Pierre came downstairs and opened the door. Bill explained all that had happened, except about the treasure.
"You going away!" cried Pierre. "It would be madness! You will only float about till another storm arises and you will be lost."
"You don"t know what we can do," answered Bill. "We shall probably be picked up by one of our ships before we reach England; and, if not, we shall get on very well, provided the wind holds from the southward, and after the long course of northerly gales there"s every chance of its doing that."
"I must consult my father before I let you go," said Pierre.
"You would not keep us prisoners against our will," said Bill, laughing, as if Pierre could only be in joke. "Come, call your mother and father and Jeannette, and let me wish them good-bye. I haven"t many minutes to stop, and I"ve got something to tell them, which I"ve a notion will be satisfactory."
Pierre went to his father and mother"s and Jeannette"s rooms, and soon roused them up. They appeared somewhat in _deshabille_, and looked very astonished at being called out of their beds by the young Englishman.
"What is it all about?" asked Captain Turgot.
"We are going away," replied Bill, "but we could not go without again thanking you for all your kindness; and to show you that we are not ungrateful, I have to tell you how you can become a rich man in a few hours, without much trouble."
On this Bill described how they had found the smuggler"s treasure.
Captain Turgot and the dame held up their hands, uttering various exclamations which showed their surprise, mixed with no little doubt as to whether Bill had not been dreaming.
He a.s.sured them that he was stating a fact, and offered, if Captain Turgot and Pierre would accompany him, to show them the place, as he thought that there would be time before daylight, when he and Jack had determined to set sail.
"I am sure he"s speaking the truth," cried Jeannette; "and it"s very kind and generous of you, Bill, to tell us of the treasure, when you might have carried it off yourself. I know of the cave, for I saw it once, when I was very nearly caught by the tide and drowned, though I don"t think many people about here are acquainted with it; and very few, if any, have gone into the interior."
Captain Turgot and Pierre confessed that they had never seen it, though they had gone up and down the coast so often; but then, on account of the rocks, they had always kept a good distance out.
At last Bill and Jeannette persuaded them that there really was such a cave; but on considering the hour, they came to the conclusion that the tide would come in before they could make their escape from it, and they would prefer going when the tide had again made out. Bill, they thought, would only just have time to get on board the vessel, if he was determined to go.
"But if you have so much gold, you could purchase a good boat," said Captain Turgot; "and that would be much better than making your voyage on a raft."
Bill acknowledged that such might be the case, but he was unwilling to risk any further delay. He trusted to his friends" honour to let him go as he had determined. He had come of his own accord to bid them farewell, and they would not really think of detaining him against his will.
The fact, however, was that Captain Turgot doubted very much the truth of Bill"s story. Had any band of smugglers possessed a hiding-place on that part of the coast, he thought that he should have known it, and he fancied that the young Englishman must in some way or other have been deceived.
"Where is the gold you speak of?" he asked. "You surely must have secured some for yourself."
Bill replied that Jack had, but that he had not wished to touch it.
"Then you give it to us, my young friend," said Captain Turgot; "where is the difference?"
"No! I only tell you of it, that you may act as you think right. If you find out the owners, I hope you will restore it to them; but, at all events, it"s Frenchmen"s money, and a Frenchman has more right to it than I have."
Captain Turgot did not quite understand Bill"s principles, though perhaps Jeannette and Pierre did.
"Well, well, my young friend, if go you must, I will not detain you.
You and your companion will run a great risk of losing your lives, and I wish you would remain with us. To-morrow, as soon as the tide is out, Pierre and I will visit the cavern, which, I think, from your description, we can find; and we will take lanterns and torches. Again I say I wish you would wait, and if there is a prize to be obtained, that you would share it with us."
Jeannette and Pierre also pressed Bill to remain, but he was firm in his resolution of rejoining Jack, and setting off at once.
He was so proud of the raft they had made, that he would have been ready to go round the world on it, if it could be got to sail on a wind, and at all events he had not the slightest doubt about its fitness to carry him and Jack across the Channel.
Bill had already delayed longer than he intended, and once more bidding his friends good-bye, he set off for the wreck. He hurried along as fast as he could go, for he felt sure that at daybreak it would be seen, if not from the sh.o.r.e, from the sea, and that people would come and interfere with his and Jack"s proceedings.
As he knew the way thoroughly, he made good progress. On getting abreast of the wreck, he looked out for Jack, but could nowhere see him.
The water was already coming round the vessel, and in a short time would be too deep to wade through. He thought that Jack must have gone below, but he was afraid of giving a loud shout, lest his voice might be heard.
He accordingly, without stopping, made his way on board.
Great was his alarm when he could nowhere discover Jack.
Could he have gone to the cavern? or could he have been carried off?
The latter was not probable, for had the stranded vessel been discovered, people would have remained in her.
"He must have gone to the cavern, and to save time, I must follow him,"
he said to himself; and sliding down the rope, he made his way as fast as he could towards its mouth.
He quickly climbed up, and hurried on as fast as he dare move in the dark, holding out his hands to avoid running against the sides, or to save himself should he fall.
He knew that there were no pitfalls or other serious dangers, or he could not have ventured to move even so fast as he did.
He shouted out as he went Jack"s name.
"How foolish I was not to bring a lantern with me," he said. "Jack is sure to have taken one if he went to get more gold, and that I suspect is what he has been after; if he has a light, I shall see it, but I don"t."
"Jack! Jack!" he again shouted out; but the cavern only echoed with his voice.
Bill was a fine-tempered fellow, but he felt very much inclined to be angry with Jack. All their plans might be upset by his having left the wreck. Even should he soon find him, they would have to swim on board, and set off in their wet clothes; but that was of little consequence compared with the delay.
At last his hands touched the rock near their camping-place, and he thence groped his way on; for having so often traversed the cavern in the dark, he found it as easily as a blind man would have done.
He soon felt his feet treading on the ashes of their former fires, and feeling about, he discovered the things which Jack had thrown out of the basket.
Among them was a candle and the tinder-box. Jack having a lighted lantern, had not troubled himself to bring it.
The basket was gone! This convinced him that Jack had been there. He quickly lighted the candle, and as there was not a breath of air, he was able to walk along with it in his hand.
The stalact.i.te formations, which appeared on both sides, looked as weird and strange to him as they had to Jack, but he, knowing perfectly well what they were, did not trouble himself about their appearance.
He went on, keeping his gaze ahead, in the hopes of meeting Jack. He was sorry that he had not made more determined attempts to persuade Captain Turgot and Pierre to accompany him; for if anything should have happened to his companion, they would have a.s.sisted him. But what could have happened? that was the question. Sometimes he thought that Jack might, after all, not have come to the cavern; but, then, who could have carried away the basket?
Brave as he was, the strange shadows which occasionally seemed to flit by made him feel that he would much rather not have been there all alone.
Suppose, too, the smugglers should have returned, and, perhaps, caught Jack; they would seize him also, and it would be impossible to persuade them that he had not come to rob their store. Still, his chief anxiety was for Jack.
He thought much less about himself, or the dangers he might have to encounter.
Bill was a hero, though he did not know it, notwithstanding that he had been originally only a London street boy.
"I must find Jack, whatever comes of it," he said to himself, as he pushed on.