CHAPTER TWELVE.
DANGEROUS NAVIGATION AND DOUBTFUL PILOTAGE--MONTAGUE IS HOT, GASCOYNESARCASTIC.
We turn now to the _Talisman_, which, it will be remembered, we leftmaking her way slowly through the reefs towards the northern end of theisland, under the pilotage of Gascoyne.
The storm, which had threatened to burst over the island at an earlierperiod of that evening, passed off far to the south. The light breezewhich had tempted Captain Montague to weigh anchor soon died away, andbefore night a profound calm brooded over the deep.
When the breeze fell, Gascoyne went forward, and, seating himself on aforecastle carronade, appeared to fall into a deep reverie. Montaguepaced the quarter-deck impatiently, glancing from time to time down theskylight at the barometer which hung in the cabin, and at the vane whichdrooped motionless from the mast-head. He acted with the air of a manwho was deeply dissatisfied with the existing state of things, and whofelt inclined to take the laws of nature into his own hands.Fortunately for nature and himself, he was unable to do this.
Ole Thorwald exhibited a striking contrast to the active, impatientcommander of the vessel. That portly individual, having just finished acigar which the first lieutenant had presented to him on his arrival onboard, threw the fag end of it into the sea, and proceeded leisurely tofill a large-headed German pipe, which was the constant companion of hiswaking hours, and the bowl of which seldom enjoyed a cool moment.
Ole having filled the pipe, lighted it; then, leaning over the taffrail,he gazed placidly into the dark waters, which were so perfectly calmthat every star in the vault above could be compared with its reflectionin the abyss below.
Ole Thorwald, excepting when engaged in actual battle, was phlegmatic,and constitutionally lazy and happy. When enjoying his German pipe hefelt inexpressibly serene, and did not care to be disturbed. Hetherefore paid no attention to the angry manner of Montague, who brushedpast him repeatedly in his hasty perambulations, but continued to gazedownwards and smoke calmly in a state of placid felicity.
"You appear to take things coolly, Mister Thorwald," said Montague, halfin jest, yet with a touch of asperity in his manner.
"I always do" (puff) "when the weather's not warm." (Puff puff.)
"Humph!" ejaculated Montague, "but the weather _is_ warm just now; atleast it seems so to me--so warm that I should not be surprised if athunder squall were to burst upon us ere long."
"Not a pleasant place to be caught in a squall," returned the other,gazing through the voluminous clouds of smoke which he emitted atseveral coral reefs, whose ragged edges just rose to the level of thecalm sea without breaking its mirror-like surface; "I've seen one or twofine vessels caught that way, just hereabouts, and go right down in themiddle of the breakers."
Montague smiled, and the commander-in-chief of the Sandy Cove army firedinnumerable broadsides from his mouth with redoubled energy.
"That is not a cheering piece of information," said he, "especially whenone has reason to believe that a false man stands at the helm."
Montague uttered the latter part of his speech in a subdued earnestvoice, and the matter-of-fact Ole turned his eyes slowly towards the manat the wheel; but observing that he who presided there was a short, fat,commonplace, and uncommonly jolly-looking seaman, he merely uttered agrunt and looked at Montague inquiringly.
"Nay, I mean not the man who actually holds the spokes of the wheel, buthe who guides the ship."
Thorwald glanced at Gascoyne, whose figure was dimly visible in the forepart of the ship, and then looking at Montague in surprise shook hishead gravely, as if to say--
"I'm still in the dark--go on."
"Can Mr Thorwald put out his pipe for a few minutes and accompany me tothe cabin? I would have a little converse on this matter in private."
Ole hesitated.
"Well, then," said the other, smiling, "you may take the pipe with you,although it is against rules to smoke in my cabin--but I'll make anexception in your case."
Ole smiled, bowed, and, thanking the captain for his courtesy, descendedto the cabin along with him and sat down on a sofa in the darkest cornerof it. Here he smoked vehemently, while his companion, assuming arather mysterious air, said in an under tone--
"You have heard, of course, that the pirate Durward has been seen, orheard of, in those seas?"
Ole nodded.
"Has it ever struck you that this Gascoyne, as he calls himself, knowsmore about the pirate than he chooses to tell?"
"Never," replied Ole. Indeed nothing ever did _strike_ the stoutcommander-in-chief of the forces. All new ideas came to him by slowdegrees, and did not readily find admission to his perceptive faculties.But when they did gain an entrance into his thick head, nothing wasever known to drive them out again. As he did not seem inclined tocomment on the hint thrown out by his companion, Montague continued, ina still more impressive tone--
"What would you say if this Gascoyne himself turned out to be thepirate?"
The idea being a simple one, and the proper course to follow beingrather obvious, Ole replied with unwonted promptitude--"Put him inirons, of course, and hang him as soon as possible."
Montague laughed. "Truly that would be a vigorous way of proceeding;but as I have no proof of the truth of my suspicions, and as the man ismy guest at present, as well as my pilot, it behoves me to act morecautiously."
"Not at all; by no means; you're quite wrong, captain; (which is thenatural result of being young--all young people go more or less;) it isclearly your duty to catch a pirate anyhow you can, as fast as you can,and kill him without delay."
Here the sanguinary Thorwald paused to draw and puff into vitality thepipe which was beginning to die down, and Montague asked--
"But how d'you know he is the pirate?"
"Because you said so," replied his friend.
"Nay, I said that I _suspected_ him to be Durward--nothing more."
"And what more would you have?" cried Ole, whose calm spirit was ruffledwith unusual violence at the thought of the hated Durward being actuallywithin his reach. "For my part I conceive that you are justified intaking him up on suspicion, trying him in a formal way (just to saveappearances) on suspicion, and hanging him at once on suspicion. Quitetime enough to inquire into the matter after the villain is comfortablysewed up in a hammock with a thirty-pound shot at his heels, and sent tothe bottom of the sea for the sharks and crabs to devour. Suspicion isnine points of the law in these regions, Captain Montague, and we neverallow the tenth point to interfere with the course of justice one way oranother. Hang him, or shoot him if you prefer it, at once; _that_ iswhat I recommend."
Just as Thorwald concluded this amiable piece of advice, the deep strongtones of Gascoyne's voice were heard addressing the first lieutenant.
"You had better hoist your royals and skyscrapers, Mr Mulroy; we shallhave a light air off the land presently, and it will require all yourcanvas to carry the ship round the north point, so as to bring her gunsto bear on the village of the savages."
"The distance seems to me very short," replied the lieutenant, "and the_Talisman_ sails faster than you may suppose with a light wind."
"I doubt not the sailing qualities of your good ship, though I couldname a small schooner that would beat them in light wind or storm; butyou forget that we have to land our stout ally Mr Thorwald with his menat the Goat's Pass, and that will compel us to lose time, too much ofwhich has been lost already."
Without reply, the lieutenant turned on his heel and gave the necessaryorders to hoist the additional sails, while the captain hastened ondeck, leaving Thorwald to finish his pipe in peace, and ruminate on thesuspicions which had been raised in his mind.
In less than half an hour the light wind which Gascoyne had predictedcame off the land, first in a series of what sailors term "cats' paws,"and then in a steady breeze which lasted several hours, and caused thevessel to slip rapidly through the still water. As he looked anxiouslyover the bow, Captain Montague felt that he
had placed himselfcompletely in the power of the suspected skipper of the _Foam_, forcoral reefs surrounded him on all sides, and many of them passed soclose to the ship's side that he expected every moment to feel the shockthat would wreck his vessel and his hopes at the same time. He blamedhimself for trusting a man whom he supposed he had such good reason todoubt, but consoled himself by thrusting his hand into his bosom andgrasping the handle of a pistol, with which, in the event of the shipstriking, he had made up his mind to blow out Gascoyne's brains.
About an hour later the _Talisman_ was hove-to off the Goat's Pass, andOle Thorwald was landed with his party at the base of a cliff which rosesheer up from the sea like a wall.
"Are we to go up there?" inquired Ole in a rueful tone of voice, as hesurveyed a narrow chasm to which Gascoyne guided him.
"That is the way. It's not so bad as it looks. When you get to thetop, follow the little path that leads along the cliffs northward, andyou will reach the brow of a hill from which the native village will bevisible. Descend and attack it at once, if you find men to fight with--if not, take possession quietly. Mind you don't take the wrong turn; itleads to places where a wild-cat would not venture even in daylight. Ifyou attend to what I have said, you can't go wrong. Good night. Shoveoff."
The oars splashed in the sea at the word, and Gascoyne retained to theship, leaving Ole to lead his men up the Pass as he best might.
It seemed as if the pilot had resolved to make sure of the destructionof the ship that night; for, not content with running her within a footor two of innumerable reefs, he at last steered in so close to the shorethat the beetling cliffs actually seemed to overhang the deck. When thesun rose, the breeze died away; but sufficient wind continued to fillthe upper sails and to urge the vessel gently onward for some time afterthe surface of the sea was calm.
Montague endeavoured to conceal and repress his anxiety as long aspossible, but when at length a line of breakers without any apparentopening presented themselves right ahead, he went up to Gascoyne andsaid in a stern under tone--
"Are you aware that you forfeit your life if my vessel strikes?"
"I know it," replied Gascoyne, coolly throwing away the stump of hiscigar and lighting a fresh one, "but I have no desire either to destroyyour vessel or to lose my life; although, to say truth, I should have noobjection, in other circumstances, to attempt the one and to risk theother."
"Say you so?" said Montague, with a sharp glance at the countenance ofthe other, where, however, he could perceive nothing but placid goodhumour "that speech sounds marvellously warlike, methinks, in the mouthof a sandal-wood trader."
"Think you, then," said Gascoyne, with a smile of contempt, "that it isonly your fire-eating men of war who experience bold impulses and heroicdesires?"
"Nay, but traders are not wont to aspire to the honour of fighting theships that are commissioned to protect them."
"Truly, if I had sought protection from the warships of the king ofEngland, I must have sailed long and far to find it," returned Gascoyne."It is no child's play to navigate these seas, where bloodthirstysavages swarm in their canoes like locusts. Moreover I sail, as I havetold you before, in the China Seas where pirates are more common thanhonest traders. What would you say if I were to take it into my head toprotect myself?"
"That you were well able to do so," answered Montague, with a smile;"but when I examined the _Foam_ I found no arms save a few cutlasses andrusty muskets that did not seem to have been in recent use."
"A few bold men can defend themselves with any kind of weapons. My menare stout fellows not used to flinch at the sound of a round shotpassing over their heads."
The conversation was interrupted here by the ship rounding a point andsuddenly opening up a view of a fine bay, at the head of which,embosomed in trees and dense underwood, stood the native village ofwhich they were in search.
Just in front of this village lay a small but high and thickly woodedisland, which, as it were, filled up the head of the bay, sheltering itcompletely from the ocean, and making the part of the sea which washedthe shores in front of the houses resemble a deep and broad canal. Thisstripe of water was wide and deep enough to permit of a vessel of thelargest size passing through it; but to any one approaching the placefor the first time there seemed to be no passage for any sort of craftlarger than a native canoe. The island itself was high enough toconceal the _Talisman_ completely from the natives until she was withinhalf gunshot of the shore.
Gascoyne still stood on the fore part of the ship as she neared thisspot, which was so beset with reefs and rocks that her escape seemedmiraculous.
"I think we are near enough for the work that we have to do," suggestedMontague in some anxiety.
"Just about it, Mr Montague," said Gascoyne, as he turned towards thestern and shouted--
"Port your helm."
"Port it is," answered the man at the wheel.
"Steady."
"Back the topsails, Mr Mulroy."
The sails were backed at once, and the ship became motionless with herbroadside to the village.
"What are we to do now, Mr Gascoyne," inquired Montague, smiling inspite of himself at the strange position in which he found himself.
"Fire away at the village as hard as you can," replied Gascoyne,returning the smile.
"What! do you really advise me to bombard a defenceless place in which,as far as I can see, there are none but women and children?"
"Even so!" returned the other, carelessly, "at the same time I wouldadvise you to give it them with blank cartridge."
"And to what purpose such waste of powder?" inquired Montague.
"The furthering of the plans which I have been appointed to carry out,"answered Gascoyne somewhat stiffly, as he turned on his heel and walkedaway.
The young captain reddened and bit his lip, as he gave the order to loadthe guns with blank cartridge, and made preparation to fire thisharmless broadside on the village. The word to "fire" had barelycrossed his lips when the rocks around seemed to tremble with the crashof a shot that came apparently from the other side of the island, forits smoke was visible, although the vessel that discharged it wasconcealed behind the point. The _Talisman's_ broadside followed soquickly, that the two discharges were blended in one.