CHAPTER VIII
THE RIGOR OF THE GAME
In obedience to their leader's order, Marcel, the taciturn, andDomingo, from whose lips the Britons had scarce heard a syllable,squatted on the catamaran. Marcel wielded a short paddle, and analmost imperceptible dip of its broad blade sent the strangely-builtcraft across the pool. Once in the shadow, it disappeared completely.There was no visible outlet. The rocks thrust their stark ridgeagainst the sky in a seemingly impassable barrier. Some of the menstared at the jagged crests as though they half expected to see theBrazilians making a portage, just as travelers in the Canadiannorthwest haul canoes up a river obstructed by rapids.
"Well, that gives me the go-by," growled Coke, whose alert ear caughtno sound save the rippling of the water. "I say, mister, 'ow is itdone?" he went on.
"It is a simple thing when you know the secret," said De Sylva. "Haveyou passed Fernando Noronha before, Captain?"
"Many a time."
"Have you seen the curious natural canal which you sailors call theHole in the Wall?"
"Yes, it's near the s'uth'ard end."
"Well, the sea has worn away a layer of soft rock that existed there.In the course of centuries a channel has been cut right across the twohundred yards of land. Owing to the same cause the summer rains haveexcavated a ravine through the crater up above, and a similar passageexists here, only it happens to run parallel to the line of the cliff.It extends a good deal beyond its apparent outlet, and is defended by adangerous reef. Marcel once landed on a rock during a very calm day,and saw the opening. He investigated it, luckily for me--luckily, infact, for all of us."
Watts interrupted De Sylva's smooth periods by a startled ejaculation,and Coke turned on him fiercely.
"Wot's up now?" he demanded. "Ain't you sober yet?"
"Some dam thing jumped on me," explained Watts.
"Probably a crab," said De Sylva. "There are jumping crabs all aroundhere. It will not hurt you. It is quite a small creature."
"Oh, if it's on'y a crab," muttered Watts, "sorry I gev' tongue,skipper. I thought it was a rat, an' I can't abide 'em."
"Then you must learn to endure them while you are in Fernando doNoronha itself," went on the Brazilian. "The island absolutely swarmswith rats; some of the larger varieties are rather dangerous."
"Sufferin' Moses!" groaned Watts. "It'll be the death o' me."
"Wot color are they?" asked Coke. De Sylva's reply was given in a toneof surprise. Certainly these hardy mariners had selected an unusualtopic for discussion at a critical moment.
"The common dark gray," he said.
"That's all right, then," sneered Coke. "Watts don't mind 'em gray.They're old messmates of his. It's w'en they're pink or green that hefights shy of 'em."
"I hate rats of any sort----" began Watts hotly, spurred to anger by anaudible snigger among the men, but De Sylva stopped his protestperemptorily. It was idiotic, this bantering when the next half hourmight be their last.
"You must learn to guard your tongue," he said with harsh distinctness."We cannot have our plans marred by a fool's outcry."
Nevertheless, the chief officer of the _Andromeda_ was far from being afool. He had cut an inglorious figure during the wreck, but he wassober enough now, and it hurt his pride to be jeered at by his ownskipper and treated with contumely by one whom he privately classed asa Dago. He had the good sense to realize that the present was no fittime for a display of temper; but he nursed his wrath. Dom Corriawould have been well advised had he followed the counsel given soungraciously, and guarded his own tongue.
It might well be that the ex-President, whose fortunes were on thetiptoe of desperate hazard, was beginning to despair. He may havescanned the meager forces at his disposal and felt that he was askingthe gods for more than they could grant. A few minutes earlier he hadput forth the suave suggestion that Hozier should be given thespeediest chance of securing the girl's safety. That was politic;perhaps his stanch nerve was yielding to the strain, now that the twoislanders were gone on their doubtful quest. Be that as it may, hisattitude did not encourage light conversation. Even Coke withheld somejibe at the unfortunate mate's expense. A chill silence fell on thelittle group. The more imaginative among them were calculating theexact kind of lurch taken by the unstable raft that would mean"drowning without a cry."
Thus the minutes sped, until a dim shape emerged from the oppositeblackness. It came unheard, growing from nothing into something withghostly subtlety. Iris, a prey to many emotions, managed to stifle theexclamation of alarm that rose unbidden. But Hozier read her distressin a hardly audible sob.
"It is our friend, Marcel," he whispered. "So Domingo has made goodhis landing. Be brave! The sea is quite calm. This man has been tothe island and back in less than a quarter of an hour."
His confidence gave her new courage. She even tried to turn dangeritself into a jest.
"We seem to be living in spasms just now," she said. "We certainlycrowd a good deal of excitement into a very few minutes."
The catamaran swung round and grated on the shingle. Marcel was in ahurry.
"Are you ready?" asked De Sylva, bending toward Iris.
"Yes," she said.
"Then you had better kneel behind Marcel, and steady yourself byplacing your hands on his shoulders. Yes, that is it. Do not changeyour position until you are ashore. Now you, Mr. Hozier."
Marcel murmured something.
"Ah, good!" cried De Sylva softly. "Domingo, too, has secured acatamaran. He is bringing it at once in order to save time."
A second spectral figure emerged from the gloom. Without waiting forfurther instructions, Marcel swung his paddle, and the one craft passedthe other in the center of the pool. Iris felt Hozier's hands on herwaist. He obeyed orders, and uttered no sound, but the action told herthat she might trust him implicitly. When the narrow cleft wastraversed, and she saw the open sea on her right, there was ample needfor some such assurance of guardianship. Viewed from the cliff, theswell that broke on the half-submerged reef was of slight volume, butit presented a very different and most disconcerting aspect when seenin profile. It seemed to be an almost impossible feat for any man topropel three narrow planks, top-heavy with a human freight, across awide channel through which such a sea was running. Indeed, Hozierhimself, sailor as he was, felt more than doubtful as to the fate oftheir argosy. But Marcel paddled ahead with unflagging energy once hewas clear of the tortuous passage, and, before the catamaran hadtraveled many yards, even Iris was able to understand that the outlyingridge of rocks both protected their present track and created much ofthe apparent turmoil.
At last the raft, for it was little else, bore sharply out between twohuge bowlders that might well have fallen from the mighty pile ofGrand-pere itself. Pointed and angular they were, and set like agateway to an abode of giants. Beyond, there was a shimmer ofswift-moving water, with a silver mist on the surface, though from aheight of a few feet it would have been easy to distinguish the boldcontours of Fernando Noronha itself.
Marcel plied his paddle vigorously, and Iris thought they were headingagainst the current, since there was a constant swirl of white-tippedwaves on both sides of the curved plank, and her dress soon becamesoaked. But Hozier knew that one man could not drive a craft that hadno artificial buoyancy in the teeth of a four-knot tidal stream.Marcel was edging across the channel, and making good use of the veryforce that threatened to sweep him away. Indeed, in less than fiveminutes, a definite clearing yet darkening of the atmospheric lightshowed that land was near. The hiss of the ripple subsided, the tideceased its chant, and a dark mass sprang into uncanny distinctnessright ahead.
The girl's first sensation on nearing the island was an unpleasant one.She was conscious of a slight but somewhat nauseating odor, quiteunlike anything within her ken previously. It suffused the air, andgrew more pronounced as the catamaran crept noiselessly into a tiny bay.
Hozier sympathized with her distress; k
nowing that acquaintance with anevil often helps to minimize its effect, he bent close to her ear andwhispered the words:
"Mangrove swamp."
Iris had read of mangroves. In a dim way, she classed them withtamarinds, and cocoa-palms, and other sub-tropical products. At anyrate, she was exceedingly anxious to tell Hozier that if mangrovestasted as they smelt she would need to be very hungry before she ateone!
Marcel was endowed with quick ears. Though Hozier's whisper couldhardly have reached him, he held up a warning hand, even while hebrought the catamaran ashore on the shingle, so gently that not apebble was disturbed. He rose, a gaunt scarecrow, stepped off, anddrew the shallow craft somewhat further up the sloping beach. Then hehelped Iris to her feet. She became conscious at once that histhumb-nail was of extraordinary length, and--so strangely constitutedis human nature--this peculiarity made a lasting impression on her mind.
Hozier, thinking that he ought to remain near the catamaran, stoodupright, but did not offer to follow the others. Iris, filled with asudden fear, hung back. The Brazilian, aware of her resistance, soughtits cause. He saw Hozier, grinned, and beckoned to him. So the threewent in company, and at each upward stride the disagreeable stench,ever afterwards associated with Fernando Noronha in the girl'smemories, became less and less perceptible, until, after a short walkthrough a clump of banana trees, it vanished altogether.
At that instant, when Iris was beginning to revel in the sweet incenseof a multitude of unseen flowers, Marcel halted, motioned to Hozier tostand fast, and indicated that Iris was to come with him. At once sheshrank away in terror. Though in some sense prepared for this parting,she felt it now as the crudest blow that fortune had dealt her during aday crowded with misfortunes. In all likelihood, those two would nevermeet again. She needed no telling as to the risk he would soon becalled on to face, and her anguish was made the more bitter by thenecessity that they should go from each other's presence without aspoken word.
Nevertheless, she forced herself to extend a hand in farewell. Hereyes were blinded with tears. She knew that Hozier drew her nearer.With the daring of one who may well cast the world's convention to thewinds, he gathered her to his heart and kissed her. Then she uttered alittle sob of happiness and sorrow, and fainted.
It was not until she was lying helpless in his embrace, with her headpillowed on his breast, and an arm thrown limply across his shoulder,that Philip understood what had happened. He loved her, and she, thepromised wife of another man, had tacitly admitted that she returnedhis love. Born for each other, heirs of all the ages, they weredestined to be separated under conditions that could not have beenbrought about by the worst tyrant that ever oppressed his fellowcreatures. Small blame should be his portion if in that abysmal momentthere came to Philip a dire temptation. There was every reason tobelieve that he and Iris, if they found some hiding-place on the islandthat night, might escape. He could send Marcel crashing into theundergrowth with a blow, carry the unconscious girl somewhere,anywhere, until the darkness shrouded them, and wait for the dawn withsome degree of confidence. In a red fury of thought he pictured herface when she regained possession of her senses and was told that theyhad no more to fear. He saw, with a species of fantastic intuition,that the island authorities would actually acclaim them for the tidingsthey brought. And then, he would find those grave brown eyes of hersfixed on his in agonized inquiry. What of the others? Why had hebetrayed his trust? Dom Corria de Sylva had sent him ashore in advanceof any among the little band of fugitives. Marcel and Domingo wereoutside the pale. Their lives, at least, were surely forfeit whenrecaptured. It was not a prayer but a curse that Hozier muttered whenMarcel whispered words he did not understand, but whose obvious meaningwas that now the girl must be carried to the convict's hut, since theywere losing time, and time was all-important.
So they strode on, across ground that continued to rise in gentleundulations. Even in his present frenzied mood, Hozier noticed thatthey were following the right bank of a rivulet, the catamaran beingbeached on the same side of its cove-like estuary. Progress was ratherdifficult. They were skirting a wood, and the trailers of a greatscarlet-flowered bean and a climbing cucumber smothered the ground,canopied the trees, and swarmed over the rocks. He could notdistinguish these hindrances in the darkness, but he soon found that hemust walk warily. As for the effort entailed by his forlorn burden hedid not give a thought to it until Marcel indicated that he must standfast. The Brazilian went on, leaving Hozier breathless. Evidently hewent to warn the inhabitants of a wretched hut, suddenly visible in themidst of a patch of maize and cassava, that there were those at handwho needed shelter.
A dog barked--Marcel whistled softly, and the animal began to whimper.The Brazilian vanished. Hozier still held Iris in his arms; his heartwas beating tumultuously; his throat ached with the labor of his lungs.His straining ears caught rustlings among the grass and roots, butotherwise a solemn peace brooded over the scene. Just beyond the hut,which was shielded from the arid hill by a grove of curiously contortedtrees, the inner heights of the island rose abruptly. Something thatresembled a column of cloud showed behind the rugged sky-line of theland. Even while he waited there, he saw a glint of light on itseastern side. He fancied that under stress of emotion and physicalweakness his eyes were deceiving him; but the line of golden fire grewbrighter and more definite. It was broken but unwavering, and blackshadows began to take form as part of this phenomenon. Then heremembered the giant peak of Fernando Noronha, that mis-shapen masswhich thrusts its amazing beacon a thousand feet into the air. Therising moon was gilding El Pico long ere its rays would illumine thelower land--that was all--yet he hailed the sight as a token ofdeliverance. It was not by idle chance that that which he had takenfor a cloud should be transmuted into a torch; there sprang into hisheated brain a new trust. He recalled the unceasing vigilance of OneAll-Powerful, who, ages ago, when His people were afflicted, "wentbefore them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way, and bynight in a pillar of fire, to give them light."
Then Marcel came, and aroused him from the stupor that had settled onhim, and together they entered into the hovel, where a dark-skinnedwoman and a comely girl uttered words of sympathetic sound when Iriswas laid on a low trestle, and Hozier took a farewell kiss from herunheeding lips.
The Englishman stumbled away with his guide; he fancied that Marcelwarned him several times to be more circumspect. He did his best, but,for the time, he was utterly spent. At last the Brazilian signifiedthat they were near a trysting place. He uttered a cry like anight-jar's, and the answer came from no great distance. Soon theyencountered Coke and De Sylva, who were awaiting them anxiously, andwondering, no doubt, why Hozier was missing, since Domingo and Marcelhad fixed on an aged fig-tree as a rendezvous, and Hozier was not to befound anywhere near it.
The two boatmen hurried away, and De Sylva placed his lips close toPhilip's ear.
"What went wrong?" he asked.
"Iris--Miss Yorke--fainted," was the gasping reply.
"Ah. You had to carry her?"
"Yes."
De Sylva fumbled in a pocket. He produced a flask.
"Here is some brandy. I kept it for just such an extremity. We cannothave you breaking down. Drink!"
Two weary hours elapsed before the little army of the Grand-pere Rockwas reunited on the shore of Cotton-Tree Bay. Then there was a furtherdelay, while their indefatigable scouts brought milk and water, somecoarse bread, and a good supply of fruit from the hut. It was part oftheir scheme that they should give their friend's habitation a wideberth. If their plans miscarried he was instructed to say that he hadfound the English lady wandering on the shore soon after daybreak. Inany event, there would be no evidence that he had entertained theinvaders in his hovel; otherwise, he would lose the first-class badgethat permitted him, a convict, to dwell apart with his wife anddaughter.
It was with the utmost difficulty that the men could be restrained fromexpressing the
ir delight when they were given water and milk to drink.The water was poor, brackish stuff; the milk was sour and had lostevery particle of cream; yet they deemed each a nectar of rank, andeven the miserable Watts, who had long ago ascertained that therustlings in the herbage were caused by countless numbers of rats andmice, was ready to acclaim beverages which he was too apt to despise.
About midnight there was a bright moon sailing overhead, and De Sylvagave a low order that they were to form in Indian file. Marcel led,the ex-President himself followed, with San Benavides, Coke, and Hozierin close proximity. Domingo brought up the rear, in order to preventstraggling, and assist men who might stray from the path.
Avoiding the cultivated land surrounding the creek, the party struck upthe hillside. A few plodding minutes sufficed to clear the trees anddense undergrowth. A rough, narrow path led to the saddle of thecentral ridge. They advanced warily but without any real difficulty.Hozier took a listless interest in watching the furtive glances castover his shoulder by San Benavides so long as the south coast of theisland was visible. At each turn in the mountain track the Brazilianofficer searched the moonlit sea for the agreed signal. At last, whenthe northern side also came in sight, and the whole island lay spreadbefore them, San Benavides resigned himself to the inevitable. For alittle while, at least, he was perforce content to survey eventsthrough the eyes of his companions, and throw in his lot irrevocablywith theirs.
Roughly speaking, Fernando Noronha itself, irrespective of the group ofislands at its northeasterly extremity, stretches five miles from eastto west, and averages a mile and a half in width. From Cotton-TreeBay, to which the catamarans had brought the small force, it was barelya mile to the village, convict settlement, and citadel. Some fewlights twinkling near the shore showed the exact whereabouts of theinhabited section. Another mile away to the right lay Fort SanAntonio, which housed the main body of troops. Watch-fires burning onSouth Point, whence came the shells that disabled the _Andromeda_,revealed the presence of soldiers in that neighborhood. De Sylvaexplained that a paved road ran straight from the town andlanding-place to the hamlet of Sueste and an important plantation ofcocoanuts and other fruit-bearing trees that adjoined South Point. Itwas inadvisable to strike into that road immediately. A little more tothe right there was a track leading to the Curral, or stockyard. Ifthey headed for the latter place the men could obtain some stoutcudgels. The convict peons in charge of the cattle should beoverpowered and bound, thus preventing them from giving an alarm, andit was also possible to avoid the inhabited hillside overlooking themain anchorage until they were close to the citadel. Then, crossingthe fort road, they would advance boldly to the enemy's stronghold,first making sure that the launch was moored in her accustomed stationin the roadstead beneath the walls. San Benavides would answer thesentry's questions, there would be a combined rush for the guard-roomon the right of the gate, and, if they were able to master the guard,as many of the assailants as possible would don the soldiers' coats,shakos, and accouterments. Granted success thus far, there should notbe much difficulty in persuading the men in charge of the launch that acruise round the island was to be undertaken forthwith. Marcel wouldremain with them until the citadel was carried. He would then hurryback to bring Iris across the island to an unfrequented beach known asthe Porto do Conceicao, where he would embark her on a catamaran androw out to the steamer, which, by that time, would be lying off theharbor out of range of the troops who would surely be summoned from thedistant fort.
The project bristled with audacity, and that has ever been the soul ofachievement. Even the two wounded men from the _Andromeda_ took heartwhen they listened to De Sylva's low-toned explanation, given under theshadow of a great rock ere the final advance was made. If all wentwell at the beginning, the small garrison of the citadel would beastounded when they found themselves struggling against unknownadversaries. Haste, silence, determination--these things wereessential; each and all might be expected from men who literallycarried their lives in their hands.
A keen breeze was blowing up there on the ridge. A bank of cloud wasrising in the southwest horizon, and, at that season, when the monthsof rain were normally at an end, the mere presence of clouds heraldedanother spell of broken weather, though the preceding gale had probablymarked the worst of it. Indeed, valuable auxiliary as the moon hadproved during the march across rough country, it would be no ill hap ifher bright face were veiled later. The mere prospect of such anoccurrence was a cheering augury, and it was in the highest spiritsthat the little band set out resolutely for the Curral.
Here they encountered no difficulty whatever. Perhaps the prevalentexcitement had drawn its custodians to the town, since they found noone in charge save a couple of barking dogs, while, if there werepeople in the cattle-keepers' huts, they gave no sign of theirpresence. A few stakes were pulled up; they even came upon a couple ofaxes and a heavy hammer. Equipped with these weapons, eked out bythree revolvers owned by the Brazilians and the dapper captain's sword,they hurried on, quitting the road instantly, and following a cow-paththat wound about the base of a steep hill.
They met their first surprise when they tried to cross the road to thefort. Quite unexpectedly, they blundered into a small picket stationedthere. Its object was to challenge all passers-by during the darkhours, and it formed part of the scheme already elaborated by theauthorities for a complete search of every foot of ground. ButBrazilian soldiers are apt to be lax in such matters. These men wereall lying down, and smoking. For a marvel, they happened to be silentwhen Marcel led his cohort into the open road. They were listening, infact, to the crackling of the undergrowth, though utterly unsuspiciousof its cause, and the first intimation of danger was given by thestartling challenge:
"Who goes there?"
It was familiar enough to island ears, and the convict answered readily:
"A friend!"
"Several friends, it would seem," laughed a voice. "Let us see whothese friends are."
Luckily, in response to De Sylva's sibilant order, most of the_Andromeda's_ crew were hidden by the scrub from which they were aboutto emerge.
The soldiers rose, and strolled nearer leisurely.
"Now!" shouted De Sylva, leaping forward.
There was a wild scurry, two or three shots were fired, and Hozierfound himself on the ground gripping the throat of a bronzed man whomhe had shoved backward with a thrust, for he had no time to swing hisstake for a blow. He was aware of a pair of black eyes that glared upat him horribly in the moonlight, of white teeth that shone under longmoustachios of peculiarly warlike aspect, but he felt the man was asputty in his hands, and his fingers relaxed their pressure.
He looked around. The fight was ended almost as soon as it began. Thesoldiers, six in all, were on their backs in the roadway. Two of themwere dead. The Italian sailor had been shot through the body, and wastwisting in his last agony.
The bloodshed was bad enough, but those shots were worse. They wouldset the island in an uproar. The reports would be heard in town,citadel, and fort, and the troops would now be on the _qui vive_. ButDe Sylva was a man of resource.
"Strip the prisoners!" he cried. "Take their arms and ammunition, butbind them back to back with their belts."
"Butt in there, me lads," vociferated Coke, who had accounted for oneof the Brazilians with an ax. "Step lively! Now we've got someuniforms an' guns, we can rush that dam cittydel easy."
Hozier was busy relieving his man of his coat. When the prone warriorrealized that he was not to be killed, he helped the operation, butPhilip was thinking more of Iris than of deeds of derring-do.
"Why attempt to capture the citadel at all?" he asked. "Now that wecan make sufficient display, is there any reason that we should not gostraight for the launch?"
"Hi, mister, d'ye 'ear that?" said Coke to De Sylva. "There's horsesense in it. The whole bally place will be buzzin' like a nest ofwasps till they find out wot the shots meant."
"I think it is
a good suggestion," came the calm answer, "provided,that is, the launch is in the harbor."
"She's just as likely to be there now as later. If she isn't, we musthark back to the first plan. Now, you swabs, all aboard! See to thembuckles afore you quit."
A bell began to toll in the convict settlement. Lights appeared inmany houses scattered over the seaward slope. In truth, FernandoNoronha had not been so badly scared since its garrison mutinied threeyears earlier because arrears of pay were not forthcoming. It wasimpossible to determine as yet whether or not the island steamer was ather berth, so they could only push on boldly and trust to luck.Hozier, never for an instant forgetting Iris, saw that Marcel stillremained with his leader. Under these new circumstances, it certainlywould be a piece of folly to send back until they were sure of thelaunch. So he hurried after them, struggling the while into a coat fartoo small, though fortunate in the fact that his captive's head was bigin proportion to the rest of his body.
Some few men were met, running from the town to the main road wherethey had located the shooting. Each breathlessly demanded news, andwas forthwith given most disconcerting information by a savage blow.The _Andromeda_ had received no quarter, and her crew retaliated now.They did not deliberately murder anyone, but they took good care thatnone of those whom they encountered would be in a condition to workmischief until the night was ended.
It was a peculiar and exasperating fact that although they weredescending a steep incline to the harbor the presence of trees andhouses rendered it impossible to see the actual landing-place. Hence,there was no course open but to race on at the utmost speed, though DeSylva was careful to keep his small force compact, and its pace wasnecessarily that of its slowest members. Among these was Coke, who hadnever walked so far since he was granted a captain's certificate. Heswore copiously as he lumbered along, and, what between shortness ofbreath and his tight boots and clothing, the latter disability beingadded to by a ridiculously inadequate Brazilian tunic, he was barelyable to reach the water's edge.
Happily, the launch was there, moored alongside a small quay. From thenearest building it was necessary to cross a low wharf some fifty yardsin width, and De Sylva's whispered commands could not restrain theeager men when escape appeared no longer problematical but assured.They broke, and ran, an almost fatal thing, as it happened, since thesoldiers whom Philip had seen from the rock were still on board. Oneof them noticed the inexplicable disorder among a body of men some ofwhom resembled his own comrades. He had heard the firing, and wasdiscussing it with others when this strange thing happened.
He challenged. San Benavides answered, but his voice was shrill andunofficer-like.
The engines were started. A man leaped to the wharf. He was in theact of casting a mooring rope off a fixed capstan when De Sylva shothim between the shoulder-blades.
"On board, all of you!" shrieked the ex-President in a frenzy.
"At 'em, boys!" gasped Coke, though scarce able to stagger another foot.
The men needed no bidding. Sheets of flame leaped from the vessel'sdeck as the soldiers seized their rifles and fired point-blank at thesemysterious assailants who spoke in a foreign language. But flame alonecould not stop that desperate attack. Some fell, but the survivorssprang at the Brazilians like famished wolves on their prey. There wasno more shooting. Men grappled and fell, some into the water, otherson deck, or they sprawled over the hatch and wrought in franticstruggle in the narrow cabin. The fight did not last many seconds. Anengineer, finding a lever and throttle valve, roared to a sailor totake the wheel, and already the launch was curving seaward when Hoziershouted:
"Where is Marcel?"
"Lyin' dead on the wharf," said Watts.
"Are you certain?"
"He was alongside me, an' 'e threw is 'ands up, an' dropped like a shotrabbit."
"Then who has gone for Miss Yorke?"
"No one. D'ye think that this d--d President cares for anybody buthisself?"
Philip felt the deck throbbing with the pulsations of the screw. Thelights on shore were gliding by. The launch was leaving FernandoNoronha, and Iris was waiting in that wretched hut beyond the hill,waiting for the summons that would not reach her, for Marcel was dead,and Domingo, the one other man who could have gone to her, was lying inthe cabin with three ribs broken and a collar-bone fractured.