Part 18

There was not much time left them for consideration, for it was evident that full preparations were going on above. Voices were heard talking and orders being given, but the men kept away from the broken skylight, and the suspense grew more intense.

It was during this interval that Mr Meldon went to the inner cabin, where, weak and feverish, John Studwick lay, watched over now by his sister and Hester Pugh, who seemed to have awakened to a new life as she exchanged glances once with her husband, the trials they were in seeming as nothing compared to the horrors of the past.

As the doctor approached, the young man turned to him impatiently.

"Well," he said, "have you come to make me strong, so that I can fight these scoundrels with you?"

"I wish I could," was the quiet reply.

"Bah! Doctor's talk," said John Studwick bitterly. "You know you can do me no good. Why do you pester me?"

"Don't speak to me like that," he replied; "I have tried my best to help you."

"Yes, yes, I know. But there, go. You worry me by staying, and this heat makes me so weak."

"Yes, I will go directly," said the doctor; but he first went to the cabin window, secured a piece of string to a cloth, and lowered it down, soaking it, and drew it up.

As he did so, a good-sized shark turned over and made a snap at the white, moving cloth, and the doctor shuddered, for it seemed to him that any attempt to escape from the ship to the shore would be in vain, for, as if in anticipation of coming carnage, the sharks were gathering round the doomed ship.

"Lay that upon his forehead, Mrs Pugh," he said quietly; and as she turned to the locker upon which the young man lay, Mr Meldon hastily caught Bessy's hand in his and held it.

"I shall fight for you to the last," he said in a low whisper. "Do not think ill of me for speaking now; but, Bessy, I love you--very dearly, and--and we may never meet again. Say one kind word to me before I go."

She snatched her hand from his hastily, and looked upon him in a scared manner. What she would have said was checked by a sharp cry from the captain.

"Quick all!" he shouted, "they are coming."

The doctor rushed back into the little saloon, and he was only just in time, for the door had been quietly unfastened from without, and headed by Laure, armed to the teeth, the enemy, to the number of eight, suddenly appeared, and the two sides stood face to face.

"There, throw down those knives," he said in a sharp voice, "fools and idiots. The tables are turned now. Parkley, Pugh, you little thought that my day would come, but it has. Now, surrender!"

There was no reply by words, and the Cuban read the intention of those he sought to master by their determined front.

"Do you want to be shot down where you stand?" he cried.

"Better that than trust to the mercies of such a scoundrel as you," cried Dutch, passionately.

"Ah, my brave diver and shark slayer, are you there? Put down that weapon; I don't want you hurt, nor you neither, Master Rasp, for you have to work for me." There was no reply for a moment or two, and then Dutch spoke to the men who were with the Cuban.

"I warn you all," he said; but as he spoke he could see that he was addressing men who were infuriated with drink. "I warn you all that we are desperate, and shall fight to the last. Come over to our side, and help to secure that scoundrel, and you shall all be richly rewarded. Fight for him, and if you escape death now, the law must overtake you for piracy, and you will be hung."

There was a loud laugh at this, and the captain whispered:

"Shall we make a bold charge?"

"No: stand firm," said Dutch; and the little poorly-armed party closed up more determinedly.

"What does that mean?" thought Dutch as, at a word from the Cuban, three of the men ran back up the cabin steps.

His answer came almost directly.

"Will you surrender?" cried Laure savagely.

"No," was the reply.

"Then your blood be upon your own heads," he yelled. "Fire!"

He raised his own revolver as he spoke, and began to fire shot after shot at those before him, while at the same moment three shots came crashing from behind them through the skylight.

Then, headed by the Cuban, the enemy dashed into the cabin, striking right and left with the cutlasses with which they were armed, and for a few minutes there was a desperate struggle, in which for the time, though weakened by two of their men going down at the first shots, and others being wounded, the cabin party held their own, everyone fighting manfully: but the three men who had been sent to fire through the skylight came shouting down to reinforce their comrades, and thus turned the scale.

The captain went down with a terrible cut across the forehead; Mr Parkley had a bullet through the shoulder. The doctor drove his sword through one of the scoundrels, and then it broke short off, while another stabbed him in the back.

As for Dutch, he singled out Laure, and made a desperate attack upon him with his long, keen knife, the shot the Cuban fired at him having merely grazed his neck, but directly after they were separated in the struggle as the furious knot of combatants swayed to and fro. But he rid himself of another antagonist, and seizing the cutlass with which he was armed again made at the Cuban.

As he approached, Laure raised his revolver once more, took steady aim, and was about to fire; but regardless of this, Dutch struggled to get at him, when a wild shriek from a voice he knew made him turn for a moment, and that threw him off his guard. Poor Hester had been a horrified witness of the struggle, and had seen Laure's deadly aim. Till that moment her lips had been. Sealed, but now the involuntary cry escaped her, and as Dutch turned, the shot struck him on the shoulder, fortunately only ploughing a shallow flesh wound; but the next moment a blow from another hand struck him down, and the rest being mastered, the men, by Laure's orders dragged out two injured comrades and, securing the weapons, left the slippery cabin and secured the door.

STORY ONE, CHAPTER THIRTY ONE.

RENEGADES.

When Dutch recovered his senses, it was to find his head resting in his wife's lap, and the doctor busily engaged in bandaging his wounds, and as the misty sense of wonder passed off, a feeling of thankfulness came upon him, and he pressed the little soft hand that held his, for his great horror had been lest Hester should have fallen into Laure's hands. The joy he felt was heightened, too, by seeing Bessy Studwick there as well, busily attending her father, and then going from one to the other, carrying water, for the heat was terrible, and the wounds caused a thirst that was almost maddening. But, painful as they were, not one man had received mortal injury, and the doctor's words were more healing even than his bandages.

Some hours passed, and then the cabin door was opened, and food and water carried in by three of the men; and then, with Laure fully armed behind him, came 'Pollo, who with swab and pail was ordered to remove the blood that liberally besprinkled the cabin floor.

His lips parted to speak, as he was at work where Oakum sat up with bandaged head, contentedly chewing his tobacco; but a significant motion of the Cuban's hands made him turn hastily away.

This did not close Oakum's lips, though, for he said, quietly,--

"Glad to see they ain't polished you off, 'Pollo, old man."

The black did not answer, and the Cuban came round, looking curiously at his prisoners' injuries, and scanning one after the other, ending by ordering the cabin skylight to be taken off, and the sailors and Oakum to take possession of the forecastle, thus separating them from their friends.

"I don't want to stifle you all," he said, quietly. "Now, listen and remember. We are all well-armed on deck, and a careful watch will be kept, consequently any man who attempts violence will be shot down. I shall treat you all well, and you can have the run of this part of the ship for the present. To-morrow we sail for a fresh sunken galleon, gentlemen. I am much obliged to you for clearing this one out, and I shall require your services for the next."

"For clearing this one out." The words roused an echo in Dutch's breast as now, for the first time, he recalled his discovery of the gold, and, in spite of the pain he was in, his heart throbbed with joy. The Cuban knew nothing of the gold, which must be worth far more, he calculated, than the silver, and this was a secret confined to his own breast.

The Cuban's plans were plain enough to them now. His object was to force them to work at the recovery of more treasure, and then perhaps make sure of what he had by killing them all afterwards; and Dutch made a mental vow that not a single descent would he make to further the villain's aim, but as he did so he shuddered at the thought of what a powerful engine he could bring to bear by means of Hester, who was likewise in the Cuban's power.

As this thought struck Dutch, his purpose wavered, and he felt that he would be the Cuban's slave to save Hester from ill.

The greater part of the crew sided now with Laure. Six of the men had been in his pay from the first, and it was their restlessness that made him hasten his plans to their development, for he had had hard work to keep them quiet, but now that the change in authority had taken place he ruled them with a rod of iron, and there was not a man who did not shrink from his look and obey him like a child. The colour with which he had stained himself remained still, but it was no longer the cringing mulatto who paced the deck, but the keen, clever Cuban, ever watchful, ever on his guard, and ready to take every precaution to secure the treasure he had won; and over this, night and day, he had an armed sentry, as if suspicious of any attempt on the part of his prisoners to rob him of it by throwing any portion overboard.

Instead of setting sail at once, he altered his mind, and nearly a month glided by--a month of misery to the prisoners, who, however, were well cared for, and made to parade the deck for a couple of hours every evening, just as an owner might exercise the beasts he kept; and Dutch knew well enough why this was done, so that he and his companions in misfortune might be ready and strong to continue their work at their tyrant's order; but all the same there was one source of satisfaction to Dutch Pugh, for he saw how cumbered the Cuban was with his success, and in his greed for wealth at present there was a respite from his insolent advances towards Hester, who was allowed to stay unmolested with her friends.

Meanwhile the troublesome and painful wounds of those injured healed fast under the doctor's care; and he was called upon to dress the cuts of three of Laure's men, who, in spite of the desperate resistance, had, saving one who died two days afterwards, escaped with trifling injuries.

The question of retaking the ship had often been mooted; but, unless some special opportunity occurred, this at present was out of the question; but many a plan was proposed and canvassed in the saloon during those dark hot nights, Sam Oakum giving it out as his idea that the best thing to do would be to take to the boat some night, and get away after laying the wires of the battery in connection with the dynamite cartridges, and blowing the ship and hose within it to perdition.

Dutch shuddered as he heard the proposal, one which he scouted as being as cowardly as it was horrible, but there was one thought which made him embrace even such a terrible plan as that.

The prisoners had been aware that something was afloat on deck, but what they could not make out, and any attempt to gain information was in vain, for when they saw 'Pollo, who brought them their meals, which, thanks to him, were good and palatable, Laure was always watching, and to make matters worse it was very evident that the black was currying favour with the Cuban, and belonged now to the opposite faction.

At last, after vainly planning and giving up each plot as futile, the prisoners sat about in the cabins or wearily gazed out of the windows one morning, waiting for change. The wounds were healing fast, and gave but little trouble, and Hester, in spite of the close imprisonment, had changed rapidly for the better, joining with Bessy in ministering to those who suffered with them, and making more than one eye bright as their owners made a vow that no harm should befall them while they had a hand to raise. Dutch had long known now how causeless had been his jealousy, and how bitterly his young wife had been persecuted; while she had borne all in silence lest, as so important a stake was in question, she might offend the Cuban, and so injure not merely her husband's prospects, but those of Mr Parkley, to whom they were both indebted so much.

All was very quiet below, and one day had so strongly resembled another that the prisoners watched them pass in a way that grew more and more hopeless, when they were startled by the loud rattle of the heavy chain with which their door had been of late secured, and, followed by four of his partners in iniquity, Laure presented himself, gave a sharp look round, and then in a hard commanding tone exclaimed:--

"Every man on deck!"

No opposition was made to his orders for the moment, and the captain, Mr Parkley, Meldon, and Wilson went up on deck, where they found Oakum, Rasp, and the sailors, but Dutch drew back as he saw Laure's eyes turned upon Hester and her companion.

"Have him up, lads," exclaimed the Cuban, with flashing eyes; and Dutch was seized and dragged to the door way, Laure drawing a pistol and holding it to his head until he was on deck.

"Now you," exclaimed Laure, brutally; and with tottering gait John Studwick obeyed him, but there was a look on his eyes as he passed the Cuban that made him start uneasily, and then with a contemptuous laugh he turned it off and followed him on deck.

Dutch heaved a sigh of relief as he saw that Laure stayed with them, had them ranged along by the starboard bulwarks, and then addressed them.

"We sail from here directly," he said, "and as I don't want to be hard on men who have got to work for me, I am going to make you an offer, on which condition you can have your liberty on deck. I shall make the same offer to you all, though I suppose there will be some fools among you who will not take it. What I propose is this, that such of you as like to swear you will make no attempt to escape or fight against me can go about, except at night, when you will all be locked up again; but you have to bear this in mind, that anyone who runs from his promise will be shot like a dog, or pitched over to the sharks. Now then, captain, will you help to navigate the ship?"

"No, sir," was the reply.

"Well, Mr Parkley, my disappointed speculator, what do you say?"

"I have nothing to say to such a scoundrel," replied Mr Parkley.

"You will stop on deck, doctor?"

"I shall stay with my friends, sir."

"So shall I," said Mr Wilson, stoutly.

"As you like. I needn't ask you, I suppose, my clever diver, but you had better stay and get strong," said Laure, with a sneering laugh; "you will have plenty to do by-and-by."

Dutch made no reply, but looked defiance.

"Just as you like," said the Cuban, grimly. "Now, you two sailors, stop and help work the ship, and you shall have four times the pay that those fools were going to give you. I'll give you a heap of ingots apiece."

Lennie and Rolls were evidently tempted, but they looked at Sam Oakum, who was cutting off a piece of tobacco in the most nonchalant way.

"Well, why don't you speak?" cried Laure sharply.

"'Cause we're a-going to do same as him," growled Rolls, nodding at Oakum.

"And what are you going to do, Sam Oakum?" cried Laure, who was getting wroth at his plan for reducing his prisoners being foiled. "Come, my man, I'll make it well worth your while to turn over on my side. The game's up with those you have served, and if you hold out you will be forced to work with a pistol at your head; but if you come over to me, and help me well to navigate the ship, and get the treasure from a couple more galleons, I'll make you a rich man for life."

This was a painful moment for Dutch and his friends, for, instead of indignantly refusing, the old sailor, whom they thought so staunch, hesitated, and turned and whispered to Rasp, who was by his side.

"Come, look sharp I've no time for fooling," cried Laure. "What do you say?"

Oakum looked at his fellow-prisoners, then at Rasp and the two sailors, and gave his quid a fresh turn before speaking.

"S'pose I says, `No; I'll stick trumps to my old skipper?'" he growled.

"Well, then," said Laure, showing his teeth, "you'll have to work twice as hard, you'll have three days given you to carry the schooner to the next sunken wreck, and if you don't do it in that time I shall send a bullet through your head."

"Thankye," said Oakum. "Well now, suppose as I says I'll fight for you, sail the schooner, and help get up some more treasure, what'll you give me?"

"Oakum!" exclaimed Dutch, who had believed strongly in the old man's faith.

"You be blowed," growled Oakum. "I must take care o' myself. Now then, gov'nor, what do you say?"

"I'll give you a hundred of those silver ingots down below. That will make you a rich man."

"Won't do," said Sam, stoutly. "I ain't going to cut my old skipper for no hundred on 'em. Make it two hundred and I'll take you."

"Oakum, if you have a spark of manly feeling in you!" cried Dutch.

"Ain't got a spark, Mister Dutch Pugh. It was put out that day of the fight."

"You scoundrel!" cried the captain.

"Same to you, captain," said Oakum, coolly. "Now then, gov'nor, what do you say? Is it to be two hundred, or is the proposal off?"

"I'll give you the two hundred," said Laure, with flashing eyes, for he knew that Oakum would be invaluable to him, and very likely bring Rolls and Lennie over--the three being the best sailors in the ship.

"And 'bout grog?" said Oakum.

"As much as you like when the work's done," said Laure.

"And 'bacco?"

"Of course."

"And I ain't to be a common sailor?"

"No, under me you shall have command of the ship, as far as navigation goes."

"Then I'm on," said Sam Oakum, giving his leg a slap, after a glance at the armed men on one side and his captive superiors on the other.

There was a murmur of dissatisfaction from the captain and the others at this secession, and Oakum turned upon them sharply.

"What are you a growling about?" he exclaimed, throwing off his former tones of respect. "You can't spect a man to stick to you always. Your game's up, his is on.--I'm going on his side. Why not? I'm a pore man, and I shall be a pore one if I don't make some tin this trip."

"You're quite right, my lad," said Laure, slapping him on the shoulder, and then turning a malignant look on his prisoners.

"One must know which way his bread's buttered," growled Sam. "Say, my lads," he continued, to Rolls and Lennie, "you can go down and be boxed up under hatches if you like, only if I was you I should say to the new skipper, `Give's twenty of them bars a piece, and we'll stick to you to the end.'"

"I'll give you twenty ingots a piece, my lads," said Laure. "Will you come over?"

"I'm a-going to do just the same as Master Oakum does," said Lennie.

"I'm on too," growled the other, with what sounded a good deal like a curse.

"That's good. Step over here then," said the Cuban. "You are free men."

There was another angry murmur from the prisoners, as they saw their party lessened by three; but there was a greater trial in store for them, for just then Oakum turned sharp round on old Rasp, who was taking snuff viciously as he leaned back and looked on.

"I say, old beeswax," said Oakum, "now's your time to make your bargain. You're a fool if you stop there."

"For heaven's sake, Rasp, don't listen to him," cried Mr Parkley.

"What have you got to do with it?" snarled Rasp, angrily. "He says right. Your game's up, and if we're a-going diving again, I may just as well be paid for it as work for nowt."

"Come, then," said the Cuban, whose face flushed.

Rasp took a couple of steps forward, and the Cuban met him.

"What'll you make it if I come and dive for you and get all the rest of the treasure? You can't work it proper without me, so I tell you."

"I'll give you the same as Oakum," said the Cuban eagerly.

"Same as him!" snarled Rasp, "and him a common sailor. How are you going to get your treasure. I won't dive?"

"With this," said Laure, tapping his revolver.

"Not out o' me, you can't," said the old fellow, giving a poke at an imaginary fire. "If I says as I won't dive, pistols couldn't make me-- there."

"We shall see about that," said Laure, sharply.

"There, I don't want to fight," said Rasp, to Mr Parkley's great astonishment, for he had looked upon the old diver as truthfulness itself. "Here's the plunder, and there's no call to quarrel over it. I tell you what: say ten per cent, on all we get, and I'm your man."

"Ten per cent!" exclaimed Laure.

"Well, you'll save by it," said the old fellow. "Shan't I work the harder, and get all the more?"

"There's my hand upon it," said the Cuban; and they shook hands, while Mr Parkley uttered a low groan, and Dutch's eyes glittered with rage.

"That will do," said the Cuban, who could ill conceal his triumph. "Now then, down below with you, captain, and you my clever adventurers. You have played with me, you see, and your cards are all trumped. Now, take my advice and wait patiently till you are wanted, for if you try any tricks against me, the stakes may mean your lives."

All had gone below except Dutch and Mr Parkley, who turned round and addressed their renegade followers.

"As for you, Rasp," exclaimed Mr Parkley, "if anyone had sworn to me you could be such a scoundrel, I would have called him a liar."

"You keep a civil tongue in your head," snarled Rasp. "I worked faithful for you, and you made your money. Now it's my turn. You'll have to work, and dive too--d'yer hear, and I'm going to make the money."

The Cuban looked on curiously as these exchanges took place, and his face flushed with pleasure as he saw Dutch turn upon Oakum, just as he was cutting himself a fresh plug of tobacco with his great clasp knife.

"You cowardly old traitor," cried Dutch; and, unable to contain himself, he caught the old sailor by the throat and shook him violently.

This treatment seemed to rouse the old fellow into a state of ungovernable passion, for, giving way in the surprise of the moment, he was driven back against the cover of the cabin hatch, but, recovering himself directly, with a savage oath he raised his knife and struck Dutch Pugh a fearful blow full in the chest, and the young man staggered back along the deck.

STORY ONE, CHAPTER THIRTY TWO.

OAKUM'S MESSENGER.

Sam Oakum followed Dutch as he staggered back, his knife entangled in the loose jacket he wore, and, dragging it furiously out, he was going to strike again, when a couple of the sailors seized his arm, and, frowning and swearing, he allowed himself to be held back, while, panting and white with rage, Dutch exclaimed--

"Coward, as well as traitor, you will get your reward!"

"Here, let go, will you?" cried Sam, furiously, making a desperate effort to get free, but the men held on, and Laure interposed--

"Let him go, Oakum, let him go," he said, smiling with satisfaction. "You can serve him out by-and-by, as you call it--some day when he is diving," he added, with a peculiar look.

Oakum gave a savage growl like that of a bear, and glared at Dutch, who was now half forced below, hurt in mind, but very slightly in body, for Oakum's clumsy stab had gone between his ribs and arm, merely tearing his jacket.