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diff --git a/75790-h/75790-h.htm b/75790-h/75790-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..99d2fe1 --- /dev/null +++ b/75790-h/75790-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,10025 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html lang="en"> +<head> + <meta charset="UTF-8"> + <title> + Cursed Be the Treasure | Project Gutenberg + </title> + <link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover"> + <style> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + + h1,h2,h3 { + 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: 33.5%; + margin-right: 33.5%; + clear: both; +} + +hr.tb {width: 45%; margin-left: 27.5%; margin-right: 27.5%;} +hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} +@media print { hr.chap {display: none; visibility: hidden;} } +hr.full {width: 95%; margin-left: 2.5%; margin-right: 2.5%;} +div.chapter {page-break-before: always;} +h2.nobreak {page-break-before: avoid;} + +x-ebookmaker-drop {display: none;} + +.center {text-align: center;} + +.right {text-align: right;} + +.smcap { font-variant:small-caps; } + +/* Images */ +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; + page-break-inside: avoid; + max-width: 100%; +} + +/* Poetry */ +.poetry-container {display: flex; justify-content: center;} +.poetry-container {text-align: center;} +.poetry {text-align: left; margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%;} +.poetry .stanza {margin: 1em auto;} +.poetry .verse {text-indent: -3em; padding-left: 3em;} +.poetry .indent0 {text-indent: -3em;} +.poetry .indent2 {text-indent: -2em;} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} + +table.autotable { border-collapse: collapse; } +table.autotable td, +table.autotable th { padding: 4px; } + +.tdl {text-align: left;} +.tdr {text-align: right;} +.tdc {text-align: center;} + +div.titlepage { + text-align: center; + page-break-before: always; + page-break-after: always; +} + +div.titlepage p { + text-align: center; + text-indent: 0em; + font-weight: bold; + line-height: 1.5; + margin-top: 3em; +} + +.ph1 { text-align: center; text-indent: 0em; } +.ph1 { font-size: x-large; margin: .83em auto; } + +.ph2 { text-align: center; text-indent: 0em; } +.ph2 { font-size: medium; margin: .83em auto; } + + </style> +</head> +<body> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75790 ***</div> + +<div class="titlepage"> + +<h1>CURSED BE THE TREASURE</h1> + +<p class="ph1">BY H. B. DRAKE</p> + +<p>NEW YORK<br> +MACY-MASIUS: PUBLISHERS<br> +1928</p> + +<p>COPYRIGHT IN 1928 AND MANUFACTURED<br> +IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA<br> +BY MACY-MASIUS, INC. AT THE PRESS<br> +OF J. J. LITTLE AND IVES CO.</p> + +<p><i>To<br> +My Son, Terence Theodore</i></p> + + +</div> + +<hr class="chap"> + +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<table> +<tr><td class="tdr"> </td> <td class="tdc"><a href="#PART_I">PART I: MY FATHER</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">I.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_I"><span class="smcap">The Tapping at the Window</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">II.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_II"><span class="smcap">Bite-in-the-Dark</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">III.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_III"><span class="smcap">The Dolphin Inn</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">IV.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV"><span class="smcap">Ebb-Tide Cave</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">V.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_V"><span class="smcap">The Closed Gate</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">VI.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI"><span class="smcap">The King's Man</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">VII.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII"><span class="smcap">The Manuscript</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">VIII.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII"><span class="smcap">Picardino</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">IX.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX"><span class="smcap">Sunset Towers</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">X.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_X"><span class="smcap">My Father tells a Story</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">XI.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI"><span class="smcap">The Ghost</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr"> </td> <td class="tdc"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr"> </td> <td class="tdc"><a href="#PART_II">PART II: CAPTAIN FIELD</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">XII.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII"><span class="smcap">The Way of a Friend</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">XIII.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII"><span class="smcap">Trapped</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">XIV.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV"><span class="smcap">The New Tenant</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">XV.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV"><span class="smcap">Jenny</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">XVI.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI"><span class="smcap">Abou</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">XVII.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII"><span class="smcap">The Sign</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">XVIII.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII"><span class="smcap">Out of the Frying-Pan</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">XIX.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX"><span class="smcap">Into the Fire</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">XX.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XX"><span class="smcap">At the Dawn of a Summer's Day</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">XXI.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI"><span class="smcap">All on the First of May</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">XXII.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII"><span class="smcap">Worthing asks Questions</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr"> </td> <td class="tdc"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr"> </td> <td class="tdc"><a href="#PART_III">PART III: DIRK STORMAWAY</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">XXIII.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII"><span class="smcap">Dirk Takes Me in Hand</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">XXIV.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV"><span class="smcap">Thomas Garth Playden</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">XXV.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXV"><span class="smcap">Jenny Sends a Message</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">XXVI.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI"><span class="smcap">A Story under the Stars</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">XXVII.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVII"><span class="smcap">A Night and a Day</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">XXVIII.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVIII"><span class="smcap">A Revelation</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">XXIX.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIX"><span class="smcap">Alone</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">XXX.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXX"><span class="smcap">Drift-Wood Cavern</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">XXXI.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXI"><span class="smcap">Expiation</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr">XXXII.</td> <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXII"><span class="smcap">Into the Morning</span></a></td></tr> +</table> + +<hr class="chap"> + + +<h2>CURSED BE THE TREASURE</h2> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="PART_I">PART I</h2> +</div> + +<h3>MY FATHER</h3> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I</h2> +</div> + +<h3>THE TAPPING AT THE WINDOW</h3> + + +<p>Looking right back to the days of my childhood, the first beginnings of +things are blurred and confused, but I must disentangle them as well +as I may if I am to tell my story clearly and coherently. I know now +that the story began long before I was born, but I must pick up the +thread of it where it first crossed my path. And even that is difficult +enough. For before I was conscious to the point of memory I was already +enmeshed in a net of mystery woven long since of dark and incredible +things. But to me they didn't seem dark and incredible, for they were +with me before I could reason and distinguish, nor had my experience +any touchstone by which to test or measure them.</p> + +<p>I think perhaps I first began to take conscious stock of my +surroundings on a certain night of wind and rain. For earlier events +were with me but as shapeless shadows of memory, but from this night my +life began to unfold before me like a clearly written book. I had been +nursed in the atmosphere of mystery, though at this time, of course, +such a term would have had no meaning for me, for nothing is strange +to the inexperienced. But vaguely I was becoming accustomed to a life +of sudden change and hiding and swift flight. My eyes were opening +with growing consciousness to a world of passing lights and shadows, +with nothing definite or stationary, but all in wavering motion. The +one binding and constant element, the thread as it were which gave +single consistency to the whole, was the presence of my father, whose +laughter and gaiety, whose thrilling stories of pirates and smugglers +and treasure-trove, acted rather than narrated with a dramatic realism +that left them scored in burning pictures on my imagination, and whose +strong and tender companionship to a child of five or six, set him +central like the sun in my little world now growing out of chaos to +some semblance of form and individuality.</p> + +<p>Why this night above all nights should live in my memory as the first +clear picture there, is perhaps due to the keener suffering I was +called upon to endure, or perhaps to the fact that the shadowy pursuer +who kept ever on the road became this night not merely a name and a +fear but a creature of flesh and blood.</p> + +<p>The flight in the morning I don't remember distinctly, for that +was much as others had been. My father had been playing with me at +hide-and-seek, our favourite pastime, and one always full of thrill +and strange romance, when he had crept up to me where I lay hidden, +and putting his finger to his lips muttered, "Whist!"—glancing slowly +round with infinite caution. All this I surmise, for it had happened +so before, and I knew the procedure well. It meant that the mysterious +enemy was on our trail again, and we must be away on the path without +delay.</p> + +<p>"Is it Shadow-of-Fear?" I said, creeping close to my father so as to +whisper in his ear.</p> + +<p>He nodded slowly, and looking very serious took me by the hand, and +together we crawled away. It didn't seem in the least fantastic to me, +for it had happened often before. It was indeed part of our game, for +our hide-and-seek was no garden affair; we needed the whole of England +for our playground. So once more we set out on our travels; and I +didn't question how it was that everything was ready and in order, our +cloaks being hidden in a bush near by, and my father's knapsack packed +for the journey.</p> + +<p>But on this occasion there was a difference, and it was probably +this difference that stamped the affair on my mind. For usually we +managed to cover our tracks after a day or two, but this time our +pursuer seemed unusually tenacious of the scent, and for days we fled, +doubling upon our path, plunging into woods, emerging at high roads +where we obtained a lift on a passing cart or waggon, hiding for a +day in a remote hamlet, burrowing through the twisting streets of a +city, till at last it seemed to me that my whole life had been one +long wandering, and I began to grow tired. It needed all my father's +fun and exhaustless imagination to keep my heart tuned to the wearying +adventure.</p> + +<p>On the night I speak of I remember I was crying with fatigue and cold +and hunger, dragging at my father's hand as he plodded me remorselessly +onward down a drenched and dripping woodland path. His buoyant laugh, +usually so exhilarating, failed to shake my drooping spirits into +cheerfulness, for indeed I was bitterly miserable. My feet were numbed +to solid lumps of aching cold, and the wet twigs that wisped across +my face hurt cruelly. Even the hand that my father held was bitter +with a throbbing half-consciousness of animation, and the other hung +nerveless at my side. So I whimpered and toddled on. But I remember +feeling no unkindness towards my father. Not for a moment did my heart +cry blame on him; for babe as I was he had successfully impressed me +with the sense of strange pursuit that ever hung upon our flight. It +was something entirely beyond his power, something big like fate or +death. Tired and miserable, I knew I must on, for behind us there were +creatures of the dark scenting stealthily upon our track. I heard their +sniffing through the pauses of the wind, and more terrible still their +laughter, cackling brutally in our wake. This made me quicken my pace, +though it was pain to do so, and clutch my father's hand more tightly +in both my own.</p> + +<p>"Shadow-of-Fear?" I would say.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Tommy, yes," he would answer. "But he's lost the trail this time."</p> + +<p>Shadow-of-Fear was the name my father had given to our secret and +inexorable enemy.</p> + +<p>I stumbled on as well as I could through the black wood and the +drenching rain, and then I must have slipped, for I found myself +swinging from my father's supporting arm. He tried to set me on my +feet again, but I felt faint, and the little strength had quite ebbed +from my limbs; and my father with boisterous tenderness stooped and +lifted me on to his back, and with a "Courage, Tommy!" strode on with +redoubled speed. I hung my dripping arms down his shoulders, taking +care not to press them against his throat and hinder his breathing, for +I had had experience in this kind of travel. And I laid my streaming +cheek upon his head, and felt the jogging motion of his walk lull me +to a disturbed kind of half sleep, full of waking visions and drowsy +dreams, where great blazing fires and the smell of sizzling and +delicious foods mingled with alarms and pattering feet and gripping +hands thrust suddenly out of the dark.</p> + +<p>At last I must have yielded to my fatigue and slept soundly, while the +rain beat unheeded upon my face, for I woke to a real fire that fumed +up smokily with sputtering crackles and fitful flames, bright enough +to show that all around was dark. I couldn't see my father, but I heard +him moving behind me, and a sudden light told me that he had lit our +travelling lantern, for yellow swinging beams played round our shelter +as he hung the lantern from the roof.</p> + +<p>I looked about me sleepily. Evidently we were in some sort of hut, +though where in the whole of England I hadn't the faintest notion. +Outside the wind and rain were still at their old struggle, slashing +and crying through the trees in great rushing gusts that grew out of +nowhere and raced away again. My father seeing me move threw himself +down beside me, and stripping off my sodden clothes began to arrange +them round the fire. From his knapsack he pulled out a rug which he +had managed to keep reasonably dry through the drenching tempest, and +wrapped my naked body in its comforting folds, and the touch of its +dry softness was bliss unspeakable after the soaking discomfort of +the rain. I smiled up into his face with all my love, and for reward +felt his arms about me, and his wet cheek pressed to mine, while he +murmured, "That's my brave little boy!" So wonderful was my father that +words like these were magical, and my ebbing courage flowed again. +Then he took my hands between his own and chafed them vigorously back +to life, and I don't think I cried at the exquisite pain as the blood +flushed slowly back to my white finger-tips. And all the time he was +talking in his rapid and thrilling way, making a story of the adventure +we had passed through, and telling how we had baffled our pursuer at +last.</p> + +<p>I was too weary to pay much heed to his rattling talk. I know that +the fire as it blazed up more strongly and brightly, triumphing over +the soaked twigs and branches which my father had scrambled together, +thawed my limbs deliciously. And soon I was in a glow of steamy +warmth, and nodded sleepily, while my father, still chatting in his +restless way, prepared some soup. The hot savoury stuff was the last +touch necessary to complete comfort, and forgetting with the ease +of childhood the dreary tramp through the storm I gave myself up +unresistingly to the luxury of sleep. But my sleep wasn't completely +unbroken. It seemed to surge over me like great waves, and whenever I +floated up to the surface I became aware of my father's voice still +droning out the story of our flight. He must have been talking to +prevent himself from sleeping, for once I seem to remember hearing him +muttering, "I must keep awake, I must keep awake," and sometimes when I +awoke from my doze he was pacing the hut, or turning the clothes before +the fire.</p> + +<p>I had one longer spell of wakefulness while it was still dark. The wind +had dropped, and my father had ceased to prattle. The complete silence, +together with the cutting pressure of cold air against my cheek, had +probably aroused me more alertly than usual, for of a sudden I felt +wide-awake. I looked round for my father, but he wasn't in the hut. The +lantern was no longer alight, and the fire was smouldering low. The +door stood open, and the utter blackness of the woodland seemed banked +up against it like a barricade. For a moment the fear of loneliness was +upon me, and I would have cried out, but just then my father returned +with a bundle of faggots, which he tossed on to the failing fire. There +was a smother of smoke and steam and a loud hissing, before the red +flames broke through again.</p> + +<p>"What! Awake, Tommy?" said my father, seeing me rub my eyes, which were +smarting from the fumes.</p> + +<p>"Awake, daddy," I said, blinking up at him with a smile.</p> + +<p>He shut the door, and carefully secured it with a stout piece of +timber. I noticed too that he had hung his cloak, now dry, over the +little solitary pane of glass which was all the hut possessed in the +way of a window.</p> + +<p>"Time to dress, Tommy," he said, helping me pull on my stockings, +which were almost toasted by the fire and felt comfortingly warm. I +reached for my shirt and breeches, and slowly drew them on, my eyes +half shut, for I would willingly have lain down again for a further +spell of sleep. I pushed my arms into my jacket, and looking round for +my cloak saw it hanging on the wall opposite the door. I was rising +to get it when my father said, "Ah, not that just yet. We won't start +till morning, but best be ready." He added, "There's a big hole there, +Tommy. Keeping out the wind; the cold wind, Tommy, with the sharp white +teeth. It's there behind your cloak, all ready to bite."</p> + +<p>He snapped his teeth and shuddered, while I threw my head on his arm as +he sat beside me, and chuckled delightedly. For it was always in this +way that he spoke of the simplest things; never to frighten, but to +give just that touch of dramatic and imaginative charm which childhood +thirsts for. And it was this magic spell which he cast over our life of +hard wanderings and sudden flights that changed a bitter reality into a +wonderful game.</p> + +<p>He was off again with some story or other, and though I tried to keep +awake so as not to miss the precious recital, yet sleep was still +heavy in my eyes, and my head nodded. I must have been tired indeed, +for my father could tell a story with such thrill and vigour, his +expression changing with every phase and mood, that the thing became +a living picture. At least it was so to me, and bed had no attraction +while I was away with my father seeking treasure on far-away seas. But +this night I missed the better part of the story. I only heard a word +here and there. I remember there was a cave, and a conspiracy, and +a terrible crime, but how the story went I couldn't follow. And then +in a more wakeful moment I heard my father saying, "This is how he +looked at me." I blinked a sleepy eye up at him, and suddenly started +into complete consciousness, for used as I was to his extraordinary +facial contortions when dramatizing his incidents, I had never seen +him wear such a look of frightfulness as he wore now. His hair was +standing up stupidly, with one lank lock pulled slantwise across his +forehead, almost hiding one eye. His lips, usually so full of laughter, +had slipped to a loose and slobbering imbecility. His cheeks were +drawn in haggard lines, pulling down the flesh beneath his eyes, which +contrasted raw and red with the staring whites. The whole expression +was one of blank idiocy, except for a tell-tale glitter of devilish +cunning which lurked in the corners of his upturned eyes.</p> + +<p>I stared at him in horror. In all his many disguises I had seen him in +nothing that had suggested that his face could be distorted to such a +hideous caricature of itself. And yet it was hardly a caricature, for +it was all but unrecognizable. I believe that no other eyes but mine +could have penetrated that mask. It was only his even voice repeating, +"This is how he looked at me," that reassured me somewhat.</p> + +<p>"But who?" I asked, clutching him.</p> + +<p>"Who? The Mad Captain. I was telling you, Tommy."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes," I said eagerly, hoping to pick up the thread of the story +as he continued.</p> + +<p>My father's face gradually righted itself as he proceeded:</p> + +<p>"You see, Tommy, he had left them alone there to die; and that was +a terrible thing." His voice was hushed and tense in a way I can't +describe, but which held me in a spell of expectation. "And he knew +they could never get away. And they had no food, and they would starve. +And that's a horrible slow death, Tommy. And if they cried out, no one +would hear them. Their voices would be like whispers from the stars."</p> + +<p>"Ah," I said, "the treasure," trying to link on to the lost fragment +without my father's needing to repeat it, for I knew he hated to +return upon his narrative when once well under way. I can see now how +necessary it was for him to live in his incident, and repetition spoilt +his dramatic flow.</p> + +<p>So there we sat together, gazing into the red flames, with the night +outside very hushed and secret, far away from the world, with somewhere +behind us our baffled pursuer scenting along a false track, and my +father in his tense and vivid voice telling an old story of crime and +madness and remorse.</p> + +<p>"Yes, treasure, Tommy," he answered me. "They were there with the gold +and the rubies and the diamonds, trapped in the cave, with twenty tons +of rock at its mouth, and with nothing to eat, and hunger gnawing like +wolves inside them, and no one to hear them crying day after day; and +their voices growing weaker and dryer, just like croaking birds, Tommy, +till one by one they dropped down to die. It must have been terrible +all alone there, Tommy. Can't you see them, with bruised torn hands, +beating at the rock, tugging and beating? And the gold lying quiet +there, how it must have said to them, 'Fools! Fools! Fools!' And the +last man, Tommy, when the rest were all dead! I think he must have gone +mad. Can you see him, groping from body to body, and crying pitifully +because they wouldn't move or speak to him; all lying so sad and still +and saying not a word? And how he must have sprung away from them and +hammered at that rock, and fallen down faint and beaten, and wrung his +battered hands, laughing like a madman, pulling at his hair. The last +man, all alone, with the treasure and the secret and the dead men; till +he grew thin and faint and tired, and lay down with the rest."</p> + +<p>"And the Mad Captain?" I asked, thirsting for details.</p> + +<p>"Ah, he!"—and my father's face, which had softened, became rightful +again, till for very face I crept closer to him, and gripped him +convulsively. He went on in his hushed, tense voice: "It was like this +he looked at me when he told me the story. For you see, Tommy, he could +hear the voices calling to him; and if he shut his ears against them, +there were terrible curses screaming inside his head, for he knew he +had left them there to die. And in the night he saw them there, growing +thinner and whiter and all wasted with hunger. And he counted the days, +and said, 'Now they must be dead!' But still he heard them crying to +him; most terrible and piteous it was. And he knew they were dead +and were following him, and he couldn't hide from them anywhere. And +sometimes they screamed at him, and sometimes they laughed; a hollow +wicked laughter, he told me, and wondered I couldn't hear it. And then +he knew he could never rest again, but must up and away day after day +and night after night, with the dead men chasing him and crying to him +and mocking his madness. And so he was whipped on from place to place, +never resting. For the terrible voices broke into his sleep like a cry +of hounds, and the dead faces peered horribly at him through the dark, +and the room was always full of moaning and knocking and a shuffling of +feet."</p> + +<p>If I felt frightened at this strange recital in the gloom of our +wayside hut, lit fitfully as it was by the red leaping flames of +the fire, which threw distorted shadows on the walls which a boy's +imagination might work into terrible fantasies—if I felt frightened +it was with a pleasing fear; for I delighted to feel the stirring of +unseen things about me, when safe in the comforting security of my +father's presence. I remember glancing cautiously around me into the +shadowy corners, half hoping to see some white and horrible face +gazing out at me; and I strained my ears to catch some echo of the +cryings and moanings which my father had been speaking of. The wind +had quite dropped, and the night was perfectly still, with a sort of +waiting uneasy stillness; and I thought I could hear a movement in the +darkness outside. But my father was continuing: "And when he lit his +lamp the blackness through the window was full of beckoning hands, +and when he blew the lamp out for very fear the room was alive with +creeping feet. And sometimes he felt cold fingers on his neck, and +sometimes breath in his hair, and sometimes...."</p> + +<p>At this moment there was a tapping at the window.</p> + +<p>My father looked round sharply, and the words died on his lips. +He clutched my arm with a hard grip, and I knew my part was to be +perfectly still. And then suddenly he let out a bitter cry, and under +cover of it had pushed me behind my cloak and through the hole in the +wall. The cloak followed, and he hung his own coat in its place; and a +moment later the knapsack was bundled after me. I crouched motionless +in the cold, with my cloak pulled about my shoulders; and still my +father was crooning in a kind of unearthly sob, broken now and again +by short little dry chucklings. I summoned courage to widen with my +fingers a slit in his coat through which I could peep into the hut. I +caught one glimpse of my father's face in the firelight; again it was +drawn with haggard madness, but I thought the cunning in the eye was +sharper than before. He was sitting in front of the fire with his knees +huddled up to his chin, peering slantwise behind him towards the door. +I looked towards the door; the barrier was down.</p> + +<p>Again there was a tapping at the window. The sound came to me from +the outside. And then I heard a low wail, "For the mercy of heaven, +let me in, let me in." My father moaned in reply, hugging himself +convulsively, and finishing on a shriek that broke into a hideous +laughter.</p> + +<p>All this was a new game on me, and curiosity rather than fear was the +uppermost feeling in my mind. Indeed, the most frightening thing was +the stillness of the woodland behind me. It seemed as though a great +hand had the world in its grip, and a loosening of the fingers would +set the air into sudden and startling motion.</p> + +<p>I heard a shuffling at the other side of the hut, and the wall shook as +though a body had fallen against it. I looked through the slit in the +coat; the door was slowly opening.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II</h2> +</div> + +<h3>BITE-IN-THE-DARK</h3> + + +<p>What I expected to see I hardly know. I think probably I expected +nothing visible, but merely that the hut would suddenly fill with +wailings and demoniac cries, for the Mad Captain with his unseen +tormentors was still beating in my mind. And something like a doubt +crossed my thoughts that perhaps my father too was fleeing from some +such spirits of remorse and retribution. But certainly I wasn't +expecting the miserable and decrepit hag who crawled out of the +blackness in through the open doorway, delaying on the threshold to +push the crazy door flat against the wall before venturing through, as +though suspecting some hidden snare.</p> + +<p>It seemed an anticlimax to my strung imagination, and I could have +laughed aloud, but something in my father's attitude of stealthy +watchfulness held my lips dumb, though I was on the point of pushing +back through the wall to say, "How stupid, daddy!" as though a splendid +game had been spoilt. For the woman was just an ordinary beggar, very +dirty, very ragged, very weary and miserable, and so weak that she +must have fallen, and now could only crawl to the comforting welcome +of the fire; it was her body I had felt shake the hut as she had +collapsed. And yet my father's face didn't change, but his fingers +played foolishly together about his throat. He was usually so kind to +the friendless and helpless that I expected to see him rise and help +her in; and I began to think that I too should like his permission to +return to my warm place out of the biting night air that chilled my +hands and feet. But his face still wore its imbecile expression, and as +the woman crept up to him he shrank away from her towards my side of +the fire, chattering incomprehensibly, and watching her slyly out of +the corner of his eyes.</p> + +<p>His strange manner must have startled her, for she made a circuit to +avoid him, but with eyes fixed steadily upon him still moved slowly +towards the fire, till soon they were both crouched one on either side +of it, crossing glances through the flames. My father was seated with +his back to me, but with his face half averted from the woman so that +I could see it in profile; but the woman I had in full view. She was +moaning weakly like a dumb creature in pain, and her hands were spread +out tremblingly to the fire, as though greedy for its warmth. Her +fingers were yellow and thin and withered. She was wearing a kind of +bonnet from under which stray wisps of ragged hair straggled down over +her face. The bones in her cheeks showed sharply, throwing deep shadows +into the hollows behind, and her eyes beneath her great brows were like +pits of blackness, occasionally gleaming with points of red as the +firelight caught her pupils. And all the time as she warmed herself, +trembling and complaining in broken whimpers, she watched my father, +who for his part was edging farther and farther from her, jabbering +stupidly and gurgling with low, throaty laughter. And so there they sat +like animals in a cage, and although I had never seen anything quite +so harmless and commonplace as the forlorn waif who had just crawled +into our shelter, yet it seemed to me that the two as they fronted each +other were like beasts preparing for a spring, and the woman's whine +and my father's idiot cacklings were like the growls of coming battle.</p> + +<p>I became spellbound watching them, wondering what would happen. I +forgot the cold; and the immensity of blackness all around me held no +hidden fears, for all my mind was on that strange pair in the hut, +shining red with the leaping flames, and looming black as the fire +slackened. This was the best game I had seen, and I was an enthralled +spectator eagerly watching for the moves. And, though I knew it not, +blacker than the night about me was the shadow of an old crime that had +caught me in its darkness and would bring on my head also a measure of +doom.</p> + +<p>It is impossible for me to say just what were my feelings at the time, +for the incident has been so often rehearsed by my father with such +dramatic distinctness that I hardly remember what I saw through the +slit in the coat, and what I learnt afterwards; also I have come to +regard it so much from my father's standpoint rather than from my own +that it is difficult to disentangle my own feelings from his, and in +telling what happened I may seem to be reading more into the affair +than I could possibly have comprehended at the time.</p> + +<p>But this I know, that as the woman spread her hands to the blaze, +whimpering curses against the cold and the night and the ill folk that +grudged a starving body a bit o' warmth, and drove you from their doors +without a bite or a sip, I could see her furtively scanning the hut, +searching out, as it seemed to me, possible hiding-places. Why I cannot +say, but the fear grew in my heart that it was me she was looking for, +and as the black hollows where her eyes were hidden rested on the coat +behind which I crouched a shudder passed through me, for I remember how +suddenly the fire lit up her eyes in their dark caverns, and the fierce +red balls seemed menacingly fixed on me. I shrank back into the night, +but not so far that I couldn't still with difficulty see into the hut.</p> + +<p>And while the woman whined and droned her endless tale of wrong my +father was muttering and chuckling insanely in his corner, puffing +out his cheeks, blowing in his hands, sometimes leaning forward and +grinning amiably at the old hag, and sometimes snarling malignantly at +her, or beating and clutching at imaginary tormentors. But I thought he +watched her all the while, and took due note of her peering and prying.</p> + +<p>There was a bundle of straw and leaves and branches and other lumber +in the corner behind the woman, and her eyes were often turned to +it, wondering, I thought, what it might conceal. I felt a thrill of +delight to know that if she thought I was hidden there she would have +a fine disappointment when she looked for me; for look for me I knew +she would, so convinced had I become that she was wondering where I +was hidden. For if she was hunting for my father she must know that I +should be with him. And sometimes she gazed at the cloak hung over the +window; perhaps I was there. And sometimes at the coat that concealed +my hiding-place; but it hung flat against the wall, and she couldn't +know of the hole behind it. I triumphed in my security with all the +joy that I had learnt from the exciting games of hide-and-seek which I +had played with my father. I nearly laughed aloud when the old crone, +unable to restrain her curiosity, so it seemed to me, rose shivering, +and diving her hands into the pile of lumber seized an armful of wood +and threw it on the fire. She returned to her place, still whimpering, +but more angrily than before and with greater vigour. My father only +chuckled softly, and subsided into snarlings as though the affair +hadn't disturbed him. But I knew he had noted it.</p> + +<p>How it was that with nothing happening the atmosphere grew more +strained with each moment I can't explain. I felt that something was +bound to happen, and it would come quickly. I became more and more +convinced that the old woman was searching for me; but the knowledge +was exhilarating, not frightening. I was used to being hunted, and knew +the thrill of hiding. And then my father was there to protect me if the +game became too serious.</p> + +<p>And so the droning and the mummery continued; and then the hag, still +shivering with cold, rose and twitched down my father's cloak from the +window and threw it over her shoulders. Foiled again, I thought, as she +crouched back into her place; and my father hissed between his teeth, +and made a sudden grab at something in the fire. Then his attention +became fixed on the roof, though I could see nothing there, and with +complete indifference he left his hand singeing in the flames. I could +see the hag watching him, and behind her inscrutable eyes she must have +been wondering whether this was a supreme bluff or a genuine piece of +idiocy. But my father never winced. Slowly it seemed his attention +became drawn to his roasting flesh, while I shuddered at the pain of +it. But he looked down on his hand, and then calmly drew it up to +his eyes as though dumbly questioning what had been hurting him. And +suddenly he looked across at the woman, and with a frightful cry hurled +himself at her through the fire. But she was too quick for him, and +nimbly avoiding him slipped round to my side of the fire, still ready +to spring away if he attacked her again; and while my father blundered +stupidly across the hut, and collapsed against the wall, grumbling and +shaking, I saw the hag slip a knife back into the folds of her dress. +It was real war, I knew then; and my blood sang through my ears.</p> + +<p>If my father had thought to take her by surprise he had failed. But +still there was no motive for the attack except the rage of a lunatic. +If she was questioning his identity the secret wasn't betrayed. But +I began to fear for myself, for I knew she would find some pretext to +whip away the coat that was hiding me, and the tell-tale hole would be +revealed. And now she was on my side of the fire. She wouldn't even +have to pass my father to get at me. My father must have realized +this too, for he seemed to me to be gathering for another spring. +And I think the woman knew it, and was determined to peep behind the +coat before the tables were again reversed. Her hand crept behind her +towards me. Instinctively I clutched at the coat, and felt something +hard in the pocket. It was my father's pistol, I knew well; a +prohibited toy, but one eagerly desired. I had some idea, as a child +will, of playing the hero; and I slipped the pistol from the pocket. +It was easily done, for the woman's eyes were on my father, though +her hand was creeping ever nearer to the coat. I tugged at the hammer +of the great thing, and with difficulty cocked it, and held it with a +shaky hand. And then what happened I couldn't see. My attention was +on the pistol, when all at once the hut was in an uproar. I think the +woman must have clutched at the coat and my father sprung at the same +moment. At any rate there was the thud of a body against me, and my +hand seemed to be wrenched from my arm, while a splitting roar seemed +to burst my head in pieces. I fell back dazed, but rather interested +and frightened, and felt my father, stumbling through the dark, trip +and almost fall cross me, crying, "Tommy! Tommy!"</p> + +<p>He took me back into the hut, and hugged me convulsively when he found +me unhurt. The woman lay writhing on the ground, with a dreadful dark +stain upon her breast. My father's hand was gashed across; and on the +floor lay a blood-stained knife.</p> + +<p>And now my father from pretence seemed to become a madman in reality. +He laughed and shouted and stamped the floor where the wretched victim +lay feebly cursing and spitting blood. His evil joy was terrible, +and frightened me even more than the blood-drenched figure at his +feet. And then he began heaping the fire into a tremendous blaze, and +scattering flaming brands against the walls, till at last the crazy +structure began to smoulder, and then a sudden sharp flame or two shot +up. And all the while he shouted and laughed, cheering on the growing +conflagration, till the place was full of choking smoke, and our eyes +ran streaming, and the heat scorched our cheeks. And at last he seized +me and swung me to his shoulders, and raced away with me through the +darkness, now beginning to be touched with grey between the trees; and +soon behind us the glare of the burning hut was like a cruel red eye +blinking at us out of the blackness.</p> + +<p>As we pushed free of the woodland into the grey and open morning my +father set me down, and looking back heaved a great sigh and wiped +his brow. Then he seized me by the hand and danced me round repeating +excitedly, "We're free, Tommy, we're free!"</p> + +<p>"Was it Shadow-of-Fear?" I asked.</p> + +<p>My father's face darkened. "Shadow-of-Fear never dies," he answered. +"But we shall escape him now." And he smiled again.</p> + +<p>"But that," I said, "who is that?"</p> + +<p>"Ah, that," he laughed, "was the old witch, Bite-in-the-Dark."</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III</h2> +</div> + +<h3>THE DOLPHIN INN</h3> + + +<p>I suppose it's natural enough that the events of that night should +stand out in my memory with vivid distinctness, while the six or seven +years that followed have only left a general impression of their +progress. I can't possibly say where our wanderings led us, for my +father still seemed ill at ease if he lingered too long at one place. +But now they became less harassing. We didn't steal away at the dead +of night, and hide for days in the woods. We journeyed in comfort with +horses or by coach, and sheltered by the welcome of great inn fires.</p> + +<p>I remember that this was a time of intensive education for me; not +so much in book-learning—though my father taught me my letters, and +was even anxious that I should master Latin—but rather in the arts +of hiding, tracking, and every kind of physical prowess. It seems to +me now that I had the training of a Redskin rather than of an English +boy; but I know I entered into it with relish, and pleased my father +by my precocious skill in climbing, in fighting with the knife, and +especially in swimming and diving.</p> + +<p>We still kept up our tremendous games of hide-and-seek, stalking each +other across great stretches of country, and even taking refuge on +the sea. My father had a power of disguise which was baffling in its +completeness, and in hunting him I would frequently ask news of him +from some wayside beggar or passing carter to find afterwards that +I had been speaking to my father himself. But I soon found a way of +penetrating his disguises, because the scar of the burn and the knife +across his left hand betrayed him to me, and I learnt to suspect anyone +who hid his left hand or wore gloves. And this betraying mark was +disconcerting to him; not so much, I think, because it discovered him +to me, as because he was afraid that it might be a witness against him +when he needed concealment. He tried every means to cover the traces +of the tell-tale burn. The gash of the knife wasn't so serious as it +lay across the palm, and could be hidden by holding the hand half-shut. +But the scar of the burn spread over the back of his hand and up three +fingers. He devised stains and dyes and paints, and at last did manage +to cover the blemish from all but very curious eyes, but naturally +the treatment wasn't permanent, nor could it be applied in a hurry. +Generally he wore gloves.</p> + +<p>I don't know to this day the route of our wanderings. My sense of +direction was usually good enough to tell me whether we were travelling +north or south, but actually where we were at any particular time I +seldom knew. Except when we returned to the Dolphin Inn. I knew that +through much acquaintance; for however far afield we strayed we were +sure to return to it sooner or later.</p> + +<p>It was a tumble-down, neglected hostelry that seemed to have known +better days. I think its prosperity waned with the suppression of the +smugglers. For it lay so remote and in so wild a country that I can't +conceive how the patronage of the road alone could have ever maintained +it. Indeed, you had to be lost before you could find it. A straggling +path led up to it from a rocky shore through a dense patch of woodland, +and the only dwellings for miles were a few miserable fishermen's huts +and a forest shack or two.</p> + +<p>But I was always glad to be back there, for the country was an ideal +playground for a boy trained as I had been. There was the wonderful +flitting life of the woods, secret and passionate, which stirred +something deep within me to a yearning sympathy. And then there was the +sea with its rocky wall where the great waves raced and burst, sucking +back down the green and clinging weeds to gather strength for a fresh +spring. I haunted the wild coast till I thought I knew every bay and +reach and pool, and where one could venture at low water, and where the +cliffs could be scaled. And my father was pleased beyond measure and +encouraged me in my explorations, greeting me as I scrambled back for a +late supper with, "Well, Tommy, what have you found to-day?"</p> + +<p>But I never seemed to find what he was sending me in search of; for +that there was something hidden on that coast for which he was hunting +I soon began to realize.</p> + +<p>The night was almost as wonderful as the day. For first came my lesson +in fighting with the knife, a time of glorious excitement. In our +combats we used folded lengths of paper so that we could fight with +vigour but without danger of accidents. What added zest to the game +was that my father had promised me a shiny new knife of my own when I +had succeeded in hitting him three times over the heart. I remember +my dancing exultancy when I scored my first success, but after that +he became more cautious, and the second blow was more difficult of +attainment. And then when we had finished our combat came the hour of +the evening story.</p> + +<p>The days at the Dolphin Inn were never long enough for me, and the only +time, I think, when I really felt resentment against my father was when +he announced that we must be away again. I could see no reason for it. +I had begun to understand that once—and long enough ago it seemed +to me now—my father had been pursued by some strange and relentless +enemy; but, I reasoned, wasn't that enemy safely dead? The only answer +that I received from my father when I put the question to him was the +somewhat enigmatic, "Ghosts, Tommy."</p> + +<p>"Ghosts?" I said inquiringly.</p> + +<p>"Sometimes the dead will rise," he announced in his hushed, mysterious +voice, "and sometimes," he added, "the dead will leave the living +behind them."</p> + +<p>All I could gather was that he was vaguely uneasy that the pursuer was +still on his track, though there had been no whisper of it for several +years. For once after a long reverie he suddenly roused himself, and +looking keenly at me said, "Tommy, was he lying still?"</p> + +<p>I didn't understand; and repeated, "Still, daddy?"</p> + +<p>He laughed a little, realizing the incomprehensibility of his question; +and taking me by the shoulders he said slowly, "Now think, Tommy. When +we left him in the hut, was he lying still?"</p> + +<p>"He?" I said. "You mean she, daddy?"</p> + +<p>"Ah, she," he laughed, "the old witch, Bite-in-the-Dark."</p> + +<p>Now the picture was very clear in my mind that the old crone was +not lying still as we broke away from the blaze; and as my father +asked me the question I could see her, with infinite pain, slowly +dragging herself along the floor. My imagination, alarmed probably +by the intensity of my father's eagerness, must have exaggerated the +impression, for I could almost picture her crawling from the door. But +all I said was, "No, daddy; I saw her move."</p> + +<p>"Ha!" he exclaimed, turning away; and then swinging round added +impressively, "Tommy, always make sure."</p> + +<p>"But, daddy," I cried, "is she still alive? Will she find us?"</p> + +<p>"No, no, Tommy," he answered easily, patting my head, "she can't be +alive. But," he added, "I haven't seen her ghost."</p> + +<p>I took him to mean that he couldn't be certain of her death till he had +seen her disembodied spirit; a theory that seemed by no means fantastic +to me; for it was part of my conception of ghosts that they would haunt +their murderers.</p> + +<p>And that closed the subject. Except that I was puzzled and disturbed; +firstly because I didn't quite understand my father's reference to +ghosts, and secondly because he had spoken of the old witch as he. +Was he thinking of Shadow-of-Fear, or was it indeed a man that we had +killed?</p> + +<p>However, we set off again on our wanderings, and I eagerly looked out +for signs of the return to the Dolphin Inn, for I loved the place above +all others that I knew, and I wanted to find what the secret was which +my father was trying to unravel.</p> + +<p>Now the signs of the return to the <i>Dolphin</i> were two. One was the +approach of summer, and the other was that my father would begin to +grow a beard. For elsewhere he went clean-shaven, but to the <i>Dolphin</i> +he always masked his face in a thick black barbous growth which I +suppose was his particular disguise for that corner of the world. So +when I saw the razor had been laid aside, and my father's face changed +from white to blue, and gradually sank concealed beneath a stubbly +brush of beard and whisker, I knew we should soon be tramping back +to the beloved <i>Dolphin</i>. And I was more excited than usual at the +prospect. Perhaps my spirit could scent the coming adventures from +afar; or perhaps merely I was beginning to delight in my precocious +strength of body; for though barely turned thirteen I had the girth of +a boy of fifteen. And with the summer we were there again, and I took +up the thread of my life where I had laid it down, initiating what was +to be a memorable season by scoring the second stroke of the three that +were to win me my knife.</p> + +<p>We had one room at the <i>Dolphin</i>, up a flight of stairs and below us +was the great kitchen which served as bar for the few odd fishermen who +formed almost the only patrons of the inn. Occasionally rougher men +from over-sea would break the sleepy quiet of the place. Where they +hailed from I didn't know, and didn't seek to enquire. They seemed +fierce folk, but kindly enough, tossing huge jests at each other which +I didn't understand, but which were always greeted by immense bursts +of throaty laughter. We could hear them through the floor of our room +if we lay with our ears to the boards; and I remember that whenever +they came my father used to vanish during the day, leaving me to my own +devices.</p> + +<p>Not that I ever saw much of these swarthy strangers, for they came +with the morning and vanished with the night; and my father, in that +impressive way he knew so well how to employ, warned me to keep well +to the windward of them. But once in my ramblings I came face to face +with old Dirk Stormaway, whom I had always taken to be the chief of the +mysterious band. My first thought was that I had blundered inexcusably, +for it was part of my training to scent instinctively the presence of a +stranger, and here I had tumbled almost into his arms, not in the least +aware of his nearness to me. He thrust out a huge hand and seized me by +the shoulder, gazing deep into my eyes with a savage intentness which I +returned with interest.</p> + +<p>"Wull," he drawled slowly, "an' who be ye?"</p> + +<p>Now among the few precepts my father had drilled into me was one never +to be disconcerted in an unexpected crisis, and another was to meet +danger with a smile. So I answered with a child's impertinence, "Maybe +I'm my father's son."</p> + +<p>He was chewing something mechanically in his mouth, and at my answer +he turned his head and spat, and I thought I saw the least of wrinkles +pucker the furrows round his eyes.</p> + +<p>At length, "Yus," he said, "an' wull you may be." And after a pause he +added, "An' who's your father?"</p> + +<p>"Maybe," I began; but the light in his eyes hardened, and his grip +tightened, as though to warn me there was danger in carrying a joke too +far. Instinct told me that the answer direct was the safest course now; +and I said, "He's the gentleman at the inn."</p> + +<p>"Heh!" was the reply; but the hand still held me, and the chewing +didn't stop.</p> + +<p>"An' what's he doing hereabouts, anyway?" was the next question.</p> + +<p>Now this was disconcerting, for to tell the truth I didn't know, and +my father hadn't enlightened me. Also I began to suspect that under +the circumstances the truth might be dangerous knowledge. For that my +father was hunting diligently on the trace of some secret I had assumed +as a fact by now. And might it not be that the secret was somehow +connected with these men? Didn't he always vanish when they appeared?</p> + +<p>I felt myself shaken, and the eyes were fiercely fixed on me from under +the man's savage brows. "Come now; what's he doing hereabouts?" he +repeated; adding, "An' see here, kiddy, if ye don't tell me the truth +on't an' no humbug, I'll crack your back like a stick." His other arm +came out, and I felt myself slowly bending in his tremendous hands.</p> + +<p>"Why," I cried, again summoning what impudence I could, though I was +terribly alarmed by now, "he's a poet, he is."</p> + +<p>"A what?" cried Dirk.</p> + +<p>He was evidently taken aback, and I felt my body free again.</p> + +<p>"He's a poet," I repeated. "He tells stories—writes," I corrected +hurriedly.</p> + +<p>Somehow my own lie seemed suddenly very like the truth to me. For that +my father could tell stories as no one else could, I well knew; and +that he carried pen and paper with him, and a slender selection of +books, I also knew. I wondered for half a moment whether I had unawares +pitched on the truth.</p> + +<p>Dirk wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and said with bitter +scorn, "Ah, I know the likes of him. Gets the yarns out of chaps like +us, and dishes them up fer the swell blokes. <i>Kah!</i>" he ejaculated +with unction, "they don't mind the reading of 'em, but we what has the +doing...." He drew his hand across his throat, and his meaning was +unmistakable.</p> + +<p>At this I felt a surging indignation on my father's account. The man +seemed to me to have insulted him, and I said, "You'd better not say +that to my father."</p> + +<p>"Oho," he laughed, "I'd better not, hadn't I? An' what for no?"</p> + +<p>Then I realized I had said more than I should have done, and as though +I had forgotten my remark I cried to cover my mistake, "You can't catch +me." I ducked under his grabbing hand, and was away.</p> + +<p>Looking back I saw him spring up to watch me, and then he started on +my track, whether in fun or earnest I didn't know. I gave him a good +run, that much I remember, making for the rocks where I thought my +nimbleness would be to my advantage; but he was up with me too soon, +and I was forced to scramble up a tree into the high top branches where +I knew he couldn't follow. But he didn't attempt to pursue. He stood +below and shouted at me good-humouredly to come down and he wouldn't +hurt me. I was suspicious at first, but what was I to do? Down I must +come at the last. So I put a good face on the matter, and slid down at +his feet.</p> + +<p>As it happened my confidence was well rewarded. He didn't grab at me as +I had half expected, but with hands on hips stood grinning down at me, +and after a long survey said, "Wull, an' what else can you do, since +you're such a nippy 'un?"</p> + +<p>"Oh," I cried, "I can swim, and dive and—and I can fight."</p> + +<p>"Pity if you couldn't," he put in, "seeing as what a world you live in."</p> + +<p>"I fight with the knife," I said.</p> + +<p>"The devil you do!" he replied.</p> + +<p>In my belt I carried a wooden knife which I had whittled myself, and +this I drew and rushed in on Dirk to show that my boast was no idle +one. But he was too quick for me, and seized my wrist in true fashion. +At the same moment he drew a cutlass and flourished it glitteringly +over my head. I think he was surprised when I sprang and seized his +wrist as my father had taught me, though of course he wrenched himself +free with a single twist, at the same time releasing my imprisoned arm.</p> + +<p>Slowly he pushed his weapon back into his belt, and said, "Wull, you're +a smart 'un," nodding his head appraisingly, and gazing at me as though +pondering some problem. Then he muttered, "Yus, the kid's worth it," +and this time drawing a dagger from his great sea-boot said, "See here, +kiddy, I'll show you a trick worth learning."</p> + +<p>Now all this while my conceit had been steadily flattered into +arrogance, for a child knows well enough when he is being admired, +and it was evident to me that for some reason or other Dirk was +pleased and surprised at my prowess. And I was all attention as he +explained the manœuvre. It was simple enough in theory, but difficult +in execution. The idea was to lunge with the right hand, and, as your +opponent seized your wrist, to slip your knife into your left hand +and drive home. The danger was that it left your enemy's knife hand +unguarded, and success was dependent upon swiftness, accuracy, and +complete surprise. Dirk demonstrated the trick to me, and for a long +while we combated there in the woodland till he thought I had learnt my +lesson well enough; and at length thrusting back his weapon he gave a +glance at the sun, and with a gruff farewell left me. He turned after +a few yards and threw back at me, "An' if you try to follow me, I'll +break your back like a stick."</p> + +<p>I shouted after him, "I'd knife you first," at which he laughed; but +again he turned and said, "An if you tell a soul you've seen me, even +that precious father of yours, I'll...." but he didn't finish his +threat; for I think he only had one, and he had already used it. He +growled and tramped away. But I didn't follow, for the fellow had a way +of making you see when he was in earnest and when it was safe to play +with him.</p> + +<p>For my part I ran back towards the inn eager to put my new skill into +practice and win the knife which I knew my father kept ready for me, +for he had shown it to me once to urge on my endeavour, and the vision +of the clean blue steel was one which I loved to dwell upon.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV</h2> +</div> + +<h3>EBB-TIDE CAVE</h3> + + +<p>If I hadn't been so eager I should have paused long before I did to +reflect that I should be most unlikely to find my father at the inn if +Dirk and his fellows were in the neighbourhood. For, as I have told +you, my father always vanished on these occasions. As it was, the +thought came to me like the sudden arrest of a lasso, drawing me up +short almost with a wrench. I stopped, and with the consideration that +possibly my father didn't know of their presence, as Dirk's apparition +had been a complete surprise to me, I trotted on again a few yards. But +I soon came to another halt, this time because it seemed to me somewhat +ill-judged to rush home and demand an immediate combat. The unusualness +of the thing would make my father suspect some trick, and might put +him on his guard. So I turned about, deciding to possess my soul in +patience till the evening, when our battle would take place as usual, +and then I would have the chance of displaying my newly learnt skill, +and perhaps win the wished-for reward.</p> + +<p>Now I think at this time I had three ambitions. The winning of the +knife was one, perhaps the chief one. Next to that I wanted to find +some quite new hiding-place where even my father wouldn't be able to +find me. That he had hiding-places out of my knowledge I was only +too sadly aware, but so far, as well as I knew the coast and the +countryside, I hadn't succeeded in baffling his pursuit. My third great +ambition was to find some underground communication between the shore +and the woodland. I assumed that such a communication existed, and I +explored all the caves and inlets for miles along the coast, but so far +without success. There were long caverns eating far into the cliffs, +some slippery with sea-weed, some above the line of the high tides +where the going was fairly easy; but none gave me the passage I was +seeking.</p> + +<p>There were several caves that I particularly suspected of concealing +the desired secret. There was one which I named the Dragon's Mouth; +for, following my father's lead, I gave my own names to all the +landmarks of the place, not being satisfied as a rule with the rather +unimaginative names which custom had christened them with. This cave I +named the Dragon's Mouth because blocking the opening was one huge rock +like the tongue of some colossal monster thrust out through its jaws. +I believed that if only the creature would draw in its tongue I should +find the passage of my desires. Then there was Ebb-Tide Cave opening +into Ebb-Tide Pool. I believe this name was of my father's giving. At +high tide the pool, which was well hidden with a wall of rock, and +invisible from the top of the cliff, which dropped steeply to a level +platform and swelled out into a huge overbrowing arch of granite, was +open to the sea through a twisting channel where a fair-sized boat +might pass, I thought; and many were the dreams I fancied to myself +of the coming and going of secret ships. But at low water the channel +was closed, and so in stormy weather Ebb-Tide Pool was an ideal +bathing-place. At high tide the cave was also in deep water, but dry, +or nearly so, at low tide. But the baffling puzzle of the cave was +that it stopped abruptly after some twenty yards, blankly walled with +two great flattish rocks which looked for all the world like the two +halves of a huge gate. And many a day I spent searching for the secret +of their opening, but never with any hint of success.</p> + +<p>There were other inlets too that I tested and examined. Particularly +the few short tunnels that gave on to a sandy bay to the east of +Ebb-Tide Pool. It was here that the fishermen launched their smacks, +and a hut or two clung crazily to nooks in the sloping cliffs. At the +farther horn of the bay was a dilapidated jetty, built originally +of stone, but roughly repaired where the seas had breached it with +makeshift piles and planking, themselves unsteady and decayed. It was +only seldom that the fishermen used it; but I delighted in picturing +to myself wild scenes of its desperate history when the smugglers were +still a power on that coast. However, I discovered nothing in the bay. +I searched east and west; and though at times I thought I had come upon +a further clue, yet it never led to anything. And again and again I +returned to the Dragon's Mouth and Ebb-Tide Cave, which seemed to me +the most dumbly obstinate in refusing to yield their secrets.</p> + +<p>This day, having nothing better to do, I set off for Ebb-Tide Pool for +a clamber and a bathe till it should be time to return to the inn. I +didn't go by the directest route, for, true to my father's training, I +made a business of my play just as he made a game of all my education. +Indeed work and play were one thing to me. For if we decided to climb +Dead-Man's Drop or cross the Suck-Foot Marshes the expedition was +always undertaken with some imaginary purpose in view. There was a +message to be delivered, or a sentry to be surprised; and usually we +were ranged against each other, one being set to hinder the other, and +the fun of the game wasn't merely in the climbing, or whatever it might +be, but in evading the hidden enemy. So when left to myself I always +devised some fanciful story to give a colour to my play. The result was +that I scarcely ever made a direct journey, but always skirted this +and rounded that to make believe I was outwitting my foes.</p> + +<p>On this day I didn't wander very far from the path, but my route +was somewhat roundabout. And on a sudden I came to an abrupt halt, +listening intently; for once already I had been taken unawares, and I +wasn't intending to be caught again. I had heard a crackling in the +woods. I was distinctly alarmed to see Dirk Stormaway stepping at right +angles across my path, for I knew if he should see me he would believe +I had been tracking him. Accordingly I squeezed up against a tree and +waited for him to go by. He passed behind a thick clump of thorn, but +didn't reappear. I listened for his step, and watched for him; but +there was no sign of him anywhere. I was just going to move on, when +again there was the sound of steps, and once more I grew on to my +protecting tree. I was amazed to see my father following stealthily on +the trail of Dirk. And he too vanished.</p> + +<p>Then it occurred to me that it was round here that my father always +managed to baffle my search whenever he hid from me. I had tracked his +lair to within a hundred yards or so, but never to its exact goal. +However, I thought this was no time for further investigation. The air +was tense with alarm for me, and I felt a pang of doubt on my father's +account. If Dirk should catch him following ... I thought he would +either break his back like a stick, or put that famous knife trick of +his into practice. But I was used to strangeness and mystery, and the +idea of hunting and being hunted was familiar to me from as far back as +I could remember; so I easily shook off the impression of alarm that +had crept over me, and skirting away from the point of danger I was +soon stripping for a dive in the pool.</p> + +<p>The afternoon was beautiful, with a blazing sun, and I was in and out +of the water, practising all my strokes and tricks, for some hours, +for evening was drawing on before I dried myself for the last time by +jumping up and down in the sun, and pulled on my clothes. The tide had +been coming in, and was now almost full. With one last look at the +tempting depths, wondering whether I should strip again for a final +plunge, I turned and set off up the cliff. Some day, I vowed, I would +negotiate that huge frowning brow of rock that overhung the pool, for +at present if I wanted to reach the level platform above it—an ideal +spot for a boy to sprawl on and send his dreams out over the sea—I had +to scramble down from the top of the cliff; and in climbing up from +below I had to be content with a longer trail to the left.</p> + +<p>I had taken only a few steps when I heard a gruff voice beneath me +chanting an old sea-song, and with instinctive caution I ducked behind +a boulder as I saw the nose of a boat pushing out from Ebb-Tide Cave. +I rubbed my eyes twice to clear my sight, when I saw that in the boat +was none other than Dirk himself. But there was no mistaking him. +And he knew his way too, for he steered straight for the outlet of +the pool, and I watched him pass easily through the choppy waves, +guiding himself with his oars, and out through the twisting channel, +where rounding a headland of rock he disappeared. I now knew that my +suspicion of those closed gates in the cave was justly founded, yet +until this moment I didn't realize how little I had credited my own +childish theories, for the revelation came to me not as a thing long +expected, but with a shock of surprise.</p> + +<p>My thought now was to descend again and investigate, but I think I must +have been getting frightened and unnerved by the adventures of the day, +for somehow the idea of returning to the cave and finding the gates +closed against me, though knowing full well that Dirk had just passed +through them, jarred unpleasantly on my imagination. And suppose they +were not closed? Suppose they were open? I should be confronted by the +dead blackness of the unknown beyond. I shuddered, and turned away, +wondering at my ebbing courage, for it wasn't usual for me to turn +heart-sick at the prospect of adventure. But I was still a child, and I +was probably tired, and had certainly had my fill of surprises for one +day.</p> + +<p>Not till I was nearly at the top of the cliff did I remember my father, +who must have been following Dirk. Perhaps if I had descended again +I should have met him, and learnt the secret from him. Again I hung +irresolute, but I reasoned that by now he would no longer be there. +Also I was feeling weary, and told myself that I must be fresh for +the combat in the evening if I were to bring off my little manœuvre +successfully and win the knife.</p> + +<p>My father was already in, doctoring up his scarred hand, when I +arrived. As usual he greeted me with, "Found anything to-day, Tommy?" +I could have answered volumes to that question, but reserve was part +of my training, and I wanted to use my new knowledge before I divulged +it; so I only answered, "Had a lovely day," and reaching up put my arms +around his neck and kissed him. But in his eyes as I searched them I +saw no trace of excitement to show that he had been spending his time +otherwise than usual.</p> + +<p>Supper was brought to us, and after supper we cleared the room for +battle. But I didn't win the knife. To tell the truth I felt rather +stupid and asleep, and for the life of me couldn't bring myself to try +Dirk's trick. I realized too that it might be easy enough in practice, +but in a real fight it would be another matter. A slip would put you at +the complete mercy of your antagonist. It was a reserve manœuvre to be +kept as a last resort when the choice lay between a desperate risk and +a certain defeat.</p> + +<p>My father saw that I was tired, and soon cried enough; and then +settling down in the waning twilight he put the final touches to his +hand, and commencing to yarn bore me away with him on the magical +stream of his story over wonderful seas.</p> + +<p>The hour of the evening story was always a golden time for me. For my +father didn't merely stuff me with thrill. Looking back I can realize +now how artistic in conception and narration were those extraordinary +yarns of his gleaned from every imaginable type of old sea-dog with +whom he had rubbed shoulders, and vivified with all the charm of his +abundant imagination. Sometimes he would set me to tell the story, +but in his presence I was tongue-tied and stumbling in my speech; but +I know that I learnt from him, and not from any pedagogue, whatever +understanding and appreciation I have of the splendour of language.</p> + +<p>And so with the last of the light to bed; while my father drew a heavy +screen around his little reading-table, and lighting his lamp applied +himself to the mystery, whatever it might be, which engaged him night +by night. All I ever heard was the scratching of his quill, or more +usually the turning of pages.</p> + +<p>He was still behind the screen when I awoke with the question on my +lips, "Are you a poet, daddy?"</p> + +<p>I think he was surprised, for he exclaimed quickly, "A poet, Tommy?" +and I heard a faint sigh. Then he laughed and said, "You've been +dreaming, Tommy. Better go to sleep again."</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V</h2> +</div> + +<h3>THE CLOSED GATE</h3> + + +<p>My father always tried to meet a surprise with calm acceptance as +though it was a thing which he had been anticipating. This was part +of his "technique of philosophy", as he termed it, though the phrase +was sufficiently incomprehensible to me as a boy. So when, the next +morning, I tracked him right into his hiding-place, pushing under the +bushes and finding the hole which led down into the secret passage, +he didn't exclaim his astonishment, but hearing me stumbling my way +through the unexplored blackness he opened the shutter of the dark +lantern he was carrying, and said in a matter-of-fact voice, "Come +along, Tommy; I'll show you."</p> + +<p>It was I who was taken aback, for he had been hidden from me and the +sudden light surprised me. I uttered a feeble "Oh!" and took his hand.</p> + +<p>The passage was wide enough for two, and high enough for a short man +like my father to walk upright in. The lantern lit up at intervals the +stays and beams which supported the tunnel, showing it to be a man-made +affair. Presently we came to a flight of roughly levelled steps built +up with stakes into the earth, and at the end there was a steep drop +into darkness, with a rope ladder disappearing into the gulf. My father +began to descend, and I followed. It was a longish shaft, and I was +glad to reach the bottom. I knew at once that we were in a different +sort of place now, for the sound of our feet echoed resonantly, and the +walls were running with moisture, and there were no supports along the +sides.</p> + +<p>As we proceeded, the tunnel gradually widened, twisting its way +downward at a gentle slope, and after a while the floor became slippery +with sea-weed, showing that the tide flowed in at full. In fact, before +we had reached the end of the journey we were wading in water up to our +knees, for it was still fairly early, about nine or ten, and the tide +was only at half ebb. And then my father set his lantern in a niche +high up in the wall, and said, "Well, what do you make of it, Tommy?"</p> + +<p>I looked about me in the dim light, and before me stood a flat wall +of rock, split in two, which I recognized at once as the back of the +gateway that opened into Ebb-Tide Cave, though whether I should have +recognized it so quickly if it hadn't been for my observations of +the day before I don't know. I said with something of my father's +nonchalance, "This opens into Ebb-Tide Pool."</p> + +<p>Even my father couldn't quite screen his surprise, for he wasn't to +know how I had arrived at my knowledge.</p> + +<p>"Ha!" he exclaimed, "you're very cute, Tommy."</p> + +<p>"But look!" I said, and pointed to the twin doors of rock.</p> + +<p>"But how do you know it opens?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"I know," I said.</p> + +<p>"But how?"</p> + +<p>"It must do," I said doggedly; for I couldn't tell him how I knew.</p> + +<p>"Yes, it does," he said at length, "but I haven't found out how it's +done."</p> + +<p>We didn't find out that morning either, though we probed every nook and +cranny, questing for the secret bolt or spring or whatever it might be +which would set that great gate swinging. My father had been over the +whole ground before, and I found nothing new to solve the mystery. I +thought I had made a discovery when, scrambling up to the niche where +my father had set the lantern, I found I could thrust my arm deep into +a cranny full of rotting refuse. I cleared it away, but couldn't reach +to the end of the little crevice. I pointed it out to my father; but +he had explored it before without result. We came away at last, and +emerging into the bracken blinked at the blinding daylight.</p> + +<p>"That's that," said my father, and warned me not to prowl there too +often. But I knew what I meant to do.</p> + +<p>For the rest of the day I reserved my strength, knowing I had been +too tired the evening before to do myself justice with the knife; so +I lay out on the cliff and bathed in the glorious sun that still beat +splendidly from the blue, and before returning I tumbled into the sea +for a single plunge, and reached the inn with a magnificent appetite +and feeling fit for the evening's encounter.</p> + +<p>To describe the combat in all its details would take too much space, +for it was long and eventful. I tried every artifice my father had +taught me, hoping to make my drive without betraying my secret, but he +held me in play too surely, and though I managed to parry his attacks I +scored no hits myself. As we drew apart for a rest, both panting from +the exertion, he asked, "Had enough, Tommy?" And I answered carelessly, +"No, I'm fit for another turn," and we closed again.</p> + +<p>I ran in quickly this time, intending to put the trick into immediate +play. As I expected, he shot out his left hand and caught my wrist, and +I saw the word "Rash!" forming on his lips, but before it was uttered +I slipped the knife into my left hand, and with a sideways jab crushed +the paper weapon against his breast, feeling my hand go thump against +his ribs as though I had struck him.</p> + +<p>"Well!" he exclaimed, and dropped his own weapon to the floor. "Well!" +He sat down. "I <i>have</i> seen it done, Tommy; but where did you learn it?"</p> + +<p>I evaded the answer by dancing about him and exclaiming, "The knife, +the knife, I've won the knife!"</p> + +<p>"And you shall have it," he said.</p> + +<p>And so at last the shining prize lay in my hand, and with fond fingers +I felt along its delicious edge. When should I need to use it in +earnest, I wondered.</p> + +<p>I turned a radiant face to my father, and throwing an arm round him +I kissed him vigorously, and drawing away said, "If I ever meet +Shadow-of-Fear, or the old witch, Bite-in-the Dark...." I didn't need +to finish the sentence, but slipping the knife from my upraised right +hand into my left I practised the feint in mid air. My father smiled +and said, "Don't be satisfied yet, Tommy. You're not a man till you can +use a pistol too."</p> + +<p>In honour of the occasion he told me a wonderful tale that night; and +I sat at his feet long after the sun had gone down, and the window had +become a black square, and the strange voices of the night were ominous +of dark and secret things, listening to my father as he told a story of +desperate smuggling and battles and arrests and rescues. The story, I +remember, was particularly vivid, because it was set locally, and all +the caves and creeks I knew and the old tumble-down jetty became alive +with savage men; and especially I remember how the gate at Ebb-Tide +Cave gave up its secret, swinging away from the wall, and leaving +revealed a passage into the cliff. And one cruel incident dwelt in my +memory for many a day because of my father's vivid description. It was +an old smuggler's vengeance on a traitor, the wretched victim being +torn asunder between earth and sea, with a rope around him from a cave +roof, and a heavy log tied to his feet and floating on the water, +weighing him down to a lingering death as the tide slowly ebbed.</p> + +<p>When at last I crept into bed it was a real comfort to me to slip the +knife under my pillow, for the tale had been unusually stirring, and my +mind was in a strange confusion. More than once I awoke startled, and +felt swiftly under the pillow for the reassuring touch of my newly-won +friend; for it may have been the effect of my father's story, or it +may have been an uneasy premonition of coming things, but I seemed to +hear a sort of stifled shuffling through the house, and knockings and +smothered voices; and the trees outside shook unsettled branches, and a +swaying bough kept brushing furtively across the pane.</p> + +<p>Once I awoke with a greater start than ever, and sat bolt upright +listening intently, every nerve strained and alert. It was +unmistakable; there was something creeping in the room. For a moment +I thought a hand touched my neck, but it was only my hair stiffening. +I took control of myself, though my heart thumped deafeningly, and +quietly reached a hand out for my father. He wasn't there. At this I +think I broke down, and cried terribly, "Dad, dad, where are you?"</p> + +<p>"Heigh, Tommy, what?" he answered quickly, and was at my side.</p> + +<p>"Oh, daddy," I said, trying to hold back my tears, "I was frightened."</p> + +<p>"Why, you have your knife," he tried to pacify me.</p> + +<p>"But where were you?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"Why," he answered easily, "I must have fallen asleep in my chair."</p> + +<p>It wasn't till morning that I remembered I had already felt him in bed +beside me. Waking with that thought in the grey dawn I told myself he +had been listening through the floor.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI</h2> +</div> + +<h3>THE KING'S MAN</h3> + + +<p>I sprang out of bed feeling very much ashamed of myself for my stupid +terror of the night. Daylight makes our fears seem so foolish that +we wonder how we could ever have been afraid. My head was still a +little dizzy and uncertain, so I scrambled into my clothes and ran +downstairs and into the yard for a cooling drench under the pump. I was +longer than usual, for as a rule I wasn't too attentive to this part +of my toilet; but this morning there was a clinging vapoury hotness +about my brow which wouldn't be readily washed away. When at length, +refreshened, and doubtless with rosy cheeks and dishevelled hair, I +broke back into the kitchen, I stopped short in sudden consternation +to find it full of men. I at once recognized them as Dirk's fellows, +but a quick glance round showed me that Dirk himself wasn't there. Now +I had always thought of these rough strangers as pirates, not in the +least doing them disparagement in my thoughts on that account, rather +in my imagination framing them romantically in adventures on far seas; +but something, I suppose, of last night's story was still beating in +my head, and forgetting utterly my father's warning to steer clear of +these men, I was seized by a stupid madness, and unwittingly blurted +out, "The smugglers!"</p> + +<p>I was dumbfounded as soon as the words were out of my mouth, for there +was a sudden stillness in the room. Talk stopped, cannikins were +arrested half-way to the lips and every eye was ferociously bent on me +in a sort of savage questioning.</p> + +<p>Then one fierce fellow strode up to me, and taking me by the shoulders +said, "Do'st mind repeating that theer?"</p> + +<p>But I had no word to say, and only looked up at him blankly, and shook +my head.</p> + +<p>He dug his fingers into my flesh and spoke more harshly, "Come now, +who's been telling ee they tales?"</p> + +<p>I had it in my head to explain how I had merely fitted the fellows into +my father's stories, and I began fatally as though in answer to his +question, "My father..."</p> + +<p>But he broke in with, "Thy father, eh?"</p> + +<p>"No, no, no," I cried in dismay, but a general burst of oaths drowned +my protest. A discussion was raging fiercely, but I could make little +of its drift; I only caught such expressions as "I told thee now," +and some one answering, "That's ee; that's the cove." More ominously +sounded the grating whisper of one harsh voice, "The King's Man, freeze +un!" and again I heard the same voice muttering, "Spy!"</p> + +<p>How all this applied to my father I couldn't guess, but I had sense +enough to realize that he was in danger, and my part was to warn +him. A jerk away from my captor only set me in firmer imprisonment, +with a kick on my shin to put me on my best behaviour. I began to be +frightened.</p> + +<p>Soon they had me in the midst of them, and their menacing bloodshot +eyes terrified me more than the fists they held to my face. I was cowed +by their brutality, and gave no thought even to the precious knife +in my belt. I must have whimpered, for some one caught me a buffet +across the face and said, "Here, stop they waterworks, and speak to +what th'art bid." And then came a question to which probably only my +blubbering saved me from betraying the true answer. For a voice was +saying in a husky attempt at a whisper, "Thy father, him be the cove +with the burn accrosst his hand, eh?"</p> + +<p>The question startled me, and I heaved out a further burst of tears to +cover my confusion.</p> + +<p>"Here, hearken," I was bidden again in the same grating tones, "an' +Gawd help ee if thee don't speak up true. Be thy father the cove with +the burn accrosst his hand?"</p> + +<p>"Left hand," somebody added.</p> + +<p>I raised my face, biting at my lips to check my tears, and shook my +head as foolishly as I could to express my utter failure to comprehend. +In my mind, bewildered as I was, I was busily wondering how to warn my +father. I felt thankful when I remembered it was only a few days ago +that he had last treated his scar, and it would still be invisible to +these men even if they caught him and examined him. I had no thought to +spare for the mystery which had set them on his track by this tell-tale +sign. So when the question was repeated to me, instead of shaking my +head I stamped my foot in childish petulance, and shouted so that my +father if he were listening above us might hear, "Burn? Haven't I said +there's no burn? Fools!"</p> + +<p>I was caught a sounding cuff for my pains and sent reeling, and as a +hand gripped me I cowered, expecting the blow to be repeated; but my +heart gave a strange jump of relief as I heard Dirk's voice above me. +He had entered the kitchen and was cursing volubly. When his oaths were +exhausted he thundered, "What the blazes 're you doing with the kid, +anyway?"</p> + +<p>Explanations broke out confusedly, but he cut them short with, "Stow +yer gab, the lot o' you," and when the room was silent he turned to the +ruffian who had first seized me and demanded, "Speak up, Davie; what's +it about?"</p> + +<p>Davie explained, and Dirk glowered at me darkly and said, "So that's +it, eh? Told you we were smugglers, eh?"</p> + +<p>"No," I cried, "no. Yarns; that's all. I told you...."</p> + +<p>But his great hand came slapping over my mouth, and I felt my shoulder +severely wrenched. I had nearly betrayed our earlier meeting.</p> + +<p>"Ah," Dirk took me up sarcastically, "he tells yarns, does he? One of +these poetical chaps, I reckon. Heard of poetical license, come to +think of it. Seems like a case of it. Wull," he ended unexpectedly, "we +<i>are</i> smugglers. Now how d'you like it?"</p> + +<p>"Really?" I cried with such genuine admiration that there was a general +guffaw, and all at once the strained atmosphere was wonderfully +relieved.</p> + +<p>"Yus, really," said Dirk. "Have a good look at us. Handsome lot, aren't +we? An' if you ever write one o' them yarns like what your dad does, +wull, put us all in, an' we'll take it kindly of you; and hang us all +at the end for warnings like, same as they done to Jem an' Roger last +year. Poor devils!"</p> + +<p>The grins changed to oaths at the mention of Jem and Roger, and Dirk's +face became hard. But just then my father was heard running down +the stairs singing gaily to himself, and every form froze in rigid +expectation. He was singing a song I delighted in, but I was appalled +to hear it now:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">"Dance to your daddy,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">My little laddy,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Dance to your daddy,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">My little man...."</div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>He had got so far when he swung open the door, and stopped short with +well-feigned surprise to see the kitchen crowded with silent men, all +with eyes fixed intently upon him. His hands were in his pockets, and +I knew how those eyes were waiting for them to be withdrawn.</p> + +<p>"Company! Splendid!" cried my father, and called for the mugs to be +filled; and then catching sight of me still struggling against my +tears, "Why, what's this, Tommy?" he said, and laid his hands upon my +shoulders, holding me out at arm's length.</p> + +<p>"Nothing, daddy, nothing," I answered, smiling back as well as I might.</p> + +<p>But I knew that both his thought and mine was that his hands were free +to the view of all. For a half moment the silence seemed to freeze in +the air; then there was a low muttering, and voices broke out again.</p> + +<p>They had looked their fill, and had seen nothing.</p> + +<p>My father gave me a little push to hint to me my course, and I slipped +from the room, while the business of drinking was resumed; and before I +left the inn I heard bursts of laughter, and my father's voice raised +above the rest. I understood well enough that he had made all easy +there, and was regaling the company with his racy chaff.</p> + +<p>I made for Ebb-Tide Pool, intending to hide before the smugglers should +be back there. I meant to learn the secret of the gate this day.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>It was still early morning, and the tide was coming in. There might +just be keel-way for a boat, I thought, to steer in through the +channel. If I were quick I might be in time to see a boat enter or row +away; so I made no circuits in my route this day but took the shortest +path I knew. But I did throw one sop to make-believe, carrying my knife +in my mouth. And the result was, clambering down the cliff with too +little regard to safe footing I slipped on a rock just above the pool, +and being child enough to exclaim at the slight twist it gave to my +ankle, the knife fell from my mouth, and I watched it strike on a ledge +and splash into the water.</p> + +<p>I knew it was deep where the knife had fallen, and quickly slipping +off my clothes I dived in to recover it. I thought it would be an easy +matter, but three times I rose unsuccessfully to the surface. I crawled +out to regain my breath, and noticed that the current had carried me +away from the spot close in to the very edge of the cliff. I reasoned +that that explained my failure, and when my breath was sufficiently +restored I plunged in again, but this time farther out to allow for +drift. Even so I had to grope along the bottom of the pool till my +breath was nearly exhausted before my hand touched the knife, buried +in the sand almost up to the hilt. I tugged it free, and made for the +surface, but the water grew strangely dark around me, and my head +came crack against a rock. I struggled desperately, for my lungs were +bursting, but I seemed to be imprisoned beneath an immovable roof. I +tried to reason out my position, how I had come there, and which was +the right way to turn. I remembered how the current had carried me +towards the cliff, and in a dim, distracted sort of way knew quite well +that all I had to do was to push out and up. But though I knew quite +well what to do, an unreasonable panic had control of my limbs, and I +kicked and beat frenziedly against my prison, while a voice seemed to +be saying to me from far away, "Keep cool, Tommy; always keep cool." I +was in an agony, knowing myself in the grip of a stupid terror, when +deliverance lay in calmness; but I couldn't shake off the terror, and +my temples were hammering and my ears throbbing. And suddenly there +seemed to be only water about me again, and lashing out with arms +and legs I found myself at the surface gulping in the air with great +choking sobs.</p> + +<p>Mechanically I trod water till I could regain my breath, and only +gradually it dawned upon me that it was strange that all about me +should be pitch dark. I rubbed the water out of my eyes, I tried to +remember whether I had been bathing at night-time, for I was still +confused. Then growing a little clearer in mind I told myself it was +the blood that had rushed to my head, and I should soon be able to see +again. But still everything was dark around me, and the realization +that it actually was so came like a shock. Where was I?</p> + +<p>As I grew calmer a certain interest mingled with my fear; I peered +around, and dimly became aware of a faint green glow along the water. +I began to swim about to find into what strange place I had stumbled, +but the water seemed half choked with drift and refuse, and going +wasn't easy. Weeds clung about my legs, sucking hatefully to my flesh, +creeping like fingers furtively feeling along my naked body. The water +seemed to be alive with slimy things reaching their tendrils hungrily +out of the dark. If I moved slowly they slid about my throat, and if I +splashed my way through they gripped viciously about my arms and feet. +And all the while the green glow intensified along the water, and the +floating things showed up vaguely luminous through the dark. It was +with a gush of relief that at last I felt the bottom, and with a spasm +of fear scrambled out of the infested pool, shuddering at the thought +of what horrors lay concealed there; for my mind was full of stories +I had heard of the devil-fish and other slow and evil monsters of the +caves.</p> + +<p>For a while I could do nothing but hug myself into as small a space as +possible, trembling and chattering with fright, my eyes intent upon the +green and glowing water, expecting momently some clutching tentacle to +rise and seize me.</p> + +<p>How long I should have remained so I don't know, for I was completely +unstrung and had no power to move a finger to help myself; and the +startled scurrying of creatures about my back and feet added to my +horror. But my fear was lifted from me by a sound that might have +added to it: I heard voices. And voices in that dark underworld, which +seemed to have shut me right away from the light and air, were like a +reassurance that I wasn't hopelessly entombed. I began to listen, but +could only make out a low, indistinguishable droning which I couldn't +locate. But the effort to locate it nerved me again, and I took control +of myself and began to grope through the darkness towards the sound. +I slipped often enough, but the voices became louder; and presently I +noticed a wavering patch of yellow light against the green iridescence +of the cavern. I made towards it, and I think it wasn't till this +moment that I became aware by a cramp in my hand that all the while +I had been tenaciously clinging to my knife. I was cheered to think +that in the struggle under water and the scramble in the cave I hadn't +dropped it.</p> + +<p>Soon the light was over my head and after a trial or two I succeeded +in climbing to a secure perch where I could examine it. But putting up +my face I was dazzled by the full glare of a lantern in my eyes, which +had by now grown so used to the darkness that the phosphorescent glow +of the rotting drift about me was bright enough to show me the rough +outline of the rocks.</p> + +<p>I hastily withdrew my face from the light of the lantern, which was +shining through a crevice in the wall of the cave; and then like +a blurred picture focusing to clearness everything took shape and +coherence in my mind, and I knew exactly where I was.</p> + +<p>The lantern was standing where my father had placed it the day before +when he had taken me down the secret passage and together we had +examined the great closed doors. The crevice was the one through which +I had thrust my hand, clearing it of its rubbish, so that now the +lantern could shine right through. But now I was on the other side. +Somehow I had dived under the submarine mouth of this cavern, never +suspecting its existence. Quickly the thought flashed through my head +that now I had found the hiding-place I wanted; but the thought melted +as quickly as it came, for I had other matter on hand. For through the +cranny I could hear the voices speaking distinctly enough to make out +what they were saying, though of course I couldn't see anything as +the lantern glared full into my face if I attempted to look into the +passage beyond.</p> + +<p>And what I heard soon began to have an interest for me.</p> + +<p>There were two men, it seemed, and I assumed they were in their boat, +probably on guard, for the tide was rising to the full now, and the +cave must have been deep in water. I couldn't catch all they were +saying; but when I heard the words, "Cut accrosst his hand," I strained +my ears to the uttermost.</p> + +<p>"Yus," was the reply, "an' a burn too, warn't it?"</p> + +<p>"Aye; an' a brat with 'un, they do say."</p> + +<p>"Wull, I s'pose they'll nab 'un all right."</p> + +<p>"Hope so. Must have been ee what let Jem an' Roger into the trap last +year."</p> + +<p>"Ah! Wull, Dirk'll see to 'un."</p> + +<p>"If he bean't too cute."</p> + +<p>"He'll need be if ee can hide they tracks."</p> + +<p>There was a short pause, and the last speaker began again:</p> + +<p>"But how did Dirk get wind of it?"</p> + +<p>"Wind of what?"</p> + +<p>"Why, the burn, and the brat, an' that."</p> + +<p>"Dunno quite. Some one let on, I spose. Some one what was nabbed, I +dessay, an' found 'un out when it was too late. Got word through, I +expect. Dirk's sharp."</p> + +<p>What happened next it was impossible for me to know at the time. The +voices had stopped, and I was worrying the problem how my father could +have become mixed up in all this business. It was clear to me that he +was suspected of being a King's Man and spying on the smugglers to +betray them. I don't believe I gave a thought to whether he were guilty +of the charge or no; the thing that puzzled me was how the burn and the +scar and even my presence came into the affair, for these seemed part +of another episode altogether. But at any rate my meditations were cut +short by a tremendous uproar from the smugglers' cave. There were cries +and curses and commands, and the sound of scuffling and splashing, and +the lantern was dashed from its place, and through the crevice I saw +the light of day. I guessed the gates had been opened. And then there +was tumult inconceivable, the volleying of pistols, screams and curses, +all echoing in a resounding roar up the rocky corridor. And, after a +little, peace.</p> + +<p>I was dazed and stupefied. I strained my eyes to see through the +cranny, but could distinguish nothing to tell me what had happened. And +then again from the distance, very far away as it seemed to me buried +there, came the faint echo of a further fight. But beyond the fact that +there had been a fight of some kind I could guess nothing.</p> + +<p>I waited a long time listening, but all was still again, and the +stillness began to press upon me like the dread of some unknown danger. +I remembered my strange position, and something of my first fear +returned upon me. I was alone, cut off as it seemed in the quietness +of the cave from the world I knew. It was dark about me with only a +greenish glow to show me the shadowy forms of things. And everything +I touched was damp and slippery, and the water smooth and secret and +laid over with a luminous green slime. And the thought came to me with +a sickening shudder that to escape I must dive again into that putrid +pool, through the clinging weeds and the thousand horrible things which +I felt were lurking for me there. And then I knew I was cold, and +shivered.</p> + +<p>I couldn't face it. I stumbled along the slippery edge of the water, +searching desperately for some other outlet, but I only seemed to be +plunging into deeper darkness, and wherever I trod the crabs scurried +away beneath my feet. Then looking back I could no longer see the +one gleam of light that bound me to the outside world. At that I was +thoroughly terrified, and turning on my tracks I hurried, slipping back +along the water's edge, till once more I saw the faint gleam above me, +and felt cheered.</p> + +<p>So I sat down for a minute or two to get a grip of my courage, and +told myself over and over that I was a coward. The lesson of the night +before came into my mind, and I knew that it was merely a baseless fear +of the dark that possessed me; but the knowledge didn't strengthen +me. I sat shaking, my teeth chattering in my head. To dive into that +greenness seemed beyond my power; I saw myself struggling in the dark, +choked beneath the water, entombed. And all at once, I don't know why, +I rose and plunged, and in my eyes the water grew radiant again, and I +was puffing safely in Ebb-Tide Pool.</p> + +<p>I swam for the shore, and warmed myself in the sun, blinking at the +unaccustomed light, and telling myself, as I had done in the morning, +that I was a fool to be afraid of nothing. And then I realized that +the only way to prove my courage and recover my lost self-esteem was +to dive back to the cave and out again till I knew the way by heart +and had familiarized it from all terrors. But the thought of returning +there wasn't pleasant, and it was only a sudden resolution like the +one that had brought me safely to the light again that sent me diving +back into the darkness. Yet once there something of my fear revived, +and hardly waiting to draw breath I was under and out again.</p> + +<p>I told myself that was enough, and so climbed up to my clothes +intending to dress and investigate the meaning of the recent battle.</p> + +<p>I had just slipped my shirt over my head, when there was a shout above +me, and stones and earth came tumbling down the cliff. Looking up I saw +three men struggling, and one of them breaking free tottered and came +sprawling over the edge. The other two followed with more caution. They +were in red uniform, and the man they were chasing was Dirk.</p> + +<p>He recovered his footing and came bounding down towards me. I was quick +enough to take in the situation. The smugglers had been surprised by +the runners, and here was Dirk making his last dash for freedom. So +swift a thing is thought that I had time to remember the talk in the +cave about the King's Man. Had some one betrayed them? Had my father....</p> + +<p>"Dirk!" I cried to him, though taking care to screen myself from the +runners who were still far above. "Dirk, come."</p> + +<p>"Off, kid," he shouted.</p> + +<p>"I'll show you," I said.</p> + +<p>But I could never have stopped him if he hadn't slipped and fallen. He +lay grasping his ankle and rocking himself in an agony.</p> + +<p>"I'm done," he moaned, "done."</p> + +<p>"There's a cave," I said.</p> + +<p>"I know, kid," he growled, "and they know."</p> + +<p>"You don't know," I insisted, "and they don't know. I was there all the +time."</p> + +<p>The runners, sure of their prize, were taking their time in the +descent, not being used to such scrambling, and unwilling, I dare say, +to soil their grand uniforms.</p> + +<p>"Dirk," I pressed, "see here. It's under the water. You dive and come +up. It's all dark."</p> + +<p>But he only grinned bitterly at me, still holding his ankle.</p> + +<p>"Then see," I cried in desperation, and running dived into the pool, +and rising in the cave waited a full two minutes before returning.</p> + +<p>I climbed back to Dirk and said, "See, am I puffed? I tell you...."</p> + +<p>But now he had grasped my meaning.</p> + +<p>"Come," he said excitedly, "show me."</p> + +<p>I pointed to the spot, and limping to the edge he dived. He didn't +reappear. And hiding my clothes, for I didn't want the runners to have +them, I plunged after Dirk, and rose almost beside him in the weedy +water.</p> + +<p>"This way," I said, and swam for the side; and soon we were both +clinging there, blowing vigorously.</p> + +<p>Between gasps he told me of his adventures, and I heard how the +smugglers had been surprised. Their sentry had been seized and gagged, +and so they hadn't been warned of the King's frigate which had appeared +off the coast. Some one had betrayed them.</p> + +<p>"Not my dad," I said.</p> + +<p>"No, not him, laddie," said Dirk. "He gave us the first warning, but it +was too late."</p> + +<p>"Where is he?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"Oh, he's vanished."</p> + +<p>"Yes," I said, trusting my father's resources at evasion.</p> + +<p>It was some while later when we heard voices in the cave, and I showed +Dirk the cranny where he might peep through. Suddenly he uttered a +great oath.</p> + +<p>"What?" I whispered.</p> + +<p>"Shhh!"</p> + +<p>Then came a tremendous echoing crash, and the sound of cheering.</p> + +<p>When all was quiet again he told me. He had seen the King's Man, the +fellow who had betrayed them. "An' it was right what I was told," he +said. "He had a burn across his hand, sonny. But it wasn't your dad," +he added as I gave a little cry. "I saw his face, an' he's showed them +the gates an' how they worked, blast him!"</p> + +<p>"How do they work?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"They'll never work no more," was all he answered.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>It was some days before the coast was clear. And all the while I +carried food surreptitiously to Dirk, stuffing it into the cranny from +Ebb-Tide Cave. My father had quite established himself with the runners +when I first arrived back at the inn. I told him my secret, and he +patted me affectionately on the head.</p> + +<p>"Always make friends, Tommy," he said.</p> + +<p>But he only ventured once down to Ebb-Tide Cave, and that was with a +party of runners who went to superintend the destruction of the old +haunt. I went too, and saw the great gates wide. The two rocks had +been perfectly balanced against each other, and as one sank down into +the earth it drew the other up into the roof by a stout steel cable. +It was while I was with Dirk that the runners had hacked the cable +through, and the huge half of rock that should have been poised above +had crashed down, and now lay along the passage. But the tunnel which +my father had expected to find, opening into the side of the cave wall, +wasn't there. And somehow I think he had lost interest in the place, +for he questioned me little enough of the cave I had discovered; and he +seemed uneasy too, barring our door strongly at night, and waking at +the least scratch.</p> + +<p>When the runners at length gave up the search, Dirk came from his +hiding-place. In the distance the frigate was fading from sight. I +shall never forget that gaunt, dripping figure, slowly dragging himself +up the cliff because of the pain at his damaged foot, his clothes +clinging to his limbs and oozing with green weed, his long hair with +the pig-tail all undone drooping flat down his neck and over his sunken +cheeks. The picture still haunts me in my dreams; and I see him as he +climbed to a ledge of rock, and slowly turned his face towards the sea, +his eyes, still heavy from the long darkness, peering with evil hate at +the vanishing ship that was carrying away his mates to their doom. His +teeth gnashed with impotent rage, and he tottered to his feet and shook +one terrible fist at the frigate, and cried a bitter curse on the spy +who had betrayed his comrades. Then laughing brokenly he turned to me, +and clambered on up the cliff, saying, "But I saw him, kiddy; I know +him; an' I'll follow him to the end of the world, but I'll have his +heart's blood."</p> + +<p>I was silent, and the giant continued his painful ascent. And breaking +from a snarling mutter he said to me, stopping on his path, "See here, +kiddy, you don't know what hate means, I dessay. But it means just +this: I've made my pile; I can rest an' be comfortable, an' have my +seat by the fire an' the drink at my hand; but I'll give every piece +I've gathered to hunt that devil to earth. I'll get him. I'll get him."</p> + +<p>At the top of the cliff he hurled forth his last threat, as the white +square sails faded into the misty air, then slowly stumbled back +with me to the inn. And as I walked at his side I thought I began to +understand why one man should hunt another over the world. I knew +something of the life of the hunted; now for the first time I saw the +hunter giving cry. And my father.... But I couldn't imagine my father +as a spy and a betrayer. And then the old story of the Mad Captain came +back to me. But neither could I see my father as one who had left his +men to perish all alone. What was the secret of his flight?</p> + +<p>At the inn my father was ready for the road again.</p> + +<p>"Come Tommy," he said, "we must tramp."</p> + +<p>I held out my hand to Dirk. "Good-bye," I said.</p> + +<p>He took my little hand in both his. "Good-bye, kiddy," he said kindly +enough. "You're a good brat. You've saved my life; an' maybe I'll do +the same for you one day."</p> + +<p>He nodded curtly to my father, and rolled into the inn.</p> + +<p>But we two plunged into the woodland and travelled far that night, and +with the morning struck the highway, and begging a lift of a carter +bound for market were soon jolting along the road, fast asleep.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII</h2> +</div> + +<h3>THE MANUSCRIPT</h3> + + +<p>We must have been wandering for a week or more, bearing northwards all +the while, before we halted for a few days at a village inn: the <i>Snow +Man</i> I believe it was called. It seemed to me as though our life of +hardships had begun afresh, for as far as possible we kept to woods +and byways where there was shelter and hiding. And yet it was on this +journey that my father gave me my first lessons with the pistol; and +I think he found me an eager pupil. As with the knife, he promised +me a pistol of my own when I became expert enough to merit one, and +with this bait to lure on my endeavour I practised sedulously with the +weapon every morning, for our travelling was done mostly at night.</p> + +<p>My father soon regained all his buoyancy and cheerfulness, and +questioned me eagerly about my discovery of the cave. "What are we to +call it?" he cut me short almost at the beginning of my narrative. I +had my answer ready, for this matter of naming places had become almost +a second nature with me; and I said, "Drift-Wood Cavern," and added, +"and the passage you showed me is the Smugglers' Tunnel."</p> + +<p>"Very well," he agreed. "And now tell me your story, Tommy."</p> + +<p>I told him with as much coherence as his constant questionings would +permit, for he was so eager to learn all about my find that he +continually interrupted me with questions of his own, running on ahead +of me as it were, and was rather disappointed when my recital came to +an abrupt finish.</p> + +<p>"But surely, Tommy," he said, "you found where it went?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know any more," I declared.</p> + +<p>"Why, it might lead anywhere," he insisted with fervour. "It might go +for miles. It must be full of secrets, Tommy, and hidden treasures, +and.... Why didn't you...."</p> + +<p>"Well, the runners...." I began in my defence, meaning to say that the +less time I spent there the better while the runners were still hunting +for Dirk; but he cut in, saying:</p> + +<p>"Ah, the runners; yes. If it hadn't been for the runners, Tommy, I +should have had the secret out of it by now."</p> + +<p>This surprised me, for as soon as the soldiers had gone my father had +packed up his kit and vanished too. So I asked, "Why didn't you stay +then, daddy?"</p> + +<p>He looked at me more sharply than usual, for it wasn't my custom to +question him like this; and at the moment his answer seemed a strange +one, for after a pause he suddenly exclaimed, "By gad, Tommy, you're +quite a little man! Soon be calling me father."</p> + +<p>"No, daddy, no," I protested, for somehow the colder title didn't seem +to suit our relationship. I put up my arms and kissed him to show I +wasn't beyond that yet, though I was growing rapidly in these days; and +I think the sentimental little scene pleased him.</p> + +<p>"Well, well!" he said affectionately, patting my cheek.</p> + +<p>I was quiet, for he hadn't answered my question. He seemed to be +meditating something, and twice he was about to speak; but eyeing me +askance he held his peace. And it wasn't until we were installed at the +<i>Snow Man</i> some days later that the answer came, and then in a strange +manner.</p> + +<p>As at the <i>Dolphin</i> we shared an upstairs room, and I noticed that my +father's uneasiness hadn't lessened with our flight, though he was +cheerful enough. Indeed I have scarcely ever known him otherwise than +cheerful, though now I can realize something of the harrowing anxiety +that must have been his almost daily portion. We hadn't been alone +in our room for half a minute before he began examining the locks +and bolts of the door and window, sounding the walls, peering into +cupboards and behind pictures, and feeling up the chimney. Later he +tested the possibility of climbing down the wall outside the window, +which was well hidden from the road. He managed it, but with great +difficulty, and that seemed to set him more at ease. But chiefly I +noticed how late he sat up at nights by his reading-lamp; and as there +was no screen in the room I was able to see something of what he was +doing, though he always sat with his back to me, shielding me from +the light as well as he could. But I could see him turning pages, and +tracing lines with his pencil, sometimes leaning back with the pencil +between his teeth, thinking.</p> + +<p>As a rule, however, I was tired enough not to be over curious, soon +dropping off to sleep, and only occasionally waking to see him still at +his task, or to feel him creeping carefully into bed beside me so as +not to wake me up.</p> + +<p>But about the third night, if I remember rightly, I awoke to find him +kneeling at my side, gazing so intently at me that it seemed as though +his very gaze had awakened me. I opened my eyes full upon him and +didn't move, and for his part he remained looking not so much at me as +at something deep within me which he was dumbly questioning. Then his +widened pupils contracted, and with a flitting smile as though he were +awakening to reality he said, "You see, Tommy, it's like this. Who put +the smugglers on my track, scenting round me as though I was harming +them? And who was it betrayed those two last year? And why?" His voice +had a strange ring in it which I hadn't heard before. "Why, Tommy why?" +he added more excitedly, and seemed to be waiting for an answer.</p> + +<p>Waking like that in the dead of night it all seemed very queer to me; +for to see my father's eyes bent upon me so, and to hear his "Why, +Tommy, why?" was somehow vaguely troubling. The clothes across my chest +felt very heavy all at once, and my limbs seemed bound to the bed; for +there was something that held me there and wouldn't let me move. A kind +of spell was upon me, and I felt I wanted to scream. And then my father +rose and began pacing the room, and the horrid charm snapped. I gave a +great gulp, and realized I had been holding my breath all the while; +and the numbness fell from my limbs, and they were mine once more to +move as I would.</p> + +<p>My father came to a halt and sat on the bed beside me. I was quite +awake now and understood something of his drift. He began to speak +again, but his tone was calmer:</p> + +<p>"One way of ridding yourself of an enemy, Tommy, is to set another +on his track. When you can't fight your own battles, perhaps if you +are clever enough, you may get another to fight them for you. Now +suppose...."</p> + +<p>"Oh, daddy, I see, I see," I cried, for I loved to display my sagacity +before my father.</p> + +<p>"Well," he smiled at me.</p> + +<p>"Why," I went on breathlessly, "it's Shadow-of-Fear." I paused for a +moment at the awful name and looked furtively about me, repeating in a +lower tone, "Shadow-of-Fear." I took courage again and continued: "He +couldn't catch you, so he made the smugglers think you were a spy."</p> + +<p>"Quite right, Tommy; full marks," said my father. "But ..."—and now he +leant over me and said very slowly and solemnly—"how does he know the +sign of the burn? How does he know, Tommy? How does he know?" And again +something of the tone that had frightened me rang in his voice.</p> + +<p>"Daddy, he's wonderful," I said; for that was my simple creed.</p> + +<p>I think the childish words relieved the tension of his mind, for he +laughed brightly, and tucking in the bed-clothes about my shoulders he +told me to get back to my dreams. When I woke later all was dark, and +he was sleeping peacefully at my side.</p> + +<p>But that wasn't the last of my strange awakenings. It must have been +two nights later when I found myself lying on my back gazing at +the ceiling in that state of strange awareness which precedes full +consciousness. Dimly the utter quietness of the room made itself felt +like a pressure at my heart, and my ears seemed to be straining out to +an infinite distance to catch some faintest echo of sound. And the room +was full of light.</p> + +<p>In sudden alarm I sprang up, but was immediately reassured, for my +father was sitting with his arms across the table, his head thrown +forward, asleep. I could see the slow heaving of his shoulders as he +breathed.</p> + +<p>My first thought was to lie down again, but the sight of a large +parchment across which his arms were sprawled piqued my curiosity, and +I didn't debate long with myself before I was out of bed and scanning +a sheet of beautiful black script, but written in a language I didn't +understand. And then a word or two told me it was Latin, but the +meaning was quite dark to me, as my father hadn't so far succeeded in +making much of a scholar of me.</p> + +<p>There were a few odd papers too with tracings on them like plans, some +scored through, and some mere fragmentary sketches; but they conveyed +little to me, half hidden as they were by my father's arms. I could see +they were his own work, and by occasional underlined passages in the +manuscript, and by odd notes jotted in the margin, I guessed he had +been drawing up plans according to some mysterious instructions in the +parchment.</p> + +<p>The manuscript looked to me exceedingly old and frail. The edges were +frayed and tattered, and here and there decayed pieces had fallen from +the text itself. But it was obvious that great pains had been taken +to preserve and restore it, and where the old ink was faint the words +had been written over afresh. But it seemed to me that the task of +deciphering it must be no easy one. A glimmering of an idea flittered +through my mind, that it was somehow on account of this manuscript that +my father wanted me to learn Latin.</p> + +<p>All these considerations were merely momentary, for a glance or two +showed me the whole picture there, and something of its meaning; and I +began to understand what the mystery was which kept my father from his +bed, though of course I couldn't guess at the contents of the ancient +script.</p> + +<p>I was for creeping back to bed again unheeded, but stopped short at my +father's open eyes fixed upon me. He had awakened without a sound or a +stir, and was watching me. I half wondered whether he would be angry, +but with something of the matter-of-factness with which he had accepted +my discovery of the Smugglers' Tunnel he said, almost in the same +words, "Very well, Tommy, I'll show you."</p> + +<p>Very carefully he turned a page or two of the manuscript, and the dry +old stuff crackled beneath his fingers.</p> + +<p>"It's an old, old story," he began, "and I'll tell it to you some day. +But this is what is troubling me."</p> + +<p>He folded a page back, and here instead of writing was an elaborate +diagram; but the edges of this page were particularly worn, as though +by frequent use, and part of the diagram was missing.</p> + +<p>"Now, Tommy," said my father, drawing the lamp up close, "you've got +good eyes. What do you make of this?"</p> + +<p>He pointed with his pencil to the very spot where the diagram faded +from the frayed edge.</p> + +<p>I stooped over the table and strained my eyes to the sheet. What I saw +looked to me like a long passage, but just at the crucial point where +something important seemed to be indicated the impression was faded and +blurred.</p> + +<p>"Looks like a hole here," I said at last.</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes," said my father eagerly.</p> + +<p>"And something stopping it."</p> + +<p>"Yes...."</p> + +<p>I looked more intently. The passage was sloping down to what I guessed +must be the opening, though this was off the page. Beneath the passage +was a short stairway leading to a tunnel which followed parallel +beneath the passage above; and after this the rest was comparatively +clear. But the puzzling part was how the stairway joined the passage. +Was it from beneath or from the side? The precious fragment which held +the secret was missing, and only a roughly rounded line, which might +have been a hole or a boulder, faded off the sheet.</p> + +<p>I turned away blinking and rubbed my eyes, dazzled with the strain. +"Sorry, daddy," I said, "I can't see. But I think...."</p> + +<p>"Yes, Tommy?"</p> + +<p>"I think there's a hole in the earth, and a big stone on top."</p> + +<p>"Ah," he said, "on top."</p> + +<p>There was a long pause, while he sat toying with his pencil. Then he +turned to me again and said rather sadly, "You see, I thought it might +have been Ebb-Tide Gate. But if the hole is in the floor...."</p> + +<p>"But," I said, "there is a hole in the floor where the gate drops down. +It might be...."</p> + +<p>"No, Tommy," he smiled at me, "if there were it would be full of water. +And see here." He pointed to the diagram which marked the low-water +line, and the steps were clear. My father continued, "If the hole were +in the wall, you see, and fairly high, the steps would still be dry. +But," he added with a strange little smile, "there ain't no hole, +Tommy."</p> + +<p>He began folding up the document, very carefully, pressing it down page +by page, and smoothing out the creases. And as he turned the last page +I saw in great black letters, at the very end, the words:</p> + +<p class="ph2">MALEDICTUS SIT THESAURUS</p> + +<p>Now whether by chance I had met the words somewhere in my random +studies, or whether the haunting memory of some old story of my +father's lingered in my mind, I can't say; but the meaning was +instantaneously flashed across my brain, and involuntarily I exclaimed, +"Accursed be the treasure!"</p> + +<p>My father started, but smiling humorously said, "A little learning, +Tommy ..." but left the quotation unfinished.</p> + +<p>"Tell me the story," I said eagerly.</p> + +<p>"Sometime, Tommy, sometime," he put me off.</p> + +<p>"Now," I pleaded.</p> + +<p>"But it's midnight, Tommy. And listen how the wind says 'Hush!' And +see how black it is through the window. You'd dream."</p> + +<p>"I like to dream," I said.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Tommy, yes," he answered. "I'd like to dream your dreams. Golden +sands, and a wide blue sea; and palms and reefs, and caverns, and long, +white, racing waves. Eh, Tommy? But there are dreams that spring at you +out of the dark and clutch at your throat and tangle you in a net, and +your limbs are heavy and dead, and your lungs are bursting, but you +can't utter a sound; and something laughs 'Ah!' and a hand goes over +your face...."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes," I said, as he paused.</p> + +<p>But all he answered was "Not to-night, Tommy; not to-night."</p> + +<p>So I went back to bed again quietly, and dipping my head into my pillow +saw in glittering great letters that deepened into red like blood, +<span class="allsmcap">MALEDICTUS SIT THESAURUS</span>. And the night was full of dreams, +for all that I hadn't heard the story; for the strange curse rang like +a cry through my imagination, wailing menacingly like an echo from +another world; and ever it seemed that a coffined corpse struggling +frenziedly in its prison shook a fleshless fist at me, and glared at +me from hollow eyeless sockets, repeating and repeating a terrible +threat which I couldn't understand though I strained my ears to listen. +And though the earth was between us I could see the writhing figure +tearing at the stifling tangles of its shroud, chattering insanely. +Then suddenly I was the corpse myself; and I knew I was dead, but the +grave-clothes were choking me; and with an agonized effort I heaved +at the suffocating obstruction, and woke panting and puffing with the +blankets about my face.</p> + +<p>I threw them off; and the room was white with morning.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII</h2> +</div> + +<h3>PICARDINO</h3> + + +<p>Running downstairs I was aware of an unaccustomed music in the house. +A high, vibrating voice was trilling and quavering to some twanging +instrument; and breaking into the kitchen I saw a merry brown little +fellow, with a ring of black stubbly beard about his lips, fingering +what I afterwards learnt was a guitar, and singing with the abandonment +of a bird. Without stopping his song he rolled a vivacious dark eye on +me, winking with such a knowing merriment that I beamed my broadest at +him, watching him with absorbed interest.</p> + +<p>He finished his song and started speaking in a breath, chattering in +a pretty musical broken English, calling for wine, and pledging the +ladees of Italee, generally giving us to understand that Italy was the +land for a roving eye and a merry heart, where the gerrls knew the +meaning of love.</p> + +<p>As he spoke he sipped at his wine, smacking his lips, and touching his +guitar with nervous fingers; and before any one had time to take up the +dialogue he was off on another song, throwing himself into it with a +humorous passion that set my blood tingling in my veins. Before he had +finished, my father came in, and as the song closed applauded heartily +with, "Brava! Brava!"</p> + +<p>The Italian seemed gratified, and swept him an elaborate bow; but +my father held out his hand to the guitar, saying "Ah, the lovely +strings; my fingers have itched for them for years."</p> + +<p>The Italian hastily unslung the gaudy instrument from his shoulders, +and handed it to my father eagerly, saying, "Ah, an arteest! He ees my +brotherr. He shall say he have play on the gueetar of Picardino. He +will remember me, yes? Picardino." And before my father could prevent +him he had embraced him with fervour, greatly to the amusement of the +host and the few early guests.</p> + +<p>But my father wasn't in the least disconcerted, returning the embrace +with unction; and freeing himself he fingered at the guitar, at first +with some diffidence, but soon growing more confident, striking the +chords boldly or rippling out the arpeggios.</p> + +<p>He hesitated a moment before launching into a song, and then began on +an old sea chantey:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">"In Plymouth Town there lived a maid,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Bless you young women;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">In Plymouth Town there lived a maid,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Now mind what I do say;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">In Plymouth Town there lived a maid,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And she was mistress of her trade;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I'll go no more a ro—o—ving</div> + <div class="verse indent2">With you—fair—maid."</div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>We must have been a good day's journey from the sea, but the company +seemed to know the song and caught up the chorus:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">"A ro—ving, a ro—ving,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Since roving's been my ru—i—in,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I'll go no more a ro—o—ving</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With you—fair—maid."</div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>And this was the beginning of a merry contest, the guitar passing from +the Italian to my father and back again, my father usually singing +some gay sailor ditty, and Picardino some wavering high-pitched song of +love. I listened delighted. Also Picardino, in his quaint English, was +a wonderful chatterbox, full of stories of the road; and I found myself +at times half wishing I might join him in his wanderings, and share +some of his adventures of frolic and danger over the ways of France and +Italy and Spain. I remember when I awoke from such dreams to reality I +glanced toward my father feeling guilty of a kind of treason, and he +seemed to be eyeing me darkly as though half divining my thought; till +in penitence lest I had wounded him I stole up to him, and clasping his +hand said, "I wouldn't, daddy; I really wouldn't."</p> + +<p>"Wouldn't what?" he asked uncomprehendingly.</p> + +<p>"I wouldn't go with him; I wouldn't really."</p> + +<p>My father gazed at me rather dreamily for a minute, and suddenly +seeming to awake laughed and said, "Oh, that, Tommy. No, of course not; +of course not." But I thought he didn't know either what he was saying +or what I meant. I felt relieved.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Picardino was telling of a strange adventure in the north +from where he had just come, as he said, followed by "terreeble voices, +ach! so cru-ell, so chill, that my hair it stand upon its end, and my +hearrt it knock like so"; at which he beat a rat-tat upon the table. It +seemed that upon a lonely space of moor he had arrived one evening at +a huge grey house, but on knocking for admittance no one had answered +him. He was tired and hungry, and could see no village near where he +could rest, so he had continued to knock, till slowly growing out of +the hollow house he had become aware of a low and sorrowful moaning, +"like one lost soul, for everr and for everr bound to a beeg wheel of +pain." As he told his story his eyes started from his head, and his +hair seemed to stiffen about his neck.</p> + +<p>My father was clearly struck with the picture of the lonely house, +especially when the host corroborated the story, saying he had heard +rumours from travellers of a haunted mansion on the moors, some twenty +or thirty miles maybe to the northward. Others, too, had heard of it, +and the report wasn't encouraging to investigation, as the place seemed +veiled in mystery and gloom, and no one could be found to inhabit it. +The last tenant, it was said, had fled shrieking from it in the dead of +night, and had died raving.</p> + +<p>To all this Picardino chimed in with "Yess, yess," like a bird's +cheep, repeating, "So, as I tell you; yess," as though the accumulated +testimony pleased him, and finishing with, "Ach, there! Eet ees a place +of speereets. I not go near eet; neverr!" He shuddered till it seemed +that his bones were being shaken together; then again striking on his +guitar he soared into another song, and at the close he passed round +his hat with a flourish, and emptying the few coppers into his hand +spat upon them for luck, and invoking on us the blessing of the Virgin +Mary and all the saints, danced out into the street, where we soon +heard his voice thinly quavering on a high note of romantic passion.</p> + +<p>My father and I settled to our breakfast, and that over I was told to +amuse myself as well as I could for the rest of the day, but to be back +before dark as we were to be off once more on our wanderings. I gave my +pistol practice a miss that morning, for my first thought was to follow +Picardino, and I scampered out of the <i>Snow Man</i> in pursuit of him; but +he had vanished. I enquired of him from every one I met, and was sent +southward in chase of him, but coming to a forked road I was at a loss +which way to follow, and there was no one in sight. Turning to the +left at a venture I ran a long way before I met any one, an old tramp +as it happened sitting by the wayside; but to my eager questioning +he slowly doffed his cap and rubbed his head, and declared that he +couldn't rightly say, not but what he might have passed, but he had +been winking his forty. His head nodded even as he spoke, and I ran on. +But I didn't find Picardino. I turned back eventually to search along +the other road, but was equally unsuccessful. However, I soon forgot my +disappointment, and went coursing my own shadow over the heathery moor.</p> + +<p>The sun was getting low when I turned my face homewards; and sighting +the village from a rise, at first, I stopped short, and then started +running with all my might, for leaping up red into the evening was a +burst of angry flame. Something vaguely foreboding tightened at my +breast, but I kept a desperate pace, and arrived panting to find a +crowd gathered about the <i>Snow Man</i> which was wrapped in dense folds +of smoke, with streaks of fire licking up from it like tongues from a +black mouth.</p> + +<p>My thought was uttered in my involuntary cry, "My father!" Some one in +the crowd turned, and I heard him exclaim in surprise, "Why, here ee +be," and another, "Ah, poor bairn!" in tones of pity.</p> + +<p>I clutched the nearest villager, and again cried, "My father, where's +my father?" looking wildly up into his face; but I didn't stay for his +answer, for he turned his head uneasily away. I pushed past him, and +squeezing through the crowd broke to the front, crying in an agony, +"Daddy, dad-<i>dee</i>!"</p> + +<p>I think I would have run headlong into the flames, for something told +me without the need of words what had happened; but I was arrested by +a strong arm, whose I don't know to this day, for I only struggled and +bit and kicked at him, shouting through my tears, "Let me go to my +daddy; let me go!"</p> + +<p>"Steady, lad, steady," was all I heard in reply; but through my frenzy +I could hear a low voice droning evenly and monotonously, "However ee +coom out o' 't fust time was a miracle. An' then t' go back again! +Good sort too. 'Host,' sez 'ee, 'that cooms o' me carelessness,' sez +ee, 'an' here's what'll pay for 't,' ee sez; an' out comes a purse +o' gold as ee might be t' lord o' t' county." I heard more of this +through my shouting and struggling, though it wasn't till afterwards +that I realized the meaning of what I heard. But my struggling stopped +when the voice changed to, "An' all of a sudden ee sez, 'Hark!' ee +sez; 'Hark there!' an' takes a grip o' me arm, so. 'Ee's calling me,' +ee sez; but I couldn't hear nowt. 'Ee's there,' ee cries something +dreadful, 'ee's calling me; I can hear him.' An' before I knows what's +what ee's into t' fire again, here's t' bairn back again; an' ee +weren't calling at all; an' him rushing in t' save him. Ah 't's sad, 't +is. An' ee were a good sort...."</p> + +<p>The first words of the story had frozen me to attention. It was all +so like my father that I could see it happening before my eyes. In my +confused mind one picture stood out vividly and terribly clear: my +father watching the blaze, and suddenly starting at my voice from the +flames calling for help; and then the dash into the fire which closed +like a curtain behind him.</p> + +<p>I threw my arms up to my face and sobbed aloud; and everything went +dark....</p> + +<p>I came to consciousness again with a dim chattering in my ears which +slowly strengthened and caught at my memory. And suddenly sitting up I +cried, "Picardino!"</p> + +<p>The little fellow was at my side in a moment, soothing me with hand and +voice like a hundred mothers. But something began to grow cold about +my heart, and the full recollection of my state burst upon me, and I +whimpered like a baby, "Daddy! I want my daddy!"</p> + +<p>"I'll be your daddee," said Picardino. "Ach, we'll soon be merree +again." He prattled of the delights of the road, trying to comfort +me, but I felt miserably desolate, and lay down and sobbed. He left +me after a while, and presently returned with some hot soup. At first +I waved it away, but the savoury smell was too much for me, and I was +soon greedily devouring the appetizing stuff. And then I think I must +have cried myself to sleep.</p> + +<p>It was dark when I awoke, and I was strangely alert. I didn't know +where I was, but in a room below there was an indistinct murmur of +voices. But what caught my ear was a low, clear whistling from the +darkness outside, and I sprang to the window and strained my eyes into +the night; for the tune was my old favorite:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">"Dance to your daddy,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">My little laddy;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Dance to your daddy,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">My little man."</div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>There was a pause, and I took up the melody:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">"You shall have a fish,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">You shall have a fin;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">You shall have a haddock,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">When the ship comes in."</div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>I paused in my turn, and closer on the air came the ending of the tune:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">"You shall have a feather,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">You shall have a fan.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Dance to your daddy,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">My little man."</div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>My heart was thumping wildly, and forgetting all my training in caution +I rushed out of the room, clothed as I was in my shirt only, and down +the stairs, and broke into a lighted room full of people, crying, +"Daddy, dad-<i>dee</i>!"</p> + +<p>I made for the door, but Picardino caught me by the arm. "How? What?" +he said sharply.</p> + +<p>Then my caution returned to me. I looked foolishly round and rubbed my +eyes as though I had been dreaming, and beginning to whimper I said, "I +want my daddy."</p> + +<p>Picardino was at once all mother to me, and was leading me from the +room when the street door opened and a man entered. I just glanced at +him, but he wasn't my father; so I crept out of the room and up the +stairs. But I wasn't half-way up before I heard a terrible scream, and +the sounds of a scuffle. I stopped to listen, but the whistling was +still in my ears, and that claimed my first attention. I ran up to my +room and tugged on my clothes—Picardino must have undressed me—and +then peering out of the window I gave a low whistle. There was a faint +answer; and I looked down the wall to see if I could escape, my heart +beating with I know not what wild expectation. I could see the ground +beneath me, not a very deep drop, and the earth was soft, being dug up +into a flower-bed under the window. I was soon hanging to the sill; and +swinging myself away from the wall was on the ground on all fours. I +sprang up and looked about me. Again I whistled, and the answer came, +but not from where I expected it. I turned and crept forward, and heard +a low whisper, "Heest! Heer, heer." But it was the voice of Picardino, +and his hand just touched me.</p> + +<p>I shrank back, at a loss to understand, but my amazement was cut short +by a great figure springing out of the dark, and I heard a faint cry, +and footsteps crashing away through the night. At last all was silent +again, and I was alone.</p> + +<p>I stood still wondering what it could all mean. Then the door of the +house opened; or the inn, I should say, for it must have been an inn; +and dark figures appeared against the sudden light talking excitedly. +I slunk into the shadow, thinking it best to make my escape from such +a place, not knowing what dangers might be lurking for me there. And +then I felt a warm hand in my own, and my father's voice was whispering +"Shhh!"</p> + +<p>For a moment I stood fixed to earth, my blood in a whirl; then turning +I flung my arms about my father, and buried my face against him to +stifle the sound of my glad sobbing; for I was unstrung by the agony +and excitement of the past few hours, and the revulsion of feeling was +too much for my self-control.</p> + +<p>But I soon mastered myself sufficiently to creep quietly away, holding +my father tight by the hand, fearing lest somehow he might escape me +again.</p> + +<p>The night was warm, for the summer weather wasn't over, though the year +was advancing; and we lay beneath the heather. And there my father told +me something of the story, while the burning inn still reddened under +the sky.</p> + +<p>"You see, I'm dead now," he said. "I died in the fire."</p> + +<p>"Daddy!" I exclaimed in terror, clutching him; for I was a +superstitious child, and it would have seemed no very strange thing for +me to be talking to my father's ghost.</p> + +<p>He laughed: "Not dead to you, Tommy."</p> + +<p>And then I understood.</p> + +<p>"But to Shadow-of-Fear?" I said.</p> + +<p>"You've got it," he answered; and explained how rushing back through +the fire to our room he had climbed out of the window which opened on +a back-yard, no one seeing him, and had hidden himself in the heather. +His plan was to have found me, and together we would have fled away, +every one supposing we had perished in the flames. But somehow he had +missed me, and later seeing me with Picardino he had stalked us, hoping +somehow to steal me back, but fearing that his ruse had failed.</p> + +<p>But one question worried me. "Did you really burn it on purpose?" I +asked.</p> + +<p>"Ah!" was all he replied.</p> + +<p>And I fell asleep, too tired and confused to solve the hundred +mysteries which were beating in my mind. Who fired the inn? And why? +And how was it Picardino had returned and carried me away? And why had +he vanished so suddenly?</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX</h2> +</div> + +<h3>SUNSET TOWERS</h3> + + +<p>We must have lain low for a long while, or the summer must have broken +very suddenly, for when one late afternoon we set out for our new home, +my father telling me we should be able to rest quietly now, there was +more than a breath of winter in the keen clear air. I remember as we +strode forward, silent for a time, how I watched my breath making a +cloud about my face, which I conjured into airy visions of Fairyland; +though my Fairyland wasn't a place of beautiful enchantment, but +rather one of subtle spells and secret workings which mingled with +our human destinies, thwarting them and twisting them awry like the +under-currents in a river, or like the oozy bed-weeds that cling about +a swimmer's legs entangling him and dragging him downward into the +mud. The curling vapour of my breath, tinged to a faint blue, was +like some evil emanation, formless yet with a thousand forms melting +and merging into one another, like a menacing spirit hesitating to +strike, still hovering about its victim, soon to assume its final +shape of doom. I think perhaps my mind was dimly aware of the story +of the genii imprisoned for a thousand years in a shard beneath the +sea, and when at length drawn to earth and set free by some miserable +fishermen, steaming out in a towering cloud above the terrified wretch, +and threatening him with ruin. For there seemed to be a presence and a +shadow beside us and above us as we stepped together across the lonely +swelling rises of the moor, and I was vaguely troubled, half wondering +whether like the fisherman in the story we should be able to lure the +menacing thing back into its prison, or whether we should be enfolded +in its snares.</p> + +<p>All this time we had been making northward; and as we topped a rise we +saw on a hill before us, lying away to our left, a great straggling +mass of grey stone which my father told me was our new home. I stopped +to gaze at it, and felt a throb of delighted awe at the prospect of its +huge loneliness standing up into the evening, grave and like a creature +on guard, with eyes fixed steadily on the empty distance. Instinctively +I looked away to the right, where all was a desolate stretch of +abandoned moorland, so lonely that it seemed like the sea, and sniffing +I thought I caught a scent of salt and weed.</p> + +<p>"How will it be, Tommy?" asked my father, and for answer I tightened my +grip of his hand and gave a glad sigh.</p> + +<p>We stepped down into the valley, and lost the setting sun; but rising +again as we approached our new home we saw its red rim dipping below +the line of hill before us, washing the western sky in a scarlet glow, +against which the walls and towers of the great building stood out +black and secret, as though now the eyes of the creature were turned +in upon itself, brooding on some dark and terrible mystery in its own +breast.</p> + +<p>"Daddy," I said, "we will call it Sunset Towers."</p> + +<p>As we drew nearer, its immense form seemed to grow above us like a dark +cloud rising out of the earth, and it was as though we were walking +into the heart of a shadow; but though with each step we took the +feeling of awe and wonder increased upon me, and though a low murmur as +of sad voices strengthened as we approached, it wasn't till our feet +set the echoes ringing under the archway that I realized we were in the +haunted house of which Picardino had told us.</p> + +<p>We found some cold food laid for us, but there was no other sign of +any inhabitant besides ourselves. And yet the fire was ready for +lighting, and the lamp was full of oil, and when I went to bed I found +everything laid ready as at an inn. But I was too tired to puzzle out +what all this meant. We had had a long tramp, and I was soon asleep. +But once in the night I awoke to hear that same strange moaning in the +air. It seemed to come from nowhere, yet filled the whole house like +a presence, as though indeed the house was a living creature that was +hurt and was sobbing dumbly to itself.</p> + +<p>With the morning of course the vapours of the night were dispelled +before the disillusioning white clearness of the day, which lays bare +our mysteries with a mocking shrug, as it were, revealing the secret +workings, and laughing at our childish credulity.</p> + +<p>For the preparations of the evening before were easily explained by the +arrival of an old dame from the nearest village, some three miles yet +to the northward, and hidden down by a river valley. She was busy about +the house before I was stirring, and had prepared a savoury breakfast +by the time we were dressed. She was an ill-favoured old creature, +battered as it looked by the storms and weather of that wild region +rather than shrivelled with age; but beneath her crust of wretchedness +she had a kindly enough heart.</p> + +<p>During the morning I heard my father expostulating with her. As far as +I could tell he was trying to persuade her to come and lodge in the +house, but though she was perfectly willing to work there during the +day rather than let the poor bairn die of neglect, yet she would rather +cross through a blizzard morning and evening than spend a single night +in the evil place. And then it was her turn to expostulate with my +father, wondering, as she said, to find us alive in the morning, and +telling him it was wicked to bring a child to such a house. At this he +laughed, and dismissed the subject.</p> + +<p>So the old dame continued to come with the morning and vanish with +the night, at each parting fervently praying that we might be spared +through the darkness. I think she was surprised to find us day by day +not only spared but flourishing on the haunted atmosphere.</p> + +<p>We had only one other visitor, the landlord. How my father had rented +the house, I don't know; but the landlord, a ferrety little man, must +have been glad to find a tenant, and called to see how we were faring. +He found us very gay, and by no means wishing to quit.</p> + +<p>And then my father conceived the idea of sending me to school. At +first I was excited at the prospect, and tramped willingly enough the +few miles to Rancey Bridge, where there was a fair-sized school for +boarders and day scholars, standing on a hill that sloped down to the +Rancey River. But as my school-days have nothing to do with my story, +except that it was at Rancey Bridge where I met Worthing Bright, I +needn't dwell on them. Indeed the only thing I learnt there was how +abnormal my life had been, and what a wonderful father I had; but +judging by what I heard I had no desire to change either the one or the +other, for the normal and the ordinary smacked of tameness to one of my +experiences.</p> + +<p>Not that life was entirely uneventful. For I soon found that +scholarship wasn't the best fun in the world, and after a period of +grumpiness I set to work to enliven the dull hours of study, and with +such success that there was a sort of revolution in the affairs of +Rancey Bridge, initiated by my drawing my knife on Staggers, the usher, +who was threatening to birch me, and driving him from the room.</p> + +<p>Naturally this created an uproar, and for a moment I was heralded as +the hero of a new age; but the excitement was short-lived, for the time +at any rate, for Worthing Bright appeared at the door, and the tumult +died down.</p> + +<p>Now Worthing Bright was smaller than myself, though some three years +older; but there was something in his presence and personality, and +in his straight, neat, commanding little figure, that cowed the most +rebellious. I had frequently tried to make a stand against this +domination, which my reason told me was absurd, but I had never come +off victor. A cutting word and a cold stare seemed to melt all the +strength from my nerves and muscles, and my fists would fall open +foolishly, and bowing my head I would slink away.</p> + +<p>It was much the same on this occasion. He stood at the door and looked +at me. I summoned up all my bravado, but there was no moral support to +be had from my fellows, already subdued. I was flushed and excited, and +raising my knife I made it quiver above my head. But he gave me a look +of pitying scorn, and said, "Let's play at being pirates," in a tone of +such sneering emphasis that I felt convicted of conduct fit only for a +girl of three.</p> + +<p>A minute later Staggers returned reassured, and I took my thrashing +without a struggle.</p> + +<p>When it was over I turned away and would have left the school, not +intending to stay any longer at such a place. But at the door I found +Worthing still on guard. "That was well done," he said. "Now, don't +spoil it."</p> + +<p>I faced him for a minute, but he pointed me back to the room; and I +obeyed.</p> + +<p>I spent many troubled nights puzzling out my conduct, trying to whip +myself into a fury against Worthing, for I knew well that if I were to +be revenged on him it would only be in a moment of frenzy. But all was +of no avail. I was struggling against something which had mastered +me; and that wasn't the greater strength of my antagonist, but the +strange knowledge that somehow I loved and admired him, and would give +my life if he were in danger. It may have been his spiritual power +which dominated me, or it may have been the admiration in his voice, +usually so scornful, when he had said, "That was well done," which set +vibrating some chord of affection in me; but however it was, I knew for +a certainty that I had found not an enemy but a friend.</p> + +<p>And the friendship deepened, though it was a strange one; for Worthing +was my opposite in every way. He had an intellect like a sharpened +knife, making my brain in comparison like a cushion or a cloud, a dull +soft sort of thing. Naturally he was high up in the school, which +added to the strangeness of our friendship, and his whole outlook and +morality were as yet things unknown to me. For he was intending to +study law, and already he had a large share of the lawyer's coldness +and aloofness, looking clean through the human elements of a question +to the legal considerations beyond. And this was one of the things +which marked him out unique among his fellows, for though respected +and even feared by everybody he hadn't a single friend; and naturally +so; for being deeply impressed by the dignity of law and order, living +as it were in the shadow of his future career, he had constituted +himself a sort of self-elected champion of the authorities, lending +them the support of his extraordinary influence, lecturing us even on +the necessity of obedience, and somehow impressing us with the absurd +childishness of rebellion against established rule, though needless to +say the impression melted with the closing of the door behind him.</p> + +<p>But though his intellect was so keen and his personality so electric, +he had nothing of the bulk and muscle which about this time I was +beginning to develop at a prodigious pace. I could have crushed him +with a finger, yet he subdued me with a glance.</p> + +<p>I don't intend to describe the full course of our growing friendship. +At first indeed I struggled against the feeling of affection which +in my heart I knew I felt for him. I think it must have been the +sort of affection a dog feels for the master who is gradually taming +and training it and breaking it to his will. Perhaps in my feelings +towards him there was even an element of pity which helped to cement +our comradeship, for he was so utterly lonely that in my heart, though +inveighing against him, I yearned towards him. And certainly his +courage, though not of the hardy physical type which I was best fitted +to understand, appealed to my sense of the heroic.</p> + +<p>I think the clinching incident which at length united us was the result +of one of my yarns to my fellows. For living as I did in the famous +haunted house, and having been the companion of smugglers, not to +mention the stories I had drunk in from my father's lips, I must have +seemed to my mates a very treasure-house of yarns, and my vanity didn't +urge me to hide my light under a bushel. It was during one of these +yarns that I looked up to find Worthing listening to me. I stopped, +feeling guilty somehow of babyish superstition, for my story was one of +ghosts, and the scene of it I had laid quite unwarrantably at Sunset +Towers.</p> + +<p>I waited for Worthing to speak, and at last he said, "Of course you +know that's all rubbish."</p> + +<p>I felt wounded in my pride, especially as the story was one of my +father's, and the insult seemed to glance off me and strike him; so I +answered hotly, "You may sneer, but you wouldn't spend a night alone in +our haunted room."</p> + +<p>"I'll do it to-night," he answered without hesitation.</p> + +<p>I was taken aback, for first of all our house had no special haunted +room that I was aware of, though I knew several rooms where a night +alone would be distinctly unpleasant. But chiefly I was alarmed because +I knew I had committed myself. Worthing would insist on the ordeal; I +knew him well enough for that; and I was frightened at the possible +consequences.</p> + +<p>Whether I believed the old place was haunted or not, I can't rightly +say, but the mysterious wailing voices still clung about the air more +like a pervading feeling than an articulate sound, though on some +nights when the wind was high there seemed to mingle with it a shaken +sobbing unspeakably desolate that caught at one's very heart and set it +throbbing with an ominous presentiment of impending evil. And lately +the crying had taken on such a note of human pain that I had often +started awake at night shaken to the soul with pity, and feeling an +urgency upon me to rise and search out the suffering thing wherever +it might be hid, and soothe it with what consolation the living might +bring the dead. And looking at Worthing with the memory of these things +in mind I felt a reluctant compunction at submitting him to such a +trial. For I knew something of that creeping terror that comes with a +strange sighing on the night, and I didn't think he fully realized what +he was undertaking. And at this moment it came to me with a shock how +dearly I held him, and if possible I would have drawn back.</p> + +<p>"Not to-night," I said, feeling about for some way of evasion, +"To-morrow, if you like."</p> + +<p>"So that you can prepare a ghost for me?" he said coldly.</p> + +<p>"No," I cried, "no, on my honour. But—but I must tell my father, and +get a bed ready for you, and so on."</p> + +<p>"To-morrow then," he agreed.</p> + +<p>Now the next day was Saturday and a holiday, so I said, "Come in the +morning and we'll spend the day together. Have a look round the place, +and that."</p> + +<p>"Right," and he turned away.</p> + +<p>I didn't tell my father till the next morning, when I was already +expecting Worthing to arrive. I didn't at all know how my father would +take the information, but as it happened it seemed to amuse him, and he +raised no objection. It seemed to me as though he saw no danger, and I +said questioningly, "But suppose there is a ghost, daddy?"</p> + +<p>"Ghosts," he answered with a laugh, "are like miracles. They only +happen to people who believe in them."</p> + +<p>Worthing arrived early, and we spent a splendid day clambering about +the old mansion. Half of it was in ruins, and the habitable part had +been partially bricked and partially boarded up. My father and I shared +a room at the top of the first flight of the great oaken stairs. It +was a huge room, and its mere spaciousness made it an eerie place at +night, for the little circle of the candlelight intensified the shadows +in the corners. And there was a great wardrobe by the fireplace which +suggested secret things, and facing it across the room a tall mirror +by my bed which played unholy tricks with my reflection in the dark. +This was bad enough; but at least the room was in the main body of +the house. But before we could reach the room which Worthing was to +occupy, an archway on the landing, which had been closed before we +took possession, had to be opened again. The room lay out among the +ruins, and was fairly easily approachable, though not always under +cover, by a long and tortuous passage and one flight of stairs; but +though in the ruined part of the house the room itself was still +sound and weatherproof. I had frequently been in it, having chosen it +indeed as my own private sanctum; but my method of approach had been +by an unorthodox route up a broken wall or two and along a perilous +causeway, not to be attempted in the night.</p> + +<p>Especially on such a night. For during the day the wind began to rise, +and before sunset half a gale was sweeping across from the north-east, +howling dismally among the turrets and corridors of our ruinous home, +and wailing down the great chimney of our dining-room, puffing the +smoke out in great blue clouds.</p> + +<p>It was a night for strange stories, but there were no stories as it +happened. In spite of the increasing wind, which tore at the great +lonely house, shaking it to its foundations as though envying it its +place there on the hill, and grappling with it like a foe to root it +up and send it flying headlong, Worthing remained calmly by the fire +talking to my father in the most matter-of-fact voice as though nothing +unusual were to take place that night. As for me I was straining out to +catch the first echo of that bitter cry which I knew would soon come +wailing in the heart of some great burst of wind, thinner but more +piercing than the gale itself. And when at last I thought I heard it I +looked quickly across at Worthing, but he seemed to have heard nothing; +and my father was evidently lost in the conversation, for he showed no +sign of having heard anything other than the wind.</p> + +<p>I felt left out in the cold, as though all the responsibility of what +might happen this night were thrown upon my shoulders. Or rather upon +my heart, for it beat heavily, and with the deepening darkness throbbed +with uneasier forebodings. And then there came a crash at which I +sprang to my feet, so unstrung was I with anxiety. But my father +listening for a moment said, "Some old chimney, I suppose," and resumed +the conversation. I sat down again, and tried to listen to what the +two were talking about, but I remember nothing, for all my attention +was strained out for that coming cry. And suddenly it came, sharp, as +though at a swift sting, shrill, and breaking into sobs of self-pitying +abandonment to anguish, to die away in a forlorn moan.</p> + +<p>Again I sprang to my feet, and cried, "Listen!"</p> + +<p>"You mustn't be afraid," said my father to Worthing, "the wind does +that kind of thing."</p> + +<p>"Oh, daddy, it isn't the wind," I cried.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Tommy, just the wind," he answered, looking at me, and throwing +a half glance towards Worthing. I took his hint to mean that my friend +mustn't be alarmed before the ordeal. So I tried to possess myself in +calmness. But when it was time to go to bed I was shaking with fear, so +much so that Worthing noticed it and said, "It looks as though you're +to sleep in the haunted room instead of me."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Worthing, don't go," I said.</p> + +<p>He looked at me coldly and answered, "Oh, so that's what all this +little farce is about, is it? You want to frighten me from the attempt? +Come."</p> + +<p>That stung me, and without a word I handed him his candle and took my +own, and together we went up the echoing stairs, out under the archway, +and wound our way along through the twisting corridor, shielding our +candles as well as we could when we came to some half exposed space, +sometimes standing crouched against the wall till a gust had spent its +fury and swept by, and then on again, till puffing with the journey we +arrived at the haunted room. Once more I would have begged him to turn +back, and I did say, "Let me stay with you," but he froze me away from +him, and I turned and left him there alone, beating my way back through +the night and wind to my chamber. But once I heard a moan so near me +that I stopped as though petrified, and held my breath to listen. But +just as I breathed again, a deep draught, I thought I heard the sound +repeated, but it was drowned in my breathing. But what I did hear +sounded strangely like a little chuckle of some mocking and evil thing, +so that I stepped on hastily, heedless of my footing, and arrived at my +room in a fine state of terror. And there I sat on my bed, hearkening +to the sounds of the night, and bitterly reproaching myself, but unable +to still the absurd thumping of my heart and quivering of my limbs.</p> + +<p>At length I controlled myself sufficiently to pull off my clothes and +scramble into bed. But there was no sleep for me. Long after my father +had crept in beside me I lay listening, listening for I knew not what; +for I felt the growing conviction that soon there would come a clear +call for me, and I should have to arise and go to meet what fate should +send.</p> + +<p>And all the while the wind came rushing from the moors, to whirl +about the ruins as in a witches' dance, shrieking and clamouring and +tugging at the walls, and raced away in scampering gusts far into the +distance. And through it I caught faint echoes of that ghostly moan, +a kind of <i>Ughh! Ughh!</i> of unutterable pain. I couldn't help thinking +of Worthing, alone there among the crazy ruins, and wondering how the +night was passing for him. Likely enough, I thought bitterly, he was +serenely sleeping while I was tossing in a fever on his account; for I +knew that if it hadn't been for him I wouldn't have suffered all this +terror, for this night was no worse than others had been; and to me +ghosts weren't alarming things, but creatures that gave to the night +a delicious shuddering thrill. And so tossing and listening I fell at +length into a troubled sleep, to be awakened by a shattering cry that +rang in my ears like an echo. I sat bolt upright, my heart hammering; +but my father didn't move. How was it possible? I asked myself. How +could he sleep through it? I felt out towards him and whispered, +"Daddy!" I didn't notice till then that I was gasping as though I had +run a race. I touched him, and felt his chest rising and falling calmly +and evenly. I lay down again, but I was wide-awake, and I was telling +myself that Worthing was in danger, and I ought to go to him. But I +dared not. So I lay awhile listening to the wind as it howled through +the night, till I grew calmer, strangely calm, and a new courage came +to me. "This is all nonsense," I said. "I'll go and see."</p> + +<p>I crept noiselessly out of bed and pulled on a few clothes; lit my +candle and left the room, turning at the door to see that my father +hadn't awakened. On the landing it was very gusty, and a racing puff +caught at my flame, nearly extinguishing it. I guarded it with my hand, +and made for the archway. Going was very slow, for with each step my +candle nearly blew out, and in the darkness I should have been lost. +So I crept on slowly, my attention fixed to the flame. It was an eerie +journey, for I could give no heed to what lay ahead of me, only sparing +a glance now and again into the darkness around, and feeling that if +anything lay in wait for me I should be an easy prey. This feeling of +helplessness increased upon me as I pushed further and further into the +night, and felt the first bite of the cold air that warned me I was +coming to the more open parts. How I expected to keep my candle alight +I don't know; but I managed it through the first exposed space, waiting +for a pause in the wind before I crossed, and reaching shelter as a +huge gust raced out of the north and screamed overhead with a hundred +mingled cries of pain and wrath and laughter. I rested a moment, for +somehow my slow passage left me strangely breathless and exhausted, +and I was all a-quiver with nervous apprehension, feeling that I was +stepping deeper and deeper into some unknown snare. In spite of the +crying gale, the air seemed to be tightening around me, the darkness +closing in. Again and again I stopped, peering about me and ahead, and +always it seemed that a luring shadow sank into the blackness as though +dragging me on and still on. But I kept my attention on the flame of +my candle, guarding it as though it were the last spark of my life, +till I came to the stairway. I felt for it with my foot, but couldn't +find it. I took a step forward and felt again, but it wasn't there. I +held out the candle and gazed into the dark. There was no stairway at +all, only a black length of corridor as far as the little light could +pierce, and I began to wonder where I was. I traced over in my mind +the way I had come, with the growing fear at my heart that I was lost +somewhere in that wild ruin in the dead of a tempestuous night. But I +wouldn't give in. Again I felt for the stairs as though they might have +miraculously grown there while I was thinking; and again I retraced in +imagination the way I had come. And then faintly behind me I heard a +low clang as of a closing gate, and the blood ran cold under my feet. +I turned quickly; too quickly; for a breath caught at my candle, and +with a leap and a flutter the flame went out. But with the last of +the light I saw a pale face at my shoulder, very thin and filmy, with +black hollows at the eyes; and as I gazed horror-stricken it faded into +the darkness, and I heard a low sigh breathed so close to me that the +thin breath seemed to fan my hair. For a moment I was too terrified to +move. Then I think a frenzy must have possessed me, for with a courage +not my own I stepped boldly forward and clutched at the empty air. It +yielded to my outstretched hands, and I stumbled and struck against a +wall, but steadying myself I felt my way forward till my fingers closed +on something cold and hard; and again I heard a sad moaning. And then +a sudden horror struck like a knife at my heart, for I was gripping +the fleshless fingers of a skeleton. I shrieked, and fell to the floor +unconscious.</p> + +<p>It was in Worthing's room that I came to myself, and Worthing was +throwing water on my brow. The horror was still upon me, for waking to +see his face above me it was as though I were again in that dreadful +corridor with the face of the spectre fading from my eyes. I tried to +scream, but Worthing clapped his hand to my mouth, and bade me be quiet +in a voice of such command that at once I felt in possession of my wits.</p> + +<p>I sat up and looked about me.</p> + +<p>"That's better," said Worthing; and added, "So you've had enough of +playing the ghost, have you?"</p> + +<p>At first I didn't understand, and then I cried indignantly, "Worthing!" +and with my anger my courage came back to me.</p> + +<p>"So?" he questioned.</p> + +<p>"Do you think...." I began.</p> + +<p>"Think?" he retorted.</p> + +<p>"I tell you; I swear to you," I blurted out; "I thought I heard you +scream, and I came to you. But I lost my way in the dark, and a door +closed behind me, and my candle went out, and I saw a face, and I felt +a skeleton, and I tell you...."</p> + +<p>But he laughed cuttingly into my speech:</p> + +<p>"Well, you've had a bad time of it; you'd better lie down and go to +sleep."</p> + +<p>It was only after long protestation that I succeeded in persuading him +to believe my story; and then he seemed strangely uneasy.</p> + +<p>"There's something I can't understand," he muttered.</p> + +<p>"Why, it's the ghost," I said easily.</p> + +<p>"Bah!" he scoffed me down.</p> + +<p>So we lay down together till the morning, and the wind died away, and +the winter sun shone bleakly over a frozen earth.</p> + +<p>But though we spent the day searching the ruins, for it was Sunday and +of course there was no school, we couldn't solve the mystery of the +night. We retraced my path as well as I could judge it, but there was +no skeleton anywhere; and where Worthing had found me—for hearing my +shriek he had come to my aid—there was only a solid wall.</p> + +<p>"You must have gone clean through there," he said seriously, "otherwise +you couldn't have lost your way without tumbling head first from the +ruins." But though we shook at it, and examined it for possible springs +and locks, the wall refused to give up its secret. The only thing that +marked it as different from the adjacent masonry was a patch of little +punctures as though a shot-gun had been emptied into it at close range. +So we searched and probed and questioned, but discovered nothing; +nor did we even find my candle which to Worthing was the greatest +confirmation of my story.</p> + +<p>We didn't tell my father of the adventure of the night, but somehow +from that hour we felt sworn friends, and I never received again from +Worthing the cold chaff which made him so feared and hated at Rancey +Bridge.</p> + +<p>He visited several times at Sunset Towers, and my father was loud +in his praises. He considered him a sane, level-headed fellow, just +the kind of friend to have behind one. But it didn't seem to me that +Worthing felt the same esteem for my father, and this was perhaps the +one shadow on our friendship. And even I, watching the two, realized +how my father needed such a friend himself.</p> + +<p>Then the Christmas holidays came, and all except a few of the boarders +went home for the vacation.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X</h2> +</div> + +<h3>MY FATHER TELLS A STORY</h3> + + +<p>Christmas was soon upon us; and waking in the morning I felt eagerly +in my stocking, and was delighted beyond measure to find a bright new +pistol, a long-coveted treasure. I was up and dressed in no time, and +out into the frozen air. I soon had a target set up, and regardless of +numbed fingers put to proof the steadiness of my hand and eye; till my +father came out and dragged me unwillingly to breakfast, extracting +from me the promise to put away the deadly weapon till next day, for +there were a few boys left at Rancey Bridge over the holidays, and they +were to come and spend Christmas with me. My father didn't want any +accidents.</p> + +<p>It was a cold clear day, and the ground lay a few inches deep in snow. +We had an uproarious time, and ate a magnificent dinner; and in the +evening we gathered round the dining-room fire to hear my father tell a +story before it was time for my friends to tramp back to the school.</p> + +<p>Now I was considered something of a story-teller at Rancey Bridge, but +I had always insisted that I was a mere stuttering dummy to my father; +so the excitement was intense as we gathered before the leaping flames, +the only light in the room, and waited for my father to begin. He was +sitting back half in shadow, with the red glow of the fire lighting his +cheeks in swarthy leaps of colour, till his face seemed alternately to +spring at us out of the darkness and sink back into the dusk beyond.</p> + +<p>I can't give all his story, for he kept us there two hours or more; and +his words without his accent, always so hushed and tense, as though he +were in the very presence of the things he was describing, would convey +little of the impression he made upon us. For he took us right away +from the life we knew, and we were afloat with a band of adventurers on +the Spanish Main, with our schooner nosing out to El Dorado far across +the sea.</p> + +<p>We were all there on board that ship. The dark crafty little captain +with eyes like hard black beads which glowed with an underflush of red +when he was angry, terrified us when we felt his gaze upon us; for he +seemed an evil man, and one without conscience or remorse, and in his +company we couldn't know to what wickedness we might be driven; for +there was no question of disobedience though he should bid us pawn our +souls to the devil. Then there was the burly savage of a mate, a sort +of furious club in the hands of the wicked little captain; a creature +ready and willing for all abominations, but lacking a cunning mind to +plan the atrocities he gloried in committing. His huge wide smile of +evil delight as he listened to some tale of cruel villainy from the +captain, rubbing his great hairy hand relishingly across his mouth, was +a thing to frighten the boldest. And so one by one the crew came before +our eyes, for the most part decent enough fellows, but snared by some +malignant fate into the clutches of that abominable pair. And lastly +there was the priest; a lukewarm superstitious round little fellow, on +the one hand in terror of the captain and his mighty shadow, and on the +other hand in dread of hell-fire; and between the two fears living a +life of haunted terror, torn between cowardice and conscience.</p> + +<p>I remember there was a mutiny on board that ship before the golden +coasts were reached. At least, the captain and the mate discovered a +mutiny, probably for their own amusement to relieve the monotony of +the voyage; and then there followed floggings and hangings, while the +captain twitched his cruel and wicked lips, and the mate stripped his +huge arms in brutal anticipation, and Jack Priest knelt and mumbled +prayers, and ventured a timid word of protest, and was sent packing to +his job of saying a Mass for the murdered and seeing them safely tossed +to the sharks.</p> + +<p>But the bloodshed was to bear a terrible harvest; and I remember how +my father played upon our expectations, till we were in a fever of +excitement, wondering what was to come of it; for gradually through +the story the note of coming doom was emphasized so subtly, yet so +insistently, that the ship seemed to be moving forward into the closing +shadow of some terrible fate. There were warnings in the wind and in +the sea, and the priest was whimpering with superstitious terror; +and beneath the fear and submission of the daunted crew there were +mutterings and low-hissed threats which were ominous of evil things.</p> + +<p>So at length land was sighted; but the wonderful palms that waved +overhead, and the splendid sun setting serenely beyond the tall dark +stems, were but as an ironic smile of the brooding destiny which lay in +wait for that ill-starred crew.</p> + +<p>After this there was the search for the treasure, which the rumour that +had led them there said was hidden in some secret tomb of kings in a +lonely valley far away across the hills. But first there were natives +to reckon with; and so followed exciting battles, but with the one +inevitable result: the natives were defeated and enslaved, and driven +in chained gangs before the conquerors for beasts of burden when the +treasure should be found and captured. And then there was a weary +march, with wild beasts to do battle with, and tormenting insects, and +heat by day and cold by night, and fever, till it was a shattered +company which arrived at length at the lonely valley beyond the hills; +and the earth was bare and desolate, and there was no shelter, and for +water only a trickling stream that feebly threaded its way along a +shrunken channel.</p> + +<p>But the love of gold was triumphant above the wretched weariness +of the land; and the captain at least was undaunted, giving his +orders like the sting of a snake; and the mate rose enormously and +thrashed the slaves into obedience. But for a long while the search +was unsuccessful, the valley guarding well its secret; till one day +sounding along the hillside a rock rang hollow, and the entrance was +found.</p> + +<p>Then there was feverish labour, and the slaves were driven till they +fell; and through tunnel after tunnel a way was cleared, and every one +knew that the treasure was at hand. Then breaking through a low sealed +door there was the sound of chanting, and before them a grotesque +company of priests were at their worship in a strange shrine beneath +the earth; and the walls were glittering with precious stones and gold.</p> + +<p>There was silence for a moment as the robbers shrank back surprised; +but the captain cried "On!" and the mate bounded forward and the crew +followed, and without mercy or quarter the priests were slaughtered as +they kneeled; save for one old fellow, who, standing before the altar, +shrieked a terrible curse at the invaders, and laid his magic on the +treasure, bidding it be ruin and madness and death on all who touched +it. But before the words of his enemies could reach him he had drawn a +knife and sheathed it in his breast.</p> + +<p>Then the pillage started. By now the meaning of the mutterings on +shipboard began to be understood. For there was a conspiracy on foot. +The crew were divided into two parties, one abiding by the captain, the +other having elected a captain of their own intending to mutiny when +the hour was ripe and follow their own leader. Moreover they allied +themselves with the wretched slaves, promising them their freedom if +they obeyed. And so when half the treasure was carried from the shrine, +there was a sudden slashing of bonds and crying of orders and shouts +and curses and the noise of stampeding men; for the mutineers had so +contrived it that they should free the slaves who had sworn obedience +to them, and at a given signal fly from the shrine, and rolling a +tremendous boulder down the narrowing tunnel block up the entrance and +so entomb their enemies alive. The plan was well arranged, and the +signal was given. There was a rush for the door, for a party outside +had loosened the great boulder till it needed but a push to send it +crashing down the passage. So the last of the conspirators came flying +for safety, and behind him, not quite understanding the business, +but knowing something terrible was on foot, came the immense form of +the mate, rolling out oaths and curses. But the boulder was already +loosened, and lurching forward it gathered speed, and grinding the +shrieking mate to the wall crashed into place, sealing up the door for +ever and entombing the wretches beyond in a living death.</p> + +<p>Then there began a terrible journey back to the coast; for it seemed to +the rebels that the curse of the old priest clung about their spoil. +Their leader, whom they now called captain, would wake at night to +hear cryings out of the earth, and whenever he lay down to sleep the +voices of his enemies seemed to echo through the ground, muffled but +pitiful. And sometimes he awoke to think he was lying in a pool of +blood, and sprang up shouting that the smell of murder was making him +mad. And others too said they were being followed by an underground +rumbling like the hollow presage of earthquake, and they declared the +earth heaved beneath them as though something were struggling to break +through. Even the natives felt the terror in their hearts, and by ones +and twos they dropped their burdens and slunk away into the night, for +they said they were touching accursed stuff and the gods were angry. So +the watch became more strict; and as the number of bearers diminished +the remnant were again chained and driven, and the new masters were +little better than the old. But it wasn't now the lust of gold that +was making them cruel, but the secret dread that gnawed at their souls +maddening them and making them like frenzied beasts rather than like +men.</p> + +<p>Then the fever struck them; and first one and then another stumbled +from the file, and dropped behind crying piteously to his comrades +to stay for him. But fear was upon that company, and they pressed on +the faster thinking to escape the claws of disease which snatched at +them from behind. And one night a storm arose from nowhere and smote +at them with jagged barbs of lightning, and in the morning three were +found horribly twisted, and scorched out of recognition. So they called +the roll to see who were missing; and Jack Priest mumbled a prayer +and scattered a handful of dust upon them, and they were left by the +wayside for the beasts and the birds. And then they lost their way, and +suddenly were plunging through a morass; and there two were trapped in +the oozy soil, and sinking slowly cried with frantic appeal for help; +but no one would venture to go near them. And before they had well +disappeared, while yet their hands waved feebly above the rank mud, +and their faces still gazed living at the sky, reaching upward for the +last breath of air, the priest had crossed himself and gabbled a prayer +for the welfare of their souls; and again they pressed onward. And +another a snake bit, and he died raving; and another gathered poisonous +berries, and perished writhing in pain. And ever it seemed the curse +was upon them, dogging them at heel, snatching a victim here and a +victim there, till the shadow was over all, and none knew when his own +turn would come. For it might be a prowling beast in the night, or a +slip from a rock by day, or some hateful creature of the river when one +went down to drink: fate pursued them in a thousand forms, and snares +were laid for them everywhere.</p> + +<p>And yet through the whole of that terrible journey not a native +perished, of those at least who stayed with them.</p> + +<p>So at last they sighted the sea, and a cry of thanksgiving arose; but +it sounded like a wail of despair. Broken and tired and shaken to the +soul they reached their ship, half fearing to find it burnt or sunk; +and carrying the treasure aboard they set sail with all speed and +steered away from the ill-fated land.</p> + +<p>But their doom wasn't averted; only delayed. For storm and calm alike +took toll of their number, hurling them into the sea, or bringing +black plague from the heat-laden air to settle upon the vessel like a +brooding bird. They were wasted with illness and labour, and their home +seemed at the other end of the world.</p> + +<p>Then the captain conceived of a plan: he called upon the priest to +bless the treasure and remove the curse which had been laid upon it. +At first the priest was terrified, and refused; but, as usual, present +danger was more insistent with him than future peril, and when he +saw the men were desperate and would murder him if he held back, he +consented. But during the exorcism a wind arose and blew out the sacred +candles. And when he would have poured holy water upon the treasure, +the ship lurched and the water was spilt. So the captain wearily bade +him desist, for it seemed like struggling against all the powers of +heaven and hell.</p> + +<p>Yet not even the priest said, "Let us throw the accursed thing into the +sea."</p> + +<p>So they clung to their gold and abided their doom. One by one the hand +reached for them and they perished, and their comrades cast them into +the hungry water, dry-eyed and unheeding as though they knew the thing +must be, and only wishing that for them too the hour had struck. There +were none left to man the ropes; but the sails remained spread or +furled as might be, and the captain stood at the wheel like one in a +daze, while the ship moved on to whatever wind might blow. Till at last +before them rose the cliffs of England; but there were only the captain +and the priest and one other left alive to see them. The captain and +the priest didn't speak a word; they didn't even smile, but stood +staring stupidly as though it mattered not at all whether this were +England or the other side of the ocean. But the third man threw up his +hands and let out a great cheer; but a vessel burst in his lungs, and +he bent down in sudden pain choking blood, and fell to the deck dead. +The captain looked at the priest, and the priest crossed himself, and +going to the man muttered swiftly, and with his foot spurned him over +the side....</p> + +<p>So the story proceeded. I remember how the captain went mad, and +wandering from place to place would tell his tale in penance, and so +pass on and away. And none of us there but pitied him, for we knew he +had been snared into his sin, and the judgment was over heavy. But +the priest took the treasure and would have devoted it to the work +of Holy Church. So at first he built a chapel; but the foundation +was ill-laid, and in a storm the holy house lurched and fell. And he +built a hospital, but a fire broke out, and the place was burnt to its +foundations. And he chartered a ship to take a band of missionaries +to the heathen; but the ship struck an unknown rock at the harbour +mouth, and sank. And at last he knew that the thing was accursed beyond +redemption; so he sought out a tunnel in the earth, and winding through +many passages and caverns he laid the treasure in a secret place, and +with the aid of a company of men set a mighty stone upon the entrance, +and went his way.</p> + +<p>But before he died he felt the need of confessing himself to Heaven; +for he knew that the guilt of all those deaths was partly weighing +on his soul; so he wrote the story out fair and truly for the eye +of Heaven alone, as he intended it, telling of the burial place of +all that evil gold, and laying upon it the curse of Holy Church to +reinforce the curse it already bore. But as he wrote the last word, and +leant back to rest after his labour, a spasm caught at his heart, and +he sank down dead....</p> + +<p>I was expecting the story to end here; but there was more of it. But +before my father continued he lit the lamp and passed round the wine. +We looked at each other, very quiet for a moment; then breathed deeply, +and lifted our glasses.</p> + +<p>But I needn't repeat all the second part of the story, though it +would show the wonderful fertility of my father's imagination. For +the manuscript was found and passed on from one to another. And first +this man and then that would seek for that hidden treasure. But the +old curse and the new bore terrible fruit, for all who succeeded in +touching the gold were smitten with plague or madness, or were beguiled +unwittingly into some frightful crime which poisoned all their life +with clinging bitterness and remorse. None escaped. And there beneath +the earth, a temptation and a terror, that treasure still waited for +any bold or holy enough to dare its menace or exorcise its spell.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI</h2> +</div> + +<h3>THE GHOST</h3> + + +<p>When my father lit the lamp for the second time there was more than one +white face; for the story had been told with such a creepy emphasis +that we had been lifted away from familiar things to an atmosphere of +stealthy influences and subtle spells. For a couple of hours or more we +had lived in the grip of a fatal and powerful curse. Something which +wasn't of the earth we knew had caught us in its toils. We had moved in +the company of men whose lives weren't their own, whose very shadows +seemed like avenging spirits stalking in their wake.</p> + +<p>To look round once more upon the lighted room, to hear my father say +cheerily, "Well, fill up again before you go," was to come back with an +almost dizzying rush to common earth. But in a moment the room was once +again full of clamour. Exclamations of delight and appeals for more +rose spontaneously to the lips of most of us. But my father wouldn't +indulge us further; and the glasses were raised and emptied, and my +visitors were turned out into the cold night to make the best of their +way back to the school.</p> + +<p>As for me, I went off to bed. But my mind was in a confused whirl. +For to me the story was more than a story. The thing had taken on a +colour of reality. I knew it was no mere tale, but a truth; and a truth +which was somehow of the utmost moment to my father and myself. For +throughout the narrative many pictures had woven themselves into my +thoughts. I could see the Mad Captain as my father had envisaged him +to me that night in the woods; and I saw the curse not as an abstract +thing, but as a concrete reality, embodied in that dreadful hag who had +pursued us to the hut. I could see her slipping back the knife into +the folds of her dress, waiting to spring. I could see her feeling for +me in the straw and behind the cloak. And again the red flames lit up +those terrible eye-balls of hers in their black hollow sockets. She +became for me not a creature of flesh and blood, but a curse embodied; +a thing that couldn't be killed by powder or by fire. And then old +words of my father's came back to me: "Shadow-of-Fear can never die." +I seemed to understand as I had never understood before the meaning of +the destiny which had enmeshed us. For there was no doubt of it now. +I knew my father was seeking for that unhallowed gold; perhaps he had +even found it, for I remembered of a sudden the words of the host of +the <i>Snow Man</i> saying my father had given him a purse in compensation +for his loss as though he had been a lord. The curse was certainly upon +us; it was that, and no mere earthly enemy, that was hounding us from +place to place. And as though in confirmation of my fears, throughout +the course of the story, in letters that glowed ever brighter and +more menacing, shuddered the words as though written in blood: +<span class="allsmcap">MALEDICTUS SIT THESAURUS</span>.</p> + +<p>White as were the faces of some of my companions, my face must have +been whiter still; for I remember how shaken I felt as I crept upstairs +to the great dark bedroom, walking slowly so that my candle might throw +its light the farther into the blackness ahead; and how entering the +room, and passing round to my side of the bed, I came with a shock +of horror face to face with my spectral self in the great mirror. I +remember how my nerves seemed to freeze into sudden numbness, for my +eyes were staring fearfully and my face was drawn and white, so that at +first I didn't know myself. And then the blood gushed back to my heart, +enough almost to choke me; and setting down the candle I sat on the bed +and gazed at myself in the glass, shaking as though in a fever.</p> + +<p>But at this moment I remembered the pistol my father had given me in +the morning. I had been true to my word, and hadn't taken it out during +the day; but now, so unreasoning was I, it brought me extraordinary +relief as I drew it from its hiding-place, and carefully loading it +slipped it under my pillow; though what protection it could be against +the impalpable destiny that overshadowed me I didn't stay to consider. +I only know I was very much eased at heart, and was soon out of my +clothes and in bed.</p> + +<p>My father had at last told me the tale of the mysterious manuscript, +as he had promised me he would some day do; and also, as he had said +it would, it made me dream. Indeed it would have been strange if such +a story with such associations to give it body and shape and presence +hadn't made me dream, for my mind was full of vivid pictures, not +merely half-formed filmy mists of imagination. There were eyes looking +at me, there were hands feeling for me; and the eyes and the hands were +those of the old witch, Bite-in-the-Dark. They were very real, for I +had seen them. And all the strange terror of the circumstances under +which I had seen them stirred my soul to a foreboding uneasiness of +imminent things. And even the pistol which I fingered under my pillow +recalled that awful moment when my father's pistol had roared out in +my hand, and the hut had filled with screams and clamour. What wonder +then, that with everything focusing back upon that night, I returned in +dreams to the child I had been, and was once again wrapped in the rug +before the fire, while my father's voice waned and strengthened through +my dozing, and the face of the Mad Captain, horrified by the haunting +voices of the murdered men, glared at me insanely from the darkness, +distorted by the leaping firelight into a frantic picture of fear and +madness and remorse. But I can't say what my dreams were, for they +were inextricably entangled; but I know that I awoke more than once +in a sweat of terror, trying to shake off some nameless thing which +had fastened about my throat. And now I was away with the doomed party +seeking for the treasure in the valley of the kings, and now I was on +that fever-stricken ship waiting dumbly for my hour to strike, and now +I was the priest himself hiding that cursed gold deep under the earth; +and turning to flee I came face to face with that hateful hag with the +black hollow sockets and the flaming eyes, and the knife cunningly +hidden in the folds of her dress. For always my dreams came back to +that. Her evil presence haunted me in all my mazed wanderings, either +visibly at some unexpected turn, or shadowingly so that I knew she was +beside me or behind me though I couldn't see her. And that was the +worse evil of the two; for at such times the agony was lingering, and +the enemy seemed too powerful for me, fighting with unearthly weapons +against which my knife and pistol were useless as thistledown; but when +she appeared before me, it might be from behind some black and awful +crag, or rising like an emanation from the very earth at my feet, or +just suddenly there in front of me coming as it were from nowhere—when +she appeared, terrified as I might be, the impalpable horror which had +wrapped me about fell away, and with a cry of hate I was at her with +my knife, or, drawing my pistol, blazed full into her evil face. And +at such moments I awoke, and took comfort in the knowledge that it +was merely a dream, and soon the night would pass, though it seemed +interminable, for each dream seemed the passage of a lifetime.</p> + +<p>But once I awoke from one of these struggles with the image of the old +witch so clearly before me that I thought I must still be sleeping. I +lay perfectly motionless, gazing into the darkness, and with clearing +consciousness came slowly to the realization that I was awake, and yet +the creature of my dreams was there before me. I closed my eyes, then +looked again. Still there; not to my hand, but clear and unmistakable, +the very creature as I had seen her with the firelight on her face, +except that now it was the moon that lit up that ghastly countenance +white instead of red, and with a steady glow instead of lurchingly like +the leaping flames. The night was very quiet; but outside a faint wind +was crooning gently, and breathing thin clouds across the sky. And with +the waning of the moon the face sank slowly back into the blackness, +and with its brightening it grew again, white and luminous against the +dark. I couldn't see it move; but once it faded into the night, and +when it appeared again it was nearer.</p> + +<p>How long I lay and watched I don't know. It seemed an age, but I think +it must have been but a moment, though my head swarmed with a confusion +of ideas. My father saying, "I haven't seen her ghost," caught at my +memory; and I thought how glad he would be when I told him in the +morning that her ghost had appeared to me; for somehow it seemed to +me that the revelation would bring him ease. I remember wondering too +why a ghost should fade and grow with the moonlight; for I had always +thought of ghosts as glowing with a radiance of their own. What it +was that stirred me to action I can't say. It might have been the +realization that the thing was drawing nearer; or, as I believe, the +many visionary contests of the night, mingled perhaps with a stirring +memory deep in my mind, had unconsciously led my hand beneath the +pillow where I suddenly realized that my fingers had closed upon my +pistol. Then indeed I knew what I would do. Slowly I drew the weapon +out, and with infinite caution levelled it at the creature's face. And +now I could see it visibly drawing nearer with a gliding stealth. Its +arm was raised, and I caught the glitter of steel. But just then I +pulled the trigger.</p> + +<p>There was a splintering crash and a cry and the clang as of a door +heavily closing; and my father was awake and shouting, "Why, what, +Tommy?" I was out of bed and had the candle lit; and there before me +was the great mirror with a wide jagged hole smashed in the middle of +it, and with cracks like the threads of a spider's web running out in +every direction across its face.</p> + +<p>I stood looking at it stupidly, and said, "I don't quite know, daddy. I +thought it was her ghost."</p> + +<p>"Ghost?" he cried.</p> + +<p>"Bite-in-the-Dark," I answered. "I saw her ghost."</p> + +<p>"Ha!" he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Yes," I said growing bolder. "She was there. She was coming towards +me. She had her hand raised. She came very slowly. I could see her +face. I know it was her."</p> + +<p>But my father was looking away from the mirror towards his end of the +room, where the large old oaken wardrobe filled the recess between the +fireplace and the door. His attention seemed absorbed. And then he +leapt out of bed and flung the wardrobe open, springing back quickly as +though expecting something to jump out at him. But there was nothing +unusual there.</p> + +<p>"What is it, daddy?" I asked.</p> + +<p>But he took no notice of me, still investigating the wardrobe, +rummaging among the coats that were hung there, and tapping at +the sides. Then he stepped away from it and looked all about it, +scrutinizing it as though it held a secret, while I watched him at a +loss to understand. And presently he went up to it again, and putting +out his full strength tried to shift it; but it wouldn't stir.</p> + +<p>"Come and help me, Tommy," he said; and I lent him what strength I had, +but to no purpose.</p> + +<p>"You see, it's fixed," he said, as though that solved the mystery.</p> + +<p>"But ..." I began.</p> + +<p>"What, Tommy, can't you see?" he asked with a smile.</p> + +<p>And then I saw what I had done. I had fired at a reflection, while the +substance had escaped. And evidently my father thought he knew which +way; yet there was no clue to the trail.</p> + +<p>We didn't go to bed again that night, but went downstairs to the +dining-room and rekindled the embers of the fire, and roasted ourselves +before it till the morning. And then my father, breaking a long +silence, said, "Tommy, I must leave you. The time has come. The game's +against me."</p> + +<p>"Is it the curse?" I asked.</p> + +<p>He nodded.</p> + +<p>So before evening I found myself an inmate of Rancey Bridge, feeling +inexpressibly disconsolate with my father gone out of my life. And I +know I cried bitterly to myself that night; for I pictured him fleeing +alone into the darkness, and behind him the shadow of a closing doom.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="PART_II">PART II</h2> +</div> + +<h3>CAPTAIN FIELD</h3> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII</h2> +</div> + +<h3>THE WAY OF A FRIEND</h3> + + +<p>I soon found that life had changed for me. I was under an authority +now, rigorous and uncompromising, which didn't seem to understand in +the least the natural instincts for freedom and self-expression of a +half-wild boy like me. Already before the new term opened I had had two +days' experience of the school cells, where I was shut up in solitude +and darkness for some offence against the regulations, which I suppose +was serious enough to the minds of the pedants who imprisoned me, but +which to me seemed merely the natural corollary of my whole upbringing. +And of course I was soon dispossessed of my knife; but learning caution +I managed to keep my pistol safely hidden. It was Staggers who robbed +me of my knife, for he remembered it from of old; and it was he too who +brought me my stale crust and mug of water, three times a day while I +was in the cells.</p> + +<p>I wasn't in very good spirits when Worthing returned, but his steady +companionship soon restored me to something of my usual cheerfulness. +I clung to him for a while with a sort of yearning affection because +of the loneliness of my heart now that my father had left me and this +strange narrow life had closed about me like a prison wall. And yet our +friendship wasn't all milk and honey. For Worthing, with a passion I +suppose of setting me in the right path as he conceived it, lectured +me and scolded me, sometimes stinging me to the soul with his cold +rebukes, till at times I broke from him impatiently, and in desperation +turned to the wilder of my companions where I was sure to find an +appreciative welcome. And then would follow some escapade, the more +daring and risky share of it always falling to my lot, which would lead +to a further encounter with authority and the inevitable flogging, and +perhaps another day or two in the cells. And at these times Worthing +stood silently by with no look of compassion; nor in my confinement did +he attempt to break through to bring me any comfort, as I knew I should +have done were he in my case. And when I was released he had such an +air of passing it all over, as though I had committed some personal +offence against himself which he had forgiven, that it was difficult +sometimes not to upbraid him for his callous indifference.</p> + +<p>Once I remember he turned on me with a passion not usual with him, and +said, "I suppose when you've made an unmitigated ass of yourself you +want me to weep over you and stroke you and pet you like a baby! I tell +you if you think that's what it means to be a friend, you'd better find +some one else; that's all."</p> + +<p>"Why, Worthing!" I exclaimed, trying to appease him; for he seemed +almost on the verge of tears; an unprecedented thing, the mere +possibility of which dismayed me.</p> + +<p>"Look here, Tommy," he cried, "let's thrash this thing out once for +all. If you think it doesn't hurt me to see you—to see you—"</p> + +<p>"Flogged," I said, helping him out.</p> + +<p>"Well, <i>you</i> said it," he cried, "<i>I</i> didn't," as though the mere +mention of such a commonplace event were something terrible to him. He +went on, still in the strange excited way which I couldn't understand: +"If you think it doesn't hurt me; if you think I <i>like</i> it," he +emphasized the word almost spitefully, "then you're just one of those +blind shallow fools who think every emotion must be written large +across the face. In my profession, Tommy, the face is a mask, not an +index."</p> + +<p>I could have laughed at the fine sense of self-importance which rang +through the remark, but I only took his arm affectionately, and would +have said something to mollify him, but he shook me off with, "I +haven't finished yet," and continued: "I want you to understand me, +Tommy; that's all. I tell you I think you a silly little fool the +way you're going on; and just because you're my friend I can't think +you're any better than you are. Also I can't help being fond of you; +and that's what makes it so infernally hard for me to look on and see +you behaving as you do. But if my friendship's to be worth anything at +all, it won't be by pandering to your folly. That would simply make it +a fawning piece of flattery which would do you more harm than good. And +now you know."</p> + +<p>He flung away from me, and left me gazing after him in amazement; for +usually he was so reserved, so controlled, that I couldn't understand +this uncustomary passion. His eyes were moist as he turned away, and +his whole face quivering. But when we next met he was the same severe +little figure as before, neat, commanding, uncompromising; but I +thought I could feel beneath the mask something human stirring there in +the shadow.</p> + +<p>I was constantly suffering from remorse of conscience for some +unkindness to my friend; for on the one hand my vanity was stirred by +the evident admiration which my daring aroused among my fellows, and +on the other hand I was constantly meeting with some stiff rebuke from +Worthing, usually in the flush of success after some adventure; and +the result was that my tongue too often proved a traitor to my real +affection for him. I did my best to make it up by extra confidences +as tokens of my repentance. Whether I overstepped the mark of prudence +I don't know; but in any case if at times I thought I had done so, I +felt reassured by my knowledge of his secrecy and reserve; a confidence +to him was a sacred thing. And so it was that he learnt of my dealings +with the smugglers, for I thought they had no concern with the central +secret of my father's life, whatever that might be. But I didn't +mention Drift-Wood Cavern, though I told all I knew of Ebb-Tide Cave +and the Smugglers' Tunnel, for these were open secrets now and lay +exposed to all. Also I remember I confided to him how my father always +took me to the <i>Dolphin</i> for the summer. And as the spring was very +near now, if indeed it wasn't already with us, I said my father would +surely reappear some day and take me away.</p> + +<p>But to all my confidences Worthing returned but little. He rather +sniffed at my talk of smugglers. They were creatures outside the law; +his natural enemies. All he told me was that he would soon be going to +his uncle in London to study law. His father lived in York, but there +was no opening in the provinces, Worthing informed me in his grown-up +manner, for a fellow with real brains.</p> + +<p>We paid several visits to Sunset Towers; for though my father was away, +I thought it was only for a while, and I still looked upon the house +as my own, and without scruple used to take what chums I chose for a +scramble and a game there. But I was wise enough to keep my own counsel +about the ghost and the skeleton. I didn't even tell Worthing of the +strange visitation which had sent my father fleeing from the place. +But we were both very much concerned to find the secret passage where +I had lost my way and had gripped the skeleton by the hand. Again and +again we came to the corner where Worthing had found me, but the wall +continued to confront us, grim and unyielding, refusing to give up its +secret.</p> + +<p>I remember how I admired the business-like way in which Worthing +set about his investigations. For my part, I gave the reins to my +imagination. If a place seemed shadowy and mysterious I promptly +concluded that it hid some secret door or stairway; but Worthing would +point out how impossible that was by the mere configuration of the +building. For he took careful measurements and made elaborate plans, +till after some weeks every known corner of the huge straggling house +lay clearly in its right place and proportion. And then it was obvious +where the mystery was concealed by the spaces that lay blank and +unexplored though according to the plan built in. In fact we could +almost trace the path of the passage we were in search of; and that to +me explained the mystery of that last night which my father and I had +spent there. For the passage wound away from the corner where Worthing +had found me, though of course on the other side of the wall, up a +flight of stairs, into a chamber high up in the roof, and then down +again by a twisting stairway, it must have been, by the side of the +great chimney in our bedroom. And there it ended.</p> + +<p>It wasn't long before we were examining the oak wardrobe; though still +I said nothing of the ghost that had appeared there.</p> + +<p>It was most tantalizing to know so much, yet to be baffled by a secret +of the entrance. For tap and shake and scrutinize as we would, we +learnt nothing. The wall remained stolidly dumb, and the wardrobe was +firm and sound except for one worm-eaten panel in the side against the +chimney. But though this looked suspicious, yet it gave no clue to the +quest we were on.</p> + +<p>Once I suggested knocking a hole through the wall; but Worthing pointed +out that that would destroy the secrecy of the thing. So we persisted +in our investigations whenever we were able to slip away for an +afternoon.</p> + +<p>There was one curious thing that puzzled us. We knew there was a hidden +room high up in the house, and we knew where it was, though of course +we couldn't reach it. But as far as we could see there was no window to +it. Worthing suggested there must be a window somewhere in the roof, +so one day we climbed up to search for it. And there we found that by +clever planning and building the room still guarded its secret, except +for the over-curious who were willing to risk a fall which would mean +a broken neck for sure. For we discovered that the great chimney-stack +above the bedroom my father and I had used was much larger than +necessity warranted, and was supplied along one side with a complete +row of false pots. It was built almost foursquare, and it didn't need +much astuteness to surmise that if we could only scale it we should +find enclosed between its walls the window we were seeking. But it was +too high to scale. However, having pushed our examination so far we +weren't to be turned back merely by a risk; so we determined next time +to bring ropes and grappling hooks, and climb the barrier.</p> + +<p>Even Worthing couldn't quite conceal his excitement as we set forth +one Saturday well equipped for the last phase, as we hoped it would +be, of our search. Indeed, if anything could move my self-possessed +friend to any show of excitement it was to feel himself on the clue of +some mystery. And I suppose it was this lawyer's instinct precociously +developed in him which always made him side with authority against +rebellion.</p> + +<p>But we were to be sadly disappointed; for arriving at the house we +were met by the ferrety little landlord who soon packed us about our +business, having first eloquently expressed his opinion of prowling +urchins, not to mention house-breakers and thieves, and threatening +to let them know at the school of our goings-on. Worthing looked at me +amazed, and I turned to the landlord with, "But this is my father's +house!" Evidently this was an unfortunate speech, for he burst out at +me with a tirade which I couldn't quite follow, but the drift of it +seemed to be that my father had quitted the place most unjustifiably. +The sore point, I guessed, was that it was no easy matter to find a +tenant, and so he bore a grudge against my father for having remained +so short a time.</p> + +<p>We turned away, for my part feeling very disconsolate, especially as +now my fears seemed confirmed that my father had really left me, and +hadn't merely vanished for a season. Worthing was very quiet, and I +didn't break into his silence, for my mind was filled with doubt and +concern for my father; and the new light thrown on his disappearance +sent a sudden pain of longing to my heart. I felt very lonely and +deserted, and I knew that above all things I wanted to see my father +again. But spring was well advanced, and I told myself the summer would +bring him. And as we walked back to the school I looked this way and +that wondering if he were already lurking near at hand, waiting for a +chance to speak with me. I listened, thinking at times I could hear a +faint whistling from far away, but all the while I knew it was merely +my own fancy shaping the sound. Still I assured myself he would be +wanting me soon; and there would come a sign. Though what the sign +would be I couldn't imagine. I only knew that I must be continually on +the alert to catch what slightest hint he would send me, be it ever so +subtle or obscure. If he wanted me I mustn't fail him; I must keep my +wits bright and ready for the signal that would come.</p> + +<p>But no signal came that day; and my thoughts were suddenly whipped +back to the present and the actual by Worthing saying bitterly, "So +that's what you've been making of me!"</p> + +<p>I didn't understand, and said so; realizing as I turned to look +concernedly into his face that he was white with anger.</p> + +<p>"House-breaker! That's it!" he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Why, Worthing!" I cried, not knowing what to say.</p> + +<p>"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked fiercely.</p> + +<p>"Tell you?"</p> + +<p>"That your father had gone."</p> + +<p>"Why, I didn't know."</p> + +<p>"Didn't know?"</p> + +<p>"Honestly I didn't know. I thought he was coming back."</p> + +<p>"Oh, well, then," was all he replied as we entered the gates.</p> + +<p>But I could understand something of what his feelings must be. He to be +ranked among the law-breakers!</p> + +<p>My conscience was made of different stuff, and for me the search had by +no means ended.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII</h2> +</div> + +<h3>TRAPPED</h3> + + +<p>Accordingly, when I set out again, well provided with a coil of rope +concealed around me under my cloak, a stout steel hook for grappling, +a lantern, and my pistol, I didn't invite Worthing to accompany me. +I tried to slink away from school unobserved, but Worthing must have +guessed what was brewing in my mind, and outside the school gate I came +face to face with him.</p> + +<p>He gripped my hand, and looking straight into my eyes said, "Don't go, +Tommy."</p> + +<p>I laughed, and shook myself free.</p> + +<p>"Don't go," he repeated. "You know now that the house isn't yours."</p> + +<p>"But the secret will soon be mine," I replied.</p> + +<p>He looked at me quietly for a moment, and said very decidedly, "Tommy, +you're a fool."</p> + +<p>Somehow I felt suddenly annoyed with him, though as a rule I could bear +his rebukes without ill-feeling. It seemed so absurd to stick at such +a trifle. What if the house was not mine! I hadn't been trained to +the creed of <i>meum</i> and <i>tuum</i>. And the challenge of a mystery to be +solved was one that I couldn't refuse. Romance, adventure, this was my +life-breath; and if there were pedants and landlords and other petty +obstructions of authority to break through, so much the better.</p> + +<p>"I'm a fool, am I?" I said, and added stupidly, "Well, I think you're a +coward."</p> + +<p>He stiffened, and turned on his heel; and my anger died down like a +flame beneath a drench of water.</p> + +<p>"Worthing," I cried; but he walked on. And then I remembered how he +had spent that night alone in the haunted room; and I had called him a +coward.... I knew I had merely done so under that foolish impulse of +self-justification which makes us whiten our own conduct by blackening +that of those who oppose us. As he walked away I was in two minds +whether to follow him or not. But my business was urgent, and I told +myself I could easily unsay the silly word later on. So I pushed +forward, and had soon forgotten the little tiff.</p> + +<p>I took precautions this time not to enter the grounds where I was +likely to be seen, and I was soon among the ruins climbing up to the +roof by a way I knew well through long experience. Then came the real +obstacle, the wall of the false stack, high, smooth, and with no +foothold, approached by a steep, slanting roof which would throw me +to the ground far below if I slipped. And owing partly to the ruinous +state of the house, and partly to its original disposition, this was +the only way of reaching the stack in which I knew lay concealed the +entrance to the secret chamber. I crawled out on to the sloping roof, +keeping to the edge where I could get a certain purchase for my feet +against the level eaves, and when under the stack I lay flat on my +stomach and looked upward along the slates slanting away above me to +the wall standing stiffly up beyond.</p> + +<p>I surveyed it for a moment, and felt just the least apprehension; but +taking a grip on my nerve I bound the hook firmly to the rope and slung +it up over the wall, then pulled in to see if it had gripped. It wasn't +an easy matter to throw at all in such a position, and the first +attempt was unsuccessful; but at the third throw the rope held. It was +difficult to test it properly by taking the strain, for I was obliged +to cling with one hand to the slates, and if I tugged at the rope and +it came away suddenly I should probably lose my grip and be sent over +the edge. However, I jerked it three or four times, and it seemed firm +enough; then summoning my courage I took the rope in both hands, pulled +myself slowly up along the slanting slates, and was soon at the foot of +the wall. Before ascending I again jerked at the rope to test it for +the last time, and feeling reassured began climbing up hand over hand. +But I had scarcely mounted a couple of feet before I felt something +give, and for a dizzying moment I hung in mid air expecting to fall, +and gazing frenziedly for some possible crevice in the roof beneath +me to catch my fingers in if the rope should slip. But it seemed to +be steady enough now, and cautiously I recommenced the ascent. I was +half-way up, when again there came that sickening jerk as though +something were breaking loose; but knowing now that my only chance was +to reach the top of the wall, for if I fell it would be with too great +a force to stay myself, I scrambled on with desperate speed, the rope +seeming to slip with every heave upward of my body. And it was just +as I reached the top, the fingers of one hand clutching at the stone, +that the rope came away in the other hand, while I swung perilously, +gripping at the wall with the bare tips of my fingers. But with a leap +upward I caught at the top with my free hand, though I had to drop my +rope to do so, and was soon safe astride the barrier looking down on +the other side.</p> + +<p>If I had been met by a blank roof I should have been in a perilous +predicament indeed, perched up there, with no rope to descend by. But +my gamble with fortune proved a lucky one, for enclosed within the +walls of the stack, and only a few feet below me, was the window I had +hoped to find; or skylight rather, for such it was, like a shallow dome +looking up at me with a great round eye.</p> + +<p>Before dropping down I gave another look to the way I had come, and +saw, caught in a broken slate of the sloping roof below me, the rope I +had dropped; but the greater length of it was hanging over the eaves. +The thought came to me that somehow I must climb back and recover +it before I left, otherwise it would remain as a tell-tale witness +against me. And then I remember speeding a fleeting glance across the +moors. I had never climbed as high as this before, and the prospect +was wonderful. For winding far away I saw the Rancey River flowing out +to sea, and I called to mind how I had seemed to sniff the brine when +first I had come to Sunset Towers.</p> + +<p>And with that I was over the edge, and examining the skylight for an +entrance. Nor was I long about it, for it opened quite easily, leaving +ample room for me to slip through. But I had to risk a drop, for there +was no means of climbing down. I looked beneath me, swinging from the +open casement; and judging the distance as well as I could in the +shadowy room, dropped, and fell unhurt, though on all fours. And it +wasn't till I was well in the trap that the realization came to me that +if I couldn't find the secret of the doors from the inside I would be +buried alive there; for to climb back the way I had come without a rope +was utterly impossible. And then the memory of the skeleton came to me. +Had another been trapped there too? And was that the end of it all? I +shuddered.</p> + +<p>But these thoughts were momentary merely, for I wasn't given to +brooding. I think it was the hollow echo of my feet in that secret and +deserted chamber that brought the horrid fear to my mind. I was soon +glancing about me, taking stock of my surroundings. And with the first +look round I was both relieved and dismayed. For the room, bare for the +most part, was evidently occupied, or being prepared for occupation. +In one corner was a small bed with posts and canopy; an old remnant of +furniture, it seemed. But on it was flung a bundle of bedding which +looked fresh enough, as though the bed were to be used that night +though not yet laid ready.</p> + +<p>This puzzled me, and I fingered the stuff, but could find no name. +Nor was there anything else in the chamber to suggest occupation. The +mantelshelf lay thick in dust; and the skylight above was so dirty that +the light came through but weakly, leaving the panelled room in a half +shadow.</p> + +<p>I lit my lantern and turned to examine the entrances. One was quite +obvious: a narrow slip of a door, opening, it seemed, into the side +of the chimney. I guessed at once that this led down to the old oak +wardrobe in the great bedroom below. I knew now where that apparition +had come from and vanished to, and my first thought was to descend and +investigate. But it occurred to me that there must be another entrance +opening into the passage of the skeleton, as I thought of it. But +there was nothing to show which panel hid the secret. Indeed I should +probably have been searching for an hour or more if I hadn't noticed +the marks of feet on the dusty floor disappearing into the wall; and +tugging at the panel there it came open in my hands. If I had tapped +for it I shouldn't have found it, for it was too solid to sound hollow +to the knuckles.</p> + +<p>I was growing more and more excited with my discoveries, but through +my excitement I felt apprehensive, for it was clear that some one had +been in the chamber very recently, and might come back again. If so I +should be trapped like a rat in a drain, with no way to turn. Still, I +decided to examine the passage first, and holding out my lantern before +me ventured into the dark, trying to remember by the plan Worthing had +drawn up what turns and stairways to expect. But there was little need +for this; for, though the passage twisted and climbed and descended, +there was no chance of losing the way, for there was only one way to +take.</p> + +<p>I pressed on step by step with the utmost caution, gazing intently into +the darkness ahead, and testing every step before I moved forward; +and so intent was I on the process that I didn't notice what was on +either hand till I suddenly became aware of a figure in a niche beside +me standing very still. I turned quickly, and stifled a faint cry. +For there was the skeleton; and at its feet lay my candle. I held up +my lantern and examined the dismal thing. There were chains about its +wrists and chest and feet, fixing it to the wall. It hadn't lost its +way then and perished in the darkness, but had been imprisoned there +by an enemy and left to die slowly and alone. I had enough imagination +to picture the terrible deed: the mockery of the triumphant foe as the +chains clanked into the staples; the cries of the victim, the frantic +curses and appeals; the dying away of the footsteps, and the closing of +the door; the terrible secrecy of the darkness, with death creeping out +of the shadow by lingering degrees; the screams of growing madness, the +sobs weakening into moans, the frenzied struggling at the bonds, the +prayers, the mutterings, the hours of dumb silence.... I stood there +fascinated by the horrid details of that slow agony, realizing more +vividly than before something of the meaning of the crime of the Mad +Captain in my father's story. Little wonder, it seemed to me, that with +such a picture in his mind of not one only but many of his comrades +perishing so, and he the author of it all, little wonder if sleep +forsook him, and his dreams grew frightful with avenging phantoms, and +the light brought only troubled memories to torment him.</p> + +<p>Then before I could move forward I heard a sound in the darkness ahead +of me. I knew at once what it meant. The secret door was opening.</p> + +<p>I turned and hurried back; and it was fortunate for me that the passage +was a tangle of turnings, for otherwise I should have had to put out my +lantern, or expose myself to the stranger. And something told me that +the stranger was no friend to me.</p> + +<p>I was soon back in the chamber, and listening heard feet moving nearer +along the passage; and something too which stopped my breath in a +hushed pause; for very faint and low came the murmur of a moan such as +I had often heard in that haunted house. And then I could have laughed; +for I said, the door is open, and the wind is blowing through. But I +had no time to ponder on the sound, for the feet were approaching. I +turned to the chimney, and opened the narrow door in the side, and +before me was the first step of a spiral stairway, so cramped that as I +entered I brushed both shoulders against the walls.</p> + +<p>At last I reached the bottom, and there I paused again to listen. I +could hear faint sounds above me, but I breathed freely when there +was no step upon the stairs. For a while I was safe. So I held up my +lantern and examined the wall in front of me.</p> + +<p>From this side it was easy enough to see how the door opened. Two large +steel bars, pivoting on their centres and working together, lay across +the door, holding it immovably in place. But they were so well balanced +that they could be lifted with a finger, and when released dropped +almost noiselessly back into the well-oiled staples. A spring lever +which could be forced inwards from the outside to raise them clear of +the catch completed the simple mechanism.</p> + +<p>I swung the bars from the horizontal, and the door opened soundlessly +in upon me; and as I expected I found myself looking into the oak +wardrobe. But what I wanted to learn was how to force in the spring +from the outside. If I went away without discovering that my adventure +would have been fruitless.</p> + +<p>And then I heard some one coming up the main stairs....</p> + +<p>What was I to do? If he came into the room I should be caught. And to +ascend again to the secret chamber would be impossible, for some one +was waiting for me there as well. I thought my best plan was to hide at +the bottom of the little stairway. But as I was creeping back I heard +the door above me open, and some one commence the descent; and at the +same moment there was a fumbling at the bedroom door.</p> + +<p>I didn't stay to think what to do. I crept into the wardrobe, blowing +out my lantern, and shutting the door behind me, and crouched in the +farther corner, hoping the darkness would conceal me.</p> + +<p>So for a terrible minute I hugged myself into a motionless ball, hardly +daring to breathe, and wishing I could silence the absurd hammering of +my heart which sounded loud enough to betray me. And soon the secret +door swung open, and there were two of us there in the great wardrobe. +But the stranger had no light; and the darkness hid me. Then the +wardrobe door was opened, and the stranger stepped out, shutting it +softly behind him. I heard a faint cry which changed to, "Ah, it's you, +Abou! You frightened me."</p> + +<p>A soft voice replied, "Pardon, my master; I did not know you were here."</p> + +<p>The first voice continued, "Yes, back once again. There's no other +place for me."</p> + +<p>"It is a good place, my master," was the gentle reply.</p> + +<p>Something in the tone of the last speaker soothed and calmed me. His +voice was placid and comforting. I thought I should like to see his +face. But the other speaker was troubled, though his voice wasn't +unkindly. Presently he uttered in a piteous sigh so unexpected and so +sorrowful that it seemed to melt my very heart to tears, "Oh, Abou, +Abou, why will he still pursue me? Why will he not have mercy?"</p> + +<p>"Have courage, my master," Abou replied in that suave and gracious +voice of his which seemed to steal about me like a charm, though I had +hardly heard a dozen words of his uttering. "Have courage, my master, +he shall have mercy."</p> + +<p>"But will it never end? Will it never end?" again came that broken cry.</p> + +<p>"Courage, my master. It will end."</p> + +<p>For a while there were subdued movements in the room as though clothes +were being unfolded and laid ready for putting on. I was tempted to +feel for the secret door, and if it were open to creep away and out +through the passage. But perhaps the door was closed; and Abou might +open the wardrobe at any minute. The sound of clothes being unpacked +made me tremble lest the wardrobe might be needed for use. Then, too, +I was curious to learn more of the mystery into which I had stumbled. +Here seemed even another case of a hunted man. I began to philosophize +in my boyish way, wondering if life were nothing but fleeing and +pursuing. My father's life was a constant flight. And then I remembered +Dirk and his vow, and wondered whether that treacherous King's Man had +paid the forfeit yet. And here was another victim under the shadow of +fear.</p> + +<p>My thoughts came to a sudden stop with Abou's voice saying, "All is +ready. Will my master come up to his room?"</p> + +<p>"No Abou, no; not for a while."</p> + +<p>Then the bedroom door opened and closed; and there was a sound which +jarred alarmingly into my consciousness—the turning of the key in the +lock. Before I could grasp the full significance of this, the wardrobe +door opened. I peeped stealthily from my corner, in spite of my terror, +and saw a slim, darkish man, with a big black beard and whiskers +framing his face; but of his face and its expression I could see +nothing. He had a slender instrument in his hand, but how he applied it +to the secret door I couldn't see. It opened, and closed behind him.</p> + +<p>I listened for his steps as he ascended, but so silent or so muffled +were they that I could hardly distinguish them. But I could hear enough +to know that he was safely landed in the room above. I breathed freely, +and cautiously opening the wardrobe crept out.</p> + +<p>Once more I was in that bedroom I knew so well. Before me was a new +mirror in place of the one I had smashed. For a moment I stared at +myself, feeling very guilty, as though I had been caught at some prank. +But I had no time for idle fancies. I went quickly up to the door and +tried it; but, as I feared, it was locked on the outside. I was a +prisoner.</p> + +<p>Even if later it were possible to venture back the way I had come, how +was I to open that secret door? Evidently some kind of instrument was +needed, and I had nothing; nor would I have known how to apply it had +there been one ready to hand.</p> + +<p>For a moment I gazed stupidly round the room, idly noticing some +travelling gear thrown on a chair; then mechanically went to the +window, though I knew perfectly well that I couldn't climb down the +wall, and the drop to earth was far too deep to be considered. However, +I stood looking out, busily turning over in mind every conceivable +plan of escape. But the ground lay far below, and the wall promised +no foothold; nor had it developed any miraculous excrescences for my +special behoof. I turned away, and examined the wardrobe, the sudden +idea coming to me that perhaps Abou might have left his curious key +in the door. But there was no such luck in store for me. The door was +locked, and I had no means of opening it. Again I tried the bedroom +door; but it remained sulkily closed against me. Miracles refused to +come to my rescue.</p> + +<p>Being at a loss I stood in the middle of the room staring forlornly +about me, and again made my useless round from the window to the +wardrobe, and from the wardrobe to the door. There seemed no way of +escape. The only thing to do was to hide and wait. And the only place +to hide in was the wardrobe. Still, it would be time enough to hide +when I heard anyone coming. Meanwhile I must continue to worry at the +problem of how to escape. Again the same old round; and again without +profit.</p> + +<p>Then I had an illuminating idea. If I couldn't climb down the wall +perhaps I could climb up. I ran to the window and looked towards the +roof, and there dangling above me and a little to one side was my rope. +I nearly shouted with triumph, and jumping to the sill reached for it +and seized it; but it wouldn't come away. I tugged harder, but though +it seemed to give a little, almost precipitating me off the ledge, it +refused to yield. And all this while I knew I was exposing myself to +anyone who might be looking up from the garden. I scanned the ground +below, but could see no one, so again gave my attention to the rope. +It seemed fixed more firmly than ever. I jumped back into the room and +blew on my hands to cool them, for they were getting sore; and then it +occurred to me that after all my intention had been to climb up, not +down, and there was the rope ready for me. So again I sprang to the +sill, and taking a firm grip of the rope swung out into the open, and +still spinning round and round started to climb for the eaves. With the +memory of my earlier climb in mind, also with the vision of the rope +caught merely in a broken slate, and not understanding in the least +how it could hold so tightly to such a support, I was in a frenzy of +anxiety till breathless with haste I touched and seized the jutting +eaves, and swung myself up to safety on the roof, where I lay panting, +hardly able to realize my deliverance.</p> + +<p>When I had recovered breath and composure I examined the slate where +the hook had caught. I must have kicked my foot through when scrambling +up the roof, for the hook had gone deeply in and was firmly gripping a +rafter beneath. So firmly indeed that it was no easy matter to release +it. However, after wrenching away at it for a few minutes with all my +might I managed to work it free; and with very little bother I climbed +back the way I had come earlier in the day, and soon found myself on +firm earth once more, and with freedom well in sight.</p> + +<p>I was winding the rope about me when it occurred to me that I hadn't +yet finished my explorations. So choosing a hiding-place among the +ruins I deposited my rope and lantern there, and turned to go back to +school. Cautiously I peeped round the corner to see if the road were +clear; and behind me I heard a voice, "The devil! And who are you?"</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV</h2> +</div> + +<h3>THE NEW TENANT</h3> + + +<p>I was too frightened even to turn about, and stood petrified to the +spot. I felt I must have been seen and followed, and something of the +fear a trapped spy must experience laid hold of me. I was too terrified +to think; my faculties were numb and useless.</p> + +<p>The question was repeated:</p> + +<p>"Who are you?"</p> + +<p>The answer came from my mouth as though it was the only one possible.</p> + +<p>"Tommy," I said simply; and slowly turned and looked upon the +questioner.</p> + +<p>"Ho, you're Tommy, are you?" he cried almost jovially. I saw a face +of angry suspicion smooth itself out to one of merry kindness; and +instinctively I smiled my broadest.</p> + +<p>"So you're Tommy, eh?" repeated the man, whom somehow I immediately +knew to be Abou's master; perhaps by his voice, but rather as I think +because of a lurking shadow of uneasiness in his kindly grey eyes. I +had seen just such a look on my father's face when danger was imminent. +It was the look of the hunted which I knew so well. And I knew this man +was in hiding from some inveterate foe; he too lived with an enemy ever +on his trail.</p> + +<p>For a moment we stood facing each other, for my part still smiling, +and growing reassured as the merry lines about his eyes puckered and +wrinkled with amusement. It seemed as though somehow I had found +favour with him, for a child is quick to read the signs of affection in +a stranger. And I know I felt a glow of heart as though I had stumbled +on a friend; for his face was one of the kindest I had seen, and the +lurking sadness, and something haunting and elusive in the whole +expression, appealed to my sense of the romantic and mysterious. For +already I knew there was a sorrow and a mystery in the life of this +new friend of mine, and his face bore witness to the shadow amidst the +sunshine. It was the kind of face I would have given to some favourite +sea-captain of my imagination; a face to love and yet to fear a little, +with that kind of fear which is a delight, for it carries with it a +sense of trust and reverence; and a face to wonder at and brood upon, +for it was eloquent of old adventures and far sojournings and strange +and secret things.</p> + +<p>What prompted me to speak as I did, I can't say. I think something of +my father's power of acting was born in me, for more than once in my +life I have found myself playing a part with such ease and naturalness +as for a while to have deceived even myself. And now I suddenly +reverted to a simple, confiding, unsuspecting child, though half +wondering what made me assume such a mask.</p> + +<p>"Everybody calls me Tommy," I said. "And I go to school at Rancey +Bridge, 'way yonder, but I hate it, because they won't let me play when +I want to, and they've taken away my knife. But"—and here I looked +cautiously round, and slowly drawing my pistol held it out to the +stranger, saying—"but they don't know I've got this."</p> + +<p>He chuckled merrily, and taking the pistol turned it over in his hands, +while I watched him. He seemed to be hiding something behind his smile, +something I couldn't quite read.</p> + +<p>I held out my hand and said, "I want it back, please;" and he gave it +me, asking, "And do you know how to use it, my little man?"</p> + +<p>"See," I said, raising it and taking aim, "I can hit that ousel."</p> + +<p>"No," he cried quickly, "no. Poor thing!"</p> + +<p>"Poor thing?" I said enquiringly.</p> + +<p>"Well, there," he passed it over. "Put up your pistol; you may need it. +I can see we're going to be great friends."</p> + +<p>Again his eyes surveyed me twinklingly.</p> + +<p>I continued with my chatter: "I should like you to be my friend. I +think you can tell me stories. I like stories."</p> + +<p>"You like stories, eh?" he said.</p> + +<p>"Exciting ones," I answered in an awed voice, "that make you feel +<i>hrrrrh</i>!" I shuddered to express my meaning, and he laughed aloud.</p> + +<p>"Ghost stories?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"I've seen a ghost," I replied very quietly.</p> + +<p>"The devil you have!" he cried.</p> + +<p>"I tell you, yes," I went on, with something of my father's tense +expression in my voice. "I've seen a ghost. Here. This house is +haunted. You like ghosts too, that you've come to live here?"</p> + +<p>I put the question with a simplicity that surprised myself; for by now +I knew I was acting a part, and yet couldn't bring myself to speak +naturally. A constraint was upon me to carry on the play. I think the +old man was delighted, for he broke out into a great peal of laughter, +such as I associated with my imaginary type of jolly sea-captain, and +exclaimed, "Like ghosts, eh? Well, they're not exactly friends of mine. +Though I suppose we shall all be ghosts some day, eh?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," I said in a hushed voice, "all ghosts some day."</p> + +<p>I was appalled at the change in his face. All the merriment died out +of it, and his eyes became bright and piercing. "What do you mean, eh? +What do you mean?" he cried, gripping me by the arm.</p> + +<p>I was alarmed at this sudden transformation, for the shadow which I +had seen lurking like a little speck in the corner of his eyes seemed +to have overspread his whole countenance. There was something, too, of +that awful imbecile look I had seen that night on my father's face when +he had told me the story of the Mad Captain.</p> + +<p>I stood looking stupidly up at him, and presently he relaxed his hold, +and with a sigh drew his arm across his face as though to brush away +the pain that had so suddenly overshadowed it.</p> + +<p>I said, "I think you've seen a ghost too."</p> + +<p>It was an unfortunate speech, for the frenzy surged back to his +countenance, and his eyes blazed savagely at me. Again he caught me +in his hands, and his whole body was quivering. "Ghosts!" he cried. +"Ghosts! Ah, don't you ever speak of ghosts. They wake you in the dark, +and you open your eyes, and they are staring at you, staring.... And +they die away with a moan, till the blood runs cold about your heart. +And your throat is dry, and you can't speak. And your limbs are stiff, +and won't move.... Ghosts!..."</p> + +<p>"Yes," I said, "I know."</p> + +<p>"You know?" he shouted; and laughed foolishly.</p> + +<p>"I've seen. Here. This house is haunted. And I've heard them. They cry +in the night, and sob bitterly, and call to you, till you want to go to +them; but they only lead you on and on and trap you somewhere, or drown +you in the river, or take you to the quarry where you'd fall and kill +yourself."</p> + +<p>"You've heard them, eh?" he said.</p> + +<p>"Yes, at night-time; when the wind is out; and sometimes when it's +still. It sounds very sad as though some one is lost or dying or is +looking for a friend. It hurts you to listen."</p> + +<p>Again he released me, and wiped his brow; and growing calmer said, "So +then, if you heard crying here you'd know it was a ghost?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," I answered; "everybody'd know that."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" I thought he seemed relieved. But he put another question to me, +watching me intently for the answer; "And if you heard—heard me crying +in the night, would you think it a ghost?"</p> + +<p>"Know it," I said positively, "that's what they do, to lead you on. +I've heard them, crying like something in pain; and once I followed; +but——"</p> + +<p>I paused, wondering whether I had said too much; but he urged me on. +"Yes, yes," he said eagerly.</p> + +<p>"Ah, I don't remember," I said. "I was lost, and there was something +terrible, and in the morning it was all gone."</p> + +<p>There was a pause, and then I said deliberately, as though imparting +some piece of profound advice, "If you hear them crying to you, don't +go; don't go."</p> + +<p>I nodded my head sagely, and once again I heard his merry burst of +laughter, and his face cleared.</p> + +<p>"Oh," he cried, "we shall be famous friends, Tommy; famous friends." He +patted me affectionately on the head.</p> + +<p>But I was busy thinking out the situation into which my confidences had +led me. Why didn't he ask me how I knew all this? He would guess I had +lived here; and that might be dangerous. So I said, "I come here often. +I run away from school, you see, because I don't like it. And then I +hear things: and sometimes at night I see a shadow, and feel things +breathing on me; very soft, you know, as though a butterfly passed. I +don't know whether I like it or whether I'm afraid. It's—it's funny," +I finished feebly.</p> + +<p>He was gazing at me with increased amusement. "So," he said, "you run +away from school, do you? Well, how'd you like to come and live here, +eh?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," I said, "thank you," as though the matter were settled.</p> + +<p>That seemed to amuse him more than anything I had yet said, and he +chuckled more delightedly than ever.</p> + +<p>"Very well," he said, "we'll see about it. Rancey Bridge, you say? +Well, I'll be round in a few days, and we'll see about it."</p> + +<p>"Not to-night?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"To-night, eh?" he laughed. "You want to come to-night, eh?"</p> + +<p>My thought was that I ought to have been back at school long before +now, and there was a certain punishment in store for me. If I +could accept the invitation straight away I might avoid unpleasant +consequences.</p> + +<p>My answer was too subtle even for me to follow its drift.</p> + +<p>"You see, I like you," I said.</p> + +<p>And then I heard a halloo, and a high voice crying, "Daddy, daddy!"</p> + +<p>The familiar word sent a gush of memory to my heart, and my eyes +moistened. But the pain passed as quickly as it came, for a little girl +came racing round the corner and drew up wide-eyed and motionless a +foot in front of me.</p> + +<p>"Why, Jenny!" exclaimed her father.</p> + +<p>But she took no notice of him, her gaze fixed on me.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV</h2> +</div> + +<h3>JENNY</h3> + + +<p>Girls were creatures outside my circle of experience. Indeed, so +little did I know of them that I wasn't even bashful at this sudden +apparition. I returned stare for stare, taking very precise notice of +the little figure before me. The round dark eyes, the disordered locks, +the curving lips, full and red, the slightly tilted nose, the freckles +about the brow, all spoke of qualities I could well appreciate. Here +was a spirit to match my own, if the signs weren't false. Here was +a courage, a wildness, a passion. And that ringing cry of "Daddy, +daddy!" awoke echoes in my own heart. I knew at once that I had found a +companion; nor did I share that contempt for girls which I have since +found is so usual with boys, perhaps because I was ignorant of the +tactics of sisters so well calculated to move brothers to disgust and +misappreciation of the whole sex. Indeed I hardly said to myself: This +is a girl. All I thought was: Here is a companion; we shall be able +to play together. And her name was Jenny. I moved my lips as though +to speak it. I thought I liked it. It was a name one could shout or +whisper. It had a familiar, everyday sound; yet wasn't weak or faded or +colourless.</p> + +<p>She turned suddenly away from me, and I found myself wiping my hand +across my lips. She looked up at her father and said, "You've brought +him, daddy? He's for me?"</p> + +<p>At that I opened my eyes, and her father laughed.</p> + +<p>Jenny turned to me and said, "Daddy told me you would come soon. You're +to play with me." Then she added, "I like you."</p> + +<p>All this was a puzzle to me, and I looked to her father for some +explanation; but he was still chuckling with amusement. It was Jenny +who gave me a clue to the mystery.</p> + +<p>"I haven't got a brother," she said. "I want you to play with me. Daddy +promised."</p> + +<p>"We'll play hide-and-seek," I answered.</p> + +<p>"I'll go and hide," she cried, darting away. But she came racing back +to ask my name.</p> + +<p>"Tommy," I said.</p> + +<p>"Tommy," she repeated, as though asking herself whether it would do. +"Yes," she nodded, as it might be in approval, and was off again.</p> + +<p>I turned my face to the wall and began to count. I heard Jenny's father +move away.</p> + +<p>"Sir," I cried, "how many?"</p> + +<p>"How many?" he repeated.</p> + +<p>"How many must I count," I explained.</p> + +<p>"Never mind how many," he answered with a little laugh, "but mind you +catch her."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'll catch her," I asserted confidently.</p> + +<p>"Don't you be too sure," he said, still amused at some jest which +escaped me. "She's slippery."</p> + +<p>"I'll hold her tight," I declared.</p> + +<p>At that he went, still chuckling a little to himself; and I started on +my quest, little realizing the significance of that first step in the +pursuit of Jenny.</p> + +<p>I can't tell you all the turns of the game, but I found Jenny worthy +of my mettle. She was a wild little thing, and rather than be caught +would race away like a whisk of wind, and I would see her perched on +some dizzy edge of ruin where my weight wouldn't allow me to follow. +Then she would laugh in shrill delight, and seeing me baffled would +come lightly slipping down to me and say, "You were beaten? Say yes."</p> + +<p>But I would say no, not considering her manœuvre strictly fair.</p> + +<p>Then she would stamp her foot and cry, "But you <i>were</i> beaten. You +<i>must</i> say yes."</p> + +<p>"Yes, then," I would mumble.</p> + +<p>But this wouldn't satisfy her. My submission must be whole-hearted. +And when at length she had wrung a full surrender from me she would +throw her arms round my neck and eagerly kiss me. And looking back now +I can't understand my reluctance to own defeat knowing the reward that +awaited my acknowledgment.</p> + +<p>Still the sweetness of the kiss didn't efface the bitterness of being +beaten at my own game. So once when I saw her daintily stealing out +along a narrow and crumbling wall I decided I wouldn't yield so easily. +I climbed along after her, and although I felt the whole thing sway +beneath me, and here and there a loosened stone slipped from under my +knees and rattled to the ground, I persisted; till even Jenny began to +grow alarmed, and cried to me not to come any farther.</p> + +<p>I stopped and delivered my ultimatum: "Then own you're beaten."</p> + +<p>"No, no, <i>no</i>," she cried, almost in anger. So I advanced.</p> + +<p>Three times she called to me to stop, but I was determined not to +unless she acknowledged defeat. But she screamed her refusal at me, and +I smiled, feeling the joy of revenge. She had already broken my will +more than once making me confess to being vanquished; now it was my +turn.</p> + +<p>The crazy wall still swayed beneath me, and Jenny crept out to the +very last stone, which looked as though it might slip from under her +at any moment. I pressed along the narrow edge towards her, and at +last reaching out my hand would have touched her, but somehow she +managed to draw away from me by yet another inch. I strained out; and +something gave. I slipped and clutched; my eyes were full of dust; and +there was a pain at my head. I found myself clinging to a crevice by +my finger-tips, and above me I saw Jenny on her stone slowly slipping +out from the wall. In a moment she would have fallen. I swung myself +beneath her, and caught her in one arm: and then everything was dust +and toppling stones, and a sudden jolt of all my body.</p> + +<p>I scrambled out from the broken stuffs about me, and shook myself, glad +to find my limbs undamaged; and Jenny who had fallen on top of me was +saying, "Your head, Tommy; your head."</p> + +<p>I put my hand up to my brow, realizing that everything was beginning +to look dark about me. But Jenny had pulled out her kerchief and was +dabbing at my forehead.</p> + +<p>"I caught you," I said.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she answered, still ministering to me.</p> + +<p>"You own it," I pressed her.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she again replied. And at that I repaid her in her own coin, +putting my arms about her and kissing her.</p> + +<p>She took it meekly enough, but said, "But you were, oh, so silly."</p> + +<p>I laughed, but she continued, more gravely than I had yet heard her +speak, "It'll always be there. Just under your hair. A big cut."</p> + +<p>"Nothing," I said. And when the bleeding was staunched I suggested +resuming the game. But Jenny looked about her and said it was growing +dark, and suddenly added, "And I'm, oh, so hungry." She laid her hands +shamelessly upon the empty member that was demanding nourishment, +looking me straight in the eyes as though this was a serious matter.</p> + +<p>"I'm hungry too," I said, suddenly realizing that my whole body was +crying imperiously for food. So together we went into the house and +found Jenny's father waiting for us, and some savoury soup steaming on +the table.</p> + +<p>We said not a word, but sat down in our places and lapped up the +comforting broth with unctuous smackings, leaning back at the same +moment with a profound sigh of relish....</p> + +<p>Too soon came the hour of parting. As I said good-bye the vision of +what awaited me at school began to take form in my mind.</p> + +<p>"You'll come to-morrow," said Jenny.</p> + +<p>But I knew that on the morrow I should be expiating the offence of +to-day, so I answered rather sadly, "No, not to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"But you must," she said.</p> + +<p>"But I can't," I answered.</p> + +<p>"Why not?" she demanded.</p> + +<p>But how could I tell her of the punishment that awaited me?</p> + +<p>"I can't tell you," I said.</p> + +<p>"You must tell me, you <i>must</i>," she cried fiercely, stamping her foot.</p> + +<p>"I can't, Jenny," I said again.</p> + +<p>She looked at me a moment and asked, "Is it because I hurt you?"</p> + +<p>"You didn't hurt me," I answered.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I did," she declared, "and that's why you won't come."</p> + +<p>"No, you didn't," I contradicted her, "and that isn't why I won't come."</p> + +<p>"Then why, Tommy?" she asked, with a sudden change to a soft coaxing +tone.</p> + +<p>"I can't tell you," was all I could say, feeling very stupid.</p> + +<p>Again she stamped, and said, "Then I won't kiss you."</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry," I said, and turned to go.</p> + +<p>But she sprang after me and cried, "Oh, Tommy, <i>do</i> tell me."</p> + +<p>At this I turned and fled, shouting, "I can't, I <i>can't</i>."</p> + +<p>I ran down the path to the gate, and came face to face with Jenny's +father. He had evidently been waiting for me. He caught me in his tight +grip, and looking sternly at me said, "Remember, it's the ghost that +cries at night-time."</p> + +<p>"Yes," I answered, "the ghost. I know. I've heard it."</p> + +<p>"And seen it," he went on.</p> + +<p>"And seen it," I admitted.</p> + +<p>"Very well, very well," he patted me on the shoulder, and as I bade him +good night and turned to go he added, "And if anyone wants to know who +the new tenant is, remember it's Field: Captain Field."</p> + +<p>"You <i>are</i> a captain?" I cried.</p> + +<p>"How do you mean?" he demanded with a swift return to his fiercer +manner.</p> + +<p>"Why," I replied, "I like captains. You'll tell me stories."</p> + +<p>"Stories! Ha, yes, stories enough for a lifetime," he ejaculated; and I +ran on my way.</p> + +<p>But I hadn't gone far before my run slackened to a walk, and then to +a dawdle; for the prospect ahead of me wasn't alluring, and an idea +was taking shape in my mind. If I returned and delivered myself up to +authority I didn't know when I should be able to break from captivity +again. And the thought of being separated from Jenny wasn't to be +borne. I didn't remember having so thoroughly enjoyed myself since my +father had left me. And then, too, there was the knowledge that she +wanted me to return. She had dismissed me in anger because I hadn't +promised to come back to her the next day. Well, somehow I must +accomplish what I couldn't promise, and so appease her wrath.</p> + +<p>I sat down by the road-side on a great pile of stones. I wanted to +think. The obvious plan to follow was not to return to school. But +where could I pass the night? Though spring was well on its way the +night was a cold one, and I didn't relish the thought of spending it in +the open. Perhaps I could return and find some corner in the ruin where +I could at least shelter from the night air.</p> + +<p>I looked back at the house. I hadn't left it far behind. A light was +glowing faintly in a window facing me. I began to wonder which room +that could be; and then I knew. On the other side was the room my +father and I had used, and on this side I remembered was another large +bedroom with a great four-post bed. It was a room I had climbed to, for +the ivy grew thickly beneath it. I supposed Abou was sleeping there. +Then suddenly I told myself that Abou would be sleeping in my old room, +for I knew Captain Field was in the secret room above, and somehow it +seemed to me that Abou would be near him. From what I remembered of +that calm and patient voice, Abou must be very necessary to his master +with those strange sudden ways of his which already I had had a glimpse +of.</p> + +<p>Then who was sleeping in that room? Why, of course....</p> + +<p>But just then I heard some one coming along the road by the way I had +already come. With my instinct for concealment I crept behind a pile +of stones till he should pass; but I wasn't relieved to hear him make +towards me and seat himself on the heap. I had had a glimpse of him as +he approached through the dark. All I had seen was that he was carrying +a short stout stick.</p> + +<p>It was some little time before he rose again and moved on; and +meanwhile I had heard shufflings and tuggings and whispered oaths as +though some difficult or painful operation was in progress, but I +didn't dare peer above the stones to investigate. But when at last the +fellow got up to go I did peep after him, and was startled to see what +had been a two-legged man hobble away with one leg transformed to a +wooden stump below the knee. I rubbed my eyes and gazed after him as +he melted into the night. But the change was no mere illusion. I could +hear the <i>clop</i> of his wooden leg on the hard road.</p> + +<p>For a while I sat there wondering what it could mean, till stories of +impostors who feigned blindness and lameness came into my mind. I told +myself it was some sham beggar, and turned my thoughts to my own case. +Again I looked towards Sunset Towers; but the light had gone from the +window. Only a looming black shadow shutting out a patch of the sky +told me where the great mansion stood.</p> + +<p>I got up slowly, and still uncertain what to do made my way back to the +old house. Without thinking I wandered round to the side where I had +seen the light, and found myself looking up at the window. And then I +started to climb.</p> + +<p>I was soon on the sill peering into the room, but couldn't distinguish +anything through the blackness. I wondered whether I had better +descend again before I was seen, but something held me there in spite +of myself. And while I crouched I thought I heard a faint muffled cry +echo through the house, but though I strained my ears I didn't hear it +again. Then it seemed to me that it must be terrible for Jenny to be +alone there, with the sobs and moans I knew from of old haunting the +night-time, startling one from sleep with a strange sense of unseen +things flitting and hovering in the gloom. I tapped at the window, and +said softly, "Jenny, Jenny!"</p> + +<p>She didn't hear me. Perhaps she was asleep. I tapped again, and a third +time. Then I drew back and nearly fell, for I suddenly became aware +of a white figure on the other side of the glass with face pressed to +the pane. I had never before seen anything quite so ghost-like. But I +recovered myself immediately, for it was Jenny herself. I hadn't heard +her noiseless passage across the room.</p> + +<p>I spoke her name again.</p> + +<p>She opened the window and let me in, shutting it behind me.</p> + +<p>"Have you come to tell me why?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"I've come to stay," I answered, adding rather paradoxically, "If I +don't go away I can come back."</p> + +<p>She didn't notice the paradox, but took my meaning.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she said; and then, "It's cold." She slipped back into the great +bed, where I could dimly see her little figure like a tiny mound in a +wide plain.</p> + +<p>I jumped on to the bed and lay at her feet. "I'll stay here," I said. +She sat up and turned down the coverlet, telling me to wrap it round me.</p> + +<p>I curled myself into it, pulling it up tight under my chin, and soon +began to glow warmly.</p> + +<p>And then again I heard that cry. It wasn't like the cries I had heard +before. It was wilder and more ringing, not so sad and plaintive.</p> + +<p>Jenny asked, "Did you hear that?"</p> + +<p>"It's the wind," I answered.</p> + +<p>"There's no wind," she said.</p> + +<p>I lay and said nothing, not wishing to frighten her with stories of +ghosts.</p> + +<p>Presently I heard her call me: "Tommy!"</p> + +<p>"Yes," I answered.</p> + +<p>"I think it's daddy."</p> + +<p>"No," I contradicted her with emphasis.</p> + +<p>"I think it is."</p> + +<p>"Jenny it's—it's a ghost," I declared, remembering my instructions.</p> + +<p>"No, it's daddy," she asserted again. "I've often heard him. There's a +bad man who comes and frightens him; then he shouts like that."</p> + +<p>I sent out a flying thought to Dirk and his vow of vengeance. Could it +be possible that Jenny's father was the King's Man?</p> + +<p>"Jenny," I said, "I tell you it's a ghost. I've heard it before. I've +seen it." And to take her mind from her father I told her a jumbled-up +story, part true, part imaginary, of how once I thought I had heard my +friend calling to me in the night, and had risen, and had been led I +knew not where, and had found a skeleton in the darkness; and it was +the ghost of the skeleton that had been calling me all the time. I +ended: "They call as though it's somebody you know. Then you want to +get up and go to them, and then they catch you."</p> + +<p>Jenny lay quiet for a minute, then said, "Tommy, that's a lovely story. +Tell me another."</p> + +<p>I was immensely relieved to realize that she didn't believe me, for as +I finished the tale it came to me with a flash of fear that she might +want to know how it was I had ever lived in the house.</p> + +<p>"To-morrow," I answered her, for I was weary.</p> + +<p>I expected her to insist in her imperious way on another recital then +and there, but she said, "I'm tired, Tommy. Good night."</p> + +<p>"Good night," I returned, and was soon asleep.</p> + +<p>I awoke early, and crept out of my cover. Jenny was still sleeping. I +threw her a look; then crossed to the window, and climbed down.</p> + +<p>When I arrived on the scene for breakfast the Captain was somewhat +surprised to see me. "Back again?" he cried.</p> + +<p>I looked at Jenny and answered, "I'm not going to school any more."</p> + +<p>The Captain laughed uproariously; but Jenny said, "You'll stay at +school with me. Daddy'll teach us."</p> + +<p>I thought then that school had prospects of interest for a boy.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI</h2> +</div> + +<h3>ABOU</h3> + + +<p>For a few days I was so happy that I believe I had even forgotten my +father. The Captain was immensely amused at the decided way in which I +had established myself as one of the household, and when I told him I +had no intention of returning to Rancey Bridge he chuckled delightedly +to himself as though at some secret joke, and then in a whisper +confided to me that he too had run away from school, nodding his head +at me and winking shrewdly.</p> + +<p>But I wasn't allowed unlimited freedom, for Jenny and I had to sit at +a table for a couple of hours every morning reading and writing, or +listening to the Captain's instructions in geography or history, or +whatever it was that he happened to pitch on. And when the big hand +of the clock drew round to the second hour we weren't too eager to +run away, for the Captain's teaching was more like story-telling than +the kind of stuff I had been used to at Rancey Bridge. I think it was +effective enough in its own way; for though I wasn't his pupil for +very long, yet in those few days I began to get a definite picture of +the course of English history and the ways of the world beyond the +seas. With a longer course I dare say I should have grown wise enough +in matters of international trade, and the bearing of geographical +conditions on the life of the world; for these were the Captain's +favourite themes.</p> + +<p>Still, interesting as I found all this, when once free of the +class-room and out among the ruins with Jenny I didn't give much +thought to what I had learnt. My whole soul was absorbed in play. And +pretending to be investigating, rather than guiding, I took Jenny to +every nook and corner of the old place, except indeed into the secret +passage; for as a matter of fact I hadn't yet learnt how to open the +door, though remembering Abou's long key I could guess that one of the +little holes in the pitted surface of the wall was the entrance to the +lock. All this, I say, had to be done as though everything were a fresh +discovery to me, for I knew I mustn't let Jenny or her father know that +I had lived there before. Anything which might conceivably involve +my father had to be avoided, though I didn't imagine for one minute +that the Captain's fate and my father's were in any manner interwoven; +except indeed that they both seemed to be under the shadow of an +invisible foe, and sometimes I wondered whether it was the same enemy +that was pursuing them so ruthlessly.</p> + +<p>I soon found that Jenny had a fierce little heart; indeed I had +discovered that on the first afternoon. But the days I now spent with +her revealed her to me more and more vividly. Her fierceness was of a +type that I appreciated and even admired. She never sulked when she +couldn't have her own way. Her anger was the anger of an antagonist, +not of a spoilt darling. We played our games indeed as though our whole +strength and cunning were pitted against each other. We didn't play for +the mere fun of the thing, but to win; and neither gave nor expected +quarter. This was the sort of play I relished. There was a sting and a +fervour in it that so far I had never known; for my father of course +had always outmatched me, and if ever I outwitted him it seemed as a +sort of concession to my weakness. But now we were both on our mettle; +and the evenings found us weary to exhaustion with the exertions of our +unending struggle.</p> + +<p>It was during one of these games that I suddenly came across Worthing. +He caught a flying glimpse of me as I was diving for shelter into a +bush, and called severely, "Tommy, come here."</p> + +<p>"Hush!" I whispered, creeping out.</p> + +<p>"I want to speak to you," he went on sharply.</p> + +<p>"Go to the haunted room," I said, and slipped away, making a circuit to +avoid Jenny who was stalking me.</p> + +<p>At length I reached the haunted room, and found Worthing awaiting me. +I remembered then that I hadn't given a thought to my friend all these +days. "Worthing!" I cried, and would have taken his hands in mine, but +he clasped them firmly behind his back.</p> + +<p>"What sort of a little fool do you think you're making of yourself?" he +asked me coldly.</p> + +<p>I explained rather confusedly that I had left school.</p> + +<p>"That story won't do for the officers," he replied.</p> + +<p>"The officers?" I questioned blankly.</p> + +<p>"They're after you. You might have guessed that. And you know the +penalty of running away."</p> + +<p>"I know most of the penalties," I replied with unusual bitterness for +me.</p> + +<p>"Well, then, you'd better come back quickly," he said.</p> + +<p>"They'll need wild horses to get me there," I declared.</p> + +<p>For a while he surveyed me pityingly, then turned on his heel and made +for the door, saying, "Well, I give you up."</p> + +<p>"Worthing," I cried, catching him by the arm, "don't go like this."</p> + +<p>He merely swung round and faced me.</p> + +<p>"Look here," I went on, "you're my friend, aren't you? Well, come and +live here with me. It's simply splendid, I tell you."</p> + +<p>He gave a short little laugh, and said, "Thanks; no." And again he was +going. But at the door he turned, and in a more relenting tone added, +"Tommy, your heart's in the right place, but it's too big; and there's +no room for brains."</p> + +<p>And just then Jenny came leaping into the room, and collided with him +full tilt.</p> + +<p>He fell back a step and looked at her, while for her part she stood +motionless gazing at him, much as she had done at her first meeting +with me.</p> + +<p>"Jenny, this is Worthing," I said.</p> + +<p>"Worthing?" she enquired.</p> + +<p>"He's my friend, Worthing Bright," I explained.</p> + +<p>"I don't like him," she said.</p> + +<p>Worthing stood silent, and I couldn't read what was passing in his +mind; but he looked stiff and scornful. I was troubled, and said, "But +you must like him, Jenny; he's my friend."</p> + +<p>"I won't like him," she declared with emphasis.</p> + +<p>"But, Jenny!" I protested.</p> + +<p>Worthing cut in coldly, "I don't see the need at all." And turning to +Jenny he went on, "If you don't like me, perhaps you may learn to fear +me."</p> + +<p>"If I could fear you," she answered defiantly, "I should like you too."</p> + +<p>They gazed fiercely at each other, and I stood helpless; for I seemed +to be between two elemental forces. Their eyes were electric in their +intensity of antagonism. The combat passed beyond me. My nature was too +lax and mild for such a strain of hate.</p> + +<p>Then Worthing turned to me, and his words cut me like a bitter wind. +"So, Tommy!" he said. "Already!... These creatures lure us from our +duty soon enough. It's to be expected. But already!... I can't even +wish you joy."</p> + +<p>Now all this was an enigma to me, but the tone of his voice and the +look of his eyes were worse than a whip.</p> + +<p>"Worthing!" I exclaimed, conscious that somehow I had roused his scorn +as well as his anger. "What is it? Why will you quarrel with me like +this? I want to be friends."</p> + +<p>"You'd better keep your Jenny," he threw at me; and was gone.</p> + +<p>We were left alone.</p> + +<p>Jenny said emphatically, "That boy hates me. He wants to take you from +me. But I won't let you go."</p> + +<p>"Of course not," I said mazedly.</p> + +<p>We were soon back at our game; but for a time my heart was heavy. I +couldn't understand Worthing's bitter rebuke. After all he was three +years my senior, he had been to London; he had had some experience of +the world and the world's literature beyond the romantic diet I had +been fed on.</p> + +<p>I must have played with only half my heart, for Jenny frequently chided +me, and at last ran off in a huff declaring I wanted to leave her and +join my friend. She stressed the word contemptuously, and told me to +go. I was troubled, for this was the first real quarrel we had had. +Other tiffs had merely been incident to the antagonism of our games. I +followed her, but she would have none of me, and locked herself in her +room. I sat down moodily and wondered what to do. For a while I felt +angry at her unreasonableness, and once rose half intending to obey her +and return to school. But the knowledge that if I did so I should be +saying good-bye to Sunset Towers for many a long day came as a check +to my peevish anger. Moreover, I half expected to receive a message +from my father; for the first signs of summer were on the trees, and +summer without a spell at the <i>Dolphin</i> was unthinkable. So I mustn't +get myself imprisoned at Rancey Bridge. Now above all times freedom was +essential. The thought that if my father did reappear and signal for me +there would be a stormy parting from Jenny gave me a momentary pang. +But I dismissed it as an unwelcome consideration.</p> + +<p>Presently I was aware of some one approaching, and looking up saw +Abou standing above me. This was almost the first time I had seen him +since that first eventful afternoon; and it was certainly the first +time I had seen him so close at hand. Occasionally I caught a fleeting +glimpse of him moving like a shadow about the house, but usually he was +nowhere to be seen, and I thought of him cloistered in the secret room +ministering to the strange malady of the Captain. He wasn't needed to +attend our table at meals, for a woman came from the village each day +to do the necessary cooking and cleaning.</p> + +<p>He stood quietly before me, waiting, it seemed, for me to speak. But as +I hadn't sent for him and didn't know in the least what he wanted, I +remained silent, looking at him.</p> + +<p>His face seemed wonderfully peaceful. His eyes indeed were like deep +pools, very still and quiet. But little of his features could be seen +because of his huge black beard and whiskers. I noticed he was dusky, +and wondered of what nationality he was; but I couldn't decide. There +was something Eastern in his hovering deference, still waiting for me +to speak; but I couldn't think he was Indian, nor Malay, and certainly +not Chinese.</p> + +<p>At last I said, "Well, Abou?"</p> + +<p>That was all he needed. I suppose it wouldn't have been respectful had +he spoken before being addressed.</p> + +<p>"Miss Jenny sent me," he said in that wonderful soft voice I had heard +once before. "She say, Master Tommy may speak with her if he wish." +There was more than a suggestion of a foreign accent in his words, but +he seemed to have mastered the language exceptionally well.</p> + +<p>"Oh, thank you, Abou," I cried, springing up; and would have been off. +But he said, "Master Tommy, big boy must forgive little girl. She very +sorry, I think; but she not say so. Master Tommy will forgive her, yes?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, Abou, yes," I called out to him as I ran off.</p> + +<p>And that was not the only time his mediation was of use to us. For +sometimes it was my turn to hunt him out and send him on an embassy +of reconciliation to Jenny; and always he would tell me in his gentle +way, till at last the words began to sink into my heart like a memory, +"Big boy forgive little girl, Master Tommy," or "How silly, now, when +all should be happy, to say unkind thing." Indeed Abou filled a unique +corner in my heart, and I loved the strange mysterious peacemaker +whose voice was so kind and soothing; and I thought I understood how +it was that the Captain found him of comfort in the dark moods that +occasionally swooped down upon him.</p> + +<p>For I soon found I had fallen into a strange family. The Captain was +as kind to me as my own father, and I could see his affection glow +from his eyes as they rested broodingly upon me, though always there +was that little twinkle of amusement playing about them even at their +solemnest. Yet I never felt quite at ease, for again and again I saw +the shadow creep up, and thought the storm would sweep over him; and +I knew that only a terrible power of will was restraining him from +yielding to some mad frenzy of fancy such as I had witnessed at our +first meeting. Then, too, there was the crying I heard at night, when +it seemed to me that the frenzy was too strong for him. There was a +fear at his heart. And I couldn't help comparing him with my father, +who also, with a fear at his heart, always faced it with a smile. But +one man's courage is not another's, as I had seen put to the proof in +the case of Worthing and myself.</p> + +<p>If it hadn't been for the Captain's insistence that the crying by night +wasn't of this earth, and Jenny's contrary declarations that it was her +father's voice we could hear echoing so piteously through the building, +though I noticed she never let fall a word to that effect before her +father, if it hadn't been for these hints I might have been deceived +into thinking it merely the old wailing I had been used to hearing, and +which now in my wisdom I ascribed entirely to the wind in the secret +passage when the door was open. For in that twisting corridor the least +breath could play like the note of an organ.</p> + +<p>But once the madness did break out. It was one evening when the wind +had risen more tempestuously than usual. I was kneeling in front of +the fire telling Jenny a story, or rather weaving into a disconnected +tale the wailing and sobbing of the wind as it hung in lingering eddies +about odd corners of the ruined dwelling. Each gust that came racing +over the moors was another voice from the world of spirits, and I +interpreted its message of woe and lamentation much as my father had +used to do. "Hark now!" I said, "that's a soldier. He was killed in +battle shouting out his war-cry. And there! that's a hunter. Hear him; +'Hallooo! Hallooo!' And there's a mother calling to her baby. They +stole it from her, and she heard it sobbing, sobbing, because it wanted +her. And she reached her hands out for it, but they thrust her away. +You hear her crying: 'Awaay! Awaay!' And, ah! listen! Two, three, +four, five; all howling together. They're chasing some one. Listen! On, +on, on! He's crying for mercy. Their hands are at his throat. He feels +their breath behind him. And how they're laughing: 'Ahaa! Ahaa!'... Oh, +Jenny!..."</p> + +<p>I broke off, for at that moment, as though the clamouring wind had +burst into the very room, there was a fearful howl of insane laughter, +and the Captain sprang at me and seized me about the throat, shaking me +like a rat.</p> + +<p>"Laughing, are they?" he shouted frenziedly. "Laughing! Ahaa! And +they've caught him, have they? Yes, by God, caught him!" And with +that he flung me away from him, crouching back from me like an animal +preparing to spring.</p> + +<p>I was terrified, and half choked. As I looked at his blazing eyes I +felt a cold horror at my heart, for his face was distorted into a +frightful grimace of imbecile hatred and fury. I picked myself up +slowly, for I feared a quick movement would bring him upon me. But he +still crouched menacingly, and I could see his body quivering with +insane malice. I felt about in my mind for some way of escape. The +window? The door? But suddenly he was at me, and I sprang away behind +the table. There followed a terrible chase, round and round, and my +nimbleness stood me in good stead; for three times he was foiled as I +swung a chair in his path, and he crashed to the floor, sprawling, and +hissing out threats and curses. But I couldn't get to the window or the +door. He was cunning enough to guard my escape, and I began to wonder +how the chase would end.</p> + +<p>Again he crouched away from me, with the table between us, while I +kept my eyes fixed steadily on his. He was jabbering to himself like +an angry ape, but with a menace too terrifying to describe. Then with +a bound he cleared the table, and only my quickness in dropping flat +to the floor saved me from his clutch. With a scramble I was under the +table, and again facing him across it. But he lay moaning to himself, +holding his head, and I felt a sudden pity swell up in my heart. He +must have hurt himself, and foolishly enough I wanted to comfort him. +I took a step or two round the table, and yet he lay still. I advanced +but he made no movement. "Sir," I said, "it's only me. It's Tommy."</p> + +<p>"Tommy? Tommy?" he repeated vacantly; then suddenly broke out with a +sob, "Oh, forgive me, Tommy!"</p> + +<p>With that I ran boldly up to him and knelt down beside him, but with +a hideous cackle he gripped me by the shoulders, and I realized I had +been duped. But I wasn't to be taken so. I remembered my pistol, and +as my hands were free I drew it easily enough, and cried, "Let me go, +Captain, or I'll shoot you."</p> + +<p>I was amazed at the success of my manœuvre, for he fell back holding up +his hands and gazing at me in horror.</p> + +<p>I began to retreat to the door, but just then it opened, and Jenny, +whom I hadn't missed till now, returned, and behind her Abou. He went +straight to the Captain and said, "Come, my master," in that smooth +voice of his which fell like a charm on the terrible scene. And like a +lamb the Captain followed his servant from the room.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII</h2> +</div> + +<h3>THE SIGN</h3> + + +<p>I was left alone with Jenny, and found her glaring at me white with +anger. I was startled and fell back from her, for it seemed for a +moment as though her father's madness had descended upon her, and that +I was to be whirled into another storm of frenzy. But as she gazed at +me, her fierce eyes blazing, I soon came to realize that nothing worse +than anger possessed her, and I wasn't long in learning the cause of it.</p> + +<p>"You would kill my daddy," she said with sharp emphasis, still fixing +me with her gaze.</p> + +<p>"Jenny!" I answered weakly.</p> + +<p>"Yes, you would shoot my daddy," she continued relentlessly, "you would +shoot him: and he loves you."</p> + +<p>What was I to say? I advanced towards her, but she stepped back, and +said fiercely, "I hate you!"</p> + +<p>I stood still, my mind in a maze. It seemed so utterly unreasonable. +Surely she knew I had been in danger of my life? I began to stammer +something to that effect, but she stamped her foot and cried, "I hate +you, I hate you!"</p> + +<p>"Then I shall shoot myself," I answered, holding the pistol at my heart.</p> + +<p>She watched me without a word, and at last as I still delayed said, +"Well, when?"</p> + +<p>I think I was as near death at that moment as I have ever been, for +a sudden rage welled up in my heart, a rage of self-pity at Jenny's +unreasonable reproach, and my finger had tightened on the trigger; +but whether I really heard it, or whether it was an idle illusion, I +can't say, but from far away I thought I heard the faintest echo of a +whistle, and I recognized a few notes of a sailor's chantey such as my +father had used to sing. The pistol dropped to my side, and I stood +listening. I hardly heard Jenny saying, "You see, you daren't." For the +moment my mind was elsewhere; but the sound had gone.</p> + +<p>I turned again to Jenny. "Good-bye," I said, and made towards the door.</p> + +<p>"Tommy," she cried after me in her imperious way, "where are you going?"</p> + +<p>"Away," I answered.</p> + +<p>"Where?"</p> + +<p>"A long way away. I shall never see you again."</p> + +<p>"Tommy!"</p> + +<p>I was at the door, and had no intention of turning back, but the sudden +change of tone from anger to tearful appeal swung me round against my +will, and before I knew what I was doing I was at her side.</p> + +<p>"What?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"Are you going to leave me, Tommy?" she said; and her voice was gentle +enough now.</p> + +<p>I realized I had been fooled, and answered shortly; "Yes."</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"Because you hate me." I couldn't resist the retort.</p> + +<p>"I don't hate you," she declared.</p> + +<p>"You said you did," I threw back, not meaning to be easily appeased, +and itching, moreover, to be away after that summoning whistle.</p> + +<p>"Only if you hate daddy," she said.</p> + +<p>"He...." I began in self-justification; but she wouldn't listen.</p> + +<p>"He loves you," she cut in. "And it's only the bad man who makes him +like that." Then she seemed fired by a sudden inspiration. "Tommy," she +cried, "you find the bad man."</p> + +<p>"Then I'll kill him," I declared easily.</p> + +<p>"Promise?" she said, gazing up eagerly into my eyes.</p> + +<p>"I'll start now," I answered, and walked out of the room. And as soon +as I was out of the house I raced at full speed to where I thought +I had heard the whistle. But though I searched for an hour or more, +whistling odd snatches of melody which I knew my father would recognize +if he were near, yet I saw no one, except indeed one immense fellow +swinging up the shadowy road towards Rancey Bridge. But he was too huge +to have been my father. I watched him pass on into the night; and then +I thought I heard the whistling begin again. I listened, but it was +merely the stranger who had just passed me. I felt a sinking of heart, +for I thought I had been tricked by a mischievous spirit.</p> + +<p>I walked back slowly to the great dark house, feeling lonely and +miserable; for though I knew the Captain was fond of me, yet I never +felt safe in his presence; and Jenny was stupidly unreasonable, blaming +me for defending myself against a madman. I knew now that I wanted +my father; for the sudden hope of seeing him again had been cruelly +dashed, and my heart was left bleeding as though from a wound.</p> + +<p>I crept upstairs to my room, a little chamber next to Jenny's which +had been fitted up for me, intending to sleep till the first of the +morning, and then to steal away from that accursed house and make +tracks for the <i>Dolphin</i>. But Jenny had heard me return; and I heard my +door opened, and her voice whispering to me through the dark, for I +hadn't lit my candle: "Tommy, did you find him?"</p> + +<p>"No," I said.</p> + +<p>"But you will find him?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Promise?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I promise."</p> + +<p>I thought she had gone, but she had glided silently up to me where I +lay on my bed still dressed; and I felt her lips pressed passionately +to mine, murmuring, "There, I don't hate you, Tommy."</p> + +<p>I was in no mood for kissing. Indeed these sudden whims of quarrelling +and caressing, unaccountable hate melting into unaccountable +tenderness, baffled me. It was perplexing; it savoured of madness. It +seemed to me that the Captain's blood ran very freely in Jenny's veins. +I was bewildered by her moods and transformations, and began to wish +for the fresher atmosphere of my father's companionship.</p> + +<p>I merely said, "Very well," and turned on my side.</p> + +<p>She left me, and I thought I heard a faint whimper. What now, I +wondered. But the handle turned and the latch clicked; she had gone.</p> + +<p>I was away early, snatching a bite of breakfast in the larder, and +stocking my pockets with morsels for the road, for I didn't know where +or how I was to get my next meal. As I left the gate I should have +turned south straight away, but I knew if I turned north for a hundred +yards I should have another sight of Jenny's window. I didn't stop to +ask myself why I should want another sight of Jenny's window. Perhaps I +rather reproached myself for my coldness to her the night before when +she so evidently wanted to heal the wound she had dealt me. However +that might be, the fact remains recorded against me that I yielded +to the unreasoning prompting of my heart to throw a farewell kiss to +her window before I started again on my travels, with our next meeting +shrouded somewhere in the mists ahead.</p> + +<p>I reached the heap of stones where I had hidden from the false-legged +beggarman, and gazed back at the house. I could see Jenny's window, +black among the ivied stone. But as I looked a white figure appeared +there, and I knew it was Jenny. I sprang on to the pile of stones and +waved my hands. She saw me, and waved in return. For a moment a strange +unaccustomed thrill ran along my blood, and I thought I would go back +to her for a warmer leave-taking. But she had gone; and at that moment +I heard stealthy steps approach me. I looked round, to see the officers +Worthing had warned me of. I sprang from the pile and ran, but there +was a third who had cut off my retreat, and I was hopelessly trapped. +My arms were tied behind me, and with threats and proddings I was +marched away for Rancey Bridge.</p> + +<p>The reverse from freedom to captivity was so sudden that I was numbed +by it and couldn't think. It seemed like the kind of thing that +happened in nightmares. I should awake soon and find it all an ugly +fancy. But one consoling thought re-echoed through my mind: at least +Jenny hadn't seen.</p> + +<p>It was some time before my brain began to work again. So overwhelmed +was I that the blow seemed final and irretrievable. I could see nothing +beyond the cell they were haling me to, though that I could see clearly +enough. And it wasn't the horror of the thing that appalled me; I could +face that. The loneliness and the dark meant little to me. Rather it +was the loss of my liberty that oppressed me. A moment before, and I +was my own master; I was off for the <i>Dolphin</i> and the delights of a +summer-time with my father, though I hadn't considered very deeply +upon what foundations my hopes had been built. Still, here I was with +nothing but the prospect of four walls about me, closing me in and +shutting out the wonderful air of heaven and the sound and beauty of +the sea.</p> + +<p>I remember I experienced one pang of conscience, for a voice said that +this was retribution for trying to deceive Jenny. I had left her, +pretending to seek for her father's foe, when in reality I was merely +bent on finding my own father, and having found him I should in all +probability have forgotten Jenny and her mission.</p> + +<p>But little by little my spirit revived, and I told myself they couldn't +imprison me for ever; and once free of the cells I should know well +enough how to make my escape from Rancey Bridge.</p> + +<p>We were in the village at last. There was a crowd in the street +blocking up the way so that one of the officers had to push ahead +to clear a passage. If my wits had been clearer I should have asked +myself what could have called a crowd together at this time of the +morning; for it was early, though the sun had risen. Then some one +called "Hullo, Tommy!" and I saw the faces of my schoolmates about +me. Of course they had been out for their morning run. I told myself +that the morning run would be a good time to make my next escape. But +they had stopped in their run; something had caught their attention. +I heard laughter, and peering into the heart of the throng saw by +glimpses a beggarman who seemed to be yarning volubly to an admiring +mob. There were three rows of military decorations across his breast. +An old soldier, I thought. Then he moved forward a step, and I caught +the <i>clop</i> of a wooden leg. I glanced swiftly, and recognized the +one-legged impostor I had seen at his trickery.</p> + +<p>So, I thought, a rogue like that may enjoy his liberty, while every +one thinks him a hero, but I must go on my way to a cell! I don't +remember having felt so bitterly in my life before. Nor was my sense of +injustice appeased when he caught my eye and slowly winked at me, as +though realizing full well that our places should have been reversed.</p> + +<p>All this took but a moment's time, and the officers having cleared a +path jerked me forward. I lost sight of the old humbug. But suddenly he +started singing, and his words sent the blood leaping to my heart:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">"'Twas at Ebb-Tide Cave by the Smugglers' Gate,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">At the dawn of a summer's day;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And there those happy lovers met,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">All on the first of May."</div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>I heard him cry merrily, "Would you like to hear the story of that, +m'lads?" and the boys shouted for the narrative. I turned my face away +so that no one should see my sudden emotion, but only to meet the eyes +of Worthing watching me intently, while the old soldier's voice still +echoed the refrain, for my benefit I knew:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">"All on the first of May,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">My dear,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">All on the first of May."</div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>Worthing's face showed no sign of comprehension; but I knew that he +knew.</p> + +<p>I began wondering what the date might be, but had no notion, except +that it must be well on in April. The first of May! How could I be at +Ebb-Tide Cave by the first of May?</p> + +<p>The full meaning of my calamity was borne in upon me as by a great +wave. The gripping hands of the officers seemed like chains of adamant +about my arms, relentless and unbreakable.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII</h2> +</div> + +<h3>OUT OF THE FRYING-PAN</h3> + + +<p>I don't wish to dwell on the suffering and despair of the next few +days. The mere physical distress was bad enough, but looking back I +hardly seem to remember the daily flogging, nor the cold and damp of +the bare brick cell, nor my stiffness of body when I awoke in the dark +not knowing whether it were morning yet or still night-time, nor the +hunger gnawing within me, half famished as I was on the starvation +diet. These things have only left a blurred impression on my memory, +though the anguish at the time was cruel enough. But what I do remember +vividly, as though the agony of it were still with me, is the crying +pain at my heart, knowing my father wanted me, had sent for me, and +like a fool I wasn't ready for him, had indeed by my imbecile conduct +failed him at his need. This was the thought that stung me more than +the birch and the shivering cold and the biting hunger: my father +needed me, and I had failed him.</p> + +<p>How long I was kept in captivity I didn't reckon up. It seemed endless, +and with no hope of freedom beyond. When Staggers brought me my first +meal I did indeed ask him how many days there were to May-day, but he +merely snarled at me, and kicked me where I lay with the chains about +my wrists. For by now I was considered dangerous. Some while since +I had been deprived of my knife, and of course when I was stripped +for flogging my pistol was found on me. One who could run away from +school and hide a week or more in the neighbourhood without discovery, +and who, moreover, was found at last with a loaded pistol beneath his +cloak, wasn't to be treated as an ordinary mischief-maker. Though +locked and bolted into my cell it was deemed necessary to chain me up +also.</p> + +<p>Repeatedly I was bidden to declare where I had been hiding, but my +courage was firm enough to prevent me from betraying the Captain. It +seemed a mystery to my captors where I could have obtained food and +shelter all this while. Eventually it was assumed that I had robbed at +the pistol mouth; and had there been any robberies during my absence +doubtless I should have been held responsible for them. However, +though no robberies could be discovered, I was well flogged on the +understanding that they had nevertheless been committed. For otherwise +how had I supported myself?</p> + +<p>But all this I wish to pass over. It was miserable while it lasted, +and it helped to harden something within me which was gradually taking +stock of the ways of the world, appraising them or condemning them +according to my own sense of the just and the fitting without reference +to the standards I found set up about me.</p> + +<p>It was one evening, as I knew, not by the darkness about me, for it was +always dark, but by the fact that some time since I had had my second +meal, when the door of my cell opened, and the clatter of a mug on the +brick floor told me that my last meal for the day had come. I didn't +move, for hungry as I was the mouldy crust and water didn't rouse my +appetite. But I was surprised at the unaccustomed striking of a light. +So used had I grown to the darkness that I couldn't keep my eyes open, +but screwed them up painfully against the dazzling glare. But little +by little blinking them open again, at last I could just bear to look +about me. I saw Worthing holding up a lantern, and gazing down at me.</p> + +<p>I was more surprised than I could express. I couldn't even utter his +name, but lay there gaping stupidly, and wondering if it were merely a +vision.</p> + +<p>Presently he spoke, coldly I thought, but deliberately, as though each +word was of importance.</p> + +<p>"If you have quite recovered yourself," he said, "just listen to me. +You haven't too much time. First here's a file for those chains. You +must work the thing yourself as well as you can. Then here are your +knife and pistol. I shall leave the door unlocked. I think you'll know +what to do. Good-bye."</p> + +<p>He was going; but I gasped out his name, and he turned.</p> + +<p>"Well?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"But tell me," I said, "what does it mean?"</p> + +<p>"No time," he replied.</p> + +<p>"But you must, you <i>must</i>," I implored.</p> + +<p>He was silent a minute or two as though wondering how best to explain +the mystery. Then he said icily, "It's pretty simple, Tommy. It means +just this, that I'm a thief and a liar." And again he was at the door.</p> + +<p>But I broke out, struggling at my chains, "Oh, Worthing, my best +friend, don't go like this. You've done something terrible for me. What +is it? What is it?"</p> + +<p>"Why," he answered in the same bitter tone, "I've broken my trust, +that's all. The Doctor trusted me, and I stole your knife and pistol. +Staggers trusted me, because he wanted the evening out, and I've +brought you a file and unlocked the door. Good-bye."</p> + +<p>"Worthing!" I called after him.</p> + +<p>"For God's sake don't shout like that," he cut in.</p> + +<p>"Look here," I said more calmly, "you must forgive me. I called you a +coward. I didn't mean it."</p> + +<p>"And I called you a fool, and I did mean it," he said shortly, and was +gone. He came back to say, "You have just a week," and left me.</p> + +<p>For a moment I lay motionless, wondering whether I ought to take +advantage of the liberty he had brought me. But I knew it was too late +now for such a scruple. If I had meant to refuse his gift I should +have done so before I let him go. In fact I realized now there were +many things I should have done before I let him go. If I couldn't have +persuaded him to take back his gift, at least I should have pressed him +to fly with me; for something of what lay in store for him when his +deed was discovered I could faintly guess. But with a shrug I dismissed +the thought. Since he had gone there was nothing left for me to do but +to make the best use of the chance he had given me, for to fail now +would but double his disgrace.</p> + +<p>I set to work with the file, for my chains were long enough to permit +of that. But the labour was tedious, and many times I rested almost +exhausted with the ceaseless fretting, my fingers rubbed and bleeding +and so tender that even to hold the tool was an agony. But I knew the +work must be done, and at last crying with pain I had filed through the +links, and rose to my feet sore and stiff, but free.</p> + +<p>Very lovingly I handled my knife and pistol, and secreted them ready +for use, for I was determined to fight my way through rather than be +dragged to prison again. The door creaked and groaned as I slowly swung +it open, having first put out the lantern lest its light should betray +me. But the passage was deserted, and at the end was a narrow flight +of stone steps up which I crept. At the top was a door which yielded +to my pressure, for Worthing had left it unlocked, though the key was +in its place on the other side. As I passed through, in front of me a +few paces away was a side door that gave on to the street. I was about +to open it when I heard a heavy tread without, and the door opened in +upon me. I flattened myself against the wall, and peeping round could +just make out the figure of Staggers, unsteady from some late debauch, +reeling through. He turned to close the door, drawing the key from the +outside of the lock. I feared I should be discovered, in spite of the +dark, for in his drunken state he might easily lay his hand upon me. +Moreover, he would probably lock the door, if he could manage to fit +the key into the hole, and then pocket the key; and escape would then +be more precarious, as I would have to go by the front entrance where +the doorkeeper might hear me.</p> + +<p>Quickly I made up my mind what to do. I could see Staggers stupidly +lurching as he fumbled at the lock. I jerked open the door behind me, +and throwing my full weight upon Staggers sent him toppling backwards +through the doorway and bundling down the stairs; and as his body +thumped and tumbled below me, I flung to the door and locked it; then +turned and escaped into the night.</p> + +<p>For a while I fled as though in a panic; then finding myself clear of +the village I rested to recover my breath. What was I to do? Where was +I to go? Should I press straight on as far as I could? But I became +aware of a tiredness and stiffness of my whole body. I had been starved +and tortured, and would probably collapse if I tried to go far without +food. So I decided to make for Sunset Towers. I could hide there for +the next day while the hunt was out. The Captain wouldn't give me +up even if enquiries were made for me there. So I set off again, so +weary that even the few miles ahead seemed a year's journey. But the +thought of Staggers locked for the night in his own prison brought me +wonderful consolation. I only hoped he wasn't too drunk to taste to +the full the evil horrors of darkness.</p> + +<p>I didn't realize till I rose again and started on my way how much I +had had to endure during those few days in the cell. The short rest by +the road-side left every muscle stiffened as though run into a mould +and set. And with the friction of my clothes the wounds across my back +were chafed into an agonizing tenderness, so that with stiffness and +soreness every step was a double torment. I was weak and exhausted +too from want of food, and I yearned to lie down on the heath and +rest again; but I dared not. I knew my stiffness would increase upon +me tenfold, and I feared lest sleep should overtake me. And with that +thought I hurried forwards, for I knew if I fell asleep I should +be found by the officers, and I shuddered with naked terror at the +possibility of being recaptured and haled back to torture. The new +taste of freedom, with the prospect of the <i>Dolphin</i> and my father only +a week's tramp away, set the dread of imprisonment in black relief, +till the fear of it became a haunting terror at my heels to spur me +forward in spite of aches and pains. So I stepped on as swiftly as I +could, crying with the agony of the rough clothes against my raw back, +for indeed they seemed like rasps grating at my very bones.</p> + +<p>Before I reached Sunset Towers I was alarmed to see the east growing +white with the morning. I hadn't realized what a time I had spent +filing through my chains, nor indeed how laggingly I had crept the few +miles from Rancey Bridge. For I was staggering now in a crazy zigzag, +unconscious of everything except the goal before me and the need to +reach it without delay.</p> + +<p>At last I touched the gate, where for a moment I leant against the +post swaying dizzily, then with an effort passed on again for the last +few steps, instinctively making for Jenny's window. And there indeed +my strength failed me. I fell to the earth clutching at the ivy, and +calling with what voice I could summon, "Jenny, Jenny, come and let me +in."</p> + +<p>I sank on the ground and waited, so weary that almost with the uttering +of my cry for help I would have been asleep. But Jenny had heard me. +The window was flung up, and she called quietly down, "Tommy, is that +you?"</p> + +<p>"Jenny," I said, but couldn't speak another word.</p> + +<p>Her instinct must have told her I was at my last gasp, for she didn't +stay to question me. In a moment she was out of the house and at my +side, and her firm little arms were about me helping me to stand, and +leaning on her heavily I managed to totter in and collapsed on a chair +in the dining-room beside the empty grate.</p> + +<p>After this things passed in a maze for some while. Jenny must have +brought me some food and wine, and somehow supported me up the stairs +to her room; for presently I found myself lying snugly in bed, and with +the fading vision of her face bent above me sank into a wonderful sleep.</p> + +<p>There was nothing more the matter with me than exhaustion, for when I +awoke later in the day, though I still felt stiff and somewhat shaky +about the head, yet I had lost the stupid sense of weakness which +had sent me tottering down the road from Rancey Bridge. My strength +had returned to me, and even the soreness had gone from my back. But +putting my hand to the place I discovered why; it was swathed in +comfortable bandages.</p> + +<p>At the movement Jenny was at my side, and I put out my hand to her.</p> + +<p>"Better, Tommy?" she asked in a voice of such concern that I +didn't know whether to laugh or cry, for there was something so +disconcertingly touching in her wide anxious eyes, usually so fierce, +that I felt a strange emotion shake me. I couldn't decide whether it +was pleasant or painful; but as I lay there and felt her little fingers +about my brow there seemed to be something very wonderful about it all. +For I had no desire to get strong and well again if I might have Jenny +to tend and comfort me like this.</p> + +<p>But the weakness was only momentary, for I felt a sudden shame at the +unmanly sentiment; and putting Jenny's hands aside, rather roughly I'm +afraid, I sat up and said, "There, that's enough." I jumped out of +bed, pretending to feel nothing of my aches and soreness, though still +acutely conscious of them.</p> + +<p>Jenny fell back with a little "Oh!" and her eyes grew harder.</p> + +<p>Perhaps I felt a slight compunction at having so churlishly repaid +her care and tenderness, but that unpleasant sense of shame at having +yielded to a weak and babyish emotion wouldn't let me tell her how +dearly I held her. But it pained me to see her standing away from me, +surveying me gloomily, stroking her hands together as though I had hurt +them. I wanted to say something to set all right again, but all I could +say was, "I must be quick, Jenny." I began pulling on my clothes, for +some one had undressed me.</p> + +<p>Then she smiled at me, and I felt relieved; for there had seemed for a +moment the menace of thunder in the air, but now I knew the storm had +blown over.</p> + +<p>"Let me help you," she said, as I struggled against my stiffness, +reaching round for the sleeve of my jacket. And soon I was dressed and +armed again, and felt like a man.</p> + +<p>I took a turn up and down the room to reassure myself that I was indeed +master of my faculties; and then would have opened the door and gone +downstairs. But Jenny stopped me, saying, "You can't go yet, Tommy." +She gripped my arm and pulled me back.</p> + +<p>"Why not?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"Not yet," was all she answered.</p> + +<p>"But why?" I pressed in growing surprise.</p> + +<p>She watched me silently for a moment or two, then said, "Well, I'll +tell you, Tommy. You see.... But are you hungry?" she broke off.</p> + +<p>The sudden question seemed to create as sudden an appetite. I said I +was, very hungry. She told me to stay there, and cautiously left the +room, and after a while came tripping lightly back with half a meat pie +and a bottle of wine under her arm.</p> + +<p>"There," she said, laying down the spoils, "I'll tell you while you +eat." So I set to with a relish, while Jenny told me the story of the +day's happenings.</p> + +<p>Firstly, it seems, Worthing had arrived the day before and had told the +Captain, who had been fretting at my sudden disappearance, the cause of +it; and he had gone to Rancey Bridge to enquire into the matter. That +had given the authorities the information they had been wanting; but in +spite of the Captain's appeals they wouldn't release me. However, he +had made a fresh attempt that morning, and there had been a splendid +battle; but again he had failed to recover me. Then shortly after he +had left the school my flight must have been discovered, as it would +have been earlier had not Staggers been imprisoned and so unable to +report my escape. What had happened to Worthing I could only surmise, +for Jenny said nothing of the matter, and listening to her story I had +little leisure to think deeply of his case. I suffered a passing pang +on his account, and forgot him.</p> + +<p>Jenny had been alarmed to see her father returning in a terrified +state; and rushing up the stairs he had vanished into his room where +he had locked himself in muttering, "The officers! the officers!" It +must have been almost immediately after his visit that my escape was +discovered, and the officers had followed straight away on his track +expecting to find me at his house. I didn't trouble to question exactly +why he had been terrified; I was anxious to know what had happened to +the officers. Evidently they had been met at the door by the impassive +Abou, and quietly hushed away.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Jenny had kept my presence in her room a profound secret. +That had been her little romance, and she had wanted it all to herself. +So I must wait, she told me, till the night came, and then I could +escape in safety.</p> + +<p>I think her story and my meal ended simultaneously, for as I pushed +away my plate, licking in the clinging fragments from my lips, she +sat down beside me with a plump of her little body, and said, "There, +Tommy; and I watched you sleep, oh, so long. But I like to see your +eyes."</p> + +<p>Again I felt that unpleasant and unaccountable awkwardness, and +sniggered rather stupidly. Jenny relieved the situation by exclaiming +suddenly, "I don't hate Worthing any more."</p> + +<p>"Ah, Worthing!" I ejaculated; and again I was wrung with doubt as to +what had happened to him when my escape had become known. Had he first +made good his own retreat? Somehow I didn't think so. It wasn't like +Worthing to run away. Well, they would have little mercy on him.</p> + +<p>"He told me, Tommy," Jenny went on with hesitation, and finished, "what +you wouldn't tell me."</p> + +<p>"Ah," I said.</p> + +<p>Then she suddenly sprang up, her eyes blazing, her fists clenched in +the manner I knew well, and said with fierce vigour, "Yes, I know what +they did to you. And I've seen too. I hate them. Oh, how I <i>hate</i> them!"</p> + +<p>"It's their way," I said.</p> + +<p>"But they won't catch you again, will they, Tommy?" She put her hands +on my shoulders and said, "Promise?" as I had heard her say it twice +before.</p> + +<p>I laughed, and answered, "It won't be my fault if they do."</p> + +<p>"Ah!..." Her hands dropped.</p> + +<p>"And Worthing came and told you," I said; my thoughts again reverting +to my friend with his strange loyalty, sometimes so considerate, +sometimes so cruel.</p> + +<p>Jenny answered, "He just said, 'They lock him up in a dark cell. They +give him a crust and water three times a day. And they flog him naked +every morning.' That's what he said. And he looked at me, and I could +see it."</p> + +<p>I could hear the words as Worthing would have said them. Just the plain +facts of the case, and nothing more.</p> + +<p>"Yes," I said, musing; then, "Well, it's over, and I shan't go back +again. And to-night I'll be off, Jenny."</p> + +<p>She turned to a drawer and took out a bundle neatly folded and +strapped, and said, "Here's your things. There's some food. And here's +some money." She gave me a golden guinea.</p> + +<p>"Jenny!" I exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"You'll need it," she said simply.</p> + +<p>"But I'll never spend it," I declared, again under the power of that +unnerving emotion. "I shall keep this as long as I live."</p> + +<p>It was Jenny herself who dashed my ardour. "You'll keep it," she said, +"till you're hungry."</p> + +<p>But I registered a silent vow to keep it for ever in memory of my +little playmate. I put it carefully in my inmost pocket.</p> + +<p>And so we talked together. I told Jenny how I had escaped, and what +Worthing had done for my sake. And as I told the story I realized more +than ever the significance of the self-abnegating act. To save me he +had made himself a liar and a thief. What that must mean to one with +his passion for law and authority I could only dimly imagine. As for +me I should have been willing to perjure myself a hundred times over +for anyone I loved, but I knew by all my experience of his nature how +such guilt would rankle in Worthing's soul. He had set himself up +against the law. He had violated the ruling principle of his life. +He had swerved aside from the clear straight path he had marked out +for himself. And all to save his friend, whose conduct he had never +pretended to sympathize with or condone.</p> + +<p>I worked myself up into a fine emotion as I spoke of all this to Jenny. +She said thoughtfully, "He loves you, Tommy; that's why."</p> + +<p>I thought I could read in her steady eyes, "And I would have done the +same."</p> + +<p>So the evening wore away, while the darkness closed in like a visible +shadow drawing ever nearer. And it was time for me to depart.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX</h2> +</div> + +<h3>INTO THE FIRE</h3> + + +<p>I opened the window and looked out into the night, glad to see the sky +veiled in thick clouds which didn't let a single star through. For +the darkness would befriend me better than the brightest moon. I said +good-bye to Jenny, and climbed out on to the sill, and feeling for a +firm branch of ivy carefully began to lower myself till my face was on +a level with the window-ledge. There I paused to say a last farewell, +and Jenny stooping swiftly caught my cheeks between her little hands +and kissed me with a passionate vigour, saying, "You'll find him, +Tommy?"</p> + +<p>"And kill him," I answered, and recommenced the descent.</p> + +<p>I reached the ground safely, and looking up heard a faint whisper, +"Good-bye, Tommy; good-bye." But it was too dark to see my little +friend; and I moved away, keeping close to the wall.</p> + +<p>I hadn't gone many yards before I was arrested by the faintest sound +of footsteps in front of me. Immediately my mind filled with thoughts +of the officers. They were lurking there for me. I stood still and +listened. I wasn't mistaken. The sound was repeated; stealthily, as +though some one was creeping towards me through the darkness. Had I +been heard too? I asked myself. I thought not, for I had taken every +precaution, treading as softly as I knew how. But was it safest +to retreat, or to wait where I was? For a moment or two I waited +listening whether the steps would approach me or not. For a while I +heard nothing, and thought they had ceased. Then close to me I heard +a louder crunch on the path, and I realized that only a few paces +separated me from this unknown prowler who I felt convinced was on my +trail. The sudden proximity nerved me to action. I glided back on the +way I had come, but a treacherous twig cracked beneath my heel with +a report like a pistol. I stood petrified, straining eyes and ears +for signs of my pursuer. But he seemed to have halted. The air was +deathly still. I pressed on again, hugging the wall, and felt where it +opened back into a low doorway. I crept into the crevice, and silently +strained against the little door; but it was locked. Indeed, I didn't +expect to find it otherwise, for I remembered it, and knew it was never +used. I thought my best plan was to wait under the archway, where if it +came to blows I could take my enemy by surprise.</p> + +<p>I crouched into the darkness, listening for his approach. Still the +silence remained unbroken, and my ears filled with that shrill singing +which is only heard when the air is utterly still. The singing became +so loud that I feared I wouldn't hear a sound if one came. Then I +grew aware that the edge of my foot was resting on a pebble. I was +terrified lest it should somehow shoot from beneath me and betray my +hiding-place. But an inspiration came to me. Slowly I stooped down and +took the pebble in my hand, then carefully threw it in front of me +among the shrubbery that bordered the other side of the path. I thought +my pursuer hearing it would turn and follow the sound. I heard it fall +with a dull thud on the earth beyond the bushes. I had thrown too far. +To give the rustling sound I intended it should have fallen in among +the twigs.</p> + +<p>However, I drew myself up silently and listened. I thought I could +distinguish a faint movement. And it seemed that my pursuer was nearer +than before. Would he step aside after the false trail? But another +stir in the darkness told me he was still on my track.</p> + +<p>I began to stoop for another pebble. I thought the manœuvre was worth +a second trial. But as I stooped my arm touched something soft. My +muscles stiffened, and my heart gave a bound, for I had touched a man. +I dared not move; hardly dared breathe. I wanted to turn and look, but +I couldn't control a nerve. Then I seemed to hear a deep slow breathing +beside me. It was more a motion of the air than a sound. Summoning my +utmost courage I turned my head. Very faintly in the blackness I could +distinguish a sort of lesser dimness which I knew was a face. And I +knew too that the eyes were fixed upon me. They seemed to be glowing at +me, though nothing of them could I actually see. It was merely that I +felt them there like a paralyzing spell.</p> + +<p>Then suddenly my attention was diverted. Close to me on the other side +I heard the faint fillip of a stone on the path. I was caught in the +trap all right. I expected every moment to feel a hand grip me from +one side or the other. But nothing happened, and the strain became +intolerable. I wanted to scream aloud, to spring out from the archway +and into the open. What were they waiting for? Why didn't that hidden +spy in the corner give the signal? Why didn't my first pursuer put out +a hand and feel for me? They seemed to be playing with me, a cruel sort +of game. I was fairly trapped, but they wished to linger out the agony. +A terrible sweat broke out on my brow; my tongue went dry; my throat +was so parched I could scarcely breathe. And all the while I could feel +as it were a heavy shadow palpably closing in from either side. Then +suddenly I caught my breath and choked.</p> + +<p>That broke the spell. I sprang away. I thought I felt a hand clutch me +from behind as though to stop me; but before I had fled a couple of +steps there was a splitting pain at my head as though something had +burst within it; and before I lost consciousness I knew that some one +had struck me a dizzying blow.</p> + +<p>I awoke to a sort of disturbed dreaming long before I awoke to reality. +There was a heavy confusion in my mind as though I were being swung at +the end of a long chain. There was a rushing and buzzing in my ears, +and sometimes a sudden cessation as though the whole world were frozen +into a momentary immobility. Then with a wrench I was dizzily spinning +again in a sickening circle. But by degrees the spinning seemed to +slacken, and then I was tossing uneasily with short lurchings and +swayings as though I were suspended from a high roof with a company of +giants swinging me from one to another. For sometimes I was tearing +through the air; and then I would stop with a thud and a jerk to be +sent racing away once more. And always there was a sort of burdensome +cloud weighing at my heart, strangely oppressing me with stifling +fold upon fold of black vapour. And the cloud seemed to grow, till +it enveloped my whole body; and the noise of the air rushing past me +became muffled and far away, as though I were swathed in huge blankets +of palpable clinging gloom. I struggled against it, and longed even for +the sickening hiss of the air about my face, for something seemed to be +sucking at my lungs so that I couldn't draw a mouthful of breath.</p> + +<p>So tossed with such evil fancies I was gradually shaken back to +consciousness, and at length knew that I was stiflingly gagged and +bound, with something over my face shutting out the cool night air, if +night it were, and making the world for me a wall of solid blackness. +I knew also that I was being carried on somebody's back; and over very +uneven country, I thought, for my body, not by any means recovered +from its stiffness and soreness, was being jolted cruelly as my captor +pushed on with thumping strides.</p> + +<p>It was useless trying to struggle or to utter the least sound. I did +make one frenzied effort; but though the blood seemed to be bursting at +my veins I couldn't so much as twitch a muscle. I believe if I hadn't +lapsed again into unconsciousness I should have gone mad, for there +seemed to well up from the very depths of my being as it were a scream +of frenzy heaving to be uttered but unable to burst free, and with a +sense of convulsed suffocation I felt the darkness close about me again +and my senses were mercifully sealed.</p> + +<p>So with a wavering mist about me, which sometimes opened to let through +a dim and filmy light, to darken again into an impenetrable gloom, I +was borne on and on, interminably it seemed to my dazed mind. Then the +jolting jog gave place to a smooth tranquillity, and a vague rhythmic +grinding told me I was in a boat on the river. And later I felt a +heaving and sinking, and knew I was on the sea.</p> + +<p>The sea!</p> + +<p>Perhaps it was the sudden realization that I was out upon the beloved +sea that revived me; or perhaps it was merely that the stifling wrapper +had been removed from my face, and I could breathe again in ease and +comfort. I found too that my limbs were free, though still cruelly +stiff. But with the discovery I sat up, for I had been lying down, and +looked about me.</p> + +<p>Little enough could I make out, for it was dark in the cabin, if cabin +it were, and only from one side came a faint blur of lesser darkness. +I half wondered whether it were early morning or late evening, for the +past seemed so far away that a day might easily have slipped over. Also +I realized that during the day, supposing a day to have gone by, the +wind had risen, for it had been serenely calm when I had left Sunset +Towers.</p> + +<p>I rose, and treading cautiously for the ship was rolling and I was +unsteady from my long dizziness and swooning, I made my way to the +spot from where the dim light seemed to be coming. It had appeared a +long way off, but suddenly I found myself upon it. It was a glazed +window, and perpendicular shadows down it told me it was barred on the +outside. I tried to gaze out upon the sea, but it was too dark for me +to distinguish anything, except indeed the faintly luminous white of +the water where the ship cut through. Yet the thought that I was at sea +was exhilarating, and rapidly my nausea fell away, and I drew in deep +breaths as though to fill my lungs with the delicious salt air, though +in the cabin there was little but the smell of pitch and damp canvas +and rotting cordage.</p> + +<p>At a sudden thought I thrust my hand beneath my cloak. My weapons +had both gone. But rummaging vaguely in my pockets I felt Jenny's +guinea, and somehow the feel of it in my fingers gave me a sense of +companionship and comfort.</p> + +<p>Next I began to explore my prison, for I didn't dare hope it was +anything else; nor did I begin to reason out yet what strange cause had +brought me there. It was enough for the moment to take bearings of my +surroundings. And it was soon done. For I was confined in a box rather +than a cabin. There was a pile of damp canvas matting on which I had +been lying, but otherwise there was nothing in the place at all; and +it measured only three of my full paces either way. I felt for the +door. The handle turned, but the door was firmly locked or bolted on +the other side. I shook it, not vigorously, but merely to learn whether +there were anyone on guard; and sure enough a harsh, deep voice from +the outside advised me with an oath to keep quiet.</p> + +<p>Then indeed I sat down on my pile of canvas and started to think. But +with little result. I couldn't imagine what could have induced my +captors to kidnap me in this way and take me out to sea. Indeed, I +wondered now whether it was the officers after all who had caught me. +Was there another on my track? My father's secret enemy, it might be. +Perhaps now the persecution was to include me too. But who was that +other one who had been hidden under the archway? What was his part +in the drama? And then the memory of the paralysing fear I had felt +told me it must have been the witch, Bite-in-the-Dark. I shuddered +at the thought. Was it indeed she? I found no answer to all these +questionings, but tossed them vainly about in my muddled mind till all +was chaos and confusion. And after all, I told myself, it might be +a mistake. I preferred to accept that solution, for it was the most +consoling. And yet for the life of me I couldn't imagine any set of +circumstances to account for such an error. So telling myself it was +all a mistake which would soon be rectified, yet believing deep within +me that the shadow of fear which had darkened my father's life was now +closing about me too, I lay down and tried to sleep.</p> + +<p>But the morning brought no comfort. I discovered that I was in some +part of the deck-house. I could hear the carpenter at work close +by, and the smell of sizzling pork told me that the galley wasn't +far distant. There were voices too, but in spite of my knocking and +shouting no one took the least heed of me. I peered out through the +window which gave on to a strip of deck, pressing my face to the pane, +waiting for some one to pass by. But no one came, and I fell back to my +pallet disheartened.</p> + +<p>Eventually a great rough fellow, the one I suspect who had growled at +me outside the door, brought me a hunk of pork on a slab of bread and a +tin of vile coffee. But to all my questioning he wouldn't answer a word +except, "The skipper'll settle you all right; don't you fear."</p> + +<p>Later in the day I demanded to see the skipper, and was told that the +longer it was before I saw him the healthier it would be for me.</p> + +<p>So I gazed through the little window growing more and more +disconsolate, till even the swaying of the waves as they slid out from +beneath the vessel and tossed their manes and curved away to the open +waters failed to stir my ardour. The wonder became a grey monotony, +which brought with it even an accustomed sickness; for as a rule I +was a good sailor, and in other circumstances would have gloried in +the swelling monsters which pushed up from under the vessel to drop +her into a deep pool of overshadowing green. But now I felt strangely +dizzy, and for a while lay rolling on the floor vomiting miserably; and +it didn't seem to matter in the least whether the vessel and all within +it should sink to the bottom of the sea.</p> + +<p>So another night came, and another day, without change, except that I +wasn't sick again, though the ship lurched more heavily and staggered +uneasily forward as though a gale were rising. But with my captivity +a dull and unusual brooding settled upon my spirit. I began to ask +why fate had marked me out beyond all others for such unaccountable +trials and reverses. I seemed to be the plaything of some brutal and +implacable tyrant whose sport it was to dance me from adversity +to adversity, tantalizing me by glimpses of desirable havens, but +whisking me off and away again before I had time to fix my moorings. +But mercifully I was still too young for such ideas to take deep root. +The problems of evil and the destiny of man were beyond my scope of +meditation.</p> + +<p>However, during the days that passed so slowly and so wearily I thought +much of my father and Worthing and Jenny. I had leisure to set many +things in their right places in my mind, and arrange them in some sort +of proportion and perspective. For instance, the picture of Worthing's +sacrifice of honour for the sake of friendship grew like a visible +thing before my eyes, till I bowed myself down and cried for the hurt +my folly had done him. Then, too, I could see quite plainly now that I +was deceiving Jenny inexcusably. She had sent me forth, having buckled +on my armour as it were, to track down her father's foe. Believing in +me as her champion she had hidden me and tended me all that day. She +had put me in her own bed; she had bound up my wounds, and brought me +food. And I had accepted her care as my due reward. I was masquerading, +playing the hero, when all I wished was to escape from her and find my +father. The thought didn't please me, but in compensation I told myself +I would keep my word to her somehow, and put an end to that evil that +was darkening her father's life.</p> + +<p>But how? What clue had I? What clue did she think I had? Poor little +Jenny! In her simplicity I supposed all she thought I had to do was +to enquire of the first stranger and receive an answer to the riddle. +Indeed the task seemed hopeless. I knew just nothing of the affair. +Well, at least I would find my father. He might help me. At any rate he +could teach me something of the technique of the sleuth. And meanwhile +I wouldn't return to Jenny till I had accomplished something worthy of +her trust in me.</p> + +<p>So I watched and waited, settling my plans as though I were free and +not a prisoner in the power of an unknown foe. I counted the days, +in an agony lest the first of May should come and pass, and the ship +not touch land, nor any prospect show itself of release from this +unaccountable captivity.</p> + +<p>The last day of April came, and with it a buffeting wind. Slowly the +grey sky darkened towards evening. I made a frantic appeal to my jailer +to take me to the captain, but the surly fellow glanced darkly at me +without a word. I clutched him as he left the cabin, but he put out a +great foot and sent me staggering across the floor to jolt against the +partition and collapse half-winded.</p> + +<p>There seemed no hope. In the evening an angry sun broke from the clouds +and set full ahead. Languidly I told myself we were steering west. Then +I threw myself across the floor, and with my face in my hands gave way +to a fit of inconsolable weeping.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX</h2> +</div> + +<h3>AT THE DAWN OF A SUMMER'S DAY</h3> + + +<p>It was still dark when I awoke to feel rough hands about me, and the +tightening grip of ropes around my arms and legs. I shouted, and a +huge hand was promptly clapped across my mouth, and a moment later a +suffocating gag, knotted mercilessly at the back of my neck, stifled +the least groan. A bandage, too, was fastened over my eyes. I made +one convulsive effort to burst the bonds which were rapidly netting +me about, but with the only result that they were twisted the more +cruelly, crushing me in as though by the embrace of some enormous bear, +till I thought my ribs would crack beneath the strain.</p> + +<p>The agony was almost unendurable, and was made still worse by the gag +over my mouth; for it would have been some relief to have been able to +rage and curse and scream. But not a sound could I utter. It seemed +as though a terrible explosive force were being compressed within me, +unable to burst free. And then a sacking of some kind was drawn over +my head, and the mouldy reek of it made me want to vomit; and though +suffocating for lack of air it was even worse agony to breathe the +foul fumes that came through the filthy stuff about my face. A spasm +convulsed my whole body from within, but the cords around me were too +tight to allow so much as a tremble to shake my limbs; and then I felt +suddenly limp and made no struggle, but yielded to the inevitable +without a question or a hope. Something was about to happen at last. +Perhaps I was to be thrown into the sea. Well, life's whole treatment +of me had been so unjust, so spiteful, and during the last two weeks so +cruel and intolerable, that any sort of end would be a relief.</p> + +<p>So I gave no heed to the bumpings and shakings I had to undergo. I +didn't ask myself what was happening to me. And lying calmly so I was +probably happier than questioning and struggling. It was impossible for +me to stir a finger to help myself. I simply didn't care what became of +me. I think I even fell into swooning sleep, so indifferent was I to my +fate. For I was tired out with my captivity, first at Rancey Bridge and +then in this vessel, and my spirit was broken.</p> + +<p>But if I swooned or slept I was roused to consciousness again by the +feel of cold water about my legs. I thought I had passed beyond all +self-concern, but at the touch of the sea my love of life revived, and +I became acutely aware of all that was happening to me. My feet were +being fixed to something, and I was being held upright, for I couldn't +support myself; not only was I too securely bound to have any control +of my limbs, but there was a swaying and lurching beneath me which +would have made standing difficult in any case. I began to wonder +where I was; but all I could surmise was that I was on an open raft +being tossed up and down at sea. Presently the worst of the tossing +stopped, and I assumed we had come into quieter water. But why were my +feet being fixed to the raft? Why was I being held upright? Then with +a deeper dip of the raft I felt a sharp upward jerk beneath my arms; +there was a rope fixed about me from somewhere above. But what did it +mean? Then the hands that had been supporting me were withdrawn, and +I began to sway dizzily; but the rope clutched at me viciously as I +fell. For a while I lurched backwards and forwards, my feet fixed to +the raft, if raft it were, as it rose and sank with the waves, and the +rope catching me with malicious jerks as I toppled and swung.</p> + +<p>Then suddenly the terrible significance of it all was borne in upon +me with a cruel clearness. I seemed to hear my father telling over +again that story of dreadful vengeance, the most appalling that the +brutal minds of smugglers and pirates could devise; and at the thought +of it an agonized cry gushed up from my soul, though not a murmur +could pass my lips. For I knew I was hanging between earth and sea, +and my fate was to be slowly drawn asunder between them; for as the +tide ebbed the raft beneath me would sink and the rope above me would +tighten, till gradually my body would be stretched and strained to an +agonizing death. The realization came to me with a shock of horror, +the more so as my father's vivid story had impressed me with the +lingering torment I might expect to suffer. I ceased even to cry out +in my heart, "Why, why, why?" as I had done on board ship, exclaiming +against the malignant destiny that ever pursued me. For with the fear +of such a death upon me I had no place in my mind for anything except +the frenzied anticipation of it in all its horror. And still the raft +rolled beneath me. I lurched and toppled, while the rope gripped me +like a relentless hand which would soon be tightening to drag me limb +from limb.</p> + +<p>Then I felt the sacking over my face being removed, and I caught +my first keen whiff of the beautiful sea air. It came like a cruel +reminder of all I was about to lose, and once again a spasm of surgent +rebellion against my fate convulsed me. The pain of it was dreadful, +for still it was as though that violent explosive power were struggling +to burst free from within me, but was restrained by an aching pressure +at every pore.</p> + +<p>Then fingers were tearing at the bandage over my eyes, and it was +wrenched roughly away; and I could see, but not distinctly. For it +was still in the dusk of the early morning, and I seemed to be in a +cave of some kind, for before my eyes the air grew into a darkness of +retreating gloom. But I couldn't turn my head to see what lay on either +side of me, though the swaying of the raft gave me passing glimpses of +a dark rock wall dripping with damp and spray.</p> + +<p>But what came upon my vision with a shock, at first of rapture, then of +strange fear, and lastly whirling me in a maze of mystified wonder, was +a face very white against the shadow, with wide terrible eyes fixed on +mine as though in a frenzy. For the face was the face of Dirk.</p> + +<p>Forgetting my gag I raised my voice to cry his name, and the sudden +checking of my breath sent the blood surging dizzily to my head, so +that my eyes clouded with a gush of darkness and I nearly swooned. But +as my sight cleared terror began to settle on my heart, for Dirk faced +me with eyes blazing with such a madness of hate, and his lips curled +into such a leer of malice, that the dreadful vision framed white +against the darkness was like some emanation from a terrible dream. +And slowly he drew nearer, his eyes fixed on mine, till at length his +face almost touched me, and I could feel his breath curl hotly about my +brow. And all the while I was too numbed and stupefied to ask myself +what it could mean.</p> + +<p>Then I noticed a change come over his face. He drew back; the tension +of his evil glare relaxed, and a puzzled wavering loosened his lips. +Then he suddenly darted his face once more at mine, searching my eyes +for I knew not what. And then he turned me about to the light, and with +an oath began fingering the gag about my mouth, and tore it violently +off, staring at me like a madman.</p> + +<p>"Dirk!" I croaked out faintly, "save me, Dirk!"</p> + +<p>"Devil of hell!" he cried. "It's Tommy!"</p> + +<p>He drew his knife and slashed feverishly at the rope beneath my arms, +cursing at the strands that foiled his impatient onslaught. But at last +they came away in his hands; then stooping he set to work to release +my feet, while I half fell on top of him, supporting myself as well +as I could on the unsteady raft, till one by one the cords that bound +me were cut away. With a wonderful sense of freedom I kicked my legs +and waved my arms, then collapsed on to the raft half delirious from +the sudden relief. Dirk lifted me into his boat; and so overpowering +was the good thought of life again, and the clean air after the stuffy +suffocation of the gag and the sacking, and the feel of the blood +flushing along my numbed limbs and tingling in my feet and fingers, +that I lay in the rocking boat and sobbed like a child.</p> + +<p>Presently I looked up through my tears, smiling I think, to see Dirk +seated above me, his head in his hands and his elbows on his knees, +still gazing at me half frenziedly, till I began to wonder whether the +veil had lifted only to fall again.</p> + +<p>I stopped my crying, and laying my hands on his knees said, "Dirk, what +is it? Why do you want to kill me?"</p> + +<p>"Little kid Tommy" was all he could say, repeating it over and over. +He thrust a hand through my hair, tenderly enough for such a great +rough fellow, and bending my head back looked at me earnestly and +enquiringly. At last he fetched a heavy breath and said, "Yus, it's +little kid Tommy, an' no mistake. But it beats me; it beats me."</p> + +<p>I understood nothing of the matter that was troubling him. I was +utterly without a clue to the mystery. I could only say, "Tell me, +Dirk; what is it?"</p> + +<p>It was a long time before he answered, "Wull, kiddy, I was on his +track, an' I thought I'd got him at last; but it was you I nabbed, +though hell knows how it chanced."</p> + +<p>"Who was he?" I asked. But before he replied I knew whom he meant.</p> + +<p>"Have you forgotten, kiddy?" he asked. "The King's Man."</p> + +<p>"You found him?" I questioned.</p> + +<p>"I've hunted him high an' low," he replied, "an' I've had my fingers +on him, <i>so</i>!" He clawed the air about my throat. "But he's slipped +through every time, blast him! He's got as many shapes as a cloud in a +gale, an' as many voices as the wind; so when they telled me you was +only a nipper I grinned to meself an' said nothing. You see I thought I +had him safe. But it beats me, it does."</p> + +<p>He shook his head sorrowfully.</p> + +<p>I was beginning to understand something of the mystery, and suddenly +everything seemed clear as though I had followed it in a book. "Dirk," +I cried, "I know how it was. He was hiding in the corner. He was +chasing me. An officer, you know. I'd run away from school. Then I +suppose he heard you after him, and lay low. And I heard you and +thought it was him. So I hid there in the doorway. And then I felt him +there and got frightened, and jumped out, and you nabbed me instead." I +ended breathlessly: "You see, you see."</p> + +<p>He scratched his head somewhat bewildered, and said, "Here, kiddy, just +say that lot again."</p> + +<p>So I began at the beginning, and explained how the officers were after +me, and how I had heard footsteps and taken cover, till comprehension +dawned on him at last. "That's him," I concluded, "that's the King's +Man; the officer who was waiting there for me."</p> + +<p>Dirk sat there weighing the matter in his mind, and presently +exclaimed, "An' it were you, Tommy, I've been keeping in that filthy +hole, starving you an' gagging you an' frightening you an' all."</p> + +<p>"Nothing," I said, "nothing," and to ease his mind added: "Don't you +see, if you hadn't nabbed me the officer would have had me instead, and +I should have been back in the cells again."</p> + +<p>"That's a brave thing to say, kiddy," he exclaimed fervently, and +seized my hand, till I nearly cried with the pain of a friendly grip. +"Wull," he added releasing me, and thumping his fist on his knee, "I'll +go an' find him again, an' I'll catch him next time. An' then I'll.... +You know what I meant doing?" he broke off fiercely.</p> + +<p>"Yes," I said.</p> + +<p>"Ha!" he cried, grinning evilly, "I'll tear him limb from limb; slowly, +kiddy, <i>slowly</i>!" He stressed the word lingeringly. "An' I'll sit just +here an' watch his eyes, same as I meant to this morning."</p> + +<p>He sat motionless awhile, gazing terribly before him as though +witnessing his cruel revenge in actual progress.</p> + +<p>"Six hours," he said. Then with an oath he dashed his hand across his +eye as though to obliterate the picture, and smiling more pleasantly +said, "Wull, let's row in for a bit, an' then for something wet at the +<i>Dolphin</i>."</p> + +<p>"The <i>Dolphin</i>!" I cried.</p> + +<p>I gazed about me, and realized where we were. It was the very spot +where the betrayal had been committed which was to have been so +horribly expiated. We were by the Smugglers' Gate in Ebb-Tide Cave.</p> + +<p>Ebb-Tide Cave!</p> + +<p>"Dirk," I cried in sudden excitement, "is this the first of May?"</p> + +<p>"Ay, kiddy," he answered, "it is that."</p> + +<p>My father's song came into my mind. I could almost hear him singing it:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">"'Twas at Ebb-Tide Cave by the Smuggler's Gate,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">At the dawn of a summer's day;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And there those happy lovers met,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">All on the first of May."</div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>So vivid was the fancy that I could actually hear my father's voice +that I sat motionless, listening, till Dirk asked what ailed me.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Dirk," I said, "you must have fallen from Heaven. I've got to meet +my father here to-day; and you've brought me."</p> + +<p>"Fallen from Heaven!" he repeated, his lips curling bitterly. "Yus, I +reckon I have that. An' I don't see myself climbing back again. An' +so," his voice changed, "your dad's coming, is he? Wull, I'll be off +an' leave you to him then. An' if I see him at the <i>Dolphin</i> I'll let +him know there's a surprise packet down this way."</p> + +<p>He rowed me out into the Pool, where a great wind greeted us, and +landed me on the rocks, then turned to row in up the Smugglers' Tunnel, +for the tide was still almost at the full. But I suddenly remembered +my knife and pistol. I think he understood my gesture as I clapped my +hands to my sides feeling for them. He smiled darkly and nodded at my +waist. I looked down; and there they were tucked in my belt, and in +my excitement I hadn't noticed them. He didn't explain the mystery, +but I thought I understood it: the sight of them there, to hand, yet +useless, would have been an added torment to the perishing victim. So +he left me and I watched him vanish, then clambered up the cliff so +that I could see if any boat were making for the shore, and also if any +one appeared from above, for I didn't know whether my father would come +by sea or land; but that he would come I held for a certainty.</p> + +<p>Half-way up I found a good lookout point, and sat down and waited, my +heart in a whirl of excitement at the prospect of seeing my father +again. Indeed the joy of meeting him was so great that I hardly had a +thought to bestow on the extraordinary way I had been spirited to the +rendezvous.</p> + +<p>So I sat there gazing out to sea, glorying in the huge bursting rollers +that strained and pounded at the rocks beneath me; for a south-west +gale was racing in across the white-streaked waters, dewing my face +with the spray in its breath and slapping my hair in heavy, damp +tangles against my forehead. Before me lying out at anchor in the +heaving sea was the brig that had brought me there; and away to the +east the sky was reddening with the coming of the sun.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI</h2> +</div> + +<h3>ALL ON THE FIRST OF MAY</h3> + + +<p>For a while I sat there in a delicious waking dream. The shadows of the +past fell away from me, and the future held no visible menace. Indeed I +didn't think of the future. The present was all my concern, or at least +only so much of the future as would bring my father back to me. Beyond +that I didn't look. Already my schooling in adventures and surprises +was teaching me to live in to-day and let to-morrow shift for itself. +So much could happen in a single hour that foresight and circumspection +were a wasted labour.</p> + +<p>So I yielded to blissful anticipation, so near as it seemed to +immediate realization, and saw no cloud in the sky of my contentment. +Even the day was such as I loved. The hallooing of the wind, the +bursting of the waves, the salt-laden scent of the racing air, the +bounding vitality and keen stinging sweetness of it all, were like a +triumphal chant of the blood and the breath. It was as though the earth +and sea were living things, and my spirit was exalted at the rapture of +their boisterous play.</p> + +<p>It wasn't immediately that I realized the meaning of certain pebbles +and clods of earth that came rolling down the cliff to either side of +me. I was too preoccupied to look up all at once. But when a heavier +lump came bounding down almost at my elbow I turned to see what the +cause of it might be. It was merely somebody climbing down the cliff, +and rolling stones at me, either to have a game with me or to attract +my attention. I thought probably it was the latter, for when he saw me +gazing up at him he stopped and began waving to me; and it looked as +though he were shouting, but the wind was in his teeth and I couldn't +catch a sound.</p> + +<p>And then I sprang to my feet and gazed with a searching scrutiny at the +waving figure, for it was none other than Worthing.</p> + +<p>Just for a moment I stood vacantly wondering how he had found me out, +but dismissing the question I accepted the fact of his presence, and +started scrambling up the sloping track towards him, the great wind +heaving me upwards from behind like a huge helping hand.</p> + +<p>"Why, Worthing!" I panted as I reached him and seized his hand. +"Worthing!..."</p> + +<p>The question I would have put to him was implied in my cry of +astonishment.</p> + +<p>"It's quite simple," he answered me. "I knew where you would go, and I +followed."</p> + +<p>I didn't stop to explain the amazing way in which I had reached my +destination. That story would keep. What I wanted to know was what had +happened to him when my escape had been discovered, and why he had left +school. I put the questions to him, not very coherently, for a sense +of shame prevented me from asking, "What did they do to you?" But he +took my meaning, and answered me, "They said a lot of things about me; +publicly, of course. And they flogged me."</p> + +<p>"Flogged you!" I cried; nearly adding his own comment, "publicly, of +course."</p> + +<p>"At least it was an experience," he said.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Worthing!" I exclaimed in remorse, feeling behind his calm words +the disgust of the indignity still rankling in his mind. "Worthing, it +was all my fault."</p> + +<p>"Look here, Tommy," he replied, "it was my own deliberate choice."</p> + +<p>"No!" I said.</p> + +<p>"Yes!" he answered curtly. "Please give me credit for knowing my own +mind."</p> + +<p>He looked at me in his settled, uncompromising way, and I could say no +more. I wrung his hand in silence, and there was a pause. I didn't dare +ask for further particulars. Indeed there was no need. My imagination +could fill in with abundant details the outline he had drawn for me. +They had flogged him! Worthing, the soul of law and discipline! The +thing seemed incredible. They had flogged him! His very pride seemed a +shield sufficient to ward off such a calamity. But they hadn't spared +him. I turned to him with a cry of gratitude, but he was saying, "The +Captain was terribly uneasy about you when I told him you had escaped +and disappeared."</p> + +<p>"Ah," I said; and wondered whether he would mention Jenny.</p> + +<p>"I told him," he went on, "that I would find you and send you back to +him."</p> + +<p>"Yes," I said doubtfully; and added, "Is that why you followed me?"</p> + +<p>"Not exactly," he replied. "I had decided on that before. I had +committed my offence and taken my punishment. There was nothing else to +wait for. I made up my mind to leave the place as soon as the affair +was over. I shall go to my uncle in London. But first I thought I +should like to find you, Tommy."</p> + +<p>Again I wrung his hand, and in what stumbling words I could lay tongue +to was trying to tell him how dear he was to me, but suddenly he +pointed below where a schooner was staggering round the headland. +But what I saw was a little boat already threading the channel into +Ebb-Tide Pool, bobbing like a see-saw on the backs of the rearing +waves. The tide was ebbing, and I wondered whether the boat would make +the entrance, but as I looked it rose on a leaping crest and plunged +through the narrow passage into the Pool, where it disappeared under +the overhanging arch. But I had recognized the solitary oarsman, though +his back had been towards me. It was my father.</p> + +<p>I waved frantically as he vanished under the brow of rock, and hallooed +into the wind with all my might, though I knew well that my voice +couldn't reach him in that gale. But I was so excited that the wind +beating the words back into my face only made me shout the more; and I +set off down the cliff, slipping and leaping, with Worthing following +more cautiously behind me. I was afraid my father would row in up the +tunnel, where I would be unable to follow unless I swam for it. But +with a cry of relief I welcomed him as I saw him appear again, climbing +up the cliff towards me.</p> + +<p>I stopped for a moment and waved to him, but he hadn't seen me, and +suddenly I thought I would hide and lie in wait for him to surprise +him as he came by. I ducked behind a rock and peered out cautiously +to watch for his coming. Looking back I saw Worthing still stepping +deliberately down the path. I motioned to him to hide, but he was too +concerned with his footing to notice me; he came slowly downwards, +pushing into the wind, and steadying himself at every step.</p> + +<p>I peeped out again to see if my father were drawing near yet. But he +had stopped, and his face was turned away from me. And suddenly he +sprang round and began racing down the cliff. I jumped up to see what +had alarmed him, but there was no one in sight except Worthing. Then +faintly from below me, and coming as it seemed from Ebb-Tide Cave, I +heard my own voice calling, "Daddy, dad-<i>dee</i>!" as though I were in +some terrible peril.</p> + +<p>I stood fixed to the spot. A terror such as I had never known set my +every nerve quivering. Not even the ghost at Sunset Towers in the dead +of a stormy night had seemed so unearthly as the sound of my own voice +calling for help there in the light of day. My blood ran cold to hear +it. I clutched at the rock beside me, for I felt faint and would have +fallen. But as my father still sped downwards, evidently deceived by +the cry which kept rising to him, "Daddy, daddy, save me!" I threw off +my stupid fear and started running after him, shouting with all my +power. But the wind was full in my face, and seemed to sweep the cry +from my lips, though I hallooed like one in a frenzy. Then my father +dipped under the arch and vanished.</p> + +<p>I raised one last despairing cry, and quickened my pace, stumbling and +clutching, heedless of knocks and tumbles. For there was an agony of +anxiety upon me. A vivid picture was in my mind of my father breaking +back into the flames of the burning inn when he thought he heard me +calling. It was just the picture I could see; I didn't reason that that +had been make-believe merely. Something told me that this at least was +earnest. He was being decoyed into a trap. And of all things it was my +voice which was luring him on.</p> + +<p>I jumped the last few feet, and flinging out an arm swung myself round +under the jutting rock. Almost at my feet, so that I nearly fell upon +him, was my father, writhing on the ground and choking blood, with a +gaping gash across his throat.</p> + +<p>Something terrible happened within me. The air around me became a red +mist. I felt suddenly possessed of the strength of ten men. A frenzied +desire to kill surged up at my heart. I caught sight of a moving figure +scrambling over the rocks that ringed the Pool. I forgot my father; +and with an insane fury of vengeance driving me on I plunged after the +fugitive, howling and whooping like a crazed animal.</p> + +<p>He was making off towards the sandy bay. I could see it below me with +the tumble-down jetty at its farther horn, and beyond was a little +smack anchored a stone's throw from the shore out of reach of the +worst of the breakers. I guessed that was his goal, and if he gained +it he would beat off down the coast, where I couldn't hope to follow +with the waves rolling in above my head. In a fog of rage and madness +I stumbled after him, lumbering carelessly and making little ground; +for he was nimble and trod lightly, leaping with ease and dexterity +from rock to rock, in spite of the slippery weed which here began to +drape them treacherously, still wet from the ebbing tide. Then came the +short stretch of clear going before the jetty. I thought I might catch +him there as he climbed the great obstacle, and I pressed forward, +consciously snarling with anger and hate. He reached the space and ran; +and I knew that if he slipped as he climbed the slimy stones I should +have him. But he bore a little up to the left, and I saw he was making +for a gap brokenly boarded in but with the planks and piles hanging +awry. It might be possible there to leap without climbing. I hoped he +would leap and fall. As my feet touched the sand I raced after him with +a yell.</p> + +<p>It wasn't till this moment that I remembered my weapons. So primitive +were the passions that had been so suddenly whipped up within me that +my vision had been one of tearing my enemy piecemeal with my nails and +teeth. The memory of my pistol came to me like a shout of laughter. +I stopped, and drew the darling weapon from my belt, and levelled +it at my fleeing foe. My hand was shaky with excitement, and I was +afraid I should miss. Taking as careful aim as I could I pulled the +trigger and with a howl of evil joy was bounding forward again, for I +saw him stumble and fall. He was soon up, however, but was limping in +his run. Drawing my knife I sprang after him, gaining steadily, with +the picture of my vengeance already vivid in my imagination. But he +still ran well, and reaching the gap didn't risk a jump at it with +his damaged leg. I saw where without pausing he rested his hand on a +broken stump, and vaulted over the barrier. A moment, and I was at the +place; and learning wisdom from my foe I didn't risk a fall by a wild +leap, but slipping back my knife into my belt I rested my hand where he +had taught me, and in my turn vaulted after him. But he was crouching +there ready for me, as I might have guessed if my stupid rage hadn't +stupefied my wits. Even as I leapt I saw him; but it was too late. +He caught me a stunning buffet between the eyes; and with the vision +before me of that dreadful face that still haunted my dreams, I fell +senseless.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII</h2> +</div> + +<h3>WORTHING ASKS QUESTIONS</h3> + + +<p>My memory is too blurred for me to write in any kind of consistent +sequence of what followed. I know it was Worthing who found me lying +stunned by the jetty and brought me back to some faint consciousness +of reality as he had done that night at Sunset Towers. But it was as +though the physical blow had numbed my very reason, for everything was +stupidly confused in my mind. Mercifully so, I think; for I hadn't the +sense to realize the desolating calamity that had befallen me. Even +when I stood beside my dead father and gazed at the pallid face with +that dreadful red gash yawning at the throat, I couldn't understand +what had really happened. I think I even laughed as though some one +were playing a clumsy joke, too extravagant to deceive me. And the +sight of the black hollow in the woods where they laid him, tumbling +the earth in upon him, didn't shake me from my leaden lethargy. Yet at +my heart was a dull pain as though a wound were rankling deep within.</p> + +<p>I remember too that certain officers appeared, very officious and +inquisitive, and bullied me from my torpor into answering their +stupid questions. Sometimes I replied sulkily, and sometimes as they +questioned me forgot their very presence, wrapped as I was in a cloud +of weary gloom. Then they caught me by the shoulders and shook me, +till I cursed them and answered I knew not what. At length they must +have abandoned the attempt to pump information from such a dry well, +for I was left in peace. But at times I was aware of Worthing's voice +clear and decided speaking up for me when I sat dully pondering some +enquiry which had been demanded of me, utterly failing to understand +its significance or applicability to myself.</p> + +<p>Indeed it was Worthing who saved me from insanity. For with that +incomprehensible slow gloom that had settled upon me, the constant +fretting of the officers would have galled me into a savage madness. +What I needed was rest and peace, so that the evil black vapour might +gradually disperse itself from my spirit, and the light of reality grow +clear about me by easy degrees. But the constant questioning puzzled +me, and set me searching in the confusion of my mind for clues and +traces of the inexplicable enigma which seemed to be dodging me through +the dark complexities of my bemused memory. When it baffled me and +I sank into a gloomy stupor, all was well; but sometimes I caught a +glimpse of the evil thing, and that was like a wrench to a broken limb, +an agony that pierced through the vitals like a sword of white fire. +I gasped as though my very soul had been split apart with a wedge of +lightning. But the pain was too terrible to endure, and foolishly I +dropped back into my moping.</p> + +<p>Yet I know that all the while I was saying to myself, "He is dead, +dead, dead!" But the knowledge didn't take root in my mind. It was like +a knocking from outside, but I wouldn't open the door. I felt there was +something evil there; and, though within all was dark and dreadful, yet +I wouldn't open to that unknown thing. I only knew it would stand there +and knock till I relented, but stubbornly I refused, and shrank deeper +into the darkness that closed me round.</p> + +<p>All this is but a foolish picture of what I suffered. For everything +about me was a kind of weighing chaos where I couldn't reason or +distinguish. Only, as I say, at times a vivid light broke through, +crueller than the shadows that clung about me; for the light was the +light of reality, and reality was more terrible than the spiritual coma +that had stupefied my understanding.</p> + +<p>However, the light was bound to triumph in the end. The knocking became +insistent, and I knew I must open the door. And then with the rush +of bitter knowledge upon my naked heart I learnt what it was to have +a friend. Not that Worthing wept over me. Rather it was his severe +strength and calm recognition of actuality that supported me. For in +his presence I accepted the inevitable as a thing not to be questioned, +merely to be endured. It was the contagion of example rather than of +precept, for he never that I remember spoke harshly to me as one must +to the hysterical; it was merely that he faced up to the reality of the +situation, and I caught something of his straight and uncompromising +attitude of soul.</p> + +<p>Dirk too nursed me back to sanity in his rough way. Not that I learnt +much philosophy from him; rather it would seem that he tended to +undo the good that Worthing did me. For if Worthing stimulated me to +strength of endurance, Dirk stimulated me to violent rebellion. He took +me with him for long marches across the country, and sometimes for a +tossing at sea; and always the burden of his talk was one of cursing +and vengeance, till in the blackness of my heart I vowed again and +again to track down my father's murderer and kill him without mercy. +And at such times Dirk would encourage me with, "That's the gab, kiddy. +This an't no world for milk-and-water livers. It's red blood that runs +in the heart, my dear, an' that's a stuff that takes some cooling." +But unaccountable as it may seem, the medicine of philosophy and the +medicine of revenge, which might appear to be antidotes, didn't nullify +each other. I felt a stimulation from them both. I suppose it was that +the one taught me to bear and the other taught me to act. But, however +that may be, with the passing of the days I found myself facing the +world again, with a bitter sense of loneliness at my heart, but with no +craven yielding to circumstance.</p> + +<p>It wasn't till I had emerged from the shadow that Worthing seriously +set himself to question me on the dark business. And then he was a +hundredfold more exacting than the officers had been. First he made +me go over again and again the ground of the murder and the pursuit, +explaining at every turn just what I had seen and done. And strangely +enough each time I seemed to remember some point which had escaped my +memory before. Though of what use all this exactitude of detail was to +be I couldn't guess. But Worthing was relentless, saying that nothing +however trifling must be passed over as the clue might lie in the most +unexpected place. However, at last he seemed satisfied that nothing +more was to be learnt from the process. But he had reconstructed the +murder with convincing probability of detail. The murderer must have +known of my father's intended visit. Perhaps he had even heard the +song which had warned me of the meeting; or perhaps he had merely +followed him, waiting for a chance to strike. Worthing favoured the +first theory. Then he pointed out the spot where the murderer had +remained concealed till my father should arrive. My father for his +part had sailed down on the schooner we had seen, having arranged +before to be set ashore. He hadn't rowed up the Smuggler's Tunnel as he +didn't know whether the passage was still clear to the woods; the rope +ladder might no longer be there. So not seeing me he had started to +climb the cliffs, intending to make for the <i>Dolphin</i>. Then came the +puzzling cry for help. I eagerly explained to Worthing the affair of +the <i>Snow Man</i>, and how my father had rushed back into the burning inn +to save me. His enemy must have been on his track even then, and the +incident had given him the idea of a ruse which he hadn't yet tried. +Well, it had succeeded. He had imitated my voice, and my father had +turned, thinking I was below there and in danger. And that was easily +explicable, as I might have been exploring in Drift-Wood Cavern. He +had turned, unarmed of all suspicion in his sudden belief that I was +in peril. And his enemy had caught him off his guard at last, and had +killed him.</p> + +<p>The murderer had fled, and I had followed. But the smack towards which +I thought he had been making was still at anchor when Worthing found +me. So then he had had some other retreat in mind. Evidently he knew +the coast well. Actually where he had hidden didn't much matter for he +must have fled the district long before my wits were clear enough to +tell anything of the story. But there was one piece of evidence which +set Worthing questioning me. Across my right hand were two ragged +gashes. How had they come? I laughed at the question for in my blind +pursuit of the murderer I had taken so little heed that it was a wonder +I wasn't gashed and bruised from head to heel. But Worthing wouldn't +leave it at that. I must think where I was most likely to have hurt my +hand. And then it came to me.</p> + +<p>"Why," I said, "it was vaulting the jetty."</p> + +<p>"Vaulting?" he cried sharply. "You said you jumped it."</p> + +<p>I suppose I had done. "Well," I said, "I vaulted over. I saw him vault, +and I followed suit."</p> + +<p>Worthing looked at me as though astounded, and then said, "Good God, +Tommy, and you've only just told me that! Come along," he cried, and +raced me off to the spot for a further investigation.</p> + +<p>And there on the stump where I had rested my hand were two great rusty +nails sticking out wickedly from the rotten timber. Indeed it looked as +though the gash they had made in the wood had first set it splitting.</p> + +<p>Worthing gazed at them, then turned to me and looked at my hand. "Yes," +he said, "that's it. And yet in your confounded stupidity you wouldn't +have said anything about it!"</p> + +<p>To tell the truth I was still rather in a maze at the importance of the +find.</p> + +<p>"Can't you see?" cried Worthing, reading my dullness in my vacant +stare. "Don't you realize that he's probably marked in the same way?"</p> + +<p>"Ah, of course," I said. "He put his hand there too."</p> + +<p>"How wise of you to think of that!" was all he answered. But I believe +I would have thought of it long since had it not been for the cloud +which hadn't yet quite lifted from my spirit.</p> + +<p>But Worthing hadn't done with me. For days we strolled the country +round, or sat out on the cliffs, or lay in bed with the candle burning +to the socket, while I told him everything I could remember of my past +life; a hundred times as much as I have written in this book, for I +couldn't distinguish then between the relevant and the irrelevant, and +indeed he didn't wish me to distinguish. If I seemed to be keeping +back some trifling detail he would wrest it relentlessly out of me, +declaring that he must know everything I could possibly remember, to +the very clothes I had ever worn and the very meals I had ever eaten.</p> + +<p>At times he listened with his eyes half closed, as though waiting for +some hint which would set him on a clue, or throw light on other parts +of the story which seemed shadowy and inexplicable. And at times he +would start up alertly and tell me to repeat something again, spurring +on my memory with hints and suggestions.</p> + +<p>He brushed aside my question as to how the old hag, Bite-in-the-Dark, +had changed into a man; for I had recognized the face of the evil old +woman as the blow caught me between the eyes. "Merely a matter of +clothes," said Worthing. But the mention of the manuscript, when I came +to that part of the narrative, excited him immensely as though he had +hit upon the main trail at last; and my father's poring over the plans, +his explorations of the creeks and pools about the <i>Dolphin</i>, and his +story of the accursed treasure that night at Sunset Towers, became the +nucleus of Worthing's enquiries. And indeed I wasn't so lacking in +insight as to be unaware of the significance of all this; it was the +unifying element which should explain the mystery that baffled me. For +in my superstitious way I was inclined to believe it was the working +out of the old curse upon yet another victim. The murderer, be he man +or woman, I regarded as merely an instrument in the hand of that darker +impalpable horror which my father had named Shadow-of-Fear.</p> + +<p>But Worthing laughed all such stuff to scorn. He set about hunting +for the manuscript among my father's papers, but it was missing. The +discovery of its loss set him darkly thinking; and one night when we +had been lying silently in bed for a while he suddenly sat up and said: +"It's all so ridiculously simple, Tommy, that I'm afraid there's a +catch in it somewhere."</p> + +<p>"Simple?" I exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Look here," he replied, "just let's put together what we actually +know. Firstly, it's obvious your father was after that 'unhallowed +gold' as you call it. Secondly, the manuscript with the plan is +missing. There's evidence enough to piece out the whole story, except +the actual identity of the murderer. It's just that somebody else was +after that gold as well. He wanted the plan, and he's got it. If we +hang about here long enough we shall either be put out of the way or, +if we're clever enough to preserve our skins, we shall see the fellow +come back and in turn start hunting for the treasure."</p> + +<p>It seemed absurdly clear as Worthing expounded it, but it didn't +satisfy me. Yet I couldn't explain to Worthing why it didn't satisfy +me, for it was merely that in my heart I felt there was something +darker and more mysterious than mere greed of gold that had laid my +father low. The story of the curse had got into my blood. Indeed it +had become a familiar strand woven into all my dreams and colouring my +very outlook on life. And this was but natural considering the fear +and mystery which had shadowed my short but eventful career, till the +unseen world had become as real to me as the seen.</p> + +<p>Worthing continued, "How we are to find the murderer is another matter."</p> + +<p>"Need we find him?" I asked, forgetting the fine vows I was used to +make when in Dirk's company. For my mind was brooding on the horror and +inexplicability of it all, and I thought it might be as well to wash my +hands of the unholy affair.</p> + +<p>"The law demands it," was Worthing's characteristic reply. And he +explained what evidence we had and what clues we might follow. There +was the probable mark on the man's hand. Then too he must have been in +the neighbourhood of the <i>Snow Man</i> when my father rushed back into +the fire. Probably he had been the cause of the fire itself. Again, +he had very likely been at Rancey Bridge when my father had sung the +verse bidding me to the tryst on the first of May. Then there was the +affair of the King's Man. My father himself had suggested that that was +a trick of his enemy's to put false blame upon him, and so bring down +the vengeance of the smugglers on his head. So Worthing went on; and if +the strange fear at my heart hadn't cried halt to the enquiry I should +have delighted in tracing the mystery and connecting it link by link. +But I couldn't throw off the feeling of awe which paralyzed my wits and +dulled my enthusiasm for revenge. In spite of the crying wound in my +heart I couldn't whip myself up into the mood for retaliation.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Dirk had been hanging idly round the <i>Dolphin</i>, his brig +lying out to sea, for he had taken it into his head to father me now +that I was left a homeless waif to face the world alone. He kept urging +me to join him on his vessel and learn the sailor's craft, and to tell +the truth I was only too anxious to go, for the call of the sea set my +blood dancing. But I couldn't leave Worthing, not at any rate until +I had satisfied his curiosity. And even when I thought he must know +my story by heart, with all my wanderings from as far back as I could +remember, and all the secrets I had discovered around the coast and +even at Sunset Towers, when I thought he knew all this yet I couldn't +bring myself to part from him unless he wished me to. For I knew I +owed him a debt I could never hope to repay. So I was torn between two +desires: on the one hand Dirk and the romance of the sea called me to +be away on the wonderful summer waters, and on the other hand Worthing +and a sense of gratitude held me back on land.</p> + +<p>I wondered how it would all end, for I was still too stupid from the +effects of the shock I had sustained to be master of my will. But the +knot untied itself. For one morning Worthing came to me and said he +was off to London. He had learnt all he could at this end of the trail; +now he must go and establish himself in his uncle's graces, and didn't +doubt but that he would have leisure and opportunity to work at the +mystery and eventually unravel it. His uncle, he knew, would lend him +every help, for the case promised to be one of intense interest in the +annals of crime.</p> + +<p>This method of regarding the tragedy made me wince, but I answered +cheerily that I was ready to accompany him.</p> + +<p>"But you're going to sea," he said.</p> + +<p>"To sea?" I repeated.</p> + +<p>"Look here, Tommy," he answered, "what you need is a thorough change. +You haven't got over the shock yet. You'll have a bad time of it before +you can face your life steadily. Well, you go off with Dirk while the +summer lasts, and then meet me in London. You see," he added, "I shall +be able to put your affairs straight in the meantime."</p> + +<p>I didn't understand him. "My affairs?" I queried.</p> + +<p>"Tommy," he said, taking me by the arm, "I've pumped you dry during the +last few weeks, but you haven't asked me a question; so I must speak +without being asked, that's all. You remember I was following you down +the cliff when you set off in chase of your father's murderer. Well, +when I came up your dad was still living."</p> + +<p>I felt a gush of tears at my eyes, but I dashed them away and said, +"Yes?"</p> + +<p>"His last thought was for you, Tommy. He gave me a packet which he +had in his coat, and I found another in his knapsack in the boat; he +didn't intend that you should miss it. He gave it to me and asked me to +see the matter straight. I think he had some sort of confidence in my +knowledge of this kind of thing. Of course I promised."</p> + +<p>"But what is it?" I asked, trying to control my shaky voice. For the +picture of my murdered father was vividly before me, and I began to +realize as I hadn't yet done how bitter was my loss.</p> + +<p>"There seems to be a fortune," Worthing continued. "There's a London +firm has charge of the gold, for it isn't banked. A bank, you see, is a +clue for anyone hunting you. Your dad didn't mean to leave more traces +than he could help."</p> + +<p>I thought bitterly that all his caution had been of no avail at the end.</p> + +<p>I grasped Worthing's hand and said, "I don't know what it all means. +You'll see to it, won't you?"</p> + +<p>He said he had already pledged his word to do so.</p> + +<p>So we spent that day together, and the next morning Worthing set off +for London, first writing out for me exact instructions where I was to +meet him. Then we tramped to the nearest stage; and I saw him mount the +coach and drive away on his mission.</p> + +<p>I walked back slowly to the <i>Dolphin</i>, my mind growing clearer. +Worthing had said I should have a bad time before I learnt to face +life steadily; and already with my clearing vision I began to see how +desolate the world had become.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="PART_III">PART III</h2> +</div> + +<h3>DIRK STORMAWAY</h3> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII</h2> +</div> + +<h3>DIRK TAKES ME IN HAND</h3> + + +<p>For a few days my troubles were forgotten, for immediately on my return +to the <i>Dolphin</i> Dirk marched me away to the shore. At Ebb-Tide Pool we +found his boat in waiting, and it was only a matter of a few strokes of +the oar before we were aboard his brig, the <i>Revenge</i>.</p> + +<p>As we drew alongside he jerked his head up to the name.</p> + +<p>"Used to be the <i>Sailor's Lass</i>," he said.</p> + +<p>The anchor was hauled in, and the dream of my life began. I was like a +mad thing on board there. I couldn't grow weary questioning the hands +on the use of this and that, though they probably grew weary answering +me. For the most part they were kindly enough, though they dashed my +enthusiasm somewhat by their oaths and scolding. But they seldom laid +hands on me. It may have been that they were afraid to do so knowing +me under the protection of Dirk, a master to daunt the boldest. But I +think too I was popular on my own account. I was hardy and bold, and +could swarm a back-stay as easily as run up the ratlines. Also I was +willing and eager to take my share of the work, and so relieved the +lazier ones of many a climb aloft. And my precocity with the knife +and pistol amused them, and I could talk of strange things when we +lounged about the galley in the dog-watches which appealed to their +sailor-sense of the mysterious.</p> + +<p>For a few days the world was an enchanted playground. The sky was a +serene blue, with here and there lazy woolly clouds floating over us +like argosies from fairyland. The wind was steady enough to swell +the sails without rolling us boisterously amid toppling waves. And +the water cutting away from the bows in a gush of leaping white, and +foaming out in a double wake to either side; the slapping of the waves +against the vessel, and spurting up in little fountains to the deck; +the long racing lines of the rollers, glittering with innumerable +greens and blues, and in the evening catching the colours of the west +and flaming suddenly into orange and red and purple; the mist on the +sea's face in the morning, like a white veil filmy and shifting and +translucent, and gleaming like cloudy mother-of-pearl as the sun +strengthened and shot it through with colour, to furl it up like a +banner of gauze till it melted and left the skyline clear, so that once +again to the sweep of the horizon were the dancing waters and the wide +free kingdom of the air; all these things which were the wonder and +beauty of the sea caught at my heart like a passion, till I thought I +should like to live for ever amid this inconstant wavering mystery, +this intangible fluctuant loveliness, which teased my spirit like a +thirst and fired it like a wine.</p> + +<p>But this has little to do with my story, though I should like to dilate +on the joy of it all. For even when the sky clouded and the storm +caught us, the thunder rolling ponderously overhead like a caravan of +the giants, and the lightning stabbing at us out of the black heavens, +ripping the clouds across in savage jagged gashes, I still exulted, +being ignorant, and fighting on the high unsteady yards with the stiff +kicking sails thought that life was a wonderful game.</p> + +<p>But with familiarity, though I never lost my enthusiasm, I had leisure +to return upon myself and take measure of the calamity which had +befallen me. The fumes had cleared from my mind by now, and I began +to understand that I should never see my father again. "He is dead, +dead, dead!" was no longer an ominous knocking from without; it was +a sorrow that had come to live with me for ever. My father, who had +been my whole world to me! He had gone. And I had been longing to +see him, counting the days, in an agony when the misadventure of the +officers and the later misadventure at Sunset Towers had threatened to +hold us apart. And yet, so malignant was the fate that had dogged us, +it was at the very moment of reunion that the blow had been struck. +It was an added pain to know that I hadn't even heard the last words +of his love. They had been spoken to another, while I, blind in my +rage, had forgotten him and left him to lie there, not even staying to +staunch his wound. I had leisure to think of all this, and it was agony +unspeakable while the mood lasted; but with the first of the morning, +for it was usually at night-time that the dark humour caught me, I was +out on deck and glorying in the shifting splendours of the dawn; for I +was still a boy, eager, romantic and leaping to the call of beauty with +an ardent and I think a poetic nature.</p> + +<p>So the days passed.</p> + +<p>I took no heed of where we were steering. At this time Dirk gave +me a free hand, not attempting so soon to break me in to the stern +discipline of the sea, consequently I wasn't called upon to take note +of our course. So I was surprised one day when dropping anchor off +shore Dirk lowered a boat, and getting in said to me, "Wull, you'd +better keep close, kiddy. If they catch you hereabouts they mightn't be +kind to you."</p> + +<p>I looked questionably at the land, and asked, "Why, where are we?"</p> + +<p>"Ho," he laughed, "you're a fine sailor, Tommy, my lad. I'd a thought +you'd a known the Rancey."</p> + +<p>"The Rancey!" I exclaimed.</p> + +<p>And sure enough there was the channel running into the land. But I had +never been as far as the mouth before.</p> + +<p>A sudden desire set my heart thumping. I had hardly given a thought +to Jenny during the whole of the voyage. But I knew now by the uneasy +catching of my breath that a strange longing for her had suddenly +possessed me.</p> + +<p>"Dirk," I cried, "take me with you."</p> + +<p>"Orders!" he said sharply. "You stay here."</p> + +<p>"Dirk," I cried again coaxingly.</p> + +<p>He merely looked at me, and I knew I mustn't argue with him. So I +watched him lower away with a couple of hands and row off to shore.</p> + +<p>The thought of Jenny set my heart strangely working. Though I knew well +I badly wanted to see her, yet there was a shrinking uneasiness at my +heart as though I were half afraid. The prospect of facing Jenny again +seemed more like an ordeal than a pleasure. Yet I wanted her, and was +tempted to put all to the hazard, dive in and swim to shore, and go and +find her. It wasn't so much the fear of disobeying Dirk that made me +hesitate as the knowledge that I hadn't yet accomplished my mission, +indeed didn't seem to have made the first step in its accomplishment. I +was ashamed to go to Jenny and say I had done exactly nothing, and in +fact didn't know what to do.</p> + +<p>However, the desire to see her grew intense. Perhaps she would forgive +me when I told her of my father's death. And at that thought I felt a +longing for sympathy, so that the tears came to my eyes and I blubbered +like a girl. But I couldn't restrain the shaking sobs, and crept +into hiding so that I shouldn't be seen. All I knew was that I was +lonely and miserable, and I wanted Jenny to comfort me. But the only +consolation I had was the golden guinea she had given me. I pierced +it, and threading it with a piece of twine hung it about my neck like a +charm.</p> + +<p>I waited for Dirk to return, intending to ask him again to let me go +ashore. But he didn't return, and the evening grew dark, and the sun +set over the land. So I crept into my bunk, and still sniffing a little +curled myself up and went to sleep. But with the morning Dirk was still +away. And then I suddenly knew why he had vanished, and cursed myself +for a fool for not having guessed before. He was on the track of the +King's Man. Probably he would be away some days. In any case if he +captured the fellow it would have to be at night-time. I would be safe +for the day then. I gobbled down some breakfast and taking my knife, +but leaving my pistol behind, I slipped on deck and waited for a chance +to drop overboard unobserved.</p> + +<p>It wasn't long before the chance came. The men were resting, as there +was little work to do while the ship lay at anchor. The lookout wasn't +paying too much heed to his job. I was over the side, sliding down +the anchor chain, without a soul being any the wiser. And soon I was +ashore, and making for a fisherman's hut changed my wet clothes for +a jersey and a pair of breeches, on the understanding that I should +return that night and receive my own clothes back again. I remember +feeling a touch of shame at the untidy ill-fitting gear I had been +obliged to borrow, but there was no alternative, for I couldn't wait +for my own things to dry. So I set off, making tracks across country +for Sunset Towers.</p> + +<p>It was a longer journey than I had anticipated; but I obtained a lift +here and there, and before the sun had set I had crept into the grounds +from the back, and was scouting for a clear run in. For now that I was +at the old haunt again my fear of the officers returned upon me.</p> + +<p>For a while I lay low watching and listening, hoping that chance would +send Jenny my way. I was sentimental enough to wonder whether she would +instinctively divine my presence. I half expected her to come creeping +to me with my name on her lips. But either fate was very perverse or +Jenny's instinct very dull; for she didn't come. So it was for me to go +to her.</p> + +<p>I ran across the bare space which divided me from the ruins, and was +soon in among shelter again, climbing and threading my way through +the tumble-down stonework to the main part of the building. I entered +through the archway at the top of the main stairs, for I found the +boarding loose as though some one had been there before me. But perhaps +it had never been properly replaced since it had been opened for +Worthing. I couldn't remember. I didn't stay to question the matter. +I was so near now to my goal that all my mind was concentrated on the +coming meeting. Jenny would be there, a room or two away, or perhaps +just downstairs at her supper. I listened, but couldn't hear a sound. +I decided I would break in upon her assuming her to be in her room. If +she were downstairs after all I would hide and wait for her.</p> + +<p>I crept across the landing to her room and laid my hand on the +door-knob. It creaked, and I thought I heard a movement within. I +listened, but all was still again. But I dared not enter at once, +for the thought of what awaited me on the other side made my heart +leap stupidly. I could almost see Jenny standing there with wide eyes +waiting for the door to open. I was obliged to stand still to recover +my composure, for my brain seemed to reel and I felt half choked with +excitement, deafened by the beating of my heart. Why the meeting with +Jenny should throw me into such an unnerved trembling, I didn't know; +for I wasn't old enough to analyse my emotions. But there I stood, +fluttering like a rag, with all the strength ebbed out of my muscles, +and knowing full well that if I tried to speak I should merely stammer +like a booby. Also I was painfully aware of my disreputable clothes.</p> + +<p>It was the sound of some one moving downstairs that decided me to risk +my appearance and enter. I turned the handle and put my head round +the door. To my amazement the room was empty. I was both relieved and +disappointed. For though the sight of Jenny there would have left me +merely gaping and grinning inanely, yet I knew now I should have to +prepare myself for the ordeal all over again. I went in and sat down +on a chair, and looked about the room. It was strangely empty. Usually +there were clothes lying here and there, for Jenny wasn't the tidiest +of mortals. And besides there used to be all sorts of odds and ends +and gimcracks that I couldn't name dotted about the walls and shelves, +and their absence now left a gap in the place. I went to the bed and +pulled aside the curtain. The clothes and mattress were rolled up into +a bundle. Evidently no one was expected to sleep there that night. I +looked blankly around me, feeling bitterly dejected, and knowing, in +spite of silly arguments that kept rising to the contrary, that Jenny +wasn't there at all. She had gone away. I began to notice other signs +of abandonment. The dust lay thickly everywhere. There were odds and +ends of paper lying untidily about the floor as though drawers and +cupboards had been turned out. As indeed they had been; for when I +examined them they were empty.</p> + +<p>I sat down on the bed, disheartened and disconsolate. I didn't realize +till this moment how keenly I had been looking forward to seeing Jenny. +And the stupid trembling left me, and I felt limp with dejection. Again +I was alone in the world. And with the sense of loneliness came back in +a flood of anguish the memory of my father's death. I was too utterly +broken to weep even. I just sat there looking dully before me, saying +to myself, "Jenny, Jenny, Jenny!..."</p> + +<p>Then I felt a surge of anger against her. Why had she gone away? Gone +away without even leaving me a message! Perhaps she had left a message! +With quickened feelings I sprang up and gazed about the room, then +started turning out all the drawers. Before I had merely glanced idly +at them. But though I hunted high and low there was no trace of any +message. I even examined the dusty shelves, wondering whether she had +thought to write on them with her finger, till it occurred to me that +the dust had gathered after she had left. Then I thought there might be +a note for me downstairs, or even in my own bedroom.</p> + +<p>I turned to the door, but again I heard a noise; and I hesitated. There +was somebody on the landing. Instinct told me it was my enemy, for who +else should be prowling round the place when the inmates had gone?</p> + +<p>For a moment my thought was to fling open the door and hurl myself +upon him. I gripped my knife in angry hate, and my hand was on the +knob. But the spasm of fury passed, and I felt limp and unnerved again. +Somehow I knew the creature was waiting for me outside the door. All +was very still but I seemed to feel a presence there just behind the +panels. He must be standing motionless, listening, holding his breath, +even as I was doing myself; and only that inch of woodwork divided us. +But I hadn't the courage to open the door and put all to the hazard. +The evening was growing dusky; already the room was full of hovering +shadows. If only it had been daylight, I told myself; but all the while +I knew I was a coward. Yet I couldn't stiffen my resolution. Indeed the +blow of Jenny's absence with no word of where I was to find her had +reduced me to a stupid self-pity, and I had no spirit left for fight.</p> + +<p>I slunk quietly away, treading with an infinitude of caution; and +reaching the window I raised it as noiselessly as I could. Luckily +enough it yielded easily to my hands, sliding up quietly without a +creak. Every moment I dreaded to see the door flung open, and my enemy +upon me. But I kept my knife in my teeth, ready; and always my eyes +were turned towards the door.</p> + +<p>At length the window was raised, and with a great breath of relief I +slipped out and over the edge, clinging to the ivy. And then as my face +dipped below the sill I saw the message I had been hunting for. A card +was wedged into a crack in the stonework; dirty it is true, and torn, +but bearing across it in uneven straggling capitals my own name, though +the last letter was missing as the card had been torn away in a ragged +slant as though some one had snatched at it in haste only ripping off a +corner.</p> + +<p>Carefully, though I was still in an agony of fear, I loosened the card, +and climbing down to earth I turned it over without waiting to hide. +And there I saw written, "Tommy, come to me. Our house is...."</p> + +<p>But the precious fragment that alone was of value to me had gone.</p> + +<p>I stood gazing at the dirty card with the untidy writing, turning it +over and over, wondering what it meant. Why had Jenny hung out this +summons for me, and then torn off the heart of the message? "Tommy, +come to me." I read that again and again, mechanically, till I seemed +to hear the high imperious voice speaking the summons. And with the +feeling of Jenny's nearness I realized how like her it was to put the +message outside her window, as though she knew I should climb in that +way. I reproached myself for not having done so. If I had done so I +might have found the card intact.</p> + +<p>That set me thinking instead of sentimentalizing. Who had torn off that +precious corner? At first I had thought that Jenny must have done so +in some sudden changing whim. But now I said it couldn't have been +Jenny. Then who?... With a start I remembered having heard a movement +in the room as I had stood outside the door foolishly talking down my +thumping heart, too shy to face her. Suppose I had but repeated the +manœuvre which my enemy had played on me? Suppose he too, hearing my +hand on the knob, had climbed out through the window, and seeing the +message there had snatched at it, in too great a hurry to release it +carefully, and so had stolen just the fragment that I needed? It was +possible. I flushed hotly at the possibility, for the explanation +commended itself to me. And then the full meaning of the thing flooded +in upon me. It wasn't my enemy. I must have been stupid ever to have +supposed it could have been. It was the Captain's enemy. He was hunting +for him. And now he would have the clue he wanted.</p> + +<p>All fear was forgotten now. I was up the ivy again; and leaping to +the door I flung it wide. The landing was empty. With my knife in my +hand I rushed into room after room, then down the stairs, hunting +everywhere. And assuredly I should have stabbed anyone that had come +in my path without staying to see who he might be. But the whole place +was deserted. Only the hollow echoing of my feet rang from chamber to +chamber, sounding strangely dismal in the gathering twilight. So at +last I gave up the search. Standing still there in the great empty +hall the abandonment of the place was like a watchful presence as of +some listening thing, so that I turned about expecting to see eyes +upon me in the shadowy corners. At last I grew really frightened at +I know not what, and ran into the open. When I turned to look back +the huge house was standing up black against the sunset as I had seen +it that evening when hand in hand my father and I had first passed +beneath its portals. And still it seemed to be rapt in some dark and +evil meditation, gazing in upon itself as though concealing an ugly +mystery which it dared not divulge. And I, knowing something of the +haunting horror within its walls, and believing that even now an enemy +was lurking there, felt an overshadowing dread at my heart as though +an immense black bird had covered me with its wings. Then I heard a +low sighing that swelled into a moan; and it seemed that the mighty +creature were shaken with a sorrow it couldn't ease, crying to be rid +of a sickness that was poisoning it to the soul. I clapped my hands to +my ears and fled into the darkening night.</p> + +<p>It wasn't till I was deep among the heather that I realized I was +famishingly hungry. I would have turned back, if I had had the courage, +to see if there were any stale leavings in the larder. But I couldn't +face the prospect of entering again that lonely dark mansion which +seemed more menacing in its desolation than if I had been certain that +an enemy was lurking for me there knife in hand. So I tightened my belt +and lay down to sleep, and over my head the stars came out, sparkling +like flakes of the driven surge in the splendour of the moon. So the +night slipped over me and the morning came. With it I was up again, +tightening my belt by another hole to kennel in the wolves of hunger +that were gnawing so remorselessly within me.</p> + +<p>However, I soon struck upon a cart-track, and reaching a farmstead was +able to appease my appetite, and so set forth once more, strengthened +and invigorated. When clear of Rancey Bridge, for the fear of the +officers still made me cautious, I hit out for the main road, obtaining +a lift here and there on the way. But it was well towards evening +before I heard the washing of the sea, and at last set foot upon the +shore.</p> + +<p>I broke out on to the open sands without caution, and before I could +retrieve my error I saw Dirk in front of me. I started back into +hiding, but I heard his voice call me sharply. I went slowly up to him, +hanging my head, for he had discovered my truancy, and I feared he +would be bitterly angry with me.</p> + +<p>Without a word he gripped me savagely by the arm and strode me down to +his boat where it tossed at anchor at the water's edge.</p> + +<p>"My clothes," I said, not wanting to be stranded with the ragged things +I had on.</p> + +<p>He said no word, but pushed me forward. And there in the boat lay my +own clothes in a bundle. Then he knew all about my escapade.</p> + +<p>I was dismissed to my bunk immediately we arrived on board. I heard +the anchor hauled in, and the sails run up, and felt the wind take the +canvas and swing us out to sea.</p> + +<p>I was troubled at Dirk's silence. I expected him to be angry with me, +for I had disobeyed him. I knew too that I should be punished. But he +seemed more than angry, as though I had done him a personal injury. +Well, the morning would bring forth what it might. I was used to living +in the hour, and I was soon asleep, rocked by the swaying of the brave +ship as she rose to the waves and cut through the furrows.</p> + +<p>In the morning I was tied to the mast, and had my first taste of the +rope's end. But I knew it was only just, and though the pain was +terrible I bore Dirk no ill will. When I was released he sent for me, +and looking me steadily in the eyes, said, "Wull, Tommy, kid, that's +that. You've lost me a precious day. He's not in this quarter no +longer. I must seek otherwhere. But you've given him a start."</p> + +<p>I began to protest my repentance, but he cut in, "You've taken your +gruelling. Here's my hand."</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXIV">CHAPTER XXIV</h2> +</div> + +<h3>THOMAS GARTH PLAYDEN</h3> + + +<p>It was in London itself where I next set foot on land. Dirk marched me +away to a riverside lodging where he seemed well known, and handing +me some money gave me my freedom for the day, but told me to return +without fail every evening at six, for he didn't know when he would +need to be under way again. I promised faithfully not to fail him, +and he merely gave my arm a little extra squeeze as he repeated his +command, knowing quite well, I think, that I had learnt my lesson too +thoroughly to put myself in fault any more.</p> + +<p>So I trotted away to find Worthing. But what with the wonder of the new +sights, the strange confusion of the streets, the stupefying hubbub +of the traffic and the crowds, it was a long time before I reached +the city and hunted out the office of Worthing's uncle. And even then +I was afraid to enter. Everything within looked so neat and orderly, +though dismally dark and stuffy, that I became acutely conscious of +my ungainly seafaring apparel, though I was no longer dressed in the +jersey of the fisherman's boy. But about this time I began to be +aware of my own appearance, and felt a confused shame if my clothes +didn't sit well upon me. So I peeped within, and then looked down at +myself, realizing how my wrists stuck out from the short sleeves of +my jacket; and I was ashamed to enter. I slunk away, but presently +coming across a clothier's, after long hesitation and much passing +and repassing of the stall, I at length made the plunge and demanded a +suit of shore-going apparel. That led to a visit to a barber's where +reluctantly I sacrificed my incipient sailor pig-tail which I had begun +to cultivate with romantic zest.</p> + +<p>However, all this is rather needless detail. I soon found myself +trimmed up in a costume that satisfied my sense of the elegant and +the decorous, and returning to the office didn't hesitate this time, +but boldly marching in asked if I might see Worthing Bright. I was +shown into a tiny inner room where I saw my friend perched up at a +ridiculously high desk, a quill behind his ear, and busily scanning an +imposing document. In the moment before he turned round I inhaled such +a lungful of musty air smelling of dust and damp and old leather that I +wondered how he could remain there more than five minutes without being +sick.</p> + +<p>At the announcement of my name he pivoted round on his stool, and at +the sight of me dropped the document to the desk, and jumped to the +floor. In a trice we were shaking each other by the hand, beaming our +joy at the reunion.</p> + +<p>It was lunch-time, so Worthing whisked me away to an ordinary, and over +a savoury pie and a mug of porter we chatted of our doings. At least I +did, for Worthing didn't have much to say for himself, though I managed +to screw from him the story of the way he had rescued me from Rancey +Bridge. He was able to laugh at the affair now, though something of the +indignity he had suffered still seemed to rankle at his pride. But all +I learnt fresh was that being in the confidence of the Doctor he had +discovered where my knife and pistol were kept, and so had been able to +steal them and bring them to me. He added no comment; and the rest I +knew.</p> + +<p>He shrugged at the affair, and dismissed it; but he was excited at +my own particular business. However, he soon calmed down to his usual +sedate self-control, and told me something of his progress in the +solution of the mystery. He had been going into the whole affair, +and his uncle was as keen as himself to unravel the thing, and was +absent even then following up the clue; and though he wouldn't give +me particulars he hinted that the matter was taking on a proportion +that promised to make it of unique interest in the history of crime. +"In fact, Tommy," he said, "I'm afraid your dad's very much in the +background. We're after higher game."</p> + +<p>All this wasn't of much comfort to me. I felt a little hurt that +Worthing could so far forget my loss in the mere thrill of the legal +triumph that he declared lay before him. But I knew his nature. The +human counted for little, the legal for much. Indeed, apart from his +friendship with me I don't think he had a tie to bind him to humanity.</p> + +<p>He had set my own personal affairs in order, I soon found. My father +had left, not a fortune indeed, but a competence which with husbanding +would yield an income sufficient to guarantee independence. So at least +Worthing assured me, though the figures which he set down for me in +orderly columns conveyed exactly nothing to me. I asked him to look +after the whole thing, and to let me have money when I wanted it. As +for me, I intended to study seamanship under Dirk.</p> + +<p>At this Worthing frowned slightly as though considering the matter; +then drawing out a document he studied it carefully, and at last said +that he thought that would do. It seemed that my father had stipulated +that I was to apprentice myself to some profession, or, if I preferred, +to continue at school till I was seventeen and then proceed to a +university. But the thought of a scholastic career for a fellow like +myself sent me into a roar of laughter.</p> + +<p>I needn't detail all the legal business that had to be transacted. +There were documents to sign of whose contents I was blissfully +ignorant, and lawyers and magistrates to visit; but Worthing steered +me safely through the confusing processes. I remembered how my father +had said that Worthing was the kind of fellow to have for a friend. +Evidently his dying thought turning towards me had been that Worthing +would care for me if he left the whole matter in his hands. The matter +was tangled enough too; for my father had no discoverable relations, +and there seemed some difficulty in proving my identity. His money had +been left in a lump sum at a goldsmith's who knew no more of him than +his face and his signature. When in need of funds my father had called +personally and taken what he wanted from the store. However, at last I +found myself master of the inheritance, and entrusting it to Worthing +was assured that I might count on a yearly income of a few hundred +pounds; for he invested the money for me, and saw the deeds safely +banked in my name.</p> + +<p>He also handed me some papers of my father's: fragments of poems and +stories for the most part, which I laid aside to examine at my leisure.</p> + +<p>The most curious thing to me was the discovery that I really had a +name. Of course at school I had had an appendage dangling in the rear +of Tommy, but I had paid little heed to it, and cannot now remember +what it was. Now I found I had a real name of my own, and felt +extraordinarily elated at the discovery. I could sign myself Thomas +Garth Playden.</p> + +<p>But amazing as this discovery was, it was even more amazing to learn +that my father, who hadn't even had a Christian name that I knew of, +had been Walter Noel Playden, Esq. I couldn't reconcile myself to it. +It seemed so utterly foolish to think of my father otherwise than as +Daddy. He was associated in my mind with everything romantic and +mysterious, and should have been nameless to the end of time. To fix +him with a title like this was to strip him of the glamour that had +always clouded him about like a glory. He was no longer an emanation +from the pages of a wonderful tale, but merely a creature of flesh +and blood who clothed himself like another and fed on bread and meat. +It was indeed the first blow levelled at the illusions that had clung +about my childhood. With a name of my own, and with a father who also +had his individual title, I took my first step out of Fairyland into +the world of men and women.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXV">CHAPTER XXV</h2> +</div> + +<h3>JENNY SENDS A MESSAGE</h3> + + +<p>My affairs were hardly settled before I was whirled away to sea again. +One day when I reached my lodging a minute before the stroke of six, +puffing, for I had been running so as not to be late, I found a message +from Dirk bidding me to make haste aboard. I gathered up my few +belongings and ran for the quay, and it wasn't many minutes after my +clambering aboard that the anchor was hauled in and we were under way.</p> + +<p>I learnt next day from Dirk that he had just missed his quarry again. +I thought I detected a suggestion of an accusation in his voice, and I +cried out, "Oh, Dirk, I'm so sorry."</p> + +<p>"Tush, kid, that business is settled," he said sharply.</p> + +<p>But I believed that if it hadn't been for my disobedience on the Rancey +he would have run his man to earth by now. However, it seemed that he +had escaped. He had even left the country, and Dirk couldn't hazard a +guess where he might be bound for.</p> + +<p>"Slippery he is," said Dirk. "Knows all the tricks, and a few more +besides. But I'll have him, Tommy, I'll have him."</p> + +<p>I don't think I was very enthusiastic for Dirk's success. The matter +left me rather cold. And yet I myself was bound, not on one quest +of vengeance, but on two. There was my pledge to Jenny to fulfill; +though how in the world I was to fulfill it I didn't know. And there +was my father's murderer to hunt down, though Worthing seemed to have +shouldered the responsibility for that.</p> + +<p>It was a strange position that often set me fretfully brooding. I was +but a boy, with a nature naturally responding to affection and gaiety +and beauty, yet with the burden of two lives upon me that I was to +track down and destroy. At times I felt that the thing was too absurd. +I was under a delusion. Even my father's death began to grow unreal, +till I wondered whether I hadn't merely dreamed the whole fantastic +thing. I should have been glad enough to have awakened one morning to +find it had all been a nightmare, and that my real life was just this +wonder of sea-beauty about me, as the ship sped on day after day like a +white bird, driving down into the south, with the skies growing bluer +and bluer, till their wealth of colour was like a solemn song at my +heart, very deep and holy.</p> + +<p>Indeed, I gave myself up to the delight of this wonderful new world +that was opening around me. I think I was an apt pupil, and Dirk was +pleased enough with my progress; and more pleased with my behaviour, I +believe, for I was able to take my share of duty with the men, though +naturally I was treated with more leniency and consideration. And for +my part I was thankful to Dirk for setting me to labour with the rest, +rather than spoiling me as though I were either too small, or too much +of a gentleman to soil my hands. It wasn't long before I could stow a +royal single-handed, or do my trick at the wheel with the best.</p> + +<p>But I mustn't dwell on this, for the brig <i>Revenge</i> was all this while +bearing me away from the real scene of my story. Indeed, the story of +this time is Dirk's rather than mine, though there would be enough to +fill a book if it weren't clean out of the course of my narrative. +Suffice it to say that I grew bigger and stronger and browner. Also +for some months I was strangely subject to moods which puzzled even +myself. For though knowing I was behaving badly I would for days at +a stretch have no word for a soul on board, often scowling at Dirk +himself, when my heart was longing for the rough and kindly converse +that was customary between us. Sometimes too I felt forced against my +will to speak glumly and even angrily, for there seemed to be a stupid +crying at my heart, and I was mortally afraid that a kind word would +set me blubbering. So in self-defence I gave sharp words that sharp +words might be returned. At night when I was curled up in my blankets +I would sometimes cry myself to sleep, cursing myself for a baby, +but unable to restrain my tears. For at times a desolating sense of +loneliness overpowered me; the image of my father would rise before me, +and I would stretch out my arms to him to clasp but a mocking emptiness +of air. And then I would rock myself upon my bunk, that the noise might +cover the sound of my sobbing; and my thoughts would turn to Jenny, and +with the memory of her I would feel vaguely comforted and sink to sleep.</p> + +<p>However, these moods were transitory merely, and little by little I +mastered them till gradually they became rare, and at last my spirit +came out into the sunshine. But I have recorded them because I think +they kept alive in me the fluttering purpose to be revenged upon my +own and Jenny's enemy. For it seemed to me that my sufferings were due +to the cloud that had clung about my childhood. The shadow of fear had +left my heart troubled and uncertain, and I felt there would be no real +peace for me till the evil were rotted right out of my life. And with +Jenny it was the same. Her life, too, would be perpetually darkened +unless I could clear her path as well as my own of the gloom that lay +upon it.</p> + +<p>But my purpose became chastened from hate or revenge to one of duty, +till I felt that whether I would or not my destiny would call and I +would have to rise and meet it. So I kept my knife sharpened and my +pistol primed, and practised daily at both weapons till hand and eye +were as one thing working in unison.</p> + +<p>And the days went by with sun and storm, and I increased in knowledge +of sailor-craft and in love and understanding of the sea.</p> + +<p>However, Dirk's quest didn't seem to prosper. Watching his lips at +their continual and ominous chewing it seemed to me that he was +repeating to himself that old vow of his: "I'll follow him to the end +of the world, but I'll have his heart's blood." It seemed to me in my +ignorance that the end of the world couldn't be very far away. For we +passed from port to port always making south, and at length bore off +for the Cape and the stormy eastern seas. I saw the shores of India +and walked the streets of her bazaars, and learnt much of foreign +ports and ways. But always I saw Dirk's face grow darker with the evil +purpose at his heart still baulked and frustrated. I wondered if I, +too, should come to wear such a weight of gloom upon my brow before I +had accomplished my quest. Then unaccountably we bore back upon our +tracks and steered for home, Dirk still hot upon the trail, though what +the clue might be which he was following I couldn't guess, nor did I +greatly care to question. So with the passing of the winter and the +coming of the spring we were back in European waters, and steered one +morning into the bay of Naples.</p> + +<p>And here my own story began again, for I came upon Picardino, who had +wandered home to his native land.</p> + +<p>I had just made the purchase of a fine stiletto, and was seated in a +tavern sipping wine while I admired the tapering steel, when I heard +a voice suddenly break out into a ripple of song, and immediately I +remembered the minstrel of the <i>Snow Man</i>. I slipped the stiletto +under my waist-cloth, and turning cried, "Picardino!"</p> + +<p>He actually stopped in his singing, and leaping towards me smothered me +with kisses, chattering his delight in such a race of mingled English +and Italian that I could scarcely follow a word of it, but guessed at +the meaning by the profuse and ardent embraces he treated me to.</p> + +<p>It was some while before I could tear myself free. For the first +onslaught over he gazed at me for a moment, and then with a cry of +"Leetle Tommee!" returned to the attack.</p> + +<p>Then he whisked me away to another tavern and up a dark flight of +stairs to a little room, evidently his lodging, into which he ushered +me as though I were a duke, bowing for me to enter. At length we were +seated, pledging each other in execrable wine, clinking glasses, and +drinking with faces almost touching. And nothing would satisfy him but +that I must tell my story. Where had I gone that night? What had I been +doing? And so on and so forth.</p> + +<p>I told him as much as I thought he should know, merely referring to my +father by saying he was dead.</p> + +<p>"Dead! Ahh!" he exclaimed, clapping a hand to his heart. "Yess, in the +fierr. That sad. And he such an arteest! Yess, how he play upon the +gueetarr! And you desolate, yess. How I see eet." Once more he flung +his arms about me and cried, "Ah, leetle Tommee, how you desolate! You +come with Picardino, yess?"</p> + +<p>But I told him I was a sailor; and then he would have the story of my +wanderings. So I told him of Dirk, and how he was caring for me and +training me; though of course I said nothing of the purpose of our +voyage. I hinted that Dirk had been trading, which indeed was true too, +for Dirk had made it part of my education to show me about the booths +and markets of the East, and I had a stock of purchases on board by +which I hoped materially to increase my capital.</p> + +<p>Then it was my turn to question Picardino, but so vigorously did he ply +me for more details of my life that it was no easy matter to edge in a +word about himself. However, at length I did manage to say, "Tell me, +Picardino, where did you vanish that night? And who was it chasing you?"</p> + +<p>"Ah, Tommee"—he smiled knowingly—"that secret."</p> + +<p>Then he leant forward, and whispering very quietly as though the affair +were a profound mystery he said, "Picardino know manee thing. He +travell heer and theer. Ladees they say heem, 'You speak my sweethearrt +thees and that,' and papas they angree. Yess, and eef they catch heem +eet ees no pleasant for Picardino. But he plentee love the ladees. Ah, +the sweet theengs they arre! He geeve much to caree message. Yess, eef +eet were hees blood."</p> + +<p>He laid his hands across his heart with a theatrical gesture that +amused me; and yet he seemed earnest enough in his story. The +picture of the little minstrel wandering from hall to hall, carrying +love-messages from sweetheart to sweetheart and evading the wrath of +enraged papas was one that flattered my sense of the romantic.</p> + +<p>He continued his story by telling me of all the wiles that the ladies +resorted to in getting their messages through to him, sometimes humming +a song that told its own tale, sometimes tossing him a coin with a +name scratched into it, sometimes speaking to him in the language of +flowers. It was amusing enough, and indeed I found a strange charm in +the sentimental glamour of his amorous adventures. He coloured his +stories with such an impassioned glow of whole-hearted appreciation +that I was carried off my feet, and wished that I too had a message for +him to carry to my sweetheart, or better still one to receive from him +from the lady of my love, imprisoned in a lonely tower by a tyrannous +papa.</p> + +<p>However, it seemed that he wasn't always successful. He began to wax +melancholy because occasionally he failed to find some lost or erring +swain and bring him back to his lady-love. Even then he was in search +for more than one faithless truant, and he began to tell me of this and +that disloyal one he was still hunting for. Then of a sudden he broke +off, and looking at me in a strange enquiring way said, "Tommee! Why, +yess, eet was Tommee. But you grown. She say a leetle boy. You beeg as +Picardino; beeger. Ah, yess, I not theenk."</p> + +<p>Before I was aware of what he was about he brushed his hand across my +forehead and smoothed back my hair, crying out with delight as he did +so, "Yess, eet ees. The scarr, as she say. Tommee, I have message for +you."</p> + +<p>I was thrown into a violent flutter of emotion. It was so unexpected, +so incredible. That we should have been tossed together like this, I +from the East and he from the North, was strange enough in itself; +but that he should have a message for me, a message from Jenny, was a +wonder beyond belief.</p> + +<p>"Tell me," I said, hardly able to form the words.</p> + +<p>But before he would speak I had to endure his winks and nods and smiles +and sighing innuendoes of "Ah, the leetle boy! But he man of the +worrld! He have sweethearrt! Ah, that ees preetty, yess!"</p> + +<p>But at last he told me the story. He had made a second visit to the +"beeg house" on the moors, in spite of his vow never to go near it +again. He shuddered as he mentioned the haunted place. However, this +time he had been civilly welcomed; and by his description of the +Captain with his kind fierce eyes, and of the "leetle gerrl with the +voice of a queen," I knew he wasn't deceiving me. "And the leetle +ladee...."</p> + +<p>"Jenny," I cried.</p> + +<p>"Jenny," he repeated. "Ah, that ees right. She send message to leetle +boy with scarr under the hairr. I say, 'Where I find heem?' She say, +'Hees name Tommee; you ask.' I shrug shoulderr and take message, for I +no can say no. She so decided leetle gerrl."</p> + +<p>I laughed at the picture, for it was so like Jenny. She had sent me +forth on my quest in the same way, without a thought as to how I might +possibly succeed.</p> + +<p>Picardino seemed to understand me, for he smiled and said, "Ah, you +know the mannerr, yess. But when she say Tommee I not think of my +Tommee. That foolish of me."</p> + +<p>I can't report in full the rigmarole he treated me to. The heart of the +message was that I was to seek out Jenny in London. In London! I must +have been near her then before I had set out on this voyage. She wanted +me. I was to go to her at once. And the precious address was supplied.</p> + +<p>At once! That was a year ago. In a dim dismay I wondered whether Jenny +would forgive me for deserting her so long. It seemed difficult to make +excuses to her.</p> + +<p>However, she wanted me. I was in a glow of expectation at that. She +wanted me. And I was bound for England now, I believed. I would go +to her without delay. Eagerly I pressed Picardino for fresh details +of my little sweetheart, for I understood now the meaning of all the +strange turbulent shyness of the past year. I was a man of the world, +as Picardino had said. I had learnt something of the ways of men and +women. And I knew that the fermenting uneasiness that the thought of +Jenny had aroused in me meant merely that I loved her.</p> + +<p>So with a heart in a maze of wonder and delight I took my leave of +Picardino, even returning his embraces with effusion. So kindly did +I feel towards the world that when I plunged into the darkness of the +night which had caught me unawares I tossed a silver coin to a whining +beggar-woman who was crouching at the tavern door. My generosity seemed +to overwhelm her, for she clutched my hand and kissed it fervently, +and then opening my palm wide to the light of the flaring lamp in the +porch she rattled off into a long list of blessings that awaited me on +my journey through life. But I was in a hurry, for I had overstayed +my time. I wrenched my hand free, for she was gripping it tightly +and studying it intently. As I broke from her I thought she glanced +keenly at me as though there were some fate in store for me which she +didn't care to foretell. But I thought nothing of it and sped on my +way, repeating over and over the address Picardino had given me, and +fingering Jenny's coin beneath my jacket.</p> + +<p>I threaded my way through the twisting streets, hardly knowing where +I was wandering. Something of that strange elation I had felt when +waiting for my father seemed to possess my spirit. A wonderful sense of +uplifting lightness buoyed me on and wafted me forward. I was going to +meet my Jenny!</p> + +<p>I came out upon the shore, and for a moment gazed to right and left to +take my bearings. But just as I identified the brig <i>Revenge</i> lying +out white and ghostly on the dark waters, I felt a numbing blow at my +head. I didn't altogether lose my senses. I realized I was being bound, +that a great cloth lay tight over my face. But I couldn't summon any +strength to resist my captor. I was hauled away by the shoulders, my +legs trailing in the sand, and soon I found myself being lifted on +board a little rowing-boat where a second figure helped to secure me in +the stern. There I sat trussed up and helpless while the boat was rowed +out into the bay.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXVI">CHAPTER XXVI</h2> +</div> + +<h3>A STORY UNDER THE STARS</h3> + + +<p>At first I thought I was merely the victim of some common cutthroats +who were after my money. It wasn't a pleasing thought. I felt indignant +rather than afraid; for after the adventures I had passed through it +seemed too stupid to die at the hands of vulgar robbers. And something +of my old outcry against fate rose to my heart.</p> + +<p>However, I was soon undeceived. When we had rowed out some way my +captors dropped anchor, and the boat lay idly rising and falling on +the gentle heave of the waters. For some minutes there was a whispered +consultation between the two men, while I had leisure mazedly to admire +the dancing brilliance of the stars high up in the black pool of the +sky; and then with reviving clearness of mind as the effects of the +blow passed off, leaving only a throbbing pain at my head, I turned +my eyes to the men and took stock of the couple. One was a little +fellow; the other though not large was bigger than his companion. They +both wore masks, and in the darkness of the night it was impossible +to distinguish anything of their features. I thought too they could +distinguish little of mine, for the gag over my mouth reached below my +chin and almost up to my eyes, just allowing me to see.</p> + +<p>Presently the larger of the two reached forward to me, and seizing my +right hand forced it open; then holding it to the light of a little +lantern that stood in the bottom of the boat he beckoned to the other +fellow and pointed to my palm.</p> + +<p>It was then that I realized that this was no mere robbery. For it was +the two ragged scars of the jetty nails that they were so carefully +examining. The little fellow nodded. They trussed me up again with my +hands behind me, and slipped back to their places, sitting side by side +on a thwart facing me. For a while there was silence.</p> + +<p>I felt quite easy in mind now, for I knew I had been captured by +mistake. Somehow I had been arrested for my father's murderer. I +thought that the worst that could come of it would be a waste of time; +for sooner or later they were bound to find out who I really was. +I made one desperate struggle to force a cry through my gag, and I +strained violently at my bonds; but it was unavailing. I knew I should +have to wait till the gag was removed, and then I could rectify the +error. Meanwhile I sat quietly, trying to possess my soul in patience.</p> + +<p>The bigger man leant forward, and seemed by his attitude to be steadily +gazing at me through his mask. Something in the way in which he turned +his face to me, though I could only see the lower half of it, sent my +mind back to the old beggar-woman who had tried to tell my fortune at +the tavern porch. Then the man began to speak. And though now he spoke +in a clear and precise English, whereas the old woman had gabbled in +a sort of nasal Italian, yet there was something in the pitch and +intonation of the voice which confirmed my surmise. This was none other +than the old beggar-woman herself. Now, of course, it was clear how the +mistake had arisen, especially as the porch had only been dimly lit by +the swinging lamp, and my face was tanned out of recognition by the +southern sun. But it still seemed a strange coincidence that I should +have stumbled right into the trap that had evidently been laid for +another.</p> + +<p>"I am going to tell you a story," he said.</p> + +<p>I didn't think he would be able to tell me anything I didn't already +know; but there was nothing for it but to sit still and listen, though +I wished mightily he would ungag me and let me reveal my identity; for +it was clear that all this while the real murderer was gaining precious +time.</p> + +<p>But the next words sent my mind spinning in a vortex of alarming doubt.</p> + +<p>"There were three brothers," the clear voice continued. "The eldest we +will call"—he repeated with emphasis—"we will <i>call</i>—Captain Field."</p> + +<p>There was a pause; I supposed for the significance of the words to sink +into my mind.</p> + +<p>"You see," continued the man, "I intend to convince you that I know +the meaning of those marks upon your hand, and that if you still +have any love for your own skin you will put yourself at my service. +And remember, though walls have ears, the waves have none. We are as +private here as in the grave. However, the story will speak for itself. +We will begin with Captain Field."</p> + +<p>I was all attention, straining to sift his words and catch the +underlying significance of it all.</p> + +<p>He went on: "There is a certain haunted house on the northern moors +that you and I know well. It was there that the Captain," he stressed +the title with a slight sneer, "first discovered the manuscript which +told of the winning and burying of the accursed treasure. That part of +the story I needn't relate. For proof that I know it, if that is of any +consequence, here is the document itself."</p> + +<p>He held out his hand to the little fellow beside him who brought the +document out from under his cloak and gave it to him. He laid it out +before me, slowly turning the pages so that I might satisfy myself that +it was the genuine thing. As I stretched at my bonds to gaze at it I +knew that the horrible doubt that had seized me at the mention of the +Captain's name was the very truth: it was my father's murderer who had +stolen the manuscript that lay before me, and it must be my father's +murderer who now sat facing me telling me this story. So I hadn't been +captured by mistake. Rather the sign that was to have betrayed my enemy +had betrayed me instead. I wondered what the condition would be which +was to save me from these men. I listened with all my attention, hoping +I might discover some missing link in the narrative which would give +me the advantage of them; for I surmised there must be something they +wanted to know which only I could tell. If I were clever enough to find +the weak point in their information I might foil them yet.</p> + +<p>The man continued: "You are satisfied, I presume, that this is the +real article. How it has come into my hands you needn't seek to +enquire." I thought I knew that well enough without pondering the +matter. "I say the Captain found this at the haunted house. Where he +found it you probably know. In a certain dark passage of which you +are well aware there is a skeleton chained to a niche in the wall. +How it came there is interesting enough in its way, but here the tale +would be irrelevant. But when the Captain bought the house many years +ago, <i>bought</i> it, you understand, though it seems he prefers to play +the rôle of tenant rather than owner"—that was information to me, +and I busily meditated it while still alertly listening—"when the +Captain bought the house and accidentally discovered the passage I +have mentioned, he found the document here hung about the neck of the +unfortunate man whose bones only remained to tell of the agonies he +had suffered. The Captain was interested in the document. But, when he +first read it and learnt of the treasure which seemed to have borne +such evil fruit as it were before his very eyes, his first thought was +to destroy the thing. Why his intention altered we needn't enquire. +Suffice it to say he took counsel with his two younger brothers, and +they decided to search for the buried gold."</p> + +<p>He took breath, and resumed: "A ship was purchased, a crew enrolled, +and the search began. It was successful. Then what happened we needn't +follow in detail. It may be that the treasure was really accursed. Of +the band of twenty who looked upon it and handled it, actually winning +for themselves a fortune to satisfy the avarice of the most grasping, +only three survived. One was the Captain, one his servant, a boy of +seventeen at the time; a foreign boy who loved the Captain as his own +father, and would have shed his last drop of blood, as the saying +is, to serve him." Here the man's voice became unusually impressive +as though wishing to drive his point home. As for me, I knew he was +speaking of Abou. "And the third was the Captain's youngest brother."</p> + +<p>He paused and added, "His favourite brother," and continued, "Whether +there had been a quarrel or not we won't seek to enquire. It is enough +to say that the brother escaped with a fatal wound in the neck, but +carrying with him this manuscript." He tapped it with his finger. "He +had been stabbed; and as I say the wound was fatal. But before he died +he succeeded in swimming to land and hiding in a cave, where he was +found by a young lad who tried to staunch his wound, and would have +taken him to shelter. But he died where he lay, having first given the +document to the boy, telling him to preserve it as he valued riches and +happiness.</p> + +<p>"What happened to the dead man doesn't concern us. The boy took the +document and learnt its secret. He became a man, and in his turn made +search for the gold. His name, we will say, was Playden—Walter Noel +Playden, to be exact."</p> + +<p>Here there was a pause while the eyes of both men seemed fixed on me +in keen scrutiny. For my part I had already summed up the situation +and could have finished the story for them. I had been watching the +smaller of the two, though listening to the other; for there seemed to +me something familiar in the curl of his lips. I tried to connect them +in my mind with the memories I had of the face of my father's murderer, +but wasn't altogether successful. Yet I thought the resemblance was +strong enough, seeing I had never had a clear view of the fellow. I had +only seen him by the leaping firelight, again in the dim glimmer of +the moon, and lastly with my senses failing when he had struck me by +the jetty. And now there were only the stars, the lights from the town +across the water, and the lantern in the boat, to discover him to me; +and even so only the lower part of his face was visible.</p> + +<p>The thought in my mind was that this was Bite-in-the-Dark, and the +larger man who seemed to have the matter in hand was Shadow-of-Fear +himself.</p> + +<p>He resumed in a lower and more impressive voice:</p> + +<p>"So you see there were only two who knew the secret; for we needn't +count the servant. He was merely a part of his master's will. And +then"—again he paused—"Playden was killed. He was <i>stabbed in the +neck</i>." He seemed to intend me to understand something particular by +this. "And the manuscript vanished. Here it is."</p> + +<p>The conclusion was obvious. He might have said, "Here is the murderer."</p> + +<p>Again there was silence for a while, as they fixed me with their +eyes from behind their masks. Then I began to be aware of something +happening behind me. For a little time now there had been a sort of +gentle tugging at my bonds, but I had hardly noticed it as my mind had +been given to the story. But now in the space of silence I grew keenly +conscious of it. There was something furtive in the twitching of the +cords at my wrists, very much as though a rat were gnawing at them. +Indeed for half a minute I wondered whether Providence were coming to +my aid, for I had heard of prisoners being miraculously freed in such a +way. But the hope was too wild to be credited.</p> + +<p>Then the man before me began to speak again, and my mind was torn +between his words, which I knew I must follow with all my wits, and +the silent movements behind me which I couldn't understand, but which +vaguely alarmed me by their secrecy and stealth.</p> + +<p>"But the manuscript, as you know, is now only half a key. It is old and +torn, and there is a vital portion missing." He turned to the map and +pointed to the spot which had puzzled my father. "Even Playden never +unravelled the mystery though he searched for twenty years."</p> + +<p>At that moment I felt a hand touch mine. It was immediately withdrawn. +The hand was cold, and the touch had been but a fractional pressure; +but it was enough. I knew there was somebody there behind me; in the +water it must be, for I was in the very stern of the boat. A horrible +fear caught at my heart. It was bad enough to be held in captivity +with my father's enemy in the lantern-light there before me; but this +subtle, unseen creature, feeling up at me out of the dark water, was a +thing to shake my nerve with a sense of inscrutable forces at work to +undermine me unawares. I could scarcely concentrate my attention on the +vital business in hand. But I must listen perforce, though with half my +mind alert for the movements of that unknown presence at my back.</p> + +<p>The voice was speaking again: "You will either supply me with the +missing clue, or"—he spoke with an ominous emphasis—"you will pay the +penalty which the sign on your hand warrants."</p> + +<p>Still there was a stealthy jogging at my wrists. Casting desperately in +my mind for what it could mean, and half afraid every moment to feel +a knife in my back, I yet had a thought to give to the words of my +captor. It all seemed clear to me now. Worthing had been right in his +surmise, though he hadn't suspected the connection between my father's +fate and the persecution of the Captain. It was a common enemy, I knew +now, who being himself on the scent of the treasure knew that he needed +both the manuscript which my father had possessed and the clue which +only the Captain could supply, as he had already threaded the maze and +stolen a share of the gold. But I was still in the dark as to how I +could serve the fellow's turn.</p> + +<p>He resumed: "You have the choice. Behind you lies the shore and +freedom; before you a sea-voyage and the forfeit at the end of it. I +will give you two minutes to decide. I shall then ungag you and you +will tell me the secret of the entrance. If you refuse you will be your +own executioner."</p> + +<p>He took out a heavy watch, and repeated, "I give you two minutes."</p> + +<p>I was in an agony. Clearly he thought I knew the secret because I had +lived with the Captain. He seemed to know I had once penetrated to the +secret chamber; probably he presumed I had then learnt the answer to +the riddle. My mind was in a maze. All I could see clearly was that I +was in danger of sharing the fate of that wretched skeleton if I failed +to satisfy the demands of these men. The forfeit.... I shuddered, +remembering my alarming experience in the passage. How was I to +convince this man that I was as ignorant as himself?</p> + +<p>Then I held my breath in sudden excitement, for I felt the cord at my +right wrist slip loose. I moved my hand gently, and knew that it was +free. The mystery of that strange presence in the water behind me was +instantly clear. It was a friend. I didn't stop to think who, nor how +he had found me. But some one had been cutting at my bonds, and now I +was free. At least my knife hand was free. Instinctively I looked to my +belt to see if my weapons had been taken from me. They lay, the knife +and the pistol, by the lantern in the bottom of the boat.</p> + +<p>"One minute!" said the man.</p> + +<p>I remembered I still had my stiletto hidden at my breast. Perhaps +I could draw it before they knew what I was at, and take them by +surprise. That would be easier than stooping for my knife and risking +a blow at my bent neck. I tightened my muscles for a quick grab at the +weapon, and looked across at my two enemies. For some reason I knew +I would strike the smaller man first. He was the one who had had the +actual killing of my father. I saw the spot on his neck where I would +stab. I could almost see the throb of the artery where I meant to +strike.</p> + +<p>"Half a minute!" said the man.</p> + +<p>Then I felt something hard pushed into my hand. It was the haft of a +knife. I knew then it was Dirk who had come to my rescue.</p> + +<p>"Time!"</p> + +<p>I hurled myself forward at my father's murderer, and plunged my blade +deep into his throat. He sank limply with a choking gasp, and I fell +on top of him snarling through my gag in an uncontrollable access of +hate and fury. At the same moment there was a splash and a cry, and a +huge figure leapt out of the water and dealt with the other man. I saw +him as he knelt above his victim draw a knife from his breast dripping +dreadfully in the light of the lantern.</p> + +<p>In a moment I was free of my bonds. I would have stripped the masks +from the dead men, and looked on the faces of these enemies of mine who +had already tracked my father to his death, and had so nearly sent me +to follow him. But Dirk grasped me and pulled me away. "Back," he said +in a low harsh voice, "we must swim for it." And he was in the water.</p> + +<p>I stopped to slip my weapons back into my belt, and stuff the +manuscript in my breast; and was over the side and in the sea, striking +out in the wake of Dirk for the lights of the brig <i>Revenge</i>.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXVII">CHAPTER XXVII</h2> +</div> + +<h3>A NIGHT AND A DAY</h3> + + +<p>As soon as we clambered on board, dripping from our swim, Dirk +dismissed me below without a word except a rough good night. I didn't +know how he had come to play the part he had done in the dark adventure +of the evening, nor did I give the matter much thought, for my mind was +too busy with other aspects of the problem. The feeling that for so +long I had been blindly groping on a forlorn quest, and that now by my +enemies' own move I had suddenly accomplished not only the mission on +which Jenny had sent me, but my own private revenge as well, was like +the falling away of an enormous chain, or the flooding of a prison with +noonday light.</p> + +<p>As I lay on my bunk tossing in my excitement I hugged my arms across my +breast and laughed into my blankets. It all seemed so miraculous, so +incredible, as though Providence had planned the move and I had merely +trodden an ordained path, I wondered whether I were indeed especially +cared for and watched over by Heaven. Perhaps my affairs were in the +keeping of a power beyond myself. But the thought was swallowed up in +my exultation. For I was in a glow of excitement and couldn't sleep. I +didn't want to sleep. I wanted to lie awake and let my imagination wing +me away to Jenny and the meeting that was to be; for now I could say to +her, "He is dead; your father need fear no more."</p> + +<p>Again and again I pictured the scene to myself in a tumult of rapture. +I wouldn't merely be going to her because she had sent for me. The joy +I had felt when I learnt she wanted me was intensified a hundredfold by +the knowledge that now I had fulfilled the task she had set me to do.</p> + +<p>The consideration that I had avenged my father's murder didn't give +me so much satisfaction as the knowledge that I had struck down the +Captain's foe. I think revenge had become merely a shadowy sort of duty +to me, whereas there was a real purpose served in freeing a living man +from a lifelong persecution. It needed the bodily presence of my enemy +to whip up my fury to the pitch of mortal hatred. While he sat there +before me in the boat my fingers had itched for the blow. But now that +the blow had been given I felt no hatred. Indeed I gave little thought +to the fellow at all. My mind was turned homewards to Jenny and the +welcome that awaited me; and the things that lay at my heart to say +made me flush and throb as with a fever.</p> + +<p>Between these glowing pictures I tried at times to slip in a question +as to how the affair had come about, but it was too much of a puzzle +for my mind to solve in its state of fervid imagining. All I could +clearly know was that I had been tracked by those two men, and that +somehow Dirk discovering my plight had swum silently up to the boat +as it lay on the dark waters and so had saved me. For the rest, how +they had tracked me, what they thought I knew, I put away for later +consideration. And once again turning my mind to Jenny and all the +wonder that lay ahead, I at last fell into a troubled sleep, broken by +confused visions of mingled rapture and alarm.</p> + +<p>For with the wearing of the night a reaction began to set in. Little +by little my dreams turned from pleasing glimpses of Jenny to those +dark, silent bodies lying motionless under the stars. Once I awoke, +thinking that again I was dealing that deadly blow; and the feel of +the knife as it sank with a thud into the fellow's neck was so real +that I thought I had stabbed some one in my sleep. After that the +delusion came again and again with sickening reiteration, till at +length it seemed to be a punishment I was doomed to undergo rather than +the fulfilment of a long-cherished quest. Repeatedly I kept finding +myself being dragged unwillingly to the ordeal. Before me was the +victim, and always he seemed to be mocking me from under his mask, as +though I were the more to be pitied of the two. The fantasy grew upon +me that somehow I was striking at my own heart, till it seemed at times +it was my father I was bidden to kill, and then it was Dirk, and then +it was Jenny herself; at which I would struggle desperately against the +fatality that was forcing me on, and would wake with a terrible dread +upon me. I would try to soothe myself with the pleasanter thoughts +of the days ahead; but the charm had snapped; I couldn't conjure the +desirable vision back into my mind; and again I would tumble off into +a feverish doze to act over and over the horrible deed of the night. +Every detail returned upon me vividly, and even feelings I hadn't been +conscious of at the moment surged back upon me. For always there came +a stealthy fingering at my hand, and then a dagger would be slipped +furtively into my fingers as though the deed I was to do were evil and +accursed. And always I saw the throbbing of the blood at the victim's +throat, horribly intensified. And some one would be counting; and at +the cry of "Time!" I would leap forward, hating the duty to which some +fearful force impelled me, and strike savagely at the spot where the +blood beat. Then with the flesh sucking disgustingly at the blade as I +tugged to draw it free, and with a gush of blood that blinded me as I +toppled forward on to my victim, I would start awake with a sense of +loathsome horror as though I had been physically sick.</p> + +<p>It was a relief to see at last the first light of the morning whitening +at the chinks of the door. It wasn't long before I was into my clothes +and out on deck, sluicing off the fumes of the ugly dreams which seemed +to cling about me like a perspiration.</p> + +<p>Then I looked out across the water, and identified the little boat +still swaying on the foamless waves. In it I knew were those dead men, +with sightless eyes wide open under their masks, gazing up at the still +grey sky. It seemed of a sudden a terrible thing that they had been +left to lie alone there all through the night, growing stiff and cold, +and with the blood drying and thickening about their clothes and skin. +As I gazed across the water it was as if I could see them; on their +faces was a look of reproach as though I had done a cruel thing.</p> + +<p>I couldn't bear the thought of it. I turned away to find Dirk, +surprised that he hadn't slipped quietly out to sea during the night. +But I was more surprised to learn he had already gone ashore, and +wasn't expected to return till evening. He had left instruction, +however, that I wasn't to leave the ship.</p> + +<p>So there I was, imprisoned for a wearying day, with the vision ever +before me of what I had done. I longed to be away from it all. Not +that I was afraid that the murder would be traced to me. Somehow such +an eventuality didn't occur to me; I was so weighed down with the +sickening sense of blood-guiltiness which seemed to cling about me like +a dripping garment, a garment soaked in blood, that I had no thought to +give to any other fear than the one at my own conscience. I began to +understand why a murderer should go mad.</p> + +<p>As in the night I tried to cheer myself with the consolation that +I would soon be with Jenny again. I told myself I had struck the +blow for her. I hadn't been guilty of murder; rather I had been the +instrument in the hands of justice and retribution. But always at +my heart was that paralysing shadow which numbed me from confident +thinking. I knew I had done a horrible thing, and there would be a +cloud over my life to the end of my days. The sunshine would never be +so bright for me again. In the beautiful breaking of the dawn there +would always be something of the redness of blood. The glory of the +sea would be less buoyant and splendid, for there would be a subduing +sense of tragedy in the swelling and subsiding of the waves. And Jenny +too!... When I thought of her now a spring and a freshness seemed to +have gone out of my heart. Bitterly I said that the Shadow of Fear was +over me more deeply and darkly now that the evil thing was killed.</p> + +<p>Yet all this, I tried to persuade myself, was a silly fantasy, due to +the chafing inaction of an idle day after the excitement of such a +night. Once out upon the open seas I should be myself again.</p> + +<p>Then I noticed a boat put out from shore, and make for that other boat +where the dead men lay. Eagerly I watched it, wondering what it meant. +On the shore a crowd had gathered, and was fast increasing. Some one +had given notice of the killing. Again I looked at the boat as it rowed +out from the land. In it were three men; officers, to judge by their +uniform. They soon reached their destination, and for a long while +seemed to be examining the corpses. But at length they hauled in the +anchor and towed the deadly freight back to the shore, where I soon +lost the party in the crowd.</p> + +<p>I was all the more anxious now for Dirk's return. It seemed foolish +delaying here; some incriminating evidence might lead to our being +suspected. It wasn't till this moment that I realized that there was +any danger threatening us from the law.</p> + +<p>So with added anxiety to wear down my spirit I waited through that +harrowing day. At length with the evening Dirk returned, and gave +orders for sailing with the dawn.</p> + +<p>He called for me before I went below, and closing the door of the cabin +said, "Wull, Tommy, I've paid my debt at last."</p> + +<p>I thought for a moment, and answered, "Yes, you said you would save my +life some day."</p> + +<p>"An' it seems I've done it, kiddy," he replied, and shook my hand.</p> + +<p>I was too full of doubts and questionings to be moved by the +sentimental aspect of the affair. I merely said, "Thank you, Dirk," and +went on, "But why don't you sail quick?"</p> + +<p>"Mustn't seem to be running away," he answered, biting at his quid and +commencing to chew. "They might get thinking things."</p> + +<p>"What do they think?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"Mighty little," he answered. "Don't seem to have no sort of a scent. +At any rate, kiddy, we're free of it. We can clear out all straight and +easy to-morrow. But it's lost me a day again."</p> + +<p>"Has he gone?" I asked.</p> + +<p>He stopped in his chewing and spat viciously.</p> + +<p>"Slipped clean through my fingers, blast him!" he replied.</p> + +<p>He clenched his fist in the way I knew, and his face grew dark and +ugly. "But I'll haul him in short," he added. "The v'yage an't over +yet."</p> + +<p>After a pause I said, "How was it you found me?"</p> + +<p>"Dunno quite," he told me. "Some one pushed up against me an' said +'There's Tommy in that boat there. They'll kill him.' I couldn't see +the cove what said it; he'd slipped clear away. An' for a bit I +thought it were a gag to have me. But I reckons it out that if you were +there I must see you clear again. So I dips in an' swims quietly up, +an' that's all about it."</p> + +<p>I knew it must have been Picardino who had sent Dirk to the rescue. I +had told him of Dirk, and doubtless he could have easily identified +him. But that meant he must have been following me after I left him. +Had he any premonition that I might be attacked? Or was it just kindly +shepherding, or even mere luck? I mentioned nothing of this to Dirk, +for I wished first to unravel the mystery for myself.</p> + +<p>I said good night, and trotted off to my bunk. I slept soundly enough +that night, and with the morning was eagerly at work unfurling the +sails and trimming the ship for sea.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXVIII">CHAPTER XXVIII</h2> +</div> + +<h3>A REVELATION</h3> + + +<p>It was still early in the summer when I stood at last before the +Captain's house in London, with the knocker raised in my hand, but half +fearing to strike from bashfulness; for a new access of shyness flooded +my heart at the prospect of seeing Jenny. Something of the hesitation +that had delayed me at Sunset Towers when I had stood fingering the +handle of her door possessed me now. Twice I laid the knocker silently +back, and paced up and down before the dark straight slice of a house, +as it seemed to me, looking eagerly up at the windows, hoping Jenny +might see me and let me in. But she didn't see me; or if she did she +made no sign. So perforce I took the knocker in hand once more, and +followed a feeble tap with a couple of sounding blows which echoed +thunderingly down the street. Then I stood waiting with ill-suppressed +excitement for the door to open.</p> + +<p>Presently there were light steps within, and the door opened. A servant +girl stood before me eyeing me dubiously. I was taken aback, for +ignorant of city manners, and not considering that Jenny knew nothing +of my presence there, I had expected to see my little playmate herself. +So I blurted out, "Jenny!" and quickly tried to cover my mistake by +saying, "I want to see Jenny."</p> + +<p>"You wish to see Miss Jenny Field?" the maid enquired with smug +politeness, to my complete confusion.</p> + +<p>"Yes," I said. "Tell her."</p> + +<p>But she stood facing me doubtfully, and asked, "And what name, please?"</p> + +<p>Then indeed I drew myself up, conscious of the dignity of my lawful +appellation, and emboldened by the smart new suit I had first taken the +precaution to obtain, and pronounced grandly, "Thomas Garth Playden, of +the brig <i>Revenge</i>."</p> + +<p>At that I was admitted, and bidden to wait in the hall. The maid +disappeared. Then suddenly there was a glad cry; a door flew open, +and the maid was unceremoniously thrust aside. Before me stood a slim +little figure that I knew at once, though now there was a band of deep +red ribbon restraining the disorderly locks, and the dark eyes had lost +their fierceness but glowed with an intensity of ardour that seemed to +burn into me like the light from the deep heart of a sunset.</p> + +<p>"Tommy!" she cried, with hands outstretched to me.</p> + +<p>If it hadn't been for that wretched maid huddled so amazedly against +the wall, with wide eyes open and mouth agape at this unladylike +behaviour, I should have flung my arms about my little sweetheart, and +so boldly leapt that line which is so difficult to cross. But I merely +took the outstretched hands in mine, still furtively eyeing the maid, +and said feebly enough, "I've come."</p> + +<p>The glow faded from Jenny's eyes. Looking demurely away from me she +said, "Yes."</p> + +<p>Then the girl did recover her wits and took herself off. But the chance +had slipped away, and when I would have put my arms about Jenny's +shoulders she gently released herself, and politely invited me to come +and see papa.</p> + +<p>As I entered the drawing-room I managed to whisper, "Jenny, I've killed +him."</p> + +<p>She started, and would have held me back, but the Captain had seen me, +and called out a hearty, "Tommy, boy, come along in."</p> + +<p>I only felt a keen squeeze at my hand. Jenny had understood.</p> + +<p>So the vision of my home-coming wasn't realized in all the wonderful +colours in which I had painted it in my imagination. But still, there +was Jenny before me; and while the Captain chatted, questioning me of +my experiences, comparing notes of foreign towns and ways, and storms +and adventures at sea, I watched the slim little girl who had grown +wonderfully tall and slender in the passage of a single year. Indeed +I didn't quite know whether it was the same Jenny I had played and +quarreled with only a twelvemonth ago. It wasn't so much that she had +grown; rather she seemed to have settled to a subdued seriousness not +quite in keeping with the Jenny of my games and squabbles. I couldn't +hear her saying now, "I hate you," as she had used to do. And yet a +gesture here and there, and the tone of her voice when she threw in a +quick word, touched at memories of the past, linking up this grave-eyed +girl with the child of the year before.</p> + +<p>As the evening wore away I had quite accepted the change in her, and +the thought did just come to me that she too must have been surveying +me with something of the same enquiry. I wondered whether she was as +satisfied with the new Tommy as I was with the new Jenny. For though +at first the change in her had taken me aback, I soon realized I was +more head over heels in love with the charming girl who sat there at +her father's feet, solemnly resting her eyes on mine, and now and again +broadening her lips in a wonderful smile, than ever I had been with the +bright vivid tempestuous little creature I had known at Sunset Towers. +For now there seemed to be a depth and reserve behind those eyes, +whereas before their glitter had told of a wonderful keen life, it is +true, but one that played merely on the surface of things.</p> + +<p>I had little leisure to notice the Captain. He was extraordinarily +kind, even boisterous, in his welcome. He asked but little of my +truancy from Sunset Towers, and spoke chiefly of my doings at sea. He +showed nothing of the dark fear that had used to overshadow his face +even in his most genial moments. I wondered whether somehow he had +heard of his enemy's death, though not knowing who had rid him of his +tormentor. But I said nothing of the matter. With the memory of that +dark evening when I had parted with him last I was cautious how I spoke +of dangerous things. And in any case it would keep. Moreover, the +thought of it only came to me in fitful starts, for my heart was with +the daughter, not the father.</p> + +<p>When I rose to go he seemed surprised. "What? How?" he exclaimed, +rising. "But you're not running away again, are you?"</p> + +<p>"I must go back to Dirk," I said.</p> + +<p>"Dirk, eh?" he repeated.</p> + +<p>"I'm under orders," I explained. "I must report every night."</p> + +<p>"Tush!" he cried impatiently, "That's over now. You come and live with +me, laddie." Then he looked sharply at me and in a low voice, "You +don't bear me ill-will, Tommy, do you?"</p> + +<p>I knew of what he was thinking, and the pain in his voice hurt me like +a physical wound. I gripped his hand and explained as well as I could +that I was under some kind of bond, owing to my father's will, to +apprentice myself to a profession, and I had taken Dirk as my master +and must obey him.</p> + +<p>"Right, quite right," said the Captain, evidently recognizing the +necessity of the position, but still feeling for some way to evade +it. After a moment he said, "Well, I reckon you've served your +apprenticeship; and, as for money, you needn't worry your mind about +that. You leave Dirk and come to me. I dare say I can teach you a thing +or two."</p> + +<p>"Can you take me to sea?" I asked.</p> + +<p>At that he smiled rather sadly, and answered, "Well, no, I should think +my sailing days are done."</p> + +<p>He sat down, and with his head in his hands seemed to be musing +regretfully.</p> + +<p>I told him where I was lodging, and promised to come as often and stay +as late as I could. He glanced across at Jenny, and said, "Yes, I'd lay +you'll do that right enough, laddie." We shook hands cordially, and his +last words were, "You see, you're always running away from me, Tommy. I +never know where to lay hands on you. You frighten me, my boy. I like +to have you near me."</p> + +<p>He seemed strangely moved. I remembered Worthing telling me how +disturbed he had been when he had heard of my escape from Rancey Bridge.</p> + +<p>As I said good night to Jenny she stopped me at the door to say, "And +you've really killed him, Tommy?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," I said.</p> + +<p>"Sure?" she asked, fixing me steadily with her eyes,</p> + +<p>"Sure," I replied confidently.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Tommy!" she sighed, lifting her face to mine. I kissed her. Then +she slipped away from me, and smiling roguishly cried: "There, good +night. Little boys should be in bed."</p> + +<p>So I walked away to my lodging in a dream.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>I learnt later why she had enquired so seriously as to whether I was +sure I had accomplished my task. It seemed that once before she had +thought I had fulfilled the mission. Her father had grown wonderfully +cheerful, and she had imagined that at last the terror must have been +lifted from his life. His moving to London had seemed to her a sign +that the evil days were over, and that he could come out of hiding. It +was just before the removal that Picardino had appeared, and she had +given him the message that had reached me at Naples.</p> + +<p>I asked her whether she had been angry with me for not obeying her +summons. She replied that she had been so angry that if at last I +had come to her she wouldn't have spoken to me for it had seemed to +her that there was nothing to keep me from her as the task had been +fulfilled; and even without a summons I should have returned to her. +But then she had learnt the reason of my delay. For somehow her father +had been deceived into a false assurance of safety. The enemy had risen +up against him once more.</p> + +<p>Poor little Jenny had had a terrible time, for Abou had begged to be +sent back to his own people as his master didn't seem to need him now; +so when the evil had arisen afresh Jenny had been left alone to tend +a half-mad father. He had refused to go back to Sunset Towers without +Abou to take care of him. He had remained in London, determined to face +out the persecution and take what might befall. Jenny had comforted +herself by saying that I must be on the man's track, and some day would +assuredly run him to earth. At that I felt very guilty, for all this +while I had been gaily sailing the seas with Dirk without a notion in +my head as to how my mission was to be accomplished.</p> + +<p>However, a few days before my arrival a complete change had come over +the Captain, and Jenny had told herself, that at last I had been +successful. And then she told me she knew I would soon be home again; +and somehow her confidence in me was inexpressibly delicious.</p> + +<p>So I spent the days with Jenny; but all that we said to each other, +however precious in my own memory, would be of little interest to +others; and at any rate it doesn't concern the story I have set myself +to tell. It is enough to say that we were wonderfully happy together, +though the words I wanted to speak always seemed to catch at my throat, +yet when alone I could be eloquent enough on the theme of my passion. +Also the Captain fathered me with an overflowing affection which left +no doubt in my mind that when Jenny and I stepped out of girl- and +boyhood nothing would please him better than the fulfilment of the +dream with which I flattered my own heart.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>I'm afraid I forgot Worthing for a time. It wasn't until the third or +fourth day that I stepped out for the city to look him up. Even so it +was a duty call, for I grudged every minute away from Jenny. I think I +was relieved when I learnt he was away.</p> + +<p>Jenny told me he had called on her father a long time ago. It was +while she was waiting for me to come back to her, and she had told +Worthing what she thought of my desertion. He had smiled darkly at her +when she declared she would never speak to me again; and indeed he had +so angered her that she had stamped her foot at him and told him she +believed it was he himself who was keeping me away from her.</p> + +<p>"I was like that," she said simply enough, as she told me the story. "I +was a silly girl, wasn't I, Tommy?" Words thronged to my lips in such +a gush of protestation that I stuttered stupidly and couldn't utter a +coherent syllable. She went on with a laugh, "And he said to me in such +a strange way, 'I <i>am</i> keeping him from you,' and walked away and left +me."</p> + +<p>I thought nothing of it, partly because I was too intent upon Jenny +herself, and partly because I knew the reserved, bitter way in which +Worthing chose to disguise his real thoughts.</p> + +<p>That was all I learnt of Worthing, for Jenny hadn't seen him since.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>A few days later I made my way to the city a second time. I remember +Dirk had changed our lodging that same morning, owing to a rather nasty +brawl. There was a strange excitement among the clerks in the office +when I went in and enquired if Worthing had returned yet. The senior +clerk took me gravely aside, and speaking confidentially said: "You +were his friend, I think?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," I replied, in unaccountable alarm at something sinister in the +tone of his voice.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he repeated, stroking his chin. Then suddenly looking me in the +eyes, and laying a hand very gently on my shoulder, he said sadly, +"He's dead," and as I started back, "Dead," he repeated, "and the +master too. They were found murdered in a boat at Naples."</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXIX">CHAPTER XXIX</h2> +</div> + +<h3>ALONE</h3> + + +<p>To say that the news stunned me would merely be to use an empty +conventional phrase. Not even the shock of my father's death had so +dislocated my whole power of thought and association. My father, I +had always known, lived continually under the shadow of danger. For a +hand to reach for him out of the dark was a chance I had long reckoned +into the scheme of things. The sudden blow had struck merely at my +heart of love. It had been desolating, but not bewildering. And that +was last year. But now I waded in a mist of baffling and unreasonable +extravagances. I was like a thing blind-folded, and set to find my +way through a tangled maze, with voices crying to me conflicting +directions, walls suddenly confronting me where there had seemed to be +an open space, hands pushing me away when I thought I had stumbled on +to a path at last. There seemed no motive, no coherence, no unity, in +the chaos about me. Nothing tangible offered itself to my distracted +clutching. All was fluid, impalpable, as though the world had shifted +its centre, throwing everything into a false relation and perspective.</p> + +<p>Where I fed and slept during the days that followed I don't remember. +I suppose I must have wandered mechanically to my lodging every night, +and found my way to some tavern when my appetite prompted me to do +so, without any governance or bidding of my brain. All that is clear +to me is that I haunted the office, gleaning detail upon detail of +the tragedy, hoping with a waning but desperate hope that somewhere +there was an error, that all would come right at last. But from the +first word I knew full well that all would not come right. Worthing was +dead. He had been murdered. It was I myself who had murdered him. Still +I refused to listen to the steady voice within me which day by day +repeated so dully and so obstinately, "You have killed him, you have +killed him." I fought against it, and sometimes shouted wildly to drown +its insistent burden, or rushed away into the streets with my hands at +my ears, till I wonder I wasn't arrested and locked up as a madman. But +the truth had to be faced at last. With every fresh detail, as the news +came slowly through, I felt the fearful reality of the thing closing +about me like the grip of some slow, cruel animal gloating at my pain.</p> + +<p>At last I ceased to haunt the office. I knew all I was likely to +know, and I would have given my life to have known nothing. Some +papers were stuffed into my hands, I remember; for Worthing had been +managing my affairs, and now I must find another to steer me through +the legal maze. But just then my helplessness didn't trouble me. It +was the dreadful knowledge that I had killed my friend which stung +me like a stabbing dagger, goading me out of the heavy lethargy that +might mercifully have numbed my feelings, and teasing me to a constant +realization of the maddening truth.</p> + +<p>I didn't dare visit Jenny. Indeed I felt a horror at the thought of +ever seeing her again. It was for her I had murdered Worthing. I didn't +blame her; but somehow there seemed to me an unholy fate binding us +together, and unless I could tear myself free even darker consequences +would ensue. There was a bond of blood between us. To think of her even +was to awaken a bitter cry in my heart, an echo as it were from another +world of a reproach I couldn't bear. For Jenny was like a living +monument of the evil I had done. With her image in my mind I was for +ever whipped back to that night at Naples, forced to deal again that +dreadful blow through knowing now whose life it was I was stabbing out +of the world.</p> + +<p>I think Dirk must have been away for some days, for I don't remember +his questioning me on the strange shadow that had so suddenly darkened +my life. If he had been at my lodging he couldn't but have seen that +something desperately wrong had taken place. It wasn't till I had +regained something of my self-control that I remember seeing him +again. Then he eyed me wonderingly as though enquiring the cause of my +strangeness. I think he must have told himself some early love affair +had upset me, for he smiled knowingly, and talked about girls being the +devil, declaring they weren't worth a broken heart, nor yet a sleepless +night even. I let him think what he would, and kept my own counsel. I +didn't dare tell him the truth, for he would say the blame was his, +as indeed to some extent it was; for if he hadn't rescued me, as he +imagined, I should soon have been freed of the gag about my face, and +then Worthing would have recognized me, and all would have been well.</p> + +<p>So I kept away from Dirk as much as I could. It was easy enough, for he +seemed to be hot on the trail again. I wandered off by myself, though +where I used to get to I don't know. Then I began to try to piece the +mystery together, but little enough could I fit consistently. I knew +now that my first surmise had been correct: I had been mistaken for my +father's murderer, for it was obvious that Worthing wouldn't knowingly +have treated me as he had done. There would have been no sense in it. +I couldn't help complaining bitterly at the amazing ill luck, as it +seemed, which had taken me to Naples just when Worthing happened to +have traced his quarry there. Of course he couldn't have dreamt of my +presence; and I had grown, and my face was tanned brown; his uncle had +never seen me before, and in the boat when Worthing had first looked +upon me my face was half covered with the gag. All this seemed like a +deliberate trick of some malignant devil of fate, and I felt the weight +of the old curse bear heavily upon me like a burden.</p> + +<p>Beyond this I could establish little to my satisfaction. How Worthing +had obtained the manuscript I couldn't think. I supposed he had stolen +it from the murderer, and was using it to show he knew what he was +about. But what puzzled me was that he had seemed to suggest that there +was some piece of information he wanted for which he was willing to +allow my father's murderer to escape. He had wanted, in fact, to learn +the mystery of the treasure cave. Why? I asked myself. I couldn't +believe he had been led away from his quest by the lure of gold. +There must be something deeper underlying it all, something which lay +concealed in the earth which to Worthing was of greater importance even +than the dragging to justice of a murderer. It must be something of +rare importance, I argued, if it were worth such a prize, for I knew +his enthusiasm for justice—which to him was like a physical passion.</p> + +<p>And there my reason stayed. But I knew enough to realize I hadn't yet +fulfilled the quest Jenny had set me on. At first it had seemed like +an exquisite piece of irony that I had been searching for her father's +enemy only to learn that all the while I had been tracking down my own +friend. But now I knew I had killed my friend for nothing. My father's +murderer and the Captain's persecutor were still at large. I thought +by Worthing's story they were probably the same man, but I had paid +a terrible price for that little piece of information. So with the +wretched thought at my heart that I had killed my friend, severed +myself from my sweetheart, and had all my work still before me, I felt +utterly weary and deserted, an outcast of fortune, alone in an evil +world.</p> + +<p>Little by little, of course I came to face up to the thing. I was no +longer the boy I had been even a year ago when my father had been +killed. I had seen the world since then; I had developed in mind and +body. I think my love for Jenny had helped to give me something of a +man's outlook and self-reliance, though I was still far enough from the +years of manhood. I knew I must take my life into my hands, not mope +stupidly and aimlessly, hoping for something to come to my aid from +Heaven knew where. With the growth of this resolution to see the thing +through I began to turn over the papers I had been given, and to dip +here and there into my father's writings, thinking I might come upon +some clue which would lead me to the heart of the mystery. For I knew +now there would be no peace for me till the evil ghost was laid.</p> + +<p>So I turned over the pages, but my mind was still too distracted for +clear thinking, and I learnt little. Then I began to long for Jenny +again, though I knew I mustn't see her. For I had told her that her +father's enemy was dead, that I had killed him, and now I knew he +was still alive, and possibly was already casting his evil snares +once again about the Captain's life. I couldn't face Jenny till I had +really freed her father from his foe. I remembered my father's words, +"Always make sure, Tommy." If he had made sure that night in the hut, +if I hadn't fired into the mirror at Sunset Towers, if I had but torn +aside the mask before I had dealt the fatal blow at Naples!... But such +considerations were clean from the purpose and only left me limp and +dejected, speculating on what might so easily have been, and crying +against the strangling fatality which seemed to have my whole life in +its evil grip. All I knew for certain was that my father's murderer, +the Captain's enemy, was still alive, and I mustn't see Jenny again +until I had killed him beyond all shadow of doubt.</p> + +<p>Yet I couldn't keep quite away. I began to wander at night in front of +the tall dark house, and then took to going round to the garden at the +back, where I soon found I could climb the wall and watch the light in +a window up above which somehow I knew must be Jenny's. I used to hide +in a great rhododendron bush and fix my eyes on that light, telling +myself that to-morrow I would pack up my dunnage and make tracks for +the <i>Dolphin</i>, and search the coast as I had never searched it before +till I had unravelled the whole tangled mystery. I thought I might even +lie in wait for my enemy there, for Worthing had said the fellow would +be sure to turn up sooner or later as evidently he was in search of the +treasure. But though I kept telling myself I would go the next day, I +was always back at my post watching the light in Jenny's window. And +the summer was half spent.</p> + +<p>But one night I was rewarded for my vigil. For Jenny pulled aside her +blind, and I heard her brokenly sighing my name. It wasn't till then +that I realized that she must be in a torment of distress at my sudden +desertion of her. I had been so engrossed with my own troubles that +I hadn't thought of hers. I would have broken cover and called up to +her, but at that moment I heard a door open, and a dark figure slipped +noiselessly out of the house. A voice was saying in the suave kind +tones I knew so well, "Courage, my master. Did I not hear you call me, +and I at the end of the world? Yes, and I will come to you again, be +assured."</p> + +<p>The Captain replied brokenly out of the shadows, "Oh, Abou, Abou!"</p> + +<p>So Abou was back again. His wonderful instinct had told him his master +was in trouble and needed him. I wondered if he had been back long. +Perhaps it was his coming that had set the Captain's mind at rest, +whereas I had thought it was the news of the Naples murder which I had +assumed he must have heard in some way. The thought was but a flash in +my mind, for the Captain went on, "You will find him, Abou, and bring +him back. Tell him, tell him I will be his father. Tell him.... But +what can I say? Boys don't care for that sort of thing. But I love the +bairn, Abou, and I want him back."</p> + +<p>"You shall have him, my master," said Abou, and glided away, while I +crouched motionless not daring to breathe.</p> + +<p>Then the Captain came out into the garden and strolled up and down a +turn or two muttering my name. I knew I had but to come from my hiding +to be welcomed back into that house with open arms. Yet I knew I +mustn't go. It would be under false pretences. First I must accomplish +my task.</p> + +<p>I waited till the Captain had retired, shooting the bolts behind the +closed door before I crept from cover and cautiously made my escape. My +heart was bitterly sore at the thought of all the love I was leaving: +the Captain wanting me back as though I were his son, yet unable to +frame a message for me, thinking I might make fun of his affection, and +doubtless wondering why I had changed my lodging without sending him +word; and my little Jenny perhaps crying herself to sleep with my name +on her lips, her pride broken by longing and anxiety and doubt. My own +eyes were none too dry, nor was my breathing very certain, as I slipped +back to my lodging and hastily packed my knapsack. Then heedless of +Dirk's injunctions I stepped out into the night before my resolution +should waver, and set forth once more for the <i>Dolphin</i> and the mystery +that lay like a shadow of blood over the wonderful coast about Ebb-Tide +Pool.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXX">CHAPTER XXX</h2> +</div> + +<h3>DRIFT-WOOD CAVERN</h3> + + +<p>The sight of the familiar scene where I had spent so many happy +summers, and where I had received one desolating blow, seemed to clear +and steady my mind. Sometimes I would remember only the passionate +hours of climbing and swimming I had known there, and would revert +to the delighted boy I had been not so very long ago. But always the +shadow would fall about me again; yet, although it toned down my joy at +being back in the country of my heart, it didn't cloud me from a steady +pursuing of the purpose I had set myself to accomplish.</p> + +<p>First of all I re-explored every nook and cranny I had ever visited; +and that alone was the work of some days. I reserved Drift-Wood Cavern +for the last, intending to devote all my energies to tracing it to its +source when once I had satisfied myself that there was nothing else to +learn from the coast to either side of it. In the evenings I sat up +by the open window, or, when darkness had fallen, by the light of my +lamp, studying the papers my father had left behind him. The priest's +manuscript was of little use to me. Its drenching in the sea hadn't +increased its clarity, and as I understood little Latin the text was +of no help. I turned to the map, and tried to wrest the secret from +it; but you can't get the secret from a thing which isn't there. The +fragment that held the clue simply didn't exist, and it was impossible +to reconstruct it except with baseless imaginings.</p> + +<p>My father's papers didn't help me much. They were mostly fragments of +stories and poems. It was a sad thing to sit by my lamp night after +night as my father had done before me, and read over those scraps of +broken literature, feeling in every line the marvellous promise and +powers that had been frittered so idly away. Young as I was, I was +judge enough to recognize the work of a master story-teller, and even +the authentic ring of poetry, in the unfinished sketches before me. +Though I tried to remain loyal to my father's memory I couldn't prevent +the cry from rising to my heart, "Oh dad, dad, why did you waste your +days hunting for that accursed treasure when you might have been among +the greatest writers of the land?"</p> + +<p>Of the stories I sorted out those which seemed to be based in any way +on the one great story of the hidden gold. Yet even so I couldn't learn +much, for my father modified his facts for dramatic effect, heightening +the colours here and omitting the lesser links of the narrative +elsewhere, so that I couldn't piece together anything consecutive. +Indeed my father's purpose, so I judged, hadn't been to write a +connected history. Elements of the affair appealed to him first in this +light and then in that, and he had transmuted them into imaginative +sketches, suggesting an underlying basis in fact, but misleading in +detail.</p> + +<p>There was one story which appealed to me particularly, and it was the +only one which could be called complete. It appealed to me because it +reminded me of the night at Sunset Towers when my father had told the +story of the cursing of the treasure and the terrible fulfilment of the +curse. Here was a tale evidently based on the priest's confession. The +setting was much the same as that of the story I knew, yet there were +details which showed that my father had in mind not only the valley of +the tombs but the coast-line round the <i>Dolphin</i>, and so the incidents +were brought more vividly home to me than they would otherwise have +been. First there was an account of the discovery of the treasure by +a party of adventurers; but when half of it had been safely brought +to the light a quarrel broke out, and the Captain of the band found +himself standing almost alone against a mutinous crew. But he was a +wily man, and succeeded in tricking his enemies; and having trapped +them in the cave where the treasure lay he rolled a huge boulder to +the cave's mouth and imprisoned them alive. So far the story was only +a variant of the one I had heard so thrillingly told on that memorable +night; and the account of the frenzy which overwhelmed the Captain with +terror and remorse was much the same as in the account I knew so well +of the Mad Captain and which now, with my own hands stained with blood, +I could appreciate to the full. But after this the story changed. For +a stranger had somehow stolen the plans and learnt of the hidden gold, +though he didn't know the secret of the entrance to the cave. When +the Captain learnt there was some one on the track of the treasure +a terrible fear seized him lest his crime should be discovered. +Whipped on by a fearful fury of madness, he ruthlessly hunted down the +meddlesome interloper, and eventually capturing the wretch chained him +living in a dungeon and sealed the door up against him, having hung the +stolen plans about his neck for a warning to any who might find him and +be so bold as to follow in his steps.</p> + +<p>The tale gripped me chiefly because of the intensity of the atmosphere +of terror and madness which prevaded it, till the reading of it seemed +like the very tones of my father's voice as he had used to speak in +the old times when the night hung black outside the pane, and only the +firelight leapt and sank in the shadowy chamber where we sat together, +he leaning back in his chair, and I huddled at his knees. I knew I was +reading a piece of great literature; and again that regretful reproach +sounded in my heart against my father: Why had he neglected such +talents to squander his life away in a stupid hunt for gold?</p> + +<p>But another reason which made the story of interest to me was the +picture of the wretched victim chained into the dungeon with the plans +about his neck, for I thought I had come upon a further link in the +strange series of crimes which had made one tale of horror of the +searching for that evil gold. Here was the explanation of the skeleton +I had found at Sunset Towers. Worthing's uncle had said that the story +of its coming there was interesting enough in its own way. Doubtless +he was referring to this yarn of my father's. But when I began to put +things together I found that after all I had learnt little. The yarn +was probably no more than a yarn, springing from my father's fertile +imagination. And even if it were true it only told me of something so +distant as to be of no value. Yet the story clung to my memory. I kept +turning to it as though somehow it contained the clue to the mystery I +was seeking to unravel.</p> + +<p>Reading my father's papers sent me frequently to his grave, which +now was nothing but a grass-grown mound in the woods, nameless and +dateless. I set to work to carve a rough cross with his name upon it. I +had thought to have added something to tell of my love for him, and the +blank which his death had made in my life. But words were so stupidly +inadequate that I merely carved his name and locked my wounded and +inarticulate love in my own heart.</p> + +<p>Besides my father's papers there were the papers which Worthing's clerk +had given me. I studied these carefully, but they contained nothing +but a clear and precise account of the investments he had made with my +money. So clear indeed was the statement that even I could understand +it, and I knew I should have no difficulty in conducting my own affairs +when occasion called. I felt a gush of gratitude to my dead friend who +had taken such care of my concerns. I thought of how he had sacrificed +pride and principle to rescue me from Rancey Bridge, and how he had +sustained and guided me in the days that had followed that dreadful +first of May. And in return I had killed him!</p> + +<p>Well, I knew it was useless brooding over things which couldn't be +amended, yet my heart was heavy with the weight of sorrows it had to +bear.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile by day I was searching the countryside for traces of the +mysterious passage which should reveal to me the secret of the +treasure. Again I enquired of the obstinate Dragon's Mouth; but the +great tongue remained foolishly thrust out at me, and the wide jagged +lips were dumb. I sounded up and down through the Smugglers' Tunnel, +and knocked at the fallen doors of Ebb-Tide Gate; but nothing opened to +my knocking. So at last I set myself to explore Drift-Wood Cavern.</p> + +<p>I think I delayed the exploration as long as possible because I still +remembered the strange fear which had possessed me when I first entered +those green and evil waters. There was a dread holding me away from +the place. But I knew I must face the ordeal, so at length I took my +courage in my hands and dived into the darkness. I was gratified to +find that the old fear didn't return, only a sense of faint disgust at +the furtive clinging weeds and the slow smooth drifts of refuse which +had gathered there through the years.</p> + +<p>I provided myself with clothes and lantern, and such tools as I thought +might be necessary, also a tin of ship's biscuits, thrusting them into +the crevice from the Smugglers' Tunnel so that I merely had to reach +for them when in the cavern. And so I was sheltered from the cold of +wetness and nakedness, and had a light to search by and tools to probe +with. I was determined that if the place really held a secret I would +wrest it away before I had done.</p> + +<p>My first entrance was at high tide, and I soon found I could do little. +The tunnel penetrated far into the land, but sank downwards, so I found +myself held back by the deepening water. Accordingly the next time I +went at low tide, and made an interesting discovery: the roof of the +tunnel sank and rose and sank again, forming pockets, as it were. +All the way beyond the first pocket the roof was slippery with weed, +telling me that at high tide the tunnel was full of water. It was an +unpleasant discovery, for I knew that if I weren't careful I might +be caught in one of the pockets and trapped by the rising tide. At +the first feel of the stealing water about my ankles I beat a hurried +retreat, in alarm at being snared and drowned like a rat in a trap. But +I found my fear was premature. I could have continued my search for a +long time yet without danger.</p> + +<p>At my third attempt I started with the tide at half ebb, so as to give +myself the maximum time for exploring. I waded knee-deep up the long +and winding tunnel, thrusting my lantern into every nook and cranny, +and digging with my hands into the thick weeds which dripped from the +walls. And so I passed pocket after pocket, and knew that the tide must +soon be on the turn. I was afraid to stay much longer, but ducked under +one last arch. The tunnel rose up steeply before me. I gazed above; and +the swinging light of my lantern fell full upon the white bones of a +skeleton.</p> + +<p>For a moment I stood motionless, gazing, while the crabs scuttled out +of the light. My thought was, "Poor wretch, he must have been caught +in the tide." At that moment there came a little slap of water at my +feet. It was like some evil serpent of the sea thrusting out a cold, +lean throat towards me, flickering about me with a cruel forked tongue, +gathering itself to strike. So unnerving was the swift impression that +with a cold panic at my heart I turned and fled, splashing down the +tunnel to safety; and for a couple of days or more I dared not venture +back, though again and again I dived into the cavern intending to +pursue my search, and unravel the meaning of that skeleton.</p> + +<p>But for a while I couldn't bring my courage to the necessary pitch. +The thought of being trapped there like that drowned wretch, of having +my flesh eaten off me by those loathsome, hurrying creatures I had +startled with my lantern, was too dreadful a prospect. I told myself +that in a day or two I should regain my nerve. Meanwhile to erase +the impression I set myself to accomplish a feat I had long vowed +to attempt: the scaling of that great bulging rock that overbrowed +Ebb-Tide Pool.</p> + +<p>My various efforts would be of little interest even if I could describe +them in detail. It is enough to record that at the third or fourth +attempt I found a way up. There on the top was the level space I had +often climbed down to from above, but had never before scaled from +below. Beneath me lay the pool of smooth water, so tempting with +the sun blazing upon it, that, although I had never dived from such +a height, without a thought I flung out my arms and shot downwards +through a thrilling rush of air, while the blue pool seemed to leap up +at me from below and engulf me with its closing waters.</p> + +<p>I rose to the surface panting and glowing and wonderfully excited. For +the second time I climbed to the level platform to hurl myself once +more into the pool beneath.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>I think my success in climbing the great jutting rock heartened me for +my real task. The next day I set forth in great spirit. I clambered +down to the platform, stripped off my clothes, but as always, belted my +knife about me, and plunged into the pool and under the arch. I was +soon at the surface, puffing and treading water, closed about by the +darkness of Drift-Wood Cavern. The tide was almost at full ebb; so not +wasting a moment I was out of the water and had lit my lantern; for I +kept a store of oil in the cavern with my food and other necessaries, +so that I could resume work whenever convenient. I had soon roughly +dried myself and pulled on some clothes, and stuffing some biscuits in +my pocket I set off with all speed down the tunnel, not wasting time by +feeling to left and right, but making straight ahead, intent on finding +the skeleton. It wasn't very long before I was once more standing at +the foot of the slope with the light of my lantern gleaming whitely on +the clean-picked bones above.</p> + +<p>I had to climb to reach the thing, for the tunnel rose sharply. +Reaching it I stooped to examine it. There was an earthenware bottle +about its neck, and this immediately caught my eyes. It was tightly +corked, I found; so tightly that when I had pulled the bottle away +from the rotten string that held it, I had some difficulty in digging +out the cork with my knife. But at last I had cut it away. Inside +there was a folded slip of paper. Trembling with excitement I thrust +my finger in, and eventually succeeded in working out the paper. But +it was inconceivably old and yellow; and although the water had been +kept away from it, it was sadly the worse for age, not to mention the +damage caused by my excited fingering as I had worked it free. So it +was only after a careful and close perusal that I began to understand +something of the faded writing. But what I did understand set my blood +madly beating at my ears and temples. The man hadn't been trapped, as I +had thought, having penetrated over-boldly into the tunnel; he had been +working from the other direction, from somewhere deep under the earth, +and had never reached the sea.</p> + +<p>Little by little as I studied the paper I began to piece out a story +of crime and horror which struck strangely familiar to my mind. +Here was one who had been searching for that gold; another victim +of the curse, I told myself, darkly wondering how many had been the +victims of the outraged gods if the whole tale of them were numbered. +He too had been one of a party who had found and handled the gold; +but as usual—and the recurrence of the thing seemed absurd in its +inevitability—there had been strife and disagreement. As in the old +story of the manuscript, and also in the fanciful yarn of my father's, +there had been treachery and betrayal. The stone that guarded the +cave-mouth had been rolled back upon a party of wretches imprisoning +them alive. History had repeated itself, I thought. The original crime +of the Mad Captain and his followers had been perpetrated a second +time, not only in imagination, as in my father's yarn, but in reality. +But there was a difference. As I examined the script, making out here +and there another word, and another, I began to find myself on a clue +worth all the rest of the story. When once removed the boulder that +had guarded the cave-mouth had been so delicately poised that a couple +of men could roll it back into place, though it had needed twenty with +ropes and levers to heave it up from the hole it covered. But the thing +that arrested me was that the boulder had originally been at the end +of a short but steep passage rising up from the sea into the land, and +the entrance it had sealed was a large hole in the floor of the tunnel. +When the great stone was released, instead of merely falling back into +place, its impetus as it fell had carried it over the pit it had first +covered, and it had rushed to the mouth of the tunnel itself where it +had stuck, jammed immovably in the narrow opening. I didn't need to +cast about in my mind for a possible locality to suit the description; +I knew at once it was the Dragon's Mouth. I had been right in my +surmise that if that tongue were drawn back into the throat the mystery +would be laid bare. No wonder the priest's map had failed to give my +father the clue he had needed. By the rolling of that stone the trace +of the pit-mouth had been destroyed.</p> + +<p>But I wasn't satisfied yet. Again I bent to the withered paper. +However, I learnt little more, for a great deal was illegible, though +I determined when out in the daylight to scan it letter by letter till +all lay clear. But I did learn the personal tragedy of the wretch whose +bones lay before me. When his party had been trapped, and had wasted +their energies making futile efforts to escape, futile appeals to their +enemies, clamouring at the great sealed door as though their voices +could penetrate it, he had set himself to search for some other way of +breaking from his prison. He noticed that in the cave there was a wide +pool of water which rose and sank with the tide, and so he had argued +that it must communicate with the sea. In a desperate resolve he had +written out his story, and corking the paper securely in a bottle he +had tied it round his neck, so that if he perished his body might be +found at sea, and his friends at least be rescued. Then diving into +the pool he had trusted to good fortune to see him out to safety. I +could reconstruct the sequel without much difficulty. He had groped +his way through the water and had found the mouth of a tunnel, where, +risking all, he had entered and swum for dear life. But the fates had +been against him; he had been trapped in this pocket having risen and +plunged again how many times I couldn't say. But I knew he had made his +bid for freedom with the tide well in, for at low water having reached +so far he would have won to safety unless overtaken by sheer physical +exhaustion. I felt the tragedy of the thing; so near and yet so far. +And the old story of the manuscript became vividly real to me with +this witness at my feet of a victim trapped to death. I glanced at the +end of the paper for the fellow's name. Meadows, I made out—Carey +Meadows—and inscribed in thicker letters so that its impression might +never fade was a prayer that if he should die, and his body be found, +justice might be done on his accursed brother who had shut him there to +perish: Commander Evelyn Meadows of the <i>Tiger</i>.</p> + +<p>I had no time to think what this might mean, for suddenly I became +aware that the tide had risen; high up the slope as I was, the water +was feeling about my ankles. So engrossed had I been in my strange +discovery that I hadn't noticed the waters creeping up over my feet. +Hastily I scrambled down the steep fall to find myself trapped in the +next pocket, with the water already over the mouth of it. Perforce I +dropped my lantern, and in sudden darkness dived beneath the arch and +rose into blackness on the other side, where again I pressed forward in +utmost alarm, for I was blindly stumbling and slipping. Then the roof +came down against my head, again forcing me beneath the water. Once +more I dived, but rose only to crack my head against the rock, with no +space of air to breathe in. I was almost choking for want of breath, +but I kicked out frenziedly against the pressing rock, sinking down and +down until at last I felt the roof rise up again, and I knew I was in +the next pocket. With my lungs near bursting I splashed my way up to +the surface, where fortunately there was room for my head to clear the +water. There I rested for a moment gulping in the dank air; but fearing +to delay plunged once again beneath the arch, and so up into the fifth +pocket, and on to the next. It was a terrible journey, but at length +I came out into the open way, almost sobbing with terror, but knowing +that now I was safe.</p> + +<p>I sank upon a rock to recover my breath, and at last felt my courage +return to me, and even laughed at the adventure, though I knew well I +had played a close match with death. Then I stripped off my soaking +garments, and dived for the last time, rising to the good daylight +in Ebb-Tide Pool, where for a long while I lay out on a hot rock and +basked in the sun, till feeling a desire for dinner I set off for my +clothes which I had left on the platform above the pool.</p> + +<p>I climbed out on to the great rock by the way I had learnt. I was still +a few feet from the platform when I saw a face looking down at me from +above. It was hastily withdrawn, but the surprise nearly upset me, and +I swung, clinging by my finger-tips, to the face of the rock. Then +gathering my strength I tightened my grip, and was once more climbing +steadily upwards, when I heard a terrible cry above me and the sound of +scuffling feet. My curiosity was aroused, and I tugged myself up in a +last effort. Just as I was about to swing myself on to the platform I +saw two figures swaying above me, locked in a deadly struggle. I clung +to my perch, half fearing they would topple on to me. Then I recognized +Dirk. Immediately I knew what had happened: at last he had tracked +his quarry to earth. I saw the huge fellow slowly bending his enemy +back over the edge of rock, so that his body was curved like a bow. +The man's right hand was raised, and in it gleamed a knife; but Dirk +had him firmly gripped by the wrist. As I looked I saw the knife-hand +slowly opening with the pressure of Dirk's fingers upon it. At last the +knife slipped free and fell to his feet, and the empty hand spread wide +with the palm turned full towards me.</p> + +<p>And across the palm were two jagged scars.</p> + +<p>In a fever of frenzied excitement I heaved myself on to the platform, +and drawing my knife shouted, "Let him go, Dirk! Let him go! Let me +kill him! He's mine!"</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXXI">CHAPTER XXXI</h2> +</div> + +<h3>EXPIATION</h3> + + +<p>My sudden interruption might have been fatal, for Dirk in his surprise +loosened his hold, and his antagonist nearly slipped free, and stooping +had his fingers within an inch of the fallen knife. But Dirk recovered +in time; and now that his enemy's sting had been drawn he crushed +him tight in his tremendous arms, and had leisure holding him so to +question my strange conduct; for I was still dancing madly about him, a +naked figure save for my belt, crying, "Let him go! Let me kill him!"</p> + +<p>"Steady, lad," said Dirk slowly, while the little fellow in his arms +writhed unavailingly, darting from his eyes such a fury of malignant +passion that his very gaze seemed poisonous. And I looking upon him +recognized that evil face I had three times seen.</p> + +<p>"He killed my father," I cried to Dirk.</p> + +<p>"Can't fathom that, kid," said Dirk. "It's the King's Man."</p> + +<p>"But I know," I shouted. "I saw the marks on his hand."</p> + +<p>"I too," said Dirk. But I knew he was referring to the mark of the +fire. Still excitedly urging Dirk to let me have the killing of the +fellow I yet had space in my mind for the thought that I knew now +where the mark of the fire had come from. It was from that night in +the blazing hut where my father had burnt his hand. Evidently the old +witch hadn't crawled free without a trace of the flames. All that part +of the story was instantaneously clear to me. The fellow had betrayed +the smugglers, as my father had said, so as to cast suspicion on him; +and had laid a snare for him by informing the smugglers that they would +know their betrayer by the mark of the fire on his hand. But the sign +that was to have betrayed my father had merely served to lead his enemy +into his own trap.</p> + +<p>All this was a mere flash of thought. I didn't cease crying to Dirk, +"I tell you; look at his right hand; inside. There's the marks of the +nails."</p> + +<p>Dirk pressed at the clenched fist, and slowly the fingers opened, +revealing those two jagged tell-tale scars. I opened out my own hand +beside that of my enemy's for Dirk to see, for he knew the story of +that chase across the sands.</p> + +<p>"Yus," he said at length, "you're right, kiddy. It's the same cove +we've been after all the time. But I dessay you'd better let me have +the settling of him."</p> + +<p>"No, no," I cried, for my thirst for vengeance, so easily allayed, was +whipped into a madness at the actual sight of my father's murderer.</p> + +<p>Dirk still delayed, gripping the fellow in his huge embrace, while I +continued to cry, "Let me, Dirk, let me. I can fight him. I'll kill +him."</p> + +<p>All this while the look in the man's eyes was altogether +incomprehensible. For Dirk he had nothing but the evillest hatred I had +ever seen on any face; yet for me he had a look almost of tenderness. +But his countenance was so shifting in its expression that it wasn't +the same for half a minute together. In my frenzy I noticed little +of this at the time, except that it seemed to me that he felt some +kind of wicked gratitude for my appeal to Dirk to spare him so that I +might settle my own account of blood. I guessed he spied a loophole +of safety, as he would only have a boy to fight. This imagined slight +which I sensed in his contempt for me angered me the more, till I +fevered for his blood.</p> + +<p>Eventually my clamouring prevailed upon Dirk, though I could see he was +unwilling to let me risk myself in fight against the fellow. But as he +said, "You've more to pay than I have, Tommy. You have first claim."</p> + +<p>I picked up the man's knife and springing back as Dirk released him +tossed it to him. He caught it by the handle in true fashion. Then +naked as I was I faced him, and we circled round one another with eyes +fixed blazingly to each other's eyes. Dirk stood aside, but ready to +leap in if the fellow showed signs of attempting to escape. And indeed +I think that was his purpose. For at first he didn't try to aim a blow +at me; and once I saw his eyes turn for the fraction of a second to +where the cliff dropped sheer from his feet. I believe he would have +plunged and swum for it, but I drove in swiftly and gashed him down +the arm. I heard Dirk's "Bravo!" but I knew I had done foolishly to +wound and not to kill, for the fellow's anger was sharpened, and I +saw the glow of hate in his eyes flash on me for a second as I had +seen it burn against Dirk. Moreover, he began to press me, and I had +to give ground. Twice he lunged in, but I caught his wrist in time +and sprang away. And in my turn I feinted and struck, but he was too +quick for me. I began to feel he was a master of knife-work such as I +had never seen before. My father had been quick in our mock battles, +and Dirk had shown me something of what could be done in agility and +parrying and swift counterfeit. But this lithe, swarthy creature, who +circled stealthily about me and sprang in and away with the lightness +of a cat, was far nimbler and subtler than either Dirk or my father. +I found myself breathing heavily as he leapt in and closed with me, +and bounded back and in again before I had well recovered from the +first assault. He kept me dancing to right and left and backwards and +forwards without a moment's pause, till the upshot of the fight became +at first sadly uncertain and then terribly sure. I knew that sooner or +later he must slip past my guard; and since that first mistake of his +I hadn't once touched him. Gradually I lost the power of reasoning the +situation. At first I had been alert enough, judging for the spring in, +watching for the attack; but now I found myself mechanically dodging +and parrying, till at last I wondered what possessed him not to drive +in and settle the unequal combat. He seemed to be merely playing with +me, for I knew that my life was in his hands. Was he afraid of Dirk's +vengeance if he should kill me? And then dully the thought came to me +that he was waiting for the double chance, at one moment to strike and +to escape. That meant he must drive me to the edge of the platform, +where with a blow he might finish me and leap into the pool below. +But I was determined to thwart him. I steered away to the rise of the +cliff, but immediately he wedged me away from it, and I knew my surmise +was correct. I felt desperate. Gradually he was forcing me to the edge, +and I knew that once there he wouldn't delay the fatal stroke. Then +with the fear of death upon me I suddenly grew strong again, calm even. +I remembered Jenny, and said I would not die. I knew just what I would +do. I gave ground, and he came stepping after me, his eyes glowing with +assurance of victory; then trusting to his confidence to slacken his +caution, and even quivering my lip in a semblance of fear, I leapt in, +and pretending to stumble dropped my knife as he gripped my wrist, but +catching it in my left hand struck sideways as Dirk had taught me, and +felt my blade jab at his ribs as it sank into his breast.</p> + +<p>For a moment I thought my end had come. His knife was brandished high +over my head, and I had no hand free to stay the impending blow. But +the arm above me faltered and fell limp. The knife slipped and rattled +to my feet. It bounced on the rock, rolled, and fell away over the edge +to splash far down beneath me in the water.</p> + +<p>The man collapsed, a huddled bundle. But as he fell he rested his eyes +on mine in such a piteous and reproachful look that I started back half +conscience-stricken at my deed, and with all the hate ebbed out of my +heart.</p> + +<p>So he lay, and with one ugly choke of blood was dead.</p> + +<p>Dirk stepped up and slapped me on the back, and said, "Wull, you've +robbed me of my vengeance, kiddy. I wish to God he had another life. He +wouldn't slip out of it with a little prick like this." And he spurned +the blood-soaked corpse with his foot.</p> + +<p>"Don't, Dirk, don't!" I cried in horror. He stepped back looking +amazedly at me, and saying, "Wull, strike me, Tommy! What's the game +now, eh? Aren't you satisfied?" Then I think seeing the agony in my +face he added, "Come Tommy, you've played fair. Thank the Almighty for +staking on your side, an' me for teaching you the trick, an' yourself +for learning it all so pat an' neat." But his words were lost on me; +for I was gazing on the dead man's face, where death was busy smoothing +out the evil lines of hate, till the lips grew gentle and the glazing +eyes almost merry as though the fellow were amused at the contemplation +of some hidden irony underlying the tragedy.</p> + +<p>Dirk was repeating, "It wasn't the prick of a knife he'd a got from me. +Six hours. <i>Six hours!...</i>" I knew of what he was thinking, and dimly +realized that although his blood was upon my hands I had saved the poor +wretch from a terrible fate.</p> + +<p>And then I gave a cry, and stooped over the body, gazing deep into the +eyes; for the face was the face of Picardino.</p> + +<p>Picardino! And then, of course, I could read so many things clearly +which before had been covered in shadow. It was Picardino who had set +fire to the <i>Snow Man</i>. It was Dirk who had been on his track and had +frightened him in the night when my father had returned and whistled +to me. It was Picardino who had seen my father rush into the burning +building, and had heard my cry of "Daddy, dad-<i>dee</i>!" as I ran up +through the crowd. He had kept the scene in his memory and had planned +the ruse that had trapped my father at last. It was Picardino too who +had drawn both Dirk and Worthing to Naples. It wasn't luck merely that +had brought about the fatal error. For it was outside Picardino's +lodging that Worthing's uncle had been waiting for his quarry, and +had found me instead. And yet I couldn't help the thought that it was +Picardino who would have sheltered me after he had killed my father, +and who had brought me Jenny's message, so that in my gratitude I had +even embraced him. My father he had hated to the death, but me he had +loved; of that I felt certain. Perhaps that was why he had been so +unwilling to strike. Perhaps even at the end it had paralysed the blow +which might so easily have fallen on my unprotected heart. Picardino!</p> + +<p>I gazed at him in a mist of sadness and wonder, till the face seemed +to change again. Indeed in life as he had gazed from Dirk to me I had +noticed its shifting mobility of expression, and in death it seemed to +be settling back through all its stages from the hate that had last +inspired it to whatever might have been its ruling emotion in life. +Now the amusement was yielding to a calm and serene content. And of a +sudden it was no longer the face of Picardino, but the face of Abou +that stared up at me. In spite of all absence of that mighty beard +which had veiled the living Abou, I knew him now as he lay dead. Dimly +I remembered how Dirk had said that the fellow had more shapes than a +cloud and more voices than the wind.</p> + +<p>Abou! And now the shadow lifted further. The whole mystery lay bare to +me, except indeed the motive which had driven him to kill my father. +For now I knew how it was that Dirk had made that mistake at Sunset +Towers. It was Abou he had been stalking that night. It was Abou who +had been crouched in the darkness of the archway beside me. It was Abou +who in the person of Picardino had told of the haunted house, hoping +that my father would be led into the trap, thinking the mysterious +mansion a good hiding-place. It might even have been Abou who +impersonated the landlord; and it was certainly he who knew the secret +of the passage, and whose reflection in the mirror I had fired at that +night. It was Abou, too, who had deceived even Jenny, when as Picardino +he had promised to find me and deliver her message. It was Abou who +had taken the manuscript to Sunset Towers where Worthing or his uncle +had found it. Indeed it must have been one of them I had heard that +evening in Jenny's room. Worthing must have guessed something of the +bond that united the Captain's story with my father's, and with the +clue I had given him of the opening of the secret passage he had been +able to search for the connecting link at Sunset Towers. Either he or +his uncle; which, I should never know. But the card with the Captain's +address had been discovered, and so they had been able to trace Abou in +London. And lastly I remembered it was Abou who had asked to be sent +back to his own people, because of the persecution of Dirk, I assumed; +and it was in pursuit of him that we had sailed away to the East. But +in his amazing intuition he had felt his master needed him again, and +he had turned back on his journey; and it was his trail we had followed +to such a tragic end at Naples. Yes, it was all quite clear except for +the motive. Again I told myself that Abou loved me, though he had hated +my father. It was he who had been the go-between when Jenny and I had +quarrelled; it was he who had smoothed over the angry passages by his +calm voice and gentle manner. And I had killed him! Yet it was some +consolation to know that at least I had saved him from a death far more +horrible than the one I had dealt him. Abou! Picardino! They had both +loved me, and I could have loved them well, had not this thwart and +evil destiny set us as enemies against each other.</p> + +<p>How long I would have stayed there linking up the story, I don't +know. I suppose Dirk stood silently by in deference to my obvious +grief at the work of my hands; and perhaps something of the strange +transformation in the face of the dead man held him, too, in a wonder +of conjecture. But at last his patience was exhausted. Supposing, as I +imagine, that a strong command was what was needed to put backbone into +my collapsed will, he said sharply, "You put on that gear of yours, and +tramp. I know the best hole for this." He nodded down at the corpse, +and jerked his thumb at the pool below. I knew he meant to hide the +body in Drift-Wood Cavern, and the knowledge hurt me.</p> + +<p>"No," I cried.</p> + +<p>He faced me sternly, and I hung my head. Indeed I knew there was no +other way unless I wished to swing. So I began mechanically pulling +on my clothes, while Dirk shouldered the dead man and set off down the +cliff.</p> + +<p>When I was dressed I wiped my knife in the earth. Drawing my various +weapons, my pistol, my stiletto, and the knife I had just cleaned, I +looked mournfully at them, knowing full well how I delighted in them, +yet hating the use to which I had so far put them. I stuffed them back +into my belt in disgust, and climbed up the cliff to the <i>Dolphin</i>.</p> + +<p>I walked slowly, though I was famishing with hunger, and felt the need +of a stiff glass of spirits. My mind was in a tumult, still questioning +the dark affair. The course of things was clear; but the motive? Abou, +I said, was merely his master's shadow. Somehow I knew that what he had +done must have been for the Captain, not for himself. For the Captain +he had changed from a suave and gracious minister of comfort to the +semblance of that hateful old witch, and had ruthlessly sacrificed, not +my father only, but the unoffending smugglers, in his zeal to serve his +master. Well, he had expiated his sacrifice and his sin. And yet what +had the Captain to do with it? Why had he set Abou to kill my father? +And how would it affect my love for Jenny? Now not only was Worthing's +blood between us, but my father's blood as well. What was my part to +be? Must I take another step forward, wade deeper into the river of +blood, and kill the Captain? But that I knew I could never do. Yet why +had he killed my father?</p> + +<p>It was a sudden illumination that gave me the last link I needed. I +remembered the story I had deciphered in the tunnel under the earth +only an hour ago. An hour ago? It seemed an age! I remembered, too, +the tale Worthing's uncle had told me that night beneath the stars: +the tale of the Captain and his brothers. Captain Field—Commander +Meadows! The disguise was so ludicrously thin that I even laughed +aloud when the two names met and mingled in my mind. In that cave of +accursed gold was buried the Captain's deadly secret, the secret that +had tortured him through life, the secret of his murdered comrades, of +his murdered brother. He dared not let another meddle with the thing. +The thought of prying eyes in that dark place of crime and death was +like a madness in his blood; a madness I could well conceive, for I had +heard my father tell so often the story of the Mad Captain, and among +his papers was that other yarn which told of the ruthless hunting of +the treasure-seeker by one who had no cause to hate him except that he +feared the exposing of the secret that had poisoned all his life. Had +my father guessed the motive of his relentless persecution, I asked +myself; or was it but a fancy that had made him write that yarn? That +was something I would never know.</p> + +<p>My thoughts were in a strange tangle when I arrived at the <i>Dolphin</i>, +and even my emotions were clashing conflictingly in my soul. On the one +hand I saw the cruel and useless murder of my father as a thing crying +for revenge. But again so steeped with repetition had I been in the +agonies of the Mad Captain that I felt he couldn't have done otherwise +than he did. The anguish in his soul had goaded him on to a cruelty he +hadn't contemplated. Perhaps even some cause I didn't know had made him +commit that first dreadful crime of imprisoning his comrades in the +cave and leaving them there to perish so miserably. Again I thought +how strange it was that history had repeated itself. The first crime +the priest had told of was the same as the last I had read that day. +The circle was complete, as though the curse had worked itself to a +consummation; and I was determined that it should end now once for all. +I would burn all traces of the clue to the treasure cave. I wouldn't +touch a penny of the evil gold if it should come my way. And come my +way I thought it might, as I knew the Captain was fond of me. And +puzzling out his fondness I thought at first it was merely that he had +been desirous to make amends; but later I felt sure he had come to like +me for my own sake. Well, what my course was to be I couldn't say. Was +a further expiation required? If so, I vowed some other hand than mine +should strike the blow.</p> + +<p>At that I thought of Worthing who would have uncompromisingly declared +that blood must atone for blood. Was that the reason, I asked myself, +why my father's murder had sunk into insignificance with him? Had he +come on the trail of a greater crime? Was it for that he had hunted +down Abou, as he thought, promising him life if he would tell the +secret of the entrance? It wasn't gold he was after; that I felt sure +of. Was it justice?</p> + +<p>With these questions tumultuously buzzing in my mind I reached the +<i>Dolphin</i>, wearily climbed the stairs, and opened the door of my room. +Facing me as I entered was the Captain himself. Without realizing what +I was doing I exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Commander Meadows!" In a frightened whisper I added, "Of the <i>Tiger</i>."</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXXII">CHAPTER XXXII</h2> +</div> + +<h3>INTO THE MORNING</h3> + + +<p>I saw a smile of greeting change into a grimace of stupefied dismay. +My mind went back to the morning when in the kitchen just beneath us I +had blurted out, "The smugglers!" I stood horrified at what I had done. +This dismay on the Captain's face grew into an expression of savage +cunning, and I knew that all the deviltry of his lifelong madness was +roused to a ferocious passion. His head sank below his shoulders; his +hands curled and stiffened like the claws of an enraged beast; his eyes +at first swelled glaringly from their sockets, then sank back beneath +the half-closed lids in a terrible scrutiny of menace. And suddenly he +sprang upright with his hands thrown behind his head, and burst into a +peal of demoniac laughter more terrifying than the brutal crouching of +his first posture. And still I stood motionless watching him.</p> + +<p>His frenzied mirth subsided at length into broken gigglings, hysterical +and unnatural. Tottering a little he felt about for a chair and sat +down heavily. Then drawing out a huge kerchief he mopped his brow which +was beaded over with perspiration, and still faintly chuckling said, +"Ha, yes, excellent; excellent, indeed. That's good, Tommy; that's a +good joke, a really good joke, 'pon my soul." He threw back his head +and forced out a harsh laugh.</p> + +<p>I took a step forward. "Sir," I began, wondering how I might undo the +evil I had done. But at that he sprang up, and his savage madness +returned upon him.</p> + +<p>"Stand back," he cried in a terrible voice, "stand back. I know you, +I know who you are. You think you can fool me, do you? You think I +don't know you, eh? God in heaven, what do you take me for, sir?" With +his curled fingers digging at the air as though to tear away some +obstructing veil he stared at me with reddening eyes, and went on, "Ha, +yes, you think you look like Tommy, do you? But I know you. You would +hunt me down, blast your eyes! You would tell me of the bodies lying +there. You would put the world upon my track. Ha, you would drag me out +into the light, point at me, set men's eyes upon me, name me murderer? +So? Murderer, am I? Killed my own brothers, did I? Trapped them and +left them there to die?" His voice rose more shrilly with each word, +and he finished with a scream, suddenly covering his face with his +hands, "And I did, I did! Oh, God!"</p> + +<p>He sank sobbing to the floor. I didn't know what to do. It was +terrible, it was piteous. But I knew he was mad, and dared not approach +him.</p> + +<p>Presently he seemed to regain control of himself. Still huddled on the +floor he threw out a hand to me, and looking up at me from flushed and +swollen eyes began in a strained, low, monotonous tone, "See here, this +is how it was. And you <i>will</i> know sooner or later. They'd have killed +me. I tell you, they'd have killed me. Yes, my own brothers would have +killed me for the gold. But I found out how it lay. I trapped them +there. But one escaped; the youngest. I loved him. I tell you, I loved +the boy. And he would have killed me for the gold. I tell you...." He +broke off. His head fell between his hands. "You don't believe me," he +moaned reproachfully, "you don't believe a word I say."</p> + +<p>"Sir," I cried, "I do believe you."</p> + +<p>Slowly he peered up at me, and I saw a wicked gleam lighten his face.</p> + +<p>"So," he said. "Then come and kiss me, boy."</p> + +<p>I think I would have ventured all and gone to him to see if I might +pacify his tortured spirit, but I remembered how once before he had +snared me so at Sunset Towers. I held back doubtfully, though I +yearned to run to him and comfort him. At my hesitation his face grew +frightful. He sprang to his feet and cried, "He hates me. Tommy hates +me because I killed his father. I killed...." He stopped short, and +staring at me said deliberately, "You lie. It's all a lie. I didn't +kill him. My name is Field; Captain Field, I'd have you know. And the +crying you hear at night, Tommy, it's the ghost. You know it's the +ghost?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," I said, "I've seen it." For I thought to lead his mind back +to earlier associations.</p> + +<p>But he chuckled to himself and said, "Little fool! Seen it, eh? Little +fool!"</p> + +<p>The thought seemed to amuse him. He laughed quietly for a while. Then +again I saw his eyes slanting round at me. He stopped laughing, and +gazing at me stupidly, said, "Still here, eh? What do you want with me, +eh? God in heaven, can't you say what you want?"</p> + +<p>He stood so for a moment, and I couldn't say a word.</p> + +<p>Then he passed his hands across his eyes, and his face took on a look +of horror. "Tommy?" he asked. "Isn't it Tommy?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," I said, "I'm Tommy."</p> + +<p>"Liar!" he cried. "Liar! I know you. Pah! There's the smell of blood +in the air. You've come from the grave, from the grave down there in +the woods. I know. Why can't you leave me in peace? Why must you follow +me? They told me it was quiet in the grave. Why can't you lie still? +Why can't you rest? What have I done to you? What have I ever done to +you that you should follow me like this? Yes, always follow me? Away, I +say; away!"</p> + +<p>He sprang towards me with his hands before his eyes, lurching blindly +as though afraid to face me. I slipped to one side, and we changed +places. He removed his hands, and looking before him thought for a +moment I had gone, "Ha," he muttered, "I thought I saw him. I must be +going mad." Then he turned. I thought he would have fallen dead at my +feet. With mouth foaming and eyes staring he tottered dizzily forward +and collapsed to the floor without a struggle. I would have stepped to +him, but he lifted his face and looked furtively up at me from under +his brows, and said in a broken-hearted voice, "I tell you I'm sorry. +I can't say more. It had to be. Blood breeds blood. You should have +taken the money and gone away. But you took the money and followed me. +Always you followed. What could I do?"</p> + +<p>I knew he was mistaking me for my father. Perhaps I was really growing +more like my father, or perhaps it was just his guilty imagination +tricking him. But I said once more, "Sir, I'm Tommy."</p> + +<p>He lay crouched on the floor, breathing heavily, and watched me for a +minute or two. I thought his mind was clearing. "Tommy," he muttered, +"Jenny's Tommy. You'll be rich, Tommy; you'll be rich. And you needn't +fear. You're not to blame, boy. It's evil gold, and there's a curse +on it; but it won't hurt you. There's no blood upon your hands. Thank +God for that, boy; thank God for that. You take the gold, and ask no +questions. Your father asked too many questions. I gave him gold, but +he would ask questions. That's dangerous, boy."</p> + +<p>He scrambled unsteadily to his feet, and said, "Come and kiss me, +Tommy."</p> + +<p>But again the memory of that pursuit round the table held me doubtfully +back. Now there was no Abou to lead the Captain away if he meditated +treachery. The hesitation was fatal. He burst out into a torrent of +reproach: "Tommy hates me. He won't believe me. I say they would have +murdered me, but he won't believe me. Oh, Tommy, Tommy! My boy! And I +loved you." With a sobbing cry he burst through the door and away into +the woods, where I heard his voice echoing brokenly in a dying wail.</p> + +<p>I was too exhausted to follow. I sat down where I was, and burying my +face in my hands yielded to a weak self-pity. My whole life lay in +pieces at my feet. I had killed those that had loved me best, driven +on by a fate that had blinded and mastered me. Through no sin of my +own I felt the clinging guiltiness of blood upon my hands. Ahead of me +I saw no cleansing, no healing. For now blackened out of my life was +the one bright gleam that had cheered me forward: my love for Jenny. +There would be no Jenny for me any more. A terrible river of blood lay +between us. The bridge of reconciliation that might have spanned it I +had destroyed with my own hands. If I had stifled my suspicions and +gone to the Captain when he had called me, all might have been well. +But I had closed the one door that he had opened. I had refused the +hand he had offered. I had sealed my own fate.</p> + +<p>Jenny's Tommy, he had named me. The name stirred bitterly at my heart. +I remembered how Jenny had sent me forth to find her father's foe. I +remembered, too, how I had believed I had found him and killed him, but +had only killed my own friend. The irony of the thing had stung me at +the time. But now it seemed that the whole conclave of the fates were +heaving in laughter; for I had succeeded only in tracking down myself. +I had been hunting myself about the world. I was the man I had promised +to kill. I thought I couldn't do better than fulfil my promise. Jenny's +Tommy! There would be no Jenny for me.</p> + +<p>How Dirk found me I needn't relate; nor how he took me back to London, +comforting me in his rough way when by broken fragments I gave him all +my story. He saw nothing to mope over. "Girls," he said, "don't let a +spot o' blood upset them." But I couldn't bring myself to face Jenny. +Not merely was I afraid of meeting the Captain again, but the thought +of naming love to Jenny sickened and disgusted me.</p> + +<p>I was awakened into some kind of alertness when, after we had been in +London some days, Dirk told me the Captain hadn't returned to his home. +He knew the house, for he had tracked Abou there before he had set out +for the <i>Dolphin</i> on his last journey. Jenny had been left in the care +of the maid, while the Captain, too restless to wait for Abou to find +me, had followed him after some days of fretful anxiety. Jenny, Dirk +had learnt, was still awaiting her father, unconscious of the tragedy +that had befallen him.</p> + +<p>The news set me packing. I announced to Dirk that I was off to Sunset +Towers to seek the Captain, for I knew where he must have gone, and I +dreaded what might have happened to him. Dirk offered to take me on the +brig, but I asked him merely to sail to the Rancey and await me there. +Somehow I felt I must make the journey alone. The thought of company +was like the rubbing of rough garments on an open wound for I seemed +to be embarked on a pilgrimage of atonement. I determined to find the +Captain, and mad or sane I would beg his forgiveness, and close for +ever the terrible account of blood that lay between us.</p> + +<p>Full of this resolve I travelled slowly northwards. On the way I +repeated the whole story to myself, having all the clues in my hands +now, even the mystery of my father's little fortune, which had +evidently been hush money paid by the Captain to turn him from his +quest. I felt chastened and subdued, unable to fix the blame. My father +had certainly not offended to the penalty of death; and on the other +hand the Captain, whipped to a madness at the memory of the crime he +had been forced into, so much against his kindly nature as I knew, +wasn't to be charged to the full with the blood he had shed to cover +his traces. "Blood breeds blood," he had said. There was a fatality in +the affair. My sympathy went out to him, for my father's stories had +so stimulated my imagination that I could put myself in the Captain's +place. Goaded as he had been I knew I should have acted as he had done. +Nor could I reproach Abou for his mistaken devotion to an evil duty. +Indeed something like admiration for him welled up in my heart when +I thought how he had put aside his calm serenity of mind to dog his +master's enemy year after year with the knife of murder in his hand, +when his whole nature I believed craved for quietness and peace. And +what a pursuit it had been! I had only glimpsed it by fleeting scenes, +when those two superb trackers, the hunter and the hunted, had emerged +for a moment into the daylight from their dark and tortuous burrowings +underground. But the course of that tremendous chase, the shifts and +wiles and dodges of that pair of consummate actors, had been a drama +for the gods above, and none but they could tell its story. And so as +I thought of these things I felt as I had so often felt before that I +was moving in the presence of something more than human. The strange +hatred, the madness, the bewildering unreason of the combat between +those men who had no cause to wrong each other turned my mind back to +the old tale of the curse. I yielded to the superstition, otherwise +there was no accounting for the feud: it was that ancient malediction +that had exacted such a penalty of blood.</p> + +<p>When I arrived at Sunset Towers all was deathly still. There was no +trace of the Captain upstairs or downstairs. For a while I thought my +pilgrimage had been in vain. Then I remembered the secret chamber, +and knew at once that, of course, the Captain would have taken +refuge there. With my stiletto I had little difficulty in finding +and penetrating the hole through the worm-eaten panel in the old oak +wardrobe. I pressed back the lever which lifted the bar, and the door +swung easily open. I listened for a moment wondering whether I had been +overheard; if so the Captain might be waiting for me at the top of +the narrow stairs. But all was still, and I ascended into the dark. I +hesitated at the top, then boldly pushed open the door. The Captain lay +on the bed, his face turned to the skylight, his hand gripping a dagger +which was buried up to the hilt in his heart.</p> + +<p>There was little to do. He had paid the forfeit, and was at rest. When +I recovered from the shock I searched among his papers. I found a copy +of his will bequeathing his property to Jenny and myself, with the hope +strongly expressed that, some day, we might marry each other, and so +reunite the divided inheritance. I knew his real meaning was that the +feud might be healed in reconciliation.</p> + +<p>I put the will into my pocket, but vowed never to touch a penny of that +unhallowed gold. I hoped, too, I might persuade Jenny to forswear her +share. That would be the last service I could do her, for I couldn't +see the Captain's desire being fulfilled.</p> + +<p>Then there seemed only one thing left to do. I searched the cellars and +grounds for oil and firewood, and stacking the fuel up the stairs, and +flinging open all the doors and windows, I set a light to the stuff, +using as a brand first the manuscript that had caused all the evil, and +then the paper I had found on the skeleton in Drift-Wood Cavern.</p> + +<p>With the building once well ablaze I set off for the sea, turning at +every few steps to look behind me to satisfy myself that the flames +were mastering the great ruinous pile, wiping bare for ever all traces +of the crime which had begun there with the finding of the manuscript +and ended there with the suicide of the Captain.</p> + +<p>As I left the place farther and farther behind I couldn't help thinking +of that other fire I had watched as my father carried me away from the +blazing hut in the woods where first I had consciously become aware of +the tangled net in which my life had been so strangely and tragically +involved. And here with fire I was freeing myself from the net for +ever. And so I kept casting back over my shoulder to watch the flames, +till at last even the smoke rising in a thick column to the clouds was +merely a patch of blurred shadow on the skyline.</p> + +<p>Then again I thought of Jenny. I began to wonder how I should break the +news to her. How was I to tell her the story? For I mustn't wound her +love for her father, yet I must be just to my own. The picture of the +lonely little girl cast out upon the world with none to protect her +took violent hold upon my pity. I yearned towards her, yet knew deep in +my heart that to speak to her of love would be to stab her afresh in +her still-bleeding wound.</p> + +<p>I was utterly weary in body, utterly dejected in spirit, when I +reached the sea. I found Dirk waiting me in a shore-side tavern. I +told him my story. The night was falling as we rowed out to the brig. I +retired to my bunk, where I lay a long while sorrowfully tossing, and +at last fell into a troubled sleep.</p> + +<p>With the chill of the morning I was up again, cheered at heart as +always at the sight of the good day. I ran out on deck. And there +before me was Jenny.</p> + +<p>I stopped short, thinking my eyes were deceiving me. But she walked +gravely up to me and said, "Dirk brought me, Tommy. He has told me +everything."</p> + +<p>"Everything?" I repeated.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she said.</p> + +<p>"And yesterday ..." I began.</p> + +<p>"Yesterday, too," she said.</p> + +<p>For a minute or two we faced each other in silence. Then I began again. +"I have your father's will," I told her.</p> + +<p>"Dirk showed it me," she replied.</p> + +<p>"But, Jenny," I went on, "you mustn't touch the gold. It's evil."</p> + +<p>"I don't want the gold," she declared, breaking from her coldness and +speaking with a sudden passion.</p> + +<p>I looked at her keenly, for there was something unspoken behind her +emotion.</p> + +<p>"Then we must say good-bye, I suppose?" I announced, not supposing any +such thing, yet half turning from her. At that she spoke with something +of her old imperiousness.</p> + +<p>"You're very stupid, Tommy," she cried. "My father killed your father, +and your father killed my father."</p> + +<p>"No," I contradicted.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she insisted, "it was so. And so that's all finished. We must +try and begin again. Daddy wants us to. He says so in the will."</p> + +<p>At that I flung my arms about her. And in the flush of that wonderful +moment I seemed to steer suddenly free of the dark shadow of Fear that +had closed my life around ever since I could remember, and sailed out +into the clean sweet air, with the breaking dawn about me.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>Of the rest what need I say? For how we sailed away to the sun and the +south; and how for three years I increased in knowledge of seamanship, +and put on bulk and muscle, while Jenny grew in sweetness and beauty +and grace; and how Dirk taught me the ways of traffic and barter, till +at length I sailed back to England with a neat little fortune of my +own; and how Dirk retired and bought an inn, and the <i>Revenge</i> was +bequeathed to me and became the <i>Jenny</i> brig; all this and much more +that followed belongs to another story which I may tell some later day. +</p> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75790 ***</div> +</body> +</html> + diff --git a/75790-h/images/cover.jpg b/75790-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e1ad498 --- /dev/null +++ b/75790-h/images/cover.jpg |
