished acceptance of +the fact that she knew what the strange girl had said, though the +phrase only remotely resembled its Spanish equivalent. She gathered +its exact meaning, word for word, and it was all the more surprising +that both women should smile and say something quite incomprehensible +as soon as Iris lifted herself on an elbow and asked in English: +</P> + +<P> +"Where am I? How did I come here?" +</P> + +<A NAME="img-172"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-172.jpg" ALT=""How did I come here?"" BORDER="2" WIDTH="402" HEIGHT="583"> +<H3> +[Illustration: "How did I come here?"] +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +Then she remembered, and memory brought a feeling of helplessness not +wholly devoid of self-reproach. It was bad enough that her presence +should add so greatly to the dangers besetting her friends; it was far +worse that she should have fainted at the very moment when such +weakness might well prove fatal to them. +</P> + +<P> +Why did she faint? Ah! A lively blush chased the pallor from her +cheeks, and a few strenuous heartbeats restored animation to her limbs. +Of course, in thinking that she had yielded solely to the stress of +surcharged emotions, Iris was mistaken. What she really needed was +food. A young woman of perfect physique, and dowered with the best of +health, does not collapse into unconsciousness because a young man +embraces her, and each at the same moment makes the blissful discovery +that the wide world contains no other individual of supreme importance. +Iris's great-grandmother might have "swooned" under such +circumstances—not so Iris, who fainted simply because of the strain +imposed by failure to eat the queer fare provided by De Sylva and his +associates. She hardly realized how hungry she was until the girl +handed her the bowl, which contained a couple of eggs beaten up in +milk, while small quantities of rum and sugar-cane juice made the +compound palatable. +</P> + +<P> +"Bom!" said the girl, "bebida, senhora!" +</P> + +<P> +It certainly was good, and the senhora drank it with avidity, the +mixture being excellent diet for one who had eaten nothing except an +over-ripe banana during thirty hours. Indeed, it would be no +exaggeration to extend that period considerably. Iris had left +practically untouched the meals brought her by the steward during the +gale, and the early morning cup of coffee, which would have proved most +grateful after a storm-tossed night, was an impossible achievement +owing to the lack of water. +</P> + +<P> +So Iris tackled the contents of the bowl with a vigorous appetite oddly +at variance with the seeming weakness that ended in a prolonged +fainting fit, and the hospitable Brazilians, to whom this fair English +girl was a revelation in feature and clothing, bestirred themselves to +provide further dainties. But, excepting some fruit, Iris had the +wisdom to refuse other food just then. Her thoughts were rapidly +becoming coherent, and she realized that a heavy meal might be +absolutely disastrous. If the men made good their project she would be +called on within an hour to cross the island. It seemed reasonable +that, hungry though she was, she would be better fitted to climb the +island hills at a fast pace if she ate sparingly. Still, she longed +for a drink of water, and taxed her small stock of Spanish to make +known her desire. +</P> + +<P> +"Agua, senhora," she said with a smile, and the delight of mother and +daughter was great, since they thought she could speak their language. +</P> + +<P> +Therein, of course, they were disappointed, but not more so than Iris +when she tasted the brackish fluid alone procurable on the south coast +of Fernando Noronha. That was a fortunate thing in itself. Only those +who have endured real thirst can tell how hard it is to refrain from +drinking deeply when water is ultimately obtained; but the mixture of +milk and eggs had already soothed her parched mouth and palate, and she +quickly detected an unpleasantly salt flavor in the beverage they gave +her. +</P> + +<P> +Then she set herself to discover her whereabouts. The women were eager +to impart information, but, alas, Iris's brain had regained its +every-day limitations, and she could make no sense of their words. At +last, seeing that the door was barred and the hut was innocent of any +other opening, she stood upright, and signified by a gesture that she +wished to go out. There could be no mistaking the distress, even the +positive alarm, created by this demand. The girl clasped her hands in +entreaty, and the older woman evidently tried most earnestly to +dissuade her visitor from a proceeding fraught with utmost danger. +</P> + +<P> +Being quite certain that they meant to be friendly, Iris sat down +again. She knew, of course, that Marcel would come for her, if +possible, and the relief displayed by her unknown entertainers was so +marked that she resolved to await his appearance quietly. She would +not abandon hope till daylight crept through the chinks of the hut. +How soon that might be she could not tell. It seemed but a few seconds +since she felt Hozier's arms around her, since her lips met his in a +passionate kiss. But, meanwhile, someone had brought her here. Her +dress, though damp, was not sopping wet. Even the slight token of the +beaten eggs showed how time must have sped while she was lying there +oblivious of everything. She tried again to question the women, and +fancied that they understood her partly, as she caught the words "meia +noite," but it was beyond her powers to ascertain whether they meant +that she had come there at midnight, or were actually telling her the +hour. +</P> + +<P> +At any rate, they were most anxious for her well-being. The island +housewife produced another dish, smiled reassuringly, and said, +"Manioc—bom," repeating the phrase several times. The compound looked +appetizing, and Iris ate a little. She discovered at once that it was +tapioca, but her new acquaintance suggested "cassava" as an +alternative. The girl, however, nodded cheerfully. She had heard the +gentry at Fort San Antonio call it tapioca, and her convict father +cultivated some of the finer variety of manioc for the officers' mess. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah," sighed Iris, smiling wistfully, "I am making progress in your +language, slow but sure. But please don't give me any mangroves." +</P> + +<P> +The girl apparently was quite fascinated by the sound of English. She +began to chatter to her mother at an amazing rate, trying repeatedly to +imitate the hissing sound which the Latin races always perceive in +Anglo-Saxon speech. Her mother reproved her instantly. To make +amends, the girl offered Iris a fine pomegranate. Iris, of course, +lost nothing of this bit of by-play. It was almost the first touch of +nature that she had discovered among the amazing inhabitants of +Fernando Noronha. +</P> + +<P> +These small amenities helped to pass the time, but Iris soon noted an +air of suspense in the older woman's attitude. Though mindful of her +guest's comfort, Luisa Gomez had ever a keen ear for external sounds. +In all probability, she was disturbed by the distant reports of +fire-arms, and it was a rare instance of innate good-breeding that she +did not alarm her guest by calling attention to them. Iris, amid such +novel surroundings, could not distinguish one noise from another. +Night-birds screamed hideously in the trees without; a host of crickets +kept up an incessant chorus in the undergrowth; the intermittent +roaring of breakers on the rocks invaded the narrow creek. The medley +puzzled Iris, but the island woman well knew that stirring events were +being enacted on the other side of the hill. Her husband was there—he +had, indeed, prepared a careful alibi since Marcel visited him—and +wives are apt to feel worried if husbands are abroad when bullets are +flying. +</P> + +<P> +So, while the girl, Manoela, was furtively appraising the clothing worn +by Iris, and wondering how it came to pass that in some parts of the +world there existed grand ladies who wore real cloth dresses, and lace +embroidered under-skirts, and silk stockings, and shining leather +boots—wore them, too, with as much careless ease as one draped one's +self in coarse hempen skirt and shawl in Fernando Noronha—her mother +was listening ever for hasty footsteps among the trailing vines. +</P> + +<P> +At last, with a muttered prayer, she went to the door, and unfastened +the stout wooden staple that prevented intruders from entering unbidden. +</P> + +<P> +It was dark without. Dense black clouds veiled the moon, and a gust of +wind moaned up the creek in presage of a tropical storm. Someone +approached. +</P> + +<P> +"Is that you, Manoel?" asked Luisa Gomez in a hushed voice. +</P> + +<P> +There was no answer. The woman drew back. She would have closed the +door, but a slim, active figure sprang across the threshold. She +shrieked in terror. The new-comer was a Brazilian officer, one of +those glittering beings whom she had seen lounging outside the +Prindio[1] during her rare visits to the town. She was hoping to greet +her Manoel, she half expected to find Marcel, but to be faced by an +officer was the last thing she had thought of. In abject fear, she +broke into a wild appeal to the Virgin; the officer merely laughed, +though not loudly. +</P> + +<P> +"Be not afraid, senhora—I am a friend," he said with quiet confidence, +and the fact that he addressed her so courteously was a wondrously +soothing thing in itself. But he raised a fresh wave of dread in her +soul when he peered into the cabin and spoke words she did not +understand. +</P> + +<P> +"I think you are here, mademoiselle," he said in French. "I am come to +share your retreat for a little while. Perchance by daybreak I may +arrive at some plan. At present, you and I are in difficulties, is it +not?" +</P> + +<P> +Iris recognized the voluble, jerky speech. A wild foreboding gripped +her heart until she was like to shudder under its fierce anguish. +</P> + +<P> +"You, Captain San Benavides?" she asked, and her utterance was +unnaturally calm. +</P> + +<P> +"I, mademoiselle," he said, "and, alas! I am alone. May I come in? +It is not well to show a light at this hour, seeing that the island is +overrun with infuriated soldiers." +</P> + +<P> +The concluding sentence was addressed to Luisa Gomez in Portuguese. +Realizing instinctively that the man came as a friend, she stood aside, +trembling, on the verge of tears. He entered, and the door was closed +behind him. The yellow gleam of the lamp fell on his smart uniform, +and gilded the steel scabbard of his sword. In that dim interior the +signs of his three days' sojourn on Grand-père were not in evidence, +and he had not been harmed during the struggle on the main road or in +the rush for the launch. +</P> + +<P> +He doffed his rakish-looking kepi and bowed low before Iris. Perhaps +the white misery in her face touched him more deeply than he had +counted on. Be that as it may, a note of genuine sympathy vibrated in +his voice as he said: +</P> + +<P> +"I am the only man who escaped, mademoiselle. The others? Well, it is +war, and war is a lottery." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you mean that they have been killed, all killed?" she murmured with +a pitiful sob. +</P> + +<P> +"I—I think so." +</P> + +<P> +"You … think? Do you not know?" +</P> + +<P> +He sighed. His hand sought an empty cigarette case. Such was the +correct military air, he fancied—to treat misfortunes rather as jests. +He frowned because the case was empty, but smiled at Iris. +</P> + +<P> +"It is so hard, mademoiselle, when one speaks these things in a strange +tongue. Permit me to explain that which has arrived. We encountered a +picket, and surprised it. Having secured some weapons and +accouterments, we hastened to the quay, where was moored the little +steamship. Unhappily, she was crowded with soldiers. They fired, and +there was a short fight. I was knocked down, and, what do you call +it?—<I>étourdi</I>—while one might count ten. I rose, half blinded, and +what do I see? The vessel leaving the quay—full of men engaged in +combat, while, just beyond the point, a warship is signaling her +arrival. It was a Brazilian warship, mademoiselle. She showed two red +rockets followed by a white one. It was only a matter of minutes +before she met the little steamship. I tell you that it was bad luck, +that—a vile blow. I was angry, yes. I stamp my foot and say foolish +things. Then I run!" +</P> + +<P> +Iris made no reply. She hid her face in her hands. She could frame no +more questions. San Benavides was trying to tell her that Hozier and +the rest had been overwhelmed by fate at the very instant escape seemed +to be within reach. The Brazilian, probably because of difficulties +that beset him in using a foreign language, did not make it clear that +he had flung himself flat in the dust when he heard the order to fire +given by someone on board the launch. He said nothing of a tragic +incident wherein Marcel, shot through the lungs, fell over him, and he, +San Benavides, mistaking the convict for an assailant, wrestled +furiously with a dying man. He even forgot to state that had he +charged home with the others, he would either have met a bullet or +gained the deck of the launch, and that his failure to reach the vessel +was due to his own careful self-respect. For San Benavides was not a +coward. He could be brave spectacularly, but he had no stomach for a +fight in the dark, when stark hazard chooses some to triumph and some +to die. That sort of devilish courage might be well enough for those +crude sailors; a Portuguese gentleman of high lineage and proved mettle +demanded a worthier field for his deeds of derring-do. Saperlotte! If +one had a cigarette one could talk more fluently! +</P> + +<P> +"Believe me, mademoiselle," he went on, speaking with a proud humility +that was creditable to his powers as an actor, "the tears came to my +eyes when I understood what had happened. For myself, what do I care? +I would gladly have given my life to save my brave companions. But I +thought of you, solitary, waiting here in distress, so I hurried into +the village, and my uniform secured me from interruption until I was +able to leave the road and cross the hills." +</P> + +<P> +Then the lightning of a woman's intuition pierced the abyss of despair. +Surely there were curious blanks in this thrilling narrative. As was +her way when thoroughly aroused, Iris stood up and seized San Benavides +almost roughly by the arm. Her distraught eyes searched his face with +a pathetic earnestness. +</P> + +<P> +"Why do you think that the launch did not get away?" she cried. "It +was dark. The moon might have been in shadow. If the launch met the +warship and was seen, there must have been firing——" +</P> + +<P> +"Chère mademoiselle, there was much firing," he protested. +</P> + +<P> +"At sea?" +</P> + +<P> +The words came dully. She was stricken again, even more shrewdly. The +gloom was closing in on her, yet she forced herself to drag the truth +from his unwilling lips. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. Of course, I could not wait there in that open place. I was +compelled to seek shelter. Troops were running from town and citadel. +I avoided them by a miracle. And my sole concern then was your safety." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, my safety!" she wailed brokenly. "How does it avail me that my +friends should be slain? Why was I not with them? I would rather have +died as they died than live in the knowledge that I was the cause of +their death." +</P> + +<P> +San Benavides essayed a confidential hand on her shoulder. She shrank +from him; he was not pleased but he purred amiably: +</P> + +<P> +"Mademoiselle is profoundly unhappy. Under such circumstances one says +things that are unmerited, is it not? If anyone is to blame, it is my +wretched country, which cannot settle its political affairs without +bloodshed. Ah, mademoiselle, I weep with you, and tender you my most +respectful homage." +</P> + +<P> +A deluge of tropical rain beat on the hut with a sudden fury. +Conversation at once became difficult, nearly impossible. Iris threw +herself back on the trestle in a passion of grief that rivaled the +outer tempest. San Benavides, by sheer force of habit, dusted his +clothes before sitting on the chair brought by Luisa Gomez. The +woman's frightened gaze had dwelt on Iris and him alternately while +they spoke. She understood no word that was said, but she gathered +that the news brought by this handsome officer was tragic, woeful, +something that would wring the heartstrings. +</P> + +<P> +"Was there fighting, senhor?" she asked, close to his ear, her voice +pitched in a key that conquered the storm. +</P> + +<P> +He nodded. He was very tired, this dandy; now that Iris gave no +further heed to him, he was troubled by the prospects of the coming day. +</P> + +<P> +"Were they soldiers who fought?" +</P> + +<P> +He nodded again. +</P> + +<P> +"No islanders?" +</P> + +<P> +Then he raised a hand in protest, though he laughed softly. +</P> + +<P> +"Your good man is safe, senhora," he said. "Marcel told him to go to +Sueste and tend his cattle. When he comes home it will be his duty to +inform the Governor that we are here. He will be rewarded, not +punished. <I>Sangue de Deus</I>! I may be shot at dawn. I pray you, let +me rest a while." +</P> + +<P> +The girl, Manoela, weeping out of sympathy, crept to Iris's side and +gently stroked her hair. Like her mother, she could only guess that +the English lady's friends were captured, perhaps dead. Even her +limited experience of life's vicissitudes had taught her what short +shrift was given to those who defied authority. The Republic of Brazil +does not permit its criminals to be executed, but it shows no mercy to +rebels. Manoela, of course, believed that the Englishmen were helping +the imprisoned Dom Corria to regain power. She remembered how a mutiny +was once crushed on the island, and her eyes streamed. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile, Luisa Gomez was touched by the good-looking soldier's +plight. Never, since she came to Fernando Noronha to rejoin her +convict husband, had she been addressed so politely by any member of +the military caste. The manners of the officers of the detachment at +Fort San Antonio were not to be compared with those of Captain San +Benavides. Her heart went out to him. +</P> + +<P> +"We must try to help you, Senhor Capitano," she said. "If the others +are dead or taken, you may not be missed." +</P> + +<P> +He threw out his hands in an eloquent gesture. Life or death was a +matter of complete indifference to him, it implied. +</P> + +<P> +"We shall know in the morning," he said. "Have you any cigarettes? A +milrei[2] for a cigarette!" +</P> + +<P> +"But listen, senhor. Why not take off your uniform and dress in my +clothes? You can cut off your mustaches, and wear a mantilha over your +face, and we will keep you here until there is a chance of reaching a +ship. Certainly that is better than being shot." +</P> + +<P> +He glanced at Iris. Vanity being his first consideration, it is +probable that he would have refused to be made ridiculous in her eyes, +had not a knock on the door galvanized him into a fever of fright. He +sprang up and glared wildly around for some means of eluding the +threatened scrutiny of a search party. Luisa Gomez flung him a rough +skirt and a shawl. He huddled into a corner near the bed,—in such +wise that the figures of Iris and Manoela would cloak the rays of the +lamp,—placed his drawn sword across his knees, and draped the two +garments over his head and limbs. +</P> + +<P> +Then, greatly agitated, but not daring to refuse admittance to the +dreaded soldiery, the woman unbarred the door. A man staggered in. He +was alone, and a swirl of wind and rain caused the lamp to flicker so +madly that no one could distinguish his features until the door was +closed again. +</P> + +<P> +But Iris knew him. Though her eyes were dim with tears, though the +new-comer carried a broken gun in his hands, and his face was +blood-stained, she knew. +</P> + +<P> +With a shriek that dismayed the other women—who could not guess that +joy is more boisterous than sorrow, she leaped up and threw her arms +around him. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Philip, Philip!" she sobbed. "He told me you were dead … and +I believed him!" +</P> + +<P> +The manner of her greeting was delightful to one who had faced death +for her sake many times during the past hour, yet Hozier was so +surprised by its warmth that he could find never a word at the moment. +But he had the good sense to throw aside the shattered rifle and return +her embrace with interest. Long ago exhausted in body, his mind reeled +now under the bewildering knowledge that this most gracious woman did +truly love him. When they parted in that same squalid hut at midnight, +he took with him the intoxication of her kiss. Yet he scarce brought +himself to believe that the night's happenings were real, or that they +two would ever meet again on earth. And now, here was Iris quivering +against his breast. He could feel the beating of her heart. The +perfume of her hair was as incense in his nostrils. She was clinging +to him as if they had loved through all eternity. No wonder he could +not speak. Had he uttered a syllable, he must have broken down like +the girl herself. +</P> + +<P> +San Benavides supplied a timely tonic. +</P> + +<P> +Throwing aside the rags which covered him, he tried to rise. Philip +caught a glimpse of the uniform, the sheen of the naked sword. He was +about to tear himself from Iris's clasp and spring at this new enemy +when the Brazilian spoke. +</P> + +<P> +"Mil diabos!" he cried in a rage, "this cursed Inglez still lives, and +here am I posing before him like an old hag." +</P> + +<P> +His voice alone saved him from being pinned to the floor by a man who +had adopted no light measures with others of his countrymen during the +past half-hour, as the dented gun-barrel, minus its stock, well showed. +But the captain's mortified fury helped to restore Philip's sanity. +Lifting Iris's glowing face to his own, he whispered: +</P> + +<P> +"Tell me, sweetheart, how comes it that our Brazilian friend is here?" +</P> + +<P> +"He ran away when some shots were fired," which was rather unfair of +Iris. "He said the launch had been sunk by a man-of-war——" +</P> + +<P> +"But he is wrong. I saw no man-of-war. We captured the launch. By +this time she is well out to sea. Unfortunately, Marcel was killed, +and Domingo badly wounded. There was no one to come for you, so I +jumped overboard and swam ashore. I had to fight my way here, and it +will soon be known that there are some of us left on the island. I +thought that perhaps I might take you back to the Grand-père cavern. +These people may give us food. I have some few sovereigns in my +pocket.…" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes, yes!" She was excited now and radiantly happy. "Of course, +Captain San Benavides must accompany us. He says the soldiers will +shoot him if they capture him. I, too, have money. Let me ask him to +explain matters to this dear woman and her daughter. They have been +more than kind to me already." +</P> + +<P> +She turned to the sulky San Benavides and told him what Hozier had +suggested. He brightened at that, and began a voluble speech to Luisa +Gomez. Interrupting himself, he inquired, in French, how Hozier +proposed to reach the rock. +</P> + +<P> +"On a catamaran. There are two on the beach, and I can handle one of +them all right," said Philip. "But what is this yarn of a warship? +When last I sighted the launch she was standing out of the harbor, and +the first clouds of the storm helped to screen her from the citadel." +</P> + +<P> +Iris interpreted. San Benavides repeated his story of the rockets. In +her present tumult, the girl forgot the touch of realism with regard to +the firing that he had heard. Certainly there was a good deal of +promiscuous rifle-shooting after the departure of the launch, but +warships use cannon to enforce their demands, and the boom of a big gun +had not woke the echoes of Fernando Noronha that night. Philip deemed +the present no time for argument; he despised San Benavides, and gave +no credence to him. Just now the Brazilian was an evil that must be +endured. +</P> + +<P> +Luisa Gomez promised to help in every possible way. Her eyes sparkled +at the sight of gold, but the poor woman would have assisted them out +of sheer pity. Nevertheless, the gift of a couple of sovereigns, +backed by the promise of many more if her husband devoted himself to +their service, spurred her to a frenzy of activity. +</P> + +<P> +There was not a moment to be lost. The squall had spent itself, and a +peep through the chinks of the door showed that the moon would quickly +be in evidence again. It was essential that they should cross the +channel while the scattering clouds still dimmed her brightness; so +Manoela and her mother collected such store of food, and milk, and +water, as they could lay hands on. Well laden, all five hastened to +the creek, and Hozier, Iris, and San Benavides, boarded the larger of +the two catamarans. The strong wind had partly dissipated the noisome +odor, but it was still perceptible. Iris was sure she would never like +mangroves. +</P> + +<P> +Having a degree of confidence in the queer craft that was lacking +during their earlier voyage, they did not hesitate to stack jars and +baskets against the curved prow in such a manner that the eatables +would not become soaked with salt water. Then, after a hasty farewell, +during which Iris showed her gratitude to those kindly peasants by a +hug and a kiss, Hozier pushed off and tried to guide the catamaran as +Marcel had done. +</P> + +<P> +Oddly enough, he and Iris now saw the majestic outlines of the +Grand-père for the first time. The great rock rose above the water +like some immense Gothic cathedral. The illusion was heightened by a +giant spire that towered grandly from the center of the islet. It +looked a shrine built by nature in honor of its Creator, a true temple +of the infinite, and the semblance was no illusion to these three +castaways, since they regarded it as a sanctuary to which alone, under +Heaven, they might owe their lives. Hozier, of course, realized that +there was a certain element of risk in returning there. The island +authorities would surely endeavor to find out where the party of +desperadoes had lain <I>perdu</I> between the sinking of the ship and the +attack on the picket. But the ill-starred Marcel had been confident +that none could land on the rock who was not acquainted with the +intricacies of the approach, and Philip was content to trust to the +reef-guarded passage rather than seek shelter on the mainland. +</P> + +<P> +Once embarked in the fairway, the management of the catamaran occupied +his mind to the complete exclusion of all other problems. He was +puzzled by the discovery that the awkward craft was traveling too far +to the westward, until he remembered that the tide had turned, and that +the current was either slack or running in the opposite direction. +Changing the paddle to the starboard side, he soon corrected this +deviation in the route. But he had been carried already a hundred +yards or more out of the straight line. To reach the two pointed rocks +that marked the entrance to the secret channel, he was obliged to creep +back along the whole shoreward face of the Grand-père; and to this +accident was due a surprise that ranked high in a day replete with +marvels. +</P> + +<P> +When the catamaran rounded the last outlying crag, and they were all +straining their eyes to find the sentinel pillars, they became aware +that a small boat was being pulled cautiously toward them from the +opposite side of the rock. +</P> + +<P> +Iris gasped. She heard Hozier mutter under his breath, while San +Benavides revealed his dismay by an oath and a convulsive tightening of +the hands that rested on the girl's shoulders. +</P> + +<P> +Hozier strove with a few desperate strokes of the paddle to reach the +shadows of the passage before the catamaran was seen by the boat's +occupants. He might have succeeded. Many things can happen at night +and on the sea—strange escapades and hair's-breadth 'scapes—thrills +denied to stay-at-homes dwelling in cities, who seldom venture beyond a +lighted area. But there was even a greater probability that the +unwieldy catamaran might be caught by the swell and dashed side-long +against one of the half-submerged rocks that thrust their black fangs +above the water. +</P> + +<P> +Happily, they were spared either alternative. At the very instant that +their lot must be put to the test of chance, Coke's hoarse accents came +to their incredulous ears. +</P> + +<P> +"Let her go, Olsen," he was growling. "We've a clear course now, an' +that dam moon will spile everything if we're spotted." +</P> + +<P> +In this instance hearing was believing, and Philip was the first to +guess what had actually occurred. +</P> + +<P> +"Boat ahoy, skipper!" he sang out in a joyous hail. +</P> + +<P> +Coke stood up. He glared hard at the reef. +</P> + +<P> +"Did ye 'ear it?" he cried to De Sylva, who was steering. "Sink me, I +'ope I ain't a copyin' pore ole Watts, but if that wasn't Hozier's +voice I'm goin' dotty." +</P> + +<P> +"It's all right, skipper," said Philip, sending the catamaran ahead +with a mighty sweep. "Miss Yorke is here—Captain San Benavides, too. +I was sure you would look for us if you cleared the harbor safely." +</P> + +<P> +Then Coke proclaimed his sentiments in the approved ritual of the high +seas, while the big Norseman at the oars swung the boat's head round +until both craft were traveling in company to the waiting launch. But +before anything in the nature of an explanation was forthcoming from +the occupants of either the boat or the catamaran, a broad beam of +white light swept over the crest of the island from north to south. It +disappeared, to return more slowly, until it rested on Rat Island, at +the extreme northwest of the group. It remained steady there, showing +a wild panorama of rocky heights and tumbling sea. +</P> + +<P> +"A search-light, by G—d!" growled Coke. +</P> + +<P> +"Then there really <I>was</I> a warship," murmured Iris. +</P> + +<P> +"Ha!" said San Benavides, and his tone was almost gratified, for he had +gathered that Hozier was skeptical when told of the rockets. But in +that respect, at least, he was not mistaken. A man-of-war had entered +the roadstead, and her powerful lamp was now scouring sea and coast for +the missing launch. And in that moment of fresh peril it was forgotten +by all but one of the men who had survived so many dangers since the +sun last gilded the peak of Fernando Noronha, that were it not for Iris +having been left behind, and Philip's mad plunge overboard to go to +her, and the point-blank refusal of the <I>Andromeda's</I> captain and crew +to put to sea without an effort to save the pair of them, the launch +would not now be hidden behind the black mass of the Grand-père rock. +</P> + +<P> +Nevertheless, the fact was patent. Had the little vessel sailed to the +west, in the assumption that her only feasible course lay in that +direction, she must have been discovered by the cruiser's far-seeing +eye. And what that meant needed no words. The bones of the +<I>Andromeda</I> supplied testimony at once silent and all-sufficing. +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +[1] The Governor's residence. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +[2] The Brazilian milrei is worth 55 cents, or 2s. 3 1/2d. The +Portuguese is worth only one-tenth of a cent. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap10"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER X +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +ON THE HIGH SEAS +</H3> + + +<P> +Again did that awe-inspiring wand of light describe a great arc in the +sky. But it was plain to be seen that it sprang from an altered base. +The warship was in motion. She was about to steam around the group of +islands. +</P> + +<P> +Boat and catamaran raced at once for the launch; a Babel of strange +oaths jarred the brooding silence; alarm, almost panic, stirred men's +hearts and bubbled forth in wild speech. Under pressure of this new +peril the instinct of self-preservation burst the bonds of discipline. +The first law of nature may be disregarded by heroes, but the +<I>Andromeda's</I> crew were just common sailormen, who did not know when +they were heroic and did not care if they were deemed bestial. It may +be urged that they had suffered much. Out of a ship's company of +twenty-two exactly one half had survived the day's rigors. Domingo was +lying in the cabin, too seriously injured to be concerned whether he +lived or died. With him were two wounded soldiers, happily saved from +the ruthless ferocity of the fight alongside the wharf, when every +Brazilian in uniform found on deck was flung off to sink or swim as he +was best able. Indeed, it was during this phase of the struggle that +Hozier managed to scramble on shore unnoticed. He landed at the same +moment as enemies who were blind to every other consideration except +their own dangerous plight. +</P> + +<P> +Small wonder, then, if authority was cast to the winds now that capture +seemed to be unavoidable. Coke tried to still the tumult by thundering +a command to Norrie, second engineer, to throw open the throttle valve. +He took the wheel in person, meaning to shape a course due east, and +thus endeavor to avoid the cruiser's baleful glance. But some of the +men realized instantly that this expedient would fail. They were in no +mood for half measures. Norrie felt a bayonet under his left +shoulder-blade. Coke was roared down, and a hoarse voice growled: +</P> + +<P> +"Me for the tall timbers, maties. It's each one for hisself now." +</P> + +<P> +"Aye, aye!" came the chorus … "Shove her ashore!… Give us a +chanst there… We've none at sea." +</P> + +<P> +Dom Corria, being something of a fatalist, did not interfere. On this +cockleshell of a craft, among these rude spirits of alien races, he was +powerless. On land a diplomat and strategist of high order, here he +was a cipher. Moreover, he was beaten to his knees, and he knew it. +The arrival of the warship had upset his calculations. After many +months' planning of flight, he had been forced, by the events of a few +hours, into an aggressive campaign. His little cohort had done +wonders, it is true, but of what avail were these ill-equipped +stalwarts against a fast-moving fort, armed with heavy guns and +propelled by thousands of steam horses? None, absolutely none. Dom +Corria drew San Benavides aside. +</P> + +<P> +"All is ended!" he said quietly. "We shall never see Brazil again, +Salvador <I>meu</I>! Carmela must find another lover, it seems." +</P> + +<P> +Salvador did not appear to be specially troubled by the new quest +imposed on Carmela, but he was much perturbed by an uproar betokening +disunion among the men who had already saved his life twice. He was +beginning to believe in them. It was night, and they possessed a +vessel under steam. Why did they not hurry into the obscurity of the +smooth dark plain that looked so inviting? +</P> + +<P> +It was left to Hozier to solve a problem that threatened to develop +into a disastrous brawl. Danger sharpens a brave man's wits, but love +makes him fey. To succor Iris was now his sole concern. He swung a +couple of the excited sailors out of his way and managed to stem the +torrent of Coke's futile curses. +</P> + +<P> +"Give in to them!" he cried eagerly. "Tell them they are going ashore +in the creek. That will stop the racket. If they listen to me, I can +still find a means of escape." +</P> + +<P> +"Avast yelpin', you swabs!" bellowed Coke. "D'ye want to let every +bally sojer on the island know where you are? We're makin' for the +creek. Will <I>that</I> please you? Now, Mr. Norrie, let her rip!" +</P> + +<P> +The head of the launch swung toward the protecting shadows. The men +knew the bearings of Cotton-Tree Bay, so the angry voices yielded to +selfish thought. If it was to be <I>sauve qui peut</I> when the vessel +grounded, there was ample room for thought, seeing that each man's +probable fate would be that of a mad dog. +</P> + +<P> +Hozier seized the precious respite. He spoke loudly enough that all +should hear, and he began with a rebuke. +</P> + +<P> +"I am sorry that those of us who are left should have disgraced the +fine record set up by the <I>Andromeda's</I> crew since the ship struck," he +said. "Your messmates who fell fighting would hardly believe St. Peter +himself if he told them that we were on the verge of open mutiny. I am +ashamed of you. Let us have no more of that sort of thing. Sink or +swim, we must pull together." +</P> + +<P> +There was some discordant muttering, but he gained one outspoken +adherent. +</P> + +<P> +"Bully for you!" said the man who had suggested tree-climbing as an +expedient. +</P> + +<P> +"Shut up!" was the wrathful answer. "You've made plenty of row +already. I only hope you have not attracted attention on the island. +You may not have been heard, owing to the disturbance on the other +side, but no thanks to any of you for that. Our skipper's first notion +was to put to sea. Wasn't it natural? Do you want to be hunted over +Fernando Noronha at daybreak? But he would have seen the uselessness +of trying to slip the cruiser before the launch had gone a cable's +length. Now, here is a scheme that strikes me as workable. At any +rate, it offers a forlorn hope. There is a sharp bend in the creek +just where the tidal water ends. I fancy the launch will float a +little higher up, but we must risk it. We will take her in, unship the +mast, tie a few boughs and vines on the funnel, and not twenty +search-lights will find us." +</P> + +<P> +A rumble of approving murmurs showed that he had scotched the dragon. +It was even ready to become subservient again. He continued rapidly: +</P> + +<P> +"No vessel of deep draught can come close in shore from the east. The +cruiser will have the Grand-père rock abeam within an hour, but, to +make sure, two of you will climb the ridge and watch her movements. +The rest will load up every available inch of space with wood and water +and food. How can we win clear of Fernando Noronha without fuel? It +is a hundred to one that the launch would not steam twenty miles on her +present coal supply. Such as it is, we must keep it for an emergency, +even if we are compelled to tear up the deck and dismantle the cabin." +</P> + +<P> +"Talks like a book!" snorted Coke, and some of the men grinned +sheepishly. +</P> + +<P> +Hozier was coolly reminding them of those vital things which frenzy had +failed wholly to take into account. Confidence was reborn in them. +They wanted to cheer this fearless young officer who seemed to forget +nothing, but the island promontories were so close at hand that +perforce they were dumb. +</P> + +<P> +The simplicity of the project was its best recommendation. Sailors +themselves, the mind of the cruiser's commander was laid bare to them. +He would soon be convinced that the launch had passed him in the dark +ere the search-light looked out over the sea. Long before the circuit +of Fernando Noronha was completed he would be itching to rush at top +speed along the straight line to Pernambuco. It was a bold thing, too, +to land on the island and stock their vessel for a voyage, the end of +which no man could foresee. The dare-devil notion fascinated them. In +that instant, the <I>Andromeda's</I> crew returned to their allegiance, +which was as well, since it was fated to be stiffly tested many times +ere they were reported inside 1 degree West again. +</P> + +<P> +Unfortunately, Coke was in a raging temper. Never before had his +supremacy been challenged. Having lost control over his men, he owed +its restoration to Hozier. Such a fact was gall and wormwood to a man +of his character, and he was mean-souled enough to be vindictive. +Promising himself the future joy of pounding to a jelly the features of +every mother's son among the forecastle hands, he began to snarl his +orders. +</P> + +<P> +"Watts, you must leg it to the sky-line, an' pipe the cruiser. Olsen, +you go, too, an' see that Mr. Watts doesn't find a brewery. Hozier, +p'raps you'd like to rig the mistletoe. Miss Yorke 'll 'elp, I'm sure. +It's up to you, mister, an' his nibs with the sword, to parly-voo to +the other convicts about the grub. Is there a nigger's wood-pile +handy? If not, we must collar the hut. I'll take care of the stowage." +</P> + +<P> +He meant each jibe to hurt, and probably succeeded, but Watts was too +despondent, and Hozier and De Sylva too self-controlled, to say aught +that would add to their difficulties. Nevertheless, he was answered, +from a quarter whence retort was least expected. +</P> + +<P> +"You must modify your instructions, Captain Coke," said Iris with quiet +scorn. "It would be a shameful act to destroy the house of those who +befriended us. They gave freely of their stores, as you will see by +the supplies lashed to the catamaran, and will assist us further if +Senhor De Sylva appeals to them——" +</P> + +<P> +"You can safely leave that to me," broke in Dom Corria. +</P> + +<P> +But Iris was not to be placated thus easily. +</P> + +<P> +"I know that," she said. "I only wished Captain Coke to understand +that if he cannot make clear his meaning he should obey rather than +command." +</P> + +<P> +"The lady 'as 'ad the last word. Now let's get busy," sneered Coke. +</P> + +<P> +Hozier, who had not quitted his side since the incipient outbreak was +quelled, gripped his shoulder. +</P> + +<P> +"There is a pile of wood near the cottage," he said in Coke's ear. "I +saw it there. It must be paid for. Have you any money?" +</P> + +<P> +"A loose quid or two—no more." +</P> + +<P> +"A sovereign will be ample. Miss Yorke has already given the owners +two pounds." +</P> + +<P> +"Wot for?" +</P> + +<P> +"For their kindness. You are all there when it comes to a scrap, +skipper, but at most other times you ought to be muzzled. No, don't +talk now. We will discuss the point on some more suitable occasion, +when we can deal with it fully, and Miss Yorke is not present." +</P> + +<P> +Philip spoke in a whisper, but the low pitch of his voice did not +conceal its menace. He was longing to twine his fingers round Coke's +thick neck, and some hint of his desire was communicated by the clutch +of his hand. Coke shook himself free. He feared no man born, but it +would be folly to attack Hozier then, and he was not a fool. +</P> + +<P> +"Let go, you blank ijjit," he growled. "I've no grudge ag'in you. If +we pull out of this mess you'll 'ave to square matters wi' David Verity +an' that other ole ninny, Dickey Bulmer. She's promised to 'im, you +know. Told me so 'erself, so there's no mistake. I got me rag out, I +admit, an' 'oo wouldn't after bein' 'owled down by those swine forrard. +My godfather! Watch me put it over 'em w'en I get the chanst. Stop +'er, Norrie! There's plenty of way on 'er to round that bend." +</P> + +<P> +Hozier reflected that he had chosen an odd moment to quarrel with his +captain, whose mordant humor in the matter of the mistletoe was only +accentuated by his reference to Iris's reported engagement. The +pungent smell of the mangrove swamp was wafted now to his nostrils. It +brought a species of warning that the disagreeable conditions of life +in Fernando Noronha were yet active. It was not pleasant to be thus +suddenly reminded of pitfalls that might exist in England; meanwhile, +here was the launch thrusting her nose into the mud and shingle of this +malevolent island. +</P> + +<P> +To his further annoyance, San Benavides, who depended on his compatriot +for a summary of the latest scheme, asked Iris to accompany De Sylva +and himself to the hut. +</P> + +<P> +"They are stupid creatures, these peasants," he said. "When they see +you they will not be frightened." +</P> + +<P> +There was so much reason in the statement that Iris was a ready +volunteer. Soon all hands were at work, and it was due to the girl's +forethought that strips of linen were procured from Luisa Gomez, and +healing herbs applied to the cuts and bruises of the injured men. +Sylva was all for leaving the two soldiers on the island, but Coke's +sailor-like acumen prevented the commission of that blunder. +</P> + +<P> +"No, that will never do," he said, with irritating offhandness. "These +jokers will be found at daylight, an' they'll be able to say exactly +wot time we quit. The wimmin can make out they was scared stiff an' +darsent stir. It 'ud be different with the sojers. An' we ain't goin' +to have such a 'eart-breakin' start, even if the cruiser clears away +soon after two o'clock." +</P> + +<P> +"Where do you propose to make for?" +</P> + +<P> +"Where d'ye think, mister? Nor'-east by nor', to be sure, until we +sight some homeward-bound ship." +</P> + +<P> +There was a pause. The pair could talk unheard, since they were +standing on the bank, and the men were either loading firewood and +fruit and cassava, or stripping trees and vines to hide the +superstructure of the launch. +</P> + +<P> +"You mean to abandon everything, then?" said De Sylva. He seemed to be +watching the onward sweep of the search-light as the warship went to +the north. But Coke was shrewd. He felt that there was something +behind the words, and he suspected the ex-President's motives. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't see any 'elp for it," he answered. "Gord's trewth, wot is +there to abandon? I've lost me ship, an' me money, an' me papers, an' +'arf me men. Unless one was lookin' for trouble, this ain't no +treasure island, mister." +</P> + +<P> +"Yet it might be made one." +</P> + +<P> +"As how?" +</P> + +<P> +"Do you not realize how greatly the members of the present Government +fear my return to Brazil? Here, I am their prisoner, practically +friendless, almost alone. They dare not kill me by process of law, yet +they are moving heaven and earth to prevent my escape, or shoot me down +in the act. Why? Because they know that the people are longing to +hail me as President again. Suppose you and your men took me to +Pernambuco——" +</P> + +<P> +"S'pose hell!" snapped Coke. +</P> + +<P> +"Please listen. You can but refuse when you look at the facts fairly. +If, as I say, I were put ashore at Pernambuco, or at any other of half +a dozen ports I can name, I should be among my own followers. You, +Captain Coke, and every officer and man of your ship, and her owners, +and the relatives of those who have lost their lives, would not only be +paid all just claims by the new Government, but adequately rewarded. +In your own case, the recompense would be princely. But, assuming that +we board a vessel bound for Europe, what certainty have you that you +will ever receive a penny?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, reely, that's comin' it a bit thick, mister," growled Coke. +</P> + +<P> +"You believe I am exaggerating the difficulties of your position? Pray +consider. Your vessel is broken up. She was fired on while at anchor +on the wrong side of the island, on the very day selected for my +escape. You and your men manage to dodge the bullets, and, under my +leadership, assisted by Captain San Benavides, you overrun the place by +night, kill several soldiers, seize a launch, despoil peasants of their +crops and stores, and make off with a good deal of property belonging +to the Brazilian Government, not to mention the presence in your midst +of such a significant personage as myself. Speaking candidly, Senhor +Captain, what chance have you of convincing any international court of +your innocence? Who will believe that you were not a true filibuster? +That is what Brazil will say you are. How will you disprove it? In +any event, who will enforce your claims against my country? English +public opinion would never compel your Government to take action in +such an exceedingly doubtful case, now would it?" +</P> + +<P> +"If we was to try and land you in Brazil, we'd bust up our claim for +good an' all," muttered Coke. Though this was a powerful argument +against De Sylva's theory, it revealed certain qualms of perplexity. +The other man's brilliant eyes gleamed for an instant, but he guarded +his voice. He was in his element now. When words were weapons he +could vanquish a thousand such adversaries. +</P> + +<P> +"I think otherwise," he said slowly. "A judge might well hold that in +a small vessel like the launch you were entitled to make for the +nearest land. But I grant you that point; it is really immaterial. If +I fail, you lose everything. Accept my offer, and you have a +reasonable chance of winning a fortune." +</P> + +<P> +"Wot exactly is your offer?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ample compensation officially. Five thousand pounds to you in person." +</P> + +<P> +"Five thousand!" Coke cleared a throat husky with doubt. He scratched +his head under the absurd-looking kepi which he was still wearing; for +a moment, his lips set in grim calculation. "That 'ud make things +pretty easy for the missus an' the girls," he muttered. "An' there's +no new ship for me w'en Dickey Bulmer cocks 'is eye at Hozier. It's a +moral there'll be a holy row between 'im an' David.… D'ye mean +it, mister?" +</P> + +<P> +"Even if I fail, and my life is spared, I will pay you the money out of +my own private funds," was the vehement reply. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, well, leave the job to me. You sawr 'ow them tinkers jibbed +just now. I must 'umor 'em a bit, d—n 'em. But wait till the next +time some of 'em ships under me. Lord luv' a duck, won't I skin 'em? +Not 'arf!" +</P> + +<P> +De Sylva, with all his admirable command of English, could not follow +the Coke variety in its careless freedom. But he knew his man. Though +bewildered by strange names and stranger words, he was alive to the +significance of things being made easy "for the missus and the girls." +So, even this gnarled sea-dog had a soft spot in his heart! On the +very brink of the precipice his mind turned to his women-kind, just as +De Sylva himself had whispered a last memory of his daughter to San +Benavides when their common doom was seemingly unavoidable. +</P> + +<P> +He would urge no more, since Coke was willing to fall in with his +designs, but he could not forbear from clinching matters. +</P> + +<P> +"I promise on my honor——" he began. +</P> + +<P> +But the nearer surface of the sea flashed into a dazzling distinctness, +and Coke dragged him down to the launch. The cruiser had rounded Rat +Island, and was devoting one sweeping glance eastward ere she sought +her prey in creek or tortuous channel. The men were summoned hastily. +Watts and Olsen had been warned to crouch behind the rocks on the +crest, while those who remained near the launch were told to hide among +the trees or crowd into the small cabin. Movement of any kind was +forbidden. There was no knowing who might be astir on the hills, and a +sharp eye might note the presence of foreigners in Cotton-Tree Bay. +Hozier had not forgotten the risk of detection from the shore, and the +vessel was plentifully decorated with greenery. The long, large-leafed +vines and vigorous castor-oil plants were peculiarly useful at this +crisis. Trailing over the low freeboard into the water, they screened +the launch so completely that Watts and the Norwegian, perched high +above the creek at a distance of three hundred yards, could only guess +her whereabouts when the search-light made the Gomez plantation light +as day. +</P> + +<P> +The cruiser evidently discovered traces of the <I>Andromeda</I> on +Grand-pere. She stopped an appreciable time, and created a flutter in +many anxious hearts by a loud hoot of her siren. It did not occur to +anyone at the moment that she was signaling to the troops bivouacked on +South Point. De Sylva was the first to read this riddle aright. He +whispered his belief, and it soon won credence, since the warship +continued her scrutiny of the coast-line. +</P> + +<P> +At last, after a wearying delay, she vanished. Five minutes later, +Watts and Olsen brought the welcome news that she was returning to the +roadstead. +</P> + +<P> +It was then half-past two o'clock, and the sun would rise soon after +five. Now or never the launch must make her effort. Ready hands tore +away her disguise, she was tilted by crowding in the poop nearly every +man on board, the engines throbbed, and she was afloat. +</P> + +<P> +At daybreak the thousand-foot peak of Fernando Noronha was a dark blur +on the western horizon. No sail or smudge of smoke broke the remainder +of the far-flung circle. The fugitives could breathe freely once more. +They were not pursued. +</P> + +<P> +Iris fell asleep when assured that the dreaded warship was not in +sight. Hozier, too, utterly exhausted by all that he had gone through, +slept as if he were dead. Coke, whose iron constitution defied +fatigue, though it was with the utmost difficulty that he had walked +across the narrow breadth of Fernando Noronha, took the first watch in +person. He chatted with the men, surprised them by his candor on the +question of compensation, and announced his resolve to make for the +three-hundred-mile channel between Fernando Noronha and the mainland. +</P> + +<P> +"You see, it's this way, me lads," he explained affably. "We're short +o' vittles an' bunker, an' if we kep' cruisin' east in this latitood +we'd soon be drawrin' lots to see 'oo'd cut up juiciest. So we must +run for the tramp's track, which is two hundred miles to the west. +We'll bear north, an' that rotten cruiser will look south for sartin, +seein' as 'ow they know we 'ave the next President aboard." +</P> + +<P> +Coke paused to take breath. +</P> + +<P> +"Wot a pity we can't give 'im a leg up," he added confidentially. "It +'ud be worth a pension to every man jack of us. 'Ere 'e is, special +freight, so to speak. W'y <I>'e'd sign anythink</I>." +</P> + +<P> +Once the train was laid, it was a simple matter to fire the mine. When +Hozier awoke, to find the launch heading west, he was vastly astonished +by Coke's programme. It was all cut and dried, and there was really +nothing to cavil at. If they met a steamship, and she stopped in +response to their signals, her captain would be asked to take care, not +only of Miss Yorke, but of any other person who shirked further +adventure. As for Coke, and Watts, and the majority of the men, they +were pledged to De Sylva. Even Norrie, the engineer, a hard-headed +Scot, meant to stick to the launch until the President that was and +would be again was safely landed among his expectant people. +</P> + +<P> +Watts let the cat out of the bag later. +</P> + +<P> +"Those of us 'oo don't leave Dom Wot's-'is-name in the lurch are to get +ten years' full pay, extry an' over an' above wot the court allows," he +said. "Just think of it! Don't it make your mouth water? Reminds me +of a chap I wonst read about in a trac'. It tole 'ow 'e took to booze. +One 'ot Sunday, bein' out for a walk, 'e swiped 'arf a pint of ginger +beer, the next 'e tried shandy-gaff, the third 'e went the whole hog, +an' then 'e never stopped for ten years. My godfather! Ten years' pay +an' a ten years' drunk! It's enough to make a sinner of any man." +</P> + +<P> +Hozier laughed. Two days ago he would have asked no better luck than +the helping of Dom Corria to regain his Presidentship. Now, there was +Iris to protect. He would not be content to leave her in charge of the +first grimy collier they encountered, nor was he by any means sure that +she would agree to be thus disposed of. He was puzzled by the singular +unanimity of purpose displayed by his shipmates. But that was their +affair. His was to insure Iris's safety; the future he must leave to +Providence. +</P> + +<P> +And, indeed, Providence contrived things very differently. +</P> + +<P> +By nightfall the launch was a hundred miles west of the island. Norrie +got eight knots out of her, but it needed no special calculation to +discover that she would barely make the coast of Brazil if she consumed +every ounce of coal and wood on board. The engines were strong and in +good condition, but she had no bunker space for a long voyage. Were it +not for Hozier's foresight she would have been drifting with the Gulf +Stream four hours after leaving the island. As it was, unless they +received a fresh supply of fuel from another ship, they must +unquestionably take the straightest line to the mainland. +</P> + +<P> +During the day they had sighted three vessels, but at such distances +that signaling was useless, each being hull down on their limited +horizon. Moreover, they had to be cautious. The cruiser, trusting to +her speed, might try a long cast north and south of the launch's +supposed path. She alone, among passing ships, would be scouring the +sea with incessant vigilance, and it behooved them, now as ever, not to +attract her attention. They were burning wood, so there was no smoke, +and the mast was unstepped. Yet the hours of daylight were tortured by +constant fear. Even Iris was glad when the darkness came and they were +hidden. +</P> + +<P> +At midnight a curious misfortune befell them. The compass had been +smashed during the fight, and not a sailor among them owned one of the +tiny compasses that are often worn as a charm on the watchchain. This +drawback, of little consequence when sun or stars could be seen, +assumed the most serious importance when a heavy fog spread over the +face of the waters. The set of the current was a guide of a sort, but, +as events proved, it misled them. Man is ever prone to over-estimate, +and such a slight thing as the lap of water across the bows of a small +craft was sure to be miscalculated; they contrived to steer west, it is +true, but with a southerly inclination. +</P> + +<P> +At four o'clock, by general reckoning, they were mid-way between island +and continent. They were all wide awake, too weary and miserable to +sleep. Suddenly a fog-horn smote the oppressive gloom. It drew near. +A huge blotch crossed their bows. They could feel it rather than see +it. They heard some order given in a foreign language, and De Sylva +whispered: +</P> + +<P> +"The <I>Sao Geronimo</I>!" +</P> + +<P> +"The wot-ah?" demanded Coke, who was standing beside him. +</P> + +<P> +"The cruiser!" +</P> + +<P> +Coke listened. He could distinguish the half-speed beating of twin +screws. He knew at once that the ex-President must have recognized the +warship as she passed the creek, but, by some accident, had failed to +mention her name during the long hours that had sped in the meantime. +The sinister specter passed and the launch crept on. Everyone on board +was breathless with suspense. Faces were shrouded by night and the +fog, but some gasped and others mumbled prayers. One of the wounded +soldiers shouted in delirium, and a coat was thrust over his head with +brutal force. The fog-horn blared again, two cables' lengths distant. +They were saved, for the moment! +</P> + +<P> +In a little while, perhaps twenty minutes, they heard another siren. +It sounded a different note, a quaintly harsh blend of discords. +Whatsoever ship this might be, it was not the <I>Sao Geronimo</I>. And in +that thrilling instant there was a coldness on one side of their faces +that was not on the other. Moist skin is a weather-vane in its way. A +breeze was springing up. Soon the fog would be rolled from off the sea +and the sun would peer at them in mockery. +</P> + +<P> +Coke's gruff voice reached every ear: +</P> + +<P> +"This time we're nabbed for keeps unless you all do as I bid you," he +said. "When the fog lifts, the cruiser will see us. There's only one +thing for it. Somewhere, close in, is a steamer. She's a tramp, by +the wheeze of 'er horn. We've got to board 'er an' sink the launch. +If she's British, or American, O.K., as 'er people will stand by us. +If she's a Dago, we've got to collar 'er, run every whelp into the +forehold, an' answer the cruiser's signals ourselves. That's the +sittiwation, accordin' to my reckonin'. Now, 'oo's for it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Butt right in, skipper," said a gentleman who claimed Providence, +Rhode Island, as the place of his nativity. +</P> + +<P> +Hozier, who had contrived to draw near Iris while Coke was speaking, +breathed softly, so that none other could hear: +</P> + +<P> +"This is rank piracy. But what else can we do?" +</P> + +<P> +"Is it wrong?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Well—no, provided we kill no one. We are justified in saving our own +lives, and the average German or Italian shipmaster would hand us over +to the Brazilians without scruple." +</P> + +<P> +Iris was far from Bootle and its moralities. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't care what happens so long as you are not hurt," she whispered. +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Hozier," said Coke thickly. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, sir." +</P> + +<P> +"You've got good eyes an' quick ears. Lay out as far forrard as you +can, an' pass the word for steerin'." +</P> + +<P> +Hozier obeyed. The discordant bleat of a foghorn came again, +apparently right ahead. In a few seconds he caught the flapping of a +propeller, and silenced the launch's engines. +</P> + +<P> +"We are close in now," he said to Coke, after a brief and noiseless +drift. "Why not try a hail!" +</P> + +<P> +"Ship ahoy!" shouted Coke, with all the force of brazen lungs. +</P> + +<P> +The screw of the unseen ship stopped. The sigh of escaping steam +reached them. +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Holla</I>! <I>Wer rufe</I>?" was the gruff answer. +</P> + +<P> +"Sink me if it ain't a German!" growled Coke, <I>sotto-voce</I>, "Norrie, +you must stick here till I sing out to you. Then open your exhaust an' +unscrew a sea-cock.… Wot ship is that?" he vociferated aloud. +</P> + +<P> +Some answer was forthcoming—what, it mattered not. The launch bumped +into the rusty ribs of a twelve-hundred ton tramp. A rope ladder was +lowered. A round-faced Teuton mate—fat and placid—was vastly +surprised to find a horde of nondescripts pouring up the ship's side in +the wake of a short, thick, bovine-looking person who neither +understood nor tried to understand a word he was saying. +</P> + +<P> +These extraordinary visitors from the deep brought with them a girl and +three wounded men. By this time the captain was aroused; he spoke some +English. +</P> + +<P> +"Vas iss diss?" he asked, surveying the newcomers with amazement, and +their bizarre costumes with growing nervousness. "Vere haf you coomed +vrom?" +</P> + +<P> +Coke pushed him playfully into the cook's galley. +</P> + +<P> +"This is too easy," he chortled. "Set about 'em, you swabs. Don't +hurt anybody unless they ax for it. Round every son of a gun into the +fo'c'sle till I come. Mr. Watts, the bridge for you. Olsen, take the +wheel. Mr. Hozier, see wot you can find in their flag locker. <I>Now</I>, +Mr. Norrie! Sharp for it. You're wanted in the engine-room." +</P> + +<P> +And that is how ex-President Dom Corria Antonio De Sylva acquired the +nucleus of his fleet, though, unhappily, an accident to a sea-cock +forthwith deprived him of a most useful and seaworthy steam launch. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap11"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A LIVELY MORNING IN EXCHANGE BUILDINGS +</H3> + + +<P> +Coke and his merry men became pirates during the early morning of +Thursday, September 2d; the curious reader can ascertain the year by +looking up "Brazil" in any modern Encyclopedia, and turning to the +sub-division "Recent History." On Monday, September 6th, David Verity +entered his office in Exchange Buildings, Liverpool, hung his hat and +overcoat on their allotted pegs, swore at the office boy because some +spots of rain had come in through an open window, and ran a feverish +glance through his letters to learn if any envelopes bearing the +planetary devices of the chief cable companies had managed to hide +themselves among the mass of correspondence. +</P> + +<P> +The act was perfunctory. Well he knew that telephone or special +messenger would speedily have advised him if news of the <I>Andromeda</I> +had arrived since he left the office on Saturday afternoon. But it is +said that drowning men clutch at straws, and the metaphor might be +applied to Verity with peculiar aptness. He was sinking in a sea of +troubles, sinking because the old buoyancy was gone, sinking because +many hands were stretched forth to push him under, and never one to +draw him forth. +</P> + +<P> +There was no cablegram, of course. Dickey Bulmer, who had become a +waking nightmare to the unhappy shipowner, had said there wouldn't +be—said it twelve hours ago, after wringing from Verity the astounding +admission that Iris was on board the <I>Andromeda</I>. It was not because +the vessel was overdue that David confessed. Bulmer, despite his +sixty-eight years, was an acute man of business. Moreover, he was +blessed with a retentive memory, and he treasured every word of the +bogus messages from Iris concocted by her uncle. They were lucid at +first, but under the stress of time they wore thin, grew disconnected, +showed signs of the strain imposed on their author's imagination. +Bulmer, a typical Lancashire man, blended in his disposition a genial +openhandedness with a shrewd caution. He could display a princely +generosity in dealing with Verity as the near relative and guardian of +his promised wife; to the man whom he suspected of creating the +obstacles that kept her away from him he applied a pitiless logic. +</P> + +<P> +The storm had burst unexpectedly. Bulmer came to dinner, ate and drank +and smoked in quiet amity until David's laboring muse conveyed his +niece's latest "kind love an' good wishes," and then—— +</P> + +<P> +"Tell you wot," said Dickey, "there's another five thousand due +to-morrow on the surveyor's report." +</P> + +<P> +"There is," said Verity, knowing that his guest and prospective partner +alluded to the new steamer in course of construction on the Clyde. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, it won't be paid." +</P> + +<P> +David lifted his glass of port to hide his face. Was this the first +rumbling of the tempest? Though expected hourly, he was not prepared +for it. His hand trembled. He dared not put the wine to his lips. +</P> + +<P> +"Wot's up now?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"You're playin' some underhand game on me, David, an' I won't stand +it," was the unhesitating reply. "You're lyin' about Iris. You've bin +lyin' ever since she disappeared from Bootle. Show me 'er letters an' +their envelopes, an' I'll find the money. But, of course, you can't. +They don't exist. Now, own up as man to man, an' I'll see if this +affair can be settled without the lawyers. You know wot it means once +<I>they</I> take hold." +</P> + +<P> +Then David set down the untasted wine and told the truth. Not +all—that was not to be dreamed of. In the depths of his heart he +feared Bulmer. The old man's repute for honesty was widespread. He +would fling his dearest friend into prison for such a swindle as that +arranged between Coke and the shipowner. But it was a positive relief +to divulge everything that concerned Iris. From his pocket-book David +produced her frayed letter, and Bulmer read it slowly, aloud, through +eyeglasses held at a long focus. +</P> + +<P> +Now, given certain definite circumstances, an honest man and a rogue +will always view them differently. David had interpreted the girl's +guarded phrases in the light of his villainous compact with Coke. +Dickey, unaware of this disturbing element, was inwardly amazed to +learn that Verity had lied so outrageously with the sole object of +carrying through a commercial enterprise. +</P> + +<P> +"'Tell him I shall marry him when the <I>Andromeda</I> returns to England +from South America,'" he read. And again … "'The vessel is due +back at the end of September, I believe, so Mr. Bulmer will not have +long to wait.'" +</P> + +<P> +If, in the first instance, David had not been swept off his feet by the +magnitude of the catastrophe, if he had not commenced the series of +prevarications before the letter reached him, he might have adopted the +only sane course and taken Bulmer fully into his confidence. It was +too late now. Explanation was useless. The only plea that occurred to +him was more deadly than silence, since it was her knowledge of the +contemplated crime that made Iris a stowaway. He had never guessed how +that knowledge was attained and the added mystery intensified his +torture. +</P> + +<P> +Dickey rose from the table. His movements showed his age that night. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll think it over, David," he said. "There's more in this than meets +the eye. I'll just go home an' think it over. Mebbe I'll call at your +place in the mornin'." +</P> + +<P> +So here was Verity, awaiting Bulmer's visit as a criminal awaits a +hangman. There was no shred of hope in his mind that his one-time +crony would raise a finger to save him from bankruptcy. Some offenses +are unforgivable, and high in the list ranks the folly of separating a +wealthy old man from his promised bride. +</P> + +<P> +Now that a reprieve was seemingly impossible, he faced his misfortunes +with a dour courage. It had been a difficult and thankless task during +the past month to stave off pressing creditors. With Iris in Bootle +and Bulmer her devoted slave, Verity would have weathered the gale with +jaunty self-confidence. But that element of strength was lacking; nay, +more, he felt in his heart that it could never be replaced. He was no +longer the acute, blustering, effusive Verity, who in one summer's +afternoon had secured a rich partner and forced an impecunious sailor +to throw away a worn-out ship. The insurance held good, of course, and +there simply <I>must</I> be some sort of tidings of the <I>Andromeda</I> to hand +before the end of September. Yet things had gone wrong, desperately +wrong, and he was quaking with the belief that there was worse in store. +</P> + +<P> +He began to read his letters. They were mostly in the same vein, duns, +more or less active. His managing clerk entered. +</P> + +<P> +"There's an offer of 5s. 6d. Cardiff to Bilbao and Bilbao to the Tyne +for the <I>Hellespont</I>. It is better than nothing. Shall we take it, +sir?" +</P> + +<P> +The <I>Hellespont</I> was the firm's other ship. She, too, was old and +running at a loss. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. Wot is it, coal or patent fuel?" +</P> + +<P> +"Coal, with a return freight of ore." +</P> + +<P> +"Wish it was dynamite, with fuses laid on." +</P> + +<P> +The clerk grinned knowingly. Men grow callous when money tilts the +scale against human lives. +</P> + +<P> +"There's no news of the <I>Andromeda</I>, and <I>her</I> rate is all right," he +said. +</P> + +<P> +David scowled at him. +</P> + +<P> +"D—n the rate!" he cried. "I want to 'ear of the ship. Wot the——" +</P> + +<P> +But his subordinate vanished. David read a few more letters. Some +were from the families of such of the <I>Andromeda's</I> crew as lived in +South Shields, the Hartlepools, Whitby. They asked as a great favor +that a telegram might be sent when—— +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, curse my luck!" groaned the man, quivering under the conviction +that the <I>Andromeda</I> was lost "by the act of God" as the charter-party +puts it. The belief unnerved him. Those words have an ominous ring in +the ears of evil-doers. He could show a bold front to his fellowmen, +but he squirmed under the dread conception of a supernatural vengeance. +So, like every other malefactor, David railed against his "luck." +Little did he guess the extraordinary turn that his "luck" was about to +take. +</P> + +<P> +The office boy announced a visitor, evidently not the terrible Bulmer, +since he said: +</P> + +<P> +"Gennelman to see yer, sir." +</P> + +<P> +"Oo is it?" growled the shipowner. +</P> + +<P> +"Gennelman from the noospaper, sir." +</P> + +<P> +"Can't be bothered." +</P> + +<P> +"'E sez hit's most himportant, sir." +</P> + +<P> +"Wot is?" +</P> + +<P> +"I dunno, sir." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, show 'im in. I'll soon settle 'im." +</P> + +<P> +A quiet-mannered young man appeared. He ignored David's sharp, "Now, +wot can I do for you?" and drew up a chair, on which he seated himself, +uninvited. +</P> + +<P> +"May I ask if you have received any private news of the <I>Andromeda</I>?" +he began. +</P> + +<P> +"No." +</P> + +<P> +"In that case, you must prepare yourself for a statement that may give +you a shock," said the journalist. +</P> + +<P> +David creaked round in his chair. His face, not so red as of yore, +paled distinctly. +</P> + +<P> +"Is she lost?" said he in a strangely subdued tone. +</P> + +<P> +"I—I fear she is. But there is much more than an ordinary shipwreck +at issue. Several telegrams of the gravest import have reached us this +morning. Perhaps, before I ask you any questions, you ought to read +them. They are in type already, and I have brought you proofs. Here +is the first." +</P> + +<P> +David took from the interviewer's outstretched hand a long strip of +white paper. For an appreciable time his seething brain refused to +comprehend the curiously black letters that grouped themselves into +words on the limp sheet. And, indeed, he was not to be blamed if he +was dull of understanding, for this is what he read: +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +"REVOLUTION IN BRAZIL. +<BR><BR> +"SERIOUS POSITION. +<BR><BR> +"STARTLING ESCAPADE OF A BRITISH SHIP.<BR> +</H3> + +<P> +"RIO DE JANEIRO, September 5th. A situation of exceptional gravity has +evidently arisen on the island of Fernando do Noronha, whence, it is +said, ex-President De Sylva recently attempted to escape. A battleship +and two cruisers have been despatched thither under forced draught. No +public telegrams have been received from the island during the past +week, and the authorities absolutely refuse any information as to +earlier events, though the local press hints at some extraordinary +developments not unconnected with the appearance off the island of a +British steamship known as the <I>Andromeda</I>. +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Later</I>—De Sylva landed last night at the small port of Maceio in the +province of Alagoas, a hundred miles south of Pernambuco. It is +currently reported that Fernando Noronha was captured by a gang of +British freebooters. De Sylva's return is unquestionable. To-day he +issued a proclamation, and his partisans have seized some portion of +the railway. Excitement here is at fever heat." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Verity glared at the journalist. He laughed, almost hysterically. +</P> + +<P> +"The <I>Andromeda</I>!" he gasped. "Wot rot! Wot silly rot!" +</P> + +<P> +"Better withhold your opinion until you have mastered the whole story," +was the unemotional comment. "Here is a more detailed message. It is +printed exactly as cabled. We have not added a syllable except the +interpolation of such words as 'that' and 'the.' You will find it +somewhat convincing, I imagine." +</P> + +<P> +The shipowner grasped another printed slip. This time he was able to +read more lucidly: +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"PERNAMBUCO, September 4th. Public interest in the abortive attempt to +reinstate Dom Corria De Sylva as President was waning rapidly when it +was fanned into fresh activity by news that reached this port to-day. +It appears that on the 31st ulto. a daring effort was made to free De +Sylva, who, with certain other ministers expelled by the successful +revolution of two years ago, is a prisoner on the island of Fernando do +Noronha. Lloyd's agent on that island reports that the British steamer +<I>Andromeda</I>, owned by David Verity & Co. of Liverpool, put into South +Bay, on the southeast side of Fernando do Noronha, early on the morning +of August 31st, and it is alleged that her mission was to take De Sylva +and his companions on board. The garrison, forewarned by the central +government, and already on the <I>qui vive</I> owing to the disappearance of +their important prisoners from their usual quarters, opened fire on the +<I>Andromeda</I> as soon as she revealed her purpose by lowering a boat. +</P> + +<P> +"The steamer, being unarmed, made no attempt to defend herself, and was +speedily disabled. She sank, within five minutes, off the Grand-père +rock, with all on board. With reckless bravado, her commander ran up +the vessel's code signals and house flag while she was actually going +down, thus establishing her identity beyond a shadow of doubt. A note +of pathos is added to the tragedy by the undoubted presence of a lady +on board—probably De Sylva's daughter, though it was believed here +that the ex-President's family were in Paris. Telegrams from the +island are strictly censored, and the foregoing statement is +unofficial, but your correspondent does not question its general +accuracy. Indeed, he has reason to credit a widespread rumor that the +island is still in a very disturbed condition. No one knows definitely +whether or not De Sylva has been recaptured. It is quite certain that +he has not landed in Brazil, but the reticence of the authorities as to +the state of affairs on Fernando Noronha leads to the assumption that +he and a few stanch adherents are still in hiding in one of the many +natural fastnesses with which the island abounds. +</P> + +<P> +"The British community on the littoral is deeply stirred by the drastic +treatment received by the <I>Andromeda</I>. It is pointed out that another +ship, the <I>Andros-y-Mela</I>, believed to have been chartered by the +insurgents, is under arrest at Bahia, and the similarity between the +two names is regarded as singular, to say the least. Were it not that +Lloyd's agent, whose veracity cannot be questioned, has stated +explicitly that the <I>Andromeda</I> put in to South Bay—a point +significantly far removed from the regular track of trading vessels—it +might be urged that a terrible mistake had been made. In any event, +the whole matter must be strictly inquired into, and one of His +Majesty's ships stationed in the South Atlantic should visit the island +at the earliest date possible. <I>Delayed in transmission</I>." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Something buzzed inside Verity's head and stilled all sense of +actuality. He was unnaturally calm. Though the weather was chilly for +early September, great beads of perspiration glistened on his forehead. +His eyes were dull; they lacked their wonted shiftiness. He gazed at +the reporter unblinkingly, as though thought itself refused to act. +</P> + +<P> +"Is that the lot?" he inquired mechanically. +</P> + +<P> +"Nearly all, at present. These cablegrams reached us through London, +and the agency took the earliest measures to substantiate their +accuracy. The Brazilian Embassy pooh-poohs the whole story, but +Embassies invariably do that until the news is stale. By their own +showing, Ambassadors are singularly ill-informed men, especially in +matters affecting their own countries. Here, however, is a short +telegram from Paris which is of minor interest." +</P> + +<P> +And Verity read again: +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"PARIS, September 6th. The members of Dom Corria De Sylva's family, +seen early this morning at the Hotel Continental, deny that any lady +connected with the cause of Brazilian freedom took part in the +attempted rescue of the ex-President. They are much annoyed by the +unfounded report, and hold strongly to the opinion that the revolution +would now have been a <I>fait accompli</I> had not a traitor revealed the +destination of the <I>Andros-y-Mela</I> and thus led to that vessel's +detention at Bahia." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The lady! Iris Yorke! At last David's supercharged mind was beginning +to assimilate ideas. He was conscious of a fierce pain in the region +of his heart. The buzzing in his head continued, and the journalist's +voice came to him as through a dense screen. +</P> + +<P> +"You will observe that the former President's relatives tacitly admit +that there was a plot on foot," the other was saying. "It is important +to note, too, that the long message from Pernambuco, marked 'delayed in +transmission' seems to imply a prior telegram which was suppressed. It +alludes to a revolt of which nothing is known here. Now, Mr. Verity, I +want to ask you——" +</P> + +<P> +The door was flung open. In rushed Dickey Bulmer with a speed +strangely disproportionate to his years. In his hands he held a +crumpled newspaper. +</P> + +<P> +"You infernal blackguard, have you seen this?" he roared, and his +attitude threatened instant assault on the dazed man looking up at him. +The reporter moved out of the way. Here, indeed, was "copy" of the +right sort. Bulmer held a position of much local importance. That he +should use such language to the owner of the <I>Andromeda</I> promised +developments "of the utmost public interest." +</P> + +<P> +David stood up. His chair fell over with a crash. He held on to the +table to steady himself. Even Bulmer, white with rage, could not fail +to see that he was stunned. +</P> + +<P> +But Dickey was not minded to spare him on that account. +</P> + +<P> +"Answer me, you scoundrel!" he shouted, thrusting the paper almost into +David's face. "You are glib enough when it suits your purpose. Were +<I>you</I> in this? Is this the reason you didn't tell me Iris was on board +till I forced the truth out of you last night?" +</P> + +<P> +The managing clerk came in. Behind him, a couple of juniors and the +office boy supplied reënforcements. They all had the settled +conviction that their employer was a rogue, but he paid them in no +niggardly fashion, and they would not suffer anyone to attack him. +</P> + +<P> +This incursion from the external world had a restorative effect on +Verity. Being what is termed a self-made man, he had a fine sense of +his own importance, and his subordinates' lack of respect forthwith +overcame every other consideration. +</P> + +<P> +"Get out!" he growled, waving a hand toward the door. +</P> + +<P> +"But, sir—please, gentlemen——" stuttered the senior clerk. +</P> + +<P> +"Get out, I tell you! D—n yer eyes, 'oo sent for any of you?" +</P> + +<P> +Undoubtedly David was recovering. The discomfited clerks retired. +Even Dickey Bulmer was quieted a little. But he still shook the +newspaper under David's nose. +</P> + +<P> +"Now!" he cried. "Let's have it. No more of your flamin' made-up +tales. Wot took you to shove the <I>Andromeda</I> into a rat-trap of this +sort?" +</P> + +<P> +David staggered away from the table. He seemed to be laboring for +breath. +</P> + +<P> +"'Arf a mo'. No need to yowl at me like that," he protested. +</P> + +<P> +He fumbled with the lock of a corner cupboard, opened it, and drew +forth a decanter and some glasses. A tumbler crashed to the floor, and +the slight accident was another factor in clearing his wits. He swore +volubly. +</P> + +<P> +"Same thing 'appened that Sunday afternoon," he said, apparently +obvious of the other men's presence. "My poor lass upset one, she did. +Wish she'd ha' flung it at my 'ed.… Did it say 'went down with +all 'ands,' mister?" he demanded suddenly of the reporter. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Mr. Verity." +</P> + +<P> +"Is it true?" +</P> + +<P> +"I trust not, but Lloyd's agent—well, I needn't tell you that Lloyd's +is reliable. Was your niece on board? Is she the lady mentioned in +the cablegram?" +</P> + +<P> +Then Bulmer woke up to the fact that there was a stranger present. +</P> + +<P> +"'Ello!" he cried angrily. "Wot are you doin' ere? 'Oo are you? Be +off, instantly." +</P> + +<P> +"I am not going until Mr. Verity hears what I have to ask him, and +answers, or not, as he feels disposed," was the firm reply. +</P> + +<P> +"Leave 'im alone, Dickey. It's all right. Wot does it matter now 'oo +knows all there is to know? Just gimme a minnit." +</P> + +<P> +Verity poured out some brandy. Man is but a creature of habit, and the +hospitable Lancastrian does not drink alone when there is company. +</P> + +<P> +"'Ave a tiddly?" he inquired blandly. +</P> + +<P> +Both Bulmer and the journalist believed that David was losing his +faculties. Never did shipowner behave more queerly when faced by a +disaster of like magnitude, involving, as did the <I>Andromeda's</I> loss, +not only political issues of prime importance, but also the death of a +near relative. They refused the proffered refreshment, not without +some show of indignation. Verity swallowed a large dose of neat +spirit. He thought it would revive him, so, of course, the effect was +instantaneous. The same quantity of prussic acid could not have killed +him more rapidly than the brandy rallied his scattered forces, and, not +being a physiologist, he gave the brandy all the credit. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" he said, smacking his lips with some of the old-time relish, +"that puts new life into one. An' now, let's get on with the knittin'. +I was a bit rattled when this young party steers in an' whacks 'is +cock-an'-bull yarn into me 'and. 'Oo ever 'eard of a respectable +British ship mixin' 'erself up with a South American revolution? The +story is all moonshine on the face of it." +</P> + +<P> +"I think otherwise, Mr. Verity, and Mr. Bulmer, I take it, agrees with +me," said the reporter. +</P> + +<P> +"Wot," blazed David, into whose mind had darted a notion that dazzled +him by its daring, "d'ye mean to insiniwate that I lent my ship to this +'ere Dom Wot's-'is-name? D'ye sit there an' tell me that Jimmie Coke, +a skipper who's bin in my employ for sixteen year, would carry on that +sort of fool's business behind 'is owner's back? Go into my clerk's +office, young man, an' ax Andrews to show up a copy of the ship's +manifest. See w'en an 'ow she was insured. Jot down the names of the +freighters for this run, and skip round to their offices to verify. +An' if that don't fill the bill, well, just interview yourself, an' say +if you'd allow your niece, a bonnie lass like my Iris, to take a trip +that might end in 'er bein' blown to bits. It's crool, that's wot it +is, reel crool." +</P> + +<P> +David was not simulating this contemptuous wrath. He actually felt it. +His harsh voice cracked when he spoke of Iris, and the excited words +gushed out in a torrent. +</P> + +<P> +The reporter glanced at Bulmer, who was watching Verity with a tense +expectancy that was not to be easily accounted for, since his manner +and speech on entering the room had been so distinctly hostile. +</P> + +<P> +"The lady referred to was Miss Iris Yorke, then?" +</P> + +<P> +"'Oo else? I've on'y one niece. My trouble is that she went without +my permission, in a way of speakin'. 'Ere, you'd better 'ave the fax. +She was engaged to my friend, Mr. Bulmer, but, bein' a slip of a girl, +an' fond o' romancin', she just put herself aboard the Andromeeda +without sayin' 'with your leave' or 'by your leave.' She wrote me a +letter, w'ich sort of explains the affair. D'you want to see it?" +</P> + +<P> +"If I may." +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Bulmer. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," blustered Verity, fully alive now to the immense possibilities +underlying the appearance in print of Iris's references to her +forthcoming marriage. +</P> + +<P> +"An' I say 'no,' an' mean it," said the older man. "Go slow, David, go +slow. I was not comin 'ere as your enemy when I found this paper bein' +cried in the streets. It med me mad for a while. But I believe wot +you've said, an' I'm not the man to want my business, or my future +wife's I 'ope, to be chewed over by every Dick, Tom, an' 'Arry in +Liverpool." +</P> + +<P> +The reincarnation of David was a wonderful spectacle, the most +impressive incident the journalist had ever witnessed, did he but know +its genesis. The metamorphosis was physical as well as mental. Verity +burgeoned before his very eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Of course, that makes a h— a tremenjous difference," said the +shipowner. "You 'ave my word for it, an' that is enough for most men. +Mr. Andrews 'll give you all the information you want. I'll cable now +to Rio an' Pernambewco, an' see if I can get any straight news from the +shippin' 'ouses there. I'll let you know if I 'ear anything, an' you +might do the same by me." +</P> + +<P> +The reporter gave this promise readily. He scented a possible scandal, +and meant to keep in touch with Verity. Meanwhile, he was in need of +the facts which the managing clerk could supply, so he took himself off. +</P> + +<P> +Bulmer went to the window and looked out. A drizzle of sleet was +falling from a gray sky. The atmosphere was heavy. It was a day +singularly appropriate to the evil tidings that had shocked him into a +fury against the man who had so willfully deceived him. David picked +up the proof slips and reread them. He compared them with the +paragraphs in the newspaper brought by Bulmer, and thrown by him on the +table after his first outburst of helpless wrath. They were identical +in wording, of course, but, somehow, their meaning was clearer in the +printed page: and David, despite his uncouth diction, was a clever man. +</P> + +<P> +He wrinkled his forehead now in analysis of each line. Soon he hit on +something that puzzled him. +</P> + +<P> +"Dickey," he said. +</P> + +<P> +There was no answer. The old man peering through the window seemed to +have bent and whitened even since he came into the room. +</P> + +<P> +"Look 'ere, Dickey," went on David, "this dashed fairy-tale won't hold +water. <I>You</I> know Coke. Is 'e the kind o' man to go bumpin' round +like a stage 'ero, an' hoisting Union Jacks as the ship sinks? I ax +you, is 'e? It's nonsense, stuff an' nonsense. An', if the Andromeeda +was scrapped at Fernando Noronha, 'oo were the freebooters that +collared the island, an' 'ow did this 'ere De Sylva get to Maceio? Are +you listenin'?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said Bulmer, turning at last, and devouring Verity with his +deep-set eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, wot d'ye think of it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Did you send the ship to Fernando Noronha?" +</P> + +<P> +It is needless to place on record the formula of David's denial. It +was forcible, and served its purpose—that should suffice. +</P> + +<P> +"Under ordinary conditions she would 'ave passed the island about the +31st?" continued Bulmer. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. Confound it, 'aven't I bin cablin' there every two days for a +fortnight or more? B'lieve me or not, Dickey, it cut me to the 'eart +to keep you in the dark about Iris. But I begun it, like an ijjit, an' +kep' on with it." +</P> + +<P> +"To sweeten me on account of the new ships, I s'pose?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, that's it. No more lyin' for me. I'm sick of it." +</P> + +<P> +"For the same reason you wanted that letter published?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well—yes. There! You see I'm talkin' straight." +</P> + +<P> +"So am I. If—if Iris is alive, the partnership goes on. If—she's +dead, it doesn't." +</P> + +<P> +"D'ye mean it?" +</P> + +<P> +"I always mean wot I say." +</P> + +<P> +The click of an indicator on the desk showed that Verity's private +telephone had been switched on from the general office. By sheer force +of routine, David picked up a receiver and placed it to his ear. The +sub-editor of the newspaper whose representative had not been gone five +minutes asked if he was speaking to Mr. Verity. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said David, "wot's up now?" and he motioned to Bulmer to use a +second receiver. +</P> + +<P> +"A cablegram from Pernambuco states specifically that the captain and +crew of the <I>Andromeda</I> fought their way across the island of Fernando +Noronha, rescued Dom De Sylva, seized a steam launch, attacked and +captured the German steamship <I>Unser Fritz</I>, and landed the insurgent +leader at Maceio. The message goes on to say that the captain's name +is Coke, and that he is accompanied by his daughter.… Eh? What +did you say?… Are you there?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I'm 'ere, or I think I am," said David with a desperate calmness. +"Is that all?" +</P> + +<P> +"All for the present." +</P> + +<P> +"It doesn't say that Coke is a ravin', tearin', 'owlin' lunatic, does +it?" +</P> + +<P> +"No. Is that your view?" +</P> + +<P> +Bulmer's hand gripped David's wrist. Their eyes met. +</P> + +<P> +"I was thinkin' that the chap who writes these penny novelette wires +might 'ave rounded up his yarn in good shape," said Verity aloud. +</P> + +<P> +"But there is not the slightest doubt that something of the kind has +occurred," said the voice. +</P> + +<P> +"It's a put-up job!" roared David. "Them bloomin' Portygees 'ave sunk +my ship, an' they're whackin' in their flam now so as to score first +blow. A year-old baby 'ud see that if 'is father was a lawyer." +</P> + +<P> +The sub-editor laughed. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I'll ring you up again when the next message comes through," he +said. +</P> + +<P> +But to Bulmer, David said savagely: +</P> + +<P> +"Wot's bitten Coke? 'E must 'ave gone stark, starin' mad." +</P> + +<P> +"Iris is alive!" murmured Bulmer. +</P> + +<P> +"Nice mess she med of things w'en she slung 'er 'ook from Linden +'Ouse," grunted her uncle. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't blame 'er. She meant no 'arm. She's on'y a bit of a lass, +w'en all is said an' done. Mebbe it's my fault, or yours, or the fault +of both of us. An' now, David, I'll tell you wot I 'ad in me mind in +comin' 'ere this morning. You're hard up. You don't know where to +turn for a penny. If you're agreeable, I'll put a trustworthy man in +this office an' give 'im full powers to pull your affairs straight. +Mind you, I'm doin' this for Iris, not for you. An' now that we know +wot's 'appening in South America, you an' I will go out there and look +into things. A mail steamer will take us there in sixteen days, an' +before we sail we can work the cables a bit so as to stop Iris from +startin' for 'ome before we arrive. The trip will do us good, an' +we'll be away from the gossip of Bootle. Are you game? Well, gimme +your 'and on it." +</P> + +<A NAME="img-238"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-238.jpg" ALT=""Well, gimme your 'and on it"" BORDER="2" WIDTH="394" HEIGHT="589"> +<H3> +[Illustration: "Well, gimme your 'and on it"] +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap12"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE LURE OF GOLD +</H3> + + +<P> +"Philip, I want to tell you something." +</P> + +<P> +"Something pleasant?" +</P> + +<P> +"No." +</P> + +<P> +"Then why tell me?" +</P> + +<P> +"Because, unhappily, it must be told. I hope you will forgive me, +though I shall never forgive myself. Oh, my dear, my dear, why did we +ever meet? And what am I to say? I—well, I have promised to marry +another man." +</P> + +<P> +"Disgraceful!" said Philip. +</P> + +<P> +Though Iris's faltered confession might fairly be regarded as +astounding, Philip was unmoved. The German captain had given him a +cigar, and he was examining it with a suspicion that was pardonable +after the first few whiffs. +</P> + +<P> +"Philip dear, this is quite serious," said Iris, momentarily +withdrawing her wistful gaze from the far-away line where sapphire sea +and amber sky met in harmony. Northeastern Brazil is a favored clime. +Bad weather is there a mere link, as it were, between unbroken weeks of +brilliant sunshine, when nature lolls in the warmth and stirs herself +only at night under the moon and the stars. That dingy trader, the +<I>Unser Fritz</I>, ostensibly carrying wool and guano from the Argentine to +Hamburg, was now swinging west at less than half speed over the long +rollers which alone bore testimony to the recent gale. Already a deep +tint of crimson haze over the western horizon was eloquent, in nature's +speech, of land ahead. At her present pace, the <I>Unser Fritz</I> would +enter the harbor at Pernambuco on the following morning. +</P> + +<P> +Iris, her troubled face resting on her hands, her elbows propped on the +rails of the poop on the port side, looked at Philip with an intense +sadness that was seemingly lost on him. His doubts concerning the +cigar had grown into a certainty. He cast it into the sea. +</P> + +<P> +"I really mean what I say," she continued in a low voice that vibrated +with emotion, for her obvious distress was enhanced by his evident +belief that she was jesting. "I have given my word—written +it—entered into a most solemn obligation. Somehow, the prospect of +reaching a civilized place to-morrow induces a more ordered state of +mind than has been possible since—since the <I>Andromeda</I> was lost." +</P> + +<P> +"Who is he?" demanded Hozier darkly. "Coke is married. So is Watts. +Dom Corria has other fish to fry than to dream of committing bigamy. +Of course, I am well aware that you have been flirting outrageously +with San Benavides——" +</P> + +<P> +"Please don't make my duty harder for me," pleaded Iris. "Before I met +you, before we spoke to each other that first day at Liverpool, I had +promised to marry Mr. Bulmer, an old friend of my uncle's——" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh,—he?… I am sorry for Mr. Bulmer, but it can't be done," +interrupted Hozier. +</P> + +<P> +"Philip, you do not understand. I—I cared for nobody then … and +my uncle said he was in danger of bankruptcy … and Mr. Bulmer +undertook to help him if I would consent.…" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," agreed Philip, with an air of pleasant detachment, "I see. You +are in a first-rate fix. I was always prepared for that. Coke told me +about Bulmer—warned me off, so to speak. I forgot his claims at odd +times, just for a minute or so, but he is a real bugbear—a sort of +matrimonial bogey-man. If all goes well, and we enter Pernambuco +without being fired at, you will be handed over to the British Consul, +and he will send a rousing telegram about you to England. Bulmer, of +course, will cause a rare stir at home. Who wouldn't? No wonder you +are scared! It seems to me that there is only one safe line of action +left open." +</P> + +<P> +Iris did not respond to his raillery. She was despondent, nervous, +uncertain of her own strength, afraid of the hurricane of publicity +that would shortly swoop down on her. +</P> + +<P> +"I wish you would realize how I feel in this matter," she said, with a +persistence that was at least creditable to her honesty of purpose. "A +woman's word should be held as sacred as a man's, Philip." +</P> + +<P> +He turned and met her eyes. There was a tender smile on his lips. +</P> + +<P> +"So you really believe you will be compelled to marry Mr. Bulmer?" he +cried. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, don't be horrid!" she almost sobbed. "I cuc—cuc—can't help it." +</P> + +<P> +"I have given some thought to the problem myself," he said, for, in +truth, he was beginning to be alarmed by her tenacity, though +determined not to let her perceive his changed mood. "Curiously +enough, I was thinking more of your dilemma than of the signals when we +were overhauled by the <I>Sao Geronimo</I> this morning. Odd, isn't it, how +things pop into one's mind at the most unexpected moments? While I was +coding our explanation that we were putting into Pernambuco for +repairs, and that no steam yacht had been sighted between here and the +River Plate, I was really trying to imagine what the cruiser's people +would have said if I had told them the actual truth." +</P> + +<P> +His apparent gravity drew the girl's thoughts for an instant from +contemplating her own unhappiness. +</P> + +<P> +"How could you have done that?" she asked. "We are going there to suit +Senhor De Sylva's ends. We have suffered so much already for his sake +that we could hardly betray him now." +</P> + +<P> +Hozier spread wide his hands with a fine affectation of amazement. +</P> + +<P> +"I wasn't talking about De Sylva," he cried. "My remarks were strictly +confined to the question of your marriage. I know you far too well, +Iris, to permit you to go back to Bootle to be lectured and browbeaten +by your uncle. I have never seen him, but, from all accounts, he is a +rather remarkable person. He likes to have his own way, irrespective +of other folks' feelings. I am a good guesser, Iris. I have a pretty +fair notion why Coke meant to leave our poor ship's bones on a South +American reef. I appreciate exactly how well it would serve Mr. David +Verity's interests if his niece married a wealthy old party like +Bulmer. By the way how old is Bulmer?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nearly seventy." +</P> + +<P> +Even Iris herself smiled then, though her tremulous mirth threatened to +dissolve in tears. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, that's a pity," said Hozier. +</P> + +<P> +"It is very unkind of you to treat me in this manner," she protested. +</P> + +<P> +"But I am trying to help you. I say it is a pity that Bulmer should be +a patriarch, because his only hope of marrying you is that I shall die +first. Even then he must be prepared to espouse my widow. By the way, +is it disrespectful to describe him as a patriarch? Isn't there some +proverb about three score years and ten?" +</P> + +<P> +"Philip, if only you would appreciate my dreadful position——" +</P> + +<P> +"I do. It ought to be ended. The first parson we meet shall be +commandeered. Don't you see, dear, we really must get married at +Pernambuco? That is what I wanted to signal to the cruiser: 'The +<I>Unser Fritz</I> is taking a happy couple to church.' Wouldn't that have +been a surprise?" +</P> + +<P> +Iris clenched her little hands in despair. Why did he not understand +her misery? Though she was unwavering in her resolution to keep faith +with the man who had twitted her with taking all and giving nothing in +return, she could not wholly restrain the tumult in her veins. Married +in Pernambuco! Ah, if only that were possible! Yet she did not flinch +from the lover-like scrutiny with which Philip now favored her. +</P> + +<P> +"I am sure we would be happy together," she said, with a pathetic +confidence that tempted him strongly to take her in his arms and kiss +away her fears. "But we must be brave, Philip dear, brave in the +peaceful hours as in those which call for another sort of courage. +Last night we lived in a different world. We looked at death, you and +I together, not once but many times, and you, at least, kept him at +bay. But that is past. To-day we are going back to the commonplace. +We must forget what happened in the land of dreams. I will never love +any man but you, Philip; yet—I cannot marry you." +</P> + +<P> +"You will marry me—in Pernambuco." +</P> + +<P> +"I will not because I may not. Oh, spare me any more of this! I +cannot bear it. Have pity, dear!" +</P> + +<P> +"Iris, let us at least look at the position calmly. Do you really +think that fate's own decree should be set aside merely to keep David +Verity out of the Bankruptcy Court?" +</P> + +<P> +"I have given my promise, and those two men are certain I will keep it." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, they shall release you. What then?" +</P> + +<P> +"You do not know my uncle, or Mr. Bulmer. Money is their god. They +would tell you that money can control fate. We, you and I, might +despise their creed, but how am I to shirk the claims of gratitude? I +owe everything to my uncle. He rescued my mother and me from dire +poverty. He gave us freely of his abundance. Would you have me fail +him now that he seeks my aid? Ah, me! If only I had never come on +this mad voyage! But it is too late to think of that now. Perhaps—if +I had not promised—I might steel my heart against him—but, Philip, +you would never think highly of me again if I were so ready to rend the +hand that fed me. We have had our hour, dear. Its memory will never +leave me. I shall think of you, dream of you, when, it may be, some +other girl—oh, no, I do not mean that! Philip, don't be angry with me +to-day. You are wringing my heart!" +</P> + +<P> +It was in Hozier's mind to scoff in no measured terms at the absurd +theory that he should renounce his oft-won bride because a pair of +elderly gentlemen in Bootle had made a bargain in which she was staked +against so many bags of gold. But pity for her suffering joined forces +with a fine certainty that fortune would not play such a scurvy trick +as to rob him of his divinity after leading him through an Inferno to +the very gate of Paradise. For that is how he regarded the perils of +Fernando Noronha. He was young, and the ethics of youth cling to +romance. It seemed only right and just that he should have been proved +worthy of Iris ere he gained the heaven of her love. There might be +portals yet unseen, with guardian furies waiting to entrap him, and he +would brave them all for her dear sake. But his very soul rebelled +against the notion that he had become her chosen knight merely to +gratify the unholy ardor of some decrepit millionaire. He laughed +savagely at the fantasy, and his protest burst into words strange on +his lips. +</P> + +<P> +"I shall never give you up to any other man," he said. "I have won you +by the sword, and, please God, I shall keep you against all claimants. +Twenty-two men sailed out of Liverpool on board the Andromeda, and it +was given to me among the twenty-two that I should pluck you from +darkness into light. I had only seen you that day on the wharf, yet I +was thinking of you constantly, little dreaming that you were within a +few yards of me all the time. I was planning some means of meeting you +again when our surly-tempered skipper bade me burst in the door that +kept you from me. And that is what I have been doing ever since, +Iris—breaking down barriers, smashing them, whether they were flesh +and blood or nature's own obstacles, so that I might not lose you. +Give you up! Not while I live! Why, you yourself dragged me away from +certain death when I was lying unconscious on the <I>Andromeda's</I> deck. +A second time, you saved not me alone but the ten others who are left +out of the twenty-two, by bringing us back to Grand-père in the hour +that our escape seemed to be assured had we put out to sea. We are +more than quits, dear heart, when we strike a balance of mutual +service. We are bound by a tie of comradeship that is denied to most. +And who shall sever it? The man who gains three times the worth of his +ship by reason of the very dangers we have shared! To state such a mad +proposition is to answer it. Who is he that he should sunder those +whom God has joined together? And what other man and woman now +breathing can lay better claim than we to have been joined by the +Almighty?" +</P> + +<P> +The strange exigencies of their lives during the past two days had +ordained that this should be Philip's first avowal of his feelings. +Under the stress of overpowering impulse he had clasped Iris to his +heart when they were parting on the island. In obedience to a stronger +law than any hitherto revealed to her innocent consciousness the girl +had flown to his arms when he came to the hut. And that was all their +love-making, two blissful moments of delirium wrenched from a time of a +gaunt tragedy, and followed by a few hours of self-negation. Yet they +sufficed—to the man—and the woman is never too ready to count the +cost when her heart declares its passion. +</P> + +<P> +But the morrow was not to be denied. Its bitter awakening had come. +In the very agony of a sublime withdrawal Iris realized what manner of +man this was whom she had determined to thrust aside so that she might +keep her troth. She dared not look at him. She could not compel her +quivering lips to frame a word of excuse or reiterated resolve. With a +heart-breaking cry of sheer anguish she fled from him, running away +along the deck with the uncertain steps of some sorely stricken +creature of the wild. +</P> + +<P> +He did not try to restrain her. Heedless of the perplexed scowl with +which Coke was watching him from the bridge, he looked after her until +she vanished in the cabin which had been vacated for her use by the +chief engineer of the vessel. Even her manifest distress gave him a +sense of riotous joy that was hardly distinguishable from the keenest +spiritual suffering. +</P> + +<P> +"Give you up!" he muttered again. "No, Iris, not if Satan brought +every dead Verity to aid the living one in his demand." +</P> + +<P> +Coke, to whom tact was anathema, chose that unhappy instant to summon +him to take charge of the ship. The German master and crew had not +caused trouble to their conquerors after the first short struggle. +They washed their hands of responsibility, professed to be satisfied +with the written indemnity and promise of reward given by De Sylva, and +otherwise placed the resources of the vessel entirely at his disposal. +A more peaceable set of men never existed. Though they numbered +sixteen, three more than the usurpers, it was quite certain that the +thought of further resistance never entered their minds. If anything, +they hailed the adventure with decorous hilarity. It formed a welcome +break in the monotony of their drab lives. Of course, they were +utterly incredulous as to the ability of a scarecrow like Dom Corria to +fulfil his financial pledges. Therein they erred. He was really a +very rich man, having followed the illustrious example set by +generations of South American Presidents in accumulating a fine +collection of gilt-edged scrip during his tenure of office, which said +scrip was safely lodged in London, Paris, and New York. But the world +always refuses to associate rags with affluence, and these worthy +Teutons regarded De Sylva and Coke as the leaders of a gang of +dangerous lunatics who should be humored in every possible way until a +port was reached. +</P> + +<P> +It was precisely that question of a port which had engaged Coke in +earnest consultation with De Sylva and San Benavides on the bridge +while Iris and Hozier were lacerating each other's feelings on the poop. +</P> + +<P> +Apparently, the point was settled when Hozier joined the triumvirate. +Coke glanced at the compass, and placed the engine-room telegraph at +"Full Speed Ahead," for the <I>Unser Fritz</I> had once been a British ship, +and still retained her English appliances. +</P> + +<P> +"Keep 'er edgin' south a bit," said he to Hozier. "There's no knowin' +w'en that crimson cruiser will show up again, but we must try and steal +a knot or two afore sundown." +</P> + +<P> +The order roused Hozier from his stupor of wrathful bewilderment. +</P> + +<P> +"Why south?" he asked. "If anything, Pernambuco lies north of our +present course." +</P> + +<P> +"We're givin' Pernambuco the go-by. It's Maceio for us, quick as we +can get there." +</P> + +<P> +Hozier was in no humor for conciliatory methods. He turned on his +heel, and walked straight to where De Sylva was leaning against the +rails. +</P> + +<P> +"Captain Coke tells me that we are not making for Pernambuco," he said, +meeting the older man's penetrating gaze with a glance as firm and +self-contained. +</P> + +<P> +"That is what we have arranged," said Dom Corria. +</P> + +<P> +"It does not seem to have occurred to you that there is one person on +board this ship whose interests are vastly more important than yours, +senhor." +</P> + +<P> +"Meaning Miss Yorke?" asked the other, who did not require to look +twice at this stern-visaged man to grasp the futility of any words but +the plainest. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"She will be safer at Maceio than at Pernambuco. Our only danger at +either place will be encountered at the actual moment of landing. At +Maceio there is practically no risk of finding a warship in the harbor. +That is why we are going there." +</P> + +<P> +"And not because you are more likely to find adherents there?" +</P> + +<P> +"It is a much smaller town than Pernambuco, and my strength lies +outside the large cities, I admit. But there can be no question as to +our wisdom in preferring Maceio, even where the young lady's well-being +is concerned." +</P> + +<P> +"I think differently. At Maceio there are few, if any, Europeans. At +Pernambuco the large English-speaking community will protect her, no +matter what President is in power. I must ask you to reconsider your +plan. Land Miss Yorke and me at Pernambuco, and then betake yourself +and those who follow you where you will." +</P> + +<P> +Coke jerked himself into the dispute. +</P> + +<P> +"'Ere, wot's wrong now?" he demanded angrily. "Since w'en 'as a second +officer begun to fix the ship's course?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am not your second officer, nor are you my commander," said Philip. +"At present we are fellow-pirates, or, at best, running the gravest +risk of being regarded as pirates by any court of law. I don't care a +cent personally what port we make, but I do care most emphatically for +Miss Yorke's safety." +</P> + +<P> +"We've argied the pros an' cons, an' it's to be Maceio," growled Coke. +</P> + +<P> +Dom Corria's precise tones broke in on what threatened to develop into +a serious dispute. +</P> + +<P> +"You would have been asked to join in the discussion, if, apparently, +you were not better engaged at the moment, Mr. Hozier," he said. "I +assure you, on my honor, that there are many reasons in favor of Maceio +even from the exclusive point of view of Miss Yorke's immediate future. +She will be well cared for. I promise to make that my first +consideration. The army is mainly for me, and Senhor San Benavides's +regiment is stationed at Maceio. The navy, on the other hand, supports +Dom Miguel Barraca, who supplanted me, and we shall surely meet a +cruiser or gunboat at Pernambuco. You see, therefore, that common +prudence——" +</P> + +<P> +"I see that, whether willing or not, we are to be made the tools of +your ambition," interrupted Hozier curtly. "It is also fairly evident +that I am the only man of the <I>Andromeda's</I> company whom you have not +bribed to obey you. Well, be warned now by me. If circumstances fail +to justify your change of route, I shall make it my business to settle +at least one revolution in Brazil by cracking your skull." +</P> + +<P> +San Benavides, hearing the names of the two ports, understood exactly +why the young Englishman was making such a strenuous protest. He moved +nearer, laying an ostentatious hand on the sword that clanked +everlastingly at his heels. He had never been taught, it seemed, that +a man who can use his fists commands a readier weapon than a sword in +its scabbard. Hozier eyed him. There was no love lost between them. +For a fraction of a second San Benavides was in a position of real +peril. +</P> + +<P> +Then Dom Corria said coldly: +</P> + +<P> +"No interference, I pray you, Senhor Adjudante. Kindly withdraw." +</P> + +<P> +His tone was eminently official. San Benavides saluted and stepped +back. The dark scar on De Sylva's forehead had grown a shade lighter, +but there was no other visible sign of anger in his face, and his +luminous eyes peered steadily into Hozier's. +</P> + +<P> +"Let me understand!" he said. "You hold my life as forfeit if any +mischance befalls Miss Yorke?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"I accept that. Of course, you no longer challenge my direction of +affairs?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am no match for you in argument, senhor, but I do want you to +believe that I shall keep my part of the compact." +</P> + +<P> +Coke, familiar with De Sylva's resources as a debater, and by no means +unwilling to see Hozier "taken down a peg," as he phrased it; eager, +too, to witness the Brazilian officer's discomfiture if the second mate +"handed it to him," thought it was time to assert himself. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm goin' to 'ave a nap," he announced. "Either you or Watts must +take 'old. W'ich is it to be?" +</P> + +<P> +"No need to ask Mr. Hozier any such question," said the suave Dom +Corria. "You can trust him implicitly. He is with us now—to the +death. Captain San Benavides, a word with you." +</P> + +<P> +"South a bit," repeated the skipper. "Call me at two bells in the +second dog." +</P> + +<P> +He was turning to leave the bridge with the Brazilians when a cheery +voice came from a gangway beneath. +</P> + +<P> +"Yah, yah, mine frent—that's the proper lubricant. I wouldn't give +you tuppence a dozen for your bloomin' lager. Well, just a freshener. +Thanks. Ik danky shun!" +</P> + +<P> +"You spik Tcherman vare goot," was the reply. +</P> + +<P> +"Talk a little of all sorts. Used to sing a Jarman song once. What +was that you was a-hummin' in your cabin? Nice chune. I've a musical +ear meself." +</P> + +<P> +Someone sang a verse in a subdued baritone, tremulous with sentiment. +The melody was haunting, the words almost pathetic under the conditions +of life on board the disheveled <I>Unser Fritz</I>. They told of Vienna, +the city beloved of its sons. +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +Es gibt nur eine Kaiser Stadt,<BR> +Es gibt nur eine Wien.<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"Shake, me boy!" cried the enraptured Watts to the ship's captain. "I +do'n' know wot it's all about, but it's reel fine. Something to do +with a gal, I expect. Well, 'ere's one of the same kidney: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +I know a maiden fair to see,<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em">Take care!</SPAN><BR> +She can both false and friendly be,<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em">Beware, beware!</SPAN><BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em">Trust her not,</SPAN><BR> +She is fooling thee!"<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Mr. Watts was both charmed and surprised when the friendly skipper +joined in the concluding lines in his own language. But his pleasure +was short-lived. Coke's inflamed visage glowered into the mess room. +</P> + +<P> +"Sink me if you ain't a daisy!" he roared, pouncing on a three-quarters +filled bottle of rum. "D'you fancy we're goin' to land you at Maceio +cryin' drunk? No, sir, not this time. Over it goes, an' if you ain't +dam careful, over you go after it!" +</P> + +<P> +Watts could have wept without the artificial stimulus of the rum. To +see good liquor slung into the sea in that fashion—well, it was a sin, +that's wot it was! But Coke's furious eye quelled him; and revel and +song ceased. +</P> + +<P> +Above, on the bridge, Hozier smiled sourly at the squall which had so +suddenly beset the fair argosy of the convivial-minded Watts. He tried +to invest the incident with an excess of humor. Any excuse would serve +to still certain disquieting doubts that were springing into alarming +activity. Had he gone the best way to work in allaying Iris's +conscience-stricken qualms? Was he justified in adopting such a bold +line with De Sylva? Could it be possible—no, he refused to harbor any +mean thought of Iris. She loved him, he was sure; his love for her was +at once a torment and an excruciating bliss, and both of these wearing +sensations sadly detracted from the efficiency of the officer of the +watch. So our distracted Philip pulled himself up sharply, paced back +and forth between port and starboard, and surveyed ship, binnacle, and +horizon with alert vigilance. +</P> + +<P> +On the fore-deck groups of sailors and firemen belonging to both +vessels were fraternizing. There could be little room for speculation +as to the subject of their broken talk. It was of De Sylva, of +Brazil's new dictator, of the gold he would control when he became +President again. The slow-moving Teutonic mind was beginning to +assimilate the notion that there was money in this escapade. That the +tatterdemalion then closeted with the <I>Unser Fritz's</I> captain could +obtain a certified check for a million sterling, and twenty-five times +as many millions of francs, and even then remain a man of means, was +unbelievable; but if he regained power, that was different. <I>Ende gut, +alles gut</I>. There might be pickings in it. +</P> + +<P> +Soon after sunset Iris reappeared. She walked on the after deck with +San Benavides, and seemed to be listening with great attention to +something he was telling her. Hozier was often compelled to look that +way in order to make certain that the <I>Sao Geronimo</I> was not +overhauling the ship in one of her circling flights over the wide +channel. He wondered what in the world San Benavides was saying that +his chatter should be so interesting, and he acknowledged with a pang +that Iris was deliberately avoiding his own occasional glances in her +direction. +</P> + +<P> +There is no saying what would have happened had he known that the +Brazilian was relating the scene that took place on the bridge, +suppressing its prime motive, and twisting it greatly to Hozier's +detriment, though with an adroit touch that deprived Iris of any power +to resent his words. Indeed, she read her own meaning into Philip's +anxiety to reach Pernambuco, whereas San Benavides was striving to +instill the belief that she would find excellent friends at Maceio. +She was far too loyal-hearted to suspect Philip of a hidden purpose in +urging that the voyage should end in one port rather than another. But +she could not forget that he said repeatedly they would be married in +Pernambuco. Indeed, the promise had a glamour of its own, even though +it could never be fulfilled. More than once her cheeks glowed with a +rush of color that San Benavides attributed to his own delightful +personality, and, when she paled again, his voice sank to a deeply +sympathetic note. +</P> + +<P> +And here came Watts, rejuvenated, having imbibed many pints of the +despised lager, and humming gaily: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em">Beware, Beware!</SPAN><BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em">Trust her not!</SPAN><BR> +She is foo-oo-ooling thee!<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Confound the fellow. Why could he not chant the piratical doggerel +that Coke abhorred? That, at least, would have been more appropriate +to present surroundings? But would it? Ah, Philip felt a twinge then. +"Touché!" chortled some unseen imp who plied a venomous rapier. Thank +goodness, a sailor was standing by the ship's bell, with his hand on a +bit of cord tied to the clapper. It would soon be seven o'clock. Even +the companionship of the uncouth skipper was preferable to this +brooding solitariness. +</P> + +<P> +When Hozier was relieved, and summoned to a meal in the saloon with +Norrie and some of the ship's own officers, Iris was nowhere visible. +He went straight to her cabin, and knocked. +</P> + +<P> +"Who is it?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +"I, Philip. Will you be on deck in a quarter of an hour?" +</P> + +<P> +"No." +</P> + +<P> +"But this time <I>I</I> want to tell <I>you</I> something." +</P> + +<P> +"Philip, dear, I am weary. I must rest—and—I dare not meet you." +</P> + +<P> +"Dare not?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am afraid of myself. Please leave me." +</P> + +<P> +He caught the sob in her voice, and it unmanned him; he stalked off, +raging. He remembered how the fiend, in Gounod's incomparable opera, +whispered in the lover's ear: "Thou fool, wait for night and the moon!" +and he was wroth with himself for the memory. While off duty he kept +strict watch and ward over the gangway in which Iris's cabin was +situated. It was useless; she remained hidden. +</P> + +<P> +The <I>Unser Fritz</I> was now heading southwest, and "reeling off her ten +knots an hour like clockwork," as Norrie put it. The Recife, that +enormous barrier reef which blockades hundreds of miles of the +Brazilian coast, caused no anxiety to Coke. He was well acquainted +with these waters, and he held on stoutly until the occulting light of +Maceio showed low over the sea straight ahead. It was then after +midnight, and the land was still ten miles distant, but the ship +promptly resumed her role of lame duck, lest a prowling gunboat met and +interrogated her. +</P> + +<P> +As Coke had told Iris she might expect to be ashore about two o'clock, +she waited until half-past one ere coming on deck. Despite her +unalterable decision to abide by the hideous compact entered into with +her uncle and Bulmer, her first thought now was to find Hozier. Though +the sky was radiant with stars, a slight haze on the surface of the sea +shrouded the ship's decks and passages in an uncanny darkness. Coke's +orders forbade the display of any lights whatsoever, except those in +the engine-room and the three essential lamps carried externally. So +the <I>Unser Fritz</I> was gloomy, and the plash of the sea against her worn +plates had an ominous sound, while the glittering white eye of the +lighthouse winked evilly across the black plain in front. +</P> + +<P> +In a word Iris was thoroughly wretched, and not a little disturbed by +the near prospect of landing in a foreign country, which would probably +be plunged into civil war by the mere advent of De Sylva. It need +hardly be said that, under these circumstances, Hozier was the one man +in whose company she would feel reasonably safe. But she could not see +him anywhere. Coke and Watts, with the Brazilians and a couple of +Germans, were on the bridge, but Hozier was not to be found. +</P> + +<P> +At last she hailed one of the <I>Andromeda's</I> men whom she met in a +gangway. +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Hozier, miss?" said he. "Oh, he's forrard, right up in the bows, +keepin' a lookout. This is a ticklish place to enter without a pilot, +an' we've passed two already." +</P> + +<P> +This information added to her distress. She ought not to go to him. +Full well she knew that her presence might distract him from an +all-important task. So she sat forlornly on the fore-hatch, waiting +there until he might leave his post, reviewing all the bizarre +procession of events since she climbed an elm-tree in the garden of +Linden House on a Sunday afternoon now so remote that it seemed to be +the very beginning of life. The adventures to which that elm-tree +conducted her were oddly reminiscent of the story of Jack and the +Beanstalk. For once, the true had outrivaled the fabulous. +</P> + +<P> +The steamer crept on lazily, and Iris fancied the hour must be nearer +five o'clock than two when she heard Hozier's voice ring out clearly: +</P> + +<P> +"Buoy on the port bow!" +</P> + +<P> +There was a movement among the dim figures on the bridge. A minute +later Hozier cried again: +</P> + +<P> +"Buoy on the starboard bow!" +</P> + +<P> +She understood then that they were in a marked channel. Already the +road was narrowing. Soon they would be ashore. At last Hozier came. +He saw her as he jumped down from the forecastle deck. +</P> + +<P> +"Why are you here, Iris?" was all he said. She looked so bowed, so +humbled, that he could not find it in his heart to reproach her for +having avoided him earlier. +</P> + +<P> +"I wanted to be near you," she whispered. "I—I am frightened, Philip. +I am terrified by the unknown. Somehow, on the rock our dangers were +measurable. Here, we shall soon be swallowed up among a whole lot of +people." +</P> + +<P> +They heard Coke's gruff order to the watch to clear the falls of the +jolly-boat. The <I>Unser Fritz</I> was going dead slow. On the starboard +side were the lights of a large town, but the opposite shore was somber +and vague. +</P> + +<P> +"Are we going to land at once, in a small boat?" said Iris timidly. +</P> + +<P> +"I fancy there is a new move on foot. A gunboat is moored half a mile +down stream. You missed her because your back was turned. She has +steam up, and could slip her cables in a minute. They saw her from the +bridge, of course, but I did not report her, as there was a chance that +my hail might be heard, and we came in so confidently that we are +looked on as a local trader. Come, let us buy a programme." +</P> + +<P> +He took her by the arm with that masterful gentleness that is so +comforting to a woman when danger is rife. Even his jesting allusion +to their theatrical arrival in port was cheering. They reached the +bridge. Some sailors were lowering a boat as quietly as possible. +</P> + +<P> +Dom Corria approached with outstretched hand. +</P> + +<P> +"Good-by, Miss Yorke," he said. "I am leaving you for a few hours, not +longer. When next we meet I ought to have a sure grip of the +Presidential ladder, and I shall climb quickly. Won't you wish me +luck?" +</P> + +<P> +"I wish you all good fortune, Dom Corria," said Iris. "May your plans +succeed without bloodshed!" +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, this is South America, remember. Our conflicts are usually short +and fierce. <I>Au revoir</I>, Mr. Hozier. By daybreak we shall be better +friends." +</P> + +<P> +San Benavides also bade them farewell, with an easy grace not wholly +devoid of melodramatic pathos. The dandy and the man of rags climbed +down a rope ladder, the boat fell away from the ship's side, and the +night took them. +</P> + +<P> +"What did he mean by saying you would be 'better friends'?" whispered +the girl. "Have you quarreled?" +</P> + +<P> +"We had a small dispute as to the wisdom of landing you here," said +Philip. "Perhaps I was wrong. He is a clever man, and he surely knows +his own country." +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Hozier!" cried Coke. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, sir." +</P> + +<P> +"Is all clear forrard to let go anchor?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, sir." +</P> + +<P> +"Give her thirty. You go and see to it, will you?" +</P> + +<P> +Hozier made off at a run. +</P> + +<P> +Iris recalled the last time she heard similar words. She shuddered. +Would that placid foreshore blaze out into a roar of artillery, and the +worn-out <I>Unser Fritz</I>, like the worn-out <I>Andromeda</I>, stagger and +lurch into a watery grave. +</P> + +<P> +But the only noise that jarred the peaceful night was the rattle of the +cable and winch. The ship fell away a few feet, and was held. There +was no moving light on the river. Not even a police boat or Customs +launch had put off. Maceio was asleep; it was quite unprepared for the +honor of a Presidential visit. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap13"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE NEW ERA +</H3> + + +<P> +A swaggering officer and a man habited like a beggar landed unobserved +at a coal wharf, moored a ship's boat to a bolt, and passed swiftly +through a silent town till they reached the closed gates of an infantry +barrack perched on a hill that rose steeply above the clustering roofs +of Maceio. +</P> + +<P> +Though the seeming mendicant limped slightly, his superior stature +enabled him to keep pace with the officer. The pair neither lagged nor +hesitated. The officer knocked loudly on a small door inset in the big +gates. After some delay it was opened. A sentry challenged. +</P> + +<P> +"Capitão San Benavides," announced the officer, and the man stood to +attention. +</P> + +<P> +"Enter, my friend," said San Benavides to his ragged companion. The +latter stepped within; the wicket was locked, and the click of the bolt +was suggestive of the rattle of the dice with which Dom Corria De Sylva +was throwing a main with fortune. Perhaps some thought of the kind +occurred to him, but he was calm as if he were so poor that he had +naught more to lose. +</P> + +<P> +"Who is the officer of the guard?" San Benavides asked the soldier. +</P> + +<P> +"Senhor Tenente [Lieutenant] Regis de Pereira, senhor capitão." +</P> + +<P> +"Tell him, with my compliments, that I shall be glad to meet him at the +colonel's quarters in fifteen minutes." +</P> + +<P> +The queerly-assorted pair moved off across the barrack square. The +sentry looked after them. +</P> + +<P> +"My excellent captain seems to have been brawling," he grinned. "But +what of the <I>mendigo</I>?" +</P> + +<P> +What, indeed? A most pertinent question for Brazil, and one that would +be loudly answered. +</P> + +<P> +The colonel's house was in darkness, yet San Benavides rapped +imperatively. An upper window was raised. A voice was heard, using +profane language. A head appeared. Its owner cried, "Who is +it?"—with additions. +</P> + +<P> +"San Benavides." +</P> + +<P> +"Christo! And the other?" +</P> + +<P> +"One whom you expect." +</P> + +<P> +The head popped in. Soon there was a light on the ground floor. The +door opened. A very stout man, barefooted, who had struggled into a +pair of abnormally tight riding-breeches, faced them. +</P> + +<P> +"Can it be possible?" he exclaimed, striking an attitude. +</P> + +<P> +Dom Corria spoke not a word. He knew the value of effect, and could +bide his time. The three passed into a lighted apartment. De Sylva +placed himself under a chandelier, and took off a frayed straw hat +which he had borrowed from someone on board the <I>Unser Fritz</I>. The +colonel, a grotesque figure in his present <I>deshabillé</I>, bowed low +before him. +</P> + +<P> +"My President!—I salute you," he murmured. +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you, General," said Dom Corria, smiling graciously. "I knew I +could depend on you. How soon can you muster the regiment?" +</P> + +<P> +"In half an hour, Excellency." +</P> + +<P> +"See that there is plenty of ammunition for the machine guns. What of +the artillery?" +</P> + +<P> +"The three batteries stationed here are with us heart and soul." +</P> + +<P> +"Colonel San Benavides, as chief of the staff, is acquainted with every +detail. You, General, will assume command of the Army of Liberation. +Some trunks were sent to you from Paris, I believe?" +</P> + +<P> +"They are in the room prepared for your Excellency." +</P> + +<P> +"Let me go there at once and change my clothing. I must appear before +the troops as their President, not as a jail-bird. For the moment I +leave everything to you and San Benavides. Let Senhor Pondillo be +summoned. He will attend to the civil side of affairs. You have my +unqualified approval of the military scheme drawn up by you and my +other friends. There is one thing—a gunboat lies in the harbor. Is +she the <I>Andorinha</I>?" +</P> + +<P> +The newly-promoted general smote his huge stomach with both +hands—"beating the drum," he called it—and the rat-tat signified +instant readiness for action. +</P> + +<P> +"The guns will soon scare that bird," he exclaimed. As <I>Andorinha</I> +means "swallow" in English there was some point to the remark. Nor was +he making a vain boast. The most astounding feature of every +revolution in a South American republic is the alacrity with which the +army will fire on the navy, <I>et vice versâ</I>. The two services seem to +be everlastingly at feud. If politicians fail to engineer a quarrel, +the soldiers and sailors will indulge in one on their own account. +</P> + +<P> +It was so now at Maceio. Dawn was about to peep up over the sea when +twelve guns lumbered through the narrow streets, waking many startled +citizens. A few daring souls, who guessed what had happened, rushed +off on horseback or bicycle to remote telegraph offices. These +adventurers were too late. Every railway station and post-office +within twenty miles was already held by troops. Revolts are conducted +scientifically in that region. Their stage management is perfect, and +the cumbrous methods of effete civilizations might well take note of +the speed, thoroughness, and efficiency with which a change of +government is effected. +</P> + +<P> +For instance, what could be more admirable than the scaring of the bird +by General Russo? He drew up his three batteries on the wharf opposite +the unsuspecting <I>Andorinha</I>, and endeavored to plant twelve shells in +the locality of her engine-room without the least hesitation. There +was no thought of demanding her surrender, or any quixotic nonsense of +that sort. In the first place, no man would act as herald, since he +would be shot or stabbed the instant his errand became known; in the +second, as Hozier had explained to Iris, the gunboat could slip her +cable very quickly, and Russo's artillerists might miss a moving object. +</P> + +<P> +As it was, every gun scored, though the elevation was rather high. The +shells made a sad mess of the superstructure, but left the engines +intact. The sailors, on their part, knew exactly what had happened. +Every man who escaped death or serious injury from the bursting +missiles ran to his post. A wire hawser and mooring rope were severed +with axes, the screw revolved, and the <I>Andorinha</I> was in motion. +Though winged, she still could fly. The second salvo of projectiles +was less damaging; again the gunners failed to reach the warship's +vitals. Her commander got his own armament into action, and managed to +demolish a warehouse and a grain elevator. Then he made off down the +coast toward Rio de Janeiro. +</P> + +<P> +The sudden uproar stirred Maceio from roof to basement. Its +inhabitants poured into the Plaza. Every man vied with his neighbor in +yelling: "The revolution is here! <I>Viva Dom Corria</I>! <I>Abajo São +Paulo</I>!" +</P> + +<P> +That last cry explained a good deal. The State of São Paulo had long +maintained a "corner" in Brazilian Presidents. De Sylva, a native of +Alagoas, was the first to break down the monopoly. Hence the cabal +against him; hence, too, the readiness of Maceio, together with many of +the smaller ports and the whole of the vast interior, to espouse his +cause. +</P> + +<P> +For the purposes of this story, which is mainly concerned with the +lives and fortunes of a few insignificant people unknown to history, it +is not necessary to follow in detail the trumpetings, proclamations, +carousals, and arrests that followed Dom Corria's first success. It is +a truism that in events of international importance the very names of +the chief actors ofttimes go unrecorded. Future generations will ask, +perhaps:—Who blew up the <I>Maine</I>? Who persuaded the Tsar to break his +word anent Port Arthur? Who told Paul Kruger that the Continent of +Europe would support the Boers against Great Britain? Such instances +could be multiplied indefinitely, and the rule held good now in Brazil. +</P> + +<P> +If any polite Pernambucano, Maceio-ite, or merchant of Bahia were +informed that President De Sylva's raid was alone rendered possible by +the help of a truculent British master-mariner and a dozen or so of his +hard-bitten crew, he (the said Brasileiro) might be skeptical, or, at +best, indifferent. But let the name of some puppet politician hailing +from São Paulo be mentioned, and his eyes would flash with angry +recognition; yet the <I>Andromeda's</I> small contingent achieved more than +a whole army of conspirators. +</P> + +<P> +The one incident, then, of a political nature, in which the victors of +the tussle on Fernando Noronha were publicly concerned, was the outcome +of a message cabled by Dom Corria while the smoke of Russo's cannon +still clung about the quay. +</P> + +<P> +It was written in German, addressed to a Hamburg shipping firm, and ran +as follows: "Have sold <I>Unser Fritz</I> to Senhor Pondillo of this port as +from September 1st, for 175,000 marks. If approved, cable +confirmation, and draw on Paris branch Deutsche Bank at sight. Franz +Schmidt, care German Consul, Maceio." +</P> + +<P> +This harmless commercial item was read by many officials hostile to De +Sylva, yet it evoked no comment. Its first real effect was observable +in the counting-house of the Hamburg owners. There it was believed +that Captain Schmidt had either become a lunatic himself or was in +touch with a rich one. Schmidt was so well known to them that they +acted on the latter hypothesis. They cabled him their hearty +commendation, "drew" on the Paris bank by the next post, and awaited +developments. To their profound amazement, the money was paid. As +they had obtained 8,750 pounds for a vessel worth about one-quarter of +the sum, they had good reason to be satisfied. It mattered not a jot +to them that the sale was made "as from September 1st," or any other +date. They signed the desired quittance, cabled Schmidt again to ask +if Senhor Pondillo was in need of other ships of the <I>Unser Fritz</I> +class, and the members of the firm indulged that evening in the best +dinner that the tip-top restaurant of Hamburg could supply. +</P> + +<P> +They were puzzled next day by certain statements in the newspapers, and +were called on to explain to a number of journalists that the ship had +left their ownership. She was at Maceio. Where was Maceio? Somewhere +in South America. +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Es ist nicht von Bedeutung</I>," said the senior partner to his +associates. "Schmidt will write full particulars; when all is said and +done, we have the money." +</P> + +<P> +Yet it did matter very greatly, as shall be seen. Here, again, was an +instance of an humble individual becoming a cog in the wheel of world +politics. Within less than a month Schmidt was vituperated by half the +chancelleries of Europe. A newspaper war raged over him. He became +the object of an Emperor's Jovian wrath. "What's the matter with +Schmidt? He's—all—right!" thundered the whole press of the United +States. And all because he had made a good bargain at a critical +moment! +</P> + +<P> +But no one on board the <I>Unser Fritz</I> was vexed by aught save present +tribulations when De Sylva and his <I>aide</I> quitted the ship. Be sure +that not a soul thought of sleep. Every man, and the one woman whom +chance had thrown in their midst, remained on deck and watched the +slumbering town. It was only a small place. The <I>Andorinha</I> lay at +one end of the harbor, the <I>Unser Fritz</I> at the other. They were +barely half a mile apart, and Maceio climbed the sloping shore between +the two points. +</P> + +<P> +Hozier, of course, had forgiven Iris for her aloofness, and Iris, with +that delightful inconsistency which ranks high among the many charms of +her sex, found that "Philip dear," though she might not marry him, was +her only possible companion. He, having acquired an experience +previously lacking, took care to fall in with her mood. She, weary of +a painful self-repression, cheated the frowning gods of "just this one +night." So they looked at the twinkling lights, spoke in whispers lest +they should miss any tokens of disturbance on shore, elbowed each other +comfortably on the rails of the bridge, and uttered no word of love or +future purpose. +</P> + +<P> +They were discussing nothing more important than the sufferings of +Watts—whom Coke would not allow to go out of his sight—when a +lightning blaze leaped from the somber shadows of some buildings on the +quay lower down the river. Again, and many times again, the sudden +jets of flame started out across the black water. Iris, or Hozier, for +that matter, had never seen a field-piece fired by night, but before +the girl could do other than grip Philip's arm in a spasm of fear, the +thunder of the artillery rolled across the harbor, and the worn plates +of the <I>Unser Fritz</I> quivered under the mere concussion. +</P> + +<P> +"By jove, they're at it!" cried Philip. +</P> + +<P> +Iris felt the thrill that shook him. She could not see his face, but +she knew that his blue eyes were shining like bright steel. She was +horrified at the thought of red war being so near, yet she was proud of +her lover. At these mortal crises, the woman demands courage in the +man. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh!" she gasped, and clung to him more tightly. +</P> + +<P> +Under such circumstances it was only to be expected that his arm would +clasp her round the waist; Disraeli's famous epigram was coined for +diplomacy, not for love-making. +</P> + +<P> +Hozier strained his eyes through the gloom to try and discover the +effect of the cannonade on the gunboat. He was quickly alive to the +significance of the answering broadside. Then the black hull grew dim +and vanished. His sailor's sympathies went with the escaping ship. +</P> + +<P> +"She has got away! I am jolly glad of it," he cried. "It was a dirty +trick to open fire on her in that fashion. Just how they served the +<I>Andromeda</I>, the hounds, only we had never a gun to tickle them up in +return." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you think that many of the poor creatures have been killed?" asked +Iris tremulously. The din of ordnance and bursting shells had ceased +as suddenly as it began. Lights appeared in nearly every house. +Shouting men were running along the neighboring wharf. Maceio, never a +heavy sleeper in bulk, dreamed for a second of earthquakes, leaped out +of bed, and ran into the streets in the negligent costume which the +Italians describe by the delightful word, <I>confidenza</I>. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't suppose so," Hozier reassured her. "If the artillery had made +good practice at that short range the gunboat must have sunk at her +moorings. Her men naturally couldn't miss the town. There was a rare +old rattle among the crockery behind the soldiers. Did you hear it? I +wonder what went over?" +</P> + +<P> +He was as excited as a schoolboy, almost jubilant. Poor Iris! Though +she was now a veteran in scenes of death and disaster, she realized +that fate had erred in choosing her as a heroine. +</P> + +<P> +Coke and Watts drew near. +</P> + +<P> +"Dom Wot's-'is-name wasn't long in gettin' busy," chuckled Coke. "Gev' +her a dose of the <I>Andromeda's</I> physic, eh? I'm sorry the blighters +managed to 'ook it." +</P> + +<P> +Though he had just uttered an opinion directly contrary to his +captain's, Hozier deemed it wise to be non-committal. +</P> + +<P> +"The guns must have been laid badly," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"Mebbe, an' wot's more, d—n 'em, they knew there was something in +front that could shoot back." +</P> + +<P> +So Coke was at least impartial. He cared not a jot how the Brazilians +slaughtered each other so long as De Sylva established the new regime +speedily. +</P> + +<P> +"I never was a fightin' man meself," murmured Watts weakly. "That sort +of thing gives me a sinkin' sensation in me innards." +</P> + +<P> +"Wot you want is a drink, me boy," said Coke. +</P> + +<P> +Watts brightened. He drew a deep breath. +</P> + +<P> +"I reelly believe that's wot's wrong with me," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"Then I'll just ax the cook to 'urry up with the corfee," guffawed the +unfeeling skipper. "We'll all be the better for a snack an' somethink +'ot." +</P> + +<P> +Iris managed to choke down an hysterical laugh. Coke was incorrigible, +yet she was conscious of a growing appreciation of his crude chivalry. +He boasted truly that he feared neither man nor devil. His chief +defect lay in being born several centuries too late. Had he flourished +during the Middle Ages, Coke would have carved out a kingdom. +</P> + +<P> +Even while the men were thus callously discussing the tragedy that had +been enacted before their eyes, the miracle of the dawn was +transforming night into day. In the tropics there is no hesitancy +about sunrise. The splendid imagery of Genesis is literally exact. +"Let there be light; and there was light … and God divided the +light from the darkness." Long before the <I>Andorinha</I> had crept round +the southern headland of the Macayo estuary she became visible again. +</P> + +<P> +About six o'clock a grand review was held in the Plaza, or chief +square. Dom Corria, a resplendent personage on horseback, made a fine +speech. He was vociferously applauded, by both troops and populace. +General Russo, also mounted, assured him that Brazil was pining for +him. In effect, when he was firmly established in the Presidency, the +people would be allowed to vote for him. +</P> + +<P> +"We have borne two years of misrule," vociferated the +commander-in-chief, "but it has vanished before the fiery breath of our +guns. We hail your Excellency as our liberator. Long live Dom Corria! +Down with——" +</P> + +<P> +The fierce "Vivas" of the mob, combined with the general's weight, +proved too much for his charger, which plunged violently. Russo was +held on accidentally by his spurs. There was a lively interlude until +an orderly seized the bridle, and the general was able to disengage the +rowels from the animal's ribs. When tranquillity was restored, the +soldiers marched off to their quarters, and Colonel San Benavides +boarded the <I>Unser Fritz</I>. He invited Iris, Schmidt, Coke, and Hozier +to breakfast with the President at the principal hotel. +</P> + +<P> +Watts was not included in the list of guests. Being indignant, he +expressed himself freely. +</P> + +<P> +"Nice thing!" he said to Norrie. "We're not good enough to be axed. +It was a bit of all right w'en we 'elped 'im out of quod, but now 'e's +a bloomin' toff we're low-down sailormen—that's wot we are." +</P> + +<P> +"Man, ye're fair daft," growled the Scot. "It's as plain as the neb on +yer face that he canna dae wi' a', so he just picked the twa skippers +and the lassie; he kent weel she wadna stir an inch withoot Hozier." +</P> + +<P> +Norrie was right, as it happened, but Watts added another grudge to his +score against De Sylva. +</P> + +<P> +Now, though dynasties totter and empires crash, the first thing a woman +thinks of when bidden to a public gathering is her attire. Iris +declared most emphatically that to expect her to go ashore and meet +certain military and civic dignitaries while she was wearing a costume +originally purchased for mountaineering, which had endured the rough +usage of the past two days, was "for to laugh." She was speaking +French, and that was the literal phrase she used. The courteous San +Benavides smiled away her protest. His Excellency had foreseen the +difficulty. Those who knew Dom Corria best would not credit that he +should forget anything. The Senhora Pondillo awaited Iris at the hotel +with a supply of new clothing. Captain Schmidt, of course, could +depend on his own wardrobe, but Captain Coke and the Senhor Hozier +would find a tradesman in their rooms who had guaranteed to equip them +suitably. Moreover, the same outfitter would visit the ship during the +morning and make good the lost raiment and boots of the other officers +and men of the <I>Andromeda</I>. San Benavides spoke like the ambassador of +a prince, and, in the sequel, there was no stint of deeds to give +effect to his promises. +</P> + +<P> +On the way to the hotel Iris saw a large building labeled "Casa do +Correio e Telegraphia." It was not surprising that she had not thought +earlier of the necessity of cabling to Liverpool. She blushed, and +looked involuntarily at Hozier. +</P> + +<P> +"I must send a message to my uncle," she said. +</P> + +<P> +Were Philip a professed spiritualist, the spectral shapes of David +Verity and Dickey Bulmer could not have been more effectually +"projected" into his astral plane at Maceio than they were at that +instant. He had not set eyes on either of the men, but the girl's +words conjured them into being, and the vision was vastly disagreeable. +</P> + +<P> +San Benavides, of course, was anxious to oblige Iris in this as in +every other respect. He procured the requisite form, told her the +cost, which led to a condensed version of the original draft, smoothed +away the slight hindrance of foreign money tendered in payment, and +arranged the due delivery of a reply. Perhaps he smiled when he read +what she had written. The words were comprehensible even to one who +did not understand English: +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Andromeda</I> lost. Arrived here safely. Address, Yorke, Maceio." +</P> + +<P> +There was a space at the foot of the form on which it was necessary to +subscribe her name and local address. So she wrote, "Iris Yorke, +steamship <I>Unser Fritz</I>, Maceio harbor." Hozier was standing by her +side as she printed the words legibly. She looked up at him with a +curiously tense expression that he did not fathom immediately. They +were in the busy main street again ere its meaning occurred to him. +The cable committed her irrevocably. She felt that she was signing her +own condemnation! +</P> + +<P> +Among the four people, therefore, who entered the Hotel Grande in the +Rua do Sul there were two whose feelings were the reverse of cheerful. +But convention is stronger than the primal impulses—sometimes it +triumphs over death itself—and convention was all-powerful now. It +led Iris away captive in the train of the smiling and voluble Senhora +Pondillo, and it immersed Hozier in a tangle of fearsome words which +turned out to be the stock in trade of a clothier. The mere male of +Maceio decks himself with gay plumage. Philip was hard put to it +before he secured some garments which did not irresistibly recall the +heroes of certain musical comedies popular in England. +</P> + +<P> +Coke experienced worse vicissitudes. Even the variety and richness of +a master mariner's vocabulary was taxed to its utmost resources when he +was coaxed into "trying on" a short jacket apparently intended for a +toreador. Such minor troubles, however, were overcome in time. A +razor and a hot bath were by no means the least important items of the +rejuvenating process, and when the two men entered the salon where Dom +Corria was holding an impromptu reception they looked like a couple of +coffee-planters from the Argentine. Schmidt was there already. For +some reason, the new President seemed to be so fond of the <I>Unser +Fritz's</I> commander that he refused to be parted from him. It was not +until long afterward that Hozier discovered the reason of this mushroom +friendship. The German consul was in the room. +</P> + +<P> +The appearance of Iris caused something akin to a sensation. The Dona +Pondillo could not create English clothes, nor bad copies of French, +but her own daughters dressed in the height of local fashion, and Dom +Corria's earnest request had made them generous. The dark-eyed, +olive-complexioned women of Alagoas are often exceedingly beautiful, +but few of those present had ever seen a brown-haired, brown-eyed, +fair-faced Englishwoman. Iris was remarkably good-looking, even among +the pretty girls of her own county of Lancashire. Her large, limpid +eyes, well-molded nose, and perfectly formed mouth were the dominant +features of a face that had all the charm of youth and health. Her +smooth skin, brown with exposure to sun and air, glowed into a rich +crimson when she found herself in the midst of so many strangers. The +slightly delicate semblance induced by the hardships and loss of rest +which fell to her lot since the <I>Andromeda</I> went to pieces on the +Grand-père rock in no wise detracted from her appearance. She wore the +elegant costume of a Maceio belle with ease and distinction. If she +was flurried by the undisguised murmur of admiration that greeted her, +she did not show it beyond the first rush of color. +</P> + +<P> +Dom Corria, dragging Schmidt with him, hurried to meet her. Surprise +at his gala attire helped to conquer her natural timidity, for the +President was gorgeous in blue and gold. +</P> + +<P> +"My good wishes are soon changed into congratulations, Senhor," she +said. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, my dear young lady, I am overjoyed that you should be here to +witness my success," he cried. Then, as if he had waited for this +moment, he turned to the assembled company and delivered an eloquent +panegyric of the <I>Andromeda's</I> crew and their <I>deusa deliciosa</I>—for +that is what he called Iris—a delightful goddess. He had made many +speeches already that day, but none was more heartfelt than this. His +eulogy was unstinted. Luckily for Iris, she was so conscious of the +attention she attracted that she kept her eyes steadfastly fixed on the +carpet. Otherwise, having a well-developed sense of humor, she must +have laughed outright had she seen Coke's face. +</P> + +<P> +He, of course, understood no word that was said. But De Sylva's +animated gestures and flashing eyes were enough. Ever and anon, the +excitable citizens of Maceio would turn and gaze at one or other of the +three, while loud cries of "Bravo!" punctuated the President's oratory. +When Coke's turn came for these demonstrations, he tried to grin, but +was only able to scowl. For once in his stormy life he was nonplused. +His brick-red countenance glowed with heat and embarrassment. At the +close of the speech he muttered to Hozier: +</P> + +<P> +"Wish I'd ha' known wot sort of beano I was comin' to. Dam if I ain't +meltin'." +</P> + +<P> +This ordeal ended, déjeuner was served. The President took in Iris and +the Dona Pondillo. They were the only ladies present. The three +sailors, some staff officers, and a few local celebrities, made up the +rest of the company. +</P> + +<P> +Hozier, though by no means indifferent to the good fare provided, was +wondering how many hours would elapse before Iris's cablegram reached +Verity's office, when some words caught his ear that drove all other +considerations from his mind. +</P> + +<P> +"I am sorry to say that, in my opinion, there is not the slightest +chance of your message reaching England to-day, Miss Yorke," the +President was saying. +</P> + +<P> +"But why not?" she asked, with an astonishment that was not wholly the +outcome of regret. +</P> + +<P> +"The cable does not land here, and the transmitting stations will be +closely watched, now that my arrival in Brazil is known. Even the +simplest form of words will be twisted into a political significance. +No, I think it best to be quite candid. Until I control Pernambuco, +which should be within a week or ten days, you may rest assured that no +private cablegrams will be forwarded." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, dear, I fully expected a reply to-day," she said, and now that she +realized the effect of a further period of anxiety on the Bootle +partnership she was genuinely dismayed. +</P> + +<P> +"You may be sure it will not come," said Dom Corria. "Indeed I may as +well take this opportunity of explaining to you—and to my other +English friends"—with the interpolated sentence his glance dwelt +quietly on Hozier and Coke—"the exact position locally. You see, +Maceio is a small place, and easily approached from the sea. A hostile +fleet could knock it to pieces in half an hour, and it would be a poor +reward for my supporters' loyalty if my presence subjected them to a +bombardment. I have no strong defenses or heavy guns to defy attack, +and my troops are not more than a thousand men, all told. It is +obvious that I must make for the interior. There, I gather strength as +I advance, the warships cannot pursue, and I can choose my own +positions to meet the half-hearted forces that Dom Miguel will collect +to oppose me. In fact, I and every armed man in Maceio march +up-country this afternoon." +</P> + +<P> +Iris, by this time, was thoroughly frightened, and Hozier, who read +more in De Sylva's words than was possible in her case, was watching +the speaker's calm face with a fixity that might have disconcerted many +men. Dom Corria seemed to be unaware of either the girl's distress or +Philip's white anger. +</P> + +<P> +"You naturally ask how I propose to safeguard the companions of my +flight from Fernando Noronha," he went on. "I answer at once—by +taking them with me. The Senhora Pondillo and her family will +accompany her husband to my <I>quinta</I> at Las Flores. A special train +will take all of us to the nearest railway station this afternoon. +Thence my estate is but a day's march. You and my other friends from +both ships will be quite safe and happy there until order is restored. +You must come. The men's lives, at any rate, would not be worth an +hour's purchase if my opponent's forces found them here, and I feel +certain that one or more cruisers will arrive off Maceio to-night. For +you, this excursion will be quite a pleasant experience, and you can +absolutely rely on my promise to send news of your safety to England at +the very first opportunity." +</P> + +<P> +Iris could say nothing under the shock of this intelligence. She +looked at Philip, and their eyes met. They both remembered the glance +they had exchanged at the post-office. Preoccupied by their own +thoughts, neither of them had noticed the smile San Benavides indulged +in on that occasion, nor did they pay heed to the fact that he was +smiling again now, apparently at some story told him by General Russo. +But San Benavides was sharp-witted. He needed no interpreter to make +clear the cause of the chill that had fallen on the President's end of +the table. +</P> + +<P> +"He has told them," he thought, perhaps. And, if further surmise were +hazarded as to his views, they might well prove to be concerned with +the wonderful things that can happen within a week or ten +days—especially when things are happening at the rate taken by events +just then in Brazil. +</P> + +<P> +Of course, as a philosopher, San Benavides was right; it was in the +role of prophet that he came to grief, this being the pre-ordained fate +of all false prophets. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap14"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CARMELA +</H3> + + +<P> +Among the many words borrowed by the Brazilians from their +Spanish-speaking neighbors, that for "to-morrow" is perhaps the most +popular. The Spaniard's <I>Mañana</I> is so elastic that it covers any +period of time between the next twenty-four hours and the indefinite +future. When, therefore, Dom Sylva spoke of controlling Pernambuco +before the month of September was barely half sped, he was either too +sanguine, or too literal in his translation of easy-going Portuguese +into vigorous English. +</P> + +<P> +His <I>quinta</I>, or country house, was situated on the upper watershed of +the river Moxoto. There he raised his standard, thither flocked rebels +galore, and in that direction, with due caution, President Barraca +pushed columns of troops by road and rail from Bahia, from Pernambuco, +and from Maceio itself. For Barraca held the sea, and the wealthy and +enterprising south was strongly opposed to war, while Dom Corria +trusted to the mountains and drew his partisans from the less energetic +north. This bald statement has an unconvincing sound in the ears of +races which dwell north of the equator, but it must be remembered that +Brazil, in more respects than one, is the land of topsy-turveydom. +Were it not that the mass of the people was heartily sick of a corrupt +regime, De Sylva would have been dead or in irons on his way back to +Fernando Noronha well within the time allotted for the consolidation of +his rule. As it was, minor insurrections were breaking out in the +southern provinces, the reigning President could trust only in the +navy, and the conservatism of commerce and society, as represented by +the great landowners of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Minas Geraes, +alone stifled the upgrowth of an overwhelming national movement in Dom +Corria's favor. +</P> + +<P> +In a word, De Sylva commanded public sympathy but small resources; +Barraca was unpopular but controlled the navy and part of the army. +Given such conditions—with the added absurdity that the troops on both +sides were most unwilling to face long-range rifle fire but would +cheerfully hack each other to mince-meat with knives—and a tedious, +indeterminate campaign is the certain outcome. De Sylva had said that +local conflicts were usually "short and fierce." Applied to such +upheavals as had taken place in the capital during recent years, the +phrase was strictly accurate. He himself had been bundled out of +office between Mass and Vespers on a memorable Sunday. But a convict +on a remote island cannot organize such a perfect example of a +successful revolt. He had done much in gaining a good foothold; the +rest must be left to time and chance. +</P> + +<P> +A few indecisive but sanguinary engagements were fought in the +neighborhood of Pesqueira, a town in the hills about one hundred miles +from the seaboard. These proved that General Russo was a valiant +fighter but a poor tactician—and that was all. He was opposed by a +commander of little courage but singular skill in strategy. To restore +the balance, Dom Corria took the field in person, and Dom Miguel +Barraca hastened from Rio de Janeiro to witness the crushing of his +arch-enemy. +</P> + +<P> +The position was complicated by the arrival at Pernambuco of a German +squadron bearing a telegraphic cartel from the Emperor. A German ship +had been seized on the high seas. Why? And by whom? And how could +anybody dare? Then Brazil quivered, for every South American knows in +his heart that the great navy of Germany is being created not so much +to destroy England as to dispute the proud doctrine of the United +States that no European power shall ever again be allowed to seize +territory on the American continent. +</P> + +<P> +So there were strenuous days and anxious nights at Las Flores, where +President De Sylva sought to equip and discipline his levies, and at +Carugru, where President Barraca called on all the gods to witness that +De Sylva was a double-dyed traitor. +</P> + +<P> +Under such circumstances it is not surprising that a grand display of +money and audacity, backed by sundry distant roars of the British lion, +should enable two elderly Britons and a young Brazilian lady to pass +through the lines of the Exercito Nacional, as Barraca had christened +his following, in opposition to De Sylva's army of Liberation. Lest +too many people should become interested, the adventure was essayed on +the night of October 2d. Early next day the travelers and their guides +reached the rebel outposts. The young lady, who seemed to be at home +in this wild country, at once urged her horse into a pace wholly beyond +the equestrian powers of her staid companions. They protested vainly. +She waved a farewell hand, cantered over several miles of a rough road, +and dashed up to the Liberationist headquarters about eight o'clock. +</P> + +<P> +There was no hesitancy about her movements. She drew rein in approved +Gaucho style, bringing her mount to a dead stop from a gallop. +</P> + +<P> +"Where is the President?" she asked breathlessly. +</P> + +<P> +"There, senhora," said an orderly, pointing to a marquee, open on every +side, wherein De Sylva sat in conference with his staff. +</P> + +<P> +So many officers and mounted soldiers were coming and going, so great +was the bustle of preparation for some important movement then in +train, that no one specially noted her arrival. She dismounted, and +drew the reins across the horse's head ere she tied him to a tree. She +saw a tall young man emerge from the tent, jump on a charger held by a +soldier, and ride off at a fast pace toward the house of Las Flores, +which stood in a large garden on the slope of a neighboring hill. His +appearance seemed to puzzle her momentarily. His attire was that of +Brazil, but neither his manner nor horsemanship was typical of the +Brasileiro. In walking, he moved with an air of purposeful +concentration that differed singularly from the languorous stroll of +the average Brazilian officer, while his seat in the saddle, though +confident enough, could not be mistaken for that of a man who never +walks a yard if there is an animal to bestride. +</P> + +<P> +The new arrival was, however, at once too weary and too excited to give +further heed to one who was an utter stranger. She pushed her way +through knots of smoking loungers, entered the tent, and uttered a +little scream of delight when the President, who was writing at a big +table, happened to glance at her. De Sylva rose hastily, with an +amazed look on his usually unemotional face; forthwith the girl flung +herself into his arms. +</P> + +<P> +"Father!" +</P> + +<P> +"Carmela!" +</P> + +<P> +San Benavides, whose back was turned, heard the joyous cries of the +reunited father and daughter. They were locked in each other's +embrace, and the eyes of every man present were drawn to a pathetic and +unexpected meeting. For that reason, and because none gave a thought +to him, the pallor that changed the bronze of his forehead and cheeks +into a particularly unhealthy-looking tint of olive green passed +unnoticed. He swallowed something. It must have been a curse, for it +seemed to taste bitter. But he managed to recover some shred of +self-control ere the Senhora De Sylva was able to answer her father's +first eager questions; then, with a charming timidity, she found breath +to say: +</P> + +<P> +"And what of Salvador—is he not here?" +</P> + +<P> +Yes, Salvador was there—by her side—striving most desperately to look +lover-like. They clasped hands. Brazilian etiquette forbade a more +demonstrative greeting, and Carmela attributed Salvador's manifest +sallowness to the hardships of campaigning no less than the shock of +her sudden appearance. +</P> + +<P> +But the business of red war gave little scope for the many confidences +that a girl who had journeyed more than four thousand miles for this +reunion might naturally exchange with a father and a lover. Some +important move was toward, and the President and his chief-of-staff had +no time to spare. +</P> + +<P> +"You have come to bring me luck, Carmela meu," said De Sylva, stroking +his daughter's hair affectionately. "To-day we make our first real +advance. Salvador and I are going to the front now, almost this +instant. But there will be no fighting—an affair of outposts at the +best—and when everything is in order we shall return here to sleep. +Expect us, then, soon after sunset. Meanwhile, at the <I>quinta</I> you +will find the young English lady of whose presence you are aware. Give +her your friendship. She is worthy of it." +</P> + +<P> +"Adeos, senhora!" echoed San Benavides, bringing his heels together +with a click, and saluting. He gathered a number of papers from the +table with nervous haste, and at once began to issue instructions to +several officers. De Sylva renewed the signing of documents. Russo +and he conversed in low tones. A buzz of talk broke out in the tent. +Carmela felt that she had no part in this activity, that her mere +presence was a positive hindrance to the work in hand. A trifle +disappointed, yet not without a thrill of high resolve to create for +herself an indispensable share in the movement of which her father was +the central figure, she went out, unhitched her tired horse, and walked +to the house. +</P> + +<P> +In Brazil, a <I>quinta</I>, or farm, may range from a palace to a hovel. +Dom Corria was rich; consequently Las Flores attained the higher level. +It was a straggling, roomy structure, planned for comfort and +hospitality rather than display, and the gardens, to whose beauty and +extent was due the Spanish name, used to be famous throughout the +province. Carmela had not seen the place during five years; she +expected to find changes, but was hardly prepared for the ravages made +by neglect, aided by unchecked tropical growth, as the outcome of her +father's two years in prison. The flowers were gone, the rarer shrubs +choked by rank weeds, the trees disfigured by rampant climbers. But, +in front of the long, deep veranda, even the attention of a month had +restored much of its beauty to a widespread lawn. Here, at that early +hour, the air was cool and the shade abundant; indeed, so embossed in +towering trees was the wide greensward, that it seemed to flow abruptly +into the veranda without ever a path or garden gate to break the solid +walls of foliage. +</P> + +<P> +Filled with tumultuous memories, her heart all throbbing at the +prospect of her father's fortunes being restored, the Senhora De Sylva +was entering a gate that led to the left front of the house, when the +young man came out whom she had seen leaving the headquarters tent. +Again he rode like one in a hurry, and she noted that he emerged from a +side path which gave access to the lawn. He gave her a sharp glance as +he passed. She received an impression of a strong face, with +stern-looking, bright, steel-blue eyes, a mouth tensely set, an aspect +at once confident yet self-contained. She was sure now he was not a +Brazilian, and he differed most materially from the mental picture of +Captain James Coke created by the many conversations in which he had +figured during her long voyage from Southampton in company with David +Verity and Dickey Bulmer. +</P> + +<P> +So Carmela wondered now who he could be, nor was her wonder lessened +when she peered through the screen of trees, and saw a girl, whom she +recognized instantly as Iris, furtively dabbing her tear-stained face +with a handkerchief. +</P> + +<P> +Unhappily, the President's daughter was not attractive in appearance. +She had fine eyes, and she moved with the natural elegance of her race, +but her features were somewhat angular for one of pure-blooded +Portuguese descent, and a too well-defined chin was more effectual as +an index of character than as an element of personal charm. Close +acquaintance with the cosmopolitan society of Paris and London had +familiarized her with many types of European and American beauty, and +her surprise that such an uncommonly good-looking girl should be the +niece of David Verity was not unmingled with pique at finding her +already installed in remote Las Flores. +</P> + +<P> +The veranda seemed to be a hive of feminine industry. The Dona +Pondillo and her daughters, together with the female relatives of +several noted men among the insurgents, were cutting and stitching most +industriously. Iris Yorke's advice, perhaps her assistance, was +evidently in demand. Assuming that the young man who rode thither so +rapidly had gone to see her, she could not have been absent from the +sewing party more than five minutes, yet half a dozen ladies were +clamoring for her already. The truth was that many of them had never +plied a needle before in their lives. They had to be taught +everything. One peasant woman would have accomplished more real work +than any five of the Librationist <I>grandes dames</I>. +</P> + +<P> +Despite her firm chin, Carmela De Sylva did not contemn the +meretricious aid of dress. Iris looked fresh and cool in soft muslin, +whereas the newcomer was travel-stained and disheveled. The pack-mules +were lagging on the road, but a wash and general tidying of +dust-covered garments would help the President's daughter to regain the +assurance, now sadly lacking, which would be necessary ere she won her +rightful place in a community largely composed of strangers. As she +led her horse back into the main avenue, she was sorry that her father +or Salvador could not spare even the few minutes that would have +sufficed for an introduction. At any rate, she would probably find an +old servant at the back of the house—some family retainer whose +welcome would charm away this displeasing sense of intrusion. +</P> + +<P> +On the way to the stables she heard a man singing. The words were in +English. They were also quaint, for they dealt with life from a point +of view which differed widely from that presented by Dom Corria's +<I>finca</I>. +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"Oh, it's fine to be a sailor" [sang Watts],<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em">"an' to cross the ragin' main,</SPAN><BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em">From Hooghly bar to New Orleens to roam,</SPAN><BR> +But I 'ope that my old woman will put me on the chain<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em">Next time I want to quit my 'umble 'ome."</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Possibly the verse was an original effort, because there followed a +marked change in tune and meter. +</P> + +<P> +"'Mid pleasures an' palaces——'" he began, when Senhora De Sylva came +upon him as he sat on a fence, pipe in hand, with his back braced +comfortably against a magnificent rosewood tree. He stopped, grinned +sheepishly, and, not recognizing the lady, tried to cover his confusion +by lighting the pipe. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you one of the <I>Andromeda's</I> men?" asked Carmela, speaking in the +clear and accurate English used by her father. +</P> + +<P> +It was well for Watts that the tree prevented him from falling +backwards. He was quite sober, but cheerful withal, as he had nothing +to do but sleep, smoke, eat, and drink the light wine of the district, +of which his only complaint was that "one might mop up a barrel of it +an' get no forrarder." Nevertheless, he received a positive shock when +addressed in his own language by a young woman who was obviously of +Brazil. He stared at her so hard that he forgot the steady progress of +the slow-burning tand-stikkor match recently ignited. Its sulphurous +flame reached his fingers and reminded him. +</P> + +<P> +"My godfather!" he howled, springing from the rail, and recovering his +wits instantly. "Beg pardon, mum, but you took me aback all standin' +as the saying is. Christopher, didn't that match wake me up!" +</P> + +<P> +"I am afraid it is my fault," said Carmela, who could look sympathetic +where Iris would want to laugh. "I have just arrived here, and +everybody seems to be so full of troubles that I am glad to hear you +singing." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, that's just hummin', mum. If you're fond of music you ought to +'ear Schmidt, Captain Schmidt of the <I>Unser Fritz</I>——" +</P> + +<P> +Carmela struck an attitude. +</P> + +<P> +"Wot, d'ye know 'im?" asked Watts. +</P> + +<P> +"No, it is something—rather important. I must go back to my father. +Ah, I ought to explain. I am the Senhora De Sylva, Dom Corria's +daughter." +</P> + +<P> +"Are you really, mum,—miss?" exclaimed Watts, highly interested. "'Ow +in the world did ye manage to come up from the coast? Accordin' to all +accounts——" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, what were you going to say?" for the man hesitated. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, some of our chaps will 'ave it that we're runnin' close-hauled +on a lee shore." +</P> + +<P> +Carmela knit her brows. The Watts idioms were not those of her +governess. +</P> + +<P> +"We had no great difficulty in passing through Dom Barraca's lines, if +that is what you mean," she said. "Mr. Verity and Mr. Bulmer had +obtained special permits, but in my case——" +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. 'oo, did you say, miss?" demanded Watts, whose lower jaw actually +dropped from sheer amazement. +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Verity, the owner of the <I>Andromeda</I>. You are one of the crew, I +suppose?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm the chief officer. Watts is my name, miss. But d'you mean to +tell me that ole David Verity 'as come 'ere—to Brazil—to this rotten… +Sorry, miss, but you gev' me a turn, you did. An' Dickey +Bulmer—is <I>'e</I> 'ere too?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, or he soon will be here. I rode on in advance of the others." +</P> + +<P> +"Well—there—if that don't beat cock-fightin'!" cried Watts. "Wot'll +Coke say? W'y, 'e'll 'ave a fit. An' Miss Iris! She's to marry ole +Dickey. Fancy 'im turnin' up! There'll be the deuce an' all to pay, +now, wot between 'im an' Hozier an' the dashin' colonel." +</P> + +<P> +The horse, trying to nibble some grass at Carmela's feet, suddenly +threw his head up, for the cruel South American bit had tightened under +a jerk of the reins. +</P> + +<P> +"Who is Mr. Hozier?" asked the girl calmly. +</P> + +<P> +"He is, or was, our second mate, but since the colonel an' 'e got to +loggerheads 'e took an' raised a corps of scouts. Some of our fellows +joined, but not me. Killin' other folks don't agree with me a little +bit. I don't mind a shine in a snug or a friendly scrap over an extry +drink, but w'en it comes to them long knives——" +</P> + +<P> +"And the colonel—what is <I>his</I> name?" broke in Carmela, turning to +loosen the surcingle. She could control her voice but not her eyes, +and she did not wish to startle this open-mouthed gossip. +</P> + +<P> +"San Benavides, miss. Captain 'e was on Fernando Noronha; 'e took a +mighty quick jump after we kem ashore. But I ax your pardon for +ramblin' on in this silly way. Won't you go inside? There's a useful +ole party there, name of Maria——" +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, Maria—dear, good Maria—she at least will not have forgotten me," +sobbed Carmela in her own tongue, and Watts afterwards informed Coke +that although the inhabitants of China were noted for their peculiar +ways, when it came to a show-down in that qualification, the average +woman could beat any Chinky ever born. Had he but known more, Watts +was also in a position to state that he had squared accounts with the +scornful President. +</P> + +<P> +For the Senhora De Sylva might have been seized with mortal illness if +judged solely by the manner in which she staggered into her father's +house, threw her arms around the neck of an elderly woman whom she +petrified by her appearance, and almost fainted—not quite, but on the +verge, much nearer than such a strong-minded young lady would have +thought possible an hour earlier. +</P> + +<P> +Maria screamed loudly. Tongue-tied at first, she was badly scared when +Carmela collapsed on her ample bosom. Restoratives and endearments +followed. Carmela asked to be taken to a room where she might wash and +shake the dust from her hair and clothes. Maria considered ways and +means. Every room in the big house was crowded. +</P> + +<P> +"Who is in my own apartment?" demanded Carmela. +</P> + +<P> +Even before the answer was forthcoming she guessed the truth. The +Senhora Ingleza, of course. Those fine eyes of hers flashed +dangerously. +</P> + +<P> +"What, then? Does this woman come here and take all?" she cried. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, <I>pequinina</I>, do not be angry," said Maria. "Who save the good God +could tell that you would come from Paris to-day? And the Senhora +Ingleza will be glad to give place to you. She is so kind, so +unselfish. All the men adore her." +</P> + +<P> +"So I hear," murmured Carmela, trying to still the passion that +throbbed in her heart, since she was aware that neither Maria nor any +other among the old domestics at Las Flores knew of her engagement, and +pride was now coming to her aid. +</P> + +<P> +"She will have no word to say to any of them," gabbled Maria. "There +is a young Englishman—well, it is no affair of mine, but I am told she +loves him, yet is promised to another, an old man, too. <I>Santa Mãe</I>! +That would not suit me if I were her age!" +</P> + +<P> +This home-coming of Carmela was quite an important event in its way. +At first sight it bore the semblance of a mere disillusionment such as +any girl might experience under like circumstances. She had been taken +from Las Flores to occupy a palace at Rio de Janeiro, and was driven +from the palace to the hotel life of the Continent. During two years +she had not seen either father or lover; and lovers of the San +Benavides ilk are apt to console themselves during these prolonged +intervals. Yet Carmela's shattered romance was the pivot on which +rested the future of Brazil. +</P> + +<P> +Had she gone straight to Iris on leaving her father, and made known the +astounding tidings that Verity and Bulmer were riding up the Moxoto +Valley barely three miles away, Iris would surely have devised some +means of acquainting Philip Hozier with the fact. In that event, +assuming that he awaited their arrival, the first march of an extended +reconnaissance which he thought desirable would necessarily be +postponed. And then—well, the recent history of Brazil would have to +be re-written, since there cannot be the slightest doubt that Dom +Corria De Sylva would never have occupied the Presidential chair a +second time. +</P> + +<P> +It would be idle now to inquire too closely into the springs of +Philip's resolve to take service under a foreign flag. Perhaps the +irksome state of affairs at Las Flores, where there was no mean between +loafing and soldiering, was intolerable to a spirited youngster. +Perhaps San Benavides, constantly riding in from the front, irritated +him beyond endurance by his superior airs. Or it may be that a growing +belief in Iris's determination to sacrifice herself by redeeming her +bond made him careless as to what happened in the near future. The +outcome of one or all of these influences was that he sought, and was +readily given, a commission in the Army of Liberation. Like all +sailors, he preferred the mounted arm, and De Sylva, having the highest +opinion of his thoroughness, actually appointed him to command a branch +of the Intelligence Department. +</P> + +<P> +Philip, trained to pin his faith in maps and charts, came to the +conclusion that Las Flores could be attacked from the rear, which lay +to the northwest. The Brazilians laughed at the notion. Where were +the troops to come from? Barraca must bring all his men by sea. There +were none stationed in those wild mountains. +</P> + +<P> +"Better go and make sure," quoth Philip. +</P> + +<P> +He ascertained the President's intentions as to the next twenty-four +hours, assembled his little body of scouts, saw to their forage and +equipment, took leave of Iris, and hurried off. +</P> + +<P> +When two stout and elderly fellow-countrymen of his climbed the last +mile of the rough valley beneath the Las Flores slope, Philip and his +troop were a league or more beyond the Moxoto's watershed. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile, Carmela De Sylva proved that her resolute chin was not +deceptive as a guide to temperament. The Dona Pondillo deemed her a +spirit when she appeared on the veranda, but Carmela's impetuous kiss +soon disabused the worthy dame of her error. +</P> + +<P> +Iris, wondering why the lively chatter of her Brazilian friends was so +suddenly stilled, to be succeeded by a hubbub of excited words as the +older ladies present gathered around the new-comer, asked one of the +Pondillo girls what had happened. +</P> + +<P> +"It is Carmela, the President's daughter," giggled the other. "Mother +says she is engaged to San Benavides. What fun! But where has she +come from? When last I heard of her she was in Paris." +</P> + +<P> +A month of close companionship with people who spoke Portuguese all day +long, and often far into the night, had familiarized Iris with many of +the common phrases. Thus, she gathered one fact as to Carmela, and +more than suspected another. For a reason that every woman will +understand, she felt a subtle thrill of fear. If San Benavides were +really Carmela's accepted lover, then, indeed, Iris had good cause for +foreboding. Though the Brazilian had never directly avowed his +passion, since he knew quite well that she would refuse to listen, she +could not be blind to his infatuation. Only the threat of her dire +displeasure had restrained Hozier from an open quarrel with him. Her +position, difficult enough already, would become intolerable if De +Sylva's daughter became jealous, and she had no doubt whatsoever that +San Benavides would seek to propitiate the woman he loved by callously +telling the woman he had promised to marry that his affections were +bestowed elsewhere. +</P> + +<P> +Her heart sank when she discovered this new maelstrom in her sea of +troubles; but here was Carmela herself speaking to her, and in English: +</P> + +<P> +"So you are Iris Yorke!" the girl was saying. "I have heard so much of +you, yet you are so utterly different from what I imagined." +</P> + +<P> +"You have heard of <I>me</I>?" repeated Iris, and surprise helped her to +smile with something of her wonted self-possession. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, on board the steamer. We sailed from Southampton, and had little +else to talk of during the voyage. But, of course, you cannot +understand. Among my fellow-passengers were your uncle and Mr. Bulmer." +</P> + +<P> +Iris had long relinquished any hope of communicating with Bootle until +the present deadlock in the operations of the two armies was a thing of +the past. Completely mystified now by Carmela's glib reference to the +two men whose names were so often in her thoughts though seldom on her +lips, she could only gaze at the Senhora De Sylva in silent +bewilderment. +</P> + +<P> +Carmela, feeling that she was gaining ground rapidly, affected a note +of polite regret. +</P> + +<P> +"Please forgive me for being so abrupt. Perhaps I ought to have +prepared you. But it is quite true. Mr. Verity and Mr. Bulmer came +with me from Europe. We all reached Pernambuco the day before +yesterday. Indeed, if it were not for them, and the assistance they +gave me, I would not be here now. No one recognized me, fortunately, +and—I hope you will not be vexed—I passed as Mr. Verity's niece. In +fact, I took your place for the time." +</P> + +<P> +A notable feature of the De Sylva utterance was its clearness. +Carmela's concluding words could not possibly be mistaken for anything +else. Their meaning, on the other hand, was capable of varying shades +of significance; but Iris was far too amazed to seek depths beneath +their literalness. +</P> + +<P> +"If Mr. Verity and Mr. Bulmer are in Brazil——" she began tremulously, +but Carmela broke in with a shrill laugh. +</P> + +<P> +"There is no 'if.' Look below there, near my father's tent! They have +arrived. They are asking for you. Come, let us meet them! I must see +my father before he departs." +</P> + +<P> +Iris's swimming eyes could not discern the figures to which Carmela was +pointing. But this strange girl's triumphant tone rang like a knell in +her heart. She was not thinking now of the complications that might +arise between San Benavides and his discarded flame. She only knew +that, by some miracle, her uncle had come to bring her home, and with +him was the man to whom she was plighted, while Philip, only half an +hour ago, had told her he would not see her again until the following +evening. +</P> + +<P> +So this was the end of her dream. Bitter-sweet it had been, and long +drawn out, but forthwith she must awake to the gray actualities of life. +</P> + +<P> +She felt Carmela dragging her onward, irresistibly, vindictively. She +saw, as through a mist, David Verity's fiery-hued face, and heard his +harsh accents. Yes, there was no mistake. Here was Bootle transported +to Brazil, Linden House to Las Flores! +</P> + +<P> +"By gum, lass," he was bellowing, with a touch of real sentiment in his +voice, "you've given us a rare dance afore we caught up wi' you. But +'ere you are, bright as a cherry, an' 'ere is Dickey an' meself come to +fetch you. Dash my wig, there's life in the old dogs yet, or we'd +never ha' bin able to ride forty mile through this God-forgotten +country. An' damme if that isn't Coke, red as a lobster. Jimmie, me +boy, put it there! Man, but you're a dashed long way from port!" +</P> + +<P> +Happily, Iris was too stunned to betray herself. She extended a hand +to the sun-browned, white-haired old man standing by her uncle's side. +</P> + +<P> +"I am very glad to see you, Mr. Bulmer," she said simply. And, in that +hour of searing agony, she meant it, for it is easier to look back on +suffering than to await it, and she had been living in dread of this +meeting for many a weary day. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap15"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +SHOWING HOW BRAZIL CHOSE HER PRESIDENT +</H3> + + +<P> +Two thousand five hundred years ago the prophet Jeremiah expressed +incredulity as to the power of an Ethiopian to change his skin or a +leopard his spots. The march of the centuries has fully justified the +seer's historic doubt, so it makes but slight demand on the critical +faculties to assume that two years' residence in Europe had not cooled +the hot southern blood flowing in Carmela's veins. +</P> + +<P> +She had hated Iris before she set eyes on her; she hated her now that she +had seen her rare beauty; she gloated on the suffering inflicted by the +presence of the faded old man who claimed her as his bride. Though it +was of the utmost importance that she should hasten to her father, she +returned to Las Flores in her rival's company, their arms linked in +seeming friendship, and the Brazilian girl's ears alert to treasure every +word that told of Bulmer's wooing. +</P> + +<P> +Therein she greatly miscalculated the true gentility of one whom his +cronies described as "a rough diamond." Bulmer realized that Iris was +overwrought. Vague but sensational items in newspapers had prepared him +in some measure for the story of her wanderings since last they met in +quiet, old-fashioned Bootle. He felt that she was altered, that their +ways in life had deviated with a sharpness that was not to be brought +back into parallel grooves simply because he had traveled many thousands +of miles to find her. +</P> + +<P> +So Dickey contented himself by listening to Coke's Homeric account of the +<I>Andromeda's</I> wrecking, and if he interposed an occasional question, and +thus drew the girl's sweet voice into the talk, it was invariably germane +to the strange history of the ship and her human freight. +</P> + +<P> +Coke's narrative was picturesque and lurid. At times, he called himself +to order; at times, both Iris and Carmela affected not to have heard him. +But Carmela's interest never flagged. Nor did Bulmer's. As the yarn +progressed—for Watts and Schmidt and Norrie had joined them, and the +whole party was seated in an inner room where an impromptu meal was +provided—both the woman of Brazil and the man of Lancashire seized on +the same unspoken <I>motif</I>. Every incident centered in the striking +personality of Philip Hozier. From the instant the second shell struck +the winch, and laid him apparently dead on the forecastle, to the very +hour of this coming together at Las Flores, Hozier held the stage. It +was he who took Iris on his shoulders and brought her to safety through +the spume of the wrathful sea, he who carried her to the hut, he who +crossed Fernando Noronha alone to protect her. +</P> + +<P> +Coke was impartial. He would have minimized his own singular bravery in +running up the ship's signals had not Iris given him a breathing-space +while she enthralled the others with her description. Otherwise, Coke +skipped no line of his epic. +</P> + +<P> +"You'll rec'lect," he wheezed, in a voice that rasped like a file, +"you'll rec'lect, Mr. Verity, as I said to you that Hozier was good +enough to take charge of the bridge of a battleship. By—well, any 'ow, +if I'd said the Channel Fleet I shouldn't 'ave bin talkin' through me +'at. Look at 'im now. 'E's the on'y reel live man Dom Wot's-'is-name +'as got. Sink me! if it wasn't for the folks at 'ome, an' the fac' that +the <I>Andromeeda's</I> skipper ought to keep clear of politics in this +crimson country, I'd 'ave a cut in at the game meself." +</P> + +<P> +It might be hoped that Carmela's mood would soften when she discovered +her rival's hapless love, but that would be expecting something which her +bursting southern heart could not give. A volcano pours forth lava, not +water. It scorches, not heals. Iris, willing or not, had sapped her +Salvador's allegiance. Carmela wanted to see those curved lips writhing +in pain, those brown eyes dimmed, that smooth brow wrung with the grief +that knows no remedy. +</P> + +<P> +A fierce joy leaped up in her when Verity spoke of an early departure. +</P> + +<P> +"You see, Iris," he explained, "these Brazilian bucks may be months in +settlin' their differences. Dickey an' me, 'elped a lot by our Consul, +squeezed a pass out of the President—beg pardon, miss, but 'e is +President, in Pernambuco, at all events," he said in an apologetic +"aside" to Carmela—"an' the sooner we make tracks for ole England the +better it'll be for all of us. Wot do you say to an early start +to-morrow? We'd be off to-night, on'y I'm feared my rheumaticky bones +wouldn't stand the racket." +</P> + +<P> +The color ebbed from Iris's face, but she said at once: +</P> + +<P> +"I shall be ready, uncle dear. I promised Dom Corria to look after the +hospital appliances that are so much needed by the poor soldiers, but the +Senhora De Sylva will attend to that much more effectually than I." +</P> + +<P> +"Good! Then that's settled." +</P> + +<P> +David pursed out his thick lips with a sigh of relief. Though he had +watched the spoken record of the <I>Andromeda</I> and her company for craftier +hints than was suspected by his fellow travelers, he was not deaf to +Coke's appreciation of Hozier. The silence of his niece on that same +topic was alarming, but the position could not be so bad if she was +willing to leave for the coast without seeing him again. No secret was +made of Philip's errand into the interior. The homeward-bound cavalcade +would be at Pesqueira ere he returned to the <I>finca</I>. +</P> + +<P> +Carmela, of course, did not believe in a woman's complacency in such a +vital matter. She was ever prepared to spring, to strike, to wrench +their plans to suit her own ends; but, contrive as she might, she could +not succeed in leaving Iris alone with Bulmer. Full of device, she was +foiled at each turn. The day wore, the sun went down, the starlit sky +made beautiful a parched earth, but never a word in privacy did Iris +exchange with her husband-to-be. Carmela's malice was not hidden from +her, but she despised it. There was some ease for her tortured brain in +defeating it. If the Senhora De Sylva had only understood how thoroughly +the Englishwoman loathed her petty jealousy, it was possible that the few +remaining hours of their enforced intimacy might have been rendered less +irksome. +</P> + +<P> +But, by this time, fate had gathered the slackened strings of their +destinies. Thenceforth they became her puppets. Permitted for a little +while to play the tragi-comedy of life according to their own +inclinations, now the stern edict had gone forth that they were to act +their allotted parts in one of those fascinating if blood-stained dramas +that the history of nations so often puts on the stage. The future is +the most cunning of playwrights. No man may tell what the next scene +shall be. And no man, nor any woman, could guess the mad revel of hate +and war that would rage that night around the placid homestead of Las +Flores. +</P> + +<P> +Behind the veranda was a huge ballroom, converted, by the exigencies of +the campaign, into a dining hall for the many inmates of the <I>finca</I>. +The Brazilian ladies, the sailors, some sick or wounded officers who were +not confined to bed, even the household servants, took their meals there +in common. Supper was served soon after nine o'clock. When cigars and +cigarettes were lighted, and the company broke up into laughing, +gossiping, noisy groups, the place looked more like a popular Continental +cafe than a room in a private mansion. +</P> + +<P> +Though De Sylva, General Russo, San Benavides, and some score of members +of the President's staff who usually dined at the <I>finca</I>, were now +absent, there was no lack of lively chatter. A very Babel of tongues +mixed in amity. The prevalent note was one of cheery animation. Carmela +exerted herself to win popularity, and a President's daughter need not +put forth very strenuous efforts in that direction to be acclaimed by +most. +</P> + +<P> +Iris was listening, with real interest, to Verity's description of the +finding of Macfarlane in the <I>Andromeda's</I> boat by a Cardiff-bound +collier three days after he had drifted away from Fernando Noronha. +</P> + +<P> +"The yarn kem to us through the Consul at Pernambuco," he said. +"Evidently, from wot you tell me, it's all right. Poor ole Mac 'ad a bad +time afore 'e was picked up, but 'e was alive, an' I'm jolly glad of it, +for 'e'll be a first-rate witness w'en this business comes up in court." +</P> + +<P> +"Wot court?" demanded Coke sharply. +</P> + +<P> +"The court that settles our claim, of course," retorted Verity, with a +quick ferret look at his fellow-conspirator. +</P> + +<P> +"There'll be no claim. The President means to stump up in style. You +take my tip, an' shut up about courts," said Coke. +</P> + +<P> +"It'll cost Brazil a tidy penny," remarked Bulmer thoughtfully. "Nobody +would ever imagine wot bags of gold an' parcels of di'monds sailors an' +firemen carry around in their kit-bags till a ship is lost an' a +Gover'ment 'as to pay." +</P> + +<P> +Watts deemed this an exquisite joke. He laughed loudly. +</P> + +<P> +"That reminds me," he cried. "W'en the <I>Gem of the Sea</I> turned turtle on +the James an' Mary——" +</P> + +<P> +A <I>criado</I>, a nondescript man-servant attached to the household, stooped +over Iris and whispered something. She gathered that she was wanted in +the <I>patèo</I>, or court-yard, which, owing to the construction of the +house, stood on one side instead of in front, where the lawn usurped its +usual position. +</P> + +<P> +"Who is it?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +The voice sank even lower. +</P> + +<P> +"Colonel San Benavides, Senhora." +</P> + +<P> +She had gathered sufficient of Brazilian ways to understand that the man +had been bribed to convey this request to her without attracting +attention. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell him to wait," she said, hoping to gain a moment wherein to decide +how best to act. +</P> + +<P> +"It is urgent, Senhora—<I>ao mesmo tempo</I>, the colonel said." +</P> + +<P> +"Go! That is my answer." +</P> + +<P> +The man's unwillingness to obey showed how imperative were his +instructions. She rose, and the <I>criado</I> hurried out, satisfied that she +would follow. But Iris had no wish to meet San Benavides. If she were +seen with him in the dark <I>patèo</I> at this late hour, fuel would be added +to the fire of Carmela's foolish spite. She was aware of Carmela's +covert glance watching her from the other end of the long room. What was +to be done? Why not send Carmela in her stead? They were almost of the +same height, and dressed somewhat alike in flowered muslin. It would be +an amusing mistake, though annoying, perhaps, to San Benavides; at any +rate, Carmela would not object, and Iris was fully resolved not to keep +the tryst in person. +</P> + +<P> +She walked straight to her enemy. +</P> + +<P> +"Colonel San Benavides awaits you in the <I>patèo</I>," she said in English. +</P> + +<P> +"Awaits <I>me</I>!" +</P> + +<P> +There was no mistaking the gleam in those jet-black eyes. The smoldering +fire flamed into furnace heat at the implied indignity of such a mandate +being delivered by Iris. +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose so," said Iris carelessly. "A servant brought the message. +He came to me in the first instance, but I am just going to my room to +pack my few belongings. We leave here at daybreak, you know." +</P> + +<P> +Carmela tried to smile. +</P> + +<P> +"I shall be sorry to lose you," she said, "though I admit it will be +pleasant to occupy my own room again." +</P> + +<P> +Then Iris was genuinely distressed. +</P> + +<P> +"I had not the least notion——" she began, but Carmela nodded and made +off, saying as she went: +</P> + +<P> +"What matter—for one night?" +</P> + +<P> +So, at last, she would learn the truth. Salvador was out there, alone. +She would soon judge him. If he were innocent, she would know. If he +had merely been made the sport of a designing woman, she was ready to +forgive. In a more amiable mood than she had displayed at any moment +since her arrival at Las FIores, Carmela hastened along a dark corridor, +crossed a bare hall, passed through a porch, and searched the shadows of +the patèo for the form of her one-time lover. +</P> + +<P> +A voice whispered, in French: +</P> + +<P> +"Come quickly, Senhora, I pray you!" +</P> + +<P> +It startled her to find San Benavides talking French, until it occurred +to her that Iris and he must converse in that language or hardly at all. +The thought was disquieting. The volcano stirred again. +</P> + +<P> +"Senhora, je vous prie!" again pleaded the man, who was on horseback +under the trees. +</P> + +<P> +She did not hesitate, but ran to him. Without a word of explanation, he +bent sideways, caught her in his arms, drew her up until she was seated +on the holsters strapped to a gaucho saddle, and wheeled his horse into a +gallop. Filled with a grim determination, she uttered no protest. Not a +syllable crossed her lips lest he should strive to amend his woeful +blunder. She noticed that they were not going toward the camp, but +circling round the enclosed land in the direction of the hills. Though +the night was dark, the stars gave light enough for the horse to move +freely. Carmela's head was bent. A gauze-like mantilla covered her +black hair, and, strange though it may seem, one woman's small waist and +slim figure can be amazingly like the same physical attributes in another +woman. +</P> + +<P> +But San Benavides wondered why the cold Ingleza had surrendered so +silently. He expected at least a scream, a struggle, an impassioned +demand to be released. He was prepared for anything save a dumb +acceptance of this extraordinary raid. +</P> + +<P> +So he began to explain. +</P> + +<P> +"One word, Senhora!" he muttered. "You must think me mad. I am not. +All is lost! Our army is defeated! In an hour Las Flores will be in +flames!" +</P> + +<P> +The girl quivered in his arms. A moaning cry came from her. +</P> + +<P> +"It is true, I swear it!" he vowed. "I mean you no ill. I fought till +the end, and my good horse alone carried me in advance of the routed +troops. Dom Corria may reach the <I>finca</I> alive, but, even so, he and the +rest will be killed. I refused to escape without you. Believe me or +not, you are dearer than life itself. In the confusion we two may not be +missed. Trust yourself wholly to me, I beseech you!" +</P> + +<P> +He spoke jerkily, in the labored phrase of a man who has to pick and +choose the readiest words in an unfamiliar language. +</P> + +<P> +Carmela, with a sudden movement, raised her face to his, and threw aside +her veil. +</P> + +<P> +"Salvador!" she said. +</P> + +<P> +His eyes glared into hers. His frenzied clutch at the reins pulled the +horse on to its haunches. +</P> + +<P> +"My God!… Carmela!" he almost shrieked. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. So you are running away, Salvador—running away with the English +miss—deserting my father in the hour of his need! But she will die with +the others, you say. Well, then—join her!" +</P> + +<P> +During that quick twist on the horse's withers, she had plucked a +revolver from a holster. She meant to shatter that false face of his +utterly, to blast him as with lightning … but the lock snapped +harmlessly, for San Benavides had, indeed, borne himself gallantly in the +fray. He struck at her now in a whirl of fury. She winced, but with +catamount activity drew back her arm and hit him on the temple with the +heavy weapon. He collapsed limply, reeled from off the saddle, and they +fell together. The frightened horse, finding himself at liberty, +galloped to the camp, where already there was an unusual commotion. +</P> + +<P> +Carmela flung herself on the man's body. She was capable of extremes +either of grief or passion. +</P> + +<P> +"Salvador, my love! my love!" she screamed. "What have I done? Speak to +me, Salvador! It is I, Carmela! Oh, Mary Mother, come to my aid! I +have killed him, killed my Salvador!" +</P> + +<P> +He looked very white and peaceful as he lay there in the gloom. She +could not see whether his lips moved. She was too distraught to note if +his heart was beating. It seemed incredible that she, a weak woman, +should have crushed the life out of that lithe and active frame with one +blow. Then a dark stain appeared on the white skin. Her hands, her +lips, were covered with blood. She tasted it. The whole earth reeked of +it. It scorched her as with vitriol. She rose and ran blindly. The +darkness appalled her. No matter now what fate befell, she must have +light, the sound of human voices.… And she sobbed piteously as she +ran: +</P> + +<P> +"Salvador! Oh, God in heaven, my Salvador!" +</P> + +<P> +It is not the crime, but the conscience, that scourges erring humanity. +Carmela needed some such flogging. It was just as well that her fright +at the horrible touch of blood was not balanced by the saner knowledge +that a ruptured vein was nature's own remedy for a man jarred into +insensibility. Long before Carmela reached the <I>finca</I>, San Benavides +stirred, groaned, squirmed convulsively, and raised himself on hands and +knees. He turned, and sat down, feeling his head. +</P> + +<P> +"The spit-fire!" he muttered. "The she-devil! And that other! Would +that I could wring <I>her</I> neck!" +</P> + +<P> +A sputtering of rifles crackled in the valley. There was a blurred +clamor of voices. He looked at the sky, at the black summits of the +hills. He stood up, and his inseparable sword clanked on the stony +ground. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, well," he growled, "I have done with women. They have had the best +of my life. What is left I give to Brazil." +</P> + +<P> +So he, too, made for Las Flores, but slowly, for he was quite exhausted, +and his limbs were stiff with the rigors of a wild day in the saddle. +</P> + +<P> +Carmela went back to a household that paid scant heed to her screaming. +Dom Corria was there, bare-headed, his gorgeous uniform sword-slashed and +blood-bespattered. General Russo, too, was beating his capacious chest +and shouting: +</P> + +<P> +"God's bones, let us make a fight of it!" +</P> + +<P> +A sprinkling of soldiers, all dismounted cavalry or gunners, a few +disheveled officers, had accompanied De Sylva in his flight. With +reckless bravery, he and Russo had tried to rally the troops camped at +headquarters. It was a hopeless effort. Half-breeds can never produce a +military caste. They may fight valiantly in the line of battle—they +will not face the unknown, the terrible, the harpies that come at night, +borne on the hurricane wings of panic. Unhappily, De Sylva and his +bodyguard were the messengers of their own disaster. The cowardly genius +at Pesqueira had planned a surprise. He would not lead it, of course, +but in Dom Miguel Barraca he found an eager substitute. It was a coup of +the Napoleonic order; an infantry attack along the entire front of the +Liberationist position cloaked the launching against the center of a +formidable body of cavalry. The project was to thrust this lance into +the rebel position, probe it thoroughly, as a surgeon explores a gunshot +wound, and extract the offender in the guise of Dom Corria. +</P> + +<P> +The scheme had proved eminently successful. The Liberationists were +crumpled up, and here was Dom Corria making his last stand. +</P> + +<P> +He deserved better luck, for he was magnificent in failure. Calm as +ever, he tried to be shot or captured when the reserves in camp failed +him. Russo and the rest dragged him onward by main force. +</P> + +<P> +"They want me only," he urged. "My death will end a useless struggle. I +shall die a little later, when many more of my friends are killed. Why +not die now?" +</P> + +<P> +They would not listen. +</P> + +<P> +"It is night!" they cried. "The enemy's horses are spent. A determined +stand may give us another chance." +</P> + +<P> +But it was a forlorn hope. As San Benavides lurched into the <I>patèo</I>, +the horses of the first pursuing detachment strained up the slope between +house and encampment. +</P> + +<P> +Carmela, all her fire gone, the pallid ghost of the vengeful woman who +would have shattered her lover's skull were the revolver loaded, was the +first to see him. She actually crouched in terror. Her tongue was +parched. If she uttered some low cry, none heard her. +</P> + +<P> +Dom Corria, striving to dispose his meager garrison as best he could, met +his trusted lieutenant. His face lit with joy. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, my poor Salvador!" he cried. "I thought we had lost you at the +ford!" +</P> + +<P> +"No," said San Benavides. "I ran away!" +</P> + +<P> +Even in his dire extremity, De Sylva smiled. +</P> + +<P> +"Would that others had run like you, my Salvador!" he said. "Then we +should have been in Pernambuco to-morrow." +</P> + +<P> +The Brazilian looked around. His eye dwelt heedlessly on the cowering +Carmela. He was searching for Iris, who had been compelled by Coke and +Bulmer and her uncle to take shelter behind the score of sailors who +still remained at Las Flores. +</P> + +<P> +"It is true, nevertheless," he said laconically. "I knew the game was +lost, so I came here to try and save a lady." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah—our Carmela? You thought of her?" +</P> + +<P> +"No!" +</P> + +<P> +Then the spell passed from Carmela. She literally threw herself on her +lover. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, it is true!" she shrieked. "He came to save me, but I preferred to +die here—with you, father—and with him." +</P> + +<P> +Dom Corria did not understand these fire-works, but he had no time for +thought. Bullets were crashing through the closed Venetians. Light they +must have, or the defense would become an orgy of self-destruction, yet +light was their most dangerous foe when men were shooting from the somber +depths of the trees. +</P> + +<P> +The assailants were steadily closing around the house. Their rifles +covered every door and window. Each minute brought up fresh bands in +tens and twenties. At last, Barraca himself arrived. Some members of +his staff made a hasty survey of the situation. There were some three +hundred men available, and, in all probability, Dom Corria could not +muster one-sixth of that number. It was a crisis that called for vigor. +The cavalry lance was twenty miles from its base, and there was no +knowing what accident might reunite the scattered Liberationists. One +column, at least, of the Nationalists had failed to keep its rendezvous, +or this last desperate stand at Las Flores would have proved a sheer +impossibility. +</P> + +<P> +So the house must be rushed, no matter what the cost. This was a war of +leaders. Let Dom Corria fall, and his most enthusiastic supporters would +pay Dom Miguel's taxes without further parley. A scheme of concerted +action was hastily arranged. Simultaneously, five detachments swarmed +against the chosen points of assault. One crossed the <I>patèo</I> to the +porch, another made for the stable entrance, a third attacked the garden +door, a fourth assailed the servants' quarters, and the fifth, strongest +of all, and inspired by Dom Miguel's presence, battered in the shutters +and tore away the piled up furniture of the ballroom. +</P> + +<P> +The Nationalist leader's final order was terse. +</P> + +<P> +"Spare the women; shoot every rebel; do not touch the foreigners unless +they resist!" +</P> + +<P> +With yells of "Abajo De Sylva!" "Morto por revoltados!" the assailants +closed in. Neither side owned magazine rifles, so the fight was with +machetes, swords, and bayonets when the first furious hail of lead had +spent itself. No man thought of quarter, nor ceased to stab and thrust +until he fell. Not even then did some of the half-savage combatants +desist, and a many a thigh was gashed and boot-protected leg cut to the +bone by those murderous hatchet knives wielded by hands which would soon +stiffen in death. +</P> + +<P> +When three hundred desperadoes meet fifty of like caliber in a +hand-to-hand conflict—when the three hundred mean to end the business, +and the fifty know that they must die—fighting for choice, but die in +any event—the resultant encounter will surely be both fierce and brief. +And never was fratricidal strife more sanguinary than during the earliest +onset within the walls. Each inch of corridor, each plank of the +ballroom floor, was contested with insane ferocity. This was not +warfare. It savored of the carnage of the jungle. Its sounds were those +of wild beasts. It smelled of the shambles. +</P> + +<P> +By one of those queer chances which sometimes decide the hazard between +life and death, the window nearest that end of the room where the sailors +strove to protect a few shrieking women had not been broken in. Here, +then, was a tiny bay of refuge; from it the men of the <I>Andromeda</I> and +the <I>Unser Fritz</I>, Bulmer, Verity, Iris, and such of the Brazilian ladies +as had not fled to the upper rooms at the initial volley, looked out on +an amazing butchery. De Sylva, no longer young, and never a robust man, +had been dragged from mortal peril many times by his devoted adherents. +Carmela had snatched a machete from the fingers of a dying soldier, and +was fighting like one possessed of a fiend. +</P> + +<P> +Once, when a combined rush drove the defenders nearly on top of the +non-combatants, Iris would have striven to draw the half-demented girl +into the little haven with the other women. +</P> + +<P> +But Coke thrust her back, shouting: +</P> + +<P> +"Leave 'er alone. She'll set about you if you touch her!" +</P> + +<P> +Dickey Bulmer, too, who was displaying a fortitude hardly to be expected +in a man of his years and habits, thought that interference was useless. +</P> + +<P> +"Let 'er do what she can," he said. "She doesn't know wot is 'appenin' +now. If she was on'y watchin' she'd be a ravin' lunatic. God 'elp us +all, we've got ourselves into a nice mess!" +</P> + +<P> +Somehow, the old man's Lancashire drawl, with its broad vowels and +misplaced aspirates, exercised a singularly soothing effect on Iris's +tensely-strung nerves. It seemed to remove her from that murder-filled +arena. It was redolent of home, of quiet streets, of orderly crowds +thronging to the New Brighton sands, of the sober, industrious, +God-fearing folk who filled the churches and chapels at each service on a +Sunday. These men and women of Brazil were her brothers and sisters in +the great comity of nations, yet Heaven knows they did not figure in such +guise during that hour of intense emotions. +</P> + +<P> +But if Dickey Bulmer's simple words exalted him into the kingdom of the +heroic, David Verity occupied a lower plane. Prayers and curses +alternated on his lips. He was stupefied with fear. He had never seen +the lust of slaying in men's eyes, and it mesmerized him. Many of the +sailors wanted to join in on behalf of their friends. It needed all +Coke's vehemence to restrain them. "Keep out of it, you swabs," he would +growl. "It's your on'y chanst. This isn't our shindy. Let 'em rip an' +be hanged to 'em!" Yet he was manifestly uneasy, and he kept a wary eye +on De Sylva, whom he appraised at a personal value of five thousand +pounds "an pickin's." +</P> + +<P> +A tall, distinguished-looking man, wearing a brilliant uniform, his +breast decorated with many orders, now appeared on the scene. He shouted +something, and the attacking force redoubled their efforts. He raised a +revolver, and took deliberate aim at Dom Corria. Coke saw him, and his +bulldog pluck combined with avarice to overcome his common sense. +Without thought of the consequences, he sprang into the swaying mob and +pulled De Sylva aside. A bullet smashed into the wall behind them. +</P> + +<P> +"Look out, mister!" he bellowed. "'Ere's a blighter 'oo wants to finish +you quick!" +</P> + +<P> +De Sylva's glance sought his adversary. He produced a revolver which +hitherto had remained hidden in a pocket. Perhaps its bullets were not +meant for an enemy. He fired at the tall man. A violent swerve of the +two irregular ranks of soldiers screened each from the other. An opening +offered, and the man who had singled out Dom Corria for his special +vengeance fired again. The bullet struck Coke in the breast. The +valiant little skipper staggered, and sank to the floor. His fiery eyes +gazed up into Verity's. +</P> + +<P> +"Damme if I ain't hulled!" he roared, his voice loud and harsh as if he +were giving some command from the bridge in a gale of wind. +</P> + +<P> +David dropped to his knees. +</P> + +<P> +"For Gawd's sake, Jimmie!" he moaned. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I've got it. Sarve me dam well right, too! No business to go +ag'in me own pore old ship. Look 'ere, Verity, I'm done for! If you get +away from this rotten muss, see to my missus an' the girls. If you +don't—d—n you——" +</P> + +<P> +"Fire!" shouted a strong English voice from without. A withering volley +crashed through the open windows. Full twenty of the assailants fell, +Dom Miguel de Barraca among them. There was an instant of terrible +silence, as between the shocks of an earthquake. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-326"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-326.jpg" ALT="A withering volley crashed through the window" BORDER="2" WIDTH="527" HEIGHT="431"> +<H3> +[Illustration: A withering volley crashed through the window] +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +"Now, come on!" shouted the same voice, and Philip Hozier rushed into the +ballroom, followed by his scouts and a horde of Brazilian regulars. No +one not actually an eye-witness of that thrilling spectacle would believe +that a fight waged with such determined malevolence could stop so +suddenly as did that fray in Las Flores. It was true, now as ever, that +men of a mixed race cannot withstand the unforeseen. Dom Miguel fallen, +and his cohort decimated by the leaden storm that tore in at them from an +unexpected quarter, the rest fled without another blow. They raced madly +for their horses, to find that every tethered group was in the hands of +this new contingent. Then the darkness swallowed them. Dom Miguel's +cavalry was disbanded. +</P> + +<P> +At once the medley within died down. Men had no words as yet to meet +this astounding development. Dom Corria went to where his rival lay. +Dom Miguel was dying. His eyes met De Sylva's in a strange look of +recognition. He tried to speak, but choked and died. +</P> + +<P> +Then the living President stooped over the dead one. He murmured +something. Those near thought afterward that he said: +</P> + +<P> +"Is it worth it? Who knows!" +</P> + +<P> +But he was surely President now; seldom have power and place been more +hardly won. +</P> + +<P> +His quiet glance sought Philip. +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you, Mr. Hozier," he said. "All Brazil is your debtor. As for +me, I can never repay you. I owe you my life, the lives of my daughter +and of many of my friends, and the success of my cause." +</P> + +<P> +Philip heard him as in a dream. He was looking at Iris. Her eyes were +shining, her lips parted, yet she did not come to him. By her side was +standing a white-haired old man, an Englishman, a stranger. Bending over +Coke, and wringing his hands in incoherent sorrow, was another elderly +Briton. A fear that Philip had never before known gripped his +heartstrings now. He was pale and stern, and his forehead was seamed +with foreboding. +</P> + +<P> +"Who is that with Miss Yorke?" he said to Dom Corria. +</P> + +<P> +The President had a rare knack of answering a straight question in a +straight way. +</P> + +<P> +"A Mr. Bulmer, I am told," he said. +</P> + +<P> +There was a pause. General Russo, carved from head to foot, but so stout +withal that his enemies' weapons had reached no vital part, approached. +He thumped his huge stomach. +</P> + +<P> +"We must rally our men," he said. "If we collect even five thousand +to-night——" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said De Sylva, "I will come. Before I go, Mr. Hozier, let me +repeat that I and Brazil are grateful." +</P> + +<P> +"May the devil take both you and Brazil!" was Philip's most ungracious +reply, and he turned and strode out into the night. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap16"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +WHEREIN THE PRESIDENT PRESIDES +</H3> + + +<P> +Before the exciting story so rudely interrupted is resumed, it may be +well to set down in their sequence the queer workings of fortune which +led to Philip's timely reappearance at Las FIores. +</P> + +<P> +His troop of scouts consisted of twenty-eight men. Five were sailors +and firemen from the <I>Andromeda</I>; three were Germans from the <I>Unser +Fritz</I>. But the whole eight were ex-soldiers, and one man-at-arms +trained on the European model is worth ten of the Brazilian product. +The remaining twenty were hillmen, good riders, excellent shots, and +acquainted with every yard of the wild country within a radius of a +hundred miles. They would fight anybody if well led, and here it may +be observed that when Philip called on them to storm the ballroom, he +said, "Come on!"; between which curt command and its congener, "Go on!" +these half-breed warriors drew a fine distinction. The language +difficulty was surmounted partly by an interpreter in the person of one +of the Germans, who spoke English and had lived in Bahia, partly by +signs, and largely by Philip's methods as a leader. +</P> + +<P> +He never asked his men to do anything that he did not do himself, and +they were never dubious as to his tactics, since he invariably closed +with any Nationalist detachment met during the day's operations. +</P> + +<P> +About mid-day, then, they came upon the advance guard of a column sent +off a week earlier by the expert at Pesqueira with instructions to +arrive at Las Flores before sunset that very day. Instantly the +twenty-nine charged; with equal celerity the advance guard bolted. +From the crest of a rocky pass Philip looked down on a column of fully +a thousand men. The situation was critical. It called for prompt +handling. Five men held the horses; twenty-three spread themselves +among the rocks; Philip unslung his carbine; and twenty-four rifles +indulged in long-range practice on a narrow mountain path crowded with +men and animals. +</P> + +<P> +Nothing more was needed. It has been noted already that the Brazilians +disliked long-range shooting. There was a stampede. The scouts +occupied the ridge until sundown, and were returning leisurely to +report the presence of the column, when they fell in with the first +batch of fugitives from the valley. Forthwith, Philip became a general +and each scout an officer. They reasoned and whacked the runaways into +obedience, picked up quite a number of men who were willing enough to +fight if told what was expected of them—and the rest was a matter of +simple strategy such as Macaulay's schoolboy would exhibit in the +escalade of a snow fort. But it was a near thing. Five minutes later, +and Hozier might have seized the presidency himself. +</P> + +<P> +And now, as to the night, and the next day. +</P> + +<P> +Russo and his diminished staff took Philip's little army as a nucleus. +Brazil had duly elected Dom Corria, as provided by the statute, and the +news spread like wild fire. Before morning, the Liberationists were +ten thousand strong. Before night closed the roads again, the +Pesqueira genius wrote to Dom Corria under a flag of truce, and pointed +out that he served the <I>President</I>, not any crank who said he was +President, but the honored individual in whom the people of Brazil +placed their trust. Dom Corria replied in felicitous terms, and, as +the newspapers say, the incident ended. The navy sulked for a while, +because they held that Russo's treatment of the <I>Andorinha</I> was not +cricket, or baseball, or whatsoever game appeals most to the Brazilian +sportsman. It was not even professional football, they said; but an +acrimonious discussion was closed by a strong hint from the Treasury +that pay-day might be postponed indefinitely if too much were made of a +regrettable accident to the guns of the Maceio artillery. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile, Dom Corria, the man who did not forget, was puzzled by two +circumstances not of national importance. San Benavides, never a +demonstrative lover where Carmela was concerned, was a changed man. He +was severely wounded during the fight, and Carmela nursed him +assiduously, but there could be no doubt that he was under her thumb, +and would remain there. The indications were subtle but unmistakable. +Carmela even announced the date of their marriage. +</P> + +<P> +Dom Corria remembered, of course, what San Benavides and his daughter +had said when they all met in the ballroom. It seemed to him that +Salvador was telling the truth and that Carmela was fibbing on that +occasion. But he let well enough alone. It was good for Salvador that +he should obey Carmela. He blessed them, and remarked that a really +"smart" wedding would be just the thing to inaugurate the new reign at +Rio de Janeiro. +</P> + +<P> +He was far more perplexed by the untimely wrath of Philip Hozier. He +thought of it for at least five minutes next morning. Then he sought +Dickey Bulmer, who had just quitted Coke's bedroom, and was examining +the rare shrubs that bordered the lawn. +</P> + +<P> +"What news of that brave man?" asked Dom Corria, and his deep voice +vibrated with real feeling. +</P> + +<P> +"First-rate, sir," said Dickey. "The bullet is extracted, and the +doctor says 'e'll soon be all right. Leastways, that's wot Iris tells +me. I can't talk Portuguese meself, an' pore old Jimmie's langwidge +ain't fit to be repeated." +</P> + +<P> +The President laughed. +</P> + +<P> +"He is what you call a bundle of contradictions, eh?—a rough fellow +with the heart of a bull. But he saved my life, and that naturally +counts for a good deal with me. And how is your niece after last +night's terrible experience?" +</P> + +<P> +"My niece? D'ye mean Iris?" demanded Bulmer, obviously somewhat +annoyed. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"She's not my niece; she's——" +</P> + +<P> +"Your grand-daughter, then?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, sir. That young lady 'as done me the honor of promisin' to be my +wife." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh!" said Dom Corria, fixing his brilliant eyes on Bulmer's vexed face. +</P> + +<P> +"There's no 'Oh' about it," growled Dickey. "It was all cut an' dried +weeks ago, an' she 'asn't rued of 'er bargain yet, as far as I can make +out." +</P> + +<P> +"You mean that the marriage was arranged before the <I>Andromeda</I> +sailed?" said Dom Corria gently. +</P> + +<P> +"W'y, of course. It couldn't very well be fixed after, could it?" +</P> + +<P> +"No—not as between you and her. I can vouch for that. Forgive me, +Mr. Bulmer—I have a daughter of marriageable age, you know, and I +speak as a parent—do you think that it is a wise thing for a man of +your years to marry a girl of twenty?" +</P> + +<P> +"If I didn't, I wouldn't do it." +</P> + +<P> +"But may it not be selfish?" +</P> + +<P> +Then downright Lancashire took hold of the argument. +</P> + +<P> +"Look 'ere, wot are you drivin' at?" demanded Dickey, now in a white +heat of anger. He had yet to learn that the President preferred a +straight-forward way of talking. +</P> + +<P> +"I want you to forego this marriage," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"Why?" +</P> + +<P> +"Because that charming girl loves another man, but feels that she is +bound to you. I understand the position at last. Mr. Bulmer, you +cannot wish to break her heart and drive that fine young fellow, Philip +Hozier, to despair. Come, now! Let you and me reason this thing +together. Possibly, when she agreed to marry you she did not know what +love is. She is high-minded, an idealist, the soul of honor. What +other woman would have consented to be separated from her friends on +Fernando Noronha merely because it increased their meager chances of +safety? How few women, loving a man like Philip Hozier, who is assured +of a splendid reward for his services to this State, would resolutely +deny the claims of her own heart in order to keep her word?" +</P> + +<P> +Bulmer had never heard anyone speak with the crystal directness of Dom +Corria. Each word chipped away some part of the fence which he had +deliberately erected around his own intelligence. Certain facts had +found crevices in the barrier already; Dom Corria broke down whole +sections. But he was a hard man, and stubborn. Throughout his long +life he had not been of yielding habit, and his heart was set on Iris. +</P> + +<P> +"You are mighty sure that she is wrapped up in this young spark," he +growled. +</P> + +<P> +"Were I not, I would not have interfered. Take my advice. First, ask +yourself an honest question. Then ask the girl. She will answer. I +promise you that." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm a rich man," persisted Dickey. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"Nobody forced 'er, one way or the other." +</P> + +<P> +"Possibly. One wonders, though, why she hid herself on the +<I>Andromeda</I>." +</P> + +<P> +"It's true, I tell you. David said——" +</P> + +<P> +"Who is David?" +</P> + +<P> +"Her uncle." +</P> + +<P> +"In England, I take it, if a man wishes to marry a girl he does not woo +her uncle. Of course, these customs vary. Here, in Brazil——" +</P> + +<P> +Then Bulmer said something about Brazil that was not to be expected +from one of his staid demeanor. In fact, he regarded Brazil as the +cause of the whole trouble, and his opinion concerning that marvelous +land coincided with Hozier's. He turned and walked away, looking a +trifle older, a trifle more bent, perhaps, than when he came out of the +house. +</P> + +<P> +An hour later, Dom Corria and Carmela met in a corridor. They were +discussing arrangements for a speedy move to the capital when Iris ran +into them. Her face was flushed, and she had been crying. Much to +Carmela's amazement, the English girl clasped her round the neck and +kissed her. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell your father, my dear, that he has been very good to me," she +whispered; then her face grew scarlet again, and she hurried away. +</P> + +<P> +"Excellent!" said the President. "That old man is a gentleman. His +friend is not. Yet they are very much alike in other respects. Odd +thing! Carmela <I>cara</I>, can you spare a few minutes from your invalid?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, father." +</P> + +<P> +"Go, then, and find that young Englishman, Philip Hozier. Tell him +that the engagement between Miss Yorke and Mr. Bulmer is broken off." +</P> + +<P> +Carmela's black eyes sparkled. That wayward blood of hers surged in +her veins, but Dom Corria's calm glance dwelt on her, and the spasm +passed. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, father," she said dutifully. +</P> + +<P> +He stroked his chin as he went out to pronounce a funeral oration on +those who had fallen during the fight. +</P> + +<P> +"I think," said he reflectively, "I think that Carmela dislikes that +girl. I wonder why?" +</P> + +<P> +Philip had never, to his knowledge, seen the Senhora De Sylva. Watts +spoke of her, remarking that she was "a reel pleasant young lady, a bit +flighty, p'raps, but, then, 'oo could tell wot any gal would do one +minnit from the next?" And that was all. +</P> + +<P> +It was, therefore, something more than a surprise when the +sallow-faced, willowy girl, black-haired, black-eyed, and most demure +of manner, whom he remembered to have met in the gateway of Las Flores +early on the previous day, came to his tent and asked for him. +</P> + +<P> +She introduced herself, and Philip was most polite. +</P> + +<P> +"My father sent me——" she began. +</P> + +<P> +"I ought to have waited on the President," he said, seeing that she +hesitated, "but several of my men are wounded, and we have so few +doctors." +</P> + +<P> +She smiled, and Carmela could redeem much of her plainness of feature +by the singular charm of her smile. +</P> + +<P> +"Dom Corria is a good doctor himself," she said. +</P> + +<P> +"His skill will be much appreciated in Brazil at the present moment," +said he, rather bewildered. +</P> + +<P> +"He mends broken hearts," she persisted. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, a healer, indeed!" but he frowned a little. +</P> + +<P> +"He is in demand to-day. He asked me to tell you of one most +successful operation. The—er—the engagement between Miss Iris +Yorke—is that the name?—and Mr.—Mr.—dear me——" +</P> + +<P> +"Bulmer," scowled Philip, a block of ice in the warm air of Brazil. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, that is it—well—it is ended. She is free—for a little while." +</P> + +<P> +There was a curious bleaching of Philip's weather-tanned face. It +touched a chord in Carmela's impulsive nature. +</P> + +<P> +"It is all right," she nodded. "You can go to her." +</P> + +<P> +She left him there, more shaken than he had ever been by thunderous sea +or screaming bullet. +</P> + +<P> +"They are cold, these English," she communed, as she passed up the +slope to the house. "It takes something to rouse them. What would he +have said were he in Salvador's place last night!" +</P> + +<P> +It did not occur to her that Philip could not possibly have been in +Salvador's place, since God has made as many varieties of men as of +berries, whereof some are wholesome and some poisonous, yet they all +have their uses. And she might have modified her opinion of his +coldness had she seen the manner of his meeting with Iris. +</P> + +<P> +Visiting the sick is one of the Christian virtues, so Philip visited +Coke. Iris had just finished writing a letter, partly dictated, and +much altered in style, to Mrs. James Coke, Sea View, Ocean Road, +Birkenhead, when a gentle tap brought her to the door. She opened it. +Her wrist was seized, and she was drawn into the corridor. She had no +option in the matter. The tall young man who held her wrist proceeded +to squeeze the breath out of her, but she was growing so accustomed to +deeds of violence that she did not even scream. +</P> + +<P> +"There is a British chaplain at Pernambuco," was Philip's incoherent +remark. +</P> + +<P> +"I must ask my uncle," she gasped. +</P> + +<P> +"No. Leave that to me. No man living shall say 'Yes' or 'No' to me +where you are concerned, Iris." +</P> + +<P> +"Do not be hard with him, Philip dear. He was always good to me, +and—and—I have grown a wee bit afraid of you." +</P> + +<P> +"Afraid!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. You are so much older, so much sterner, than when you and I +looked at the Southern Cross together from the bridge of the +<I>Andromeda</I>." +</P> + +<P> +"I was a boy then, Iris. I am a man now. I have fought, and loved, +and suffered. And what of you, dear heart? We went through the +furnace hand in hand. What of the girl who has come forth a woman?" +</P> + +<P> +There was an open window at the end of the passage. Watts had bought, +or borrowed, or looted a bottle of wine. Schmidt and he were in a +shaded arbor beneath, and his voice came to them: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"It is always fair weather<BR> +When good fellows meet together…"<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +But another voice, hoarse as a foghorn, boomed through the door which +Iris had left ajar. +</P> + +<P> +"Bring 'er in 'ere, you swab. D—n your eyes, if you come courtin' my +nurse, you'll 'ave to do it in my room or not at all. Wot the——" +</P> + +<P> +"Come in, dear," said Iris. "The doctor says he is not to excite +himself. And he will be so glad to see you. He has been asking for +you all day." +</P> + +<BR> +<HR WIDTH="60%" ALIGN="center"> +<BR> + +<P> +At Pernambuco, his excellency the President of the Republic of Brazil +was waited on by Admiral Prince Heinrich von Schnitzenhausen, who was +attended by an imposing armed guard. After compliments, the admiral +stated that his Imperial master wished to be informed as to the truth +or otherwise of a circumstantial statement made by the German Consul at +Maceio, and confirmed by functionaries at Pernambuco, that on a certain +date, to wit, September the 2d, he, Dom Corria De Sylva, aided and +abetted by a number of filibusters, did unlawfully seize and +sequestrate the steamship <I>Unser Fritz</I>, the said steamship being the +property of German subjects and flying the German flag. +</P> + +<P> +Though the admiral's sentence was much longer than its English +translation, it only contained a dozen words. Its sound was fearsome +in consequence, and its effect ought to have been portentous. But Dom +Corria was unmoved. +</P> + +<P> +"There is some mistake," said he. +</P> + +<P> +"Exactly," said the admiral, +"an-error-the-most-serious-and-not-easily-rectifiable." +</P> + +<P> +"On your part," continued Dom Corria. "The vessel you name is the +property of my friend and colleague Dom Alfonso Pondillo, of Maceio. +He purchased and paid for her on September 1st. Here is the receipt of +the former owners, given to the Deutsche Bank in Paris, and handed to +Senhor Pondillo's agents. You will observe the date of the +transaction." +</P> + +<P> +The admiral read. He read again. +</P> + +<P> +"Ach Gott!" he cried angrily. "There are some +never-to-be-depended-upon fools in the world, and especially in +Hamburg." +</P> + +<P> +"Everywhere," agreed Dom Corria blandly. Carmela's memory was not +quite of the hereditary order. She had forgotten, for three whole +days, that the letter containing the receipt was in her pocket. +</P> + +<BR> +<HR WIDTH="60%" ALIGN="center"> +<BR> + +<P> +When Coke was pronounced fit for comfortable travel, David Verity and +Dickey Bulmer conveyed him home. They took with them drafts on a +London bank for amounts that satisfied every sort of claim for the +sinking of the <I>Andromeda</I>. Judged by the compensation given to the +vessel's survivors, there could be no doubt that the dependants of the +men who lost their lives would be well provided for. Even Watts vowed +that the President had behaved reel 'andsome, and, as a token of +regeneration, swore that never another drop o' sperrits would cross his +lips. Wines and beers, of course, were light refreshments of a +different order. Schmidt, too, sublimely heedless of the diplomatic +storm he had caused, seemed to be contented. He taught Watts "<I>Es gibt +nur eine Kaiser Stadt</I>," and Watts taught him the famous chanty of the +<I>Alice</I> brig and her marooned crew. But the latter effusion was +rehearsed far from Coke's deck-chair, because the captain of the mail +steamer said that although he liked Coke personally, some of the lady +passengers might complain. +</P> + +<P> +At odd moments David and Dickey Bulmer discussed the partnership. The +young people would be home in two months, and then Philip was to come +into the business. +</P> + +<P> +"We're growing old, David," said Dickey. "I've got plenty of money, +an' you'll 'ave a tidy bit now, but there's one thing neether of us can +buy, and that's youth." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't want to be young again," said David, "but I'd like to go back +just a year or so—no more. +</P> + +<P> +"Why?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, there's bin times w'en—w'en I'd 'ave acted different. Wot do +you say, Jimmie?" +</P> + +<P> +Coke, thus appealed to, glowered at his employer. +</P> + +<P> +"Say!" he growled. "I say nothink. I know you, David." +</P> + +<P> +Philip and Iris attended Carmela's wedding during their honeymoon. The +cathedral at Rio de Janeiro was packed, and Iris was quite +inconspicuous among the many richly-attired ladies who graced the +ceremony by their presence. Nevertheless, Colonel Salvador San +Benavides favored her with a peculiar smile as he led his bride down +the central aisle. +</P> + +<P> +She laughed, blushed, and looked at her husband. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I saw him," he whispered. "But I never feared him. It was you +that made me sit up. By the way, old girl, let us cut out the +reception. I want to call at the bank, and at a shop in the Rua +Grande. You will be interested." +</P> + +<P> +Well, being a good and loving wife, she was interested deeply. Ten +thousand pounds was Dom Corria's financial estimate of the services +rendered by Philip, and Iris was absolutely dumfounded by the total in +milreis. But her voice came back when Philip took her to a jeweler's, +and the man produced a gold cross on which blazed four glorious +diamonds. Dom Corria had given her a necklace many times more +valuable; but this—— +</P> + +<P> +"For remembrance!" said Philip. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, my dear, my dear!" she murmured, and her eyes grew moist. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="finis"> +THE END +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Stowaway Girl, by Louis Tracy + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STOWAWAY GIRL *** + +***** This file should be named 19539-h.htm or 19539-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/9/5/3/19539/ + +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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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: The Stowaway Girl + +Author: Louis Tracy + +Illustrator: Nesbit Benson + +Release Date: October 14, 2006 [EBook #19539] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STOWAWAY GIRL *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + + + + + + +[Frontispiece: Hosier tightened a protecting arm around her waist] + + + + + + +THE STOWAWAY GIRL + + +By + +LOUIS TRACY + + + +AUTHOR OF + +THE WINGS OF THE MORNING, SON OF THE IMMORTALS, CYNTHIA'S CHAUFFEUR, +THE MESSAGE, THE SILENT BARRIER, ETC. + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS BY + +NESBIT BENSON + + + + +NEW YORK + +GROSSET & DUNLAP + +PUBLISHERS + + + + +Copyright, 1909, 1912, + +By EDWARD J. CLODE + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + + I. THE "ANDROMEDA" + II. WHEREIN THE "ANDROMEDA" BEGINS HER VOYAGE + III. WHEREIN THE "ANDROMEDA" NEARS THE END OF HER VOYAGE + IV. SHOWING WHAT BECAME OF THE "ANDROMEDA" + V. THE REFUGEES + VI. BETWEEN THE BRAZILIAN DEVIL AND THE DEEP ATLANTIC + VII. CROSS PURPOSES + VIII. THE RIGOR OF THE GAME + IX. WHEREIN CERTAIN PEOPLE MEET UNEXPECTEDLY + X. ON THE HIGH SEAS + XI. A LIVELY MORNING IN EXCHANGE BUILDINGS + XII. THE LURE OF GOLD + XIII. THE NEW ERA + XIV. CARMELA + XV. SHOWING HOW BRAZIL CHOSE HER PRESIDENT + XVI. WHEREIN THE PRESIDENT PRESIDES + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +Hosier tightened a protective arm around her waist . . . _Frontispiece_ + +"Is that the Southern Cross?" + +"How did I come here?" + +"Well, gimme your 'and on it" + +A withering volley crashed through the window + + + + +THE STOWAWAY + + +CHAPTER I + +THE "ANDROMEDA" + +"Marry Mr. Bulmer! That horrid old man! Uncle, what _are_ you saying?" + +The girl sprang to her feet as if she were some timid creature of the +wild aroused from sylvan broodings by knowledge of imminent danger. In +her terror, she upset the three wineglasses that formed part of the +display beside each _couvert_ on the luncheon table. One, rose-tinted +and ornate, crashed to the floor, and the noise seemed to irritate the +owner of Linden House more than his niece's shrill terror. + +"No need to bust up our best set of 'ock glasses just because I 'appen +to mention owd Dickey Bulmer," he growled. + +The color startled so suddenly out of the girl's face began to return. +Her eyes lost their dilation of fear. Somehow, the comment on the +broken glass seemed to deprive "owd Dickey Bulmer's" personality of its +real menace. + +"I'm sorry," she said, and stooped to pick up the fragments scattered +over the carpet. + +"Leave that alone," came the sharp order. "So long as I've the brass +to pay for 'em, there's plenty more where that kem from, an' in any +case, it's the 'ousemaid's job. Leave it alone, I tell you! An' sit +down. It's 'igh time you an' me 'ad a straight talk, an' I can't do +wi' folk bouncin' about like an injia-rubber ball when I've got things +to say to 'em." + +He stretched a fat hand toward a mahogany cigar-box, affected to choose +a cigar with deliberative crackling, hacked at the selection with a +fruit knife, and dropped the severed end into an unused finger-bowl; +then he struck a match, and puffed furiously until a rim of white ash +tipped the brown. This achieved, he helped himself to the port. +Though he carefully avoided glancing at his companion, he knew quite +well that she had drawn a chair to the opposite end of the table, and +was looking at him intently; her chin was propped on her clenched +hands; the skin on her white forehead was puckered into nervous lines; +her lips, pressed close, had lost their Cupid's bow that seemed ever +ready to bend into a smile. Meanwhile, the man who had caused these +signs of distress gulped down some of the wine, held the glass up to +the light as a tribute to the excellence of its contents, darted his +tongue several times in and out between his teeth, smacked his lips, +replaced the cigar in his mouth, and leaned back in his chair until it +creaked. + +Iris Yorke was accustomed to this ritual; she gave it the unobservant +tolerance good breeding extends to the commonplace. But to-day, for +the first time during the two years that had sped so happily since she +came back to Linden House from a Brussels _pension_, she found herself, +even in her present trouble, wondering how it was possible that David +Verity could be her mother's brother. This coarse-mannered hog of a +man, brother to the sweet-voiced, tender-hearted gentlewoman whose +gracious wraith was left undimmed in the girl's memory by the lapse of +years--it would be unbelievable if it were not true! He was so gross, +so tubby, so manifestly over-fed, whereas her mother had ever been +elegant and _bien soignee_. But he had shown kindness to her in his +domineering way. He was not quite so illiterate as his accent and his +general air of uncouthness seemed to imply. In his speech, the broad +vowels of the Lancashire dialect were grafted on to the clipped +staccato of a Cockney. He would scoff at anyone who told him that +knives and forks had precise uses, or that table-napkins were not meant +to be tucked under the chin. In England, especially in the provinces, +some men of affairs cultivate these minor defects, deeming them tokens +of bluff honesty, the hall-marks of the self-made; and David Verity +thought, perhaps, that his pretty, well-spoken niece might be trusted +to maintain the social level of his household without any special +effort on his part. + +Shocked, almost, at the disloyalty of her thoughts, Iris tried to close +the rift that had opened so unexpectedly. + +"It was stupid of me to take you seriously," she said. "You cannot +really mean that Mr. Bulmer wishes to marry me?" + +Verity screwed up his features into an amiable grin. He pressed the +tips of his fingers together until the joints bent backward. When he +spoke, the cigar waggled with each syllable. + +"I meant it right enough, my lass," he said. + +"But, uncle dear----" + +"Stop a bit. Listen to me first, an' say your say when I've finished. +Like everybody else, you think I'm a rich man. David Verity, Esquire, +ship-owner, of Linden House an' Exchange Buildings--it looks all right, +don't it--like one of them furrin apples with rosy peel an' a maggot +inside. You're the first I've told about the maggot. Fact is, I'm +broke. Ship-ownin' is rotten nowadays, unless you've lots of capital. +I've lost mine. Unless I get help, an' a thumpin' big slice of it, my +name figures in the _Gazette_. I want fifty thousand pounds, an' oo's +goin' to give it to me? Not the public. They're fed up on shippin'. +They're not so silly as they used to be. I put it to owd Dickey +yesterday, an' 'e said you couldn't raise money in Liverpool to-day to +build a ferry-boat. But 'e said summat else. If you wed 'im, 'e makes +you a partner in the firm of Verity, Bulmer an' Co. See? Wot's wrong +with that? I've done everything for you up to date; now it's your +turn. Simple, isn't it? P'raps I ought to have explained things +differently, but it didn't occur to me you'd hobject to bein' the wife +of a millionaire, even if 'e is a doddrin' owd idiot to talk of +marryin' agin." + +"Oh, uncle!" + +With a wail of despair, the girl sank back and covered her face with +her hands. Now that she believed the incredible, she could utter no +protest. The sacrifice demanded was too great. In that bitter moment +she would have welcomed poverty, prayed even for death, as the +alternative to marriage with the man to whom she was being sold. + +Verity leaned over the table again and finished the glass of port. +This time there was no lip-smacking, or other aping of the connoisseur. +He was angry, almost alarmed. Resistance, even of this passive sort, +raised the savage in him. Hitherto, Iris had been ready to obey his +slightest whim. + +"There's no use cryin' 'Oh, uncle,' an' kicking up a fuss," he snapped +viciously. "Where would you 'ave bin, I'd like to know, if it wasn't +for me? In the gutter--that's where your precious fool of a father +left your mother an' you. You're the best dressed, an' best lookin', +an' best eddicated girl i' Bootle to-day--thanks to me. When your +mother kem 'ere ten year ago, an' said her lit'rary gent of a 'usband +was dead, neither of you 'ad 'ad a square meal for weeks--remember +that, will you? It isn't my fault you've got to marry Bulmer. It's +just a bit of infernal bad luck--the same for both of us, if it comes +to that. An' why shouldn't you 'ave some of the sours after I've given +you all the sweets? You'll 'ave money to burn; I'm not axin' you to +give up some nice young feller for 'im. If you play your cards well, +you can 'ave all the fun you want----" + +The girl staggered to her feet. She could endure the man's coarseness +but not his innuendoes. + +"I will do what you ask," she murmured, though there was a pitiful +quivering at the corners of her mouth that bespoke an agony beyond the +relief of tears. "But please don't say any more, and never again +allude to my dear father in that way, or I may--I may forget what I owe +you." + +She was unconscious of the contempt in her eyes, the scornful ring in +her voice, and Verity had the good sense to restrain the wrath that +bubbled up in him until the door closed, and he was alone. He grabbed +the decanter and refilled his glass. + +"Nice thing!" he growled. "I offer 'er a fortune an' a bald-'eaded owd +devil for a 'usband, 'oo ought to die in a year or two an' leave 'er +everything; yet she ain't satisfied. D--n 'er eyes, if I'd keep 'er as +scullery-maid she'd 'ave different notions." + +With the taste of the wine, however, came the consoling reflection that +Iris as a scullery-maid might not tickle the fancy of the dotard who +had undertaken to provide fifty thousand pounds for the new +partnership. And she had promised--that was everything. His lack of +diplomacy was obvious even to himself, but he had won where a man of +finer temperament might have failed. Now, he must rush the wedding. +Dickey Bulmer's Lancashire canniness might stipulate for cash on +delivery as the essence of the marriage contract. Not a penny would +the old miser part with until he was sure of the girl. + +So David Verity, having much to occupy his mind, lingered over the +second glass of port, for this was a Sunday dinner, served at mid-day. +At last he closed his eyes for his customary nap; but sleep was not to +be wooed just then; instead of dozing, he felt exceedingly wide awake. +Indeed, certain disquieting calculations were running through his +brain, and he yielded forthwith to their insistence. Taking a small +notebook from his pocket, he jotted down an array of figures. He was +so absorbed in their analysis that he did not see Iris walk listlessly +across the lawn that spread its summer greenery in front of the +dining-room windows. And that was an ill thing for David. The sight +of the girl at that instant meant a great deal to him. + +He did happen to look out, a second too late. + +Even then, he might have caught a glimpse of Iris's pink muslin skirt +disappearing behind a clump of rhododendrons, were not his shifty eyes +screwed up in calculation--or perchance, the gods blinded him in behalf +of one who was named after Juno's bright messenger. + +"Yes, that's it," he was thinking. "I must wheedle Dickey into the +bank to-morrow. A word from 'im, an' they'll all grovel, d--n 'em!" + +The door opened. + +"Captain Coke to see you, sir," said a servant. + +"Send 'im in; bring 'im in 'ere." + +The memorandum book disappeared; Verity's hearty greeting was that of a +man who had not a care in the world. His visitor's description was +writ large on him by the sea. No one could possibly mistake Captain +Coke for any other species of captain than that of master mariner. He +was built on the lines of a capstan, short and squat and powerful. +Though the weather was hot, he wore a suit of thick navy-blue serge +that would have served his needs within the Arctic Circle. It clung +tightly to his rounded contours; there was a purple line on his red +brows that marked the exceeding tightness of the bowler hat he was +carrying; and the shining protuberances on his black boots showed that +they were tight, too. It was manifestly out of the question that he +should be able to walk any distance. Though he had driven in a cab to +the shipowner's house, he was already breathless with exertion, and he +rolled so heavily in his gait that his shoulders hit both sides of the +doorway while entering the room. Yet he was nimble withal, a man +capable of swift and sure movement within a limited area, therein +resembling a bull, or a hippopotamus. + +The hospitable Verity pushed forward the mahogany box and the decanter. + +"Glad to see you, Jimmie, my boy. Sit yourself down. 'Ave a cigar an' +a glass o' port. I didn't expect you quite so soon, but you're just as +welcome now as later." + +Captain Coke placed his hat on top of a malacca cane, and balanced both +against the back of a chair. + +"I'll take a smoke but no wine, thankee, Mr. Verity," said he. "I kem +along now' 'coss I want to be aboard afore it's dark. We're moored in +an awkward place." + +"Poor owd _Andromeeda_! Just 'er usual luck, eh, Jimmie?" + +"Well, she ain't wot you might call one of fortune's fav'rits, but +she's afloat, an' that's more'n you can say for a good many +daisy-cutters I've known." + +Verity chuckled. + +"Some ships are worth less afloat than ashore, an' she's one of 'em," +he grinned. "You want a match. 'Ere you are!" + +Whether Coke was wishful to deny or admit the _Andromeda's_ +shortcomings--even the ship herself might have protested against the +horror of a long "e" in the penultimate syllable of her name--the other +man's rapid proffer of a light stopped him. He puffed away in silence; +there was an awkward pause; for once in his career, Verity regretted +his cultivated trick of covering up a significant phrase by quickly +adding some comment on a totally different subject. But the sailor +smoked on, stolidly heedless of a sudden lapse in the conversation, and +the shipowner was compelled to start afresh. He was far too shrewd to +go straight back to the topic burked by his own error. His +sledge-hammer methods might be crude to the verge of brutality where +Iris was concerned, but they were capable of nice adjustment in the +case of wary old sea-dogs of the Coke type. + +"It's stuffy in 'ere with the two of us smokin'--let's stroll into the +garden," he said. + +Coke was agreeable. He liked gardens; they were a change from the +purple sea. + +"It's the on'y bit of green stuff you seem to be fond of, Mr. Verity," +he went on. "You keep us crool short of vegetables." + +David's little eyes twinkled. Here was another opening; it would not +be his fault if it led again up a _cul-de-sac_. He threw wide the +window, and they crossed the lawn. + +"Vegetables!" he cried. "Wish I could stock you from my place, an' I'd +stuff you with 'em. I can grow 'em 'ere for next to nothing, but they +cost a heap o' money in furrin ports, an' _your_ crimson wave-catcher +doesn't earn money--she eats it." + +"Even that's one better'n her skipper, 'oo doesn't do neether," +commented Coke gloomily. + +His employer seemed to find much humor in the remark. + +"Gad, we both look starved!" he guffawed. "To 'ear us, you'd think we +was booked for the workhus or till you ran a tape round the contoor, +eh?" + +But Coke was not to be cheered. + +"I can see as far into a stone wall as 'ere a one an' there a one," he +said, "an' there's no use blinkin' the fax. The _Andromeda_ was a good +ship in 'er day, but that day is gone. You ought to 'ave sold 'er to +the Dutchmen five years ago, Mr. Verity. Times were better then, an' +now you'd 'ave a fine steel ship instead of a box of scrap iron." + +They were passing the rhododendrons, and Verity's quick eyes noted that +a summer-house beneath the shade of two venerable elms was unoccupied. +The structure consisted of a rustic roof carried on half a dozen +uprights; it had a wooden floor, and held a table and some basket +chairs. The roof and supports were laden with climbing roses, a +Virginian creeper, and a passion flower. The day being Sunday, there +were no gardeners in the adjoining shrubbery or rose garden, and anyone +seated in the summer-house could see on all sides. + +"Drop anchor in 'ere, Coke," said Verity. "It's cool an' breezy, an' +we can 'ave a quiet confab without bein' bothered. Now, I reelly sent +for you to-day to tell you I mean to better the supplies this +trip--Yes, honest Injun!"--for the _Andromeda's_ skipper had clutched +the cigar out of his mouth with the expression of a man who vows to +heaven that he cannot believe his ears--"I'm goin' to bung in an extry +'undred to-morrow in the way of stores. Funny, isn't it?" + +"Funny! It's a meracle!" + +Though not altogether gratified by this whole-hearted agreement with +his own views, Verity was too anxious to keep his hearer on the present +tack to resent any implied slur on his earlier efforts as a caterer. + +"It's nothing to wot I'd do if I could afford it," he added graciously. +"But, as you said, let's look at the fax. Wot chance 'as an iron ship, +built twenty years ago, at a cost of sixteen pound a ton, ag'in a steel +ship of to-day, at seven pound a ton, with twiced the cargo space, an' +three feet less draught? W'y no earthly. We're dished every way. We +cost more to run; we can't jump 'arf the bars; we can't carry 'arf the +stuff; we pay double insurance; an' we're axed to find interest on +more'n double the capital. As you say, Jimmie, wot bloomin' chanst +'ave we?" + +Coke smoked silently; he had said none of these things, but when the +shipowner's glance suddenly dwelt on him, he nodded. Silent +acquiescence on his part, however, was not what Verity wanted. He, +too, knew when to hold his tongue. After a long interval, during which +a robin piped a merry roundelay from the depths of a neighboring pink +hawthorn, Coke dug out a question. + +"Premium gone up, then?" he inquired. + +"She's on a twelve-month rate. It runs out in September. If you're +lucky, an' fill up with nitrate soon, you may be 'ome again. If not, +I'll 'ave to whack up a special quotation. After that, there'll be no +insurance. The _Andromeeda_ goes for wot she'll fetch." + +Another pause; then Coke broached a new phase. + +"Meanin' that I lose the two thousand pounds I put in 'er to get my +berth?" he said huskily. + +"An' wot about me? _I_ lose eight times as much. Just think of it! +Sixteen thousand pounds would give me a fair balance to go on wi' i' +these hard times, an' your two thou' would make the skipper's job in my +new ship a certainty." + +Coke's brick-red face darkened. He breathed hard. + +"Wot new ship?" he demanded. + +Verity smiled knowingly. + +"It's a secret, Jimmie, but I must stretch a point for a pal's sake. +Dickey Bulmer's goin' to marry my niece, an' 'e 'as pledged himself to +double the capital of the firm. Now I've let the cat out of the bag. +I'm sorry, ole man--pon me soul, I am--but w'en Dickey's name crops up +on 'Change you know as well as me 'ow many captain's tickets will be +backed wi' t' brass." + +This time, if so minded, the robin might have trilled his song _adagio +con sostenuto_ without fear of interruption by those harsh voices. +Neither man spoke during so long a time that the break seemed to impose +a test of endurance; in such a crisis, he who has all at stake will +yield rather than he who only stakes a part. + +"S'pose we talk plainly as man to man?" said Coke thickly, at last. + +"_I_ can't talk much plainer," said Verity. + +"Yes, you can. Promise me the command of your next ship, an' the +Andromeda goes on the rocks this side o' Monte Video." + +Verity jumped as though he had been stung by an infuriated wasp. + +"Coke, I'm surprised at you," he grunted, not without a sharp glance +around to make sure no other was near. + +"No, you ain't, not a bit surprised, on'y you don't like to 'ear it in +cold English. That's wot you're drivin' at--the insurance." + +"Shut up, you ijjit. Never 'eard such d--d rot in all me born days." + +"Listen to it now, then. It's good to 'ave the truth tole you some +times. Wot are you afraid of? I take all the risk an' precious little +of the money. Write me a letter----" + +"Write! Me! Coke, you're loony." + +"Not me. Wait till I'm through. Write a letter sayin' you're sorry +the _Andromeda_ must be laid up this fall, but promisin' me the next +vacancy. 'Ow does that 'urt _you_?" + +Verity's cigar had gone out. He relighted it with due deliberation; it +could not be denied that his nerve, at least, was superb. + +"I'm willin' to do anything in reason," he said slowly. "I don't see +where I can lay 'ands on a better man than you, Jimmie, even if you +_do_ talk nonsense at times. You know the South American trade, an' +you know me. By gad, I'll do that. Anyhow, it's wot you deserve, but +none the less, I'm actin' as a reel friend, now ain't I? Many a man +would just lay you up alongside the _Andromeeda_." + +"I'll call at your office in the mornin' for the letter," said Coke, +whose red face shone like the setting sun seen through a haze. + +"Yes, yes. I'll 'ave it ready." + +"An' you won't back out of them extry stores? I must sweeten the crew +on this run." + +"I'll supply the best of stuff--enough to last for the round trip. But +don't make any mistake. You must be back afore September 30th. That's +the date of the policy. Now let's trot inside, an' my gal--Mrs. Dickey +Bulmer that is to be--will give you some tea." + +"Tea!" snorted Coke. + +"Well, there's whisky an' soda on tap if you prefer it. It _is_ rather +'ot for tea. Whew! you're boilin'? W'y don't you wear looser clo'es? +Look at me--cool as a cucumber. By the way, 'oo's the new man you've +shipped as second? Watts is the chief, I know, but 'oo is Mr. Philip +Hozier?" + +"Youngster fillin' in sea-service to get a ticket an' qualify for the +Cunard." + +"Thoroughly reliable sort of chap, eh?" + +"The best." + +It was odd how these men left unsaid the really vital things. Again it +was Coke who tried to fill in some part of the blank space. + +"Just the right kind of second for the _Andromeda's_ last cruise," he +muttered. "Smart as a new pin. You could trust 'im on the bridge of a +battleship. Now, Watts is a good man, but a tot of rum makes 'im fair +daft." + +"Ah!" purred Verity, "you must keep a tight 'and on Watts. I like an +appetizer meself w'en I'm off dooty, so to speak, but it's no joke to +'ave a boozer in charge of a fine ship an' vallyble freight. Of +course, you're responsible as master, but you can't be on deck mornin', +noon, an' night. Choke Watts off the drink, an' you'll 'ave no +trouble. So that's settled. My, but you're fair meltin'--wot is it +they say--losin' adipose tisher. Well, come along. Let's lubricate." + + * * * * * * + +The _Andromeda_ sailed on the Tuesday afternoon's tide. She would drop +the pilot off Holyhead, and, with fair weather, such as cheered her +departure from the Mersey, daybreak on Thursday would find her pounding +through the cross seas where St. George's Channel merges into the wide +Atlantic. If she followed the beaten track on her long run to the +River Plate--as sailors will persist in miscalling that wondrous Rio de +la Plata--she might be signaled from Madeira or the Cape Verde Islands. +But shipmasters often prefer to set a course clear of the land till +they pick up the coast of South America. If she were not spoken by +some passing steamer, there was every possibility that the sturdy old +vessel would not be heard of again before reaching her destination. + + * * * * * * + +But David Verity heard of her much sooner, and no thunderbolt that ever +rent the heavens could have startled him more than the manner of that +hearing. + +Resolving to clinch matters with regard to Iris and her elderly suitor, +he invited "Owd Dickey" to supper on Sunday evening. The girl endured +the man's presence with a placid dignity that amazed her uncle. On the +plea of a headache, she retired at an early hour, leaving Bulmer to +gloat over his prospective happiness, and primed to the point of +dementia. + +He was quite willing to accompany Verity to the bank next morning; a +pleasant-spoken manager sighed his relief when the visitors were gone, +and he was free to look at the item "bills discounted" on Verity's page +in the ledger. More than that, a lawyer was instructed to draw up a +partnership deed, and the representatives of various ship-building +firms were asked to supply estimates for two new vessels. + +Altogether Dickey was complaisant, and David enjoyed a busy and +successful day. He dined in town, came home at a late hour, and merely +grinned when a servant told him that Mr. Bulmer had called twice but +Miss Iris happened to be out on both occasions. + +Nevertheless, at breakfast on Tuesday, he warned his niece not to keep +her admirer dangling at arm's length. + +"E's a queer owd codger," explained the philosopher. "Play up to 'im a +bit, an' you'll be able to twist 'im round your little finger. I +b'lieve he's goin' dotty, an' you can trust me to see that the marriage +settlement is O. K." + +"Will you be home to dinner?" was her response. + +"No. Now that the firm is in smooth water again I must show myself a +bit. It's all thanks to you, lass, an' I'll not forget it. Good-by!" + +Iris smiled, and Verity was vastly pleased. + +"I am sure you will not forget," she said. "Good-by." + +"There's no understandin' wimmin," mused David, as his victoria swept +through the gates of Linden House. "Sunday afternoon Dickey might ha' +bin a dose of rat poison; now she's ready to swaller 'im as if 'e was a +chocolate drop." + +Again he returned some few minutes after midnight; again the servant +announced Mr. Bulmer's visits, three of them; and again Miss Iris had +been absent--in fact, she had not yet come home. + +"Not 'ome!" cried David furiously. "W'y it's gone twelve. W'ere +the--w'ere is she?" + +No one knew. She had quitted the house soon after Verity himself, and +had not been seen since. Storm and rage as he might, and did, David +could not discover his niece's whereabouts. He spent a wearying and +tortured night, a harassed and miserable day, devoted to frantic +inquiries in every possible direction with interludes of specious lying +to the infatuated Bulmer. But enlightment came on Thursday morning. A +letter arrived by the first post. It was from Iris. + + +"MY DEAR UNCLE," she wrote: "Neither you nor Mr. Bulmer should have any +objection to my passing the few remaining weeks of my liberty in the +manner best pleasing to myself. On Sunday evening, in your presence, +Mr. Bulmer urged me to fix an early date for our marriage. Tell him +that I shall marry him when the _Andromeda_ returns to England from +South America. You will remember that you promised last year to take +me to Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Ayres this summer; I have been learning +Spanish so as to help our sight-seeing. Unfortunately, business +prevents you from keeping that promise, but there is no reason why I +should not go. I am on board the _Andromeda_, and will probably be +able to explain matters satisfactorily to Captain Coke. The vessel is +due back at the end of September, I believe, so Mr. Bulmer will not +have long to wait. It is more than likely that Captain Coke will not +know I am aboard until Thursday, and I have arranged with a friend that +this letter shall reach you about the same time. Please convey my +apologies to Mr. Bulmer, and accept my regret for any anxiety you may +have felt owing to my unaccountable absence. + +"Your affectionate niece, + +"IRIS YORKE." + + +David narrowly escaped an apoplectic seizure. When he recovered his +senses he looked ten years older. The instinct of self-preservation +alone saved him in his frenzy from blurting forth the tidings of the +girl's flight. Incoherent with fear and passion, he contrived to give +orders for his carriage, and was driven to his office. Thence he +dispatched telegrams to every signaling station in England, Ireland, +and Spain, at which by the remotest possibility the _Andromeda_ might +be intercepted. He cabled to Madeira and Cape Verde, even to Fernando +Noronha and Pernambuco; he sent urgent instructions to the pilotage +authorities of the Bristol Channel, the southwest ports, and Lisbon; +and the text of every message was: "_Andromeda_ must return to +Liverpool instantly." + +But the wretched man realized that he was doomed. Fate had struck at +him mercilessly. He could only wait in dumb despair, and mutter +prayers too long forgotten, and concoct bogus letters from a cousin's +address in the south of England for the benefit of Dickey Bulmer. + +Never was ship more eagerly sought than the _Andromeda_, yet never was +ship more completely engulfed in the mysterious silence of the great +sea. The days passed, and the weeks, yet nothing was heard of her. +She figured in the "overdue" list at Lloyd's; sharp-eyed underwriters +did "specs" in her; woe-begone women began to haunt the Liverpool +office for news of husbands and sons; the love-lorn Dickey wore Verity +to a shadow of his former self by alternate pleadings and threats; but +the _Andromeda_ remained mute, and the fanciful letters from Iris +became fewer and more fragmentary as David's imagination failed, and +his excuses grew thinner. + +And the odd thing was that if David had only known it, he could have +saved himself all this heart-burning and misery by looking through the +dining-room window on that Sunday afternoon when his prospects seemed +to be so rosy. He never thought of that. He cursed every circumstance +and person impartially and fluently, but he omitted from the Satanic +litany the one girlish prank of tree-climbing that led Iris to spring +out of sight amid the sheltering arms of an elm when her uncle and +Captain Coke deemed the summer-house a suitable place for "a plain talk +as man to man." + +So David learnt what it meant to wait, and listen, and start +expectantly when postman's knock or telegraph messenger's imperative +summons sounded on door of house or office. + +But he waited long in vain. The _Andromeda_, like her namesake of old, +might have been chained to a rock on some mythical island guarded by +the father of all sea serpents. As for a new Perseus, well--David knew +him not. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +WHEREIN THE "ANDROMEDA" BEGINS HER VOYAGE + +The second officer of the _Andromeda_ was pacing the bridge with the +slow alertness of responsibility. He would walk from port to +starboard, glance forrard and aft, peer at the wide crescent of the +starlit sea, stroll back to port, and again scan ship and horizon. +Sometimes he halted in front of the binnacle lamp to make certain that +the man at the wheel was keeping the course, South 15 West, set by +Captain Coke shortly before midnight. His ears listened mechanically +to the steady pulse-beats of the propeller; his eyes swept the vague +plain of the ocean for the sparkling white diamond that would betoken a +mast-head light; he was watchful and prepared for any unforeseen +emergency that might beset the vessel intrusted to his care. But his +mind dwelt on something far removed from his duties, though, to be +sure, every poet who ever scribbled four lines of verse has found rhyme +and reason in comparing women with stars, and ships, and the sea. + +If Philip Hozier was no poet, he was a sailor, and sailors are +notoriously susceptible to the charms of the softer sex. But the only +woman he loved was his mother, the only bride he could look for during +many a year was a mermaid, though these sprites of the deep waters seem +to be frequenting undiscovered haunts since mariners ceased to woo the +wind. For all that, if perforce he was heart-whole, there was no just +cause or impediment why he should not admire a pretty girl when he saw +one, and an exceedingly pretty girl had honored him with her company +during a brief minute of the previous day. + +He was superintending the safe disposal of the last batch of cotton +goods in the forward hold--and had just found it necessary to explain +the correct principles of stowage with sailor-like fluency--when a +young lady, accompanied by a dock laborer carrying a leather +portmanteau, spoke to him from the quay. + +"Is Captain Coke on board?" said she. + +"No, madam," said he, lifting his cap with one hand, and restraining +the clanking of a steam windlass with the other. + +"I am Mr. Verity's niece, and I wish to send this parcel to Monte +Video--may I put it in some place where it will be safe?" said she. + +Hoping that the rattling winch had drowned his earlier remarks--which +were couched in an _lingua franca_ of the high seas--he began to tell +her that it would give him the utmost pleasure to take charge of it on +her account, but she nodded, bade the porter follow, ran along a +somewhat precarious gangway, and was on deck before he could offer any +assistance. + +"You are Mr. Hozier, I suppose?" said Iris, gazing with frank brown +eyes into his frank blue ones. She, of course, was severely +self-possessed; he, as is the way of mere man, grew more confused each +instant. + +"Well, I will just pop the bag into Captain Coke's stateroom, and leave +this note with it. I have explained everything fully. I wrote a line +in case he might be absent." + +All of which was so strictly accurate that it served its purpose +admirably, though the said purpose, it is regrettable to state, was the +misleading and utter bamboozling of Philip Hozier. Miss Iris Yorke +knew quite well that Captain Coke was then closeted with David Verity +in Exchange Buildings; she knew, because she had watched him pass +through the big swing doors of her uncle's office. She also knew, +having made it her business to find out, that in fifteen minutes, or +less, the crew would muster in the fo'c'sle for their mid-day meal. +Not having heard a word of Hozier's free speech to the gentlemen of +various nationalities at the bottom of the hold, she wondered why he +was blushing. + +"Shall I show you the way?" asked Philip, finding his tongue. + +"No, thank you. I have been on board the _Andromeda_ many times. Ah, +Peter, I see you. What is it to-day, scouse or lobscouse?" + +"Scouse, miss," said the ship's cook, grinning widely at her +recollection of the line drawn by both his patrons and himself between +ship's biscuit stewed with fresh meat and the same article flavored +with salt junk. + +Peter's recognition placed Iris's identity beyond doubt. She said +nothing more to Hozier, but tripped up the companionway. Soon he saw +her paying the man who had carried the portmanteau. She herself seemed +to be in no hurry. She walked to the rails beneath the bridge, and +found interest in watching the loading operations, which were resumed +as soon as the second officer saw that his services were not wanted. +Time was pressing, and a good deal yet remained to be done. + +Mr. Watts, the chief officer, who was called ashore by urgent business +five minutes after the "old man" left the vessel, chose this awkward +moment to appear from behind a bonded warehouse. He was walking with +unnatural steadiness, so Hozier made some excuse to meet him and +whisper that the owner's niece was on board. + +"Sun's zhot," remarked Mr. Watts cheerfully. + +"Go and lie down for a spell," suggested Hozier, and Mr. Watts thought +it was a "shpiffin' idee." When Hozier was free to glance a second +time at the cross rail, Iris had vanished. He was annoyed. Evidently +she did not wish to encounter any more of the ship's officers that +morning. + +The hatches were on, and everything was orderly before Coke's squat +figure climbed the gangway. Hozier reported the young lady's visit, +and the skipper was obviously surprised. As he hoisted himself up the +steep ladder to the hurricane deck, the younger man heard him +condemning someone under his breath as "a leery old beggar." The +phrase was hardly applicable to Iris, but Coke came out of his cabin +with an open letter in his hand, and bade a steward stow the +portmeanteau in some other more hallowed and less inconvenient place. + +And there the incident ended. The _Andromeda_ hauled down the Blue +Peter for her long run of over 6,000 miles to Monte Video, and Hozier +had routine work in plenty to occupy his mind during the first +twenty-four hours at sea without perplexing it with memories of a +pretty face. Soon after Holyhead was passed, it is true, a sailor +reported to the second officer that he had seen a ghost between decks, +in the region of the lazarette. It was then near midnight, a quiet +hour on board ship, and Hozier told the man sharply to go to his bunk +and endeavor to sleep off the effects of the bad beer imbibed earlier +in the day. + +Now, on this second night of the voyage, while the ship was plodding +steadily southward with that fifteen point inclination to the west that +would bring her far into the Atlantic soon after daybreak, Philip +remembered Mr. Verity's niece, and felt sorry that when she paid those +former visits to the _Andromeda_, fate had decreed that he should be +serving his time on another vessel. For there was an expression in her +eyes that haunted him. Though she addressed him with that absence of +restraint which is a heaven-sent attribute of every young woman when +circumstances compel her to speak to a strange young man--though her +tone to the more favored cook was kindly, and even sprightly--though +Philip himself was red and inclined to stammer--despite all these +hindrances to clear judgment, he felt that she was troubled in spirit. +His acquaintance with women was of the slightest, since a youth who is +taught his business on the _Conway_, and means to attach himself to one +of the great Trans-Atlantic shipping lines, has no time to spare for +dalliance in boudoirs. But it gave him a thrill when he heard that +this charming girl knew his name, and it seemed to him, for an instant, +that she was looking into his very soul, analyzing him, searching for +some sign that he was not as others, which meant that there were some +whom she had bitter cause to distrust. Of course, that was mere +day-dreaming, a nebulous fantasy brought by her gracious presence into +a medley of hurrying windlasses, strenuous orders, and sulky, panting +men. + +At any rate, she had left a memento of her too brief appearance on +board in the shape of the bag. He would contrive to take on his own +shoulders its mission in Monte Video; then, on returning to Liverpool, +he would have an excuse for calling on her. He did not know her name +yet. Possibly, Captain Coke would mention that interesting fact when +his temper lost its raw edge. As a last resource, the cook might +enlighten him. + +It was strange that he should be thinking of Iris--far stranger than he +could guess--but his thoughts were sub-conscious, and he was in no wise +neglecting the safety of the ship. The night was clear but dark, the +stars blinked with the subdued radiance that betokens fine weather, and +ever and anon their reflection glimmered from the long slope of a wave +like the glint of spangles on a dress. But it was a garment of +far-flung amplitude, woven on the shadowy loom of night and the sea, +and from such mysterious warp and weft is often produced the sable robe +of tragedy and death. It was so now, within an ace. At one instance, +the restless plain of the ocean seemed to bear no other argosy than the +_Andromeda_; in the next, Hozier's quick-moving glance had caught the +pallid sheen of some small craft's starboard light. No need to tell +him what might happen. A sailing vessel, probably a fishing smack, was +crossing the steamer's course. He sprang to the telegraph, and +signaled "Slow" to the engine-room. Simultaneously he shouted to the +steersman to starboard the helm, and the siren trumpeted a single +raucous blast into the silence. With the rattle of the chains and +steering-rods in the gear-boxes came a yell from the lookout forward: + +"Light on the port bow!" + +Hozier repeated the hail, but promised the blear-eyed sentinels in the +bows of the ship a lively five minutes when the watch was relieved. +Slowly the _Andromeda_ swung to the west. Even more slowly, or so it +appeared to the anxious man on the bridge, a red eye peeped into being +alongside the green one. A blacker smear showed up on the black sea, +and a hoarse voice, presumably situated beneath the smear, expressed a +desire for information. + +"Arr ye all aslape on board that crimson collier?" it asked in a +Waterford brogue. + +"Got the hooker's wheel tied, I suppose?" retorted Hozier, for the now +visible schooner had not attempted to change her course by half a +point. She was now bowling along with every stitch set before a +five-knot breeze from the east; the tilt of her sails was such that she +practically presented only the outline of her spars when first sighted +from the steamer; and her side lights probably had tallow candles in +them. + +"Bedad, it's aisier in moind we'd be if you were tied to it," shouted +the voice, and Hozier felt, like many another Saxon, that an Irishman's +last word is often the best one. + +The engines resumed their cadence, and the _Andromeda_ crept round +again to South 15 West. She was back on her proper line when a heavy +step sounded on the iron rungs of the bridge ladder. + +"Wot's up?" demanded Coke, who was fully dressed, though Hozier thought +he had retired two hours earlier. "Oh, the beer is frothin' up to +their eyes, is it?" went on the skipper, after listening to a brief +summary of events. "I thought, mebbe, the wheel had jammed. But those +lazy swabs want talkin' to. I'll just give 'em a bit of me mind," and +he went forward. + +Hozier heard him reading the Riot Act to the shell-backs who were +supposed to keep a sharp lookout ahead. But the captain did not +monopolize the conversation. His deep notes rumbled only at intervals. +The men had something to say. He returned to the bridge. + +"One of them scallywags sez 'e 'as seen a ghost," he announced, with +the calm air of a man who states that the moon will rise during the +next hour. + +"I wish he could see less remarkable things, such as schooners, sir," +said Hozier. + +"But 'e swears 'e sawr it twiced." + +"Oh, is he the man who reported a ghost outside the lazarette last +night?" + +"I s'pose so. Did 'e tell you about it? That's where she walks." + +"She!" + +"That's his yarn--a female ghost, a black 'un, black clo'es anyhow. +He's a dashed fool, but he's no boozer, though his mate's tongue is a +bit thick yet. I'll take the forenoon watch, an' you might overhaul +the ship for stowaways after breakfast. Never heard of one on this +journey--I've routed out as many as twenty at a time w'en I was runnin' +between Wellington an' Sydney--but you never can tell, so 'ave a squint +round." + +"Yes, sir," said Hozier, and that is how it fell to his lot to discover +Iris Yorke, looking very white and miserable, when the hatch of the +lazarette was broken open at half-past eight o'clock on Thursday +morning! + +A tramp steamer is not a complex organism. She is made up of holds, +bunkers, boilers and engines, with scanty accommodation for officers +and crew grouped round the funnel or stuck in the bows. When the boats +were stripped of their tarpaulins, and a few lockers and store-rooms +examined, the only available hiding-places were the shaft tunnel, the +holds, and the lazarette, a small space between decks, situated +directly above the propeller, where a reserve supply of provisions is +generally carried. + +But the door of the lazarette was locked, and the key missing, though +it ought to be hanging with others, all duly labeled, on a hook in the +steward's cabin. A duplicate set of keys in the captain's possession +was far from complete. As the steward was certain he had fastened the +lazarette himself early on Tuesday morning, there was nothing for it +but to force the lock. + +Even that would not have been necessary had the carpenter slackened his +efforts after the first assault. Iris cried loudly enough that she +would open the door, but the noise of the shaft and the flapping of the +screw drowned her voice, and she was compelled to stand clear when the +stout planking began to yield. + +It was dark in there, and Hozier was undeniably startled by the +spectacle of a slim figure, wrapped in a long ulster, standing among +the cases and packages. "Now, out you come!" he cried, with a +gruffness that was intended only to cover his own amazement; but Iris, +despite the horrors of sea-sickness and confinement in the dark, was +not minded to suffer what she considered to be impertinence on the part +of a second officer. + +"I am Miss Yorke," she said, coming forward into the half light of the +lower deck. "Any explanation of my presence here will be given to the +captain, and to no other person." + +That innocent word "person" is capable of many meanings. Hozier felt +that its application to himself was distinctly unfavorable. And Iris +was quite dignified and self-possessed. She had given a few deft +touches to her hair. Her hat was set at the right angle. Her dark +gray coat and brown boots looked neat and serviceable. + +"Of course I did not know to whom I was speaking," he managed to say, +for he now recognized the "ghost," and was more surprised than he had +ever been in his life before. + +"That is matterless," said Iris frigidly. "Where is Captain Coke?" + +"On the bridge," said Philip. + +"I will go to him. Please don't come with me. I tried to tell you +that I would unlock the door, but you refused to listen. Will you let +me pass?" + +He obeyed in silence. + +"Well, s'help me!" muttered a sailor, "talk about suffrigettes! Wot +price _'er_?" + +Iris hurried to the deck. The light seemed to dazzle her, and her +steps were so uncertain that Hozier sprang forward and caught her arm. + +"Won't you sit down a moment, Miss Yorke?" he said. "If you searched +the whole ship, you could not have chosen a worse place to travel in +than the lazarette." + +"I was driven out twice at night by the rats," she gasped, though she +strove desperately to regain control of her trembling limbs. + +"Too bad!" he whispered. "But it was your own fault. Why did you do +it? At any rate, wait here a few minutes before you meet the captain." + +"I am not afraid of meeting him. Why should I be? He knows me." + +"I meant only that you are hardly able to walk, but I seem to say the +wrong thing every time. There is nothing really to worry about. We +are not far from Queenstown. We can put you ashore there by losing +half a day." + +The girl had been ill, wracked in body and distraught in mind, with the +added horror of knowing that rats were scampering over the deck close +to her in the noisy darkness, but she summoned a half laugh at his +words. + +"You are still saying the wrong thing, Mr. Hozier," she murmured. "The +_Andromeda_ will not put into Queenstown. From this hour I become a +passenger, not a stowaway. My uncle knows now that I am here. Thank +you, you need not hold me any longer. I have quite recovered. Captain +Coke is on the bridge, you said? I can find my way; this ship is no +stranger to me." + +And away she went, justifying her statements by tripping rapidly +forward. The mere sight of her created boundless excitement among such +members of the crew as were on deck, but the shock administered to Mr. +Watts was of that intense variety often described as electric. In the +matter of disposing of large quantities of ardent spirits he was a +seasoned vessel, and, as a general rule, the first day at sea sufficed +to clear his brain from the fumes of the last orgy on shore. But, to +be effective, the cure must not be too drastic. This morning, after +leaving the bridge, he had fortified his system with a liberal +allowance of rum and milk. Breakfast ended, he took another dose of +the same mixture as a "steadier," and he was just leaving the messroom +when he set eyes on Iris. Of course, he refused to believe his eyes. +Had they not deceived him many times? + +"Ha!" said he, "a bit liverish," and he pressed a rough hand firmly +downward from forehead to cheek-bones. When he looked again, the girl +was much nearer. + +"Lord luv' a duck, this time I've got 'em for sure!" he groaned. + +His lower jaw dropped, he stared unblinkingly, and purple veins bulged +crookedly on his seamed forehead. He was bereft of the power of +movement. He stood stock-still, blocking the narrow gangway. + +"Good morning, Mr. Watts. You remember me, don't you?" said Iris, +showing by her manner that she wished to pass him. + +A slight roll of the ship assisted in the disintegration of Watts. He +collapsed sideways into the cook's galley, the door of which was +hospitably open. Somewhat frightened by the wildness of his looks, +Iris ran on, and dashed at the foot of the companion rather +breathlessly. The keen air was already tingeing her cheeks with color. +When she reached the bridge, where Captain Coke was propped against the +chart-house, with a thick, black cigar sticking in his mouth and +apparently trying to touch his nose, she had lost a good deal of the +pallor and woe-begone semblance that had demoralized Hozier. + +Coke heard the rapid, light footsteps, and turned his head. At all +times slow of thought and slower of speech, he was galvanized into a +sudden rigidity that differed only in degree from the symptoms +displayed by his chief officer. Certainly he could not have been more +stupefied had he seen the ghost reported overnight. + +"They told me I should find you here, Captain," said she. "I must +apologize for thrusting my company on you for a long voyage, +but--circumstances--were--too much for me--and----" + +Face to face with the commander of the ship, and startled anew by his +expression of blank incredulity, the glib flow of words conned so often +during the steadfast but dreadful hours spent in the lazarette failed +her. + +"You know me," she faltered. "I am Iris Yorke." + +Not a syllable came from the irate and astonished man gazing at her +with such a bovine stolidity. His shoulders had not abated a fraction +of their stubborn thrust against the frame of the chart-house. His +hands were immovable in the pockets of his reefer coat. The cigar +still stuck out between his lips like a miniature jib-boom. Had he +wished to terrify her by a hostile reception, he could not have +succeeded more completely, though, to be just, he meant nothing of the +sort; his wits being jumbled into chaos by the apparition of the last +person then alive whom he expected or desired to see on board the +_Andromeda_. + +But Iris could not interpret his mood, and she strove vainly to conquer +the fear welling up in her breast because of the grim anger that seemed +to blaze at her from every line of Coke's brick-red countenance. In +the struggle to pour forth the excuses and protestations that sounded +so plausible in her own ears, while secured from observation behind the +locked door of her retreat, she blundered unhappily on to the very +topic that she had resolved to keep secret. + +"Why are you so unwilling to acknowledge me?" she cried, with a nervous +indignation that lent a tremor to her voice. "You have met me often +enough. You saw me on Sunday at my uncle's house?" + +"Did I?" said Coke, speaking at last, but really as much at a loss for +something to say as the girl herself. He had recognized her instantly, +just as he would recognize the moon if the luminary fell from the sky, +and with as little comprehension of the cause of its falling. + +Of course, she took the question as a forerunner of blank denial. This +was not to be borne. She fired into a direct attack. + +"If your memory is hazy concerning the events of Sunday afternoon, it +may be helpful if I recall the conversation between my uncle and you in +the summer-house," she snapped. + +Some of the glow fled from Coke's face. He straightened himself and +glanced at the sailor inside the wheel-house, whose attention was given +instantly to the fact that the vessel's head had fallen away a full +point or more from South 15 West owing to the easterly set of a strong +tide. Vessels' heads are apt to turn when steersmen do not attend to +their business. + +"Wot's that you're sayin'?" demanded Coke, coming nearer, and looking +her straight in the eyes. + +"I heard every word of that interesting talk," she continued valiantly, +though she was sensible of a numbness that seemed to envelop her in an +ice-cold mist. "I know what you arranged to do--so I have promised--to +marry Mr. Bulmer--when the _Andromeda_--comes back----" + +A light broke on Coke's intelligence that irradiated his prominent +eyes. His heavy lips relaxed into a cunning grin, and he flicked the +ash off the end of the cigar with a confidential nod. + +"Oh, is _that_ it?" he said. "Artful old dog, Verity! But why in--why +didn't 'e tell me you was comin' aboard this trip? We 'aven't the +right fixin's for a lady, so you must put up with the best we can do +for you, Miss Yorke. Nat'rally, we're tickled to death to 'ave your +company, an' if on'y that blessed uncle of your's 'ad told me wot to +expect, I'd 'ave made things ship-shape at Liverpool. But, my +god-father, wot sort of ijjit axed you to stow yourself away in the +lazareet? Steady now; you ain't a-goin' to faint, are you?" + +Coke's amiability came too late. His squat figure and red face +suddenly loomed into a gigantic indistinctness in the girl's eyes. She +would have fallen to the deck had not the captain's strong hands +clutched her by the shoulders. + +"Hi! Below there!" he yelled. "Tumble up, some of you!" + +Hozier was the first to gain the bridge. He had followed the progress +of events with sufficient accuracy to realize that Miss Iris Yorke had +met with a distinct rebuff by the skipper, and, judging from his own +experience of her physical weakness when she emerged into daylight, he +was not surprised to hear that she had fainted. + +"'Ere, take 'old," gurgled Coke, who had nearly swallowed the cigar in +his surprise at Iris's unforeseen collapse. "This kind of thing is +more in your line than mine, young feller. Just lay 'er out in the +saloon, an' ax Watts to 'elp. His missus goes orf regular w'en they +bring 'im 'ome paralytic." + +Philip took the girl into his arms. To carry her safely down the steep +stairway he was compelled to place her head on his left shoulder and +clasp her tightly round the waist with his left arm. Some loosened +strands of her hair touched his face; he could feel the laboring of her +breast, the wild beating of her heart, and he was exceeding wroth with +that unknown man or woman who had driven this insensible girl to such +straits that she was ready to dare the discomforts and deprivations of +a voyage as a stowaway, rather than be persecuted further. + +Iris was laid on a couch in the messroom, and the steward summoned Mr. +Watts. The chief officer came, looking sheepish. It was manifestly a +great relief when he found that the "ghost" was unconscious. + +"Oh, that's nothing," he cried, in response to his junior's eager +demand for information as to the treatment best fitted for such +emergencies. "They all drop in a heap like that w'en they're worried. +Fust you takes orf their gloves an' boots, then you undoes their stays +an' rips open their dresses at the necks. One of you rubs their 'ands +an' another their feet, an' you dabs cold water on their foreheads, an' +burn brown paper under their noses. In between whiles you give 'em a +drink, stiff as you can make it. It's dead easy. Them stays are a bit +troublesome if they run to size, but she's thin enough as it is. +Anyhow, I can show you a fine trick for that. Just turn her over till +I cast a lashin' loose with my knife." + +Watts was elbowed aside so unceremoniously that his temper gave way. +Hozier lifted Iris's head gently and unfastened the neck-hooks of her +blouse. He began to chafe her cold hands tenderly, and pressed back +the hair from her damp forehead. The "chief," not flattered by his own +reflections, thought fit to sneer at these half measures. + +"She's on'y a woman like the rest of 'em," he growled, "even if she +_is_ the owner's niece, an' a good-lookin' gal at that. I s'pose now +you think----" + +"I think she will want some fresh air soon, so you had better clear +out," said Philip. + +His words were quiet, but he flashed a warning glance at the other man +that sufficed. Watts retired, muttering sarcasms under his breath. + +Iris revived, to find Philip supporting her with a degree of skill that +was remarkable in one who had enjoyed so little experience in those +matters. She heard his voice, coming, as it seemed, rapidly nearer, +urging her to sip something very fiery and spirituous. Instantly she +protested. + +"What are you giving me?" she sobbed. "What has happened?" + +Then the whole of her world opened up before her. Her hands flew to +her throat, her hair. She flushed into vivid life as the marble +Galatea incardinated under Pygmalion's kiss. + +"Did I faint?" she asked confusedly. + +"Yes, but you are all right now. You did not fall. Captain Coke +caught you and handed you over to me. I wish you would drink the +remainder of this brandy, and rest for a little while." + +Iris pushed away the glass and sat up. + +"You carried me?" she said. + +"Well, I couldn't do anything else." + +"I suppose you don't realize what it means to a woman to feel that she +has been out of her senses under such conditions?" + +"No, but in your case it only meant that you sighed deeply a few times +and tried to bite my fingers when I wished to open your mouth." + +"What for? Why did you want to open my mouth?" + +"To give you a drink--you needed a stimulant." + +"Oh!" + +By this time a few dexterous twists and turns had restrained those +wandering tresses within bounds. She held a hair-pin between her lips, +and a woman can always say exactly what she means when a hairpin +prevents discursiveness. + +"I am all right now," she announced. "Will you please leave me, and +tell the steward to bring me a cup of tea? If there is a cabin at +liberty, he might put that portmanteau in it which I brought on board +at Liverpool." + +Hozier fulfilled her requests, and rejoined Coke on the bridge. + +"Miss Yorke is quite well again, sir," he reported. "She wants a +cabin--to change her clothes, I imagine. That bag you saw----" + +"Pretty foxy, wasn't it?" broke in Coke, with a glee that was puzzling +to his hearer. + +"The whole affair seems to have been carefully planned," agreed Philip. +"But, as I was saying, she asked for the use of a cabin, so I told the +steward to give her mine until we put into Queenstown." + +Coke, who had lighted another black and stumpy cigar, removed it in +order to speak with due emphasis. + +"Put into h--l!" he said. + +"But surely you will not take this young lady to the River Plate?" +cried the astounded second officer. + +"She knew where she was bound w'en she kem aboard the _Andromeda_," +said the skipper, frowning now like a man who argues with himself. +"There's her portmanter to prove it, with a label, an' all, in her own +'and-writin'. It's some game played on me by 'er an' 'er uncle. +Any'ow, the fust time she sees land again it'll be the lovely 'arbor of +Pernambuco--an' that's straight. 'Ere she is, an' 'ere she'll stop, +an' the best thing you can do is spread the notion among the crew that +she's runnin' away to avoid marryin' a man she doesn't like. That +sounds reasonable, an' it 'appens to be true. Verity an' me talked it +over last Sunday, p.m." + +"To avoid a marriage?" repeated Hozier, who discovered a bluff honesty, +not to say candor, in the statement, not perceptible hitherto in his +commander's utterances. + +"Yes, that's it," said Coke, waving the cigar across an arc of the +horizon as he warmed to the subject. "But look 'ere, me boy, this gal +sails under my flag. I'm, wot d'ye call it, in locomotive parentibus, +or something of the sort, while she's on the ship's books. You keep +your mouth shut, an' wink the other eye, an' leave it to me to give you +the chanst of your life--eh, wot?" + +Philip Hozier did not strive to extract the precise meaning of the +skipper's words. The process would have been difficult, since Coke +himself could not have supplied any reasonable analysis. Somehow, to +the commander's thinking, the presence of the girl seemed to make +easier the casting away of the ship--exactly how, or what bearing her +strangely-begun voyage might have on subsequent events, he was not yet +in a position to say. But when the second officer left him, and he was +steeped once more in the fresh breeze and the sunshine, with his +shoulders braced against the chart-house, he looked at a smoke trail on +the horizon far away to the west. + +"Queenstown!" he chuckled. "Not this journey--not if my name's Jimmie +Coke, the man 'oo is stannin' on all that is left of 'is 'ard-earned +savin's. No, sir, I've got me orders an' I've got me letter, an' the +pore old _Andromeda_ gets ripped to pieces in the Recife, or I'll know +the reason why. Wot a card to play at the inquiry! Owner's niece on +board--bound to South America for the good of 'er health. 'Oo even +'eard of a man sendin' 'is pretty niece on a ship 'e meant to throw +away? It's Providential, that's wot it is, reel Providential! I do +believe ole Verity 'ad a 'and in it." + +Which shows that Captain Coke confused Providence with David Verity, +and goes far to prove how ill-fitted he was to theorize on the ways of +Providence. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +WHEREIN THE "ANDROMEDA" NEARS THE END OF HER VOYAGE + +"Five bells, miss! It'll soon be daylight. If you wants to see the +Cross, now's your time!" + +Iris had been called from dreamless sleep by a thundering rat-tat on +her cabin door. In reply to her half-awaked cry of "All right," the +hoarse voice of a sailor told her that the Southern Cross had just +risen above the horizon. She had a drowsy recollection of someone +saying that the famous constellation would make its appearance at seven +bells, not at five, and the difference of an hour, when the time +happens to be 2:30 instead of 8:30 a.m. is a matter of some importance. +But, perhaps that was a mistake; at any rate, here was the messenger, +and she resolutely screwed her knuckles into her eyes and began to +dress. In a few minutes she was on deck. A long coat, a Tam o' +Shanter, and a pair of list slippers will go far in the way of costume +at night in the tropics, and the _Andromeda's_ seventeenth day at sea +had brought the equator very near. At dinner on the previous +evening--in honor of the owner's niece fashionable hours were observed +for meals--Mr. Watts mentioned, by chance, that the Cross had been very +distinct during the middle watch, or, in other words, between midnight +and 4 a.m. Iris at once expressed a wish to see it, and Captain Coke +offered a suggestion. + +"Mr. Hozier takes the middle watch to-night," said he. "We can ax 'im +to send a man to pound on your door as soon as it rises. Then you must +run up to the bridge, an' 'e'll tell you all about it." + +If Iris was conscious of a slight feeling of surprise, she did not show +it. Hitherto, the burly skipper of the _Andromeda_ had made it so +clearly understood that none of the ship's company save himself was to +enjoy the society of Miss Iris Yorke, that she had exchanged very few +words with the one man whose manners and education obviously entitled +him to meet her on an equal plane. Even at meals, he was often absent, +for the captain and chief officer of a tramp steamer are not altruists +where eating is concerned. She often visited the bridge, her favorite +perch being the shady side of the wheel-house, but talking to the +officer of the watch was strictly forbidden. In everything +appertaining to the vessel's navigation the discipline of a man-of-war +was observed on board the _Andromeda_. So Coke's complacency came now +quite unexpectedly, but Iris was learning to school her tongue. + +"Thank you very much," she said. "When shall I see him?" + +"Oh, you needn't bother. I'll tell 'im meself." + +She was somewhat disappointed at this. Hozier would be free for an +hour before he turned in, and they might have enjoyed a nice chat while +he smoked on the poop. In her heart of hearts, she was beginning to +acknowledge that a voyage through summer seas on a cargo vessel, with +no other society than that of unimaginative sailormen, savored of +tedium, indeed, almost of deadly monotony. Her rare meetings with +Hozier marked bright spots in a dull round of hours. During their +small intercourse she had discovered that he was well informed. They +had hit upon a few kindred tastes in books and music; they even +differed sharply in their appreciation of favorite authors, and what +could be more conducive to complete understanding than the attack and +defense of the shrine of some tin god of literature? + +While, therefore, it was strange that Captain Coke should actually +propose a visit to the bridge at an unusual time--at a time, too, when +Hozier would be on duty--it struck her as far more curious that he +should endeavor to prevent an earlier meeting. But she had never lost +her intuitive fear of Coke. His many faults certainly did not include +a weak will. He meant what he said--also a good deal that he left +unsaid--and his word was law to everyone on board the _Andromeda_. So +Iris contented herself with meek agreement. + +"I shall be delighted to come at any time. I have often read about the +Southern Cross, yet three short weeks ago I little thought----" + +"You reely didn't think about it at all," broke in Coke. "If you 'ad, +you'd 'ave known you couldn't cross the line without seein' it." + +Here was another perplexing element in the skipper's conduct. That +Iris was a stowaway was forgotten. She was treated with the attention +and ceremony due to the owner's niece. Coke never lost an opportunity +of dinning into the ears of Watts, or Hozier, or the steward, or any +members of the crew who were listening, that Miss Yorke's presence in +their midst was a preordained circumstance, a thing fully discussed and +agreed on as between her uncle and himself, but carried out in an +irregular manner, owing to some girlish freak on her part. The +portmanteau, with its change of raiment, brought convincing testimony, +and Iris's own words when discovered in the lazaretto supplied further +proof, if that were needed. Her name figured in the ship's papers, and +the time of her appearance on board was recorded in the log. Coke +might be a man of one idea, but he held to it as though it were written +in the Admiralty Sailing Directions; not his would be the fault if +David Verity failed to appreciate the logic of his reasoning long +before an official investigation became inevitable. + +A keen, invigorating breeze swept the last mirage of sleep from the +girl's brain as she flitted silently along the deck. A wondrous galaxy +of stars blazed in the heavens. In that pellucid air the sky was a +vivid ultramarine. The ship's track was marked by a trail of +phosphorescent fire. Each revolution of the propeller drew from the +ocean treasure-house opulent globes of golden light that danced and +sparkled in the tumbling waters. It was a night that pulsated with the +romance and abandon of the south, a night when the heart might throb +with unutterable longings, and the blood tingle in the veins under the +stress of an emotion at once passionate and mystic. + +Iris, spurred on by no stronger impulse than that of the sight-seer, +though not wholly unaware of an element of adventurous shyness in her +expectation of a _tete-a-tete_ with a good-looking young man of her own +status, climbed to the bridge so speedily and noiselessly that Hozier +did not know of her presence until he heard her dismayed cry: + +"Is _that_ the Southern Cross?" + +[Illustration: "Is that the Southern Cross?"] + +He turned quickly. + +"You, Miss Yorke?" he exclaimed, and not even her wonder at the +insignificance of the stellar display of which she had heard so much +could cloak the fact that Hozier was unprepared for her appearance. + +"Of course, it is I--who else?" she asked. "Did not Captain Coke tell +you to expect me?" + +"No." + +"How odd! That is what he arranged. A man came and rapped at my door." + +"Pardon me one moment." + +He leaned over the bridge and hailed the watch. The same hoarse voice +that had roused Iris answered his questions, and, in the faint light +that came from the binnacle, she caught a flicker of amusement on his +face. + +"Our excellent skipper's intentions have been defeated," he said. "He +told one of the men to call him at seven bells, but not to wake you +until the Cross was visible. His orders have been obeyed quite +literally. He will be summoned in another hour, and you have been +dragged from bed to gaze at the False Cross, which every foremast hand +persists in regarding as the real article. The true Cross, of which +Alpha Crucis is the Southern Pole star, comes up over the horizon an +hour after the false one." + +"But Captain Coke said he would see you and warn you of my visit." + +"I can only assure you that he did not. Perhaps he thought it +unnecessary--meaning to be on deck himself." + +"Must I wait here a whole hour, then?" + +Hozier laughed. It was amusing to find how Coke's marked effort to +keep the girl and him apart had been defeated by a sailor's blunder. + +"I hope the waiting will not weary you," he said. "It is a beautiful +night. You will not catch cold if you are well wrapped up, and, no +matter what you may think of the real Cross when you see it, you will +never have a better chance of star-gazing. Look at Sirius up there, +brighter than the moon; and Orion, too, incomparably grander than any +star in southern latitudes. Our dear old Bear of the north ranks far +beyond the Southern Cross in magnificence; but mist and smoke and dust +contrive to rob our home atmosphere of the clearness which adds such +luster to the firmament nearer the equator." + +Under other circumstances, Iris would have reveled in just such an +opportunity of acquiring knowledge easily. Astronomy, despite its +limitations, is one of the exact sciences; it has the charm of +wonderland; it makes to awe-stricken humanity the mysterious appeal of +the infinite; but to-night, when the heart fluttered, and the soul +pined for sympathy, she was in a mood to regard with indifference the +instant extinction of the Milky Way. + +"I am glad of the accident that brought me on deck somewhat earlier +than was necessary," she said. "You and I have not said much to each +other since you routed me out of the lazaretto, Mr. Hozier." + +"Our friends at table are somewhat--difficult. If only you knew how I +regretted----" + +"Oh, what of that? When I became a stowaway I fully expected to be +treated as one. I suppose, though, that you have often asked yourself +why I was guilty of such a mad trick?" + +"Not exactly mad, Miss Yorke, but needless, since Captain Coke partly +expected to have your company." + +"That is absurd. He had not the remotest notion----" + +"Forgive me, but there you are wrong. He says that your uncle and he +discussed the matter on the Sunday before we left Liverpool. His +theory is rather borne out by the present state of the ship's larder. +I assure you that few tramp steamers spread a table like the +_Andromeda's_ mess during this voyage." + +Iris laughed, with a spontaneous merriment that was rather astonishing +in her own ears. + +"Being the owner's niece, I am well catered for?" she cried. + +"Something of the sort. It is only natural." + +"But I think I have read in the newspapers that when some unhappy +creature is condemned to death by the law, he is supplied with luxuries +that would certainly be denied to any ordinary criminal?" + +"Such doubtful clemency can hardly apply to you, Miss Yorke." + +"It might apply to the ship, or to that human part of her that thinks, +and remembers, and is capable of--of giving evidence." + +She paused, fearing lest, perhaps, she might have spoken too plainly. +Coke's counter-stroke in alluding to her dread of the proposed marriage +was hidden from her ken; Hozier, of course, was thinking of nothing +else. For the moment, then, they were at cross purposes. + +"Things are not so bad as that," he said gently. "I hope I am not +trespassing on forbidden ground, but it is only fair to tell you that +the skipper was quite explicit, up to a point. He said you were being +forced into some matrimonial arrangement that was distasteful----" + +"And to escape from an undesirable suitor I ran away?" + +"Well, the story sounded all right." + +"Hid myself on my uncle's ship when I wished to avoid marrying the man +of his choice?" + +Hozier was not neglecting his work, but he did then take his eyes off +the starlit sea for a few amazed seconds. There was no mistaking the +scornful ring in the girl's words. He could see the deep color that +flooded her cheeks; the glance that met his sparkled with an intensity +of feeling that thrilled while it perplexed. + +"Please pardon me if the question hurts, but if that is not your +motive, and there never was any real notion of your coming with us on +the this trip, why are you here?" he said. + +"Because I am a foolish girl, I suppose; because I thought that my +presence might interpose a serious obstacle between a criminal and the +crime he had planned to commit. If one wants to avoid hateful people a +change of climate is a most effectual means, and I had not the money +for ordinary travel. Believe me, Mr. Hozier, I am not on board the +Andromeda without good reason. I have often wished to have a talk with +you. I think you are a man who would not betray a confidence. If you +agree to help me, something may yet be done. At first, I was sure that +Captain Coke would abandon his wicked project as soon as he discovered +that I knew what was in his mind. But now, I am beginning to doubt. +Each day brings us nearer South America, and--and----" + +She was breathless with excitement. She drew nearer to the silent, and +impassive man at her side; dropping her voice almost to a whisper, she +caught his arm with an appealing hand. + +"I am afraid that my presence will offer no hindrance to his scheme," +she murmured. "I am terrified to say such a thing, but I am certain, +quite _certain_, that the ship will be lost within the next few days." + +Hozier, though incredulous, could not but realize that the girl was +saying that which she honestly thought to be true. + +"Lost! Do you mean that, she will be purposely thrown away?" he asked, +and his own voice was not wholly under control, for he was called on to +repress a sudden temptation to kiss away the tears that glistened in +her brown eyes. + +"Yes, that is what he said--on the rocks, this side of Monte Video." + +"He said--who?" + +"The--the captain." + +"To whom did he say it?" + +"Oh, Mr. Hozier, do not ask that, but believe me and help me." + +"How?" + +"I do not know. I am half distracted with thinking. What can we do? +Captain Coke simply swept aside my first attempt to speak plainly to +him. But, make no mistake--he knows that I heard his very words, and +there is something in his manner, a curious sort of quiet confidence, +that frightens me." + +After that, neither spoke during many minutes. The _Andromeda_ jogged +along steadily south by west, and the threshing of the propeller beat +time to the placid hum of her engines. The sturdy old ship could +seemingly go on in that humdrum way forever, forging ahead through the +living waters, marking her track with a golden furrow. + +"That is a very serious thing you have told me, Miss Yorke," muttered +Hozier at last, not without a backward glance at the sailor in the +wheel-house to assure himself that the man could not, by any chance, +overhear their conversation. + +"But it is true--dreadfully true," said Iris, clasping her hands +together and resting them on the high railing of the bridge. + +"It is all the more serious inasmuch as we are helpless," he went on. +"Don't you see how impossible it is even to hint at it in any +discussion with the man principally concerned? I want to say this, +though--you are in no danger. There is no ship so safe as one that is +picked out for wilful destruction. Men will not sacrifice their own +lives even to make good an insurance policy, and I suppose that is what +is intended. So you can sleep sound o' nights--at any rate until we +near the coast of Brazil. I can only promise you if any watchfulness +on my part can stop this piece of villainy---- Hello, there! What's +up? Why is the ship falling away from her course?" + +The sudden change in his voice startled the girl so greatly that she +uttered a slight shriek. It took her an appreciable time to understand +that he was speaking to the man at the wheel. But the sailor knew what +he meant. + +"Something's gone wrong with the wheel, sir," he bawled. "I wasn't +certain at first, so I tried to put her over a bit to s'uth'ard. Then +she jammed for sure." + +Hozier leaped to the telegraph and signaled "slow" to the engine-room. +Already the golden pathway behind the _Andromeda_ had changed from a +wavering yet generally straight line to a well-defined curve. There +was a hiss and snort of escaping steam as the sailor inside the +chart-house endeavored to force the machinery into action. + +"Steady there!" bellowed Hozier. "Wait until we have examined the +gear-boxes. There may be a kink in a chain." + +A loud order brought the watch scurrying along the deck. Some of the +men ran to examine the bearings of the huge fan-shaped casting that +governed the movements of the rudder, while others began to tap the +wooden shields which protected the steering rods and chains. In the +midst of the hammering and excitement, Captain Coke swung himself up to +the bridge. + +"Well, I'm blowed! _You_ here?" he said, looking at Iris. "Wot is it +now?" he asked, turning sharply to Hozier. "Wheel stuck again?" + +"Yes, sir. Has it happened before?" + +"Well--er--not this trip. But it 'as 'appened. Just for a minnit I +was mixin' it up with the night you nearly ran down that bloomin' +hooker off the Irish coast. Ah, there she goes! Everything O.K. now. +W'en daylight comes we'll overhaul the fixin's. Nice thing if the +wheel jammed just as we was crossin' the Recife!" + +Hozier tried to ascertain from the watch if they had found the cause of +the disturbance, but the men could only guess that a chance blow with +an adze had straightened a kink in one of the casings. Coke treated +the incident with nonchalance. + +"Thought you was to be called w'en the Cross hove in sight, Miss +Yorke?" he said abruptly. + +"I am sorry to have to inform you that some people on board cannot +distinguish between falsity and truth," she answered. "But please +don't be angry with any of the men on my account. Mr. Hozier tells me +they often confuse the False Cross with the real one, and the mistake +has been enjoyable. Now I know all about it--what were those stars you +were telling me the names of, Mr. Hozier?" + +Philip took the cue she offered. + +"Sirius, and Orion, and Ursa Major. I shall write the names and +particulars for you after breakfast," he said with a smile. + +"Reg'lar 'umbug the Southern Cross," grunted Coke; "it ain't a patch on +the Bear." + +"Mr. Hozier said something like that," put in Iris mischievously. + +"Did 'e? Well 'e's right for once. But don't you go an' take as +Gospel most things 'e says. Every shipmaster knows that the second +officer simply can't speak the truth. It ain't natural. W'y, it 'ud +bust a steam pipe if 'e tole you wot 'e really thought of the ole man." + +Coke grinned at his own pleasantry. To one of his hearers, at least, +it seemed to be passing strange that he was so ready to forget such a +vital defect in the steering gear as had manifested its existence a few +minutes earlier. + +At any rate, he remained on the bridge until long after Iris had seen +and admired the cluster of stars which oldtime navigators used to +regard with awe. When shafts of white light began to taper, +pennon-like, in the eastern sky, the girl went back to her cabin. +Contrary to Hozier's expectation, Coke did not attempt to draw from him +any account of their conversation prior to the inexplicable mishap to +the wheel. He examined a couple of charts, made a slight alteration in +the course, and at four o'clock took charge of the bridge. + +"Just 'ave a look round now while things is quiet," he said, nodding to +Hozier confidentially. "I'll tell you wot I fancy: a rat dragged a bit +of bone into a gear-box. If the plankin' is badly worn anywhere, get +the carpenter to see to it. I do 'ate to 'ave a feelin' that the wheel +can let you down. S'pose we was makin' Bahia on the homeward run, an' +that 'appened! It 'ud be the end of the pore ole ship; an' oo'd credit +it? Not a soul. They'd all say 'Jimmie threw 'er away!' Oh, I know +'em, the swine--never a good word for a man while 'e keeps straight, +but tar an' feathers the minnit 'e 'as a misforchun!" + +Hozier found a gnawed piece of ham-bone lying in the exact position +anticipated by Coke. An elderly salt who had served with the P. & O. +recalled a similar incident as having occurred on board an Indian mail +steamer while passing through the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb. He drew a +lurid picture of the captain's dash across the forms of lady passengers +sleeping inside a curtained space on deck, and his location of the area +of disturbance with an ax just in time to prevent a disaster. + +The carpenter busied himself with sawing and hammering during the whole +of the next two days, for the _Andromeda_ revealed many gaps in her +woodwork, but the escapade of an errant ham-bone was utterly eclipsed +by a new sensation. At daybreak one morning every drop of water in the +vessel's tanks suddenly assumed a rich, blood-red tint. This unnerving +discovery was made by the cook, who was horrified to see a ruby stream +pouring into the earliest kettle. Thinking that an iron pipe had +become oxidized with startling rapidity, he tried another tap. +Finally, there could be no blinking the fact that, by some uncanny +means, the whole of the fresh water on board had acquired the color if +not the taste of a thin Burgundy. + +Coke was summoned hastily. _Noblesse oblige_; being captain, he +valiantly essayed the task of sampling this strange beverage. + +"It ain't p'ison," he announced, gazing suspiciously at the little +group of anxious-faced men who awaited his verdict. "It sartinly ain't +p'ison, but it's wuss nor any teetotal brew I've tackled in all me born +days. 'Ere, Watts, you know the tang of every kind o' likker--'ave a +sup?" + +"Not me!" said Watts. "I don't like the look of it. First time I've +ever seen red ink on tap. For the rest of this trip I stick to bottled +beer, or somethink with a label." + +"It smells like an infusion of permanganate of potash," volunteered +Hozier. + +"Does it?" growled Coke, who seemed to be greatly annoyed. "Wot a pity +it ain't an infusion of whisky an' potash!" and he glared vindictively +at Watts. "Some ijjit 'as bin playin' a trick on us, that's wot it +is--some blank soaker 'oo don't give a hooraw in Hades for tea an' +corfee an' cocoa, but wants a tonic. Stooard!" + +"Yes, sir," said the messroom attendant. + +"Portion out all the soda water in the lockers, an' whack it on the +table every meal till it gives out. See that nobody puts away more'n +'is proper allowance, too. I'm not goin' to cry hush-baby w'en the +_Andromeda_ gets this sort of kid's dodge worked off on 'er." + +"If you're alloodin' to me," put in the incensed "chief," whose temper +rose on this direct provocation, "I want to tell you now----" + +"Does the cap fit?" sneered Coke. + +"No, it doesn't. I never 'eard of that kind of potash in me life. +D'ye take me for a--chemist's shop?" + +"Never 'eard of it!" cried the incensed skipper, who had obviously made +up his mind as to the person responsible for the outrage. "There's +'arf a dozen cases of it in the after hold--or there was, w'en we put +the hatches on." + +"Even if some of the cases were broken, sir, the contents could not +reach the tanks," said Hozier, who fancied that Coke's attack on the +bibulous Watts was wholly unwarranted. But the commander's wrath could +not be appeased. + +"Get this stuff pumped out, an' 'ave the tanks scoured. We'll put into +Fernando Noronha, an' refill there. It's on'y a day lost, an' I guess +the other liquor on board 'll last till we make the island. Sink me, +if this ain't the queerest run this crimson ship 'as ever 'ad. I'll be +glad w'en it's ended." + +Coke lurched away in the direction of the chart-room. Hozier found him +there later, poring over a chart of Fernando Noronha. Iris, on hearing +the steward's version of the affair, came to the bridge for further +enlightenment, but Coke merely told her that the island was a Lloyd's +signal station, so she could cable to her uncle. + +"Can I go ashore?" she asked. + +"I dunno. We'll see. It's a convict settlement for the Brazils, an' +they're mighty partic'lar about lettin' people land, but they'll 'ardly +object to a nice young lady like you 'avin' a peep at 'em." + +As his tone was unusually gruff, not to say jeering, she resolved to +find an opportunity of seeking Hozier's advice on the cablegram +problem. But the portent of the blood-red water was not to be +disregarded. Never was Delphic oracle better served by nature. The +_Andromeda_ began to roll ominously; masses of black cloud climbed over +the southwest horizon; at midday the ship was driving through a heavy +sea. As the day wore, the weather became even more threatening. A sky +and ocean that had striven during three weeks to produce in splendid +rivalry blends of sapphire blue and emerald green and tenderest pink, +were now draped in a shroud of gray mist. With increasing frequency +and venom, vaulting seas curled over the bows, and sent stinging +showers of spray against the canvas shield of the bridge. Instead of +the natty white drill uniform and canvas shoes of the tropics, the +ship's officers donned oilskins, sou'westers, and sea-boots. Torrents +swept the decks, and an occasional giant among waves smote the hull +with a thunderous blow under which every rivet rattled and every plank +creaked. Despite these drawbacks, the _Andromeda_ wormed her way +south. She behaved like the stanch old sea-prowler that she was, and +labored complainingly but with stubborn zeal in the teeth of a stiff +gale. + +Iris, of course, thought that she was experiencing the storm of a +century. Badly scared at first, she regained some stock of courage +when Hozier came twice to her cabin, pounded on the door, and shouted +to her such news as he thought would take her mind off the outer +furies! The first time he announced that they were just "crossing the +line," and the girl smiled at the thought that Neptune's chosen lair +was uncommonly like the English Channel at its worst. On the second +occasion her visitor brought the cheering news that they would be under +the lee of Fernando Noronha early next morning. She had sufficient sea +lore to understand that this implied shelter from wind and wave, but +Hozier omitted to tell her that the only practicable roadstead in the +island, being on the weather side, would be rendered unsafe by the +present adverse combination of the elements. In fact, Coke had already +called both Watts and Hozier into council, and they had agreed with him +that the wiser plan would be to bear in towards the island from the +east, and anchor in smooth water as close to South Point as the lead +would permit. + +As for Iris's wild foreboding that the ship was intended to be lost, +Philip did not give it other than a passing thought. Coke was +navigating the _Andromeda_ with exceeding care and no little skill. He +was a first-rate practical sailor, and it was an education to the +younger man to watch his handling of the vessel throughout the worst +part of the blow. About midnight the weather moderated. It improved +steadily until a troubled dawn heralded some fitful gleams of the sun. +By that time the magnificent Peak of Fernando Noronha was plainly +visible. Coke came to the bridge and set a new course, almost due +west. The sun struggled with increasing success against the cloud +battalions, and patches of blue appeared in sky and sea. Soon it was +possible to distinguish the full extent of the coast line. Houses +appeared, and trees, and green oases of cultivation, but these were +mere spots of color amid the arid blackness of a land of bleak rock and +stone-strewed hills. + +There was a strong current setting from the southeast, and the dying +gale left its aftermath in a long swell, but the _Andromeda_ rolled on +with ever-increasing comfort. Even Iris was tempted forth by the +continued sunshine. + +Coke was not on the bridge at the moment. Mr. Watts was taking the +watch; Hozier was on deck forrard, looking for gravel and shells on the +instrument that picks up these valuable indications from the floor of +the sea. Suddenly the captain appeared. He greeted Iris with a genial +nod. + +"Ah, there you are," he cried. "Not seen you since this time +yesterday. Sorry, but there'll be no goin' ashore to-day. We're on +the wrong side of the island, an' it 'ud toss you a bit if you was to +try an' land in eether of the boats. Take 'er in easy now, Mr. Watts. +That's our anchorage--over there," and he pointed to the mouth of a +narrow channel between South Point and the Ile des Fregates, the latter +a tiny islet that almost blocks the entrance to a shallow bay into +which runs a rivulet of good but slightly brackish water. + +The ship slowed perceptibly, and Hozier busied himself with the lead, +which a sailor was swinging on the starboard side from the small +platform of the accommodation ladder. Iris did not know what was said, +but the queer figures repeated to Coke seemed to be satisfactory. +Headlands and hills crept nearer. The rocky arms of the island closed +in on them. A faint scent as of sweet grasses reached them from the +shore. Iris could see several people, nearly all of them men in +uniform, hurrying about with an air of excitement that betokened the +unusual. Perhaps a steamer's advent on the south side of the island +was a novelty. + +Now they were in a fairly smooth roadstead; the remnants of the gale +were shouldered away from the ship by the towering cliff that jutted +out on the left of the bay. The crew were mostly occupied in clearing +blocks and tackle and swinging two life-boats outward on their davits. + +"All ready forrard?" roared Coke. Hozier ran to the forecastle. He +found the carpenter there, standing by the windlass brake. + +"All ready, sir!" he cried. + +Coke nodded to him. + +"Give her thirty-five," he said, meaning thereby that the anchor should +be allowed thirty-five fathoms of chain. + +From the bridge, where Iris was standing, she could follow each +movement of the commander's hands as he signaled in dumbshow to the +steersman or telegraphed instructions to the engine-room. It was +interesting to watch the alertness of the men on duty. They were a +scratch crew, garnered from the four quarters of the globe at the +Liverpool shipping office, but they moved smartly under officers who +knew their work, and the _Andromeda_ was well equipped in that respect. + +The turbulent current was surging across the bows with the speed of a +mill-race, so Coke brought the vessel round until she lay broadside +with the land and headed straight against the set of the stream. It +was his intent to drop anchor while in that position, and help any +undue strain on the cable by an occasional turn of the propeller. + +"Keep her there!" he said, half turning to the man at the wheel; he +changed the indicator from "Full speed" to "Slow ahead"; in a few +seconds the anchor chain would have rattled through the +hawse-hole--when something happened that was incomprehensible, +stupefying--something utterly remote and strange from the ways of +civilized men. + +The _Andromeda_ quivered under a tremendous buffet. There was a crash +of rending iron and an instant stoppage of the engines. Almost merging +into the noise of the blow came a loud report from the land, but that, +in its turn, was drowned by the hiss of steam from the exhaust. + +Coke appeared to be dumfounded for an instant. Recovering himself, he +ran to the starboard side, leaned over, looked down at a torn plate +that showed its jagged edges just above the water-line, and then lifted +a blazing face toward a point half-way up the neighboring cliff, where +a haze lay like a veil of gauze on the weather-scarred rocks. + +"You d--d pirates!" he yelled, raising both clenched fists at the +hidden battery which had fired a twelve-pound shell into the doomed +ship. + +The _Andromeda_ herself seemed to recognize that she was stricken unto +death. She fell away before the current with the aimless drift of a +log. + +"Let go!" bellowed Coke with frenzied pantomime of action to Hozier. +It was too late. Before the lever controlling the steam windlass that +released the anchor could be shoved over, another shell plunged through +the thin iron plates in the bows, smashing a steam pipe, and jamming +the hawser gear by its impact. The missile burst with a terrific +report. A sailor was knocked overboard, the carpenter was killed +outright, two other men were seriously wounded, and Hozier received a +blow on the forehead from a flying scrap of metal that stretched him on +the deck. + +The gunners on shore had not allowed for the drifting of the ship. +That second shell was meant to demolish the chart-house and clear the +bridge of its occupants. Striking high and forward, it had robbed the +_Andromeda_ of her last chance. Now she was rolling in the full grip +of the tidal stream. It could only be a matter of a minute or less +before she struck. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +SHOWING WHAT BECAME OF THE "ANDROMEDA" + +The island artillery did not succeed in hitting the crippled ship +again. Three more shells were fired, but each projectile screamed +harmlessly far out to sea. A trained gunner, noting these facts, would +reason that the shore battery made good practice in the first instance +solely because its ordnance was trained at a known range. Indeed, he +might even hazard a guess that the _Andromeda's_ warm reception was +arranged long before her masts and funnel rose over the horizon. That +the islanders intended nothing less than her complete destruction was +self-evident. Without the slightest warning they had tried to sink +her; and now that she was escaping the further attentions of the field +pieces, a number of troops stationed on South Point and the Isle des +Fregates began to pelt her with bullets. + +Iris, when the first paralysis of fear had passed, when her stricken +senses resumed their sway and her limbs lost their palsy, flinched from +this new danger, and sank sobbing to her knees behind the canvas shield +of the bridge. Somehow, this flimsy shelter, which sailors call the +"dodger," gave some sense of safety. Her throbbing brain was incapable +of lucid thought, but it was borne in on her mistily that the world and +its occupants had suddenly gone mad. The omen of the blood-red water +had justified itself most horribly. The dead carpenter was sprawling +over the forecastle windlass. His hand still clutched the brake. The +sailor at the wheel had been shot through the throat, and had fallen +limply through the open doorway of the chart-room; he lay there, +coughing up blood and froth, and gasping his life out. The two men +wounded by the second shell were creeping down the forward companion in +the effort to avoid the hail of lead that was beating on the ship. +Hozier was raising himself on hands and knees, his attitude that of a +man who is dazed, almost insensible. Watts had gone from the +bridge--he might have been whirled to death over the side like the +unfortunate foremast hand she had seen tossed from off the forecastle; +but Coke, whose charmed life apparently entitled him to act like a +lunatic, was actually balancing himself on top of the starboard rails +of the bridge by clinging to a stay, having climbed to that exposed +position in order to hurl oaths at the soldiers on shore. He had gone +berserk with rage. His cap had either fallen off or been torn from his +head by a bullet; his squat, powerful figure was shaking with frenzy; +he emphasized each curse with a passionate gesture of the free hand and +arm; he said among other things, and with no lack of forceful +adjectives, that if he could only come to close quarters with some of +the Portygee assassins on the island he would tear their sanguinary +livers out. It is an odd thing that men made animal by fury often use +that trope. They do really mean it. The liver is the earliest spoil +of the successful tiger. + +The _Andromeda_, uncontrollable as destiny, and quite as heedless of +her human freight, swung round with the current until her bows pointed +to the islet occupied by the marksmen. All at once, Coke suspended his +flow of invectives and rushed into the chart-room, where Iris heard him +tearing lockers open and throwing their contents on the deck. To +enter, he was obliged to leap over the body of the dying man. The +action was grotesque, callous, almost inhuman; it jarred the girl's +agonized transports back into a species of spiritual calm, a mental +state akin to the fatalism often exhibited by Asiatics when death is +imminent and not to be denied. The apparent madness of the captain was +now more distressing to her than the certain loss of the ship or the +invisible missiles that clanged into white patches on the iron plates, +cut sudden holes and scars in the woodwork, or whirred through the air +with a buzzing whistle of singularly menacing sound. She began to be +afraid of remaining on the bridge; her fear was not due to the really +vital fact that it was so exposed; it arose from the purely feminine +consideration that she was sure Coke had become a raving maniac, and +she dreaded meeting him when, if ever, he reappeared. + +A bullet struck the front frame of the chart-room, and several panes of +glass were shattered with a fearful din. That decided her. Coke, if +he were not killed, would surely be driven out. She sprang to her +feet, and literally ran down the steep ladder to the saloon deck. +Through the open door of the officers' mess she witnessed another +bizarre act--an act quite as extraordinary in its way as Coke's jump +over the steersman's body. In the midst of this drama of death and +destruction, Watts was standing there, with head thrown back and +uplifted arm, gulping down a tumblerful of some dark-colored liquid, +draining it to the dregs, while he held a black bottle in the other +hand. That a man should fly to rum for solace when existence itself +might be measured by minutes or seconds, was, to Iris, not the least +amazing experience of an episode crammed with all that was new, and +strange, and horrible in her life. She raced on, wholly unaware that +the drifting ship was now presenting her port bow to the death-dealing +fusillade. + +Then, from somewhere, she heard a gruff voice: + +"Hev' ye shut off steam, Macfarlane?" + +"Ou ay. It's a' snug below till the watter reaches the furnaces," came +the answer. + +So some of the men were doing their duty. Thank God for that! +Undeterred by the fact that a live shell had burst among the engines, +the oil-stained, grim-looking engineers had not quitted their post +until they had taken such precautions as lay in their power to insure +the ship's safety. A light broke in on the fog in the girl's mind. +Even now, at the very gate of eternity, one might try to help others! +The thought brought a ray of comfort. She was about to look for the +speakers when a bullet drilled a hole in a panel close to her side. +She began to run again, for a terrified glance through the forward +gangway showed that the ship was quite close to the land, where men in +blue uniforms, wearing curiously shaped hats and white gaiters, were +scattered among the rocks, some standing, some kneeling, some prone, +but all taking steady aim. + +But it showed something more. Hozier was now lying sideways on the +raised deck of the forecastle; he partly supported himself on his right +arm; his left hand was pressed to his forehead; he was trying to rise. +With an intuition that was phenomenal under the circumstances, Iris +realized that he was screened from observation for the moment by the +windlass and the corpse that lay across it. But the ship's ever +increasing speed, and the curving course of her drifting, would soon +bring him into sight, and then those merciless riflemen would shoot him +down. + +"Oh, not that! Not that!" she wailed aloud. + +An impulse stronger than the instinct of self-preservation caused the +blood to tingle in her veins. She had waited to take that one look, +and now, bent double so as to avoid being seen by the soldiers, she +sped back through the gangway, gained the open deck, crouched close to +the bulwarks on the port side, and thus reached unscathed the foot of +the companion down which the wounded men had crawled. The zinc plates +on the steps were slippery with their blood, but she did not falter at +the sight. Up she went, stooped over Hozier, and placed her strong +young arms round his body. + +"Quick!" she panted, "let me help you! You will be killed if you +remain here!" + +Her voice seemed to rouse him as from troubled sleep. + +"I was hit," he muttered. "What is it? What is wrong?" + +"Oh, come, come!" she screamed, for some unseen agency tore a +transverse gash in the planking not a foot in front of them. + +He yielded with broken expostulations. She dragged him to the top of +the stairs. Clinging to him, she half walked, half fell down the few +steps. But she did not quite fall; Hozier's weight was almost more +than she could manage, but she clung to him desperately, saved him from +a headlong plunge to the deck, and literally carried him into the +forecastle, where she found some of the crew who had scurried there +like rabbits to their burrow when the first shell crashed into the +engine-room. + +Iris's fine eyes darted lightning at them. + +"You call yourselves men," she cried shrilly, "yet you leave one of +your officers lying on deck to be shot at by those fiends!" + +"We didn't know he was there, miss," said one. "We'd ha' fetched him +right enough if we did." + +Even in her present stress of mixed emotions, the sailor's words +sounded reasonable. Every other person on board was just as greatly +stunned by this monstrous attack as she herself, and the firing now +appeared to increase in volume and accuracy. Several bullets clanged +against the funnel or broke huge splinters off the boats. + +"Gord A'mighty, listen to that," growled a voice. "An' we cooped up +here, blazed at by a lot of rotten Dagos, with not a gun to our name!" + +Iris was still supporting Hozier, whose head and shoulders were +pillowed against her breast as she knelt behind him. + +"Can nothing be done?" she asked. "I believe Captain Coke has been +killed. Mr. Hozier is badly injured, I fear. Bring some water, if +possible." + +"Yes, yes, water. . . . Only a knock on the head. . . . How did it +happen? And what is that noise of firing?" + +Hozier's scattered wits were returning, though neither he nor Iris +remembered that the _Andromeda_ was waterless. He looked up at her, +then at the men, and he smiled as his eyes met hers again. + +"Funny thing!" he said, with a natural tone that was reassuring. "I +thought the windlass smashed itself into smithereens. But it couldn't. +What was it that banged?" + +"A shell, fired from the island," said the girl. + +Hozier straightened himself a little. He was hearing marvels, though +far from understanding them, as yet. + +"A shell!" he repeated vacantly. Had she said "a comet" it could not +have sounded more incredible. + +"Yes. It might have killed you. Several of the men are dead. I +myself saw three of them killed outright, and two others are badly +wounded." + +"Here you are, sir--drink this," said a fireman, offering a pannikin of +beer. It was unpalatable stuff, but it tasted like the nectar of the +gods to one who had sustained a blow that would have felled an ox. +Hozier had almost emptied the tin when an exclamation from an Irish +stoker drew all eyes to the after part of the ship. + +"Holy war! Will ye look at that!" shouted the man. "Sure the skipper +isn't dead, at all, at all." + +Iris had failed to grasp the meaning of Coke's antics in the +chart-room, but they were now fully explained. The bulldog breed of +this self-confessed rascal had taken the upper hand of him. Though he +had not scrupled to plot the destruction of the ship, and thus rob a +marine insurance company of a considerable sum of money--though at that +very instant there was actual proof of his scheme in the preparations +he had made to jam the steering-gear when the anchor was raised after +the tanks were replenished--it was not in the man's nature to skulk +into comparative safety because a foreigner, a pirate, a +not-to-be-mentioned-in-polite-society Portygee, opened fire on him in +this murderous fashion. Moreover, Coke's villainy would have +sacrificed no lives. The _Andromeda_ might be converted into scrap +iron, and thereby give back, by perverted arithmetic, the money +invested in her. But her white decks would not be stained with blood. +Whatever risk was incurred would be his, the responsible captain's, his +only. It was a vastly different thing that shot and shell should be +rained on an unarmed ship by the troops of a civilized power when she +was seeking the lowest form of hospitality. No wonder if the +bull-necked skipper foamed at the mouth and used words forbidden by the +catechism; no wonder if he tried to express his helpless fury in one +last act of defiance. + +He rummaged the lockers for a Union Jack and the four flags that showed +the ship's name in signal letters. The red ensign was already +fluttering from a staff at the stern, and the house flag of David +Verity & Co. was at the fore, but these emblems did not satisfy Coke's +fighting mettle. The _Andromeda_ would probably crack like an eggshell +the instant she touched the reef towards which she was hurrying; he +determined that she would go down with colors flying if he were not put +out of action by a bullet before he could reach the main halyard. + +The swerve in the ship's course as she passed the island gave him an +opportunity. In justice to Coke it should be said that he recked +naught of this, but it would have been humanly impossible otherwise for +the soldiers to have missed him. And now, while the vessel lay with +straight keel in the set of the current, the national emblem of +Britain, with the _Andromeda's_ code flags beneath, fluttered up the +mainmast. + +There are many imaginable conditions under which Coke's deed would be +regarded as sublime; there are none which could deny his splendid +audacity. The soldiers, who seemed to be actuated by the utmost +malevolence, redoubled their efforts to hit the squat Hercules who had +bellowed at them and their fellow artillerists from the bridge. +Bullets struck the deck, lodged in the masts, splintered the roof and +panels of the upper structure, but not one touched Coke. He coolly +made fast each flag in its turn, and hauled away till the Union Jack +had reached the truck; then, drawn forrard by a hoarse cheer that came +from the forecastle, he turned his back on the enemy and swung himself +down to the fore-deck. + +He was still wearing the heavy garments demanded by the gale; his +recent exertions, joined to the fact that the normal temperature of a +sub-tropical island was making itself felt, had induced a violent +perspiration. As he lumbered along the deck he mopped his face +vigorously with a pocket handkerchief, and this homely action helped to +convince Iris that she was mistaken in thinking him mad. His words, +too, when he caught sight of her, were not those of a maniac. + +"Well, missy," he cried, "wot'll they say in Liverpool now? I s'pose +they'll 'ear of this some day," and he jerked a thumb backwards to +indicate the unceasing hail of bullets that poured into the after part +of the ship. + +The girl looked at him with an air of surprise that would have been +comical under less grievous conditions. She knew, with a vague +definiteness, that death was near, perhaps unavoidable, and it had +never occurred to her that she or any other person on board need feel +any concern about the view entertained by Liverpool as to their fate. +Before she could frame a reply, however, Hozier seemed to recover his +faculties. He stood up, walked unaided to the side of the ship, and +glanced ahead. + +"Shouldn't we try to lower a boat, sir?" he asked instantly. + +"Wot's the use?" growled Coke. "Oo's goin' to lower boats while them +blighters on the island are pumpin' lead into us? And wot good are the +boats w'en they're lowered? They've been drilled full of holes. You +might as well try to float a sieve. Look at that," he added +sarcastically, as the side of the cutter was ripped open by a +ricochetting shot, and splinters were littered on the deck, "they know +wot they want an' they mean to get it. Dead men tell no tales. It +won't be anybody 'ere now who'll 'ave the job of lettin' the folk at +'ome know 'ow the pore ole _Andromeda_ went under." + +"Are none of the boats seaworthy?" + +"Not one. They're knocked to pieces. Sorry for you, Miss Yorke. But +we're all booked for Kingdom Come. In 'arf a minnit, or less, we'll be +on the reef, an' the ship must begin to break up." + +Coke was telling the plain truth, but Hozier ran aft to make sure that +he was right in assuming the extent of the boats' damages. One of the +men, an Italian, climbed to the forecastle deck in order to see more +clearly what sort of danger they were running into. He came back +instantly, and his swarthy face was green with terror. Though he spoke +English well enough, he began to jabber wildly in his mother tongue. +None paid heed to him. It was common knowledge that the vessel must be +lost, and that those who still lived when she struck would have the +alternatives of being drowned, or beaten to pieces against the frowning +rocks, or shot from the mainland like so many stranded seals, if some +alliance of luck and strength secured a momentary foothold on one of +the tiny islets that barred the way. And at such moments, when the +mind is driven into a swift-running channel that ends in a cataract, +elemental passions are apt to strive with elemental fears. Few among +these rough sailors had ever given thought to the future. They had +lived from hand to mouth, the demands of a hard and dangerous +profession alternating with bouts of foolish revelry. Most of them had +looked on death in the tempest, in the swirling seas, in the uplifted +knife. But then, there was always a chance of escape, an open door for +the stout heart and ready hand; whereas, under present conditions, +there was nothing to be done but pray, or curse, or wait in stoic +silence until the first ominous quiver ran through the swift-moving +ship. So, all unknowingly, they grouped themselves according to their +nationalities, for the Latins knelt and supplicated the saints and the +Virgin Mother, the Celts roared insensate threats at the islanders who +had thrown them into the very jaws of eternity, and the Saxons stood +motionless, with grim jaws and frowning brows, disdaining alike both +frenzied appeal and useless execration. + +Someone threw a cork jacket over the girl's shoulders, and bade her +fasten its straps around her waist. She obeyed without a word. +Indeed, she seemed to have lost the power of speech. Everything had +suddenly assumed such a crystal clear aspect that her eyes were gifted +with unnatural vision though her remaining senses were benumbed. The +blue and white of the sky, the emerald green of the water, the russet +brown and cold gray of the land--these shone now with a beauty vivid +beyond any of nature's tints she had ever before seen. She was +conscious, too, of an awful aloofness. Her spirit was entrenched in +its own citadel. She seemed to be brooding, solitary and remote, yet +shrinking ever within herself; quite unknowing, she offered a piteous +example of the old Hebrew's dire truism that man came naked into the +world and naked shall he depart. + +In a curiously detached way she wondered why Hozier did not return. +The prayers and curses of the men surrounding her fell unheeded on her +ears. Where was Hozier? What was he doing? Why did he not come to +her? She felt a strange confidence in him. If he had not been struck +down by that calamitous shell he would have saved the ship--assuredly +he would have devised some means of saving their lives! Perhaps, even +now, he was attempting some desperate expedient! . . . The thought +nerved her for an instant. Then a rending, grinding noise was followed +by a sudden swerve and roll of the ship that sent her staggering +against a bulkhead. An outburst of cries and shouting rang through her +brain, and a shriek was wrung from her parched throat. + +But the _Andromeda_ righted herself again, though there was another +sound of tearing metal, and the deck heaved perceptibly under a shock. + +Ah, kind Heaven! here came Hozier, running, thundering some loud order. + +"The port life-boat . . . seaworthy!" + +There was a fierce rush, in which she joined. She was knocked down. A +strong hand dragged her to her feet. It was Coke, swearing horribly. +She saw Hozier leap against the flood of men. + +"D--n you, the woman first!" she heard him say, and he sent the leaders +of the mob sprawling over the hatches of the forehold. + +Coke, almost carrying her in his left arm, butted in among the crew +like an infuriated bull. Some of the men, shamefaced, made way for +them. Hosier reached her. She thought he said to the captain: + +"There's a chance, if we can swing her clear." + +Then the ship struck, and they were all flung to the deck. They rose, +somehow, anyhow, but the _Andromeda_, apparently resenting the check, +lifted herself bodily, tilted bow upward, and struck again. A mass of +spray dashed down upon the struggling figures who had been driven a +second time to their knees. There was a terrific explosion in the +after-hold, for the deck had burst under the pressure of air, and +another ominous roar announced that the water had reached the furnaces. +Steam and smoke and dust mingled with the incessant lashing of sheets +of spray, and Iris was torn from Coke's grip. + +She fancied she heard Hozier cry, "Too late!" and a lightning glimpse +down the sloping deck showed some of the engineers and stokers crawling +up toward the quivering forecastle. She felt herself clasped in +Hozier's arms, and knew that he was climbing. After a few breathless +seconds she realized that they were standing on the forecastle, where +the captain and many of the crew were clinging to the windlass, and +anchor, and cable, and bulwarks, to maintain their footing. Below, +beyond a stretch of unbroken deck, the sea raged against all that was +left of the ship. The bridge just showed above the froth and spume of +sea level. The funnel still held by its stays, but the mainmast was +gone, and with it the string of flags. + +The noise was deafening, overpowering. It sounded like the rattle of +some immense factory; yet a voice was audible through the din, for +Hozier was telling her not to abandon hope, as the fore part of the +ship was firmly wedged into a cleft in the rocks: they might still have +a chance when the tide dropped. + +So that explained why it was so dark where a few moments ago all was +light. Iris pressed the salt water out of her burning eyes, and tried +to look up. On both sides of the narrow triangle of the forecastle +rose smooth overhanging walls, black and dripping. They were festooned +with seaweed, and every wave that curled up between the ship's plates +and the rocks was thrown back over the deck, while streams of water +fell constantly from the masses of weed. She gasped for breath. The +mere sight of this dismal cleft with its super-saturated air space made +active the choking sensation of which she was just beginning to be +aware. + +"I--cannot breathe!" she sobbed, and she would have slipped off into +the welter of angry foam beneath had not Hozier tightened a protecting +arm round her waist. + +"Stoop down!" he said. + +She had a dim knowledge that he unbuttoned his coat and drew one of its +folds over her head. Ah, the blessed relief of it! Freed from the +stifling showers of spray, she drew a deep breath or two. How good he +was to her! How sure she was now that if he had been spared by that +disabling shell he would have saved them all! + +Bent and shrouded as she was, she could see quite clearly downward. +The ship was breaking up with inconceivable rapidity. Already there +was a huge irregular vent between the fore deck and the central block +of cabins topped by the bridge. And a new horror was added to all that +had gone before. Swarms of rats were skimming up the slippery planks. +They were invading the forecastle and the forecastle deck. They came +in an irresistible army, though, fortunately for Iris's continued +sanity, the greater number scurried into the darkness of the men's +quarters. + +She was watching them with fascinated eyes, though not daring to +withdraw her head from under the coat, when she heard a ghastly yell +from beneath, and an erie face appeared above the stairway. It was +Watts, mad with fright and drink. + +"Save me! save me!" he screamed, and the girl shuddered as she realized +that the man did not fear death so much as he loathed the scampering +rats. He had no difficulty in climbing the steep companion, though, by +reason of the present position of all that was left of the _Andromeda_, +its pitch was thrown back to an unusual angle. He scrambled up, a +pitiable object. A couple of rats ran over his body, and as each +whisked across his shoulders and past his cheek he uttered a +blood-curdling yell. A big wave surged up into the recesses of the +cleft and was flung off in a drenching shower on to the forecastle. It +nearly swept Watts into the next world, and it drove every rodent in +that exposed place back to the dry interior. + +To return, they had to use the unhappy chief officer as a causeway, and +the poor wretch's despairing cries were heartrending. He was clinging +for dear life to a bolt in the deck when Coke joined hands with a +sailor and was thus enabled to reach him. Once the skipper's strong +fingers had clutched his collar he was rescued--at least from the +instant death that might have been the outcome of his abject terror, +for there could be little doubt in the minds of those who saw his +glistening eyes and drawn lips that it would have needed the passage of +but one more rat and he would have relaxed his hold. + +Coke pulled him up until he was lodged in safety in front of the +windlass. The manner of the welcome given by the captain to his _aide_ +need not be recorded here. It was curt and lurid; it would serve as a +sorry passport if proffered on his entry to another world; but the +tragi-comedy of Watts's appearance among the close-packed gathering on +the forecastle was forthwith blotted out of existence by a thing so +amazing, so utterly unlooked for that during a couple of spellbound +seconds not a man moved nor spoke. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE REFUGEES + +Watts was whimpering some broken excuse to his angry skipper when a +coil of stout rope fell on top of the windlass and rebounded to the +deck. More than that, one end of it stretched into the infinity of +dripping rock and flying spray overhead. And it had been thrown by +friendly hands. Though it dangled from some unseen ledge, its purpose +seemed to be that of help rather than slaughter, whereas every other +act of the inhabitants of Fernando Noronha had been suggestive of +homicidal mania in its worst form. + +Coke and Hozier recovered the use of their faculties simultaneously. +The eyes of the two men met, but Coke was the first to find his voice. + +"Salvage, by G--d!" he cried. "Up you go, Hozier! I'll sling the girl +behind you. She can't manage it alone, an' it needs someone with +brains to fix things up there for the rest of us." And he added +hoarsely in Philip's ear: "Sharp's the word. We 'aven't many minutes!" + +Philip made no demur. The captain's strong common sense had suggested +the best step that could be taken in the interests of all. Iris, who +was nearer yielding now that there was a prospect of being rescued than +when death was clamoring at her feet among the trembling remains of the +ship, silently permitted Coke and a sailor to strip off a life-belt and +tie her and Hozier back to back. It was wonderful, though hidden from +her ken in that supreme moment, to see how they devised a double sling +in order to distribute the strain. When each knot was securely +fastened, Coke vociferated a mighty "Heave away!" + +But his powerful voice was drowned by the incessant roar of the +breakers; not even the united clamor of every man present, fifteen all +told, including the drunken chief officer, could make itself heard +above the din. Then Hozier tugged sharply at the rope three times, and +it grew taut. Amid a jubilant cry from the others, he and Iris were +lifted clear of the deck. At once they were carried fully twenty feet +to seaward. As they swung back, not quite so far, and now well above +the level of the windlass from which their perilous journey had +started, a ready-witted sailor seized a few coils of a thin rope that +lay tucked up in the angle of the bulwarks, and flung them across +Hozier's arms. + +"Take a whip with you, sir!" he yelled, and Philip showed that he +understood by gripping the rope between his teeth. It was obvious that +the rescuers were working from a point well overhanging the recess into +which the _Andromeda_ had driven her bows, and there might still be the +utmost difficulty in throwing a rope accurately from the rock to the +wreck. As a matter of fact, no less than six previous attempts had +been made, and the success of the seventh was due solely to a favorable +gust of wind hurtling into the cleft at the very instant it was needed. +The sailor's quick thought solved this problem for the future. By +tying the small rope to the heavier one, those who remained below could +haul it back when some sort of signal code was established. At +present, all they could do was to pay out the whip, and take care that +it did not interfere with Hozier's ascent. They soon lost sight of him +and the girl, for the spray and froth overhead formed an impenetrable +canopy, but they reasoned that the distance to be traveled could not be +great; otherwise the throwing of a rope would have been a physical +impossibility in the first instance. + +Once there was a check. They waited anxiously, but there was no sign +given by the frail rope that they were to haul in again. Then the +upward movement continued. + +"Chunk o' rock in the way," announced Coke, glaring round at the +survivors as if to challenge contradiction. No one answered. These +men were beginning to measure their lives against the life of the wedge +of iron and timber kept in position by the crumbling frame of the ship. +It was a fast-diminishing scale. The figures painted on the +_Andromeda's_ bows represented minutes rather than feet. + +Watts was lying crouched on deck, with his arms thrown round the +windlass. Looking ever for a fresh incursion of rats, he seemed to be +cheered by the fact that his dreaded assailants preferred the interior +of the forecastle to the wave-swept deck. He was the only man there +who had no fear of death. Suddenly he began to croon a long-forgotten +sailor's chanty. Perhaps, in some dim way, a notion of his true +predicament had dawned on him, for there was a sinister purport to the +verse. + + "Now, me lads, sing a stave of the Dead Man's Mass; + Ye'll never sail 'ome again, O. + We're twelve old salts an' the skipper's lass, + Marooned in the Spanish Main, O. + Sing hay---- + Sing ho---- + A nikker is Davy Jones, + Just one more plug, an' a swig at the jug, + An' up with the skull an' bones." + + +After a longer and faster haul than had been noticed previously, the +rope stopped a second time. Everyone, except Watts, was watching the +whip intently. His eyes peered around, wide-open, lusterless. The +pounding of the seas, the grating of iron on rock, left him unmoved. + +"Wy don't you jine in the chorus, you swabs?" he cried, and forthwith +plunged into the second stanza. + + "The _Alice_ brig sailed out of the Pool + For the other side of the world, O, + An' our ole man brought 'is gal from school, + With 'er 'air so brown an' curled, O. + Sing hum---- + Sing hum---- + Of death no man's a dodger, + An' we squared our rig for a yardarm jig + When we sighted the Jolly Roger." + + +He grew quite uproarious because the lilting tune evoked neither +applause nor vocal efforts from the others. + +"Lord luv' a duck!" he shouted. "Can't any of ye lend a hand? Cheer +O, maties--'ere's a bit more---- + + The brig was becalmed in a sea like glass, + An' it gev' us all the creeps, O, + Wen the sun went down like a ball o' brass, + An' the pirate rigged 'is sweeps----" + + +"There she goes!" yelled the sailor in charge of the line; he began to +haul in the slack like a madman; Coke's fist fell heavily on the +singer's right ear. + +"Wen your turn comes, I'll tie the rope round your bloomin' neck!" he +growled vindictively, though his eyes continued to search the dark +shroud overhead that inclosed them as in a tomb. A dark form loomed +downward through the mist. It was Hozier, alone, coming back to them. +A frenzied cheer broke from the lips of those overwrought men. They +knew what that meant. Somewhere, high above the black rocks and the +flying scud, was hope throned in the blessed sunshine. They drew him +in cautiously until Coke was able to grasp his hand. They were quick +to see that he brought a second rope and a spare whip. + +"Two at a time on both ropes," was his inspiriting message. "They're +friendly Portuguese up there, but no one must be seen if a boat is sent +from the island to find out what has become of the ship. So step +lively! Now, Captain, tell 'em off in pairs." + +Coke's method was characteristic. He literally fell on the two nearest +men and began to truss them. Hozier followed his example, and tied two +others back to back. They vanished, and the ropes returned, much more +speedily this time. Four, and four again, were drawn up to safety. +There were left the captain, Hozier, and the unhappy Watts, who was now +crying because the skipper had "set about" him, just for singin' a reel +ole wind-jammer song. + +"You must take up this swine," said Coke to Hozier, dragging Watts to +his feet with scant ceremony. "If I lay me 'ands on 'im I'll be +tempted to throttle 'im." + +Watts protested vigorously against being tied. He vowed that it was +contrary to articles for a chief officer to be treated in such a +fashion. He howled most dolorously during his transit through mid-air, +but was happily quieted by another sharp rap on the head resulting from +his inability to climb over the obstructing rock. + +Before quitting the deck, Hozier helped to adjust the remaining rope +around the captain's portly person. They were lifted clear of the +trembling forecastle almost simultaneously, and in the very nick of +time. Already the skeleton of the ship's hull was beginning to slip +off into deep water. The deck was several feet lower than at the +moment of the vessel's final impact against the rocks. Even before the +three reached the ledge from which their rescuers were working, the +bridge and funnel were swept away, the foremast fell, the forehold and +forecastle were riotously flooded by the sea, and Watts, were he +capable of using his eyes, might have seen his deadly enemies, the +rats, swarming in hundreds to the tiny platform that still rose above +the destroying waves. Soon, even that frail ark was shattered. When +keel and garboard stroke plates snapped, all that was left of the +_Andromeda_ toppled over, and the cavern she had invaded rang with a +fierce note of triumph as the next wave thundered in without hindrance. + + * * * * * * + +It was, indeed, a new and strange world on which Iris looked when able +to breathe and see once more. During that terrible ascent she had +retained but slight consciousness of her surroundings. She knew that +Hozier and herself were drawn close to a bulging rock, that her +companion clutched at it with hands and knees, and thus fended her +delicate limbs from off its broken surface; she felt herself half +carried, half lifted, up into free air and dazzling light; she heard +voices in a musical foreign tongue uttering words that had the ring of +sympathy. And that was all for a little while. Friendly hands placed +her in a warm and sunlit cleft, and she lay there, unable to think or +move. By degrees, the numbness of body and mind gave way to clearer +impressions. But she took much for granted. For instance, it did not +seem an unreasonable thing that the familiar faces of men from the +_Andromeda_ should gather near her on an uneven shelf of rock strewn +with broken bolders and the litter of sea-birds. She recognized them +vaguely, and their presence brought a new confidence. They increased +in number; sailor-like, they began to take part instantly in the work +of rescue; but she wondered dully why Hozier did not come to her, nor +did she understand that he had gone back to that raging inferno beneath +until she saw his blood-stained face appear over the lip of the +precipice. + +Then she screamed wildly: "Thank God! Oh, thank God!" and staggered to +her feet in the frantic desire to help in unfastening the ropes that +bound him to the insensible Watts. One of the men tried to persuade +her to sit down again, but she would not be denied. Her unaccustomed +fingers strove vainly against the stiff strands, swollen as they were +with wet, and drawn taut by the strain to which they had been +subjected. Tears gushed forth at her own helplessness. The pain in +her eyes blinded her. She shrank away again. Not until Philip himself +spoke did she dare to look at him, to find that he was bending over +her, and endeavoring to allay her agitation by repeated assurance of +their common well-being. + +But her distraught brain was not yet equal to a complexity of thought. +Watts was lying close to her feet, and it thrilled her with dread and +contempt when Coke bestowed a well-considered kick on his chief +officer's prostrate form. + +"Oh, how dare you?" she cried, indignant as an offended goddess. + +"Sorry, miss," said Coke, scowling as if he were inclined to repeat the +assault, though he was not then aware of the more strenuous method +adopted by the rock as a sobering agent. "I didn't know you was there. +But 'e fair gev' me a turn, 'e did, singin' 'is pot-'ouse crambos w'en +we was in the very jors of death, so to speak." + +"He must not sing," she announced gravely, "but really you should not +kick him." + +"Come, Miss Yorke," broke in Hozier, who was choking back a laugh that +was nearer hysteria than he dreamed, "our Portuguese friends say we +must not remain here an instant longer than is necessary." + +"Yes," said a strange voice, "the sea is moderating. At any moment a +boat may appear. Follow me, all of you. The road is a rough one, but +it is not far." + +The speaker was an elderly man, long-haired and bearded, of whose +personality the girl caught no other details than the patriarchal +beard, a pair of remarkably bright eyes, a long, pointed nose, and a +red scar that ran diagonally across a domed forehead. He turned away +without further explanation, and began to climb a natural pathway that +wound itself up the side of an almost perpendicular wall of rock. + +Hozier caught Iris by the arm, and would have assisted her, but she +shook herself free. She felt, and conducted herself, like a fractious +child. + +"I can manage quite well," she said with an odd petulance. "Please +look after that unfortunate Mr. Watts. I am not surprised that he +should have been frightened by the rats. They terrified me, too. Oh, +how awful they were--in the dark--when their eyes shone!" + +Her mind had traveled back to the two nights and a day passed in the +lazaretto. She sobbed bitterly, and stumbled over a steep ledge. She +would have fallen were it not for Philip's help. + +"Watts is all right," he soothed her. "Two of the men are seeing to +him. And the rats are all gone now. There are none here!" + +"Are you sure?" + +"Quite sure." + +"What became of them?" + +"They are all--we left them behind on the ship." + +Suddenly she clung to him. + +"Don't let them send me back to the ship," she implored. + +"No, no. You are safe now." + +"Of course I am safe, but I dread that ship. Why did I ever come on +board? Captain Coke said he would sink her. I told you----" + +"Steady! Keep a little nearer the rocks on your left. The passage is +narrow here." + +Hozier raised his voice somewhat, and purposely hurried her. But she +was not to be repressed. + +"Poor ship! What had she done that she should be battered on the +rocks?" she wailed. + +"You must not talk," he said firmly, well knowing that if the sailors +and firemen lumbering close behind had not heard her earlier comment it +was due solely to the blustering wind. They were skirting the seaward +face of the rocky islet on which they had found salvation. The sun was +blazing at them sideways from a wide expanse of blue sky. The rear +guard clouds of the gale were scurrying away over the horizon in front +of their upward path. Somehow, Philip's sailor's brain was befogged. +Those clouds must have blown to the northeast. If that were so, what +was the sun doing in the southeast at this time of the day? It had +hardly budged a point from the quarter in which some fitful gleams +shone when that mad thing happened near the windlass. Thinking he was +still dizzy from the effects of the blow, which the girl had ascribed +to the bursting of a shell, Philip glanced at his watch. It was +twenty-five minutes past eight! Yet he distinctly remembered eight +bells being struck while Coke was telling him from the bridge to give +the anchor thirty-five fathoms of cable. Was it possible that they had +gone through so much during those few minutes? If he were really +light-headed, then sun and clouds and watch were conspiring to keep him +so. + +Iris, chilled by his stern tone, nevertheless noted his action. Still +unable to concentrate her thoughts on more than one topic, and that to +the exclusion of all else, she asked the time. He told her. He +awaited some expression of surprise on her part, provided it were, +indeed, true that only twenty-five minutes had sped since the +_Andromeda_ was quietly preparing to drop anchor off South Point. But +she received his news without comment. She would have been equally +undisturbed if told it was midnight, and that the vessel had gone +ashore on the coast of China. + +Just then the track turned sharply away from the sea. A dry +water-course cut deeply into the cliff where torrential rains had found +an upright layer of soft scoria imbedded in the mass of basalt. Their +guide was standing on the sky-line of the cleft, some forty feet above +them. + +"Tell the others to make haste," he said. "This is the end of your +journey." + +It did not strike either Hozier or the girl as being specially +remarkable that a man should meet them in this extraordinary place and +address them in good English. Iris, at any rate, gave no heed to this +most amazing fact. She merely observed for the first time that the +elderly stranger, while dressed in a beggar's rags, assumed an air of +command that was almost ludicrous. + +"Who is he?" she asked, being rather breathless now after a steep climb. + +"I don't know," said Hozier. + +"How absurd!" she gasped. "I--I think I'm dreaming. Why--have +we--come here?" + +She heard a coarse chuckle from Coke, not far below. + +"Let 'im cough it up," the skipper was saying. "It'll do 'im good. +I've seen 'im blind many a time, but 'ow any man could dope 'isself in +that shape in less'n two minutes!---- Well, it fair gives me the +go-by!" + +Two minutes! Hozier listened, and he was recovering his wits far more +rapidly than Iris. Was the skipper, then, in league with nature +herself to perplex him? And Watts, too? Why did Coke hint so coarsely +that he was drunk? He was on the bridge while he, Philip, was +attending to the lead, and at that time the chief officer was perfectly +sober. + +Iris, once again, was deeply incensed by Coke's brutality. + +"Horrid man!" she murmured, but she had no breath left for louder +protest. It was hot as a furnace in this narrow ravine; each upward +step demanded an effort. She would have slipped and hurt herself many +times were it not for Hozier's firm grasp, nor did she realize the +sheer exhaustion that forced him to seek support from the neighboring +wall with his disengaged hand. The man in front, however, was alive to +their dangerous plight. He said something in his own language--for his +English had the precise staccato accent of the well-educated +foreigner--and another man appeared. The sight of the newcomer +startled Iris more than any other event that had happened since the +_Andromeda_ reached the end of her last voyage. He wore the uniform of +those dreadful beings whom she had seen on the island. + +She shrieked; Hozier fancied she had sprained an ankle; but before she +could utter any sort of explanation the apparition in uniform was by +her side, and murmuring words that were evidently meant to be +reassuring. Seeing that he was not understood, he broke into halting +French. + +"Courage, madame!" he said. "Il faut monter--encore un peu--et +donc--vous etes arrive . . . Ca y est! Voila! Comptez sur moi. +Juste ciel, mais c'est affreux l'escalier." + +But he worked while he poured out this medley, and Iris was standing on +level ground ere he made an end. He was a handsome youngster, +evidently an officer, and his eyes dwelt on the girl's face with no +lack of animation as he led her into a cave which seemed to have been +excavated from the inner side of a small crater. + +"You can rest here in absolute safety, madame," he said. "Permit me to +arrange a seat. Then I shall bring you some wine." + +Iris flung off the hand which held her arm so persuasively. + +"Please do not attend to me. There are wounded men who need attention +far more than I," she said, speaking in English, since it never entered +her mind that the Portuguese officer had been addressing her in French. + +He was puzzled more by her action than her words, but Hozier, who had +followed close behind, explained in sentences built on the +Ollendorffian plan that mademoiselle was disturbed, mademoiselle +required rest, mademoiselle hardly understood that which had arrived, +_et voila tout_. + +The other man smiled comprehension, though he scanned Hozier with a +quick underlook. + +"Is monsieur the captain?" he asked. + +"No, monsieur the captain comes now. Here he is." + +"Mademoiselle, without doubt, is the daughter of monsieur the captain?" + +"No," said Hozier, rather curtly, turning to ascertain how Iris had +disposed of herself in the interior of the cavern. It was his first +experience of a South American dandy's pose towards women, or, to be +exact, toward women who are young and pretty, and it seemed to him not +the least marvelous event of an hour crammed with marvels that any man +should endeavor to begin an active flirtation under such circumstances. + +He saw that Iris was seated on a camp stool. Her face was buried in +her hands. A wealth of brown hair was tumbled over her neck and +shoulders; the constant showers of spray had loosened her tresses, and +the unavoidable rigors of the passage from ship to ledge had shaken out +every hairpin. The Tam o' Shanter cap she was wearing early in the day +had disappeared at some unknown stage of the adventure. Her attitude +bespoke a mood of overwhelming dejection. Like the remainder of her +companions in misfortune, she was drenched to the skin. That physical +drawback, however, was only a minor evil in this almost unpleasantly +hot retreat; but Hozier, able now to focus matters in fairly accurate +proportion, felt that Iris had not yet plumbed the depths of suffering. +Their trials were far from ended when their feet rested on the solid +rock. There was every indication that their rescuers were refugees +like themselves. The scanty resources visible in the cave, the intense +anxiety of the elderly Portuguese to avoid observation from the chief +island of the group, the very nature of the apparently inaccessible +crag in which he and his associates were hiding--each and all of these +things spoke volumes. + +Hozier did not attempt to disturb the girl until the dapper officer +produced a goatskin, and poured a small quantity of wine into a tin +cup. With a curious eagerness, he anticipated the other's obvious +intent. + +"Pardon me, monsieur," he said, seizing the vessel, and his direct +Anglo-Saxon manner quite robbed his French of its politeness. Then his +vocabulary broke down, and he added more suavely in English: "I will +persuade her to drink a little. She is rather hysterical, you know." + +The Portuguese nodded as though he understood. Iris looked up when +Hozier brought her the cup. The mere suggestion of something to drink +made active the parched agony of mouth and throat, but her wry face +when she found that the liquid was wine might have been amusing if the +conditions of life were less desperate. + +"Is there no water?" she asked plaintively. + +The officer, who was following the little by-play with his eyes, +realized the meaning of her words. + +"We have no water, mademoiselle," he said. Then he glanced at the +group of bedraggled sailors. "And very little wine," he added. + +"Please drink it," urged Hozier. "You are greatly run down, you know, +though you really ought to feel cheerful, since you have escaped with +your life." + +"I feel quite brave," said Iris simply. "I would never have believed +that I could go through--all that," and her childish trick of listening +to the booming of the distant breakers told him how vivid was her +recollection of the horrors crowded into those few brief minutes. + +"Be quick, please," put in the elderly Portuguese with a tinge of +impatience. "We have no second cup, and there are wounded men----" + +"Give it to them," said Iris, lifting her face again for an instant. +"I do not need it. I have told you that once already. I suppose you +think I should not be here." + +"I am sure our friend did not mean that," said Hozier, looking squarely +into those singularly bright eyes. He caught and held them. + +"I did not mean that the lady should be left to die if that is the +interpretation put on my remark," came the quiet answer. "But it was +an act of the utmost folly to bring a delicate girl on such an errand. +I cannot imagine what your captain was thinking of when he agreed to +it." + +"Wot's that, mister?" demanded Coke. Now that his fit of rage had +passed, the bulky skipper of the _Andromeda_ was red-faced and +imperturbable as usual. The manifold perils he had passed through +showed no more lasting effect on him than a shower of sleet on the +thick hide of the animal he so closely resembled. + +"Are _you_ the captain?" said the other. + +"Yes, sir. An' I'd like to 'ear w'y my ship or 'er present trip wasn't +fit for enny young leddy, let alone----" + +"That is a matter for you to determine. I suppose you know best how to +conduct your own business. My only concern is with the outcome of your +rashness. Why did you deliberately sacrifice your ship in that manner?" + +The speaker's cut-glass style of English left his hearers in no doubt +as to what he had said. During the tense silence that reigned for a +few seconds even some among the crew pricked their ears, while Hozier +and Iris forgot other troubles in their new bewilderment. There were +reasons why the drift of the stranger's words should be laid deeply to +heart by three people present. Coke, at any rate, found himself nearer +a state of pallid nervousness than ever before in the course of a +variegated life. It was impossible that he should actually grow pale, +but his brick-red features assumed a purple tint, and his fiery little +eyes glinted. + +"Wot are you a-drivin' at, mister?" he growled at last, after trying +vainly to expectorate and compromising the effort in a husky gargle. + +"Do you deny, then, that you acted like a madman? Do you say that you +did not know quite well the risk you ran in bringing your vessel to the +island in broad daylight?" + +Then Coke found his breath. + +"Risk!" he roared. "Risk in steamin' to an anchorage an' sendin' a +boat ashore for water? There seems to be a lot of mad folk loose just +now on Fernando Noronha, but I'm not one of 'em, an' that's as much as +I can say for enny of you--damme if it ain't." + +Evidently the Portuguese was not accustomed to the direct form of +conversation in vogue among British master mariners. He bent his +piercing gaze on Coke's angry if somewhat flustered countenance, and +there was a perceptible stiffening of voice and manner when he said: + +"Who are you, then? Who sent you here?" + +"I'm Captain James Coke, of the British ship _Andromeda_, that's 'oo +_I_ am, an' I was sent 'ere, or leastways to the River Plate, by David +Verity an' Co., of Liverpool." + +It must not be forgotten that Coke shared with his employer a certain +unclassical freedom in the pronunciation of the ship's name; the long +"e" apparently puzzled the other man. + +"_Andromeeda_?" he muttered. "Spell it!" + +"My godfather, this is an asylum for sure," grunted Coke, in a spasm of +furious mirth. "A-n-d-r-o-m-e-d-a. Now you've got it. Ain't it up to +Portygee standard? A-n-d-r-o-m-e-d-a! 'Ow's that for the bloomin' +spellin' bee?" + +But Coke's humor made no appeal. The staring, brilliant eyes fixed on +him did not relax their vigilance, nor did any trace of emotion exhibit +itself in that calm voice. + +"You are unlucky, Captain Coke, most unlucky," it said. "I regret my +natural mistake, which, it seems, was shared by the authorities of +Fernando do Noronha. You have blundered into a nest of hornets, and, +as a result, you have been badly stung. Let me explain matters. I am +Dom Corria Antonio De Sylva, ex-President of the Republic of Brazil. +There is, at this moment, a determined movement on foot on the mainland +to replace me in power, and, with that object in view, efforts are +being made to secure my escape from the convict settlement in which my +enemies have imprisoned me. I and two faithful followers are here in +hiding. My friend, Capitano Salvador De San Benavides," and he bowed +with much dignity toward the uniformed officer, "came here two days ago +in a felucca to warn me that a steamer would lie to about a mile south +of the island to-night. The steamer's name is _Andros-y-Mela_--it is +rather like the name of your unhappy vessel--so much alike that the +_Andromeda_ has been sunk by mistake. That is all." + +Coke, listening to this explanation with the virtuous wrath of a knave +who discovers that he has been wrongfully suspected, bristled now with +indignation. + +"Oh, that's all, is it?" he cried sarcastically. "No, sir, it ain't +all, nor 'arf, nor quarter. Let me tell you that no crimson pirate on +Gawd's earth can blow a British ship off the 'igh seas an' then do the +dancin'-master act, with 'is 'and on 'is 'eart, an' say it was just a +flamin' mistake. All! says you? Don't you believe it. There's a lot +more to come yet, take my tip--a devil of a lot, or I'm the biggest +lunatic within a ten-mile circle of w'ere I'm stannin', which is givin' +long odds to any other crank in the whole creation." + +And Coke was right, though he little guessed then why he was so +thoroughly justified in assuming that he and the other survivors of the +_Andromeda_ had not yet gone through half, or quarter, or more than a +mere curtain-raising prelude to the strange human drama in which they +were destined to be the chief actors. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +BETWEEN THE BRAZILIAN DEVIL AND THE DEEP ATLANTIC + +There was an awkward pause. Coke, rascal though he was, and +pot-bellied withal, was no Falstaff. Rather did he suggest the +present-day atavism of some robber baron of the Middle Ages, whose +hectoring speech bubbled forth from a stout heart. But the ragged +ex-President heeded him not. After a moment of placid scrutiny of his +enraged countenance by those bright, watchful eyes, Coke might have +been non-existent so far as recognition of his outburst was apparent +during the sonorous discussion that ensued between Dom Corria Antonio +De Sylva and the Senor Capitano Salvador De San Benavides. + +The latter, it is true, betrayed excitement. At first he favored Iris +with a deprecatingly admiring glance, as one who would say, "Dear lady, +accept my profound regret and respectful homage." But that phase +quickly passed. His leader was not a man to waste words, and the +gallant captain's expressive face soon showed that he had grasped the +essential facts. They did not please him. In fact, he was distinctly +cowed, almost stunned, by his companion's revelations. + +It fell to De Sylva to explain matters to his unexpected guests. + +"My friend agrees with me that it is only fair that the exact position +should be revealed to you," he said, addressing Coke, though a +dignified gesture invited the others to share his confidence. + +"It don't take much tellin'," began Coke. De Sylva silenced him with +an emphatic hand. + +"Please attend. The situation is not so simple as you seem to imagine. +The loss of your ship cannot be dealt with here. It raises issues of +international law which can only be settled by courts and governments. +You know, I suppose, that nothing will be done until a complaint is +lodged by a British minister, and that hinges upon the very doubtful +fact that you will ever again see your own country." + +The ex-President certainly had the knack of expressing himself clearly. +Those concluding words rang like a knell. They even called Watts back +from the slumber of unconsciousness; the "chief" stirred himself where +he lay on the floor of the cavern, and began to quaver. + + "----twelve old salts an' the skipper's lass + Marooned in the Spanish Main, O. + Sing hay----" + + +Coke, taken by surprise, was unable to stop this warbling earlier. But +his hand clutched Watts's shoulder, and his venomous whisper of "Shut +up, you ijjit!" was so unmistakable that the lyric ceased. + +De Sylva seemed to be aware of some peculiarity in the symptoms of the +wounded man's recovery, but he continued speaking in the same balanced +tone. + +"It happens, by idle chance, that my enemies have become yours. The +men who destroyed your ship thought they were injuring me. I have just +pointed out to Capitano De San Benavides the precise outcome of this +attack. Until a few moments ago we shared the delusion that the troops +on Fernando de Noronha believed we were now on our way to a Brazilian +port. We were mistaken. More than that, we know now that they have +obtained news--probably through a traitor to our cause--of the +_Andros-y-Mela's_ voyage. They were prepared for her coming. They had +made arrangements to receive her--almost at the place decided on by our +friends in Brazil. It is more than likely that the _Andros-y-Mela_ is +now lying under the guns of some coast fortress, since the presence of +troops and cannon on this side of the island is unprecedented." + +"I don't see wot all this 'as to do with me," blurted out Coke +determinedly. + +"No. It would not concern you in the least if you were safe at sea. +But, since you are here, it does concern you most gravely. From one +point of view, you served my cause well by preparing to lower a boat. +You misled my persecutors as to locality, at least. Of course, I saw +you, and thought you were mad, but your action did help to conceal from +the soldiers the secret of my true hiding-place. I wish to be candid +with you. If my friends and I had realized that you were here by +accident, we ought to have taken no steps to save you." + +"Really!" snarled Coke, eying the unruffled Brazilian much as an +Andulusian bull might glare at a picador. A buzz of angry whispering +came from the crew. Even Iris flashed a disdainful glance at the man +who uttered this atrocious sentiment. De Sylva raised his hand. He +permitted himself the luxury of a wintry smile. + +"Pray, do not misunderstand me," he said. "I am humane as most others, +but it is difficult to decide whether or not mere humanity, setting +aside self-interest, would not rather condemn you to the speedy death +of the wreck than drag you to the worse fate that awaits you here. And +please remember that we did succor you, thus risking observation and a +visit by the troops when the sea permits a landing. But that is not +the true issue. An hour ago there were four people on this bare +rock--four of us who looked for escape to-night. We were supplied with +such small necessaries of existence as would enable us to live if our +rescuers were delayed for a day, or even two. Now, there will be no +rescue. We are--" he looked slowly around--"twenty instead of four; +but we have the same quantity of stores, which consist of a +half-emptied skin of wine, a bunch of bananas, a few scraps of maize +bread, and some strips of dried meat. Do you follow me?" + +Coke, who had been holding Watts in a sitting posture by a firm grip on +his collar, allowed the limp figure to sprawl headlong again. He +wanted to plunge both hands deeply into his trousers pockets, because +men of his type associate attitude so closely with thought that the one +is apt to become almost dependent on the other. And so, for the +moment, the safeguarding of Watts was of no consequence. But Watts had +benefited much by the sousing of the spray, while his recovery was +expedited by the forcible ejection of the salt water he had swallowed. +He raised himself on one hand, and looked about with an inquiring eye. +The Brazilian officer's uniform seemed to fascinate him. + +"'Ello!" he gurgled. "Run in? Well I'm----" + +"Is not that man wounded? I thought I saw him dashed against the +rocks," said De Sylva. + +"'E ought to be," said Coke, "but 'e's on'y drunk. A skin o' rum, 'arf +empty, too, just like your skin o' wine, mister." + +"Let him be taken outside and gagged if he resists." + +There was an uneasy movement among the men. Their common impulse was +to obey. Coke spread his feet a little apart. + +"Leave 'im alone. 'E'll do no 'arm now," he said. + +"I cannot be interrupted," cried De Sylva, whose iron self-restraint +seemed to be yielding before British truculence. + +"I'll keep 'im quiet but I can't 'ave 'im roasted afore 'is time, an' +that's wot's 'ul 'appen if you tied him up in that gulley." + +"Thanke'ee, skipper. You allus were a reel pal," murmured Watts. + +Coke bent over him. + +"If your tongue don't stop waggin' it'll soon be stickin' out between +yer teeth," he hissed. "This ain't no fancy lock-up in the East Injia +Dock Road, Arthur, me boy. They won't bring you a pint of cocoa 'ere, +an' ax if you're comfortable. You 'aven't long to live accordin' to +all accounts, so just close your mouth an' open your ears, an' mebbe +you'll know w'y." + +De Sylva regained his self-possession with a rapidity that was +significant. He had not climbed to the presidential chair of the +Republic from a clerkship in the London Embassy of the Empire without +acquiring the habit of estimating his fellow men speedily and +accurately. Here was one who might be led, but would never permit +himself to be driven. Moreover, this dethroned ruler was by way of +being a philosopher. + +"I hate drunkards," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "You cannot +trust them. If I had been surrounded by trustworthy men, I should +not----" + +He broke off. There was a sound of hurrying footsteps on the steep +pathway. A figure, clad in rags that surpassed even De Sylva's, +appeared in the entrance. A brief colloquy took place. De Sylva's +eager questions were answered in monosyllables, or the nearest approach +thereto. + +"Marcel tells me that one of your boats is drifting away with a man +lying in the bottom," came the uneasy explanation. + +Coke's face showed a degree of surprise, which, in his case, was almost +invariably akin to disbelief, but an exclamation from Hozier drew all +eyes. + +"Good Lord!" he cried, "that must be the lifeboat I was trying to clear +when the ship struck. Macfarlane was helping me, but he was hit by a +bullet and dropped across the thwarts. I thought he was dead!" + +"Dead or alive, he is better off than we," said De Sylva. He +questioned Marcel again briefly. "There can be no doubt that the man +in the boat cast off the lashings when he found that the ship was +sinking," he continued in English. "Marcel saw him doing that, and +wondered why he was alone. At any rate, if he is carried beyond the +reef, he has a fighting chance. We have none." + +"Why not? Are these men on the island so deaf to human sympathies that +they would murder all of us in cold blood?" + +The girl's sweet, low-pitched voice sounded inexpressibly sad in that +vaulted place. Even De Sylva's studied control gave way before its +music. He uttered some anguished appeal to the deity in his own +tongue, and flung out his hands impulsively. + +"What would you have me say?" he cried, and his eyes blazed, while the +scar on his forehead darkened with the gust of passion that swept over +his strong features. "I might lie to you, and try to persuade you that +we can exist here without food or water, whereas to-morrow, or next day +at the utmost, will see most of us dead. But in a few hours you will +realize what it means to be kept on this bare rock under a tropical +sun. You can do one thing. Your party greatly outnumbers mine. Climb +to the top-most pinnacle and signal to the island. You will soon be +seen." + +He laughed with a savage irony that was not good to hear, but Coke +caught at the suggestion. + +"Even that is better'n tearin' one another like mad dogs," he growled. +"I know wot's comin'. I've seen it wonst." + +Hozier made for the exit, where Marcel stood, irresolute, apparently +waiting for orders. + +"Where are you going?" demanded De Sylva. + +"To see what is becoming of the lifeboat." + +"Better not. You cannot help your friend, and the instant it becomes +known to the troops that there is a living soul on the Grand-pere rock +they will come in a steam launch and shoot everyone at sight." + +"Will that be the answer to our signal?" + +It was Iris who asked the question, and the Brazilian's voice softened +again. + +"Yes," he said. + +"Why, then, do you advise us to seek our own destruction?" + +He bowed. His manner was almost humble. + +"It is the easier way," he murmured. + +"Is there no other?" + +"None--unless we attack two hundred soldiers with sticks, and stones, +and three revolvers, and a sword." + +Hozier came back. He had merely stepped a pace or two into the +sunlight. Through the northerly dip of the gulley he had seen the +ship's boat whirled past an islet by the fierce current. Macfarlane +was not visible. Perhaps that was better so. At any rate, the sight +of the small craft vanishing behind one of the island barriers brought +home with telling force the predicament of those who remained. Now +that the sheer frenzy of the wreck had relaxed, Philip's head was like +to split with the throbbing anguish of the blow he had received. But +his mind was clearer. De Sylva's words, amplifying his own vague +recollection of the scene on board the _Andromeda_, enabled him to +construct a picture of events as they were. And his blood boiled when +he thought of Iris, snatched many times from death, only to face it +once more in the ravening form of starvation and thirst. + +"Attack!" he said hoarsely. "How is that possible? A deep and wide +channel separates us from the main island." + +The Brazilian, who seemed to have argued himself into a state of stoic +despair, gave a startling answer. + +"We have a boat, a sort of boat," he said quietly. + +"How many will it hold?" + +"Three, in a smooth sea, and with skilled handling. It nearly +overturned when I and two others crossed from the island, a distance of +three hundred yards." + +"But we have ropes, clothes, perhaps some few pieces of wreckage. Can +nothing be done to repair it?" + +"Meaning that we draw lots to see who shall endeavor to escape +to-night?" + +"The men might even do that." + +"Ah, yes--the men, of course. I think it hopeless. But, try it! Yes, +certainly, try it!" + +A pause, more eloquent than the most impassioned speech, showed how +this frail straw, eddying in the vortex of their fate, might yet be +clutched at. San Benavides, trying vainly to guess what was being +said, blurted forth an anxious inquiry. His compatriot explained +briefly. Somehow, the measured cadence of their talk had a less +reliable sound than the vigorous Anglo-Saxon. They were both brave +men. They had not scrupled to risk their lives in an enterprise where +success beckoned even doubtingly. But they were lacking when all that +remained to be settled was how best to die; in such an hour the men of +an English speaking race will ever choose a fighting death. + +This time, it was a woman who decided. + +Iris rose to her feet. She brushed back the strands of damp hair from +her face, and with deft hands made a rough-and-ready coil of her +abundant tresses. + +"Are you planning to send me with two others adrift in a boat, while +seventeen men are left here?" she asked. + +The Brazilian ceased speaking. There was another uneasy pause. Hozier +felt that the question was addressed to him, but he was tongue-tied, +almost shame-faced. Coke, however, did not shirk the task of +enlightening her. + +"Something like that," he said. "We can't let you cut in with the rest +of us, missy. That wouldn't be reasonable. But it's best to fix the +business fair an' square. We ain't agoin' to try any other way, not so +long as _I'm_ skipper," and he looked with brutal frankness at De Sylva +and the anxious but uncomprehending San Benavides. + +The ex-President knew what he meant; even in his despondency he +resented the implied slur on his good faith. + +"You cannot examine the boat until darkness sets in," he said. "Then +you will find out how frail a foundation you are building on. It is +absolutely ridiculous to assume that she can be made seaworthy. Her +occupants would be drowned before they were clear of the islands." + +"In any case, I refuse to go," said Iris. + +De Sylva smiled gloomily. + +"You are courageous, senhora, and, in some respects, you are wise," he +said. "Yet . . . I must admit it . . . I would urge you to select the +boat--in preference . . ." + +Marcel, the Brazilian who had come to tell them of the drifting +life-boat, turned away from the mouth of the cavern, and scrambled down +the ravine. + +"Wot's 'e after?" demanded Coke, suddenly suspicious. + +"He and Domingo are keeping a lookout," said De Sylva. "If the +soldiers intend to visit us we should at least be warned. The boat is +hidden among the rocks on the landward side," he added, not without a +touch of scorn. + +"That man has taught us our own duty," cried Iris. "The boat that +brought these men to this rock can bring nineteen men and a woman to +Fernando Noronha. We must land there to-night. With those to guide us +who know the coast, surely that should be possible. We have a right to +struggle for our lives. We, of the _Andromeda_, at least, have done no +wrong to the cruel wretches who sought to kill us without mercy to-day. +Why should we not endeavor to defend ourselves? There is food there, +and guns in plenty. Let us take them. Above all, let us not dream of +any such useless device as this proposal to send three to drown +somewhere in the sea and leave seventeen to perish miserably here. We +are in God's hands. Let us trust to Him, but while doing that fully +and fearlessly, we must seek life, not death." + +"Bully for you, miss!" roared a sailor, and a growl of admiration rang +through the cave. Instantly a hubbub of talk showed how intent the +crew had been on the previous discussion, but Coke shouted them into +silence. + +"Oo axed wot _you_ think, you swabs?" he bellowed. "Stow your lip! +Sink me, if you don't all do as you're bid, an' keep still tongues in +your 'eds, I'll want to know w'y--P.D.Q." + +A big, blond Norwegian, Hans Olsen by name, strode forward. Unlike the +usual self-contained Norseman, he was reputed a "sea-lawyer" in the +forecastle. + +"We haf somedings ter zay for our lifes, yez," he protested. Coke bent +and butted him violently in the stomach with his head. The man crashed +against the rocky wall, and sat dazed where he had fallen. + +"You've got to obey orders--savvy?" growled Coke. + +"Yez," gasped Olsen, evidently fearing a further assault. + +The incident ended. Its outstanding feature was the amazing activity +displayed by the burly skipper, who had rammed his man before the big +fellow could lift a finger. It might be expected that Iris would show +some sign of dismay, owing to this unlooked-for violence. But she was +now beyond the reach of merely feminine emotions. She had protested +against the kicking of Watts because it seemed to lack motive, because +Watts was helpless, and because she herself was half-delirious at the +time. Olsen's attitude, on the other hand, hinted at mutiny, and +mutiny must be repressed at any cost. + +De Sylva's incisive accents helped to bridge a moment fraught with +possibilities, for it would be idle to assume that this polyglot +gathering was composed of Bayards. Self-preservation is apt to prove +stronger than chivalry under such circumstances. Let it be assumed +that three among the twenty could escape that night, and it was +horribly true that the field of selection might be narrowed by a +wild-beast struggle long before the sun went down. + +"The young lady has at least given us a project," he said. "It is a +desperate one, Heaven knows! It offers a fantastic chance, and I can +see no other, but--what can we do without arms?" + +"Use our heads," put in Hozier. He had not the slightest intention of +making a light-hearted joke at that crisis in their affairs, but he +happened to look at Coke, and an involuntary smile gleamed through the +crust of clotted blood and perspiration that gave his good-looking face +a most sinister aspect. The Irishman cackled with laughter. + +"Begob, that's wan for the skipper," he crowed; then some of the others +grinned, and the _Andromeda's_ little company stood four-square again +to the winds of adversity. Having blundered into prominence, the +second mate was quick to see that he must hammer home the facts, though +in more serious vein. + +"Bring us to the island, Senhor De Sylva," he said, "and we will make a +fight of it. In any case, even if we fail, they will not deliberately +kill a woman. There must be other women there who will intervene in +behalf of one of their own sex. But we may succeed. It is improbable +that the whole of the troops will be gathered in one spot. Why should +we not take some small detachment by surprise and secure their weapons? +If we can land unobserved, we ought to be able to drop on them +apparently from the skies. I take it that the presence here of Captain +San Benavides is unknown, and the leadership of an officer in the +enemy's own uniform should turn the scale in our favor. Have you no +followers among the troops or islanders? Suppose we make good our +first attack, and seize a strong position--isn't it probable we may +receive assistance from your partisans?" + +"Perhaps--among the convicts," was De Sylva's grim reply. + +"No officials, or soldiers?" + +"Not one. They are chosen for this service on account of their +animosity against the former Government. How else could you account +for their treatment of unarmed men on a ship crippled by their first +shell?" + +"You spoke of a steam launch. Where is that kept?" + +"At a wharf under the walls of the citadel which commands the town and +anchorage." + +"Assuming we have a stroke of luck and rush some outpost, would it be +possible to cross the island before dawn and board the launch or some +other craft in which we can put to sea?" + +"There is only the launch, and some small fishing catamarans. No other +boats are allowed to exist on the island, in order to prevent the +escape of convicts. The boat we possess is really a badly-constructed +catamaran, without a sail, and minus the out-rigger which alone renders +it safe for the shortest voyage." + +"Wy didn't you say that sooner, mister?" put in Coke. "If some of +these jokers knew wot sort of craft it was, mebbe it wouldn't 'ave +needed a shove in the stommick to bring Hans Olsen to heel." + +"I am sorry," said De Sylva. "You see, I realized the utter folly of +trying to escape in that fashion." + +The two men looked each other squarely in the eye. The ex-President of +a great republic and the master of a worn-out tramp steamer were both +born leaders of men. Whatsoever prospect of a cabal existed +previously, it was scotched now, beyond doubt. Henceforth, no matter +what ills threatened, surely the little army mustered on the Grand-pere +rock would stand or fall together! + +An unerring token of unity was forthcoming at once. + +"Please, miss, an' gents all, may we smoke?" pleaded a voice. + +Iris was for an immediate permission, but De Sylva shook his head. + +"Not until the tide falls," he said. "There is a very real fear of a +visit from the launch. It has passed this spot four times during the +past two days--ever since my absence was discovered, in fact. The +soldiers have searched every outlying island, but they have avoided +Grand-pere because it is believed that a landing is highly dangerous if +not quite impracticable. My friend Marcel, a fisherman, discovered by +accident the only safe means of reaching the path which winds round the +island. Happily, the wretch who betrayed the mission of the +_Andros-y-Mela_ did not know the secret of my refuge. And I see now +that the Governor must be convinced that I am still hiding among the +cliffs, or your vessel would not have appeared off South Point this +morning. No, there must be no smoking as yet. In this clear air the +slightest cloud might be seen rising above the rocks from without." + +Marcel reappeared at the entrance. With him was another man, whom +Hozier remembered seeing when he was hauled up from the ship with Iris. + +"Ah, I was not mistaken," went on De Sylva. "Here comes news of the +launch! They have signaled for it across the island." + +Marcel entered the cave with an expressive gesture, for long habit had +almost robbed him of his native vivacity. His companion, Domingo, +climbed the opposite wall of the ravine and stretched himself at full +length in a niche where there was room for a man to lie. Some tufts of +rough grass grew there in sufficient density to conceal his head while +he peered between the stalks. They could see him quite plainly, but no +one wanted to speak. Though the unceasing wash of a heavy swell +against the rocks would have drowned the noise had they shouted in +unison, there was no need to tell anyone present that a very real and +dangerous crisis had arrived. The slow change in the direction of +Domingo's gaze showed the approach and passing of the hostile vessel. +It was evident that a long halt was made in the channel close to the +wreck, of which some fragments remained above water. Still, curiously +enough, it was impossible for those on board the launch to read the +ship's name, since the word "_Andromeda_," twice embossed on the sharp +cut-water, was hidden by the jutting rocks on both sides of the cleft. + +But it was not the fear of instant death following on the discovery +that the Grand-pere islet was inhabited that kept tongues mute and ears +on the alert during a quarter of an hour that seemed to be protracted +to a quarter of a day. At present they were shut off from hostile +bullets by the walls of a fortress stronger than any that could be +built by men's hands. The greater danger was that the enemy's +suspicions might be aroused. Let those who held Fernando Noronha with +the armed forces of Brazil once come to regard the isolated rock in mid +channel as providing even a possible refuge for the ex-President and +his friends, and it would mean the complete overthrow of the slender +chance of saving their lives that still offered itself. + +So they waited in silence, watching the rigid figure of the prostrate +Brazilian, just as those among them who were saved from the _Andromeda_ +had watched the arch of spray and spindrift from the slowly sinking +forecastle. + +At last Domingo turned his head slightly, and gave them a reassuring +little nod. He said something, which De Sylva translated. + +"They have a photograph of the wreck," he said, "and are now steaming +through the northerly channel to the anchorage on the west side of the +island. Most fortunately, they do not seem to be aware of your +drifting boat." + +Then he added, with a courtliness that was so incongruous with his +unkempt appearance and patched and tattered garments;--"If the Senhora +permits, the men may smoke now. In another hour the channel will not +be navigable. We have a hot and tiring day before us, and I advise +sleep for those to whom it is vouchsafed. If the weather continues to +improve, the next tide will bring us a smooth sea. Given that, and a +dark night--well--we may make history. Who knows?" + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +CROSS PURPOSES + +Though Iris gave such warlike counsel, it would be doing her a grave +injustice to assume that her gentle disposition was changed because of +the day's sufferings. The erstwhile light-hearted schoolgirl and +youthful mistress of her uncle's house had been subjected to dynamic +influences. The ordeal through which she had passed, unscathed bodily +but seared in spirit, had left her strung to a tense pitch. Relaxation +had not come--as yet. She only knew that she resented to the uttermost +the Brazilians' malevolent fury. Hers was a nature that could not +endure unfairness. It was unfair of David Verity to seek to mend his +shattered fortunes by forcing her into a hateful marriage; unfair of +both Verity and Coke to found their new venture on a great fraud; and +monstrously unfair of these island factionaries to vent their spite on +an innocent ship. So, for the hour, she was inspired. It is the +high-souled enthusiast who devotes life itself to a cause; those who +practice oppression have ever most to beware of in the man or woman +whose conscience will not condone a wrong. + +Of course, in this present clash of emotions, Iris little understood +what her advice really meant. She was appealing to heaven rather than +to the force of arms. To one of her temperament, it seemed incredible +that a number of inoffensive strangers should be slaughtered because a +South American republic could not agree in choosing a president. Such +a thing was unheard of in her previous experience, built on no more +solid foundation than the humdrum existence of Brussels and Bootle. +And the inhabitants of neither Brussels nor Bootle settle their +political differences by shooting casual visitors at sight. + +Oddly enough, the only professional soldier present condemned her +project roundly when it was mooted. + +"In leaving the island to-night you are acting on an assumption," +protested Captain San Benavides to his chief. "You cannot be sure that +the _Andros-y-Mela_ will not appear. The arrangement is that she is to +send a boat here soon after midnight, yet, if this mad scheme of an +attack on armed troops by unarmed men is persisted in, we must begin to +ferry to the island long before that hour. In all probability, we +shall be discovered at once. At the very moment that our friends are +eagerly awaiting us on board the ship we may be lying dead on the +island. The notion is preposterous. Be guided by me, Dom Corria, and +decline to have anything to do with it. Better still, let these +English boors promise to forget that we are alive; then Marcel can +guide them to the landing-place, where they will be shot speedily and +comfortably. There is no sense in sacrificing the girl. She must be +kept here on some pretext." + +The ex-President took thought before he answered. He did not deny +himself that the confident air of these hard-bitten sailors made strong +appeal to his judgment. He had his own reasons for distrusting some +among his professed supporters, and he did not share his military +aide's opinion as to the coming of the promised vessel. + +"There is a good deal in what you say, senhor adjudante," he announced +after his bright eyes had dwelt on San Benavides' expressive face in +thoughtful scrutiny. "In England they have a proverb that a man cannot +both run with the hare and hunt with the hounds, but such maxims are +not framed for would-be Presidents. I fear we must fall in with our +allies' views, _faute de mieux_. You and I have to lead a headstrong +army. That little Hercules of a commander is stubborn as a mule--a +mule that has the strength and courage of a wild boar. The younger man +thinks only of the girl's safety. He, at least, will not consent to +leave her. Both, backed by their crew, will not scruple to sacrifice +us if their interests point that way. Trust me to twist them into the +course that shall best serve our own needs. I am now going to tell +them that you approve of their plan." + +Forthwith he launched out into an English version of the excellent +captain's comments. His precise, well-turned periods were admirable. +Their marked defect was that he said the exact contrary to San +Benavides. + +Iris, having a born aptitude for languages, spoke French and German +with some proficiency. She had also devoted many hours to the study of +Spanish during the past winter, and it happens that the Portuguese of +Brazil is less unlike Spanish than the Portuguese of Lisbon. In +Europe, national antipathies serve to accentuate existing differences +between the two tongues, but the peoples of the South American seaboard +feel the need of a common speech, and local conditions have +standardized many words. Hence, the Spanish language will serve all +ordinary purposes among the Latin races who have made their own the +vast continent that stretches from Panama to Tierra del Fuego. + +So the girl's super-active brain was puzzled by De Sylva's rendering of +his military friend's remarks. With the vaguest knowledge of what was +actually said, she suspected that San Benavides had opposed the very +project which, according to the President, he favored. She had caught +the name of the relief vessel, the words _bote_, "boat," _las doce_, +"twelve o'clock," _a bordo de buque_, "on board the ship," and others +which did not figure in the translation. She wondered why. + +The long day wore slowly. The heat was intense. Even the hardened +sailors soon found that if the atmosphere of the cavern were to remain +endurable they might not smoke. So pipes were extinguished, and they +tried to better their condition. Water-soaked coats and boots placed +in the sun were dry in a few minutes. Iris was persuaded to allow her +dress to be treated in this manner. She was still wearing the heavy +ulster of the early morning--when the aftermath of the gale was chill +and searching--and the possession of this outer wrap made easy the +temporary discarding of a skirt and blouse. + +Unhappily, she answered in French some simple query of the dapper +officer's. Thenceforth, to her great bewilderment and Hozier's +manifest annoyance, he pestered her with compliments and inquiries. To +avoid both, she expressed a longing for sleep. It seemed to her +excited imagination that she would never be able to sleep again, yet +her limbs were scarcely composed in comfort on a litter of coarse grass +and parched seaweed than her eyes closed in the drowsiness of sheer +exhaustion. This respite was altogether helpful. She had slept but +little during the gale, and its tremendous climax had surprised her +vitality at a low ebb. + +When she awoke, the ravine was in shadow and the interior of the cave +was dark. Her first conscious sensation was that of almost intolerable +thirst. Her lips were blistered, her tongue and palate sore, and she +asked herself in alarm what new evil was afflicting her, until she +remembered the drenching she had received and the amount of salt-laden +air that had passed into her lungs. Nevertheless, she cried +involuntarily for water, and again she was offered wine. She managed +to smile in a strained fashion at this malicious humor of fortune. By +a freak of memory she called to mind the somewhat similar predicament +of the crew of a storm-tossed ship that she had once read about. They +ran short of water, but the vessel carried hundreds of cases of bottled +stout. During three long weeks of boating against the wind those +wretched men were compelled to drink stout morning, noon, and night, +and never did temperance argument apply with greater force to the +seafaring community than toward the end of that enforced regimen of +malt liquor. + +Hozier, who had aroused her by touching her shoulder, fancied he saw +the gleam of merriment in her face. + +"What is amusing you?" he asked. + +She told him, though she spoke with difficulty. + +"It is not quite so bad as that," he said. "If there is no hitch in +our plans, we should be on the island within five hours. We have +everything thought out as far as may be in view of the unknown. At any +rate, Miss Yorke, if we succeed in getting you safely ashore, you +personally will have but slight cause for further anxiety. The +proposal is that Marcel shall take you at once to the hut of an old +convict whom he can trust----" + +"A convict!" she gasped. The word was ominous, and she was hardly +awake. + +"The population of Fernando Noronha is almost entirely made of convicts +and soldiers," he explained. + +"But am I to be left there alone?" + +"What else is there to be done? You cannot join in the attack on a +fort--and that offers our only chance, it would seem. Granted an +effective surprise, we may carry it. Then your guardian will bring you +to us." + +"What if you fail?" + +"We must not fail," he said quietly. + +"Please do not hide the alternative from me," she pleaded. "I have +endured so much----" + +"Well, don't you see, this man--who, by the way, is married, and has a +daughter aged fourteen--will, if necessary, reveal your presence to the +Governor. By that time, say, in a day or two, the excitement will have +died down, the news of your escape will be cabled to England, you will +be sent to the coast on the Government steamer, and you can travel home +by the next mail." + +"That sounds very simple--and European," she said, and the pathetic +sarcasm was not lost on him. + +"It is reasonable enough. Unfortunately for us, all the bother centers +round Senhor De Sylva, to whom we owe our lives. He is outside at the +moment, showing our skipper the lay of the land before the light fails, +so I am free to speak plainly. When he is dead there will be no +further trouble, till the next revolution. But why endeavor to look +ahead when seeing is impossible? At present, what really presses is +the necessity that you should eat and drink. We have shared out the +whole of the available food. Here is your portion. We deemed it best +to give the men one square meal. They know now that they must earn the +next one." + +With each instant her perceptive powers were quickening. She was aware +that he had deliberately avoided the main issue. De Sylva's probable +death implied a good deal, but it was the supreme test of her courage +that she refrained from useless questioning. Yet she thrust aside the +two bananas and supply of dried meat and crusts that Hozier placed +before her. + +"I cannot eat," she murmured, striving to control her voice. + +"But you must. It is imperative. You would not wish to break down at +the very moment your best energies will be in demand. Our lives, as +well as your own, may depend on your strength. Come, Miss Yorke, no +woman could have been pluckier than you. Don't fail us now." + +The gloom was deepening momentarily. Hozier's back was turned to the +entrance, and, in the ever-growing darkness, she was unable to see his +face; but his anxious protest in no wise deceived her; she even smiled +again at the ruse that attempted to saddle her with some measure of +responsibility for the success or failure of the raid. + +"If I promise to eat--and drink this sour wine--will you be candid?" +she asked. + +"Well----" + +"One must bargain. There is no other way. . . . Promise!" + +"I suppose you mean that I must agree to please you by wild guessing +about events that may turn out quite differently." + +"Candid, I said." + +"Yes--that most certainly." + +"In the first place, may we go into the fresh air? I must have slept +many hours. What time is it?" + +"About seven o'clock." + +"Seven! Have I been lying here since goodness knows what time this +morning?" + +"You were thoroughly used up," he said, and he added, with a laugh: "If +it is any consolation, I may tell you that, to the best of my belief, +you never moved nor uttered a sound." + +"For instance, I didn't snore," she cried, rising to her feet, and +thanking the kindly night that veiled her untidiness. + +"I--don't--think so." + +"Oh, please be more positive than that. You send a cold shiver down my +back." + +"Several members of the _Andromeda's_ crew also indulged in a prolonged +siesta," he said. "I assure you it was almost out of the question to +divide the sleepers into snorers and non-snorers." + +A man will talk harmless nonsense of that sort when he is at his wit's +end to wriggle out of a perplexing situation. Hozier was deputed to +obtain the girl's consent to the proposal he had already put before +her. He feared that she would refuse compliance, for he understood her +fine temper better than the others. He was a young man--one but little +versed in the ways of women--yet some instinct warned him that there +was a nobility in Iris Yorke's nature that might set self at naught and +urge her to share her companions' lot, even though certain death were +the outcome. + +They passed together through the cavern. Watts, sound asleep, was +lying there. The majority of the men were seated on the rocks without, +or lounging near the entrance. They were smoking now freely, the only +stipulation being that matches were not to be struck in the open. +Their whispered talk ceased when they saw the girl. Absorbed in the +prospect of a fight for life, for the moment they had forgotten her, +but a murmured tribute of sympathy and recognition greeted her +appearance. + +The Irishman found his tongue first. + +"Begorrah, miss," he said, "but it's the proud man I'll be the next +time I see you smilin' from the kay side at Liverpool, no matter +whether I'm there meself or not." + +No one laughed at the absurd phrase which so clearly expressed its +meaning. But the ship's cook, Peter, noting the strips of dried meat +in her hands, raised a grin by saying: + +"Sorry the galley fire is out, miss, or I'd 'ave stewed 'em a bit." + +This kindly badinage was gratifying, though it helped to reveal the +interrupted topic of their conversation. There was no hiding the +desperate character of the coming adventure. The _Andromeda's_ crew +did not attempt to minimize it. The choice offered lay only in the +manner of their death. As to the prospect of ultimate escape, they +hardly gave it a thought. Some among them had served in the armies of +Europe, and they, at least, were under no delusion concerning the issue +of an attack on a fort by less than a score of unarmed men--seventeen +to be exact, since two of the ship's company were so maimed by the +bursting of the shell on the forecastle as to be practically helpless; +it was by the rarest good fortune that they were able to walk. + +Iris smiled at them in her frank way. + +"I hope you will all be spared to ship on a new _Andromeda_," she said. +No sooner had the words left her lips than the thought came unbidden: +"If my uncle and Captain Coke wished the ship to be thrown away, +nothing could have better suited their purposes than this tragic error." + +For the instant, the unforeseen outcome of that Sunday afternoon's +plotting in the peaceful garden of Linden House held her imagination. +She recalled each syllable of it, and there throbbed in her brain the +hitherto undreamed of possibility that Coke had brought the _Andromeda_ +to Fernando Noronha in pursuance of his thievish project. + +At once she whispered to Hozier: + +"Is there anyone on the path below?" + +"No," he said. "The Brazilians are with Coke at the top of the gully." + +"Is it safe for us to go the other way." + +"I think so. But you must be careful not to slip." + +She caught his arm, little knowing the thrill her clasp sent through +his frame. This simple gesture of her confidence was bitter-sweet. He +resolutely closed his eyes to the knowledge that this might be their +last talk. + +"I shall not fall," she said. "I am a good mountaineer. I learnt the +trick of it in Cumberland. Come with me. There is a pleasant breeze +blowing from the sea." + +They climbed down. Neither spoke until they stood on the curving ledge +that had proved their salvation. Though the tide was rising again, the +heavy sea was gone. The current still created some spume and noise as +it swept past the reef, but its anger had vanished with the gale. +Beyond the fringe of broken water a slight swell only served to mirror +in countless facets the tender light of a perfect sunset. The eastern +horizon was a broad line of silver. Nearer, the shadow of the island +created bands of purest green and ultramarine. + +They reached the place from which the Brazilians had thrown the rope. +They could hear the quiet plash of the water in the cleft. Piled +against a low-lying rock were the funnel and other debris of the +_Andromeda_. The black hull was plainly visible beneath the surface. +Even while they were looking at the wreck a huge fish curled his ten +feet of length with stealthy grace from out some dim recess; it might +be, perhaps, from out the crushed shell of the chart-room. + +Hozier glanced at his companion. He half expected her to shrink back +appalled at this sinister sight; it was her destiny to surprise him not +once but many times during that amazing period. + +"Is that a shark?" she asked quietly. + +"Yes. . . . You stipulated for candor, you know." + +"I had no notion that such a monster could move with so great elegance. +I think I would rather be eaten by a shark than lie at the bottom of +the sea like our poor vessel there." + +"Even a shark would appreciate the compliment," he said. + +Her eyes continued to watch the terrifying apparition until it prowled +into hidden depths again. + +"I am not sorry I have seen it," she murmured. "It helps one to +understand. We are glib concerning the laws of nature, and seem to +regard them much as the printed regulations stuck on hackney carriages, +whatsoever they may be. Yet, how cruelly just they are! I suppose +that the finding of the ship's booty by that huge creature has given a +new span of life to some weaker fish." + +Hozier did not know whether or not she had realized the shark's real +quest. Her next words enlightened him. + +"If we follow the others, will the soldiers throw our dead bodies into +the sea?" she asked. + +"I want you to believe that you will be absolutely safe if we escape +being discovered during the crossing of the narrow strip of water that +separates this rock from the island," he hastened to say. "That is +your only risk, and it is a light one. Senhor De Sylva is sure that +the troops will not keep the keenest lookout to-night. They are still +convinced that the insurgent steamer is sunk. Our chief danger will +date from to-morrow's dawn. Marcel reports that a systematic search of +the island was begun to-day. It will be continued to-morrow, but on +new lines, because, by that time, they will have learnt the truth. The +_Andros-y-Mela_ is not lying in pieces at the foot of this rock, the +President has not escaped, and every practicable inch of Fernando +Noronha and the adjacent islands will be scoured in the hope of finding +him. At first sight, that looks like being in our favor; in reality, +it means the end if we are discovered here. The soldiers will shoot +first and inquire afterwards. I have not the slightest doubt but that +plenty of evidence will be forthcoming that we were a set of +desperadoes who had unlawfully interfered in the affairs of a foreign +state." + +She appeared to be weighing this argument, sitting in judgment on De +Sylva and his theories. + +"I want to do that which is for the good of all," she said at length. +"Do you ask me to go to this convict's house, Mr. Hozier?" + +"I urge it on you with the utmost conviction. With you off our hands, +we can act freely. We must deliver an attack to-night. God in Heaven, +you cannot think that we would expose you to the perils of a desperate +fight!" + +His sudden outburst was unexpected, even by himself. He trembled in an +agony of passion. Iris placed a timid hand on his shoulder. + +"I will go," she whispered. "Please do not be distressed on my +account. I will go. I brought you here, not to discuss my own fate, +but yours. These Brazilians will not scruple to make use of you, and +then throw you aside if it suits their purpose. That man, De Sylva, +does not care how he attains power, and I know that he and the officer +entertain some plan which they have not revealed to you." + +"You . . . _know_." + +"Yes. I understand a little of their language. I have a mere glimpse +of its sense, as one sees a landscape through a mist. When De Sylva +told you to-day that San Benavides was with you heart and soul, he was +lying. There were things said about a ship, and midnight, and a boat. +I watched the officer's face. He was wholly opposed to the landing +to-night. My mind is not so vague now. I think I can grasp his +meaning. Was it not to-night that the _Andros-y-Mela_ was to appear?" + +"Yes." + +"Well, may they not hope secretly that she will keep to the fixed hour? +Once you and I and the others are on the island, and an alarm is given, +the Brazilians could slip away unnoticed. Yes, that is it. I do not +trust them any more than I trusted Captain Coke. Don't you realize +that he brought the _Andromeda_ to this place in order to wreck her +more easily? It was to supply a pretext for the visit that he made +undrinkable the water in the ship's tanks." + +That appealing hand still rested on Philip's shoulder. Its touch +affected him profoundly. With a lightning dart of memory his thoughts +went back to the moment when she lay, inert and half-fainting, in his +arms on the bridge, after he had taken her from the lazarette. But he +controlled his voice sufficiently to say: + +"You may be right; indeed, I know you are right, so far as Coke is +concerned. When I went aft to find out if one of the boats could not +be cleared, I noticed that a steering-gear box had been prised open +again. I had time for only a second's glance, but I was sure the +damage had not been done by a bullet. So the _Andromeda_ was doomed to +be lost, no matter what happened. By ----, forgive me, Miss Yorke, but +this kind of thing makes one savage." + +"Perhaps it is matterless now. Coke will stand by the rest of us in +our struggle for life, at any rate. But the Brazilians----" + +"Have no fear of them. I, too, have watched San Benavides. I don't +like the fellow, and wouldn't place an ounce of faith in him, but De +Sylva has brains, and he knows well enough that no ship from Brazil +will come to Fernando Noronha in his behalf. In fact, he dreads a +visit by a Government vessel, in which event our frail chance of +seizing that launch----" + +She felt, rather than saw, that he had suddenly grown rigid. His right +arm flew out and drew her to him. + +"Sh-s-s-h!" he breathed, and pulled her behind a rock. Her woman's +heart yielded to dread of the unseen. It pulsed violently, and she was +tempted to scream. Despite his warning, she must at least have +whispered a question, but her ears caught a sound to which they were +now well accustomed. The light chug-chug of an engine and the flapping +of a propeller came up to them from the sea. The steam launch was +approaching. Perhaps they had been seen already! As if to emphasize +this new peril, there was an interval of silence. Steam had been shut +off. Philip touched the girl's lips lightly with a finger. Then he +lay flat on the ledge and began to creep forward. It was impossible +that he should run and warn the others, but it was essential, above all +else, that he should ascertain what the men on the launch were doing, +and the extent of their knowledge. + +He found a tuft of the grass that clung to a crevice where its roots +drew hardy sustenance from the crumbling rock; he ventured to thrust +his head through this screen, following Domingo's example some hours +earlier. Almost directly beneath, his eager glance found the little +vessel. She was floating past with the current. He peered down on to +her deck as if from the top of a mast. A few cigarette-smoking +officers were grouped in her bows. Apparently, they were more +interested in the remains of the _Andromeda_ than in the natural +fortress overhead. Clustered round the hatch were some twenty +soldiers, also smoking. + +One of the officers pointed to the ledge; he was excited and emphatic. +Philip could not imagine that they had detected him, but he feared lest +Iris, in her agitation, might have moved. In that clear, calm air, not +even the growing dusk would hide the flutter of a skirt or the altered +position of a white face. A man in charge of the wheel replied to the +officer with a laugh. The first speaker turned, glanced at the +Brothers reef, behind which the _Andromeda's_ boat had vanished that +morning, and nodded dubiously. The man at the wheel growled an order, +and the engine started again. Though Hozier knew not what was said, +the significance of this pantomime was not lost on him. The local +pilot was afraid of these treacherous waters in the dark, but next day +Frade de Francez (which is the islanders' name for the Grand-pere Rock) +would surely be explored if a landing could be made. At a guess, the +silent watcher took it that the steersman had declined to make a +circuit of the rock until the light was good. + +Away bustled the launch, but Hozier did not move until there was no +risk of his figure being silhouetted against the sky. Even then, he +wormed his way backward with slow caution. Iris was crouched where he +had left her, wide-eyed, motionless. + +"Good job we came here," he said. "It is evident they mean to maintain +a patrol until there is news of De Sylva one way or the other. It will +be interesting now to hear what the gallant San Benavides says. If any +ship comes to Fernando Noronha to-night she will be seen from the +island long before any signal is visible at this point." + +"Do you think the others saw the launch?" she asked. + +"No--not unless some of the men strayed down the gully, which they were +told not to do. The breakers would drown the noise of the engines and +screw." + +There was a slight pause. + +"Will you tell them?" she went on. + +"Why not?" + +This time the pause was more eloquent than words. Quite unconsciously, +Iris replied to her own question. + +"Of course, as you said a little while ago, we owe our lives to Dom +Corria De Sylva," she murmured, as if she were reasoning with herself. + +By chance, probably because Hozier stooped to help her to her feet, his +arm rested lightly across her shoulders. + +"I will not pretend to misunderstand you," he said. "If the Brazilians +do not mean to play the game, it would be a just punishment to let them +rush on their own doom. But De Sylva may not agree with this fop of an +officer, and, in any event, we must go straight with him until he shows +his teeth." + +"You seem to dislike Captain San Benavides," she said inconsequently. + +"I regard him as a brainless ass," he exclaimed. + +"Somehow, that sounds like a description of a dead donkey, which one +never sees." + +"Mademoiselle!" came a voice from the lip of the ravine. + +"One can hear him, though," laughed Hozier, with a warning pressure +that suspiciously resembled a hug. These two were children, in some +respects, quicker to jest than to grieve, better fitted for mirth than +tragedy. + +They moved out from their niche, and San Benavides blustered into +vehement French. + +"We are going to the landing-place before it is too dark," he muttered +angrily. "We must not show a light; in a few minutes the path will be +most dangerous. Please make haste, mademoiselle. We did not know +where you had gone." + +"The men knew," suggested Hozier in the girl's ear. He dared not trust +either his temper or his vocabulary. + +"We shall lose no time, now, monsieur," said Iris, hurrying on. + +"This way then. No, we do not pass the cave. We go right round the +cliff. Permit me, mademoiselle. I am acquainted with each step." + +He took her hand. Philip followed. He was young enough to long for an +opportunity to tell San Benavides that he was a puppy, a mongrel puppy. +Just then he would have given a gun-metal case, filled with cigars--the +only treasure he possessed--for a Portuguese dictionary. + +After a really difficult and hazardous descent, they found the others +awaiting them in a rock-shrouded cove. The barest standing-room was +afforded by a patch of shingle and detritus. Alongside a flat stone +lay three broad planks tied together with cowhide. The center plank +was turned up at one end. This was the catamaran, which de Sylva had +dignified by the name of boat. The primitive craft rested in a black +pool in which the stars trembled, though they were hardly visible as +yet in the brighter sky. The water murmured in response to the +movement of the tide, but to the unaided eye there was no vestige of a +passage through the volcanic barrier that reared itself on every hand. + +"Were 'ave you bin?" growled Coke. "We've lost a good ten minnits. +You ought to 'ave known, Hozier, that it's darkest just after sunset." + +"We could not have started sooner, sir." + +"W'y not? We were kep' waitin' up there, searchin' for you." + +"That was our best slice of luck to-day. Had any of you appeared on +the ledge you would have been seen from the launch." + +"Wot launch?" + +"The launch that visited us this morning. Ten minutes ago she was +standing by at the foot of the rock." + +Philip spoke slowly and clearly. He meant his news to strike home. As +he anticipated, De Sylva broke in. + +"You _saw_ it?" he asked, and his deep voice vibrated with dismay. + +"Yes. I even made out, by actions rather than words, that the darkness +alone prevented the soldiers from coming here to-night. The skipper +would not risk it." + +De Sylva said something under his breath. He spoke rapidly to San +Benavides, and the latter seemed to be cowed, for his reply was brief. +Then the ex-President reverted to English. + +"I have decided to send Marcel and Domingo ashore first," he said. +"They will select the safest place for a landing. Marcel will bring +back the catamaran, and take off Mr. Hozier and the young lady. +Captain Coke and I will follow, and the others in such order as Senhor +Benavides thinks fit. The catamaran will only hold three with safety, +but Marcel believes he can find another for Domingo. Remember, all of +you, silence is essential. If there is an accident, some of us may be +called on to drown without a cry. We must be ready to do it for the +sake of those who are left. Are we all agreed?" + +A hum of voices answered him. De Sylva was, at least, a born leader. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE RIGOR OF THE GAME + +In obedience to their leader's order, Marcel, the taciturn, and +Domingo, from whose lips the Britons had scarce heard a syllable, +squatted on the catamaran. Marcel wielded a short paddle, and an +almost imperceptible dip of its broad blade sent the strangely-built +craft across the pool. Once in the shadow, it disappeared completely. +There was no visible outlet. The rocks thrust their stark ridge +against the sky in a seemingly impassable barrier. Some of the men +stared at the jagged crests as though they half expected to see the +Brazilians making a portage, just as travelers in the Canadian +northwest haul canoes up a river obstructed by rapids. + +"Well, that gives me the go-by," growled Coke, whose alert ear caught +no sound save the rippling of the water. "I say, mister, 'ow is it +done?" he went on. + +"It is a simple thing when you know the secret," said De Sylva. "Have +you passed Fernando Noronha before, Captain?" + +"Many a time." + +"Have you seen the curious natural canal which you sailors call the +Hole in the Wall?" + +"Yes, it's near the s'uth'ard end." + +"Well, the sea has worn away a layer of soft rock that existed there. +In the course of centuries a channel has been cut right across the two +hundred yards of land. Owing to the same cause the summer rains have +excavated a ravine through the crater up above, and a similar passage +exists here, only it happens to run parallel to the line of the cliff. +It extends a good deal beyond its apparent outlet, and is defended by a +dangerous reef. Marcel once landed on a rock during a very calm day, +and saw the opening. He investigated it, luckily for me--luckily, in +fact, for all of us." + +Watts interrupted De Sylva's smooth periods by a startled ejaculation, +and Coke turned on him fiercely. + +"Wot's up now?" he demanded. "Ain't you sober yet?" + +"Some dam thing jumped on me," explained Watts. + +"Probably a crab," said De Sylva. "There are jumping crabs all around +here. It will not hurt you. It is quite a small creature." + +"Oh, if it's on'y a crab," muttered Watts, "sorry I gev' tongue, +skipper. I thought it was a rat, an' I can't abide 'em." + +"Then you must learn to endure them while you are in Fernando do +Noronha itself," went on the Brazilian. "The island absolutely swarms +with rats; some of the larger varieties are rather dangerous." + +"Sufferin' Moses!" groaned Watts. "It'll be the death o' me." + +"Wot color are they?" asked Coke. De Sylva's reply was given in a tone +of surprise. Certainly these hardy mariners had selected an unusual +topic for discussion at a critical moment. + +"The common dark gray," he said. + +"That's all right, then," sneered Coke. "Watts don't mind 'em gray. +They're old messmates of his. It's w'en they're pink or green that he +fights shy of 'em." + +"I hate rats of any sort----" began Watts hotly, spurred to anger by an +audible snigger among the men, but De Sylva stopped his protest +peremptorily. It was idiotic, this bantering when the next half hour +might be their last. + +"You must learn to guard your tongue," he said with harsh distinctness. +"We cannot have our plans marred by a fool's outcry." + +Nevertheless, the chief officer of the _Andromeda_ was far from being a +fool. He had cut an inglorious figure during the wreck, but he was +sober enough now, and it hurt his pride to be jeered at by his own +skipper and treated with contumely by one whom he privately classed as +a Dago. He had the good sense to realize that the present was no fit +time for a display of temper; but he nursed his wrath. Dom Corria +would have been well advised had he followed the counsel given so +ungraciously, and guarded his own tongue. + +It might well be that the ex-President, whose fortunes were on the +tiptoe of desperate hazard, was beginning to despair. He may have +scanned the meager forces at his disposal and felt that he was asking +the gods for more than they could grant. A few minutes earlier he had +put forth the suave suggestion that Hozier should be given the +speediest chance of securing the girl's safety. That was politic; +perhaps his stanch nerve was yielding to the strain, now that the two +islanders were gone on their doubtful quest. Be that as it may, his +attitude did not encourage light conversation. Even Coke withheld some +jibe at the unfortunate mate's expense. A chill silence fell on the +little group. The more imaginative among them were calculating the +exact kind of lurch taken by the unstable raft that would mean +"drowning without a cry." + +Thus the minutes sped, until a dim shape emerged from the opposite +blackness. It came unheard, growing from nothing into something with +ghostly subtlety. Iris, a prey to many emotions, managed to stifle the +exclamation of alarm that rose unbidden. But Hozier read her distress +in a hardly audible sob. + +"It is our friend, Marcel," he whispered. "So Domingo has made good +his landing. Be brave! The sea is quite calm. This man has been to +the island and back in less than a quarter of an hour." + +His confidence gave her new courage. She even tried to turn danger +itself into a jest. + +"We seem to be living in spasms just now," she said. "We certainly +crowd a good deal of excitement into a very few minutes." + +The catamaran swung round and grated on the shingle. Marcel was in a +hurry. + +"Are you ready?" asked De Sylva, bending toward Iris. + +"Yes," she said. + +"Then you had better kneel behind Marcel, and steady yourself by +placing your hands on his shoulders. Yes, that is it. Do not change +your position until you are ashore. Now you, Mr. Hozier." + +Marcel murmured something. + +"Ah, good!" cried De Sylva softly. "Domingo, too, has secured a +catamaran. He is bringing it at once in order to save time." + +A second spectral figure emerged from the gloom. Without waiting for +further instructions, Marcel swung his paddle, and the one craft passed +the other in the center of the pool. Iris felt Hozier's hands on her +waist. He obeyed orders, and uttered no sound, but the action told her +that she might trust him implicitly. When the narrow cleft was +traversed, and she saw the open sea on her right, there was ample need +for some such assurance of guardianship. Viewed from the cliff, the +swell that broke on the half-submerged reef was of slight volume, but +it presented a very different and most disconcerting aspect when seen +in profile. It seemed to be an almost impossible feat for any man to +propel three narrow planks, top-heavy with a human freight, across a +wide channel through which such a sea was running. Indeed, Hozier +himself, sailor as he was, felt more than doubtful as to the fate of +their argosy. But Marcel paddled ahead with unflagging energy once he +was clear of the tortuous passage, and, before the catamaran had +traveled many yards, even Iris was able to understand that the outlying +ridge of rocks both protected their present track and created much of +the apparent turmoil. + +At last the raft, for it was little else, bore sharply out between two +huge bowlders that might well have fallen from the mighty pile of +Grand-pere itself. Pointed and angular they were, and set like a +gateway to an abode of giants. Beyond, there was a shimmer of +swift-moving water, with a silver mist on the surface, though from a +height of a few feet it would have been easy to distinguish the bold +contours of Fernando Noronha itself. + +Marcel plied his paddle vigorously, and Iris thought they were heading +against the current, since there was a constant swirl of white-tipped +waves on both sides of the curved plank, and her dress soon became +soaked. But Hozier knew that one man could not drive a craft that had +no artificial buoyancy in the teeth of a four-knot tidal stream. +Marcel was edging across the channel, and making good use of the very +force that threatened to sweep him away. Indeed, in less than five +minutes, a definite clearing yet darkening of the atmospheric light +showed that land was near. The hiss of the ripple subsided, the tide +ceased its chant, and a dark mass sprang into uncanny distinctness +right ahead. + +The girl's first sensation on nearing the island was an unpleasant one. +She was conscious of a slight but somewhat nauseating odor, quite +unlike anything within her ken previously. It suffused the air, and +grew more pronounced as the catamaran crept noiselessly into a tiny bay. + +Hozier sympathized with her distress; knowing that acquaintance with an +evil often helps to minimize its effect, he bent close to her ear and +whispered the words: + +"Mangrove swamp." + +Iris had read of mangroves. In a dim way, she classed them with +tamarinds, and cocoa-palms, and other sub-tropical products. At any +rate, she was exceedingly anxious to tell Hozier that if mangroves +tasted as they smelt she would need to be very hungry before she ate +one! + +Marcel was endowed with quick ears. Though Hozier's whisper could +hardly have reached him, he held up a warning hand, even while he +brought the catamaran ashore on the shingle, so gently that not a +pebble was disturbed. He rose, a gaunt scarecrow, stepped off, and +drew the shallow craft somewhat further up the sloping beach. Then he +helped Iris to her feet. She became conscious at once that his +thumb-nail was of extraordinary length, and--so strangely constituted +is human nature--this peculiarity made a lasting impression on her mind. + +Hozier, thinking that he ought to remain near the catamaran, stood +upright, but did not offer to follow the others. Iris, filled with a +sudden fear, hung back. The Brazilian, aware of her resistance, sought +its cause. He saw Hozier, grinned, and beckoned to him. So the three +went in company, and at each upward stride the disagreeable stench, +ever afterwards associated with Fernando Noronha in the girl's +memories, became less and less perceptible, until, after a short walk +through a clump of banana trees, it vanished altogether. + +At that instant, when Iris was beginning to revel in the sweet incense +of a multitude of unseen flowers, Marcel halted, motioned to Hozier to +stand fast, and indicated that Iris was to come with him. At once she +shrank away in terror. Though in some sense prepared for this parting, +she felt it now as the crudest blow that fortune had dealt her during a +day crowded with misfortunes. In all likelihood, those two would never +meet again. She needed no telling as to the risk he would soon be +called on to face, and her anguish was made the more bitter by the +necessity that they should go from each other's presence without a +spoken word. + +Nevertheless, she forced herself to extend a hand in farewell. Her +eyes were blinded with tears. She knew that Hozier drew her nearer. +With the daring of one who may well cast the world's convention to the +winds, he gathered her to his heart and kissed her. Then she uttered a +little sob of happiness and sorrow, and fainted. + +It was not until she was lying helpless in his embrace, with her head +pillowed on his breast, and an arm thrown limply across his shoulder, +that Philip understood what had happened. He loved her, and she, the +promised wife of another man, had tacitly admitted that she returned +his love. Born for each other, heirs of all the ages, they were +destined to be separated under conditions that could not have been +brought about by the worst tyrant that ever oppressed his fellow +creatures. Small blame should be his portion if in that abysmal moment +there came to Philip a dire temptation. There was every reason to +believe that he and Iris, if they found some hiding-place on the island +that night, might escape. He could send Marcel crashing into the +undergrowth with a blow, carry the unconscious girl somewhere, +anywhere, until the darkness shrouded them, and wait for the dawn with +some degree of confidence. In a red fury of thought he pictured her +face when she regained possession of her senses and was told that they +had no more to fear. He saw, with a species of fantastic intuition, +that the island authorities would actually acclaim them for the tidings +they brought. And then, he would find those grave brown eyes of hers +fixed on his in agonized inquiry. What of the others? Why had he +betrayed his trust? Dom Corria de Sylva had sent him ashore in advance +of any among the little band of fugitives. Marcel and Domingo were +outside the pale. Their lives, at least, were surely forfeit when +recaptured. It was not a prayer but a curse that Hozier muttered when +Marcel whispered words he did not understand, but whose obvious meaning +was that now the girl must be carried to the convict's hut, since they +were losing time, and time was all-important. + +So they strode on, across ground that continued to rise in gentle +undulations. Even in his present frenzied mood, Hozier noticed that +they were following the right bank of a rivulet, the catamaran being +beached on the same side of its cove-like estuary. Progress was rather +difficult. They were skirting a wood, and the trailers of a great +scarlet-flowered bean and a climbing cucumber smothered the ground, +canopied the trees, and swarmed over the rocks. He could not +distinguish these hindrances in the darkness, but he soon found that he +must walk warily. As for the effort entailed by his forlorn burden he +did not give a thought to it until Marcel indicated that he must stand +fast. The Brazilian went on, leaving Hozier breathless. Evidently he +went to warn the inhabitants of a wretched hut, suddenly visible in the +midst of a patch of maize and cassava, that there were those at hand +who needed shelter. + +A dog barked--Marcel whistled softly, and the animal began to whimper. +The Brazilian vanished. Hozier still held Iris in his arms; his heart +was beating tumultuously; his throat ached with the labor of his lungs. +His straining ears caught rustlings among the grass and roots, but +otherwise a solemn peace brooded over the scene. Just beyond the hut, +which was shielded from the arid hill by a grove of curiously contorted +trees, the inner heights of the island rose abruptly. Something that +resembled a column of cloud showed behind the rugged sky-line of the +land. Even while he waited there, he saw a glint of light on its +eastern side. He fancied that under stress of emotion and physical +weakness his eyes were deceiving him; but the line of golden fire grew +brighter and more definite. It was broken but unwavering, and black +shadows began to take form as part of this phenomenon. Then he +remembered the giant peak of Fernando Noronha, that mis-shapen mass +which thrusts its amazing beacon a thousand feet into the air. The +rising moon was gilding El Pico long ere its rays would illumine the +lower land--that was all--yet he hailed the sight as a token of +deliverance. It was not by idle chance that that which he had taken +for a cloud should be transmuted into a torch; there sprang into his +heated brain a new trust. He recalled the unceasing vigilance of One +All-Powerful, who, ages ago, when His people were afflicted, "went +before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way, and by +night in a pillar of fire, to give them light." + +Then Marcel came, and aroused him from the stupor that had settled on +him, and together they entered into the hovel, where a dark-skinned +woman and a comely girl uttered words of sympathetic sound when Iris +was laid on a low trestle, and Hozier took a farewell kiss from her +unheeding lips. + +The Englishman stumbled away with his guide; he fancied that Marcel +warned him several times to be more circumspect. He did his best, but, +for the time, he was utterly spent. At last the Brazilian signified +that they were near a trysting place. He uttered a cry like a +night-jar's, and the answer came from no great distance. Soon they +encountered Coke and De Sylva, who were awaiting them anxiously, and +wondering, no doubt, why Hozier was missing, since Domingo and Marcel +had fixed on an aged fig-tree as a rendezvous, and Hozier was not to be +found anywhere near it. + +The two boatmen hurried away, and De Sylva placed his lips close to +Philip's ear. + +"What went wrong?" he asked. + +"Iris--Miss Yorke--fainted," was the gasping reply. + +"Ah. You had to carry her?" + +"Yes." + +De Sylva fumbled in a pocket. He produced a flask. + +"Here is some brandy. I kept it for just such an extremity. We cannot +have you breaking down. Drink!" + +Two weary hours elapsed before the little army of the Grand-pere Rock +was reunited on the shore of Cotton-Tree Bay. Then there was a further +delay, while their indefatigable scouts brought milk and water, some +coarse bread, and a good supply of fruit from the hut. It was part of +their scheme that they should give their friend's habitation a wide +berth. If their plans miscarried he was instructed to say that he had +found the English lady wandering on the shore soon after daybreak. In +any event, there would be no evidence that he had entertained the +invaders in his hovel; otherwise, he would lose the first-class badge +that permitted him, a convict, to dwell apart with his wife and +daughter. + +It was with the utmost difficulty that the men could be restrained from +expressing their delight when they were given water and milk to drink. +The water was poor, brackish stuff; the milk was sour and had lost +every particle of cream; yet they deemed each a nectar of rank, and +even the miserable Watts, who had long ago ascertained that the +rustlings in the herbage were caused by countless numbers of rats and +mice, was ready to acclaim beverages which he was too apt to despise. + +About midnight there was a bright moon sailing overhead, and De Sylva +gave a low order that they were to form in Indian file. Marcel led, +the ex-President himself followed, with San Benavides, Coke, and Hozier +in close proximity. Domingo brought up the rear, in order to prevent +straggling, and assist men who might stray from the path. + +Avoiding the cultivated land surrounding the creek, the party struck up +the hillside. A few plodding minutes sufficed to clear the trees and +dense undergrowth. A rough, narrow path led to the saddle of the +central ridge. They advanced warily but without any real difficulty. +Hozier took a listless interest in watching the furtive glances cast +over his shoulder by San Benavides so long as the south coast of the +island was visible. At each turn in the mountain track the Brazilian +officer searched the moonlit sea for the agreed signal. At last, when +the northern side also came in sight, and the whole island lay spread +before them, San Benavides resigned himself to the inevitable. For a +little while, at least, he was perforce content to survey events +through the eyes of his companions, and throw in his lot irrevocably +with theirs. + +Roughly speaking, Fernando Noronha itself, irrespective of the group of +islands at its northeasterly extremity, stretches five miles from east +to west, and averages a mile and a half in width. From Cotton-Tree +Bay, to which the catamarans had brought the small force, it was barely +a mile to the village, convict settlement, and citadel. Some few +lights twinkling near the shore showed the exact whereabouts of the +inhabited section. Another mile away to the right lay Fort San +Antonio, which housed the main body of troops. Watch-fires burning on +South Point, whence came the shells that disabled the _Andromeda_, +revealed the presence of soldiers in that neighborhood. De Sylva +explained that a paved road ran straight from the town and +landing-place to the hamlet of Sueste and an important plantation of +cocoanuts and other fruit-bearing trees that adjoined South Point. It +was inadvisable to strike into that road immediately. A little more to +the right there was a track leading to the Curral, or stockyard. If +they headed for the latter place the men could obtain some stout +cudgels. The convict peons in charge of the cattle should be +overpowered and bound, thus preventing them from giving an alarm, and +it was also possible to avoid the inhabited hillside overlooking the +main anchorage until they were close to the citadel. Then, crossing +the fort road, they would advance boldly to the enemy's stronghold, +first making sure that the launch was moored in her accustomed station +in the roadstead beneath the walls. San Benavides would answer the +sentry's questions, there would be a combined rush for the guard-room +on the right of the gate, and, if they were able to master the guard, +as many of the assailants as possible would don the soldiers' coats, +shakos, and accouterments. Granted success thus far, there should not +be much difficulty in persuading the men in charge of the launch that a +cruise round the island was to be undertaken forthwith. Marcel would +remain with them until the citadel was carried. He would then hurry +back to bring Iris across the island to an unfrequented beach known as +the Porto do Conceicao, where he would embark her on a catamaran and +row out to the steamer, which, by that time, would be lying off the +harbor out of range of the troops who would surely be summoned from the +distant fort. + +The project bristled with audacity, and that has ever been the soul of +achievement. Even the two wounded men from the _Andromeda_ took heart +when they listened to De Sylva's low-toned explanation, given under the +shadow of a great rock ere the final advance was made. If all went +well at the beginning, the small garrison of the citadel would be +astounded when they found themselves struggling against unknown +adversaries. Haste, silence, determination--these things were +essential; each and all might be expected from men who literally +carried their lives in their hands. + +A keen breeze was blowing up there on the ridge. A bank of cloud was +rising in the southwest horizon, and, at that season, when the months +of rain were normally at an end, the mere presence of clouds heralded +another spell of broken weather, though the preceding gale had probably +marked the worst of it. Indeed, valuable auxiliary as the moon had +proved during the march across rough country, it would be no ill hap if +her bright face were veiled later. The mere prospect of such an +occurrence was a cheering augury, and it was in the highest spirits +that the little band set out resolutely for the Curral. + +Here they encountered no difficulty whatever. Perhaps the prevalent +excitement had drawn its custodians to the town, since they found no +one in charge save a couple of barking dogs, while, if there were +people in the cattle-keepers' huts, they gave no sign of their +presence. A few stakes were pulled up; they even came upon a couple of +axes and a heavy hammer. Equipped with these weapons, eked out by +three revolvers owned by the Brazilians and the dapper captain's sword, +they hurried on, quitting the road instantly, and following a cow-path +that wound about the base of a steep hill. + +They met their first surprise when they tried to cross the road to the +fort. Quite unexpectedly, they blundered into a small picket stationed +there. Its object was to challenge all passers-by during the dark +hours, and it formed part of the scheme already elaborated by the +authorities for a complete search of every foot of ground. But +Brazilian soldiers are apt to be lax in such matters. These men were +all lying down, and smoking. For a marvel, they happened to be silent +when Marcel led his cohort into the open road. They were listening, in +fact, to the crackling of the undergrowth, though utterly unsuspicious +of its cause, and the first intimation of danger was given by the +startling challenge: + +"Who goes there?" + +It was familiar enough to island ears, and the convict answered readily: + +"A friend!" + +"Several friends, it would seem," laughed a voice. "Let us see who +these friends are." + +Luckily, in response to De Sylva's sibilant order, most of the +_Andromeda's_ crew were hidden by the scrub from which they were about +to emerge. + +The soldiers rose, and strolled nearer leisurely. + +"Now!" shouted De Sylva, leaping forward. + +There was a wild scurry, two or three shots were fired, and Hozier +found himself on the ground gripping the throat of a bronzed man whom +he had shoved backward with a thrust, for he had no time to swing his +stake for a blow. He was aware of a pair of black eyes that glared up +at him horribly in the moonlight, of white teeth that shone under long +moustachios of peculiarly warlike aspect, but he felt the man was as +putty in his hands, and his fingers relaxed their pressure. + +He looked around. The fight was ended almost as soon as it began. The +soldiers, six in all, were on their backs in the roadway. Two of them +were dead. The Italian sailor had been shot through the body, and was +twisting in his last agony. + +The bloodshed was bad enough, but those shots were worse. They would +set the island in an uproar. The reports would be heard in town, +citadel, and fort, and the troops would now be on the _qui vive_. But +De Sylva was a man of resource. + +"Strip the prisoners!" he cried. "Take their arms and ammunition, but +bind them back to back with their belts." + +"Butt in there, me lads," vociferated Coke, who had accounted for one +of the Brazilians with an ax. "Step lively! Now we've got some +uniforms an' guns, we can rush that dam cittydel easy." + +Hozier was busy relieving his man of his coat. When the prone warrior +realized that he was not to be killed, he helped the operation, but +Philip was thinking more of Iris than of deeds of derring-do. + +"Why attempt to capture the citadel at all?" he asked. "Now that we +can make sufficient display, is there any reason that we should not go +straight for the launch?" + +"Hi, mister, d'ye 'ear that?" said Coke to De Sylva. "There's horse +sense in it. The whole bally place will be buzzin' like a nest of +wasps till they find out wot the shots meant." + +"I think it is a good suggestion," came the calm answer, "provided, +that is, the launch is in the harbor." + +"She's just as likely to be there now as later. If she isn't, we must +hark back to the first plan. Now, you swabs, all aboard! See to them +buckles afore you quit." + +A bell began to toll in the convict settlement. Lights appeared in +many houses scattered over the seaward slope. In truth, Fernando +Noronha had not been so badly scared since its garrison mutinied three +years earlier because arrears of pay were not forthcoming. It was +impossible to determine as yet whether or not the island steamer was at +her berth, so they could only push on boldly and trust to luck. +Hozier, never for an instant forgetting Iris, saw that Marcel still +remained with his leader. Under these new circumstances, it certainly +would be a piece of folly to send back until they were sure of the +launch. So he hurried after them, struggling the while into a coat far +too small, though fortunate in the fact that his captive's head was big +in proportion to the rest of his body. + +Some few men were met, running from the town to the main road where +they had located the shooting. Each breathlessly demanded news, and +was forthwith given most disconcerting information by a savage blow. +The _Andromeda_ had received no quarter, and her crew retaliated now. +They did not deliberately murder anyone, but they took good care that +none of those whom they encountered would be in a condition to work +mischief until the night was ended. + +It was a peculiar and exasperating fact that although they were +descending a steep incline to the harbor the presence of trees and +houses rendered it impossible to see the actual landing-place. Hence, +there was no course open but to race on at the utmost speed, though De +Sylva was careful to keep his small force compact, and its pace was +necessarily that of its slowest members. Among these was Coke, who had +never walked so far since he was granted a captain's certificate. He +swore copiously as he lumbered along, and, what between shortness of +breath and his tight boots and clothing, the latter disability being +added to by a ridiculously inadequate Brazilian tunic, he was barely +able to reach the water's edge. + +Happily, the launch was there, moored alongside a small quay. From the +nearest building it was necessary to cross a low wharf some fifty yards +in width, and De Sylva's whispered commands could not restrain the +eager men when escape appeared no longer problematical but assured. +They broke, and ran, an almost fatal thing, as it happened, since the +soldiers whom Philip had seen from the rock were still on board. One +of them noticed the inexplicable disorder among a body of men some of +whom resembled his own comrades. He had heard the firing, and was +discussing it with others when this strange thing happened. + +He challenged. San Benavides answered, but his voice was shrill and +unofficer-like. + +The engines were started. A man leaped to the wharf. He was in the +act of casting a mooring rope off a fixed capstan when De Sylva shot +him between the shoulder-blades. + +"On board, all of you!" shrieked the ex-President in a frenzy. + +"At 'em, boys!" gasped Coke, though scarce able to stagger another foot. + +The men needed no bidding. Sheets of flame leaped from the vessel's +deck as the soldiers seized their rifles and fired point-blank at these +mysterious assailants who spoke in a foreign language. But flame alone +could not stop that desperate attack. Some fell, but the survivors +sprang at the Brazilians like famished wolves on their prey. There was +no more shooting. Men grappled and fell, some into the water, others +on deck, or they sprawled over the hatch and wrought in frantic +struggle in the narrow cabin. The fight did not last many seconds. An +engineer, finding a lever and throttle valve, roared to a sailor to +take the wheel, and already the launch was curving seaward when Hozier +shouted: + +"Where is Marcel?" + +"Lyin' dead on the wharf," said Watts. + +"Are you certain?" + +"He was alongside me, an' 'e threw is 'ands up, an' dropped like a shot +rabbit." + +"Then who has gone for Miss Yorke?" + +"No one. D'ye think that this d--d President cares for anybody but +hisself?" + +Philip felt the deck throbbing with the pulsations of the screw. The +lights on shore were gliding by. The launch was leaving Fernando +Noronha, and Iris was waiting in that wretched hut beyond the hill, +waiting for the summons that would not reach her, for Marcel was dead, +and Domingo, the one other man who could have gone to her, was lying in +the cabin with three ribs broken and a collar-bone fractured. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +WHEREIN CERTAIN PEOPLE MEET UNEXPECTEDLY + +Iris came back from the void to find herself lying on a truckle bed in +a dimly-lighted hovel. A cotton wick flickered in a small lamp of the +old Roman type. It was consuming a crude variety of castor oil, and +its gamboge-colored flame clothed the smoke-darkened rafters and mud +walls in somber yet vivid tints that would have gladdened the heart of +a Rubens. This scenic effect, admirable to an artist, was lost on a +girl waking in affright and startled by unfamiliar surroundings. She +gazed up with uncomprehending eyes at two brown-skinned women bending +over her. + +One, the elder, was chafing her hands; the other, a tall, graceful +girl, was stirring something in an earthenware vessel. She heard the +girl murmur joyfully: + +"Gracas a Deus, elh' abria lhes olhas!" + +Iris was still wandering in that strange borderland guarded by unknown +forces that lies between conscious life and the sleep that is so close +of kin to death. If in full possession of her senses, she might not +have caught the drift of the sentence, since it was spoken in a +guttural patois. But now she understood beyond cavil that because she +had opened her eyes, the girl was giving thanks to the Deity. The +first definite though bewildering notion that perplexed her faculties, +at once clouded and unnaturally clear, was an astonished acceptance of +the fact that she knew what the strange girl had said, though the +phrase only remotely resembled its Spanish equivalent. She gathered +its exact meaning, word for word, and it was all the more surprising +that both women should smile and say something quite incomprehensible +as soon as Iris lifted herself on an elbow and asked in English: + +"Where am I? How did I come here?" + +[Illustration: "How did I come here?"] + +Then she remembered, and memory brought a feeling of helplessness not +wholly devoid of self-reproach. It was bad enough that her presence +should add so greatly to the dangers besetting her friends; it was far +worse that she should have fainted at the very moment when such +weakness might well prove fatal to them. + +Why did she faint? Ah! A lively blush chased the pallor from her +cheeks, and a few strenuous heartbeats restored animation to her limbs. +Of course, in thinking that she had yielded solely to the stress of +surcharged emotions, Iris was mistaken. What she really needed was +food. A young woman of perfect physique, and dowered with the best of +health, does not collapse into unconsciousness because a young man +embraces her, and each at the same moment makes the blissful discovery +that the wide world contains no other individual of supreme importance. +Iris's great-grandmother might have "swooned" under such +circumstances--not so Iris, who fainted simply because of the strain +imposed by failure to eat the queer fare provided by De Sylva and his +associates. She hardly realized how hungry she was until the girl +handed her the bowl, which contained a couple of eggs beaten up in +milk, while small quantities of rum and sugar-cane juice made the +compound palatable. + +"Bom!" said the girl, "bebida, senhora!" + +It certainly was good, and the senhora drank it with avidity, the +mixture being excellent diet for one who had eaten nothing except an +over-ripe banana during thirty hours. Indeed, it would be no +exaggeration to extend that period considerably. Iris had left +practically untouched the meals brought her by the steward during the +gale, and the early morning cup of coffee, which would have proved most +grateful after a storm-tossed night, was an impossible achievement +owing to the lack of water. + +So Iris tackled the contents of the bowl with a vigorous appetite oddly +at variance with the seeming weakness that ended in a prolonged +fainting fit, and the hospitable Brazilians, to whom this fair English +girl was a revelation in feature and clothing, bestirred themselves to +provide further dainties. But, excepting some fruit, Iris had the +wisdom to refuse other food just then. Her thoughts were rapidly +becoming coherent, and she realized that a heavy meal might be +absolutely disastrous. If the men made good their project she would be +called on within an hour to cross the island. It seemed reasonable +that, hungry though she was, she would be better fitted to climb the +island hills at a fast pace if she ate sparingly. Still, she longed +for a drink of water, and taxed her small stock of Spanish to make +known her desire. + +"Agua, senhora," she said with a smile, and the delight of mother and +daughter was great, since they thought she could speak their language. + +Therein, of course, they were disappointed, but not more so than Iris +when she tasted the brackish fluid alone procurable on the south coast +of Fernando Noronha. That was a fortunate thing in itself. Only those +who have endured real thirst can tell how hard it is to refrain from +drinking deeply when water is ultimately obtained; but the mixture of +milk and eggs had already soothed her parched mouth and palate, and she +quickly detected an unpleasantly salt flavor in the beverage they gave +her. + +Then she set herself to discover her whereabouts. The women were eager +to impart information, but, alas, Iris's brain had regained its +every-day limitations, and she could make no sense of their words. At +last, seeing that the door was barred and the hut was innocent of any +other opening, she stood upright, and signified by a gesture that she +wished to go out. There could be no mistaking the distress, even the +positive alarm, created by this demand. The girl clasped her hands in +entreaty, and the older woman evidently tried most earnestly to +dissuade her visitor from a proceeding fraught with utmost danger. + +Being quite certain that they meant to be friendly, Iris sat down +again. She knew, of course, that Marcel would come for her, if +possible, and the relief displayed by her unknown entertainers was so +marked that she resolved to await his appearance quietly. She would +not abandon hope till daylight crept through the chinks of the hut. +How soon that might be she could not tell. It seemed but a few seconds +since she felt Hozier's arms around her, since her lips met his in a +passionate kiss. But, meanwhile, someone had brought her here. Her +dress, though damp, was not sopping wet. Even the slight token of the +beaten eggs showed how time must have sped while she was lying there +oblivious of everything. She tried again to question the women, and +fancied that they understood her partly, as she caught the words "meia +noite," but it was beyond her powers to ascertain whether they meant +that she had come there at midnight, or were actually telling her the +hour. + +At any rate, they were most anxious for her well-being. The island +housewife produced another dish, smiled reassuringly, and said, +"Manioc--bom," repeating the phrase several times. The compound looked +appetizing, and Iris ate a little. She discovered at once that it was +tapioca, but her new acquaintance suggested "cassava" as an +alternative. The girl, however, nodded cheerfully. She had heard the +gentry at Fort San Antonio call it tapioca, and her convict father +cultivated some of the finer variety of manioc for the officers' mess. + +"Ah," sighed Iris, smiling wistfully, "I am making progress in your +language, slow but sure. But please don't give me any mangroves." + +The girl apparently was quite fascinated by the sound of English. She +began to chatter to her mother at an amazing rate, trying repeatedly to +imitate the hissing sound which the Latin races always perceive in +Anglo-Saxon speech. Her mother reproved her instantly. To make +amends, the girl offered Iris a fine pomegranate. Iris, of course, +lost nothing of this bit of by-play. It was almost the first touch of +nature that she had discovered among the amazing inhabitants of +Fernando Noronha. + +These small amenities helped to pass the time, but Iris soon noted an +air of suspense in the older woman's attitude. Though mindful of her +guest's comfort, Luisa Gomez had ever a keen ear for external sounds. +In all probability, she was disturbed by the distant reports of +fire-arms, and it was a rare instance of innate good-breeding that she +did not alarm her guest by calling attention to them. Iris, amid such +novel surroundings, could not distinguish one noise from another. +Night-birds screamed hideously in the trees without; a host of crickets +kept up an incessant chorus in the undergrowth; the intermittent +roaring of breakers on the rocks invaded the narrow creek. The medley +puzzled Iris, but the island woman well knew that stirring events were +being enacted on the other side of the hill. Her husband was there--he +had, indeed, prepared a careful alibi since Marcel visited him--and +wives are apt to feel worried if husbands are abroad when bullets are +flying. + +So, while the girl, Manoela, was furtively appraising the clothing worn +by Iris, and wondering how it came to pass that in some parts of the +world there existed grand ladies who wore real cloth dresses, and lace +embroidered under-skirts, and silk stockings, and shining leather +boots--wore them, too, with as much careless ease as one draped one's +self in coarse hempen skirt and shawl in Fernando Noronha--her mother +was listening ever for hasty footsteps among the trailing vines. + +At last, with a muttered prayer, she went to the door, and unfastened +the stout wooden staple that prevented intruders from entering unbidden. + +It was dark without. Dense black clouds veiled the moon, and a gust of +wind moaned up the creek in presage of a tropical storm. Someone +approached. + +"Is that you, Manoel?" asked Luisa Gomez in a hushed voice. + +There was no answer. The woman drew back. She would have closed the +door, but a slim, active figure sprang across the threshold. She +shrieked in terror. The new-comer was a Brazilian officer, one of +those glittering beings whom she had seen lounging outside the +Prindio[1] during her rare visits to the town. She was hoping to greet +her Manoel, she half expected to find Marcel, but to be faced by an +officer was the last thing she had thought of. In abject fear, she +broke into a wild appeal to the Virgin; the officer merely laughed, +though not loudly. + +"Be not afraid, senhora--I am a friend," he said with quiet confidence, +and the fact that he addressed her so courteously was a wondrously +soothing thing in itself. But he raised a fresh wave of dread in her +soul when he peered into the cabin and spoke words she did not +understand. + +"I think you are here, mademoiselle," he said in French. "I am come to +share your retreat for a little while. Perchance by daybreak I may +arrive at some plan. At present, you and I are in difficulties, is it +not?" + +Iris recognized the voluble, jerky speech. A wild foreboding gripped +her heart until she was like to shudder under its fierce anguish. + +"You, Captain San Benavides?" she asked, and her utterance was +unnaturally calm. + +"I, mademoiselle," he said, "and, alas! I am alone. May I come in? +It is not well to show a light at this hour, seeing that the island is +overrun with infuriated soldiers." + +The concluding sentence was addressed to Luisa Gomez in Portuguese. +Realizing instinctively that the man came as a friend, she stood aside, +trembling, on the verge of tears. He entered, and the door was closed +behind him. The yellow gleam of the lamp fell on his smart uniform, +and gilded the steel scabbard of his sword. In that dim interior the +signs of his three days' sojourn on Grand-pere were not in evidence, +and he had not been harmed during the struggle on the main road or in +the rush for the launch. + +He doffed his rakish-looking kepi and bowed low before Iris. Perhaps +the white misery in her face touched him more deeply than he had +counted on. Be that as it may, a note of genuine sympathy vibrated in +his voice as he said: + +"I am the only man who escaped, mademoiselle. The others? Well, it is +war, and war is a lottery." + +"Do you mean that they have been killed, all killed?" she murmured with +a pitiful sob. + +"I--I think so." + +"You . . . think? Do you not know?" + +He sighed. His hand sought an empty cigarette case. Such was the +correct military air, he fancied--to treat misfortunes rather as jests. +He frowned because the case was empty, but smiled at Iris. + +"It is so hard, mademoiselle, when one speaks these things in a strange +tongue. Permit me to explain that which has arrived. We encountered a +picket, and surprised it. Having secured some weapons and +accouterments, we hastened to the quay, where was moored the little +steamship. Unhappily, she was crowded with soldiers. They fired, and +there was a short fight. I was knocked down, and, what do you call +it?--_etourdi_--while one might count ten. I rose, half blinded, and +what do I see? The vessel leaving the quay--full of men engaged in +combat, while, just beyond the point, a warship is signaling her +arrival. It was a Brazilian warship, mademoiselle. She showed two red +rockets followed by a white one. It was only a matter of minutes +before she met the little steamship. I tell you that it was bad luck, +that--a vile blow. I was angry, yes. I stamp my foot and say foolish +things. Then I run!" + +Iris made no reply. She hid her face in her hands. She could frame no +more questions. San Benavides was trying to tell her that Hozier and +the rest had been overwhelmed by fate at the very instant escape seemed +to be within reach. The Brazilian, probably because of difficulties +that beset him in using a foreign language, did not make it clear that +he had flung himself flat in the dust when he heard the order to fire +given by someone on board the launch. He said nothing of a tragic +incident wherein Marcel, shot through the lungs, fell over him, and he, +San Benavides, mistaking the convict for an assailant, wrestled +furiously with a dying man. He even forgot to state that had he +charged home with the others, he would either have met a bullet or +gained the deck of the launch, and that his failure to reach the vessel +was due to his own careful self-respect. For San Benavides was not a +coward. He could be brave spectacularly, but he had no stomach for a +fight in the dark, when stark hazard chooses some to triumph and some +to die. That sort of devilish courage might be well enough for those +crude sailors; a Portuguese gentleman of high lineage and proved mettle +demanded a worthier field for his deeds of derring-do. Saperlotte! If +one had a cigarette one could talk more fluently! + +"Believe me, mademoiselle," he went on, speaking with a proud humility +that was creditable to his powers as an actor, "the tears came to my +eyes when I understood what had happened. For myself, what do I care? +I would gladly have given my life to save my brave companions. But I +thought of you, solitary, waiting here in distress, so I hurried into +the village, and my uniform secured me from interruption until I was +able to leave the road and cross the hills." + +Then the lightning of a woman's intuition pierced the abyss of despair. +Surely there were curious blanks in this thrilling narrative. As was +her way when thoroughly aroused, Iris stood up and seized San Benavides +almost roughly by the arm. Her distraught eyes searched his face with +a pathetic earnestness. + +"Why do you think that the launch did not get away?" she cried. "It +was dark. The moon might have been in shadow. If the launch met the +warship and was seen, there must have been firing----" + +"Chere mademoiselle, there was much firing," he protested. + +"At sea?" + +The words came dully. She was stricken again, even more shrewdly. The +gloom was closing in on her, yet she forced herself to drag the truth +from his unwilling lips. + +"Yes. Of course, I could not wait there in that open place. I was +compelled to seek shelter. Troops were running from town and citadel. +I avoided them by a miracle. And my sole concern then was your safety." + +"Oh, my safety!" she wailed brokenly. "How does it avail me that my +friends should be slain? Why was I not with them? I would rather have +died as they died than live in the knowledge that I was the cause of +their death." + +San Benavides essayed a confidential hand on her shoulder. She shrank +from him; he was not pleased but he purred amiably: + +"Mademoiselle is profoundly unhappy. Under such circumstances one says +things that are unmerited, is it not? If anyone is to blame, it is my +wretched country, which cannot settle its political affairs without +bloodshed. Ah, mademoiselle, I weep with you, and tender you my most +respectful homage." + +A deluge of tropical rain beat on the hut with a sudden fury. +Conversation at once became difficult, nearly impossible. Iris threw +herself back on the trestle in a passion of grief that rivaled the +outer tempest. San Benavides, by sheer force of habit, dusted his +clothes before sitting on the chair brought by Luisa Gomez. The +woman's frightened gaze had dwelt on Iris and him alternately while +they spoke. She understood no word that was said, but she gathered +that the news brought by this handsome officer was tragic, woeful, +something that would wring the heartstrings. + +"Was there fighting, senhor?" she asked, close to his ear, her voice +pitched in a key that conquered the storm. + +He nodded. He was very tired, this dandy; now that Iris gave no +further heed to him, he was troubled by the prospects of the coming day. + +"Were they soldiers who fought?" + +He nodded again. + +"No islanders?" + +Then he raised a hand in protest, though he laughed softly. + +"Your good man is safe, senhora," he said. "Marcel told him to go to +Sueste and tend his cattle. When he comes home it will be his duty to +inform the Governor that we are here. He will be rewarded, not +punished. _Sangue de Deus_! I may be shot at dawn. I pray you, let +me rest a while." + +The girl, Manoela, weeping out of sympathy, crept to Iris's side and +gently stroked her hair. Like her mother, she could only guess that +the English lady's friends were captured, perhaps dead. Even her +limited experience of life's vicissitudes had taught her what short +shrift was given to those who defied authority. The Republic of Brazil +does not permit its criminals to be executed, but it shows no mercy to +rebels. Manoela, of course, believed that the Englishmen were helping +the imprisoned Dom Corria to regain power. She remembered how a mutiny +was once crushed on the island, and her eyes streamed. + +Meanwhile, Luisa Gomez was touched by the good-looking soldier's +plight. Never, since she came to Fernando Noronha to rejoin her +convict husband, had she been addressed so politely by any member of +the military caste. The manners of the officers of the detachment at +Fort San Antonio were not to be compared with those of Captain San +Benavides. Her heart went out to him. + +"We must try to help you, Senhor Capitano," she said. "If the others +are dead or taken, you may not be missed." + +He threw out his hands in an eloquent gesture. Life or death was a +matter of complete indifference to him, it implied. + +"We shall know in the morning," he said. "Have you any cigarettes? A +milrei[2] for a cigarette!" + +"But listen, senhor. Why not take off your uniform and dress in my +clothes? You can cut off your mustaches, and wear a mantilha over your +face, and we will keep you here until there is a chance of reaching a +ship. Certainly that is better than being shot." + +He glanced at Iris. Vanity being his first consideration, it is +probable that he would have refused to be made ridiculous in her eyes, +had not a knock on the door galvanized him into a fever of fright. He +sprang up and glared wildly around for some means of eluding the +threatened scrutiny of a search party. Luisa Gomez flung him a rough +skirt and a shawl. He huddled into a corner near the bed,--in such +wise that the figures of Iris and Manoela would cloak the rays of the +lamp,--placed his drawn sword across his knees, and draped the two +garments over his head and limbs. + +Then, greatly agitated, but not daring to refuse admittance to the +dreaded soldiery, the woman unbarred the door. A man staggered in. He +was alone, and a swirl of wind and rain caused the lamp to flicker so +madly that no one could distinguish his features until the door was +closed again. + +But Iris knew him. Though her eyes were dim with tears, though the +new-comer carried a broken gun in his hands, and his face was +blood-stained, she knew. + +With a shriek that dismayed the other women--who could not guess that +joy is more boisterous than sorrow, she leaped up and threw her arms +around him. + +"Oh, Philip, Philip!" she sobbed. "He told me you were dead . . . and +I believed him!" + +The manner of her greeting was delightful to one who had faced death +for her sake many times during the past hour, yet Hozier was so +surprised by its warmth that he could find never a word at the moment. +But he had the good sense to throw aside the shattered rifle and return +her embrace with interest. Long ago exhausted in body, his mind reeled +now under the bewildering knowledge that this most gracious woman did +truly love him. When they parted in that same squalid hut at midnight, +he took with him the intoxication of her kiss. Yet he scarce brought +himself to believe that the night's happenings were real, or that they +two would ever meet again on earth. And now, here was Iris quivering +against his breast. He could feel the beating of her heart. The +perfume of her hair was as incense in his nostrils. She was clinging +to him as if they had loved through all eternity. No wonder he could +not speak. Had he uttered a syllable, he must have broken down like +the girl herself. + +San Benavides supplied a timely tonic. + +Throwing aside the rags which covered him, he tried to rise. Philip +caught a glimpse of the uniform, the sheen of the naked sword. He was +about to tear himself from Iris's clasp and spring at this new enemy +when the Brazilian spoke. + +"Mil diabos!" he cried in a rage, "this cursed Inglez still lives, and +here am I posing before him like an old hag." + +His voice alone saved him from being pinned to the floor by a man who +had adopted no light measures with others of his countrymen during the +past half-hour, as the dented gun-barrel, minus its stock, well showed. +But the captain's mortified fury helped to restore Philip's sanity. +Lifting Iris's glowing face to his own, he whispered: + +"Tell me, sweetheart, how comes it that our Brazilian friend is here?" + +"He ran away when some shots were fired," which was rather unfair of +Iris. "He said the launch had been sunk by a man-of-war----" + +"But he is wrong. I saw no man-of-war. We captured the launch. By +this time she is well out to sea. Unfortunately, Marcel was killed, +and Domingo badly wounded. There was no one to come for you, so I +jumped overboard and swam ashore. I had to fight my way here, and it +will soon be known that there are some of us left on the island. I +thought that perhaps I might take you back to the Grand-pere cavern. +These people may give us food. I have some few sovereigns in my +pocket. . . ." + +"Oh, yes, yes!" She was excited now and radiantly happy. "Of course, +Captain San Benavides must accompany us. He says the soldiers will +shoot him if they capture him. I, too, have money. Let me ask him to +explain matters to this dear woman and her daughter. They have been +more than kind to me already." + +She turned to the sulky San Benavides and told him what Hozier had +suggested. He brightened at that, and began a voluble speech to Luisa +Gomez. Interrupting himself, he inquired, in French, how Hozier +proposed to reach the rock. + +"On a catamaran. There are two on the beach, and I can handle one of +them all right," said Philip. "But what is this yarn of a warship? +When last I sighted the launch she was standing out of the harbor, and +the first clouds of the storm helped to screen her from the citadel." + +Iris interpreted. San Benavides repeated his story of the rockets. In +her present tumult, the girl forgot the touch of realism with regard to +the firing that he had heard. Certainly there was a good deal of +promiscuous rifle-shooting after the departure of the launch, but +warships use cannon to enforce their demands, and the boom of a big gun +had not woke the echoes of Fernando Noronha that night. Philip deemed +the present no time for argument; he despised San Benavides, and gave +no credence to him. Just now the Brazilian was an evil that must be +endured. + +Luisa Gomez promised to help in every possible way. Her eyes sparkled +at the sight of gold, but the poor woman would have assisted them out +of sheer pity. Nevertheless, the gift of a couple of sovereigns, +backed by the promise of many more if her husband devoted himself to +their service, spurred her to a frenzy of activity. + +There was not a moment to be lost. The squall had spent itself, and a +peep through the chinks of the door showed that the moon would quickly +be in evidence again. It was essential that they should cross the +channel while the scattering clouds still dimmed her brightness; so +Manoela and her mother collected such store of food, and milk, and +water, as they could lay hands on. Well laden, all five hastened to +the creek, and Hozier, Iris, and San Benavides, boarded the larger of +the two catamarans. The strong wind had partly dissipated the noisome +odor, but it was still perceptible. Iris was sure she would never like +mangroves. + +Having a degree of confidence in the queer craft that was lacking +during their earlier voyage, they did not hesitate to stack jars and +baskets against the curved prow in such a manner that the eatables +would not become soaked with salt water. Then, after a hasty farewell, +during which Iris showed her gratitude to those kindly peasants by a +hug and a kiss, Hozier pushed off and tried to guide the catamaran as +Marcel had done. + +Oddly enough, he and Iris now saw the majestic outlines of the +Grand-pere for the first time. The great rock rose above the water +like some immense Gothic cathedral. The illusion was heightened by a +giant spire that towered grandly from the center of the islet. It +looked a shrine built by nature in honor of its Creator, a true temple +of the infinite, and the semblance was no illusion to these three +castaways, since they regarded it as a sanctuary to which alone, under +Heaven, they might owe their lives. Hozier, of course, realized that +there was a certain element of risk in returning there. The island +authorities would surely endeavor to find out where the party of +desperadoes had lain _perdu_ between the sinking of the ship and the +attack on the picket. But the ill-starred Marcel had been confident +that none could land on the rock who was not acquainted with the +intricacies of the approach, and Philip was content to trust to the +reef-guarded passage rather than seek shelter on the mainland. + +Once embarked in the fairway, the management of the catamaran occupied +his mind to the complete exclusion of all other problems. He was +puzzled by the discovery that the awkward craft was traveling too far +to the westward, until he remembered that the tide had turned, and that +the current was either slack or running in the opposite direction. +Changing the paddle to the starboard side, he soon corrected this +deviation in the route. But he had been carried already a hundred +yards or more out of the straight line. To reach the two pointed rocks +that marked the entrance to the secret channel, he was obliged to creep +back along the whole shoreward face of the Grand-pere; and to this +accident was due a surprise that ranked high in a day replete with +marvels. + +When the catamaran rounded the last outlying crag, and they were all +straining their eyes to find the sentinel pillars, they became aware +that a small boat was being pulled cautiously toward them from the +opposite side of the rock. + +Iris gasped. She heard Hozier mutter under his breath, while San +Benavides revealed his dismay by an oath and a convulsive tightening of +the hands that rested on the girl's shoulders. + +Hozier strove with a few desperate strokes of the paddle to reach the +shadows of the passage before the catamaran was seen by the boat's +occupants. He might have succeeded. Many things can happen at night +and on the sea--strange escapades and hair's-breadth 'scapes--thrills +denied to stay-at-homes dwelling in cities, who seldom venture beyond a +lighted area. But there was even a greater probability that the +unwieldy catamaran might be caught by the swell and dashed side-long +against one of the half-submerged rocks that thrust their black fangs +above the water. + +Happily, they were spared either alternative. At the very instant that +their lot must be put to the test of chance, Coke's hoarse accents came +to their incredulous ears. + +"Let her go, Olsen," he was growling. "We've a clear course now, an' +that dam moon will spile everything if we're spotted." + +In this instance hearing was believing, and Philip was the first to +guess what had actually occurred. + +"Boat ahoy, skipper!" he sang out in a joyous hail. + +Coke stood up. He glared hard at the reef. + +"Did ye 'ear it?" he cried to De Sylva, who was steering. "Sink me, I +'ope I ain't a copyin' pore ole Watts, but if that wasn't Hozier's +voice I'm goin' dotty." + +"It's all right, skipper," said Philip, sending the catamaran ahead +with a mighty sweep. "Miss Yorke is here--Captain San Benavides, too. +I was sure you would look for us if you cleared the harbor safely." + +Then Coke proclaimed his sentiments in the approved ritual of the high +seas, while the big Norseman at the oars swung the boat's head round +until both craft were traveling in company to the waiting launch. But +before anything in the nature of an explanation was forthcoming from +the occupants of either the boat or the catamaran, a broad beam of +white light swept over the crest of the island from north to south. It +disappeared, to return more slowly, until it rested on Rat Island, at +the extreme northwest of the group. It remained steady there, showing +a wild panorama of rocky heights and tumbling sea. + +"A search-light, by G--d!" growled Coke. + +"Then there really _was_ a warship," murmured Iris. + +"Ha!" said San Benavides, and his tone was almost gratified, for he had +gathered that Hozier was skeptical when told of the rockets. But in +that respect, at least, he was not mistaken. A man-of-war had entered +the roadstead, and her powerful lamp was now scouring sea and coast for +the missing launch. And in that moment of fresh peril it was forgotten +by all but one of the men who had survived so many dangers since the +sun last gilded the peak of Fernando Noronha, that were it not for Iris +having been left behind, and Philip's mad plunge overboard to go to +her, and the point-blank refusal of the _Andromeda's_ captain and crew +to put to sea without an effort to save the pair of them, the launch +would not now be hidden behind the black mass of the Grand-pere rock. + +Nevertheless, the fact was patent. Had the little vessel sailed to the +west, in the assumption that her only feasible course lay in that +direction, she must have been discovered by the cruiser's far-seeing +eye. And what that meant needed no words. The bones of the +_Andromeda_ supplied testimony at once silent and all-sufficing. + + + +[1] The Governor's residence. + +[2] The Brazilian milrei is worth 55 cents, or 2s. 3 1/2d. The +Portuguese is worth only one-tenth of a cent. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +ON THE HIGH SEAS + +Again did that awe-inspiring wand of light describe a great arc in the +sky. But it was plain to be seen that it sprang from an altered base. +The warship was in motion. She was about to steam around the group of +islands. + +Boat and catamaran raced at once for the launch; a Babel of strange +oaths jarred the brooding silence; alarm, almost panic, stirred men's +hearts and bubbled forth in wild speech. Under pressure of this new +peril the instinct of self-preservation burst the bonds of discipline. +The first law of nature may be disregarded by heroes, but the +_Andromeda's_ crew were just common sailormen, who did not know when +they were heroic and did not care if they were deemed bestial. It may +be urged that they had suffered much. Out of a ship's company of +twenty-two exactly one half had survived the day's rigors. Domingo was +lying in the cabin, too seriously injured to be concerned whether he +lived or died. With him were two wounded soldiers, happily saved from +the ruthless ferocity of the fight alongside the wharf, when every +Brazilian in uniform found on deck was flung off to sink or swim as he +was best able. Indeed, it was during this phase of the struggle that +Hozier managed to scramble on shore unnoticed. He landed at the same +moment as enemies who were blind to every other consideration except +their own dangerous plight. + +Small wonder, then, if authority was cast to the winds now that capture +seemed to be unavoidable. Coke tried to still the tumult by thundering +a command to Norrie, second engineer, to throw open the throttle valve. +He took the wheel in person, meaning to shape a course due east, and +thus endeavor to avoid the cruiser's baleful glance. But some of the +men realized instantly that this expedient would fail. They were in no +mood for half measures. Norrie felt a bayonet under his left +shoulder-blade. Coke was roared down, and a hoarse voice growled: + +"Me for the tall timbers, maties. It's each one for hisself now." + +"Aye, aye!" came the chorus . . . "Shove her ashore! . . . Give us a +chanst there. . . We've none at sea." + +Dom Corria, being something of a fatalist, did not interfere. On this +cockleshell of a craft, among these rude spirits of alien races, he was +powerless. On land a diplomat and strategist of high order, here he +was a cipher. Moreover, he was beaten to his knees, and he knew it. +The arrival of the warship had upset his calculations. After many +months' planning of flight, he had been forced, by the events of a few +hours, into an aggressive campaign. His little cohort had done +wonders, it is true, but of what avail were these ill-equipped +stalwarts against a fast-moving fort, armed with heavy guns and +propelled by thousands of steam horses? None, absolutely none. Dom +Corria drew San Benavides aside. + +"All is ended!" he said quietly. "We shall never see Brazil again, +Salvador _meu_! Carmela must find another lover, it seems." + +Salvador did not appear to be specially troubled by the new quest +imposed on Carmela, but he was much perturbed by an uproar betokening +disunion among the men who had already saved his life twice. He was +beginning to believe in them. It was night, and they possessed a +vessel under steam. Why did they not hurry into the obscurity of the +smooth dark plain that looked so inviting? + +It was left to Hozier to solve a problem that threatened to develop +into a disastrous brawl. Danger sharpens a brave man's wits, but love +makes him fey. To succor Iris was now his sole concern. He swung a +couple of the excited sailors out of his way and managed to stem the +torrent of Coke's futile curses. + +"Give in to them!" he cried eagerly. "Tell them they are going ashore +in the creek. That will stop the racket. If they listen to me, I can +still find a means of escape." + +"Avast yelpin', you swabs!" bellowed Coke. "D'ye want to let every +bally sojer on the island know where you are? We're makin' for the +creek. Will _that_ please you? Now, Mr. Norrie, let her rip!" + +The head of the launch swung toward the protecting shadows. The men +knew the bearings of Cotton-Tree Bay, so the angry voices yielded to +selfish thought. If it was to be _sauve qui peut_ when the vessel +grounded, there was ample room for thought, seeing that each man's +probable fate would be that of a mad dog. + +Hozier seized the precious respite. He spoke loudly enough that all +should hear, and he began with a rebuke. + +"I am sorry that those of us who are left should have disgraced the +fine record set up by the _Andromeda's_ crew since the ship struck," he +said. "Your messmates who fell fighting would hardly believe St. Peter +himself if he told them that we were on the verge of open mutiny. I am +ashamed of you. Let us have no more of that sort of thing. Sink or +swim, we must pull together." + +There was some discordant muttering, but he gained one outspoken +adherent. + +"Bully for you!" said the man who had suggested tree-climbing as an +expedient. + +"Shut up!" was the wrathful answer. "You've made plenty of row +already. I only hope you have not attracted attention on the island. +You may not have been heard, owing to the disturbance on the other +side, but no thanks to any of you for that. Our skipper's first notion +was to put to sea. Wasn't it natural? Do you want to be hunted over +Fernando Noronha at daybreak? But he would have seen the uselessness +of trying to slip the cruiser before the launch had gone a cable's +length. Now, here is a scheme that strikes me as workable. At any +rate, it offers a forlorn hope. There is a sharp bend in the creek +just where the tidal water ends. I fancy the launch will float a +little higher up, but we must risk it. We will take her in, unship the +mast, tie a few boughs and vines on the funnel, and not twenty +search-lights will find us." + +A rumble of approving murmurs showed that he had scotched the dragon. +It was even ready to become subservient again. He continued rapidly: + +"No vessel of deep draught can come close in shore from the east. The +cruiser will have the Grand-pere rock abeam within an hour, but, to +make sure, two of you will climb the ridge and watch her movements. +The rest will load up every available inch of space with wood and water +and food. How can we win clear of Fernando Noronha without fuel? It +is a hundred to one that the launch would not steam twenty miles on her +present coal supply. Such as it is, we must keep it for an emergency, +even if we are compelled to tear up the deck and dismantle the cabin." + +"Talks like a book!" snorted Coke, and some of the men grinned +sheepishly. + +Hozier was coolly reminding them of those vital things which frenzy had +failed wholly to take into account. Confidence was reborn in them. +They wanted to cheer this fearless young officer who seemed to forget +nothing, but the island promontories were so close at hand that +perforce they were dumb. + +The simplicity of the project was its best recommendation. Sailors +themselves, the mind of the cruiser's commander was laid bare to them. +He would soon be convinced that the launch had passed him in the dark +ere the search-light looked out over the sea. Long before the circuit +of Fernando Noronha was completed he would be itching to rush at top +speed along the straight line to Pernambuco. It was a bold thing, too, +to land on the island and stock their vessel for a voyage, the end of +which no man could foresee. The dare-devil notion fascinated them. In +that instant, the _Andromeda's_ crew returned to their allegiance, +which was as well, since it was fated to be stiffly tested many times +ere they were reported inside 1 degree West again. + +Unfortunately, Coke was in a raging temper. Never before had his +supremacy been challenged. Having lost control over his men, he owed +its restoration to Hozier. Such a fact was gall and wormwood to a man +of his character, and he was mean-souled enough to be vindictive. +Promising himself the future joy of pounding to a jelly the features of +every mother's son among the forecastle hands, he began to snarl his +orders. + +"Watts, you must leg it to the sky-line, an' pipe the cruiser. Olsen, +you go, too, an' see that Mr. Watts doesn't find a brewery. Hozier, +p'raps you'd like to rig the mistletoe. Miss Yorke 'll 'elp, I'm sure. +It's up to you, mister, an' his nibs with the sword, to parly-voo to +the other convicts about the grub. Is there a nigger's wood-pile +handy? If not, we must collar the hut. I'll take care of the stowage." + +He meant each jibe to hurt, and probably succeeded, but Watts was too +despondent, and Hozier and De Sylva too self-controlled, to say aught +that would add to their difficulties. Nevertheless, he was answered, +from a quarter whence retort was least expected. + +"You must modify your instructions, Captain Coke," said Iris with quiet +scorn. "It would be a shameful act to destroy the house of those who +befriended us. They gave freely of their stores, as you will see by +the supplies lashed to the catamaran, and will assist us further if +Senhor De Sylva appeals to them----" + +"You can safely leave that to me," broke in Dom Corria. + +But Iris was not to be placated thus easily. + +"I know that," she said. "I only wished Captain Coke to understand +that if he cannot make clear his meaning he should obey rather than +command." + +"The lady 'as 'ad the last word. Now let's get busy," sneered Coke. + +Hozier, who had not quitted his side since the incipient outbreak was +quelled, gripped his shoulder. + +"There is a pile of wood near the cottage," he said in Coke's ear. "I +saw it there. It must be paid for. Have you any money?" + +"A loose quid or two--no more." + +"A sovereign will be ample. Miss Yorke has already given the owners +two pounds." + +"Wot for?" + +"For their kindness. You are all there when it comes to a scrap, +skipper, but at most other times you ought to be muzzled. No, don't +talk now. We will discuss the point on some more suitable occasion, +when we can deal with it fully, and Miss Yorke is not present." + +Philip spoke in a whisper, but the low pitch of his voice did not +conceal its menace. He was longing to twine his fingers round Coke's +thick neck, and some hint of his desire was communicated by the clutch +of his hand. Coke shook himself free. He feared no man born, but it +would be folly to attack Hozier then, and he was not a fool. + +"Let go, you blank ijjit," he growled. "I've no grudge ag'in you. If +we pull out of this mess you'll 'ave to square matters wi' David Verity +an' that other ole ninny, Dickey Bulmer. She's promised to 'im, you +know. Told me so 'erself, so there's no mistake. I got me rag out, I +admit, an' 'oo wouldn't after bein' 'owled down by those swine forrard. +My godfather! Watch me put it over 'em w'en I get the chanst. Stop +'er, Norrie! There's plenty of way on 'er to round that bend." + +Hozier reflected that he had chosen an odd moment to quarrel with his +captain, whose mordant humor in the matter of the mistletoe was only +accentuated by his reference to Iris's reported engagement. The +pungent smell of the mangrove swamp was wafted now to his nostrils. It +brought a species of warning that the disagreeable conditions of life +in Fernando Noronha were yet active. It was not pleasant to be thus +suddenly reminded of pitfalls that might exist in England; meanwhile, +here was the launch thrusting her nose into the mud and shingle of this +malevolent island. + +To his further annoyance, San Benavides, who depended on his compatriot +for a summary of the latest scheme, asked Iris to accompany De Sylva +and himself to the hut. + +"They are stupid creatures, these peasants," he said. "When they see +you they will not be frightened." + +There was so much reason in the statement that Iris was a ready +volunteer. Soon all hands were at work, and it was due to the girl's +forethought that strips of linen were procured from Luisa Gomez, and +healing herbs applied to the cuts and bruises of the injured men. +Sylva was all for leaving the two soldiers on the island, but Coke's +sailor-like acumen prevented the commission of that blunder. + +"No, that will never do," he said, with irritating offhandness. "These +jokers will be found at daylight, an' they'll be able to say exactly +wot time we quit. The wimmin can make out they was scared stiff an' +darsent stir. It 'ud be different with the sojers. An' we ain't goin' +to have such a 'eart-breakin' start, even if the cruiser clears away +soon after two o'clock." + +"Where do you propose to make for?" + +"Where d'ye think, mister? Nor'-east by nor', to be sure, until we +sight some homeward-bound ship." + +There was a pause. The pair could talk unheard, since they were +standing on the bank, and the men were either loading firewood and +fruit and cassava, or stripping trees and vines to hide the +superstructure of the launch. + +"You mean to abandon everything, then?" said De Sylva. He seemed to be +watching the onward sweep of the search-light as the warship went to +the north. But Coke was shrewd. He felt that there was something +behind the words, and he suspected the ex-President's motives. + +"I don't see any 'elp for it," he answered. "Gord's trewth, wot is +there to abandon? I've lost me ship, an' me money, an' me papers, an' +'arf me men. Unless one was lookin' for trouble, this ain't no +treasure island, mister." + +"Yet it might be made one." + +"As how?" + +"Do you not realize how greatly the members of the present Government +fear my return to Brazil? Here, I am their prisoner, practically +friendless, almost alone. They dare not kill me by process of law, yet +they are moving heaven and earth to prevent my escape, or shoot me down +in the act. Why? Because they know that the people are longing to +hail me as President again. Suppose you and your men took me to +Pernambuco----" + +"S'pose hell!" snapped Coke. + +"Please listen. You can but refuse when you look at the facts fairly. +If, as I say, I were put ashore at Pernambuco, or at any other of half +a dozen ports I can name, I should be among my own followers. You, +Captain Coke, and every officer and man of your ship, and her owners, +and the relatives of those who have lost their lives, would not only be +paid all just claims by the new Government, but adequately rewarded. +In your own case, the recompense would be princely. But, assuming that +we board a vessel bound for Europe, what certainty have you that you +will ever receive a penny?" + +"Oh, reely, that's comin' it a bit thick, mister," growled Coke. + +"You believe I am exaggerating the difficulties of your position? Pray +consider. Your vessel is broken up. She was fired on while at anchor +on the wrong side of the island, on the very day selected for my +escape. You and your men manage to dodge the bullets, and, under my +leadership, assisted by Captain San Benavides, you overrun the place by +night, kill several soldiers, seize a launch, despoil peasants of their +crops and stores, and make off with a good deal of property belonging +to the Brazilian Government, not to mention the presence in your midst +of such a significant personage as myself. Speaking candidly, Senhor +Captain, what chance have you of convincing any international court of +your innocence? Who will believe that you were not a true filibuster? +That is what Brazil will say you are. How will you disprove it? In +any event, who will enforce your claims against my country? English +public opinion would never compel your Government to take action in +such an exceedingly doubtful case, now would it?" + +"If we was to try and land you in Brazil, we'd bust up our claim for +good an' all," muttered Coke. Though this was a powerful argument +against De Sylva's theory, it revealed certain qualms of perplexity. +The other man's brilliant eyes gleamed for an instant, but he guarded +his voice. He was in his element now. When words were weapons he +could vanquish a thousand such adversaries. + +"I think otherwise," he said slowly. "A judge might well hold that in +a small vessel like the launch you were entitled to make for the +nearest land. But I grant you that point; it is really immaterial. If +I fail, you lose everything. Accept my offer, and you have a +reasonable chance of winning a fortune." + +"Wot exactly is your offer?" + +"Ample compensation officially. Five thousand pounds to you in person." + +"Five thousand!" Coke cleared a throat husky with doubt. He scratched +his head under the absurd-looking kepi which he was still wearing; for +a moment, his lips set in grim calculation. "That 'ud make things +pretty easy for the missus an' the girls," he muttered. "An' there's +no new ship for me w'en Dickey Bulmer cocks 'is eye at Hozier. It's a +moral there'll be a holy row between 'im an' David. . . . D'ye mean +it, mister?" + +"Even if I fail, and my life is spared, I will pay you the money out of +my own private funds," was the vehement reply. + +"Well, well, leave the job to me. You sawr 'ow them tinkers jibbed +just now. I must 'umor 'em a bit, d--n 'em. But wait till the next +time some of 'em ships under me. Lord luv' a duck, won't I skin 'em? +Not 'arf!" + +De Sylva, with all his admirable command of English, could not follow +the Coke variety in its careless freedom. But he knew his man. Though +bewildered by strange names and stranger words, he was alive to the +significance of things being made easy "for the missus and the girls." +So, even this gnarled sea-dog had a soft spot in his heart! On the +very brink of the precipice his mind turned to his women-kind, just as +De Sylva himself had whispered a last memory of his daughter to San +Benavides when their common doom was seemingly unavoidable. + +He would urge no more, since Coke was willing to fall in with his +designs, but he could not forbear from clinching matters. + +"I promise on my honor----" he began. + +But the nearer surface of the sea flashed into a dazzling distinctness, +and Coke dragged him down to the launch. The cruiser had rounded Rat +Island, and was devoting one sweeping glance eastward ere she sought +her prey in creek or tortuous channel. The men were summoned hastily. +Watts and Olsen had been warned to crouch behind the rocks on the +crest, while those who remained near the launch were told to hide among +the trees or crowd into the small cabin. Movement of any kind was +forbidden. There was no knowing who might be astir on the hills, and a +sharp eye might note the presence of foreigners in Cotton-Tree Bay. +Hozier had not forgotten the risk of detection from the shore, and the +vessel was plentifully decorated with greenery. The long, large-leafed +vines and vigorous castor-oil plants were peculiarly useful at this +crisis. Trailing over the low freeboard into the water, they screened +the launch so completely that Watts and the Norwegian, perched high +above the creek at a distance of three hundred yards, could only guess +her whereabouts when the search-light made the Gomez plantation light +as day. + +The cruiser evidently discovered traces of the _Andromeda_ on +Grand-pere. She stopped an appreciable time, and created a flutter in +many anxious hearts by a loud hoot of her siren. It did not occur to +anyone at the moment that she was signaling to the troops bivouacked on +South Point. De Sylva was the first to read this riddle aright. He +whispered his belief, and it soon won credence, since the warship +continued her scrutiny of the coast-line. + +At last, after a wearying delay, she vanished. Five minutes later, +Watts and Olsen brought the welcome news that she was returning to the +roadstead. + +It was then half-past two o'clock, and the sun would rise soon after +five. Now or never the launch must make her effort. Ready hands tore +away her disguise, she was tilted by crowding in the poop nearly every +man on board, the engines throbbed, and she was afloat. + +At daybreak the thousand-foot peak of Fernando Noronha was a dark blur +on the western horizon. No sail or smudge of smoke broke the remainder +of the far-flung circle. The fugitives could breathe freely once more. +They were not pursued. + +Iris fell asleep when assured that the dreaded warship was not in +sight. Hozier, too, utterly exhausted by all that he had gone through, +slept as if he were dead. Coke, whose iron constitution defied +fatigue, though it was with the utmost difficulty that he had walked +across the narrow breadth of Fernando Noronha, took the first watch in +person. He chatted with the men, surprised them by his candor on the +question of compensation, and announced his resolve to make for the +three-hundred-mile channel between Fernando Noronha and the mainland. + +"You see, it's this way, me lads," he explained affably. "We're short +o' vittles an' bunker, an' if we kep' cruisin' east in this latitood +we'd soon be drawrin' lots to see 'oo'd cut up juiciest. So we must +run for the tramp's track, which is two hundred miles to the west. +We'll bear north, an' that rotten cruiser will look south for sartin, +seein' as 'ow they know we 'ave the next President aboard." + +Coke paused to take breath. + +"Wot a pity we can't give 'im a leg up," he added confidentially. "It +'ud be worth a pension to every man jack of us. 'Ere 'e is, special +freight, so to speak. W'y _'e'd sign anythink_." + +Once the train was laid, it was a simple matter to fire the mine. When +Hozier awoke, to find the launch heading west, he was vastly astonished +by Coke's programme. It was all cut and dried, and there was really +nothing to cavil at. If they met a steamship, and she stopped in +response to their signals, her captain would be asked to take care, not +only of Miss Yorke, but of any other person who shirked further +adventure. As for Coke, and Watts, and the majority of the men, they +were pledged to De Sylva. Even Norrie, the engineer, a hard-headed +Scot, meant to stick to the launch until the President that was and +would be again was safely landed among his expectant people. + +Watts let the cat out of the bag later. + +"Those of us 'oo don't leave Dom Wot's-'is-name in the lurch are to get +ten years' full pay, extry an' over an' above wot the court allows," he +said. "Just think of it! Don't it make your mouth water? Reminds me +of a chap I wonst read about in a trac'. It tole 'ow 'e took to booze. +One 'ot Sunday, bein' out for a walk, 'e swiped 'arf a pint of ginger +beer, the next 'e tried shandy-gaff, the third 'e went the whole hog, +an' then 'e never stopped for ten years. My godfather! Ten years' pay +an' a ten years' drunk! It's enough to make a sinner of any man." + +Hozier laughed. Two days ago he would have asked no better luck than +the helping of Dom Corria to regain his Presidentship. Now, there was +Iris to protect. He would not be content to leave her in charge of the +first grimy collier they encountered, nor was he by any means sure that +she would agree to be thus disposed of. He was puzzled by the singular +unanimity of purpose displayed by his shipmates. But that was their +affair. His was to insure Iris's safety; the future he must leave to +Providence. + +And, indeed, Providence contrived things very differently. + +By nightfall the launch was a hundred miles west of the island. Norrie +got eight knots out of her, but it needed no special calculation to +discover that she would barely make the coast of Brazil if she consumed +every ounce of coal and wood on board. The engines were strong and in +good condition, but she had no bunker space for a long voyage. Were it +not for Hozier's foresight she would have been drifting with the Gulf +Stream four hours after leaving the island. As it was, unless they +received a fresh supply of fuel from another ship, they must +unquestionably take the straightest line to the mainland. + +During the day they had sighted three vessels, but at such distances +that signaling was useless, each being hull down on their limited +horizon. Moreover, they had to be cautious. The cruiser, trusting to +her speed, might try a long cast north and south of the launch's +supposed path. She alone, among passing ships, would be scouring the +sea with incessant vigilance, and it behooved them, now as ever, not to +attract her attention. They were burning wood, so there was no smoke, +and the mast was unstepped. Yet the hours of daylight were tortured by +constant fear. Even Iris was glad when the darkness came and they were +hidden. + +At midnight a curious misfortune befell them. The compass had been +smashed during the fight, and not a sailor among them owned one of the +tiny compasses that are often worn as a charm on the watchchain. This +drawback, of little consequence when sun or stars could be seen, +assumed the most serious importance when a heavy fog spread over the +face of the waters. The set of the current was a guide of a sort, but, +as events proved, it misled them. Man is ever prone to over-estimate, +and such a slight thing as the lap of water across the bows of a small +craft was sure to be miscalculated; they contrived to steer west, it is +true, but with a southerly inclination. + +At four o'clock, by general reckoning, they were mid-way between island +and continent. They were all wide awake, too weary and miserable to +sleep. Suddenly a fog-horn smote the oppressive gloom. It drew near. +A huge blotch crossed their bows. They could feel it rather than see +it. They heard some order given in a foreign language, and De Sylva +whispered: + +"The _Sao Geronimo_!" + +"The wot-ah?" demanded Coke, who was standing beside him. + +"The cruiser!" + +Coke listened. He could distinguish the half-speed beating of twin +screws. He knew at once that the ex-President must have recognized the +warship as she passed the creek, but, by some accident, had failed to +mention her name during the long hours that had sped in the meantime. +The sinister specter passed and the launch crept on. Everyone on board +was breathless with suspense. Faces were shrouded by night and the +fog, but some gasped and others mumbled prayers. One of the wounded +soldiers shouted in delirium, and a coat was thrust over his head with +brutal force. The fog-horn blared again, two cables' lengths distant. +They were saved, for the moment! + +In a little while, perhaps twenty minutes, they heard another siren. +It sounded a different note, a quaintly harsh blend of discords. +Whatsoever ship this might be, it was not the _Sao Geronimo_. And in +that thrilling instant there was a coldness on one side of their faces +that was not on the other. Moist skin is a weather-vane in its way. A +breeze was springing up. Soon the fog would be rolled from off the sea +and the sun would peer at them in mockery. + +Coke's gruff voice reached every ear: + +"This time we're nabbed for keeps unless you all do as I bid you," he +said. "When the fog lifts, the cruiser will see us. There's only one +thing for it. Somewhere, close in, is a steamer. She's a tramp, by +the wheeze of 'er horn. We've got to board 'er an' sink the launch. +If she's British, or American, O.K., as 'er people will stand by us. +If she's a Dago, we've got to collar 'er, run every whelp into the +forehold, an' answer the cruiser's signals ourselves. That's the +sittiwation, accordin' to my reckonin'. Now, 'oo's for it?" + +"Butt right in, skipper," said a gentleman who claimed Providence, +Rhode Island, as the place of his nativity. + +Hozier, who had contrived to draw near Iris while Coke was speaking, +breathed softly, so that none other could hear: + +"This is rank piracy. But what else can we do?" + +"Is it wrong?" she asked. + +"Well--no, provided we kill no one. We are justified in saving our own +lives, and the average German or Italian shipmaster would hand us over +to the Brazilians without scruple." + +Iris was far from Bootle and its moralities. + +"I don't care what happens so long as you are not hurt," she whispered. + +"Mr. Hozier," said Coke thickly. + +"Yes, sir." + +"You've got good eyes an' quick ears. Lay out as far forrard as you +can, an' pass the word for steerin'." + +Hozier obeyed. The discordant bleat of a foghorn came again, +apparently right ahead. In a few seconds he caught the flapping of a +propeller, and silenced the launch's engines. + +"We are close in now," he said to Coke, after a brief and noiseless +drift. "Why not try a hail!" + +"Ship ahoy!" shouted Coke, with all the force of brazen lungs. + +The screw of the unseen ship stopped. The sigh of escaping steam +reached them. + +"_Holla_! _Wer rufe_?" was the gruff answer. + +"Sink me if it ain't a German!" growled Coke, _sotto-voce_, "Norrie, +you must stick here till I sing out to you. Then open your exhaust an' +unscrew a sea-cock. . . . Wot ship is that?" he vociferated aloud. + +Some answer was forthcoming--what, it mattered not. The launch bumped +into the rusty ribs of a twelve-hundred ton tramp. A rope ladder was +lowered. A round-faced Teuton mate--fat and placid--was vastly +surprised to find a horde of nondescripts pouring up the ship's side in +the wake of a short, thick, bovine-looking person who neither +understood nor tried to understand a word he was saying. + +These extraordinary visitors from the deep brought with them a girl and +three wounded men. By this time the captain was aroused; he spoke some +English. + +"Vas iss diss?" he asked, surveying the newcomers with amazement, and +their bizarre costumes with growing nervousness. "Vere haf you coomed +vrom?" + +Coke pushed him playfully into the cook's galley. + +"This is too easy," he chortled. "Set about 'em, you swabs. Don't +hurt anybody unless they ax for it. Round every son of a gun into the +fo'c'sle till I come. Mr. Watts, the bridge for you. Olsen, take the +wheel. Mr. Hozier, see wot you can find in their flag locker. _Now_, +Mr. Norrie! Sharp for it. You're wanted in the engine-room." + +And that is how ex-President Dom Corria Antonio De Sylva acquired the +nucleus of his fleet, though, unhappily, an accident to a sea-cock +forthwith deprived him of a most useful and seaworthy steam launch. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +A LIVELY MORNING IN EXCHANGE BUILDINGS + +Coke and his merry men became pirates during the early morning of +Thursday, September 2d; the curious reader can ascertain the year by +looking up "Brazil" in any modern Encyclopedia, and turning to the +sub-division "Recent History." On Monday, September 6th, David Verity +entered his office in Exchange Buildings, Liverpool, hung his hat and +overcoat on their allotted pegs, swore at the office boy because some +spots of rain had come in through an open window, and ran a feverish +glance through his letters to learn if any envelopes bearing the +planetary devices of the chief cable companies had managed to hide +themselves among the mass of correspondence. + +The act was perfunctory. Well he knew that telephone or special +messenger would speedily have advised him if news of the _Andromeda_ +had arrived since he left the office on Saturday afternoon. But it is +said that drowning men clutch at straws, and the metaphor might be +applied to Verity with peculiar aptness. He was sinking in a sea of +troubles, sinking because the old buoyancy was gone, sinking because +many hands were stretched forth to push him under, and never one to +draw him forth. + +There was no cablegram, of course. Dickey Bulmer, who had become a +waking nightmare to the unhappy shipowner, had said there wouldn't +be--said it twelve hours ago, after wringing from Verity the astounding +admission that Iris was on board the _Andromeda_. It was not because +the vessel was overdue that David confessed. Bulmer, despite his +sixty-eight years, was an acute man of business. Moreover, he was +blessed with a retentive memory, and he treasured every word of the +bogus messages from Iris concocted by her uncle. They were lucid at +first, but under the stress of time they wore thin, grew disconnected, +showed signs of the strain imposed on their author's imagination. +Bulmer, a typical Lancashire man, blended in his disposition a genial +openhandedness with a shrewd caution. He could display a princely +generosity in dealing with Verity as the near relative and guardian of +his promised wife; to the man whom he suspected of creating the +obstacles that kept her away from him he applied a pitiless logic. + +The storm had burst unexpectedly. Bulmer came to dinner, ate and drank +and smoked in quiet amity until David's laboring muse conveyed his +niece's latest "kind love an' good wishes," and then---- + +"Tell you wot," said Dickey, "there's another five thousand due +to-morrow on the surveyor's report." + +"There is," said Verity, knowing that his guest and prospective partner +alluded to the new steamer in course of construction on the Clyde. + +"Well, it won't be paid." + +David lifted his glass of port to hide his face. Was this the first +rumbling of the tempest? Though expected hourly, he was not prepared +for it. His hand trembled. He dared not put the wine to his lips. + +"Wot's up now?" he asked. + +"You're playin' some underhand game on me, David, an' I won't stand +it," was the unhesitating reply. "You're lyin' about Iris. You've bin +lyin' ever since she disappeared from Bootle. Show me 'er letters an' +their envelopes, an' I'll find the money. But, of course, you can't. +They don't exist. Now, own up as man to man, an' I'll see if this +affair can be settled without the lawyers. You know wot it means once +_they_ take hold." + +Then David set down the untasted wine and told the truth. Not +all--that was not to be dreamed of. In the depths of his heart he +feared Bulmer. The old man's repute for honesty was widespread. He +would fling his dearest friend into prison for such a swindle as that +arranged between Coke and the shipowner. But it was a positive relief +to divulge everything that concerned Iris. From his pocket-book David +produced her frayed letter, and Bulmer read it slowly, aloud, through +eyeglasses held at a long focus. + +Now, given certain definite circumstances, an honest man and a rogue +will always view them differently. David had interpreted the girl's +guarded phrases in the light of his villainous compact with Coke. +Dickey, unaware of this disturbing element, was inwardly amazed to +learn that Verity had lied so outrageously with the sole object of +carrying through a commercial enterprise. + +"'Tell him I shall marry him when the _Andromeda_ returns to England +from South America,'" he read. And again . . . "'The vessel is due +back at the end of September, I believe, so Mr. Bulmer will not have +long to wait.'" + +If, in the first instance, David had not been swept off his feet by the +magnitude of the catastrophe, if he had not commenced the series of +prevarications before the letter reached him, he might have adopted the +only sane course and taken Bulmer fully into his confidence. It was +too late now. Explanation was useless. The only plea that occurred to +him was more deadly than silence, since it was her knowledge of the +contemplated crime that made Iris a stowaway. He had never guessed how +that knowledge was attained and the added mystery intensified his +torture. + +Dickey rose from the table. His movements showed his age that night. + +"I'll think it over, David," he said. "There's more in this than meets +the eye. I'll just go home an' think it over. Mebbe I'll call at your +place in the mornin'." + +So here was Verity, awaiting Bulmer's visit as a criminal awaits a +hangman. There was no shred of hope in his mind that his one-time +crony would raise a finger to save him from bankruptcy. Some offenses +are unforgivable, and high in the list ranks the folly of separating a +wealthy old man from his promised bride. + +Now that a reprieve was seemingly impossible, he faced his misfortunes +with a dour courage. It had been a difficult and thankless task during +the past month to stave off pressing creditors. With Iris in Bootle +and Bulmer her devoted slave, Verity would have weathered the gale with +jaunty self-confidence. But that element of strength was lacking; nay, +more, he felt in his heart that it could never be replaced. He was no +longer the acute, blustering, effusive Verity, who in one summer's +afternoon had secured a rich partner and forced an impecunious sailor +to throw away a worn-out ship. The insurance held good, of course, and +there simply _must_ be some sort of tidings of the _Andromeda_ to hand +before the end of September. Yet things had gone wrong, desperately +wrong, and he was quaking with the belief that there was worse in store. + +He began to read his letters. They were mostly in the same vein, duns, +more or less active. His managing clerk entered. + +"There's an offer of 5s. 6d. Cardiff to Bilbao and Bilbao to the Tyne +for the _Hellespont_. It is better than nothing. Shall we take it, +sir?" + +The _Hellespont_ was the firm's other ship. She, too, was old and +running at a loss. + +"Yes. Wot is it, coal or patent fuel?" + +"Coal, with a return freight of ore." + +"Wish it was dynamite, with fuses laid on." + +The clerk grinned knowingly. Men grow callous when money tilts the +scale against human lives. + +"There's no news of the _Andromeda_, and _her_ rate is all right," he +said. + +David scowled at him. + +"D--n the rate!" he cried. "I want to 'ear of the ship. Wot the----" + +But his subordinate vanished. David read a few more letters. Some +were from the families of such of the _Andromeda's_ crew as lived in +South Shields, the Hartlepools, Whitby. They asked as a great favor +that a telegram might be sent when---- + +"Oh, curse my luck!" groaned the man, quivering under the conviction +that the _Andromeda_ was lost "by the act of God" as the charter-party +puts it. The belief unnerved him. Those words have an ominous ring in +the ears of evil-doers. He could show a bold front to his fellowmen, +but he squirmed under the dread conception of a supernatural vengeance. +So, like every other malefactor, David railed against his "luck." +Little did he guess the extraordinary turn that his "luck" was about to +take. + +The office boy announced a visitor, evidently not the terrible Bulmer, +since he said: + +"Gennelman to see yer, sir." + +"Oo is it?" growled the shipowner. + +"Gennelman from the noospaper, sir." + +"Can't be bothered." + +"'E sez hit's most himportant, sir." + +"Wot is?" + +"I dunno, sir." + +"Well, show 'im in. I'll soon settle 'im." + +A quiet-mannered young man appeared. He ignored David's sharp, "Now, +wot can I do for you?" and drew up a chair, on which he seated himself, +uninvited. + +"May I ask if you have received any private news of the _Andromeda_?" +he began. + +"No." + +"In that case, you must prepare yourself for a statement that may give +you a shock," said the journalist. + +David creaked round in his chair. His face, not so red as of yore, +paled distinctly. + +"Is she lost?" said he in a strangely subdued tone. + +"I--I fear she is. But there is much more than an ordinary shipwreck +at issue. Several telegrams of the gravest import have reached us this +morning. Perhaps, before I ask you any questions, you ought to read +them. They are in type already, and I have brought you proofs. Here +is the first." + +David took from the interviewer's outstretched hand a long strip of +white paper. For an appreciable time his seething brain refused to +comprehend the curiously black letters that grouped themselves into +words on the limp sheet. And, indeed, he was not to be blamed if he +was dull of understanding, for this is what he read: + + + "REVOLUTION IN BRAZIL. + + "SERIOUS POSITION. + + "STARTLING ESCAPADE OF A BRITISH SHIP. + +"RIO DE JANEIRO, September 5th. A situation of exceptional gravity has +evidently arisen on the island of Fernando do Noronha, whence, it is +said, ex-President De Sylva recently attempted to escape. A battleship +and two cruisers have been despatched thither under forced draught. No +public telegrams have been received from the island during the past +week, and the authorities absolutely refuse any information as to +earlier events, though the local press hints at some extraordinary +developments not unconnected with the appearance off the island of a +British steamship known as the _Andromeda_. + +"_Later_--De Sylva landed last night at the small port of Maceio in the +province of Alagoas, a hundred miles south of Pernambuco. It is +currently reported that Fernando Noronha was captured by a gang of +British freebooters. De Sylva's return is unquestionable. To-day he +issued a proclamation, and his partisans have seized some portion of +the railway. Excitement here is at fever heat." + + +Verity glared at the journalist. He laughed, almost hysterically. + +"The _Andromeda_!" he gasped. "Wot rot! Wot silly rot!" + +"Better withhold your opinion until you have mastered the whole story," +was the unemotional comment. "Here is a more detailed message. It is +printed exactly as cabled. We have not added a syllable except the +interpolation of such words as 'that' and 'the.' You will find it +somewhat convincing, I imagine." + +The shipowner grasped another printed slip. This time he was able to +read more lucidly: + + +"PERNAMBUCO, September 4th. Public interest in the abortive attempt to +reinstate Dom Corria De Sylva as President was waning rapidly when it +was fanned into fresh activity by news that reached this port to-day. +It appears that on the 31st ulto. a daring effort was made to free De +Sylva, who, with certain other ministers expelled by the successful +revolution of two years ago, is a prisoner on the island of Fernando do +Noronha. Lloyd's agent on that island reports that the British steamer +_Andromeda_, owned by David Verity & Co. of Liverpool, put into South +Bay, on the southeast side of Fernando do Noronha, early on the morning +of August 31st, and it is alleged that her mission was to take De Sylva +and his companions on board. The garrison, forewarned by the central +government, and already on the _qui vive_ owing to the disappearance of +their important prisoners from their usual quarters, opened fire on the +_Andromeda_ as soon as she revealed her purpose by lowering a boat. + +"The steamer, being unarmed, made no attempt to defend herself, and was +speedily disabled. She sank, within five minutes, off the Grand-pere +rock, with all on board. With reckless bravado, her commander ran up +the vessel's code signals and house flag while she was actually going +down, thus establishing her identity beyond a shadow of doubt. A note +of pathos is added to the tragedy by the undoubted presence of a lady +on board--probably De Sylva's daughter, though it was believed here +that the ex-President's family were in Paris. Telegrams from the +island are strictly censored, and the foregoing statement is +unofficial, but your correspondent does not question its general +accuracy. Indeed, he has reason to credit a widespread rumor that the +island is still in a very disturbed condition. No one knows definitely +whether or not De Sylva has been recaptured. It is quite certain that +he has not landed in Brazil, but the reticence of the authorities as to +the state of affairs on Fernando Noronha leads to the assumption that +he and a few stanch adherents are still in hiding in one of the many +natural fastnesses with which the island abounds. + +"The British community on the littoral is deeply stirred by the drastic +treatment received by the _Andromeda_. It is pointed out that another +ship, the _Andros-y-Mela_, believed to have been chartered by the +insurgents, is under arrest at Bahia, and the similarity between the +two names is regarded as singular, to say the least. Were it not that +Lloyd's agent, whose veracity cannot be questioned, has stated +explicitly that the _Andromeda_ put in to South Bay--a point +significantly far removed from the regular track of trading vessels--it +might be urged that a terrible mistake had been made. In any event, +the whole matter must be strictly inquired into, and one of His +Majesty's ships stationed in the South Atlantic should visit the island +at the earliest date possible. _Delayed in transmission_." + + +Something buzzed inside Verity's head and stilled all sense of +actuality. He was unnaturally calm. Though the weather was chilly for +early September, great beads of perspiration glistened on his forehead. +His eyes were dull; they lacked their wonted shiftiness. He gazed at +the reporter unblinkingly, as though thought itself refused to act. + +"Is that the lot?" he inquired mechanically. + +"Nearly all, at present. These cablegrams reached us through London, +and the agency took the earliest measures to substantiate their +accuracy. The Brazilian Embassy pooh-poohs the whole story, but +Embassies invariably do that until the news is stale. By their own +showing, Ambassadors are singularly ill-informed men, especially in +matters affecting their own countries. Here, however, is a short +telegram from Paris which is of minor interest." + +And Verity read again: + + +"PARIS, September 6th. The members of Dom Corria De Sylva's family, +seen early this morning at the Hotel Continental, deny that any lady +connected with the cause of Brazilian freedom took part in the +attempted rescue of the ex-President. They are much annoyed by the +unfounded report, and hold strongly to the opinion that the revolution +would now have been a _fait accompli_ had not a traitor revealed the +destination of the _Andros-y-Mela_ and thus led to that vessel's +detention at Bahia." + + +The lady! Iris Yorke! At last David's supercharged mind was beginning +to assimilate ideas. He was conscious of a fierce pain in the region +of his heart. The buzzing in his head continued, and the journalist's +voice came to him as through a dense screen. + +"You will observe that the former President's relatives tacitly admit +that there was a plot on foot," the other was saying. "It is important +to note, too, that the long message from Pernambuco, marked 'delayed in +transmission' seems to imply a prior telegram which was suppressed. It +alludes to a revolt of which nothing is known here. Now, Mr. Verity, I +want to ask you----" + +The door was flung open. In rushed Dickey Bulmer with a speed +strangely disproportionate to his years. In his hands he held a +crumpled newspaper. + +"You infernal blackguard, have you seen this?" he roared, and his +attitude threatened instant assault on the dazed man looking up at him. +The reporter moved out of the way. Here, indeed, was "copy" of the +right sort. Bulmer held a position of much local importance. That he +should use such language to the owner of the _Andromeda_ promised +developments "of the utmost public interest." + +David stood up. His chair fell over with a crash. He held on to the +table to steady himself. Even Bulmer, white with rage, could not fail +to see that he was stunned. + +But Dickey was not minded to spare him on that account. + +"Answer me, you scoundrel!" he shouted, thrusting the paper almost into +David's face. "You are glib enough when it suits your purpose. Were +_you_ in this? Is this the reason you didn't tell me Iris was on board +till I forced the truth out of you last night?" + +The managing clerk came in. Behind him, a couple of juniors and the +office boy supplied reenforcements. They all had the settled +conviction that their employer was a rogue, but he paid them in no +niggardly fashion, and they would not suffer anyone to attack him. + +This incursion from the external world had a restorative effect on +Verity. Being what is termed a self-made man, he had a fine sense of +his own importance, and his subordinates' lack of respect forthwith +overcame every other consideration. + +"Get out!" he growled, waving a hand toward the door. + +"But, sir--please, gentlemen----" stuttered the senior clerk. + +"Get out, I tell you! D--n yer eyes, 'oo sent for any of you?" + +Undoubtedly David was recovering. The discomfited clerks retired. +Even Dickey Bulmer was quieted a little. But he still shook the +newspaper under David's nose. + +"Now!" he cried. "Let's have it. No more of your flamin' made-up +tales. Wot took you to shove the _Andromeda_ into a rat-trap of this +sort?" + +David staggered away from the table. He seemed to be laboring for +breath. + +"'Arf a mo'. No need to yowl at me like that," he protested. + +He fumbled with the lock of a corner cupboard, opened it, and drew +forth a decanter and some glasses. A tumbler crashed to the floor, and +the slight accident was another factor in clearing his wits. He swore +volubly. + +"Same thing 'appened that Sunday afternoon," he said, apparently +obvious of the other men's presence. "My poor lass upset one, she did. +Wish she'd ha' flung it at my 'ed. . . . Did it say 'went down with +all 'ands,' mister?" he demanded suddenly of the reporter. + +"Yes, Mr. Verity." + +"Is it true?" + +"I trust not, but Lloyd's agent--well, I needn't tell you that Lloyd's +is reliable. Was your niece on board? Is she the lady mentioned in +the cablegram?" + +Then Bulmer woke up to the fact that there was a stranger present. + +"'Ello!" he cried angrily. "Wot are you doin' ere? 'Oo are you? Be +off, instantly." + +"I am not going until Mr. Verity hears what I have to ask him, and +answers, or not, as he feels disposed," was the firm reply. + +"Leave 'im alone, Dickey. It's all right. Wot does it matter now 'oo +knows all there is to know? Just gimme a minnit." + +Verity poured out some brandy. Man is but a creature of habit, and the +hospitable Lancastrian does not drink alone when there is company. + +"'Ave a tiddly?" he inquired blandly. + +Both Bulmer and the journalist believed that David was losing his +faculties. Never did shipowner behave more queerly when faced by a +disaster of like magnitude, involving, as did the _Andromeda's_ loss, +not only political issues of prime importance, but also the death of a +near relative. They refused the proffered refreshment, not without +some show of indignation. Verity swallowed a large dose of neat +spirit. He thought it would revive him, so, of course, the effect was +instantaneous. The same quantity of prussic acid could not have killed +him more rapidly than the brandy rallied his scattered forces, and, not +being a physiologist, he gave the brandy all the credit. + +"Ah!" he said, smacking his lips with some of the old-time relish, +"that puts new life into one. An' now, let's get on with the knittin'. +I was a bit rattled when this young party steers in an' whacks 'is +cock-an'-bull yarn into me 'and. 'Oo ever 'eard of a respectable +British ship mixin' 'erself up with a South American revolution? The +story is all moonshine on the face of it." + +"I think otherwise, Mr. Verity, and Mr. Bulmer, I take it, agrees with +me," said the reporter. + +"Wot," blazed David, into whose mind had darted a notion that dazzled +him by its daring, "d'ye mean to insiniwate that I lent my ship to this +'ere Dom Wot's-'is-name? D'ye sit there an' tell me that Jimmie Coke, +a skipper who's bin in my employ for sixteen year, would carry on that +sort of fool's business behind 'is owner's back? Go into my clerk's +office, young man, an' ax Andrews to show up a copy of the ship's +manifest. See w'en an 'ow she was insured. Jot down the names of the +freighters for this run, and skip round to their offices to verify. +An' if that don't fill the bill, well, just interview yourself, an' say +if you'd allow your niece, a bonnie lass like my Iris, to take a trip +that might end in 'er bein' blown to bits. It's crool, that's wot it +is, reel crool." + +David was not simulating this contemptuous wrath. He actually felt it. +His harsh voice cracked when he spoke of Iris, and the excited words +gushed out in a torrent. + +The reporter glanced at Bulmer, who was watching Verity with a tense +expectancy that was not to be easily accounted for, since his manner +and speech on entering the room had been so distinctly hostile. + +"The lady referred to was Miss Iris Yorke, then?" + +"'Oo else? I've on'y one niece. My trouble is that she went without +my permission, in a way of speakin'. 'Ere, you'd better 'ave the fax. +She was engaged to my friend, Mr. Bulmer, but, bein' a slip of a girl, +an' fond o' romancin', she just put herself aboard the Andromeeda +without sayin' 'with your leave' or 'by your leave.' She wrote me a +letter, w'ich sort of explains the affair. D'you want to see it?" + +"If I may." + +"No," said Bulmer. + +"Yes," blustered Verity, fully alive now to the immense possibilities +underlying the appearance in print of Iris's references to her +forthcoming marriage. + +"An' I say 'no,' an' mean it," said the older man. "Go slow, David, go +slow. I was not comin 'ere as your enemy when I found this paper bein' +cried in the streets. It med me mad for a while. But I believe wot +you've said, an' I'm not the man to want my business, or my future +wife's I 'ope, to be chewed over by every Dick, Tom, an' 'Arry in +Liverpool." + +The reincarnation of David was a wonderful spectacle, the most +impressive incident the journalist had ever witnessed, did he but know +its genesis. The metamorphosis was physical as well as mental. Verity +burgeoned before his very eyes. + +"Of course, that makes a h-- a tremenjous difference," said the +shipowner. "You 'ave my word for it, an' that is enough for most men. +Mr. Andrews 'll give you all the information you want. I'll cable now +to Rio an' Pernambewco, an' see if I can get any straight news from the +shippin' 'ouses there. I'll let you know if I 'ear anything, an' you +might do the same by me." + +The reporter gave this promise readily. He scented a possible scandal, +and meant to keep in touch with Verity. Meanwhile, he was in need of +the facts which the managing clerk could supply, so he took himself off. + +Bulmer went to the window and looked out. A drizzle of sleet was +falling from a gray sky. The atmosphere was heavy. It was a day +singularly appropriate to the evil tidings that had shocked him into a +fury against the man who had so willfully deceived him. David picked +up the proof slips and reread them. He compared them with the +paragraphs in the newspaper brought by Bulmer, and thrown by him on the +table after his first outburst of helpless wrath. They were identical +in wording, of course, but, somehow, their meaning was clearer in the +printed page: and David, despite his uncouth diction, was a clever man. + +He wrinkled his forehead now in analysis of each line. Soon he hit on +something that puzzled him. + +"Dickey," he said. + +There was no answer. The old man peering through the window seemed to +have bent and whitened even since he came into the room. + +"Look 'ere, Dickey," went on David, "this dashed fairy-tale won't hold +water. _You_ know Coke. Is 'e the kind o' man to go bumpin' round +like a stage 'ero, an' hoisting Union Jacks as the ship sinks? I ax +you, is 'e? It's nonsense, stuff an' nonsense. An', if the Andromeeda +was scrapped at Fernando Noronha, 'oo were the freebooters that +collared the island, an' 'ow did this 'ere De Sylva get to Maceio? Are +you listenin'?" + +"Yes," said Bulmer, turning at last, and devouring Verity with his +deep-set eyes. + +"Well, wot d'ye think of it?" + +"Did you send the ship to Fernando Noronha?" + +It is needless to place on record the formula of David's denial. It +was forcible, and served its purpose--that should suffice. + +"Under ordinary conditions she would 'ave passed the island about the +31st?" continued Bulmer. + +"Yes. Confound it, 'aven't I bin cablin' there every two days for a +fortnight or more? B'lieve me or not, Dickey, it cut me to the 'eart +to keep you in the dark about Iris. But I begun it, like an ijjit, an' +kep' on with it." + +"To sweeten me on account of the new ships, I s'pose?" + +"Yes, that's it. No more lyin' for me. I'm sick of it." + +"For the same reason you wanted that letter published?" + +"Well--yes. There! You see I'm talkin' straight." + +"So am I. If--if Iris is alive, the partnership goes on. If--she's +dead, it doesn't." + +"D'ye mean it?" + +"I always mean wot I say." + +The click of an indicator on the desk showed that Verity's private +telephone had been switched on from the general office. By sheer force +of routine, David picked up a receiver and placed it to his ear. The +sub-editor of the newspaper whose representative had not been gone five +minutes asked if he was speaking to Mr. Verity. + +"Yes," said David, "wot's up now?" and he motioned to Bulmer to use a +second receiver. + +"A cablegram from Pernambuco states specifically that the captain and +crew of the _Andromeda_ fought their way across the island of Fernando +Noronha, rescued Dom De Sylva, seized a steam launch, attacked and +captured the German steamship _Unser Fritz_, and landed the insurgent +leader at Maceio. The message goes on to say that the captain's name +is Coke, and that he is accompanied by his daughter. . . . Eh? What +did you say? . . . Are you there?" + +"Yes, I'm 'ere, or I think I am," said David with a desperate calmness. +"Is that all?" + +"All for the present." + +"It doesn't say that Coke is a ravin', tearin', 'owlin' lunatic, does +it?" + +"No. Is that your view?" + +Bulmer's hand gripped David's wrist. Their eyes met. + +"I was thinkin' that the chap who writes these penny novelette wires +might 'ave rounded up his yarn in good shape," said Verity aloud. + +"But there is not the slightest doubt that something of the kind has +occurred," said the voice. + +"It's a put-up job!" roared David. "Them bloomin' Portygees 'ave sunk +my ship, an' they're whackin' in their flam now so as to score first +blow. A year-old baby 'ud see that if 'is father was a lawyer." + +The sub-editor laughed. + +"Well, I'll ring you up again when the next message comes through," he +said. + +But to Bulmer, David said savagely: + +"Wot's bitten Coke? 'E must 'ave gone stark, starin' mad." + +"Iris is alive!" murmured Bulmer. + +"Nice mess she med of things w'en she slung 'er 'ook from Linden +'Ouse," grunted her uncle. + +"I don't blame 'er. She meant no 'arm. She's on'y a bit of a lass, +w'en all is said an' done. Mebbe it's my fault, or yours, or the fault +of both of us. An' now, David, I'll tell you wot I 'ad in me mind in +comin' 'ere this morning. You're hard up. You don't know where to +turn for a penny. If you're agreeable, I'll put a trustworthy man in +this office an' give 'im full powers to pull your affairs straight. +Mind you, I'm doin' this for Iris, not for you. An' now that we know +wot's 'appening in South America, you an' I will go out there and look +into things. A mail steamer will take us there in sixteen days, an' +before we sail we can work the cables a bit so as to stop Iris from +startin' for 'ome before we arrive. The trip will do us good, an' +we'll be away from the gossip of Bootle. Are you game? Well, gimme +your 'and on it." + +[Illustration: "Well, gimme your 'and on it"] + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE LURE OF GOLD + +"Philip, I want to tell you something." + +"Something pleasant?" + +"No." + +"Then why tell me?" + +"Because, unhappily, it must be told. I hope you will forgive me, +though I shall never forgive myself. Oh, my dear, my dear, why did we +ever meet? And what am I to say? I--well, I have promised to marry +another man." + +"Disgraceful!" said Philip. + +Though Iris's faltered confession might fairly be regarded as +astounding, Philip was unmoved. The German captain had given him a +cigar, and he was examining it with a suspicion that was pardonable +after the first few whiffs. + +"Philip dear, this is quite serious," said Iris, momentarily +withdrawing her wistful gaze from the far-away line where sapphire sea +and amber sky met in harmony. Northeastern Brazil is a favored clime. +Bad weather is there a mere link, as it were, between unbroken weeks of +brilliant sunshine, when nature lolls in the warmth and stirs herself +only at night under the moon and the stars. That dingy trader, the +_Unser Fritz_, ostensibly carrying wool and guano from the Argentine to +Hamburg, was now swinging west at less than half speed over the long +rollers which alone bore testimony to the recent gale. Already a deep +tint of crimson haze over the western horizon was eloquent, in nature's +speech, of land ahead. At her present pace, the _Unser Fritz_ would +enter the harbor at Pernambuco on the following morning. + +Iris, her troubled face resting on her hands, her elbows propped on the +rails of the poop on the port side, looked at Philip with an intense +sadness that was seemingly lost on him. His doubts concerning the +cigar had grown into a certainty. He cast it into the sea. + +"I really mean what I say," she continued in a low voice that vibrated +with emotion, for her obvious distress was enhanced by his evident +belief that she was jesting. "I have given my word--written +it--entered into a most solemn obligation. Somehow, the prospect of +reaching a civilized place to-morrow induces a more ordered state of +mind than has been possible since--since the _Andromeda_ was lost." + +"Who is he?" demanded Hozier darkly. "Coke is married. So is Watts. +Dom Corria has other fish to fry than to dream of committing bigamy. +Of course, I am well aware that you have been flirting outrageously +with San Benavides----" + +"Please don't make my duty harder for me," pleaded Iris. "Before I met +you, before we spoke to each other that first day at Liverpool, I had +promised to marry Mr. Bulmer, an old friend of my uncle's----" + +"Oh,--he? . . . I am sorry for Mr. Bulmer, but it can't be done," +interrupted Hozier. + +"Philip, you do not understand. I--I cared for nobody then . . . and +my uncle said he was in danger of bankruptcy . . . and Mr. Bulmer +undertook to help him if I would consent. . . ." + +"Yes," agreed Philip, with an air of pleasant detachment, "I see. You +are in a first-rate fix. I was always prepared for that. Coke told me +about Bulmer--warned me off, so to speak. I forgot his claims at odd +times, just for a minute or so, but he is a real bugbear--a sort of +matrimonial bogey-man. If all goes well, and we enter Pernambuco +without being fired at, you will be handed over to the British Consul, +and he will send a rousing telegram about you to England. Bulmer, of +course, will cause a rare stir at home. Who wouldn't? No wonder you +are scared! It seems to me that there is only one safe line of action +left open." + +Iris did not respond to his raillery. She was despondent, nervous, +uncertain of her own strength, afraid of the hurricane of publicity +that would shortly swoop down on her. + +"I wish you would realize how I feel in this matter," she said, with a +persistence that was at least creditable to her honesty of purpose. "A +woman's word should be held as sacred as a man's, Philip." + +He turned and met her eyes. There was a tender smile on his lips. + +"So you really believe you will be compelled to marry Mr. Bulmer?" he +cried. + +"Oh, don't be horrid!" she almost sobbed. "I cuc--cuc--can't help it." + +"I have given some thought to the problem myself," he said, for, in +truth, he was beginning to be alarmed by her tenacity, though +determined not to let her perceive his changed mood. "Curiously +enough, I was thinking more of your dilemma than of the signals when we +were overhauled by the _Sao Geronimo_ this morning. Odd, isn't it, how +things pop into one's mind at the most unexpected moments? While I was +coding our explanation that we were putting into Pernambuco for +repairs, and that no steam yacht had been sighted between here and the +River Plate, I was really trying to imagine what the cruiser's people +would have said if I had told them the actual truth." + +His apparent gravity drew the girl's thoughts for an instant from +contemplating her own unhappiness. + +"How could you have done that?" she asked. "We are going there to suit +Senhor De Sylva's ends. We have suffered so much already for his sake +that we could hardly betray him now." + +Hozier spread wide his hands with a fine affectation of amazement. + +"I wasn't talking about De Sylva," he cried. "My remarks were strictly +confined to the question of your marriage. I know you far too well, +Iris, to permit you to go back to Bootle to be lectured and browbeaten +by your uncle. I have never seen him, but, from all accounts, he is a +rather remarkable person. He likes to have his own way, irrespective +of other folks' feelings. I am a good guesser, Iris. I have a pretty +fair notion why Coke meant to leave our poor ship's bones on a South +American reef. I appreciate exactly how well it would serve Mr. David +Verity's interests if his niece married a wealthy old party like +Bulmer. By the way how old is Bulmer?" + +"Nearly seventy." + +Even Iris herself smiled then, though her tremulous mirth threatened to +dissolve in tears. + +"Ah, that's a pity," said Hozier. + +"It is very unkind of you to treat me in this manner," she protested. + +"But I am trying to help you. I say it is a pity that Bulmer should be +a patriarch, because his only hope of marrying you is that I shall die +first. Even then he must be prepared to espouse my widow. By the way, +is it disrespectful to describe him as a patriarch? Isn't there some +proverb about three score years and ten?" + +"Philip, if only you would appreciate my dreadful position----" + +"I do. It ought to be ended. The first parson we meet shall be +commandeered. Don't you see, dear, we really must get married at +Pernambuco? That is what I wanted to signal to the cruiser: 'The +_Unser Fritz_ is taking a happy couple to church.' Wouldn't that have +been a surprise?" + +Iris clenched her little hands in despair. Why did he not understand +her misery? Though she was unwavering in her resolution to keep faith +with the man who had twitted her with taking all and giving nothing in +return, she could not wholly restrain the tumult in her veins. Married +in Pernambuco! Ah, if only that were possible! Yet she did not flinch +from the lover-like scrutiny with which Philip now favored her. + +"I am sure we would be happy together," she said, with a pathetic +confidence that tempted him strongly to take her in his arms and kiss +away her fears. "But we must be brave, Philip dear, brave in the +peaceful hours as in those which call for another sort of courage. +Last night we lived in a different world. We looked at death, you and +I together, not once but many times, and you, at least, kept him at +bay. But that is past. To-day we are going back to the commonplace. +We must forget what happened in the land of dreams. I will never love +any man but you, Philip; yet--I cannot marry you." + +"You will marry me--in Pernambuco." + +"I will not because I may not. Oh, spare me any more of this! I +cannot bear it. Have pity, dear!" + +"Iris, let us at least look at the position calmly. Do you really +think that fate's own decree should be set aside merely to keep David +Verity out of the Bankruptcy Court?" + +"I have given my promise, and those two men are certain I will keep it." + +"Ah, they shall release you. What then?" + +"You do not know my uncle, or Mr. Bulmer. Money is their god. They +would tell you that money can control fate. We, you and I, might +despise their creed, but how am I to shirk the claims of gratitude? I +owe everything to my uncle. He rescued my mother and me from dire +poverty. He gave us freely of his abundance. Would you have me fail +him now that he seeks my aid? Ah, me! If only I had never come on +this mad voyage! But it is too late to think of that now. Perhaps--if +I had not promised--I might steel my heart against him--but, Philip, +you would never think highly of me again if I were so ready to rend the +hand that fed me. We have had our hour, dear. Its memory will never +leave me. I shall think of you, dream of you, when, it may be, some +other girl--oh, no, I do not mean that! Philip, don't be angry with me +to-day. You are wringing my heart!" + +It was in Hozier's mind to scoff in no measured terms at the absurd +theory that he should renounce his oft-won bride because a pair of +elderly gentlemen in Bootle had made a bargain in which she was staked +against so many bags of gold. But pity for her suffering joined forces +with a fine certainty that fortune would not play such a scurvy trick +as to rob him of his divinity after leading him through an Inferno to +the very gate of Paradise. For that is how he regarded the perils of +Fernando Noronha. He was young, and the ethics of youth cling to +romance. It seemed only right and just that he should have been proved +worthy of Iris ere he gained the heaven of her love. There might be +portals yet unseen, with guardian furies waiting to entrap him, and he +would brave them all for her dear sake. But his very soul rebelled +against the notion that he had become her chosen knight merely to +gratify the unholy ardor of some decrepit millionaire. He laughed +savagely at the fantasy, and his protest burst into words strange on +his lips. + +"I shall never give you up to any other man," he said. "I have won you +by the sword, and, please God, I shall keep you against all claimants. +Twenty-two men sailed out of Liverpool on board the Andromeda, and it +was given to me among the twenty-two that I should pluck you from +darkness into light. I had only seen you that day on the wharf, yet I +was thinking of you constantly, little dreaming that you were within a +few yards of me all the time. I was planning some means of meeting you +again when our surly-tempered skipper bade me burst in the door that +kept you from me. And that is what I have been doing ever since, +Iris--breaking down barriers, smashing them, whether they were flesh +and blood or nature's own obstacles, so that I might not lose you. +Give you up! Not while I live! Why, you yourself dragged me away from +certain death when I was lying unconscious on the _Andromeda's_ deck. +A second time, you saved not me alone but the ten others who are left +out of the twenty-two, by bringing us back to Grand-pere in the hour +that our escape seemed to be assured had we put out to sea. We are +more than quits, dear heart, when we strike a balance of mutual +service. We are bound by a tie of comradeship that is denied to most. +And who shall sever it? The man who gains three times the worth of his +ship by reason of the very dangers we have shared! To state such a mad +proposition is to answer it. Who is he that he should sunder those +whom God has joined together? And what other man and woman now +breathing can lay better claim than we to have been joined by the +Almighty?" + +The strange exigencies of their lives during the past two days had +ordained that this should be Philip's first avowal of his feelings. +Under the stress of overpowering impulse he had clasped Iris to his +heart when they were parting on the island. In obedience to a stronger +law than any hitherto revealed to her innocent consciousness the girl +had flown to his arms when he came to the hut. And that was all their +love-making, two blissful moments of delirium wrenched from a time of a +gaunt tragedy, and followed by a few hours of self-negation. Yet they +sufficed--to the man--and the woman is never too ready to count the +cost when her heart declares its passion. + +But the morrow was not to be denied. Its bitter awakening had come. +In the very agony of a sublime withdrawal Iris realized what manner of +man this was whom she had determined to thrust aside so that she might +keep her troth. She dared not look at him. She could not compel her +quivering lips to frame a word of excuse or reiterated resolve. With a +heart-breaking cry of sheer anguish she fled from him, running away +along the deck with the uncertain steps of some sorely stricken +creature of the wild. + +He did not try to restrain her. Heedless of the perplexed scowl with +which Coke was watching him from the bridge, he looked after her until +she vanished in the cabin which had been vacated for her use by the +chief engineer of the vessel. Even her manifest distress gave him a +sense of riotous joy that was hardly distinguishable from the keenest +spiritual suffering. + +"Give you up!" he muttered again. "No, Iris, not if Satan brought +every dead Verity to aid the living one in his demand." + +Coke, to whom tact was anathema, chose that unhappy instant to summon +him to take charge of the ship. The German master and crew had not +caused trouble to their conquerors after the first short struggle. +They washed their hands of responsibility, professed to be satisfied +with the written indemnity and promise of reward given by De Sylva, and +otherwise placed the resources of the vessel entirely at his disposal. +A more peaceable set of men never existed. Though they numbered +sixteen, three more than the usurpers, it was quite certain that the +thought of further resistance never entered their minds. If anything, +they hailed the adventure with decorous hilarity. It formed a welcome +break in the monotony of their drab lives. Of course, they were +utterly incredulous as to the ability of a scarecrow like Dom Corria to +fulfil his financial pledges. Therein they erred. He was really a +very rich man, having followed the illustrious example set by +generations of South American Presidents in accumulating a fine +collection of gilt-edged scrip during his tenure of office, which said +scrip was safely lodged in London, Paris, and New York. But the world +always refuses to associate rags with affluence, and these worthy +Teutons regarded De Sylva and Coke as the leaders of a gang of +dangerous lunatics who should be humored in every possible way until a +port was reached. + +It was precisely that question of a port which had engaged Coke in +earnest consultation with De Sylva and San Benavides on the bridge +while Iris and Hozier were lacerating each other's feelings on the poop. + +Apparently, the point was settled when Hozier joined the triumvirate. +Coke glanced at the compass, and placed the engine-room telegraph at +"Full Speed Ahead," for the _Unser Fritz_ had once been a British ship, +and still retained her English appliances. + +"Keep 'er edgin' south a bit," said he to Hozier. "There's no knowin' +w'en that crimson cruiser will show up again, but we must try and steal +a knot or two afore sundown." + +The order roused Hozier from his stupor of wrathful bewilderment. + +"Why south?" he asked. "If anything, Pernambuco lies north of our +present course." + +"We're givin' Pernambuco the go-by. It's Maceio for us, quick as we +can get there." + +Hozier was in no humor for conciliatory methods. He turned on his +heel, and walked straight to where De Sylva was leaning against the +rails. + +"Captain Coke tells me that we are not making for Pernambuco," he said, +meeting the older man's penetrating gaze with a glance as firm and +self-contained. + +"That is what we have arranged," said Dom Corria. + +"It does not seem to have occurred to you that there is one person on +board this ship whose interests are vastly more important than yours, +senhor." + +"Meaning Miss Yorke?" asked the other, who did not require to look +twice at this stern-visaged man to grasp the futility of any words but +the plainest. + +"Yes." + +"She will be safer at Maceio than at Pernambuco. Our only danger at +either place will be encountered at the actual moment of landing. At +Maceio there is practically no risk of finding a warship in the harbor. +That is why we are going there." + +"And not because you are more likely to find adherents there?" + +"It is a much smaller town than Pernambuco, and my strength lies +outside the large cities, I admit. But there can be no question as to +our wisdom in preferring Maceio, even where the young lady's well-being +is concerned." + +"I think differently. At Maceio there are few, if any, Europeans. At +Pernambuco the large English-speaking community will protect her, no +matter what President is in power. I must ask you to reconsider your +plan. Land Miss Yorke and me at Pernambuco, and then betake yourself +and those who follow you where you will." + +Coke jerked himself into the dispute. + +"'Ere, wot's wrong now?" he demanded angrily. "Since w'en 'as a second +officer begun to fix the ship's course?" + +"I am not your second officer, nor are you my commander," said Philip. +"At present we are fellow-pirates, or, at best, running the gravest +risk of being regarded as pirates by any court of law. I don't care a +cent personally what port we make, but I do care most emphatically for +Miss Yorke's safety." + +"We've argied the pros an' cons, an' it's to be Maceio," growled Coke. + +Dom Corria's precise tones broke in on what threatened to develop into +a serious dispute. + +"You would have been asked to join in the discussion, if, apparently, +you were not better engaged at the moment, Mr. Hozier," he said. "I +assure you, on my honor, that there are many reasons in favor of Maceio +even from the exclusive point of view of Miss Yorke's immediate future. +She will be well cared for. I promise to make that my first +consideration. The army is mainly for me, and Senhor San Benavides's +regiment is stationed at Maceio. The navy, on the other hand, supports +Dom Miguel Barraca, who supplanted me, and we shall surely meet a +cruiser or gunboat at Pernambuco. You see, therefore, that common +prudence----" + +"I see that, whether willing or not, we are to be made the tools of +your ambition," interrupted Hozier curtly. "It is also fairly evident +that I am the only man of the _Andromeda's_ company whom you have not +bribed to obey you. Well, be warned now by me. If circumstances fail +to justify your change of route, I shall make it my business to settle +at least one revolution in Brazil by cracking your skull." + +San Benavides, hearing the names of the two ports, understood exactly +why the young Englishman was making such a strenuous protest. He moved +nearer, laying an ostentatious hand on the sword that clanked +everlastingly at his heels. He had never been taught, it seemed, that +a man who can use his fists commands a readier weapon than a sword in +its scabbard. Hozier eyed him. There was no love lost between them. +For a fraction of a second San Benavides was in a position of real +peril. + +Then Dom Corria said coldly: + +"No interference, I pray you, Senhor Adjudante. Kindly withdraw." + +His tone was eminently official. San Benavides saluted and stepped +back. The dark scar on De Sylva's forehead had grown a shade lighter, +but there was no other visible sign of anger in his face, and his +luminous eyes peered steadily into Hozier's. + +"Let me understand!" he said. "You hold my life as forfeit if any +mischance befalls Miss Yorke?" + +"Yes." + +"I accept that. Of course, you no longer challenge my direction of +affairs?" + +"I am no match for you in argument, senhor, but I do want you to +believe that I shall keep my part of the compact." + +Coke, familiar with De Sylva's resources as a debater, and by no means +unwilling to see Hozier "taken down a peg," as he phrased it; eager, +too, to witness the Brazilian officer's discomfiture if the second mate +"handed it to him," thought it was time to assert himself. + +"I'm goin' to 'ave a nap," he announced. "Either you or Watts must +take 'old. W'ich is it to be?" + +"No need to ask Mr. Hozier any such question," said the suave Dom +Corria. "You can trust him implicitly. He is with us now--to the +death. Captain San Benavides, a word with you." + +"South a bit," repeated the skipper. "Call me at two bells in the +second dog." + +He was turning to leave the bridge with the Brazilians when a cheery +voice came from a gangway beneath. + +"Yah, yah, mine frent--that's the proper lubricant. I wouldn't give +you tuppence a dozen for your bloomin' lager. Well, just a freshener. +Thanks. Ik danky shun!" + +"You spik Tcherman vare goot," was the reply. + +"Talk a little of all sorts. Used to sing a Jarman song once. What +was that you was a-hummin' in your cabin? Nice chune. I've a musical +ear meself." + +Someone sang a verse in a subdued baritone, tremulous with sentiment. +The melody was haunting, the words almost pathetic under the conditions +of life on board the disheveled _Unser Fritz_. They told of Vienna, +the city beloved of its sons. + + Es gibt nur eine Kaiser Stadt, + Es gibt nur eine Wien. + + +"Shake, me boy!" cried the enraptured Watts to the ship's captain. "I +do'n' know wot it's all about, but it's reel fine. Something to do +with a gal, I expect. Well, 'ere's one of the same kidney: + + I know a maiden fair to see, + Take care! + She can both false and friendly be, + Beware, beware! + Trust her not, + She is fooling thee!" + + +Mr. Watts was both charmed and surprised when the friendly skipper +joined in the concluding lines in his own language. But his pleasure +was short-lived. Coke's inflamed visage glowered into the mess room. + +"Sink me if you ain't a daisy!" he roared, pouncing on a three-quarters +filled bottle of rum. "D'you fancy we're goin' to land you at Maceio +cryin' drunk? No, sir, not this time. Over it goes, an' if you ain't +dam careful, over you go after it!" + +Watts could have wept without the artificial stimulus of the rum. To +see good liquor slung into the sea in that fashion--well, it was a sin, +that's wot it was! But Coke's furious eye quelled him; and revel and +song ceased. + +Above, on the bridge, Hozier smiled sourly at the squall which had so +suddenly beset the fair argosy of the convivial-minded Watts. He tried +to invest the incident with an excess of humor. Any excuse would serve +to still certain disquieting doubts that were springing into alarming +activity. Had he gone the best way to work in allaying Iris's +conscience-stricken qualms? Was he justified in adopting such a bold +line with De Sylva? Could it be possible--no, he refused to harbor any +mean thought of Iris. She loved him, he was sure; his love for her was +at once a torment and an excruciating bliss, and both of these wearing +sensations sadly detracted from the efficiency of the officer of the +watch. So our distracted Philip pulled himself up sharply, paced back +and forth between port and starboard, and surveyed ship, binnacle, and +horizon with alert vigilance. + +On the fore-deck groups of sailors and firemen belonging to both +vessels were fraternizing. There could be little room for speculation +as to the subject of their broken talk. It was of De Sylva, of +Brazil's new dictator, of the gold he would control when he became +President again. The slow-moving Teutonic mind was beginning to +assimilate the notion that there was money in this escapade. That the +tatterdemalion then closeted with the _Unser Fritz's_ captain could +obtain a certified check for a million sterling, and twenty-five times +as many millions of francs, and even then remain a man of means, was +unbelievable; but if he regained power, that was different. _Ende gut, +alles gut_. There might be pickings in it. + +Soon after sunset Iris reappeared. She walked on the after deck with +San Benavides, and seemed to be listening with great attention to +something he was telling her. Hozier was often compelled to look that +way in order to make certain that the _Sao Geronimo_ was not +overhauling the ship in one of her circling flights over the wide +channel. He wondered what in the world San Benavides was saying that +his chatter should be so interesting, and he acknowledged with a pang +that Iris was deliberately avoiding his own occasional glances in her +direction. + +There is no saying what would have happened had he known that the +Brazilian was relating the scene that took place on the bridge, +suppressing its prime motive, and twisting it greatly to Hozier's +detriment, though with an adroit touch that deprived Iris of any power +to resent his words. Indeed, she read her own meaning into Philip's +anxiety to reach Pernambuco, whereas San Benavides was striving to +instill the belief that she would find excellent friends at Maceio. +She was far too loyal-hearted to suspect Philip of a hidden purpose in +urging that the voyage should end in one port rather than another. But +she could not forget that he said repeatedly they would be married in +Pernambuco. Indeed, the promise had a glamour of its own, even though +it could never be fulfilled. More than once her cheeks glowed with a +rush of color that San Benavides attributed to his own delightful +personality, and, when she paled again, his voice sank to a deeply +sympathetic note. + +And here came Watts, rejuvenated, having imbibed many pints of the +despised lager, and humming gaily: + + Beware, Beware! + Trust her not! + She is foo-oo-ooling thee! + + +Confound the fellow. Why could he not chant the piratical doggerel +that Coke abhorred? That, at least, would have been more appropriate +to present surroundings? But would it? Ah, Philip felt a twinge then. +"Touche!" chortled some unseen imp who plied a venomous rapier. Thank +goodness, a sailor was standing by the ship's bell, with his hand on a +bit of cord tied to the clapper. It would soon be seven o'clock. Even +the companionship of the uncouth skipper was preferable to this +brooding solitariness. + +When Hozier was relieved, and summoned to a meal in the saloon with +Norrie and some of the ship's own officers, Iris was nowhere visible. +He went straight to her cabin, and knocked. + +"Who is it?" she asked. + +"I, Philip. Will you be on deck in a quarter of an hour?" + +"No." + +"But this time _I_ want to tell _you_ something." + +"Philip, dear, I am weary. I must rest--and--I dare not meet you." + +"Dare not?" + +"I am afraid of myself. Please leave me." + +He caught the sob in her voice, and it unmanned him; he stalked off, +raging. He remembered how the fiend, in Gounod's incomparable opera, +whispered in the lover's ear: "Thou fool, wait for night and the moon!" +and he was wroth with himself for the memory. While off duty he kept +strict watch and ward over the gangway in which Iris's cabin was +situated. It was useless; she remained hidden. + +The _Unser Fritz_ was now heading southwest, and "reeling off her ten +knots an hour like clockwork," as Norrie put it. The Recife, that +enormous barrier reef which blockades hundreds of miles of the +Brazilian coast, caused no anxiety to Coke. He was well acquainted +with these waters, and he held on stoutly until the occulting light of +Maceio showed low over the sea straight ahead. It was then after +midnight, and the land was still ten miles distant, but the ship +promptly resumed her role of lame duck, lest a prowling gunboat met and +interrogated her. + +As Coke had told Iris she might expect to be ashore about two o'clock, +she waited until half-past one ere coming on deck. Despite her +unalterable decision to abide by the hideous compact entered into with +her uncle and Bulmer, her first thought now was to find Hozier. Though +the sky was radiant with stars, a slight haze on the surface of the sea +shrouded the ship's decks and passages in an uncanny darkness. Coke's +orders forbade the display of any lights whatsoever, except those in +the engine-room and the three essential lamps carried externally. So +the _Unser Fritz_ was gloomy, and the plash of the sea against her worn +plates had an ominous sound, while the glittering white eye of the +lighthouse winked evilly across the black plain in front. + +In a word Iris was thoroughly wretched, and not a little disturbed by +the near prospect of landing in a foreign country, which would probably +be plunged into civil war by the mere advent of De Sylva. It need +hardly be said that, under these circumstances, Hozier was the one man +in whose company she would feel reasonably safe. But she could not see +him anywhere. Coke and Watts, with the Brazilians and a couple of +Germans, were on the bridge, but Hozier was not to be found. + +At last she hailed one of the _Andromeda's_ men whom she met in a +gangway. + +"Mr. Hozier, miss?" said he. "Oh, he's forrard, right up in the bows, +keepin' a lookout. This is a ticklish place to enter without a pilot, +an' we've passed two already." + +This information added to her distress. She ought not to go to him. +Full well she knew that her presence might distract him from an +all-important task. So she sat forlornly on the fore-hatch, waiting +there until he might leave his post, reviewing all the bizarre +procession of events since she climbed an elm-tree in the garden of +Linden House on a Sunday afternoon now so remote that it seemed to be +the very beginning of life. The adventures to which that elm-tree +conducted her were oddly reminiscent of the story of Jack and the +Beanstalk. For once, the true had outrivaled the fabulous. + +The steamer crept on lazily, and Iris fancied the hour must be nearer +five o'clock than two when she heard Hozier's voice ring out clearly: + +"Buoy on the port bow!" + +There was a movement among the dim figures on the bridge. A minute +later Hozier cried again: + +"Buoy on the starboard bow!" + +She understood then that they were in a marked channel. Already the +road was narrowing. Soon they would be ashore. At last Hozier came. +He saw her as he jumped down from the forecastle deck. + +"Why are you here, Iris?" was all he said. She looked so bowed, so +humbled, that he could not find it in his heart to reproach her for +having avoided him earlier. + +"I wanted to be near you," she whispered. "I--I am frightened, Philip. +I am terrified by the unknown. Somehow, on the rock our dangers were +measurable. Here, we shall soon be swallowed up among a whole lot of +people." + +They heard Coke's gruff order to the watch to clear the falls of the +jolly-boat. The _Unser Fritz_ was going dead slow. On the starboard +side were the lights of a large town, but the opposite shore was somber +and vague. + +"Are we going to land at once, in a small boat?" said Iris timidly. + +"I fancy there is a new move on foot. A gunboat is moored half a mile +down stream. You missed her because your back was turned. She has +steam up, and could slip her cables in a minute. They saw her from the +bridge, of course, but I did not report her, as there was a chance that +my hail might be heard, and we came in so confidently that we are +looked on as a local trader. Come, let us buy a programme." + +He took her by the arm with that masterful gentleness that is so +comforting to a woman when danger is rife. Even his jesting allusion +to their theatrical arrival in port was cheering. They reached the +bridge. Some sailors were lowering a boat as quietly as possible. + +Dom Corria approached with outstretched hand. + +"Good-by, Miss Yorke," he said. "I am leaving you for a few hours, not +longer. When next we meet I ought to have a sure grip of the +Presidential ladder, and I shall climb quickly. Won't you wish me +luck?" + +"I wish you all good fortune, Dom Corria," said Iris. "May your plans +succeed without bloodshed!" + +"Ah, this is South America, remember. Our conflicts are usually short +and fierce. _Au revoir_, Mr. Hozier. By daybreak we shall be better +friends." + +San Benavides also bade them farewell, with an easy grace not wholly +devoid of melodramatic pathos. The dandy and the man of rags climbed +down a rope ladder, the boat fell away from the ship's side, and the +night took them. + +"What did he mean by saying you would be 'better friends'?" whispered +the girl. "Have you quarreled?" + +"We had a small dispute as to the wisdom of landing you here," said +Philip. "Perhaps I was wrong. He is a clever man, and he surely knows +his own country." + +"Mr. Hozier!" cried Coke. + +"Yes, sir." + +"Is all clear forrard to let go anchor?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Give her thirty. You go and see to it, will you?" + +Hozier made off at a run. + +Iris recalled the last time she heard similar words. She shuddered. +Would that placid foreshore blaze out into a roar of artillery, and the +worn-out _Unser Fritz_, like the worn-out _Andromeda_, stagger and +lurch into a watery grave. + +But the only noise that jarred the peaceful night was the rattle of the +cable and winch. The ship fell away a few feet, and was held. There +was no moving light on the river. Not even a police boat or Customs +launch had put off. Maceio was asleep; it was quite unprepared for the +honor of a Presidential visit. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE NEW ERA + +A swaggering officer and a man habited like a beggar landed unobserved +at a coal wharf, moored a ship's boat to a bolt, and passed swiftly +through a silent town till they reached the closed gates of an infantry +barrack perched on a hill that rose steeply above the clustering roofs +of Maceio. + +Though the seeming mendicant limped slightly, his superior stature +enabled him to keep pace with the officer. The pair neither lagged nor +hesitated. The officer knocked loudly on a small door inset in the big +gates. After some delay it was opened. A sentry challenged. + +"Capitao San Benavides," announced the officer, and the man stood to +attention. + +"Enter, my friend," said San Benavides to his ragged companion. The +latter stepped within; the wicket was locked, and the click of the bolt +was suggestive of the rattle of the dice with which Dom Corria De Sylva +was throwing a main with fortune. Perhaps some thought of the kind +occurred to him, but he was calm as if he were so poor that he had +naught more to lose. + +"Who is the officer of the guard?" San Benavides asked the soldier. + +"Senhor Tenente [Lieutenant] Regis de Pereira, senhor capitao." + +"Tell him, with my compliments, that I shall be glad to meet him at the +colonel's quarters in fifteen minutes." + +The queerly-assorted pair moved off across the barrack square. The +sentry looked after them. + +"My excellent captain seems to have been brawling," he grinned. "But +what of the _mendigo_?" + +What, indeed? A most pertinent question for Brazil, and one that would +be loudly answered. + +The colonel's house was in darkness, yet San Benavides rapped +imperatively. An upper window was raised. A voice was heard, using +profane language. A head appeared. Its owner cried, "Who is +it?"--with additions. + +"San Benavides." + +"Christo! And the other?" + +"One whom you expect." + +The head popped in. Soon there was a light on the ground floor. The +door opened. A very stout man, barefooted, who had struggled into a +pair of abnormally tight riding-breeches, faced them. + +"Can it be possible?" he exclaimed, striking an attitude. + +Dom Corria spoke not a word. He knew the value of effect, and could +bide his time. The three passed into a lighted apartment. De Sylva +placed himself under a chandelier, and took off a frayed straw hat +which he had borrowed from someone on board the _Unser Fritz_. The +colonel, a grotesque figure in his present _deshabille_, bowed low +before him. + +"My President!--I salute you," he murmured. + +"Thank you, General," said Dom Corria, smiling graciously. "I knew I +could depend on you. How soon can you muster the regiment?" + +"In half an hour, Excellency." + +"See that there is plenty of ammunition for the machine guns. What of +the artillery?" + +"The three batteries stationed here are with us heart and soul." + +"Colonel San Benavides, as chief of the staff, is acquainted with every +detail. You, General, will assume command of the Army of Liberation. +Some trunks were sent to you from Paris, I believe?" + +"They are in the room prepared for your Excellency." + +"Let me go there at once and change my clothing. I must appear before +the troops as their President, not as a jail-bird. For the moment I +leave everything to you and San Benavides. Let Senhor Pondillo be +summoned. He will attend to the civil side of affairs. You have my +unqualified approval of the military scheme drawn up by you and my +other friends. There is one thing--a gunboat lies in the harbor. Is +she the _Andorinha_?" + +The newly-promoted general smote his huge stomach with both +hands--"beating the drum," he called it--and the rat-tat signified +instant readiness for action. + +"The guns will soon scare that bird," he exclaimed. As _Andorinha_ +means "swallow" in English there was some point to the remark. Nor was +he making a vain boast. The most astounding feature of every +revolution in a South American republic is the alacrity with which the +army will fire on the navy, _et vice versa_. The two services seem to +be everlastingly at feud. If politicians fail to engineer a quarrel, +the soldiers and sailors will indulge in one on their own account. + +It was so now at Maceio. Dawn was about to peep up over the sea when +twelve guns lumbered through the narrow streets, waking many startled +citizens. A few daring souls, who guessed what had happened, rushed +off on horseback or bicycle to remote telegraph offices. These +adventurers were too late. Every railway station and post-office +within twenty miles was already held by troops. Revolts are conducted +scientifically in that region. Their stage management is perfect, and +the cumbrous methods of effete civilizations might well take note of +the speed, thoroughness, and efficiency with which a change of +government is effected. + +For instance, what could be more admirable than the scaring of the bird +by General Russo? He drew up his three batteries on the wharf opposite +the unsuspecting _Andorinha_, and endeavored to plant twelve shells in +the locality of her engine-room without the least hesitation. There +was no thought of demanding her surrender, or any quixotic nonsense of +that sort. In the first place, no man would act as herald, since he +would be shot or stabbed the instant his errand became known; in the +second, as Hozier had explained to Iris, the gunboat could slip her +cable very quickly, and Russo's artillerists might miss a moving object. + +As it was, every gun scored, though the elevation was rather high. The +shells made a sad mess of the superstructure, but left the engines +intact. The sailors, on their part, knew exactly what had happened. +Every man who escaped death or serious injury from the bursting +missiles ran to his post. A wire hawser and mooring rope were severed +with axes, the screw revolved, and the _Andorinha_ was in motion. +Though winged, she still could fly. The second salvo of projectiles +was less damaging; again the gunners failed to reach the warship's +vitals. Her commander got his own armament into action, and managed to +demolish a warehouse and a grain elevator. Then he made off down the +coast toward Rio de Janeiro. + +The sudden uproar stirred Maceio from roof to basement. Its +inhabitants poured into the Plaza. Every man vied with his neighbor in +yelling: "The revolution is here! _Viva Dom Corria_! _Abajo Sao +Paulo_!" + +That last cry explained a good deal. The State of Sao Paulo had long +maintained a "corner" in Brazilian Presidents. De Sylva, a native of +Alagoas, was the first to break down the monopoly. Hence the cabal +against him; hence, too, the readiness of Maceio, together with many of +the smaller ports and the whole of the vast interior, to espouse his +cause. + +For the purposes of this story, which is mainly concerned with the +lives and fortunes of a few insignificant people unknown to history, it +is not necessary to follow in detail the trumpetings, proclamations, +carousals, and arrests that followed Dom Corria's first success. It is +a truism that in events of international importance the very names of +the chief actors ofttimes go unrecorded. Future generations will ask, +perhaps:--Who blew up the _Maine_? Who persuaded the Tsar to break his +word anent Port Arthur? Who told Paul Kruger that the Continent of +Europe would support the Boers against Great Britain? Such instances +could be multiplied indefinitely, and the rule held good now in Brazil. + +If any polite Pernambucano, Maceio-ite, or merchant of Bahia were +informed that President De Sylva's raid was alone rendered possible by +the help of a truculent British master-mariner and a dozen or so of his +hard-bitten crew, he (the said Brasileiro) might be skeptical, or, at +best, indifferent. But let the name of some puppet politician hailing +from Sao Paulo be mentioned, and his eyes would flash with angry +recognition; yet the _Andromeda's_ small contingent achieved more than +a whole army of conspirators. + +The one incident, then, of a political nature, in which the victors of +the tussle on Fernando Noronha were publicly concerned, was the outcome +of a message cabled by Dom Corria while the smoke of Russo's cannon +still clung about the quay. + +It was written in German, addressed to a Hamburg shipping firm, and ran +as follows: "Have sold _Unser Fritz_ to Senhor Pondillo of this port as +from September 1st, for 175,000 marks. If approved, cable +confirmation, and draw on Paris branch Deutsche Bank at sight. Franz +Schmidt, care German Consul, Maceio." + +This harmless commercial item was read by many officials hostile to De +Sylva, yet it evoked no comment. Its first real effect was observable +in the counting-house of the Hamburg owners. There it was believed +that Captain Schmidt had either become a lunatic himself or was in +touch with a rich one. Schmidt was so well known to them that they +acted on the latter hypothesis. They cabled him their hearty +commendation, "drew" on the Paris bank by the next post, and awaited +developments. To their profound amazement, the money was paid. As +they had obtained 8,750 pounds for a vessel worth about one-quarter of +the sum, they had good reason to be satisfied. It mattered not a jot +to them that the sale was made "as from September 1st," or any other +date. They signed the desired quittance, cabled Schmidt again to ask +if Senhor Pondillo was in need of other ships of the _Unser Fritz_ +class, and the members of the firm indulged that evening in the best +dinner that the tip-top restaurant of Hamburg could supply. + +They were puzzled next day by certain statements in the newspapers, and +were called on to explain to a number of journalists that the ship had +left their ownership. She was at Maceio. Where was Maceio? Somewhere +in South America. + +"_Es ist nicht von Bedeutung_," said the senior partner to his +associates. "Schmidt will write full particulars; when all is said and +done, we have the money." + +Yet it did matter very greatly, as shall be seen. Here, again, was an +instance of an humble individual becoming a cog in the wheel of world +politics. Within less than a month Schmidt was vituperated by half the +chancelleries of Europe. A newspaper war raged over him. He became +the object of an Emperor's Jovian wrath. "What's the matter with +Schmidt? He's--all--right!" thundered the whole press of the United +States. And all because he had made a good bargain at a critical +moment! + +But no one on board the _Unser Fritz_ was vexed by aught save present +tribulations when De Sylva and his _aide_ quitted the ship. Be sure +that not a soul thought of sleep. Every man, and the one woman whom +chance had thrown in their midst, remained on deck and watched the +slumbering town. It was only a small place. The _Andorinha_ lay at +one end of the harbor, the _Unser Fritz_ at the other. They were +barely half a mile apart, and Maceio climbed the sloping shore between +the two points. + +Hozier, of course, had forgiven Iris for her aloofness, and Iris, with +that delightful inconsistency which ranks high among the many charms of +her sex, found that "Philip dear," though she might not marry him, was +her only possible companion. He, having acquired an experience +previously lacking, took care to fall in with her mood. She, weary of +a painful self-repression, cheated the frowning gods of "just this one +night." So they looked at the twinkling lights, spoke in whispers lest +they should miss any tokens of disturbance on shore, elbowed each other +comfortably on the rails of the bridge, and uttered no word of love or +future purpose. + +They were discussing nothing more important than the sufferings of +Watts--whom Coke would not allow to go out of his sight--when a +lightning blaze leaped from the somber shadows of some buildings on the +quay lower down the river. Again, and many times again, the sudden +jets of flame started out across the black water. Iris, or Hozier, for +that matter, had never seen a field-piece fired by night, but before +the girl could do other than grip Philip's arm in a spasm of fear, the +thunder of the artillery rolled across the harbor, and the worn plates +of the _Unser Fritz_ quivered under the mere concussion. + +"By jove, they're at it!" cried Philip. + +Iris felt the thrill that shook him. She could not see his face, but +she knew that his blue eyes were shining like bright steel. She was +horrified at the thought of red war being so near, yet she was proud of +her lover. At these mortal crises, the woman demands courage in the +man. + +"Oh!" she gasped, and clung to him more tightly. + +Under such circumstances it was only to be expected that his arm would +clasp her round the waist; Disraeli's famous epigram was coined for +diplomacy, not for love-making. + +Hozier strained his eyes through the gloom to try and discover the +effect of the cannonade on the gunboat. He was quickly alive to the +significance of the answering broadside. Then the black hull grew dim +and vanished. His sailor's sympathies went with the escaping ship. + +"She has got away! I am jolly glad of it," he cried. "It was a dirty +trick to open fire on her in that fashion. Just how they served the +_Andromeda_, the hounds, only we had never a gun to tickle them up in +return." + +"Do you think that many of the poor creatures have been killed?" asked +Iris tremulously. The din of ordnance and bursting shells had ceased +as suddenly as it began. Lights appeared in nearly every house. +Shouting men were running along the neighboring wharf. Maceio, never a +heavy sleeper in bulk, dreamed for a second of earthquakes, leaped out +of bed, and ran into the streets in the negligent costume which the +Italians describe by the delightful word, _confidenza_. + +"I don't suppose so," Hozier reassured her. "If the artillery had made +good practice at that short range the gunboat must have sunk at her +moorings. Her men naturally couldn't miss the town. There was a rare +old rattle among the crockery behind the soldiers. Did you hear it? I +wonder what went over?" + +He was as excited as a schoolboy, almost jubilant. Poor Iris! Though +she was now a veteran in scenes of death and disaster, she realized +that fate had erred in choosing her as a heroine. + +Coke and Watts drew near. + +"Dom Wot's-'is-name wasn't long in gettin' busy," chuckled Coke. "Gev' +her a dose of the _Andromeda's_ physic, eh? I'm sorry the blighters +managed to 'ook it." + +Though he had just uttered an opinion directly contrary to his +captain's, Hozier deemed it wise to be non-committal. + +"The guns must have been laid badly," he said. + +"Mebbe, an' wot's more, d--n 'em, they knew there was something in +front that could shoot back." + +So Coke was at least impartial. He cared not a jot how the Brazilians +slaughtered each other so long as De Sylva established the new regime +speedily. + +"I never was a fightin' man meself," murmured Watts weakly. "That sort +of thing gives me a sinkin' sensation in me innards." + +"Wot you want is a drink, me boy," said Coke. + +Watts brightened. He drew a deep breath. + +"I reelly believe that's wot's wrong with me," he said. + +"Then I'll just ax the cook to 'urry up with the corfee," guffawed the +unfeeling skipper. "We'll all be the better for a snack an' somethink +'ot." + +Iris managed to choke down an hysterical laugh. Coke was incorrigible, +yet she was conscious of a growing appreciation of his crude chivalry. +He boasted truly that he feared neither man nor devil. His chief +defect lay in being born several centuries too late. Had he flourished +during the Middle Ages, Coke would have carved out a kingdom. + +Even while the men were thus callously discussing the tragedy that had +been enacted before their eyes, the miracle of the dawn was +transforming night into day. In the tropics there is no hesitancy +about sunrise. The splendid imagery of Genesis is literally exact. +"Let there be light; and there was light . . . and God divided the +light from the darkness." Long before the _Andorinha_ had crept round +the southern headland of the Macayo estuary she became visible again. + +About six o'clock a grand review was held in the Plaza, or chief +square. Dom Corria, a resplendent personage on horseback, made a fine +speech. He was vociferously applauded, by both troops and populace. +General Russo, also mounted, assured him that Brazil was pining for +him. In effect, when he was firmly established in the Presidency, the +people would be allowed to vote for him. + +"We have borne two years of misrule," vociferated the +commander-in-chief, "but it has vanished before the fiery breath of our +guns. We hail your Excellency as our liberator. Long live Dom Corria! +Down with----" + +The fierce "Vivas" of the mob, combined with the general's weight, +proved too much for his charger, which plunged violently. Russo was +held on accidentally by his spurs. There was a lively interlude until +an orderly seized the bridle, and the general was able to disengage the +rowels from the animal's ribs. When tranquillity was restored, the +soldiers marched off to their quarters, and Colonel San Benavides +boarded the _Unser Fritz_. He invited Iris, Schmidt, Coke, and Hozier +to breakfast with the President at the principal hotel. + +Watts was not included in the list of guests. Being indignant, he +expressed himself freely. + +"Nice thing!" he said to Norrie. "We're not good enough to be axed. +It was a bit of all right w'en we 'elped 'im out of quod, but now 'e's +a bloomin' toff we're low-down sailormen--that's wot we are." + +"Man, ye're fair daft," growled the Scot. "It's as plain as the neb on +yer face that he canna dae wi' a', so he just picked the twa skippers +and the lassie; he kent weel she wadna stir an inch withoot Hozier." + +Norrie was right, as it happened, but Watts added another grudge to his +score against De Sylva. + +Now, though dynasties totter and empires crash, the first thing a woman +thinks of when bidden to a public gathering is her attire. Iris +declared most emphatically that to expect her to go ashore and meet +certain military and civic dignitaries while she was wearing a costume +originally purchased for mountaineering, which had endured the rough +usage of the past two days, was "for to laugh." She was speaking +French, and that was the literal phrase she used. The courteous San +Benavides smiled away her protest. His Excellency had foreseen the +difficulty. Those who knew Dom Corria best would not credit that he +should forget anything. The Senhora Pondillo awaited Iris at the hotel +with a supply of new clothing. Captain Schmidt, of course, could +depend on his own wardrobe, but Captain Coke and the Senhor Hozier +would find a tradesman in their rooms who had guaranteed to equip them +suitably. Moreover, the same outfitter would visit the ship during the +morning and make good the lost raiment and boots of the other officers +and men of the _Andromeda_. San Benavides spoke like the ambassador of +a prince, and, in the sequel, there was no stint of deeds to give +effect to his promises. + +On the way to the hotel Iris saw a large building labeled "Casa do +Correio e Telegraphia." It was not surprising that she had not thought +earlier of the necessity of cabling to Liverpool. She blushed, and +looked involuntarily at Hozier. + +"I must send a message to my uncle," she said. + +Were Philip a professed spiritualist, the spectral shapes of David +Verity and Dickey Bulmer could not have been more effectually +"projected" into his astral plane at Maceio than they were at that +instant. He had not set eyes on either of the men, but the girl's +words conjured them into being, and the vision was vastly disagreeable. + +San Benavides, of course, was anxious to oblige Iris in this as in +every other respect. He procured the requisite form, told her the +cost, which led to a condensed version of the original draft, smoothed +away the slight hindrance of foreign money tendered in payment, and +arranged the due delivery of a reply. Perhaps he smiled when he read +what she had written. The words were comprehensible even to one who +did not understand English: + +"_Andromeda_ lost. Arrived here safely. Address, Yorke, Maceio." + +There was a space at the foot of the form on which it was necessary to +subscribe her name and local address. So she wrote, "Iris Yorke, +steamship _Unser Fritz_, Maceio harbor." Hozier was standing by her +side as she printed the words legibly. She looked up at him with a +curiously tense expression that he did not fathom immediately. They +were in the busy main street again ere its meaning occurred to him. +The cable committed her irrevocably. She felt that she was signing her +own condemnation! + +Among the four people, therefore, who entered the Hotel Grande in the +Rua do Sul there were two whose feelings were the reverse of cheerful. +But convention is stronger than the primal impulses--sometimes it +triumphs over death itself--and convention was all-powerful now. It +led Iris away captive in the train of the smiling and voluble Senhora +Pondillo, and it immersed Hozier in a tangle of fearsome words which +turned out to be the stock in trade of a clothier. The mere male of +Maceio decks himself with gay plumage. Philip was hard put to it +before he secured some garments which did not irresistibly recall the +heroes of certain musical comedies popular in England. + +Coke experienced worse vicissitudes. Even the variety and richness of +a master mariner's vocabulary was taxed to its utmost resources when he +was coaxed into "trying on" a short jacket apparently intended for a +toreador. Such minor troubles, however, were overcome in time. A +razor and a hot bath were by no means the least important items of the +rejuvenating process, and when the two men entered the salon where Dom +Corria was holding an impromptu reception they looked like a couple of +coffee-planters from the Argentine. Schmidt was there already. For +some reason, the new President seemed to be so fond of the _Unser +Fritz's_ commander that he refused to be parted from him. It was not +until long afterward that Hozier discovered the reason of this mushroom +friendship. The German consul was in the room. + +The appearance of Iris caused something akin to a sensation. The Dona +Pondillo could not create English clothes, nor bad copies of French, +but her own daughters dressed in the height of local fashion, and Dom +Corria's earnest request had made them generous. The dark-eyed, +olive-complexioned women of Alagoas are often exceedingly beautiful, +but few of those present had ever seen a brown-haired, brown-eyed, +fair-faced Englishwoman. Iris was remarkably good-looking, even among +the pretty girls of her own county of Lancashire. Her large, limpid +eyes, well-molded nose, and perfectly formed mouth were the dominant +features of a face that had all the charm of youth and health. Her +smooth skin, brown with exposure to sun and air, glowed into a rich +crimson when she found herself in the midst of so many strangers. The +slightly delicate semblance induced by the hardships and loss of rest +which fell to her lot since the _Andromeda_ went to pieces on the +Grand-pere rock in no wise detracted from her appearance. She wore the +elegant costume of a Maceio belle with ease and distinction. If she +was flurried by the undisguised murmur of admiration that greeted her, +she did not show it beyond the first rush of color. + +Dom Corria, dragging Schmidt with him, hurried to meet her. Surprise +at his gala attire helped to conquer her natural timidity, for the +President was gorgeous in blue and gold. + +"My good wishes are soon changed into congratulations, Senhor," she +said. + +"Ah, my dear young lady, I am overjoyed that you should be here to +witness my success," he cried. Then, as if he had waited for this +moment, he turned to the assembled company and delivered an eloquent +panegyric of the _Andromeda's_ crew and their _deusa deliciosa_--for +that is what he called Iris--a delightful goddess. He had made many +speeches already that day, but none was more heartfelt than this. His +eulogy was unstinted. Luckily for Iris, she was so conscious of the +attention she attracted that she kept her eyes steadfastly fixed on the +carpet. Otherwise, having a well-developed sense of humor, she must +have laughed outright had she seen Coke's face. + +He, of course, understood no word that was said. But De Sylva's +animated gestures and flashing eyes were enough. Ever and anon, the +excitable citizens of Maceio would turn and gaze at one or other of the +three, while loud cries of "Bravo!" punctuated the President's oratory. +When Coke's turn came for these demonstrations, he tried to grin, but +was only able to scowl. For once in his stormy life he was nonplused. +His brick-red countenance glowed with heat and embarrassment. At the +close of the speech he muttered to Hozier: + +"Wish I'd ha' known wot sort of beano I was comin' to. Dam if I ain't +meltin'." + +This ordeal ended, dejeuner was served. The President took in Iris and +the Dona Pondillo. They were the only ladies present. The three +sailors, some staff officers, and a few local celebrities, made up the +rest of the company. + +Hozier, though by no means indifferent to the good fare provided, was +wondering how many hours would elapse before Iris's cablegram reached +Verity's office, when some words caught his ear that drove all other +considerations from his mind. + +"I am sorry to say that, in my opinion, there is not the slightest +chance of your message reaching England to-day, Miss Yorke," the +President was saying. + +"But why not?" she asked, with an astonishment that was not wholly the +outcome of regret. + +"The cable does not land here, and the transmitting stations will be +closely watched, now that my arrival in Brazil is known. Even the +simplest form of words will be twisted into a political significance. +No, I think it best to be quite candid. Until I control Pernambuco, +which should be within a week or ten days, you may rest assured that no +private cablegrams will be forwarded." + +"Oh, dear, I fully expected a reply to-day," she said, and now that she +realized the effect of a further period of anxiety on the Bootle +partnership she was genuinely dismayed. + +"You may be sure it will not come," said Dom Corria. "Indeed I may as +well take this opportunity of explaining to you--and to my other +English friends"--with the interpolated sentence his glance dwelt +quietly on Hozier and Coke--"the exact position locally. You see, +Maceio is a small place, and easily approached from the sea. A hostile +fleet could knock it to pieces in half an hour, and it would be a poor +reward for my supporters' loyalty if my presence subjected them to a +bombardment. I have no strong defenses or heavy guns to defy attack, +and my troops are not more than a thousand men, all told. It is +obvious that I must make for the interior. There, I gather strength as +I advance, the warships cannot pursue, and I can choose my own +positions to meet the half-hearted forces that Dom Miguel will collect +to oppose me. In fact, I and every armed man in Maceio march +up-country this afternoon." + +Iris, by this time, was thoroughly frightened, and Hozier, who read +more in De Sylva's words than was possible in her case, was watching +the speaker's calm face with a fixity that might have disconcerted many +men. Dom Corria seemed to be unaware of either the girl's distress or +Philip's white anger. + +"You naturally ask how I propose to safeguard the companions of my +flight from Fernando Noronha," he went on. "I answer at once--by +taking them with me. The Senhora Pondillo and her family will +accompany her husband to my _quinta_ at Las Flores. A special train +will take all of us to the nearest railway station this afternoon. +Thence my estate is but a day's march. You and my other friends from +both ships will be quite safe and happy there until order is restored. +You must come. The men's lives, at any rate, would not be worth an +hour's purchase if my opponent's forces found them here, and I feel +certain that one or more cruisers will arrive off Maceio to-night. For +you, this excursion will be quite a pleasant experience, and you can +absolutely rely on my promise to send news of your safety to England at +the very first opportunity." + +Iris could say nothing under the shock of this intelligence. She +looked at Philip, and their eyes met. They both remembered the glance +they had exchanged at the post-office. Preoccupied by their own +thoughts, neither of them had noticed the smile San Benavides indulged +in on that occasion, nor did they pay heed to the fact that he was +smiling again now, apparently at some story told him by General Russo. +But San Benavides was sharp-witted. He needed no interpreter to make +clear the cause of the chill that had fallen on the President's end of +the table. + +"He has told them," he thought, perhaps. And, if further surmise were +hazarded as to his views, they might well prove to be concerned with +the wonderful things that can happen within a week or ten +days--especially when things are happening at the rate taken by events +just then in Brazil. + +Of course, as a philosopher, San Benavides was right; it was in the +role of prophet that he came to grief, this being the pre-ordained fate +of all false prophets. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +CARMELA + +Among the many words borrowed by the Brazilians from their +Spanish-speaking neighbors, that for "to-morrow" is perhaps the most +popular. The Spaniard's _Manana_ is so elastic that it covers any +period of time between the next twenty-four hours and the indefinite +future. When, therefore, Dom Sylva spoke of controlling Pernambuco +before the month of September was barely half sped, he was either too +sanguine, or too literal in his translation of easy-going Portuguese +into vigorous English. + +His _quinta_, or country house, was situated on the upper watershed of +the river Moxoto. There he raised his standard, thither flocked rebels +galore, and in that direction, with due caution, President Barraca +pushed columns of troops by road and rail from Bahia, from Pernambuco, +and from Maceio itself. For Barraca held the sea, and the wealthy and +enterprising south was strongly opposed to war, while Dom Corria +trusted to the mountains and drew his partisans from the less energetic +north. This bald statement has an unconvincing sound in the ears of +races which dwell north of the equator, but it must be remembered that +Brazil, in more respects than one, is the land of topsy-turveydom. +Were it not that the mass of the people was heartily sick of a corrupt +regime, De Sylva would have been dead or in irons on his way back to +Fernando Noronha well within the time allotted for the consolidation of +his rule. As it was, minor insurrections were breaking out in the +southern provinces, the reigning President could trust only in the +navy, and the conservatism of commerce and society, as represented by +the great landowners of Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, and Minas Geraes, +alone stifled the upgrowth of an overwhelming national movement in Dom +Corria's favor. + +In a word, De Sylva commanded public sympathy but small resources; +Barraca was unpopular but controlled the navy and part of the army. +Given such conditions--with the added absurdity that the troops on both +sides were most unwilling to face long-range rifle fire but would +cheerfully hack each other to mince-meat with knives--and a tedious, +indeterminate campaign is the certain outcome. De Sylva had said that +local conflicts were usually "short and fierce." Applied to such +upheavals as had taken place in the capital during recent years, the +phrase was strictly accurate. He himself had been bundled out of +office between Mass and Vespers on a memorable Sunday. But a convict +on a remote island cannot organize such a perfect example of a +successful revolt. He had done much in gaining a good foothold; the +rest must be left to time and chance. + +A few indecisive but sanguinary engagements were fought in the +neighborhood of Pesqueira, a town in the hills about one hundred miles +from the seaboard. These proved that General Russo was a valiant +fighter but a poor tactician--and that was all. He was opposed by a +commander of little courage but singular skill in strategy. To restore +the balance, Dom Corria took the field in person, and Dom Miguel +Barraca hastened from Rio de Janeiro to witness the crushing of his +arch-enemy. + +The position was complicated by the arrival at Pernambuco of a German +squadron bearing a telegraphic cartel from the Emperor. A German ship +had been seized on the high seas. Why? And by whom? And how could +anybody dare? Then Brazil quivered, for every South American knows in +his heart that the great navy of Germany is being created not so much +to destroy England as to dispute the proud doctrine of the United +States that no European power shall ever again be allowed to seize +territory on the American continent. + +So there were strenuous days and anxious nights at Las Flores, where +President De Sylva sought to equip and discipline his levies, and at +Carugru, where President Barraca called on all the gods to witness that +De Sylva was a double-dyed traitor. + +Under such circumstances it is not surprising that a grand display of +money and audacity, backed by sundry distant roars of the British lion, +should enable two elderly Britons and a young Brazilian lady to pass +through the lines of the Exercito Nacional, as Barraca had christened +his following, in opposition to De Sylva's army of Liberation. Lest +too many people should become interested, the adventure was essayed on +the night of October 2d. Early next day the travelers and their guides +reached the rebel outposts. The young lady, who seemed to be at home +in this wild country, at once urged her horse into a pace wholly beyond +the equestrian powers of her staid companions. They protested vainly. +She waved a farewell hand, cantered over several miles of a rough road, +and dashed up to the Liberationist headquarters about eight o'clock. + +There was no hesitancy about her movements. She drew rein in approved +Gaucho style, bringing her mount to a dead stop from a gallop. + +"Where is the President?" she asked breathlessly. + +"There, senhora," said an orderly, pointing to a marquee, open on every +side, wherein De Sylva sat in conference with his staff. + +So many officers and mounted soldiers were coming and going, so great +was the bustle of preparation for some important movement then in +train, that no one specially noted her arrival. She dismounted, and +drew the reins across the horse's head ere she tied him to a tree. She +saw a tall young man emerge from the tent, jump on a charger held by a +soldier, and ride off at a fast pace toward the house of Las Flores, +which stood in a large garden on the slope of a neighboring hill. His +appearance seemed to puzzle her momentarily. His attire was that of +Brazil, but neither his manner nor horsemanship was typical of the +Brasileiro. In walking, he moved with an air of purposeful +concentration that differed singularly from the languorous stroll of +the average Brazilian officer, while his seat in the saddle, though +confident enough, could not be mistaken for that of a man who never +walks a yard if there is an animal to bestride. + +The new arrival was, however, at once too weary and too excited to give +further heed to one who was an utter stranger. She pushed her way +through knots of smoking loungers, entered the tent, and uttered a +little scream of delight when the President, who was writing at a big +table, happened to glance at her. De Sylva rose hastily, with an +amazed look on his usually unemotional face; forthwith the girl flung +herself into his arms. + +"Father!" + +"Carmela!" + +San Benavides, whose back was turned, heard the joyous cries of the +reunited father and daughter. They were locked in each other's +embrace, and the eyes of every man present were drawn to a pathetic and +unexpected meeting. For that reason, and because none gave a thought +to him, the pallor that changed the bronze of his forehead and cheeks +into a particularly unhealthy-looking tint of olive green passed +unnoticed. He swallowed something. It must have been a curse, for it +seemed to taste bitter. But he managed to recover some shred of +self-control ere the Senhora De Sylva was able to answer her father's +first eager questions; then, with a charming timidity, she found breath +to say: + +"And what of Salvador--is he not here?" + +Yes, Salvador was there--by her side--striving most desperately to look +lover-like. They clasped hands. Brazilian etiquette forbade a more +demonstrative greeting, and Carmela attributed Salvador's manifest +sallowness to the hardships of campaigning no less than the shock of +her sudden appearance. + +But the business of red war gave little scope for the many confidences +that a girl who had journeyed more than four thousand miles for this +reunion might naturally exchange with a father and a lover. Some +important move was toward, and the President and his chief-of-staff had +no time to spare. + +"You have come to bring me luck, Carmela meu," said De Sylva, stroking +his daughter's hair affectionately. "To-day we make our first real +advance. Salvador and I are going to the front now, almost this +instant. But there will be no fighting--an affair of outposts at the +best--and when everything is in order we shall return here to sleep. +Expect us, then, soon after sunset. Meanwhile, at the _quinta_ you +will find the young English lady of whose presence you are aware. Give +her your friendship. She is worthy of it." + +"Adeos, senhora!" echoed San Benavides, bringing his heels together +with a click, and saluting. He gathered a number of papers from the +table with nervous haste, and at once began to issue instructions to +several officers. De Sylva renewed the signing of documents. Russo +and he conversed in low tones. A buzz of talk broke out in the tent. +Carmela felt that she had no part in this activity, that her mere +presence was a positive hindrance to the work in hand. A trifle +disappointed, yet not without a thrill of high resolve to create for +herself an indispensable share in the movement of which her father was +the central figure, she went out, unhitched her tired horse, and walked +to the house. + +In Brazil, a _quinta_, or farm, may range from a palace to a hovel. +Dom Corria was rich; consequently Las Flores attained the higher level. +It was a straggling, roomy structure, planned for comfort and +hospitality rather than display, and the gardens, to whose beauty and +extent was due the Spanish name, used to be famous throughout the +province. Carmela had not seen the place during five years; she +expected to find changes, but was hardly prepared for the ravages made +by neglect, aided by unchecked tropical growth, as the outcome of her +father's two years in prison. The flowers were gone, the rarer shrubs +choked by rank weeds, the trees disfigured by rampant climbers. But, +in front of the long, deep veranda, even the attention of a month had +restored much of its beauty to a widespread lawn. Here, at that early +hour, the air was cool and the shade abundant; indeed, so embossed in +towering trees was the wide greensward, that it seemed to flow abruptly +into the veranda without ever a path or garden gate to break the solid +walls of foliage. + +Filled with tumultuous memories, her heart all throbbing at the +prospect of her father's fortunes being restored, the Senhora De Sylva +was entering a gate that led to the left front of the house, when the +young man came out whom she had seen leaving the headquarters tent. +Again he rode like one in a hurry, and she noted that he emerged from a +side path which gave access to the lawn. He gave her a sharp glance as +he passed. She received an impression of a strong face, with +stern-looking, bright, steel-blue eyes, a mouth tensely set, an aspect +at once confident yet self-contained. She was sure now he was not a +Brazilian, and he differed most materially from the mental picture of +Captain James Coke created by the many conversations in which he had +figured during her long voyage from Southampton in company with David +Verity and Dickey Bulmer. + +So Carmela wondered now who he could be, nor was her wonder lessened +when she peered through the screen of trees, and saw a girl, whom she +recognized instantly as Iris, furtively dabbing her tear-stained face +with a handkerchief. + +Unhappily, the President's daughter was not attractive in appearance. +She had fine eyes, and she moved with the natural elegance of her race, +but her features were somewhat angular for one of pure-blooded +Portuguese descent, and a too well-defined chin was more effectual as +an index of character than as an element of personal charm. Close +acquaintance with the cosmopolitan society of Paris and London had +familiarized her with many types of European and American beauty, and +her surprise that such an uncommonly good-looking girl should be the +niece of David Verity was not unmingled with pique at finding her +already installed in remote Las Flores. + +The veranda seemed to be a hive of feminine industry. The Dona +Pondillo and her daughters, together with the female relatives of +several noted men among the insurgents, were cutting and stitching most +industriously. Iris Yorke's advice, perhaps her assistance, was +evidently in demand. Assuming that the young man who rode thither so +rapidly had gone to see her, she could not have been absent from the +sewing party more than five minutes, yet half a dozen ladies were +clamoring for her already. The truth was that many of them had never +plied a needle before in their lives. They had to be taught +everything. One peasant woman would have accomplished more real work +than any five of the Librationist _grandes dames_. + +Despite her firm chin, Carmela De Sylva did not contemn the +meretricious aid of dress. Iris looked fresh and cool in soft muslin, +whereas the newcomer was travel-stained and disheveled. The pack-mules +were lagging on the road, but a wash and general tidying of +dust-covered garments would help the President's daughter to regain the +assurance, now sadly lacking, which would be necessary ere she won her +rightful place in a community largely composed of strangers. As she +led her horse back into the main avenue, she was sorry that her father +or Salvador could not spare even the few minutes that would have +sufficed for an introduction. At any rate, she would probably find an +old servant at the back of the house--some family retainer whose +welcome would charm away this displeasing sense of intrusion. + +On the way to the stables she heard a man singing. The words were in +English. They were also quaint, for they dealt with life from a point +of view which differed widely from that presented by Dom Corria's +_finca_. + + "Oh, it's fine to be a sailor" [sang Watts], + "an' to cross the ragin' main, + From Hooghly bar to New Orleens to roam, + But I 'ope that my old woman will put me on the chain + Next time I want to quit my 'umble 'ome." + + +Possibly the verse was an original effort, because there followed a +marked change in tune and meter. + +"'Mid pleasures an' palaces----'" he began, when Senhora De Sylva came +upon him as he sat on a fence, pipe in hand, with his back braced +comfortably against a magnificent rosewood tree. He stopped, grinned +sheepishly, and, not recognizing the lady, tried to cover his confusion +by lighting the pipe. + +"Are you one of the _Andromeda's_ men?" asked Carmela, speaking in the +clear and accurate English used by her father. + +It was well for Watts that the tree prevented him from falling +backwards. He was quite sober, but cheerful withal, as he had nothing +to do but sleep, smoke, eat, and drink the light wine of the district, +of which his only complaint was that "one might mop up a barrel of it +an' get no forrarder." Nevertheless, he received a positive shock when +addressed in his own language by a young woman who was obviously of +Brazil. He stared at her so hard that he forgot the steady progress of +the slow-burning tand-stikkor match recently ignited. Its sulphurous +flame reached his fingers and reminded him. + +"My godfather!" he howled, springing from the rail, and recovering his +wits instantly. "Beg pardon, mum, but you took me aback all standin' +as the saying is. Christopher, didn't that match wake me up!" + +"I am afraid it is my fault," said Carmela, who could look sympathetic +where Iris would want to laugh. "I have just arrived here, and +everybody seems to be so full of troubles that I am glad to hear you +singing." + +"Oh, that's just hummin', mum. If you're fond of music you ought to +'ear Schmidt, Captain Schmidt of the _Unser Fritz_----" + +Carmela struck an attitude. + +"Wot, d'ye know 'im?" asked Watts. + +"No, it is something--rather important. I must go back to my father. +Ah, I ought to explain. I am the Senhora De Sylva, Dom Corria's +daughter." + +"Are you really, mum,--miss?" exclaimed Watts, highly interested. "'Ow +in the world did ye manage to come up from the coast? Accordin' to all +accounts----" + +"Yes, what were you going to say?" for the man hesitated. + +"Well, some of our chaps will 'ave it that we're runnin' close-hauled +on a lee shore." + +Carmela knit her brows. The Watts idioms were not those of her +governess. + +"We had no great difficulty in passing through Dom Barraca's lines, if +that is what you mean," she said. "Mr. Verity and Mr. Bulmer had +obtained special permits, but in my case----" + +"Mr. 'oo, did you say, miss?" demanded Watts, whose lower jaw actually +dropped from sheer amazement. + +"Mr. Verity, the owner of the _Andromeda_. You are one of the crew, I +suppose?" + +"I'm the chief officer. Watts is my name, miss. But d'you mean to +tell me that ole David Verity 'as come 'ere--to Brazil--to this rotten +. . . Sorry, miss, but you gev' me a turn, you did. An' Dickey +Bulmer--is _'e_ 'ere too?" + +"Yes, or he soon will be here. I rode on in advance of the others." + +"Well--there--if that don't beat cock-fightin'!" cried Watts. "Wot'll +Coke say? W'y, 'e'll 'ave a fit. An' Miss Iris! She's to marry ole +Dickey. Fancy 'im turnin' up! There'll be the deuce an' all to pay, +now, wot between 'im an' Hozier an' the dashin' colonel." + +The horse, trying to nibble some grass at Carmela's feet, suddenly +threw his head up, for the cruel South American bit had tightened under +a jerk of the reins. + +"Who is Mr. Hozier?" asked the girl calmly. + +"He is, or was, our second mate, but since the colonel an' 'e got to +loggerheads 'e took an' raised a corps of scouts. Some of our fellows +joined, but not me. Killin' other folks don't agree with me a little +bit. I don't mind a shine in a snug or a friendly scrap over an extry +drink, but w'en it comes to them long knives----" + +"And the colonel--what is _his_ name?" broke in Carmela, turning to +loosen the surcingle. She could control her voice but not her eyes, +and she did not wish to startle this open-mouthed gossip. + +"San Benavides, miss. Captain 'e was on Fernando Noronha; 'e took a +mighty quick jump after we kem ashore. But I ax your pardon for +ramblin' on in this silly way. Won't you go inside? There's a useful +ole party there, name of Maria----" + +"Ah, Maria--dear, good Maria--she at least will not have forgotten me," +sobbed Carmela in her own tongue, and Watts afterwards informed Coke +that although the inhabitants of China were noted for their peculiar +ways, when it came to a show-down in that qualification, the average +woman could beat any Chinky ever born. Had he but known more, Watts +was also in a position to state that he had squared accounts with the +scornful President. + +For the Senhora De Sylva might have been seized with mortal illness if +judged solely by the manner in which she staggered into her father's +house, threw her arms around the neck of an elderly woman whom she +petrified by her appearance, and almost fainted--not quite, but on the +verge, much nearer than such a strong-minded young lady would have +thought possible an hour earlier. + +Maria screamed loudly. Tongue-tied at first, she was badly scared when +Carmela collapsed on her ample bosom. Restoratives and endearments +followed. Carmela asked to be taken to a room where she might wash and +shake the dust from her hair and clothes. Maria considered ways and +means. Every room in the big house was crowded. + +"Who is in my own apartment?" demanded Carmela. + +Even before the answer was forthcoming she guessed the truth. The +Senhora Ingleza, of course. Those fine eyes of hers flashed +dangerously. + +"What, then? Does this woman come here and take all?" she cried. + +"Ah, _pequinina_, do not be angry," said Maria. "Who save the good God +could tell that you would come from Paris to-day? And the Senhora +Ingleza will be glad to give place to you. She is so kind, so +unselfish. All the men adore her." + +"So I hear," murmured Carmela, trying to still the passion that +throbbed in her heart, since she was aware that neither Maria nor any +other among the old domestics at Las Flores knew of her engagement, and +pride was now coming to her aid. + +"She will have no word to say to any of them," gabbled Maria. "There +is a young Englishman--well, it is no affair of mine, but I am told she +loves him, yet is promised to another, an old man, too. _Santa Mae_! +That would not suit me if I were her age!" + +This home-coming of Carmela was quite an important event in its way. +At first sight it bore the semblance of a mere disillusionment such as +any girl might experience under like circumstances. She had been taken +from Las Flores to occupy a palace at Rio de Janeiro, and was driven +from the palace to the hotel life of the Continent. During two years +she had not seen either father or lover; and lovers of the San +Benavides ilk are apt to console themselves during these prolonged +intervals. Yet Carmela's shattered romance was the pivot on which +rested the future of Brazil. + +Had she gone straight to Iris on leaving her father, and made known the +astounding tidings that Verity and Bulmer were riding up the Moxoto +Valley barely three miles away, Iris would surely have devised some +means of acquainting Philip Hozier with the fact. In that event, +assuming that he awaited their arrival, the first march of an extended +reconnaissance which he thought desirable would necessarily be +postponed. And then--well, the recent history of Brazil would have to +be re-written, since there cannot be the slightest doubt that Dom +Corria De Sylva would never have occupied the Presidential chair a +second time. + +It would be idle now to inquire too closely into the springs of +Philip's resolve to take service under a foreign flag. Perhaps the +irksome state of affairs at Las Flores, where there was no mean between +loafing and soldiering, was intolerable to a spirited youngster. +Perhaps San Benavides, constantly riding in from the front, irritated +him beyond endurance by his superior airs. Or it may be that a growing +belief in Iris's determination to sacrifice herself by redeeming her +bond made him careless as to what happened in the near future. The +outcome of one or all of these influences was that he sought, and was +readily given, a commission in the Army of Liberation. Like all +sailors, he preferred the mounted arm, and De Sylva, having the highest +opinion of his thoroughness, actually appointed him to command a branch +of the Intelligence Department. + +Philip, trained to pin his faith in maps and charts, came to the +conclusion that Las Flores could be attacked from the rear, which lay +to the northwest. The Brazilians laughed at the notion. Where were +the troops to come from? Barraca must bring all his men by sea. There +were none stationed in those wild mountains. + +"Better go and make sure," quoth Philip. + +He ascertained the President's intentions as to the next twenty-four +hours, assembled his little body of scouts, saw to their forage and +equipment, took leave of Iris, and hurried off. + +When two stout and elderly fellow-countrymen of his climbed the last +mile of the rough valley beneath the Las Flores slope, Philip and his +troop were a league or more beyond the Moxoto's watershed. + +Meanwhile, Carmela De Sylva proved that her resolute chin was not +deceptive as a guide to temperament. The Dona Pondillo deemed her a +spirit when she appeared on the veranda, but Carmela's impetuous kiss +soon disabused the worthy dame of her error. + +Iris, wondering why the lively chatter of her Brazilian friends was so +suddenly stilled, to be succeeded by a hubbub of excited words as the +older ladies present gathered around the new-comer, asked one of the +Pondillo girls what had happened. + +"It is Carmela, the President's daughter," giggled the other. "Mother +says she is engaged to San Benavides. What fun! But where has she +come from? When last I heard of her she was in Paris." + +A month of close companionship with people who spoke Portuguese all day +long, and often far into the night, had familiarized Iris with many of +the common phrases. Thus, she gathered one fact as to Carmela, and +more than suspected another. For a reason that every woman will +understand, she felt a subtle thrill of fear. If San Benavides were +really Carmela's accepted lover, then, indeed, Iris had good cause for +foreboding. Though the Brazilian had never directly avowed his +passion, since he knew quite well that she would refuse to listen, she +could not be blind to his infatuation. Only the threat of her dire +displeasure had restrained Hozier from an open quarrel with him. Her +position, difficult enough already, would become intolerable if De +Sylva's daughter became jealous, and she had no doubt whatsoever that +San Benavides would seek to propitiate the woman he loved by callously +telling the woman he had promised to marry that his affections were +bestowed elsewhere. + +Her heart sank when she discovered this new maelstrom in her sea of +troubles; but here was Carmela herself speaking to her, and in English: + +"So you are Iris Yorke!" the girl was saying. "I have heard so much of +you, yet you are so utterly different from what I imagined." + +"You have heard of _me_?" repeated Iris, and surprise helped her to +smile with something of her wonted self-possession. + +"Yes, on board the steamer. We sailed from Southampton, and had little +else to talk of during the voyage. But, of course, you cannot +understand. Among my fellow-passengers were your uncle and Mr. Bulmer." + +Iris had long relinquished any hope of communicating with Bootle until +the present deadlock in the operations of the two armies was a thing of +the past. Completely mystified now by Carmela's glib reference to the +two men whose names were so often in her thoughts though seldom on her +lips, she could only gaze at the Senhora De Sylva in silent +bewilderment. + +Carmela, feeling that she was gaining ground rapidly, affected a note +of polite regret. + +"Please forgive me for being so abrupt. Perhaps I ought to have +prepared you. But it is quite true. Mr. Verity and Mr. Bulmer came +with me from Europe. We all reached Pernambuco the day before +yesterday. Indeed, if it were not for them, and the assistance they +gave me, I would not be here now. No one recognized me, fortunately, +and--I hope you will not be vexed--I passed as Mr. Verity's niece. In +fact, I took your place for the time." + +A notable feature of the De Sylva utterance was its clearness. +Carmela's concluding words could not possibly be mistaken for anything +else. Their meaning, on the other hand, was capable of varying shades +of significance; but Iris was far too amazed to seek depths beneath +their literalness. + +"If Mr. Verity and Mr. Bulmer are in Brazil----" she began tremulously, +but Carmela broke in with a shrill laugh. + +"There is no 'if.' Look below there, near my father's tent! They have +arrived. They are asking for you. Come, let us meet them! I must see +my father before he departs." + +Iris's swimming eyes could not discern the figures to which Carmela was +pointing. But this strange girl's triumphant tone rang like a knell in +her heart. She was not thinking now of the complications that might +arise between San Benavides and his discarded flame. She only knew +that, by some miracle, her uncle had come to bring her home, and with +him was the man to whom she was plighted, while Philip, only half an +hour ago, had told her he would not see her again until the following +evening. + +So this was the end of her dream. Bitter-sweet it had been, and long +drawn out, but forthwith she must awake to the gray actualities of life. + +She felt Carmela dragging her onward, irresistibly, vindictively. She +saw, as through a mist, David Verity's fiery-hued face, and heard his +harsh accents. Yes, there was no mistake. Here was Bootle transported +to Brazil, Linden House to Las Flores! + +"By gum, lass," he was bellowing, with a touch of real sentiment in his +voice, "you've given us a rare dance afore we caught up wi' you. But +'ere you are, bright as a cherry, an' 'ere is Dickey an' meself come to +fetch you. Dash my wig, there's life in the old dogs yet, or we'd +never ha' bin able to ride forty mile through this God-forgotten +country. An' damme if that isn't Coke, red as a lobster. Jimmie, me +boy, put it there! Man, but you're a dashed long way from port!" + +Happily, Iris was too stunned to betray herself. She extended a hand +to the sun-browned, white-haired old man standing by her uncle's side. + +"I am very glad to see you, Mr. Bulmer," she said simply. And, in that +hour of searing agony, she meant it, for it is easier to look back on +suffering than to await it, and she had been living in dread of this +meeting for many a weary day. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +SHOWING HOW BRAZIL CHOSE HER PRESIDENT + +Two thousand five hundred years ago the prophet Jeremiah expressed +incredulity as to the power of an Ethiopian to change his skin or a +leopard his spots. The march of the centuries has fully justified the +seer's historic doubt, so it makes but slight demand on the critical +faculties to assume that two years' residence in Europe had not cooled +the hot southern blood flowing in Carmela's veins. + +She had hated Iris before she set eyes on her; she hated her now that she +had seen her rare beauty; she gloated on the suffering inflicted by the +presence of the faded old man who claimed her as his bride. Though it +was of the utmost importance that she should hasten to her father, she +returned to Las Flores in her rival's company, their arms linked in +seeming friendship, and the Brazilian girl's ears alert to treasure every +word that told of Bulmer's wooing. + +Therein she greatly miscalculated the true gentility of one whom his +cronies described as "a rough diamond." Bulmer realized that Iris was +overwrought. Vague but sensational items in newspapers had prepared him +in some measure for the story of her wanderings since last they met in +quiet, old-fashioned Bootle. He felt that she was altered, that their +ways in life had deviated with a sharpness that was not to be brought +back into parallel grooves simply because he had traveled many thousands +of miles to find her. + +So Dickey contented himself by listening to Coke's Homeric account of the +_Andromeda's_ wrecking, and if he interposed an occasional question, and +thus drew the girl's sweet voice into the talk, it was invariably germane +to the strange history of the ship and her human freight. + +Coke's narrative was picturesque and lurid. At times, he called himself +to order; at times, both Iris and Carmela affected not to have heard him. +But Carmela's interest never flagged. Nor did Bulmer's. As the yarn +progressed--for Watts and Schmidt and Norrie had joined them, and the +whole party was seated in an inner room where an impromptu meal was +provided--both the woman of Brazil and the man of Lancashire seized on +the same unspoken _motif_. Every incident centered in the striking +personality of Philip Hozier. From the instant the second shell struck +the winch, and laid him apparently dead on the forecastle, to the very +hour of this coming together at Las Flores, Hozier held the stage. It +was he who took Iris on his shoulders and brought her to safety through +the spume of the wrathful sea, he who carried her to the hut, he who +crossed Fernando Noronha alone to protect her. + +Coke was impartial. He would have minimized his own singular bravery in +running up the ship's signals had not Iris given him a breathing-space +while she enthralled the others with her description. Otherwise, Coke +skipped no line of his epic. + +"You'll rec'lect," he wheezed, in a voice that rasped like a file, +"you'll rec'lect, Mr. Verity, as I said to you that Hozier was good +enough to take charge of the bridge of a battleship. By--well, any 'ow, +if I'd said the Channel Fleet I shouldn't 'ave bin talkin' through me +'at. Look at 'im now. 'E's the on'y reel live man Dom Wot's-'is-name +'as got. Sink me! if it wasn't for the folks at 'ome, an' the fac' that +the _Andromeeda's_ skipper ought to keep clear of politics in this +crimson country, I'd 'ave a cut in at the game meself." + +It might be hoped that Carmela's mood would soften when she discovered +her rival's hapless love, but that would be expecting something which her +bursting southern heart could not give. A volcano pours forth lava, not +water. It scorches, not heals. Iris, willing or not, had sapped her +Salvador's allegiance. Carmela wanted to see those curved lips writhing +in pain, those brown eyes dimmed, that smooth brow wrung with the grief +that knows no remedy. + +A fierce joy leaped up in her when Verity spoke of an early departure. + +"You see, Iris," he explained, "these Brazilian bucks may be months in +settlin' their differences. Dickey an' me, 'elped a lot by our Consul, +squeezed a pass out of the President--beg pardon, miss, but 'e is +President, in Pernambuco, at all events," he said in an apologetic +"aside" to Carmela--"an' the sooner we make tracks for ole England the +better it'll be for all of us. Wot do you say to an early start +to-morrow? We'd be off to-night, on'y I'm feared my rheumaticky bones +wouldn't stand the racket." + +The color ebbed from Iris's face, but she said at once: + +"I shall be ready, uncle dear. I promised Dom Corria to look after the +hospital appliances that are so much needed by the poor soldiers, but the +Senhora De Sylva will attend to that much more effectually than I." + +"Good! Then that's settled." + +David pursed out his thick lips with a sigh of relief. Though he had +watched the spoken record of the _Andromeda_ and her company for craftier +hints than was suspected by his fellow travelers, he was not deaf to +Coke's appreciation of Hozier. The silence of his niece on that same +topic was alarming, but the position could not be so bad if she was +willing to leave for the coast without seeing him again. No secret was +made of Philip's errand into the interior. The homeward-bound cavalcade +would be at Pesqueira ere he returned to the _finca_. + +Carmela, of course, did not believe in a woman's complacency in such a +vital matter. She was ever prepared to spring, to strike, to wrench +their plans to suit her own ends; but, contrive as she might, she could +not succeed in leaving Iris alone with Bulmer. Full of device, she was +foiled at each turn. The day wore, the sun went down, the starlit sky +made beautiful a parched earth, but never a word in privacy did Iris +exchange with her husband-to-be. Carmela's malice was not hidden from +her, but she despised it. There was some ease for her tortured brain in +defeating it. If the Senhora De Sylva had only understood how thoroughly +the Englishwoman loathed her petty jealousy, it was possible that the few +remaining hours of their enforced intimacy might have been rendered less +irksome. + +But, by this time, fate had gathered the slackened strings of their +destinies. Thenceforth they became her puppets. Permitted for a little +while to play the tragi-comedy of life according to their own +inclinations, now the stern edict had gone forth that they were to act +their allotted parts in one of those fascinating if blood-stained dramas +that the history of nations so often puts on the stage. The future is +the most cunning of playwrights. No man may tell what the next scene +shall be. And no man, nor any woman, could guess the mad revel of hate +and war that would rage that night around the placid homestead of Las +Flores. + +Behind the veranda was a huge ballroom, converted, by the exigencies of +the campaign, into a dining hall for the many inmates of the _finca_. +The Brazilian ladies, the sailors, some sick or wounded officers who were +not confined to bed, even the household servants, took their meals there +in common. Supper was served soon after nine o'clock. When cigars and +cigarettes were lighted, and the company broke up into laughing, +gossiping, noisy groups, the place looked more like a popular Continental +cafe than a room in a private mansion. + +Though De Sylva, General Russo, San Benavides, and some score of members +of the President's staff who usually dined at the _finca_, were now +absent, there was no lack of lively chatter. A very Babel of tongues +mixed in amity. The prevalent note was one of cheery animation. Carmela +exerted herself to win popularity, and a President's daughter need not +put forth very strenuous efforts in that direction to be acclaimed by +most. + +Iris was listening, with real interest, to Verity's description of the +finding of Macfarlane in the _Andromeda's_ boat by a Cardiff-bound +collier three days after he had drifted away from Fernando Noronha. + +"The yarn kem to us through the Consul at Pernambuco," he said. +"Evidently, from wot you tell me, it's all right. Poor ole Mac 'ad a bad +time afore 'e was picked up, but 'e was alive, an' I'm jolly glad of it, +for 'e'll be a first-rate witness w'en this business comes up in court." + +"Wot court?" demanded Coke sharply. + +"The court that settles our claim, of course," retorted Verity, with a +quick ferret look at his fellow-conspirator. + +"There'll be no claim. The President means to stump up in style. You +take my tip, an' shut up about courts," said Coke. + +"It'll cost Brazil a tidy penny," remarked Bulmer thoughtfully. "Nobody +would ever imagine wot bags of gold an' parcels of di'monds sailors an' +firemen carry around in their kit-bags till a ship is lost an' a +Gover'ment 'as to pay." + +Watts deemed this an exquisite joke. He laughed loudly. + +"That reminds me," he cried. "W'en the _Gem of the Sea_ turned turtle on +the James an' Mary----" + +A _criado_, a nondescript man-servant attached to the household, stooped +over Iris and whispered something. She gathered that she was wanted in +the _pateo_, or court-yard, which, owing to the construction of the +house, stood on one side instead of in front, where the lawn usurped its +usual position. + +"Who is it?" she asked. + +The voice sank even lower. + +"Colonel San Benavides, Senhora." + +She had gathered sufficient of Brazilian ways to understand that the man +had been bribed to convey this request to her without attracting +attention. + +"Tell him to wait," she said, hoping to gain a moment wherein to decide +how best to act. + +"It is urgent, Senhora--_ao mesmo tempo_, the colonel said." + +"Go! That is my answer." + +The man's unwillingness to obey showed how imperative were his +instructions. She rose, and the _criado_ hurried out, satisfied that she +would follow. But Iris had no wish to meet San Benavides. If she were +seen with him in the dark _pateo_ at this late hour, fuel would be added +to the fire of Carmela's foolish spite. She was aware of Carmela's +covert glance watching her from the other end of the long room. What was +to be done? Why not send Carmela in her stead? They were almost of the +same height, and dressed somewhat alike in flowered muslin. It would be +an amusing mistake, though annoying, perhaps, to San Benavides; at any +rate, Carmela would not object, and Iris was fully resolved not to keep +the tryst in person. + +She walked straight to her enemy. + +"Colonel San Benavides awaits you in the _pateo_," she said in English. + +"Awaits _me_!" + +There was no mistaking the gleam in those jet-black eyes. The smoldering +fire flamed into furnace heat at the implied indignity of such a mandate +being delivered by Iris. + +"I suppose so," said Iris carelessly. "A servant brought the message. +He came to me in the first instance, but I am just going to my room to +pack my few belongings. We leave here at daybreak, you know." + +Carmela tried to smile. + +"I shall be sorry to lose you," she said, "though I admit it will be +pleasant to occupy my own room again." + +Then Iris was genuinely distressed. + +"I had not the least notion----" she began, but Carmela nodded and made +off, saying as she went: + +"What matter--for one night?" + +So, at last, she would learn the truth. Salvador was out there, alone. +She would soon judge him. If he were innocent, she would know. If he +had merely been made the sport of a designing woman, she was ready to +forgive. In a more amiable mood than she had displayed at any moment +since her arrival at Las FIores, Carmela hastened along a dark corridor, +crossed a bare hall, passed through a porch, and searched the shadows of +the pateo for the form of her one-time lover. + +A voice whispered, in French: + +"Come quickly, Senhora, I pray you!" + +It startled her to find San Benavides talking French, until it occurred +to her that Iris and he must converse in that language or hardly at all. +The thought was disquieting. The volcano stirred again. + +"Senhora, je vous prie!" again pleaded the man, who was on horseback +under the trees. + +She did not hesitate, but ran to him. Without a word of explanation, he +bent sideways, caught her in his arms, drew her up until she was seated +on the holsters strapped to a gaucho saddle, and wheeled his horse into a +gallop. Filled with a grim determination, she uttered no protest. Not a +syllable crossed her lips lest he should strive to amend his woeful +blunder. She noticed that they were not going toward the camp, but +circling round the enclosed land in the direction of the hills. Though +the night was dark, the stars gave light enough for the horse to move +freely. Carmela's head was bent. A gauze-like mantilla covered her +black hair, and, strange though it may seem, one woman's small waist and +slim figure can be amazingly like the same physical attributes in another +woman. + +But San Benavides wondered why the cold Ingleza had surrendered so +silently. He expected at least a scream, a struggle, an impassioned +demand to be released. He was prepared for anything save a dumb +acceptance of this extraordinary raid. + +So he began to explain. + +"One word, Senhora!" he muttered. "You must think me mad. I am not. +All is lost! Our army is defeated! In an hour Las Flores will be in +flames!" + +The girl quivered in his arms. A moaning cry came from her. + +"It is true, I swear it!" he vowed. "I mean you no ill. I fought till +the end, and my good horse alone carried me in advance of the routed +troops. Dom Corria may reach the _finca_ alive, but, even so, he and the +rest will be killed. I refused to escape without you. Believe me or +not, you are dearer than life itself. In the confusion we two may not be +missed. Trust yourself wholly to me, I beseech you!" + +He spoke jerkily, in the labored phrase of a man who has to pick and +choose the readiest words in an unfamiliar language. + +Carmela, with a sudden movement, raised her face to his, and threw aside +her veil. + +"Salvador!" she said. + +His eyes glared into hers. His frenzied clutch at the reins pulled the +horse on to its haunches. + +"My God! . . . Carmela!" he almost shrieked. + +"Yes. So you are running away, Salvador--running away with the English +miss--deserting my father in the hour of his need! But she will die with +the others, you say. Well, then--join her!" + +During that quick twist on the horse's withers, she had plucked a +revolver from a holster. She meant to shatter that false face of his +utterly, to blast him as with lightning . . . but the lock snapped +harmlessly, for San Benavides had, indeed, borne himself gallantly in the +fray. He struck at her now in a whirl of fury. She winced, but with +catamount activity drew back her arm and hit him on the temple with the +heavy weapon. He collapsed limply, reeled from off the saddle, and they +fell together. The frightened horse, finding himself at liberty, +galloped to the camp, where already there was an unusual commotion. + +Carmela flung herself on the man's body. She was capable of extremes +either of grief or passion. + +"Salvador, my love! my love!" she screamed. "What have I done? Speak to +me, Salvador! It is I, Carmela! Oh, Mary Mother, come to my aid! I +have killed him, killed my Salvador!" + +He looked very white and peaceful as he lay there in the gloom. She +could not see whether his lips moved. She was too distraught to note if +his heart was beating. It seemed incredible that she, a weak woman, +should have crushed the life out of that lithe and active frame with one +blow. Then a dark stain appeared on the white skin. Her hands, her +lips, were covered with blood. She tasted it. The whole earth reeked of +it. It scorched her as with vitriol. She rose and ran blindly. The +darkness appalled her. No matter now what fate befell, she must have +light, the sound of human voices. . . . And she sobbed piteously as she +ran: + +"Salvador! Oh, God in heaven, my Salvador!" + +It is not the crime, but the conscience, that scourges erring humanity. +Carmela needed some such flogging. It was just as well that her fright +at the horrible touch of blood was not balanced by the saner knowledge +that a ruptured vein was nature's own remedy for a man jarred into +insensibility. Long before Carmela reached the _finca_, San Benavides +stirred, groaned, squirmed convulsively, and raised himself on hands and +knees. He turned, and sat down, feeling his head. + +"The spit-fire!" he muttered. "The she-devil! And that other! Would +that I could wring _her_ neck!" + +A sputtering of rifles crackled in the valley. There was a blurred +clamor of voices. He looked at the sky, at the black summits of the +hills. He stood up, and his inseparable sword clanked on the stony +ground. + +"Ah, well," he growled, "I have done with women. They have had the best +of my life. What is left I give to Brazil." + +So he, too, made for Las Flores, but slowly, for he was quite exhausted, +and his limbs were stiff with the rigors of a wild day in the saddle. + +Carmela went back to a household that paid scant heed to her screaming. +Dom Corria was there, bare-headed, his gorgeous uniform sword-slashed and +blood-bespattered. General Russo, too, was beating his capacious chest +and shouting: + +"God's bones, let us make a fight of it!" + +A sprinkling of soldiers, all dismounted cavalry or gunners, a few +disheveled officers, had accompanied De Sylva in his flight. With +reckless bravery, he and Russo had tried to rally the troops camped at +headquarters. It was a hopeless effort. Half-breeds can never produce a +military caste. They may fight valiantly in the line of battle--they +will not face the unknown, the terrible, the harpies that come at night, +borne on the hurricane wings of panic. Unhappily, De Sylva and his +bodyguard were the messengers of their own disaster. The cowardly genius +at Pesqueira had planned a surprise. He would not lead it, of course, +but in Dom Miguel Barraca he found an eager substitute. It was a coup of +the Napoleonic order; an infantry attack along the entire front of the +Liberationist position cloaked the launching against the center of a +formidable body of cavalry. The project was to thrust this lance into +the rebel position, probe it thoroughly, as a surgeon explores a gunshot +wound, and extract the offender in the guise of Dom Corria. + +The scheme had proved eminently successful. The Liberationists were +crumpled up, and here was Dom Corria making his last stand. + +He deserved better luck, for he was magnificent in failure. Calm as +ever, he tried to be shot or captured when the reserves in camp failed +him. Russo and the rest dragged him onward by main force. + +"They want me only," he urged. "My death will end a useless struggle. I +shall die a little later, when many more of my friends are killed. Why +not die now?" + +They would not listen. + +"It is night!" they cried. "The enemy's horses are spent. A determined +stand may give us another chance." + +But it was a forlorn hope. As San Benavides lurched into the _pateo_, +the horses of the first pursuing detachment strained up the slope between +house and encampment. + +Carmela, all her fire gone, the pallid ghost of the vengeful woman who +would have shattered her lover's skull were the revolver loaded, was the +first to see him. She actually crouched in terror. Her tongue was +parched. If she uttered some low cry, none heard her. + +Dom Corria, striving to dispose his meager garrison as best he could, met +his trusted lieutenant. His face lit with joy. + +"Ah, my poor Salvador!" he cried. "I thought we had lost you at the +ford!" + +"No," said San Benavides. "I ran away!" + +Even in his dire extremity, De Sylva smiled. + +"Would that others had run like you, my Salvador!" he said. "Then we +should have been in Pernambuco to-morrow." + +The Brazilian looked around. His eye dwelt heedlessly on the cowering +Carmela. He was searching for Iris, who had been compelled by Coke and +Bulmer and her uncle to take shelter behind the score of sailors who +still remained at Las Flores. + +"It is true, nevertheless," he said laconically. "I knew the game was +lost, so I came here to try and save a lady." + +"Ah--our Carmela? You thought of her?" + +"No!" + +Then the spell passed from Carmela. She literally threw herself on her +lover. + +"Yes, it is true!" she shrieked. "He came to save me, but I preferred to +die here--with you, father--and with him." + +Dom Corria did not understand these fire-works, but he had no time for +thought. Bullets were crashing through the closed Venetians. Light they +must have, or the defense would become an orgy of self-destruction, yet +light was their most dangerous foe when men were shooting from the somber +depths of the trees. + +The assailants were steadily closing around the house. Their rifles +covered every door and window. Each minute brought up fresh bands in +tens and twenties. At last, Barraca himself arrived. Some members of +his staff made a hasty survey of the situation. There were some three +hundred men available, and, in all probability, Dom Corria could not +muster one-sixth of that number. It was a crisis that called for vigor. +The cavalry lance was twenty miles from its base, and there was no +knowing what accident might reunite the scattered Liberationists. One +column, at least, of the Nationalists had failed to keep its rendezvous, +or this last desperate stand at Las Flores would have proved a sheer +impossibility. + +So the house must be rushed, no matter what the cost. This was a war of +leaders. Let Dom Corria fall, and his most enthusiastic supporters would +pay Dom Miguel's taxes without further parley. A scheme of concerted +action was hastily arranged. Simultaneously, five detachments swarmed +against the chosen points of assault. One crossed the _pateo_ to the +porch, another made for the stable entrance, a third attacked the garden +door, a fourth assailed the servants' quarters, and the fifth, strongest +of all, and inspired by Dom Miguel's presence, battered in the shutters +and tore away the piled up furniture of the ballroom. + +The Nationalist leader's final order was terse. + +"Spare the women; shoot every rebel; do not touch the foreigners unless +they resist!" + +With yells of "Abajo De Sylva!" "Morto por revoltados!" the assailants +closed in. Neither side owned magazine rifles, so the fight was with +machetes, swords, and bayonets when the first furious hail of lead had +spent itself. No man thought of quarter, nor ceased to stab and thrust +until he fell. Not even then did some of the half-savage combatants +desist, and a many a thigh was gashed and boot-protected leg cut to the +bone by those murderous hatchet knives wielded by hands which would soon +stiffen in death. + +When three hundred desperadoes meet fifty of like caliber in a +hand-to-hand conflict--when the three hundred mean to end the business, +and the fifty know that they must die--fighting for choice, but die in +any event--the resultant encounter will surely be both fierce and brief. +And never was fratricidal strife more sanguinary than during the earliest +onset within the walls. Each inch of corridor, each plank of the +ballroom floor, was contested with insane ferocity. This was not +warfare. It savored of the carnage of the jungle. Its sounds were those +of wild beasts. It smelled of the shambles. + +By one of those queer chances which sometimes decide the hazard between +life and death, the window nearest that end of the room where the sailors +strove to protect a few shrieking women had not been broken in. Here, +then, was a tiny bay of refuge; from it the men of the _Andromeda_ and +the _Unser Fritz_, Bulmer, Verity, Iris, and such of the Brazilian ladies +as had not fled to the upper rooms at the initial volley, looked out on +an amazing butchery. De Sylva, no longer young, and never a robust man, +had been dragged from mortal peril many times by his devoted adherents. +Carmela had snatched a machete from the fingers of a dying soldier, and +was fighting like one possessed of a fiend. + +Once, when a combined rush drove the defenders nearly on top of the +non-combatants, Iris would have striven to draw the half-demented girl +into the little haven with the other women. + +But Coke thrust her back, shouting: + +"Leave 'er alone. She'll set about you if you touch her!" + +Dickey Bulmer, too, who was displaying a fortitude hardly to be expected +in a man of his years and habits, thought that interference was useless. + +"Let 'er do what she can," he said. "She doesn't know wot is 'appenin' +now. If she was on'y watchin' she'd be a ravin' lunatic. God 'elp us +all, we've got ourselves into a nice mess!" + +Somehow, the old man's Lancashire drawl, with its broad vowels and +misplaced aspirates, exercised a singularly soothing effect on Iris's +tensely-strung nerves. It seemed to remove her from that murder-filled +arena. It was redolent of home, of quiet streets, of orderly crowds +thronging to the New Brighton sands, of the sober, industrious, +God-fearing folk who filled the churches and chapels at each service on a +Sunday. These men and women of Brazil were her brothers and sisters in +the great comity of nations, yet Heaven knows they did not figure in such +guise during that hour of intense emotions. + +But if Dickey Bulmer's simple words exalted him into the kingdom of the +heroic, David Verity occupied a lower plane. Prayers and curses +alternated on his lips. He was stupefied with fear. He had never seen +the lust of slaying in men's eyes, and it mesmerized him. Many of the +sailors wanted to join in on behalf of their friends. It needed all +Coke's vehemence to restrain them. "Keep out of it, you swabs," he would +growl. "It's your on'y chanst. This isn't our shindy. Let 'em rip an' +be hanged to 'em!" Yet he was manifestly uneasy, and he kept a wary eye +on De Sylva, whom he appraised at a personal value of five thousand +pounds "an pickin's." + +A tall, distinguished-looking man, wearing a brilliant uniform, his +breast decorated with many orders, now appeared on the scene. He shouted +something, and the attacking force redoubled their efforts. He raised a +revolver, and took deliberate aim at Dom Corria. Coke saw him, and his +bulldog pluck combined with avarice to overcome his common sense. +Without thought of the consequences, he sprang into the swaying mob and +pulled De Sylva aside. A bullet smashed into the wall behind them. + +"Look out, mister!" he bellowed. "'Ere's a blighter 'oo wants to finish +you quick!" + +De Sylva's glance sought his adversary. He produced a revolver which +hitherto had remained hidden in a pocket. Perhaps its bullets were not +meant for an enemy. He fired at the tall man. A violent swerve of the +two irregular ranks of soldiers screened each from the other. An opening +offered, and the man who had singled out Dom Corria for his special +vengeance fired again. The bullet struck Coke in the breast. The +valiant little skipper staggered, and sank to the floor. His fiery eyes +gazed up into Verity's. + +"Damme if I ain't hulled!" he roared, his voice loud and harsh as if he +were giving some command from the bridge in a gale of wind. + +David dropped to his knees. + +"For Gawd's sake, Jimmie!" he moaned. + +"Yes, I've got it. Sarve me dam well right, too! No business to go +ag'in me own pore old ship. Look 'ere, Verity, I'm done for! If you get +away from this rotten muss, see to my missus an' the girls. If you +don't--d--n you----" + +"Fire!" shouted a strong English voice from without. A withering volley +crashed through the open windows. Full twenty of the assailants fell, +Dom Miguel de Barraca among them. There was an instant of terrible +silence, as between the shocks of an earthquake. + +[Illustration: A withering volley crashed through the window] + +"Now, come on!" shouted the same voice, and Philip Hozier rushed into the +ballroom, followed by his scouts and a horde of Brazilian regulars. No +one not actually an eye-witness of that thrilling spectacle would believe +that a fight waged with such determined malevolence could stop so +suddenly as did that fray in Las Flores. It was true, now as ever, that +men of a mixed race cannot withstand the unforeseen. Dom Miguel fallen, +and his cohort decimated by the leaden storm that tore in at them from an +unexpected quarter, the rest fled without another blow. They raced madly +for their horses, to find that every tethered group was in the hands of +this new contingent. Then the darkness swallowed them. Dom Miguel's +cavalry was disbanded. + +At once the medley within died down. Men had no words as yet to meet +this astounding development. Dom Corria went to where his rival lay. +Dom Miguel was dying. His eyes met De Sylva's in a strange look of +recognition. He tried to speak, but choked and died. + +Then the living President stooped over the dead one. He murmured +something. Those near thought afterward that he said: + +"Is it worth it? Who knows!" + +But he was surely President now; seldom have power and place been more +hardly won. + +His quiet glance sought Philip. + +"Thank you, Mr. Hozier," he said. "All Brazil is your debtor. As for +me, I can never repay you. I owe you my life, the lives of my daughter +and of many of my friends, and the success of my cause." + +Philip heard him as in a dream. He was looking at Iris. Her eyes were +shining, her lips parted, yet she did not come to him. By her side was +standing a white-haired old man, an Englishman, a stranger. Bending over +Coke, and wringing his hands in incoherent sorrow, was another elderly +Briton. A fear that Philip had never before known gripped his +heartstrings now. He was pale and stern, and his forehead was seamed +with foreboding. + +"Who is that with Miss Yorke?" he said to Dom Corria. + +The President had a rare knack of answering a straight question in a +straight way. + +"A Mr. Bulmer, I am told," he said. + +There was a pause. General Russo, carved from head to foot, but so stout +withal that his enemies' weapons had reached no vital part, approached. +He thumped his huge stomach. + +"We must rally our men," he said. "If we collect even five thousand +to-night----" + +"Yes," said De Sylva, "I will come. Before I go, Mr. Hozier, let me +repeat that I and Brazil are grateful." + +"May the devil take both you and Brazil!" was Philip's most ungracious +reply, and he turned and strode out into the night. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +WHEREIN THE PRESIDENT PRESIDES + +Before the exciting story so rudely interrupted is resumed, it may be +well to set down in their sequence the queer workings of fortune which +led to Philip's timely reappearance at Las FIores. + +His troop of scouts consisted of twenty-eight men. Five were sailors +and firemen from the _Andromeda_; three were Germans from the _Unser +Fritz_. But the whole eight were ex-soldiers, and one man-at-arms +trained on the European model is worth ten of the Brazilian product. +The remaining twenty were hillmen, good riders, excellent shots, and +acquainted with every yard of the wild country within a radius of a +hundred miles. They would fight anybody if well led, and here it may +be observed that when Philip called on them to storm the ballroom, he +said, "Come on!"; between which curt command and its congener, "Go on!" +these half-breed warriors drew a fine distinction. The language +difficulty was surmounted partly by an interpreter in the person of one +of the Germans, who spoke English and had lived in Bahia, partly by +signs, and largely by Philip's methods as a leader. + +He never asked his men to do anything that he did not do himself, and +they were never dubious as to his tactics, since he invariably closed +with any Nationalist detachment met during the day's operations. + +About mid-day, then, they came upon the advance guard of a column sent +off a week earlier by the expert at Pesqueira with instructions to +arrive at Las Flores before sunset that very day. Instantly the +twenty-nine charged; with equal celerity the advance guard bolted. +From the crest of a rocky pass Philip looked down on a column of fully +a thousand men. The situation was critical. It called for prompt +handling. Five men held the horses; twenty-three spread themselves +among the rocks; Philip unslung his carbine; and twenty-four rifles +indulged in long-range practice on a narrow mountain path crowded with +men and animals. + +Nothing more was needed. It has been noted already that the Brazilians +disliked long-range shooting. There was a stampede. The scouts +occupied the ridge until sundown, and were returning leisurely to +report the presence of the column, when they fell in with the first +batch of fugitives from the valley. Forthwith, Philip became a general +and each scout an officer. They reasoned and whacked the runaways into +obedience, picked up quite a number of men who were willing enough to +fight if told what was expected of them--and the rest was a matter of +simple strategy such as Macaulay's schoolboy would exhibit in the +escalade of a snow fort. But it was a near thing. Five minutes later, +and Hozier might have seized the presidency himself. + +And now, as to the night, and the next day. + +Russo and his diminished staff took Philip's little army as a nucleus. +Brazil had duly elected Dom Corria, as provided by the statute, and the +news spread like wild fire. Before morning, the Liberationists were +ten thousand strong. Before night closed the roads again, the +Pesqueira genius wrote to Dom Corria under a flag of truce, and pointed +out that he served the _President_, not any crank who said he was +President, but the honored individual in whom the people of Brazil +placed their trust. Dom Corria replied in felicitous terms, and, as +the newspapers say, the incident ended. The navy sulked for a while, +because they held that Russo's treatment of the _Andorinha_ was not +cricket, or baseball, or whatsoever game appeals most to the Brazilian +sportsman. It was not even professional football, they said; but an +acrimonious discussion was closed by a strong hint from the Treasury +that pay-day might be postponed indefinitely if too much were made of a +regrettable accident to the guns of the Maceio artillery. + +Meanwhile, Dom Corria, the man who did not forget, was puzzled by two +circumstances not of national importance. San Benavides, never a +demonstrative lover where Carmela was concerned, was a changed man. He +was severely wounded during the fight, and Carmela nursed him +assiduously, but there could be no doubt that he was under her thumb, +and would remain there. The indications were subtle but unmistakable. +Carmela even announced the date of their marriage. + +Dom Corria remembered, of course, what San Benavides and his daughter +had said when they all met in the ballroom. It seemed to him that +Salvador was telling the truth and that Carmela was fibbing on that +occasion. But he let well enough alone. It was good for Salvador that +he should obey Carmela. He blessed them, and remarked that a really +"smart" wedding would be just the thing to inaugurate the new reign at +Rio de Janeiro. + +He was far more perplexed by the untimely wrath of Philip Hozier. He +thought of it for at least five minutes next morning. Then he sought +Dickey Bulmer, who had just quitted Coke's bedroom, and was examining +the rare shrubs that bordered the lawn. + +"What news of that brave man?" asked Dom Corria, and his deep voice +vibrated with real feeling. + +"First-rate, sir," said Dickey. "The bullet is extracted, and the +doctor says 'e'll soon be all right. Leastways, that's wot Iris tells +me. I can't talk Portuguese meself, an' pore old Jimmie's langwidge +ain't fit to be repeated." + +The President laughed. + +"He is what you call a bundle of contradictions, eh?--a rough fellow +with the heart of a bull. But he saved my life, and that naturally +counts for a good deal with me. And how is your niece after last +night's terrible experience?" + +"My niece? D'ye mean Iris?" demanded Bulmer, obviously somewhat +annoyed. + +"Yes." + +"She's not my niece; she's----" + +"Your grand-daughter, then?" + +"No, sir. That young lady 'as done me the honor of promisin' to be my +wife." + +"Oh!" said Dom Corria, fixing his brilliant eyes on Bulmer's vexed face. + +"There's no 'Oh' about it," growled Dickey. "It was all cut an' dried +weeks ago, an' she 'asn't rued of 'er bargain yet, as far as I can make +out." + +"You mean that the marriage was arranged before the _Andromeda_ +sailed?" said Dom Corria gently. + +"W'y, of course. It couldn't very well be fixed after, could it?" + +"No--not as between you and her. I can vouch for that. Forgive me, +Mr. Bulmer--I have a daughter of marriageable age, you know, and I +speak as a parent--do you think that it is a wise thing for a man of +your years to marry a girl of twenty?" + +"If I didn't, I wouldn't do it." + +"But may it not be selfish?" + +Then downright Lancashire took hold of the argument. + +"Look 'ere, wot are you drivin' at?" demanded Dickey, now in a white +heat of anger. He had yet to learn that the President preferred a +straight-forward way of talking. + +"I want you to forego this marriage," he said. + +"Why?" + +"Because that charming girl loves another man, but feels that she is +bound to you. I understand the position at last. Mr. Bulmer, you +cannot wish to break her heart and drive that fine young fellow, Philip +Hozier, to despair. Come, now! Let you and me reason this thing +together. Possibly, when she agreed to marry you she did not know what +love is. She is high-minded, an idealist, the soul of honor. What +other woman would have consented to be separated from her friends on +Fernando Noronha merely because it increased their meager chances of +safety? How few women, loving a man like Philip Hozier, who is assured +of a splendid reward for his services to this State, would resolutely +deny the claims of her own heart in order to keep her word?" + +Bulmer had never heard anyone speak with the crystal directness of Dom +Corria. Each word chipped away some part of the fence which he had +deliberately erected around his own intelligence. Certain facts had +found crevices in the barrier already; Dom Corria broke down whole +sections. But he was a hard man, and stubborn. Throughout his long +life he had not been of yielding habit, and his heart was set on Iris. + +"You are mighty sure that she is wrapped up in this young spark," he +growled. + +"Were I not, I would not have interfered. Take my advice. First, ask +yourself an honest question. Then ask the girl. She will answer. I +promise you that." + +"I'm a rich man," persisted Dickey. + +"Yes." + +"Nobody forced 'er, one way or the other." + +"Possibly. One wonders, though, why she hid herself on the +_Andromeda_." + +"It's true, I tell you. David said----" + +"Who is David?" + +"Her uncle." + +"In England, I take it, if a man wishes to marry a girl he does not woo +her uncle. Of course, these customs vary. Here, in Brazil----" + +Then Bulmer said something about Brazil that was not to be expected +from one of his staid demeanor. In fact, he regarded Brazil as the +cause of the whole trouble, and his opinion concerning that marvelous +land coincided with Hozier's. He turned and walked away, looking a +trifle older, a trifle more bent, perhaps, than when he came out of the +house. + +An hour later, Dom Corria and Carmela met in a corridor. They were +discussing arrangements for a speedy move to the capital when Iris ran +into them. Her face was flushed, and she had been crying. Much to +Carmela's amazement, the English girl clasped her round the neck and +kissed her. + +"Tell your father, my dear, that he has been very good to me," she +whispered; then her face grew scarlet again, and she hurried away. + +"Excellent!" said the President. "That old man is a gentleman. His +friend is not. Yet they are very much alike in other respects. Odd +thing! Carmela _cara_, can you spare a few minutes from your invalid?" + +"Yes, father." + +"Go, then, and find that young Englishman, Philip Hozier. Tell him +that the engagement between Miss Yorke and Mr. Bulmer is broken off." + +Carmela's black eyes sparkled. That wayward blood of hers surged in +her veins, but Dom Corria's calm glance dwelt on her, and the spasm +passed. + +"Yes, father," she said dutifully. + +He stroked his chin as he went out to pronounce a funeral oration on +those who had fallen during the fight. + +"I think," said he reflectively, "I think that Carmela dislikes that +girl. I wonder why?" + +Philip had never, to his knowledge, seen the Senhora De Sylva. Watts +spoke of her, remarking that she was "a reel pleasant young lady, a bit +flighty, p'raps, but, then, 'oo could tell wot any gal would do one +minnit from the next?" And that was all. + +It was, therefore, something more than a surprise when the +sallow-faced, willowy girl, black-haired, black-eyed, and most demure +of manner, whom he remembered to have met in the gateway of Las Flores +early on the previous day, came to his tent and asked for him. + +She introduced herself, and Philip was most polite. + +"My father sent me----" she began. + +"I ought to have waited on the President," he said, seeing that she +hesitated, "but several of my men are wounded, and we have so few +doctors." + +She smiled, and Carmela could redeem much of her plainness of feature +by the singular charm of her smile. + +"Dom Corria is a good doctor himself," she said. + +"His skill will be much appreciated in Brazil at the present moment," +said he, rather bewildered. + +"He mends broken hearts," she persisted. + +"Ah, a healer, indeed!" but he frowned a little. + +"He is in demand to-day. He asked me to tell you of one most +successful operation. The--er--the engagement between Miss Iris +Yorke--is that the name?--and Mr.--Mr.--dear me----" + +"Bulmer," scowled Philip, a block of ice in the warm air of Brazil. + +"Yes, that is it--well--it is ended. She is free--for a little while." + +There was a curious bleaching of Philip's weather-tanned face. It +touched a chord in Carmela's impulsive nature. + +"It is all right," she nodded. "You can go to her." + +She left him there, more shaken than he had ever been by thunderous sea +or screaming bullet. + +"They are cold, these English," she communed, as she passed up the +slope to the house. "It takes something to rouse them. What would he +have said were he in Salvador's place last night!" + +It did not occur to her that Philip could not possibly have been in +Salvador's place, since God has made as many varieties of men as of +berries, whereof some are wholesome and some poisonous, yet they all +have their uses. And she might have modified her opinion of his +coldness had she seen the manner of his meeting with Iris. + +Visiting the sick is one of the Christian virtues, so Philip visited +Coke. Iris had just finished writing a letter, partly dictated, and +much altered in style, to Mrs. James Coke, Sea View, Ocean Road, +Birkenhead, when a gentle tap brought her to the door. She opened it. +Her wrist was seized, and she was drawn into the corridor. She had no +option in the matter. The tall young man who held her wrist proceeded +to squeeze the breath out of her, but she was growing so accustomed to +deeds of violence that she did not even scream. + +"There is a British chaplain at Pernambuco," was Philip's incoherent +remark. + +"I must ask my uncle," she gasped. + +"No. Leave that to me. No man living shall say 'Yes' or 'No' to me +where you are concerned, Iris." + +"Do not be hard with him, Philip dear. He was always good to me, +and--and--I have grown a wee bit afraid of you." + +"Afraid!" + +"Yes. You are so much older, so much sterner, than when you and I +looked at the Southern Cross together from the bridge of the +_Andromeda_." + +"I was a boy then, Iris. I am a man now. I have fought, and loved, +and suffered. And what of you, dear heart? We went through the +furnace hand in hand. What of the girl who has come forth a woman?" + +There was an open window at the end of the passage. Watts had bought, +or borrowed, or looted a bottle of wine. Schmidt and he were in a +shaded arbor beneath, and his voice came to them: + + "It is always fair weather + When good fellows meet together . . ." + + +But another voice, hoarse as a foghorn, boomed through the door which +Iris had left ajar. + +"Bring 'er in 'ere, you swab. D--n your eyes, if you come courtin' my +nurse, you'll 'ave to do it in my room or not at all. Wot the----" + +"Come in, dear," said Iris. "The doctor says he is not to excite +himself. And he will be so glad to see you. He has been asking for +you all day." + + * * * * * * + +At Pernambuco, his excellency the President of the Republic of Brazil +was waited on by Admiral Prince Heinrich von Schnitzenhausen, who was +attended by an imposing armed guard. After compliments, the admiral +stated that his Imperial master wished to be informed as to the truth +or otherwise of a circumstantial statement made by the German Consul at +Maceio, and confirmed by functionaries at Pernambuco, that on a certain +date, to wit, September the 2d, he, Dom Corria De Sylva, aided and +abetted by a number of filibusters, did unlawfully seize and +sequestrate the steamship _Unser Fritz_, the said steamship being the +property of German subjects and flying the German flag. + +Though the admiral's sentence was much longer than its English +translation, it only contained a dozen words. Its sound was fearsome +in consequence, and its effect ought to have been portentous. But Dom +Corria was unmoved. + +"There is some mistake," said he. + +"Exactly," said the admiral, +"an-error-the-most-serious-and-not-easily-rectifiable." + +"On your part," continued Dom Corria. "The vessel you name is the +property of my friend and colleague Dom Alfonso Pondillo, of Maceio. +He purchased and paid for her on September 1st. Here is the receipt of +the former owners, given to the Deutsche Bank in Paris, and handed to +Senhor Pondillo's agents. You will observe the date of the +transaction." + +The admiral read. He read again. + +"Ach Gott!" he cried angrily. "There are some +never-to-be-depended-upon fools in the world, and especially in +Hamburg." + +"Everywhere," agreed Dom Corria blandly. Carmela's memory was not +quite of the hereditary order. She had forgotten, for three whole +days, that the letter containing the receipt was in her pocket. + + * * * * * * + +When Coke was pronounced fit for comfortable travel, David Verity and +Dickey Bulmer conveyed him home. They took with them drafts on a +London bank for amounts that satisfied every sort of claim for the +sinking of the _Andromeda_. Judged by the compensation given to the +vessel's survivors, there could be no doubt that the dependants of the +men who lost their lives would be well provided for. Even Watts vowed +that the President had behaved reel 'andsome, and, as a token of +regeneration, swore that never another drop o' sperrits would cross his +lips. Wines and beers, of course, were light refreshments of a +different order. Schmidt, too, sublimely heedless of the diplomatic +storm he had caused, seemed to be contented. He taught Watts "_Es gibt +nur eine Kaiser Stadt_," and Watts taught him the famous chanty of the +_Alice_ brig and her marooned crew. But the latter effusion was +rehearsed far from Coke's deck-chair, because the captain of the mail +steamer said that although he liked Coke personally, some of the lady +passengers might complain. + +At odd moments David and Dickey Bulmer discussed the partnership. The +young people would be home in two months, and then Philip was to come +into the business. + +"We're growing old, David," said Dickey. "I've got plenty of money, +an' you'll 'ave a tidy bit now, but there's one thing neether of us can +buy, and that's youth." + +"I don't want to be young again," said David, "but I'd like to go back +just a year or so--no more. + +"Why?" + +"Well, there's bin times w'en--w'en I'd 'ave acted different. Wot do +you say, Jimmie?" + +Coke, thus appealed to, glowered at his employer. + +"Say!" he growled. "I say nothink. I know you, David." + +Philip and Iris attended Carmela's wedding during their honeymoon. The +cathedral at Rio de Janeiro was packed, and Iris was quite +inconspicuous among the many richly-attired ladies who graced the +ceremony by their presence. Nevertheless, Colonel Salvador San +Benavides favored her with a peculiar smile as he led his bride down +the central aisle. + +She laughed, blushed, and looked at her husband. + +"Yes, I saw him," he whispered. "But I never feared him. It was you +that made me sit up. By the way, old girl, let us cut out the +reception. I want to call at the bank, and at a shop in the Rua +Grande. You will be interested." + +Well, being a good and loving wife, she was interested deeply. Ten +thousand pounds was Dom Corria's financial estimate of the services +rendered by Philip, and Iris was absolutely dumfounded by the total in +milreis. But her voice came back when Philip took her to a jeweler's, +and the man produced a gold cross on which blazed four glorious +diamonds. Dom Corria had given her a necklace many times more +valuable; but this---- + +"For remembrance!" said Philip. + +"Oh, my dear, my dear!" she murmured, and her eyes grew moist. + + + + +THE END + + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Stowaway Girl, by Louis Tracy + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STOWAWAY GIRL *** + +***** This file should be named 19539.txt or 19539.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/9/5/3/19539/ + +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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