CHAPTER XXV
LADY BIDDY IS SET ASHORE, BUT LITTLE MERCY THEREIN
Hearing these words, Lady Biddy was thrown into such disorder that even had Rodrigues been of dull perception he might have read in her distracted countenance justification of his suspicions. Stepping aside, he fetches a seat placed there for his convenience, and sets it down beside Lady Biddy, who, for want of strength to stand up, sank into it. Then going to the rail, he calls to his boatswain, bidding him to let down Tonga, as he had discovered who it was that stabbed him.
"But," adds he, "no man is to stir from his post till he has my further command."
Whereupon the black was lowered down and hauled upon deck, where he lay for some time helpless and supine.
While this was doing, Rodrigues turns again to Lady Biddy, who was now come to herself again somewhat, and says he:
"You have shown a tender heart for the boy who betrayed you, and the negro who would have shown you no pity. What will you do for the man who saved you?"
Lady Biddy dropped her chin upon her bosom, and clasped her hands in silence, feeling how helpless she was, and how incapable of coping with the difficulty which now beset her.
"That he is courageous and strong he has given us ample proof," continues Rodrigues; "but the strength and vigor of a lion can not save him from the wrath of my company. I have but to tell them an enemy lies hid in the cabin below, and they will seize him and put him to greater torture than the black has endured. They will tear him limb from limb before your eyes, and even I could not save him from that horrid death."
"But I could," cries Lady Biddy, starting up. "Ay, and I will. Lift your voice to those heartless tigers below, and I will lift mine to him. Ere they can move a pace he will be beyond their violence, and I yours."
Rodrigues looked at her steadfastly through his half-closed eyelids, as if to make sure this threat was not idle; nay, by a contemptuous smile he provoked her to give him a further assurance. And this she did, being greatly wrought.
"We are prepared for the worst. I have but to cry to him for help, and he will fire the gunpowder below. Our fate will be no worse than yours, so take heed."
Saying this she stepped quickly back, placing the chair between herself and Rodrigues, that no treacherous blow from him might deprive her of the power to save me from the fate he threatened.
For an instant Rodrigues seemed taken aback by this revelation, but recovering his self-command, he says, with his usual smoothness and subtlety:
"Madam, I am greatly obliged for this warning, though it was quite unnecessary, as you will see for yourself if you consider the matter calmly. In the first place, I am not likely to do anything which may cause you to cry for help; and, in the second, I mean no mischief to your friend. Had that been my purpose, I could have secretly instructed my company to search the cabin and secure our dangerous foe the moment I discovered he was there. By sparing him, I designed to strengthen my claim upon your consideration – I hope still to merit your gratitude. To that end, as you perceive, I have ordered my company to stand to their posts."
In this there was an appearance of truth which Lady Biddy could not see through; so that it had the effect of calming her spirit somewhat, which was what Rodrigues did, doubtless, aim at.
"You must by this time know," he continued, "that I am a man who, having set his mind upon the achievement of an object, braves all things to that end. I never yet abandoned my purpose while there remained a single means of attaining to it. I have set my mind on abandoning this desperate career and marrying you, and to accomplish this design I am prepared to sacrifice everything; nay, I will go so far as to enrich the man who saved you from the negro. Listen!"
He made a step forward, but Lady Biddy, still doubtful of his intent (for none could look upon his face without seeing "villain" writ there), also drew back a step. Rodrigues, taking no notice of this act of prudence (save by a smile), set his hands on the back of the seat, as if that had been his sole purpose, and leaning forward in an easy, careless manner, continues:
"The boats lie alongside ready to carry my men ashore for their refreshment. I will send every one of my company away, leaving none on board save you and myself and our friend below. When the coast is clear, you and I will embark in my own boat, and we will abandon the ship to him" (pointing below). "As you see, there is not a ripple on the water; with a couple of hours' exertion I shall bring you to a village whence we may be transported by land to the town where I shall give you a home worthy of any princess. Will you accept my offer?"
"No," cries Lady Biddy, without taking an instant to consider.
"I will give you an hour to reflect," says Rodrigues.
"Nothing can change my decision, do what you will."
"You are prepared to destroy every soul in this ship – even the friend to whom you owe your life – rather than accept the terms I offer? You realize what you threaten?"
"Yes," says she; "not I, but you, must answer to God for the destruction of our lives."
He smiled scornfully, as if that consideration were the least of his troubles; then he bent his head, and, knitting his brows, remained in thought for a while. Suddenly raising his head, as if his final decision was made, he says:
"You compel me to abandon the fondest hope I have cherished? Be it so. Now to undo this business, and forget my folly."
Turning about, he calls to the boatswain to have his barge manned and brought to the ship's landing-steps.
"I must ask you, madam," says he, again addressing my lady, "to leave this ship. I must think now only of my own safety and the welfare of my company."
Not foreseeing her danger, but only transported with joy to think she was to be delivered from her captivity, Lady Biddy replied that she demanded nothing better.
"Your effects will be landed afterwards. I doubt if you would care for me to send my men into your cabin for them at the present moment."
"But," says Lady Biddy, thinking of me, and then she stopped.
"I understand what is in your thoughts. You are concerned for your friend; so am I. I cannot answer for his life if my men find him. They would insist upon his death in return for the injury inflicted upon Tonga. Therefore must he wait until the company is landed and gone in search of water."
At this moment the boatswain came to say that the boat was prepared.
"You will take this lady to the shore, and see that no injury is offered her – not a word uttered that may offend her," says Rodrigues; and then stepping back, that she might have freedom to pass, he takes off his hat and makes her a prodigious fine bow. Yet Lady Biddy hesitated, fearing treachery to me; and still more might she have feared it if her spirits had been quite composed, and her judgment in a condition to weigh all that Rodrigues had said.
"What have you to fear?" says he, speaking low. "What harm could the most treacherous wretch inflict with impunity? If you have told the truth – which I do not doubt – a cry from you will insure the destruction of all you leave in this ship. Your cry from the shore would sound as clearly in this still air as from here. Think what you will of me, but believe that I am not a fool. Farewell!"
Hoping for the best, seeing no better course open to her, and yet troubled with misgivings, Lady Biddy descended the side and took her place in the barge. Then in silence the men pulled her ashore. Yet did they look keenly one at the other, as if expecting some merry turn of this business – one thrusting his tongue in his cheek, a second winking his eye, and a third hawking as if he had a rheum.
However, they said not one word, and having set Lady Biddy on shore very tenderly, they shoved off and returned to the ship.
Now, not knowing which way to turn nor what to do, for her position being so unexpected, and feeling like one set alone in another world, Lady Biddy rested her hand on the tree by which she stood, and in a kind of maze watched the boat returning to the ship.
Then she began to wonder how long it would be ere the men would be dispersed and I should come to her, and what means we should find of getting to that town Rodrigues had spoken of.
The men left the boat and went up on board, and still Lady Biddy watched, as if she had but just woke from her sleep, and was dazed (as she told me); but of a sudden a great shout burst upon her ear, and as quickly it flashed upon her intelligence that a false trick had been put upon her, which she might have foreseen had she been as subtle as Rodrigues, which (thanks be to God) she was not. Then for the first time it occurred to her that while she was being carried to the shore Rodrigues might send part of his company below to take the powder from the armory, or to be prepared with muskets to shoot me dead the moment I lifted the trap.
And now hearing this shout she was convinced that precautions had been taken to prevent the blowing up of the ship, and the men were rushing into the cabin to take me.
But this was not the worst. As she strained her eyes, as if to pierce the side of the ship and know my fate, she perceived a boat shoot from the further side of the ship and turn towards her. For a moment she believed that I had contrived to escape, for there was but one man in the boat; but looking more narrowly she perceived, to her horror, that the man was Tonga the negro; and coming towards her he raised a terrible yell of savage joy and triumph.
Rodrigues, true to his word, had offered the black a reward for the pain he had been put to; and now, as he came on exulting to satiate his lust and vengeance, my poor Lady Biddy screamed aloud to me.
But it was too late; and Lady Biddy, feeling she was now most surely undone, could not even cry again for help.
CHAPTER XXVI
HOW I GOT AWAY FROM THE VILE PIRATE AND SETTLED TONGA HIS BUSINESS
Seeing nothing but impenetrable thickets on one hand, and the sea on the other, and no means of escape either this way or that from the raging savage, Lady Biddy, I say, did give herself up for lost; and so, falling on her knees, she prayed the Almighty to take her life there and then, that she might be saved from the loathsome passion of the negro. Yet was her case not so bad as to call for this last remedy neither, as I shall presently show.
In great commotion of mind I stood in the little cabin with the grenade in my hand and the lamp burning steadily at my feet, prepared to play the part of the destroyer, while still cherishing the faint flickering hope that my lot rather was to be that of the preserver.
Thus I waited an incredible length of time (as it seemed to me), until, my anxiety becoming no longer tolerable, I scratched again upon the wall for a signal to Lady Biddy.
Then getting no answer, I ventured again to the panel-door and peeped through. The big cabin was empty; nor could I spy through the further door any sign of her, but only the ship's company drawn across the deck, with Tonga lying prone before them.
But at a glance I perceived that most of the men were looking up towards the deck over my head, and then catching a faint sound from thence, which my eager intelligence made out to be my lady's voice, I was no longer in doubt as to her whereabouts.
At this point I heard Rodrigues call to his boatswain to man the boat, which he speedily set about to do. Now, while these fellows were thus busily occupied, I saw my chance to get out on to the gallery unperceived through the little door there, which had been set open to let a current of air through. So creeping low and nimble as any cat I crossed the space that was open to observation from the deck (without being seen, thanks be to God), and that way got me on to the quarter gallery.
Yet what I was to do there, I knew not; still, it was a comfort to change my place, for any shift seems for the best when one is tormented with apprehension.
After another tedious spell I heard the oars splash, and presently, to my complete amazement, I caught sight of the barge, with eight or ten lusty men in it, pulling towards the shore with all their will, and Lady Biddy seated on one of the thwarts alone.
I withdrew cautiously to that end of the gallery where the bulk of the ship did somewhat conceal me from the rowers in the boat, whose faces were towards the ship (yet not so far but that, crouching down, I might watch what came of this business), and thence I saw them set Lady Biddy on shore. At first I thought that this was but an indulgence of Rodrigues, that she might refresh herself while the men were getting water; but this notion was put out of my head the next minute by seeing the fellows shove off and return towards the ship, leaving her there alone. Had she told Rodrigues all, and was the boat returning to fetch me, I asked myself, or was there some wicked design to leave her there alone?
Being better minded to trust myself than Rodrigues, I made up my mind to swim to the shore, which was no great matter, the distance being half a mile at the outside, and the sea very fair and smooth; so climbing over the rail, I dropped from that gallery into the lower one which projected beyond it. And luckily for me I did so at that time, for scarcely had I come to my feet when I heard a mighty uproar on the deck, with the clatter of arms (which, doubtless, had been silently furnished for the men's use from the armory while Lady Biddy was being carried to the shore), and then much hallooing and shouting in that part of the coach I had so fortunately got out of. Nay, I did hear one rascal come to the gallery door above and cry, as he looked out, that I was not there.
"Now," thinks I, "is my time to get out of this hornets' nest"; and so clambering over this rail as I had over the other, and recommending myself to Providence (for as like as not in such waters as these might be sharks or water serpents), I dropped down plumb into the water, and coming up again, struck out vigorously for the shore, keeping as low under water as I well could.
"Happily," thinks I, "they are looking for me elsewhere, so may I chance to escape this bout scot free"; and with this thought, added to the bewildering delightful expectation of being ere long beside Lady Biddy and at a safe distance from the tiger who sought my destruction, I pushed on with great speed, feeling no fatigue whatever, but only a great joy.
Then suddenly I heard a hoarse shout of triumph, which did for the moment lead me to think I had been perceived from the ship; but casting my eye around I spied on my right hand a skiff and Tonga in it, pulling the oars; yet feebly, because of his arms being wrenched as I have described.
'Twas a wonder he had not caught sight of me; but I think his eyes were chiefly occupied in glancing over his shoulder to see if the fair girl were trying to escape him, and truly, as the proverb runs, "One sees naught but the deer when one runs with the hounds."
As I caught sight of him he shifted his oars, which he had hitherto been pulling (and could, I take it, no longer do for the suffering of his arms), and standing up in the boat, with his face to the shore, he took to pushing the oars for his greater comfort. Thus was his back set towards me, so that, unseen and with very little ado, I overtook the boat, and laying hold of the sling at the stern, I let him pull me towards the shore, to his greater pain and exhaustion.
This maneuver did not serve me another turn, for against the black stern of the boat my dark head was indistinguishable from the ship, unless one did carefully examine with a spyglass; and doubtless by this time Rodrigues and his company, having found that I was no longer in the ship, were scanning the sea to know if I were there. That I had been in the cabin pretty recently, and that Lady Biddy had told him no more than the truth, Rodrigues might see full well by the burning lamp and the grenade I had left behind me.
At last the boat ran around, and, dropping my feet, I felt the sandy bottom. Then, glancing along the side, I saw my poor Lady Biddy kneeling beside a tree with her face hid in her hands, to shut out the sight of that horrid black, which did stir my entrails with hatred of him.
Yet I saw full well that I must not discover myself till I was got on firm ground, for a man up to his neck is powerless – though he have the heart of a lion – against another whose limbs are free to act. With a blow of an oar Tonga might have settled my business; and, knowing this, I kept still hid from him under the gunwale of the boat until he leapt out on to the sand.
Crouching down more like a tiger than a human being, he slowly went up the sandy slope, and to make the resemblance greater, a low growl of savage exultation came from his throat, and he drew up his arms, with all his fingers spread out, as if preparing to spring upon his poor helpless victim.
Quickly and yet silently I made my way out of the water and followed in his footsteps. Arms I had none, but presently, drawing near him, I spied a great stone half buried in the sand, and this I wrenched up at one tug, though it weighed, as I believe, over a quarter of a hundredweight, and was sucked down by the wet sand.
Hearing the sound that was made by the wet sand dropping from the stone, he turned about, and, catching sight of me, set up a fearful cry of rage; but it was the last cry he ever made, for I held the stone lifted over my head, and, dashing it forward with all the might of my body, I struck him full in the face with it, crushing in the bones and bursting the brains from his skull.
Then all was silent, save a faint cry of despair from Lady Biddy, who, daring not to uncover her eyes from the moment she saw the black on shore, thought that his cry of rage was intended for her, and that the crash which followed was but some preparation for her destruction.
I thew some sand over the bloody, formless thing that had been a human face the minute before, that the ghastly spectacle might not shock Lady Biddy, and then I went to her side softly over the sand.
Now did I fear to let Lady Biddy know that her enemy was dead and a deliverer at hand, lest by the sudden commotion of feelings I might unhinge her mind. For a moment I wondering how I should manage this business for the best, and then, my wits failing to help me, I yielded to the desire of my heart, and dropping on my knees by her side murmured with a true and devout heart:
"God be praised!"
CHAPTER XXVII
OF OUR FURTHER ESCAPES, AND A STRATAGEM BY WHICH OUR ENEMIES WERE PUT TO GREAT DISCOMFORT
Hearing these words, Lady Biddy did rouse herself up as from a dream, and seeing me kneeling by her side with bent head, and the negro lying at a distance quite still she gave a little scream of surprise, and then, clasping my folded hands in hers, fell to weeping and laughing out of all measure; but I knew not which was the more piteous to hear.
"You have saved me again. You good Benet – again saved!" cried she.
"Ay, Lady Biddy," says I. "Yet I am but the happy instrument of a Divine Grace; and you should think, not of me, but of Him whose servant I am."
These serious words had the effect I wished, for at once she grew calmer, and, ceasing to smile, did with all her heart pour out grateful thanks to Heaven. And never did holy man more devoutly join in heartfelt praise than I who was, as I may say, a sinner.
From this sweet communion we were aroused in a sudden and terrible manner. The thunder of a cannon smote our ears, and at the same moment a great splinter was torn out of the side of the tree, against which we knelt, by a ball. Yet we were not harmed thereby so much as a hair of our heads.
As we started to our feet we heard a great shout from the sea, and casting our eyes that way we perceived a couple of boats making for the shore as hard as ever the fellows within them could pull, so that we could not doubt but that Rodrigues had spied us from the ship, and sent his company in our pursuit.
"Now, Lady Biddy," says I, "if you have strength we must run for it."
"Ay," says she with alacrity, and no sign of her late weakness. "Whither you will, Benet."
With that she puts her little soft hand in mine, and so, like two children, we started to run along the sands. And well it was we were so prompt, for ere we had got a dozen yards another gun was fired from the ship, and this time charged with slug shot that scattered prodigiously, but, thanks be to God, did us no hurt in the world; at which I laughed aloud, and Lady Biddy joined her pretty mirth as gay as any peal of bells, so elated was she with our happy release.
Yet were we laughing ere we were out of the wood, or rather, as I may say, ere we were in it, for there lay our only chance of safety from those villains who were now nearing the shore. But how to penetrate the thicket of brambles, lianas, ground-pines, agaves, and other prickly shrubs that did hedge the land beyond the sea-sands, where the ground rose towards the woods, I knew not; for though I should not have hesitated to plunge into this growth being by myself, albeit the flesh of my legs would have paid dearly, yet could I attempt no such thing with Lady Biddy, whose skirts had been torn from her body and her tender limbs lacerated cruelly at the very outset, and she eventually been held a prisoner in the bonds of those thorny vines. So still we kept to the coast, running on as swiftly as the shifting sand would allow, all the time hand in hand, and with a good heart, until another shout behind us made my heart sink and banished the smile from my lady's cheek; for now we knew that one of the boats had reached the shore.
"A little further, Lady Biddy – a little further," says I cheerfully.
"Yes, Benet," says she, hopefully still, yet with difficulty from the shortness of her breathing. "I can run a good way yet."
Now glancing aside I saw a hillside where the trees were of a prodigious height, and so close together that their branches mingled in one wide-spreading solid canopy, and loth I was to pass them by, for I knew by my experiences on the Oronoque that beneath these trees nothing grew but toadstools and such growth for the want of light, and there might we have run with ease as far as that sort of trees extended, but the thicket on the hither side was impassable, so there was no help for it but to run on.
Presently I saw Lady Biddy bend her head, biting her nether lip with her teeth, as if to control some pain, and this, together with hearing the report of a musket in our rear, showing that our pursuers were getting within gunshot of us, did work me up with desperation, so that I was minded to catch my companion in my arms, and essay whether I might not that way struggle through the thorny barrier. And this course I resolved to take if in fifty paces no less desperate measure was to be found.
Fifty paces were covered, and yet there was no sign of any opening in that rank growth; then I added another ten; and after that, ten more; when, casting my eye again upon Lady Biddy, I saw in her despairing eyes that she could go no further.
I stopped, and, leaning upon my shoulder for support, she gasps —
"One moment, Benet. I shall be better in a moment."
I looked back (yet in a manner not to affright the poor girl), and saw the seamen doggedly running on, but no nearer, Heaven be thanked, which surprised me, although each man was encumbered with his musket and other arms. But seeing us at a stand they set up a shout, and began to mend their pace.
"Now," said Lady Biddy, and again we started forward.
Hardly had we made half a dozen yards when I stopped her with a cry of joy, for there, lying flush with the outlying growth of what I term the thicket, was a great mass of dry, brown, broad leaves, which I knew for the head of a cabbage-tree, which, though it promised nothing to an inexperienced eye, did to mine betoken a means of crossing the thicket by its stem, which is never less than 150 feet long in one falling to decay, and is more often 250 feet. And happily this tree in falling athwart the thicket had struck upon a rock, so that it was lifted well up above the more tangled growth.
Now I knew that if we could once get upon the stem of that tree we might have a convenient bridge for getting to a place where the ground was freer; and as there was no time to consider whether the thing was possible or not, I hurried Lady Biddy thither, and bidding her grip me tightly by the shoulders, I did set myself with all the strength and agility I possessed (which was doubled by the desperate occasion), to drag myself up by the hanging leaves to the crown of it; and thanks to the fibers of these leaves being of a prodigious toughness, as well as to the help of Providence, I succeeded so well that in a twinkle we stood side by side upon the trunk of this fallen tree.
Here were we well concealed from sight, but not so secure neither as was to my taste; so, begging Lady Biddy stay there till my return, I ran nimbly down the length of the palmetto, and then along the inner side of the thicket beneath the trees, where the growth was of moderate proportion, back in the direction we had come, till guessing I was about come level with our pursuers, I set up a great mocking laugh of derision to be heard of them. Upon which, to my great satisfaction, I heard one of the seamen shout to his fellows, who were in advance, to come back, for they had passed the game.
"Ay," shouts I, "and you'll have to look sharp to catch us at that."
The fellows replied by firing a volley into the thicket where they deemed I might be, but they might as usefully have fired into the sand for all the damage their bullets could do to me through that huge mass of shrubs and plants, whereof the best part are as tough as leather.
I gave them another laugh, but still a little further back from the part where I had left Lady Biddy, to make them conclude we were flying thence, and this enraging them beyond measure, they straightway plunged into the thicket, fancying that we had passed through, and that they might do the same. And first of all there was great cursing amongst them for the thorns that stuck in their legs; but as they pushed further in to free themselves, and only got the worse entangled, being torn and rent (as they must) from head to foot at every moment, the cries of pain and rage that these wretches set up were enough to make any heart glad to hear.
Leaving them in this pickle I sped back the way I had come, and found Lady Biddy had of herself passed along the length of the great cabbage tree and got down by the upturned roots. Without waste of time we continued our way, keeping within the grateful shade of the trees, yet holding on within sight of the thicket that we might have some notion, however vague, of our whereabouts.
We kept on at a briskish pace without stopping (except that once I went a little out of my way to pluck some guave apples, which were a great refreshment and comfort to us) for best part of an hour, I take it, by which time the nature of the ground took a new aspect, and seeing some dead reeds entangled in the branches of a bush I perceived they must have been left there by flood of waters. This led me to conclude we were near some river, which gave me no small satisfaction, for already my mind was becoming anxious with regard to the question of water to drink. As we proceeded the traces of flood became more plentiful, and at length coming to the verge of the wood we found ourselves on the edge of a lagoon, stretching upwards of a mile towards a broad river, whose yellow waters were cut off from the blue sea by a long neck of sand that extended as far as the eye could reach.
This lagoon was a dismal waste of refuse washed down by the swollen river in the rainy season, for as yet the new growth of reeds had not penetrated the mass, except here and there where a patch of tender green rose amidst the wide expanse of rotting vegetation. But if the foreground was dismal to look on, the eye was recompensed by that which lay beyond. For there the sky was pierced by the glittering summits of prodigious mountains, whose sides swept down to lesser hills of purple rock, and these again in undulating slopes to the blue sea and the river, which on its further side shone like gold in the sunlight. And these lower slopes did at first look as though a sunset cloud had settled upon them; yet at a second glance did rather seem as if they were covered over with a vast tapestry, in which were woven all shades of green, mingled with bright patches of red and orange, purple and rose-pink, by reason of the many-hued flowers which crowned the trees, as no traveler shall deny who has cast eyes on those wondrous woods.
For a minute we stood still looking in amaze and delight upon this prospect, for it was the first we had seen of those mountains, but then we bethought us of those wretches we had left behind (who for certain would stay no longer than they could help in the thorns), and likewise I perceived we must yet follow up the course of this river before we could get water fit to drink. Added to which the lagoon bred abundance of stinging flies, and I feared there might likewise be reptiles in such a spot, so again we stepped forward.
Before long we found it necessary to penetrate further into the wood by reason of the ground rising abruptly from the river; yet still we kept as near as might be to the river, every now and again pausing in our upward walk where a break offered view of the river below and the mountains beyond.
We kept on, for Lady Biddy would not allow that she was fatigued, until I heard, as I thought, the breaking of water; and passing a huge rock we saw, to my inexpressible satisfaction, a silvery stream of water tumbling down the gorge that opened before us.