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diff --git a/37081.txt b/37081.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..30ca2e7 --- /dev/null +++ b/37081.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9169 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of In Strange Company, by Guy Boothby + +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: In Strange Company + A Story of Chili and the Southern Seas + +Author: Guy Boothby + +Release Date: August 14, 2011 [EBook #37081] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN STRANGE COMPANY *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + + + + + + In Strange Company + + A STORY OF CHILI AND THE SOUTHERN SEAS + + By Guy Boothby + + AUTHOR OF "Pharos, the Egyptian," "Dr. Nikola's Experiment," etc. + + + NEW YORK AND LONDON + STREET & SMITH, PUBLISHERS + + Copyright, 1894 and 1896, + By F. TENNYSON NEELY. + + Copyright, 1900, + By STREET & SMITH + + + Dearest Mother, + IT IS + WITH THE UTMOST LOVE + THAT I + DEDICATE TO YOU THIS BOOK, + THE OUTCOME OF TEN LONG YEARS OF SEPARATION. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + INTRODUCTION BY MR. LUKE SANCTUARY 1 + Setting forth how the Book came to be written, and + containing a Copy of a most important Letter. + + + PART I. + + I. SHOWING WHERE THE MONEY REALLY CAME FROM 13 + + II. A STRANGE NIGHT 25 + + III. A STRANGER DAY 52 + + IV. THE ALBINO IS DISAPPOINTED 66 + + V. THE ESCAPE FROM CHILI 72 + + VI. THE 'ISLAND QUEEN' 81 + + VII. THE MAN'S DEATH 98 + + + PART II. + + I. JOHN RAMSAY TAKES UP THE TALE 115 + + II. A CHEQUERED CAREER 134 + + III. SACRED AND PROFANE LOVE 151 + + IV. RAMSAY BECOMES A SHIP-OWNER 165 + + V. A CURIOUS QUEST 180 + + VI. AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR 190 + + VII. BATAVIA--A STRANGE MEETING 198 + + + PART III. + + I. RAMSAY IS RELEASED FROM CUSTODY 216 + + II. GAOL-BREAKING EXTRAORDINARY 228 + + III. THE ISLAND 243 + + IV. RESCUED 257 + + V. RAMSAY MEETS OLD FRIENDS 270 + + VI. CONCLUSION 288 + + + + +IN STRANGE COMPANY. + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + +IN WHICH IS SET FORTH HOW THE BOOK CAME TO BE WRITTEN. + + +First and foremost it should be stated how I, Luke Sanctuary, came to be +connected with this most extraordinary and, to say the least of it, +mysterious business. For my own part, I do not doubt but that when you +have read a few pages you will have come to the conclusion that, +personally, I had no share in its actual making, for I am a man of +peaceful disposition, as much unaccustomed as I am unfitted to bear a +hand in such adventurous concerns; and what is perhaps more to the +point, one who has never been out of England in the whole course of his +existence. + +This preliminary having been set forth, and your mind disabused of any +false impression, I am brought to the plain matter at issue, namely, the +reason of, the facts which led to, and the people who induced my taking +up the writing of this book. And as this again--for it seems I am not +permitted to escape it--necessitates the narration of more concerning +myself, let me, if I can be nothing else, be brief. + +To begin with, my name is Luke Sanctuary; I am a bachelor; a man of +regular and studious habits; the possessor of what is vaguely termed a +comfortable income; and, as the result of such an income, a house, my +friends tell me, of considerable attractions, situated in that Garden of +all England, the Isle of Wight. + +And truly enough it is, if the two terms be not synonymous, both a +comfortable and pleasant home; for while I have endeavoured to make its +internal accommodation what I imagine a dwelling-house in these +enlightened days should be, its external advantages have not been +unconsidered. From my windows, looking towards the north, I can command +one of the most beautiful and extensive views along the whole length of +the English coast; while straight before me, and as far as the eye can +reach to right and left, stretches Spithead, glittering, as I write, a +bright sapphire blue, in the warm sunshine of this September morning. +Across its placid surface may be seen the forts and mast forest of +Portsmouth, with Gosport on the near, and Southsea dim and distant on +the far side; to all of which the hills of Portsdown form an effective +background. + +Of shipping there is no lack: a cruiser of the latest pattern, newly +commissioned, lies at anchor immediately before me; a deep sea +cable-steamer is in the act of entering the harbour; while +torpedo-boats, ferry-steamers, colliers, mud-dredgers, yachts, and +such-like small craft pass to and fro continually, as if for my +peculiar and individual benefit. + +It is a picture of which I never grow weary, and indeed I sometimes +feel, were its attractions not so irresistible, my book, 'The First +Fruits of the Renaissance,' upon which I have been engaged these eight +years past, and which is as yet only in its fifty-second chapter, would +long ago have been in print, delighting an appreciative public, or, what +is more likely, cumbering the shelves of our second-hand dealers. And +surely--for I am in the humour for philosophical reflection--no better +view, or one more suited to the opening of this strange story, could +possibly be chosen than Spithead on this pleasant autumn morning. + +But it is easier, I find, to talk of beginning than actually to begin, +for twice I have dipped my pen in the ink, and twice I have pulled my +virgin foolscap towards me, but somehow I have not yet managed to +commence. Now, however, I will sound the bugles and open the attack. + +But it is of no use! Fate, in the form of a heavy footstep, is on the +stairs, and a masculine voice is calling, "Cousin Luke, Cousin Luke, +where on earth have you stowed yourself away?" + +The voice is the voice of my sailor cousin by marriage, John Ramsay, +who, with his bride, has been my guest this fortnight past. His bellow +has something of the resonance of a fog-horn, and, partly for the safety +of my roof and partly to gratify my own curiosity, I am induced to +acquaint him of my whereabouts. Thereupon he rushes impulsively in, for +he will never be aught but a boy in his manners, his face aglow with +excitement, and brandishing a sheet of note-paper in his hand. + +"'Vast working, Cousin Luke," he cries, scattering my MSS. with the +violence of his inrush; "pipe all hands, for here it is, just arrived by +post from Sir Benjamin!" + +"What is here?" I ask, looking up into his handsome sunburnt face with a +smile. "What has Sir Benjamin been kind enough to send me? A brace of +partridges perhaps, or----" + +"A brace of horse-marines!" is the prompt reply, and thereupon my +manuscripts are unceremoniously swept off the table, to make room for +the sheet of note-paper I have mentioned above. + +"Now, Cousin Luke, I'll have to trouble you for the loan of your best +attention," he says, "for here is the mysterious letter of which I told +you last night; here is the bit of paper which has caused four people to +play hide-and-seek all round the world, occasioned the death of two, and +done its best to kill half-a-dozen others. Oh! my dear departed +grandmother, just fancy that innocent little slip of cream-laid having +once been worth a couple of hundred thousand pounds!" + +I am supposed to know intuitively to what he refers, for he waves his +hand with a commanding gesture, forces me back into my seat, and then, +smoothing the letter out, bids me read it aloud for his and my own +information. This is what I read, and as upon it depends the whole point +of this book, I beg that you will give it your best attention. + + "_Valparaiso, Chili_, + "_8th August, 1891_. + + "TO SIR BENJAMIN PLOWDEN, KNT., ETC., ETC., + "EAST INDIA AVENUE, LONDON. + + "My worthy and respected Uncle Benjamin, + + "I beg you will not suppose for an instant that I am unable to + imagine with what apprehension and surprise you will receive this + letter from one so unworthy as your nephew, written from such a + place, and dated at such a serious time. And yet, both the place + and the serious time are part and parcel of the reason which + induces the communication. + + "To lay my business properly before you, it is necessary that I + should carry your memory back, let us say fifteen years, when, + after a certain episode which it would become neither of us to + recall, you were good enough to show me the front door of England, + and the back entrance to the outside world, at the same time + enriching me with much good advice, two trenchant sayings from the + works of that priggish person Solomon, and last, but by no means + least, Five Hundred Pounds sterling. + + "Reflecting that all countries present equal possibilities to the + possessor of five hundred pounds in hard cash, I came out here, + with the result, that by ceaseless energy and thrift (of the + possession of which latter virtue you have hitherto scarcely + believed me capable) I have added to the five hundred pounds you + advanced me, four hundred similar amounts. + + "In other words, my revered relative, my adventures have prospered + beyond my wildest expectations. My silver mines have achieved + wonders. As for my Haciendas, by which name these ignorant + foreigners denominate such farms as those of which I know you, my + uncle, to be the possessor, I managed to dispose of them, prior to + this unfortunate Revolution, for considerably more than twice their + real value. Therefore, to all intents and purposes, I may be + considered what you, in your absurd City jargon, would term a + decidedly _warm_ or rich man. So much by way of introduction. + + "Now though I am, both by instinct and training, distrustful and + suspicious, yet, strangely enough, I am about to forswear my + principles so far as to repose in you, my father's brother, being + perfectly assured of your probity and honour, such confidence as + one man seldom places in another. In other words, having in my mind + the perilous times now upon this unhappy country, I am remitting to + your charge by the good ship _Culloden_, advised as leaving here on + Thursday of next week, the entire amount of my fortune, amounting + to _Two Hundred Thousand Pounds of English money, in specie_, + securely packed in accordance with the steam-ship company's + regulations, and addressed to you in London. The bill of lading + accompanies this present letter, which will be conveyed to and + posted in London by Captain Porson of H.M.S. _Chanticleer_, leaving + Valparaiso to-morrow morning. + + "That this extraordinary trust will occasion you some little + surprise I do not doubt, but from what I know of your character, I + feel certain that not only will you accept the charge, but that you + will guard my interests as you would your own. + + "Were it not that I consider it my duty to remain in this country + until these troubles are overpast, I should certainly come home to + guard my fortune personally. But such a thing being, for the + present, impossible, I have, I believe, by placing it in your + hands, done both what is wisest and best to secure its safety. + + "One earnest piece of advice I would entreat you to remember. For + the reason that I am successful, I have made many enemies here, who + would not scruple to employ any means, however base, to bring about + my ruin. I beg and implore, therefore, that you will pay no + attention whatsoever to any person, male or female, who may + approach you in my name, either by letter or otherwise, with the + following exception. + + "Should it be necessary for me to communicate with you, either + personally or by messenger, you will do nothing, listen to no + proposals, or even hint that you know anything of my existence or + my fortune, until you have in your hand the following authority. + + "Having carefully considered the matter in all its bearings, I have + arrived at the conclusion that there is only one thing absolutely + and wholly unforgeable and unmatchable within my reach, and that + is, _the tear in an ordinary sheet of paper_. + + "To apply this knowledge to my own purposes, I have obtained from a + certain source a sample of quite unknown note-paper, and torn it in + half in a peculiar manner. One portion I send to you herewith; the + other I shall retain in my own keeping, until I desire to + communicate with you. It is obviously impossible--no one having + seen this paper in my possession--that any third party could so + tear another as to match, fibre for fibre, the piece you hold, even + could they obtain a similar description of paper, which I happen + to know is out of the question. + + "This being so, any person bringing to you a sample of the same + water-mark, of the same texture, and, more important still, torn in + such a manner as to exactly fit the piece you hold, must either + have stolen it from me (which I can confidently promise shall not + happen), or be my _bona-fide_ agent. I beg therefore that you will + pay to him whatsoever sum, up to the entire amount, he shall ask of + you. _But remember, on no consideration shall you pay even so much + as one half-penny to any person whomsoever, even one representing + himself to be your unworthy nephew, until this duplicate is in your + possession._ + + "For reasons which would not have the slightest interest for you, I + am compelled to act in this mysterious fashion; and such is my + absolute trust and confidence in your honour and integrity, that I + go so far as to freely absolve you beforehand from any blame + whatsoever, should the precautions I have enumerated here miscarry. + + "Believe me, such warnings are not idle; attempts will certainly be + made to obtain the money, and after careful consideration, I think + I have hit upon the only safe way to guard myself against any such + conspiracies. + + "If by any chance no word shall reach you from me within the space + of twenty-one years, day for day from this 8th of August, you may + regard it as complete evidence of my death, and in that case I + bequeath to your children, should you at that time have any living, + or failing them to such members of my father's family as may then + be alive, the entire amount of my fortune, with all interests and + accumulations which may have become added thereto. + + "I am, my uncle, + + "Your obliged and obedient nephew, + + "MARMADUKE PLOWDEN." + +When I reached the signature, Ramsay, who had been listening with +unabating interest, hit me a heavy thwack upon the shoulder, at the same +time crying enthusiastically-- + +"There, my learned cousin, what is your opinion of that precious +document?" + +"I think," said I, with a gravity befitting such an important decision, +"that it is the letter of a very unscrupulous, and I should say at the +time he wrote it, very frightened, man." + +"My idea exactly," Ramsay replied. "It is interesting to note how his +impudence dies out as his letter progresses, and how its place is +usurped by a good wholesome fear. One thing more, do you honestly +believe that that vast sum of money, L200,000, came from the respectable +sources to which he alludes--silver mines and farm properties, and +such-like; all accumulated by his own thrift and industry?" + +"How can I tell? But from what I know of the man, I should be rather +inclined to guess--_not!_" + +"Very good. And now, as we're agreed upon that point, let me ask you +what recollections, if any, you have of this peculiar relative of +yours?--for relative he certainly is." + +"Of Marmaduke Plowden?" + +"Exactly; _in Chili known as Marcos Veneda_. Surely you must have seen +him often when he was a boy?" + +"Not often, Jack--half-a-dozen times at most; certainly not more. He +lived on the other side of the kingdom, you must remember; and then +again, he was not the sort of youth of whom one would be anxious to see +very much." + +"What was he like?" + +I hesitated before replying. The truth was, it was an awkward question, +for upon the last occasion of my seeing him, he was sitting in the +office of my kinsman, the Sir Benjamin Plowden before referred to, +looking very frightened and miserable, and wondering how a certain +interview which was being conducted in an adjoining room would end; that +is, whether it would result in his being sent to gaol or abroad. As may +be imagined, under these circumstances, he did not look his best. But +then that was well-nigh twenty years ago. + +So absorbed was I in recalling these recollections, that I had quite +forgotten my companion's question. He brought me back to my senses with +a start. + +"Come, come, Cousin Luke, no day-dreams, if you please; you haven't +answered my question yet." + +"Well, Jack, as a young man, perhaps I cannot give you any better +description of him than to say that he was, without doubt, the +handsomest, and at the same time the most untrustworthy being, with whom +I had ever come into contact. As old Darby, our coachman in those days, +once put it, 'Young Master Marmaduke's as 'andsome as paint, but lor, +there, it's all on top, like bad coach varnish!' In fact, there was +something about the lad's good looks that repelled rather than +attracted one." + +"How do you mean--a sort of fierceness?" + +"No; a something that was rather crafty than fierce, a something that +betrayed cruelty as well as cunning. As a school-boy there was nobody +more admired for his beauty or more despised for his moral character." + +"Was he a plucky boy?" + +"To an extraordinary degree, I believe, as far as personal bravery went; +but somehow he was always at daggers drawn, not with his school-fellows +alone, but with everybody with whom he came into contact." + +"And when he left school?" + +"As far as I remember he went first into some office in a country town, +where he remained for a year; then Sir Benjamin took him in hand, and +got him a situation in a large banking institution in London." + +"And after that?" + +"Commenced his downfall; he fell in with a low set, became a frequenter +of second-rate race-courses, an admirer of ballet-girls and +objectionable barmaids; finally, is said to have forged his benefactor's +name, and to have come within an ace of standing in a felon's dock." + +"A nice character truly! And Sir Benjamin honoured the signature?" + +"For the sake of the lad's mother. And then it was, I suppose, that he +gave him the L500 referred to in that letter, and shipped him out of +England." + +"And, as far as you know, he was never heard of again, until his letter +and the L200,000 arrived?" + +"Not to my knowledge; in fact, until you recalled it, I had almost +forgotten his existence." + +"Very well then. Now you'll just come for a walk with me, and, as we go, +I'll tell you something of Marmaduke Plowden's--otherwise Marcos +Veneda's--wonderful career, from the day he left England till I made his +acquaintance, under such peculiar circumstances, six months ago. Then +you shall take pens, paper, and ink, and write the first half of it. +I'll do the last, and together we'll make it into a book for the +information of the world. Here's a case full of first-class cigars; it's +a perfect day for a tramp; so get your things and come along." + +Resistance being useless, I collected hat and stick and went, and the +result of that walk is the story--strange enough, goodness knows--which +I now place before you. + + + + +PART I. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +SHOWING WHERE THE MONEY REALLY CAME FROM. + + +So far we have seen, that shifty Marmaduke Plowden, in Chili known as +Marcos Veneda, despatched to the care of his uncle, Sir Benjamin +Plowden, of the East India Avenue, London, L200,000 in English gold, +with the request that that gentleman would keep it for him until he +could come home to look after it himself. + +Now, to properly understand our story, we must hark back to the very +beginning of things, and endeavour to discover where such an enormous +fortune came from in the first instance; for the statement of its owner +that he derived it from his silver mines and Hacienda properties is not +worthy of a moment's credence. There is only one person who can +elucidate the mystery for us, and his extraordinary adventures we must +now proceed to consider. + +You must understand that Michael Bradshaw, of 3 Parkington Terrace, +South Kensington, was that sort of superlatively clever person who, +after a life of grand _coups_, always comes to grief in some +superlatively silly fashion. From the day on which he first entered the +service of the Anglo-Kamtchatka Bank, to the evening of the dinner in +his honour at the Whitehall Rooms as general manager, his career was one +of exceptional brilliance. He it was who hit out the scheme which saved +the Bank in the matter of the Bakell-Askern Syndicate; he it was who +manipulated the Patagonian Bonds and the Golden Sunset Silver Mining +Company to the Bank's ultimate advantage; he it was who--but there, his +devices are matters of history, and beyond being corroborative evidences +of his cleverness, are of little or no moment to this story. The +following notice of the dinner above referred to appeared in the columns +of the daily press the next morning, and is worth considering-- + + "At the Whitehall Rooms, last evening, Mr. Michael Bradshaw, the + well-known and universally respected General Manager of the + Anglo-Kamtchatka Banking Company, was entertained at dinner by the + Directors of that institution, prior to his departure for a brief + holiday in the South of France. Covers were laid for a hundred + guests, the chair being taken by the Right Honourable Lord Burgoo, + Chairman of the Company. In proposing the toast of 'Their Guest,' + the noble Chairman eulogized Mr. Bradshaw's services to the Bank, + and hoped that the holiday he was about to enjoy would enable him + to devote many more years to the advancement of the institution he + had served so well. Mr. Bradshaw replied in feeling terms." + +After the dinner the manager drove back to his house in Kensington. +Though it was well-nigh two o'clock, he did not think of going to bed, +but went into his study and lit a cigar. As every one had noticed that +evening, he certainly looked as if he needed a holiday; his face was +woefully haggard, and his eyes had a peculiar brilliance that spoke, as +plainly as any words, of sleepless nights and never-ceasing worry and +anxiety. + +For a long time he promenaded the room, his hands in his pockets and his +face sternly set. Once he smiled sardonically as the recollection of the +evening's speeches crossed his mind. Then, throwing himself into a chair +before his writing-table, he began to unlock the drawers, and to destroy +the papers they contained. + +When this task was completed, the sun had been up some time, and a large +pile of paper-ash lay inside the grate. He pulled back the curtains, +unbarred the shutters, and opened the window, letting in a flood of +sunshine. Then, dropping into a comfortable chair beside the fire, he +fell asleep. + +By eight o'clock he was at Charing Cross, his ticket was taken, and he +was bidding good-bye to a large crowd of friends. + +Next day, instead of busying himself with the enjoyments of Monte Carlo, +as his friends supposed him, he was in reality at Dieppe, anxiously +awaiting the arrival of a small brig, the _Florence Annie_ of +Teignmouth. As soon as she arrived he boarded her, and half-an-hour +later, a course being set, she was bowling down Channel, bound for +Buenos Ayres. It was peculiar that the captain invariably addressed his +passenger as "Mr. Vincent." It was strange also that, for a voyage of +such duration, he should have brought with him so small an amount of +luggage. In the hold, however, were half-a-dozen barrels inscribed with +his name, and labelled "Cement." Now cement, as everyone knows, is a +staple article of export from Great Britain to the South American +Republics. + +A month later, all England was astounded by the news that Michael +Bradshaw, the admired and universally respected, was _wanted_ by the +police on a charge of defrauding the Anglo-Kamtchatka Banking Company of +L250,000. But so carefully had his plans been arranged, that not a trace +of either the money or his whereabouts could be discovered. Being a +cultivated person, he might have replied with Plautus, "_Doli non doli +sunt, nisi astu colas._" + +On the arrival of the _Florence Annie_ at her destination, Bradshaw, +_alias_ Vincent, went ashore with his barrels of cement, determining to +settle himself down to the study of Argentine life and character, having +pleasing knowledge of the fact, that at that time "on no condition was +extradition allowed in Buenos Ayres." But careful though he was not to +excite attention, before he had been a week in his new abode he began to +have suspicions that his secret was discovered. He fought against the +idea with all his strength. But the more he struggled, the stronger it +grew, till at last, unable to support his anxiety any longer, he +determined to cross the Andes into Chili, confident that in the +Balmaceda turmoil his identity would never be discovered. A long and +agonizing railway journey brought him to Mendoza. There, with prodigious +care, he chose his muleteers, packed his barrels of cement, and plunged +into the mountains. + +At no time is that journey across the Andes one to be lightly +undertaken. To Michael Bradshaw it was a nightmare, from which there +seemed no awakening. Fear spurred him on behind; vague terrors of the +Unknown beckoned him ahead; while treachery menaced him continually on +either hand. When at last, more dead than alive, he arrived in +Valparaiso, he paid off his team; and leasing an obscure residence in +the Calle de San Pedro, prepared himself to wait, guarding his treasure +night and day, until the war should be over. + +But though he was not aware of it, his arrival in the town was already +known, and plans were in active preparation for relieving him of his +wealth. His enemies had failed before, they had altered their tactics +now. Sooner or later, they must succeed. + +One evening Michael Bradshaw sat in the only room he had made habitable, +earnestly perusing a Guide to the Spanish language. He had been in +Valparaiso nearly a week, and as he never ventured outside his own door, +he found his time hang heavily on his hands. I am not quite certain that +he had not already begun to regret his felony; not from any +conscientious motives perhaps, but because he found himself in an +awkward if not dangerous position. You see as far as his own personal +feelings went he was still the respectable English banker, therefore to +have assassination menacing him continually was a future he had +certainly neither mapped out for himself nor was it one he would be +likely to understand. He had been obliged to leave the Argentine because +he believed his secret had been discovered, and now in Chili he was +afraid to go very much abroad lest any of his former enemies might meet +and recognize him. He had many regrets, but perhaps the most bitter was +the fact that Valparaiso is an extradition port. + +Since his arrival he had unpacked his barrels of cement, and with +infinite trouble concealed the treasure they so cunningly contained +under the floor of his room. This exertion, if it had served no other +purpose, had at least afforded him some occupation. + +After a while he looked at his watch and found it was growing late. +Putting down his book, he was in the act of making up his bed, which, by +the way, was not as luxurious as the one to which he had been accustomed +in his old house at Kensington, when to his horror he heard stealthy +footsteps in the corridor outside his room. Next moment the door opened, +and a tall and singularly handsome man entered. He bowed politely, and +said in excellent English-- + +"Mr. Bradshaw, I believe?" + +The ex-banker was too terrified to reply. + +"I have taken the liberty of calling upon you on a little matter of +business. May I sit down?" + +Without waiting for permission, he seated himself on the bed. Bradshaw +sank back with a groan into his chair. + +"You are lately from England, I believe?" + +Bradshaw found his voice at last, and said the first thing that came +into his head. + +"What do you want with me? I cannot see you now; I'm not well." + +"I am sorry, but what I have to say admits of no delay. You arrived in +Buenos Ayres by the brig _Florence Annie_ of Teignmouth--and oh, by the +way, what have you done with that L250,000?" + +"For mercy's take, tell me what you want with me?" + +"All in good time, my friend. You're pretty comfortable here, but your +floor needs repairing sadly--it looks as if you've been digging. You +must be very dull all alone. Let me tell you a story." + +"I don't want to hear it." + +"I'm desolated, but you must. The business upon which I desire to +consult you depends upon it, so here goes. Once upon a time, as they say +in the fairy tales, there was a young man who was turned out of England, +accused of a felony which he never committed. He was treated very badly +and, being a youth of spirit, resented it. He came to Chili, where he +has lived for the past fifteen years. Now, strangely enough, considering +it has done everything for him, he detests Chili and the people with +whom he has to associate, and he wants to return to England, where +everybody hates him. What he would do if he got there I don't know, but +he seems to think he might turn over a new leaf, marry, and settle down +to a quiet country life. Perhaps he would; perhaps he wouldn't--there's +no telling; at any rate, that has been his dream for fifteen years. You +ask, and very naturally too, if he's so bitten with the notion, why +doesn't he carry it out? And I reply, with an equal pretence to nature, +because he can't; the poor fellow has no money. Some people have more +than they know what to do with--L250,000 for instance--he has none!" + +"Who are you, and what makes you tell me all this? Look here, if you +don't leave me, I'll----" + +"No, you won't," the stranger said, drawing a revolver from beneath his +coat. "I see you've got a Smith and Wesson in that pocket. I'm sorry, +but I'll just have to trouble you for it." + +Thus menaced, Bradshaw surrendered his pistol, which the other coolly +examined, and deposited in his own pocket. + +"As I was going to say, and this is where the curious part of my story +commences, that young man, who, after all, is not a bad sort of fellow, +wants to give up his wild unchristian life out here, and get home to +England. Possibly with six thousand a year he might become a credit to +his family. It is his only chance in life, remember, and if he doesn't +want to go under for ever, he has to make the most of it. Meanwhile he +has not been idle. To assist his fortunes, he has joined a certain +Society, whose object is the amassing of money, by fair means or foul, +and which is perhaps the most powerful organization of its kind in the +wide, wide world. Now pay particular attention to what I am about to +say. + +"News reaches this Society from London (their method of obtaining +information, I may tell you, is little short of marvellous) that a +certain well-known banker has absconded with L250,000. His destination, +though he thinks no one aware of it, is Buenos Ayres. On arrival in that +port, he is watched continually, and on two occasions attempts are made +to procure his money. By a mischance they fail. Suspecting something of +the sort, he crosses the mountains into Valparaiso, and takes a house in +the Calle de San Pedro. The Society's spies have followed his movements +with undeviating attention; they shadow him day and night; they even +take the houses on either hand of his in order that they may make quite +sure of his safety. One night they will descend upon that unfortunate +man and--well, I leave you to picture what the result will be!" + +Bradshaw said not a word, but he looked as if he were about to have a +fit. + +"Now, look here, I'm not the sort of man to rob any one without giving +him a run for his money. You've had your turn, and you've bungled it. +Now I have mine, and I'm going to carry it through. I see my chance to a +straight life in the best land under the sun if I can raise the money. +You've robbed the fatherless and the widow to get here; why shouldn't I +rob you to get there? You can't get out of this house alive, and if you +remain in it they'll certainly kill you. There's a man watching you on +the right, and just at present I'm supposed to be looking after you on +the left. If you doubt me, go out into the street, and take a walk round +the block; before you've gone fifty yards you'll find you're being +shadowed by a man in a grey poncho. It strikes me you're between the +devil and the deep sea. What do you think?" + +Bradshaw only groaned feebly. His pluck, if he ever had any, had quite +deserted him. His visitor took a pack of cards from his pocket, and +threw them on the table. + +"Do you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to sell my friends; in +other words, I'm going to do business with you on my own account. It's +been done before in the history of the world. We'll have a little +gamble. But you must pull yourself together, or you won't be able to +look after your own interests. The stakes shall be as follows. If I win, +I take the lot, the whole L250,000, or what there is left of it, and +find my own way to get it out of the house. If you win, I pledge myself +solemnly to assist you to escape with it. You'll have to trust me, +because you can't do anything else. Do you understand? Don't make a +noise, or I assure you I'll shoot you where you sit. There shall be fair +play between us, come what may. Now cut! The highest wins, remember!" + +"I can't! I refuse! What right have you to make such a demand?" + +"What right had you to betray your trust? Go on. I'll give you half a +minute, and if you don't cut then, I solemnly swear I'll blow your +brains out!" + +"Have you no mercy?" + +"Drop that and cut. Ah! you're going to,--that's right. Show!" + +Trembling like a leaf, Bradshaw turned up a card. + +"_Queen of Hearts!_" + +"A splendid cut! My luck will have to be good to beat it. Great Jove, +prosper me, you alone know for what a stake I'm playing!" + +"_King of Spades!_" + +"I'm afraid, Mr. Bradshaw, I've won by a point. I'm sorry it turned up +King Death though--doesn't look as if I'm destined to get much good out +of it, does it? If I'd lost, I should certainly have shot myself before +daybreak; as it is, the money's mine. I suppose you've buried it under +the floor here. Bring me a shovel!" + +When the shovel was forthcoming, Veneda, for so we will, with your +permission, henceforth call Marmaduke Plowden, set to work, and in ten +minutes had Bradshaw's treasure unearthed. Having made sure of it, he +turned to the unfortunate banker, and said-- + +"Now, my friend, I should advise you to make yourself particularly +scarce. For if they find you here, and the money gone, they'll probably +make things unpleasant for you. As for me, I've got to find a way to get +this out of the house, and then out of the country. Confound the man, +he's fainted." + + * * * * * + +That Veneda did manage to smuggle the money out of the house without +attracting the attention of the watchers on the other side is evident +from a letter written the next night (a copy of which we have already +seen), and which, we know, left Chili by an English man-of-war. That a +case of specie followed it a week later, and duly arrived in London, I +have also ascertained by perusal of a certain Steamship Company's books. + +It only remained now for Veneda to follow it himself, and this he was +making arrangements to do. He was, however, compelled to exercise the +greatest caution, for he was quite aware that the Society (whose name +had so much frightened Bradshaw), of which he was one of the executive, +did not regard him with any extraordinary trust; and to leave the +country suddenly by one of the usual routes would, in all probability, +result in his being met and knifed on arrival at his destination. This +risk he had not the least desire to run. + +As for Bradshaw, that unfortunate man, he was indeed in parlous case, so +much so, that he dared not venture out lest he might be assassinated, +while he dared not remain where he was for fear he might be murdered; he +was in fact destitute of everything, even of the consolation of that +time-worn maxim, "Virtue is its own reward." + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +A STRANGE NIGHT. + + +Just a week, night for night, after the events recorded in the previous +chapter, Marcos Veneda was making his way slowly along the Sea-Front, +towards a distant portion of the city. The short winter day, made all +the shorter by a thick pall of cloud stretched across the sky, was fast +drawing to a close. Far out beyond the harbour a faint streak of silver +light still lingered, as if loth to say farewell; but nearer the wharves +the water lay black and sullen like the mantle of approaching night. In +the streets, though the hour still wanted twenty minutes of six, but few +people were abroad; for such was the lawless condition of Valparaiso at +that time, that walking after nightfall had become not only an +unpleasant, but in many districts an exceedingly dangerous undertaking. + +But though, after he had proceeded a little way, Marcos Veneda stopped +abruptly in his walk and stood for some moments gazing out to sea, there +was nothing in his face to show that he was in any way conscious of +either the atmospheric effects or the personal danger to which I have +just alluded. It might rather have been inferred, from the frown that +contracted his forehead and the expression which fixed itself round his +mouth, that his thoughts were very far removed from any such minor +matters. Certain was it that he was more than a little disturbed in his +mind, and it was equally probable that, so far as he saw at present, he +was no nearer a solution of his problem than he had been at any time +during the previous twenty-four hours. Twice since he had come to a +standstill his lips had moved in commencement of a sentence, and twice +he had dug his stick impatiently into the ground before him, but the +frown did not relax nor the expression change. The truth was he found +himself in a very awkward predicament, one which will readily explain +itself when I say that he had been summoned to, and was on his way to +attend, a council meeting of the Society, to confer _as to the best +means of obtaining possession of Bradshaw's treasure_. As he walked he +was trying to arrange his course of action, for he was the victim of a +natural delicacy, which he knew would prevent him from informing his +colleagues of the fact that he had already appropriated and disposed of +the money. + +Presently, however, he seemed to have decided upon some course, for he +pulled himself together, adjusted his hat, which had slipped somewhat +out of its usual position, and resumed his walk with the air of a man +who had only made up his mind after mature consideration. Just as he did +so the clouds opened their store, and a heavy shower descended. + +While he is passing along the Front, perhaps we may be excused if we +seek to become better acquainted with one in whose company we are +destined to travel many thousands of miles. + +He is indeed a strange man, this Marcos Veneda, a man of such perplexing +mixtures that I doubt very much whether his most intimate friend could, +under any circumstances, properly describe him. Gifted by nature with +such advantages, both personal and otherwise, as but seldom fall to the +share of one man, it seemed the irony of Fate that he should be debarred +from deriving the slightest real or lasting benefit from any one of +them. Hated with a cordial and undisguised hatred by the Chilanos +themselves, and barely tolerated by the English section of the +community, he supported an existence in Chili that was as unique as his +own individuality was complex and extraordinary. To any one more +sensitive such a life would have been unendurable, but Marcos Veneda +seemed to derive a positive enjoyment from his social ostracism, and to +become more and more satisfied with his lot in life as the gulf which +cut him off from his neighbours widened. Among other things, it was +characteristic of the man that he treated every one, high and low, +alike; he unbent to nobody; but if it could be said that he was more +amiably disposed towards one class than another, it was to those who +would be the least likely ever to repay his cordiality. How he +lived--for he practised no profession, and he certainly served no trade +or master--no one knew; he made it a boast that he had never received a +remittance from the outside world, and yet he was well known to have no +income of his own. On the other hand, though he owed nobody anything, +he had always money to spend, while those who had been privileged to +see, reported that he occupied quarters in a semi-fashionable portion of +the town that were very far removed from poverty-stricken. + +Like most other people in Chili, in the year 1891, he had been drawn +into the bitter civil war then proceeding, and he knew, if only on the +score of party politics, the next twenty-four hours would decide much +for him. + +And not to Veneda alone, but to many other unfortunates compelled to +remain in Valparaiso that night, was the question which the morrow would +determine, of vital moment. The fierce struggle which for the better +part of a year had been raging between the forces of the Dictator +Balmaceda and those of the Opposition or Congressionalist Party, as they +were more usually called, had at length reached such a pitch that it +required but one more vigorous battle to find a termination. + +From being spread over the land, the two opposing armies were now come +face to face. The previous week had proved a deeply exciting one. Events +had crowded thick and fast upon each other, beginning with the battle of +Colmo; when, after a stubborn, hard-fought engagement, lasting something +like five hours, the Opposition had gained a well-earned victory. +Balmaceda's army had marched into battle 14,000 strong, and had been +obliged to beat a retreat, having lost, besides 1000 men killed and many +more than that number wounded, 18 field-guns, and 170 mules laden with +stores and ammunition. So signal was the disaster that, on realizing it, +no less than 1500 men of the Government forces threw down their arms and +fled into the mountains, while twice that number changed their uniforms +and went over _holus bolus_ to the enemy. + +Immediately this crushing news became known to him, Balmaceda reinforced +the garrison of Valparaiso with troops from the south, and then, with an +army of 8000 men, perched himself on the heights above the city, and +prepared to fight the last and decisive battle of the campaign. + +In Valparaiso the result of the impending engagement was, as may be +imagined, anxiously awaited by every one, Gobiernistas and Oppositores +alike. The former made no secret of their intention, in the event of +victory crowning their arms, to wreak vengeance upon their enemies. But +the Oppositores, on the other hand, though equally sanguine of success, +wisely refrained from giving vent to their feelings, for not only were +they located in the enemy's camp, so to speak, but they could not help +foreseeing that even a victory for their cause would involve them in +great risk, inasmuch as the Government troops would undoubtedly fall +back upon the town, when they would in all probability commence to sack +and burn Opposition property. + +Such was the position of affairs on the evening described at the +commencement of the chapter. + +As I have said, Marcos Veneda appeared to have made up his mind. This +might have been gathered from the set of his shoulders and his carriage +of his body when he resumed his walk. There was also a new and +singularly defiant look in his face as he passed into the Calle de +Victoria which had not been there five minutes before. + +Half-way down the street he paused to try and decipher a notice newly +pasted on a wall. As he read, he became conscious that he was being +watched. Looking up, he found himself confronted by one of the most +respected English residents then remaining in the town. This gentleman, +whose personal appearance would not have been out of place in a London +board-room, had always shown himself one of Veneda's most inveterate +foes, and for this reason the latter was inclined to cross over the road +without a second glance at him. That, however, the elder man would not +permit; he advanced and button-holed his victim before he had time to +leave the pavement. + +"I think you are going in my direction," he began, in order to give +Veneda time to recover from his astonishment. "In that case I shall not +be trespassing upon your time if I ask you to allow me to walk a little +way with you. I have something I want to say to you." + +"I object to being button-holed in this fashion," the other replied, an +angry flush mantling his face. + +"Not when it is to enable you to learn something to your advantage, I +think," his companion said quietly. "However, don't let us quarrel, I +simply stopped you because I want to do you a good turn. I know very +well you dislike me." + +"It may be bad policy to say so," Veneda sneered, "but I must own I do +not exactly love you; you see, you have never given me an opportunity." + +"Well, we won't discuss that now. What I want to say is, that I think in +times like these we Englishmen ought to hang a bit closer together, +don't you know; to try and help each other in any way we can." + +The old gentleman, whose intentions were really most benevolent, gazed +anxiously at his companion, to see how his speech would be taken. But +Veneda's only answer was to laugh in a peculiarly grating fashion. It +was an unpleasant performance, born of the remembrance of snubs and +bitter discouragements received at the other's hands in by-gone days. +For the space of thirty seconds neither spoke, and then it was the +younger man, who said abruptly-- + +"Well?" + +"You don't mind my going on?" + +"I certainly should if I could prevent it," replied Veneda; "but you've +got me at a disadvantage, you see. I must listen to you." + +"Well, the long and the short of it is, I want to warn you." + +"That's exceedingly good of you; and pray what of?" + +"Of yourself. It is--forgive my saying so--an openly discussed subject +in the town that you are playing a double game." + +Veneda stopped suddenly, and leaning his back against a wall, faced his +companion. + +"A double game," he said slowly, as if weighing every word before he +allowed himself to utter it; "and in what way is it supposed that I am +playing a double game? Think carefully before you speak, for I may be +compelled to hold you responsible." + +The worthy merchant experienced a sensation of nervousness. His memory +recalled several little episodes in Veneda's past, the remembrance of +which, under the present circumstances, was not likely to contribute to +his peace of mind. + +"Now don't get angry, my dear fellow," he hastened to say, "I'm only +telling you this for your own good. I mean that it is said you are +endeavouring to stand with a leg in either camp; that while you pose +among us as an active Oppositionist, you are in reality in communication +with Balmaceda's leaders. In other words, that, while we have been +trusting you, you have been selling our secrets to our foes." + +"Well?" + +Now it was a remarkable fact, that while the old gentleman expected and +even dreaded an exhibition of wrath from his companion, he was in +reality a good deal more frightened by this simple question than he +would have been by the most violent outburst. And yet there was nothing +startling in the word itself, nor in the manner in which it was uttered. +Veneda still lounged in the same careless attitude against the wall, +looking his companion up and down out of his half-closed eyes, as if to +cause him any uneasiness would be the one thing furthest from his mind; +but it was noticeable that his right hand had stopped fingering the +trinkets on his watch-chain, and had passed into his coat-pocket, where +a certain bulginess proclaimed the existence of a heavy object. + +"Go on," he continued slowly, "since you seem to be so well informed; +what else do my kind friends say?" + +"Well, if you want it bluntly, Veneda, they say that if our side wins +to-morrow, of which there seems to be little or no doubt, and you remain +in the city, your life won't be worth five minutes' purchase." + +"And--and your reason for telling me all this?" + +"Simply because I want to warn you. And because, in spite of your +Spanish name, which every one knows is assumed, you are an Englishman; +and, as I said before, Englishmen ought to do what they can to help each +other at such times as these. You don't think I've said too much?" + +"By no means. I hope you'll understand how grateful I am to you for your +trouble." + +"No trouble; I only wish the warning may prove of some use to you. Look +here, we haven't been very good friends in the past, but I do hope----" + +"That in the future we may be David and Jonathan on a substantial New +Jerusalem basis, I suppose. Do you hear those guns?" + +The noise of cannonading came down the breeze. And as he heard it the +merchant shuffled uneasily. + +"What does it mean?" + +"Well, I think it means that to-morrow will decide things more important +than our friendship. That's all. You're not coming any farther my way? +Then good-night!" + +With a muttered apology for having so long detained him, the old +gentleman continued his walk to the left hand. When he had quite +disappeared, Veneda resumed _his_ walk, saying softly to himself, "This +is what comes of listening to the voice of woman. I was an idiot ever to +have mixed myself up with Juanita. I might have known she would have +given me away. Never mind, the money's gone to England, and if I can +manage to stave Macklin off to-night, and Boulger comes to terms about +his schooner, I shall beat them yet. But suppose Juanita _should_ +suspect? What on earth should I do then?" + +This thought was evidently of an absorbing nature, for he walked briskly +on, regarding no one, and turning neither to the right hand nor to the +left, until he had gone about three hundred yards. Then finding himself +face to face with a tall and narrow archway, guarded by a substantial +iron gate, he paused irresolute. To all appearance he was endeavouring +to make up his mind whether he should enter. Having decided in the +affirmative, he knocked upon the iron-work of the gate. It was +immediately opened, and an old man holding a lantern looked out, crying +as he did so-- + +"Quien este ahi?" ["Who is there?"] + +Submitting his name, after a brief scrutiny he was admitted into the +patio, or courtyard of the building, of which the gate formed the outer +guard. The wet stones (for it was still raining), the dripping gutters, +and the weird moaning of the wind round the corners and between the +housetops, did not add to the cheerfulness of the place. + +Half-way across the patio Veneda turned to his guide. + +"Hold on, Domingo," he said, "in these matters it is just as well to be +prepared. Whom have we here to-night?" + +"Pablos Vargas, Jose Nunez, and the Englishman, John Macklin, senor." + +"All three? Very good. Go on!" + +They approached a small door in the wall on the left hand of the +courtyard; between its chinks a bright light streaked forth. A subdued +murmur came from within, which was hushed as if by magic when the old +man rapped upon the panel. Next moment Veneda was inside the room, +endeavouring to accustom his eyes to the bright light of a common tin +lamp hanging upon the wall. + +It was but a small apartment, destitute of any furniture save a rough +table and a chair or two, and filthy to an indescribable degree. The +three men, for whose presence Veneda had been prepared, were evidently +awaiting his coming. It was doubtful, however, judging from their +expressions, whether they were pleased or annoyed at his punctual +appearance. Though the heads of that mysterious organization which had +so much frightened Bradshaw, with one exception they were not +interesting. Pablos Vargas and Jose Nunez were simply Chilanos of the +middle class, but the Englishman, John Macklin, was altogether +extraordinary. + +Besides being in many other ways peculiar, he was an Albino of the most +pronounced type, possessed of the smallest body and the largest head +imaginable in a human being; his arms were those of a baboon, so long +that his fingers, when he stood upright, could touch his legs below his +knees. His complexion was as delicate as the inside of a rosebud, his +eyes were as pink as those of a white rabbit, while his hair was nothing +more nor less than a mop of silkiest white floss. Added to these +peculiarities, his voice was a strangely high falsetto, and when he +became excited, he had a habit of cracking his finger-joints one after +the other, a thing which in itself is apt to be a disconcerting trick. + +His history, so far as could be gathered, was an eventful one, and would +repay perusal. By his own statement he was a native of Exeter, England, +in which city his father had at one time conducted a school for the sons +of small tradesmen. At the age of ten, young Macklin became a choir boy +in the Cathedral, but his personal appearance and moral character +proving too much for his fellow-choristers, after a month some charge +was preferred against him, and he was dismissed with ignominy. This +circumstance, very naturally, was hardly of a kind calculated to +straighten his already warped nature, and then and there, with a +precocity beyond his years, he embarked upon a war against society, +which, as I shall endeavour to prove later, had suffered no diminution +when our history opens. + +At the age of seventeen he became a lawyer's clerk in Bristol, following +this vocation until his majority from which time until his thirtieth +birthday nothing definite can be learnt of him. It is believed, however, +that for the greater part of that period he served a sentence in one of +her Majesty's convict prisons for fraud; and a semblance of truth is +lent to the belief by the knowledge that directly he re-appeared in +society he took ship for America. + +The record of his doings across the Atlantic would form interesting +reading, if only for its variety. For three years, from thirty to +thirty-three, he followed many professions, including those of railway +scalper, book fiend, and insurance tout, eventually figuring as "The +Wild Man of New Guinea" in a dime museum in San Francisco, eating raw +meat in a cage, and growling at the public from behind substantial iron +bars. When this latter enterprise panned out unsatisfactorily, it left +him no alternative but to migrate into Mexico, where he supported a +chequered career as a money-lender, a lottery runner, keeper of a Monte +hell, and suspected leader of a gang of most notorious thieves. Mexico +no longer affording sufficient scope for his peculiar talents, he +repaired to Brazil, thence drifting by easy stages into Chili, where, at +the time of the Revolution, he had embarked on this new and exceedingly +remunerative line of business. + +Veneda looked from one to the other before he spoke, but his eyes rested +longest on the face of the Albino and it was to him he addressed his +opening salutation. It was a part of his policy to ignore Vargas and +Nunez, as if they did not exist. + +"Well," he said, by way of introduction, "gentlemen of the Executive, +you're annoying, to say the least of it. What may be the reason of this +unexpected meeting? I had more important business to-night." + +"You always seem to----" Nunez commenced. + +"Be silent," sneered the Albino, with truculent courtesy, "you're +wasting the honourable gentleman's time. Can't you see he's in a hurry +to attend the Council of the President? Ho! ho! Senor Veneda, you can't +bluff me, so don't attempt it." + +"Who wants to bluff you?" said Veneda. "Don't be a fool, Macklin. Tell +me why this meeting has been called." + +"Because there is a lot of important business to be got through, and by +reason of the disturbances we may not be able to hold another for a week +or two." + +Veneda seated himself, and the meeting commenced. + +"In the first place," said the Albino, who acted as chairman, "there is +some important correspondence from the branches to be considered. I have +here a letter from London, informing us that on the 13th May, Emanuel +Bendalack, secretary of a well-known Building Society, absconded from +England with L18,000. He left in the steamer _Royal Sceptre_, bound for +Cape Town; he is disguised as a Wesleyan missionary, and booked his +passage in the name of Blander. If you will allow me to make a +suggestion, I would advise that our agents in South Africa be directed +to meet Mr. Blander on his arrival, and that the Greek, Manolake, be +despatched from here as soon as possible to attend to the affair. Does +that meet with your approval?" + +Assent having been given, the Albino made an entry in a book, and took +up another letter. + +"This is a communication from Buda-Pesth. It is to the effect that the +well-known merchant, Julius Karlinska, left that city on the 6th June, +taking with him a sum equivalent to L22,000, the property of his +creditors. He is believed to be making for Australia, and has been +traced as far as Port Said. Photograph enclosed. What do you desire +regarding Herr Karlinska?" + +Nunez was the first to offer a suggestion. + +"I would advise communicating with our agent in Melbourne, and sending +some one at once to take over the affair." + +"Who is at liberty just now?" asked Veneda. + +"Emil Valdor, Shivaloff, and Maunders of the men, that is if Manolake +goes to Cape Town; Marie Darnee and Juanita Valdores of the women." + +"Juanita? The very person; despatch her!" + +"Impossible! She is wanted here." + +Veneda gave a little sigh of disappointment. + +"Where is the Italian, Automa?" asked Nunez. + +"In New York, shadowing Clifford Blake-Ganon, who is expected to bolt at +any moment," answered Macklin. + +"Then send the Darnee," urged Vargas; "she will find him and do the +business better than any." + +"Is that your wish, senors?" the chairman asked. + +They signified that it was. + +"Very good, then the Darnee goes. And now we come to another matter, one +nearer home." + +Veneda gave a start, so small that it was unnoticed save by the Albino. + +"What matter?" + +The dwarf cast a look at him full of withering contempt. + +"Now, see you," he said angrily, "it's not a bit of good your coming +here and trying to make me believe that you want the whole story +overhauled again. You know very well what I mean." + +"That poor hunted devil of an English banker in the Calle de San Pedro, +I suppose?" + +"You suppose! Look here, Marcos Veneda, what the devil's the use of your +wasting our time playing 'possum like that?' + +"How was I to know to what you alluded? we've so many irons in the fire. +But since we are on that subject, Macklin, I've got something to say +about it. Don't you think we might give the poor cur a run for his +miserable life? From all accounts he's pretty well frightened out of his +senses already!" + +The Albino, Vargas, and Nunez stared with astonishment; in all their +experience of him, they had never known Marcos Veneda behave like this +before. The Albino laughed suspiciously. + +"I wonder what your little game is, my friend," he said. "This is a new +line for you. Want us to spare him, do you? Very pretty, I'm sure; would +look well in a tract, wouldn't it, with a devil dodger's head on the +frontispiece!" + +"Stow that, Macklin; I only want fair play for the wretch." + +"Fair play, is it? Oh, I promise you he shall have _dead_ loads of +that." + +The Albino laughed uproariously at his own vile joke. He was joined by +Vargas and Nunez. + +Veneda's face grew black as thunder. + +"That's enough," he said, with a sudden outburst of passion. "Stop that! +I'll not be laughed at by a set of greasy scattermouches like you." + +The merriment ceased abruptly, and the Albino took the opportunity of +re-commencing business. + +"To-morrow, whichever way the fighting goes, there'll be rioting and +sacking of houses. That's our opportunity." + +"And who is to do the work?" + +"We will decide that by lot." + +"But how do you know that he hasn't taken flight, or that the +information hasn't leaked out, and the _cache_ been rifled already?" + +"Because, my friend, as you're perfectly aware, the house has been +watched day and night ever since he sneaked into the town. No, no, don't +be afraid, we have taken very good care of ourselves; nobody has come +out, not even the old mole himself; and certainly no one has gone in. +You needn't be alarmed, the money is safe enough. He would be a clever +and courageous man who managed to play false with us." + +Veneda breathed again. It had been an anxious moment; but he flattered +himself he had not betrayed his uneasiness, while at the same time he +had learnt all he wanted to know. The questions he was about to ask were +only intended to disarm any suspicions his manner might have aroused. + +"And after the money is our property?" + +"It will be divided here, on the capstan-head, so to speak; and when +each man has received his share, he can up stakes, and go to the devil +with it his own way." + +"And how much do you say it will amount to? Remember the old man's had a +good slice out of it himself." + +"Lord grant me patience! How many more questions do you want to ask? +Why, as near as we can fix it, Two Hundred and Twenty-five Thousand +Pounds; isn't it enough for you?" + +"Pretty near," Veneda answered, with a laugh; "and now, if you've got +anything else to do, let's get to it at once. I've business down town." + +At a signal from Albino, Vargas placed dice upon the table, and the +gamble commenced. Luck was with Veneda, for finally Vargas and the +Albino were elected to carry out the robbery. When that point had been +decided, the hour for meeting on the following night, and a few other +minor matters arranged, Veneda wished them a sneering "good luck" of +their work, and started homewards as fast as his legs would carry him. +As he went he laughed softly to himself, as one who enjoys a joke of +extraordinary humour. He was decidedly in better spirits than when we +accompanied him to the house. He even forgot himself so far as to +whistle. + +Considering the state of Valparaiso at the time, and the fact that there +was no protective power at hand to quell disturbances, the city was +wonderfully quiet. A great anxiety was upon everybody, a disquiet that +was not at all attuned to noise. + +Veneda strode briskly along, occupied with his own thoughts. But strange +though it may seem, he was not thinking of the scene he had just left, +nor of the impending battle of the morrow; he was recalling a certain +box and letter he had despatched to a London merchant a week previous, +and reflecting that by the time the Society could discover his +treachery, he would in all probability be on the high seas, far beyond +the reach of vengeance or defeat. There was only one thing; at any risk +he must prevent the woman Juanita from suspecting his intentions. + +So absorbed was he in his thoughts, that he had arrived at his house, +let himself in, and ascended the stairs to his own peculiar sanctum +before he was really conscious that he had done so. The staircase and +the room were in total darkness. He crossed to a bracket where matches +were usually kept, and striking one, turned to light a candle close at +hand. As the flame caught, a low, musical laugh, distinctly feminine, +greeted his ears. His nerves must have been overstrung, for he started +violently, and came within an ace of dropping both candle-stick and +match. Holding the light aloft, he glanced in the direction whence the +sound proceeded. The room was big enough to contain many shadows, and +the candle did not give a very good light. + +"Juanita?" + +"Yes, Juanita certainly; are you so surprised to see me?" + +He paused to light two other candles before replying. His visitor did +not fail to notice the trembling of his hand. Then the room being +illuminated to his satisfaction, and the door carefully closed, he +remembered his duty as host, and bade her welcome in proper form. When +she heard him say that he was glad to see her, she laughed very softly, +and said-- + +"Marcos, I wonder when you will learn to tell a falsehood with an air of +truth?" + +Evidently he did not deem this question worthy of a reply, for he threw +himself into a chair, and began to roll a cigarette, without vouchsafing +one. + +Now, when I say that Juanita Encarnacion Valdores, whose name we have +heard mentioned so many times before, was altogether an uncommon woman, +I desire to imply that she was uncommon not only in a physical, but in +several other senses besides. Her beauty alone was such as to arrest +immediate attention. Of rather more than middle height, she carried +herself with an erectness calculated to give one the idea that she was +several inches taller than her real stature. Even for one owning Spanish +blood, her complexion was dark almost to swarthiness, while her upper +lip was not without a suspicion of what is irreverently termed a +moustache. Yet it was strange that these two things, counted in other +women serious defects, in Juanita not only failed to detract from the +general effect, but in a great measure added to it. Her hands and feet +were in keeping with the rest of her frame, neither too large nor too +small; her manner could be anything she chose, from caressing to +fiendish; and her voice and laugh, when she so desired, sounded on the +ear like sweetest music. Like Marcos Veneda, she was all mysteriousness. +Many curious stories were told of her past, and as a faithful +chronicler, I must admit that they did not all redound to her credit. +She had been in Chili nearly four years; but where she had hailed from +before that I am not prepared to say. It only concerns us that, at the +time of which I write, she was without a protector, and indeed it +appeared as if she would be likely to remain so, for no man was +careless enough of his reputation with the public to take such a +position upon himself. It is possible that this may have been the reason +why she drifted towards Veneda, whose predicament, as we have seen, was +not altogether dissimilar to her own. + +"Come, come, Marcos," she said, "I cannot say that you're the best of +company to-night. Tell me, don't you think I'm a plucky woman to venture +out on such a night, and to call on you of all people?" + +"I am proportionately honoured," he replied gravely; "but I suppose you +have some very good reason, or you wouldn't have run the risk." + +She shrugged her shoulders, and made a little gesture with her hands, as +one who would say, "who knows." Then her manner changed completely, and +leaning forward, she placed one hand on his arm. He had been earnestly +regarding her all this time, endeavouring to read in her face what was +passing in her mind. Now he prepared himself for the struggle he felt +was imminent. + +"My Marcos," she said softly, and the name came very prettily from her +lips, "I suppose you have heard that people call me a witch, because +they say I turn men's heads. They also say--no, do not speak till I have +done--that sometimes I can read men's thoughts, and not unfrequently +foretell future events." + +"Then, Juanita," he answered, as soon as he could get a word in, "you +certainly could not have come at a better time. You shall read my fate, +and advise me as to what course I should pursue regarding it." + +Without another word she lifted his hand, which lay upon the arm of her +chair, and examined it carefully. The flickering candle-light fell upon +her bent head, and danced amid the luxuriant tangle of her hair. + +"Shall I tell you everything I see?" she asked. He saw that her face had +grown suddenly very serious. + +"Why not?" he replied. + +"Because I am frightened, Marcos," she answered, shuddering, "because +there is something terrible written on your hand." + +"In what way?" + +"Treachery, Marcos, and for a large sum of money!" + +He snatched his hand angrily away, and to cover his embarrassment +affected entire disbelief. + +"You are indeed a fortune-teller! You will accuse me of having +assassinated the President directly. And pray what else did you see?" + +"I had better not tell you, you will only be angry with me." + +"Angry with you! Never!" + +"Marcos, I saw on your hand more than you dream. Hush, listen to me; you +are contemplating flight." + +"That is not a difficult thing to see. If things do not improve here, +many of us will be driven into clearing out. You must be smarter than +that, Juanita." + +"Oh, but that is not all. I see that you have sent great treasure away +to a far country, and that you intend to follow it." + +"This is beautiful! What--what else?" + +"That your professed love for me is only lip service, for you intend to +desert me." + +"That is about as true as the rest. Have you anything further?" + +"That your treasure amounts to over L200,000 of English money, and that +it is directed to a--let me see,"--here she pretended to study his hand +again,--"Sir Benjamin Plowden (bah! your English names!) who lives in +the East India Avenue of your great smoky London. Is that true? Ah! I +see it is." + +There was a ring of triumph in her voice. She had played a doubtful +card, and scored a victory. For the moment Veneda was totally unnerved; +his face, pale before, was now snow-white; large beads of perspiration +covered his forehead. + +"How did you learn all that nonsense?" he stammered. + +"Why, from your hand, of course," came the mocking reply. "And is it +such nonsense? Marcos, Marcos, I have always said you were a clever man, +but you must be cleverer still to deceive me. Woman's wit--you know the +proverb. Will you have more? Shall I tell you, for instance, what +Macklin and the Society would say of it, and what key guards your +treasure-chamber?" + +"By all means, if there is such a thing," he cried, his nervousness +lifting his voice almost to a falsetto. Meanwhile his eyes seemed to be +attempting to read her very soul. Perhaps his scrutiny relieved him, for +the expression on his face changed. + +"I knew you couldn't do it," he said quietly. "I return your compliment; +you're very clever, but you must be cleverer still to deceive me." + +"How do you know that I don't understand it?" she inquired, with just a +suspicion of nervousness now in _her_ voice. "Since I can tell so much, +how do you know that I can't tell all?" + +"Because, my dear"--he had quite recovered himself by this time, and was +bitterly regretting having betrayed his feelings so openly--"even if I +had any such business on hand, I am certain you don't know what you +pretend, otherwise you would have it in your eyes. Ah!" + +His attention was attracted to a small writing-table standing in a +corner of the room. The blotting-book lay upon it turned upside down. +Seizing it, he fell to turning the leaves. One was missing. + +"Ha! ha! my little sorceress!" he cried mockingly, "you are discovered. +It is an old trick and a good one. I remember blotting the first two +sides of the letter on a fresh page. To obtain your information, you +have simply torn that out, and held it against the light. But the rest, +the most important part, was not blotted at all. So you can do me no +harm after all." + +"Why should you think I wish to harm you?" + +"I don't think you do; I only think you might. And you see, of L200,000, +two hundred thousand pounds' worth of care must be taken. By the way, +since you know so much, I doubt if it would be prudent to let you out of +this house again." + +Ignoring the threat entirely, she continued the conversation as if it +had not been uttered. + +"At least you might have trusted me, Marcos." + +"Have I said that I do not?" + +"You have not said so in so many words, but I know you don't. Besides, +you are leaving Chili to-morrow night." + +"How do you know that?" + +"I forget, but it's true, isn't it, Marcos?--and you will take me with +you, won't you? Even if you no longer love me, you will have pity on me? +You will not leave me to their mercy? I am so tired of this life of +spying and conspiracy, and I would be so faithful to you." + +Her voice trembled. He stopped his restless pacing up and down the room, +and looked at her. As far as he could see there was only a great love +for himself shining in her eyes. She looked wondrously beautiful. It was +a temptation and a danger; yet perhaps, all things considered, it was +the safest course. A second later he had made up his mind, and as he did +so a corresponding light came into his eyes. It would have been hard to +tell which was more in earnest. Resuming his seat beside her, he said-- + +"Juanita, I do love you, and I believe I can trust you; come what may, +we will go together." + +"My own dear love!" + +He took her hand and gravely kissed it. The crisis was past. + +Both felt they had scored a victory, but both felt it would require very +little to overthrow it. Five minutes later she was speeding home +unaccompanied, for she would not hear of his being seen in the streets +with her. In the security of her own room she regarded herself in her +glass, and as she did so she said half aloud-- + +"He did his very best to put me off the scent, but I beat him in the +end. One thing is certain, he carries the piece of paper that is to +authorize the payment of the money about with him, in a large locket +fastened round his neck with a double chain. I felt it when my head +rested on his breast. Two hundred thousand pounds--it's the greatest +stake I ever played for. With that I should be a free woman again. Come +what may, my Marcos, I'll never desert you till I have shared it with +you or relieved you of it." + +When she had left him, Veneda threw up his window, and leant out into +the night. The rain had ceased. He could see watch-fires gleaming all +along the heights, and myriads of lights twinkling among the shipping in +the harbour; but though he looked at them, I don't think he was +conscious that he saw them. He was reviewing in his mind all he had +passed through that evening, and wondering whether or not the balance +stood in his favour. + +From the consideration of his present position, his thoughts passed out +across the open ocean to a mail-boat homeward bound. And so piercing was +the gaze of his mind's eye, that it penetrated even through iron and +timber to the vessel's bullion-room, where reposed a certain chest, with +which his fortunes were not altogether unconnected. Then dropping the +good ship behind it, as if she were standing still, on his fancy sped +across the seas to the land he had not known for fifteen years. There in +a smiling valley, nestling among beech woods, he found for himself a +home, a life of honest independence, of love, of respect, and, above all +things, of forgetfulness of Chili and the past! His imagination painted +it for him with realistic touches, but would it ever come true? With +Goethe he might very well have said, "When, how, and where? That is the +question!" + +After a while he drew in his head, and shut the window. Then from round +his neck he took a locket. Opening it, a curious slip of ragged paper +fell to the floor. Picking it up, he gazed at it for a few seconds, and +then replaced it, saying to himself-- + +"Boulger's squared--the _Island Queen_ is ready, and with to-morrow +night's tide I bid good-bye to Chili for ever and a day. They'll never +think of looking for me in the South Pacific, and I'll work my way home +by Australia and the East. Confound Juanita! I ought to have anticipated +this trick of hers. It's the deuce and all, but there's no other way out +of it, I must take her with me. It would be madness to leave her behind +to act with the Albino and the Society against me; but before I get to +the other side, if I don't hit out some plan to rid myself of her, my +name's not Marmaduke Plowden!" + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +A STRANGER DAY. + + +Quite an hour before daybreak Veneda was awakened by sounds of +excitement in the streets. Bitterly cold though the morning proved, +almost every one was astir, listening for the cannonading which would +proclaim the opening of the engagement on the heights. The booming of a +few guns came with the breaking day, faintly at first, but growing +louder as the light increased. Without doubt the long-expected battle +had commenced. + +Following the example of his neighbours, Veneda threw up his window and +leant out to listen. Somehow or other, since his conversation with the +English merchant in the Calle de Victoria the previous night, his +confidence in a victory for the Government had been a little shaken; and +now for the first time he began to experience twinges of real alarm for +his own immediate safety. Supposing he should be arrested by the +Congressionalist leaders for his treachery to them, where would his +escape be then? In that case Boulger would not wait, and Juanita for her +own safety would be certain to betray him. But he reflected that it was +full early yet to be frightened, and moreover he had been in so many +close things before, that one more or less could hardly matter. + +The behaviour of the people in the streets was peculiar. In their +excitement men no longer showed evidences of partisanship; all the +thoughts and anxieties of Gobiernistas and Oppositores alike were +centred on the battle then proceeding. It was as though they were +spectators of a stage-play and nothing more. The time for individual +animosity, they told themselves, would come later. + +By breakfast-time the excitement had risen to fever heat. From the +clearness with which the sounds could be distinguished, it was plain +that the Government forces were being driven back, and this could have +but one meaning,--the Opposition were advancing on Valparaiso. The noise +grew louder every minute, and with its approach the turbulent element of +the town began to make its presence felt in the streets. The peculiar +ping of rifle-bullets sounded continually in the lower quarters; many +business premises away from the main thoroughfares were looted; while in +not one but several directions the smoke of incendiary fires rose on the +clear morning air. + +So certain had every one, by this time, become of the result of the +fighting, that many Government supporters packed up their traps and +quitted the town with as little ostentation as possible; either +scurrying into the neighbouring mountains, or seeking refuge on board +the foreign men-of-war at anchor in the harbour. + +Towards ten o'clock the firing slackened off, and by half-past had +ceased altogether. A victory had been won--but by whom? This question +was in everybody's mouth. + +News, however, was not long forthcoming. In all directions terrified +camp-followers--men, women, and children, on foot and on +horseback--might have been seen making for the town as fast as their own +legs or those of their beasts could carry them. As they hurried along +they announced in loud voices the absolute defeat of the Government +forces, exaggerating the details with every repetition of the story. +After a short interval they were followed by the vanquished and flying +troops themselves, who corroborated what the others had so +authoritatively proclaimed. There could be no doubt that the Opposition +had won a signal victory. The reign of terror was over! The hated +Dictator, Balmaceda, hitherto regardless of what lives he sacrificed to +gain his ends, was now not only powerless, but an outcast and a +suppliant for his own. + +Hard upon the heels of the fugitive troops, amid an outburst of wildest +excitement, came the advance guard of the victorious army, with bands +playing and colours waving. Bells clashed and jangled from every +steeple, continual _vivas_ rent the air, and crackers by hundreds were +exploded in the streets. Every one wore the red ribbon of the +Opposition, and every face (for active Gobiernistas were wise enough not +to parade theirs) testified to the relief and joy with which the result +was hailed. There could not have been a more popular termination to the +struggle. + +As soon as the result of the battle had become known, the Intendente had +delivered up the town to the admirals of the foreign war-ships, who now +in their turn handed it over to the Congressionalist leaders. The place +had thus practically changed hands from the Republic to the Republic; +from one class to the other and more popular section of the community. + +It may be imagined that Veneda took care to be well posted on all that +occurred. With the entrance of the troops he saw the total destruction +of his political hopes, and now his active mind was busily engaged +working out the best possible means of securing his own safety, until +the time should come for him to leave the country. + +Reflecting that to all intents and purposes his life would depend an his +personal appearance, he first turned his attention in that direction. In +five minutes his close-cropped beard had disappeared; his heavy black +moustache was twirled and twisted into quite a new and extraordinary +shape; while his well-cut English clothes were discarded for a more +Chilian garb, including a poncho and a broad-leafed sombrero. When thus +equipped he paraded before his glass, he could not but admit that the +effect was excellent. The odds were a thousand to one against any one +recognizing in this typical Chilano the Marcos Veneda of half-an-hour +before. + +By the time he was dressed he had determined as to his next course of +action. He saw that it would be impossible for him to remain where he +was; therefore, until the hour for boarding the schooner should arrive, +he must seek an asylum elsewhere. But before leaving the house many +things had to be thought of. Glancing round the room with its host of +familiar knick-knacks, he set himself to destroy what he did not desire +should fall into other hands, concealing about his person such small +articles of value or association as he wished to carry away. When this +was accomplished he dropped a carefully-loaded revolver into the pocket +of his poncho, and was ready to forsake the house. + +That he might not be observed leaving by the front door, he lifted the +window and swung himself from it down into the patio. For a moment he +stopped to listen, then hearing nothing suspicious, passed without +further ado into the street. No one was to be seen. + +Where to go, or what to do with himself (it was not yet two o'clock), he +had not made up his mind. Strange to say, considering the danger it +would involve him in, he felt an intense desire to see all that was to +be seen, and to participate, himself, in the general excitement. Of the +latter there was no lack; the town was full of disbanded soldiery, and +serious rioting had already occurred. The foreign war-ships had landed +forces to protect foreign life, but in the lower quarters the mob ruled +paramount. + +So complete was his disguise that Veneda found himself, on more than one +occasion, standing side by side with former acquaintances, unmolested +and unrecognized. The knowledge of this security gave him fresh courage, +and he followed the course of the day's events with additional interest +and vigour. Yet a danger he had never anticipated was in store for him. + +Leaving the Calle de Victoria, he passed down a side street in the +direction of the harbour, but before he had proceeded fifty yards a +sound he knew only too well greeted his ears; it was the noise of a +crowd in hot pursuit of something or somebody. + +Not wishing to run the risk of being mistaken for their quarry, he cast +about him for a loophole of escape. But none presented itself. While he +was looking, footsteps sounded close behind him. To his astonishment the +runner was none other than John Macklin the Albino, chairman of the +Society, his face livid with terror, and his breath coming from him in +great spasmodic jerks. His clothes were in rags, and covered with a +filth which reached even to his hair; his hat was gone, and long purple +weals streaked his dainty cheeks. The agony expressed in his eyes lent +an extraordinary effect to his face. + +"Save me, save me!" he gasped, falling at Veneda's feet. "In the +merciful name of God, I beseech you to save me!" + +For the reason that Macklin did not recognize him, nothing would have +been easier than for the other to have cast him off, and for the space +of three breaths he was half inclined to do it. Then, for some reason +which he was never afterwards able to explain (it must be understood +that the dwarfs death would in a great measure have rescued him from his +very awkward predicament), he determined to do his best to help him. It +was a foolish resolution, but it was only on a par with the man's +extraordinarily complex character. + +The noise of the mob, like that of hounds in full cry, was drawing +closer; any second might bring them into view. Turning to the terrified +creature beside him, he cried-- + +"I'll do my best for you. Pick up your heels and run." + +Running appeared the last thing the Albino, in his present exhausted +condition, would be capable of, but he nevertheless followed in the +other's wake, panting horribly, and throwing his long arms about with +windmill-like gesticulations. As they started the mob burst into view, +and a second later a shot whisked in unpleasant proximity to Veneda's +head. There is something chilling in the whine of a rifle-bullet, and as +he heard it he began to repent having taken any share in the Albino's +private concerns. Without turning his head, he cried-- + +"Faster, faster, round the next corner, and then follow me." + +This was, however, easier said than done; the little man's strength, +already taxed beyond straining pitch, was quite unequal to a fresh +demand. He began to lag behind, and Veneda saw that if he reached the +shelter of the street corner, about fifty yards distant, it would be as +much as he could possibly accomplish. + +Not a second was to be lost; their pursuers were barely more than a +hundred and fifty yards behind. Stopping, he turned, and as his +companion approached him, stooped and took him in his arms, throwing him +up on to his shoulder as if his weight were the merest trifle. Then he +resumed his flight. + +Reaching the corner he flew round it, thankful to find no one in sight, +and made for a row of deserted houses across the way. Into the patio of +the third of these he dashed, and not until then did he place his +burden on the ground. + +"I can't carry you any further; we must hide!" he cried, vigorously +attacking a door which opened on to the courtyard; "our lives depend +upon getting into this house. Help me, help me!" + +The Albino required no second bidding, and between them they burst in +the door. They were only just in time, for as the lock gave way they +heard the vanguard of the mob come howling round the corner. Veneda knew +that when they could not see their game before them, it would be only a +question of seconds before they would commence their search of the +neighbourhood. Experience had taught him that a mob does not allow +itself to be robbed of its prey without a struggle. + +Once inside the house he led the way up-stairs. Unlike most Chilian +residences, it was of three storeys, and built of stone--a bad +speculation on the part of an English builder. Not until they had +ascended to the garrets did they pause to listen. An angry murmur came +up to them from the street, and when he heard it Veneda turned to his +companion, who was lying on the floor endeavouring to regain his breath, +and said-- + +"That means that they've tracked us down. How we're going to give them +the slip now is more than I can see." + +As he spoke, a crash came from the lower regions. + +"That's the front door," he continued calmly. "We must be moving on +again. Are you ready?" + +The Albino's only answer was to spring to his feet. + +Being already as high up as they could get without crawling on to the +roof, where next to go became the question. A noise of voices told them +that their pursuers were within the house itself. They were caught like +rats in a trap! Apart from any other consideration, it would, in all +probability, be a most unpleasant death they would die; and Veneda +reflected that after so many narrow escapes it would be humiliating to +perish at the hands of a lawless mob in somebody else's quarrel. + +While these thoughts were flashing through his brain he was looking +about him for some means of exit, but save for the door they had entered +by, and the window which looked out at the back over some lower roofs, +nothing worthy of his consideration presented itself. The door was +clearly impracticable, unless they desired to meet their pursuers on the +stairs, and as to the window, there was a drop of fully fifteen feet +from it on to the nearest roof, and at least twenty more on to the +stones of the courtyard. By this time the foremost of the mob were in +the room beneath them. + +A heavy perspiration broke out on Veneda's forehead; the Albino shrank +into a corner, and covered his face with his hands. But they could not +meet their death without a struggle, so, come what might, they must try +the window. Crossing to it Veneda threw it open, at the same time +beckoning the dwarf to his side. + +"Now," he said, "there is nothing for it but to get out on the roof, and +crawl along the housetops till we can find a place to get down. Don't +stand whimpering there, but pay attention to what I say. I'll swing +myself up first, and when I'm ready I'll do my best to pull you after +me. Stand by, or I swear I'll leave you to your fate!" + +It was a useless warning; the Albino was ready to risk anything, even a +tumble into the courtyard, rather than to allow himself to fall into the +hands of those who were now on the staircase leading to their room. + +With all the speed he could command Veneda crawled backwards out of the +narrow window, and clutched the thin guttering of the roof above. What +he was about to attempt was not only a difficult, but a horribly +dangerous feat, for there was literally nothing to catch hold of that +would permit of a grip. It was an athletic test that would have tried +the nerve and endurance of the most accomplished gymnast. Bit by bit, +with infinite pain, he drew himself up, till his shoulders were above +the guttering. The muscles of his arms appeared as if they must snap +under the strain they were called upon to endure. The suspense was +awful; but if it seemed long to Veneda before he was lying stretched on +the roof, what an eternity must it have been to the miserable Albino +crouched in the room below! + +Then the other's voice reached him, saying-- + +"Crawl backwards out of the window, and give me your hands. Be quick! I +can't stay like this long!" + +The shouts of the mob and the trampling on the staircase stimulated him. +Crawling out of the window as he was ordered, he stretched his long arms +upwards. His hands were clutched from above; then he felt himself lifted +clear of the sill, and next moment he was swaying out into mid air. If +the strain on Veneda's muscles had been great when he pulled himself up +on to the roof, how much greater was it now that he had not only to +retain his own position, but to lift this other man as well! The Albino +looked up into his face and saw the veins standing out upon it as large +as maccaroni stems, and strange though it may appear, it was only then +that he recognized his deliverer. A minute later he was stretched on the +roof-top, just as the leaders of the mob entered the room they had so +lately quitted. + +It was a long time before either spoke. Then the Albino, leaning towards +his preserver, whispered-- + +"Marcos, I owe you my life. I reckon I won't forget what you've done for +me to-day." + +"You had a close shave of it. What devil's game were you up to that they +should chase you?" + +"I met them in the Calle de Victoria, and some one cried 'Gobiernista'; +next moment they started after me like bloodhounds. If I hadn't met you, +I'd have been a dead man!" + +Perhaps Veneda did not hear him. At any rate he made no reply. He was +listening to the sounds in the street, and wondering, now that the mob +found themselves outwitted, what their next move would be. + +He was not to be kept long in suspense. That operations of some kind +were being conducted he guessed from the sudden silence. Then a cry of +"Fire!" went up, and next moment smoke burst from either end of the row. +He understood exactly: not being able to find them, the mob intended to +burn them out! + +From the two farthest houses the flames spread with awful rapidity, and +as they saw it their tormentors howled and shrieked with delight. +Fortunately the house, on the rearmost roof of which Veneda and the +Albino lay, was the centre one, and for this reason they would have some +time to wait before they could experience any actual danger. + +It may be imagined with what interest they watched the approaching +flames, speculating how soon they would be obliged to move again. The +heat was over-powering; but the conflagration was not speedy enough for +the miscreants below, who thereupon set fire to the lower regions of the +middle house. + +This, Veneda told himself, was becoming too much of a good thing. The +tiles were every moment growing hotter and hotter, and in a few minutes +it would be impossible to remain upon them. The dense, choking smoke +enveloped them in clouds. + +With an eye ever on the look-out, he saw that the only cool spot was a +tiny position on a parapet to their left, as yet a good distance from +the flames. He moved towards it, thinking he had done quite enough for +his companion. There was not room for more than one upon the place, and +he secured it first. + +Presently, overcome with heat and despair, the wretched Albino crawled +along the roof, and endeavoured to find a foothold on it also. Veneda +called upon him to go back, but he refused. It was impossible for both +to remain--one must go, and a battle began for the position. + +Partly owing to the situation of the outhouses below, partly to the +fact that the mob was watching events from the street front, but more to +the dense smoke which enveloped them, their struggle was unnoticed. It +was of but short duration. How could one of the Albino's size hope to +contend with a man so muscular as Veneda! For a few brief seconds they +were locked in each other's arms; then Veneda's right hand seized upon +the other's throat, and began to press his head further and further +back. At last, to save himself from a broken neck, the Albino let go his +hold, and fell with a yell from the roof into the smoke below. But +though he had not succeeded in his attempt to remain upon the wall, he +did not allow his companion to occupy it either, for as he fell he made +a last feeble clutch at Veneda's legs. Slight though it was, it was +sufficient to disturb the other's balance. He tottered, swayed, +endeavoured to save himself, failed in the attempt, and finally fell, as +his companion had done before him, into the Unknown. Such was the +violence of his fall, that when he reached the bottom he lay stunned for +some time. + +On recovering his senses he found himself lying in the hollow between +the roofs of the two outhouses before mentioned. Save for the +spluttering flames of the smouldering _debris_, it was quite dark. The +crowd had dispersed, and though he looked carefully about him, nothing +was to be seen of the Albino. Whether he had fallen into the courtyard +and been killed or captured by the mob, he could not of course tell, but +at any rate he was relieved to find that he had departed elsewhere. + +Having made sure of this, he rose and convinced himself that no bones +were broken. He had experienced a miraculous escape, and he argued that +it was a good omen for what lay before him. Clambering over the side of +the roof, he lowered himself to the ground, and then skirting the ruins +of the houses, proceeded into the street. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE ALBINO IS DISAPPOINTED. + + +When the Albino regained his senses, on the other side of the small +outhouse, within five feet of where Veneda lay, his first idea was to +find out if he had received any injury from his fall from the roof, and +next to discover what had become of the man who had occasioned it. + +He found that beyond a severe shaking and a few burns, he had sustained +but trifling hurt, perhaps for the reason that by clutching at the +parapet he had in some measure broken his fall. But though he searched +diligently all round the patio, and even among the ruins of the houses +hard by, not a trace of his late antagonist could he discover. + +What a narrow escape had been his he realized when he looked about him, +for on every side were heaped smouldering _debris_ of the dwellings, +while the conflagration was still proceeding, with unabated violence, +only a few steps further along the street. Why he had not been killed by +falling timber, found and despatched by the mob, or burnt up by the +flames as he lay unconscious, he could not for the life of him +understand. + +The street being quiet, he settled it in his own mind that the mob had +gone elsewhere, believing their prey to have perished. So giving himself +a final shake to make quite certain that all was sound, he waited his +opportunity, and, when no one was passing, struck out in the direction +of the Calle de San Pedro. In spite of his recent adventures he had not +forgotten his appointment with Vargas at the house of the fugitive +English banker; and, as he hurried along, he reflected with a chuckle +that if, as in all human probability was the case, Veneda had perished +with the falling house, then would there be one less with whom to divide +the spoil. He wished, however, that he had seen the body. That, he told +himself, would have been altogether more satisfactory, for he knew +Vargas and Nunez well enough to be aware that they would not accept his +statement for truth, unless he could bring substantial proof of its +authenticity. + +As he turned into the Calle de San Pedro, a man crossed over the road +and joined him. It was Pablos Vargas. Without a word they proceeded to +the house, a ramshackle, old adobe structure of one storey, with a broad +verandah running round three sides, and a commodious patio on the +fourth, this latter protected by a heavy gate. + +As the conspirators approached it they were joined by two other men from +the premises on either side. + +"Well, Miguel," said the Albino, addressing himself to the taller of the +twain, "what have you to report? He has not escaped you?" + +"No, senor. We have not seen a sign of him this week past, and we've +watched day and night." + +"Well, if he's gone you may pack your kits, and clear out of this +country for ever. I promise you, you won't be able to live in it with +me. You can go." + +"We want our money," remarked the man who had not yet spoken. + +"What? Want your money, do you, you longshore beach-comber--want your +money before we've seen how you've done your work! Clear out of this. +You'll be paid at the proper place, at ten." + +"These are no times for promises. We want our money now," reiterated the +man; "and what's more, we're going to have it!" + +The Albino was not at all impressed by the man's determined attitude. +Taking a step towards him, he whispered a sentence in his ear, with the +result that next moment the fellow was scuttling down the street like +one possessed, his companion after him. + +Macklin turned to Vargas with a grin. + +"There seems to be something in the old word after all. Now come; we've +got our work cut out." + +As he spoke he produced a key, and opened the door of the dwelling +before which they stood, and which was to the right of that they +designed to visit. Entering, they proceeded along the passage to the +small yard at the back. Once there only a low wall separated them from +the other house. With an agility surprising in one so deformed, the +Albino mounted it, and dropped on to the other side; Vargas followed +him, and together they approached a window. Opening this, they crept +through it into the dwelling; then, soft as cats, passed across the room +towards the central passage. At a signal from Macklin, Vargas produced +and lit a candle. + +Having before they started made themselves familiar with that part of +the house which contained the treasure of which they were in search, +they were able to approach it without hesitation or delay. On reaching +the room they paused to listen, at the same time taking the precaution +of examining their arms. Then, stealthily opening the door, they +entered, the Albino first and Vargas in the rear, shading the candle +with his hand. + +A half-starved, decrepit old man was pacing up and down at the further +end. On seeing them he stopped his walk, and advanced towards them with +a courtly bow. + +"You are very welcome," he began in English. "I've been expecting you +this week past. You must excuse the unprepared state of my surroundings; +but I've only moved in here while my Kensington house is being +redecorated. You will stay and take dinner with me, of course?" + +"What does he say?" asked Vargas, who had no knowledge of English. + +"He's mad!--stark, staring mad!" replied the Albino. + +"Won't you sit down?" continued their host. "I will ring and have the +wine put in ice. By the way, I don't think you told me your business; my +memory is not what it was. I have had troubles--serious troubles." + +"That's enough of that, my friend," Macklin interposed "Confound your +memory! We want that money--the Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand you +swindled the Kamtchatka Bank out of. If you want to save your skin, +you'd better own up where it is, and save any bother." + +The ex-banker continued to smile sweetly. + +"Ah! there's a very good story connected with that. It's going the round +of the clubs now. Lord Burgoo, our chairman, asked me about it this +afternoon in Piccadilly. You must know that I took it out to Chili to +invest on the Bank's behalf. One evening, I was sitting in my room in +the Calle de San Pedro, when a singularly handsome man called to see me. +'Mr. Bradshaw,' said he, 'I'm sorry to trouble you, but I've come to +play you a game of cards for that money.' I had no objection, of course, +so down we sat. Eventually he won, and I paid him all that was left of +the L250,000. It was a good stake, wasn't it?" + +"You lie!" shrieked the Albino, dashing at him and clutching him by the +throat. "That be hanged for a tale. It's only one of your damned dodges +to put us off the scent. Where is it? Tell me, or I'll throttle you!" + +"I assure you it's the truth," gasped the unfortunate banker, half +strangled. "I will even tell you his name." + +The Albino withdrew his hand. + +"Now, what was it? Quick!" + +"Let me think. I fancy it began with V--Veneda, or some such name. Of +course I did not ask, but he allowed it to slip from him in his +excitement. He was a most gentlemanly person, and interested me +exceedingly." + +"Nonsense! I won't believe it; he dared not do it. But, Marcos Veneda, +you thieving traitorous hound, by God, if this be true it will prove the +worst day's work you've ever done in your life." + +Then in Spanish he explained what had happened to Vargas, whose rage was +absurdly theatrical. He danced and swore, tore his hair and ground his +teeth in an ecstasy of passion. + +"Stop that nonsense," said the Albino. "We must search the house as +quickly as possible, and if it's not here, find Veneda without a +moment's delay. Now we see why he wanted us to spare him. It strikes me +we've been sold, and badly too." + +Without further ado they set to work. But they might have spared +themselves the trouble. The money was undoubtedly gone--the _cache_ had +been rifled, and the treasure stolen. The Albino's rage surpassed +description; he vowed such vengeance against the traitor that even +Vargas was overwhelmed with terror. Suddenly they looked round for the +banker. He was not to be seen. Taking advantage of their absence in +another room, he had passed into the yard and quietly quitted the house. + +"Never mind him," said Macklin, "he's no use to us now. We must collect +every man we can lay our hands on, and search the town until we find +Veneda. If he escapes, I'll be the death of somebody." + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE ESCAPE FROM CHILI. + + +It was nearly seven o'clock when Veneda bade farewell to the ruins of +the house, in connection with which he had undergone such a variety of +experiences; and, as I have already said, at half-past he had arranged +to effect his escape from Chili. Now, though he was aware that there was +no possible chance of his being able to get out of it, he was +nevertheless much concerned about the wisdom of taking Juanita with him. +He could not help seeing that by including a woman in his plans he was +hampering his own freedom of action, and thus imperilling his one chance +of safety; but on the other hand he could hit out no way of disposing of +her, and since she possessed a large portion of his secret, it would be +the most criminal folly possible to leave her behind to join the ranks +of those who, he felt convinced, would ultimately pursue him from Chili. +There were, besides, other and more cogent reasons against this latter +course. + +Though it was not a great distance to her abode, it took him some time +to reach it. He had no desire to attract attention by any undue hurry; +and for the same reason, when he did arrive at the house he made no +attempt to gain admittance until he had absolutely convinced himself +that he had not been followed. Then, crossing the patio, he knocked. + +Juanita herself opened the door. When she realized who the visitor was +she uttered a little cry of welcome, and led the way into an inner room, +carefully closing the door behind them. + +"Marcos," she began, lifting her clasped hands to him, "you really meant +what you said last night? You are here to take me away with you?" + +"Did you think I should break my promise?" he answered almost angrily, +his disappointment at finding her unprepared getting the better of him. +"Why are you not ready? Every second is of the utmost importance to us. +As it is, we shall only just catch the tide." + +"Wait only a moment and I will be with you; just one little moment." + +She fled the room, and for five minutes he was left to his own thoughts. +They were not pleasant, a consuming impatience was upon him. He knew +that his very life depended upon the next half-hour, and now it looked +as if he were about to lose everything because a woman had misunderstood +a plain speech. Every moment found him more and more angry. At length, +unable to control himself any longer, he was in the act of going to look +for her, when a heavy footstep approached the room. The door was thrown +open and a man entered, clad after the same fashion as himself. The +behaviour of this individual was not conciliatory. Casting a quick look +at Veneda standing by the window, he said gruffly-- + +"Your business here, senor?" + +"I am waiting for a friend." + +"The Senora Juanita perhaps?" + +"Perhaps." + +"Then you will wait a long time, for she has gone." + +Veneda almost shouted in his surprise. In a second all sorts of +treachery had flashed through his brain. + +"Gone!" he cried. "What the devil do you mean? Where's she gone?" + +"Who knows?" the other replied airily, giving his narrow shoulders a +slight shrug. "I allow it's her own business where she goes, not mine, +thank God." + +In three strides Veneda was beside him, and had clapped a revolver to +his head. + +"Look here, my uncivil friend," he said, "I don't want to make trouble +in this house for my own sake, but if you don't tell me what you know, I +swear I'll blow your brains out where you stand. That's cold-drawn biz, +I reckon." + +The man was silent for a moment, then a nervous little laugh came from +under the sombrero. + +"Marcos, do you think I am well enough disguised?" + +_It was Juanita!_ + +Veneda could scarcely credit his senses, the deception was so perfect. +But his admiration for her acting did not prevent his drawing her +towards the door, whispering as he did so-- + +"It's wonderful! No one could possibly recognize you in than get-up. +Now we must fairly jump for the harbour, or we'll be too late." + +Closing the front door on another incident in their lives they set off +towards the port. And what a night it was! All day long the city had +been the scene of constant rioting, but now that darkness had fallen to +cloak their misdeeds, the mob had grown proportionately bolder. From +simple exuberance of spirits and foolish mischief, their behaviour had +become that of fiends. Houses had been and were still being looted in +every street; incendiary fires pierced the sky in all directions; and +the crack of rifles, with the whine of bullets, sounded almost without +cessation. Scarcely a street, moreover, but was strewed with the bodies +of their victims, the greater portion of which were women. + +Juanita's presence of mind was little short of marvellous; terrifying +though the sights she was constantly compelled to witness must have been +to her, only once did she betray a sign of fear. Leaving the street in +which her house was situated, they passed by a narrow alley into +another, which in its turn led them into an open square. This it was +unfortunately necessary that they should cross, in order to reach a +thoroughfare leading to the wharves. No sooner had they entered it than +Veneda saw what a fatal mistake he had made. One glance told him that it +was filled with the lowest scum of the Chilian mob, frenzied with +debauchery and incendiarism. On the far side a row of houses blazed into +the sky, while on that nearest to them a dense crowd of men and women, +denizens of the most infamous quarters, were dancing the Cueca, or +national dance, with a wildness absolutely indescribable. Twice while +he watched, Veneda saw men draw revolvers, and shoot down without any +reason save wanton cruelty the wretched women who leapt and gesticulated +opposite them. + +These sights were too much for Juanita. She tottered, and would have +fallen in a faint, had not Veneda passed his arm beneath her poncho and +sustained her. Almost beside himself with despair, he dragged her into a +dark alley, and bade her sit down and rest until she felt able to +proceed. Then they resumed their walk at increased speed. Time was more +precious to them now than money; they could risk no more delays. It +seemed an eternity since they had set out together! + +But there was not much more before them. Turning a corner the cold sea +breeze smote upon their faces, and a moment later the dark waters of the +bay confronted them. Had they had time, and been so inclined, they might +have stopped to offer up a prayer of thankfulness for their escape; but +as it was they contented themselves with looking anxiously for something +they expected to find awaiting them. Seeing nothing, Veneda gave a +peculiar whistle, which, to his evident relief, was instantly answered +from a mass of deep shadow to their left. A second later a ship's +long-boat came into the starlight, and pulled towards the landing-place, +the man steering standing up and peering towards them as if to make +certain of their identity. + +"Who are you?" he took care to ask before he brought the boat up to the +steps, "and what do you want?" + +"My name's Veneda," was the reply, "and I want a boat from the _Island +Queen_." + +Evidently this answer was deemed satisfactory, for the same voice +replied-- + +"One moment, sir, and I'll bring her alongside. I've been waiting for +you this hour past; the tide is serving, and the old man will murder me +for being so long." + +When the man in the bows had hooked on, Veneda escorted Juanita down the +steps, and signed her to enter the boat. But this the person in command +was disinclined to permit. + +"Excuse me, sir," he said, civilly but firmly, "my instructions were to +bring you off alone, and I cannot include any one else." + +"Oh, that's all right, my good fellow, this gentleman is a personal +friend, and I have arranged to take him on board with me." + +"I'm very sorry, sir, but I cannot exceed my instructions; will you be +good enough to step in yourself? There's no time to waste if we want to +catch this tide." + +"But I tell you my friend must accompany me," Veneda answered, at the +same time stepping into the boat himself; "I will be responsible to the +captain." + +"No, sir, not another word, I cannot do it. My instructions were most +explicit--one gentleman, and only one! Jackson, shove off!" + +"Ah! I see how it is. One gentleman--exactly--but nothing was said about +my wife." + +The mate, for such it turned out later he was appeared completely +mystified. + +"Your wife! Where is she?" + +"This lady is my wife," said Veneda, pointing to Juanita standing on the +steps. "It was impossible for me to bring her through the town on a +night like this in her own dress, so to ensure her safety I was +compelled to make her wear a suit of mine. Juanita, my dear, convince +this gentleman that you are only masquerading." + +Her voice sounded very sweet and womanly as she said in English-- + +"Surely, sir, you will believe what my husband says?" + +The mate scratched his head. He was in a dilemma, and he couldn't see +his way out of it. At last he made up his mind. + +"Well, sir, I'll risk it any way. Will you be good enough to step in, +ma'am? I'm sorry to have made you wait, but the fault's with the captain +for saying nothing about your coming." + +Entering the boat, she took her seat opposite Veneda, and they pushed +off. Before they had way on her, the sounds of a man running were heard +upon the wharf, and next moment a strange figure came into view and +bounded down the steps. It was none other than the Albino, under the +influence of extraordinary rage; his long white hair floated in the +wind, his arms worked with frantic gesticulations, and his voice shook +with the violence of his passion. Fortunately for the fugitives he spoke +in Spanish, a language with which neither the mate nor any of the boat's +crew were familiar. He had caught sight of Veneda, and it was at him +that his torrent of abuse was directed. + +"Marcos Veneda," he cried, shaking his fist at the retreating boat, +"thief! traitor! coward!--come back--come back, and give me what you've +stolen from me!" + +But his wrath was vain; the boat by this time was fifty yards from the +steps, and under the strong arms of her crew was every moment increasing +the distance. + +He was not, however, to be baulked; securing another, he was soon in hot +pursuit, rowing as though his very life, or rather L200,000, depended on +it. + +The _Island Queen_ lay a good distance out, and when the boat containing +Veneda and Juanita came alongside, Captain Boulger was on deck. +Hastening to the gangway to receive his passenger, he was not a little +surprised to see two. + +"I'm right glad to see you at last, Mr. Veneda," he said. "But I can't +say I counted on any one else accompanying you." + +Veneda was prepared for this, and he beckoned the captain on one side. A +minute later he rejoined Juanita with the information that the +difficulty was satisfactorily settled. The mate went forward to attend +to the raising of the anchor, and by the time the Albino's boat was +within hailing distance, the schooner had got way on her, and was +drawing quickly out of the harbour. + +To say that that gentleman, when he realized his enemy was escaping him, +was angry, would be to convey a very false impression of his state. He +stood up in his boat, foaming at the mouth, unable to speak, and shaking +his fist wildly at the vessel till she had passed out of sight. But, +though he was so overcome with rage, he had not failed to notice the +name painted in white letters across the stern--"_Island Queen_, +Tahiti." + +It was some time before he felt able to pull ashore. But when he did so, +he said solemnly to himself-- + +"Marcos Veneda, I don't mind owning you're a very clever fellow; you +seem, however, to have forgotten one thing. You've broken faith with one +of the strongest organizations in the world. If it costs that Society +every cent it's worth, if it has to chase you round the world, it will +get the money back, and be even with you for this bit of treachery!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE 'ISLAND QUEEN.' + + +Fortunately for the success of the escape from Valparaiso, the wind blew +almost a hurricane from the schooner's most favourable quarter, and, as +Captain Boulger was careful to impress upon his passengers, "the _Island +Queen_ hadn't her equal in the whole of the South Pacific for foot." +(She was his own property, and for that reason, perhaps, he was rather +inclined to over-estimate her capabilities.) In the present instance, +however, she was called upon to put forward all her good qualities, for +in spite of the large sum it had cost Veneda to charter him, the captain +was fully aware of the risk he had taken upon himself, and he had +therefore no desire that anything should occur to impede or delay his +departure. As far as his own powers went he had small fear, for he was +in every way a capable seaman; but he knew that it required not only +considerable skill, but a fair amount of luck besides, to manoeuvre +successfully out of such an admittedly awkward harbour on a dark night. + +Regarded in cold blood, the hairbreadth escapes of that evening read +almost like a nightmare. Twice the schooner came unpleasantly near +colliding with anchored vessels, and once they felt certain they had +attracted the notice of a Congressionalist cruiser; for a voice hailed +them out of the darkness as they swept past, and receiving no answer +gave utterance to a succession of orders, which were followed by the +shrill chirruping of a bosun's pipe. But though every moment they +expected to see the flash of a gun, nothing occurred, and in +half-an-hour they were clear of the land, steering a direct course +across the Pacific for Tahiti, _via_ Pitcairn Island. + +Throughout the exit Veneda and Juanita remained side by side on deck, +anxiously watching events. The experiences they had lately passed +through supplied them with plenty to think about, while the repeated +close things they were then undergoing served to remind them that they +must not be in too great a hurry to believe themselves safe. Though they +might count themselves almost out of the frying-pan, there was still the +fire yawning to receive them, and both agreed it would be worse than +death to be captured and taken back just when safety seemed within their +reach. + +With the recollection of the dangers they had passed through came the +remembrance of the Albino on the wharf, and his exhibition of futile +rage. A smile crossed Veneda's face as he recalled the scene, but it was +instantly obliterated and succeeded by a scowl as he reflected that, in +order to have been there at all, the dwarf must in some measure have +become cognizant of their plans; and in that case it would not be +beyond the bounds of possibility to suppose him aware of their +destination. The outcome of these thoughts was a serious reflection. +Could Juanita be in league with his enemy? He asked himself this +question with a good deal of anxiety. That they had had dealings +together in the past he was perfectly aware; what therefore more +probable than that in such a gigantic enterprise as the present, where +such a fortune was concerned, she should deem it the safest policy to +stand in with both parties, and if possible to hoodwink and outwit both? +With these thoughts in his mind he glanced at her as she stood clinging +to the taffrail by his side, her fine figure swaying to every motion of +the ship. No; he would not believe it. He told himself that, as far as +beauty went, she was a queen among women, and that whatever happened he +must not let her suspect he was anything but devotedly attached to her. +Meanwhile he would set his brains to work to devise some scheme by which +he might rid himself of her. + +By this time only a few twinkling lights remained to them of Valparaiso. +The loud churning of the water under her nose, and the boiling froth in +her wake, evidenced the fact that the schooner was putting her best foot +foremost. The breeze whistled merrily, and from the appearance of the +sky there was every prospect of its continuing. Overhead the stars shone +as only tropic stars can, and their myriad radiances were reflected in +the coal-black water, till it had all the appearance of an ebony floor +powdered with gold-dust. But they would not be reflected there long, for +the sea was not now what it had been inside the bay. A heavy swell had +set in, and the little vessel was beginning to roll unpleasantly; so +much so, that once or twice Veneda had to clutch Juanita to save her +from falling. Standing side by side, they watched the last signs of +Chili vanish beneath the waves. As the land disappeared a sudden gust +swept Juanita's broad-brimmed hat from her head away into the swirling +darkness. + +"Come, Juanita," Veneda said, slipping his arm through hers with the +first real sign of protectorship he had shown, "this is no place for +you; let me help you below." + +But it was easier to talk of going below than actually to get there; for +the schooner was heeling over at an angle that made walking almost +impossible. Eventually, however, with the assistance of the mate, who +had taken charge, to allow the skipper to obtain his supper, it was +accomplished, and the shelter of the companion reached. + +As they entered the cuddy, Captain Boulger emerged from his cabin, and +with a bow made his passengers welcome. He was a tall man, thin as a +lath, with a long, hatchet-shaped face, to which an idea of additional +length was imparted by a carefully-trimmed goatee beard. His eyes, a +peculiar shade of grey, peered at one from beneath enormous bushy +eyebrows. His voice was deep and rumbling, his utterance slow and +pedantic, and when he could think of nothing to say or was absorbed in +anything, it was his habit to whistle quaint almost forgotten +hymn-tunes, of which he had managed to acquire a wonderful collection. + +Juanita was too much a woman of the world to have failed to note his +weak point, and bearing in mind the peculiar nature of her position on +board the schooner, and the need she might some day stand in of a +friend, she resolved to address herself to his subjugation without +unnecessary delay. On his side, in spite of her manly attire, he could +not but admit her attractions, and when she complimented him on the +sailing qualities of the _Island Queen_, she had laid the foundation of +his capture. + +On the skipper's return to the deck, the mate, whose name by the way was +Crawshaw (a Hampshire man he called himself, though he confessed to +never having been in England in his life), descended in search of +supper. He was a nice-looking young fellow, well set up, very muscular, +and tanned by constant exposure the colour of mahogany. Seeing Veneda +and Juanita at the table he doffed his cap politely, at the same time +jerking out an embarrassed "Good-evening," as though he had not seen +them five minutes previously. + +"It seems to be freshening up," Veneda remarked, for the sake of saying +something. "The schooner rides easier than I would have expected +considering what she's carrying. By the way, have you such a thing as a +cabin-boy aboard?" + +Jamming an enormous piece of salt junk into his mouth, Crawshaw rose to +his feet, and, without a word, vanished up the companion-ladder, to +reappear a few minutes later with a shock-headed, shambling urchin, of +about sixteen years of age. Cuffing him towards Veneda, he said +sheepishly, as though ashamed of possessing so much knowledge-- + +"His name's Nicodemus,--'Old Nick' they call him forrard; he knows all +about everything, and he's a son of a gun for laziness. Can I make him +do anything for you?" + +Veneda explained that he desired to see and arrange their respective +cabins. Whereupon Crawshaw resumed his cuffing of the boy, remarking-- + +"Now, you young swab, turn to and get those berths cleaned out, or I'll +break every second rib in your body; d'ye hear me now?" + +The _Island Queen_ boasted four cabins aft, the dimensions of which were +about half those of the smallest pattern prison-cells, and were +evidently intended to contain human beings of less than the average +size. The captain had his furthest aft on the starboard side, the mate +that nearest the companion on the port. Juanita had therefore one on +either hand to choose from. She ultimately decided upon that adjoining +the skipper's; Veneda taking the berth next to Crawshaw. It was a +fortunate thing for both of them, but especially for Juanita, who +otherwise would have been compelled to make the whole voyage to Tahiti +in man's attire, that Veneda had been able to have a small quantity of +luggage conveyed on board. By the time her cabin was prepared, and her +comfort as far as possible assured, it was nearly eleven o'clock, and +she expressed herself ready for bed. Bidding her "good-night," Veneda +lit a cigar in the cuddy and returned to the deck. + +It was a perfect night, with hardly a cloud visible in the whole length +and breadth of the sky. The wind still blew fresh and strong, and now +and again sharp dashes of spray rattled on the deck like hail. As she +had everything in her favour, the schooner's motion was comparatively +steady. Looking about him, Veneda spied the captain leaning against the +taffrail; on crossing, he found him whistling "The Old Hundredth" with +exceptional fervour. + +"A fine night, Captain Boulger," he said, proffering a cigar; "if this +weather continues, we shan't be long picking up Tahiti." + +"Not if it does," the skipper replied, taking a squint aloft at the +bellying canvas; "but don't you reckon we're always going to be as lucky +as this. It's not all plain sailing across these waters, especially at +this time of year, I can tell you." + +"Well, at any rate I must congratulate you on the way you got us out of +the harbour; it was a fine bit of seamanship." + +"It's all very well for you to say so, Mr. Veneda," the skipper +continued, lugubriously. "But what about the next time I want to go into +Valparaiso; d'you think they won't remember me for this? I'll be +boycotted for ever." + +"Well, and if you are, you've been well paid for the unpleasantness, my +friend, so we'll hear no more on that score." + +"And this lady, your wife you make her. Of course I don't say anything +about that. But nothing was ever mentioned about females in the +contrac'. How much is it to be for her?" + +"Half as much as for myself; I thought we were agreed upon that." + +"Well, well, I suppose it must be so, but in my opinion it's dirt cheap +at the money. And, look here, Mr. Veneda, my mate tells me something +about a grey-haired chap who wanted to come off too. Now what about +him?" + +"Never you mind about him, he won't trouble you. We've done with him for +ever." + +"Don't you be too sure of that; if he wants you so badly that he had to +pull off after you, he's not going to let you slip so easily; and what's +more, if he knows the name of your boat, he'll nail you by cable in +Tahiti as soon as winkin'. There are more ways of killing a cat than +choking him with butter, Mr. Veneda." + +"I don't doubt it, but as he doesn't know the name of the boat, by your +own argument I'm quite safe," Veneda said, throwing the stump of his +cigar overboard into the curdling wake. + +"Well, all I can say is, if he don't know it, he don't deserve to." + +"But how the deuce could he know it?" + +"Why, simply because, as I say, he followed you off," said the skipper, +with the superiority of a man who makes a statement knowing his facts to +be all right, "and because, just as we'd got way on her, he came +alongside and tried to hook on. If she hadn't been going too fast for +him, he'd 'a been aboard; as it was he had to slip astern." + +"And you think he read her name?" Veneda muttered hoarsely. + +"O' course he did. Why, he couldn't have helped it if he had eyes in his +head and knew his letters." + +This unexpected news so staggered Veneda that for a moment it deprived +him of speech. He began to experience an awful dread, not of the +discovery of the means whereby he had obtained his fortune, but of the +disclosure of the precious secret which guarded it. Instinctively he +felt for the locket he wore round his neck, and in which reposed the +slip of paper Juanita was so anxious to obtain. + +Crawling along the sloping deck to the companion, he proceeded to his +berth below. A swinging lamp lit the saloon, and in a gilt mirror upon +the bulkhead he caught sight of his own face. He was startled beyond +measure at its pallor. + +"This won't do," he told himself as he undressed; "it's full early to be +frightened; besides, who knows? He was so excited that it's just within +the bounds of possibility he may not have read her name." + +But do what he would he could not divest his mind of the thought that +the Albino was aware of his plans. He had had good reason in the past to +know that the dwarf really ruled the Society of which they were both +members, and remembering his vindictive nature, he felt certain that +neither pains nor money would be spared to ensure revenge for this last +and most glaring piece of treachery. Consideration of these matters kept +him tumbling and tossing in his bunk till long after midnight, to the +accompaniment of groaning timbers, skurrying rats, and the crash of seas +against the slender hull. When sleep did overtake him, his dreams were +troubled; he imagined himself being hunted round the world by the +Albino, who jumped after him across oceans, and from continent to +continent, and at last ran him to earth in the big hall of his old +familiar English school. + +He was in the act of giving him the locket to square matters when he +awoke to find a flood of bright sunshine streaming in through the dingy +little disc that served him as a porthole. His joy at finding it was +only a dream was intense, and while under the influence of that relief +he dressed and went on deck, to find the captain once more on watch and +the crew busily engaged in washing down. + +The fresh breeze of the night before still continued, and if the foam at +either bow, or the swirling water under the counter could be taken as +evidence, the _Island Queen_ was making the most of it. The sky was as +blue and the sea as green as only Pacific skies and seas can be, and +against it the taper masts, the hard-strained rigging, and the swelling +sails, white as snow in the brilliant sunshine, made up a picture that +found a responsive note in the relief which filled Veneda's heart. A +cheerful smoke issued from the galley, at the door of which the +shock-headed boy, "Old Nick," was engaged cleaning knives. Perhaps as +the effect of the lovely morning, the captain showed himself a little +more affable than he had been on the previous night. He nodded +familiarly to his passenger, and prefaced his conversation by inquiring, +with a peculiar sort of courtesy, after his wife's health. Further +conversation on that subject, however, was put a stop to by the +appearance of the lady herself, once more clad in the garments of her +sex. + +As she emerged from the companion, Veneda hastened forward to receive +her, and when she had recognized the captain's presence they fell to +promenading the deck together. Fortunately she was an excellent sailor, +and the bright fresh morning and the brisk breeze brought a colour into +her cheeks that made her, so Veneda could not help owning to himself, +more than usually lovely. For half a moment he wondered why he should +not trust her, and the temptation came upon him to forget his original +intentions and to embody this splendid creature in his plans for the +future. She was fitted to adorn any station in life, he told himself. +But then, certain episodes in her past history obtruded themselves upon +his recollection, and he was compelled to admit that such a thing must +not be dreamt of for an instant. + +But if a life's partnership were impossible, it was at least very +pleasant to skim over summer seas in the company of one so evidently +intended by nature to be all that was charming and agreeable to man. And +indeed Juanita exerted herself prodigiously to please, so much so, that +before they had been a week upon the voyage Veneda had once more +entertained serious thoughts of casting his previous apprehensions to +the winds and risking everything. Her behaviour was certainly calculated +to disarm suspicion. Never, by even as much as a hint, did she lead him +to suppose that she was in any way desirous of learning his secret. Her +trust in him was the only thing self-evident, and even this she was too +clever to exaggerate. Only once did she refer, and that indirectly, to +the treasure which was the sole inducement of their flight, and I have +often thought that that conversation was as strange as anything +connected with that extraordinary voyage. + +It originated in this way. They were leaning over the taffrail, watching +for the rising of the moon. The schooner, racing along over the curling +seas under reefed canvas, seemed like a thing of life. Her canvas +towered aloft into the ghostly darkness, and the wind in the rigging and +the drum of the seas against the hull were the only things that could be +heard. The mate, Crawshaw, patrolled the opposite side of the deck with +the regularity of a pendulum. + +Juanita had been peculiarly quiet all the evening, out of which state +Veneda had in vain tried to rally her. + +"Marcos," she said suddenly in Spanish, nestling closer to his side, +"does it ever occur to you to wish you had left me behind in +Valparaiso?" + +"Why, what on earth makes you ask such a question?" he replied. "Do you +think I should grow tired of you so soon?" + +"So soon!" she answered, looking up into his face. "You have had me with +you a fortnight now, and there is not much variety on board a boat the +size of the _Island Queen_. I should not be at all surprised if you said +you were tired of my company." + +"Well, I am not. So that settles it, doesn't it?" + +"Marcos, why did you not let us go to England in a mail-boat? It would +surely have been quicker and safer?" + +"Because in that case Macklin could not help but have discovered our +departure, and we should have been followed, if not murdered--that's +why." + +"And now?" + +"Now no one knows our whereabouts; we can choose our own route when we +leave Tahiti." + +"And which way will it be, Marcos?" + +"I have not decided yet." + +She was silent for a minute or two. Then she said slowly, still keeping +her eyes fixed on him-- + +"I think I understand. You have decided, but you dare not trust me." + +His first and most natural impulse was to deny the accusation. But on +second thoughts he adopted another course. + +"You are quite right," he said with a laugh, "I certainly do not trust +you. And what is perhaps more to the point, I don't intend to. All +things considered, I don't think you have the right to blame me." + +With a little laugh, and without a sign of vexation in her tone, she +answered, "Perhaps you're right. At any rate, you're wiser than I am in +such matters." + +Then taking his arm, they returned to their constitutional up and down +the deck, just as if nothing out of the common had occurred. + +And so day by day sped by, glorious weather, smooth seas, blue skies, +and fair winds accompanying them. It was more like a pleasure trip than +a flight for life. Captain Boulger improved upon acquaintance, and even +the mate, Crawshaw, rubbed off some of his angles as they grew to know +him better. + +Three weeks almost to a day after dropping Pitcairn behind them, they +were on the fringe of the Society Islands; and at Papeete the captain +proposed to touch, to obtain supplies. His passengers, he knew, though +grudging the delay, would not be sorry for an opportunity to stretch +their legs; for the size of the schooner did not, necessarily, permit +much pedestrian exercise. + +One morning, coming on deck, Crawshaw called Veneda to his side, and +pointed to a low smudge showing faintly on the horizon. + +"What is it?" the other asked. + +"Tahiti," was the reply, and with the word, like the opening of a +mill-sluice, Veneda's old anxieties rushed back upon him. In an hour or +two he would know whether or not the Albino was aware of his +destination. + +By breakfast-time they were closing up on it. The high mountain peaks +had risen well above the horizon, and from being a simple blotch upon +the clear-cut sea-line, the land had developed a decided personality of +its own. An hour later they were close enough to it to be able to +plainly distinguish objects on shore, and were prepared to catch the +first view of Papeete. + +By midday they were abreast of the entrance to Papeete harbour, looking +across the reef with its thundering surf to where the quaint little town +lay nestling among the trees. As soon as they were sighted the pilot put +off, and upon his gaining the deck the work of entering the harbour was +proceeded with. Once they were inside and at a standstill, Veneda and +Juanita departed ashore in search of luncheon. It was a new sensation +for them to wander about together as strangers in a strange place, and +Veneda watched to see what effect it would have upon his companion. She +had lost something of her vivacity, and was inclined to be more wrapt up +in her own thoughts than was usual with her. + +Those who know Tahiti will know Charons (or the hostelry disguised under +that name), and those who know Charons will remember Alphonse, the most +obsequious of _garcons_, with his accumulated knowledge of traders and +their schooners, missionaries, pilots, copra merchants, and all manner +of strange beings and things appertaining to those delightful seas. +Therefore, when I say that Veneda and Juanita were fortunate enough to +secure the corner table in the big room, and the services of that +indefatigable person, I am, as you will agree, ensuring them the +pleasantest of times. With palates improved by the simple fare of the +_Island Queen_, they investigated every course, enjoyed some excellent +wine, trifled with dessert, and when they had drunk their coffee, +proceeded to stretch their legs along the beautiful Broom Road. + +It was a most luxurious day; a soft breeze played in fitful gusts among +the tropic foliage, bearing upon its breast a thousand gentle, and to +our travellers unaccustomed, odours. There was only one blot upon it; +since his last glass of champagne, Veneda felt strangely sleepy, so much +so, that when they had walked but a little way he expressed a wish to be +allowed to sit down and admire the view. Nothing loth, Juanita +consented, so down they sat awhile, talking, and gazing upon the +panorama of sea and islands stretched before them. Her voice sounded +wonderfully soothing as he listened, and bit by bit he found this +mysterious desire for sleep overcoming him. His head gradually sought a +pillow by her side, his eyes closed, and in less than five minutes he +was unconscious. + +Now Juanita, who had by no means been unmindful of his state (nor am I +prepared to authoritatively state that she had not, in some measure, +been the occasion of it), was too precipitate for her own safety. Such +was her impatience that, without waiting to make certain that he was +sound asleep, she must needs commence her search for the mysterious +locket round his neck, which contained, she was convinced, the paper she +was so desperately anxious to obtain. Perhaps in her hurry her touch was +too rough, or Veneda was not so much overpowered with slumber as she +imagined; at any rate, just as she had the precious locket in her hand, +and was about to broach its contents, his eyes opened, and his hands +closed on hers. Awkward as the situation was, her presence of mind never +deserted her, and she prepared to laugh it off with the excuse she had +prepared beforehand. + +"Ah! my Marcos," she said jestingly, "it is well that you woke; for I am +going to be furiously jealous. And pray what fair lady's portrait do you +wear round your neck?" + +For the moment Veneda was too amazed at her coolness to reply; then he +replaced the locket, and assuming a pensive air, said-- + +"You may be as jealous of her as you please. That is my poor mother's +miniature; the only remembrance I have of her. I will show it to you +this evening, if you would care to see it. Now we must be getting back +to the schooner." + +His explanation was so simple and sincere that she was baffled +completely. If he were telling the truth her surmises must be all wrong; +if not, she had put him on his guard for the future. + +But though he allowed no sign to escape him to show that he understood +her attempt, he was none the less concerned about it. + +"I was more than a fool," he said to himself when he was alone in his +cabin, "to imagine that she could be anything but what I had always +thought her. However, Madame Juanita, the game is by no means finished +yet. There is an old saying that those laugh best who laugh last. We +shall see." + +Next morning at daylight the _Island Queen_ bade farewell to Tahiti. + +As soon as it was open, a stranger, who had arrived in the island from +South America the previous week, sought the telegraph office, and placed +the following message upon the counter-- + + "_John Macklin, + General Post Office, + Sydney, N. S. W._ + + "_Island Queen_ sailed this morning. Destination Thursday Island. + Both on board." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE MAN'S DEATH. + + +When, after leaving Papeete, Veneda came to consider the facts connected +with his excursion ashore, he could not help seeing two things very +clearly. In the first place, he was quite convinced in his own mind +that, to obtain the information she wanted, Juanita had drugged the +champagne he had drunk at lunch; but in the second, though he was loth +to let her treachery pass unpunished, he could not but tell himself that +it would be a most foolish proceeding on his part to allow her to +suspect that he considered it of sufficient importance to make a fuss +about. To confess annoyance would be to admit that the locket contained +what she was in search of, and this he was, naturally, most anxious not +to do. One thing was very certain, the situation was becoming more and +more complicated every day; for each twenty-four hours was bringing them +nearer to civilization, and once there the difficulties of his position +would be intensified a hundred-fold. If Juanita were really in collusion +with the Albino, it was most imperative that she should be outwitted, +and that within the next fortnight. But though he racked his brains day +and night for a scheme, he could not hit upon one that was in any way +likely to prove successful. + +Their course now lay almost due west, and though they had land on every +side, it was far from likely that they would touch anywhere until they +reached Thursday Island, where Captain Boulger's contract ended. It was +Veneda's intention to leave the schooner at that place, and to intercept +a British India mail-boat homeward bound. + +If the voyage had been enjoyable before, it became doubly so now; warm, +sunny days, bright blue skies, sapphire seas, and the most exquisite +island scenery in the world kept them company continually. The Society +group lay far behind them; the Navigators were on the starboard bow; +while Hope, Keppel and Tafahi, or Boscawen peered up, surf-girt, away to +port. Had it not been for the friction which suddenly occurred between +the captain and Veneda, it would have been like a little heaven on +shipboard. But if the captain and his chief passenger could not agree, +the same could not be said of the two passengers themselves, whose +behaviour towards each other grew more and more affectionate as the +owner of the schooner's animosity deepened. + +All past troubles and doubts seemed as much forgotten as though they had +never existed. They arranged their future with untrammelled freedom, and +even went so far as to discuss what they should do with the money when +they had possession of it. Juanita's suspicions were completely allayed. +Though she devoted considerable thought to the matter, she was as far +from understanding it as ever. She could only attribute the change to +the fact that her companion had at last really fallen under the spell of +her fascinations. + +But on the evening of the day upon which they sighted Fortuna, or Horne +Island, as it is more usually called, an awful and unexpected event +occurred, which was destined to bring about as complete a revolution in +their plans as even Veneda could wish. + +The breeze, which had been very uncertain throughout the afternoon, at +night dropped to the faintest zephyr. The peacefulness of the evening +was awe-inspiring; the ocean lay smooth as a sheet of glass, rising and +falling like the breast of a sleeping child. The sails hung limp and +listless, and the man at the wheel, one Schlank, a big, burly, taciturn +German, had barely enough work upon his hands to keep him awake. The +mate was in charge of the deck, the captain and passengers being below +at tea. + +According to Crawshaw's account he had gone forward to give an order to +the cook, and when he returned it was to discover the German away from +the wheel, rolling to and fro upon the deck, retching in a terrible +manner, and nearly black in the face. Not knowing what to make of it, he +called a couple of hands aft and bade them carry the unfortunate man to +his bunk, while he himself hailed the captain through the skylight, and +took possession of the wheel. + +When Boulger reached the deck he hastened forward to examine, the man +himself, but he was too late--_Schlank was dead!_ + +What the nature of the disease was, which had carried him off, no one +could tell, but that its effects were deadly in the extreme was +evidenced by the suddenness with which it worked its purpose; for, +according to his shipmates' account, the man was in the best of health +when he went aft to the wheel an hour before. + +This sad occurrence, as might be expected, threw a gloom over the entire +ship, and both Juanita and Veneda felt little touches of nervousness +when they allowed their minds to dwell upon it. Lest any infection +should be caught from the body, the captain gave orders that it should +be committed to the deep as soon as a hammock and the necessary +preparations could be made. + +Next morning, to every one's consternation, news came aft that Jacob +Norris, another hand, had been struck down by the same mysterious +complaint. The symptoms were identical with Schlank's case, and it +appeared as if no remedy could be found in the ship's meagre +medicine-chest to either alleviate the pain or to avert the disastrous +consequences. Within an hour of being taken ill the second man was dead +and overboard! + +Then an awful terror took possession of everybody, and ominous +mutterings of "Cholera" and "Yellow Jack" passed from mouth to mouth. +Hitherto the disease seemed to have confined itself to the forecastle, +but it was not to remain there long, for in the middle of his afternoon +watch Crawshaw the mate was attacked. Veneda, who happened to be on deck +at the time, saw him drop and ran to his assistance. Picking him up he +carried him forrard and laid him on the hatch, at the same time sending +a hand to rouse the captain. The poor fellow's agony was heart-rending, +and in spite of all the remedies tried he too succumbed within the hour. + +After this the consternation aboard the _Island Queen_ may be better +imagined than described. Every one went in fear and trembling, for no +one knew who might not be the next attacked. + +About nine o'clock that evening Juanita and Veneda were on deck. As on +the preceding night, a wonderful stillness reigned. In the east the +stars were beginning to pale, preparatory to the rising of the moon. The +bo'sun, who had succeeded to poor Crawshaw's watch, was pacing to and +fro near the binnacle, casting an eye ever and anon aloft and around +him, as if in anticipation of a breath of wind. + +Veneda and Juanita promenaded for awhile, and then crossed to the +taffrail, against which they leant, conversing in low tones. In spite of +the terrors of the day Veneda was in unusually good spirits. He rallied +Juanita upon her quietness, and once more broached the subject of their +future. Speaking softly so that the man at the wheel should not overhear +them, he said-- + +"Juanita, my darling, our voyage is nearly ended; are you satisfied?" + +She was quick to reply, and her voice had almost a tremor in it. + +"More than satisfied, Marcos, if you love me as you say." + +"Are you sure, Juanita? Think before you answer. Would you be content to +take me for what I am?--to risk poverty with me if that fortune should +be gone when we get to London?" + +She hardly knew how to reply. Was this a trap? she asked herself. +Slipping her hand over his with a gentle pressure, she said-- + +"Quite content, if you love me as I must be loved. But why do you speak +as if our money should be gone?" + +"Because nothing is safe. I think it is--you think it is; but if you +found out my secret, why shouldn't the Albino have boxed it out and +anticipated us, eh?" + +In reality he was not thinking anything of the kind; he was telling +himself that the peculiar note in her voice when she referred to the +money was not quite what it should have been at the moment of his +declaration of love. In spite of her cleverness, it evidenced what lay +uppermost in her mind. But he was not going to betray that he had +noticed anything. + +While they talked the moon rose, and lent a wondrous beauty to the +night, sweeping the stars from the sky as if by magic, and turning the +sombre water into the likeness of a silver sea. The white and idle +canvas threw strange shadows upon the decks, and with the moon's coming +a light breeze stole across the surface of the deep, so that the +schooner began to draw a little faster through the water. The bo'sun +turned on his heel, and came aft to where the other two were standing. + +"Nice evenin'," he said, by way of introduction; "the moon there makes +it real pleasant on deck, don't it? You'll excuse me, sir, but maybe you +don't happen to have a chaw of tobacco about you?" + +Veneda gave him a piece, at the same time asking if there was any +further sign of sickness forrard. The bos'un did not think so, and +casting an eye aloft at the canvas now beginning to fill, and then at +the compass card, prepared to air his theory of the malady. + +"It's my belief," he said, expectorating vigorously over the side, "that +it's no more nor less than pison,--fish-pisoning, I reckon it. Don't you +tell me that cholera or Yellow Jack's a-goin' to come aboard this while +out o' port--not it! Now, I mind a case once, where a schooner's crew +mutinied ten days out from Sydney, their tucker not bein' good enough +for 'em forrard. What must they do, when they'd got rid of the old man +and the mate overboard, but break open the lazarette, and set to work on +all the tinned fish they could lay their hands on!" + +"What was the result?" Veneda asked carelessly. + +"Why, that inside of three hours every mother's son o' that blamed crew +was lyin' a-rollin' an' a-kickin' about the deck o' that schooner, +turnin' black in the face, and lookin' for all the world as if they had +swallowed half-a-pint o' pison apiece. When they was picked up by a +man-o'-war, there was only one on 'em left to tell the tale, and he +wouldn't ha' been there but for not bein' hungry that night, having +started on cuddy bread, which is good an' fillin' at the price." + +"And what makes you think," asked Juanita, "that the men on this ship +have been poisoned? Have they eaten such fish as you describe?" + +"Well now, there you have me, ma'am; I don't know as they have, but +maybe it ain't fish this time, maybe it's somethin' else just as bad. +For my part, I----" + +At this moment the captain appeared on deck to relieve the bos'un, who, +bidding them "good-night," went forrard. Veneda had grown suddenly +silent, and when he had ensconced Juanita in a sheltered spot (for the +wind was beginning to freshen), fell to pacing the deck as if he had +something upon his mind. Once he stopped and spoke in a low voice to the +captain; then he resumed his tramp, pausing now and again to lean +against the bulwark and scan the moon-lit sea. About four bells (ten +o'clock), Juanita declared her intention of going below, and he assisted +her down the gangway. As he bade her good-night, she was struck by the +change that had come over his face; he was deathly pale, and his eyes +had a look that was very foreign to their usual state. + +"Marcos," she said anxiously, steadying herself against the cuddy table, +"there's something the matter with you; for heaven's sake take medicine +at once; your face frightens me. Don't delay an instant! Oh! if anything +should happen to you now!" + +He laughed, and said huskily-- + +"Do you think you would care, my beauty? I rather doubt it." (Here he +caught sight of his face in the glass.) "My God, but my face is bad +though. I'll go and consult the skipper." + +He turned towards the companion, but he was unable to reach it. He +tottered, stretched his hands out feebly for the bulkhead, missed it, +and fell prone upon the cuddy floor. With a scream Juanita sprang past +him, and dashed up on deck. The skipper was beside the binnacle. + +"Oh, captain!" she cried, "come quickly; he's dying, he's dying!" + +It did not take the captain long to understand to whom she referred; the +words were hardly uttered before he had passed the order for the bos'un +to come aft and take charge, and was down in the cuddy, kneeling beside +the sick man. The mysterious disease had found another victim. + +Veneda's face was distorted almost beyond recognition; his limbs were +strangely twisted and cramped; his breath came in great gasps; only his +skin retained its extraordinary pallor. Juanita understood the captain +to say that the symptoms were the same as in each of the previous cases. + +Between them they carried him to his bunk. + +"Now, ma'am," said Boulger, turning to Juanita, "I'm sorry, but I'll +just have to trouble you to go to your own berth for a while. I can't +have you running any risks here. Mr. Veneda's quite safe in my hands, +and I'll let you know from time to time how he gets on." + +But this was not in the least to her taste. She was not prepared to let +any one else pry into her private concerns. + +"Oh, Captain Boulger," she began, throwing all the sweetness she could +muster into her voice and looks, "it's inhuman to think that I can +remain away from him; you cannot expect it; let me help you with him. +I'll be as patient and quick as possible, and I've had some experience +in nursing--I really have." + +"No, no, ma'am, I'd like to, but I can't allow it," Boulger replied, "it +wouldn't be fair to ask me. What this devilish disease may be is more +than I can tell, but as it's certain there's infection in it, I can't +let any risks be run. Now, do go; you're only hindering me, and I must +be looking after him, poor chap; he wants all the attention I can give +him." + +After this there was nothing for her but to submit, and I must do her +the justice to admit that she did it with as good grace as possible. + +In the security of her cabin a vague terror seized her. What if Veneda +should die, and the locket be cast into the sea with him? The thought +almost took her breath away. Come what might, she must have a few +moments alone with the sick man, or, in the event of his death, with his +body. + +True to his word, at regular intervals, hour after hour, the skipper +presented himself at her door with the latest bulletins of his patient's +condition. "Just a leetle better"--"Just so so"--"Not much +change"--"Seems a bit weaker"--"Another awful attack," was the order in +which they ran. On hearing the last she broke down completely, and for +some reason which I am unable to explain, fell to sobbing as if her +heart would break. + +Suddenly a strange craving came over her, and rising from her bunk she +procured and propped her crucifix against the tiny wash-hand basin, and +kneeling on the sloping floor before it, endeavoured to frame a prayer +for the passing of the man's soul. Her long black hair hung in glorious +profusion about her shoulders; tears streamed down her pallid cheeks; +and her lips continually faltered over the words she tried to utter. +When she had finished, her spirits recovered, and crawling back into her +bed, she fell asleep. + +It was long after daybreak before she awoke. The sun was shining +brightly through the porthole above her bunk, and from the angle at +which the schooner was lying, she knew a fresh breeze must be blowing. + +Urged by a great anxiety to learn the latest news of Veneda's state, she +dressed with all the haste she could command, and passed into the cuddy. +As she entered it, the captain emerged from the berth opposite and +greeted her with a mournful face. She divined the worst. + +"You're going to tell me that he is dead," she said, clutching at the +table. + +"Ma'am, it's a thing which must come sooner or later to all of us. I +won't deceive you--he is dead--passed away in the hope of a glorious +resurrection, twelve minutes afore three bells in this morning's watch. +Now, don't take on about it too much, there's a good girl, for he's +better as he is than suffering the agonies he went through all night. +You couldn't wish it, I know." + +"Dead! dead!" was all she could say. It seemed impossible that it could +be true. The news stunned her. Though she had expected and dreaded the +worst, she had no idea that it would have come so soon. What should she +do now? In spite of her consternation, her own position was always +uppermost in her mind. It behoved her to play her cards carefully, or +she might lose everything. Assuming a look of hopeless grief, unable to +find relief in tears, she faltered-- + +"Take me to him." + +Without another word Boulger led the way across to the cabin, and opened +the door. She prepared to enter, but he would not permit it. + +"No, ma'am," he said kindly, but with determination, "as I said last +night, you cannot go in; this ship's mine, and while there's infection +aboard, I'm not the man to run risks. But seeing he's your husband--and +I'm real grieved for you--I'll stretch a point, and let you see him from +here. But I dare not pass you in." + +So saying, he went in himself, and approached the figure lying stiff and +stark under a blanket in the bunk. Pulling the covering aside, he +allowed Juanita a view of the drawn and pallid face beneath. A terrible +change had come over the man, and accustomed though she was to what are +called horrible sights, she was compelled to avert her eyes. Seeing +this, Boulger re-drew the blanket, and came out of the cabin, securely +locking the door behind him. Then, with a fatherly air, he placed his +arm around the woman's waist and led her on deck, whistling the _Dead +March_ softly as they went. + +In the bright sunshine the horrors of the cabin were for a time +dispelled from her memory. It was a glorious morning. The wind, which on +the previous night had been so weak, now blew with invigorating +freshness. The schooner, under a press of sail, was ploughing her way +through the green water as if conscious of her strength, turning the sea +away in two snowy furrows from either bow. Dotted about on either hand +were numerous small islands; and thinking it might distract her +thoughts, the skipper named them to her. + +Ahead, across the curling seas, and not more than eight miles distant, +rose the mountains of Vanua Lava, the largest island of the Banks Group. +A few clouds rested gracefully on the topmost peaks, and so clear was +the air that it was already just possible to make out the native +villages ashore. Suddenly an idea leapt into Juanita's brain; a +brilliant inspiration that she wondered had not occurred to her before. +Turning to the captain, who stood beside her, and who was inwardly +wondering at the vivacity of her expression, she said-- + +"Captain, there is one thing I should like you to get for me--I know you +will not deny it--a locket he wears round his neck." + +"No, ma'am; I'm real sorry, but that I can't do. He asked particularly +that it should be buried with him. It's his mother's portrait, and we +mustn't go against that." + +Juanita could have cried with vexation. But she dared not show it. She +had still another card to play. + +"Where will you bury him? Not at sea, captain; oh, not at sea!" + +"And pray why not at sea, ma'am?" the captain replied, pulling himself +up short in a rendering of "Rock of Ages,"--"many a good man has been +buried at sea." + +"Of course, I know that," she sobbed; "but oh, I cannot bear to think +of his poor body tossing about for all time under those cruel waves, the +prey of every shark and fish! Oh! no, no, I beseech you, do not let it +be at sea." + +Her grief was so sincere that the captain was visibly affected. + +"What would you have me do then, my dear ma'am?" he asked tenderly, +thinking he would go a long way towards obliging her if she always +pleaded like that. + +"Why not bury him on land?" she asked, turning her tear-laden eyes +towards the island they were approaching; "surely it would not be so +very difficult?" + +"Well," replied the captain, after a moment's consideration, "if you're +so set upon it, I don't know but what it can't be done; we'll see, at +any rate. Now you just come along down and have a bit of breakfast. +It'll cheer you up more than anything." + +When they returned to the deck the island was abeam. The captain +occupied himself with a careful study of authorities, and then selecting +a spot, hove the schooner to off a thickly-wooded bluff. Sounds of +carpentering came from forrard, and Boulger, who had quite constituted +himself Juanita's protector, took care that she should not go too near +lest she should see the work which occasioned it. + +It was well into the afternoon before the arrangements for the funeral, +including the digging of the grave ashore, were completed. As soon as +all was ready the captain informed Juanita, who thereupon prepared +herself to accompany the party. + +When the long-boat was swung overboard and brought alongside, sounds of +scrambling feet came up the companion-ladder, and next moment the +captain, carpenter, and two of the crew appeared, bearing the rough +coffin which the carpenter had managed to knock together. With some +difficulty it was lowered into the boat, and then, the captain steering, +Juanita sitting beside him, and two of the hands pulling, they set out +for the shore. + +Unlike most approaches to the island, the deep water extended right up; +consequently the boat was able to discharge its burden on the beach +without much difficulty. Having landed, they marched to the grave, +situated beneath a grove of cocoa-nut trees, some hundred yards from the +shore. The captain, whom Nature seemed to have designed for the work, +delivered a short but impressive address, and then the remains of Marcos +Veneda were committed to the ground. + +To Juanita it was all a whirl. She could not realize that the man had +passed out of her life--that he whom she had admired for his strength in +Chili was now an inanimate substance on Vanua Lava. The whole thing had +been so sudden that she had had no time to prepare herself for the +shock. Yesterday he was triumphant in all the consciousness of living; +to-day he was only a memory, a part of the mysterious, irreclaimable +Past! + +The funeral over they returned to the schooner, which at sundown weighed +anchor, and resumed her voyage to Thursday Island. It certainly seemed +as if Veneda was to be the last victim of the malady, for not another +soul was attacked. + +The following morning, after breakfast, the captain escorted Juanita to +the vacant cabin, and handed her the dead man's goods and chattels. With +a well-simulated air of grief she bore them to her own berth, in order +to examine them. They made only a small parcel, but hunt through them as +she would, no sign of either letter or locket could she find. The +contents were simple in the extreme--a few clothes, a pocket-book +containing twenty pounds in English gold, a tattered Horace, a knife, a +ring, and a few little personal odds and ends, completed the total. +Waiting her opportunity, she again approached the captain on the subject +of the locket, but he had only the same answer for her. + +"What he had on him, ma'am," he solemnly declared, "I reckoned was his +own property, and left there; so the locket you speak of is under three +foot of earth now, back there in Vanua Lava; meaning no disrespect to +you, ma'am." + +This was all the information Juanita could gather on the subject. Nor +did she press the matter further. Fortunately her own immediate comfort +was provided for by the twenty pounds, of which she assumed undisputed +possession. Had it not been for this she would have found herself placed +in a very awkward situation. + +The rest of the voyage needs little chronicling; suffice it that ten +days later the schooner dropped her anchor off Thursday Island, her +eventful journey completed. + +When Captain Boulger bade Juanita farewell, he asked if she had formed +any definite plans regarding her future. She hesitated before replying, +but finally said that she thought of remaining in the island until she +had communicated with her friends. He felt a touch of pity for her +loneliness, and proffered any assistance within his power. She, however, +declined it with thanks, and a day later the _Island Queen_ departed on +her return voyage to Tahiti. + +The same night, the Thursday Island telegraph operator was in the act of +closing his office, when the following mysterious message was handed +in-- + + "_To John Macklin, + Sydney._ + + "Schooner arrived. Man dead. Woman remains here." + + + + +PART II. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +JOHN RAMSAY TAKES UP THE TALE. + + +It seems that when I induced my cousin by marriage, Luke Sanctuary, to +write the first part of this history, I pledged myself to continue the +work at the point where I became personally interested in it. That time, +he tells me, has now arrived, and so it comes to pass that I find myself +sitting before a blank sheet of paper, holding a brand-new pen in my +hand, and wondering how on earth I'm going to set down all the +extraordinary things I have to tell. + +One assertion I can safely make, and that is that this is the first time +I have ever undertaken such a contract. For writing was always a trouble +to me; and now I come to think of it, it was that very hatred of +penmanship which resulted in my being concerned in what I shall always +call that "Chilian Mystery." For, had I proved an apt writer, I should +in all probability have made a good clerk; and had I turned out a good +clerk, I should never have become a sailor; and to continue the argument +_ad infinitum_, had I not become a sailor, I should certainly never +have known anything of the story my cousin has begun, and which I am now +called upon to continue. + +As I am perhaps the chief actor in the latter part of this history, and +as in matters of this sort it is always best, according to my way of +thinking, to begin at the very beginning, I may perhaps be excused if I +briefly narrate the principal events of my life which led up to my +connection with it. + +To begin with, let me remark that I was born in the village of Coombe, +near Salisbury, in the county of Wiltshire, where my father was a +country doctor. He, poor man, had the misfortune to be peculiarly +devoted to his profession, so much so, that it was neither more nor less +than sheer overwork which occasioned his untimely end. + +That sad event occurred within a week of my seventh birthday. And with +the remembrance of his funeral, a peculiarly sombre picture rises before +my mind's eye. I see a dreary autumnal day; thick mists upon the +hill-tops, dripping trees, and a still more dismal procession, winding +its way along the high-road, unrelieved by any touch of colour. And, +incongruously enough, the whole recollection is heightened by the +remembrance of a pair of black cloth breeches worn by me on that +melancholy occasion for the first time. By such small and seemingly +unimportant things are great events impressed upon our memories. + +Perhaps after my father's death I proved myself a handful to manage; +perhaps my mother really thought it the best thing for me. At any rate, +a boarding-school was chosen for me at Plymouth, to which she herself +reluctantly conducted me. Being her only child, and having hitherto been +accustomed to get my own way at all times and seasons, this maternal +abandonment was a proceeding I could not appreciate. I evinced, I +believe, a decided objection to saying farewell to her, and I know I +found only inadequate consolation in either the ancient dame who kept +the school (who promised my parent to be a mother to me, and for that +reason perhaps caned me soundly before I had been twenty-four hours +under her charge), the house, or my school-fellows, who figure in my +memory as the most objectionable set of young ruffians with whom I had +ever come into contact. + +For three years I continued a pupil of this "Seminary for the Sons of +Gentlemen," and should perhaps have remained longer had I not +experienced the misfortune of being expelled, for laying a +fellow-scholar's head open with a drawing-board; a precocity at ten +years which was plainly held to foreshadow my certain ultimate arrival +at the condemned cell and the gallows. After that, from the age of ten +until fifteen, I drifted from school to school, deriving but small +benefit from any one of them, and every term bringing my dear mother's +grey hairs (as she would persist in putting it) nearer and nearer to the +grave, by reason of the unsatisfactory nature of my reports. + +At fifteen, being a well-set-up stripling for my years, and like to fall +into all sorts of errors as to my proper importance in life, if allowed +to remain any longer with boys younger than myself, I was taken away and +carried to London, in order that my mother might consult with an old +friend as to my future. How well I remember that journey, and the +novelty of seeing London for the first time! + +Arriving at Waterloo, we drove to Notting Hill, and next morning went by +omnibus into the city to discover Sir Benjamin Plowden in the East India +Avenue. + +Never, if I live to be a hundred, shall I forget my first impression of +that office, and the unaccustomed and humiliating feeling which stole +over me as I crossed the threshold behind my mother, to await an +audience with this mysterious Sir Benjamin. It was one thing, I +discovered, to be the cock of a small country school, and quite another +to be an applicant for a junior clerkship, at a salary of five shillings +a week, in a London merchant's office. + +At the end of five minutes a liveried servant entered the waiting-room, +and informed us that "Sir Benjamin would see us now, if we'd be good +enough to step this way." Thereupon my mother gathered up her +_impedimenta_, including a reticule, a small black handbag, an umbrella, +a shawl, a paper bag of sponge-cakes, and her spectacle-case, and +toddled down the passage after him, leaving me to follow in her wake, my +heart the while thumping like a flail against my ribs. + +Ever since that morning, when I desire to realize a man in every way +embodying my idea of what a merchant prince should be, I recall my +first impression of Sir Benjamin. At the date of our visit he was on the +hither side of fifty, of medium height, stout and bald, with curly white +whiskers, a shaven chin and upper lip, very rosy as to his complexion, +dignified in his bearing, and given to saying "Hum, ha!" on all possible +occasions. + +He received my mother with cordiality, and even went so far as to +recognize my presence with an expressive speech,--"So this is your +boy,--a big fellow,--like his father about the mouth,--too old to be +idling about country towns, getting into mischief, and deriving a false +idea of his own importance. Hum, ha!" After which I was left to my own +thoughts, while they entered upon an animated discussion for perhaps the +space of half-an-hour. + +At the end of this time he rose--I think, as a hint to my mother--and +rang the bell. It was answered by the same dignified man-servant who had +ushered us into his presence; whereupon Sir Benjamin bade us farewell, +promising to communicate with my mother on the subject they had been +discussing at an early date; and we were escorted out. I, for one, was +not sorry that the interview was over. + +Leaving the Avenue, we visited the British Museum, by way of +counteracting the two serious impressions forced upon my mind by the +ordeal we had just undergone, I suppose; and here my mother, in the +middle of the Egyptian Department, surrounded by evidences of an extinct +civilization, gravely prophesied the eminence to which I should some +day attain, if only Sir Benjamin could be induced to take an interest in +me. + +As if in answer to her words, two days later I was the recipient of a +letter signed by Sir Benjamin himself, in which it was stated that a +position had been found for me in his own office, at a salary of ten +shillings a week. I must leave you to picture my sensations. Surely no +possessor of an autograph letter from the throne itself could have been +prouder than I that day. As for my mother, she argued confidently that +my Future (with a capital F) had undoubtedly commenced. And, between +ourselves, I certainly think it had. + +It is not necessary, for the understanding of the story I have to tell, +that I should enter upon a recital of my life in the East India Avenue; +let it suffice, that it did not come up to the expectations I had formed +regarding it. The hours were long, the supervision was constant and +irksome, the superiority of the other clerks humiliating, while the +personal attention and affability which my dear mother had led me to +expect from Sir Benjamin was not only not forthcoming, but showed no +signs of making its appearance at any time within the next half-century. + +However, there were many compensations to balance these petty +annoyances, and chief among them I reckoned that of carrying letters and +papers to the docks, where the ships which brought Sir Benjamin's +merchandise from far countries discharged their cargoes. + +Nothing gave me greater happiness than these little excursions, and when +I had fulfilled my errand, it was my invariable custom to enter upon an +investigation on my own account, wandering all over the mysterious +vessels, asking questions innumerable about the strange places they +visited, and, I have no doubt now, making myself a complete and +insufferable nuisance generally. Perhaps that was why, throughout my +sailoring career, I had always a sneaking sympathy with boys who boarded +us, and asked permission to look round. At any rate, I am convinced that +those journeys were what made me believe I had at last hit upon my +vocation in life; for I know that every time I passed outwards through +the dock-gates, I renewed my vow that before many years were over I +would become a sailor, and the commander of just such another ship as +that I had lately overhauled. + +This sort of life continued with but slight variation until I was on the +verge of seventeen, when I made a firm resolve to assert myself, and +embark upon the calling I had marked out for my own. My mother was +prepared in some manner for the blow, for she certainly could not have +failed to notice the way my inclinations tended; so when I broached the +subject she offered no objections, only sighed somewhat sadly, and said +"she was afraid a time would come when I should repent it." Little did +the poor soul know to what a fatal prophecy she was giving utterance. + +A day later, for the second and last time in her life, she visited Sir +Benjamin, and the following morning I was summoned to his presence. + +"Your mother tells me you wish to leave my employ to become a sailor," +he began, when I had closed the door behind me and approached his table. +"Now you know your own business best, but remember it's a hard life, +more kicks than halfpence; and what is worse, I can assure you that when +you have once taken to it, you'll never be fit for anything else again. +You have thought it over, I suppose?" + +I modestly replied that I had devoted a good deal of consideration to +the matter, and would have gone on to say that I wished for nothing +better had he not interrupted me. + +"Very good; I've promised your mother to do the best I can for you, so +you'll be apprenticed to the Yellow Diamond Line as soon as I can see +about it. You'll probably be surprised to hear that I think you're a +fool, but I suppose in this world there must be a proportion of fools to +balance the wise men, or we'd all come to grief. Hum, ha!" + +He was true to his promise, for the following week I received a +notification to attend at the head office of the Yellow Diamond Line of +clipper ships. Here I complied with the formalities, signed the +necessary papers, and had the satisfaction of leaving the Company's +office to all intents and purposes a member of the nautical profession. +It was arranged that I should desert Sir Benjamin's employment at the +end of the month, and after that I was confident my real career would +commence. It is, I think, one of the most wonderful things in our poor +human nature, that we should always look forward to the future with so +much confidence, PROportionately the more when we have perhaps the +least justification for it. For my own part, when I left the Company's +office I would not have changed places with the Prime Minister himself; +yet such is the perversity of fate that, not six hours from the time of +my signing the papers, I would have given anything I possessed to have +been allowed to forfeit my premium and to remain ashore. This is how it +came about. + +Sir Benjamin was laid up with an attack of gout, and it became necessary +to obtain his signature to some important letters. About four o'clock in +the afternoon, therefore, the chief clerk sent for me, and giving into +my care a small despatch-bag, bade me take a cab, and drive with it to +Sir Benjamin's residence in Holland Park. Nothing loth, off I set. + +The East India merchant's home was a most imposing place, and it was +with some little awe that I rang the great front-door bell, and +requested the dignified butler to inform me if I could see his master. +Saying he would find out, he ushered me into a small room off the hall, +to which he presently returned with the request that I would accompany +him up-stairs. + +I found my employer propped up in a chair near the fire, nursing his +swaddled leg. Beside him was seated a young lady I had never seen +before, but of whom I had often heard my mother speak,--his daughter +Maud. + +When I entered she was for leaving us, but this Sir Benjamin would not +permit. Having received the papers from my hands, he turned to her and +said (and I regarded it as a mark of unusual condescension)-- + +"My dear, let me introduce Mr. John Ramsay to you; a young gentleman who +is forsaking the East India Avenue to distinguish himself by falling off +the topsail-yard. Mr. Ramsay, my daughter!" + +Then he settled himself down to the papers I had brought, and I was left +free for conversation with his daughter. + +As a rule I am considered bashful with strangers, but such was Maud +Plowden's wonderful knack of setting people at their ease, that I would +defy any man to remain shy very long in her company. I do not mean to +infer by this that she was an extraordinarily beautiful girl, for though +I have heard people go into ecstasies about that, her charm lay not so +much in her face as in her voice and manner. Of one thing at least I am +quite certain, had I a secret I was desirous of obtaining from a man, I +would rather trust Maud to coax it from him than the most beautiful or +dangerous woman in existence. + +When ten minutes later I re-took my seat in the cab, I was in love for +the first time in my life. And then it was that I began to regret not +having been content to remain quietly in Sir Benjamin's office, where I +might have found other opportunities of improving my acquaintance with +his charming daughter. It was certainly the irony of fate, that when I +wanted to embrace the nautical profession, no opportunity was vouchsafed +me; but when I did not want to take to it, I had no option but to do so. + +It is not my intention, even had I the space, to narrate all that +befell me before my departure on my first voyage, but will content +myself by remarking that not only did my uniform almost satisfy me, but +that on my first day of wearing it (and you may be sure, like most +youths, I seized the opportunity as soon as it presented itself), who +should drive up to our door but Maud Plowden herself. I had forgotten +until then that my mother and she had developed a sudden but intimate +acquaintanceship. + +What she said to me or what I said to her during the space that she +remained under our roof I cannot recall, but I remember that when she +went away, it seemed as if all the sunshine had gone out of the house. + +What a strange and indeed weird experience that first falling in love +is, and, as a rule, how signally we fail to estimate its true importance +in the building up of a life's character! Is it not a time of high +ambitions, of pure intentions, of great resolves,--when not to succeed +is a thing impossible? A period of our lives when women are all pure and +noble, and men all brave and honest! Oh, the pity, for humanity's sake, +that there should ever come an awakening! + +On the Thursday following that tea-drinking, I joined my ship, the +_Beretania_, then lying in the East India Docks. My mother came to see +me off, and her tears and parting blessing opened my eyes to my conduct +towards herself, showing me my position in a new and exceedingly +unpleasant light. + +And now as my doings for the term of my apprenticeship would form but +poor reading, let me skip a few years, and come to the time when I +returned to England to a certain extent tired of Father Ocean, but very +proud of my position as third mate. I was then, to all intents and +purposes, a man, six feet in height, broad of shoulder, and, if my +doting mother could be believed, not altogether deficient in good looks. +On that point, however, I must be mute. + +As we had just hailed from China, it was only natural that I should have +brought with me a whole cargo of curios. These I intended for family +presents, and on the day following my arrival I sorted them out, +retaining those I most admired for my mother herself, and setting apart +those I did not care very much about for transmission to any relatives +and acquaintances she might think worthy of the notice. Among the +prettiest of the things was an exquisitely inlaid tortoiseshell and +ivory card-case, which, in my own mind, I had destined for Maud, if I +could but find an opportunity of giving it to her. + +This came sooner than I expected, for on the afternoon following my +arrival she dropped in to five o'clock tea, and as she intended to walk +back, I had the delight, not only of presenting her with my gift, but +also of escorting her, at my mother's desire, a little way upon her +homeward road. Now I'm not vain enough to think that she was already in +love with me (the sin of conceit cannot at least be laid to my charge), +but I'm certain, and even she herself admits it now, that after that +night she was not altogether indifferent to me. However, be that as it +may, I saw her no more during my leave ashore, and it must have been +two full years before I looked into her face again. + +When I reached England the next time, I had not only been twice round +the world, visiting China, Australia, and both North and South America +in so doing, but had passed my examination for chief officer, though I +only held a second officer's position. + +It was close upon Christmas when we arrived, the Serpentine was frozen, +and skating parties were in full swing. Now skating is an amusement of +which I have always been fond, though naturally in my profession I did +not get many opportunities of indulging in it. For this reason, when I +did I made the most of them, and that season was a notable instance. + +One morning, on the Serpentine, I had the good fortune to catch a young +lady just as she was about to fall in such a manner that the consequence +could only have been a nasty sprain. She thanked me prettily, and a few +moments later her protector on the ice crossed over to where I sat +taking off my skates, and added an expression of his gratitude. Somehow +his face seemed strangely familiar to me, and it was not long before I +recognized in him a nephew of Sir Benjamin Plowden, with whom I had been +slightly acquainted in by-gone days. Making myself known, I was taken +across and formally introduced to the lady, who turned out to be his +wife. We strolled part of the way back together, and next day, to my +surprise, I received a card for an "At Home" at their residence the +following night. + +Now though I am not particularly fond of "At Homes," I suppose my +destiny ordained that I should accept this invitation. It was altogether +a brilliant affair, and as there was dancing, and Captain Plowden (for +that was my host's name) was kind enough to see that I did not want for +partners, I enjoyed myself hugely. + +Towards the middle of the evening I happened to be standing near the +door of the ball-room, when, to my astonishment and delight, who should +enter but Maud, leaning on her father's arm. To make myself known to Sir +Benjamin (for I had altered so much since my last interview with him +that I doubt very much if he would have known me else) was the work of +an instant, and before a spectator could have counted a hundred I had +completed the necessary preliminaries, and was waltzing up the room, my +arm round Maud's waist, and my whole being intoxicated with the +fragrance of her presence. + +Whether I danced well or ill, whether my step suited hers, what the +music was, or why we did not collide with every other couple on the +floor, I do not know. I was only conscious that I was dancing with Maud, +that I held her in my arms, that I was looking into her face and +listening to her voice. When the music ceased I led her through the +drawing-room into the conservatory, and finding two vacant seats settled +myself beside her. + +How can I describe all the delights of that evening! It would be +impossible, for beyond the fact that just before supper I blurted out a +question which had been on the tip of my tongue for years, it is all +one mist of rose-coloured light. + +When I left the house I trod on air, I was the happiest man in England, +for I had proposed to Maud, _and she had accepted me_! Though it was +considerably past two o'clock when I reached home, what must I do but +wake the mother up to tell her my glorious tidings; and I know her +congratulations were genuine, though, in her confused state, the dear +old soul could hardly make head or tail of what I said to her. + +As early next morning as my conscience would permit, I set off to call +upon Sir Benjamin, hoping to catch him and get my interview over before +he should leave for the city. Arriving at the house, I was shown into +the morning-room, and I had not been there two minutes before Maud +entered. If she had appeared adorable the night before, she was doubly +so now, and the pretty little air of embarrassment which possessed her +did not, I promise you, detract from her beauty in my eyes. + +"Oh, Jack," she began--for somehow every one calls me Jack--"how good of +you to come so early!" + +I thought it was rather a matter for shame, but didn't say so. + +"I have come to see your father, Maud," I answered, making, I do not +doubt, a rueful face; "and though I know him so well, I feel for all the +world like a criminal going to execution. Have you said anything to him +about it?" + +"Yes," she whispered, nestling her head on my shoulder, "I could not +help it, Jack; you see I have no mother to advise me, and I felt that I +must tell somebody. You don't mind?" + +"Mind, my darling, as if I should mind anything you might do. And what +did he say to it?" I asked this rather anxiously. "I know he won't +altogether approve, but does he dislike the idea so very much?" + +Maud made what is, I believe, correctly termed a little _moue_ before +she replied. + +"Well, to tell you the truth, Jack, I'm afraid he's not overjoyed about +it; but then perhaps it's quite natural; you see, I'm his only child, +and--well, he's not seen as much of you as I have, so he doesn't know +all your good qualities." + +The proper answer to such a speech cannot be put on paper, and, even if +it could, I doubt whether it would prove of very much interest here. It +was accomplished only just in time, for next moment Sir Benjamin +entered, and Maud with an encouraging glance at me withdrew. + +Though he had aged a good deal since I had left his employ, he was brisk +enough this morning, and to my sorrow I could see not best pleased. I +cannot, however, conscientiously say that his greeting was any the less +sincere, but his tone was a little more curt, and his demeanour +decidedly stiffer, than when I had met him on the previous evening. He +seated himself opposite me, and came to business at once. + +"I suppose you're aware, Mr. Ramsay, that my daughter has told me of the +offer you made her last night?" + +When I had signified that I was, he continued-- + +"Now I'll be bound you don't know what a shock a piece of information +like that gives to a man of my years. I was, of course, quite aware that +Maud would be likely to marry sooner or later, but somehow I had never +brought myself face to face with the actual situation before. Do you +know that she is a very considerable heiress?" + +I ventured to remark that I had been so informed, and started to try and +convince him that my offer had nothing whatever to do with such a +circumstance. But he stopped me. + +"I know exactly what you're going to say. If I mistake not, I said it +myself once upon a time. But tell me, John Ramsay, what would you say of +a young man, five-and-twenty years of age, mate of a sailing ship, with +nothing but his pay to depend upon, who proposed to a rich merchant's +daughter with an income of something like six thousand a year. Reflect +for a minute, and then tell me what you would think of him?" + +This was a poser, but I made shift to answer it. + +"I should say that it couldn't matter how much money she had if he +really loved her, and thought he could make her happy." + +He sniffed scornfully. + +"Exactly what I thought. Now that's all very pretty. But to look at it +in another light. We'll suppose that I give my consent to your marriage, +what are your intentions then? Are you going to remain at sea, and +leave your wife unprotected ashore, or are you going to abandon your +profession, and live a life of idle luxury on her money? For, as I +warned you years ago, you're fit for no other calling now." + +I could not answer either way, and I think he saw my difficulty, for he +rose and came over to me. Putting his hand on my shoulder, and speaking +in a kinder tone than he had adopted yet, he said-- + +"Jack Ramsay, you understand what a problem it is. I like you, my boy, +and I like your family; I think you're a steady, honest young fellow, +and a credit to your calling; what is more, I know you love my girl, and +I'm certain that she loves you. For these reasons I shall not definitely +forbid your engagement." + +"Oh, Sir Benjamin," I hastened to say, "how can I express my gratitude!" + +"Hold on, sir, hear me out. Though, as I say, I shall not definitely +forbid your engagement, yet remember, I do not sanction it. I shall not +do so until I see how you behave. If I know that you work hard, and do +your best to advance in your profession, it will be something for me to +go upon, and I may eventually find sufficient reason to allow your +marriage. Now, good-morning. Maud, I don't doubt, is awaiting you in the +drawing-room. You had better tell her what I've told you." + +So saying, the worthy merchant shook me by the hand, and hobbled from +the room, leaving me a good deal more relieved than I had expected to be +by the nature of his communication. + +Over the bliss of the succeeding fortnight I must draw a curtain. Of +course I saw Maud every day; and equally, of course, each twenty-four +hours convinced me more and more of the wisdom of my choice. But, like +the school-boy's Black Monday, the fatal day of parting had to come; +and, accordingly, one miserable Wednesday night I bade my darling +farewell, and next morning, with a heavy heart, rejoined my ship and put +back to sea. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +A CHEQUERED CAREER. + + +To a sailor, perhaps the most trying parts of his courtship are the +lengthy periods he is compelled to spend away from the presence of his +beloved one; and yet, curiously enough, when in later life he comes to +look back upon the whole business, he is pretty certain to discover that +they were not the least pleasant portions of it. However that may be, it +is a crucial test of the genuineness of his affection; and then it is +that he has an opportunity of realizing what truth there is in the old +saying, "Absence makes the heart grow fonder." How often, when pacing +his lonely watch, do you suppose his sweetheart's face rises before him? +How often, when a stiff breeze is blowing, filling the canvas like great +balloons, and driving the good ship, homeward bound, for all she is +worth, do you think the thought of her he will soon hold in his arms, +whose lips he will soon kiss, into whose eyes he will gaze with so fond +a rapture, will cross his mind? Or, if his ship's head be turned away +from home, hasn't he the sweet knowledge ever present with him that a +certain voluminous epistle will meet him at the other end, destined +amply to compensate for the bitterness of parting? Well, I protest, +though separation may be one of the hardest parts of a sailor's +courtship, yet, all things considered, it is worth undergoing, if only +for the joy of reuniting. As the Frenchman has it-- + + "L'absence est a l'amour ce qu'est au feu le vent; + Il eteint le petit, il allume le grand." + +When I bade Maud my first good-bye after our engagement, I was, though I +did not know it, bound on a long cruise. We visited Calcutta, Singapore, +and Hong Kong, crossed the Pacific to San Francisco, thence round the +Horn to Rio; finally returning, _via_ New York, home. By that time, as +may be supposed, I was ravenous--no other word so fully expresses +it--for a glimpse of my darling's face; I felt as if I had not seen her +for a lifetime. + +So soon, therefore, as we were docked, and I could be spared, away I +sped, first home to the old mother, and then, as early as I could +decently excuse myself, to Maud. By the time my cab pulled up at her +door I was in a fever, and I remember well the cabman's expression of +surprise when he realized that instead of his legal fare of +eighteen-pence I had given him five shillings. Summers, the same ancient +butler who opened the door to me on the day I first saw my sweetheart, +invited me to enter now, and the grip I gave his honest hand he +professes to feel even at this distant date. A minute later I was +entering the drawing-room, prepared to clasp my dear girl in my arms. + +At this point occurred a trifling circumstance--so trifling regarded in +the white light of these later days that I almost hesitate to narrate +it--that was, nevertheless, destined to alter the whole current of my +after life, and indirectly to bring me into touch with all the curious +things I have set myself to tell. + +As I have just said, I entered the drawing-room, prepared to bestow upon +Maud the hungry embrace of a long-parted lover. My intentions, however, +were dashed to the ground by the presence of a third party--a man. As he +stood watching us there was nothing for it but to behave like +commonplace mortals, but I promise you I was not grateful to him for his +presence. To say that Maud looked prettier than when I had left her last +would perhaps be hardly the truth (though to my eyes she was +incomparably sweet), for her face had a worn and harrassed expression +which had not been there when I bade her good-bye. Her welcome was as +warm as I could expect under the circumstances, but nevertheless I was +bitterly disappointed by it. + +Her companion's name was Welbourne, Captain Horatio Welbourne, of one of +the Household Regiments, I believe. We exchanged glances, and from that +moment I became furiously jealous of him. I must, however, do him the +justice to admit that he was a fine figure of a man, tall and soldierly, +as befitted his calling. Our introduction effected, Maud proceeded to +dispense the tea she was pouring out when I entered. + +Inwardly chafing to have my sweetheart to myself, it was with the utmost +difficulty I could engage myself in the insipid conversation, through +the mazes of which the gallant captain led us. When he rose to depart +another relay of fashionables arrived, and after standing it for nearly +an hour I made my excuses, and raging against the whole world fled the +house. + +The next afternoon I called again. This time I was fortunate enough to +find Maud alone. I think she was vexed with me for deserting her the +previous day; at any rate, her manner was distinctly cold. As it +happened, we had hardly been a quarter of an hour together before the +self-same Captain Welbourne must needs put in an appearance, bringing +with him the peculiar air of being the tame cat of the house I had +noticed on the previous occasion. I fancy Maud must have had some idea +of what was in my mind, for she became painfully embarrassed, and +noticing this, my suspicions grew and grew. How unjust I was to her, I +can now see, but at the time I could not help remembering that she was +an heiress, and that the gallant captain was really a most attractive +person. Yet I determined I would not allow myself to become jealous +without good cause. + +That was, however, soon forthcoming, and, I blush to relate it now, +through the gossip of a female tittle-tattler. Unhappily I was in such a +state that I had no option but to believe it true. And, being ever +impetuous and hot-headed, nothing would suit me then but I must call +upon Maud while under the influence of my anger. Naturally enough she +resented the terms in which I couched my remarks, and I left the house +in high dudgeon, more than ever convinced that she was false to me. A +week went by without a word on either side, and at the end of it I put +back to sea nearly broken-hearted. As if to accentuate the sting, that +was my first voyage as chief officer. + +From this point I date my downfall. Perhaps I was tired of the sea, or +perhaps I was still piqued by what I could not help considering Maud's +ill-treatment of me; at any rate, I got it into my poor addled brain +that when we reached South Australia I would cry quits with the nautical +profession, and if possible settle down out there to a life ashore. This +scheme I put into practice, with the result that, after much jobbery, I +obtained a situation in a ship-chandler's office in Port Adelaide, +retaining it until my employer's fraudulent insolvency threw me on the +world again. Then, a new gold-field breaking out inland, off I tramped +to it, imbued with the intention of making my fortune, and returning to +the mother-country a millionaire. This venture, however, was no more +successful than the last, and after nearly three months' hard work, all +I had to show for it were six dwts. of gold, and a bad attack of typhoid +fever that nearly made an end of me. For nearly ten weeks I was confined +to my bed in the tent-hospital, to leave it more like a skeleton than a +human being. + +What to do now I had no idea. I was bankrupt; my claim had been seized; +I was too weak to tramp the bush in search of work; and indeed had I +found any I doubt if I could have undertaken it. Added to all this, or +perhaps I should say as the result of all this, I grew exceedingly +despondent. Indeed the horrors of that period I am loth to dwell upon, +save that it gave me an opportunity of experiencing one of those little +touches of kindness which go to prove that after all humanity in the +abstract is not quite so bad as it is usually made out to be. + +From the gold-field where I had contracted my illness, I had wandered, +partly by Government assistance and partly by my own exertions, as far +as the famous silver-mining town of Broken Hill, just over the New South +Wales border. Here, in the midst of barbaric waste and splendour, a +relapse seized me, and for nigh upon three weeks I hovered, in the Town +Hospital, on the border-land of Life and Death. + +When I said farewell to that kindly institution, I was at my wits' end +as to my future. I had no money, and I was without the means of earning +any. Fortunately it was summer time, and sleeping in the open air was +not only quite possible but very pleasant, so I had no concern about +lodgings; that, however, was only a minor matter, for I was starving. +Oh, how bitterly I regretted having forsaken my old profession! No one +will ever know the agony I endured. I could have fought the world for +the very crumbs that were used to fall from the cuddy table. Day after +day I toiled up one street and down another, from mine to mine, and +smelter to smelter, seeking for the work which never offered. + +One sunset, weary and horribly sick at heart, I was crawling back to my +usual camping place on the outskirts of the town, when a sudden +faintness seized me. The whole world turned black before my eyes, I +reeled, and fell unconscious by the road-side. + +I remember nothing of what occurred, till I awoke to find myself lying +upon a stretcher in a small tent. A man was leaning over me, and when my +eyes opened he seemed to regard it as a matter for considerable +satisfaction. I tried to collect my thoughts sufficiently to ask where I +was, but seeing my lips attempting to form the sentence, he stopped me +by saying-- + +"Naa, naa, laddie, tha' must just bide still a bit longer. Dunna tha' +try to talk, or tha'll be maakin' thaself ill agin. There's na call for +hurry, a tell tha'." + +That my kind friend, for such he had surely proved himself, was a miner, +I had no doubt--his dress, his kit, and even his accent proved that; but +otherwise I could hazard no guess as to where I was. Being too weak to +bestow much consideration upon the matter, I closed my eyes and +immediately fell asleep again. When I woke it was broad daylight, and my +friend had just returned from shift. He hastened to put food before me, +talking incessantly the while. From him I learnt that he and his mate +had discovered me lying insensible beside the road, not fifty yards from +his tent; that between them they had carried me in and put me to bed, +and that I had been unconscious for something like six hours. +Naturally, I expressed my gratitude, but he would have none of it, +bidding me get well before I talked of saying "Thank you." + +My lucky star was evidently in the ascendant. Under his care--for while +the kindest and gentlest, he was also the most exacting of nurses--I +soon made visible improvement, and in a week was so far recovered as to +be able to get up and potter about the tent. It was time for me to be +thinking of moving on again. + +"Well, laddie," my benefactor said to me one day, "tha's lookin' braavly +noo." + +"Thanks to you," I hastened to reply, "for without your care, John +Trelsar, I don't know where I should have been to-day; not here, at any +rate." + +"Softly lad, softly, I did na more fa' thee than tha'd do fa' me, I +reckon, so we'll cra' quits to it." + +"That's all very well; but I owe my life to you, you'll never make me +see anything but that. And now, I wonder what's the best thing for me to +do. I can't stay idle here; there's no work to be got in the town, so +unless I ship to sea again, I don't know what's to become of me." + +Trelsar was all alive in a second. + +"I've got it," he said, slapping his huge hand on his knee; "there's +Seth Polwill below there in Adelaide, look see--working in the Fire +Brigade--tha' must go to he, and say Jack Trelsar sent tha', and, mark +my words, he'll put thee on the wa' for some'ut." + +This Seth Polwill was a great hero of my benefactor's, upon whose +appearance, sayings, and actions, he was never tired of discoursing. +They were Townies, that is, they hailed from the same place in the Old +Country; and as it appeared later, it was to Seth's advice that Trelsar +owed his emigration, and the good position he now occupied. + +"That's all very well," I remarked, "but how am I to get to Adelaide? I +haven't a red cent to my name, and I don't think I can screw the +Government for another pass; they were nasty enough about the last." + +"Now, don't thee trouble thaself about that," said John. "If thee wants +a pound or two, to see thee on tha way, why not come to tha friend, Jan +Trelsar; never fear, lad, but what a'll trust thee." + +Upon my deciding to accept a loan, a piece of paper, a pen, and a bottle +of ink were obtained, and a letter of introduction to the all-important +Polwill produced. + +Armed with this, the very next morning off I accordingly set for the +South, arriving in due course in Adelaide. So soon as was possible, I +made my way to the Fire Brigade Station, and inquired for Seth Polwill. +The firemen were at dinner, but one whom I should have known anywhere +for the man I sought, came to the door and inquired my business. He was +a good-looking, well set-up fellow, and when he spoke, I noticed he had +none of the Cousin Jack dialect so conspicuous in my benefactor's +conversation. Having handed him my letter, he sat down on the wheel of +the big engine to examine it. He read it through two or three times +before venturing a word; then rising, he shook me gravely by the hand, +and inquired after Trelsar's health. + +After which, he remarked-- + +"You don't look well." + +I replied that I had but recently recovered from a very serious illness, +and this led me on to narrate how I came to meet his friend. He listened +attentively, and when I had finished, said-- + +"You say you've been a sailor?" + +I replied in the affirmative, though I refrained from telling him in +what capacity, for I had a certain delicacy in letting people know that +I had shown myself sufficiently a fool to give up a chief officer's +billet afloat for starvation ashore. + +"Well, look you here, Mr. Ramsay," he said, "I should very much like to +help you to something, if only to oblige my friend. The best then that I +can do is to tell you that there is a vacancy here. We want another +hand, and, as perhaps you know, we prefer sailors. If you can qualify, I +don't doubt for a moment but that the superintendent will put you on. +Take my advice, go into his office at once, and ask him yourself. You +can't do any harm by asking, even if you don't get what you ask for." + +Thanking him for his assistance, I went straight to the superintendent's +room. Once there, I stated my business, making the best possible case I +could of it. The superintendent eyed me narrowly. + +"You say you've been to sea," he said. "For how long?" + +"Twelve years," I replied. + +"In what ships?" + +I gave him the names of the vessels and their owners. + +"In what capacity did you serve aboard them?" + +"From apprentice to chief officer," I said, feeling it would be the +safest plan to tell him everything. + +He stared when he heard my answer, and looked me carefully up and down. + +"I don't know that that's exactly a recommendation, my man," he said. +"Chief officers who exchange the sea for a fireman's billet don't +exactly answer the description of the man I want. I suppose you're aware +we're considered a crack brigade? If I take you on, you'll have to prove +you're no skrimshanker. Our motto here is 'Smartness and sobriety,' do +you understand?" + +I remarked that I did. Then, giving me a note to the doctor, who would +examine me, he bade me come back to him next day. + +To make a long story short, the doctor's examination proving +satisfactory, I was enrolled a member of the Adelaide Fire Brigade, with +permission to do as much work as the day had room for, give as much +satisfaction as possible, and risk my life in the interest of the city +and the reputation of the Brigade as often as opportunity occurred. All +things considered, it was by no means an unpleasant life, and until the +novelty wore off, I believe I enjoyed it. One strange coincidence, +however, happened to me during my connection with it, which I take to be +so extraordinary that I must ask your indulgence while I narrate it. + +One miserable, gusty night, early in winter, the alarm sounded for a +fire. Our promptness was proverbial, and almost before the bell had +ceased to sound we were racing for the scene. It turned out to be the +New Federation Hotel, in King William Street, and when we arrived the +whole building was one enormous blaze. The fire had originated, so it +was said, in a small store cupboard behind the bar, and had spread all +over the ground-floor, thus practically cutting off the escape of those +lodged in the rooms above. According to the manager's statement, nearly +every bedroom was occupied that night, and so far only four people had +effected exits. Within two minutes of our arrival we had the escapes up +against the building, and were passing the terrified occupants down as +fast as we could lay hold of them. It was dangerous work, but we were +not paid to think of that. + +Suddenly, at a side window, I saw a woman preparing to hurl herself into +the street below. The crowd noticed her too, and raised a yell. Running +a ladder round, I mounted to her side, and before she could carry out +her purpose had taken her in my arms and borne her safely to the ground. +As we reached it, a weird, dishevelled, scallywag of a man rushed +towards us, with arms outstretched, crying, "Oh, my God, my God, she's +safe--my wife!" + +_In that brief moment I recognized my old enemy, Captain Welbourne, the +man who I believed had deprived me of Maud!_ + +Next day I learnt that he was on his wedding tour, and what interested +me far more, _that his wife's maiden name was Hawkhurst_! Two points, +therefore, raised themselves for my consideration: either he had never +loved Maud; or he had declared himself, and she had refused him. If this +latter supposition were correct, what could have induced her action? I +must leave it to my readers to imagine what agonies of self-reproach I +suffered after this discovery. I saw plainly that I had wrecked my whole +life by one little foolish exhibition of jealousy, and that too without +the slightest cause or justification. A hundred times a day I cursed my +senseless stupidity. But there, what is to be gained by opening the old +wound? Rather let me draw a curtain over such a painful subject, one +which even to-day I hardly like to think about. + +Now, though life in the Fire Brigade might and undoubtedly did possess +attractions, they were such as were liable to become exceedingly +monotonous after a time. So it chanced that when I had been employed +therein nearly eight months, a friend heard of a situation as +store-keeper, on a Darling River sheep station, which he was kind enough +to think might suit me. At his suggestion I applied for the position, +and had the good fortune to secure it. + +Sending in my resignation to the Board, I left Adelaide, and proceeded +into the Bush. But the billet did not come up to expectations, and when +I had given it a good trial, I discarded it in favour of another as cook +to an Overlanding Party. In this capacity I wandered far afield, with +the result that at the end of eighteen months I found myself in +Brisbane, tired of the Bush, and pining for a breath of sea air again. + +While inactive in Brisbane, an English letter was forwarded to me from +the Melbourne Post-office. The writer was a cousin, and her mission was +to announce the death of my poor old mother, after a brief illness. The +blow, as may be supposed, affected me keenly, the more so because I +could not but feel that, all things considered, I had not been the son +to her that she deserved. Poor old lady, I never knew how much she was +to me until I had lost her. Her death, and the thought that I should +never see her loving face, or hear her gentle voice again, seemed to +sever the one remaining link that united me to my old life. Could I, I +asked myself, be the same person as the little boy she took to school at +Plymouth? Could I be the same John Ramsay who followed her into Sir +Benjamin Plowden's office, so many years ago? Yes--the same, but oh! how +differently situated! With Virgil, I could well cry, "_O mihi +praeteritos referat si Jupiter annos!_" Alas! those dear dead years, how +bright they are to look back upon, yet how shamefully I misused them! + +But in spite of the bitterness of the blow, I could not go on brooding +over my loss for ever. My mother was gone, nothing could bring her back +to me. It behoved me now to look after myself, for my necessities were +on the point of obtruding themselves upon my notice once more. + +When I found that the money I had managed to save from my various +employments was running short, I began to wonder how I should obtain +another situation. The prospect looked gloomy enough in all conscience, +when Fate, which was steadily bearing me on towards a certain goal, took +me in hand again, and by permitting me to overhear a certain +conversation, led me into a track that was fraught with much danger to +my future peace. The speakers were the owner of a Thursday Island +Pearling schooner, and a well-known boat-builder. Their talk had +reference to a new lugger the skipper had lately purchased, and the +difficulty of finding hands to work her North. Here was the very chance +for me. + +As soon as they separated, I accosted the Pearler, and offered my +services. When he heard my qualifications, he engaged me at once; and so +it came about that next day I was a seaman aboard the _Crested Wave_, +bound for Thursday Island and the Pearl fisheries. + +I need not delay you while I enter upon any description of the voyage +northwards, more than to say that we arrived safely at our destination, +and having taken a diver aboard, at once set sail again, this time for +the Solomons, where we remained cruising about, with fair success, for +nigh upon three months. + +Though I had, on several occasions, crossed the Pacific in deep-water +ships, this was the first time I had pottered about among the Islands +themselves, and the new life came to me as a revelation. Even as I sit +here writing, the memory of those glorious latitudes rises and sends a +thrill through me. There is a saying, that the man who has once known +the Himalayas never forgets their smell; I say that the man who has +once heard the thunder of the surf upon the reefs, who has smelt the +sweet incense of the tropic woods, and felt the invigorating breath of +the trade winds upon his cheek, can never rid his memory of the +fascination of those Southern seas! + +By the time we returned to Thursday Island a fair sum in wages was owing +me, and I think I had won a good reputation with my skipper, for he was +anxious that I should take a holiday, and then set sail with him again. +I resolved to think about it, and in the meantime to stretch my legs for +a week or two ashore, seeing what was to be seen, and as far as possible +enjoying the peculiar delights of Thursday Island. + +"Come with me," said a shipmate one evening. "You think because you've +seen the Japanese you know the Island. Why, man, you're only on the +outskirts; you don't even know Juanita!" + +"And who's Juanita?" I asked, without interest, for I was wearied to +death of the Lizzies, Pollies, Nancies, and their sisterhood. + +By way of reply he ran his arm through mine, and headed along the beach, +presently to cry a halt alongside the palms which mark the entrance to +the "Orient" Hotel. Knowing this house to be the resort of mail-boat +skippers, schooner-owners, and high-toned gentry of that class, and to +have a fleecing reputation, I had hitherto religiously avoided it. A +flood of bright light streamed from the doorway, and sounds of laughter +invited us to enter. + +A couple of Pearlers and a woman were the only occupants of the room. +The men were of no account, but the woman's face riveted my attention at +once. She was not exactly the most beautiful woman--I mean as far as +refinement went--that I had ever seen, but she was certainly the +handsomest. As we entered, her companions bade her "good-night," and +went out. Then my friend introduced me in proper form. + +"Mr. Ramsay--Madame Juanita." + +She held out her hand and bade me welcome, and from that moment I was a +lost man. What sort of fascination it was that she exercised over me I +cannot say; I only know that when I left the "Orient" and stumbled out +into the starlit night again I had forgotten Maud, forgotten my own +impoverished condition, forgotten my self-respect, and was madly, +desperately, absurdly in love with this beautiful and mysterious +creature. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +SACRED AND PROFANE LOVE. + + +Somewhere or other I remember to have seen a picture of the two sorts of +love which may enter man's life. I think it was called "Sacred and +Profane Love," and it may possibly have been by one of the Old Masters. +But wherever or whatever it was, it seemed to me that I had now had +experience of both passions. Maud was the first, Juanita was the second. +I had loved Maud for herself alone; Juanita fascinated me purely by her +personal charms, and by a certain Bohemianism which, while it +occasionally almost frightened me, held me in chains, that were to all +intents and purposes stronger than links of iron. For it must not be +imagined that my first visit to the "Orient" was my last. In fact, now +that I had once fallen her victim, I was hardly to be found elsewhere. +As the first proof of the power she exercised over me, I declined my old +skipper's offer to ship for another cruise, preferring idleness and +poverty ashore, with the opportunities it presented of seeing the woman +I so slavishly adored, to a life of money-making and hardship at sea. + +So day in day out found me by Juanita's side, either loafing in the +hotel itself, or when she could leave her duties, boating in the bay, +wandering about the island, or climbing Fortification Hill to admire the +beautiful panorama visible from its summit. Looking back on that period, +I am smitten with a feeling of intense shame. But at the time I lived +only to be constantly by her side. Maud was as much forgotten as though +she had never existed. + +It must not be supposed, however, that with one so fair as Juanita I +should have the field entirely to myself. Women of her stamp were too +uncommon in Thursday Island to lack admirers. But among all my rivals +there was only one of whom I entertained any fear--a Pole, and men said +a titled refugee--by name Panuroff. He was a big, handsome man, with a +peculiarly reckless air, certain to possess a great fascination for +susceptible members of the opposite sex. Not that I mean in any way to +infer that Juanita encouraged his advances, for I think, though she +preferred him to the majority of those who paid court to her, they were +not always on the best of terms. How she came to take to me so quickly I +have never been able to understand, but somehow she was never tired of +listening to my adventures, and particularly those relating to my sea +career. On the point of my capabilities to take charge of and navigate a +vessel she cross-questioned me continually, until I felt compelled to +ask if she thought of setting up as a ship-owner herself, and wanted me +to enter her employ. She laughed the matter off, saying that if she had +money to invest it would certainly be in a schooner; but as she hadn't, +well, she'd have to wait until she got it before talking about officers +and such like. In fact, this idea of possessing a boat seemed, as far as +I could judge, to be her only thought and aim in life. But her real +idea, and how I figured in working it out, you shall, if you have not +already guessed it, learn directly. + +One night when we had thoroughly come to understand each other, I +hurried down as soon as my evening meal was over to the "Orient." As +most of the Pearling luggers were at sea, it was a slack time for +hotel-keepers, and when I entered the bar Juanita was alone, hard at +work upon her interminable calculations. For nearly an hour we remained +in conversation. Then our _tete-a-tete_ was interrupted by the entrance +of a third party, who, as ill-luck had it, was none other than Count +Panuroff before-mentioned. I could see that Juanita was not best pleased +at his appearance, and during the time he remained in the room her +behaviour towards him was barely civil. He noticed this, and his glances +towards myself betokened a resentment that only waited an opportunity to +take active form. Nor can I with truth aver that I did not let him see +that I rejoiced at his discomfiture. When Juanita left him and returned +to my side he sat himself down in a corner, and watched us out of +sullen, half-closed eyes. I felt sure mischief was brewing, and I was +not disappointed. + +Partly for the purpose of annoying him, and partly to see how long he +would sit in his corner, sulking like a bear with a sore head, I +prolonged my visit until some time after the usual hour for closing. +When I left the house it was nearly twelve o'clock--a rough, tempestuous +night, with a strong wind blowing, and a full moon dodging inky clouds +across a somewhat unhappy-looking sky. Leaving the Sea-Front I struck +inland towards my abode, but I had not proceeded very far before my ear +caught the sound of footsteps following me. Presently a voice I hardly +recognized called upon me to stop. I did so, and turning, faced my +pursuer. As you will have guessed, it was Panuroff. He came up to me, +and clutching me by the arm, tried to speak. But his rage was so great +that for the moment it not only deprived him of speech, but shook him +like the palsy. When he found his tongue he blurted out-- + +"I'll kill you! I'll kill you! I'll kill you!" + +He would have gone on repeating this for an indefinite time had I not +thrown off his hand, and said-- + +"I advise you to be a little more careful, my friend, or you'll get +yourself into trouble. In this country you won't be allowed to go about +killing people just as you please." + +My coolness only seemed to heap additional fuel on his already +surcharged fires. He almost foamed at the mouth. Grasping my arm again, +he hissed-- + +"Coward! coward! I knew you were a coward!" + +Not being able to stand this, I did my best to knock him down. It was a +futile attempt, however, for he leapt on one side, and in doing so +struck me a heavy blow on the side of my face. + +"There," he cried, almost dancing in the moonlight. "What now?" + +"Now," I said, as quietly as I could under the circumstances, "you've +done it, and I'll have your life if you're twenty times mad!" + +"For once you talk like a man," he remarked. "Come with me, and we'll +settle it now and for ever. She shall see who is the better man." + +If I had any scruples left, that reference to Juanita obliterated them; +and so side by side we tramped through the bush round the elbow of the +hill to an open spot among ferns and aloe bushes, about the centre of +the island. It was a strange place surrounded by giant ant-hills, which +in many cases reared themselves quite eight feet above the ground, like +monuments in a well-populated cemetery. + +Here Panuroff stopped and took his coat off. I followed his example. +Then from his breast he drew a sort of stiletto, with which, I suppose, +he had armed himself on purpose for the present occasion. I had of +course my sheath-knife. While we were making our preparations the moon +emerged from behind a bank of clouds, and as she did so the wind dropped +and the faint clang of eight bells came up to us from a steamer in the +harbour. + +I could hardly believe that I was standing face to face with a +fellow-creature, my one aim and object being to take his life. But it +is a strange fact that man is never so dangerous as when his passions +are not roused, that is to say, when he is able to enter upon the work +of butchery with a contemplative and evenly balanced mind. Contrary to +what I should have expected, I had not the least fear as to the result. + +For perhaps a minute we stood regarding each other. I could hear his +excited breathing as he prepared for his spring. Then like a wild cat he +gathered himself together, and leapt towards me. I sprang on one side, +but not before his knife had grazed my arm. The struggle had commenced +in downright earnest. Like game cocks, we circled round and round each +other, waiting and watching for an opportunity to strike. It was no +child's play, for we were both active men in first-class training. + +Suddenly my foot caught in a boulder, and for a second my attention was +diverted from his eyes. It was fatal; with one great bound he rushed in +upon me, and clutching me round the neck, attempted to drive his knife +between my shoulder and my neck. With the strength of despair I clutched +the wrist of the hand that held the knife, and backwards and forwards, +round and round, here, there, and everywhere about that little plot of +ground we passed, swaying to and fro, breathing hard, and wrestling for +our very lives. Surely such a struggle the island, with all its strange +and mysterious population, could never have witnessed before! At last my +right hand reached his throat--my left still held the wrist--I closed +my fingers on his windpipe. + +Such is the strange construction of the human mind, that at that moment, +when both our lives trembled in the balance, I remember, distinctly, +thinking what a wonderful contrivance the Adam's apple of the throat +must be. + +Further and further his head went back; his breath came from him in +thick gasps. The moon shone clear, and by her light I could see the look +of despair settling in his eyes. At last, to avoid being throttled, he +fell to the ground, I with him. Here the battle recommenced, for both +our holds were loosened by the fall. Rolling over, he seized upon me, +and raised his knife; yet again I clutched the hand that held it, and +with one gigantic effort threw him off; but the exertion was too much +for me, and before I could rise he was upon me, and had stabbed me +twice. I remember no more. + +When I recovered my senses, I was too weak and faint to care very much +where I was. But somehow, in a hazy sort of fashion, I got hold of the +idea that I was back in John Trelsar's tent at Broken Hill. After a +while, however, curiosity got the upper hand of indifference, and I +re-opened my eyes to look about me. It was a strange sort of room that I +found myself in, and one that it did not take me a year to see, had +lately been in the occupation of Chinamen. A couple of celestial jumpers +hung on pegs behind the door, and an opium pipe stood on a shelf upon +the wall. Through the small window opposite my bed I could distinctly +hear the sound of surf breaking on a shore, and as if to prove that my +reasoning powers were in no way impaired by my terrible experience, I +made it out that I must either be on one of the neighbouring islands, or +on a part of Thursday which I had never visited. For several reasons I +inclined towards the latter belief. + +How I knew I was not in any proximity to the township itself was the +fact, plainly discernible to one having experience in such matters, that +the sea was not breaking on sand, but on shingle; and what was more +important still, among mangrove trees. Now I knew that the beach on the +settlement side of Thursday Island was sandy, while that on the other +side I had heard was pebbly; on the former there were no mangroves, on +the latter they abounded. But observation of these things was beyond me +for very long, so, feeling tired, I turned my face to the wall, and was +presently asleep again. + +Many hours must have elapsed before I woke; when I did the sun had set, +and the room would have been dark but for a candle burning on a table by +my side. Rather dazed by my long sleep, I looked around me, and as I did +so my eyes lighted upon the most extraordinary being I think I have ever +beheld in my life. + +He was an albino, and what was worse, a dwarf albino. He sat upon a high +box, and was staring hard at me; his hair, very long and snow-white, was +just moved by the draught from the window; and his eyes, which I +discovered later to be of a peculiar shade of pink, flashed and +twinkled like enormous rubies. All the time he cracked his +finger-joints, first one way, then another, then backwards, then +forwards, with a most alarming noise. + +When he saw that I was awake, he scrambled down from his perch and +approached me, saying in a curiously high-pitched voice-- + +"Ho! ho! my friend, so you are awake again! Well, you've had a wonderful +nap, twelve hours on end, or I'm a Dutchman." + +I answered that I was surprised to hear it, and went on to ask where I +was, and how I came there. + +"Well, that's a long story," he said, still cracking his fingers, "but +if you want to hear it, I'll tell you. I found you on the bend of the +hill early this morning, lying like a dead man, with pints of good blood +run to waste round about you. From the look of the ground I fixed it, +young man, that you'd been fighting. But as that was no business of +mine, I didn't take any heed of it, but just picked you up, and brought +you in here, where you've been ever since." + +He did not tell me that had I been any other than John Ramsay he would +have let me lie there. But the reason for that, and how I came to hear +of it, you shall know later on. + +Of course I thanked him for his charity, but again, like John Treslar, +he would not hear of it. Among his many extraordinary talents, he +numbered a knowledge of surgery, and under his care I made rapid +progress towards recovery. Fortunately, though the wounds Panuroff had +inflicted upon me were deep, they were by no means dangerous. + +At the end of the week I was almost myself again. All the time, my +strange little benefactor was indefatigable in his attentions, and +pretended to take a wonderful interest in myself and my welfare. Among +other peculiarities, he was as inquisitive as an old woman, and before I +had known him a week, he had not only drawn from me the name of my +antagonist (whom I was rejoiced to hear had fled the settlement, +believing he had killed me), but had made himself conversant with my +passion for Juanita. On his own side he was more reticent, and do what I +would, I could not draw out of him either his business on the island, or +in fact anything important connected with himself or his affairs. That +he had seen more of the world than even the majority of those who +consider themselves great travellers, I soon gathered; that he was for +some years in Chili, was another thing I discovered. But beyond these +two small circumstances, I could learn nothing of his past. One +obligation he imposed in return for what he had done for me, and that +was, that I should never mention him to any living soul, and especially +not to Juanita. + +"Why especially not to Juanita?" I asked, surprised that he should bring +her into the matter. + +"Because women wonder, and when they wonder they pry, and when they pry +they make mischief, and when they make mischief they're the devil, and +there isn't room for Satan and me in this house." + +He paused for a minute, his twinkling little eyes watching me all the +time, and then went on-- + +"You see, my appearance is against me, and as I'm sensitive on the +point, I don't want to make new friends. There you have it in a +nutshell. If you told your sweetheart anything about me, she'd want to +see me, and then the mischief would be done." + +Little knowing to what I was pledging myself, I readily gave the promise +he asked of me, and then bidding him good-bye, set off across the island +(for his house was, as I had conjectured, on the side farthest from the +township) to Juanita. + +I found her as usual in the bar, and her surprise at seeing me was +either complimentary or not as I chose to take it. She informed me that +she had made up her mind I had decamped from the island. And when I told +her what had occasioned my absence, she said she had always thought +something of the sort would happen, for Panuroff had dropped hints which +frightened her. Why she had not warned me I could not make out, and +indeed her whole attitude towards myself was extremely puzzling. Of +course she knew I loved her, not only because she could see it in my +face, but because I had reiterated the statement a thousand times or +more; but though she professed to return my affection, at times I could +not help a feeling that it was not quite as genuine as she pretended. + +Just as before, her one thought was to procure a boat, in which to sail +among the islands. Hardly a day went by without some reference to it, +until I began to hate even the sound of the word "schooner." At last +one night she asked me point blank if I could see any way to help her; +letting me understand very plainly that her future treatment of myself +would depend in a great measure upon my answer. + +Though I knew such a thing was next door to impossible, I did not say +so, but intimated that she should first tell me why she wanted to go. +Then the whole mystery came out. Drawing me into a corner, with the +prettiest little air of confidence, she told me the following remarkable +story:-- + +"My Jack," she said, taking my hands in hers, and speaking with the +foreign accent that lent such a charm to her simplest words, "have pity +on your poor Juanita. I am in your hands entirely, for I have no one to +advise me, save you. Now you shall know all my sad history. As I have so +often told you, I am from Santiago, and it was from a convent there that +I ran away to marry the young Englishman, who, you may have heard, so +cruelly ill-treated me. Together we wandered here, there, and +everywhere; always in debt, always in difficulty; to-day we had plenty; +to-morrow we had nothing. My husband had squandered two fortunes +already, and when we were at our last pinch, a third came to him. As you +know is often the way, Jack, he suddenly grew as mean and stingy as +before he had been spendthrift and reckless. + +"Instead of living as became our new fortune, we literally starved. That +he had drawn all his money from the bank I discovered; but what he did +with it, or where he kept it, I could never find out. Then he fell ill, +and the doctors said he must have a long sea voyage, and absolute rest, +or his brain would become unhinged. If the truth were only known, I +think it was so then. + +"We were in San Francisco at the time, and I tried hard to persuade him +to sail for England. He would not go, making the excuse that it would +cost more money than he could afford. But as he had to have rest, he +took passages for himself and for me (though he grudged my accompanying +him) on board a tiny schooner trading among the islands. + +"We set sail, but instead of the voyage doing him good, he grew weaker +and weaker every hour. Oh, the horror of those days, I shall never +forget it! At last he died, making the captain promise to bury him on an +island we were close to at the time. + +"The funeral over, we came on here. Having no money to take me further, +I was compelled to remain in the island, but immediately on my arrival, +I wrote to his lawyers, to see what they could tell me of my affairs. +They replied that my husband had drawn his money from the bank in gold, +and had hinted to them that he was going to bury it. But something +further, mark you! That, to the best of their knowledge, he always +carried the directions for finding it in a locket round his neck. As +soon as I read that, I remembered that he did wear a locket, which he +had once been furiously angry with me for attempting to open. + +"So you see, Jack, nothing remains for me but to return to that island, +dig up my husband's body, and recover the precious locket. Now I have +told you my secret; I am in your hands entirely. I love you, and I +trust you implicitly. If any one else finds the locket before me, I am +ruined. Think what I have suffered in this place. Then tell me will you +help me--yes or no?" + +Tears were in her eyes, and she looked so beseechingly at me that I was +compelled to take her in my arms and comfort her with promises of help. +That her story was true, I never for one moment doubted. + +When I left the "Orient," it was with the firm intention of finding +money enough somewhere to hire a schooner, that I might assist her in +her search. I felt, to do a service of this kind would be to win her +gratitude for ever, and turning this over in my mind, I set out for the +Albino's residence, resolved to place the matter before him. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +RAMSAY BECOMES A SHIP-OWNER. + + +When I entered the Albino's abode and confronted him, he gave a strange +sort of laugh. + +"Why, John Ramsay," he cried, "what on earth's the matter with you? You +look as doleful as the man whose wife ran away with a tinker, and took +his last five pounds to pay their travelling expenses. What's wrong?" + +Thereupon I sat myself down, and told him as much of the story as I +thought would enable him to advise me. He curled himself up on his bed +opposite me, swinging his legs and cracking his fingers till I had +finished. Then he whistled in a strange, uncanny fashion. + +"You say your sweetheart, what's her name--Juanita--buried her husband +on one of the islands out yonder?" he began, jerking his thumb over his +shoulder in the direction of the Pacific Ocean generally. + +I nodded. + +"She never before told you she was a widow I believe?" + +"Well, all things considered, it was hardly likely she would. What's +more, I never asked her." + +"How do you know she's not leading you on? How d'you know she doesn't +want to get you out to sea, and then collar the whole caboose? It's a +pity you're so simple with women, isn't it?" + +Thinking this question hardly required an answer, I lit my pipe for +something to do, and waited for him to continue. All this time he had +never taken his eyes off me, but looked me through and through as if +endeavouring to read my very soul. He was evidently revolving some +problem in his mind, and it must have been a puzzler, if the expression +on his face could be taken as evidence. When he spoke, it was with a +purpose. + +"Look here, John Ramsay, I like the cut of your jib, or you wouldn't be +sitting there opposite me. I'm generally considered an 'old Bob Ridley' +to cross, but any man'll tell you I make an up and down good friend. As +I say, I've taken a fancy to you, and what's more, I've scraped together +a bit of money here and there. Tell me one thing,--are you sure this, +what's her outlandish name again--Juanita--is really fond of you?" + +"How can I tell? She says she is." + +"And you're fool enough to think you can't be happy without her?" + +"If it is foolish to think so, I am. What are you driving at?" + +He scratched his head musingly. Presently he asked-- + +"How much d'you think it would cost to hire a schooner for the trip +down to this island she talks about?" + +"I don't know, because she hasn't told me where the island is." + +"Well, now, that's what I call a pity, but at any rate"--here he leant +towards me and dropped his voice almost to a whisper--"if you think your +chance with her hangs on your finding money enough for that cruise dash +my wig if I won't lend it to you." + +If he had offered to produce the moon from his waistcoat pocket, and +give me a bite of it, I could not have been more surprised. He was the +last man in the world I should have expected to receive assistance from. +So, for a second or two, I hardly knew what to say, then I managed to +stammer out-- + +"That's awfully generous of you seeing you know nothing about me; but do +you mean it? Honest Injun?" + +"Real downright honest Injun!" + +In his excitement he had struggled down from his bed, and now stood +before me as weird a picture in the half light as any man could wish to +see. + +"Well, there you are," he said; "there's my offer--take it or leave it, +just as you please. Up to three hundred pounds the money's yours; come +for it when you will." + +"But I may never be able to repay you. Remember, bar what I've told you, +you don't know anything of me." + +"Never mind that; I like the cut of your jib, that's enough for me. If +you can't repay me inside of a year you may before I die. At any rate, +there it is, and good luck go with you. Only, remember your promise--not +a word to Juanita of me; you'll find it safest in the long run to let +her suppose you're doing it all yourself." + +Had I only known then the reasons which actuated this surprising offer, +I doubt if I should have been so quick to accept it; but not being able +to see into the future, of course it was impossible for me to avert the +trouble that was threatening my devoted head. + +As soon as I could decently escape him, I made my excuses, and set off +for the township to tell the good news to Juanita. + +So high were my hopes, and such was my exultation at having brought the +matter to such a highly successful issue, that I can recall nothing of +my walk until I found myself entering the verandah of the Orient Hotel. +For a moment I lingered on the threshold, listening to the music of +Juanita's voice within. When I entered, it was to find her leaning +across the counter, in earnest conversation with a tall Pearler, whom I +had seen hovering about her before. Now, it was a curious thing, that +though I had hurried with all the speed I could command to tell her the +news, and had been picturing to myself the rapturous way in which she +would receive it, on seeing her thus engaged I almost regretted having +such good tidings to impart. + +Whether she was out of patience with me for something I had done, or +whether she purposely wished to make me jealous, I do not know; at any +rate, save for a little nod, she took no notice of my entrance, but +returned to her conversation with the stranger, leaving me to cool my +heels and scowl till she should deign to speak to me. After a while the +Pearler seemed to recollect business elsewhere; he drank up his liquor, +and went out, leaving us together. She put his glass under the counter +to be washed, and then came along the bar to where I stood. + +"Well," she said. + +"Well," I replied, now thoroughly angered. + +"If you've nothing more to say than that," she continued spitefully, +"you'd better go home and sleep. You've been drinking!" + +"It's a lie," I said roughly, "and you know it, but if you think you're +going to stir me into quarrelling with you, you're very much mistaken. I +wouldn't quarrel with you to-night for a thousand pounds. But I'll tell +you what I will do; I'll break the head of that jackanapes you were +talking to just now, if he comes fooling round here again while I'm on +hand." + +"You're very rude," she said, tossing her head, "and you're also very +cruel. I must refuse to talk to you any more. Leave me, and come back +when you're sober." + +"Very well," I said, "I _will_ leave you, and what's more to the point, +I'll make you a bet you'll be sorry for this. I came to tell you some +news about your schooner that would have pleased you, but I'll see you +dead before you shall hear it now." + +So saying, I swung on my heel and left the house. + +It would have been a bad business for any man who might have crossed me +that night, for I was in about as vile a temper as it would be possible +to be. So, unable to trust myself among men, I made for the hill-side, +and started walking about the back of the island. + +I must have wandered all night, for breakfast-time discovered me not +more than a hundred yards from the Albino's door. With a yearning for +some one to impart my sorrows to, I made towards it, and entered in time +to catch my friend at his meal. His keen eyes saw in an instant that +something was wrong. + +"You've been quarrelling with Juanita," he began. "Don't deny it; I can +see it in your face. Well, you're a bigger fool than I figured you. What +was it about?" + +When I told him, he gave me a glance full of such withering contempt +that I almost quailed before it. + +"I thought it was a man I was helping; as I live, it's only a +school-girl! Did she forget to say he was a pretty boy, and to kiss him, +and to chuck him under the chin then?" + +His raillery was more than I could stand, so being unwilling to quarrel +with him too, I got up to go. But this by no means suited him. + +"Sit down," he snapped, pointing with a long fore-finger to the kerosene +case which did duty for a chair; "sit down and tell me what you propose +to do now; or, what's more to the point, I'll tell you what you shall +do." + +"What?" + +"Why, you shall just eat your breakfast here, my boy, and then go back +to the 'Orient' and eat humble pie." + +"Never!" I cried. "I'll see you damned first!" + +"Silence, fool!" he almost shrieked. "You shall eat just as much dirt as +she chooses to give you. Do you think I'm going to let you spoil this +contract for a ha'porth of humility? That's not my way. And when you've +talked her round----" + +"Supposing she won't be talked round?" + +"Suppose your grandmother! She's a woman, and if you go the right way to +work, you ought to be able to do what you like with her. Then you'll let +her understand that you have money to invest, and after that you'll find +all go smooth as buttermilk." + +"I don't like making myself cheap." + +"Child, you've got to; you've fairly got to grovel, or quarrel with me. +Now just pack your traps, and clear out of this; I want to wash up." + +In obedience to his command I returned to the township, and once more +entered the "Orient." Juanita was not in. She had gone for a walk along +the beach. Inquiring the direction, I followed it, and soon discovered +her seated on the side of Fortification Hill, gazing across the blue +strip of sea to where the mainland of Australia pushes its head up above +the horizon. Numbers of white-sailed pearling craft dotted the bay; a +missionary schooner was going about on her second board towards her +moorings; and so still was the air, that the sound of hammering came +quite distinctly from a lugger at anchor under the shadow of the Prince +of Wales' Island, nearly a mile away. As I approached her, Juanita +looked up and saw me. + +The scene which the Albino had arranged for me was not destined to be +put into practice, for she took the matter into her own hands, and when +I had seated myself beside her, fell to crying, and bitterly reproaching +herself for what she termed her "wickedness" on the preceding night. I +endeavoured to soothe her, but it was only when she had convinced +herself of my forgiveness that she deigned to be comforted. + +"Oh, my Jack," she said, brushing away her tears, "you don't know how +angry I've been with myself for treating you so! Let me hear again that +you forgive me." + +For the sixth time I reiterated the fact, and only then would she let me +say anything further. The breach was completely healed. When I told her +the good news her rapture knew no bounds; she lavished kisses upon me, +calling me by all sorts of pet names, both Spanish and English, and +continually urged me to make haste, as if it could be possible for us to +set sail that very evening. + +"Oh, how good you are to me!" she repeated. "And what boat do you think +you can get? There's Phelp's _Ocean Queen_, but she's too large; there's +the _Alberta_, but she's not large enough. Oh, what boat can we find?" + +"I was thinking of the _Mother of Pearl_," I answered. "She's quite big +enough; and I know Jameson would let us buy her outright for a small sum +cash. He's in low water, and wants a smaller boat." + +"Yes; she would do beautifully," she continued, clapping her hands. "You +must go and see about her this very hour, and then we may get away +to-morrow, perhaps." + +As she said this she looked up into my face with such an air of entreaty +that I convinced myself that I was more in love with her than ever. + +"Well, hardly to-morrow, I fancy," I replied. "You see there's so much +to be seen to; a crew to be hunted up, stores, and a thousand and one +things to be attended to, that all take time. What's more, I expect +she'll want overhauling; she's been lying out there these six months +past, just going to rack and ruin." + +"Then when, my Jack, may we sail?" + +"Perhaps the day after to-morrow--hardly before." + +This at first caused her to look disappointed, for she seemed impatient +of even an hour's delay; but she soon regained her spirits, and we set +off back to the township on the best of terms. + +Leaving her at her door, I passed on along the Sea-Front, to a spot +where I knew I should find the owner of the _Mother of Pearl_. Just as I +expected, he was seated on a bench, sunning himself between drinks; and +as it was about time to hunt up another, I invited him to step inside +the shanty and lubricate at my expense. This he willingly consented to +do; and when the operation had been safely accomplished, and not till +then, I began to lead up to the subject of the schooner. + +As my reputation in the island was not exactly that of a monied man, he +was thrown completely off his guard, and forthwith entered upon a +string of abuse regarding the unfortunate vessel. She was too big for +diving purposes; she cost twice as much to keep up as he could afford; +she took a young man-o'-war's crew to work her; and altogether he wished +he'd never set eyes on her. I waited my opportunity, and then said-- + +"Don't you wish you could sell her?" + +"Sell her! You'd just better believe I do!" he replied with considerable +energy. "I'm dead sick of her,--there never was a rottener bargain +going." + +He looked across the smooth stretch of the bay to where the object of +his animadversions lay swinging to the tide. Then smothering a curse, he +turned to me-- + +"Look here, Jack," he said, never of course dreaming I meant serious +business, "I'm not what you'd call a big bug for style; but I'll tell +you what I _will_ do. I'll make you a present of that craft for two +fifty, cash on the nail, and lose a hundred pounds by it. Now then, +there you are; I couldn't say fairer than that if you was my missus's +first husband's uncle, could I?" + +He had made me the offer so often "just for style," that such a thing as +my accepting it never for an instant crossed his mind. Therefore when I +said quietly-- + +"Make it two hundred, Jim, and I'm your man, cash on the capstan when +you please," there never was a man more overcome with astonishment. + +"You don't mean it," he gasped; "you don't mean to go and say you've got +two hundred pounds, Jack?" + +His surprise was almost pathetic. + +"I do," I answered, smiling at his earnestness; "and what's more, +remember you've offered me the _Mother of Pearl_ for two hundred and +fifty pounds. I offer two hundred, cash, if she suits me, and we'll go +off and look at her this very minute." + +Taking him by the arm, I led the way to the beach, and pushed a boat +into the water. + +"You can pull," I said, seating myself comfortably in the stern-sheets. + +"Who? Me? Not much," he replied; "there's no beastly pride about me. +Here you, Tommy," turning to a Solomon boy who stood watching us, "just +you jump in and put us aboard the _Mother of Pearl_ yonder, and I won't +say but what there mayn't be a plug of tobacco at the end of it." + +Five minutes later we were aboard the schooner, and I was closely +inspecting her, satisfying myself as to her good and bad qualities. When +I had made up my mind, I turned to look for the owner. He was in the +boat alongside, refreshing himself from a black bottle he had brought +with him. As we pulled ashore, I said-- + +"Well, Jim, is it to be business?" + +"Two fifty, not a red cent under." + +"All right," I answered carelessly, "you're the best judge of that. +She's not worth two hundred, but I'll give you that cash, otherwise no +trade!" + +He hung in the wind. Two hundred pounds, he reflected, would not only +buy the new boat he wanted, but would enable him to extend his present +drinking bout another week. An inspiration struck him-- + +"Two hundred cash," he said, "and I keep the pumps in her." + +"There I'll meet you, though it's giving you the whole business. Is it a +bargain?" + +"My Colonial!" he replied, and the next moment we stepped ashore. + +"Now," I said, "you just toddle away and fix up the papers. I'll be +along with the money before you can turn round." + +With that we separated, he returning to the hotel where we had met, +while I made across the island to the Albino's abode. I found the dwarf +at the wash-tub. + +"What news?" he shouted, as soon as I approached; "have you talked her +over? But there, of course you have, I can see it in your face! Well, +what's the result?" + +"That I've bought the schooner _Mother of Pearl_ for two hundred +pounds." + +He eyed me suspiciously for a second, then flicking his fingers to clear +them of soap-suds, led the way into the house. Seating himself on the +bed, he dried his hands and spoke-- + +"Bought the _Mother of Pearl_, have you, and for two hundred pounds? +Very good. You'll want another hundred to see you on your way." + +Here he took from his drawer a leather bag which he tossed towards me. + +"There you are, you'll find it correct, I think. Count it." + +Doing as he bade me, I counted the sum out on the rickety little table; +three hundred sovereigns in bright gold coin. When I had returned them +to their bag, he continued-- + +"You find it as I say? Well, so much for that. Now, listen to me; have +you breathed a word of my existence to your sweetheart? Think carefully +before you speak, for I shall be sure to find out if you have." + +"I gave you my word I would not," I replied, "and I have kept it; if you +doubt me, take your money back." + +"No, no," he hastened to say; "bless you, I don't doubt you, not a bit +of it; I only wanted to be sure. Now just run along back and complete +your bargain." + +Before I went, I endeavoured to thank him again for his generosity, but +he would not let me. One thing was certain; the more I thought about his +action the further I was from understanding it. + +Reaching the township I rejoined Jameson, and counted out to him the +price of the schooner, which he repeatedly informed me was "dirt cheap +at the money." Then leaving him to drink himself into _delirium +tremens_, I pushed on to the "Orient," that I might inform Juanita of my +success. Her enthusiasm was contagious, and urged on by it, before +bed-time I had not only secured my crew, but had arranged my stores, and +accepted the services of a mate. + +Next morning I crossed the island to bid the Albino farewell. My +surprise may be imagined when I found him gone. Not a trace of his +whereabouts could be discovered, and, considerably exercised in my mind +regarding him, I returned to make my final preparations. Shortly after +midday I escorted Juanita (who had said farewell to the "Orient," amid +much lamentation) aboard, and at three o'clock the _Mother of Pearl_ +stood out of the bay, bound on the most curious errand she had ever +weighed anchor to accomplish. Only then did I learn our destination. + +Though she certainly did not realize all the good qualities her late +owner had (since the sale) led me to suppose she possessed, the schooner +was a handy enough craft, and likely to serve the purpose for which we +required her, every bit as well as one costing ten thousand pounds could +have done. The best description of her would be to say that she was just +a steady-going, serviceable old tub; and as I was not likely, with +Juanita on board, to be in too much of a hurry to complete the voyage, +that was all we wanted. + +The mate proved a decent sort of young fellow. The crew were Kanakas, +with a Chinaman cook, who also officiated as steward. + +And now comes a portion of my yarn that I am tempted to dwell upon. How +can I describe the beauties of that summer voyage? How resist the +temptation it offers of indulging in extravagant waste of language? As I +sit here recalling it, a strange longing rises in my heart that will not +be suppressed; a longing that is not without a touch of sadness and +regret. It is impossible, I have to tell myself, that I can expect to +cross an old trail without some mixture of pain. Can I, in this +fog-ridden England, hope to be allowed to stir up recollections of +enchanting islands lifting their green heads from bright blue seas, of +umber cliffs peering out of clustering foliage, of azure skies, and +trade winds redolent of sweet perfumes, and yet expect to escape scot +free? + +The only thing regrettable about the voyage was its brevity. Is it +therefore to be wondered at that, madly infatuated as I was with the +woman who accompanied me, I viewed the prospect of calms with +equanimity, and was loth to employ any exertions that would help to +hurry it or get it over? + +But every moment was bringing us nearer our destination; and at last, +one sunset, I was able to tell Juanita, that in all probability another +twenty-four hours would find us abreast of the island which contained +her husband's grave. + +As it turned out, my prophecy proved a correct one, for towards five +o'clock on the following afternoon, the high peaks of Vanua Lava +appeared above the horizon. By tea-time the schooner had brought the +island abeam, and before darkness fell we were anchored off a +thickly-wooded promontory, to the right of which Juanita declared her +former lord and master lay buried. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +A CURIOUS QUEST. + + +Apart from the fact that it was being undertaken solely for the purpose +of digging up and rifling a dead man's body, there was something +peculiarly uncanny to me about this voyage to Vanua Lava. And the more I +allowed my mind to dwell upon it, the more convinced I became that, +somehow or other, what we found would materially affect my welfare. It +may therefore be imagined with what interest I gazed across the +intervening stretch of water at the thickly-timbered island, now +disappearing into the fast-falling shadows. Juanita was wildly excited, +and would have liked nothing better than to have gone ashore and +commenced operations that very night. Indeed, I could not help thinking +that the fortune her husband had hidden away must be even larger than +she had led me to suppose, if I might estimate its size by her anxiety +to obtain possession of the locket. + +As soon as tea was over we returned on deck. It was a glorious night. +Overhead, in a coal-black sky, the great stars hung lustrous and +wonderful. Below them all was silence. Not a sound save the subdued +voices of the crew forward, and now and again a tiny wave, stirred by +some gentle zephyr, breaking against the schooner's side, disturbed the +stillness. Then, little by little, the eastern stars began to lose their +brilliance. The sky at that end of the island relinquished some of its +blackness, and presently, with a majesty untranslatable, the great moon +rose into the heavens, casting a mellow light across the silent deep, +and touching with silver the topmost trees ashore. With her coming a +faint breeze stole down to meet us and set the schooner gently rocking. + +When we had paced the deck together for a while Juanita drew me to the +taffrail, and passing her arm through mine in a caressing manner +peculiar to herself, fell to talking in a strain which I had never +discovered in her before. The impression her conversation forced upon me +was that she was trying to excuse herself for a great wrong she had +already done or was about to do me, and yet nothing in her actual speech +lent any reason to this supposition. + +"To-morrow," she said, half to herself, "will decide a great deal for +both of us." + +"How for both of us, Juanita?" I asked. "If you find what you want over +yonder you'll be a rich lady, and then 'good-bye' to poor Jack." + +She started as if frightened, and pressed my arm tighter. + +"You have been so good to me that I don't know what to say to you," she +continued, disregarding my last speech. "Oh, Jack! if we could only be +ourselves, free to act and to do whatsoever we wished, instead of being +driven so relentlessly on and on by destiny, how much happier we should +be! Do you believe in fate?" + +"I believe you are my fate," I replied, pressing her hand with all the +ardour of a lover, "and what better fate could I ask?" + +"Or what worse?" she said sadly. "Jack, my poor Jack, you don't know how +you will hate me some day." + +"Never, Juanita, and that I'll swear to." + +She was silent for a minute or two. When she spoke again there was a +bitterness in her voice I had never heard in it before. + +"If I had only known and loved you sooner," she went on, "I might have +been a better woman. But I was cursed from the very beginning; cursed +with a bad mother, cursed with a bad father, cursed with a beauty that +was only a snare for sin; lured to my ruin before I was old enough to +understand, driven by poverty and despair to be what I am--a woman at +war with all the world. Oh, Jack, may the Holy Mother forbid that you +may ever know what my life has been! But there, why should I tell you +all this? let us be happy and believe in each other to-night, if only +for to-night." + +"My darling," I cried with real alarm, noticing that big tears were +rolling down her cheeks, "what is the matter? Tell me, and let me +comfort you. This monotonous voyage has tired you, to-morrow you will +be better. Don't give way just at the time when you want all your +nerve." + +But my advice came too late; she threw herself into my arms and wept as +if her heart would break. I could see that she was thoroughly upset, but +what had occasioned it I could not of course understand. Since then, +however, I have become wiser, and whenever I think of that night on the +schooner's deck, under the shadow of the island, I say to myself, "Well, +however she may have acted towards me afterwards, at least Juanita loved +me then." + +When she grew calmer she began again, this time with a sort of malignant +fierceness that was equally inexplicable. + +"My Jack, if I told you that I was a despicable coward and asked you to +weigh anchor to-night and to leave the island without as much as going +ashore, would you do it? Think before you answer, for heaven and hell +depend upon it." + +I suppose at some period of his life every man has his fate in his hand +to do as he likes with. I had mine then, and, as will be seen, I threw +it from me. Oh, if I had only taken the opportunity she offered and set +sail without rifling that grave, what awful misery for both of us I +should have averted! But, blind bat that I was, it was ordained that I +should see everything in a wrong light, and so I began immediately to +reproach her for her weakness, telling her that since she had come so +far to do it, it would be worse than cowardice to return without +carrying out her work. + +"But, Jack," she said, "if you only knew, if you only knew?" + +"If I knew what?" I asked. "Come, come, Juanita, what does all this +mystery mean? What are you hinting at? You're in a very extraordinary +mood to-night." I was beginning to grow impatient with her. + +"Don't," she cried, preparing to burst into tears again, "don't scold +me. If you could only know how we shall both look back on this night +some day, and how it will comfort me to remember that at least you were +not angry then!" + +When she went below I lit my pipe and fell to work upon my own thoughts. +I tried to recall her conversation and to find a reason for her +extraordinary behaviour, but it was impossible. In vain also I +endeavoured to rid myself of the feeling of approaching danger which +possessed me. At last, unable to make head or tail of it, and thoroughly +wretched, I sought my bunk in the hope of obtaining a little rest +against the labours of the morrow. + +My dreams were not pleasant ones. Juanita seemed to stand before me +continually, gazing at me as she had done on deck, with tear-streaming +face, imploring me to forgive her, always to forgive her. I don't +remember ever to have spent a more miserable night. But it was only a +foretaste of what was to come. + +Shortly after daylight I awoke to hear the hands "washing down." I went +on deck and had a bath; the clear green water braced me like a tonic. A +more perfect morning could not be imagined. The sea lay around us, in +colour a pale grey, and smooth as the inside of an oyster-shell. Ashore +the rugged mountain peaks were enveloped in vast masses of white cloud, +while on the lower lands every shrub and tree was gemmed with dew. A few +sea-birds hovered round the schooner, and from far down the northern +beach a spiral column of palest blue smoke ascended into the still +morning air. + +About half-an-hour before breakfast-time, Juanita came on deck, looking +radiant; all signs of her last night's trouble had completely +disappeared. Stepping out of the companion, she swept the sea with a +proud, defiant glance, as though she had at length achieved something +which other people had deemed impossible. Then her eyes fell on me, and +she came across to where I stood, wishing me "good-morning" with a +bright smile. I felt inclined to ask myself if this could be the same +woman who had wept upon my shoulder the night before, and begged me in +heart-broken accents to forgive her some imaginary transgression. After +a few moments her glance wandered from the schooner and the open sea to +the island, and then the expression upon her face (for I watched it +continually) changed. When she came on deck, it was that of a woman who +through much suffering had conquered; but when she looked towards the +spot where the man she had once loved lay buried, it was the face of one +who had still to prove that the struggle was not going against her. +Just at that moment the bell sounded for breakfast, and leaving the deck +to the mate, I escorted her below. + +As soon as we had finished our meal, I gave orders for the long-boat to +be swung out, and a crowbar and a couple of shovels put into her. I had +already chosen the hands who should accompany us, so nothing remained +but to assist my sweetheart down the gangway, take our places in the +boat, and set out for the shore. It was no use trying to persuade +Juanita to remain on board, and let me do the work. She would not hear +of it. On the way I could not help noticing the appearance of her face; +it had become deadly white and haggard, a circumstance which I could +only attribute to the ghastly nature of our errand. + +Owing to the fact of there being no reef on this side of the island, we +were able to bring the boat flush up to the shore, and to secure her by +a long painter to a tree. + +As I helped Juanita out, I asked her in which direction she supposed the +grave to lie, and without any hesitation she pointed to a little wooded +knoll, about a hundred yards to our left. Off we set towards it. + +By this time the pallor of her face was such as to quite frighten me. I +asked her if she did not think she'd better sit down and rest a while. +Her answer, if not assuring, was emphatic. + +"Rest! What rest can I have? No, no, no; on, on! I can't rest; I can't +think till we've done the work. Oh, be quick! be quick!" + +Reaching the spot she had pointed out, we commenced our search for the +grave. Though she declared her husband had only been buried a few +months, no sign of his resting-place was to be seen. This I accounted +for by the fact that it was situated on a slope, and the wash of the +water (for the rains had occurred since the burial took place) had +smoothed the earth all along the hill-side, levelling and obliterating +all traces of the mound. However, after much diligent search, I found +amid some rank grass a spot which seemed to bear some resemblance to +what we sought, and here I decided to dig. + +The ground was by no means hard, and as the two men I had brought ashore +were muscular fellows, it was not long before we had a good hole to show +for our work. Suddenly the shovel struck something with a hollow sound, +bringing my heart into my mouth with a jump. Next moment a corner of a +roughly-made coffin came into view. And as it did so, Juanita gave a +little cry, while I felt large clammy beads of sweat ooze out and down +my own forehead. + +Bidding the two men exert all their strength, I worked the crowbar +underneath the coffin, and leant my weight upon it. Inch by inch it +uncovered itself, and at last we were able, by getting our hands under +it, to lift it out on to the level ground. As we laid it down, I heard +Juanita gasp for breath. And when I told her we were going to prize the +lid off, she could bear it no longer, but turned her back, and burying +her face in her hands, bade me search round the dead man's neck for the +locket. She could not do it herself. + +Inserting a corner of the shovel between the lid and the side, I tried +to force it open, but it was securely fastened, and defied me. There was +nothing for it but to send off to the schooner for a screwdriver. How +bitterly I reproached myself for not having brought one with me! + +The waiting was intolerable. Though it was in reality not ten minutes, +it seemed an hour before the man returned with the tool. Then, one by +one, my hands shaking with nervousness, I withdrew the screws. That work +accomplished, I ordered one of the Kanakas to lift off the lid. As he +prepared to do so, I could not repress a feeling of wonderment as to +what this former lover of Juanita's would be like; at the same time, I +braced my nerves for what we should see. + +The lid was off. I looked; I rubbed my eyes and looked again--could I be +dreaming? + +_Save for a large roll of sheet-lead, the coffin was empty. No man had +ever been buried in it!_ + +The whole funeral must have been a farce, intended to deceive some one. +Could that some one, I asked myself, have been Juanita? + +My exclamations must have puzzled her, for she cried out-- + +"Oh, what have you found?" + +I was so overcome with surprise that I had some difficulty in finding +voice enough to reply to her. Then I said-- + +"Juanita, you've been hoaxed! No man was ever buried here. There's only +a sheet of lead in the coffin!" + +With that she faced round on me, and never, before or since, have I seen +such an expression of fear in the human face. She stood there, wildly +staring, first at the open coffin, then at the grave, unable to speak. +Her face seemed to grow every moment paler. Then, turning to me, she +said very softly, so softly that I asked myself whether the shock could +have been too much for her brain-- + +"I have been the victim of a conspiracy; take me back to the schooner." + +I signed to the men to collect the tools, and we were in the act of +starting on our return to the beach, when I heard unmistakable sounds of +some one moving through the undergrowth on the bank above us. Juanita +heard them too, and by some means, for which I cannot account, must have +divined their cause, for she faced round like a tigress at bay. Then the +bushes parted, _and the Albino stood before us_! + +Anything so uncanny as his appearance at that moment cannot be imagined. +He gazed at us, his fingers cracking, his little pink eyes gleaming +maliciously, and his long white hair floating in the breeze. As I +looked, I felt Juanita fall heavily on my arm. She had fainted. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR. + + +In a second the little man had taken everything in. He glanced at +Juanita, lying unconscious in my arms, at the open grave, and last at +the untenanted coffin. This latter seemed to occasion him some +amazement, but only for an instant. Then, turning to me, he said with +authority-- + +"Carry her down to the boat, and get her aboard the schooner. Can't you +see there's not a moment to be lost, man?" + +My astonishment at his appearance had made me almost forget the woman in +my embrace, but before the words were well out of his mouth, I had +picked her up, and was carrying her towards the beach. + +When we had pushed off, and were pulling towards the schooner, I was +surprised to see the Albino seated in the bows of the boat. He ventured +no remark to justify his presence until after we were aboard, and he had +helped me to carry my burden to her bunk. Then he said-- + +"Remember my medical knowledge. I'm going to help you with her. Get some +brandy." + +Hastening to my own berth, I rummaged among the things in my locker, +found what I wanted, and returned with all possible speed to the cabin. + +As I approached it, I could have sworn that I heard the dwarf say, +"Remember, whatever happens, you've never set eyes on me before!" But I +must have been mistaken, for though I found him bathing her forehead, +she appeared to be still unconscious. As soon as she revived, we left +her, and returned to the deck. + +"What's the meaning of this mysterious business?" I asked my companion +when we reached it. "How on earth did you get here, and what are you +going to do now?" + +"Fair and softly, my dear fellow," he said quietly, a curious smile +playing round his lips, "all in good time. If you want to know, I was +called down here on most important business. It's lucky I saw your +schooner, otherwise I should have had to wait a month for a chance of +getting back to civilization." + +"And how _are_ you going to get back?" I asked. + +"Why, on board this boat," he answered. "Surely you won't be ungrateful +enough to refuse me a passage after all I've done for you?" + +Not being in a position to gainsay the justice of his argument, I held +my tongue. My situation was a very delicate one. I had possession of the +boat, it was true; but, on the other hand, it was only given to me for a +certain purpose. That purpose having failed, what was my position? Could +I make over the schooner to the Albino for my debt? And if I continued +to keep her, was I free to act as I pleased with regard to Juanita? + +I have said nothing so far about my own disappointment. Nevertheless I +had devoted a considerable amount of anxious thought to it. If the +funeral of Juanita's husband had been a hoax, his death must have been +one too. Then, for all we knew to the contrary, he was still living! And +in that case my marriage with her was impossible. I was as hopelessly +cut off from her as if we had never met. + +When I judged she would be able to see me, I went down and knocked at +her cabin-door. She came out immediately and seated herself at the +table. + +"Juanita," I began, taking my place beside her, and holding her hand, +"what can I say to comfort you after your disappointment?" + +"Why do you speak of it--why do you say any more about it?" she cried +fretfully. "My worst anticipations have been realized--that's all! I +might have known he would have fooled me. Yes, I repeat it, fooled me." + +"But you were so certain he was dead!" + +"I was certain I saw him lying dead in his bunk, if that's what you +mean." Then with a sudden outburst of fury, "Marcos Veneda, as God is +above me, if I can find you, I'll punish you for this!" + +"Marcos Veneda! I thought you said he was an Englishman?" + +"So he was. Veneda was only an assumed name." + +Seeing her state, I decided not to say anything about our position +towards each other until she was calmer. + +"And what do you wish me to do now?" I asked, to turn the conversation +into another channel. "Shall I make a course back to Thursday Island?" + +"No, no, anywhere but there." + +"Then where would you like to go? Say the word, and I swear I'll do my +best to oblige you." + +"Oh, anywhere, anywhere. Why do you bother me with your stupid +questions?--what does it matter now where I go?" + +"Very well," I said, considerably piqued by her behaviour, though I +tried hard not to show it; "I'll leave you alone for a bit, you may +possibly think of some place before nightfall. In the meantime we'll +make a course for Cape York." + +When I reached the deck to give orders for getting under way, I found +the Albino pacing up and down, his long arms behind his back, and his +little pink face puckered into a hundred wrinkles with thought. He came +across and led me out of hearing of the mate. + +"What's your course going to be?" + +"That's just what I'm waiting to know," I answered. "Juanita can't make +up her mind." + +"Damn Juanita!" he jerked out. "Why do you want to be always considering +her? Let me advise you. Batavia, Java--that's the place; and when we get +there, I've a little treat in store for you that'll pay you better than +all this shilly-shallying here." + +"What do you mean?" I asked, naturally a little astonished at his +remark. + +"Just this," he replied. "One place is as good as another to you, isn't +it? Then, I say, don't ask any questions; steer for Batavia. You've +trusted me before, trust me again. Leave Juanita to me. Womanlike, she +doesn't know her own mind, and wants somebody to help her make it up." + +Bidding the mate go forrard and superintend the raising of the anchor, I +gave the necessary orders for getting sail on her. Just at eight bells +his cry of "All clear, sir," sounded, and the _Mother of Pearl_ resumed +her journey. + +It was either a case of sulkiness, or she felt too overcome by her +disappointment to mix with us, but Juanita did not show her face again +that day, and it was not until nearly sun-time on the following morning +that we caught a glimpse of her. She came on deck during my watch. The +Albino was standing beside me. She looked ill and haggard, and as the +schooner was pitching unpleasantly, I hastened to offer her my arm. She +took it with a kind of shrinking, at the same time glancing timidly at +my companion. He held his hat in his hand, and was looking at her with +what I thought a nervous expression on his face. + +As they did not know one another, nothing remained for me but to +introduce them. Then, and for the first time, a strange circumstance +struck me. I did not know the Albino's name. Somehow I had never had +occasion to speak of him to any one, nor had I ever heard him mentioned. +I looked at her and said feebly-- + +"Juanita, let me introduce my friend, Mr.----" (here I turned towards +him a look of appeal). + +"Macklin," he said. + +"My friend, Mr. Macklin." + +She bowed gravely; he followed suit like a court chamberlain. Then they +began to pace the deck together, while I returned to the duties of my +watch. + +Being anxious to reach Batavia as soon as possible, I cracked on +everything the schooner could carry, and before many days were over we +had passed and left Thursday Island behind us, and were entering the +Arafura Sea. Fair weather accompanied us all the way, and I found the +schooner's sailing capabilities improve as I became better acquainted +with her. + +One thing was plainly evident. Since the arrival of the Albino on board +I was thrown quite into the shade. Juanita seemed to prefer his company +to that of any one else. He was never absent from her side; they sat +together at meals, paraded the deck together, and in fact were +inseparable companions. So conspicuous did her partiality at length +become, that I felt compelled to remonstrate with her about it. Her look +of pained surprise went to my heart. + +"Jack, how can you be so unkind to me?" she said, with tears in her +eyes. "Though it is all over between us, you know, or you ought to know, +how much I love you. Do you think that poor little creature could make +me forget you? I am sorry for him--very sorry--that is all." + +Of course I forgave her immediately, and equally of course she promised +amendment in the future. But though her liking for his company was not +so openly shown as before, I could not see that it had undergone any +radical change. + +But I had other and more important things than Juanita's behaviour +towards myself to think about. I discovered that trouble had cropped up +amongst the crew forward, and that on two occasions knives had been +drawn. What it had originated in I could not find out, but that a big +Kanaka boy, called Rhotoma Jimmy, was at the bottom of it all I had good +reason to be certain. He had come aboard in Thursday as a stowaway, and +was, I found out, a vindictive, ill-tempered fellow, who never lost a +chance of making himself objectionable. When I saw that my rowings +proved useless, I ironed him for a couple of days. This seemed to sober +him; he became deeply penitent, and thinking I had punished him enough, +I let him go back to his duties. + +The night following his release, he was at the wheel during my watch. I +was not satisfied with his steering, and had occasion to reprimand him +twice. A short while afterwards I noticed the same irregularity, and +went over to the binnacle, determining this time to give him a good +rating. As soon as he saw me coming, he left the wheel, and made for the +belaying-pins. Seizing one he rushed at me, and endeavoured to hit me +over the head with it. But before he could effect his purpose, I had +closed with him, and wrenched it from his grasp, striking him as I did +so a blow upon the head. He fell like a log, and as he struck the deck +I heard footsteps on the ladder, and the Albino stood beside me. + +Calling another man aft to the wheel, I took the binnacle-lamp and knelt +beside the prostrate man. To my dismay I found I had bit him harder than +I intended. _He was dead!_ + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +BATAVIA--A STRANGE MEETING. + + +When I realized that the Kanaka boy, Rhotoma Jimmy, was really dead, the +shock the discovery gave me may be better imagined than described. I was +the last person, I told myself, to take a fellow-creature's life without +adequate reason, and if it came to that, I had only struck the man in +purest self-defence. Indeed, had I not closed with him, he would +undoubtedly have murdered me. It was fortunate, I thought, that the +Albino had come on deck in time to witness the conclusion of the affair. + +Ordering the body to be taken forrard, I stumped the deck for nearly an +hour, endeavouring to make the Albino see how it had happened. His +manner struck me as odd; but I was too agitated to attach much +importance to that. Among other things, also, I questioned him about the +future; I told him that I did not like being so much in his debt, and +finally asked him to take the schooner in lieu of payment. He hesitated +for a while, and then requested a day or two to think it over. But +during the evening he returned to the subject, and stated that he had +decided to do what I asked. Thereupon we drew up the necessary +documents, and when I had signed them the _Mother of Pearl_ was no +longer my property. Little did I see how artfully my ruin had been +contrived. + +Next morning we were abreast the Java coast; Madura on our starboard +bow, Sourabaya away to port. From the latter place to Tanjong Priok, as +the seaport of Batavia is called, is but a short run, and the _Mother of +Pearl_, with everything in her favour, was not long in accomplishing it. + +As if an omen of the disastrous events which were to befall me during my +stay in Java, we sighted the breakwater on a wet, miserable, depressing +afternoon. Our moorings were on the left hand of the harbour, just abaft +a Dutch man-o'-war, and almost opposite the Custom House. The view was +about as cheerless as the day; the soup-coloured sea, slimy wharves, +gaunt, wind-tossed trees, made up a picture that was suggestive of +cholera, Yellow Jack, and a multiplicity of unknown horrors. There was +nothing to detain us on board, so as soon as the necessary formalities +had been complied with, Juanita, the Albino, and I went ashore, intent +upon visiting the city before we settled our plans for the future. + +From the railway-station we drove to the Hotel des Indes. It was the +first time I had been in Java, but the Albino seemed to be familiar with +every part of it. It was in keeping with his strange character that he +should be thoroughly at home in all the out-of-the-way places of the +world. When I said as much to him, he laughed, and gave utterance to one +of his odd remarks, to the effect that "Strange dogs must know strange +kennels." + +In the evening, as soon as dinner was over, Juanita and I passed from +the hotel gardens into the broad street which runs alongside the canal. +Though the rain had ceased, and it was a perfect night, hardly a soul +was abroad. At intervals mysterious watchmen emerged from their shelters +to look at us, but finding nothing suspicious in our behaviour, retired +into them again. With these few exceptions we had the streets to +ourselves. The great round moon, sailing serenely overhead through a +cloudless sky, the tropic foliage, lights flashing amid the trees, all +combined to produce a scene that was almost fairy-like in its exquisite +loveliness. And after the cooping up of shipboard we were both in the +mood to appreciate its beauty. Up one road and down another we passed, +conversing quietly, until at length we found ourselves upon the King's +Plain. + +Here I prepared myself to broach the subject of our future. To my +surprise, Juanita received my ideas with a peculiar air of fretfulness +that on looking back upon now I can easily account for. At the time, +however, I remember it caused me a considerable amount of pain. + +Under a small tope of trees she stopped, and placing her hand on my arm, +said in answer to a speech of mine-- + +"You are quite right. I fear this _is_ the end of everything for us. +When we leave Batavia our ways must lie in different directions." + +"You mean," I continued, "because you believe your husband to be still +alive?" + +She hesitated before replying. + +"Yes," she finally answered. But there was something in her voice that +made me believe that though she gave it that reason, it was not exactly +what was in her mind. + +"And what will you do now, Juanita?" + +"Endeavour to find that man, and repay him for his treachery. That's +what I shall do." + +Simple as were her words, I cannot express on paper anything like the +ferocity of the tone in which they were uttered. But this mood only +lasted a few seconds. Then came the old wail. + +"Oh, Jack, Jack! if you only knew; if we could but be our true selves +for one little moment!" + +"What do you mean?" + +"Never mind, you will know soon enough, and, oh, how you will hate me +for it! But now,--oh, I cannot, Jack,--I cannot!" + +Here she fell to crying, just as she had done on the schooner. It was an +exact repetition of her strange behaviour on that eventful night. I did +my best to comfort her, and after a long while succeeded. She dried her +tears, and we set off upon our homeward walk. Not satisfied with what +she had told me, I determined to renew the subject on the morrow. + +But the morrow had something of its own in store for me, of which I +could not have even the vaguest idea. + +When we returned to the hotel, the Albino was smoking in the verandah. +After a few commonplaces about the beauty of the night, I went into my +room to procure a cigar, leaving Juanita alone with him. As soon as I +had obtained a weed and lit it I rejoined them. Through no fault of mine +they did not perceive me until I was close upon them. Macklin held a +paper in his hand, from which I presumed he had just been reading. +Juanita was evidently much put out about something. + +"No, no, it's too cruel," she said, "I cannot do it." + +To which he replied-- + +"I tell you, you must. It's all arranged, so don't let me hear any more +nonsense about it." + +When I coughed to warn them of my presence, both seemed considerably +disturbed, though the Albino passed it off with his customary ease. + +After they retired to their rooms, I remained in the verandah smoking. +Suddenly my eye caught sight of something white upon the ground. Picking +it up, I discovered it to be a cablegram from London. It was addressed +to Macklin, and ran as follows:-- + +"Still unclaimed. Come at once. Don't delay." + +The signature was a name I had never heard before. + +On my way to my room I called in upon him to restore the document, +explaining where I had found it. He thanked me civilly enough, and that +was the last of the matter for the time. + +Breakfast over next morning, I settled myself in an easy-chair beside +Juanita in the verandah, and lit a cigar. The Albino was not to be seen, +nor had I set eyes on him up to that time. Juanita's behaviour, +generally rather strange, was now altogether peculiar. She seemed afraid +to look me in the face, and I was in the act of asking her to tell me +what was the matter, when she suddenly turned pale, and rising, retired +hurriedly into her own apartment. As she disappeared I chanced to look +round. A party of Malay police under a Dutch officer were approaching +me. The officer held a sheet of paper in his hand. This when he reached +my chair he presented, at the same time saying in broken English-- + +"Ess it you are Jan Ram-say? De captain _Mother Pearl_ sheep?" + +Replying to the effect that I was the man he sought, I asked his +business, whereupon he said-- + +"You are arrest, Mynheer, for murder!" + +I give you my word I was so astonished you could have knocked me down +with a feather. That the warrant, for so I conjectured the paper he held +in his hand to be, was for my arrest on a charge of causing the death of +the Kanaka Rhotoma Jimmy, I had no doubt; but who could have supplied +the information that produced it? How bitterly I blamed myself for +delaying to report the matter to the consul! Now it would probably be a +matter of some hours before I could free myself. + +Seeing that the officer desired me to accompany him, I called Juanita to +me, and I shall never forget the look upon her face when she came into +the verandah. The officer bowed politely to her. + +"Juanita," I said, "I am arrested for the murder of that Kanaka boy. +It's only a matter of form, but it will necessitate my leaving you for +an hour or so. Tell Macklin what has happened, and ask him to come at +once to our consul, that's a good girl." + +Thereupon I surrendered myself to the officer, who, to my supreme +annoyance, insisted on handcuffing me like a common malefactor. Then the +Malay policemen, wretched little fellows but little bigger than monkeys, +ranking themselves on either side, and the officer taking the lead, off +we set for the lock-up. Here I was detained for nearly an hour, in +company with a collection of the vagabond riff-raff of the town, at the +end of which time I was handcuffed again, and marched off to the office +of the English consul. + +On arrival there I was thrust into a small room and allowed to cool my +heels for ten minutes or so. After that I was led into a spacious +chamber, partaking more of the nature of an office than a court of +justice, and placed in what was equivalent to the dock. + +An elderly gentleman of dignified appearance, whom I rightly judged to +be the consul, sat at a large desk at the further end of the room, +busily writing in a book before him. A couple of clerks were ranged at +desks hard by, and two or three native policemen lounged near the door. +Presently the consul looked up, and intimated that the case should +commence. + +I was thereupon charged with having wilfully and maliciously caused the +death of a native known as Rhotoma Jimmy, aboard the schooner _Mother of +Pearl_ while on a voyage from Vanua Lava to Batavia. Witnesses were +called, and, to my delight, the first person to appear was none other +than John Macklin. His face when he looked towards me was filled with +the deepest concern, and he gave his evidence with well-simulated +reluctance. + +He deposed to being the owner of the schooner, and therefore my +employer; also to having been witness to the _whole_ affray on the night +in question. I had, he was extremely sorry to say, always betrayed an +intense and unreasoning dislike to the dead man, and for this, on more +than one occasion, he had been compelled to remonstrate with me. On the +night of the murder I had pulled the man away from the wheel after +making some complaint about his steering, and without warning struck him +a heavy blow with a belaying-pin on the side of his head, thus +undoubtedly causing his death. + +I could hardly believe my ears. Was it possible that a man, confessedly +my friend, could so unblushingly swear a fellow-creature's life away? +When he went on to say, that with the exception of this one single +instance, I had always borne an excellent character, and that he himself +was much attached to me, I could have throttled him where he stood, and +gone willingly to the gallows for it. + +The next witness was the mate. At least, if he had not seen the affair, +he would be able to clear my character of the charge of ill-will against +the dead man. But, to my continued horror, he corroborated all the +Albino had said, at the same time throwing in some artistic touches of +his own, which did not mend matters. When he had done me all the harm he +could--God alone knows for what reason--he stepped down, and the next +witness was called. Then who should enter the room but Juanita! My heart +leapt for joy. She at least would be true to me, and by her help I might +be able to give my enemies the lie. As I looked at her noble figure, and +noted the proud flash of her eyes as she glanced round the court, I +could have laughed them all to scorn. But my feeling of confidence was +of short duration. + +To the first question as to whether she had seen my assault on the man, +she falteringly answered "Yes." Then my heart became heavy as lead; I +knew I was ruined and done for. What she told the court further I never +heard. When she had given her evidence, she left the room on the +Albino's arm weeping bitterly, and I knew I was the victim of as vile a +conspiracy as ever was hatched to promote a man's ruin. + +Having heard all the witnesses, the consul asked me if I had anything to +say. The only chance I could see of saving myself was to request that +the crew might be examined, and to this he consented, adjourning the +case for that purpose until next day. Disregarding any thought of +applying for bail, I allowed myself to be marched away again, not to +the lock-up this time, but to the Dutch prison itself, a great rambling +barrack of a place on the other side of the town. + +Once there, I was cast into a large yard, where a meal of rice was given +me. But I was too cast down and utterly miserable to eat. The more I +reflected upon my situation, the worse it appeared to become. If my +enemies intended thus to swear away my life, goodness only knew what the +end would be! The reason for it was what puzzled me. I could make +neither head nor tail of it. But though I could not fathom the Albino's +motive, I began to see the reason of Juanita's strange behaviour the +previous night, and the vague hints she had thrown out that evening +alongside the island. Could it be possible that all the time she was in +collusion with the Albino? This notion I discarded at once. What most +affected me was that they were in league now. + +For hours I sat thus brooding over my unhappy fate. At last, unable to +bear it any longer, and to distract my thoughts, I turned to examine my +companions, and the place in which I was confined. I found myself in a +large quadrangle about fifty yards long by thirty wide, bounded on +either side by rows of cells, and having at either end high walls of +rough masonry, each surmounted with a bristling _cheval de frise_. As +far as I could gather, the prisoners confined in that portion of the +gaol might have numbered a hundred, and were for the most part Malays +and Chinamen, with a sprinkling of Europeans. As soon as they became +aware of my presence they crowded round me, gesticulating, and +criticising my woe-begone appearance. Among them I noticed one whom I +knew at once for an Englishman. In spite of his rags and filth he was +the handsomest man I had ever seen; but it was a wild reckless sort of +beauty for all that. He came over to me, and placing his hand on my +shoulder, said-- + +"You're an Englishman, I can see. Now, how the deuce do you come here?" + +I told him I was accused of murdering a man aboard the ship of which I +was skipper, and that my life was being sworn away-- + +He laughed and went on-- + +"My boy, I pity you if you once get into this place. Look at me, I've +been in here over six months; put away for resenting an insult from a +Dutch officer; not allowed to communicate with my consul, and told to +hold my jaw directly I ask for justice. I tell you you're in luck's way +if you even get brought to trial. The consul will ship you off to +Singapore by the next mail, while I'll have to rot here till I can pass +the word to some one outside to make inquiries. That's their notion of +civilization in this God-forsaken country." + +At that moment a bell clanged, and the crowd began to scurry into their +cells for the night. I found that my new friend and I were located with +about fourteen others in the same dormitory. On inspection it proved to +be a large bare room, ill-lighted, ill-kept, and, like all other parts +of the prison, villainously dirty. The beds such as they were, were +strewn about on the floor, just wherever their owners cared to place +them, and each one had a new and complicated odour of its own. As soon +as we had entered, the door was shut, and we knew that we might consider +ourselves locked up for the night. + +One thing struck me. I could not help noticing the respect with which my +companion was regarded by his fellow-prisoners. His word seemed to rule +as law, and no sooner did he express a wish than it was, if it lay +within their power, immediately gratified. Thus when he asked that we +might be left alone, the rest of the prisoners migrated to the other end +of the room, and we were free to continue our conversation +uninterrupted. + +"Now let's have your story," he said, seating himself on the pile of +blankets by my side. "You can't think what a pleasure it is to me to +have an Englishman to talk to! You say you're the victim of a +conspiracy; tell me all about it from the beginning to the end. Who +knows but that I may be able to throw some new light upon the subject." + +Beginning at the very commencement, I told him everything, only +suppressing Juanita's name. He listened with the utmost attention, and +his interest seemed to increase as the story developed. When I had +finished, he said-- + +"By Jove! I begin to think I do see a glimmering of reason in it after +all. But it's a strange enough affair, if you like. Now first tell me +what sort of man this dwarf is, who proved himself your friend by +lending you the money to buy the schooner, and your enemy, by +misrepresenting your connection with that nigger." + +"Well, among other things, he was an Albino." + +He jumped up like a shot. + +"An Albino and a dwarf? Great snakes! What was his name?" + +So taken aback was I by his excitement, that for the instant I could +only stare at him. He seemed more affected by my story than if he had +undergone it all himself. + +"Quickly," he said, "what is the name of this dwarf, this Albino?" + +"John Macklin," I answered promptly, and when he heard it he began to +pace the room, like a man labouring under some extraordinary emotion. + +For a few minutes he occupied himself in this fashion. Then, in the +middle of one of his peregrinations, he stopped short, and asked me +another question. + +"And the woman, what was she like? Was she tall and dark, foreign in +appearance, with a suspicion of a moustache, and a little mole on the +lobe of her left ear?" + +I nodded, wonderstruck. He smiled a pitying sort of smile. + +"Perhaps her name was Juanita?" + +Again I nodded. + +"She hailed from South America?" + +I said I believed so. + +"Well, all things considered, I reckon this bit of business fairly licks +creation." + +This he said more to himself than to me. + +"Anybody would think you knew these people," I remarked, chock-full of +astonishment. + +"Know them? Well, if I haven't cause enough to know them, there's not a +man knocking round this old universe who has! But their cheek beats +cock-fighting. Mark my words, it'll be diamond cut diamond between them +now." + +"You're getting out of my depth. What the deuce do you mean?" + +"Never you mind just now. Tell me one thing more. When the Albino found +the money for you to purchase the schooner, did he say that he knew +Juanita?" + +"I should think not. On the other hand, he sternly forbade my even +letting her know of his existence." + +"Ah! that throws another light upon affairs. They were playing lone +hands after all. He's just 'Old Nick' himself, is John Macklin, and +she's pretty near as bad. Now, when you left Thursday Island, am I right +in surmising that you steered a straight course for the Banks Group?" + +"I don't know how you guessed it, but we did." + +"And you brought up off Vanua Lava, maybe?" + +"That's so. You've hit it again." + +"You went ashore to a grave about a hundred yards inland, under a tope +of trees, and alongside a high bank, to look for a locket round a dead +man's neck?" + +The excitement was growing intense. Hardly able to trust myself to +speak, I fell back on nodding. + +"Then you opened the grave and discovered a coffin?" + +"Yes." + +"And you found in it?" + +"Nothing more nor less than a sheet of lead." + +"Ho, ho! I can imagine their disappointment. And then the Albino put in +an appearance?" + +"He did." + +"At his suggestion you set sail for Batavia?" + +"Yes; but why Batavia? Only tell me that, and I'll say you've got the +tow-rope of the whole mystery." + +"Why, to me it's the simplest part of it. Look here, can't you see this? +The woman, for some reason, had staked all she'd got on finding that +locket buried with the dead man. That's it, isn't it? Well, the Albino +was a stranger on Thursday, and was not known to do any work. That being +so, why was he there? People don't live on Thursday for pleasure, or the +good of their healths, I reckon?" + +I made a negative sign, and he continued-- + +"Why, you chuckle-head, can't you see he was there because he was +watching some one? I leave it to you to figure out who that some one +was." + +"Juanita, I suppose." + +"You suppose! Of course it was. Well, she tells you she wants money to +reach a certain island for a certain purpose. You carry the news on to +him. That's his dart exactly. That's just what he wanted to know. He +wants that locket too. But he can only get it through her. So, under a +cloak of friendship he lends you the amount to get the boat, and then +clears for his natural life to the island to be ready for you." + +"Yes, your theory's very pretty, but here's the corker. How did he find +out the island's name? He didn't get it from me, because I didn't know +it till we sailed. Somehow, that don't seem to tally." + +"Why, you galoot, don't you think, long before that, he had found out +where the schooner that brought the woman and her husband from Tahiti +touched before reaching Thursday--where, in fact, they buried the man he +wanted to catch. You bet he did." + +"I never thought of that." + +"Perhaps not; but I did. He sets off, as I say, reaches the island, +watches to see where the grave is, and what success she meets with when +she opens it; and then, when he finds out how he's been tricked, saddles +himself upon you in order to watch the woman further. She faints +directly she sees him, proving as clear as daylight that not only has +she met him before, but that she has good cause to be frightened of him. +By Jove! I can imagine the shock to their systems when they discovered +that the man whom they both believed to be dead was in reality +alive--that he'd hoodwinked them after all." + +He threw back his head and laughed. + +"And what then?" I asked. + +"Why, don't you see, the treasure they're after is slipping through +their fingers. The man has six months start of them. Directly they +arrive in Batavia, the Albino sends a cablegram to England. He receives +a reply. What was it?" + +"'Still unclaimed. Come at once. Don't delay,'" I answered, reciting the +words on the form I had picked up in the verandah of the Hotel des +Indes. + +"And what significance has that for you?" + +"I can't say, unless it affects the treasure." + +"You've drawn your bead on the bull's-eye this time, sure enough. That's +exactly what it does affect. It affects it like grim death. Don't you +see--the other man hasn't got home yet. So they've still a chance for +the money. Now they know they've just got to get up and clear for all +they're worth to London. What then?" + +"It's no use; I'm done for, clean stumped! After that, I can't make head +or tail of it." + +"Why, they argue in this way. They can't take the woman's lover with +them, can they? He'd not only be in the way, but he'd probably want to +go shares in the boodle. The woman is too suspicious to let the Albino +go alone, so, as the man has served his purpose, he must be got rid of. +But how? 'Ah!' says the Albino, 'I've got it! The murder of the Kanaka; +that'll fit him like a glove!' Therefore this charge was trumped up to +detain you here. D'you know. I should be more than a little surprised if +they are not already gone." + +"In that case, what will become of me?" + +"That remains to be seen. I fancy to-morrow will set it right. But I +suppose you understand now how you've been bilked?" + +"Worse luck! But there's one thing puzzles me more than all the rest, +and that is, how the deuce you come to know all this so accurately." + +"My boy, if I gave you a hundred guesses you'd never hit it." + +"Well then, I give it up, first time." + +"And yet, I reckon, it's as clear as daylight. Who should you call the +most important person in the whole affair?" + +"Why, the chap who caused it all--the man who led them such a dance--the +man who died." + +"You mean the man who, by rights, ought to have been where the sheet of +lead was, in that coffin?" + +"I do." + +"Well, that's how I came to know about it." + +I jumped to my feet, and all the other occupants of the room, hearing my +exclamation of surprise, turned round to look at me. + +"What the devil do you mean?" + +"Why, can't you guess? Because, sonny, I'm that man. I'm the man who led +them such a dance. I'm the man who ought to have been dead and buried in +that coffin. In fact, _I'm Marcos Veneda_!" + + + + +PART III. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +RAMSAY IS RELEASED FROM CUSTODY. + + +To say that I was only astonished by Veneda's information, and the +explanation he gave to my mystery, would be to define it too tamely +altogether. To tell the truth, at the time I was so completely +overwhelmed by it as to be unable to grasp, in the least degree, what +significance it had for me. + +Strange though it may appear, while the most galling part of the whole +business could not but be Juanita's treachery to myself, this was almost +atoned for, in my mind, by the remembrance of her singular behaviour on +the evening preceding my arrest. Come what may, with this knowledge +before me, I shall always cherish the belief that not only was the +affection she pretended to entertain for me perfectly genuine, but also +that she was alone driven to such extreme measures by the extraordinary +influence the Albino possessed over her. + +Poor Juanita! To be unable to feel bitterly towards you may be to show +myself a soft-hearted fool, but whenever I think of that night on the +King's Plain, and remember your sorrowful cry, "Oh, Jack, Jack, if you +only knew; if we could but be our true selves for one little moment!" +all reproaches die out of my heart, and in their place springs up a +great pity and a great compassion for you. + +Another thing that gave me plenty to think about was the strange fact of +my meeting Veneda, of all people, and in such a place! Though as yet I +knew next to nothing of his history, I could not but see that his +connection with the affair we were both so interested in was genuine +enough. As for himself, as soon as he had told me his name he left me, +and went without another word to his bed, not to speak again till +morning. + +When I woke it was just daylight, the door was open, and the prisoners +were passing in and out. So far as I could see, in the part of the +building in which I was confined, no recognized employment was found for +them; though in the other wards, I believe, they were taken out under +escort, to do the street scavenging, wood-cutting, public gardening, +etc. + +A little before seven o'clock a coarse meal was served to us, and while +I was partaking of it, Veneda came up. I made room for him to sit down +on the bench beside me, for I was burning to question him further on the +subject that lay nearest to both our hearts. + +"Look here," I said, "for goodness' sake let's get this thing properly +squared up. I've been puzzling my brain over it till I'm nearly crazy. I +_must_ understand two or three things more." + +"Go ahead," he replied; "you can't be more anxious to get to the bed +rock than I am. What do you want to know?" + +"Well, in the first place, how on earth you managed to die and come to +life again so cleverly? Juanita told me she saw you lying stiff and +stark in your bunk." + +"So she did, as far as she knew; but I was only playing 'possum. It was +the one way out of my difficulty, you see. I knew I had to get rid of +her, and there was no other fashion in which it could be managed." + +"Then the captain was in the secret after all, and his dislike to you +was all assumed?" + +"Every bit! But he was a money-grubbing old dog, was Boulger, and it +cost me a cool hundred to bring him up to the scratch. Once that was +done, all was plain sailing. After leaving Tahiti, cholera, Yellow Jack, +fish-poisoning, or some other disease came aboard, and the crew and mate +went down before it like ninepins. There was my chance! I pretended to +go under to it too. The skipper acted his part like a little man, and +wouldn't let Juanita into the cabin for fear of detection. Then, in the +night, I died. Next day, according to her wish, my dummy was taken +ashore, and buried on Vanua Lava, while I was safely stowed away in the +skipper's cabin, until we reached Thursday Island. There _she_ remained +to hunt up a way of getting back to look for that locket." + +"While you?" + +"Next morning I caught a craft sailing this way, intending to pick up a +mail-boat from Batavia, home. But luck was against me; I ran athwart the +hawse of a Dutch officer; put a bullet into him, and got locked up. +That's how I came here. Want to know any more?" + +"One thing. Now you're alive, what is going to become of your wife?" + +"My wife? And who may she be? Never heard of the lady." + +"But Juanita?" + +Veneda whistled a long note of astonishment. + +"You don't mean to tell me she's been parading me as her husband?" + +"You're not? You're not Juanita's husband?" + +"You'd better believe I'm not." + +"Then, my God! how I've been fooled!" + +Veneda seemed not to notice my remark, but sat staring at the blue sky +above us. Suddenly he sprang to his feet. + +"Look here, Ramsay," he cried, "come what may, I must get out of this, +and you must help me." + +"How can I help you? If it comes to that, I'm in quite as bad a fix as +you are." + +"No, I think not," he continued gravely. "I shouldn't be at all +surprised if you find yourself at liberty to-night." + +"What do you mean?" I asked, jumping at the hope he held out. "What do +you think can bring such a thing about?" + +"Never mind, you wait and see. But if you do get off, will you pledge +yourself to assist me?" + +"If I do get off," I said, "I could inform the consul of your being +here, and he would get you out himself." + +"No, no, that would never do; I've been thinking it over. If the consul +gets wind of it, he'll make inquiries; then the matter will get bruited +about, and will be certain to come to the ears of the Albino's agents." + +"Agents?" + +"Why, of course. You don't imagine that little devil hasn't arranged for +somebody to watch your movements here, and at the same time to hunt +about for me! Bless your heart, now that he knows I'm alive, I'd bet a +thousand pounds to a half-penny he finds out I'm in here." + +"Good heavens," I cried, "it's a perfect network of plots and +counterplots, and I seem fated not to understand it. Now you're alive, +and still the possessor of your money, what do they want that locket +for? They can never hope to find out where you buried the gold." + +"Buried the what?" + +"The gold you obtained by your last legacy when you were in San +Francisco." + +"Sonny, they've been playing you again. What do you mean? I never had +any legacy." + +Thereupon I set to work and told him the story Juanita had told me. He +laughed uproariously, then smacking me on the shoulder said-- + +"You just help me to get out of here, and you'll see what I'm worth. I +promise you'll not find me ungrateful." + +"Well, if I do get off," I answered, "I give you my word that I'll do my +best for you." + +We shook hands gravely upon it, and I continued-- + +"In what way do you propose to effect your escape? If we're going to +make any plans, we'd better set to work upon them at once." + +"Walk over here with me and I'll tell you all I think." + +With that we began to pace the courtyard, and Veneda to propound his +theory. + +"Now," he said, "my idea is this. You see that further wall?" + +I nodded. It was, as I have said before, a stone affair, perhaps thirty +feet in height, surmounted by a bristling _cheval de frise_. + +"Well, on the other side of it, as far as I can gather from the natives +locked up in here, is a road, with a big paddy field on the other side +of that again. At night, a sentry or patrol of some kind passes round +the entire building once every ten minutes, and naturally our attempt +must be made between his visits." + +"But how do you propose to get over it?" I asked, looking at the wall's +apparently unscalable height. + +"Very easily," my intrepid companion replied, "if you will only carry +out my instructions to the letter." + +"Let me hear what they are, and I'll do the best I can for you." + +"Well, in the first place you will procure from one of the stores in +the town, sixty feet of strong rope. With this carefully disguised you +will wait till midnight; then you must engage a small kharti (native +cab) with a good strong Malay boy driver, and proceed to the other side +of this wall. When you get there, and only then, you will say to the +boy--by the way, do you speak Malay?" + +"No; unfortunately I don't." + +"That's a pity, but it can't be helped." + +He stopped and thought for a moment, then borrowing a pencil and a piece +of paper, wrote something on it. + +"There are two sentences," he said, and he repeated them once or twice +to enable me to pick up the proper accent. "This one means, 'To the +gaol'--that, 'You shall have ten guilders if you help me.' Say them over +to me." + +I repeated them till I was tired, and only then did he seem satisfied. + +"I think he'll _sumjao_ you now," he said. + +"And when I get here," I continued, "what am I to do?" + +"Then you will uncoil the rope and throw one end over the wall, to the +left, there. I will make it fast round my waist, and you and the boy +must manage between you to pull me up to the top. It'll be a struggle, +but you must do it somehow." + +"And if the sentry should appear while we're at it, what then?" + +"Well, in that case," he said with a laugh, "I'll leave it to your own +instinct to know what to do with him; but I should suggest timing it so +that you'll just miss him." + +"And how are you going to manage to get into this courtyard after you've +been locked up for the night?" + +"Leave that to me, I'll work it. Perhaps I shan't go in at all." + +"And when you're out, what are your plans?" + +"Tanjong Priok, as slippery as the Malay can take us. Then we must get +into the docks, borrow a boat, and set sail for the islands, to hide +there till we can get on to Singapore or Ceylon. Batavia will be no sort +of place for either of us after that. You'll stand by me, Ramsay?" + +"I've given you my word," I said; "I can't say more than that, can I?" + +"Not if you're the man I take you to be. Anyhow I'll trust you." + +Just at that moment a stir was observable in the yard; the great gate at +the end swung open, and a party of police entered. They came to where I +stood, and signified that I should accompany them. + +"Good luck," cried Veneda as I rose to go; "don't forget me." + +I waved my hand to him and off we set. Once more our route lay in the +direction of the consul's office, and arriving there, I was ushered into +his presence forthwith. It seemed to me that on this occasion he +regarded me in rather a somewhat different light. + +"I suppose you're aware," he began, when the case was opened, "of the +serious nature of the charge against you?" + +I told him I was. + +"Have you anything more to say on the subject?" + +"Nothing, but that I am the victim of a villainous conspiracy," I +answered. "I certainly did struggle with the man, and I don't deny that +I hit him, but it was in purest self-defence. He was a noted bad +character, and only came aboard at Thursday Island as a stowaway. On the +occasion in question I had reprimanded him several times without any +effect, and I was in the act of doing so again when he rushed at me. Had +I not closed with him, he would have dashed my brains out with a +belaying-pin. It was my fault that he died, but though I struck him, I +had not the very faintest intention of killing him. I don't know who +laid the charge against me, but that it was preferred simply to get me +out of the way, I am as certain as that I stand before you now." + +Thereupon, being permitted, I set to work and told him my story, just as +I had told it to Veneda the preceding night. He listened with the utmost +attention, and having asked me one or two questions, said-- + +"I am inclined to believe you. There is certainly something very +underhand somewhere." + +Stopping his examination, he wrote something on a sheet of paper, and +ringing a bell, ordered that it should be despatched immediately. It was +a telegram, I discovered later, to Thursday Island. Having done this, +he recommenced his examination, and finally remarked--"I have sent for +some information about you; until I receive it, you will be detained +here." + +Turning to the police, he said something in Dutch, whereupon I was +marched into another room, and locked up. During the period of waiting +my thoughts were none of the pleasantest. From a consideration of my own +position, they wandered to the strange story Veneda had told me, and +thence, by natural transition, to Juanita and her professed love for +myself. From Juanita they passed back, across what seemed a vast +interval of years, to my first love Maud; and as I allowed my mind to +dwell upon her sweet face, her ladylike manners, her gentle disposition, +and her general refinement, a great home-sickness came upon me, and I +resolved then and there, that if ever the opportunity offered, I would +forsake my wandering life, and go back to England, like the prodigal +son, never to leave it again so long as I should live. + +While these thoughts were thronging my brain, I was again summoned into +the consul's presence. This time he greeted me with a smile. + +"Mr. Ramsay," he said, "I have been making inquiries in Thursday Island +about you, and partly on their account, and partly in consideration of +the fact that the _Mother of Pearl_ and all the witnesses against you +have seen fit to decamp, goodness only knows where, I have decided to +release you from custody, on the ground that there is not sufficient +reliable evidence to warrant your detention. You may thank your stars +that you have got off so easily, and I hope this will be a lesson to you +to keep out of such company in the future." + +I thanked him warmly for his action in the matter, and at the same time +asked him if my bag had been taken away from the Hotel des Indes. It +had, and he gave instructions to his clerk that it should be handed over +to me. I was particularly anxious about this, for I had nearly forty +pounds of the three hundred the Albino had given me in it, and I knew I +should want all the money I could get to ensure success in the perilous +enterprise which lay before me. + +After answering the consul's inquiries as to what I intended to do with +myself now that my ship had sailed without me, by saying that I had not +yet made up my mind, I left his office, and departed in the direction of +the town. + +As we drove through it on the ill-starred day of our arrival, I had +noticed some Stores, which I now thought would be likely to contain the +article I required. I was right, and obtaining what I sought in the way +of rope, I returned to my hotel, took a room, and composed myself to +rest until it should be time to set off on the business of the night. + +As darkness fell it began to rain, and continued to pour down until well +after ten o'clock. Fortunately not a sign of the moon was to be seen; a +thick pall of clouds obscured the entire sky. Having nothing to do, I +sat and smoked in my verandah all the evening, and it was not until +after eleven that I commenced any preparations for my departure. Then, +stowing my money and what few little things I valued among my effects +about my person, and carrying the big parcel of rope, wrapped up in as +unsuspicious a manner as possible, under my arm, I closed my bedroom +door, and passed out across the garden into the streaming street. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +GAOL-BREAKING EXTRAORDINARY. + + +When I left the hotel I hurried with all the speed I could command in +the direction I knew the gaol to lie. As I went, I kept my eyes open for +a kharti of the required description. It was late, I knew, for a cabby +to be abroad, but I had little doubt that I should soon find some driver +who would be glad to earn a few additional guilders, in spite of the +dangerous nature of the business for which I wanted him. Apart from any +consideration of the time to be saved by driving, it was very necessary +that I should obtain a conveyance soon, or my wanderings with a large +and heavy parcel (for sixty feet of stout rope is no light burden) would +be more than likely to attract the attention and suspicion of some of +the curious night watchmen, one of whom I passed about every hundred +yards. Fortunately, however, it was a wet night, and these gentry +preferred the shelter of their boxes to following mysterious +pedestrians, otherwise I might have been called upon to stop and give an +account of myself, and my reason for being so late abroad. + +As no sign of any conveyance was to be seen, I began to despair of +obtaining one, and was in the act of turning down a by-lane, through +which it would be impossible for a vehicle to pass, in order to reach +the prison, when I heard the sounds of a pony's feet behind me, and the +cries of the driver urging it forward. + +As soon as he was close enough, I sang out to the cabby to stop. +Thereupon he hauled up, and waited for me to approach him. As this +looked like my last chance, I wasn't going to give him an opportunity of +saying whether he wanted another fare that night or not, but jumped up +on the back seat before he could expostulate, and pressing five guilders +into his hand, bade him drive to the gaol. + +He must have thought me mad or drunk, for he approached a smile as near +as a Malay can get to it without breaking his neck, and urged the pony +forward at increased speed. Ten minutes later we had drawn up opposite +the gaol wall, under cover of some over-hanging trees, and I was +anxiously waiting for the passing of the sentry, and the approach of +twelve o'clock. + +By this time my charioteer had some idea of what was going forward, for +he gave unmistakable signs that he wished to be off. This, however, I +had no intention of allowing him to do, so placing another five guilders +in his hand, I repeated the sentence Veneda had taught me so carefully, +to the effect that "he should have ten more if he helped me." This +seemed to decide him, for he jabbered something in reply, and I saw by +the way he settled himself down in his seat, that not only had he +resigned himself to his fate, but that I could safely count upon his +co-operation. + +Hardly had I finished my talk with him than I espied something dark +moving against the further end of the long bare wall. My heart gave a +jump _as I recognized the Malay sentry_. He was armed with rifle and +bayonet, and was muffled up like the watchmen I had met on my journey +through the town. So narrow was the road that, to my horror, I saw he +would be compelled to pass within fifteen feet of where our conveyance +stood; so close indeed, that it seemed impossible he could fail to be +aware of our presence. But he was no doubt tired and sleepy, and as on +this side of the prison no eye could observe his actions, he was in the +habit of indulging himself with a nap as he passed round it. + +Directly he had turned the corner I hastened across the road, and +prepared to hurl the rope I had previously uncoiled over the wall. + +Beckoning my cabman to me, I bade him lay hold of one end, and next +moment the other was whistling through the air. As I threw it, I +wondered if Veneda had managed his part of the contract, and also what +would befall me if he did not make his appearance before the sentry +should pass that way again. But I was not to be kept very long in +suspense, for a minute had hardly elapsed before I felt a sharp twitch +upon the line; a signal, I did not doubt, that all was right on the +other side. A second jerk bade me pull. + +I promise you it was no easy task to haul a heavy man like Veneda over +a thirty feet wall, more especially as the rope had to draw over the +_cheval de frise_ above the stone coping. It seemed as if we should +never get him to the top, and that the sentry _must_ appear before we +could accomplish it. I don't think I ever spent a longer five minutes in +my life. But every second the pile of rope was increasing at our feet; +Veneda could not surely be more than a few feet from the top. Suddenly +there was a crack, a big jump on the rope, and a dull and ominous thud +on the other side. What had happened? + +I soon realized it all. The _cheval de frise_ had given way under the +strain upon it, and the rope had dropped on to the coping of the wall +itself. The thud must have been Veneda's body striking against it. + +Once more we pulled till we could get no further draw on the rope. It +had jammed against the broken iron-work. + +Funnelling my mouth with my hands, I called to Veneda, but received no +answer. What could be the matter? Could the bump against the wall have +stunned him? As I wondered, to my consternation I heard footsteps +approaching round the corner. It was the sentry again. Now we were in a +pretty fix! To let go the rope would be to allow Veneda to drop thirty +feet down on to the ground on the other side; yet, on the other hand, I +knew it would be fatal to permit the sentry to discover us in this +invidious position. I ransacked my brains for a way out of the +difficulty. The sweat streamed over my face; it was like some horrible +nightmare from which, strive how I would, I could not awake. And every +moment the steps were coming closer. + +So far as I could see there was only one thing to be done; feeble reed +though he was to lean upon, I must trust to the fidelity of the Malay +driver. Signing to him to hang on to the rope, as if his very life +depended on it, I left him, and crept towards the corner. It was my idea +to jump upon the sentry as he came round it, hoping to being able to +silence him before he could give the alarm. + +What I went through during the thirty seconds or so in which I lay +crouched behind the buttress of that wall no man will ever understand. +The steps came nearer and nearer--I pulled myself together in +preparation for the spring. It seemed as if the beating of my heart must +be plainly audible yards away. + +Then suddenly a dark figure appeared before me, and I leapt upon it. + +So swift was my onslaught that the man had not time to guard himself +before my left arm was round his waist and my right hand tightening on +his throat. My left leg I crooked round his right, with the intention of +throwing him. He was a plucky fellow, and did his best against me. But +his surprise was no match for my despair. As we swayed backwards and +forwards his rifle fell from his grasp, striking the wall with an awful +clatter. When I heard that I gave myself up for lost. + +Exerting all my strength, I lifted him clear off the ground (a feat I +could never have accomplished in cold blood), and dashed him from me +against the buttress edge. His head struck it with a ghastly thud; he +slipped, fell, and lay upon the ground a huddled up mass of groaning +humanity. Ascertaining that he was powerless, I turned and ran in the +direction of the rope, to which I was relieved beyond all measure to +find the Malay still clinging. + +What to do now was a puzzle. I reflected there were only two ways out of +it--I must either be content to abandon the enterprise altogether, and +to leave Veneda to his fate, or, as he could not come down to me, go up +to him. But whatever I intended to do must be accomplished quickly, for +it might be the sentry's duty to report himself as he went by the +guardhouse every round, and in that case his nonappearance would be the +signal for search, and we should be irretrievably lost. + +With this thought in my mind I clutched the rope and began to swarm up +it, trusting to Providence that whatever was keeping it at the top would +hold it until I could get there. + +Even now, when I think about the climb to the top of that prison wall, I +feel a shudder pass over me. It was interminable. I seemed to be doomed +to climb thousands of feet of rope, and never to get any farther. But at +last it was accomplished, and I was hauling myself along the broken +_cheval de frise_, to where a black mass lay blocked between it and the +stones. Needless to say, that mass was Veneda, and unconscious. He had +tied the rope round his waist before starting, and its sudden drop from +the iron-work on to the coping must have inflicted on him a terrible +wrench; in swinging round, his head had struck the wall with sufficient +force to stun him. + +One glimpse was enough to show me that it was impossible for him to help +himself, so drawing the rope up, I made it fast round the stanchions of +the iron, and pulling his body over to the other side, lowered it as +gently as I could, under the circumstances, to the ground. It was a +dangerous undertaking, for, as I have said, he was a heavy man, and I +had only the narrow top of the wall on which to take a purchase with my +feet. + +How it was that no one saw us from the prison side I am at a loss to +understand. I can only attribute it to the fortunate darkness of the +night; for had the moon been visible we must certainly have been +discovered. + +As soon as Veneda reached the ground I slipped down the rope to his +side, and with the assistance of the Malay bore him to the cab. Then, +without waiting to ascertain the condition of the unfortunate sentry, +who still lay where I had thrown him, off we set as fast as the pony +could take us in the direction of the port. + +At the best of times, and under the most pleasant circumstances, it is a +miserable drive; but with a sick man to support, for Veneda had not yet +returned to consciousness, a treacherous Malay to watch, and my own +balance in the tiny cart to keep, it was one long-continued horror. + +The awkwardness of my position was increased ten-fold by Veneda's +insensibility, for, not being able to speak Malay myself, I had no one +now to fall back upon. I could only repeat "Tanjong Priok, Tanjong +Priok," over and over again, prefacing my remarks with a guilder, and +accompanying each repetition with hints of more. But such was my +despair, that had my driver attempted to play me false, I believe I +should have terminated his existence without thinking twice about the +matter. + +The endurance of the little rat of a pony was nothing short of +marvellous; along heavy roads, through slushy pools, up and down hill, +he dashed with a vigour of which, had I not seen it for myself, I should +hardly have believed him capable. Now and again the moon struggled out +between the clouds to reveal a waste of horrible country. Dense mangrove +swamps, reeking paddy fields, slimy canals, funereal barges, and native +dwellings slid past us, like the ever-changing patterns of a +kaleidoscope. + +Once or twice my companion showed signs of returning consciousness, but +it was only for a few seconds, and after each he inevitably sank back +again into his former comatose condition. Seeing him so long in this +state, I began to be alarmed for his life, and even seriously +contemplated abandoning the flight and taking refuge somewhere, until I +could bring trustworthy medical advice to his assistance. But this +extreme measure was, after all, not necessary, for as we approached the +port he opened his eyes. + +"What's the matter?" he asked faintly, trying to lift his head up to +look about him. + +I explained as briefly as I could, and asked him how he felt. + +"I don't know," he said; "somehow I seem to be dead below my waist. What +happened to me? Oh, I remember, that cursed rope." + +Turning his face to the driver he said something in Malay, to which the +boy offered a vigorous reply. + +"I have been asking him," said Veneda, "if he can get us anywhere near +the docks without exciting attention, and he says he thinks he can. He +declares there'll be the devil and all to pay for this night's work, +which, all things considered, I don't think unlikely." + +Then taking my hand, he continued, but in a different tone-- + +"I don't know what to say to you for what you've done for me. I'm +afraid, though, you've had your trouble in vain; I'm in an awful state." + +"I'm more than sorry to hear it," I replied; "but bite on the bullet, +old man, we'll never say die." + +"It's devilish good of you, Ramsay; but don't you think you'd better +clear out without me? I shan't think a bit the worse of you for it, and +it will only be spoiling your own chance to burden yourself with me." + +I cannot remember what reply I made to this, but I believe it was to the +effect that we were in the same boat, and must sink or swim together. +Somehow my heart was more warmly disposed towards the poor fellow in his +helplessness than it had ever been in his strength. Such a strange and +wonderful thing is the responsibility of protection. + +By this time we were close to the shore. I could smell the sea-breeze +distinctly; and the first whiff of it put new life into me. It was the +breath of freedom, and with that in my nostrils I felt there was nothing +I could not do or dare. Like the old war-horse, whose courage rises and +whose old deeds of derring-do come back to him with the ring of the +trumpet-call, so all my powers and energies derived a fresh fillip from +that glorious ozone. + +When we reached a safe place the driver pulled up, and I lifted my +companion out of the cab. + +Only a wall separated us from the docks. With the Malay's assistance, +and a vast deal of pain to the sufferer himself, whom I could hear +grinding his teeth in his endeavour to prevent any cry escaping him, I +got Veneda over it. + +This accomplished, I gave the driver the sum I had promised him, and saw +him start away on his journey back to the city. Then I rejoined Veneda, +and taking him up in my arms, proceeded towards the wharf side. Laying +him down, I started off in search of a boat. + +On every side were numerous big craft, mail-steamers, men-of-war, etc., +but further inland, towards the river, was the sort of vessel I +wanted--a small native sailing boat of about two tons. The moon emerged +from behind a cloud as I stepped on board her to investigate. Only one +man was to be seen, and he lay asleep under a sort of thatch place aft. +Without disturbing him, I crept off again and back along the wharf to +Veneda. Taking him up, I carried him to the boat and aboard, placing him +very gently under the shelter beside the sleeping man. + +Just as I did so, three bells struck on a big steamer in the pool with +alarming distinctness. The clang was taken up by some of the other boats +round about, and it was well-nigh a minute before they'd all done +chiming. To make sure of my defence I drew my revolver from my pocket +and examined the chambers; they were all charged. Then, signing my +intentions to Veneda, I placed my fingers round the sleeping man's +throat and shook him back to consciousness. I must leave you to imagine +his astonishment when he woke. + +As soon as he was able to understand matters, Veneda explained in Malay +that we wanted the loan of his boat for a day or two, and that it +behoved him to go ashore quietly and peaceably, or he'd get into +trouble. But a brilliant thought had struck me. The craft was too big +for one man to manage, so, since Veneda was unable to assist, why +shouldn't we take the man as well as his property? Besides husbanding +our strength, this would prevent the authorities from obtaining any clue +as to the manner of our departure from the island. + +I explained my idea to Veneda, who fell in with the notion at once. It +was a case of Hobson's choice for the nigger; he had no option but to +submit. Giving Veneda the tiller, such as it was, I escorted the owner +forward, and assisted him to get sail on her. Then, casting off, we +began to tack slowly down the harbour, past the Singapore mail-boat, +the Dutch gun-boat, and astern of the big mud-dredger, out into the open +sea. Fortunately the wind was in our favour, and though the boat was not +built on the latest yachting lines, yet it was astonishing what pace it +was possible to get out of her. What most puzzled me was the course we +ought to steer, for I hadn't the remotest acquaintance with these +waters. I put the question to Veneda, who called the man aft and sounded +him on the subject. A long jabbering ensued. + +"He says it would be best for us to make further down the coast; but I +don't cotton to that notion at any price." + +"What do you think then?" + +"Why, my idea is, one of the small islands off Sumatra. They're right in +the way of ships. Then we'll get rid of this fellow and his boat, and +wait our chance to be picked up and carried on to Singapore or Colombo, +as the case may be." + +"Very well," I said, "we'll just let her run her present course for an +hour or two, and at the same time keep our eyes open for an island that +will suit us." + +Fortunately the boat was well provisioned, even to the extent of a small +supply of arrack, or native spirit, which came in handy for Veneda, so +we were not likely to want for food for some time to come. + +As soon as we were clear of the land, I took my place by my poor +friend's side, and endeavoured to discover in what way he had hurt +himself. Save, however, for a few large bruises, and a cut or two, +there was nothing to indicate the nature of his injuries. Advising him +to try and obtain some sleep, which I felt sure would have a better +effect than anything I could do for him, I took the tiller and prepared +to stand the first watch. The Malay sulked forward, looking as if he'd +like to stick his _crease_ into the pair of us, which under the +circumstances perhaps was not to be wondered at. + +By this time it was hard upon sunrise, and such a sunrise too! The first +sign that came to us was the paling of the larger stars in the east; +this was followed by a long thin streak of silver-grey, just balanced on +the edge of the horizon. As, bit by bit, this grey died out, its place +was taken by a faint tint of salmon-pink, which in its turn again +surrendered to all manner of other colours as the darkness drew off the +remainder of the sky. Even the sea participated in the general glory. A +wonderful hush overspread everything, and to me it seemed that an +intense melancholy had assumed possession of the world. Like the man in +the _Ancient Mariner_, we might have been the "first who had ever burst +into that silent sea." The very ripple of the water under our squat +bows, and the creaking of the boat's timbers, were subdued into harmony +with the general effect. Gradually long shafts of light pierced the +eastern heavens. Then, with almost startling suddenness, the sun leaped +above the horizon, and the sea resumed its natural hue; as if by magic, +the colours faded out of the sky, and day was born to us. + +About seven o'clock Veneda woke, much refreshed by his sleep. Calling +the Malay aft I gave him the helm, getting Veneda to instruct him as to +the course I wanted steered. This done, I went forrard to prepare some +rice for breakfast. Though he never allowed a sign of it to escape him, +I knew Veneda's sufferings must be intense. As far as I could see I was +powerless to alleviate them; and whenever I asked him how he felt, he +only laughed grimly, and said-- + +"Get me to an island, that's all I want, get me to an island!" + +All that day we sailed on and on. About midday the wind dropped, and the +boat's progress was consequently very slow. It was monotonous work, but, +as we both agreed, it was better than prison in Batavia. Towards evening +the coast of Sumatra was just distinguishable, and this we followed up +in the hope, before dark, of hitting an island that would suit us. We +sighted several, but for some reason Veneda found an objection for them +all. At last, just as I was beginning to think we should have to pass +the night at sea, we came abreast of one of which he expressed his +approval. It was very small, not more than a mile in length, but thickly +timbered, and with a broad strip of sand running all round it. + +Having decided on the best spot to land, I steered the boat in, and +after a bit of manoeuvring, beached her on a good sandy bottom towards +the most northerly point. The first business was to discover if the +island contained fresh water. And here arose a difficulty. I could not +take Veneda ashore with me, and I dared not go myself and leave him at +the mercy of the Malay. He divined what was passing in my mind, and +solved the problem with his usual quickness. + +"Give me your revolver, and prop me up here. I'll watch him till you +come back, never fear." + +I did as he desired me, and then bidding him "good-bye," clambered over +the side and waded ashore. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE ISLAND. + + +As I splashed my way ashore, I could not help a feeling of wonderment as +to whether the whole circumstances preceding and attending our arrival +at the island were not part of some horrible dream, from which I should +presently awaken. In fact, my whole existence, from the day I left the +_Beretania_ at Port Adelaide up to the moment of my setting foot upon +these sands, appeared almost too strange to be possible. With the +dwelling of my mind upon the subject, all the events which had +accompanied my chequered career rose before me like sheeted phantoms of +a dead past. They embraced even my monotonous employment in the +ship-chandler's office, my experience on the gold-fields, and my +starvation and illness at Broken Hill; took in my life as a fireman, as +a station store-keeper, as cook on a cattle camp, as a loafer in +Brisbane, and a pearler in Torres Straits; included my love for Juanita, +my introduction to the Albino, our voyage to the island, the hoax, my +betrayal in Batavia, and my meeting with and participation in the escape +of Veneda; his accident, and finally our arrival at the place where I +now stood. + +I must risk the charge of being called a Fatalist when I affirm that I +honestly believe that everything in our lives, down to the most trifling +circumstance, is mapped out for us beforehand by an all-wise Providence +to bring about a certain pre-arranged result. If this is not so, why did +I give up the sea?--why was I allowed to meet Juanita and the +Albino?--and why was I brought to Batavia? Could it have been only +chance that led me to rescue Veneda, and by so doing to work out my own +ultimate--but there you must let me cry a halt; to go into it any +further would be to anticipate the strange things I have yet to tell +you. + +Having reached the shore, I looked about me for the best point at which +to strike into the undergrowth, for, as I have said, the island was +densely covered from end to end with vegetation. A spot decided on, I +threw a glance towards the boat, and plunged into the thicket. + +From the beach the land rose abruptly till it reached a sandy plateau, +something less than a hundred yards long. Round this on every side trees +and shrubs throve luxuriantly, not only protecting it from the violence +of the sea-breeze, but lending to it a picturesqueness that was like a +glimpse of fairyland. What was more to my taste, however, I discovered +at the further end a stream of purest water, bubbling its tiny torrent +through the thicket down to the sea below, and here I determined to +pitch our camp, if only I could manage to convey Veneda up to it. + +Above the plateau rose another slight elevation, from the summit of +which a splendid view of the sea might be obtained. Before returning to +the boat I climbed to it, and searched the offing for a sail, but not a +sign of such a thing was to be seen. The sun by this time was nearly +down, so bestowing a hasty glance upon the other side of the island, I +hastened back to the shore to fetch Veneda. Though I did not anticipate +any danger, it was with a feeling of relief that I espied the boat lying +just as I had left her, the Malay still seated forward, and my poor +friend propped up in the shelter astern. + +Very well satisfied with the success of my visit of inspection, I +splashed out to his side and informed him of the result. But when I +offered to carry him up to the plateau, he was quick to point out the +difficulties of the climb, and to suggest a far safer and more +comfortable means of transit. + +Once more I waded ashore, this time to return with two stout saplings, +to which I fastened a strong piece of sail-cloth, thus making a rude but +comfortable litter. + +At Veneda's command the Malay jumped overboard, and placed himself +between the poles at the further end, leaving the after part resting on +the gunwale of the boat. Raising the sick man carefully in my arms, I +placed him on it, and then taking the other end myself, we were +presently bearing him triumphantly ashore. + +After pausing for a moment on the beach to recover our breath, we +started on again through the thicket and across the stream, up to the +spot I had marked out for our camping-place. There, under the shadow of +a large rock, we set him down, and I returned with the Malay to secure +some necessaries from the boat. + +Ere this work was accomplished the sun had disappeared, and it was time +for our evening meal. Our fare was necessarily simple, consisting of +boiled rice and a small portion of dried fish; but while I partook of it +greedily, Veneda could not be induced to touch a particle. + +In truth, I was beginning to be more and more alarmed about him, for +instead of improving, his condition was growing perceptibly worse. His +face, always thin, was now pinched and contracted almost out of +recognition; only his great eyes burned like live coals in his head. His +fortitude was marvellous. In place of the hasty, ill-tempered man +Juanita had always described him to be, I found him patient, +long-suffering, and even hopeful to an extraordinary degree. It was a +piteous sight to see one hitherto so strong lying like a log, unable +even to turn himself without assistance. + +As soon as our meal was eaten I set to work to construct a rough sort of +shelter for him with saplings and branches of trees, pressing the Malay +into my service. When it was completed it was not much to look at, but +it answered my purpose very well. The Malay then left us to return to +his boat, a proceeding for which I was not sorry, having no desire for +his company on that lonely spot all night. + +You will notice that I had quite constituted myself Veneda's protector. +And what a strange and wonderful thing it is, that responsibility of +protection! Take for instance the man who is playing a lone hand in the +Game of Life. When he has only his own safety to consider he is careless +of danger to an extraordinary degree; on the other hand, give him but +the slightest control over, or the right to protect any one weaker than +himself, and he begins at once to discover all sorts of dangers in the +very things which hitherto he has most vehemently despised. It is the +same feeling which makes the strong man tremble when, in the first flush +of his golden love-dream, he catches the ominous word _infection_, and +remembers that even his great love is insufficient to protect his dear +one from the insidious inroads of disease. + +After the sun had been down about an hour the moon rose like a ball of +gold above the farthest point of the island, revealing the waste of sea, +the coral sands, the tree-tops just rocking in the evening breeze, and +the dim stretch of land on either side of us. The soft ripple of the +wavelets on the shore sounded like faintest music in the intense +stillness, and the crooning of some belated sea-bird came like a cry +across the waters. Our fire burnt merrily, and when we had sat for some +time gazing into it, occupied with our own thoughts, which I can promise +you were none of the happiest, Veneda said he should like to tell me his +history. + +Thinking it might distract his thoughts from his unhappy position, I +professed myself delighted to listen, and giving the fire a final +armful of fuel, stretched myself beside him. + +It was then that I learnt the queer story which my Cousin Luke has told +you in the first part of this book, only saving the fact that Veneda +made no mention of the amount of his treasure, in what manner he had +obtained it, where it was hidden away, or how another person might +procure it. Even in the hour of his extremity his habitual caution did +not desert him; and though he must have known himself to be little +better than a dead man, he was not going to share his secret with any +one else until convinced that it was impossible for him to enjoy the +fruits of it himself. + +Another strange point about this remarkable man was the affection he +displayed for small matters connected with his boyhood. He would linger +with the fondest remembrances on the most insignificant trifles. For +instance, on a certain tiny trout stream in which he had been in the +habit of fishing; on the different names scratched upon the pews in his +school chapel; on the various natures of his boyish pets, and +particularly on the vagaries of a certain one-eyed fox terrier, for whom +he seemed to have cherished a singular regard. I have often noticed this +peculiarity in men of his stamp, but never before in such a marked +degree. + +While his mind was recalling these ancient recollections his face wore +an expression of unaccustomed gentleness but a moment or two later, when +the name of the Albino happened to occur, the look that accompanied the +utterance of it was almost diabolical in its malignity. Wrecked though +he was, it would have been an ill moment for the dwarf had he ventured +within the reach of those muscular brown hands. + +One subject I was surprised to hear him touch upon, and that was his +dismissal from the service of a London bank on a suspicion of forgery. +This charge he contended, with considerable earnestness, was altogether +false. He was innocent; some one else had committed the crime, and had +saddled it upon him, convinced that his reckless conduct, bad +reputation, and proverbial want of money would supply sufficient motives +for the deed. + +"Ramsay," he asserted vigorously, "it was just that false accusation +which sent me to the devil. I was on the brink before, but that fairly +toppled me over. And, as God is my witness, whatever sins I have +committed since that time must be laid to the charge of that real thief, +whoever he may have been." + +"How did you manage to get out of it?" I asked. + +"Simply because my uncle, Sir Benjamin Plowden--a pious, New Jerusalem +patriarch of East India Avenue--not caring to have the family name +figuring in the police reports, took the matter in hand, and used his +influence to square it." + +"Sir Benjamin Plowden!" I gasped. "You don't mean to tell me Sir +Benjamin is your uncle?" + +"He was my father's brother. My real name is Plowden. But, good +gracious, man, you don't surely know him?" + +"Know him! Why, I should rather think I do! Wasn't I in his office for +years? And wasn't I engaged to his daughter Maud until I was blackguard +enough to think her false to me?" + +Veneda was silent. After a while he said, as I thought, rather sadly-- + +"What a rat-trap of a world it is, after all! Ramsay, this is too much +of a coincidence; there's fatality in it. Fate must have willed that we +should meet!... And so you were engaged to little Maud! By Jove! how +well I remember her--a tiny slip of a thing in a white frock, tied up +with blue ribbons. She came into her father's study one day when I was +waiting for him, pretended she came for a book, but I believe myself it +was just to steal a look at wicked Cousin Marmaduke, whom the women-folk +had piously permitted to figure in her mind as a sort of cross between +Giant Blunderbore and the devil. Perhaps Cousin Satan was not quite so +ugly as she had expected him to be, for when Sir Benjamin entered later, +he found us seated side by side on the hearthrug, making paper boats. I +can see his face now! And so--she's a grown woman!--and I--well, I'm +just a derelict on the ocean of life, useless to myself, and harmful to +my fellow-men. But there, I can't complain; I've made my bed, and I +suppose I must lie on it. Ramsay, shall I tell you what I was going to +do if I had reached home?" + +"What?" + +"I should have been a rich man, remember. And I had figured it that I +would purchase an estate in a county where nobody would know my past, +marry some nice quiet English girl, and settle down to bring up my +children, if I had any, to be as honest as their father was crooked, to +do good to my neighbours, and when I went down to my grave, to have +lived so that somebody should be able to say, 'There's an English +gentleman gone to his rest!' An English gentleman, mark you, and there's +no prouder title under the sun than that. As it is, I shall peg out +here, cut off from all who knew me, and--as somebody has it--going into +my grave 'unwept, unhonoured, and unsung!' A grand end, isn't it?" + +Not knowing how to comfort him, I held my tongue. He continued-- + +"Somehow I've been an outcast all my life, and I shall certainly die +one. After my first slip I was never given a chance, but was badgered +from pillar to post, until I was driven out of England, the victim of +what we may call uncivilized Christianity. It was rough on me, deuced +rough." + +After this our conversation dropped off bit by bit, till it ceased +altogether. I made him as comfortable as I could, and then sought my own +couch on the other side of the fire. Hours passed before sleep came to +me, my brain was full of the thoughts his words had conjured up. +Strangely enough, it was not of Juanita I had thought within the last +few days. She seemed almost to have passed out of my life. It was on +another and a purer love I pondered. "Oh, Maud, Maud, my own lost love," +I moaned, "if only I could live those fatal days again!" But it was +impossible. Like Dryden, I must cry henceforth-- + + "Not heaven itself upon the past has power; + But what has been, has been, and I have had my hour." + +Next morning I discovered that Veneda had not slept at all. It needed +but little medical knowledge to tell that his condition was worse than +on the previous night. His face was fast losing even the faint colour it +had hitherto possessed. His forehead was covered with a clammy sweat, +and at times he moaned softly and wandered in his talk. I was more +distressed about him than I can say. But what could I do? To carry him +elsewhere in search of help would have been useless, had it even been +possible; besides, it would only have hastened his death to have moved +him. In addition to this, I found the Malay had taken advantage of the +opportunity to clear out, and his boat was already a dim speck upon the +horizon. There was nothing for it but to make Veneda as comfortable as I +could, and to patiently await the end. + +In his moments of consciousness I think he must have been aware that he +had not much longer to live; indeed, he hinted as much to me when I +asked if I could do anything to relieve his pain. His patience was +marvellous. He uttered no sign of complaint, but met his fate with a +fortitude that was inexpressibly touching. + +Towards the middle of the morning I struggled up the hill to scour the +offing for a sail. But no sign of a ship was to be seen, only the blue +expanse of water, other islands peeping up to right and left of us, and +the dim outline of the Sumatra coast away to the westward. Round my head +white sea-gulls wheeled with discordant cries, while from the farther +side of the island the boom of surf sounded like mimic thunder. What +would I not have given for a sail, or anything that could have brought +relief to my dying companion! But it was no use wishing, so as soon as I +had satisfied myself that no assistance was forthcoming, I descended to +the plateau and anxiously approached Veneda. + +I found him in an excited condition, his face flushed and his eyes +brighter than when I had left him half an hour before. He was talking in +the wildest fashion, and at the same time endeavoring to raise himself +from the ground. + +Hastening to his side, I tried by every means in my power to soothe him, +but it was useless. He imagined himself back in Chili, and for some time +his utterances were in the Spanish tongue. For nearly two hours he +remained in this state, eventually falling into a heavy sleep which +lasted until about three o'clock. When he awoke his delirium had left +him, but he was much weaker; his voice, when he tried to speak, was +hardly louder than a whisper. I could see that the end was only a matter +of a short time now. + +"Ramsay," he managed to say, "I know all about it; I'm down and done +for. It seems like a joke, old man, but Marcos Veneda's played out." + +As he mentioned his assumed name a faint but bitter smile flickered +across his face. I knelt by his side, and, thinking it might afford him +relief, raised his head, but he bade me let it lie. + +"I shan't be able to talk much longer," he said, and his voice was even +weaker than before. "Feel round my neck; you'll find a locket there--the +famous locket--take it off." + +I did so, placing it in his hand. + +"You've been very good to me, Ramsay, one of the only men in the world +who ever was, and in return I want to do something for you. Take this +locket, it's all I have to leave you, but, as the others knew, it's the +key to my fortune. It will make you a rich man." + +He paused to regain his strength. + +"As soon as you get away from here work your way home to London. And +when you have been there a month--_swear you will not do so before_, I +have the best of reasons for asking it--open it." + +I swore that I would respect his wishes, and he continued-- + +"You will find in the locket a small slip of paper on which is written a +name and address. Go to the address, show the paper just as you have it +there, and demand from the man Two Hundred Thousand Pounds. When he sees +that slip of paper in your possession he will pay it without demur. And +may you be as happy with the money as I intended to be. Above all things +steer clear of John Macklin, for if he dreams that you have the locket +he'll stick at nothing to get it from you." + +"But is there nothing I can do for you?" I asked, thinking he might +like to send some message to the old land he appeared to love so well. + +He only shook his head sadly, intimating that there was no one there who +would be either glad or sorry for his death. + +After this for a long while he remained silent, till I began to think +that perhaps the end had come. At last, without opening his eyes, he +said slowly-- + +"Little Maud--she was the only one of that set who ever trusted me. +Somehow I'd like her to have a share of that money. Ramsay, I know you +love her still; you must marry her after all." + +"It's too late," I groaned; "too late." + +"No, no, I have a conviction that you will win her yet. Try. Swear you +will!" + +I swore! + +For a minute or two only the sighing of the wind through the trees and +the crackling of the fire was to be heard. Then that weary voice began +again-- + +"Ramsay, it's a strange request for a man like me to make, but d'you +know, if you could manage to scramble out some sort of a prayer I +believe I should die easier." + +Like a flash my memory flew back across the waste of years, and once +more I was a tiny chap worshipping at my mother's knee. With a great awe +upon me I knelt and commenced the Lord's Prayer. When I had finished he +slowly repeated the last few words, "For ever and ever, Amen." + +Then a wonderful thing happened. He raised his head, and, as he did so, +his eyes, which had hitherto been shut, opened wide, and his voice came +from him quite clear and strong. It was a grander and a nobler voice +than I had ever expected to hear. He said-- + +"My Lord, I urge nothing in my own defence; I simply throw myself upon +the mercy of the Court." + +Then with a little sigh his head fell back again. Marcos Veneda was +dead! + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +RESCUED. + + +Long after Veneda's speech I remained kneeling by his side in earnest +prayer, but when his laboured breathing ceased altogether, and I looked +up to find his jaw dropped and his great eyes fixed in a horrible stare, +I knew that all was over, and prepared to perform the last sad offices. + +These accomplished, his expression changed completely. Up to the moment +of his death a haggard, weary look had possessed his features, but now +his face was like that of a little child for innocence and peace. I +stood looking down on him for some minutes, my mind surging with a +variety of thoughts. Then, picking up my cap, I strode hastily from the +plateau towards the interior of the island, in the hope of diverting my +thoughts from the scene I had just witnessed, and from the contemplation +of my own awful loneliness. + +Swiftly I marched along; the bright sunshine straggled amid the trees +and lit up the glades through which I passed, but beyond being aware of +these things I had little attention for them. I could not divest myself +of the horror of my position. Here was I, I told myself, the sole living +being upon this island; my companion a dead and unburied man; my +prospect of rescue as remote as ever, and my food supply limited to a +few more meals. Indeed, so horrible was my condition that consideration +of it inclined me even to wish myself back in prison in Batavia. + +In this state I passed out from the woods on to the shore. The tide was +far out, and an expanse of sand stretched before me. Thinking brisk +exercise might raise my spirits I set off to walk as quickly as I could +round the island. But it was only putting off the unpleasant work, for I +could not allow day to depart and leave me with the body still unburied. + +My prison, I discovered, was not as large as I had thought it, being +considerably less than a mile long. My first view had evidently been a +deceptive one, and I must have allowed more for the fall of the hill +than was justifiable, considering that I had not seen the end of it. + +In the hope that I might discover some sort of shell-fish with which to +sustain life when my meagre supply of rice should be exhausted, I walked +close to the water's edge, but not a trace of anything fit to eat could +I find. This knowledge added considerably to my uneasiness. + +While engaged in my search, I espied, bobbing up and down in the water +not far from the shore, something that looked suspiciously like a bottle +with the cork in. My curiosity was instantly aroused. Who knew but that +it might contain the last message of a shipwrecked crew, thrown +overboard in the hope of carrying to the world information of their +unhappy fate. If this were so, into what weak hands had it fallen! + +My mind made up to gain possession of it, it was the work of a moment to +wade towards it. I found it to be a Bass' beer-bottle, and on holding it +up to the light, I could see that it contained a sheet of paper. The +mouth was firmly corked, and to render it additionally secure, the +latter was not only tied down but carefully sealed. Bearing it ashore, I +threw myself on the warm sands and prepared to broach its contents. + +I discovered the cork to be fastened with copper wire, while the wax +used was of a quality more generally employed by ladies on their +_billets-doux_ than by men before the mast. Cracking the bottle with a +stone I extracted the paper and spread it carefully out. + +It was a full sheet of cream-laid, folded longways into a narrow strip +to go through the bottle's neck. Owing to this precaution it was quite +dry. The following is an exact transcript of what I read-- + + _S.S. Cambermine,_ + "_Three days' steam from Nagasaki._ + + "To all whom it may concern, + + "This is to certify that we, the undersigned, being on our + honeymoon, are the two happiest people on the face of this globe, + and don't you forget it! + + "REGINALD AND MAY." + +A sillier and, under the circumstances, crueller hoax it would have been +impossible to conceive. And yet to my mind there was something terribly +pathetic about that tiny message, tossed about by many seas, buffeted by +storms, carried hither and thither by various currents, its ultimate +fate to fall into the hands of perhaps the most miserable being on the +whole face of that world so flippantly referred to by the writers. +Shutting my eyes I could conjure up the scene--the promenade deck of the +steamer--the happy couple busily engaged upon the preparation of the +message--the toss overboard, and finally, the bottle bobbing up and down +a mute farewell among the waves. Big man as I was, when I pictured the +happiness to which the note referred, and compared it with my own +position, the tears rose into my eyes, and surely if it served no other +purpose, the message had done one good work in diverting for a time the +current of my miserable thoughts. + +For some vague reason, I could not tell what,--perhaps that I might have +in my possession something which was the outcome of a fellow-creature's +happiness, or, maybe, because it was a last feeble link with the outside +world,--I resolved not to tear up the paper, but to keep it as a +talisman about me. When I had put it carefully away I resumed my walk, +and half-an-hour later had completed my circuit of the island, and was +back again on the sands opposite the plateau. + +By this time my mind was made up, and I had resolved to carry out as +expeditiously as possible the horrible task which lay before me. But +how I was to dig a grave of sufficient depth, seeing that I had no +tools, save my knife and hands, with which to do it, I could not +understand. Fearing, however, that if I delayed matters any longer I +should never undertake it at all, I chose a suitable spot a little to +the right of the plateau, and fell to work. + +I found it a longer business than I expected, for though I commenced it +early enough, it was nearly dusk before I had completed it. +Unfortunately I had only accomplished the least horrible part. What I +most dreaded was conveying the body to the grave, and this I had now to +do. + +Returning to the camp on the plateau, the very remembrance of which had +grown indescribably repulsive to me, I approached the spot. A feeling of +surprise took possession of me when I saw that the body lay just as I +had left it, and perhaps for the same reason I found myself creeping +towards it on tip-toe, as if it were wrapped in a slumber which might be +easily disturbed. + +Stooping down, I placed my arms round it, then lifting it on to my +shoulder, hurried back to the grave with all possible speed. Laying it +down, I returned for the cloth stretcher on which we had borne Veneda +the previous night, and having procured this I wrapped the body in it +and laid it in the grave. Then endeavouring to bring my mind to bear on +the awful solemnity of what I was doing, I repeated as much as I could +remember of the service for the burial of the dead. It was an impressive +scene. The dead man in his shallow grave, the evening breeze just +stirring the trees, the light and shadow effects of the sunset, the +smooth sea, and the awful silence of the island. Such an impression did +it make on me, that it seemed if I did not get away from the spot I +should go raving mad. So soon therefore as I had committed his body to +the ground, "earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust," I began to +fill in the soil with feverish haste. The instant that was finished, I +picked up my remaining supply of rice and the cooking-pot, and ran for +dear life. Strange shapes peered at me from every tree, and unearthly +voices whispered in the faint rustling of the leaves. The truth was my +nerves were utterly unstrung,--and was this indeed to be wondered at, +considering the nature of my experiences within the last twenty-four +hours? + +So great was my horror of an Unknown Something--what, I could not +explain--that I had run to the end of the island farthest from the grave +before I came to myself. Then I threw myself down upon the sands quite +exhausted. But I was too hungry to remain inactive long. Lighting a fire +with my one remaining match, I set to work to cook some rice, obtaining +water from a spring I had discovered in my morning's ramble. By the time +I had finished my meal it was quite dark, so I laid myself down, and +after a while fell asleep. + +With prudence born of the knowledge that if my fire once went out I +should have no means of relighting it, I had heaped plenty of fuel on it +before I turned in, so that when I woke next morning it was still +burning brightly. Having cooked and eaten a small portion of my rice, +for I was now compelled to rigidly allowance myself, I replenished my +fire, and started off to climb to my usual look-out spot on the top of +the hill. + +Though I searched in every direction, not a sign of a sail was visible. +Only the same expanse of blue water stretching away to the sky-line, the +same wheeling gulls, and the same eternal thunder of the surf upon the +rearward reef. + +Anything more awful than the feeling of desolation that encompassed me I +would defy any one to imagine. My sensations were those of a man cut off +for ever from his fellow-creatures, a hapless outcast, destined to +perish by slow starvation on that barren spot. A few more meals I +discovered would find me at the end of my supplies. And what would +happen then? + +While I was occupied with these miserable reflections, the locket Veneda +had given me chafed my skin, and the bitter irony of my position figured +before me in a new light. Here was I, I told myself, having about me the +key to enormous wealth, unable to procure the commonest necessaries of +life. A Croesus and a beggar! Indeed, at that moment, had it been in +my power to do so, I would willingly have exchanged all my chances of +obtaining the money for another small bag of rice like the one I was +just at the end of. I returned to my fire to spend the remainder of the +day tramping up and down the hill watching for the sail that never came. + +That night I ate my last mouthful of food. Hence forward I must go +without, unless I could find some sort of fruit or shell-fish with which +to keep body and soul together. Having this object in view, off I set +next morning on another expedition round the island. But I might have +spared myself the labour. Trees there were in abundance, but not one +having any pretence to fruit. Fish I knew teemed in the bay, but I had +neither line nor hooks wherewith to catch them, nor anything of which to +manufacture such tackle. Thus when I reviewed my position I began to see +the hopelessness of it, and to think it would be better for me to lie +down and die without struggling any further against my overwhelming +fate. + +All that day and the next I was without a morsel of food; my agony was +indescribable. How many times I climbed that hill I could not say, but +it was always with the same result--no sail--no sail! My one remaining +thought was to keep up the fire, for I knew that if that went out I +should have no means left of communicating with passing ships. Then a +period of abject despair supervened, in which I cared not a rap what +became of me. How I spent my time after that I could not tell you. I +believe, however, that I must have been delirious, for I have a faint +recollection of running along the beach screaming to Veneda that the +Albino was pursuing me. Certainly this fit lasted a long time, for the +next thing I remember is finding myself lying more dead than alive on +the sand beside my _burnt-out fire_. + +My last hope was gone. My chance of attracting attention had been taken +away from me. Thereupon I asked myself, Why should I wait for death to +release me? why should I not take the direction of affairs into my own +hands, and anticipate what could only be a matter of another day, by the +very longest calculation? + +Strange though it may seem, my troubled brain found something peculiarly +soothing in this idea. I brooded over it unceasingly, deriving a +melancholy satisfaction from the knowledge that, though my agony was +more than human, it was in my power to end it when I pleased. Somehow or +other I developed the idea that the evening would be the most fitting +time for me to accomplish the awful deed, perhaps just at sundown. Three +words, "the evening sacrifice," part of a half-forgotten hymn, faint +relic of my boyhood, haunted me continually-- + + "The sun is sinking fast, + The daylight dies; + Let love awake, and pay + Her evening sacrifice." + +Then suddenly a grisly notion seized me, and all the afternoon I +occupied myself procuring from a tree a slab of wood, upon which to +carve my name and age. With what care I chose the inscription! With what +labour I worked upon it! When it was completed to my satisfaction, it +read as follows-- + + THE MORTAL REMAINS + OF + JOHN RAMSAY, + MARINER, + _Who, dying by his own hand, + Bluffed Starvation, and became the Victim of Despair!_ + +The sun was now only half a hand above the horizon, staring me in the +face, a great globe of mocking fire. I had long since chosen the spot +for my death, and thither I proceeded, sticking my tombstone in the +ground beside the place where in all probability my corpse would fall. + +When all my arrangements were made, I fell to sharpening my knife upon a +stone, pausing now and again to watch the sun. His lower edge was hardly +an eighth of an inch above the sea-line, and as he sank beneath it, I +determined to have done with this weary world, and to endeavour to find +in another the peace which was denied me here. + +For the second time since my arrival on the island, my whole life passed +in review before my eyes;--I saw the dame's school at Plymouth, Sir +Benjamin, and the East India Avenue, Maud, and my dear dead mother. The +bright side of my life seemed suddenly to end here, and a darker +procession commenced to stalk across the stage. My early sea life, my +quarrel with Maud, the gold-fields, my illness, Broken Hill, and, +lastly, Veneda's death. The beach seemed peopled with phantoms, and it +was as if they were all imploring me with outstretched arms to stay my +wicked hand. But I would not heed them. The sun was now more than half +sunk beneath the sea, and I drew back my arm to point the sacrificial +knife. + +At that instant a tiny object moving on the beach, fifty yards or so +from where I stood, caught my eye. I paused to wonder what it might be, +and that little act of curiosity saved my life. In that moment I +abandoned the idea of self-destruction, and the next I was staggering +towards the thing, whatever it might be. + +_It was a turtle making for the sea!_ + +Before he could escape me I had turned him on his back, and plunged the +knife into his breast; then working it round, in less time almost than +it takes to tell, I had portions of the flesh cut out, and was +ravenously devouring them. Oh, the delight of that meal! + +When I had eaten as much as I wanted, I carried what remained to a place +of safety, and afterwards knelt upon the beach to thank God earnestly +for sparing my life to me. But for that tiny beast's intervention I +should have been a dead man. Then with a heart considerably lighter I +rose to my feet, and determined to see if by any chance I could discover +another of the animals. + +My luck had turned, for on the other side of the island I was fortunate +enough to obtain another and even larger one. Carrying him back to my +camp, I despatched him at once to make sure, and then hid his flesh. I +can assure you that it was with a happier and more contented heart that +I fell asleep that night. + +Next morning I breakfasted on the turtle, and when I had finished, +started up the hill to look for ships. As usual, none were to be seen. +Having convinced myself of this melancholy fact, I returned to the +shore, and, for something to do, set myself to destroy the head-board I +had manufactured the day before, and to begin another to perpetuate +Veneda's memory. In this manner I occupied myself all that day. When it +was finished, I set off to view the grave for the first time since I had +laid him in it. + +It had already begun to look unkempt and straggling, so quickly do +things grow in these latitudes. When I had tidied it as well as I could, +I dug a hole at the head and erected the board. It is not much to look +at, but at least it will serve its purpose, so that whosoever visits the +spot in the future will be able to read the name of the man who lies +beneath it. + +This work accomplished, I started back along the shore to my camp for +dinner. Turning the point, I happened to look out to sea. I stopped +suddenly in my walk. I almost dropped under the shock! _A sail was in +sight, and heading towards the island!_ + +For a moment I remained rooted where I stood; my excitement chained me +hand and foot. Would she see me, or would she pass me by? The latter +thought was agony. How could I attract her attention? I had no means to +raise a flare, so I must hit upon some other scheme. Rushing swiftly +across the sands into the thicket, I cut a long pole, and to this +fastened my jacket. Then running with all my speed along the beach +towards a piece of elevated ground, I ascended it, and wildly began to +wave my signal. + +Closer and closer she approached the island, and, as she came, I made +out that she was not one of the small trading boats I had at first +imagined her, but a steam-yacht, and a large one at that. When she was +about two miles distant she ran a flag up to her peak. I could not of +course at that distance make out what it was, but I understood that it +was an answer to my signal, and waved my flag the more frantically, +running down to the water's edge to do so. Then I saw that a boat was +being lowered. + +As soon as she was clear she started for the shore, and when I saw her +coming I fell upon my knees, and sobbed as if my heart would break. +After what seemed an eternity they grounded her, and I waded out to meet +them. A gentlemanly-looking young fellow sat in the stern-sheets. He +stared at me rather hard (and well he might, for I must have cut a +strange figure), and said-- + +"I've been sent to see what's the matter. Can we help you?" + +"Take me away," I cried, "take me away. I'm dying!" + +I really thought I was. My senses were leaving me. I tottered, clutched +at the gunwale of the boat, and remember no more! + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +RAMSAY MEETS OLD FRIENDS. + + +When I came to my senses, my first impression was that I was still upon +the island. This notion was perhaps strengthened in my mind by a +continuous grinding noise (proceeding from the engine-room, I discovered +later), which, I must own, somewhat resembled the distant roar of the +surf upon the beach. When, however, I looked about me, it was not upon +the timber-clad hill, or the long sandy foreshore of the island that my +eyes alighted, but on the confined space of a ship's cabin. It contained +one bunk, a narrow sort of sofa, somewhat like the contrivance one sees +in the first-class state-rooms of the great mail-boats; a miniature +chest of drawers and desk combined, on the top of which, beneath a +number of photographs, pipes, and cheap knick-knacks, stood a variety of +sombre-looking account-books; a curtained recess for hanging clothes, +and a well-contrived washstand. + +Then, in a flash, the remembrance of my rescue by the yacht came back to +me, and I had just recalled the circumstance of my wading out to her +boat, when the door opened and two men entered. The first was a +dignified, grey-haired man, possessed of a handsome, aristocratic face; +the second was rather smaller, with a bright, rosy little countenance, +eyes that bespoke him a humourist, and a general air that said as +plainly as words could have done that he was an Irishman. There was +still a third behind them, the steward, whose cabin I was then +occupying; but he, either from motives of delicacy, or because he +imagined the cabin to be already sufficiently crowded, remained in the +alley-way. The Irishman opened the conversation. + +"Sir Richard," he began, as soon as he saw that I was awake, "you've +lost your money, he's himself again. Now, my man, how are you, eh?" + +I answered that I felt almost well, but that I would be grateful if he +would inform me what boat I was on, and to whom I was indebted for my +rescue. Perhaps something in my voice told him that I was not an +ordinary foremast hand, for he immediately adopted a different tone, and +after feeling my pulse, said-- + +"You're undoubtedly much stronger than when you were talking nonsense +about Albinos, and digging up dead men, yesterday. Where are you? Why, +on board the _Esmeralda_, Sir Richard Tremorden's yacht, to whom you are +indebted for the civility of saving your life. Let me introduce you to +Sir Richard." + +I turned to Sir Richard and tried to thank him, but he would not hear of +it. + +"Not at all, Mr.----" Here he paused for me to give him my name. + +"Ramsay," I said. + +"Not at all, Mr. Ramsay. I am very thankful that I was in a position to +do so. It was quite by chance that we sighted the island, as our real +course lay a good deal to the eastward. Forgive my curiosity, but you +must remember you're a mystery, and we're all suffering from an attack +of impatience to know how you got there." + +I was going to begin my story, but Dr. Sullivan--for such I afterwards +discovered the little medico's name to be--would not permit it. + +"No, no, Sir Richard, not just now. I must really exercise a doctor's +authority, and forbid you to worry him with any questions until he's +stronger; besides, ye're doing the ladies, God bless 'em, an injustice, +by trespassing on their rights. They'll be wanting to cross-examine Mr. +Ramsay for themselves." + +"As you please, doctor," Sir Richard said, with a laugh. "You're in +command down here, of course. Williams!" + +The man in the alley-way answered, "Yes, Sir Richard?" + +"Mind you take good care that Mr. Ramsay has everything he wants." Then +turning to me, "Now, I must return to the deck to tell the ladies how +you are. I hope, when you feel stronger, you'll give us the pleasure of +your company." + +Shaking me by the hand, he bade me good-bye, and went out, leaving me to +the doctor, who thereupon began his medical examination, interspersing +it with many good-natured sallies. From him I learnt that Sir Richard +Tremorden was returning from a yachting trip to Japan, _via_ Borneo and +Java, to Singapore. The yacht was full of his friends, and it was only +just by chance that he, the doctor, had been able to make one of the +party. Furthermore, it was Lady Tremorden who first caught sight of my +signal, and it was a strange coincidence that she it was who had +proposed leaving their course to take a look at the island. + +While we were talking, the steward brought me a large cup of beef-tea, +and after he had helped me to sit up to it, the kindly little medico +withdrew, having elicited all the information he could, concerning +myself and my profession, for the information of the ladies on deck. +When I was alone, I found myself face to face with a situation I had not +before contemplated. How was I to account for my presence on the island +without introducing the subject of our escape from Batavia? I thought +and thought, but without telling a downright untruth I could see no way +out of it. At last, after a deal of earnest consideration, I determined, +if asked, to say that, having nothing to do for a while, I had +accompanied a Malay on a sailing-trip. We touched at the island, and +while I was ashore he cleared out and left me. This was the only course +I could see. I had my own reasons for saying nothing about Veneda. + +After lunch, dressed in a white duck suit of Sir Richard's, and having +removed from my face the fortnight's beard that covered it, I went on +deck, and was presented in proper form to the ladies, who, you may be +sure, were all on the _qui vive_ to hear my story. This, as soon as I +could, I told them, and I must own that I blushed to hear their vigorous +denunciations of the treacherous Malay. Lady Tremorden was particularly +gracious, and to her I hastened to express my deep debt of gratitude. + +When I look back upon the strange experiences of that year, I always +think of that short voyage on board the _Esmeralda_ as one of the few +parts of it I should care to undergo again. I said as much to Sir +Richard the other day, when I met him in London at a certain club of +which we are both members. He laughed and answered-- + +"You were as good as a tonic to us, we had had no sensation since one of +the hands fell overboard in Nagasaki." + +Early next morning we reached Singapore, where I was to bid my kind +friends "farewell." Before I left the yacht, Sir Richard invited me to +his cabin, and in a real spirit of friendliness asked me how I stood +with regard to money, offering to become my banker if I should require +anything to help me along. But as I still possessed a fair amount of the +Albino's loan, this kind offer I was able to decline, though of course I +was none the less grateful to the generous thought which prompted it. + +By nightfall the yacht had coaled, and proceeded on her way to Saigon, +and, nothing else offering, I had signed myself on the _Turkish Pacha_, +to work my way home before the mast. + +She was a powerful old Ocean Tramp, homeward bound from Hong Kong. +Strangely enough, to show how small the world is, it happened that her +second officer was none other than young Belton, who was third mate of +the _Beretania_ when I was chief officer. I suppose I must have looked +very much the same as the other fo'c'sle hands, for though we were often +thrown together, we were off the South Foreland before he recognized me. +Then, up to a certain point, and with numberless reservations that quite +altered the face of it, I told him my story. I don't suppose he believed +it for an instant; doubtless he thought me a wonderful liar, and put it +all down as the result of a liking for strong waters. But I must do him +the justice to admit, that when we were paid off he proffered me a loan, +my non-acceptance of which must have puzzled him considerably. + +The time was now coming for me to ascertain what truth there was in the +story Veneda had told me of his fortune. But as I had passed my word to +him not to open the locket within a month of my arrival in London, I had +to look about me for a place to stay in until that time should expire. +Having sufficient money to keep me for at least six weeks in comparative +comfort, I resolved to put up at a quiet place I knew of, near the East +India Docks, until the end of that period, and then to open the locket +and try my success. + +Somehow or other, though I had been assured by Veneda of its worth, +though I wore it round my neck as a tangible proof of its reality, and +had been warned of the attempts that would in all probability be made to +obtain possession of it, I was not altogether a believer in the +likelihood of its doing very much for me. I had been devoid of luck so +long that I began to believe no more could ever come my way. So, all +things considered, I should not have been overwhelmed with astonishment, +had I on opening it discovered the information it contained to be +entirely valueless. + +I cannot tell you how strange it seemed to me to be back again in London +after so long an absence, and how bitterly I felt the loss of the poor +old mother's kindly welcome. As to Maud, my gentle Maud, of whom I had +been thinking more than was good for me of late, was it any use to think +of her? Had I forfeited all right to her regard? So constantly was she +in my mind that I remember one night, under cover of darkness, stealing +down to Holland Park just to take one glimpse at the old place where she +had lived, and where once I had been so happy. + +It was a wet, miserable evening; a piercing wind shrieked along the +dismal streets and moaned round the corners, chilling to the marrow the +bones of one accustomed to the warmth and brightness of those sunny +Southern seas. Leaving my omnibus in the Uxbridge Road, I walked up a +side street to the house. There it stood, solid and respectable as I +remembered it. No changes had been made in its exterior, everything was +exactly as when I saw it last, even to the peculiar scrimpiness about +the piece of privet hedge beside the gate. A light was burning in an +up-stair window, but otherwise the house was dark and silent as the +grave. I stood and looked, the tears rising in my eyes as I did so; +then, heaving a sigh for the sake of "auld lang syne," and all that +might have been, I turned and went sorrowfully away. + +And now I am brought to the relation of an incident which was to have a +great and awful bearing on my future. One wet morning, I had just +alighted from a 'bus in Oxford Street, a little below the Holborn +Restaurant, and was half-way across the street, when a hansom whisked +past me, so close that the horse's nose brushed my sleeve. The driver +called to me to stand clear, and, expecting an accident, the fare threw +open the apron and half stepped out. _To my amazement he was none other +than the Albino._ There could be no mistake about it; I knew him in an +instant. My astonishment was so great that I stopped in the middle of +the road, and once more came near being run over. + +On recovering myself my first impulse was to hail a hansom and make +after him, but on second thoughts I saw the folly of such a proceeding. +My one endeavour must rather be to keep out of his way. Whether he +recognized me or not I could not of course tell, but we were so close to +one another that it was most unlikely that he could have failed to do +so. But then, I told myself, even if he did, what could it matter? He +would never suspect me of being the possessor of the locket, for how +should he know that I had escaped with Veneda from Batavia? Still, until +I knew whether the secret the locket contained was of any value, it +would be folly to run the risk of losing it. How well I guarded it the +sequel will show. + +Having little if any money to spend in what is called "knocking about +town," I did not go out very much of an evening. When I did, my chief +amusement was the theatre, to which I treated myself on an average about +twice a week. After the performance it was my custom on the way home to +drop into a small hostelry called the "Rose and Crown" for a night-cap. +One evening (I had been to the Lyceum, I think) I went in and called for +my usual refreshment. The bar was crowded, and among the visitors was a +man who seemed to take a particular interest in myself. He came up to me +and invited me to take a glass with him. Upon my offering some excuse he +tried by every means in his power to ingratiate himself with me. But I +did not like his look, and resolved, if I saw anything more of him +there, to transfer my patronage from the "Rose and Crown" elsewhere. + +A few nights later I was annoyed at finding him there again, this time +evidently awaiting my coming. As soon as I entered he advanced upon me, +and asked why I had refused to drink with him on the previous occasion, +demanding if I had any objection to his company? It would have been the +easiest thing in the world for me to have knocked him down, but I did +not want to make a row, so I resolved if possible not to lose my temper +with him. As soon as he found I was prepared to listen to what he had to +say, he entered upon a long rambling statement as to what he would have +done had I insulted him again, winding up by inserting his hand inside +my collar, and at the same time tugging violently at the chain which +held the locket round my neck. I was so surprised by his impudence that +for a second or two I let him pull, then, divining his intention, I +immediately knocked him down. + +His fall raised a hubbub, but as soon as I could I explained matters to +the landlord, who, knowing me for a regular customer, was the more +disposed to overlook such a trifling indiscretion as knocking a stranger +down in his bar. When I left the house I hastened home, reflecting with +considerable gratitude (seeing the aspect affairs were beginning to +assume) that another ten days would give me the right to open the locket +and decide its secret. + +That the man was an emissary of the Albino's, employed to find out if by +any chance I had the locket, I did not for a moment doubt. The whole +thing was as clear as daylight. Macklin had discovered Veneda's +whereabouts, and our escape together. Of course he could not know +anything of the other's death, but meeting me in London he must have +thought it worth his while to make sure that I was not the possessor of +what he was so anxious to obtain. Now the man would be able to inform +him definitely that I _had_ got it, and things would be pretty certain +to come to a crisis. I resolved to be more careful than ever. + +On the Saturday following the events just described, I was not very +well, a feeling of intense depression had seized me, and in order to try +and raise my spirits I went to the Empire Music Hall. While mixed up in +the crowd leaving it I felt my arm clutched. Imagine my amazement on +turning at finding myself confronted by _no less a person than Juanita_! +She was dressed entirely in black, and though thinner than when we had +parted, still looked surpassingly beautiful. Without a word she slipped +her arm through mine and drew me from the building. When we reached the +street, she said-- + +"My Jack, how I have longed for this day! Oh, the joy of seeing you +again!" + +I was about to venture some remonstrance, but she would not hear me +until we had left the square, and were pacing down a side street. + +"What joy this is for me!" she said, as we walked along. "Never did I +think on that dreadful morning in Batavia that we two would meet again." + +"It isn't your fault that we have," I said bitterly, remembering her +treachery. "It wasn't your fault that your evidence didn't bring me to +the gallows." + +"Oh, Jack, you would not be so cruel as to blame me for that?" she +cried. "I could not help myself. If I had not given the evidence I did, +I should not have left Batavia alive." + +"What do you mean?" I asked, astonished. + +"Macklin," she hissed, and her eyes glowed with a sudden fury as her +lips dwelt upon his name. "I was his slave, body and soul. I dared not +do anything but his will. Oh, Jack, forgive me, forgive me, for I have +been so unhappy." + +But though she pleaded in this fashion, I was not to be hoodwinked. I +had tasted her treachery before, how was I to know that she was not +fooling me now? I told her as much, whereupon she withdrew her arm from +mine, and made as if she would leave me. Her voice, when she spoke, had +a certain pride in it, which I could not understand. + +"Say no more; it was foolish of me to have stopped you. I thought, when +I saw your face, there might be some little pity for my loneliness. I +was mistaken. Good-bye Jack, good-bye." + +She held out her little hand to me as though she would leave me there +and then, and looking into her eyes--we were just beneath a gas-lamp--I +saw that she was crying. + +Now, never in my life have I been able to stand the sight of a woman's +tears. Crocodile tears though they often are, they have an effect on me +which is more than peculiar. I began at once to reproach myself for +having been so blunt with her, and was more and more inclined to place +credence in her assertion that she was only led to act as she had done +by the influence of the Albino. + +"Forgive me, Juanita," I said. "I spoke roughly to you, but it was only +natural under the circumstances. I believe what you say, and regret that +I should have given you additional pain. Where are you staying now?" + +She gave me her address and I asked if she would allow me to take her +home. She consented, and as it was too far to walk, I called a hansom. +Placing her in it, I seated myself beside her, and we rattled off. As +we went her spirits began to revive. She recalled our voyage in the +schooner, our love-making in Thursday Island, and many other little +circumstances connected with our mutual past. + +At length, after passing down a long overgrown thoroughfare, the cab +pulled up before a house. She got out and opened the front door while I +paid the cabman. Then we went up-stairs together to her sitting-room. +Once there, her light-hearted manner left her altogether. + +"Jack," she began sadly, "I know it is all over between us, but can you +find it in your heart to say you forgive me?" + +"Quite, Juanita. Badly as you have treated me, I forgive you +everything." + +"And you believe, Jack, that whatever I may have done, I loved you +once?" + +"Yes, I honestly believe that you did love me. But, Juanita, will you +let me ask you one question?" + +"A hundred if you like, Jack; for this will be our last meeting. After +to-night we shall never see each other again." + +"What do you mean?" + +"That I am going away,--never mind where,--away from England. Now, what +is it you wish to ask me?" + +"First, why did you want that money?" + +"Oh, Jack, that is a long story, and a sad one. But I will tell you. +Once I was poor,--oh, so poor! And to keep myself from starving I sold +my honour. A little son was born to me--born in sin and shame. I loved +him more than all the world, but knowing what I was, I dared not imperil +his immortal soul by letting him remain with me. So I gave him into the +keeping of the Good Sisters. But when I did so, I bound myself by a +great oath. In bringing him into the world I had done him a wrong which +I could never repay. Poverty had compelled me to it, so I swore that I +would never rest until I had collected a certain sum of money, by any +means, good or bad, to be his property when he should become a man; so +that he should never experience the miserable want which wrought his +mother's ruin. This I set myself solemnly to accomplish. For a long time +I could hear of nothing. Then I joined a certain Society and learnt the +game Veneda and the Albino were playing. By chance I discovered Veneda's +secret, and I threw my lot in with him, determining to steal the locket +which contained the paper, and by that means obtain the money. How I +fought for it, how he deceived me, and how the Albino tracked us down, +you know. There is one thing, perhaps, of which you are not aware." + +"What is that?" + +"That your presence in London with the locket is known to him. That he +is aware of your escape with Veneda, your journey to the island, your +voyage to Singapore in Sir Richard Tremorden's yacht, and your arrival +in England by the _Turkish Pacha_." + +"Good heavens!" I cried, astounded. "How on earth did he learn all +that?" + +"How does he get to know of anything? He is the most wonderful man +under the sun, I think, and certainly the wickedest. His agents in +Batavia found out your escape from a cab-driver and a boatman. Lady +Tremorden described your rescue in a letter she contributes to a ladies' +newspaper. And he was in the docks when the _Turkish Pacha_ arrived from +Singapore." + +I was so overcome with astonishment that I could not reply. She +continued-- + +"Jack, you don't know what escapes you've had. One night you crossed the +river to a house on the Surrey side, didn't you?" + +I nodded. I remembered the occasion perfectly. I went over to spend the +evening with an acquaintance, but not feeling well, left early. + +"Well, that night, by his orders, three men waited two hours for you on +Westminster Bridge. Somehow they must have missed you. Had they caught +you, you would most certainly have lost the locket, and probably your +life. One night you went to supper on board the _Prince of Tartary_, +lying off Blackwall?" + +I nodded again. + +"Those three men followed you. You slept on board, or they would have +had that locket and thrown your body into the stream." + +"But, Juanita, this is simply murder." + +"Jack, you may not believe what I am going to tell you, but it is +nevertheless true. I have quarrelled hopelessly with Macklin, and I'm +hiding from his anger now." + +"Why did you quarrel with him, Juanita?" + +"Because he wanted me to help him in another scheme to murder you. I +refused, and he attempted my life. He is hunting for me everywhere, +thinking I shall communicate with you." + +"But, Juanita, if you still want that money for your child, and you +didn't spare me before, why do you do so now?" + +Big tears rose in her eyes, and her voice trembled as she replied-- + +"Jack, my child is dead. And think, he died on the day that I betrayed +you in Batavia. It was the judgment of heaven on my sin. Had he lived, I +should have betrayed you again. But now that I know he is dead, I will +not side with that man against you. But you must be careful. If you have +the precious paper, why don't you go to the place, and get the money at +once?" + +"Because I can't. I have sworn not to open the locket until I have been +a month in England. The time expires in three days, then I shall do so. +But, Juanita, you must leave London at once, you are not safe here. Go +into the country, and in a week I will send you money enough to enable +you to get out of England. You must let me help you in return for what +you've done for me." + +"Ah! you don't know," she answered sadly. "Now my little one is gone, my +life seems over; I am tired of the battle. I would rather die ... Jack, +if possible I should like to give my life to save yours, to show what +the worth of my love really is. Perhaps you would sometimes think kindly +of me then." + +"I shall never think otherwise. Believe me, there is only kindness in my +heart towards you." + +"Yes! Only kindness. Your love is dead. Jack, some day you will marry a +good woman. Don't let her believe me to have been altogether bad." + +"Don't you know me better than that, Juanita?" + +"But now that the Albino----" + +"Well?" + +We both sprang to our feet, and turned in the direction of the voice. +_The Albino stood before us smiling sweetly!_ + +"And what of the Albino, my dear Juanita? You see, he appears to answer +for himself. But there, don't let's talk of him. This is indeed a +pleasant surprise. Quite like old times, I declare. John Ramsay, how +d'you do?" + +"You little devil!" I cried. "How did you get in here?" + +"By the front door, my dear boy,--how else? The door has not been built +yet that could keep John Macklin out. But you don't seem pleased to see +me." + +"I should be delighted if I thought I should never set eyes on you +again. I've come to the bottom of a good many of your tricks, and I've a +good mind to wring your neck, you murderous little reptile." + +"That's nonsense, arrant nonsense. But let's get to business. Look here, +John Ramsay, you're very smart, but I'm smarter. I want that locket +Veneda gave you. I must have it sooner or later, so you may as well +hand it over now. Give it to me, and I'll give you a cheque for a +thousand pounds. Could anything be fairer?" + +"I wouldn't give it you for two hundred times that amount." + +"You're a fool, a madman! You're bringing about your own ruin. You've +got it on you now--give it to me, or I swear you don't leave this house +alive. You can't escape; I've got men in the street, and I'm armed, so +hand it over." + +My temper, never too good at the best of times, here deserted me +altogether. Picking up the poker, I made a dash at him. Quick as +lightning he whipped a revolver from his pocket and covered me. Seeing +him about to pull the trigger, I came to a halt. Before I knew what had +happened, Juanita had thrown herself between us. He fired. Juanita gave +a little cry and fell at my feet. Mad with rage, I sprang over her body +towards him. He fired again. I felt a stab as if a red-hot +knitting-needle had been run through me, and became unconscious. + + * * * * * + +When my senses came back to me, I was in the Charing Cross Hospital, +more dead than alive. The bullet which had brought me down had been +extracted, and the police were anxiously waiting to examine me as to the +reason of it all. One thing was very certain; the Albino had achieved +his purpose, _for the precious locket, the cause of all the trouble, was +gone_. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +CONCLUSION. + + +Three days after my meeting with Juanita in Leicester Square, I was +lying propped up in bed in the hospital, feeling very weak and +miserable, when one of the nurses came to tell me that two visitors were +coming up to see me. + +"Who are they," I asked,--"men or women?" + +"Ladies," the nurse replied, as if she were speaking of a third sex. +"Drove up in their own carriage." + +"Ladies!" I said. "Who _can_ they be?" + +Any further wonderment was put a stop to by the entrance of the ladies +themselves, escorted by the house surgeon. Can you guess who they were? +One was a lady I had never seen before, a chaperon, I suppose. The other +was--but there, I must leave you to imagine who alone would have +sufficient pity to forget the past, and to come and comfort the sick and +sorrowful? _It was Maud!_ The Maud I had treated so shamefully, to whom +I had done so great a wrong. I could hardly believe my eyes! With that +exquisite grace that always characterized her movements, she floated up +the long bare ward to where I lay, bringing with her sunshine and +happiness unspeakable. + +"Jack, Jack," she began, taking my great brown paw between her dainty +hands, "welcome home, ten thousand welcomes home!" + +Though the words she uttered were nothing more than ordinary, there was +something in the way she said them that invested them with a charm no +other woman could have given them. + +"How did you know I was here?" I asked, when the first embarrassment was +over, and she had taken a chair by my side. + +"Papa saw it in the paper," she said, "and we immediately made +inquiries." + +"And you were forgiving enough to come and see me. Oh, Maud, how little +I deserve it!" + +"Hush, you mustn't talk like that. Of course I could not let you lie +here without coming to you. Some people might be shocked at the idea of +a young lady visiting a gentleman in a hospital. But I do what I think +right myself. Now, the doctor tells me you are better, and will soon be +able to come out. Directly you are ready, you must come to us." + +"Come to you, Maud? Your father would never allow that." + +"Papa wishes it as much as I do, so be quick and get well. I have such a +lot to tell you, and messages to give you, Jack, from your poor dear +mother. I was with her till the last." + +"I guessed you would be. Poor mother!" + +We were both silent for a minute, then I said-- + +"Maud, can you tell me one thing? How is the woman who was found in the +room with me?" + +"Dead, Jack. She died while the police were examining her this morning." + +The shock was almost too much for me. It was some time before I could +realize it. + +"Dead? Oh, poor Juanita! Then her wish was gratified after all. She gave +her life for mine. Maud, there is the end of a tragedy. Poor Juanita!" + +"Don't think of it for the present, Jack. Wait till you are stronger. I +must go soon, or the doctor will say I'm keeping you from getting well." + +"Nonsense, your presence will do me more good than all his drugs put +together. Forgive me one question." + +"A hundred. What is this one?" + +"Maud," I asked, almost afraid, "you are not married?" + +She shook her head a little sadly, I thought. Oh, if I could only find +the pluck to put another! I would try, at any rate. + +"Maud, have you only come here in pity, or do you--do you----" + +She must have divined what I meant, perhaps she read it in my eyes, for +a great blush spread over her face, as she bent towards me and +whispered-- + +"How cruel of you, Jack, to make me say it! I am here because I love +you,--because I love you!" + +My emotion was so great that I could not speak. My eyes overflowed with +tears; I could feel them coursing down my cheeks. The doctor and nurse +had taken the chaperon to the other end of the ward, and as I had a +screen round my bed, we were quite alone. At last I found my voice. + +"Maud," I faltered, "I am not worthy of you, my dear, I am not worthy. +You do not know what my life has been." + +What she said in reply has no business here but I know that it acted on +me like a magic potion. When she went away, I only let her go on the +strict understanding that she should come again as soon as she could +spare the time. After the door had closed on her it was as though all +the sunshine had gone out of the ward; but she had left behind in my +heart a greater happiness than I had ever known before, one that can +never leave me again as long as I live to feel it. + +A little later the doctor came to examine me. He was struck by the +improvement in my condition. + +"Why, man, what on earth have you been doing to yourself?" he asked. +"You're a hundred per cent. better than you were when I saw you last." + +"Happiness, doctor," I answered. "I have had some news which has done me +more good than anything your science could prescribe for me." + +"It looks like it," he said, and went on to the next bed laughing. + +But though my heart was full of joy because I knew that Maud still loved +me, it was not unmixed with a feeling of sorrow. In the first place, I +knew in my heart of hearts that I was not worthy of my darling's love; +and in the second, how was I, a pauper, to ask her to be my wife? My +fortune, if it had ever been a fortune, had been stolen from me, and +even if I returned to my old profession, the sea, I should stand but a +poor chance of ever making enough to justify me in asking Sir Benjamin +for her hand. Consideration of these things was, however, postponed for +the present by the arrival of the police and a magistrate, to take my +deposition for use at the inquest on poor Juanita's body. She, brave +soul, had sacrificed herself for me, and it should go hard if any +exertion on my part should be wanting to bring her murderer to justice. +In the evening I had the satisfaction of hearing that a verdict of +wilful murder had been returned against John Macklin, and that a warrant +was already out for his arrest. + +By special favour, Maud was permitted to see me every other day, until I +was in a condition to be moved. When that happy moment arrived, she +herself came to escort me. The carriage was at the great hospital door, +and in it we set out for Holland Park. + +When we reached the house, who should open the door but Sir Benjamin +himself! His welcome could not have been more cordial had I been his own +son returning after an absence of many years. On his arm I entered the +house, tenderly watched by Maud. We passed into the drawing-room, and I +was soon seated in a comfortable chair before the fire. + +"Sit yourself down, my dear boy," Sir Benjamin said, "and you'll just +take a glass of wine and a biscuit before you do another thing. I +prescribe it myself, and surely I ought to know. Hum, ha! Maud, my dear, +God bless you." + +I never remember having seen Sir Benjamin so much affected before. Tears +stood in his eyes, and his hand trembled so violently that it was as +much as he could do to pour out the wine for me. Dear old man, I had +always misjudged his affection for myself, though why he should have +felt any was a thing which, personally, I could never understand. + +It was not till after lunch that I got an opportunity of a private +conversation with him. Then, as I had made up my mind I would, I told +him my whole story, from the time of my leaving England on my last +voyage, up to the present moment. As my yarn progressed, I was alarmed +at the change in his face. From its usual rosy hue its colour passed to +an extraordinary pallor, and when I reached the account of my scene with +Juanita, and my attempted assassination, with the robbery of the locket, +I thought he would have fainted. He gasped-- + +"You say that Marmaduke, my nephew, gave you that locket containing the +piece of paper?" + +"Yes, and bound me by a promise that I would not open it till I had been +a month in London." + +"Then, John, God forgive me, I have done you an awful injury. I have, +unconsciously it is true, robbed you of L200,000!" + +"What!" I cried, in my turn astonished by his words. "What had you to do +with that affair?" + +"I was the custodian of it; my nephew sent it home to me from Chili to +keep for him, with the proviso that if ever he should send a messenger +for it, bearing a certain piece of paper, I should give him whatever +amount, even up to the entire sum, he should ask of me." + +"And that messenger?" + +"Came the same day that we heard of your accident, and brought the scrap +of paper; he said my nephew was in great danger, and wanted his money +immediately; he took away my cheque for L200,000 and accumulated +interest, and, as I have found out by inquiry, cashed it the same +morning. By this time he has probably left the country!" + +"What was he like, this messenger?" + +"Well, he was the most extraordinary little man I ever set eyes on. He +was a deformed Albino." + +"The Albino! Then you've seen the murderer--the man who killed Juanita, +and attempted to do the same for me." + +"Good heavens! What's to be done now?" + +"Nothing that I can see. The police are searching high and low for him. +We can't recover the money, for we haven't the vestige of a right to it. +You must remember it was to be the property of whosoever brought you the +paper. The Albino brought it, and he has got it. We must grin and bear +our loss. You are not a bit to blame, Sir Benjamin." + +I saw that he felt he had injured me, and to try and drive the subject +from his mind, I spoke to him of my views regarding Maud. In a second he +was another man. + +"Jack, my boy, God bless you for that idea! My carelessness, though +certainly I did not know any better, has deprived you of great wealth; +now I can make up for it. You love Maud. Maud has never wavered in her +affection for you. I'm not going to ask what your life has been since +you left us, because I trust to your honour not to ask me for my girl if +there's anything against it. On the point of money we'll split the +difference, and on your wedding-day I'll make you a present of a cheque +for L100,000. Will that suit you?" + +"No, Sir Benjamin, I cannot let you do it. If when I'm strong enough +you'll help me to some appointment which will enable me to support Maud +in a proper manner, I should be just as grateful. But I can't take your +money in compensation for what was not your fault." + +"It shan't be in compensation then, it shall be as a free gift. See, +here is Maud; if you want to talk about it, let it be to her. I must go +into town, and find out if the police have discovered anything regarding +that Albino." + +With this excuse the old gentleman hobbled out of the room, and I was +left alone with Maud. When I told her of her father's generosity she +became very silent, and her dear eyes filled with tears, but you may be +sure they were not tears of sorrow. + +"There's one thing I want to tell you, Jack," she said. "I asked papa to +undertake on your behalf the funeral of that poor woman. He did so, and +now she has a quiet resting-place in Wendthrop churchyard, under the +great yew-tree near the lych-gate. I knew you would like to think she +had been given a proper burial. Some day we will go together, and see +the grave of the woman who sacrificed her life in such a noble way. We +must never forget her nobility, Jack." + +"No, dear, pray God we never may! Poor Juanita, her troubled life is +over! Surely all her sins have been atoned for by her last act of +self-sacrifice!" + +And so it came to pass, a month or two later, when summer was on the +land, that we twain, as man and wife, went down together to the little +village, in the churchyard of which Juanita takes her last long sleep. +It was evening, the after-glow of sunset was still upon the sky, and +bats were flitting hither and thither among the tombs. In the dip below +the churchyard the dear old river ran its silent course towards the sea; +a faint chattering sounded from the rooks in the elms above us, and +across the meadows came the gentle tinkling of cattle-bells. We passed +through God's acre to the old yew-tree, beneath whose ample shade a +grave was just beginning to show signs of the care that had been +bestowed upon it. + +Hand in hand we stood beside it, thinking of the woman whose body lay +beneath us. In _my_ thoughts I was far away from England. Thursday +Island rose before my eyes; the bay dotted with shipping, clouds upon +the hill-tops, the noise of the surf upon the beach, the rustling of +palm-trees, and Juanita's laughter ringing from the Orient Hotel. + +Before we came away we made a resolve that once every year, as long as +we two should live, we would repeat the visit. The grave will be our +constant care. For in that way alone can we show our gratitude to the +woman whose resting-place it is. + +But to return to a more cheerful topic. My long story is fast drawing to +a close, and, as I don't doubt, you will say it is about time. But there +are two more circumstances of importance to be recorded before I can +with satisfaction call a halt. + +The first is the matter of my marriage. But when I tell you that it only +happened a couple of months ago, you will see that I am hardly in a +position yet to describe it with the care such an important event +demands. Suffice it then that it took place at the parish church without +any ostentation or fuss. I'm not going to tell you how Maud looked in +her wedding-dress, because I was far too nervous to find that out for +myself. A tiny cousin acted as her bridesmaid, and an old sea friend was +good enough to officiate as my best man. + +After the ceremony, which took place in the afternoon, we drove back to +the house, where Maud held a little reception; and here occurred the +second event to which I desire to draw your attention. + +Among the guests who came to offer their congratulations were two people +whom I had seen before under very different circumstances. That they had +not recognized my connection with that affair was evident. So waiting +my opportunity, I took Maud on my arm, and bidding her listen, +approached the lady, saying politely-- + +"I think we have met before!" + +She stared in blank surprise, grew very confused, and at last replied-- + +"I'm afraid you must be mistaken, Mr. Ramsay; I don't think I have ever +had the pleasure of seeing you before!" + +"And yet I think I carried you in my arms once, and for a considerable +distance!" + +"You, Mr. Ramsay? Surely you must be mistaken! Pray tell me when." + +"In Australia. You were staying at the Federation Hotel the night it +caught fire. A fireman carried you down a ladder in his arms!" + +"Good gracious! You were not that fireman?" + +"I was, though please say nothing about it. If you do, I shall be sorry +I recalled the circumstance to your memory." + +"But you saved my life. Oh, where is my husband? I must tell him. Maud, +do you hear what Mr. Ramsay says?" + +"Yes, I have heard about it before, and I am very proud of him," said +Maud; and that little sentence was more than sufficient praise for me. + +Next moment Major Welbourne--for he was Major now--was overwhelming me +with protestations of gratitude, and I was bitterly regretting having +said anything about the matter. But for all that it was a strange +coincidence, wasn't it? + +As soon as the reception was over, we bade Sir Benjamin good-bye, and +started for Southsea, _en route_ to the Isle of Wight, where, as the +guests of Mr. Sanctuary, Maud's cousin, we proposed to spend our +honeymoon. + +It is under his hospitable roof that this account of my strange +adventures has been written, and now comes to a conclusion. + +I am loth to say "farewell," but what more can I tell you? Only the +other day I discovered that Bradshaw the banker, whose embezzlement was +the primary cause of all the trouble, had the misfortune to be +extradited soon after the loss of his money, and now occupies a cell in +one of her Majesty's criminal lunatic asylums. Of the ill-fated pair who +left Valparaiso in the schooner _Island Queen_, Veneda lies buried on an +island off the Sumatra coast, Juanita in an English churchyard. So far +nothing has been heard of the Albino. Despite his extraordinary +personality, which, one would be tempted to believe, would render it the +more difficult for him to escape, he has succeeded in completely +baffling the police. Whether I shall ever hear of him again is a matter +outside my power to tell, but that he will some day overreach himself, +and suffer the penalty of his crimes, I am as certain as that I am one +of the happiest of men to-day. And nothing can be more certain than +that! + +And with the assurance of that fact I bring my story to a close. My +only hope is that I may be permitted to be the husband to Maud that she +deserves; and my only regret is that I cannot prove myself better worthy +of her love. Surely a life devoted to achieving both these ends cannot +be altogether spent in vain! + + +THE END. + + + + +LIST OF NEW BOOKS + + +By MAURICE THOMPSON. + +A BANKER OF BANKERSVILLE. 12mo, 323 pages. Cloth binding. 50c. + +A thoroughly American story of stirring events in a Western "boom" city. +For a vivid pen picture of real life and romance in a hustling little +Western metropolis, with sufficient love and humor to make the book +interesting, we would commend "A Banker of Bankersville." + + +By F. FRANKFORT MOORE. + +I FORBID THE BANNS. The story of a comedy which was played seriously. +12mo, 404 pages. Cloth binding. 50c. + +The hero and heroine meet on a vessel returning to England from +Australia and learn to love each other. The girl is rich and beautiful, +and does not believe in the rite of marriage. After much thinking, the +man agrees to take her to his home without a marriage ceremony. The +consequences of the departure from custom makes an interesting and +instructive story. + + +By W. E. NORRIS. + +HIS GRACE. 12mo, 278 pages. Cloth binding. 50c. + +"Mr. Norris has never written a better novel than this, which deals with +English life and its remedy for debts--marriage to a rich wife--though +His Grace, being obstinate, weds a poor girl. The characters are all +distinctly drawn, and the plot is well proportioned and its movement +easy"--_Boston Literary World._ + + +By ALEXANDRE DUMAS. + +D'ARTAGNAN, THE KING MAKER. Illustrated. 12mo, 308 pages. Cloth binding. +$1.00 + +An old Dumas story, but quite new to the American public. The history +surrounding this peculiar state of affairs is too long to repeat here; +but it is an absolute fact that no translation of "The Kingmaker" has +ever before appeared in English. The plot of the story hinges upon the +mission of D'Artagnan, the Kingmaker, who is dispatched to Portugal, +then in the grip of Spain. He discovers Portugal a slumbering volcano, +and in a little while he is trying the temper of his blade right and +left. D'Artagnan, the dauntless, temporarily changes places with Don +Juan, the somewhat timid aspirant to the throne; and after a hundred +well-fought fights and a display of heroism that dazzled the populace, +he has the satisfaction of hearing Don Juan proclaimed King of Portugal. +It is a thrilling story, in which the clash of arms blends with the soft +tones of lovely women, and the amorous speeches of the susceptible +D'Artagnan. The book is splendidly illustrated by Charles Grunwald. + + +By OUIDA (Louise de la Rame). + +SANTA BARBARA. 12mo, 303 pages. Cloth binding. 50c. + +In this collection of the gems of Ouida's storiettes, the author takes +the reader to the fog-bound shores of the Adriatic, along enchanting +wharves and quays, through gorgeous palaces and cathedrals, and +introduces the most charming characters in fiction. + +THE TOWER OF TADDEO. 12mo, 313 pages. Cloth binding. 50c. + +This is a pathetic story of an old bookseller who, having no idea of +money, gathers treasures of old books, which, with the extravagance of +an ungrateful son, ruins him. He has a daughter who lives, loves and +cares for him, who becomes betrothed to a poor artist. It is a story of +simple trusting ignorance on the one hand and grasping dishonesty on the +other. + + +By J. MACLAREN COBBAN. + +A SOLDIER AND A GENTLEMAN. 12mo, 211 pages. Cloth binding. 50c. + +The hero is a manly youth, who has seen service in the English army, and +who, upon his return to a civilian's life, finds himself rather out of +his element and extremely hard up. For a consideration, he agrees to +represent another person, and in this compromising position makes love +to a pretty, and, at the same time, wealthy young woman. How he proves +himself to be a Soldier and a Gentleman must be left to the reader to +discover. + + +By EDWARD W. 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"One +begins the book with a smile, and puts it away with a number one size +laugh, and a feeling that it has been worth while to cultivate the +acquaintance of Billy Burgundy's slang of the Rialto." + + +WORKS BY HENRY HARLAND + +MRS. PEIXADA. 12mo, 317 pages. Cloth binding. 75c. + +The hero, a young lawyer whose first case is the tracking of Mrs. +Peixada, a charming woman of about twenty-three summers, accused of +shooting her husband. The plot is as peculiar as that of "As It Was +Written." The denouement is a thorough surprise. + +MADEMOISELLE MISS, and other stories. 12mo, 192 pages. Cloth binding. +75c. + +The title-story of the present volume, as well as those which follow it, +shows the same clear insight into character, the same strength and +delicacy of description, and the same faculty of individualizing the +personages of the narrative, as are manifest in Mr. Harland's previous +work. + +MEA CULPA--A Woman's Last Word. 12mo, 347 pages. Cloth binding. 75c. + +To save her father, a woman marries a European prince. It is a loveless +marriage and the life is a bitter one. A former lover appears; there is +a duel; the prince dies. Then, instead of marriage bells, there is the +sadness of farewell. The lover feels himself a murderer and takes his +own life in an agony of despair. + +THE YOKE OF THE THORAH. 12mo, 320 pages. Cloth binding. 75c. + +Two lovers were to be married in the spring. That one was a Jew and the +other a Christian didn't seem to matter. But the God of Israel +intervenes through a venerable rabbi, and a struggle begins between hope +and doubt. The story is taken up with the attempts of the lovers to come +together and the plans of the elders to keep them separate. + +AS IT WAS WRITTEN--A Jewish Musician's Story. 12mo, 252 pages. Cloth +binding. 75c. + +"As It Was Written" is the confession of a man who, under peculiar +circumstances, murders the woman he loves and then gives himself up to +the punishment that the terrible crime demands. + +GRANDISON MATHER--An account of the fortunes of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas +Gardner. 12mo, 338 pages. Cloth binding. 75c. + +The opening chapter gives a sunny picture of Tom's vacation in Paris, +after finishing his college course, and his courtship of "Mrs. Tom." +After many experiences Tom writes a successful novel and makes some +money. The story is a simple everyday one throughout and is charmingly +told. It is full of graphic pictures of New York life. + +A LATIN-QUARTER COURTSHIP, and other stories. 12mo, 269 pages. Cloth +binding. 75c. + +The first story covers 190 pages, and is a charmingly told tale of life +and love in Paris, in which the actors are an American woman doctor, her +friend a young French girl, and an American author. The two latter, of +course, fall in love with each other. + + +WORKS BY AMEDEE ACHARD + +This author is not as familiar to American and English readers as the +merit of his work would warrant, but it is a positive pleasure to +exploit the writings of one so well equipped for a foremost position in +the school of which Alexandre Dumas, Theophile Gautier and Stanley J. +Weyman are the accepted standards. Mons. Achard's works are popular +favorites with the French people, and the excellent translations of his +best novels which we are presenting to the public in moderate-priced +editions cannot fail to please and satisfy all lovers of "The Three +Musketeers," and works of like tenor. + +BELLE ROSE--A Romance of the Cloak and Sword. Translated by William +Hale, with a biography of the author. Five full-page illustrations. +12mo, 368 pages. Cloth binding. $1.25 + +"Belle-Rose" is a romance in which the hero undertakes and conquers all +manner of difficulties for the love of a woman. The author throws the +glamour of love and war over all, introducing such celebrated characters +in history as to give it an air of reality. + +THE DRAGOONS OF LA GUERCHE--A Sequel to "The Huguenot's Love." +Translated by Richard Duffy. Five full-page illustrations. 12mo, 358 +pages. Cloth binding. $1.25 + +Although "The Huguenot's Love" is so complete and fascinating a story in +itself, the sequel is bound to prove a still greater satisfaction to the +reader. In "The Dragoons of La Guerche" we find the two heroes of the +former tale riding at the head of their band of cavalry through the most +hostile territory of Europe in the quest of the two fair women they +loved. + +THE SWORD OF A GASCON. Translated by William Hale. Five full-page +illustrations. 12mo, 289 pages. Cloth binding. $1.25 + +This story of the reign of Louis XIV. is a typical "romance of the cloak +and sword." The Gascon hero is bold and daring, like all those of his +race. He is an accomplished swordsman, a gallant cavalier, who pays +court to an inn-keeper's daughter or the niece of a cardinal with equal +grace and equal success. + +THE HUGUENOT'S LOVE. Translated by Richard Duffy. Five full-page +illustrations. 12mo, 333 pages. Cloth binding. $1.25 + +In this volume the gifted author gives a splendid picture of the +religious strife which paralyzed all Europe in the middle of the +seventeenth century. The two main characters are in religion enemies, +but personally the dearest of friends. They are valiant Frenchmen, who +under the standard of Gustavus Adolphus, engaged in the immortal Thirty +Years' War. Their sweethearts follow them in their expedition and incur +some marvelous adventures. + + +THE SEASHORE AND MOUNTAIN SERIES + +_A NEW SERIES OF 12mo_ + +Handsomely bound in cloth, stamped in colors + +Price, per volume, Fifty Cents + + + Heir of Linne, The Robert Buchanan + Her Faithful Knight Gertrude Warden + His Word of Honor E. Werner + In the Golden Days Edna Lyall + In the Roar of the Sea S. Baring Gould + In Strange Company Guy Boothby + Kidnapped Robert Louis Stevenson + Little Cuban Rebel, The Edna Winfield + Living or Dead Hugh Conway + Lorna Doone R. D. Blackmore + Lucky Young Woman, A F. C. Philips + Man in Possession "Rita" + Master of Ballantrae, The Robert Louis Stevenson + Master of the Mine, The Robert Buchanan + Miss Kate "Rita" + Mr. Meeson's Will H. Rider Haggard + Nobler Sex, The Florence Marryat + Of the World, Worldly Mrs. Forrester + Perilous Secret, A Charles Reade + Price He Paid, The E. Werner + Averil Rosa Nouchette Carey + Bam Wildfire Helen B. Mathers + Black Rock Ralph Connor + Beatrice H. Rider Haggard + Bondman, The Hall Caine + Black Carnation, The Fergus Home + Cardinal Sin, A Hugh Conway + Consequences Egerton Castle + Cruise of the Cachelot, The Frank T. Bullen + Dead Secret, The Wilkie Collins + Difficult Matter, A Mrs. Emily Lovett Cameron + Doctor Jack St. George Rathborne + Dugdale Millions, The Barclay North + Facing the Footlights Florence Marryat + Fatal Silence, A Florence Marryat + Fever of Life, The Fergus Hume + First Violin, The Jessie Fothergill + Frozen Pirate, The W. Clark Russell + Gentleman from Gascony, A Bicknell Dudley + Heaps of Money W. E. Norris + Ralph Ryder of Brent Florence Warden + She Fell in Love With Her Husband E. Werner + Should She Have Left Him? Barclay North + Splendid Spur, The "Q" A. T. Quiller Couch + Stormy Wedding, A Mary E. Bryan + That Beautiful Wretch William Black + Thelma Marie Corelli + Those Girls John Strange Winter + Treasure Island Robert Louis Stevenson + True To Herself Mrs. J. H. Walforth + Uncle Tom's Cabin Harriet Beecher Stowe + Under Two Flags "Ouida" + Wedding Ring, The Robert Buchanan + Wee Wifie Rosa Nouchette Carey + White Company, The A. Conan Doyle + We Two Edna Lyall + Won by Waiting Edna Lyall + Wormwood Marie Corelli + Yale Man, A Robert Lee Tyler + Young Mrs. Jardine Miss Mulock + + +The Rockspur Athletic Series + +BY Gilbert Patten + +The series consists of three books, each being a good clean story of +athletic training, sports and contests, such as interest every healthy, +growing boy of to-day. + +While aiming to avoid the extravagant and sensational, the stories +contain enough thrilling incidents to please the lad who loves action +and adventure. From the beginning, _The Boys of Rockspur_ work step by +step toward the grand consummation of their desires, the building and +fitting oL a club house and gymnasium, a result that is finally +accomplished; but, in the meantime, they have many trials, jealousies, +heartburnings and defeats, enemies and traitors in their own ranks, +making the struggle harder and the victory sweeter. The description of +their _Baseball and Football Games_ and other contests with rival clubs +and teams make very exciting and absorbing reading; and few boys with +warm blood in their veins, having once begun the perusal of one oL these +books, will willingly lay it down till it is finished. + +1--THE ROCKSPUR NINE. A story of Baseball. + +2--THE ROCKSPUR ELEVEN. A Story of Football. + +3--THE ROCKSPUR RIVALS. A Story of Winter Sports. + +Each volume contains about 300 pages, 12mo in size, cloth binding, per +volume, $1.00 + + +THE FRANK MERRIWELL SERIES + +BY BURT L. STANDISH + +For a great number of years Frank Merriwell has been a name to conjure +with among the boys of America. Frank, with his chums, has been +deservedly popular, but his adventures and achievements have never +before been published in book form. It was in response to a clamorous +demand for the Frank Merriwell stories in this form that this series was +prepared. These are unique among boys' books; indeed, so filled are they +with incident and action oL every kind that it would be impossible to +give here any adequate idea of what they contain. Frank Merriwell was no +ordinary boy, and it falls to the lot of very few fellows to have as +much fun and strenuousness crowded into his school life as will be found +in this all-absorbing history. + +The first titles in the series are: + +FRANK MERRIWELL'S SCHOOL DAYS. Illustrated. 12mo, 302 pages. Cloth +binding. $1.00 + +FRANK MERRIWELL'S CHUMS. Illustrated. 12mo, 302 pages. 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