I was arrested that very night and cast into prison, where, without even the pretence of a trial, I was confined for seven long years among the vilest of the vile. I should probably have been there still had I not succeeded in effecting my escape. But those seven years of misery unutterable had done their work upon me; I entered the prison a harmless enough young fellow, save that I was the victim of a mistaken enthusiasm; I emerged from it _a fiend_, my heart full to overflowing of hatred for the entire human race, with which I have warred, in one way or another, from that day to this.
"Such, Senor Lascelles, is my story; my only excuse for telling you which is the tender memories of your sainted mother, evoked by your extraordinary personal resemblance to her. You have listened to me with a patient kindness which you must surely have inherited from her, and I thank you; the thought of her has made me once more human; I feel the better for having been permitted to take her honoured name once more upon my lips; but now, senor, with your permission I will rest a little; I am weary, and oh, so very weak."
I withdrew, and making my way to Albuquerque"s berth, begged permission of the owner to occupy it for an hour or two; which permission being obtained, I sat down then and there, and, whilst Merlani"s story was still fresh in my memory, put the whole of it in black and white.
This done, I thought it high time to look in upon Don Luis, who would, perhaps, otherwise think I was slighting him. I accordingly made my way to his private cabin and knocked softly. The door was opened by Inez, who no sooner saw me than she flung herself into my arms--full in view of her father, who was reclining upon a couch--kissed me rapturously, and exclaimed:
"Oh, Leo, my dearest, how glad I am to see you once more, and unhurt, after all the dreadful occurrences of to-day; come in, _mio_, and sit down; papa and I have both been longing to see you, have we not, you dear, proud, good-natured darling of a father?"
"Yes," said Don Luis smiling, much to my astonishment, for I quite expected that his displeasure would have been kindled by his daughter"s demonstrative reception of me--"yes, we have; but not from _precisely_ the same motives, I fancy. However, let that pa.s.s. Come in, Leo, my boy, come in; why, you look as frightened as if it were you, and not that wilful headstrong daughter of mine, that I ought to be angry with.
Sit down, and let Inez pour you out a gla.s.s of wine whilst you tell me how affairs have been progressing since I saw you last. But first," he continued, offering me his left hand--his injured limb being tightly swathed in bandages, and therefore unavailable--"let me express to you my heartfelt grat.i.tude for the prompt and effective response you made to my appeal for help and deliverance at the moment that we were about to fall irretrievably into the hands of those piratical desperados. You and your gallant followers have saved us all from death--and, in my daughter"s case, from a fate so much worse than death that I shall never be able to think of it without a shudder. You will find that I am not ungrateful--but I will speak of that anon. Now tell me, how have you managed with that miserable poltroon, Don Felix, and his officers and crew! Tell me in detail all that happened from the moment you were obliged to leave me."
Seating myself by his side, with Inez close to us both, I gave my friends a full and detailed account of everything that had transpired, omitting, of course, the particulars of my interview with Merlani; and I wound up by saying:
"Of course, Don Luis, I cannot say how the admiral may deal with the matter of my seizure of the ship, or how he will dispose of her officers and crew; but in any case I think that, as you and Dona Inez are civilians, he will not attempt to detain you; and even should he think of doing so, I do not believe I am overrating my influence with him when I say that I think he would, at my intercession, restore you your freedom."
"Thank you, Leo," said Don Luis heartily; "this is good news. I have been feeling a little anxious on that point since I have found time to think about it; for detention, at the present crisis in my affairs, might affect me most seriously. But if I can only succeed in making my way back to La Guayra, I have no doubt that, in a fortnight at most, I can collect evidence enough to completely frustrate the machinations of my enemies and set myself perfectly right again with the authorities in Spain.
"Now, with respect to yourself and this foolish--well, no, I will withdraw the word "foolish"--this love affair between you and Inez.
There is no doubt but you and your brave fellows have been the means of preserving us both from a very terrible fate; and, as I have said, you shall not find me ungrateful. I am not going to give my unconditional consent to Inez"s marriage with you--not yet at least, that would be rather too absurd. You are both--and you, especially, Leo--far too young to seriously contemplate marriage for some years to come; moreover, you are at present merely a midshipman; you still have your way to make in the n.o.ble profession you have chosen to follow. I have not the slightest doubt that you _will_ make it in due time; you have already established something more than a merely local reputation as a most gallant officer and seaman; you have distinguished yourself in a most remarkable manner for so young a man, and your superiors would be worse than ungrateful were they to fail to duly acknowledge and reward such distinguished merit. I have no doubt they _will_ reward it, and I fully expect that when once you have "served your time"--I believe that is the correct expression, is it not?--your rise in your profession will be rapid, and that it will not be very many years before you gain your post rank. When that day arrives, if your present regard for Inez remains unchanged, come to me, and you shall find me perfectly willing to incline a favourable ear to your proposals. In the meantime I completely withdraw my veto as to your intercourse with her; you may have as much of each other"s society as you wish during the short time you are likely to be together, and you may afterwards correspond as voluminously as you please; but--understand me clearly--I will not accede to or in any way countenance anything approaching to a betrothal, or, as you English term it, an engagement! And now, my dear children, I hope you are both satisfied."
My story is ended. Is there any need that I should say more? Well, perhaps some of my readers may object to so abrupt a termination to this veracious history; and, to please them, it may be as well, perhaps, to briefly state a few additional facts.
I will add, then, that we succeeded in carrying the _Santa Catalina_ safely into Port Royal, after a fine but somewhat slow pa.s.sage, though I suppose I need scarcely say that to Inez and myself the days sped only too fast. I duly reported myself to the admiral, and was by him received most favourably, notwithstanding the deplorable _contre-temps_ of the loss of the _Dolphin_. The _Santa Catalina_ was duly declared a lawful prize; and though objections to this proceeding were raised by the Spanish government, and her surrender was formally demanded of us, she was never given up; and after even more than the usual delays, all concerned in her capture duly touched the prize-money due on her account--a very considerable sum, as in addition to a valuable cargo she had on board a large quant.i.ty of bullion. I do not know what became of her officers and crew, as I was almost immediately appointed to a dashing frigate fresh out from England; but no objection was raised to the departure from the island of Don Luis and his daughter, who managed, after some delay and difficulty, to secure a pa.s.sage to La Guayra in a neutral vessel; and once there, he soon found means to set himself right with his government. Contrary to all expectation, Merlani survived long enough to be able to tell my father all he had told me, and more; thus completely and for ever setting at rest those hara.s.sing doubts and suspicions as to the sincerity of my mother"s affection which had gone so far towards making a wreck of my father"s life. My father"s remorse and regret for his cruel treatment of my mother were keen in the extreme, and most painful to witness; but he faithfully strove to make what compensation he could by lavishing upon me all the love of his really warm and affectionate nature.
I remained on the West Indian station long enough to complete my time as a midshipman; and my old friend, the admiral, lived long enough to bestow upon me my post rank, which he did with almost indecent haste--at least, so said some of those who chose to feel jealous at my rapid advancement, which, however, the admiral stoutly maintained I had faithfully earned.
I presume it is scarcely necessary to add that, this coveted rank once gained, I lost no time in pressing my suit for Dona Inez"s hand, which was then yielded to me with a very good grace--and with it a handsome fortune--by Don Luis, who only stipulated that we should live with him, he shortly afterwards resigning his post and removing to England to enable us to do so.