The Quest Of The 'Golden Hope' Part 18

"I am Captain Edmund Craddock, commanding His Majesty's s.h.i.+p _Antelope_. I am beholden to your men for their co-operation in a.s.sisting to exterminate this nest of rascally pirates; but, in the execution of my duty, I must demand to see your warrant for your presence on this island with an armed force."

"That can be shown you on board the _Golden Hope_, your honour,"

replied Captain 'Enery.

"I trust so, for your own sakes," the other said; "therefore let us proceed on board her."

"He's a cool game-c.o.c.k," remarked Clemens in an undertone to the master gunner, as we followed Captain 'Enery and the naval officer to the boats. "Why, for all he knows he may be running into a den of pirates!"

"I'll tell you more of him anon," replied Touchstone; "but take it from me, he knows his business."

On boarding the _Golden Hope_, Captain Craddock, accompanied by Captain 'Enery, retired to the cabin where Captain Jeremy was lying.

Here they remained talking for more than an hour; but the interview must have been satisfactory all round, for on returning to the quarter-deck I saw the naval captain produce his snuff-box and offer it with a grave flourish to Captain 'Enery.

"Well, I wish you joy on it," I heard him remark. "If you find the treasure, for I've no doubt that it is on the island, you'll be far luckier than a good many. With your permission, I'll remain your guest till my vessel arrives."

"Does she know the channel?"

"As well as she knows her way into Spithead," replied the other, laughing. "Do you think I've cruised among these islands for the last twenty years, off and on, for nothing?"

Meanwhile the men who had accompanied Touchstone were gathered on the fo'c'sle, surrounded by a group of eager listeners, all anxious to hear the story of the pursuit; and at the same time the master gunner was relating the tale to the bos'n, the quartermaster, and myself.

"We covered the path through the forest in double-quick time," said he; "and directly we gained the crossroads that Captain Miles had hit upon we turned to the right. A mile farther on this road forked, the larger or left-hand path apparently making towards the pirates'

settlement. As I thought 'twould be better to set an ambush as far from that place as possible, I took our men by the right-hand path, and finished up at a little cove, where three small boats were hauled up, quite deserted."

"There we took cover, for there were rocks in plenty, the seaside path running betwixt the boulders and a low cliff. We had not been there more than a couple of hours ere Jonas Cook, who had been sent off to keep a look-out, came running back with the news that the buccaneers were close at hand."

"On they came, quite unsuspectingly, straggling over a quarter of a mile of ground. This was bad for us, for our ambush would not allow every man of them to be surprised; so we let the head of the column pa.s.s, and then I gave the word to fire."

"We bowled a lot of them over like skittles those who had already pa.s.sed broke and fled, but those in the rear, instead of running away, dashed towards us with pistol and cutla.s.s. Although we gave them another volley, they still came on, till, being outnumbered, most of them were cut down. The remnant, escaping our fire, broke through our ambush and followed those who had gone on ahead."

"Wouldn't they have done better if they had run back and taken cover in the woods?" asked the quartermaster.

"I am right glad they didn't, or we should have had our work cut out to run them down," replied Touchstone. "They feared that a party was at their heels to complete the trap, and therefore they chose to run the gauntlet of our fire. But 'twas all the better for us."

"How so?"

"Why, we had them all in front of us. We pursued them for close on a mile, till from the top of a hill we saw a harbour larger than this, with a group of houses surrounded by a stockade on one side of it.

And in the middle of the harbour were two large s.h.i.+ps. Before the rascally villains could reach this fort a body of men rushed out.

'This is too many for us,' I thought, and I was about to beat a retreat when I saw the new-comers open fire on the runaways, who straightway laid down their arms and were instantly secured."

"Then I saw for the first time that both the vessels flew English colours, and when we had made ourselves known we found out that they were the frigate _Antelope_ and the buccaneering craft _Secret_, which had been captured the day before. We won't be troubled with those rascals again, at all events, for the _Antelope_ sank the two that escaped from here and, as I said, took the third. But----"

"Sail, ho!"

"Whither away?" shouted the bos'n, our conversation terminating abruptly with the interruption.

Gliding round the end of the reef by a channel of which we ourselves were ignorant came a graceful frigate, the setting sun gleaming on her brown canvas and her black-and-yellow sides, while the red cross of St. George streamed proudly in the breeze.

Smartly handled, she worked her way in through the narrow, land-locked entrance; then luffing up into the wind, she dropped anchor within a cable's length of the _Golden Hope_.

"What think ye of her, gentlemen?" asked Captain Craddock, with justifiable pride. "I'll warrant she's the smartest 40-gun frigate afloat, even though I, her captain, say it."

No one would have thought, to see the gallant vessel, that she had been in action with three buccaneers but two or three days ago. Her ports, picked out in vermilion, had been repainted, while every spar and rope was intact. Yet, on closer inspection, a number of neatly plugged holes in her sheering sides showed how fierce had been the engagement.

"We'll lie here for a few days," continued Captain Craddock, as his barge came alongside to take him back to the frigate. "If we can be of service to you in the matter of spare spars, cordage, or gear, you have but to say so."

Captain Craddock was as good as his word, and, thanks to his a.s.sistance, not only were our wounded carefully tended by the chirurgeon of the frigate, but the work of refitting the _Golden Hope_ and the _Neptune_ proceeded far more rapidly than we had expected, so that when the _Antelope_ weighed and set sail for Port Royal, our two s.h.i.+ps looked little the worse for the severe ordeal they had undergone.

Meanwhile Captain Jeremy continued to progress favourably, yet slowly. In this interval we could do nothing towards recovering the _Madre_ treasure, so it is little wonder that time hung heavily on our hands.

One morning I landed with the intention of walking along the cliffs to the place where the _Madre_ had first gone ash.o.r.e ere she had slipped back into deep water. With me went one of the seamen, for 'twas unwise to stray far from the stockade alone. We were both armed, the man carrying his cutla.s.s and a pistol in his belt, while I had a fowling-piece.

In less than an hour we gained the summit of the cliff, which was there about one hundred feet in height, though divided into two sheer drops of half that distance by a terrace or ledge, about six feet in width.

"See yon dark line in the water?" asked the Seaman. "'Tis the deep-water channel across the shoal by which the frigate came into harbour. I heard Cap'n 'Enery and the bos'n say as 'ow they were going to sound it. When we get out of 'ere--when, I says, with all due respect to you, Master Hammond--we ought to take yon pa.s.sage and save a couple of leagues through the other one by which we came."

"There's a boat putting off from the _Golden Hope_ now," I exclaimed.

"That be it for sartain. Howsomever, I'd liefer be here than sounding all day in the broiling sun."

"What a number of sea-birds!" I said, pointing to the face of the lower cliff, about which thousands of white, grey, and black gulls and cormorants were darting in and out of the crevices, making a continuous din. "Are they good for food? If so, I'll have a shot at some of them."

"Too fishy to my liking," replied the man, as he settled himself on the gra.s.s and proceeded to fill a short black pipe. "Their eggs ain't so bad, though. I've a mind to come 'ere with a rope, like I used to do at home. I'm a Portland man, I am, and know how to go bird-nesting. But if you want to, you can try a shot at 'em. I'll bring up 'ere for a spell and have a pipe. But mind you don't go too near the edge; it might give way."

Accordingly I shouldered my piece and walked towards a gap in the cliffs where, I could see, a natural path led to the lower ledge.

For a moment I hesitated, for a false step would send me cras.h.i.+ng upon the rocky platform below, with the prospect of a further tumble of fifty feet into the sea. But being cool-headed and now well accustomed to dizzy heights, I began to descend.

The path was little more than a succession of rough steps, covered with the deserted nests of sea-fowl, here and there partially hidden by a few tufts of coa.r.s.e gra.s.s. I had to exercise considerable caution to prevent myself slipping, but at length I reached the ledge or platform without mishap.

Here I took cover behind a detached boulder to allow the birds to return, for my presence had alarmed them, so that they had temporarily flown farther afield.

I had primed my musket and laid it within arm's length, and was patiently awaiting their reappearance, when a dark shadow fell athwart the rock.

Instinctively I turned my head to ascertain the cause, when a hand was clapped over my mouth, and I felt the contact of a man's knees with the small of my back.

I was a prisoner.

CHAPTER XXII

A Leap for Life

In spite of my desperate struggles, a cord was wound tightly round my ankles, and my arms were bound behind my back. This done, a thick piece of canvas took the place of the hand across my mouth, so that I could scarce breathe, much less utter a sound; and a bandage was tied across my eyes.

Then I felt myself being set upon my feet, a rope was pa.s.sed round my waist, and I was suspended over the edge of the cliff, as helpless as a trussed fowl.