XVI
LIKE A CHAPTER FROM THE PAST
Five men had emerged from the woods behind the clearing, so quietlythat they were in the center of the camp before Crusoe's shrillbark, or the outcry of the cook, warned us of their presence. Bythat time they had us covered. Three of them carried rifles, theother two revolvers. One of these was Captain Magnus.
Advancing a step or two before the others he ordered us to throw upour hands. Perhaps he meant only the men--but my hands and AuntJane's and Miss Higglesby-Browne's also went up with celerity. Hegrinned into our astounded faces with a wolfish baring of hisyellow teeth.
"Never guessed I wasn't here jest to do the shovel work, but mighthave my own little side-show to bring off, hey?" he inquired of noone in particular. "Here, Slinker, help me truss 'em up."
The man addressed thrust his pistol in his belt and came forward,and with his help the hands of the Scotchman, Cuthbert Vane and Mr.Tubbs were securely tied. They were searched for arms, and thesheath-knives which Mr. Shaw and Cuthbert carried at their beltswere taken away. The three prisoners were then ordered to seatthemselves in a row on the trunk of a prostrate palm.
The whole thing had happened in the strangest silence. Except fora feeble moaning from Aunt Jane, like the bleating of a sheep,which broke forth at intervals, nobody spoke or made a sound. Thethree riflemen in the background, standing like images with theirweapons raised, looked like a well-trained chorus in an opera.
And indeed it was all extraordinarily like something on a stage.Slinker, for instance. He had a prowling, sidelong fashion ofmoving about, and enormous yellow mustaches like a Viking. Surelysome artist in the make-up line had invented Slinker! And theburly fellow in the background, with the black whiskers--too badhe'd forgotten his earrings---
But I awoke to the horrid reality of it all as Captain Magnus,smiling his wolfish smile, turned and approached me.
"Well, boys," he remarked to his followers, who had now loweredtheir weapons and were standing about at ease, "here's the littlepippin I was tellin' of. 'Fraid we give her a little scare bustin'in so sudden, so she ain't quite so bright and smilin' as I like tosee. Its all right, girlie; you'll soon cheer up when you find outyou're go'in' to be the little queen o' this camp. Things will beall your way now--so long as you treat me right." And theabominable creature thrust forth a hairy paw and deliberatelychucked me under the chin.
I heard a roar from the log--and coincidently from Captain Magnus.For with the instant response of an automaton--consciously I hadnothing at all to do with it--I had reached up and briskly boxedthe captain's ears.
Furiously he caught my wrist. "Ah, you red-headed little devil,you'll pay for this! I ain't pretty, oh, no! I ain't a handsomemooncalf like the Honorable; I ain't got a title, nor girly pinkcheeks, nor fine gentleman ways. No walks with the likes o' me, notatey-tates in the woods--oh, no! Well, it's goin' to be anotherstory now, girlie. I guess you can learn to like my looks, with alittle help from my fist now and then, jest as well as you done theHonorable's. I guess it won't be long before I have you crawlin'on your knees to me for a word o' kindness. I guess--"
"Aw, stow that soft stuff, Magnus," advised Slinker. "You can doyour spoonin' with the gal later on. We're here to git that gold,and don't you forget it. Plenty o' time afterwards to spark thewimmen."
"That's the talk," chimed in Blackbeard. "Don't run us on a leeshore for the sake of a skirt. Skirts is thicker'n herring inevery port, ain't they?"
"I got a score to settle with this one," growled Magnus sullenly,but his grasp loosened on my arm, and I slipped from him and fledto Aunt Jane--yes, to Aunt Jane--and clung to her convulsively.The poor little woman was crying, of course, making a lowinarticulate whimper like a frightened child. MissHigglesby-Browne seemed to have petrified. Her skin had a witheredlook, and a fine network of lines showed on it, suddenly clear,like a tracery on parchment. Beyond her I saw the face of DugaldShaw, gray with a steely wrath. A gun had been trained anew on himand Cuthbert, and the bearer thereof was arguing with themprofanely. I suppose the prisoners had threatened outbreak at thespectacle of the chin-chucking.
No one had bothered to secure Cookie, and he knelt among the potsand pans of his open-air kitchen, pouring forth petitions in asteady stream. Blackboard, who seemed a jovial brute, burst into aloud guffaw.
"Ha, ha! Look at old Soot-and-Cinders gittin' hisself ready forglory!" He approached the negro and aimed at him a kick whichCookie, arising with unexpected nimbleness, contrived to dodge."Looky here, darky, git busy dishin' up the grub, will you? Icould stand one good feed after the forecastle slops we been livin'on."
Blackbeard, whom his companions addressed indiscriminately as"Captain," or "Tony," seemed to exercise a certain authority. Hewent over to the prisoners on the log and inspected their bonds.
"You'll do; can't git loose nohow," he announced. Then, with asavage frown, "But no monkey business. First o' that I see, its adose o' cold lead for youse, savvy?"
He turned to us women.
"Well, chickabiddies, we ain't treated you harsh, I hope? Now Idon't care about tyin' youse up, in case we can help it, so jest begood girls, and I'll let youse run around loose for a while."
But Magnus struck in with an oath.
"Loose? You're turnin' soft, I say. The future Mrs. M.there--which I mean to make her if she behaves right--she's ahandful, she is. There ain't no low trick she won't play on us ifshe gets the chance. Better tie her up, I say."
"Magnus," responded Tony with severity, "it'd make a person thinkto hear you talk that you wasn't no gentleman. If you can't keeplittle Red-top in order without you tie her, why, then hand herover to a guy what can. I bet I wouldn't have a speck o' troublewith her--her and me would git along as sweet as two turtle-doves."
"You dry up, Tony," said Magnus, lowering. "I'll look after my ownaffairs of the heart. Anyway, here's them two old hens what havebeen makin' me sick with their jabber and nonsense all these weeks.Ain't I goin' to have a chance to get square?"
"Here, youse!" struck in Slinker, "quit your jawin'! Here's a feedwe ain't seen the like of in weeks."
Tony thereupon ordered the women to sit down on the ground in theshade and not move under penalty of "gettin' a wing clipped." Weobeyed in silence and looked on while the pirates with wolfishvoracity devoured the meal which had been meant for us. They hadpocket-flasks with them, and as they attacked them with frequencythe talk grew louder and wilder. By degrees it was possible tocomprehend the extraordinary disaster which had befallen us, atleast in a sketchy outline of which the detail was filled in later.Tony, it appeared, was the master of a small power-schooner whichhad been fitting out in San Francisco for a filibustering trip tothe Mexican coast. His three companions were the crew. None wasof the old hearty breed of sailors, but wharf-rats pure and simple,city-dregs whom chance had led to follow the sea. Tony, in whomone detected a certain rough force and ability, was an Italian, anoutlaw specimen of the breed which mans the fishing fleet puttingforth from the harbor of San Francisco. When and where he andMagnus had been friends I do not know. But no sooner had thewisdom of Miss Browne imparted the great secret to her chanceacquaintance of the New York wharves, than he had communicated withhis old pal Tony. The power-schooner with her unlawful cargo stoleout through the gate, made her delivery in the Mexican port, tookon fresh supplies, and stood away for Leeward Island. The westernanchorage had received and snugly hidden her. Captain Magnus,meanwhile, by means of a mirror flashed from Lookout, hadmaintained communication with his friends, and even visited themunder cover of the supposed shooting expedition. And now, while wehad been striving to overcome the recalcitrancy of Mr. Tubbs,Captain Magnus had taken a short cut to the same end. You feltthat the secret of Mr. Tubbs would be extracted, if need be, by nodelicate methods.
But Mr. Tubbs's character possessed none of that unreasonableobstinacy which would make harsh measures necessary under suchconditions. His countenance, as the i
lluminating conversation ofthe pirates had proceeded, lost the speckled appearance which hadcharacterized it at the height of his terrors. Something like hisnormal hue returned. He sat up straighter, moistened his dry lips,and looked around upon us, yes, even upon Aunt Jane and MissHigglesby-Browne, with whom he had been so lately and so tenderlyreconciled, with a sidelong, calculating glance. After the pirateshad eaten, the prisoners on the log were covered with a rifle andtheir hands untied, while Cookie, in a lugubrious silence madeeloquent by his rolling eyes, passed around among us the remnantsof the food. No one can be said to have eaten with appetite exceptMr. Tubbs, who received his portion with wordy gratitude anddevoured it with seeming gusto. The pirates, full-fed, with pipesin mouths, were inclined to be affable and jocular. "Feeding theanimals," as Slinker called it, seemed to afford them muchagreeable diversion. Even Magnus had lost in a degree his usualsullenness, and was wreathed in simian smiles. The intense terrorand revulsion which he inspired in me kept my unwilling eyesconstantly wandering in his direction. Yet under all the terrorwas a bedrock confidence that there was, there must be somehow inthe essence of things, an eternal rightness which would keep mesafe from Captain Magnus. And as I looked across at Dugald Shawand met for an instant his steady watchful eyes, I managed a swiftlittle smile--a rather wan smile, I dare say, but still a smile.
Cuthbert Vane caught, so to speak, the tail of it, and waselectrified. I saw his lips form at Mr. Shaw's ear the words,_Wonderful little sport, by jove_! For some time after our captureby the pirates Cuthbert's state had been one of settledincredulity. Even when they tied his hands he had continued tocontemplate the invaders as illusions. It was, this remarkableepisode, altogether a thing without precedent--and what was thatbut another name for the impossible? And then slowly, by painfuldegrees--you saw them reflected in his candid face--it grew uponhim that it was precisely the impossible, the unprecedented, thatwas happening.
A curious stiffening came over Cuthbert Vane. For the first timein my knowledge of him he showed the consciousness--instead of onlythe sub-consciousness--of the difference between Norman blood andthe ordinary sanguine fluid. His shoulders squared; he lost hishabitual easy lounge and sat erect and tall. Something stern andaquiline showed through the smooth beauty of his face, so that youthought of effigies of crusading knights stretched on their ancienttombs in High Staunton church. He was their true descendant afterall, this slow, calm, gentle-mannered Cuthbert. It was a younglion that I had been playing with, and the claws were there, strongand terrible in their velvet sheath.
Captain Tony, having finished his pipe, knocked the ashes outagainst the heel of his boot and put the pipe in his pocket.
"Well," he said, stretching, "I'd ruther have a nap, but businessis business, so let's get down to it. Which o' them guys has theline on the stuff, Magnus?"
"Old Baldy, here," returned Magnus, with a nod at Mr. Tubbs. "OldWashtubs I call him generally, ha, ha!"
"Then looky here, Washtubs," said Tony, addressing Mr. Tubbs withsudden sternness, "maybe you could bluff these here soft guys, butwe're a different breed o' cats, we are. Whatever you know, you'llcome through with it and come quick, or it'll be the worse for yourhide, see?"
Mr. Tubbs rose from the log with promptness.
"Captain," he said earnestly, "from long experience in thefinancial centers of the country, I have got to be a man whatunderstands human nature. The minute I looked at you, I seen it inyour eye that there wasn't no use in tryin' to bluff you. What'smore, I don't want to. Once he gets with a congenial crowd, thereain't a feller anywheres that will do more in the cause o'friendship than old Hamilton H. Tubbs. And you are a congenialcrowd, you boys--gosh, but you do look good to me after the buncho' stiffs I been playin' up to here! All I ask is, to let me in onit with you, and I'll be glad to put you wise to the best tricks ofa sly old fox who ain't ever been caught yet without two holes tohis burrow. I won't ask no half, nor no quarter, either, though Ijest signed up for that amount with the old girl here. But give mefreedom, and a bunch o' live wires like you boys! I've near frozeinto a plaster figure o' Virtue, what with talkin' like aSunday-school class, and sparkin' one old maid, and makin' out likeI wouldn't melt butter with the other. So H. H. will ship along ofyou, mates, and we'll off to the China coast somewheres where thespendin' is good and the police not too nosy, and try how far atrunkful of doubloons will go!"
With a choky little gurgle in her throat Aunt Jane fell limplyagainst me. It was too much. All day long she had been tossedback and forth like a shuttlecock by the battledore of emotion.She had borne the shock of Mr. Tubbs's sordid greed for gold, hisdisloyalty to the expedition, his coldness to herself; she had beenshaken by the tender stress of the reconciliation, had beencaptured by pirates, and now suffered the supreme blow of thisfinal revelation of the treachery of Tubbs. To hear her romancedescribed as the sparking of an old maid--and by the sparker! FromMiss Higglesby-Browne had come a snort of fury, but she saidnothing, having apparently no confidence in the effect of oratoryon pirates. She did not even exhort Aunt Jane, but left it to meto sustain my drooping aunt as best I could.
As Mr. Tubbs made his whole-hearted and magnanimous proposalCaptain Tony opened his small black eyes and contemplated him withattention. At the conclusion he appeared to meditate. Then heglanced round upon his fellows.
"What say, boys? Shall we ship old Washtubs on the schooner andlet him have his fling along with us? Eh?" And as Captain Tonyuttered these words the lid of his left eye eclipsed for an instantthat intelligent optic.
From the pirates came a scattering volley of assents. "Allright--hooray for old Washtubs--sure, close the deal."
"All right, Washtubs, the boys are willing. So I guess, thoughthis island is the very lid of the hot place, and when I come againit's going to be with an iceberg in tow to keep the air cooled off,I guess we better be moving toward that chest of doubloons."
It was arranged that Slinker and a cross-eyed man named Hornyshould remain at the camp on guard. As a measure of precautionCookie, too, was bound, and Aunt Jane, Miss Browne and I orderedinto the cabin. The three remaining pirates, armed with our spadesand picks and dispensing a great deal of jocular profanity, set outfor the cave under the guidance of Mr. Tubbs.
Thankful as I was for the departure of Captain Magnus, I underwenttorments in the stifling interior of the cabin. Aunt Jane weptpiteously. I had almost a fellow-feeling with MissHigglesby-Browne when she relapsed from her rigidity for a momentand turning on Aunt Jane fiercely ordered her to be still. Thiscompleted the wreck of Aunt Jane's universe. Its two main propshad now fallen, and she was left sitting solitary amid the ruins.She subsided into a lachrymose heap in the corner of the cabin,where I let her remain for the time, it was really such a comfortto have her out of the way. At last I heard a faint moan:
"Virginia!"
I went to her. "Yes, auntie?"
"Virginia," she murmured weakly, "I think I shall not live to leavethe island, even if I am not--not executed. In fact, I have afeeling now as though the end were approaching. I have alwaysknown that my heart was not strong, even if your Aunt Susan _did_call it indigestion. But oh, my dear child, it is not mydigestion, it is my heart that has been wounded! To have reposedsuch confidence in a Serpent! To realize that I might have beenimpaled upon its fangs! Oh, my dear, faithful child, what would Ihave done if you had not clung to me although I permitted Serpentsto turn me from you! But I am cruelly punished. All I ask is thatsome day--when you are married and happy, dear--you will removefrom this desolate spot the poor remains of her who--of her who--"Sobs choked Aunt Jane's utterance.
"Jane--" began Miss Higglesby-Browne.
"I was speaking to my niece," replied Aunt Jane with unutterabledignity from her corner. Her small features had all butdisappeared in her swollen face, and her hair had slipped down at arakish angle over one eye. But, of course, being Aunt Jane, shemust choose this moment to be queenly.
"There, there, aun
tie," I said soothingly, "of course you are notgoing to leave your bones on this island. If you did, you know,you and Bill Halliwell might ha'nt around together--think how cozy!(Here Aunt Jane gave a convulsive shudder.) As to my beingmarried, if you were betting just now on anybody's chances theywould have to be Captain Magnus's, wouldn't they ?"
"Good gracious, Virginia!" shrieked Aunt Jane faintly. But I wenton relentlessly, determined to distract her mind from thoughts ofher approaching end.
"All things considered, I suppose I really ought to ask you to putmy affairs in order when you get back. If I am carried off by thepirates, naturally I shall have to jump overboard at once, though Idislike the idea of drowning, and especially of being eaten bysharks. Would you mind putting up a little headstone--it needn'tcost much--in the family plot, with just 'Virginia' on it? Andanything of mine that you don't want yourself I'd like Bess to havefor the baby, please. Ask her when the little duck is old enoughto tell her my sad story--"
By this time Aunt Jane was sobbing loudly and waving her littlehands about in wild beseeching.
"Oh, my precious girl, a _headstone_! My love, would I grudge youa _monument_--all white marble--little angels--'From herheart-broken aunt'? Oh, why, why are we not safe at home together?Why was I lured away to wander about the world with perfectstrangers? Why--"
"Jane!" broke in Miss Browne again in awful tones. But at thatmoment the door of the cabin opened and the face of Slinker peeredin.
"Say," he remarked, "there ain't no sense in you girls stayin'cooped up here that I see. I guess me and Horny can stand you offif you try to rush us. Come out and cool off a little."
The great heat of the day was over and the sun already droppingbehind the peak of the island. Mr. Shaw and Cuthbert had beenallowed to sit in the shade, and I thought their wrists were nottoo tightly bound for comfort. Cookie had been released, and underthe eye of Horny was getting supper. Crusoe had earlier in the dayreceived a kick in the ribs from Captain Magnus, fortunately toomuch occupied with the prisoners to pursue his vengeance further,and had fled precipitately, to my enormous relief. The dog wasquite wise enough to know that he would help me best by keeping outof the clutches of our common foe. I hoped he had gone back to hissolitary pig-chasing, though I thought I had caught a glimpse ofhim once at the edge of the wood. But at least he knew better thanto venture into the clearing.
I tried to pass in a casual manner close to Mr. Shaw andCuthbert--who looked more of a crusading Norman than ever--in hopesof a whispered word, but was impeded by Aunt Jane, who clung to metottering. So I led her to a seat and deposited her, with thesympathetic assistance of Slinker.
"Now, now, old girl, cheer up!" he admonished her. "Between youand me, old Washtubs ain't worth crying over. Sooner or later he'dof give you the slip, no matter how tight a rein you kep' on him."
As Slinker turned away after this effort at consolation he cameface to face with Miss Higglesby-Browne. I suppose in the stressof surprising and capturing the camp he had not been struck withher peculiarities. Just now, between the indignity of her captivestate and the insubordination of Aunt Jane, Miss Browne's aspectwas considerably grimmer than usual. Slinker favored her with astare, followed by a prolonged whistle.
"Say," he remarked to me in a confidential undertone, thoughpitched quite loud enough for Miss Browne's ears, "is it real?Would it have bendable j'ints, now, same as you and me?"
Miss Browne whirled upon him.
"'Old your tongue, you 'orrid brute!" she shrieked.
So, in the twinkling of an eye, Miss Higglesby-Browne, fallenforever from her high estate, was strewn in metaphorical fragmentsat our feet. I turned away, feeling it time to draw the veil ofcharity upon the scene. Not so Slinker. He looked about himcarefully on the ground.
"Lady drop anything?" he inquired solicitously.
What might have transpired, had Miss Higglesby-Browne had time togather breath, I dare not think, but just then there came from thewoods the sound of footsteps and voices, and the three pirates andMr. Tubbs entered the clearing. A thrill ran through the camp.Captors and captives forgot all else but the great, the burningquestion--had the treasure been discovered? And I am sure that noone was so thrilled as I, although in my mind the question tookanother form.
For now I was going to know what had been waiting for me there inthe cave, when I stood yesterday at its black entrance, afraid togo in.