Fire Cloud Part 11

Suddenly she heard, or thought she heard a slight grating noise at the further side of the cavern.

Can she be dreaming? or can her eyes deceive her? or does she actually see the wall of the cavern parting? Such actually seems to be the case, and from the opening out steps a figure dressed like an Indian, and bearing in his hand a blazing torch.

h.e.l.lena's tongue cleaves to the roof of her mouth, and her limbs are paralyzed with terror. She cannot move if she dare.

The figure moves about the room with a step as noiseless as the step of the dead, while the crystals on the walls seem to be set in motion, and to blaze with unnatural brilliancy as his torch is carried from place to place.

He carefully examines everything as he proceeds; particularly the weapons belonging to the pirates, which seemed particularly to take his fancy. But he carefully replaces everything after having examined it.

He now approaches the place where the two women are lying.

h.e.l.lena with an effort closed her eyes.

The figure approached the couch; for a moment he bent over it and gazed intently on the two women; particularly on that of the white maiden. When having apparently satisfied his curiosity, he withdrew as stealthily as he had come.

When h.e.l.lena opened her eyes again, the spectre had vanished, and everything about the cave appeared as if nothing unusual had happened.

For a long time she lay quietly thinking over the strange occurrences of the night. She was in doubt whether scenes which she had witnessed were real, or were only the empty creations of a dream. The horrible spectres which she had seen in the fore part of the night seemed like those which visit us in our dreams when our minds are troubled. But the apparition of the Indian seemed more real.

Could she be mistaken? was this, too, only a dream? or were the two scenes only different parts of one waking vision?

To this last opinion she seemed most inclined, and was fully confirmed in the opinion that the cavern was haunted.

Although h.e.l.lena was satisfied in her own mind that the figure that had appeared so strangely was a disembodied spirit, yet she had a vague impression that she had somewhere seen that form before. But when, or where, she could not recollect.

When in the morning she related the occurrences of the night to Lightfoot, the Indian expressed no surprise, and exhibited no alarm.

Nor did she attempt to offer any explanation seeming to treat it as a matter of course.

Although this might be unsatisfactory to h.e.l.lena in some respects, it was perhaps after all, quite as well for her that Lightfoot did not exhibit any alarm at what had occurred, as by doing so she imparted some of her own confidence to her more timid companion.

All this while Black Bill had not been thought of but after a while he crawled out from his bunk, his eyes twice their usual size, and coming up to h.e.l.lena, he said:

"Misses, misses, I seed do debble last night wid a great fire-brand in his hand, and he went all round de cabe, lookin' for ma.s.sa Flint, to burn him up, but he couldn't fine him so he went away agin. Now I know he's comin' after ma.s.sa Flint, cause he didn't touch n.o.body else."

"Did he frighten you?" asked h.e.l.lena.

"No; but I kept mighty still, and shut my eyes when he come to look at me, but he didn't say noffen, so I know'd it wasn't dis darkey he was after."

This statement of the negro's satisfied h.e.l.lena that she had not been dreaming when she witnessed the apparition of the Indian.

On further questioning Bill, she found he had not witnessed any of the horrid phantoms that had visited her in her dreams.

As soon as h.e.l.lena could do so without attracting attention, she took a lamp and examined the walls in every direction to see if she could discover any where a crevice large enough for a person to pa.s.s through, but she could find nothing of the sort.

The walls were rough and broken in many parts, but there was nothing like what she was in search of.

She next questioned Lightfoot about it, asking her if there was any other entrance to the cave beside the one through which they had entered.

But the Indian woman gave her no satisfaction, simply telling her that she might take the lamp and examine for herself.

As h.e.l.lena had already done this, she was of course as much in the dark as ever.

When Captain Flint visited the cave again as he did on the following day, h.e.l.lena would have related to him the occurrences of the previous night, but she felt certain that he would only laugh at it as something called up by her excited imagination, or treat it as a story made up for the purpose of exciting his sympathy.

Or perhaps invented for the purpose of arousing his superst.i.tion in order to make him leave the cave, and take her to some place where escape would be more easy.

So she concluded to say nothing to him about it.

CHAPTER XI.

About a week after the occurrence of the events recorded in the last chapter, Captain Flint and his crew were again a.s.sembled in the cavern. It was past midnight, and they evidently had business of importance before them, for although the table was spread as upon the former occasion, the liquors appeared as yet to be untasted, and instead of being seated around the table, the whole party were sitting on skins in a remote corner of the cavern, and conversing in a suppressed tone of voice as if fearful of being heard.

"Something must be done," said one of the men, "to quiet this darn suspicion, or it's all up with us."

"I am for leaving at once," said Old Ropes; "the only safety for us now is in giving our friends the slip, and the sooner we are out of these waters the better it will be for us."

"What, and leave the grand prize expecting to take care of itself?"

asked the captain.

"Darn the prize," said Old Ropes, "the East Indiaman ain't expected this two weeks yet, and if the suspicions agin us keep on increasin'

as they have for the last ten days, the land pirates'll have us all strung up afore the vessel arrives."

This opinion was shared by the majority of the men. Even the Parson who took delight in opposing Old Ropes in almost every thing, agreed with him here.

"Whether or not," said he, "I am afraid to face death in a fair business-like way, you all know, but as sure as I'm a genuine parson, I'd rather be tortured to death by a band of savage Indians, than to be strung up to a post with my feet dangling in the air to please a set of gaping fools."

"Things do look rather squally on sh.o.r.e, I admit," said the captain, "but I've hit upon a plan to remedy all that, and one that will make us pa.s.s for honest men, if not saints, long enough to enable us to finish the little job we have on hand."

"What is that?" enquired a number of voices.

"Why, merely to make a few captures while we are lying quietly in the harbour or a little way up the river. That'll turn the attention of the people from us in another direction, in the mean while, we can bide our time.

"It can," said the captain. "We must man a whale boat or two and attack some one of the small trading vessels that are coming in every day. She must be run on the rocks where she may be examined afterwards, so that any one may see that she has falling in the hands of pirates. None of the crew must be allowed to escape, as that would expose the trick.

"All this must take place while I am known to be on sh.o.r.e, and the schooner lying in port."

This plot, which was worthy the invention of a fiend, was approved by all but Jones Bradley who declared that he would have nothing to do with it. For which disobedience of orders he would have probably been put to death had he been at sea.

The plan of operations having been decided upon, the whole party seated themselves round the table for the purpose as they would say of making a night of it.

But somehow or other they seemed to be in no humor for enjoyment, as enjoyment is understood by such characters.

A gloom seemed to have settled on the whole party.

They could not even get their spirits up, by pouring spirits down.