THE IRON PIRATE

_UNIFORM WITH THIS WORK. _

KRONSTADT. By Max Pemberton. 

 * * *

_Other Works by the same Author. _

RED MORN. THE GIANT'S GATE. THE GARDEN OF SWORDS. A PURITAN'S WIFE. THE SEA WOLVES. THE IMPREGNABLE CITY. THE LITTLE HUGUENOT. 

CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED. 

[Illustration: THE IRON PIRATE (_p. _ 124). ]

THE . .. IRON PIRATE

A PLAIN TALE OF STRANGEHAPPENINGS ON THE SEA

MAX PEMBERTON

CASSELL AND COMPANY, LIMITEDLONDON, PARIS, NEW YORK & MELBOURNEMCMV. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

First Edition 1893. _Reprinted_ 1894, _March and July_ 1895, 1896, 1898, 1900, 1902, 1905. 

Popular Edition _July_ 1899. _Reprinted August, September and October_ 1899, _February and July_1900, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904. 

Pocket Edition _August_, 1905. 

CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER PAGE

 I. The Perfect Fool asks a Favour 1 II. I Meet Captain Black 13 III. "Four-Eyes" delivers a Message 31 IV. A Strange Sight on the Sea 43 V. The Writing of Martin Hall 59 VI. I Engage a Second Mate 92 VII. The Beginning of the Great Pursuit 101 VIII. I Dream of Paolo 114 IX. I Fall in with the Nameless Ship 123 X. The Spread of the Terror 140 XI. The Ship in the Black Cloak 153 XII. The Drinking Hole in the Bowery 166 XIII. Astern of the "Labrador" 180 XIV. A Cabin in Scarlet 193 XV. The Prison of Steel 198 XVI. Northward Ho! 205 XVII. One Shall Live 218XVIII. The Den of Death 228 XIX. The Murders in the Cove 239 XX. I Quit Ice-Haven 262 XXI. To the Land of Man 274 XXII. The Robbery of the "Bellonic" 285XXIII. I Go to London 298 XXIV. The Shadow on the Sea 308 XXV. The Dumb Man Speaks 329 XXVI. A Page in Black's Life 345XXVII. I Fall to Wondering 371

THE IRON PIRATE. 

_A Plain Tale of Strange Happenings on the Sea. _

CHAPTER I. 

THE PERFECT FOOL ASKS A FAVOUR. 

"En voiture! en voiture!"

If it has not been your privilege to hear a French guard utter thesewords, you have lost a lesson in the dignity of elocution which nothingcan replace. "En voiture, en voiture; five minutes for Paris. " At thewell-delivered warning, the Englishman in the adjoining buffet raiseson high the frothing tankard, and vaunts before the world his capacityfor deep draughts and long; the fair American spills her coffee andlooks an exclamation; the Bishop pays for his daughter's tea, drops thechange in the one chink which the buffet boards disclose, and thinksone; the travelled person, disdaining haste, smiles on all with apitying leer; the foolish man, who has forgotten something, makespublic his conviction that he will lose his train. The adamantineofficial alone is at his ease, and, as the minutes go, the knell of thetrain-loser sounds the deeper, the horrid jargon is yet moreirritating. 

I thought all these things, and more, as I waited for the Perfect Foolat the door of my carriage in the harbour station at Calais. He wastruly an impossible man, that small-eyed, short-haired, stoopingmystery I had met at Cowes a month before, and formed so strange afriendship with. To-day he would do this, to-morrow he would not;to-day he had a theory that the world was egg-shaped, to-morrow hebelieved it to be round; in one moment he was hot upon a journey to St. Petersburg, in the next he felt that the Pacific Islands offered abetter opportunity. If he had a second coat, no man had ever seen it;if he had a purpose in life, no man, I hold, had ever known it. And yetthere was a fascination about him you could not resist; in his visible, palpitating, stultifying folly there was something so amazing that youdrew to the man as to that unknown something which the world had notyet given to you, as a treasure to be worn daily in the privacy of yourown enjoyment. I had, as I have said, picked the Perfect Fool up atCowes, whither I had taken my yacht, _Celsis_, for the Regatta Week;and he had clung to me ever since with a dogged obstinacy that was atriumph. He had taken of my bread and eaten of my salt unasked; he wasnot a man such as the men I knew--he was interested in nothing, noteven in himself--and yet I tolerated him. And in return for thistoleration he was about to make me lose a train for Paris. 

"WILL YOU COME ON?" I roared for the tenth time, as the cracked belljangled and the guards hoisted the last stout person into the onlycarriage where there was not a seat for her. "Don't you see we shall beleft behind? Hurry up! Hang your parcels! Now then--for the last time, Hall, Hill, Hull, whatever your confounded name is, are you coming?"

Many guards gave a hand to the hoist, and the Perfect Fool fell uponhis hat-box, which was all the personal property he seemed to possess. He apologised to Mary, who sat in the far corner, with more grace thanI had looked for from him, woke Roderick, who was in his fifth sleepsince luncheon, and then gathered the remnants of himself into acoherent whole. 

"Did anyone use my name?" he asked gravely, and as one offended. "Ithought I heard someone call me Hull?"

"Exactly; I think I called you every name in the Directory, but I'mglad you answer to one of them. "

"Yes, and I tell you what, " said Roderick, "I wish you wouldn't comeinto a railway carriage on your hands and knees, waking a fellow upevery time he tries to get a minute to himself; I don't speak formyself, but for my sister. "

The Perfect Fool made a profound bow to Mary, who looked very pretty inher dainty yachting dress--she was only sixteen, I had known her allher life--and he said, "I cannot make your sister an apology worthy ofher. "

"If that isn't a shame, Mr. Hall, " replied the blushing girl. "I nevergo to sleep in railway carriages. "

"No, of course you don't, " said Roderick, as he made himself comfortablefor another nap, "but you may go to sleep in _a_ railway carriage;" thenwith a grunt, "Wake me up at Amiens, old man, " he sank to slumber. 

The train moved slowly over the sandy marsh which lies between Calaisand Boulogne, and the vapid talk of the railway carriage held us toAmiens, and after. During the second half of the long journey Roderickwas asleep, and Mary's pretty head had fallen against the cushion asthe swing of the carriage gave the direct negative to her words atCalais station. At last, even the maker of commonplaces was silent; andas I reclined at greater length on the cushions of the stuffycompartment, I thought how strange a company we were then being carriedover the dull, drear pasture-land of France, to the lights, the music, and the life of the great capital. Of the man Martin Hall--I rememberedhis true name in the moments of repose--I knew nothing beyond thatwhich I have told you; but of my friends Roderick and Mary, accompanying me on this wildaway journey, I knew all that was to beknown. Roderick and I had been at Caius College, Cambridge, together, friends drawn the closer in affection because our conditions in kithand kin, in possession and in purpose, in ambition and in idleness, were so very like. Roderick was an orphan twenty-four years of age, young, rich, desiring to know life before he measured strength withher, caring for no man, not vital enough to realise danger, anEnglishman in tenacity of will, a good fellow, a gentleman. His sisterwas his only care. He gave to her the strength of an undivided love, and just as, in the shallowness of much of his life, there was matterfor blame, so in this increasing affection and thought for the one verydear to him was there the strength of a strong manhood and a noblework. 

For myself, I was twenty-five when the strange things of which I amabout to write happened to me. Like Roderick, I was an orphan. Myfather had left me £50, 000, which I drew upon when I was of age; but, shame that I should write it, I had spent more than £40, 000 in fouryears, and my schooner, the _Celsis_, with some few thousand pounds, alone remained to me. Of what was my future to be, I knew not. In thesenseless purpose of my life, I said only, "It will come, the tide inmy affairs which taken at the flood should lead on to fortune. " And inthis supreme folly I lived the days, now in the Mediterranean, nowcruising round the coast of England, now flying of a sudden to Pariswith one they might have called a vulgarian, but one I chose to know. Ajourney fraught with folly, the child of folly, to end in folly, somight it have been said; but who can foretell the supreme moments ofour lives, when unknowingly we stand on the threshold of action? Andwho should expect me to foresee that the man who was to touch thespring of my life's action sat before me--mocked of me, dubbed thePerfect Fool--over whose dead body I was to tread the paths of dangerand the intricate ways of strange adventure?

But I would not weary you with more of these facts than are absolutelynecessary for the understanding of this story, surpassing strange, which I judge it to be as much my duty as my privilege to write. Let usgo back to the Gare du Nord, and the compartment wherein Mary andRoderick slept, while the Perfect Fool and I faced each other, surfeited with meteorological observations, sick to weariness withreflections upon the probability of being late or arriving before time. I would well have been silent and dozed as the others were doing; of atruth, I had done so had it not become very evident that the man whohad begun to bore me wished at last to say something, relating neitherto the weather nor to the speed of our train. His restless manner, thefidgeting of his hands with certain papers which he had taken from hisgreat-coat pocket, the shifting of the small grey eyes, marked thatwithin him which suffered not show except in privacy; and I waited forhim, making pretence of interest in the great plain of hedgelesspasture-land which bordered the track on each side. At last he spoke, and, speaking, seemed to be the Perfect Fool no longer. 

"They're both asleep, aren't they?" he asked suddenly, as he put hishand, which seemed to tremble, upon my arm, and pointed to thesleepers. "Would you mind making sure--quite sure--before Ispeak?--that is, if you will let me, for I have a favour to ask. "

To see the man grave and evidently concerned was to me so unusual thatfor a moment I looked at him rather than at Roderick or Mary, andwaited to know if the gravity were not of his humour and not of anydeeper import. A single glance at him convinced me for the second timethat I did him wrong. He was looking at me with a fitful pleading lookunlike anything he had shown previously. In answer to his request Iassured him at once that he might speak his mind; that, even ifRoderick should overhear us, I would pledge my word for his good faith. Then only did he unbosom himself and tell me freely what he had to say. 

"I wanted to speak to you some days ago, " he said earnestly andquickly, as his hands continued to play with the paper, "but we havebeen so much occupied that I have never found the occasion. It mustseem curious in your eyes that I, who am quite a stranger to you, should have been in your company for some weeks, and should not havetold you more than my name. As the thing stands, you have been kindenough to make no inquiries; if I am an impostor, you do not care toknow it; if I am a rascal hunted by the law, you have not been willingto help the law; you do not know if I have money or no money, a home orno home, people or no people, yet you have made me--shall I say, afriend?"

He asked the question with such a gentle inflexion of the voice that Ifelt a softer chord was touched, and in response I shook hands withhim. After that he continued to speak. 

"I am very grateful for all your trust, believe me, for I am a man thathas known few friends in life, and I have not cared to go out of my wayto seek them. You have given me your friendship unasked, and it is themore prized. What I wanted to say is this, if I should die before threedays have passed, will you open this packet of papers I have preparedand sealed for you, and carry out what is written there as well as youare able? It is no idle request, I assure you; it is one that will putyou in the place where I now stand, with opportunities greater than Idare to think of. As for the dangers, they are big enough, but you arethe man to overcome them as I hope to overcome them--if I live!"

The sun fell over the lifeless scene without as he ceased to speak. Icould see a crimson beam glowing upon a crucifix that stood on thewayside by the hill-foot yonder; but the cheerless monotony of ploughland and of pasture, stretching away leafless, treeless, without bud orflower, herd or herdsman, church or cottage, to the shadowed horizon, looming dark as the twilight deepened, was in sympathy with the gloomwhich had come upon me as Martin Hall ceased to speak. I had thoughtthe man a fool and witless, flighty in purpose and shallow in thought, and yet he seemed to speak of great mysteries--and of death. In onemoment the jester's cloak fell from him, and I saw the mail beneath. Hehad made a great impression upon me, but I concealed it from him, andreplied jauntily and with no show of gravity--

"Tell me, are you quite certain that you are not talking nonsense?"

He replied by asking me to take his hand. I took it--it was chill withthe icy cold as of death; and I doubted his meaning no more, butdetermined to have the whole mystery, then so faintly sketched, laidbare before me. 

"If you are not playing the fool, Hall, " said I, "and if you aresincere in wishing me to do something which you say is a favour to you, you must be more explicit. In the first place, how did you get thisabsurd notion that you are going to die into your head? Secondly, whatis the nature of the obligation you wish to put upon me? It is quiteclear that I can't accept a trust about which I know nothing, and Ithink that for undiluted vagueness your words deserve a medal. Let usbegin at the beginning, which is a very good place to begin at. Now, why should you, who are going to Paris, as far as I know, simply as acommon sightseer, have any reason to fear some mysterious calamity in acity where you don't know a soul?"

He laughed softly, looking out for a moment on the sunless fields, buthis eyes flashed lights when he answered me, and I saw that he clenchedhis hands so that the nails pierced the flesh. 

"Why am I going to Paris without aim, do you say? Without aim--I, whohave waited years for the work I believe that I shall accomplishto-night--why am I going to Paris? Ha! I will tell you: I am going toParis to meet one who, before another year has gone, will be wanted byevery Government in Europe; who, if I do not put my hand upon histhroat in the midst of his foul work, will make graves as thick aspines in the wood there before you know another month; one who is madand who is sane, one who, if he knew my purpose, would crush me as Icrush this paper; one who has everything that life can give and seeksmore, a man who has set his face against humanity, and who will makewar on the nations, who has money and men, who can command and beobeyed in ten cities, against whom the police might as well hope tofight as against the white wall of the South Sea; a man of purpose sodeadly that the wisest in crime would not think of it--a man, in short, who is the product of culminating vice--him I am going to meet in thisParis where I go without aim--without aim, ha!"

"And you mean to run him down?" I asked, as his voice sank to a hoarsewhisper, and the drops stood as beads on his brow; "what interest haveyou in him?"

"At the moment none; but in a month the interest of money. As sure asyou and I talk of it now, there will be fifty thousand pounds offeredfor knowledge of him before December comes upon us!"

I looked at him as at one who dreams dreams, but he did not flinch. 

"You meet the man in Paris?" I went on. 

"To-night I shall be with him, " he answered; "within three days I winall or lose all: for his secret will be mine. If I fail, it is for youto follow up the thread which I have unravelled by three years' hardwork----"

"What sort of person do you say he is?" I continued, and he replied--

"You shall see for yourself. Dare you risk coming with me--I meet himat eight o'clock?"

"Dare I risk!--pooh, there can't be much danger. "

"There is every danger!--but, so, the girl is waking!"

It was true; Mary looked up suddenly as we thundered past thefortifications of Paris, and said, as people do say in suchcircumstances, "Why, I believe I've been asleep!" Roderick shookhimself like a great bear, and asked if we had passed Chantilly; thePerfect Fool began his banter, and roared for a cab as the lights ofthe station twinkled in the semi-darkness. I could scarce believe, as Iwatched his antics, that he was the man who had spoken to me of greatmysteries ten minutes before. Still less could I convince myself thathe had not many days to live. So are the fateful things of life hiddenfrom us. 

CHAPTER II. 

I MEET CAPTAIN BLACK. 

The lights of Paris were very bright as we drove down the Boulevard desCapucines, and drew up at length at the Hôtel Scribe, which is by theOpera House. Mary uttered a hundred exclamations of joy as we passedthrough the city of lights; and Roderick, who loved Paris, condescendedto keep awake!

"I'll tell you what, " he exclaimed, after a period of profoundreflection, "the beauty of this place is that no one thinks here, except about cooking, and, after all, cooking is one of the firstthings worthy of serious speculation, isn't it? Suppose we plan a nicelittle dinner for four?"

"For two, my dear fellow, if you please, " said Hall, with mock ofstate--he was quite the Perfect Fool again. "Mr. Mark Strongcondescends to dine with me, and in that utter unselfishness ofcharacter peculiar to him insists on paying the bill--don't you, Mr. Mark?"

I answered that I did, and, be it known, I was the Mark Strong referredto. 

"The fact is, Roderick, " I explained, "that I made a promise to meetone of Mr. Hall's friends to-night, so you and Mary must dine alone. You can then go to sleep, don't you see, or take Mary out and buy hersomething. "

"Yes, that would be splendid, Roderick, " cried Mary, all the girlishexcitement born of Paris strong upon her. "Let's go and buy a hundredthings"--Roderick groaned--"but I wish, Mark, you weren't going toleave us on our first night here; you know what you said onlyyesterday!"

"What did I say yesterday?"

"That there were a lot of bounders in Paris--and I want to see thembound!"

I consoled her by telling her that bounders never made display aftersix o'clock, and assured her that Roderick had long confessed to me hisintention to buy her the best hat in Paris, at which Roderick mutteredexclamations for my ear only. By that time we were at the hotel, andthe Perfect Fool had much to say. 

"Could any gentleman oblige me with the time, English or French?" heasked; "my watch is so moved at the situation in which it finds itselfthat it is fourteen hours too slow. "

I told him that it was ten minutes to eight, and the informationquickened him. 

"Ten minutes to eight, and half-a-dozen Russian princes, to say nothingof an English knight, to meet; so ho, my toilet must remain! Couldanyone oblige me with a comb, fragmentary or whole?"

He continued his banter as we mounted the stairs of the cozy littlehotel, whose windows overlook the core of the great throbbing heart ofParis, and so until we were alone in my room, whither he had followedme. 

"Quick's the word, " he said, as he shut the door, and took severalarticles from his hat-box, "and no more palaver. One pair ofspectacles, one wig, one set of curiosities to sell--do I look like asecond-hand dealer in odd lots, or do I not, Mr. Mark Strong?"

I had never seen such an utter change in any man made with such littleshow. The Perfect Fool was no longer before me; there was in his placea lounging, shady-looking, greed-haunted Hebrew. The haunching of theshoulders was perfect; the stoop, the walk, were triumphs. But he gaveme little opportunity to inspect him or to ask for what reason he hadthus disguised himself. 

"It's five minutes from here, " he said, "and the clocks are goingeight--you are right as you are, for you are a cipher in the affairyet, and don't run the danger I run--now come!"

He passed down the stairs with this blunt invitation, and I followedhim. So good was his disguise and make-pretence that the others, whowere in the narrow hall, drew back, to let him go, not recognising him, and spoke to me, asking what I had done with him. Then I pointed to thenew Perfect Fool, and without another word of explanation went on intothe street. 

We walked in silence for some little distance, keeping by the Opera, and so through to the broad Boulevard Haussmann. Thence he turned, crossing the busy thoroughfare, and passing through the Rue Joubert, stopped quite suddenly at last in the mouth of a _cul-de-sac_ whichopened from the narrow street. He had something to say to me, and hegave it with quick words prompted by a quick and serious wit, for hehad put off the _rôle_ of the jester at the hotel. 

"This is the place, " he said; "up here on the third, and there isn'tmuch time for talk. Just this; you're my man, you carry this box ofmetal"--he meant the case of curiosities--"and don't open your mouth, unless you get the fool in you and want the taste of a six-inch knife. That's my risk, and I haven't brought you here to share it; so mum'sthe word, mum, mum, mum; and keep a hold on your eyes, whatever you seeor whatever you hear. Do I look all right?"

"Perfectly--but just a word; if we are going into some den where we mayhave a difficulty in getting out again, wouldn't it be as well to goarmed?"

"Armed!--pish!"--and he looked unutterable contempt, treading thepassage with long strides, and entering a house at the far end of it. 

Thither I followed him, still wondering, and passing the conciergefound myself at last on the third floor, before a door of thick oak. Our first knocking upon this had no effect, but at the second attempt, and while he was pulling his hat yet more upon his eyes, I heard agreat rolling voice which seemed to echo on the stairway, and so leaptfrom flight to flight, almost like the rattle of a cannon-shot with itsmany reverberations. For the moment indistinct, I then became awarethat the voice was that of a man singing and walking at the same time, and seemingly in no hurry to give us admission, for he passed from roomto room bellowing this refrain, and never varying it by so much as asingle word:--

 "There was a man of Boston town, With his pistols three, With his pistols three, three, three; And never a skunk in Boston town That he didn't chaw but me!"

When the noise stopped at last, there was silence, complete andunbroken, for at least five minutes, during which time Hall stoodmotionless, waiting for the door to be opened. After that we heard agreat yell from the same voice, with the words, "Ahoy, Splinters, shiftalong the gear, will you?" and then Splinters, whoever he might be, wascursed in unchosen phrases as the son of all the lubbers that evercrowded a fo'cas'le. A mumbled discussion seemed to tread on the heelsof the hullabaloo, when, apparently having arranged the "gear" tosatisfaction, the man stalked to the door, singing once more instentorian tones:

 "There was a man of Boston town, With his pistols three, With his pistols----"

"Hullo--the darned little Jew and his kick-shaws; why, matey, so earlyin the morning?"

The exclamation came as he saw us, putting his head round the door, andshowing one arm swathed all up in dirty red flannel. He was no sort ofa man to look at, as the Scots say, for his head was a mass of dirtyyellow hair, and his face did not seem to have known an ablution for aweek. But there was an ugly jocular look about his rabbit-like eyes anda great mark cut clean into the side of his face which were a fitdecoration for the red-burnt, pitted, and horribly repulsivecountenance he betrayed. His leer, too, as he greeted Hall, was theevil leer of a man whose laugh makes those hearing hush with the horrorof it; and, on my part, forgetting the warning, I looked at him anddrew back repelled. This he saw, and with a flush and a display of onegreat stump of a tooth which protruded on his left lip, he turned onme. 

"And who may you be, matey, that you don't go for to shake hands withRoaring John? Dip me in brine, if you was my son I'd dress you downwith a two-foot bar. Why don't you teach the little Hebrew manners, oldJosfos? but there, " and this he said as he opened the door wider, "solong as our skipper will have to do with shiners to sell and landbarnacles, what ken you look for?--walk right along here. "

The room indicated opened from a small hall, for the place was builtafter the Parisian fashion--akin to that of our flats--and was a housein itself. The man who called himself "Roaring John" entered theapartment before us, bawling at the top of his voice, "Josfos, the Jew, and his pardner come aboard!" and then I found myself in the strangestcompany and the strangest place I have ever set eyes on. So soon as Icould see things clearly through the hanging atmosphere of tobaccosmoke and heavy vapour, I made out the forms of six or eight men, notsitting as men usually do in a place where they eat, but squatting ontheir haunches by a series of low narrow tables, which were, on closerinspection, nothing but planks put upon bricks and laid round the foursides of the apartment. Of other furniture there did not seem to be avestige in the place, save such as pertained to the necessities ofeating and sleeping. Each man lolled back on his own pile of dirtypillows and dirtier blankets; each had before him a great metaldrinking-cup, a coarse knife, which I found was for hacking meat, longrolls of plug tobacco, and a small red bundle, which I doubt not washis portable property. Each, too, was dressed exactly as his fellow, ina coarse red shirt, seamen's trousers of ample blue serge, a belt witha clasp-knife about his waist, and each had some bauble of a braceleton his arm, and some strange rings upon his fingers. In the firstamazement at seeing such an assembly in the heart of civilised Paris, Idid no more than glean a general impression, but that was a powerfulone--the impression that I saw men of all ages from twenty-five yearsupwards; men marked by time as with long service on the sea; menscarred, burnt, some with traces of great cuts and slashes received onthe open face; men fierce-looking as painted devils, with teeth, withnone, with four fingers to the hand, with three; men whose laugh was ahorrid growl like the tumult of imprisoned passions, whose threatschilled the heart to hear, whose very words seemed to poison the air, who made the great room like a cage of beasts, ravenous andill-seeking. This and more was my first thought, as I asked myself, into what hovel of vice have I fallen, by what mischance have I come onsuch a company?

Martin Hall seemed to have no such ill opinion of the men, and puthimself at his ease the moment we entered. I had, indeed, believed forthe moment that he had brought me there with evil intent, distrustingthe man who was yet little more than a stranger to me; but recallingall that passed, his disguise, his evident fear, I put the suspicionfrom me, and listened to him, more content, as he made his way to thetop of the room and stood before one who forced from me individualnotice, so strange-looking was he, and so deep did the respect whichall paid him appear to be. We shall meet this man often in our travelstogether, you and I, my friends, so a few words, if you please, abouthim. He sat at the head of the rude table, as I have said, but not asthe others sat, on pillows and blankets, for there was a pile ofrich-looking skins--bear, tiger, and white wolf--beneath him, and healone of all the company wore black clothes and a white shirt. He was ashort man, I judged, black-bearded and smooth-skinned, with a big nose, almost an intellectual forehead, small, white-looking hands, all ablazewith diamonds, about whose fine quality there could not be twoopinions; and, what was even more remarkable, there hung as a pendantto his watch-chain a great uncut ruby which must have been worth fivethousand pounds. One trade-mark of the sea alone did he possess, in thedark, curly ringlets which fell to his shoulders, matted there as longuncombed, but typical in all of the man. This then was the fellow uponwhose every word that company of ruffians appeared to hang, who obeyedhim, as I observed presently, when he did so much as lift his hand, whoseemed to have in their uncouth way a veneration for him, inexplicable, remarkable--the man of whom Martin Hall had painted such a fantasticpicture, who was, as I had been told, soon to be wanted by everyGovernment in Europe. And so I faced him for the first time, littlethinking that before many months had gone I should know of deeds by hishand which had set the world aflame with indignation, deeds whichcarried me to strange places, and among dangers so terrible that Ishudder when the record brings back their reality. 

Hall was the first to speak, and it was evident to me that he cloakedhis own voice, putting on the nasal twang and the manner of an East-endJew dealer. 

"I have come, Mister Black, " he said, "as you was good enough to wish, with a few little things--beautiful things--which cost me mooshmoney----"

"Ho, ho!" sang out Captain Black, "here is a Jew who paid _much_ moneyfor a few little things! Look at him, boys!--the Jew with much money!Turn out his pockets, boys!--the Jew with much money! Ho, ho! Bring theJew some drink, and the little Jew, by thunder!"

His merriment set all the company roaring to his mood. For a momenttheir play was far from innocent, for one lighted a great sheet ofpaper and burnt it under the nose of my friend, while another pushedhis dirty drinking-pot to my mouth, and would have forced me to drink. But I remembered Hall's words, and held still, giving banter forbanter--only this, I learnt to my intense surprise that the pot did notcontain beer but champagne, and that, by its bouquet, of an infinitelyfine quality. In what sort of a company was I, then, where mere seamenwore diamond rings and drank fine champagne from pewter pots?

The unpleasant and rough banter ceased on a word from Captain Black, who called for lights, which were brought--rough, ready-made oilflares, stuck in jugs and pots--and Hall gathered up his trinkets andproceeded to lay them out with the well-simulated cunning of thetrader. 

"That, Mister Black, " he said, putting a miniature of exquisite finishagainst the white fur on the floor, "is a portrait of the EmperorNapoleon, sometime in the possession of the Empress Josephine; that isa gold chain--he was eighteen carat--once the property of Don Carlos;here is the pen with which Francis Drake wrote his last letter to theQueen Elizabeth--beautiful goods as ever was, and cost moosh money!"

"To the dead with your much money, " said the Captain with an angrygesture, as he snatched the trinkets from him, and eyed them to my vastsurprise with the air of a practised connoisseur; "let's handle thestuff, and don't gibber. How much for this?" He held up the miniature, and admiration betrayed itself in his eyes. 

"He was painted by Sir William Ross, and I sell him for two hundredpounds, my Captain. Not a penny less, or I'm a ruined man!"

"The Jew a ruined man! Hark at him! Four-Eyes"--this to a great lankyfellow who lay asleep in the corner--"the little Jew can't sell 'emunder two hundred, I reckon; oh, certainly not; why, of course. Here, you, Splinters, pay him for a thick-skinned, thieving shark, and givehim a hundred for the others. "

The boy Splinters, who was a black lad, seemingly about twelve yearsold, came up at the word, and took a great canvas bag from a hook onthe wall. He counted three hundred gold pieces on the floor--pieces ofall coinages in Europe and America, as they appeared to be by theirfaces, and Hall, who had squatted like the others, picked them up. Thenhe asked a question, while the little black lad, who bore a look ofsuffering on his worn face, stood waiting the Captain's word. 

"Mister Captain, I shall have waiting for me at Plymouth to-morrow arelic of the great John Hawkins, which, as I'm alive, you shouldn'tmiss. I have heard them say that it is the very sword with which he cutthe Spaniards' beards. Since you have told me that you sail to-morrow, I have thought, if you put me on your ship across to Plymouth, I couldshow you the goods, and you shall have them cheap--beautiful goods, ifI lose by them. "

Now, instead of answering this appeal as he had done the others, withhis great guffaw and banter, Captain Black turned upon Hall as he madehis request, and his face lit up with passion. I saw that his eyes gaveone fiery look, while he clenched his fists as though to strike the manas he sat, but then he restrained himself. Yet, had I been Hall, Iwould not have faced such another glance for all that adventure hadgiven me. It was a look which meant ill--all the ill that one man couldmean to another. 

"You want to come aboard my boat, do you?" drawled the Captain, as hesoftened his voice to a fine tone of sarcasm. "The dealer wants a cheappassage; so ho! what do you say, Four-Eyes; shall we take the manaboard?"

Four-Eyes sat up deliberately, and struck himself on the chest severaltimes as though to knock the sleep out of him. He seemed to be abrawny, thick-set Irishman, gigantic in limb, and with a more honestcountenance than his fellows. He wore a short pea-jacket over the dirtyred shirt, and a great pair of carpet slippers in place of thesea-boots which many of the others displayed. His hair was light andcurly, and his eyes, keen-looking and large, were of a grey-blue andnot unkindly-looking. I thought him a man of some deliberation, for hestared at the Captain and at Hall before he answered the question putto him, and then he drank a full and satisfying draught from the cupbefore him. When he did give reply, it was in a rich rolling voice, aluxurious voice which would have given ornament to the veriestcommon-place. 

"Oi'd take him aboard, bedad, " he shouted, leaning back as though hehad spoken wisdom, and then he nodded to the Captain, and the Captainnodded to him. 

The understanding seemed complete. 

"We sail at midnight, tide serving, " said the Captain, as he picked upthe miniature and the other things; "you can come aboard when youlike--here, boy, lock these in the chest. "

The boy put out his hand to take the things, but in his fear or hisclumsiness, he dropped the miniature, and it cracked upon the floor. The mishap gave me my first real opportunity of judging these men inthe depth of their ruffianism. As the lad stood quivering andterror-struck, Black turned upon him, almost foaming at the lips. 

"You clumsy young cub, what d'ye mean by that?" he asked; and then, asthe boy fell on his knees to beg for mercy, casting one pitiful looktowards me--a look I shall not soon forget--he kicked him with hisfoot, crying--

"Here, give him a dozen with your strap, one of you. "

He had but to say the words, when a colossal brute seized the boy inhis grip, and held his head down to the table board, while another, nomore gentle, stripped his shirt off, and struck him blow after blowwith the great buckle, so that the flesh was torn while the bloodtrickled upon the floor. The brutal act stirred the others to a finemerriment, yet for myself, I had all the will to spring up and grip thestriker as he stood, but Hall, who had covered my hand with his, heldit so surely, and with such prodigious strength, that my fingers almostcracked. It was the true sign-manual for me to say nothing, and Irealised how hopeless such a struggle would be, and turned my head thatI should not see the cruel thing to the end. 

When the lad fainted they gave him a few kicks with their heavy boots, and he lay like a log on the floor, until the ruffian named "RoaringJohn" picked him up and threw him into the next room. The incident wasforgotten at once, and Captain Black became quite merry. 

"Bring in the victuals, you, John, " he said, "and let Dick say us agrace; he's been doing nothing but drink these eight hours. "

Dick, a red-haired, penetrating-looking Scotsman, who carried theeconomy of his race even to the extent of flesh, of which he wassparse, greeted the reproof by casting down his eyes into the empty canbefore him. 

"Is a body to cheer himself wi' naething?" he asked; "not wi' a bitfood and drink after twa days' toil? It's an unreasonable man ye are, Mister Black, an' I dinna ken if I'll remain another hoor as meenisterto yer vessel. "

"Ho, ho, Dick the Ranter sends in his resignation; listen to that, boys, " said the Captain, who had found his humour again. "Dick will notserve the honourable company any longer. Ho, swear for the strangers, Dick, and let 'em hear your tongue. "

The man, rascal and ill-tongued as I doubt not he was at times, refusedto comply with the demand as the food at length was put upon the table. It was rich food, stews, with a profuse display of oysters, chickens, boiled, roast, à la maître d'hôtel, fine French trifles, pasties, ices--and it was to be washed down, I saw, by draughts from magnums ofPommery and Greno. I was, at this stage, so well accustomed to thescene that the novelty of a company of dirty, repulsive-looking seamenbanqueting in this style did not surprise me one whit, only I wished tobe away from a place whose atmosphere poisoned me, and where every wordseemed garnished with some horrible oath. I whispered this thought toHall, and he said, "Yes, " and rose to go, but the Captain pulled himback, crying--

"What, little Jew, you wouldn't eat at other people's cost! Down withit, man, down with it; fill your pockets, stuff 'em to the top. Let'ssee you laugh, old wizen-face, a great sixty per cent. Croak comingfrom your very boots--here, you, John, give the man who hasn't got anymoney some more drink; make him take a draught. "

The men were becoming warmed with the stuff they had taken, andfuriously offensive. One of them held Hall while the others forcedchampagne down his throat, and the man "Roaring John" attempted to payme a similar compliment, but I struck the cup from his hand, and hedrew a knife, turning on me. The action was foolish, for in a moment atumult ensued. I heard fierce cries, the smash of overturned boards andlights, and remembered no more than some terrific blows delivered withmy left, as Molt of Cambridge taught me, a sharp pain in my rightshoulder as a knife went home, the voice of Hall crying, "Make for thedoor--the door, " and the great yell of Captain Black above the others. His word, no doubt, saved us from greater harm; for when I had thoughtthat my foolhardiness had undone us, and that we should never leave theplace alive, I found myself in the Rue Joubert with Hall at my side, hetorn and bleeding as I was, but from a slight wound only. 

"That was near ending badly, " he said, looking at the skin-deep cut onmy shoulder. "They're wild enough sober, but Heaven save anyone fromthem when they're the other way!"

I looked at him steadily for a moment; then I asked--

"Hall, what does it mean? Who are these men, and what business carriesyou amongst them?"

"That you'll learn when you open the papers; but I don't think you willopen them yet, for I'm going to succeed. " He was gay almost tofrivolity once more. "Did you hear him ask me to sail with him fromDieppe to-morrow?"

"I did, and I believe you're fool enough to go. Did you see the look hegave you when he said 'Yes'?"

"Never mind his look. I must risk that and more, as I have risked itmany a time. Once aboard his yacht I shall have the key which willunlock six feet of rope for that man, or you may call me the Foolagain. "

It was light with the roseate, warm light of a late summer's dawn as wereached the hotel. Paris slept, and the stillness of her streetsgreeted the life-giving day, while the grey mist floated away beforethe scattered sunbeams, and the houses stood clear-cut in the finerair. I was hungry for sleep, and too tired to think more of the strangedream-like scene I had witnessed; but Hall followed me to my bedroom, and had yet a word to say. 

"Before we part--we may not meet again for some time, for I leave Parisin a couple of hours--I want to ask you to do me yet one more service. Your yacht is at Calais, I believe--will you go aboard this morning andtake her round to Plymouth? There ask for news of the American'syacht--he has only hired her, and she is called _La France_. News ofthe yacht will be news of me, and I shall be glad to think that someoneis at my back in this big risk. If you should not hear of me, wait amonth; but if you get definite proof of my death, break the seal of thepapers you hold and read--but I don't think it will come to that. "

So saying, he left me with a hearty handshake. Poor fellow, I did notknow then that I should break the seal of his papers within three days. 

CHAPTER III. 

"FOUR-EYES" DELIVERS A MESSAGE. 

A warming glare of the fuller sun upon my eyes, the cracking of whips, the shouting of fierce-lunged coachmen, the hum of moving morning lifein the city, stirred me from a deep sleep as the clocks struck ten. Isat up in bed, uncertain in the effort of wit-gathering if night hadnot given me a dream rather than an experience, a chance play of thebrain's imagining, and not a living knowledge of true scenes andstrange men. For in this mood does nature often play with us, trickingus to fine thoughts as we lie dreaming, or creating such shows of lifeas we slumber, that in our first moments of wakefulness we do notdetect the cheat or reckon with the phantoms. I knew not for somewhile, as I lay back listening to the hum of busy Paris, if the PerfectFool had or had not told me anything, if we had gone together to ahouse near the Rue Joubert, or if we had remained in the hotel, if hehad begged of me some favour, or if I had dreamed it. All was but aconfused mind-picture, changing as a kaleidoscope, blurred, shadowy. Itmight have remained so long, had I not, looking about the room, becomeaware that a letter, neatly folded, lay on the small table at mybedside. It was the letter which brought the consciousness of reality;and in that moment I knew that I had not dreamed but lived the curiousevents of the night. But these are the words which Martin Hall wrote:--

 "Hôtel Scribe. Seven a. M. --I leave in ten minutes, and write you here my last word. We shall sail from Dieppe at midnight. Do not forget to cross to Plymouth if you have any friendship for me. I look to you alone. --MARTIN HALL. "

He had left Paris then, and set out upon his great risk. The man'sawe-inspiring courage, his immense self-reliance, his deep purpose, were marked strongly in those few simple words, and I had never felt sogreat an admiration for him. He looked to me alone, and assuredly heshould not look in vain. I would follow him to Plymouth, losing nomoment in the act; and I resolved then to go farther if the need shouldbe, and to search for him in every land and on every sea, for he was abrave man whose like I had not often known. 

I dressed in haste with this intention, and went to déjeûner in ourprivate room below. Roderick was there, sleepy over his bottle of badBordeaux, and Mary, who insisted on taking an English breakfast, was inthe height of a dissertation on Parisian tea. 

"Did you ever see anything so feeble?" she said, being fond ofRoderick's speech mannerisms and often mimicking them. "Isn't it prettyawful?" and she poured some from her spoon. 

"'Pretty awful' is not the expression for a polite young woman, "replied Roderick, with a severe yawn; "anyone who comes to Paris fortea deserves what he gets. "

"Yes, and what he gets 'takes the biscuit. '"

"Mary!"

"Well, you always say, 'takes the biscuit'; why shouldn't I?"

"Because, my child, because, " said Roderick, slowly and paternally, "because--why, here's Mark. Hallo! you're a pretty fellow; I hope youenjoyed yourself last night. "

"Exceedingly, thanks; in fact, I may say that I had a most delightfulevening with men who suited me to the--tea--thank you, Mary! I'll takea cup--and now tell me, what has he bought you?"

I thought that a judicious policy of dissimulation was the wise courseat that time, for I had not then determined to share my secret evenwith Roderick, as, indeed, by my word I was bound not to do until Hallshould so wish. In this intent I hid all my serious mood, and continuedthe pleasant chatter. 

Mary had soon poured out a cup of the decoction which Frenchmen calltea, an aqueous product, the fluid of chopped hay long stewed in tepidwater, and then she answered--

"Let me see, now, what did Roderick buy me? Oh, yes! I remember, hebought me a meerschaum pipe and a walking-stick!"

"A what?" I gasped. 

"A meerschaum pipe, and a walking-stick with a little man to holdmatches on the top of it. "

Roderick looked guilty, and admitted it. 

"You see, " he said in apology, "they sold only those things at thefirst place we came to, and you don't expect a fellow to walk in Paris, do you? Now, when I've rested after breakfast, I suggest that we allmake up our minds for a long stroll, and get to the Palais Royal. "

"Well, that's about three hundred yards from here, isn't it? Are youquite sure you're equal to it?"

He looked at me reproachfully. 

"You don't want a man to kill himself on his holiday, do you? You'refatally energetic. Now, I believe that the science of life is rest, thecalm survey of great problems from the depths of an armchair. It'sastonishing how easy things are if you take them that way; never letanything agitate you--I never do. "

"No, he don't, does he, Mary? But about this excursion to the PalaisRoyal; I'm afraid you'll have to go alone, for I have just had a letterwhich calls me back to the yacht. It's awfully unfortunate, but I mustgo, although I will return here in a week, if possible, and pick youup; otherwise, you will hear of my movements as soon as I know themmyself. "

Somewhat to my astonishment, they both looked at me, saying nothing, but evidently very much surprised. Mary's big eyes were wide open withamazement, but Roderick had a more serious look on his face. He did notquestion me, he did not say a word, but I felt his thought--"You holdsomething back"--and the mute reproach was keen. Perhaps someexplanation would then have been demanded had not another interruptionbroken the unwelcome silence. One of the servants of the hotel enteredto tell me that a man who wished to speak with me was waiting outside, and asked if I would see him there or in the privacy of our room. As Icould not recall that anyone in Paris had any business with me, I said, "Send the man here"; and presently he entered, when to my intensesurprise I found him to be no other than one of the ruffians--the onecalled "Four-Eyes" by the Captain of the company I had met on theprevious evening. Not that he seemed in any way abashed at themeeting--he walked into the room with a seaman's lurch, and steadiedhimself only when he saw Mary. Then he rang an imaginary bell-rope onhis forehead, and "hitched" himself together, as sailors say, lookingfor all the world like some great dog that has entered a house wheredogs are forbidden. His first words were somewhat unexpected--

"Oi was priest's boy in Tipperary, bedad, " said he, and then he lookedround as if that information should put him on good terms with us. 

"Will you sit down, please?" was my request as he stood fingering hishat, and looking at Mary as though he had seen a vision, "and permit meto ask what the fact of your serving a priest in Ireland has to do withyour presence here now?"

"That brings us to the point av it, and thanking yer honor, it's meselfthat ain't aisy on them land-craft which don't carry me cargo on aneven keel at all, so I'll be standin', with no offence to the Missy, sure, an' gettin' to the writin' which is fur yer honor's ear alone asme instruckthshuns goes. "

He rang the bell-rope over his right eye again, and gave me a letter, well written on good paper. I watched him as I read it, and saw that ina power of eye that was astounding, he had fixed one orb upon Mary andone upon the ceiling, and that the two objects shared his gaze, whilehis body swayed as though he was unaccustomed to balance himself upon afair floor. But I read his letter, and write it for you here--

 "Captain Black presents his compliments to Mr. Mark Strong, whom he had the pleasure of receiving last night, and regrets the reception which was offered to him. Captain Black hopes that it will be his privilege to receive Mr. Strong on his yacht _La France_, now lying over against the American vessel _Portland_, in Dieppe harbour, at 11 to-night, and to extend to him hospitality worthy of him and his host. "

Now, that was a curious thing indeed. Not only did it appear that mypretence of being Hall's partner in trade was completely unmasked bythis man of the Rue Joubert; but he had my name--and, by his tone inwriting, it was clear that he knew my position, and the fact that I wasno trader at all. Whether such knowledge was good for me, I could notthen say; but I made up my mind to act with cunning, and to shield Hallin so far as was possible. 

"Did your master tell you to wait for any answer?" I asked suddenly, asthe seaman brought his right eye from the direction of the ceiling andfixed it upon me; and he said--

"Is it for the likes of me to be advisin' yer honor? 'Sure, ' says he, 'if the gentleman has the moind to wroite he'll wroite, if he has themoind to come aboard me--meanin' his yacht--he'll come aboard; andwe'll be swimming in liquor together as gents should. And if so be asthe gentleman' (which is yer honor), says he, 'will condescend to wipehis fate on me cabin shates, let him be aboard at Dieppe afore sevenbells, ' says he, 'and we'll shame the ould divil with a keg, and heaveat daybreak'--which is yer honor's pleasure, or otherwise, as it's mejuty to larn!"

It needed no very clever penetration on my part to read danger in everyline of this invitation--not only danger to myself, who had beendragged by the heels into the business, but danger to Hall, whosedisguise could scarce be preserved when mine was unmasked. And yet hehad left Paris, and even then, perhaps, was in the power of the manBlack and his crew! What I could do to help him, I could not think; butI determined if possible to glean something from the palpably cunningrogue who had come on the errand. 

"I'll give you the answer to this in a minute, " said I; "meanwhile, have a little whisky? A seaman like yourself doesn't thrive on coldwater, does he?"

"Which is philosophy, yer honor--for could wather never warmed any manyet--me respects to the young lady"--here he looked deep into hisglass, adding slowly, and as if there was credit to him in therecollection, "Oi was priest's boy in Tipperary, bedad"--and he drankthe half of a stiff glass at a draught. 

"Do you find this good weather in the Channel?" I inquired suddenly, looking hard at him over the table. 

He made circles with his glass, and turned his eyes upon Mary, beforehe answered; and when he did, his voice died away like the fall of agale which is tired. "Noice weather, did ye say--by the houly saints, it depends. "

"On what?" I asked, driving the question home. 

"On yer company, " said he, returning my gaze, "and yer sowl. "

"That's curious!"

"Yes, if ye have one to lose, and put anny price on it. "

His meaning was too clear. 

"Tell your master, with my compliments, " I responded, "that I will comeanother time--I have business in Paris to-day!"

He still looked at me earnestly, and when he spoke again his voice hada fatherly ring. "If I make bold, it's yer honor's forgiveness Iask--but, if it was me that was in Paris I'd stay there, " and puttinghis glass down quickly, he rolled to the door, fingered his hat therefor one moment, put it on awry, and with the oft-repeated statement, "Oi was priest's boy in Tipperary, bedad, " he swayed out of the room. 

When he was gone, the others, who had not spoken, turned to me, theireyes asking for an explanation. 

"One of Hall's friends, " I said, trying to look unconcerned, "the mateon the yacht _La France_--the vessel he joins to-day. "

Roderick tapped the table with his fingers; Mary was very white, Ithought. 

"He knows a queer company, " I added, with a grim attempt at jocularity, "they're almost as rough as he is. "

"Do you still mean to sail to-night?" asked Roderick. 

"I must; I have made a promise to reach Plymouth without a moment'sdelay. "

"Then I sail with you, " said he, being very wide-awake. 

"Oh, but you can't leave Paris; you promised Mary!"

"Yes, and I release him at once, " interrupted Mary, the colour comingand going in her pretty cheeks, "I shall sail from Calais to-night withyou and Roderick. "

"It's very kind of you--but--you see----"

"That we mean to come, " added Roderick quickly. "Go and pack yourthings, Mary; I have something to say to Mark. "

We were alone, he and I, but there was between us the first shadow thathad come upon our friendship. 

"Well, " said he, "how much am I to know?"

"What you choose to learn, and as much as your eyes teach you--it's apromise, and I've given my word on it. "

"I was sure of it. But I don't like it, all the same--I distrust thatfool, who seems to me a perfect madman. He'll drag you into some mess, if you'll let him. I suppose there's no danger yet, or you wouldn't letMary come!"

"There can be no risk now, be quite sure of that--we are going for athree days' cruise in the Channel, that is all. "

"All you care to tell me--well, I can't ask more; what time do youstart?"

"By the club train. I have two hours' work to do yet, but I will meetyou at the station, if you'll bring my bag----"

"Of course--and I can rest for an hour. That always does me good in themorning. "

I left him so, being myself harassed by many thoughts. The talk withBlack's man did not leave me any longer in doubt that Hall had gone togreat risk in setting out with the ruffian's crew; and I resolved thatif by any chance it could be done, I would yet call him back to Paris. For this I went at once to the office of the Police, and laid as muchof the case before one of the heads as I thought needful to my purpose. He laughed at me; the yacht _La France_ was known to him as theproperty of an eccentric American millionaire, and he could notconceive that anyone might be in danger aboard her. As there was nohope from him, I took a fiacre and drove to the Embassy, where one ofthe clerks heard my whole story; and while inwardly laughing at myfears, as I could see, promised to telegraph to a friend in Calais, andget my message delivered. 

I had done all in my power, and I returned to the Hôtel Scribe; but theothers had left for the station. Thither I followed them, instructing aservant to come to me at the Gare du Nord if any telegram should besent; and so reached the train, and the saloon. It was not, however, until the very moment of our departure that a messenger raced to ourcarriage, and thrust a paper at me; and then I knew that my warning hadcome too late. The paper said: "_La France_ has sailed, and your friendwith her. "

CHAPTER IV. 

A STRANGE SIGHT ON THE SEA. 

It was on the morning of the second day; three bells in the watch; thewind playing fickle from east by south, and the sea agold with thelight of an August sun. Two points west of north to starboard I saw thechalky cliffs of the Isle of Wight faint through the haze, but awayahead the Channel opened out as an unbroken sea. The yacht lay withoutlife in her sails, the flow of the swell beating lazily upon her, andthe great mainsail rocking on the boom. We had been out twenty-fourhours, and had not made a couple of hundred miles. The delay angeredevery man aboard the _Celsis_, since every man aboard knew that it wasa matter of concern to me to overtake the American yacht, _La France_, and that a life might go with long-continued failure. 

As the bells were struck, and Piping Jack, our boatswain--they calledhim Piping Jack because he had a sweetheart in every port from Plymouthto Aberdeen, and wept every time we put to sea--piped down tobreakfast, my captain betrayed his irritation by an angry sentence. Hewas not given to words, was Captain York, and the men knew him as "TheSilent Skipper"; but twenty-four hours without wind enough to "blow abug, " as he put it, was too much for any man's temper. 

"I tell you what, sir, " he said, sweeping the horizon with his glassfor the tenth time in ten minutes, "this American of yours has takenthe breeze in his pocket, and may it blow him to----I beg your pardon, I did not see that the young lady had joined us. "

But Mary was there, fresh as a rose dipped in dew, and as Roderickfollowed her up the companion ladder, we held a consultation, the fifthsince we left Calais. 

"It's my opinion, " said Roderick, "that if those men of yours had notbeen ashore on leave, York, and we could have sailed at midnight, weshould have done the business and been in Paris again by this time. "

"It's my opinion, sir, that your opinion is not worth a cockroach, "cried the captain quite testily; "the men have nothing to do with it. Look above; if you'll show me how to move this ship without a hatful ofwind, I'll do it, sir, " and he strutted off to breakfast, leaving uswith Dan, the forward look-out. 

Dan was a grand old seaman, and there wasn't one of us who didn'tappeal to him in our difficulties. 

"Do you think it means to blow, Dan?" I asked, as I offered him mytobacco-pouch: and Mary said earnestly--

"Oh, Daniel, I do wish a gale would come on!"

"Ay, Miss, and so do many of us; but we can't be making wind no more'nwe can make wittals--and excusing me, Miss, it ain't Daniel, notmeaning no disrespect to the other gent, whose papers were all right, Idon't doubt, but my mother warn't easy in larning, and maybe didn'tknow of him--it's Dan, Miss, free-and-easy like, but nat'ral. "

"Well, Dan, do you think it will blow? Can't you promise it will blow?"

"Lor, Miss, I'd promise ye anything; but what is nater is nater, andthere's an end on it--not as I don't say there won't be a hatful o'wind afore night--why should I? but as for promisin' of it, why I'dgive ye a hurricane willing--or two. "

We went down to breakfast, the red of sea strength on our cheeks; andin the cosy saloon we made short work of the coffee and soles, thegreat heaps of toast, and the fresh fruit. I could not help some gloomythoughts as I found myself on my own schooner again, asking how longshe would be mine, and how I should suffer the loss of her when all mymoney was spent. These were cast off in the excitement of the chase, and came only in the moments of absolute calm, when all the men aboardfretted and fumed, and every other question was: "Isn't it beginning toblow?"

The morning passed in this way, a long morning, with the sea like amirror, and the sun as a great circle of red fire in the haze. Hourafter hour we walked from the fore-hatch to the tiller, from the tillerto the fore-hatch, varying the exercise with a full inspection of everycraft that showed above the horizon. At eight bells we lay a few milesfarther westward, the island still visible to the starboard, but lessdistinct. At four bells, when we went to lunch, the heat was terriblebelow, and the sun was terrible on deck; but yet there was not abreeze. At six bells some dark and dirty clouds rose up from the south, and twenty hands pointed to them. At "one bell in the first dog" theclouds were thick, and the sun was hidden. Half-an-hour later there wasa shrill whistling in the shrouds, and the rain began to patter on thedeck, while the booms fretted, and we relieved her in part of her pressof sail. When the squall struck us at last, the Channel was foamingwith long lines of choppy seas; and the sky southward was dark as ink. But there was only joy of it aboard; we stood gladly as the _Celsis_heeled to it, and rising free as an unslipped hound, sent the sprayflying in clouds, and dipped her decks to the foam which washed her. 

During one hour, when we must have made eleven knots, the wind blewstrong, and was fresh again after that; so that we set the foresailunreefed and let the great mainsail go not many minutes later. Theswift motion was an ecstasy to all of us, an unbounded delight; andeven the skipper softened as we stood well out to sea, and looked on agreat continent of clouds underlit with the spreading glow of thesunset, their rain setting up the mighty arched bow whose colours stoodout with a rich light over the wide expanse of the east. Nor did thebreeze fall, but stiffened towards night, so that in the first bell, when we came up from dinner, the _Celsis_ was straining and foaming asshe bent under her pressure of canvas, and it needed a sailor's foot totread her decks. But of this no one thought, for we had hardly comeabove when we heard Dan hailing--

"Yacht on the port-bow. "

"What name?" came from twenty throats. 

"_La France_, " said Dan, and the words had scarce left his lips whenthe skipper roared the order--

"Stand by to go about!"

For some minutes the words "'bout ship" were not spoken. The schoonerheld her course, and rapidly drew up with the yacht we had set out toseek. From the first there was no doubt about her name, which shedisplayed in great letters of gold above her figure-head. Dan had readthem as he sighted her; and we in turn felt a thrill of delight as weproved his keen vision, watching the big cutter, for such she was, heading, not for Plymouth, but for the nearer coast. But this was notthe only strange thing about her course, for when she had made some fewhundred yards towards the coast, she jibbed round of a sudden, with anappalling wrench at the horse; and there being, as it appeared, no handeither at the peak halyards or the throat halyards, the mainsailpresently showed a great rent near the luff, while the foresail hadtorn free from the bolt-ropes of the stay, and was presenting a sorryspectacle as the yacht went about, and away towards France again. 

Such a display of seamanship astounded our men. 

"Close haul, you lubbers; close haul!" roared Dan, in the vain delusionthat his voice would be heard a quarter of a mile away. "Keep down yer'elm and close haul--wash me in rum if he ain't comin' up again, andthere she goes right into it. Shake up, you gibbering fools; luff her abit and make fast. Did ye ever see anythin' like it this side of aMargit steamer?"

The skipper said nothing, but as the yacht luffed right up into thewind again, he groaned as a man who is hurt. Piping Jack lookedsorrowful too, and said, almost with tears in his eyes--

"Axin' yer pardon, sir, but hev you got a pair of eyes in your headwhich can make out anything unusual aboard there?"

"They're a queer lot, if that's what you mean, and they haven't gotenough seamanship amongst them to run a washing tub. Is there anythingelse you make out?"

"A good deal, sir; and look you, there ain't a living soul on her deck, or may I never see shore again. "

"By all that's curious, you're right. There isn't a man showing!"

"'Bout ship, " roared the skipper, and every man ran to his post, whileI touched Captain York on the shoulder and pointed to the seeminglydeserted and errant yacht. 

But the skipper's eyes were not those of a ground-gazer; he needed noaid from me; what others had seen, he had seen, and he nodded anaffirmative to my unspoken question. 

"What do you think it means?" I asked, as we came up into the wind, andthe men were belaying after close hauling for the beat; "are theyhiding from us, or is she deserted?"

But the only answer I got was the one word "Rum, " uttered with a jerkyemphasis, and taken up by Dan, who said--

"Very rum, and a good many drunk below, or I don't know the taste ofit. "

The obvious thought that the yacht we had sought and run down waswithout living men upon her decks had taken the lilt from the seamen'smerry tongues, and a gloom settled on us all. Perhaps it was more thana mere surmise, for an uncanny feeling of something dreadful to cometook hold of me, and I feared that, finding the yacht, we had alsofound the devil's work; but I held my peace on that, and made up mymind to act. 

"Skipper, " said I, "order a boat out; I'm going aboard her. "

He looked at me, and shook his head. 

"When the wind falls, perhaps; but now!" and he shrugged his shoulders. 

"Is there any sign that the breeze will drop?"

"None at present; but I'll tell you more in an hour. Meanwhile, " andhere he whispered, "get your pistols out and say nothing to the men. Ishall follow her. "

His advice was wise; and as the dark began to fall and the night breezeto blow fresh, while the yacht ahead of us swung here and there, almostmaking circles about us, we hove to for the time and watched her. Ibegged Mary to go below, but she received the suggestion withmerriment. 

"Go below, when the men say there's fun coming! Why should I go below?"

"Because it may be serious fun. "

She took my arm, and linking herself closely to me as to a brother, shesaid--

"Because there's danger to you and to Roderick; isn't that it, Mark?"

"Not to us any more than to the men; and there may be no danger, ofcourse. It's only a thought of mine. "

"And of mine, too. I shall stay where I am, or Roderick will go tosleep. "

"What does Roderick say?"

He had joined us on the starboard side, and was gazing over the sea atthe pursued yacht, which lay shaking dead in the wind's eye, but Mary'squestion upset whatever speculation he had entered upon. 

"I've got an opinion, " he drawled, with a yawn. 

"You don't say so----"

"The wind's falling, and it's getting beastly dark. "

"Two fairly obvious conclusions; do you think you could keepsufficiently awake to help man the boat?--in another ten minutes weshall see nothing. "

"Do you think I'm a fool, that I'm going to stop here?"

"Forgive me, but I'm getting anxious. Martin Hall sailed on that yacht;and I promised to help him--but there's no need for you to do anything, you know. "

"No need when you are going--pshaw, I'll fetch my Colt, and Mary shallwatch us. I don't think she is afraid of much, are you, Rats?"--hecalled her "Rats" because they were the one thing on earth shefeared--and then he went below, and I followed him, getting my revolverand my oil-skins, for I knew that it would be wet work. I had scarcereached the deck again when I felt the schooner moving; but no break oflight showed the place where the other was, and the skipper calledpresently for a blue flare, which cast a glowing light for many hundredyards, and still left us uncertain. 

"She's gone, for sure, " said Dan to the men around him, for every soulon board, even including old Chasselot--called by the men"Cuss-a-lot"--our cook, was staring into the thick night; "and Iwouldn't stake a noggin that her crew ain't cheated the old un at lastan' gone down singing. It's mighty easy to die with your head full o'rum, but I don't go for to choose it meself, not particler. "

Billy Eightbells, the second mate, was quite of Dan's opinion. Thelooks of the others told me then that they began to fear the adventure. Billy was the first really to give expression to the common sentiment. 

"Making bold to speak, " he said, "it were two years ago come Christmasas I met something like this afore, down Rio way----"

"Was it at eight bells, Billy?" asked Mary mischievously. She knew thatall Billy's yarns began at eight bells. 

"Well, I think it were, mum, but as I was saying----"

"Flash again, " said the skipper, suddenly interrupting the harangue, and as the blue light flashed we saw right ahead of us the wanderer wesought; but she was bearing down upon us, and there was fear in theskipper's voice when he roared--

"For God's sake, hard a-starboard!"

The helm went over, and the yacht loomed up black, as our own lightdied away; and passed us within a cable's length. What lift of thenight there was showed us her decks again; but they were not deserted, for as one or two aboard gave a great cry, I saw the white and horridlydistorted face of a man who clung to the main shrouds--and he alone wasguardian of the wanderer. 

The horrid vision struck my own men with a deadly fearing. 

"May the Lord help us!" said Dan. 

"And him!" added Piping Jack solemnly. 

"Was he alive, d'you think?" asked Dan. 

"It's my opinion he'd seen something as no Christian man ought to see. Please God, we all get to port again!"

"Please God!" said half-a-dozen; and their words had meaning. 

For myself, my thoughts were very different. That vision of the man Ihad left well and hopeful and strong not three days since was terribleto me. A brave man had gone to his death, but to what a death, if thatagonised face and distorted visage betokened aught! And I had promisedto aid him, and was drifting there with the schooner, raising no handto give him help. 

"Skipper, " I cried, "this time we'll risk getting a boat off; I'm goingaboard that vessel now, if I drown before I return. " Then I turned tothe men, and said: "You saw the yacht pass just now, and you saw thatman aboard her--he's my friend, and I'm going to fetch him. Who amongstyou is coming with me?"

They hung back for a moment before the stuff that was in them showeditself; then Dan lurched out, and said--

"I go!"

Billy Eightbells followed. 

"And I, " said he, "if it's the Old One himself. "

"And I, " said Piping Jack. 

"And I, " said Planks, the carpenter. 

"Come on, then, and take your knives in your belts. Skipper, put aboutand show another light. "

He obeyed mechanically, saying nothing; but he was a brave man, I knew. It was our luck to find that the boat went away from the davits with nomore than a couple of buckets of water in her; and in two minutes' timethe men were giving way, and we rose and fell to the still choppy sea, while the green spray ran from our oilskins in gallons. In this way wemade a couple of hundred yards in the direction we judged the yachtwould turn, and lit a flash. It showed her a quarter of a mile away, jibbing round and coming into the wind again. 

"We shall catch her on the tack if she holds her bearing, " said Dan, "and be aboard in ten minutes. "

"What then?" said Billy. 

"Ay, what then?" echoed the others. 

"But it's a friend of the guv'nor's, " repeated Dan, "and he's indanger--no common danger, neither. Please God, we all get to portagain. "

"Please God!" they responded, and Roderick, who sat at the tiller withme, whispered--

"I never saw men who liked a job less. "

As the good fellows gave way again, and the boat rode easily before thewind, I noticed for the first time that the clouds were scattering; andwe had not made another cable's length when a great cloud above usshowed silver at its edges, and opaquely white in its centre, throughwhich the moon shone. Anon it dissolved, and the transformation on thesurface of the water was a transformation from the dark of storm to thechrome light of a summer moon. There, around us, the panorama stretchedout: the sea, white-waved and rolling; the lights of a steamer to port;of a couple of sailing vessels astern; of a fishing fleet away ahead, and nearer to the shore. But these we had no thought for, since thedeserted yacht was beating up to us, and we stood right in her track. 

"Get a grapnel forward, and look out there, " cried Dan, who was incommand; and Billy stood ready, while we could hear the swish of thewaves against the cutter's bows, and every man instinctively put hishand on his pistol or his knife. 

As if to help us, the wind fell away as the schooner came up, and shebegan to shake her sails; making no way as she headed almost due east. It seemed a fit moment for effort, and Dan had just sung out "Giveway, " when every man who had gripped an oar let go the handle again andsat with horror writ on his countenance. For, almost with the words ofthe order, there was the sound as of fierce contest, of the bursting ofwood, and the spread of flame; and in that instant the decks of theyacht were ripped up, and sheets of fire rose from them to the riggingabove. The light of this mighty flare spread instantly over the seaabout her, and far away you could look on the rolling waves, red aswaves of fire. A terrible sight it was, and terrible sounds were thoseof the wood rending with the heat, of the stays snapping and flying, ofthe hissing of the flame where it met the water. But it was a sight ofinfinite horror to us, because we knew that one who might yet live wasa prisoner of the conflagration--the one passenger, as it seemed then, of the vessel which was doomed. 

"Give way, " roared Dan again, for the men sat motionless with terror. "Are you going to let him burn? May God have mercy on him, for he needsmercy!"

The words awed them. They shot the long-boat forward; and I stood inher stern to observe, if I could, what passed on the burning decks. AndI saw a sight the like to which I pray that I may never see again. Martin Hall stood at the main shrouds, motionless, volumes of flamearound him, his figure clear to be viewed by that awful beacon. 

"Why doesn't he jump it?" I called aloud. "If he can't swim, he couldkeep above until we're alongside"; and then I roared "Ahoy!" and everyman repeated the cry, calling "Ahoy!" each time he bent to his oar, hisvoice hoarse with excitement. But Martin Hall never moved, his gauntfigure was motionless--the flames beat upon it, it did not stir; and wedrew near enough anon and knew the worst. 

"Devils' work, devils' work!" said Dan; "he's lashed there--and he'sdead!" But the men still cried "Ahoy!" as they rushed their oarsthrough the water, and were as those mad with fiery drink. 

"Easy!" roared Dan. "Easy, for a parcel of stark fools! Would you runalongside her?"

There they lay, for any nearer approach would have been perilous, andeven in that place where we were, twenty feet on the windward side, theheat was nigh unbearable. So near were we that I looked close as itmight be into the dead face of Martin Hall, and saw that the fiends whohad lashed him there had done their work too well. But I hoped in myheart that he had been dead when the end of the ship had begun to come, and that it were no reproach to me that he had perished: for to savehis body from that holocaust was work no man might do. 

So did we watch the mounting fire, and the last tack of the yacht _LaFrance_. Saucily she raised her head to a new breeze, shook her greatsail of flame in the night, and scattered red light about her. Then shedipped her burning jib as if in salute, and there was darkness. 

"Rest to a good ship, " said Dan, in melancholy mood; but I said--

"Rest to a friend. " I had known the man whose death had come; and whenhis body went below I hungered for the grip of the hand which was thenwashed by the Channel waves. 

"Give way, " I cried to the men, who sat silent in their fear of it, andwhen they rowed again they cried as before, "Ahoy": so strong and vividwas the picture which the sea had then put out. 

As we neared our own ship, Roderick endeavoured to speak to me, but hisvoice failed, and he took my hand, giving it a great grip. Then we cameon board, where Mary waited for us with a white face, and the othersstood silent; but we said nothing to them, going below. There I lockedmyself in my own cabin, and though fatigue lay heavy on me, and my eyeswere clouded with the touch of sleep, I took Martin Hall's papers frommy locker, and lighted the lamp to read them through. 

But not without awe, for they were a message from the dead. 

CHAPTER V. 

THE WRITING OF MARTIN HALL. 

The manuscript, which was sealed on its cover in many places, consistedof several pages of close writing, and of sketches and scraps fromnewspapers--Italian, French, and English. The sketches I looked atfirst, and was not a little surprised to see that one of them was theportrait of the man known as "Roaring John, " whom I had met at Paris inthe strange company; while there was with this a blurred and faintoutline of the features of the seaman called "Four-Eyes, " who had cometo me at the Hôtel Scribe with the bidding to go aboard _La France_. But what, perhaps, was even more difficult to be understood was thepicture of the great hull of what I judged to be a warship, showing hera-building, with the work yet progressing on her decks. The newspapercuttings I deemed to be in some part an explanation of these sketches, for one of them gave a description of a very noteworthy battleship, constructed for a South American Republic, but in much secrecy; whileanother hinted that great pains had been taken with the vessel, whichwas built at a mighty cost, and on so new a plan that the shipwrightsrefused to give information concerning her until she had been somemonths at sea to prove her. 

All this reading remained enigmatical, of course, and as I could makenothing of it to connect it with the events I have narrated, I went onto the writing, which was fine and small, as the writing of an exactman. And the words upon the head of it were these:--

 SOME ACCOUNT OF A NAMELESS WARSHIP, OF HER CREW, AND HER PURPOSE. 

 _Written for the eyes of Mark Strong, by Martin Hall, sometime his friend. _

I put from me the sorrow of the thought which the last three wordsbrought to me, and read therefrom this history, which had these fewsentences as its preface:--

 "You read these words, Mark Strong, when I am dead; and I would ask you before you go further with them to consider well if you would wish, or have inclination for, a pursuit in which I have lost all that a man can lose, and in which your risk, do you take the work upon you, will be no less than mine was. For if you read what is written here, and have in you that stuff which cannot brook mystery, and is fired when mystery also is danger, I know that you will venture upon this undertaking at the point where death has held my hand; and that by so doing you may reap where I have sown. And with this, think nor act in any haste lest you lay to my charge that which may befall you in the pursuit you are about to begin. "

I read on, for the desire to do justice to Martin Hall was strong uponme at the very beginning of it. 

From that place the story was in great part autobiographical, but in nosense egotistical. It was, as you shall see, the simple narration of aman sincere in his dreaming, if he did dream; logical in his madness, if he were mad. And this was his story as first I read it:--

 "Having well considered the warning which is the superscription of this record, you have determined to continue this narrative, I do not doubt; for I judge you to be a man who, having tasted the succulent dish of curiosity, will not put it away until you have eaten your fill. I will tell you, therefore, such a part of my life as you should know when you come to ask yourself the question, 'Is this man a fool or an imbecile, a crack-brained faddist or the victim of hallucination?' This question should arise at a later stage, and I beg you not to put it until you have read every word that I have written here. 

"I was born in Liverpool, thirty-three years ago, and was educated fora very few years at the well-known institute in that city. They taughtme there that consciousness of ignorance which is half an education;and being the son of a man who starved on a fine ability for modellingthings in clay, and plaster-moulding, I went out presently to make myliving. First to America, you doubt not, to get the experience ofcoming home again; then to the Cape, to watch other men dig diamonds;to Rome, to Naples, to Genoa, that I might know what it was to wantfood; to South America as an able seaman; to Australia in thestoke-hole of a South Sea liner; home again to my poor father, who laydead when I reached Liverpool. 

"I was twenty-two years old then, and glutted with life. I had norelation living that I knew of; no friend who was not also a plainacquaintance. By what chance it was I cannot tell, but I drifted like aliving log into the detective force of my city, and after working upfor a few years through the grades, they put me on the landing stage atLiverpool to watch the men who wished to emigrate because they had noopinion of the police force here. It was miserable employment, buteducating, for it taught me to read faces that were disguised, old menbecame beardless, young men made old at the touch of a _coiffeur_. Isuppose I had more than common success, for when I had been so employedfor five years, I was sent to London by our people and there commandedto go to the Admiralty and get new instructions. Regard this, please, as the first mark in this record I am making. Of my work for our ownpeople I may not tell even you, since I engaged upon it under solemnbond of secrecy; but I can indicate that I was sent to Italy to pick upfacts in the dockyards there, and that our people relied on my gifts ofdisguise, and on my knowledge of Italian, learnt upon Italian ships andin Italian ports. In short, I was expected to provide plans andaccounts of many things material to our own service, and I entered onthe business with alacrity, gained admittance to the public dockyards, and knew in a twelve-month all that any man could learn who had hiswits only to guide him, and as much of those of other men as he couldpick up. 

"But I imagine your natural impatience, and your mental exclamation, 'What has all this rigmarole to do with me--how does it affect thispretended narrative?' Bear with me a moment when I tell you that it isvital to my story. It was in Italy during my second year of work that Ihad cause to be at Spezia, inspecting there a new type of gun-boatabout which there was much talk and many opinions. I have no need totell you, who have not the bombastic knowledge of a one-city man, thatat Spezia is to be found all that is great in the naval life of Italy;on the grand forts of the bay which received the ashes of Shelley areher finest guns; on the glorious hills which arise above her limpidblue waters are her chief fortifications. There, at the feet of thehills where grows the olive, and where the vine matures to luxuriousgrowth, you will find in juxtaposition with Nature's emblems of peacethe storehouses of the shot and shell which one day shall sow the seaand the land with blood. Amongst these fortifications, amidst theseadamantine terraces and turrets, my work lay; but the most part of itwas done in the dockyards, both in the yards which were the property ofthe Government and in the private yards. My recreation was a rarecruise to the lovely gulfs which the bay embosoms, to the Casa di Mare, to Fezzano, to the Temple of Venus at the Porto Venere; or a walk whenthere was golden-red light on the clustering vines, and the Apennineswere capped with the spreading fire which falls on them when the sunpasses low at twilight. Many an hour I stood above the old town, askingwhy a common cheat of a spy, as I reckoned myself, should presume tofind other thoughts when breathing that air laden of solitude; but theycame to me whether I would or no; and it was often on my mind to throwover the whole business of prying; and to set out on a work whichshould achieve something, if only a little, for humanity. That I didnot follow this impulse, which grew upon me from day to day, is to belaid to the charge of one of those very walks upon the hillside aboutwhich I have been telling you. It was an evening late in the year, andthe sun was just setting. I watched the changing hues of the peaks asthe light spread from point to point; watched it reddening the sea, andleaving it black in the shadows; watched it upon the church spires ofSpezia, upon the castle roof, upon the steel hulls of great ships. Andthen I saw a strange thing, for amongst all the vessels which were soburnished by the invisible hand of Heaven, I saw one that stood outbeyond them all, a great globe, not of silver, but of golden fire. There was no doubt about it at all; I rubbed my eyes, I used the glassI always carried with me; I viewed the hull I saw lying there fromhalf-a-dozen heights, and I was sure that what I saw was no effect ofevening light or strange refraction. The ship I looked on was builteither of brass, or of some alloy of brass, as it seemed to me, for thenotion that she could be plated with gold was preposterous; and yet themore I examined her, the more clearly did I make out that her hull wasconstructed of a metal infinitely gold-like, and of so beautiful acolour in the reddened stream which shone upon it that the whole shiphad the aspect of a mirror of the purest gold I had ever seen. 

"The sudden fading of the light behind the hills shut the vision--Icould not call it less--from my eyes. The dark fell, and the vinesrustled with the cold coming of night. I returned to the town quickly, and neglecting any thought of dinner, I went straight to the sea-frontand began, if I could, to find where the water lay wherein thisextraordinary steamer was docked. I had taken the bearings of it fromthe hills, and I was very quickly at that spot where I thought to haveseen the strange vessel. There, truly enough, was a dock in which twosmall coasting steamers were moored, but of a sign of that which Isought there was none. I should have had the matter out there and then, searching the place to its extremity; but I had not been at my work tenminutes when I knew that I was watched. A man, dressed as a roughsailor, and remarkable for the hideousness of his face and a curiousmalformation of one tooth, lurked behind the heaps of sea lumber, andfollowed me from point to point. I did not care to have anyaltercation, so I left the matter there; but, being determined to probethe mystery to the very bottom, I returned in a good disguise of acommon English seaman on the following evening, and again entered thedockyard. The same man was watching, but he had no suspicion of me. 

"'Any job going?' I asked, and the question seemed to interest him. 

"'I reckon that depends on the man, ' he replied, sticking his handsdeep into his pockets, and squirting his filthy tobacco all over thetimber about. 'What's a little wizen chap like you good for, except toget yer neck broken?'

"'All in my line, ' I answered jauntily, having fixed my plan; 'I'mstarving amongst these cursed cut-throats here, and I'm ready foranything. '

"'Starving, are you! Then blarm me if you shan't earn your supper. D'y'see that four feet of bullock's fat and nigger working at them ironpins in the far corner?'--he pointed to a thick-set, dark and burlyseaman working in the way he had described--'go and stick yer knife inhim, and I'm good for a bottle--two, if you like, you darned littleshootin' rat of a man'; and he clutched me with his great paw and shookme until my teeth chattered again. But his look was full of meaning, and I believe that he wished every word that he said. 

"'Stick your knife into the man yourself, ' I replied, when I was freeof him, 'you great Yankee lubber--for another word I'd give you a tasteof mine now. '

"He looked at me as I stood making this poor mock of a threat, andlaughed till he rang up the hill-sides. Then he said--

"'You're my sort; I reckon I know your flag. Out with it, and we'llpour liquor on it, I guess; for there ain't no foolin' you--no, bythunder! You're just a daisy of a man, you are; so come along and letthe nigger be. As for hurtin' of 'im--why, so help me blazes, he's mypard, he is, and I love him like my own little brother what died oflead-poisonin' down Sint Louis way. You come along, you little cuss, and see if I don't make you dance--oh, I reckon!'

"I take these words from my note-book, and write them out for you, togive you some idea of the class of man I met with first on thisadventure. More of his nice language I do not intend to trouble youwith; but will say that I drank with him, and later on with hiscompanions, about as fine a dozen of self-stamped rascals as ever Iwish to see. Next day, I came again to the dockyard, for theconversation of the previous evening had convinced me beyond doubt thatI was at the foot of a mystery, and, to my delight, I got employmentfrom the chief of the gang, named 'Roaring John' by his friends; andwas soon at work on the simple and matter-of-fact business of cuttingplanks. This gave me an entry to the dockyard--all I wished at themoment. 

"Now, you may ask, 'Why did you take the trouble to do all this fromthe mere motive of curiosity engendered by the strange ship you thoughtyou saw from the hills?' I will tell you briefly. The fact of my beingwatched when I entered the dock convinced me that there was somethingthere which no stranger might see. That which no stranger may see in aforeign yard spells also the word money. If there was any informationto be got in that dock, I could sell it to my own Government, or to thefirst Government in Europe I chose to haggle with. This reason alonemade me a hewer of wood amongst foul-mouthed companions, a tar-bedaubedloafer in a crew of loafers. 

"You see me, then, at the stage when I had got admission to the dock, but had learnt nothing of the vessel. It is true that I was admittedonly to the outer basin, where the coasting steamers lay, and that theman 'Roaring John' threatened me with all the curses he could commandif I passed the gate which opened into the dock beyond; but suchthreats to a man whose business it was to lay bare mystery had no moreeffect on me than the braying of an ass in a field of clover. Minute byminute and hour by hour, I waited my opportunity. It came to me on themorning of the eighth day, when, in the poor hope of getting somethingby the loss of sleep, I reached the yard at four o'clock; and the gatebeing unopen, I lurked in hiding until the first man should come. Hewas no other than the one who had engaged me; and when he had gone in, about five minutes after I had come, he did not close the second doorafter him, there being no men then at their work. I need not tell youthat I used my eyes well in those minutes, and while he was away--thiswas no more than a quarter of an hour--I had seen all I wished to see. There, sure enough, lay the most remarkable warship I had everbeheld--a great, well-armed cruiser, whose decks were bright withquick-firing guns, whose lines showed novelty in every inch of them. More remarkable than anything, however, was the confirmation of thatwhich I had seen from the hills. The ship, seemingly, was built of thepurest gold. This, of course, I knew could not be; but as the sun gotup and his light fell on the vessel, I thought that I had never seen amore glorious sight. She shone with the refulgent beauty of a thousandmirrors; every foot of her deck, of her turrets, of her upper housemade a sheen of dazzling fire; the points of her decklights were asbeacons, all lurid and a-gold. So marvellous, truly, was her aspect, that I forgot all else but it, and stood entranced, marvelling, forgetful of myself and purpose. The flash of a knife in the air and afearful oath brought me to my senses to know that I was in the grasp ofthe man 'Roaring John. '

"'Curse you for a small-eyed cheat! what are you doing here?' he asked, shaking me and threatening every minute to let me feel his steel; 'whatare you doing here, you little cat of a man? Spit it out, or I'm darnedif I don't spit you; oh, I guess!'

"I should have made some answer in the rough voice I always put on inthis undertaking, but a bad mishap befel me. The best of my disguisewas the thick, bushy black hair I wore about my face. As the ruffianwent to take a firmer hold of my collar, he pulled aside a portion ofmy beard, and left my chin clean-shaven beneath as naturally it was. The intense surprise of this discovery seemed to hit him like a blow. He stepped back with a murderous look in his eyes--a look which meantthat, if I stayed there to deal with him alone, I had not anotherminute to live. But I cheated him again, and, turning on my heel, Ifled with all the speed I possessed, and got into the street withtwenty ruffians at my heels, and a hue and cry such as I hope never tohear again. 

"The escape was clever, but I reached my hotel and sat down to findexpressions equal in power to my folly. The thought that I, who was avulgar spy by profession, had committed a mistake worthy of anovelist's policeman, was gall and wormwood to me. Yet I was sure thatI had cut off all hope of returning to the yard; and what information Iwas to get must come by other modes. The nature of these I knew not, but I was determined to set out upon a visit to Signor Vezzia, who wasthe builder to whom the docks wherein I worked belonged. To him I cameas the pretended agent of a shipping firm in New York, with whom I hadsome little acquaintance, and he gave me audience readily. He was verywilling to hear me when he learnt that I was in quest of a builder tolay down steamers for the American trade with Italy; and some while wepassed in great cordiality, so ripe on his part that I ventured theother business. 

"'By-the-by, Signor Vezzia, that's a marvellous battleship you have inyour second dock; I have never seen anything like her before. '

"I spoke the words, and read him as one reads a barometer. He shrankvisibly into his bulb, and the tone of his conversation marked a storm. I heard him mutter 'Diavolo!' under his breath, and then the mercury ofhis conversation mounted quickly. 

"'Yes, yes; a curious vessel, quite a special thing, for a SouthAmerican Republic, an idea of theirs--but you will extend me the favourof your pardon, I am busy'--and in his excitement he put his spectaclesoff and on, and called 'Giovanni, Giovanni!' to his head clerk, whomade business to be rid of me. Clearly, as a piece in the game I wasplaying, Signor Vezzia had made his solitary move. He was no more uponmy board, miserably void as it was, and in despair I mounted to myhill-top again; and spent the morning where the vines grew, lookingdown upon the golden ship which was built for a 'South AmericanRepublic. ' That tale I never believed, for the man's face marked it asa lie as he gave it to me; but the mere telling of it added piquancy tothe dish I had tasted of, and I resolved in that hour to devote myselfheart and soul to the work of unravelling the slender threads, even ifI lost my common employment in the business. The reverie held me long. I was roused from it by the sight of a dull vapour mounting from thefunnel of the nameless ship. She was going to sail then--at the nexttide she might leave Spezia, and there would be no more hope. I threw aword at my dreaming, and hurried from the vines to my hotel in the townbelow. 

"Now you may form opinion that my prospects in this abstruse andperplexing chase were not at that time much to vaunt. My theories andmy acts had led me into a mental _cul-de-sac_, a blind alley, where, inlack of exit, I took hold of every straw that the wind of thought setflying. Here was the problem at this stage as it then appeared tome:--Item (1): A ship built of some metal I had no knowledge of. Item(2): A ship that shone like a rich sunset on a garden lake. Item (3): Aship that was armed to the full, as a casual glance told me, with everykind of quick-firing guns, and with two ten-inch guns in her turret. Item (4): A ruffianly blackguard, to whom the cutting of a throatseemed meat and drink, with ten other rogues no less deserving, from amurderous point of view, put to watch about the ship that no strangeeye might look upon her. Item (5): The confusion of Signor Vezzia, whomade a fine tale and said at the same time with his eyes 'This is alie, and a bad one; I'm sorry that I have nothing better ready. ' Item(6): My own adamantine conviction that I stood near by some mystery, which was about to be a big mystery, and which would pay me to pursue. 'A fine bundle of nonsense, ' I hear you say; 'as silly a flight of avaporous brain as ever man conceived'--but stay your words awhile;remember that one who is bred up at the keyhole lets himself, if he bewise, be moved by his impulses, and first opinions. He does not quitthem until he knows them to be false. Instinct told me to go on in thiswork, if I lost all other, if I starved, if I drowned, if I died at it. And to go on I meant. 

"This was my musing at the Albergo, and when it was over I laughedaloud at its quixotic folly. 'Oh, poor fool, ' I said, 'miserable, brain-blinded, groping fool, to talk of going on when the ship sailsthis night, this very night; and unless you put agents on in every partof the globe, you will never hear of her again. What a fine piece ofdreamer's wit is yours! what a bar-parlour yarn to tell rustics inSomerset! Get up, and mind your own business, go on with your commonlabour, and let the ship and her crew go to the devil if they like. 'For the matter of that, this advice perforce I had to follow, for I didnot possess one single clue at that moment; and although I racked mybrains for one all the afternoon, and went often to the hill-top to seeif the nameless ship yet lay in the dock, I could pick up no newthread, nor light upon any infinitesimal vein of material. The verywant of a _point d'appui_ irritated a brain already excited to a finecondition of unrest. Any hour the ship might sail; any hour somethingwhich would give me the name of her owner might come to me--but thehours went on and nothing came. I dined, and was no step advanced; Ismoked cigars in three cafés, and was again at the beginning; I visitedhalf-a-dozen folk I knew, and drew no word to help me. At last, mockingthe whole mystery with a fine English phrase, I said, 'Let her go'; andI returned to the Albergo and to bed. I had hunted a marine covert fortwo days and had drawn blank. 

"I have said that I went to bed, but it was a poor folly of a process, you do not doubt. I lay down, indeed, and read Poe's tales, which Ilove, an hour or more; then I went over the whole business again, raised every point; made my brain aflame with speculation; put out thecandle; lit it again; read more mystery; held out the hand to sleep;told sleep I did not want her. You who know me will know also howuseless are such gamings of man with Nature. I could not have slept ifa king's ransom went with the sleeping; and so I lay fretful, blameful, scolding myself, condoling with myself, vowing the whole problem aplague and a cheat. This idle wandering might have lasted until dawn, had it not been for my neighbour in the room to my left, who began totalk with a low buzz as of a night-insect humming in a bed-curtain. Thesurging of the voice amused me; I lay quite still and listened to it. Now it rose loud--I gleaned a word, and was pleased; now it fell--and Ifretted; but anon another voice was added to the first, and, if the onehad pleased me, the second thrilled me. It was the voice of my friendwho wished to stab me at the dock. 

"Two words spoken by this man brought me to my feet; two more to thethin wooden door which divided our rooms, as oft you'll find themdivided in cafés through Italy. With feverish impatience, I knelt topry through the keyhole; and muttered a big oath when I saw that it wasstuffed with paper, and that the sight of the two men was hidden fromme. But I listened with an ear long trained to listening, and, althoughthe men spoke so that few words reached me, I remained a whole hourupon my knees, amazed that the man should thus be sent by Providence tomy very hotel; excited with the new sensation of a foot upon the trail. The ship had not sailed, then, for here was the ruffian, who watchedher, wasting rest in the first hours to hold a parley; and if a parley, with whom? Why, with those who paid him for the work, I did not doubt. 

"At the end of an hour the voices ceased, but there was still amovement in the room. That was hushed too; and I judged that myneighbour had gone to bed. For myself I had one of two courses beforeme: either to court sleep and wait luck, with the sun, or to see thereand then what was in the room, and by whom it was occupied. You ask, How was that possible? but you forget my scurvy trade again. In my bagwere forbidden implements sufficient to stock Clerkenwell. I took fromthat a brace and bit, and an oiled saw. In ten minutes I cut a hole inthe partition and put my eye to it, waiting first to see if any manmoved. For the moment my heart quaked as I thought that both thefellows had gone, but one look reassured me. A burly, black-bearded mansat in a reverie before a dressing-table, and I saw that there wasspread upon the table a great heap of jewels which, at the lowestvaluation, must have been worth a hundred thousand pounds. And besidethe jewels was a big bull-dog revolver, close to the man's hand. 

"The tension of the strange situation lasted for some minutes. I had noclear vision through my spy-hole, and knew not at the first watchingwhether the man I saw was asleep or awake. A finer inspection of him, made with a catlike poise as I knelt crouching at the door, showed methat he slept: had fallen to sleep with his fingers amongst thejewels--a great rough dog of a man clutching wealth in his dreaming. And he was, then, one of those connected with the golden ship in theharbour--the strange ship manned by cut-throats, and built for a 'SouthAmerican Republic. ' Indeed did the mystery deepen, the problem becamemore profound, every moment that I worked upon it. Who was this man? Iasked, and why did he sit in an Italian hotel fingering jewels, andgiving a meeting-place at midnight to a common murderer from adockyard? Were the jewels his own? Had he stolen them? Suggestions andqueries poured upon me; I felt that, whatever it might be, I would knowthe truth; and I resolved to dare beyond my custom, and to learn moreof the bearded man and of his gems. 

"Watch me, then; as I knelt for a whole hour at the place ofobservation, and waited for the fellow to awake. It must have been wellon towards morning when he stirred in his chair, and then sat boltupright. I thought he looked to have some tremor of nervousness uponhim; clutching hastily at the jewels to put them in a great leathercase, which again he shut in a large iron box, locking both, andplacing the key under his pillow. After that he threw off his clotheswith some impatience, and, leaving the lamp which burned upon hisdressing-table, he dropped upon his bed. For myself my plan was alreadycontrived; I had determined to go to great risk, and to enter theroom--playing the common cheat again, yet more than the common cheat, for that was an enterprise which needed all the fine caution and daringwhich long years of police work had taught me. I had not only to apethe housebreaker, but also to get the good cunning of a jewelrobber--and yet I knew that the things I had seen warranted me, from mypoint of view, in doing what I did, and that desperate means alone werefit to cope with the situation. 

"Now the new work was quick. Being assured that my man slept, I putback with some cold glue, which was always in my tool chest, the pieceI had cut from the door, and then picked the lock with one grip of mysmall pincers. My revolver I carried in the belt at my waist, for myhands were occupied with a soft cloth and a bottle of chloroform. I hadbig felt slippers upon my feet; and went straight to his bed, where Ilet him breathe the drug for a few moments, and deepened his lightsleep until it became heavy unconsciousness. In this state I did what Iwould with him, and, having no fear of his awaking, I got at his keysand his jewels, and saw what I wished. There, true enough, wereprecious stones of all values: Brazilian diamonds, Cape stones tingedwith yellow, yet big and valuable, the finer class of Indian turquoise, pink pearls, black pearls--all these loosely wrapped in tissue paper;but a magnificent parcel such as you would see only in a West End housein London. I must confess, however, that these stones interested me butlittle, for as I delved amongst his treasures I brought up at last anecklace of opals and diamonds, the first set gems I had discovered;and as I held them to the lamp and examined the curious grouping of thestones, and the strange Eastern form of the clasp, I knew that I hadseen the bundle before. The conviction was instantaneous, powerful, convincing; yet even with my aptitude for recalling names, places, andthings, I could not in my mind place those jewels. None the less was Iassured that the one solid clue I had yet taken hold of was in mykeeping; and, as a quick glance round the chamber told me no more, Iput up the baubles in their case again, replaced the key, and quittedthe chamber. Do not think, however, that I had neglected to mark myman; every line of his face was written in my mental notebook, everypeculiarity of head and countenance, the shape of his arms, above all, the mould of the hands, that wonderful index to recognition; andhenceforth I knew that I could pick him from a hundred thousand. 

"When I had done with this business, I lay upon my bed, and brought thewhole of my recollection back upon the jewels. Where had I seen them;in what circumstances; in whose hands? Again and again I travelled oldground, exhumed buried cases, dwelt upon names of forgotten criminals, and of big world people. An hour's intense mental concentration told menothing; the dark of the hour before dawn gave way to the cold breakingof morning light, and yet I tossed in an agony of blank and futilereasoning. I must have slept from the sheer blinding of the brainsomewhere about that hour; and in my dreaming I got what wakefulnesshad denied to me. There in my sleep was the whole history of the stoneswritten for me. I remembered the Liverpool landing-stage; the departureof the Star liner, _City of St. Petersburg_, for New York; the arrestof the notorious jewel-thief, Carl Reichsmann; the discovery of theopal and diamond necklace upon him; the restoration of it to--to--thebrain failed for a moment--then with a loud cry of delight, whichroused me, I pronounced the words; to Lady Hardon, of 202A, BerkeleySquare, London. 

"It is a ridiculous situation to sit up in bed asking yourself if yourdream be reality, or your reality be a dream; but when I awoke withthat name on my lips, the joy of the thing was so surpassing that Irepeated the name again and again, muttering it as I got into myclothes, using it all the time I washed, and speaking it aloud when Istood before the glass to tie my cravat. Here, I suppose the folly ofthe whole repetition dawned upon me, for, of a sudden, I shut my lipsfirm and close, and bethought me of the man in the next room. What ofhim? Was he still there? I listened. There was no sound, not so much asof a heavy sleeper. He had gone then, and had Lady Hardon's jewels--yetLady Hardon, Lady Hardon----nay, but you could never know the suddenand awful emotion of that great awakening which came to me in thatmoment when my memory travelled quickly on to Lady Hardon's end; for Iremembered then that she went down in the great steamer _Alexandria_, which was lost in the Bay of Biscay twelve months before I discoveredthe golden ship in the dockyard at Spezia; and I recalled the fact, known worldwide, that her famous jewels, this necklace amongst them, had gone with her to her end. Lost, I say; yet that was the account atLloyd's; lost with never a soul to give a word about her agony; losthopelessly in the broad of the bay. How came it, then, that this manwho knew the ruffians in the dockyard below; who seemed a commonfellow, yet possessed a hundred thousand pounds' worth of jewellery, how came it that he had got that which the world thought to be lying onthe sands of the bay? You say, 'Pshaw, it was not the same bauble';that is the obvious answer to my theorising, but in the recognition ofhistoric gems a man trained as I was never makes an error. I would havestaked my life that the jewels were those supposed to be under the sea;and, moved to a state of deep excitement, I left my hotel withoutbreakfast, and mounted to the hill-top for tidings of the great vessel. 

"But she had sailed, and the dock which had held her was empty. 

"This discovery did not daunt me, for I had expected it. I should havebeen surprised if she had been at her berth; and the fact that she hadweighed under cover of night fell in so well with my anticipation thatI waited only to ascertain officially what ships had left Spezia duringthe past twenty-four hours. They told me at the Customs that theBrazilian war-vessel built by Signor Vezzia weighed at three a. M. ; butmore I could not learn, for these men had evidently been well bribed, and were as dumb as unfee'd lawyers. I knew that their information wasnot worth a groat, and hurried back to the Albergo to assure myselfthat my neighbour with the necklace had sailed also. To my surprise, hewas at breakfast when I arrived at the hotel; and so one great link inmy theoretic chain snapped at the first test. As he had not sailed withthe others, he could have no direct connection with the nameless ship, no nautical part or lot with her. But what was he, then? That I meantto know as soon as opportunity should serve. 

 * * * * *

"I have led you up, Strong, step by step, through the details of thiswork to this point, that you may have the facts unalloyed as I havethem; and may construct your history from this preamble as I haveconstructed mine. I am now about to move over the ground more quickly. I will quit Spezia, and ask you to come with me, after the interval ofnigh a year--during which no man had known that which I now tellyou--to London, where, in an hotel in Cecil Street, Strand, I was againthe neighbour of the man with the jewels whom I had taken so daring anadvantage of in Italy. Let me tell you briefly what had happened in thebetween-time. The day on which the nameless ship left the dock, thisman--whom, I may say at once, I have always met under the name ofCaptain Black--quitted the town and reached Paris. Thither I followedhim, staying one day in the French capital, but going onward with himon the following morning to Cherbourg. There he went aboard a smallyacht, and I lost him in the Channel. I returned at once to Italy, andwired to friends in the police force at New York, at London, and SanFrancisco, and at three ports in South America for news (_a_) of a newwar-ship lately completed at Spezia for the Brazilian republic; (_b_)of a man known as Captain Black, who left the port of Cherbourg in thecutter-yacht _La France_ on the morning of October 30th. For nearlytwelve months I waited for an answer to these questions; but none cameto me. To the best of my knowledge, the nameless war-ship was neverseen upon the high seas. I began to ask myself, if she existed, howcame it that a vessel, burnished to the beauty of gold, had been spokenof none, seen of none, reported in no harbour, mentioned in nodespatch? Yet she remained known but to her crew and to me: and mystudy of shipping lists, gazettes, and papers in all tongues, nevergave me clue to her. Only this, I had such a record of navigation as Ithink man never kept yet before; and I marked it as curious, if nothingmore, that in the month when the cruiser quitted Spezia threeocean-going steamers, each carrying specie to the value of more thanone hundred thousand pounds, went down in fair weather, and were paidfor at Lloyd's. What folly! you say again; what are you going toconclude? I answer only--God grant that I conclude falsely--that thisterrible thing I suspect is the phantom of a too-keen imagination. 

"Now, when no tidings came, either of the ship I sought or of theman Black, I did not lose all hope. Indeed, I was much occupiedmaking--during a month's leisure in London--a list, as far as that werepossible, of all the gems and baubles which the dead men and women onthe sunken steamers had owned. This was a paltry record of bracelets, and rings, and tiaras, and clasps, such stuff as any fellow of ajeweller may sell; unconvincing stuff, worth no more than a nearrelation for purposes of evidence. There was but one piece of the wholemass that did not come in my category--a great box with a fine paintingby Jean Petitot upon its lid, and a curious circle of jasper all aboutthe miniatures. This was a historic piece of _bijouterie_ mentioned ashaving once been the property of Necker, the French financier; thenlost by a New York dealer, who was taking it from Paris to Boston inthe steamship _Catalania_; the ship supposed to have foundered, withthe loss of all hands, off the Banks of Newfoundland, sixteen daysafter the nameless ship left Spezia. I made a record of this trifle, and forgot it until, many months later, a private communication fromthe head of the New York Secret Service told me that the man I wantedwas in London; that he was an American millionaire, who owned a houseon the banks of the Hudson River; who had great influence in manycities, who came to Europe to buy precious stones and miniaturepaintings, a man who was considered eccentric by his friends. I keptthe notes, and hurried to England--for I had been to Geneva somewhile--and took rooms in the hotel where Captain Black was staying. Three days after I was disguised as you have seen me, selling himminiatures. Within a week, by what steps I need not pause to say, Iknew that the jasper box, lost, by report, in the steamer _Catalania_, was under lock and key in his bedroom. 

"I cannot tell you how that discovery agitated me. Here, indeed, was mysecond direct link. The man had in his possession an historic andunmistakable casket, which all the world believed to be lost in asteamer from which no soul had escaped. How I treasured that knowledge!Three months the man remained in London; during three months he was notthirty hours out of my sight or knowledge. Day by day when with him, Iconsulted such shipping information as I could get; and scored anothermark upon my record when I made sure that no inexplicable story fromthe sea was written while he remained ashore. This was perplexing for asurety. I could not in any way connect the man with the nameless ship, and yet he knew her crew; he was the one in whose possession the jewelswere; above all, while he was ashore there were no disasters whichcould not be set down to ocean peril or the act of God, as the policiessay. This further knowledge held me to him with the magnetic attractionof a mystery such as I have never known in my life. I resigned my workfor the Government; and henceforth gave myself heart and soul to thepursuit of the man. I followed him to Paris, to St. Petersburg; Itracked him through France to Marseilles; I watched him embark, withthree of the ruffians I had seen at Spezia, in his yacht again; andwithin a month the yacht was in harbour at Cowes without him; while asteamer, bound from the Cape to Cadiz, and known to have specie aboardher, went out of knowledge as the others had done. Then was I sure, sure of that awful dream I had dreamed, conscious that I alone sharedwith that man and his crew one of the most ghastly secrets that thedeep has kept within her. 

"The end of my story I judge now that you anticipate. Though absolutelyconvinced myself, I had still lack of the one direct link to make alegal chain. I had positively to connect the man Black with thenameless ship, for this I had only done so far by pure circumstance. For many months I have made no gain in this attempt. Last year inLiverpool I sketched in yet another point in my picture. I receivedtidings of the man in that city, and there I did trade with him in myold disguise; but he was not alone--the crew of ruffians you have knownby this time kept company with him in that bold and bestial Bohemianismyou will have witnessed with me. I kept vigil there a week, but losthim at the end of that time. When he reappeared in the circles ofcivilisation it was in Paris, but two days ago, when I asked you toaccompany me. You know that I attempted to sail with him on his cruise, and your instinct tells you why. If I could, by being two days afloatin his company, prove beyond doubt that he used his yacht as apretence; if I could prove that when he left port in her he sailed outto sea, and was picked up by the nameless ship, my chain was forged, mybook complete, and I had but to call the Government to the work!

"But I have failed, and the labour I have set myself shall be done byothers, but chiefly, Mark Strong, by you. From the valley of the deadwhence soon I must look back, if it is to be on a life that has noachievement before God in it, I, who have laid down such a life as minewas in this cause, urge you upon it. You have youth, and moneysufficient for the enterprise; you will get money in its pursuit. Youhave no fear of the black After, which is the end of life; but, afterall, it may come to you as it came to me, that there is the finger ofthe Almighty God pointing to your path of duty. I have lived the lifeof a common eavesdropper; but believe me that in this work I have feltthe call of humanity, and hoped, if I might live to accomplish it, thatthe Book of the Good should find some place for my name. So may youwhen my mantle falls upon you. What information I have, you have. Thenames of my friends in the cities mentioned I have written down foryou; they will serve you for the memory of my name; but be assured atthe outset that you will never take this man upon the sea. And as forthe money which is rightly due to the one who rids humanity of thispest, I say, go to the Admiralty in London, and lay so much of yourknowledge before them as shall prevent a robbery of your due; claim afit reward from them and the steamship companies; and, as yourbeginning, go now to the Hudson River--I meant to go within amonth--and learn there more of the man you seek; or, if the time beripe, lay hands there upon him. And may the spirit of a dead manbreathe success upon you!"

 _On the yacht "Celsis" lying at Cowes, written in the month of August, for Mark Strong. _

When I put down the papers, my eyes were tear-stained with the effortof reading, and the cabin lamp was nigh out. My interest in the writinghad been so sustained that I had not seen the march of daylight, nowstreaming through the glass above, upon my bare cabin table. But I wasburnt up almost with a fever; and the oppressive fumes from thestinking lamp seemed to choke me, so that I went above, and saw that wewere at anchor in the Solent, and that the whole glory of a summer'sdawn lit the sleeping waters. And all the yacht herself breathed sleep, for the others were below, and Dan alone paced the deck. 

The first knowledge that I had of the true effect of Martin Hall'snarrative was the muttered exclamation of this old sailor--

"Ye haven't slept, sir, " said he; "ye're just the colour of yonensign!"

"Quite true, Dan--it was close down there. "

"Gospel truth, without a hitch! but ye're precious bad, sir; I neverseed a worse figger-'ed, excusing the liberty. I'd rest a bit, sir. "

"Good advice, Dan. I'll sleep here an hour, if you'll get my rug frombelow. "

I stretched myself on a deck-chair, and he covered my limbs almost witha woman's tenderness, so that I slept and dreamt again of Hall, ofCaptain Black, of the man "Four-Eyes, " of a great holocaust on the sea. I was carried away by sleep to far cities and among other men, to greatperils of the sea, to strange sights; but over them all loomed thephantom of a golden ship, and from her decks great fires came. When Iawoke, a doctor from Southsea was writing down the names of drugs uponpaper; and Mary was busy with ice. They told me I had slept for thirtyhours, and that they had feared brain-fever. But the sleep had savedme; and when Mary talked of the doctor's order that I was to lieresting a week, I laughed aloud. 

"You'd better prescribe that for Roderick, " said I; "he'd rest a month;wouldn't you, old chap?"

"I don't know about a month, old man, but you mustn't try the systemtoo much. "

"Well, I'm going to try it now, anyway, for I start for Londonto-night!"

"What!" they cried in one voice. 

"Exactly, and if Mary would not mind running on deck for a minute, I'lltell you why, Roderick. "

She went at the word, casting one pleading look with her eyes as shestood at the door, but I gave no sign, and she closed it. I had fixedupon a course, and as Roderick, dreamingly indifferent, prepared totalk about that which he called my "madness, " I took Hall's manuscript, and read it to him. When I had finished, there was a strange light inhis eyes. 

"Let us go at once, " he said; and that was all. 

CHAPTER VI. 

I ENGAGE A SECOND MATE. 

We caught the first train to London; and were at the Hotel Columbia byCharing Cross in time for dinner. Mary had insisted on her right toaccompany us, and, as we could find no valid reason why she should not, we brought her to the hotel with us. Then by way of calming thattrouble, excitement, and expectation which crowded on us both, we wentto Covent Garden, where the autumn season of opera was then on, andlistened to the glorious music of _Orfeo_ and the _Cavalleria_. Nor dideither of us speak again that night of Hall or of his death; but Iconfess that the vision of it haunted my eyes, standing out upon allthe scenes that were set, so that I saw it upon the canvas, and oftenbefore me the wind-worn struggle of a burning ship; while that awful"Ahoy!" of my own men yet rang in my ears. 

When I returned to the hotel I wrote two letters, the beginning of mytask. One was to the Admiralty, the other to the office of the BlackAnchor Line of American Steamships. I told Roderick what I had done, but he laughed at the idea; so that I troubled him no more with it, awaiting its proof. On the next morning, in a few moments of privacybetween us, he agreed to let me work alone for two days, and then toventure on suggestion himself. So it came to be that on the next day Ifound myself standing in a meagrely furnished anteroom at theAdmiralty, and there waiting the pleasure of one of the clerks, who hadbeen deputed to talk with me. He was a fine fellow, I doubt not: hadmuch merit of his faultless bow, and great worth in the nicety of hisspotless waistcoat, but God never made one so dull or so preposterous ablockhead. I see him now, rolling up the starved hairs which struggledfor existence upon his chin, and letting his cuffs lie well upon hisbony wrists as he asked me, with a floating drawl--

"And what service can I do for you?"

For me! What service could _he_ do for me? I smiled at him, and did notdisguise my contempt. 

"If there is any responsible person here, " I said, with emphasis uponthe word responsible, "I should be glad to impart to him some verycurious, and, as it seems to me, very remarkable, informationconcerning a war-ship which has just left Spezia, and is supposed to bethe property of the Brazilian Government. "

"It's very good of you, don't you know, " he replied, as he bent down toarrange his ample trousers; "but I fancy we heard something about herlast week, so we won't trouble you, don't you know"; and he felt to seeif his bow were straight. 

"You may have heard something of the ship, " I answered with warmth, "but that which I have to communicate is not of descriptive, but ofnational, importance. You cannot by any means have learnt my story, forthere is only one man living who knows it. "

He looked up at the clock a moment as though seeking inspiration, buthis mind was quite vacant when he replied--

"It's awfully good of you, don't you know; we're so frightfully busythis month; if you could come up in a month's time----"

"In a month's time, " I said, rising with scorn, "in a month's time, ifyou and yours don't stand condemned before Europe for a parcel of foolsand incompetents, then you'll send for me, but I'll see you at blazesfirst--good-morning!"

I was outside the office before his exclamation of surprise had passedaway; and within half an hour I sat in the private room of thesecretary to the Black Anchor Steamship Company. He was a sharp man ofbusiness, keen-visaged as a ferret, and restless as a nervous horselong reined in. I told him shortly that I had reason to doubt the truthof the statement that a warship recently built at Spezia was intendedfor the purposes set down to her; that I believed she was the propertyof an American adventurer whose motives I scarce dared to realise; thatI had proof, amounting to conviction, that this man possessed jewelswhich were commonly accounted as lost in his firm's steamer, _Catalania_;and that if his company would agree to bear the expense, and to give mesuitable recompense if I succeeded in supporting my conjectures, Iwould undertake to bring him the whole history of the nameless shipwithin twelve months; and also to give him such knowledge as wouldenable him to lay hands on the man called "Captain Black, " should thisman prove the criminal I believed him to be. To all which tale helistened, his searching eye fixing its stare plump upon me, from timeto time; but when I had done, he rang the bell for his clerk, and Icould see that he felt himself in the company of a maniac. So I lefthim, and breathed the breath of liberty again as I went back to thehotel, and told Roderick of the utter and crushing failure waiting uponthe very beginning of the task which Martin Hall had left to me. 

Roderick was not at all surprised--it seemed to me rather that he wasglad. 

"What did I tell you?" he said, as he sat up on the couch, and took thetube of his hookah from his mouth; "who will believe such a tale as weare hawking in the market-place--selling, in fact, to the highestbidder? If a man came to you with the same account, and with no moreauthority to support him than the story of a dead detective--who mayhave lost his wits, or may never have had any to lose--would you putdown a shilling to see him through with the business? Pshaw! my dearold Mark, you, with your long head and that horribly critical eyes ofyours, you wouldn't give him a groat. "

"Exactly, I should consider him a dupe or a stark-staring madman; butthe case is different as it stands. I know--I would stake my life onit--that every word Martin Hall wrote is true, true as my life itself. I am not so sure that you are convinced, though. "

I awaited his answer, but it did not come for many minutes. He hadpassed through his momentary enthusiasm and lay at full length upon thecouch, making circles, parabolas, and ellipses of fine white smoke, while he fixed his gaze upon the frieze of the wall, as if he werecounting the architraves. 

"Mark, " he said at last, "when we were at Harrow together an aged sageimpressed upon us the meaning of Seneca's line, '_Veritas odit moras_. 'I regard myself at the moment in a position of truth; but whether oncalm reflection I believe the whole of your dead friend's story, I'mhanged if I know, and therefore"--here he made a long pause and smokedviolently--"and therefore I have bought a steamer. "

"You have done what?"

"At two o'clock to-day, in your absence, I bought the steam-yacht_Rocket_, lately the property of Lord Wilmer, now the property ofRoderick Stewart, of the Hotel Columbia, London. "

I think I must have laughed sorrowfully at him, as a man laughs at adrawing-room humorist, for he continued quickly--

"Before we go on board her, the yacht will be re-christened byMary--who will stay with her dear maiden aunt in our absence--and willbe named after your vessel _Celsis_. Her crew will consist of oursilent friend, Captain York, of his brother as chief mate, and of yourmen now at Portsmouth, with half a dozen more. We shall need eightfiremen, whom the agents will engage, and three engineers, alreadyfound, for I have taken on Lord Wilmer's men. Your cook, old'Cuss-a-lot, ' will serve us very well during the fourteen or fifteendays we shall need to go across the Atlantic, and we want now only asecond and third officer. As these men will be mixed up with us on thequarter-deck, I have told the agents to send them up to see youhere--so you'll run your eye over them and tell me if they'll do. Ihate seeing people; they bore me, and I mean you to take the charge ofthis enterprise from the very beginning--you quite understand?"

"Roderick, my old friend, I'm as blank as a drawing-board--would youmind giving me that yarn from the beginning again--and tell me first, why are we going; then, where are we going; and after that, what hasyour steamer to do with the business of Martin Hall--and, well, andwhat we know?"

He spoke quickly in answer, and seemed disappointed. 

"I hate palaver, " he said, "and didn't think to find you dense, butyou're growing silly at this business anyway. Now, look here; until youread me that paper in your cabin, I don't know that I ever felt angeragainst any man, but, before God, I'll bring the man who murderedMartin Hall, and Heaven knows how many others, to justice or I'll neverknow another hour's rest. You have been talking of Governments andship-owners for twenty-four hours; but what have Governments andship-owners to do with us? Is it money you want? Well, what's mine isyours; and I'm worth two hundred and fifty thousand pounds if I'm wortha shilling. Is it profit of a dead man's work you're after? Well then, mark your man, learn all about him, run him to his hole; and then, whenother people besides yourself know his story, as it must be known in afew months' time, put your price on what is your own, and don't fear torecompense yourself. What I want you to see is this:--For some months, at any rate, we shall get no outside help in this matter from anyliving creature; what we're going to do must be done at our cost, whichis my cost. And what we're going to do isn't to be done at this hotel, or on this couch, or in the City: it's going to be done on the highseas, and after that in America on the Hudson River, where, if Hall beright, is the home of Captain Black. It is to the Hudson River that Imean to go now--at once, as soon as money and the devil's own number ofmen can get the steam-yacht _Celsis_ ready for sea. And at my cost, don't forget that; though I'm a fool in the game, which is yours tomake and yours to play, as it has been from the beginning, when thedead man chose you to finish it and to reckon with the scoundrels nowafloat somewhere between here and the Banks. In his name I ask you nowto close your hand with me on this bargain, to ask no question, to makeno protests, and to remember that we sail in three days, if possible, and if not in three, then, in as small a number as will serve to getthe steamer ready. "

What could I say to a story such as this one? I could only wring hishand, and feel how hot it was, knowing that the same haunting wish tobe up and off in pursuit was about him as about me. For half-an-hour wesat and smoked together. In three-quarters I was closeted in the roombelow with Francis Paolo, who had come from the agents to seek theberth of second officer to the new yacht _Celsis_. When the servantgave me this man's name, I had some misgiving at its Italian sound, butI remembered that Italy is breeding a nation of sailors; and I put offthe prejudice and hurried down to see him. I found him to be asprightly, dark-faced, black-haired Italian, apparently no more thantwenty-five years old; and he greeted me with much smoothness ofspeech. He had served three years as third officer to the bigsteam-yacht owned by the noted Frenchman, the Marquis de Cluneville;and, as he was unmistakably a gentleman, and his discharges were inperfect order, I engaged him there and then for the post of secondofficer to the _Celsis_, and gave him orders to join her at Plymouth, where she lay, as soon as might be. 

But had I known him then as I know him now, I would have paid athousand pounds never to have seen him!

CHAPTER VII. 

THE BEGINNING OF THE GREAT PURSUIT. 

It was our last day in London. Roderick and I sat down to dinner in thehotel, the touch of depression upon us both. Mary had left us early inthe morning to go to Salisbury, where her kinsfolk lived, and I confessthat her readiness to quit us without protest somewhat hurt me. Iimagine that I was thinking of it, for I blurted out at last, when wehad been silent for at least a quarter of an hour--

"I suppose she's arrived by this. "

"No, I didn't post her till three, " Roderick replied in equalreflective mood. 

"Didn't post who?" I asked indignantly. 

"Why, old Belle, of course. I sent her down with the guard to get herout of the way. "

"Oh, " I replied, "I was thinking of Mary, not of your dog. "

"You always are, " he said; "but, between ourselves, I'm glad she went. I thought there'd be a fuss; and if it comes to a row, as it mostprobably will, girls are in the way. Don't you think so? But, ofcourse, you don't. "

I didn't, and made no bones of pretence about it. Mary was a child;there was no doubt about that; but as I girded up my courage for thisundertaking, I thought how much those pretty eyes would have encouragedme, and how sweet that childish laugh would have been in mid-Atlantic. But there--that's no part of this story. 

We were going down to Plymouth by the nine o'clock mail fromPaddington, and there was not a wealth of time to spare. So soon as wehad dined, I went up to my room to put the small things of need away, meaning to be no more than five minutes at the work; but, to myamazement, the whole of the place had been turned utterly inside out byone who had been there before me. My trunk lay upside down; mywriting-case was unlocked and stripped, my diary was torn and rent, myclothes were scattered; I thought at first that a common cheat of ahotel thief had been busy snapping up trifles; but I got a shockgreater than any I had known since Martin Hall's death when I felt forhis writing, which lay secure in its case, and found that, while themain narrative was intact, his letters to the police at New York, hisplans, and his sketches had been taken. For the moment the discoverymade me reel. I could not realise its import, and almost mechanically Irang for a servant, who sent the manager to me. 

His perplexity and dismay were no less than mine. 

"No one has any right to enter your rooms, " he said; "and I willguarantee the honesty of my servants unhesitatingly. Let us ring andask for the porter. "

The porter was emphatic. 

"No one has been here after you since yesterday, sir, when the Italiangentleman came, " he pleaded. "To-day he sent a man for a parcel he lefthere, but I know of no one else who has even mentioned your name. "

"What is the amount of your loss?" asked the manager, as he began toassist me to make things straight, and the question gave meinspiration. I made a hurried search, and I must have shown feeling, for I was conscious of pallor of face and momentary giddiness. 

"You have lost something of great value, then?" he continued, as hewatched. And I replied--

"Yes, but to myself only. Nothing has been taken from the room butpapers, which may be worth ten thousand pounds to me. They are notworth a penny to anyone else. "

"Oh! papers only--that is fortunate; it is, perhaps, a case for yourown private detective. "

"Quite so; I shouldn't have troubled you had I made a search before. Iwill see to it myself--many thanks. "

He withdrew with profuse apologies, but I remained standing, with allthe heart out of me. What, in Heaven's name, did it mean? Who hadinterest to rifle my portfolio and take the papers? Who could haveinterest? Who but the man I meant to hunt down? And what did he know ofme--what? I asked, repeating the words over again, and so loudly thatthose in the neighbouring rooms must have heard them. 

Was I watched from the very beginning? Had I to cope, at the veryoutset, with a man worth a million, the captain of a band ofcutthroats, who stood at no devil's deed, no foul work, no crime, asMartin Hall's death clearly proved? My heart ached at the thought; Ifelt the sweat dropping off me; I stood without thought of any man; theone word "watched" singing in my ears like the surging of a great sea. And I had forgotten Roderick until he burst into my room, a great laughon his lips, and a telegram in his hand; but he stood back as he sawme, and went pale, as I must have been. 

"Great Scott!" he said; "what's the matter?--what are you doing? Weleave in ten minutes; why aren't you ready?"

The excuse gurgled in my throat. I stammered out something, and beganto pack as though pursued by Furies. Then I put him off by asking whathis humour was about. He laughed again at the question--

"What do you think?" he said; "Mary's arrived all right. "

"Oh, that's good; I hope she'll like Salisbury, " I replied, bundlingshirts, collars, and coats into my trunk with indiscriminate vigour. 

"Yes, but you don't wait to hear the end, " he continued, with a greatroar of laughter; "she isn't at Salisbury at all; she's at Plymouth, onboard the _Celsis_. She went straight down there, and devil a bit asmuch as sent her aunt a telegram!"

I rose up at his word, and looked him in the face. 

"Well, " he said, "what do you think?--you don't seemed pleased. "

"I'm not pleased, " I said, going on with my packing. "I don't think sheought to be there. "

"I know that; we've talked it all over, but when I think of it, I don'tsee where the harm comes in; we can't meet mischief crossing theAtlantic, and when the danger does begin in New York I'll see she'swell on the lee-side of it. "

I did not answer him, for I knew that which he did not know. Perhaps hebegan to think that he did not do well to treat the matter so lightly, for he was mute when we entered the cab, and he did not open his lipsuntil we were seated in the night mail for Plymouth. The compartment werode in was reserved for us as he had wished; and, truth to tell, weneither of us had much liking for talk as the train rolled smoothlywestward. We had entered upon this undertaking, so vast, so shadowy, somomentous, with such haste, and moved by such powerful motives, that Iknow not if some thought of sorrow did not then touch us both. Whocould say if we should live to tell the tale, if our fate would not bethe fate of Martin Hall, if we should ever so much as see the namelessship, if chance would ever bring us face to face with Captain Black?And whither did we go? When should we set foot again in that England weloved? God alone could tell; and, with one great hope in a guiding andall-seeing Providence, I covered myself up in my rug, and slept untildawn came, and the fresh breezes from the Channel waves brought newstrength and men's hearts to us again. 

It was full day when we went on board the yacht, and I did not fail tocast a quick glance of admiration on her beautiful lines and perfectshape as I clambered up the ladder, at the top of which stood CaptainYork. 

"Welcome aboard, " he said, giving us hearty hand-shakes; and withoutfurther inspection at that hour we followed him to the cabin, wheresteaming coffee brought the blood to our hands and feet, and put us inbetter mood. 

"So my sister's here, " said Roderick, as he filled his cup for thethird time. 

"Yes, last night, no orders, " jerked the skipper with his usualbrevity. 

"Ah, we must see to that--and the second officer----"

"Still ashore; he left a bit of writing; he'll be aboard midday!"

He had the writing in his hand, and was about to crumple it, but Icaught sight of it, and snatched it from him. It was in the samehandwriting as the letter which Captain Black had sent to me at theHôtel Scribe in Paris. 

"What's the matter?" said Roderick, as he heard me exclaim; but theskipper looked hard at me, and was much mystified. 

"Do you know anything of the man?" he asked very slowly, as he leantback in his chair, but I had already seen the folly of my ejaculation, and I replied--

"Nothing at all, although I have seen that handwriting beforesomewhere; I could tell you where, perhaps, if I thought. "

Roderick nodded his head meaningly, and deftly turned the subject. Iyawned with a great yawn, and the episode passed as we both rose to goto our cabins. It is not well to greet the waking day with eyes thatare half-closed in sleep; and, although the skipper seemed to desiresome fuller knowledge as to the ends of our cruise and the course ofit, we put him off, and left him to the coffee and the busy work of thefinal preparation. But Roderick followed me to my berth and had thematter of the handwriting out. I told him at once of the robbery ofsome of the papers, and the coincidence of the letter which the secondmate had left with the skipper. He was quick-witted enough to see thedanger; but he was quite reckless in the methods he proposed to meetit. 

"There's no two thoughts about this matter at all, " he said; "we'veevidently run right into a trap, but luckily there's time to get outagain--of course, we shall sail without a second mate?"

"That's one way out of the hole, no doubt, but it's very serious tofind that our very first move in the matter is known to others. Hallsaid well that his diamond-buyer could command and be obeyed in tencities: and there isn't much question that we've got one of his menaboard this ship--but I don't know that we shouldn't keep him. "

"Keep him! What for?--to watch everything we do, and hear everything wesay, and arrange for the cutting of our throats when we land at NewYork? You've a fine notion of diplomacy, Mark!"

"Perhaps so; but we won't quarrel about that. There's one thing youforget in this little calculation of yours--our men are as true assteel; this rogue couldn't turn one of them if he staked his life onit. Suppose he has come here to use his eyes, and hang about keyholes;well, we know him, fortunately; and what can he learn unless he learnsit from you or me? There's not another soul aboard knows anything. Youwill tell the skipper that we cross to America for a pleasure trip; youwill help me to keep so close an eye on Master Francis Paolo, secondmate, that if he lose a hair of his head we shall know it. In that wayit may turn out that we shall get from him the link which is lost inthe chain; and when he would draw us, we shall pump him as dry as asand-pit. At least, that's my way of thinking, and I don't think it'ssuch a poor notion, after all. "

"It's not poor at all--it never came to me like that. Of course, you'reright; let's take the man aboard, but I wish we could have left Marybehind--don't you?"

That I did, but what could I tell him? It was bad enough to be huggingall those fears and thoughts of danger to my own heart, without settinghim all a-ferment with apprehension and unrest; so I laughed off hisquestion, and after a six hours' sleep I went aft to the quarter-deck, to take stock of the yacht and get some better acquaintance with her. 

She was a finely-built ship of some seven hundred tons, and wasschooner-rigged, so that she could either sail or steam. Her engineswere unusually large for so small a vessel, being triple-compound;while the main saloon, aft, and the small library attached to it, showed in the luxurious fitting that her late owner had been a man offine taste. In the very centre of her there was a deck-house for thechart-room, the skipper's and engineers' quarters, and a couple ofspare cabins; but generally the accommodation was below, there beingthree small cabins with two berths apiece each side the saloon, androom for the steward and his men amidships. The fo'castle was large, and airy, giving ample berthing for the stokers and seamen; while thewhole ornament of the deck was bright-looking with brass, and smartrails, and pots of flowers, these last showing clearly that Mary hadbeen at work. Indeed, I had scarce made my inspection of our new shipwhen she burst up from below, and began her explanation, standing withflushed cheeks, while the wind played in her hair, and her eyes dancedwith the merriment of it. 

"Come aboard, " she said, mocking the seaman's "_Adsum_, " and I said--

"That's evident; the question is, when are you going ashore again?"

"I don't know, but I guess I'll get ashore at New York, because I meanto go to Niagara----"

"You think you'll go ashore at New York, not 'you guess, ' Mary. "

"But I do guess, and I don't think, and I wish you wouldn't interruptme with your perpetual grammar. What's the good of grammar? No one hada good time with grammar yet. "

"That's not exactly the purpose of grammar----"

"No, nor of orthography, nor deportment; I learnt all these at a guineaa quarter extra when I was at school, so you're just wasting your time, because I'm finished. "

"Finished?"

"Yes, didn't Roderick tell you that I went to a finishing school? Youwouldn't finish me all over again, would you?"

"Not for anything--but the question is, why did you come aboard here, and why didn't you go to Salisbury? What is your old aunt thinkingnow?"

She laughed saucily, throwing back her head so that her hair fell wellabout her shoulders; and then she would have answered me, but I turnedround, hearing a step, and there stood our new second mate, FrancisPaolo. Our eyes met at once with a long, searching gaze, but he did notflinch. If he were a spy, he was no poor actor, and he stood his groundwithout the movement of a muscle. 

"Well?" I said. 

"Is Mr. Stewart awake yet, sir?" he said, asking for Roderick. 

"I don't know, but you may wake him if he isn't. "

"The skipper wants a word with him when he gets up, " he continued; "weare all ready to heave anchor when he speaks. "

"That's all right: I'll give you the word, so you can weigh now;perhaps, Mary, you'll go and hammer at Roderick's door, or he'll sleepuntil breakfast time to-morrow. "

She ran at the word, and the new second mate turned to go, but first hefollowed the girl with his eyes, earnestly, as though he looked uponsome all-fascinating picture. 

I watched him walk forward, and followed him, listening as he directedthe men; and a more seaman-like fellow I have never seen. If he were anItalian, he had left all accent of speech in his own country, and hegave his orders smartly and in a tone which demanded obedience. Abouthis seamanship I never had a doubt from the first; and I say this now, a more capable officer than Francis Paolo never took a watch. 

Yet he was a man of violent temper, soon displayed before me. 

As I watched him from the hurricane deck, I heard a collier who had notyet left the ship give him some impudence, and look jauntily to the menfor approval; but the smile was not off his cheeks when the new matehit him such a terrific blow on the head with a spy-glass he held thatthe fellow reeled through the open bulwarks right into his barge, whichlay along-side. 

"That's to set your face straight, " cried the mate after him; "nexttime you laugh aboard here I'll balance you on the other side. "

The men were hushed before a display of temper like this; the skipperon the bridge flushed red with disapproval, but said nothing. 

The order "Hands, heave anchor!" was sung out a moment after asRoderick joined me aft, the new _Celsis_ steamed away from Plymouth, and the episode was forgotten. 

For truly, as we lost sight of the town and the beautiful yacht movedslowly upon the broader bosom of the Channel, thoughts of great momentheld us; and I, for my part, fell to wondering if I should ever see theface of my country again. 

And in that hour the great pursuit began. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

I DREAM OF PAOLO. 

We had left the Scilly Light two days; the _Celsis_ steamed steadily onthe great broad of the Atlantic. Night had fallen, and Mary had gonebelow, leaving me with Roderick upon the aft-deck, watching the veriestrim of a moon which gave no pretence of a picture, no ornament to thedeck. 

It was Paolo's watch; and the skipper had turned in, so that, save forthe occasional ringing of a bell, or a call from the look-out, no soundbut the whirring of the screw and the surge of the swell fell upon ourear. A night for dreamy thoughts of home, of kinsfolk, of the moretender things of life; but for us a night for the talk of that great"might be" which was then so powerful a source of speculation for bothof us. And we were eager to talk, eager then as ever since thebeginning of it all; eager, above all things for the moment, to knowwhen we should next hear of Captain Black or of the nameless ship. 

"I shouldn't wonder, " said Roderick, after twenty surmises of the sort, "if we heard something of her as we cross. I have given York orders tokeep well in the track of steamers; and if your friend Hall be right, that is just where the unknown ship will keep. I would give a thousandpounds to know the story of the man Black. What can he be? Is he mad?Is it possible that a man could commit piracy, to-day, in the Atlantic, where is the traffic of the world; where, if the Powers once learnt ofit, they could hunt him down in a day? And yet, put into plain English, that is the tale your friend tells. "

"It is; I have never doubted that from the first. Captain Black iseither the most original villain living, or the whole story is a sillydream--besides, we have yet to learn if he is the commander of thenameless ship: we have also to learn if the nameless ship is not amyth. Time alone will tell, and our wits. "

"If they are not knocked out of us in the attempt, for, see you, Mark, a man with a hole in his head is a precious poor person, and, ofcourse, you are prepared either way, success or the other thing. "

"For either; but I trust one of us may come out of it, for Mary'ssake. "

The thought made him very silent, and presently he turned in. Iremained above for half an hour, gazing over the great sweep of theAtlantic. Paolo was on the bridge, as I have said, and, in accordancewith my design, I took all opportunity of watching him. That night someinexplicable impulse held me awake when all others slept. I madepretence, first of all, to go to my cabin; and bawled a good-night tothe mate as I went; but it was only to put on felt slippers and to geta warm coat, and, with these secured, I made my way stealthilyamidships; and took a stand aft of the skipper's cabin, where I couldpry, yet not be seen. Not that I got much for my pains; but I heardPaolo address several of the men forward, and it seemed to me that hismode of speech was not quite that which should be between officer andseaman. Perchance he was guilty of nothing more than common affability;but yet I would rather have had him gruff and meddlesome than free andintimate. 

It chanced that in this watch the new men were on deck, my old crewbeing in the port watch, or I would have questioned them there andthen. As it was, I let the matter go, and smoked; and, indeed, whenanother bell had struck, I was more than rewarded for my pains. Suddenly, on the far horizon over the starboard bow, I saw the flare ofa blue light, bright over the water; and showing as it flared, the darkhull of a great ship. The light was unmistakably, I thought, the signalof an ocean-going steamer which had sighted another of her companystill far away from us; but I had no more than time to come to thisconclusion when, to my profound amazement, Paolo himself struck lightto a flare which he had with him on the bridge, and answered thesignal, our own light showing far out, and lighting the great movingsea on which we rode so that one could count every crest about it. 

The action completely staggered me. Without a thought I rushed up theladder to the hurricane deck and stood beside him. He started as he sawme, and I could see him biting his lips, while an ugly look came intohis eyes. But I charged him at once. 

"Good-evening, Mister Mate, " I said; "will you kindly tell me why youburnt that blue light?"

His excuse came readily. 

"I burnt it to answer the signal yonder. "

"But that was no affair of ours!"

He shrugged his shoulders, and muttered something about custom andsomething else, which he meant to be impudent. Yet in another moment hemade effort to recall himself, and met me with an open, smiling facewhich covered anger. I began to upbraid myself for the folly of it, bursting out thus when there was no call for show; and I turned thetalk to other things, searching to learn about him and his past; yet itwas without reward, for he fenced in speech with all the point of aclose Scotsman. But we came down the bridge together when the new watchwas set; and he took a glass of wine with me in the saloon. 

It was all well acted, a fine pretence of common civility, yet Ibelieve that we two then took acquaintance of each other in the fullestmeasure; and he learnt, though he did not show it, that in the game ofeavesdropping there may be two that play. 

When I turned in at last, the little wind there was had fallen away, sothat the yacht was almost without motion; save, indeed, that long rollfrom which an ocean-going ship is rarely free. I had the electric lightin my cabin with a tap on the end of my bunk, mighty convenient forreading and waking; but I was full of sleep in spite of what had beenabove, and I turned out the lamp directly I fell upon my bed. 

I think I must have slept very heavily for an hour, when a great senseof unrest and waking weariness took me, and I lay, now dozing, nowdreaming, so that in all my dreams I saw the face of Paolo. I seemed towalk the deck of the _Celsis_, yet was Paolo there more strong andmasterful than I; again I went to the stoke-hole, and he was chargingthe men with much authority; I hurried thence to the saloon, and in mysilly dream I thought to see Captain Black upon the one hand and Paoloon the other, and a great friendship of manner and discourse betweenthem. 

Again I slept the black sleep; but it passed into other visions, sothat in one of them I seemed to be lying awake in my own cabin, and theman Paolo stood over me, looking straight into my eyes; and when Iwould have risen up to question him I was powerless, held still inevery limb, living, yet without life or speech--a horrid dream fromwhich I seemed to rouse myself only at the touch of something cold uponmy outstretched hand; and then at last I opened my eyes and saw, duringthe veriest reality of time, that others looked down into mine. I sawthem for some small part of a second, yet in the faint light that camefrom the port I recognised the face and the form, and was certain ofthem; for the man who had been watching me as I slept was Paolo. 

A quick sense of danger waked me thoroughly then. I put my hand to thetap of the electric light and the white rays flooded the cabin. But thecabin was empty and Roderick's dog sat by my trunk, and had, I couldsee, been licking my hand as I lay. 

I knew not how to make out the meaning of it; but I was trembling fromthe horror of the dream, and went above in my flannels. It was dawnthen; and day was coming up out of the sea, cold and bearing mists, which lay low over the long restful waves. Dan was aft on thequarter-deck, and the first officer was on the bridge, but I lookedinto Paolo's bunk, and he slept there, in so heavy a sleep that I beganto doubt altogether the truth of what I had believed. How could thisman have left my cabin as he had done, and yet now be berthed in hisown? The dream had cheated me, as dreams often do. 

But more sleep was not to be thought of. I fell to talk with Dan, andpaced the deck with him, asking what was his opinion of our new secondmate. 

He scratched his head before he answered, and looked wise, as he lovedto look--

"Lord, sir, it's not for me to be spoutin' about them as is above me;but you ask me a fair question, and I'll give you a fair answer. Incourse, I ain't the party to be thinking ill of any man--not Dan, whichis plain and English, though some as is scholars say it should beDan'el; but what I do know, I know--you won't be contradictin' that, will you?"

I told him to get on with it; but he was woefully deliberate, cuttingtobacco to chew, and hitching himself up before he was under weighagain. 

"Now, " he said at last, "the fact about our second is this, in myopinion--which ain't mine, but the whole of 'em--he's no more'n a shipwith a voice under the fore-hatch----"

I laughed at him as I asked, "And what's the matter with a ship likethat? Why shouldn't there be a voice under the fore-hatch, Dan?"

He lit his pipe behind the aft skylight, and then answered, as hepuffed clouds of smoke to the lee-side--

"Well, you see, sir, as there ain't nobody a-livin' in that perticlerplace, you don't go for to look to hearin' of voices, or, in plainlingo, there's something queer about it. "

"And that's your opinion, Dan?"

"As true as this fog's a-liftin' to windward. "

I looked as he jerked his thumb to port, and, sure enough, the curtainof the fog was drawn up from the sea as the wind's wand scattered it. Glorious and joy-giving the sun arose, and the whole horizon-boundexpanse of rolling, green water lay beneath us. There is something ofGod in every daybreak, as most men admit, but I know nothing againstthe glory of a morn upon the Atlantic for bringing home to a man thedelight in mere existence. The very sense of strength which the breezebears, the limitless deep green of the unmeasured seas, the great archof the zenith, the clear view of the sun's march, the purity and thestillness and the mastery of it all, the consciousness of the punypower of man, the mind message recalling the sublimity and the awe ofthe unseen Power beyond--all these things impress you, move in you thedeepest thoughts, turn you from the little estimates of self as Natureonly can in the holiest of her moods, which are sought yet never foundin the cities. Nor can I ever welcome the breath of the great sea'svigour and refuse to listen to her voice, which comes with so powerfula message, even as a message from the great Unknown, whose handcontrols, and whose spirit is on, the waters. 

The sound of a gun-shot to leeward awoke me from my thoughts. The fogwas yet lying there upon the sea, and for some while none of us, expectant as we were, could discern aught. But, fearing that somevessel lay in distress, we put the helm up and went half-speed for atime. We had cruised thus for five minutes or more when a terrificreport burst upon our ears, and this time to the alarm of every man whotrod deck. For this second report was not that of a small gun such ascrippled ships may use, but the thunderous echoing of a great weaponwhich a man-of-war only could carry. 

The sound died away slowly; but in the same minute the fog lifted; andI saw, away a mile on the starboard bow, a spectacle which brought agreat flush upon my face, and let me hear the sound of my own heartbeating. 

CHAPTER IX. 

I FALL IN WITH THE NAMELESS SHIP. 

There were two great ships abreast of each other, and they weresteaming with so great a pressure of steam that the dark green waterwas cleaved into two huge waves of foam before their bows; and thespray ran right over their fo'castles and fell in tons upon theirdecks. 

The more distant of the two ships was long in shape and dark in colour;she had four masts upon which topsails and staysails were set, and twofunnels painted white, but marked with the anchor which clearly set herdown to be one of the famous Black Anchor fleet. My powerful spyglassgave me a full view of her decks, which I saw to be dark with thefigures of passengers and crew all crowding to the port side, wherefromthe other ship was approaching her. 

Yet was it this other ship which drew our gaze rather than the greatsteamer which seemed to be pursued. Almost of the same length as thepassenger steamer, which she now approached obliquely, she rode thelong swell with perfect grace, and many of her deck-houses and part ofher prow shone with the brightness of pure gold. Full the sun fellupon her in a sheen of shimmering splendour, throwing great reflectedlights which dazzled the eye so that it could scarce hold any continuedgaze upon her. And, indeed, every ornament on her seemed to be made ofthe precious metal, now glowing to exceeding brilliance in the fullpower of the sunlight. 

She was a very big ship, as I have said, and she had all the shape of aship of war, while the turrets fore and aft of her capacious funnelshowed the muzzles of two big guns. I could see by my glass a wholewealth of armament in the foretop of her short mast forward; and highpoints in her fo'castle marked the spot where many other machine gunswere ready for action. At her towering and lofty prow there wasindicated clearly the curve of the ram which now ploughed the darkwater and curdled it into the fountains of foam which fell upon herdecks; while amidships, the outline of a conning-tower showed moreclearly for what aggressive purpose she had been designed. There was atthis spot, too, a great deck erection, with a gallery and a bridge fornavigation; but no men showed upon the platform, and, for the matter ofthat, no soul trod her decks, so far as our observation went. Yet herspeed was such as I do not believe any ship achieved before. I havespent many years upon the sea; have crossed the Atlantic in some of themost speedy of those cruisers which are the just pride of a later-dayshipbuilding art; I have raced in torpedo-boats over known miles; butof this I have no measure of doubt, that the speed of which thatextraordinary vessel then proved herself capable was such as no otherthat ever swam could for one moment cope with. Now rising majesticallyon the long roll of the swell, now falling into the concave of the sea, she rushed onward towards the steamer she was evidently pursuing asthough driven by all the furies of the deep. 

As we watched her, held rooted to our places as men who are lookingupon some strange and uncanny picture, the gun in her foremost turretbelched out flame and smoke, and we observed the rise and fall of ashell, which cut the water a cable's length ahead of the strainingsteamer and sank hissing beneath the sea. At that moment she ran up aflag upon her signal mast, and, as I read it with my glass, I saw thatit was the flag of the Chilian Republic. 

Now, indeed, the pursuit became so engrossing that my own men began tosing out, and this reminded me that every soul aboard the _Celsis_ hadwatched with me when I first set eyes on the nameless ship. I turned toour skipper, who stood near on the hurricane deck, and saw that he inturn was looking hard at me. Roderick had come up from his cabin, butrested at the top of the companion ladder in so dazed a mood that nospeech came from him. The first officer had scarce his wits about himto steer our own course, and the whole of the hands forward in a littlegroup upon the fo'castle now called out their views, then turned to askwhat it meant. 

It was a matter of satisfaction to me that Mary still slept, and Ilooked for the appearance of Paolo with some question. But he remainedbelow through it all. And at that I wondered more. 

The skipper was the first to speak. 

"That ship yonder, " said he, jerking his thumb to starboard; "is it anybusiness of ours?"

"None that I know of, " I replied; "but it's a mighty fine sight, skipper, don't you think, a Chilian warship running after a liner inbroad daylight? What's your opinion?"

He shrugged his shoulders disdainfully, and took another sight throughhis glass. Then he answered me--

"It's a fine sight enough, God knows, but I would give half I'm worthto be a hundred miles away from it"; and here he suddenly wheeled, and, facing me roughly, he asked--

"Do you want me to get this boat into port again?"

"Of course. Is there any great need to answer a question like that?"

"At the moment, yes; for, with your pleasure, I'm going to put up thehelm and sheer off. I'm not a man that loves fighting myself, and, witha ship and crew to look after, I've no business in any affair of thatsort; but it's for you to say. "

Before I could answer him, Roderick moved from his place and came up onthe bridge where we stood. 

"Hold on a bit, skipper, " he cried, "as we are, if you please; why, man, it's a sight I wouldn't miss for a fortune. "

The skipper searched him with his eyes with a keen, lasting gaze, thatimplied his doubt of the pair of us. His voice had a fine ring ofsarcasm in it when he replied after the silence; but all he said was, "It's your affair, " and then turned to the first officer. 

"Don't you think he was right?" I asked Roderick in a low voice, whenthe chief's back was turned, but he whispered again--

"Not yet--we must see more of it; and they're too much occupied to huntafter us. We'll be away long before those two have settled accounts;and, look now, I can see a man on the bridge of the yellow ship. Do youmark him?"

I had my glass to my eye in a moment, and the light was so full uponthe vessel, which must then have been a mile and a half away from us, that I could prove his words; for, sure enough, there was now someonemoving upon the bridge, and, as I fixed my powerful lens, I thoughtthat I could recognise the shape of a man; but I would not speak mymind to Roderick until I had a nearer view. 

"You are right, " I answered; "but what sort of a man I will tell youpresently. Did you ever see anything like the pace that big ship isshowing? She must be moving at twenty-five knots. "

"Yes, it's amazing; and what's more, there isn't a show of smoke at herfunnel. "

This was true, but I had not noticed it. Throughout the strange scenewe saw, this vessel of mystery never gave one sign that men worked ather furnaces below. Neither steam nor smoke came from her, no evidence, even the most trifling, of that terrible power which was then drivingher through the seas at such a fearful speed. 

But of the activity of her human crew we had speedily further sign;for, almost as I answered, there was some belching of flame from herturret, and this time the shell, hurtling through the air with thathissing song which every gunner knows so well, crashed full upon thefore-part of the great liner, and we heard the shout of terror whichrose from those upon her decks. The men appeared at the signal-mast ofthe pursuer, and rapidly made signals in the common code. 

"Skipper, do you see that?--they're signalling, " I cried out. "Get yourglass up and take a sight"; but he had already done so. 

"It's the signal to lie to, and wait a boat, " he said; "there's someonegoing aboard. "

The fulfilment of the reading was instant. While yet we had notrealised that the onward rush of the two boats was stayed the foam fellaway from their bows; and they rode the seas superbly, sitting the longswells with a beautiful ease. But there was activity on the deck of thenameless ship, the men were at the davits on the starboard sideswinging off a launch, which dropped presently into the sea with a crewof some half-a-dozen men. For ourselves, we were now quite close up tothem, but so busily were they occupied that I believed we had escapedall notice. Yet I got my glass full upon the man who walked the bridge;and I knew him. 

He was the man I had met in the Rue Joubert at Paris, the one styledCaptain Black by my friend Hall. 

The last link in the long chain was welded then. The whole truth ofthat weird document, so fantastical, so seemingly wild, so fearful, wasmade manifest; the dead man's words were vindicated, his everydeduction was unanswerable. There on the great Atlantic waste, I hadlived to see one of those terrible pictures which he had conceived inhis long dreaming; and through all the excitement, above all the noise, I thought that I heard his voice, and the grim "Ahoys!" of my ownseamen on the night he died. 

This strange recognition was unknown to Roderick, who had never seenCaptain Black, nor had any notion of his appearance. But he waited forsome remark from me; yet, fearing to be heard, I only looked at him, and in that look he read all. 

"Mark, " he said, "it's time to go; we'll be the next when that ship'sat the bottom. "

"My God!" I answered, "he can't do such a thing as that. If I thoughtso, I would stand by here at the risk of a thousand lives----"

"That's wild talk. What can we do? He would shiver us up with one ofhis machine guns--and, besides, we have Mary on board. "

Indeed, she stood by us as we spoke, very pale and quiet, looking wherethe two ships lay motionless, the boat from the one now at the veryside of the black steamer, whose name, the _Ocean King_, we couldplainly read. She had, unnoticed by us, seen the work of the lastshell, which splintered the groaning vessel, and made her reel upon thewater, and Mary's instinct told her that we stood where danger was. 

"Don't you think you're better below, Mary?" asked Roderick; but shehad her old answer--

"Not until you go; and why should I make any difference? I overheardwhat you said. Am I to stand between you and those men's lives?"

She clung to my arm as she spoke, and her boldness gave us new courage. 

"I am for standing by to the end, " said I; "if we save one soul, it'san English work to do, anyway. "

Roderick looked at Mary, and then he turned to the skipper--

"Do you wish to go on the other tack now?" he asked; but the skipperwas himself again. 

"Gentlemen, " he said, "it's your yacht, and these are your men; if youcare to keep them afloat, keep them. If it's your fancy to do the otherthing, why, do it. It's a matter of indifference to me. "

His words were heard by all the hands, and from that time there wassomething of a clamour amongst them; but I stepped forward to have outwhat was in my mind, and they heard me quietly. 

"Men, " I said, "there's ugly work over there, work which I make nothingof; but it's clear that an English ship is running from a foreigner, and may want help. Shall we leave her, or shall we stand by?"

They gave a great shout at this, and the skipper touched the bell, which stopped the engines. We lay then quite near both to the pursuedand the pursuer, and there was no longer any doubt that we had beenseen. 

Glasses were turned upon us from the decks of the yellow ship, and fromthe poop of the _Ocean King_, whose men were still busy with the signalflags, and this time, as we made out, in a direct request to us that weshould stand by. 

I doubt not that the excitement and the danger of the position alonenerved us to this work of amazing foolhardiness, which was so like tohave ended in our complete undoing; and, as I watched the captain ofthe steamer parleying with the men in the launch below him, I could butask--What next? when will our turn be?

But the scene was destined to end in a way altogether different fromwhat we had anticipated. 

While a tall man with fair hair--my glass gave me the impression thathe was the fellow known as "Roaring John"--stood in the bows of thelaunch, and appeared to be gesticulating wildly to the skipper of the_Ocean King_, the nameless ship set up of a sudden a great shriekingwith her deck whistle, which she blew three times with terrific power;and at the third sound of it the launch, which had been holding to theside of the steamer, let go, running rapidly back to the armed vessel, where it was taken aboard again. 

The whole thing was done in so short a space of time that our men hadscarce an opportunity to express surprise when the launch was hangingat the davits again. The great activity that we had observed on thedecks of the war-vessel ceased as mysteriously as it had begun. Againthere was no sign of living being about her; but she moved at once, andbounded past us at a speed the like of which I had never seen upon thedeep. 

So remarkable a face-about seemed to dumbfound our men. They stoodstaring at each other like those amazed, and seeking explanation. Butthe key to the riddle was given, not by one of them, but by Paolo, whomI now found at my elbow, his usually placid face all aglow withexcitement. 

"Ha!" he cried, "she's American!"

He made a wild point at the far horizon over our stern; and then I sawwhat troubled him. There was a great white steamer coming up at a highspeed, and I knew the form of her at once, and of two others thatfollowed her. She was one of the American navy, crossing to her owncountry from Europe, whither she had been to watch the Britishmanoeuvres. The secret of the flight was no longer inexplicable; theyellow ship had fled from the trap into which she was so nearlyfalling. 

"You have sharp eyes, Paolo, " said I; "I imagine it's lucky for thepair of us. "

He shrugged his shoulders angrily, and then said very meaningly--

"Perhaps. "

I had no time to reckon with him, for I was as much absorbed as he wasin the scene which followed. The nameless ship, of a sudden, ceased herflight, and came almost to a stand some half a mile away on ourport-bow. For a moment her purpose was hidden, yet only for a moment. As she swung round to head the seas, I saw at once that anothercruiser, long and white, and seemingly well-armed had come up upon thatside, and now barred her passage. At last, she was to cope with oneworthy of her, and at the promise of battle, a hush, awful in itsintensity, fell upon all of us. 

For some minutes the two vessels lay, the one broadside to the other, the Americans making signals which were unanswered; but the namelessship had now hundreds of men about her decks, and these were at themachine-guns and elsewhere active in preparation. It became plain thather captain had made up his mind to some plan, for the great hull swunground slowly, and passed at a moderate speed past the bow of the other. When she was nearly clear, her two great guns were fired almostsimultaneously, and, as the shells swept along the deck of the cruiser, they carried men and masts and deck-houses with them, in one devilishconfusion of wreckage and of death. To such an onslaught there was noanswer. The cruiser was utterly unprepared for the treachery, and layreeling on the sea; screams and fearful cries coming from her decks, now quivering under a torrent of fire as her opponent treated her tothe hail of her machine-guns. 

The battle could have ended but in one way, had not the other Americanwarships now come so close to us that they opened fire with their greatguns. The huge shells hissed over our heads, and all about us, plunginginto the sea with such mighty concussions that fountains of green waterarose in twenty places, and the near surface of the Atlantic becameturbulent with foam. Such a powerful onslaught could have been resistedby no single vessel, and, seeing that he was like to be surrounded, thecaptain of the nameless ship, which had already been struck three timesin her armour, fired twice from his turrets, and then headed off atthat prodigious speed he had shown in the beginning of his flight. Infive minutes he was out of gun-shot; in ten, the American vessels weretaking men from their crippled cruiser, whose antagonists had almostdisappeared on the horizon!

Upon our own decks the noise and hubbub were almost deafening. From astate of nervous tension and doubt our men had passed to a state ofjoy. Half of them were for going aboard the damaged vessels at once;half for getting under weigh and moving from such dangerous waters. Ourtalk upon the quarter-deck soon brought us to the first-named course, and we put out a boat with ease upon the still sea, and hailed thepassenger steamer after twenty minutes' stout rowing. She was yet apitiful spectacle; for as we drew near to her, I could see womenweeping hysterically on the seats aft, and men alternately helping themand looking over in the direction whence the three American ironcladssteamed. Indeed, it was a picture of great confusion and distress, andwe hailed those on her bridge three times before we got any answer. When we did get up on her main-deck, Captain Ross, her commander, greeted us with great thanks; but he was a sorry spectacle of a man, being white as his own ensign with anger, and his voice trembled as thevoice of a man suffering some great emotion. He took us to hischart-room, for he would have all particulars about us, both our namesand addresses, with those of our officers, for a witness when he shouldcall the British Government to take action. 

"Twenty years, " he said, with tears of anger in his eyes, "twenty yearsI have crossed the Atlantic, but this is the first time that I everheard the like. Good God, sirs! it's nothing less than piracy on thehigh seas; and they shall swing, every man Jack of them, as high asHaman! What think ye? They signal me to lie to--me that has the mailsand a hundred thousand pounds in specie aboard; they fire a shot acrossmy bows, and when I signal that I'll see them in hell before I bate aknot, why--you watched it yourselves--they struck me in the fo'castle, and there's two of my dead men below now; but they shall swing"--and hebrought his fist upon the table with a mighty thud--"they shall swing, if there's only one rope in Europe. "

I had sorrow for the man who was thus moved--for the most part, I couldsee, at the loss of his two men. Then I went forward with the others tothe place of wreckage, and for the first time in my life I observed thecolossal havoc which a shell may leave in its path. The single shotwhich had struck the steamer had cut her two skins of steel as thoughthey had been skins of cheese: had splintered the wood of the men'sbunks, so that it lay in match-like fragments which a fine knife mighthave hewed; had passed again through the steel on the starboard side, and so burst, leaving the fo'castle one tumbled mass of torn blankets, little rags of linen, fragments of wood, of steel, of clothes which hadbeen in the men's chests; and, more horrible to recount, particles ofhuman flesh. Three men were below when the crash came, and two of themhad their limbs torn apart; while, by one of the miracles which oftattend the passage of a shot, the third, being in a low bunk when theshell struck, escaped almost uninjured. This desolate and wrecked cabinwas shown to us by Captain Ross, whose anger mounted at every step. 

"What does it mean?" he kept asking. "Are we at war? You saw theChilian flag. Is there no Treaty of Paris, then? Does he go out tofilch every ship he meets? Will he do this, and our Government take nosteps? Can't you answer me that?" But he poured out his questions withsuch rapidity, and he was so overcome, that we followed him in silenceas he walked beneath the awnings of the upper decks, and showed uswomen still talking hysterically, men unnerved and witless as children, seamen yet finding curses for the atrocity that had been. By this time, the first of the American ships had come up with us, and the commanderof her put out a boat, and having gone aboard the maimed cruiser, hecame afterwards to the Black Anchor ship, and joined us in thechart-room. I will make no attempt to set down for you his surprise norhis incredulity. I believe that the scene in the fo'castle aloneconvinced him that we were not all raving madmen; but, when once hegrasped our story, he was not a whit behind us, either in intensity ofexpression or of sympathy. 

"It's an international question, I guess, " he said; "and if he doesn'tpay with his neck for the twenty men dead on my cruiser, to say nothingof the twenty thousand pounds or more damage to her, I will--why, we'llrun her down in four-and-twenty hours. You took his course?"

"West by south-west, almost dead, " said the captain; and I heard itagreed between them that the second cruiser of the American fleetshould start at once in pursuit, while the iron-clads should accompanyus to New York, so making a little convoy for safety's sake. 

With this arrangement we left the ship and regained the _Celsis_. Paolostood at the top of the ladder as I came on deck, and listened, Ithought, to our protestations that the danger was over with somethingof a sneer on his face. 

Indeed, I thought that I heard him mutter, as he went to his cabin, "_Vedremo_--" but I did not know then how much the laugh was to beagainst us, and that we should leave the convoy long before we reachedNew York. 

CHAPTER X. 

THE SPREAD OF THE TERROR. 

For full five days we steamed with the other vessels, under no stressto keep the sea with them, since they made no more than twelve knots, for the sake of the cruiser which had been so fearfully maimed in theshort action with the nameless ship. During this time there was littlepower of wind; and the breeze continuing soft from the north-east, itwas easy business to hold sight of the convoy, which we did to thesatisfaction of every man aboard us. But I could not put away frommyself the knowledge that the events of the first three days had mademuch talk in the fo'castle and that a feeling akin to terror prevailedamongst the men. 

This came home to me with some force on the early morning of the fifthday. I found myself unable to sleep restfully in my bunk, and wentabove at daybreak, to see the white hulls of the American war-vessels amile away on the port-quarter and the long line of the Black Anchorboat a few cables'-lengths ahead of them. Paolo was on the bridge, butI did not hail him, thinking it better to give the man few words untilwe sighted Sandy Hook. He, in turn, maintained his sullen mood; but hedid not neglect to be much amongst the hands, and his intimacy withthem increased from day to day. 

Now, when I came on deck this morning, I found that the breeze, strongand fresh though it was, put me in that soporific state I had soughtunavailingly in my bunk. There was a deck-chair well placed behind theshelter of the saloon skylight, and upon this I made myself at ease, drawing my peaked hat upon my eyes, and getting the sleep-music fromthe swish of the sea, as it ran upon us, and sprinted from the tillerright away to the bob-stay. But no sleep could I get; for scarce was Iset upon the chair when I heard Dan the other side of the skylight, andhe was holding forth with much fine phrase to Roderick's dog, Belle. 

"Yes, " he said, apparently treating the beast as though possessed ofall human attributes. "Yes, you don't go for to say nothing, but you'rea Christian dog, I don't doubt; and yer heart's in the right place; orit's not me as would be wasting me time talking to yer. Now, what Isays is, you're comfortable enough, with Missie a-makin' as much of yeras if good fresh beef weren't tenpence a pound, and yer mouth warn'tlarge enough to take in a hundredweight; but that ain't the way withthe rest of us--no, my old woman, not by a cable's-length; we're afloaton a rum job, old lady; and some of us won't go for to pipe when it'sthe day for payin' off--not by a long way. So you hear; and don't getanswerin' of me, for what I spoke's logic, and there's an end of it. "

I called him to me, and had it out with him there and then. 

"What's in the wind now, Dan, " I asked, "that you're preaching to thedog?"

"Ay, that's it, " he replied, putting his hand into his pocket for histobacco-box. "What's in the wind?--why, you'd have to be askin' of itto learn, I fancy. "

"Is there any more nonsense amongst the men forward?"

"There's a good deal of talk--maybe more than there should be. "

"And what do they talk about? Tell me straight, Dan. "

"Well, I've got nothing, for my part, to hide away, and I don't know asthey should have; but you know this ship is a dead man's!"

"Who told you that stuff?"

"No other than our second mate, sir, as sure as I cut this quid. Not asyarns like that affect me; but, you see, some skulls is thick asplate-armour, and some is thin as egg-shells: and when the thin 'unsgets afloat with corpses, why, it's a chest of shiners to a handspikeas they cracks--now, ain't it?"

"Dan, this is the most astounding story that I have yet heard. Wouldyou make it plainer? for, upon my life, I can't read your course!"

He sat down on the edge of the skylight--long service had given him aclaim to familiarity--and filled his pipe from my tobacco-pouch beforehe answered, and then was mighty deliberate. 

"Plain yarns, Mister Mark, is best told in the fo'castle, and not byhands upon the quarter-deck; but, asking pardon for the liberty, I feelmore like a father to you gentlemen than if I was nat'ral born to it;and this I do say--What's this trip mean; what's in yer papers? and whyain't it the pleasure vige we struck flag for? For it ain't a pleasurevige, _that_ a shoreman could see; and you ain't come across theAtlantic for the seein' of it, nor for merchandise nor barter, norbecause you wanted to come. That's what the hands say at night when thesecond's a-talkin' to 'em over the grog he finds 'em. 'Where's it goingto end?' says he; 'what is yer wages for takin' yer lives where theyshouldn't be took? and, ' says he, 'in a ship what the last skipper diedaboard of it, ' says he, 'died so sudden, and was so fond of his oldplace as who knows where he is now, afloat or ashore, p'r'aps a-walkingthis very cabin, and not bringing no luck for the vige, neither, ' sayshe. And what follows?--why, white-livered jawings, and this man afeardto go here, and that man afeard to go there, and the Old One amongst'em, so that half of 'em says, 'We was took false, ' and the other half, 'Why not 'bout ship and home again?' No, and you ain't done with it, not by a long day, and you won't have done with it until you dropanchor in Yankee-land, if ever you do drop anchor there, which I takeleave to give no word upon. "

"It's a curious state of things. You mean to say, I suppose, thatthere's terror amongst them--plain terror, and nothing else?"

"Ay, sure!"

"Then it remains for us to face them. What's your opinion on that?"

"My opinion is, as you won't go for to do it, but will take yourvictuals, and play your music in the aft parlour, and skeer away theOld One with the singing, as ye've skeered him already--that's whatye'll do afore Missie and the skipper--but by yourself, you won't havetwo eyes shut when you sleep, and you won't have two eyes open whenyou're above; and when you're wanted you won't be an hour gettingyourself nor Mr. Roderick under weigh--and that's the end of it, forthere goes the bell. "

The watch changed as he spoke, and I went below to the bathroom;thence, not thinking much of Dan's terror, nor of the men's pettygrumbling, I joined the others at breakfast. We were now well towardsthe end of the journey, and I itched to set foot in America. The newsafety in the presence of the warships had given us light hearts; andthat fifth day we passed in great games of deck-quoits and cricket, with a soft ball which the bo'sun made for us out of tow and linen. Themen worked cheerfully enough, giving the lie direct to Dan; and whenMary played to us after dinner at night I began to think that, all saidand done, we should touch shore with no further happening; and thatthen I could make all use of the man Paolo and his knavery. So I wentto bed at ten o'clock, and for an hour or two I slept with the deepforgetfulness which is the reward of a weary man. 

At what hour Dan awoke me I cannot tell you. He shook me twice in theeffort, he said, and when I would have turned up the electric light, heseized my hand roughly, muttering in a great whisper, "Hold steady. " Iknew then that mischief was afloat, and asked him what to do. 

"Crawl above, " he said, "and lie low a-deck"; and he went up thecompanion ladder when I got my flannels and rubber-shod shoes upon me. But at the topmost step he stood awhile, and then he fell flat on hishands, and backed again down the stairway, so that he came almost ontop of me; but I saw what prompted his action, for, as he moved, therewas a shadow thrown from the deck light down to where we lay; and thena man stepped upon the stair and descended slowly, his feet naked, butin his hand an iron bar; for he had no other weapon. At the sight ofhim, we had backed to the foot of the stairway; and, as the man creptdown, we lay still, so that you could hear every quiver of the glassupon the table of the saloon; and we watched the fellow drop step bystep until he was quite close to us in the dark, and his breath was hotupon us. Swiftly then and silently he entered the place; and, going tomy cabin door, he slipped a wedge under it, serving the other doorsaround the big cabin in the same way. The success seemed to please him;he chuckled softly, and came again to the ladder, where, with a quickmotion, Dan brought his pistol-butt (for I had armed him) full upon thefellow's forehead, and he went down like a dead thing at the foot ofthe swinging table. 

There we left him, after we had bound his hands with my scarf; and witha hurried knock got Roderick from his berth. He, in turn, aroused hissister, and in five minutes we all stood in the big saloon anddiscussed our plan. 

Dan's whispered tale was this. The watch was Paolo's, who had persuadedfour stokers and six of the forward hands to his opinion. These men, the dupes of the second officer, had determined on this much--that thevoyage to New York should be stopped abruptly, come what might, andthat our intent should go for nothing. We, being locked in our cabins, were to have no voice in the affair; or, if waked, then we should beknocked on the head, and so quieted to reason. 

It was a desperate endeavour, wrought of fear; but at that moment thetrue hands of the fo'castle were battened down, and Dan, who had seenthe thing coming, escaped only by his foresight. That night he had feltdanger, and had wrapped himself up in a tarpaulin, and lain concealedon deck. 

As it was, Paolo stood at the door of the skipper's room; there werethree men guarding the fo'castle, and five at the foot of the hurricanedeck. One man we had settled with; but we were three, and eight menstood between us and the true hands. 

Roderick was the first to get his wits, and plan a course. 

"We must act now, " he said, "before they miss their man. They'vestopped the engines, and we shall drop behind the others. There's onlyone chance, and that is to surprise them. Let's rush it and take theodds. "

"You can't rush it, " I replied; "they're looking for that; and if onenow went forward they would shoot him down straight--and what's tofollow? They come aft, and how can we hold them? But we must get theskipper awake, or they'll knock him on the head while he sleeps. "

Mary had listened, shivering with the night cold; but she had a word toadd, and its wisdom was no matter for dispute. 

"If I went, " she said, "what could they do to me?"

We were all silent. 

"I'm going now, " she said; "while I'm talking to them they won't belooking for you. "

"Certainly, we could follow up, " I added, "and might get them down ifyou held them in talk; but don't you fear?"

She laughed, and gave answer by running up the companion-way, andstanding at the top; while we cocked our pistols, and crept after her. Then we lay flat to the deck, as she ran noiselessly amidships, andinto the very centre of the five men. To our astonishment, they gave agreat howl of terror at the sight of her--for it lay so dark that sheseemed but a thing of shadow hovering upon the ship--and boltedheadlong forward; while we rushed in a body to the hurricane deck, andfaced Paolo. He turned very white, and would have opened his lips; butDan served him as the other; and hit him with his pistol, so that herolled senseless off the narrow bridge, and we heard the thud of hishead against the iron of the engine-room hatch. He had scarce fallenwhen Mary, with the laugh still upon her lips, reeled at the sight ofhim, and fell fainting in my arms. I knocked at the skipper's door, buthe was already on his feet, and passed me to the bridge, where I laidthe swooning girl on the sofa in the chart-room. 

The skipper got the whole situation at the first look, and acted in hisusual silence. He re-entered his own cabin, and came to us again with acouple of rifles, which he loaded. We were now all crouching togetherby the wheel amidships, for Mary had recovered, and insisted that Ishould leave her, and we waited for the heavy black clouds to lift offthe moon; but the fore-deck lay dark ahead of us; and we could not tellwhether the men who had fled had gone below, or were crouching behindthe galley, and the skylights of the fore-cabins. Nor could we hear anysound of them, although the skipper hailed them twice. He was for goingforward at once; but we held back until the light came, and then by thefull moon we saw dark shadows across the hatch. The men were behind thegalley, as we thought--the eight of them. 

The skipper hailed them again. 

"You, Karl, Williams--are you coming out now, for me to flog you; orwill you swing at New York?"

I could see their whole performance in shadow, as they heard the hail. One of them cocked a pistol, and the rest huddled more closelytogether. 

"Very well, " continued the skipper, ironically deliberate. "You've gota couple of planks between you and eternity. I'm going to fire throughthat galley. "

He raised his rifle at the word, and let go straight at the corner ofthe light wood erection. A dull groan followed, and by the shadow onthe deck I saw one man fall forward amongst the others, who held him upwith their shoulders; but his blood ran in a thick stream out to thetop of the hatchway, and then ran back as the ship heaved to the seas. 

For the fifth time the skipper hailed them. 

"There's one down amongst you, " he said; "and that's the beginning ofit; I'm going to blow that shanty to hell, and you with it. "

He raised his rifle, but as he did so one of them answered for thefirst time with his revolver, and the bullet sang above our heads. Theskipper's shot was quick in reply; and the wood of the shanty flew insplinters as the bullet shivered it. A second man sprang to his feetwith a shout, and then fell across the deck, lying full to be seen inthe moonlight. 

"That's two of you, " continued the skipper, as calm as ever he was inPortsmouth harbour; "we'll make it three for luck. " But at thesuggestion they all made a run forward, and lay flat right out by thecable. There we could hear them blubbering like children. 

The skipper was of a mind to end the thing there and then. He sprangdown the ladder to the deck, and we followed him. They fired threeshots as we rushed on them; but the butt ends of the two muskets didthe rest. Three of them went down straight as felled poplars. Theothers fell upon their knees and implored mercy; and they got it, butnot until the skipper, who now seemed roused to all the fury of greatanger, set to kicking them lustily, and with no discrimination--forthey all had their full share of it. 

We had the other hands up by this, and, despite the tragedy and horrorof the thing, a smile came to me as the true men set to binding theothers at the skipper's order; for Piping Jack and Planks, and thewhole ten of them, fell into such a train of swearing as would havedone your heart good to hear. They got them below at the first break ofdawn, and the dead they covered; while Paolo, who lay groaning, wecarried to a cabin in the saloon, and did for his broken head thatwhich our elementary knowledge of surgery permitted us. 

As the day brought light upon the rising sea, I looked to the farhorizon, but the rolling crests of an empty waste met my gaze. Again wewere alone. The night's work had lost us the welcome company. 

CHAPTER XI. 

THE SHIP IN THE BLACK CLOAK. 

The day that broke was glorious enough for Nature's making, but sadupon our ship, in that the folly of eight poor fellows should have costthe life of two, with three more lying near to death in the fo'castle. The sea had risen a good deal when we got under steam again, and cloudsscudded over the sun; but we set stay-sails and jibs, and made a finepace towards the shores of America. It was near noon when we had buriedthe two stokers shot by the skipper, and more on in the afternoonbefore the decks were made straight, and the traces of the scufflequite obliterated. But Paolo lay all day in a delirium, and Mary wentin and out, bearing a gentle hand to the wounded, who alternately criedwith the pain of it, and begged grace for their insanity. The secondofficer's case was worse than theirs, and I thought at noon that thetotal of the dead would have been three; for he raved incessantly, crying "Ice, Ice!" almost with every breath, while we had alldifficulty possible to hold him in his bunk. His words I could not getthe meaning of; but I had them later, and in circumstances I had neverlooked for. 

After the hour of lunch the skipper called Roderick and me into hiscabin, and there he discussed the position with us. 

"One thing is clear, " he said; "you've brought me on more than apleasure trip, and, while I don't complain, it will be necessary at NewYork for me to know something more--or, maybe to leave this ship. Lastnight's work must be made plain, of course; and this second officer ofyours must stand to his trial. The men I would willingly let go, forthey're no more than lubberly fools whose heads have been turned. Butone thing I now make bold to claim--I take this yacht straight fromhere to Sandy Hook; and we poke our noses into no business on the way. "

"Of course, " said Roderick somewhat sarcastically, "you've every rightto do what you like with my ship; but I seem to remember having engagedyou to obey my orders. "

"Fair orders and plain sailing, " replied Captain York, bringing hisfist down on the table with emphasis; "not running after war-ships thatcould blow us out of the water without thinking of it. Fair orders Itook, and fair orders I'll obey. "

"That's quite right, Roderick, " I said; "there's no reason now why weshouldn't go straight on--if we don't meet with anyone to ask questionson the way; of that I'm not so sure, though. "

"Nor I, " said the skipper meaningly, and waiting for me to add more;but I did not mean to gratify him, and we all went out on deck againafter we had agreed to let him have his will. We found the firstofficer on the bridge, looking away to the south-east, where the blackhull of a steamer was now showing full. I do not know that the distantsight of a ship was anything to cause remark, but as I looked at her, Inoticed that she steamed at a fearful speed, and she showed no smokefrom her funnels. 

"Skipper, " I said, "will you look at that hull? Isn't the boat makinguncommon headway?"

He took a long gaze, and then he spoke--

"You're right. She's going more than twenty knots. "

"And straight towards us. "

"As you say. "

"Is there anything remarkable about that?"

He took another sight, and when he turned to me again he had no colourin his face. 

"I've seen that ship before, " he said. 

"Where?" asked Roderick laconically. 

"Five days ago, when she fired a shell into the _Ocean King_. "

"In that case, " said I, "there isn't much doubt about her intentions:she's chasing us!"

"That may or may not be, " he replied, as he raised his glass again, "but she's the same ship, I'll wager my life. Look at the rake ofher--and the lubbers, they've left some of their bright metal showingamidships!"

He indicated the deck-house by the bridge, where my glass showed me ashining spot in the cloak of black, for the sun fell upon the place, and reflected from it as from a mirror of gold. There was no longer anydoubt: we were pursued by the nameless ship, and, if no help fell tous, I shuddered to think what the end might be. 

"What are you going to do, skipper?" asked Roderick, as gloom fell uponthe three of us; and we stood together, each man afraid to tell theothers all he thought. 

"What, am I going to do?" said he. "I'm going to see the boats cleared, and all hands in the stoke-hole that have the right there"; and then hesang out, "Stand by!" and the men swarmed up from below, and heard theorder to clear the boats. They obeyed unquestioningly; but I doubt notthat they were no less uneasy than we were; and, as these things cannotbe concealed, the whisper was soon amongst them that the danger lay inthe black steamer, which had been five days ago the ship of gold. Yetthey went to the work with a right good will; and presently, when acanopy of our own smoke lay over us, and the yacht bounded forwardunder the generosity of the stoking, they set up a great cheerspontaneously, and were ready for anything. Yet I, myself, could notshare their honest bravado. The black ship which had been but a mark onthe horizon now showed her lines fully; there could be no two opinionsof her speed, or of the way in which she gained upon us. Indeed, onecould not look upon her advance without envy of her form, or of theterrifying manner in which she cut the seas. Churning the foam until itmounted its banks on each side of her great ram, she rode the Atlanticlike a beautiful yacht, with no vapour of smoke to float above her; andnot so much as a sign that any engines forced her onward with avelocity unknown, I believe, in the whole history of navigation. And soshe came straight in our wake, and I knew that we should have littlebreathing time before we should hear the barking of her guns. 

The skipper did not like to see my idleness or this display of inactiveindifference. 

"Don't you think you might help?" he asked. 

"Help--what help can I give? You don't suppose we can outsteam them, doyou?"

"That's a child's question; they'll run us to a stand in fourhours--any man with one eye should see that; but are you going downlike a sheep, or will you give them a touch of your claws? I will, sohelp me Heaven, if there's not another hand breathing!"

"The skipper's right, by Jove!" said Roderick; "if it's coming to closequarters, I'll mark one man anyway, " and with that he tumbled down theladder, and into his cabin. I followed him, and got all the arms Icould lay hands on, a couple of revolvers and a long duck-gun amongstthe number. There were two rifles--the two we had used in the troublewith the men--in the chart-room, and these we brought on deck, with allthe other pistols we had amongst us. We made a distribution of themamongst the old hands, giving Dan the duck-gun, which pleased himmightily. 

"I generally shoots 'em sittin', " he said, "but I'll go for to make abag, and willin'. You're keepin' the Missie out of it, sir?"

"Of course; she's looking after the sick hands downstairs. You goforward, Dan, and wait for the word, then blaze away your hardest. "

"Ay, ay, " replied he; and I took myself off to see after the others, whom we posted in the stern to keep a closer look-out; while Roderick, the first officer, and myself went above to the bridge. 

The men now fell to work in right good earnest. They had all the gritof the old sea-dogs in them--how, I know not, except in this, thattheir lives had been given to the one mistress. The thought of abrush-up put dash and daring into them; they had the boats cleared, thewater-barrels filled, and the life-belts free, with an activity thatwas remarkable. Then they stood to watch the oncoming of the namelessship; and when we hoisted our ensign, they burst again into that hoarseroar of applause which rolled across the water-waste, and must havesounded as a vaunting mockery to the men behind the walls of metal. Butthey answered us in turn, running up an ensign, and a cry came from allof us as we saw its colour, for it was the blue saltire on a whiteground. 

"Russian, or I'm blind, " said the skipper, and I looked twice and knewthat his sight was safe to him; for the nameless ship, which five daysago showed her heels under a Chilian mask, now made straight towards usin Russian guise. 

"Are you sure she's the same ship?" asked Roderick, when his amazementlet him speak. 

"Am I sure that my voice comes out of my throat?" said the old fellowtestily. "Did you ever see but one hull shaped like that? And now shesignals. "

So rapidly had she drawn towards us that she was, indeed, then withingun-shot of us. After the first enthusiasm the men had stood, heldunder the spell of her amazing approach, and no soul had spoken. Evenwith their plain reckoning and hazy notion of it all, they seemedconscious of the peril; but not as I was conscious of it, for in my ownheart I believed that no man amongst us would see to-morrow. There westood alone, with no prospect but to face the men who openly declaredwar against us. I turned my eyes away to the crimson arch which markedthe sun's decline; I looked again to the east, whence black harbingersof night hung low upon the darkened sea; I searched the horizon inevery quarter, but it lay barren of ships, and soon the last lightwould leave us, and with the ebb of day there was no security againstan enemy whose intentions were no longer disguised. I say no longerdisguised--but of this the skipper made me cognisant. He pointed to themast on the nameless ship, where the Russian ensign had hung tenminutes before. It was there no longer; the black flag took its place. 

"Pirates, by the very devil!" said the skipper; and then he whistledlong and loud and shrilly as a man who has solved a sum. 

"Gentlemen, " he added very slowly, "I said I would resign this ship atNew York: with your permission I will withdraw that. I will sail withyou wherever you go. "

He shook our hands heartily, as though the discovery of our purpose hadunclouded his mind. But we had no time for fuller understanding, for atthat moment the air itself seemed torn apart by a great concussion, anda shell burst in the water no more than fifty yards ahead of us. Whenthe knowledge that we were not hit was sure on the men's part, theybellowed lustily; and old Dan fired his gun into the air with a greatshout. Yet we knew that all this was the cheapest bravado; and when theskipper touched the bell to stop our engines, I was sure that he waswise. 

"That's the end of it, then, " I said. "Well, it's pretty ignominious, isn't it, to be shot down like fools on our own quarter-deck?"

"Wait awhile, " he answered, looking anxiously behind him, where a mistgathered on the sea; "let 'em lower a boat, the lubbers!"

By this time the great vessel rode still some quarter of a mile awayfrom us; but the glass showed me the men upon her decks, andconspicuous amongst them I saw the form of Captain Black standing bythe steam steering gear. Others below were moving at the davits, sothat in a small space a launch was riding in a still sea, and wasmaking for us. I watched her with nerves strained and lips dry; sheseemed to me the message boat from Death itself. 

"Stand steady, and wait for me!" suddenly yelled the skipper, hisfingers moving nervously, and his look continually turning to the banksof mist behind us. "When I sing 'Fire!' pick your men!"

The boat was so near that you could see the faces in it; and three ofthe five I recognised, for I had seen them in the room of the RueJoubert. The others were not known to me, but had rascallycountenances; and one of them was a Chinaman's. The man who was incommand was the fellow "Roaring John"; and when he was within hail hestood and bawled--

"What ship?"

"My ship!" roared back the skipper, again looking at the mist-clouds, and my heart gave a bound when I read his purpose: we were driftinginto them. 

"And who may you be?" bawled the fellow again, growing more insolentwith every advance. 

"I'm one that'll give you the best hiding you ever had, if you'll stepup here a minute!" yelled the skipper, as cool as a man in Hyde Park. 

"Oh, I guess, " said the man; "you're a tarnation fine talker, ain'tyou? But you'll talk less when I come aboard you, oh, I reckon!"

They came a couple of oars' lengths nearer, when Captain York made hisreply. There was a fine roll of confidence in his voice; and he almostlaughed when he cried--

"You're coming aboard, are you? And which of you shall I have thepleasure of kicking first?"

The hulking ruffian roared with pleasant laughter at the sally. 

"Oh, you're a funny cuss, ain't you, and pretty with your jaw, bythunder! But it's me that you'll have the pleasure of speaking to, andright quick, my mate, oh, you bet!"

"In that case, " said the skipper, with his calmness well at zero; "inthat case--you, Dan! introduce yourself to the gentleman. "

Dan's reply was instantaneous. He leant well over the bulwark, and hischeery old face beamed as he bellowed--

"Ahoy, you there that it's me pleasure to be runnin' against so farfrom me old country. Will you have it hot, or will you have it theother way for a parcel of cold-livered lubbers? By the Old 'Un, how'sthat for salt 'oss!"

He had up with his shot gun, and the long ruffian, who had reachedforward with his boat-hook, got the dose full in his face as it seemedto me. At the same moment the skipper called "Fire!" and the heavycrack of the rifles and the sharp report of the pistols rang outtogether. The very launch itself seemed to reel under the volley; butthe Chinaman gave a great shout, and jumped into the sea with the agonyof his wound; while two of the others were stretched out in death asthey sat. 

"Full steam ahead!" roared Captain York, as the nameless ship repliedwith a shell that grazed our chart-room. "Full speed ahead!" Then, shaking his fist to the war-ship, he almost screamed--"Bested for aparcel of cut-throats, by the Powers!"

There was no doubt about it at all. The moment the yacht answered tothe screw the fog rolled round us like a sheet, in thick wet clouds, steaming damp on the decks; and twenty yards ahead or astern of us youcould not see the long waves themselves. But the sensations of thatfive minutes I shall never forget. Shot after shot hissed and splashedahead of us, behind us; now dull, heavy, yet penetrating, and we knewthat the ship lay close on our track; then farther off and deadened, and we hoped that she had lost us. Again dreadfully close, so that ashell struck the chart-room full, and crushed it into splinters notbigger than your finger, then dying away to leave the stillness of themist behind it. An awful chase, enduring many minutes; a chase when Iwent hot and cold, now filled with hope, then seeming to stand on thevery brink of death. But at last the firing ceased. We left our course, steaming for some hours due south across the very track of the namelessship; and we went headlong into the fog, the men standing yet at theirposts, no soul giving a thought to the lesser danger that was begottenof our speed; every one of us held in that strange after-tension whichfollows upon calamity. 

When I left the bridge it was midnight. I was soaked to the skin andnigh frozen, and the water ran even from my hair; but a hot hand wasput into mine as I entered the cabin, and then a thousand questionsrained upon me. 

"I'll tell you by-and-by, Mary. Were you very much afraid?"

She tossed her head and seemed to think. 

"I was a bit afraid, Mark--a--a--little bit!"

"And what did you do all the time?"

"I--oh, I nursed Paolo--he's dying. "

The man truly lay almost at death's door; but his delirium had passed;and he slept, muttering in his dream, "I can't go to the City--Black;you know it--let me get aboard. Hands off! I told you the job wasrisky"; and he tossed and turned and fell into troubled slumber. And Icould not help a thought of sorrow, for I feared that he would hang ifever we set foot ashore. 

I returned to the saloon sadly, though all was now brightness there. Weserved out grog liberally for the forward hands, and broke champagneamongst us. 

"Gentlemen, " said the skipper, giving us the toast, "you owe your livesto the Banks; and, please God, I'll see you all in New York beforethree days. "

And he kept his word; for we sighted Sandy Hook, and harm had come tono man that fought the unequal fight. 

CHAPTER XII. 

THE DRINKING HOLE IN THE BOWERY. 

The beauty of the entrance to the bay of New York, the amazing medleyof shipping activity and glorious scenery, have often been described. Even to one who comes upon the capital of the New World, having seenmany cities and many men, there is a charm in the sweeping woods andthe distant heights, in the group of islets, and the massive buildings, that is hardly rivalled by the fascinations of any other harbour, thatof San Francisco and the Golden Gates alone excepted. If you grant thatthe mere material of man's making is all very new, its power anddignity is no less impressive. Nor in any other city of the world thatI know does the grandeur of the natural environment force itself soclose to the very gates, as in this bay which Hudson claimed, and aDutch colony took possession of so long ago as 1614. 

It was about six o'clock in the evening when we brought the _Celsis_through the Narrows between Staten and Long Islands, and passed FortsWandsworth and Hamilton. Then the greater harbour before the cityitself rolled out upon our view; and as we steamed slowly into it theCustoms took possession of us, and made their search. It was a shortbusiness, for we satisfied them that Paolo suffered from no malignantdisease, although one small and singularly objectionable fellow seemedsuspicious of everything aboard us. I do not wonder that he made themen angry, or that Dan had a word with him. 

"Look here, sir, " he whispered, making pretence to great honesty; "Iwon't go for to deceive you--p'r'aps that dog's stuffed wi' di'monds. "

"Do you reckon I'm a fool?" asked the man. 

"Well, " said old Dan, "I never was good at calcerlations; but yousearch that dog, and p'r'aps you'll find somethin'. "

The man seemed to think a moment; but Dan looked so very solemn, andBelle came sniffing up at the officer's legs; so he passed his handover her back, and lost some of his leg in return. 

"Didn't I tell you, " said Dan, "as you'd get something if you searchedthat dog?--well, don't you go for to doubt me word next time we'remeetin'. Good-day to yer honour. Is there any other animal as I couldoblige you with?"

The officer went off, the men howling with laughter; and a short whileafter we had made fast at the landing-stage, and were ready to goashore. 

Paolo still lay very sick in his cabin, and we determined in commoncharity to take no action until he had his health again; but we set themen to keep a watch about the place, and for ourselves went off to dineat the Fifth Avenue Hotel. There, before a sumptuous dinner, and withall the novelty of the new scene, we nigh forgot all that happenedsince the previous month; when, without thought of adventure or offuture, we had gone to Paris with the aimless purpose of the idletraveller. And, indeed, I did my best to encourage this spirit offorgetfulness, since through all the new enjoyment I could not but feelthat danger surrounded us on every hand, and that I was but justembarked on that great mission I had undertaken. 

In this mood, when dinner was done, I suggested that Roderick shouldtake Mary through the city awhile, and that I should get back to the_Celsis_, there to secure what papers were left for me, and to arrange, after thought, what my next step in the following of Captain Blackshould be. The skipper had friends to see in New York, and agreed thathe would follow me to the yacht in a couple of hours, and that he wouldmeet the others in the hotel after they had come from their excursion. This plan fell in with my own, and I said "Good-bye" cheerfully enoughto the three men as I buttoned up my coat; and sent for a coach. If Ihad known then that the next time I should meet them would be afterweeks of danger and of peril, of sojourn in strange places, and of lifeamongst terrible men!

I was driven to the wharf very quickly, and got aboard the yacht withno trouble. There was a man keeping watch upon her decks; and Dan hadbeen in the sick man's cabin taking drink to him. He told me that hewas more easy, and spoke with the full use of his senses; and that hehad fallen off into a comfortable sleep "since an hour. " I was glad atthe news, and went to my own cabin, getting my papers, my revolver, andother things that I might have need of ashore. 

This work occupied me forty minutes or more; but as I was ready to goback to the others I looked into Paolo's cabin, and, somewhat to mysurprise, I saw that he was dressed, and seemingly about to quit theyacht. This discovery set me aglow with expectation. If the man weregoing ashore, whither could he go except to his associates, to thosewho were connected with Black and his crew? Was not that the very clueI had been hoping to get since I knew that we had a spy aboard us?Otherwise, I might wait a year and hear no more of the man or of hiswork except such tidings as should come from the sea. Indeed, my mindwas made up in a moment: I would follow Paolo, at any risk, even of mylife. 

This thought sent me forward again into the fo'castle, where Dan was. 

"Hist, Dan!" said I, "give me a man's rig-out--a jersey and somebreeches and a cap--quick, " and, while the old fellow stared andwhistled softly, I helped to ransack his box; and in a trice I haddressed myself, putting my pistols, my papers, and my money in my newclothes; but leaving everything else in a heap on the floor. 

"Dan, " I said, "that Italian is going ashore, and I'm going to followhim. No, you mustn't come, or the thing will be spoilt. Tell theforward lookout to see nothing if the fellow passes, and get my rubbershoes from my trunk. "

Dan scratched his head again, and must have thought that I wasqualifying in lunacy; but he got the shoes, and not a moment too soon, for, as I came on deck, I saw a shadow on the gangway. The man wasleaving the yacht at that moment, and I followed him, drawing my capright over my eyes, and lurking behind every inch of cover. 

Once out into the city, and having turned two or three times to satisfyhimself that he had no one after him, Paolo struck for Broadway; thencewith staggering gait, the result of his weakness, he made straight forthe City Hall, at which point he turned and so got into Chatham Streetand the Bowery. At last, after a long walk, and when the man himselfwas almost failing from the exertion of it, he stopped before an opendoor in the dirtiest of the streets through which we had come, anddisappeared instantly. I came up to the door almost as soon as he hadpassed through; and found myself before a steep flight of steps, at thebottom of which through a glass partition I could see men smoking anddrinking, and hear them bawling uncouth songs. 

It was a fearful hole, peopled by fearful men; all nations and allsorts of villains were represented there: low Englishmen, Frenchmen, Russians, even niggers and Chinamen; yet into that hole must I go if Iwould follow Paolo to the end. 

You may forgive me if I hesitated a moment; waited to balance up theodds upon my recognition. I might have decided even then that the riskwas too great, the certainty of discovery too palpable; but at thatmoment a party of six hulking seamen descended the steps before me, and, taking advantage of the cover of their shoulders, I pulled my capright over my face and passed through the swinging door with them intothe most dangerous-looking place I have ever set foot in. 

The room was long and narrow; banked its whole length by benches thathad once been covered with red velvet, but now showed torn patches andthe protruding wool of the stuffing. Mirrors were raised from the dadoof the ragged seats to the frieze of the smoke-blackened ceiling; butthey were for the most part cracked, and some had lost much of theirglass. The accommodation for drinkers consisted of marble-toppedtables, old and worn and stained with the dirt which was characteristiceverywhere of the foul den; but there was nothing but boards beneathone's feet; and the wretched bar at the uppermost end of the chamberwas no more than a plain deal bin with a high stool behind it for theserving man; he being a great negro, grotesquely attired as a man offashion. Indeed, had not the whole place been so threatening, I shouldhave paused to laugh at this dusky scoundrel, whose white hat satjauntily on the side of his woolly head, and whose well-cut black coatwas ornamented with a great bunch of white flowers. But there was evilin this man's face, and in the faces of the others who sat close-packedon the faded couches; and when I had paused for a moment to takereckoning of the room, I passed quickly to a bench near the door, andthere sat wedged against a fair-haired seaman, whose look stamped himto be a Russian. 

The scene was very new to me. I had heard of these drinking dens inthat low quarter of New York called the Bowery; but my American friendshad cautioned me often to have no truck with them should I visit theircity. They spoke of the poor regard for life which prevailed there; ofmurders committed with an impunity which was as astounding as it wasimpossible for the police to suppress; of mysterious disappearances, mysterious alone in the lack of knowledge as to the victim's end; andthey conjured me, if I would see such things, at least to go under theescort of the police. All this I had paid scant attention to at thetime; but the reality was before me with its grim terror. The room wasfilled with the scum of sea-going humanity; foul smoke from foul pipesfloated in choking clouds to the dirt-begrimed ceiling; great brownpots of strong drink were emptied as though their contents had beenmilk; horrid blasphemies were uttered as choice dishes of speech;ribald songs rose in giant discord as the spirit moved the singers. Nowand again, betwixt the shouting and the singing, a young girl, whosepresence in such a company turned my heart sick, played upon a harp, while to serve the crew with liquor there was a mahogany-faced hag whomthe men addressed as "Mother Catch. " An old crone, bent and doubledlike a bow, yet vigorous in her work, and shuffling with quick steps asshe laid down the jugs, or took the uncouth orders so freely given toher, she seemed to have the eye of a hawk; nor did I escape her glance, for I had not been seated before the marble table a moment when sheshuffled up to me and stood glaring with her shining eyes, the verypresentment of an old-time witch. 

"Ha!" she said sharply, "ha! a sailor boy in proper sailor clothes; ho, little man, will ye wet yer throat for a pretty gentleman?"

I did not like her mock courtesy, or the way in which she pronouncedthe word "gentleman"; but I called for some beer to get her away, andwhen she brought it I remembered that I had no American money; but Iput an English florin before her and waited for the change. She hissedat the sight of it like a serpent about to strike. 

"Ha! Englishman! and no money; ho! ho! ye've got to find it, littleman. Mother Catch likes you; but she spits on it!"

She spoke the last words in such a loud voice that several men near meturned to look, and I feared to become the centre of a brawl. Thiswould have defeated everything, so I threw her a half-sovereign, and, feigning her own savage merriment, I said--

"Gold, little woman, English gold; spit on it for luck, little woman";and I am bound to say that she did so, hobbling out of the room withthe gold piece clenched in her nut-cracker jaws. Then I began to searchwith my eyes for Paolo; and, although the smoke was very thick, I sawhim seated near the drinking-bar, a tumbler of brandy before him, hisarms resting on the edge of the counter where the liquor was sold. Ijudged then that he had made no idle visit to this place; and in aquarter of an hour or so my surmise was proved. The glass door againswung open; three men entered through it, and I recognised the three ofthem in a moment. The first was the Irishman, "Four Eyes"; thesecond-was the lantern-jawed Scotsman, who had been addressed in Parisas "Dick the Ranter"; the third was "Roaring John, " into whose face Danhad emptied the contents of his duck-gun three days before. The ruffianhad his mouth all bound in a bloody rag, so I hugged myself with theknowledge that he had been well hit; but he was in nowise depressed;and, although the gun had stopped his speech, he smacked Paolo on theback when he greeted him, and the others soon had their faces in thegreat brown jugs. 

The sight of this company warmed me to the work. I seemed to stand onthe threshold of discovery. If only I could follow them hence toBlack's house the whole aim of my journey would be fulfilled. And whynot? I said; they will leave this place and go to their leader sometime--if not now, at least to-morrow; and why should I lose touch withthem? So far it was certain that my presence was undiscovered. The haghad suspicion of me, but not in their way; the men were too busy, Ithought, talking of their own affairs to meddle even with theirneighbours. Dan knew on what business I had left the ship, and wouldquieten Roderick's alarm for me. It was plain that fortune had turnedkindly eyes on me. 

I sat sipping the beer and smoking an old clay pipe, which I found inthe breast-pocket of Dan's garment, doing these things to escape theremarks which the neglect of them would have occasioned, when there wassome change in the bibulous entertainment as yet provided for us in thedrink-hole. The hag raised her voice, worn to a croak with longscolding, and shrieked--

"Jack's a-going to dance for ye! Silence, pretty boys. Ho! ho! Jack theFire-Devil, will ye listen, then? And it's help me move the tables yewill, Master Dick, or ye're no minister that I took ye for. Back, mypretty gentlemen, lest I throw me vitriol on ye. Ha! but they love melike their own mother!"

She poked round with her stick at the seamen's feet, compelling them tofall back, and to make a ring for the dancer in the centre; and I sawwith no satisfaction that the foul-mouthed villain who was called the"Ranter" came to give her his help to the work. 

"Hoots, mither, " he cried in his broadest Scots, "did ye mistake that Iwas a gentleman frae the Hielands o' bonnie Scotland? And I'll be verraglad to throttle some for a wee cup o' yer pretty poison. So ho! yelubbers, it's an ower-fine discoors for a summer Sawbath that my bootwill teach you. Mak' way, mak' way!"

Thus, with unctuous mockery and rough menace, the fellow followed thefury round the room, and forced the drunken crew to the wall. He cameto my seat; but I buried my head in my hands, lest he should havecarried the memory of my face from Paris; and he passed, having takenno notice of me as I hoped. Soon he had made a great ring for thedancing; and one of the long mirrors opened, showing a door, whoseexistence I had not suspected; and a great negro with a flaming firepotentered the room. His entry brought applause; but he was a common quackof a performer at the beginning, for he made pretence to eat the fire, and to bring it up again from his vitals. Then, to some wild music froma fiddler, he bound coils of the flaming stuff about his head; and, thelamps being lowered, he gave us a weird picture of a man dancing, allcircled with flame; working himself up until I recalled pictures of thedervishes I had seen in the old quarter of Cairo. It was anextraordinary exhibition, and it pleased the men about so that theyroared with delight. I was watching it at last as intent as they were;but my attention was suddenly diverted by the sense that somethingunder the marble table at which I was sitting was pulling at my leg. Ilooked down quickly, and saw a strange sight: it was the black face ofthe lad Splinters, who had been treated so brutally in Paris. He, crouching under the table, was making signs to me, earnest, meaningsigns, so that without any betrayal I leant my head down as though uponmy hands, and spoke to him--

"What is it, lad?" I asked in a whisper. "What do you want to say?"

"Don't stop here, sir!" he answered in a state of great agitation. "They know you, and are going to kill you!"

He said no more, crawling away at once; but he left me hot with fear. The mad dance was still going on, and the room was quite dark save forthe glow cast by the spirit flames about the huge negro. It occurred tome at once that the darkness might save me if only I could reach thedoor unobserved; and I left my seat, and pushed amongst the men, passing nearer and nearer to the street, until at last I was at thevery portal itself. Then I saw that a change had been made while I hadbeen sitting. The doors of glass were wide open, but the way to thestreet without was no longer clear--an iron curtain had been drawnacross the entrance, and a hundred men could not have forced it. 

This was a terrible discovery. It seemed to me that the iron door hadbeen closed for an especial purpose. I knew, however, that when thedance was over some of the audience would wish to go out, and so Iwaited by the curtain until the lamps were turned up, and the negro haddisappeared. The men were then about to push their tables to the centreagain, but the hag raised her voice and cried--

"As you are, my pretty gentleman; it's only the first part ye've beentreated to. No, no; ye don't have the door drawn till ye've seen yermother dance awhile. Good boys, all of ye, there's work to do; ho! ho!work to do, and Mother Catch will do it!"

At the words "work to do" a strange silence, which I did not thenunderstand, fell on the company. Somehow, all the men immediatelyaround me slunk away, and I found myself standing quite alone, withmany staring at me. The four men whom most I feared had turned theirbacks, and were busy with their mugs; but the rest of the assembly hadeyes only for the terrible woman and for myself. Presently thediscordant music began again. The hag, who had been bent double, rearedherself up with a "Ho!" after the fashion of a Scottish sword-dancer, and began to make a wretched shuffle with her feet. Then she moved witha hobble and a jig to the far end of the room; and she called out, beginning to come straight down to the door whereby I stood. I know notwhat presentiment forewarned me to beware as the creature drew near;but yet I felt the danger, and the throbbing of my heart. That I couldhope for help amongst such a crew was out of the question. I had myrevolver in my pocket, but had I shown it twenty barrels would haveanswered the folly. There was nothing to do but to face the screechingwoman; and this I did as the unearthly music became louder, and thestillness of the men was speaking in its depth. 

At the last, the old witch, who had danced for some moments at adistance of ten paces from the spot where I stood, became as onepossessed. She made a few dreadful antics, uttered a piercing shriek, and hurled herself almost on me. In that instant I remember seeing thethree men with Paolo suddenly rise to their feet, while the others inthe room called out in their excitement. But the hag herself drew fromher breast something that she had concealed there; and, as she stoodwithin a yard of me, she brought it crash upon my head, and all mysenses left me. 

CHAPTER XIII. 

ASTERN OF THE "LABRADOR. "

Complete unconsciousness is a blessing, I think, which comes rarely tous. Sleep, they say, is akin to death; yet I have often questioned ifthere be an absolute void of existence in sleep; and I am sure that infew cases where a blow robs us of sense does the brain cease to beactive or to bring dreams in its working. I have been struck downunconscious twice in my life; but in each instance I have suffered muchduring the after-days from that trouble of mind which is akin to thefeverish dream of an exhausted system. Horrid sights does the brainthen bear to us; terrible situations; weird phantoms known to theopium-eater; wild struggles with unnatural enemies; wrestlings even forexistence itself. All these I knew during the days that followed myrash visit to the drinking den. How long I lay, or where, I know not tothis hour; but my dreams were very terrible, and there was a fever atmy head which the ice of a great lake scarce could have cooled. Often Iwould know that I had consciousness, and yet I could not move hand orfoot, so that the terror moved me to frenzies of agony, though my lipswere sealed, and I felt myself passing to death. Or I would live againthrough the night when Martin Hall died, and from the boat where Iwatched the holocaust, I climbed to the shrouds of the cutter, andstood with my poor friend in the very shelter of the spreading flames. Or I struggled with Black, having hunted him to his own quarter-deck, and there with great force of men I sought to lay hands on him; but heescaped me with a mocking laugh, and when I looked again the deck wasempty. 

For short moments the delirium must have left me. Once I opened myeyes, and knew that the sun shone upon me, and that the breeze whichcooled my forehead blew from the sea; but my fatigue was so great thatI fell asleep in the next instant, and enjoyed pure rest during manyhours. When I regained consciousness for the second time, it wasbecause rain beat upon my face, a drizzling warm rain of late summer, and there was spray from a fresh sea. For some minutes I set myself toask where I was; but I knew that I was bound at the left hand and at myfeet, and, to my unutterable astonishment, when I raised my head, I sawthat I lay in an open boat which was moving very slowly, but my feetwere towards the stern of it, and, as my head lay below the level ofthe gunwale, I could see nothing of the power which moved the boat orof the scene about us. 

It was a long time before my throbbing head let me put together a chainof thought to account for my position. The scene at the drinking denwould not at first come back to me, think as I would; but when it did, the clue which was lacking came with it. There could be no doubt that Ihad walked into a trap, and that the hag who had struck me had been inthe pay of Paolo and his crew. These men must have taken me as I lay, and so brought me to this boat; but what time had intervened, or whereI was, I knew no better than the dead. Only this was sure, that I wasin the hands of one of the greatest scoundrels living, and that, if hispast were any precedent, my hours of life would be few. 

I cannot tell you why it was, but, strange to say, this reflection didnot give me very great alarm at the moment. Perhaps I suffered too muchfrom bodily weakness, and would have welcomed any release, even death;perhaps I was buoyed up with that eternal hope which bears its mostgenerous blossom in the springtime of life. In either case, I put awaythe thought of danger, and set to the task of conning my position alittle more closely. The boat in which I lay was painted white, and wasof elegant build. She had all the fine lines of a yacht's jolly-boat;and when I raised my head I could see that her fittings had been put inonly at great expense. She was not a large boat, but the centre seathad been removed from her to let me lie on a tarpaulin which coveredher keel, and the stern seat had been used to bind my feet. A secondtarpaulin, folded twice, had been propped under my head, but my lefthand was bound close to the boat thwart, and there was a rope doubledround my right forearm so that I could not raise myself an inch, thoughmy right hand was free. The meaning of this apparent neglect I soonlearnt. There was a flask on the edge of the tarpaulin which supportedmy head, and by it half a dozen rather fine captain's biscuits. I had aprodigious thirst on me, and I drank from the flask; but found it tocontain weak brandy, and would willingly have exchanged thrice itscontents for a long draught of pure water. But the biscuits I could nottouch; and I began to be chilled with the rain which fell copiously, and with the sea which sent spray in fountains upon my body. 

Up to this time, I had heard no sound of human voices, but the silencewas broken at last by a shout, and the boat ceased to move. 

"All hands, make sail!" cried someone, apparently above me; and afterthat I heard the "yo-heave" of the men hauling, as I judged, at amain-sail. The second order, "Sheets home!" proved to me that I wasbehind a sailing ship, perhaps a yacht which these men had secured, asthey got _La France_--and burnt her. I shuddered at the second thought, and my head began to burn again despite the wet. Did they mean to leaveme there until the end of it, when the cold and my wound should dotheir work? Had they forgotten me? Had they any reason for keeping mealive? My questions were in part answered by a sudden shout from thedeck of the ship. 

"Ho, Bill, is the young un gone?"

"No, my hearty, he's gone about!"

"Getting his spirits damped, I reckon. "

"Some, you bet. "

And then I heard a voice I knew, the voice of the Irishman, "Four-Eyes. "

"Is it the boi ye're mindin', bedad?"

"Ay, sir, he's moved a point. "

"The poor divil. Throw him a sheet, one av yer; it's meself that's notbringing the guv'ner a dead body when he wants a live one, be SaintPathrick!"

They tried to throw me a sheet as the man had ordered, but we had begunto move rapidly again, and I heard it fall in the water by my head. Though there was more hailing, the thud of the choppy sea against theboat forbade any more hearing, and the sheet never reached me. Yet themen had told me something with their words, and I pondered long on theremark of the Irishman, that the "guv'ner" wanted me alive. Itexplained much; and it put beyond doubt the reason why I had not beenkilled in the drinking den. It was quite clear that my life was safefrom these men until they reached their chief; but where he was I hadno notion, except he were on the nameless ship; and, if that were so, to the nameless ship I was going--that ship of horror and of mystery. Nor could I remember anything in what I knew of Captain Black to leadme to the hope that such a voyage was other than one to death, andperhaps to that which might be worse than death itself. 

When this strange procession had lasted about an hour, the rain ceasedand the sun shone again with renewed power, drying my clothes upon meand giving me prodigious thirst. I struggled to reach the flask, and indoing so I found that the ropes binding my right arm were tied withcommon hitches, such as any sailor could force; and my experience as ayachtsman let me get free of them with very little trouble. I did notsit up at once, for I feared to be seen from the decks; but I turned myhead to look at the boat which towed me, and saw that she was abarque-rigged yacht after the American fashion; her name _Labrador_being conspicuous across her stern. My boat, which was no larger than Ihad thought, was towed by a double hawser; but no man watched me fromthe poop, and I lay down again reassured. The hope of escape wasalready in my head, for I judged that we could not be far out from NewYork, although no land was visible on the horizon. It occurred to methat if they would only let me be until night I could get my left handand my feet free; and, as the hawser was passed through a ring at thebow, I needed but a knife to complete the business. But I had no knife, for a search in my pockets proved that I had been relieved of all myvaluables and trifles; and I knew that another way must be found, andthat ingenuity alone would help me. So I sat thinking; and all the longafternoon--I knew it was afternoon, as I saw the sun sinking in thehorizon and heard the bells, moreover--I examined such devices as cameto me, only to reject them and to seek for others. 

Towards the second bell in the second "dog" there was a change in themonotony of the scene. I heard an order to heave the barque to, andpresently I made haste to put the ropes back in their places and toawait the happening. I felt all motion cease, and then someone haulingat the hawser, so that the jolly-boat was pulled against the side ofthe bigger ship; and, looking up, I saw half-a-dozen of Black's gangwatching me from the quarter-deck. Then a ladder was put over thebulwark, and Four-Eyes himself cried out not in an unkindly tone--

"Gi-me the soop, bhoys, and let's get it in him; begorra, the divil 'llhave him afore the skipper if it's no mate you're givin' him!"

He came down the ladder with a great can of steaming stuff; and the seahaving fallen away with the sun to a dead calm, he stepped off theladder to the stern seat, and then bent over me. But I saw this only, that he had a knife in his belt; and I made up my mind in a moment toget it from him. 

"The young 'un from Paris, " he cried, as he took a long look at me, "and near to axin' for a priest, by the houly saints; but I was tellin'ye to stop where ye was, and it's no thanks ye were giving me. Bedad, and a pretty place ye're going to, sorr, at your own wish--the divilknows what's the end av it--but sup a bit, for it's fastin' ye are bythe luk av ye, and long gone at that!"

Kindly words he gave me; and he held to the rope with one hand while heput the can of hot stuff to my lips with the other. I drank half of itwith great gulps, feeling the warmth spread through my body to my verytoes as the broth went down; and a great hope consoled me, for I hadhis knife, having snatched it from him when first he stooped, and itlay in the tarpaulin beneath me. The good luck of the theft made mequick to empty the pot of gravy; and when I had returned the can, Four-Eyes went over the side again, and the yacht moved onward lazilyin the softest of breezes from the west. But my boat lay behind heragain; and I did not stir from my restful position until it was fulldark; though the going down of the sun had left a clear night and azenith richly set with a shimmer of stars, which did not give any greatpromise to my thoughts of coming freedom. 

When I deemed that I had waited long enough, and had assured myselfthat the later night would not be more auspicious for the attempt, Icut away the remaining ropes at my feet, and crouched unbound in theboat. There was good watch upon the ship, I knew, for I could hear the"All's well!" as the bells were struck, and the passing of the ordersfrom the poop to the fo'castle. This did not deter me; and, beingdetermined to stake all rather than face the terrors of the namelessship, I crawled to the bow, and began to cut the strands of the hawserone by one. The rope was very thick and hard, and the knife which I hadstolen was blunt, so that the work was prodigiously slow and difficult;and when I had been at it for half an hour or more, I was interruptedin a way that sent my heart almost into my mouth. There was a manstanding on the poop of the _Labrador_, and he seemed to be watching myoccupation. I threw myself flat instantly, and listened to his hail. 

"Ahoy, there, young 'un, are you getting a chill?" cried a bluff voice, which I did not recognise; but presently the man Four-Eyes hailed also, and I heard him say--

"If it's dead ye are, will ye be sending word up to us?" and, seeingthe mood, I bawled with all my strength--

"I'm all right; but I'll call out for some more of that soup of yoursjust now. "

They gave a great shout, and one of them said--

"You ken calcerlate ez you will be gettin' it all nice en' hot when youmeet the old 'un in the mornin'"; and the crew roared with laughter atthe sally, and disappeared one by one from the poop. Then I whipped outmy knife again, and with a few vigorous strokes I cut the rope cleanthrough, and felt my boat go swirling away on the backwash. It was amoment of supreme excitement, and I lay quite flat, waiting to hear ifI were missed; but I heard no sound, and looking round presently, I sawthe yacht away a mile, and I knew that I was a free man. 

The delight of the enterprise would have been intense if my unexpectedsuccess had not allowed me to forget one thing when I had made my hastyplans. _There were no oars in the boat. _ The terrible truth came to meas I fixed the seat and prepared to put greater distance between the_Labrador_ and myself. But one look round convinced me that theposition was hopeless. With the exception of the tarpaulins, the seats, and the tiller, the boat was unfurnished. As I thought of these things, and remembered that I was some hundreds of miles from land, that I hada couple of biscuits for food, and a half a flask of brandy and waterfor drink, I experienced a terror greater than any I have known; and soweak was I with sickness and so low with the disappointment of it, thatI put my head between my hands and sobbed like a great child who hadknown a childish sorrow. Only when the tears had dried upon my face, and there was that after-sense of resignation which follows a nervousoutbreak, did I upbraid myself for a weakling, and set to think outplans for my release. I had no compass, but, taking the north throughthe "pointers, " I tried to make out the course in which I was drifting;yet this, I must confess, was a hopeless task. I thought that the boatwas being carried by a steady current; yet whether the current settowards the land or away from it, I could not tell. 

When a couple of hours had passed, and I could see the yacht no longer, I took a new consolation in the thought that I must, after all, be inthe track of steamers bound out from, or to, New York; and in this hopeI covered myself in the tarpaulins and lay down again to shield myselffrom the wind which blew with much sharpness as the night grew. I didnot sleep, but lay half-dazed for an hour or more, and was roused onlyat a curious light which flashed above me in the sky. Its first aspectled me to the conclusion that I saw a reflection of the Aurora; but thesecond flash altered the opinion. The light was clearly focussed, beinga volume of intensely bright, white rays which passed right above mewith slow and guided motion, and then stopped altogether, almost fixedupon the jolly-boat. I knew then what it was, and I sat up to see thegreat beams of a man-of-war's search-light, showing an arc of the wateralmost as clear as by the sun's power. The vessel itself I could notmake out; but I feared at once that fate had sent me straight to thenameless ship; and that the very misfortune I had thought to haveundone was brought home to me. Yet I could not take one step to defendmyself, and must perforce drift on, to what end I knew not. 

The light shone in all its brightness for some five minutes; then itdied away suddenly, and on the spot whence it had come I could justdistinguish the dark hull of a steamer. To my vast consolation, she hadtwo funnels and three masts, and I remembered that Black's boat had butone funnel and two masts, so that good fortune seemed to have come tome at last. Over-delighted with the discovery, I stood up at my risk inthe jolly-boat and waved my arms wildly; when, as if in answer, thesearch-light flashed out again and bathed me in its refulgent beams. Some moments, long moments to me, passed in feverish conjecture; andthen in the pathway of the light I saw in all distinctness the outlineof a long-boat, fully manned, and she was coming straight to me. Therecould be no more doubt of it; I had passed through much suffering, butit was all child's play to the "might have been"; and in the reaction Ilaughed aloud like an hysterical woman, and blushed to remember thosegreat tears which had rolled over my face not an hour gone. And all thetime I never took my eyes from the boat; but feasted on it as abeggar-child feasts in imagination on the gauds of a groaning table. Its progress seemed slow, wofully slow; the men in it made me no mannerof signal, never gave an answer to my erratic hand-waving; but, whatwas of more consequence, they came in a bee-line towards me, and theradiating light never moved once whilst they rowed. In the end, Imyself broke the silence, shouting lustily to them, but getting noanswer until I had repeated the call thrice. The fourth cry, loud andin something desperate, brought the response so eagerly awaited; butwhen I recognised the voice of him who then hailed me I fell down againin my boat with a heart-stricken burst of sorrow, for the voice was theIrishman's, and Four-Eyes spoke--

"Avast hailin', young 'un, " he cried; "we ain't agoin' to part along o'your society no more, don't you be frettin'. "

They dragged me into their boat, and taking my own in tow, they rowedrapidly to the distant steamer, on whose deck I stood presently; butnot without profound fear, for I knew that at last I was a prisoner onthe nameless ship. 

CHAPTER XIV. 

A CABIN IN SCARLET. 

There was light from six lanterns, held by giant negroes, to greet mewhen I had mounted the ladder and was at last on the deck of the greatship; but none of the men spoke a word, nor could I see their faces. Ofthose who had brought me from the jolly-boat, I recognised two besides"Four-Eyes" as men whom I had seen in Paris, but the Irishman appearedto be the captain of them; and, in lack of other leader, he spoke whenall were aboard, but it was in a monosyllable. "Aft!" he said, lookinground to see if anyone else were near; and one of them silently touchedme upon the shoulder, and I followed him along a narrow strip of irondeck, past a great turret which reared itself above me, and again bythe covered forms of quick-firing guns. We descended a short ladder toa lower deck; and so to the companion way, and to a narrow passage inwhich were many doors. One of these he opened, and motioned me toenter, when the door was closed noiselessly behind me, and I foundmyself alone. 

My first feeling was one of intense surprise. I had looked to enter aprison; but, if that were a prison, then were lack of liberty shorn ofhalf its terrors. The cabin was not large, but one more artistic ineffect was never built. Hung all round with poppy-coloured silk, thesame material made curtains for the bunk--which seemed of unusual size, and furnished with sleep-bespeaking mattresses. It was employed alsofor the cushions and covering of the armchair and the couch, and todrape the dressing-glass and basin which were in the left-hand corner. It seemed, indeed, that the whole room was a harmony in scarlet, with ascarlet ceiling and scarlet hangings; but the luxury of it wasunmistakable, and the feet sank above the ankles in the soft Indianrug, which was ornate with the quaint mosaic-like workings andpenetrating colours of all Eastern tapestry. For light, there was anarc-lamp, veiled with gauze of the faintest yellow; and upon the tablein the centre stood a decanter of wine and a box of cigars. The roomwould have been perfect but for a horrid blot upon it--a blot whichstared at me from the outer wall with bloodshot eyes and hideousvisage. It was the picture of a man's head that had been severed fromthe body; and was repulsive enough to have been painted by Wiertzhimself. The picture almost terrified me, but I thought, if no worseharm befall me what odds? and I sat down all wondering and dazed, anddrew a cigar from the box upon the table. The wine, of which I dranknearly a tumblerful, put new courage of a sort into me; and so, troubled and amazed, I began to ask myself what the proceeding meant, or what the portent of it all could possibly be. 

My conclusion was, when I thought the whole thing out, that the manBlack could be showing me this marked consideration only for somemotive of self-interest. It was evident that he had been aware of myintention to follow him from the moment when Roderick purchased our newsteam-yacht. He had put one of his own men craftily upon the ship towatch us, and had made a bold attempt to deal with us in mid-Atlantic. Foiled there, he had taken advantage of my folly in entering such aplace as the Bowery, and had given orders that I should be carried tohis own ship--for I knew then that the strange craft he owned wascapable of many disguises--and should be carried alive. Why alive, ifnot that he might learn all about me, or that a more dreadful fate thanmere death should be mine? I had seen the appalling end of poor Hall, the merciless severity with which his death had been compassed: whyshould I expect more gentle usage or other recompense? If ever man hadbeen trapped, I had been; and, beneath all my placid self-restraint, Ifelt that my life was not worth an hour's--nay, perhaps tenminutes'--purchase. It was as if I had been taken clean out of theworld with no man to extend me a helping hand. Roderick, truly, wouldmove heaven and earth to reach me, but what could he hope for againstsuch a crew; or how should I expect to be alive when he brought hisattempts to a head? And I thought of him with deep feelings offriendship at that moment, and wondered what Mary would say. She willbe serious, I argued, for the first time in her life, and they willknow much anxiety. Yet that must be--in the floating tomb where I lay Icould hope to send no word to the living world which I had left. 

I had smoked one cigar in the cabin, listening to the tremendous throbof the ship's screws, and the swish of the sea as we cleaved it, whenthe electric light went out, and I was left in darkness. The suddenchange gave me some alarm, and I cocked my revolver, being resolute toaccount for one man at least, if any attempt were made upon me; butwhen I had sat quite still for some half-an-hour there was no noise ofmovement save on the deck above, and my own cabin remained as still asthe grave. It appeared that I was to be left unmolested for that nightat any rate; and, being something of a philosopher, I waited foranother hour or so, and finding that no one came near me, I undressedand lay down in one of the most seductive beds I have met with at sea. I did, indeed, take the precaution of putting my Colt under the pillow;but I was so weary and fatigued with my sufferings in the open boatthat I fell asleep at once, and must have slept for many hours. 

CHAPTER XV. 

THE PRISON OF STEEL. 

I awoke in the day, but at what hour of it I know not. The red curtainsopposite to my bunk were drawn back, admitting dull light from aport-hole through which I could look upon a tumbling sea, and a sky allgirt with rain-clouds. But I had not been awake five seconds when I sawthat my arm-chair was occupied by a man who did not look more thanthirty-years old, and was dressed with all the scrupulous neatness of athorough-going yachtsman. He was wearing a peaked cloth cap with a goldeagle upon it, a short jacket of blue serge, with ample trousers tomatch, and a neat pair of brown shoes; while his linen would havetouched the heart even of the most hardened _blanchisseuse_ of thecity. He had a bright, open face, marred only by a peculiarlyirritating movement of the eye, which told of a nervous disposition;and there was something refined and polished in his voice, which Iheard almost at once. 

"Good-morning to you, " he said; "I hope you have slept well?"

"I have never slept better; it must be twelve o'clock, isn't it?"

"It's exactly half-past three, American time. I didn't wake you before, because sleep is the best medicine in your case. I'm a doctor, youknow. "

"Oh! you're the physician-in-ordinary to the crew, I suppose; you mustsee a good deal of practice. "

He looked rather surprised at my meaning remark, and then said quitecalmly, "Yes, I write a good many death certificates; who knows, I mayeven do that service for you?"

It was said half-mockingly, half-threateningly; but it brought home tome at once the situation in which I was; and I must have becomeserious, which he saw, and endeavoured to turn me to a lighter mood. 

"You must be hungry, " he continued; "I will ring for breakfast; and, ifyou would take a tub, your bathroom is here. "

He opened the door in the passage, and led the way to a cabin furnishedwith marble and brass fittings, wherein was a full-sized bath and allthe appurtenances for dressing. I took a bath, and found him waitingfor me when I had finished. We returned to the scarlet room, and therespread upon the table was a meal worthy of Delmonico's. There wascoffee served with thick cream; there were choice dishes of meat, gamepies, new rolls, fruit, and the whole was finished with ices andbon-bons in the true American fashion. My new friend, the doctor, saidnothing as I ate; but when the repast was removed he pushed the cigarsto me, and, taking one himself, he began to talk at once. 

"I regret, " he said, "that I cannot supply you with a morningnewspaper; but the latest journal that I can lend you is a copy of the_New York World_ of Saturday last. There is a passage in it which mayinterest you. "

The paper was folded and marked in a certain spot. I read it with blankamazement, for it was a full account of the nameless ship's attack uponthe American cruiser and the _Ocean King_. The paper stated shortlythat both ships had been impudently stopped in mid-Atlantic by a bigwar-vessel flying the Chilian flag; that the cruiser had been seriouslydamaged and had lost twenty of her men; while a shell had been firedinto the fo'castle of the passenger ship and two of her men killed, with other such details as you know. The matter was the subject of aprofound sensation, not only in America, but throughout the world. TheChilian Government had been approached at once, but had repudiated allknowledge of the mysterious ship. Meanwhile war-vessels from England, America, and from France had set out to scour the seas and bring suchintelligence as they could. The whole account concluded with the rumourthat a gentleman in New York had knowledge of the affair, and would atonce be interviewed, with the result, it was hoped, of disclosing thatwhich would be one of the sensations of the century. 

When I had put the paper down, the doctor, who followed me with hiseyes, said laughingly--

"You see that interview was unfortunately interrupted. You are thegentleman with the full particulars, for we know that your friendStewart plays a very small part in the affair. Without your energy, Ithink I may say that he is little less than a fool. "

"Hardly that, as you may yet discover, " I said, seeing instantly whichway safety lay; "he knows as much as I know. "

"Which is not very much after all, is it?--but that we must have fullerknowledge of. I am here to ask you to write accurately for us acomplete account of every step you have taken in this matter since youwere fool enough to follow Martin Hall, and poke your nose intobusiness which did not concern you. As you know, Hall was punished inthe Channel: you saw his end, as I hear from my comrade Paolo. We havespared you, and may yet spare you, if you do absolutely what we tellyou. "

"And otherwise?"

He smiled cruelly, and his eyes danced when he answered--

"Otherwise, you would give all you possessed if I would shoot you nowas you sit; but don't let us look at it that way. You must see thatyour case is utterly hopeless; you will never look again on anycivilised city, or see the face of a man you have known. For allpurposes you are as dead as though twenty feet of earth covered you. Ifyou would still have life, not altogether under unfavourableconditions, you have but to ask for pen, ink, and paper--and to makeyourself one of us. "

"That I will never do!"

"Oh, you say that now; but we shall give you some days to think of it. Let me advise you to be a man of common sense, and not to run your headagainst a stone wall. Believe me, we are a curious company; I don'tsuppose there is a man aboard us who has not some deaths to hisaccount. I am wanted for a murder in Shropshire; but I am giving yourpeople a little trouble. Ha! ha!"

This was said with such a fearful laugh that I shrank back from theman, who restrained himself with an effort as he rose to go; but as hestood at the door, he said--

"We are now bound on a four-days' voyage. During these four days, youneed fear nothing. We should have paid off our score in the Atlantic, and sent you and your fellows to join other intrusive friends of ours, if we had not wished to get this little account of yours. So don'tdisturb yourself unnecessarily until Captain Black puts the question toyou. Then, if you are foolish, you had better feed your courage. I haveseen stronger men than you who have cried out for death when we had butput our fingers on them; and we shall do you full honour--in fact, weshall treat you royally. "

When he was gone, I thought that he had spoken with truth. To all myfriends I was as dead as though twenty feet of earth lay on my body. What hope had I, shut in that grave of steel? What friend could hearme, battened in that prison on the sea? Should I tell the men franklyall I knew, and crave their mercy, or should I seek hope in thepretence that Roderick had information which might yet be fatal tothem? I thought the position out, and this was the sum of it. These menhad a home somewhere. If I had known where that home was, and hadcommunicated the knowledge to Roderick, then the Governments of Europecould bring the ruffian crew to book with little difficulty. That, without a doubt was the question Black would put to me. He would wishto know all I knew; but, if I refused to tell him, he would proceed toextremes, and I shuddered when I remembered what his extremes had beenin the case of Hall. The man undoubtedly had conceived a scheme daringbeyond any known in the nineteenth century. The knowledge of hishiding-place was the key to his safety. If Roderick had it, then, indeed, I might have looked for life; but I knew that Hall had neverdiscovered it, and what hope had Roderick where the greater skill hadfailed?

This consideration led me to one conclusion. I would pretend that I hadsome knowledge, and that my friends had it too. If that did not save mylife, God alone could help me, and the home of Captain Black would bemy grave. Nor did I know in any case that I had much expectation oflife in such surroundings or in such company. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

NORTHWARD HO!

During some days I saw no more of the doctor, or of anyone about theship save an old negro, who became my servant. He was not anunkindly-looking man, being of a great age, and somewhat feeble in hisactions; but he never opened his lips when I questioned him, and gave aplain "Yes" or "No" to any demand. Those days would have beenmonotonous, had it not been for the ever-present sense of comingdanger, of a future dark and threatening, likely to be fruitful intrial and in peril. Each morning at an early hour the age-worn blackentered my cabin and told me that my bath was ready. When I wasdressed, a breakfast, generous in quality and in quantity, was set uponmy cabin table. At one o'clock luncheon of like excellence was served;and again at five o'clock and at eight, tea and dinner. Some thoughtevidently was given to my condition, for on the second morning I foundclean linen with a neat suit of blue serge awaiting me in the bathroom, and when I had breakfasted, the black brought a parcel of books to me;I found amongst them, to my satisfaction, several light works by BretHarte, Mark Twain, and Max Adeler, as well as more solid literary food. The books saved me from much of that foreboding which I should haveknown wanting them, and after the first fears had passed I spent thehours in reading or looking through the port-hole over the desertedwaste of a fretful sea. I had hoped to learn something of ourdestination from this diligent watching of the waves; but for the firstforty hours, at any rate, I saw nothing--not so much as a smallship--though it felt much colder; and again on the third day the lowertemperature was yet more marked, so that I welcomed fresh and warmerclothing which the negro brought me for my bed; and observed withsatisfaction that there were means within the ship for heating thecabin during the daytime. 

It must have been on the fourth day after my capture that the namelessship, which hitherto had not been speeding at an abnormal pace, beganto go very fast, the rush of water from the head of her risingfrequently above my port, and permitting but rare views of the distanthorizon. The greater speed was sustained during that day until thefirst dog-watch, when I was disturbed in my reading by theconsciousness that the ship had stopped, and that there was greatagitation on deck. I looked from my window and observed the cause ofthe confusion, for there, ahead of us a mile or more, was one of thelargest icebergs I have ever seen. The mighty mass, from whose sidesthe water was rushing as in little cataracts, towered above the sea toa height of four or five hundred feet, rising up in three snow-whitepinnacles which caught the crimson light of the sinking sun and gave itback in prismatic hues, all dazzling and beautiful. As a great islandof ice, all rich in waving colour and superb majesty, the berg passedon, and the screw of the steamer was heard again. I watched intently, hoping to see other bergs, or, indeed, any ships that should tell mehow far we had gone towards the north; but the night fell suddenly, andthe negro served dinner, asking me if I had warmth enough? My curtanswer seemed to astonish him; but the truth was that I was thinking ofthe man Paolo's words when sick upon my own ship. He had cried, "Ice, ice, " more than once in his delirium; but none of us then had themeaning of his cry. Yet I had it, and with it a notion of the secondsecret of Captain Black. For surely he was running to hiding; and hishiding-place lay to the north, far above the course even ofCanadian-bound vessels, as I knew by the number of days we had beensteaming. 

This new surmise on strange openings did not in any way combat theterror which visited me so often in that floating prison. Every day, indeed, seemed to take me farther from humanity, from friends, from thelands and the peoples of civilisation. Every day confirmed me in thethought that I was hopelessly in this man's grip, the victim of hismercy, or his rigour; that none would know of my end when that endshould come; no man say "God help you!" when at last the fellow shouldshow his teeth. Such dire communings robbed me of my sleep at night;led me to books whose pages passed blurred before me; made me start atevery rap upon the cabin door; brought me to fear death even in thevery food I ate. Yet during the week I was a prisoner on the ship noharm of any sort befell me. I was treated with the hospitality of agreat mansion, served with all I asked, unmolested save for thedoctor's threat. 

And so the time passed, the weather growing colder day by day, thebergs more frequent about my windows; until on the evening of theseventh day the ship stopped suddenly, and I heard the anchor let go. This was late in the watch, at the time when I was in the habit ofgoing to bed; but hearing great movement and business on the deck I satstill, waiting for what should come; and after the lapse of an hour ormore I found that we were moving very slowly again, and with butoccasional movements of the screw. I opened my port, and could hearloud shoutings from above, and although there was no light of the moon, I could see enough to conclude that we were passing by a great wall ofrock, and so into some harbour or basin. 

The work of mooring the ship was not a long one when once we had cometo a stand. When all was done the noise ceased, and no one coming to meI went to bed as usual. On the next morning I got up at daybreak, andlooked eagerly from my spying place; but I could discern only a blankcliff of rock, the ship being now moored against the very side of it. The negro came to me at the usual hour, but he brought a note with mybreakfast; and I read an invitation to dine with Captain Black at eighto'clock on that evening. You may be sure that I welcomed even such aprospect of change, for the monotony of the cabin prison had becomenigh unbearable; and when at a quarter to eight that evening the oldman threw open the door and said, "The Master waits!" I went with himalmost joyfully, even though the next step might have been to my opengrave. 

He led the way up the companion ladder, which was, in fact, a broadstaircase, elaborately lit with the electric light; and so brought meto the deck, where there was darkness save in one spot above thefore-turret. There a lantern threw a great volume of white light whichspread out upon the sea, and showed me at once that we were in a coveof some breadth, surrounded by prodigiously high cliffs; and the lightbeing focussed right across the bay, disclosed a cleft in these rocksleading apparently to a farther cove beyond. I had scarce time to getother than a rough idea of the whole situation, for a boat was waitingat the gangway, and the negro motioned to me to pass down the ladderand take my seat in the stern. The men gave way at once, keeping in thecourse of the searchlight, and rowing straight to the cleft in thecliffs, through which they passed; and so left the light and entered anarrower fjord, which was ravine-like in the steepness of its sides, and so dark, that one could see but a narrow vista of the sky throughthe overhanging summits of the giant rocks. This second cove openedafter a while into a lake; above whose shores, at a high spot in theside of the precipice on the left hand, I observed many twinklinglights, which seemed to come from windows far up the face of the cliff. These lights marked our destination, the men rowing straight to them;and I found, when we came near the precipitous shore which bound thefjord, that there was a rough landing-stage, cut in the rock, and thatan iron stairway led thence to the chambers which evidently existedabove. 

When we had come to shore, and had been received there by several menwho held lanterns, and had the look of Lascars, the negro conducting mepointed to the iron stairway and told me to mount: he following me tothe summit, where there was a platform and an iron door. The dooropened as we arrived before it, and there standing by it I found theyoung doctor, who greeted me very heartily and appeared to bealtogether in a merry mood. 

"Come in, " he said, "they're waiting for you; and this infernal coldgives men appetites. This way--but it isn't very dark, is it?"

We were in a broad passage lit by electric light--a passage cut in acrystal-like rock, whose surface had almost the lustre of a mirror. Atintervals facing the cove were incisions for windows, but these werenow hung with heavy curtains; and there were cupboards and pegs againstthe rock wall on the opposite side to make the place serve the purposesof a hall. The passage led up to a second door--this one built of fineAmerican walnut; and we passed through it at once into a room where Iwas astounded to see indisputable evidence of civilisation and ofrefinement. The whole chamber was hung round with superb skins, thewhite fur of the Polar bear predominating; but there were couchescushioned with deep brown seal; and the same glossy skin was laid uponthe floor in so many layers that the footfall was noiseless andpleasantly luxuriant. The furniture otherwise was both modern andartistic. A heavy buhl-work writing-table opposite the door waslittered with maps, books and journals; there was a sécretairebook-case in Chippendale by the side of the enormous fire-place, inwhich a great coal fire burned; and above this was an ivory overmantelof exquisite work. A grand piano, open and bearing music, was the chiefornament of the left-hand corner; while another Chippendale cabinet, filled with a multitude of rare curiosities, completed an apartmentwhich had many of the characteristics of a salon and not a few of astudy. 

But I had not eyes so much for the room as for the solitary occupant ofit, who sat before the writing-table, but rose after I had entered. Oneglance assured me that I was face to face with Captain Black--theCaptain Black I had seen at the drunken orgie in Paris; but yet not thesame, for all the bravado and rough speech which then fell from hislips was wanting; and his "Come in!" given in answer to the youngdoctor's knock, was spoken melodiously in a rich baritone voice thatfell very pleasantly upon the ear. When he stepped forward and held outhis hand to me, I had the mind almost to draw back from him, for I knewthat the man had crime heavy upon him; but a second thought convincedme of the folly of making a scene at such a moment; so I took the greathard hand and looked him full in the face. He was not so tall as I was, but a man who appeared to possess colossal strength in his enormousarms and shoulders; and one not ill-looking, though his black beardfell upon his waistcoat, and his jacket of seal was loose andill-fitting. The strange thing about our meeting was this, however. When he had taken my hand, he held it for a minute or more, looking mestraight in the face with an interest I could not understand; and, indeed, he then forgot himself entirely, and continued to gaze upon meand to shake my hand until I thought he would never let it go. 

When at last he recovered himself it was with a quick start. 

"I am glad to see you, " said he; "dinner waits us;" and with that wepassed into another chamber, hung with skins as the first was, butcontaining a dining-table laid for four persons in a very elegantmanner, with cut glass, and silver epergnes laden with luscious-lookingfruit and the best of linen. The light came from electric lamps in theceiling, and from other lamps cunningly placed in a great block of ice, which formed the central ornament. Nor have I eaten a better dinnerthan the one then served. The only servant was a black giant, whowaited with a dexterity very singular in such a place; and the guestsof the captain were the young doctor, the Scotsman known as Dick theRanter, and myself. The Scotsman alone displayed signs of thatrollicking spirit of dare-devil which had characterised the meeting inParis; but the captain soon silenced him. 

"D'ye ken that we've no said grace?" remarked the lantern-jawed fellow, as we sat to table; and then, raising his hands in impudent mockery, hebegan to utter some blasphemy, but Black turned upon him as with thegrowl of a wild beast. 

"To the devil with that, " said he. "Hold your tongue, man!"

The Scotsman looked up at the rebuke as though a thunderbolt had hithim. 

"Verra weel, mon; verra weel, " he muttered; "but ye're unco melancholythe nicht, unco melancholy. " And then he fell to the silence ofconsumption, eating prodigiously of all that was set before him; but inhigh dudgeon, as a man rebuked unworthily. Of the others, the doctoralone talked, chatting fluently of many European cities, and provinghimself no mean _raconteur_. I listened in the hope of getting someidea of what was intended in my case; also, if that could be, of thesituation of this strange place in which I found myself; for as yet Iknew not if it were to the North of America; or, indeed, in what partof the Arctic Sea it might be. To my satisfaction the captain made noattempt to conceal the information from me. The first occasion of hisspeaking during dinner was in answer to a remark of mine that I foundthe room very pleasantly warm. 

"Yes, " he said, "you must feel the change, although you will feel itmore when we get winter here. You know where you are, of course. "

I said unsuspectingly that I had not the faintest idea, when he cast aquick glance at the doctor, and the latter slapped me on the back quitejoyously. 

"Bravo!" he cried. "That prevents our putting one unpleasant questionto you, anyway. I knew that your innuendo in the cabin was allmake-believe. "

"Of course it was, " added the captain; "but the knowledge of it savesour bustling you. However, this isn't the time for talk of that sort. Imay tell you, since you do not know, that you are on the west coast ofGreenland, and that there is a Danish settlement not fifty miles fromyou--although we don't leave cards on our neighbours. "

He called for champagne then, and gave a toast--"The new recruit!" Idid not raise my glass with the others, which he saw, and became stern. 

"Well, " said he, "I won't have you hurried, and you're my guest until Iput the straight question to you. When that happens you won't thinktwice about the answer, for we can be very nasty, I assure you. Now trya cigar. These are good. They came from the collection of LordRemingham, who was on his way to America a few weeks ago. "

"And met with an unfortunate accident, " said the doctor, with mockseriousness, which was taken up by the Scotsman, who remarked in hisbest drawl--"May his soul ken rest!" and they all shouted with infamouslaughter, but I listened with a morbid interest when the doctorcontinued--

"It's astonishing how good the quality of the tobacco and the champagneis on board the ocean-going steamers; now this Bolinger '84 was thespecial pride of the skipper of the _Catalania_, which unhappily sankin the Atlantic through the sheer impudence of the man who commandedher. As he liked it so much, I broke a bottle over his head before wesent him to the devil, with five hundred others. "

"You may say, in fact, that he made the acquaintance o' the auld manwi' the flavour o' this gude stuff on him, " said the Scotsman, whichmade them laugh again; but Black was satiated with the banter, and herose from the table suddenly as the man Four-Eyes entered. 

"This pleasant party must disperse, " he said to me; "you can go to thequarters we have provided for you, unless you would like to see more ofus. We are well worth seeing, I think, and we may give you some idea ofour other side. "

"I should like to see everything you can show me, " I replied, beingaflame with curiosity to know all that the strange situation couldteach me; and then he made a motion for the others to follow, and wepassed from the room. 

CHAPTER XVII. 

ONE SHALL LIVE. 

The way from the dining-room was through a long passage, lighted witharc lamps at intervals, and having the doors of many rooms on theright-hand side of it. Several of these doors were open; and I saw theinteriors of well-furnished bedrooms, of smaller sitting-rooms, and ofa beautifully-furnished billiard-room. At the end of the passage, wedescended a flight of stairs to another landing, where there was asteep rock-slope leading right through the cliff almost to the level ofthe water. This proved the way to a small stretch of beach which was atthe uppermost end of the fjord; and here I found several substantialbuildings of stone, evidently for the use of Black's company. Thelargest of the houses seemed to be a kind of a hall, well lighted byarc lamps. Into this we passed, lifting a heavy curtain of skins; andseated there, on all sorts of rough lounges and benches, were the men Ihad seen in Paris, with fifty or sixty others, no less ferocious-lookingor more decently clad. There were negroes in light check suits and redflannel shirts; Americans in velveteen coats and trousers; Italiansmuffled up in jerseys; Spaniards playing cards before the roaring fire;half-castes smoking cheroots and drinking from china pots; Englishmenlying wrapped in rugs, asleep, or bawling songs to a small audience, which gave a chorus back in mellifluous curses; Russians drunk withspirits; Frenchmen chattering; Chinese mooningly silent; over all anatmosphere of smoke and foul odours, of fetid warmth and stiflingheaviness. 

As we entered the place the din was deafening, a medley of shouts andoaths, of songs and execrations; but it ceased when the captain bawled"Silence!" and an unusual stillness prevailed. The man Four-Eyes, whowas always the immediate "go-between" so far as the captain and crewwere concerned, at once put chairs for us near the huge fireplace, setting a great armchair for the skipper, with a small table whereonwere many papers, and a small wooden hammer such as the chairman of ameeting commonly uses. Black took his seat in the great chair, with thedoctor, the Scotsman, and myself around him; and then he harangued themen. 

"Boys, " he said, "we're home again. I give you luck on it--and swill itdown in liquor. "

I noticed that he had put on with his entry into the room all his oldfierceness of manner and coarseness. He shouted out his words wheneverhe spoke, and emphasised them with bangs of the hammer upon the table. The call for wine was answered by some of the niggers fetching in casesof champagne, and soon the stuff was running in every part of the hall. The captain waited until the men were drinking, and then he continued--

"I guess, boys, the next thing to do is to make our calculations. We'vehad a smart month's work, and there's a matter of two hundred and fiftypounds a man waiting for you when next you foot it in New York. That'smy calculation; and if there's one of you doubts it, he can see thefigures. "

He waited for them to speak, but they gave him only a great shout ofapproval, when he became more serious. 

"You know, lads, there'll be a spell of holiday here for you, which youmay reckon that I regret as much as any of you. The skipper of theAmerican cruiser has made hell in Europe, and there's twenty cruisersout after us if there's one. That I snap my fingers at; but fightingisn't the game for you and me, who are looking for dollars; and wewon't hurt to lie low until the spring. Has any man got anything to sayagainst that?"

There was not a word in answer to the threatening question; and thenBlack, bracing himself up to anger, went on--

"I now come to speak of a bit of business which you all want to hearabout. There was two of you refused a double watch when we left theYankee cruiser. Let 'em step forward. "

One man, a dark-visaged Russian, with a yellow beard, stepped to thetable at the words, but he was alone. 

"Where is Dave Skinner?" asked the captain in a calm, but horridlymeaning, voice. 

"I guess he's sleeping on it, " said the man Roaring John, whom Inoticed for the first time, curled up on a bench in the corner, thebandages still upon his face. 

"Kick him awake, the blear-eyed bullock, " said Black, and the kickingwas done right heartily; the subject, a huge man with dark hair, closely cropped, and a stubbly beard, rising to his feet and lookinground him like one dazed with strong drink. 

"Wall, " said he, speaking to Roaring John, "you big-booted swine, whatd'ye reckon ez you want along o' me?"

"Ask the skipper, cuss, " replied the other, pushing the sleepy manforward to the chair where the Russian stood; and then Black began tospeak to them quite calmly--

"Boys, " he said, "I got it agen you that you refused my orders, andrefused them at a pinch when me and the rest of 'em ran for our lives. Each of you lays the blame for this on the other, and I'm not going tohaggle about that. You know what we're bound by, and that I can't gobeyond what's written any more than you can go beyond it. There are twoof you in this, and you settle your own differences--one of you lives. John, give 'em knives!"

As I heard these words, amazed and doubting, the men, without any otherincitement, and uttering no remark, stripped off their coats and stoodnaked to the waists. The crew about left off their games and drew near, forming a ring round the men, who had taken up great clasp-knives, andwere evidently to fight for their very lives. I knew then the meaningof the words "One of you lives;" and an excitement, strange and full ofmorbid interest, took possession of me. 

That the men were to fight, and fight to the death, was sufficientlyterrible; but a savour of horror was added to the dish by the flagrantunfairness of the conditions under which they fought. The American, Skinner, was thickly built, and of a sturdy physique. He had the betterof his man in height, in reach, in physical strength; for Tovotsky, asI heard the Russian called, was a man of small stature, rather a shredof a man, full hairy about his breast, yet giving small signs ofhardihood, or of power. It seemed to me that he might well haveprotested against the manner of the contest, and urged that a fightwith knives would go to the stronger, skill being no part of it; but hesaid nothing, wearing an air of sullen determination, while hisantagonist bellowed at him as though to overawe him by cheap bravado. 

"Stand up right here, so ez I ken stick you, boss, " he cried, when theyfaced each other; adding as the Russian dodged him: "What, my hearty, have ye got the taste of it already?--now steady, ye yellow-hairedbuzzard; steady, ye skunk, while I make hog's meat of you. "

They stood crouched like beasts, or revolved about each other, thegleaming blades poised in the air, their left hands seekingholding-place. Skinner struck first, his knife shining bright againstthe light as he slashed at Tovotsky's throat, but the Russian doubleddown between his legs, and the pair fell heavily a yard away from eachother. 

"Slit him as he lies, Dave!" "End him, Tov!" "Do you reckon you'reabed?" These and other equally elegant exclamations fell from the lipsof the crew, as the men lay dazed, fearful of mischief if they rose. But the Russian was first up, and springing at the other, who rolledaside as he came, he sent his knife home in his opponent's back, and agreat shout of "First blood!" turned me sick with the terror of it. Norcould I look at them for some minutes, fearing to see a more repulsivespectacle; but when next I saw them, they were crouching again, and theAmerican was silent, undoubtedly suffering from his wound, which bledfreely. Presently he made another spring at Tovotsky, who ducked down, but got a slit across his shoulder, whereon he set up a howl of pain, and ran round and round the ring; while the other followed him, makinglunges terrible to see, but doing no more mischief. The effort took thebreath out of both of them, and they paused at last, panting like dogs, and drinking spirits which their friends brought them. When theyresumed again, it was by mutual agreement, rushing at each other andgripping. Each man then had got hold of the right hand of hisantagonist, so that the deadly knives were powerless, while the pairstruggled, trying to "back-heel" each other. Round and round they went, bumping against their fellows in the circle, straining their muscles sothat they cracked, uttering fierce cries in the agony of the strugglefor life. But the American had the strength of it, and he forcedTovotsky's hand back upon him, stabbing him with his own knife againand again, so that the man's breast was covered with wounds, and heseemed like soon to faint from weakness. It might have been that hewould have died where he stood, but by some terrible effort he forcedhimself free; and with the howl of a wild beast, he thrust his ownknife to the hilt in the American's side. It broke at the handle; butthe long blade was left embedded in the flesh, and the force of theblow was so overwhelming that Skinner drew himself straight up withdeath written in his protruding eyes and distorted features. Yet he hadstrength to seek vengeance, for his antagonist had now no weapon leftto him, which the American saw, and ran after him with a scream ofrage; when Tovotsky fled, breaking the ring, and scudding round thegreat room like a maniac. There Skinner followed him, crying with painat every movement, almost foaming at the mouth as his wiry enemy eludedhim. At last the Russian approached the door, his opponent being withina few feet of him, but the smaller man fell headlong through thecurtain, and at that the death-agony came upon Skinner. He stopped asthough held in a vice, hurled his knife at the Russian, and fell downdead. The men gave a great shout, and rushed from the place to find theother; but they brought him in dead as he had fallen, and far frombeing moved at the ghastly sight, they holloaed and bellowed likebulls, coming to reason only at the skipper's cry. 

"Take 'em up to the cavern, some of you there, and lay 'em side by sideto cool, " he said brutally, and his orders were instantly obeyed. Others of the crew brought buckets and swabs unbidden, and cleansed theplace, after which Black addressed the men again as though the terriblescene was a thing of common happening. 

"Before I give you good-night, " he said, "I want to tell you that we'vegot a stranger with us; but he's here to stay, and he's my charge. "

"Has he jined?" asked the blear-eyed Yankee, who had eyed me with muchcuriosity; but the captain answered--

"That's my affair, and you keep your tongue still if you don't want meto cut it out; he'll join us by-and-by. "

"That's agen rules, " said the man Roaring John, loafing up with others, who seemed to resent the departure. 

"Agen what?" asked Black in a tone of thunder, turning on the fellow aferocious gaze; "agen what, did you remark?"

"Agen rules, " replied Roaring John; "his man broke my jaw, and I'll payhim, oh, you guess; it's not for you to go agen what's written no morethan us. "

Black's anger was evident, but he held it under. 

"Maybe you're right, " he said carelessly; "we've made it that nostranger stays here unless he joins, except them in the mines--but I'vemy own ideas on that, and when the time comes I'll abide by what'sdone. That time isn't yet, and if any man would like to dictate to me, let him step out--maybe it's you, John?"

The fellow slunk away under the threat, but there were mutterings inthe room when we left; and I doubt not that my presence was freelydiscussed. This did not much concern me, for Black was master beyondall question, and he protected me. 

We went back with him to the long passage where I had seen the doors ofbed-chambers, and there he bade me good-night. The doctor showed meinto a room in the passage, furnished both as a sitting-room and abedroom, a chamber cut in the solid rock, but with windows towards thesea; and when he had seen to the provisions for my comfort, he, too, went his way. But first he said--

"You must have been born under a lucky star: you're the first man towhom Black ever gave an hour's grace. "

CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE DEN OF DEATH. 

The bed in which I lay was wondrous soft and downy; and the cold gaveme deep sleep, so that I awoke at a late hour to find the sun streamingthrough my rock window, and the negro telling me, as he was wont to doin the ship, that my bath was ready. The bath-room lay away a few pacesfrom my chamber; but the water that flowed from the silver taps wasicily cold; and I shivered after my plunge, though the beauty andluxury of the place compelled my admiration. It was no ordinarybath-room, even in its arrangement, the great well of water being largeenough to swim in, and the basin of pure white marble; while soft andbrightly-coloured rugs were laid on the couches around, and the archedroof was Eastern in design and decoration. When we returned to mysleeping-place, I found the bed curtained off, leaving a commodiousapartment, with books, armchairs, a writing-table, and a fireplace, inwhich a coal fire burned brightly. But the greater surprise was theview from my window, a view over a sunlit fjord, away to mountainpeaks, snow-capped and shining; and between them to a vista of anendless snow-plain, white, dazzling, and not altogether unmonotonous, yet relieved by the nearer patches of green and almost garden-landwhich seemed to stretch towards the sea. 

My new home was, as I had thought, upon the side of a fjord which ledthrough a cañon to the outer basin. There was beach at the upper end ofit, and grass-land where several canoes and kayaks lay; and I saw thatmany of the men who had watched the horrors of the night were workinglustily now, dragging stores and barrels from a heavily-charged screwsteamer which was anchored near the beach. The rocks which bound theopposite side of the bay did not appear to be cut for dwellings as onour side: but I saw trace of several passages in them; and away abovethem there was a small mountain peak by which a river of ice ran intothe sea. But of the outer cave I could observe nothing; or of the shoreitself, though away at a greater distance, over some of the ravines, Imade out the clear blue of the Atlantic, and a waste of peaceful water. 

The doctor came to me while I was at breakfast. He was very cheerful, and began to talk at once. 

"The captain sends you his compliments, " he said; "and hopes you haveslept. _Entre nous_, you know, he doesn't care a brass button for suchthings as we saw last night; but if we didn't keep discipline here, weshould have our throats cut in a week. "

I gave him civil words in return, and he went on to speak of personalmatters. 

"The men are inclined to resent the exception that has been made inyour case. I am afraid it will lead to trouble by-and-by, unless, ofcourse, you choose to close with the offer that Black makes to you. "

"You speak of an 'exception, ' and an 'offer, '" said I; "but for thelife of me, I don't quite know what you mean. How has an exception beenmade in my case, and what is the offer?"

"I will tell you in a minute; Captain Black has brought thirty or fortyEnglishmen of your position, or better, to this place within the lastthree years; not one of them has lived twenty hours from the time heset foot in the rock-house. As for the offer, it is evident to you thatwe could not permit any man to share our privileges, and to be one ofus, unless he shared also our dangers and our risks. In other words, the time will come when you must sign an agreement such as I havesigned, and these men have signed--and I don't believe that you willrefuse. It is either that, which means full liberty, plenty of money, alife which is never monotonous, often amusing, and sometimes dangerous;or an alternative which I really won't dilate on. "

"You lay it all down very clearly, " I replied, "but you can have myanswer now if you like. "

He raised his hand laughingly. 

"Curse all emotion, " he said, "it affects digestion. Black won't hurryyou--why, for the life of me, I can't tell, but he won't. You can't dobetter than take things easy, and see the place. I've brought you a'Panama, ' for the sun can advertise himself at eight bells still; andif you have nothing better to do, put it on, and light a cigar as westroll round. "

The idea of inspecting the place pleased me. I followed DoctorOsbart--for such his name was--down the rock slope we had trodden onthe previous evening; and thence to the beach, hard and baked with thesun. The men, who had ceased the labour of discharging the steamer, were lying about on the grassy knolls, smoking and dozing, and theycast no friendly glances on me as we passed along the shore round theedge of the bay, and mounted a soft grass slope which led to thecliff-head on the other side. It was a long walk, but not unpleasant, in the crisp, sweet, odour-bearing air; and when we had attained thesummit, a glorious seascape was spread before us. All about were thewhite peaks and the basaltic rocks, towering above ravines where iceflowed, or falling away to bright green pastures where reindeer trod. The coast-line was lofty and awe-inspiring, often showing a precipitousface to the sea, which beat upon it with the booming of heavy breakers;and spread surf all foaming upon its ridges and promontories. I stoodentranced with the vigour born of that life-giving breeze; and theyoung doctor stood with me watching. At last he touched me upon theshoulder, and pointed to the first cave, where the nameless ship laysnugly moored in the creek, with many seamen at work upon her. 

"Look, " he said, "look there, where is the instrument of our power. Isnot she magnificent? Do you wonder at my warmth--yet why? for withouther we here are helpless children, victims of poverty, of law, ofsociety. With her we defy the world. In all Europe there is no like toher; no ship which should live with her. Ask her for speed, and shewill give you thirty knots; tell her that you have no coal, and shewill carry you day after day and demand none. Aboard her, we aresuperior to fleets and nations; we ravage where we will; we laugh atthe fastest cruisers and the biggest warships. Are you surprised thatwe love her?"

He spoke with extraordinary enthusiasm--the enthusiasm of a fanatic ora lover. The great ship reflected the sun's glow from her many brightparts, and was indeed a beauteous object, yet swan-like, the gunsuncovered as the men worked at them, and a newer lustre added to hersplendour. 

"She is a wonderful ship, " said I, "and built of metal I never metwith. "

"Her hull is constructed of phosphor-bronze, " he answered, "and she isdriven by gas. The metal is the finest in the world for allshipbuilding purposes, but its price is ruinous. None but a man worthmillions could build the like to her. "

"Then Captain Black is such a man?" I said. 

"Exactly, or he wouldn't be the master of her--and of Europe. Doesn'tit occur to you that you were a fool ever to set out on the enterpriseof coping with him?"

I did not answer the taunt, but looked seaward, away across the west, where Roderick and Mary were. The boundless spread of water reminded mehow small was the hope that I should ever see them again; ever hear avoice I had known in the old time, or clasp a hand in fellowship thathad oft been clasped. They thought me dead, no doubt; and to take thegrief from them was forbidden, then and until the end of it, I feltsure. 

But the doctor was still occupied with the great ship, looking downupon her as she lay, and he called my attention to a fact I had notbeen cognisant of. 

"We are coaling here, do you see?" he said. "It was one of Black'sinspirations to choose Greenland for his hole; it is one of the fewcomparatively uninhabited countries in the world where coal is to behad, somewhat of a poorer quality than the anthracite we are accustomedto use, but very welcome when we are close pressed. He is filling hisbunkers now, in case we should decide to break up this party before theend of the winter. That will depend on our friends over in Europe. Wehave given them a nightmare, but it won't last, and they'll go to bedagain to get another. "

"Who are your miners?" I asked suddenly, interrupting him, for I sawthat the rock above the nameless ship was pierced with tunnels leadingdown to the shafts, and that forty or fifty coal-black fellows wereshooting the stuff into the bunkers. 

"These are our guests, " he said lightly, "honest British seamen whosevoyages have been interrupted. We give them the alternative of work inthe mine, or their liberty on the snow yonder. "

"But how can they live in such a place?"

He laughed as though the whole thing were a joke. 

"They don't live, " said he. "They die like vermin. "

"I'm evidently afloat with a lot of fine-spirited fellows, " said I;"or, to put it in plain English, with a beautiful company ofblackguards. "

"Why not say with a lot of devils--that would be more accurate? But youcan't forget that you came to us unasked, and now you must stop. "

His leer at this sally was terribly expressive, and I showed all thecontempt I felt for him, turning away to the sea fondly, as the hope ofmy liberty, since thence only should it come. He read my thoughts, perhaps, taking me by the arm with unsought pretence of kindness, andhe said--

"Don't let's dissect each other's morals; we have the place to see, andyou must be getting hungry. I will show you only one thing before wego--it is our cemetery. "

It was not a fascinating prospect, yet I followed him across the highplateau to the creek wherein the rock-house was, but to the side whichwas opposite to my bedroom window. There he descended the face of thecliff by rough steps; and entered one of the passages which I hadobserved from my chamber. The passage was long and low, lighted byships' lanterns at intervals, and I discovered that it led to a greatcavern which opened to the face of one of the glaciers going down tothe sea on the farther side. Nor have I entered a sepulchre which evergave me such an infinite horror of death, or such a realisation of itsterrors. 

The end of the cavern was nothing but a wall of ice, clear as glass, admitting a soft light which illuminated the whole place with dim rays, making it a place of mystery and awe. Yet I had not noticed its moredreadful aspect at the first coming; and, when I did so, I gave a cryof horror and turned away my face, fearing to see again that mostoverwhelming spectacle. For blocks had been cut from the clear ice, andthe dead seamen had been laid in the frozen mass just as they had died, without coffin or other covering than their clothes. There they lay, their faces upturned, many of them displaying all the placidpeacefulness of death; but some grinned with horrible grimaces, and theeyes of some started from their heads, and there were teeth that seemedto be biting into the ice, and hands clenched as though the fierceactivity of life pursued them beyond the veil. Yet the frightfulmausoleum, the den of death, was pure in its atmosphere as a garden ofsnow, cool as grass after rain, silent as a tomb of the sea. Not asound even of dripping water, not a motion of life without, not a sighor dull echo disturbed its repose. Only the dead with hands uplifted, the dead in frozen rest, the dead with the smile of death, or the hateof death, or the terror of death written upon their faces, seemed towatch and to wait in the chamber of the sepulchre. 

I have said that the sight terrified me; yet the whole of my fear Icould not write, though the pen of Death himself were in my hands. Soprofoundly did the agony of it appeal to me that for many minutestogether I dare not raise my eyes, could scarce restrain myself fromflying, leaving the dreadful picture to those that should care to gazeupon it. Yet its spell was too terrible, the morbid magnetism of it toopotent; and I looked again and again, and turned away, and looked yetonce more; and went to the ice to gaze more closely at the dead faces, and was so carried away with the trance of it that I seemed to forgetthe dead men, and thought that they lived. When I recalled myself, Iobserved Doctor Osbart watching me intently. 

"A strange place, isn't it?" he said. "Observe it closely, for some dayyou will be here with the others. "

I shuddered at his thought, and muttered, "God forbid!"

"Why?" he asked, hearing it. "It's not a very fearful thing tocontemplate. I would sooner lie in ice than in earth--and that ice isnot part of the glacier; it never moves. It is bound by the rock therewhich cuts it off from the main mass. "

"It's a horrible sight!" I exclaimed, shivering. 

"Not at all, " he said. "These men have been our friends. I like to seethem, and in a way one can talk to them. Who can be sure that they donot hear?"

It was almost the thought of a religious man, and it amazed me. I waseven about to seek explanation, but a sudden excitement came upon him, and he raved incoherent words, crying--

"Yes, they hear, every one of them. Dick, you blackguard, do you hearme? Old Jack, wake up, you old gun! Thunder, you've killed many a onein your day. Move your pins, old Thunder! There's work to do--work todo--work to do!"

His voice rang out in the cavern, echoing from vault to vault. It wasan awful contrast to hear his raving, and yet to see the rigid deadbefore him. My surmise that Doctor Osbart was a madman was undoubtedlytoo true; and, horrified at the desecration, I dragged him from thecavern into the light of the sun, and there I found myself tremblinglike a leaf, and as weak as a child. The cold crisp breeze brought thedoctor to his senses; but he was absent and wandering, and he left meat the door of my room. 

CHAPTER XIX. 

THE MURDERS IN THE COVE. 

For some days I saw no more of Doctor Osbart or of Captain Black. Myexistence in the rock house seemed to be forgotten by them, and wherethey were I knew not; but the negro waited on me every day, and I wasprovided with generous food and many books. I spent the hours wanderingover the cliffs, or the grass plains; but I discovered that the placewas quite surrounded by ice-capped mountains and by snowfields, andthat any hope of escape by land was more than futile. Once or twiceduring these days I saw the man "Four-Eyes, " and from him gained a fewanswers to my questions. He told me that Captain Black kept upcommunication with Europe by two small screw steamers disguised aswhalers; that one of them, the one I saw, was shortly to be despatchedto England for information; and that the other was then on the Americancoast gleaning all possible news of the pursuit; also charging herselfwith stores for the colony. 

"Bedad, an' we're nading 'em, " he said in his best brogue, "for, wanting the victuals, it's poor sort av order we'd be keepin', by theSaints. Ye see, young 'un, it's yerself as is at once the bottom an'the top av it. 'Wot's he here for?' says half av 'em, while the otherhalf, which is the majority, they says, 'When's the old 'un a-sendinghim to Europe to cut our throats?' they says; and there's the divilamong 'em--more divil than I ever seed. "

"It must be dull work wintering here, " I said at hazard; and he took upthe words mighty eagerly. 

"Ay, an' ye've put yer finger on it; sure, it's just then that there'swork to do combing ov 'em down, young 'un. If I was the skipper, Iwudn't sit here with my feet in my pockets as it was, but I'd up an'run for it. Why, look you, we're short av victuals already; and we turnfifty av the hands in the mine ashore to-morrow!"

"Turn them ashore--how's that?"

"Why, giv' 'em their liberty, I'm thinking: poor divils, they'll die inthe snow, every one av them. "

I made some poor excuse for cutting short the conversation, and lefthim, excited beyond anything by the thought which his words gave me. Iffifty men were to be turned free, then surely I could count on fiftyallies; and fifty-one strong hands could at least make some show evenagainst the ruffians of the rock-house. Give them arms, and a chance ofsurprise, and who knows? I said. But it was evident beyond doubt thatthe initiative must be with me, and that, if arms and a leader were tobe found, I must find them. 

It might have been a mad hope, but yet it was a hope; and I argued: Isit better to clutch at the veriest shadow of a chance, or to sit downand end my life amongst scoundrels and assassins? Unless the man"Four-Eyes" deliberately deceived me, Black would connive at the murderof fifty British seamen before another twenty-four hours had sped. These men would have all the anger of desperation to drive them to theattack; and I felt sure that if I could get some arms into their hands, and help them to wise strategy, the attempt would at the least bejustifiable. It remained only to ascertain the probability of gettingweapons, and of joining the crew without molestation; and to this taskI set myself with an energy and expectation which caused me to forgetfor the time my rascally environment, and the peril of my veryexistence in the ice-haven. 

During the remaining hours of the day I engaged myself in searching thehouses on the beach; but, although I looked into many of them, I foundno sign of armoury, or, indeed, of anything but plain accommodation forliving. Here and there in some rude dormitories I encountered lazyloafers, who cursed at the sight of me; and I did not approach thegreat common-room, for I knew the danger of that venture. But I madesuch a tour of the block of buildings as convinced me of the futilityof any attempt to get arms from them; for such as were storehouses hadiron doors and heavy locks upon them, and elsewhere there was scarce somuch as a pistol. The discouragement of the vain search was profound, and in great gloom and abandoned hope I mounted the steep passage to myown apartment, and sat down to ask myself, if I should not at oncesurrender the undertaking, and preserve my own skin. That, no doubt, was the counsel of mere prudence; yet the knowledge that fifty menwould stand by me to the assault on the citadel of crime and crueltyhaunted me and drove me from the craven prompting. I remembered in awelcome inspiration that Black had a stand of Winchester rifles in hisstudy; I had seen them when I dined with him; and although there werenot more than half-a-dozen of them, I had hopes that they wouldsuffice, if I could get them, with knives and any revolvers I might layhands upon, to hold a ring of men against the company, or at least towarrant a covert attack on the buildings below. This thought I huggedto me all day, going often to the iron platform above the creek to knowif there were any sign of the release of the men, or of preparation forgetting rid of them; but I could see none, and I waited expectantly, for it were idle to move a hand until those who should be my allies hadtheir so-called liberty. 

Towards evening, when I was weary with the watching, I returned to myroom and found that the negro had spread the tea-table as usual; and Idrank a refreshing draught, and began to question him, if he knewanything of that which was going on below. He shook his head stupidly;but presently, when I had repeated the question, he said, laughing andshowing his huge teeth--

"Begar, you wait--plenty fire jess now--plenty knock and squeal; ohyes, sar. "

"Are they going to murder the men?" I asked aghast. 

"No murder; oh no, sar, no murder, but plenty fight--ah, there he goes, sar!"

There was the sound of a gun-shot below in the creek; and I went to mywindow, and getting upon a chair, I saw the whole of a cruel scene. Some twenty of these seamen, black as they had come from thecoal-shaft, were going ashore from a long-boat; while an electriclaunch was bringing twenty more from the outer creek where the namelessship lay. But the men who had first landed were surrounded by theothers of Black's company, and were being driven towards the hills atthe back; and so to the great desolate plain of snow where no humanbeing could long retain life. From my open window, I could hear thewords of anger, the loud oaths, the shouts, could see the blows whichwere received, and the blows which were given. Anon the fight becamevery general. The pirates hit lustily with the butt-ends of theirpistols; the honest fellows used their fists, and many a man they laidhis length upon the rock. Yet there was no question of the sway ofvictory, for the prisoners were unarmed, and the others outnumberedthem hopelessly. Inch by inch they gave way, were driven towards theravines and the countless miles of snow-plain; and as the battle, ifsuch you could call it, raged, the armed lost control of themselves andbegan to shoot with murderous purpose. Death at last was added to thehorrors, and, as body after body rolled down the rocky slope and fellsplashing into the water, those unwounded took panic at the sight, andfled with all speed away up the side of the glacier mount; and so, as Ijudged it must be, to their death in that frozen refuge beyond. 

When all was quiet I shut my window, and sat in my chair to think. Thenegro had left me, and the whole place was very still. Neither Blacknor the doctor had showed during the scene of the massacre (for I couldcall it nothing else); and in the rock-house itself there was not somuch as a footfall. I began to hope that the master of the place mightchance to be away; and when darkness had fallen I went into the longpassage then deserted, and found the door of his sitting-room ajar, butthe place was dim within; and I feared to make an attempt to get thearms until I knew that all slept. But one misfortune could lie betweenmyself and the aid which I should bear to these men--it was the chancethat Black locked the door of his study when he slept. If he did not, Icould get the rifles, and convey them across the bay to the otherfellows; if he did, all hope were gone. 

At seven o'clock I dined as usual, no one coming to me; and at eightthe negro had cleared away the repast, and had left me for the night. Iclosed my own door, and for three hours or more I paced my chamber, thefever of anticipation and of design burning me as with fire. It musthave been eleven o'clock when at last I put out my light, and listenedin the passage; yet heard nothing, not even the echo of a distantsound. 

Of the doors about, the majority were closed; but the doctor's wasopen, and his room was in darkness, so that I began to fear that he wascloseted with Black; and I went very stealthily, having left my bootsbehind me, to the man's study, and found that door ajar as it had beenwhen I had come to it some hours before. This discovery set me almostdrunk with hope. There was no doubt that both the men were away fromtheir rooms, so that my time could not have been better chosen; and, more fearless in their absence, I pushed the door wide open and beganto feel my way in the blinding dark. 

My first proceeding was to run upon some slight article of furniture, and to overturn it. The crash that followed echoed through the vaultedpassages, and I stood quite still, thinking that all chance of successhad gone with the mishap. But no sound followed, and after many minutesI went on again with great care, feeling my way as a cat, quite surethat at last I should succeed. Twice I went round the room, and couldnot put my hand upon the rifles; but at the third attempt I found them, and gave a sigh of relief. Then an overwhelming terror struck me chilland powerless. My sigh was echoed from the corner by the window; and alow chuckle of laughter followed it. I stood as a man petrified, myhand upon a gun, but my nerves strained to a tension that was horribleto bear. Who was there with me? By whom was I watched?

Alas! I knew in another moment, when the electric light flooded thechamber, and I saw Black sitting at his writing-table, observing me, ajeer upon his lips, and all the terrible malice of his nature writtenin his keen and mocking eyes. I stood transfixed by that searchinggaze, held spellbound by the fascination of the obvious danger, my handstill upon one of the rifles, yet trembling with the agitation ofdiscovery. Words rose to my lips--excuses, pleadings; but they diedaway in my throat, and I could not utter them. Plans for the undoing ofthat which had been done, ways of escape, efforts to gain time, suggested themselves to me, but remained suggestions. I could donothing but stand and sway my body as a victim before a python--theprey before a snake that is about to strike. 

We must have watched each other thus for a minute or more. I saw duringthose moments when I was bereft of all power that the man had arevolver cocked at his left hand, but a pen in his right; whilemanuscript lay before him, so that he must have been in the room forsome time, and had extinguished his light only at my coming. And he hadheard me quit my own chamber, I did not doubt; yet this surprised me, for I had no shoes upon my feet, and had walked with the stealth of acat. Indeed, he appeared to read the fleeting speculations of mythought, and at last to take pity on my position, for he leant over thetable, and drew near to it a lounge on which the skin of a polar bearwas spread. 

"Sit here, " he said, and at the bluff word my nerve came back to me. Isat before him, facing him with less fear. Yet it was humiliating to betreated almost as a child, and I knew from the inflexion of his voicethat he spoke to me then as one would speak to a school-lad who hadplayed truant. And in this tone he continued--

"You're a smart boy, and have ideas; but, like all little boys, yourideas don't go far enough. I was just the same when I was your age, always trying to climb perpendicular places, and always falling downagain. When you're older, you look to see what your hold's like beforeyou begin. Meanwhile, you're like a little dog barking at a bull, andyou're precious lucky not to be over the hedge by this time--maybe thebull doesn't mind you, maybe he's waiting a day--but take his adviceand go to kennel awhile. "

He said this half-laughing, and in no sense fiercely; but his wordsangered me beyond restraint, and I could have struck him as he sat. Hesaw my anger, and ceased his provocation. 

"Silly lad, " he said again, "silly beyond expression to put your headinto a business which never concerned you, and to stake your life on astruggle which must have only one end. Don't you think so?"

At this I plucked up courage and answered him--

"I came here to-night to stop your devilry in murdering fifty innocentmen;" but he started up at the words and raved like a maniac. 

"And who made you judge, you puppy?" he cried. "Who set you to watchme, or give your opinions on what I do or what I don't do? Who askedyou whether you liked it or didn't like it, you sneaking little brat? Iwonder I let you live to spit your dirty words in my face?"

His anger was fierce, terrible as a tornado. His teeth gnashed, hishands shook, he rolled in his chair like a great wounded beast; butwhen he saw that I was unmoved, he fell quiet again, and wiping hisforehead, where the sweat had gathered thickly, he said in a low, coaxing voice--

"Don't compel me, lad, to do what I have meant not to do. You're herefor good or ill, and if you wish to keep your life, put a control onyour tongue. These men are nothing to you; they're lazy hogs that theworld's well rid of--let 'em die, and save your own carcass. You'vebeen here days now--the first man that ever lived among us withoutsigning our papers. But you can't stay that way any longer. You knowthis business. You've a straight notion that my hand's agen Europe, and, for the matter of that, agen the world, too; those that share withme shall swing with me, and if I burn when it's done, by the devilhimself they shall burn too. It isn't of my asking that you're amongstus, or that you took up the work of the hound Hall, who put the firstnail in his coffin that night he came to my bed at Spezia. I saw himthere, though he thought me sleeping; and that night I wrote deathagainst his name, as I wrote it against yours when you entered my roomin Paris. There's reasons why I've broken my word in your case, thoughyou'll never know 'em; but there's no reason why you shouldn't swear togo through it with me and mine, man for man, life with life, be itrope's-end or bullet, to rot among the fish, or to share every mateamong us what's got upon the sea. That's my question, and you'll answerit now, yes or no, plain word and no shuffle; meaning to you whetheryou go on as you've gone on in the past, or freeze amongst the otherslying up there in the cavern; whether you swim in money, as my lot swimin it, or get bullets in you thick as hail from northward. That's myquestion, I say again, and there's my papers. Sign 'em now, or you liea corpse before an hour on the clock. "

He leant over his writing-table and put the paper into my hands, arough sheet of parchment, which he wished me to read. But my eyes weredimmed with the restless excitement of the situation, with the dreadterror of the alternative put to me; and I saw nothing but lines ofwriting which swam before me. The silence of the room was terrible tobear; and it was as though I struggled for life while already in thetomb. My thoughts went hurriedly to Europe, to my home, to my friends;above all I recalled the night when Martin Hall went to his death, andhis shadow seemed by me, his face beseeching me, his hand holding mineback from the pen that it would have clutched. During this time the manBlack leant towards me, and watched me, expectancy in his face, threatening in his pose. Yet he did not speak, and my eyes left thepaper and I gave him look for look, and from his face my glance passedto his right hand which held the pistol; and in that instant I tookheart for a step which was the last mad design of a driven man. 

"Give me the pen!" I said suddenly, rising and bending over the table. 

He put the pen into my hands, and leant back with a chuckle ofsatisfaction; but the movement cost him the game. I clutched his pistolwith a lightning grasp, and covered him with it--

"If you raise a finger I'll shoot you like a dog, " I cried. 

Then the man, who was no craven, sat motionless in his chair; and I sawthe beads of terror falling from his forehead, but he betrayed noemotion, and his face might have been cut from marble. I had the muzzleof the pistol upon him, and I continued with greater confidence--

"If you raise your voice to call out, or if anyone comes to this room, you die where you sit. "

He heard me then more calmly, and replied deliberately--

"Boy, you are the first that's bested Black. "

"I'll take your word for that, " I said; "but take care--you are movingyour hand. " He held it still at once and continued--

"I'm caught like a rat in the hole. What do ye want? Name it, and I'llknow how we stand!"

"I want my life--my life, now that I refuse to sign that paper. "

"Yes, " he said, "that's a fair request, though I can't say it's in mypower to make it that way. "

"It's in your power to stand with me--you can give the order that noman's to lay a finger on me, and you will?"

He thought a moment, looking straight down the barrel of the Colt. Thenhe said--

"Yes, I can't avoid that--I'll give you that. "

"And my liberty on the first occasion offering. "

"No, " he replied very slowly and sternly; "that's more than the devilhimself could offer you; they'd tear me to pieces. "

There was no doubt that he had right in this; and I reflected that Icould gain nothing whatever by holding out. There was just the hopethat he would abide by his word in the matter of my personal safety, but more I could not look for. The man could only die, and, it he gaveme freedom, his own men would requite him as he said. I thought of thisand put the pistol down; then I offered him my hand, and he jumped upfrom his seat, grasping it with a great clutch altogether painful tobear, while he dragged me to the light and looked at me with thatcurious expression I had noticed when first I met him in the room. 

"You're a sound plank of a boy, " he said: "shake my hand, young 'un, shake it hearty; go on, don't you think I mind; shake it right so, youbeauty of a boy!"

What else he would have said or done, what new token of his repulsivefavour he would have bestowed on me, I know not; but his wild anticswere cut short by the sound of firing, rapid and oft repeated, whichcame to us from the shore of the cove below. At the first report he letgo my hand and went to his window, from which he drew the curtain, sothat I saw the whole bay lit with silver light from a full-risen moon, and the distant peaks as grim beacons above a land of rest; a landwhich once, perchance, flowered with exotic luxuriance, but which nowwore the snow-silk mantle that had fallen upon countless centuries ofits past. Yet the whole glory and enhancement of the perfect peace werefor the moment ruined, for out on the snow there was a hungry crowd ofstarving souls, crying, I doubt not, for bread; and those to whom theycried answered them with their muskets, dyeing the glittering whitewith many a red stream, bringing many a hungered wretch to his lastsleep in the frozen night of death. And out over the silence of thehills the cries for mercy rang as in bitterness to God, the dreadfulcries of the weak, down trodden beneath the feet of those who knew notGod, the last scream of perishing souls, the sobs of strong men intheir agony. In vain I closed my ears, shut out the sight from my eyes. The picture came to me again and again, the sound of the voices wouldnot be hushed, and in turn I cried to Black--

"For God's sake, help those men, if you have anything but the instinctsof a brute in you!"

He shrugged his shoulders defiantly. "What am I to do?" he asked. 

"Stop the devil's work, and give the men bread, as I've just given youyour life!"

There was a pause before he answered me, and I could see that an oldnature and a new impulse fought within him. He did not give me anydirect answer to my earnest appeal, but he snatched a rifle from a caseand said--

"Take that pistol, and come on; you've fooled me once, and we'll makeit even numbers. But it ain't as easy as cutting cheese, and there'sblood to let. "

I followed him down the passage to the beach, where he blew a whistlesharp and shrill, and the note had a strange ring as it echoed throughthe cañon. 

"That'll wake 'em on the ship, " he explained. "I'm not afeard of these, but there's fighting to be done--now lie behind me, and don't show tillyou're wanted. "

He advanced towards the snow-plain and sang out--

"John, you there, Dick--hands to quarters, do you hear me! Move rightquick, or I'll move you, by thunder!"

They put down their arms from their shoulders in blank amazement, andlistened to him as he went on--

"There's enough down for one night, I reckon, and I'm not going to bekept awake by your cursed firing--what's to be done can be done in themorning; why, you boat-load of night rats, ain't any of you got sleepin you?"

They came round him slowly and sulkily, and he drove them to the bighouses with pleasant oaths and fine round phrases. I lurked near him, but an American saw me and cried--

"Say, Cap'en, hev ye took to nursin' that boy ez ye seems so fond of?"

"Shut your jaw, or I'll shut it for you!" replied Black. "Is the boyyour affair?"

"He's the affair of all of us, I calcerlate, an' some of us wishes toknow particler if he's signed or no. "

Black was smothered in anger, but he showed it only with that terriblegrowling of the voice and his horrid calmness. 

"Oh, you want to know, do you? Which of you, might I ask, is particleranxious about my business?"

There were thirty or forty of them round, and they pressed the closerat the question, as he continued--

"Let them as makes complaint step right here. "

Only four joined the leader; but the captain suddenly snatched myrevolver from me, and fired four shots; and for each shot a man droppeddead on the beach; but the American stood untouched. The appallingbrutality of the action seemed to awe the rest of the crew. They stoodmotionless, dumb with their rage; but when they recovered themselvesthey rushed upon us with wild ferocity; and the Yankee fired at Blackpoint-blank. I thought, truly, that the end was then; but I heard ashout from the water, and, looking there, I saw Dr. Osbart in thelaunch; and there was a Maxim gun in the bows of her. 

"Clear that beach!" roared Black in awful passion; and instantly, as hedropped flat and I imitated him, there was a hail of bullets, and themain part of the crowd fell shrieking; but some threw themselves down, while many stiffened and rolled in death, and blood spouted from scoresof wounds. 

The victory was awful, instantaneous. As the men fled towards thehills, Black called after them--

"Bring to, you limp-gutted carrion, or I'll wipe you out, every one ofyou! Any man who'll save his throat, let him come here!"

At these words they turned back to a man, and came cowering to thewater's edge. Thirty of their fellows lay dead or wounded on thestones, and many of those crawling towards us had bullets in theirlimbs. Yet Black had no thought for them. 

"Where's your leader?" he asked, and they pointed to the American, wholay with the blood pouring from a wound in his left thigh. 

"He's there, is he?" screamed the infuriated man. "The darned skunk'sdown, is he? Well, I'll cure him like a ham. Get torches, some of youand ice him in. "

He was swaying with passion; yet, even regarding it, I could notunderstand what his order meant, and I asked--

"What are you going to do with that man?"

"What am I going to do with him?" he yelled, scarce noticing who spoketo him; "I'm going to bury him. "

It was wonderful in that moment to see how the men, who had beforedefied him, then became as slaves at his command. A silence deep andprofound rested upon them; even those with the captain watched him inhis outrageous anger and were dumb; but all helped him in his ghastlywork, and brought shovels and picks, which they carried to the higherplane of snow. As for the American, who sat upon the beach groaningwith the pain of his wound, I do not know how any man could have wishedto add to his hurt; yet he asked for no sympathy, and it was plain thathe knew what they meant to do with him. At one time feverish ravingsseized him, and he shook his fist at all around him; then he poured hisanger upon Black, who listened to him, gratified that he should provokeit. And the more the man cursed, the greater satisfaction did the othershow. 

"We've got to die, both of us, " said the American at last, ceasing hiswilder oaths; "you en me, Black, en there isn't much ez we kin lookfor; but, if there's en Almighty God, I reckon ez He'll place this yereoff my score, and lay it on yours, or there ain't no hell, an' thereain't no justice, and what seamen dreams of is lies--lies as your wordis lies, en everything about your cursed ship. Go on, lay me right hereas I lay now; but I'll rize agen you, and the day'll come when you'dgive every dollar ye're worth to dig me up, and give me life agen. "

The softer speech availed the poor fellow as little as the other. Ifelt then an exceeding pity for him, and I touched Black on the arm andwas about to plead with him; but at the sight of me he raised his fist, and I moved away, seeing by the light of his eyes that he was as much amadman in that moment as any maniac in Bedlam. For he stood foaming andmuttering, his hands clenched, his hat upon the snow, great drops ofsweat on his bronzed forehead. The haste of the men to get the pickswas not half haste enough for him; and when they began to dig hehurried them the more, until a great pile of snow had been thrown out. 

It was a weird scene--the most weird I have ever known. We stood in asnow-pit amongst the hills, and above us rose in grandeur the greatpyramids of basalt and gneiss. There was no sign of living green thing, even of lichens or of moss, in that elevated plain above the sea; andthe shrill call of the gulls was hushed in the greater stillness of thenight. The moon, high in the unclouded sky, gave light far down intothe crevasses--clear, silvered light that made a jewel of every higherpoint, and sprinkled the crests of the breakers as with floss of fire. Nor was there wind, even a breath of the night's breeze, but only themelancholy silence of the omnivorous frost, the boom of fallingavalanche echoing in the ravines and the ice-caverns, the groans of thedoomed man--a very _Miserere_ amongst the hills, as down below amongstthe dead upon the shore. 

In the snow-plain, which was the centre of this northern desolation, they dug the grave of the living man. I watched from afar--held by whathideous power I knew not--and I saw them roll him over into the trenchthey had dug, and shovel the snow quickly upon him. He watched them, silent in his terror; but when his head only was uncovered he gave ashriek of agony, which rose like the great cry of a man going beforehis God, and ceased not to echo from height to height until longminutes had passed. Then all was hushed, for the cold mantle of deathfell upon him. Slowly those who had done their work took up their toolsand returned doggedly to the beach; but Captain Black was unable tomove from the man who had put that last great curse upon him not fiveminutes gone. Bare-headed and alone, he stood at the snow-grave, andlooked down upon the mound now sparkling with the crystals of the frostthat bound it. And as he looked there came a great weird wailing from adistant hill, a piercing cry, as of another soul passing, and it echoedagain and again from peak to peak and ravine to ravine--a wild"ochone, " that had sadness and grief and misery in it; and I knew thatit was the cry from one of the seamen who had been turned from themines--from one who mourned, perchance, the death of a friend or of abrother. Yet, at the cry, Black gave a great start, and shivering as aman struck down with a deadly chill, he passed from the grave to thebeach. And this was the agony of his returning reason. 

CHAPTER XX. 

I QUIT ICE-HAVEN. 

It was on the next afternoon, near to the setting of the sun, therehaving been unusual activity about the creek during the forenoon, thatDoctor Osbart came to my room with great news for me. 

"This business with the men has completely upset our plans, " said he. "Black hoped to winter here; and to let the hubbub in Europe quitesubside before he put to sea again. Now he can't do that, for there'llbe trouble just as long as the crew eats its head off in thiswilderness. There's only one thing that will keep the hands quiet, andthat's excitement. After all, it's the same motive with most of us, from the gutter-beggar who lives on the hope of the next penny to thedemocrat who supports existence on a probable revolution. If we onceget them away to sea, with money to win, and towns to riot in, we shallhear no more of this folly, and Black knows it. He has determined tosail to-night; and he'll take some of the men he put out of the minesto do the work of those who went down yesterday. I'm very glad, for Ishould have cut my throat if I'd been here the winter through, and Idare say you won't be displeased to get a change of quarters; but, before we talk of that, we must have the conditions. "

"I won't sign that paper, and Black has been told so, " cried I at once;"it's no good coming here again with that. "

"You're premature, " he replied, with a smile, "premature, as you alwaysare. Isn't it time enough to discuss the paper when I bring it to you?"

"Then what have you to ask?" said I, prepared to hear of somethingwhich I must refuse, but longing with a great hope for the freedom ofthe sea. 

"Simply this, " he answered, "and, for the life of me, I don't see whatthe guv'nor is driving at in your case; for he asks only that, if hetake you from here, where you'd starve in a month if he left you, youshall give him your word, as a man of honour, that you will make noattempt to leave his ship without permission. Under no pretence or pleawill you try to escape, and, whatever you see, you will not complainabout when aboard with him. You are to hold no converse with the men, nor will you interfere with them in any work they do; and you willcarry out this contract not only in the letter but in the spirit. Ifyou will give me your word on that now, you can pack your trunk andcome aboard without any fuss; but I don't disguise it from you, thatany folly after this may cost you your life, and that if you have halfa thought of playing us false, you'd better stop where you are. "

I debated on the whole extent of his proposition, and made up my mindon it in a few moments. I was aware that, if I remained at the station, I could expect nothing but speedy death upon the ice, since the doctorhad told me that the place would be deserted during the winter. Againstthis I had to ask myself if my going aboard the nameless ship meant inany way approval of the occupation of those who sailed it; but thissuggestion was too trivial, and I dismissed it in a moment; while thethought flashed across my mind that if I could but once be taken toEuropean or American waters, there would be at least the probabilitythat this man might fall into the hands of those who were seeking him. In that case liberty would come with his undoing; which was even morepleasant to think upon than to contemplate it with him yet free as avoracious beast of the seas. 

"You accept?" said the doctor, who sat watching me as I thought thesethings; and I answered him without hesitation--

"I accept. "

"The captain has your word of honour as between gentlemen?"

"As between--well, if you like it so--as between gentlemen. "

The satire of the last word was too much for him, for he was one of thepleasantest fellows in his saner moments that I have ever met. We bothlaughed heartily, and then he said--

"But I'm forgetting, you've got no trunk, and I must lend you one. You're rather short of duds, I know, but we can rig you out until weget to Paris, and there the skipper will see to it--any way, so long asyou've a coat thick enough, we won't criticise you in these parts; andI don't suppose you're thinking of garden parties. "

"Anything but, " I answered, as pleased as he was at the prospect of itall, and especially at the thought of quitting the ice-prison, if onlyfor the winter; "I have neither clothes nor cash. "

"Well, I don't see what you're going to do with the latter, just yet;but, man, you can just help yourself from the first Cunarder westop--pshaw! don't look like that; wait until you feel the excitementof it all. Why, what is but one ship against the world, big men ontheir knees to you, money enough to wade in, and a fig for all thenavies and all the fleets that ever left a port? I defy 'em to put ahand on the ship if they spend a million in the process. Come with usand see it all, and you'll say it's the most daring, the grandest, themost stupendous enterprise that man ever conceived. "

It was no good to lift up one's voice against enthusiasm of this sort, so I let him lead me to his room, and took from him a trunk with somelinen. As he said, it was more convenient to have my own things, and wewere much of a build, so that his clothes were no ill-fit; and he wasridiculously generous, pressing all that he had upon me, and lending mea great gold watch and gold studs that were illicitly gotten, I feltsure. 

In the end I had quite a store of clothing; and I waited while hefinished his own work that we might go down together to the launchawaiting us. There we found Black, watching men who were putting largebales of goods into the screw steamer, and everywhere there was sign ofthe break-up of the settlement. The captain merely nodded when I gavehim a word, and I thought that he was sore depressed, with scarceenergy enough to be irritable. He seemed to doubt the wisdom of thedeparture even then; and he often hesitated in his walk, looking up tothe windows of his home behind him. At the last, when the negroservants had come down the iron stairway, he locked the great doorafter them; and then he stood and cast his gaze over to the hills andthe desolate land, which I believed he had a great kindness for. Whenhe did join us, he gave the word, "Let her go!" with a dogged sort ofindifference; and at his command the launch ploughed ahead, and passedthrough the cañon to the outer basin. 

The sun was almost in the horizon then, and the northern lights wereplaying in the heavens, so that all the water was then alight with theglory of a hundred colours. Now orange, or a lighter golden, or blue asthe Corsican Sea, or flaming scarlet, or emerald green, or all shadesof yellow, with the pink and pearl and fainter green as of a colossalopal, the light fell and spread from bight to bight, and crag to crag;and above there were sheets of eruptive flame and great rumblings, andmighty arcs of fire spanning the whole heavens, and gripping them aswith the glittering jewelled hand of some monstrous keeper of the skieswhose mutterings came to us below. Or the scene changed again, and itwas as though elves of the zenith had brought their golden casketsabove the firmament, and there had burst them open, so that all thejewels of the light rained upon sea and land, and burnt each other withtheir own beauty as they fell; and the earth answered them back withher shining face. One of the supreme moments of life, truly, to bathein this shower of multi-coloured splendour, to follow it in its goldenpath, where rocks took shape, and snow-forms lived, and the seas dancedto its accompanying music, and one stood nearer to the great mysterieswhile yet farther from the homes of man. 

Black watched the aurora as we watched it, but chiefly as it playedupon his ship, lying moored in the very centre of the outer basin. Theyhad made a great change in her since I had seen her but two daysbefore; for she was now given bulwarks of white canvas, and her funnelwas painted white, while covers hid away the bright points of herdeck-houses and her turrets. She had become a white ship; and hertransformation had been made with vast skill, so that I felt I shouldnot have known her had I met her in the Atlantic. From her positionaway from the shaft of the mine, it was evident that she was ready toweigh, and I was reminded grimly of her mission by seeing a streamer ofblack at her mast-head instead of the Blue Peter. This time, too, therewas a faint haze above her funnel, as though coal was being burnt inher furnaces; yet I had no wonder that I did not see steam coming fromher, for I knew that she was driven by gas, and was in many ways a shipof mystery. 

We boarded her at a ladder amidships, for the most part of heraccommodation was contained in a towering deck erection round herfunnel. Here there were two stages of cabins with a wide galleryrunning between them, and protruding so that it was directly above thewater. There was, indeed, a companion-way aft of this which led to thecabin I had occupied when a prisoner in the ship, and I found at alater time that the library of the vessel, with the store-rooms and anumber of private cabins, was built in the 'tween decks abaft thefunnel. Yet the great saloon I was to use during so many months, thequarters which Black occupied, the doctor's room, the rooms for theengineers, and for certain of the others who were privileged, were allranged amidships; and I learned that while there was a big fo'castle, it was given over entirely to the niggers, with whom the white menwould not serve. These superior fellows, as they thought themselves, had accommodation in the poop, where there was a big cabin with berthsall round it; yet with all this, the small part of the whole vesseldevoted to quarters was noteworthy, and was designed, I did not doubt, for some purpose which I should learn presently. 

These things I did not ascertain, you may be sure, on first boardingthe ship. Although they left me to myself upon the high gallery whenceI could see all the life on the decks below, they were so busy with thepreparation for weighing anchor that no man spoke a word to me. Thehands themselves, the moment they were afloat, settled down to workwith surprising steadiness. Black upon the bridge now wore a smartuniform with gold buttons and much show of lace; and the self-commandof the man, the perfect knowledge of all things nautical which hedisplayed, and his all-absorbing love of his child, the ship, accountedfor much that I had not understood in him before. I found to myamazement that Doctor Osbart acted not only as surgeon to the crew, butalso as second officer; "Four-Eyes" being first officer; and the bully, "Roaring John, " third. The coarse-mouthed Scotsman who assumed thetitle of "meenister" was, they told me, as good a seaman as any ofthem, and a wonderful gunner, so that he was in charge of the armament, with a big staff of men at his back. Of the engineers I saw nothing onfirst coming aboard; but later I heard the sound of pumping below, andthere came up to the bridge where Black and the others were, a little, thin, wizened, and spectacled man, quite bald, very ragged and black, yet with a head on him that could have stamped him "First-Class" in anyassembly of the learned. I thought at the first glance that he was aGerman, and my surmise was confirmed by the doctor, who remembered meat last, and said--

"Do you see that little fellow?--well, he's the genius of this ship. He's deaf and dumb, and no man has ever heard a word from his lips; buthe designed our engines, and he runs them with his three sons. It'salmost pitiable to see the man's disregard for anything but thatinfernal machinery. He never leaves it; it's meat and drink to him. Ifwe make money, he doesn't want it; if we're going for a spell ashore, he won't come, but stays here poking about the wheels. He was the firstman in all Europe to see that gas would finally supplant steam formaritime vessels; and Black gave him _carte blanche_ to carry out hisideas on this ship. You may be surprised to hear it, but fore and aftin those great cigar-shaped ends of ours we have nothing but gas--threemillion feet, at a pressure of between two and three atmospheres. Why, man, it's the idea of the century; for every four pounds of coal burntby an Atlantic liner, we don't burn a pound. We can steam for ten dayswithout lighting a fire; and all the coal we need to go round the worldwill go in our bunkers. Save for that, and Karl Remey's genius, therewouldn't be a man jack of us with a neck to call his own to-day. Now, we snap our fingers at the best of them; there isn't a cruiser that canlive with the thirty knots we can show; and there isn't aline-of-battle ship swimming that could get the better of us while ourengines are moving. It's a big claim you think, but wait until you seeus in action, then you'll know how much we owe to the little man inrags, but who has one of the clearest brains that ever was put intohuman being. "

I was silent under this revelation, for it came to me that, with allthe terrors of the great ship, there was also a scientific side, whichmarked the presence of a mighty intellect. The doctor saw theimpression he had made upon me, and he said--

"To-morrow we will show you more; you shall meet the ragged man----"

"Which is mysel', " said the Scotsman, who had joined us silently, "mysel' that has'na a dud to my back. D'ye ken that when there's onydistribution o' the gudes I get a' the female apparel; which is nojustice ava for a meenister, let alone a sea-faring man. "

"Never mind, Dick, " said the doctor laughing, as I did; "we'll beg askirt for you the first time we say how-d'ye-do to a passengervessel----"

"Hands, heave anchor!" roared Black at that moment; and ourconversation stopped suddenly at the cry. Then slowly, as the bell rangout, the great engines began their work, and we swept out to the opensea. Night had fallen, but the aurora still gave her changing light;and as we felt the first oscillations of the rolling breakers, Blacktook a long look behind him to his Arctic home. There before us was theblack, towering, indented coast of Greenland, the bluff headlands ofgneiss, the beacons of snow all crimson in the playing colours of themighty arc; and away beyond them, the vista of the eternal stillness, and the plain of death. A long look it was that the man of iron castthen upon his wild habitation; a look almost prophetic in its sadness, as if he knew that he should look upon it no more. A great farewell ofan iron heart, and the breakers sang the "Vale!" as the ship spedonward to her deadly work. 

CHAPTER XXI. 

TO THE LAND OF MAN. 

We dined that night in the saloon upon the deck, a commodious placelighted by electricity, and in every way luxuriously fitted. The wallsof it were panelled in white and gold, and were covered with curiousdesigns, old heroes fighting, old gods drawn by lions at theirchariots; Bacchantes revelling, Jason seeking the fleece in a goldenbarque; Orestes fleeing the Furies. The long seats were covered inleather of a deep crimson, and there was a small piano, with many otherappointments that were significant. The dinner itself was admirablyserved, and was partaken of by the deaf-and-dumb engineer, by thedoctor, the Scotsman, and myself. We were waited on by a couple ofnegroes; and when the meats were removed we went above to anexquisitely-furnished little smoking-room, and there drank rich browncoffee and enjoyed some very fine cigars. I was all ears then to learn, if I could, what was the destination of the ship; and I found thatBlack talked without reserve before me, knowing well that I could dohim no injury. He relied mostly on the doctor for advice, and discussedeverything with him in the best of tempers. 

"My plan is this, " he said: "we're short of oil, and Karl here isbeginning to get uneasy. I shall knock over a couple of whalers inthese seas, and fill the tanks. Then, as they're looking for us inmid-Atlantic, we'll get south of Madeira, and run against two or threeof the big ones making for Rio or Buenos Ayres. We shall pick up a goodbit of money; and it'll be a month before they get on our course thatway, for I mean to let 'em down light when it's not a case of savingour own skin. "

The Scotsman gave a deep sigh at this, and said in a melancholy voice--

"Hoot, mon, the deid frichtened you. "

"You're a liar, " continued Black quite quietly, and then continued: "AsEurope knows my game, it doesn't matter how often she hears of me. Lether hear, and come agen me, and I'll show my teeth. What we're out forthis journey is money, specie, pieces in piles, and we'll get that onthe lay of Rio-bound ships better than in any waters. It'll be quickwork, one against the rest of 'em; but I built this ship to fight, andfight she shall--you agree on that, doctor?"

"Of course. The more fighting the men see the less trouble we shallhave with them. "

"That's what I say--give 'em work to do, and they'll sleep like dogswhen it's done; give 'em money and drink, and you've got hogs to drive. Now, let me get through the winter, and I'll run south a spell inhiding, and then make northward with ten thousand pounds a man when thefall comes. But first we'll have a week in Paris, I reckon, and stretchour legs amongst them as is most anxious to shake with us--what do yousay, Dick?"

"Man, " said the Scotsman deliberately, "if there's nae killing, Imisdoubt me o't a' thegither. "

"You're a fool, " replied the skipper testily, "and if you don't go tobed, I'll kick you there. "

The fellow rose at this, and coolly emptied half a tumbler of whisky;but before he could leave "Four-Eyes" came off the bridge and saidlaconically--

"Whaler on the port-bow. "

"Signal 'em to come to, and drop a shot, " cried Black rising; and thenhe called to the Scotsman and gave his orders--

"Stand by the gun!" and with that we all went out to the gallery, andsaw by the clear power of the moon a full-rigged ship not a mile fromthe shore. She was homeward bound, and seemed by her build to be aDane. 

Upon our own deck there was already activity, some of the men gettingaway the launch, and others putting empty barrels into it before theyswung it out over the sea. There was a method and quietness about itall which showed long habit at the same practice; and when at last thegreat gun before the funnel boomed out, the fine accuracy of theshooting scarcely caused comment. The shot appeared to drop into thewater almost under the whaler's bob-stay, and sent up a cloud of foamand spray, glistening in the moonlight; but the ship answered to it asto a deadly summons; and the tide and wind setting off shore, she wentinto the breeze easily, and lay to at the first demand. Then Black gavehis orders--

"You, John, go aboard and buy their oil up--I'm getting you notes frommy chest. "

At the word _buy_, the man John seemed astounded. 

"Oh, I reckon, " he said, "we'll pay 'em hard cash with a clout on theskull, cap'n; come right along, boys, and bring your shootin' irons. Oh, I guess we'll pay 'em, money down, and men a-top of it. "

"You'll do nothing of the sort, you lubber!" roared Black; "but whatyou take you'll pay for, d'ye hear me?--then shut your mouth up and goaboard. "

John was not the only man who was struck by the skipper's whim. Therewere mutterings on the deck below, and Dick, who had come from theconning-tower, was bold enough to make remark. 

"It's a'most sinfu', " he said, "to be sae free wi' the siller; why man, ye could verra weel buy me a hundred pairs o' breeks wi' the same, andno be wanting it. "

But Black was watching the launch, now speeding in the moonlighttowards the rolling whaler. I watched it too, remembering how, not manyweeks before, I had stood on the deck of my own yacht, and awaited thecoming of the same craft with my heart in my mouth. Now the danger wasnot mine, but I felt for the men who had to face it, since Black's talkabout purchase could scarcely soften the native ferocity of those whoserved him; and I feared that the scene would end in bloodshed. 

Happily the surmise was quite incorrect. That which promised a tragedygave us but a comedy. We saw from the platform that our men were takenaboard the ship, and we watched to see them hoist their barrels afterthem. But they did not, making no sign of having the oil, althoughthere came shouts and sounds of altercation from the anchored vessel;and we saw the flash of pistols, and dark objects presently in the sea. To the surprise of us all, the launch returned after that; and when ourmen came aboard, they presented a shocking spectacle. "Roaring John"was covered from head to feet with a thick, black, oleaginous matter;two of the others had their faces smeared in tar; the rest were likedrowned rats, and were chattering until their teeth clashed with thecold. Nor could they for some time, what with their spluttering andtheir anger, tell us what misfortune had overtaken them. 

"The darned empty skunks, " gasped John at last--"they haven't got abarrel aboard, not a barrel, I guess; and when I gave 'em play with mytongue, they put me in the waste-tub--oh, I reckon, up to my eyes init----"

"Do you mean to say, " asked Black, "that they've took no whales?"

"Except ourselves, yer honour, " said a little Englishman, who wascowering like a drowned rat, "which they throw'd overboard, like thewhales in the Scriptures, never a fish. "

"Then we've wasted our time!" cried the skipper, stamping his greatfoot; "and you're lazy varmin to stop so long aboard parleying with'em. I'm going on; you can settle your scores among you. "

He gave the order "Full steam ahead!" at which the third officer showedthe temper of a whipped beast. 

"You're going ahead leaving them swimming? Then darn me if I serve, "said he. "What? They pitch me in their dirty tub, and you laugh! Bythunder! I'll teach you. "

Captain Black watched his anger with a pitying leer; but "Dick theRanter" and "Four-Eyes" were overcome with laughter, and roared untilthe ship echoed. 

"Houly Moses, it's a fine picture ye are, my beauty, " said the mate;"and if oi'll be scraping ye down with a shovel, it's yer own faytherwouldn't know ye, so clane ye'll be. "

"To the which I would add, man, " said Dick, "that if ye'd let yersel'drip into the lubricators you'd be worth siller to us; not to sayonything o' the discoorse I micht verra weel preach on Satan from yerpresent appearance. "

The banter turned the man from his more meaning purpose. He stoodgibbering for a moment, while the crowd pressed on him with gibes andjeers; but he had his revenge, after all, for there was a tar-bucket atthe foot of the upper-deck ladder, and with this he armed himself. Thebrush was well-charged and dripping, the tar yet liquid, the Scotsman'sface was all-inviting. With a fierce shout the enraged man went to theattack, and painted his lantern-jawed opponent merrily. In less timethan I can tell of it, the Ranter dripped from head to foot; the blackstuff poured from his hemp-like hair, from his ears; it oozed down hisneck, it even ran through to his boots; and when his enemy could nolonger wield the brush from fatigue, he emptied the bucket on the man'shead as a last triumphant vindication of his strength. 

"Now we're a pair!" he said, pausing for breath, and surveying his workas an artist surveys a finished picture; "and I guess you ain't goingto take the biscuit in this beauty show. "

"Man, I could hae weel dispensed wi't, " spluttered the Scotsman; "but Ithank ye for dyeing my breeks. They've been wanting colour since NewYear. "

The laughter had not yet died away when the men went to their cabins, and we posted the watches before turning in. We were at that time inLat. 65° N. At a rough calculation, and we passed the Danish settlementof Godthaab early on the next morning, though so far out at sea that Icould make nothing of it; while we lost the coast of Greenlandaltogether before the day had passed, a hazy shower of dust-like snowgreeting our coming to the Atlantic and to a perceptibly warmerlatitude. During this day, and until we sighted the Shetlands, thesmall screw tender kept our course, and we exchanged signals with herevery morning, her purpose being explained to me by "Four-Eyes, " on thefourth morning out, in his child-like phraseology. 

"Faith, she's Liverpool bound, and we'll pick her up again south of theScilly when she's tidings of ships out. Bedad, sir, there's fine timescoming; what wi' the say full av big ones, and we one agen 'em, I'mlike to believe as we'll step ashore with our throats cut, ivery man avus, and on the shore av me own counthry, which sorra a day I left forthis job. "

"Why did you leave it, 'Four-Eyes'?" I asked cheerfully; and he said--

"'Twas this way, sorr, but it's a long yarn, and ye don't nade morethan the p'ints av it. When I was priest's bhoy in Tipperary, me andMike Sullivan had atween us what you gents call a vendeny, and comingout av church--'twas Sunday mornin' five year ago--I met Mike, an' heputs coals av fire on me head. 'Begorra, ' says I, 'it's lucky for yeI'm in the grace, but plase God I'll not be to-morrow;' but thespalpeen went to Cork next day, and it wasn't till a year that I runagen him, prepared to do my dooty. "

"And you did it, I'll be bound!"

"Sorra a bit; I just fell in with the divil, being an aisy sort avsowl, and he made me as drunk as a gentleman--that's why I'm here, sorr. He shipped me aboard and got five pounds from me, me that meantto thread on his head, the dirty skunk--but it's the way av the world, sorr; help a man that's down, an' the moment the spalpeen's on his fatehe'll dance on ye. "

"Which is verra true, " said Dick the Ranter, who after two days hadstill tar upon him, and was wrapped in a woman's shawl; "but will yepostpone your thirdly, and go below to the doctor, who's wanting ye tosee the gear?"

They had not yet shown me the engines of the nameless ship, and Iwelcomed the opportunity, grown weary with watching the dull green ofthe sea, and the monotony of the sky-laden clouds. Dick led the wayquickly from the gallery to the lower deck, and thence down an ironladder to the great engine-room. Here truly was a wondrous sight; thesight of three sets of the most powerful engines that have yet beenplaced in a battle-ship. Each of them had four cylinders, eighty inchesin diameter; and all were driven by the hydrogen from the hugegasometers which our holds formed. The gas itself was made by passingthe steam from a comparatively small boiler through a coke andanthracite furnace, the coke combining with the oxygen and leaving purehydrogen. The huge cylinders drove upwards with a double crank to carrytheir motion to the screw; and I found that the difficulty of startingand reversing was overcome by an intermediate bevel-wheel gearing andfriction clutch, which could throw the motion off the shaft, and allowthat instantaneous going astern otherwise impossible in a gas-engine. That day there was a huge fire in the furnace, emitting terrific heatand crackling sparks, for the men were making gas, in view of a run ortwo off the coast of Ireland. It was more pleasant than I can tell youto watch the entire absorption of the gifted engineer, in the maze ofmachinery which surrounded him, to paint the paternal pathos of hislook as he watched every motion and eyed every bearing. The maker of anempire certainly he was; the man of mind who, for the time, had giventhese ruffians the kingship of the sea; had made mockery of theopposition of the nations; and, I could not help but reflect as Iturned away sick at heart at the sight of so much power, had caused meto be a prisoner, perhaps for life, in that citadel of metal. Yet, hewas a genius; and to the end of my days I shall think, as I thoughtthen, of the superb gifts so wasted in their channel, of the masterfulintellect devoted only to pillage and plunder. 

In such a frame of mind I left the engine-room and mounted to the upperdeck, to hear the cry, "Land on the port-bow. "

It was the coast of Ireland, they told me; and I know not if I haveever had a greater pleasure than that distant view of my own countrygave to me. For it was as though I had passed from a dead land to theland of man, from the silent ways of night to the first breaking of theGod-sent day. 

CHAPTER XXII. 

THE ROBBERY OF THE "BELLONIC. "

Our view of the distant shore of Ireland was a fleeting one; and wepassed thence almost immediately to the open sea, steaming due S. W. Forsome hours, but at no great pace. It was not until daybreak on thefollowing morning that we reached the track of ocean-bound ships; butour voyage was altogether in favour of Black, for the sun had scarcerisen when Doctor Osbart got me from my bed to see what he called myfirst introduction to business. 

"There's the Red Cross Line's _Bellonic_ not a mile off on thestarboard quarter, " cried he exultingly, "and we're going to clear her. Come out, man, and get the finest breakfast you ever tasted. "

I dressed anyhow, almost as excited as he was, and stepped on to thegallery, to see a rolling waste of dull-green breakers, and a skywashed with broken thunder-clouds, through which the risen sun wasstruggling. The wind was keen from the south, and drove a fine rain, which lashed the face as with a whip; while much spray broke upon usand there was moaning of the cowls and the shrouds, and many signs ofmore wind to come. These atmospheric difficulties troubled no one, however, for all eyes were turned to the north, where, now almostabreast of us, at a distance of half a mile or less, there was the longand magnificent hull of the great liner. She was then in the fullsunlight, a fine spectacle; and I could see her bare decks, troddenonly by the watch, while a solitary officer paced the bridge. Thecontrast between her sleepy inactivity and our keen alertness was verymarked, for all hands trod our decks, and there was a restlessness andan evident ferocity amongst the little group upon the bridge whichmarked a purpose brooking no delay. 

I had begun to ask myself when the work would be done, for the linerwent at a tremendous pace and was rapidly leaving us, when I got myanswer with the crash of the great gun forward, and the sight of ashell ploughing the sea fifty yards ahead of the _Bellonic_. The criesof "Well shot, Swearing Dick!" had not died away before the effect ofthe call was seen upon the great vessel, whose decks were soon dottedwith black objects, while three more men appeared on the bridge, andthe signal flags ran up, and were answered by us. "Four-Eyes" was atour mast, and interpreted the message to Black, who followed all thatwas done without betrayal of emotion, but only with the savageanticipation of the predatory instinct. 

"Signal to 'em to lie to, if they don't want to go to hell, " he saidbetween his teeth, and "Four-Eyes" answered:

"Ay, ay, sorr"; then, as the signal came, "He sez uz he'll say us atblazes afore he bates a knot. "

"Give it him for'ard then, and teach him, " roared Black; and the shotthat answered his command struck the quivering hull not twenty feetfrom the windlass, and you could see the splinters carried fifty feetin the air, while the shrieks of terror came over the sea to us, andwere piercing then. 

"What's he say now?" asked the Captain, cooler than even at thebeginning of the work. 

"Says as he'll make it warm for ye at New York, and if ye come aboard, it's on yer own head, an' ye swing fer it--he'll not stop till yedisable him. "

"The thick-headed vermin, " hissed Black; "give him another, amidshipsthis time. "

The second shot made us reel and shiver as she left us; but there wasno hit, for we rolled much, and saw the shell burst on the far side ofthe liner. At this, and at the failure of a second attempt, the Captainlost patience, and gave the order--

"Full steam ahead, and clear the machine-guns. "

It was almost superb, I admit now, and the excitement of it was thenupon me, to feel our great ship quiver at the touch of the bell, andbound forward with waves of foam and spray running from her decks, andeach plate on her straining as though the mighty force of the enginesbelow would rend it from its fellows. 

I had not before known the limit of her speed, or what she could dowhen driven as she then was; and the truth amazed me, while it filledme with a strange exultation. For we, who had dallied heretofore behindthe other, sped beyond her as an express train passes the droninggoods; and coming about, in a great circle, we descended upon her as agoshawk upon the quarry. 

The machine-guns upon our decks were already cleared; the men werestripped, ready for the fray, as tigers for their food. Indeed, beforeI quite understood the purport of the manoeuvre, we were passing the_Bellonic_ at a distance of not more than fifty yards; and at thatmoment it seemed as if all the furies of hell were let loose upon ourdecks. 

Screaming like wild beasts, the men turned the handles of the Maximguns; the balls rained upon the defenceless liner as hail upon asheepfold. I heard fierce curses and dull groans; I saw strong men reeland fall their length as death took them; the breeze bore to me thewailing of women and the sobs of children. 

But we had done the foul work in the one passage, for the flag droppedat once upon the liner, and the signal was made to us to come aboard. We had gained a horrid triumph, if such you could call the murders, andit remained but to divide the spoil. 

"Lower away the launch, you John!" cried Black, "and take everyshilling you can lay hands on. You hear me?--and hang up that skipperfor a thin-skinned fool. "

"By thunder, I'm yours all along, " replied "Roaring John "; and then hesang out, "Hands for the launch!"

"You'd better go as cox, " said Osbart to me, "you'll be amused"; andsuggested it to Black, who turned upon me a look almost of hate. 

"Yes, he shall go, " he cried; "if we swing, he shall swing, thepreaching lubber! Let him get aboard, or I'll kick him there. "

I had loathing at the thought of it, but might as well have put apistol to my head there and then as to have refused. They bundled meinto the launch, and I sat shivering at the prospect of the terrors onthe deck; but they would not leave me when they came alongside, and"Roaring John" himself drove me up the ladder which was put outamidships. Seven of us at last stood on the bridge, and were face toface with the captain of the _Bellonic_, and four of his officers. 

I have said that I feared the terrors of that deck, but the realitysurpassed the conception. 

It was a very babel of sounds, of groans, of weeping. The ship'ssurgeon himself seemed paralysed before the sight of the carnage aroundhim. You looked along the length of the vessel, and it was as thoughyou looked upon the scene of a bloody battle, for there were deadalmost in heaps, and wounded screaming, and streams of blood, andfragments of wreckage as though the ship had been under fire for manyhours. But above all this terror, I know of nothing which struck mewith such fearful sorrow as the sight of a fair young English girllying by the door of the great saloon, her arms extended, her nut-brownhair soaked in her own blood, while a man knelt over her, and you couldsee his tears falling upon her dead face, and his ravings wereincoherent and almost those of a maniac. At the sight of us he jumpedto his feet, and shrieked "Murderers!" so continuously that the echo ofhis cry rang in my ears that day and for many days. 

Meanwhile another scene was passing on the bridge between the man Johnand the captain of the _Bellonic_. 

"What do you want aboard of my ship?" cried the latter; and "RoaringJohn" answered him with a mocking leer:

"We've come aboard to hang you, to begin on!"

The men with the young officer cocked their revolvers at this, and Isaid in a mad frenzy which would not brook silence--

"You scoundrel, if you touch another soul here I'll shoot you myself!"for I had my revolver on me. "Do you make a business of killingchildren?" I cried again, and pointed to the dead body of thegirl-child. 

I don't know who was more surprised, the captain of the _Bellonic_, listening, or the man John. 

"You cub, " he cried; "if you talk to me I'll skin you alive!" But Isaid quickly--

"Gentlemen, these men want every shilling on this ship. Give it themnow and save your lives, for you have no alternative. If you give themoney up, you have my word that they won't touch you. "

"If there's a God above, " exclaimed the young captain, "they shall payfor this day's work with their lives. I hand my specie over under thisprotest; but don't deceive yourselves--half the war-ships in Europeshall follow you within a week. "

He turned away, and presently the ruffians with me had lowered money tothe value of a hundred and fifty thousand pounds into their launch. Thethird mate seemed then somewhat cowed by my interference, and though hewent round the ship and cried "Bail up!" every time he met a passenger, he did not touch one of them. I remained on the bridge a silentspectator of it all; and when at last we put off again, and the launchwas full of the jewels and the money, it seemed that I had passedthrough a hideous dream. 

At the time, I shrank from the ruffians in the boat as from men whowere savage fiends and a hundred times assassins; and their brutalityof speech and threat fell upon ears that would not hear; nor did theirpretence of doing me violence then and there move me one jot. Imaintained a stubborn indifference, my pistol still in my hand, myteeth shut in the defiance of them, until we reached the great craft, and joined Black upon the gallery. There, the man John explained that Ihad stood between him and his purpose of hanging the skipper of the_Bellonic_; indeed, with such warmth and anger, that I thought my endhad come upon the spot. 

"You barking cub, " said Black, more quietly than usual, but none theless to be feared for that, "what d'ye mean by interfering with my menand my orders?"

"To save you from yourself, " I answered, looking him full in the face;"you've killed children on that ship, if that's news to you!"

He had a spy-glass in his hand, and he raised it as though to strikeme; but I continued to look him full in the face, and he remainedswaying his body slightly, his arm still above his head. Then, suddenlyit dropped at his side, as though paralysed; and he turned away fromme. 

"Get to your kennel, " said he; "and don't leave it till I fetch you. "

I was glad to escape, if only for a few moments, from the danger of it;and I went to my cabin in the upper gallery, but not before the angryshouts of the men convinced me that Black had risked much on my behalffor the second time. Even when my own door was locked upon me, suchcries as "You're afeared of him!" "Is he going to boss you, skipper!"and other jeers were audible to me; and the uproar lasted for sometime, accompanied at last by the sound of blows, and cries as of menwhipped. But no one came to me except the negro who brought my meals;and whatever danger there was of a mutiny was averted, as Dr. Osbarttold me later in the day, by the appearance of a second passenger shipon the horizon. The report of the single shot, by which we brought herto, shook me in my berth, where I lay thinking of the horrid scenes ofthe morning; and for some time I scarce dared look from my window, lestthey should be repeated. Only after a long silence did I open the port, and see a majestic vessel, not a hundred yards from us, with our launchat her side; and I could make out the forms of our men walking amongstthe passengers and robbing them. 

The details of this attack Osbart told me with keen relish when he camein to smoke a cigar with me after my dinner. 

"We stripped them without killing a man, " said he with hilarioussatisfaction, "and took fifty thousand. Black's pleased; for, to tellyou the truth, there's an ugly spirit aboard amongst the men, and youupset them altogether this morning. I never saw another who could havesaid what you said to the skipper and have lived; but you mustn't showon deck for a day or two--they'd murder you to pass time; and, as itis, we've had to post a man at your door, or I doubt if you'd save yourskin in here. "

"You seem to be making a paying cruise, " I said sarcastically. 

"Yes; and it's funny, for the sea is swarming with war vermin. Don'tyou feel the pace we're going now? I expect we're showing our heels toone of them, and shall show them a good many times between this and thefirst of next month, though Karl below is grumbling about the oilagain: you want gallons of it with gas-engines. If we don't pick up thetender to-morrow, it's a bad look-out. "

He did not come to me again for three days, but I saw from my portearly the following morning that the tender was with us; and Iconcluded regretfully that the difficulty of the oil was overcome. Onthe second day after the robbery of the _Bellonic_, we stopped a thirdship; though I saw nothing of it, as all the fighting was on thestarboard side, and my cabin was to port; but there was a sharp fighton the third morning with a Cape-bound vessel, and again towards theafternoon with one of the North-German Lloyd boats homeward bound toBremerhaven: as before, Osbart, coming to my rooms, delighted to giveme the details of the captures; and that night he was unusuallyfrivolous. 

"Poor business to-day, " he said, throwing himself into a lounge andlighting a cigar; "not an ounce of specie, and no jewellery tomention--and there was no killing, so don't put on that face of yours. Why, my dear boy, it was a perfect farce! I, myself, argued for twentyminutes with an old woman, who sat mewing like a cat on her box, andwhen I got her off it, thinking she had a thousand in diamonds, it wasfull of baby linen. And I'll tell you a better thing. An old Dutch Jewthrew a two-penny-halfpenny bundle into the sea, and then he was sosick with himself that he went in after it. We hooked him out by thebreeches with a boat-hook; but I believe he wished himself dead withthe bundle. As for 'Four-Eyes, ' he took what he thought was fivehundred in notes from a card-player, but they're bad, dear boy, bad--every one of them. "

"You don't seem very depressed about it, " said I. 

"Don't I?" replied he. "Well, things aren't all they should be. Thetender we sent to Liverpool came out in a hurry, as they began to watchher, with a mere bucketful of oil aboard. We must get oil fromsomewhere or we shall all swing as sure as we're doing twenty-eightknots now. That's what I've come to tell you about to-night. Theskipper can't stand it any more, and is going to run to Englandhimself, and see what those mighty smart naval people of yours aredoing. He'll take you with him, for it would be as good as signing yourdeath-warrant to leave you here. Don't count upon it, though, for weshan't let you out of our sight, and you've got to swear a pretty bigoath not to give us away before you set foot on the tender. "

I was overjoyed at his saying, but I feared to let him see it, andasked with nonchalance--"How do you pick up this ship again?"

"Oh, we fix a position, " he replied, "and they'll keep it every day atmid-day after ten days. Meanwhile we're running north out of the trackof the cruisers. "

"I can't quite understand why the skipper takes me with him this time, "I remarked, endeavouring to draw him, but he answered--

"No more can I; between ourselves, he's been half daft ever since youcame aboard. Do you know that the man's more fond of you, in his way, than of any living thing? I know it. I'm the only man on the ship whodoes know it, and why it is I can't tell you. I didn't think he wascapable of a human feeling. "

"It's very good of him to waste so much affection on me, " said I, meaning to be derisive, but Osbart checked me. 

"Don't laugh, " he exclaimed; "you owe your life to him alone. "

CHAPTER XXIII. 

I GO TO LONDON. 

It was a week after this conversation that Captain Black, Dr. Osbart, and myself entered the 7. 30 train from Ramsgate; leaving in the outerharbour of that still quaint town the screw tender, now disguised, withthe man John and eight of the most turbulent among the crew of thenameless ship aboard her. We had come without hindrance through thecrowded waters of the Channel; and, styling ourselves a Norwegianwhaler in ballast, had gained the difficult harbour without arousingsuspicion. At the first, Black had thought to leave me on the steamer;but I, who had an insatiable longing to set foot ashore again, gave himsolemn word that I would not seek to quit him, that I would not in anyway betray him while the truce lasted, and that I would return, wherever I was, to the tender in the harbour at the end of a week. Heconcluded the conditions with the simple words, "I'm a big fool, butyou can come. " The others opened their eyes and tapped their foreheads, for they believed him to be a maniac. 

I will not pause to tell you my own thoughts when I set foot on shoreagain. So great was my amazement at it all that I went some timewithout collecting myself to see that the invisible hand of God, whichhad led me all through, was leading me again--even, as I hoped, to theconsummation of it. Fearless in this new thought, I sat in the cornerof the first-class carriage reserved for us in such a state ofexultation and of hope as few men can have known. Before me were thedowns of Kent, the open face of an English landscape, the orchard-boundhomesteads, the verdurous pasture-land. The hedges were bedecked withtheir late autumn flowers; the teams and smock-frocked men were goinghome to the gabled houses, and the warm-lit cottages. There was odourof the harvest yet in the air and the distant chiming of bells from theGothic tower which rose above the hamlet and the knoll of green. Eachlittle town we passed cast from its windows bright rays upon thetremulous twilight; a great bar of fiery redness cut the lower black ofthe coming night, showing me in shadow the rising of land towardsChatham and towards London. Yet it was the peace of the scene that cameto me with the greatest power; the many tokens of home--above all, thethought "I am in England. " I could not help but carry my memory at thistime to the last occasion when, with Roderick and Mary, I had come toLondon in the very hope of getting tidings of this man who now sat withme in a Kent-Coast express. Where were the others then--the girl whohad been as a sister to me, and the man as a brother; how far had thefear of my death made sad that childish face which had known suchlittle sadness in its sixteen years of life? It was odd to think thatMary might be then returned to London, and that I, whom perchance shethought dead, was near to her, and yet, in a sense, more cut off fromher than in the grave itself. And Black, whom all the Governments werepursuing so lustily, was at my side smoking a great cigar, apparentlyoblivious to all sense of danger or of hazard. Life has many contrasts, but it never had a stranger than that, I feel sure. 

It was after ten o'clock that the ride terminated; and, following Blackand Osbart into a closed carriage that awaited us, I was driven fromthe station. I should say that we drove for fifteen minutes or more, staying at last before a house in a narrow _cul-de-sac_, where we wentupstairs to a suite of rooms reserved for us. After an excellent supperOsbart left us, but Black took me to a double-bedded room, saying thathe could not let me out of his sight, and that I must share thesleeping-place with him. 

"Boy, if you make one attempt to play me false, " said he, "I'll blowyour brains out, though you were my own son. "

Then he went to bed at once in a morose and foreboding mood, and Ifollowed his example quickly. 

On the next morning Black quitted the house at an early hour afterbreakfast, but he locked the door of the room upon Osbart and myself. "Not, " as he said, "because I can't take your word, but because I don'twant anyone fooling in here. " He returned in the evening, at seveno'clock, and found me as he had left me, reading a later novel of PaulBourget's; for Osbart had slept all the afternoon, and was alwayscomplaining when on shore. 

The view from the window upon a balcony of lead and the back windows ofnear houses was not inviting, and my bond had held me back from allidle thoughts of eluding him. Life in London under such conditions waslittle preferable to life on the ship, and I had no heart to hearBlack's stories of things doing in town; or to examine the manypurchases of miniatures and quaint old jewels, which he had laid on thedinner-table. 

The day following was Thursday. I shall always remember it, for Iregard it as one of the most memorable days in my life. Black went outas usual early in the morning; his object being, as on the precedingday, to find out, if he could, what the Admiralty were doing in view ofthe robbery of the _Bellonic_; and Osbart, refusing to get up tobreakfast, lay in bed reading the morning papers. We had been left thusabout the space of an hour when there came a telegram for the doctor, who read it with a fierce exclamation. 

"The Captain wants me urgently, " said he, "and there's nothing to dobut to leave you here. We are trusting absolutely to you, now; but bequite sure, if you make half a move to betray us, it will be the lastyou will ever make. I may return here in ten minutes. You must put upwith the indignity of being locked in; and, dear boy, don't troubleyourself to look for sympathy in this place, for the man who owns thishouse is one of us, and, if you call out, you'll get a rap on the headpretty quickly. "

He went out jauntily, and I watched him, little thinking that I shouldnever see him again. When he was gone I sat in the great armchair, pulling it to the window, and taking up my book. The sensation of beingalone in the centre of London, and unable by my oath to make theslightest attempt to help myself, was most curious; yet with it all Icould not but think that I had touched the culminating point, and wasnear to the ending of it for good or for ill. From the window of myroom I could hear the hum of town, the rumbling of 'buses, and thesubdued roar of London awake. I could even see people in the houses atthe other side of the leads, and it occurred to me, What if I open thatcasement and call for help? I had given a pledge, it is true; butshould a pledge bind under such conditions? The sanctity of an oath isa fine thing for theological subtlety. I had no such subtlety. I knewthat the argument in favour of wrong is pleasing to the mental palate;and I put it from me, believing that the breaking of my bond would putme upon the immoral plane of the men to whom it had been given. 

I was in the very throes of such a mental struggle when the strangeevent of the day happened. I chanced to look up from the book I hadbeen trying to read, and I saw a remarkable object upon the leadsoutside my window. It was the figure of a man with a collapsible neck, a wonderful neck, which expanded appallingly, and again was withdrawninto a narrow and herring-like chest. The fellow might have been thirtyyears of age; he might have been fifty; there was no hair on his face, no colour in his hollow cheeks; only a nervous movement of thebony-fingers, and that awful craning of the collapsible neck. I saw ina moment that he was looking into my room; and presently, when he hadgiven me innumerable nods and winks, he took a knife from his pocket, and opened the catch, stepping into the chamber with the nimble foot ofa goat upon a crag-path. Then he drew a chair up to mine, and, makingmore signs and inexplicable motions of the eye, he slapped me upon theknee, and said--

"In the name of the law!"

This was uttered with such ridiculous levity that I laughed at him. 

"Yes, " he went on, unmoved, "I take you by surprise; but business, Mr. Mark Strong, " and he became very serious, while his neck went out likea yard-measure and he cast a quick glance round the room. 

"Business, " he said, when he had satisfied himself that we were alone, "and in two words. In the first place I have wired to your friend, Mr. Roderick Stewart, and I expect him from Portsmouth in a couple ofhours; in the second, your other friend, the doctor, is under lock andkey, on the trifling charge of murder in the Midlands, to begin with. When we have Captain Black, the little party will be complete. "

I looked at him, voiceless from the surprise of it. The magical neckwas absorbed in the chest again, and he went on--

"I needn't tell you who I am; but there's my card. We have six men inthe street outside, and another half dozen watching the leads here. Youwill be sensible enough to follow my instructions absolutely. Black, weknow, leaves the country to-night in his steamer--yesterday atRamsgate; to-day we do not know where. The probability is that he willcome to fetch you at seven o'clock--I have frightened it all out of thepeople down-stairs--if he does, you will go with him. Otherwise, he'spretty sure to send someone for you, and, as you at the moment are oursole link between that unmitigated scoundrel and his arrest, I ask youto risk one step more, and return at any rate as far as the coast, thatwe may follow him for the last time. You'll do that for us?"

I looked at his card, whereon was the inscription, "Detective-InspectorKing, Scotland Yard"; and I said at once--

"I shall not only go to the coast, but to his tender, for I've given myword. What you may do in the meantime is not my affair; but----"

"Yes, " he said eagerly, craning his neck again, "'for God's sake keepyour eye on me, ' that's what you were going to say. Well, we shall doit. We owe it to you that we've got any clue to the man, and you're notlikely to lose anything from the Government by what you've done. "

"I suppose he's made a sensation?" I asked, in simplicity, and helooked as a man who has yesterday's news. 

"Sensation! There's been no such stir since the French war. There isn'tanother subject talked of in any house in Europe--but, read that; andwhatever you do, don't make a sign until we give you the cue. It's notsafe for me to stay here; he may return any minute. I wish you luck ofit; and it's ten thousand in my pocket, any way!"

Detective-Inspector King went as he had come, craning his neck andpassing noiselessly over the leads; but he left me a newspaper, whereinthere was column after column concerning the robbery of the _Bellonic_, and a dish worthy of all journalistic sensation-mongering. I read thiswith avidity; with sharp appetite for the extraordinary hope which hadcome so curiously into my life. At last, the police were on the trailof Captain Black; yet I saw at once that, lacking my help, he wouldelude them. It was strange that, after all, I, who had seemed to failso hopelessly in my enterprise, should at last bring this giant incrime to justice. For, if he had not burdened himself with me, he wouldthen have left in the tender, and, once on the nameless ship, wouldhave defied the world. But now they watched him; and from the solitudeof my imprisonment I seemed to be lifted in a moment to a joyous stateof expectation and excitement. 

It was then about three o'clock in the afternoon. I heard the hour froma neighbouring church; and I recalled the detective's words, "I havetelegraphed for your friend, Roderick. " If his anticipations werecorrect, I should see the one man I had the greatest love for within anhour. Yet, on recollection, I would have had it otherwise. If once Ilooked on Mary's face again, I knew that the task would be almostbeyond my strength; and as it happened, it was well I had not thisburden to bear in the last hours of the great struggle. For fouro'clock struck, and five, and no one came; and it was half-past sixwhen at last a man unlocked the door of my room and entered. He was oneof Black's negroes. 

"Sar will come quick, " said he, "and leave his luggage. The masterwaits. "

He gave me no time for any explanations, but took me by the arm, and, passing from the house by a back door, he went some way down a narrowstreet, and turned into Piccadilly. There a cab waited for us, and wedrove away, but not before one, who stood on the pavement, had made aslight signal to me, and called another cab. 

In him I recognised Detective-Inspector King, and I knew that we werefollowed. 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

THE SHADOW ON THE SEA. 

We drove rapidly, passing the Criterion, so into the Strand, and alongthe Thames Embankment. Thence, we went through Queen Victoria Street, past the Mansion House, and to Fenchurch Street Station, where we tooka train for Tilbury. 

The journey was accomplished in something under an hour; and when wealighted and got upon the bank of the river, I saw a steam-launch withthe man John in the bows of her. I thought it strange that there was nosign of any watchers at this place; but I entered the launch without aword, and we started immediately, going at a great pace towardsSheerness; and reached the Nore after some buffet with the seas in theopen. At this point we sighted the tender, and went aboard her, whilethey hauled up the launch, when we made full speed towards the NorthForeland. 

It was then quite dark, with a stiff breeze blowing right abaft. Thenight, a moonless and very black one, favoured us altogether for therun which, I did not doubt, we had to make against some Governmentvessel that would follow us. But I found to my surprise that the men onthe ship knew nothing of the dangerous position in which they were, andworked with a calm disregard to the blackness of the night, and to thehazard of the moment. Black I did not meet, for they put me into acabin aft, of which I was the sole occupant; and, being ordered by theman John, who was half-drunk and very threatening, to get below, Iturned in shortly after coming aboard, and lay down to reckon with thestrange probabilities of the hour. 

One thing was very evident. Black had made a colossal mistake, from hispoint of view, in setting foot in England; but the crowning blunder ofhis life was that fatal act of folly by which he had sought to shieldme from the men. How long the Government had been watching for him, orfor tidings of me, I could not tell, but it must have been sinceRoderick had reached New York, and had told all he knew of the ship ofmystery and of her owner. 

Now the object of letting Black reach his vessel again was as clear asdaylight; it was not so much the man as his ship which they wished totake, and, by following him to the Atlantic, they were giving him ropeto hang himself. 

But were we followed? I had seen nothing to lead me to that conclusionas I came down the Thames; and now, favoured by an intensely darknight, we promised, if nothing should intervene, to gain the Atlanticin two days, and to be aboard that strange citadel which was ourstronghold against the nations. 

This thought troubled me very much, so much that sleep was out of thequestion, and I went above again, undeterred by the probability of adifference with the men. The night was somewhat clearer when I reachedthe poop, and I could make out the fine flood of light that came fromthe North Foreland; while it was evident that we had taken the outerpassage and should pass on the French side of the Goodwins. There wereno men aft as I took my stand by the second wheel, but I heard the bawlof the watch forward, and a man who wore oilskins was pacing thebridge. I was able, therefore, to get a good notion of all things aboutus; and when the moon showed later, the Channel seemed full of ships. Away towards the Foreland I made out a fleet of French luggers standingin close to shore; there were two or three colliers returning to theThames on our port-bow, and some English smacks lying-to right ahead ofus, the moon showing them brightly in a lake of light, their men busyat the nets, or huddled at the tiller as the smacks rolled to a choppysea. But there was no sign of any war-ship pursuing; no indicationwhatever that the tender, then steaming at thirteen knots towardsDover, was watched or observed by any living being. 

I had just satisfied myself of this, and had become depressedaccordingly, when I heard a step behind me. I turned round quickly, tofind that the man John had come up to the poop. He was in his oilskins, for there was some sea shipped for'ard, and he greeted me with a savageferocity which was meant to be pleasant. 

"Keeping a watch on your own hook, my fine gentleman, eh?" said he;"and after my orders for you to be abed--that's pretty discipline, Ireckon. "

I made no sort of answer, but turned my back on him, and continued towatch the twinkling lights of Deal. This appeared to irritate him, forhe put his hand on my shoulder roughly, and hissed savagely--

"Oh, I guess; you've got your fine coat, ain't you, and your prettyairs! Darn me if I don't take you down a peg, skipper or no skipper!"

His great hand was almost on my throat, and he shook me with fearfulgrip, so that I hit him with my right hand just below his heart, andbent him double like a reed. His terrible gasps for breath were soalarming that I thought at first he would never recover his wind; butwhen he did he drew his knife, and raised his arm to take aim at mythroat. It is probable that my life had been ended there and then hadnot another watched the scene and suddenly clutched the extended wrist. Captain Black had come to us with noiseless step; and he gave me thenmy first knowledge of his prodigious physical strength, for he heldJohn's arm as in a vice, and, giving the ruffian's wrist a peculiarturn, he sent the knife flying in the air, and it stuck quivering inthe deck twenty feet from where we stood. 

"You long-jawed bully, what d'ye mean by that?" cried the skipper, white with anger; and then he twisted the fellow's arm until I thoughthe would have broken it. Nor did he let him go until he had kicked himthe length of the poop, and tumbled him, torn and bleeding, upon themain hatch below. 

"Lay your finger on the boy again, and I'll give you six dozen, " hesaid quietly; and then he came to my side, and he stood for a longwhile leaning on the bulwarks and gazing over towards the recedingshore. He spoke to me at last, but in a more gentle tone than I hadever heard from him--indeed, there was almost kindliness in his voice. 

"Do you make out anything of a big ship yonder?" he asked, pointingalmost abaft. 

"I see nothing but the hull of a collier?" said I. 

"Then it's my sight that's plaguing me again, " and he continued to lookas though he had some great purpose in satisfying himself, while fromthe fo'castle there came shouts of laughter and singing. When he heardthis he spoke again, but almost to himself. 

"Shout away, you scum, " he muttered; "shout while you can. It'll be adifferent tune to-morrow. "

I was leaning then on the bulwarks almost at his side, and presently headdressed himself directly to me, and earnestly. 

"We had a narrow shave to-night. It's put me out to leave the doctor, for he was the best of them--one of the only men that I could reckonon. If it hadn't been for him and the Irishman, this lot would haveswung long ago--maybe they'll swing now. The hounds have got the scent;and, God knows, they will follow it! It's lucky for some of them that Ihad twenty pairs of eyes open for me in London, and knew theGovernment's game in time to get this tender out of Ramsgate; but youmark me, boy, there's trouble coming, and thick. I've gone out withouta gallon of oil again, and by-and-by we're going to run for our necks, every man of us. "

"What makes you think that?" I asked. 

"What makes me think that?--why, my senses. They'll follow us from someport here, as sure as the wind's rising; maybe they'll let us getaboard the ship, and then that'll be the beginning of it. But if weonly hold out with the oil, then let 'em take care of themselves----"

"And if not?"

He shrugged his shoulders and was silent; but anon he asked again whatI thought of a long, rakish-looking steamer lying some miles away onthe starboard quarter, and when I had satisfied him he said--

"Come downstairs and get some wine into you, boy"; and I went below tohis small and not very elegant cabin, where he put champagne andglasses on the table. 

"Let's drink against the thirst we'll have to-morrow, " cried he, getting quite jovial, and pouring the Pommery down his throat as thoughit had been beer. "This is an occasion such as we shan't oftenknow--the old ship against Europe, and one man against the lot of them!Why, lad, if it wasn't for the thought of the oil, I'd get up anddance. The lubbers could no more lay a finger on me, given fair fight, than they could touch the moon. You see, it's just the oil that Karl'sfeared all along; drive by gas, and you want twenty times the grease inyour cylinders that you'll ever need in a steam-ship. If there hadn'tbeen that break-up north, we'd never have been in this hole; but that'sone of the risks of a game like this, and I'll play my hand out. "

He went on to talk of many other things, but as he did not speak of hisown past, or of the ship, I began to nod with sleep; and presently Ifound him covering me up with a rug and turning out the lamp. I wasdead worn-out then, and must have slept twelve hours at the least, forit was afternoon when I awoke, and the sun streamed in through theskylight upon a table whereon dinner was set. But Black was not in thecabin, and I went above to him on the bridge, which he paced with arestless step and a betraying haste. There was no land then to be seen;but the clear play of sparkling waves shone away to the horizon over atumbling sea, upon which were a few ships. Upon one of these heconstantly turned his glass; she was a long screw steamer, showing twofunnels and three masts, away some miles on the port quarter, and I sawat once that from this ship the Captain got all his fear. 

"Do you make her out?" he said in a big whisper directly I came up tohim, and then, hushing me, he added--"Keep your tongue still, and saynothing. That's a British cruiser in passenger paint. She's come outfrom Southampton. "

This was about the very best bit of news he could have given me; but Idid not let him see that I thought so, for I had eyes only for the shipin our wake. She was a long boat of the _Northumberland_ class; butthere was nothing whatever about her to betray her disguise, since shehad all the look of an Orient, or a P. And O. Liner, and was too faraway from us to permit a reading of her flag. The men evidently had notseen her, or took no notice of her if they had; but John upon thebridge followed the movements of Black with curiosity, and once ortwice turned his own glass on the black hull just visible above thehorizon. He had forgotten the episode of the previous night--when, undoubtedly, he was full of drink--and was almost as troubled as theskipper. 

"What's he up to?" he asked me in a whisper, as Black kept turning hisglass towards the hull of the other ship. "Did he get any liquor in himlast night? I never saw him this way before. "

And again, after a pause--

"Have you got any eyes for that ship? What's he fixing her like thatfor? She's no more than an Orient boat by her jib, and if she lays onher course we'll make it warm for her outside. "

Black heard his last words, and turned round upon him savagely--

"Yes, " he said, "it'll be warm enough out there for them as lives aswell as for the dead. Ring down for more firing; what's the lubberat?--he's not giving her thirteen knots. "

By-and-by all the crew began to observe Black's anxiety and to crowd tothe starboard side; but he told them nothing, although he never leftthe bridge, and cursed fiercely whenever the speed of the tenderslacked at all. It was somewhat perplexing to me to observe that, whilethe great ship was undoubtedly following us, she did not gain a yardupon us. During the whole of that long afternoon, and through thewatches of that early night, when I remained upon the bridge withBlack, we kept our relative distances; but, do all we could, the otherwould not be shaken off; and when, after a few hours' sleep, I came ondeck at the dawn of the second day, she was still on our quarter, following like the vulture follows the living man whose hours arenumbered. 

"There's no humbug about her game, " cried Black, whose face was linedwith the furrows of anxiety and pale with long watching; "she means totake us on the open sea, and she's welcome to the course. If I don'triddle her like a sieve, stretch me!"

This strange pursuit lasted three days and into the third night; when Iwas awakened from a snatch of sleep by the firing of a gun above myhead. I dressed hurriedly and got on deck, where my eyes were almostblinded by a great volume of light which spread over the sea from apoint some two miles away on our starboard bow. We had been in theAtlantic then for twenty-four hours, and I did not doubt for a momentthat we had reached the nameless ship. Had there been any uncertainty, the wild joy of the men would have banished it. From windlass to wheelour decks presented a scene of wild excitement. Above all the shouting, the raucous laughter, and the threats against the cruiser--whose lightsshowed then less than a mile away--I heard the voice of Black, singing:"Hands, stand by to lower boats!" and the yelping of "Roaring John. " Itseemed at that moment that we should gain the impregnable citadelwithout suffering one shot, and while I should have been happier if theattack had been upon the tender, and my chances of gaining theGovernment ship thus more sure, I was in a measure carried away by theexcitement of the position, and I verily believe that I cheered withthe others. 

At that moment the cruiser showed her teeth. Suddenly there was a rushof flame from her bows, and a shell hissed above us--the first sign ofher attempt to stop us joining our own ship. The poor shooting excitedonly the derision of the men, who set up their wild "halloas!" at it;and again, when a second shot struck the aft mast and shivered it, theywere provoked to boisterous merriment. But we could make no reply, andthose on the nameless ship could not fire, for we lay right betweenthem and the other. 

"Hands, lower boats!" yelled Black at this moment, and then, leaving nomore than ten or fifteen men in the steamer, he led the way to thelaunch. 

We were now no more than a quarter of a mile from safety, but the runwas full of peril, and, as the launch stood out, the nameless ship of asudden shut off her light, if possible to shield us in the dark. Butthe pursuer instantly flooded us with her own arc, and, following itwith quick shots, she hit the jolly-boat at the third. Of the eight menthere, only two rose when the hull had disappeared. 

"Fire away, by thunder!" cried Black, shaking his fist, and mad withpassion; "and get your hands in: you'll want all the bark you've gotjust now. "

But we had hauled the men aboard as he spoke, and, though two shellsfoamed in the sea and wetted us to the skin in the passage, we were atthe ladder of the nameless ship without other harm, and with fierceshouts the men gained the decks. 

For them it was a glorious moment. They had weathered the perils of acity, and stood where they could best face the crisis of the pursuit. It was a spectacle to move the most stolid apathy: the sight of acouple of hundred demoniacal figures lighted by the great white wave oflight from the enemy's ship, their faces upturned as they waitedBlack's orders, their hands flourishing knives and cutlasses, theirhunger for the contest betrayed in every gesture. I stood upon thegallery high above the seas, and looked down upon the motley company, or along the space of the hazy arc to the other vessel, and I askedmyself again and again, What if we shall win--what if this desperateadventurer shall again outwit those who have coped with him, and holdhis mastery of the sea?

Nor did it seem so improbable that he would. Those upon the Governmentcruiser betrayed their uneasiness every moment by casting the beams oftheir searchlight on every point of the horizon; but their signal wasunanswered, no assuring rays shone out in the distant blackness of thenight. We two were alone upon the Atlantic, there to fight the duel ofthe nations; and I confess that in the unparalleled excitement of themoment I rejoiced that it was so; I hoped, even, that the nameless shipwould carry the hour, so much had she fascinated me, so astounding wereher achievements. 

This truly was the critical moment in Black's career. He stepped on thebridge to find Karl wringing his hands, and "Four-Eyes" was no lessuneasy. 

"Faith, sorr, " said he, as soon as we had come aboard, "it's bad timesintoirely if ye've no oil--we've been working two engines for threedays, and we'll be sore put to ut to kape the third going, if ye can'tmend us. "

Karl emphasised the words with stamps and tears and franticgesticulation--not lost upon Black, who advanced to the front of thebridge, and called for silence in a voice that would have split a berg. A deathlike stillness succeeded; you could hear the wash of the wavesand the moaning of the wind: two hundred upturned faces shone ghastlywhite under the spreading beams which the cruiser's lantern cast uponthem. 

"Boys, " cried Black, "yonder's a Government ship. You know me, that Idon't run after war-scum every day, for that's not my business. Butwe're short of oil, and the cylinders are heating. If we don't get itin twenty-four hours, there'll be devil's work, and we shan't do it. Boys, it's swing or take that ship and the oil aboard her--which'll youhave?"

There was no doubt about their answer--there could be none. In one wayit was almost as if the cruiser herself gave reply, for there was theroar of a great gun when Black had finished speaking, and a shot hissedfrom above our poop and burst in the seas beyond us. A mighty shoutfollowed, but was converted instantly into a cry of warning, as theforward hands sang out--

"Look out aft--the torpedo!" and other hands took up the cry, yelling"The torpedo! The torpedo!"

The tiny line of foam was just visible for a second in the way of thelight; but, the moment the cruiser had shot it from her tube, sheextinguished her arc, leaving us to light the waters with our own. There was no difficulty whatever in following the line of the deadlymessage, and for a moment every heart, I doubt not, almost stood still. 

"Full speed astern!" roared Black, forgetting himself, but instantlyringing the bell, and the nameless ship moved backwards, faster and yetfaster. But the black death-bearer followed her, as a shark follows adeath-ship; we seemed even to have backed into its course--it came onas though to strike us full amidships. 

The excitement was almost more than I could bear; I turned away, waiting for the tremendous concussion; I heard awful curses from themen, the cowardly shouting of "Roaring John, " the blasphemies of "Dickthe Ranter. " I knew that Black alone was calm; and at the last I fixedmy eyes upon him when the head of the torpedo's foam was not thirtyyards away from us. In that supreme moment the power of the man rose toa great height. He grasped the situation with the calmness of onethinking in bed; and waiting motionless for some seconds, which wereseconds almost of agony to the rest of us, he cried of a sudden--

"Hard a-starboard!" and the helm went over with a run. 

The movement was altogether superb. The great ship swung round with amajestic sweep, and as we waited breathlessly, the torpedo passed rightunder our bow, missing the ram by a hair's-breadth. The reaction wasnigh intolerable; the men waited for some seconds silent as thevoice-less; then their cheers rang away over the seas in a great volumeof sound, which must have re-echoed down in the caverns of theAtlantic. 

"You, Dick, " ordered Black, "return the lubbers that, or I'll whipyou;" and Dick, who had got his wits back, replied--

"Skipper, if I dinna dive into their internals, gie me sax dozen. "

"Hands to quarters, " continued the skipper; "let no man show himselftill I call, then him as doesn't fight for all he's worth, let himprepare to swing. "

With this there fell a great busyness, the men going, some to theturrets, some to the magazines below. 

Black had not noticed me during the episode of the torpedo, but heturned round now, and, seeing that I stood near him, he beckoned meinto the conning-tower with him. It was a chamber lined with steel witha small glass for the look-out, and electric knobs which allowedcommunication with the engine-rooms, the wheel, the turrets, and themagazines. From that pinnacle of metal you could navigate the ship, andthere Black fought the battle of that night and of the days following. And as I stood at his side I learned from his running comments much ofthe course of the fight. 

"Boy, " he said, "what I'm worth I'm going to show this night; and, asyour eyes are younger than mine, I'm going to borrow the loan of them. That hen-coop yonder with the Government flag on her isn't far fromcompany, you may be pretty sure. She's help near, and from that helpI'm going to cut her off, and quick. Take your stand here by me, andwatch the seas while I manage the light. "

He had his hand upon a little tap which enabled him to throw the arcupon every point of the horizon, and, as the light travelled, he askedme--

"Do you make out anything? Is there more of 'em at her heels?"

"Nothing that I can see; she seems alone. "

"Then God help her, though we're only running two engines. Now watchthe shot. "

The focus was then upon the cruiser, whose own light kept playing uponthe horizon as though searching for a convoy she awaited. But when theconning-tower shook with the thunder of our fore gun, the other reeled, and her arc light went out with a great flash. 

"That's a hit, " I exclaimed with ridiculous want of control; "I believeyou've hit her abaft the funnel. Yes, I can see the list on her; you'vehit her clean. "

His face never moved at the intelligence, but he rang the order "Hardto port!" and we weathered round, showing our aft turret to the enemy, whose bark for the moment was stilled. 

"Watch again, " said Black, as he rang to the turret chamber, and theaft gun roared; but I could not see that the shot struck, and I toldhim so. 

"I'll give that parson a dozen if he does that again, " he remarked, unmoved by the crash of a shot which struck us right under our turret. Then he took a cigar and spoke between his teeth when he had lightedit--

"There's twelve inches of steel there, " he said with a laugh; "let 'emknock on it and welcome. Don't you smoke?--I always do; it keeps myhead clear. "

Two more shots, one right above the engine-room and the second at theram, answered his levity. 

"Come on, you devils!" he blurted out with glee. "Come in and dance, bythunder, while I play ye the tune! Now hearken to it. "

We came up again, and fired at the cruiser, hitting her right under thefunnel, and a second time near her fore gun, so that you could see herreel and shiver even under the rays of the search-light. Nor did sheanswer our firing, but rolled to the swell apparently out of action. All this I could see, and I answered the skipper's hurried and anxiousquestions as every fresh movement was visible. 

"What's she doing, eh?" he asked. "Did that stop her? Is she coalingup, or does she signal? Lord, if I had the oil I'd sweep the sea fromNew York to Queenstown. What is it, boy?--why don't you answer me?"

"You don't give me time; but I can see now. She's coaling up, and thereare men forward working with oars. "

"Do you say that?" he said, pushing me away from the glass. "Do you saythat she's coaling? By thunder, you're right! We'll have her oil yet;and then let them as come after me look to themselves!"

As he said the last word he stepped from the conning-tower on to thebridge, and I followed him. 

There, at the distance of a third of a mile away on the starboard bow, was the crippled cruiser, helpless by her look; and our light fell fullupon her, showing men in great activity upon her decks, and othersrunning forward as though there were danger also in the fo'castle. Thenight around us was very dark, and the huge, heaving swell shone blackas pitch in mountains and cavities below the gallery. We two were alonethere upon the ocean, finishing that terrible duel--if, indeed, the endhad not come, as I thought from the silence of the other. 

"Skipper, are you going aboard her now?" asked the man "Roaring John, "who came to us on the bridge. "She's done by her looks, and you'll getno oil if ye delay. Karl there, he ain't as comfortable as if he werein his bed. "

The little German was very far from it. He was almost desperate whenminute by minute his stock of oil grew less; and he ran from one to theother, as though we had grease in our pockets, and could give it tohim. 

Black took due notice, but did not lose his calm. His cigar was nowglowing red, and he took it often from his mouth, looking at thelighted end of it as a man does who is thinking quickly. 

"You're quite sure she's done, John?" he asked, turning to the big man. 

"She's done, I guess, or why don't she spit? If she's got another kickin her, send me to the devil!"

The words had scarce left his lips when the cruiser's aft gunsthundered out almost together, and one shell passed through the verycentre of our group. It cut the man John in half as he might have beencut by a sword, and his blood and flesh splashed us, while the otherhalf of him stood up like a bust upon the deck, and during one horriblemoment his arms moved wildly, and there was a horrid quivering of themuscles of his face. The second shot struck the roof of the turretobliquely, and glanced from it into the sea. The destruction seemed tomove Black no more than a rain shower. He simply cried: "All hands tocover; I'm going to give 'em a taste of the machine-guns;" and were-entered the conning-tower. Then, as we began to move again, I sweptthe horizon with our light; but this time, far away over the blackwaste of water, the signal was answered. 

"Number two!" said Black quite calmly, when I told him, "and this timea battle-ship. Well, boy, if we don't take that oil yonder in tenminutes you may say your prayers. "

CHAPTER XXV. 

THE DUMB MAN SPEAKS. 

He put up the helm as he spoke, and brought our head round so that wewere in a position to have rammed the cruiser had we chosen. This wasnot Black's object. He desired first to cripple her completely, then tofinish her with the Maxim guns. 

"Now, let's see what that Scotsman's worth, " he cried, as he laid downhis cigar, and spoke through one of the tubes. Almost with his wordsthe tower shook with the thunder, the twenty-nine ton gun in the foreturret belched forth flame, and the hissing shell struck the steamerover her very magazine. We waited for a response, but none came. Shehad received the shot, as it proved, right on her great gun; and theweapon lay shivered and useless, cast quite free from its carriage, while dead men were around it in heaps. 

"Dick's earned his dinner, " said Black, taking up his cigar again, ashe rang twice, and the men rushed to the small guns, and prepared toget them into action. "We'll give 'em a little hail this time, for theyhaven't the cover we have. If we don't get aboard before the othercomes up, they get the trick. "

The nameless ship bounded forward into the night as he spoke, and, sooncoming up with the helm a-starboard, she was not fifty yards away fromher long opponent when the deadly steel storm began its havoc. For ourpart, the men had cover of a sort in the fore-top, and there were steelscreens round the deck-guns; but when the cruiser replied with her ownsmall arms many fell; and groans, and shrieks, and curses rose, andwere audible even to us in the tower. Never have I known anything akinto that terrible episode when bullets rang upon our decks in hundreds, and the dead and the living in the other ship lay huddled together, ina seething, struggling, moaning mass. For she had little cover, being acruiser, and we had opened fire upon her before such of her men ascould be spared had got below. 

"Let 'em digest that!" cried Black, as he watched the havoc, and puffedaway with serene calmness amidst the stress of it all; "let 'em swallowlead, the vultures. I'd sink 'em with one shot if it wasn't for theiroil; but they ain't alone!"

It was true. I, who had not ceased to watch that distant light whichmarked another warship on the horizon, knew that a second light hadshone out as a star away over the sea; and now, when I looked again athis words, I saw a third light, but I had no courage to tell him of it. Indeed, we were being surrounded, and the danger was the greater forevery minute of delay. The cruiser, although she suffered so grievouslyfrom the storm of lead which we rained upon her, had not hurled downher flag, and still replied to our fire, but more feebly. And thesearch-lights of the distant ships were clearer to my view everymoment, so that I watched them alone at the last; and Black saw them, and took a sight from the glass. Then for the first time his cigar fellfrom his lips, and he muttered an exclamation which might have been oneof fear. 

"Boy, " he said, "you should have told me of this. I see three lights, and that means a fleet of the devils to come. Well, I'll risk it, asI've risked it before. If I can stop 'em now with a shot, the game'sours; if she sinks, they trump us. "

He gave a long order in careful words down through the tube to theturret; and, coming up to position, we fired at the cruiser for thelast time, hitting her low down in the very centre of her engine-room. A great volume of steam gushed up from her deck, with clouds of smokeand fire; and as all shooting from her small arms ceased, we went outto the gallery, and the boats were cast free. A minute after, theensign of the other was lowered, and we had beaten her. 

"You, 'Four-Eyes, ' take the launch, and get her oil, " Black sang out atthe sight; "you'll have five hands, that's all you want. Go sharp, ifyou'd save your skins!"

I stood on the gallery, and watched the passage of the small boat, which was at the side of the maimed cruiser almost in a moment. Therewas no longer any resistance to our men, for the hands of the othership had too much work of their own to do. I saw some running quicklyto the aft boats, while some were bearing wounded from below, andothers stood beneath the bridge taking orders from a very youngofficer, who had no colleagues in the work. Not that there was anyconfusion, only that awful crying of strong men in their agony, of thedying who feel death's hand upon them, of the wounded who had painwhich was hardly to be endured. For a long time it seemed as though noone heard the hail of "Four-Eyes" to be taken aboard; and when at lastwe watched him get on deck, he met with no resistance, but did as hewould. Under the spreading rays of our great arc you could follow thewhole scene as though by day--the hurrying crowd of seamen, the work atthe boat, the fear and terror of it all. And you could see at the lasta sight which to Black had more import than anything else in thatpicture of distress and desolation. 

The great ship began to heel right over. Her stern came high out of thewater, so that her screws were visible. She dipped her foc's'le cleanunder the breaking sea; and so she rode during some terrible minutes. Her own men now cast off their boats anyhow, leaving the wounded, whocursed, or implored, or prayed, or shrieked; but "Four-Eyes" did notcome, and Black raved, looking away where the search-lights of theother ships now showed their rapid approach. To this extraordinary manit was the great cast of life. If the cruiser went down and his men gotno oil, we should infallibly be taken by the warships then coming uponus; and I wonder not that in that moment he lost something of his oldcalm, pacing the bridge with nervous steps, and alternately cursing orimploring the men who could not hear. 

"Why don't they come?" he asked desperately. "The lazy, loiteringsnails! What are they doing there? Do you see her heeling? She can'tweather that list another five minutes. Dick! for God's sake signal tothem--the creeping vermin! Ahoy, there! Do you hear me? You aboard, areyou looking to live to-morrow, or will you lay a hundred fathomsunder--look, boys! Do you see them lights? They're warships, three of'em! We've got to show 'em our heels, and we can't--we've no oil, not agallon! And they're taking their ease like fine gentlemen aboardthere--the guzzling swine--but I'll stir 'em! You Dick, fire a shot at'em!"

Dick had just answered him, saying, "Ay, Captain, I'll gie him a weebit o' iron in his gizzard, " when his further words were broken on hislips, for our hands appeared at the ladder of the doomed steamer, andthey tumbled into the launch anyhow, flying madly from her side as sheplunged to a huge sea, and with one mighty roll went headlong under thesurface of the Atlantic. At that moment day broke, and, as the silverlight of the dawn spread over the dark of the sea, we saw threeironclads approaching us at all their speed, and then not three milesdistant from us. But the launch was at our side, and as Black leantover, and the new light lit up his bloodshot eyes and haggard face, heasked, with hoarseness in his voice--

"Have ye got the oil?"

"Not a drop!" replied the cox. 

The strong man reared himself straight up, and he turned to Karl, athis side. In that moment he was really great, and I shall never forgetthe nonchalance with which he drew another cigar from his case andlighted it. The two men, who had found their calm as the dangerthickened, were in perfect accord; and, as one descended the ladder tothe engine-room with slow steps, the other went again to the tower, where I followed him. 

"Boy, " he said, "I've often wondered how this old ship would break up;now we'll see, but she's going to bite some of 'em yet, if she can'tlast. "

"Are you going to run for it?" I asked. 

"Run for it, with two engines, yes; but it's a poor business. And we'llhave to fight! Well, who knows? There's luck at sea as well as onshore. If I run, they'll catch me in ten miles; but we'll all do whatwe can. Now smoke and have a brandy-and-soda. You may not get another. "

The drink I took, but his calm I could not share. If the nameless shipwere trapped at last I had freedom; but of what sort? The freedom of abloody fight, the lottery of life, the remote possibility that, theship being taken, I should get to the shelter of the war-vessels. Theman soon undeceived me on both points. 

"If we're out-manoeuvred and crippled in what's coming, " said he, "Ihave given Karl my orders. This ship I've built and loved like a childisn't going to knuckle under to any man living. She's going to sink, lad, and we're all going to blazes with her! What's the odds? A manmust die! Let him die on his own dunghill, say I, and a fig for thereckoning! We shall last out as long as we can, and then we'll let thecylinders fill with hydrogen, and blow her up. But you're not smoking. "

The threat, so jaunty yet so terrible, was almost like a sentence ofdeath to me. I looked from the glass of the tower, and saw the foremostironclad but two miles away from us, and the others were sweeping roundto cut us off if we attempted flight. In the old days, with thenameless ship at the zenith of her power, we should have laughed attheir best efforts--have flown from them as a bird from a trap. But welay with but two engines working, and a speed of sixteen knots at thebest. Nor did we know from minute to minute when another engine wouldbreak down. 

At the beginning of this flight we almost held our own, shaping acurious course, which, if pursued, would have brought us ultimately tothe Irish coast again. For some hours during the morning I thought thatwe gained slightly, and those following evidently felt that it would bea waste of shell to fire at us, for they were silent: only greatvolumes of smoke came from the funnels of the battleships, and we knewthat their efforts to get greater speed were prodigious. 

We ran in this state all the morning, our men silent and brooding;Black smoked cigar after cigar with a dogged assumption ofindifference; the German came to us often with his desperate gesturesand his woe-begone face. It was well on in the afternoon before theposition changed in any way, and I had gone down with the Captain tothe lower saloon to make the pretence of lunching. There wesat--"Four-Eyes" with us--a miserable trio, cracking jokes, andexpressing desperate hopes; sending up the nigger every other moment tolearn how the ironclad lay, and much comforted when at the fifth cominghe said--

"You gain, sar, plenty sar; you run right away, sar. "

"We do?" cried Black, who jumped from his seat and ran up thecompanion-way to confirm the tale, and he shouted down to us, "Crackanother bottle, if it's the last, and give it to the nigger; we'releaving them!"

His elation was contagious. "Four-Eyes" awoke from his lethargy, anddrank a pint of the wine at a draught. The nigger put out a glass witha satisfied leer. The Captain took a bottle and laid his hand on thecork. But there it stayed, for at that moment there came a horriblesound of grating and tearing from the engine-room, and it was succeededby a moment of dead and chilling silence. 

"The second engine's gone, " said a man above, quite calmly, and we knewthe worst, and went on deck again. 

We found the crew sullen and muttering, but Friedrich, the engineer'seldest son, sat at the top of the engine-room ladder, and tears rolleddown his face. The great ship still trembled under the shock of thebreakdown and was not showing ten knots. The foremost ironclad crept upminute by minute; and before we had realised the whole extent of themishap, she was within gunshot of us; but her colleagues were somemiles away, she outpacing them all through it. 

"Bedad, she signals to us to let her come aboard, " said "Four-Eyes, "who watched her intently. 

"Answer that we'll see her in chips first, " said Black, and he calledfor Karl and made signs to him. 

"If so be as ye don't come to, he'll be about to fire upon ye, " cried"Four-Eyes, " again, who stood at the flag-line, and this time Blackthought before he answered--

"Then parley with 'em; we'll come alongside and hear their jaw. "

There was a leer of positive devilry on his face as he said this, andhe beckoned me into the conning-tower, when he closed the tower andbade me watch. Those on the battle-ship made quite sure of us now, forthey steamed on and came within three hundred yards of us. Blackwatched them as a beast watches the unsuspecting prey. He stood, hisface knit in savage lines, his hand upon the bell. I looked from theglass, and saw that no man was visible upon our decks, that our engineshad ceased to move. We were motionless. Then in a second the bells rangout. There was again that frightful grating and tearing in theengine-room. The nameless ship came round to her helm with a mightysweep: she foamed and plunged in the seas; she turned her ram straightat the other; and, groaning as a great stricken wounded beast, sheroared onward to the voyage of death. I knew then the fearful truth:Black meant to sink the cruiser with his ram. I shall never forget thatmoment of terror, that grinding of heated steel, that plunge into theseas. Holding with all my strength to the seat of the tower, I waitedfor the crash, and in the suspense hours seemed to pass. At last, therewas under the sea a mighty clap as of submarine thunder. Dashedheadlong from my post, I lay bruised and wounded upon the floor ofsteel. The roof above me rocked; the walls shook and were bent; my earsrang with the deafening roar in them; seas of foam mounted before theglass; shrieks and the sound of awful rending and tearing drowned othershouts of men going to their death. And through all was the hystericalyelling of Black, his cursing, his defiance, his elation. 

"Come and see, " he roared, dragging me by the collar to the gallery;"come and see. They sink, the lubbers! They go to blazes every one ofthem. Look at their faces, the crawling scum. Ha! ha! Die, you vermin!as you meant me to die; fill your skins with water, you sharks! I spiton you! Boys, do you hear them crying to you? Music, fine music! Who'lldance when the devil plays? Dance, you lazy blacklegs; dance onnothing! Ha, ha!"

No man has ever looked on a more awful sight. We had struck thebattleship low amidships--we had crashed through the thinnest coat ofher steel. She had heeled right over from the shock, so that the gunshad cast free from the carriages, and the sea had filled her. Thus forone terrible minute she lay, her men crowding upon her starboard side, or jumping into the sea, or making desperate attempts to get her boatsfree; and then, with a heavy lurch, she rolled beneath the waves; andthere were left but thirty or forty struggling souls, who battled fortheir lives with the great rollers of the Atlantic. Of these a fewreached the side of our ship and were shot there as they clung to theladder; a few swam strongly in the desperate hope that the brutes aboutme would relent, and sank at last with piercing and piteous cries upontheir lips; others died quickly, calling upon God as they went to theirrest. 

For ourselves we lay, our bows split with the shock, our engine-room infearful disorder, our men drunk with ferocity and with despair. Theother warships were yet some distance away; but they opened fire uponus at hazard, and, of the first three shells which fell, two cut ourdecks; and sent clouds of splinters, of wood, and of human flesh flyingin the smoke-laden air. At the fifth shot, a gigantic crash resoundedfrom below, and the stokers rushed above with the news that the forestoke-hold had three feet of water in it. The hands received the newswith a deep groan; then with curses and recriminations. They bellowedlike bulls at Black; they refused all orders. He shot down man afterman, while I crouched for safety in the tower; and they became butfiercer. Our end was evidently near; and, knowing this, they fell uponthe liquor, and were worse than fiends. Anon they turned upon thecaptain and myself, and fired volleys upon the conning-tower; or, intheir terrible frenzy, they pitched themselves into the sea, or ravedwith drunken songs, and vented their vengeance upon the Irishman, "Four-Eyes, " chasing him wildly, and stabbing him with many cuts, sothat he dropped dying at our door, with no more reproach than thesimple words--

"God help me! but had I died in me own counthry I would have known morepace. "

Through all this our one engine worked; and so slowly did the greatironclad draw upon us that the end of it all came before they couldreach us. Suddenly the men rushed to the boats and cast them loose. Fighting with the dash of madmen, they crowded the launch, they swarmedthe jolly-boat and the life-boat. Even the engineer's son felt thetouch of contagion, and joined the _mêlée_. We watched their insaneefforts as boat after boat put away and was swamped, leaving thedevilish men to drown as the worthier fellows had drowned before them;and amongst the last to die was "Dick the Ranter, " who went down withblasphemies gurgling upon his lips. When six o'clock came, Black andKarl and myself were alone upon the great ship; and in the stillnesswhich followed there came another weird and wild and soul-stirringshriek--the cry of the dumb engineer, who found speech in the greatcatastrophe. Then Black pulled me by the arm and said--

"Boy, they've left nothing but the dinghy. The old ship's done; andit's time you left her. "

"And you?" I asked. 

He looked at me and at Karl. He had meant to die with the ship, I knew;but the old magnetism of my presence held him again in that hour. Hefollowed me slowly, as one in a dream, to the davits aft, and freed thelast of the boats, overlooked by the hands in their frenzy and theirpanic. Then he went to his cabin, and to the rooms below; and I helpedhim to put a couple of kegs of water in the frail craft, with somebiscuit, which we lashed, and a case of wine which he insisted on. 

The preparation cost us half-an-hour of time, and when all was ready, the captain went to the engine-room and brought Karl to the top of theladder; but there the German stayed, nor did threats or entreaties movehim. 

"He'll die with the ship, " said Black, "and I don't know that he isn'twise;" but he held out his hand to the genius of his crime, and after agreat grip the two men parted. 

For ourselves, we stepped on the frailest craft with which men everfaced the Atlantic, and at that moment the first of the ironclads firedanother shell at the nameless ship. It was a crashing shot, but it hadcome too late to serve justice, or to wreck the ship of mystery; forKarl had let the hydrogen into the cylinders unchecked, and with amighty rush of flame, and a terrific explosion, the craft of gold gaveher "Vale!" And in a cascade of fire, lighting the sea for many miles, and making as day the newly-fallen night, the golden citadel hissedover the water for one moment, then plunged headlong, and was no more. 

A fierce fire it was, lighting sea and sky--a mighty holocaust; theroar of a great conflagration; the end of a monstrous dream. And Ithought of another fire and another face--the face of Martin Hall, whohad seen the finger of Almighty God in his mission; and I said, "Hiswork is done!"

But Black, clinging to the dinghy, wept as a man stricken with a greatgrief, and he cried so that the coldest heart might have been moved--

"My ship, my ship! Oh God, my ship!"

CHAPTER XXVI. 

A PAGE IN BLACK'S LIFE. 

I know not whether it was the amazing spectacle of the nameless ship'send, or the sudden coming down of night, that kept attention from ourboat when the great vessel had sunk; but those on the ironclads, whichwere at least two miles from us when we put off, seemed to be unawarethat any boat from the ship lived; and, although they steamed for somehours in our vicinity, they saw nothing of us as we lay in the plungingdinghy. When night fell, and with it what breeze that had been blowing, we lost sight of them altogether, and knew for the first time the wholeterror of the situation. Black had indeed recovered much of his oldcalm, and drank long draughts of champagne; but he sat silent, anduttered no word for many hours after the end of that citadel which hadgiven him such great power. As for the little boat, it was a punyprotection against the sweeping rollers of the Atlantic, and I doubtnot that we had been drowned that very night if a storm of any momenthad broken upon us. 

About midnight a thunderstorm got up from the south, and the sea, rising somewhat with it, wetted us to the skin. The lightning, terriblyvivid and incessant, lighted up the whole sea again and again, showingeach the other's face, the face of a worn and fatigue-stricken man. Andthe rain and the sea beat on us until we shivered, cowering, and werenumbed; our hands stiffened with the salt upon them, so that we couldscarce get the warming liquor to our lips. Yet Black held to hissilence, moaning at rare intervals as he had moaned when the great shipsank. It was not until the sun rose over the long swell that we sleptfor an hour or more; and after sleep we were both calmer, looking forships with much expectation, and that longing which the derelict onlymay know. The Captain was then very quiet, and he gazed often at mewith the expression I had seen on his face when he saved me from hismen. 

"Boy, " he said, "look well at the sun, lest you never look at itagain. "

"I am looking, " I replied; "it is life to me. "

"If, " he continued, very thoughtful, "you, who have years with you, should live when I go under, you'll take this belt I'm wearing off me;it'll help you ashore. If it happen that I live with you, it'll helpboth of us. "

"We're in the track of steamers, " said I; "there's no reason to look atit that way yet. Please God, we'll be seen. "

"That's your way, and the right one, " he answered; "but I'm not a manlike that, and my heart's gone with my ship: we shall never see herlike again. "

"You built her?" I said questioningly. 

"Yes, " he responded. "I built her when I put my hand against the world, and, if it happened to me to go through it again, I'd do the same. "

"What did you go through?" I asked, as he passed me the biscuits andthe cup with liquor in it, and as he sat up in the raft I saw that theman had death written on his face. 

But at that time he told me nothing in answer to my question; and satfor many hours motionless, his glassy eyes fixed upon the bottom of theboat. In the afternoon, however, he suddenly sat up, and took up histhread as if he had broken it but a minute before. 

"I went through much, " said he, gazing over the mirror-like surface ofthe trackless water-desert, "as boy and man. I lived a life which washell; God knows it. "

I did not press him to tell me more, for in truth I shivered so and wasso numbed that even my curiosity to know of this life of crime and ofmystery was not so paramount as to banish that other thought: Shall welive when the sun sinks this night? But he found relief in his talk, and, as the liquor warmed him, he continued faster than before--

"I was a stepson, boy; bound to a brute with not as much conscience asa big dog, and no more human nature in him than a wild bull. My motherdied three months after he took her, and I'm not going to speak abouther, God help me; but if I had the man under my hands that treated herso, I'd crush his skull like I crush this biscuit. Well, that ain't mytale; you ask me what I went through, and I'm trying to tell you. Haveyou ever wanted a meal? No, I reckon not; and you can't get it in yourmind to know what living on bones and bits for more than a couple ofyears means, can you, as I lived down in my home at Glasgow, and oftensince out West and at Colorado? I'd come out from Scotland as a bit ofa lad not turned thirteen, and I sailed aboard the _Savannah City_ toMontreal, and then to Rio, and in Japan waters; and for three years, until I deserted at 'Frisco, no devilry that human fiends could thinkof was unknown to me. But they made a sailor of me; and full-riggedship or steamer I'd navigate with the best of 'em. After that, I wentaboard a brig plying between 'Frisco and Yokohama, and there I pickedup much, leaving her after two years to get across to Europe, and dothe ocean trade with the Jackson line between Southampton and BuenosAyres. It was in that city I met my wife. I married her in Mendoza; forshe came of rich folk, who spat on me, and was only a bit of a girlwho'd never wanted a comfort on this earth until that time, and whostarved with me then and for years. My God! my whole body burns when Ithink of it--that bit of a creature who'd never known the lack of agratification and who was dragged down to every degradation by mycurse. "

I looked at him in surprise, and he answered me instinctively. 

"Yes, by my curse. Maybe you don't know what it was, for I've held itunder a bit since she died, but I was a drunkard then--a maniac when Ihad the liquor on me, a devil from whom all men fled. Not that thereisn't work for any man in that country--work, and well paid--but I hadthe fever on me, and--well, we sank very low. How I lived I can't tellyou; but after a couple of years of it I worked a passage to New York, and there my son was born. When he grew up he was the very image ofyou. That's why I gave you your life when you came on my ship. "

The words were spoken in that gentle voice he could command sometimes, and, as he uttered them, he took my hand and gave it a great grip. Iunderstood then that curious look he had given me at our first meeting;his partisanship for me against the men; and that last great risk whichhad brought the end of it all, if it had not brought death to both ofus. Somewhere down in that human well of crime and ferocity there was aspring of purer water. I had set it free when I brought old memories tohim, and I owed it to him that amazing chance that I lived through thefrenzies of Ice-haven. 

"Yes, " said Black, observing my surprise, and passing me the liquorwhich he compelled me to drink; "my boy was your height, and yourbuild, and he had your eyes. What's more, he had your grit, and therewas no cooler hand living. Not that he owed much to me, for I was maddrunk half his life; and, when sober, I lived as often as not in prisonfor what I had done in liquor. It was when he was nearly twenty thatthe change came; for he began to bring home money, do you see? and whatwith his work and the way he talked to me, I set myself to get thecraving under; and I was a new man in one year, and in two my braincame back to me, and I made the discovery that I was not born a fool. You may reckon I worshipped the lad! God knows, he and his mother didfor me more than man or woman ever did for a breathing body. And whenmy wits came back to me, and I thought what I might have done, and whatI had done, and that my boy had borne it all only to drag me to myreason at last, I could have ended it there and then. Maybe I shouldhave done it if a new turn hadn't come in my life's road. It was when Iwas at my lowest, and we were sore put to it to get food in New York, that I was taken up by a man who was going to Michigan seeking copper. My lad was then working with a Mike Leveston in the city--a land-agentfor the up-country work, and the owner of a line of small brigs runningbetween Boston and the Bahamas; but times had gone bad with him, andthe boy, who had been getting good money, found himself with no morethan enough to keep him, let alone his mother. Well, I thought thething out, and, as my partner had some capital and agreed to let mehave ten dollars a week any way, I made an agreement with Leveston thathe should allow the wife and the boy enough to live on for six months, and I set out for the State where the copper find was beginning toattract notice, and in a year I was a made man. We found the ore asthick as clay, and, under the excitement of it, I kept my head, and thedrink craze never touched me. When the money came in, I made Levestonmy New York agent, and sent him enough to set up the woman who'd stoodby me all through in more luxury than she'd known since she married me. For awhile her letters told me of her new life, and I kept them undermy shirt as I would have kept leaves of gold. In the spring, I sent theagent twenty thousand dollars for her; and I got his acknowledgment, saying she'd gone down to Charleston to see about the boy's work there, and I should hear from her on her return. 

"I think this was about eighteen months after I left New York, and fromthat time my wife ceased to write to me, and I heard nothing more fromthe lad. We'd been doing such work in the mine that we had enough moneyto pay our way for life, and we hoped to make an almighty pile beforemany years had gone; but I couldn't bear not hearing from them as Iworked for, and in the fall of the year I went back to New York--underprotest from my partner, who could do nothing without me--and I neverrested until I reached my house in Fifty-Fourth Street. I found it shutup, the furniture gone, not a sign of living being in it; and when Iwent to make inquiries amongst my neighbours, they told me what came tothis. My wife had died of starvation--nothing less, boy, for the devilI'd sent the money to had doled out to her and the lad a few dollarsfor the first year, but had cut and run when the big sums reached him;and he took the boy with him on the pretence of a job in the Southerncity. My son, you see, had turned naturally to architect's work, andwas induced by this long-toothed vulture to quit New York, because theyheard from the mine that I was dead--that I died, as Leveston had toldthem, of small-pox--and left not a shilling for them. God! if only Icould bring him to life to clutch his cursed throat again!"

"But what became of your son?" I asked, as he ceased speaking, and welay riding gently over the long rollers, with a great flood of sunlightmaking the sea as a sheet of beaten gold, touched with diamond pointswhere the spray broke. Then he went on with it; but you could see someawful emotion moving him, and he kept plying himself with drink, whichmade his words the fiercer. 

"What became of the boy?" he repeated after me. "Why, he went south inthe hope of sending money to his mother; and directly he reachedCharleston, Leveston shipped him on a brig, knowing that I must hear ofhis doings in a month or more. He sent the lad to Panama, and there hedied, one of the first to be stricken in the fever land. They buriedhim in the country, as the Lord is my witness. Then I came home--rich, my trunks stuffed with notes, able, if I cared, to buy up half theland-agents in New York City; and the money I'd got seemed to turnblack in my hands when I found that those it was made for needed it nomore. Not as I knew then of the lad's death--that I was to hear oflater; but, free from the drink, I had loved the woman who was gone;and I was a madman for days and weeks. When I got my head again Ichanged as I don't believe any man ever changed before; there wassomething in my mind which I could not cope with. I can't lay it downany clearer than this: it was a hatred of all men that took possessionof me--a fierce desire to make mankind pay for the wrongs I hadsuffered. I gave myself up to the drink again, but not as I did whenthey named me a drunkard. This time I was the master of it; I used itfor my purpose; I fed my thoughts of vengeance on it; and, while mypartner was sending me more than a thousand pounds a week fromMichigan, I remained in New York with the double purpose in my head--toget my boy back to me, and to crush the life out of the man who hadleft my wife to die. 

"All the news I could get at that time was this: the boy had leftCharleston, ostensibly for the Bahamas, three months before I reachedNew York City; but nothing more had been heard of him or the ship. Iput the best detectives in the city on Leveston's trail, raining themoney into their pockets to keep them to the work; and they got it outof some of Leveston's seamen in Savannah that he had gone a long cruisein one of his barques to Rio, and even farther south. This news waslike red-hot iron to my head. I knew that I couldn't touch the man bylaw, except for the robbery of the bit of money, and _that_ I didn'tcare a brass button about. What I meant to have was his life, and Iswore that no man should take it but me. Then I went into every lowhaunt in New York. I searched the drinking dens of the Bowery; I madefriends with all the thieves, picked up the loafers, and the starving. The parson who's gone I found running a gambling hell in New Jersey;the man 'Four-Eyes' I took from a crimp at Boston; John we got later onat Rio, where we bought him from the police. I had as fine a crew ofscoundrels in a month as ever cursed in a fo'castle; and I shipped themall on the screw-steamer, _Rossa_, which I bought for six thousandpounds from the Rossa Company. She was just on six hundred tons, aniron boat built for the meat trade; but we knocked her about quickenough, setting three machine-guns for'ard, and fifty Winchester riflesamong her stores. We put out from Sandy Hook, it must be nearly sixyears ago; and we steamed straight ahead for Rio, where we got tidingsof Leveston's barque. She had sailed for Buenos Ayres, but they lookedfor her return within the month, and we left again next day, cruisingnear shore as far as Desterro, where luck was with us. 

"I remember that morning as if it was yesterday. We had struckeight-bells, and the men were going down to dinner, when the matesighted a ship on the port-bow. We put straight out to sea at the hail, and within half-an-hour we stood alongside her; and the man whoanswered my call was Mike Leveston. When he saw me hailing him from thepoop of a steamer, he turned green as the sea about him; and he yelledto me to stand off if I didn't want a bullet in me. The sight of himmaddened me; I turned the machine-gun on his decks, and swept themclear as a grass field, but he lay flat on his face by the taffrail, and he bellowed for mercy like a woman. And he got it. I ran thesteamer alongside him, smashing in his quarter, and when we hadgripped, I got aboard. Then he grovelled at my feet, and, as I held mypistol at his head, he gabbled out the news that my son was dead--toldme that he died at Panama, and he screamed for mercy like a hog at theblock. But I cut his throat from ear to ear with my own knife, and Ithrew his body to the sharks limb by limb as you would throw a deadsheep to the dogs. God knows, I was mad then, as I have been oftensince, and am now. My poor son!"

"The man told you the truth, then?"

"Yes. When I had made chips of his ship I went back to Panama, andthere got news of the boy. They had buried him at Porto Bello, and Istopped there long enough to make his grave decent, and then returnedup the coast to New York. Coming back, the vermin with me took a fancyon the third day out, when three parts of them were drunk, to do with astrange brig as they had done with Leveston's. They stopped her withthe guns, and cleared her of every dollar aboard, sending her to thebottom out of pure devilry. I didn't stop 'em; for I had the madness ofthe drink on me again, and I led 'em at the work then, and when theysent a dozen more coasters after the two that had gone on the voyage toSandy Hook. By the time we were in New York again, I had got a tastefor the new work which nothing could cure. It seemed as if I was torevenge on mankind the wrong I had suffered from one man; and, morethan that, I saw there was money in heaps in it. They said at home thatpiracy was played out, but I asked myself, 'How's that? Give me a shipbig enough, ' said I, 'and under certain conditions I'll sweep theAtlantic. ' There was danger in the job, and it was big enough to temptthat curious brain of mine, which had always dreamed of big jobs sinceI'd been a bit of a boy; and I was fascinated with this big idea untilI couldn't hold myself. That's what led me to keep the crew together atNew York, and to return to Michigan, where I found that the mine wasmaking money faster almost than they could bank it, and if I was wortha penny, I was worth a million sterling at that very time; for mypartner behaved square all through, and paid my share to the lastpenny. I stayed with him about a couple of months then, giving my witsto the job, and it was there I met Karl, the German engineer, who hadgot it into his head that gas was the motor of the near future. Hetalked of using it for the copper work, and then of building gaslaunches for transport; but he didn't know that he'd set me all aglowwith another thought, which was nothing less than this--that I shouldbuild a steamer driven by gas, and run a game of piracy on the Atlanticwith her. Do you call it lunacy? Well, other men have made good companyfor such lunatics, the Corsican murderer at Moscow among 'em. And whatwas it to be but a fight of one man against the world--a fight to setyour best blood running fast in your veins, to brace every nerve inyour body? Boy, I lived for a year on that excitement, which was moreeven than the drink to me. I left the mine to cruise again in the_Rossa_ with the old hands; but we had added a long 'chaser' to ourlist of guns, and in the three months out we took twenty ships and overtwo hundred thousand in specie. I saw from the beginning of it that theone thing we couldn't stand against with a coal steamer was theconstant putting into port to fill her bunkers: and I knew that if wedidn't find some haven of refuge out of the common run, the day wouldcome when we should swing like common cut-throats. I had taken Karl onboard with me for the trip, and he was the man to set both thingssquare. He ran me north of Godthaab, in Greenland, and put me into thefjord you have known; and he drew the plans of my ship, which I madethe Italians at Spezia build for me--for I had the money, and, as forthe metal, the phosphor bronze of which I built her--well, that wasKarl's idea, too. You may know that phosphor bronze is the finestmaterial for ship-building in the world, but the majority of 'em can'tuse it on account of the cost of the copper. Well, the copper I had, any amount of it; and I shipped it to Italy, and the great vessel whichyour friend Hall thought was all of gold had the look of it, and wasthe finest sight man ever saw when under her own colours. 

"Once the ship was built, our game was easy. She was armoured heavilyamidships; she had two ten-inch guns in her turrets, and machine-gunsthick all over her; and she was the best-fitted ship in her quartersswimming. It's a rum thing, but I always had a bit of a taste for nicethings--fine painting, gold work, and stones--and my only hobby tospeak of has been the buying of 'em. This led me to meet your friendHall. Not that I didn't know him from the first, for my men saw him inthe yards at Spezia, and from that day I never left him unwatched. Ifollowed him to Paris, to Liverpool, to London, when I was ashore; butI never brought my ship within a hundred miles of any port: and I usedto hire yachts and sink 'em in mid-ocean when I wanted to reach her. Your friend would be alive now if he hadn't sought to find out where Igot to when I left port in the _La France_. But I took him aboard toend him, and they shot him off the Needles and lashed him to theshrouds of the yacht when we fired her. He was a brave man, andindirectly he brought me to this--him and you----"

"And the justice of God, " I said, thinking hatred towards him again asI remembered Hall's death. 

"Perhaps, " he answered, "but you know my history; and what's done can'tbe undone. Yet I say again that, if my son was alive, and was takenfrom me as he was taken seven years ago in Panama, I'd do what I did, though they burnt me alive for it. I've been agen Europe, and I'velicked 'em, by Heaven; for what they've took is only my ship, and agenthat I've a million of their money to put. One man with his hand agenthe world's a fine sight, and what I've claimed I've done. Is piracynot worth a cent? Is it played out, do you tell me? I reckon them assays it lies. Give me a ship like mine that can show 'em twenty-nineknots; give me the harbour to coal once in six months; and I'll liveagainst the lot of them, fight 'em one by one, rule this ocean moresure than any man ruled a people. I say I'd do it; I should have said Icould have done it, for it's over now, and the day's gone. Beforeanother twenty-four hours you'll be alone in this dinghy, boy. I'vedeath on me, and I wouldn't live without the ship; no, I'll go under asshe went under--the Lord have mercy on me!"

The firmness of the captain was near to leaving him in that moment, buthe pulled himself together with a great effort, and sat aft, scullingwith the short oar in a mechanical and altogether absent way. The longtalk with me about his past had exhausted him, I thought; and he didnot seem disposed to speak again. It was then near mid-day, and thesun, being right above us, poured down an intolerable heat, so that thepaint of the dinghy was hot to the hand, and we ourselves were consumedwith an unquenchable thirst. Nor could I restrain myself, but dranklong draughts from the water-kegs, while Black kept to liquor; and was, I saw with fear, rapidly working himself up to a state of intoxication. You may ask if the terrors of the position came home to us thoroughlyin that long day when we rode in a bit of a cockle-shell on thesweeping rollers of the Atlantic, but I answer you, I do not think thatthey did. The fear of such a position is the after-recollection of it. We were in a sense numbed to mental apprehension by the vigour of thephysical suffering we endured, by that overwhelming thirst, by thedevouring heat, by the cutting spray which drove upon our faces, by thestiffening of our clothes when the sun scorched them. Seethed in thebrine one hour, we were nigh burnt up the next; and yet we knew thatwater would soon fail us--that we could not hope for life for many daysunless we should sight some ship, and she in turn should sight us. 

It is, perhaps, only in a small boat that one appreciates the magnitudeof an Atlantic wave, even when the ocean seems comparatively still. Sometimes on a steamer's deck, when there is heavy wind and the sea isdriven before it, you may watch a huge roller sweeping the great vesselas a pond wave will sweep a match; but at any time from a boat, whichis, as it were, right down upon the water, you cannot fail to beimpressed by the onward flow of those mighty translucent billows, whichrush forward in their course and thunder at last upon the granite rocksof the western face of Europe. High above you in one moment as hills ofemerald and silver, you wait with nerves all braced up as they comeupon you, giving promise that you will be engulfed in the liquid bosomof the towering mountain; and you breathe again as your boat is takenin their swift embrace, and you are borne far above the darker ravineof the sea to a pinnacle of spreading foam, whence you may look to thedistant horizon in that search for other ships; which may be pastime, or may be, as in our case, a search on which your very life depends. 

How often during that long afternoon, when my hair was matted with thesalt of the spray, and my hands were burnt with a consuming fire, andmy body was chill or hot with the fever of the long exposure, did I, from such a pinnacle, cast my eyes around the foam-decked waste, andfinding it all barren, feel my heart sink as the dinghy swept againinto the dark-green abyss, and all around me were the walls of water!How many prayers did not I send up in the silence of my heart: how manythoughts of Roderick and of Mary, how many farewells to them! And whenI prayed for life, and no answer seemed to come, and I remembered theyears that might have been before me--years now to be unknown in thesilence of the grave--I had a great bitterness against all fate and allmen, and I crouched in the boat with my suffering heavy upon me. ButBlack continued to drink, and when the sun fell low in the west, andthe whole heavens were as mountains and peaks of the crimson fire, Iknew by his mutterings that the frenzy of the old madness was upon him. 

At one time he called upon his wife, I doubt not, and gave mad words ofself-reproach and of regret. And then he would mutter of his son, asthough the lad could help him; and many times he cried out: "My God!the ship's going--hands, lower boats!" Or he raved with fierce threatsand awful cries at the American he had buried, or made desperateappeals to some apparition that came to him in his dreadful dream. Butat the last he grew almost incoherent, thinking that I was the deadlad; and he set himself wildly to chafe my hands, and put spirit at mylips. I was then nigh dead with want of sleep and fatigue, for I hadnot rested during the fight with the ironclads; and when he covered mewith the small tarpaulin, and made a rough pillow in the bow, I went tosleep almost at once; and was as one drunk with the torpor of the rest. 

Twice during that long night I must have roused myself. I recall well aheaven of stars, and a moonlit sea glowing with the pale light; whilelooking down upon me were the eyes of a madman, who clutched the sidesof the dinghy with trembling and claw-like hands, and had a scream uponhis lips. And again at the second time I looked upward to behold afaint break of grey in the leaden sky, and to feel warm raindropsbeating upon me. But I heard no sound, and scarce turning in myheaviness, I slept again; and all through my sleep I dreamed that therewas the echo of a voice, as of the voice of the damned, calling to mefrom the sea, and that, though I would have helped the man whose handwas above the waters, I could not move, for an iron grip, as the gripof Fate, held me to my place. 

When I awoke for the third time, the dinghy was held firmly by aboat-hook, and was being drawn towards a jolly-boat full of seamen. Irose up, rubbing my eyes as a man seeing a vision; but, when the menshouted something to me in German, I had another exclamation on mylips; for I was alone in the boat, and Black had left me. 

Then I looked across the sea, and I saw a long black steamer lying-to amile away, and the men dragged me into their craft, and shouted heartywords of encouragement, and they put liquor to my lips, and fell torowing with great joy. Yet I remembered my dream, and it seemed to methat the voice I had heard in my sleep was the voice of Black, whocried to me as he had cast himself to his death in the Atlantic. 

 * * * * *

Was the man dead? Had he really ended that most remarkable life of evilenterprise and of crime; or had he by some miracle found safety while Islept? As the Germans rowed me quickly towards their steamer, andcomforted me as one would comfort a child that is found destitute bythe way-side, I turned this thought over again and again in my mind. Had the man gone out of my life wrapped in the mystery which hadsurrounded him from the first? Did he still live to dream dreams ofvengeance and of robbery? Or had he simply cast himself from the dinghyin a fit of insanity, and died the terrible death of the suicide? Icould not answer the tremendous question; had no clue to it; but I hadnot reached the shelter of the steamer which had saved me before I madethe discovery that the belt of linen which had been about Black's waistwas now about mine, tied firmly with a sailor's knot, and when I put myhand upon the linen I found that it was filled with some hard and sharpstones, which had all the feel of pebbles. Instinctively I knew thetruth: that in his last hour the master of the nameless ship hadretained his curious affection for me; had made over to me some of thathuge hoard of wealth he must have accumulated by his years of pillage;and I restrained myself with difficulty from casting the whole thereand then into the waters which had witnessed his battles for it. Butthe belt was firmly lashed about me, and we were on the deck of thesteamer before my benumbed hands could set the lashing free. 

It would be idle for me to attempt to describe to you all I felt as thecaptain of the steamship _Hoffnung_ greeted me upon his quarterdeck, and his men sent up rounds of cheers which echoed over the waters. Istood for some minutes forgetful of everything, save that I had beensnatched from that prison of steel; brought from the shadow of theliving death to the hope of seeing friends, and country, and homeagain. Now one man wrung my hand, now another brought clothes, nowanother hot food; but I stood as one stricken dumb, holding nervouslyto the taffrail as though none should drag me down again to the horrorsof the dinghy, or to that terrible loneliness which had hung over mylife for so many weeks. And then there came a great reaction, anoverpowering weakness, a great sense of thankfulness, and tearsgushed up in my eyes, and fell upon my numbed hands. The good fellowsabout me, whose German was for the most part unintelligible to me, appreciated well the condition in which I was; and, with manyencouraging pats on the back, they forced me down their companion wayto the skipper's cabin, and so to a bunk, where I lay inanimate, anddeep in sleep for many hours. But I awoke as another man, and when Ihad taken a great bowl of soup and some wine, my strength seemed toreturn to me with bounds, and I sat up to find they had taken away myclothes, but that the belt which Black had bound about me lay at thefoot of the bunk, and was unopened. 

For some minutes I held this belt in my hand with a curious andinexplicable hesitation. It was not heavy, being all of linen finelysewed; but when at last I made up my mind to open it, I did so with myteeth, tearing the threads at the top of it, and so ripping it down. The action was followed by a curious result, for as I opened the seamsthere fell upon my bed some twenty or thirty diamonds of such size andsuch lustre that they lay sparkling with a thousand lights whichdazzled the eyes, and made me utter a cry at once of surprise and ofadmiration. White stones they were, Brazilian diamonds of the firstwater; and when I undid the rest of the seam, and opened the beltfully, I found at least fifty more, with some superb black pearls, afine emerald, and a little parcel of exquisite rubies. To the latterthere was attached a paper with the words, "My son, for as such Iregard you, take these; they are honestly come by. And let me writewhile I can that I have loved you before God. Remember this when youforget Captain Black. "

That was all; and I judged that the stones were worth five thousandpounds if they were worth a penny. I could scarce realise it all as Iread the note again and again, and handled the sparkling, glitteringbaubles, which made my bunk a cave of dazzling light; or wrapped themonce more in the linen, using it as a bag, and tying it round my neckfor safety. It seemed indeed that I had come to riches as I had comeagain to freedom; and in the strange bewilderment of it all, I dressedmyself in the rough clothes which the skipper had sent to me, andbounded on deck to greet a glorious day and the fresh awakening breezesof the sun-lit Atlantic. It was difficult to believe that there was nota reckoning yet to come: that the nameless ship had gone to her doom. Had I in reality escaped the terrors of the dinghy? This question Iasked myself again and again as the soft wind fanned my face; and Iwent to the bulwarks, looking away where soon we should sight theScillies, while the honest fellows crowded round me, and showered everykindness upon me. Yet for days and weeks after that, even now sometimeswhen I am amongst my own again, I wake in my sleep with troubled cries, and the dark gives me back the life which was my long night ofsuffering. 

The _Hoffnung_ was bound for Königsberg, but when the skipper and I hadcome to understand each other by signs and writing, he, with greatconsideration, offered to put into Southampton and leave me there. Thistook a great weight from my mind, for I was burning with anxiety tohear of my friends again; and when we entered the Channel on the thirdnight, I found sleep far from my eyes, and paced the deck until dawnbroke. We dropped anchor off Southampton at three in the afternoon, andwhen I had insisted on Captain Wolfram taking one of my diamonds as asouvenir for himself, and one to sell for the crew, I put off in hislong-boat with a deep sense of his humanity and kindness, and withhearty cheers from his crew. 

I should have gone to the quay at once then, but crossing the roads Isaw a yacht at anchor, and I recognised her as my own yacht _Celsis_, with Dan pacing her poop. To put to her side was the work of a moment, and I do not think that I ever gave a heartier hail than that "Ahoy, Daniel!" which then fell from my lips. 

"Ahoy!" cried Dan in reply, "not as it oughtn't to be Daniel, but withno disrespect to the other gent--why, blister my foretop, if it ain'tthe guvnor!"

And the old fellow began to shout and to wave his arms and to throwropes about as though he were smitten with lunacy. 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

I FALL TO WONDERING. 

I had sprung up the ladder, which was always at the side of the _Celsis_, before Dan had gathered his scattered wits to remember that it wasthere. It was worth much to watch that honest fellow as he gripped myhand in his two great paws: and then let it go to walk away, and surveyme at a distance; or drew nearer again, and seemed to wish to give me agreat hug as a bear hugs its cub. But I cut him short with a gesture, and asked him if Roderick and Mary were aboard. 

"They're down below, as I'm alive, and the hands is ashore, but they'llcome aboard for this, drunk or sober. Thunder! if I was ten yearsyounger--but there, I ain't, and you'll be waking 'em; do you see, they're resting after victuals down in the saloon. Shall I tell 'em asyou've called in passing like? Lord, I can hardly see out of my eyesfor looking at you, sir. "

Poor old Dan did not quite know what he was doing. I left him in themidst of his strange talk, and walked softly down the companion way tothe door of the saloon, and I opened it and stood, I doubt not, beforethem as one come from the dead. Mary, whose childish face looked verydrawn, was seated before a book, open upon the table, her head restingupon her hands, and a strange expression of melancholy in her greatdark eyes. But Roderick lay upon a sofa-bunk, and was fast asleep, withthe novel which he had been reading lying crumpled upon the floor. 

I had opened the door so gently that neither of them moved as I enteredthe room. It was to me the best moment of my life to be looking againupon them, and I waited for one minute till Mary raised her head, andour eyes met. Then I bent over the cabin table and kissed her, and Ifelt her clinging to me, and though she never spoke, her eyes were wetwith hot tears; and when she smiled through them, it was as a glimpseof bright sunlight shining through a rain-shower. In another momentthere was nothing but the expression of a great childish joy on herface, and the old Mary spoke. 

"Mark, I can't believe it, " she said, holding me close lest I might goaway again, "and I always guessed you'd come. "

But Roderick awoke with a yawn, and when he saw me he rubbed his eyes, and said as one in a dream--

"Oh, is that you?"

 * * * * *

The tea which Mary made was very fragrant, and Roderick's cigars had afine rich flavour of their own, to which we did justice, as we sat longthat afternoon, and I told of the days in Ice-haven. It was a longstory, as you know, and I could but give them the outline of it, or, inturn, hear but a tenth part of their own anxieties and ceaselessefforts in my behalf. It appeared that when I had failed to return tothe hotel on that night when I followed Paolo to the den in the Bowery, Roderick had gone at once to the yacht, and there had learnt from Danof my intention. He did not lose an instant in seeking the aid of thepolice, but I was even then astern of the _Labrador_, and the keensearch which the New York detectives had made was fruitless even ingleaning any tidings of me. Paolo was followed night and day fortwenty-four hours; but he was shot in a drinking-den before thedetectives laid hands on him, and only lived long enough to send Mary amessage, telling her that her pretty eyes had saved the _Celsis_ fromdisaster in the Atlantic. On the next day both the skipper and Roderickmade public all they knew of Black and his crew, and a greatersensation was never made in any city. The news was cabled to Europeover half-a-dozen wires, was hurried to the Pacific, to Japaneseseas--it shook the navies of the world with an excitement rarely known, and for some weeks it paralysed all traffic on the Atlantic. Cruisersof many nations were sent in the course of the great ocean-goingsteamers; arms were carried by some of the largest of the passengerships, and the question was asked daily before all other questions, "Isthe nameless ship taken?" Yet, it was no more than a few weeks' wonder;for we had fled to Ice-haven, and people who heard no more of the newpiracy asked themselves, "Are not these the dreams of dreamers?"

Meanwhile Roderick and Mary, who suffered all the anguish of suspense, returned to Europe, and to London, there to interview the First Lord ofthe Admiralty, and to hear the whole matter discussed in Parliament. Several warships and cruisers were despatched to the Atlantic, butreturned to report the ill result of their mission, which could havehad but this end, since Black was then in the shelter of the fjord atGreenland, and none thought of seeking him there. Nor was my oldestfriend content with this national action and the subsequent offer of areward of £50, 000 for the capture of the nameless ship or of her crew, for he put the best private detectives in the city at the work, sendingtwo to New York, and others to Paris and to Spezia. These fathomedsomething of the earlier mystery of Captain Black's life, but the man'safter-deeds were hidden from them; and when the weeks passed and I didnot come, all thought that I had died in my self-appointedmission--another of his many victims. 

It was but a few days after this sorrowful conviction that Black and Iwent to London, and were seen by Inspector King, who had watched nightand day for the man's coming. The detective had immediately telegraphedto the Admiralty, and to Roderick, who had reached my hotel to findthat I had already left. Then he hurried back to Southampton, there tohear of the going of the warships and to wait with Mary tidings of thelast great battle, which meant life or death to me. 

Long we sat discussing these things, and very bright were a pair ofdark eyes that listened again to Roderick's story, and then to more ofmine. But Roderick himself had awoke from his lethargy, and hisenthusiasm broke through all his old restraint. 

"To-morrow, why, to-morrow, by George, you'll astound London. My dearfellow, we'll go to town together to claim the £50, 000 which theAdmiralty offered, and the £20, 000 from the Black Anchor Line, to saynothing of American money galore. You're made for life, old man; andwe'll take the old yacht north to Greenland, and hunt up the place andBlack's tender, which seems to have escaped the ironclads, and it'll bethe finest trip we ever knew. "

"What does Mary say?" I asked as she still held my hand. 

"I don't mean to leave you again, " she answered, and as she spoke therewas a great sound of cheering above, and a great tramp of feet upon thedeck; and as we hurried up, the hands I loved to see crowded about me, and their shouting was carried far over the water, and was taken up onother ships, which threw their search-lights upon us, so that the nightwas as a new day to me, and the awakening from the weeks of dreaming asthe coming of spring after winter's dark. Yet, as the child-face wasall lighted with radiant smiles, and honest hands clasped mine, and thewaters echoed the triumphant greeting, I could not but think again ofCaptain Black, or ask myself--Is the man really dead, or shall we yethear of him, bringing terror upon the sea, and death and suffering; themaster of the nations, and the child of a wanton ambition? Or is hisgrave in the great Atlantic that he ruled in the mighty moments of hispower? Ah, I wonder. 

THE END. 

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