CHAPTER TWELVE.
ON ALBATROSS ISLAND.
On the following morning all hands on board the brig were stirringearly, and, assisted by a strong party from the shore, first moved thevessel down to the bottom of the bay until she took the ground on abeautiful level sandy bottom, and then began to discharge her.
Her cargo comprised a most extraordinary collection of heterogeneousarticles, including three pianofortes (two of which were in packing-cases, whilst the other had evidently been taken from a ship's cabin),several cases of arms, a large quantity of powder and lead, bales ofsilk, a few kegs of Spanish dollars, fifty ingots of gold and as many ofsilver; several cases of machinery, a large boiler in sections, animmense quantity of provisions of various kinds, ten brass nine-pounderguns taken out of a Spanish ship, several boxes of clothing, and a largequantity of new rope, bolts of canvas, sails--which from their size hadevidently never been made for the brig--cases of furniture, etcetera,etcetera.
These articles were all landed in boats, and conveyed with more or lessdifficulty up to one of the large buildings before-mentioned, and therehoused.
There was great jubilation among the men at the sight of so rich acargo; Ralli, the Greek, quite laying aside his former moroseness ofmanner and exhibiting an almost childish delight at the sight of thebullion and the kegs of dollars. The men worked hard all day, and bysunset more than half the brig's cargo was on shore. It was notdifficult, however, to detect that among these men there were a few--perhaps a dozen--who took no interest in their labour, manifesting verylittle curiosity as to the nature of the articles which they werehandling, and working solely because they had no other choice. Theseour friends rightly conjectured to be prisoners who had not chosen tocast in their lot with the pirates.
Early in the day that portion of the party from the _Galatea_ in whichwe are more immediately interested had been conveyed on shore underJohnson's own protection, and taken up to one of the smaller buildingswhich stood on the beach, with the intimation that they were at libertyto occupy it. It was a small two-story building, constructed of wood;the upper floor being reached through a trap-door which was led up to bya wooden step-ladder. This floor, like the one below, consisted of asingle room, and was lighted by two windows, one at each end, the twolonger walls of the room being fitted with three tiers of bunks similarto those found on board ship. The ground floor was fitted up with afire-place, shelves all round the room, a rough deal table and two longbenches, and had evidently been used as a general living-room.
The place was wretchedly dirty, and on being inducted into it the firstact of the men was to procure an abundance of soap and water, and setvigorously to work to give it a thorough cleansing. This occupied themall the morning.
At noon a bell rang, which was the signal for all hands to knock offwork and get their dinner, the messman of each gang going to the galley,a small building near the store, and drawing from the cook a sufficientquantity of food for the party to which he belonged.
Bob, who with the carpenter had been duly liberated according topromise, cheerfully took upon himself the duties of messman for theparty to which he belonged, and presenting himself with the others, heobtained without difficulty the wherewithal to set before our friends avery respectable meal.
While they were at dinner, Lance tore a leaf out of his pocket-book andjotted down the various articles, such as bedding, crockery, andutensils of various kinds which they required, and on the completion ofthe list he hurried away with it to Johnson, who at once wrote at itsfoot an order to the storekeeper for the issue of the articles named.These were soon conveyed to the hut, and by sunset they had the place invery tolerable order.
Now that they were on shore, however, they felt that the time hadarrived when a little more privacy could be enjoyed by the ladies of theparty; so a few boards were obtained and with them a partition knockedup, dividing the upper room into two equal parts, the half which wasapproached through the trap-door being devoted to the ladies, while themen obtained access to their sleeping apartment by means of a ladder andthe open window, the ladder being drawn up into the room at night.
At six o'clock the bell rang again, upon which all hands knocked offwork for the day, and after half an hour devoted to cleaning up,etcetera, tea, or supper as most of the men termed it, was served.
On this particular evening, however, there was a slight deviation fromthe usual order of procedure; the messmen being detained at the galleyuntil all were present (instead of being served and despatched in theorder of their arrival), when Johnson made his appearance on the sceneand announced that the kegs of dollars landed that day from the brigwould be distributed in the capstan-house that evening at eight o'clock,and that any of the prisoners not yet belonging to the "brotherhood" whochose to present themselves there at that hour, and would sign the "bondof brotherhood," would be entitled to an equal share of the spoil. Bobduly mentioned this item of information on his arrival with the viands;and it was at once decided that, as all the pirates would thus beengaged for some time, advantage should be taken of so favourable anopportunity to give the ladies a little fresh air and exercise.
They waited until all the pirates appeared to have betaken themselves tothe capstan-house, and then sallied out in a body upon an exploringexpedition up the valley. It was a lovely night, as light as day, thefull moon riding high overhead in an unclouded sky, and so flooding theheavens with her silvery light that only a few stars of the firstmagnitude were visible. There was very little wind, and a heavy dew wasfalling; but that, after the hardship of exposure in an open boat, was atrifle so insignificant that it attracted no one's attention.
The walk was a most enjoyable one to all, but it was especiallydelightful to three couples who early paired off together, and in aquiet unostentatious fashion dropped into the rear. Captain and MrsStaunton had naturally much to say to each other upon mattersinteresting only to themselves; while as for Violet and Rex, Blanche andLance, this was their first opportunity for an exchange of these sweetnothings in which lovers delight since the eventful evening on whichthey had been driven out by the flames from the unfortunate _Galatea_.Tempted by the beauty of the night they strayed a long distance; andwhen at length they returned to the hut, weary with the unaccustomedexercise, but happier than they had been for a long time, the settlementwas wrapped in the silence of repose.
On the following morning, immediately after breakfast, Johnson presentedhimself, with the request that Lance, Captain Staunton, and thecarpenter would accompany him on a visit to the prizes, for the purposeof deciding which of them should be broken up to build the new schooner.Two of these vessels were barques, and one a full-rigged ship. Theship was teak-built, and an unmistakable East-Indiaman; while of thebarques, one was oak-built and copper-fastened, and the other a soft-wood vessel put together with iron. The oak-built ship was nearly new,the copper which covered her bottom up to the bends had not a wrinkle onits entire surface, and her deck-planking showed no signs of wear; butshe was modelled for carrying, rather than for speed; it was thereforedecided without much hesitation that she should be the one to be brokenup.
The next point to be settled was the position of the building-yard.
Lance had given this matter a great deal of quiet consideration, and hadcome to the conclusion that for many reasons it would be better to havethe yard as far away as possible from the rest of the settlement, oneconsideration which greatly weighed with him being the possibility thattheir best chance of escape might be in launching the schooner on thequiet during the night and taking her from the stocks direct to sea.
Johnson had already made up his mind that the best site for the stockswould be on the sandy beach immediately in front of the capstan-house;and there was a great deal to be said in favour of this, a carpenter'sshop being already in existence close to the spot, and all the cordageand tackle of every description being stored in the capstan-house. Butthis did not at all chime in with Lance's plans, so he merely remarkedthat it would do we
ll enough if no better place could be found, but thatthe flatness of the ground and the consequent shoal water at that spotwould prove serious difficulties in the way of launching; and that itwould be advisable before deciding to give the entire shore of the bay avery careful examination.
Some hours were accordingly spent in this work; and a site was at lastfixed upon in a locality thoroughly favourable to Lance's secret wishes.This was a small indentation in the harbour-face of the breakwater rockwhich marked the entrance to the bay.
This indentation was about an acre and a half in extent, with a smoothrocky floor sloping down into the water at an inclination of just theright gradient for the launching-ways. It is true it was a long wayaway from the settlement; but Lance's arguments in favour of adopting itwere so convincing that Johnson was fain to give way, which, he at lastdid with a very good grace.
This matter settled, Lance intimated that he should like to devote alittle more time to the examination of the rock; as it appeared to himthat here was the proper place to construct the battery which was todefend the harbour. They accordingly climbed with great difficulty tothe highest point of the rock, which was immediately behind or toseaward of the future shipyard, and which had an elevation of nearly ahundred feet above the sea-level.
The top of the rock was very irregular in shape; but Lance soon saw thata few charges of powder judiciously placed would give them a nearlycircular platform of about sixty feet diameter, which would be amplespace for such a battery as he proposed to construct. His first ideahad been to evade the construction of this battery altogether ifpossible; but a little reflection had shown him that a time might comewhen its existence would be of the utmost importance to themselves, andhe therefore decided to go on with the work. He accordingly pointed outto Johnson the strength of the position they occupied, the completecommand over the harbour-entrance which a battery would have at thatpoint, and the effective defence it would constitute to the newshipyard; and the pirate was speedily convinced of the soundness ofLance's views.
These points settled, the party returned to the bottom of the bay; andJohnson then invited Lance to present himself at eight o'clock thatevening in the capstan-house, there to submit his plans for the newschooner to a committee of the pirates for approval.
The drawings were in fact scarcely ready; but by working hard for theremainder of the day not only were they completed, but the carpenter hadalso prepared a half-model of the hull by the hour at which thecommittee was to meet; and, armed with these, Lance, Captain Staunton,and the carpenter duly presented themselves at the capstan-house ateight o'clock.
They were met at the door by Johnson, who conducted them up a step-ladder into an apartment in the first floor of the building. It was aroom about sixty feet long by forty feet broad, and was apparently usedas a sort of general assembly-room, being fitted up with rows of benchesfrom the door right up to a platform at the further end. On thisplatform there stood, upon the present occasion, a large table lightedby a pair of handsome lamps, and surrounded by a dozen chairs, some ofwhich were already occupied when Lance and his companions entered.
Our friends quietly seated themselves, Lance on one side of Johnson,Captain Staunton on the other, with the trusty carpenter next him.Johnson then ordered the bell to be rung to summon the laggards; and ina few minutes afterwards the entire committee, some eight men in all,had assembled.
Johnson then rose to address the party. He remarked that they werealready aware of the purpose for which they had been summoned, namely toinspect the plans of a new schooner which he proposed to have built; buthe had been led to understand that doubts had been expressed in certainquarters (here he glanced at Ralli) as to the necessity for such aproceeding; and he had therefore invited them there to meet him in orderthat he might lay before them his views upon the matter and answer suchquestions as any of them might wish to put to him. He then citedseveral unsuccessful chases in which he had engaged, as well as hisrecent narrow escape from the frigate, as evidence in support of hisassertion that not only their profit but their actual safety dependedupon their becoming possessed of a much faster vessel than the_Albatross_ as speedily as might be; winding up his speech by requestingthat each man present would give the committee the benefit of his viewson the matter in hand.
A somewhat excited debate then ensued, Ralli making himself especiallyconspicuous by his opposition to Johnson; but in the end the lattersucceeded in carrying his point, and the construction of the vessel wasdefinitely decided upon.
Lance was then called upon to submit his drawings for inspection; whichhe forthwith did, explaining at the same time the peculiarities of thedesign. The vessel he proposed to build was to have a broad shallowhull, with a very deep keel; and her water-lines were simply faultless.There was a considerable difference of opinion as to the desirability ofhaving a vessel of that type; but Lance, who was anxious above allthings to build a craft which would carry his party safely, comfortably,and speedily home, provided they should be so fortunate as to obtainpossession of her, ably combated all adverse criticism, in which he wasably seconded by Johnson, who seemed greatly taken with the design, andin the end they had their own way.
This important point being settled, the meeting broke up; and on thefollowing morning the first step was taken toward carrying the work intoexecution. The vessel which had been selected for breaking up wasunmoored and brought close in to the shore abreast the capstan-house,where she was anchored. A strong party was then told off for thepurpose of loading her, under the joint-superintendence of Lance,Johnson, Captain Staunton, and the carpenter of the _Galatea_, who wentby the name of "Kit," short for Christopher. Lance requisitioned thestores of the pirates with the utmost freedom, taking everything hethought likely to be in the least degree useful; and in this way threedays were consumed. On the fourth day the hulk was once more unmoored,and, with three boats ahead, towed to the rock at the mouth of theharbour and grounded upon it. The work of landing the stores andmaterials then commenced; and when these had all been conveyed safelyashore, the erection of workshops, etcetera, was begun. And it was atthis period that Johnson began to realise for the first time howvaluable an acquisition to his band he had gained in the persons ofLance, Rex, Brooke, and Kit. The three first were quite in theirelement when it came to the designing and erecting of the variousbuildings and of the battery, which was at the same time commenced,whilst Kit displayed an amount of intelligence in the carrying out oftheir instructions which was beyond all praise. Johnson chuckled withinward satisfaction and made certain secret resolves; but he saidnothing.
Meanwhile the _Albatross_ had been careened, her copper stripped offwhere necessary, and replaced after caulking the planking underneath;the copper had been scoured all over, down to the very keel, until itshone like gold; the top-sides had been caulked; then the deck; the hullrepainted inside and out; and when the buildings at the new dockyardwere about being begun, the spars, sails, and rigging of the brig werein process of undergoing a thorough overhaul. It looked very much asthough the _Albatross_ would be ready for sea in another fortnight atthe outside; while Lance estimated that, with the strength then at hiscommand, it would be at least a month before the keel of the schoonercould possibly be laid. Now Johnson had set his heart upon seeing thisdone before he sailed; when therefore he found that it would beimpossible unless he strongly augmented Lance's working party, he tookhalf the men working upon the brig and turned them over to the dockyardgang, with the result that the work on the brig was retarded while thatat the shipyard was expedited so greatly as to ensure the gratificationof his wish. So eager was he to hasten on the building of the schoonerthat he even proposed the abandonment of the old settlement at thebottom of the bay, and the establishment of a new one on the rockitself. This, however, by no means suited Lance's views. It would bemanifestly impossible to launch and make off with the schooner if theywere to be environed by a gang of men every one of whom would be sure toregard the new-comers with more or less of suspicion and d
istrust; soLance threw out a few mysterious hints about secret passages and hiddenchambers beneath the battery and in the heart of the rocks, which forJohnson's own individual sake it would be wise to keep from theknowledge of all but those actually engaged in constructing them; and bythis means he managed to avert the threatened transfer. The thoughtoccurred to him that possibly the _Galatea_ party might be more safe ifquartered upon the rock, and thus entirely separated from the pirates;but on reconsidering the question and talking it over with the othersthe conclusion arrived at was that the rock was an exposed and sterilespot for a habitation, in addition to which it possessed otherdisadvantages; and that perhaps, for the present, it would be better notto propose it.
At length the eventful day arrived on which the ceremony of laying thekeel of the new schooner was to be performed. The pieces of timber ofwhich it was to be composed--some of which had already formed part ofthe keel of the old ship--had all been shaped, the blocks laid inposition, and every other preparation fully made; and nothing remainedbut to lay down the keel-pieces on the blocks placed ready for theirreception, and to bolt them together.
In the fulness of his delight Johnson resolved that the day should be aregular _fete_ day; and accordingly on the morning in question theshipyard was gaily dressed with flags--of more than one nationality--which were hoisted upon poles hastily set up for the purpose; and allhands, clean shaven, and dressed in their best, prepared to assist inthe ceremony.
The proceedings were inaugurated by Johnson, who, attired in the fulluniform of a captain of the American navy, took up a position on one ofthe keel-blocks, and from thence made an animated address to hisfollowers, in which he rapidly sketched the history of the band from theday on which they had entered upon their present career by taking fromtheir officers the _Amazon_ tea clipper, in which they had sailed fromChina for England, down to the present time. He reminded them of thedifficulties and misfortunes with which they had been obliged tocontend; how they had unfortunately lost the _Amazon_ upon an islandsome hundreds of miles to the westward of their present position; howthey had been compelled to leave the island in open boats; of thesufferings which they subsequently endured; and how by a lucky accidentthey were finally enabled to obtain possession of the _Albatross_. Henext dwelt upon the good fortune which had since attended them; the manyvaluable prizes they had taken; the rich store of booty they hadaccumulated; and the steady augmentation of the numbers of thebrotherhood. Then, giving free rein to his fancy, he enlarged upon hisplans for the future. What had already been done was, he said,nothing--a simple preliminary effort, a mere trial of strength--comparedwith what he _would_ do. He would never be satisfied, he informed them,until he could finally lead them all out of that harbour on board afleet of at least ten well armed, swift, and fully manned ships, inwhich it would be possible for them to ravage the entire coast ofSpanish South America, despoiling the rich towns and laughing at allopposition. In this way, he promised them, he would place them inpossession of such an unheard-of amount of treasure that every man amongthem should be worth his millions; after which, by following a planwhich he would unfold to them at the proper time, they could quietlydisband and settle down for the remainder of their lives, each man onthat particular spot of earth which pleased him best, in the peacefulenjoyment of his well-earned gold. And they were assembled there thatday, he added in conclusion, to lay the keel of the first of the tenclippers by which this glorious result was to be accomplished.
It was an eloquent and masterly speech. Johnson was most accuratelyacquainted with the characters of those who surrounded him; he wasmaking a great bid for the recovery of that popularity which in someunexplained way--but largely through the machinations of Alec Ralli, heshrewdly suspected--had been steadily slipping away from him; and hebelieved that the making of such dazzling promises as he had justindulged in was the surest way of winning it back. And if vociferousand tumultuous cheering was to be taken as an indication of success thepirate chief had every cause to be gratified. The enthusiasm wasintense. Cheer after cheer rent the air; the men shook hands all roundand then pressed forward, hustling each other, eager to perform the sameceremony with Johnson, vowing as they did so the blindest and mostunswerving fidelity to him, and calling down the most frightfulimprecations upon all traitors.
Ralli stood at some little distance in the background, his arms foldedacross his chest, and a cynical smile wreathing his lips.
"Ah right," he muttered; "go on and shout yourselves hoarse, you swine!Yell, cheer, and swear fidelity until you are out of breath if itpleases you so to do; I like to see and hear it, for what is it afterall but froth; you are all in a ferment just now, and it is best thatthis noisy gas should have its vent; you will soon sober down again, andthen--we shall see. As for _you_," he continued, with a furtive scowlat Johnson, whose face beamed with gratification, "you have had yourday, and, blind bat as you are, you were beginning to see it just for amoment, but this fine speech of yours has thrown you off your guardagain. You doubtless think that with a few empty boastful words youhave recovered your lost position, but you are mistaken, my good friend,as you will find out when you return from your next cruise--if indeedyou ever return at all. Well, enjoy your own opinion while you can;rejoice in the ease with which you have re-established yourself; _I_shall not attempt to undeceive you--at least just now, so I will go andadd my plaudits to those of the herd--pah!" and he spat contemptuouslyon the ground as he moved forward to shake Johnson cordially by thehand.
Order being at length restored, the ceremony of laying the keel wasproceeded with. The several pieces were already on the ground, properlyshaped, with bolt-holes bored, the bolts fitted, and in short everypreparation made for fastening them together; and now, at a word fromJohnson, a hundred eager hands seized the heavy timbers, and, underLance's superintendence, placed them upon the blocks. The joints werenext brought closely together, the bolts inserted, the perfectstraightness of the entire length of keel accurately tested, and finallythe bolts were all simultaneously driven home and the keel "laid,"amidst the deafening cheers of the pirates and the roar of a battery ofguns which had been placed temporarily in position to do due honour tothe ceremony.
The men were then served with an extra allowance of grog, after whichthey were dismissed to amuse themselves in any way they pleased for theremainder of the day.
Johnson saw fit to leave the shipyard in the boat which conveyed Lance,Captain Staunton, and the rest of the _Galatea_ party back to thesettlement at the bottom of the bay, and it was evident during thepassage that he was most anxious to make himself agreeable and to leavebehind him a favourable impression. At last, when the boat was nearingthe beach at which the party intended to land, he said to Lance--
"Look here, colonel, I've been thinking about them women-folk of yourn;they must find it mighty lonesome here, with nothing much to do; do youthink it 'd please 'em if I was to send one of them planners to yourdiggin's? 'Cause, if you do, they shall have one. The cussed thingsain't no use to us, and I don't hardly know what I fetched 'em alongfor."
"Thank you very much," said Lance. "I have no doubt a little music nowand then would prove a solace to them; indeed, it would make theevenings much more pleasant for us all, and if you feel disposed tospare us an instrument we shall remember you all the more gratefully."
"Then you may consider it done," Johnson replied, as the boat's keelgrated on the beach and the party stepped ashore. "Come up to thecapstan-house with me, and you can choose which you will have, and Iwill send it along at once."
Lance accordingly proceeded to the capstan-house with Johnson, while theremainder of the party wended their way straight to the hut, wellpleased at what they considered a mark of great consideration on thepart of the pirate chief.
When Lance found himself alone with his companion he thought it would bea favourable opportunity to prefer a request which had been in his mindfor several days, but which he had had no previous chance of mentioning.
"I am glad
," he said, "to have this opportunity of thanking you,captain, in the name of our party, for all you have done for ourcomfort, under circumstances which I could not fail to perceive havebeen somewhat trying to you. I now want to ask you to add one favourmore, and that is, to supply us with a sufficiency of arms andammunition to enable us to defend ourselves, if need be, in yourabsence. Whilst you are on the island we feel ourselves to be safe, butI confess I am not altogether without doubts as to the treatment whichwe may receive at the hands of your Greek friend Ralli after yourdeparture. And it would add very greatly to our feeling of security inyour absence if we were provided with the means of resisting any attemptat unfair dealing on his part. I presume it is unnecessary for me tosay that we should only use the weapons in a case of absolutenecessity?"
"Waal now, colonel," said Johnson, "what you ask is fair enough, and formy own part I'd be willing enough to let you have all you want, but Ivow I don't just see exactly how I'm to do it. The key of the arm-chestis in the armourer's pocket, and I can't issue anything out of thatchest without his knowledge. Now, I know that cuss, he's no friend ofmine, and he'd just go straight away and tell Ralli what I'd done, andthat'd set the Greek dead agin you all for a certainty and make thingsjust as uncomfortable for you as could be. Besides which, Ralli 'd justtake 'em all away from you again as soon as my back was turned, and thenyou'd be worse off 'n ever. No, that won't do, we'll have to go someother way about it; but you leave it to me, general; you may bet yourpile I'll find out a way to do it before I sail. Now, which of theseboxes of music will you have?"
They had arrived by this time at the capstan-house, and were standingnear the pianofortes, all of which had been placed together on the floorof the sail-loft, the packing-cases having been ripped off and probablyused for firewood. Lance ran his fingers over the key-board of eachinstrument in turn, striking a few chords and harmonies to test thequality of the tone and touch, and finally selected a superb "grand" byBroadwood.
"All right, general, I'll have the durned thing taken down to yourquarters to oncet. But do you mean to say that you know how to thumpmusic out of them things as well as how to build batteries and ships andso forth?" ejaculated Johnson.
"Well, yes," said Lance, laughingly, "I believe I must plead guilty tobeing somewhat of a musician, though I have not touched an instrumentfor many a day until now."
"Then sit right down there, colonel, and play me something good," saidJohnson, rolling a nail-keg as a seat up to one of the instruments.
Lance, thoroughly amused at the comical incongruity of the situation,sat down and rattled off "Yankee Doodle," an air which he judged wouldbe likely to find appreciation with his queer companion.
Johnson stood for a moment spell-bound as the well remembered strainsfell upon his ear, then a broad grin of delight overspread his features,and finally he began to caper about the sail-loft in the mostextraordinary manner, and to utter certain unearthly sounds which Lancefancied was Johnson's idea of singing.
"Something else! gimme some more," the pirate captain exclaimedrapturously, when his entertainer at length raised his fingers from thekey-board. Whereupon Lance began to play and sing "Hail, Columbia."Johnson stood still and silent as a statue now, the stirring strainstouched an altogether different chord of his memory, and for an instantsomething suspiciously like a tear glistened in his eye.
"Thank you," he said very quietly, when Lance had finished, "that willdo now; I would rather not hear any more at present. Let me keep thesound of that song in my mind as long as I can; my little maid at homeused to sing that to me. But, look here," he added, as Lance closed theinstrument, "if you wish to be on good terms with the men after I amgone, have them all up in the meeting-room sometimes of an evening, andtreat them to a little music; they will appreciate that, and you coulddo nothing more likely to win their regard. Why shouldn't you give'em--give us all--a concert to-night, to-day being a holiday?"
Lance hesitated for a moment before making answer to this strange andunexpected proposal.
"To tell you the truth," he said at last, "I am afraid your people willbe hardly in a mood to-night to appreciate such music as I could givethem; the grog will have got into their heads, and they will be moreinclined to sing among themselves than to sit quietly to listen to me."
"Not at all," answered Johnson, who, now that a serious mood was uponhim, had entirely dropped his Americanism of speech, "not at all; I havetaken care to give orders that they shall not have sufficient to makethem noisy. You will find them perfectly quiet and orderly, and Iconfess I should like to see the effect of a little genuine good musicupon them."
"Very well," answered Lance nonchalantly, "I am sure I have noobjection; and, now that you have mentioned it, I confess I feel curiousto see the result of so novel an experiment."
"Then it is settled," said Johnson; and he forthwith summoned a party ofmen, to some of whom he gave orders to remove to the hut the pianoforteLance had chosen, while to others was deputed the task of taking one ofthe other instruments into the large room used for purposes of generalassembly, and placing the room in proper order for the evening'sentertainment, which was fixed to commence at the orthodox hour of eighto'clock.
When Lance Evelin sauntered into the hut he was assailed by a generalchorus of questions.
"What ridiculous story is this which my husband has been telling us, MrEvelin?" inquired Mrs Staunton.
"About the piano, you know," added Violet.
"Is it actually true, Lance, that that absurd creature is really goingto let us have one?" chimed in Blanche.
"It would be a good deal more sensible of him if he would provide uswith more comfortable quarters," grumbled Dale.
"I agree with you there, Dale, it certainly would," said Rex Fortescue."Of course I am speaking now of the matter as it affects the ladies; forourselves, we can rough it well enough, but I certainly wish they couldbe made more comfortable. However, the fellow seems to have done hisbest for us; I have seen no better building than this in the wholesettlement, so I suppose we must endeavour to be content as long as weare obliged to remain here; and as for the piano, why it will enable theladies to beguile an hour or two; but it is a queer present to makeunder the circumstances, and the man who made it is certainly a bit ofan eccentric."
"You are right," replied Evelin; "and this gift is by no means his onlyeccentricity. Guess what is his latest request, or command, I scarcelyknow which to call it?"
They all decided that it would be utterly impossible for them to guess,there was no saying _what_ absurd whim might seize upon such a man; theywould be surprised at _nothing_ which he might ask, and so on.
"Well, then, I will tell you," said Lance. "He wishes me to give themen a concert to-night at eight o'clock in the assembly-room."
"Oh, Lance, what an extraordinary request!" exclaimed Blanche. "Youwill of course refuse; you will never trust yourself alone among allthose men?"
"Certainly I shall," answered her lover, "why not? There will not bethe slightest danger. The men are not in an excited state by any means,and I have an idea that a little music now and then may increase ourpopularity among them and place us on a more secure footing, if indeedit does not enable us to reach and awaken whatever of good may stillexist in their breasts. Besides," he added with a gay laugh, "I feelcurious to see what effect I can produce upon them."
"If you go, Lance, I shall go with you," said Rex.
Violet Dudley glanced quickly and somewhat appealingly at the lastspeaker, but she had too much spirit to say a word which would keep herlover away from the side of his friend when there was a possibility thatthat friend might stand in need of help.
"I think I may as well go also," remarked Captain Staunton. "It seemshardly fair to leave you all the work to do, Evelin, when any of therest of us can help you. I can sing a fairly good song, I flattermyself, if I am not much of a hand at the piano, and so when you feeltired I'll give you a spell."
"All right," said Lance. "The more the
merrier; we shall at least showthem that we are no churls. Are there any more volunteers?"
"Certainly," said Bob, "I'm one, Mr Evelin, if you will have me. I amsomething like Captain Staunton; I'm no hand at a piano, but I can sing,and I know a recitation or two which I think may serve to raise a good-humoured laugh."
"I'm no singer," said Brook, "but I know a few rather taking conjuringtricks, and I should like to go with you; but perhaps it would be hardlyprudent to leave the ladies without any protection, would it? ThereforeI think I'll remain to-night, and go some other evening if there's goingto be any repetition of this sort of thing."
Mr Dale said nothing; he simply sat moodily plucking at his beard andmuttering to himself; by the look of his countenance he was utterlydisgusted with the whole proceeding.
Thus, then, it was finally arranged, and at a few minutes before eighto'clock, Lance and his party issued from the hut on their way to theassembly-room, which they could see was already brilliantly lighted up.