Across the Spanish Main Part 7

Inch by inch the ravenous fish closed in on the lad.

He glanced over his shoulder as he swam, and as he perceived how close the monsters were, the men on board the s.h.i.+p could see, even at that distance, that his face turned livid.

The foremost shark was nearly on him now, and there was yet a considerable distance to cover ere he could reach safety.

Suddenly the leading fin disappeared, and the watchers knew that the shark had dived, in order the better to seize its prey. Their warning was roared over the water to him, but apparently too late, for with their shout, Roger's body disappeared!

A cry of horror at once went up from the s.h.i.+p, and strong men turned away, unwilling to witness the death of their favourite.

Those who still watched, however, almost immediately saw a tremendous disturbance of the water just below the spot where Roger had disappeared; and presently a broad blotch of red stained the blue water of the inlet, while a deep groan went up from the a.s.sembled crowd on deck. But the groan quickly changed to a mighty cheer as they saw Roger's form appear again at some considerable distance nearer the s.h.i.+p, and evidently safe and sound, for he was still swimming strongly. And immediately after, in his rear, the body of the shark rose to the surface, floating on its back, dead! The remainder of the sharks instantly flung themselves upon the carca.s.s, tearing it to pieces, and churning up a b.l.o.o.d.y froth as they struggled and tore and fought for their share of the spoil.

Roger had done the only thing possible to save his life. As the shark dived, so did he, and, swimming below the brute, he had ripped up its belly with several strong slas.h.i.+ng blows from his keen dagger, thus effectually ridding himself of one adversary, and trusting that the remainder of the school would wait to devour it--as indeed they had done,--thus giving him a further chance to escape.

He was now quite near the s.h.i.+p; but the sharks had quickly disposed of the carca.s.s of their companion, and were again after him. Roger, however, was now within range. So, as the sharks came on in pursuit, they were bombarded with every description of missile upon which the men could lay their hands, a proceeding which checked them slightly, and gave Roger a little more grace.

At length, utterly exhausted, the plucky lad reached the foot of the accommodation ladder, but just in time, for, as he was pulled clear of the water, a pair of huge jaws clashed behind him with a sound that made him nearly faint, so suggestive was it of what he had so narrowly escaped.

By the time that he reached the deck Harry had fully recovered, and he was the first to grasp Roger's hand and wring it convulsively as the latter stepped inboard. Harry could find no words wherewith to express his feelings adequately, but the pressure of his hand spoke for him, and Roger felt amply repaid for all he had done.

"And now, young gentlemen," said Cavendish sternly, when the young hero of the adventure had been recovered somewhat by the administration of a liberal dose of rum, "let this be a warning to you never again to go bathing in these seas. You have both had a most miraculous escape, and I for one had given the pair of you up as lost. But, thank Heaven, you are safe after all. Only never let it occur again. But I suppose you will take care of that," he added with a twinkle in his eye. "Your first experience with Johnny Shark has been enough for you, hasn't it?"

They rea.s.sured him on that point, and both then went below to dress.

When they were again clothed, Harry said:

"And now, how shall we spend the remainder of the day, Roger? I don't feel like going ash.o.r.e again to-day, even if we had a boat. The idea of crossing that sheet of water again does not very greatly appeal to me just now."

"I feel pretty much as you do," replied Roger. "I have had quite enough of the water for to-day. As an alternative, I suggest that we investigate that sheaf of doc.u.ments that we took out of the _Gloria del Mundo_ at the time of the battle. That fellow Alvarez seemed feverishly anxious to find a certain paper, and bitterly disappointed at his failure, so perhaps there may be something of value among them."

So saying, Roger went to his sea-chest, and, having unlocked it, drew out the bundle of papers to which he had referred, and laid it on the table.

They ran through most of them without finding anything of interest, those examined proving to be merely papers relating to the provisioning of the s.h.i.+p, and one or two old charts with courses marked off on them.

On another chart, however, they found something that claimed a moment's attention. It was one upon which the position of the Spanish intercepting fleet had been laid down, together with the supposed course that the English vessels would steer, thus proving that they had correctly antic.i.p.ated the movements of the English. This they put aside, intending to hand it to Cavendish, as it would be of interest to him.

"This is probably the doc.u.ment that scoundrel Alvarez was looking for while the _Gloria del Mundo_ was sinking," said Roger, who had related to Harry all that had happened while he was awaiting death in the cabin of the Spanish vessel.

"Hardly that," demurred Harry. "I should think it would be something of much more importance; because, you see, this would not be of much value to him after the action. Let us search further."

They did so, and presently came upon a sheet of rough parchment, which had escaped the search of Alvarez through its having worked its way into a folded chart.

They spread it open upon the table, and found that they could make nothing of it, as it appeared to be a ma.s.s of figures, and nothing else.

"I wonder what on earth this can be," said Roger. "It seems to be nothing but a lot of figures put down anyhow. I expect it is merely a sheet of scribbling-paper, upon which some rough calculations have been worked. At any rate it is of no importance, and clearly is not what Alvarez was looking for."

"Wait one moment, Roger," said Harry; "be not over-hasty, lad. I believe this is more important than it looks. May it not be a cipher of some kind? Let us have another look at it."

The doc.u.ment presented the following appearance:--

1581.

2227 1819 1919 2622 1820 1335 1138 1918 1717 2020 1618 2727 2722 2222 3811 1819 1816 1237 2225 1915 1515 2424 2525 1730 2014 1430 1718 2121 1420 1920 3014 1830 1519 2120 1915 2018 1030 1440 1614 3019 2017 1028 2226 1930 1226 1616 1324 1325 1236 1818 1235 1222 1218 3118 2725 3113 1334 3217 1324 1424 1335 3212 1817 2019 1321 2824 1420 2021 1434 2121 3212 1533 3316 2223 1614 1433 3415 3311 1916 2220 2525 1715 1423 2322 3314 2414 1517 1816 3019 1416 1822 1618 2122 1120 2826 2022 1321 1424 2221 1930 2413 2014 2413 3311 2624 2029 1423 2512 1915 1614 2611 2319 1713 2320 2925 1519 2418 1816 1433 2218 1922 1320 1126 1721 2920 1133 1232 1030 1520 1730 3212 2418 2317 2520 3017 2117 2023 1220 1321 3311 2015 2517 1222 1821 1721 2012 3014 2616 2426 1220 2413 1818 1430 2219 2013 1614 1922 2424 3113 1120 2624 1730 1721 2212 1320 1419 2311 2410 2124 1918 1331 1922 2113 2426 2320 1914 2014 3017 2523 2821 3113 2023 1915 1820 1829 3212 2122 2928 1919 2221 1620 1616 1416 2428 1816 2318 3311 2320 1717 2417 2826 2018 2419 2516 1618 2920 752626 202122 1519 1420 1924 1320 1820 2325 1625 1317 2419 2013 2017 2117 2424 2421 1218 1825 1721 3311 2615 1317 2523 2029 1133 2518 1816 14 2124 1812 1616 1915 2622 2220 3410 2624 2920 1720 5 2223 1218 1715 1717 2424 2626 1515 2120 2021 2020 1717 1818 1720 1930 1816 2122 3019 1618 1822 1816 2221 1917.

Beyond these figures, the paper, which seemed of considerable age, was perfectly blank.

The lads gazed earnestly at the ma.s.s of figures for some time, trying to fathom its meaning.

That a hidden meaning of some kind was attached to it was almost certain, as no sane man would put down a long string of figures to no purpose, or for mere pastime; and if the writer had not intended the meaning to be hidden, he would certainly have used words in preference to a number of mystifying figures.

"Roger," said Harry, "the more I look at this cipher--for cipher I am convinced it is--the more certain do I feel that it is the key to something important or of value. Now, friend, do you notice anything peculiar about these figures?"

"I cannot say that I do," answered Roger, "unless you mean that they are arranged in groups of four."

"Yes, that is certainly so," agreed Harry; "but there is somewhat else of significance, and that is, that, although they are grouped in fours for the most part, there are two groups of six figures, one of two, and one figure stands alone. These being different from the remainder of the cipher, we may at once set them down as denoting something different from the rest of the writing. I should say that possibly some direction, instruction, or it may even be a compa.s.s-bearing, is concealed in these two groups of six figures, while, to my mind, the figures 14 and 5, are to be read as they really are, that is as figures only; for I believe that the remainder of the figures stand for words or letters, as indeed they must, if any sense is to be made of the thing.

Yes, the more I study this, the more certain am I that we have found something of value, and this, I am convinced, is the doc.u.ment you told me Alvarez was looking for while you were in the cabin of the sinking _Gloria del Mundo_."

"By Saint George," said Roger, "I am inclined to believe you are right, Harry; only I see not how it will benefit us if we cannot translate the cipher, and that seems to me impossible without the key thereto."

"Nothing is impossible, my friend," retorted Harry. "We have no key, it is true, but by repeated experiments we shall solve the thing eventually, I am sure."

"Let us start trying right now, then," suggested Roger.

"Well, starting from the beginning, let us take the first group of--"

"Mr Trevose, hie you on deck, if you please; I want you," came Cavendish's voice down the companion at this moment, putting an abrupt end to the operations on the cipher.

Leaving Harry to put away the doc.u.ment in safety, Roger ran up on deck, and touched his hat to his captain.

"Mr Trevose," said Cavendish, "one of the boats has just come off from the sh.o.r.e with a load of fresh fruit and vegetables which the men have collected. They have now had a short spell ash.o.r.e, and it is time for us to be thinking of work again; so I wish you to take this boat and proceed to the sh.o.r.e in her with instructions to Mr Leigh to collect all the men forthwith. Let them bring off as much fruit and vegetables as they can find, but they must not be very long about it. You can take your friend Edgwyth with you, if you will, and while the men are getting fresh provisions together you and he have my leave, after you have delivered my message, to do as you please until all are ready to come off aboard.

"And have a care," added the skipper, "that you two lads do not get into any further sc.r.a.pes. You had a particularly narrow escape this morning, both of you, and perchance may not get off quite so easily next time."

Roger saluted, and forthwith ran down to inform Harry of his errand; whereupon the two mounted again to the deck and dropped into the boat, which was waiting for them alongside, and were soon being pulled over the water to the sh.o.r.e again.

Arrived at the beach, Roger enquired of the few men who were there where Mr Leigh was to be found. None of them seemed to know, but one man said he believed that Mr Leigh had gone in "that" direction--pointing it out with a stubby and tarry forefinger--and had taken a musket, with the intention, he thought, of getting some fresh meat for the pot.

The lads at once set off in the direction indicated, pus.h.i.+ng their way through tangled underwood, and treading down in their pa.s.sage many splendid and brilliant flowers, while startled birds, of rainbow plumage, flew out from the branches over their heads.

Everywhere stillness reigned supreme, and no sound or sign of any of the men was to be met with. They pushed resolutely forward, however, trying to discover some indication of people having pa.s.sed that way before. So dense was the undergrowth in many places that Harry and Roger were obliged to draw their swords to cut a pa.s.sage through it.

Presently Roger caught sight of a beautiful orchid on the trunk of a tree just below the first branch, and put forth his hand to gather it.

As he did so there was a bright green flash, and the lad started back only just in time. There was a swish of steel, and a snake fell to the ground severed in half, yet still writhing horribly.

"A thousand thanks!" said Roger. "I owe you my life again, Harry. He would surely have bitten me if you had not been so quick with your sword."

They examined the reptile, which was about six feet long, and of a brilliant green above and light yellow underneath, with the heart-shaped head that betokened an extremely venomous variety. Tossing the two writhing halves of the body into the bush with the point of his sword, and giving a shrug of repugnance, Roger pa.s.sed on, followed by Harry, with no further desire to pluck orchids, and each taking care to look well about him.

Presently they came to a small clearing, and on the opposite side saw an opening in the bush which seemed to suggest that someone had recently pa.s.sed that way.

They crossed the clearing and pushed through the opening on the other side, and, after going about half a mile, heard the report of a gun close to them, followed by a great fluttering of wings, as a host of startled birds flew away from the branches where they had been roosting.