The following day brought with it a full revelation of the state of things which our friends would have to expect in the future; Captain Staunton and Lance being taken out of their confinement only to be employed all day in fetters upon work of the most laborious description, and locked up again at night in the loathsome Black Hole; while for the benefit of the whole party--and for the rest of the prisoners also, for that matter--Ralli had provided himself with a "colt," which he applied with merciless severity to their shoulders whenever the humour seized him. This last indignity was almost greater than they could bear; but Lance saw that the time was not yet ripe for action, and that there was really nothing for it but to bear everything in dignified silence at present and with as much fort.i.tude as they could summon to their aid, and he managed to whisper as much to Bob, and to request him to "pa.s.s the word" to the others, which at intervals during the day Bob did.
Before the day was over most of the prisoners, excepting those belonging to the _Galatea_ party, had had enough of Ralli"s colt, and signified their readiness to join the "Brotherhood;" they were accordingly sworn in at nightfall on their return from work.
This most unfortunate state of affairs had prevailed for nearly a fortnight, during which Ralli"s arrangements for the entire completion of the schooner whilst yet upon the stocks had been pressed vigorously forward, when d.i.c.kinson found himself in a position to announce to the Greek that another three days would see the schooner ready for sea, and that--a sufficient number of men being now at liberty to proceed with the work--the time had arrived for the laying-down of the ways and the construction of the cradle. The eyes of the Greek sparkled with delight. Three days!--Only three days more, or four at most, and the time for which he had so anxiously waited would have arrived; the time when he would find himself master not only of a battery which would enable him to hold the island against all comers--Johnson included--or rather, Johnson especially--but also of a smart little craft capable of sailing round and round the _Albatross_, and heavily enough armed to meet her upon equal terms. Let but those three or four days pa.s.s without interruption, and with what sincere delight would he view the approach of Johnson and his brig, and with what a warm and unexpected welcome would he receive them! He rubbed his hands with fiendish glee as he thought of this, and slapped d.i.c.kinson playfully on the shoulder as he bid him commence the necessary work forthwith.
Thereupon d.i.c.kinson boldly stated that he must have the advice and a.s.sistance of Captain Staunton and Lance, as he didn"t know enough about cradles and ways and suchlike to build "em properly, and he couldn"t find anybody on the island as did!
The ex-boatswain"s mate was in hopes that this proposition of his would load to at least a temporary amelioration of the condition of his two friends, if not the absolute establishment of a better state of things; but his hopes were unexpectedly and effectually quenched by the announcement that the Greek knew all about it, and intended to superintend that part of the work himself. The time had now arrived when a definite plan of action at the decisive moment ought to be fully agreed upon; and feeling this, d.i.c.kinson arose from his bunk about midnight that night, and lighting his pipe sauntered in the direction of the Black Hole, hoping for an opportunity to confer and finally arrange matters with the prisoners confined therein. To his great disappointment and chagrin he found the door of the place--a small low building roughly but very solidly constructed of stone, with no windows and no means of ventilation save such as was afforded by the momentary opening of the door for ingress or egress--guarded by a couple of the most ruffianly of the pirates, fellows who were completely the creatures of Ralli, and who had on more than one occasion thrown out strong hints of their suspicion that d.i.c.kinson was on more friendly terms than he ought to be with the men now in confinement. To their searching inquiries as to the reasons for d.i.c.kinson"s untimely and suspicious visit to them the ex-boatswain"s mate was driven to reply with a complaint as to the extreme heat and closeness of the night, and of his inability to sleep in consequence, his restlessness being such as to constrain him to rise and come outside for a smoke and a chat with somebody; and, there being no one else to chat with, he had just come to them. To this explanation he added a careless offer to relieve them of their guard for the rest of the night; but this offer provoked such an expression of unqualified suspicion from both the guards that he at once saw he was treading on very dangerous ground, and was accordingly fain to abandon his well-intentioned effort to communicate with those inside the prison door.
Driven thus into a corner, he resolved to get a word or two, if possible, with the inmates of Staunton Cottage; and he accordingly sauntered off, taking a very roundabout way, as long as he thought it at all possible for his movements to be seen by the already suspicious guards.
d.i.c.kinson"s complaint as to the heat and closeness of the night was quite sufficiently well founded to have been accepted as perfectly genuine. It was pitchy dark, the sky being obscured by a thin veil of cloud which was yet sufficiently dense to completely obscure the light of the stars; the air was still to the extent of stagnation; and the temperature was so unusually high that d.i.c.kinson found the mere act of walking, even at the idle sauntering pace which he had adopted, a laborious exertion. In the great and oppressive stillness which prevailed, the hoa.r.s.e thunder of the trampling surf upon the rocky sh.o.r.es of the island smote so loudly upon the ear as to be almost startling; and to the lonely wanderer there in the stifling darkness the sound seemed to bring a vague mysterious premonition of disaster.
d.i.c.kinson had almost reached the cottage when he became conscious of another sound rising above that of the roaring surf, the sound as of a heavily-laden wagon approaching over a rough and stony road, or of a heavy train rumbling through a tunnel at no great depth beneath the surface of the earth. The sound, dull and m.u.f.fled still, swept rapidly toward him from seaward, and at the moment of its greatest intensity there was for an instant a vibrating jar of the ground beneath his feet; the next moment it had pa.s.sed, and the sound swept onward toward the interior of the island until it again became lost in the hollow roar of the distant breakers.
Somewhat startled by this singular and unusual phenomenon, d.i.c.kinson hurried forward, and soon stood beneath the walls of the cottage. A light was still burning in one of the upper rooms; so, seizing a handful of fine gravel, he flung it against the window in the hope of quietly attracting the attention of the inmates. After two or three essays his efforts were rewarded with success, the window being softly opened and Bowles" head thrust out, with the low-spoken e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.n:
"Hillo, below there!"
"It"s me--d.i.c.kinson," was the equally low-spoken response. "If you"re not all turned-in I"d be glad to have a few words with some of yer."
"All right, my lad!" said Bowles. "I"ll be down in a jiffey. Nothing else gone wrong, I hope?"
"No," said d.i.c.kinson; "I only wants to make a few arrangements; that"s all."
In another minute the ladder was cautiously lowered, and Rex and Bowles joined their visitor.
"I say, gen"lemen, did you hear anything _pecoolyer_ a few minutes ago?"
was d.i.c.kinson"s first remark.
"Yes," said Rex; "did you? Unless I am greatly mistaken we have been visited by a slight shock of earthquake."
""Arthquake, eh? Well, if "tain"t nothing worse than that I don"t mind," was the response. "You see I don"t know much about "arthquakes, not bein" used to "em, and I felt a bit scared just at first, I own; but if so be as it"s only a "arthquake, why that"s all right. If anything like that happens I like to know, if it"s only to keep my mind quiet.
But that ain"t what I"ve come up here to rouse you gen"lemen out in the middle watch about; it"s just this here."
And therewith he proceeded to lay before his hearers his own view of the state of affairs, pointing out to them the fact--already keenly recognised by them--that the moment for action might now present itself at any time, and explaining his own anxiety for a definite arrangement of some plan of operations, together with an agreement upon certain preconcerted signals to be of such a character as should be easily understood by the initiated while unlikely to arouse the suspicions of the rest.
A long conference ensued, at the close of which d.i.c.kinson quietly returned to his hammock with a greatly relieved mind. The others also retired, but not to sleep. They felt that the decisive moment was at hand, the moment upon the right use of which depended their liberty, if not their lives, for they were fully persuaded that if their first attempt failed they would never be allowed to have another--and, though still anxious, their recent talk with d.i.c.kinson had made them more hopeful of success than they had ever felt before. Hitherto they had always been haunted by a lurking doubt; but now they began for the first time to think that there really _was_ a fair prospect of succeeding if they faced the dangers and difficulties of the attempt with boldness and resolution. Their chief anxiety now was how to free their two comrades; and to this they were as yet quite unable to see their way. Their anxiety and distress were greatly increased on the following day by finding that Ralli had given orders that his two prisoners, the skipper and Lance, were henceforth to be kept in close confinement altogether, with a double guard fully armed at the door, instead of being released during the day to work with the others at the shipyard. To be confined at all in the noisome "Black Hole" was bad enough, and their fortnight"s incarceration had already told visibly on the health of the prisoners, even when they had had the opportunity of breathing a pure atmosphere during the day; but now that they were doomed to remain in the place both day and night their friends became seriously alarmed; they felt that the sentence was tantamount to one of a slow but certain death.
And the most trying part of it was that there seemed no possibility of affording any succour to the doomed men; no attempt to help or relieve them could be devised except such as must necessarily bring the party into immediate collision with Ralli and his myrmidons.
The Greek had now entirely laid aside all pretence of treating his prisoners with any show of consideration. They had served his purpose; he had made them his tools as long as their a.s.sistance had been necessary to the advancement of his ambitious schemes; but now their help was no longer necessary to him, and he felt free to gratify, without stint, the malignant and vindictive feeling with which he had from the first regarded them. One or two of them, too, notably Lance and Captain Staunton, had on more than one occasion successfully opposed him in his efforts to have things entirely his own way; and that also must be amply atoned for. So he now amused himself at intervals in devising fresh indignities, in planning new hardships, to be heaped upon the unfortunate _Galatea_ party.
It was in this vindictive spirit that, on the second evening after d.i.c.kinson"s midnight visit, Ralli walked up to the cottage, and, unceremoniously opening the door, obtruded his unexpected and most unwelcome presence upon its inmates. As he made his appearance the conversation, which had been of a somewhat animated character, suddenly ceased.
He noted this circ.u.mstance as he glanced suspiciously round the room, with his features twisted into the now too familiar malicious smile.
Bowing with a sarcastic affectation of politeness, he remarked:
"I am afraid my sudden appearance has interrupted a very interesting conversation. If so, I am vary sorray. But pray go on; do not allow my praisance to be any--what you call it--any--any--ah, yes, I have it--any restraint."
Then, suddenly changing his manner as his naturally suspicious nature a.s.serted itself, he demanded:
"What were you talking about? Tell me--you; I insist."
"We were talking about matters chiefly interesting to ourselves,"
answered Bowles. "If "t had been anything we wanted you to know, we"d have sent for you."
"Ha! my big strong friend, how you are funny to-night! You want to make a laugh at me, is it not? All right; wait till to-morrow; I then shall make a laugh at you. It is I that shall be funny then," returned Ralli with the evil smile broadening on his face and his eyes beginning to sparkle with anger.
"Well," he continued, "since you will not so civil be as answer my polite question, I will tell you what I have come to say. It is this.
You men are working--after a very lazy fashion it is the truth--for your living, and from now I intend that the women--oh? I beg the pardon, I should have said the _ladies_--shall work for theirs too. I am not any more going to allow laziness; you must _all_ work, beginning to-morrow."
Here was an announcement which fairly took away the breath of the party.
Ralli saw the consternation which his speech had produced, and laughed in hearty enjoyment of it.
"I tell you what it is, my good sir," said Rex, recovering his presence of mind. "You may say what you please as to the manner in which we work, but you know as well as I do that our services are _ample_ payment for the food and lodging which we and the ladies get; and as to _their_ working--why, it is simply preposterous; what can they do?"
"What can they do?" repeated Ralli. "Ha, ha! I will tell you, my very dear sair, what they can do, and what they _shall_ do. There are three of them and the shild. One shall do the cooking for the men; one shall clean out the sleeping-room, repair the men"s clothes, and make their hammocks; and one--the prettiest one--shall cook for me and keep my cabin in order, make and mend my clothes, and attend to me generally.
As for the shild, she shall gather firewood and--ah! there she is. Come and kees me, you little girl."
May had, in fact, at that moment entered the room with a happy laugh; but catching sight of Ralli, the laugh was broken off short, and she sought shelter and safety by her mother"s side, from which she manifested a very decided disinclination to move at Ralli"s invitation.
"Come here and kees me, little girl," repeated the Greek, his anger rapidly rising as he saw how unmistakably the child shrank from him.
"You must please excuse her," said Mrs Staunton, with difficulty restraining the expression of her resentment; "the child has not been accustomed to kiss strangers."
"Come and kees me, little girl," repeated Ralli for the third time, holding out his arms to May, and entirely ignoring Mrs Staunton"s remark. But his sardonic smile and his glittering eyes were the reverse of attractive to the child. Besides, she knew him.
"No," said she resolutely, "I will not kiss you. I don"t love you. You are the naughty wicked cruel man that locked up my dear papa and Mr Evelin, and won"t let them come home to me."
"Hush, May, darling!" began Mrs Staunton. But her warning came too late; the unlucky words had been spoken; and Ralli, smarting under a sense of humiliation from the scorn and loathing of him so freely displayed by this pretty child--scarcely more than a baby yet--sprang to his feet, and, seizing May roughly by the arm, dragged her with brutal force away from her mother"s side, and before anyone could interfere, drew out his colt and struck her savagely with it twice across her poor little lightly-clad shoulders.
The little creature shrieked aloud with the cruel pain as she writhed in the ruffianly grasp of the pirate; yet the fiendish heart of her tormenter felt no mercy, his l.u.s.t of cruelty was aroused, and the colt was raised a third time to strike.
But the blow never fell Bob was the nearest to the pirate when he made his unexpected attack upon May, and though the occurrence was too sudden to admit of his interfering in time to prevent the first two blows, he was on hand by the time that the third was ready to fall. With a yell of rage more like that of a wild beast than of a man he sprang upon Ralli, dealing him with his clenched left hand so terrific a blow under the chin that the pirate"s lower jaw was shattered, and his tongue cut almost in two. Then, quick as a flash of light he released poor May from the villain"s grasp, wrenched the colt out of his hand, and, whilst the wretch still writhed in agony upon the ground where he had fallen under the force of Bob"s first fearful blow, thrashed him with it until the clothes were cut from his back, and his shoulders barred with a close network of livid and b.l.o.o.d.y weals. The miserable cowardly wretch screamed at first more piercingly even than poor May had done; but Bob commanded silence so imperatively and with such frightful threats that Ralli was fairly cowed into submitting to the rest of his fearful punishment in silence, save for such low moans as he was utterly unable to suppress.
As may well be supposed, this startlingly sudden scene of violence was productive of the utmost confusion in the room where it originated. The ladies, hastily seizing poor little moaning May in their arms, beat a precipitate retreat, while the men sprang to their feet and tried--for some time in vain--to drag Bob away from his victim. But the lad was now a tall, stalwart, broad-shouldered fellow; his anger was thoroughly roused by the Greek"s cruel and cowardly conduct; and it was not until he had pretty well exhausted himself in the infliction of a well- deserved punishment that he suffered himself to be dragged away. And it was now too, in the desperate emergency with which our friends found themselves in a moment brought face to face, that Bob showed the sterling stuff of which he was made. Cutting short the horrified remonstrances of his friends he took the reins of affairs in his own hands, issuing his instructions as coolly as though he had been a leader all the days of his life.
"_The time has come_," said he. "Mr Bowles, get a piece of rope, lash that fellow hands and heels together, and gag him. The rest of you get our few traps together; tell the ladies to do the same; and let all muster down at the landing as quickly as possible. I"m off to warn d.i.c.kinson and the rest, and to release the captain and Mr Evelin. Ah!
I may as well take these," as his eye fell upon a brace of revolvers in Ralli"s belt. He withdrew the weapons, hastily examined them by the light of the lamp to ascertain whether they were loaded or no, found that they were; and then, repeating his injunctions as to rapidity of action, he slipped the pistols one into each pocket, opened the door, and disappeared in the darkness.
Once fairly clear of the house, Bob paused for a minute or two to collect his thoughts. Then he walked on again toward the large building in which the men were housed, and on reaching it coolly thrust his head in at the open door, and looked round as though in search of someone.
"Well, matey, what is it?" asked one of the pirates.
"Is d.i.c.kinson here?" inquired Bob boldly.
"I think he is," was the reply. "Yes, there he is, over there. Here, d.i.c.kinson! you"re wanted."