Chapter 48

HOW I FOUND THE SECRET OF THE TREASURE, AND WENT TO THE SCILLY ISLES

The cave called the Devil's Church is little known, and yet it is larger than any of the caverns in Kynance Cove. Strangely enough, too, it is shaped like a church; even the entrance looks as though it might have been fashioned by the hands of men. It was perfectly dry, for the sea never entered it except at very high tides, and even when it entered the water was never known to reach the roof. It was, moreover, seldom visited, for, as I have before stated, in addition to its evil name, it was extremely difficult to reach.

"You say you've put the papers here?" I said to Eli.

"Iss; 'ere, stoop down and laive me git top yer back."

I stooped down, and the dwarf climbed on my shoulders. I had no idea he was so heavy, and when he placed his shoes on my shoulders I gave a cry of pain.

"Aw," laughed Eli, "I be'ant no wizard, be I? I be 'eavier than the church Bible, I be. Ther' now, hold yerself stiddy, and I'll take et out."

He felt along the roof of the cavern, and presently gave a grunt of satisfaction.

"I've got et, Jasper, I've got et. 'Tes oal 'ere. Pennington and the purty maid. Aw, aw!"

With that I let him down on the floor, and saw that he held something in his hand.

"Now, then, let's see it," I cried, for in my eagerness I had forgotten all about my ghostly fears.

"Come 'ere to a lew place," said Eli; "this'll do. I'll hould the candle while you raid."

The packet which he had taken from a hole in the cave was covered with some kind of skin, and was carefully sewn with strong twine. I took my knife from my pocket, and was about to cut it open when I looked around. The candle which Eli held partially lit up the cave, sufficient, indeed, to enable me to see nearly every part of it. A moment later I had started to my feet and seized the pistol which I had bought at Truro, but my hand became nerveless.

Close to me, not ten feet away, I saw that which turned my blood to ice. It seemed to my excited imagination a creature fashioned in the likeness of a man, and yet its eyes shone as I had never seen human eyes shine, and the face was terrible to look upon. The thing held up its hands, and I saw that they were long and lean. He uttered a cry. "No, no, no!" he said.

A mist came before my eyes, and my senses seemed to depart from me. For a minute or more I was ignorant of what passed.

"You be a vool, Jasper!" I heard Eli say.

"What is it?" I asked. "Where is it gone?"

"Dunnaw, dunnaw. We'll go out."

I hurried out of the cave, forgetful of the purpose for which we came, and I did not rest until I reached the mainland.

"This is terrible, Eli!" I said.

The dwarf laughed.

"I 'spect it was Granfer's ghost," he grunted; "but what of that? He ed'n goin' to stop we."

"He has stopped us."

"Not a bit of it. I've got the dreckshuns 'ere. I bean't no vool ef you be."

I hurried on, for I was terribly afraid, and yet at each step I felt more glad that Eli had taken the papers. All the time Eli kept close to my heels, sometimes laughing at my fears, and at others grumbling with me. Presently I seemed to see things in a new light. Wasn't this apparition merely the creature of my own imaginations? Had I not conjured up the spectre myself?

"Eli," I said presently, trying to be brave, "you are right, I am a fool. That thing was nothing but my fancy."

"Aw, aw!" laughed Eli.

"Come," I said, "there's a furze-cutter's hut somewhere, I saw it as we crossed the downs to-day. Let us go and read the papers."

"Tha's yer soarts," replied Eli. "'Ere we be."

With that we found our way to a hut which some one had built as a temporary shelter, and a few minutes later Eli had lit another candle. The wind which had risen howled across Goonhilly Downs, on which the hut was built, but the place was sufficiently sheltered to allow the candle to burn steadily.

"Here 'tes," cried Eli, safely; "raid, Maaster Jasper, raid."

A nervous dread again laid hold of me as I took the thing in my hands, but mastering my weakness, I cut the threads, and a few minutes later I had smoothed out the piece of paper on which the directions, of which Eli had so often spoken, were written.

The following is a copy, as nearly as I can make it, although it is impossible for me to reproduce the peculiar characters in which it was written.

CILLYILES ANNETT NOBODELIVIN KAMSAY. LAWTID _Be sur ov this_ DOO SOTH. VURS KUNGIT. SOTH AGIN _Lik thiky_ DEVILS POINT

BLAKPLAS ELLS MOTH S W. BILYSED N. W. PIK BAR SHOWL IREBOX JAMTITE _Loard be marciful to we_.

I pored over the directions for a long time, while Eli looked over my shoulder, as if trying to decipher the characters.

"Eli bea'nt no schullard," he grunted at length; "Jasper be, Jasper raid et to Eli."

"Wait a bit, Eli," I said, trying to remember some of the things I had learnt at school, "it's beginning to get plain to me."

"Wish I was schullard," he cried excitedly.

Again I pored over the paper, and presently I translated it to mean as follows:

_Scilly Isles._

_Name of Island: Annette. Uninhabited._

_Calm sea. (Be sure of this.)_

_Due south of the island. Go as far as possible. Here southward still is a rock, of which a rough sketch is given. The treasure is laid at the point indicated by the black spot, called the Devil's Point._

_Hell's Mouth S.W. Billy's Head N.W. An iron box jammed tight. Take pick, crowbar, and shovel._

The longer I looked at the paper the more certain I was that I had given the correct meaning to it, and yet the whole idea of a buried treasure became absurd.

"Eli," I said, "are you sure this is intended to tell where a treasure is?"

"Iss."

"Look, Eli, tell me the history of this paper. Tell me who wrote it, and what Granfer Fraddam had to do with it. Tell me how it came into your mother's hands and into yours."

"Shaan't tell 'ee nothin' more," grunted Eli. "'Tes there. Give et to me ef you doan't want et."

I sat for a long time in deep thought, for I scarcely knew what step to take. Presently, however, my mind was made up. I would, at any rate, see if these rudely drawn characters had any meaning. By this means I might get back Pennington, and I should not take Naomi to the altar a penniless outcast.

If these directions had no meaning I should be none the worse; if there were a treasure, I had as much right to it as any other man; nay, more. Eli was Granfer Fraddam's descendant, and he had given the paper to me.

Besides, the longer I thought of it, the more I was convinced that there was a meaning in what I had been reading. Why should it have been written at all? Why was Granfer Fraddam so particular to preserve it? And, above all, why should Cap'n Jack Truscott be so eager to obtain it?

I had heard of _Annette_ as forming one of a group of islands lying about thirty miles from the Land's End, but beyond that I knew nothing. It was evidently uninhabited, and regarded by the pirates, if pirates they were, as a safe place to bury their treasure.

Anyhow I determined to follow the directions given. So far I had done nothing to get back my own. I had been driven from pillar to post without making a single step forward. At worst I could but fail, while it might be possible that by this step I might be revenged on my enemies.

"Yes, Eli," I said, "we'll go, you and I."

"Tha's yer soarts," grunted Eli.

"We shall want a boat, and we shall want tools, Eli. How are we to get them?"

"Aisy, aisy," cried Eli.

"Come on, we must be off."

"We must walk to Land's End," cried Eli, "and git a boat there. Another say voyage, aw, aw!"

I did not altogether like this arrangement, and yet I knew no better plan, so we started on our journey. We had not gone more than a few yards when I turned and looked around.

"I heard a footstep," I said.

"You be feartened," grunted Eli.

"There is some one following us, I'm sure."

"How can there be? We be 'ere in the oppen downs, and can zee oal around."

He spoke the truth. Around us was a vast stretch of open country upon which nothing grew save stunted furze bushes. It seemed impossible that any one could hide from us.

I took heart, therefore, and trudged forward. I feared nothing living--it was the departed dead, the powers of darkness that held me in awe. But for Naomi I would not have ventured to go to the Scilly Isles; the remembrance of her, however, nerved me, for my Pennington pride mixed largely with my love. I knew that if the desires of my heart were fulfilled and she became my wife, I could easily obtain the means to buy back Pennington, but the thought was repugnant to me. Somehow I felt as though I should be disgraced in my own eyes if I did such a thing, natural as some people might regard it, for we Penningtons have always been regarded as an independent race, desiring nothing but that which we could obtain by our own hands and brains. And thus, although I loved Naomi very dearly, I could not bear the thought of asking her to link her life to a penniless outcast.

Besides another fear possessed me. From what Lawyer Trefry had hinted when we parted, and from what Naomi had said to me, it was possible that the Tresidders had become possessed of her property. I pondered long over what she had said concerning the conversation held between the priests and Richard Tresidder. I tried to discover why they desired to have her regarded as dead. To my dull mind everything was enshrouded in mystery, but the very mystery urged me forward to find out the truth concerning Granfer Fraddam's treasure.

When we reached Penzance I bought a compass and a chart containing many particulars about the Scilly Isles. This done we trudged on to the Land's End, and, arrived there, the real difficulties of our adventure presented themselves. First of all we had to possess a boat, and to do this without causing suspicion seemed difficult. Then we had to obtain tools and start on our journey without being seen. Eli, however, laughed at my fears.

"'Tes arternoon now, Jasper Pennington," he said; "I'll git the boat, you git the other things."

I asked him many questions as to how the boat was to be obtained, but he made no answer save to tell me to be in Gamper Bay, close by a rock called the Irish Lady, at ten o'clock that night, when the moon would rise. I knew I could trust him; so walking to the village of St. Bunyan, which is about three miles from Land's End, I obtained at a blacksmith's shop a pick, a crowbar, and a shovel, according to the directions given. This done I found my way back to the coast again. I had plenty of time, so putting the tools in a safe place I wandered along the edge of the cliffs. The moon had not yet risen, but for the time of the year the weather was very calm and pleasant. The waves leaped pleasantly on the great rock called the Armed Knight, and even the breakers on Whicksand Bay were not angry, as is usually the case on this wild coast. A few clouds swept along the sky, but mostly the heavens were clear. Presently I looked at my watch, and after some trouble discovered that it was nearly nine o'clock. As I was nearly a mile from the Irish Lady I determined to start, and was just going to the place where I had laid the pick and shovel when I heard the sound of voices in the near distance. I immediately fell flat on the ground, for I did not wish to be seen. A minute later I knew that two men were coming toward me, and I judged would pass close beside me. However, I lay still. I was partly covered by the heather which grew abundantly just there, and in the dim light could not be distinguished by the ordinary passer-by from the many great gray rocks which were scattered along the headland.

"I heard the dwarf say," said a voice which I could not recognise, and yet which seemed very familiar to me, "that they would start from the Irish Lady at ten o'clock."

"Iss, sur," was the reply.

"They cannot get a boat nearer than Sennen Cove, can they?"

"'Tes the only place a booat can be got to-night."

"And it could not be got without your knowledge?"

"No, sur."

"You are quite sure?"

"Iss."

"And you have given orders as I directed?"

"Iss, that I 'ave for sure."

"Very good; but keep a sharp look-out. I shall be at the Ship Inn at Sennen. If by any means they launch a boat let me know."

"I've put six men to watch, sur."

"That's all right."

They passed within six feet of me, but they did not see me. A few seconds later they were out of sight. So far I was safe, then, but what did this conversation mean? Who was this man who had been watching my actions, and what could be his purpose? He spoke like an educated man, and I could not imagine why he should place six men to watch the coast. Was he a creature of Richard Tresidder, or did he belong to Cap'n Jack Truscott's gang?

"I must go and find Eli," I thought, so I made my way toward the Irish Lady as fast as I was able. I had just reached a part of the cliff where it was safe to descend to the beach when I saw a dark object creeping toward me. I was about to rush toward it and grapple with it when I heard Eli's voice.

"Summin in the wind, Maaster Jasper. Somebody 'ave hired all the booats."

I was not surprised at his words; what I had heard previously prepared me for them.

"I tried to stall one, but 'twas no use. All the cove is watched."

"What have you done, then?"

"Nothin'. I did'n want nobody to take notice of me."

For once my slow-thinking mind was able to hit upon a plan. I remembered when I was with Cap'n Jack's gang hearing of a cave in Gramper Bay, not far from the Irish Lady, where smugglers landed their goods. One of Cap'n Jack's men had pointed it out to me, and had told me that a gang who worked with them sometimes often kept a boat in it.

This I told to Eli, who immediately suggested our trying to find it.

"What we do we must do dreckly, Maaster Jasper," he said; "they be watchin' for we."

I felt the truth of his words, and a few minutes later we had accomplished a precipitous and dangerous descent to the shore beneath. We should have got down more quickly but for the tools which I carried.

We searched very quietly, very cautiously, for I remembered what I had heard, and were not long in finding out the cave I have mentioned.

I may say here that I visited the Land's End only last week, and I find that the place is now quite open to view. A great mass of cliff which formerly hid its mouth has during the last few years fallen away, so that it can be no longer regarded as secret. Then, however, the opening was fairly well hidden.

On entering the place I was delighted to find two fairly large boats. I discovered, too, that oars were lying in them, also a small mast and sails.

"Good, good!" cried Eli, in a hoarse whisper. "Lev us be off right away."

"The moon has not yet risen, Eli," I said; "it'll be dangerous to go out among so many rocks."

"All the better, they waant zee us."

I saw there was much truth in this, especially as they did not expect us to start until ten o'clock. So together we pulled out what seemed to be the best boat, and a few minutes later we were rocking on the heaving waves.

It was, perhaps, a foolish adventure. As all the world knows, there are no wilder seas than those off Land's End. Here two mighty currents meet, and often when the waters are smooth elsewhere they are wild and troubled here. Besides, to undertake a long journey of more than thirty miles in the open sea in a rowing-boat, and to visit a group of islands noted for the treachery of their coasts, seemed harebrained and senseless, especially so when we were watched by people who were, as I judged, far from friendly toward us. And yet this fact added zest to the adventure; it made me feel that I was not chasing a phantom, else why should precautions be taken to hinder us, why were we the objects of so much suspicion?

Nothing happened to us during our sail across the waters, and yet more than once I almost regretted undertaking the journey in such a way, for with the rising of the moon came also the turbulence of the waves. Indeed, when we had accomplished only half our journey I feared we should never reach the Scilly Isles at all. Our boat was tossed on the waves like a cork, and so rough was the sea that I was almost unable to row. Matters became better presently, however, and as morning came on I was able to hoist our little sail, and thus the latter part of our journey was far more pleasant than the first.

As soon as daylight came we looked eagerly to see if we were followed, but a light mist had fallen upon the sea, and thus all vision was obscured. Still I imagined that we were safe, and I eagerly made plans whereby we should visit Annette Island, and formed many a wild conjecture as to what the treasure would be.

It was not without considerable difficulty that we effected a landing. At first I determined to make straight for the place we had come to seek, but presently I felt hungry, which led me to remember that we had no food on board, and that we should surely need some before we reached the object of our search. So after much haggling with Eli, we at length decided to land at St. Mary's, where there was a safe harbour, which we did after much hard struggling. Indeed, so much had the journey fatigued us that, supposing that we found what we desired, I almost despaired of ever taking it to the mainland, unless the sea were much becalmed. Still I imagined that we might on returning commence our journey in the morning, and if the wind were favourable accomplish a great part of the distance before the night came on.

Our appearance at Hugh Town, St. Mary's, seemed to call forth no special comment. Accustomed as were the islanders to all sorts of sea excursions, they apparently regarded our voyage as natural. At the same time they were curious as to our visit, and in a kindly way asked our business.

I left all the questions for Eli to answer, who was far more adept at such matters than I, and who seemed to satisfy the curiosity of the fisher people without trouble. Perhaps they thought we were smugglers like themselves, for I suppose that almost all the men on the islands were in some way interested in deceiving the king's officers. They were very hospitable, however, and would charge nothing for the hearty meal of which we partook.

Late in the afternoon we boarded our little boat again, and without apparently attracting any attention we rowed for Annette Island. It was well it was calm, for the place was surrounded with low-lying rocks, which might any moment destroy our craft. Never shall I forget the reef off Annette Head, for even on that calm day the innumerable "dogs" churned the waters into foam as they roared around them, as if to tell us that if we came near them they would surely destroy us. And we were near becoming wrecked, too, for there were many cross currents, which, had we not been very watchful, would surely have drawn us to destruction. One especially was dragging us to the reef of the _Hellweathers_, and but for my great strength we should never have landed.

As the day was closing, however, we saw a small cove, and toward this we made our way, and finally succeeded in landing. I saw now why this island had been chosen for the burial of the treasure, if, indeed, one was buried. Even the islanders themselves seldom visited it because of its dangerous coast, and because there seemed nothing on it to tempt them to go thither.

Once on land, however, we climbed Annette Head and looked cautiously around. No one was, as far as I could see, in sight. We were alone on a tract of land about forty acres big, entirely surrounded by treacherous waves and rocks.

"Come, Eli," I said, "we are safe so far. Now we will see if this paper has any meaning."

I saw that he was nearly as excited as I, for his eyes shone strangely, and he uttered many wild ejaculations as we wended our way southward.