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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..73e72f1 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #50372 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/50372) diff --git a/old/50372-8.txt b/old/50372-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 1c91212..0000000 --- a/old/50372-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6840 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's The Tragedy of Ida Noble, by William Clark Russell - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The Tragedy of Ida Noble - -Author: William Clark Russell - -Release Date: November 3, 2015 [EBook #50372] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TRAGEDY OF IDA NOBLE *** - - - - -Produced by David K. Park and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - THE - TRAGEDY OF IDA NOBLE - - _A NOVEL_ - - BY - W. CLARK RUSSELL - - [Illustration] - - NEW YORK - D. APPLETON AND COMPANY - 1892 - - COPYRIGHT, 1891, - BY D. APPLETON AND COMPANY. - - _All rights reserved._ - - - - -CONTENTS. - - - CHAPTER PAGE - - I. A YANKEE RUSE 5 - - II. THE PEOPLE OF LA CASANDRA 33 - - III. DON CHRISTOVAL'S STORY 59 - - IV. A MIDNIGHT THEFT 90 - - V. MADAME 123 - - VI. A TRAGEDY 154 - - VII. DON LAZARILLO LEAVES US 185 - - VIII. IDA NOBLE 219 - - IX. CAPTAIN NOBLE 249 - - - - -THE TRAGEDY OF IDA NOBLE. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -A YANKEE RUSE. - - -On Monday, August 8th, 1838, the large bark Ocean Ranger, of which I -was second mate, was in latitude 38° 40' N., and longitude 11° W. The -hour was four o'clock in the afternoon. I had come on deck to relieve -the chief officer, who had had charge of the ship since twelve. It was -a very heavy day--a sullen sky of gray vapor seeming to overhang our -mastheads within pistol-shot of the trucks. From time to time there had -stolen from the far reaches of the ocean a note as of the groaning of a -tempest, but there had been no lightning; the wind hung a steady breeze -out of the east, and the ship, with slanting masts and rounded breasts -of canvas, showing with a glare of snow against the dark ground of the -sky, pushed quietly through the water that floated in a light swell to -the yellow line of her sheathing. - -Some time before I arrived on deck a vessel had been descried on the -port bow, and now at this hour of four she had risen to the tacks of -her courses, and her sails shone so radiantly in the dusky distance -that at the first glance I knew her to be an American. The captain -of my ship, a man named Hoste, was pacing the deck near the wheel; I -trudged the planks a little way forward of him, stepping athwart-ships, -or from side to side. The men, who were getting their supper, passed -in and out of the galley, carrying hook-pots of steaming tea. It was -an hour of liberty with them, the first of what is called the "dog -watches." The gloom of the sky seemed to heighten the quietude that -was upon the ship. The sailors talked low, and their laughter was -sudden and short. All was silent aloft, the sails stirless to the -gushing of the long salt breath of the east wind into the wide spaces -of cloths, and nothing sounded over the side save the dim crackling -and soft seething noises of waters broken under the bow, and sobbing -and simmering past, with now and again a glad note like the fall of a -fountain. - -The captain picked up a telescope that lay upon the skylight, and -crossing the deck took a view of the approaching ship; then approached -me. - -"She is an American," he said. - -"Yes, sir." - -"How do you know she is an American?" - -"By the light of the cotton in her canvas." - -"Ay, and there are more signs than that. She has put her helm over as -though she would speak us." - -By five o'clock she was about a mile to a mile and a quarter distant on -our weather bow, at which hour she had backed her maintop-sail and lay -stationary upon the sea, rolling lightly and very stately on the swell, -the beautiful flag of her nation--the stars and stripes--floating -inverted from her peak as a signal of distress. Both Captain Hoste and -I had searched her with a telescope, but we could see no other signs of -life aboard her than three figures--one of which stood at the wheel--on -her short length of poop, and a single head as of a sailor viewing us -over the bulwark-rail forward. - -We shortened sail as we slowly drew down, and when within speaking -distance Captain Hoste hailed her. - -The answer was--"For God's sake send a boat!" Yet she had good boats of -her own, and it puzzled me, then, that she should request us to send, -seeing that there must be hands enough to enable her to back the yards -on the main. - -Captain Hoste cried out, "But what is wrong with you?" - -One of the figures on the poop or raised deck tossed his hands in a -gesture of agitation and distress, and in piteous, nasal Yankee accents -repeated, "For God's sake send a boat!" - -Captain Hoste gazed for a while, as though hesitating. He then said to -me, "Mr. Portlack, there may be trouble aboard that ship, not to be -guessed at by merely looking at her and singing out. Take a couple of -hands in the jolly boat and ascertain what is wanted," and so saying he -bawled a command to the sailors forward to lay the maintop-sail of the -Ocean Ranger to the mast, while I called to others to lay aft and lower -away the jolly boat that was suspended at irons called davits, a little -distance past the mizzen-rigging. - -By this time a darker shade had entered the gloom of the sky, due -partly to the sinking of the hidden sun, and partly to the thickening -of the atmosphere as for rain. The sea, that ran in folds of leaden -hue, was merely wrinkled and crisped by the wind, and I had no -difficulty in making head against the streaming foam-lined ripples and -in laying the little boat alongside the American. - -She was a tall, black ship with an almost straight stem and of a -clipper keenness of bow. Her stemhead and quarters were rich with gilt -devices; her towering skysail poles, the white trucks of which gleamed -like silver, seemed to pierce the dusky surface of vapor above them. I -sprang into the mizzen channel and stepped from the rail on to the poop. - -Saving the man at the wheel there was but one person on deck; I sent a -look forward but the ship was deserted. _This_, I instantly thought to -myself, will be a case of mutiny. There has been brutality, or, which -is nearly as bad as brutality, bad food, and the men have refused duty -and gone below. - -The person who received me was an American skipper of a type that -travel had rendered familiar. His dress was remarkable for nothing but -an immense felt, sugar-loaf-shaped hat--a Fifth of November hat. He had -a hard, yellow face with a slight cast in one eye, and his long beard -was trimmed to the aspect of a goat's. I did not observe in him any -marks of the agitation and distress which had echoed in his melancholy -return yell to us of "For God's sake send a boat!" He eyed me coolly -and critically, running his eyes over me from top to toe as though I -were a man soliciting work, and as though he were considering whether -to engage me or not. He then said, "Good afternoon!" - -"Pray," said I, "what is wrong with you that you asked us to send a -boat?" - -"Step below," said he, moving to the little companion hatch that -conducted to the cabin. - -"I am in a hurry," said I, with a glance round the sea; "it darkens -quickly and I wish to return to my ship. Pray let me hear your wants." - -"This way, if you please," he answered, putting his foot upon the -ladder. - -There was no help for it: I must follow him or return to my ship -without being able to satisfy the questions which Captain Hoste would -put to me. As I stepped to the hatch it began to rain, but without -increase of wind; away to windward in the east the sea was already -shrouded with drizzle, and already to leeward the Ocean Ranger loomed -with something of indistinctness in the thickening atmosphere, her -white sails showing in the gathering dusk as she rolled like spaces of -pale light flung and eclipsed, flung and eclipsed again. The helmsman -at the wheel of the Yankee stared hard at me as I approached the -hatch. On entering the cabin, I found the captain with an air of bustle -in the act of placing a bottle and glasses upon the table. - -"Sit you down, sit you down," he called to me. "Here is such a drop of -rum as I know some folks in your country would think cheap at a dollar -a glass." - -"This is no time to drink," said I, "thanking you all the same, nor is -rum a liquor I am accustomed to swallow at this hour. Pray tell me what -is wrong with you." - -"Wal," said he, "if you won't drink my health, then I just reckon -there's nothen for me to do but to drink yourn." - -He poured out about a gill of neat rum which, first smelling it, -with a noisy smack of his lips he tossed down. I looked at my watch, -meaning to give him three minutes and then be off, let his distress be -what it might. The cabin was so gloomy that our faces to each other -could scarcely be more than a glimmer. The evening shadow, darker yet -with rain and with the wet of the rain upon the glass, lay upon the -little skylight over the table; the windows overlooking the main deck -were narrow apertures, and there was nothing of the ship to be seen -through them; yet, even as the Yankee put down his glass, fetching a -deep breath as he did so, I seemed to hear a sound as of men softly -treading, accompanied by a voice apparently giving orders in subdued -tones, and by the noise of rigging carelessly dropped or hastily flung -down. - -"What ship is yourn?" said the captain. - -"The Ocean Ranger," I replied. "But you are trifling with me, I think. -I am not here to answer that sort of questions. What do you want?" - -"Wal," he answered, "I'll tell you what I want, mister. I'm short of -men, and men," he added, with a touch of brutal energy in his tone, "I -must have, or, durn me, if the Ephriam Z. Jackson is going to fetch -New York this side of Christmas Day. I reckon," he continued, with an -indiscribable nasal drawl, "that your captain will be willing to loan -me two or three smart hands." - -"I reckon," I replied, with some heat, "that he will be willing to do -nothing of the sort, if for no other reason than because it's already a -tight fit with us in the matter of labor. If _that_ is your want--very -sorry, I'm sure, that we should be unable to serve you," and I made a -step toward the companion ladder. - -"Stop, mister," he cried, "how might _you_ be rated aboard your ship?" - -"Second mate," I replied, pausing and looking round at the man. - -"Wal," said he, coolly, "I don't mind telling you that my second mate's -little better than a sojer"--by which he meant "soldier"--"and if so -be as you are willing to stop just here, I'll break him and send him -forrards, where he'll be of some use, and you shall take his place." - -My astonishment held me silent for some moments. "Thank you," said I, -"my captain is waiting for me to return," and with a stride I gained -the companion steps. - -"Stop, mister!" he shouted. "Men I must have, and at sea when the -pi-rate necessity boards a craft politeness has to skip. You can stop -if you like; but if you go you goes alone. I tell you I must have men. -Two men ye've brought, and they're going to stop, I calculate. _In_ -fact, we've filled on the Ephriam Z. Jackson, and she's _ong rout_ -again, mister. If _you_ go--" - -I stayed to hear no more, and in a bound gained the deck. Sure enough -they had swung the topsail yard, and the ship, slowly gathering way, -was breaking the wrinkles of the sea which underran her into a little -froth under her bows! Five or six sailors were moving about the decks. -I rushed to the side to look for my boat; she lay where I had left -her, straining at the line, and wobbling and splashing angrily as she -was towed; but there was nobody in her. My two men were not to be -seen. I shouted their names, my heart beating with alarm and temper, -but either they were detained by force below, or, influenced by the -seaman's proverbial reckless love of change, they had been swiftly and -easily coaxed by a handsome offer of dollars and of rum into skulking -out of sight until I should have left the ship. My own vessel lay a -mere smudge in the rain away down upon the lee quarter, yet she was not -so indistinct but that I was able to make out she had not yet filled on -her topsail. I could imagine Captain Hoste bewildered by the action of -the Yankee, not yet visited by a suspicion of the fellow's atrocious -duplicity, and waiting a while to see what he intended to do. - -I had followed the sea for many years, and my profession had taught -me speed in forming resolutions. Had the weather been clear, even -though the time were an hour or two later than it was, I should have -continued to demand my men from this perfidious Yankee. I should have -tried him with threats--have made some sort of a stand, at all events, -and taken my chance of what was to follow. But if I was to regain my -ship every instant was precious. It was darkening into night even as -I paused for a few moments, half wild with anger and the hurry of my -thoughts. My men were hidden; and my suspicions, indeed my conviction, -assured me that I might shout for them till I was hoarse to no purpose. -Then, again, the American vessel was now at every beat of the pulse -widening the distance between her and the Ocean Ranger. It was certain -that my first business must be to regain my own vessel while yet -a little daylight lived, and leave the rest to Captain Hoste; and -without further reflection, and without pausing to look if the American -captain had followed me out of the cabin, I dropped into the mizzen -channels and thence into the jolly-boat that was towing close under, -and cast adrift the line that held the boat to the ship's side. The -little fabric dropped astern tumbling and sputtering into the wide race -of wake of the ship that drove away from me into the dimness of the -rain-laden atmosphere in a large pale cloud, which darkened on a sudden -in a heavier fall of wet that in a minute or two was hissing all about -me. - -I threw an oar over the boat's stern, and, getting her head round for -my ship, fell to sculling her with might and main. There was now a -little more wind, and the rain drove with a sharper slant, but the -small ridges of the sea ran softly with the boat, melting with scarce -more than a light summer play of froth on either hand of me, as I stood -erect sculling at my hardest. The heavier rush of rain had, however, by -this time touched the Ocean Ranger, and she now showed as vaguely as a -phantom down in the wet dusk. I could barely discern the dim spaces of -her canvas, mere dashes of faint pallor upon the gloom, with the black -streak of her hull coming and going as my boat rose and sank upon the -swell. - -I had not been sculling more than three or four minutes when I -perceived that Captain Hoste had gathered way upon his ship. She was, -in fact, forging ahead fast and rounding away into the west in pursuit -of the American, leaving my boat in consequence astern of her out upon -her starboard quarter. It was very evident that the boat was not to be -seen from the Ocean Ranger--that Captain Hoste imagined me still on -board the American, and that, observing the Yankee to be sailing away, -he concluded it was about time to follow him--though this was a pursuit -I had little doubt Hoste would speedily abandon, for it was not hard to -guess that the Ephraim Z. Jackson would outsail the Ocean Ranger by -two feet to one. - -The consternation that seized me was so excessive that my hands grasped -the oar motionlessly, as though my arms had been withered. I could do -no more than stand gaping over my shoulder at the receding ships. As to -shouting--why, already my vessel had put a long mile and a half between -her and my boat; and though I could not tell amid the haze of the rain -and the shadow of the evening what canvas she was carrying, I might -gather that Captain Hoste was pressing her, by the heel of her tall dim -outline, and by the occasional glance of the froth of her wake in the -thickness under her counter. - -I threw my oar inboards and sat down to collect my mind and think. My -consternation, as I have said, was almost paralyzing. The suddenness of -the desperate and dreadful situation in which I found myself benumbed -my faculties for a while. I was without food; I was without drink; I -was also without mast, sail, or compass, in a little open boat in the -heart of a wide surface of sea, the night at hand--a night of storm, as -I might fear when I cast my eyes up at the wet, near, scowling face of -the sky and then looked round at the fast-darkening sea, narrowed to -a small horizon by the gloomy walls of rain, in the western quarter of -which the American had already vanished, while my own ship, as I stood -straining my gaze at the pale blotch she made, slowly melted out like -one's breath upon a looking-glass. Yet, heavy as my heart was with the -horror of my position, I do not remember that I was then sensible of -despair in any degree. When my wits in some measure returned, I thought -to myself, rascal as the Yankee captain has proved himself, he surely -will not be such a villain as to leave me to perish out here. He will -know, by the Ocean Ranger pursuing him, that Captain Hoste has not -seen my boat. Then he will shorten sail to enable the Ocean Ranger to -approach, and hail Captain Hoste to tell him that I am adrift somewhere -astern; so that at any hour I may expect to see the loom of my ship -close at hand in search of me, within earshot, with a dozen pairs of -eyes on the look-out and a dozen pairs of ears straining for my first -cry. - -That my drift might be as inconsiderable as possible, I lashed the two -oars of the boat together, made them fast to the painter, threw them -overboard and rode to them. But when this was done it was dark, I -may say pitch dark; the rain fell heavily and continuously, and the -wind sang through it in a sort of shrill wailing such as I had never -before taken notice of in the wind at sea, and this noise put a new and -distinct horror into my situation because of my loneliness. The froth -of the streaming ripples broke bare and ghastly, and the run of the -waters against the boat's sides filled the atmosphere with notes as of -drowning sobbing. The cold of the night was made piercing by the wet -of it and the quarter whence the wind blew. I was soaked to the skin, -and sat hugging my shuddering body, forever staring around into the -blind obscurity, and forever seeing nothing more than the mocking and -fleeting flash of the near run of froth. - -The breeze held steady, but something of weight came into the heave of -the little ridges, and from time to time the chop of the boat's bows as -she chucked into a hollow, meeting the next bit of a sea before she had -time to fairly rise to it; from time to time, I say, some handfuls of -spray would come slinging out of the darkness forward into my face, but -nothing more than that happened during those hours of midnight gloom. -Though never knowing what the next ten minutes might bring forth, I -had made up my mind that I was to be drowned, or if not drowned then -that I was doomed to some dreadful ending of insanity which should -be brought about by hunger, by thirst, by that awful form of mental -anguish which is called despair, and that if I were spared to see the -sun rise I should never see him set again. - -But the night passed--the night passed, and I remember thanking God -that it was an August night, which signified, comparatively speaking, -short hours of darkness. It passed, and the breaking dawn found me -crouching and hugging myself as I had been crouching and hugging myself -during the black time that was now ending, staring in my loneliness, -and with a heart that felt broken, over the low gunwale of the boat at -the rim of the sea which slowly stole out all round me in a line of -ink against the ashen slant of the sky. It had ceased to rain, but the -morning broke sullen and gloomy; the heavens of the complexion they had -worn when the night had darkened upon them; the wind no stronger than -before, yet singing past my ears with a harsh salt shrillness that had -something squall-like in the keen-edged tone of it each time the head -of a swell threw me up to the full sweep. - -I stood up, weak and trembling, and searched the ocean, but there was -nothing to be seen. Again and again I explored the horizon with eyes -rendered dim by my long vigil and by the smarting of the salt which -lay in a white crust about the eyelids and in the hollows, but there -was nothing more to behold than the gray ocean, freckled with foam, -throbbing desolately in the cold gray light to its confines narrowed by -the low seat from which I gazed. - -I had now no hope whatever of being searched for and picked up by -my own ship. I did not doubt that she had pursued the Yankee, who -had outsailed her and been lost sight of by her in the darkness, and -that Captain Hoste, understanding the villainous trick that had been -played upon him, but assuming that I, as well as the two men, had been -detained by the American, had long ago shifted his course and proceeded -on his voyage. I looked at my watch, but I had forgotten to wind it -overnight, and it had stopped. By and by I reckoned the hour to be -between eight and nine. There was no sun to tell the time by. Not until -then was I sensible of hunger and thirst. Now on a sudden I felt the -need of eating and drinking, and the mere circumstance of there being -nothing to eat and drink--and more particularly to _drink_--fired my -imagination, which at once converted thirst into a consuming pain, and -I put my lips to my wet sleeve and sucked; but the moisture was bitter, -bitter with salt, and I flung myself down into the bottom of the boat -with a cry to God that, if I was to perish, my agony might come quickly -and end quickly. - -I believe I lay in a sort of stupor for some hour or more; then -noticing a slight brightening in the heavens directly overhead, as -though due to the thinning of the body of vapor just there, I staggered -on to my feet, and no sooner was my head above the boat's gunwale than -I spied a vessel steering directly for me, as I was immediately able -to perceive. How far distant she was I could not have said, but my -sailor's eye instantly witnessed the course she was pursuing by the -aspect of her canvas, that was of a brilliant whiteness, so that at -first I imagined her to be the American in search of me, until, after -viewing her for some time steadfastly, I perceived that she was a -large topsail schooner, apparently a yacht, heeling from the wind, and -sliding nimbly through the water, as one might tell by the rapidity -with which the whole fabric of her enlarged. - -The sight gave me back all my strength. I sprang into the bows, dragged -the oars inboard, and to one of them attached my coat, which I went to -work to flourish, making the wet serge garment rattle like the fly of a -flag as I swept it round and round high above my head. Within half an -hour she was close to me, with her square canvas aback to deaden her -way, the heads of a number of people dotting the line of her rail--a -shapely and graceful vessel indeed, with a band of yellow metal along -her waterline, dully glowing over the white edge of froth, as though -some light of western sunshine slept upon her, her canvas gleaming like -satin, a spark or two in her glossy length where her cabin port-holes -were, and the brassy gleam of some gilt effigy under her bowsprit, -from which curved to the masthead the lustrous pinions of her jibs and -staysail. - -A red-headed man wearing a cap with a naval peak stood abaft the main -rigging in company with others, and as the beautiful little vessel came -softly swaying and floating down over the heave of the swell to my -boat, he cried out, "Can you catch hold of the end of a line?" - -"Ay, ay," I answered, in a weak voice, lifting my hand. - -"Then look out!" he bawled. - -A seaman grasping a coil of rope sprang on top of the bulwarks and -sent the fakes of the line spinning to me. I caught the end with a -trembling grasp and took a turn round a thwart, but not till then -could I have imagined how weak I was, for even as I held the rope my -knees yielded and I sank into the bottom of the boat in a posture of -supplication, half swooning. The next moment the little fabric had -swung in alongside the schooner; I was grasped by some sailors and -lifted on board. - -"Let the boat go adrift, she's of no use to us," the red-headed man -cried out. - -Another standing near him exclaimed with a strong foreign accent, but -in good English, "Stop! what name is written in her?" - -Some one answered, "The Ocean Ranger, London." - -"Let that be noted, and then let her go," said the voice with the -foreign accent. - -In this brief while I stood, scarcely seeing though I could hear, -supported by the muscular grip of a couple of the seamen who had -dragged me over the side. - -"Bring a chair," exclaimed the red-headed man. - -"No," cried the other with a foreign accent, "let him be taken into the -cabin and fed. Do not you see that he perishes of hunger and of thirst -and of cold?" - -On this I was gently compelled into motion by the two seamen, who -conveyed me to an after hatch and thence down into a little interior -that glittered with mirrors, and that was luminous and fragrant besides -with flowers. I was still so much dazed as hardly to be fully conscious -of what I was doing. Sudden joy is as confounding as sudden grief, -and the delight of this deliverance from my horrible situation was -as disastrous to my wits (weakened by the fearful night I had passed -through) as had been the shock to them when I found myself adrift in -the boat on the previous evening. The two seamen quitted the cabin, -leaving me seated at the table, but their place was immediately taken -by the red-headed man, by the gentleman with the foreign accent, -and a minute later by a third person, a short, square, hook-nosed, -black-browed, inky-bearded fellow. They viewed me for a while in -silence; one of them then called "Tom," and a negro boy stepped through -a door at the foremost end of the cabin. - -"Bring brandy and water; also some cold meat and white biscuit. Bring -the brandy first." - -Who spoke I did not know. A tumbler of grog was placed in my hand, but -my arm trembled so violently that I was unable to raise the glass to -my lips. Some one thereupon grasped my wrist and enabled me to drink, -which I did greedily, muttering, as I recollect, a broken "Thank God! -thank you, gentlemen," as I put the glass quivering upon the table. - -"How long have you been in this plight?" inquired the red-headed man -in a voice whose harshness and coarseness, half demented as I was, I -remember noticing. - -"Ask him no questions yet," exclaimed one of the others. "Let him have -meat, dry clothes, and sleep, and he will rally. Ay! he will rally, for -he has a lively look." - -The effect of the brandy was magical. It clarified my sight as though -some friendly hand had swept a cobweb from each eyeball. It filled my -body with strong pulses, and enabled me to hold my head erect. But by -this time the negro boy had reappeared with a plate of cold boiled beef -and a dish of biscuit, and I fell to--eating with the animal-like rage -of starvation. I devoured every scrap that was set before me, and then -with a steady hand raised and drained a second glass of grog that had -been mixed by the man with the foreign accent. And now I felt able to -converse. - -"Gentlemen," said I, making a staggering effort to bow to them, "I -thank you from the bottom of my heart for rescuing me from a horrible -death. I thank you gentlemen for this bitterly-needed refreshment." - -"You are soaked to the skin," said the man with the foreign accent. -"You will tell us your story when you are dry and comfortable. Captain -Dopping, you can lend this poor man some dry linen and clothes?" - -"Ay!" responded the other, in his coarse determined voice. "Are ye able -to stand?" - -"I think so," I replied. - -I rose, but observing that I faltered, he came round to where I was -swaying, grasped me by the arm and led me to a little cabin alongside -the door through which the negro boy had emerged. In this cabin were -two shallow bunks or sleeping-shelves, one on top of the other. The -room was lighted by a circular port-hole, and by what is called a -bull's-eye--a piece of thick glass let into the deck overhead. My -companion rummaged a locker, and tossing a number of garments into the -lower bunk, bade me take my pick and shift myself and then turn in, -and, saying this in a harsh, fierce way, he withdrew. - -I removed my wet clothes, and grateful beyond all expression was the -comfort of warm dry apparel to my skin, that for more than twelve -hours had been soaked with rain and steeped in brine. I then stretched -my length in the lower sleeping-shelf, and, after putting up a prayer -of gratitude for my deliverance, closed my eyes and in a few minutes -fell asleep. - -I slept until about three o'clock in the afternoon. On waking I found -the interior bright with sunshine. I lay for a little, thinking and -taking a view of the cabin. My faculties, refreshed by sleep, were -sharp in me. I could remember clearly and realize keenly. The disaster -which had befallen me was a great professional blow. It had deprived me -of my ship, and robbed me of an appointment I had been forced to wait -some tedious months to obtain. With the ship had gone all my clothes, -all my effects, everything, in short, I possessed in the wide world, -saving a few pounds which I had left in a bank at home. The Ocean -Hanger was bound on a voyage that would keep her away from England for -two years and a half, perhaps three years; so that for, let me say, -three years all that I owned in the world, saving my few pounds, would -be as utterly lost to me as though it had gone to the bottom. - -While I thus lay musing, the door of the berth opened, and the -red-headed man--Captain Dopping--entered. Having my eyes clear in my -head now, I immediately observed that he was a freckled, red-haired, -staring man, with big protruding moist blue eyes and scarlet whiskers; -all of his front teeth but two or three were gone, and the gaps in his -gums gave his face, when he parted his lips, the grin of a skull. - -I got out of the bunk when he entered. - -"How do you feel now?" said he, eying me in a hard, deliberate, -unwinking way. - -"Refreshed and recovered," said I. - -He ran his gaze over my figure to observe what garments belonging to -him I had arrayed myself in, then said, "What is your name?" - -"James Portlack." - -"What are you?" - -"What _was_ I, you must ask," said I, with a melancholy shake of the -head. "Second mate of the bark Ocean Ranger," and I told him briefly of -the abominable trick which the Yankee captain had played off on Captain -Hoste, and which had resulted in leaving me adrift in the desperate and -dying condition I had been rescued from. - -"A cute dodge, truly," said he, without any exhibition of astonishment -or dislike, nay, with a hint in his air of having found something to -relish in the American's device. "It is what a Welshman would call -'clebber.' This is a yarn to tickle Don Christoval." - -"Who is Don Christoval?" said I. - -"He is Don Christoval del Padron." - -"The owner of this schooner?" - -He gave a hard smile, but returned no answer. - -"What is the name of this vessel?" I asked. - -"La Casandra." - -"Where are you from?" - -"Cadiz." - -"To what port?" said I, with anxiety. - -He gave another hard smile, and then, eying me all over afresh, -exclaimed, "Come along on deck. Don Christoval and Don Lazarillo will -be wanting to see you, now you're awake." - -I asked him to lend me a cap, not knowing what had become of mine, and -followed him through the small brilliant cabin into which I had been -conducted by the two seamen. I had a quick eye, and took note of many -things in a moment or two. The cabin was peculiarly furnished, that is, -for a sea-going interior. It gleamed with hanging mirrors; the sides -were embellished with pictures, such as might hang upon the walls of -a room ashore; there were little sofas and arm-chairs, of a kind you -might see in a drawing-room, but not in the cabin of a vessel, whether -a pleasure-craft or not. In short, it was evident that a portion of the -furniture of a house had been employed for fitting out this interior. -But where the vessel herself showed, I mean the ceiling or upper deck, -the sides, the planks left visible by the carpet--_there_ all was -plain and even rough, by which signs I might know that La Casandra was -not a yacht, despite the shining of the mirrors and the gilt of the -picture-frames, the rich carpet under foot, the crimson velvet sofas -and chairs. - -I followed Captain Dopping up the narrow companion-steps, and gained -the deck. The rain was gone, the gloomy sky had rolled away down the -western sea-line, and the afternoon sun shone gloriously in a sky of -blue piebald with stately sailing masses of swollen cream-colored -vapor, which studded the blue surface of the sea with island-like -spaces of violet shadow. A pleasant breeze was blowing, and it was -warm with the sunshine. The schooner was under all the canvas it was -possible to spread upon her, and how fast she was sailing I might -know by the white line of her wake. I had no eyes at the instant for -anything but the horizon, the whole girdle of which I rapidly scanned -with some wild silly notion in me of catching a sight of the cloths of -the Ocean Ranger, that in searching for me might have been navigated -some leagues to the north. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -THE PEOPLE OF LA CASANDRA. - - -The two foreigners, as I might suppose them to be--the two gentlemen -who had talked to me and viewed me in the cabin before I went to the -captain's berth--these men were pacing the sand-colored planks of -the quarter-deck arm in arm, cigars in their mouths, as I emerged; -but, on seeing me, they came to a halt. One was a truly noble-looking -fellow, rising a full inch taller than six feet, and of a magnificently -proportioned shape. This was the man who had addressed me in good -English, but with a foreign accent. He was, besides, an exceedingly -handsome person, his complexion very dark, his eyes of the dead -blackness of the Indian's, but soft and glowing; he wore a large -heavy mustache, black as ink, and curling to his ears; his teeth were -strong, large, and of an ivory whiteness. Plain sailor-man as I was, -used to the commonplace character and countenance of the mariner, I -was without any art in the deciphering of the mind by gazing at the -lineaments of the human face. To me this person offered himself as a -noble, handsome man, of imposing presence, of a beauty even stately; -but when I think of him now in the light of that larger knowledge of -human nature which years have taught me, when I recall his face, I say, -I am conscious of having missed something in the expression of it which -must have helped me to a tolerably accurate perception of the _real_ -character of this schooner's errand, when the "motive" of her voyage -was explained to me. - -His companion was a short man, a true Spaniard in his looks; his -large hooked nose, his searching, restless, brilliant black eyes, his -mustaches and short black beard might well have qualified him to sit -for a picture of Cervantes, according to such prints of that great -author as I have seen. They were both well dressed--too well dressed, -indeed. They wore overcoats richly furred, velvet coats beneath, -splendid waistcoats, and so forth. The fingers of the shorter man -sparkled with precious stones. There was a stout gold chain round -his neck, and a costly brooch in his cravat. They both fastened a -penetrating gaze upon me for some moments, and exchanged a few -sentences in Spanish before addressing me. - -"The gentleman's name is Portlack--Mr. Portlack, Don Christoval," said -Captain Dopping: "he was second mate of a bark named the Ocean Ranger. -He was hocussed, as the Pikeys (gypsies) say, by an American captain. -He'll tell you the story, sir." - -"How do you feel?" said Don Christoval. - -"Perfectly recovered, I thank you," said I. - -"I am glad. We were not too soon. I believe that another twenty-four -hours of your desperate situation must have killed you," said this -tall Don, delivering his words slowly, and looking very stately, and -speaking in English so correctly that I wondered at his foreign accent. - -"Vot ees secon' mate?" inquired the shorter man, pronouncing the words -with difficulty. - -"Why, you might call it second lieutenant, Don Lazarillo," replied -Captain Dopping. - -"It is a position of trust; it is a position of distinction on board -ship?" exclaimed Don Christoval. - -"Oh yes," said Captain Dopping. - -"Do you know navigation?" asked the tall Don. - -"I hold a master's certificate," I replied, smiling. - -"Explain," said Don Lazarillo sharply, as though his mind were under -some constant strain of unhealthy anxiety. - -"I do not speak a word of Spanish," said I, turning to Captain Dopping. - -"No need for it," said he, in his harsh accents. "A master's -certificate, Don Christoval, enables the holder of it to take charge of -a ship, and in order to take charge of a ship a man is supposed to know -everything that concerns the profession of the sea." - -"Explain," cried Don Lazarillo with impatience. - -His tall companion translated; on which the other, nodding vehemently, -stroked his mustaches while he again surveyed me from head to foot, -letting his eyes, full of fire, settle with the most searching look -that can be imagined upon my face. I caught Don Christoval exchanging a -glance with Captain Dopping. There was a brief pause while the tall Don -lighted his cigar. He then said, with a smile: - -"You have lost your ship, sir?" - -"I have, I am sorry to say." - -"What will you do, sir?" - -"It is for you to dispose of me. I should be glad to make myself -useful to you until you transfer me or land me." - -"But then--but then?" - -"Then I must endeavor to obtain another berth," said I. - -"Explain," cried Don Lazarillo. - -Don Christoval spoke to him in Spanish. - -"You are a gentleman by birth?" said the tall Don. - -"My father was a clergyman," I answered. - -"Yes, sir, that is very good. Your speech tells me you are genteel. To -speak English well you must be genteel. Education will enable you to -speak English grammatically, but it will not help you to pronounce it -properly. For example, a man vulgarly born, who is educated too, will -omit his h's, and he will neglect his g's. He will say nothin', and he -will say 'ouse instead of house. Yes, I know it--I know it," said he, -smiling. "Well, you shall tell me now all about your adventure." - -This I did. He occasionally stopped me while he interpreted to his -companion, who listened to him with eager attention, while he would -also strain his ears with his eyes sternly fixed upon my face when I -spoke. When I had made an end, Don Christoval drew Captain Dopping to -him by a backward motion of his head, and, after addressing him in -low tones, he took Don Lazarillo's arm, and the pair of them fell to -patrolling the deck. - -"We shall sling a hammock for you under the main hatch," said Captain -Dopping, walking up to me. "Sorry we can't accommodate you aft. There's -scarce room for a rat in my corner, let alone two men." - -"Any part of the schooner will serve to sling a hammock in for me," -said I. - -"You will take your meals with me in the cabin," said he. "I eat when -the two gentlemen have done." - -"Where does your mate live?" said I. - -"I have no mate," he answered. "We were in a hurry, and could not find -a man." - -He eyed me somewhat oddly as he spoke, as though to mark the effect of -his words. - -"But is there no one to help you to keep a look-out?" - -"Ay! a seaman," he answered, carelessly. "But now that you're aboard we -will be able to relieve him from that duty." - -"Whatever you put me to," said I, "you will find me as willing at it as -gratitude can make a man." - -He roughly nodded, and asked me what part of England I came from. I -answered that I was born near Guildford. - -"I hail from Deal," said he. "Do you know Deal?" - -"Well," I answered; and spoke of some people whom I had visited there; -gave him the names of the streets, and of a number of boatmen I had -conversed with during my stay at the salt and shingly place. This -softened him. It was marvelous to observe how the magic of memory, the -tenderness of recollected association humanized the coarse, harsh, -bold, and staring looks of this scarlet-haired man. - -"But," said I, "you have not yet told me where this schooner is bound -to." - -"You will hear all about it," he answered, with his usual air returning -to him. - -I was not a little astonished by this answer. Had the schooner sailed -on some piratic expedition? Was there some colossal undertaking of -smuggling in contemplation? But though piracy, to be sure, still -flourished, it was hardly to be thought of in relation with those -northern seas toward which the schooner was heading; while as for -smuggling, if the four seamen whom I counted at work about the vessel's -deck comprised--with the fifth man, who was at her helm--the whole of -the crew, there was nothing in any theory of a contraband adventure to -solve the problem submitted by Captain Dopping's reticence. - -He left me abruptly, and walked forward and addressed one of the men, -apparently speaking of the job the fellow was upon. I listened for -that note of bullying, for that tone of habitual brutal temper, which -I should have expected to hear in him when he accosted the seamen, -and was surprised to find that he spoke as a comrade rather than as a -captain; with something even of careless familiarity in his manner as -he addressed the man. - -I had now an opportunity for the first time since I came on deck to -inspect the schooner. It was easy to see that she had never been -built as a yacht; her appearance, indeed, suggested that in her day -she had been employed as a slaver. She was old, but very powerfully -constructed, and seemingly still as fine a sea-boat as was at that time -to be encountered on the ocean. Her bulwarks were high and immensely -thick; the fore-part of her had a rise, or "spring" as it is called, -which gave a look of domination and defiance to her round bows which -at the forefoot narrowed into a stem of knife-like sharpness. She was -very loftily rigged and expanded an enormous breadth of mainsail. -I had never before seen so long a gaff, and the boom when amidships -forked far out over the stern. Her decks were very clean but grayish -with brine and years of hard usage. I noticed that she carried a small -boat hanging in davits on the starboard side, and a large boat abaft -the little caboose or kitchen that stood like a sentry-box forward. -This boat, indeed, resembled a man-of-war's cutter--such a long and -heavy fabric as one would certainly not think of looking for on board a -craft of the size of La Casandra. It was my sailor's eye that carried -my mind to this detail. No man but a sailor, and perhaps a suspicious -sailor as I then was, standing as I did upon the deck of a vessel whose -destination was still a secret to me, would have noticed that boat. - -The five of a crew were all of them Englishmen, strong, hearty fellows. -I inspected them curiously, but could find nothing in them that did -not suggest the plain, average, honest merchant sailor. They were well -clothed for men of their class, habited in the jackets, round hats -and wide trousers of the Jacks of my period, and I took notice that -though their captain stood near them they worked as though without -sense of his presence, occasionally calling a remark one to another, -and laughing, but not noisily, as if what discipline there was on -board the schooner existed largely in the crew's choice of behavior. -These and other points I remarked, but nothing that I saw helped me -to any sort of conclusion as to the destination of the little ship or -the motive of the cruise. All that I could collect was that here was a -schooner bearing a Spanish name and owned or hired by one or both of -those Spaniards, who continued to pace the quarter-deck arm-in-arm, but -manned, so far as I could see, by a company of five Englishmen and a -negro lad, and commanded by an English skipper. - -I walked a little way forward, the better to observe the vessel's -rig at the fore, and on my approaching the galley, a fellow put his -head out of it--making a sixth man now visible. He kept his head -out to stare at me. Many ugly men have I met in my time, but never -so hideous a creature as that. His nationality I could not imagine, -though it was not long before I learned that he was a Spaniard. His -coal-black hair fell in a shower of greasy snake-like ringlets upon his -back and shoulders. One eye was whitened by a cataract or some large -pearly blotch, and the other seemed to me to possess as malevolent an -expression as could possibly deform a pupil unnaturally large, and -still further disfigured by a very net-work of blood-red lines. His -nose appeared to have been leveled flat with his face at the bridge by -a blow, leaving the lower portion of it standing straight out in the -shape of the thick end of a small broken carrot. His lips of leather, -his complexion of chocolate, his three or four yellow fangs, his mat -of close cropped whiskers, coarse as horse-hair, his apparel of blue -shirt open at the neck and revealing a little gilt or gold crucifix, a -pair of tarry leather trousers, carpet slippers, and the remains of an -old Scotch cap that lay rather than sat upon his hair; all these points -combined in producing one of the most extraordinary figures that had -ever crossed my path--a path, I may say, that in my time had carried -me into many wild scenes, and to the contemplation of many strange -surprising sights. - -While this prodigy of ugliness and I were staring at each other, the -captain came across the deck to me. - -"What do you think of this schooner?" he said. - -"She is a very good schooner. She is old--perhaps thirty years old. I -believe she has carried slaves in her time." - -"I _know_ it," he replied, with a strong nod, to which his furiously -red hair seemed to impart a character of hot temper. - -"I have seen," said I, "handsomer men than yonder beauty who is staring -at me from the galley door." - -"Ay. He is good enough to shut up in a box and to carry about as a -show. He is cook and steward. His name is Juan de Mariana. He cooks -well, and is or has been a domestic in Don Lazarillo's establishment." - -"How many go to your crew?" said I, questioning him with an air of -indifference now that I found he was disposed to be communicative. - -"Eight." - -"The number includes you and the cook and the nigger lad?" - -He nodded, and looked at me suddenly, as though about to deliver -something on the top of his mind, then checked himself, and pulling out -his watch, exclaimed: "I understand you are willing to serve as mate of -this vessel." - -"I am willing to do anything. Do not I owe my life to you all?" - -"Well," said he, "that may be settled now. It is Don Christoval's wish. -As to pay, him and me will go into that matter with you by and by." - -I opened my eyes at the sound of the word _pay_, but made no remark. It -was a grateful sound, as you will suppose, to a man who had as good as -lost everything save what he stood up in, and who, when he got ashore, -might find it very hard to obtain another berth. The two Spanish -gentlemen had left the deck. Captain Dopping said: "Step aft with me," -and we walked as far as the cabin skylight, where facing about the -captain called out, "Trapp, South, Butler, Scott, lay aft, my lads. I -have a word to say to you." He then turned to the fellow who stood at -the helm and exclaimed, "Tubb, you'll be listening." - -The seamen quitted their several employments and came to the -quarter-deck. The Spanish cook stepped out of the galley to hearken, -and a moment later the ebony face of the negro showed in the square of -the forecastle hatch. The sailors looked as though they pretty well -guessed what was coming. - -"Lads," said Captain Dopping, placing his hand upon my arm, "this here -is Mr. James Portlack. He was second mate of the bark, Ocean Ranger, a -ship I know." - -"And I know her, too," said one of the men. - -"Mr. Portlack," continued Captain Dopping, "holds a master's -certificate, which is more than I do, and he tops me by that. But I'm -your captain, and your captain I remain. Mr. Portlack consents to act -as the mate of the Casandra. Is this agreeable to you, lads?" - -"Ay, ay; agreeable enough," was the general answer. - -"Well, then, Butler, you're displaced, d'ye see? No call for you to -relieve me any longer." - -"And a good job too," said the man, a heavy, sturdy, powerfully built -fellow with small, honest, glittering blue eyes, and immense bushy -whiskers; "there was nothin' said about my taking charge of the deck in -the agreement." - -"Well, you're out of it," exclaimed Captain Dopping, "and the ship's -company's stronger by a hand, which is as it should be. D'ye hear me, -cook?" - -"Yash, yash, I hear all right, capitan," answered the swarthy creature -from the door of his galley, contorting his countenance into the aspect -of a horrid face beheld by one in a high fever, in his struggle to -articulate in English. - -"That'll do, my lads," said the captain. - -The men leisurely rounded and went forward again. There was nothing -unusual in this proceeding. It was customary, it may still be -customary at sea, to invite the decision of the crew before electing -a man to fill a vacant post as first or second mate. All that I found -singular lay in the behavior of the men. There was something in their -bearing I find it impossible to convey--a suggestion of resolution -struggling with reluctance, or it might be that they gave me the -impression of fellows who had entered upon an undertaking without -wholly understanding its nature or without fully believing in the -sincerity of its promoters. But be their manner what it might, its -effect upon me was to greatly sharpen my curiosity as to the object of -this schooner's voyage from Cadiz to the north as she was now heading. - -I said to Captain Dopping, "I will take charge at once if you wish to -go below." - -"Very well," said he, "I will relieve you at four bells, and that will -give you the first watch to stand," by which he meant the watch from -eight o'clock till midnight. - -"But I do not know your destination," said I. "How is the schooner to -be steered?" - -"As she goes," said he with a significant nod, angry with the scarlet -flash of hair and whisker which accompanied it. - -"Right," said I, and fell to pacing the deck, while he disappeared down -the companion-way. - -Athirst as I was for information, I was determined that my curiosity -should not be suspected. Be the errand of this little ship what it -might, I was always my own master, able to say "No" to any proposals I -should object to, though taking care to give due effect by willingness -in all honest directions to the gratitude excited in me by my -deliverance. I would find the fellow at the helm watching me with an -expression on his weather-darkened face that was the same as saying -he was willing to tell all he knew, but I took no notice of him, -contenting myself with merely observing the vessel's course and seeing -that she was kept to it. The voices of the two Spaniards and Captain -Dopping rose through the little skylight, one of which lay open. They -spoke in English, and occasionally I heard my name pronounced with now -and then a sharp hissing "Explain" from Don Lazarillo, but I did not -catch, nor did I endeavor to catch, any syllables of a kind to furnish -me with a sense of their discourse. - -All this afternoon the weather continued rich, glowing, summer-like. -One seemed to taste the aromas of the land in the eastern gushing of -the blue and sparkling breeze. The three white spires of a tall ship -glided like stars along the western rim, but though we were in the -great ocean high-way nothing else showed during the remainder of the -hours of light. Beyond a little feeling of stiffness and of aching in -my joints I was sensible of no bad results of my night-long bitter -and perilous exposure in the jolly-boat of the Ocean Ranger. I had, -indeed, been too long seasoned by the sea to suffer grievously from an -experience of this sort. Night after night off the black and howling -Horn, off the stormy headland of Agulhas, amid mountainous seas, in -frosty hurricanes whose biting breath was sharpened yet by hills and -islands of ice glancing dimly through the snow-thickened darkness, I -had kept the deck, I had helped to stow the canvas aloft, I had toiled -at the pumps, waist-high in water, my hair crackling with ice, my hands -without feeling. No! I was too seasoned to suffer severely from the -after-effects of exposure in an open boat throughout an August night in -the Portuguese parallels. - -At five o'clock, when I glanced through the skylight, I spied the negro -lad named Tom laying the cloth in the little cabin. Occasionally a -whiff of cooking, strong with onions or garlic, would come blowing aft -in some back-draught out of the canvas. I judged that the crew were -well fed by observing one of them step out of the galley and enter the -forecastle, bearing a smoking round of boiled beef and a quantity of -potatoes in their skins; then by seeing another follow him with pots -of coffee or tea, two or three loaves of bread, and other articles of -food which I could not distinguish. Fare so substantial and bountiful -seemed to my fancy a very unusual entertainment for a forecastle tea or -"supper," as the last meal at sea is commonly called. - -I found myself watching everything that passed before me with growing -curiosity. The hideous cook Mariana, followed by the negro boy -bearing dishes, came aft with the cabin dinner, and presently, when -I peeped again through the skylight as I trudged the deck in the -pendulum walk of the look-out at sea, I perceived the two Spaniards -at table. The several dyes of wines in decanters blended with the -brilliance of silver--or of what resembled silver--and other decorative -details of flowers and fruit, and the square of the skylight framed -a picturesquely festal scene. It was possible to peep without being -observed. The Spaniards talked incessantly; their speech rose in a -melodious hum; for to pronounce Spanish is, to my ear, to utter music. -But the majestic dialect was as Greek to me. Don Lazarillo gesticulated -with vehemence, and I never glanced at the skylight without observing -him in the act of draining his glass. Don Christoval was less -demonstrative. He was slow and stately in his movements, and when he -flourished his arm or clasped his hands, or leaned back in his chair to -revolve the point of his mustache with long, large, but most shapely -fingers, he made one think of some fine actor in an opera scene. - -It was six o'clock by the time they had dined, and at this hour the -seamen taking the privilege of the "dog watch"--but, indeed, it was -all privilege from morning to night in that schooner--were pacing the -deck forward, four of them, every man smoking his pipe--the fifth man -being at the tiller. I might now make sure that there went but five -seamen to this ship's company. The ugly cook leaned in the door of his -galley puffing at a cigarette. The sun was low, his light crimson; his -fan-shaped wake streamed in scarlet glory under him to the very shadow -of the schooner, and the little fabric, slightly leaning from the soft -and pleasant breeze, floated through the rose-colored atmosphere, her -sails of the tincture of delicate cloth of gold, her bright masts -veined with fire, her shrouds as she gently rolled catching the western -light until they burned out upon the eye as though of polished brass. - -The two Spaniards arrived on deck, each with an immensely long cigar -in his mouth. Don Christoval addressed me pleasantly in his excellent -English. He asked me with an air of grand courtesy if I now felt -perfectly well, inquired the speed of the schooner, my opinion of -her, my experiences of the Bay of Biscay in this month of August, and -inquired if I was acquainted with the coast of England, and especially -with that part comprised between St. Bees Head and Morecambe Bay. His -friend eagerly listened, keeping his fiery eyes fastened upon my face, -and whenever I had occasion to say more than "yes" or "no," he would -call upon Don Christoval to interpret. - -Shortly after the tall Don had ceased his questions--and I found no -expression in his handsome face and in the steady gaze of his glowing -impassioned eyes to hint to me whether my replies satisfied him or -not--Captain Dopping came up out of the cabin. - -"Now, Mr. Portlack," said he, in his harsh, intemperate voice, yet -intending nothing but civility, as I could judge, "get you to your -supper, sir; eat hearty, and you can make as free with the liquor as -your common sense thinks prudent." - -I was hungry, having tasted no food since the meal of beef and -biscuit which had been set before me when I was first brought on -board; nevertheless I entered the cabin and took my place with some -diffidence. I felt a sort of embarrassment in eating alone and helping -myself--perhaps because of the shore-going appearance of the interior; -it was like making free in a gentleman's dining-room, the host being -absent. Tom, the nigger boy, waited upon me. He gave me a dish of -excellent soup, and I fared sumptuously on spiced beef, some sort of -dried fish that was excellent eating, potatoes, beans, fruit, and -the like. The fruit was fresh enough to make me understand that the -vessel was but recently from port. There were several kinds of wines in -decanters upon the table; but two glasses of sherry sufficed me, though -two such glasses of sherry I had never before drank. It might be that -I was no judge, but to my palate the flavor of that amber-colored wine -was exquisite. - -The negro boy stood near waiting and watching me intently in the -intervals of his business. Had the skylight been closed I should have -put some questions to him, but the regular passage of the shadows of -the two Spaniards upon the glass of the skylight as they walked the -deck, warned me to be very wary. The change, not indeed from an open -boat, but from the decks and the cabin of the Ocean Ranger to this -interior, with its pictures, mirrors, its handsomely equipped and most -hospitable table, was great indeed, and as I looked about me I found -it difficult to realize the experience I was passing through. I could -now tell by the weight of the fork and spoon which I handled that the -plate which glittered upon the white damask cloth was solid silver. -There could be no doubt whatever that the furniture of a drawing-room -or of a boudoir had gone to the equipment of this cabin. Nothing seemed -to fit, nothing had that air of oceanic _fixity_ which you look for -in sea-going decorations. But a quality of tawdriness stole into the -general appearance through contrast of the gilt, the looking glasses, -the pictures, the velvet, with the plain, worn sides of the vessel, the -rude cabin beams, and the gray and even grimy ceiling or upper deck. I -asked the negro boy if he spoke English. - -"Yes, massa," said he, "I speak English, nuffin else, tank de Lord." - -"Were you shipped at Cadiz?" - -"Yes sah." - -"I suppose they found you cruising about on the look-out for a job." - -He showed his teeth and smiled broadly and blandly, in silence -upturning his dusky eyes to the skylight. It was no business of mine to -question him, but I thought it as likely as not that he had run from -some American vessel, for it was hard to imagine that a lad who was -undoubtedly a Yankee negro, and who I might fully believe was without a -word of Spanish, would be idling in Cadiz. - -I was about to go on deck when the boy said to me, "Do yah know where -yaw've to sleep?" - -"In the 'tween decks I understood," said I. - -"I'll show yah, massa, I'll show yah. Dis is de road to your bedroom, -sah," and, somewhat to my surprise, he went to a little door at the -foremost end of the cabin, opened it, and conducted me into a part of -the schooner that was almost immediately under the main-hatch. The -main-hatch was a very wide square, and the cover of it was formed -of three pieces, one portion of which was lifted so that light and -air penetrated; the sun was still above the horizon, and I could see -plainly. A hammock had been swung in a corner on the starboard side; -it was to be my bed, and there was no other article of furniture; but -then I was a sailor, very well able to dispense with all conveniences, -requiring nothing but a bucket of fresh brine to supply the absence of -a wash-stand. There was a quantity of rope, some bolts of canvas, and -other matters of that kind stowed away down here. The space, however, -was no more than a good sized cabin, owing to the after bulk-head -coming well forward and the forecastle bulk-head standing well aft. - -Having taken a brief survey of my quarters, heaving as I did so a -melancholy sigh of regret over the new sea-chest, the quantity of -wearing apparel, the nautical instruments, books and old home memorials -which the Ocean Ranger had sailed away with, and which it was as likely -as not I should never hear of again, I re-entered the cabin and mounted -the short flight of companion steps. Captain Dopping was walking with -the two Spaniards. I went a little way forward to leeward, and leaned -upon the rail, looking at the sea. The breeze was soft and pleasant, -warm with the long day of sunshine, and the schooner was sliding in -buoyant launchings over the round brows of the wide heave of the swell -which in the far dim east swayed in folds of soft deep violet to the -tender magical coloring of the shadow of the coming night that had -paused in the heavens there. Four of the seamen were sitting in the -schooner's head, watching with amused hairy countenances the face of -the cook Mariana, who grotesquely gesticulated and contorted his form -in his efforts to address them in English. On a sudden Captain Dopping -crossed the deck, holding a handsome cigar case filled. - -"Don Christoval wants to know if you smoke?" said he. - -I took a cigar and lighted it at the stump which Captain Dopping was -smoking, and perceiving that Don Christoval observed me, I raised -my hat, and made him a low bow, which he returned with the majesty -of a grandee. The captain resumed his place at the side of the two -Spaniards, and I smoked my cigar alone, with wonder fast increasing -upon me as I looked at the cigar, and then reflected upon the -entertainment I was fresh from, and recollected how Captain Dopping -had pronounced the word _pay_. What did it all mean? What mystery was -signified, what proposals presently to come were indicated by this -handsome, this hospitable reception of a distressed seaman--a mere -second mate as I was or had been, rendered destitute by disaster--one -of a crowd of obscure persons without pretensions of any kind or sort? -Surely, had I been a nobleman, a man in the highest degree important -and influential, this treatment could scarcely have been more liberal -and considerate. - -I had nearly smoked out the exceedingly fine cigar when Captain -Dopping, in his rasping voice, cried out to one of the men--I believe -it was to the man George South--to step aft and take charge of the deck -for a bit. I turned my head, and found that the two Spaniards had gone -below. Captain Dopping beckoned to me, but the gesture was not wanting -in respect. He was but a Deal longshore man, though superior to the -ordinary run of those fellows, and was impressed or, at all events, -influenced by my holding a master's certificate and, let me say it -without vanity, for it is a thing to concern me but little after all -these years, by my speech, manners, and appearance. - -"You are wanted in the cabin," said he, and he led the way below. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -DON CHRISTOVAL'S STORY. - - -Don Christoval and Don Lazarillo were seated at the table drinking -coffee; the atmosphere was charged with the delicate aroma of the -berry, blended with the perfume of choice Cuba tobacco. The hour was -somewhere about seven. The sunset made the little space of heaven that -showed through the skylight resemble a square of gilt. Spite, however, -of there being some half-hour of twilight left, the two polished and -gleaming silver cabin-lamps were burning. - -"Pray sit," said Don Christoval. "I want to talk to you on an affair of -business." - -I took a chair. Captain Dopping seated himself opposite me. Don -Lazarillo watched me with a fiery gaze of excitement and expectation. - -"I will tell you plainly and at once, Mr. Portlack," said Don -Christoval, fastening his fine, burning, liquid eyes upon my face, -"what the object of our expedition is. In a word, it is this: I am -going to England to recover my wife, who has been feloniously stolen -from me." - -He paused to observe the effect of his words. I could only look -blankly, for there was really nothing to be _thought_ so far, and -therefore nothing to be said. - -"You will have suspected that our excursion was a singular one," said -he smiling, with a note of sweetness threading his voice. - -"I confess, sir," said I, "that I supposed this schooner to be on an -errand which might be something a little out of the way." - -"What does he say?" said Don Lazarillo in Spanish. Don Christoval -patiently translated and then resumed, addressing me now with an -air of melancholy and in tones curiously plaintive. "It is fit that -my story should be told to you, because I shall desire your willing -assistance. That story is well known to my friend, Captain Dopping, -who did not engage the crew until he had made them acquainted with -the object of this expedition. Captain Noble was in your Royal Navy, -but he no longer serves. My mother, who I may tell you was an English -woman, was distantly related to Captain Noble on his mother's side. -I met the captain and his daughter Ida in Paris, and," said he, with -a graceful flourish of his hand, "I fell in love with the young lady. -Captain Noble's wife is a woman of distinction. She is Lady Ida Noble, -and her father is an earl. She did not favor my addresses, nay," said -he, with his face darkening--and I observed that the countenance of -Don Lazarillo, who was eying him steadfastly, darkened too in manifest -sympathy with his friend's mood--"she was rude; she was repellent; she -was insulting. She had high desires for her child, higher," he cried, -smiting his breast, and rearing his form, and looking at his friend, -"than Don Christoval del Padron." He gesticulated again. "Enough!--the -lady, passionately adoring me, consented to elope. I had followed them -to Madrid, and from Madrid my charming girl and I fled to London, -where we were secretly married. The father tracked us. We were man -and wife ere he discovered us. But, two days before we had arranged -to leave England for Cuba, where I have an estate, I returned to the -hotel where I had left my wife, and found her gone. I made inquiries, -and gathered from the description given to me by the people of the -hotel that Captain Noble and his son had called, had had an interview -with my wife, and that she had driven away with them in the carriage -in which they had arrived. I easily guessed," he continued, speaking -plaintively, without the least temper, with an expression of melancholy -that wonderfully heightened the beauty of his face, "that she had been -made the victim of some cruel stratagem. I knew she would write to me -when the chance was permitted her, and week after week I lingered at -the hotel, believing she would address me there or return to me there. - -"A month passed, and then I received a letter. She informed me that her -father and brother had called and implored her to accompany them to her -mother, who lay in a dying state at a hotel in Bond Street. She loved -her mother, and her tender heart was half broken by this afflicting -intelligence. Naturally, she made haste to accompany her father and -brother; but it was a base lie, Mr. Portlack, an inhuman stratagem! -They conveyed her, not to her mother, but, valgamedios! to Captain -Noble's estate in Cumberland. There she has remained; there she still -is; but her deliverance is at hand, and she awaits me." - -"A regular mean and cruel business, don't you think, Mr. Portlack?" -cried Captain Dopping, dragging at his scarlet whiskers. - -"Does 'ee understand?" exclaimed Don Lazarillo. - -"Perfectly," I answered. "It would be strange if I could not understand -your pure English, sir," addressing Don Christoval. - -"What we want to know is----" began Captain Dopping. - -"Patience," interrupted Don Christoval, elevating his hand. "It is -probable," he continued, turning to me, "that we may have to employ -force. I hope not, but we are prepared," he added, with a flash in his -eyes. "The lady is my wife: you will allow that I have a right to her?" - -"Undoubtedly," said I. - -"The marriage was in all senses lawful. I can produce the necessary -documentary evidence. I can produce my dear one's letter in which she -communicates to me the perfidious conduct of her father. You will own -that I have a greater right to my wife than her father has to his -daughter." - -"You will own that?" rasped out Captain Dopping. "The law sets the -husband first. He's afore all hands." - -"That is so; that need not be reasoned," said I. - -"Will you," said Don Christoval, "agree to assist me in obtaining -possession of my wife?" - -Don Lazarillo appeared to understand this question. He eyed me sternly -and with inexpressible eagerness. - -"Sir," said I, "you have saved my life and you have been very good to -me. I should wish to be of service to you, though for no other reason -than to prove my gratitude. But, sir, it would enable me to answer you, -to learn the steps that are to be taken to recover the lady." - -"That is easily done," exclaimed Don Christoval, with a sweep of his -hand that made a single diamond upon his finger stream in an arc of -white fire under the lamps. "Captain Noble's house is called Trafalgar -Lodge. It is a house that stands amid grounds. It is situated on the -coast of Cumberland, to the south of St. Bees Head. A walk to it from -the shore occupies less than half an hour, so close is it to the sea. -The cliffs are high, but there is a little bay that has a margin of -sand which even at high water gives plenty of foothold for landing from -a boat. Into this bay between the cliffs comes sloping a--I forget the -name in English." - -"A gap, Don Christoval?" said Captain Dopping. - -"That is it--that is it. You walk up this gap into the country and then -the house is not far off. There is a little town about four miles -distant inland--it is what you would call the nearest post-town to -Trafalgar Lodge. It is a silent range of cliff--there are no guards -of the coast. I have inquired, and there are no guards of the coast -along that cliff. Well, when we arrive we keep what Captain Dopping -calls a wide offing until the darkness of the night comes. We shall -be guided by the weather: if it is fine we act, if it is stormy we -keep at sea and wait. But suppose it fine. Good! We launch the boat. -Myself, my friend here, Don Lazarillo de Tonnes, Captain Dopping, and -five seamen enter her and we land. The rest is our affair. There must -not be miscarriage; this voyage is costly." He glanced as he spoke at -Don Lazarillo. "And we must go ashore in such force as to assure myself -of getting possession of my wife, let Captain Noble and his son and -his men servants and any gentlemen guests who may be sleeping in his -house--let them, I say, oppose us as they will. But"--he held up his -forefinger with a smile that made his teeth glance like light under his -heavy black mustache--"what meantime is to become of this schooner? Do -you see? The men we have we must take ashore, saving Mariana and Tom." - -"The long and short of it is, Mr. Portlack," here broke in Captain -Dopping, with a note of impatience hardening yet his harsh utterance, -"there wasn't time to ship more hands in Cadiz. Don Christoval had -received news that if he wanted to get possession of his lady he must -bear a hand, for she stands to be carried abroad by her father, and -that 'ud signify a constant shifting of places. We wanted more men, and -Don Christoval would have no sailors but Englishmen. I scraped together -the best I could collect in a hurry, but our company was too few by one -or two for this here job. There's a house to be surrounded, d'ye see; -there's a chance of one or more of us being hurt in the melhee that's -likely as not to happen, and then again a man must be left in charge of -the boat." - -Don Christoval listened with patience, watching me; Don Lazarillo, in -a fiery whisper, asked his friend to translate. This was done, and a -short pause ensued. - -"What you wish me to do," said I, "is to take charge of the schooner -while you and the crew are ashore?" - -"That is it," cried Don Christoval. - -"With me you leave Mariana and the negro boy?" - -"So." - -"A slender ship's company if it should come on to blow on a sudden," -said I, smiling. - -"We shall leave the vessel snug," said Captain Dopping, "and we don't -reckon upon being more than three hours gone. Besides, we shall be -guided by the looks of the weather. It's still summer time, ain't it?" - -"You see, Mr. Portlack," said Don Christoval, leaning back in his -chair and infusing a peculiar note of sweetness into his voice, "you -are a navigator and my friend Captain Dopping is a navigator. It would -be rash for both navigators to go ashore. Suppose an accident should -befall Captain Dopping--how should we reach Cuba: nay, how should we -reach a near safe port? There is no navigation among us saving what you -and he have." - -"I understand, sir. I also gather that when you have regained the lady -you proceed forthwith to the island of Cuba?" - -"To my estate there," he answered. - -"You'll be able to see your way through this job?" exclaimed Captain -Dopping. "The law's at the back of us. A man has a right to his own. -There's no lawyer a-going to gainsay that, you know. If you steal my -watch and refuse to hand it over, there's no law to hinder me from -coaxing you into my view of the business with a loaded pistol." - -"Explain, in the name of the Virgin," hissed Don Lazarillo, in Spanish, -for these words I could understand, and such was his excitement and -impatience that the rings upon his trembling hands danced in flashes -like rippling water under a light. - -Don Christoval interpreted, on which the other bestowed several -approving nods upon Captain Dopping. - -"But I have not yet spoken," said Don Christoval, "of any reward for -your services. I here offer you fifty guineas, which shall be paid to -you on our arrival in Cuba." - -"Do you assent, Señor, do you assent?" whipped out Don Lazarillo, who -now and again would catch the meaning of what was said. - -The offer was a tempting one. It was made to a man rendered bankrupt -by disaster. The money would go far to supply my loss; then again, my -immediate business when I reached a port, no matter where it might be -situated, must be to find a berth, and here was one prepared for me, -easily and comfortably to be filled by me. Moreover, I was but a young -man, and there were such elements of wild and startling romance in -this Spaniard's proposal as could not fail to eloquently appeal to my -love of adventure and to my delight in everything new and stirring. -It was not for me to too curiously inquire into the sincerity of Don -Christoval's story. Captain Dopping believed it; the five seamen -believed it; and what was there for me to ground suspicion upon? - -I paused but a minute and then said, "I accept, sir." - -"Good!" cried Don Christoval, with enthusiasm. - -He went to a locker, and took from it a small, richly-inlaid box or -desk, which he placed upon the table; then on a sheet of gilt-edged -paper, in the corner of which was stamped or embossed in colors a -nosegay of flowers, with a legend in Latin upon a scroll beneath it, he -wrote as follows: - - "_La Casandra, at Sea,_ - - "_August 9, 1838._ - - "_I, Don Christoval del Padron, hereby undertake to pay to Mr. James - Portlack, acting as first mate of this schooner, the sum of fifty-two - pounds ten shillings sterling on the vessel's arrival at Cuba._" - -He affixed his signature, and the document was further signed by Don -Lazarillo and Captain Dopping as witnesses. - -"This is the form of my agreement with Captain Dopping and with the -sailors," said Don Christoval, handing me the paper. "I trust it -satisfies you;" and he gave me one of his noble grandee bows. - -"Oh, yes, sir, and I am obliged to you for it. I suppose the crew will -be discharged on the vessel's arrival at Cuba?" - -"Ay!" exclaimed Captain Dopping. - -"I have but one more question to ask. Is your Cuban port fixed upon?" - -"Matanzas will not be far off," replied Don Christoval. - -Matanzas I knew to be near Havana; and at Havana, whose harbor in those -days was populous with ships, I felt I should have no difficulty in -obtaining a berth and so making my way home. - -I rose, bowed, and went on deck. - -The sun was gone; the night had fallen; it was hard upon eight o'clock. -The wind had slightly freshened, and the schooner was slipping nimbly -but quietly over the dark surface of the waters. There was a slip of -young moon in the south-west, by which sign I might know that, if we -made good progress, there would be moonlight for the wild midnight -adventure we were embarked on. There was a growling murmur of sailors' -voices forward in the gloom; aft, sliding up and down against the -brilliant dust of stars over the stern, was the lonely shadow of the -helmsman gripping the tiller; the seaman who had been commissioned to -keep a look-out trudged in the gangway. My watch on deck would come -round at eight o'clock, that is to say, in a few minutes. I leaned -against the rail to think, but my reverie was almost immediately broken -in upon by Captain Dopping. He approached me close, and peered to make -sure of me, and said: - -"Well, now you are one of us, what think ye of the job?" - -"I have not yet had time to think," said I. - -"It is good pay," said he, "and no risk to you either. You're on the -right side of the door anyway. There's bound to be a scrimmage. The -house is an old, strong building, there are gates to pass, and we must -look to be fired upon." - -"That you must expect," said I. "But you are numerous enough--seven -powerful men, not counting the eighth, whom you leave to tend the boat. -You will go ashore armed, of course?" - -"Of course." - -"You do not doubt that it is a genuine business?" said I. - -"No, no," he answered in his file-like tones; "it's genuine enough. -What d'ye suspect?" - -"Why, do you see, an errand of this sort, Captain Dopping," said I, -hushing my voice, "might signify anything else than the recovery of a -Spanish gentleman's wife." - -"So it might," he answered; "but in our case it don't happen to. You'll -be satisfied when you see the lady brought aboard." - -"Who is Don Lazarillo?" said I. - -"A bosom-friend of Don Christoval's. I look to him more than to the -other for my money. Plenty he has; ye may guess that by his hands." - -"But my agreement is with Don Christoval." - -"He'll pay ye--he'll pay ye." - -"How did you meet him?" - -"I heard that he was making inquiries for a master to take charge of -this schooner. I was piloting a Spaniard to the Thames when she was run -into, and they sent for me to Cadiz; and I had finished my business, -and was thinking of getting home again, when this job fell in my way." - -Pulling out his watch, he stepped so as to bring the dial plate into -the sheen round about the skylight, then calling out that it was eight -bells, and that the course of the vessel was the course to be steered, -he vanished. - -The Spaniards arrived on deck to smoke, and they walked up and down, -constantly talking very earnestly in Spanish. But they never offered -to accost me until they went below, at about half-past nine, when they -both wished me good night, after Don Christoval had addressed a few -words to me about the weather and the time we were likely to occupy -in our run to the Cumberland coast. But though they went below, they -did not go to bed. The negro boy placed fruit, wine, and biscuit upon -the table, and the two Dons went to cards, each of them smoking a long -cigar. There was something dream-like to me in the sight of them, along -with the fancies begotten by the strange situation I now found myself -in. It was like taking a peep into a camera obscura to glance through -the skylight at the picture which it framed. Don Christoval looked a -noble, handsome creature indeed, in the irradiation of the soft oil -flames of the sparkling silver lamps. His smiles played like a light -upon his face, so white were his teeth, so luminous the glow of his -dark eyes at every festal sally of his own or his friend. Was his tale -to be doubted? Surely he was a sort of man to inspire a most romantic -passion in a woman; and, given that passion, all that he had related -was perfectly credible and consistent. - -Likely as not, Don Lazarillo was finding the money for this adventure. -Captain Dopping had said so, and, indeed, one had only to think of the -schooner's equipment, and to peer down into that gleaming interior, -to guess that the cost of this amazing quest must heavily tax even a -very long purse. Don Christoval had talked of his estate in Cuba; he -might be a poor man, nevertheless; his poverty, indeed, might have -proved one of the objections which Captain Noble and his wife had found -unconquerable, though their daughter had thought otherwise. It was -quite conceivable then that Don Lazarillo, being an intimate friend of -Don Christoval, should be helping him by his purse, his sympathy, and -his association. - -But speculations of this sort were not very profitable. I had myself to -consider, and it reconciled me, I must own, to the adventure to reflect -that the part I was expected to play in it was a passive one. The law -of England in those times was not what it now is. Men were hanged for -offenses which are now visited by short periods of imprisonment. If I -was being betrayed into a felonious confederacy, I might hope to be -safe in the plea of ignorance, and in the excuse of having taken no -active share in what might happen. Another consideration: suppose I -had declined Don Christoval's proposal, how should I have been served? -I could not imagine they would speak a passing ship to transfer me to -her. They were in a hurry, and not likely, therefore, to delay the run -to the Cumberland coast by entering a port to set me ashore. So I must -have remained on board in any case, and being on board, assuming the -act they were intent on an illegal one, I should have been as much or -as little incriminated as I now might be by agreeing to serve as mate -in the vessel. - -For eight days, dating from the morning of my rescue, nothing of -sufficient interest happened to demand that this story should stand -still while I tell it. We had extraordinarily fine weather; never once -did the breeze head us so as to divert the schooner by as much as half -a point from her course. Twice it blew fresh enough to single reef our -canvas for us, but the breeze was a fair wind; it filled the sky with -flying shapes of white vapor, but it left the sun shining brilliantly -in the clear blue hollows between, and on these occasions it was that -La Casandra showed her sailing qualities; for during thirteen hours -the log regularly returned her speed as at something over twelve and -a half knots in the hour. She heaped the foam to her stemhead, and -flashed it in dazzling clouds from her bows, and the race of it spread -away astern like the boiling yeast from the beat of the wheels of -a paddle-steamer, with a sparkling hill of sea steadfast on either -quarter, and over those fixed curves of brine the froth swept like lace -endlessly unrolling. - -I punctually took sights every day with Captain Dopping, and every day, -therefore, knew the exact position of the schooner at noon. The point -of coast we were making for lay a few miles to the south of St. Bees -Head. I reckoned that we should be off it by about the 18th. As the -days passed, indeed I may say as the hours passed, the Spaniards grew -visibly more anxious. Their laughter was infrequent, their conversation -earnest and often agitated, as I might reasonably suppose by the tones -of their voices and by their demeanor; they came and went restlessly, -one or the other of them often appearing on deck in the night watches, -and they never sat long at table. - -But their behavior was perfectly consistent, entirely natural, such as -was to have been expected in men who had embarked on a wild romantic -adventure, heavily laden with possibilities of tragedy. They had -very little to say to me, nor were their conversations with Captain -Dopping as frequent as before. They kept much together, walking arm -in arm, Don Christoval grave to austerity, Don Lazarillo energetic in -gesticulation, often pausing to withdraw his arm to smite his hands -with vicious emphasis of what he might be saying, and all their talk, -as I might imagine, was wholly about the probable issue of this attempt -to obtain possession of Señora del Padron. - -I had many opportunities of speaking to the seamen. I warily questioned -them, and one or two appeared convinced that the object of this -expedition was as had been represented to them, while the others owned -that though they did not doubt Don Christoval's story, it might not be -exactly as he had put it, either. - -"But what does it signify?" a man named Scott said to me in one -middle-watch while I conversed with him as he stood at the helm. "If -when we gets ashore and we find out that the job's different from what -we've been made to believe it, why, sir, here stands one," said he, -thumping his breast, "who'll find it easy enough to say 'No' if he -means 'No.' There's no blazing furriner in all Europe, let alone a -Spaniard, as is good enough for an Englishman to get into a mess for. -This here Don says he wants his wife, and I suppose his money's as -good as any other man's. Well, we're willing for to help him to get -his wife, and as his tarms are handsome we're quite agreeable to a bit -of a shindy when it comes to our marching up to the house and asking -that the gent's lawful wife should be restored to him. But if it ain't -that," said he, squirting a mouthful of tobacco juice over the stern, -"if it's to be something that we haven't agreed for, some job as might -end in a prison hulk and a free passage to Australia, here stands one," -he repeated, striking himself afresh, "as'll find it easy to say 'No,' -if so be as 'No' is the meaning that's in his mind." - -This, as I collected from the short chats I held with others of the -men, fairly represented the sentiments of the schooner's forecastle on -the subject of our expedition. - -We had hauled on a course a trifle more westerly than was necessary to -secure ourselves a wide offing, and then, somewhere about one o'clock -on the afternoon of the 18th, we shifted our helm and headed the yacht -east-north-east. All hands were on deck on the look-out for the land, -the pale blue loom of which might now at any moment be visible on the -sea-line. The wind was about south, the day clear, hot and tranquil; -there was a terrace of swollen white vapor down in the west, with a -look of thunder in the knitted texture of the brows of the stuff, but -the mercury in the barometer stood high, and I could find nothing to -disquiet me in the appearance of the English heavens, tessellated here -and there with spaces of high-poised, delicate cloud that gleamed with -divers hues like the pearly inside of a mussel-shell. - -Lunch had been served on deck to the two Spaniards. I noticed a -change in Don Christoval; his face had hardened, there was an air of -sneering temper in his rare smile that reduced it to little more than -a mirthless grin, and often a vindictive look in his eyes as he would -stand staring ahead at the sea, swaying his noble figure to the heave -of the deck. His manner, indeed, suggested itself as that of one who -seeks for courage in temper, for resolution in the evocation of hot -thoughts. Don Lazarillo was pale as though oppressed with nausea. He -constantly raised his hat to press a large silk pocket-handkerchief to -his brow. When I glanced at him I'd wonder whether, when the hour came, -he would be among those who entered the boat. - -A small brig, a collier, with dingy ill-fitting canvas, her yards -braced sharp up, passed under our stern near enough to hail us, but -we took no notice of the old fellow who stood flourishing his hand -upon the rail; whereupon to mark his disgust he flung his tall, -weather-worn hat down on to the deck, and shook his fist at us with a -shout whose meaning did not catch my ear, though a laugh arose among -the men forward. The cook Mariana showed himself very agitated. He was -constantly in and out of his galley, running into the schooner's head -to stare, then darting back afresh to his pots and pans, one moment -popping his hideous face out from the door to starboard, then thrusting -it through the door to port, making one think of those little toy -monsters which spring out of a box when you free the lid. - -At four o'clock the land was in sight. The giant St. Bees Head dimly -shaded the sea-line in the north-east, and thence the shore stretched -in a blue film to the south, dying out in the azure atmosphere. Don -Christoval leaned over the rail viewing the land with a face darkened -by an immovable frown, the scowling air of which gave a malevolent -expression to his eyes. He stood rooted--motionless--his hand with a -paper cigar between his fingers, half raised to his mouth, as though -the whole form of him had been withered by a blast of lightning. - -"How close do you mean to sail, Capitan?" cried Don Lazarillo, -sputtering out his words brokenly, with such an accent as could not -possibly be imitated in print. "We shall be seen!" he exclaimed, with -his face working with agitation. - -"No fear of our being seen at this distance, Don Lazarillo," answered -Captain Dopping. "A four mile offing is all we want till nightfall, and -that there land is three times that distance off." - -Don Lazarillo asked Don Christoval to explain, but the tall Spaniard -continued to stand as though in a trance. - -An hour passed, all remained quiet aboard the schooner. The light wind -fanned the clipper keel of the craft forward, and by the expiration -of the hour the land was hard, firm, and defined, but with no feature -of spur, chasm, or ravine visible as yet to the naked eye. Sail was -shortened to the extent of the topsail being furled, a jib hauled down, -and the gaff-topsail taken in. - -"Best see, while there's plenty of time and daylight," said Captain -Dopping to me, "that the boat's all ready for launching," and then -addressing Don Christoval, he exclaimed, "Shall we get the arms-chest -up, sir, and the weapons served out? It may come on a dark night," he -added, sending a look at the terrace of cloud in the west, "and it -won't do to mess about with lanterns." - -"Do whatever you think proper," whipped out Don Christoval in accents -fierce with excitement, though by his stern, hard, and frowning face it -would have been impossible to guess his agitation. - -I superintended the clearing away of the boat, and saw that everything -was in readiness for launching her. This was to be done smack -fashion--that is to say, by running her through the gangway over the -side. Meanwhile a couple of seamen brought up a large square black box. -Captain Dopping opened it, and disclosed a number of cutlasses and -heavy pistols of the old-fashioned type. He called to the seamen and -handed them each a pistol and a cutlass. I watched their faces as they -received them. They all of them handled the weapons as objects strange -to their grasp, with awkward grins running over their countenances as -they poised the firearms in their brawny fists or drew the cutlasses to -examine their blades. - -"I hope," said the man Andrew Trapp, "that it ain't going to come to -our using these here tools?" - -"The lady's to be got possession of," said Captain Dopping, "without -spilling blood if it can be managed; but to be got, anyhow." - -"That's right enough," said the sailor named South, "but all the same," -said he, leveling the pistol he held, "if so be as I am to fire this -here consarn, I choose that it shouldn't be at a fellow countryman." - -"Mind dat pistole," cried Don Lazarillo, recoiling a step. - -"I take it," said the seaman named William Scott, gazing earnestly at -the cutlass in his hand, "that these weapons are meant more to what -they calls overawe the people in the house we're to surround than to be -used agin 'em." - -"We may have to exert force," said Don Christoval, who stood near -listening; "if our lives are threatened we must be in a position to -protect ourselves. Is not this as you would wish, men?" - -There was a general murmur of assent. - -"I claim my right--no more!" the tall Spaniard cried, with an -impassioned gesture of his arm; "you will help me to assert my right? I -trust no blood may be shed--if blood is shed it will not be our fault." - -"That puts it correctly, I _think_, lads?" exclaimed Captain Dopping, -in his harshest voice and with his most thrusting manner. - -The sailors holding their weapons went forward. Were they to be trusted -at a pinch, I wondered? Assuredly they were not to be trusted in any -sense if the business they were about to enter upon should prove in -the smallest degree different from the object of the expedition as -represented by Don Christoval. - -We continued to stand in for the land under small canvas, which, -however, there was no further occasion to reduce, for as the sun sank -the wind fined down, and at seven o'clock the breeze had scarce weight -enough to hold our sails steady. The sun was astern of us, and his -light streamed full upon the coast, which glowed red as copper in that -atmosphere upon the dark blue of the water brimming to its base and -against the violet of the eastern sky. When the little collier brig -which had spoken us sank her topmost cloths past the rim of the ocean, -the sea line ran flawless from St. Bees Head right away round to the -point where the land melted out. It was hard to credit that we were in -home waters, so deserted was that wide surface. The schooner might, -indeed, have been softly rippling through the heart of some Pacific -solitude. - -With the aid of a powerful telescope, handed to me by Don Christoval, -I could distinctly make out the bay where the boat was to go ashore, -and the dark scar of gap or ravine vanishing in the land beyond. I had -never before been off this coast, and ran the glass along the line of -it, but I could see no houses, no habitation of any sort; it was sheer -rugged cliff, whose character of forbidding desolation was not to be -softened by the rich and beautiful light that at this hour clothed it. -I asked Captain Dopping if he was acquainted with this coast, and he -answered that many years before he had made a trip to Whitehaven, which -lay round the corner to the north of St. Bees Head. That was all he -knew of the Cumberland shore. Occasionally Don Lazarillo would descend -into the cabin, and twice on glancing through the skylight I detected -him in the act of pouring out with a trembling hand a full bumper of -sherry, which he seemed to swallow furtively, but looking round instead -of _up_, possibly forgetting the deck window through which I peeped. -These draughts began to tell upon him; his face grew flushed, his fiery -eyes moist, and his gait changed into a defiant strut when he moved -restlessly about his friend, talking with extraordinary vehemence and -a frequent snap of his fingers. Don Christoval, on the other hand, -exhibited a new phase of mood. There was less of gloom in his face, -more of animation. He smoked his cigar collectedly, with now and again -a smile, and sometimes a laugh at what his flushed-faced, restless, -gesticulating companion said. I took it that the English blood in -his veins kept his nerves steady without obliging him to imitate Don -Lazarillo's quest after courage in the contents of a decanter of wine. - -I remember the sunset that night as one of sullen and thunderous -magnificence. The luminary, like a huge red rayless target, sank into -the coast of cloud over the stern, setting fire to the round and tufted -shoulders of the long, compacted mass, but darkening the base of it -into an ugly livid hue. Long beams of light, like the spokes of some -titanic wheel of flame, projected in burning lines till their red and -storm-colored extremities were over our mastheads; and as they slowly -fainted, the coast ahead of us darkened, the blue of the sky beyond -it deepened into liquid dusk with a single rose-colored star faintly -trembling in the heavens almost directly above the bay that was our -destination, as though it were some freshly kindled beacon to advise us -how to head through the approaching gloom. - -We continued slowly to stand in. The stem of the schooner scarcely -broke the quiet water, and I reckoned that unless more wind came we -should not have arrived at a point where we were to come to a stand -much before midnight. The moon rose somewhere about half-past eight. -She soared in a swollen mass of crimson out of the inky dye of the -land, but swiftly changed into clear silver. Astern of us there -was a constant play of red lightning, with an occasional moan of -thunder slipping over the dark soft folds of the small swell. The two -Spaniards, Captain Dopping, and myself stood near the helm. - -"The moon," said Don Christoval, "shines full upon our white canvas, -and reveals us." - -"But first of all," said Captain Dopping, "who's keeping a look-out -yonder? And next, supposing there to be eyes on the watch, who's to -guess our business? Wouldn't any man who may already have twigged us -through a glass reckon us a gentleman's pleasure-yacht from the Isle of -Man, say, sauntering inward in view of this quiet night with a chance -of a calm atop of it? But if you like, Don Christoval--though it's not -what I should recommend--we'll stand in a mile or two farther, then -douse every stitch, and ride to a short scope. The soundings'll be -about twenty fathom." - -"That will look suspicious," said Don Christoval. "I do not like the -idea. I do not advocate anchoring. See the time that will be lost in -heaving up the anchor." - -"What ees it dat Capitan Dopping say?" inquired Don Lazarillo. - -His friend explained; on which Don Lazarillo cried out shrilly, "No, -no, no," and addressed Don Christoval in Spanish with incredible -vehemence of delivery and gesticulation, his friend meanwhile uttering -the single word "Si!" in a soothing note over and over again. - -"But if this breeze takes off, Captain Dopping," said I, when I could -get an opportunity to speak, "you'll either have to bring up or take -your chance of the schooner drifting far enough to make the pull from -the shore to her a long one." - -Captain Dopping stared round the sea, whistling. - -"How far off is the land?" said Don Christoval. - -"Call it six mile," answered the captain. - -"It would be too far to row," said Don Christoval. "We must creep -farther in." - -"At what hour, sir," I asked, "do you wish to land?" - -"It must be past midnight," answered the Spaniard, "when the house is -hushed, and when, should firearms be used, there will be no one awake -in the country around to hear the reports." - -"And how long is the job going to take us, I wonder?" said Captain -Dopping, cutting off a piece of black tobacco with a big clasp knife, -whose blade glittered in the moonlight, and burying the morsel in his -cheek. - -"An hour--easily in an hour," answered Don Christoval, speaking rapidly -and breathing swiftly. "Mark now how I piece out the time: three -quarters of an hour to row ashore, half an hour to march to the house, -that makes an hour and a quarter; an hour in executing our errand, that -makes two hours and a quarter; and then another hour and a quarter to -regain the schooner, that makes three hours and a half in all. Call the -time four o'clock when we sail away, by five we shall be out of sight -of land." - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -A MIDNIGHT THEFT. - - -It fell a stark calm at ten o'clock, and then I believed that there -could be nothing for it but to bring up--that is, to let go the anchor; -but half an hour later the moonlight upon the water--for by this time -the moon had floated southward--was tarnished by a little air of wind -from the south and west; it breathed, wet with dew, like a sigh into -the schooner's canvas, then softly freshened into a small summer -night-wind. The mass of clouds in the west had vanished; all was clear -heaven from the sea line there to the looming shadow of the land over -our bow; the moon rode high, small and piercingly clear; the canvas -shone like ice in the light; stars of diamond-like brilliance sparkled -in the moisture along the rail; and every man's shadow lay at his feet -upon the pearl-colored planks, as though drawn in Indian ink there. The -hush of expectation lay upon the little vessel as she crept along with -a noise of rippling water refreshingly rising from alongside. Captain -Dopping held his watch to the moon. - -"Wants but twenty minutes to midnight," said he; "we're close enough -in. Down helm," and he began to sing out orders in a voice whose -harshness sounded startlingly upon the ear amid the exquisite serenity -of that moonlit night. - -The men ran about, still further reducing sail. So clear was the -night, it was possible even at a distance to read the expressions -upon their faces. There was no Preventive Force or Coastguard Service -then as now. The English coast was indeed watched at certain parts -of it where smuggling was notoriously carried on, and the people who -kept a look-out were styled blockaders; but the northern reaches, -more particularly where the coast was rugged and high, and where -the facility for "running" goods, as it was called, was small, were -unsentineled. The smuggler needed the accommodating creek, the -comfortably shoaling foreshore, secret hiding places, and, above all, a -handy local machinery for the prompt distribution of his commodities. -All this was to be found in the English Channel, more particularly in -that stretch of it which lies between the North and South Forelands; -but it was not to be met with up here, on this lonely iron-bound -Cumberland coast. In our time, even in these times, when smuggling -is a decaying, an almost extinct business, the pallid apparition of -such a schooner as La Casandra hovering doubtfully at midnight off any -point of the English shore would infallibly in a very short time win -the regard and invite the visit of a boat full of brawny coastguards, -armed, as our men were about to arm themselves, with pistols and with -cutlasses. - -"Get the boat launched, my lads," called out Captain Dopping. - -The gangway was unshipped, the muscular fists of the seamen gripped -her gunwales, and she was run with a note of thunder overboard, stern -foremost, smiting the water a blow that lashed it white, then lying -quietly in the shadow of the schooner. The two Spaniards descended -into the cabin, Don Lazarillo talking noisily as he trod upon his -companion's heels. I stood looking on while Captain Dopping and the -seamen girded the cutlasses to their hips and thrust pistols into their -pockets or breasts. - -"You will keep a bright look-out for us, Mr. Portlack," said the -captain. "Hold the schooner as stationary as possible. There's nothing -going to hurt her to-night," said he, with a look round, "and there'll -be no tide to speak of for another two hours. You will then wear and -keep her with her head to the nor'ard." - -"Ay, ay, sir. But suppose, while you're ashore, a boat should come off -and speak us?" - -"Not likely, not likely," he rasped out. - -"But suppose it, Captain Dopping. I accept no responsibility. What am I -to say, and what am I to do?" - -"Don't Don Christoval and his friend mean to come?" he answered, -walking to the skylight and looking down. - -Either he could not invent any instructions, or he considered a visit -from a shore boat as a thing too improbable to merit consideration. - -The two Spaniards came on deck. I had never supposed that Don Lazarillo -would have had courage to enter the boat until I observed that he had -armed himself with a long saber, the extremity of whose steel scabbard -was visible at the skirts of the Spanish cloak he had drawn over his -shoulders. Don Christoval was similarly swathed, but how armed I am -unable to say, as no weapon was to be seen upon him. - -"All's ready for the start, gentlemen," exclaimed Captain Dopping. - -"Right!" exclaimed Don Christoval in a firm, deep voice, "let the men -enter the boat." - -The sailors dropped into her one by one, and sat silent and grim and -dark in the gloom of the schooner's side, waiting. - -"Where is Mariana?" cried Don Christoval. - -The ugly cook's voice answered from somewhere forward, and he -approached. Don Christoval addressed him in Spanish impressively, and -as it seemed to my ear menacingly, emphasizing his words with frequent -gestures. Mariana responded humbly with many shakes of the head, as -though in deprecation of what had been said to him. Don Christoval then -turned to me and extended his hand. - -"Mr. Portlack, I rely upon your vigilance and seamanship. We hope not -to be long absent." - -He relinquished my hand, I raised my cap, and without another word, he, -Don Lazarillo and Captain Dopping stepped over the side. - -"Shove off," the captain exclaimed, and in a few moments the boat was -gliding shoreward to the noise of the rhythmic grind of her five long -oars betwixt the thole-pins, with eddies of dim phosphorescence under -each lifted blade. - -I watched her until her small shape, blending with the shadow thrown by -the high land upon the water, was lost to sight, and then stepped aft -to the helm, at which stood the negro boy Tom, who had been ordered to -the tiller by me when the steersman had relinquished it to enter the -boat. I mechanically eyed the illuminated disk of compass card, while -my thoughts accompanied the armed expedition that was making for the -shore. I figured the arrival of the boat at the margin of white sand -that curved with the bay; in fancy I saw the people get out of her, -leaving one behind to watch, and marching in a little dark company up -the gap, a faint noise of the clank of side-arms attending them. In -imagination I marked them cautiously approach the house--but what sort -of house was it? Walls I had heard it had, and gates, and these must -be forced or scaled. But what of Madame del Padron, the Ida of Don -Christoval's heart, if not of his hearth? Was she lying awake yonder, -expecting her husband? Impossible! for no date could certainly have -been fixed for the arrival of the schooner off the coast. But of course -she would be awaiting him with impassioned anxiety at all hours of the -night--nights that were gone, and to-night that was going: and he would -have told her that he meant to regain her with the aid of an armed crew -of seamen. Yet, though forewarned, should a struggle happen, she would -listen with terror to the sound of firearms, to explosions, which might -signify the death of her husband, or the fall of one or more of her -own people, only a little less dear to her than her husband. What was -her age? Was she dark or fair? Beautiful I could not but imagine the -heroine, or, rather, the object, of such an adventure as this must be. - -Then from musings of this sort my mind rambled into reflections of -the odd and perilous fortune that had brought me into this business. -How had fared the two sailors whom the murderous rogue of a Yankee -skipper had pilfered from me? Into what-parallels had the Ocean Ranger -penetrated by this time, and what man of her crew had been selected to -fill my place? I looked at the negro boy, whose eyes in the moonlight -resembled a brace of new silver coins set in a block of indigo. - -"What's your other name?" said I. - -"Tom, sah." - -"Ay, but what besides Tom?" - -"Tom ober and ober again, massa, as often as yah like." - -"How old are you?" - -He grinned widely as he answered, "Nebber was told, sah." - -"Are you a Roman Catholic?" said I, talking sheerly for the want -of something to do, and imagining he might have been chosen by Don -Christoval because of his religion. - -He shook his head, still broadly grinning, but meaning that he did not -understand. - -"Have you any religion?" - -"Yes, sah." - -"What is it?" - -"I believe dat when I die I shall be seen no mo'." - -"Where do you go when you die?" - -"I know, sah," he answered, with a low throaty laugh. - -"Where?" said I. - -"Dis child," said he, touching his body, "goes dar," and he pointed -down; "dat child," he continued, indicating his shadow that stretched -sharply defined upon the planks, "goes up dar," and he pointed upward. - -"Who taught you that?" said I. - -"Is it true, massa?" - -"Mind your helm," said I, "and I'll talk to you another time." - -I went to the side and peered. The atmosphere in the south-west was -brimful of moonshine, and the sea line mingled with the sky in the -delicate haze of sheen till you could not tell heaven from water. -Nothing broke the stillness but the voice of the wind-brushed ripples, -unless it were the chafe of a rope on high or the gull-like cry of the -sheave of a block stirred by a sudden strain. The shadowy figure of -Mariana, the cook, restlessly paced the deck forward. He seemed to be -keeping a sharp look-out, as I was. A flock of wild fowl passed high -overhead; their cries as they swept, invisible, over our trucks made a -strange, solemn, plaintive noise in the midnight silence that was upon -the sea. Sometimes I believed I could hear the small remote thunder -of surf echoing out of the line of land which, now that the moon was -shining upon it, stood in a long pale spectral range. - -I was thirsty and stepped below for a tumbler of seltzer and claret. I -took a cigar from a box which stood upon the table, dimmed the cabin -lamps, and returned on deck. Expectation, the constant obligation of -keeping a penetrating look-out, made the time heavy. The moon floated -into the western quarter, and slowly the orb lost its brilliance and -took its rusty hue of setting, though it was still high above the -horizon. Nothing in the shape of a sail was visible the wide sea round; -I was able to sink my sight to the confines of the water, but never -could see the dimmest apparition of a ship. - -Some time before three o'clock I wore the schooner, and waiting until -she regained the point at which the boat had left her, I brought her -head to the wind and held her so with her canvas trembling to the -breeze. It was shortly after I had done this that my eye was taken by a -faint redness ashore. The rim of the cliff turned black against the dim -crimson light. It might have passed as the first of the lunar dawn--as -though another moon were rising beyond the land to replace the orb that -was sinking in the west. Mariana came out of the bows and called out to -me with his incommunicable accent: - -"Señor, do you see?" and he pointed to the light. - -"Yes," said I, "that looks like a fire ashore. Whether the house has -been fired by design or mischance, our people will have to bear a hand; -for should there be any sort of country-side thereabouts it'll be -swiftly up and wide awake and running and shouting to _that_ signal." - -He grunted, evidently without understanding a word of what I had said, -and went forward again. - -I had just glanced at the cabin clock and observed that it exactly -wanted five minutes to four when my ears were caught by the sound of -oars working in their pins. A moment later we were hailed in a voice -thin with distance. I answered with a "Halloa!" at the top of my lungs. -Presently the boat shaped itself out of the gloom that lay heavy upon -the waters to the eastward. The gathering strength of the grinding -noise was warrant that the men strained hard at their oars. The boat -came shearing and hissing alongside as though her stem were of red-hot -steel; the oars were flung in and a boat-hook arrested the fabric's -progress. - -I stood at the side in the open space of the schooner's gangway. My eye -was instantly caught by the figure of a woman supported in the arms of -Don Christoval. One sees a thing quickly, and in the breathless pause -between the arrival of the boat and what next happened I had time to -note that the woman rested perfectly motionless as though dead, that -her head was uncovered, and that her left arm lay like a stroke or dash -of white paint in the gloom with a scintillation of gems in the dim -gleam of some gold ornaments upon her wrist. Indeed, imperfect as my -view was of her, I might yet know that she was in ball attire! - -Three or four seamen came bounding out of the boat; the voice of Don -Christoval exclaimed: - -"Is that you, Mr. Portlack?" - -"It is, sir." - -"Captain Dopping," he cried, "has been shot dead. We were forced to -leave him behind. The command of the schooner devolves upon you. This -lady is in a heavy swoon, and must be lifted over the side. Let it be -done instantly, pray; there is no time to lose." - -I was greatly startled and shocked to hear of Captain Dopping having -been shot dead and left behind, but the general agitation of the -moment, the obligation of hurry, the wild impatience of the Spaniard, -that hissed feverishly through his words, gave me no time to think of -anything but what we had in hand. Don Christoval, muscular and big -as he was, was unable, no doubt through exhaustion, to rise with the -burden he supported. Don Lazarillo, addressing him in Spanish, sprang -on board the schooner. I ordered a couple of seamen to assist Don -Christoval, and the lady was lifted over the side and received by Don -Lazarillo and Mariana, who straightway bore her below. I believed her -to be dead. She never stirred, or uttered the least sound. - -"Are all returned, saving the captain?" I called out. - -"All returned, sir," answered the gruff voice of one of the seamen. - -"Anybody wounded?" - -"Nobody hurt, saving the captain, who was shot dead," responded the -same voice. - -Don Christoval, with a stagger in his gait, stepped out of the boat on -to the deck, calling to me to give him my hand, lest he should fall -backward. - -"Be quick, and sail away, Mr. Portlack," said he, hoarsely. "A wing of -the house caught fire, but through no fault of ours--no! It was owing -to the carelessness of some terrified servant within. Only one shot -was fired; it was meant for me, and slew Captain Dopping, who was at -my side. That fire was a terrible signal--it may still be burning: I -do not know; all seemed in darkness when we gained the gap, but they -rang a danger bell, a fearful summons that seemed to echo for miles -and miles. Did you hear it here?" he cried, almost gasping with the -rapidity of his utterance. - -"No, sir." - -"Mounted messengers will have been flying from place to place long -ago," he continued; "they will send to Whitehaven, where, I heard -our sailors say, there may be lying a Revenue cutter, or some more -formidable ship of the State yet, to pursue us; therefore, for our -lives' sake, Mr. Portlack, get the boat in and start at once." - -He paused an instant to clasp his hands with an air of impassioned, -theatrical appeal to me, then went below walking like a drunken man. - -The bows of the boat were hastily hoisted into the gangway by means -of a tackle called a burton. All hands of us then grasped the fabric, -and dragged her bodily to her place on the deck. I could collect, by -the motions of the men, that they were frightfully fatigued, but they -worked with a will, as for their lives, indeed; well knowing--better -knowing than I probably--what must be the fate of all hands of us if -we were to be captured red-handed thus, with the house still on fire -ashore for all we could tell--though I could now see no signs of the -glow I had before observed--and with the dead body of the captain to -fearfully testify to the audacious nature of this expedition. - -Every stitch of sail the schooner carried was, cloth by cloth, -expanded. Within ten minutes of the boat's return she was in her place -on deck, the little topgallant-sail was being sheeted home, and La -Casandra, under full breasts of canvas, was sliding out into the gloom -south and west. Clouds had collected in the west; and if the moon still -hung over the sea, she could not show her face. Our course brought the -weak damp wind a little forward of the beam. This was the schooner's -best point of sailing, and she slided through it with a nimbleness that -I hoped would put her out of sight of land before daybreak. - -While the men, with weary motions, were coiling away the running gear -which littered the deck, Mariana came up out of the cabin with a bottle -of brandy. He told me that Don Christoval wished the sailors to drink. -I said-- - -"Take it forward and serve it out; but see that no man gets more than a -dram. If you muddle their brains, you will be putting us in the way of -being hanged." - -That he partly understood me I knew, by the energetic assent he howled -out in his own tongue. I carefully swept the sea line, and then took a -look through the cabin skylight. I had intended no more than a glance, -but my gaze was arrested, as though fascinated by the spectacle it -surveyed. Some one had turned up the lamps, and their flames burned -brightly. Don Christoval sat at the table, supporting his head by -resting his jaw upon his clinched fists. Don Lazarillo occupied a -chair close to him; a tumbler, half full, was before him; he held an -unlighted cigar, and his eyes were fixed upon the object at which his -friend was staring. - -_This_ was no more nor less than the figure of a girl of about -two-and-twenty, resting at full length upon a velvet couch. The remains -of what might have been a wreath of flowers were in her hair. A portion -of her hair, that was of a dark red, and that glowed like gold, as -though it had been plentifully dusted with gilt powder, was detached, -and lay in a long thick tress upon her shoulder. They had unclasped a -rich opera cloak, and her attire was revealed. Her ball-dress of white -satin, looped here and there with pink roses, was cut low, and exposed -her throat and shoulders; but there were some ugly scratches on the -flesh near her left shoulder. She wore very handsome jewelry: diamond -earrings, a rope of pearls with a cross of diamonds that sparkled -against the dark yellow of the tresses which had fallen. Her arms of -faultless mold were bare to the short sleeves; her hands were gloved; -I believed I could witness traces of blood upon the white kid; and her -wrists were circled with bracelets. - -But to describe all this is really to describe nothing: for how am I to -convey to you the disorder of apparel that suggested a struggle which -you must have thought deadly in its consequences, when you looked at -her motionless shape, her closed eyes, her bloodless face, and the -lifeless pose of her arms? - -I stood gazing. Presently Don Christoval, extending a trembling hand, -poured himself out half a tumbler of brandy--brandy I might suppose it -was, by observing that he filled up the glass with water. He drained -the tumbler, and suddenly looked up and saw me. He instantly rose and -came on deck. He was without his hat. He seated himself on the corner -of the skylight, where he commanded a view of the interior of the -cabin, and called down some words in Spanish to Don Lazarillo, who -nodded violently, but without removing his eyes from the girl. - -"Does the schooner make good way?" said Don Christoval. - -"Yes," I answered; "her speed is about five miles an hour." - -"At dawn shall we be out of sight of the coast?" - -"It will not be long before daybreak," said I, "and at dawn the coast -may be in sight of us, but I do not suppose we shall be in sight of it." - -He stood up to look around the sea. - -"It is sad," he exclaimed, "that Captain Dopping should have been shot." - -"It is shocking," said I. - -"You have sole control of the schooner now, Captain Portlack, for my -captain I make you," said he. "And the money that I had agreed to pay -to Captain Dopping shall be yours, in addition to the fifty guineas as -arranged." - -I gave him a bow and said, "Thank you." My eyes were fixed upon the -motionless girl below; he was able to observe the direction of my gaze -by the sheen of the lamp-light, that rose like a haze through the glass -and the lifted lid of the skylight. - -"How cruel! how cruel!" said he, in a deep yet musical voice, that -was not the less thrilling because of a certain indefinable flavor -of theatricalism; "how cruel, that I should be obliged to claim what -is mine by force, which I find barbarous when I look there," said -he, pointing to the figure of his wife, "and when I recall Captain -Dopping's cry as he fell lifeless at my side." - -"Is your lady dead?" said I. - -"No, no, I think not; indeed, I am sure not. She is sunk in a trance -or stupor. If she were bled, she would revive; but there is no man on -board who has the skill to bleed her." - -"She looks to have been very roughly handled." - -"What you see," he cried, "is the work of her inhuman father and -brother. Captain Noble, his son, and my wife had returned from a ball. -We found the gate open, the carriage at the door: they had only just -alighted, indeed, and the carriage was in the act of driving away; -but the hall-door was closed. We knocked, and Captain Noble put his -head out of a window and asked who was there. I told him that it was -I, Don Christoval del Padron; that I had arrived to take possession -of my wife, whom he had forcibly divorced from me and was keeping a -prisoner--that is, never leaving her out of his own sight or the sight -of others of his family. He disappeared, and then returned to the -window. I did not know he was armed. He shouted insultingly to us to -be off. "Give me my wife!" I cried. "I desire no struggle, no uproar. -Give her to me, to whom she belongs, and we will withdraw peacefully." -He fired, and Captain Dopping fell and died with a groan. On this we -stormed the door; we put a pistol to the keyhole and blew away the -lock. Strangely enough, the door was not bolted. No doubt, in the -alarm our sudden appearance had caused, this had been overlooked, or -possibly Captain Noble supposed that some one had shot the bolts. We -entered; but what follows others may be better able to tell than I. -All was confusion and cries. They had hidden my wife. We entered five -rooms before we found her. This search was mine and Don Lazarillo's. -The seamen guarded the door, and stood cutlass in hand over Captain -Noble and his son. I found my wife locked in a room. When I turned the -key and she beheld me she rushed to my arms with a cry of delight. I -enveloped her in her opera cloak and conducted her downstairs, but on -Captain Noble and his son beholding us they dashed themselves against -the seamen, rushed upon us, and then it was that my wife suffered in -her apparel and upon her neck, as you see. She fainted, she instantly -became insensible. In the stupor that she now lies in we carried her to -the boat. As we left the house I saw the red light of fire in a wing on -the left, but it was not our doing; they can not charge that to me." - -This extraordinary story he told in such broken-winded English as -I have attempted to convey it in. While I listened, I had found it -difficult to reconcile his statement that his wife had been imprisoned -by her father with the circumstance of her having accompanied him and -her brother to a ball. Then, again, while I listened, from time to -time, looking at the figure of the girl as he spoke, I wondered, as I -had before wondered again and again, in thinking over the object of -this expedition, why, if the lady, as he had represented, had been all -anxiety to rejoin her husband, should Don Christoval have considered -it necessary to carry an armed force ashore with him? That she had not -been a prisoner, in the sense of being confined to a room, or to a -suite of rooms, was made manifest by the ball attire in which she lay -as one dead upon the cabin sofa. Her liberty in a certain degree she -must have enjoyed. Could she not, at some preconcerted signal, have -stolen from the house secretly, and darkly joined her husband, and -secretly and darkly sailed away with him, saving all this tremendous -obligation of midnight landing and of armed seamen, with its tragic -result of fire and a slain man, not to mention the condition of the -wife, who, if not now actually dead, might be a corpse before the sun -rose? - -There might have been a pause of five or six seconds while I thus -mused, during which I seemed to feel rather than see that his dark -and burning eyes were scrutinizing me by aid of the cabin light that -touched my face. - -"The lady lies startlingly motionless, shockingly lifeless, Don -Christoval," said I. - -"But her pulse beats--her pulse beats." - -"Shall you persist in sailing to Cuba, sir?" - -"Certainly; we are now proceeding to Cuba," he exclaimed, and he half -rose from the corner of the skylight as though with a mind to step to -the compass. - -"Cuba is a long way off," said I. - -"What of that?" he cried, instantly, and with heat. - -"Seeing the condition of that lady," said I, "I could not be sure but -that you would wish to visit some near port to obtain medical help, -and----" - -"What?" he demanded, bending his head forward to observe me. - -"Why!" said I, with embarrassment, because I was about to say something -that might sound like impertinence in the ear of the Spaniard, "madame, -your wife, Don Christoval, will not be expected by you to make a voyage -to the island of Cuba in a ball-dress." - -"I have provided for that," he exclaimed, haughtily. "I have minded my -business, Captain Portlack, and if you will mind yours all will be -well." He immediately added in a softened voice, as though regretting -any display of temper, "Yes, we must proceed to Cuba. If Cuba is erased -from my programme, my arrangements will be rendered worthless. Besides, -we have to-night done that which must oblige us, for every man's sake, -to put as many leagues of water between ourselves and yonder country -as this schooner can measure in a month. The Atlantic Ocean is not too -wide for us after what has happened in the darkness this morning." - -Just then the cook or steward Mariana came under the skylight and -upturned his mask of a face. He addressed Don Christoval in Spanish. -The other answered and was about quitting me, but stopped and said: -"Let me see, Captain Portlack, I believe you sleep under the main -hatch?" - -I said yes, that was so. - -"Well, we shall not wish to disturb you. Don Lazarillo surrenders his -cabin to my wife, and he takes that which Captain Dopping occupied. -But any conveniences you may require, pray ask for, and you shall -have them. I will take care that all the nautical instruments, the -chronometer, the charts, and such furniture are conveyed to you." - -He then went below. It was not proper that I should linger at the -skylight as though I were a spy. I paced the deck, looking eastward for -the first faint green of the dawn; yet my walk carried me so close to -the skylight, and the length of deck I traversed was so short besides, -that it was easy to see what was going on below without pausing or -appearing to look. Still, what I saw was no more than this: that Don -Christoval, his friend, and Mariana assembled at the side of the -unconscious girl, where they appeared to hold a consultation; that -when I passed the skylight in another turn, I observed them posturing -themselves as though to lift her; and that when I once more passed the -skylight in the third turn, the interior was empty--the lady had been -conveyed to her berth. - -Day broke a little later. The land showed dim against the dawn; and the -distance we had made good during the hour of darkness had carried us, -as I had foreseen, far out of eye-shot of any point of the range of -cliffs. There was a small vessel standing to the north, abeam of us, -and the sails of another, hull down, were shining upon the blue edge of -the sea right ahead, as prismatically to the early piercing radiance -of the now risen sun as a leaning shaft of crystal. I leveled a glass -at her and found that she was pursuing the course we were steering. -There was nothing in sight where the shadow of the land was; but even -if I had supposed we should be pursued, I was very sure we should -not be caught. There was nothing, I might swear, flying the crimson -cross, capable of holding her own with La Casandra. As to our being -intercepted--life moved sluggishly in those days. Steamers there were -indeed, but they were few, and none to be promptly prepared for sea to -a swift summons. The electric telegraph did not exist. I can not say -there were no railways; but I am certain that pursuit would have been -long rendered hopeless before intelligence of what had taken place -could be communicated to a port where the machinery necessary for an -ocean chase was to be found and put in motion. - -But, then, were we likely to be pursued? Who would be able to guess at -our destination? - -I paced the deck, depressed, anxious, full of misgiving. I heartily -wished myself out of this business; yet I now stood so committed to -it that I was at a loss to know how to act. The violent death of -Captain Dopping was a shock to me. It sharply edged my realization of -the significance of this midnight adventure. And now that the tragic -business was ended there was something I found unintelligible in it, -something which pleaded to my instincts, stirring and troubling them. -Four seamen sat to leeward of the little galley; they seemed to be -dozing; their whiskered faces were bowed over their folded arms; a -fifth man was at the tiller. I peered through the skylight and saw Don -Lazarillo asleep in a chair. The man at the helm was William Scott; he -had been there while Don Christoval talked to me, and I guessed that -he had overheard every syllable of the Spaniard's narrative of the -adventures of the party ashore. I stepped up to him and said: - -"This has been a strange business." - -"It has, sir." - -"I am now in command here, as I suppose you know?" - -"I didn't know, sir; but you're the one to take command, surely, now -the captain's dead and gone." - -"Yes, but it is a command I do not desire. I shall want a mate, some -man to stand watch and watch with me. Did you hear Don Christoval tell -me just now what happened ashore?" - -"Yes, sir. His yarn was pretty near the truth; not quite, though." - -"Where," said I, "was he mistaken?" - -"The lady was insensible when him and the other Spanish gent brought -her downstairs. It's true that her father and the young gentleman, -her brother, bust from us when they see her being carried through the -hall, but it is not true that she got them scratches upon her shoulder -_then_. She was bleeding when the two Spaniards came along down the -stairs with her. I took notice of them marks, and so did Tubb and -Butler." - -"Did her father, Captain Noble, say anything during the time you were -guarding him--while you, or whoever else it was, stood watch over him?" - -"Ay, a deal more than my memory carries, sir. Yet it was nothing but -calling names--nothing in the way of explaining matters. It was '_The -infernal villain!--The brutal wretch!--Who are these scoundrels?--Are -you pirates, you ruffians?--You speak English; you are English; will -you help these two Spaniards, English as I reckon you to be, to kidnap -an Englishwoman from her father's home in England?_' But if that had -been all! Butler, he flourished his cutlass and threatened to give -the old gent a tap over the head if he didn't belay his jaw. Pirates -we _wasn't_! We was ashore helping a gentleman to his rights. Captain -Dopping told us that the law was on our side, and there's ne'er a -pirate as can say _that_ of his calling." - -I continued to pace the deck a while musing on this man's version of -the adventure. The morning opened wide and brilliant as the sun soared. -Soon after daybreak the breeze freshened, and the waters were now -streaming and arching into little heads of foam as they ran with it. -Mariana came out of the cabin and was trudging forward when I called to -him: - -"How is the lady?" - -Instead of responding he shrugged his shoulders till the lobes of his -long yellow ears rested upon them, proceeded to the galley and lighted -the fire. I went a little way forward and called to the seamen, who at -daybreak had risen from their squatting postures and now hung together -talking in low voices. They approached me. There were four of them, -Trapp, South, Butler, and Tubb; Scott still grasped the tiller till he -should be relieved at four bells--that is to say, at six o'clock. - -"Men," said I, "Don Christoval has asked me to take charge of this -schooner. You may have heard him say so when he came aboard this -morning." - -"I heard him, sir," said Andrew Trapp. - -"I shall want a mate," said I. "Butler, you filled that post under -Captain Dopping. Will you take it afresh?" - -"If I must, I must, sir," he answered gloomily. "No extra pay goes to -the job, I suppose?" - -"I can not tell you. Scott says that the lady's father behaved like a -madman, and that you threatened him with your cutlass." - -"That's true," answered Butler. "He called us pirates, and swore he'd -have us hanged as pirates. I never was tarmed a pirate afore, and I -lost my temper, but I did him no hurt." - -"It's a job," exclaimed Tubb, "which I, for one, am sorry I ever -meddled with. Yonder," cried he, pointing to the dim haze of land, -"lies Captain Dopping, shot through the head. Had any man said it was -a-going to come to _that_, I should have told the Don that _I_ wasn't -one of the sailors he was looking out for." - -"That's a bad part of it," said I, "perhaps the worst part. But another -very bad part is the condition of the lady. She looked to me, as she -lay in the cabin, as if she had been very roughly handled." - -The ugly cook put his head out of the galley and stared at us. I -called to him, in an angry voice, to bear a hand and get the men's -breakfast, adding that they had been up all night and wanted the meal. -"There's to be no loafing, no skulking, now, d'ye understand. We're too -few as it is, and you're just one of those rusty pieces of old iron -which want working up, Yankee fashion; so turn to, d'ye hear?" and I -confirmed my meaning by a menacing inclination of the head. The ugly -rogue vanished, but I could hear him muttering a number of Spanish -oaths to himself. - -"You were speaking of the lady, sir," said Butler. - -"She looks," said I, "to have been rascally used. Her dress is vilely -torn, as though in a struggle. Her shoulder is badly scratched, and why -should she have fainted dead away, and why should she remain insensible -for hours--insensible still, for all I know? For joy at seeing her -husband?" - -"She was carried down the stairs unconscious by the two Spaniards," -said Tubb, "her clothes was tore then, and her flesh was scratched." - -"Did the Spaniards mount the stairs alone?" - -"Alone, sir," answered Butler. "Scott and me stood over the lady's -father and his son; and South and Tubb guarded the door." - -"Who remained in charge of the boat?" - -"Me," said the man named Trapp. - -"The name of the lady's father," said I, "is Captain Noble. Did he say -nothing more to the point than to abuse you as pirates?" - -"Nothing noticeable," answered Butler; "his wits seemed to be drove out -of him by his rage." - -"I heard him ask," said South, "how we, as English sailors, could help -a scoundrel Spaniard to steal an English lady away from her father's -house in England." - -"Did he say _steal_?" said I. - -"Force was the word he used--force an Englishwoman away. I didn't hear -the word steal, George," said Butler. - -"Is it a fine house?" said I. - -"A regular gentleman's castle, sir," answered Butler. "We found the -gates open; there was a carriage with a coachman and footman at the -door; it was just a-driving off as we marched in." - -"What became of that carriage?" - -"I see the coachman pull up," answered South, "when he was near the -gates. I kept my eye on the vehicle, for there were two men on the box -of it. When the lock was blowed away, the coachman flogged his horses, -and the whole concern disappeared. I expect they drove off to give the -alarm, but where to, blowed if I know, for there looked to be no houses -for miles around." - -"What happened next?" said I. - -But what the men now told me substantially corresponded with Don -Christoval's story: saving that they were all agreed that the lady was -insensible and in the disordered and torn condition in which she had -been brought aboard when carried downstairs by the two Spaniards. - -"Well," said I, "the schooner's decks must go without a scrubbing this -morning. Hurry up that cook and get your breakfast. Butler, you'll -relieve me at eight bells. I must find out how the lady is doing. If -she's to die--and as she lay in the cabin she looked as if she were -dying--Don Christoval will surely not want us to sail him to Cuba." - -"But where else?" said Butler, nervously and suspiciously. - -"To a French port, if you like--to any place that is near. I wish to -get out of this ship." - -"So do I," said Butler, looking at his mates, "but we want our money, -Mr. Portlack, and we want to be landed in some part of the world where -we aren't going to be nabbed for this 'ere job. Let it be Cuba, if -_you_ please, sir. 'Tain't too far off--no, by a blooming long chalk, -'tain't too far off." - -"Get your breakfast and relieve me at eight," said I, and I walked aft. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -MADAME. - - -Don Christoval remained out of sight below. I assumed that he was -attending to his wife. His friend continued asleep in an arm-chair near -the table under the skylight; his head was fallen back, his mouth was -wide open, and his deep and powerful snore was audible at the distance -of the helm. By and by the negro boy Tom rose through the companion -hatch. - -"Where is Don Christoval?" said I. - -"In dah missus' cabin, sah," he answered. - -"Has consciousness returned to her?" - -He scratched his head and answered that he did not understand me. - -"Have you heard the lady speaking--have you heard her voice?" - -"Not speak, but sing, massa." - -"Sing?" cried I, looking at him. - -"Ay, massa, like dis:" he sang a few notes. "Her song is all de same -as a nuss-gal making him noisy pickaninny go for to sleep." - -He went to the galley and presently returned with a tray full of -breakfast things. Don Lazarillo was awakened by the negro lad laying -the cloth for breakfast. I was at the skylight at the moment and my -eye was upon the Spaniard. He started to his feet, delivered himself -of a loud yawn, looked blankly around him with the stupid air of the -newly awakened; the motions of his body were then arrested as though -he had been paralyzed; he listened, intently gazing aft, continued -to listen while you might count twenty, the expression of his face -slowly changing from astonishment to terror. He then made a stride and -disappeared out of the small range of view I commanded. I strained my -ear but caught nothing unusual. He has heard the Señora del Padron -singing, thought I. - -The negro boy went again to the galley and once more returned with a -second tray of dishes for the table. I was hungry and sleepy. Rest I -might easily obtain by summoning Butler aft to keep a look-out, but I -had no notion of turning in until I had breakfasted. I supposed that I -should be expected to eat as heretofore, when Captain Dopping was alive -in the vessel--that is to say, after the Spaniards had left the table; -and I was wondering when Don Christoval meant to put in an appearance; -at that moment he came on deck. - -His face was colorless; I may say it was ghastly with what I must term -its pallor of swarthiness. The peculiar hue seemed to enlarge his eyes. -He stood curling his mustaches a moment looking around him, and then -approached me with a shallow and unquiet smile. - -"All goes well with the schooner, I hope, Captain Portlack?" said he. - -"Yes, sir." - -"How does the weather promise?" - -"The day may keep fine, but I look for wind presently." - -"I am going to ask you," said he, with a harsher Spanish or foreign -intonation in his accent than I had ever before noticed in his -speech, "to be so good, Señor Portlack," he raised his hat and held -it a little above his head, "to waive your custom of taking your -meals in the cabin," he put his hat on. "I deplore the necessity. -You will not regard it, if you please, as a violation of the laws of -hospitality--laws by which we are eminently governed in our country. -Neither will you suppose that your estimable society is not prized and -your professional help and attainments greatly valued by Don Lazarillo -de Tormes and myself. But--" He abruptly ceased, giving me nothing more -to interpret than a truly royal sweep of his arm. - -"You wish me to eat in my own quarters, Don Christoval? I shall be -happy to do so; but I presume I am to be waited upon?" - -"Most undoubtedly," he burst out. "I entreat that you will speak every -wish that may occur to you. Your apartment shall be furnished from the -cabin: there shall be a table and all conveniences. Tom will see to you -as he sees to us. I thank you for your ready assent;" and he gave me a -stately bow, raising his hat again. - -I returned his salute in the handsomest way I could manage, and -inquired after his wife. - -"Oh, she will do, she will do," he answered. "Patience! the shock was -great and sudden; she expected me indeed, but there was nothing in -expectation to soften the agitation excited by my sudden appearance. -Add to this the inhuman behavior of her father and brother, their -outrageous violent language, their grasping her," he continued, -advancing his arms and opening and clinching his fingers as he acted -the part, "in the hope of tearing her from me. But patience, Captain -Portlack." Then without another word he returned to the cabin. - -At eight o'clock Butler came to the quarter-deck. I gave him the -course, told him I should turn in for a couple of hours after -breakfast, and bade him call me should the wind shift ahead, for we -were in St. George's Channel, with the Irish coast on one side and the -English coast on the other, and in case of our having to _ratch_, as it -is called, La Casandra would need better piloting than Butler was equal -to. I was about to quit him when he said: - -"Beg pardon, Mr. Portlack, what might the Don have been a-saying just -now?" Then observing my change of expression, he quickly added, "The -question's asked quite humbly, sir. The long and short of it is, we men -don't feel comfortable. We want to make sartin that there's to be no -putting in to any new port, and least of all to an English port." - -I feigned not to understand him. - -"So long as you receive the money that is agreed upon between you and -Don Christoval it can not signify what port we put into." - -"Oh, but it do, then!" cried he, turning red in the face. "What! Why, -only consider!" he continued, raising his voice for the edification -of his mates who stood listening forward. "Put into an English port -and see what 'ud happen! Put into any civilized port and see what 'ud -happen! I know them Customs covies. What 'ud they find? A lady in -evening attire: us without any sort of yarn capable of satisfying the -suspicions we're bound to raise. Why, all hands of us 'ud be detained -for investigation, and then!" - -"You may ease your mind," said I, coldly. "Don Christoval was merely -talking to me about my breakfast," and going to the main hatch I -dropped through it into my quarters. - -Here I found the furniture that had belonged to Captain Dopping's -cabin; there were also a little table, a velvet arm-chair from the -cabin, and a rug such as would be stretched before a fire-place -lying upon the deck. My quarters, thus equipped, looked hospitable -enough. Indeed, it was to my taste to live thus apart. It rendered me -independent; I could do as I pleased, light my pipe, turn in or turn -out, eat and drink, and come and go with a bachelor-liberty that I -should not have been able to enjoy had I dwelt as Captain Dopping had -in the cabin. The one objection to my quarters lay in the gloom of -them. In fine weather there was plenty of light to be obtained through -the open hatch; but in stormy times the hatch must be closed, and then -I should have to live by lamp-light. - -A few minutes after I had descended, the door that communicated with -the cabin opened, and the negro lad entered with my breakfast. He put -the tray on the table, and stood as though expecting me to question him. - -"Is the lady still singing?" said I. - -"No, sah, ebery ting quiet now." - -"That will do," said I, and he went on deck through the main hatch. - -I made a hearty meal and smoked a pipe of tobacco--Captain Dopping -had laid in a liberal stock of pipes and tobacco. I then pulled off -my boots and coat, sprang into my hammock, and in five minutes was as -sound asleep as the dead. Butler wakened me by putting his head into -the hatch and shouting. I went on deck, and found my prediction to Don -Christoval of a fine day disproved. The weather had thickened, the -sky was a wide spread of shadow, under which a quantity of yellow, -wing-like shapes of scud were flying with a velocity that might have -made you suppose it was blowing a gale of wind. The wind was damp, -but there was no rain. Blowing it was, but not yet hard, and Butler -had given no other orders than to roll up the topgallant-sail. The -breeze was on the quarter, about north-north-west. Had we been working -up against it we should have found it a strong wind; as it was, the -schooner was swirling before it with every cloth set, saving the little -sail I have mentioned. A strong swell chased her, and to each hurl of -the regular, giant undulation the vessel flashed along, burying her -bows in foam with the next launching swoop in a manner to remind you of -the flight of a flying-fish from one glittering blue slope of brine to -another. - -The vessel that had been ahead of us at daybreak was now on the bow -close to--a box-shaped concern with painted ports; she plunged heavily, -and seemed to stagger again under her heights of canvas, like an old -woman whose balance is threatened by the umbrella she holds up. Such -a sputtering as she made I had never before beheld. All about her was -white water as she washed through it; it was as though a water-spout -were foaming under her. Yet she held her own stoutly; and, two hours -after I had been on deck, she was still in sight in the haze astern. - -I could make no use of Captain Dopping's sextant in such weather as -this. Don Lazarillo was walking the deck alone, swathed to the heels -in a cloak, and a large, flapping felt hat, drawn down to his eyebrows. -He looked at me askew as I stepped his way to glance at the binnacle. -Often had I met his fiery glance scanning me, but never so searchingly -as now. He kept his eyes upon me as I stood at the compass watching the -behavior of the little ship as she swept to the heads of the swell. -When I moved forward, he advanced with a forced, deep grin which so -contracted his visage that it looked no more than a mat of hair with a -hooked nose thrust through it. He saluted me, and I bowed low, as was -my custom with these gentlemen, and the following exchange of sentences -took place, partly by signs, partly by shouts; but the substance of -our meaning is all that I will venture to give. It would be impossible -for the pen to convey his broken English, and as I have not a word -of Spanish, I dare not attempt to write the sentences with which he -intermingled his English. - -"It is a very dark day." - -"It is," I answered. - -"It blows heavily." - -"No, Don Lazarillo," said I. - -"I thank the Virgin I am not seasick. Yet, the sight of those -mountains," said he, pointing over the side with a yellow, jeweled -hand, "makes me sensible that my stomach is of the most delicate." - -"By this time you should have grown accustomed to the motion of a ship." - -"Yes, it is so. Might not this dark day prove fatal to us?" Here he -struck his fists together to denote a collision between vessels. - -I shook my head and touched my eyes and pointed to the men forward, -touching my eyes again that he might gather it was the custom of -English sailors in thick weather to keep a look-out. - -"How long to Cuba?" he asked. - -I shrugged my shoulders. "Is Don Christoval still resolved to go to -Cuba?" said I. - -"Yes," he cried in Spanish, in the most passionate way that can be -imagined, while an expression of dark suspicion entered his eyes. "You -know the way to Cuba?" - -"Oh yes," I answered smiling. - -He nodded wildly as though he would say, "See that you carry us there, -that's all!" - -"How is madame?" said I, pointing to the skylight. - -"Better--better," he replied, with a little scowl, and then giving me a -bow he took a turn or two and went below. - -The wind freshened gradually during the afternoon, and when I left the -deck at four o'clock the schooner was under greatly reduced canvas, -driving along at eleven or twelve miles an hour, her decks dark with -damp, fountains of spray blowing ahead of her off the high archings of -foam upturned by the irresistible thrust of her stem, a shrill, dreary -noise of wind in her rigging, and the fellow at the helm and the figure -on the look-out forward gleaming in oil-skins and sea-helmets. - -All through the night it continued to blow, and it blew all through the -three following days and nights. At long intervals one or the other of -the Spaniards appeared on deck, but for no other purpose than to take -a hurried look round. Some small theory of navigation, though utterly -insufficient for practical purposes, they must have had; for, happening -on one occasion during this boisterous time to look through the -skylight glass, I perceived them bending over a chart. Don Christoval, -with his forefinger upon it, seemed to trace a course, while he glanced -up in the direction where there hung, screwed to the upper deck, what -is known at sea as a "tell-tale compass," that is, a compass whose -face is inverted, usually fixed over the captain's chair, so that, as -he sits at table, he may perceive at a glance whether the helmsman -is holding the vessel to her course. I stood watching, careless as to -whether the Spaniards perceived me or not. The skylight was closed, -and their voices were inaudible. Don Christoval seemed to explain; Don -Lazarillo measured: there was much nodding and gesticulation, and they -frequently looked from the chart to the "tell-tale compass." Presently -Don Christoval rolled up the chart, and the pair of them withdrew out -of reach of my sight. - -I took notice that when Mariana was not employed at cooking in the -galley, he was aft below in the cabin. I could not imagine what sort -of work the two Dons could find to put the ugly, greasy rogue to in -that part of the schooner. I now never entered the cabin, and could do -no more than conjecture what passed in it. Regularly at meal-times, if -I happened to be on deck, I would peep through the skylight window, -expecting to find madame at table; and if it happened that I was off -duty when meals were served in the cabin, I would tell Butler to cast -a look through the glass and report to me if he saw anything of the -lady. But my curiosity was punctually disappointed: the lady remained -invisible. - -It happened that, on the evening of the third day of this spell of -dirty weather, I went below to get some supper. It was seven o'clock, -and the evening dark as midnight with the driving thickness in the wind -and the black surface of cloud that was stretched across the sky. As I -dropped through the hatch, pulling the piece of cover over it to keep -the wet out of my quarters, I observed a glare in the interior, which -I very well knew could not proceed from the lamp that swung under a -beam near my hammock. In fact that lamp was unlighted. Looking past -the bulk-head to which the steps by which I descended were nailed, I -found that the door which communicated with the cabin stood open. The -wind, though abaft the beam, gave a decided "list" or inclination to -the rushing fabric, and her rolls to windward, owing to the swell being -almost astern, were too inconsiderable to cause the door to swing to. - -The cabin was steeped in light; the lamps were large for the -interior, and burned brilliantly, and their luster was duplicated -and reduplicated by the mirrors which hung against the side. Don -Christoval lay at full length upon a sofa; his hand, drooping to the -floor, holding between its fingers an extinguished cigar, showed that -he was asleep. Don Lazarillo was either on deck or in his berth. The -dinner-cloth was upon the table, but cleared of its furniture, though -on a large swing-tray between the lamps were one or two decanters -of wine, a plate of fruit, biscuits, and the like. But that which -instantly arrested my eye was the figure of Mariana seated on a chair -at the after extremity of the cabin, where stood two berths. He -bestrode his chair as a man strides a horse, bowing his hideous face -to the back of it. His posture assured me that he was acting the part -of sentinel. I stood viewing him. I could see no signs of the lady's -presence, in the shape, I mean, of apparel, of any detail of female -attire. I searched with my eyes swiftly, but narrowly, and encountered -nothing to indicate the existence of a woman on board. What did I -expect to see? I know not, unless it were something a lady might use, -and leave on a chair or a table--a smelling-bottle, a glove; but this -does not matter. I wished to discover if madame had left her berth, and -I found no hint to inform me that she had done so. - -But what signified the presence of that ugly, I may say that loathsome, -sentry stationed at what I might make sure was the door of the berth -she occupied? By the aid of the light flowing in from the cabin, I -sought and found the materials for lighting my own lamp. I then -quietly closed the bulk-head door. - -A little later the hatch was lifted, and the negro boy descended with -my supper--a repast consisting of cold meat, biscuit and fruit, and -half a bottle of wine. - -"Where is the cook?" said I. - -"In de cabin, massa." - -"He appears to live in the cabin. What is he doing there now, d'ye -know?" - -"Watching, sah." - -"Watching what?" - -"Dah lady." - -"Oh!" said I, "watching the lady, hey? Is she in her room?" - -"No, sah; outside de door ob it. Dey has to watch her," said he, -showing his teeth. - -"Why, do you know?" - -"I heered the tall Don say at breakfiss-time dat she was gone for mad." - -After a pause I said, "When did you hear him say this?" - -"Yesterday morning, sah." - -"To whom did he say it?" - -"To Mariana, massa. T'odder gentleman was sleeping." - -I recollected that I had watched Don Lazarillo awaken from his sleep on -the previous morning, and that I had observed the expression of terror -his face had taken when, as I might _now_ know, he learned for the -first time, by hearing madame singing, that she had lost her mind. - -"Why did you not, before this evening, tell me that the lady was gone -for mad, as you call it?" - -"Massa nebber asked dah question." - -"Have you seen her?" - -"No, sah, and I dun wan' to. Her laugh make my blood creep. It's wuss -dan her singing, sah. Now and agin she laugh, but now she sings no mo'." - -"How is she watched at night, do you know?" - -He twisted his hand to indicate the turning of a key in its lock, by -which I gathered that madame by night was locked up in her cabin. - -"Is she watched?" - -"Mariana him sometime sleep and sometime sit at her door. When him -sleep, den Don Christoval keep watch. When Don Christoval sleep den -t'odder gent keep watch. Dey makes tree watches ob it, sah." - -I asked him how he knew this. He answered in his negro speech that he -had found it out by looking and listening. - -"But what are you to find out by listening?" said I. "You don't -understand Spanish, and those three men among themselves talk in no -other language." - -"Mariana, him say to me in de galley, 'Tom,' him say, 'you look to de -sailors' pudden. De massa wan' me to keep watch in de cabin.' I say, -'Why you no sleep now in the fok'sle?' and he say he hab business in de -cabin." - -Here the boy ceased; the poor fellow conveyed his meaning with -difficulty, yet I could see his face working with the intelligence of -an explanation which lay in his brain, but which his tongue wanted -English to impart. That he knew the lady was watched by the three -Spaniards in the manner described by him--that is to say, in three -watches, by night at all events, if not by day--was certain. - -He left me. I ate my supper, lighted a pipe, and sat musing. What -had driven the lady mad? One could not put it down to any ill-usage -she had met with aboard the schooner, because I might certainly know -from the information of the negro boy that she had awakened mad from -the death-like swoon or stupor she was plunged in when conveyed from -the boat into the cabin. Had her joy on finding herself with her -husband again--the husband of her adoration--proved too much for her -mind? Had the sudden shock of his apparition--of the apparition of Don -Christoval and his six armed associates--been rendered too enormous -for her poor brains, through the fearful significance it gathered from -the slaying of Captain Dopping by her father, and by her father's -and brother's last rush and struggle to wrest her from the hands of -the two Spaniards? But then the sailors were all agreed that she was -already insensible when this final rush and struggle took place, that -she was borne downstairs and carried out of the house bleeding and -unconscious as she was when I beheld her lying in the cabin. A haunting -suspicion grew darker, stronger, harder within me. - - * * * * * - -I was again on deck at midnight; the weather had somewhat moderated, -but a strong sea was running, through which the schooner, under small -canvas, crushed her way in thunder, whitening the water around her till -the black atmosphere of the night about her decks was charged with the -ghastly twilight of the beaten and boiling foam. But before my watch -expired the deep shadow on high was broken up. A few stars sparkled, -the seas ran with less weight, and the diminished breeze enabled me to -make sail upon the schooner. - -The cabin skylight was closed, and owing to the moisture upon the glass -it was impossible to see into the interior. Throughout the night the -lamps were kept dimly burning, and ardently as I might peer, thirsty -with curiosity, I never could distinguish the movement of a shadow to -indicate that those who occupied the cabin were stirring in it. - -At four o'clock I went to my hammock, and at half-past seven was on -deck again. It was a fine clear morning; large white clouds were -rolling over the dark blue sky, and the sea, swept by the fresh wind -that hummed sweet and warm over the quarter, ran in delicate lines of -foam, which writhed and twisted in confused splendor in the glorious -wake of the sun; while westward, the surface of the deep resembled a -spacious field lustrous with fantastic shapes of frost. Butler had -heaped canvas on the schooner, and she was sliding nobly through the -water. The men had washed the decks down, and hung about waiting -for their breakfast. From time to time Mariana's head showed in the -galley-door. So far, aboard of us, there had been no discipline to -speak of. The men, indeed, acknowledged me as captain, and sprang to -my commands; but outside such absolutely essential duties as that of -making and shortening sail and washing down the decks of a morning, -nothing was done. The fellows would hang about smoking and yarning, -always ready indeed for a call, but nothing more. Nor, indeed, was -it for me to keep them employed. I could not accept this adventure -seriously--could not regard the command I had been asked to take as -imposing any further obligation upon me than that of navigating the -schooner to a part of the coast of Cuba adjacent to Matanzas, and again -and again I would ask myself, Will it ever come to Cuba? Will it ever -come to half-way to Cuba? There was an element of unreality in the -voyage we were now supposed to be pursuing that submitted it as a mere -holiday jaunt to my fancy--a purposeless cruise, rendering needless and -aimless the customary shipboard routine of the sea. - -While I stood looking along the deck, Don Christoval arrived. He was -haggard and blanched, as though risen from a bed of sickness. The -fire of his fine eyes was quenched, and his gaze was extraordinarily -melancholy and spiritless. He saluted me gravely, but stood for some -time as though lost in thought, meanwhile taking a slow view of the -whole compass of the sea, as though in search of some object he -expected to behold upon the horizon. I believed he would return to the -cabin without addressing me; but I was mistaken. - -"Good morning, Captain Portlack." - -"Good morning, sir." - -"The bad weather is passed, I hope. The schooner is sailing very fast. -It rejoices me to reflect that every hour diminishes, by something, the -tedious miles we have to traverse." - -He paused, eying me steadfastly, with the air of a man soliciting -sympathy. He then beckoned to me with one of his grand gestures and -went a little way forward, out of the hearing of the fellow who stood -at the tiller. - -"Captain Portlack," said he, "I am in great grief." - -"I am sorry to hear it," said I, looking at him. - -"My poor wife is mad." - -"Mad!" I echoed, in an accent of concern and astonishment, not -choosing, by appearing aware of the fact, that he should suspect I had -been spying upon him or making inquiries. - -"Mad," he repeated, in a low, hoarse voice. "When she recovered from -her swoon she did not know me. She began to sing, she laughed--Mother -of God, a diabolic laugh! She is now speechless, never lifting her -eyes, never changing her countenance, and she sits thus:" he clasped -his hands before him, bent his head, fixed his eyes upon the deck, and -thus dramatically represented her condition for at least a minute. - -I sought in vain in his voice, in his face, in his air, for some hint, -some color, some expression of such grief of affection, of such emotion -of sorrow, as the love he had spoken of as existing between them would -naturally cause one to look for; instead, I seemed to find nothing but -alarm, uncertainty, irritability, subdued by fear. - -"We must hope," said I, "that she will speedily recover her mind." - -"Will you descend into the cabin and see her?" said he, shortly, as -though he had talked this invitation over and settled it. - -I was slightly startled, and answered, "What good can I do, Don -Christoval?" - -"You are her countryman," said he; "your accent, that is far purer than -mine when I discourse in your tongue, may excite her attention. Nor, -perhaps, may it be wholly with her as I fear." - -"You do not wish to imply that she is shamming?" - -He gesticulated with a fury that I could not but think pretended. - -"No, no, poor girl! Shamming indeed! God defend me from conveying such -an idea. But will you descend, Captain Portlack, and see her?" - -"I owe the preservation of my life to you," said I, "and it is my -sincere desire to be of use to you in any honest direction. But how -shall I serve you by visiting madame, your wife?" - -Spiritless as his eyes were, the glance he shot at me as I pronounced -these words was as piercing as I had found his gaze when he inspected -me on my first being taken aboard his schooner. He slightly frowned, -wrenched at, rather than twirled his immense mustaches, beat softly -with his foot in manifest effort to control himself, then said abruptly: - -"Will you descend, Captain Portlack?" - -"With pleasure," said I, and I followed him below, leaving Butler, -whose watch would not expire till eight o'clock, in charge of the -vessel. - -Don Lazarillo was seated at the cabin table. I see him now supporting -his head on his elbow, his bearded chin buried in the palm of his hand, -and his finger-ends at his teeth as though he were gnawing upon his -nails. He was the most perfect figure of nervous perplexity that could -be imagined. He looked at me swiftly, but sternly and devouringly, -too, and addressed his friend in Spanish. - -"Pardon me," I exclaimed, before Don Christoval could reply, "You know, -gentlemen, I do not understand your tongue. This is a strange and sad -affair. It will reassure me if you converse in the only speech I am -acquainted with." - -Don Lazarillo shrugged his shoulders. - -"My friend was merely expressing satisfaction at your visit," said Don -Christoval, loftily, yet without hauteur. - -He turned to the door of the berth on the port or left-hand side of -the schooner, hesitated as though conquering an instant's irresolution -of mind, then turned the handle, motioning with his head that I should -enter. - -The berth was a small one. It was comfortably, almost handsomely, -furnished after the style of the cabin in which the Spaniards lived; -but I had no eyes just then for the equipment of the box of a place. -The morning sun shone full upon the port-hole, and the little room -was hardly less brilliant with luster than the cabin from which I -had stepped. In a low, crimson velvet arm-chair was seated the lady -I had been invited to visit. She sat in the posture that had been -theatrically represented to me by Don Christoval. Her hands were -locked upon her knees, as though she had been suddenly arrested in the -act of rocking herself in a fit of wild grief; her head was bowed, -and her eyes were rooted to the deck. I stood surveying her for some -moments, but she never stirred; she did not appear to breathe. I did -not witness the least movement of her eyes, whose lids were fixed as -though, indeed, she were a figure of wax. She was dressed, or wrapped -rather, in a ruby-colored dressing-gown belonging, as I might suppose -by the gay style of it, to one of the Spaniards. The collar of this -gown came to her throat. I was unable to see whether she was still -appareled in ball attire. Handsome diamond drops hung motionless in -her ears, and her hands, from which the gloves had been removed, -sparkled with rings. There were three or four rings upon the third -finger of her left hand, but I did not observe that one of them was a -wedding ring. Her hair, that was of a dark red and very abundant, was -in great disorder, but the remains of the wreath, which I had noticed -on her when she lay upon the sofa, had been removed. The posture of -her head left something of her face undisclosed; what I saw of it did -not impress me as beautiful. Her eyebrows were lighter than her hair, -almost sandy; her cheeks and brow were colorless as marble; yet her -profile as I now witnessed it was not without delicacy, and I might -suppose that when all was well with her she would show as a pretty -woman. She looked the age Don Christoval had mentioned--twenty-two. Her -stature I could not imagine, and the dressing-gown concealed her figure. - -Don Lazarillo approached in a tiptoe walk and stood in the doorway -staring at her. - -"My dear one," said Don Christoval, faintly smiling and infusing into -his accents a note of sweetness I had heard on more than one occasion -in his voice, "I have brought Captain Portlack to see you. He is the -captain of this schooner. He is your countryman--a true Englishman. -Raise your eyes, my dear one, that you may see him," and thus speaking, -with grace inexpressible, he bent his fine form over her and pressed -his lips to her forehead. - -Less of life could not have appeared in a statue. - -"Speak to her," said Don Christoval, turning to me. - -Behind us Don Lazarillo ejaculated in Spanish. - -"How shall I address her?" said I, looking at the tall Spaniard. - -He started, sent a glance of lightning rapidity at his friend, -reflected a moment, and then said, "Accost her as Miss Noble. By that -name she may remember herself. Ay, señor, call her Ida Noble." - -I bit my lip, and, planting myself by a step in front of the lady, bent -my knee till my face was on a level with hers. - -"Look at me, madame," said I. "I know you as Ida Noble. Look at me. I -am your countryman and your _friend_." - -I pronounced the word "friend" with the utmost emphasis I could -communicate to it. She raised her eyes without altering the posture of -her head. They were of a soft brown, and the richer for the contrast of -her hair. I never could have imagined such eyes under eyebrows of so -pale a yellow as hers. She looked at me during a few beats of the pulse -steadfastly, and then smiled, but there was no meaning in her smile or -in her regard. A moment after she bent her eyes down again, and began -to sing; but the air was without music; the words which left her lips -half articulated were without sense. - -"Valgame Dios!" cried Don Lazarillo. - -She ceased to sing and set her lips again, and continued to gaze at the -deck without any signs of life, as before. I rose to my stature, and, -after watching her a while, said to Don Christoval, "I can do no good." - -"You made her smile, Captain Portlack," said he, in a soft whisper. - -I shook my head, stepped to the door, and passed into the cabin. The -others followed, Don Christoval closing the door behind him. - -"I believe, with patience," said he, "that you could bring her mind -back to her." - -"I am no doctor, gentlemen," said I. "I know nothing about the -treatment of the insane." - -"What do 'ee say?" exclaimed Don Lazarillo. - -"What a calamity to befall me!" cried Don Christoval, clasping his -hands and upturning his face with a look of wretchedness that certainly -was not counterfeited. - -"Does she eat and drink?" said I. - -"A little, just a little," he answered. "I put food in a plate on her -knee and leave her, and when I return a little is gone." - -"Should she show no signs of mending, shall you persevere in this -voyage to Cuba, sir?" - -"Certainly," he replied passionately, with a gesture like a blow. - -I paused to hear if he had more to say. Finding him silent, I bowed -and went on deck. Butler stood at the rail abreast of the skylight. -Though his face habitually carried a sulky look, owing to the sour -expression into which the extremities of his mouth were curved, his was -a face to assure one on the whole that its owner was a good average -honest English sailor. I am not of those who believe that the character -is to be read in the face: but my own experience is, that I was never -yet deceived by a man to whom I had taken a liking because of his face. -Yet I admit that many honest souls, many excellent hearts, go through -the world with repellent countenances. Hence the unwisdom of judging by -the face. - -I stepped up to Butler, and looking him in the eyes I exclaimed, -"Butler, I believe we have been cheated into the commission of a -gallows act by the lies of those two Spaniards down below in the cabin." - -His intelligence was sluggish, and he looked at me with a gaze slow of -perception. - -"I have just seen the lady," said I. - -"Ha! and how is she a-doing, sir?" - -"She is mad--undoubtedly driven mad by the outrage that has been -perpetrated upon her and hers." - -"Tom was saying she was off her head, and why, 'cause he heard her -sing and laugh. Singing and laughing ain't no sign of madness. I asked -Mariana the question plain, and he says 'No' to it--'No,' in the -hearing of us all; but now you've seen her, sir, and she _is_ mad?" - -"She is utterly mad. Mad as from a broken heart. She sits like a -figure-head, without a stir." - -I paused. "She is no more Don Christoval's wife than I am," said I. - -"Are you sure of that?" he cried, sharply. - -"I have been almost sure of it for some time--I am quite sure of it -now." - -He looked as alarmed as a man with strong bushy whiskers and a skin -veneered with mahogany by the weather could well appear. "How have ye -made sure, Mr. Portlack?" - -"She has no wedding ring." - -He chewed upon this and then said: "But a wedding ring ben't no -infallible sign of marriage, is it, sir? I've heered my mother say that -she once lost her wedding ring and was always going to buy another, but -didn't, and for years she went without a wedding ring, though father -was alive most of the time, and a perticlar man, too." - -"If the lady below were a married woman she would wear a wedding ring," -said I. - -"Ay," said he, with a knowing look entering his eyes, "but suppose the -father had obliged the lady to take her wedding ring off? What more -natural, seeing how he was all agin the marriage?" - -To this I could return no other answer than a shake of the head. He -eyed me with a small air of triumph. - -"If there's nothing more to make ye doubt, Mr. Portlack," said he, -"than the want of a wedding ring on the lady's finger, I'm for allowing -that the Don's yarn's true." - -As I had nothing more than suspicion to oppose to his desire to believe -in the story, I contented myself with saying: "You will find that I -am right, nevertheless. I shall go and get some breakfast, and will -relieve you in ten or twelve minutes." - -I walked to the main-hatch, but he followed me. "Supposing it as you -say, sir," he inquired, "what 'ud be the consequences of the job to us -men?" - -"Transportation for life." - -He muttered something under his breath and then said, "And supposing -the lady to be his lawful wife, sir?" - -"I am no lawyer," I answered, and dropped through the hatch. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -A TRAGEDY. - - -I was prepared to find that Butler had carried my words forward. I -returned to the deck after breakfast, and the man trudged to the -forecastle, and not long afterward I observed the four seamen, the -fifth being at the helm, engaged in earnest conversation. They talked, -pipe in mouth, their hands deep buried in their capacious breeches -pockets, and sometimes they talked with their backs upon one another, -and sometimes they would pace the deck, passing one another, but always -talking, and frequently they directed their eyes aft, insomuch that I -expected every minute that the whole group would approach me and oblige -me to share in the discussion. - -My manner and my words when I had visited madame below had been -altogether too pronounced for so shrewd an intelligence as that of Don -Christoval to miss the true meaning of. In short, I had as good as -said that I did not consider the lady to be his wife; that she had been -abducted--ferociously and inhumanly stolen from her father's home, and -that we Englishmen who formed his crew had been betrayed into an act -of criminal villiany by his rascally lies. All this I was conscious -I had as good as said, because, meaning it, I had looked it, and, in -a sentence, I had suggested it. I therefore concluded that the two -Spaniards would talk this matter of my suspicions over, decide upon -some prompt course of action, and come to me on deck--but what to do -and what to say? Would Don Christoval _admit_ the adventure to be one -of abduction, pleading the necessity of representing himself as married -that he might obtain the assistance of English seamen, since it was -clear that he would not ship Spanish sailors for the expedition; or -would he approach me with threats, defying me to disprove his statement -that the lady below was his wife, and giving me to understand that if I -did not mind my own business----. - -My mind was rambling in speculations of this kind when I heard the -sound of a guitar and a voice singing. The skylight lay open; I heard -it as distinctly as though I were in the cabin. Don Lazarillo sat -smoking at the table, keeping time with his fingers, the rings upon -them sparkling as he tapped. It was not he who was playing the guitar -and singing; therefore it was Don Christoval. The sounds came from the -after-part of the interior, and I had no doubt whatever that madame's -door was open, and that Don Christoval was touching the strings and -lifting up his voice with some quite superstitious or quite rational -hope of exorcising the demon of madness out of the girl by the -bewitching music he was making. - -Bewitching it was. I listened, wholly fascinated by it. His voice -was a clear, sweet, most thrilling and lovely tenor, soft and yet -penetrating, and controlled, so far as I could possibly judge, by the -most exquisite art. Whether he had ever before produced his guitar I -can not say; certainly this was the first time I had heard the sound -of it. He sang several airs; one of them so haunted me that I remember -long afterward humming it over to a friend of mine who was a very good -musician in his way, and he instantly pronounced it a composition of -Mozart, giving it an Italian name which I have forgotten. I should -never have supposed that music possessed the magic claimed for it -until I heard that sweet, thrilling tenor voice, threaded by the tones -of the delicately-touched guitar. The songs in succession wrought -a fairy atmosphere for the senses. The schooner melted out--the -ocean vanished. I was transported to a land sweet with the aroma of -the orange grove, romantic with Moorish palaces, melodious with the -laughter of dancers and the merry rattle of the castanets. - -Bless me, thought I, as I paced the deck afresh when the singing was -ended, a man need not go to sea to visit distant countries when he may -travel farther than sail or steam can convey him by sitting at home and -listening to a tenor voice accompanied by a guitar. - -Half an hour later the two Spaniards made their appearance. I had -marked the hideous cook steal to the companion-way, and judged that he -was keeping watch. The two Dons, with lighted cigars in their mouths, -walked the deck arm-in-arm. Don Christoval seemed to notice that the -men forward were observing him with unusual attention. I assumed this -because I perceived that he suddenly put on an air of carelessness, of -ease, even of gayety, such as certainly was not visible in him when he -first showed himself. This air I further remarked was swiftly copied by -his companion, but on _him_ it sat with a horrible awkwardness. He had -neither the figure, the beauty, nor the skill to act as his friend did. - -Would Don Christoval challenge me for my suspicions? If so, I should be -honest with him; tell him in unmistakable English what my conviction -was; inform him that I would no longer share in the dastardly crime -into which he had betrayed his sailors; and insist that I should be -transshipped to the first vessel that passed, or that I should be -suffered to carry the schooner close enough to a coast, the nearest at -hand, to enable me to get ashore. It was likely enough that my full -mind showed in my face. A few times I caught him eyeing me askance, -but, beyond calling out some commonplace to me about the weather, the -progress of the schooner, and so forth, he said nothing. - -It was, however, clear to me that, let his thoughts be what they would, -he could say nothing. I was the only navigator aboard the vessel; he -was entirely at my mercy, therefore; he would rightly fear that any -menaces, any bullying, any tall-talk, must only result in causing me to -sullenly throw up my command; in which case the schooner would be but a -little less helpless than were she reduced to the condition of a sheer -hulk by a gale of wind. - -At noon I took an observation. Butler came aft to relieve me, and I -went to my quarters to work out my sights. When I had worked out my -sights and found out the position of the schooner on the chart, I -lighted a pipe and sat down to reflect. I was now so perfectly sure -that the unhappy young lady in the cabin had been kidnapped that my -thoughts were never for an instant influenced by the consideration that -there _might_ be a probability of the Spaniard's story proving true. -Everything pointed to this expedition as an adventure of abduction. -The sailors affirmed that the girl was bleeding and insensible when -carried through the hall past the room in which two of them with drawn -cutlasses were guarding her father and brother. This, then, signified -that she had been forcibly seized, and the state of her apparel and -the scratches upon her shoulder proved that there had been a struggle. -Would she have struggled had Don Christoval been her husband, to whom -she was yearning to be reunited? - -My blood felt hot in my veins when I thought upon this outrage; when I -reflected how I had been made a party to this deed of villainy; how I, -as an Englishman, had been courted by a cunning, clever lie to abet the -stealing of a countrywoman of my own from her father's home in England -by a brace, as I might take them, of unprincipled Spanish adventurers. - -Now, while I thus sat musing over my position, and considering what -course to shape to carry me clear of the dangerous association into -which misadventure had brought me, I was startled by a cry in the -adjacent cabin--a cry sharp, abrupt, terrible: affecting the ear as a -lightning flash affects the eye. The pipe I was about to raise to my -lips was arrested midway. I believe I am no coward, yet I must own that -that cry, that penetrating cry, seemed to thicken my blood, seemed to -stop the pulsation of my heart. - -But the pause with me was brief. I dashed down my pipe, sprang to the -bulk-head door and flung it open. And now what a picture did I see! The -tall, commanding figure of Don Christoval was in the act of sinking -to the deck; his hand was upon the table, but the fingers were slowly -slipping from the edge of it, and, even as I looked, the man without -a sound fell at his length and lay motionless. In the doorway of the -port or left-hand berth stood the lady whom I have heretofore styled -Madame, but whom I will henceforth call Ida Noble. She grasped a knife -in her hand--a long carving knife it seemed to me, and I remember -noticing a red gleam in it as the vessel rolled, slipping the sunshine -out of a mirror toward where the girl was. She stood erect, with her -eyes fixed upon the body of the Spaniard; she was as stirless as he; -the figures of them both at that instant might have passed as a brace -of posture-makers representing a tragedy in one of those drawing-room -performances called _tableaux vivants_. Behind a chair on the starboard -side of the table crouched the figure of Mariana. He squatted, and -his attitude was exactly that of a monkey. His face was green; his -wide-open eyes disclosed twice the usual surface of eyeball; his -features were convulsed with terror, and never yet was there an artist -whose imagination could have reached to the height of that fellow's -hideousness, as he crouched, stabbed also, as I then believed, though -this was not so. - -A mad woman grasping a long knife is a formidable object; much more -formidable is she when that knife is stained with blood, and when the -person she has slain is still in view, lying a corpse a little distance -away from her. On my showing myself, Mariana cried out, but whether -in Spanish or English I knew not. What was I to do? What would you do -were you suddenly confronted by a mad woman armed with a long knife? I -looked up at the skylight and saw the horror-stricken countenance of -Don Lazarillo peering down; but even as my eye went in a glance to -the Spaniard's livid face, one of the sailors, and then another of the -sailors, came to his side. Count twenty, and the time you will occupy -in doing so will comprise the period from the moment of my opening the -door to look out down to this instant. - -Next moment the girl threw the knife on the deck with a gesture of -abhorrence, courtesied with irony to the body of Don Christoval, and -closed the door of the berth upon herself. Then there was a rush. We -could all find our courage now. Mariana sprang from behind his chair, -overturning it; Don Lazarillo, followed by the two sailors, came in a -few bounds through the companion-hatch. I stepped to the side of Don -Christoval's body, and stood looking upon him. Stone dead I knew him -to be. In Calcutta during a cholera outbreak, and on board an emigrant -ship visited with fever, I had many a time stood beside the dying and -the dead, and the spectacle of death was very familiar to me. - -"Lock her door!" shrieked Don Lazarillo. - -One of the seamen picked up the knife and viewed it at arm's length. I -carefully turned the body over. - -"Ay, there it is," said I, pointing to a cut slightly stained with -blood in the Spaniard's waistcoat. The wound was in the left ribs, -and one had but to glance at the knife to cease to wonder that the man -should have dropped dead. - -"Lock the door!" again shrieked Don Lazarillo in his broken English, -looking from the body of his friend to the door, and from the door -to the body of his friend, and recoiling, and shrinking and hugging -himself, and so munching his lips that one watched to see froth upon -them--doing all this as he looked. - -Mariana repeatedly crossed himself, uttering all sorts of Spanish -ejaculations in a voice like the subdued low of a calf. - -"Is he dead, sir?" asked one of the sailors. - -"He can never be more dead," said I, stooping to look into the face of -the body. "They drove her mad, and this is how she requites them. A -cruel, bloody business, my lads. Fling that knife overboard." - -The fellow launched it javelin-fashion through an open port-hole. Don -Lazarillo began to scream out in Spanish. His meaning might have some -reference to securing the lady; I do not know. - -"Silence!" I roared. "Do you want to be the next victim?" and in my -wrath I made an infuriate gesture as of stabbing; on which, with one -wild look at me, he fled up the companion steps and remained above, -viewing us through the skylight. - -Butler and another seaman, both very pale, and fetching their breath -quickly, entered the cabin and looked at the body. - -"Here's a murdering job to happen!" said Scott. - -"Who's done this?" cried Butler, who had been somewhere forward when -Don Christoval's wild death-shriek had sounded. - -Mariana, with a paralytic gesture, pointed to Miss Noble's berth. - -"Who's done it?" repeated Butler, in a voice strong and hoarse with -horror. - -"The girl whom these Spaniards have driven mad," said I. I turned to -Mariana. "Did you see Don Christoval stabbed?" - -"Ah, Dios! yes," he answered; and in language which is to be as little -conveyed as his voice, or the expressions which chased his face, which -at every instant gave a new character to his ugliness, he contrived to -make us understand this: that Don Christoval had entered the lady's -room, where he, Mariana, heard him address her soothingly; that the -door was suddenly flung open, and that, at the same moment, even as the -Spaniard stood on the threshold, the girl buried the knife in his side. - -"How did she come by the knife?" cried Butler. - -Mariana, trembling violently, with his eyes fixed upon the door of -Miss Noble's berth, as though at every moment he expected to behold it -thrown open, made us understand that the negro boy, some time during -the morning, had left a basket of the cabin cutlery upon the table, -and that the girl must have looked out and possessed herself of a -knife at some moment when the two Spaniards were on deck, and when -he--Mariana--had quitted his post of sentry to enter Don Christoval's -berth. This was conjecture on the fellow's part, but beyond doubt it -was accurate. - -Don Lazarillo continued to gaze at us through the skylight with an -expression as of a horrible sneer upon his face. I again stooped -over the form of Don Christoval, felt his pulse, and examined his -half-closed, fast-glazing eyes, then bade a couple of the seamen pick -the body up and convey it to the cabin the Spaniard had occupied. While -this was doing, I grasped the handle of the door of Miss Noble's room. - -"Mind!" shrieked Don Lazarillo from above. Mariana ran on deck. I felt -the idleness of announcing myself by knocking. More knives than one it -was possible she might have concealed; I therefore at first held the -door but a little way open and looked in. - -The girl was standing beside the bunk or sleeping-shelf; her elbows -were upon the edge of it, her cheeks in her hands, and she stood -motionlessly gazing, as I might suppose, through the port-hole. She was -robed as in the morning; that is to say, in a crimson dressing-gown, -which, in that era of short skirts, clothed her to her heels. She was -but a little above the average stature of woman, though she had looked -far taller than she really was when she stood in the doorway grasping -the knife, with her eyes upon the dead Spaniard. - -Finding her unarmed, I entered, carefully sweeping the room as I did so -with my eyes for any signs of a knife or other weapon. The four seamen -stood in the doorway, and she did not turn her head. I approached her, -keeping a distance of some two or three feet between us, and prepared, -poor lady! for any act of violence. Still she continued to stare -through the port-hole. - -"Miss Noble," said I, "you smiled at me this morning. Look at me now. -You will remember me as your friend." - -She turned her head slowly; not more mechanical could have been that -extraordinary movement had clock-work produced it. When her soft brown -eyes--in which assuredly I witnessed nothing of that sparkle or fire of -madness which is said to burn in the vision of the insane--were upon -me, she frowned and bit her under lip, exposing her small white front -teeth. I believed from her expression that she was struggling with -her memory. She then suddenly turned fully round, as though sensible -of being watched from the door, and the sailors, to the wild look she -gave them, stirred and fell back with uneasy shuffling motions of their -feet. She stared at them for a while, and afterward at me, preserving -her frown, and holding her lip under her teeth; she was deadly white, -but spite of her frown, which you would have thought must give an -expression of disdain or anger or contempt to her brow, her face was -meaningless. She eyed me fixedly for some moments, then, with the -former slow motion of her head, resumed her first posture. I stepped to -the door. - -"What is to be done?" said I. - -"It's a cruel business. The Spaniard's been rightly sarved out," -exclaimed one of the sailors. - -"What is to be done?" I repeated; for here, to be sure, was a -condition of ocean life that had never before been encountered by my -experience. - -The men gazed at the girl in silence. I mused, and presently said, -"One of you keep this door; the rest of us must turn to and search the -cabin, to make sure there is nothing in it with which she can hurt -herself." - -There were four of us, and there being little to examine, we had soon -satisfied ourselves that there was no weapon anywhere hidden. She took -not the least notice of us; but when I explored her sleeping-berth, -upon whose edge, as I have told you, her elbows reposed, she fell -back a step or two, and then, going to the arm-chair, seated herself, -clasping her knees and rooting her eyes to the deck. - -"Will she have a knife about her?" said Butler, in a hoarse whisper. - -I thoroughly considered this, and, after a narrow scrutiny of her, -decided that she had not concealed a knife upon her, and I was the -more willing to believe so because I had not the heart--I will not say -the courage--to search her. It shocked me to think of offering any -violence to the poor girl, and violence I knew it must come to--she -would resist, a struggle would increase her madness--if I laid my -hands upon her. But I was certain she had not concealed a knife. The -dressing-gown she wore was without a pocket. The sleeves were loose, -and while she stood at the bunk I had noticed that her arms, whose -wrists were still clasped by bracelets, were bare, whence I concluded -that the dressing-gown concealed the ball attire she had been brought -aboard in. So I decided that she had not secreted a weapon, because, -recollecting her attire as she lay upon the sofa in the cabin after she -had been brought to the schooner, I could not conceive that it offered -any points for the concealment of a knife. - -I closed the door upon her, and we stood outside consulting. Our -debate determined us to this: that while she continued in this passive -condition she was to be left as she was; that for the present the five -seamen would take it turn and turn about to watch that she did not quit -her room; that she was to be fed as heretofore, that is to say, food -and wine were to be placed before her, of which she would partake if -she chose, for no man could compel her to eat. Then, no longer choosing -that the helmsman should remain alone on deck--for Don Lazarillo, -Mariana, and the negro boy counted for nothing--I went to the companion -steps and was followed by Butler and two others. - -Don Lazarillo and Mariana stood a little way forward of the skylight. -They conversed, and their gestures expressed unbounded horror and -dismay. On our appearing, they fell silent and watched us. Some -distance beyond them was the figure of the negro boy. There was nothing -in sight. The white canvas soared round and brilliant, and the rigging -was vocal with the gushing of the blue breeze. Astern of us ran an -arrowy wake of foam, and off the weather bow rose a steady sound of -seething, like to the noise made by the boiling foot of a cataract -heard afar. - -I took up a position near the tiller, that was in the grasp of the -seaman Tubb, and the sailors stood near me. - -"What's happened below?" said Tubb. - -"The tall Spaniard's been stabbed dead by the mad lady," answered South. - -Tubb delivered himself of a long whistle, following it on by an -agitated swing of the tiller that hove the schooner to the wind two -points before he could recover her. - -"And now what is to be done?" said I. "You see the pass we've been -brought into. Two men dead of the adventure, and the rest of us guilty -of a deed that must earn us transportation for life should the law get -hold of us. What's to be done, I say? Is this voyage to Cuba to be -prosecuted? Our duty is--and let me tell you our policy is--to make all -the restitution that is possible, and that we can alone do by conveying -the poor lady home." - -"I ain't going home," cried Butler in a voice of obstinacy, smiting his -thigh. - -Don Lazarillo and Mariana crept, or sneaked rather, by a pace nearer to -us and stood listening. - -"And _I_ ain't going home," said Tubb, fetching the head of the tiller -a whack. "You talk of transportation for life, Mr. Portlack; d'ye want -it to happen, sir?" - -"No," I answered; "but I wish to do what is right, and to make it as -right as right can be by doing it quickly. The lady must be restored to -her friends." - -"No offense, Mr. Portlack," said Scott, "but we aren't to forget that -you're on the right side of the hedge. You wasn't in the melhee; we -was. Your going home can't sinnify; ourn means lagging for all hands." - -The two Spaniards sneaked a little closer. - -"I wish to suggest nothing likely to imperil you," said I. "Though -I was never willingly of you--you don't want me to tell you how it -happens that I'm here; yet being of you, you'll find me with you, -content to share in all that may befall you. As to my being on the -right side of the hedge," cried I, rounding upon Scott, "that's but a -notion of yours. The lawyers may think very much otherwise. But I say -this, that since these two Spaniards have decoyed our heads into a -noose, the only way to avoid being strangled is to whip our heads out -again; and d'ye ask how that's to be done? My answer is, Do what is -right. Act so that you'll be able to say, should you come to be charged -as helpers in this crime of abduction: We believed the lady to be the -Spaniard's wife; we were told that a man had a right to his own, and -we were willing to help him to his own, but the moment we found we had -been deceived we turned to like honest men, to make all the amends in -our power by restoring the poor lady to her friends. _That_ is what's -in my head, and it is the advice I give you, and wish you to act upon -for my sake and for yours." - -South looked thoughtfully at Butler; but Butler, with an angry -countenance, vengefully smiting his thigh again with his clinched -fist, cried out, "There's to be no going home with me. There's to be -no taking the chance of the law with me. There's to be no risking -even a week o' jail with me. Ye may call it Cuba, or ye may call it -Madagascar, but let no man speak of the United Kingdom. I've got my -liberty, and I'm for keeping of it. 'Sides," he whipped out, "who's -going to pay me my money, now the Spaniard as hired us is dead and -gone?" - -The eyes of the men at this were at once bent upon Don Lazarillo. - -"Sooner than go home I'd start away in that there boat," said Scott, -pointing to the cutter on the main deck, "and take my chance of making -the land or being picked up. I once had a fortnight of quod for -refusing to sail after joining. That was enough for me. No more, thank -ye." He stepped to the rail and violently expectorated. - -"Who's going to pay us?" said Trapp. "If t'others are of my mind, -there'll be no leaving this schooner till we've received every farden -of our money. We've earnt it, by----!" he added, hitting the tiller -head another thump. - -"Mr. Portlack," said Butler, gazing at me gloomily and mutinously, "you -still talk as if you was cocksure that the lady wasn't the tall gent's -wife." - -I paused while I gazed at him, then, with vehement strides, walked up -to Don Lazarillo. - -"You and your dead friend," I cried, staring into the shrinking and -working face of the man, "have cheated me and the men here by your lies -into the commission of a crime. You know," I thundered, determined -to terrorize him into a confession of the truth, "that the poor lady -below, whom you have driven mad, was not Don Christoval's wife. Dare to -tell me she was, you villain, and I'll fling you overboard!" - -"What ees it you say?" he cried, with his swarthy face of the color of -pepper with fear. - -"_You_ understand me!" I shouted, addressing Mariana. "You have been in -the secret, too, from the beginning. Own it, you dog, own it, or I'll -throttle you." - -I raised my hand; the ugly creature delivered a singular cry and -dropped on his knees. - -"Señor Portlack," he whined, "spare my life, for the blessed Virgin's -sake, and if I do not tell you the truth may Satan catch my soul -now and carry it away to eternal torment. The señorita was not the -cavalier's wife. The caballero's story was true in all but that part. -She was the lady of his love, but not his wife. If I'm not speaking the -truth, may my soul be tormented for ever and ever." Saying which he -crossed himself and stood up. - -The obligation of feigning wrath alone preserved me from bursting into -a laugh at the sight of his hideous face convulsed with fear. - -"Explain to Don Lazarillo," cried I, sternly, "what you have told me." - -He did so. Don Lazarillo watched him with sparkling eyes and ashen -cheek, and on his ceasing made as if he would strike him. - -"Will you deny that Mariana speaks the truth?" I exclaimed. - -The Spaniard shot at me a look of mingled malice, hate, and fright, -then, with a shrug of the shoulders that convulsed his figure, he -turned his back, and, with clasped hands, stood viewing the ocean over -the rail. - -"Now, men," said I, addressing Butler and the others, "you have heard -the truth for yourselves, and you may read it also in that Spanish -gentleman's behavior. Isn't it abominable that we Englishmen, or let -me say that _you_ Englishmen, should have been tricked by the lies of -a brace of foreigners into helping them to steal a poor young lady of -your own country from her father's home? For what purpose was this -done? There was little enough love in it, I'll swear. She is no doubt -an heiress, and the Don that lies dead below hoped, by stealing her, -to steal her fortune also; and you may take it that yonder gentleman," -I continued, pointing at Don Lazarillo, "entered upon this inhuman -undertaking as a speculation. That's my notion, and if he understands -what I'm saying, he knows that I've hit the truth. He was to share in -the plunder, on condition of his finding money enough to equip this -expedition." - -My eyes rested upon Mariana as I spoke; the ugly rascal, to whom -my words seemed perfectly intelligible, let his head sink, in an -affirmative gesture. The wretch, in fact, was horribly frightened, -feared for his life, in short, and by the looks of him I might not only -know that he was willing to tell all, but to tell more than all, to -appease my wrath, which I must own was largely simulated. - -Butler stepped up to Don Lazarillo, whose back was still upon us, and -touched the man's elbow with his forefinger. - -"Here," said he, "what about my money?" - -Don Lazarillo appeared deaf, and continued to stare over the rail. -Butler thrust at his elbow again with his long forefinger. - -"I am asking," he said, "about my money. Who's a-going to pay me?" - -The other seamen now drew close to the Spaniard, who stood as though -deaf. Mariana rapidly and hoarsely uttered a sentence or two in -Spanish, probably a translation of Butler's words. Don Lazarillo then -whipped round; his eyes glowed like live coals, but his ashy pallor was -more defined than before. On finding himself confronted by the three -sailors, he placed himself in the posture of a man at bay with a sword -in his hand, only, happily, he was without a sword. - -"What do you want?" he cried. - -"Who's a-going to pay us?" shouted Butler, unnecessarily exerting his -lungs, as the custom is with us English when we address foreigners, -whose incapacity to understand seems to suggest deafness to our insular -minds. - -Don Lazarillo, looking toward me, exclaimed, "I speak about dat wiz ze -Capitan Portlack." - -"Ay," cried Scott, "but if you can talk to him, you can talk to us. -It's we that's consarned. It's us as wants to know who's a-going to -pay us. You've brought us into a blooming mess with your lies, and the -five of us men, as Captain Dopping shipped at Cadiz, stands for to be -transported if so be as our law catches hold of us, and all along of -you and him as lays below. If you can talk to Mr. Portlack, you can -talk to us." - -"What you weesh me say?" cried the miserable Spaniard, extending his -arms, and casting a look of entreaty at me. - -"Who's a-going to pay us men?" vociferated Butler, striking the palm of -his left hand with a leg-of-mutton fist. The men stood so close to Don -Lazarillo that he was forced to dodge his head here and there to catch -a sight of Mariana, to whom he cried out something in his native tongue. - -"Señor Portlack," said the cook, in a cringing attitude, "Don Lazarillo -beg me say he will speak wid you. I will translate." - -"Let it be so, men," I exclaimed; "you'll do no good by shouting -questions to a man who doesn't understand you." - -They drew away sulkily. Don Lazarillo pulled off his hat to pass a -large colored silk handkerchief over his forehead. He then stepped up -to me. The cook posted himself close to him, and the sailors, with whom -now was the negro boy, took up a station within easy earshot. Mariana -translating, the dialogue took this form:-- - -"The men wish to know who is to pay them their wages?" - -"Don Christoval is now dead," answered the Spaniard. "This adventure -therefore terminates!" - -"How?--terminates?" I cried. "We are still upon the high seas. We have -still the young lady with us to restore to those from whom you and your -friend stole her. No, no, this adventure has not yet terminated!" - -"What do you mean to do?" he asked. - -"That is no answer to my question. Who will pay those men for the work -they have done, the risks they have run, and have yet to run?" - -He put his hand to his brow, and, after a pause, said, "I must think." - -The sailors fell a-shouting exclamations. The chorus was swelled by the -voices of the man at the helm, and by the fellow below, who had got -upon the cabin table, and stood with his head in the open skylight, -listening. - -"Silence!" I cried; "how am I to transact your business if you -interrupt me? The men," I continued, addressing the Spaniard, "look -to you for payment. They will not lose sight of you until you pay -them. Have you money with you, or the equivalent of money?" I added, -fixing my eyes upon his rings and brooch; "for _I_ must be paid, Don -Lazarillo, and _they_ must be paid." - -"I will answer. I will be honorable. I will give my word; and the -word of a Spanish gentlemen is gold." A growl proceeded from the -seamen. "But first, as a matter of courtesy, to help my mind in its -blindness--for the death of my friend has caused my brains to spin -round in my head--I entreat you, señor, to tell me what are your -intentions?" - -"To restore the young lady to her friends." - -"What!" he cried, shouting the words with a face of horror to Mariana; -"you will proceed to England?" - -I responded with a vehement nod. - -"Then vot sall become of me?" he exclaimed in English. - -I shrugged my shoulders. He folded his arms tightly upon his breast, -and, with bowed head, fell to measuring a few feet of the deck. We all -watched him in silence while he thus walked. Suddenly he stopped, and, -turning upon Mariana, addressed him volubly and with amazing energy, -making a very windmill of his arms. I knew that he was saying a great -deal more than Mariana could translate, more, indeed, to judge from the -expression that entered the cook's face, than the repulsive-looking -creature would choose to translate. Nevertheless, I waited in patience, -making a single gesture of command to the sailors to be still. - -Mariana then spoke; the substance of his speech was this: Don Lazarillo -asked for a few hours. He desired to look over the effects of his dead -friend; he desired time to mature a proposal which he hoped to make -to me. This was substantially all that Mariana translated. Yet, owing -to his slow delivery and to his broken-winded English, the matter he -delivered appeared to contain much more than was in it. I had no doubt, -however, that Don Lazarillo in his speech had acquainted the fellow -with some half-formed scheme in his mind, as good for Mariana perhaps -as for himself. - -I told the cook to inform the Don that we would give him until six -o'clock that evening, and that if he was not ready with his proposals -by that hour, I should shift the schooner's helm for England, where, -on my arrival, it would be my duty to deliver him and Mariana into the -hands of justice. The cook, in translating this, was almost as ashen in -color as the other. - -Don Lazarillo descended into the cabin. Butler came up to me. - -"You're merely frightening the man, I hope, sir," said he, "with this -here talk of sailing to England?" - -"Let's settle with him first," I answered, "and then I'll call a -council of the crew. Meanwhile it is senseless to keep the schooner -under all this canvas. Let us shorten sail and lay her with her head to -the east until we hear what Don Lazarillo has to say for himself." - -He looked doubtfully round the sea, then consented. So we reduced the -schooner down to what is termed a scandalized mainsail and a jib, -and all that afternoon she lay under that canvas, blowing along very -quietly eastward. - -Some time about four o'clock I went below and asked Trapp, who was -still on watch in the cabin, if all had been quiet in the lady's cabin. - -"Ne'er so much noise as a mouse would have made, sir," said he. - -I lightly tapped on the young lady's door, and without waiting for -a response, which I knew I should not obtain, I turned the handle -and looked in. The girl was seated in her chair, but her head lay -back upon the cushioned round of it. Her eyes were sealed, and her -lips apart. I looked at her, scarcely knowing whether she was alive -or dead; but presently observing that her bosom rose and fell, I -went to her side, put my ear to her mouth, and heard her breathing -regularly and peacefully. I stood a while looking at her, my heart -full of pity. I peered closely at her fingers: her rings were rich and -beautiful--diamonds and rubies of great value; but I might make sure -now there was no wedding-ring buried among the three or four which -armored the finger the ring would have been on. One little foot showed, -and I perceived that she was shod with white satin. There was something -to shock me in the ironic contrast created by the sight of that satin -shoe--the contrast between the grim and tragic reality that was now -hers and the festal vision of the ball-room, with its swimming figures, -the bright music of the dance, the gleam of fans, the scent of flowers. - -I was happy to discover that she was able to sleep. It seemed to my -plain mind a good sign, for I had often been told that sleeplessness -was one of the horrible conditions of insanity; that not to be able -to sleep drove men mad; and that when they were mad still they were -sleepless. Strange as it will seem, I could not, I did not, associate -any horror of assassination with that restful figure. I had seen her -standing at the door, and had marked the red gleam upon the knife she -held; I had seen the tall and handsome Spaniard in the act of falling, -then tumbling his whole length and expiring. Yet I could gaze at this -poor girl without the least emotion of aversion, without the least -sense of that sort of horrid unaccountable fascination with which -red-handed crime constrains the gaze of the spectator. - -This was not, I think, because I knew she was mad, and, being mad, -irresponsible, and, being irresponsible, virtually guiltless. No; it -was because of a singular atmosphere of purity and sweetness about -her as she now lay sleeping. Beautiful she was not. Indeed, she was -not even what might be called pretty; but now that she slept the -demon within her slept also. What was native in her showed in her -countenance. You witnessed it in this slumber of madness as you would -have beheld it in her waking hours of sanity. I stood viewing her and I -thought to myself she is a refined lady, pure, gentle, and good. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -DON LAZARILLO LEAVES US. - - -I went out, closing the door behind me, and called to Butler through -the skylight to send the negro boy to me. The lad arrived, and I bade -him prepare a tray of refreshments for Miss Noble. - -"How does the poor lady do, sir?" said Trapp, who sat in a chair -looking on while I got upon the table and called. - -"She is sound asleep," said I. "So much the better. You can go forward -and get your supper. I'll keep a look-out here for the present." - -He went away, and presently the boy Tom arrived with the tray, on which -he had heaped some cold ham, fruit, jelly from a bottle, and so forth. -I poured some wine into a tumbler, and softly entering the lady's berth -placed the tray beside her on the deck, where, should the schooner -begin to frisk, it would slide without capsizing. I supposed that all -this while Don Lazarillo was in his own cabin gnawing, as his trick -was, upon his finger-ends while he reflected upon the proposals he was -presently to submit. My thoughts went from him to his dead friend, and -I stepped to the berth where the body lay to look at it. - -On opening the door I beheld Don Lazarillo on his knees at the side -of the bunk in which reposed the body of Don Christoval. His hands -were clasped, his eyes were upturned, and, though his accents were -inaudible outside the door, he prayed with so much fervor as to be for -some moments insensible of my presence. Then bringing his flashing eyes -from the upper deck he directed them at me, made the sign of the cross -upon his breast, rose to his feet, made the sign of the cross upon the -face of the dead body, on whose breast he had laid a crucifix, and then -looked at me. - -I went to the side of the bunk and stood for a few moments gazing at -the pale, still, serene, most handsome face of the dead. - -"When ees he to bury?" said Don Lazarillo. - -"To-night," said I. - -"He is Catolique," he exclaimed. - -"We shall have to cast him into the sea without ceremony, I fear," said -I, "unless you will say some prayers over him." - -He seemed to understand me, for he nodded eagerly, and then, as if to -an afterthought, made me a very low, humble bow of thanks. Pointing to -my fingers, then to the chain of my watch, and then to the body of the -Spaniard, I said, "Will you see to his property?" - -He pulled open a drawer and motioned me to observe some objects wrapped -in a silk pocket-handkerchief. On this I looked again at the body, -and now saw that the one or two rings and other jewelry which Don -Christoval had worn were removed. I walked out of the berth, leaving -Don Lazarillo to proceed with his prayers, earnestly hoping, however, -that he would be ready with his proposals by six o'clock, and that they -would be practicable and consistent with my own wishes; because if he -made no sign I should be at a loss, since it was certain that the crew -would not suffer me to execute my threat to carry him to England while -they remained on board; and how to deal with _them_ was a problem I -should not very well be able to solve until I had dealt with _him_. - -I told Tom to procure me a cup of chocolate from Mariana. I then took -a cigar from a locker in which were many boxes of cigars, and, seating -myself in an arm-chair, smoked and ruminated on the tragic incidents -of the day. Shortly before six I peeped into Miss Noble's room. She -still slept soundly, exactly in the posture in which I had left her. -This I did not think wonderful, since, for all I knew, she might not -have slept a wink while she had been aboard the schooner, and nature, -utterly exhausted, had claimed at last the heavy arrears owing to her. -I listened: her breathing was perfectly placid; her bosom rose and -fell gently and regularly. I touched her hand and found it warm. The -refreshments were upon the deck untouched, as I had placed them. - -As I closed the door upon the sleeping girl, Don Lazarillo emerged from -the cabin in which his friend's remains lay. There was a scowl upon -his face that darkened his cheeks like a deeper dye of complexion. I -watched him out of the corners of my eyes, saying to myself, "This man -is a Spaniard; I have used strong words to him; he would think nothing -of serving me as Miss Noble served his friend." He drew a paper cigar -from a pocket case, lighted it, and sat down, pointing to the little -clock in the skylight as he did so, as though he would say, "You see I -am punctual." And, in truth, it was exactly six o'clock. - -He broke the silence by making me understand that he wished for -Mariana. The sailors were assembled at the skylight gazing down -impatiently, and I bade one of them tell the cook to lay aft, and for -Butler and two others to join us below. - -"But come quietly," said I, "and make no noise when you're here, -for Miss Noble is asleep. One of you must remain on deck to keep a -look-out." - -This fell to George South, and Andrew Trapp was at the helm. Butler, -Scott, and Tubb came below, and they were hastily followed by Mariana. -The conversation (as translated by the cook, though it is needless, -perhaps, to say that my version is somewhat more intelligible than the -original as it appeared in Mariana's speech) proceeded thus: - -"Well, Don Lazarillo," said I, "you have had plenty of time to -consider. What now do you wish to say?" - -"La Casandra is my property," he replied; "she is owned by me, and I -placed her at the disposal of Don Christoval del Padron. You talk of -carrying her to England. I do not wish that she should go to England." - -"It is my business to restore the young lady to her friends," said I; -"and since this schooner carried her off from them, most assuredly she -will have to carry her back to them." - -"But what is to become of my schooner when you have her in England?" - -"I do not know, and I do not care," said I. "Stop! I will tell you -this: I shall hand her over to the shipping authorities at the port at -which we arrive. I will name you as her owner. You can claim her, if -you will, but I shall be compelled to tell the story of this adventure, -and to explain the part you took in it." - -"What's all this got to do with paying of us?" growled Butler. - -Don Lazarillo sat scowling at me. - -"You are quite at liberty," I continued, "to remain on board your -own schooner; but in that case you return with us to England, where -certainly my immediate duty will be to inform against you." - -He snarled a malediction. - -"What about our money? Ask him that," cried Scott to Mariana. - -"I will send you and the lady," said Don Lazarillo, "to the first -passing ship that is proceeding to England, and these sailors will -continue the voyage with me to Cuba." - -"Who's going to navigate the vessel?" said Tubb. - -"A passing ship will help us to a lieutenant," answered Don Lazarillo. - -"Where's the passing ship to come from?" sneered Butler. "Who's a-going -to wait for her? And d'ye think us men 'ud be content to mess about in -this blooming schooner, may be for weeks, not knowing where we are and -not knowing how to head? Ask the gent who's a-going to pay us, cook? -That's what we're assembled for to hear." - -"Besides," said I, "I should not dream of transferring Miss Noble to -another vessel in her present condition." - -I spied Don Lazarillo and Mariana exchanging a look. Indeed, I already -more than suspected that these proposals of the Spaniards so far were -no more than a "try on," to use a cant term; that he held another -card in his hand ready to play should he be forced to do so, but -that, meanwhile, his business was to make the best terms he could for -himself. This conjecture was confirmed by the next speech of his that -Mariana translated: - -"Then what remains but for me to be transshipped to a passing -vessel--Mariana and me?" - -"That is reasonable. That shall be done," said I. "It is what I myself -should have proposed." - -"_Contento!_" said Don Lazarillo, and was silent. - -"What about our money?" said Butler. - -The Spaniard looked round him on Mariana rendering this, then said, "I -will give drafts upon my bank at Madrid." - -Butler, who was clearly the sea lawyer of this little community, -fastening his eyes upon the rings on Don Lazarillo's fingers, shook his -head with a contemptuous snort of laughter. "No, no," cried he, "I know -what drafts be. A draft's a check, and a check's a bit of paper as may -be made not worth the ink it's wrote upon with by the party withdrawing -of his money from the bank. No, no," he continued, shaking his head -somewhat savagely at Don Lazarillo, "we want money, not paper, and if -ye can't pay us in money, then ye've got to settle with us in what is -next best to it." And here he looked significantly at the Don's rings -again. - -"You may tell Don Lazarillo," said I to Mariana, "that we shall not -be satisfied with his drafts, nor with anything short of the cash he -may have about him; and what he may lack in cash he must make good in -jewelry, of which he and his dead friend have plenty between them." - -When this was interpreted, an expression like a spasm passed over -Don Lazarillo's face. He reflected, then, with a passionate gesture, -whipped out a pocket-book, from which he abstracted a handsome gold -pencil-case, and all very passionately, with knitted brows and -muttering lips, he entered certain figures, then shrieked rather than -pronounced the amount to the cook, naming it in Spanish currency. -Mariana nodded. Don Lazarillo now addressed him with excitement, -then, springing to his feet, he entered Don Christoval's room, from -which, in a few minutes, he returned bearing with him a bag of yellow -leather, and the silk pocket-handkerchief which, as he had given me to -understand, contained his deceased friend's jewelry. He opened the bag -with trembling fingers, and then, with glowing eyes, he capsized the -contents on to the table. This consisted of English sovereigns--two or -three hundred, I should have imagined. - -"Count," shrieked the Spaniard, "and divide." - -I counted, and made the sum exactly a hundred and fifty pounds. - -"Divide," yelled Don Lazarillo, and he added some terms in Spanish -which Mariana did not think proper to interpret. The cook's eyes -gleamed like the blade of a new poniard as he looked at the money. I -told thirty pounds for each man; for this, it seems, was the wages -agreed upon for the run. Don Lazarillo then thrust the little parcel of -jewelry which had belonged to his friend across to me. - -"Dat veel pay you, I hope, Capitan Portlack," he exclaimed, hooking -his thumbs in the arms of his waistcoat, and leaning back with an -assumption of haughtiness and contempt, which fitted him as ill as the -clothes of Don Christoval would. - -I opened the handkerchief, and found a handsome gold watch and chain -and a very fine diamond ring. I gave Don Lazarillo a nod, and without -speech put these articles into my pockets. The value of this jewelry -to purchase it would probably have amounted to three or four times the -sum I was to receive; but then I estimated the things at their selling -price, which probably might not reach to fifty guineas, so that in -pocketing them I was taking no more than was my due. - -"You are now all satisfied, I hope," exclaimed Don Lazarillo, through -Mariana. Yes, we were all satisfied. "And you put Mariana and me and my -effects on board the first passing ship that will receive us?" - -"Yes," said I. - -"But suppose that she is sailing to Australia or to India?" - -"I shall not be able to help that," said I. "You may stay in this -schooner if you please, but Miss Noble must be conveyed home." - -He rose from his seat frowning, viciously bit off the end of a cigar, -lighted it, and went on deck, followed by the cook. - -"Well, your minds are easy now, I hope, my lads?" said I, rising. - -"We're obliged to ye, Mr. Portlack," answered Butler. "You've managed -first-rate for us. And now, d'ye know, sir, while I've been sitting at -this table an idea's come into my head." - -"What is that idea?" - -"It consarns our leaving the schooner, sir." - -"Let me hear it." - -"There's that big boat amidships," said he. "We shipped at Cadiz, and -it was known at Cadiz that this here Casandra sailed from that port on -such and such a day. Now my idea is: suppose you run in for the Spanish -land until you've got Cadiz within, say, half-a-day's sail. Us men will -then launch the cutter and start away for the port, you giving us its -bearings. We must turn to and invent a yarn and represent this schooner -as having foundered, the rest of the people who got away in the small -boat being lost sight of by us. There are plenty of vessels at Cadiz, -and they're always in want of hands. We can ship as smartly as we -choose, get away, and then there'll be an end." - -I reflected, and said, "I think your scheme excellent, and Cadiz, -though still somewhat south, is, in my opinion, as good as any other -port. Only, when you are gone and the two Spaniards transshipped, I -shall be alone in this schooner." - -"There'll be Tom, sir," said Tubb. - -I smiled. - -"If you're to return to England, Mr. Portlack," said Butler, -pronouncing his words with great emphasis, "in this here schooner, and -we're to leave you, which must be, for ne'er a man of us must dream of -going home for a long spell to come arter such a job as this, then what -I say is, there's no help for it. Alone ye'll have to be until such -times as a passing vessel 'ull loan ye a man or two to help you home." - -"Your scheme requires reflection," said I. "Give me time to think over -it. And now, since you're below, you may as well turn to and get that -body yonder ready for the last toss. We'll drop it over the side at -eight bells." - -I walked to Miss Noble's cabin and looked in. She was still asleep, -preserving absolutely her former posture. I beckoned to Butler, who was -at that instant stepping from Don Christoval's berth. He approached, -and I said, "See there," pointing to the lady. "She has been sleeping -like that pretty nearly ever since we left the berth after searching -it." - -"Is she sleeping?" said he. - -"Yes," said I, "but there is something unnatural in such slumber as -this. She has not stirred a finger for some hours." - -"She seems breathing all right, and appears comfortable enough, sir," -said he, after silently surveying her. - -"She does not look comfortable. I wish to see her in her bunk. Let us -gently lift her into it. If she wakens she may prove to have her mind. -Observe her face; there is no madness in that placid expression." - -We were both strong men, and, bending over her we grasped, swiftly -raised, and laid her at her length in the bunk. She never moved. It was -indeed like lifting a statue; just as we placed her so did she continue -to lie, breathing quietly with an expression upon her lips that was -almost a smile. - -"Well," hoarsely whispered Butler, "blowed if I could ha' believed in -such a thing had I been told it. She may be a-dying." - -"I hope not," said I; "one would wish to right the enormous wrong that -has been done her before she dies." - -We stood in the doorway a few minutes looking at her, talking in -whispers of the assassination of the Spaniard, and of other matters -growing out of that tragic subject, such as the part that Don Lazarillo -was playing in this extraordinary enterprise, the probability of the -girl having lost her reason for life, and so forth, during which the -young lady lay as motionless as though she rested in her coffin. Butler -then left the cabin to obtain materials for stitching up the body in, -and I went on deck. - -We buried the remains of Don Christoval at eight bells that evening, -that is, at eight o'clock. It was a fine moonless evening, with so much -star-light in the heavens that the twilight seemed to still dwell in -the atmosphere when the afterglow had long ago died out. There was a -pleasant breeze, and a sullen, steady sweep of swell, over which the -schooner, almost denuded of her canvas--for our plans were not yet -formed--rode with the regularity of the tick of a clock. - -Ever since sunset Don Lazarillo had hung about in the waist, conversing -with Mariana in Spanish in subdued accents, yet with an energy that -again and again ran a hiss through his utterance. The body, with a -couple of cannon shot attached to its feet, was handed on deck by three -of the men; it was then placed upon a piece of the main-hatch cover, -and hoisted to the lee-rail, the foot of the cover resting on the rail, -while the head was supported by Butler and South. The two Spaniards, -who had fallen dumb when the body was brought on deck, repeatedly -crossed themselves, holding their hats in their hands, while the men -were manoeuvring at the sides with Don Christoval's remains. - -"Are you ready?" said I. - -"All ready, sir," answered Butler. - -"Pull off your caps, lads," said I, and, bareheaded, I stepped up -to Don Lazarillo and begged him to recite the prayers he desired to -pronounce over his friend's ashes. - -He responded with a bow, which, for the moment, affected me by its -mixture of courtesy and grief, and then, with Mariana stalking at his -heels, approached the body. They went down upon their knees, and Don -Lazarillo prayed loudly, the cook occasionally striking in with an -ejaculation. I gazed with respect, and even reverence, at this strange -picture. No matter what a man's faith may be, no matter what his color -may be, no matter how wild and grotesque the accents in which he -vents himself, never can I behold him praying to the Being in whom -he believes, yea, even though he be a John Chinaman prostrate to the -flat of his forehead upon the floor of his joss-house, without being -strangely moved and melted into feelings and sensations in which one -should seem to find but little affinity with the rough life of the -ocean. The Spaniard's prayers were not mine, his religion was not mine; -but what signifies _that_, thought I, as I stood listening and gazing; -every man sets his watch in the dark, and it is but reasonable that -every man should think his own time right. - -The night wind, damp with dew, hummed in the rigging; the dark water -broke from the gentle thrust of the stem in sobs, while Don Lazarillo -prayed, and while Mariana ejaculated. As my eye went to the pale -glimmering shape of the canvas I heard again the sounds of the sweet -tenor voice as it had quietly rung through the open skylight that -morning. I heard again the harp-like notes of the delicately-fingered -guitar. I beheld again those visions which that clear, melodious voice -had evoked, those summer aromatic scenes which Don Christoval's songs -had painted upon the vision of my mind. The Spaniards rose from their -knees. Don Lazarillo made the sign of the cross upon the body, then -pronounced some word in Spanish, with a sob in his tone. - -"Let it go, men," said I. - -They tilted the hatch, and the pale shape flashed over the side. - -"Is Butler forward there?" I called out as I was pacing the -quarter-deck half an hour later. - -"Here he is, sir," responded Butler's voice. - -"Step aft," said I. He arrived. "Butler, I've been thinking over your -scheme. For the last half-hour I've been thinking of nothing else. -If you men go away in the boat, will the negro boy Tom be willing to -remain with me?" - -"Yes, sir." - -"How do you know." - -"I put the question to him and he said he would be willing." - -"Then," I exclaimed, "I consent. I agree with you that, if you are -to leave me, I must be alone until I can get help. I might indeed -transship you, feign to the master of the vessel we should speak that -you were mutineers--a character you would all have to support--and -ask him to give me two or three men in exchange for my five. That I -might do; but the business would consist of a lie, and I hate lies. -We should have to act a part: the five of you would have to invent a -yarn, and carefully stick to it, while you were aboard the vessel that -received you.... No! your plan is the most straightforward, and the -least troublesome. The risk is mine, and a heavy risk it is--to be left -in a big vessel with one hand only, and that hand a boy, and a mad lady -below, who will require watching, and who may attempt our lives when -she awakes. But I see no other way out of the difficulty." - -"Nor I, sir," he answered. "We don't like the notion of leaving ye -alone; but then, you insist upon carrying this here schooner to -England, and to England we don't mean to go," said he, slapping his leg. - -"Say no more. We'll hold that matter settled. Only, before you leave, -the two Spaniards must have left; otherwise they'll be cutting Tom's -and my throat, taking their chance, as I shall have to take my chance, -of being fallen in with and succored. The Don doesn't like the notion -of losing his schooner; but lose her he must, for he'll never dare to -lay claim to her." - -"I should think not!" said he. "Well, sir, then I'll tell my mates it's -settled. What about leaving the vessel under this small canvas?" - -"Oh," I answered, "sail can now be made, and I'll shape a course for -Cadiz. As we approach the land, we stand to fall in with some trader, -who'll put the two Spaniards ashore on their native soil." - -I was in charge of the deck, and it was for me, therefore, to give -the necessary orders for sail to be made. The sailors sprang about -with marvelous agility. The influence of the money they had received -operated far more strongly in them than the influence of the funeral -they had witnessed, and I believe that nothing had restrained them -from singing, dancing, making a night of it, in short--for the -fellows were never without plenty of a cheap sort of claret that had -been economically laid in for their consumption--nothing, I say, had -hindered them from celebrating their payment of thirty pounds a man by -a forecastle carousal, but the feeling that some trifling respect was -due to the memory of the dead and to the affliction of Don Lazarillo. -Sail was heaped upon the schooner. Her twin spires floated through the -liquid dusk that was radiant with large trembling stars, and a sheen -melted off the edges of the canvas into the gloom, as though the whole -fabric were some tall island of ice. - -Don Lazarillo sat under the skylight; he lay back in his chair with -his legs crossed, his hands clasped upon his waistcoat, and a long -cigar forking out of his mouth. His eyes of fire were fixed upon one of -the cabin lamps, and I saw them gleaming, through the clouds of smoke -he expelled, like the lanterns of a light-ship on a thick night. His -countenance wore an expression of desperate dejection. Some distance -away from him sat the man South, whose turn it was to watch beside -Miss Noble's cabin door. This duty I conceived might, for the next two -hours, at all events, be intrusted to the negro boy. He was somewhere -forward. I called to him, and he came along to me out of the gloom; his -black face so blending with the obscurity that the white jacket and -canvas breeches he wore made him resemble a body without a head. - -"You are satisfied to remain with me, Tom," said I, "when the sailors -leave me?" - -"Yes, massa." - -"You are a good boy, and a plucky boy. We shall not be long without -help, I expect. I will take care that you are rewarded." The expanse -of his teeth by a sudden grin was like a streak of dim light upon the -darkness. "Go below into the cabin," said I, "and relieve South. Let -him go forward. You know what you have to watch?" - -"Dah lady's door, sah." - -He descended, and up came South, who was immediately followed by Don -Lazarillo. The Spaniard, temporarily blinded by the brilliance he -had emerged from, stood in the companion-way staring around; then -perceiving me, he crossed the deck and with great haste and agitation -addressed me in Spanish. - -"No compreny, no compreny, Don Lazarillo!" I exclaimed, and sang out -for Mariana to be sent aft. The fellow promptly arrived, and upon him -the Don instantly discharged a whole torrent of words. - -"What is wrong?" said I. - -The cook answered that Don Lazarillo wished Miss Noble's cabin to be -watched by a seaman. Tom was a boy. Should Miss Noble dash out of her -cabin armed with a knife, what would Tom be able to do? - -"Tell Don Lazarillo," said I, "that Miss Noble is slumbering in what -seems to be a trance." - -The Don violently shook his head. His friend had been assassinated: he -himself might be the next victim. By the bones of St. Thomas, was he -to be stuck in the back like a pig, or to have his head half severed -from his body in his sleep? He would ask Captain Portlack to do him -a great favor--to exchange quarters with him. He, Don Lazarillo, with -Señor Portlack's courteous permission, would sleep under the main hatch -during the remainder of his stay on board La Casandra. - -I promptly assented, and that the unhappy Spaniard should meanwhile -enjoy some little ease of mind, I called to South and bade him resume -his look-out in the cabin. I now hoped to be able to get the truth -about this wild and tragic expedition out of Don Lazarillo, and, with -as much tact as I was master of, sought through Mariana to direct the -conversation that way. But I was disappointed. Don Lazarillo returned -evasive answers, and then, suddenly complaining of the cold, made -me a bow and withdrew to the cabin with Mariana, who, I presently -ascertained, immediately went to work to prepare my quarters for the -reception of the Don. - -After ten o'clock I saw no more of the Spaniard. I had heard some sound -of hammering, but knew not what it signified until South, coming up out -of the cabin after having been relieved by one of the seamen, informed -me that it had been caused by Mariana nailing up the bulk-head door -that led to the sleeping quarters I had occupied. "The Don don't mean -that the lady shall get at him, sir," said the man, with a short laugh. - -I stepped into the cabin to mix myself a glass of grog, dim the lamps, -and take a look round. - -"Has all been still within?" said I to William Scott, who was to be -sentry down here till midnight. - -He replied that he had not heard a sound. On this I opened the door of -the lady's room, and bade Scott hold it open that I might see by the -sheen of the cabin lamps. There lay the girl as she had been lying for -hours, always breathing with the same regularity, her posture exactly -the same. I viewed her attentively, but could not detect that she had -moved her head or a limb by as much as the breadth of a finger-nail. - -I marveled much as I returned on deck. Was this sleep the forerunner of -death? Was life ebbing away as she thus rested? If not, then how long -would this slumber last? Yet, thought I, it is best as it is; better -that her senses should be thus locked up, than that with eyes brilliant -with madness she should be ceaselessly pacing the floor of her room, or -with insane cunning watching for an opportunity to steal forth. - -I slept during my watch below--that is, from twelve to four--in the -cabin that had been Don Lazarillo's, and Captain Dopping's before him, -to which new quarters I found that Mariana had brought the charts, -chronometer, nautical instruments, and so forth. I slept soundly. -Butler aroused me: all had been well. The breeze had freshened, he -said; at three o'clock a large line-of-battle ship had passed within -musket-shot; saving this, there was nothing to report. I looked in upon -the girl on my way to the deck and found her, as I was now expecting to -find her, in a deep and death-like sleep. - -When the dawn broke I anxiously scanned the sea line in search of a -ship. Every hour of sailing of this sort was sweeping us closer into -the Spanish coast; and as I had no intention whatever of relinquishing -my five seamen until I had got rid of the two Spaniards, my present -keen anxiety was to heave something into view that would receive them -and carry them off. The rising sun flashed a bright and joyous morning -into the wide scene of heaven and ocean. The horizon lay clear as the -rim of a lens; a sweep of delicate blue to either hand of the glorious -wake of the soaring luminary, with the sky sloping down to it in a dim -azure, richly mottled in the west with clouds; but there was nothing -to be seen. On this I resolved to shorten sail and to head somewhat -more to the southward, where we stood a chance of falling in with the -sort of craft we desired to signal. All hands were on deck. I briefly -explained my motive, and canvas was forthwith reduced, diminishing the -speed of the schooner to within about four miles an hour. - -While the men were busy with the ropes, Don Lazarillo's dark and -bearded face rose through the main hatch. His eyes swept the -horizon, as mine had, and then they settled upon me with a frown of -disappointment. His complexion was unwholesome, as from a long night of -sleeplessness and anxiety, not to mention the several passions which -would contend within him when he reflected on the death of his friend, -the complete and tragic failure of the expedition, the prospective -loss of his schooner, and the certain loss of the money--doubtless a -large sum--with which I was quite sure he had aided Don Christoval -in the execution of his scheme to run away with an English heiress. -He gave me a sullen bow, pointed with a shrug to the bare ocean, -addressed Mariana, whose eyes watched him from the galley-door, and -descended into the cabin; but as I happened to be standing close to the -companion-way, I was able to observe that he paused, before entering -the interior, to make sure that somebody was watching Miss Noble's -berth. - -He had finished his breakfast by the time I was ready for mine, and -as I took my seat he got up and went on deck in silence, casting a -single savage glance at the door of the lady's cabin as he walked to -the companion-steps. I looked in upon her when I had breakfasted; there -was no change in her attitude: her trance, if trance it were, was as -profound as ever it had been. - -However, as it turned out, Don Lazarillo was not to pass another -night aboard La Casandra. And, indeed, seeing what waters we were -now navigating, it would have been extraordinary, a thing beyond all -average sea-faring experience, had hour after hour rolled by without -bringing us a sight of a sail. I was eating some dinner, at half-past -one o'clock, in the cabin, when Butler put his head into the skylight -and called down: - -"Mr. Portlack, there's a small vessel standing almost direct for us out -of the south'ard and west'ard--bound in, apparently, for the Portugal -coast. Shall we signal her?" - -"Ay, certainly," cried I. "Heave the schooner to, and run the ensign -aloft. I'll be with you presently." - -In about ten minutes' time I finished my dinner, swallowed a bumper -of the noble Burgundy which had been stowed aft for the consumption -of the Spaniards, lighted one of the fine Havana cigars, of which -there was a locker half full, and, exchanging a sentence with Trapp, -whose turn it was to keep watch on Miss Noble, went on deck. Not above -three miles distant, and heading, as it seemed, directly for us, was a -square-rigged vessel, a little brig, as she subsequently proved. Her -canvas glanced like satin in the sun as she rolled. She was coming -leisurely along under all plain sail. There was a color blowing at her -main royalmast head, where alone it would have been visible to us, and -on seeing it through a glass I made it out to be the Portuguese ensign. - -Don Lazarillo was on deck, swathed in his long Spanish cloak, and -wearing on his head a large Andalusian hat. He looked like a bandit in -an opera. Mariana, whose head was adorned by a long blue cap, shaped -like the night-caps men used to sleep in when I was a boy, watched the -approaching craft from his favorite skulking-hole, the caboose door. - -"She veel do, I hope!" cried Don Lazarillo, on catching sight of me, -motioning toward the brig with a theatrical gesture. - -"I hope so, indeed," said I, earnestly. "But," cried I, happening to -direct my eyes at our gaff end, where flew not the English but the -Spanish colors, "what have you got hoisted there, Butler?" - -"The only ensign aboard, sir," he answered. - -"Upon my word! Yet I might have supposed so. La Casandra is a Spaniard, -to all intents and purposes. So much the better," I added, as I sent -another glance at the flag we were flying. "The Portuguese may be more -willing to oblige the people of that flag's nationality than those -whose rag is the red, white, and blue." - -The schooner had been hove to, thrown head to wind, her square canvas -being furled, and nothing was to be heard but the slopping sound of -waters alongside and the straining noises of the fabric as she leaned -to the swell, while silently and eagerly we kept our eyes fastened upon -the coming Portuguese brig. She drew close to windward, put her helm -down, backed her maintop-sail yard, and lay within hailing distance--a -prettier model than ever I should have thought to see flying _her_ -colors, clean in rig, and her canvas fitting her well. The white -water raced fountain-like from her bows as she courtesied, ripples of -light ran like thrills through her black, wet sides, and there was -a frequent leap of white fire from the brass and glass along her -quarter-deck. - -A tall, gaunt man, whose features were just distinguishable, got upon -the rail, and, holding on by a back-stay, pulled off his red cap and -hailed us in Portuguese. Don Lazarillo looked round to observe if -anybody meant to answer him; then exclaiming, "I understand; I speak -his language," he shouted an answer--but an answer that seemed a -fathom long; in fact, there was room in Don Lazarillo's response to -the Portuguese skipper's hail for the whole story of our adventure. -Mariana came and stood alongside the Don. Many cries were exchanged; -the gestures were frequent and often frantic. Presently the Portuguese -skipper dropped on to his deck, and Don Lazarillo bade Mariana inform -me that the man meant to come aboard. In a few minutes the Portuguese -brig lowered a boat; her gaunt skipper entered it, accompanied by a -couple of men, and pulled the little craft alongside of us. - -I had never beheld so strange a figure as that Portuguese skipper. -His face was little more than that of a skull, the flesh of which -resembled the skin of an old drum where it is darkened by the beating -of the sticks; it lay in ridges, as though badly pasted on, and -these ridges looked to have become iron-hard through exposure to the -weather. His eyes were large, intensely black, and horribly deep sunk, -and glowed with what might well have been the fire of fever. Don -Lazarillo pronounced some words, haughtily motioning to me; on which -the Portuguese skipper gave me such a bow as a skeleton would make, -and I pulled off my hat. Then the Spaniard addressed Mariana, who, -accosting me in his extraordinary English, said that Don Lazarillo -desired to know if it should be left to him to conduct this business -of their quitting the schooner. I answered, "Certainly." I had no wish -to interfere at all; nor could I be of the slightest use to them, not -knowing a syllable of their tongues. On this Don Lazarillo took the -Portuguese skipper into the cabin, and with them went the cook. - -After a few moments I heard the sound of a cork drawn; this was -followed by much animated conversation; but I did not choose to show -myself at the skylight under which they were seated, and their accents -reached my ear faintly. I said to Butler, with a smile: - -"I hope the Don isn't conspiring with the Portugal man to seize the -schooner." - -"Lord bless ye, Mr. Portlack," he answered with a grin. "How many of -the likes of them chaps in the boat over the side down there would be -needed for such a job as that?" - -And a grimy, wretched brace of men they were; yellow as mustard, and -dark for want of soap, clad in costumes of rags, the lower extremities -of which were kept together by being thrust into half-Wellington boots, -bronzed with brine. - -"Where are you from?" I shouted. - -They were squatting in the bottom of the boat like monkeys, and their -manner of looking upward was exactly that of monkeys--swift, their -gleaming eyes restless, and a queer puckering of their leather lips -that seemed a grin. They understood me, and one answered, "Bahia." - -"Where are you bound to?" - -"Lisbon." - -I tried them with one or two more questions, but to no purpose. After -the lapse of some twenty minutes Mariana came out of the cabin, and -said that Don Lazarillo begged I would be so good as to send two seamen -below to convey his effects into the boat. - -"Certainly," I answered, and ordered a couple of men to attend upon -the Spaniard. Guessing that the Don's effects would be comparatively -trifling, I could not imagine why he required the services of two men -in addition to the cook's help; until, after a little, first one sailor -made his appearance with his arms full of boxes of cigars, then the -second sailor arrived with a case of wine, then Mariana came on deck -with bags and valises belonging to the two Dons. These articles were -handed into the boat, and the seamen and the cook returned for more. -It was clearly Don Lazarillo's intention to carry off as much as the -Portuguese boat would hold, and by and by she was lying alongside deep -with wine, cigars, a chest, as I supposed, of the silver plate, and a -variety of other portable articles. - -Don Lazarillo then came up with the Portuguese captain. They went -to the side and looked over at the boat, and the Portuguese captain -hailed the men in her, and some unintelligible talk followed. The boat -was then drawn under the gangway by the two fellows, and without a -syllable, but with one deadly glance of malice at me, Don Lazarillo -entered her. Mariana, throwing a bundle into her, followed. The -Portuguese skipper then sprang, and the boat shoved off. - -Fortunately for her inmates, the surface of the sea flashed and -feathered in ripples only, for the spite or avarice of the Spaniard -had so loaded the boat that it needed but a very little weight in the -movement of the water to swamp and founder her out of hand. - -When her two oars had impelled her a pistol-shot distant from us, Don -Lazarillo stood up and proceeded to harangue me in Spanish, with both -arms raised and both fists clinched. He rapidly worked himself into a -white heat of passion; his voice rose into a penetrating shriek. That -he was heaping upon my head every malediction which the language of -his country, rich in grotesquely injurious terms, could supply him -with, I did not doubt. I picked up a telescope and looked at his face -through it, which cool, provoking act so heightened the madness of -his wrath that he fell to swaying and toppling about after the manner -of a man delirious with drink; whereupon the Portuguese captain, who -had sat stolidly looking up at him, to save his own and the lives of -the others--for the boat dangerously swayed to the Don's ecstatic -gestures--struck him behind in the bend of his legs with the sharp of -his hand, and Don Lazarillo vanished in a twinkling in the bottom of -the boat. A roar of laughter went up from our men. - -"Trim sail, lads, and then heap it on her," I called out; and, even -as the boat lay alongside the brig, with the people in her handing up -Don Lazarillo's little cargo, the Casandra, yielding to the impulse of -her broad and lofty cloths, was ripping through it to the southward -and eastward, the brine spitting at her stem, and the shapely little -Portuguese brig veering astern into a Lilliputian toy, her white canvas -resembling a hovering butterfly in the confused, misty, and broken -fires of the sun's reflection upon the ocean in the south-west. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -IDA NOBLE. - - -"Our turn next, sir," exclaimed Butler, coming away from the rail, -where he had been standing for a minute looking at the brig under his -hand. - -"Yes. I shall be sorry to lose you," said I; "but what must be, must -be, and you've made up your minds." - -"Ay, sir. It is right and proper, indeed, that you should carry the -poor lady home; and gladly would we help ye if we durst. But after -what's happened----" He violently shook his head. "How far d'ye reckon -the coast of Cadiz to be distant, sir?" - -"Call it four days at this rate of sailing," said I. Then, looking at -him, I continued: "I wish you men would change your minds, and let me -set you ashore north of Ushant." - -I was proceeding to explain my reason, but he arrested me by an -emphatic, "No, sir. Let it be Cadiz, if you please. The further away -the better. All us men have friends at Cadiz, and there are other -reasons for our deciding upon that port." - -I went below to see what Don Lazarillo had left behind him. The negro -lad sat in a chair keeping that watch in the cabin which we continued -to maintain spite of the girl's wonderful death-like sleep. It would -have been easy, indeed, to have padlocked or in other ways secured the -door; but then, if the door had been thus secured, our vigilance would -certainly have been relaxed: in which case there was the chance of the -cabin being empty at the moment when her consciousness returned, and, -consequently, nobody at hand to arrest any dangerous behavior in her. - -I found that Don Lazarillo had emptied the locker of its cigars. The -negro boy told me that the Spaniard had also carried away the wine -which had lain stowed in the lazarette. But there was nothing to -grieve me in this news; there were pipes and tobacco on board, and a -plentiful stock of cheap wine for the use of the sailors. I entered -Don Christoval's cabin and found nothing but the bedding left. The -clothes of the dead man had been packed and conveyed to the brig. There -was a chest of drawers, and in a corner stood a small table with -drawers; these I ransacked, with a faint fancy or hope of meeting with -some forgotten letter, some diary or document which Don Lazarillo had -neglected to take, and which might throw some fresh light upon this -extraordinary expedition. But every drawer was empty. - -I was standing lost in thought, with my eyes fixed upon the vacant bunk -or sleeping-shelf, musing upon the incidents of the past few days, and -wondering into what sort of issue my hand was to shape this adventure, -when I was startled by an extraordinary cry, scarcely less alarming in -its way than the death-scream that had been uttered by Don Christoval. -It was such a cry as a wounded savage might deliver. Before I could -reach the door of the berth the negro boy rushed in. - -"Oh, massa," he panted, "dah lady's looking out." - -My impression was that he had been stabbed. "Are you hurt?" I -exclaimed, grasping him by the arm. - -"No, sah!" - -"Who shrieked just now?" - -"I did, sah." - -I cuffed him over his woolly head to clear him out of my road, and -stepped into the cabin. Miss Noble, with the handle of the cabin door -in her grasp, stood looking out with an expression upon her face of -such utter bewilderment that but for her costume and my knowing she -was the sole occupant of her room, I should not have recognized her. A -person watching the motions of a gliding apparition, _knowing_ it to be -a ghost, beckoning, stalking, compelling, might very well be supposed -to stare as that girl did. Her eyes slowly rolled over the interior, -as though the organ of vision, stupefied by bewilderment, was scarcely -capable of effort. She was deadly pale, yet, spite of the withering -influence of her astonishment upon her features, I seemed to find an -expression of intelligence in them that most certainly was not to be -witnessed before. She breathed swiftly. One side of her hair was now -entirely unfastened, and the heavy mass of the dark red tresses lay -upon her shoulder and upon her bosom. I instantly looked at her idle -hand; it held nothing. - -I surveyed her a little, wondering whether she would speak; whether -reason had been restored to her; whether there might not happen at any -beat of the pulse a sudden horrible transformation in her, a new and -blacker exhibition of insanity. Her dark eyes came to mine; there was -an expression of terror in them. She pressed her hand to her forehead, -and looked down as though she would sharpen her sight by averting it -for a moment from the object at which she gazed, then looked at me -again, pleadingly, eagerly, and fearfully. - -"Do not you know where you are, Miss Noble?" said I, in the most -careless, matter-of-fact manner I could put on. - -"I am trying to think," she answered. - -"Pray give me your hand," said I. - -She extended it as a child might. I led her to an arm-chair and -gently obliged her to sit. A decanter half-full of sherry stood in -the swing-tray. I poured a little of the wine into a glass, and -presented it to her; she took it and drank. Her behavior and looks were -absolutely rational, clouded as they were by a bewilderment which her -eyes appeared to express as hopeless. She had been fasting for many -hours, and I was sure I could not do better than make her take food. -I beckoned to Tom, who stood staring at the lady from the other end -of the cabin. He approached, though he kept the table between him and -Miss Noble. Her bewilderment visibly deepened as her eyes rested on his -black face. I directed him to obtain the most delicate refreshments -which the cabin larder of the schooner yielded, and to bear a hand. - -"You have been long asleep," said I, gently. "You were unconscious when -you were brought aboard this vessel--for you know _now_ that you are at -sea--and you must not wonder that you are bewildered on waking to find -yourself in this strange scene." - -"Where am I?" she asked, in a voice that was but a little above a -whisper, so breathless was she with continued surprise. - -"You are on board a schooner called La Casandra. I am acting as her -captain. We are now making haste to return to England, to restore you -to your home." - -"England--home?" she muttered, looking at me, then around her, then -down at the dressing-gown she was robed in, then pulling a sleeve of -the gown a little way up the arm and gazing at the bracelets upon her -wrists. "Why am I here?" she exclaimed, drawing a breath that sounded -like a sob. - -"Will you not wait till you have eaten a trifle? Nothing has passed -your lips for very many hours. As strength returns, your memory will -brighten, and I know I shall make you happy by the assurance I am able -to give you." - -"Why am I here?" she repeated. - -I considered it wise to humor her: but to humor her I must tell the -truth. - -"You are here," said I, "because two Spaniards--one of them named -Don Christoval del Padron, and the other styled Don Lazarillo de -Tormes--went ashore near your father's estate, on the coast of -Cumberland, accompanied by a crew of armed sailors, and forcibly stole -you away from your home, carrying you in a state of insensibility to a -boat." - -She interrupted me at this point by crying out, "Yes, yes, now I -remember, now I remember." She clasped her hands and half rose, -repeating, "Yes, yes, now I remember," staring past me wildly as she -spoke, as though she addressed some one at the other end of the cabin; -then burying her face in her hands she sat in silence, rocking herself -in the throes of a conflict with memory. - -I stood looking on, waiting for nature to have her way with her. The -seamen, having got wind of her awakening, had collected at the skylight -and were looking down; but fearing that the sight of them might terrify -her, I dispersed the group of dark and hairy faces with an angry -gesture. Tom arrived with a tray of refreshments. I dispatched him on -deck to inform Butler and the others that the lady had returned to -consciousness; that her reason had awakened with her, and that she was -now as sane as any of us, but that they were to keep quiet and to hold -their heads out of view. - -Presently the girl looked up; she was weeping, but so silently that I -did not know she was crying until I saw her face. - -"It has all come back to me," she exclaimed in a broken voice, and -shuddering violently. "Did you tell me you were taking me home?" - -"Yes, Miss Noble, you are going home." - -"Will it be long before we arrive home?" - -"Not very long." - -"And what has happened to me since I have been here?" said she, looking -again down at the rich crimson dressing-gown she was habited in. - -"You have been in a sort of stupor," I answered, "but you have awakened -strong and well; or let me say, in a very little while you will be -strong and well. But you must eat, if you please, and while you eat you -shall ask any questions you like, and I will answer you." - -I put the plate beside her, and noticed with gladness that she eyed it -somewhat wistfully. Indeed, if anybody were ever nearly starved, she -was; though medical men to whom I have stated her case have since told -me that persons visited with these extraordinary fits of slumber can -live for days, and even for weeks, without food. - -Tom had been careful not to put a knife on the tray; but there was -a fork, and with it I placed a thin slice of ham between two white -biscuits and presented this sea-sandwich to her, and she began to eat. -She ate the whole of it, and then I made her another and gave her -a little more sherry, and now I could observe how excellently this -refreshment served her as medicine; for every moment seemed to diminish -something of her bewilderment, while intelligence brightened in her -eyes, and a very faint bloom from the improved action of her heart -sifted into her complexion. - -Suddenly, with a start, and with a wild and terrified look around the -cabin, she asked me where the two Spaniards were. The idea of them, -borne on the current of the thoughts and fancies flowing through -her brain, had, as I might judge, but that instant entered her -consciousness. Now it was not to be supposed that I could tell her she -had with her own hand slain one of those Spaniards; and no purpose, -therefore, could be served by informing her that one of them was dead. - -"They have left the vessel," I answered. - -"Will they return?" she cried. - -"No, indeed; I will take care of that. You need not fear that they will -trouble you any more." - -Her countenance relaxed its expression of terror, and her eyes met mine -with a soft and touching look of gratitude in them. She then sighed -deeply, and pressed her hand to her forehead. - -"Pray, Miss Noble, tell me how you feel?" said I. - -"My head swims," she answered. "The motion of this vessel affects me." - -Now that might well have been so, strange as it may seem. She would -suffer from sea-sickness neither in her trance nor in her madness; but -now that both were passed, now that her real nature was re-established -in her, she must needs begin to suffer as she would have suffered from -this same sea-sickness at the beginning of the voyage had she been -brought on board in her senses. It seemed to me a most wholesome, -reassuring sign, though I would not say so, for I desired to preserve -her from all suspicion of the hideous state she had passed through. - -"Suppose," said I, "that you lie down and endeavor to obtain some -sleep. What you have awakened from was stupor, and there can be no -refreshment in stupor. A few hours of wholesome, natural rest are sure -to work wonders." - -She rose in silence, but with consent in her eyes. Observing that her -movements were unsteady, I gently held her arm and directed her steps -to her berth. She got into her bunk, and I paused to inquire if there -was anything I could do for her. - -"Nothing," she answered in a low voice. "I am grateful for your -kindness. Everything has come back to me. Oh, yes, I now remember that -dreadful night--that dreadful night! But you are not deceiving me?" - -"In what?" - -"You tell me that Don Christoval and his friend are not in this vessel." - -"Rest your poor heart, Madame. I swear to you as an English seaman that -they are out of this vessel, and that you will never be troubled by -them again." - -"Where are they?" she asked. - -"We will talk about them by and by." - -She closed her eyes, and I stood beside her a few minutes, then went -out, calling to Tom to come and keep watch, with a threat to rope's-end -him if he shrieked again should the lady suddenly show herself, for -that she was now as sane as he or I was. - -I went on deck heartily rejoiced by this restoration of the poor lady's -mind. It cleared me of a heavy load of anxiety. Now I could contemplate -taking charge of the schooner with only Tom to help me until I could -procure further assistance: this I could think of without half the -misgiving which before worked in me when my mind went to it. On my -showing myself, Butler, who was in charge, immediately approached me. - -"I see the poor lady's woke up at last, sir." - -"Yes," said I. - -"And Tom says she has her intellect sound again." - -"It is true, and thank God for it," said I. - -"Strange, Mr. Portlack," said he, after biting for a moment or two -meditatively on the piece of tobacco in his cheek, "that the poor lady -should come to just at the time that there Spaniard goes off, as one -might say. There's a tarm to fit the likes of such a traverse, but I -forgets it." - -"A coincidence," said I. - -"Well, that'll do, I dessay, though there's another word a-running in -my head. And how do the lady relish the notion of having stuck the big -Spaniard?" - -"Now listen to me, Butler," said I, "and repeat what I am about to -tell to your mates in the most powerful voice you can command, and in -the strongest words you can employ. Under no circumstances whatever, -on no consideration whatever, must the lady be given to know that she -committed that act. Tell her of it, and in all probability you will -drive her mad for good and all." - -"There's no fear of any of us ever a-telling her of it," he replied, -with a sort of sulky astonishment working in his face at the energy -with which I had addressed him; "but she'll have to hear of it some of -these days, won't she, sir?" - -"Not from us," said I, "and therefore what is going to happen some of -these days will be no business of ours." - -"That's true enough," said he. - -"There is another point that may be worth our consideration. Briefly, -the lady has now her senses; she has a clear eye, and may very likely -prove to have a keen memory. I will take care that your names are -not known to her; and should she ever come on deck while you remain -on board, I would advise you and your mates to show as little of -yourselves as the navigation of the ship will suffer." - -He looked thoughtful, and fell to stroking his chin. "Yes, by thunder! -Mr. Portlack, you're right," he exclaimed. "If she gets to hear our -names, and is able to describe us, why! Tell ye what it is, sir: the -sooner we five men are off, the better; and until we've cleared out, I -hope you won't encourage her to come on deck too often." - -Having tasted no food for some hours, I went below, and dispatched -Tom to procure me some supper. While he waited upon me the following -conversation took place between us: - -"You must never at any time, or on any occasion, say, either aboard -this schooner or ashore, that the lady in the cabin yonder killed the -Spaniard." - -"No, sah." - -"If you do, you and I, who are to convey this lady home, will be -charged as accomplices in the awful crime of bloody murder." - -"I'll be berry car'fu', sir." - -"A single hint from you might lead to you and me being hanged by the -neck until we are dead. On the other hand, if you keep silent, I will -take care that you are rewarded; and if you have had enough of the sea, -I dare say the friends of the lady will find you some comfortable berth -ashore." - -The lad's black face was somewhat complicated by expression. There -was mingled fright and delight in his wide grin and the stare of his -large, bland, dusky African eyes. - -"Mind!" said I. - -And here let me own that my desire that the murder of the Spaniard -should be kept a profound secret was largely--indeed almost wholly--a -selfish one. For, first, I never doubted that, if the girl came to -hear of what she had done, the thought of it working in a brain still -weak with recent craziness would render her incurably mad, and so -immeasurably increase my present anxieties and the trouble I should -be put to to carry her home. Next, I wished the dreadful deed kept -secret, since this singular expedition having caused me trouble and -grief enough already upon the high seas, I was by no means anxious that -darker worries should grow out of it on my arrival on shore. - -I saw nothing of the lady that evening, nor, indeed, throughout the -night. Two or three times I knocked upon her door to inquire if she -needed anything, and once only she answered. Her reply satisfied me -that her mind was hers again; that, in short, there had been no relapse -since I had left her. However, to provide against all risk, I arranged -that the seamen should keep a look-out in the cabin as heretofore. - -I had charge of the deck from four till eight. It blew continually a -fine breeze of wind, and hour after hour the schooner swept through -it as though driven by powerful engines. I guessed, if the vessel -maintained her present rate of sailing, that the men would be enabled -to leave me before forty-eight hours had passed. Daybreak showed us -several ships on the sea line. They were all of them small vessels, and -standing, with the exception of one, to the north. The man Scott, who -was at the helm, said that it was a pity his mates could not see their -way to transshipping themselves aboard a craft, instead of making for -Cadiz in the cutter. - -"Why don't you stop with me?" said I. - -"No, no!" he exclaimed. - -"But listen. Could not we three--you, me, and the negro boy--carry the -schooner into Penzance, say, where you might go ashore at once, take -the coach for London, and vanish much more entirely than ever you will -by going to Cadiz?" - -"No, sir, no; there's to be no going home with me. I should be a fool -to trust myself in England. I'm too respectable a man to live in any -country where I'm 'wanted.'" - -"Well, then," said I, "Butler's scheme of the cutter and of Cadiz -is the practicable one, and you must adopt it. You talk of my -transshipping you. What story am I to tell the captain whom I ask to -receive you? You don't look like mutineers, and not one of you is -clever enough to act such a part as would enable me to spin my yarn -without exciting suspicion. Now, suspicion is the last thing we wish to -excite." - -"True, sir," said Scott. - -It was about a quarter before eight when the negro boy, who had been -preparing the table for my breakfast, came on deck to tell me that the -lady was in the cabin. I looked through the skylight and beheld her -sitting in an arm-chair. She saw me, and bowed with a slight smile. -I lifted the lid of the skylight that I might converse with her, and -called down, "Good morning, Miss Noble. I hope you are feeling very -much better?" - -"I am very much better, thank you," she answered, in a voice soft -indeed, but whose tone and firmness were ample warrant of returning -strength. - -"I hope to join you shortly. My watch on deck expires in a few minutes. -It is a fine bright morning and there is a noble sailing breeze, and -the schooner is going through the water like a witch." - -"I should like to go on deck," she said, "but I have no covering for my -head." - -I recommended her to wait till after breakfast, when we would go -to work to see what the schooner could yield her in the shape of -head-gear; and shortly afterward, on Butler arriving to relieve me, I -joined her. She had dressed her hair, and this and the effect of the -comfortable night she had passed had made another being of her. With -her recovery, or, at all events, with her improvement, had reappeared -what I might suppose her habitual nature. Her countenance expressed -decision of character; her gaze was gentle but steadfast; and in the -set of her lips there was such a suggestion of self-control as even my -untutored sea-faring eye could not miss. I now took notice, too, of her -well-bred air. In the hurry and agitation of the preceding day I had -missed this quality, or she may have failed to express it. But now, on -my entering the cabin, and on her rising and extending her hand, I was -instantly sensible of the presence of the high-born lady. - -Almost in the first words she pronounced she asked me for my name. I -gave it to her, and with mingled dignity and sweetness she thanked me -for my sympathy and attention. Our discourse was chiefly about her -health, the sort of night she had passed, and the like, while Tom -was putting the breakfast upon the table. We then seated ourselves. -She ate with appetite, but was so reserved at first that I thought -to myself, "Now, Madame, I suppose you intend I shall thoroughly -understand you are a lady of high degree, between whom and a second -mate in the merchant service there stretches a social interval wide -as the Atlantic Ocean; and though I had hoped you would tell me your -story and help me to a clear understanding of Don Christoval and his -expedition, you mean to disappoint me through your new resolution to -assert your dignity." - -But never was I more mistaken in a lady's character. I could see her -glancing from time to time at the negro boy, who lost no opportunity -of staring at her in return, as though he expected to see her at -any moment snatch up a knife. I believed I could read her thoughts, -and told the boy to go on deck and stop there till I called him. -She trifled for a bit with her rings; then, with a little show of -nervousness, though her accents did not falter, she said to me: - -"Mr. Portlack, from the moment of my fainting on that dreadful night, -down to my awaking yesterday, I seem to remember nothing. I say I -_seem_, and yet I am haunted by a sort of horrid memory--how shall I -express it? It is the shadow of a recollection, and that recollection -again is, as it were," pressing her brow as though struggling to -deeply realize her thought, "no more than the memory of the shadow of -something horrible. Am I meaningless to you?" - -"No." - -She viewed me anxiously and searchingly, and said, "Have I been mad?" - -"You were insensible when you were brought aboard, and you awoke from -your extraordinary stupor for the first time yesterday." - -"Mr. Portlack, tell me, have I been out of my mind?" - -Hating a lie as I do, I was yet resolved that she should not know the -truth, and I said "No" with so much emphasis that her face instantly -cleared. She smiled, and clasped her hands. "Ah!" she exclaimed, -breathing deep as though she sighed, "in so long and dreadful a slumber -I must have dreamed many fearful dreams." - -I wished to disengage her mind from this subject, and I was also -desirous that she should understand, without further loss of time, how -it happened that I made one of the kidnaping gang. - -"With your permission," said I, "I will tell you my story, which, I -believe, you will think a strange one even in the experiences of a -sea-faring person." - -She watched me with attention, and I proceeded to relate my adventures, -beginning with the Ocean Ranger, and then going on to the American -ship, to my distressful and perilous situation in the open boat, and -then to this schooner La Casandra falling in with me; thus I steadily -worked my way right through my own yarn, omitting nothing save the -incident of the death of Don Christoval. That she was a young lady of -much strength of character I might now be sure of by her manner of -listening to me. I was graphic enough, particularly in my description -of our arrival off the coast of Cumberland; nevertheless, she attended -to me with composure, with firm lips and steady regard. No exclamation -escaped her. Once or twice she sighed, and once she colored, as though -from some sudden passion of resentment swiftly controlled. - -"And now, Miss Noble," said I, "I hope I have made you understand how -it happens that I am here?" - -"Perfectly," she answered, "and I am glad that you _are_ here, Mr. -Portlack. But you have not told me what has become of Don Christoval -and his friend." - -There was nothing for it--I must tell another falsehood; but Heaven -would forgive me, for I meant well. So I answered that I had informed -them, on learning that she was not Madame del Padron, that it was my -intention to carry her home, and that on my arrival my first business -would be to inform against them for having abducted her; whereupon they -had prayed to be transshipped to a passing vessel; to which, after -reflection, I consented, and the two scoundrels were transferred to a -little Portuguese brig on the preceding day. - -She sank into thought. After a while she lifted up her head and gazed -slowly and with curiosity round her at the pictures, the mirrors, and -the other furniture in the cabin. Her eyes next went to her bracelets, -and they then met mine. I waited for her to speak. - -"How long is it now, Mr. Portlack, since I was stolen from my father's -house?" - -"This is the sixth day of your absence." - -"What will my father and mother think? They can not have been able to -_do_ anything. That will be the hardest part to my father. They will -have no idea into what part of the world I was to be carried. Will they -even know that this vessel was lying off the coast to receive me?" - -"Oh, yes," said I, "they will know that. Some one is certain to have -followed the sailors and the Spaniards as they marched with you to the -boat." - -"Would there be any papers, any letters, do you think," said she, "on -the body of the man who you said was killed, from which my father might -learn that this vessel's destination was Cuba?" - -"I do not know. Most probably not." - -"What a wanton act of wickedness! What unnecessary, barbarous cruelty!" -she exclaimed. "Had I been driven mad, it would not have been strange. -We had just arrived from a ball, when my father cried out that there -was a crowd of men outside. He told me to run upstairs. I can not -imagine that he suspected the errand on which they had come. I believed -that the men had arrived to plunder the house: it is situated on a -lonely part of the coast. I went into a room, and almost at that moment -I heard the report of a gun. The house is an old-fashioned building, -the walls very thick. I was so far away from the hall that no sound -reached me, but in a short time I heard foot-steps, and the noise of -doors violently opened, and the voices of men exclaiming in Spanish. -The door of my room was tried; I had turned the key, but the lock was -an old one. The two Spaniards put their shoulders against the door, -and it flew open; then I recollect a few moments of struggling and -shrieking, and nothing more." - -"Did you never fear that Don Christoval would one day or night attempt -to carry you off?" - -"Never," she responded, with a note of vehemence disturbing her calm -tones, and I saw a flash in her brown eyes. - -"He evidently kept himself acquainted with your movements." - -"Yes," she answered; "in another week we were going abroad. We should -have been starting about now, or to-morrow." - -"He told me that. Who was the spy he employed, I wonder?" - -She reflected, and answered: "No member of our household, I am sure. -What sort of person is Don Lazarillo de Tormes?" - -I described him, and perceived by her way of listening that she had -never seen him, and indeed had never heard of him. - -"You may take it, Miss Noble," said I, "that whoever Don Lazarillo may -have been, he found the money for this adventure." - -"That must have been so," she answered; "Don Christoval is poor." - -"Had he any property in Cuba?" - -"I believe not," she answered. - -"Forgive me for being inquisitive. Was--I mean, is the man in any way -related to you?" - -"He is. He is a distant connection on my father's side. His father -was a Spaniard, and, I have always understood, of noble blood. Don -Christoval was in England, and called upon us when we were in London. -We afterward met him in Paris. My father disliked him, and it came to -his forbidding him from holding any communication with us. He then -challenged my brother to a duel, and, unknown to my father and mother, -my brother attended with a friend, a lieutenant in the Royal Navy; but -Don Christoval did not appear. That is entirely all that I can tell you -about the man, Mr. Portlack." - -"I felt," said I, "that he was lying when he spoke of you as his wife. -But how was it possible to make sure of the truth, one way or the -other? He put his story so persuasively, his voice was so sweet, he -was so very handsome, that any one believing in his tale could not but -have pitied him, even to the degree of feeling willing to help him to -recover what he called his own." - -She slightly colored, and said, "He only wanted my money." - -Here I might have complimented her, but I was an off-hand sailor, -without any talent for drawing-room civilities. - -I need not dwell at length upon what passed between Miss Noble and me -on this our first opportunity for enjoying a long chat. It was natural -that we should again and again travel over the same ground. Though -she did not repeat her question whether she had been out of her mind, -I noticed, in her references to her state of catalepsy or stupor, a -haunting uneasiness, as though the shadow of some black dream lay -upon her in tormenting shapelessness and illusiveness. I can fancy -that it resembled one of those ideas which visit most of us in our -life-time--the idea that we have felt, suffered, or done something in -another sphere of being. - -She was clearly a lady of strong constitution. She showed no traces of -the condition she had been in for nearly a week. One would have thought -to see her haggard, bloodless, famine-pinched, with pale lips and -unlighted eyes; but, making due allowance for the costume of crimson -dressing-gown and for the absence of divers finishing details of -toilet, I could not conceive that she, at any time in her life, could -have looked much better than she now did. May be her profound sleep -had cleansed her countenance of the dreadful marks which the talons -of the fiend Madness commonly grave upon the human face. Be this as it -may, her health seemed excellent as I sat conversing with her at that -breakfast-table; her calm voice had the true music of good breeding; -her remarks exhibited no common order of perception and good sense, -and to my mind--though it is said that sailors are easy to please--she -needed no other face than her own, with its soft brown eyes, and purely -feminine lineaments, and dark red hair, massive, abundant, and glowing, -to be as fascinating a lady as a man could hope to meet with in English -or any other society. - -I had, in the course of our conversation, told her very honestly what -the sailors intended to do. I added that they were right in endeavoring -to escape from the consequences of a wrong into the perpetration of -which they had been basely betrayed by the lies of Don Christoval and -his friend. I had then explained that I should be left alone in the -schooner with the negro boy, but that I had not the least doubt of -promptly obtaining all the help I needed to carry the vessel safely and -comfortably home. This made her ask how long it might take us to reach -home. - -"Eight or ten days," I answered. - -"What, meanwhile, am I to do for clothes?" said she; and, with -something of unconsciousness in her manner, as though her fingers were -governed by a thought in her head, she opened her dressing-gown and -revealed herself in ball attire. - -Though she had been thus appareled for a week there seemed to be -nothing soiled, nothing faded, in this aspect of her. It was the -suddenness of the revelation, I dare say, that gave to her form the -brilliance I found in it. Then, there was also the contrast of the -rich crimson dressing-gown to heighten this instant splendor of attire -and the incomparable whiteness of her neck and shoulders, though these -were still defaced by several long, ugly black scratches. She buttoned -the dressing-gown to her throat again, and said, with a smile full of -self-possession, but sweetened by a little expression of sadness: - -"This is not the kind of dress that one would wear at sea, Mr. -Portlack." - -"It is very beautiful," said I in my simple way. - -"The skirt is badly torn," she exclaimed. "Those wretches must have -treated me very roughly, even after I had fainted." - -"You certainly will require warmer clothing than that ball-dress," said -I. "Stay! an idea occurs to me. Was it Don Christoval--yes, I believe -it was Don Christoval, who informed me--who implied rather--that he had -made some provisions for you in the matter of dress." I shouted through -the skylight for Tom. The boy arrived. "Go and ask Mr. Butler," said I, -"if he can tell me in what part of the vessel Captain Dopping stowed -the wearing apparel which was taken on board by Don Christoval for the -use of this lady." - -The boy went on deck. Presently Butler's head showed in the skylight. -There was a shawl round his throat, that covered his mouth to the -height of his nostrils, and he wore a sou'-wester, the forward thatch -of which he had turned down, while the ear-lappets hid his cheeks. It -was clear he did not intend that Miss Noble should see more of his face -than might serve him to breathe with. - -"Beg pardon, sir," he said in a muffled hurricane note, talking through -his shawl. "Here's this here Tom come with some message from you, -and I don't know what he means." I explained. "Ho! yes," said he; "I -understand now. There's a chest of garments, I believe, stowed away -down in the lazareet." - -In less than twenty minutes the negro lad and I had explored the -lazarette, discovered the chest, lugged it into Miss Noble's cabin, -and there left it open. All that it contained I could not tell you, -but when I next saw Miss Noble she was wearing a green dress of some -light, good material, the waist of which was secured by a band, and on -her head was a plain straw hat of a sort to prove very serviceable to a -lady at sea. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -CAPTAIN NOBLE. - - -Now, until we had closed the Spanish coast, that is to say, during the -following four days, nothing happened of such moment as deserves your -attention. The men kept themselves as much as possible out of sight of -Miss Noble, and every fellow whose turn it was to stand at the helm -invariably arrived so concealed about the face that I would often -find it difficult to give him his right name. The sailors' dread of -being observed by Miss Noble grew speedily into a real inconvenience; -it came, indeed, very near to hindering me, in the daytime when the -lady was on deck, from navigating the schooner; and to end it I took -occasion, when we sat below at some meal or other, to tell her of what -the men were afraid; with the result, that until the fellows left us -her visits to the deck were very few, and chiefly in the dusk. - -It was four days from the date of the transshipment of Don Lazarillo -and the cook that by my computation we arrived within ten leagues of -the coast of Spain, the port of Cadiz bearing about east-by-south. It -was a sunny morning, with a pleasant breeze. We hove the schooner to, -for I did not think proper to approach the land nearer than thirty -miles. Here and there was a gleam of white canvas upon the horizon; -and I thought to myself, reflecting in the interests of the men, their -departure must not be witnessed, nor must anything be near enough to -fall in with them and to have the schooner in sight also; therefore I -hove La Casandra to at a distance of about ten leagues from the port of -Cadiz, nothing being visible but one or two sail, hull down. - -Everything was in readiness. You will believe that the boat, owing -to the men's anxiety to get away, had been long before this morning -provisioned and equipped. She was launched through the gangway just as -she had been launched off the Cumberland coast on that silent, tragic -night; then, while she lay alongside, the seamen, in obedience to my -command, went to work to reduce sail upon the schooner, so that there -would be little left for me and Tom to do should it come on to blow -before we could procure help. While this was doing Miss Noble remained -in the cabin. Everything being ready, Butler stepped up to me with his -hand extended. I grasped and shook it. - -"Good-by, sir, and we all hope, I'm sure, that you'll have a safe and -happy run home." - -"Good-by, Butler--good-by, my lads. You have behaved very well. I thank -you for the willingness with which you have done your work under me. -See that the yarn you have in your heads you all stick to, so that -you'll be able to speak as with one tongue when you get ashore." - -"Trust us, sir," said Scott. - -"I hope the lady thoroughly understands," said Trapp, "how it happened -that we five Englishmen was led into a job which ne'er a man of us -would have touched, no, not for five times the money received, had the -true meaning of it been explained?" - -"She does. And now you had better be off." - -They entered the boat, stepped the mast, and I gave Butler the course -to steer by the little box compass that had been placed in the -stern-sheets. They then hoisted the sail, and as the boat slid away -from the shadow of the schooner's side, they all stood up and loudly -cheered me. I halloed a cheer back to them with a flourish of my cap, -then stepped aft, and, putting the helm over, brought the schooner -with her head to west-north-west. - -"Come and lay hold of the tiller, Tom." The negro boy arrived. "Miss -Noble," said I, putting my head into the companion-way, "the men have -left the schooner." - -She at once came on deck, and stood looking in silence at the cutter as -she swept swiftly eastward under the white square of her lug. - -"We are lonely indeed, now," she presently exclaimed, bringing her eyes -from the boat to cast them round the horizon. - -"Yes," said I, "but we are going home," and I pointed to the compass. - -But she was right, for all that. Lonely the schooner looked with her -deserted decks and small canvas, and lonely I felt, not so much at the -beginning as later on, when the rolling hours brought the night along, -without heaving anything into view that we could turn to account. Miss -Noble earnestly wished to help; she assured me she could steer; she -was sprung, she said, from a naval stock, and she told me that salt -water had run in the veins of several generations on her father's -side, and that she was to be trusted at the helm. And, indeed, I found -that she steered perfectly well; she held the yacht's head steady to -her course; and as half the art of steering lies in that, the most -experienced man could not have done more. - -Her taking the helm enabled the boy to cook for us, and it gave me an -opportunity to obtain sights, to attend to the sails, and the like. -Yet, when day broke next morning, I well remember heartily praying that -I should not have to pass, single-handed, such another night as we had -managed to scrape through. I was on deck all night long. I obliged Miss -Noble to go below and take some rest, and Tom slept at my feet while -I grasped the tiller, ready to relieve me when I was exhausted with -standing. Happily it was a fine night; a warm wind blew out of the -west, and the stars shone purely with a few shadows of clouds sailing -down the eastern slope. - -It was shortly after eight o'clock, while I stood near the tiller -drinking a cup of chocolate which Tom had brought me out of the galley, -where he had lighted a fire, that, happening to look astern, I spied -a sail. Nothing else was in sight, and I had but to look once to know -that she was overtaking us. This, indeed, must have been practicable -to the clumsiest wagon afloat; for the canvas the schooner was under, -merry as was the breeze that whipped the sea into snow and fire under -the risen sun, was scarcely sufficient to drive her along at four miles -in the hour. - -When I had drunk my chocolate I bade Tom prepare some breakfast for -Miss Noble, who was, or had been, resting on a sofa in the cabin. When -the girl had finished her meal she came on deck. And now the overtaking -vessel had risen to her hull, and in the telescope which I pointed at -her was proving herself a large ship, with a black and white band and -a red gleam of copper under the checkered side as she leaned from the -breeze. - -"I wish she may not be an English frigate," said I to Miss Noble. - -"Why?" she asked. - -"Because," said I, "she is sure to prove too inquisitive to be -convenient. She'll be sending a lieutenant on board; he will see you; -he will ask questions; he will demand the schooner's papers; he will -not be satisfied, and will return to his ship for instructions; and we -want to get home comfortably, Miss Noble." - -"I understand you," she answered. "But an English frigate! What -security, what safety is there in the very sound of the words!" - -I waited a little while, and then, again leveling the glass at the -vessel, I clearly perceived that she was not an English frigate, but a -large merchantman, resembling a man-of-war in many details, saving -the row of grinning artillery, the white line of hammocks, the heavy -tops, and a peculiar cut of canvas that could never be mistaken by a -nautical eye in those days of tacks and sheets. Apparently she was -a troop ship out of the Mediterranean; there were many red spots of -uniform upon her forecastle past the yawn and curves of the white and -swelling jibs. And, indeed, she had need to be a hired transport, for -nothing of her rig would have any business in the Mediterranean and -nothing homeward bound from the Indies or the Australias was likely -to be met with so far to the eastward as was the longitude of the -waters we were in. I hoisted the Spanish ensign, and left it flying at -half-mast. - -"Now, Miss Noble," said I, "what story shall I tell those people, -should they heave to and send a boat, as I hope and believe they will?" - -She gazed at me inquiringly. - -"If I give them the whole truth," said I, "it will run like wildfire -throughout the ship. The vessel will probably arrive before we do; -there are crowds of people on board to talk; the news of the outrage -done you and yours will be circulated, printed; it will become -everybody's gossip. Now, would Captain Noble wish this? Would my lady, -your mother, desire this?" - -"No, they would not," she answered, after a pause. "You are kind and -wise to ask the question. The thought did not occur to me when I wished -that yonder vessel might prove an English frigate." - -"Then I must invent a story," said I. - -"But did not you say," she asked, "that when we arrived at an English -port you would be obliged to hand the schooner over to the authorities -of the port, to whom you would relate the truth, as it would be -impossible and most unwise to attempt to deceive them? Those were your -words, Mr. Portlack." - -"Yes, I remember; those were my words. Well, Miss Noble?" - -"Well," said she, "don't you see that, since you must tell the truth -when you arrive in England, this wretched story will have to be made -public in any case?" - -"No," said I, "there is a difference. Yonder is a ship full of soldiers -and sailors, and others--gossips all, no doubt. To give them the -truth--and to give it to the captain or the mate is to give it to -them all--is tantamount to publishing your story throughout England, -whether you will or not; but to communicate with the receiver of wrecks -is another matter. There is official reserve to depend upon. Your -father, too, will not be wanting in influence. To me, Miss Noble, it is -all one. I desire to be influenced by your wishes." - -"My wish certainly is," said she in her calm, emphatic way of speaking, -"that as little as possible of what has befallen me should be known." - -"Then," said I, "I will ask you to step into the cabin and keep in your -own berth out of sight until the visit I hope to receive is ended." - -She went below forthwith. - -Half an hour later the large full-rigged hired transport Talavera had -ranged alongside La Casandra, easily within earshot. She was crowded -with troops; numbers of military officers in undress uniform surveyed -us from the poop. A tall man in a frock coat and a cap with a naval -peak stood upon a hen-coop, and hailed to know what was the matter. - -"My men have deserted," I cried back; "there are but this negro boy -and myself to carry the schooner to an English port. Can you lend me a -couple of hands?" - -"I will send a boat," he exclaimed, very easily perceiving that it was -impossible for me to board him. - -A boat in charge of a mottled-faced, jolly-looking, round-shouldered -man, about thirty years of age, swept alongside, and the jolly-looking -man came on board. - -"Are you the master?" said he. - -"Yes," said I. - -"Short of men, hey?" said he. "So I should suppose, if _he's_ your -crew," bursting into a laugh as he indicated the negro boy with a -motion of his chin. "How come you to be at sea with no more crew than -one little nigger?" - -"My crew," said I, "were composed of five English sailors. They were -shipped at Cadiz. Yesterday they took the boat, and sailed away to the -coast of Spain in her, saying _they_ weren't going to England. Can you -lend me a couple of hands?" - -"What's the name of this craft?" said he, looking up at the Spanish -ensign. - -"La Casandra." - -"From Cadiz, d'ye say?--to where?" - -"To Penzance," said I, naming the first port that entered my head. - -"Who's the owner?" - -"Don Lazarillo de Tormes." - -He asked several further questions of a like sort, and seemed perfectly -satisfied with my answers. I invited him to step below and drink a -glass of wine, but he declined, saying that his ship was in too great a -hurry to get home to allow him to stop and take a friendly glass on the -road. - -He had not long returned to the Talavera when the boat, in charge of a -midshipman, came alongside the schooner again, and a couple of young -sailors, each with a sailor's bag upon his shoulder, climbed over the -side. The midshipman, looking up, called out to me: "They're a couple -of Dutchmen, but the captain guesses they'll serve your turn." I told -him to give my hearty thanks to the captain for his kindness. He then -went back to his ship, which immediately swung her yards, and in a -little while a wide space of water separated the two vessels. - -"Dutchman" is a generic word employed by sailors to designate Germans, -Swedes, Danes, and others of the northern nationalities. These two -Dutchmen proved to be, the one a young Swede, who spoke English very -imperfectly, and the other a young Dane, whose knowledge of English was -almost wholly restricted to the names of ropes and sails; both of them -smart, respectful young fellows, without curiosity, accepting their -sudden change of life with the proverbial indifference of the sailor. - -I had intended, for the convenience of Miss Noble, to carry the -schooner to Whitehaven; but before we gained the parallel of Land's -End it came on to blow heavily from the north and west--so heavily, -and with such an ugly, menacing look of continuance in the wide, dark, -greenish scowl of the sky, that I thought proper to shift my helm -for the English Channel. _There_ we encountered terrible weather. -I hoped to make some near port, but, owing to the thickness and to -the gale that had veered due west, I could do nothing but keep the -schooner running until we were off the South Foreland. The weather then -moderating, I steered for Ramsgate harbor, and the schooner was safely -moored alongside the wall of the East Pier in six days to the hour from -the date of our receiving the two seamen from the Talavera. - -You will suppose that Miss Noble long before this had written a -letter--nay, had written four letters--to her father ready for -instantly posting on her arrival anywhere. It seems that he had four -addresses--his house in Cumberland, his house in town, and two clubs, -one in London and one in the north--and she was determined that her -letters should not be delayed through his absence from one address or -another. These letters were immediately posted, but communication in -those days was not as it is now, and if it happened that her father -was in Cumberland, then, let him post it and coach it as he would, it -must occupy him hard upon four days--and perhaps five days--to reach -Ramsgate. - -Certain Custom House officers came on board and rummaged the schooner -for contraband cargo. They stared hard at the cabin furniture, and -moved and groped here and there with eyes full of suspicion. I told -Miss Noble that my immediate business now lay at the Custom House, and -I begged to know what her plans were, that I might help her to further -them. - -"I will go to a hotel," she answered, "and there wait for my father. As -you are going into the town, will you engage a sitting-room and bedroom -for me at the best hotel in the place? And I will also ask you to order -a trunk-maker to send a portmanteau down to this schooner, otherwise -I shall not know how to pack my ball-dress and jewelry. This dress," -said she, looking down at the robe in which she was attired, and which -had formed a portion of the apparel that Don Christoval had laid in for -her, "I shall continue to wear until my father brings me the dresses I -have written for." - -"I will do what you ask," said I, and, leaving her on board, I climbed -the ladder affixed to the pier wall, and bent my steps in the direction -of the Custom House. - -The receiver was a little, eager-looking man, afflicted with several -nervous disorders. He could neither sit nor stand for any length of -time; he blinked hideously, and he also stuttered. My tale took the -form of a deposition, and I omitted no single point of it, save the -assassination of Don Christoval. - -"This," said the little receiver, stammering and blinking--"this," he -exclaimed, when I had come to an end, "is a very extraordinary story, -sir." - -"It is," said I. - -"Captain Noble is a well-known gentleman," said he. "I was for a short -time on duty at Whitehaven, and heard much of him." - -"His daughter has written to him," said I, "and he will doubtless be -here as fast as he can travel. And what about the schooner?" - -"I must wait for instructions," he answered; "your deposition will be -sent to head-quarters." - -"Have I not a lien upon her?" - -"For what?" said he. - -"For services rendered." - -"Seems the other way about, don't it?" said he, with his stammer. "The -services appear to have been rendered by her to you." - -"There are two men and a boy who want their wages," said I. - -"Who is the owner, d'ye say?" exclaimed the little man. - -"Don Lazarillo de Tormes." - -"Well, he will be communicated with." - -"No, he won't, though," said I. "We shall never hear anything more of -Don Lazarillo de Tormes. What! do you think that the man would dare -come forward and claim his schooner on top of an outrage which would -earn him transportation for life, could they get hold of him in this -country?" - -"If he doesn't come forward," said the little receiver, blinking at me, -"and if the schooner remains unclaimed for any length of time, why, -then she will be sold; and there'll be your opportunity for asserting -your rights." - -I walked into the town, leaving the little receiver putting on his hat -to view the wonderful schooner, with a hope, too, of catching a sight -of Miss Noble. I obtained the required accommodation for the lady at -the Albion Hotel; then, observing a shop in which some trunks were -displayed, I told the shopkeeper to send one of them, or a portmanteau -if he had such a thing, down to the schooner La Casandra. Entering -the street again, I walked a little way, and, finding myself in the -market-place, stopped to consider. I did not possess a farthing of -money in my pocket, and it would take me some time to draw my little -savings out of that London bank in which they were deposited; but money -for immediate needs I must have, and, addressing a porter in a white -apron, who stood in the market-place smoking a pipe, I asked him to -direct me to a pawnbroker. He pointed with his pipe up the street, and -proceeding in that direction I presently observed the familiar sign of -the three balls. I entered, and put down the gold chain and watch that -had belonged to Don Christoval, and for it I received twenty sovereigns -and a ticket. - -I then returned to the schooner, where I found Miss Noble in the cabin -reasoning with the trunk-maker, who had arrived, bearing with him two -or three samples of the desired goods. - -"He will not trust me, Mr. Portlack! and yet it is true--and too -absurd--that I can make him nothing but promises of payment." - -"Pray, how much do you want?" said I. - -"Fourteen shillings," she answered, and she added tranquilly, with a -slight smile, "To think that I should want fourteen shillings!" - -I put down a sovereign; the man gave me change, shouldered the -remaining boxes, and went away. - -Having escorted Miss Noble to her hotel, I again returned to the -schooner, which I intended should be my home until after the arrival of -Captain Noble. The two sailors asked me what they should do. I advised -them to ship aboard a collier and make their way to London, where they -would easily find some one to advise them as to what proceedings they -should take in respect of reward for the assistance they had rendered -me in carrying the schooner home. Next day they found a collier wanting -men, and, giving them a sovereign, I bade them farewell. I never heard -of them again. - -Meanwhile, I kept the negro boy on board the schooner. - -We had arrived at Ramsgate on a Wednesday morning. On the afternoon of -the following Tuesday I was pacing the deck of the schooner as she lay -moored against the pier wall. The harbor master had not long left me. -An hour we had spent together, I in talking and he in listening; for -the receiver, with whom he was intimate, had dropped many hints of my -story to him over a glass of whisky and water one night, and he told me -he could not rest until he had heard my version of the extraordinary -romance. It was a brilliant afternoon; a fresh breeze from the west -swept into the harbor between the pier-heads, and the water danced in -light. A few smacks, bowed down by their weight of red canvas, were -endeavoring to beat out to sea. A number of wherries straining at their -painters frolicked in the flashful tumble, past which was the slope -of beach with galleys and small boats high and dry, and many forms of -lounging boatmen. On the milk-white heights of chalk the windows of -the houses glanced in silver fires, which came and went in a sort of -breathing way as they blazed out and were then extinguished by the -violet shadows of masses of swollen cloud majestically rolling under -the sun. - -I was gazing with pleasure at this animated 'longshore picture, full of -color and splendor and movement, when I observed a gentleman rapidly -coming along the pier, which happened to be almost deserted. There -was something of a deep-sea roll in his gait, and though he clutched a -stick in one hand, the other hung down at his side in a manner that is -peculiar to people who have long used the sea. I seemed to guess who he -was, and watched him approaching while I knocked the ashes out of my -pipe. He came to the edge of the wall, and, looking down, shouted out -in a hoarse voice: - -"Is this schooner the Casandra?" - -"Yes, sir," I answered. - -He put his hand on the ladder and descended. He had a clean-shaven -face, the color of which at this moment was a fiery red, but then -he had been walking fast. His eyes were large, and remarkable for -an expression of eager expectation, as though he had been all his -life waiting to receive some important communication. His hat was a -broad-brimmed beaver; he was buttoned up in a stout bottle-green coat, -and he was booted after the fashion of country gentlemen of that age. - -"My name is Noble--Captain Noble," said he. "Are you Mr. Portlack?" - -"I am," said I. - -"Give me your hand," he exclaimed. He grasped and squeezed my fingers -almost bloodless, letting go my hand with a vehement jerk as though he -threw it from him. "I thank you for bringing my daughter home, sir. Her -mother thanks you for your attention to her child. You have acted the -part of a gentleman, of a sailor, of a man of honor. I thank you again, -and yet again." Then, glancing along the decks of the vessel, he added, -"So _this_ is the blasted schooner, hey?" - -"I trust Miss Noble has told you," said I, "how it happens that I was -on board this vessel on the night of her abduction?" - -"Yes," he answered, still continuing to examine the vessel curiously, -now looking aloft, now forward, now aft, as though he could not take -too complete a view of the craft. "Yes, she told me. The scoundrels! -Thank God! I shot one of 'em. I would have shot 'em all, but the -ruffians stood over me and my son with naked cutlasses and loaded -pistols." - -"I hope they did not burn the house down?" - -"No, we extinguished the fire. Fifteen hundred pounds' worth of -damage--that's all!" He made a cut through the air with his stick, -exclaiming: "The rogues! the villains! They took me unaware. So many of -them, too! How many were there?" - -"Two Spaniards," said I, "the master of this schooner, and four -seamen. You were attacked by seven." - -"Seven!" he cried. "Seven against two! for as to my coachman and -footman--what do you think? They drove away--by heavens! they lashed -the horses and bolted! I should like to go below; I should like to -examine this blackguard craft. A fine, stout vessel all the same. A -pirate in her day, no doubt." - -We descended into the cabin, which he at once made the round of, -peering at the pictures, staring at the looking-glasses, examining -the chairs, as though he were in a museum and every object was -extraordinarily curious. - -"And pray, how is Miss Noble, sir?" said I. "I have not seen her since -Tuesday." - -"Very well; wonderfully well," he answered. - -"How do you find her in looks after her terrible experience?" - -"Why, neither her mother nor I see any change. She is a shade paler -than she commonly is. But the girl has the heart of a lioness." - -"So she has, sir." - -"Now," said he, "Mr. Portlack, tell me about those two cursed -Spaniards. I want to get at them." - -He flung his stick upon the table and threw himself into an arm-chair. - -"What did your daughter tell you about those two men?" said I. - -"Why, she was insensible, she says, for the greater part of the time, -and you informed her that, on the day of her recovery, you transshipped -the two miscreants at their request. What vessel received them?" and -here he pulled out a pocket-book and a pencil-case, with the intention -of taking notes. - -"Your daughter told you that she was insensible, sir, and that she -continued insensible for many days?" - -"Yes," said he, flourishing his pencil with an irritable gesture, -clearly annoyed at my not answering _his_ question. - -"That," said I, "is all that she would be able to tell you." - -My manner caused him to view me steadfastly, and the odd expression of -expectation in his eyes grew more defined. - -"When your daughter awoke from her first swoon, Captain Noble, she -awoke--mad." - -"What do you mean by mad?" he said. - -"She was a maniac," said I. "And I wish that were all." - -"Out with it--out with it _all_, then, man, for God's sake!" he -exclaimed. - -"Only one Spaniard, along with the Spanish steward, left the schooner. -The body of the other Spaniard we dropped overboard." - -He put his note-book on the table and tightly folded his arms on his -breast. I believe, though I could not be sure, that he then guessed -what I was about to tell him. - -"I knew that your daughter was mad," said I. "Don Christoval introduced -me into her cabin, hoping, I know not what, from my visit. It was not -long after, that, being in the quarters which I then occupied yonder," -said I, pointing, "I heard a terrible cry, and opening that door there -I witnessed Don Christoval in the act of falling and expiring, stabbed -to the heart by your daughter, who stood just within her cabin--that -one there--grasping a large knife she had managed to get possession of." - -He fell back in his chair, and remained for some moments looking at -me as though he could not understand my meaning; then a sort of groan -escaped him, and he got up and began to march about the cabin. - -"These are dreadful tidings for a father's ears," he exclaimed, -stopping abreast of me. Then his mood changed with almost electric -swiftness, and, hitting the table a heavy blow with his fist, he roared -out: "By --, but it served the ruffian right! It was _my_ spirit -working in her, mad as she might be. That's how I would have served -him, and the rest of them, one and all--the atrocious villains!" - -"Of course you know," said I, "that your daughter is utterly ignorant -of having slain that Spaniard--ignorant of that, and ignorant that she -was out of her mind: though some dark fancy seemed to haunt her for a -while, until, by a falsehood, which I detest, I dispelled it." - -"What did you tell her?" - -"She asked me if she had been mad, and I said 'No'!" - -"Mr. Portlack," he cried, grasping me by the hand, "you have the -delicacy of a gentleman. The more I know of you the more I honor -you.... And she stabbed him to the heart? Oh, now, to think of it! Her -mother must not be told--there must not be a whisper; she is all nerves -and imagination. Who knows of this beside yourself?" - -"The five seamen," said I; "the five of a crew of Englishmen, who, when -they found that they had been tricked by the Spaniards, resolved to -leave the schooner. They sailed away in a boat for Cadiz when we were -off that port. They know all about the assassination; but, take my word -for it, they'll never let you hear of them on this side of the grave." - -He began to pace the cabin afresh. - -"There is another," said I, "who possesses the secret, to call it so." - -"You mean yourself?" - -"No; a lad--a negro boy. He is now in the schooner. I am troubled -to know what to do with him. I have made him believe that he and I -will both be hanged if he opens his lips. Yet, he may talk by and by, -Captain Noble. He is a mere lad." - -"What is to be done?" said he, frowning. "Tough as I am, it would -break my heart if this were to be known. Conceive the effect of the -intelligence upon my daughter. Great Heaven! if you could but tell me -it was a dream of yours! Upon _your_ secrecy, Mr. Portlack, I know we -can all depend. Your behavior throughout is warrant enough for me. How -to thank you--But about this boy? Let me see him, will you?" - -I at once went on deck and called down into the forecastle, where the -lad lay asleep in a bunk. I told him to clean himself and come to me -in the cabin, and I then returned to Captain Noble. - -"There is only this lad to deal with," said I. "Believe me when I -assure you that you will never hear more of those five seamen, nor of -Don Lazarillo and the steward. Captain Dopping, the master of this -schooner, you yourself shot dead. As for me--But for myself I will say -no more than this: I hold that your daughter was barbarously used. -The men who stole her, and who drove her mad by stealing her, were -scoundrels whom I would have shot down as I would shoot down a brace -of mad mongrels, sooner than have suffered them, as foreigners, to -lay violent hands upon a countrywoman of mine, and upon so good and -sweet a young lady as your daughter. My one desire throughout has been -to make all the amends in my power. I was innocently betrayed into -this villainous business, and I trust, Captain Noble, that the theory -of reparation I have endeavored to work out establishes me in your -mind as a man in whose keeping the tragic secret of this adventure is -absolutely safe." - -He endeavored to speak, but his voice failed him. He took my hand in -both his, and in silence looked at me with his eyes dim with tears. - -"And now about the boy," said I. "It occurs to me that you might have -influence to procure him some situation on board a man-of-war, going -abroad or at present abroad." - -He was about to answer, when the lad's legs showed in the companion-way -and down he came. Captain Noble stared at him, and he stared at the -Captain. - -"A likely lad, Mr. Portlack. Does he speak English?" - -"Do you speak English, Tom?" said I. - -"Nuffin but English, de Lord be praised!" he answered, grinning. - -Captain Noble mused as he eyed him. "You have behaved very honestly," -said he, "and I shall want to do you a kindness. Come to the hotel -where I am stopping to-morrow morning at ten o'clock, and you and I -will have a chat." - -"I'll be dere, sah." - -"It will give me time to think," said Captain Noble in an aside to -me. "And come you and dine with us this evening, Mr. Portlack, will -you?" I glanced down at my clothes. "Never mind about your dress," he -continued. "We shall expect you at half-past six o'clock." - -He stayed for another quarter of an hour, and then left the schooner. - -Never had anything before, and I may say never has anything since, -proved so memorable to me as that dinner with Captain and Lady Ida -Noble and Miss Noble at the Albion Hotel, Ramsgate. The reason why -it was memorable you shall hear in a minute. I found Lady Ida Noble -very different from the individual I had supposed her to be, on the -representations of Don Christoval. I expected to meet a tall, haughty, -and forbidding lady, of an ice-like coldness of demeanor; instead, -I found her an impulsive little woman, in a high degree nervous and -emotional, possessed of a ready capacity of tears, resembling her -daughter in face and figure in a sort of miniature way--for Miss Noble -stood half a head taller than her mother--and a refined lady in all she -said and did. She overwhelmed me with thanks, and seemed unable to make -enough of me. - -Miss Noble looked very well indeed; there was color in her cheek and -fire in her soft dark eyes, and a quiet vivacity of good health in her -bearing and movements. Indeed, her swift recovery, or rather, let me -say, her emergence into health from the horrible disease of insanity -and from her long death-like condition of catalepsy, impressed me then, -as it impresses me still, as the most startling and extraordinary of -all the incidents of our startling and extraordinary voyage. - -When the ladies had left us, Captain Noble put a cigar-case upon the -table, and said: - -"I have been thinking about that negro boy. I have a relative in the -West Indies, and I will send the lad out to him, if he is willing to -go. I will tell my relative the story of my daughter's abduction, -explain that I want the matter kept secret, and bid him have an eye to -the lad." - -"He is a good boy," said I, "and deserves a comfortable berth." - -"He shall have it," said Captain Noble, "and I will put money in his -pocket, too. I'll talk with him in the morning." - -He then questioned me about Don Lazarillo, but I could tell him -nothing. The very name, indeed, I said, might be assumed, though I -thought this improbable, seeing that the other had sailed under true -colors. In talking of these Spaniards he, by design or accident, -informed me that his daughter was heiress to a considerable property. -I can not be sure of the amount he named, but I have a recollection -of his saying that on her mother's death she would inherit a fortune -of between sixty thousand and eighty thousand pounds. One subject -leading to another, he inquired as to the payment of the sailors of -La Casandra. I answered that Don Lazarillo, being terrified by the -seamen's threats, had entered his dead friend's berth and produced a -bag of gold which exactly sufficed to discharge the claims of the men. - -"And what did the rogues offer you, Mr. Portlack?" said he. - -"Fifty guineas, sir." - -"Did you get it?" - -I smiled, and answered that, instead of money, Don Lazarillo had given -me Don Christoval's watch and chain and diamond ring. - -"Have you the things upon you?" said he. - -"I have the ring," said I, pulling it out of my waistcoat pocket. "The -watch and chain I pawned for twenty pounds, being without money, save -a trifle in a savings bank in London. What this ring is worth I'm sure -I can't imagine," said I, looking at it. "I hope it will yield me an -outfit. I as good as lost everything I possessed when the Ocean Ranger -sailed away in chase of the Yankee, leaving me adrift." - -He extended his hand for the ring, and appeared to examine it. "Have -you the pawn-ticket for the watch and chain?" he asked. I gave it to -him. "I should like to possess that watch and chain," said he, "and I -should like also to possess this ring. I'll buy them from you." - -I bowed, scarcely as yet seeing my way. He pulled out his pocket-book -and extracted a check already filled in. - -"You will do me the favor," said he, "to accept this as a gift, and I -will do you the favor to accept this pawn-ticket and ring as a gift." - -The check was for five hundred guineas. - -This noble check is the reason for my calling that dinner at the Albion -Hotel, Ramsgate, a memorable one. It laid the foundations of the little -fortune which I now possess, but which without that check I should -never have possessed, so hopelessly unprofitable is the vocation of -the mariner. But I did even better than that out of the ill-fated Don -Christoval and his friend, for, nobody appearing to claim the schooner, -she was sold after a considerable lapse of time; and when I returned -from a voyage in which I had gone as chief officer, I was agreeably -surprised at being informed, by the solicitor whom I had requested to -watch my interests during my absence, that the claim he had made on my -behalf as virtually the salvor of the schooner had been admitted, and -that I was the richer by a proportion of the proceeds amounting to a -hundred and ninety pounds. - -Whether because of the influence possessed by Captain Noble, or -because the authorities (whoever _they_ might be) decided not to -take proceedings against me as the only discoverable member of the -gang who had forced Miss Noble from her home, certain it is that I -never heard anything more of the matter. I took care that my address -should be known, and carefully informed the receiver at Ramsgate, and -Captain Noble also, that I was willing while ashore at any moment to -come forward and state what I knew; but, as I have before said, I was -never communicated with. The whole story lay as dead in the minds of -those few who knew of it as though the events I have related had never -occurred. - -Five years had expired since the date of my having safely restored Miss -Noble to her parents. - -I was now commanding a large Australian passenger ship, and among those -who sailed to Melbourne with me was a gentleman named Fairfield. He -was a solicitor in practice at Carlisle. One day, in conversing with -him, by the merest accident I happened to pronounce the name of Captain -Noble. He asked me if I knew him. I answered warily that I had heard -of him. He grew garrulous--an unusual weakness in a lawyer--and, in the -course of a long quarter-deck yarn, told me that Miss Noble had been -for two years out of her mind, tended as a lunatic by nurses in her -father's house, but for nearly two years now she had been perfectly -well, and some six months ago had married Sir Ralph A----, Bart., -a widower, whose estate lay within five miles of her father's. He -said that there was some mystery about the lady's past. She had been -abducted and ill-used. He never could get at the truth himself, and -would like to learn it. He understood that she went out of her mind -because of some horrible haunting fancy of having committed a murder. - -That was all he could tell me, and from that day to this I have never -been able to hear of either her or her people. - - -THE END. - - - - -==================================================== - -Transcriber's Notes: - -Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). - -Punctuation inaccuracies were silently corrected. - -The following changes have been made: - - Page 76: her stem-head, and flashed it _was changed to_ - her stemhead, and flashed it - - Page 160: she stood motiontionless gazing _was changed to_ - she stood motionlessly gazing - - Page 198: wrong that has deen done her _was changed to_ - wrong that has been done her - -==================================================== - - - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's The Tragedy of Ida Noble, by William Clark Russell - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TRAGEDY OF IDA NOBLE *** - -***** This file should be named 50372-8.txt or 50372-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/0/3/7/50372/ - -Produced by David K. 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Clark Russell. - </title> - <style type="text/css"> - -body { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - - h1,h2 { - text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ - clear: both; -} - -p { - margin-top: .51em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .49em; - -} -hr { - width: 33%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto; - clear: both; -} - -hr.chap {width: 65%; margin: 2em 17.5%;} - -hr.tb {width: 45%; margin-left: 27.5%; -} -table { - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto; -} - -.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ - /* visibility: hidden; */ - position: absolute; - left: 92%; - font-size: smaller; - text-align: right; -} -.right {text-align: right; padding-right: 3em; margin-bottom: 0;} -.right2 {text-align: right; padding-right: 1em; margin-top: 0;} - - -blockquote {margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%;} - -.center {text-align: center;} - -.right {text-align: right;} - -.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} - -.caption {font-weight: bold;} - -/* Images */ -.figcenter { - margin: auto; - text-align: center; -} - -/* Transcriber's notes */ -.transnote {background-color: #E6E6FA; - color: black; - font-size:smaller; - padding:0.5em; - margin-bottom:5em; - font-family:sans-serif, serif; } - -@media handheld{ - table {width: 98%; margin: 0 2%;} - hr {border-width: 0; width: 0; margin: 0;} - .hidehand {display: none; visibility: hidden;} -} - </style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -Project Gutenberg's The Tragedy of Ida Noble, by William Clark Russell - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The Tragedy of Ida Noble - -Author: William Clark Russell - -Release Date: November 3, 2015 [EBook #50372] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TRAGEDY OF IDA NOBLE *** - - - - -Produced by David K. Park and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - -</pre> - - - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="500" height="779" alt="Front Cover" /> -<span class="caption hidehand">Front Cover</span> -</div> - -<h1>THE TRAGEDY OF IDA NOBLE</h1> - -<p class="center"><i>A NOVEL</i></p> - -<p class="center"><small>BY</small><br /> -W. CLARK RUSSELL</p> - - -<p class="center">NEW YORK<br /> -D. APPLETON AND COMPANY<br /> -1892</p> - -<p class="center">NEW YORK<br /> -D. APPLETON AND COMPANY<br /> -1892</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 120px;"> -<img src="images/i001b.jpg" width="120" height="128" alt="" /> -</div> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Copyright, 1891,</span><br /> -<span class="smcap">By</span> D. APPLETON AND COMPANY.<br /> -<i>All rights reserved.</i></p> - -<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS.</h2> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> -<tr> -<td align="right">CHAPTER</td> -<td align="left"> </td> -<td align="right">PAGE</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="right">I.</td> -<td align="left"><span class="smcap">A Yankee ruse</span></td> -<td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">5</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="right">II.</td> -<td align="left"><span class="smcap">The people of La Casandra</span></td> -<td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">33</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="right">III.</td> -<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Don Christoval's story</span></td> -<td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">59</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="right">IV.</td> -<td align="left"><span class="smcap">A midnight theft</span></td> -<td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">90</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="right">V.</td> -<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Madame</span></td> -<td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">123</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="right">VI.</td> -<td align="left"><span class="smcap">A tragedy</span></td> -<td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">154</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="right">VII.</td> -<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Don Lazarillo leaves us</span></td> -<td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">185</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="right">VIII.</td> -<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Ida Noble</span></td> -<td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">219</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="right">IX.</td> -<td align="left"><span class="smcap">Captain Noble</span></td> -<td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">249</a></td> -</tr> -</table> - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="chap" /> -</div> - -<h2>THE TRAGEDY OF IDA NOBLE.</h2> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.<br /> -<br /> -<small>A YANKEE RUSE.</small></h2> - - -<p>On Monday, August 8th, 1838, the large bark Ocean Ranger, of which I -was second mate, was in latitude 38° 40' N., and longitude 11° W. The -hour was four o'clock in the afternoon. I had come on deck to relieve -the chief officer, who had had charge of the ship since twelve. It was -a very heavy day—a sullen sky of gray vapor seeming to overhang our -mastheads within pistol-shot of the trucks. From time to time there had -stolen from the far reaches of the ocean a note as of the groaning of a -tempest, but there had been no lightning; the wind hung a steady breeze -out of the east, and the ship, with slanting masts and rounded breasts -of canvas, showing with a glare of snow against the dark ground of the -sky, pushed quietly through the water that floated in a light swell to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> -the yellow line of her sheathing.</p> - -<p>Some time before I arrived on deck a vessel had been descried on the -port bow, and now at this hour of four she had risen to the tacks of -her courses, and her sails shone so radiantly in the dusky distance -that at the first glance I knew her to be an American. The captain -of my ship, a man named Hoste, was pacing the deck near the wheel; I -trudged the planks a little way forward of him, stepping athwart-ships, -or from side to side. The men, who were getting their supper, passed -in and out of the galley, carrying hook-pots of steaming tea. It was -an hour of liberty with them, the first of what is called the "dog -watches." The gloom of the sky seemed to heighten the quietude that -was upon the ship. The sailors talked low, and their laughter was -sudden and short. All was silent aloft, the sails stirless to the -gushing of the long salt breath of the east wind into the wide spaces -of cloths, and nothing sounded over the side save the dim crackling -and soft seething noises of waters broken under the bow, and sobbing -and simmering past, with now and again a glad note like the fall of a -fountain.</p> - -<p>The captain picked up a telescope that lay upon the skylight, and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> -crossing the deck took a view of the approaching ship; then approached -me.</p> - -<p>"She is an American," he said.</p> - -<p>"Yes, sir."</p> - -<p>"How do you know she is an American?"</p> - -<p>"By the light of the cotton in her canvas."</p> - -<p>"Ay, and there are more signs than that. She has put her helm over as -though she would speak us."</p> - -<p>By five o'clock she was about a mile to a mile and a quarter distant on -our weather bow, at which hour she had backed her maintop-sail and lay -stationary upon the sea, rolling lightly and very stately on the swell, -the beautiful flag of her nation—the stars and stripes—floating -inverted from her peak as a signal of distress. Both Captain Hoste and -I had searched her with a telescope, but we could see no other signs of -life aboard her than three figures—one of which stood at the wheel—on -her short length of poop, and a single head as of a sailor viewing us -over the bulwark-rail forward.</p> - -<p>We shortened sail as we slowly drew down, and when within speaking -distance Captain Hoste hailed her.</p> - -<p>The answer was—"For God's sake send a boat!" Yet she had good boats of -her own, and it puzzled me, then, that she should request us to send,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> -seeing that there must be hands enough to enable her to back the yards -on the main.</p> - -<p>Captain Hoste cried out, "But what is wrong with you?"</p> - -<p>One of the figures on the poop or raised deck tossed his hands in a -gesture of agitation and distress, and in piteous, nasal Yankee accents -repeated, "For God's sake send a boat!"</p> - -<p>Captain Hoste gazed for a while, as though hesitating. He then said to -me, "Mr. Portlack, there may be trouble aboard that ship, not to be -guessed at by merely looking at her and singing out. Take a couple of -hands in the jolly boat and ascertain what is wanted," and so saying he -bawled a command to the sailors forward to lay the maintop-sail of the -Ocean Ranger to the mast, while I called to others to lay aft and lower -away the jolly boat that was suspended at irons called davits, a little -distance past the mizzen-rigging.</p> - -<p>By this time a darker shade had entered the gloom of the sky, due -partly to the sinking of the hidden sun, and partly to the thickening -of the atmosphere as for rain. The sea, that ran in folds of leaden -hue, was merely wrinkled and crisped by the wind, and I had no -difficulty in making head against the streaming foam-lined ripples and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> -in laying the little boat alongside the American.</p> - -<p>She was a tall, black ship with an almost straight stem and of a -clipper keenness of bow. Her stemhead and quarters were rich with gilt -devices; her towering skysail poles, the white trucks of which gleamed -like silver, seemed to pierce the dusky surface of vapor above them. I -sprang into the mizzen channel and stepped from the rail on to the poop.</p> - -<p>Saving the man at the wheel there was but one person on deck; I sent a -look forward but the ship was deserted. <i>This</i>, I instantly thought to -myself, will be a case of mutiny. There has been brutality, or, which -is nearly as bad as brutality, bad food, and the men have refused duty -and gone below.</p> - -<p>The person who received me was an American skipper of a type that -travel had rendered familiar. His dress was remarkable for nothing but -an immense felt, sugar-loaf-shaped hat—a Fifth of November hat. He had -a hard, yellow face with a slight cast in one eye, and his long beard -was trimmed to the aspect of a goat's. I did not observe in him any -marks of the agitation and distress which had echoed in his melancholy -return yell to us of "For God's sake send a boat!" He eyed me coolly <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> -and critically, running his eyes over me from top to toe as though I -were a man soliciting work, and as though he were considering whether -to engage me or not. He then said, "Good afternoon!"</p> - -<p>"Pray," said I, "what is wrong with you that you asked us to send a -boat?"</p> - -<p>"Step below," said he, moving to the little companion hatch that -conducted to the cabin.</p> - -<p>"I am in a hurry," said I, with a glance round the sea; "it darkens -quickly and I wish to return to my ship. Pray let me hear your wants."</p> - -<p>"This way, if you please," he answered, putting his foot upon the -ladder.</p> - -<p>There was no help for it: I must follow him or return to my ship -without being able to satisfy the questions which Captain Hoste would -put to me. As I stepped to the hatch it began to rain, but without -increase of wind; away to windward in the east the sea was already -shrouded with drizzle, and already to leeward the Ocean Ranger loomed -with something of indistinctness in the thickening atmosphere, her -white sails showing in the gathering dusk as she rolled like spaces of -pale light flung and eclipsed, flung and eclipsed again. The helmsman -at the wheel of the Yankee stared hard at me as I approached the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> -hatch. On entering the cabin, I found the captain with an air of bustle -in the act of placing a bottle and glasses upon the table.</p> - -<p>"Sit you down, sit you down," he called to me. "Here is such a drop of -rum as I know some folks in your country would think cheap at a dollar -a glass."</p> - -<p>"This is no time to drink," said I, "thanking you all the same, nor is -rum a liquor I am accustomed to swallow at this hour. Pray tell me what -is wrong with you."</p> - -<p>"Wal," said he, "if you won't drink my health, then I just reckon -there's nothen for me to do but to drink yourn."</p> - -<p>He poured out about a gill of neat rum which, first smelling it, -with a noisy smack of his lips he tossed down. I looked at my watch, -meaning to give him three minutes and then be off, let his distress be -what it might. The cabin was so gloomy that our faces to each other -could scarcely be more than a glimmer. The evening shadow, darker yet -with rain and with the wet of the rain upon the glass, lay upon the -little skylight over the table; the windows overlooking the main deck -were narrow apertures, and there was nothing of the ship to be seen -through them; yet, even as the Yankee put down his glass, fetching a <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> -deep breath as he did so, I seemed to hear a sound as of men softly -treading, accompanied by a voice apparently giving orders in subdued -tones, and by the noise of rigging carelessly dropped or hastily flung -down.</p> - -<p>"What ship is yourn?" said the captain.</p> - -<p>"The Ocean Ranger," I replied. "But you are trifling with me, I think. -I am not here to answer that sort of questions. What do you want?"</p> - -<p>"Wal," he answered, "I'll tell you what I want, mister. I'm short of -men, and men," he added, with a touch of brutal energy in his tone, "I -must have, or, durn me, if the Ephriam Z. Jackson is going to fetch -New York this side of Christmas Day. I reckon," he continued, with an -indiscribable nasal drawl, "that your captain will be willing to loan -me two or three smart hands."</p> - -<p>"I reckon," I replied, with some heat, "that he will be willing to do -nothing of the sort, if for no other reason than because it's already a -tight fit with us in the matter of labor. If <i>that</i> is your want—very -sorry, I'm sure, that we should be unable to serve you," and I made a -step toward the companion ladder.</p> - -<p>"Stop, mister," he cried, "how might <i>you</i> be rated aboard your ship?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Second mate," I replied, pausing and looking round at the man.</p> - -<p>"Wal," said he, coolly, "I don't mind telling you that my second mate's -little better than a sojer"—by which he meant "soldier"—"and if so -be as you are willing to stop just here, I'll break him and send him -forrards, where he'll be of some use, and you shall take his place."</p> - -<p>My astonishment held me silent for some moments. "Thank you," said I, -"my captain is waiting for me to return," and with a stride I gained -the companion steps.</p> - -<p>"Stop, mister!" he shouted. "Men I must have, and at sea when the -pi-rate necessity boards a craft politeness has to skip. You can stop -if you like; but if you go you goes alone. I tell you I must have men. -Two men ye've brought, and they're going to stop, I calculate. <i>In</i> -fact, we've filled on the Ephriam Z. Jackson, and she's <i>ong rout</i> -again, mister. If <i>you</i> go—"</p> - -<p>I stayed to hear no more, and in a bound gained the deck. Sure enough -they had swung the topsail yard, and the ship, slowly gathering way, -was breaking the wrinkles of the sea which underran her into a little -froth under her bows! Five or six sailors were moving about the decks. -I rushed to the side to look for my boat; she lay where I had left <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> -her, straining at the line, and wobbling and splashing angrily as she -was towed; but there was nobody in her. My two men were not to be -seen. I shouted their names, my heart beating with alarm and temper, -but either they were detained by force below, or, influenced by the -seaman's proverbial reckless love of change, they had been swiftly and -easily coaxed by a handsome offer of dollars and of rum into skulking -out of sight until I should have left the ship. My own vessel lay a -mere smudge in the rain away down upon the lee quarter, yet she was not -so indistinct but that I was able to make out she had not yet filled on -her topsail. I could imagine Captain Hoste bewildered by the action of -the Yankee, not yet visited by a suspicion of the fellow's atrocious -duplicity, and waiting a while to see what he intended to do.</p> - -<p>I had followed the sea for many years, and my profession had taught -me speed in forming resolutions. Had the weather been clear, even -though the time were an hour or two later than it was, I should have -continued to demand my men from this perfidious Yankee. I should have -tried him with threats—have made some sort of a stand, at all events, -and taken my chance of what was to follow. But if I was to regain my <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> -ship every instant was precious. It was darkening into night even as -I paused for a few moments, half wild with anger and the hurry of my -thoughts. My men were hidden; and my suspicions, indeed my conviction, -assured me that I might shout for them till I was hoarse to no purpose. -Then, again, the American vessel was now at every beat of the pulse -widening the distance between her and the Ocean Ranger. It was certain -that my first business must be to regain my own vessel while yet -a little daylight lived, and leave the rest to Captain Hoste; and -without further reflection, and without pausing to look if the American -captain had followed me out of the cabin, I dropped into the mizzen -channels and thence into the jolly-boat that was towing close under, -and cast adrift the line that held the boat to the ship's side. The -little fabric dropped astern tumbling and sputtering into the wide race -of wake of the ship that drove away from me into the dimness of the -rain-laden atmosphere in a large pale cloud, which darkened on a sudden -in a heavier fall of wet that in a minute or two was hissing all about -me.</p> - -<p>I threw an oar over the boat's stern, and, getting her head round for -my ship, fell to sculling her with might and main. There was now a <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> -little more wind, and the rain drove with a sharper slant, but the -small ridges of the sea ran softly with the boat, melting with scarce -more than a light summer play of froth on either hand of me, as I stood -erect sculling at my hardest. The heavier rush of rain had, however, by -this time touched the Ocean Ranger, and she now showed as vaguely as a -phantom down in the wet dusk. I could barely discern the dim spaces of -her canvas, mere dashes of faint pallor upon the gloom, with the black -streak of her hull coming and going as my boat rose and sank upon the -swell.</p> - -<p>I had not been sculling more than three or four minutes when I -perceived that Captain Hoste had gathered way upon his ship. She was, -in fact, forging ahead fast and rounding away into the west in pursuit -of the American, leaving my boat in consequence astern of her out upon -her starboard quarter. It was very evident that the boat was not to be -seen from the Ocean Ranger—that Captain Hoste imagined me still on -board the American, and that, observing the Yankee to be sailing away, -he concluded it was about time to follow him—though this was a pursuit -I had little doubt Hoste would speedily abandon, for it was not hard to -guess that the Ephraim Z. Jackson would outsail the Ocean Ranger by <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> -two feet to one.</p> - -<p>The consternation that seized me was so excessive that my hands grasped -the oar motionlessly, as though my arms had been withered. I could do -no more than stand gaping over my shoulder at the receding ships. As to -shouting—why, already my vessel had put a long mile and a half between -her and my boat; and though I could not tell amid the haze of the rain -and the shadow of the evening what canvas she was carrying, I might -gather that Captain Hoste was pressing her, by the heel of her tall dim -outline, and by the occasional glance of the froth of her wake in the -thickness under her counter.</p> - -<p>I threw my oar inboards and sat down to collect my mind and think. My -consternation, as I have said, was almost paralyzing. The suddenness of -the desperate and dreadful situation in which I found myself benumbed -my faculties for a while. I was without food; I was without drink; I -was also without mast, sail, or compass, in a little open boat in the -heart of a wide surface of sea, the night at hand—a night of storm, as -I might fear when I cast my eyes up at the wet, near, scowling face of -the sky and then looked round at the fast-darkening sea, narrowed to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> -a small horizon by the gloomy walls of rain, in the western quarter of -which the American had already vanished, while my own ship, as I stood -straining my gaze at the pale blotch she made, slowly melted out like -one's breath upon a looking-glass. Yet, heavy as my heart was with the -horror of my position, I do not remember that I was then sensible of -despair in any degree. When my wits in some measure returned, I thought -to myself, rascal as the Yankee captain has proved himself, he surely -will not be such a villain as to leave me to perish out here. He will -know, by the Ocean Ranger pursuing him, that Captain Hoste has not -seen my boat. Then he will shorten sail to enable the Ocean Ranger to -approach, and hail Captain Hoste to tell him that I am adrift somewhere -astern; so that at any hour I may expect to see the loom of my ship -close at hand in search of me, within earshot, with a dozen pairs of -eyes on the look-out and a dozen pairs of ears straining for my first -cry.</p> - -<p>That my drift might be as inconsiderable as possible, I lashed the two -oars of the boat together, made them fast to the painter, threw them -overboard and rode to them. But when this was done it was dark, I -may say pitch dark; the rain fell heavily and continuously, and the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> -wind sang through it in a sort of shrill wailing such as I had never -before taken notice of in the wind at sea, and this noise put a new and -distinct horror into my situation because of my loneliness. The froth -of the streaming ripples broke bare and ghastly, and the run of the -waters against the boat's sides filled the atmosphere with notes as of -drowning sobbing. The cold of the night was made piercing by the wet -of it and the quarter whence the wind blew. I was soaked to the skin, -and sat hugging my shuddering body, forever staring around into the -blind obscurity, and forever seeing nothing more than the mocking and -fleeting flash of the near run of froth.</p> - -<p>The breeze held steady, but something of weight came into the heave of -the little ridges, and from time to time the chop of the boat's bows as -she chucked into a hollow, meeting the next bit of a sea before she had -time to fairly rise to it; from time to time, I say, some handfuls of -spray would come slinging out of the darkness forward into my face, but -nothing more than that happened during those hours of midnight gloom. -Though never knowing what the next ten minutes might bring forth, I -had made up my mind that I was to be drowned, or if not drowned then <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> -that I was doomed to some dreadful ending of insanity which should -be brought about by hunger, by thirst, by that awful form of mental -anguish which is called despair, and that if I were spared to see the -sun rise I should never see him set again.</p> - -<p>But the night passed—the night passed, and I remember thanking God -that it was an August night, which signified, comparatively speaking, -short hours of darkness. It passed, and the breaking dawn found me -crouching and hugging myself as I had been crouching and hugging myself -during the black time that was now ending, staring in my loneliness, -and with a heart that felt broken, over the low gunwale of the boat at -the rim of the sea which slowly stole out all round me in a line of -ink against the ashen slant of the sky. It had ceased to rain, but the -morning broke sullen and gloomy; the heavens of the complexion they had -worn when the night had darkened upon them; the wind no stronger than -before, yet singing past my ears with a harsh salt shrillness that had -something squall-like in the keen-edged tone of it each time the head -of a swell threw me up to the full sweep.</p> - -<p>I stood up, weak and trembling, and searched the ocean, but there was -nothing to be seen. Again and again I explored the horizon with eyes <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> -rendered dim by my long vigil and by the smarting of the salt which -lay in a white crust about the eyelids and in the hollows, but there -was nothing more to behold than the gray ocean, freckled with foam, -throbbing desolately in the cold gray light to its confines narrowed by -the low seat from which I gazed.</p> - -<p>I had now no hope whatever of being searched for and picked up by -my own ship. I did not doubt that she had pursued the Yankee, who -had outsailed her and been lost sight of by her in the darkness, and -that Captain Hoste, understanding the villainous trick that had been -played upon him, but assuming that I, as well as the two men, had been -detained by the American, had long ago shifted his course and proceeded -on his voyage. I looked at my watch, but I had forgotten to wind it -overnight, and it had stopped. By and by I reckoned the hour to be -between eight and nine. There was no sun to tell the time by. Not until -then was I sensible of hunger and thirst. Now on a sudden I felt the -need of eating and drinking, and the mere circumstance of there being -nothing to eat and drink—and more particularly to <i>drink</i>—fired my -imagination, which at once converted thirst into a consuming pain, and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> -I put my lips to my wet sleeve and sucked; but the moisture was bitter, -bitter with salt, and I flung myself down into the bottom of the boat -with a cry to God that, if I was to perish, my agony might come quickly -and end quickly.</p> - -<p>I believe I lay in a sort of stupor for some hour or more; then -noticing a slight brightening in the heavens directly overhead, as -though due to the thinning of the body of vapor just there, I staggered -on to my feet, and no sooner was my head above the boat's gunwale than -I spied a vessel steering directly for me, as I was immediately able -to perceive. How far distant she was I could not have said, but my -sailor's eye instantly witnessed the course she was pursuing by the -aspect of her canvas, that was of a brilliant whiteness, so that at -first I imagined her to be the American in search of me, until, after -viewing her for some time steadfastly, I perceived that she was a -large topsail schooner, apparently a yacht, heeling from the wind, and -sliding nimbly through the water, as one might tell by the rapidity -with which the whole fabric of her enlarged.</p> - -<p>The sight gave me back all my strength. I sprang into the bows, dragged -the oars inboard, and to one of them attached my coat, which I went to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> -work to flourish, making the wet serge garment rattle like the fly of a -flag as I swept it round and round high above my head. Within half an -hour she was close to me, with her square canvas aback to deaden her -way, the heads of a number of people dotting the line of her rail—a -shapely and graceful vessel indeed, with a band of yellow metal along -her waterline, dully glowing over the white edge of froth, as though -some light of western sunshine slept upon her, her canvas gleaming like -satin, a spark or two in her glossy length where her cabin port-holes -were, and the brassy gleam of some gilt effigy under her bowsprit, -from which curved to the masthead the lustrous pinions of her jibs and -staysail.</p> - -<p>A red-headed man wearing a cap with a naval peak stood abaft the main -rigging in company with others, and as the beautiful little vessel came -softly swaying and floating down over the heave of the swell to my -boat, he cried out, "Can you catch hold of the end of a line?"</p> - -<p>"Ay, ay," I answered, in a weak voice, lifting my hand.</p> - -<p>"Then look out!" he bawled.</p> - -<p>A seaman grasping a coil of rope sprang on top of the bulwarks and -sent the fakes of the line spinning to me. I caught the end with a <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> -trembling grasp and took a turn round a thwart, but not till then -could I have imagined how weak I was, for even as I held the rope my -knees yielded and I sank into the bottom of the boat in a posture of -supplication, half swooning. The next moment the little fabric had -swung in alongside the schooner; I was grasped by some sailors and -lifted on board.</p> - -<p>"Let the boat go adrift, she's of no use to us," the red-headed man -cried out.</p> - -<p>Another standing near him exclaimed with a strong foreign accent, but -in good English, "Stop! what name is written in her?"</p> - -<p>Some one answered, "The Ocean Ranger, London."</p> - -<p>"Let that be noted, and then let her go," said the voice with the -foreign accent.</p> - -<p>In this brief while I stood, scarcely seeing though I could hear, -supported by the muscular grip of a couple of the seamen who had -dragged me over the side.</p> - -<p>"Bring a chair," exclaimed the red-headed man.</p> - -<p>"No," cried the other with a foreign accent, "let him be taken into the -cabin and fed. Do not you see that he perishes of hunger and of thirst -and of cold?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span></p> - -<p>On this I was gently compelled into motion by the two seamen, who -conveyed me to an after hatch and thence down into a little interior -that glittered with mirrors, and that was luminous and fragrant besides -with flowers. I was still so much dazed as hardly to be fully conscious -of what I was doing. Sudden joy is as confounding as sudden grief, -and the delight of this deliverance from my horrible situation was -as disastrous to my wits (weakened by the fearful night I had passed -through) as had been the shock to them when I found myself adrift in -the boat on the previous evening. The two seamen quitted the cabin, -leaving me seated at the table, but their place was immediately taken -by the red-headed man, by the gentleman with the foreign accent, -and a minute later by a third person, a short, square, hook-nosed, -black-browed, inky-bearded fellow. They viewed me for a while in -silence; one of them then called "Tom," and a negro boy stepped through -a door at the foremost end of the cabin.</p> - -<p>"Bring brandy and water; also some cold meat and white biscuit. Bring -the brandy first."</p> - -<p>Who spoke I did not know. A tumbler of grog was placed in my hand, but -my arm trembled so violently that I was unable to raise the glass to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> -my lips. Some one thereupon grasped my wrist and enabled me to drink, -which I did greedily, muttering, as I recollect, a broken "Thank God! -thank you, gentlemen," as I put the glass quivering upon the table.</p> - -<p>"How long have you been in this plight?" inquired the red-headed man -in a voice whose harshness and coarseness, half demented as I was, I -remember noticing.</p> - -<p>"Ask him no questions yet," exclaimed one of the others. "Let him have -meat, dry clothes, and sleep, and he will rally. Ay! he will rally, for -he has a lively look."</p> - -<p>The effect of the brandy was magical. It clarified my sight as though -some friendly hand had swept a cobweb from each eyeball. It filled my -body with strong pulses, and enabled me to hold my head erect. But by -this time the negro boy had reappeared with a plate of cold boiled beef -and a dish of biscuit, and I fell to—eating with the animal-like rage -of starvation. I devoured every scrap that was set before me, and then -with a steady hand raised and drained a second glass of grog that had -been mixed by the man with the foreign accent. And now I felt able to -converse.</p> - -<p>"Gentlemen," said I, making a staggering effort to bow to them, "I <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> -thank you from the bottom of my heart for rescuing me from a horrible -death. I thank you gentlemen for this bitterly-needed refreshment."</p> - -<p>"You are soaked to the skin," said the man with the foreign accent. -"You will tell us your story when you are dry and comfortable. Captain -Dopping, you can lend this poor man some dry linen and clothes?"</p> - -<p>"Ay!" responded the other, in his coarse determined voice. "Are ye able -to stand?"</p> - -<p>"I think so," I replied.</p> - -<p>I rose, but observing that I faltered, he came round to where I was -swaying, grasped me by the arm and led me to a little cabin alongside -the door through which the negro boy had emerged. In this cabin were -two shallow bunks or sleeping-shelves, one on top of the other. The -room was lighted by a circular port-hole, and by what is called a -bull's-eye—a piece of thick glass let into the deck overhead. My -companion rummaged a locker, and tossing a number of garments into the -lower bunk, bade me take my pick and shift myself and then turn in, -and, saying this in a harsh, fierce way, he withdrew.</p> - -<p>I removed my wet clothes, and grateful beyond all expression was the -comfort of warm dry apparel to my skin, that for more than twelve <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> -hours had been soaked with rain and steeped in brine. I then stretched -my length in the lower sleeping-shelf, and, after putting up a prayer -of gratitude for my deliverance, closed my eyes and in a few minutes -fell asleep.</p> - -<p>I slept until about three o'clock in the afternoon. On waking I found -the interior bright with sunshine. I lay for a little, thinking and -taking a view of the cabin. My faculties, refreshed by sleep, were -sharp in me. I could remember clearly and realize keenly. The disaster -which had befallen me was a great professional blow. It had deprived me -of my ship, and robbed me of an appointment I had been forced to wait -some tedious months to obtain. With the ship had gone all my clothes, -all my effects, everything, in short, I possessed in the wide world, -saving a few pounds which I had left in a bank at home. The Ocean -Hanger was bound on a voyage that would keep her away from England for -two years and a half, perhaps three years; so that for, let me say, -three years all that I owned in the world, saving my few pounds, would -be as utterly lost to me as though it had gone to the bottom.</p> - -<p>While I thus lay musing, the door of the berth opened, and the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> -red-headed man—Captain Dopping—entered. Having my eyes clear in my -head now, I immediately observed that he was a freckled, red-haired, -staring man, with big protruding moist blue eyes and scarlet whiskers; -all of his front teeth but two or three were gone, and the gaps in his -gums gave his face, when he parted his lips, the grin of a skull.</p> - -<p>I got out of the bunk when he entered.</p> - -<p>"How do you feel now?" said he, eying me in a hard, deliberate, -unwinking way.</p> - -<p>"Refreshed and recovered," said I.</p> - -<p>He ran his gaze over my figure to observe what garments belonging to -him I had arrayed myself in, then said, "What is your name?"</p> - -<p>"James Portlack."</p> - -<p>"What are you?"</p> - -<p>"What <i>was</i> I, you must ask," said I, with a melancholy shake of the -head. "Second mate of the bark Ocean Ranger," and I told him briefly of -the abominable trick which the Yankee captain had played off on Captain -Hoste, and which had resulted in leaving me adrift in the desperate and -dying condition I had been rescued from.</p> - -<p>"A cute dodge, truly," said he, without any exhibition of astonishment -or dislike, nay, with a hint in his air of having found something to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> -relish in the American's device. "It is what a Welshman would call -'clebber.' This is a yarn to tickle Don Christoval."</p> - -<p>"Who is Don Christoval?" said I.</p> - -<p>"He is Don Christoval del Padron."</p> - -<p>"The owner of this schooner?"</p> - -<p>He gave a hard smile, but returned no answer.</p> - -<p>"What is the name of this vessel?" I asked.</p> - -<p>"La Casandra."</p> - -<p>"Where are you from?"</p> - -<p>"Cadiz."</p> - -<p>"To what port?" said I, with anxiety.</p> - -<p>He gave another hard smile, and then, eying me all over afresh, -exclaimed, "Come along on deck. Don Christoval and Don Lazarillo will -be wanting to see you, now you're awake."</p> - -<p>I asked him to lend me a cap, not knowing what had become of mine, and -followed him through the small brilliant cabin into which I had been -conducted by the two seamen. I had a quick eye, and took note of many -things in a moment or two. The cabin was peculiarly furnished, that is, -for a sea-going interior. It gleamed with hanging mirrors; the sides -were embellished with pictures, such as might hang upon the walls of -a room ashore; there were little sofas and arm-chairs, of a kind you <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> -might see in a drawing-room, but not in the cabin of a vessel, whether -a pleasure-craft or not. In short, it was evident that a portion of the -furniture of a house had been employed for fitting out this interior. -But where the vessel herself showed, I mean the ceiling or upper deck, -the sides, the planks left visible by the carpet—<i>there</i> all was -plain and even rough, by which signs I might know that La Casandra was -not a yacht, despite the shining of the mirrors and the gilt of the -picture-frames, the rich carpet under foot, the crimson velvet sofas -and chairs.</p> - -<p>I followed Captain Dopping up the narrow companion-steps, and gained -the deck. The rain was gone, the gloomy sky had rolled away down the -western sea-line, and the afternoon sun shone gloriously in a sky of -blue piebald with stately sailing masses of swollen cream-colored -vapor, which studded the blue surface of the sea with island-like -spaces of violet shadow. A pleasant breeze was blowing, and it was -warm with the sunshine. The schooner was under all the canvas it was -possible to spread upon her, and how fast she was sailing I might -know by the white line of her wake. I had no eyes at the instant for -anything but the horizon, the whole girdle of which I rapidly scanned <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> -with some wild silly notion in me of catching a sight of the cloths of -the Ocean Ranger, that in searching for me might have been navigated -some leagues to the north.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="chap" /> -</div> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.<br /> -<br /> -<small>THE PEOPLE OF LA CASANDRA.</small></h2> - - -<p>The two foreigners, as I might suppose them to be—the two gentlemen -who had talked to me and viewed me in the cabin before I went to the -captain's berth—these men were pacing the sand-colored planks of -the quarter-deck arm in arm, cigars in their mouths, as I emerged; -but, on seeing me, they came to a halt. One was a truly noble-looking -fellow, rising a full inch taller than six feet, and of a magnificently -proportioned shape. This was the man who had addressed me in good -English, but with a foreign accent. He was, besides, an exceedingly -handsome person, his complexion very dark, his eyes of the dead -blackness of the Indian's, but soft and glowing; he wore a large -heavy mustache, black as ink, and curling to his ears; his teeth were -strong, large, and of an ivory whiteness. Plain sailor-man as I was, -used to the commonplace character and countenance of the mariner, I <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> -was without any art in the deciphering of the mind by gazing at the -lineaments of the human face. To me this person offered himself as a -noble, handsome man, of imposing presence, of a beauty even stately; -but when I think of him now in the light of that larger knowledge of -human nature which years have taught me, when I recall his face, I say, -I am conscious of having missed something in the expression of it which -must have helped me to a tolerably accurate perception of the <i>real</i> -character of this schooner's errand, when the "motive" of her voyage -was explained to me.</p> - -<p>His companion was a short man, a true Spaniard in his looks; his -large hooked nose, his searching, restless, brilliant black eyes, his -mustaches and short black beard might well have qualified him to sit -for a picture of Cervantes, according to such prints of that great -author as I have seen. They were both well dressed—too well dressed, -indeed. They wore overcoats richly furred, velvet coats beneath, -splendid waistcoats, and so forth. The fingers of the shorter man -sparkled with precious stones. There was a stout gold chain round -his neck, and a costly brooch in his cravat. They both fastened a -penetrating gaze upon me for some moments, and exchanged a few <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> -sentences in Spanish before addressing me.</p> - -<p>"The gentleman's name is Portlack—Mr. Portlack, Don Christoval," said -Captain Dopping: "he was second mate of a bark named the Ocean Ranger. -He was hocussed, as the Pikeys (gypsies) say, by an American captain. -He'll tell you the story, sir."</p> - -<p>"How do you feel?" said Don Christoval.</p> - -<p>"Perfectly recovered, I thank you," said I.</p> - -<p>"I am glad. We were not too soon. I believe that another twenty-four -hours of your desperate situation must have killed you," said this -tall Don, delivering his words slowly, and looking very stately, and -speaking in English so correctly that I wondered at his foreign accent.</p> - -<p>"Vot ees secon' mate?" inquired the shorter man, pronouncing the words -with difficulty.</p> - -<p>"Why, you might call it second lieutenant, Don Lazarillo," replied -Captain Dopping.</p> - -<p>"It is a position of trust; it is a position of distinction on board -ship?" exclaimed Don Christoval.</p> - -<p>"Oh yes," said Captain Dopping.</p> - -<p>"Do you know navigation?" asked the tall Don.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I hold a master's certificate," I replied, smiling.</p> - -<p>"Explain," said Don Lazarillo sharply, as though his mind were under -some constant strain of unhealthy anxiety.</p> - -<p>"I do not speak a word of Spanish," said I, turning to Captain Dopping.</p> - -<p>"No need for it," said he, in his harsh accents. "A master's -certificate, Don Christoval, enables the holder of it to take charge of -a ship, and in order to take charge of a ship a man is supposed to know -everything that concerns the profession of the sea."</p> - -<p>"Explain," cried Don Lazarillo with impatience.</p> - -<p>His tall companion translated; on which the other, nodding vehemently, -stroked his mustaches while he again surveyed me from head to foot, -letting his eyes, full of fire, settle with the most searching look -that can be imagined upon my face. I caught Don Christoval exchanging a -glance with Captain Dopping. There was a brief pause while the tall Don -lighted his cigar. He then said, with a smile:</p> - -<p>"You have lost your ship, sir?"</p> - -<p>"I have, I am sorry to say."</p> - -<p>"What will you do, sir?"</p> - -<p>"It is for you to dispose of me. I should be glad to make myself <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> -useful to you until you transfer me or land me."</p> - -<p>"But then—but then?"</p> - -<p>"Then I must endeavor to obtain another berth," said I.</p> - -<p>"Explain," cried Don Lazarillo.</p> - -<p>Don Christoval spoke to him in Spanish.</p> - -<p>"You are a gentleman by birth?" said the tall Don.</p> - -<p>"My father was a clergyman," I answered.</p> - -<p>"Yes, sir, that is very good. Your speech tells me you are genteel. To -speak English well you must be genteel. Education will enable you to -speak English grammatically, but it will not help you to pronounce it -properly. For example, a man vulgarly born, who is educated too, will -omit his h's, and he will neglect his g's. He will say nothin', and he -will say 'ouse instead of house. Yes, I know it—I know it," said he, -smiling. "Well, you shall tell me now all about your adventure."</p> - -<p>This I did. He occasionally stopped me while he interpreted to his -companion, who listened to him with eager attention, while he would -also strain his ears with his eyes sternly fixed upon my face when I -spoke. When I had made an end, Don Christoval drew Captain Dopping to -him by a backward motion of his head, and, after addressing him in <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> -low tones, he took Don Lazarillo's arm, and the pair of them fell to -patrolling the deck.</p> - -<p>"We shall sling a hammock for you under the main hatch," said Captain -Dopping, walking up to me. "Sorry we can't accommodate you aft. There's -scarce room for a rat in my corner, let alone two men."</p> - -<p>"Any part of the schooner will serve to sling a hammock in for me," -said I.</p> - -<p>"You will take your meals with me in the cabin," said he. "I eat when -the two gentlemen have done."</p> - -<p>"Where does your mate live?" said I.</p> - -<p>"I have no mate," he answered. "We were in a hurry, and could not find -a man."</p> - -<p>He eyed me somewhat oddly as he spoke, as though to mark the effect of -his words.</p> - -<p>"But is there no one to help you to keep a look-out?"</p> - -<p>"Ay! a seaman," he answered, carelessly. "But now that you're aboard we -will be able to relieve him from that duty."</p> - -<p>"Whatever you put me to," said I, "you will find me as willing at it as -gratitude can make a man."</p> - -<p>He roughly nodded, and asked me what part of England I came from. I <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> -answered that I was born near Guildford.</p> - -<p>"I hail from Deal," said he. "Do you know Deal?"</p> - -<p>"Well," I answered; and spoke of some people whom I had visited there; -gave him the names of the streets, and of a number of boatmen I had -conversed with during my stay at the salt and shingly place. This -softened him. It was marvelous to observe how the magic of memory, the -tenderness of recollected association humanized the coarse, harsh, -bold, and staring looks of this scarlet-haired man.</p> - -<p>"But," said I, "you have not yet told me where this schooner is bound -to."</p> - -<p>"You will hear all about it," he answered, with his usual air returning -to him.</p> - -<p>I was not a little astonished by this answer. Had the schooner sailed -on some piratic expedition? Was there some colossal undertaking of -smuggling in contemplation? But though piracy, to be sure, still -flourished, it was hardly to be thought of in relation with those -northern seas toward which the schooner was heading; while as for -smuggling, if the four seamen whom I counted at work about the vessel's -deck comprised—with the fifth man, who was at her helm—the whole of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> -the crew, there was nothing in any theory of a contraband adventure to -solve the problem submitted by Captain Dopping's reticence.</p> - -<p>He left me abruptly, and walked forward and addressed one of the men, -apparently speaking of the job the fellow was upon. I listened for -that note of bullying, for that tone of habitual brutal temper, which -I should have expected to hear in him when he accosted the seamen, -and was surprised to find that he spoke as a comrade rather than as a -captain; with something even of careless familiarity in his manner as -he addressed the man.</p> - -<p>I had now an opportunity for the first time since I came on deck to -inspect the schooner. It was easy to see that she had never been -built as a yacht; her appearance, indeed, suggested that in her day -she had been employed as a slaver. She was old, but very powerfully -constructed, and seemingly still as fine a sea-boat as was at that time -to be encountered on the ocean. Her bulwarks were high and immensely -thick; the fore-part of her had a rise, or "spring" as it is called, -which gave a look of domination and defiance to her round bows which -at the forefoot narrowed into a stem of knife-like sharpness. She was -very loftily rigged and expanded an enormous breadth of mainsail.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> -I had never before seen so long a gaff, and the boom when amidships -forked far out over the stern. Her decks were very clean but grayish -with brine and years of hard usage. I noticed that she carried a small -boat hanging in davits on the starboard side, and a large boat abaft -the little caboose or kitchen that stood like a sentry-box forward. -This boat, indeed, resembled a man-of-war's cutter—such a long and -heavy fabric as one would certainly not think of looking for on board a -craft of the size of La Casandra. It was my sailor's eye that carried -my mind to this detail. No man but a sailor, and perhaps a suspicious -sailor as I then was, standing as I did upon the deck of a vessel whose -destination was still a secret to me, would have noticed that boat.</p> - -<p>The five of a crew were all of them Englishmen, strong, hearty fellows. -I inspected them curiously, but could find nothing in them that did -not suggest the plain, average, honest merchant sailor. They were well -clothed for men of their class, habited in the jackets, round hats -and wide trousers of the Jacks of my period, and I took notice that -though their captain stood near them they worked as though without -sense of his presence, occasionally calling a remark one to another, -and laughing, but not noisily, as if what discipline there was on <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> -board the schooner existed largely in the crew's choice of behavior. -These and other points I remarked, but nothing that I saw helped me -to any sort of conclusion as to the destination of the little ship or -the motive of the cruise. All that I could collect was that here was a -schooner bearing a Spanish name and owned or hired by one or both of -those Spaniards, who continued to pace the quarter-deck arm-in-arm, but -manned, so far as I could see, by a company of five Englishmen and a -negro lad, and commanded by an English skipper.</p> - -<p>I walked a little way forward, the better to observe the vessel's -rig at the fore, and on my approaching the galley, a fellow put his -head out of it—making a sixth man now visible. He kept his head -out to stare at me. Many ugly men have I met in my time, but never -so hideous a creature as that. His nationality I could not imagine, -though it was not long before I learned that he was a Spaniard. His -coal-black hair fell in a shower of greasy snake-like ringlets upon his -back and shoulders. One eye was whitened by a cataract or some large -pearly blotch, and the other seemed to me to possess as malevolent an -expression as could possibly deform a pupil unnaturally large, and -still further disfigured by a very net-work of blood-red lines. His <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> -nose appeared to have been leveled flat with his face at the bridge by -a blow, leaving the lower portion of it standing straight out in the -shape of the thick end of a small broken carrot. His lips of leather, -his complexion of chocolate, his three or four yellow fangs, his mat -of close cropped whiskers, coarse as horse-hair, his apparel of blue -shirt open at the neck and revealing a little gilt or gold crucifix, a -pair of tarry leather trousers, carpet slippers, and the remains of an -old Scotch cap that lay rather than sat upon his hair; all these points -combined in producing one of the most extraordinary figures that had -ever crossed my path—a path, I may say, that in my time had carried -me into many wild scenes, and to the contemplation of many strange -surprising sights.</p> - -<p>While this prodigy of ugliness and I were staring at each other, the -captain came across the deck to me.</p> - -<p>"What do you think of this schooner?" he said.</p> - -<p>"She is a very good schooner. She is old—perhaps thirty years old. I -believe she has carried slaves in her time."</p> - -<p>"I <i>know</i> it," he replied, with a strong nod, to which his furiously <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> -red hair seemed to impart a character of hot temper.</p> - -<p>"I have seen," said I, "handsomer men than yonder beauty who is staring -at me from the galley door."</p> - -<p>"Ay. He is good enough to shut up in a box and to carry about as a -show. He is cook and steward. His name is Juan de Mariana. He cooks -well, and is or has been a domestic in Don Lazarillo's establishment."</p> - -<p>"How many go to your crew?" said I, questioning him with an air of -indifference now that I found he was disposed to be communicative.</p> - -<p>"Eight."</p> - -<p>"The number includes you and the cook and the nigger lad?"</p> - -<p>He nodded, and looked at me suddenly, as though about to deliver -something on the top of his mind, then checked himself, and pulling out -his watch, exclaimed: "I understand you are willing to serve as mate of -this vessel."</p> - -<p>"I am willing to do anything. Do not I owe my life to you all?"</p> - -<p>"Well," said he, "that may be settled now. It is Don Christoval's wish. -As to pay, him and me will go into that matter with you by and by."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span></p> - -<p>I opened my eyes at the sound of the word <i>pay</i>, but made no remark. It -was a grateful sound, as you will suppose, to a man who had as good as -lost everything save what he stood up in, and who, when he got ashore, -might find it very hard to obtain another berth. The two Spanish -gentlemen had left the deck. Captain Dopping said: "Step aft with me," -and we walked as far as the cabin skylight, where facing about the -captain called out, "Trapp, South, Butler, Scott, lay aft, my lads. I -have a word to say to you." He then turned to the fellow who stood at -the helm and exclaimed, "Tubb, you'll be listening."</p> - -<p>The seamen quitted their several employments and came to the -quarter-deck. The Spanish cook stepped out of the galley to hearken, -and a moment later the ebony face of the negro showed in the square of -the forecastle hatch. The sailors looked as though they pretty well -guessed what was coming.</p> - -<p>"Lads," said Captain Dopping, placing his hand upon my arm, "this here -is Mr. James Portlack. He was second mate of the bark, Ocean Ranger, a -ship I know."</p> - -<p>"And I know her, too," said one of the men.</p> - -<p>"Mr. Portlack," continued Captain Dopping, "holds a master's <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> -certificate, which is more than I do, and he tops me by that. But I'm -your captain, and your captain I remain. Mr. Portlack consents to act -as the mate of the Casandra. Is this agreeable to you, lads?"</p> - -<p>"Ay, ay; agreeable enough," was the general answer.</p> - -<p>"Well, then, Butler, you're displaced, d'ye see? No call for you to -relieve me any longer."</p> - -<p>"And a good job too," said the man, a heavy, sturdy, powerfully built -fellow with small, honest, glittering blue eyes, and immense bushy -whiskers; "there was nothin' said about my taking charge of the deck in -the agreement."</p> - -<p>"Well, you're out of it," exclaimed Captain Dopping, "and the ship's -company's stronger by a hand, which is as it should be. D'ye hear me, -cook?"</p> - -<p>"Yash, yash, I hear all right, capitan," answered the swarthy creature -from the door of his galley, contorting his countenance into the aspect -of a horrid face beheld by one in a high fever, in his struggle to -articulate in English.</p> - -<p>"That'll do, my lads," said the captain.</p> - -<p>The men leisurely rounded and went forward again. There was nothing -unusual in this proceeding. It was customary, it may still be <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> -customary at sea, to invite the decision of the crew before electing -a man to fill a vacant post as first or second mate. All that I found -singular lay in the behavior of the men. There was something in their -bearing I find it impossible to convey—a suggestion of resolution -struggling with reluctance, or it might be that they gave me the -impression of fellows who had entered upon an undertaking without -wholly understanding its nature or without fully believing in the -sincerity of its promoters. But be their manner what it might, its -effect upon me was to greatly sharpen my curiosity as to the object of -this schooner's voyage from Cadiz to the north as she was now heading.</p> - -<p>I said to Captain Dopping, "I will take charge at once if you wish to -go below."</p> - -<p>"Very well," said he, "I will relieve you at four bells, and that will -give you the first watch to stand," by which he meant the watch from -eight o'clock till midnight.</p> - -<p>"But I do not know your destination," said I. "How is the schooner to -be steered?"</p> - -<p>"As she goes," said he with a significant nod, angry with the scarlet -flash of hair and whisker which accompanied it.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Right," said I, and fell to pacing the deck, while he disappeared down -the companion-way.</p> - -<p>Athirst as I was for information, I was determined that my curiosity -should not be suspected. Be the errand of this little ship what it -might, I was always my own master, able to say "No" to any proposals I -should object to, though taking care to give due effect by willingness -in all honest directions to the gratitude excited in me by my -deliverance. I would find the fellow at the helm watching me with an -expression on his weather-darkened face that was the same as saying -he was willing to tell all he knew, but I took no notice of him, -contenting myself with merely observing the vessel's course and seeing -that she was kept to it. The voices of the two Spaniards and Captain -Dopping rose through the little skylight, one of which lay open. They -spoke in English, and occasionally I heard my name pronounced with now -and then a sharp hissing "Explain" from Don Lazarillo, but I did not -catch, nor did I endeavor to catch, any syllables of a kind to furnish -me with a sense of their discourse.</p> - -<p>All this afternoon the weather continued rich, glowing, summer-like. -One seemed to taste the aromas of the land in the eastern gushing of -the blue and sparkling breeze. The three white spires of a tall ship <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> -glided like stars along the western rim, but though we were in the -great ocean high-way nothing else showed during the remainder of the -hours of light. Beyond a little feeling of stiffness and of aching in -my joints I was sensible of no bad results of my night-long bitter -and perilous exposure in the jolly-boat of the Ocean Ranger. I had, -indeed, been too long seasoned by the sea to suffer grievously from an -experience of this sort. Night after night off the black and howling -Horn, off the stormy headland of Agulhas, amid mountainous seas, in -frosty hurricanes whose biting breath was sharpened yet by hills and -islands of ice glancing dimly through the snow-thickened darkness, I -had kept the deck, I had helped to stow the canvas aloft, I had toiled -at the pumps, waist-high in water, my hair crackling with ice, my hands -without feeling. No! I was too seasoned to suffer severely from the -after-effects of exposure in an open boat throughout an August night in -the Portuguese parallels.</p> - -<p>At five o'clock, when I glanced through the skylight, I spied the negro -lad named Tom laying the cloth in the little cabin. Occasionally a -whiff of cooking, strong with onions or garlic, would come blowing aft <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> -in some back-draught out of the canvas. I judged that the crew were -well fed by observing one of them step out of the galley and enter the -forecastle, bearing a smoking round of boiled beef and a quantity of -potatoes in their skins; then by seeing another follow him with pots -of coffee or tea, two or three loaves of bread, and other articles of -food which I could not distinguish. Fare so substantial and bountiful -seemed to my fancy a very unusual entertainment for a forecastle tea or -"supper," as the last meal at sea is commonly called.</p> - -<p>I found myself watching everything that passed before me with growing -curiosity. The hideous cook Mariana, followed by the negro boy -bearing dishes, came aft with the cabin dinner, and presently, when -I peeped again through the skylight as I trudged the deck in the -pendulum walk of the look-out at sea, I perceived the two Spaniards -at table. The several dyes of wines in decanters blended with the -brilliance of silver—or of what resembled silver—and other decorative -details of flowers and fruit, and the square of the skylight framed -a picturesquely festal scene. It was possible to peep without being -observed. The Spaniards talked incessantly; their speech rose in a -melodious hum; for to pronounce Spanish is, to my ear, to utter music.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> -But the majestic dialect was as Greek to me. Don Lazarillo gesticulated -with vehemence, and I never glanced at the skylight without observing -him in the act of draining his glass. Don Christoval was less -demonstrative. He was slow and stately in his movements, and when he -flourished his arm or clasped his hands, or leaned back in his chair to -revolve the point of his mustache with long, large, but most shapely -fingers, he made one think of some fine actor in an opera scene.</p> - -<p>It was six o'clock by the time they had dined, and at this hour the -seamen taking the privilege of the "dog watch"—but, indeed, it was -all privilege from morning to night in that schooner—were pacing the -deck forward, four of them, every man smoking his pipe—the fifth man -being at the tiller. I might now make sure that there went but five -seamen to this ship's company. The ugly cook leaned in the door of his -galley puffing at a cigarette. The sun was low, his light crimson; his -fan-shaped wake streamed in scarlet glory under him to the very shadow -of the schooner, and the little fabric, slightly leaning from the soft -and pleasant breeze, floated through the rose-colored atmosphere, her -sails of the tincture of delicate cloth of gold, her bright masts <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> -veined with fire, her shrouds as she gently rolled catching the western -light until they burned out upon the eye as though of polished brass.</p> - -<p>The two Spaniards arrived on deck, each with an immensely long cigar -in his mouth. Don Christoval addressed me pleasantly in his excellent -English. He asked me with an air of grand courtesy if I now felt -perfectly well, inquired the speed of the schooner, my opinion of -her, my experiences of the Bay of Biscay in this month of August, and -inquired if I was acquainted with the coast of England, and especially -with that part comprised between St. Bees Head and Morecambe Bay. His -friend eagerly listened, keeping his fiery eyes fastened upon my face, -and whenever I had occasion to say more than "yes" or "no," he would -call upon Don Christoval to interpret.</p> - -<p>Shortly after the tall Don had ceased his questions—and I found no -expression in his handsome face and in the steady gaze of his glowing -impassioned eyes to hint to me whether my replies satisfied him or -not—Captain Dopping came up out of the cabin.</p> - -<p>"Now, Mr. Portlack," said he, in his harsh, intemperate voice, yet -intending nothing but civility, as I could judge, "get you to your -supper, sir; eat hearty, and you can make as free with the liquor as <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> -your common sense thinks prudent."</p> - -<p>I was hungry, having tasted no food since the meal of beef and -biscuit which had been set before me when I was first brought on -board; nevertheless I entered the cabin and took my place with some -diffidence. I felt a sort of embarrassment in eating alone and helping -myself—perhaps because of the shore-going appearance of the interior; -it was like making free in a gentleman's dining-room, the host being -absent. Tom, the nigger boy, waited upon me. He gave me a dish of -excellent soup, and I fared sumptuously on spiced beef, some sort of -dried fish that was excellent eating, potatoes, beans, fruit, and -the like. The fruit was fresh enough to make me understand that the -vessel was but recently from port. There were several kinds of wines in -decanters upon the table; but two glasses of sherry sufficed me, though -two such glasses of sherry I had never before drank. It might be that -I was no judge, but to my palate the flavor of that amber-colored wine -was exquisite.</p> - -<p>The negro boy stood near waiting and watching me intently in the -intervals of his business. Had the skylight been closed I should have -put some questions to him, but the regular passage of the shadows of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> -the two Spaniards upon the glass of the skylight as they walked the -deck, warned me to be very wary. The change, not indeed from an open -boat, but from the decks and the cabin of the Ocean Ranger to this -interior, with its pictures, mirrors, its handsomely equipped and most -hospitable table, was great indeed, and as I looked about me I found -it difficult to realize the experience I was passing through. I could -now tell by the weight of the fork and spoon which I handled that the -plate which glittered upon the white damask cloth was solid silver. -There could be no doubt whatever that the furniture of a drawing-room -or of a boudoir had gone to the equipment of this cabin. Nothing seemed -to fit, nothing had that air of oceanic <i>fixity</i> which you look for -in sea-going decorations. But a quality of tawdriness stole into the -general appearance through contrast of the gilt, the looking glasses, -the pictures, the velvet, with the plain, worn sides of the vessel, the -rude cabin beams, and the gray and even grimy ceiling or upper deck. I -asked the negro boy if he spoke English.</p> - -<p>"Yes, massa," said he, "I speak English, nuffin else, tank de Lord."</p> - -<p>"Were you shipped at Cadiz?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Yes sah."</p> - -<p>"I suppose they found you cruising about on the look-out for a job."</p> - -<p>He showed his teeth and smiled broadly and blandly, in silence -upturning his dusky eyes to the skylight. It was no business of mine to -question him, but I thought it as likely as not that he had run from -some American vessel, for it was hard to imagine that a lad who was -undoubtedly a Yankee negro, and who I might fully believe was without a -word of Spanish, would be idling in Cadiz.</p> - -<p>I was about to go on deck when the boy said to me, "Do yah know where -yaw've to sleep?"</p> - -<p>"In the 'tween decks I understood," said I.</p> - -<p>"I'll show yah, massa, I'll show yah. Dis is de road to your bedroom, -sah," and, somewhat to my surprise, he went to a little door at the -foremost end of the cabin, opened it, and conducted me into a part of -the schooner that was almost immediately under the main-hatch. The -main-hatch was a very wide square, and the cover of it was formed -of three pieces, one portion of which was lifted so that light and -air penetrated; the sun was still above the horizon, and I could see -plainly. A hammock had been swung in a corner on the starboard side; -it was to be my bed, and there was no other article of furniture; but <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> -then I was a sailor, very well able to dispense with all conveniences, -requiring nothing but a bucket of fresh brine to supply the absence of -a wash-stand. There was a quantity of rope, some bolts of canvas, and -other matters of that kind stowed away down here. The space, however, -was no more than a good sized cabin, owing to the after bulk-head -coming well forward and the forecastle bulk-head standing well aft.</p> - -<p>Having taken a brief survey of my quarters, heaving as I did so a -melancholy sigh of regret over the new sea-chest, the quantity of -wearing apparel, the nautical instruments, books and old home memorials -which the Ocean Ranger had sailed away with, and which it was as likely -as not I should never hear of again, I re-entered the cabin and mounted -the short flight of companion steps. Captain Dopping was walking with -the two Spaniards. I went a little way forward to leeward, and leaned -upon the rail, looking at the sea. The breeze was soft and pleasant, -warm with the long day of sunshine, and the schooner was sliding in -buoyant launchings over the round brows of the wide heave of the swell -which in the far dim east swayed in folds of soft deep violet to the -tender magical coloring of the shadow of the coming night that had <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> -paused in the heavens there. Four of the seamen were sitting in the -schooner's head, watching with amused hairy countenances the face of -the cook Mariana, who grotesquely gesticulated and contorted his form -in his efforts to address them in English. On a sudden Captain Dopping -crossed the deck, holding a handsome cigar case filled.</p> - -<p>"Don Christoval wants to know if you smoke?" said he.</p> - -<p>I took a cigar and lighted it at the stump which Captain Dopping was -smoking, and perceiving that Don Christoval observed me, I raised -my hat, and made him a low bow, which he returned with the majesty -of a grandee. The captain resumed his place at the side of the two -Spaniards, and I smoked my cigar alone, with wonder fast increasing -upon me as I looked at the cigar, and then reflected upon the -entertainment I was fresh from, and recollected how Captain Dopping -had pronounced the word <i>pay</i>. What did it all mean? What mystery was -signified, what proposals presently to come were indicated by this -handsome, this hospitable reception of a distressed seaman—a mere -second mate as I was or had been, rendered destitute by disaster—one -of a crowd of obscure persons without pretensions of any kind or sort? -Surely, had I been a nobleman, a man in the highest degree important <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> -and influential, this treatment could scarcely have been more liberal -and considerate.</p> - -<p>I had nearly smoked out the exceedingly fine cigar when Captain -Dopping, in his rasping voice, cried out to one of the men—I believe -it was to the man George South—to step aft and take charge of the deck -for a bit. I turned my head, and found that the two Spaniards had gone -below. Captain Dopping beckoned to me, but the gesture was not wanting -in respect. He was but a Deal longshore man, though superior to the -ordinary run of those fellows, and was impressed or, at all events, -influenced by my holding a master's certificate and, let me say it -without vanity, for it is a thing to concern me but little after all -these years, by my speech, manners, and appearance.</p> - -<p>"You are wanted in the cabin," said he, and he led the way below.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="chap" /> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.<br /> -<br /> -<small>DON CHRISTOVAL'S STORY.</small></h2> - - -<p>Don Christoval and Don Lazarillo were seated at the table drinking -coffee; the atmosphere was charged with the delicate aroma of the -berry, blended with the perfume of choice Cuba tobacco. The hour was -somewhere about seven. The sunset made the little space of heaven that -showed through the skylight resemble a square of gilt. Spite, however, -of there being some half-hour of twilight left, the two polished and -gleaming silver cabin-lamps were burning.</p> - -<p>"Pray sit," said Don Christoval. "I want to talk to you on an affair of -business."</p> - -<p>I took a chair. Captain Dopping seated himself opposite me. Don -Lazarillo watched me with a fiery gaze of excitement and expectation.</p> - -<p>"I will tell you plainly and at once, Mr. Portlack," said Don -Christoval, fastening his fine, burning, liquid eyes upon my face,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> -"what the object of our expedition is. In a word, it is this: I am -going to England to recover my wife, who has been feloniously stolen -from me."</p> - -<p>He paused to observe the effect of his words. I could only look -blankly, for there was really nothing to be <i>thought</i> so far, and -therefore nothing to be said.</p> - -<p>"You will have suspected that our excursion was a singular one," said -he smiling, with a note of sweetness threading his voice.</p> - -<p>"I confess, sir," said I, "that I supposed this schooner to be on an -errand which might be something a little out of the way."</p> - -<p>"What does he say?" said Don Lazarillo in Spanish. Don Christoval -patiently translated and then resumed, addressing me now with an -air of melancholy and in tones curiously plaintive. "It is fit that -my story should be told to you, because I shall desire your willing -assistance. That story is well known to my friend, Captain Dopping, -who did not engage the crew until he had made them acquainted with -the object of this expedition. Captain Noble was in your Royal Navy, -but he no longer serves. My mother, who I may tell you was an English -woman, was distantly related to Captain Noble on his mother's side.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> -I met the captain and his daughter Ida in Paris, and," said he, with -a graceful flourish of his hand, "I fell in love with the young lady. -Captain Noble's wife is a woman of distinction. She is Lady Ida Noble, -and her father is an earl. She did not favor my addresses, nay," said -he, with his face darkening—and I observed that the countenance of -Don Lazarillo, who was eying him steadfastly, darkened too in manifest -sympathy with his friend's mood—"she was rude; she was repellent; she -was insulting. She had high desires for her child, higher," he cried, -smiting his breast, and rearing his form, and looking at his friend, -"than Don Christoval del Padron." He gesticulated again. "Enough!—the -lady, passionately adoring me, consented to elope. I had followed them -to Madrid, and from Madrid my charming girl and I fled to London, -where we were secretly married. The father tracked us. We were man -and wife ere he discovered us. But, two days before we had arranged -to leave England for Cuba, where I have an estate, I returned to the -hotel where I had left my wife, and found her gone. I made inquiries, -and gathered from the description given to me by the people of the -hotel that Captain Noble and his son had called, had had an interview <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> -with my wife, and that she had driven away with them in the carriage -in which they had arrived. I easily guessed," he continued, speaking -plaintively, without the least temper, with an expression of melancholy -that wonderfully heightened the beauty of his face, "that she had been -made the victim of some cruel stratagem. I knew she would write to me -when the chance was permitted her, and week after week I lingered at -the hotel, believing she would address me there or return to me there.</p> - -<p>"A month passed, and then I received a letter. She informed me that her -father and brother had called and implored her to accompany them to her -mother, who lay in a dying state at a hotel in Bond Street. She loved -her mother, and her tender heart was half broken by this afflicting -intelligence. Naturally, she made haste to accompany her father and -brother; but it was a base lie, Mr. Portlack, an inhuman stratagem! -They conveyed her, not to her mother, but, valgamedios! to Captain -Noble's estate in Cumberland. There she has remained; there she still -is; but her deliverance is at hand, and she awaits me."</p> - -<p>"A regular mean and cruel business, don't you think, Mr. Portlack?" -cried Captain Dopping, dragging at his scarlet whiskers.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Does 'ee understand?" exclaimed Don Lazarillo.</p> - -<p>"Perfectly," I answered. "It would be strange if I could not understand -your pure English, sir," addressing Don Christoval.</p> - -<p>"What we want to know is——" began Captain Dopping.</p> - -<p>"Patience," interrupted Don Christoval, elevating his hand. "It is -probable," he continued, turning to me, "that we may have to employ -force. I hope not, but we are prepared," he added, with a flash in his -eyes. "The lady is my wife: you will allow that I have a right to her?"</p> - -<p>"Undoubtedly," said I.</p> - -<p>"The marriage was in all senses lawful. I can produce the necessary -documentary evidence. I can produce my dear one's letter in which she -communicates to me the perfidious conduct of her father. You will own -that I have a greater right to my wife than her father has to his -daughter."</p> - -<p>"You will own that?" rasped out Captain Dopping. "The law sets the -husband first. He's afore all hands."</p> - -<p>"That is so; that need not be reasoned," said I.</p> - -<p>"Will you," said Don Christoval, "agree to assist me in obtaining -possession of my wife?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span></p> - -<p>Don Lazarillo appeared to understand this question. He eyed me sternly -and with inexpressible eagerness.</p> - -<p>"Sir," said I, "you have saved my life and you have been very good to -me. I should wish to be of service to you, though for no other reason -than to prove my gratitude. But, sir, it would enable me to answer you, -to learn the steps that are to be taken to recover the lady."</p> - -<p>"That is easily done," exclaimed Don Christoval, with a sweep of his -hand that made a single diamond upon his finger stream in an arc of -white fire under the lamps. "Captain Noble's house is called Trafalgar -Lodge. It is a house that stands amid grounds. It is situated on the -coast of Cumberland, to the south of St. Bees Head. A walk to it from -the shore occupies less than half an hour, so close is it to the sea. -The cliffs are high, but there is a little bay that has a margin of -sand which even at high water gives plenty of foothold for landing from -a boat. Into this bay between the cliffs comes sloping a—I forget the -name in English."</p> - -<p>"A gap, Don Christoval?" said Captain Dopping.</p> - -<p>"That is it—that is it. You walk up this gap into the country and then -the house is not far off. There is a little town about four miles <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> -distant inland—it is what you would call the nearest post-town to -Trafalgar Lodge. It is a silent range of cliff—there are no guards -of the coast. I have inquired, and there are no guards of the coast -along that cliff. Well, when we arrive we keep what Captain Dopping -calls a wide offing until the darkness of the night comes. We shall -be guided by the weather: if it is fine we act, if it is stormy we -keep at sea and wait. But suppose it fine. Good! We launch the boat. -Myself, my friend here, Don Lazarillo de Tonnes, Captain Dopping, and -five seamen enter her and we land. The rest is our affair. There must -not be miscarriage; this voyage is costly." He glanced as he spoke at -Don Lazarillo. "And we must go ashore in such force as to assure myself -of getting possession of my wife, let Captain Noble and his son and -his men servants and any gentlemen guests who may be sleeping in his -house—let them, I say, oppose us as they will. But"—he held up his -forefinger with a smile that made his teeth glance like light under his -heavy black mustache—"what meantime is to become of this schooner? Do -you see? The men we have we must take ashore, saving Mariana and Tom."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span></p> - -<p>"The long and short of it is, Mr. Portlack," here broke in Captain -Dopping, with a note of impatience hardening yet his harsh utterance, -"there wasn't time to ship more hands in Cadiz. Don Christoval had -received news that if he wanted to get possession of his lady he must -bear a hand, for she stands to be carried abroad by her father, and -that 'ud signify a constant shifting of places. We wanted more men, and -Don Christoval would have no sailors but Englishmen. I scraped together -the best I could collect in a hurry, but our company was too few by one -or two for this here job. There's a house to be surrounded, d'ye see; -there's a chance of one or more of us being hurt in the melhee that's -likely as not to happen, and then again a man must be left in charge of -the boat."</p> - -<p>Don Christoval listened with patience, watching me; Don Lazarillo, in -a fiery whisper, asked his friend to translate. This was done, and a -short pause ensued.</p> - -<p>"What you wish me to do," said I, "is to take charge of the schooner -while you and the crew are ashore?"</p> - -<p>"That is it," cried Don Christoval.</p> - -<p>"With me you leave Mariana and the negro boy?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span></p> - -<p>"So."</p> - -<p>"A slender ship's company if it should come on to blow on a sudden," -said I, smiling.</p> - -<p>"We shall leave the vessel snug," said Captain Dopping, "and we don't -reckon upon being more than three hours gone. Besides, we shall be -guided by the looks of the weather. It's still summer time, ain't it?"</p> - -<p>"You see, Mr. Portlack," said Don Christoval, leaning back in his -chair and infusing a peculiar note of sweetness into his voice, "you -are a navigator and my friend Captain Dopping is a navigator. It would -be rash for both navigators to go ashore. Suppose an accident should -befall Captain Dopping—how should we reach Cuba: nay, how should we -reach a near safe port? There is no navigation among us saving what you -and he have."</p> - -<p>"I understand, sir. I also gather that when you have regained the lady -you proceed forthwith to the island of Cuba?"</p> - -<p>"To my estate there," he answered.</p> - -<p>"You'll be able to see your way through this job?" exclaimed Captain -Dopping. "The law's at the back of us. A man has a right to his own. -There's no lawyer a-going to gainsay that, you know. If you steal my -watch and refuse to hand it over, there's no law to hinder me from <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> -coaxing you into my view of the business with a loaded pistol."</p> - -<p>"Explain, in the name of the Virgin," hissed Don Lazarillo, in Spanish, -for these words I could understand, and such was his excitement and -impatience that the rings upon his trembling hands danced in flashes -like rippling water under a light.</p> - -<p>Don Christoval interpreted, on which the other bestowed several -approving nods upon Captain Dopping.</p> - -<p>"But I have not yet spoken," said Don Christoval, "of any reward for -your services. I here offer you fifty guineas, which shall be paid to -you on our arrival in Cuba."</p> - -<p>"Do you assent, Señor, do you assent?" whipped out Don Lazarillo, who -now and again would catch the meaning of what was said.</p> - -<p>The offer was a tempting one. It was made to a man rendered bankrupt -by disaster. The money would go far to supply my loss; then again, my -immediate business when I reached a port, no matter where it might be -situated, must be to find a berth, and here was one prepared for me, -easily and comfortably to be filled by me. Moreover, I was but a young -man, and there were such elements of wild and startling romance in -this Spaniard's proposal as could not fail to eloquently appeal to my <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> -love of adventure and to my delight in everything new and stirring. -It was not for me to too curiously inquire into the sincerity of Don -Christoval's story. Captain Dopping believed it; the five seamen -believed it; and what was there for me to ground suspicion upon?</p> - -<p>I paused but a minute and then said, "I accept, sir."</p> - -<p>"Good!" cried Don Christoval, with enthusiasm.</p> - -<p>He went to a locker, and took from it a small, richly-inlaid box or -desk, which he placed upon the table; then on a sheet of gilt-edged -paper, in the corner of which was stamped or embossed in colors a -nosegay of flowers, with a legend in Latin upon a scroll beneath it, he -wrote as follows:</p> - -<blockquote> -<p class="right">"<i>La Casandra, at Sea,</i></p> -<p class="right2">"<i>August 9, 1838.</i></p> -<p>"<i>I, Don Christoval del Padron, hereby undertake to pay to Mr. James - Portlack, acting as first mate of this schooner, the sum of fifty-two - pounds ten shillings sterling on the vessel's arrival at Cuba.</i>"</p> -</blockquote> -<p>He affixed his signature, and the document was further signed by Don -Lazarillo and Captain Dopping as witnesses.</p> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span></p> - -<p>"This is the form of my agreement with Captain Dopping and with the -sailors," said Don Christoval, handing me the paper. "I trust it -satisfies you;" and he gave me one of his noble grandee bows.</p> - -<p>"Oh, yes, sir, and I am obliged to you for it. I suppose the crew will -be discharged on the vessel's arrival at Cuba?"</p> - -<p>"Ay!" exclaimed Captain Dopping.</p> - -<p>"I have but one more question to ask. Is your Cuban port fixed upon?"</p> - -<p>"Matanzas will not be far off," replied Don Christoval.</p> - -<p>Matanzas I knew to be near Havana; and at Havana, whose harbor in those -days was populous with ships, I felt I should have no difficulty in -obtaining a berth and so making my way home.</p> - -<p>I rose, bowed, and went on deck.</p> - -<p>The sun was gone; the night had fallen; it was hard upon eight o'clock. -The wind had slightly freshened, and the schooner was slipping nimbly -but quietly over the dark surface of the waters. There was a slip of -young moon in the south-west, by which sign I might know that, if we -made good progress, there would be moonlight for the wild midnight -adventure we were embarked on. There was a growling murmur of sailors'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> -voices forward in the gloom; aft, sliding up and down against the -brilliant dust of stars over the stern, was the lonely shadow of the -helmsman gripping the tiller; the seaman who had been commissioned to -keep a look-out trudged in the gangway. My watch on deck would come -round at eight o'clock, that is to say, in a few minutes. I leaned -against the rail to think, but my reverie was almost immediately broken -in upon by Captain Dopping. He approached me close, and peered to make -sure of me, and said:</p> - -<p>"Well, now you are one of us, what think ye of the job?"</p> - -<p>"I have not yet had time to think," said I.</p> - -<p>"It is good pay," said he, "and no risk to you either. You're on the -right side of the door anyway. There's bound to be a scrimmage. The -house is an old, strong building, there are gates to pass, and we must -look to be fired upon."</p> - -<p>"That you must expect," said I. "But you are numerous enough—seven -powerful men, not counting the eighth, whom you leave to tend the boat. -You will go ashore armed, of course?"</p> - -<p>"Of course."</p> - -<p>"You do not doubt that it is a genuine business?" said I.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span></p> - -<p>"No, no," he answered in his file-like tones; "it's genuine enough. -What d'ye suspect?"</p> - -<p>"Why, do you see, an errand of this sort, Captain Dopping," said I, -hushing my voice, "might signify anything else than the recovery of a -Spanish gentleman's wife."</p> - -<p>"So it might," he answered; "but in our case it don't happen to. You'll -be satisfied when you see the lady brought aboard."</p> - -<p>"Who is Don Lazarillo?" said I.</p> - -<p>"A bosom-friend of Don Christoval's. I look to him more than to the -other for my money. Plenty he has; ye may guess that by his hands."</p> - -<p>"But my agreement is with Don Christoval."</p> - -<p>"He'll pay ye—he'll pay ye."</p> - -<p>"How did you meet him?"</p> - -<p>"I heard that he was making inquiries for a master to take charge of -this schooner. I was piloting a Spaniard to the Thames when she was run -into, and they sent for me to Cadiz; and I had finished my business, -and was thinking of getting home again, when this job fell in my way."</p> - -<p>Pulling out his watch, he stepped so as to bring the dial plate into -the sheen round about the skylight, then calling out that it was eight -bells, and that the course of the vessel was the course to be steered,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> -he vanished.</p> - -<p>The Spaniards arrived on deck to smoke, and they walked up and down, -constantly talking very earnestly in Spanish. But they never offered -to accost me until they went below, at about half-past nine, when they -both wished me good night, after Don Christoval had addressed a few -words to me about the weather and the time we were likely to occupy -in our run to the Cumberland coast. But though they went below, they -did not go to bed. The negro boy placed fruit, wine, and biscuit upon -the table, and the two Dons went to cards, each of them smoking a long -cigar. There was something dream-like to me in the sight of them, along -with the fancies begotten by the strange situation I now found myself -in. It was like taking a peep into a camera obscura to glance through -the skylight at the picture which it framed. Don Christoval looked a -noble, handsome creature indeed, in the irradiation of the soft oil -flames of the sparkling silver lamps. His smiles played like a light -upon his face, so white were his teeth, so luminous the glow of his -dark eyes at every festal sally of his own or his friend. Was his tale -to be doubted? Surely he was a sort of man to inspire a most romantic <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> -passion in a woman; and, given that passion, all that he had related -was perfectly credible and consistent.</p> - -<p>Likely as not, Don Lazarillo was finding the money for this adventure. -Captain Dopping had said so, and, indeed, one had only to think of the -schooner's equipment, and to peer down into that gleaming interior, -to guess that the cost of this amazing quest must heavily tax even a -very long purse. Don Christoval had talked of his estate in Cuba; he -might be a poor man, nevertheless; his poverty, indeed, might have -proved one of the objections which Captain Noble and his wife had found -unconquerable, though their daughter had thought otherwise. It was -quite conceivable then that Don Lazarillo, being an intimate friend of -Don Christoval, should be helping him by his purse, his sympathy, and -his association.</p> - -<p>But speculations of this sort were not very profitable. I had myself to -consider, and it reconciled me, I must own, to the adventure to reflect -that the part I was expected to play in it was a passive one. The law -of England in those times was not what it now is. Men were hanged for -offenses which are now visited by short periods of imprisonment. If I -was being betrayed into a felonious confederacy, I might hope to be <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> -safe in the plea of ignorance, and in the excuse of having taken no -active share in what might happen. Another consideration: suppose I -had declined Don Christoval's proposal, how should I have been served? -I could not imagine they would speak a passing ship to transfer me to -her. They were in a hurry, and not likely, therefore, to delay the run -to the Cumberland coast by entering a port to set me ashore. So I must -have remained on board in any case, and being on board, assuming the -act they were intent on an illegal one, I should have been as much or -as little incriminated as I now might be by agreeing to serve as mate -in the vessel.</p> - -<p>For eight days, dating from the morning of my rescue, nothing of -sufficient interest happened to demand that this story should stand -still while I tell it. We had extraordinarily fine weather; never once -did the breeze head us so as to divert the schooner by as much as half -a point from her course. Twice it blew fresh enough to single reef our -canvas for us, but the breeze was a fair wind; it filled the sky with -flying shapes of white vapor, but it left the sun shining brilliantly -in the clear blue hollows between, and on these occasions it was that -La Casandra showed her sailing qualities; for during thirteen hours <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> -the log regularly returned her speed as at something over twelve and -a half knots in the hour. She heaped the foam to her stemhead, and -flashed it in dazzling clouds from her bows, and the race of it spread -away astern like the boiling yeast from the beat of the wheels of -a paddle-steamer, with a sparkling hill of sea steadfast on either -quarter, and over those fixed curves of brine the froth swept like lace -endlessly unrolling.</p> - -<p>I punctually took sights every day with Captain Dopping, and every day, -therefore, knew the exact position of the schooner at noon. The point -of coast we were making for lay a few miles to the south of St. Bees -Head. I reckoned that we should be off it by about the 18th. As the -days passed, indeed I may say as the hours passed, the Spaniards grew -visibly more anxious. Their laughter was infrequent, their conversation -earnest and often agitated, as I might reasonably suppose by the tones -of their voices and by their demeanor; they came and went restlessly, -one or the other of them often appearing on deck in the night watches, -and they never sat long at table.</p> - -<p>But their behavior was perfectly consistent, entirely natural, such as -was to have been expected in men who had embarked on a wild romantic -adventure, heavily laden with possibilities of tragedy. They had <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> -very little to say to me, nor were their conversations with Captain -Dopping as frequent as before. They kept much together, walking arm -in arm, Don Christoval grave to austerity, Don Lazarillo energetic in -gesticulation, often pausing to withdraw his arm to smite his hands -with vicious emphasis of what he might be saying, and all their talk, -as I might imagine, was wholly about the probable issue of this attempt -to obtain possession of Señora del Padron.</p> - -<p>I had many opportunities of speaking to the seamen. I warily questioned -them, and one or two appeared convinced that the object of this -expedition was as had been represented to them, while the others owned -that though they did not doubt Don Christoval's story, it might not be -exactly as he had put it, either.</p> - -<p>"But what does it signify?" a man named Scott said to me in one -middle-watch while I conversed with him as he stood at the helm. "If -when we gets ashore and we find out that the job's different from what -we've been made to believe it, why, sir, here stands one," said he, -thumping his breast, "who'll find it easy enough to say 'No' if he -means 'No.' There's no blazing furriner in all Europe, let alone a <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> -Spaniard, as is good enough for an Englishman to get into a mess for. -This here Don says he wants his wife, and I suppose his money's as -good as any other man's. Well, we're willing for to help him to get -his wife, and as his tarms are handsome we're quite agreeable to a bit -of a shindy when it comes to our marching up to the house and asking -that the gent's lawful wife should be restored to him. But if it ain't -that," said he, squirting a mouthful of tobacco juice over the stern, -"if it's to be something that we haven't agreed for, some job as might -end in a prison hulk and a free passage to Australia, here stands one," -he repeated, striking himself afresh, "as'll find it easy to say 'No,' -if so be as 'No' is the meaning that's in his mind."</p> - -<p>This, as I collected from the short chats I held with others of the -men, fairly represented the sentiments of the schooner's forecastle on -the subject of our expedition.</p> - -<p>We had hauled on a course a trifle more westerly than was necessary to -secure ourselves a wide offing, and then, somewhere about one o'clock -on the afternoon of the 18th, we shifted our helm and headed the yacht -east-north-east. All hands were on deck on the look-out for the land, -the pale blue loom of which might now at any moment be visible on the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> -sea-line. The wind was about south, the day clear, hot and tranquil; -there was a terrace of swollen white vapor down in the west, with a -look of thunder in the knitted texture of the brows of the stuff, but -the mercury in the barometer stood high, and I could find nothing to -disquiet me in the appearance of the English heavens, tessellated here -and there with spaces of high-poised, delicate cloud that gleamed with -divers hues like the pearly inside of a mussel-shell.</p> - -<p>Lunch had been served on deck to the two Spaniards. I noticed a -change in Don Christoval; his face had hardened, there was an air of -sneering temper in his rare smile that reduced it to little more than -a mirthless grin, and often a vindictive look in his eyes as he would -stand staring ahead at the sea, swaying his noble figure to the heave -of the deck. His manner, indeed, suggested itself as that of one who -seeks for courage in temper, for resolution in the evocation of hot -thoughts. Don Lazarillo was pale as though oppressed with nausea. He -constantly raised his hat to press a large silk pocket-handkerchief to -his brow. When I glanced at him I'd wonder whether, when the hour came, -he would be among those who entered the boat.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span></p> - -<p>A small brig, a collier, with dingy ill-fitting canvas, her yards -braced sharp up, passed under our stern near enough to hail us, but -we took no notice of the old fellow who stood flourishing his hand -upon the rail; whereupon to mark his disgust he flung his tall, -weather-worn hat down on to the deck, and shook his fist at us with a -shout whose meaning did not catch my ear, though a laugh arose among -the men forward. The cook Mariana showed himself very agitated. He was -constantly in and out of his galley, running into the schooner's head -to stare, then darting back afresh to his pots and pans, one moment -popping his hideous face out from the door to starboard, then thrusting -it through the door to port, making one think of those little toy -monsters which spring out of a box when you free the lid.</p> - -<p>At four o'clock the land was in sight. The giant St. Bees Head dimly -shaded the sea-line in the north-east, and thence the shore stretched -in a blue film to the south, dying out in the azure atmosphere. Don -Christoval leaned over the rail viewing the land with a face darkened -by an immovable frown, the scowling air of which gave a malevolent -expression to his eyes. He stood rooted—motionless—his hand with a -paper cigar between his fingers, half raised to his mouth, as though <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> -the whole form of him had been withered by a blast of lightning.</p> - -<p>"How close do you mean to sail, Capitan?" cried Don Lazarillo, -sputtering out his words brokenly, with such an accent as could not -possibly be imitated in print. "We shall be seen!" he exclaimed, with -his face working with agitation.</p> - -<p>"No fear of our being seen at this distance, Don Lazarillo," answered -Captain Dopping. "A four mile offing is all we want till nightfall, and -that there land is three times that distance off."</p> - -<p>Don Lazarillo asked Don Christoval to explain, but the tall Spaniard -continued to stand as though in a trance.</p> - -<p>An hour passed, all remained quiet aboard the schooner. The light wind -fanned the clipper keel of the craft forward, and by the expiration -of the hour the land was hard, firm, and defined, but with no feature -of spur, chasm, or ravine visible as yet to the naked eye. Sail was -shortened to the extent of the topsail being furled, a jib hauled down, -and the gaff-topsail taken in.</p> - -<p>"Best see, while there's plenty of time and daylight," said Captain -Dopping to me, "that the boat's all ready for launching," and then -addressing Don Christoval, he exclaimed, "Shall we get the arms-chest <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> -up, sir, and the weapons served out? It may come on a dark night," he -added, sending a look at the terrace of cloud in the west, "and it -won't do to mess about with lanterns."</p> - -<p>"Do whatever you think proper," whipped out Don Christoval in accents -fierce with excitement, though by his stern, hard, and frowning face it -would have been impossible to guess his agitation.</p> - -<p>I superintended the clearing away of the boat, and saw that everything -was in readiness for launching her. This was to be done smack -fashion—that is to say, by running her through the gangway over the -side. Meanwhile a couple of seamen brought up a large square black box. -Captain Dopping opened it, and disclosed a number of cutlasses and -heavy pistols of the old-fashioned type. He called to the seamen and -handed them each a pistol and a cutlass. I watched their faces as they -received them. They all of them handled the weapons as objects strange -to their grasp, with awkward grins running over their countenances as -they poised the firearms in their brawny fists or drew the cutlasses to -examine their blades.</p> - -<p>"I hope," said the man Andrew Trapp, "that it ain't going to come to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> -our using these here tools?"</p> - -<p>"The lady's to be got possession of," said Captain Dopping, "without -spilling blood if it can be managed; but to be got, anyhow."</p> - -<p>"That's right enough," said the sailor named South, "but all the same," -said he, leveling the pistol he held, "if so be as I am to fire this -here consarn, I choose that it shouldn't be at a fellow countryman."</p> - -<p>"Mind dat pistole," cried Don Lazarillo, recoiling a step.</p> - -<p>"I take it," said the seaman named William Scott, gazing earnestly at -the cutlass in his hand, "that these weapons are meant more to what -they calls overawe the people in the house we're to surround than to be -used agin 'em."</p> - -<p>"We may have to exert force," said Don Christoval, who stood near -listening; "if our lives are threatened we must be in a position to -protect ourselves. Is not this as you would wish, men?"</p> - -<p>There was a general murmur of assent.</p> - -<p>"I claim my right—no more!" the tall Spaniard cried, with an -impassioned gesture of his arm; "you will help me to assert my right? I -trust no blood may be shed—if blood is shed it will not be our fault."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span></p> - -<p>"That puts it correctly, I <i>think</i>, lads?" exclaimed Captain Dopping, -in his harshest voice and with his most thrusting manner.</p> - -<p>The sailors holding their weapons went forward. Were they to be trusted -at a pinch, I wondered? Assuredly they were not to be trusted in any -sense if the business they were about to enter upon should prove in -the smallest degree different from the object of the expedition as -represented by Don Christoval.</p> - -<p>We continued to stand in for the land under small canvas, which, -however, there was no further occasion to reduce, for as the sun sank -the wind fined down, and at seven o'clock the breeze had scarce weight -enough to hold our sails steady. The sun was astern of us, and his -light streamed full upon the coast, which glowed red as copper in that -atmosphere upon the dark blue of the water brimming to its base and -against the violet of the eastern sky. When the little collier brig -which had spoken us sank her topmost cloths past the rim of the ocean, -the sea line ran flawless from St. Bees Head right away round to the -point where the land melted out. It was hard to credit that we were in <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> -home waters, so deserted was that wide surface. The schooner might, -indeed, have been softly rippling through the heart of some Pacific -solitude.</p> - -<p>With the aid of a powerful telescope, handed to me by Don Christoval, -I could distinctly make out the bay where the boat was to go ashore, -and the dark scar of gap or ravine vanishing in the land beyond. I had -never before been off this coast, and ran the glass along the line of -it, but I could see no houses, no habitation of any sort; it was sheer -rugged cliff, whose character of forbidding desolation was not to be -softened by the rich and beautiful light that at this hour clothed it. -I asked Captain Dopping if he was acquainted with this coast, and he -answered that many years before he had made a trip to Whitehaven, which -lay round the corner to the north of St. Bees Head. That was all he -knew of the Cumberland shore. Occasionally Don Lazarillo would descend -into the cabin, and twice on glancing through the skylight I detected -him in the act of pouring out with a trembling hand a full bumper of -sherry, which he seemed to swallow furtively, but looking round instead -of <i>up</i>, possibly forgetting the deck window through which I peeped. -These draughts began to tell upon him; his face grew flushed, his fiery -eyes moist, and his gait changed into a defiant strut when he moved <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> -restlessly about his friend, talking with extraordinary vehemence and -a frequent snap of his fingers. Don Christoval, on the other hand, -exhibited a new phase of mood. There was less of gloom in his face, -more of animation. He smoked his cigar collectedly, with now and again -a smile, and sometimes a laugh at what his flushed-faced, restless, -gesticulating companion said. I took it that the English blood in -his veins kept his nerves steady without obliging him to imitate Don -Lazarillo's quest after courage in the contents of a decanter of wine.</p> - -<p>I remember the sunset that night as one of sullen and thunderous -magnificence. The luminary, like a huge red rayless target, sank into -the coast of cloud over the stern, setting fire to the round and tufted -shoulders of the long, compacted mass, but darkening the base of it -into an ugly livid hue. Long beams of light, like the spokes of some -titanic wheel of flame, projected in burning lines till their red and -storm-colored extremities were over our mastheads; and as they slowly -fainted, the coast ahead of us darkened, the blue of the sky beyond -it deepened into liquid dusk with a single rose-colored star faintly -trembling in the heavens almost directly above the bay that was our <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> -destination, as though it were some freshly kindled beacon to advise us -how to head through the approaching gloom.</p> - -<p>We continued slowly to stand in. The stem of the schooner scarcely -broke the quiet water, and I reckoned that unless more wind came we -should not have arrived at a point where we were to come to a stand -much before midnight. The moon rose somewhere about half-past eight. -She soared in a swollen mass of crimson out of the inky dye of the -land, but swiftly changed into clear silver. Astern of us there -was a constant play of red lightning, with an occasional moan of -thunder slipping over the dark soft folds of the small swell. The two -Spaniards, Captain Dopping, and myself stood near the helm.</p> - -<p>"The moon," said Don Christoval, "shines full upon our white canvas, -and reveals us."</p> - -<p>"But first of all," said Captain Dopping, "who's keeping a look-out -yonder? And next, supposing there to be eyes on the watch, who's to -guess our business? Wouldn't any man who may already have twigged us -through a glass reckon us a gentleman's pleasure-yacht from the Isle of -Man, say, sauntering inward in view of this quiet night with a chance -of a calm atop of it? But if you like, Don Christoval—though it's not <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> -what I should recommend—we'll stand in a mile or two farther, then -douse every stitch, and ride to a short scope. The soundings'll be -about twenty fathom."</p> - -<p>"That will look suspicious," said Don Christoval. "I do not like the -idea. I do not advocate anchoring. See the time that will be lost in -heaving up the anchor."</p> - -<p>"What ees it dat Capitan Dopping say?" inquired Don Lazarillo.</p> - -<p>His friend explained; on which Don Lazarillo cried out shrilly, "No, -no, no," and addressed Don Christoval in Spanish with incredible -vehemence of delivery and gesticulation, his friend meanwhile uttering -the single word "Si!" in a soothing note over and over again.</p> - -<p>"But if this breeze takes off, Captain Dopping," said I, when I could -get an opportunity to speak, "you'll either have to bring up or take -your chance of the schooner drifting far enough to make the pull from -the shore to her a long one."</p> - -<p>Captain Dopping stared round the sea, whistling.</p> - -<p>"How far off is the land?" said Don Christoval.</p> - -<p>"Call it six mile," answered the captain.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span></p> - -<p>"It would be too far to row," said Don Christoval. "We must creep -farther in."</p> - -<p>"At what hour, sir," I asked, "do you wish to land?"</p> - -<p>"It must be past midnight," answered the Spaniard, "when the house is -hushed, and when, should firearms be used, there will be no one awake -in the country around to hear the reports."</p> - -<p>"And how long is the job going to take us, I wonder?" said Captain -Dopping, cutting off a piece of black tobacco with a big clasp knife, -whose blade glittered in the moonlight, and burying the morsel in his -cheek.</p> - -<p>"An hour—easily in an hour," answered Don Christoval, speaking rapidly -and breathing swiftly. "Mark now how I piece out the time: three -quarters of an hour to row ashore, half an hour to march to the house, -that makes an hour and a quarter; an hour in executing our errand, that -makes two hours and a quarter; and then another hour and a quarter to -regain the schooner, that makes three hours and a half in all. Call the -time four o'clock when we sail away, by five we shall be out of sight -of land."</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="chap" /> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.<br /> -<br /> -<small>A MIDNIGHT THEFT.</small></h2> - - -<p>It fell a stark calm at ten o'clock, and then I believed that there -could be nothing for it but to bring up—that is, to let go the anchor; -but half an hour later the moonlight upon the water—for by this time -the moon had floated southward—was tarnished by a little air of wind -from the south and west; it breathed, wet with dew, like a sigh into -the schooner's canvas, then softly freshened into a small summer -night-wind. The mass of clouds in the west had vanished; all was clear -heaven from the sea line there to the looming shadow of the land over -our bow; the moon rode high, small and piercingly clear; the canvas -shone like ice in the light; stars of diamond-like brilliance sparkled -in the moisture along the rail; and every man's shadow lay at his feet -upon the pearl-colored planks, as though drawn in Indian ink there. The -hush of expectation lay upon the little vessel as she crept along with <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> -a noise of rippling water refreshingly rising from alongside. Captain -Dopping held his watch to the moon.</p> - -<p>"Wants but twenty minutes to midnight," said he; "we're close enough -in. Down helm," and he began to sing out orders in a voice whose -harshness sounded startlingly upon the ear amid the exquisite serenity -of that moonlit night.</p> - -<p>The men ran about, still further reducing sail. So clear was the -night, it was possible even at a distance to read the expressions -upon their faces. There was no Preventive Force or Coastguard Service -then as now. The English coast was indeed watched at certain parts -of it where smuggling was notoriously carried on, and the people who -kept a look-out were styled blockaders; but the northern reaches, -more particularly where the coast was rugged and high, and where -the facility for "running" goods, as it was called, was small, were -unsentineled. The smuggler needed the accommodating creek, the -comfortably shoaling foreshore, secret hiding places, and, above all, a -handy local machinery for the prompt distribution of his commodities. -All this was to be found in the English Channel, more particularly in -that stretch of it which lies between the North and South Forelands; -but it was not to be met with up here, on this lonely iron-bound <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> -Cumberland coast. In our time, even in these times, when smuggling -is a decaying, an almost extinct business, the pallid apparition of -such a schooner as La Casandra hovering doubtfully at midnight off any -point of the English shore would infallibly in a very short time win -the regard and invite the visit of a boat full of brawny coastguards, -armed, as our men were about to arm themselves, with pistols and with -cutlasses.</p> - -<p>"Get the boat launched, my lads," called out Captain Dopping.</p> - -<p>The gangway was unshipped, the muscular fists of the seamen gripped -her gunwales, and she was run with a note of thunder overboard, stern -foremost, smiting the water a blow that lashed it white, then lying -quietly in the shadow of the schooner. The two Spaniards descended -into the cabin, Don Lazarillo talking noisily as he trod upon his -companion's heels. I stood looking on while Captain Dopping and the -seamen girded the cutlasses to their hips and thrust pistols into their -pockets or breasts.</p> - -<p>"You will keep a bright look-out for us, Mr. Portlack," said the -captain. "Hold the schooner as stationary as possible. There's nothing -going to hurt her to-night," said he, with a look round, "and there'll <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> -be no tide to speak of for another two hours. You will then wear and -keep her with her head to the nor'ard."</p> - -<p>"Ay, ay, sir. But suppose, while you're ashore, a boat should come off -and speak us?"</p> - -<p>"Not likely, not likely," he rasped out.</p> - -<p>"But suppose it, Captain Dopping. I accept no responsibility. What am I -to say, and what am I to do?"</p> - -<p>"Don't Don Christoval and his friend mean to come?" he answered, -walking to the skylight and looking down.</p> - -<p>Either he could not invent any instructions, or he considered a visit -from a shore boat as a thing too improbable to merit consideration.</p> - -<p>The two Spaniards came on deck. I had never supposed that Don Lazarillo -would have had courage to enter the boat until I observed that he had -armed himself with a long saber, the extremity of whose steel scabbard -was visible at the skirts of the Spanish cloak he had drawn over his -shoulders. Don Christoval was similarly swathed, but how armed I am -unable to say, as no weapon was to be seen upon him.</p> - -<p>"All's ready for the start, gentlemen," exclaimed Captain Dopping.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Right!" exclaimed Don Christoval in a firm, deep voice, "let the men -enter the boat."</p> - -<p>The sailors dropped into her one by one, and sat silent and grim and -dark in the gloom of the schooner's side, waiting.</p> - -<p>"Where is Mariana?" cried Don Christoval.</p> - -<p>The ugly cook's voice answered from somewhere forward, and he -approached. Don Christoval addressed him in Spanish impressively, and -as it seemed to my ear menacingly, emphasizing his words with frequent -gestures. Mariana responded humbly with many shakes of the head, as -though in deprecation of what had been said to him. Don Christoval then -turned to me and extended his hand.</p> - -<p>"Mr. Portlack, I rely upon your vigilance and seamanship. We hope not -to be long absent."</p> - -<p>He relinquished my hand, I raised my cap, and without another word, he, -Don Lazarillo and Captain Dopping stepped over the side.</p> - -<p>"Shove off," the captain exclaimed, and in a few moments the boat was -gliding shoreward to the noise of the rhythmic grind of her five long -oars betwixt the thole-pins, with eddies of dim phosphorescence under -each lifted blade.</p> - -<p>I watched her until her small shape, blending with the shadow thrown by -the high land upon the water, was lost to sight, and then stepped aft <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> -to the helm, at which stood the negro boy Tom, who had been ordered to -the tiller by me when the steersman had relinquished it to enter the -boat. I mechanically eyed the illuminated disk of compass card, while -my thoughts accompanied the armed expedition that was making for the -shore. I figured the arrival of the boat at the margin of white sand -that curved with the bay; in fancy I saw the people get out of her, -leaving one behind to watch, and marching in a little dark company up -the gap, a faint noise of the clank of side-arms attending them. In -imagination I marked them cautiously approach the house—but what sort -of house was it? Walls I had heard it had, and gates, and these must -be forced or scaled. But what of Madame del Padron, the Ida of Don -Christoval's heart, if not of his hearth? Was she lying awake yonder, -expecting her husband? Impossible! for no date could certainly have -been fixed for the arrival of the schooner off the coast. But of course -she would be awaiting him with impassioned anxiety at all hours of the -night—nights that were gone, and to-night that was going: and he would -have told her that he meant to regain her with the aid of an armed crew -of seamen. Yet, though forewarned, should a struggle happen, she would <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> -listen with terror to the sound of firearms, to explosions, which might -signify the death of her husband, or the fall of one or more of her -own people, only a little less dear to her than her husband. What was -her age? Was she dark or fair? Beautiful I could not but imagine the -heroine, or, rather, the object, of such an adventure as this must be.</p> - -<p>Then from musings of this sort my mind rambled into reflections of -the odd and perilous fortune that had brought me into this business. -How had fared the two sailors whom the murderous rogue of a Yankee -skipper had pilfered from me? Into what-parallels had the Ocean Ranger -penetrated by this time, and what man of her crew had been selected to -fill my place? I looked at the negro boy, whose eyes in the moonlight -resembled a brace of new silver coins set in a block of indigo.</p> - -<p>"What's your other name?" said I.</p> - -<p>"Tom, sah."</p> - -<p>"Ay, but what besides Tom?"</p> - -<p>"Tom ober and ober again, massa, as often as yah like."</p> - -<p>"How old are you?"</p> - -<p>He grinned widely as he answered, "Nebber was told, sah."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Are you a Roman Catholic?" said I, talking sheerly for the want -of something to do, and imagining he might have been chosen by Don -Christoval because of his religion.</p> - -<p>He shook his head, still broadly grinning, but meaning that he did not -understand.</p> - -<p>"Have you any religion?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, sah."</p> - -<p>"What is it?"</p> - -<p>"I believe dat when I die I shall be seen no mo'."</p> - -<p>"Where do you go when you die?"</p> - -<p>"I know, sah," he answered, with a low throaty laugh.</p> - -<p>"Where?" said I.</p> - -<p>"Dis child," said he, touching his body, "goes dar," and he pointed -down; "dat child," he continued, indicating his shadow that stretched -sharply defined upon the planks, "goes up dar," and he pointed upward.</p> - -<p>"Who taught you that?" said I.</p> - -<p>"Is it true, massa?"</p> - -<p>"Mind your helm," said I, "and I'll talk to you another time."</p> - -<p>I went to the side and peered. The atmosphere in the south-west was -brimful of moonshine, and the sea line mingled with the sky in the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> -delicate haze of sheen till you could not tell heaven from water. -Nothing broke the stillness but the voice of the wind-brushed ripples, -unless it were the chafe of a rope on high or the gull-like cry of the -sheave of a block stirred by a sudden strain. The shadowy figure of -Mariana, the cook, restlessly paced the deck forward. He seemed to be -keeping a sharp look-out, as I was. A flock of wild fowl passed high -overhead; their cries as they swept, invisible, over our trucks made a -strange, solemn, plaintive noise in the midnight silence that was upon -the sea. Sometimes I believed I could hear the small remote thunder -of surf echoing out of the line of land which, now that the moon was -shining upon it, stood in a long pale spectral range.</p> - -<p>I was thirsty and stepped below for a tumbler of seltzer and claret. I -took a cigar from a box which stood upon the table, dimmed the cabin -lamps, and returned on deck. Expectation, the constant obligation of -keeping a penetrating look-out, made the time heavy. The moon floated -into the western quarter, and slowly the orb lost its brilliance and -took its rusty hue of setting, though it was still high above the -horizon. Nothing in the shape of a sail was visible the wide sea round; -I was able to sink my sight to the confines of the water, but never <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> -could see the dimmest apparition of a ship.</p> - -<p>Some time before three o'clock I wore the schooner, and waiting until -she regained the point at which the boat had left her, I brought her -head to the wind and held her so with her canvas trembling to the -breeze. It was shortly after I had done this that my eye was taken by a -faint redness ashore. The rim of the cliff turned black against the dim -crimson light. It might have passed as the first of the lunar dawn—as -though another moon were rising beyond the land to replace the orb that -was sinking in the west. Mariana came out of the bows and called out to -me with his incommunicable accent:</p> - -<p>"Señor, do you see?" and he pointed to the light.</p> - -<p>"Yes," said I, "that looks like a fire ashore. Whether the house has -been fired by design or mischance, our people will have to bear a hand; -for should there be any sort of country-side thereabouts it'll be -swiftly up and wide awake and running and shouting to <i>that</i> signal."</p> - -<p>He grunted, evidently without understanding a word of what I had said, -and went forward again.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span></p> - -<p>I had just glanced at the cabin clock and observed that it exactly -wanted five minutes to four when my ears were caught by the sound of -oars working in their pins. A moment later we were hailed in a voice -thin with distance. I answered with a "Halloa!" at the top of my lungs. -Presently the boat shaped itself out of the gloom that lay heavy upon -the waters to the eastward. The gathering strength of the grinding -noise was warrant that the men strained hard at their oars. The boat -came shearing and hissing alongside as though her stem were of red-hot -steel; the oars were flung in and a boat-hook arrested the fabric's -progress.</p> - -<p>I stood at the side in the open space of the schooner's gangway. My eye -was instantly caught by the figure of a woman supported in the arms of -Don Christoval. One sees a thing quickly, and in the breathless pause -between the arrival of the boat and what next happened I had time to -note that the woman rested perfectly motionless as though dead, that -her head was uncovered, and that her left arm lay like a stroke or dash -of white paint in the gloom with a scintillation of gems in the dim -gleam of some gold ornaments upon her wrist. Indeed, imperfect as my -view was of her, I might yet know that she was in ball attire!</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span></p> - -<p>Three or four seamen came bounding out of the boat; the voice of Don -Christoval exclaimed:</p> - -<p>"Is that you, Mr. Portlack?"</p> - -<p>"It is, sir."</p> - -<p>"Captain Dopping," he cried, "has been shot dead. We were forced to -leave him behind. The command of the schooner devolves upon you. This -lady is in a heavy swoon, and must be lifted over the side. Let it be -done instantly, pray; there is no time to lose."</p> - -<p>I was greatly startled and shocked to hear of Captain Dopping having -been shot dead and left behind, but the general agitation of the -moment, the obligation of hurry, the wild impatience of the Spaniard, -that hissed feverishly through his words, gave me no time to think of -anything but what we had in hand. Don Christoval, muscular and big -as he was, was unable, no doubt through exhaustion, to rise with the -burden he supported. Don Lazarillo, addressing him in Spanish, sprang -on board the schooner. I ordered a couple of seamen to assist Don -Christoval, and the lady was lifted over the side and received by Don -Lazarillo and Mariana, who straightway bore her below. I believed her -to be dead. She never stirred, or uttered the least sound.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Are all returned, saving the captain?" I called out.</p> - -<p>"All returned, sir," answered the gruff voice of one of the seamen.</p> - -<p>"Anybody wounded?"</p> - -<p>"Nobody hurt, saving the captain, who was shot dead," responded the -same voice.</p> - -<p>Don Christoval, with a stagger in his gait, stepped out of the boat on -to the deck, calling to me to give him my hand, lest he should fall -backward.</p> - -<p>"Be quick, and sail away, Mr. Portlack," said he, hoarsely. "A wing of -the house caught fire, but through no fault of ours—no! It was owing -to the carelessness of some terrified servant within. Only one shot -was fired; it was meant for me, and slew Captain Dopping, who was at -my side. That fire was a terrible signal—it may still be burning: I -do not know; all seemed in darkness when we gained the gap, but they -rang a danger bell, a fearful summons that seemed to echo for miles -and miles. Did you hear it here?" he cried, almost gasping with the -rapidity of his utterance.</p> - -<p>"No, sir."</p> - -<p>"Mounted messengers will have been flying from place to place long -ago," he continued; "they will send to Whitehaven, where, I heard <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> -our sailors say, there may be lying a Revenue cutter, or some more -formidable ship of the State yet, to pursue us; therefore, for our -lives' sake, Mr. Portlack, get the boat in and start at once."</p> - -<p>He paused an instant to clasp his hands with an air of impassioned, -theatrical appeal to me, then went below walking like a drunken man.</p> - -<p>The bows of the boat were hastily hoisted into the gangway by means -of a tackle called a burton. All hands of us then grasped the fabric, -and dragged her bodily to her place on the deck. I could collect, by -the motions of the men, that they were frightfully fatigued, but they -worked with a will, as for their lives, indeed; well knowing—better -knowing than I probably—what must be the fate of all hands of us if -we were to be captured red-handed thus, with the house still on fire -ashore for all we could tell—though I could now see no signs of the -glow I had before observed—and with the dead body of the captain to -fearfully testify to the audacious nature of this expedition.</p> - -<p>Every stitch of sail the schooner carried was, cloth by cloth, -expanded. Within ten minutes of the boat's return she was in her place -on deck, the little topgallant-sail was being sheeted home, and La <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> -Casandra, under full breasts of canvas, was sliding out into the gloom -south and west. Clouds had collected in the west; and if the moon still -hung over the sea, she could not show her face. Our course brought the -weak damp wind a little forward of the beam. This was the schooner's -best point of sailing, and she slided through it with a nimbleness that -I hoped would put her out of sight of land before daybreak.</p> - -<p>While the men, with weary motions, were coiling away the running gear -which littered the deck, Mariana came up out of the cabin with a bottle -of brandy. He told me that Don Christoval wished the sailors to drink. -I said—</p> - -<p>"Take it forward and serve it out; but see that no man gets more than a -dram. If you muddle their brains, you will be putting us in the way of -being hanged."</p> - -<p>That he partly understood me I knew, by the energetic assent he howled -out in his own tongue. I carefully swept the sea line, and then took a -look through the cabin skylight. I had intended no more than a glance, -but my gaze was arrested, as though fascinated by the spectacle it -surveyed. Some one had turned up the lamps, and their flames burned -brightly. Don Christoval sat at the table, supporting his head by <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> -resting his jaw upon his clinched fists. Don Lazarillo occupied a -chair close to him; a tumbler, half full, was before him; he held an -unlighted cigar, and his eyes were fixed upon the object at which his -friend was staring.</p> - -<p><i>This</i> was no more nor less than the figure of a girl of about -two-and-twenty, resting at full length upon a velvet couch. The remains -of what might have been a wreath of flowers were in her hair. A portion -of her hair, that was of a dark red, and that glowed like gold, as -though it had been plentifully dusted with gilt powder, was detached, -and lay in a long thick tress upon her shoulder. They had unclasped a -rich opera cloak, and her attire was revealed. Her ball-dress of white -satin, looped here and there with pink roses, was cut low, and exposed -her throat and shoulders; but there were some ugly scratches on the -flesh near her left shoulder. She wore very handsome jewelry: diamond -earrings, a rope of pearls with a cross of diamonds that sparkled -against the dark yellow of the tresses which had fallen. Her arms of -faultless mold were bare to the short sleeves; her hands were gloved; -I believed I could witness traces of blood upon the white kid; and her -wrists were circled with bracelets.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span></p> - -<p>But to describe all this is really to describe nothing: for how am I to -convey to you the disorder of apparel that suggested a struggle which -you must have thought deadly in its consequences, when you looked at -her motionless shape, her closed eyes, her bloodless face, and the -lifeless pose of her arms?</p> - -<p>I stood gazing. Presently Don Christoval, extending a trembling hand, -poured himself out half a tumbler of brandy—brandy I might suppose it -was, by observing that he filled up the glass with water. He drained -the tumbler, and suddenly looked up and saw me. He instantly rose and -came on deck. He was without his hat. He seated himself on the corner -of the skylight, where he commanded a view of the interior of the -cabin, and called down some words in Spanish to Don Lazarillo, who -nodded violently, but without removing his eyes from the girl.</p> - -<p>"Does the schooner make good way?" said Don Christoval.</p> - -<p>"Yes," I answered; "her speed is about five miles an hour."</p> - -<p>"At dawn shall we be out of sight of the coast?"</p> - -<p>"It will not be long before daybreak," said I, "and at dawn the coast <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> -may be in sight of us, but I do not suppose we shall be in sight of it."</p> - -<p>He stood up to look around the sea.</p> - -<p>"It is sad," he exclaimed, "that Captain Dopping should have been shot."</p> - -<p>"It is shocking," said I.</p> - -<p>"You have sole control of the schooner now, Captain Portlack, for my -captain I make you," said he. "And the money that I had agreed to pay -to Captain Dopping shall be yours, in addition to the fifty guineas as -arranged."</p> - -<p>I gave him a bow and said, "Thank you." My eyes were fixed upon the -motionless girl below; he was able to observe the direction of my gaze -by the sheen of the lamp-light, that rose like a haze through the glass -and the lifted lid of the skylight.</p> - -<p>"How cruel! how cruel!" said he, in a deep yet musical voice, that -was not the less thrilling because of a certain indefinable flavor -of theatricalism; "how cruel, that I should be obliged to claim what -is mine by force, which I find barbarous when I look there," said -he, pointing to the figure of his wife, "and when I recall Captain -Dopping's cry as he fell lifeless at my side."</p> - -<p>"Is your lady dead?" said I.</p> - -<p>"No, no, I think not; indeed, I am sure not. She is sunk in a trance <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> -or stupor. If she were bled, she would revive; but there is no man on -board who has the skill to bleed her."</p> - -<p>"She looks to have been very roughly handled."</p> - -<p>"What you see," he cried, "is the work of her inhuman father and -brother. Captain Noble, his son, and my wife had returned from a ball. -We found the gate open, the carriage at the door: they had only just -alighted, indeed, and the carriage was in the act of driving away; -but the hall-door was closed. We knocked, and Captain Noble put his -head out of a window and asked who was there. I told him that it was -I, Don Christoval del Padron; that I had arrived to take possession -of my wife, whom he had forcibly divorced from me and was keeping a -prisoner—that is, never leaving her out of his own sight or the sight -of others of his family. He disappeared, and then returned to the -window. I did not know he was armed. He shouted insultingly to us to -be off. "Give me my wife!" I cried. "I desire no struggle, no uproar. -Give her to me, to whom she belongs, and we will withdraw peacefully." -He fired, and Captain Dopping fell and died with a groan. On this we -stormed the door; we put a pistol to the keyhole and blew away the -lock. Strangely enough, the door was not bolted. No doubt, in the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> -alarm our sudden appearance had caused, this had been overlooked, or -possibly Captain Noble supposed that some one had shot the bolts. We -entered; but what follows others may be better able to tell than I. -All was confusion and cries. They had hidden my wife. We entered five -rooms before we found her. This search was mine and Don Lazarillo's. -The seamen guarded the door, and stood cutlass in hand over Captain -Noble and his son. I found my wife locked in a room. When I turned the -key and she beheld me she rushed to my arms with a cry of delight. I -enveloped her in her opera cloak and conducted her downstairs, but on -Captain Noble and his son beholding us they dashed themselves against -the seamen, rushed upon us, and then it was that my wife suffered in -her apparel and upon her neck, as you see. She fainted, she instantly -became insensible. In the stupor that she now lies in we carried her to -the boat. As we left the house I saw the red light of fire in a wing on -the left, but it was not our doing; they can not charge that to me."</p> - -<p>This extraordinary story he told in such broken-winded English as -I have attempted to convey it in. While I listened, I had found it -difficult to reconcile his statement that his wife had been imprisoned <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> -by her father with the circumstance of her having accompanied him and -her brother to a ball. Then, again, while I listened, from time to -time, looking at the figure of the girl as he spoke, I wondered, as I -had before wondered again and again, in thinking over the object of -this expedition, why, if the lady, as he had represented, had been all -anxiety to rejoin her husband, should Don Christoval have considered -it necessary to carry an armed force ashore with him? That she had not -been a prisoner, in the sense of being confined to a room, or to a -suite of rooms, was made manifest by the ball attire in which she lay -as one dead upon the cabin sofa. Her liberty in a certain degree she -must have enjoyed. Could she not, at some preconcerted signal, have -stolen from the house secretly, and darkly joined her husband, and -secretly and darkly sailed away with him, saving all this tremendous -obligation of midnight landing and of armed seamen, with its tragic -result of fire and a slain man, not to mention the condition of the -wife, who, if not now actually dead, might be a corpse before the sun -rose?</p> - -<p>There might have been a pause of five or six seconds while I thus -mused, during which I seemed to feel rather than see that his dark -and burning eyes were scrutinizing me by aid of the cabin light that <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> -touched my face.</p> - -<p>"The lady lies startlingly motionless, shockingly lifeless, Don -Christoval," said I.</p> - -<p>"But her pulse beats—her pulse beats."</p> - -<p>"Shall you persist in sailing to Cuba, sir?"</p> - -<p>"Certainly; we are now proceeding to Cuba," he exclaimed, and he half -rose from the corner of the skylight as though with a mind to step to -the compass.</p> - -<p>"Cuba is a long way off," said I.</p> - -<p>"What of that?" he cried, instantly, and with heat.</p> - -<p>"Seeing the condition of that lady," said I, "I could not be sure but -that you would wish to visit some near port to obtain medical help, -and——"</p> - -<p>"What?" he demanded, bending his head forward to observe me.</p> - -<p>"Why!" said I, with embarrassment, because I was about to say something -that might sound like impertinence in the ear of the Spaniard, "madame, -your wife, Don Christoval, will not be expected by you to make a voyage -to the island of Cuba in a ball-dress."</p> - -<p>"I have provided for that," he exclaimed, haughtily. "I have minded my -business, Captain Portlack, and if you will mind yours all will be <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> -well." He immediately added in a softened voice, as though regretting -any display of temper, "Yes, we must proceed to Cuba. If Cuba is erased -from my programme, my arrangements will be rendered worthless. Besides, -we have to-night done that which must oblige us, for every man's sake, -to put as many leagues of water between ourselves and yonder country -as this schooner can measure in a month. The Atlantic Ocean is not too -wide for us after what has happened in the darkness this morning."</p> - -<p>Just then the cook or steward Mariana came under the skylight and -upturned his mask of a face. He addressed Don Christoval in Spanish. -The other answered and was about quitting me, but stopped and said: -"Let me see, Captain Portlack, I believe you sleep under the main -hatch?"</p> - -<p>I said yes, that was so.</p> - -<p>"Well, we shall not wish to disturb you. Don Lazarillo surrenders his -cabin to my wife, and he takes that which Captain Dopping occupied. -But any conveniences you may require, pray ask for, and you shall -have them. I will take care that all the nautical instruments, the -chronometer, the charts, and such furniture are conveyed to you."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span></p> - -<p>He then went below. It was not proper that I should linger at the -skylight as though I were a spy. I paced the deck, looking eastward for -the first faint green of the dawn; yet my walk carried me so close to -the skylight, and the length of deck I traversed was so short besides, -that it was easy to see what was going on below without pausing or -appearing to look. Still, what I saw was no more than this: that Don -Christoval, his friend, and Mariana assembled at the side of the -unconscious girl, where they appeared to hold a consultation; that -when I passed the skylight in another turn, I observed them posturing -themselves as though to lift her; and that when I once more passed the -skylight in the third turn, the interior was empty—the lady had been -conveyed to her berth.</p> - -<p>Day broke a little later. The land showed dim against the dawn; and the -distance we had made good during the hour of darkness had carried us, -as I had foreseen, far out of eye-shot of any point of the range of -cliffs. There was a small vessel standing to the north, abeam of us, -and the sails of another, hull down, were shining upon the blue edge of -the sea right ahead, as prismatically to the early piercing radiance -of the now risen sun as a leaning shaft of crystal. I leveled a glass -at her and found that she was pursuing the course we were steering.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> -There was nothing in sight where the shadow of the land was; but even -if I had supposed we should be pursued, I was very sure we should -not be caught. There was nothing, I might swear, flying the crimson -cross, capable of holding her own with La Casandra. As to our being -intercepted—life moved sluggishly in those days. Steamers there were -indeed, but they were few, and none to be promptly prepared for sea to -a swift summons. The electric telegraph did not exist. I can not say -there were no railways; but I am certain that pursuit would have been -long rendered hopeless before intelligence of what had taken place -could be communicated to a port where the machinery necessary for an -ocean chase was to be found and put in motion.</p> - -<p>But, then, were we likely to be pursued? Who would be able to guess at -our destination?</p> - -<p>I paced the deck, depressed, anxious, full of misgiving. I heartily -wished myself out of this business; yet I now stood so committed to -it that I was at a loss to know how to act. The violent death of -Captain Dopping was a shock to me. It sharply edged my realization of -the significance of this midnight adventure. And now that the tragic <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> -business was ended there was something I found unintelligible in it, -something which pleaded to my instincts, stirring and troubling them. -Four seamen sat to leeward of the little galley; they seemed to be -dozing; their whiskered faces were bowed over their folded arms; a -fifth man was at the tiller. I peered through the skylight and saw Don -Lazarillo asleep in a chair. The man at the helm was William Scott; he -had been there while Don Christoval talked to me, and I guessed that -he had overheard every syllable of the Spaniard's narrative of the -adventures of the party ashore. I stepped up to him and said:</p> - -<p>"This has been a strange business."</p> - -<p>"It has, sir."</p> - -<p>"I am now in command here, as I suppose you know?"</p> - -<p>"I didn't know, sir; but you're the one to take command, surely, now -the captain's dead and gone."</p> - -<p>"Yes, but it is a command I do not desire. I shall want a mate, some -man to stand watch and watch with me. Did you hear Don Christoval tell -me just now what happened ashore?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, sir. His yarn was pretty near the truth; not quite, though."</p> - -<p>"Where," said I, "was he mistaken?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span></p> - -<p>"The lady was insensible when him and the other Spanish gent brought -her downstairs. It's true that her father and the young gentleman, -her brother, bust from us when they see her being carried through the -hall, but it is not true that she got them scratches upon her shoulder -<i>then</i>. She was bleeding when the two Spaniards came along down the -stairs with her. I took notice of them marks, and so did Tubb and -Butler."</p> - -<p>"Did her father, Captain Noble, say anything during the time you were -guarding him—while you, or whoever else it was, stood watch over him?"</p> - -<p>"Ay, a deal more than my memory carries, sir. Yet it was nothing but -calling names—nothing in the way of explaining matters. It was '<i>The -infernal villain!—The brutal wretch!—Who are these scoundrels?—Are -you pirates, you ruffians?—You speak English; you are English; will -you help these two Spaniards, English as I reckon you to be, to kidnap -an Englishwoman from her father's home in England?</i>' But if that had -been all! Butler, he flourished his cutlass and threatened to give -the old gent a tap over the head if he didn't belay his jaw. Pirates -we <i>wasn't</i>! We was ashore helping a gentleman to his rights. Captain -Dopping told us that the law was on our side, and there's ne'er a <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> -pirate as can say <i>that</i> of his calling."</p> - -<p>I continued to pace the deck a while musing on this man's version of -the adventure. The morning opened wide and brilliant as the sun soared. -Soon after daybreak the breeze freshened, and the waters were now -streaming and arching into little heads of foam as they ran with it. -Mariana came out of the cabin and was trudging forward when I called to -him:</p> - -<p>"How is the lady?"</p> - -<p>Instead of responding he shrugged his shoulders till the lobes of his -long yellow ears rested upon them, proceeded to the galley and lighted -the fire. I went a little way forward and called to the seamen, who at -daybreak had risen from their squatting postures and now hung together -talking in low voices. They approached me. There were four of them, -Trapp, South, Butler, and Tubb; Scott still grasped the tiller till he -should be relieved at four bells—that is to say, at six o'clock.</p> - -<p>"Men," said I, "Don Christoval has asked me to take charge of this -schooner. You may have heard him say so when he came aboard this -morning."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I heard him, sir," said Andrew Trapp.</p> - -<p>"I shall want a mate," said I. "Butler, you filled that post under -Captain Dopping. Will you take it afresh?"</p> - -<p>"If I must, I must, sir," he answered gloomily. "No extra pay goes to -the job, I suppose?"</p> - -<p>"I can not tell you. Scott says that the lady's father behaved like a -madman, and that you threatened him with your cutlass."</p> - -<p>"That's true," answered Butler. "He called us pirates, and swore he'd -have us hanged as pirates. I never was tarmed a pirate afore, and I -lost my temper, but I did him no hurt."</p> - -<p>"It's a job," exclaimed Tubb, "which I, for one, am sorry I ever -meddled with. Yonder," cried he, pointing to the dim haze of land, -"lies Captain Dopping, shot through the head. Had any man said it was -a-going to come to <i>that</i>, I should have told the Don that <i>I</i> wasn't -one of the sailors he was looking out for."</p> - -<p>"That's a bad part of it," said I, "perhaps the worst part. But another -very bad part is the condition of the lady. She looked to me, as she -lay in the cabin, as if she had been very roughly handled."</p> - -<p>The ugly cook put his head out of the galley and stared at us. I <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> -called to him, in an angry voice, to bear a hand and get the men's -breakfast, adding that they had been up all night and wanted the meal. -"There's to be no loafing, no skulking, now, d'ye understand. We're too -few as it is, and you're just one of those rusty pieces of old iron -which want working up, Yankee fashion; so turn to, d'ye hear?" and I -confirmed my meaning by a menacing inclination of the head. The ugly -rogue vanished, but I could hear him muttering a number of Spanish -oaths to himself.</p> - -<p>"You were speaking of the lady, sir," said Butler.</p> - -<p>"She looks," said I, "to have been rascally used. Her dress is vilely -torn, as though in a struggle. Her shoulder is badly scratched, and why -should she have fainted dead away, and why should she remain insensible -for hours—insensible still, for all I know? For joy at seeing her -husband?"</p> - -<p>"She was carried down the stairs unconscious by the two Spaniards," -said Tubb, "her clothes was tore then, and her flesh was scratched."</p> - -<p>"Did the Spaniards mount the stairs alone?"</p> - -<p>"Alone, sir," answered Butler. "Scott and me stood over the lady's -father and his son; and South and Tubb guarded the door."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Who remained in charge of the boat?"</p> - -<p>"Me," said the man named Trapp.</p> - -<p>"The name of the lady's father," said I, "is Captain Noble. Did he say -nothing more to the point than to abuse you as pirates?"</p> - -<p>"Nothing noticeable," answered Butler; "his wits seemed to be drove out -of him by his rage."</p> - -<p>"I heard him ask," said South, "how we, as English sailors, could help -a scoundrel Spaniard to steal an English lady away from her father's -house in England."</p> - -<p>"Did he say <i>steal</i>?" said I.</p> - -<p>"Force was the word he used—force an Englishwoman away. I didn't hear -the word steal, George," said Butler.</p> - -<p>"Is it a fine house?" said I.</p> - -<p>"A regular gentleman's castle, sir," answered Butler. "We found the -gates open; there was a carriage with a coachman and footman at the -door; it was just a-driving off as we marched in."</p> - -<p>"What became of that carriage?"</p> - -<p>"I see the coachman pull up," answered South, "when he was near the -gates. I kept my eye on the vehicle, for there were two men on the box -of it. When the lock was blowed away, the coachman flogged his horses, -and the whole concern disappeared. I expect they drove off to give the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> -alarm, but where to, blowed if I know, for there looked to be no houses -for miles around."</p> - -<p>"What happened next?" said I.</p> - -<p>But what the men now told me substantially corresponded with Don -Christoval's story: saving that they were all agreed that the lady was -insensible and in the disordered and torn condition in which she had -been brought aboard when carried downstairs by the two Spaniards.</p> - -<p>"Well," said I, "the schooner's decks must go without a scrubbing this -morning. Hurry up that cook and get your breakfast. Butler, you'll -relieve me at eight bells. I must find out how the lady is doing. If -she's to die—and as she lay in the cabin she looked as if she were -dying—Don Christoval will surely not want us to sail him to Cuba."</p> - -<p>"But where else?" said Butler, nervously and suspiciously.</p> - -<p>"To a French port, if you like—to any place that is near. I wish to -get out of this ship."</p> - -<p>"So do I," said Butler, looking at his mates, "but we want our money, -Mr. Portlack, and we want to be landed in some part of the world where -we aren't going to be nabbed for this 'ere job. Let it be Cuba, if <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> -<i>you</i> please, sir. 'Tain't too far off—no, by a blooming long chalk, -'tain't too far off."</p> - -<p>"Get your breakfast and relieve me at eight," said I, and I walked aft.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="chap" /> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.<br /> -<br /> -<small>MADAME.</small></h2> - - -<p>Don Christoval remained out of sight below. I assumed that he was -attending to his wife. His friend continued asleep in an arm-chair near -the table under the skylight; his head was fallen back, his mouth was -wide open, and his deep and powerful snore was audible at the distance -of the helm. By and by the negro boy Tom rose through the companion -hatch.</p> - -<p>"Where is Don Christoval?" said I.</p> - -<p>"In dah missus' cabin, sah," he answered.</p> - -<p>"Has consciousness returned to her?"</p> - -<p>He scratched his head and answered that he did not understand me.</p> - -<p>"Have you heard the lady speaking—have you heard her voice?"</p> - -<p>"Not speak, but sing, massa."</p> - -<p>"Sing?" cried I, looking at him.</p> - -<p>"Ay, massa, like dis:" he sang a few notes. "Her song is all de same -as a nuss-gal making him noisy pickaninny go for to sleep."</p> - -<p>He went to the galley and presently returned with a tray full of -breakfast things. Don Lazarillo was awakened by the negro lad laying -the cloth for breakfast. I was at the skylight at the moment and my -eye was upon the Spaniard. He started to his feet, delivered himself -of a loud yawn, looked blankly around him with the stupid air of the -newly awakened; the motions of his body were then arrested as though -he had been paralyzed; he listened, intently gazing aft, continued -to listen while you might count twenty, the expression of his face -slowly changing from astonishment to terror. He then made a stride and -disappeared out of the small range of view I commanded. I strained my -ear but caught nothing unusual. He has heard the Señora del Padron -singing, thought I.</p> - -<p>The negro boy went again to the galley and once more returned with a -second tray of dishes for the table. I was hungry and sleepy. Rest I -might easily obtain by summoning Butler aft to keep a look-out, but I -had no notion of turning in until I had breakfasted. I supposed that I -should be expected to eat as heretofore, when Captain Dopping was alive -in the vessel—that is to say, after the Spaniards had left the table;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> -and I was wondering when Don Christoval meant to put in an appearance; -at that moment he came on deck.</p> - -<p>His face was colorless; I may say it was ghastly with what I must term -its pallor of swarthiness. The peculiar hue seemed to enlarge his eyes. -He stood curling his mustaches a moment looking around him, and then -approached me with a shallow and unquiet smile.</p> - -<p>"All goes well with the schooner, I hope, Captain Portlack?" said he.</p> - -<p>"Yes, sir."</p> - -<p>"How does the weather promise?"</p> - -<p>"The day may keep fine, but I look for wind presently."</p> - -<p>"I am going to ask you," said he, with a harsher Spanish or foreign -intonation in his accent than I had ever before noticed in his -speech, "to be so good, Señor Portlack," he raised his hat and held -it a little above his head, "to waive your custom of taking your -meals in the cabin," he put his hat on. "I deplore the necessity. -You will not regard it, if you please, as a violation of the laws of -hospitality—laws by which we are eminently governed in our country. -Neither will you suppose that your estimable society is not prized and -your professional help and attainments greatly valued by Don Lazarillo <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> -de Tormes and myself. But—" He abruptly ceased, giving me nothing more -to interpret than a truly royal sweep of his arm.</p> - -<p>"You wish me to eat in my own quarters, Don Christoval? I shall be -happy to do so; but I presume I am to be waited upon?"</p> - -<p>"Most undoubtedly," he burst out. "I entreat that you will speak every -wish that may occur to you. Your apartment shall be furnished from the -cabin: there shall be a table and all conveniences. Tom will see to you -as he sees to us. I thank you for your ready assent;" and he gave me a -stately bow, raising his hat again.</p> - -<p>I returned his salute in the handsomest way I could manage, and -inquired after his wife.</p> - -<p>"Oh, she will do, she will do," he answered. "Patience! the shock was -great and sudden; she expected me indeed, but there was nothing in -expectation to soften the agitation excited by my sudden appearance. -Add to this the inhuman behavior of her father and brother, their -outrageous violent language, their grasping her," he continued, -advancing his arms and opening and clinching his fingers as he acted -the part, "in the hope of tearing her from me. But patience, Captain -Portlack." Then without another word he returned to the cabin.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span></p> - -<p>At eight o'clock Butler came to the quarter-deck. I gave him the -course, told him I should turn in for a couple of hours after -breakfast, and bade him call me should the wind shift ahead, for we -were in St. George's Channel, with the Irish coast on one side and the -English coast on the other, and in case of our having to <i>ratch</i>, as it -is called, La Casandra would need better piloting than Butler was equal -to. I was about to quit him when he said:</p> - -<p>"Beg pardon, Mr. Portlack, what might the Don have been a-saying just -now?" Then observing my change of expression, he quickly added, "The -question's asked quite humbly, sir. The long and short of it is, we men -don't feel comfortable. We want to make sartin that there's to be no -putting in to any new port, and least of all to an English port."</p> - -<p>I feigned not to understand him.</p> - -<p>"So long as you receive the money that is agreed upon between you and -Don Christoval it can not signify what port we put into."</p> - -<p>"Oh, but it do, then!" cried he, turning red in the face. "What! Why, -only consider!" he continued, raising his voice for the edification <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> -of his mates who stood listening forward. "Put into an English port -and see what 'ud happen! Put into any civilized port and see what 'ud -happen! I know them Customs covies. What 'ud they find? A lady in -evening attire: us without any sort of yarn capable of satisfying the -suspicions we're bound to raise. Why, all hands of us 'ud be detained -for investigation, and then!"</p> - -<p>"You may ease your mind," said I, coldly. "Don Christoval was merely -talking to me about my breakfast," and going to the main hatch I -dropped through it into my quarters.</p> - -<p>Here I found the furniture that had belonged to Captain Dopping's -cabin; there were also a little table, a velvet arm-chair from the -cabin, and a rug such as would be stretched before a fire-place -lying upon the deck. My quarters, thus equipped, looked hospitable -enough. Indeed, it was to my taste to live thus apart. It rendered me -independent; I could do as I pleased, light my pipe, turn in or turn -out, eat and drink, and come and go with a bachelor-liberty that I -should not have been able to enjoy had I dwelt as Captain Dopping had -in the cabin. The one objection to my quarters lay in the gloom of -them. In fine weather there was plenty of light to be obtained through <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> -the open hatch; but in stormy times the hatch must be closed, and then -I should have to live by lamp-light.</p> - -<p>A few minutes after I had descended, the door that communicated with -the cabin opened, and the negro lad entered with my breakfast. He put -the tray on the table, and stood as though expecting me to question him.</p> - -<p>"Is the lady still singing?" said I.</p> - -<p>"No, sah, ebery ting quiet now."</p> - -<p>"That will do," said I, and he went on deck through the main hatch.</p> - -<p>I made a hearty meal and smoked a pipe of tobacco—Captain Dopping -had laid in a liberal stock of pipes and tobacco. I then pulled off -my boots and coat, sprang into my hammock, and in five minutes was as -sound asleep as the dead. Butler wakened me by putting his head into -the hatch and shouting. I went on deck, and found my prediction to Don -Christoval of a fine day disproved. The weather had thickened, the -sky was a wide spread of shadow, under which a quantity of yellow, -wing-like shapes of scud were flying with a velocity that might have -made you suppose it was blowing a gale of wind. The wind was damp, -but there was no rain. Blowing it was, but not yet hard, and Butler <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> -had given no other orders than to roll up the topgallant-sail. The -breeze was on the quarter, about north-north-west. Had we been working -up against it we should have found it a strong wind; as it was, the -schooner was swirling before it with every cloth set, saving the little -sail I have mentioned. A strong swell chased her, and to each hurl of -the regular, giant undulation the vessel flashed along, burying her -bows in foam with the next launching swoop in a manner to remind you of -the flight of a flying-fish from one glittering blue slope of brine to -another.</p> - -<p>The vessel that had been ahead of us at daybreak was now on the bow -close to—a box-shaped concern with painted ports; she plunged heavily, -and seemed to stagger again under her heights of canvas, like an old -woman whose balance is threatened by the umbrella she holds up. Such -a sputtering as she made I had never before beheld. All about her was -white water as she washed through it; it was as though a water-spout -were foaming under her. Yet she held her own stoutly; and, two hours -after I had been on deck, she was still in sight in the haze astern.</p> - -<p>I could make no use of Captain Dopping's sextant in such weather as -this. Don Lazarillo was walking the deck alone, swathed to the heels <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> -in a cloak, and a large, flapping felt hat, drawn down to his eyebrows. -He looked at me askew as I stepped his way to glance at the binnacle. -Often had I met his fiery glance scanning me, but never so searchingly -as now. He kept his eyes upon me as I stood at the compass watching the -behavior of the little ship as she swept to the heads of the swell. -When I moved forward, he advanced with a forced, deep grin which so -contracted his visage that it looked no more than a mat of hair with a -hooked nose thrust through it. He saluted me, and I bowed low, as was -my custom with these gentlemen, and the following exchange of sentences -took place, partly by signs, partly by shouts; but the substance of -our meaning is all that I will venture to give. It would be impossible -for the pen to convey his broken English, and as I have not a word -of Spanish, I dare not attempt to write the sentences with which he -intermingled his English.</p> - -<p>"It is a very dark day."</p> - -<p>"It is," I answered.</p> - -<p>"It blows heavily."</p> - -<p>"No, Don Lazarillo," said I.</p> - -<p>"I thank the Virgin I am not seasick. Yet, the sight of those -mountains," said he, pointing over the side with a yellow, jeweled <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> -hand, "makes me sensible that my stomach is of the most delicate."</p> - -<p>"By this time you should have grown accustomed to the motion of a ship."</p> - -<p>"Yes, it is so. Might not this dark day prove fatal to us?" Here he -struck his fists together to denote a collision between vessels.</p> - -<p>I shook my head and touched my eyes and pointed to the men forward, -touching my eyes again that he might gather it was the custom of -English sailors in thick weather to keep a look-out.</p> - -<p>"How long to Cuba?" he asked.</p> - -<p>I shrugged my shoulders. "Is Don Christoval still resolved to go to -Cuba?" said I.</p> - -<p>"Yes," he cried in Spanish, in the most passionate way that can be -imagined, while an expression of dark suspicion entered his eyes. "You -know the way to Cuba?"</p> - -<p>"Oh yes," I answered smiling.</p> - -<p>He nodded wildly as though he would say, "See that you carry us there, -that's all!"</p> - -<p>"How is madame?" said I, pointing to the skylight.</p> - -<p>"Better—better," he replied, with a little scowl, and then giving me a -bow he took a turn or two and went below.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span></p> - -<p>The wind freshened gradually during the afternoon, and when I left the -deck at four o'clock the schooner was under greatly reduced canvas, -driving along at eleven or twelve miles an hour, her decks dark with -damp, fountains of spray blowing ahead of her off the high archings of -foam upturned by the irresistible thrust of her stem, a shrill, dreary -noise of wind in her rigging, and the fellow at the helm and the figure -on the look-out forward gleaming in oil-skins and sea-helmets.</p> - -<p>All through the night it continued to blow, and it blew all through the -three following days and nights. At long intervals one or the other of -the Spaniards appeared on deck, but for no other purpose than to take -a hurried look round. Some small theory of navigation, though utterly -insufficient for practical purposes, they must have had; for, happening -on one occasion during this boisterous time to look through the -skylight glass, I perceived them bending over a chart. Don Christoval, -with his forefinger upon it, seemed to trace a course, while he glanced -up in the direction where there hung, screwed to the upper deck, what -is known at sea as a "tell-tale compass," that is, a compass whose -face is inverted, usually fixed over the captain's chair, so that, as -he sits at table, he may perceive at a glance whether the helmsman <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> -is holding the vessel to her course. I stood watching, careless as to -whether the Spaniards perceived me or not. The skylight was closed, -and their voices were inaudible. Don Christoval seemed to explain; Don -Lazarillo measured: there was much nodding and gesticulation, and they -frequently looked from the chart to the "tell-tale compass." Presently -Don Christoval rolled up the chart, and the pair of them withdrew out -of reach of my sight.</p> - -<p>I took notice that when Mariana was not employed at cooking in the -galley, he was aft below in the cabin. I could not imagine what sort -of work the two Dons could find to put the ugly, greasy rogue to in -that part of the schooner. I now never entered the cabin, and could do -no more than conjecture what passed in it. Regularly at meal-times, if -I happened to be on deck, I would peep through the skylight window, -expecting to find madame at table; and if it happened that I was off -duty when meals were served in the cabin, I would tell Butler to cast -a look through the glass and report to me if he saw anything of the -lady. But my curiosity was punctually disappointed: the lady remained -invisible.</p> - -<p>It happened that, on the evening of the third day of this spell of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> -dirty weather, I went below to get some supper. It was seven o'clock, -and the evening dark as midnight with the driving thickness in the wind -and the black surface of cloud that was stretched across the sky. As I -dropped through the hatch, pulling the piece of cover over it to keep -the wet out of my quarters, I observed a glare in the interior, which -I very well knew could not proceed from the lamp that swung under a -beam near my hammock. In fact that lamp was unlighted. Looking past -the bulk-head to which the steps by which I descended were nailed, I -found that the door which communicated with the cabin stood open. The -wind, though abaft the beam, gave a decided "list" or inclination to -the rushing fabric, and her rolls to windward, owing to the swell being -almost astern, were too inconsiderable to cause the door to swing to.</p> - -<p>The cabin was steeped in light; the lamps were large for the -interior, and burned brilliantly, and their luster was duplicated -and reduplicated by the mirrors which hung against the side. Don -Christoval lay at full length upon a sofa; his hand, drooping to the -floor, holding between its fingers an extinguished cigar, showed that -he was asleep. Don Lazarillo was either on deck or in his berth. The <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> -dinner-cloth was upon the table, but cleared of its furniture, though -on a large swing-tray between the lamps were one or two decanters -of wine, a plate of fruit, biscuits, and the like. But that which -instantly arrested my eye was the figure of Mariana seated on a chair -at the after extremity of the cabin, where stood two berths. He -bestrode his chair as a man strides a horse, bowing his hideous face -to the back of it. His posture assured me that he was acting the part -of sentinel. I stood viewing him. I could see no signs of the lady's -presence, in the shape, I mean, of apparel, of any detail of female -attire. I searched with my eyes swiftly, but narrowly, and encountered -nothing to indicate the existence of a woman on board. What did I -expect to see? I know not, unless it were something a lady might use, -and leave on a chair or a table—a smelling-bottle, a glove; but this -does not matter. I wished to discover if madame had left her berth, and -I found no hint to inform me that she had done so.</p> - -<p>But what signified the presence of that ugly, I may say that loathsome, -sentry stationed at what I might make sure was the door of the berth -she occupied? By the aid of the light flowing in from the cabin, I -sought and found the materials for lighting my own lamp. I then <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> -quietly closed the bulk-head door.</p> - -<p>A little later the hatch was lifted, and the negro boy descended with -my supper—a repast consisting of cold meat, biscuit and fruit, and -half a bottle of wine.</p> - -<p>"Where is the cook?" said I.</p> - -<p>"In de cabin, massa."</p> - -<p>"He appears to live in the cabin. What is he doing there now, d'ye -know?"</p> - -<p>"Watching, sah."</p> - -<p>"Watching what?"</p> - -<p>"Dah lady."</p> - -<p>"Oh!" said I, "watching the lady, hey? Is she in her room?"</p> - -<p>"No, sah; outside de door ob it. Dey has to watch her," said he, -showing his teeth.</p> - -<p>"Why, do you know?"</p> - -<p>"I heered the tall Don say at breakfiss-time dat she was gone for mad."</p> - -<p>After a pause I said, "When did you hear him say this?"</p> - -<p>"Yesterday morning, sah."</p> - -<p>"To whom did he say it?"</p> - -<p>"To Mariana, massa. T'odder gentleman was sleeping."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span></p> - -<p>I recollected that I had watched Don Lazarillo awaken from his sleep on -the previous morning, and that I had observed the expression of terror -his face had taken when, as I might <i>now</i> know, he learned for the -first time, by hearing madame singing, that she had lost her mind.</p> - -<p>"Why did you not, before this evening, tell me that the lady was gone -for mad, as you call it?"</p> - -<p>"Massa nebber asked dah question."</p> - -<p>"Have you seen her?"</p> - -<p>"No, sah, and I dun wan' to. Her laugh make my blood creep. It's wuss -dan her singing, sah. Now and agin she laugh, but now she sings no mo'."</p> - -<p>"How is she watched at night, do you know?"</p> - -<p>He twisted his hand to indicate the turning of a key in its lock, by -which I gathered that madame by night was locked up in her cabin.</p> - -<p>"Is she watched?"</p> - -<p>"Mariana him sometime sleep and sometime sit at her door. When him -sleep, den Don Christoval keep watch. When Don Christoval sleep den -t'odder gent keep watch. Dey makes tree watches ob it, sah."</p> - -<p>I asked him how he knew this. He answered in his negro speech that he -had found it out by looking and listening.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span></p> - -<p>"But what are you to find out by listening?" said I. "You don't -understand Spanish, and those three men among themselves talk in no -other language."</p> - -<p>"Mariana, him say to me in de galley, 'Tom,' him say, 'you look to de -sailors' pudden. De massa wan' me to keep watch in de cabin.' I say, -'Why you no sleep now in the fok'sle?' and he say he hab business in de -cabin."</p> - -<p>Here the boy ceased; the poor fellow conveyed his meaning with -difficulty, yet I could see his face working with the intelligence of -an explanation which lay in his brain, but which his tongue wanted -English to impart. That he knew the lady was watched by the three -Spaniards in the manner described by him—that is to say, in three -watches, by night at all events, if not by day—was certain.</p> - -<p>He left me. I ate my supper, lighted a pipe, and sat musing. What -had driven the lady mad? One could not put it down to any ill-usage -she had met with aboard the schooner, because I might certainly know -from the information of the negro boy that she had awakened mad from -the death-like swoon or stupor she was plunged in when conveyed from -the boat into the cabin. Had her joy on finding herself with her -husband again—the husband of her adoration—proved too much for her <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> -mind? Had the sudden shock of his apparition—of the apparition of Don -Christoval and his six armed associates—been rendered too enormous -for her poor brains, through the fearful significance it gathered from -the slaying of Captain Dopping by her father, and by her father's -and brother's last rush and struggle to wrest her from the hands of -the two Spaniards? But then the sailors were all agreed that she was -already insensible when this final rush and struggle took place, that -she was borne downstairs and carried out of the house bleeding and -unconscious as she was when I beheld her lying in the cabin. A haunting -suspicion grew darker, stronger, harder within me.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>I was again on deck at midnight; the weather had somewhat moderated, -but a strong sea was running, through which the schooner, under small -canvas, crushed her way in thunder, whitening the water around her till -the black atmosphere of the night about her decks was charged with the -ghastly twilight of the beaten and boiling foam. But before my watch -expired the deep shadow on high was broken up. A few stars sparkled, -the seas ran with less weight, and the diminished breeze enabled me to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> -make sail upon the schooner.</p> - -<p>The cabin skylight was closed, and owing to the moisture upon the glass -it was impossible to see into the interior. Throughout the night the -lamps were kept dimly burning, and ardently as I might peer, thirsty -with curiosity, I never could distinguish the movement of a shadow to -indicate that those who occupied the cabin were stirring in it.</p> - -<p>At four o'clock I went to my hammock, and at half-past seven was on -deck again. It was a fine clear morning; large white clouds were -rolling over the dark blue sky, and the sea, swept by the fresh wind -that hummed sweet and warm over the quarter, ran in delicate lines of -foam, which writhed and twisted in confused splendor in the glorious -wake of the sun; while westward, the surface of the deep resembled a -spacious field lustrous with fantastic shapes of frost. Butler had -heaped canvas on the schooner, and she was sliding nobly through the -water. The men had washed the decks down, and hung about waiting -for their breakfast. From time to time Mariana's head showed in the -galley-door. So far, aboard of us, there had been no discipline to -speak of. The men, indeed, acknowledged me as captain, and sprang to -my commands; but outside such absolutely essential duties as that of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> -making and shortening sail and washing down the decks of a morning, -nothing was done. The fellows would hang about smoking and yarning, -always ready indeed for a call, but nothing more. Nor, indeed, was -it for me to keep them employed. I could not accept this adventure -seriously—could not regard the command I had been asked to take as -imposing any further obligation upon me than that of navigating the -schooner to a part of the coast of Cuba adjacent to Matanzas, and again -and again I would ask myself, Will it ever come to Cuba? Will it ever -come to half-way to Cuba? There was an element of unreality in the -voyage we were now supposed to be pursuing that submitted it as a mere -holiday jaunt to my fancy—a purposeless cruise, rendering needless and -aimless the customary shipboard routine of the sea.</p> - -<p>While I stood looking along the deck, Don Christoval arrived. He was -haggard and blanched, as though risen from a bed of sickness. The -fire of his fine eyes was quenched, and his gaze was extraordinarily -melancholy and spiritless. He saluted me gravely, but stood for some -time as though lost in thought, meanwhile taking a slow view of the -whole compass of the sea, as though in search of some object he <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> -expected to behold upon the horizon. I believed he would return to the -cabin without addressing me; but I was mistaken.</p> - -<p>"Good morning, Captain Portlack."</p> - -<p>"Good morning, sir."</p> - -<p>"The bad weather is passed, I hope. The schooner is sailing very fast. -It rejoices me to reflect that every hour diminishes, by something, the -tedious miles we have to traverse."</p> - -<p>He paused, eying me steadfastly, with the air of a man soliciting -sympathy. He then beckoned to me with one of his grand gestures and -went a little way forward, out of the hearing of the fellow who stood -at the tiller.</p> - -<p>"Captain Portlack," said he, "I am in great grief."</p> - -<p>"I am sorry to hear it," said I, looking at him.</p> - -<p>"My poor wife is mad."</p> - -<p>"Mad!" I echoed, in an accent of concern and astonishment, not -choosing, by appearing aware of the fact, that he should suspect I had -been spying upon him or making inquiries.</p> - -<p>"Mad," he repeated, in a low, hoarse voice. "When she recovered from -her swoon she did not know me. She began to sing, she laughed—Mother <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> -of God, a diabolic laugh! She is now speechless, never lifting her -eyes, never changing her countenance, and she sits thus:" he clasped -his hands before him, bent his head, fixed his eyes upon the deck, and -thus dramatically represented her condition for at least a minute.</p> - -<p>I sought in vain in his voice, in his face, in his air, for some hint, -some color, some expression of such grief of affection, of such emotion -of sorrow, as the love he had spoken of as existing between them would -naturally cause one to look for; instead, I seemed to find nothing but -alarm, uncertainty, irritability, subdued by fear.</p> - -<p>"We must hope," said I, "that she will speedily recover her mind."</p> - -<p>"Will you descend into the cabin and see her?" said he, shortly, as -though he had talked this invitation over and settled it.</p> - -<p>I was slightly startled, and answered, "What good can I do, Don -Christoval?"</p> - -<p>"You are her countryman," said he; "your accent, that is far purer than -mine when I discourse in your tongue, may excite her attention. Nor, -perhaps, may it be wholly with her as I fear."</p> - -<p>"You do not wish to imply that she is shamming?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span></p> - -<p>He gesticulated with a fury that I could not but think pretended.</p> - -<p>"No, no, poor girl! Shamming indeed! God defend me from conveying such -an idea. But will you descend, Captain Portlack, and see her?"</p> - -<p>"I owe the preservation of my life to you," said I, "and it is my -sincere desire to be of use to you in any honest direction. But how -shall I serve you by visiting madame, your wife?"</p> - -<p>Spiritless as his eyes were, the glance he shot at me as I pronounced -these words was as piercing as I had found his gaze when he inspected -me on my first being taken aboard his schooner. He slightly frowned, -wrenched at, rather than twirled his immense mustaches, beat softly -with his foot in manifest effort to control himself, then said abruptly:</p> - -<p>"Will you descend, Captain Portlack?"</p> - -<p>"With pleasure," said I, and I followed him below, leaving Butler, -whose watch would not expire till eight o'clock, in charge of the -vessel.</p> - -<p>Don Lazarillo was seated at the cabin table. I see him now supporting -his head on his elbow, his bearded chin buried in the palm of his hand, -and his finger-ends at his teeth as though he were gnawing upon his -nails. He was the most perfect figure of nervous perplexity that could -be imagined. He looked at me swiftly, but sternly and devouringly,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> -too, and addressed his friend in Spanish.</p> - -<p>"Pardon me," I exclaimed, before Don Christoval could reply, "You know, -gentlemen, I do not understand your tongue. This is a strange and sad -affair. It will reassure me if you converse in the only speech I am -acquainted with."</p> - -<p>Don Lazarillo shrugged his shoulders.</p> - -<p>"My friend was merely expressing satisfaction at your visit," said Don -Christoval, loftily, yet without hauteur.</p> - -<p>He turned to the door of the berth on the port or left-hand side of -the schooner, hesitated as though conquering an instant's irresolution -of mind, then turned the handle, motioning with his head that I should -enter.</p> - -<p>The berth was a small one. It was comfortably, almost handsomely, -furnished after the style of the cabin in which the Spaniards lived; -but I had no eyes just then for the equipment of the box of a place. -The morning sun shone full upon the port-hole, and the little room -was hardly less brilliant with luster than the cabin from which I -had stepped. In a low, crimson velvet arm-chair was seated the lady -I had been invited to visit. She sat in the posture that had been -theatrically represented to me by Don Christoval. Her hands were <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> -locked upon her knees, as though she had been suddenly arrested in the -act of rocking herself in a fit of wild grief; her head was bowed, -and her eyes were rooted to the deck. I stood surveying her for some -moments, but she never stirred; she did not appear to breathe. I did -not witness the least movement of her eyes, whose lids were fixed as -though, indeed, she were a figure of wax. She was dressed, or wrapped -rather, in a ruby-colored dressing-gown belonging, as I might suppose -by the gay style of it, to one of the Spaniards. The collar of this -gown came to her throat. I was unable to see whether she was still -appareled in ball attire. Handsome diamond drops hung motionless in -her ears, and her hands, from which the gloves had been removed, -sparkled with rings. There were three or four rings upon the third -finger of her left hand, but I did not observe that one of them was a -wedding ring. Her hair, that was of a dark red and very abundant, was -in great disorder, but the remains of the wreath, which I had noticed -on her when she lay upon the sofa, had been removed. The posture of -her head left something of her face undisclosed; what I saw of it did -not impress me as beautiful. Her eyebrows were lighter than her hair, -almost sandy; her cheeks and brow were colorless as marble; yet her <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> -profile as I now witnessed it was not without delicacy, and I might -suppose that when all was well with her she would show as a pretty -woman. She looked the age Don Christoval had mentioned—twenty-two. Her -stature I could not imagine, and the dressing-gown concealed her figure.</p> - -<p>Don Lazarillo approached in a tiptoe walk and stood in the doorway -staring at her.</p> - -<p>"My dear one," said Don Christoval, faintly smiling and infusing into -his accents a note of sweetness I had heard on more than one occasion -in his voice, "I have brought Captain Portlack to see you. He is the -captain of this schooner. He is your countryman—a true Englishman. -Raise your eyes, my dear one, that you may see him," and thus speaking, -with grace inexpressible, he bent his fine form over her and pressed -his lips to her forehead.</p> - -<p>Less of life could not have appeared in a statue.</p> - -<p>"Speak to her," said Don Christoval, turning to me.</p> - -<p>Behind us Don Lazarillo ejaculated in Spanish.</p> - -<p>"How shall I address her?" said I, looking at the tall Spaniard.</p> - -<p>He started, sent a glance of lightning rapidity at his friend,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> -reflected a moment, and then said, "Accost her as Miss Noble. By that -name she may remember herself. Ay, señor, call her Ida Noble."</p> - -<p>I bit my lip, and, planting myself by a step in front of the lady, bent -my knee till my face was on a level with hers.</p> - -<p>"Look at me, madame," said I. "I know you as Ida Noble. Look at me. I -am your countryman and your <i>friend</i>."</p> - -<p>I pronounced the word "friend" with the utmost emphasis I could -communicate to it. She raised her eyes without altering the posture of -her head. They were of a soft brown, and the richer for the contrast of -her hair. I never could have imagined such eyes under eyebrows of so -pale a yellow as hers. She looked at me during a few beats of the pulse -steadfastly, and then smiled, but there was no meaning in her smile or -in her regard. A moment after she bent her eyes down again, and began -to sing; but the air was without music; the words which left her lips -half articulated were without sense.</p> - -<p>"Valgame Dios!" cried Don Lazarillo.</p> - -<p>She ceased to sing and set her lips again, and continued to gaze at the -deck without any signs of life, as before. I rose to my stature, and,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> -after watching her a while, said to Don Christoval, "I can do no good."</p> - -<p>"You made her smile, Captain Portlack," said he, in a soft whisper.</p> - -<p>I shook my head, stepped to the door, and passed into the cabin. The -others followed, Don Christoval closing the door behind him.</p> - -<p>"I believe, with patience," said he, "that you could bring her mind -back to her."</p> - -<p>"I am no doctor, gentlemen," said I. "I know nothing about the -treatment of the insane."</p> - -<p>"What do 'ee say?" exclaimed Don Lazarillo.</p> - -<p>"What a calamity to befall me!" cried Don Christoval, clasping his -hands and upturning his face with a look of wretchedness that certainly -was not counterfeited.</p> - -<p>"Does she eat and drink?" said I.</p> - -<p>"A little, just a little," he answered. "I put food in a plate on her -knee and leave her, and when I return a little is gone."</p> - -<p>"Should she show no signs of mending, shall you persevere in this -voyage to Cuba, sir?"</p> - -<p>"Certainly," he replied passionately, with a gesture like a blow.</p> - -<p>I paused to hear if he had more to say. Finding him silent, I bowed <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> -and went on deck. Butler stood at the rail abreast of the skylight. -Though his face habitually carried a sulky look, owing to the sour -expression into which the extremities of his mouth were curved, his was -a face to assure one on the whole that its owner was a good average -honest English sailor. I am not of those who believe that the character -is to be read in the face: but my own experience is, that I was never -yet deceived by a man to whom I had taken a liking because of his face. -Yet I admit that many honest souls, many excellent hearts, go through -the world with repellent countenances. Hence the unwisdom of judging by -the face.</p> - -<p>I stepped up to Butler, and looking him in the eyes I exclaimed, -"Butler, I believe we have been cheated into the commission of a -gallows act by the lies of those two Spaniards down below in the cabin."</p> - -<p>His intelligence was sluggish, and he looked at me with a gaze slow of -perception.</p> - -<p>"I have just seen the lady," said I.</p> - -<p>"Ha! and how is she a-doing, sir?"</p> - -<p>"She is mad—undoubtedly driven mad by the outrage that has been -perpetrated upon her and hers."</p> - -<p>"Tom was saying she was off her head, and why, 'cause he heard her <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> -sing and laugh. Singing and laughing ain't no sign of madness. I asked -Mariana the question plain, and he says 'No' to it—'No,' in the -hearing of us all; but now you've seen her, sir, and she <i>is</i> mad?"</p> - -<p>"She is utterly mad. Mad as from a broken heart. She sits like a -figure-head, without a stir."</p> - -<p>I paused. "She is no more Don Christoval's wife than I am," said I.</p> - -<p>"Are you sure of that?" he cried, sharply.</p> - -<p>"I have been almost sure of it for some time—I am quite sure of it -now."</p> - -<p>He looked as alarmed as a man with strong bushy whiskers and a skin -veneered with mahogany by the weather could well appear. "How have ye -made sure, Mr. Portlack?"</p> - -<p>"She has no wedding ring."</p> - -<p>He chewed upon this and then said: "But a wedding ring ben't no -infallible sign of marriage, is it, sir? I've heered my mother say that -she once lost her wedding ring and was always going to buy another, but -didn't, and for years she went without a wedding ring, though father -was alive most of the time, and a perticlar man, too."</p> - -<p>"If the lady below were a married woman she would wear a wedding ring," -said I.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Ay," said he, with a knowing look entering his eyes, "but suppose the -father had obliged the lady to take her wedding ring off? What more -natural, seeing how he was all agin the marriage?"</p> - -<p>To this I could return no other answer than a shake of the head. He -eyed me with a small air of triumph.</p> - -<p>"If there's nothing more to make ye doubt, Mr. Portlack," said he, -"than the want of a wedding ring on the lady's finger, I'm for allowing -that the Don's yarn's true."</p> - -<p>As I had nothing more than suspicion to oppose to his desire to believe -in the story, I contented myself with saying: "You will find that I -am right, nevertheless. I shall go and get some breakfast, and will -relieve you in ten or twelve minutes."</p> - -<p>I walked to the main-hatch, but he followed me. "Supposing it as you -say, sir," he inquired, "what 'ud be the consequences of the job to us -men?"</p> - -<p>"Transportation for life."</p> - -<p>He muttered something under his breath and then said, "And supposing -the lady to be his lawful wife, sir?"</p> - -<p>"I am no lawyer," I answered, and dropped through the hatch.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="chap" /> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.<br /> -<br /> -<small>A TRAGEDY.</small></h2> - - -<p>I was prepared to find that Butler had carried my words forward. I -returned to the deck after breakfast, and the man trudged to the -forecastle, and not long afterward I observed the four seamen, the -fifth being at the helm, engaged in earnest conversation. They talked, -pipe in mouth, their hands deep buried in their capacious breeches -pockets, and sometimes they talked with their backs upon one another, -and sometimes they would pace the deck, passing one another, but always -talking, and frequently they directed their eyes aft, insomuch that I -expected every minute that the whole group would approach me and oblige -me to share in the discussion.</p> - -<p>My manner and my words when I had visited madame below had been -altogether too pronounced for so shrewd an intelligence as that of Don -Christoval to miss the true meaning of. In short, I had as good as <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> -said that I did not consider the lady to be his wife; that she had been -abducted—ferociously and inhumanly stolen from her father's home, and -that we Englishmen who formed his crew had been betrayed into an act -of criminal villiany by his rascally lies. All this I was conscious -I had as good as said, because, meaning it, I had looked it, and, in -a sentence, I had suggested it. I therefore concluded that the two -Spaniards would talk this matter of my suspicions over, decide upon -some prompt course of action, and come to me on deck—but what to do -and what to say? Would Don Christoval <i>admit</i> the adventure to be one -of abduction, pleading the necessity of representing himself as married -that he might obtain the assistance of English seamen, since it was -clear that he would not ship Spanish sailors for the expedition; or -would he approach me with threats, defying me to disprove his statement -that the lady below was his wife, and giving me to understand that if I -did not mind my own business——.</p> - -<p>My mind was rambling in speculations of this kind when I heard the -sound of a guitar and a voice singing. The skylight lay open; I heard -it as distinctly as though I were in the cabin. Don Lazarillo sat -smoking at the table, keeping time with his fingers, the rings upon -them sparkling as he tapped. It was not he who was playing the guitar <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> -and singing; therefore it was Don Christoval. The sounds came from the -after-part of the interior, and I had no doubt whatever that madame's -door was open, and that Don Christoval was touching the strings and -lifting up his voice with some quite superstitious or quite rational -hope of exorcising the demon of madness out of the girl by the -bewitching music he was making.</p> - -<p>Bewitching it was. I listened, wholly fascinated by it. His voice -was a clear, sweet, most thrilling and lovely tenor, soft and yet -penetrating, and controlled, so far as I could possibly judge, by the -most exquisite art. Whether he had ever before produced his guitar I -can not say; certainly this was the first time I had heard the sound -of it. He sang several airs; one of them so haunted me that I remember -long afterward humming it over to a friend of mine who was a very good -musician in his way, and he instantly pronounced it a composition of -Mozart, giving it an Italian name which I have forgotten. I should -never have supposed that music possessed the magic claimed for it -until I heard that sweet, thrilling tenor voice, threaded by the tones -of the delicately-touched guitar. The songs in succession wrought -a fairy atmosphere for the senses. The schooner melted out—the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> -ocean vanished. I was transported to a land sweet with the aroma of -the orange grove, romantic with Moorish palaces, melodious with the -laughter of dancers and the merry rattle of the castanets.</p> - -<p>Bless me, thought I, as I paced the deck afresh when the singing was -ended, a man need not go to sea to visit distant countries when he may -travel farther than sail or steam can convey him by sitting at home and -listening to a tenor voice accompanied by a guitar.</p> - -<p>Half an hour later the two Spaniards made their appearance. I had -marked the hideous cook steal to the companion-way, and judged that he -was keeping watch. The two Dons, with lighted cigars in their mouths, -walked the deck arm-in-arm. Don Christoval seemed to notice that the -men forward were observing him with unusual attention. I assumed this -because I perceived that he suddenly put on an air of carelessness, of -ease, even of gayety, such as certainly was not visible in him when he -first showed himself. This air I further remarked was swiftly copied by -his companion, but on <i>him</i> it sat with a horrible awkwardness. He had -neither the figure, the beauty, nor the skill to act as his friend did.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span></p> - -<p>Would Don Christoval challenge me for my suspicions? If so, I should be -honest with him; tell him in unmistakable English what my conviction -was; inform him that I would no longer share in the dastardly crime -into which he had betrayed his sailors; and insist that I should be -transshipped to the first vessel that passed, or that I should be -suffered to carry the schooner close enough to a coast, the nearest at -hand, to enable me to get ashore. It was likely enough that my full -mind showed in my face. A few times I caught him eyeing me askance, -but, beyond calling out some commonplace to me about the weather, the -progress of the schooner, and so forth, he said nothing.</p> - -<p>It was, however, clear to me that, let his thoughts be what they would, -he could say nothing. I was the only navigator aboard the vessel; he -was entirely at my mercy, therefore; he would rightly fear that any -menaces, any bullying, any tall-talk, must only result in causing me to -sullenly throw up my command; in which case the schooner would be but a -little less helpless than were she reduced to the condition of a sheer -hulk by a gale of wind.</p> - -<p>At noon I took an observation. Butler came aft to relieve me, and I -went to my quarters to work out my sights. When I had worked out my -sights and found out the position of the schooner on the chart, I <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> -lighted a pipe and sat down to reflect. I was now so perfectly sure -that the unhappy young lady in the cabin had been kidnapped that my -thoughts were never for an instant influenced by the consideration that -there <i>might</i> be a probability of the Spaniard's story proving true. -Everything pointed to this expedition as an adventure of abduction. -The sailors affirmed that the girl was bleeding and insensible when -carried through the hall past the room in which two of them with drawn -cutlasses were guarding her father and brother. This, then, signified -that she had been forcibly seized, and the state of her apparel and -the scratches upon her shoulder proved that there had been a struggle. -Would she have struggled had Don Christoval been her husband, to whom -she was yearning to be reunited?</p> - -<p>My blood felt hot in my veins when I thought upon this outrage; when I -reflected how I had been made a party to this deed of villainy; how I, -as an Englishman, had been courted by a cunning, clever lie to abet the -stealing of a countrywoman of my own from her father's home in England -by a brace, as I might take them, of unprincipled Spanish adventurers.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span></p> - -<p>Now, while I thus sat musing over my position, and considering what -course to shape to carry me clear of the dangerous association into -which misadventure had brought me, I was startled by a cry in the -adjacent cabin—a cry sharp, abrupt, terrible: affecting the ear as a -lightning flash affects the eye. The pipe I was about to raise to my -lips was arrested midway. I believe I am no coward, yet I must own that -that cry, that penetrating cry, seemed to thicken my blood, seemed to -stop the pulsation of my heart.</p> - -<p>But the pause with me was brief. I dashed down my pipe, sprang to the -bulk-head door and flung it open. And now what a picture did I see! The -tall, commanding figure of Don Christoval was in the act of sinking -to the deck; his hand was upon the table, but the fingers were slowly -slipping from the edge of it, and, even as I looked, the man without -a sound fell at his length and lay motionless. In the doorway of the -port or left-hand berth stood the lady whom I have heretofore styled -Madame, but whom I will henceforth call Ida Noble. She grasped a knife -in her hand—a long carving knife it seemed to me, and I remember -noticing a red gleam in it as the vessel rolled, slipping the sunshine -out of a mirror toward where the girl was. She stood erect, with her <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> -eyes fixed upon the body of the Spaniard; she was as stirless as he; -the figures of them both at that instant might have passed as a brace -of posture-makers representing a tragedy in one of those drawing-room -performances called <i>tableaux vivants</i>. Behind a chair on the starboard -side of the table crouched the figure of Mariana. He squatted, and -his attitude was exactly that of a monkey. His face was green; his -wide-open eyes disclosed twice the usual surface of eyeball; his -features were convulsed with terror, and never yet was there an artist -whose imagination could have reached to the height of that fellow's -hideousness, as he crouched, stabbed also, as I then believed, though -this was not so.</p> - -<p>A mad woman grasping a long knife is a formidable object; much more -formidable is she when that knife is stained with blood, and when the -person she has slain is still in view, lying a corpse a little distance -away from her. On my showing myself, Mariana cried out, but whether -in Spanish or English I knew not. What was I to do? What would you do -were you suddenly confronted by a mad woman armed with a long knife? I -looked up at the skylight and saw the horror-stricken countenance of -Don Lazarillo peering down; but even as my eye went in a glance to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> -the Spaniard's livid face, one of the sailors, and then another of the -sailors, came to his side. Count twenty, and the time you will occupy -in doing so will comprise the period from the moment of my opening the -door to look out down to this instant.</p> - -<p>Next moment the girl threw the knife on the deck with a gesture of -abhorrence, courtesied with irony to the body of Don Christoval, and -closed the door of the berth upon herself. Then there was a rush. We -could all find our courage now. Mariana sprang from behind his chair, -overturning it; Don Lazarillo, followed by the two sailors, came in a -few bounds through the companion-hatch. I stepped to the side of Don -Christoval's body, and stood looking upon him. Stone dead I knew him -to be. In Calcutta during a cholera outbreak, and on board an emigrant -ship visited with fever, I had many a time stood beside the dying and -the dead, and the spectacle of death was very familiar to me.</p> - -<p>"Lock her door!" shrieked Don Lazarillo.</p> - -<p>One of the seamen picked up the knife and viewed it at arm's length. I -carefully turned the body over.</p> - -<p>"Ay, there it is," said I, pointing to a cut slightly stained with -blood in the Spaniard's waistcoat. The wound was in the left ribs,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> -and one had but to glance at the knife to cease to wonder that the man -should have dropped dead.</p> - -<p>"Lock the door!" again shrieked Don Lazarillo in his broken English, -looking from the body of his friend to the door, and from the door -to the body of his friend, and recoiling, and shrinking and hugging -himself, and so munching his lips that one watched to see froth upon -them—doing all this as he looked.</p> - -<p>Mariana repeatedly crossed himself, uttering all sorts of Spanish -ejaculations in a voice like the subdued low of a calf.</p> - -<p>"Is he dead, sir?" asked one of the sailors.</p> - -<p>"He can never be more dead," said I, stooping to look into the face of -the body. "They drove her mad, and this is how she requites them. A -cruel, bloody business, my lads. Fling that knife overboard."</p> - -<p>The fellow launched it javelin-fashion through an open port-hole. Don -Lazarillo began to scream out in Spanish. His meaning might have some -reference to securing the lady; I do not know.</p> - -<p>"Silence!" I roared. "Do you want to be the next victim?" and in my -wrath I made an infuriate gesture as of stabbing; on which, with one -wild look at me, he fled up the companion steps and remained above,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> -viewing us through the skylight.</p> - -<p>Butler and another seaman, both very pale, and fetching their breath -quickly, entered the cabin and looked at the body.</p> - -<p>"Here's a murdering job to happen!" said Scott.</p> - -<p>"Who's done this?" cried Butler, who had been somewhere forward when -Don Christoval's wild death-shriek had sounded.</p> - -<p>Mariana, with a paralytic gesture, pointed to Miss Noble's berth.</p> - -<p>"Who's done it?" repeated Butler, in a voice strong and hoarse with -horror.</p> - -<p>"The girl whom these Spaniards have driven mad," said I. I turned to -Mariana. "Did you see Don Christoval stabbed?"</p> - -<p>"Ah, Dios! yes," he answered; and in language which is to be as little -conveyed as his voice, or the expressions which chased his face, which -at every instant gave a new character to his ugliness, he contrived to -make us understand this: that Don Christoval had entered the lady's -room, where he, Mariana, heard him address her soothingly; that the -door was suddenly flung open, and that, at the same moment, even as the -Spaniard stood on the threshold, the girl buried the knife in his side.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span></p> - -<p>"How did she come by the knife?" cried Butler.</p> - -<p>Mariana, trembling violently, with his eyes fixed upon the door of -Miss Noble's berth, as though at every moment he expected to behold it -thrown open, made us understand that the negro boy, some time during -the morning, had left a basket of the cabin cutlery upon the table, -and that the girl must have looked out and possessed herself of a -knife at some moment when the two Spaniards were on deck, and when -he—Mariana—had quitted his post of sentry to enter Don Christoval's -berth. This was conjecture on the fellow's part, but beyond doubt it -was accurate.</p> - -<p>Don Lazarillo continued to gaze at us through the skylight with an -expression as of a horrible sneer upon his face. I again stooped -over the form of Don Christoval, felt his pulse, and examined his -half-closed, fast-glazing eyes, then bade a couple of the seamen pick -the body up and convey it to the cabin the Spaniard had occupied. While -this was doing, I grasped the handle of the door of Miss Noble's room.</p> - -<p>"Mind!" shrieked Don Lazarillo from above. Mariana ran on deck. I felt -the idleness of announcing myself by knocking. More knives than one it <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> -was possible she might have concealed; I therefore at first held the -door but a little way open and looked in.</p> - -<p>The girl was standing beside the bunk or sleeping-shelf; her elbows -were upon the edge of it, her cheeks in her hands, and she stood -motionlessly gazing, as I might suppose, through the port-hole. She was -robed as in the morning; that is to say, in a crimson dressing-gown, -which, in that era of short skirts, clothed her to her heels. She was -but a little above the average stature of woman, though she had looked -far taller than she really was when she stood in the doorway grasping -the knife, with her eyes upon the dead Spaniard.</p> - -<p>Finding her unarmed, I entered, carefully sweeping the room as I did so -with my eyes for any signs of a knife or other weapon. The four seamen -stood in the doorway, and she did not turn her head. I approached her, -keeping a distance of some two or three feet between us, and prepared, -poor lady! for any act of violence. Still she continued to stare -through the port-hole.</p> - -<p>"Miss Noble," said I, "you smiled at me this morning. Look at me now. -You will remember me as your friend."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span></p> - -<p>She turned her head slowly; not more mechanical could have been that -extraordinary movement had clock-work produced it. When her soft brown -eyes—in which assuredly I witnessed nothing of that sparkle or fire of -madness which is said to burn in the vision of the insane—were upon -me, she frowned and bit her under lip, exposing her small white front -teeth. I believed from her expression that she was struggling with -her memory. She then suddenly turned fully round, as though sensible -of being watched from the door, and the sailors, to the wild look she -gave them, stirred and fell back with uneasy shuffling motions of their -feet. She stared at them for a while, and afterward at me, preserving -her frown, and holding her lip under her teeth; she was deadly white, -but spite of her frown, which you would have thought must give an -expression of disdain or anger or contempt to her brow, her face was -meaningless. She eyed me fixedly for some moments, then, with the -former slow motion of her head, resumed her first posture. I stepped to -the door.</p> - -<p>"What is to be done?" said I.</p> - -<p>"It's a cruel business. The Spaniard's been rightly sarved out," -exclaimed one of the sailors.</p> - -<p>"What is to be done?" I repeated; for here, to be sure, was a <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> -condition of ocean life that had never before been encountered by my -experience.</p> - -<p>The men gazed at the girl in silence. I mused, and presently said, -"One of you keep this door; the rest of us must turn to and search the -cabin, to make sure there is nothing in it with which she can hurt -herself."</p> - -<p>There were four of us, and there being little to examine, we had soon -satisfied ourselves that there was no weapon anywhere hidden. She took -not the least notice of us; but when I explored her sleeping-berth, -upon whose edge, as I have told you, her elbows reposed, she fell -back a step or two, and then, going to the arm-chair, seated herself, -clasping her knees and rooting her eyes to the deck.</p> - -<p>"Will she have a knife about her?" said Butler, in a hoarse whisper.</p> - -<p>I thoroughly considered this, and, after a narrow scrutiny of her, -decided that she had not concealed a knife upon her, and I was the -more willing to believe so because I had not the heart—I will not say -the courage—to search her. It shocked me to think of offering any -violence to the poor girl, and violence I knew it must come to—she -would resist, a struggle would increase her madness—if I laid my -hands upon her. But I was certain she had not concealed a knife. The <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> -dressing-gown she wore was without a pocket. The sleeves were loose, -and while she stood at the bunk I had noticed that her arms, whose -wrists were still clasped by bracelets, were bare, whence I concluded -that the dressing-gown concealed the ball attire she had been brought -aboard in. So I decided that she had not secreted a weapon, because, -recollecting her attire as she lay upon the sofa in the cabin after she -had been brought to the schooner, I could not conceive that it offered -any points for the concealment of a knife.</p> - -<p>I closed the door upon her, and we stood outside consulting. Our -debate determined us to this: that while she continued in this passive -condition she was to be left as she was; that for the present the five -seamen would take it turn and turn about to watch that she did not quit -her room; that she was to be fed as heretofore, that is to say, food -and wine were to be placed before her, of which she would partake if -she chose, for no man could compel her to eat. Then, no longer choosing -that the helmsman should remain alone on deck—for Don Lazarillo, -Mariana, and the negro boy counted for nothing—I went to the companion -steps and was followed by Butler and two others.</p> - -<p>Don Lazarillo and Mariana stood a little way forward of the skylight.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> -They conversed, and their gestures expressed unbounded horror and -dismay. On our appearing, they fell silent and watched us. Some -distance beyond them was the figure of the negro boy. There was nothing -in sight. The white canvas soared round and brilliant, and the rigging -was vocal with the gushing of the blue breeze. Astern of us ran an -arrowy wake of foam, and off the weather bow rose a steady sound of -seething, like to the noise made by the boiling foot of a cataract -heard afar.</p> - -<p>I took up a position near the tiller, that was in the grasp of the -seaman Tubb, and the sailors stood near me.</p> - -<p>"What's happened below?" said Tubb.</p> - -<p>"The tall Spaniard's been stabbed dead by the mad lady," answered South.</p> - -<p>Tubb delivered himself of a long whistle, following it on by an -agitated swing of the tiller that hove the schooner to the wind two -points before he could recover her.</p> - -<p>"And now what is to be done?" said I. "You see the pass we've been -brought into. Two men dead of the adventure, and the rest of us guilty -of a deed that must earn us transportation for life should the law get -hold of us. What's to be done, I say? Is this voyage to Cuba to be <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> -prosecuted? Our duty is—and let me tell you our policy is—to make all -the restitution that is possible, and that we can alone do by conveying -the poor lady home."</p> - -<p>"I ain't going home," cried Butler in a voice of obstinacy, smiting his -thigh.</p> - -<p>Don Lazarillo and Mariana crept, or sneaked rather, by a pace nearer to -us and stood listening.</p> - -<p>"And <i>I</i> ain't going home," said Tubb, fetching the head of the tiller -a whack. "You talk of transportation for life, Mr. Portlack; d'ye want -it to happen, sir?"</p> - -<p>"No," I answered; "but I wish to do what is right, and to make it as -right as right can be by doing it quickly. The lady must be restored to -her friends."</p> - -<p>"No offense, Mr. Portlack," said Scott, "but we aren't to forget that -you're on the right side of the hedge. You wasn't in the melhee; we -was. Your going home can't sinnify; ourn means lagging for all hands."</p> - -<p>The two Spaniards sneaked a little closer.</p> - -<p>"I wish to suggest nothing likely to imperil you," said I. "Though -I was never willingly of you—you don't want me to tell you how it -happens that I'm here; yet being of you, you'll find me with you,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> -content to share in all that may befall you. As to my being on the -right side of the hedge," cried I, rounding upon Scott, "that's but a -notion of yours. The lawyers may think very much otherwise. But I say -this, that since these two Spaniards have decoyed our heads into a -noose, the only way to avoid being strangled is to whip our heads out -again; and d'ye ask how that's to be done? My answer is, Do what is -right. Act so that you'll be able to say, should you come to be charged -as helpers in this crime of abduction: We believed the lady to be the -Spaniard's wife; we were told that a man had a right to his own, and -we were willing to help him to his own, but the moment we found we had -been deceived we turned to like honest men, to make all the amends in -our power by restoring the poor lady to her friends. <i>That</i> is what's -in my head, and it is the advice I give you, and wish you to act upon -for my sake and for yours."</p> - -<p>South looked thoughtfully at Butler; but Butler, with an angry -countenance, vengefully smiting his thigh again with his clinched -fist, cried out, "There's to be no going home with me. There's to be -no taking the chance of the law with me. There's to be no risking -even a week o' jail with me. Ye may call it Cuba, or ye may call it <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> -Madagascar, but let no man speak of the United Kingdom. I've got my -liberty, and I'm for keeping of it. 'Sides," he whipped out, "who's -going to pay me my money, now the Spaniard as hired us is dead and -gone?"</p> - -<p>The eyes of the men at this were at once bent upon Don Lazarillo.</p> - -<p>"Sooner than go home I'd start away in that there boat," said Scott, -pointing to the cutter on the main deck, "and take my chance of making -the land or being picked up. I once had a fortnight of quod for -refusing to sail after joining. That was enough for me. No more, thank -ye." He stepped to the rail and violently expectorated.</p> - -<p>"Who's going to pay us?" said Trapp. "If t'others are of my mind, -there'll be no leaving this schooner till we've received every farden -of our money. We've earnt it, by——!" he added, hitting the tiller -head another thump.</p> - -<p>"Mr. Portlack," said Butler, gazing at me gloomily and mutinously, "you -still talk as if you was cocksure that the lady wasn't the tall gent's -wife."</p> - -<p>I paused while I gazed at him, then, with vehement strides, walked up -to Don Lazarillo.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span></p> - -<p>"You and your dead friend," I cried, staring into the shrinking and -working face of the man, "have cheated me and the men here by your lies -into the commission of a crime. You know," I thundered, determined -to terrorize him into a confession of the truth, "that the poor lady -below, whom you have driven mad, was not Don Christoval's wife. Dare to -tell me she was, you villain, and I'll fling you overboard!"</p> - -<p>"What ees it you say?" he cried, with his swarthy face of the color of -pepper with fear.</p> - -<p>"<i>You</i> understand me!" I shouted, addressing Mariana. "You have been in -the secret, too, from the beginning. Own it, you dog, own it, or I'll -throttle you."</p> - -<p>I raised my hand; the ugly creature delivered a singular cry and -dropped on his knees.</p> - -<p>"Señor Portlack," he whined, "spare my life, for the blessed Virgin's -sake, and if I do not tell you the truth may Satan catch my soul -now and carry it away to eternal torment. The señorita was not the -cavalier's wife. The caballero's story was true in all but that part. -She was the lady of his love, but not his wife. If I'm not speaking the -truth, may my soul be tormented for ever and ever." Saying which he -crossed himself and stood up.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span></p> - -<p>The obligation of feigning wrath alone preserved me from bursting into -a laugh at the sight of his hideous face convulsed with fear.</p> - -<p>"Explain to Don Lazarillo," cried I, sternly, "what you have told me."</p> - -<p>He did so. Don Lazarillo watched him with sparkling eyes and ashen -cheek, and on his ceasing made as if he would strike him.</p> - -<p>"Will you deny that Mariana speaks the truth?" I exclaimed.</p> - -<p>The Spaniard shot at me a look of mingled malice, hate, and fright, -then, with a shrug of the shoulders that convulsed his figure, he -turned his back, and, with clasped hands, stood viewing the ocean over -the rail.</p> - -<p>"Now, men," said I, addressing Butler and the others, "you have heard -the truth for yourselves, and you may read it also in that Spanish -gentleman's behavior. Isn't it abominable that we Englishmen, or let -me say that <i>you</i> Englishmen, should have been tricked by the lies of -a brace of foreigners into helping them to steal a poor young lady of -your own country from her father's home? For what purpose was this -done? There was little enough love in it, I'll swear. She is no doubt -an heiress, and the Don that lies dead below hoped, by stealing her,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> -to steal her fortune also; and you may take it that yonder gentleman," -I continued, pointing at Don Lazarillo, "entered upon this inhuman -undertaking as a speculation. That's my notion, and if he understands -what I'm saying, he knows that I've hit the truth. He was to share in -the plunder, on condition of his finding money enough to equip this -expedition."</p> - -<p>My eyes rested upon Mariana as I spoke; the ugly rascal, to whom -my words seemed perfectly intelligible, let his head sink, in an -affirmative gesture. The wretch, in fact, was horribly frightened, -feared for his life, in short, and by the looks of him I might not only -know that he was willing to tell all, but to tell more than all, to -appease my wrath, which I must own was largely simulated.</p> - -<p>Butler stepped up to Don Lazarillo, whose back was still upon us, and -touched the man's elbow with his forefinger.</p> - -<p>"Here," said he, "what about my money?"</p> - -<p>Don Lazarillo appeared deaf, and continued to stare over the rail. -Butler thrust at his elbow again with his long forefinger.</p> - -<p>"I am asking," he said, "about my money. Who's a-going to pay me?"</p> - -<p>The other seamen now drew close to the Spaniard, who stood as though <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> -deaf. Mariana rapidly and hoarsely uttered a sentence or two in -Spanish, probably a translation of Butler's words. Don Lazarillo then -whipped round; his eyes glowed like live coals, but his ashy pallor was -more defined than before. On finding himself confronted by the three -sailors, he placed himself in the posture of a man at bay with a sword -in his hand, only, happily, he was without a sword.</p> - -<p>"What do you want?" he cried.</p> - -<p>"Who's a-going to pay us?" shouted Butler, unnecessarily exerting his -lungs, as the custom is with us English when we address foreigners, -whose incapacity to understand seems to suggest deafness to our insular -minds.</p> - -<p>Don Lazarillo, looking toward me, exclaimed, "I speak about dat wiz ze -Capitan Portlack."</p> - -<p>"Ay," cried Scott, "but if you can talk to him, you can talk to us. -It's we that's consarned. It's us as wants to know who's a-going to -pay us. You've brought us into a blooming mess with your lies, and the -five of us men, as Captain Dopping shipped at Cadiz, stands for to be -transported if so be as our law catches hold of us, and all along of -you and him as lays below. If you can talk to Mr. Portlack, you can -talk to us."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span></p> - -<p>"What you weesh me say?" cried the miserable Spaniard, extending his -arms, and casting a look of entreaty at me.</p> - -<p>"Who's a-going to pay us men?" vociferated Butler, striking the palm of -his left hand with a leg-of-mutton fist. The men stood so close to Don -Lazarillo that he was forced to dodge his head here and there to catch -a sight of Mariana, to whom he cried out something in his native tongue.</p> - -<p>"Señor Portlack," said the cook, in a cringing attitude, "Don Lazarillo -beg me say he will speak wid you. I will translate."</p> - -<p>"Let it be so, men," I exclaimed; "you'll do no good by shouting -questions to a man who doesn't understand you."</p> - -<p>They drew away sulkily. Don Lazarillo pulled off his hat to pass a -large colored silk handkerchief over his forehead. He then stepped up -to me. The cook posted himself close to him, and the sailors, with whom -now was the negro boy, took up a station within easy earshot. Mariana -translating, the dialogue took this form:—</p> - -<p>"The men wish to know who is to pay them their wages?"</p> - -<p>"Don Christoval is now dead," answered the Spaniard. "This adventure -therefore terminates!"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span></p> - -<p>"How?—terminates?" I cried. "We are still upon the high seas. We have -still the young lady with us to restore to those from whom you and your -friend stole her. No, no, this adventure has not yet terminated!"</p> - -<p>"What do you mean to do?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"That is no answer to my question. Who will pay those men for the work -they have done, the risks they have run, and have yet to run?"</p> - -<p>He put his hand to his brow, and, after a pause, said, "I must think."</p> - -<p>The sailors fell a-shouting exclamations. The chorus was swelled by the -voices of the man at the helm, and by the fellow below, who had got -upon the cabin table, and stood with his head in the open skylight, -listening.</p> - -<p>"Silence!" I cried; "how am I to transact your business if you -interrupt me? The men," I continued, addressing the Spaniard, "look -to you for payment. They will not lose sight of you until you pay -them. Have you money with you, or the equivalent of money?" I added, -fixing my eyes upon his rings and brooch; "for <i>I</i> must be paid, Don -Lazarillo, and <i>they</i> must be paid."</p> - -<p>"I will answer. I will be honorable. I will give my word; and the -word of a Spanish gentlemen is gold." A growl proceeded from the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> -seamen. "But first, as a matter of courtesy, to help my mind in its -blindness—for the death of my friend has caused my brains to spin -round in my head—I entreat you, señor, to tell me what are your -intentions?"</p> - -<p>"To restore the young lady to her friends."</p> - -<p>"What!" he cried, shouting the words with a face of horror to Mariana; -"you will proceed to England?"</p> - -<p>I responded with a vehement nod.</p> - -<p>"Then vot sall become of me?" he exclaimed in English.</p> - -<p>I shrugged my shoulders. He folded his arms tightly upon his breast, -and, with bowed head, fell to measuring a few feet of the deck. We all -watched him in silence while he thus walked. Suddenly he stopped, and, -turning upon Mariana, addressed him volubly and with amazing energy, -making a very windmill of his arms. I knew that he was saying a great -deal more than Mariana could translate, more, indeed, to judge from the -expression that entered the cook's face, than the repulsive-looking -creature would choose to translate. Nevertheless, I waited in patience, -making a single gesture of command to the sailors to be still.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span></p> - -<p>Mariana then spoke; the substance of his speech was this: Don Lazarillo -asked for a few hours. He desired to look over the effects of his dead -friend; he desired time to mature a proposal which he hoped to make -to me. This was substantially all that Mariana translated. Yet, owing -to his slow delivery and to his broken-winded English, the matter he -delivered appeared to contain much more than was in it. I had no doubt, -however, that Don Lazarillo in his speech had acquainted the fellow -with some half-formed scheme in his mind, as good for Mariana perhaps -as for himself.</p> - -<p>I told the cook to inform the Don that we would give him until six -o'clock that evening, and that if he was not ready with his proposals -by that hour, I should shift the schooner's helm for England, where, -on my arrival, it would be my duty to deliver him and Mariana into the -hands of justice. The cook, in translating this, was almost as ashen in -color as the other.</p> - -<p>Don Lazarillo descended into the cabin. Butler came up to me.</p> - -<p>"You're merely frightening the man, I hope, sir," said he, "with this -here talk of sailing to England?"</p> - -<p>"Let's settle with him first," I answered, "and then I'll call a <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> -council of the crew. Meanwhile it is senseless to keep the schooner -under all this canvas. Let us shorten sail and lay her with her head to -the east until we hear what Don Lazarillo has to say for himself."</p> - -<p>He looked doubtfully round the sea, then consented. So we reduced the -schooner down to what is termed a scandalized mainsail and a jib, -and all that afternoon she lay under that canvas, blowing along very -quietly eastward.</p> - -<p>Some time about four o'clock I went below and asked Trapp, who was -still on watch in the cabin, if all had been quiet in the lady's cabin.</p> - -<p>"Ne'er so much noise as a mouse would have made, sir," said he.</p> - -<p>I lightly tapped on the young lady's door, and without waiting for -a response, which I knew I should not obtain, I turned the handle -and looked in. The girl was seated in her chair, but her head lay -back upon the cushioned round of it. Her eyes were sealed, and her -lips apart. I looked at her, scarcely knowing whether she was alive -or dead; but presently observing that her bosom rose and fell, I -went to her side, put my ear to her mouth, and heard her breathing -regularly and peacefully. I stood a while looking at her, my heart <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> -full of pity. I peered closely at her fingers: her rings were rich and -beautiful—diamonds and rubies of great value; but I might make sure -now there was no wedding-ring buried among the three or four which -armored the finger the ring would have been on. One little foot showed, -and I perceived that she was shod with white satin. There was something -to shock me in the ironic contrast created by the sight of that satin -shoe—the contrast between the grim and tragic reality that was now -hers and the festal vision of the ball-room, with its swimming figures, -the bright music of the dance, the gleam of fans, the scent of flowers.</p> - -<p>I was happy to discover that she was able to sleep. It seemed to my -plain mind a good sign, for I had often been told that sleeplessness -was one of the horrible conditions of insanity; that not to be able -to sleep drove men mad; and that when they were mad still they were -sleepless. Strange as it will seem, I could not, I did not, associate -any horror of assassination with that restful figure. I had seen her -standing at the door, and had marked the red gleam upon the knife she -held; I had seen the tall and handsome Spaniard in the act of falling, -then tumbling his whole length and expiring. Yet I could gaze at this -poor girl without the least emotion of aversion, without the least <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> -sense of that sort of horrid unaccountable fascination with which -red-handed crime constrains the gaze of the spectator.</p> - -<p>This was not, I think, because I knew she was mad, and, being mad, -irresponsible, and, being irresponsible, virtually guiltless. No; it -was because of a singular atmosphere of purity and sweetness about -her as she now lay sleeping. Beautiful she was not. Indeed, she was -not even what might be called pretty; but now that she slept the -demon within her slept also. What was native in her showed in her -countenance. You witnessed it in this slumber of madness as you would -have beheld it in her waking hours of sanity. I stood viewing her and I -thought to myself she is a refined lady, pure, gentle, and good.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="chap" /> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.<br /> -<br /> -<small>DON LAZARILLO LEAVES US.</small></h2> - - -<p>I went out, closing the door behind me, and called to Butler through -the skylight to send the negro boy to me. The lad arrived, and I bade -him prepare a tray of refreshments for Miss Noble.</p> - -<p>"How does the poor lady do, sir?" said Trapp, who sat in a chair -looking on while I got upon the table and called.</p> - -<p>"She is sound asleep," said I. "So much the better. You can go forward -and get your supper. I'll keep a look-out here for the present."</p> - -<p>He went away, and presently the boy Tom arrived with the tray, on which -he had heaped some cold ham, fruit, jelly from a bottle, and so forth. -I poured some wine into a tumbler, and softly entering the lady's berth -placed the tray beside her on the deck, where, should the schooner -begin to frisk, it would slide without capsizing. I supposed that all -this while Don Lazarillo was in his own cabin gnawing, as his trick <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> -was, upon his finger-ends while he reflected upon the proposals he was -presently to submit. My thoughts went from him to his dead friend, and -I stepped to the berth where the body lay to look at it.</p> - -<p>On opening the door I beheld Don Lazarillo on his knees at the side -of the bunk in which reposed the body of Don Christoval. His hands -were clasped, his eyes were upturned, and, though his accents were -inaudible outside the door, he prayed with so much fervor as to be for -some moments insensible of my presence. Then bringing his flashing eyes -from the upper deck he directed them at me, made the sign of the cross -upon his breast, rose to his feet, made the sign of the cross upon the -face of the dead body, on whose breast he had laid a crucifix, and then -looked at me.</p> - -<p>I went to the side of the bunk and stood for a few moments gazing at -the pale, still, serene, most handsome face of the dead.</p> - -<p>"When ees he to bury?" said Don Lazarillo.</p> - -<p>"To-night," said I.</p> - -<p>"He is Catolique," he exclaimed.</p> - -<p>"We shall have to cast him into the sea without ceremony, I fear," said -I, "unless you will say some prayers over him."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span></p> - -<p>He seemed to understand me, for he nodded eagerly, and then, as if to -an afterthought, made me a very low, humble bow of thanks. Pointing to -my fingers, then to the chain of my watch, and then to the body of the -Spaniard, I said, "Will you see to his property?"</p> - -<p>He pulled open a drawer and motioned me to observe some objects wrapped -in a silk pocket-handkerchief. On this I looked again at the body, -and now saw that the one or two rings and other jewelry which Don -Christoval had worn were removed. I walked out of the berth, leaving -Don Lazarillo to proceed with his prayers, earnestly hoping, however, -that he would be ready with his proposals by six o'clock, and that they -would be practicable and consistent with my own wishes; because if he -made no sign I should be at a loss, since it was certain that the crew -would not suffer me to execute my threat to carry him to England while -they remained on board; and how to deal with <i>them</i> was a problem I -should not very well be able to solve until I had dealt with <i>him</i>.</p> - -<p>I told Tom to procure me a cup of chocolate from Mariana. I then took -a cigar from a locker in which were many boxes of cigars, and, seating -myself in an arm-chair, smoked and ruminated on the tragic incidents <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> -of the day. Shortly before six I peeped into Miss Noble's room. She -still slept soundly, exactly in the posture in which I had left her. -This I did not think wonderful, since, for all I knew, she might not -have slept a wink while she had been aboard the schooner, and nature, -utterly exhausted, had claimed at last the heavy arrears owing to her. -I listened: her breathing was perfectly placid; her bosom rose and -fell gently and regularly. I touched her hand and found it warm. The -refreshments were upon the deck untouched, as I had placed them.</p> - -<p>As I closed the door upon the sleeping girl, Don Lazarillo emerged from -the cabin in which his friend's remains lay. There was a scowl upon -his face that darkened his cheeks like a deeper dye of complexion. I -watched him out of the corners of my eyes, saying to myself, "This man -is a Spaniard; I have used strong words to him; he would think nothing -of serving me as Miss Noble served his friend." He drew a paper cigar -from a pocket case, lighted it, and sat down, pointing to the little -clock in the skylight as he did so, as though he would say, "You see I -am punctual." And, in truth, it was exactly six o'clock.</p> - -<p>He broke the silence by making me understand that he wished for <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> -Mariana. The sailors were assembled at the skylight gazing down -impatiently, and I bade one of them tell the cook to lay aft, and for -Butler and two others to join us below.</p> - -<p>"But come quietly," said I, "and make no noise when you're here, -for Miss Noble is asleep. One of you must remain on deck to keep a -look-out."</p> - -<p>This fell to George South, and Andrew Trapp was at the helm. Butler, -Scott, and Tubb came below, and they were hastily followed by Mariana. -The conversation (as translated by the cook, though it is needless, -perhaps, to say that my version is somewhat more intelligible than the -original as it appeared in Mariana's speech) proceeded thus:</p> - -<p>"Well, Don Lazarillo," said I, "you have had plenty of time to -consider. What now do you wish to say?"</p> - -<p>"La Casandra is my property," he replied; "she is owned by me, and I -placed her at the disposal of Don Christoval del Padron. You talk of -carrying her to England. I do not wish that she should go to England."</p> - -<p>"It is my business to restore the young lady to her friends," said I; -"and since this schooner carried her off from them, most assuredly she -will have to carry her back to them."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span></p> - -<p>"But what is to become of my schooner when you have her in England?"</p> - -<p>"I do not know, and I do not care," said I. "Stop! I will tell you -this: I shall hand her over to the shipping authorities at the port at -which we arrive. I will name you as her owner. You can claim her, if -you will, but I shall be compelled to tell the story of this adventure, -and to explain the part you took in it."</p> - -<p>"What's all this got to do with paying of us?" growled Butler.</p> - -<p>Don Lazarillo sat scowling at me.</p> - -<p>"You are quite at liberty," I continued, "to remain on board your -own schooner; but in that case you return with us to England, where -certainly my immediate duty will be to inform against you."</p> - -<p>He snarled a malediction.</p> - -<p>"What about our money? Ask him that," cried Scott to Mariana.</p> - -<p>"I will send you and the lady," said Don Lazarillo, "to the first -passing ship that is proceeding to England, and these sailors will -continue the voyage with me to Cuba."</p> - -<p>"Who's going to navigate the vessel?" said Tubb.</p> - -<p>"A passing ship will help us to a lieutenant," answered Don Lazarillo.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Where's the passing ship to come from?" sneered Butler. "Who's a-going -to wait for her? And d'ye think us men 'ud be content to mess about in -this blooming schooner, may be for weeks, not knowing where we are and -not knowing how to head? Ask the gent who's a-going to pay us, cook? -That's what we're assembled for to hear."</p> - -<p>"Besides," said I, "I should not dream of transferring Miss Noble to -another vessel in her present condition."</p> - -<p>I spied Don Lazarillo and Mariana exchanging a look. Indeed, I already -more than suspected that these proposals of the Spaniards so far were -no more than a "try on," to use a cant term; that he held another -card in his hand ready to play should he be forced to do so, but -that, meanwhile, his business was to make the best terms he could for -himself. This conjecture was confirmed by the next speech of his that -Mariana translated:</p> - -<p>"Then what remains but for me to be transshipped to a passing -vessel—Mariana and me?"</p> - -<p>"That is reasonable. That shall be done," said I. "It is what I myself -should have proposed."</p> - -<p>"<i>Contento!</i>" said Don Lazarillo, and was silent.</p> - -<p>"What about our money?" said Butler.</p> - -<p>The Spaniard looked round him on Mariana rendering this, then said, "I <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> -will give drafts upon my bank at Madrid."</p> - -<p>Butler, who was clearly the sea lawyer of this little community, -fastening his eyes upon the rings on Don Lazarillo's fingers, shook his -head with a contemptuous snort of laughter. "No, no," cried he, "I know -what drafts be. A draft's a check, and a check's a bit of paper as may -be made not worth the ink it's wrote upon with by the party withdrawing -of his money from the bank. No, no," he continued, shaking his head -somewhat savagely at Don Lazarillo, "we want money, not paper, and if -ye can't pay us in money, then ye've got to settle with us in what is -next best to it." And here he looked significantly at the Don's rings -again.</p> - -<p>"You may tell Don Lazarillo," said I to Mariana, "that we shall not -be satisfied with his drafts, nor with anything short of the cash he -may have about him; and what he may lack in cash he must make good in -jewelry, of which he and his dead friend have plenty between them."</p> - -<p>When this was interpreted, an expression like a spasm passed over -Don Lazarillo's face. He reflected, then, with a passionate gesture, -whipped out a pocket-book, from which he abstracted a handsome gold -pencil-case, and all very passionately, with knitted brows and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> -muttering lips, he entered certain figures, then shrieked rather than -pronounced the amount to the cook, naming it in Spanish currency. -Mariana nodded. Don Lazarillo now addressed him with excitement, -then, springing to his feet, he entered Don Christoval's room, from -which, in a few minutes, he returned bearing with him a bag of yellow -leather, and the silk pocket-handkerchief which, as he had given me to -understand, contained his deceased friend's jewelry. He opened the bag -with trembling fingers, and then, with glowing eyes, he capsized the -contents on to the table. This consisted of English sovereigns—two or -three hundred, I should have imagined.</p> - -<p>"Count," shrieked the Spaniard, "and divide."</p> - -<p>I counted, and made the sum exactly a hundred and fifty pounds.</p> - -<p>"Divide," yelled Don Lazarillo, and he added some terms in Spanish -which Mariana did not think proper to interpret. The cook's eyes -gleamed like the blade of a new poniard as he looked at the money. I -told thirty pounds for each man; for this, it seems, was the wages -agreed upon for the run. Don Lazarillo then thrust the little parcel of -jewelry which had belonged to his friend across to me.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Dat veel pay you, I hope, Capitan Portlack," he exclaimed, hooking -his thumbs in the arms of his waistcoat, and leaning back with an -assumption of haughtiness and contempt, which fitted him as ill as the -clothes of Don Christoval would.</p> - -<p>I opened the handkerchief, and found a handsome gold watch and chain -and a very fine diamond ring. I gave Don Lazarillo a nod, and without -speech put these articles into my pockets. The value of this jewelry -to purchase it would probably have amounted to three or four times the -sum I was to receive; but then I estimated the things at their selling -price, which probably might not reach to fifty guineas, so that in -pocketing them I was taking no more than was my due.</p> - -<p>"You are now all satisfied, I hope," exclaimed Don Lazarillo, through -Mariana. Yes, we were all satisfied. "And you put Mariana and me and my -effects on board the first passing ship that will receive us?"</p> - -<p>"Yes," said I.</p> - -<p>"But suppose that she is sailing to Australia or to India?"</p> - -<p>"I shall not be able to help that," said I. "You may stay in this -schooner if you please, but Miss Noble must be conveyed home."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span></p> - -<p>He rose from his seat frowning, viciously bit off the end of a cigar, -lighted it, and went on deck, followed by the cook.</p> - -<p>"Well, your minds are easy now, I hope, my lads?" said I, rising.</p> - -<p>"We're obliged to ye, Mr. Portlack," answered Butler. "You've managed -first-rate for us. And now, d'ye know, sir, while I've been sitting at -this table an idea's come into my head."</p> - -<p>"What is that idea?"</p> - -<p>"It consarns our leaving the schooner, sir."</p> - -<p>"Let me hear it."</p> - -<p>"There's that big boat amidships," said he. "We shipped at Cadiz, and -it was known at Cadiz that this here Casandra sailed from that port on -such and such a day. Now my idea is: suppose you run in for the Spanish -land until you've got Cadiz within, say, half-a-day's sail. Us men will -then launch the cutter and start away for the port, you giving us its -bearings. We must turn to and invent a yarn and represent this schooner -as having foundered, the rest of the people who got away in the small -boat being lost sight of by us. There are plenty of vessels at Cadiz, -and they're always in want of hands. We can ship as smartly as we -choose, get away, and then there'll be an end."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span></p> - -<p>I reflected, and said, "I think your scheme excellent, and Cadiz, -though still somewhat south, is, in my opinion, as good as any other -port. Only, when you are gone and the two Spaniards transshipped, I -shall be alone in this schooner."</p> - -<p>"There'll be Tom, sir," said Tubb.</p> - -<p>I smiled.</p> - -<p>"If you're to return to England, Mr. Portlack," said Butler, -pronouncing his words with great emphasis, "in this here schooner, and -we're to leave you, which must be, for ne'er a man of us must dream of -going home for a long spell to come arter such a job as this, then what -I say is, there's no help for it. Alone ye'll have to be until such -times as a passing vessel 'ull loan ye a man or two to help you home."</p> - -<p>"Your scheme requires reflection," said I. "Give me time to think over -it. And now, since you're below, you may as well turn to and get that -body yonder ready for the last toss. We'll drop it over the side at -eight bells."</p> - -<p>I walked to Miss Noble's cabin and looked in. She was still asleep, -preserving absolutely her former posture. I beckoned to Butler, who was -at that instant stepping from Don Christoval's berth. He approached, -and I said, "See there," pointing to the lady. "She has been sleeping <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> -like that pretty nearly ever since we left the berth after searching -it."</p> - -<p>"Is she sleeping?" said he.</p> - -<p>"Yes," said I, "but there is something unnatural in such slumber as -this. She has not stirred a finger for some hours."</p> - -<p>"She seems breathing all right, and appears comfortable enough, sir," -said he, after silently surveying her.</p> - -<p>"She does not look comfortable. I wish to see her in her bunk. Let us -gently lift her into it. If she wakens she may prove to have her mind. -Observe her face; there is no madness in that placid expression."</p> - -<p>We were both strong men, and, bending over her we grasped, swiftly -raised, and laid her at her length in the bunk. She never moved. It was -indeed like lifting a statue; just as we placed her so did she continue -to lie, breathing quietly with an expression upon her lips that was -almost a smile.</p> - -<p>"Well," hoarsely whispered Butler, "blowed if I could ha' believed in -such a thing had I been told it. She may be a-dying."</p> - -<p>"I hope not," said I; "one would wish to right the enormous wrong that <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> -has been done her before she dies."</p> - -<p>We stood in the doorway a few minutes looking at her, talking in -whispers of the assassination of the Spaniard, and of other matters -growing out of that tragic subject, such as the part that Don Lazarillo -was playing in this extraordinary enterprise, the probability of the -girl having lost her reason for life, and so forth, during which the -young lady lay as motionless as though she rested in her coffin. Butler -then left the cabin to obtain materials for stitching up the body in, -and I went on deck.</p> - -<p>We buried the remains of Don Christoval at eight bells that evening, -that is, at eight o'clock. It was a fine moonless evening, with so much -star-light in the heavens that the twilight seemed to still dwell in -the atmosphere when the afterglow had long ago died out. There was a -pleasant breeze, and a sullen, steady sweep of swell, over which the -schooner, almost denuded of her canvas—for our plans were not yet -formed—rode with the regularity of the tick of a clock.</p> - -<p>Ever since sunset Don Lazarillo had hung about in the waist, conversing -with Mariana in Spanish in subdued accents, yet with an energy that -again and again ran a hiss through his utterance. The body, with a <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> -couple of cannon shot attached to its feet, was handed on deck by three -of the men; it was then placed upon a piece of the main-hatch cover, -and hoisted to the lee-rail, the foot of the cover resting on the rail, -while the head was supported by Butler and South. The two Spaniards, -who had fallen dumb when the body was brought on deck, repeatedly -crossed themselves, holding their hats in their hands, while the men -were manoeuvring at the sides with Don Christoval's remains.</p> - -<p>"Are you ready?" said I.</p> - -<p>"All ready, sir," answered Butler.</p> - -<p>"Pull off your caps, lads," said I, and, bareheaded, I stepped up -to Don Lazarillo and begged him to recite the prayers he desired to -pronounce over his friend's ashes.</p> - -<p>He responded with a bow, which, for the moment, affected me by its -mixture of courtesy and grief, and then, with Mariana stalking at his -heels, approached the body. They went down upon their knees, and Don -Lazarillo prayed loudly, the cook occasionally striking in with an -ejaculation. I gazed with respect, and even reverence, at this strange -picture. No matter what a man's faith may be, no matter what his color -may be, no matter how wild and grotesque the accents in which he <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> -vents himself, never can I behold him praying to the Being in whom -he believes, yea, even though he be a John Chinaman prostrate to the -flat of his forehead upon the floor of his joss-house, without being -strangely moved and melted into feelings and sensations in which one -should seem to find but little affinity with the rough life of the -ocean. The Spaniard's prayers were not mine, his religion was not mine; -but what signifies <i>that</i>, thought I, as I stood listening and gazing; -every man sets his watch in the dark, and it is but reasonable that -every man should think his own time right.</p> - -<p>The night wind, damp with dew, hummed in the rigging; the dark water -broke from the gentle thrust of the stem in sobs, while Don Lazarillo -prayed, and while Mariana ejaculated. As my eye went to the pale -glimmering shape of the canvas I heard again the sounds of the sweet -tenor voice as it had quietly rung through the open skylight that -morning. I heard again the harp-like notes of the delicately-fingered -guitar. I beheld again those visions which that clear, melodious voice -had evoked, those summer aromatic scenes which Don Christoval's songs -had painted upon the vision of my mind. The Spaniards rose from their -knees. Don Lazarillo made the sign of the cross upon the body, then <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> -pronounced some word in Spanish, with a sob in his tone.</p> - -<p>"Let it go, men," said I.</p> - -<p>They tilted the hatch, and the pale shape flashed over the side.</p> - -<p>"Is Butler forward there?" I called out as I was pacing the -quarter-deck half an hour later.</p> - -<p>"Here he is, sir," responded Butler's voice.</p> - -<p>"Step aft," said I. He arrived. "Butler, I've been thinking over your -scheme. For the last half-hour I've been thinking of nothing else. -If you men go away in the boat, will the negro boy Tom be willing to -remain with me?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, sir."</p> - -<p>"How do you know."</p> - -<p>"I put the question to him and he said he would be willing."</p> - -<p>"Then," I exclaimed, "I consent. I agree with you that, if you are -to leave me, I must be alone until I can get help. I might indeed -transship you, feign to the master of the vessel we should speak that -you were mutineers—a character you would all have to support—and -ask him to give me two or three men in exchange for my five. That I -might do; but the business would consist of a lie, and I hate lies.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> -We should have to act a part: the five of you would have to invent a -yarn, and carefully stick to it, while you were aboard the vessel that -received you.... No! your plan is the most straightforward, and the -least troublesome. The risk is mine, and a heavy risk it is—to be left -in a big vessel with one hand only, and that hand a boy, and a mad lady -below, who will require watching, and who may attempt our lives when -she awakes. But I see no other way out of the difficulty."</p> - -<p>"Nor I, sir," he answered. "We don't like the notion of leaving ye -alone; but then, you insist upon carrying this here schooner to -England, and to England we don't mean to go," said he, slapping his leg.</p> - -<p>"Say no more. We'll hold that matter settled. Only, before you leave, -the two Spaniards must have left; otherwise they'll be cutting Tom's -and my throat, taking their chance, as I shall have to take my chance, -of being fallen in with and succored. The Don doesn't like the notion -of losing his schooner; but lose her he must, for he'll never dare to -lay claim to her."</p> - -<p>"I should think not!" said he. "Well, sir, then I'll tell my mates it's -settled. What about leaving the vessel under this small canvas?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Oh," I answered, "sail can now be made, and I'll shape a course for -Cadiz. As we approach the land, we stand to fall in with some trader, -who'll put the two Spaniards ashore on their native soil."</p> - -<p>I was in charge of the deck, and it was for me, therefore, to give -the necessary orders for sail to be made. The sailors sprang about -with marvelous agility. The influence of the money they had received -operated far more strongly in them than the influence of the funeral -they had witnessed, and I believe that nothing had restrained them -from singing, dancing, making a night of it, in short—for the -fellows were never without plenty of a cheap sort of claret that had -been economically laid in for their consumption—nothing, I say, had -hindered them from celebrating their payment of thirty pounds a man by -a forecastle carousal, but the feeling that some trifling respect was -due to the memory of the dead and to the affliction of Don Lazarillo. -Sail was heaped upon the schooner. Her twin spires floated through the -liquid dusk that was radiant with large trembling stars, and a sheen -melted off the edges of the canvas into the gloom, as though the whole -fabric were some tall island of ice.</p> - -<p>Don Lazarillo sat under the skylight; he lay back in his chair with <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> -his legs crossed, his hands clasped upon his waistcoat, and a long -cigar forking out of his mouth. His eyes of fire were fixed upon one of -the cabin lamps, and I saw them gleaming, through the clouds of smoke -he expelled, like the lanterns of a light-ship on a thick night. His -countenance wore an expression of desperate dejection. Some distance -away from him sat the man South, whose turn it was to watch beside -Miss Noble's cabin door. This duty I conceived might, for the next two -hours, at all events, be intrusted to the negro boy. He was somewhere -forward. I called to him, and he came along to me out of the gloom; his -black face so blending with the obscurity that the white jacket and -canvas breeches he wore made him resemble a body without a head.</p> - -<p>"You are satisfied to remain with me, Tom," said I, "when the sailors -leave me?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, massa."</p> - -<p>"You are a good boy, and a plucky boy. We shall not be long without -help, I expect. I will take care that you are rewarded." The expanse -of his teeth by a sudden grin was like a streak of dim light upon the -darkness. "Go below into the cabin," said I, "and relieve South. Let -him go forward. You know what you have to watch?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Dah lady's door, sah."</p> - -<p>He descended, and up came South, who was immediately followed by Don -Lazarillo. The Spaniard, temporarily blinded by the brilliance he -had emerged from, stood in the companion-way staring around; then -perceiving me, he crossed the deck and with great haste and agitation -addressed me in Spanish.</p> - -<p>"No compreny, no compreny, Don Lazarillo!" I exclaimed, and sang out -for Mariana to be sent aft. The fellow promptly arrived, and upon him -the Don instantly discharged a whole torrent of words.</p> - -<p>"What is wrong?" said I.</p> - -<p>The cook answered that Don Lazarillo wished Miss Noble's cabin to be -watched by a seaman. Tom was a boy. Should Miss Noble dash out of her -cabin armed with a knife, what would Tom be able to do?</p> - -<p>"Tell Don Lazarillo," said I, "that Miss Noble is slumbering in what -seems to be a trance."</p> - -<p>The Don violently shook his head. His friend had been assassinated: he -himself might be the next victim. By the bones of St. Thomas, was he -to be stuck in the back like a pig, or to have his head half severed -from his body in his sleep? He would ask Captain Portlack to do him <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> -a great favor—to exchange quarters with him. He, Don Lazarillo, with -Señor Portlack's courteous permission, would sleep under the main hatch -during the remainder of his stay on board La Casandra.</p> - -<p>I promptly assented, and that the unhappy Spaniard should meanwhile -enjoy some little ease of mind, I called to South and bade him resume -his look-out in the cabin. I now hoped to be able to get the truth -about this wild and tragic expedition out of Don Lazarillo, and, with -as much tact as I was master of, sought through Mariana to direct the -conversation that way. But I was disappointed. Don Lazarillo returned -evasive answers, and then, suddenly complaining of the cold, made -me a bow and withdrew to the cabin with Mariana, who, I presently -ascertained, immediately went to work to prepare my quarters for the -reception of the Don.</p> - -<p>After ten o'clock I saw no more of the Spaniard. I had heard some sound -of hammering, but knew not what it signified until South, coming up out -of the cabin after having been relieved by one of the seamen, informed -me that it had been caused by Mariana nailing up the bulk-head door -that led to the sleeping quarters I had occupied. "The Don don't mean <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> -that the lady shall get at him, sir," said the man, with a short laugh.</p> - -<p>I stepped into the cabin to mix myself a glass of grog, dim the lamps, -and take a look round.</p> - -<p>"Has all been still within?" said I to William Scott, who was to be -sentry down here till midnight.</p> - -<p>He replied that he had not heard a sound. On this I opened the door of -the lady's room, and bade Scott hold it open that I might see by the -sheen of the cabin lamps. There lay the girl as she had been lying for -hours, always breathing with the same regularity, her posture exactly -the same. I viewed her attentively, but could not detect that she had -moved her head or a limb by as much as the breadth of a finger-nail.</p> - -<p>I marveled much as I returned on deck. Was this sleep the forerunner of -death? Was life ebbing away as she thus rested? If not, then how long -would this slumber last? Yet, thought I, it is best as it is; better -that her senses should be thus locked up, than that with eyes brilliant -with madness she should be ceaselessly pacing the floor of her room, or -with insane cunning watching for an opportunity to steal forth.</p> - -<p>I slept during my watch below—that is, from twelve to four—in the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> -cabin that had been Don Lazarillo's, and Captain Dopping's before him, -to which new quarters I found that Mariana had brought the charts, -chronometer, nautical instruments, and so forth. I slept soundly. -Butler aroused me: all had been well. The breeze had freshened, he -said; at three o'clock a large line-of-battle ship had passed within -musket-shot; saving this, there was nothing to report. I looked in upon -the girl on my way to the deck and found her, as I was now expecting to -find her, in a deep and death-like sleep.</p> - -<p>When the dawn broke I anxiously scanned the sea line in search of a -ship. Every hour of sailing of this sort was sweeping us closer into -the Spanish coast; and as I had no intention whatever of relinquishing -my five seamen until I had got rid of the two Spaniards, my present -keen anxiety was to heave something into view that would receive them -and carry them off. The rising sun flashed a bright and joyous morning -into the wide scene of heaven and ocean. The horizon lay clear as the -rim of a lens; a sweep of delicate blue to either hand of the glorious -wake of the soaring luminary, with the sky sloping down to it in a dim -azure, richly mottled in the west with clouds; but there was nothing -to be seen. On this I resolved to shorten sail and to head somewhat <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> -more to the southward, where we stood a chance of falling in with the -sort of craft we desired to signal. All hands were on deck. I briefly -explained my motive, and canvas was forthwith reduced, diminishing the -speed of the schooner to within about four miles an hour.</p> - -<p>While the men were busy with the ropes, Don Lazarillo's dark and -bearded face rose through the main hatch. His eyes swept the -horizon, as mine had, and then they settled upon me with a frown of -disappointment. His complexion was unwholesome, as from a long night of -sleeplessness and anxiety, not to mention the several passions which -would contend within him when he reflected on the death of his friend, -the complete and tragic failure of the expedition, the prospective -loss of his schooner, and the certain loss of the money—doubtless a -large sum—with which I was quite sure he had aided Don Christoval -in the execution of his scheme to run away with an English heiress. -He gave me a sullen bow, pointed with a shrug to the bare ocean, -addressed Mariana, whose eyes watched him from the galley-door, and -descended into the cabin; but as I happened to be standing close to the -companion-way, I was able to observe that he paused, before entering <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> -the interior, to make sure that somebody was watching Miss Noble's -berth.</p> - -<p>He had finished his breakfast by the time I was ready for mine, and -as I took my seat he got up and went on deck in silence, casting a -single savage glance at the door of the lady's cabin as he walked to -the companion-steps. I looked in upon her when I had breakfasted; there -was no change in her attitude: her trance, if trance it were, was as -profound as ever it had been.</p> - -<p>However, as it turned out, Don Lazarillo was not to pass another -night aboard La Casandra. And, indeed, seeing what waters we were -now navigating, it would have been extraordinary, a thing beyond all -average sea-faring experience, had hour after hour rolled by without -bringing us a sight of a sail. I was eating some dinner, at half-past -one o'clock, in the cabin, when Butler put his head into the skylight -and called down:</p> - -<p>"Mr. Portlack, there's a small vessel standing almost direct for us out -of the south'ard and west'ard—bound in, apparently, for the Portugal -coast. Shall we signal her?"</p> - -<p>"Ay, certainly," cried I. "Heave the schooner to, and run the ensign -aloft. I'll be with you presently."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span></p> - -<p>In about ten minutes' time I finished my dinner, swallowed a bumper -of the noble Burgundy which had been stowed aft for the consumption -of the Spaniards, lighted one of the fine Havana cigars, of which -there was a locker half full, and, exchanging a sentence with Trapp, -whose turn it was to keep watch on Miss Noble, went on deck. Not above -three miles distant, and heading, as it seemed, directly for us, was a -square-rigged vessel, a little brig, as she subsequently proved. Her -canvas glanced like satin in the sun as she rolled. She was coming -leisurely along under all plain sail. There was a color blowing at her -main royalmast head, where alone it would have been visible to us, and -on seeing it through a glass I made it out to be the Portuguese ensign.</p> - -<p>Don Lazarillo was on deck, swathed in his long Spanish cloak, and -wearing on his head a large Andalusian hat. He looked like a bandit in -an opera. Mariana, whose head was adorned by a long blue cap, shaped -like the night-caps men used to sleep in when I was a boy, watched the -approaching craft from his favorite skulking-hole, the caboose door.</p> - -<p>"She veel do, I hope!" cried Don Lazarillo, on catching sight of me, -motioning toward the brig with a theatrical gesture.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I hope so, indeed," said I, earnestly. "But," cried I, happening to -direct my eyes at our gaff end, where flew not the English but the -Spanish colors, "what have you got hoisted there, Butler?"</p> - -<p>"The only ensign aboard, sir," he answered.</p> - -<p>"Upon my word! Yet I might have supposed so. La Casandra is a Spaniard, -to all intents and purposes. So much the better," I added, as I sent -another glance at the flag we were flying. "The Portuguese may be more -willing to oblige the people of that flag's nationality than those -whose rag is the red, white, and blue."</p> - -<p>The schooner had been hove to, thrown head to wind, her square canvas -being furled, and nothing was to be heard but the slopping sound of -waters alongside and the straining noises of the fabric as she leaned -to the swell, while silently and eagerly we kept our eyes fastened upon -the coming Portuguese brig. She drew close to windward, put her helm -down, backed her maintop-sail yard, and lay within hailing distance—a -prettier model than ever I should have thought to see flying <i>her</i> -colors, clean in rig, and her canvas fitting her well. The white -water raced fountain-like from her bows as she courtesied, ripples of -light ran like thrills through her black, wet sides, and there was -a frequent leap of white fire from the brass and glass along her <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> -quarter-deck.</p> - -<p>A tall, gaunt man, whose features were just distinguishable, got upon -the rail, and, holding on by a back-stay, pulled off his red cap and -hailed us in Portuguese. Don Lazarillo looked round to observe if -anybody meant to answer him; then exclaiming, "I understand; I speak -his language," he shouted an answer—but an answer that seemed a -fathom long; in fact, there was room in Don Lazarillo's response to -the Portuguese skipper's hail for the whole story of our adventure. -Mariana came and stood alongside the Don. Many cries were exchanged; -the gestures were frequent and often frantic. Presently the Portuguese -skipper dropped on to his deck, and Don Lazarillo bade Mariana inform -me that the man meant to come aboard. In a few minutes the Portuguese -brig lowered a boat; her gaunt skipper entered it, accompanied by a -couple of men, and pulled the little craft alongside of us.</p> - -<p>I had never beheld so strange a figure as that Portuguese skipper. -His face was little more than that of a skull, the flesh of which -resembled the skin of an old drum where it is darkened by the beating -of the sticks; it lay in ridges, as though badly pasted on, and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> -these ridges looked to have become iron-hard through exposure to the -weather. His eyes were large, intensely black, and horribly deep sunk, -and glowed with what might well have been the fire of fever. Don -Lazarillo pronounced some words, haughtily motioning to me; on which -the Portuguese skipper gave me such a bow as a skeleton would make, -and I pulled off my hat. Then the Spaniard addressed Mariana, who, -accosting me in his extraordinary English, said that Don Lazarillo -desired to know if it should be left to him to conduct this business -of their quitting the schooner. I answered, "Certainly." I had no wish -to interfere at all; nor could I be of the slightest use to them, not -knowing a syllable of their tongues. On this Don Lazarillo took the -Portuguese skipper into the cabin, and with them went the cook.</p> - -<p>After a few moments I heard the sound of a cork drawn; this was -followed by much animated conversation; but I did not choose to show -myself at the skylight under which they were seated, and their accents -reached my ear faintly. I said to Butler, with a smile:</p> - -<p>"I hope the Don isn't conspiring with the Portugal man to seize the -schooner."</p> - -<p>"Lord bless ye, Mr. Portlack," he answered with a grin. "How many of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> -the likes of them chaps in the boat over the side down there would be -needed for such a job as that?"</p> - -<p>And a grimy, wretched brace of men they were; yellow as mustard, and -dark for want of soap, clad in costumes of rags, the lower extremities -of which were kept together by being thrust into half-Wellington boots, -bronzed with brine.</p> - -<p>"Where are you from?" I shouted.</p> - -<p>They were squatting in the bottom of the boat like monkeys, and their -manner of looking upward was exactly that of monkeys—swift, their -gleaming eyes restless, and a queer puckering of their leather lips -that seemed a grin. They understood me, and one answered, "Bahia."</p> - -<p>"Where are you bound to?"</p> - -<p>"Lisbon."</p> - -<p>I tried them with one or two more questions, but to no purpose. After -the lapse of some twenty minutes Mariana came out of the cabin, and -said that Don Lazarillo begged I would be so good as to send two seamen -below to convey his effects into the boat.</p> - -<p>"Certainly," I answered, and ordered a couple of men to attend upon -the Spaniard. Guessing that the Don's effects would be comparatively <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> -trifling, I could not imagine why he required the services of two men -in addition to the cook's help; until, after a little, first one sailor -made his appearance with his arms full of boxes of cigars, then the -second sailor arrived with a case of wine, then Mariana came on deck -with bags and valises belonging to the two Dons. These articles were -handed into the boat, and the seamen and the cook returned for more. -It was clearly Don Lazarillo's intention to carry off as much as the -Portuguese boat would hold, and by and by she was lying alongside deep -with wine, cigars, a chest, as I supposed, of the silver plate, and a -variety of other portable articles.</p> - -<p>Don Lazarillo then came up with the Portuguese captain. They went -to the side and looked over at the boat, and the Portuguese captain -hailed the men in her, and some unintelligible talk followed. The boat -was then drawn under the gangway by the two fellows, and without a -syllable, but with one deadly glance of malice at me, Don Lazarillo -entered her. Mariana, throwing a bundle into her, followed. The -Portuguese skipper then sprang, and the boat shoved off.</p> - -<p>Fortunately for her inmates, the surface of the sea flashed and -feathered in ripples only, for the spite or avarice of the Spaniard <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> -had so loaded the boat that it needed but a very little weight in the -movement of the water to swamp and founder her out of hand.</p> - -<p>When her two oars had impelled her a pistol-shot distant from us, Don -Lazarillo stood up and proceeded to harangue me in Spanish, with both -arms raised and both fists clinched. He rapidly worked himself into a -white heat of passion; his voice rose into a penetrating shriek. That -he was heaping upon my head every malediction which the language of -his country, rich in grotesquely injurious terms, could supply him -with, I did not doubt. I picked up a telescope and looked at his face -through it, which cool, provoking act so heightened the madness of -his wrath that he fell to swaying and toppling about after the manner -of a man delirious with drink; whereupon the Portuguese captain, who -had sat stolidly looking up at him, to save his own and the lives of -the others—for the boat dangerously swayed to the Don's ecstatic -gestures—struck him behind in the bend of his legs with the sharp of -his hand, and Don Lazarillo vanished in a twinkling in the bottom of -the boat. A roar of laughter went up from our men.</p> - -<p>"Trim sail, lads, and then heap it on her," I called out; and, even <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> -as the boat lay alongside the brig, with the people in her handing up -Don Lazarillo's little cargo, the Casandra, yielding to the impulse of -her broad and lofty cloths, was ripping through it to the southward -and eastward, the brine spitting at her stem, and the shapely little -Portuguese brig veering astern into a Lilliputian toy, her white canvas -resembling a hovering butterfly in the confused, misty, and broken -fires of the sun's reflection upon the ocean in the south-west.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="chap" /> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.<br /> -<br /> -<small>IDA NOBLE.</small></h2> - - -<p>"Our turn next, sir," exclaimed Butler, coming away from the rail, -where he had been standing for a minute looking at the brig under his -hand.</p> - -<p>"Yes. I shall be sorry to lose you," said I; "but what must be, must -be, and you've made up your minds."</p> - -<p>"Ay, sir. It is right and proper, indeed, that you should carry the -poor lady home; and gladly would we help ye if we durst. But after -what's happened——" He violently shook his head. "How far d'ye reckon -the coast of Cadiz to be distant, sir?"</p> - -<p>"Call it four days at this rate of sailing," said I. Then, looking at -him, I continued: "I wish you men would change your minds, and let me -set you ashore north of Ushant."</p> - -<p>I was proceeding to explain my reason, but he arrested me by an -emphatic, "No, sir. Let it be Cadiz, if you please. The further away <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> -the better. All us men have friends at Cadiz, and there are other -reasons for our deciding upon that port."</p> - -<p>I went below to see what Don Lazarillo had left behind him. The negro -lad sat in a chair keeping that watch in the cabin which we continued -to maintain spite of the girl's wonderful death-like sleep. It would -have been easy, indeed, to have padlocked or in other ways secured the -door; but then, if the door had been thus secured, our vigilance would -certainly have been relaxed: in which case there was the chance of the -cabin being empty at the moment when her consciousness returned, and, -consequently, nobody at hand to arrest any dangerous behavior in her.</p> - -<p>I found that Don Lazarillo had emptied the locker of its cigars. The -negro boy told me that the Spaniard had also carried away the wine -which had lain stowed in the lazarette. But there was nothing to -grieve me in this news; there were pipes and tobacco on board, and a -plentiful stock of cheap wine for the use of the sailors. I entered -Don Christoval's cabin and found nothing but the bedding left. The -clothes of the dead man had been packed and conveyed to the brig. There -was a chest of drawers, and in a corner stood a small table with <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> -drawers; these I ransacked, with a faint fancy or hope of meeting with -some forgotten letter, some diary or document which Don Lazarillo had -neglected to take, and which might throw some fresh light upon this -extraordinary expedition. But every drawer was empty.</p> - -<p>I was standing lost in thought, with my eyes fixed upon the vacant bunk -or sleeping-shelf, musing upon the incidents of the past few days, and -wondering into what sort of issue my hand was to shape this adventure, -when I was startled by an extraordinary cry, scarcely less alarming in -its way than the death-scream that had been uttered by Don Christoval. -It was such a cry as a wounded savage might deliver. Before I could -reach the door of the berth the negro boy rushed in.</p> - -<p>"Oh, massa," he panted, "dah lady's looking out."</p> - -<p>My impression was that he had been stabbed. "Are you hurt?" I -exclaimed, grasping him by the arm.</p> - -<p>"No, sah!"</p> - -<p>"Who shrieked just now?"</p> - -<p>"I did, sah."</p> - -<p>I cuffed him over his woolly head to clear him out of my road, and -stepped into the cabin. Miss Noble, with the handle of the cabin door -in her grasp, stood looking out with an expression upon her face of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> -such utter bewilderment that but for her costume and my knowing she -was the sole occupant of her room, I should not have recognized her. A -person watching the motions of a gliding apparition, <i>knowing</i> it to be -a ghost, beckoning, stalking, compelling, might very well be supposed -to stare as that girl did. Her eyes slowly rolled over the interior, -as though the organ of vision, stupefied by bewilderment, was scarcely -capable of effort. She was deadly pale, yet, spite of the withering -influence of her astonishment upon her features, I seemed to find an -expression of intelligence in them that most certainly was not to be -witnessed before. She breathed swiftly. One side of her hair was now -entirely unfastened, and the heavy mass of the dark red tresses lay -upon her shoulder and upon her bosom. I instantly looked at her idle -hand; it held nothing.</p> - -<p>I surveyed her a little, wondering whether she would speak; whether -reason had been restored to her; whether there might not happen at any -beat of the pulse a sudden horrible transformation in her, a new and -blacker exhibition of insanity. Her dark eyes came to mine; there was -an expression of terror in them. She pressed her hand to her forehead,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> -and looked down as though she would sharpen her sight by averting it -for a moment from the object at which she gazed, then looked at me -again, pleadingly, eagerly, and fearfully.</p> - -<p>"Do not you know where you are, Miss Noble?" said I, in the most -careless, matter-of-fact manner I could put on.</p> - -<p>"I am trying to think," she answered.</p> - -<p>"Pray give me your hand," said I.</p> - -<p>She extended it as a child might. I led her to an arm-chair and -gently obliged her to sit. A decanter half-full of sherry stood in -the swing-tray. I poured a little of the wine into a glass, and -presented it to her; she took it and drank. Her behavior and looks were -absolutely rational, clouded as they were by a bewilderment which her -eyes appeared to express as hopeless. She had been fasting for many -hours, and I was sure I could not do better than make her take food. -I beckoned to Tom, who stood staring at the lady from the other end -of the cabin. He approached, though he kept the table between him and -Miss Noble. Her bewilderment visibly deepened as her eyes rested on his -black face. I directed him to obtain the most delicate refreshments -which the cabin larder of the schooner yielded, and to bear a hand.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span></p> - -<p>"You have been long asleep," said I, gently. "You were unconscious when -you were brought aboard this vessel—for you know <i>now</i> that you are at -sea—and you must not wonder that you are bewildered on waking to find -yourself in this strange scene."</p> - -<p>"Where am I?" she asked, in a voice that was but a little above a -whisper, so breathless was she with continued surprise.</p> - -<p>"You are on board a schooner called La Casandra. I am acting as her -captain. We are now making haste to return to England, to restore you -to your home."</p> - -<p>"England—home?" she muttered, looking at me, then around her, then -down at the dressing-gown she was robed in, then pulling a sleeve of -the gown a little way up the arm and gazing at the bracelets upon her -wrists. "Why am I here?" she exclaimed, drawing a breath that sounded -like a sob.</p> - -<p>"Will you not wait till you have eaten a trifle? Nothing has passed -your lips for very many hours. As strength returns, your memory will -brighten, and I know I shall make you happy by the assurance I am able -to give you."</p> - -<p>"Why am I here?" she repeated.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span></p> - -<p>I considered it wise to humor her: but to humor her I must tell the -truth.</p> - -<p>"You are here," said I, "because two Spaniards—one of them named -Don Christoval del Padron, and the other styled Don Lazarillo de -Tormes—went ashore near your father's estate, on the coast of -Cumberland, accompanied by a crew of armed sailors, and forcibly stole -you away from your home, carrying you in a state of insensibility to a -boat."</p> - -<p>She interrupted me at this point by crying out, "Yes, yes, now I -remember, now I remember." She clasped her hands and half rose, -repeating, "Yes, yes, now I remember," staring past me wildly as she -spoke, as though she addressed some one at the other end of the cabin; -then burying her face in her hands she sat in silence, rocking herself -in the throes of a conflict with memory.</p> - -<p>I stood looking on, waiting for nature to have her way with her. The -seamen, having got wind of her awakening, had collected at the skylight -and were looking down; but fearing that the sight of them might terrify -her, I dispersed the group of dark and hairy faces with an angry -gesture. Tom arrived with a tray of refreshments. I dispatched him on -deck to inform Butler and the others that the lady had returned to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> -consciousness; that her reason had awakened with her, and that she was -now as sane as any of us, but that they were to keep quiet and to hold -their heads out of view.</p> - -<p>Presently the girl looked up; she was weeping, but so silently that I -did not know she was crying until I saw her face.</p> - -<p>"It has all come back to me," she exclaimed in a broken voice, and -shuddering violently. "Did you tell me you were taking me home?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, Miss Noble, you are going home."</p> - -<p>"Will it be long before we arrive home?"</p> - -<p>"Not very long."</p> - -<p>"And what has happened to me since I have been here?" said she, looking -again down at the rich crimson dressing-gown she was habited in.</p> - -<p>"You have been in a sort of stupor," I answered, "but you have awakened -strong and well; or let me say, in a very little while you will be -strong and well. But you must eat, if you please, and while you eat you -shall ask any questions you like, and I will answer you."</p> - -<p>I put the plate beside her, and noticed with gladness that she eyed it -somewhat wistfully. Indeed, if anybody were ever nearly starved, she -was; though medical men to whom I have stated her case have since told <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> -me that persons visited with these extraordinary fits of slumber can -live for days, and even for weeks, without food.</p> - -<p>Tom had been careful not to put a knife on the tray; but there was -a fork, and with it I placed a thin slice of ham between two white -biscuits and presented this sea-sandwich to her, and she began to eat. -She ate the whole of it, and then I made her another and gave her -a little more sherry, and now I could observe how excellently this -refreshment served her as medicine; for every moment seemed to diminish -something of her bewilderment, while intelligence brightened in her -eyes, and a very faint bloom from the improved action of her heart -sifted into her complexion.</p> - -<p>Suddenly, with a start, and with a wild and terrified look around the -cabin, she asked me where the two Spaniards were. The idea of them, -borne on the current of the thoughts and fancies flowing through -her brain, had, as I might judge, but that instant entered her -consciousness. Now it was not to be supposed that I could tell her she -had with her own hand slain one of those Spaniards; and no purpose, -therefore, could be served by informing her that one of them was dead.</p> - -<p>"They have left the vessel," I answered.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Will they return?" she cried.</p> - -<p>"No, indeed; I will take care of that. You need not fear that they will -trouble you any more."</p> - -<p>Her countenance relaxed its expression of terror, and her eyes met mine -with a soft and touching look of gratitude in them. She then sighed -deeply, and pressed her hand to her forehead.</p> - -<p>"Pray, Miss Noble, tell me how you feel?" said I.</p> - -<p>"My head swims," she answered. "The motion of this vessel affects me."</p> - -<p>Now that might well have been so, strange as it may seem. She would -suffer from sea-sickness neither in her trance nor in her madness; but -now that both were passed, now that her real nature was re-established -in her, she must needs begin to suffer as she would have suffered from -this same sea-sickness at the beginning of the voyage had she been -brought on board in her senses. It seemed to me a most wholesome, -reassuring sign, though I would not say so, for I desired to preserve -her from all suspicion of the hideous state she had passed through.</p> - -<p>"Suppose," said I, "that you lie down and endeavor to obtain some -sleep. What you have awakened from was stupor, and there can be no -refreshment in stupor. A few hours of wholesome, natural rest are sure <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> -to work wonders."</p> - -<p>She rose in silence, but with consent in her eyes. Observing that her -movements were unsteady, I gently held her arm and directed her steps -to her berth. She got into her bunk, and I paused to inquire if there -was anything I could do for her.</p> - -<p>"Nothing," she answered in a low voice. "I am grateful for your -kindness. Everything has come back to me. Oh, yes, I now remember that -dreadful night—that dreadful night! But you are not deceiving me?"</p> - -<p>"In what?"</p> - -<p>"You tell me that Don Christoval and his friend are not in this vessel."</p> - -<p>"Rest your poor heart, Madame. I swear to you as an English seaman that -they are out of this vessel, and that you will never be troubled by -them again."</p> - -<p>"Where are they?" she asked.</p> - -<p>"We will talk about them by and by."</p> - -<p>She closed her eyes, and I stood beside her a few minutes, then went -out, calling to Tom to come and keep watch, with a threat to rope's-end -him if he shrieked again should the lady suddenly show herself, for -that she was now as sane as he or I was.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span></p> - -<p>I went on deck heartily rejoiced by this restoration of the poor lady's -mind. It cleared me of a heavy load of anxiety. Now I could contemplate -taking charge of the schooner with only Tom to help me until I could -procure further assistance: this I could think of without half the -misgiving which before worked in me when my mind went to it. On my -showing myself, Butler, who was in charge, immediately approached me.</p> - -<p>"I see the poor lady's woke up at last, sir."</p> - -<p>"Yes," said I.</p> - -<p>"And Tom says she has her intellect sound again."</p> - -<p>"It is true, and thank God for it," said I.</p> - -<p>"Strange, Mr. Portlack," said he, after biting for a moment or two -meditatively on the piece of tobacco in his cheek, "that the poor lady -should come to just at the time that there Spaniard goes off, as one -might say. There's a tarm to fit the likes of such a traverse, but I -forgets it."</p> - -<p>"A coincidence," said I.</p> - -<p>"Well, that'll do, I dessay, though there's another word a-running in -my head. And how do the lady relish the notion of having stuck the big -Spaniard?"</p> - -<p>"Now listen to me, Butler," said I, "and repeat what I am about to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> -tell to your mates in the most powerful voice you can command, and in -the strongest words you can employ. Under no circumstances whatever, -on no consideration whatever, must the lady be given to know that she -committed that act. Tell her of it, and in all probability you will -drive her mad for good and all."</p> - -<p>"There's no fear of any of us ever a-telling her of it," he replied, -with a sort of sulky astonishment working in his face at the energy -with which I had addressed him; "but she'll have to hear of it some of -these days, won't she, sir?"</p> - -<p>"Not from us," said I, "and therefore what is going to happen some of -these days will be no business of ours."</p> - -<p>"That's true enough," said he.</p> - -<p>"There is another point that may be worth our consideration. Briefly, -the lady has now her senses; she has a clear eye, and may very likely -prove to have a keen memory. I will take care that your names are -not known to her; and should she ever come on deck while you remain -on board, I would advise you and your mates to show as little of -yourselves as the navigation of the ship will suffer."</p> - -<p>He looked thoughtful, and fell to stroking his chin. "Yes, by thunder!<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> -Mr. Portlack, you're right," he exclaimed. "If she gets to hear our -names, and is able to describe us, why! Tell ye what it is, sir: the -sooner we five men are off, the better; and until we've cleared out, I -hope you won't encourage her to come on deck too often."</p> - -<p>Having tasted no food for some hours, I went below, and dispatched -Tom to procure me some supper. While he waited upon me the following -conversation took place between us:</p> - -<p>"You must never at any time, or on any occasion, say, either aboard -this schooner or ashore, that the lady in the cabin yonder killed the -Spaniard."</p> - -<p>"No, sah."</p> - -<p>"If you do, you and I, who are to convey this lady home, will be -charged as accomplices in the awful crime of bloody murder."</p> - -<p>"I'll be berry car'fu', sir."</p> - -<p>"A single hint from you might lead to you and me being hanged by the -neck until we are dead. On the other hand, if you keep silent, I will -take care that you are rewarded; and if you have had enough of the sea, -I dare say the friends of the lady will find you some comfortable berth -ashore."</p> - -<p>The lad's black face was somewhat complicated by expression. There -was mingled fright and delight in his wide grin and the stare of his <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> -large, bland, dusky African eyes.</p> - -<p>"Mind!" said I.</p> - -<p>And here let me own that my desire that the murder of the Spaniard -should be kept a profound secret was largely—indeed almost wholly—a -selfish one. For, first, I never doubted that, if the girl came to -hear of what she had done, the thought of it working in a brain still -weak with recent craziness would render her incurably mad, and so -immeasurably increase my present anxieties and the trouble I should -be put to to carry her home. Next, I wished the dreadful deed kept -secret, since this singular expedition having caused me trouble and -grief enough already upon the high seas, I was by no means anxious that -darker worries should grow out of it on my arrival on shore.</p> - -<p>I saw nothing of the lady that evening, nor, indeed, throughout the -night. Two or three times I knocked upon her door to inquire if she -needed anything, and once only she answered. Her reply satisfied me -that her mind was hers again; that, in short, there had been no relapse -since I had left her. However, to provide against all risk, I arranged -that the seamen should keep a look-out in the cabin as heretofore.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span></p> - -<p>I had charge of the deck from four till eight. It blew continually a -fine breeze of wind, and hour after hour the schooner swept through -it as though driven by powerful engines. I guessed, if the vessel -maintained her present rate of sailing, that the men would be enabled -to leave me before forty-eight hours had passed. Daybreak showed us -several ships on the sea line. They were all of them small vessels, and -standing, with the exception of one, to the north. The man Scott, who -was at the helm, said that it was a pity his mates could not see their -way to transshipping themselves aboard a craft, instead of making for -Cadiz in the cutter.</p> - -<p>"Why don't you stop with me?" said I.</p> - -<p>"No, no!" he exclaimed.</p> - -<p>"But listen. Could not we three—you, me, and the negro boy—carry the -schooner into Penzance, say, where you might go ashore at once, take -the coach for London, and vanish much more entirely than ever you will -by going to Cadiz?"</p> - -<p>"No, sir, no; there's to be no going home with me. I should be a fool -to trust myself in England. I'm too respectable a man to live in any -country where I'm 'wanted.'"</p> - -<p>"Well, then," said I, "Butler's scheme of the cutter and of Cadiz -is the practicable one, and you must adopt it. You talk of my <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> -transshipping you. What story am I to tell the captain whom I ask to -receive you? You don't look like mutineers, and not one of you is -clever enough to act such a part as would enable me to spin my yarn -without exciting suspicion. Now, suspicion is the last thing we wish to -excite."</p> - -<p>"True, sir," said Scott.</p> - -<p>It was about a quarter before eight when the negro boy, who had been -preparing the table for my breakfast, came on deck to tell me that the -lady was in the cabin. I looked through the skylight and beheld her -sitting in an arm-chair. She saw me, and bowed with a slight smile. -I lifted the lid of the skylight that I might converse with her, and -called down, "Good morning, Miss Noble. I hope you are feeling very -much better?"</p> - -<p>"I am very much better, thank you," she answered, in a voice soft -indeed, but whose tone and firmness were ample warrant of returning -strength.</p> - -<p>"I hope to join you shortly. My watch on deck expires in a few minutes. -It is a fine bright morning and there is a noble sailing breeze, and -the schooner is going through the water like a witch."</p> - -<p>"I should like to go on deck," she said, "but I have no covering for my -head."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span></p> - -<p>I recommended her to wait till after breakfast, when we would go -to work to see what the schooner could yield her in the shape of -head-gear; and shortly afterward, on Butler arriving to relieve me, I -joined her. She had dressed her hair, and this and the effect of the -comfortable night she had passed had made another being of her. With -her recovery, or, at all events, with her improvement, had reappeared -what I might suppose her habitual nature. Her countenance expressed -decision of character; her gaze was gentle but steadfast; and in the -set of her lips there was such a suggestion of self-control as even my -untutored sea-faring eye could not miss. I now took notice, too, of her -well-bred air. In the hurry and agitation of the preceding day I had -missed this quality, or she may have failed to express it. But now, on -my entering the cabin, and on her rising and extending her hand, I was -instantly sensible of the presence of the high-born lady.</p> - -<p>Almost in the first words she pronounced she asked me for my name. I -gave it to her, and with mingled dignity and sweetness she thanked me -for my sympathy and attention. Our discourse was chiefly about her -health, the sort of night she had passed, and the like, while Tom -was putting the breakfast upon the table. We then seated ourselves.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> -She ate with appetite, but was so reserved at first that I thought -to myself, "Now, Madame, I suppose you intend I shall thoroughly -understand you are a lady of high degree, between whom and a second -mate in the merchant service there stretches a social interval wide -as the Atlantic Ocean; and though I had hoped you would tell me your -story and help me to a clear understanding of Don Christoval and his -expedition, you mean to disappoint me through your new resolution to -assert your dignity."</p> - -<p>But never was I more mistaken in a lady's character. I could see her -glancing from time to time at the negro boy, who lost no opportunity -of staring at her in return, as though he expected to see her at -any moment snatch up a knife. I believed I could read her thoughts, -and told the boy to go on deck and stop there till I called him. -She trifled for a bit with her rings; then, with a little show of -nervousness, though her accents did not falter, she said to me:</p> - -<p>"Mr. Portlack, from the moment of my fainting on that dreadful night, -down to my awaking yesterday, I seem to remember nothing. I say I -<i>seem</i>, and yet I am haunted by a sort of horrid memory—how shall I -express it? It is the shadow of a recollection, and that recollection <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> -again is, as it were," pressing her brow as though struggling to -deeply realize her thought, "no more than the memory of the shadow of -something horrible. Am I meaningless to you?"</p> - -<p>"No."</p> - -<p>She viewed me anxiously and searchingly, and said, "Have I been mad?"</p> - -<p>"You were insensible when you were brought aboard, and you awoke from -your extraordinary stupor for the first time yesterday."</p> - -<p>"Mr. Portlack, tell me, have I been out of my mind?"</p> - -<p>Hating a lie as I do, I was yet resolved that she should not know the -truth, and I said "No" with so much emphasis that her face instantly -cleared. She smiled, and clasped her hands. "Ah!" she exclaimed, -breathing deep as though she sighed, "in so long and dreadful a slumber -I must have dreamed many fearful dreams."</p> - -<p>I wished to disengage her mind from this subject, and I was also -desirous that she should understand, without further loss of time, how -it happened that I made one of the kidnaping gang.</p> - -<p>"With your permission," said I, "I will tell you my story, which, I -believe, you will think a strange one even in the experiences of a <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> -sea-faring person."</p> - -<p>She watched me with attention, and I proceeded to relate my adventures, -beginning with the Ocean Ranger, and then going on to the American -ship, to my distressful and perilous situation in the open boat, and -then to this schooner La Casandra falling in with me; thus I steadily -worked my way right through my own yarn, omitting nothing save the -incident of the death of Don Christoval. That she was a young lady of -much strength of character I might now be sure of by her manner of -listening to me. I was graphic enough, particularly in my description -of our arrival off the coast of Cumberland; nevertheless, she attended -to me with composure, with firm lips and steady regard. No exclamation -escaped her. Once or twice she sighed, and once she colored, as though -from some sudden passion of resentment swiftly controlled.</p> - -<p>"And now, Miss Noble," said I, "I hope I have made you understand how -it happens that I am here?"</p> - -<p>"Perfectly," she answered, "and I am glad that you <i>are</i> here, Mr. -Portlack. But you have not told me what has become of Don Christoval -and his friend."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span></p> - -<p>There was nothing for it—I must tell another falsehood; but Heaven -would forgive me, for I meant well. So I answered that I had informed -them, on learning that she was not Madame del Padron, that it was my -intention to carry her home, and that on my arrival my first business -would be to inform against them for having abducted her; whereupon they -had prayed to be transshipped to a passing vessel; to which, after -reflection, I consented, and the two scoundrels were transferred to a -little Portuguese brig on the preceding day.</p> - -<p>She sank into thought. After a while she lifted up her head and gazed -slowly and with curiosity round her at the pictures, the mirrors, and -the other furniture in the cabin. Her eyes next went to her bracelets, -and they then met mine. I waited for her to speak.</p> - -<p>"How long is it now, Mr. Portlack, since I was stolen from my father's -house?"</p> - -<p>"This is the sixth day of your absence."</p> - -<p>"What will my father and mother think? They can not have been able to -<i>do</i> anything. That will be the hardest part to my father. They will -have no idea into what part of the world I was to be carried. Will they -even know that this vessel was lying off the coast to receive me?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Oh, yes," said I, "they will know that. Some one is certain to have -followed the sailors and the Spaniards as they marched with you to the -boat."</p> - -<p>"Would there be any papers, any letters, do you think," said she, "on -the body of the man who you said was killed, from which my father might -learn that this vessel's destination was Cuba?"</p> - -<p>"I do not know. Most probably not."</p> - -<p>"What a wanton act of wickedness! What unnecessary, barbarous cruelty!" -she exclaimed. "Had I been driven mad, it would not have been strange. -We had just arrived from a ball, when my father cried out that there -was a crowd of men outside. He told me to run upstairs. I can not -imagine that he suspected the errand on which they had come. I believed -that the men had arrived to plunder the house: it is situated on a -lonely part of the coast. I went into a room, and almost at that moment -I heard the report of a gun. The house is an old-fashioned building, -the walls very thick. I was so far away from the hall that no sound -reached me, but in a short time I heard foot-steps, and the noise of -doors violently opened, and the voices of men exclaiming in Spanish. -The door of my room was tried; I had turned the key, but the lock was -an old one. The two Spaniards put their shoulders against the door,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> -and it flew open; then I recollect a few moments of struggling and -shrieking, and nothing more."</p> - -<p>"Did you never fear that Don Christoval would one day or night attempt -to carry you off?"</p> - -<p>"Never," she responded, with a note of vehemence disturbing her calm -tones, and I saw a flash in her brown eyes.</p> - -<p>"He evidently kept himself acquainted with your movements."</p> - -<p>"Yes," she answered; "in another week we were going abroad. We should -have been starting about now, or to-morrow."</p> - -<p>"He told me that. Who was the spy he employed, I wonder?"</p> - -<p>She reflected, and answered: "No member of our household, I am sure. -What sort of person is Don Lazarillo de Tormes?"</p> - -<p>I described him, and perceived by her way of listening that she had -never seen him, and indeed had never heard of him.</p> - -<p>"You may take it, Miss Noble," said I, "that whoever Don Lazarillo may -have been, he found the money for this adventure."</p> - -<p>"That must have been so," she answered; "Don Christoval is poor."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Had he any property in Cuba?"</p> - -<p>"I believe not," she answered.</p> - -<p>"Forgive me for being inquisitive. Was—I mean, is the man in any way -related to you?"</p> - -<p>"He is. He is a distant connection on my father's side. His father -was a Spaniard, and, I have always understood, of noble blood. Don -Christoval was in England, and called upon us when we were in London. -We afterward met him in Paris. My father disliked him, and it came to -his forbidding him from holding any communication with us. He then -challenged my brother to a duel, and, unknown to my father and mother, -my brother attended with a friend, a lieutenant in the Royal Navy; but -Don Christoval did not appear. That is entirely all that I can tell you -about the man, Mr. Portlack."</p> - -<p>"I felt," said I, "that he was lying when he spoke of you as his wife. -But how was it possible to make sure of the truth, one way or the -other? He put his story so persuasively, his voice was so sweet, he -was so very handsome, that any one believing in his tale could not but -have pitied him, even to the degree of feeling willing to help him to -recover what he called his own."</p> - -<p>She slightly colored, and said, "He only wanted my money."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span></p> - -<p>Here I might have complimented her, but I was an off-hand sailor, -without any talent for drawing-room civilities.</p> - -<p>I need not dwell at length upon what passed between Miss Noble and me -on this our first opportunity for enjoying a long chat. It was natural -that we should again and again travel over the same ground. Though -she did not repeat her question whether she had been out of her mind, -I noticed, in her references to her state of catalepsy or stupor, a -haunting uneasiness, as though the shadow of some black dream lay -upon her in tormenting shapelessness and illusiveness. I can fancy -that it resembled one of those ideas which visit most of us in our -life-time—the idea that we have felt, suffered, or done something in -another sphere of being.</p> - -<p>She was clearly a lady of strong constitution. She showed no traces of -the condition she had been in for nearly a week. One would have thought -to see her haggard, bloodless, famine-pinched, with pale lips and -unlighted eyes; but, making due allowance for the costume of crimson -dressing-gown and for the absence of divers finishing details of -toilet, I could not conceive that she, at any time in her life, could -have looked much better than she now did. May be her profound sleep -had cleansed her countenance of the dreadful marks which the talons <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> -of the fiend Madness commonly grave upon the human face. Be this as it -may, her health seemed excellent as I sat conversing with her at that -breakfast-table; her calm voice had the true music of good breeding; -her remarks exhibited no common order of perception and good sense, -and to my mind—though it is said that sailors are easy to please—she -needed no other face than her own, with its soft brown eyes, and purely -feminine lineaments, and dark red hair, massive, abundant, and glowing, -to be as fascinating a lady as a man could hope to meet with in English -or any other society.</p> - -<p>I had, in the course of our conversation, told her very honestly what -the sailors intended to do. I added that they were right in endeavoring -to escape from the consequences of a wrong into the perpetration of -which they had been basely betrayed by the lies of Don Christoval and -his friend. I had then explained that I should be left alone in the -schooner with the negro boy, but that I had not the least doubt of -promptly obtaining all the help I needed to carry the vessel safely and -comfortably home. This made her ask how long it might take us to reach -home.</p> - -<p>"Eight or ten days," I answered.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span></p> - -<p>"What, meanwhile, am I to do for clothes?" said she; and, with -something of unconsciousness in her manner, as though her fingers were -governed by a thought in her head, she opened her dressing-gown and -revealed herself in ball attire.</p> - -<p>Though she had been thus appareled for a week there seemed to be -nothing soiled, nothing faded, in this aspect of her. It was the -suddenness of the revelation, I dare say, that gave to her form the -brilliance I found in it. Then, there was also the contrast of the -rich crimson dressing-gown to heighten this instant splendor of attire -and the incomparable whiteness of her neck and shoulders, though these -were still defaced by several long, ugly black scratches. She buttoned -the dressing-gown to her throat again, and said, with a smile full of -self-possession, but sweetened by a little expression of sadness:</p> - -<p>"This is not the kind of dress that one would wear at sea, Mr. -Portlack."</p> - -<p>"It is very beautiful," said I in my simple way.</p> - -<p>"The skirt is badly torn," she exclaimed. "Those wretches must have -treated me very roughly, even after I had fainted."</p> - -<p>"You certainly will require warmer clothing than that ball-dress," said -I. "Stay! an idea occurs to me. Was it Don Christoval—yes, I believe <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> -it was Don Christoval, who informed me—who implied rather—that he had -made some provisions for you in the matter of dress." I shouted through -the skylight for Tom. The boy arrived. "Go and ask Mr. Butler," said I, -"if he can tell me in what part of the vessel Captain Dopping stowed -the wearing apparel which was taken on board by Don Christoval for the -use of this lady."</p> - -<p>The boy went on deck. Presently Butler's head showed in the skylight. -There was a shawl round his throat, that covered his mouth to the -height of his nostrils, and he wore a sou'-wester, the forward thatch -of which he had turned down, while the ear-lappets hid his cheeks. It -was clear he did not intend that Miss Noble should see more of his face -than might serve him to breathe with.</p> - -<p>"Beg pardon, sir," he said in a muffled hurricane note, talking through -his shawl. "Here's this here Tom come with some message from you, -and I don't know what he means." I explained. "Ho! yes," said he; "I -understand now. There's a chest of garments, I believe, stowed away -down in the lazareet."</p> - -<p>In less than twenty minutes the negro lad and I had explored the -lazarette, discovered the chest, lugged it into Miss Noble's cabin,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> -and there left it open. All that it contained I could not tell you, -but when I next saw Miss Noble she was wearing a green dress of some -light, good material, the waist of which was secured by a band, and on -her head was a plain straw hat of a sort to prove very serviceable to a -lady at sea.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="chap" /> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.<br /> -<br /> -<small>CAPTAIN NOBLE.</small></h2> - - -<p>Now, until we had closed the Spanish coast, that is to say, during the -following four days, nothing happened of such moment as deserves your -attention. The men kept themselves as much as possible out of sight of -Miss Noble, and every fellow whose turn it was to stand at the helm -invariably arrived so concealed about the face that I would often -find it difficult to give him his right name. The sailors' dread of -being observed by Miss Noble grew speedily into a real inconvenience; -it came, indeed, very near to hindering me, in the daytime when the -lady was on deck, from navigating the schooner; and to end it I took -occasion, when we sat below at some meal or other, to tell her of what -the men were afraid; with the result, that until the fellows left us -her visits to the deck were very few, and chiefly in the dusk.</p> - -<p>It was four days from the date of the transshipment of Don Lazarillo <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> -and the cook that by my computation we arrived within ten leagues of -the coast of Spain, the port of Cadiz bearing about east-by-south. It -was a sunny morning, with a pleasant breeze. We hove the schooner to, -for I did not think proper to approach the land nearer than thirty -miles. Here and there was a gleam of white canvas upon the horizon; -and I thought to myself, reflecting in the interests of the men, their -departure must not be witnessed, nor must anything be near enough to -fall in with them and to have the schooner in sight also; therefore I -hove La Casandra to at a distance of about ten leagues from the port of -Cadiz, nothing being visible but one or two sail, hull down.</p> - -<p>Everything was in readiness. You will believe that the boat, owing -to the men's anxiety to get away, had been long before this morning -provisioned and equipped. She was launched through the gangway just as -she had been launched off the Cumberland coast on that silent, tragic -night; then, while she lay alongside, the seamen, in obedience to my -command, went to work to reduce sail upon the schooner, so that there -would be little left for me and Tom to do should it come on to blow -before we could procure help. While this was doing Miss Noble remained <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> -in the cabin. Everything being ready, Butler stepped up to me with his -hand extended. I grasped and shook it.</p> - -<p>"Good-by, sir, and we all hope, I'm sure, that you'll have a safe and -happy run home."</p> - -<p>"Good-by, Butler—good-by, my lads. You have behaved very well. I thank -you for the willingness with which you have done your work under me. -See that the yarn you have in your heads you all stick to, so that -you'll be able to speak as with one tongue when you get ashore."</p> - -<p>"Trust us, sir," said Scott.</p> - -<p>"I hope the lady thoroughly understands," said Trapp, "how it happened -that we five Englishmen was led into a job which ne'er a man of us -would have touched, no, not for five times the money received, had the -true meaning of it been explained?"</p> - -<p>"She does. And now you had better be off."</p> - -<p>They entered the boat, stepped the mast, and I gave Butler the course -to steer by the little box compass that had been placed in the -stern-sheets. They then hoisted the sail, and as the boat slid away -from the shadow of the schooner's side, they all stood up and loudly -cheered me. I halloed a cheer back to them with a flourish of my cap, -then <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> -stepped aft, and, putting the helm over, brought the schooner with her -head to west-north-west.</p> - -<p>"Come and lay hold of the tiller, Tom." The negro boy arrived. "Miss -Noble," said I, putting my head into the companion-way, "the men have -left the schooner."</p> - -<p>She at once came on deck, and stood looking in silence at the cutter as -she swept swiftly eastward under the white square of her lug.</p> - -<p>"We are lonely indeed, now," she presently exclaimed, bringing her eyes -from the boat to cast them round the horizon.</p> - -<p>"Yes," said I, "but we are going home," and I pointed to the compass.</p> - -<p>But she was right, for all that. Lonely the schooner looked with her -deserted decks and small canvas, and lonely I felt, not so much at the -beginning as later on, when the rolling hours brought the night along, -without heaving anything into view that we could turn to account. Miss -Noble earnestly wished to help; she assured me she could steer; she -was sprung, she said, from a naval stock, and she told me that salt -water had run in the veins of several generations on her father's -side, and that she was to be trusted at the helm. And, indeed, I found -that she steered perfectly well; she held the yacht's head steady to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> -her course; and as half the art of steering lies in that, the most -experienced man could not have done more.</p> - -<p>Her taking the helm enabled the boy to cook for us, and it gave me an -opportunity to obtain sights, to attend to the sails, and the like. -Yet, when day broke next morning, I well remember heartily praying that -I should not have to pass, single-handed, such another night as we had -managed to scrape through. I was on deck all night long. I obliged Miss -Noble to go below and take some rest, and Tom slept at my feet while -I grasped the tiller, ready to relieve me when I was exhausted with -standing. Happily it was a fine night; a warm wind blew out of the -west, and the stars shone purely with a few shadows of clouds sailing -down the eastern slope.</p> - -<p>It was shortly after eight o'clock, while I stood near the tiller -drinking a cup of chocolate which Tom had brought me out of the galley, -where he had lighted a fire, that, happening to look astern, I spied -a sail. Nothing else was in sight, and I had but to look once to know -that she was overtaking us. This, indeed, must have been practicable -to the clumsiest wagon afloat; for the canvas the schooner was under, -merry as was the breeze that whipped the sea into snow and fire under <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> -the risen sun, was scarcely sufficient to drive her along at four miles -in the hour.</p> - -<p>When I had drunk my chocolate I bade Tom prepare some breakfast for -Miss Noble, who was, or had been, resting on a sofa in the cabin. When -the girl had finished her meal she came on deck. And now the overtaking -vessel had risen to her hull, and in the telescope which I pointed at -her was proving herself a large ship, with a black and white band and -a red gleam of copper under the checkered side as she leaned from the -breeze.</p> - -<p>"I wish she may not be an English frigate," said I to Miss Noble.</p> - -<p>"Why?" she asked.</p> - -<p>"Because," said I, "she is sure to prove too inquisitive to be -convenient. She'll be sending a lieutenant on board; he will see you; -he will ask questions; he will demand the schooner's papers; he will -not be satisfied, and will return to his ship for instructions; and we -want to get home comfortably, Miss Noble."</p> - -<p>"I understand you," she answered. "But an English frigate! What -security, what safety is there in the very sound of the words!"</p> - -<p>I waited a little while, and then, again leveling the glass at the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> -vessel, I clearly perceived that she was not an English frigate, but a -large merchantman, resembling a man-of-war in many details, saving -the row of grinning artillery, the white line of hammocks, the heavy -tops, and a peculiar cut of canvas that could never be mistaken by a -nautical eye in those days of tacks and sheets. Apparently she was -a troop ship out of the Mediterranean; there were many red spots of -uniform upon her forecastle past the yawn and curves of the white and -swelling jibs. And, indeed, she had need to be a hired transport, for -nothing of her rig would have any business in the Mediterranean and -nothing homeward bound from the Indies or the Australias was likely -to be met with so far to the eastward as was the longitude of the -waters we were in. I hoisted the Spanish ensign, and left it flying at -half-mast.</p> - -<p>"Now, Miss Noble," said I, "what story shall I tell those people, -should they heave to and send a boat, as I hope and believe they will?"</p> - -<p>She gazed at me inquiringly.</p> - -<p>"If I give them the whole truth," said I, "it will run like wildfire -throughout the ship. The vessel will probably arrive before we do; -there are crowds of people on board to talk; the news of the outrage -done you and yours will be circulated, printed; it will become <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> -everybody's gossip. Now, would Captain Noble wish this? Would my lady, -your mother, desire this?"</p> - -<p>"No, they would not," she answered, after a pause. "You are kind and -wise to ask the question. The thought did not occur to me when I wished -that yonder vessel might prove an English frigate."</p> - -<p>"Then I must invent a story," said I.</p> - -<p>"But did not you say," she asked, "that when we arrived at an English -port you would be obliged to hand the schooner over to the authorities -of the port, to whom you would relate the truth, as it would be -impossible and most unwise to attempt to deceive them? Those were your -words, Mr. Portlack."</p> - -<p>"Yes, I remember; those were my words. Well, Miss Noble?"</p> - -<p>"Well," said she, "don't you see that, since you must tell the truth -when you arrive in England, this wretched story will have to be made -public in any case?"</p> - -<p>"No," said I, "there is a difference. Yonder is a ship full of soldiers -and sailors, and others—gossips all, no doubt. To give them the -truth—and to give it to the captain or the mate is to give it to -them all—is tantamount to publishing your story throughout England,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> -whether you will or not; but to communicate with the receiver of wrecks -is another matter. There is official reserve to depend upon. Your -father, too, will not be wanting in influence. To me, Miss Noble, it is -all one. I desire to be influenced by your wishes."</p> - -<p>"My wish certainly is," said she in her calm, emphatic way of speaking, -"that as little as possible of what has befallen me should be known."</p> - -<p>"Then," said I, "I will ask you to step into the cabin and keep in your -own berth out of sight until the visit I hope to receive is ended."</p> - -<p>She went below forthwith.</p> - -<p>Half an hour later the large full-rigged hired transport Talavera had -ranged alongside La Casandra, easily within earshot. She was crowded -with troops; numbers of military officers in undress uniform surveyed -us from the poop. A tall man in a frock coat and a cap with a naval -peak stood upon a hen-coop, and hailed to know what was the matter.</p> - -<p>"My men have deserted," I cried back; "there are but this negro boy -and myself to carry the schooner to an English port. Can you lend me a -couple of hands?"</p> - -<p>"I will send a boat," he exclaimed, very easily perceiving that it was <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> -impossible for me to board him.</p> - -<p>A boat in charge of a mottled-faced, jolly-looking, round-shouldered -man, about thirty years of age, swept alongside, and the jolly-looking -man came on board.</p> - -<p>"Are you the master?" said he.</p> - -<p>"Yes," said I.</p> - -<p>"Short of men, hey?" said he. "So I should suppose, if <i>he's</i> your -crew," bursting into a laugh as he indicated the negro boy with a -motion of his chin. "How come you to be at sea with no more crew than -one little nigger?"</p> - -<p>"My crew," said I, "were composed of five English sailors. They were -shipped at Cadiz. Yesterday they took the boat, and sailed away to the -coast of Spain in her, saying <i>they</i> weren't going to England. Can you -lend me a couple of hands?"</p> - -<p>"What's the name of this craft?" said he, looking up at the Spanish -ensign.</p> - -<p>"La Casandra."</p> - -<p>"From Cadiz, d'ye say?—to where?"</p> - -<p>"To Penzance," said I, naming the first port that entered my head.</p> - -<p>"Who's the owner?"</p> - -<p>"Don Lazarillo de Tormes."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span></p> - -<p>He asked several further questions of a like sort, and seemed perfectly -satisfied with my answers. I invited him to step below and drink a -glass of wine, but he declined, saying that his ship was in too great a -hurry to get home to allow him to stop and take a friendly glass on the -road.</p> - -<p>He had not long returned to the Talavera when the boat, in charge of a -midshipman, came alongside the schooner again, and a couple of young -sailors, each with a sailor's bag upon his shoulder, climbed over the -side. The midshipman, looking up, called out to me: "They're a couple -of Dutchmen, but the captain guesses they'll serve your turn." I told -him to give my hearty thanks to the captain for his kindness. He then -went back to his ship, which immediately swung her yards, and in a -little while a wide space of water separated the two vessels.</p> - -<p>"Dutchman" is a generic word employed by sailors to designate Germans, -Swedes, Danes, and others of the northern nationalities. These two -Dutchmen proved to be, the one a young Swede, who spoke English very -imperfectly, and the other a young Dane, whose knowledge of English was -almost wholly restricted to the names of ropes and sails; both of them -smart, respectful young fellows, without curiosity, accepting their -sudden change of life with the proverbial indifference of the sailor.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span></p> - -<p>I had intended, for the convenience of Miss Noble, to carry the -schooner to Whitehaven; but before we gained the parallel of Land's -End it came on to blow heavily from the north and west—so heavily, -and with such an ugly, menacing look of continuance in the wide, dark, -greenish scowl of the sky, that I thought proper to shift my helm -for the English Channel. <i>There</i> we encountered terrible weather. -I hoped to make some near port, but, owing to the thickness and to -the gale that had veered due west, I could do nothing but keep the -schooner running until we were off the South Foreland. The weather then -moderating, I steered for Ramsgate harbor, and the schooner was safely -moored alongside the wall of the East Pier in six days to the hour from -the date of our receiving the two seamen from the Talavera.</p> - -<p>You will suppose that Miss Noble long before this had written a -letter—nay, had written four letters—to her father ready for -instantly posting on her arrival anywhere. It seems that he had four -addresses—his house in Cumberland, his house in town, and two clubs, -one in London and one in the north—and she was determined that her -letters should not be delayed through his absence from one address or <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> -another. These letters were immediately posted, but communication in -those days was not as it is now, and if it happened that her father -was in Cumberland, then, let him post it and coach it as he would, it -must occupy him hard upon four days—and perhaps five days—to reach -Ramsgate.</p> - -<p>Certain Custom House officers came on board and rummaged the schooner -for contraband cargo. They stared hard at the cabin furniture, and -moved and groped here and there with eyes full of suspicion. I told -Miss Noble that my immediate business now lay at the Custom House, and -I begged to know what her plans were, that I might help her to further -them.</p> - -<p>"I will go to a hotel," she answered, "and there wait for my father. As -you are going into the town, will you engage a sitting-room and bedroom -for me at the best hotel in the place? And I will also ask you to order -a trunk-maker to send a portmanteau down to this schooner, otherwise -I shall not know how to pack my ball-dress and jewelry. This dress," -said she, looking down at the robe in which she was attired, and which -had formed a portion of the apparel that Don Christoval had laid in for -her, "I shall continue to wear until my father brings me the dresses I <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> -have written for."</p> - -<p>"I will do what you ask," said I, and, leaving her on board, I climbed -the ladder affixed to the pier wall, and bent my steps in the direction -of the Custom House.</p> - -<p>The receiver was a little, eager-looking man, afflicted with several -nervous disorders. He could neither sit nor stand for any length of -time; he blinked hideously, and he also stuttered. My tale took the -form of a deposition, and I omitted no single point of it, save the -assassination of Don Christoval.</p> - -<p>"This," said the little receiver, stammering and blinking—"this," he -exclaimed, when I had come to an end, "is a very extraordinary story, -sir."</p> - -<p>"It is," said I.</p> - -<p>"Captain Noble is a well-known gentleman," said he. "I was for a short -time on duty at Whitehaven, and heard much of him."</p> - -<p>"His daughter has written to him," said I, "and he will doubtless be -here as fast as he can travel. And what about the schooner?"</p> - -<p>"I must wait for instructions," he answered; "your deposition will be -sent to head-quarters."</p> - -<p>"Have I not a lien upon her?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span></p> - -<p>"For what?" said he.</p> - -<p>"For services rendered."</p> - -<p>"Seems the other way about, don't it?" said he, with his stammer. "The -services appear to have been rendered by her to you."</p> - -<p>"There are two men and a boy who want their wages," said I.</p> - -<p>"Who is the owner, d'ye say?" exclaimed the little man.</p> - -<p>"Don Lazarillo de Tormes."</p> - -<p>"Well, he will be communicated with."</p> - -<p>"No, he won't, though," said I. "We shall never hear anything more of -Don Lazarillo de Tormes. What! do you think that the man would dare -come forward and claim his schooner on top of an outrage which would -earn him transportation for life, could they get hold of him in this -country?"</p> - -<p>"If he doesn't come forward," said the little receiver, blinking at me, -"and if the schooner remains unclaimed for any length of time, why, -then she will be sold; and there'll be your opportunity for asserting -your rights."</p> - -<p>I walked into the town, leaving the little receiver putting on his hat -to view the wonderful schooner, with a hope, too, of catching a sight -of Miss Noble. I obtained the required accommodation for the lady at <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> -the Albion Hotel; then, observing a shop in which some trunks were -displayed, I told the shopkeeper to send one of them, or a portmanteau -if he had such a thing, down to the schooner La Casandra. Entering -the street again, I walked a little way, and, finding myself in the -market-place, stopped to consider. I did not possess a farthing of -money in my pocket, and it would take me some time to draw my little -savings out of that London bank in which they were deposited; but money -for immediate needs I must have, and, addressing a porter in a white -apron, who stood in the market-place smoking a pipe, I asked him to -direct me to a pawnbroker. He pointed with his pipe up the street, and -proceeding in that direction I presently observed the familiar sign of -the three balls. I entered, and put down the gold chain and watch that -had belonged to Don Christoval, and for it I received twenty sovereigns -and a ticket.</p> - -<p>I then returned to the schooner, where I found Miss Noble in the cabin -reasoning with the trunk-maker, who had arrived, bearing with him two -or three samples of the desired goods.</p> - -<p>"He will not trust me, Mr. Portlack! and yet it is true—and too <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> -absurd—that I can make him nothing but promises of payment."</p> - -<p>"Pray, how much do you want?" said I.</p> - -<p>"Fourteen shillings," she answered, and she added tranquilly, with a -slight smile, "To think that I should want fourteen shillings!"</p> - -<p>I put down a sovereign; the man gave me change, shouldered the -remaining boxes, and went away.</p> - -<p>Having escorted Miss Noble to her hotel, I again returned to the -schooner, which I intended should be my home until after the arrival of -Captain Noble. The two sailors asked me what they should do. I advised -them to ship aboard a collier and make their way to London, where they -would easily find some one to advise them as to what proceedings they -should take in respect of reward for the assistance they had rendered -me in carrying the schooner home. Next day they found a collier wanting -men, and, giving them a sovereign, I bade them farewell. I never heard -of them again.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile, I kept the negro boy on board the schooner.</p> - -<p>We had arrived at Ramsgate on a Wednesday morning. On the afternoon of -the following Tuesday I was pacing the deck of the schooner as she lay <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> -moored against the pier wall. The harbor master had not long left me. -An hour we had spent together, I in talking and he in listening; for -the receiver, with whom he was intimate, had dropped many hints of my -story to him over a glass of whisky and water one night, and he told me -he could not rest until he had heard my version of the extraordinary -romance. It was a brilliant afternoon; a fresh breeze from the west -swept into the harbor between the pier-heads, and the water danced in -light. A few smacks, bowed down by their weight of red canvas, were -endeavoring to beat out to sea. A number of wherries straining at their -painters frolicked in the flashful tumble, past which was the slope -of beach with galleys and small boats high and dry, and many forms of -lounging boatmen. On the milk-white heights of chalk the windows of -the houses glanced in silver fires, which came and went in a sort of -breathing way as they blazed out and were then extinguished by the -violet shadows of masses of swollen cloud majestically rolling under -the sun.</p> - -<p>I was gazing with pleasure at this animated 'longshore picture, full of -color and splendor and movement, when I observed a gentleman rapidly -coming along the pier, which happened to be almost deserted. There <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span> -was something of a deep-sea roll in his gait, and though he clutched a -stick in one hand, the other hung down at his side in a manner that is -peculiar to people who have long used the sea. I seemed to guess who he -was, and watched him approaching while I knocked the ashes out of my -pipe. He came to the edge of the wall, and, looking down, shouted out -in a hoarse voice:</p> - -<p>"Is this schooner the Casandra?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, sir," I answered.</p> - -<p>He put his hand on the ladder and descended. He had a clean-shaven -face, the color of which at this moment was a fiery red, but then -he had been walking fast. His eyes were large, and remarkable for -an expression of eager expectation, as though he had been all his -life waiting to receive some important communication. His hat was a -broad-brimmed beaver; he was buttoned up in a stout bottle-green coat, -and he was booted after the fashion of country gentlemen of that age.</p> - -<p>"My name is Noble—Captain Noble," said he. "Are you Mr. Portlack?"</p> - -<p>"I am," said I.</p> - -<p>"Give me your hand," he exclaimed. He grasped and squeezed my fingers -almost bloodless, letting go my hand with a vehement jerk as though he <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> -threw it from him. "I thank you for bringing my daughter home, sir. Her -mother thanks you for your attention to her child. You have acted the -part of a gentleman, of a sailor, of a man of honor. I thank you again, -and yet again." Then, glancing along the decks of the vessel, he added, -"So <i>this</i> is the blasted schooner, hey?"</p> - -<p>"I trust Miss Noble has told you," said I, "how it happens that I was -on board this vessel on the night of her abduction?"</p> - -<p>"Yes," he answered, still continuing to examine the vessel curiously, -now looking aloft, now forward, now aft, as though he could not take -too complete a view of the craft. "Yes, she told me. The scoundrels! -Thank God! I shot one of 'em. I would have shot 'em all, but the -ruffians stood over me and my son with naked cutlasses and loaded -pistols."</p> - -<p>"I hope they did not burn the house down?"</p> - -<p>"No, we extinguished the fire. Fifteen hundred pounds' worth of -damage—that's all!" He made a cut through the air with his stick, -exclaiming: "The rogues! the villains! They took me unaware. So many of -them, too! How many were there?"</p> - -<p>"Two Spaniards," said I, "the master of this schooner, and four <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> -seamen. You were attacked by seven."</p> - -<p>"Seven!" he cried. "Seven against two! for as to my coachman and -footman—what do you think? They drove away—by heavens! they lashed -the horses and bolted! I should like to go below; I should like to -examine this blackguard craft. A fine, stout vessel all the same. A -pirate in her day, no doubt."</p> - -<p>We descended into the cabin, which he at once made the round of, -peering at the pictures, staring at the looking-glasses, examining -the chairs, as though he were in a museum and every object was -extraordinarily curious.</p> - -<p>"And pray, how is Miss Noble, sir?" said I. "I have not seen her since -Tuesday."</p> - -<p>"Very well; wonderfully well," he answered.</p> - -<p>"How do you find her in looks after her terrible experience?"</p> - -<p>"Why, neither her mother nor I see any change. She is a shade paler -than she commonly is. But the girl has the heart of a lioness."</p> - -<p>"So she has, sir."</p> - -<p>"Now," said he, "Mr. Portlack, tell me about those two cursed -Spaniards. I want to get at them."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span></p> - -<p>He flung his stick upon the table and threw himself into an arm-chair.</p> - -<p>"What did your daughter tell you about those two men?" said I.</p> - -<p>"Why, she was insensible, she says, for the greater part of the time, -and you informed her that, on the day of her recovery, you transshipped -the two miscreants at their request. What vessel received them?" and -here he pulled out a pocket-book and a pencil-case, with the intention -of taking notes.</p> - -<p>"Your daughter told you that she was insensible, sir, and that she -continued insensible for many days?"</p> - -<p>"Yes," said he, flourishing his pencil with an irritable gesture, -clearly annoyed at my not answering <i>his</i> question.</p> - -<p>"That," said I, "is all that she would be able to tell you."</p> - -<p>My manner caused him to view me steadfastly, and the odd expression of -expectation in his eyes grew more defined.</p> - -<p>"When your daughter awoke from her first swoon, Captain Noble, she -awoke—mad."</p> - -<p>"What do you mean by mad?" he said.</p> - -<p>"She was a maniac," said I. "And I wish that were all."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Out with it—out with it <i>all</i>, then, man, for God's sake!" he -exclaimed.</p> - -<p>"Only one Spaniard, along with the Spanish steward, left the schooner. -The body of the other Spaniard we dropped overboard."</p> - -<p>He put his note-book on the table and tightly folded his arms on his -breast. I believe, though I could not be sure, that he then guessed -what I was about to tell him.</p> - -<p>"I knew that your daughter was mad," said I. "Don Christoval introduced -me into her cabin, hoping, I know not what, from my visit. It was not -long after, that, being in the quarters which I then occupied yonder," -said I, pointing, "I heard a terrible cry, and opening that door there -I witnessed Don Christoval in the act of falling and expiring, stabbed -to the heart by your daughter, who stood just within her cabin—that -one there—grasping a large knife she had managed to get possession of."</p> - -<p>He fell back in his chair, and remained for some moments looking at -me as though he could not understand my meaning; then a sort of groan -escaped him, and he got up and began to march about the cabin.</p> - -<p>"These are dreadful tidings for a father's ears," he exclaimed,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> -stopping abreast of me. Then his mood changed with almost electric -swiftness, and, hitting the table a heavy blow with his fist, he roared -out: "By —, but it served the ruffian right! It was <i>my</i> spirit -working in her, mad as she might be. That's how I would have served -him, and the rest of them, one and all—the atrocious villains!"</p> - -<p>"Of course you know," said I, "that your daughter is utterly ignorant -of having slain that Spaniard—ignorant of that, and ignorant that she -was out of her mind: though some dark fancy seemed to haunt her for a -while, until, by a falsehood, which I detest, I dispelled it."</p> - -<p>"What did you tell her?"</p> - -<p>"She asked me if she had been mad, and I said 'No'!"</p> - -<p>"Mr. Portlack," he cried, grasping me by the hand, "you have the -delicacy of a gentleman. The more I know of you the more I honor -you.... And she stabbed him to the heart? Oh, now, to think of it! Her -mother must not be told—there must not be a whisper; she is all nerves -and imagination. Who knows of this beside yourself?"</p> - -<p>"The five seamen," said I; "the five of a crew of Englishmen, who, when -they found that they had been tricked by the Spaniards, resolved to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span> -leave the schooner. They sailed away in a boat for Cadiz when we were -off that port. They know all about the assassination; but, take my word -for it, they'll never let you hear of them on this side of the grave."</p> - -<p>He began to pace the cabin afresh.</p> - -<p>"There is another," said I, "who possesses the secret, to call it so."</p> - -<p>"You mean yourself?"</p> - -<p>"No; a lad—a negro boy. He is now in the schooner. I am troubled -to know what to do with him. I have made him believe that he and I -will both be hanged if he opens his lips. Yet, he may talk by and by, -Captain Noble. He is a mere lad."</p> - -<p>"What is to be done?" said he, frowning. "Tough as I am, it would -break my heart if this were to be known. Conceive the effect of the -intelligence upon my daughter. Great Heaven! if you could but tell me -it was a dream of yours! Upon <i>your</i> secrecy, Mr. Portlack, I know we -can all depend. Your behavior throughout is warrant enough for me. How -to thank you—But about this boy? Let me see him, will you?"</p> - -<p>I at once went on deck and called down into the forecastle, where the -lad lay asleep in a bunk. I told him to clean himself and come to me <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span> -in the cabin, and I then returned to Captain Noble.</p> - -<p>"There is only this lad to deal with," said I. "Believe me when I -assure you that you will never hear more of those five seamen, nor of -Don Lazarillo and the steward. Captain Dopping, the master of this -schooner, you yourself shot dead. As for me—But for myself I will say -no more than this: I hold that your daughter was barbarously used. -The men who stole her, and who drove her mad by stealing her, were -scoundrels whom I would have shot down as I would shoot down a brace -of mad mongrels, sooner than have suffered them, as foreigners, to -lay violent hands upon a countrywoman of mine, and upon so good and -sweet a young lady as your daughter. My one desire throughout has been -to make all the amends in my power. I was innocently betrayed into -this villainous business, and I trust, Captain Noble, that the theory -of reparation I have endeavored to work out establishes me in your -mind as a man in whose keeping the tragic secret of this adventure is -absolutely safe."</p> - -<p>He endeavored to speak, but his voice failed him. He took my hand in -both his, and in silence looked at me with his eyes dim with tears.</p> - -<p>"And now about the boy," said I. "It occurs to me that you might have <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span> -influence to procure him some situation on board a man-of-war, going -abroad or at present abroad."</p> - -<p>He was about to answer, when the lad's legs showed in the companion-way -and down he came. Captain Noble stared at him, and he stared at the -Captain.</p> - -<p>"A likely lad, Mr. Portlack. Does he speak English?"</p> - -<p>"Do you speak English, Tom?" said I.</p> - -<p>"Nuffin but English, de Lord be praised!" he answered, grinning.</p> - -<p>Captain Noble mused as he eyed him. "You have behaved very honestly," -said he, "and I shall want to do you a kindness. Come to the hotel -where I am stopping to-morrow morning at ten o'clock, and you and I -will have a chat."</p> - -<p>"I'll be dere, sah."</p> - -<p>"It will give me time to think," said Captain Noble in an aside to -me. "And come you and dine with us this evening, Mr. Portlack, will -you?" I glanced down at my clothes. "Never mind about your dress," he -continued. "We shall expect you at half-past six o'clock."</p> - -<p>He stayed for another quarter of an hour, and then left the schooner.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span></p> - -<p>Never had anything before, and I may say never has anything since, -proved so memorable to me as that dinner with Captain and Lady Ida -Noble and Miss Noble at the Albion Hotel, Ramsgate. The reason why -it was memorable you shall hear in a minute. I found Lady Ida Noble -very different from the individual I had supposed her to be, on the -representations of Don Christoval. I expected to meet a tall, haughty, -and forbidding lady, of an ice-like coldness of demeanor; instead, -I found her an impulsive little woman, in a high degree nervous and -emotional, possessed of a ready capacity of tears, resembling her -daughter in face and figure in a sort of miniature way—for Miss Noble -stood half a head taller than her mother—and a refined lady in all she -said and did. She overwhelmed me with thanks, and seemed unable to make -enough of me.</p> - -<p>Miss Noble looked very well indeed; there was color in her cheek and -fire in her soft dark eyes, and a quiet vivacity of good health in her -bearing and movements. Indeed, her swift recovery, or rather, let me -say, her emergence into health from the horrible disease of insanity -and from her long death-like condition of catalepsy, impressed me then, -as it impresses me still, as the most startling and extraordinary of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span> -all the incidents of our startling and extraordinary voyage.</p> - -<p>When the ladies had left us, Captain Noble put a cigar-case upon the -table, and said:</p> - -<p>"I have been thinking about that negro boy. I have a relative in the -West Indies, and I will send the lad out to him, if he is willing to -go. I will tell my relative the story of my daughter's abduction, -explain that I want the matter kept secret, and bid him have an eye to -the lad."</p> - -<p>"He is a good boy," said I, "and deserves a comfortable berth."</p> - -<p>"He shall have it," said Captain Noble, "and I will put money in his -pocket, too. I'll talk with him in the morning."</p> - -<p>He then questioned me about Don Lazarillo, but I could tell him -nothing. The very name, indeed, I said, might be assumed, though I -thought this improbable, seeing that the other had sailed under true -colors. In talking of these Spaniards he, by design or accident, -informed me that his daughter was heiress to a considerable property. -I can not be sure of the amount he named, but I have a recollection -of his saying that on her mother's death she would inherit a fortune -of between sixty thousand and eighty thousand pounds. One subject -leading to another, he inquired as to the payment of the sailors of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span> -La Casandra. I answered that Don Lazarillo, being terrified by the -seamen's threats, had entered his dead friend's berth and produced a -bag of gold which exactly sufficed to discharge the claims of the men.</p> - -<p>"And what did the rogues offer you, Mr. Portlack?" said he.</p> - -<p>"Fifty guineas, sir."</p> - -<p>"Did you get it?"</p> - -<p>I smiled, and answered that, instead of money, Don Lazarillo had given -me Don Christoval's watch and chain and diamond ring.</p> - -<p>"Have you the things upon you?" said he.</p> - -<p>"I have the ring," said I, pulling it out of my waistcoat pocket. "The -watch and chain I pawned for twenty pounds, being without money, save -a trifle in a savings bank in London. What this ring is worth I'm sure -I can't imagine," said I, looking at it. "I hope it will yield me an -outfit. I as good as lost everything I possessed when the Ocean Ranger -sailed away in chase of the Yankee, leaving me adrift."</p> - -<p>He extended his hand for the ring, and appeared to examine it. "Have -you the pawn-ticket for the watch and chain?" he asked. I gave it to -him. "I should like to possess that watch and chain," said he, "and I <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span> -should like also to possess this ring. I'll buy them from you."</p> - -<p>I bowed, scarcely as yet seeing my way. He pulled out his pocket-book -and extracted a check already filled in.</p> - -<p>"You will do me the favor," said he, "to accept this as a gift, and I -will do you the favor to accept this pawn-ticket and ring as a gift."</p> - -<p>The check was for five hundred guineas.</p> - -<p>This noble check is the reason for my calling that dinner at the Albion -Hotel, Ramsgate, a memorable one. It laid the foundations of the little -fortune which I now possess, but which without that check I should -never have possessed, so hopelessly unprofitable is the vocation of -the mariner. But I did even better than that out of the ill-fated Don -Christoval and his friend, for, nobody appearing to claim the schooner, -she was sold after a considerable lapse of time; and when I returned -from a voyage in which I had gone as chief officer, I was agreeably -surprised at being informed, by the solicitor whom I had requested to -watch my interests during my absence, that the claim he had made on my -behalf as virtually the salvor of the schooner had been admitted, and -that I was the richer by a proportion of the proceeds amounting to a <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span> -hundred and ninety pounds.</p> - -<p>Whether because of the influence possessed by Captain Noble, or -because the authorities (whoever <i>they</i> might be) decided not to -take proceedings against me as the only discoverable member of the -gang who had forced Miss Noble from her home, certain it is that I -never heard anything more of the matter. I took care that my address -should be known, and carefully informed the receiver at Ramsgate, and -Captain Noble also, that I was willing while ashore at any moment to -come forward and state what I knew; but, as I have before said, I was -never communicated with. The whole story lay as dead in the minds of -those few who knew of it as though the events I have related had never -occurred.</p> - -<p>Five years had expired since the date of my having safely restored Miss -Noble to her parents.</p> - -<p>I was now commanding a large Australian passenger ship, and among those -who sailed to Melbourne with me was a gentleman named Fairfield. He -was a solicitor in practice at Carlisle. One day, in conversing with -him, by the merest accident I happened to pronounce the name of Captain -Noble. He asked me if I knew him. I answered warily that I had heard <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> -of him. He grew garrulous—an unusual weakness in a lawyer—and, in the -course of a long quarter-deck yarn, told me that Miss Noble had been -for two years out of her mind, tended as a lunatic by nurses in her -father's house, but for nearly two years now she had been perfectly -well, and some six months ago had married Sir Ralph A——, Bart., -a widower, whose estate lay within five miles of her father's. He -said that there was some mystery about the lady's past. She had been -abducted and ill-used. He never could get at the truth himself, and -would like to learn it. He understood that she went out of her mind -because of some horrible haunting fancy of having committed a murder.</p> - -<p>That was all he could tell me, and from that day to this I have never -been able to hear of either her or her people.</p> - - -<p class="center">THE END.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="chap" /> -</div> - -<div class="transnote"> -<p>Transcriber's Notes:</p> - -<p>Punctuation inaccuracies were silently corrected.</p> - -<p>The following changes have been made:</p> - -<p>Page 76: her stem-head, and flashed it <i>was changed to</i> her stemhead, and -flashed it</p> - -<p>Page 160: she stood motiontionless gazing <i>was changed -to</i> she stood motionlessly gazing</p> - -<p>Page 198: wrong that has deen done her <i>was changed to</i> -wrong that has been done her</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> -</div> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's The Tragedy of Ida Noble, by William Clark Russell - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TRAGEDY OF IDA NOBLE *** - -***** This file should be named 50372-h.htm or 50372-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/0/3/7/50372/ - -Produced by David K. 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