"A proposition?"
"To remain on the plantation as its mistress--plainly an offer of marriage, if you please. Not such a bad idea, is it?"
I stood speechless, held motionless only by the pressing muzzle of his pistol, the cold-blooded villainy of the man striking me dumb. This then had probably been his real purpose from the start. He had followed Beaucaire deliberately with this final end in view--of ruining him, and thus compelling the daughter to yield herself. He had egged the man on, playing on the weakness of his nature, baiting him to finally risk all on a game of chance, the real stake not the money on the table, but the future of this young girl.
"You--you have never seen her?"
"No, but I have met those who have. She is reported to be beautiful, and, better still, worth fifty thousand dollars."
"And you actually mean that you propose now to force Judge Beaucaire"s daughter to marry you?"
"Well hardly that, although I shall use whatever means I possess. I intend to win her if I can, fair means, or foul."
I drew a deep breath, comprehending now the full iniquity of his plot, and bracing myself to fight it.
"And what about the other girl, Kirby? for there is another girl."
"Yes," rather indifferently, "there is another."
"Of course you know who she is?"
"Certainly--a n.i.g.g.e.r, a white n.i.g.g.e.r; the supposed illegitimate daughter of Adelbert Beaucaire, and a slave woman. There is no reason why I should fret about her, is there? She is my property already by law." He laughed again, the same ugly sneering laugh of triumph, "That was why I was so particular about the wording of that bill of sale--I would rather have her than the whole bunch of field hands."
"You believe then the girl has never been freed--either she, or her mother?"
"Believe? I know. I tell you I never play any game with my eyes shut."
"And you actually intend to--to hold her as a slave?"
"Well, I"ll look her over first before I decide--she would be worth a pot full of money down the river."
CHAPTER VI
INTO THE BLACK WATER
The contemptuous, utterly indifferent manner in which he voiced his villainous purpose, would have crazed any man. Perhaps he intended that it should, although it was my belief that he merely expressed himself naturally, and with no thought of consequences. The man was so steeped in crime as to be ignorant of all sense of honor, all conception of true manhood. But to me this utterance was the last straw, breaking down every restraint, and leaving me hot, and furious with anger. I forgot the muzzle of the pistol pressed against my side, and the menacing threat in Kirby"s low voice. The face of the man was indistinct, a mere outline, but the swift impulse to strike at it was irresistible, and I let him have the blow--a straight-arm jab to the jaw. My clinched knuckles crunched against the flesh, and he reeled back, kept from falling only by the support of the deckhouse. There was no report of a weapon, no outcry, yet, before I could strike again, I was suddenly gripped from behind by a pair of arms, which closed about my throat like a vise, throttling me instantly into silent helplessness. I struggled madly to break free, straining with all the art of a wrestler, exerting every ounce of strength, but the grasp which held me was unyielding, robbing me of breath, and defeating every effort to call for help; Kirby, dazed yet by my sudden blow, and eager to take a hand in the affray, struck me a cowardly blow in the face, and swung his undischarged pistol to a level with my eyes.
"d.a.m.n you!" he e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed, and for the first time his voice really exhibited temper. "I"d kill you with this, but for the noise. No, by G.o.d! there is a safer way than that to settle with you. Have you got the skunk, Carver?"
"You can bet I have, Joe. I kin choke the life out o" him--shall I?"
"No; let up a bit--just enough so he can answer me first, I want to find out what all this means. Now look here, Knox, you"re an army officer, are you?"
"Yes," I managed to gasp, sobbing in an effort to catch breath, as the iron fingers at my throat relaxed slightly.
"Well then, what is all this to you? Why are you b.u.t.ting in on my game? Was Beaucaire a friend of yours?"
"I can hardly claim that," I admitted. "We never met until I came aboard this steamer. All I am interested in is justice to others."
"To others? Oh, I suppose you mean those girls--you know them then?"
"I have never even seen them," I said, now speaking more easily.
"Thockmorton chanced to tell me about them yesterday, and their condition appealed to me, just as it naturally would to any true man.
I thought probably you did not understand the situation, and hoped that if I told you the truth you might respond."
"Oh, you did, did you? You must have figured me as being pretty soft.
Well, what do you think now?"
His tone so completely ended my hope of compromise that I replied hotly, "That you are a dirty, piratical cur. I may have doubted your purpose at first, for I am not used to your kind, but this is so no longer. You deliberately ruined and robbed Beaucaire, in order to gain possession of these two girls. You have admitted as much."
He laughed, in no way angered by my plain speech; indeed it almost seemed as though he felt complimented.
"Hardly admit, my friend, for that is not my style. I let others do the guessing. What do you think of that, Carver? It seems we rank rather high in the estimation of the young man." His eyes again centered on me. "And you are really not acquainted with either of the ladies?"
"No."
"I see; a self-appointed squire of dames; actuated merely by a romantic desire to serve beauty in distress. Extremely interesting, my dear boy. But, see here, Knox," and his tone changed to seriousness. "Let the romance go, and talk sense a minute. You are not going to get very far fighting me alone. You haven"t even got the law with you. Even if I cheated Beaucaire, which I do not for a moment admit, there is no proof. The money is mine, and so is the land, and the n.i.g.g.e.rs. You can be ugly, of course, but you cannot overturn the facts. Now I don"t care a whoop in h.e.l.l for that bunch of miners back there in the cabin.
If left alone they will forget all about this affair in an hour. It"s nothing to them, and they are no angels if it was. But, in a way, it is different with you. I understand that, and also that you are in a position where you might make me some trouble. People would listen to what you had to say--and some of them might believe you. Now you acknowledge that what has occurred is personally nothing to you; Beaucaire was no special friend, and you don"t even know the two girls--all right then, drop the whole matter. I hold no grudge on account of your striking me, and am even willing to share up with you to avoid trouble."
"And if I refuse?"
"Then, of course, we shall be compelled to shut your mouth for you.
Self preservation is the first law."
"Which simply means that you intend to go on, and yield nothing?"
"That is about right. We"ll hold tight to what we"ve got--hey, Carver?"
"That"s allers bin my way o" doin" business," chimed in the other brutally. "An" we"ve sure got you, mister soldier man, where we kin handle yer, I reckon."
I looked about at them both, scarcely able to distinguish clearly even their outlines in the dense gloom. The seriousness of my situation, coupled with my helplessness, and inability to achieve the object proposed, was very evident. These men were reckless, and determined, unable to even grasp my point of view. It might, under these circ.u.mstances, have been the part of wisdom to me to have sought some means of compromise, but I was young and hot, fiery blood swept through my veins. The words of Kirby stung me with their breath of insult--his sneering, insolent offer to pay me to remain still.
"You must rank me as one of your own kind," I burst forth. "Now you listen to a plain word from me. If that was intended as an offer, I refuse it. When I first left the cabin, and came here on deck, I honestly believed I could talk with you, Kirby, appeal to your better nature, and gain some consideration for those two girls. Now I know better. From the start this has been the working out of a deliberately planned plot. You, and your confederate, have coolly robbed Beaucaire, and propose to get away with the spoils. Perhaps you will, but that end will not be accomplished through any a.s.sistance of mine. At first I only felt a slight interest in the affair, but from now on I am going to fight you fellows with every weapon I possess."
Kirby chuckled, apparently greatly amused.
"Quite glad, I am sure, for the declaration of war. Fighting has always agreed with me. Might I ask the nature of those weapons?"
"That remains for you to discover," I e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed sharply, exasperated by his evident contempt. "Carver, take your dirty hands off of me."
In spite of the fact of their threat, the ready pistol pressing against my ribs, the grip of Carver"s fingers at my throat, I did not antic.i.p.ate any actual a.s.sault. That either would really dare injure me seemed preposterous. Indeed my impression was, that Kirby felt such indifference toward my attempt to block his plan, that he would permit me to pa.s.s without opposition--certainly without the slightest resort to violence. The action of the two was so swift, so concerted, as though to some secret signal, that, almost before I realized their purpose, they held me helplessly struggling, and had forced me back against the low rail. Here I endeavored to break away, to shout an alarm, but was already too late. Carver"s hands closed remorselessly on my throat, and, when I managed to strike out madly with one free fist, the b.u.t.t of Kirby"s pistol descended on my head, so lacerating my scalp the dripping blood blinded my eyes. The blow partially stunned me, and I half fell, clutching at the rail, yet dimly conscious that the two straining men were uplifting my useless body. Carver swearing viciously as he helped to thrust me outward over the wooden bar. The next instant I fell, the sneering cackle of Kirby"s laugh of triumph echoing in my ears until drowned in the splash as I struck the black water below.
I came back to the surface dazed and weakened, yet sufficiently conscious to make an intelligent struggle for life. The over-hang of the rapidly pa.s.sing boat still concealed me from the observation of those above on the deck, and the advantage of permitting them to believe that the blow on my head had resulted in drowning, together with the knowledge that I must swiftly get beyond the stroke of that deadly wheel, flashed instantly through my brain. It was like a tonic, reviving every energy. Waiting only to inhale one deep breath of air, I plunged back once more into the depths, and swam strongly under water. The effort proved successful, for when I again ventured to emerge, gasping and exhausted, the little _Warrior_ had swept past, and become merely a shapeless outline, barely visible above the surface at the river. Even if the two men had rushed to the stern, seeking thus to ascertain what had happened to their victim, they could not have detected my presence in that darkness, or determined whether or not I had met death in the depths, or been crushed lifeless by those revolving paddles.
Slowly treading water, my lips held barely above the surface, I drew in deep draughts of cool night air, my mind becoming more active as hope returned. The blow I had received was a savage one, and pained dully, but the cold water in which I had been immersed had caused the bleeding to cease, and likewise revived all my faculties. The water was so icy, still fed by the winter snow of the north, as to make me conscious of chill, and awaken within me a fear of cramps. The steamer melted swiftly away into nothingness, and the last indication of its presence in the distance was the faint gleam of a stern light piercing the night shadows. The very fact that no effort was made to stop was sufficient proof that Thockmorton in the wheelhouse remained unconscious of what had occurred on the deck below. My fate might never be discovered, or suspected. I was alone, submerged in the great river, the stars overhead alone piercing the night shadows. They seemed cold, and far away, their dull glow barely sufficient to reveal the dim outline of the western sh.o.r.e; and even this would have remained invisible except for the trees lining the higher bank beyond, and silhouetted against the slightly lighter background of sky. In the other direction all was apparently water, a turbulent waste, and one glance deciding my action, I quickly struck out, partially breasting the downward sweep of the current, in a desperate struggle to attain land.