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diff --git a/28387.txt b/28387.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c192a5a --- /dev/null +++ b/28387.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11595 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook of Hurricane Island, by H. B. Marriott Watson + + +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: Hurricane Island + + +Author: H. B. Marriott Watson + + + +Release Date: March 22, 2009 [eBook #28387] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HURRICANE ISLAND*** + + +E-text prepared by Colin Bell and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed +Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustration. + See 28387-h.htm or 28387-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/8/3/8/28387/28387-h/28387-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/8/3/8/28387/28387-h.zip) + + + + + +HURRICANE ISLAND + +by + +H. B. MARRIOTT WATSON + +Author of "Captain Fortune," Etc. + + + + + + + +[Illustration: "'May the Lord help you,' says he in his voice of +suet."] + + + +A. L. Burt Company, +Publishers, New York + +Copyright, 1904, by +H. B. Marriott Watson + +Copyright in Great Britain + +Copyright, 1905, by +Doubleday, Page & Company + +Published, February, 1905 + + + + +TO + +RICHARD BRERETON MARRIOTT WATSON + +MY KEEN YET APPRECIATIVE CRITIC, +WHO PLEADED +ON BEHALF OF THE VILLAINS, +THIS TALE OF ADVENTURE BY SEA +IS DEDICATED WITH LOVE BY +ITS AUTHOR AND HIS + +[Transcriber's Note: The dedication is incomplete.] + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER PAGE + + I. "The Sea Queen" 3 + + II. In the "Three Tuns" 15 + + III. Mademoiselle Trebizond 30 + + IV. An Amazing Proposition 45 + + V. The Wounded Man 57 + + VI. The Conference in the Cabin 73 + + VII. The Rising 89 + + VIII. The Capture of the Bridge 105 + + IX. The Flag of Truce 123 + + X. Legrand's Wink 135 + + XI. The Lull 144 + + XII. In the Saloon 157 + + XIII. The Fog 169 + + XIV. Barraclough Takes a Hand 179 + + XV. The Fight in the Music-Room 193 + + XVI. Pye 205 + + XVII. The Third Attack 222 + +XVIII. At Dead of Night 237 + + XIX. The Tragedy 250 + + XX. The Escape 267 + + XXI. On the Island 278 + + XXII. Holgate's Last Hand 295 + + + + +HURRICANE ISLAND + + + + +CHAPTER I + +"THE SEA QUEEN" + + +Pember Street, E., is never very cheerful in appearance, not even in +mid-spring, when the dingy lilacs in the forecourts of those grimy +houses bourgeon and blossom. The shrubs assimilate soon the general air +of depression common to the neighbourhood. The smoke catches and turns +them; they wilt or wither; and the bunches of flowers are sicklied over +with the smuts and blacks of the roaring chimneys. The one open space +within reach is the river, and thither I frequently repaired during the +three years I practised in the East End. At least it was something to +have that wide flood before one, the channel of great winds and the +haunt of strange craft. The tide grew turbid under the Tower Bridge and +rolled desolately about the barren wilderness of the Isle of Dogs; but +it was for all that a breach in the continuity of ugly streets and +houses, a wide road itself, on which tramped unknown and curious lives, +passing to and fro between London and foreign parts. + +Unless a man be in deadly earnest or very young, I cannot conceive a +career more distressing to the imagination and crushing to the ambition +than the practice of medicine in the East End. The bulk of my cases +were club cases which enabled me to be sure of a living, and the rest +were for the most part sordid and unpleasant subjects, springing out of +the vile life of the district. Alien sailors abounded and quarrelled +fiercely. Often and often have I been awakened in the dead hours to +find drunken and foreign-speaking men at my door, with one or more +among them suffering from a dangerous knife-wound. And the point of it +that came nearly home to me was that this career would not only lead to +nothing, but was unprofitable in itself. I had taken the position in +the hope that I might make something of it, but I found that it was all +I could do to maintain my place. I made no charge for advice in my +consultations, but took a little money on the medicine which I made up. +Is any position to be conceived more degrading to a professional man? +The one bright time in my week was of a Saturday, when I donned my best +coat and gloves, took down my silkiest hat, and, discarding the fumes +and flavours of the East, set out for Piccadilly. I still remained a +member of a decent club, and here I lunched in my glory, talked with +some human creatures, exchanged views on the affairs of the world, +smoked and lolled in comfortable chairs--in short, took my enjoyment +like a man-about-town, and then went back to earn my next week's +holiday. + +Punctually to a minute I must be in the surgery in Pember Street at six +o'clock, and the horrid round must begin to circle again. I will +confess that there was a time when I could have loved that career as a +saunterer in West End streets. It appealed to me at five-and-twenty +almost as a romantic profession. Other young men whom I had known, at +school and college, had entered it, and some were, or appeared to be, +signal stars in that galaxy of wealth and beauty. My means, however, +denied me access, and at thirty I would have been content, after my +experience of hardships and poverty, to settle in some comfortable +suburb, not too distant from the sphere of radiance. As it was, I was +in chains in the slums of Wapping, and re-visited the glimpses of +Piccadilly once a week. + +When I rose on an evening in November to go down to the river almost +for the last time, it was not a Saturday, but a Thursday, and the West +End seemed still a long way off. I had finished my round of cases, and +had sat waiting in my dingy surgery for patients. But none had come, +and in the enforced meditation that ensued, as I reviewed my past and +my prospects, my soul sickened in me. I wanted to breathe more +freely--I wanted more air and something more cheerful than the low +surgery lamp and the dismal lights that wagged in the street. I put on +my hat and passed down to the river. + +It was quite dark, and the easterly drift had obscured and dirtied the +sky, so that when I came out by a landing which I knew now familiarly, +I could see only the lights across the water, and some tall spars and +funnels in the foreground. But the river at full tide champed audibly +against the wharves, and the various sounds of that restless port +assailed my ears--the roar of the unseen traffic behind me, the fluting +and screaming of whistles, the mingled shouts, oaths, and orders in the +distance, and the drone of that profound water under all. + +I had stood for some minutes, drinking in the better air, when there +were voices near, suddenly risen out of the flood, and I perceived two +men had landed. They paused by me for one to relight his pipe, and in +the flash of the match I gathered from the dresses that they were +stevedores, newly come, no doubt, from unloading some vessel. But my +attention was taken off them unexpectedly by a great flare that went up +into the sky apparently in mid-channel. It made a big bright flame, +quite unusual in that resort of silent lights, and one of the +stevedores commented on it. + +"That'll be her," he said; "she was coming up round the Dogs in a +la-di-da fashion. Maybe she'll fly rockets in another minute." + +"Them steam-yachts are the jockeys to blue the money," responded his +companion. "Nothink's good enough for them." + +"What is it?" I asked. + +"Only a Geordie brig straight from winning the America Cup, sir," said +the first man with a facetious smile. "What did they make her out, +Bill?" + +Bill hesitated. "I think it was the _Sea Queen_," he said doubtfully, +and added, in harmony with his companion's mood: + +"They don't want to make themselves known, not by a long chalk." + +With which, the flare having died down, they tramped away into the +night with a civil leave-taking. + +I followed them presently, moving along the road in the direction of +the docks. When I reached the entrance I paused, and the gatekeeper +addressed me. + +"Going in, doctor? Got a call?" + +I recognised him in the dimness of his lamp as a man whom I had +attended for an accident, and I gave him good evening. + +"No," said I, "but I want some air. I think I will, if you don't mind." + +"Welcome, sir," said he cheerily, and I found myself on the other side +of the gateway. + +I walked along the vacant stretch of ground, lit only by dull +gas-lamps, and, passing the low office buildings and storing sheds, +came out by the water-basins. Here was a scene of some bustle and +disorder, but it was farther on that the spectators were engaged in a +knot, for the caisson was drifting round, and a handsome vessel was +floating in, her funnel backed against the grey darkness and her spars +in a ghostly silhouette. The name I heard on several sides roused in me +a faint curiosity. It was the stranger I had observed, the _Sea Queen_, +the subject of the stevedores' pleasantries. + +"A pretty boat," said I to my neighbour. "What is she?" + +He shook his head. "_Sea Queen_ out of Hamburg," he said, "and a +pleasure yacht from the look of her. But what she does here beats me." + +The caisson closed, and the steam-yacht warped up slowly to the pier. +There was little or no noise on her, only a voice raised occasionally +in an authoritative command, and the rattling of chains that paid out +through the donkey-engine. Idly I moved to the stone quay when the +gangway was let down, but only one man descended. The passengers, if +there had been any, had long since reached town from Tilbury, saving +themselves that uninteresting trudge up the winding river-lane. + +I moved on to where a steamer was being loaded under the electric +lights, and watched the same for some time with interest; then, taking +out my watch, I examined it, and came to the conclusion that if I was +to see any patients that evening at all I must at once get back to my +unpalatable rooms. I began to go along the pier, and passed into the +shadow of the _Sea Queen_, now sunk in quiet, and drab and dark. As I +went, a port-hole in the stern almost on the level of my eyes gleamed +like a moon, and of a sudden there was an outbreak of angry voices, one +threatening volubly and the other deeper and slower, but equally +hostile. It was not that the altercation was anything astonishing in +human life, but I think it was the instantaneous flash of that light +and those voices in a dead ship that pulled me up. I stared into the +port-hole, and as I did so the face of a man passed across it 'twixt +the light and me; it passed and vanished; and I walked on. As I turned +to go down to the gates I was aware of the approaching fog. I had seen +it scores of times in that abominable low-lying part of the town, and I +knew the symptoms. There was a faint smell in the air, an odour that +bit the nostrils, carrying the reek of that changeless wilderness of +factories and houses. The opaque grey sky lost its greyness and was +struck to a lurid yellow. Banks of high fog rolled up the east and +moved menacingly, almost imperceptibly, upon the town. For a moment +there were dim shadows of the wharves and the riverside houses, with a +church tower dimmer still behind them, and then the billows of the fog +descended and swallowed up all. + +I moved now in a blackness, but bore to the right, in which direction I +knew were the dock sheds and safety. I seemed to have been feeling my +way for a long time--quite ten minutes--and yet I did not come upon +anything. I began to be seized with the fear of a blind man who is +helpless in vacancy. Had I left the basin in my rear, or had I somehow +wandered back towards it, and would another step take me over into the +water? I shrank from the thought of that cold plunge, and, putting out +my stick on all sides, tapped and tapped, and went on foot by foot. I +was still upon the stone, when I should have reached the sheds, or at +least have got upon the earth again, with the roadway running to the +gates. Angry at my own folly for lingering so long about the ships, I +continued cautiously forward, trying each step of the way. Presently I +heard a sound of footsteps before me, and then a voice raised in a +stave of song. There followed a loud oath and the splash of a heavy +body in water. + +Plainly the basin was, then, in front of me, and some one had fallen +in. The poor wretch was doomed to drown in that horrid and impenetrable +darkness. I shuddered at the thought of that fate, and moved faster +under the whip of impulse. The next moment I brought sharply up against +a stone post by which ships were warped in and fastened. Below was the +water, and now I could hear the sound of splashing, and a voice raised +in a cry of terror. Round the post was coiled a heavy rope which I +loosened as rapidly as was possible and began to lower over the edge of +the basin. + +"This way," I called; "make this way. Here is the pier," but the +splashing continued, and a smother of sound came to me, as if the +swimmer were under water, and his voice stifled. Almost without +thinking, I gripped the thick, tarry rope and let myself over the +basin, until I had reached the surface of the water. + +"This way," I called; "if you can get here, I can save you." + +The noise seemed to come from some little distance out, and now I was +in the water myself, with the cable in my hand, striking out feverishly +and awkwardly in the direction of the struggling man. I came upon him +in a dozen strokes, and the first news I had of him was a kick in the +shoulder that almost tore me from my rope. The next moment I had him by +the collar and without more ado was retracing my way, towing a violent +mass of humanity behind me. It was only by dint of hard work and by +propping him in my arms that I at last landed him on the pier, and then +I succeeded in following myself, very sore and stiff and cold. + +The first words that sprang from the prostrate figure on the quay were +some incoherent oaths, which ultimately took form. "Curse Legrand, +curse him!" + +"Come," said I; "if you are well enough to swear you are well enough to +travel, and we are both of us in a case for treatment." + +"I can't see you," said a voice, in a grumbling way, "but you saved me. +Pull along, and I'll do my best to follow. Where the dickens are we?" + +I groped and helped him to his feet. "Give me your arm," said I; "we +can't afford to go in again, either of us." + +"Were you in too?" he asked stupidly. + +"Well, what do _you_ think?" I replied with a little laugh, and began +to walk, this time, determinately at right angles from the basin. + +He said nothing more, but hung on my arm pretty limp, as we struggled +through the darkness, and presently we both fell over a bale of goods. + +"So far so good," I said, picking him up; "we must be in the +neighbourhood of the sheds. Now to find them, and creep along in their +protection." + +We struck the buildings immediately after, and I had no difficulty in +working my way to the end. That took us to dry ground, or, at least, to +the sloppy ground at the bottom of the docks. By good fortune we now +hit upon the roadway, and it was to me a delight to hear the ring of +the hard macadam under our squelching boots. I was now almost cheerful, +for I was sure that I could not wander from the road, and, sure enough, +we were advertised of our position and heralded all the way by the +meagre lamps at intervals. Soon after we reached the gates, which were +opened by my friend. + +He peered into our faces. "It was a call, sure enough," said I, +laughing. "And here's my patient." + +When we got into the road the fog had slightly lifted, and I had less +difficulty in picking my way home than I had anticipated. Once in the +surgery, I turned up the lamp and poked the fire into a blaze, after +which I looked at my companion. It was with a sense of familiarity that +I recognised his face as that which I had seen flitting across the +port-hole of the _Sea Queen_. He sat back in the chair in which I had +placed him and stared weakly about the room. The steam went up from +both of us. + +"Look here," said I, "if we stay so, we are dead or rheumatic men"; and +I went into my bedroom, changed myself, and brought him some garments +of my own. These he put on, talking now in the garrulous voice I had +heard on the yacht, but somewhat disconnectedly. + +"It's awfully good of you ... a Good Samaritan," and here a vacant +laugh. "I wonder if these things.... How did I go over? I thought I was +going straight. It must have been that infernal fog.... Where the +dickens are we?" + +"You are in my house," said I, "but you might be at the bottom of the +basin." + +"Good heavens!" he said, with a laugh. "I feel mighty shivery. Don't +you think a drop of something----" + +I looked at him closely. "I think it wouldn't be a bad idea in the +circumstances," I said. + +"Oh, I know I had too much to carry!" he said recklessly. "It made me +quarrel with that wretched Legrand, too--a fat-headed fool!" + +I rang for water, and mixed two hot jorums of whisky, one of which he +sipped contentedly. + +"You see, we had a rousing time coming over," he observed, as if in +apology. I looked my question, and he answered it. "Hamburg, in the +_Sea Queen_. The old man skipped at Tilbury, and Barraclough's a real +blazer." + +"Which accounts for the blaze I saw," I remarked drily. + +"Oh, you saw that. Yes, it was that that made Legrand mad. He's +particular. But what's the odds? The boss has to pay." + +His eyes roamed about the shabby room--shabby from the wretched +pictures on the walls to the threadbare carpet underfoot, and, though +he was not a gentleman, I felt some feeling of irritation. Perhaps if +he had been a gentleman I should not have been put out at this scrutiny +of my poverty. + +"You saved me, and that's certain," he began again. "Say, are you a +doctor?" + +I admitted it. + +"Well, can you recommend another glass of toddy?" he asked, smiling, +and his smile was pleasant. + +"In the circumstances again--perhaps," I said. + +"Oh, I know I played the fool," he conceded. "But it isn't often I do. +I must have gone off in the fog. How did you get at me?" + +I told him. + +"That was plucky," he said admiringly. "I don't know two folks I'd risk +the same for." + +"There wasn't much risk," I answered. "It was only a question of taking +a cold bath out of season." + +"Well!" he said, and whistled. "There's white people everywhere, I +guess. Business good?" + +The question was abrupt, and I could not avoid it. "You have your +answer," I replied, with a gesture at the room, and taking out my +cigar-case I offered him one. + +He accepted it, bit off the end, and spat it on the floor, as if +preoccupied. His brow wrinkled, as if the mental exercise were unusual +and difficult. + +"The _Sea Queen_ is a rum bird," he said presently, "but there's plenty +of money behind. And she wants a doctor." + +"Well," said I, smiling at him. + +"We left a Scotch chap sick at Hamburg," he continued. "The boss is a +secret beggar, with pots of money, they say. We chartered out of the +Clyde, and picked him up at Hamburg--him and others." + +"A pleasure yacht?" I inquired. + +"You may call it that. If it ain't that I don't know what it is, and I +ought to know, seeing I am purser. We've all signed on for twelve +months, anyway. Now, doctor, we want a doctor." + +He laughed, as if this had been a joke, and I stared at him. "You +mean," said I slowly, "that I might apply." + +"If it's worth your while," said he. "You know best." + +"Well, I don't know about that," I replied. "It depends on a good many +things." + +All the same I knew that I did know best. The whole of my discontent, +latent and seething for years, surged up in me. Here was the wretched +practice by which I earned a miserable pittance, bad food, and low +company. On the pleasure yacht I should at least walk among equals, and +feel myself a civilised being. I could dispose of my goodwill for a +small sum, and after twelve months--well, something might turn up. At +any rate, I should have a year's respite, a year's holiday. + +I looked across at the purser of the _Sea Queen_, with his good-looking, +easy-natured face, his sleek black hair, and his rather flabby white +face, and still I hesitated. + +"I can make it a dead bird," he said, wagging his head, "and you'll +find it pretty comfortable." + +"Where are you going? The Mediterranean?" I asked. + +"I haven't the least idea," he said with a frank yawn. "But if your +tickets are all right you can bet on the place." + +"I'm agreeable," I said, in a matter-of-fact voice. + +"Good man!" said he, with some of his former sparkle of interest. "And +now we'll have another to toast it, and then I must be off." + +"Don't you think you'd better stay here the night?" I asked. "I can put +you up. And the fog's thicker." + +"Thanks, old man," he replied with easy familiarity, "I would like a +roost, only I've got an engagement. I wired to some one, you know." And +he winked at me wickedly. + +"Very well," said I. "If you have an appointment, I would suggest that +we leave over the toast." + +"You're right," he said ingenuously. "But it was a nasty bath. All +serene. I'll fix that up. By the way," he paused on his road to the +door, "I haven't your name." + +"Nor I yours," I answered. "Mine's Richard Phillimore." + +"Mine's Lane," he said. "Qualified?" + +"M.B. London," I replied. + +"Good for you. That'll make it easier. I suppose I can go in your +togs." + +"You're welcome," I said, "though they don't fit you very well." + +"Oh, I'm a bit smaller than you, I know, but all cats are grey in the +dark, and it's infernally dark to-night! Well, so long, and I'm much +obliged to you, I'm sure." + +He swung out of the door with his free gait, and I stopped him. + +"One word more. Who's your owner?" + +"The boss? Oh, Morland--Morland, a regular millionaire." + +With that he was gone. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +IN THE "THREE TUNS" + + +The next day I had a full round of visits to make, so that I had little +time to think over the adventure of the previous evening. On Saturday I +made my way, as usual, to the West End, and spent the afternoon in +luxury, basking in the renewal of my self-respect. I had leisure then +to reflect, and, although the more I considered the less appeared the +likelihood of any advantage to myself derivable out of Lane's promise, +yet I allowed myself the satisfaction of certain inquiries. No one in +the club had heard of Morland, the millionaire, and the _Sea Queen_ was +unknown to my yachting friends. Moreover, no Morland appeared in the +"Court Guide." Still, it was quite possible, even probable, that he was +an American; so that omission did not abash me. It was only when I +rehearsed the circumstances in bald terms that I doubted to the point +of incredulity. I had fished up a tipsy fellow, of a loose good-nature, +who, under the stimulus of more whisky, had probably at the best +offered more than he was entitled to do, and who, at the worst, had +long since forgotten all about his Good Samaritan. The situation seemed +easy of interpretation, and in the warmth of my pleasant intercourse +with my companions I presently ceased to ponder it. + +Yet, when I arrived at my house and opened the letter that awaited me, +I will confess that I experienced a thrill of hope. It was from Hills, +a firm of solicitors in Lincoln's Inn Fields, and, premising that I was +a candidate for the post of doctor in the SS. _Sea Queen_, requested me +to call on Monday at three o'clock. This looked, so to speak, like +business, and I attended at the address with my mind made up and clear. +If I was offered the position I would take it, and so cut my cable. + +I had to wait some time in an ante-room, but presently was ushered into +the presence of one of the partners, an amiable, business-like man, +with the air of a country squire. + +"Dr. Phillimore?" he queried introductively, and I assented. + +"Please sit down, will you. You are anxious to take position of doctor +on the _Sea Queen._" He consulted some note before him. "I see. Your +name has been mentioned to my client in this connection. I assume you +are fully qualified?" + +I told him the facts and referred him to the "Medical Year-Book." +"Moreover," I added, "I have no doubt, if a recommendation were +necessary, Sir John Wemyss, of Harley Street, would be willing to write +to you." + +"Sir John Wemyss," he echoed reflectively. "Oh, yes, the cancer man. +Let me see, he was President, wasn't he, of the College of Surgeons?" + +"Yes, some years ago," I answered. + +"A good man," he declared with a friendly air of patronage. "Well, I +don't suppose there would be any difficulty on that score if Sir John +will write. My client is a prudent man, and would naturally like to +have the best advice available. Moreover, he is quite willing to pay +for it. There is, of course, that question," and he looked at me as if +inviting my suggestion. + +I laughed. "Really I have no views, only that naturally I should like +as large a salary as is compatible with the circumstances." + +"Very well, Dr. Phillimore," said he, nodding. "I daresay we can +arrange that too. You are young yet, and the position might lead----" +He broke off, as the baize door on his left opened noiselessly. "What +is it, Pye?" + +The clerk bent down and whispered to him. "Oh, very well! It's +opportune in a way. Will you ask Mr. Morland to be good enough to come +in?" + +The little clerk went out with his neat walk, and the solicitor rose. +"I shall be able to introduce you to my client, who is the owner of the +_Sea Queen_," he said, with a certain change of voice, and quickly +went forward to the outer door. + +"How do you do, Mr. Morland?" he exclaimed, with a cheerful deference, +such as was due to the presence of wealth. "I was just engaged on a +little matter of yours. I hope you came right up. These dull offices go +so much by routine. It was the question of a doctor, sir." + +As he spoke he indicated me, and for the first time I saw Mr. Morland. + +He was a man of thirty-five, of middle height, slightly disposed to +stoutness, but with a fine carriage, and with a bronzed, good-looking +face, rendered heavier for the dull expression of his blue eyes. His +hair, which was short and worn _en brosse_, after a foreign fashion, +was straw-yellow. + +"Is it the doctor?" he asked, after a glance at me, and though he spoke +excellent English, there was also something a little foreign in his +accent. + +"Well, sir, we haven't reached that point yet," said the lawyer, +smiling. "This is Dr. Phillimore, whom you wished me to----" + +"Ah, yes," said Mr. Morland, and he put out a hand mechanically. "You +will arrange it," he said to the other, with an air of command. + +"Most certainly, sir, but I thought you would like to see, being on the +spot----" + +"No, there is only one thing. You know anything of throats?" he asked +suddenly. + +I told him I had studied under a specialist at the hospital, as it +happened. In these days we doctors are compelled to take special +courses in order to keep march with the times. + +"That is right," he said, nodding, and the smile that came upon his +face turned the eyes bluer. He looked quite handsome. "We must all keep +step with the times. I will look to you to arrange it," he added again +to the lawyer, and seemed to wait for my dismissal. The solicitor bowed +me sharply from the room, for was not his millionaire client in +waiting? And I went down the stairs. + +It was now past four, and as I came out into the Square I saw before me +the little lawyer's clerk who had entered the room and had been called +Pye. He was talking amiably to another man, and as I passed smiled at +me through his pince-nez. + +"You saw Mr. Morland?" he asked in a friendly way. + +"Yes," I said, and looked at the stranger. There seemed no necessity to +say more. + +"It is odd that you should encounter here, gentlemen," said Pye, +adjusting his glasses, "and yet I suppose it isn't. Mr. Holgate, this +gentleman is the future doctor of the _Sea Queen_." + +"Oh, dear me, it isn't settled," said I, with a laugh. + +Pye beamed at me. "I think I know my chief's face," he said. "It's my +business to interpret him, particularly when he can't interpret +himself." + +The other man laughed lazily. He was a man with a big body, and a face +round and gross in proportion, heavy-lidded eyes, and an imperturbable +expression. + +"This is Mr. Holgate, the third officer," said Pye, by way of +introduction, and somehow or other we began to walk in the direction of +Holborn. When we had threaded the Great Turnstile the little clerk +hesitated and swung round. "I was going to drink a glass of wine with +Mr. Holgate. Perhaps you would join us, sir?" + +"Gladly," said I, for I had made up my mind to take tea before +returning to Wapping, and somehow my interview had inspirited me. I +took a sanguine view of my chances, for all my words to Pye. Moreover, +I have always been interested in my fellow-creatures, and, finally, I +was in the mood for a glass of something. Enters this trio, then, into +the "Three Tuns" presently, and sits to a table in comfortable chairs, +with the clatter of the street falling, like rain, on the senses, and +the bright flare of gas among the dark barrels. There was about the +place an odour of good-fellowship and of peace that pleased me who had +not visited these haunts for years. + +Little Pye turned his pince-nez on me as the attendant advanced. + +"What'll you have, doctor?" he asked. + +I hesitated. + +"I suppose it must be port," said I; "port is more palatable and no +more noxious in such places than any other wine." + +"Any port in a storm, in fact," said the little man, looking at me +quizzically. + +"For my part----" said Holgate, in his stuffy, fat voice. + +"Port, you should say," interposed Pye with brisk wit. He smiled at his +smartness and his eyes seemed to challenge me to respond. + +"There's nothing to beat spirits--and sound rum for choice, but as they +won't have it here, I'll take brandy," continued the third officer. + +He lighted a cigar and began to smoke, examining everything within +eyeshot attentively but with indifference. I think, except for the +first glance he had bestowed upon me, that he had completely ignored my +presence. + +Little Pye put up his glass. "I drink," said he, "to a prosperous +voyage, Mr. Holgate, and to pleasant companions." + +"Prosperous voyage," said the third officer wheezily, and I murmured +something to the same effect. + +"You say the old man's velvet," said Holgate, resuming his puffing. + +"Well," said Pye, beaming through his glasses, "I wouldn't go so far as +to say it, but he looks it. He looks kid-glove." + +"I hate 'em," growled Holgate. "I've seen that kind on the ferry--all +airs and aitches, and frosty as a berg." + +"Well, of course, it would be much more satisfactory to be sailing +under a real Tartar," remarked the little man with mild pleasantry. + +Holgate cast him a glance which inquired, but was indifferent. "What's +your idea, doctor?" he asked. + +"I have none," said I, smiling. "I am much more interested in third +officers." + +His masklike face relaxed, and he stroked his black moustaches, and +took a long pull of his cigar. + +"That was very nice of you, doctor," he said, nodding with more +cordiality. + +Pye drew an apple from his pocket, and carefully bit into it. I don't +know why, but it struck me as comical to see him at this schoolboy +business, his ears alert, his glasses shining, and his white teeth +going to and fro. He reminded me of a squirrel, a fancy to which the +little tufts of whiskers by his ears lent themselves. He eyed both of +us brightly. + +"After all," said the third officer heavily, "it's more important in +the end to know your owner, let alone his travelling with you. I +wouldn't give two straws for the old man, velvet or iron, so long as I +could get the lug of my owner." + +"You'll find them both all right," said Pye reassuringly. "Captain Day +I have seen and Mr. Morland I know." + +"He is very rich?" I asked. + +"I'll trouble you for a two and a half commission on it," said the +clerk cheerfully, "and then I'd live like a fighting-cock. At least, +that's what we all believe. There's no knowing." + +The shadows of the November afternoon had gathered in the streets +without, and a thin scant rain was flying. Into the area of warmth and +brightness entered more customers, and shook the water from the +umbrellas. They stood at the bar and drank and talked noisily. Round +about us in the loom of the great barrels the shadows lurched from the +wagging gas-flames. The clerk had finished his apple. + +"We will have another," said Holgate. + +"This is mine," I said. He shook his head. I protested. + +"Doctor, you confess you live in doubt," he said, "whereas I have my +appointment in my pocket. Plainly it is my right." + +"I think that's a fair argument, doctor," said Pye. + +"I am in both your debt," said I lightly. "For company and wine." + +"I'm sure we shall owe you both many a time yet," said the third +officer civilly. + +At the table near us two men had sat and were talking even as we, but +one had a half-penny paper, and turned the flimsy thing about, I fancy +in search of racing news. + +"You see there is no doubt about you----," began Pye amiably, and +suddenly dropped his sentence. + +In the unexpected silence I caught some words from the other table. + +"Well, it's good pluck of him if he wants to marry her. What's the odds +if he is a Prince? Live and let live, I say." + +Pye's little squirrel head turned round and he stared for a moment at +the speaker, then it came back again. + +"You are uncommonly polite," said Holgate irritably. + +"I'm sorry. I thought I recognised that voice," said the little man +sweetly. "One gets echoes everywhere. I was going to say we took you +for granted, doctor." + +"It's good of you," said I. "But will Mr. Morland?" + +"I can practically answer for my employer; I can't say anything about +Mr. Morland, who has, however, authorised us to appoint." + +"The yacht is from Hamburg?" said I. + +"I believe so," said he. + +"And its destination?" + +"That knowledge is quite out of my province," said the squirrel +briefly. + +When one came to think of it, it was almost a snub, and I had never any +patience for these legal silences. As he shut his jaws he looked a man +who could keep a secret, and knew his own mind. Yet he had been so +easily familiar that I flushed with resentment. Confound these little +professional tricks and solemnities! We were meeting on another ground +than lawyer and client. + +"I dare say it will be within the cabin-boy's province to-morrow," said +I, somewhat sharply. + +"Very likely," he assented, and Holgate, who had turned at my tone, +exchanged a glance with him. + +"Mr. Pye is fond of keeping his own counsel," said the third officer in +his slow voice, "and I'm not sure he isn't right, being a lawyer." + +"But he isn't a lawyer here," I protested. + +Pye smiled. "No; I'm not," he said, "and please don't remind me of it"; +at which we all laughed and grew friendly again. "Well, this is a funny +sort of tea for me," said the clerk presently. "I generally patronise +the A.B.C.," and he rose to go. + +Holgate did not move, but sat staring at the fire, which shone on his +broad placid face. "I knew a man once," he observed, "who kept his own +counsel." + +"I hope he was a lawyer," said Pye humourously. + +"No; he was a steward--the steward of an estate in the North. In the +hills was the wealth of a millionaire; coal, doctor," Holgate looked at +me. "And he kept his counsel and held his tongue." + +"With what object?" I asked. + +"Oh, a little syndicate succeeded in buying it from the owner, and now +it's a seven-figure affair." + +His face had no expression of inquiry or of inviting comment. He had +simply stated history, but I was moved to say flippantly, + +"What luck!" + +"The steward got it?" asked Pye. + +"He romped in," said the third officer. + +"And will presently be a baronet," said I lightly. + +"Stranger things have happened," he remarked, and began to smile. I +fancy we all smiled, though it was not, of course, altogether +humourous. + +"Is that called robbery?" asked Holgate. + +"I doubt if the law covers it," said Pye. "No; it's quite an innocent +transaction." + +"What is robbery?" I asked cynically. "Lawyers may feel their way amid +the intricacies, but no one else can hope to. I'm stealing now when I +take these matches." + +"I will follow your example," said Holgate, and did so. + +"I'm not sure that that's not perks," said little Pye with his +quizzical glance. + +"Well, is it perks if I buy a picture from you for ten bob which I know +to be worth L1,000?" inquired Holgate. + +Pye considered. "I give it up," he said. + +"Which only proves," said I, continuing my mood, "that it takes a good +capercutter to move in and out moral sanctions." + +"I don't believe I know what that means quite," said Holgate, giving me +the full charge of his steady eyes. + +I stooped and warmed my fingers, for the cold blast of the streets was +forbidding. "Well, the most famous people have been those who have +successfully performed the egg dance between commandments," I remarked. + +"I suppose they have," said Holgate thoughtfully. + +I rose abruptly, and in the glass above the mantelpiece the two figures +behind me came into vision. The little clerk's eyebrows were elevated +in a question, and the men faced each other. Holgate's lips were pursed +and he nodded. I saw this in the flash of rising, and then I turned +about. + +"I shall get a wigging," said Pye, seizing his umbrella. + +We walked out and I bade them good-bye after a civil exchange of +amenities; then I took an omnibus down Chancery Lane and made for the +Underground. As I travelled back, my thoughts circled about the +situation; I was glad to have made the acquaintance of one or more of +my shipmates, if, of course, I was to join the company. Holgate puzzled +me for a third officer, until I reflected that in these days every +officer had a master's licence. Yet that this man should not by the +force of his evident individuality take higher rank in life surprised +me. What, however, was of most immediate concern to me was the extreme +friendliness of my two companions. Lane was well enough in his way, and +certainly had shown his goodwill; but Holgate was more than this to a +lonely man with an appetite for society. Holgate was intelligent. + +I found a few patients waiting, and disposed of them by eight o'clock, +after which I strolled down to the docks, in spite of the drizzle. I +have said that I am interested in my fellows, and, in addition, I +confess to a certain forethought. I walked down to the docks with the +deliberate intention of acquiring some information about the _Sea +Queen_, if that were possible. I knew the name of the owner, or at +least of the man who had chartered her; I had the name and acquaintance +of one or two of the company; but I knew nothing as to her destination, +her properties as a boat, or her time of sailing. Some of this +ignorance I hoped to remedy by my visit. And it seemed that I was in +the way to do so from the start. For no sooner was I on the quay in the +neighbourhood of the yacht than I came upon a handsome young man in the +dress of a superior sailor, with whom I fell into talk. He was +outspoken as a child, but volunteered nothing of his own initiative--an +amiable, sluggish, respectful fellow who was, as he stated, +quartermaster on the _Sea Queen_. + +I confessed my interest in her, at which he indulgently supplied me +with information. + +"I signed on at Glasgow, sir--and most of us too--and we picked up Mr. +Morland at Hamburg--him and the ladies." + +"The ladies!" I echoed, for here was a surprise. + +"Yes; two ladies what came with him--Miss Morland and another lady, a +dark one," said my friend. + +"Oh!" said I. "Then you're off for a pleasure cruise." + +"I hardly know, sir," said he. "They do say New York, but I haven't +heard definite." + +That looked in favour of my theory of Mr. Morland as an American. He +was perhaps a Trust King, and Miss Morland a vivacious "beauty" from +Chicago. + +Here my companion suggested that I might care to have a look at the +yacht. + +"My friend," said I, "you mustn't let me take you on false pretences. I +may be your doctor, and I may be not." + +"Oh, that's all right, sir," said he easily. "It can't do no harm. +We're only loading up with provisions, and there's no mess about." + +We ascended the gangway, and entered the dark ship, which was +singularly silent. He had already the sailor's affection for his +floating home, and pointed me out one or two points for admiration +which I understood but ill, as they were technical. As we were peeping +into the saloon, a man passed us and stopped sharply. + +"That you, Ellison?" he asked in a harsh voice. "Who's that?" + +"Only a gentleman having a look round. He's to be doctor," said the +quartermaster. + +The man made no reply, but stared at me, and then went on swiftly. + +"Rather abrupt," I commented, smiling. + +"Oh, that's nothing. It is only his way," said the good-natured fellow. +"He's the boatswain." + +"Is Mr. Morland an American?" I asked. + +"I don't know, sir. I've hardly seen him. We signed on at Glasgow with +a little slip of a fellow representing Mr. Morland--glasses and +side-whiskers." + +"That would be Mr. Pye," I said. + +"Very likely. Would you like to take a squint at the engines? Mr. +McCrae is on board." + +He led me, without waiting for answer, towards the engine-room, and +called out, "Mr. McCrae!" which brought presently a little, red-faced, +bearded man from the depths. "This gentleman wants to know what you can +do," said my friend, by way of introduction. The engineer nodded +towards me. "We can make eighteen," he said, wiping his hands on a +greasy piece of rag. "Eighteen at a pinch, but I keep her going steady +at fourteen." + +"A good boat!" said I. + +"Aye, tolerable," he said, and pulled out a sheet of paper, which he +began to peruse under the slender light. "This now's another slap in +the eye for the Emperor," said McCrae, "this business of the Prince." + +"What is it?" I asked. "I haven't seen the papers to-night." + +He rapped his knuckles on the newspaper. "This Prince Frederic of +Hochburg kicking over the traces. I tell ye I'm real sorry for the old +man. I pity him, Emperor though he be. He's had his sup of troubles." + +"But I don't understand what this new one is," I said. + +McCrae was not above explaining. "Well, y'see, this Prince Frederic is +the heir to the Duchy of Hochburg, and he has taken up with some +singer, and swears he'll resign his inheritance and marry her. That's +where the mischief is. Not that the man's not right," proceeded the +Scotchman, warming, evidently, to his opinions. "For why should Princes +be exempt from the disposition of Providence. Let him come forward like +a man, and, ye'll see, he'll gain the univairsal sympathy of Europe for +his honesty." + +"It certainly increases the Emperor's difficulties," I said. "For with +a vacancy at Hochburg, and the Pan-German movement in full swing----" + +"Aye, ye're a student of political affairs," broke in the engineer in +his broad Glasgow accent. "And I'll not say there isn't something to be +said at the present juncture of European politics. But, man, the +principle's all wrong. Why is a man, no better than you or me, to ride +over us, whether it be riches, or kings, or emperors? It's the accident +of birth, and the accident of riches, that dictates to us, and I'm +thinking it ought to be set right by legislation." + +"Well, we are getting along to the Millennium famously," said I, +jestingly. + +"The Millennium!" he said, with a contemptuous snort. + +I think Ellison was pleased to see us getting on so pleasantly in +argument, as he was responsible for the introduction, and he now +ventured on a statement in the hopes, no doubt, of cementing the +acquaintanceship. + +"This gentleman's coming along with us, Mr. McCrae," he said. + +The engineer looked at me. + +"I have put in for doctor, but it's by no means certain," I explained. + +"Oh, well, we'll hope it is," he said affably, and to the +quartermaster: "Ellison, this gentleman'll, maybe, take a finger of +whisky to his own health--and ours," he added, with a relaxation of his +grim face at his jest. "Ye'll find a bottle in my cabin." + +So when the quartermaster had returned, once more I had to drink to the +success of my application. It appeared that the _Sea Queen_ was peopled +with amiable spirits, if I excepted the boatswain; and as I went over +the side I congratulated myself on having already made the acquaintance +of two more of my shipmates on a friendly footing--if I were destined +to the appointment. + +On my way home it struck me that I had already heard of the affair of +Prince Frederic. The remark of the man at the next table in the "Three +Tuns" must have referred to the scandal, and as I reflected on that, I +could see in my mind's eye the little clerk's head go round in a stare +at our neighbours. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +MADEMOISELLE TREBIZOND + + +Pye had interpreted his employer's face correctly, and Lane had not +boasted unduly. On Wednesday evening I received a letter appointing me +to the position of doctor, and at the same time informing me of my +remuneration. This was well enough, as it chanced; though not on too +liberal a scale, it was yet sufficient to meet my wants, and mentally I +cast myself adrift from Wapping with a psalm of thankfulness. The _Sea +Queen_ was to sail on Friday, and so I had little time left; yet by a +lucky chance I was enabled to dispose of my practice "on the nail," to +use a convenient colloquialism, and, with that adventitious sum of +money, equipped and fortified myself for my voyage. I paid two +preliminary visits to the yacht, but found no one of importance on +board, and it was not until the actual afternoon of our departure that +I made the acquaintance of any more of my shipmates. + +We warped out of the docks, and dropped down the river unexpectedly, +the captain on his bridge at intervals, and the pilot all the time, and +at ten o'clock we reached Gravesend, where we anchored in the stream. +It was blowing hard of a cold night, and the wind was peppered with +sleet; a depressing proem to our unknown voyage. We swung at anchor +there until Mr. Morland came aboard with his friends, and we left on +the turn of the tide about midnight. I did not see Mr. Morland arrive, +as I was busy in the forecastle with a man who had met with a trivial +accident. It was Lane who informed me that the "butterflies were come" +and we might spread our wings. Lane I had encountered for a few minutes +in the afternoon, when he smilingly saluted me. + +"Well, what price me?" and hurried off ere I could answer him or thank +him, as this form of salutation seemed to require. But he had more +leisure at supper, to which he invited me in his cabin. + +"We chaps have the benefit of a pleasure yacht, doctor," said he, +winking, "and you bet I'm not purser for nothing. Blame me if I sup +with that crew until they shake down a bit. Barraclough's all right, +and a gentleman, but I can't stand Legrand or Holgate." + +"I've met Mr. Holgate, and thought him intelligent," I ventured. + +Lane emitted scorn. "Intelligent! He's a bladder of peas, and thinks +himself a monarch. Precious little swank about him, if he can help it. +He's fly enough there. Well, a tot won't hurt us now. I can tell you +I've been hustled." He had recourse to a decanter of whisky. "This is +the real stuff. I took care of that. Legrand can do on two-bob vitriol +for all I care. He don't know the difference. Well, the boss's aboard +and his crowd, and we're off, and here's fortune, doctor." + +The toast was irreproachable, and I put down my glass and reverted to +his phrase. "His crowd?" + +"Yes, his sister and the other lady--rippers both. I saw them when they +came aboard at Hamburg." + +"And now can you tell me where we're going?" I asked. + +"I don't know," said Lane carelessly. "I hope we're running out of this +beastly weather--that's all." + +"I merely engaged for twelve months," I put in. + +"Same here, and that's good enough," said Lane. "I'll ask the old man +to-morrow if his prickles don't stand up too thick. Here she goes, +doctor." + +When I left the purser I turned in, for the night was shrewd and +discomfortable enough to bar romantic thoughts on leaving the English +coast. Besides, we were bound down channel, and should keep company +with our native cliffs the whole of the next day. It would be time to +wave a farewell when we passed the Lizard. + +The quarters in the _Sea Queen_ were roomy. I was berthed aft with the +other officers, and Mr. Morland's rooms and the cabins of the two +ladies were on the upper deck, ample in appearance from the outside, +and no doubt furnished luxuriously. The guests had the run of a fine +saloon also, on the lower deck, as well as a music-gallery which ran +round it, and there was a boudoir, as I heard, attached to the ladies' +compartments, as well as a private room to Mr. Morland's. Breakfast was +mainly interesting as introducing me practically for the first time to +my companions. We were then abreast of the Isle of Wight, and were +keeping well away towards France. The chief officer I now, to my +astonishment, discovered to be a man of title. Sir John Barraclough was +a tall, loose-limbed, good-looking man of thirty something, with a blue +eye, and a casual manner. He nodded at me amiably and continued his +talk with Legrand, the second officer, who was dark and high-coloured, +with a restless expression of face. Lane threw a jocular greeting +across the table to me, and I shook hands cordially with Holgate, whom +I now saw for the first time since I had come aboard. Presently +Barraclough turned to me. + +"Glad to see you, doctor," he said in an indifferent manner. "Hope it's +goin' to be a fine cruise." + +I had just echoed his wish formally when the captain made his +appearance from the deck. Captain Day was a most fastidious-looking +man, with a brown Vandyke beard and a flow of good manners. Seeing me +and Holgate there as the only strangers, he singled us out at once with +quite the right degree of friendliness. + +"Glad to make your acquaintance, Dr. Phillimore. This your first +voyage? I hope we'll make a happy family." + +But having thus condescended briefly, he relapsed into silence and +shortly afterwards left us. + +"There's too much condemned R.N.R. about the old man," confided Lane as +we went on deck, "but he's all right." + +It was on deck that I met with my surprise, for the first person my +eyes fell on was no other than Pye, the little lawyer's clerk. + +"I never expected to see you here," I told him. + +"Well, you see, I did expect to see you," he replied in his +self-satisfied little way. "I'm here to represent Mr. Morland for the +time being." + +"Oh," said I, "then you can tell us all where we are bound for, for no +one seems to know." + +He considered a little. "I shall be able to tell you shortly, I have no +doubt," he said at last. "At present Mr. Morland alone knows. Perhaps +even he doesn't," he added with his smile. + +"I don't like that little buffer," declared Lane grumpily as we walked +on. "He is too fussy and by-your-leave-please for me. Made me get out +all my books yesterday, as if I were an office-boy." + +"He feels responsible, I suppose," I ventured. + +"Well, who's responsible if I'm not?" demanded the purser hotly. "I've +been at sea fifteen years, and this brat hasn't so much as been sick in +the _Marguerite_, I'll lay. Let him look after his own books. I'm all +right." + +It was quite manifest that Lane was decided in his likes and dislikes, +as his unreasonable objection to the second officer had already +discovered to me. The passengers were not visible during the morning, +but in the afternoon I received a message calling me to Mr. Morland's +cabin. I found him seated before a bureau with a docket of papers +before him, and he was civil and abrupt. + +"Is there anything you can recommend for sea-sickness, Dr. Phillimore?" +he asked bluntly. + +I told him of several remedies which had been tried, and mentioned +cocaine as probably the best, adding that I had little faith in any of +them. He thought a moment. + +"Prepare me some cocaine," he said, and with a bow intimated that he +had done with me. + +It was civil as I have said, but it was also abrupt. He had the air of +a martinet and the expression of a schoolmaster who set his pupil a +task. But I made up the doses forthwith and let him have them. + +Later I saw two figures walking upon the hurricane promenade, one of +which I easily made out as Mr. Morland, and the other was a woman +heavily cloaked in fur. A strong breeze was beating up channel, and as +they stood and faced it the woman put her hand to her hat. But for the +most part they walked to and fro, sometimes in conversation, but often +in silence. Once, at eight bells, I noticed, from my point of +observation, the woman stop, lean across the railing, and point towards +the coast of France, which was fast fading into the gathering mists. +She seemed to speak, her face turned level with her shoulders towards +the man. He put out a hand and snapped his fingers, and they presently +resumed their promenade. The sun had gone down, and darkness was +settling on us; the _Sea Queen_ ploughed steadily westward, her lights +springing out one by one, and the figures on the hurricane deck were +presently merged in shadow. As I leaned over the stern, reflecting, and +contemplating now the dull wash of the water about the screw, I was +conscious of some one's approach. + +"Well, doctor," said the cheerful voice of Pye, "have you had a good +look at our passengers?" + +"Mr. Pye," said I, pleasantly enough, "I am a man of moods. And I have +lived long in silence and routine as no doubt you yourself also. I find +occupation even in my own thoughts." + +"You are well equipped for the sea," he rejoined. "I'm not sure about +myself. You see, I'm a Londoner, and I shall miss those peopled spaces. +Here there's nothing but----" he waved his hand. + +"At all events. I see you're a respectable sailor," I said, "which, +apparently, others are not." His silence seemed to inquire of me. "I +gave Mr. Morland a prescription for sea-sickness this afternoon." + +"That would be for one of the ladies," he made answer; "he is evidently +firm on his legs, and--and his companion. I suppose I may tell you that +his companion is his sister," he said after a pause. + +"Well, yes," I replied drily, for his precautions jarred on me. "For I +suppose we shall discover the mystery in the course of the next twelve +months." + +"Mystery!" he repeated musingly. "I suppose I am by training somewhat +circumspect. It's difficult to get out of it. But there's no mystery. +Mr. and Miss Morland have brought a friend with them." + +"If there's no mystery," I said, "the friend?" + +"I have not heard her name," he replied, "or at least, if I have, I +have forgotten. It is a friend of Miss Morland's. I believe she is a +French lady." + +The dusk had enclosed us, but through it I perceived some one hurriedly +approaching. "Is it the doctor?" said the steward's voice, and I +answered in the affirmative. + +"You're wanted at once, sir. Mr. Morland has sent for you." + +I moved off quickly, and had got half-way down the deck when a woman +came forward noiselessly through the gloom. + +"Dr. Phillimore," she said, "I want you to see to Mlle. Chateray at +once. She is very ill." + +I entered the state rooms without further question, hurried down the +handsome corridor, and under Miss Morland's guidance found the cabin. +Certain constitutions are peculiarly affected by the sea, and it is +even undertaking a risk for some people to travel on that element. +Clearly it was, as Pye hinted, for the French lady that my prescription +had been required. Outside the cabin in the corridor I encountered Mr. +Morland, who exhibited a troubled face unusual to one of such apparent +equanimity. But he said nothing, only looked at his sister and turned +away. + +Inside I found a blue chamber, roomy and well lighted by electricity, +an elegant broad bed affixed to the one wall, and upon it, stretched in +the most wonderful _deshabille_, my patient. Mlle. Chateray was of +middle height, of a pleasant fulness, and dark of feature. She had +large eyes that, as I entered, were roaming in a restless way about the +room, and her voice was lifted sharply abusive of her maid, a mild +Frenchwoman who stood by her. + +"She is in a state of collapse, Dr. Phillimore," said my guide's voice +in my ear. + +I knew better than that. It was hysteria, or I had never seen hysteria, +and the _mal-de-mer_ had been merely provocative. I took her hand +without ceremony, and, wheeling on me her lustrous eyes, she broke out +in torrential French. + +She would die if she remained there. They were beasts to keep her +there. Why was she not put ashore at Havre? Havre was a port, as every +one knew, and there were ports not only in England. I had a kind face +and would do as she bade me.... Very well, then, let her be put ashore. +She began to tear at her elaborate dressing-gown, and I was afraid of +one of those outbreaks which are known as _crises des nerfs._ I took +her hands firmly. + +"You shall be put ashore as you wish," I said, "and in the meantime, +while the yacht is going about, you will drink what I give you. It will +comfort you." + +She gazed into my eyes, ceasing to struggle, and then said more +quietly: "Yes--yes, give it me quick." + +It was a case for bromide, and I turned away at once to go to my +surgery. + +"You will lie exactly as you are, mademoiselle," I said peremptorily, +"until I return." + +I left the cabin and descended, and I think I was not gone more than +ten minutes. When Mlle. Chateray had taken the draught, I turned to her +maid: "She will be quieter now," I said. "Let me know if anything +further develops," and I moved towards the door. Miss Morland stood in +my way. + +For the first time I observed her. Her cloak had fallen from her, +leaving her fine figure in the full illumination of the light. Her head +was set well back above the eloquent lines of a strong throat and the +square shoulders underneath. The lace over her bosom stirred with her +breathing, and to my fancy at the moment she was as a statue into which +life was flowing suddenly. I saw this before I met her gaze, and the +calm beauty of that confirmed my fancy. She moved then and opened the +door for me. + +"You have promised she shall be landed?" she said in a low voice. + +"Madam, I would promise anything in such a case," I answered. + +A faint smile passed over her face, for we were now outside the cabin +and in the ladies' boudoir. + +"You can promise relief, then, I understand?" she queried. + +"She will probably be all right to-night, though I cannot say the +hysteria will not recur," I replied. + +An expression flitted over her face, but whether it was of pity or +annoyance I could not have said. + +"My brother will not put the yacht about," she said. + +"I'm not going to ask him," I rejoined. + +"I thank you, doctor," said she simply, "and so will he." + +"It is my business," I responded indifferently. + +She had spoken with distance, even coldly, and with the air of +condescension. There was no necessity to thank me at all, and certainly +not in that way. + +Bidding her good evening, I went down again, and as I went a problem +which had vaguely bothered me during my administrations recurred, now +more insistently. There was something familiar in Mlle. Chateray's +face. What was it? + +I spent some time in the surgery, and later joined the officers at +dinner. Captain Day wore a short dinner-jacket like my own, but the +others had made no attempt to dress. Perhaps that was the reason why +the captain devoted his attention to me. His voice was that of a +cultivated man, and he seemed to converse on the same level of +cultivation. He made a figure apart from the rest of the company, to +which little Pye was now joined, and as I looked down and across the +table (from which only Holgate was absent on duty) their marvellous +unlikeness to him struck me. Even Sir John Barraclough and Lane seemed +by comparison more or less of a piece, though the first officer ignored +the purser quite markedly. Captain Day, I discovered, had some taste in +letters, and as that also had been my consolation in my exile in +Wapping, I think we drew nearer on a common hobby. I visited my patient +about nine o'clock, and found her sleeping. As she lay asleep, I was +again haunted by the likeness to some one I had seen before; but I was +unable to trace it to its source nor did I trouble my head in the +matter, since resemblances are so frequently accidental and baffling. + +Pye had invited me to his room earlier in the day, and I went straight +to him from the deck cabin. To find Holgate there was not unpleasing, +as it seemed in a way to recall what I almost began to consider old +times--the time that was in the "Three Tuns." Pye mixed the toddy, and +we smoked more or less at our ease. I spoke of my patient, in answer to +a question, as one suffering from sea-sickness. + +"What's she like?" inquired Holgate. + +"I should say handsome," I rejoined. "I understood from Mr. Pye that +she is French." + +"I think I heard so," said Pye, "but you could tell." + +"Well, she spoke French," I said with a smile. + +Pye's smile seemed to commend my reticence, but Holgate, ignoring the +obvious retort on me, pursued a different subject. + +"Upon my soul, I envy people like those millionaires. Here am I working +like a navvy for a bare living, never been able to marry; Pye probably +in the same case; and you, doctor?" + +"No; I'm a bachelor," I answered. + +"Well, take us three--no doubt in our different walks every bit as +capable as Mr. Morland on his Wall Street, or wherever it is. It isn't +a righteous distribution of this world's goods." + +"It is odd," said I, speaking my thoughts, "how you came to take up +this life." + +"The sort of blunder," said Holgate, "that is made in three cases out +of four. I hankered after it in my teens, and once out of them it was +too late. Who is going to adapt a youth of twenty-one, without capital, +to a commercial life, or a legal life, or a medical life? There is no +changing the dice. When the hands are dealt you must abide by them." + +"Yes, we are all waifs," said I sententiously, not being greatly +interested in the argument. + +"When I came back from my last voyage," pursued Holgate, "I was in +Paris for a bit, and went into the Comedie one night, and----" + +I never heard the rest of Holgate's reminiscence, for the word +regarding the theatre suddenly sent a message to my memory and lighted +it up instantaneously. I said aloud, and with some excitement, + +"Trebizond!" + +Holgate ceased talking, and Pye removed his cigarette hastily. + +"What, may we venture to ask, is Trebizond?" he said presently. + +I smiled foolishly. "Oh, it is only that I have made a discovery," I +said, "a small discovery." + +Again there was silence. + +"Perhaps we are worthy to hear it," suggested Holgate equably. + +Pye still held his cigarette between his fingers and looked at me out +of his gold-rimmed glasses. + +"Oh, nothing much," said I, and glanced at my watch. "I'm sorry, I must +see my patient safe for the night. I'll look in again." + +I left them and went upstairs, knocking on the boudoir door. Miss +Morland opened it. + +"Mlle. Chateray is still sleeping," she said formally. + +"I will leave a dose with her maid," I replied, "so that if it be +necessary it may be given in the night." + +"You will, of course, be in attendance if required," she said coldly. + +I bowed. + +"I am paid for it, madam," I answered, though I must confess to a +hostile feeling within my heart. + +"I think, then, that is all," she said, and I took my dismissal at the +hands of the arrogant beauty with an internal conflict of anger and +admiration. + +I did not return to Pye, but went to my own cabin in an irritable +condition. It ought not to have mattered to me that the sister of a +millionaire, my employer, should treat me more or less as a lackey; but +it did. I threw myself on my bunk and took down a book at random from +my little shelf. Out of its pages tumbled an evening news-sheet which I +now remembered to have bought of a screaming boy as I hurried into the +dock gates on the previous afternoon. I had not had time to look at it +in my various preoccupations, but, after all, it was the last news of +my native land I should have for some time, and so I opened it and +began the perusal. + +It was one of those half-penny journals which seem to combine the +maximum of vulgarity with a minimum of news. But I passed over the +blatant racing items and murder trials with less than my customary +distaste, and was rambling leisurely through the columns when I was +arrested by a paragraph and sat up briskly. It was the tail that +interested me. + +"... It is stated that Prince Frederic is in London. The name of the +lady who has so infatuated him is Mlle. Yvonne Trebizond, the +well-known prima donna." + +I had recalled the name Trebizond during Holgate's talk, and it seemed +strange now that this second discovery should fall so coincidently. The +face of Mlle. Chateray had taken me back, by a sudden gust of memory, +to certain pleasant days in Paris before I was banished to the East +End. I had frequented the theatres and the concert-rooms, and I +remembered the vivacious singer, a true _comedienne_, with her pack of +tricks and her remarkable individuality. Mlle. Chateray, then, was no +other than Yvonne Trebizond, and---- + +I looked down at the paper and read another sentence, which, ere that +illumination, had had no significance, but now was pregnant with it. + +"The prince has the full support and sympathy of his sister, Princess +Alix." + +I rose abruptly. I can keep my own counsel as well as a lawyer's clerk, +but I saw no reason in the world for it now. I had left my glass +untouched and my cigar unlit in Pye's cabin. I went back forthwith to +finish both. + +The pair were still seated as if expecting me. + +"Patient all right, doctor?" inquired Holgate. + +I nodded. "Mr. Pye," I said, "I find my discovery has amplified itself. +When I was here it was of small dimensions. Now it has grown to the +proportions of a--well, a balloon," I ended. + +Both men gazed at me steadily. + +"Out with it, man," urged the third officer. + +"I have your permission?" I asked the lawyer's clerk, smiling. + +"When you have told me what it is, I will tell you," said he, gravely +jocose. + +I put the paper in Holgate's hands, and pointed to the paragraph. He +read it slowly aloud and then looked up. + +"Well?" he asked. + +"I am going to tell you something which you know," I said, addressing +Pye. "The lady in the deck cabin is Mlle. Trebizond." + +Holgate started. "Good Heavens!" he exclaimed, but Pye was quite +silent, only keeping his eyes on me. + +"I recognized her, but couldn't name her," I went on. "Now it has come +back to me." + +"Which means, of course," said Pye unemotionally, "that Mr. Morland +is----" + +"The Prince," said Holgate with a heavy breath. + +Pye resumed his cigarette. "With all these sensations, my dear +Holgate," he remarked, "I have forgotten my duty. Perhaps you will help +yourself." + +Holgate did so. "Good Heavens!" he said again, and then, "I suppose, if +you're right, that we carry Caesar and his fortunes. He has got off with +the lady and the plunder." + +"The plunder!" I echoed. + +He indicated the paragraph, and I read now another sentence which I had +overlooked. + +"The prince has expressed his intention, according to rumour, of +marrying as he chooses, and as he inherits more than a million pounds +from his mother, he is in a position to snap his fingers at the +Empress. In that case, no doubt, he would follow precedent, and take +rank as an ordinary subject." + +I looked up at Holgate. + +"We carry Caesar and his fortune," he said with a smiling emphasis on +the singular, and then he waved his arm melodramatically. "And to think +we are all paupers!" and grinned at me. + +"It is inequitable," said I lightly; "it's an unjust distribution of +this world's goods," echoing therein his own remark earlier in the +evening. + +Pye sat still, with an inexpressive face. His admirable silence, +however, now ceased. + +"So we shall have this gossip all over the ship to-morrow." + +"No," said I curtly, for the suggestion annoyed me. "It is nothing to +me. I told you because you knew. And I told Mr. Holgate----" I paused. + +"Because I'm your chum," said the third officer. + +I did not contradict him. I had spoken really out of the excitement of +my discovery. Certainly I had not spoken because Holgate was my chum. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +AN AMAZING PROPOSITION + + +As I had said, it was no business of mine, and, having divulged my +news, I was in no haste to go about with it like a common gossip. That +Prince Frederic of Hochburg was Mr. Morland, and that Miss Morland was +Princess Alix, I was as assured as that I had identified in my patient +the well-known Parisian singer Yvonne Trebizond. But, having made the +discovery, I promised myself some interest in watching the course of +the rumour. It would spread about the ship like fire and would be +whispered over taffrails, in galleys, and in stokehole. But, to my +surprise, I could observe no signs of this flight of gossip. No one +certainly offered me any communication on the subject, and I observed +no curiosity and no surprise. The mess conducted itself with +equanimity, and nothing was hinted of princes or of emperors, or of +mysterious secrets. No facts ever hid themselves so cunningly as these +obviously somewhat startling facts, and I wondered at the silence, but +still held my tongue. + +Mademoiselle continued to give me trouble during the next day, but that +was more in the way of unreasonable demands and petulance than through +hysteric exhibitions. She did not repeat her request to be landed, +which was now quite impracticable, as we were well out in the Atlantic, +but she referred to it. + +"Where are we, doctor?" she inquired languidly, and I told her; at +which she considered. "Well, perhaps it is worth it," she said and +smiled at me confidingly. + +Of Mr. Morland I saw little, for he was shut in his cabin a great part +of the day, reading or writing, and smoking without cessation. And he +walked regularly on the hurricane deck with his sister. Once I +encountered him in mademoiselle's room, and he nodded. + +"She is getting well, doctor; is it not so?" he asked in a pleasant +way, and exhibited a tenderness in his words and manner to mademoiselle +which I should not have associated with him. + +Of his sister I saw even less, except in the distance, but her, too, I +met in her friend's room. Mademoiselle was talkative that day, the +second of my attendance on her, and spoke of things with a terrifying +frankness, sometimes in bad English, but oftener in her own tongue. She +rehearsed her sensations during sea-sickness, criticised Miss Morland, +and asked me about Barraclough, whom she had seen passing by her window +once or twice. + +"Sir John," she said, speaking pretty broken English. "Then he is +noble. Oh, comme il est gentil, comme il est beau!" and as quickly fell +to cross-questioning me on my parentage and history. + +It was in the thick of this that Miss Morland made her entrance. I do +not know if it be a confession of weak-mindedness, or even of +snobbishness (I hope not), but the fact was that since I had discovered +Miss Morland's identity I did not judge her coldness and aloofness so +hardly. I am disposed to think it was merely a reasonable attitude on +my part produced by the knowledge of her circumstances, and what I set +down as her trials. She bowed to me, and addressed some words to +mademoiselle which, sympathetic in their import, were yet somewhat +frigid in tone. Mademoiselle replied laughing: + +"You are very good, my dear, but I am progressing. We are sailing into +the land of romance and will find what we shall find there." + +I lingered beyond what was necessary, and thus it happened that Miss +Morland and I left the cabin together. Outside she spoke: "Is there any +likelihood of a recurrence of the attack?" + +"I don't think so," I answered. "But Mlle. Trebizond is a nervous +subject." + +It was the look in her eyes that made me suddenly realise my +indiscretion. A light flashed in them, almost as if she would have +struck me. + +"Mlle. Chateray is almost well enough to dispense with a doctor's +services," she said with an accent on the name. + +"You must allow me to be the judge of that," I replied flushing. She +was silent. + +"Naturally," she said at last, and turned away. + +The newspaper had stated that Princess Alix was sympathetic to her +brother's attachment, but was she altogether so? I could not but +attribute her coolness and her reticence to some scruple. She walked +daily with her brother, and it was evident that she was fond of him, or +why was she here? But how much of personal prejudice and of private +conviction had she sacrificed on that pious altar? + +I was sure that if the news of our passengers were bruited about at all +I should hear of it from Lane, who was a gossip at heart; and as he +said nothing I knew that Holgate had been silent--why, I could not +conceive, unless Pye had gagged him. But in any case it appeared that +Holgate also could keep his own counsel and hold his tongue. That he +could speak I had yet to realise, as the astonishing narrative I am now +approaching demonstrates. + +It was the evening of our fifth day out, and the long swell of the +Atlantic was washing on our port side, so that the _Sea Queen_ heeled +over and dipped her snout as she ran. I had misgivings for my late +patient, whom I had not seen for the last thirty-six hours, although +she had made an appearance on the hurricane deck in a chair. + +Holgate asked me to his cabin with his customary urbanity, saying that +he wanted a few words with me. Once the door was shut he settled down +on his bunk and lit a cigar. + +"Help yourself, doctor," he said. + +I declined and remained standing, for I was anxious to get away. He +looked at me steadily out of his dark eyes. + +"Do you know where we're going, doctor?" he asked. + +"No," said I, "but I should be glad to." + +"I've just discovered," he replied; "Buenos Ayres." + +I told him that I was glad to hear it, as we should run into better +weather. + +"I couldn't just make up my mind," he went on, "till to-day. But it's +pretty plain now, though the old man has not said so. Any fool can see +it with the way we're shaping." He puffed for a moment or two and then +resumed: "I've been thinking over things a bit, and, if your theory is +correct, Mr. Morland is to marry the lady at Buenos Ayres and probably +make his home there, or, it may be, in some other part of America. A +capital place for losing identity is the States." + +I said that it was quite probable. + +"But as the yacht's chartered for a year," pursued Holgate evenly, "the +odds are that there's to be cruising off and on, may be up the west +coast of America, may be the South Seas, or may be Japan. There's a +goodly cruise before us, doctor." + +"Well, it will be tolerable for us," I answered. + +"Just so," he replied, "only tolerable--not eighteen carat, which seems +a pity." + +"Shall we strike for higher wages?" I asked drily. + +"I've been thinking over what you said, doctor," said the third +officer, taking no heed of this, "and it's gone home pretty deep. +Prince Frederic has cut himself adrift from his past--there's no +getting behind that. The Emperor has thrown him up, and there's no one +outside a penny-a-liner cares two pinches for him or what becomes of +him. He's done with. The Chancelleries of Europe won't waste their time +on him. He's negligible." + +"Well?" said I, for I was not in the mood for a political discussion. + +"Well, suppose he never turned up?" said Holgate, and leaned back and +stared at me. + +"I don't understand," said I. "I don't suppose he will turn up. As you +say, he's done for." + +"I mean that the ship might founder," said Holgate, still holding me +with his eye. + +I was perplexed, and seeing it, he laughed. + +"Let us make no bones about it," he said, laying down his cigar. +"Here's a discarded prince whom no one wants, sailing for no one knows +where, with his fortune on board and no one responsible for him. Do you +take me now?" + +"I'm hanged if I do," I replied testily, for indeed I had no thought of +what the man was driving at. But here it came out with a burst. + +"Doctor, all this is in our hands. We can do what we will. We're +masters of the situation." + +I opened my mouth and stared at him. The broad swarthy face loomed like +a menace in the uncertain light before us. It was dark; it was +inscrutable; a heavy resolution was marked in that thick neck, low +brow, and salient chin. We eyed each other in silence. + +"But this is monstrous," I said with a little laugh. "You have not +brought me here for a silly jest?" + +"It's God's truth I haven't, doctor," he replied earnestly. "I mean +what I say. See, the prince carries away a million, and if the prince +disappears the million belongs to those who can find it. Now, we don't +want any truck with dismounted princes. We're playing for our own hand. +I know you take sensible views on these matters. I admit it makes one +blink a bit at first, but stick on to the idea, turn it round, and +you'll get used to it. It spells a good deal to poor devils like you +and me." + +"You must be mad," I said angrily, "or----" He interrupted me. + +"That's not my line. I'm in dead sober earnest. You hold on to the +notion, and you'll come round to it. It's a bit steep at first to the +eye. But you hang on to it like a sensible man." + +"Good Heavens, man," said I, "are you plotting murder?" + +"I never mentioned that," he said in another voice. "There are several +ways. It don't do to take more risks than you want. A ship can be cast +away, and parties can be separated, and one party can make sure of the +boodle. See?" + +"I only see that you're an infernal ruffian," I replied hotly. + +His countenance did not change. "Hang on to it," he said, and I could +have laughed in his face at the preposterous suggestion. "You'll warm +to it by degrees." + +"You are asking me to join in wholesale robbery at the least?" I said, +still angrily struggling with my stupor. + +"I am," he answered, and he leaned forward. "D'you think I'm entering +on this game wildly? Not I. I mean to carry it out. Do you suppose I +haven't laid my plans? Why, more than half the men are mine. I saw to +that. It was I got 'em." He placed a large hand on my shoulder and his +eyes gleamed diabolically in his set face. "They'll do my bidding. I +command here, sir, and damn your Captain Day. I'll take 'em to Hell if +I want to." I shook off his hand roughly. + +"I may tell you," I said in as cool a tone as I could assume, "that I +am going straight on deck to the captain to retail this conversation. +You have, therefore, probably about ten minutes left you for +reflection, which I hope will bring you consolation." + +Holgate got up, and without undue haste threw open the large port, +through which streamed the clamour of the water. + +"I guess I've misunderstood you," said he quietly, "and it isn't often +I make a mistake." He lifted his lip in a grin, and I could see a +horrid tier of teeth, which seemed to have grown together like concrete +in one huge fang. "It is in my power, Dr. Phillimore, to blow your +brains out here and now. The noise of the sea would cover the report," +and he fingered a pistol that now I perceived in his hand. "Outside +yonder is a grave that tells no tales. The dead rise up never from the +sea, by thunder! And the port's open. I'm half in the mind----" He +threw the weapon carelessly upon the bunk and laughed. "Look you, +that's how I value you. You are mighty conscientious, doctor, but you +have no value. You're just the ordinary, respectable, out-of-elbows +crock that peoples that island over yonder. You are good neither for +good nor ill. A crew of you wouldn't put a knot on a boat. So that's +how I value you. If you won't do my work one way you shall another. +I'll have my value out of you some way, if only to pay back my +self-respect. You're safe from pistol and shark. Go, and do what you +will. I'll wait for you and lay for you, chummie." + +I stood listening to this remarkable tirade, which was offered in a +voice by no means angry, but even something contemptuous, and without a +word I left him. I went, as I had promised, at once to the captain, +whom I found in his cabin with a volume of De Quincey. + +"Well, doctor," said he, laying down the book, "anything amiss? Your +face is portentous." + +"Yes, sir," I answered. He motioned me to a chair, and waited. "I +suppose you're aware, sir, that you have on board Prince Frederic of +Hochburg and his sister," I began. + +"Indeed, I'm nothing of the sort," said he sharply. "What on earth is +this nonsense?" + +If I had not had such important information to lay before him I might +have been abashed. As it was, I proceeded. + +"Well, sir, it's a fact. Mr. Morland is the prince. I have known it +some days, and would have held my tongue but for imperative necessity. +Mr. Pye knows it, and Mr. Holgate." + +"This is most astounding," he began, and paced nervously about the +cabin. + +"I say Mr. Holgate because I come about him," I pursued. "He has just +made the most shameless and barefaced proposal, which amounts to a plot +to wreck the ship and make off with the prince's property, which is +supposed to amount to a great deal." + +Captain Day sat down heavily. "Upon my soul, Dr. Phillimore," he said, +"I shall begin to ask myself whether it is you or I who is mad." + +"That is exactly the sort of question I asked myself a few minutes +ago," I replied. "And I've been able to answer it only on the +supposition that your third officer is an amazing scoundrel." + +There was the pause of some moments, during which he studied my face, +and at last he went to the bell. + +"Very well," he said more calmly, "we can settle it one way, I +suppose." And when the steward appeared, "Ask Mr. Holgate to come to me +at once." + +He sat down again, fidgeted with his book, opened it, endeavoured to +read, and glanced at me in a perplexed fashion, as if he distrusted his +eyesight; and so we remained without a word until a knock announced +some one at the door, and the next moment Holgate, large, placid and +respectful, was in the cabin. + +"Mr. Holgate," said Captain Day in his most particular voice, "I have +just heard the most remarkable statement by Dr. Phillimore. Perhaps you +will be good enough to repeat it, Dr. Phillimore," and he glanced askew +at me. + +I did so bluntly. "This man," I said, "has proposed to me within the +last ten minutes that I should join a plot to cast away the ship and +seize the property of--of Mr. Morland." + +Day looked at his third officer. "You hear, Mr. Holgate?" he said. +"What have you to say?" + +A broad smile passed over Holgate's fat face. "Yes, sir," he said +coolly, "it is just as Dr. Phillimore says, but the whole thing was a +mere spoof." + +"I should be glad if you would explain," said Day icily. + +"Well, the doctor's not exactly correct," said Holgate, still smiling, +and he had the vast impudence to smile at me. "For what I proposed was +to seize the property of Prince Frederic of Hochburg, I think it is." + +"Ah!" said Day, letting the exclamation escape softly through his lips, +and he cast his nervous glance at me. + +"You see, sir, the doctor has got some cock-and-bull tale into his +head," went on Holgate easily, "about Mr. Morland being Prince +Frederic, and the ladies I don't know whom, and so I suggested that, +that being so, we should take care of the prince's millions for him, +and get a tidy sum all round. I daresay it wasn't a very funny joke; +indeed, I thought he would have seen through it all along. But I +suppose he didn't. The doctor's rather serious." + +I started up. "Captain Day," said I, "this man lies. The proposal was +serious enough, and he knows it. Mr. Morland is Prince Frederic. I +should advise you to ask Mr. Pye." + +"So be it," said Day, with a gesture of helplessness, and thus Pye was +summoned to the strange conclave. Day took up his book again. "Pray sit +down, Mr. Holgate," he said politely; "this is not the criminal dock +yet," which seemed to augur badly for my case. + +The little clerk, on entering, fixed his glasses on his nose more +firmly with two fingers and cast an inquisitive look at us. + +"Mr. Pye," said the captain, in his impeccable distant voice, "I am +informed that Mr. Morland is not Mr. Morland, but some one else, and I +have been referred to you. Is this so?" + +Pye glanced at me. "Mr. Morland is the name of the gentleman for whom +my firm is acting," he said suavely. + +"And not any one else?" said Day. + +"Not according to my knowledge," said the clerk. + +"Not according to his instructions, sir," I burst out indignantly. "He +knows the facts, I'm certain. And if not, I can prove my point readily +enough." + +"The point is," said Day drily, "whether Mr. Holgate is guilty of the +extraordinary charge you have preferred." + +"Well, sir, it is material that I acquainted him with the identity of +Mr. Morland in Mr. Pye's presence," I replied hotly, feeling my ground +moving from under me. + +Day looked at Pye. "That is true, sir," said the clerk. "Dr. Phillimore +stated in my presence that he had discovered that Mr. Morland was--I +think he said Prince Frederic of Hochburg." + +Day was silent. "I think this is pretty much a mare's nest," said he +presently, "and I really don't know why I should have been bothered +with it." + +I was furious with Pye and his idea (as I conceived it) of legal +discretion. + +"Very well, sir," said I somewhat sullenly, and turned to go, when the +door of the cabin opened and there entered Sir John Barraclough with +his customary _insouciance_. + +"It seems, Sir John," said Day, in his ironic tones, "that not only +have I the honour of a distinguished baronet as first officer, but also +a prince as cargo." + +There was, as I had gathered, little love between the captain and his +first officer. Barraclough laughed. + +"Oh, you've just tumbled to it," he said. "I wonder how. But it was +bound to leak out some time." + +I never saw a man more astonished than Day. He leapt to his feet. + +"Good God!" he said. "I seem to be the only one who doesn't know what's +going on in my ship. Is this part of the jest?" + +Barraclough in his turn showed surprise, but it was Holgate spoke. + +"Is it true, Sir John? It can't be true," he cried, opening his mouth +so that the horrid tooth demonstrated itself. + +Barraclough looked at Pye, who was mum. "I suppose this gentleman is +responsible for the news," he said. + +"No, sir, I have said nothing," retorted Pye. + +"I can't pretend to judge other professions than my own," said the +captain stormily, "but I'm inclined to think I might have been taken +into the confidence. Think where it places me. Heavens, man, what am I +in my ship?" + +"I think the--Mr. Morland perhaps had better answer that question," +suggested Barraclough with a little sneer. Day moved some papers with a +hand that trembled. + +"That will do then," he said shortly. "Good evening, gentlemen. I've no +desire to detain you any longer." + +"But----" said I. + +"Silence, Dr. Phillimore. I command this ship," he cried angrily, "or +at least I'm supposed to. You can settle your differences with Mr. +Holgate elsewhere." + +I shrugged my shoulders and left the cabin, a very angry man. In his +vanity the fool had refused to consider my charge. And, yet, when I +looked at this business more deliberately and from a little distance, I +could not deny that Day had some excuse. Holgate's story was remarkably +natural. The captain would judge of the third officer's incredulity by +his own, and would be therefore willing to accept the story of the +"spoof." But then he had not seen Holgate's face, and he had not heard +Holgate. + +Even I was staggered by the turn things had taken, though infuriated by +my treatment. And it did me no good to see Holgate's face smiling at me +as I went down the gangway. + +"Oh, doctor, doctor, are you a Scotchman?" he whispered; at which I +would have turned on him savagely, but held myself in and passed on and +was silent. I have always found the value of caution. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE WOUNDED MAN + + +Well, the whole affair had been a considerable farce, in which I had +played the most humiliating part. Indeed, but for the interposition of +Barraclough I must have come out of it the butt of all shafts. As it +was, I was sensitive in regard to my position, and more than once was +tempted to see myself as I must have appeared to others. But after all +they had not gone through the scene with Holgate, and were not +witnesses to his astounding perfidy. I was angry with every one, with +myself, with the captain, and, above all, with little Pye. In the +universal surprise that came of the discovery of Mr. Morland's +identity, my shame, so to speak, was covered, but I felt myself the +mark of ridicule, from Holgate's cynical smile to the captain's open +neglect of me. I turned on the lawyer's clerk in my fury, and gave him +some home truths about solicitors and their ways; to which, however, he +listened unabashed. + +"Doctor," said he, "do you suppose a man in my position is his own +master? You are welcome to know what you will about my own affairs, but +I have my professional secrets to guard. What would be thought of me +had I come aboard blabbing of my firm's clients fore and aft? It would +have been a betrayal of confidence." + +There was, of course, something in this, but the argument did not allay +my irritation; it merely directed it elsewhere, so that I began upon +the third mate. He heard me quietly. + +"Mr. Holgate can answer for himself," he replied, "but it seems to me, +if I may say so without offence, doctor, that you are misinterpreting a +somewhat elaborate joke. Mr. Holgate's explanation is reasonable enough, +and besides, the only other explanation is monstrous--inconceivable!" + +"I agree with you," I said shortly, "and so I say no more." + +He cast a shrewd glance at me, but made no comment. + +Now, it was quite conceivable that Holgate should have made me a +derisive object in the ship, but, on the contrary, he did nothing of +the sort. The charge I had made against him did not leak out at the +mess-table. Day, Holgate and Pye were aware of it, and so far as I know +it went no further. This somewhat astonished me until I had some light +thrown upon it later. But in the meantime I wondered, and insensibly +that significant silence began to modify my attitude. Had he known me +in the fulness of my disposition he would probably have spoken; but as +it was he had other plans to follow. One of these seemed to include a +reconciliation with myself. His quizzical smile disappeared, and he +shook his head at me solemnly at table. + +"Doctor," said he, "that Scotchman's head!" + +"I am not a Scotchman," I retorted impatiently. + +"Well," he breathed heavily, "I will admit it was a very bad joke." + +I was on the point of replying that it was not a joke at all, when I +recovered my temper. After all, it is trying to the temper to sit +opposite to a man whom you know to be a prime ruffian, however impotent +his aspirations may be. Since I had unveiled his plot, even though no +credence was given it, still Holgate was harmless. But, as I have +already said, I am a man of precautions and I held my tongue. I think +he had taken me only for a man of impulse. + +"I must confess I do not see the joke," I answered. + +"Now you come to insist on it, and shed the cold light of reason on it, +no more do I," he said with a laugh. "Jokes are very well behind the +footlights." + +I shrugged my shoulders. "Think what a fool I look!" I said coldly. + +His friendliness increased. "My dear fellow," he said, bending over to +me, "I give you my word I've held my tongue. I thought of that. I +didn't know you'd take it so seriously." + +"Your profession should have been the stage," I answered. + +He nodded. "Low comedian. I wish I had. They make good salaries, I +believe, instead of beggarly----" + +"Oh, you have the prince's boodle," I said lightly. He laughed. "So I +have." + +"And I'll be hanged if I apologise," I said. "I have suffered enough +from the mistake." + +"Quite right, doctor," said he gravely, "I would not apologise to a +bishop, let alone a third officer." + +With that apparent advance to an understanding we parted, and I did not +set eyes on him again until the abrupt events that brought about the +conference in the cabin. + +If my personal appearance on the matter did not get out, at least the +tale of the prince's identity passed swiftly from mouth to mouth. The +whole ship's company was agog with interest, an interest which +increased during the next two days. Sir John Barraclough expressed to +me his opinion of Day's behaviour very roundly, for the captain had +icily withdrawn into himself, and spoke as little as possible to his +first officer. + +"The man's a fool to take it this way, Phillimore," he said. "Does he +suppose it was my doing? I happened to know, but, of course, it was not +my secret." + +This, too, was Pye's excuse for silence, and it was obviously adequate. +But as the baronet's evidence of friendliness was thus betrayed in his +confidence to me, I ventured on a question, which was not really +inquisitive. + +"Oh, well, you see I've known the prince off and on some time. He and I +yachted together before I lost my money, and he gave me this chance. +He's a good sort." With which bluff and British indifference he +terminated the conversation. + +I think that the mysterious aloofness of our passengers served to keep +the interest warm. Had Mr. Morland and his party descended and been on +show, so to say, before the company, it is probable that the bloom of +surprise would have worn off with the contact. But they kept to +themselves and the hurricane deck. Every morning and afternoon the +prince and his sister took a prolonged walk together, and at times they +were joined by my patient, who, however, in the better weather we were +enjoying, reclined in her chair and took the sun. On these occasions +Mr. Morland and his sister ceased their promenade and sat with their +guest. Sometimes the full voice of Mlle. Chateray, or Trebizond, would +come to us below, and occasionally her light laughter was heard, very +musical to the ears. + +Speculations, it is not necessary to say, were rife among us. It was +known we were set for Buenos Ayres, and it was taken for granted that +there the Prince was to effect his morganatic marriage. But what was to +happen afterwards? We were chartered for twelve months. That bespoke a +cruise, and guesses flew about the ship. Lane, the purser, was the most +in evidence in these discussions. He was an excitable man with a +passion for talk and company, and he offered to lay me a certain sum +that we should pull up in Yokohama. + +"As like as not paid off there. We've no contracts against it," he said +in a fume. + +It was the attitude of McCrae, the chief engineer, that interested me +in view of his professed opinions. He unfolded his mind to me one +evening when we had been out some ten days. + +"It's like this, doctor. The man's sheer sick of courts and barbarisms, +and he's in search of a healthy, independent life, which he needs, I'm +thinking. That's to his credit altogether. But it's a wonderful thing, +when you come to think of it, that one man like that should upset the +politics of Europe, and a man that does not achieve it, mind you, but +gets it by mere birth and chance. The paper said he had a million of +his own. A fool could be independent on that, aye, and live healthy, +too, if he weren't too much of a fool. But what right has a man with +wealth like that, I ask you? As Mr. Holgate was saying yesterday, it's +an insult to decent, hardworking men like you and me." + +"So that's Mr. Holgate's idea, is it?" said I, and mused. The engineer +was proceeding in the strain when I saw the face of the boatswain jump +suddenly into the dimness of the engine-room. It was a thin-lipped, +gaunt face, lacking eyebrows, which added to the gauntness, and the +general complexion was red to the shade of crimson. When his jaw was in +repose it appeared as if the lower part of his face had been sucked up +into the upper like a lid into its box. But now his jaw was open, +disclosing a plentiful lack of teeth. + +"You're wanted, doctor," he said, in his abrupt voice. "There's been an +accident forward." + +I left at once and followed him, asking some necessary questions. + +"I don't know exactly how it occurred," he said in answer. + +"One of the men, Adams, fell on something and it's drilled a hole in +him." + +When we reached the man's berth he was surrounded by a number of the +crew, whom I ordered off. + +"If I've got anything to do I don't want to be hampered," I said, "so +clear out and leave Adams to me and the boatswain." + +When the place was clear, I made an examination, and found a wound +under the shoulder-blade. It was not dangerous, but might well have +been so. I sent for my bag and dressed it, the boatswain looking on. +All the time I made no comment, but when I had finished I turned and +met the boatswain's eyes. + +"That's a knife wound," I said, shortly. + +"Is it, sir?" he replied, and stared down at Adams. "How did it come +about, Adams?" he inquired authoritatively. + +"I was larking along with Gray and ran up agen him," said the man, in a +sullen voice. "I didn't see what he 'ad in his 'and." + +"More fool you!" said the boatswain angrily. "D'ye think I can go short +of men for a lot of horse-play? All right, doctor? Nothing serious?" + +"No," said I, deliberating. "If the knife was clean there's not much +harm done except that you go short of a man, as you say, for some +days." + +The boatswain swore as politely as an oath can be managed. + +"I'll come in again later," I said. "Meanwhile keep him in bed." + +But on my next visit it was manifest that the wound was not such a +simple affair, for the man's temperature had risen and he was +wandering. He gave tongue to a profusion of oaths, which seemed to be +directed, in the main, against Gray, but also included the boatswain, +raised himself on his arm, and shook his fist in my face, muttering "my +share," and "not a brown less," and something about "blowing the gaff." + +It was with difficulty that I completed my ministrations; but I did so, +and gave the boatswain a dose to be given to the wounded man at once +and another four hours later. It was entirely an involuntary omission +on my part that I said nothing of returning. + +Nevertheless I did return only two hours later, and just before +midnight. I had had the man removed to a disused cabin, and when I got +there the door was locked. Angrily I went on deck and found the +boatswain. + +"Pierce," I said, "the door of the sick-room is locked. What on earth +does this mean? I want to see my patient." + +"Oh, he's all right, sir. He went to sleep quite easy. I asked one of +the hands to keep an eye on him, and I suppose he's shut the door. But +it isn't locked." + +"But it is," I said angrily. + +"The blockhead!" said the boatswain. "I'll get the key for you, sir, if +you'll wait a minute." + +But I was not going to wait. I was making for the hatchway when I was +hailed through the darkness by a voice: + +"Dr. Phillimore!" + +I turned, and little Pye emerged from the blackness. + +"I've been trying to get to sleep, but I've got the most awful +neuralgia. I wish you'd give me something for it," said he. + +"In a moment," I said. "I've got to see one of the hands, and then----" + +"Oh, come, doctor, give us a chance," said Pye. "If you tell me what, +I'll get it myself. Look here, would a dose of chloral do any good?" + +"My dear sir," said I drily. "Every man in these days seems to be his +own doctor. Try it, and if it's only satisfactory enough, we'll have a +beautiful post-mortem to-morrow." + +"Well," said little Pye, with a return of his native repartee, "it's +precisely because I don't want to be my own doctor that I've come to +you." + +That naturally was unanswerable, and I acknowledged the hit by +prescribing for him. Then I went on my way. + +The door was open and the boatswain was waiting. He covered a yawn as I +approached. + +"It was that fool, Reilly, sir," he explained. "He mucked my +instructions." + +I nodded and proceeded to examine my patient. The boatswain seemed to +have spoken the truth, for the man was as quiet as a log, save for the +movement of the clothes when he respired. But it was that very +respiration that arrested my attention. I felt his pulse, and I took +the temperature. As I moved to examine the glass, Pierce's thin crimson +face, peeping over my shoulder, almost struck upon me. The jaw was +sucked into its socket. The temperature was still high, too high to +allow of that placid sleep. I contemplated the thermometer meditatively. +The port was shut, and the only sounds that broke the night were the +dull beating of the screw and the duller wash of the waves against the +side of the _Sea Queen_. The boatswain stood motionless behind me. + +"You are right," I said slowly. "He has gone off pretty comfortably, +but I should like to see his temperature lower. However, the sleep will +do him good, and I've no doubt I'll find him all right in the morning." + +As I spoke I turned away with a nod and passed out of the cabin. Once +on deck, I paused to consider what I should do. Two things I knew for +certain: firstly, that the knife-wound was no accident, for no mere +horse-play could have resulted in such a deep cut; secondly, that Adams +was under the influence of a narcotic. Who had administered it and why? +I recalled the man's delirium and his wandering statements to which at +the time I had paid little heed, and I thought I began to get the clue. +I looked at my watch and found it half-past twelve. Every one, save +those on duty, was abed, and the steamer ploughed steadily through the +trough, a column of smoke swept abaft by the wind and black against the +starlight. I sought my cabin, poured myself out a stiff glass of grog, +and sat down to smoke and think. + +At two bells I roused myself and went on deck. How singularly still was +the progress of the vessel! I heard the feet of the officer on the +bridge, and no other sound in all that floating house. A figure like a +statue stood out in the dimness by the chart-house, and I came to a +pause. It turned, and I thought I made out my friend the quartermaster. + +"That you, Ellison?" I asked. + +"Yes, sir." + +"I want to look at that man Adams in the forecastle," I said. "Please +accompany me, as I may need your assistance." + +I descended the ladder and went forward till I reached the cabin which +I had used as a hospital, and turned the handle of the door. It opened, +but the darkness was profound, and Ellison struck a match and lit the +lamp. Adams lay in his bunk groaning faintly. I turned up his sleeve +and examined him. The wound was inflamed, as I had expected, and it was +not that which arrested me, but a mark on the arm above the elbow. It +was the prick of the hypodermic syringe. My doubts were now +certainties. + +As we stood there Adams opened his eyes, and struggled into a sitting +posture. + +"No, my man," said I, "you must keep to your back." + +He stared at me, but allowed me to force him backwards, and continued +to stare. + +"Adams, can you understand?" said I firmly. "Gray struck you with a +knife?" + +"Between the shoulders, damn him," he growled sulkily. "Doctor, my +head's bad--give me something to drink." + +I had come prepared, and I did so, and he fell back with a sigh, +showing more signs of alertness. + +"You quarrelled?" I suggested, but he made no answer. "Look you here, +my man," I went on sternly, "I know a good deal about this, and what +you quarrelled over. It would be wiser, believe me, to be candid. +Pierce had a hand in this." + +Still he was silent. I pulled from my pocket a syringe, and showed it +to him. + +"Do you know what that is?" I asked. + +He shook his head, staring. + +"Well," said I, "it came pretty near finishing you off. You have had a +heavy dose. I want to know who did it." I caught up his arm, and thrust +the puncture under his nose. He still stared. + +"You were talking pretty wildly in your delirium, and had to be +silenced. That was how it was done. If they can't silence you one way +they will another. How much was your share to be?" + +The man's face worked in an ugly fashion, and he was at any time a +repulsive creature. The glitter in his eyes spoke of fever. + +"The devil's own," he said hoarsely. "They wanted to cheat me of it, +and I said I'd split. Damn Pierce, and Gray, and all!" + +"So you were going for the prince's cash-box, were you?" I said +equably. + +"It's more than that," said he. "There's the treasure in the +strong-room. That's their game." + +"Now I see you are sensible," I said, "and I can undertake to make you +well and sound and happy provided you tell the truth." + +"Doctor, it burns like fire," he groaned. + +"I will see to that," I said. "What is the plot?" + +"I have cried off. That's why I got the knife," he said faintly. "But +swear to God no harm'll come to me." + +"I promise you that," I said, nodding. + +"It's the boatswain's plot," he whispered, "and he has more'n half the +men. They are going to rise ere ever we get to Buenos Ayres. But I was +no party to their plans," he continued feverishly, and as if anxious to +convince me, "that's why I've this knife, doctor, because I'm an honest +man." + +I had more than my doubts of that, but I nodded again. + +"You have only done your duty in telling me, Adams," said I, "and I'll +keep my promise, provided you hold your tongue about this. They have +given you a dose of morphia, and it's lucky it wasn't bigger. If you do +what I tell you, we'll have you right in a couple of days." + +I made him drink a draught I had brought with me, and, closing the +door, left him. A passage led from here to the men's quarters, and as I +came out, I signed to Ellison to be noiseless, and put out the light. +Then we moved towards the hatchway. When we reached it I happened to +glance round at Ellison, and through that brooding darkness, lightened +only by a dim swinging lamp, I thought I saw a flitting shadow. But the +next swing of the boat threw the light clear into the corner, and there +was nothing. We emerged on the lower deck, and thence regained the +quarterdeck. There was a bright light in the chart-room, and I led +the way thither. I closed the door and turned on the quartermaster. +His face was grey, and his hand trembled. + +"You heard?" said I. + +"Yes, sir," he replied, and hesitated. "But he's wandering, sir, ain't +he?" + +"My man," said I, "I'm a doctor--leave that much to me. I only want to +know if you heard. That is all your part. No, there is one thing more. +What about the hands?" + +"They're a pretty mixed lot, sir, not exactly what I would call yacht +hands, but----" + +"Were you engaged with them?" I interrupted sharply. + +"No, sir, Sir John he got me on. I've sailed with him before." + +"Thank the Lord for that," I said heartily, for I had begun to suspect +every one. The voyage was a nightmare, I thought. + +"Who is the officer in charge?" I asked. + +"Mr. Legrand, sir," said Ellison. + +The second mate and I had had few exchanges. He was a reserved man, and +devoted to his duty. Besides, as navigating officer he had his full +share of responsibility for the safety of the ship. I moved out of the +chart-house, leaving the quartermaster in a maze of bewilderment, and, +I think, incredulity. The stars illumined the figure of the second +officer on the bridge, and I stood in a little gust of doubt which +shook me. Should I sleep over the new discovery? I had Ellison, a +Didymus, for witness, but I was still sore from the reception of my +previous news. I took the length of the deck, and looked over the poop +where a faint trail of light spumed in the wake of the ship. Suddenly I +was seized from behind, lifted by a powerful arm, and thrown violently +upon the taffrail. It struck me heavily upon the thighs, and I plunged +with my hands desperately in the air, lost my balance, and pitched over +head foremost towards the bubbling water. + +As I fell my shoulder struck the bulge of the iron carcase of the +vessel, and I cannoned off into the void, but by the merest chance my +clutching hands in that instant caught in the hitch of a rope which had +strayed overboard. The loop ran out with my wrist in it, and I hit the +water. Its roar was in my ears, but nothing else, and when I rose to +the surface the ship was thirty yards away. But the rope was still over +my arm, and as soon as I recovered breath I began to haul myself slowly +and painfully in. As it was, I was being torn through the water at the +rate of from twelve to fourteen knots an hour, and in a very few +minutes the chill which my immersion had inflicted on me passed away, +giving place to a curious warmth that stole throughout my limbs, and +enabled me to continue the onward struggle. I drew nearer foot by foot, +the sea racing past me, and burying my face constantly in floods of +salt water. But I was encouraged to observe the _Sea Queen_ was now +perceptibly closer, and I clung and hauled and hauled again. My danger +now was the screw, and I could hear the thumping of the steel blades +below, and see the boiling pit under the stern by the vessel. If I +hauled closer should I be dragged into that terrible maelstrom, and be +drawn under the deadly and merciless machinery? I could see the open +taffrail, through which the stars glimmered away above me. It seemed +that safety was so near and yet so far. She rolled, and the lights of +the port-holes flashed lanterns on the sea in that uprising. I raised +my voice, helplessly, hopelessly, in a cry. + +I repeated this shout three times, and then I saw a man come and hang +over the taffrail. Was it the unknown murderer, and did he look for his +victim to complete his abominable job? As the thought struck me I was +silent, and then I saw him stoop and examine the iron stanchions at his +feet. Next I felt the rope being pulled slowly in. At this I shouted +again, and he ceased. + +"The screw!" I called. "The screw!" + +He moved away to the port side and once more the rope began to move. +Gradually I reached the side of the ship, about a dozen feet to port, +and five minutes later I was safe on deck. + +"Good Lord, sir, what is it?" asked Ellison's voice in terror. + +"My arm is cut through, and one leg is near broken," I gasped. "Don't +ask me more, but get me brandy." + +He returned in an incredibly short time, for if he was a man of +leisurely British mind he was wonderful on his feet. I drank the raw +spirit and felt better. + +"Now, do you believe?" I asked him. + +"You mean----" + +"That I was knocked overboard. I knew too much," I said sharply. "Don't +stand staring, man. We don't know where we are, or what is afoot. Give +me your arm and let us get to the bridge. Stay, have you any weapon?" + +"No, sir." + +"Any available?" + +"No, sir, not without waking the carpenter." + +"That is the usual British way," said I. "Believe nothing until it +happens. Nothing does happen, does it? Nothing has happened, has it, +Ellison? Well, we must chance it. At least we have stout fists. We made +our way under the shelter of the saloon and smoking-room, and came to +the steps of the bridge. I mounted with great difficulty, and Ellison +followed. Legrand turned at our appearance and surveyed us under the +gleam of his lamp with astonishment. + +"Mr. Legrand," said I, "I need not ask if you have weapons available, +for I'm sure you have not. But you will need them." + +"What is't you mean?" he said sharply. + +"Mutiny and murder," said I. + +He went straight to the speaking-tube without a word, and called down +to the engineer's room, "Mr. McCrae, will you personally bring me a +couple of pistols, or any offensive weapon at hand. Iron bars will +do--at once, please." + +This was a man after my own heart. I could have embraced him. He came +back to me. + +"And now, doctor?" + +I told him. He was silent, and then brought out a string of expletives. +"I mistrusted the filthy pack from the first," he said. "See what they +give us to work with, sir--the scum of Glasgow and London; and none of +us to have a say in the matter. I'd sooner go to sea with Satan than +scum like that," he said fiercely. "As soon as I set eyes on them I +knew we were in for it--but not this," he added, "not this by a long +chalk." + +"There's one thing to be done," said I. + +"We'll do it now," he replied, his fury gone as suddenly as it came, +and we descended the ladder. + +At the foot we met McCrae, very angry and sarcastic, wanting to know +since when the deck was allowed to order the engine-room about like +pot-boys, but a few words put him in possession of the facts, and I +think, if any argument had been needed, my exhausted and dripping body +would have sufficed. + +"The old man?" said he. Legrand nodded. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE CONFERENCE IN THE CABIN + + +We opened the captain's door without knocking, but he was awake at +once, and turned on the electric light. + +"What is this, gentlemen? Is it a raree show?" he inquired in his +particular voice. + +"It is some information Dr. Phillimore has to impart, sir," said +Legrand. + +Day's eyes narrowed. "Oh, I see Dr. Phillimore is taking part in some +more theatricals," he said grimly. "And his costume seems suited to +them." + +"I beg your pardon, sir," said I hotly. "If you would only listen +instead of passing judgment we might get on." + +"I'm learning a lot this voyage," said Day with a sneer; "pray +proceed." + +Again I told my story. Day got up in his pyjamas, an insignificant +figure of a man without his important uniform. He might have been +merely a member of Parliament, or a minor poet. But he had, with all +his defects, the courage of his position and responsibilities. + +"This is a matter I feel unequal to alone. It has gone on too long," he +said sharply. "It is time I knew where I stand." He left the cabin +abruptly, and returned in a few minutes. + +"I have taken the liberty of inviting Mr. Morland's attendance," he +said, "and have sent for Sir John Barraclough and Mr. Holgate. I will +know once for all where I stand." + +"I beg you not Mr. Holgate, captain," said I. + +"And why not Mr. Holgate, sir?" he asked peremptorily. "Here is a +report of conspiracy and mutiny you bring me, and I will have my +officers in attendance to weigh it." + +"You will remember my former charge, Captain Day?" I said. + +"Well, sir?" he answered. + +"If my report to-night is correct, as I have a witness to prove, does +it not shed some light on my former charge against Mr. Holgate? And is +it, therefore, desirable that he should be here?" + +Day considered, and then he looked me up and down. + +"If I were a doctor, Dr. Phillimore," he observed with sarcasm, "I +should advise you to change your clothes." + +"Oh, there is a more important matter than clothes," I replied angrily, +"or should I be here? Is it for fun, do you suppose?" + +He turned from me without saying anything, but my words had their +effect, for when the door opened and Holgate's face appeared Day said +civilly enough, "I am sorry to have disturbed you unnecessarily, Mr. +Holgate, but I find I shall not need you at present." + +The third officer's big face moved slowly on his bull neck and his eyes +met mine. + +"Very well, sir," said he calmly, and there was nothing legible in his +gaze. It was blank and insignificant, destitute even of curiosity. + +Barraclough arrived immediately afterwards, and on his heels--Mr. +Morland, dressed as when he walked the hurricane deck daily, his +somewhat dull face owning and manifesting a certain dignity. + +"I have asked you here, Mr. Morland," said Day at once, "because of +certain rumours and mysteries and alleged discoveries which are in +circulation. It is an untimely hour, but that is not my fault. Dr. +Phillimore has brought me a story, which, if he is correct, is of vital +importance to us. I should be glad, therefore, if you would answer a +question. Are you Prince Frederic of Hochburg?" + +Mr. Morland's eyes lighted up. "I have employed you, sir," he began, +"to work this ship----" + +"Pardon me, it is necessary," said Day with extreme politeness. "I hear +a tale of conspiracy to rob my employer, who sails with me and whom I +know as Mr. Morland, but who is stated to be Prince Frederic of +Hochburg. I am justified, therefore, in asking if Mr. Morland is Prince +Frederic; and if he has the money on board which the tale alleges. +According to that answer must I shape my conduct." + +Mr. Morland drew himself up. "It is reasonable," he said, as if +reflecting. "Yes, I am Frederic of Hochburg." + +Day's fingers trembled. "And the money?" he asked in a hard voice. + +"There is some money on board," said the Prince, looking round on our +faces, and now I was surprised that I had not identified long since +that guttural German accent. "But I should wish to know what this scene +means, sir?" he said in a haughty voice. + +Day waved his hand at me. + +"I have learned to-night," said I, "by an accident, that there is a +plot among the crew to seize the ship and its contents before reaching +Buenos Ayres." + +For the third time I then told my story, to which my sodden garments +were a genuine witness. The Prince listened to me with a frown. + +"I do not understand," said he. "I was led to believe that I was +chartering a good vessel with a good captain and a crew for my cruise. +I do not understand this." + +"Nor I," said Day, with a shrug of his shoulders. "I am not responsible +for the crew. It was arranged by your agents, Mr. Morland." + +"Ah!" said the Prince shortly, and then, "But you tell me they have +turned out to be pirates. This is ridiculous." + +"I must refer you to Dr. Phillimore, sir," said Day curtly. "As for me, +if I had known what I know now, you would have sailed under another +captain. I am too old for mysteries." + +Ignoring this, if he listened to it, the Prince turned on me. + +"Where is your evidence of this?" he asked, and his eyes fell on +Ellison, who was plainly uncomfortable. + +"Ah! did what the doctor says happen?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Then we must send for this man Adams," concluded his Royal Highness. +"Let him be brought." + +I had in my hand during all this time the bar of iron which McCrae had +brought. I gave it to Barraclough. + +"If you are going," said I, "take this. It may be needed." + +He looked at me with a lift of his eyebrows. + +"All serene," said he with a smile. "This seems a pretty show +altogether. Come, quartermaster." + +Legrand went back to his bridge with a revolver in his pocket, and I +was left with Mr. Morland and the captain. The former scrutinised me +closely and deliberately, without regard to my feelings, while Day +feigned to be busy at his table. + +"I stay here, sir," said I to the Prince with emphasis, "because I seem +in a manner to be a prisoner on trial. I have called my evidence, and +it will be forthcoming presently. But I must say," I added bitterly, +"that I resent the way in which my testimony has been received, and at +Buenos Ayres, if we ever reach that port, I shall beg to be relieved of +my duties and have my contract cancelled." + +"If Mr.--Mr. Morland does not object certainly I shall not, Dr. +Phillimore," said Day drily. + +"Oh, come, captain," said I impatiently; "we are in a peril together +and you stand on ceremonies." + +"That has yet to be proved," he said. + +Even as he spoke a noise announced the return of the party, and Sir +John Barraclough entered. + +"Your man's missing," said he. + +Day uttered an exclamation, and the Prince's frown deepened. + +"There's no one in the cabin," said Barraclough. + +At that instant a knock fell on the door. "Is the doctor here?" said a +voice which I recognised at once. Barraclough opened the door and +Holgate stood on the threshold. + +"It has been reported to me as I came on duty," he said, "that Adams is +missing, doctor. It seems a bad case. He was delirious, and two of the +men say they heard a plunge. The port-hole is open." + +"It's a lie!" I cried. + +Holgate's face twitched. "It's the report made to me," he said; "I came +at once," and the fang showed clear under his upper lip. + +"It is foul play!" I said. "He was not likely to throw himself +overboard. It all belongs to the plot." + +"Was this man delirious?" asked Day of me. + +I hesitated. "For a time he was slightly," I answered. + +"He was delirious when he told you these things?" + +"That I deny." + +He turned to Ellison. "What do you say, quartermaster?" + +"I don't know, sir," said the man in confusion. "He didn't seem +quite--quite all right." + +"Ah!" said Day, looking at Mr. Morland. + +"Good heavens, sir, would you take a common sailor's word before a +doctor's?" I asked indignantly. + +"No, Dr. Phillimore, I am only weighing the evidence," said he coolly. +"This man was, according to you, delirious for a time. He made some +communication as to a plot. Then he disappears. It is either conspiracy +or delirium. Either accounts for the facts. Which are we to believe?" + +"You forget the attempt on me," I said hotly. + +"Not at all," he said, "I have not forgotten that--accident. But it +hardly gets us further. It fits in with either supposition--the plot +or"--he paused--"the delirium," he added significantly. + +"Gentlemen, I wish you good night, or good morning," I said, turning on +my heel. "And I will beg of you, Mr. Morland, to grant me the privilege +of a substitute when we reach Buenos Ayres." + +Mr. Morland did not answer. He made an impatient gesture, and then: + +"Are you satisfied, Captain Day?" he asked. + +"Quite," was the laconic answer. + +"Then may I request you will see that discipline is kept among your +men," said the Prince severely, and stalked out of the cabin. + +Barraclough broke into laughter. "Upon my soul----" he began, but was +interrupted by an angry exclamation. + +"Be good enough, sir, to keep your counsel till it is asked, sir," said +Day, trembling with fury. "I have too many princes and baronets here +for my taste." He stamped round the room in agitation. "My men!" he +cried. "Good Lord, what have I had to do with them? I wish I'd never +seen the figurehead of the yacht. Good Lord! my men! I would sooner run +an excursion steamer than submit to this." + +Barraclough eyed him without any emotion, even with hard hostility. The +exit of the Prince had stayed my departure, and abruptly Day came to a +pause by me. + +"That will do, gentlemen," he said quietly. Holgate, who was at the +door, opened it, and his round face swung gently on his shoulders till +his gaze rested on me again. Something flickered in it, something like +a leer on that malicious blackness, and then he was gone. Day stood +stock-still looking by me after him. As I turned to follow he addressed +me. + +"Dr. Phillimore, if you can spare a moment before you change," he said +civilly, "I shall be glad of a few minutes." + +I answered promptly, wondering, and the door closed behind Barraclough. + +"Doctor, I haven't slept a wink for nights," burst out the captain +suddenly; "I must have something." + +He had a haggard, drawn look, and his eyes seemed sunken in his head. +At once I was the professional man, and not an officer of the ship. + +"Sit down, sir," said I, "and tell me. What is it?" + +He sat down shakily. "I don't like my officers, doctor, and I don't +like my employer," he said peevishly. I held his pulse, which was +jumping. + +"What else," I said. + +"You are not a married man?" he inquired, looking at me restlessly. +"No; never mind," he paused, and proceeded in his ridiculously precise +voice. "I had the misfortune to lose my wife and my son in a +fortnight--about a month ago. It has rather upset me." + +It might have seemed comic communicated in that matter-of-fact tone, +but somehow it struck me as tragic. That this vain, self-contained, and +reticent man should confess to the frailty of humanity to a man he +disliked was the measure of his suffering. + +"I can mend the sleep, captain," said I. "You must do the rest." + +"Good God!" he shook his head and stood up. + +"No," said I, "sit down. I'll see to you. Let me ring." + +In a few minutes I had my case of instruments, and carefully extracted +what I wanted, while Day looked on feverishly impatient. + +"I'm going to do what has already been done this night," I said +gravely, "but in a better cause." + +I raised the syringe, and bade him put back the sleeve of his pyjama. A +rush of pain went through my arm which had been bruised and battered in +the sea, and suddenly the cabin went from me. For the first and only +time in my life I fainted. + +When I came to Day was bending over me, glass in hand, a look of +solicitude on his face. + +"It seems we have changed places," said I feebly, "and that you are my +physician." + +He set the glass down. "Doctor, I did you less than justice just now," +he said quickly. "But I have had my troubles." + +I picked myself up slowly. "I will now resume," I said, smiling. + +"If you are able," he said doubtfully, and then, "Heavens, I should +like just one hour of sleep." + +"You shall sleep till eight bells, I promise you," I answered, and once +more I took the syringe. + +He sighed as if in anticipation. "Doctor," he said, as he lay back. +"Not a word of this. We must talk about the other thing. I don't like +my officers. I'll tackle this question to-morrow. There's something in +it." + +I bade him "good night," and left with the conviction that in the +difficulties before us Captain Day would count for little. To face such +emergencies as I felt must now be faced we had no need of a neurotic +subject. + +Nevertheless I was mistaken in one particular. Day sent for me next +morning, and I found him in quite a brisk, cheerful state. He did not +allude to what had occurred between us, but came straight to the +subject of the plot. + +"Nothing has happened, doctor," he said. + +I knew nothing could happen, for the disappearance of Adams meant that +the conspirators were not ready with their plans. Otherwise they would +not have been so determined to rob me of my evidence. This I explained, +and he listened attentively. + +"You see the difficulty," he said at last. "There is no corroboration +of your story, and I can take no action. I will have an inquiry into +Adams's disappearance, of course, but I fear nothing will come of it." +He rubbed his hands nervously. "I wish to God it would." + +This was astounding from the man, but, as I looked into his eyes, I +could see how deeply his nervous system had been shocked, and once more +I despaired of such a captain in such circumstances. I carried my +misgivings to Legrand, with whom the events of the night had seemed to +bring me in closer relationship. + +"The old man's all right," he said. "A better seaman doesn't exist. +There's nothing he doesn't know." + +"Except human nature," said I. + +"Well, that may be. But who knows much about that?" said the second +officer, setting his sextant. "You say we're slumbering over a volcano. +I daresay we are. It's more or less what we're paid to do, and take all +risks. Things are quiet enough now, anyway." + +Was this another sceptic, where I had sought to find an ally? + +"I am used by this to ridicule," I began drily. + +"Who on earth is ridiculing you?" he asked. "You have only given us +something to think of--and something pretty tall, too." + +I shrugged my shoulders. "I suppose it is my word against Holgate's," I +said wearily. + +"Holgate's!" he said, lowering his sextant swiftly. "Holgate's! I +wouldn't trust Holgate if he were on a dozen oaths--not if he were +swung at a yard-arm, and were making Christian confession," he said +passionately. + +"Nor would I," I said softly after a pause. We exchanged glances. He +resumed his sextant. + +"The only thing to be done," he said, "is to keep a watch. We shall +know shortly. Excuse me, doctor, I must take the bearings." + +Routine must go on aboard ship, but this cool attitude, reasonable as +it was, was not to my taste in my condition. Things moved as smoothly +as before; the watch came and went, and the bells tolled regularly; but +with the knowledge that I had that something evil was brewing, I +fretted and worried and grew out of temper. The powers that were +responsible for the safety of the ship and her good conduct were +indifferent to the danger, or else incredulous. I alone knew how +incompetent was the captain to secure his vessel, and the attitude of +"Mr. Morland" filled me with contempt. It was very well for a royal +prince in his palace, surrounded by his guard, servitors, and +dependants, to assume an autocratic attitude, and take things for +granted. But it was another case when he had deliberately abandoned +that security and launched himself upon a romantic, not to say +quixotic, career, in which nothing was certain. Yet upon the promenade +deck the Prince and his sister took their constitutionals as if nothing +had happened or would happen, and, as before, Mlle. Trebizond joined +them, and her laugh floated down to us, musical and clear. Would +nothing make them understand the peril in which they stood? + +In all this vexation of spirit I still found time to be amused by Lane. +The affair of Adams was, necessarily, public property, and the inquiry +promised by Day was in process. Adams was gone, gone overboard, as I +knew, and I could have put my hand on his murderer, if I could not also +identify the man who had made an attempt to be mine. Lane, on the +rumour of the night's proceedings reaching him, sought me, and +complained. It was ludicrous, but it was characteristic of the man, as +I had come to know him. + +"Where do I come in?" he asked plaintively. "You might have given me a +call, doctor." + +"I wish I had been sleeping as sound as you," I said. + +"Oh, hang it, man, it's dull enough on this beastly boat. If there's +any row on, I'm in it." + +"Do you think you guess how big a row you may be on?" I asked him. + +"Oh, well, it's infernally dull," he grumbled, which, when you come to +think of it, was a surprising point of view. + +The Adams inquiry ended in what must necessarily be called an open +verdict. The evidence of the boatswain and Pentecost, one of the hands, +assured that. Both testified to the fact that they were awakened in the +still hours by a splash, and one thought it was accompanied by a cry, +but was not sure. At any rate, the boatswain was sufficiently aroused +to make search, and to discover that Adams was missing, and +subsequently that the port-hole was open. He had then, as he declared, +reported the matter at once to the officer of the watch, who was +Holgate. Holgate came to the captain's cabin, as has been related. +There was no discrepancy to be noted in the stories of the two men, nor +was there any inherent improbability in their tale. So, as I have said, +though no verdict was given, the verdict might be considered as open, +and we had got no further. The captain, however, took one precaution, +for the key of the ammunition chest was put in Barraclough's charge. +What others did I know not, but I slept with a loaded revolver under my +pillow. + +We were now within a week of Buenos Ayres, and had come into summer +weather. When we passed the twentieth parallel the heat was +overpowering. We took to ducks, and the ladies, as we could observe, to +the lightest of cotton dresses. For all, however, that we saw of them +they might have been dwelling in another sphere, as, indeed, they were. +The steward alone had the privilege of communion with them, and he, +being a distant fellow, had nothing to say, though, I believe, Lane +cross-questioned him rigorously. + +I have said that we saw nothing of our passengers, but I, at least, was +to see them more nearly very soon, and that in the most unexpected +manner. One evening I had retired to my cabin and was stretched in my +bunk, reading one of the gilded books from the yacht's library, when I +was interrupted by a knock on the door. + +"Come in," I called idly, and the door promptly opened, and to my +amazement Miss Morland stood before me. She wore a plain evening dress +of chiffon, very pretty to the eye, and over her head and shoulders a +mantle of silk lace. She had naturally, as I had observed on my +previous encounters, a sparkle of colour in her face; but now she had +lost it, and was dead white of complexion under the electric light. + +"Doctor Phillimore," she said in English, which was more perfect of +accent than her brother's, but speaking somewhat formally, "I +understand that you believe you have discovered some plot." + +By this time I was on my feet. "Madam, no one else believes it," said +I. + +"I do," she said sharply; and then, "I want you to come and see my +brother--Mr. Morland." + +"I will do as you will," I answered, "but, at the same time, I must +point out that Mr. Morland has cognisance of my story. I stated what I +had to say in his presence some days since." + +"Ah," said she, "you do not understand. It is impossible for one in my +brother's position to entertain these suspicions. It is not for him to +take precautions--or should not be," she added bitterly. + +I bowed. "I will repeat what I have already stated," I said; and then, +as she turned to go, I took a sudden impulse. My heart was beating +faster at this unexpected appearance of an ally and I made up my mind +to confirm the alliance if it was what it seemed. + +"Miss Morland," said I, "if I must continue to call you so." + +"That is my name, sir," she said loftily. + +"Then if that is your name there is nothing in my plot," I answered +bluntly. "This plot, imaginary or otherwise, but one in which you say +you believe, is dependent wholly on your name not being Morland, madam. +Assure me that it is, and I undertake that the plot shall +cease--disappear in a twinkling." + +"You speak, sir, as if you had authority over it," she said, after a +pause. + +"No. I reason only on what I know. This conspiracy has been evolved on +the supposition that you and Mr. Morland are not what you claim to be, +and on other suppositions. If these be untrue, and the mutineers can be +convinced of that, the conspiracy naturally falls to the ground." + +Again she made a pause, but spoke quickly when she spoke: + +"My brother is Prince Frederic of Hochburg." + +I bowed. "And, madam, the ship contains treasure? Let us finish our +confidences." + +"There are bonds and bullion to a large amount on board," she said, as +if reluctantly. "It was unwise of him, but he would have it so." + +"I may take it that the Princess Alix would not have it so," I +suggested. + +"You may assume what you will, sir," she said coldly. + +"Madam," said I seriously, for handsome as she was and royal, too, I +was nettled by her distance, "you ask me to help you, and you keep me +at arm's length. I am not asking out of curiosity. I only want to know +what allies I can depend on. Heaven knows I have gone through enough +already to keep me silent henceforward for ever, even to the point of +attempted murder." + +"I will answer any question you wish to put--if I can," she replied in +a milder voice. "But my brother is waiting." + +"Then may I know why you credit this plot?" I asked. + +"I know nothing of the plot," she said. "The news of it has just come +to my ears, through some words dropped by Mr. Morland. But this I +know--that he runs a great risk. He has always run a great risk ever +since----" she stopped. "I am willing to believe the worst." + +"Now," said I, "I am ready to accompany you," and forthwith, without +more words, we went on deck. + +When we reached the cabin I found not only the Prince, but Day, who was +clearly in one of his moods. He had a nervous way of flipping his +fingers when put out, and he stood now firing off his white hand +restlessly. He did not pay me any attention on my entrance, but fixed +his gaze on Princess Alix. + +"As I am no longer in command on my boat, Dr. Phillimore," he said +abruptly, "perhaps you will be good enough to explain to Mr. Morland +what you propose to do." + +I looked at the Prince, who nodded curtly. Evidently there had been a +scene. + +"I believe that a rising is contemplated before we reach Buenos Ayres," +I said. "I would advise, therefore, that we change our course for Rio +Janeiro at once. We are only thirty-hours' steam away." + +Day turned his attention on me. "There is something in that," he said. +"I shall be able to get a new doctor." + +The Prince frowned. "It is for me to say," he said sharply. + +"You, sir, will then be able to get a new captain," said Day politely. +He bowed to the Prince and Princess. + +"That is very probable," said the Prince, and added, "I order you to +put into Rio, captain. Dr. Phillimore's advice commends itself to me." + +I said nothing, but the Princess gave me a quick glance, in which I +seemed to read approval. + +"Your orders shall be obeyed," said Day, and ceremoniously left the +cabin. When he was gone the Prince turned to me. + +"I am obliged for your zeal in my service," he said, as if he were +conferring a decoration; whereupon he bowed, and I followed the +captain. + +I went at once to Day's cabin and waited, for I had made up my mind as +to the method in which he should be treated. The man was obviously +incapable of discretion in his state. He entered presently with a heavy +sigh, and only then observed me. A malignant look worked in his face +blackly, but I interposed at once. + +"Captain," said I. "If you are captain, I am doctor. This can only end +one way, and I won't have it end that way if it is in my power to +prevent it." + +"You are wrong," he said snappishly. "You are captain and doctor in +one." + +"I am going to try on you a particular drug which I have faith in," I +said, ignoring his words. "It is new, but there are great possibilities +in it. If it is all I believe it to be, you will get up to-morrow +another man." + +He put his arms on the table. "Oh, my God!" he groaned. "Night and day, +night and day. For God's sake, doctor, give me something." + +That was what I wanted. He was a little querulous, spiteful child now, +and I had possession of him. I had seen his soul undressed and naked, +and it frightened me. I felt more than anxiety for him; I felt +compassion. And it was I that put him to bed that night. But meanwhile +we were on the way to Rio Janeiro. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE RISING + + +In advising that the yacht's course should be laid for Rio I assumed +that possibly the mutineers would not have completed their +arrangements, and would be taken by surprise. My assumption was +justified, though its very correctness came near to wrecking what +reputation I had left as a man of sense. I had long recognised that I +was looked upon as having a bee in my bonnet, and the fact that we +arrived safely in the port must have increased the doubts of those who +knew I was responsible for the alteration of the course. The change +could not, of course, be concealed very long. The watch was privy to +it, when Day set the new course, and by next morning it was all over +the ship. Yet the same dignified routine proceeded; no one volunteered +any act of violence; and if I believed in myself no one else did, I am +sure. Little Pye mused openly on the change, but withdrew himself at +once into his legal reticence when I also expressed my surprise. To say +the truth, I was not anxious that it should be known that I was the +author of the alteration, and so made inquiries with a show of +innocence. Nor do I think that any one suspected me, for neither the +Prince nor Day would be likely to talk. Day, indeed, surprised me. He +thanked me privately for my medical advice, and, with a smile, added: + +"Perhaps I should say also nautical." + +I shook my head, smiling also. "It was political, captain, and that's +all." + +He nodded absently, and said suddenly, "I think, doctor, I will get rid +of Pierce at Rio." + +I was heartily glad to hear this, and would have suggested that Holgate +also should go, but refrained. I knew not how far his improvement would +bear the strain of the suggestion. + +We lay at anchor in the bay to coal, and the passengers took themselves +off to the shore, Mlle. Trebizond in a wild flutter of excitement. This +meant for her the nearest approach to Paris, I suppose, that was +available. At least she was in great spirits, and talked with the +officers. As we entered the harbour we heard the sound of music pouring +from the saloon, which had never yet been used by the party, and on +that the rich notes of a fine mezzo-soprano. The little exhibition +arrested the men at their work, and, after that long passage of +silence, seemed to wake us up and put us in a better mood. As it was +disagreeable on board during the coaling operations, I, too, followed +the party on shore in the company of Barraclough. + +We had arrived at mid-day, and the yacht was to sail on the following +evening, for the simple methods of coaling in Rio protract the +business. I lunched at the English Hotel, and occupied the time in the +usual manner of the sight-seer; visited the summit of the hill by the +Alpine Railway, and walked negligently in the Botanical Gardens. I +slept ashore, and was joined on nightfall by Lane, who was full of the +gust of living. He could only be said to enjoy himself when he got +ashore, and yet he could not keep off the sea. I learned from him with +satisfaction that Pierce, the boatswain, was gone, paid off at the +captain's orders. So here was something for my consolation. I breathed +a little more freely, and inquired further. But the rest of his +information was not so satisfactory. Besides the passengers, Day, +Barraclough, McCrae, and himself had come ashore, leaving Legrand with +Holgate and little Pye to represent what might be termed the +aristocracy of the deck. And next morning I got a glimpse in the +streets of Pye, so that Holgate was, barring the second officer, master +of the yacht. I will confess I did not like this look of things; so +deep was my distrust of Holgate. In the Rua do Ouvidor I had a fleeting +vision of Princess Alix and Mlle. Trebizond as they turned into a shop; +but for the rest I enjoyed myself as a stranger to the _Sea Queen_, and +one with no concern in her fortunes. + +It was late afternoon when I got to the quay to take a boat to the +yacht; for, as I calculated, that would leave me a full hour to the +time appointed for sailing. Judge, then, of my amazement when I saw her +standing out, the smoke-wrack flying abaft, and trudging steadily for +the mouth of the harbour. I stood there, I think, fully three minutes +before I moved or took action, but during that space of time I had +jumped at the conclusion. I was not wanted aboard. Was it Day? No; the +idea was absurd, as he was most meticulous in his observation of the +conventions. It certainly was not the Prince. The inference was only +too obvious. The hour of sailing had been shifted. By whom? + +I sprang down to the foot of the quay, where one of the big two-decked +harbour ferry-boats was lying. + +"Is your steam up?" I shouted to a man on the bridge. "I want you to +catch that yacht." + +He stared at me in astonishment, and shook his head. I shouted back +again, and he replied in Portuguese, I assume, of which tongue I am +quite ignorant. I clambered aboard and made my way to him, by which +time he had been joined by another man, with gold lace round his cap. I +repeated my query in French, and the second man replied indolently. + +"It was impossible." + +"I will give you twenty pounds if you catch her," I said, and fumbled +in my mind for some computation in their wretched currency. I do not +know how many hundred thousand reis I mentioned, but it seemed to have +some effect. Both men stared after the yacht. I added several hundred +thousand more reis, and they were plainly shaken. Heaven knew why I +should have been offering my poor money for the sake of Prince Frederic +of Hochburg. I did not stop to reason, but acted merely on impulse. The +man with the gold band went to the speaking-tube and shouted down it. +The other man began to give brisk orders in a small, thin voice. +Evidently my offer was accepted. I turned and looked out into the bay, +and there was the _Sea Queen_, still steaming leisurely for the heads. + +When once the ferry-boat shook herself loose she made fair way. She +champed and churned in a fussy manner, and the great steel crank in her +middle began to thud in a terrifying manner. We had backed out, and +were driving down the harbour at the rate of perhaps nine knots. Was +the _Sea Queen_ making more? It was impossible to judge at that +distance. The yacht might have been a mile away, and if she were going +as fast as we it would probably be impracticable to attract her +attention for some time, until, at any rate, we were clear of the +shipping. Surely then the sight of a cumbrous ferry-boat beating down +on an unwonted journey to the heads would draw their eyes and fill +their speculations. We were three miles out twenty minutes after +starting, and now it was obvious that we were not making ground, but +losing. The trail of the smoke swept the water behind her, and her nose +was plunging for the open sea. I was in despair. I shouted to the +captain in the effort to get him to hoist signals, and at last one was +found which suited the emergency. I have forgotten what it was, but it +apparently signified that help was required immediately. But still the +yacht held on, and the distance between us grew. + +It seemed that I was after all destined to be free of the fortunes of +that ship, whatever they might be; and I stood by the captain of the +ferry-boat with a feeling of defeat and helplessness, silent, and +almost resigned. And then, by one of those strange ironies the solution +came to me, came to me too just as mere selfish considerations were +asserting themselves. I had thought of the Prince and the conspirators +if I had thought at all, certainly not of myself; and now came the +reflection that I had pledged my last sovereign in the endeavour to +catch the yacht, and that I was to be landed again in that foreign port +penniless. Was it under the stimulus of that thought that I recalled of +a sudden the first appearance of the _Sea Queen_ in my life, and +remembered the flash of the rocket? + +"Have you any rockets?" I asked, turning abruptly round. + +The man stared, smiled deprecatingly, and shook his head. He addressed +his mate in Portuguese, and they held an animated conversation. Finally +he turned to me, and the mate went below. + +"There is one, he believes, monsieur," said the captain. "It was for +saving life, but it is old." + +Well, old or new, I was resolved to try it, and presently, when the +mate appeared with a huge bomb in his hands, we set ourselves to work. +The men by this time were interested, and we had the rocket rigged in a +trice. The anxious moment was when we came to fire it. Would it fizzle +out. Was the touch long gone? + +It resisted sullenly for some minutes, and then unexpectedly took the +bit in its teeth, if I may put it that way, and bolted. In the summer +evening sky was a great rush of light, and in my ears the hissing of a +hundred serpents. Then there was silence, and the light, describing its +arc, vanished into the water ahead. I gazed anxiously, but it was not +until ten minutes later that we were able to judge of the success of +our venture. Then the little captain touched me on the shoulder, +beaming. He did not trust to his inadequate French, but pointed. I had +already seen the _Sea Queen_ lay to. + +A quarter of an hour later I stepped aboard her, and the man who let +down the gangway was Holgate. + +"Why, doctor, we thought you were in your cabin. A near shave!" said +he. + +"Pretty close," said I; "I thought the hour was six." + +"It was changed to five by captain's orders," he replied. "Notice was +sent duly." + +"It missed me," I answered cheerfully. "I wasn't at the hotel all the +time." + +I passed him and met Legrand, who stared at me. "It's not your ghost, +doctor?" + +"No," I said in a lower voice. "But maybe it will come to ghosts yet." + +He stroked his short beard, and turned about. Day, I found, was +surveying me from the bridge in the most elegant suit of ducks. + +"Now that you have arrived, Dr. Phillimore, perhaps we may be allowed +to proceed," he said sarcastically. + +I made no reply, but went aft, where my adventures must be poured into +Lane's ears. Barraclough looked me up and down in his cool, indifferent +way. + +"Come aboard, sir?" he said, with a grin. + +"Yes," said I with a deliberate drawl. "It cost me just twenty-five +pounds." + +"Damned if I wouldn't sooner have stayed and had a good old time," said +Lane. "What's the use of a bally ship?" + +"Oh," said I, "being a millionaire I can't tell. If I'd only thought of +it, Lane, I might have followed your advice." + +"Didn't you get the notice?" asked Pye. + +"No, I was enjoying myself, you see. I'm a careless fellow, but I'm a +modest one also; and I've made too much of a sensation for my taste." + +"You're fond of sensations, my good sir," said Sir John, with his +abominable arrogance. + +"Well, if you'll allow me, I'll shed all I can of this--that is, +clothes," I replied calmly, and I went below. + +When I had had a bath and assumed my yachting costume, I came on deck +again, only to meet Day in a furious temper, as I could tell from his +eyes. I explained the circumstances of my mishap, adding that I had not +received my notice, which was no doubt my fault. + +"I certainly might have made more changes at Rio than I did," he said +maliciously, and passed by me. + +It was ungracious, but the man was not responsible. From the deck +above, the face of Mlle. Trebizond peered down at me, smiling and +handsome. + +"It was an adventure," she said in her English, showing her pretty +teeth. "It was most exciting, doctor, to be chased by a pirate." + +"I'm glad you enjoyed it, mademoiselle," said I politely. "I take some +credit to myself for the rocket." + +"Oh, but it should have been dark--that would have been much better," +said she. "Come up and tell me all about it." + +After a momentary hesitation I obeyed, and when I reached the deck I +found Princess Alix there. Once more I explained my misadventure, and +Mlle. Trebizond chatted and laughed in great good-humour. She had made +many purchases, but complained of the shops. She could not get her +favourite perfume, she protested, and wondered how people could live in +such remote regions. Then she tired of me, I suppose, and walked off, +leaving me to the Princess. Her blue eyes, as cold as her brother's, +flashed a question at me. + +"It was not an accident?" she said. + +"The notice, I find, was sent last night, after Mr. Morland had +communicated with Captain Day. It should have reached me at the hotel +early this morning. It didn't." + +"I see." She looked towards the forts at the mouth of the harbour, +which we were then passing. "I am glad you did your duty in rejoining +the yacht," she said next. + +I think I was between amusement and irritation at her words, for, after +all, I considered that it was not a time to talk of duty when I had +been the victim of a trick, and had, after my own poor fashion, paid so +heavily for it. I might even have looked for a sentence of thanks for +my zeal. But the Princess was a princess still, despite that she was +also Miss Morland and the sister of a man who had thrown away all to +contract a morganatic marriage. But amusement got the upper hand. I +smiled. + +"Oh, we English have usually a severe sense of duty," I replied, "at +least, when it comes to a pinch. On the other hand, of course, we lack +discipline." + +She glanced at me, and, with a little bow, moved away. I was dismissed. + +The yacht was pointed now for Buenos Ayres, at which port it was clear +that, for reasons of his own, Prince Frederic was anxious to arrive. It +was not until the second evening, however, that anything of importance +occurred. But that was of considerable importance, as you shall see. I +had occasion to pay a visit to the stoke-hole, where one of the men had +injured his hand, and I had finished my work and was mounting the +grubby wire ladder, when a fireman passed me with averted face. I +hardly glanced at him, and certainly did not pause the least fraction +of a second; but to the half-glance succeeded a shock. The nerves, I +suppose, took a perceptible instant of time to convey the recognition +to the brain; but, despite the grime on his face and the change in his +appearance, I could not be mistaken. It was Pierce, the discharged +boatswain. + +Here was news indeed! Pierce, of whom Day thought he had got rid in +Rio, was employed as stoker on the yacht. How came he there? This +bespoke treachery again. And now I began to get some notion of how vast +and subtle was the web of the conspiracy. It could not be that only a +few men were concerned in it. Holgate had been right. How many hands +could we depend on? Who put Pierce in his present situation? I went on +deck in a fume of wonder and excitement. Plainly something was +hatching, and probably that very moment. If fierce thought I had +recognised him it would doubtless precipitate the plans of the +villains. There was no time to be lost, and so, first of all, I +went--whither do you suppose? To see the Princess. + +She received me in her boudoir, where she was reclining in an evening +gown that fitted her beautiful figure closely, and she rose in +astonishment. But at once her eyes lighted. + +"You have something to tell me?" she inquired. + +"Yes," said I. "The man who was dismissed is still on board. He is +acting as stoker." + +She compressed her lips and eyed me. + +"That spells, madam, business," said I. + +"What is to be done?" she asked quietly, but I could see her bosom +moving with excitement. + +"I have come to you first because it is you who must prepare the Prince +and persuade him of the crisis. I will go to the captain with my tale, +and Heaven knows how I shall be received. It is the Prince who must +act." + +"Yes--yes," she said quickly. "Go at once. I will find my brother." + +Day was in his cabin, and, knocking, I entered without waiting for +permission. I found him with his arm bared and a syringe in his hand. +He stared at me and scowled. + +"There is no time for words, sir," said I. "Pierce is on board, and +there is danger. There will probably be a rising to-night." + +He threw the syringe down. "I'm very glad to hear it," he declared, in +even tones. "Take that away, doctor. Where's Sir John Barraclough?" + +I told him that he was on the bridge. + +"Send Mr. Legrand to me, and----" he broke off. "But how do you know?" +he asked suspiciously. + +"It is not a case of knowledge. It is a case for preparation," he said. +"If we have the arms distributed----" + +I was interrupted by a sharp report from below. Day ran out in his +pyjamas, and I followed. We heard Barraclough's voice from the bridge, +raised angrily. + +"Go back there, man; get back, Gray." + +It was a pitch black night, save for the glittering stars, and I could +only make out a knot of men at the head of the ladder leading from the +lower deck. + +"What the devil do you mean?" shouted Barraclough; and then all of a +sudden the knot of men opened in a struggle, and a man burst through +and dashed towards us, falling at my feet. + +"For God's sake, sir," he panted out. "They've seized the engine-room, +and Mr. McCrae's shot. 'Twas Pierce done it." + +I recognised by his voice Grant, one of the deck-hands, and I helped +him to his feet. + +"Who's in this?" I asked; but before he could reply the gang of men +approached nearer, and some one spoke from their midst. It was Holgate. + +"Captain Day, I regret to state that the men are not satisfied with the +way things are being conducted," he said, in a level voice. "They are +not satisfied with their pay, for one thing, and there are other +matters. No harm is intended, but they have decided that I am to take +your place, and for the present you are to consider yourselves +prisoners--particularly the doctor," he added. + +The offensive assurance of the man made me boil, but on Day it seemed +to have a curiously astringent effect. + +"So, Mr. Holgate, there has been a council of war," he said quietly, +even drily, "and you are to step into my shoes. I will give you three +minutes to retire from the deck. Go back! I tell you, do you hear, men? +Go back!" + +His acrid voice rang out thinly, but Barraclough above shouted +hoarsely: + +"Good God, can't you do something to them?" + +At this moment I was aware of noises on the promenade deck, and, +looking up, saw the Prince's figure outlined dimly against the stars. + +"You have your orders," he called out in his deep voice. "Go back to +your quarters." + +There was a pause, and then the silence was broken by a shot, and one +of the men fell. A second report rang out, and a curse rose on the air. +A third followed, and the men turned and retreated. + +From the hurricane deck came still another shot, and they tumbled down +the ladder pell-mell. The Prince was shooting as calmly as at so many +partridges. I ran down stairs and fetched my revolver, and when I +returned I could hear no sound from the lower deck. Barraclough met me +at the door of the saloon. + +"There's not a pound of steam on her," he said. "The brutes have shut +off the valves." + +"Let her go," said I. "We have something more important on our hands. +They'll be here again. The Prince took them by surprise. No English +captain would have used his weapons so." + +"No, by Heaven," he exclaimed. "This makes it a question of----" + +He paused. Mr. Legrand came running along the deck. + +"We've got it now," he said. "Oh, we've got all we want now." + +"Look here," said I. "Is Ellison with you? I'm sure he's not in this?" + +"Yes," said Barraclough. + +"Well, post him at the ladder, and here's Grant. Let's find out how we +stand." + +"It'll be hot work to-night," said Legrand. + +Day's voice came to us from his cabin door: "Sir John Barraclough, be +good enough to place all the men you can trust on guard, with orders to +fire in case of necessity. I shall be obliged for your company and that +of the officers in my cabin." + +We had four men, including Ellison, on the deck, and there was also the +man at the wheel, who had not quitted his place through all these +events. One could surely rely upon a man with such a sense of duty; so, +having made such dispositions as were possible, Barraclough followed us +to the captain. The ladies, I hoped, were safe in their cabins, as I +had heard no sound of them. + +Day was brief and businesslike. "Dr. Phillimore was right," said he. "I +ask his pardon. We must see how many men we have. There is Mr. Lane and +Mr. Pye. Where is Mr. Pye?" + +"I am here, sir," said the little clerk from the back. + +"That makes, including Mr. Morland, twelve men to depend on, so far as +we know--if, that is," he added almost with a sneer, "we can depend on +them." + +"Grant may know more," said Legrand. + +"Bring him," said Day, and opened the door to the Prince. + +Prince Frederic was cool and collected, and showed little to mark the +disturbance and bloodshed of the last quarter of an hour--little, +unless it were in the increased blue of his eyes, which shone frostily. + +"Have you all your men, captain?" he remarked in his determined German +way, quite free of vivacity. + +"We are sure of twelve," said Day, "and we are trying to find out about +the others, so as to separate sheep and goats." + +But here was Grant arrived, blood on his face, and a brisk air of +savagery about him. + +"Grant, who are the mutineers?" said the captain. + +"Couldn't speak to 'em all, sir," said the man. "I knew nothing of it +till half an hour ago, when I ran into them, and they seized me. There +was Gray and Pierce and Mr. Holgate and Granger, and half a dozen in +the lot that took me." + +"Do you mean to say that you had no inkling of this?" said Day, with +asperity. + +"I'll take God to witness, no, sir," said the man earnestly, "and I'll +take my oath Williams and Naylor hadn't neither." + +"That makes two more," said the Prince, nodding. "But where are they?" + +Grant looked over his shoulder in the direction which would indicate +the forecastle. "If they're not here, sir, your highness," he said +hesitatingly, "I don't know where they are. The stokers is all joined, +I heard 'em say." + +"Good Lord, they've made a clean sweep," said Barraclough, with a +laugh. "And what's this about McCrae?" + +"Mr. McCrae was shot at the first, sir, in seizing the engines." + +"And they've fetched her pretty nigh to a standstill," growled the +first officer. "Phew! No, there she goes," he exclaimed, as the screw +began to bump. "They've picked her up. That'll be Crossley. He's with +them, confound him." + +"Then that leaves twelve," said the purser, "and forty-odd t'other +side. Oh!" he whistled, "this makes swank, don't it?" + +"Silence, Mr. Lane," commanded the captain. "We must first of all be on +our guard, armed; and, secondly, see if we are in a position to add to +our numbers. But we have the deck, which can only be reached one way. +The stewards, Mr. Lane?" he asked quickly. + +"I'll answer for the three, and the cuisine," declared the purser +boldly. "I'll go bail on them. I've known Jackson on other voyages. I +engaged 'em myself." + +"Then who the devil engaged the others, I'd like to know?" asked Day, +in his old irritable tone; at which, to the astonishment of all, a +small voice broke the silence. + +"I did, sir." + +We all wheeled round. It was Pye. The little man fixed his gold glasses +on his nose with two fingers in his nervous way, and blinked through +them at us, unruffled as a cock-sparrow that yet had doubts. + +"He, by heaven!" whispered Legrand to me, with infinite scorn. "He +chose 'em!" + +"And I regret to find, sir," pursued Pye, "that some of them have gone +wrong. I feel myself in a way responsible." + +"It all comes of putting things in the hands of lawyers," said Lane, +with innocent recklessness. + +Day looked down his nose. "Well, Mr. Pye," he said drily, "we'll try to +forgive you. You fell in with the wrong crowd. If I had known----" he +paused. "The question is, how are we to get in touch with the faithful +men who may be in the forecastle?" + +"If you will allow me, sir, I will venture into the forecastle and find +out," said Pye, with a restrained sense of importance. + +"You!" cried Day in amazement, and there was a general burst of +laughter, except on the part of the Prince, who was eyeing Pye +severely, and on the part of myself, who did not see anything for +ridicule in the unexpected courage of a timid man. + +"I feel in a way responsible," repeated Pye; but his protest was feeble +in effort, for Day put him curtly aside. + +"I fear you will not do, sir," said he. + +"But I will, captain," I called out. The Prince's eyes came over to me, +leaving Pye. He nodded and addressed Day in an undertone. + +"My dear sir, they've marked you out first and foremost," said +Barraclough. + +"I'll back the doctor," declared Lane excitedly. + +"Oh, I go only in the mission of humanity," I replied. "McCrae may not +be dead. No one knows. And, what's more, the mutineers have two or +three cripples on their hands. They won't lay a hand on me at present." + +"That's true, Dr. Phillimore," remarked Day. "Well, if you have weighed +the risks I will not prevent you. It is essential we should know +something more. It will come to blows again, and that without notice. +Mr. Morland," he hesitated, "wishes me to express his thanks for your +offer." + +"In that case," said I, acknowledging the compliment with a bow, "I may +as well take time by the forelock," and nodding to Legrand, I slipped +out on the deck. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE CAPTURE OF THE BRIDGE + + +I walked through the darkness to the head of the ladder, where Ellison +was on watch. + +"Any news?" I asked the quartermaster. + +"No, sir; all quiet," he answered, and as I made to go down he cried +out, "Where are you going, sir? Don't do that. You can't go there." + +"It's all right," I answered. "Keep your eyes open. Nothing will happen +to me. And don't be lured from the staircase, whatever occurs; and +here, take my revolver. I'm on a mission of peace." I slipped down the +ladder and found myself in the gloom of the orlop deck. A lantern was +hanging in the shrouds and I had not reached it before I was +challenged. + +"It's the doctor, Gray," said I, recognising his voice, "and come no +earlier than you want him, I'll wager. There's more than one of you has +got his gruel, I'm thinking." + +He came into the light. "Are you armed, doctor?" said he. + +"You can feel," said I, and he clapped his hands down my pockets. + +"Well, I don't know," he said, in a hesitating way. "It's true enough. +Davenport's dead as mutton, and Stephenson and Coyne are down in their +bunks. But it's Mr. Holgate commands here. I'll call him." He went +forward and whistled, and presently two other men approached, one of +whom I saw was Holgate by his rolling form. + +"Glad to see you, doctor," he said cheerfully. "I was hoping to be +honoured by a visit, but, hang me! if I expected it. Come along now, +and let's get some light on the case." + +He led the way into the forecastle quarters, and emerged into the room +in which the hands had their meals, which was lit by electricity, as +were all the cabins and saloons of the _Sea Queen_. + +"These digs are not what I'm accustomed to, doctor," he said, taking a +seat. "I'm frank, you see; but of course I retire only to jump better. +Isn't that how it goes? We jumped too soon, you see; and that was you. +If it had not been for that fool Pierce! Twice the essential ass played +into your hands. You were pretty smart, though I gave you a lead. There +I was the fool." + +"Well, Mr. Holgate, as between man and man, you were," I said. + +He laughed. "Oh, it will work out all right, but it makes it bloody. +Now, there was no need of blood in this little job, not if it had been +rightly managed, and I'll take blame for that. No, you were my +mistake." + +He looked at me in his tense unblinking way, as if he would have torn +out of me on that instant what I thought and what I really was. + +"I shall not be your last," I said indifferently. + +"Have a drink," he said. "We've got some good champagne, all under lock +and key, you bet, my son. That's not going to be my mistake, at any +rate. I've not lived forty years for nothing. I'm going to pull this +off." + +"Thank you," said I. "But it's business I've come on." + +"Business and 'the boy' go together in the city, I've heard," he +answered. "Well, is it terms you want?" + +"Oh, dear, no," I replied. "Only an affair of mercy. You've got two +wounded men, and there's McCrae." + +He looked down for a moment. "McCrae was another mistake, but not +mine," he said. "You can't do any good to McCrae. But you can see the +others, if you will. Not that that's what you've come for. Shall I tell +you what, doctor? You've come like the gentlemen who went to the Holy +Land, and came back carrying grapes, eh? I remember the picture when I +was a boy--a precious huge bunch, too. Well, you can have the grapes if +you'll take 'em in a liquefied form, and carry them in your belly." + +I rose. "I'll see these men," I said abruptly. + +He led me to the bunks, and I examined the wounded men. One was beyond +hope; the other was but slightly injured; and I told Holgate the truth. +He nodded. + +"I don't much want Coyne," he said musingly. "I've no use for him. He's +a bungler." + +The cold-blooded way in which he delivered this heartless criticism +raised in me a feeling of nausea. I was moving away when he stopped me. + +"Stay; you're not going back empty-handed, doctor, after all your +kindness. Any one you'd like to see?" + +I thought. "Yes," said I. "Naylor or Williams." + +Holgate moved out, and lifted the hatch. "Naylor!" he called. "Granger, +let Naylor up." He turned to me. "We don't starve 'em. It's pretty +comfortable 'tween decks when you're used to it." + +I made no reply, and presently a voice hailed us from below. + +"Is that Naylor?" asked Holgate. + +"Yes." + +"Naylor, here is the doctor inquiring after your health. Any questions +he puts to you you are at liberty to reply to." + +He moved away whistling cheerfully, and I called out, "Naylor, I only +want to know one thing. How many of you are there?" + +"Six, sir," said the man. + +"All under hatch?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Very well; keep up your hearts. This is not the end. Good-night." + +I went to Holgate. "Really," said I lightly, "I find there are more +honest men in this ship than I had anticipated." + +I don't think he liked that. "You've got twelve," he said drily. "And +there's more than thirty with us." + +"You forget one thing," I said. "We have the wheel, and to-morrow you +may find yourselves steaming cheerfully up the river to Buenos Ayres, +like any good liner." + +"That would be a pity, wouldn't it?" he said with a grin. "But you also +forget one thing doctor--that is, I've got the engines. Supposing those +engines stopped?" + +"Well, we can get a press of canvas on her," I suggested. + +"Great heavens!" says he. "Can you? What are we doing?" + +"I think," said I, "that we have a good marksman on board." + +"You're right," he said savagely, "and, by thunder, I won't forgive him +for that. I had meant---- By thunder, I'll play Old Harry and merry +Hades to him for that. Lord, doctor!" he added with a sneer, "to think +of you sucking up to a potty prince! or perhaps it's the ladies." + +"Yes; I hope you remember the ladies," said I. "It's not too late, +Holgate." + +He was silent a moment. "I take no stock in women," he said at length. +"They're nothing to me. Let the little innocent birds go free. I'll +tell you what, doctor. I'll offer terms, and generous terms, +considering I've got the trumps. I'll drop the whole pack of you at the +mouth of the river, ladies and all, and add all personal possessions of +every one save what's in the Prince's safes. Now that's fair. I'll make +you ambassador. By gad, it will be the only chance you will ever have +of being a prince's ambassador." He laughed. + +"Holgate," said I, "I've met many generous men, but you appropriate the +gingerbread, as you might say. Now I wish you good-night." + +He advanced two steps towards me. "Doctor," said he gravely, "you've +got to consider this. It's important. I'm not here to play marbles. +It's a sure thing. I give you up there"--he made a movement of his +thumb to the quarterdeck--"just this chance. Strike a bargain and I'll +see you through. There's not a hap'orth of harm will come to any. +Otherwise----" He shrugged his shoulders. + +"Mr. Holgate," said I, "I will deal with you as frankly as you seem to +desire. This spells for you, in my opinion one thing, and that's the +dock." + +"Oh, dear, no," he interrupted, smiling. "The men were discontented, +despatched a deputation, and were fired on by the Prince. English +juries don't like these arbitrary German military ways." + +"You forget McCrae," said I. + +"No, I don't. There was an accident in the engine-room, and the second +engineer can bear witness to it, as well as some others. Oh, we stand +very well, doctor." + +Even as he spoke I saw a shadow steal out of the deeper darkness and +draw to his side. I made it out for Pierce, the murderer. I will say +that that interruption of the ruffianly boatswain turned unexpectedly +the course of my blood. I had seemed somehow to have been dealing with +Holgate, as a scoundrel, certainly, yet upon terms of fair warfare. But +that shadow struck us all down to a lower level. Murder had been +committed, and here was the murderer. Without one word I turned and +made my way towards the ladder communicating with the upper deck. + +I had no good news to offer to my comrades; indeed, had I spoken quite +what was in my thoughts, it was a black prospect with which I must +present them. But I did not wish to increase the tension of the +situation, and merely recounted the facts I had gathered. + +"Thirty against twelve," mused Day, "and there are six true men in the +hold. Three head men. We have opened well, gentlemen." + +He looked round sarcastically as he spoke, but at once returned to his +colder formal manner. "They have the engine-room and we the bridge. +That means that their attack will be on the bridge." + +"I have no doubt that is what they mean," I said. + +"Very well, gentlemen," said Day. "We know exactly where we are now, +thanks to Dr. Phillimore. You have your stations. I shall be obliged if +you will take them. We are likely to have a lively night." + +"And let me say, gentlemen," said the Prince, raising his voice, "that +I do not conceive it possible that a pack of mutineers can secure the +control of their ship from their officers. It is inconceivable, I +repeat. I shall be at your disposal, captain," he turned to Day, "when +it is necessary. I will take my share in the common danger and +struggle." + +There was a murmur of applause at this, and we dispersed to our +quarters. Legrand had the bridge, and the man at the wheel was turning +the spokes as calmly as if there had been no such thing as an alarm or +a rising. Down below all was quiet, and the engines were moving slowly. +It was now about one in the morning, and on our beams the wind was +rising. The yacht was making about eight knots and no more, and we were +still a day's steam from Buenos Ayres. I paced the deck in cover of the +chart-house for an hour or more in a condition of nervous impatience. +Holgate, I knew, would move deliberately, but when he moved this time +he would strike hard. + +It was towards the dawn that, stopping in my walk, I listened, and +heard amid the whistling of the wind and the wash of the water a little +mutter of sound somewhere in the disintegrating darkness below. I +called to Legrand under my breath, and I heard his "hist." He was at +attention, his ears straining in the wind to get news of what was +passing. Then there was a shot, and the noise of a _melee_ at the +ladder. Oaths and shouts and the reports of revolvers echoed from the +wooden walls. + +"Can you see, Phillimore?" screamed Legrand against the wind. + +"They are attacking the gangway," I shouted back. One of the two men +who stood armed near me rushed forward. + +"Go back, go back," thundered Legrand from the bridge. "Go to your +post." + +I was aware that the Prince had come out on the hurricane deck, which +was on the level of the bridge, and as I peered into the gloom, +suddenly a shout from the second man in my neighbourhood made me wheel +sharply about. I turned in time to see him fire at some figures that +came over the port side of the yacht. Immediately I guessed that this +was the real attack, and that the assault on the ladder was but a +diversion, I ran forward, calling to Legrand, I found Barraclough on +the other side of the deck-houses, using a cutlass, and I moved to his +assistance. Three men had reached the deck, and a fourth was clambering +over. The seaman who had called out fired wide, and the next moment +went down under a heavy blow from the figure in front. I discharged a +shot, but missed the man as he made his rush. Barraclough +simultaneously gave way, and I saw him being pushed backwards against +the side of the saloon. I fired again at one of his assailants, who +fell away with a curse, and just then the first flush of the coming +dawn moved over the waters, and shed a little light on the scene. It +disclosed the burly form of Holgate in grips with Legrand, who had +descended from the bridge, and Barraclough still struggling with his +opponent. I had just time to make this out when one of the mutineers +struck at me with a heavy bar, and the blow, owing to a movement on my +part, fell on my right arm and paralysed it. He raised his weapon again +while I fumbled to get the revolver out of my useless hand into my +left, when Day suddenly emerged from somewhere with a levelled pistol. +My antagonist dropped like a log. Day fired again, and then with an +oath Holgate threw the second officer heavily to the deck, and pointed +a revolver. There was a pause of two seconds, then a report, and Day +slipped, moved his arms helplessly, and slid along the deck. A shout +now came from the other side of the ship where the struggle at the +gangway had been going on; and in a moment a stampede was upon us. + +I was forced back by sheer weight of numbers to the head of the +companion-way, using my weapon with some wildness, for all was passing +before me in confusion. I had received a hard crack on the head and +scarcely knew what I was doing, but was merely sustained in my +resistance by a sense of continuity, inherited, as it were, from the +earlier part of the struggle. Somehow I found myself in the shelter of +the corridor that led to the apartments of the Prince, his sister and +his guest, and, for some reason I could not with my dizzy head +conjecture, I was alone. I looked down the corridor, which was in +gentle light, but saw nothing; it was as silent as though it had been +plunged in the profound peace and slumber of the night. Without, the +racket of noises reached me as in a dream, and I remember that I sat +down on a couch in the corridor, my empty revolver in my hand. + +What ensued or how long I sat there I do not know; but I think it could +not have been very long. I was aroused by a voice, and looked up +stupidly. A face floated in the mists before me, and I nodded in a +friendly way, smiling, and opened my mouth to speak. Instead I lurched +forward and was conscious of warm arms, the soft pressure of a human +body, and the fragrance of a dress. There was a time when I seemed to +sway alone in a cold and dreary vacancy, but soon there returned to my +senses the warmth and the fragrance and the ineffable comfort of some +presence. Some liquid was forced between my lips, and I drank; and as I +drank my brain cleared, and I looked and was aware who was supporting +me with her arm. It was Princess Alix. + +"Madam----" I began stuttering. + +"Hush! Drink this," she said quickly. "We have need of you. We cannot +spare a man like you. You have no dangerous wound?" + +"I think not," I said with difficulty. "A blow on the head----" + +My hand went feebly to it as I spoke, and came away with a patch of +red. I rose and totteringly picked up my revolver, which had fallen. +"What has happened?" + +She shook her head. "I was up in the hurricane-deck, but my brother +sent me down. There is nothing to be heard. I was going out when I +found you here." + +"It is good of you," I said vaguely. "Let us go out, then. Take this +weapon." + +"I have one," said she quickly. + +I nodded. "Brave girl!" said I gravely. "Brave heart, as brave as +beautiful!" I felt vaguely I was paying her a necessary compliment, but +that was all. Yet the corridor was clearing before me now, and the +light of dawn was filtering through the curtained windows. + +Princess Alix had turned to the door which gave on the deck. + +"If they have won," she said suddenly in a low voice, "why have they +not come here?" + +I shook my head. "They do not want the saloon. They want other things," +said I. "They want the strongrooms." + +"Then are they----?" she began. + +"I cannot tell," said I. "I will go out." + +"No," she said imperatively. "Wait." Of a sudden a voice was raised in +a scream from the farther end of the corridor. "It is Mademoiselle," +said she, with a little frown. "She is impatient of my return. I must +go back." + +She glided off swiftly, and I stood by the door waiting for some +moments. As she did not return, I opened it softly, and the strong wind +off the morning sea took me in the face, refreshing me. I stepped out +upon the deck. The sky was as grey as the sea, and the silhouette of +the spars and funnel was ghost-like. The _Sea Queen_ thundered on her +course, heeling to the broad wash of the water. As I stood watching, my +ears alert for any sound that would give me information, I saw a figure +detach itself from the bulwarks and move uncertainly about, and as it +drew near I discovered it was Pye's. His face was of a colour with the +gray steel of his revolver, which he held loosely, as if he was not +aware he held it. + +"Oh, my God!" he said in a hoarse whisper. "Oh, my God! I didn't know +it was like this. Oh, my God!" + +"Pye!" I called softly; and he started and dropped his pistol. + +"Pick it up, man, and keep silence," I whispered. "Come this way." I +took his arm and stealthily withdrew him into the corridor. "What has +happened?" + +He gazed at me wildly. "They've got the ship," he said with a whisper. +"Oh, I didn't know it would be like this." + +I gave him a dose of the brandy which the Princess had brought for me, +and it seemed to pull him together. He blinked at me through his +glasses, and eyed me with some terror and distrust. + +"Do you know how things stand?" I asked. + +He shook his head. "The captain's killed," he said falteringly. "I +don't know about the others." + +"We've got to find out," I said, and thought. Then, for I saw he would +be of little use to me in his present state, I said, "Look here, Pye, +I'm going to explore, while you keep this door. Mind you let no one in. +We'll bolt it, see." + +I did so as I spoke, and turning found the Princess coming down the +corridor. I explained to her the situation, and added that Pye would +be placed on guard. She cast a glance at him, and looked at me +inquiringly. + +"I'm going down to the saloon below," I said. "This set of cabins is +isolated, except for the doors at each end to the deck and the door +that gives on the staircase to the saloon. Can I depend on you to hold +out for five minutes? A shout will bring me up at a moment's notice." + +"Yes," she said breathlessly. + +I opened the second door that admitted to the staircase and glanced +down. No one was visible, and no sound was audible. I turned, nodded +reassuringly to the Princess, and descended. The saloon was empty, and +there were no signs of any struggle. I passed along the passage towards +the officers' quarters, but everything was in order; and finally +retraced my way towards the kitchens, which abutted on the engine-room, +but were separated from it by a thick partition of steel and wood. As I +went, the yacht rolled and sent me against a closed door with a heavy +bump. From within issued a sound, subdued but unmistakable as that of a +human voice. I reflected that the mutineers would not be here, for it +was evident that the door was locked, and no mutineer would secure +himself in a cabin in the midst of his triumph. I rapped loudly on the +door and called out: + +"It's Phillimore. Who is in here?" + +After a pause I heard the bolt go back and the door opened a little, +disclosing the face of Lane. + +"You, doctor?" he said. "Thank the Lord we're not all done yet." He +flung the door wide, and I could see now that his companion was the +head steward. + +"Where's the Prince?" I asked anxiously. + +"I don't know," he said, heaving a big sigh. "Thank the Lord there's +some one else alive. I was forced down the companion and fell. Lost my +weapon, too, or I'd 'a' showed more fight. Great Scott, I rolled all +the way down, not before I'd done for one or two, I tell you." + +"Well, you're wanted upstairs now," said I, "both of you. We've got the +ladies on our hands, and we've got to find out where the Prince is. Day +is dead." + +Lane whistled. "Poor beggar!" he observed. "But Jackson must stay here. +This is our magazine, my boy--where the grub is. If we've got to stand +a siege we've got to seize the grub-chest. The storage chamber's along +here." + +The advice seemed excellent. "Yes," I answered, "that is true. Well, +let Jackson wait here and lie low. He won't be discovered here." + +"I dare say the cook's somewhere hidden about here, sir," observed +Jackson. + +"All the better. Find him if you can. And remember that, if we pull +through, this means a big business for you, Jackson, and cook, too." + +"Yes, sir," he assented mildly. + +"Now, then, Lane," I went on, and the purser followed me into the +saloon. We mounted the staircase, and I took the chance of closing the +doors at the head that gave access to the deck. Then I rapped on the +door that gave on the Prince's corridor. It was opened by the Princess +eagerly. + +"We are two more, Miss Morland," I said cheerfully, "and here is one of +them." + +"But my brother!" she cried out. + +"I've not discovered his whereabouts yet," I said evasively. + +"Do you think that he's----" She did not finish. + +"Not a bit of it," I said, as decidedly as I could, for, to tell the +truth, I had my grave doubts. "I have unearthed Mr. Lane and the +steward. Why shouldn't I unearth Mr. Morland, too?" + +Yet, if the others were alive, why was the yacht so quiet? + +She sighed, and then looked over at the couch on which Pye sat huddled. +"That man's no use," she said contemptuously. "He's been doing nothing +but drink brandy." + +Lane crossed over to him. "The beggar's drunk," said he in disdain. + +"Then you must hold one door and Miss Morland the other," said I. + +"But you----" She paused. + +"I am going on another expedition. You must let me out and in. Two +knocks will warn you." + +So saying, I slipped the bolt and got out on deck. From the appearance +of the sky I judged that it was only half an hour since I had found +myself in the corridor. It was light enough to make out things fairly +well, and now I could discern on the bridge the portly form of Holgate +struck with this light. The figure of a man was visible a little in +front of me by the chart-house. I heard Holgate's voice raised wheezily +in orders, and the replies of the men came back to me inarticulately. +As I crouched under the shelter of the cabins on the lee side I became +aware of a faint but continuous line just over the bulwarks, and then +the explanation of the mysterious silence on the yacht dawned on me. It +was the coast line, from which we could not be more than a couple of +miles away, and in the confusion of the fight, no doubt, the _Sea +Queen_ had lost her course and been driven inshore. It had, therefore, +become imperative for Holgate to devote his attention and the +activities of his men to the danger that threatened, more particularly +as the heavy wind had threshed itself into a gale abeam. + +Now at this juncture I must confess that I was entirely at a loss. I +could not move a foot across the deck without being discovered, since +it was merely the fact that I was in the lee of the cabins and in the +deeper shadows of the dawn that enabled me to skulk where I was. Yet I +was reluctant to go back without having carried the search a stage +further. It was obvious from the calm which reigned among the mutineers +that the Prince and his following were either dead or prisoners. Which +had been their fate? The shadow of the man in front of me, scarcely a +dozen paces away, turned and stopped and seemed to put his ear to the +woodwork. It must be (I reflected) the chart-house door by which he +stood. What was he listening for? Was it possible that some of our men +were shut up in the chart-house? I shuffled a step or two nearer and +watched him. He was fully armed, for I could make out a weapon in his +hand, and he had something by his side, probably a cutlass. It was +probable that he was placed guard over the prisoners. I drew two steps +closer still. Holgate's voice still painfully dominated the wind and +water, and I ventured yet a pace nearer. Did he turn now the man must +see me, for I was in the gray light of the dawn, a deeper shadow than +the wooden walls by which I lurked. My hands twitched, and I almost +seemed to have sprung before I did spring. Then I knew I was on his +back and had a leg twisted about his legs. He fell heavily, and I +thrust a hand across his mouth. He struggled hard, writhing upon the +deck under the weight of my body like a snake, and a choking sputter +issued from his throat. Hastily I dragged a handkerchief from my pocket +and pushed it into his mouth. The struggling increased. I glanced up +and found that we had fallen under the door of the chart-house; also in +that same glance I observed that the key was in it. No doubt it had +been turned on the outside. I reached up a hand, but missed the key by +a few inches. The endeavour had loosened my hold of my prisoner, and I +was flung against the door with a thud; but I hurled myself upon him +again just in time to prevent him from withdrawing the gag. In the +struggle which ensued I managed to push him a little closer under the +door, and then, with a desperate effort, stretched out and turned the +key. I was fumbling for the handle when the man once again evicted me +from the possession of his body, and I fell in a heap, jamming the +door, which opened outwards. But on that I was aware that my back was +being jarred and scored, and the next instant I was tumbled over at the +foot of the mutineer, who had got on his legs at last. The door was +thrust open with a noise, and men issued from it, stepping over my +body. + +"It is I--Phillimore," I gasped. "Run for the cabins." + +Some one helped me to my feet, and I saw the mutineer drop with a sword +point through him; and then we ran, I between two of the others, one of +whom I was conscious was Ellison. A shout sailed down to us from the +bridge, and there was the noise of a revolver shot, but luckily it +missed us, and we gained the companion-way in safety, locked and barred +the door, and knocked on the entrance to the corridor. Lane opened it. + +"His Royal Highness, by gum!" he cried excitedly, and for the first +time I was able to recognise my companions. The Prince was there, safe +and scathless, and with him Barraclough, Ellison, and a fourth man, who +was Grant. + +Princess Alix rushed on her brother, and was taken to his arms. He +kissed her affectionately. + +"Yvonne?" he said. + +"She is safe," said the Princess, withdrawing herself. "She it safe, +dear, but frightened." + +She spoke in German, and he nodded. + +"Ah, she would be frightened. It is no woman's work this, Alix. We must +be tender with her." + +"We have done our best," she replied, I thought a little coldly; and at +that a door down the corridor opened, and Mademoiselle herself +appeared. + +"Frederic!" she cried ecstatically, and hastened towards us with +graceful movements. "Ah, Frederic, it is cruel to leave me so. I wish I +were back in Paris. Oh, _mon Dieu!_ what a voyage, what a ship!" + +As they embraced I turned my head away, for this reunion of lovers was +no sight for public eyes, and as I did so I swept the Princess in my +vision. Her face had fallen dead and chill, and I thought that a little +curl of her lips betrayed some impatience with these demonstrations. +Meanwhile Barraclough was narrating in his deliberate way the +adventures of the party; but I cut him short, only asking one question: + +"Where is Legrand?" + +"They took him up and carried him forward, but I couldn't say if he +were dead." + +"We have no time to lose," I said. "They may attack at any moment, and +we have too much space to defend for comfort." + +"Why, we can manage this well enough," said he easily. + +"And be starved," said I. "No; we must keep the access to the saloon +and the kitchens, and that means precautions. Look at the windows +through which we may be approached." + +"Dr. Phillimore is right," said the Prince in his deep voice. "We must +guard the windows." + +"We must close them," said I. "Grant, you can use tools. Ellison, you +and Grant do what you can. There is plenty of woodwork to draw +on--doors and trappings in the cabins. The portholes are useless to the +mutineers, but they can enter by the skylights or the windows. They +must be all barred. We are in a state of siege." + +"You hear your orders," said the Prince in his imperious voice. "The +doctor speaks sense. See that it is done." + +Barraclough and Lane and the Prince himself were left on guard, and the +rest of us sallied down to hunt for tools and timber to carry out this +primitive fortification. In this we had the assistance of the steward, +Jackson, and the cook, who had been discovered in one of his pantries. +The work took us a full hour or more, but at last it was decently +accomplished. The windows of the saloon and music-room that gave on the +deck were shuttered, as also the windows of the cabins. Nothing but the +skylights remained unprotected, and these we could trust ourselves to +guard. I reckoned that we were in a position to stand a siege +indefinitely, unless something untoward occurred. The fortifications +completed, we stationed our guards, two in the corridor, two in the +saloon, and sat down at last, wearied out with the fatigue of that +abominable night. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE FLAG OF TRUCE + + +We were not interrupted during all this time, and from the sound of the +screw we could tell that the yacht was still ploughing her way, but +clearly it was not now for Buenos Ayres. At six we took some food +prepared by the cook, and considered the position with more equanimity. +Counting the cook, who had not been reckoned in our previous numbering, +we were now reduced to a party of ten men, if Pye could be accounted a +man after his cowardly behaviour. There were six sailors in the hold at +present useless, and the mutineers, even after their losses, were not +far short of thirty. Of Legrand we knew nothing, but could only hope +for the best. So long as we could hold the saloon we had plenty of food +and water, and our stock of ammunition was ample. The outlook did not +appear so bad. Only on the other side we had to remember that Holgate +had the ship and could go whither he wished. Even if coal failed him he +had the auxiliary power of the sails. Our main hope was to hold out +until his provisions should be exhausted and he should be obliged to +put into some port. Then would come the hour of reckoning, for we were +probably better supplied with provisions than was the forecastle. + +The ladies breakfasted in their cabins, but the Prince was present at +our common table, showing a right democratic attitude. + +"We are all in a common peril, gentlemen," he said with spirit. "We +must not make differences. But there must be discipline," he added. + +There was, therefore, a certain _camaraderie_ reigning which had been +foreign to the yacht before, and Lane gave way to his native garrulity, +enlivening the table by some anecdotes, at which even Barraclough +condescended to smile. + +"My hat!" cried the purser suddenly, slapping his flank. "They've not +got what they fought for, and we've none of us thought of it." + +There was a pause. It was true, none of us had thought of it; we had +been too busy thinking of other things. + +"Are you sure?" said I. + +Lane rose. "Let's go and see," said he. "But I've all the keys, and +I'll swear no one came down in the neighbourhood of the strong-room +while I was there." + +We trooped down, Prince and all, and it was as the purser had said. The +safes were untouched. Barraclough elevated his eyebrows. + +"The fools!" he commented. + +"Well, it doesn't seem to me quite that," said I slowly. "It only looks +as if Holgate was certain." + +"What do you mean?" he asked, and they all looked at me. + +"Why, if he did not take the trouble to touch this, he cannot be in a +hurry. I never came upon a man with a cooler head. He's not in a hurry, +that's a fact. It's been deliberate all through, from the very moment +we left the Thames." + +We looked at each other now. "Jerusalem!" said Lane. "What a savage! +He's made sure of us, then." + +"He can wait his time," I said. "He has waited, and can wait longer. +The ship's in his hands." + +"You take a gloomy view, sir," observed the Prince with a frown. + +"Well, Mr. Morland," I replied drily. "I don't think we're here to +glaze matters over. We've got to face things, and one of these things +is that Holgate hasn't worried us since he got possession. How are you +going to account for that, save on my hypothesis?" + +"They shall be hanged--every one," he exclaimed angrily, the German +accent emerging roughly now. + +"Well, we'll do our best, sir," I replied lightly. + +I shut the strong-room door, and Lane locked it; and, as I turned, I +saw the white face of Pye in the background. He had been missing from +breakfast, and he looked very sickly, very pale, and very much abashed. +The Prince noticed him, too, and addressed him sharply. + +"Why are you here, sir? What do you mean by leaving your quarters? I +will have discipline kept on this ship." + +"I have no quarters," pleaded Pye humbly. "I was feeling sick, and lay +down in my bunk." + +"You shall get to your quarters now, sir," declared the Prince +severely. "Sir John, order this man to his post." + +The little man was so downcast, and was obviously so unwell, that I +took pity on him, and cheered him as he went upstairs. + +"Never mind, Pye," I said. "We'll pull through." + +He shook his head. "Ah, it isn't that," he said. "But I disgraced +myself, doctor. I'm not built that way. It was awful--awful." He +shuddered. + +"Yes, we'll get our little tum-tums full of it now, I guess," remarked +Lane cheerfully. "You freeze on to your barker, boy. You'll need it +before we fetch up at Albert Docks again. It's Execution Docks for some +of us, I'll lay. Have a cigar, doctor?" + +I accepted, but Pye refused, turning a sallow hue. His nerves had not +yet recovered, and he had certainly drunk a good deal of brandy. +Ellison and Jackson were on watch below, and when we reached the +corridor Grant signalled us in a whisper from his peep-hole. + +"Some one coming along this way, sir." + +Barraclough sprang to his side. "By Heaven, it's Holgate, damn him," he +said, "with a flag of truce." + +"Open that door," said the Prince evenly. + +Grant turned the key and drew the bolt, and the door fell ajar. +Holgate's big form was stationed before it, and he waved a flag. + +"A truce, gentlemen," he said wheezily. + +I looked at the Prince and Barraclough for the answer, and to my +amazement saw that the former had his revolver at the level. His finger +was on the trigger. I leaped forward and struck it up, and the bullet +buried itself in the walls of the cabin. + +"What do you mean, sir?" he thundered, turning on me savagely. "How +dare you?" + +"Mr. Morland," said I. "You spoke of discipline a little ago. Well, how +do you keep it?" + +"This is my ship," he said furiously. + +"Yes," said I, "and it is in the charge of Sir John Barraclough here, +who will tell you, perhaps, that it is against the laws of equity, not +to say common sense, to fire on a flag of truce." + +Sir John looked uneasy. "The doctor is right, sir," he said. "We ought +to hear what he's got to say." + +"He is a villainous murderer. I will see that they are hanged," said +the Prince, with a scowl at me. But he let his arm fall. Behind him I +could see the Princess, but her face was averted. + +Holgate's figure blocked the doorway. "If I may come in," he said +smoothly, "and you're quite done with your pistol practice, gentlemen, +I should like to make a proposal to you." + +"It shall be unconditional surrender, Sir John Barraclough," said the +Prince morosely; "I will have no other terms." + +"You may come in," said Barraclough shortly. + +Holgate edged himself through. "I claim the protection of this flag," +said he flatly, and looked about him. "I hope my men haven't knocked +you about too much. Doctor, my respects to you. You've got a head on +you." + +"Come to business, sir," said Barraclough harshly. + +"Sir John, I've saved your ship, and I hope you'll lay that to my +credit," said Holgate in his leisurely voice. "I found her drifting on +a lee shore when I took charge, and, by thunder, she'd have floundered +in another half-hour. So whatever you set on one side of the ledger, +there's that lump on the other." + +"We're not here to talk about these matters," said Barraclough sternly. + +"Excuse me, Sir John, we are," said Holgate sweetly. "We're just on +that and nothing else. It's pretty clear how you stand, but if you like +I'll rehearse the situation. And I want you to understand where +_I_ stand. See? I don't think that's so clear to you; and I want +ventilation. This is a duffing game for his Royal Highness there. He +stands to make nothing out of it, as things go, and there's precious +little in it for any of you. Here you are prisoners in these palatial +rooms, outnumbered by more than two to one, and not a man of his hands +among you, if I except the doctor. Well, you can hold out, I daresay. I +know all about that. You've got a call on the food cupboard, and you're +welcome to it. But I've got the yacht, and she'll canter under my +hands, not Sir John's. Don't you make any mistake. You're not in a +first-class position, gentlemen." + +"You're a long time coming to the point," said Barraclough with +exemplary curtness. "We have no time to waste." + +"Well, gentlemen, I'm willing to make a deal--that's the short of it--a +deal that will suit both parties. That's the pith of the situation." + +He gazed from one to another of us unembarrassed, and even with an +expression of amiable cheerfulness. "And my proposal's this----" + +"Unconditional surrender," broke in the Prince's harsh voice. + +"That so?" says Holgate without concern, directing a glance at the +speaker. "I guess, Mr. Morland, you're in this for more than your +health. So am I. But I should like to know before starting whom I've +got to deal with, just by way of encouragement, so to say." He paused. +"I don't want to pry into any secrets, but it would suit me better if I +knew whom to address. Owing to the unfortunate decease of the late +Captain Day----" + +"You infernal ruffian; you murderer!" broke fiercely out of Lane's +throat. "You'll hang yet, by heaven, or I'll eat my hat." + +Holgate turned his heavy face and still sombre eyes upon the purser, +but said nothing nor otherwise remarked his outburst. It was +Barraclough who spoke: + +"Excuse me, Mr. Lane, this is my affair, not yours," he said abruptly. +"Go on, sir," to Holgate. + +"I can wait, of course," said the mutineer with cool irony. "There +isn't much hurry about the matter now the ship lays her course. But I +should prefer a business deal with business people, and I take it that +that means with you, Sir John." + +Barraclough nodded. "You may address me," he said. "And you will get +your answer from me." + +"That's all right, then. And having settled so much, this is what I've +got to lay before you," proceeded Holgate placidly, breathing out his +words. "There's been a certain amount of pawn-taking in this game, and +we've both got to pass it over if we're coming to business. Now you +know what I want, and by this time you pretty well ought to know what +you want also. You're in a tight fix. Well, if you'll hand over the +contents of the strong-room we'll get out a proper contract, as thus: +self to take the said contents, agreeing therewith to allow his Royal +Highness, or Mr. Morland (which you will), a moiety of the same, +provided that the party be landed at a suitable place not more than ten +miles from a civilised town, and provided always that no more be heard +of the steps leading up to this contract." + +He came to a pause, and eyed us, with a gaze divested of any eagerness, +even of any significance. The Prince uttered a loud laugh, but +Barraclough, as became his position, kept his expression. I was a +little out of the group, and I could pick out the faces of the company. +The Princess had moved forward and leaned now with her chin on her open +palm, and one foot upon the settee near the door. She was frankly +staring at the mutineer who made these astounding proposals. The Prince +and Barraclough conferred in whispers, and presently the latter resumed +his position. + +"If you want the contents of the strong-room," he said, "it is +suggested that you had better come and take them." + +Holgate's eyebrows went up. "Well, I could do that, of course," he said +slowly. "Don't suppose I've overlooked that solution of the little +problem. But I'm dealing with you squarely when I say I'd rather not. +For why? Because I don't want any further mess. We've slopped about +enough for the present, and I should say you gentlemen know it." + +He paused again, as if to give us an opportunity of revising our +decision, and once more the Prince and Sir John interchanged whispers. +Barraclough shook his head vigorously, and a frown gathered on his +features. In the fine light of the skylights Princess Alix's silhouette +stood out, and the soft hair on her forehead was ruffled by the breeze. +She was still gazing at Holgate. His bull-neck turned and he faced +towards her, and their glances met. Neither gave way nor winced before +the salvos of the other, and I had the odd thought that some strange +duel was in progress, in which the antagonists were that fair woman and +that villainous, gross man. Holgate's eyes shifted only when +Barraclough spoke next. + +"If you leave the yacht at the next port or place of call we shall be +powerless to prevent you and the men under you," said Barraclough in a +dry, formal voice. "But the mutiny will be, of course, reported to the +British Consul at the most accessible port." + +"That's a compromise, I reckon," observed Holgate with a grin, which +showed his fang. "That's owner and first officer commanding rolled into +one and halved, or I'm Dutch. Well, I'll let it go; but I've offered +fair terms. And I'll tell you frankly that I wouldn't even have offered +those had it not been for the doctor." He shook his head, wagging it at +me. "Oh, doctor, doctor, to think what I lost in you! Why, we could +have taken our time over the strong-room, barring your little +intervention. You're a real daisy, and I won't forget it. But now it's +in the hands of Providence. It's war. Sir John, I congratulate the +double-barrelled leaders. There's two captains here, and that's one too +many. I only allow one in my quarters. All right, gentlemen." He took +up his flag and waddled towards the door. "Good-morning. I've done what +I could. Don't blame me." + +On the threshold he paused, and his glance marched deliberately over us +all, landing at last upon the Princess. "May the Lord help you," says +he in his voice of suet. "May the Lord be merciful to you--all!" + +The door went behind him with a snap. I turned almost unconsciously in +that direction in which the last shafts of his eyes had flown. The +accent on the "all" had been perceptible. Princess Alix had lifted her +chin from her hand and set down her foot. She held on to the arm of the +settee, and I could perceive her trembling. Her face had gone white +like paper, and she stared at the closed door. I moved quickly towards +her, for I was a doctor, if I had no other right there. My arrival +broke upon her thought; she started, and the colour flowed back slowly +into her face. + +"That man is the most awful man I have ever seen," she said with a +shudder. + +"He is not so awful as he thinks," I said encouragingly. + +She shook her head, and moved away. I followed her. "If I might +suggest, I would advise you to take a rest," I said. "You have had a +most trying night." + +"Yes--I will rest," she returned with a sigh; and then, as we walked +down the corridor together, "I thought you were right when you spoke +to--to my brother in regard to the revolver; but now I don't know. I +think anything that would rid the world of such a monster is +justifiable." + +"Perhaps," I replied. "But he is making war, and we are on terms of +war, and more or less bound by them. At least, that is one's general +notion. But who can tell? The ethical boundaries, and the borders of +honour, are indefinable and intangible." + +"I think I would have shot him myself," she said vehemently. + +"I hope we shall hang him yet," I answered. + +She looked at me out of her blue lustrous eyes, as if deliberating. + +"We depend a good deal on you, Dr. Phillimore," she said next. + +"We are all dependent on one another," said I. + +"Do you suppose that man meant what he said?" she asked. + +"No," I said. "I would distrust every statement of his. I can't +determine what was in his mind or what he is aiming at. But this I +know, that to make a compact with him would be to be at his mercy. He +is ruthless; he would not consider what blood he shed; and, besides, he +has committed himself too deeply, and is no fool to ignore that." + +She sighed again. "I am glad," she murmured. "I thought perhaps that it +would be wise. But my brother would never consent. Only I was afraid. +But I am glad it would have been of no use. That makes only one course +possible." + +"Only one," I said gravely. We came to a pause by the door of the +cabin. "I think I had better see to Mademoiselle," I said, "in case of +emergencies." + +"Yes, please," she said with a start, and opened the door of the +_boudoir_. + +Mademoiselle, clad in a wonderful dishabille, was seated under the +electric light, engaged in a game of dominoes with her maid, and just +threw a glance at us as we entered. + +"There ... _tenez_ ... _la_, _la_ ..." she said excitedly, and marked +her board and scrambled up the dominoes in a heap. + +"Juliette has won never," she cried in her broken English. "I have won +three times. Where is Frederic, _ma cherie_? He is not fighting? +_Non?_" + +"There is no fighting now, Yvonne," replied the Princess with admirable +restraint, as seemed to me. "Frederic is well." + +"Oh, but the noise in the night," she rattled on in her own tongue. "It +was dreadful. I could not sleep for the guns. It was abominable to +mutiny. Ah, it is the doctor. Pardon, this light is not good, and they +have boarded up the windows. We must live in darkness," she added +peevishly. "But how are you, doctor? You have not been to cheer us +lately. It is a dull ship." + +"Why, we consider it pretty lively, Mademoiselle," I answered lightly. +"It keeps us occupied." + +"Ah, yes," she laughed. "But that is over now, and you will only have +to dispose of the prisoners, to guillotine? ... No, to hang?" + +"It is we who are prisoners," said the Princess abruptly. + +Mademoiselle stared. "_Mon Dieu!_ Prisoners! Oh, but it is not so, +Alix. Juliette, shuffle, or I will box your ears, silly... Whose +prisoners are we?" + +"The anterooms, Mademoiselle, are cut off from the rest of the ship," I +explained. "Are you prepared to stand a siege?" + +"Oh, but we have gallant defenders enough," she said with her pretty +laugh. "I am not afraid. It will be experience. Juliette, open, open, +stupid. Do not stare at Monsieur like a pig. Play." + +I passed on, the Princess following me. "When I left her she was in +tears," she said in a low voice. + +"She may be in tears again," I said. "But at present she wants no help +from me. She suffices entirely for herself." + +Our eyes encountered, and I am sure of what I saw in hers; if we met on +no other ground we met on a curious understanding of Mademoiselle. I +took my leave ceremoniously. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +LEGRAND'S WINK + + +As I went down the corridor the figure of little Pye sprang out upon me +from somewhere. + +"Doctor," he said in a piteous voice. I stayed. "Doctor, I'm very ill. +I'm just awful." + +I looked at him closely. The flesh under his eyes was blue; the eyes +themselves were bloodshot, and his hands shook. I felt his pulse, and +it was racing. + +"You're in a blue funk, Pye," said I severely. + +He groaned. "Anything. I'll admit anything, doctor. But for heaven's +sake let me go down to my bunk. I'll pull together there, I'll swear +it." + +"You'll go down and drink too much," I said. + +"Not if you'll give me something. There must be lots of things," he +pleaded. "I've never seen--I'm not fitted for this. Oh, doctor, I've +only lived in a street before, a suburb, Tulse Hill. Think of that." + +His voice cracked, and with the ghost of his favourite trick his +fingers quavered with the glasses on his nose. I took a pity for the +creature, a pity in which there was naturally some disgust. + +"Very well," I said. "Go down, and I'll make it all right. I'll pay you +a visit later." + +He thanked me and scuttled away like a rabbit, and I sought Barraclough +and explained. + +"Ill?" said he. "Well, if he's ill----" + +"He's ill enough to count," I said. "He's in a dead funk, and about as +much use as a radish." + +Barraclough's nose wrinkled in smiling contempt. + +"Better make him steward and promote Jackson," he said. "He's part of a +man, at any rate. They'll be on us before we know where we are." + +"Do you think so?" I asked. "Well, to say the truth, Holgate puzzles +me. Why did he make that offer?" + +"Because he'll find it infernally difficult to get in here," said +Barraclough easily. "Because it's a frontal attack all the way and a +costly business. If it's a case of half the party going to glory +they'll look out for a cheaper way first. That's why." + +"You may be right," I answered. "But Holgate isn't exactly particular, +and anyway I want to find out." + +"Find out?" he echoed in surprise. + +"Well, Holgate used a flag. Why shouldn't I in my turn?" I asked. + +He screwed up his mouth. "Well, I don't know," said he. "I won't say +you nay, but--look here, there's risk, Phillimore. You say Holgate +isn't particular. To put it plain, he's a black-hearted swine." + +"You couldn't put it too plain," I replied. "But I have my notion, and +I may not be wrong. He's black enough, God knows, but I think I've +gauged him a little. Why didn't he push the assault? Why doesn't he +now? No, Holgate's not all plain and easy. It's not like reading print. +I'm hanged if I know what he's up to, but whatever it is, it's bad. And +somehow I feel my way along this, and I don't think he'll do any harm +at present. Call it faith--call it instinct--call it superstition if +you will." + +He bit his moustache doubtfully. "You're on duty in an hour," he +objected. + +"I'll be back before," I answered. "And another thing, Barraclough, +there's Legrand.... Oh, they'll want a doctor." + +"That's true. Well, God bless you," said he, placidly yielding, and +unlocked the door. I had provided myself with a flag, and now emerged +upon the deck clasping it in one hand. + +I walked past the barred windows of the music-room and saloon, and past +the smoking-room beyond, until I was level with the chart-house. I was +on the windward side of the yacht, and she was heeling gently as she +ran down the coastline under a full head of steam. Above me I could +discern also the white spread of her wings, and from the look of the +long white water that leaped and fell off her sides in a welter I +guessed that we must be footing it to a pretty tune. If poor McCrae had +been right in estimating her rate at eighteen knots, she could not be +making much less than sixteen now. + +The sails were full of noise, and the wind rattled and sang in the +ventilators. The first sight that struck me as I came back square with +the bridge was a man swinging in a travelling-cradle and leisurely +painting the funnel. It seemed so peaceful an occupation, and so +strangely out of accord with those terrible transactions of the night, +that I stared in wonder. Then my eyes went to the bridge and marked +something more in keeping with the situation, for the bridge had been +boarded about in the rear and sides with a wall of timber, so that the +helmsman and the man in charge, Holgate or another, were invisible from +the deck below, as also from the hurricane-deck. I suppose that this +structure had been put together in memory of the Prince's prowess, and +of his ruthless performances from the hurricane-deck. + +I advanced to the end of the deck and hailed the forecastle, waving my +flag. + +"Is Mr. Holgate there?" I called out. "I wish to see him," and again I +waved my flag. + +A man came into the open on the deck below and stared up at me, and +presently after he was joined by another whom I recognised as Gray. +They exchanged words, and I knew also from a sound overhead that some +one was peering at me from the bridge. Once more I called out for +Holgate, brandishing my flag vigorously: and then I heard Holgate's +voice below. + +"Hold on, doctor!" + +He emerged into my line of vision and with him was Pierce, his lank red +face upturned to me, his lower jaw in its socket. Gray gesticulated, +indicating me, and Holgate stood passively looking at me. Suddenly the +ex-boatswain put his hand in his pocket, pulled out a revolver and +presented at me. It was the work of a moment. Holgate struck his arm +up, and the bullet whizzed past me and banged into the chart-house. + +"Steady there, doctor," said Holgate. "Glad to see you. Just in time, +wasn't I? Step along down there." I moved towards the ladder and +descended to the lower deck, where Holgate met me. + +"Difficult to keep our respective men in hand, isn't it, doctor?" he +said with a quizzical look. "But I won't have any firing on a flag of +truce any more than you. You and I keep to the code of honour." + +I could have sworn that the piece of comedy which had just been +performed had been his. I knew for certain now that it was his jest, +this crude and savage joke that was on the margin of tragedy, and might +have gone over the border. But what would he care, this infamous man of +astute intelligence, cold, cunning, and ruthless determination? His +eyes twinkled, and he laughed now so as to disclose his abominable +fang. + +"We are now quits, eh, doctor?" he said. "His Royal Highness would have +had me but for you, and now Pierce yonder would have potted you but for +me. I like honourable warfare," he chuckled. + +"Well," said I cheerfully, for I was resolved to take him in his own +way, "then the Prince's offence is wiped out. He is forgiven." + +"Oh, there's nothing to forgive about the Prince," says Holgate +indifferently. "I don't want him. I want his safe. What's a Prince or +two?" He looked at me narrowly. "Shall we get to business? Changed your +minds?" + +"There's not the slightest chance of that," I answered. "You may set +that on record." + +"Say, I will," said he, unexpectedly turning, and called out, "Pierce, +Gray, come here. Just listen to the whoop our cockerels give up there. +Now, doctor, spit it out." + +"I have nothing to add to my statement that there is no chance of any +terms," I said sharply. + +"Think of that," observed Holgate to the others. "They don't know +what's good for them. Well, let 'em alone, doctor. Let 'em stew in +their juice. They'll come round in a brace of shakes, after a little +argument, let's say." + +Gray guffawed, and Pierce grinned, his thin face puckering to his eyes, +an unpleasing sight. It was clear who was master here. Holgate +commanded by the sheer force of his individuality and his coolness. + +"Well, to what do we owe the honour of this visit?" went on Holgate +easily. "Come to borrow some of our provisions? Strikes me you're a bit +fond of the forecastle. We shall have to make room for you. Got room +for a little one inside, Pierce?" + +The joke sent Gray off again, but I was aware that this gross fooling +was as much a piece of acting as had been the feint of shooting at me. +He was playing to an audience, and that audience a gallery that dealt +only in crude fun. Why did he do it? What was his object? He puzzled +me. But I made answer very plainly. + +"You know my profession, Mr. Holgate. We had a second officer...?" I +paused. + +"Have!" he corrected mildly. "Have; not, of course, on active +service--resting, let us say." + +Gray giggled. His master was as good as the clown in a circus to his +tickled ears. Holgate looked at me. + +"There's nothing much the matter with Legrand," he went on, "save +natural chagrin and a crack on the head. You see, I got him just so." +He put both hands together in a comprehensive gesture, "and it +interfered with his vertebrae. But better see him, doctor, better see +him; and while you're about it, we've got a job or two more for you." + +I followed him, as he spoke, towards the forecastle deck, and soon was +busy in my professional capacity, Holgate chatting the while very +wheezily in my ear. And when I had finished he had the hatch opened and +I descended to the prisoners. + +"I'm accompanying you, doctor," explained Holgate, "not because I'm +going to spy on you--that would be mean, and not in the game--but as a +guarantee of good faith, as one might say. You see I feel responsible +for you, and if some one with an imperfect sense of honour, say like +the Prince, should take it into his head to clap hatches on you, where +would my reputation be?" + +He smiled, took a lamp from one of his men and descended after me. + +The prisoners were standing or squatting moodily about in that small +compartment of the hold, which was otherwise almost empty, and lying on +his back with his face turned towards us was the second officer. His +eyes gave no indication that he was aware of my presence, though they +were wide open, and, I confess, I was alarmed to see his condition. It +looked like death. I felt his pulse, and examined him, and all the time +his eyes were on me unwavering. His high colour had fallen away, and +his face was now spotted with unhealthy blotches on a pallid skin. I +pressed my fingers to the back of his neck, puzzled, and as I did so my +body came betwixt Holgate with the light and Legrand. + +It seemed to me that now the eyes moved, and I could have declared that +one of them closed sharply and opened again. But at the moment Holgate +shifted his position the eyes were again dull and vacant. + +I drew in my underlip, and stood up, looking at the mutineer. + +"A heavy crack," said I. + +"Well, I suppose he came down rather nastily," said Holgate, +unperturbed. "I'm sorry. I bear Legrand no grudge. He was a good +navigating officer." + +"It looks like brain lesion," I said. "But I should like to examine +more carefully." + +"Welcome, doctor, welcome," said he cheerfully, "always welcome, so +long as I command this ship. Fly a flag and I'll see there's no +reigning princes about. I'm the only prince here, you may take my word +for that." + +I thanked him coolly, and giving the prisoners some directions for the +care of Legrand, climbed to the deck. As I left the lower deck with the +suave compliments of Holgate in my ears, I had two things in my mind to +ponder. In the first place, there was the mystery behind the chief +mutineer. What ailed him that he had made no attack on our weak +garrison? And had the deviation of the yacht's cruise been an adequate +reason for leaving the strong-room untouched? Again, when he had +offered terms, had he not known that we could not accept them, and why +had he conducted himself with such easy insolence as to prevent us from +accepting them had we been disposed to do so? This problem frankly +baffled me. But the other thought was more consolatory. I was convinced +that Legrand was not much injured, and I guessed that he was +"shamming." That he had winked at me to convey his real case seemed +obvious. My heart rose at the thought, for it had been downcast, heaven +knows. But it was something to feel that we had allies forward, in the +heart of the enemy, even if they were at present under hatches. I had +faith somehow in Legrand, a silent, forcible man, and I entered the +staterooms with cheerfulness. + +Oddly enough, the note with which I was received bore some relation to +that cheerfulness, for I was admitted to the tune of tremulous +laughter. It was Ellison who let me in, but the laughter did not +proceed from him. Half-way down the corridor was Sir John in animated +conversation with Mademoiselle. At least, the animation was on her +part, for he was decorously stolid, and favoured me with a nod. + +"Managed it, then, Phillimore. Good for you," he said with amiable +patronage. "I though it was all up when I heard that shot. But +Mademoiselle put her money on you." + +"Ah, was I not right?" she asked archly in her pretty English. "I know +the doctor. He is an old friend of mine." + +She was dressed in a smart morning gown, somewhat open at the throat, +and her admirable voice seemed to encompass us in its sympathy. One +could not but feel pleased and flattered by her faith. I smiled. + +"I am glad to say that Legrand's safe, but _hors de combat_," I went +on. "Perhaps not for long. We may have a surprise in store for us. At +any rate, Holgate does not know everything. He's a little too clever, +to my mind." + +"Oh, I wish they were all hanged, and dead," broke out Mademoiselle, +with an impatient gesticulation. + +"They will be in due time," said Barraclough. + +"Tell me, Sir John, tell me, doctor, is there any danger?" she asked +vivaciously. + +Sir John was ever deliberate, and I anticipated him. + +"None, or very little at present, I think." + +"Ah!" she beamed on us both. "Then you shall have time to play with me. +Do you play breedge, Sir John?" + +I turned away, for it was time to relieve Lane in the saloon. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE LULL + + +When you consider how I had parted from the Prince, his subsequent +conduct must be regarded as creditable. After my watch I fell dead +asleep in my bunk, and might have slept till night had it not been for +the sense of discipline possessed and exhibited by his Royal Highness. +He visited me in person, and did me the honour to arouse me from my +dreamless slumber, whereat I sat up cursing. + +"It is natural you should feel irritated, Dr. Phillimore," said he +calmly. "But when you come to yourself you will perceive that duty must +be performed. It is your watch." + +"Oh, ah!" I blurted forth. "You must excuse me; sir, but I have had a +night of it." + +He nodded amiably. "If you will come to my cabin after your watch," he +observed, "I shall have something to say to you." + +I do not know that I looked forward to the interview with any interest. +I expected some censure of my conduct earlier in the day, and I was +resolved to defend myself. But the Prince proved mild and even amiable. +He offered me a cigar, and condescended to discuss some points of +policy with me. + +"I have been told," said he, "that you have been in the forecastle, and +have seen Mr. Legrand. You think that there is some chance of his +joining us? Well, it is good hearing. I have no doubt that we shall +succeed in destroying the traitors." + +"Mr. Morland," said I, leaning forward to him, "I would not like to +leave you in the thought that this is going to be easy." + +"Oh, no; it will not be easy," he agreed. + +But plainly he was confident that it was possible, which I was not. If +there was any one in that ship that doubted, it was I. I said nothing, +however, but remarked that Holgate was a man of resource and capacity. + +"I am willing to believe that," he said after a pause. "He is a very +clever scoundrel. Oh, yes." + +"We might be in a better position to counter his plans if we fathom +them," I suggested. + +He looked at me, interrogation in his blue eyes, which were, and were +not, so like his sister's. + +"The question that puzzles me, sir, is why Holgate did not seize the +saloon and the deck below last night when he had the chance--for down +there is what he wants." + +"He had us locked up in the chart-house," replied the Prince with +assurance. "He did not anticipate that we should escape; and the yacht +was running into danger." + +Yes; that was the explanation that had occurred to me; indeed, it was +the explanation that hitherto we had all accepted. But was it true? + +"It was his intention to possess himself of the papers at his leisure," +continued Prince Frederic, smoking and gazing at me with the air of a +preceptor instructing a pupil. + +"Why should he?" I asked bluntly. + +The Prince smiled pleasantly. "I will tell you, Dr. Phillimore," he +answered. "When I left London, and Europe, for good, I instructed my +lawyers to put my property into three forms of goods--drafts on +bankers, Bank of England notes, and English currency. Each kind would +be of service to me, whose destination was not quite settled. But these +would make a bulky load for any man. There is a large amount of specie, +and is it not the Bank of England that says, 'Come and carry what gold +you will away in your pockets provided you give us L5,000'? Well, there +is that difficulty for these villains." + +"But," I objected, "do they know how the treasure is made up?" + +He cast a dark glance at me. "I have told you," he said, "I trust such +as you in my service, doctor. But there has been treachery. Who I am +and what I carry became known. How, I cannot say. But it was treachery. +The whole thing is a conspiracy," he cried, hammering on the table, +"and it may be that my enemies in Hochburg are at the bottom of it. I +will find out. But, see you, doctor, I am Mr. Morland here and +hereafter. Let that be understood, and it is as Mr. Morland I will hang +these ruffians." + +His frown knit his eyebrows closely, and his nostrils heaved, while the +blue eyes were fired with sudden flame. If he had ideas on democracy, +as reports of him had declared, he had also beyond question the temper +of the martinet. It was possible, no doubt, to recognise these strange +contradictions, but at the first sight it seemed difficult. I had yet +to learn that I was dealing with a type of the fanatic, and a +representative of that type, moreover, who exemplified in his blood the +fatalism of his ascendants. Yet the glimpse I had of the man was +interesting. I began to understand him, and even to sympathise with +him. He had foregone much for the sake of an ideal, and that was +something. But just then I should like to have known exactly what his +sister's attitude to that ideal might be. For Princess Alix, strange as +her brother was, was even more baffling than he. + +Though we kept a rigid watch all that day and night, no attack was +delivered, and I began once again to speculate as to Holgate's policy. +Was he trying to tire us out before he made his assault, or had he +other ends in view? The second day passed as tranquilly as the first, +and the yacht was still making her best southward. She had passed the +mouth of the Rio La Plata, and was forging along the Argentine coast, +bound for--we knew not whither. Her destination was in other hands, and +we must be content to abide the issues, alert and equipped for any +emergency. + +On the second day I revisited the forecastle, with my flag, and found +Holgate as amiable as before. + +"You give me your word, doctor, that you have no weapons?" said he, +when I had attended to his wounded men, and was proceeding to the hold +where the prisoners lay. + +"I give you my word," I replied. + +He nodded, and gave orders for the removal of the hatch; and down I +went, this time unaccompanied. Legrand still lay on his back, staring +vacantly, and the sailors were grouped about, a despondent company, in +that dark and stuffy hole. + +"Any improvement?" said I to one of them. + +"Not much, sir," said he, with a glance towards the open hatchway, +where, no doubt, one of the mutineers stood on guard. + +"Does Mr. Legrand take any nourishment?" I asked. + +"A bit, sir, but not too much. He doesn't seem to relish his food," the +man answered. + +"Does he talk?" I asked. + +"He has spoken about a dozen sentences, sir, but there don't seem much +sense in them." + +"Ah, I feared as much," I said. I was certain that Holgate, for all his +lordly air of unconcern, had taken steps to know what was forward in +the hold. + +I made another examination, and was the more convinced that there was +nothing seriously the matter with Legrand. This time he frankly grinned +in my face, as I laid him down. No doubt the sailors were in his +secret, and primed for it. + +"I daresay I shall have to operate," I said, and, bidding them +farewell, I ascended to the deck. + +Holgate waved his hand cheerily at me. "Always glad to see you, +doctor," he called out, and went on with the conversation in which he +was engaged. + +I could have whipped myself that I could not guess what his crafty +design was. + +But, if I was ignorant, no one was likely to assist me. Barraclough had +no views; all that his purview compassed was the probability of an +immediate fight, to which he looked forward with unconcern. Lane was +ridiculously inept in his suggestions, one of which involved the idea +that Holgate desired to "bag ladies and treasure with one gun." This +suggestion irritated me, and I snubbed him, so far as any one could +snub Lane. The Prince, I knew, was secure in his obstinate conviction, +and naturally Ellison had no views any more than Barraclough. They were +both very excellent examples of pure British phlegm and +unimaginativeness. This seemed to cast the burden upon me, for Pye was +still confined to his cabin. The little man was undoubtedly shaken by +the horrid events he had witnessed, and though he was confessedly a +coward, I could not help feeling sorry for him. He was an abject +creature now, and clung to his bunk, keeping out of the Prince's way +and Barraclough's as much as possible, and pestering me with his +consultations. + +"I believe I should be better, doctor, if we were to get into warmer +weather," he said pleadingly. "Cold does affect a man's nerves, doesn't +it?" + +"Well, you'll have to make love to Holgate, if you want that," said I +drily. "We're at his mercy." + +We were all, I think, conscious of that, if we did not always openly +acknowledge the fact. Yet it was astonishing that no attack was made on +the state-rooms. Holgate had promised it, and had even struck the +shadow of deeper terrors during the concluding words of his interview +in the corridor. But things went on peacefully; the sun rose in blurred +heavens of blue and grey, and declined into rolling waters, and no +event of consequence took place. The bells were sounded as of old; the +wheelman in his armoured turret steered the yacht upon her course, and +every day the _Sea Queen_ drew southward under the ordinary maritime +routine. Were it not for our memories, and for the outward facts of our +predicament, we might have fancied ourselves merely upon a pleasant +excursion. + +There was, however, this lacking, that no one knew our destination. The +secret was locked in Holgate's bosom, or perhaps he shared it with one +or more of his desperadoes. + +And, as if to lull us into a sense of security and to persuade us that +all was normal, Mademoiselle suddenly developed and exhibited a +remarkable liveliness. She was a thing of moods and impulses, +restrained by no reason or consideration for others, so far as I could +judge. And, having once got the better of her hysteric fear of the +mutiny, she promptly discarded any thought of it. We were prisoners in +our part of the yacht, it is true, but that did not interfere with our +comfort. We had food and wine to spare; we were supplied with every +luxury; and no one gave us any trouble. The guards were set regularly, +but Mademoiselle had no concern with that. I doubt if she even +recognised that such precautions were taken. There was a certain +romance in the situation which appealed to her and inflamed her +imagination. She lived most of the day in her cabins, being tired by +her maid, or playing dominoes or some other childish game; and in the +afternoon she emerged upon us, a glorious figure in fine clothes, and +gave us the benefit of her society. + +Naturally she spent much of her time in company with the Prince and his +sister, but Barraclough and myself were by no means denied her favours. +Barraclough spoke French very indifferently--as indifferently, indeed, +as Mademoiselle spoke English, but that did not prevent them from +getting on very well together. As I have explained, Barraclough was a +tall, handsome fellow, lean and inflexible of face, with the +characteristic qualities of his race. His eyes admired the lady +profoundly, and he endeavoured to keep pace with her wits, a task +rendered difficult by the breaches in two languages. This vivacity was +crowned by exhibitions of her voice, to which she began to treat us. +She had, as I remembered, a wonderful mezzo-soprano, and, being pent up +in this comfortable prison, and denied access to the promenade, she +used it to effect. As I have said, the music-room surrounding the +saloon below, as a balcony, was in our suite, if I may put it in that +way, and thither was Mademoiselle accustomed to repair of an afternoon +to keep her voice in practice, as she explained. The Prince usually +followed her there, and I have seen him more than once seated in the +dimness of the farthest corner of the balcony, staring before him as a +man lost in thought, or as one rapt out of himself into some +sentimental ecstasy at the sounds of that divine music. Here we felt, +more or less, that we were in Liberty Hall, and, to do him justice, +Prince Frederic encouraged us to feel this. It was understood that the +saloon was open to all, and it became a resort for such of us as were +off duty in those days--a resort that would have been improved by more +light; for the windows were all barred and shuttered, and only the +skylights admitted the day. + +The weather was now grown much colder, for we were off the coast of +Patagonia, and Holgate appeared to be bent on doubling the Horn and +getting into the Pacific. In the wilds of that wide domain there would +be more chances for this crew of scoundrels to find refuge and security +from the arm of the law. Was it for this he was waiting? And yet that +was no argument against an immediate attack, for it was clear that he +might get the business over, deal with us as he chose, and make for his +destination afterwards and at his leisure. Nor could it be that he +doubted as to the issue of the struggle, for his forces outnumbered +ours greatly, and, if I knew anything of men, Holgate was utterly +without fear. But, on the other hand, he had a great deal of +discretion. The only conclusion that emerged from these considerations +was the certainty that in the end Holgate had decreed our fate. _That_ +had been settled when Day fell, perhaps even before that, and when poor +McCrae was shot by his engines. We were doomed to death. + +If any doubt as to our fate dwelt in Princess Alix's mind she did not +show it. She was a girl of spirit and energy, and she had neat hands. +Thus her time was spent in such work as she deemed useful in the +circumstances, or such as occupied her mind healthily. She made a +handsome fur cap for herself against the biting wind, which now came +snapping off the icy highlands of the coast, and she sketched, and +designed, and photographed. Above all, she was cheerful and +self-reliant. There was not much in common between the brother and the +sister save perhaps their aloofness from strangers. I questioned much +if the Princess had any of her brother's sentimentality. She had all +her brother's decision and fire, however, as I was to see exemplified +more than once. + +It was on the third of our quiet afternoons that I was sitting in the +corridor with a volume in my hand, conscious merely of the many sounds +in that silence, and scarcely aware of what I read. The voyage seemed +to partake of the nature of that fabled voyage of the ancient mariner. +Some strange doom hung over us all, and yet the sky smiled, as it did +that moment, and the cold breath of the blue sea was inspiring in one's +nostrils like wine in the blood. I was aware in this dream that a door +had opened and shut, and that the Princess had come into the corridor. +She sat on a chair not far from me and plied her needles in a way that +struck me now, as I roused myself, as very homely and pleasant. I shot +a glance at her. She was very simply dressed in what, for all I know, +may have been a very extravagant fashion. She had the knitted waistcoat +she was making (I concluded for her brother) across her knee, and I had +a full view of her as she swayed and moved about her task. Those +flowing lines, that sweet ripeness, the excellent beauty of her face, +impressed me newly. She met my glance, and smiled. + +"What do you find interests you, Dr. Phillimore?" she asked in her +pleasant voice. + +"I was reading, or pretending to read, a book of poems," I answered. + +"Poems," she replied, plying her needles, and then in a little, "It is +strange you should be reading poems and I knitting here." + +"It puzzles me," said I. I rose and went to the window behind her which +was not shuttered, and for the light from which she had seated herself +there. The crisp sparkle of the sea rose to eyes and ears. When I +turned, Princess Alix had ceased from her work and was looking towards +me. + +"You wonder why?" she asked. + +"I have made many guesses, but have never satisfied myself yet why the +mutiny is not pushed to its logical conclusion." + +"Which would mea----" she said thoughtfully. + +"Which would mean," I interrupted quickly, "the possession of the +treasure." + +There was something deeply significant in her gaze, something that was +brave, and appealed, and winced at the same time. She went on slowly +with her knitting. + +"He is waiting his time," she remarked in a low voice. + +"He will wait too long," I said with a little laugh. + +"Do you think so?" she asked, and, laying down her work, went to the +window as I had done. "It is cold." + +"We are off an icy shore," I said. + +"Yes, I found it on the map this morning," she nodded. "We are close to +the Straits of Magellan!" + +At that moment the sound of the piano sailed through the door at the +end of the corridor. She turned her head slightly, and then moved away +restlessly. She went to the chair on which I had been sitting and +picked up my Tennyson. + +"I know him pretty well," she remarked, turning the pages. She halted +where I had inserted a marker. + +"'The Princess,'" she said slowly. She drummed her fingers on the leaf, +read for a minute or two, and dropped the book lightly. "We have no +literature in comparison with yours, Dr. Phillimore; but we have +sometimes done better than that." + +"Oh, not than the lyrics," I protested lightly. "_Ask me no more_----" + +The music from without broke into louder evidence, and she turned +frowning towards the door. + +"Do you know, Dr. Phillimore," she asked hesitatingly, "if Mr. Morland +is in his room?" + +"He went after lunch," I answered. She stood considering. + +"Mademoiselle has a beautiful voice," I said tentatively. + +"Oh, yes," she assented. "It is of good quality and training." Her tone +was curt, as if she were unwilling to continue the conversation, but +she still listened. + + Einsam Wandelt dein Freund im Fruehlings garten. + +It seemed to me that I could almost hear the words in that uplifted +music. The song has always been a passionate fancy of mine, beguiling +the heart of rock to romance. Sentiment is on wing in every corner of +one's consciousness when that song rises in its fulness and falls in +its cadences on one's ears and deeper senses. + + In der Spiegelnden Fluth, in Schnee der Alpen.... + ... strahlt dein Bildniss. + +I could see Mademoiselle Trebizond at the piano with the vision of the +mind, her soul enrapt, her features transfigured. She was a figment of +the emotions. And the Princess and I listened, she with a little +dubitating look of perplexity, paying me no heed now, and I singularly +moved. I walked down the corridor, past where Princess Alix stood, and +as I went by I could have put out my arm and drawn her to me. She was +wonderful in her beauty and her pride. + + Deutlich schimmert auf jedem purpur blaettchen. + +But I went by and opened the door that gave upon the saloon stairs. +Instantly the flood of music rolled into the room in a tide, and, +glancing back, I saw the Princess stir. She came towards me. + +"A voice is a beautiful machine," she said uncertainly as the notes +died away. + +I could not answer; but she may have read an answer in my eyes. She +passed me just as the singer broke into something new, and entered the +music gallery. A shaft of light struck out her figure boldly. I walked +round to the second door at the head of the stairs. Right away in the +corner was Mademoiselle, and by her Sir John Barraclough lounged on the +sofa, stroking his moustache uneasily. But my eyes lingered on the two +not at all, for they were drawn forthwith to another sight which filled +me with astonishment. The barriers had been removed from several of the +windows, the windows themselves were open, and I could discern the +figures of men gathered without on the deck. + +With an exclamation I ran forward, interrupting the mellifluous course +of Schubert's Serenade, and Barraclough started to his feet. + +"What is it?" he asked abruptly. + +Mademoiselle turned on her stool and regarded me with curiosity, and +behind the Princess was approaching slowly. + +"The windows, man!" said I. + +Mademoiselle burst into laughter. "It was so dark," she said prettily, +"I could not see plainly. I must always have light when I play. And I +made Sir John open them." + +Barraclough fidgeted, but turned a cold face on me. + +"What's all the fuss about?" he asked surlily. + +I pointed to the figures which we could see through the open windows. + +"Well, that's my business," he said shortly. "I'm in command, and I'm +not a fool." As he spoke he fingered his revolver. + +"Oh, do not be afraid. It is all right," said Mademoiselle cheerfully. +"See, we will have more open. I will play them something. They are +listening to my music. It will soothe them." + +She cast a look at Sir John from her laughing dark eyes, and let her +hands down on the keys with a bang, breaking into a jolly air of the +boulevards. + +"Stay," she cried, stopping quickly, "but I know one of your English +tunes suitable for the sea. How do you call it? Tom-bolling!" + +As she spoke she swerved softly into that favourite air, the English +words running oddly from her lips. + +"'Ere a sheer 'ulk lies poor Tom Bo-olling..." + +From the deck came a burst of applause. She laughed in delight, and +winked up at me. + +"I can do more with them than your guns," she said boldly, and was +sailing into the next verse when the Princess intervened. + +"Mademoiselle," she said in French, "you are inconveniencing the +officers. They have much to do." + +Mademoiselle turned about angrily and met the Princess' gaze. She +seemed about to fly out in a tempest, but as suddenly checked herself, +leaving only a little frown on her forehead to witness to her +annoyance. She had been engaged in a little triumph that suited her +vanity, and she had been called away from it. I really do not think +there was anything more than that in it--not then, at any rate. She +rose. + +"You are a tyrant, my princess," she said, and nodding sweetly to +Barraclough and myself, left the gallery. + +Princess Alix followed, her face pale and still. More than ever was I +convinced that, whatever feelings the lady had inspired in the Prince, +his sister was not party to them. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +IN THE SALOON + + +I think it was from that hour that I began to get on badly with +Barraclough. It was in his power as acting captain, no doubt, to remit +certain precautions, but the remission of those precautions was not to +the credit of his head. He had been beguiled by the Siren, and she, +doubtless, by her vanity or her freakishness. When she had gone he +turned on me. + +"What the devil do you want interfering, Phillimore?" he demanded. "I'm +in charge here." + +There never was a man so insensate. I shrugged my shoulders. "Well, it +was not my interference that was successful," I said curtly. + +He walked abruptly to the window and opened it wider I could not be +mistaken as to the bulky form that blocked it. + +"Nice music, captain," said Holgate's wheezing voice. + +"I'll give you just three seconds to quit, or I'll put a hole through +you, you infernal rascal," said Barraclough savagely, raising his +revolver. + +"Oh, we're in no hurry," said the mutineer cheerfully, and moved away. + +I suppose that some gleam of reason prevented Barraclough from firing. +He barred the windows afresh, and came back to me. + +"Why the mischief doesn't he attack?" he exclaimed peevishly. + +I did not know, but I was near guessing just then. In point of fact, I +did guess that afternoon. I paid my usual visit to the forecastle and +the hold. Legrand played the same farce with remarkable persistence, +and I was no longer puzzled by him. He was biding his time, like +Holgate, and his reasons were obvious. Holgate's dawned on me just +then--but some of them only, as you shall see during the progress of +this narrative. + +He maintained his friendliness, inquired civilly after our health, and +how the ladies bore the seclusion. + +"I wish I could make it easier for them, but I can't, doctor," he said +amiably. + +He was an abominable liar, but I had a certain admiration for his +effrontery. I was glad I could meet him on his own ground, so I +answered deliberately: + +"Of course, it would spoil your plans to get the job over." + +He eyed me smiling. "As how, my friend," he asked. + +"You would rather have us in charge of the treasure than yourself," I +replied. + +He laughed. "Doctor, there's imagination in you, as I've always said. +It's a pity I made that blunder about you. Not that it matters now. +Well, you've nicked it. What's the odds? You are welcome to the +truth--now." + +There was a perceptible emphasis on his last word. + +"You're not afraid of the attack?" I said. + +He shook his head. "Not much. While we have a common object we're all +right. I'm afraid of success. Doctor, you've a penetrating eye. Why, +the treasure might break us up. If you had sent it down to me I believe +I'd have sent it back. That would have been your best chance. I wonder +you didn't think of it. But you've got your flaws. If you'd sent that +treasure down I'd have had to take it; and you might have sat down and +waited on events. But it's too late now. I know where I am." + +"And where's that?" I asked bluntly. + +He smiled craftily. "We enter the Straits of Magellan this extra +special night," he said. "Let's put it at that." + +"And what's to come?" I asked in the same voice. + +"Lord, one would suppose you in the counsels," he said equably. "And in +a way you are. Well, you can hand over that treasure which you have +been good enough to guard for me better than I could myself as soon as +you will. I've no objection now. Good-evening, doctor." + +He wheeled about and went off humming a tune. But I was staggered. That +meant, if he were not lying again, that we were near the end of our +tether, that the truce was up, and that.... + +My mind shuddered in its train of thought. There was only one possible +end for us if Holgate was to secure himself; and he was capable of any +infamy. As I looked at his broad back and bull neck I felt rage and +hatred gather in me and surge together. But I was impotent then and +there. I went back to our quarters sick at heart. + +It was falling dark when I reached the state-rooms, and all was as +usual. The same vacant face of quietude was presented to me in the +corridor. Leaving the two men, of whom one was Grant, on guard, I went +below to my cabin; and, as I did so, thought to look in upon Pye. Faint +shafts of light streamed in by the open port, but I could see no one. + +"Pye!" I called, and received no answer. + +Well, it was of small consequence to us if Pye recovered or not, for he +was negligible as a unit of our defence. But I was glad that the little +man had sufficiently resumed what what might be called his manhood to +be up and about again. Maybe, I thought with some amusement, I should +find him airing himself in the corridor or disporting in the +music-room. Coming out of my cabin, I groped my way along the passage +in the direction of the stairs. When I reached the foot of them it was +quite dark, and I stopped, arrested suddenly by a murmur of voices from +the saloon beyond. I knew that some one must be on guard there, but I +did not quite understand the murmur. I hesitated, making some inquiries +in my mind. From the hour, I came to the conclusion that Barraclough +was on duty, and I turned and entered the saloon, the door of which was +ajar. + +"Is that you, Barraclough?" I called. + +My voice penetrated the darkness, which was here alleviated by the dull +gleam from the port-holes. I heard a rustling, and I was sure it was of +a woman's skirts. + +"What do you want?" asked Barraclough in a leaden voice. + +"Oh, nothing," said I as coldly; "I only thought I heard voices." + +"Now what the----" He pulled himself up sharply, for with all his +faults (and heaven knows I had yet to find how many they were) he was a +gentleman. + +"It is the doctor," came in Mademoiselle's pretty accents. "Oh, it is +so cold upstairs, doctor. You must make us some machinery to warm us." + +"We shall be colder yet, Mademoiselle," I replied indifferently; "we +shall have the ices of Magellan refrigerating us to-morrow." + +"Magellan," said Barraclough. "What the mischief does that mean?" + +"Ask Mr. Holgate," I answered. "It's his affair, or he thinks it is. He +has taken it on himself." I made my way to the electric-light knobs. +"As it seems to be getting dark," I said, not without irony, "I will +take the liberty of illuminating." + +"Oh, it's none so dark," growled Barraclough. "We ought to be used to +darkness by this time. We're not all children at nurse," he sneered +palpably. + +I turned the catch, but no light came. "It's gone wrong," I exclaimed. + +"Yes, I did try it a little time ago," said Mademoiselle sweetly, "when +Sir John and I were in so deep argument." + +Of course it was a lie, but what did that matter. If I could have seen +Barraclough's face at that moment I felt sure it would have advertised +a sense of shame, despite his passivity. But Mademoiselle.... Well, I +could see in the dusk the shadow of her face, and it was a handsome +shadow. Almost I could see her smile. They were seated in the recesses +of the saloon. I moved towards them. + +"I suppose you understand the hang of this, Sir John," I said drily. + +"I'm not a patent detective," he answered with his arrogant sneer, but +I paid no heed, for I felt sure of settling him then and there. + +"I suppose it has occurred to you to reflect on whose grace we have +depended for our electric supply," I said mildly. + +"I know that it comes from the engine-room, if that's what you mean," +he replied bluntly. + +"And now it's cut off," I said. + +There was a pause, and it was the lady who broke it. + +"What is it that you mean, doctor?" + +I addressed her. "The mutineers cut off the light preparatory to an +attack." + +"You are the most wonderful sleuth-hound, Dr. Phillimore," said +Barraclough with a hard laugh; "your talents are quite thrown away." + +"I regret to say they are here," I answered sharply. "And where would +he be if he had paid some attention to the patent detective? I tell you +again, Sir John Barraclough, that we've got to expect an attack +to-night, and that's why the light is gone." + +A man may endure hostility and defeat; he may suffer shame and +injustice; he may undergo pangs of jealousy and remorse. All these +things are dispiriting or humiliating, but I declare that I would +willingly experience them all if I might save myself from the supreme +dishonour of appearing in a ridiculous _role_. I had spoken strongly +because I felt warmly, and there was a note of dictatorial assurance in +my voice which might have convinced, or at least silenced, Barraclough. +But I had left the keys down, and to my shocking discomfiture as I +finished my declamation the saloon was at a stroke flooded with light. + +The radiance discovered to me Mademoiselle's piquante face, her eyes +smiling, her lips full and pouting, and close beside her Barraclough's +fair Saxon jowl. He grinned at me, but said nothing, for which perhaps +I should have been grateful. But I was not. + +"But this is in our honour, then?" suggested Mademoiselle Yvonne +prettily. + +I had no fancy for her, but I did not mind her little sarcasm. + +I bowed. "No doubt to celebrate my oratory," I said, recovering myself. +"But as we do not know how long Mr. Holgate will condescend to continue +his compliment we may as well make the most of it." + +"You're a cool hand, Phillimore," said Barraclough, now with the good +temper of one who has triumphed. + +"But none so cool as Holgate," I returned him in the same spirit, "for +he has just warned me that his reasons for not attacking us are at an +end." He regarded me interrogatively. "Holgate is not only a cool hand, +but a cunning hand, a far-reasoning hand. He has let us take care of +his treasure until he was ready for it." + +"What do you mean?" asked Barraclough in astonishment. + +"His men might have become demoralised if he had seized the safe. He +has, therefore, feigned to them that it was not practicable. That has +been his reason for our security--not tender mercy for us, you may +guess. So we have kept his treasure safe, and now--he wants it." + +"Why now?" queried Barraclough, who frowned. + +"That's Holgate's secret. I suppose he knows what he is going to do and +what destination he wants. We don't. Anyway, we're turning through +Magellan to-night, and he has no further use for us." + +"I wish I'd shot that fiend to-day," said Barraclough savagely. + +Mademoiselle looked from one to the other, a curious expression on her +face. + +"He is a remarkable man, this 'Olgate?" she asked. + +"He is--pardon, Mademoiselle--the devil," said Barraclough. + +She laughed her fluting laughter. "Oh, but the devil may be perhaps +converted," she said. "He may be tamed. You say music have powers to +tame the savage breast." She tapped her bosom dramatically, and smiled. +"There is many men that may be tamed." + +She cast a soft glance at Barraclough and then at me. + +But I only got the edge of it, for at that moment I caught sight of a +gray face, with little tufts of whisker under the ears, and glancing +glasses that hung over the railings of the music balcony above. It was +Pye. Had he been there long in the darkness or had he only just +arrived, attracted by the light and the voices? The latter seemed the +more probable assumption, for as I looked up he made an awkward +movement as if he was embarrassed at being discovered. Yet if he had +been eavesdropping, where was the harm? But somehow I felt annoyed. The +others followed my glance, but the clerk had gone. + +Mademoiselle Trebizond sighed and put her small hand over her mouth to +hide a yawn. + +"It is so what you call dull, Sir John," she protested in her +coquettish way. "Nothing but sea, sea, and not even the chance to go on +deck. I would sooner have the mutineers. Oh, but it was insensate to +leave Europe and France. No, it is a country the most diabolic this +side of the ocean. What is there under the sea, Sir John?" + +"Why, the fishes, Mademoiselle," said he, grinning. + +"No, no; understand me, Monsieur. I mean under the ground. What is +there?" She waved her hands. "Sea, sea, sea, nothing else, and +savages," she added thoughtfully. + +"They would be interesting," I suggested drily. + +She looked at me. "My good friend, doctor, you are right," she said +charmingly. "More interesting than this company. Monsieur 'Olgate, he +is interesting, is it not?" + +"We may have an opportunity of judging presently," said I lightly. + +Mademoiselle got up and peered out of the port-holes. The glow of the +electric light in the luxurious saloon threw into blueness the stark +darkness of the evening. Nothing was visible, but through the ports +streamed the cadences of the water rising and falling about the hull. +It had its picturesque side, that scene, and looked at with sympathetic +eyes the setting was romantic, whatever tragedy might follow. That it +was to be tragedy I was assured, but this pretty, emotional butterfly +had no such thoughts. Why should she have? She was safeguarded by the +prince of a regnant line; she was to be the mistress of millions; and +she could coquette at will in dark corners with handsome officers. She +was bored, no doubt, and when dominoes with her maid failed her, she +had Barraclough to fall back on, and there was her art behind all if +she had only an audience. I began to see the explanation of that +astonishing scene earlier in the day. She was vain to her finger-tips; +she loved sensations; and it was trying even to be the betrothed of a +royal prince if divorced from excitements to her vanity. After all, +Prince Frederic, apart from his lineage, was an ordinary mortal, and +his conversation was not stimulating. In Germany or in Paris +Mademoiselle would have footed it happily as the consort even of a +dethroned prince; but what was to be got out of the eternal wash and +silence of the ocean, out of the sea, sea, sea, as she herself phrased +it? + +She came back from the port-hole. "It is so dull," she said, and yawned +politely. Well, it was dull, but perhaps dulness was more pleasant than +the excitements which we were promised. With a flirt of her eyes she +left us. + +When she was gone Barraclough eyed me coldly and steadily. + +"You didn't say all you had to say," he remarked. + +"No, I didn't. Lights or no lights, Holgate will attack presently--I +will not pin myself to to-night. He is where he wants to be, or will be +soon. Then he has no use for us"--I paused--"women or men." + +"Good God, do you think him that sort of scoundrel?" he inquired +sharply. + +"What has he done? Played with us as a cat with mice. Oh, he's the most +unholy ruffian I've ever struck. And you know it. Look at his face. No, +Barraclough, it's death, it's death to every man jack." + +"And the women?" he said hesitatingly. + +I too hesitated. "No, I don't credit him with that. He threatened, but +I don't quite believe. Yet I don't know. No; I think it's a question of +a terminus for all of us, man and woman"--I paused--"including your +pretty friend there." + +He turned sharply on me, but made no remark. His eyelids were drawn and +heavy and his eyes surcharged. He appeared to be under the stress of +some severe thought. I moved away, leaving it at that, for it was +obvious that he was moved. As I reached the door I happened to glance +back. Barraclough stood where I had left him, his brows knitted; but my +eyes passed from him to the gallery, and there lighted on Mademoiselle, +who stood with one hand on the railing gazing down at Barraclough. She +had her hand to her heart, and her face was white like death, but that +may have been the effect of the electric light. I wondered, as I had +wondered about Pye, how long she had been there, and if she had heard. +Had she spied on us of a set purpose? If so (God help her!) she had +taken no good of her eavesdropping. A pity for her seized me. She was +still and silent in the course of my gaze, but, as I looked, the ship +heeled, her bosom struck the railing heavily, and she uttered a tiny +cry. Barraclough glanced up and saw her. As I went out a cold blast +streamed off the sea and entered the open ports; the waters rocked and +roared. I guessed that we were entering the channel. + +I had made my report to Barraclough, but I had to report to the Prince. +When I reached his cabin I found him seated before his table, engaged +in sorting a number of documents. He wore glasses, which I had never +seen on him before, and he proffered me a severe frown as I entered. I +have never to this day rightly assessed the character of Prince +Frederic of Hochburg, so many odd ingredients entered into it. He was +dictatorial, he was even domineering, he was hard-working, and he was +conscientious. About these qualities I had already made up my mind. But +his acts had been wholly in disregard of the rhythmical and regular +conventions which he should thus have associated with himself. He had +broken with his fatherland, he had thrown over dynastic laws, he had +gone by his will alone, and no red tape. Perhaps there was the +solution. He had gone by his conscience. I have said I was convinced of +his conscientiousness, and possibly in these strange departures from +the code of his fathers he was following a new and internal guide, to +the detriment of his own material interests. He had abandoned the +essence while retaining the forms of his birth and breeding. At least, +this is but my assumption; his actions must explain him for himself. I +have set down faithfully how he behaved from the first moment I met +him. Let him be judged by that. + +The Prince, then, who had violated the traditions of his house by his +proposed alliance, was occupied in his accounts. That, at any rate, is +what I gathered from the hasty glance I got at the sheets of figures +before him. + +"Well, sir?" said he brusquely. + +"I report, sir, that we have entered the Straits of Magellan, and that +we have every reason to look for an attack at any moment," I said +formally. + +He dropped his pen. "So!" he said, nodding quite pleasantly. + +"It is just as well that it comes, doctor. We have been too long on the +rack. It has done us no good." + +"I think you are right, sir," I answered; "and, on the other hand, it +has been of service to the mutineers." + +He looked perplexed. "We have taken charge of the safes for them," I +explained. + +He sat silent awhile, and then mechanically curled his moustache +upwards. + +"Yes--yes--yes," he said. "You are right. That, then, is the reason. +This man is clever." + +It seemed the echo of what his lady-love had said a quarter of an hour +before. I made no reply, as none seemed necessary. He went to the +barred window, in which a gap was open, letting in the night, and the +act recalled again to me Mademoiselle. Was this scion of royalty +perishing for an idea? He looked very strong, very capable, and rather +wonderful just then. I had never been drawn to him, but I had at the +moment some understanding of what it might be to be the subject of so +masterful and unreasonable a man. Yet now he was not at all +unreasonable, or even masterful. He turned back to me. + +"Doctor," he said gently, "we must see that the ladies are not +incommoded." + +"We will all do our best," I answered, wondering if he knew how +inadequate a word he had used. Incommoded! Good heavens! Was my +knowledge of Holgate to go for nothing? What would be the end? Was the +man an idealist? He seemed sunk in a dream, and I saw his face soften +as he stared out at the sea. Compassion gushed in my heart. I turned +away. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE FOG + + +My watch ended at ten o'clock, and I went direct to my cabin. I was a +light sleeper, and could depend upon awaking at the slightest sound. +Thus I had no fear that I should be wanting in an emergency, quite +apart from the fact that the steward was stationed at the opening into +the saloon with strict orders. + +I suppose it must have been three hours later that I sat up in my bunk +with a consciousness that something was wrong. I listened, but I could +hear no sound, and I rose to my feet, seizing my revolver. Then I +understood. It was precisely that there was no sound, or rather that +sounds had dwindled, that I awoke. The screw had stopped. I opened the +door and went along the passage towards the saloon. Grant was at the +foot of the stairs, and I hailed him. + +"No, sir, I don't know, sir," he answered me in respect of my +questions. + +Well, one had to find out at any cost, and I ran up the stairs and got +access to the corridor of the state-rooms. Here were gathered the +Prince, Barraclough, Lane, and the quartermaster. + +"I believe he's been on the P.S.N.C," Lane was saying as I came up. "He +ought to be able to pull her through." + +"The question is, does he want to?" asked Barraclough grimly. + +"Good heavens, who wants to lock his ship in these accursed bilboes?" +cried the purser. "It's enough to freeze one's hair stiff. Can you see +anything?" + +For answer, Barraclough threw open the door that led upon the deck, and +it was as if a vent had yawned in the night. It was pitch black, and, +what was worse, banks of fog rolled along the thwarts. Lane drew back a +step, and shivered. + +"Oh! my uncle!" he exclaimed. + +"You do not see any sign of them?" inquired the Prince imperturbably. + +Barraclough shook his head. "If they're coming they'll have their work +cut out to find their way," he said. + +"Oh, let 'em all come this weather," said Lane agreeably. "'I wish I'd +bought ducks'--I mean fires." + +He was shivering continuously and I pushed him back. "Don't be a fool," +said I. "We want all hands in good form during the next four-and-twenty +hours." + +I peered out of the door, but the screen of sea fog shut off the view; +it was as if I gazed at a blank wall, and the cold was intense. + +"What do you guess has happened?" I asked Barraclough. + +"He's got her in a narrow gut somewhere and is frightened. I've only +been through here twice in my life, and in both cases it was broad +daylight. This is where they melt fogs for the world. Oh, hang it, +let's have the door shut." + +He shut it as he spoke, and I looked round. The Prince sat on a sofa +and waited. Lane blew on his fingers and whistled. Ellison stood, the +respectful seaman as ever. + +"They've been kind about the electric light," observed Barraclough, +with a grin at me. + +I said nothing, for there was nothing I could rejoin in the +circumstances. I retraced my way to the door and opened it. + +"Oh! confound it all!" roared Barraclough, as the fog rolled in. "Don't +you see the ladies are here?" + +I turned back, but only Princess Alix was visible. She moved white and +tall under the lights. I shut the door again. + +"Why has the yacht stopped, Frederic?" she asked her brother. + +"The fog," he answered, with a gesture towards the door. + +She looked towards us, her upper lip lifted in a charming excitement +and the colour flying in her cheeks. Then she came forward swiftly, +and, even as she did so, the _Sea Queen_ heeled over, rolling and +trembling from her copper sheathing upwards. The shock sent me against +the wall, and Barraclough also staggered. Princess Alix in her flight +was precipitated forward and ran upon me. She put up her hands +instinctively to save herself, but in the rush she gathered momentum, +and swung across the dozen paces between where she had been and the +door with the speed of an arrow discharged in the air. Her palms struck +the woodwork with a resounding slap, but the full force of her sweet +body fell on me. For one instant I held her in my arms quite closely, +her breath upon my face. + +"Are you hurt, Princess?" I gasped. + +"Oh! my hands!" she cried pitifully, and then ceased suddenly. She +withdrew a little. "They sting," she said, also breathlessly. "But +you--you must be injured." + +"I am a little out of breath," I answered, "but I was never better in +my life." I cannot say why I blurted this forth. Somehow I was beyond +myself. + +"She has struck!" cried Barraclough. + +The _Sea Queen_ righted herself slowly. + +"I can't stand this," I said. "I'm going to find out." + +I glanced at the Princess, but she stood clinging to the wall, her +bosom heaving, her eyes on Barraclough. I opened the door, and, +stepping out, closed it again behind me. I was determined to find out +what had happened. + +After all, it was not a very hazardous enterprise. Holgate had shown no +disposition to take advantage of my visits to the forecastle, and it +was pretty clear that no attack was possible at the moment. +Nevertheless, I will confess that I experienced a little elation in +feeling my way through the dense darkness along the saloon. It is not +always possible to analyse one's feelings, but I think afterwards (not +at the time) I connected this mood with the Princess. I had held her in +my arms, her face to mine, and I was suddenly exalted to be capable of +great things. There was nothing I would not have dared then, no danger +from which I would have shrunk, no risk I would not have taken, however +foolhardy. In a sense I walked on air; I was lunatic; and all because I +had held for an instant of time an adorable woman in my arms with no +consent of hers. I believe now (and I hope it will not be counted +against me) that it was with a little swagger I opened the door and +stepped forth into the rolling fog. + +The _Sea Queen_ stirred a little as if to show she still lived, but +there was no motion perceptible. I had buttoned up my coat round my +neck, but even so the mists from the ice-clad hills on either side of +the passage bit hard into me. I groped to the chart-house and then +paused. A twinkle of light was visible ahead and aloft. It was the +bridge. I launched myself suddenly into the vacancy before me, and went +like hoodman blind with arms outstretched towards the railing. I struck +an iron pillar, and guiding myself from it to another, reached at last +the foot of the ladder that ran up. This I mounted very deliberately +and carefully until I had come to the bridge itself, where a dull light +burned by the binnacle. Instantly I was taken by the throat. + +I struggled with my assailant at a disadvantage, as I was unable to +reach his face, owing to his superior grip of me; but I managed to get +a leg at the back of his, and though the pressure on my windpipe was +terrible, and I felt that I was weakening fast, I threw him back +against the railings. As I did so a light was thrust into my face, and +I heard Holgate's voice. + +"It's the doctor. All right, Pierce. Hands off, man." + +Even as he spoke my antagonist loosened his hold, and I drew off, the +relaxed artery jumping in my throat painfully. + +"By thunder, doctor, you were near gone," went on Holgate in his +ruminating voice. "Pierce don't take his fingers off no more than a +bull-dog when he has once caught on. Lucky I had a suspicion of you. I +thought no one would be such a fool as to venture save you. Glad to see +you as always, if unexpectedly. Any news?" + +He lighted a cigar as he spoke, and the fog was roseate about his head. +I recovered my breath as best I might. + +"As you are reserving us--Holgate, for a destiny of your own," I +panted, "and we are not--particularly anxious to anticipate it--thought +I would find out--if we are going down." + +He laughed fatly. "I like you, doctor. Upon my soul I do. It's a real +pity we couldn't have hit it off. No; you can sleep calmly. There's no +going down; well, not yet. I've been through these Straits a score of +times, and in all weathers, and I've learned this much, that a fog +spells the red flag. That's all, Dr. Phillimore. She's got no more than +steering way on her, and I'll pull her up presently." + +"Well," said I. "I suppose it matters nothing to us, but a wreck is a +frightening matter this weather." + +He seemed to be studying me, and then laughed. "All serene. If you have +made up your mind to your fate there's nothing to be said. But I'm in +charge here, and not Sir John Barraclough. I suppose he has some use, +but I've not made it out up till now." + +"Holgate," said I suddenly, "this vessel's in your hands till she's out +of the Straits, if she's ever out. I don't deny it. But I should like a +little further light on destiny, so to speak. You reckon you can take +the safes. What more do you want?" + +"Nothing in the world, my lad," he said comfortably. "You've hit it. +Nothing in the wide, wide world." + +"Rubbish!" said I sharply. "Does any one suppose you're going to turn +loose witnesses against you?" + +He took the cigar from his mouth, and, though I could not discern his +face in the fog, I knew its expression. + +"Well, now, that's a new idea, and not a bad idea," he said equably. +"Of course I should be running a risk, shouldn't I? But what's to be +done in conflict with a temperament like mine? I can't help myself. +Take your oath on one thing, doctor, and that is I'll die game. If the +respectable folk whom I take pity on and land somewhere--somewhere +nice--turn on me, why, I'll die game. But of course they won't. You +know they won't, doctor." + +This question was not worth answering: indeed, I knew it was not meant +for an answer; it was a palpable gibe. I held my tongue, but now I knew +I should get no information out of this soft-voiced ruffian until it +suited him to give it. Our fate was still a mystery--if we were beaten +in the struggle that was imminent, and I could not flatter myself with +hopes of our victory. + +I bade him good-night, for there was no reason to dispense with +ceremonies; we were still enjoying our armed truce. But I had got no +farther than the ladder when he hailed me through the gloom. + +"I've pitched her to, now, doctor. You can sleep like a babe, and the +Princess too." + +I stopped--I knew not why; perhaps I had still a faint hope of +discovering something. + +"That means you will attack," I said calmly. + +His figure loomed out upon me in the fog, the red cigar end burning +in his mouth. "You don't mean that, my lad," said he, in an easy, +affectionate tone. "I'm Lancashire born and Lancashire bred, and I'm +shrewd enough to know a bit. You don't mean that, bless you. Look ye +here, doctor; go and take your rest, and pray God to deliver you from +your folly. A foolish man you were and that you be. You'll die that, my +lad, I fear. Yet I would give you another chance. I liked you when I +sat opposite to you in the tavern there." + +"Ah, Holgate," said I, sighing deeply. "How many weary years ago, and +your doing!" + +I admit that this was theatrical; it was designed as such, and as a +last appeal. I was afraid of that man, and that is the truth. I drew a +bow at a venture. From the change in the position of the burning edge I +gathered that he took his cigar out of his mouth. He was perceptibly +silent for a time. Then the light went back. + +"Well, you'll have a sound sleep if you take my advice," he said in his +normal tones. + +"And then ... a sounder," I said lightly. + +"You always take too much for granted, doctor," he replied, laughing. +"By the Lord, I wish I had your forward mind." + +"You shall have anything you like of mine directly," I said flippantly, +and began the descent of the ladder. + +I was conscious that he leaned over the barrier of the bridge watching +me, for I saw the point of his cigar, but that was soon swallowed up in +the darkness, and I saw nothing more. The cold was so intense that my +fingers had grown numb as I talked with Holgate, and I could hardly +feel the iron; moreover, my feet were like lumps of ice and seemed to +rest on nothing as they met the rungs. This, I imagine, was the reason +of my mishap. At any rate, I missed a rung, lost my catch, and tumbled +heavily down the last three or four steps, falling, to my surprise, not +upon the hard deck, but upon some warmer, softer body. Remembering +vividly and painfully my struggle with Pierce, I was on my guard, and +grabbed the man that lay under me. + +"For heaven's sake--" he gasped. "It's me--it's Pye." + +I was astounded, and relaxed my hold! What was the little craven clerk +doing there at this time of night, and in such weather? + +"What----" I began, when he uttered an exclamation of terror, as it +seemed. + +"Dr. Phillimore!" + +"That is so," I answered. "What on earth are you doing here?" + +There was almost a whimper in his voice as he replied: + +"The fog, doctor. I was foolish enough to wander out on the deck, and I +lost my way. I've been straying about for twenty minutes or more. I +couldn't find the door again." + +"Well, you won't in this direction," I assured him. "This part of the +country belongs to the enemy. You've strayed afield, my friend, so, if +you'll give me your arm, I'll do my best to put you straight." + +He thanked me, and did as I asked him, but, as I thought, somewhat +timorously. His hand rested nervously inside my arm, as if he would +have withdrawn it and fled at a moment's notice. And so we stumbled +along the deck together to the state cabins. + +I gave the signal on the door, and we were admitted by Ellison. There +was no one else in the corridor except Lane at the farther end, and, to +my surprise, the Princess. She was seated on a couch under the electric +light, reading, clad in a long and flowing morning-gown. Her hand with +the book had dropped a little as we entered, and her eyes sought us. + +"There will be no alarm to-night, Ellison," I said on the spur of the +moment, and I caught the Princess's eye. She rose, shut her book, and +came towards us. + +"You have come back safely," she said in a quick way. + +"The fog was the only danger," I answered. "And it nearly did for Mr. +Pye. You may confide your head to the pillow with a security to-night, +Miss Morland. To-night Mr. Holgate is a sailor." + +She did not seem to understand. + +"His care is his ship to-night," I explained. + +"You have placed us in your debt," she said. "I do not think my brother +knows how much we are indebted to you." + +I looked at Pye. The praise was pleasant on her lips, but I felt a +little embarrassed. The clerk's eyes were fastened on the Princess Alix +with a certain definite avidity of gaze. It was as if some strange +animal had suddenly stiffened at the sight of prey and was watching +greedily. The look repelled me; it struck horror to my marrow. I could +have seized him, shaken his miserable little bones and thrown him into +a weeping, cowardly heap on the floor. But as I looked his gaze came +round to me, and behold! it was only the feeble watery eyes behind the +gold-rimmed spectacles that I saw. With a bow to the Princess I +proceeded on my way to give my report to her brother. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +BARRACLOUGH TAKES A HAND + + +I did not take Holgate's advice, although I had instinctively made up +my mind that he was sincere in offering it. What reason he had for +expressing kindliness for me--if he had any--I could not say. I +reflected that it might very well be of a piece with his astute plans. +He might seek to serve some purpose by it. I was useful as a doctor +attending to his wounded men, but I knew enough of him to guess that +that alone would not suffice to keep him friendly. There must be +another reason, unless, indeed, it was as he said, and he really had +been captivated by my personal charm! This solution of the problem was +flattering, of course, but I was not disposed to accept it. So deep was +my mistrust of the arch schemer that I racked my brain to find an +explanation for his conduct. This, needless to say, was not conducive +to sleep, and I passed a bad night. It was profoundly still, but +towards dawn the screw began to move again, and I concluded that the +fog had lifted. I got up and looked out of the port, and could discern +dimly the white sheets of the mountains not two furlongs distant. The +_Sea Queen_ began to tramp along at a slow pace at first, but finally, +getting speed, resumed her normal rate of progress. If I knew Holgate +he was still on the bridge, and he would remain there until the danger +was over. If he was an abominable scoundrel, he was indubitably also an +admirable seaman with a sense of duty to his ship. + +I fell asleep shortly after that, and when I awoke the sun was full up, +but setting low in the east, glittering upon a field of snowy +pinnacles. I ascended to the state-rooms, and there found Barraclough, +who had just come on duty. He had a cheerful eye, and scanned me +curiously. + +"Well, are we going to get through this?" he asked. + +"We're going to get out of the Straits, I believe," I answered. + +"Ah!" he said, and frowned, as he was accustomed to do when thinking +deeply. He was not a man of much thought. + +"And after that?" said he abruptly. + +"The deluge," said I, shrugging my shoulders. + +"Look here, Phillimore, do you believe we can hold out against +Holgate's forces?" he asked seriously. + +"I think we shall have to try," I replied evasively. + +"I'm damned if we can," he said bluffly. "It's all infernal nonsense." + +"Well, we've got to try," I repeated impatiently. + +"Oh, well! yes, we've got to try," he admitted, "unless Holgate will +hear reason." + +"Good Lord, man, do you suppose he's risked all this to listen to +reason now?" I asked in amazement. + +Barraclough turned away. "Well, you see him. You ought to know," he +growled. "If he doesn't, we're done." + +"I don't advise you to tell the others that," I said drily. + +He turned on me fiercely. "Who said I would?" he snapped. "Do you take +me for a fool? And who's captain here? Dr. Phillimore, I'll have you +know your place," he cried, in a black passion, unusual in him. "I'm +commanding officer and responsible to none, not even the--Mr. Morland, +by heaven, no--not on this ship, anyway!" And with that remarkable +tempest of unreasonable fury he strode angrily away, leaving me annoyed +and something abashed. Assuredly the situation, the waiting, the +suspense, had played havoc with all our nerves, even with this stolid +English gentleman's. There was the development, in fact, as plain as a +pike-staff. This tension had worn on us. Barraclough lost his temper +for inadequate reasons; the Prince shut himself in his room morosely, +for I shall come to that presently; and Lane growled and grumbled so +that it was difficult to avoid quarrelling with him. Indeed, it was +only by silence that I averted an open collision on more than one +occasion. Little Pye was as nervous as a hen; a sound set him jumping. +As I came up the stairs noiselessly, I encountered him, and his whole +body started. + +"Good gracious, man!" said I, with good-humoured contempt, "you'll be +skipping away from your own shadow next. How do you expect to stand up +against Holgate with a spirit like that?" + +He was pale even through the strong colour that the sun had beaten into +him. He eyed me without replying for a moment, and then, with the ghost +of his old manner, answered: "I expect I shall sit down to him." + +The fingers with which he readjusted the glasses--his favourite +trick--were tremulous. + +Pye was to be counted out in case of an emergency, but Pye somehow set +me thinking. Pye's cowardice was manifest--rampant, if one may use such +a term; yet he had ventured into the fog the night before; not only so, +but upon a deck which was filled in his eyes with horrid enemies, +prowling in search of victims. How had he achieved that spirited +action? It seemed incredible, yet I had come upon him at the foot of +the bridge stairs, and I had his explanation. What induced the timid +rabbit to venture out of his hutch upon such a night and in such +circumstances? Frankly the riddle beat me, and I should have worried +over it had it not been for other matters that seemed more immediately +important. I have spoken of the Prince's seclusion. I admit now that it +had already made an impression on me. He was, as became his nature and +his training, a disciplinarian. Each man had his place and his duties, +and Prince Frederic appeared at due seasons and shared in the +responsibilities. He did not shirk, in accordance with his promise. But +for the rest he had withdrawn himself now for three days from the +general company. His meals were served with his sister and +Mademoiselle, but from what I saw he was most often in his own cabin; +and here it was I got a glimpse of him once again--a glimpse, I mean, +into that strange and compound character. + +I forget the occasion, but it was necessary that I should see him, and +I entered the cabin after knocking. When we were done he pulled his +papers before him and sat looking at them dully. + +"Have you any literary qualities, Dr. Phillimore?" he asked me, quite +unexpectedly. + +I hesitated. "If so, they are quite undeveloped," I replied. "I have no +reason to suppose so." + +"Ah!" he sighed, and taking a volume which lay on the table he opened +it. "Do you know German?" + +I told him that I could read the language. He nodded. + +"It has never been properly appreciated," he said slowly; "the German +literature is wonderful--ah, wonderful!" and he appeared to meditate +over his page; then he set the book down and looked across at me. + +"You are married, doctor? Ah, no!" He nodded again, and once more +resumed his meditations. I might have taken it for granted that I was +free to go, but for some reason I lingered. He frowned deeply, and +sighed again. + +"There is a passage in Schiller, but you would not know it----" + +He gave me no chance of saying, and I answered nothing; only sat and +stared at him. + +"There is more music in Germany's little finger than in all the world +else--in composition, I mean," he added. + +"That has always been my opinion," I ventured at last. + +He turned his dull blue eyes on me, as if wondering what I did there. +"So!" he said, and heaved a bigger sigh from his very heart, as it +seemed. "When the attack is made, doctor----" he broke off, and asked +sharply, "When will they attack, do you say?" + +"Any moment now, sir," I replied. + +He rose. "We must remember the ladies, doctor," he said. + +"Yes, we are not likely to forget them," I replied. He eyed me. "Do you +think----?" and paused. + +"That is all, sir," he said with a curt nod. + +It was not a ceremonious or even a fitting dismissal seeing the common +peril in which we stood. In that danger surely we should have drifted +together more--drifted into a situation where princes and commoners +were not, where employers and hirelings did not exist. Yet I was not +annoyed, for I had seen some way into his soul, and it was turbid and +tortured. Black care had settled on Prince Frederic, and he looked on +me out of eyes of gloom. The iron had entered into him, and he was no +longer a Prince, but a mortal man undergoing travail and anguish. + +By the afternoon we were clear of the Straits, and the nose of the +yacht turned northward. Still there was no sign from the mutineers, and +that being so, I felt myself at liberty to pay my accustomed visit to +Legrand in the forecastle. No one interfered with me, and I did not see +Holgate; but the man on guard at the hatch made no difficulty about +letting me down. As I descended it came into my mind how easy it would +be to dispose of yet another fighting man of the meagre force at the +Prince's disposal by clapping the hatch over my head. It would have +been a grim joke quite in keeping with Holgate's character, and for a +moment I turned as in doubt; but the next second, banishing my +misgivings, I went down to the floor. Captivity was telling on the +prisoners beyond doubt, for here they got no sight of sun, and the +light was that of the gloaming. I remembered that I had forgotten to +take a lantern from the sentry as soon as this twilight gloomed on me, +and I was turning back when I heard a sound. + +"Hsst--hsst!----" + +I stopped. "Who is that?" I asked in a whisper. + +"It's me, Jones, sir," said one of the hands. + +I walked towards him, for the light that streamed in by the open +hatchway sufficed to reveal him. + +"Anything wrong with you?" said I casually. + +"Well, I could do with a bit more light and a smoke, sir," said the +man, respectfully cheerful. But it was not his words; it was his action +that arrested me, for he jerked his thumb incessantly as he spoke +towards the darker recesses of the hold. + +"All right, my man," said I. "I'll speak to Mr. Holgate. He oughtn't to +keep you in such close confinement if you are to remain human beings." + +So saying, I waded into the deeper shadows, and as I did I felt my hand +seized and dragged downwards. + +"S-s-s-h!" said a very still voice, and I obeyed. + +What was it? I was drawn downward, and at last I knelt. I knew now, and +somehow my heart leaped within me. I had never really understood +Legrand; I had taken him for a very ordinary ship's officer; but I had +come slowly to another conclusion. I bent down. + +"Heart pretty bad," I said in a mechanical way. + +"There's only one way out," whispered a voice below me, "and that's +through the bulkheads into the engine-room. I've been waiting, and I +think I can do it." + +"I don't like the look of the eyes," I remarked indifferently. "Does he +eat well?" + +"Not very well, sir; it's a job to get him to take it," said Jones. + +"We've had four days at it with a knife," said the whisper, "and by +thunder we see light now. We'll get through, Phillimore. How do you +stand?" + +"Sleep at all well?" I inquired. + +"I couldn't say, sir," said Jones, "just lays there like a log." + +"Attack may be made at any moment," I whispered back. "There are some +ten of us holding the state-rooms and the ladies." + +He gripped my hand, and I rose to my feet. "Well, I'm afraid I can't do +any more," I said. "He's going on pretty much the same. Good-bye, men." + +They returned the farewell, and I made my way to the ladder and +ascended. The guard with emotionless face helped me out, and the first +man my eyes fell on was Holgate, standing with his hands in his +pockets, looking at me. He whistled as he eyed me, and his teeth showed +in his grin. + +"For sheer arduous pursuit of duty I don't know your equal, doctor," +said he. "You just hang on to work as if you loved it. How's the +patient?" + +I told him that it was a question of time, but that there was no reason +why Legrand should not get over the injury to his spine--"not that he +will ever be the same man again," I added. + +"No," said he reflectively, "he won't. And he wants time, does he? +Well, perhaps we can give him time--though, mark you, my lad, I don't +promise it," he said, with his ugly fang showing in a smile. + +He took ten paces along the deck with me, seeming to be wrapped up in +his thoughts, and then he paused. + +"Tell me, doctor, are you in this move?" he asked brusquely. + +"What move?" I asked in turn. "What do you mean?" + +He waved a hand towards the upper deck. "Why, Barraclough's, of +course," he replied. "Are you working with him? Because, if so, I'd +like to know, if only for amusement." + +"I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking of," I replied. + +"You're not making terms, eh?" said he, heavily leaden of face. "By +gosh, you might be, doctor, but you ain't! More fool you. Then it's +Barraclough, is it, playing on his own." He chuckled. "That man treated +me as pretty dirt all along, didn't he? I'll go bail it was public +property. Barraclough's real blue blood. Prick him and see. My son, +he's got to be pricked, but I'm no surgeon." + +"I understand nothing of all this," I replied. "You enjoy +mystification, Holgate, and your talents are remarkable. You can beat +Sir John out of his boots. But I wish you'd used your talents +elsewhere. Better have buried them. For you've given us a stiff job, +and we've simply got to lick you." + +You will see that I broke out here in his own vein. I had come to the +conclusion that this was my best card to play. I could sum up Holgate +to a point, but I did not know him all through, and I was wise enough +to recognise that. I think if I had been under thirty, and not over +that sagacious age, I should have judged more rashly. But I had that +unknown area of Holgate's character to meet, and I thought to meet it +by emulating his own bearing. I am not by nature communicative, but I +feigned the virtue. I spoke to him as an equal, exchanging views upon +the situation as one might exchange them on a cricket match. And I +believe he appreciated my tone. + +"If you had as little character as Sir John and more prudence, I would +have bet on your future, doctor," he said soberly. "But you must play +your own cards. And if Sir John wants terms, he must be generous. +Generosity becomes the victor." + +He smiled, and nodded farewell, and I left him considerably puzzled. I +had no guess as to what he meant by his talk of Barraclough and terms. +It could only mean one thing on the face of it, and that was that +Barraclough had been in communication with him. If so, was this by the +Prince's desire? And if so again, why had not I heard of it? Our +company was so small and our plight so desperate that it was unseemly +to confine policy or diplomacy within a narrow circle. Surely, we had +all a right to a knowledge of what was forward--at least, all of us who +were in positions of responsibility. As I went back I was consumed with +annoyance that such an important matter as a possible compromise with +the mutineers had been concealed from me. But then, was it a compromise +authorised by the Prince? If I had read that obstinate and that +fanatical proud heart aright, I could not credit it. + +When I reached the state-rooms I inquired for Barraclough, and then +remembered that he would be on duty in the saloon. I immediately sought +him there, but found only Grant, who informed me that he had relieved +Sir John at his orders half an hour earlier. He could not give any +information beyond that. It was possible Barraclough had gone to his +cabin, and so I repaired thither; but without success. I made inquiries +of Ellison, who had not seen the first officer, and of the steward, who +was in a like case. + +It was Lane who gave me the clue, in a vein which I will set down +without comment. + +"He's on a perch, and crowing like a rooster, is the bart. You need not +look for flies on Barraclough, doctor. He's his own chauffeur this +trip. I don't fancy the joy myself, but the bart. is rorty, and what +would you say to Mademoiselle, eh?" + +"Oh, let's be plain, Lane!" I said impatiently. + +He jerked his thumb across the corridor. "Mademoiselle wants a partner +at dominoes, matador, or bridge, doctor, and the bart. plays a good +game. If you have to choose between your maid and a bart., you bet your +life you'll pocket the bart. Oh, this trip's about enough for me! +Where's it going to end, and where are we?" He made a wry face and sank +in a heap on his chair. "If you've got any influence with Holgate make +him come in. I'm sick of this damn sentry-go. If it suits Germans, it +don't suit a true-born Englishman." + +"Is Sir John with Mademoiselle?" I asked simply. + +"Guess again and you'll guess wrong," said Lane moodily, kicking his +feet about. + +I was not interested in his feelings at the moment. My mind was +occupied with other considerations, but it certainly gave me pause that +what I had myself seen was apparently now common knowledge. That Sir +John had been fascinated by the coquettish Parisian was obvious to me; +if it was obvious to Lane, was it hidden from others who were more +concerned? I had my answer as regards one almost immediately. + +If Sir John were in the ladies' boudoir, it was not for me to disturb +him, and I turned away and passed out of the corridor. + +As I was preparing to descend to the cabins I heard the low strains of +the small organ which the piety of a former owner of the _Sea Queen_ +had placed at the end of the music gallery. I entered, and in the +customary twilight made out a figure at the farther end of the room. +Perhaps it was the dim light that gave the old air its significance. It +had somewhat the effect upon me that music in a church heard faintly +and moving with simple solemnity has always had. What is there that +speaks so gravely in the wind notes and reeds of an organ? + + Ein feste burg ist unser Gott. + +I knew the words as familiarly as I knew the music, and yet that was +almost the last place and time in which I should have expected to hear +it. It was not Mademoiselle who played so low and soft to hear. Oh, I +felt sure of that! The touch was lighter, graver and quieter. I drew +near the player and listened. I had heard Mademoiselle sing that +wonderful song, "Adelaide," and she had sung it divinely. But I would +have given a dozen "Adelaide's" for that simple air, rendered by no +voice, but merely by sympathetic fingers on those austere keys. I +listened, as I say, and into my heart crept something--I know not +what--that gave me a feeling of fulness of heart, of a surcharge of +strange and not wholly painful sentiment. + +I was still battling with these sensations when the music ceased and +the player arose. She started slightly on seeing me, and I found myself +stammering an excuse for my presence. + +"I was looking for Sir John Barraclough." + +"Come," she said, after a moment's pause, "I will find him for you." + +I followed her into the corridor, until she paused outside a door and +opened it abruptly without knocking. I waited without, but I heard her +voice, strangely harsh and clear. + +"Sir John Barraclough, you are being sought by Dr. Phillimore." + +Three minutes later Barraclough joined me, red and discomposed. +"Anything the matter?" he growled. + +I knew now that I had been used as a definite excuse to get rid of +Barraclough, whose presence was not welcome to the Princess Alix; and +with that knowledge I framed my answer. + +"Yes; what terms have you made with Holgate?" + +He started as if I had struck him, stared at me, and his jaw came out +in a heavy obstinate fashion he had. + +"What's that to you?" + +"Only this," said I, "that my life is as valuable to me as yours or the +Prince's to you or him, and that therefore I have a right to know." + +He laughed shortly. "I'm commanding officer." + +"Oh, I'm sick of these airs!" I replied. "If you will not answer me, I +will go to the Prince and get an answer from him. He, at least, will +see the reasonableness of my request for information." + +He changed his attitude at that. "You needn't do that, Phillimore," +said he. "I can tell you all you need know. After all, as you say, +you've a certain right." He looked at me with his hard unfriendly look, +and I met him with one of expectancy. "You know what my opinion is," he +resumed. "It's only a bluff to say that we have a chance against +Holgate. He's got the ship, and he's got the men. I want to see if we +can't make some arrangement." + +"And he will?" I inquired sceptically. + +Barraclough hesitated. "He's inclined to. He's to let me know. I think +he's a bit impressed by our bluff all the same, and if we could hit on +a suitable middle course----" He stopped. "Hang it, there are the +women, Phillimore!" he said vehemently. + +"And you suppose Holgate will take them into consideration?" I said. +"Well, perhaps he may. I don't think either you or I really know much +of Holgate. But I think I know more than you. He's sociable and +friendly, isn't he? One wouldn't take him for a rascally mutineer." + +"He's a most infernal ruffian," said he with an oath. + +"Yet you would trust him in the matter of terms," I suggested. + +Barraclough frowned. "We've got to," he said curtly, "unless you can +show me a way to hold out." + +"Oh! men have been in worse cases than ours and emerged all right--a +little battered, no doubt. And then there's the coal. We can't cruise +indefinitely. Holgate's got to put in somewhere." + +"Oh, he's not going to wait for that!" said Barraclough moodily. "Look +here, Phillimore; have you a guess at what he means to do?" + +"I have about ten guesses," I replied, shaking my head, "and none of +them fits the case. What's he going to do with us? That's his real +difficulty and ours. The money problem's simple. I can't see what's at +the back of that black mind, but I don't think it's hopeful for +us--women included." + +"There you are," he exploded savagely. "Anything if we can prevent the +worst." + +"Yes," I assented. "Provided you can trust to Holgate's word. But would +he let us off at any price and run the risk? And, moreover, the Prince. +What of him?" + +"He would refuse. He wouldn't budge. He's a nuisance," said Barraclough +moodily. "He's our stumbling-block." + +"Quite so; and if we all caved in but Mr. Morland, what must his fate +be? And we should look on, shouldn't we? And then go home in a tramp +steamer, a happy family party with a nice little secret of our own. +Ten, twelve, well, say, sixteen of us. I can see Holgate trusting to +that, and comfortably lolling back in Yokohama deck-chairs; and I can +also see Sir John Barraclough reporting the total loss of the yacht +_Sea Queen_, captain and owner and so-and-so going down with her. +I can read it all in the papers here, and now; it will be excellent +food for the ha'pennies!" + +The frown deepened on his face as I proceeded, but, contrary to my +expectation, he did not display any temper at my mocking speech. He +shrugged his shoulders. + +"I'll admit the difficulties. It looks like impossibility, but so's the +alternative. I'm in despair." + +"There's only one thing will solve the problem," I said. He looked up. +"Action." + +"You mean----" + +"Holgate won't wait till his coal's out. He's free for an attack now." + +"In God's name, let him!" said Barraclough viciously. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE FIGHT IN THE MUSIC-ROOM + + +The _Sea Queen_ was making way on her northerly course athwart the long +rollers of the Pacific. The wind blew briskly from the west, and the +sea ran high, so that the yacht lay over with a strong list as she +battled through the rough water. My watch began at twelve o'clock that +night, and I took the precaution to lie down for a rest about eight. I +fell asleep to the sound of the sea against my porthole window, but +awoke in good time. It was full dark, and, save for the screw and the +eternal long wash without, there was silence. Somehow the very +persistence of these sounds seemed profounder silence. I groped my way +into the passage, with the screw kicking under my feet, and passed +Barraclough's cabin. Still there was no sound or sign of life, but I +perceived the glimmer of a light beyond, and seeing that it issued from +Pye's cabin I turned the handle of the door. It was locked. + +"Who is that?" demanded a tremulous voice. + +"It's I. Let me in," I called back. + +The door was opened slowly and little Pye stood before me. In the +illumination of the incandescent wire he stood out ghastly white. + +"It's you, doctor," he said weakly. + +The smell of spirits pervaded the cabin. I looked across and saw a +tumbler in the rack, half full of whisky and water. He noticed the +direction of my gaze. + +"I can't sleep," said he. "This heavy water has given me a touch of +sea-sickness. I feel awfully queer." + +"I don't suppose whisky will do you any good," said I. + +He laughed feebly and vacantly. "Oh, but it does! It stays the stomach. +Different people are affected different ways, doctor." As he spoke he +took down the glass with quivering fingers and drank from it in a +clumsy gulp. + +"I shall be better if I can get to sleep," he said nervously, and drank +again. + +"Pye, you're making trouble for yourself," said I. "You'll be pretty +bad before morning." + +"Oh, for goodness' sake, don't talk about morning!" he broke out in a +fit of terror. + +I gazed at him in astonishment, and he tried to recover under my eyes. + +"That's not your first glass," said I. + +He did not deny it. "I can't go on without it. Let me alone, doctor; +for heaven's sake let me alone." + +I gave him up. "Well, if you are going to obfuscate yourself in this +foolish manner," I said, my voice disclosing my contempt, "at least +take my advice and don't lock yourself in. None but hysterical women do +that." + +I was closing the door when he put a hand out. + +"Doctor, doctor...." I paused, and he looked at me piteously. "Could +you give me a sleeping draught?" + +"If you'll leave that alone, I will," I said; and I returned to my +cabin and brought some sulphonal tabloids. + +"This will do you less harm than whisky," I said. "Now buck up and be a +man, Pye." + +He thanked me and stood looking at me. His hands nervously adjusted his +glasses on his nose. He took one of the tabloids and shakily lifted his +whisky and water to wash it down his throat. He coughed and sputtered, +and with a shiver turned away from me. He lifted the glass again and +drained it. + +"Good-bye, doctor--good-night, I mean," he said hoarsely, with his back +still to me. "I'm all right. I think I shall go to sleep now." + +"Well, that's wise," said I, "and I'll look in and see how you go on +when my watch is over." + +He started, turned half-way to me and stopped. "Right you are," he +said, with a struggle after cheerfulness. His back was still to me. He +had degrading cowardice in his very appearance. Somehow I was moved to +pat him on the shoulder. + +"That's all right, man. Get to sleep." + +For answer he broke into tears and blubbered aloud, throwing himself +face downwards on his bunk. + +"Come, Pye!" said I. "Why, what's this, man?" + +"I'm a bit upset," he said, regaining some control of himself. "I think +the sea-sickness has upset me. But I'm all right." He lay on his face, +and was silent. And so (for I was due now in the corridor) I left him. +As I turned away, I could have sworn I heard the key click in the door. +He had locked himself in again. + +Lane was on duty at the farther end of the corridor, and I had the door +near the entrance connecting with the music balcony. Two electric +lights shed a faint glow through the length and breadth of the +corridor, and over all was silence. As I sat in my chair, fingering my +revolver, my thoughts turned over the situation helplessly, and swung +round finally to the problem of Barraclough and Mademoiselle. The +Princess and I had guessed what was forward, and Lane also had an +inkling. Only the Prince was ignorant of the signal flirtation which +was in progress under his nose. I suppose such a woman could not remain +without victims. It did not suffice for her that she had captured a +prince of the blood, had dislocated the policy of a kingdom, and had +ruined a man's life. She must have other trophies of her beauty, and +Barraclough was one. I was sorry for him, though I cannot say that I +liked him. The dull, unimaginative and wholesome Briton had toppled +over before the sensuous arts of the French beauty. His anxiety was for +her. He had not shown himself timorous as to the result before. +Doubtless she had infected him with her fears. Possibly, even, it was +at the lady's suggestion that he had made advances to Holgate. + +Suddenly my thoughts were diverted by a slight noise, and, looking +round, I saw Lane advancing swiftly towards me. + +"I say, Phillimore," he said in a hoarse whisper, "I've lost the key." + +"Key!" I echoed. "What key?" For I did not at once take in his meaning. + +"Why, man, the purser's key--the key of the strong room," he said +impatiently. + +I gazed in silence at him. "But you must have left it below," I said at +last. + +"Not I," he answered emphatically. "I'm no juggins. They're always on +me. I go to bed in them, so to speak. See here." He pulled a ring of +keys from his pocket. "This is how I keep 'em--on my double chain. They +don't leave me save at nights when I undress. Well, it's gone, and I'm +damned if I know when it went or how it went." + +He gazed, frowning deeply at his bunch. + +"That's odd," I commented. + +"It puts me in a hole," said he. "How the mischief can I have lost it? +I can't think how it can have slipped off. And it's the only one gone, +too." + +"It didn't slip off," said I. "It's been stolen." + +He looked at me queerly. "That makes it rather worse, old chap," he +said hesitatingly. "For it don't go out of my hands." + +"Save at night," said I. + +He was silent. "Hang it, what does any blighter want to steal it for?" +he demanded in perplexity. + +"Well, we know what's in the strong room," I said. + +"Yes--but----" There was a sound. + +"To your door," said I. "Quick, man." + +Lane sped along the corridor to his station, and just as he reached it +a door opened and Princess Alix emerged. She hesitated for a moment and +then came towards me. It was bitterly cold, and she was clad in her +furs. She came to a pause near me. + +"I could not sleep, and it is early yet," she said. "Are you expecting +danger?" + +"We have always to act as if we were," I said evasively. + +She was examining my face attentively, and now looked away as if her +scrutiny had satisfied her. + +"Why has this man never made any attempt to get the safes?" she asked +next. + +"I wish I knew," I replied, and yet in my mind was that strange piece +of information I had just had from Lane. Who had stolen the key? + +The Princess uttered a little sigh, and, turning, began to walk to and +fro. + +"It is sometimes difficult to keep one's feet when the floor is at this +angle," she remarked as she drew near to me; and then she paced again +into the distance. She was nervous and distressed, I could see, though +her face had not betrayed the fact. Yet how was I to comfort her? We +were all on edge. Once again she paused near me. + +"What are our chances?" + +"They are hopeful," said I, as cheerfully as I might. "The fortress has +always more chances than the leaguers, providing rations hold out, and +there is no fear of ours." + +"Ah, tell me the truth!" she cried with agitation. + +"Madam, I have said what is exactly true," I replied gravely. "I have +spoken of chances." + +"And if we lose?" she asked after a pause. + +Her eyes encountered mine fully. "I have no information," I said +slowly, "and very little material to go on in guessing. But I hope we +shall not lose," I added. + +"This can't go on forever, Dr. Phillimore," she said with a little +catch in her voice. "It has gone on so long." + +My heart bled for her. She had been so courageous; she had shown such +fortitude, such resistance, such common sense, this beautiful proud +woman; and she was now breaking down before one of her brother's +employees. + +"It can't go on much longer," I said, again gravely. "It will come to +its own conclusion presently." + +"Ah, but what conclusion?" she cried. "Who knows! Who knows?" + +The sight of her agitation, of that splendid woman nigh to tears, +thrilled me to the marrow with a storm of compassion and something +more. I was carried out of myself. + +"God be witness," I cried, "that while I live you shall be safe from +any harm. God be my witness for that." + +She uttered a tiny sob and put out her hand impulsively. + +"You are good," she said brokenly. "I am a coward to give way. But I +was alone. I have brooded over it all. And Frederic--Thank you, oh, +thank you! To have said so much, perhaps, has helped me. Oh, we shall +all live--live to talk of these days with shudders and thankfulness to +God. You are right to call God to witness. He is our witness now--He +looks down on us both, and He will help us. I will pray to Him this +night, as I have prayed three times a day." + +She spoke in a voice full of emotion, and very low and earnest, and her +hand was still in mine. And, as she finished, the two electric lights +in the corridor went out, leaving us in pitch darkness. I felt the +Princess shudder. + +"Be brave," I whispered. "Oh, be brave! You have called to God. He will +hear you." + +"Yes, yes," she whispered back, and clutched my hand tighter, drawing +nearer me till her furs rested against my breast. "But what is it? What +does it mean?" + +"It may mean nothing," I replied, "but it may mean----" + +I put my ear to the door, still holding her, and listened. Through the +noises of the sea I could make out other and alien sounds. "They +come... You must go. Can you find your way?" + +"Let me stay," she murmured breathlessly. + +"No, no; go," I said. "Your place is in your cabin just now. Remember, +I know where it is and I can find you." + +"Yes, find me," she panted. "Please find me. See, I--I have this." She +put the butt of a revolver into my hand. "That has been by me since the +first. But come; find me--if--if it is necessary." + +I raised her hand to my lips and she melted away. I turned to the door. + +"Lane!" I called. "Lane!" + +His voice sailed back to me. "What's gone wrong with the lights?" + +"They're coming," I said. "Look to your door." And even as I spoke a +bar crashed upon mine from without. In an instant the corridor was full +of noises. The mutineers were upon us, but they had divided their +forces, and were coming at different quarters. It remained to be seen +at which spot their main attack was to be delivered. I put my revolver +through one of the holes we had drilled in the door, and fired. It was +impossible to say if my shot took effect, but I hoped so, and I heard +the sound of Lane's repeater at the farther end. The blows on the door +were redoubled, and it seemed to me to be yielding. I emptied two more +cartridges through the hole at a venture, and that one went home I +knew, since I had touched a body with the muzzle as I pulled the trigger. +Ellison was on guard in the saloon below, and Grant and the cook in the +music saloon; and I judged from the sounds that reached me in the +_melee_ that they also were at work. By this time Barraclough and +Jackson and the Prince had arrived on the scene, the last with a lantern +which he swung over his head. Barraclough joined me, and Jackson was +despatched to grope his way into the saloon to assist Ellison. The Prince +himself took his station with Lane, and I heard the noise of his weapon +several times. My door had not yet given way, but I was afraid of those +swinging blows, and both Barraclough and I continued to fire. The +corridor filled with smoke and the smell of powder. + +"Do you think he's made up his mind to get through here?" asked +Barraclough. + +"I don't know," I shouted back. "He's attacking in three places, at any +rate. We can't afford to neglect any one of them." + +"Confound this darkness!" he exclaimed furiously. "Oh, for an hour of +dawn!" + +The blows descended on the door, but still it held, and I began to +wonder why. Surely a body of men with axes should have destroyed the +flimsy boards by this time. It looked as if this was not the real +objective of the attack. I sprang to the bolt and was drawing it when +Barraclough called out, for he could see in the dim light of the +lantern. + +"Good heavens, man, are you mad?" + +"No," I called back. "Stand ready to fire. I believe there's practically +no one behind this"; and, having now released the bolt, I flung open +the door. Simultaneously Barraclough fired through the open darkness, +and a body took the deck heavily, floundering on the threshold. The +rest was silence. No one was visible or audible. But at my feet lay two +bodies. + +"I thought so," I said excitedly. "This was mere bluff. And so's the +attack on Lane's door. See, there's no force there. I will settle +that." + +I delivered a pistol shot along the deck in the direction of some +shadows, and retreated, bolting the door behind me. + +"Where is it?" gasped Barraclough, out of breath. + +"One at each door will do," said I. "Fetch Lane here. I think its the +music-room. You and I had better get there as fast as we can." + +Without disputing my assumption of authority, he ran down the corridor, +and explained our discovery, returning presently with Lane. Then we +made for the music-room. + +It was pitch black on the stairs, but we groped our way through, guided +by the sounds within. Barraclough struck a match and shed a light on +the scene. For an instant it flared and sputtered, discovering to us +the situation in that cockpit. The place was a shambles. Grant was at +bay in a corner, the cook lay dead, and half a dozen mutineers were +struggling in the foreground with some persons I could not see: while +through the broken boards of the windows other men were climbing. With +an oath Barraclough dropped his match and rushed forward. My revolver +had barked as he did so, and one of the ruffians who was crawling +through the window toppled head first into the saloon. But the darkness +hampered us, for it was impossible to tell who was friend or enemy; and +I believe it had hampered the mutineers also, or they must have +triumphed long ere this. I engaged in a hand-to-hand struggle with some +one who gripped me by the throat and struck at me with a knife. I felt +it rip along my shoulder, and a throb of pain jumped in my arm. But the +next moment I had him under foot and had used the last cartridge in my +chamber. + +"Where are you, Grant, Barraclough, Ellison?" I called out, and I heard +above the din of oaths and feet and bumping a voice call hoarsely to +me. Whose it was I could not say and upon that came an exclamation of +pain or cry. "My God!" + +With the frenzy of the lust of blood upon me, I seized some one and +drove my revolver heavily into his skull. I threw another man to the +floor from behind, and was then seized as in a grasp of a vice. I +turned about and struggled fiercely, and together my assailant and I +rocked and rolled from point to point. Neither of us had any weapon, it +appeared, and all that we could do was to struggle in that mutual and +tenacious grip and trust to chance. I felt myself growing weaker, but I +did not relax my hold and, indeed, came to the conclusion that if I was +to survive it must be by making a superhuman effort. With all the force +of my muscles and the weight of my body I pushed my man forward, at the +same time striving to bend him backward. He gave way a little and +struck the railings that surrounded the well of the saloon, bumping +along them heavily. Then recovering, he exerted all his strength +against me, and we swayed together. Suddenly there was a crack in my +ears, the rail parted asunder, and we both toppled over into space. A +thud followed which seemed to be in my very brain, and then I knew +nothing. + +When I was next capable of taking in impressions with my senses I was +aware of a great stillness. Vacantly my mind groped its way back to the +past, and I recalled that I had fallen, and must be now in the saloon. +Immediately on that I was conscious that I was resting upon some still +body, which must be that of my opponent who had fallen under me. What +had happened? I could hear no sounds of any conflict in progress. Had +the enemy taken possession of the state-rooms, and were all of our +party prisoners or dead? I rose painfully into a sitting posture, and +put out a hand to guide myself. It fell on a quiet face. The man was +dead. + +It was with infinite difficulty that I got to my feet, sore, aching, +and dizzy, and groped my way to the wall. Which way was I to go? Which +way led out? The only sound I seemed to hear was the regular thumping +of the screw below me, which was almost as if it had been in the +arteries of my head, beating in consonance with my heart. Then an idea +struck me, flooding me with horror, and bracing my shattered nerves. +The Princess! I had promised to go to her if all was lost. I had +betrayed my trust. + +As I thought this I staggered down the saloon, clutching the wall, and +came abruptly against a pillar which supported the balcony above. From +this I let myself go at a venture, and walked into the closed door +forthright. Congratulating myself on my luck, I turned the handle and +passed into the darkness of the passages beyond. And now a sound of +voices flowed toward me, voices raised in some excitement, and I could +perceive a light some way along the passage in the direction of the +officers' cabins. As I stood waiting, resolute, not knowing if these +were friends or foes, and fearing the latter, a man emerged toward me +with a lantern. + +"If that fool would only switch on the light it would be easier," he +said in a voice which I did not recognise. But the face over the +lantern was familiar to me. It was Pierce, the murderer of McCrae, and +the chief figure after Holgate in that mutiny and massacre. I shrank +back behind the half-open door, but he did not see me. He had turned +and gone back with an angry exclamation. + +"Stand away there!" I heard, in a voice of authority, and I knew the +voice this time. + +It was Holgate's. The mutineers had the ship. + +What, then, had become of the Prince's party? What fate had enveloped +them? I waited no longer, but staggered rather than slipped out of the +saloon and groped in the darkness toward the stairs. Once on them, I +pulled myself up by the balustrade until I reached the landing, where +the entrance-hall gave on the state-rooms. I was panting, I was aching, +every bone seemed broken in my body, and I had no weapon. How was I to +face the ruffians, who might be in possession of the rooms? I tried the +handle of the door, but it was locked. I knocked, and then knocked +louder with my knuckles. Was it possible that some one remained alive? +Summoning my wits to my aid, I gave the signal which had been used by +me on previous occasions on returning from my expeditions. There was a +pause; then a key turned; the door opened, and I fell forward into the +corridor. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +PYE + + +I looked up into Barraclough's face. + +"Then you're all right," I said weakly; "and the Princess----" + +"We've held these rooms, and by heaven we'll keep 'em," said he +vigorously. + +I saw now that his left arm was in a sling, but my gaze wandered afield +under the lantern in search of others. + +"The Prince and the Princess are safe," said he, in explanation. "But +it's been a bad business for us. We've lost the cook, Jackson, and +Grant, and that little beggar, Pye." + +I breathed a sigh of relief at his first words; and then as I took in +the remainder of his sentence, "What! is Pye dead?" + +"Well, he's missing, anyway," said Barraclough indifferently; "but he's +not much loss." + +"Perhaps he's in his cabin. He locked himself in earlier," I said. +"Give me an arm, like a good fellow. I'm winged and I'm all bruises. I +fell into the saloon." + +"Gad, is that so?" said he; and I was aware that some one else was +listening near. I raised my head, and, taking Barraclough's hand, +looked round. It was Princess Alix. I could make her out from her +figure, but I could not see her face. + +"You have broken an arm?" she said quickly. + +"It is not so bad as that, Miss Morland," I answered. "I got a scrape +on the shoulder and the fall dazed me." + +I was now on my feet again, and Barraclough dropped me into a chair. +"They got in by the windows of the music-room," I said. + +"Yes," he assented. "Ellison and Jackson ran up from the saloon on the +alarm, apparently just in time to meet the rush. Ellison's bad--bullet +in the groin." + +"I must see to him," I said, struggling up. A hand pressed me gently on +the shoulder, and even so I winced with pain. + +"You must not go yet," said the Princess. "There is yourself to +consider. You are not fit." + +I looked past her towards the windows, some of which had been unbarred +in the conflict. + +"I fear I can't afford to be an invalid," I said. "There is so much to +do. I will lie up presently, Miss Morland. If Sir John will be good +enough to get me my bag, which is in the ante-chamber, I think I can +make up on what I have." + +Barraclough departed silently, and I was alone with the Princess. + +"I did not come," I said. "I betrayed my trust." + +She came a little nearer to my seat. "You would have come if there had +been danger," she said earnestly. "Yet why do we argue thus when death +is everywhere? Three honest men have perished, and we are nearer home +by so much." + +"Home!" said I, wondering. + +"Yes, I mean home," she said in a quick, low voice. "Don't think that I +am a mere foolish woman. I have always seen the end, and sometimes it +appears to me that we are wasting time in fighting. I know what +threatens, what must fall, and I thank God I am prepared for it. See, +did I not show you before?" and here she laid her hand upon her bosom, +which was heaving. + +I shook my head. "You are wrong," said I feebly. "There is nothing +certain yet. Think, I beg you, how many chances God scatters in this +world, and how to turn a corner, to pause a moment, may change the face +of destiny. A breath, a wind, the escape of a jet of steam, a valve +astray, a jagged rock in the ocean, the murmur of a voice, a +handshake--anything the least in this world may cause the greatest +revolution in this world. No, you must not give up hope." + +"I will not," she said. "I will hope on; but I am ready for the worst." + +"And the Prince?" I asked. + +"I think he has changed much of late," she said slowly. "He is altered. +Yet I do think he, too, is ready. The prison closes upon us." + +She had endured so bravely. That delicate nature had breasted so nobly +these savage perils and mischances that it was no wonder her fortitude +had now given way. But that occasion was the only time she exhibited +anything in common with the strange fatalism of her brother, of which I +must say something presently. It was the only time I knew that intrepid +girl to fail, and even then she failed with dignity. + +Barraclough returned with my bag, and I selected from it what I wanted. +I knew that, beyond bruises and shock, there was little the matter with +me, and for that I must thank the chance that had flung me on the body +of my assailant, and not underneath it. There was need of me at that +crisis, as I felt, and it was no hour for the respectable and judicious +methods of ordinary practice. I had to get myself up to the norm of +physique, and I did so. + +"Well," said Lane, who had been attending to Ellison, "they've +appropriated the coker-nut. It wasn't my fault, for the beggars kept me +and the Prince busy at the door, and then, before you could say +'knife,' they were off. A mean, dirty trick's what I call it!" + +"Oh, that's in the campaign!" I said. "And what said the Prince?" + +"Swore like a private in the line--at least, I took it for swearing, +for it was German. And then we ran as hard as we could split to the +row, but it was too late. There wasn't any one left. All was over save +the shouting." + +"Then the Prince is well?" I asked. + +"Not a pimple on him, old man," said the efflorescent Lane, "and he's +writing like blue blazes in his cabin." + +What was he writing? Was that dull-blue eye eloquent of fate? When he +should be afoot, what did he at his desk? Even as I pondered this +question, a high voice fluted through the corridor and a door opened +with a bang. It was Mademoiselle. She dashed across, a flutter of +skirts and a flurry of agitation, and disappeared into the apartments +occupied by the Prince. Princess Alix stood on the threshold with a +disturbed look upon her face. + +"She's gone to raise Cain," said Lane, with a grimace. + +"We've got enough Cain already," said I, and walked to the window +opposite. Dawn was now flowing slowly into the sky, and objects stood +out greyly in a grey mist. From the deck a noise broke loudly, and Lane +joined us. + +"Another attack," said he. "They're bound to have us now." + +I said nothing. Barraclough was listening at the farther end, and I +think Princess Alix had turned her attention from Mademoiselle. I heard +Holgate's voice lifted quite calmly in the racket: + +"It's death to two, at all events. So let me know who makes choice. +You, Garrison?" + +"Let's finish the job," cried a voice. "We've had enough," and there +was an outcry of applause. + +Immediately on that there was a loud rapping on the door near us. + +"When I've played my cards and fail, gentlemen," said Holgate's voice, +"I'll resign the game into your hands." + +"What is it?" shouted Barraclough. "Fire, and be hanged!" + +"You mistake, Sir John," called out Holgate. "We're not anxious for +another scrap. We've got our bellies full. All we want is a little +matter that can be settled amicably. I won't ask you to open, for I +can't quite trust the tempers of my friends here. But if you can hear +me, please say so." + +"I hear," said Barraclough. + +"That's all right, then. I won't offer to come in, for William Tell may +be knocking about. We can talk straight out here. We want the contents +of those safes, that's all--a mere modest request in the +circumstances." + +"You've got the safes," shouted Barraclough. "Let us alone." + +"Softly, Sir John, Bart.," said the mutineer. "The safes are there safe +enough, but there's nothing in 'em. You've got back on us this time, by +thunder, you have. And the beauty of the game was its simplicity. Well, +here's terms again, since we're bound to do it in style of +plenipotentiaries. Give us the contents of the safes, and I'll land you +on the coast here within twelve hours with a week's provisions." + +There was a moment's pause on this, and Barraclough looked toward me in +the dim light, as if he would, ask my advice. + +"They've got the safes," he said in perplexity. "This is more +treachery, I suppose." + +"Shoot 'em," said Lane furiously. "Don't trust the brutes." + +"Wait a bit," said I hurriedly. "Don't let's be rash. We had better +call Mr. Morland. There's something behind this. Tell them that we will +answer presently." + +Barraclough shouted the necessary statement, and I hurried off to the +Prince's cabin. I knocked, and entered abruptly. Mademoiselle sat in a +chair with a face suffused with tears, her pretty head bowed in her +hands. She looked up. + +"What are we to do, doctor? The Prince says we must fight. But there is +another way, is there not?" she said in French. "Surely, we can make +peace. I will make peace myself. This agitates my nerves, this fighting +and the dead; and oh, Frederic! you must make peace with this 'Olgate." + +The Prince sat awkwardly silent, his eyes blinking and his mouth +twitching. What he had said I know not, but, despite the heaviness of +his appearance, he looked abjectly miserable. + +"It is not possible, Yvonne," he said hoarsely. "These men must be +handed over to justice." + +I confess I had some sympathy with Mademoiselle at the moment, so +obstinately stupid was this obsession of his. To talk of handing the +mutineers over to justice when we were within an ace of our end and +death knocking veritably on the door! + +"The men, sir, wish to parley with you," I said somewhat brusquely. +"They are without and offer terms." + +He got up. "Ah, they are being defeated!" he said, and nodded. "Our +resistance is too much for them." I could not have contradicted him +just then, for it would probably have led to an explosion on the lady's +part. But it came upon me to wonder if the Prince knew anything of the +contents of the safes. They were his, and he had a right to remove +them. Had he done so? I couldn't blame him if he had. He walked out +with a ceremonious bow to Mademoiselle, and I followed. She had dried +her eyes, and was looking at me eagerly. She passed into the corridor +in front of me, and pressed forward to where Barraclough and Lane +stood. + +"The mutineers, sir, offer terms," said Barraclough to the Prince. +"They propose that if we hand over the contents of the safes we shall +be landed on the coast with a week's provisions." + +The Prince gazed stolidly and stupidly at his officer. + +"I do not understand," said he. "The scoundrels are in possession of +the safes." + +"That is precisely what we should all have supposed," I said drily. +"But it seems they are not." + +"Look here, Holgate," called out Barraclough after a moment's silence, +"are we to understand that you have not got the safes open?" + +It seemed odd, questioning a burglar as to his success, but the +position made it necessary. + +"We have the safes open right enough," called Holgate hoarsely, "but +there's nothing there--they're just empty. And so, if you'll be so good +as to fork out the swag, captain, we'll make a deal in the terms I have +said." + +"It is a lie. They have everything," said the Prince angrily. + +"Then why the deuce are they here, and what are they playing at?" said +Barraclough, frowning. + +"Only a pretty little game of baccarat. Oh, my hat!" said Lane. + +"It seems to me that there's a good deal more in this than is +apparent," I said. "The safes were full, and the strong-room was +secure. We are most of us witnesses to that. But what has happened? I +think, Sir John, it would be well if we asked the--Mr. Morland +forthwith if he has removed his property. He has a key." + +"No, sir, I have not interfered," said the Prince emphatically. "I +committed my property to the charge of this ship and to her officers. I +have not interfered." + +Barraclough and I looked at each other. Lane whistled, and his colour +deepened. + +"There, doctor, that's where I come in. I told you so. That's a +give-away for me. I've got the other key--or had." + +"Had!" exclaimed the Prince, turning on him abruptly. + +"Yes," said Lane with sheepish surliness. "I was telling the doctor +about it not long ago. My key's gone off my bunch. I found it out just +now. Some one's poached it." + +The Prince's eyes gleamed ferociously, as if he would have sprung on +the little purser, who slunk against the wall sullenly. + +"When did you miss it?" asked Barraclough sharply. + +"Oh, about an hour and a half ago!" said Lane, in an offhand way. + +"He has stolen it. He is the thief!" thundered the Prince. + +Lane glanced up at him with a scowl. "Oh, talk your head off!" said he +moodily, "I don't care a damn if you're prince or pot-boy. We're all on +a level here, and we're not thieves." + +Each one looked at the other. "We're cornered," said Barraclough. "It +will make 'em mad, if they haven't got that. There's no chance of a +bargain." + +"It is not my desire there should be any bargain," said the Prince +stiffly. + +Barraclough shrugged his shoulders and said nothing. But it was plain +to all that we were in a hole. The mutineers were probably infuriated +by finding the treasure gone, and at any moment might renew their +attack. There was but a small prospect that we could hold out against +them. + +"We must tell them," said I; "at least, we must come to some +arrangement with them. The question is whether we shall pretend to fall +in with their wishes, or at least feign to have what they want. It will +give us time, but how long?" + +"There is no sense in that," remarked Prince Frederic in his autocratic +way. "We will send them about their business and let them do what they +can." + +"Sir, you forget the ladies," I said boldly. + +"Dr. Phillimore, I forget nothing," he replied formally. "But will you +be good enough to tell me what the advantage of postponing the +discovery will be?" + +Well, when it came to the point, I really did not know. It was wholly a +desire to delay, an instinct in favour of procrastination, that +influenced me. I shrank from the risks of an assault in our weakened +state. I struggled with my answer. + +"It is only to gain time." + +"And what then?" he inquired coldly. + +I shrugged my shoulders as Sir John had shrugged his. This was common +sense carried to the verge of insanity. There must fall a time when +there is no further room for reasoning, and surely it had come now. + +"You will be good enough to inform the mutineers, Sir John +Barraclough," pursued the Prince, having thus silenced me, "that we +have not the treasure they are in search of, and that undoubtedly it is +already in their hands, or in the hands of some of them, possibly by +the assistance of confederates," with which his eyes slowed round to +Lane. + +The words, foolish beyond conception, as I deemed them, suddenly struck +home to me. "Some of them!" If the Prince had not shifted his treasure, +certainly Lane had not. I knew enough of the purser to go bail for him +in such a case. And he had lost his key. I think it was perhaps the +mere mention of confederates that set my wits to work, and what +directed them to Pye I know not. + +"Wait one moment," said I, putting my hand on Barraclough. "I'd like to +ask a question before you precipitate war," and raising my voice I +cried, "Is Holgate there?" + +"Yes, doctor, and waiting for an answer, but I've got some tigers +behind me." + +"Then what's become of Pye?" I asked loudly. + +There was a perceptible pause ere the reply came. "Can't you find him?" + +"No," said I. "He was last seen in his cabin about midnight, when he +locked himself in." + +"Well, no doubt he is there now," said Holgate, with a fat laugh. "And +a wise man, too. I always betted on the little cockney's astuteness. +But, doctor, if you don't hurry up, I fear we shall want sky-pilots +along." + +"What is this? Why are you preventing my orders being carried out?" +asked the Prince bluffly. + +I fell back. "Do as you will," said I. "Our lives are in your hands." + +Barraclough shouted the answer dictated to him, and there came a sound +of angry voices from the other side of the door. An axe descended on +it, and it shivered. + +"Stand by there," said Barraclough sharply, and Lane closed up. + +Outside, the noise continued, but no further blow was struck, and at +last Holgate's voice was raised again: + +"We will give you till eight o'clock this evening, captain, and +good-day to you. If you part with the goods then, I'll keep my promise +and put you ashore in the morning. If not----" He went off without +finishing his sentence. + +"He will not keep his promise, oh, he won't!" said a tense voice in my +ear; and, turning, I beheld the Princess. + +"That is not the trouble," said I, as low as she. "It is that we have +not the treasure, and we are supposed to be in possession of it." + +"Who has it?" she asked quickly. + +"Your brother denies that he has shifted it, but the mutineers +undoubtedly found it gone. It is an unfathomed secret so far." + +"But," she said, looking at me eagerly, "you have a suspicion." + +"It is none of us," I said, with an embracing glance. + +"That need not be said," she replied quickly. "I know honest men." + +She continued to hold me with her interrogating eyes, and an answer was +indirectly wrung from me. + +"I should like to know where Pye is," I said. + +She took this not unnaturally as an evasion. "But he's of no use," she +said. "You have told me so. We have seen so together." + +It was pleasant to be coupled with her in that way, even in that moment +of wonder and fear. I stared across at the door which gave access to +the stairs of the saloon. + +"It is possible they have left no one down below," I said musingly. + +She followed my meaning this time. "Oh, you mustn't venture it!" she +said. "It would be foolhardy. You have run risks enough, and you are +wounded." + +"Miss Morland," I answered. "This is a time when we can hardly stop to +consider. Everything hinges on the next few hours. I say it to you +frankly, and I will remember my promise this time." + +"You remembered it before. You would have come," she said, with a +sudden burst of emotion; and somehow I was glad. I liked her faith in +me. + +"What the deuce do you make of it?" said Barraclough to me. + +I shook my head. "I'll tell you later when I've thought it over," I +answered. "At present I'm bewildered--also shocked. I've had a +startler, Barraclough." He stared at me. "I'll walk round and see. But +I don't know if it will get us any further." + +"There's only one thing that will do that," said he significantly. + +"You mean----" + +"We must make this sanguinary brute compromise. If he will land us +somewhere----" + +"Oh, he won't!" I said. "I've no faith in him." + +"Well, if they haven't the treasure, they may make terms to get it," he +said in perplexity. + +"_If_ they have not," I said. He looked at me. "The question is, who +has the treasure?" I continued. + +"Good heavens, man, if you know--speak out," he said impatiently. + +"When I know I'll speak," I said; "but I will say this much, that +whoever is ignorant of its whereabouts, Holgate isn't." + +"I give it up," said Barraclough. + +"Unhappily, it won't give us up," I rejoined. "We are to be attacked +this evening if we don't part with what we haven't got." + +He walked away, apparently in despair of arriving at any conclusion by +continuing the conversation. I went toward the door, for I still had my +idea. I wondered if there was anything in it. Princess Alix had moved +away on the approach of Sir John, but now she interrupted me. + +"You're not going?" she asked anxiously. + +"My surgery is below," said I. "I must get some things from it." + +She hesitated. "Won't--wouldn't that man Holgate let you have them? You +are running too great a risk." + +"That is my safety," I said, smiling. "I go down. If no one is there so +much the better; if some one crops up I have my excuse. The risk is not +great. Will you be good enough to bar the door after me?" + +This was not quite true, but it served my purpose. She let me pass, +looking after me with wondering eyes. I unlocked the door and went out +into the lobby that gave on the staircase. There was no sound audible +above the noises of the ship. I descended firmly, my hand on the butt +of a revolver I had picked up. No one was visible at the entrance to +the saloon. I turned up one of the passages toward my own cabin. I +entered the surgery and shut the door. As I was looking for what I +wanted, or might want, I formulated my chain of reflections. Here they +are. + +The key had been stolen from Lane. It could only have been stolen by +some one in our own part of the ship, since the purser had not ventured +among the enemy. + +Who had stolen it? + +Here was a break, but my links began a little further on, in this way. + +If the person who had stolen the key, the traitor that is in our camp, +had acted in his own interests alone, both parties were at a loss. But +that was not the hypothesis to which I leaned. If, on the other hand, +the traitor had acted in Holgate's interests, who was he? + +Before I could continue my chain to the end, I had something to do, a +search to make. I left the surgery noiselessly and passed along the +alley to Pye's cabin. The handle turned and the door gave. I opened it. +No one was there. + +That settled my links for me. The man whom I had encountered in the fog +at the foot of the bridge was the man who was in communication with +Holgate. That pitiful little coward, whose stomach had turned at the +sight of blood and on the assault of the desperadoes, was their +creature. As these thoughts flashed through my mind it went back +further in a leaf of memory. I recalled the room in the "Three Tuns" on +that dirty November evening; I saw Holgate and the little clerk facing +each other across the table and myself drinking wine with them. There +was the place in which I had made the third officer's acquaintance, and +that had been brought about by Pye. There, too, I had first heard of +Prince Frederic of Hochburg; and back into my memory flashed the +stranger's talk, the little clerk's stare, and Holgate's frown. The +conspiracy had been hatched then. Its roots had gone deep then; from +that moment the _Sea Queen_ and her owner had been doomed. + +I turned and left the cabin abruptly and soon was knocking with the +concocted signal on the door. Barraclough admitted me. + +"I have it," said I. "Let's find the Prince." + +"Man, we can't afford to leave the doors." + +"We may be attacked," said he. + +"No; they won't venture just yet," I replied. "It's not their game--at +least, not Holgate's. He's giving us time to find the treasure and then +he'll attack." + +"I wish you wouldn't talk riddles," said Barraclough shortly. + +"I'll speak out when we get to the Prince," I said; and forthwith we +hastened to his room. + +"Mr. Morland," I burst out, "Pye came aboard as representing your +solicitors?" + +"That is so," he replied with some surprise in his voice and manner. + +"He was privy then to your affairs--I refer to your financial affairs?" +I pursued. + +"My solicitors in London, whom I chose in preference to German +solicitors, were naturally in possession of such facts relating to +myself as were necessary to their advice," said the Prince somewhat +formally. + +"And Pye knew what they knew--the contents of the safes in the +strong-room?" + +He inclined his head. "It was intended that he should return from +Buenos Ayres, after certain arrangements had been made for which he +would lend his assistance." + +"Then, sir," said I, "Pye has sold us. Pye is the source of the plot; +Pye has the treasure." + +"What do you mean?" exclaimed the Prince, rising. + +"Why, that Pye has been in league with the mutineers all along, +and--good Lord, now I understand what was the meaning of his hints last +night. He knew the attack was to be made, and he is a coward. He locked +himself up to drink. Now he is gone." + +"Gone!" echoed Barraclough and Lane together; and there was momentary +silence, which the latter broke. + +"By gum, Pye's done us brown--browner than a kipper! By gum, to think +of that little wart getting the bulge on us!" + +"I should like to know your reasons, doctor," said Prince Frederic at +last. + +"I'm hanged if I can puzzle it out yet myself," said Barraclough. "If +they've got it, why the deuce do they come and demand it from us?" + +"Oh, _they_ haven't got it," I said. "It's only Holgate and Pye. The +rank and file know nothing, I'll swear. As for my reasons, sir, here +they are"; and with that I told them what I knew of Pye from my first +meeting with him, giving an account of the transactions in the "Three +Tuns," and narrating many incidents which now seemed in the light of my +discovery to point to the treachery of the clerk. When I had done, Lane +whistled, the Prince's brow was black, but Barraclough's face was +impassive. He looked at me. + +"Then you are of opinion that Holgate is running this show for +himself?" he asked. + +"I will wager ten to one on it," I answered. "That's like him. He'll +leave the others in the lurch if he can. He's aiming at it. And he'll +leave Pye there, too, I shouldn't wonder. And if so, what sort of a man +is that to make terms with?" + +Barraclough made no answer. For a man of his even nature he looked +troubled. + +"If this it so, what are you in favour of?" he said at last. + +The Prince, too, looked at me inquiringly, which showed that he had +fully accepted my theory. + +"Go on as we are doing and trust to luck," said I. + +"Luck!" said the Prince, raising his fingers. "Chance! Destiny! +Providence! Whatever be the term, we must abide it. It is written, +gentlemen; is has been always written. If God design us our escape, we +shall yet avoid and upset the calculations of these ruffians. Yes, it +is written. You are right, Dr. Phillimore. There must be no faint +heart. Sir John, give your orders and make your dispositions. I will +take my orders from you." + +This significant speech was delivered with a fine spontaneity, and I +must say the man's fervour impressed me. If he was a fatalist, he was a +fighting fatalist, and I am sure he believed in his fortune. I was not +able to do that; but I thought we had, in the vulgar phrase, a sporting +chance. And that I was right events proved, as you will presently see. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE THIRD ATTACK + + +Holgate had given us till eight o'clock, but it was of course, +uncertain if he would adhere to this hour. If I were right in my +suppositions (and I could see no flaw in my reasoning), he would +present himself at that time and carry out the farce. It was due to his +men, to the other scoundrels of the pack whom he was cheating. And what +would happen when we maintained that we had no knowledge of the +treasure? It was clear that the men would insist on an assault. And if +so, what chance had we against the infuriated ruffians? On the other +hand, we had nothing to hope for from a compromise with such men. +Altogether, the outlook was very black and lowering. When the Prince +and all that remained with him were swept away, and were as if they had +never been, Holgate would be free to deal with the mutineers according +to his tender mercies; and then, with such confederates as he might +have in the original plot, come into possession of the plunder for +which so many innocent lives and so many guilty ones would have been +sacrificed. + +By now the wind had sprung into a gale, and the _Sea Queen_ was running +under bare sticks. The water rolled heavily from the southwest, and the +yacht groaned under the buffets. It became difficult to stand--at +least, for a landsman. We had hitherto experienced such equable, fine +weather that I think we had taken for granted that it must continue. +But now we were undeceived. The yacht pitched uneasily and rolled to +her scuppers, and it was as much as we could do to keep our legs. +Holgate, too, must have been occupied by the duties of his position, +for he was a good mariner, which was, perhaps, as well for us. Chance +decides according to her fancy, and the most trivial accidents are +important in the scheme of destiny. Mademoiselle had an attack of _mal +de mer_ and had recourse to me. Nothing in the world mattered save her +sensations, which were probably very unpleasant, I admit. But the yacht +might go to the bottom, and Holgate might storm the state-rooms at the +head of his mutineers--it was all one to the lady who was groaning over +her symptoms on her bed. She kept me an unconscionable time, and when I +at length got away to what I regarded as more important duties I was +followed by her maid. This girl, Juliette, was a trim, sensible, and +practical woman, who had grown accustomed to her mistress's vagaries, +took them with philosophy, and showed few signs of emotion. But now a +certain fear flowed in her eye. + +Would Monsieur tell her if there were any danger? Monsieur looked up, +balanced himself neatly against the wall, as the yacht reared, and +declared that he had gone through much worse gales. She shook her head +with some energy. + +"No, no, it was not that. There were the sailors--those demons. Was it +true that they had offered to put us all ashore?" + +"Yes," said I, "if we give them what we have not got. That is what they +promise, Juliette. But would you like to trust them?" + +She considered a moment, her plain, capable face in thought. "No." She +shook her head. "Mademoiselle would do well to beware of them. Yes, +yes," and with a nod she left me. + +Now what did that mean? I asked myself, and I could only jump to the +conclusion that Mademoiselle had thoughts of making a bargain with +Holgate on her own account. I knew she was capable of yielding to any +caprice or impulse. If there had not been tragedy in the air it would +have amused me to ponder the possibilities of that conflict of wits and +brains between Holgate and the lady. But she was a victim to +sea-sickness, and our hour drew near. Indeed, it was then but two hours +to eight o'clock. + +It was necessary to take such precautions as we might in case Holgate +kept his word. But it was possible that in that wind and sea he would +not. However, to be prepared for the worst, we had a council. There +were now but the Prince, Barraclough, Lane and myself available, for +Ellison was in a bad way. The spareness of our forces was thus betrayed +by this meeting, which was in effect a council of despair. We made our +arrangements as speedily as possible, and then I asked: + +"The ladies? We must have some definite plan." + +The Prince nodded. "They must be locked in the _boudoir_," he said. "It +has entrances from both their cabins." + +"The last stand, then, is there?" I remarked casually. + +He echoed the word "there." + +I had my duties in addition to those imposed by our dispositions, and I +was not going to fail--I knew I should not fail. Outside in the +corridor we sat and nursed our weapons silently. I don't think that any +one was disposed to talk; but presently the Prince rose and retired to +his room. He returned presently with a magnum of champagne, and +Barraclough drew the cork, while Lane obtained some glasses. + +"Let's have a wet. That's a good idea," said the purser. + +The Prince ceremoniously lifted his glass to us and took our eyes. + +Lane quaffed his, emitting his usual gag hoarsely. + +"Fortune!" + +How amazingly odd it sounded, like the ironic exclamation of some +onlooking demon of sarcasm. + +"Fortune!" + +I drank my wine at a gulp. "To a good end, if may be," I said. "To +rest, at least." + +Barraclough held his glass coolly and examined it critically. + +"It's Pommery, isn't it, sir?" he asked. + +I do not think the Prince answered. Barraclough sipped. + +"I'll swear it is," said he. "Let's look at the bottle, Lane." + +He solved his doubts, and drank and looked at his watch. "If they're +coming, they should be here now." + +"The weather's not going to save us," I observed bitterly; "she goes +smoother." + +It was true enough. The wind and the sea had both moderated. +Barraclough examined the chambers of his revolver. + +"Sir John Barraclough!" + +A voice hailed us loudly from the deck. Sir John moved slowly to the +door and turned back to look at us. In its way it was an invitation. He +did not speak, but I think he invoked our aid, or at least our support, +in that look. We followed. + +"Yes," he called back, "I'm here." + +"We've come for the answer," said the voice. "You've had plenty of time +to turn it over. So what's it to be--the terms offered or war?" + +"Is it Holgate?" said Lane in a whisper. + +"Oh, it's Holgate, no doubt. Steady! Remember who has the treasure, +Barraclough." + +"The treasure is not in our possession," sang out Barraclough. "But we +believe it to be in the possession of Holgate--one of yourselves." + +"Oh, come, that won't do--that game won't play," said a familiar wheezy +voice from behind us, and we all fell back in alarm and amazement. + +The boards had fallen loose from one of the windows, and Holgate's head +protruded into the corridor. In a flash the Prince's fingers went to +his revolver, and a report echoed from the walls, the louder for that +confined space. Holgate had disappeared. Barraclough ran to the window +and peered out. He looked round. + +"That opens it," he said deliberately, and stood with a look of +perplexity and doubt on his face. + +"Since you have chosen war and begun the offensive we have no option," +shouted Holgate through the boarding. + +"All right, drive ahead," growled Lane, and sucked his teeth. + +Crash came an iron bar on the door. Barraclough inserted his revolver +through the open window and fired. "One," said he. + +"Two, by thunder!" said Lane, discharging through one of the holes +pierced in the door. + +"They'll play us the same trick as before," said I, and dashed across +to the entrance from the music-room. + +Noises arose from below. I tested the locks and bars, and then running +hastily into one of the cabins brought forth a table and used it to +strengthen the barricade. Prince Frederic, observing this, nodded and +gave instructions to Lane, who went on a similar errand on behalf of +the other door. + +Crash fell the axe on my door, and the wood splintered. Lane and Prince +Frederic were busy firing through the loopholes, with what result I +could not guess, and probably they themselves knew little more. +Barraclough stood at his peephole and fired now and then, and I did the +same through the holes drilled in my door. But it must have been easy +for any one on the outside to avoid the line of fire if he were +careful. I was reminded that two could play at this game by a bullet +which sang past my face and buried itself in the woodwork behind me. +The light was now failing fast, and we fought in a gloaming within +those walls, though without the mutineers must have seen better. The +axe fell again and again, and the door was giving in several places. +Once there was a respite following on a cry, and I rejoiced that one of +my shots had gone home. But the work was resumed presently with +increased vigour. + +And now of a sudden an outcry on my left startled me. I turned, and saw +Prince Frederic in combat with a man, and beyond in the twilight some +other figures. The door to the deck had fallen. Leaving my own door to +take care of itself, I hastened to what was the immediate seat of +danger, and shot one fellow through the body. He fell like a bullock, +and then the Prince gave way and struck against me. His left arm had +dropped to his side, but in his right hand he now held a sword, and, +recovering, he thrust viciously and with agility before him. Before +that gallant assault two more went down, and as Lane and Barraclough +seemed to be holding their own, it seemed almost as if we should get +the better of the attack. But just then I heard rather than saw the +second door yielding, and with shouts the enemy clambered over the +table and were upon us from that quarter also. Beneath this combined +attack we slowly gave way and retreated down the corridor, fighting +savagely. The mutineers must have come to the end of their ammunition, +for they did not use revolvers, but knives and axes. One ruffian, whom +in the uncertain light I could not identify, bore a huge axe, which he +swung over his head, and aimed at me with terrific force. As I dodged +it missed me and crashed into the woodwork of the cabins, from which no +effort could withdraw it. I had stepped aside, and, although taking a +knife wound in my thigh, slipped a blade through the fellow. But still +they bore us back, and I knew in my inmost mind, where instinct rather +than thought moved now, that it was time to think of the _boudoir_ and +my promise. We were being driven in that direction, and if I could only +reach the handle I had resolved what to do. + +But now it seemed again that I must be doomed to break my word, for how +was it possible to resist that onset? There were, so far as I could +guess, a dozen of the mutineers, but it was that fact possibly that +helped us a little, as, owing to their numbers, they impeded one +another. Prince Frederic was a marvellous swordsman, and he swept a +passage clear before him; but at last his blade snapped in the middle, +and he was left defenceless. I saw some one rush at him, and, the light +gleaming on his face, I recognised Pierce. With my left hand I hurled +my revolver into it with all the power of my muscles. It struck him +full in the mouth, that ugly, lipless mouth which I abhorred. He +uttered a cry of pain and paused for a moment. But in that moment, +abstracted from my own difficulties, I had given a chance to one of my +opponents, whose uplifted knife menaced me. I had no time to draw back, +and if I ducked I felt I should go under and be trodden upon by the +feet of the infuriated enemy. Once down, I should never rise again. It +seemed all over for me as well as for the Prince, and in far less time +than it takes to relate this the thought had flashed into my +head--flashed together with that other thought that the Princess would +wait, and wait for me in vain. Ah, but would she wait? If I knew her +fine-tempered spirit she would not hesitate. She had the means of her +salvation; she carried it in her bosom, and feared not. No, I could not +be afraid for her. + +As I have said, these reflections were almost instantaneous, and they +had scarcely passed in a blaze of wonder through my brain when the +yacht lurched heavily, the deck slipped away from us, and the whole +body of fighting, struggling men was precipitated with a crash against +the opposite wall. Some had fallen to the floor, and others crawled +against the woodwork, shouting oaths and crying for assistance. I had +fallen with the rest, and lay against a big fellow whose back was +towards me. I struggled from him and was climbing the slope of the +deck, when she righted herself and rolled sharply over on the other +side. This caused an incontinent rush of bodies across the corridor +again, and for a moment all thought of renewing the conflict was +abandoned. I recognised Prince Frederic as the man by me, and I +whispered loudly in his ears, so that my voice carried through the +clamour and the noises of the wind that roared outside round the +state-rooms. + +"Better make our last stand here. I mean the ladies...." He nodded. + +"It will be better," he answered harshly. "Yes ... better." + +He turned about, with his hand on the door-knob behind him, and now I +saw that we had reached the entrance to the _boudoir_. + +"Alix! ... Yvonne!" he called loudly through the keyhole. "You know +what to do, beloved. Farewell!" + +I had refilled my revolver in the pause and, with a fast-beating heart, +turned now to that horrid cockpit once more. The first person my eyes +lighted on was Holgate, broad, clean-faced, and grinning like a demon. + +"He shall die, at any rate," said Prince Frederic, and lifted his +revolver which he had reloaded. It missed fire; the second shot grazed +Holgate's arm and felled a man behind him. + +"No luck, Prince," said the fellow in his mocking voice, and in his +turn raised a weapon of his own. But he did not fire. Instead, he +turned swiftly round and made a dash towards the other end of the +corridor. + +"To me, men; this way! By heaven and thunder!" + +His voice, fat as it was, pierced the din, and acted as a rallying cry. +Several of the mutineers, now confronting us again, turned and followed +him, and there was the noise of a struggle issuing from the darkness of +the top end of the corridor. + +"What the deuce is this?" screamed Barraclough in my ear. + +"I don't know. Let's fall on. There's an alarm. They're----! Now, by +the Lord, it's Legrand, thank God! Legrand, Legrand!" + +"Bully for Legrand!" cried Barraclough, wiping some blood from his +face, and he set upon the mutineers from the rear. Those left to face +us had scarcely recovered from their astonishment at the alarm when the +Prince shot two, and a third went down to me. The others retreated +towards their companions, and the three of us followed them up. I say +the three, for I could not see Lane anywhere, and I feared that he had +fallen. + +The conflict thus renewed upon more equal terms found, nevertheless, +most of the participants worn and exhausted. At least I can answer for +myself, and I am sure that my companions were in a like case. The +twilight that reigned disguised the scene of the struggle, so that each +man saw but little beyond his own part in the affair; yet I was +conscious that the mutineers were being pushed back towards the deck +door. They had been caught between the two parties as it appeared, and +Legrand's unexpected onset from the music-saloon entrance had thrown +them into confusion. It was obvious that Legrand and his men were +armed, for I heard a shot or two issuing from the _melee_, and above +the noise of the oaths and thuds and thumpings was the clash of steel. +Presently my man, who had engaged me over-long, dropped, and before me +was a little vacancy of space, at the end of which, hard by the door, I +discerned the bulky form of Holgate. He was leaning against the wall, +as if faint, and a revolver dropped from his fingers. + +"By God, doctor, if I'd had any idea of this I'd have crucified 'em +all," he said to me savagely; "but I'll get square yet. First you, and +now Legrand! I'll be square yet." + +As he spoke, panting, he heaved himself higher against the wall and +levelled his revolver. In a flash my arm descended and knocked the +weapon to the floor. I could see his grin even in the dim light. + +"Well, it was empty, anyway, man," he said, "but I'll give you best for +the present. I've my ship to look after." + +I could have struck him down then and there, and I raised my point to +do so; but he seized my arm. "Don't be a fool, my lad. She'll be gone +in this wind, if I don't take charge. Have your fling if you want it," +he screamed in my face above the clamour. For the noise of the wind was +now increased and grown into a roar. It sounded as a menace in the +ears, and I involuntarily paused and looked out of the doorway. The +heavens were black, the waters ran white to the gunwale, and the _Sea +Queen_ staggered like a drunkard on her course. Holgate's practised +eye had taken in the situation, and he had seen that he was necessary +to the navigation of the yacht. And yet I marvelled at his coolness, at +the strength of will and heroic resolution which could turn him of a +sudden from one filled with the lust of blood and greed and battle into +the patient sailor with his ship to save. These thoughts ran through my +head as I paused. It was only a brief pause, so brief that it was no +time ere I rejoined my companions in their attack on the failing +mutineers; but in it I had a glimpse deep into the chief mutineer's +nature. + +I let him go. His argument came home to me. I do not know that I could +be said to have considered; rather his individuality dominated me in +this appeal to something beyond our immediate quarrel, to a more +ultimate good. Perhaps his very assurance, which was almost +contemptuous in its expression, helped to dissuade me. I dropped my arm +and he went. Outside, as I turned back, I saw him stay a moment and +look upon us, that pack of desperate wolves and watch-dogs. Almost I +could think he lifted his lips in a grin over his fancy. Then he +disappeared into the gathering gloom, and, as I say, I returned to the +attack. A few minutes later the mutineers broke and scattered. Their +resistance was at an end, and they fled out into the night, leaving our +party breathless, wounded, but secure and triumphant. + +I say secure, but alas, the price of that security had been heavy! +Legrand with two of his men had escaped unhurt, but two were dead and +two seriously wounded. Lane had his face cut open; Barraclough had come +off with a nasty stab in the ribs, and Prince Frederic was not to be +found. We hunted in that scene of carnage, and I discovered him at last +under the body of a dead mutineer. When we had got him forth he was +still unconscious, but breathed heavily, and I found traces of internal +injuries. I administered what was necessary, including a restorative, +and he came to presently. + +"Well, sir," said he weakly, "what's the report?" + +"By heaven, sir, we've licked them," I cried. "Good news, sir. The dogs +have run." + +"They shall be hanged in due course," said he in a loud voice. "My luck +holds, doctor." He waved his hand weakly down the corridor. "Tell the +ladies. Acquaint--her Royal Highness." + +It was the first time he had given his sister her proper style, and in +a way this might be taken by those who look for omens as auspicious. +Did his luck indeed hold, as he said? + +I took the office on myself. The _Sea Queen_ was galloping like a +racer, and plunged as she ran. Two steps took me to the _boudoir_ +door, before which lay the body of one of our enemies. As the ship +rolled it slipped away and began to creep down the corridor. The yacht +reared before she dipped again, and a cascade of spray streamed over +the side and entered by the broken door. I rapped loudly and called +loudly; and in a trice the door opened, and the Princess Alix stood +before me, glimmering like a ghost in the darkness. + +"They are gone," I shouted. "We have won." + +"Thank God! He has heard us," she exclaimed. "I could hear nothing for +the sound of the sea and the wind. But oh, the suspense was terrible! +My hair should be white!" + +"Mademoiselle?" I asked. + +"Mademoiselle sleeps," said she, and I thought there was something +significant in her voice. + +It was well that Mademoiselle slept. I left her and went back to the +Prince, for more than he needed my care, and as I reached the group the +roll of the yacht sent me flying. Legrand caught me. + +"We can't spare you yet, doctor," he shouted. + +"Thank God for you," I answered fervently. "You came in the nick of +time." + +"I thought we might have cut our way out last night, but I found we +couldn't," he explained. "You see, we only had one knife, and it has +been a tough job to get through the heavy wood of the partition." + +"Thank God," I repeated, and clutched at him again as the floor rose +up. "I'm not accustomed to this," I said with a laugh. "It's worse than +the mutineers." + +He answered nothing, for his gaze was directed towards the door. + +"We must take charge," he shouted. "Good Lord, there's no time to +lose." + +"Holgate's there," I screamed back. "He went to look after the ship." + +We stood holding on to each other, and Barraclough, Lane and the Prince +were holding on by the brass rods on the cabin doors. She rolled and +kicked and stood up at an angle of 45 deg. + +"What is it?" I screamed. + +Legrand pointed to the blackness without. "We'll get it in a little. I +hope to God it will be no worse than this. She can't stand on her head +with safety." + +Suddenly the roar swelled louder, and dismal shrieks and whistlings +sounded in the ears. The _Sea Queen_ sank, and a whole tide of sea +rushed over the bulwarks and flooded the state-rooms. The water ran +knee-deep and set the bodies of the dead awash. One struck against me +in the whirlpool. It was a ghastly scene, set in that gathered +darkness. + +"Nothing can be done. We've got to hold on," said Legrand. "He's a good +seaman; I'll say that for him. But how many's he got with him? He's +undermanned. It's all on the engine-room now." + +We were silent again, mainly because it was almost impossible to hear +anything through that tempest of wind and volcanic sea. She came right +for a moment, and our grip of each other relaxed. + +"I'm going, Legrand," I called to him. + +"Don't be a fool," said he. + +"Oh, I'm all right. I've forgotten something," I shouted. "I'll see to +myself"; and I cut myself adrift from him. + +I crossed the corridor successfully, and then the yacht heeled and I +was almost precipitated to the other end of it. She was being knocked +about like a tin pot in a gale. I seized a door-handle and hung on, and +when the vessel recovered somewhat I twisted it, but it did not give. +The _boudoir_ must be farther on. + +I crept on by means of the brass railing and at last reached a door +which gave. I opened it and called out: + +"Princess! Princess!" + +Blackness filled the room. I could hear and see nothing human. I +entered, and the door swung to behind with a clang. + +"Princess!" I shouted, but I could hear no answer. + +I groped in the darkness with both hands, and then I touched an arm! I +seized it, and drew the owner to me gently. + +"Princess!" I called, and this time an answer reached me through the +raging elements: + +"It is I." + +"Thank God, you're safe. Do not be alarmed," I said, speaking into her +ear. "The yacht's caught in a hurricane, but----" + +There fell at that instant a resounding crash far above the noise of +the storm, and we were thrown headlong against the outer wall of the +_boudoir_. I knew that only, and then I knew no more. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +AT DEAD OF NIGHT + + +Consciousness flowed back upon me slowly, and I emerged in pain and in +intense bewilderment from my swoon. The first sound that came to me in +my awakening was the terrific roar of the water against the side of the +yacht, the next a woman's scream. Recalling now the incidents exactly +preceding my fall, I stirred and endeavoured to sit up, and then I was +aware of being pinned down by a weight. It was, as will be remembered, +pitch dark, but I put out my hand and felt the beating of a heart. +There was also unmistakably a woman's bodice under my fingers. It was +Princess Alix, who had fallen with me. + +But what had happened? And what noise was screaming through the night, +even above all that awful tumult of waste water and wild wind? I +answered the second query first. It was Mademoiselle. Well, she could +wait. My first concern must be for the Princess, who lay upon me a dead +weight, but, as I knew, a living, breathing body. I carefully +extricated myself and raised her. The yacht was stooping at an angle, +and I was forced back against the wall with my burden. If it had been +only light and I had known which way to move! I laid the Princess on +the couch, which I discovered by groping, and tried to open the door. +It was jammed. Then it dawned upon me that the screw had stopped. The +noise of its beating was not among the many noises I heard. If it had +stopped, only one thing could have happened. The _Sea Queen_ must be +ashore. That was the explanation. We had struck. + +I was now the more anxious, as you may conceive, to get out of the +cabin, for if we had struck it was essential to know how we stood and +what degree of risk we ran. For all I knew, the yacht might be sinking +at that moment or breaking up upon rocks. Finding egress through the +door impossible, I made my way with difficulty to the other side of the +_boudoir_, where I knew there was a communication with the bedrooms. +This door stood open, as it had been flung by the shock, and I was now +able to locate the sounds of the screaming. They came from the cabin +beyond, which I knew to be Mademoiselle's. I guided myself as well as I +could to the door giving access to the corridor and unlocked it. As I +did so a speck of light gleamed in the darkness and arrested me. It +enlarged and emerged upon me till it took the shape of a candle, and +underneath it I beheld the capable face of the French maid Juliette. + +"It is necessary I should have something to quiet Mademoiselle, +monsieur," said she in her tranquil way. + +"I am in search of something now for the Princess, Juliette," I +explained. "Thank God for your light. How did you get it?" + +"I always have a candle with me when I travel, Monsieur," she replied. +She was the most sensible woman I had ever met, and I could have +embraced her. + +"The yacht has gone aground," I said. "I will find out how much damage +has been done. I will bring back what is necessary. The Princess lies +in there. See to her." + +With that I left her and stepped into the corridor. Like the cabins, it +was opaque with the night, but I groped my way across it without +hearing any sounds of living people--only that terrible turmoil of +waters without. I knew where my bag was. It was in the small cabin +which the Prince used as his smoking-room, and in which we had +sometimes played cards to pass the time during those days of anxiety +and trouble. The first door I opened seemed to give me access to the +open sea. The wind ramped in my face, and would have thrown me back, +and I was drenched with a cascade of water. I thought I must have +opened the door to the deck until I remembered that that had been +destroyed in the fight. I put out a hand, and it touched a piece of +furniture, and then once again the sea broke over me. There could be no +other solution of the puzzle than this--that the outer wall of the +cabin had been carried away. I judged that I was in the Prince's room. + +I retraced my way, opening the door with difficulty, and, once more in +the shelter of the corridor, felt my way along the railing. There +seemed to be a foot of water about my legs, and it was icy chill. The +next handle I hit upon I turned as before, and the door came back upon +me with a rush, almost sending me headlong. I entered the cabin, and by +dint of groping I reached the upholstered couch at the back. My bag was +not where I had left it, but it could not be far away. The salt water +flowed and oozed on the floor, but I dropped to my knees and hunted for +it, and was at last rewarded by finding it jammed into a corner under a +cupboard. Getting back into the corridor, I had now to determine +whether to return at once to the Princess or to go in search of news. + +I stood wavering, reluctant to leave her in her swoon all untended, and +yet conscious that it would be wiser to ascertain the extent of our +damages. Happily the decision was not forced upon me, for I saw in the +distance a swinging lantern, which seemed to be advancing towards me +down the corridor. I shouted, and the dim figure behind it stopped and +turned the light upon me. + +"You, Phillimore?" + +It was Barraclough's voice. "What has happened?" I asked. + +"Struck on a reef," he roared back. "She's tight yet, I think. But +where are the ladies?" + +"Let me have your lantern and I'll take you to them," said I, and, +thanking Providence for that signal mercy, I crossed the corridor with +him. The lantern shed a benign light upon the wreck of the _boudoir_. +The Princess lay where I had left her; but her eyes were open, and I +made use of my flask of cognac with beneficial results. Then I was +plucked by the arm, and Barraclough claimed my attention. + +"Mademoiselle Trebizond is ill," he called. "Give her something. You +must see to her." + +Of course that was my duty, and I took such steps as seemed necessary +for one of so neurotic a nature. + +"She is all right," I explained. "If the ship's in no danger just now +they are best here. The maid has a candle." + +I returned to Princess Alix and found her recovered, and I bade her be +of good cheer, shouting (for it was always shouting) that we had defied +the mutineers successfully, and that we should also successfully defy +the elements. Then I went back, for I had other work to do. + +Barraclough informed me that the Prince had been taken to the music +saloon, and Lane also was there. I therefore joined the relics of our +company in that devastated chamber, and did what my skill availed to do +for the injured. The Prince had been struck on the head and in the +body, but the marks were not very apparent. He breathed heavily, but +had still his old air of authority. Lane bubbled over with alternate +fumes of petulance and passion; but he had his excuse, as he was +suffering a great deal of pain. Ellison, too, wounded as he was, had +dragged himself from his temporary hospital to the music-room. But one +of Legrand's men had vanished, and it was supposed he had gone +overboard in one of the great tides of sea that swept over the yacht. +Legrand had ventured on deck, and clinging to the railings, had +endeavoured to get some notion of the position of things. But he had +seen and heard nothing beyond the storm. + +"She's firm so far," he shouted in my ears, "and the night's clearing. +I can see a star." + +"The Star of Hope," I answered. + +He shrugged his shoulders. "They may be at the pumps. But the sea's +moderating and the wind's dropping. We shall know presently." + +Something was now drawing me irresistibly back to the Princess. My +heart pined for the sight of her and the assurance that she had +suffered no injury. I grew restless at the inaction, and, weary and +bruised as I was, I think passion gave me wings and endurance. I left +the music saloon and emerged into the lobby where the stairs went down +to the saloon below. The sea was breaking through the shattered door on +the one side, but on the lee the _Sea Queen_ was tilted upwards, and it +was there she lay in irons, no doubt upon some rocks, or shores. If +only the day would dawn! As I stood awhile, before entering the +corridor through another shattered doorway, the glimmer of a light +caught my eye. It came from the door upon the farther side of the +lobby, seeming to shine through the keyhole. As I watched, the door +opened and let in a blast of wind that shook the broken woodwork; it +also let in the figure of a man, and that man, seen dimly in the shades +of the light he carried, was Holgate. I drew myself up into the +fastness of the gloom and stared at him. He had turned the shutter in +his lantern now, for it was a bull's-eye, and the darkness was once +more universal, but I had a feeling that he had a companion, and +although I necessarily lost sight of Holgate I was assured in myself +that he had descended the stairway. Any noise his heavy feet might make +would be absorbed into the general racket of the night. I stood and +wondered. What was Holgate's object in this silent expedition? + +I confess my curiosity rose high--to a pitch, indeed, at which it might +not be denied. A surmise sprang into my mind, but I hardly allowed it +time to formulate, for not a minute after the recognition I, too, was +on my way down the stairs. It was comparatively easy to descend, for, +as I have said, there was no danger of discovery from noise, and I had +the balustrade under my hand. When I had reached the floor below I +caught the gleam of the lantern in the distance, and I pursued it down +one of the passages. This pursuit took me past the cabins towards the +kitchen; and then I came to an abrupt pause, for the lantern, too, had +stopped. + +I could make out Holgate's bulky form and the light flashing on the +walls, and now, too, I found that my senses had not deceived me, and +that there was a second man. He stood in the shadow, so that I could +not identify him; and both men were peering into an open door. + +My position in the passage began to assume a perilous character, and I +made investigations in my neighbourhood. Near me was the door of a +cabin, which I opened without difficulty and entered. Now, by putting +out my head, I could see the mutineers, while I had a refuge in the +event of their turning back. They were still bent forwards, peering +into the room. I thought that, with good luck, I might venture farther +while they were so engrossed with their occupation. So, leaving my +hiding-place, I stole forwards boldly to the next cabin and entered it +as I had entered the former. I was now quite close to them, and +suddenly I saw who was Holgate's companion. It was Pye. + +With equal celerity did my brain take in the situation and interpret +it. Indeed, I should have guessed at it long before, I think, had not +the events of the night thrown me into a state of confusion. It was the +treasure they looked at, and this was where Pye had concealed it. As +this truth came home to me Holgate lifted his head and I drew back, +setting the cabin door ajar. Presently after the bull's-eye flashed +through the crack of the door, and stayed there. For a moment I thought +all was up, and that my retreat had been discovered, but I was soon +reassured. The noise of the water had fallen, and above it, or rather +through it, I could hear Holgate's voice fatly decisive. + +"She'll hold, I tell you, for twenty-four hours at any rate, even +without pumps. Hang it, man, do you suppose I can take the risk now? +They're sick enough as it is--all blood and no money. We must let it +lie for a bit and take our opportunity." + +Pye's voice followed; I could not hear what he said, but Holgate's was +in answer and coldly impatient. + +"You've the stomach of a nursery governess. Good heavens, to run in +harness with you! What the deuce do I know? We're cast away, that's +certain. But I will be hanged if I lose what I've played for, Mr. Pye; +so put that in your pipe." + +The light went out and the voice faded. Presently I opened the door and +looked out upon profound darkness. + +I knew my way about the yacht by that time, and was not discomposed by +the situation. The mutineer and his treacherous confederate were gone, +and I must make the best of my time to follow them. Nothing could be +effected without a light, and I had no means of procuring one in those +nether regions. I retraced my way more or less by instinct until I came +out at the foot of the stairway, and knew it was easy to regain the +upper regions. Instead of going to the _boudoir_, I sought the group in +the music-room, and was challenged by Barraclough. + +"Who's that?" + +"Phillimore," I answered. "We must have more light. Have we no more +lanterns?" + +"Yes, sir," said Ellison's cheerful voice. "There's some in the +steward's room." + +"Good for you," said I. "If some one will give me matches I think I'll +go on a hunt." + +The other sailor produced a box of vestas from his pocket, and as he +was unwounded I took him with me on my return journey. In the steward's +room we found several lanterns, as well as some bottles of beer and +some cold fowl. We made a selection from this and got safely back to +our friends. Here we lit two or three of the lanterns, and I opened +some of the beer and left them to a repast. You will be thinking that I +had not kept my word, and had neglected what should have been my prime +duty. I had not forgotten, however. Was it likely? And I made haste at +once to the quarters of the ladies, taking with me something which +should make me welcome--which was a lighted lantern. Princess Alix was +quite recovered, but showed great anxiety for news of her brother. I +was able to quiet her fears by describing the supper at which I had +left him, and her eyes brightened. + +"He is so good and brave!" she said simply. "He is so noble! He has +always thought of others." + +That the Prince was fond of his sister was manifest, and it was patent, +too, that he was attached to the woman for whom he had thrown all away +and was thus imperilled. Yet I should not have attributed to him +inordinate unselfishness. I made no reply, however, beyond urging her +to follow her brother's example and fortify herself with food. She +waved it aside. + +"No, no, I am not hungry! I am only anxious," she said. "Tell me, are +we safe?" + +"For the present," I said. "I gather that most of the mutineers are at +the pumps." + +"Then we are sinking?" she cried. + +"It does not follow," I answered. "Holgate has his own hand to play, +and he will play it. We are safe just now. God answered your prayers, +Princess." + +She looked me earnestly in the face and sighed. + +"Yes," she said softly. + +Meanwhile I discovered that Mademoiselle had picked up her spirits. She +complained of the noise, of the darkness, and of the lack of sleep, but +she found some compensations, now that it was clear that we were not +going to the bottom. + +"It was magnificent, Monsieur, that storm!" she exclaimed. "I could see +the demons raging in it. Oh, _ciel_! It was like the terrors of the Erl +Koenig, yes. But what have you there, doctor? Oh, it is beer, English +beer. I am tired of champagne. Give me some beer. I love the bocks. It +calls to mind the boulevards. Oh, the boulevards, that I shall not see, +never, never in my life!" + +I consoled her, comforting her with the assurance that we were nearer +the boulevards now than we had been a few hours ago, which in a way was +true enough. She inquired after the Prince pleasantly, also after +Barraclough, and asked with cheerful curiosity when we were going to +land. + +I said I hoped it would be soon, but she was content with her new toy, +which was English bottled ale, and I left her eating daintily and +sipping the foam from her toilette glass with satisfaction. I returned +to the music-room and joined the company; and, after a little, silence +fell upon us, and I found myself drift into the slumber of the weary. + +I awoke with the grey dawn streaming in by the shattered skylights, +and, sitting up, looked about me. My companions were all wrapped in +slumber, Lane tossing restlessly with the pain of his wound. I walked +to the door and looked out. The sea had gone down, and now lapped and +washed along the sides of the _Sea Queen_. The sky was clear, and far +in the east were the banners of the morning. The gentle air of the dawn +was grateful to my flesh and stimulated my lungs. I opened my chest to +draw it in, and then, recrossing the lobby, I peered out through the +windows on the port side. The dim loom of land saluted my eyes, and +nearer still a precipice of rocks, by which the seafowl were screaming. +We had gone ashore on some sort of island. + +This discovery relieved one of the anxieties that had weighed upon me. +At last we had a refuge not only from the violence and treachery of the +ocean, but also from the murderous ruffians who had possession of the +yacht. It was, therefore, with a lighter heart that I descended into +the cabins and made my way along the passage to the point where I had +seen Holgate and Pye stop. I identified the door which they had opened, +and after a little manoeuvring I succeeded in getting it open. It was +the cook's pantry in which I now found myself, and I proceeded to +examine carefully every drawer and every cupboard by the meagre light +of the dawn. I had not been at work ten minutes before I came upon the +contents of the safes, safely stowed in a locker. Well, if the +documents and gold could be shifted once they could be shifted again; +and forthwith I set about the job. It pleased me (I know not why) to +choose no other place than Pye's cabin in which to rehide them. I think +the irony of the choice decided me upon it, and also it was scarcely +likely that Holgate and his accomplice would think of looking for the +treasure in the latter's room. + +It took me quite an hour to make the transfer, during which time I was +not interrupted by any alarm. Whatever Holgate and his men were doing, +they evidently did not deem that there was any center of interest in +the saloon cabins at that moment. My task accomplished, I returned to +the music-room, in which the wounded men still slept restlessly. I +occupied my time in preparing a meal, and I took a strong glass of +whisky and water, for my strength was beginning to ebb. I had endured +much and fought hard, and had slept but little. As I stood looking down +on my companions, I was aware of a grey shadow that the slender +sunlight cast as a ghost upon the wall. I turned and saw the Princess. + +She was clad as for a journey, and warmly against the cold, and her +face was pale and anxious. + +"You are astir, Dr. Phillimore," she said. + +"Yes," said I. "I could not sleep." + +"Nor I," she returned with a sigh. "I sometimes feel that I shall never +sleep again. The sound of the storm and the noises of the fight--the +oaths--the cries--they are forever beating in my brain." + +"They will pass," I replied encouragingly. "I do believe we are +destined to safety. Look forth there and you will see the morning mists +on the island." + +"Yes," she assented. "I saw that we had struck on an island, and that +is why I am here. Our chance is given us, Dr. Phillimore. We must go." + +I looked doubtfully at the sleeping men. + +"Yes, yes, I know, but my brother will be more reasonable now," she +pursued; "he will see things in another light. He has done all for +honour that honour calls for." + +"He has done too much," said I somewhat bitterly, for I realised how +greatly he had imperilled his sister. + +She made no answer to that, but approached and looked down at the +Prince, who lay with his head pillowed on the cushioned seat. + +"He is well enough?" she asked. + +"He is well enough to leave the yacht if he will consent," I answered. + +Perhaps it was the sound of our voices, though we had both pitched them +low. At any rate, Prince Frederic stirred and sat up slowly. + +"Good-morning, Alix," he said affectionately, and his eyes alighted on +me, as if wondering. + +The Princess went forward and embraced him. "Dr. Phillimore has kindly +got breakfast for you," she said. "You must eat, Frederic, for we are +going to leave the yacht this morning." + +She spoke decisively, as if she had taken control of affairs out of his +hands, and he smiled back. + +"Are those your orders, Alix? You were always wilful from a child." + +"No, no," she cried, smiling too, "I always obeyed your orders, +Frederic. It was you who were hero to me, not Karl or Wilhelm--only +you." + +He patted her hand and glanced at the food I had obtained. "We owe to +Dr. Phillimore a debt of gratitude," he said in his friendliest manner. +The talking had disturbed Barraclough also, who now awoke and saluted +us. He made no difficulty of beginning at once on his breakfast, +cracking a joke at my expense. It was a strangely pacific gathering +after the terrible night; but I suppose we were all too worn to take +things in duly. + +There is a limit to the power of facts to make impressions on one's +senses, and I think we had reached it. For the most part we were just +animals with an appetite. But there was my news, and I hastened to +break it. It was not startling, but it had an interest for us all. The +Prince deliberated. + +"It is fate," he said slowly. "It is the luck of the Hochburgers." + +Barraclough's comment was from a different aspect. "That's a trick to +us. We've a shot in the locker yet." + +"What is it you mean?" asked the Prince. + +"Why, that we can drive a bargain with them," replied Barraclough. +"We've got the whip-hand." + +"There shall no bargain be made with murderers," said the Prince in his +deep voice. + +"Frederic," said Princess Alix in a quick, impulsive way, "let us +escape while there is time. The way is clear now. We can get to the +island and be quit forever of those dreadful men and horrible scenes." + +The Prince let his glance fall on her. "There is something to be done +here," he said at last. "The luck of the Hochburgers holds." + +He was ill for certain; perhaps he was more than ill; but at that +moment I had no patience with him. I turned on my heel and left the +room. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE TRAGEDY + + +It was quite obvious that we could not offer any resistance to another +attack if one should be made. All told, and excluding the women, there +were but seven of us, and three of these were disabled by their wounds. +We did not, of course, know how the mutineers had fared, but it was +certain that their assault had cost them dear. The heavy seas had +washed overboard dead and dying, and it was impossible for us to say +how many enemies were left to us. It might be that with their +diminished numbers they would not risk another attack, particularly as +they had found us develop so fierce a resistance. But, on the other +hand, the rank and file of the mutineers believed us to be in +possession of the treasure (as we actually were once more), and it was +likely that they would make yet another attempt to gain it. But they on +their side could not tell how we had suffered, and they would be sure +to use caution. For these reasons I did not think that we need fear an +immediate assault, but we thought it advisable to concentrate our +forces against an emergency. We therefore abandoned the music-room and +secured ourselves as well as possible in the wreck of the state-rooms, +using furniture and trunks and boxes as barricades. + +For my part, my heart echoed the Princess's wish. I was in favour of +abandoning the yacht and trusting to the chances of the island. As the +sun rose higher we got glimpses of this through the windows, and the +verdure looked inviting after so many weary weeks of desolate water. +The tops of the hills seemed barren, but I had no doubt that there was +more fertility in the valleys, which were not swept by the bluff winds +of the wild sea. But the Prince was obstinate, and, relying upon his +luck, was dragging down with him the lives of the two women he loved, +to say nothing of the rest of our company. We had therefore to make the +best of the situation, and to sit down and await issues with what +composure we might. + +The Prince himself had recovered wonderfully, though I did not like the +look of the dent on his head, which had been dealt apparently by the +back of an axe. His power of recuperation astonished me, and I was +amazed on leaving the cabin in which Lane was housed, to find him +entering the doorway that led from the lobby. I remonstrated with him, +for it was evident that he had been wandering, and I wanted him to +rest, so as to have all his strength for use later should it be +necessary. He smiled queerly. + +"Yet you would have me take a turn on the island, doctor," he said. "I +saw it in your eyes. I will not have you encourage the Princess so. It +is my wish to stay. I will see my luck to the end." + +This was the frame of his mind, and you will conceive how impossible to +move one so fanatically fixed on his course; indeed, the futility of +argument was evident from the first, and I made no attempt. +Barraclough, too, retired defeated, though it was by no means his last +word on the point, as you shall hear. + +I was seated in the corridor some three hours later, near what should +have been four bells, when I heard my name called softly. I looked +about me without seeing any one. The wounded men were resting, and +Legrand was at the farther end of the corridor, acting as sentinel over +our makeshift of a fortress. I sat wondering, and then my name was +called again--called in a whisper that, nevertheless, penetrated to my +ears and seemed to carry on the quiet air. I rose and went towards +Legrand. + +"Did you call?" I asked. + +He shook his head. "No," said he. + +"I heard my name distinctly," I said. + +"Oh, don't get fancying things, Phillimore," he said with impatient +earnestness. "My dear fellow, there's only you and Barraclough and me +now." + +"Well, I'd better swallow some of my own medicine," I retorted grimly, +and left him. + +I walked back again and turned. As I did so, the call came to me so +clearly and so softly that I knew it was no fancy on my part, and now I +involuntarily lifted my eyes upwards to the skylights. One of these had +been shattered in the gale. + +"Doctor!" + +I gazed in amazement, and suddenly Holgate's face passed momentarily +over the hole in the glass. + +"Doctor, can you spare me ten minutes?" + +What in the name of wonder was this? I paused, looked down the corridor +towards Legrand, and reflected. Then I took it in at a guess, and I +resolved to see him. + +"Where?" I asked, in a voice so modulated that it did not reach +Legrand. + +"Here--the promenade," came back the reply. + +I whistled softly, but made no answer. Then I walked away. + +"Legrand," said I, "I'm going for a turn. I've got an idea." + +"Don't let your idea get you," said he bluffly. + +I assured him that I was particular about my personal safety, and with +his assistance the door was opened behind the barricade. For the first +time for two days I found myself on the deck and in the open air. +Hastily glancing about me to make sure that no mutineers were in the +neighbourhood, I walked to the foot of the ladder that gave access to +the promenade-deck above and quickly clambered to the top. At first I +could see no sign of Holgate, and then a head emerged from behind the +raised skylights and he beckoned to me. + +"Sit here, doctor," said he. "You'll be safe here. No harm shall come +to you." + +He indicated a seat under cover of one of the extra boats which was +swung inside the promenade-deck for use in the event of emergencies, +and he himself set me the example of sitting. + +"I suppose you've come armed," he said. I tapped my breast-pocket +significantly. + +"So!" said he, smiling. "Well, you're plucky, but you're not a fool; +and I won't forget that little affair downstairs. I'll admit you might +have dusted me right up, if you'd chosen. But you didn't. You had a +clear head and refrained." + +"On the contrary," said I, "I've been thinking ever since what a dolt I +was not to shoot." + +"You don't shoot the man at the wheel, lad," said he with a grin. + +"Oh, you weren't that; you were only the enemy. Why, we struck half an +hour later." + +"Yes," he assented. "But we're not down under yet. And you can take +your solemn Alfred that that's where we should be now if you hadn't let +me pass. No, doctor, you spared the rod and saved the ship." + +"Well, she's piled up, my good sir," I declared. + +"So she is," he admitted. "But she's saved all the same. And I'll let +you into a little secret, doctor. What d'ye suppose my men are busy +about, eh? Why, pumping--pumping for all they're worth. I keep 'em well +employed, by thunder." He laughed. "If it's not fight, it's pump, and +if it weren't pump, by the blazes it would be fight. So you owe me one, +doctor, you and those fine friends of yours who wouldn't pick you out +of a gutter." + +"Supposing we get to the point," I suggested curtly. + +"That's all right. There's a point about here, sure enough. Well, we're +piled up on blessed Hurricane Island, doctor, as you see. We struck her +at a proper angle. See? Here lies the _Sea Queen_, with a bulge in her +and her nose for the water. She'd like to crawl off, and could." + +He waved his hand as he spoke, and for the first time my gaze took in +the scene. We lay crooked up upon a ridge of rock and sand; beyond, to +the right, the cliffs rose in a cloud of gulls, and nearer and +leftwards the long rollers broke upon a little beach which sloped up to +the verdure of a tiny valley. It was a solitary but a not unhandsome +prospect, and my eyes devoured it with inward satisfaction, even with +longing. Far away a little hill was crowned with trees, and the sun was +shining warmly on the gray sand and blue water. + +I turned, and Holgate's eye was on me. + +"She's piled up for certain, but I guess she could get up and waddle if +we urged her," he said slowly. + +"Come, Holgate, I have no idea what this means," said I. "I only know +that a few hours ago you would have annihilated us, and that we must +look for the same attempt again. I confess there's nothing else plain +to me." + +"I'll make it plain, lad," said he with his Lancashire accent +uppermost. "I'm not denying what you say. I told you long ago that I +was going through with this, and that holds. I'm not going to let go +now, no, by thunder, not when I'm within an ace of it. But there's been +a bit of manoeuvring, doctor, and I think we can help each other." + +"You want a compromise," I said. + +"You can call it that if you will," he said. "But the terms I offered +yesterday I repeat to-day." + +"Why do you take this method of offering them?" I inquired. "Why not +approach the Prince officially?" + +"Well, you see, doctor, I don't hanker after seeing the Prince, as you +might say; and then, between you and me, you're more reasonable, and +know when the butter's on the bread." + +"And there's another reason," said I. + +He slapped his thigh and laughed. "Ah! Ah! doctor, there's no getting +behind you. You're a fair daisy," he said good-humouredly. "Yes, +there's another reason, which is by way of manoeuvring, as I have +said. My men are at the pumps or they would be at you. You see you've +got the treasure." + +"Oh, only a few hours since," I said lightly. His fang showed. + +"That's so. But so far as my men know you've had it all along. Now I +wonder where you hid it? Perchance in a steward's pantry, doctor?" + +"Very likely," I assented. + +His sombre eyes, which never smiled, scrutinised me. + +"I'd put my shirt on it that 'twas you, doctor," he said presently. +"What a man you are! It couldn't be that worm, Pye, naturally; so it +must be you. I'm nuts on you." + +I rose. "I'm afraid, Holgate, you can't offer any terms which would be +acceptable," I said drily. + +"Well, it's a fair exchange," he said. "I guess I can keep my men aloof +for a bit, and we can get her off. There's not much the matter with the +yacht. I'll land your party on the coast in return for the boodle." + +"The Prince would not do it," I answered. "Nor would I advise him to do +so--for one reason, if for no other." + +I spoke deliberately and looked him in the face fully. + +"What may that be?" he asked, meeting my gaze. + +"You would not keep your word," I said. + +He shook his head. "You're wrong, doctor, you're wholly wrong. You +haven't got my measure yet, hanged if you have. I thought you had a +clearer eye. What interest have I in your destruction? None in the +world." + +"Credit me with some common sense, Holgate," I replied sharply. "Dead +men tell no tales." + +"Nor dead women," he said meaningly, and I shuddered. "But, good Lord! +I kill no man save in fight. Surrender, and I'll keep the wolves off +you. They only want the money." + +"Which they would not get," I put in. + +He smiled, not resenting this insinuation. "That's between me and my +Maker," he said with bold blasphemy. "Anyway, I'm not afraid of putting +your party at liberty. I know a corner or two. I can look after myself. +I've got my earths to run to." + +"It's no use," I said firmly. + +"Well, there's an alternative," he said, showing his teeth, "and that's +war; and when it comes to war, lives don't count, of either sex; no, by +blazes, they don't, Dr. Phillimore!" + +He stood up and faced me, his mouth open, his teeth apart, and that +malicious grin wrinkling all but his smouldering feral eyes. I turned +my back on him without a word and descended to the deck. I had not a +notion what was to be done, but I knew better than to trust to the +ravening mercies of that arch-mutineer. + +Holgate was aware that the treasure was gone, and he wished to jockey +us into a surrender. That was the gist of my interview, which I +hastened to communicate to my companions. Legrand and Barraclough +listened with varying faces. Expressions flitted over the former's as +shadows over a sea, but the baronet was still as rock, yes, and as +hard, it seemed to me. + +"You people have all got a bee in your bonnet in respect of a +compromise," he said with a sneer. "You follow the Prince, and God +knows he's no judge. He's a fanatic. Hang it, Phillimore, haven't you +tumbled to that yet?" + +He was a fanatic, it was true, but I did not like Barraclough's tone. +"Then you would trust the lives of this company, including the ladies, +to Holgate?" I asked sharply. + +"With proper reservations and safeguards," he said. + +I threw out my hands. "You talk of safeguards, and you're dealing with +a cut-throat. What safeguards could you have?" + +"Well, we might stipulate for a surrender of all the firearms," said +Barraclough, knitting his brow. + +"It wouldn't wash," said Legrand decidedly. "Do you think they'd give +up all they had? No, it would only be a pretence--a sham. I agree with +the doctor that Holgate's safety is only spelled out by our deaths. +There you have it in a nutshell. The man can't afford to let us go +free." + +Barraclough assumed a mule-like look. "Very well," said he. "Then we're +wiped out as soon as he cares to move," and he turned away angrily. + +An hour later I was passing the ladies' cabins when a door flew open, +and Mademoiselle jumped out on me in a state of agitation. + +"What is this, doctor?" she cried. "This 'Olgate offers to put us on +shore safe, and you refuse--refuse to give him up the money. You must +not. You must bargain with him. Our lives depend on it. And you will +arrange that he leaves us sufficient to get to civilisation again." + +"Mademoiselle," said I quietly, "I am not in authority here. It is the +Prince." + +"The Prince, he is ill," she went on in her voluble French. "He is not +master of himself, as you well know. He is not to be trusted to make a +decision. Sir John shall do it. He is captain." + +"It should be done with all my heart and now, Mademoiselle," I said, +"if we could put any reliance on the man's word. But how can we after +his acts, after this bloody mutiny?" + +She clasped her hands together in terror. "Then we shall be doomed to +death, Monsieur. Ah, try, consent! Let us see what he will offer. Sir +John shall do it for me whose life is at stake." + +I was sorry for her fears, and her agitation embarrassed me. Heaven +knew I understood the situation even more clearly than she, and to me +it was formidable, pregnant with peril. But what could I do? I did what +I could to reassure her, which was little enough, and I left her +weeping. The singing-bird had become suddenly conscious of her danger, +and was beating wildly against the bars of her cage. Poor singing-bird! + +Princess Alix had taken upon herself the office of nurse to her +brother, and although he refused to acknowledge the necessity of a +nurse, he seemed glad to have her in his room. When I entered early in +the afternoon after tending my other patients, they were talking low +together in German, a tongue with which, as I think I have said, I was +not very familiar. But I caught some words, and I guessed that it was +of home they spoke, and the linden-trees in the avenue before the +castle of Hochburg. The Princess's face wore a sad smile, which strove +to be tender and playful at once, but failed pitifully. And she dropped +the pretence when she faced me. + +"Dr. Phillimore, my brother is not so well. He--he has been wandering," +she said anxiously under her breath. + +I had been afraid of the dent in the head. I approached him and felt +his pulse. + +"It will not be long, doctor, before we have these scoundrels hanged," +he said confidently, nodding to me in his grave way. "We have nearly +finished our work." + +"Yes," said I, "very nearly." + +I did not like his looks. He raised himself in his chair. "'_Den Lieben +langen Tag_,' Alix. Why don't you sing that now? You used to sing it +when you were but a child," he said, relapsing into German. "Sing, +Alix." He stared about as if suddenly remembering something. "If Yvonne +were here, she would sing. Her voice is beautiful--ach, so beautiful!" + +There was a moment's silence, and the Princess looked at me, +inquiringly, as it appeared to me. I nodded to her, and she parted her +lips. Sweet and soft and plaintive were the strains of that old-world +song. Ah, how strangely did that slender voice of beauty touch the +heart, while Mademoiselle had sung in vain with all her art and +accomplishment: + + Den Lieben langen Tag + Hab ich nur Schmerz und Plag + Und darf am Abend doch nit weine. + Wen ich am Fendersteh, + Und in die Nacht nei seh, + So ganz alleine, so muss ich weine. + +Her voice had scarce died away gently when a sound from without drew my +ears, and I turned towards the door. The Prince had closed his eyes and +lay back in his chair as if he slept, and his face was that of a happy +child. Motioning to the Princess to let him stay so, undisturbed, I +moved to the door and opened it noiselessly. I heard Legrand's voice +raised high as if in angry altercation, and I stepped into the corridor +and closed the door behind me. I hurried down to the barricade and +found Barraclough and Legrand struggling furiously. + +"Shame!" I called, "shame! What is it?" and I pulled Legrand back. "He +has only one arm, man," I said reproachfully. + +"I don't care if he has none. He's betrayed us," cried Legrand, +savagely angry. + +I stared. "What does it mean?" + +"Why, that his friends are outside, and that he wants to admit them," +said Legrand with an oath. + +Barraclough met my gaze unblinkingly. "It's more or less true," he said +bluntly, "and I'm going to let them in. I'm sick of this business, and +I've taken the matter in hand myself. I'm captain here." + +He spoke with morose authority and eyed me coolly. I shrugged my +shoulders. We could not afford to quarrel, but the man's obduracy +angered me. Alas! I did not guess how soon he was to pay the penalty! + +"Then you have come to terms, as you call it, on your own account, with +Holgate?" I asked. + +"Yes," he said defiantly. + +"And what terms, may I ask?" + +He hesitated. "They can have the treasure in return for our safety. You +know my views." + +"And you know mine," said I. "Then, I may take it you have revealed the +secret of the treasure?" + +"What the devil's it got to do with you?" he replied sullenly. "Stand +out of the way there! I'm going to open the door!" + +"And why, pray, if they already have the treasure?" + +"You fool! it's only Holgate, and he's here to get us to sign a +document." + +"Meaning," said I, "that we are not to split on him, and to keep silent +as to all these bloody transactions." + +"It's our only chance," he said savagely. "Out of the way!" + +I hesitated. If Holgate were alone, there was not much to be feared, +and, the treasure being now in his hands, what could move him to visit +us? Surely, he could have no sinister motive just then? Could he, after +all, be willing to trust to his luck and release us, his predestined +victims, as the unhappy Prince had trusted to his? The omen was ill. +The barricades had been removed evidently before Legrand had arrived on +the scene to interfere, and even as I hesitated Barraclough turned the +key, and the door fell open. Holgate waddled heavily into the corridor +and took us all three in with his rolling eyes. His face seemed to be +broader, more substantial, and darker than ever, and his mouth and chin +marked the resolute animal even more determinedly. The open door was +behind him. + +"As Sir John will have told you," he began slowly, moving his gaze from +one to another, "I have come on a little business with him which we've +got to settle before we part." + +Legrand stood in angry bewilderment, and, as for me, I knew not how to +take this. Had he come in good faith? + +"I would be damned if I would have struck a bargain with you, Holgate, +or dreamed of trusting you," said Legrand, fuming. "But as it's done, +and you have the spoils, what's your game now?" + +Holgate sent a quick look at him, and passed his hand over his +forehead. Then he eyed me. + +"What do you suppose I'm here for?" he asked, his eyes looking out as +tigers waiting in their lair. "All unarmed, and trusting, as I am, it +is only reasonable to suppose that I come to fulfill my promise to Sir +John here. He knows what that was, and he's done enough to have got his +money's worth." + +"We will sign if you produce the document," said Barraclough curtly. +"You'll sign, Phillimore, and you?" he said, looking at Legrand. + +It had the air of a command, but what else could we do? We were at +Holgate's mercy, and the act of signature could do us no harm. On the +other hand, it might save us. + +"Yes," I said reluctantly, "I'll sign, as it's come to that." + +"I'll follow," growled Legrand. "But if I'd known----" + +"Hang it! let's get it over!" said Barraclough. "You shall have our +word of honour as gentlemen." + +"It's a pretty big thing you're asking," said Legrand moodily. "I don't +know. Let's think it out." + +"And the Prince?" said Holgate; "he must sign. You can manage him?" + +Barraclough frowned. After all, it seemed more complex now with the +cold light of reason on the compact. + +"Look here, man," said he, and I never was nearer liking him, "if +you'll put us ashore within forty-eight hours after floating--and you +can--on the Chili coast, you'll have a fortnight's start, and can +chance the rest. Hang it! Holgate, take your risks." + +Holgate showed his teeth in a grin. "I have lived forty years," said he +slowly, "and, by thunder, I've never taken an unnecessary risk in my +life--no! by God I haven't!" and he whistled shrilly through his teeth. + +Instantaneously (for they must have been in waiting) half a dozen of +the mutineers dashed through the doorway, and, before any of us could +finger a weapon, we were in their grip. It was the simplest booby-trap +that ever was laid, and yet it was prepared with consummate skill. He +had come alone and unarmed; he had held us in converse; and when we had +lost our sense of suspicion and precaution he had brought his men upon +us. Down went the lid of the trap! I could have kicked myself. + +Legrand struggled, as did Barraclough; but what did resistance avail? +The infamous Pierce, who had me on one side, twisted my arm in warning +lest I should kick futilely against the pricks. + +"Steady!" said I. "It is not a question of war just now, but of +parley," and I raised my voice so as to be heard above the noise. "What +does this mean, Holgate? More treachery of a special black die?" + +He seated himself on the barricade. "You may call it revenge," said he, +considering me. "I exonerate Sir John, and I think Legrand there, but +cuss me if I'm sure about you." + +"You're a black traitor!" cried Barraclough, impotently fierce. + +"Whoa there, Sir John, whoa there!" said the mutineer equably. "I've +already said I exonerate you; but, hang it, man, you're a flat. They've +diddled you. I'm no traitor. I'd have struck to my bargain and trusted +you, but by the Lord, what am I to do when I find I'm dealing with a +pack of hucksters?" + +"What's your game?" repeated Legrand, blowing hard. Holgate indicated +Barraclough. "If he had carried out his part I was prepared to carry +out mine; as he hasn't----" He left his end in space. + +"You haven't the treasure?" I cried in surprise; but Holgate's gaze had +gone beyond us and was directed at something down the corridor. I moved +my head with difficulty, and, as I did so, I saw Holgate take a +revolver from one of his men. He sat fingering it; and that was all I +observed, for my eyes, slewing round, had caught sight of the Prince +and Princess. The Prince moved heavily towards us, with an uncertain +gait, and Alix's face was full of terror and wonder. In that instant I +remembered something, and I saw in my mind's eye the figure of the +Prince labouring through the doorway that gave access to the stairs to +the lower deck. It was he who had removed the treasure, and Holgate had +been cheated a second time. + +Even as this revelation came to me, I wondered at the self-restraint of +the man. He was as cool as if he sat at dinner among friends, merely +resting a finger on the trigger of his weapon, the muzzle of which he +held to the ground. + +"What is this, sir?" demanded the Prince, coming to a pause and staring +at the scene. Holgate answered nothing. I doubt if the Prince had seen +him from where he stood, for he addressed Barraclough, and now he +repeated his question with dignity. At that moment a door opened +somewhere with a click, and Mademoiselle entered the corridor. +Barraclough made no sign, but with his teeth on his under lip stared +before him helplessly. + +"But you have the treasure," suddenly cried a tremulous voice in broken +English, and Mademoiselle was in our midst. "Go back, Messieurs: you +have broke your word. You have the treasure." + +The Prince stared at her. "What treasure?" he asked with a puzzled +expression. + +"Sir John has made peace with them," she cried excitedly. "He has +delivered up the treasure, and they will let us go free. It is all +settled. Let him go, 'Olgate. You shall let him go." + +"Why," said the Prince with a singular expression on his face, "it +means I am surrounded with traitors. There is treachery everywhere. +Yvonne, you have betrayed me." + +"Ah, _non_, _non_!" she cried plaintively, clasping her hands together. +"We shall be saved. Sir John sees to that." + +"So you made terms," said the Prince to Barraclough in his deep voice +of fury. + +"I acted for the best," said Barraclough; and now that he met the storm +he faced it with dignity. Perhaps I alone knew the measure of his +temptation. He had fallen a victim to the arts of a beautiful woman. +There was nought else could have melted that obdurate British heart or +turned that obstinate British mind. This obtuseness had been his ruin, +and he must have recognised it then; for he had admitted the enemy and +our stronghold was in their hands. But the last blow had yet to fall. + +"Fool!" said the Prince with a bitter laugh. "The treasure is not +there. You have played without cards." + +"I will be damned if I didn't think it was his royal highness," said +Holgate in his even voice, and as he spoke he rose into sight. + +It was grotesque as it sounded, certainly not a bit like the prelude of +high tragedy; yet that was on the way, and fell at once. Holgate's +voice arrested the Prince, and he started, as if now for the first time +aware of the presence of the mutineers. Till that moment he had merely +been bent on rating a servant. With the swiftness of lightning he drew +and levelled a revolver; I saw Holgate's fat bull neck and body lean to +one side and drop awkwardly, and then an exclamation sprang up on my +left, where Gray and another were holding Barraclough captive. The +bullet had gone over Holgate's head as he dodged it and had found its +home in Sir John's heart. His body dropped between the captors. The +Princess gave a cry of horror. Holgate cast a glance behind him. + +"You're too mighty dangerous," he said easily, and put up his own +weapon. But before it could reach the level, the Prince with a slight +start clapped the revolver to his own head and pulled the trigger. +"Alix!" he cried weakly, and then something low in German, and as he +fell the life must have left him. + +His sister bent over him, her face white like the cerements of the +dead, and Mademoiselle ran forward. + +"Frederic!" she cried. "_Mon Frederic!_" and broke into violent sobs. + +"Good God!" said Legrand, trembling. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE ESCAPE + + +The shock of the tragedy which had taken place in so brief a space and +so unexpectedly threw me into confusion. I knew I was gazing at the +Princess, who was bent over her brother, and I heard the weeping of +Mademoiselle Trebizond punctuating the deep silence which had fallen +after those two reports. There was some movement among the mutineers +which I did not understand, and presently I found that Legrand and I +were being marched to one of the cabins. + +"Doctor, do you know anything of this?" sounded a voice in my ear, and +I was aware that Holgate was speaking. "The treasure, man, the +treasure!" he added, seeing, I suppose, some bewilderment in my face. + +"No," said I shortly; "the only man who did is dead." + +"Very well," said he sharply, "I'll deal with you when I have time," +and he hurried off. + +Our captors shoved Legrand and myself into what had been the Prince's +smoking-room, and gave us to understand that we were to be shot down if +we made any attempt to escape. The rest of these pirates, I conceived, +must be in full cry after the spoils, for I heard the sound of the +doors being opened and the noise of voices exchanging calls and sour +oaths. Presently the door was thrust aside, and the Princess and +Mademoiselle were ushered in unceremoniously by the foul-faced Pierce. +They were resolved to box us up in our prison until they had settled on +a fate for us. + +The Princess was pale, but quiet, in contrast with her companion, who +was still in a storm of sobs. She declared that she was doomed, that +she was betrayed, and in a breath vowed that her Frederic would have +saved her had he been alive. She appealed to us in turn for aid, and +called God to witness that we were cowards and would desert her and +hand her over to death. In a word, she behaved with that hysterical +exhibition of nerves which I had noted in her at the outset of our +hapless voyage. Princess Alix, on the other hand, was still and silent. +She made no attempt to calm her companion, and it was as if she heard +not those weak and selfish wailings. Once her blank gaze fell upon me +as it wandered, and I was alarmed, so tragic were the eyes. I got up, +and put my hand impulsively on her arm. + +"Princess," I said in a low voice. + +Her lip quivered. She hid her face. I went back to my seat. Who was I +that I should intervene upon that infinite private sorrow? No, the past +was not for me; the future faced me, pressed upon me, staring bleakly +and cruelly upon our condition. Was all over? Had we to remain there, +merely at Holgate's pleasure helpless victims to his will, sheep ready +for the slaughter that he destined for us? I swore in my heart in that +hour that it should not be--not without a struggle. I took God to +witness in my inmost soul that I would die before harm should touch the +Princess. No, all was not lost yet--not so long as we were free to move +and breathe and think intelligently. + +But, if anything were to be done, it must be attempted ere Holgate +remembered us again. He had placed the guard upon us, and he would not +turn his thoughts our way again until he had either found what he was +looking for or despaired of finding it. How long would the search go +on? As I resolved the situation in my head, ideas began to assume form +in my quickening brain. In the cabin, under watch and ward, were the +two ladies, Legrand, and myself. Lane and Ellison were elsewhere, if +they had not been killed by the mutineers, as I almost feared. Also, +there was Juliette, Mademoiselle's maid. What had become of her? It was +not death I feared for her. But the mutineers, it was quite certain, +would think of nothing but running to earth the treasure for the +present. The Prince had successfully concealed it, but, of course, the +space on a yacht is limited, and it seemed as if in time the discovery +must be made. How long would it be? But then came in a flash a +disturbing thought. They would abandon their hunt when the light failed +until the following morning, and the interlude would direct their +attention to their unfortunate prisoners. If they found the treasure by +that time, it might be too late for us, but if they went on till +dark--I thought I saw light at last in these reflections. We must wait, +and act as soon as darkness fell. + +One thing that gave me hope was that our guards showed no special +vigilance. I suppose this was partly because we were considered to be +safely disposed of, and partly because they were interested in the +progress of the search. Now and then one of them opened the door and +glanced in, shutting it again abruptly, to resume conversation with his +companion. We had been deprived of our weapons, and the outward windows +towards the deck were so small as to forbid the possibility of escape +that way, even had the intermittent visitations of our sentries been +wanting. Another thing encouraged me, which was, that we were free to +talk unheeded. What could the communion of helpless, unarmed prisoners +matter? I glanced at Legrand, who sat back, his eyes staring at the +ceiling, his arms folded, a deep frown bitten in his forehead. + +"Legrand," I whispered. His eyes dropped to my level. "They will be +busy till dark. What about dusk?" + +He stirred, and shifted towards me. "Odd. I've been thinking the same," +he answered in a low tone. "We may have one more chance if we make it." + +"We must make it," said I. + +"I'll tell you what it is, Phillimore," said he. "There's something we +can't do without, in our circumstances, and I think I know where to +find it." He rose, and opened a cupboard in the wall, from which he +brought out a bottle of brandy, some glasses and some tinned foods. +"There's always been some kept here," he added. "And, as I live, a +knife, if only a jack-knife. Well, she'll do, man--first to open the +tins, and then----" He left his meaning in the air. + +When the tins were opened, I endeavoured to persuade the Princess to +eat. She refused at first from lips of marble, but I used my authority +as a doctor. + +"Come," I said with asperity, "you're under orders here, Princess. You +must do as you're told." + +Her lips quivered. "I will try," she said in a strangled voice. + +Mademoiselle had sat up some time ago and dried her tears. I think she +had worn herself out with that passion of weeping, and her nimble wits +began to flow again. + +"You are right, doctor," she said. "It is well to eat, otherwise we +become weak. I will eat and then see what may be done." + +"Bravo, Mademoiselle!" said I. "That is spoken like a sensible woman." + +"Yes," she went on, "I will try my eloquence upon them--those beasts. +They will not harm me, if I speak to them. It was Sir John before, and +he was only a man, and clumsy. I will sing to them, if necessary. I +will charm them. Have I not done it before?" + +I wondered if the poor lady had any guess in her mind, had any +realisation at all, of what human passions, let loose as upon that +ship, amounted to. She spoke as a child, as a vain and hopeful child, +boasting of her influence. But it was the mood I wanted rather than the +hysterical state of tears. We ate, and drank a little brandy and water, +without interruption from without, and turned once more to the thought +of escape. The search was still going on, as sounds that came to our +ears indicated, and slowly the room darkened with the enveloping night. +I could just see the Princess across the cabin. Legrand whispered to +me: + +"They're still hard at work. We shall have our chance soon." + +Our plan was simple, if we could once get quit of our guards. One of +the smaller boats lay on the starboard side, and, hanging outwards from +the davits, could, from the slant of the _Sea Queen_ as she lay on the +rocks, be easily dropped and floated. If we could lower her into the +water and get the ladies into her, it would be possible, under cover of +the darkness and the preoccupation of the mutineers, to reach the +island. Once there, we must, of course, trust to our luck for food and +shelter. + +Legrand got to his feet and moved noiselessly towards the door. The +yacht was comparatively still, and we could hear the lapping of the +quiet sea beyond the broken windows. I followed him. + +"We have one jack-knife," I whispered in his ear. He nodded. + +"And there are two men," he whispered back. + +"Is the door locked?" He fumbled softly. + +"I don't think so. They did not turn the key last time. But it's a +question of who's outside. If the body of the mutineers are still +there, we're done. If the two are alone----" + +"They are alone," I whispered. "I can hear no noise. They're hunting +elsewhere." + +"The darkness about suits us now. Explain to the ladies," he said under +his breath. "Let them be ready directly we are." + +I went back to the couch and poured out my story through the darkness. +I spoke to two shadows, and as I did so a hand moved in the air and +touched mine. I took it, and it was cold like the snows in January. I +pressed it softly. + +"Be of good heart. I will come back. And do not cry out." + +Even as I stole back in that critical moment, my heart bounded, for I +knew to whom the hand belonged. Body of Love! should not I know it in +the grave? I reached Legrand. + +"Ready," I said. + +"You take the nearest," said he. "A jack-knife carries farther." + +"I shall want it," I said. "I have only my fingers." + +"You shall have it," he said grimly. "One at a time. Fingers or throat, +mind you, and no noise. Have you got your muscles back? You're a strong +man, Phillimore, but, by heaven! all rests on your fingers. And you +have been wounded?" + +"I could tear down the pillars of Gaza at this moment," I replied. "My +blood's afire." + +"God be with us!" he muttered, and slowly turned the handle. + +The door opened inwards, and in the darkness loomed a single figure. +Legrand sprang, and the two disappeared in a heap upon the floor. I had +leapt to one side and was feeling in the air for my enemy, but my hands +took nothing, nor could my eyes make out any other figure in the gloom. +Presently something rose from the floor, and I heard Legrand's voice. + +"He's alone. There was only the one." + +"Yes," I whispered back. "And the mutineers are gone from here." + +Faint noises issued from below, acquainting us in what direction the +search had flowed. + +"All the better," said Legrand. "The way's clear for us. Where are the +women?" + +I found my way into the cabin again and called them in a low voice. +"Give me your hand," said I to the first that reached me. I recognised +the tall figure. Mademoiselle was _petite_. I conducted both through +the doorway, and the Princess stumbled and gave vent to a little moan. +It was the dead man. I pulled her to me. + +"Legrand," said I, "you must take Mademoiselle; she will not find her +way alone, and I must have an arm free." + +"I want two," he growled. + +At that moment a beam of light flashed from the cabins across the way. +Legrand gave vent to a hiss of warning and moved off. I could see his +shadow for a moment, and then it was swallowed in the blackness. He was +waiting and watching outside the cabin. The light streamed out in a fan +towards us, and revealed, in the opening of a door, a man's form, and +even as it did, Legrand struck. The man went down in silence, and +Legrand bent over and picked up the lantern which had clashed to the +floor. He stooped and examined the face of his victim. Then he crossed +to us, and on my arm a hand was trembling like a leaf in the wind. + +"Courage," I whispered, and I groped for Mademoiselle on the other +side. + +"It was the other man," said Legrand calmly. "I don't know what he did +there, but we've got a bull's-eye, which is so much to the good. Come, +let's get on." + +We passed down the corridor and through the bare doorway to the deck. +Here the breath of the night blew softly on our faces. Legrand moved +along the bulwarks till he reached the davits from which the boat +depended. Standing into the opaque blackness, he cut at the ropes +above. Presently I heard a splash. I did not offer to assist, for he +had the knife and the knowledge; the two women were my charge. It must +have been twenty minutes that we waited there silently, deep in the +security of the darkness. + +"She's down," said Legrand in my ear. "It's not a long drop, but it's a +job for women. Do you think you can manage it?" + +"I'm going to try," I said, and I whispered to the Princess, "Will you +trust yourself to me? I must lower you into the boat?" + +"Yes--yes," she answered in a low voice. + +"Legrand," said I, "you go first. I'll lower them, and then I'll +follow." + +He made no answer, but slipped over the railing, and presently his +voice sounded softly from below: "Now." + +I took the Princess's hand from my arm. "You must go," said I; "Legrand +is awaiting you. If I put you over, can you hang by the rope and lower +yourself? He will catch you." + +"Yes," she said in the same voice. + +I lifted her gently to the top of the bulwarks and put the rope in her +hands, and I felt her go down slowly. I had faith in her, yet I waited +anxiously until I heard the voice below: "Safe." + +I turned to where I had left Mademoiselle, but my hands moving in the +darkness encountered nothing. She was gone. + +What had become of her? I moved a little way, and almost fell on my +face over some obstacle, which was soft and moved. I stooped, and felt +there on the deck with a sudden misgiving. It was Mademoiselle +Trebizond, who had gone off in a swoon! What was to be done? I racked +my brains, and could not see any means by which she could be lowered in +that unconscious state to the boat. I called out to Legrand softly, +informing him of the situation, and I heard an oath float on the air. +Suddenly a thought came to me and I leaned over. "Wait," I said, "I +have an idea. I will be back shortly." + +I had the bull's-eye, and now I turned it on and lighted myself back +into the corridor. In a flash I had had a thought as to what the second +guard had wanted in the cabin, and I retraced my way to it along the +deserted corridor, and found the door open and the man's body blocking +it. I stepped over this and threw the light about. I had guessed it was +the _boudoir_. I pushed into the farther room, which had been +Mademoiselle's, and a cry greeted me. I had conjectured rightly. The +second man had been set as guard on other prisoners. Juliette ran to me +quickly. + +"Mademoiselle?" said she. + +"Is safe," I answered, "but wants your help. Come." I cast the light on +Lane. "Can you walk, Lane?" + +"Yes," he said; "I'm fit for anything." + +"Ellison?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Well, follow me. If you'd known it, your prison was open for you. Be +as silent as you can. There's no time to lose." + +As I issued from the doorway, I stopped and took the revolver and +cartridge-belt from the dead man, and Ellison followed my example in +respect of the other sentry. We reached the deck without a word, and I +shut off the lantern. I called to Legrand, and he answered. + +"Hush!" he said. "There's been some one along here just now. Be +careful." + +I told him what had happened, and, as there was no time for more words, +stooped to find Mademoiselle's unconscious form. It was not there! + +Perplexed, I communicated my discovery to my companions, and we +searched in the dark for some minutes. But it then became apparent that +she had vanished utterly. I heard Legrand's voice in warning below. + +"There's a light coming aft. Quick. We can't wait." + +I was fairly distracted, and knew not what to do. It was plain that, if +we lingered there, we should be detected, and it seemed equally plain +that there was no chance of discovering Mademoiselle. Some one who had +passed that way had lighted upon her unconscious body. + +"Quick, man," said Legrand. "All will be lost." + +I ordered Juliette down the rope, and as she protested, talking of her +mistress, I told her all would be well if she would only descend. Thus +reassured--for she had understood but imperfectly what had happened +through her ignorance of English--she jumped on the rail alertly and +disappeared. Lane followed, and Ellison, despite his wound, was lithe +as a cat. Then I mounted. + +Heaven was a vault of darkness, and the sea poured multitudinous small +noises in my ears as it rippled against the side of the _Sea Queen_. +There was visible but the loom of the funnel and the stack of the +state-rooms turning night into deeper night. Noises now arose from the +saloon and streamed up to me. I put my hands on the rope, and then a +voice wheezed almost in my ear. + +"I'll lay it's the doctor." + +It was Holgate, as civil and indifferent as if he were greeting a +friend on the quarterdeck. I started and gripped my revolver tightly. + +"It couldn't be any one else," pursued Holgate; and now his bulk was a +blacker shadow than the empty blackness around. "Got a little party +down there, I dare say? Well, now, I never thought of that, doctor. For +one thing, I hadn't an idea that you would have left a lady all alone +in a faint. It wasn't like your gallantry, doctor. So I didn't tumble +to it. But it's no odds. You're welcome. I make you a present of your +party. Good-night, doctor." + +I slipped down the rope and reached the boat ere this astounding speech +was ended. He was a fiend. Why did he torture us thus? + +"Let her go, man," said I fiercely to Legrand. "He's the Devil in the +flesh." + +The rope was overboard, and the oars dipped. A lantern flashed from the +side of the yacht, and a trail of light spread faint over the quiet +water. + +"Shall I give him a barrel, sir?" asked Ellison respectfully. + +"No," said I shortly; "we shall have enough to do with our barrels +presently. Besides, you wouldn't hit him." + +The boat sped out beyond the channel of light. + +"Good-night, doctor," called out Holgate. "We've got a little business +on, but when that's over I hope to drop in to tea. You're not going +far." + +No one answered, and the wash of the water foamed about the nose of the +boat as she turned seaward. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +ON THE ISLAND + + +We were not, however, bound to sea, a course which would in our +situation have been madness. Better have perished under the bloody +hands of the mutineers than adventure on a wide ocean, without sail or +food or compass, to die of thirst, exposure, or starvation. Legrand +took the boat well out upon that tranquil water before swinging her +round to reach the island far away from the _Sea Queen_. We had no +guess as to what size the island might be, but hoped that it might be +sufficiently large to provide us a hiding-place, as well as with +opportunities of securing food. + +The night was placid, and the sea like a smooth lake. When we had got +some way out, and the sounds of the water on the yacht, together with +the human noises of her crew, had faded, a singular silence fell. The +plash of the oars was the only sound that broke on the ears. The air +was soft and serene; nature seemed to have at last relented, and to be +out of key with those tragic deeds committed on the sea. As I sat, +passing such reflections in my mind, I heard a voice at my ear in +French: + +"But, Monsieur, where is my mistress?" + +It was Juliette, faithful still. I had to explain, and she cried out in +alarm, and then was silent. She was above all a practical woman, as I +had gathered, and no doubt she saw the position. Mademoiselle was gone, +and it was patent how she was gone. Holgate's words had put her fate +beyond uncertainty. She was in the hands of the mutineers, but with +what object I could not guess. Possibly, Holgate had some thought that +she was privy to the hiding of the treasure. If he had, I knew better. +But, meanwhile, whatever design he had, it was not likely that +Mademoiselle was in danger. Probably, indeed, she was suffering less +discomfort at the moment than she had endured during the last few +hours. If we were destined to destruction by the mutineers, as I had no +doubt, Holgate was biding his time. It might be that he still had some +suspicion that one or more of us knew the secret he sought. So he held +his hand. + +Under Legrand's guidance, the boat grounded with a dull, soft, swishing +noise on sand, and in the darkness we effected our landing. That done, +it remained to conceal our craft in case of emergencies, which we +succeeded in doing under a spreading patch of bushes well above the +reach of the tides. Then the question of shelter faced us. + +This part of the island appeared, from the trend of the ground, to move +gently upwards among dwarf trees and shrubs, and, plunging almost at +random in the night, we hit upon a knoll at the base of which was a +hollow screened by some bushes. Here we decided to stay till the sun +was up. Legrand helped Lane, who was badly fatigued, and Ellison made +himself useful all round, paying complimentary attentions to the French +maid. As for me, I am not ashamed to say that I had but one thought +just then, and that was to render the Princess comfortable. I found +some dry ferns and piled them up as a couch, so that she was protected +from the hard, unyielding earth, and then I bade her sleep. She had not +spoken since we had entered the boat, and she rendered herself +submissively as a helpless child to my directions. She lay down, and I +was aware that she was looking into the depth of heaven, where a few +stars shone dimly. She was thinking of her brother, and (dear heart) I +pitied her. I yearned towards her as a lover yearns to his mistress, +with the single desire that he may comfort and solace and protect her. +Ah, well! my secret had been no secret to me for many days. There was +only one divine woman on earth, and she lay upon a rude couch in a +savage island, under the naked stars, and stared disconsolately to +heaven. + +I fell asleep at last, and when I awoke, stiff from the earthy bed, the +night was receding westward. The dawn was merging in pearls and gray, +and a little light was suffused about the hollow. It was still warm. My +companions slept, some tossing restlessly, but the Princess lay almost +as if she had been sleeping under the hand of death. Her bosom moved +regularly, her parted lips disclosed the even white of her teeth; she +was safe from fears and immune from sorrows now at least, and I thanked +God. I got up and pushed my way through the bushes towards the beach on +which the high tide rumbled monotonously. Each moment the light grew +stronger, and I had walked only a little way before I was enabled to +make out the loom of the yacht some half-mile or more away. I mounted +the rise behind our sleeping-place, and now perceived that the land ran +upwards from where we were into a central ridge, dotted on the slopes +with trees. On the south-easterly side the island appeared to be broken +and to conclude in rocks, and here was where the _Sea Queen_ lay, with +a seaward list. It was plain, then, that so small a sanctuary would not +offer us adequate protection from Holgate if he wished to pursue us, +and my heart sank as I considered the position. Would he at the best +leave us to our fate on the island? And if so, would that be more +merciful than despatching us by the bullet of the assassin? + +I returned to my companions to find Legrand and the French maid awake. +Juliette was serviceable as of old. She inquired of me sweetly what +chance her mistress had and took my assurances philosophically. She +would do her duty, I was sure, but I doubted the depth of her +affections. She came of sound, sensible peasant blood. And this was +what was needed at the moment, for we had to see to some breakfast, +Legrand agreed to mount guard while I went on an excursion of +investigation along the north shore. Here I was hidden from the eyes of +those on board the _Sea Queen_ by the intervening range of hills. It +took me just twenty minutes of strolling to reach the farther end of +the island, where the barren rocks swarmed with gulls and other sea +birds, from which you may draw some idea as to the dimensions of our +domain. I obtained some sea-gulls' eggs from the nests on the rocks, +having to beat off some of the infuriated creatures to secure my booty, +and, thus supplied, returned to the camp. The remainder of the party +were now awake, and Juliette prepared the eggs, roasting them in the +sand by the aid of hot ashes. As we were well-nigh famished, I think we +all ate with appetite, except the Princess, who was still very silent +and listless. + +"Princess," I said to her presently, "if a man lose half his treasure, +will he then throw away the other half recklessly?" + +She looked at me in wonder. "You have lost a brother," I continued, +"but you have your own life which God gave you to guard." + +"Yes," she said slowly, "I know you are right, but it is hard. I will +try, but----" She shivered. "It is hard--so hard to forget. I live in a +nightmare by day; it is only in sleep I can forget." + +But she ate her breakfast after that, and a little later accompanied me +to a spring Ellison had discovered for a drink of water. As we stood +there in the morning sunshine, the fair wind tossing her skirts, she +faced me gravely. + +"You have not given up hope, then?" + +"No," said I frankly. "We are not beaten yet. I think I shall be able +to restore you to Europe, to hand you back to your uncle's palace." + +She looked away to sea. "We were to have given up that for +always--Frederic and I," she said softly. "--we arranged it between +us." + +"Princess," I said, "you did not approve. I have always known it. You +consented out of love for him. And now you shall go back." + +She shook her head. "It is too late. The mill will never grind with the +waters that are passed. I did not--I was afraid. Yes, but I made up my +mind. He was all I had, and now I have nothing--I am alone." + +It was impossible to assure her. There was no consolation possible now, +whatever might come hereafter. Her eyes encountered mine. + +"But I am grateful--oh! so grateful, to those who stood by him to the +end and risked their lives for him," she said in a broken voice and +with tears in her eyes, and she put out her hand impulsively. I took +it, and my voice was almost as broken as hers. + +"It is not true you are alone," I said, "for those who stood by your +brother belong to you. They would die for you." + +"My friend," she murmured. "No; I am not alone." + +Legrand expressed great anxiety that we should improve our position, +which, indeed, left us a prey to any attack. We therefore wended our +way along the northern beach towards the rocks, in the hope of hitting +upon a situation in which we might have some chance of defence. The +scarp descended boldly into the blue water here, and the edges were +planted with brushwood. Brushwood, too, covered the slope of the hills, +interspersed with larger trees. Here and there the rough rock +outcropped and was broken, no doubt, by the winds of that tempestuous +sea or by the frosts. Legrand and I mounted, leaving the others below, +and ascended to the top of the rise, from which the shafts of our eyes +went down upon the southern beach. But the _Sea Queen_ was concealed +from view by the abutment of hill which sloped outwards and formed an +arm to a pleasant little ravine. From the top of this a stream bubbled +out of the rock and fell downwards in a jet of silver. Legrand stooped +to refresh himself with a draught preparatory to turning back, for it +was not advisable that we should venture lower upon that side of the +hills. As he did so he stopped suddenly and straightened himself. With +his hand he beckoned to me, pointing to the hillside. I looked and saw +what was in his mind. Just under the summit the rock-stratum emerged in +mass, and on one side the earth yawned in a hole. + +Cautiously we approached. It was the mouth of a shallow cavern some +twelve feet through and some twenty feet in width. The cave admitted us +by stooping. + +"The very place," said he significantly. "It's near water too, and has +this advantage, that we can overlook the beach by which any movement +will be made." + +That was in my thoughts also, and we rejoined our companions well +satisfied. But some preparations were necessary before we installed +ourselves in our new quarters. We made a larder of eggs and piled a +heap of brushwood before the door of our house. So long as there were +no mutineers in sight we should have liberty to come and go over the +brow of the hill; and upon the north side, in a little dip, we built +our fireplace, so that the smoke should not rise and attract the notice +of the _Sea Queen_. + +These arrangements occupied a great part of the morning, during all +which time we saw nothing of Holgate's men. No doubt they were busily +engaged in their hunt for the Prince's treasure. + +The day passed wearily enough but in safety; and with the fall of night +we felt even more secure, for our hiding-place could not be discovered +in the darkness. I reckoned that we were not, as the crow flies, more +than a few hundred yards from where the yacht lay aground, and in the +greater stillness that seems to fall at night sounds reached us from +the mutineers. As I sat at the door of the cave, with the stars +overhead, I caught a snatch of song rolling up from below, and +presently other voices joined in. A little later there was a riotous +burst of noise, as from a quarrel in progress. Had the treasure been +found, and were the sailors celebrating their triumph, or was this +merely a drunken debauch? It sounded as if the latter were the true +alternative. In their disappointment the mutineers had gone to the rum +cask for consolation. As time went on the sounds increased, and I +listened to them with a trembling fear for the unfortunate woman who +was still aboard. Black of heart as those men undoubtedly were in their +sober moments, and under the influence of the lust of gold, what would +they be when inflamed by spirits and in the throes of angry chagrin? + +As I watched I was conscious that some one had issued from the cave on +light feet and stood by my side. A low voice addressed me, but before +she had spoken I knew who it was. My heart could not have failed to +recognise her. + +"Do you fear attack?" + +"No, Princess," said I, "not to-night. They don't know where we are; +and, besides, they are quarrelling among themselves." + +She was silent for a time, and then, "That unhappy woman!" she sighed. + +"She has lost all she cared for. I am sorry for her," I answered. + +"Yes," she said slowly. "I suppose so; but what does any one of us care +for? What does it all mean? The puzzle is too great for me. I am +shaken." + +"You must trust yourself," I said impulsive. "Trust to those who care +for you." + +"You are--good," she replied softly. + +"Princess----" I began, but she interposed quickly. + +"Do not call me that. I am no Princess. I have given all up. I am just +Alix Morland." + +"You will go back," said I, "and resume your rightful place in courts, +and this will only remain to you as a horrid nightmare." + +"I shall remember the evil dream. Yes," she said; "but I shall also +remember some heroic souls and noble deeds. But it will not be in +courts." + +She was silent again, but presently said, in a hesitating voice: "Dr. +Phillimore, I never wanted that marriage; I was always against it; and +now I am sorry. Poor Frederic! I was a traitor to him." + +"No, no," I said, "but a loyal and devoted heart. Why are you here? +Because, even though you mistrusted his judgment, you sacrificed +yourself to your affection for him. The test of true affection is to +stand by when you disapprove. Any one can stand by if he approves." + +"And it has all come to this!" she said with a sigh. + +"This is not the end," said I stoutly. + +Suddenly she laid her hand on my arm. "What has become of her?" she +asked. "What has been her fate?" + +To say the truth, I knew not what to reply, and the trouble in her +voice declared itself again. "Can we do nothing?" she asked +distressfully. "I did not like her, but can we do nothing? It is +dreadful to----" + +I found my voice then. "Not to-night, but to-morrow," I replied +soothingly. "She will take no harm to-night;" but I wished I had been +as sure as I seemed. + +About noon on the following day we took our first sight of the +mutineers. A knot emerged into view on the beach below and spread out +presently towards the wooded valley. This gave me some concern, for I +guessed that they might be searching for us by Holgate's directions. He +had threatened to visit us. Was he now fulfilling that threat? In any +case, if they were hunting for us, we must in the end be run to earth +in that small island. And then would come the final act. We had two +revolvers and a limited amount of ammunition to defend ourselves +against the resources of the mutineers, to whom the yacht was open. We +saw no more of them, however, for two hours, and then they came +straggling back towards the little bluff behind which the _Sea Queen_ +lay. If they had been looking for us, they were so far foiled. But that +was not the last of them. The boat which had landed the first lot of +mutineers had returned to the yacht, and now again struck the beach +with a fresh complement of hands. Were they to renew the pursuit? I +looked down from our eyrie, scarcely more than half a mile away, with +some misgivings. Legrand was upon the other side of the hill on an +exploration of his own, and Lane and Ellison were still wounded men. I +peered from behind our pile of brushwood and awaited events. The second +gang of mutineers had brought a keg with them, and I saw them tap it. +Only too clearly was its nature revealed. They had come ashore to an +orgie. I counted ten of them, and thought I recognised one or two of +the figures--Gray's and Pierce's for certain. Holgate evidently was not +with them, for his form would have been unmistakable, nor could I +discern Pye. But why were they there? I could only answer my question +on the assumption that they had found the treasure and were making +merry. Yet it was not like Holgate to give them the reins so completely +unless he had some purpose to serve by his complaisance. + +Hurricane Island, as the mutineer had dubbed it, lay under the broad +face of the sun, and the cascade sparkled at my feet on its run to the +sea. Down below the ruffians were engaged in drinking themselves into a +condition of maudlin merriment. Well, so much the better, I reflected, +for I had made up my mind that now, if ever, was the time to inquire +into the fate of Mademoiselle. When Legrand returned, the debauch had +developed, and the boat was clumsily put to sea by two of the hands. +Evidently a fresh supply of rum had been requisitioned, for shortly +afterwards the boat returned and two more kegs were rolled out upon the +beach. This time it also brought Holgate himself, together with a +companion, whom I made out to be Pye. The men lolled in the sun, +smoking and drinking, and now singing snatches of songs. What was +Holgate about, to let them get into this condition? + +Well, Holgate probably knew his own affairs. If he had not carefully +calculated every step in this situation, I should have been much +astonished. He himself, as far as I could see, took little part in the +orgie, but the clamour of voices grew louder, and reached us in our +retreat very distinctly. We could even catch the names and some of the +words that flew about. The talk was boisterous, but I doubted if it was +overmerry. Had they been baffled by the treasure after all? I counted +them again, and came to the conclusion that almost the whole of the +decimated company must be ashore. If that were so, it was time for my +excursion. Presently, when the dark came, it might be too late. + +My plan, as I explained it to Legrand, was this. I would descend across +the spur of the hill, under cover of the bushes, and climb down the +steeper heights that faced the _Sea Queen_. She lay scarce more than a +hundred yards from the Island, and it would be easy to reach her by +swimming. If Mademoiselle were safe on board as I conjectured, we could +take advantage of a boat to reach the northern beach, and so make our +escape without being seen by any of the mutineers ashore. As for the +mutineers on the ship, if there were any, I must deal with them as +chance suggested. + +Legrand was doubtful as to my venture, his philosophy being summed up +in the adage, "Let well alone"; but he consented that the experiment +should be tried when I pressed it. He had, in the course of his +ramblings, discovered in the north side of the hill another cavern, +which he declared would serve us on an emergency as a second +hiding-place. It was quite possible that we might be driven from burrow +to burrow like rabbits, and so it behooved us to examine well the lines +of our retreat. + +I started on my journey just as the sun went down, spreading a deep +rose colour on the western waters. I walked cautiously and +deliberately, making deviations in my slanting course across the spur, +so as to keep within the screen of the bushes. I had not gone more than +a hundred yards when I was aware that I was being followed, and I +stopped and looked back. To my amazement, I saw the Princess coming up +rapidly in my wake. She had evidently sped down the ravine, and was a +little out of breath. This had imparted some colour to her pale face--a +colour which made her radiantly beautiful. + +"Princess!" I said in surprise. + +"I am come after you," she said hurriedly, "because I don't want you to +go. Oh, don't go, please! I did not know you were going until you were +gone. Mr. Legrand told me so when I asked after you. But you must not +go. I know you are going because of what I said last night. But you +must not.... It is too dangerous. Oh, did you not see that band of +assassins there? They are wolves, they are ravening, fierce wolves. You +will perish." + +My heart throbbed hard--harder than it had done before through all +those terrible days of anxiety. I took her hand. "Princess," I said, "I +must go." I held her hand tightly. "You see that I must go. But ah, I +will not forget your kindness!" + +"They will kill you!" she burst out. + +"No"; I shook my head and smiled. "God bless you! You are the most kind +and most beautiful woman in life. God bless and keep you!" + +I kissed her hand and turned and went down. + +She stood awhile, as if lost in thought, and when I looked back I +thought I could read upon her face trouble and fear. I would have gone +back to her if I had dared, but had I done so I must have taken her in +my arms. + +I kept my face steadily towards the descent, and when I at last +summoned courage to adventure the gaze, she had turned and was slowly +mounting the hill. + +My eyes left her and went downwards to the beach. I was almost at the +top of the spur which rolled over towards the bay on which the yacht +had stranded. What was my horror to notice some excitement among the +mutineers, and to see a man with his face towards the hill and an +uplifted arm. Good heavens! The Princess had been discovered. + +I stood stock-still, rooted to the ground with my apprehensions, and +then several of the mutineers began to run towards the ravine. I +started at once on a race up the slope. Looking down I saw the full +pack streaming up the valley, and I redoubled my exertions. I was some +distance away, but I had not so far to go as they. The Princess +stopped, arrested by the drunken shouts from below, and then suddenly +broke into a run. She had recognised her danger. I bounded through the +bushes, and cut across to intercept the wolves. It was all a matter of +little more than five minutes, and then I stopped and awaited their +arrival. + +The first man, who was without a weapon, came to a pause a dozen paces +from me. + +"Stand, or I fire," I said, levelling my weapon. + +He looked uncertainly round for his companions. Two or three joined +him, and, encouraged by this accession to the force, he said jeeringly: + +"Put that down, or it will be the worse for you. We've had enough of +you. And now we've got you in a mucky hole." + +"That remains to be seen," said I calmly, for I noticed that they did +not seem to be supplied with weapons. I could see others climbing up +below, and among them Holgate. A little lull fell on the scene. It was +as if fate hung undecided, not certain whether the scales should go +down on this side or that. I stood facing the group of dismayed and +angry ruffians, and without turning my head was aware of some one +running behind me. I do not think I gave this a single thought, so +preoccupied was I with the situation in front. The group was enlarged +by arrivals and one of these, stumbling, uttered an oath. + +"Shoot him!" he said, and himself lifted a pistol at me. + +I raised mine also, and a second and a third were now levelled at me. +The scales were against me, but even as this flashed across my mind, a +report sounded behind me, and the drunken creature fell. I glanced +about, and there was Legrand, with his steady hand and flaming eye. My +heart thrilled. A shout of fury went up in front. "Shoot them--shoot +them!" and the barrels directed at us seemed to be suddenly many. + +Holgate had come to a pause on the outer edge of the group and was +observing the scene with interest. He made no movement. Death touched +us with the breath of his passage. + +An arm was flung sharply about me. "If you die, I die too!" cried a +voice--a voice, ah, so well remembered and so dear! Ah, Heaven! Was it +Alix? + +A pistol barked, and I swerved, almost losing my feet. If we must die, +we should die hard. I fired, and one of the mutineers uttered an +exclamation. + +"Stay there," called Holgate. "Easy, men. Don't let's kill the goose +that lays the golden eggs. Let's have a few questions answered." + +"Dent's down," sang out one. + +"Well, there'll be all the more for those that are left," said Holgate, +easily, steering his way through the knot. + +A faint laugh followed on this, but I think even the mutineers, brutal +as they were, were aghast at this revolting cynicism. + +"Let's have a parley first," said Holgate, now in the forefront of the +gang. "Business first--pleasure afterwards. Now, doctor, out with it. +Where's that treasure?" + +"I have told you," said I, "that the Prince removed it." + +Alix's arms were about me still. I was dazed. + +"Obstinate mule!" said Holgate with a grin. "See that, boys? I've given +'em every chance. Let her go." + +In response to his command revolvers were raised. It marked the end, +the fall of the curtain on that long tragedy. Alix's arms were about +me, and suddenly my brain cleared. I saw as sharply and as definitely +as if I had been aloof and unconcerned in that disturbing crisis. + +"Stop, men," said I. "I have one thing to say before we go further. Two +things. You shall hear about the treasure." + +There was a pause. Holgate turned his black, incurious eyes on me, as +if he wondered. + +"I will tell you where the treasure is, if you will allow me to give +you the history of a transaction," I said. My mind was quick, my nerve +was cool. There was a chance in delay. + +"Spit it out," said one of the men encouragingly. "The funeral will +wait." + +"Men, you've been taken in by that scoundrel there, your leader," I +said, pointing at Holgate. "He's diddled you all through. Ask him about +the treasure; ask him!" + +The eyes of all went round to Holgate, who stood without a sign of +discomposure. + +"Well, are you going to let 'em go?" was all he said. Once again the +interest of the group returned to me, but I was fighting hard +for--Alix. + +"Who was it planned this mutiny and the seizing of the treasure?" I +cried. "Why, Holgate, you know well--Holgate and Pye. And who brought +about the rising? Holgate again. Why didn't you push through and get +hold of the treasure at the first? I suppose you were told it was too +difficult. Well, it would have been difficult, but that wasn't the +reason. It was because this man had got his accomplice aft, stealing +the treasure against your coming. And so, when you came, where was it? +Gone! Look here, men; I swear to you I saw this man and Pye gloating +over the treasure they had removed before your coming. Oh, he's a +cunning devil, is Holgate, and he's diddled you!" + +There were some murmurs among the mutineers, who looked dubiously at +their master, and Pierce spoke. + +"That's all very well, but how are we to know it's not mere bluff? +You're putting up a bluff on us." + +Holgate still stood there with his unpleasing smile, and he answered +nothing. It was the truth I had spoken, but now I was to bluff. + +"Well, I will prove my words," said I. "You asked me where the treasure +is, and I'll tell you. It was removed from Holgate's hiding-place by me +and hidden in Pye's cabin, and afterwards the Prince and I removed it +again and concealed it." + +"Where! Where!" shouted several voices; but Holgate did not budge or +speak. + +If we saved this situation, we should at least have a respite, another +chance. There was no alternative but death. + +"Why, in its proper place, to be sure," said I. "In the strong-room, +where it should be. I suppose none of you thought of that. You're too +clever for that, Pierce." + +"By God!" cried Pierce suddenly. + +But at the moment I was startled by a change in Holgate. I had fired a +barrel at random, and now he shot on me a diabolical glance. His eyes +gleamed like creatures about to leap from cover; his lips in a snarl +revealed his teeth. A flash of inspiration came to me, and I knew then +for certain that, wherever the Prince had concealed the treasure, it +was now lying in the very place I had named in the presence of all +those ruffians. Holgate glanced a swift glance from left to right. + +"What's he take us for?" he said in a hoarse, fat voice, in which rage +burned and trembled. "Who's he stuffing with these fairy tales?" + +Pierce, his thin lips moving, stared at him. "Anyway, it's worth +trying," he said meaningly. "You've had your shot; I'll have mine." + +"Damn it, he's fooling you," called out Holgate furiously; but already +two or three of the mutineers had started down the ravine, and the +others turned. Excitement seized upon them, as it had been a panic. + +And then suddenly a cry arose: "Look, by thunder, look!" + +The sun was gone, but the beautiful twilight lingered, serene and +gracious, and in that clear light we could descry the form of the _Sea +Queen_ forging slowly out to sea, and rolling as she moved on the ebb. + +"Good lord! she's floated off! She came off on the high tide!" cried +Pierce; and instantly there was a stampede from the hillside towards +the beach. Pell-mell the mutineers tumbled down over bush and brier at +a breakneck speed to reach the boat that tossed idly on the water to +its moorings. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +HOLGATE'S LAST HAND + + +The first thought that passed through my mind was that we had lost our +one hope of escape from Hurricane Island. Insensibly I had come to look +on the _Sea Queen_ as the vehicle of our rescue, and there she was +before my eyes adrift on a tide that was steadily drawing her seawards. +There could be no doubt as to that, for, even as I gazed, she made +perceptible way, and seemed to be footing it fast. I turned to Alix, +who was by me, staring also. + +"I will come back," I said rapidly. "I must go down." + +"No, no," she said, detaining me. + +"Dear, they will take no heed of me now. I am perfectly safe for the +present. They are taken up with more important matters." + +I squeezed her hands in both mine, turned and left her. + +Holgate was some hundred yards in front of me, plunging heavily through +the bushes. He called to mind some evil and monstrous beast of the +forest that broke clumsily in wrath upon its enemy. + +Down on the beach I could see that Pierce and some of the others, who +had already arrived, were casting the boat from her moorings. I +laboured after Holgate, and came out on the beach near him. He ran down +to the water's edge and called aloud: + +"Put back. Put back, damn you." + +The boat was some fifty yards from land by now, and was awash in a +broken current. Three men bent to the oars. + +Holgate levelled his revolver and fired. + +One of the men lay down grotesquely on his oar. He fired again, and one +of the remaining two stood up, shook a fist towards the shore and, +staggering backwards, capsized the boat in the surf. He must have sunk +like lead with his wound, for he never rose to the surface; but the +last man, who was Pierce, battled gallantly with the flood, and +endeavoured to reach the boat, which was bottom upwards. In this, +however, he failed, for the tide seemed to suck him away. The boat +drifted outwards, and after a few ineffectual struggles, finding +probably that his strength was failing him, Pierce struck out towards +the shore. He landed a hundred yards or more away from Holgate. Between +the two men were gathered in a bunch, irresolute and divided in +counsels, the remaining mutineers. + +For the moment I think I was so taken up with the situation that I did +not consider my own case. No one had eyes for me in the fast-descending +dusk, and behind the shelter of a bush I watched the course of that +singular drama. Holgate had indifferently reloaded his revolver, and +now stood holding it carelessly by his side. + +"Gray, is that you? Come here," he called. But the knot of men did not +move; and now Pierce was walking rapidly towards it. It opened to +receive him, and swallowed him up again cautiously, as if there was +safety in that circle against the arch-mutineer. Holgate strode +leisurely towards them. + +"I suppose you guess where we are?" he said, in his malevolent, fluent, +wheezing tones. "You've dished us, Pierce, my man." + +Pierce replied from the group with an oath, and there was an +undercurrent of murmur, as if a consultation was in progress. + +"Say, where's that damned little lawyer cuss?" asked a voice, that of +an American, who was one of the hands. Holgate put one hand in his +trousers' pocket. + +"How should I know?" he said; "and what's that got to do with the +situation?" + +"It's your doing. You've put us in this hole. You've strung us up +to-day in this blooming island," said Gray fiercely. "What did you +shoot for? Haven't you any other use for your pop-gun?" + +"Come out, Gray; come out, my man, and talk it over," said Holgate +suavely. "You were always good at the gab. Step out in front, man," and +he played with his revolver. But Gray did not budge. + +I wondered why he was not shot there and then if they were in this +temper, for it was plain that some of them were armed. But I suppose +that they were overawed by the bearing of the man, and, lawless +ruffians, as they were, were yet under the influence of some +discipline. Holgate had known how to rule in his triumph, and the ghost +of that authority was with him still in his defeat. + +"Look here," called out Pierce after further consultation, "this is as +good as a trial, this is. You're standing for your life, Mr. Holgate, +and don't you forget it. What d'ye say, Bill? Speak up. Give 'im 'is +counts." + +"We accuse you of treachery and not behaving like a mate on ship about +the treasure," sang out Gray in a loud, high monotone. "We accuse you, +Mr. Holgate, of the murder of our two companions, Smith and Alabaster. +We accuse you, furthermore, Mr. Holgate, of a conspiracy to cheat the +company, us all being comrades." + +"Now, Bill Gray, that's a very parsonical view of yours, isn't it?" +said Holgate with a sneer. "By gum, you regularly hit me off, Gray. +You're the man to see his way through a brick wall. I killed Smith and +Alabaster, did I? Well, what's the odds? Here was this man, Pierce, +who's frightened to face me in there with you, and his two pals, making +for the _Sea Queen_ to rob you and me. Don't I know him and you, too? +Where would we have been if I hadn't dropped 'em? Why, left, my good +man, left." + +"That's what we are now," said one of the mutineers, "regularly +busted--busted and left. We're done." + +"That's so," said Holgate suavely. "But at least Smith and Alabaster +have paid their shot and lot too. And, by thunder, that skunk behind +you shall do it too. Come out there, Pierce, sneak and dog, and take +your gruel." + +He did not raise his voice perceptibly, but it seemed to wither the +mutineers, who stood about ten paces from him. He waddled towards them. + +"Out of the way, men, and let me see him. Blind me, I'd sooner have +taken a bug into my confidence than Pierce. He gets ahead of us with +his long thin legs, and without so much as 'By your leave' swims out to +sea to cop what belongs to you and me and all of us." + +There was a murmur at this, and it was quite impossible to tell how the +sympathies of the gang were going. But one called out again: + +"Where's that damn Pye? Where's your spy?" + +"So," says Holgate, "you are thinking of the doctor's story, are you? +You fool, he was only playing for his life and the life of his best +girl. Haven't you got the sense of a louse between you? Find Pye then, +and screw it out of him. Thumbscrew him till he tells, and see how much +he has to tell. It'll be worth your while, Garratt. Why, you fool, he's +just a little clerk that was useful, and was going to get a tip for his +pains. He wasn't standing in on our level. We came in on bed-rock." + +There was a hoarse, discordant laugh. + +"With the yacht gone, and us on a Godforsaken tea-tray in mid-ocean!" +said a voice. + +Upon that in the dwindling light a shot came from the group, and +Holgate lifted his barrel deliberately. + +"So, that's Pierce, by thunder, is it? Well, Johnny Pierce, you're a +brave man, and I'd take off my hat to you if my hands were free. Stand +aside there, men, and let's see Johnny Pierce's ugly mug. Now, then, +divide, d'ye hear, divide!" + +I never could determine whether Holgate in that moment realized that +all was up, and the end was come, and had carried things through with a +swagger, or whether he had a hope of escape. Nothing showed in his +voice or in his manner save extreme resolution and contemptuous +indifference. These men he had misled and cheated were to him no more +than brutes of the field, to be despised and ridiculed and browbeaten. +At his words, indeed, the old habit of obedience asserted itself and +the knot fell apart; as it did I saw Pierce with his revolver up, but +Holgate did not move. He fired carefully and Pierce uttered a curse. +Then another weapon barked, and Holgate moved a pace forwards. He fired +again, and a man dropped. Two or more shots rang out, and the +arch-mutineer lifted his left hand slowly to his breast. + +"Bully for you, Pierce," he said, and fired yet once more. + +The knot now had dissolved, and Gray ran in the gathering gloom a +little way up the beach. He halted, and raising his weapon, fired. It +was abominable. It may have been execution, but it was horribly like +murder. As Gray fired, Holgate turned and put his hand to his shoulder. +Immediately he let his last barrel go. + +"Ha! That's done you, Pierce," he wheezed out. "By heavens, I thought +I'd do for you!" + +Crack! went Gray's pistol again from his rear, and he swung round; his +weapon dropped, and he began to walk up the beach steadily towards me. +In the blue gloom I could see his eyes stolidly black and furtive, and +I could hear him puffing. He came within ten paces of me, and then +stood still, and coughed in a sickening, inhuman way. Then he dropped +and rolled heavily upon his back. + +I had witnessed enough. Heaven knows we had no reason to show mercy to +that criminal, but that last hopeless struggle against odds had +enlisted some sympathy, and I had a feeling of nausea at the sight of +that collapse. He must have fallen riddled with bullets. He had played +for high stakes, had sacrificed many innocent lives, and had died the +death of a dog. And there he would rest and rot in that remote and +desert island. + +I stole from my bush and crept upwards through the darkness. I had not +gone a hundred yards before my ears were caught by a rustling on my +left. Had I put up some animal? I came to a pause, and then there was a +swift rush, and a man's figure broke through the undergrowth and +disappeared across the slope of the hill. It was near dark, but I +thought in that instant I recognised it as the figure of the little +lawyer's clerk. + +When I reached the cavern I found no sign of any one, and I was +wondering what could have become of my companions when I heard a voice +calling low through the gloaming: + +"Dr. Phillimore!" + +It was Alix. I sprang to her side and took her hands. Then I learnt +that Legrand had decided, as a counsel of prudence, to occupy the +second cavern on the northern slope, which he considered more private +than that which we had found first. + +"And you came back to warn me?" I asked in a low voice. + +"No; I waited," said she as low. "I was afraid, although you told +me.... Ah, but you have never told me wrong yet! I believe you +implicitly." + +"Princess," I said with emotion. + +"No, no," she whispered. "Not any more ... never any more." + +"Alix," I whispered low, and I held her closer. She gave a little cry. + +"What is it?" I asked anxiously. + +For answer her head lay quiet on my shoulder, and the stars looked down +upon a pale sweet face. She had fainted. Now the hand which clasped her +arm felt warm and wet, and I shifted it hastily and bent down to her. +It was blood. She was wounded. Tenderly I bound my handkerchief about +the arm and waited in distress for her to revive. If we had only some +of the mutineers' brandy! But presently she opened her eyes. + +"Dearest ... dearest," she murmured faintly. + +"You are wounded, darling," I said. "Oh, why did you not tell me?" + +"It was the first shot," she said in a drowsy voice. "When--when I had +my arm about you." + +I kissed that fair white arm, and then for the first time I kissed her +lips. + +We reached Legrand's cave after Alix had rested, and I related the +tragedy that had passed under my eyes on the beach below. Legrand +listened silently, and then: + +"He was a black scoundrel. He died as he should," he said shortly, and +said no more. + +Wearied with our exertions, and exhausted by the anxieties of the day, +we gradually sank to sleep, and as I passed off Alix's hand lay in +mine. She slept sweetly, for all the profound miseries of those past +days. + +I awoke to the sound of a bird that twittered in the bushes, and, +emerging from the cavern, looked around. The sun was bright on the +water, the foam sparkled, and the blue tossed and danced as if Nature +were revisiting happily the scene of pleasant memories. It seemed as if +those deeds of the previous night, that long fight against fate, those +dismal forebodings, the tragedy of the Prince, were all separated from +us by a gulf of years. It was almost impossible to conceive of them as +belonging to our immediate precedent past and as colouring our present +and our future. And as my gaze swept the horizon for the orient towards +the west it landed upon nothing less than the _Sea Queen_! + +I could have rubbed my eyes, and I started in amazement. My heart beat +heavily. But it was true. There rode the yacht in the offing, idly +swinging and plunging on the tide and clearly under no man's control. +She must have drifted in upon Hurricane Island again through the stress +of some backward tide, and here she bobbed on the broken water safe +from the eyes of the mutineers. As soon as I had recovered from the +shock of surprise, I reentered the cavern and woke Legrand, and in less +than five minutes all of us were outside our shelter and gazing at the +welcome sight. + +"We have the boat hidden," said Legrand. "We must work our way back to +it, and the sooner the better." + +"Too much risk," said I. "I know a better way. At the tail of the +island we may be seen and pursued. There are boats aboard, and she's +not more than three hundred yards out." + +"What, swim?" he asked, and looked rueful. He was one of the many +sailors I have known who had not that useful art. + +I nodded. "It won't take me long." + +As I passed, Alix caught my hand. She said nothing, but her eyes +devoured me and her bosom heaved. I smiled. + +"My Princess!" I whispered, and her soul was in her look. + +"I can't see a sign of any one on board," said Legrand, with his hand +over his eyes. + +"Mademoiselle would not be awake yet. It can't be later than five," +said Lane, who was much better to-day. + +"I make it 5:30," said Legrand. "We have some time to ourselves if we +have luck. After last night those fiends will sleep well and with easy +consciences." He spoke grimly. + +"Have everything ready," I called as I left. "We must not lose a chance +or hazard anything." + +"What do _you_ think?" said Lane, in his old cheerful manner. + +I quickly descended to the beach, threw off my coat, waistcoat, and +boots, and tightened my belt. Then I waded into the sea. It was cold, +and, when I first entered, struck a chill into me. But presently, as I +walked out into the deepening waters, with the sparkling reflection of +the sun in my eyes from a thousand facets of ripples, I began to grow +warm. I reached water waist-high, and next moment I was swimming. + +The tide sucked at me in a strong current, and soon, I perceived, would +carry me across the _Sea Queen's_ bows unless I made a struggle. The +water was racing under me, and I felt that my strength was as nothing +compared with it. I was thrown this way and that as the flood moved. My +passage had been taken incredibly quick, and now I was conscious that I +was past the level of the yacht, and I turned and battled back. So far +as I could see, I made no impression on the space that separated me +from her, and I began to despair of reaching the yacht. In my mind I +revolved the possibility of going with the flood and trusting to work +ashore at the tail of the island. If that were not practicable, I was +lost, for I should be blown out to the open sea. + +Just as these desperate reflections crossed my mind, the _Sea Queen's_ +stern, off which I was struggling, backed. She came round to the wind +and jammed, so that the flutter of canvas which she still carried +cracked above the voice of the seas. Then her nose swung right round +upon me, with the bubble under her cutwater. It was almost as if she +had sighted a doomed wretch and was come to his assistance. Her +broadside now broke the tide for me, and I began to see that I was +creeping up to her, and, thus encouraged, step by step made my way +until at last I reached her, and by the aid of a trailing sheet got +aboard. It had been half an hour since I left the island. + +Once aboard, I waved across the intervening stretch of sea to my +friends, and looked about me. There was no sign or sound of life +anywhere on the yacht. She swung noisily, with creaks and groans, to +the pulse of the tide, but there was no witness to human presence +there. Mademoiselle immediately was in my thoughts, and I found my way +to the state-rooms to reassure her, if she should be awake. They were +as we had left them, save that every cabin had been ransacked and every +box turned inside out. The cabins were empty, and so was the _boudoir_. +Clearly, Mademoiselle Trebizond was not there. I went down into the +saloon, but nothing rewarded me there; and afterwards I turned along +the passage that led to the officers' quarters, and farther on, the +steward's room. Here, too, was my own surgery, and instinctively I +stopped when I reached it. The door stood ajar. No doubt, I thought, +like every other place, it had suffered the ravages of the mutineers. I +opened it wide, and started back, for there on the floor, a bottle in +her hand, and her features still and tragic, lay Yvonne Trebizond! + +I stooped to her, but I knew it was useless even without glancing at +the bottle she held. She had sought death in the despair of her +loneliness. The _Sea Queen_ had carried out upon the face of the dark +waters the previous evening an unhappy woman to a fate which she could +not face. She had chosen Death to that terrible solitude on the +wilderness of the ocean. I lifted her gently, and carried her to one of +the cabins, disposing the body on a bunk. Then I returned to the deck, +for I had work to do that pressed. I experienced no difficulty in +loosing one of the remaining boats, and, dropping into her, I began to +row towards the island. + +Legrand had the party at the water's edge, and they were in the boat in +a very brief space of time. We shoved off, and now Legrand and Ellison +had oars in addition to myself, so that, what with that and the tide, +we made good progress. We had not, however, got more than halfway to +the yacht when Legrand paused on his oars and I saw his face directed +along the beach. I followed his glance, and saw, to my astonishment, a +boat bobbing off the spit of the island. + +"It's our boat!" said I. + +"Yes," he said, "the ruffians are up and about. Give way, give way!" + +We bent to the oars, but as we did so a number of figures appeared +round the bend of the land where we had passed our first night. Shouts +reached us. The figure in the boat was working his oars with frantic +haste, and now Legrand called out suddenly, + +"Pye!" + +Pye it was, and it was also apparent now that he was aiming for us, and +that he was striving to get away from the mutineers. He stood out to +sea, and pulled obliquely towards the yacht. Obviously, he was better +content to trust himself to our mercies than to the ruffians with whom +he had consorted. He was a coward, I knew, and I remembered then his +white face and his terror at the time of the first onslaught. I +remembered, too, how vaguely, how timidly and how ineffectually he had +endeavoured to warn me of the coming massacre. He was a miserable cur; +he had been largely responsible for the bloody voyage; but I could not +help feeling some pity for him. I hung on my oars. + +"Shall we pick him up?" I asked. + +Legrand's only answer was an oath. He had forgotten the presence of +Alix, I think. His eyes blazed above his red cheeks. + +"Let him drown," he said. + +By the time we reached the _Sea Queen_, some of the mutineers, who had +started running when they saw us, had got to the water's edge opposite +to us, and one or two of them plunged in. In the distance, the others +were pursuing Pye and his boat. + +Legrand, meanwhile, had taken the wheel, and Ellison set about the +sails. I did what I could to help, and it was not many minutes ere we +had the topsails going. Under that pressure the yacht began to walk +slowly. Seeing this, the mutineers on the shore raised a howl, and two +more jumped in to join the swimmers, who were now halfway to us. +Legrand cried out an order, and Ellison had the jib-sail set, and the +_Sea Queen_ quickened her pace under the brisk breeze. The swimming +mutineers dropped behind. There must have been half a dozen of them in +the water, and now we saw that they had given up the attempt to reach +us in that way and had fallen back on a new idea. They turned aside to +intercept Pye. + +The little lawyer's clerk was paddling for life, and knew it, but he +made no way. The yacht moved faster, and he sent up to heaven a +dreadful scream that tingled in my ears. I made a step towards Legrand, +but he merely gave one glance backward towards the boat and then fixed +his gaze on the wide horizon of interminable sea, as though he thus +turned his back forever on Hurricane Island and all there. He pulled +the spokes of the wheel, and the _Sea Queen_, breasting the foam-heads, +began to leap. We were moving at a brisk pace. + +I looked back to the unhappy man. He had fallen away now, but still +laboured at his oars. The swimmers could not have been more than twenty +yards from him. Just then Alix's voice was low with agitation in my +ears. + +"Yvonne? Where is Yvonne?" + +I turned to her and took her hand. "She will need no further care of +yours, sweetheart," I said. "She has played her last tragedy--a tragedy +she thought destined for a comedy." + +Alix, looking at me, sighed, and ere she could say more Lane intervened +in huge excitement. + +"Good heavens, Phillimore! the treasure's all in my safes again. By +crikey, is it all a dream?" + +"Yes," I answered, looking at Alix, "all a bad nightmare." + +I looked away across the sea, for somehow I could not help it. + +"What are you looking at?" she asked. "They cannot catch us, can they?" + +The foremost mutineers had reached the boat and were climbing aboard. +The little clerk, white and gasping, raised his oar and struck at them +with screams of terror, striking and screaming again. + +"Hush! don't look, darling," said I, and I put my hands before her +eyes. "It is the judgment of God." + +She shuddered. Pye's shrieks rang in my ear; I glanced off the taffrail +and saw that the mutineers had possession of the boat. They were busy +with the oars. I could see no one else. The boat was headed towards us. + +Legrand cast a glance of indifference backwards. + +"If you care to hold the wheel, Phillimore, we can rig that other +sail," he said. + +I took the wheel. Alix was by my side, and the breeze sang in the +sheets. + +"We're going home, dear heart," I whispered. + +She moved closer to me, shuddered and sighed, and I think the sigh was +a sigh of contentment. + +The _Sea Queen_ dipped her nose and broke into a sharper pace. She was +going home! + + +THE END + + + + * * * * * + + + +Good Fiction Worth Reading. + +A series of romances containing several of the old favorites in the +field of historical fiction, replete with powerful romances of love and +diplomacy that excel in thrilling and absorbing interest. + + * * * * * + +WINDSOR CASTLE. A Historical Romance of the Reign of Henry VIII., +Catharine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn. By Wm. Harrison Ainsworth. Cloth, +12mo. with four illustrations by George Cruikshank. Price, $1.00. + +"Windsor Castle" is the story of Henry VIII., Catharine, and Anne +Boleyn. "Bluff King Hal," although a well-loved monarch, was none too +good a one in many ways. Of all his selfishness and unwarrantable acts, +none was more discreditable than his divorce from Catharine, and his +marriage to the beautiful Anne Boleyn. The King's love was as brief as +it was vehement. Jane Seymour, waiting maid on the Queen, attracted +him, and Anne Boleyn was forced to the block to make room for her +successor. This romance is one of extreme interest to all readers. + +HORSESHOE ROBINSON. A tale of the Tory Ascendency in South Carolina in +1780. By John P. Kennedy. Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by J. +Watson Davis. Price, $1.00. + +Among the old favorites in the field of what is known as historical +fiction, there are none which appeal to a larger number of Americans +than Horseshoe Robinson, and this because it is the only story which +depicts with fidelity to the facts the heroic efforts of the colonists +in South Carolina to defend their homes against the brutal oppression +of the British under such leaders as Cornwallis and Tarleton. + +The reader is charmed with the story of love which forms the thread of +the tale, and then impressed with the wealth of detail concerning those +times. The picture of the manifold sufferings of the people, is never +overdrawn, but painted faithfully and honestly by one who spared +neither time nor labor in his efforts to present in this charming love +story all that price in blood and tears which the Carolinians paid as +their share in the winning of the republic. + +Take it all in all, "Horseshoe Robinson" is a work which should be +found on every book-shelf, not only because it is a most entertaining +story, but because of the wealth of valuable information concerning the +colonists which it contains. That it has been brought out once more, +well illustrated, is something which will give pleasure to thousands +who have long desired an opportunity to read the story again, and to +the many who have tried vainly in these latter days to procure a copy +that they might read it for the first time. + +THE PEARL OF ORR'S ISLAND. A story of the Coast of Maine. By Harriet +Beecher Stowe. Cloth, 12mo. Illustrated. Price, $1.00. + +Written prior to 1862, the "Pearl of Orr's Island" is ever new; a book +filled with delicate fancies, such as seemingly array themselves anew +each time one reads them. One sees the "sea like an unbroken mirror all +around the pine-girt, lonely shores of Orr's Island," and straightway +comes "the heavy, hollow moan of the surf on the beach, like the wild +angry howl of some savage animal." + +Who can read of the beginning of that sweet life, named Mara, which +came into this world under the very shadow of the Death angel's wings, +without having an intense desire to know how the premature bud +blossomed? Again and again one lingers over the descriptions of the +character of that baby boy Moses, who came through the tempest, amid +the angry billows, pillowed on his dead mother's breast. + +There is no more faithful portrayal of New England life than that which +Mrs. Stowe gives in "The Pearl of Orr's Island." + + * * * * * + +For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by +the publishers, +A. L. BURT COMPANY, 52-58 Duane St., New York. + + + + +Good Fiction Worth Reading. + +A series of romances containing several of the old favorites in the +field of historical fiction, replete with powerful romances of love and +diplomacy that excel in thrilling and absorbing interest. + + * * * * * + +A COLONIAL FREE-LANCE. A story of American Colonial Times. By Chauncey +C. Hotchkiss. Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by J. Watson Davis. +Price, $1.00. + +A book that appeals to Americans as a vivid picture of Revolutionary +scenes. The story is a strong one, a thrilling one. It causes the true +American to flush with excitement, to devour chapter after chapter, +until the eyes smart, and it fairly smokes with patriotism. The love +story is a singularly charming idyl. + +THE TOWER OF LONDON. A Historical Romance of the Times of Lady Jane +Grey and Mary Tudor. By Wm. Harrison Ainsworth. Cloth, 12mo. with four +illustrations by George Cruikshank. Price, $1.00. + +This romance of the "Tower of London" depicts the Tower as palace, +prison and fortress, with many historical associations. The era is the +middle of the sixteenth century. + +The story is divided into two parts, one dealing with Lady Jane Grey, +and the other with Mary Tudor as Queen, introducing other notable +characters of the era. Throughout the story holds the interest of the +reader in the midst of intrigue and conspiracy, extending considerably +over a half a century. + +IN DEFIANCE OF THE KING. A Romance of the American Revolution. By +Chauncey C. Hotchkiss. Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by J. +Watson Davis. Price, $1.00. + +Mr. Hotchkiss has etched in burning words a story of Yankee bravery, +and true love that thrills from beginning to end, with the spirit of +the Revolution. The heart beats quickly, and we feel ourselves taking a +part in the exciting scenes described. The whole story is so absorbing +that you will sit up far into the night to finish it. As a love romance +it is charming. + +GARTHOWEN. A story of a Welsh Homestead. By Allen Raine. Cloth, 12mo. +with four illustrations by J. Watson Davis. Price, $1.00. + +"This is a little idyl of humble life and enduring love, laid bare +before us, very real and pure, which in its telling shows us some +strong points of Welsh character--the pride, the hasty temper, the +quick dying out of wrath.... We call this a well-written story, +interesting alike through its romance and its glimpses into another +life than ours. A delightful and clever picture of Welsh village life. +The result is excellent."--Detroit Free Press. + +MIFANWY. The story of a Welsh Singer. By Allan Raine. Cloth, 12mo. with +four illustrations by J. Watson Davis. Price, $1.00. + +"This is a love story, simple, tender and pretty as one would care to +read. The action throughout is brisk and pleasing; the characters, it +is apparent at once, are as true to life as though the author had known +them all personally. Simple in all its situations, the story is worked +up in that touching and quaint strain which never grows wearisome, no +matter how often the lights and shadows of love are introduced. It +rings true, and does not tax the imagination."--Boston Herald. + + * * * * * + +For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by +the publishers, +A. L. BURT COMPANY, 52-58 Duane St., New York. + + + + +Good Fiction Worth Reading. + +A series of romances containing several of the old favorites in the +field of historical fiction, replete with powerful romances of love and +diplomacy that excel in thrilling and absorbing interest. + + * * * * * + +DARNLEY. A Romance of the times of Henry VIII. and Cardinal Wolsey. By +G. P. R. James. Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by J. Watson +Davis. Price, $1.00. + +In point of publication, "Darnley" is that work by Mr. James which +follows "Richelieu," and, if rumor can be credited, it was owing to the +advice and insistence of our own Washington Irving that we are indebted +primarily for the story, the young author questioning whether he could +properly paint the difference in the characters of the two great +cardinals. And it is not surprising that James should have hesitated; +he had been eminently successful in giving to the world the portrait of +Richelieu as a man, and by attempting a similar task with Wolsey as the +theme, was much like tempting fortune. Irving insisted that "Darnley" +came naturally in sequence, and this opinion being supported by Sir +Walter Scott, the author set about the work. + +As a historical romance "Darnley" is a book that can be taken up +pleasurably again and again, for there is about it that subtle charm +which those who are strangers to the works of G. P. R. James have +claimed was only to be imparted by Dumas. + +If there was nothing more about the work to attract especial attention, +the account of the meeting of the kings on the historic "field of the +cloth of gold" would entitle the story to the most favorable +consideration of every reader. + +There is really but little pure romance in this story, for the author +has taken care to imagine love passages only between those whom history +has credited with having entertained the tender passion one for +another, and he succeeds in making such lovers as all the world must +love. + +CAPTAIN BRAND, OF THE SCHOONER CENTIPEDE. By Lieut. Henry A. Wise, +U.S.N. (Harry Gringo). Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by J. +Watson Davis. Price, $1.00. + +The re-publication of this story will please those lovers of sea yarns +who delight in so much of the salty flavor of the ocean as can come +through the medium of a printed page, for never has a story of the sea +and those "who go down in ships" been written by one more familiar with +the scenes depicted. + +The one book of this gifted author which is best remembered, and which +will be read with pleasure for many years to come, is "Captain Brand," +who, as the author states on his title page, was a "pirate of eminence +in the West Indies." As a sea story pure and simple, "Captain Brand" +has never been excelled, and as a story of piratical life, told without +the usual embellishments of blood and thunder, it has no equal. + +NICK OF THE WOODS. A story of the Early Settlers of Kentucky. By Robert +Montgomery Bird. Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by J. Watson +Davis. Price, $1.00. + +This most popular novel and thrilling story of early frontier life in +Kentucky was originally published in the year 1837. The novel, long out +of print, had in its day a phenomenal sale, for its realistic presentation +of Indian and frontier life in the early days of settlement in the +South, narrated in the tale with all the art of a practiced writer. A +very charming love romance runs through the story. This new and +tasteful edition of "Nick of the Woods" will be certain to make many +new admirers for this enchanting story from Dr. Bird's clever and +versatile pen. + + * * * * * + +For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by +the publishers, +A. L. BURT COMPANY, 52-58 Duane St., New York. + + + + +Good Fiction Worth Reading. + +A series of romances containing several of the old favorites in the +field of historical fiction, replete with powerful romances of love and +diplomacy that excel in thrilling and absorbing interest. + + * * * * * + +GUY FAWKES. A Romance of the Gunpowder Treason. By Wm. Harrison +Ainsworth. Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by George Cruikshank. +Price, $1.00. + +The "Gunpowder Plot" was a modest attempt to blow up Parliament, the +King and his Counsellors. James of Scotland, then King of England, was +weak-minded and extravagant. He hit upon the efficient scheme of +extorting money from the people by imposing taxes on the Catholics. In +their natural resentment to this extortion, a handful of bold spirits +concluded to overthrow the government. Finally the plotters were +arrested, and the King put to torture Guy Fawkes and the other +prisoners with royal vigor. A very intense love story runs through the +entire romance. THE SPIRIT OF THE BORDER. A Romance of the Early +Settlers in the Ohio Valley. By Zane Grey. Cloth. 12mo. with four +illustrations by J. Watson Davis. Price, $1.00. + +A book rather out of the ordinary is this "Spirit of the Border." The +main thread of the story has to do with the work of the Moravian +missionaries in the Ohio Valley. Incidentally the reader is given +details of the frontier life of those hardy pioneers who broke the +wilderness for the planting of this great nation. Chief among these, as +a matter of course, is Lewis Wetzel, one of the most peculiar, and at +the same time the most admirable of all the brave men who spent their +lives battling with the savage foe, that others might dwell in +comparative security. + +Details of the establishment and destruction of the Moravian "Village +of Peace" are given at some length, and with minute description. The +efforts to Christianize the Indians are described as they never have +been before, and the author has depicted the characters of the leaders +of the several Indian tribes with great care, which of itself will be +of interest to the student. + +By no means least among the charms of the story are the vivid +word-pictures of the thrilling adventures, and the intense paintings of +the beauties of nature, as seen in the almost unbroken forests. + +It is the spirit of the frontier which is described, and one can by it, +perhaps, the better understand why men, and women, too, willingly +braved every privation and danger that the westward progress of the +star of empire might be the more certain and rapid. A love story, +simple and tender, runs through the book. + +RICHELIEU. A tale of France in the reign of King Louis XIII. By G. P. +R. James. Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by J. Watson Davis. +Price, $1.00. + +In 1829 Mr. James published his first romance, "Richelieu," and was +recognized at once as one of the masters of the craft. + +In this book he laid the story during those later days of the great +cardinal's life, when his power was beginning to wane, but while it was +yet sufficiently strong to permit now and then of volcanic outbursts +which overwhelmed foes and carried friends to the topmost wave of +prosperity. One of the most striking portions of the story is that of +Cinq Mar's conspiracy; the method of conducting criminal cases, and the +political trickery resorted to by royal favorites, affording a better +insight into the statecraft of that day than can be had even by an +exhaustive study of history. It is a powerful romance of love and +diplomacy, and in point of thrilling and absorbing interest has never +been excelled. + + * * * * * + +For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by +the publishers, +A. L. 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