Leslie took his time paddling ash.o.r.e, and when at length the pair landed on the beach the sun had pa.s.sed the meridian.
"Now, Captain," said d.i.c.k, "where would you like to go in the first place?"
Turnbull stood and looked about him admiringly. "Why," he exclaimed, "this here hisland is a real beautiful place, and no mistake. Dash my wig! why, a man might do a sight worse than settle here for the rest of his natural, eh?"
"Ay," answered Leslie, indifferently; "I have often thought so myself.
Indeed it is quite on the cards that I may return here some day, with a few seeds and an outfit of gardeners" tools. As you say, a man might do worse. By the way, perhaps it will be as well to get lunch before we start out on our ramble. Will you come up to my tent? You will find it a very comfortable little shanty. I must apologise for the fare that I shall be obliged to offer you, but I have lived on tinned meat and fish ever since I have been here; and I have caught no fish to-day."
"Well, I must say as you"ve managed to make yourself pretty tidy comfortable," observed Leslie"s guest as he entered the tent and stared about him in astonishment; "picters, fancy lamps, tables and chairs with swagger cloths and jigmarees upon "em, and a bra.s.s-mounted bedstead and beddin" fit for a king! They"re a blame sight better quarters than you"ll find aboard the _Minerva_, and so I tell ye."
Leslie laughed lightly. "What does that matter?" he demanded. "True, I am fond of comfort, and always make a point of getting it where I can; but I can rough it with anybody when it becomes necessary."
d.i.c.k was obliged to leave his guest alone in the tent for a short time while he looked after the preparations for luncheon; and he had little doubt that during his absence the man would without scruple peer and pry into the other compartments of the tent. But to this contingency he was quite indifferent, for he had foreseen and forestalled it, before going off to the barque, by carefully gathering up and stowing away such few traces of a woman"s presence as Flora had left behind her. That Turnbull had followed the natural propensity of men of his stamp was made clear immediately upon d.i.c.k"s return, for, quite unabashed, the fellow remarked--
"I say, mister, you"re doin" the thing in style here, and no mistake.
I"ve been havin" a look round this here tent of yourn while you"ve been away, and I see as you"ve acshully got a pianner in the next room. And where"s your shipmate gone to?"
"My shipmate?" repeated Leslie, staring blankly at him.
"Ay, your shipmate," reiterated Turnbull, severely. "You told me you was all alone here, but I see as you"ve got _two_ bedrooms rigged up here. Who"s t"other for, and where is he?"
"Really, Captain," said d.i.c.k, coldly, "I cannot see what possible difference it can make to you whether I have a shipmate or not, if you will pardon me for saying so. But," he continued, somewhat more genially, "it is perfectly evident that you have never lived alone on an island, or you would understand what a luxury it is to be able to change one"s sleeping-room occasionally."
"Oh, that"s it, is it?" returned Turnbull, with sudden relief. "You sleeps sometimes in one bed and sometimes in t"other, by way of a change, eh?"
"As you see," answered d.i.c.k, briefly. "And now, will you draw up your chair? It is not a very tempting meal that I can offer you; but you can make up for it when you return to your ship this evening."
It was evident to Leslie that Turnbull was much exercised in his mind about something, for he ate and drank silently and with a preoccupied air; and later on the reason for this became manifest, for when at length they rose from the table the fellow remarked with a clumsy effort at nonchalance--
"Look here, mister, I expect you"ve a plenty of matters to look after and attend to, so don"t you worry about showin" me round this here hisland of yourn; you just go on with what you"ve got in hand, and I"ll take a stroll somewheres by myself."
So that was it. He wanted an opportunity to go off upon an exploring expedition unrestrained by d.i.c.k"s presence! But this did not at all chime in with Leslie"s plans; for he felt certain that if he yielded to his companion"s suggestion the latter would at once make his way in the direction of the treasure-cave, and endeavour to discover its locality, with the result that he would inevitably come into collision with Nicholls and Simpson. This, in any case, would doubtless happen, sooner or later; but d.i.c.k wished to acquire a little further information before it occurred. He therefore replied--
"Oh, thanks, very much. I was busy enough, in all conscience, before you arrived; but now that you have turned up, and have kindly consented to take me off the island, I have nothing further to do. So I may as well accompany you, since I know the shortest way to such few points of interest as the island possesses. Where would you like to go? The crater and the watering-place are about the only spots that are likely to tempt you, I think."
Turnbull glared at d.i.c.k as though he could have eaten him; and for a moment the ex-lieutenant thought that his guest was about to try violent measures with him. But if that thought was really in his mind he suffered more prudent counsels to prevail with him, and, after a few moments" hesitation, intimated that he would like to have a look at the watering-place. d.i.c.k accordingly piloted his morose companion to the spot, and pointed out how excellently it was adapted to the purpose of watering ships, drawing his attention to the deep-water immediately beneath the low cascade, and dilating upon the facility with which boats could be brought alongside. But it was clearly apparent to him that Turnbull was absolutely uninterested in the subject; and he was by no means sorry when, upon the return to the camp, the latter declined his invitation to remain on sh.o.r.e to dinner, and curtly requested to be at once put off to the barque. During the pa.s.sage off to the vessel the man"s surliness of demeanour suddenly vanished, and, as though a brilliant idea had just struck him, he became in a moment almost offensively civil, strongly urging d.i.c.k to remain aboard the barque and "make a night of it." But neither did this suit d.i.c.k"s plans; the sudden change in the man"s demeanour at once roused Leslie"s suspicions; and as he had no intention whatever of placing himself in the fellow"s power, he suavely declined the invitation, remarking that, as he would soon be having quite as much of the sea as he wanted, he would continue to enjoy his present roomy quarters as long as he could.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN.
A STORY OF MUTINY.
Not until Leslie was once more back in his own tent, and absolutely safe from all possibility of interruption or espionage, did he venture to open and peruse the sc.r.a.p of paper that the steward had that morning so surrept.i.tiously slipped into his hand. It was apparently part of the leaf of a pocket memorandum book; and, hastily scribbled in pencil, in an ill-formed and uneducated hand, it bore the following words:--
"Sir, for G.o.d"s sake take care what your about, or your life won"t be worth a bra.s.s farden. Turnbull aint no more the proper capten of this ship than I am. There won"t be no anchor watch aboard here to-night so if youl come off about half after midnight I"ll be on the lookout for yer and tell yer the hole bloomin yarn. For G.o.d"s sake come.--Steward."
"Um!" meditated Leslie, as he held the doc.u.ment to the light of the lamp. "Now, what does this mean? Is it a trap to get me aboard the barque, or is it genuine? The latter, I am inclined to think, for several reasons; the first of which is that the poor man was obviously in a state of abject terror this morning. Secondly, he was so keenly anxious to open up communication with me that he made an unsuccessful attempt to do so while helping me to my whisky and soda. Thirdly, his statement that Turnbull is not the legitimate skipper of the barque is so evidently true that it needs no discussion. And fourthly, if Turnbull had seriously desired to make me a prisoner this afternoon, he could easily have done so by sending a boat"s crew in pursuit of me-- that is to say," he corrected himself, "for all he knows to the contrary, he could easily have done so. For how was he to know that I had two fully loaded revolvers in my pocket, equivalent to the lives of twelve men? Yes, I am strongly inclined to believe that this remarkable little doc.u.ment is genuine, and that there is something very radically wrong aboard that barque. What is it, I wonder? That Turnbull has somehow got scent of the treasure, and is after it, I am almost prepared to swear; his obvious vexation and disappointment at finding me here as "the man in possession," and his equally obvious efforts to shake me off to-day that he might have an opportunity to go away by himself in search of the cave, prove that; but there is something more than that, I am certain. I wonder, now, whether his story of the sick man in the cabin has anything to do with it? I should not be surprised if it had. And where were the crew this morning? Turnbull spoke of being short-handed; but surely there are more people aboard than himself, the steward, the cook, and the two or three men I saw? Oh yes, there is something very queer about the whole business; and this doc.u.ment is genuine. At all events I will go off to-night, and hear what the steward has to say about it."
In accordance with this resolution Leslie forthwith partook of a good hearty meal, and then, extinguishing his lamp, left the tent--to guard against the possibility of his being surprised there in his sleep--and, walking over to the pile of goods that he had acc.u.mulated from the brig"s cargo, raised the tarpaulin that covered it, and, creeping underneath, stretched himself out as comfortably as he could to s.n.a.t.c.h a few hours" sleep, confident that the faculty which he possessed of being able to wake at any desired moment would not play him false. And a few minutes later he was fast asleep; for d.i.c.k Leslie was one of those men who, when once they have resolved upon a certain course of action, dismiss further consideration of it from their minds and allow it to trouble them no longer.
He had fixed upon half-past eleven as the hour at which he would rise, this allowing him a full hour in which to paddle off to the barque; and when by-and-by he awoke, and under the shelter of the tarpaulin cautiously struck a match and consulted his watch, he found that it was within five minutes of the half-hour. He next peered out from under the tarpaulin and carefully scanned the beach by the light of the stars, to see whether Turnbull had sent a boat ash.o.r.e in the hope of "catching a weasel asleep;" but his own canoe was the only craft visible, and he accordingly made his way down to the water"s edge, and, pushing her off, sprang noiselessly into her as she went afloat. Then, heading her round with a couple of powerful sweeps of the paddle, he pointed her nose toward the spot where the _Minerva"s_ spars made a delicate tracery of black against the star-spangled heavens, and with long, easy, silent strokes drove her quietly ahead.
That the crew had not yet retired to their bunks was soon evident to him from the fact that s.n.a.t.c.hes of maudlin song came floating down to him occasionally upon the pinions of the dew-laden night breeze; but these dwindled steadily as he drew nearer to the vessel, and about a quarter of an hour before he arrived alongside they ceased altogether, and the craft subsided into complete silence.
Leslie deemed it advisable to approach the barque with a considerable amount of caution, not that he doubted the steward, but because, despite the silence that had fallen on board, it was just possible that some of the crew might still be awake and on deck; he therefore kept the three masts of the vessel in one, and crept up to her very gently from right astern. As he drew in under the shadow of her hull the complete darkness and silence in which the craft was wrapped seemed almost ominous and uncanny; but presently he detected a solitary figure on the p.o.o.p, evidently on the watch, and a moment later saw that this figure was silently signalling to him to draw up under the counter. Obeying these silent signals, he found a rope dangling over the stern, which he seized, and the next instant the figure that he had observed came silently wriggling down the rope into the canoe. Leslie at once recognised him as the steward.
"It"s all right, sir," whispered the man, breathless, in part from his exertions, and partly also, Leslie believed, from apprehension; "it"s all right. But let go, sir, please, and let"s get a few fathoms away from the ship, for there"s no knowin" when that skunk Turnbull may take it into his head to come on deck and "ave a look round; "e"s as nervous as a cat, and that suspicious that you can"t be up to "im. There, thank "e, sir; I dare say that"ll do; they won"t be able to see or "ear us from where we are now, for I couldn"t see you until you was close under the counter. Well, you"ve come, sir, G.o.d be thanked; and I "ope you"ll be able to "elp us; because if you can"t it"ll be a precious bad job for some of us." And the fellow sighed heavily with mingled apprehension and relief.
"You had better tell me the whole of your story," said Leslie, quietly.
"I shall then be in a position to say whether I can help you or not. If I can, you may rest a.s.sured that I will."
"Thank "e, sir," murmured the man. "Well, ye see, sir, it"s like this.
We sailed from London for Capetown a little more than four months ago; and everything went smooth and comfortable enough with us until we got across the line and into the south-east trades--for the skipper, poor Cap"n Hopkins, was as nice and pleasant a man as anybody need wish to sail under; and so was Mr Marshall, too--that"s the mate, you"ll understand, sir--although "e kep" the men up to their dooty, and wouldn"t "ave no skulkin" aboard. The only chap as was anyways disagreeable was this feller Turnbull, who was rated as bo"sun, and give charge of the starboard watch, actin" as a sort of second mate, ye see.
Well, as I was sayin", everything went all right until we got to the s"uth"ard of the line. Then, one night I was woke up some time after midnight by a terrific row in the cabin; and up I jumps and out I goes to see what was up. When I got into the cabin it seemed full of men; but I"d no sooner shown my nose than one of the chaps--it was Pete Burton, I remember--catches sight of me, and, takin" me by the collar, "e runs me back into my cabin and says, "You stay in there, Jim,"--my name"s Reynolds--Jim Reynolds--you"ll understand, sir. "You stay in there, Jim," "e says, "and no "arm"ll come to you; but if you tries to come out afore you"re called, you"ll get "urt," "e says. Then "e turns the key upon me, and I gets back into my bunk, and listens. The next thing I "eard was a pistol-shot; then there was another tremenjous "ullabaloo, men shoutin" and strugglin" together, followed by a suddent silence, and the sound of all "ands clearin" out of the cabin. Then there was a lot of tramplin" of feet on the p.o.o.p over my "ead, with a good deal of talkin"; then I "eard somebody cry out, there was a "eavy splash in the water alongside, and then everything went quite quiet all of a sudden, and I "eard no more until mornin". But I guessed pretty well what "ad "appened; and when Turnbull come along about five bells and unlocked my door and ordered me to turn out and get about my work, I found I was right, for when I went for"ard to the galley, Slushy--that"s the cook, otherwise known as Neil Dolan--told me that that s...o...b..nk Turnbull, backed up by the four A.B.s in the fo"c"s"le and Slushy "isself, "ad rose and took the ship from the skipper, killin" "im and Chips--that"s the carpenter--puttin" the mate in irons and lockin" "im up in "is cabin, and compellin" the four ordinarys to help--whether they would or no--in workin" the ship. Then, by-and-by, when eight bells struck and I rang the bell for breakfast, along comes Turnbull, and says to me--
""Well, Jim, I s"pose you"ve "eard the news?"
""Yes, bo"sun," I says, "I "ave."
""Very well," he says; "that"s all right. Now," "e says, "all as you "ave to do, my son, is to behave yourself and do your dooty, takin" care not to interfere with my arrangements. You"ll give the mate "is meals in "is own cabin, regular; but you"re not to talk to "im, you understand, nor tell "im anything that you may see or "ear about what"s goin" on. And don"t you call me bo"sun no more, young man, or I"ll knock your bloomin" young "ead off, for I"m cap"n of this ship now, and don"t you forget it! So now you knows what to expect. And, mind you,"
"e says, "if you gets up to any "ankypanky tricks I"ll chuck you over the side, so sure as your name"s Jim Reynolds, so keep your weather eye liftin", my son!"
"Later on, that same day, Turnbull "as the mate out into the main cabin and spreads a chart of the Pacific Hocean out on the table; and, readin"
from a paper what "e "ad in "is "and, says, "Now, Mr Marshall, I"ll trouble you to lay down on this "ere chart a p"int bearin" lat.i.tood so-and-so and longitood so-and-so,"--I forgets what the figures was.
"And when you"ve done that," he says, "you"ll navigate this "ere barque to that identical spot. I"ll give yer two months from to-day to get us there," "e says; "and if we"re not there by that time," "e says, "I"ll lash your "ands and feet together be"ind yer back and "eave yer overboard. So now you knows what you"ve to do if you want to save yer bloomin" life," "e says.
"That same a"ternoon, while I was for"ard in the galley, Slushy--who was in "igh spirits--tells me as "ow Turnbull "ave got "old of a yarn about a lot of buried treasure on a hisland somewhere, in the Pacific, and that we was bound there to get it; and that when we"d got it, Turnbull and them as "ad stood in with "im "d be as rich as princes and wouldn"t need to do another stroke of work for the rest of their naturals, but just "ave a good time, with as much booze as they cared to swaller. And I reckon that this "ere"s the hisland where Turnbull thinks "e"ll find "is treasure."
"No doubt," agreed Leslie. "Well, what do you want me to do?"
"Well, sir, it ain"t for the likes of me to say just exactly what you ought to do," answered Reynolds. "I thought that maybe if I spinned you the whole yarn you"d be able to think out some way of "elpin" of us.
There ain"t no doubt in my mind but what you bein" on the hisland "ave upset Turnbull"s calculations altogether. As I makes it out, "e reckoned upon comin" "ere and goin" ash.o.r.e with "is paper in "is "and, and walkin" pretty straight to the place where this "ere treasure is buried, and diggin" of it up all quite comfortable, with n.o.body to hinterfere with "im. But you bein" "ere makes it okkard for "im, you see; because "e"s afraid that where "e goes you"ll go with "im, and if "e goes pokin" about lookin" after buried treasure you"ll drop on to "is secret and p"rhaps get "old of the stuff. And that"s just where the danger to you comes in; because, d"ye see, sir, if "e"d kill one man for the sake of gettin" "old of the barque to come "ere on the off-chance of findin" the treasure, "e ain"t the kind of man to "esitate about killin"
another who"d be likely to hinterfere with "im."
"Just so," a.s.sented Leslie; "that is quite possible. But I will see that he does nothing of the kind. Now, tell me, how many of the ship"s company are with Turnbull, and how many are there against him?"
"Well, first of all, there"s Turnbull "isself; that"s one," answered the steward. "Then there"s Burton, Royston, Hampton, and Cunliffe, the four A.B.s; that"s five. And, lastly, there"s the cook; "e makes six. Then, on our side, there"s Mr Marshall, the mate; that"s one. I"m another; that"s two. And there"s Rogers, Andrews, Parker, and Martin, the four ordinary seamen; that"s six again. So there"s six against six, as you may say; only there"s this difference between us: Turnbull "ave got two revolvers, one what "e found in the skipper"s cabin, and one what "e took from the mate, while the four A.B.s "as their knives; whereas we "aven"t nothin", they "avin" took our knives and everything away from us."
"Still," argued Leslie, "the belaying-pins are always available, I suppose, and they are fairly effective weapons in a hand-to-hand fight, to say nothing of handspikes and other matters that you can always lay your hands on. But of course Turnbull"s brace of revolvers gives him an immense advantage, should it come to fighting. But I can plainly see that if the slip is to be recaptured at all--and I believe it can be managed--it must be done without fighting; for you are not strong-handed enough to risk the loss, or even the disablement, of so much as a single man. Now, tell me this. Turnbull informs me that your water is bad, and that he intends to re-water the ship, here. Is that true, or is it only a fabrication to account to me for the presence here of the _Minerva_?"
"Why, just that, and nothin" else, sir," answered the steward. "Our water"s good enough. But certingly we"re runnin" rather short of it; and I don"t doubt but what "e"ll fill up, if there"s water to be "ad "ere. But it"s the treasure as "e"s after, first and foremost, and don"t you forget it."
"Quite so," agreed Leslie. "Now, no doubt he will go ash.o.r.e again soon after daylight; and as I shall not come off to the ship he will be compelled to come ash.o.r.e in his own boat. How many men will he be likely to bring with him, think you?"
"Not more"n two, sir, certingly," answered the steward; "and p"rhaps not any at all. Likely enough when "e finds as you don"t come off "e"ll scull "isself ash.o.r.e in the dinghy. Because, you see, sir, "e don"t trust none of us "ceptin" the four as is standin" in with "im, and them four "as their orders to keep a strict heye upon us to see that we don"t rise and take back the ship from "em. So I don"t think as "e"ll take any o" them ash.o.r.e with "im if "e can "elp it. And "e won"t take none of the others either, "cause "e"d be afraid to trust "isself alone with "em."
"Very well," said Leslie. "I think I can see my way pretty clearly now.
If Turnbull should go ash.o.r.e by himself to-morrow, I will look after him and see that he does not return to the barque. But if he should take any of his own gang with him--say two of them--that will leave only two and the cook aboard against six of you, which will make you two to one. In that case you must watch your chance, and, if you can find an opportunity, rise upon those three and retake the ship. And if you should succeed, hoist the ensign to the gaff-end as a signal to me that the ship is recaptured. But do not run any risks, mind; because, as I have already said, you cannot afford to lose even one man. If you cannot see a good chance to retake the ship, we must watch our opportunity, and think of some other plan. That is all, I think. Now I will put you aboard again. But look out for me to come off again about the same time to-morrow night."