"To--to--to help me?" he gasped.
"Yes, and to have you out into the daylight again. You, Eben Megg, take off the chain directly!" cried Aleck. "How dare you chain an officer and a gentleman as if he were a thief or a dog?"
"Oh!" cried the prisoner, and the e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.n sounded wildly hysterical and pa.s.sionate as that of a girl. "Oh--oh! Don"t--don"t speak to me-- don"t! Oh, you--I can"t bear it! I"m not a coward, but I"ve been shut up down here in the horrible darkness of this place till I"ve been half mad at times, and--and I"m half mad now. It"s the loneliness--the being alone down here night and day."
"Of course it is," cried Aleck, feeling half choked as he spoke; and holding the lad"s hand tightly between his own, he kept pressing it hard, and ended by shaking it more and more warmly as he spoke. "Of course, of course it is. It would have driven me quite mad; but you shan"t feel the loneliness again, for I"ll stop with you till you"re out, happen what may."
"Hah! Thank you, thank you!" whispered the prisoner. "I couldn"t help breaking down. I did try so very hard. I didn"t think that I should behave like a girl."
"Hush!" whispered Aleck, who had interposed between the prisoner and the gaoler with his lanthorn. "Hold up; don"t let him see. There, it"s going to be all right now. There"s a boat"s crew and an officer from the cutter somewhere above on the cliff, trying to find you."
"What!" cried the midshipman, holding on to Aleck now with both hands.
"Is that true, or are you saying it to keep up my spirits?"
"It"s as true as true," cried Aleck.
"Then I"ll hail again. Oh, how I have hailed! Do you think they could hear me now the water"s up?"
"Perhaps," said Aleck. "I heard you, and I"ve been hunting for long enough to find the way down."
"What!" cried the middy, who was beginning to master the emotion from which he had suffered. "Then you didn"t know the way?"
"No, not till just now."
"But you knew of this horrible cave?"
"No; though it isn"t above a mile from where I live."
"I--I thought you were mixed up with these smugglers, and--and--I beg your pardon."
"There"s nothing to beg pardon about," said Aleck, cheerfully. "There, I"m going to have you out of this. Now, then, Eben, bring the light closer. Where did these fetters come from?"
"Out of a King"s ship as was wrecked off Black Point, Master Aleck. We got dozens out of the sands. They"re what they use when they put men in irons."
"Nonsense."
"I tell you they are, sir. You ask Tom Bodger if they arn"t."
"Yes, they"re the regular irons," said the midshipman, huskily; and Aleck, who still held his hand, felt that he was all of a tremble.
"So, you see, Master Aleck, it"s on"y fair. t.i.t for tat, you know."
"That will do, sir," cried the lad, sharply. "Don"t be a coward as well as cruel to this gentleman. Now, then, set down the lanthorn on one of the stones and unlock this fetter, or whatever it is."
"Can"t, sir," said the man, gruffly.
"What! I order you to do it."
"Yes, sir, I hear you, but the chain"s locked round his ankle."
"Well, I know that. Unlock it."
"Well, I would, sir, as it"s come to this, but I arn"t got the key."
"What!" cried Aleck, with a chill of despair running through him.
"Where is it, then?"
"My missus or one of the other women"s got it."
"But you said there were a lot of these irons; there must be more than one key."
"I never saw but one, sir, and that we had up at home. It was my old woman"s idee to chain him up like this. You see, it"s three or four of them irons locked together, and one end"s about his ankle and the other"s locked to the ring there that we let into the rock and fixed with melted lead so as to fix tackle to when we wanted to haul in casks or moor a boat."
"Then you must go and find your wife, and get it," said Aleck, firmly.
"Go up on the cliff, young gentleman, and walk right into the hands of the boat"s crew hunting for me, eh?"
"I don"t care; I will have this gentleman set free. You may not meet any of the sailors," cried Aleck, and almost at every word of his brave standing up for the prisoner he felt himself rewarded by a warm pressure of the hand.
"That"s all right enough, Master Aleck Donne, but you know what I"ve told you "bout being made prisoner and having to nearly lose my life in swimming for my liberty?"
"Yes, perfectly well; but I must have him cast free, even if he has to wait a bit before he goes out of the cave."
"But you heard, too, what he said, sir, and I shouldn"t be a bit surprised if, when they caught me, they did hang me to the yard-arm of one of their ships."
"Yes, yes, I know," said Aleck; "but--"
"But you arn"t reasonable, Master Aleck. My life"s as much to me as another man"s is to him, whether he"s a poor fellow or a gentleman.
Now, look here, you know yourself it arn"t safe for me to go out of the cave now, is it?"
"Well, I"m afraid it is not just yet, Eben; but--"
"Wait a minute, Master Aleck. Give a man a chance. Look here; as soon as it"s dark I"ll go up on to the cliff and try and get to my cottage, and as soon as I can get the key I"ll come back and let your orficer here go loose if he"ll swear as he won"t show his people the way down here."
"No," cried the midshipman, firmly; "I can"t promise that."
"Not to get free, squire?" said Eben, grimly.
"N-no, I can"t do that. It"s my duty to help clear out this place. I can"t; don"t ask me. I can"t promise that."
"Look here," said Aleck, smiling; "could you lead a party down here?"
The midshipman started, and was silent.
"How did you come down here?"
"Come down? I didn"t come down. I was half stunned, and then thrown into a boat. I can just recollect feeling myself dragged out again, and then I lay sick and giddy, just as if I was in a horrible dream, till I awoke in the darkness to find that I was chained up here."