CHAPTER XVII.
ONE AGAINST FIVE.
For a whole hour I wander about among Back Cup's dark vaults, amid thestone trees, to the extreme limit of the cavern. It is here that Ihave so often sought an issue, a crevice, a crack through which Imight squeeze to the shore of the island.
My search has been futile. In my present condition, a prey toindefinable hallucinations it seems to me that these walls are thickerthan ever, that they are gradually closing in upon and will crush me.
How long this mental trouble lasts I cannot say. But I afterwards findmyself on the Beehive side, opposite the cell in which I cannot hopefor either repose or sleep. Sleep, when my brain is in a whirlof excitement? Sleep, when I am near the end of a situation thatthreatened to be prolonged for years and years?
What will the end be as far as I am personally concerned? What am I toexpect from the attack upon Back Cup, the success of which I have beenunable to assure by placing Thomas Roch beyond the possibility ofdoing harm? His engines are ready to be launched, and as soon as thevessels have reached the dangerous zone they will be blown to atoms.
However this may be, I am condemned to pass the remaining hours of thenight in my cell. The time has come for me to go in. At daybreak Ishall see what is best for me to do. Meanwhile, for aught I know Imay hear the thunder of Roch's fulgurator as it destroys the shipsapproaching to make a night attack.
I take a last look round. On the opposite side a light, a singlelight, is burning. It is the lamp in Roch's laboratory and it castsits reflection upon the waters of the lake.
No one is about, and it occurs to me that the pirates must have takenup their lighting positions outside and that the Beehive is empty.
Then, impelled by an irresistible instinct, instead of returning to mycell, I creep along the wall, listening, spying, ready to hide if Ihear voices or footsteps.
I at length reach the passage.
God in heaven! No one is on guard there--the passage is free!
Without giving myself time to reflect I dart into the dark hole, andgrope my way along it. Soon I feel a fresher air--the salt, vivifyingair of the sea, that I have not breathed for five months. I inspire itwith avidity, with all the power of my lungs.
The outer extremity of the passage appears against the star-studdedsky. There is not even a shadow in the way. Perhaps I shall be able toget outside.
I lay down, and crawl along noiselessly to the orifice and peer out.
Not a soul is in sight!
By skirting the rocks towards the east, to the side which cannot beapproached from the sea on account of the reefs and which is notlikely to be watched, I reach a narrow excavation about two hundredand twenty-five yards from where the point of the coast extendstowards the northwest.
At last I am out of the cavern. I am not free, but it is the beginningof freedom.
On the point the forms of a few sentries stand out against the clearsky, so motionless that they might be mistaken for pieces of the rock.
On the horizon to the west the position lights of the warship show ina luminous line.
From a few gray patches discernable in the east, I calculate that itmust be about five o'clock in the morning.
_November 18_.--It is now light enough for me to be able tocomplete my notes relating the details of my visit to Thomas Roch'slaboratory--the last lines my hand will trace, perhaps.
I have begun to write, and shall dot down the incidents of the attackas they occur.
The light damp mist that hangs over the water soon lifts under theinfluence of the breeze, and at last I can distinguish the warships.
There are five of them, and they are lying in a line about six milesoff, and consequently beyond the range of Roch's engines.
My fear that after passing in sight of the Bermudas the squadron wouldcontinue on its way to the Antilles or Mexico was therefore unfounded.No, there it is, awaiting broad daylight in order to attack Back Cup.
There is a movement on the coast. Three or four pirates emerge fromthe rocks, the sentries are recalled and draw in, and the entire bandis soon assembled. They do not seek shelter inside the cavern, knowingfull well that the ships can never get near enough for the shells ofthe big guns to reach, the island.
I run no risk of being discovered, for only my head protrudes abovethe hole in the rock and no one is likely to come this way. The onlything that worries me is that Serko, or somebody else may take it intohis head to see if I am in my cell, and if necessary to lock me in,though what they have to fear from me I cannot conceive.
At twenty-five minutes past seven: Ker Karraje, Engineer Serko andCaptain Spade advance to the extremity of the point, where they sweepthe north-western horizon with their telescopes. Behind them thesix trestles are installed, in the grooves of which are Roch'sautopropulsive engines.
Thirty-five minutes past seven: Smoke arises from the stacks of thewarships, which are getting under way and will soon be within range ofthe engines.
Horrible cries of joy, salvos of hurrahs--howls of wild beasts I mightmore appropriately say--arise from the pirate horde.
At this moment Engineer Serko quits Ker Karraje, whom he leaves withCaptain Spade, and enters the cavern, no doubt to fetch Thomas Roch.
When Ker Karraje orders the latter to launch his engines against theships will he remember what I told him? Will not his crime appearto him in all its horror? Will he refuse to obey? No, I am only tooconvinced of the contrary. It is useless to entertain any illusion onthe subject. The inventor believes he is on his own property. They aregoing to attack it. He will defend it.
The five warships slowly advance, making for the point. Perhaps theyimagine on board that Thomas Roch has not given up his last andgreatest secret to the pirates--and, as a matter of fact, he hadnot done so when I threw the keg into the lagoon. If the commanderspropose to land storming parties and the ships advance into thezone of danger there will soon be nothing left of them but bits ofshapeless floating wreckage.
Here comes Thomas Roch accompanied by Engineer Serko. On issuingfrom the passage both go to the trestle that is pointing towards theleading warship.
Ker Karraje and Captain Spade are awaiting them.
As far as I am able to judge, Roch is calm. He knows what he is goingto do. No hesitation troubles the soul of the hapless man whom hatredhas led astray.
Between his fingers shines the glass phial containing the deflagratorliquid.
He then gazes towards the nearest ship, which is about five miles'distant.
She is a cruiser of about two thousand five hundred tons--not more.
She flies no flag, but from her build I take her to belong to a nationfor which no Frenchman can entertain any particular regard.
The four other warships remain behind.
It is this cruiser which is to begin the attack.
Let her use her guns, then, since the pirates allow her to approach,and may the first of her projectiles strike Thomas Roch!
While Engineer Serko is estimating the distance, Roch places himselfbehind the trestle. Three engines are resting on it, charged withthe explosive, and which are assured a long trajectory by the fusingmatter without it being necessary to impart a gyratory movement tothem--as in the case of Inventor Turpin's gyroscopic projectiles.Besides, if they drop within a few hundred yards of the vessel, theywill be quite near enough to utterly destroy it.
The time has come.
"Thomas Roch!" Engineer Serko cries, and points to the cruiser.
The latter is steaming slowly towards the northwestern point of theisland and is between four and five miles off.
Roch nods assent, and waves them back from the trestle.
Ker Karraje, Captain Spade and the others draw back about fifty paces.
Thomas Roch then takes the stopper from the phial which he holds inhis right hand, and successively pours into a hole in the rear-end ofeach engine a few drops of the liquid, which mixes with the fusingmatter.
Forty-five seconds elapse--the time necessary
for the combination tobe effected--forty-five seconds during which it seems to me that myheart ceases to beat.
A frightful whistling is then heard, and the three engines tearthrough the air, describing a prolonged curve at a height of threehundred feet, and pass the cruiser.
Have they missed it? Is the danger over?
No! the engines, after the manner of Artillery Captain Chapel'sdiscoid projectile, return towards the doomed vessel like anAustralian boomerang.
The next instant the air is shaken with a violence comparable to thatwhich would be caused by the explosion of a magazine of melinite ordynamite, Back Cup Island trembles to its very foundations.
The cruiser has disappeared,--blown to pieces. The effect is that ofthe Zalinski shell, but centupled by the infinite power of Roch'sfulgurator.
What shouts the bandits raise as they rush towards the extremity ofthe point! Ker Karraje, Engineer Serko, and Captain Spade remainrooted to the spot, hardly able to credit the evidence of their owneyes.
As to Thomas Roch, he stands with folded arms, and flashing eyes, hisface radiant with pride and triumph.
I understand, while I abhor his feelings.
If the other warships approach they will share the same fate as thecruiser. They will inevitably be destroyed. Oh! if they would but giveup the struggle and withdraw to safety, even though my last hope wouldgo with them! The nations can consult and arrive at some other planfor destroying the island. They can surround the place with a belt ofships that the pirates cannot break through and starve them to deathlike so many rats in a hole.
But I know that the warships will not retire, even though they knowthey are going to certain death. One after the other they will allmake the attempt.
And I am right. Signals are exchanged between them. Almost immediatelyclouds of black smoke arise and the vessels again advance.
One of them, under forced draught, distances the others in her anxietyto bring her big guns quickly into action.
At all risks I issue from my hole, and gaze at the on-coming warshipwith feverish eyes, awaiting, without being able to prevent it,another catastrophe.
This vessel, which visibly grows larger as it comes nearer, is acruiser of about the same tonnage as the one that preceded her. Noflag is flying and I cannot guess her nationality. She continuessteaming at full speed in an effort to pass the zone of danger beforeother engines can be launched. But how can she escape them since theywill swoop back upon her?
Thomas Roch places himself behind the second trestle as the cruiserpasses on to the surface of the abysm in which she will in turn soonbe swallowed up.
No sound disturbs the stillness.
Suddenly the rolling of drums and the blare of bugles is heard onboard the warship.
I know those bugle calls: they are French bugles! Great God! She isone of the ships of my own country's navy and a French inventor isabout to destroy her!
No! it shall not be. I will rush towards Thomas Roch--shout to himthat she is a French ship. He does not, cannot, know it.
At a sign from Engineer Serko the inventor has raised the phial.
The bugles sound louder and more strident. It is the salute to theflag. A flag unfurls to the breeze--the tricolor, whose blue, whiteand red sections stand out luminously against the sky.
Ah! What is this? I understand! Thomas Roch is fascinated at the sightof his national emblem. Slowly he lowers his arm as the flag fluttersup to the mast-head. Then he draws back and covers his eyes with hishand.
Heavens above! All sentiment of patriotism is not then dead in hisulcerated heart, seeing that it beats at the sight of his country'sflag!
My emotion is not less than his. At the risk of being seen--and whatdo I now care if I am seen?--I creep over the rocks. I will be thereto sustain Thomas Roch and prevent him from weakening. If I pay for itwith my life I will once more adjure him in the name of his country. Iwill cry to him:
"Frenchman, it is the tricolor that flies on yonder ship! Frenchman,it is a very part of France that is approaching you! Frenchman, wouldyou be so criminal as to strike it?"
But my intervention will not be necessary. Thomas Roch is not a preyto one of the fits to which he was formerly subject. He is perfectlysane.
When he found himself facing the flag he understood--and drew back.
A few pirates approach to lead him to the trestle again. He strugglesand pushes them from him.
Ker Karraje and Engineer Serko run up. They point to the rapidlyadvancing ship. They order him to launch his engines.
Thomas Roch refuses.
Captain Spade and the others, mad with rage, menace him--cursehim--strike him--try to wrest the phial from him.
Roch throws it on the ground and crushes it under foot.
Then panic seizes upon the crowd of wretches. The cruiser has passedthe zone and they cannot return her fire. Shells begin to rain allover the island, bursting the rocks in every direction.
But where is Thomas Roch? Has he been killed by one of theprojectiles? No, I see him for the last time as he dashes into thepassage.
Ker Karraje, Engineer Serko and the others follow him to seek shelterinside of Back Cup.
I will not return to the cavern at any price, even if I get killed bystaying where I am.
I will jot down my final notes and when the French sailors land on thepoint I will go--
END OF ENGINEER SIMON HART'S NOTES.
CHAPTER XVIII.
ON BOARD THE "TONNANT."
After the failure of Lieutenant Davon's mission with the _Sword_, theEnglish authorities waited in vain for the expedition to return, andthe conviction at length gained ground that the bold sailors hadperished; but whether the _Sword_ had been lost by striking againsta rock or had been destroyed by Ker Karraje's pirates, could not, ofcourse, be ascertained.
The object of the expedition, based upon the indications of thedocument found in the keg that was thrown up on the shore at St.George, was to carry off Thomas Roch ere his engines were completed.The French inventor having been recovered--without forgetting EngineerSimon Hart--he was to be handed over to the care of the Bermudanauthorities. That done, there would be nothing to fear from hisfulgurator when the island was attacked.
When, however, the _Sword_ had been given up for lost, anotherexpedition of a different kind, was decided upon.
The time that had elapsed--nearly eight weeks--from the date of thedocument found in the keg, had to be taken into consideration. Itwas thought that during the interval, Ker Karraje might have gainedpossession of Roch's secrets.
An _entente_ concluded between the maritime powers, resulted in thesending of five warships to Bermudan waters. As there was a vastcavern inside Back Cup mountain, it was decided to attempt to bringthe latter down like the walls of a bastion, by bombarding it withpowerful modern artillery.
The squadron assembled at the entrance to the Chesapeake, in Virginia,and sailed for the archipelago, which was sighted on the evening ofNovember 17.
The next morning the vessel selected for the first attack, steamedforward. It was about four and a half miles from the island, whenthree engines, after passing the vessel, swerved round and explodedabout sixty yards from her. She sank immediately.
The effect of the explosion, which was superior to any previouslyobtained by new explosives, was instantaneous. Even at the distancethey were from the spot where it occurred, the four remaining shipsfelt the shock severely.
Two things were to be deduced from this sudden catastrophe:
1.--The pirate Ker Karraje was in possession of Roch's fulgurator.
2.--The new engine possessed the destructive power attributed to it byits inventor.
After the disappearance of the unfortunate cruiser, the other vesselslowered boats to pick up a few survivors who were clinging to thefloating wreckage.
Then it was that the signals were exchanged and the warships startedtowards the island.
The swiftest of them, the _Tonnant_, a French cruiser, forged aheadwhile the other
s forced their draught in an effort to catch up withher.
The _Tonnant_, at the risk of being blown to pieces in turn,penetrated the danger zone half a mile, and then ran up her flag whilemanoeuvring to bring her heavy guns into action.
From the bridge the officers could see Ker Karraje's band scattered onthe rocks of the island.
The occasion was an excellent one for getting a shot at them beforethe bombardment of their retreat was begun, and fire was opened withthe result that the pirates made a rush to get into the cavern.
A few minutes later there was a shock terrific enough to shake the skydown.
Where the mountain had been, naught but a heap of smoking, crumblingrocks was to be seen. Back Cup had become a group of jagged reefsagainst which the sea, that had been thrown back like a gigantic tidalwave, was beating and frothing.
What was the cause of the explosion?
Had it been voluntarily caused by the pirates when they realized thatescape was impossible?
The _Tonnant_ had not been seriously damaged by the flying rocks. Herboats were lowered and made towards all that was left of Back Cup.
The landing parties explored the ruins, and found a few horriblymangled corpses. Not a vestige of the cavern was to be seen.
One body, and one only, was found intact. It was lying on thenortheast side of the reefs. In one hand, tightly clasped, was anote-book, the last line of which was incomplete.
A close examination showed that the man was still breathing. Hewas conveyed on board the _Tonnant_, where it was learned from thenote-book that he was Simon Hart.
For some time his life was despaired of, but he was eventually broughtround, and from the answers made to the questions addressed to him thefollowing conclusion was reached:
Moved to his very soul at the sight of the tricolor flag, being atlast conscious of the crime of _lese-patrie_ he was about to commit,Thomas Roch rushed through the passage to the magazine where aconsiderable quantity of his explosive was stored. Then, beforehe could be prevented, brought about the terrible explosion whichdestroyed the island of Back Cup.
And now Ker Karraje and his pirates have disappeared--and with themThomas Roch and the secret of his invention.
THE END.
End of the Voyage Extraordinaire
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