CHAPTER XLIV
HOW I HAD SPEECH WITH ROGER TRESSADY TO MY UNDOING
For maybe a full minute we fronted each other unmoving and with never aword; and thus at last I beheld this man Tressady.
A tall, lusty fellow, square of face and with pale eyes beneath a jutof shaggy brow. A vivid neckerchief was twisted about his head and inhis hairy ears swung great gold rings; his powerful right hand wasclenched to knotted fist, in place of his left glittered the deadlyhook.
"Sink me!" says he at last, drawing clenched fist across his brow,"Sink me, but ye gave me a turn, my lord! Took ye for a ghost, I did,the ghost of a shipmate o' mine, one as do lie buried yonder, noughtbut poor bones--aye, rotten bones--as this will be soon!" Here hespurned the dead man with his foot. "'Tis black rogue this, my lord,one as would ha' made worm's-meat o' poor Tressady--aye, a lump o'murdered clay like my shipmate Bartlemy yonder--but for this SilverWoman o' mine!" Here he stooped for the dagger, and having cleaned itin the sand, held it towards me upon his open palm: "Aha, here's womanhath never failed me yet! She's faithful and true, friend, faithfuland true, this Silver Woman o' mine. But 'tis an ill world, my master,and full o' bloody rogues like this sly dog as stole ashore to murderme--the fool! O 'tis a black and bloody world."
"So it is!" quoth I, 'twixt shut teeth, "And all the worse for thelikes o' you, Roger Tressady!"
"So ho--he knoweth my name then!" says Tressady, rubbing shaven chinwith silver dagger-hilt and viewing me with his pale, keen gaze: "Butdo I know him now--do I?"
"I know you for pirate and damned murderer, Roger Tressady, so shallyou quit this island this very hour or stay here to rot along withBartlemy and Red Andy!"
Now at this (and all careless of my pistol) he drew a slow pace nearer,great head out-thrust, peering.
"Why," says he at last, "why--bleed me! If--if it aren't--aye'tis--Martin! Why for sure 'tis my bonnet Marty as saved my skin timeand again aboard the 'Faithful Friend!' Though ye go mighty fine, lad,mighty fine! But good luck t'ye and a fair wind, say I!" Andthrusting the dagger into his girdle he nodded mighty affable. "Butlook'ee now, Marty, here's me wishing ye well and you wi' a barker inyour fist, 'tis no fashion to greet a shipmate, I'm thinking."
"Enough words!" says I, stepping up to him. "Do you go--alive, or stayhere dead--which?"
"Split me!" says he, never stirring. "But 'tis small choice you offer,Marty--"
"My name's Martin!"
"And a curst good name too, Marty. But I've no mind to be worm's-meatyet awhile--no! Come, what's your quarrel wi' me? First Andy wouldmurder me and now 'tis you--why for? Here's me wi' a heart of gold t'cherish a friend and never a friend t' cherish! What's your quarrel,lad, what?"
"Quarrel enough, what with your drugging me and murder aboard ship--"
"Avast, lad! Here's unchancy talk, ill and unmannered!"
"You murdered divers men aboard the 'Faithful Friend.'"
"Only three, Marty, only three--poor souls! Though yours is a foulword for't. I took 'em off, lad, took 'em off as a matter of policy.I've never took off any yet as I wasn't forced to by circumstances.Look'ee, there's men in this world born to be took off by someone orother, and they always come a-drifting across my hawse and get took offaccordingly, but don't blame me, lad, don't. And as for a-drugging ofye, Marty, true again! But love me! What was I to do? But I didn'ttake you off, lad, no, nor never shall unless you and policy force meso to do. I'm no murderer born--like Adam--curse him! Clap mealongside Adam and I'm a turtle-dove, a babe for innocence and a lambfor meekness! There never was such a murderer born into this wickedworld as Adam Penfeather, with a curse! 'Twas he as murdered BlackBartlemy and nine sweet, bright lads arter him, murdered 'em here oneby one, and wi' a parchment rove about the neck of each poor corpse,Marty. 'Twas he as drove their mates out to sea to perish in a leakyboat--ask Abnegation Mings! 'Twas him nigh murdered me more than once,aye me, lad, as can't BE killed according to the prophecy of the poormad soul aboard the old 'Delight.' Why Adam, curse him, has murderedmore men than you have years. And talking of him, how cometh it youaren't blown t' hell along wi' him and the rest?"
"Do you tell me Adam is dead?"
"Blown up aboard the 'Faithful Friend,' lad. Just after we run heraboard and grappled, aye blew up she did and nigh took us wi' her.Aha, but Adam's dead at last, curse him! Unless he can't be killedeither, unless he is--"
Here, and all at once, he turned to stare away across Deliverance, thenshrinking, cowered towards me as in sudden terror stabbing at the emptyair with his glittering hook:
"Ha--what's yon!" cried he in awful voice; and I turning whither hisglaring eyes stared (and half-dreading to behold my lady) had thepistol wrenched from my hold and the muzzle under my ear all in amoment; and stood scowling and defenceless like the vast fool I was.
"Split me!" says he, tapping me gently with his hook "O blind me if Ithought ye such a lubberly fool! So old a trick, Marty! Now look'ee,were I a murderer and loved it--like Adam, curse him--I should pulltrigger! But being Roger Tressady wi' a heart o' gold, I say sit down,lad, sit down and let us talk, friend, let us talk. Come--sit down!Never mind Andy, he shan't trouble us!" So with the pistol at my earwe sat down side by side and the dead man sprawling at our feet.
"Now first, Marty lad, how come ye here alone on Bartlemy'sisland--how?"
But sitting thus chin on fist I stared down at Red Andy's stiffeningbody silent as he, I being too full of fierce anger and bitter scorn ofmy folly for speech.
"Come, come, Marty, be sociable!" says Tressady, tapping my cheek withthe pistol-muzzle, "Was it Penfeather sent ye hither t' give an eyeto--the treasure? Was it?"
"Aye!"
"'Twould be the night he made the crew drunk and spoiled my plans. Ha,'twas like him--a cunning rogue! But for this I'd have had the shipand him and the treasure. O a right cunning, fierce rogue was Adam,and none to match him but me."
"But he nearly did for you once!" says I bitterly, "And he such asmall, timid man!"
"Look'ee, Martin, when Adam grows timid 'tis time for your bold,desperate fellows to beware! But he's dead at last, though I'd ha'felt more comfort, aye I'd ha' took it kinder had he been took off bymy Silver Woman--or this!" Here he thrust his hook before my eyes."It ain't a pretty thing, Martin, not pretty, no--but 'tis useful atall times and serves to shepherd my lambs wi' now and then, 'tislikewise a mighty persuading argument, but, and best of all--'tis sure,lad, sure. So I'd ha' took it kinder had I watched him go off on this,lad, this. My hook for my enemies and for my friends a heart o' gold!And, talking o' gold, Marty, what--what o' Bartlemy's Treasure?"
"You are happily welcome to it for all me."
"Why, that's spoke manly and like a friend, rot me but it is! And nowwhere might it lie, Marty, where?"
"I've no idea."
"What ha'n't ye found it, lad?"
"No!"
"Not even--seen it, then?"
"No!"
"Why, think o' that now, think of that! And you wi'--a fortun' o'pearls on you, Marty. These pearl studs and buttons, lad. Pearls--ha,pearls was meat and drink to Bartlemy. And here's you wi' pearls I'veseen on Bartlemy many a time. And yet you ha'n't found the treasure,says you. If I was a passionate man, Marty, I should call ye liar,says I. Howsoever what I do say is--as you've forgot, and very rightand proper. But we'm friends, you and me, so far, and so, 'twixtfriends, I ask you to think again until you remember, and to thinkhard, lad, hard."
Now as I sat (and miserably enough) staring down at my jewelled buttonsthat seemed to leer up at me like so many small, malevolent eyes, uponthe air rose a distant stir that grew and grew to sound of voices withthe creak and rumble of oars.
"Here come my lambs at last, Marty, and among 'em some o' the lads assailed wi' Bartlemy aboard the 'Delight.' There's Sam Spraggons forone--Smiling Sam as you'll mind aboard the 'Faithful Friend.' Now theSmiler knoweth many and divers methods of persuasion, Marty lad, trickslearned of the Indian
s as shall persuade a man to anything in thisworld. But first, seeing 'tis you, Martin, as played 'bonnet' to meand saved my life aboard ship, though all unknowing, here's my offer:show me how to come by Bartlemy's Treasure as is mine--mine by rights,let me get my hands on to it and none the wiser, and there shall beshare for you, Marty lad, share for you. Otherwise I must let Sam tryto persuade you to remember where it lieth--come, what d'ye say?"
"What--you'll torture me then?"
"If I must, friend, if I must. 'Tis for you to say."
"Why then 'twill be labour in vain, Tressady, for I swear I know noughtof this treasure--"
"Sit still, lad, sit still!" says he, clapping the pistol to my earagain. "Though a fool in many ways, Marty, you're proper enough man tolook at and 'twill be pity to cripple ye! Aye, there won't be muchleft when Sam is done wi' you, more's the pity."
Hereupon he hailed loudly and was answered from the lagoon, andglancing thither, I saw two boats crowded with men pulling for thebeach.
"A wildish company, Martin, desperate fellows as ever roved the Main,as I do love no more than they love me. So say the word and we'llshare Black Bartlemy's treasure betwixt us, just you and me, lad, meand you! Come, what's your will?" But shaking my head (and hopelesslyenough) I set my teeth and watched the coming of my tormentors.
And foremost was a short, plump, bright-eyed man who lacked an ear, andat his elbows two others, the one a lank rogue with a patch over oneeye, the third a tall, hairy fellow.
And observing them as they came I knew them for those same three roguesI had fought with in the hedge-tavern beside Pembury Hill on that nightI had first seen my dear lady. Hard upon their heels came a riotouscompany variously armed and accoutred, who forthwith thronged upon mepushing and jostling for sight of me, desecrating the quiet night withtheir hoarse and clamorous ribaldry. Unlovely fellows indeed and cladin garments of every shape and cut, from stained home spun and tatteredshirts to velvet coats be-laced and gold-braided; and beholding thistarnished and sordid finery, these clothes looted from sinking shipsand blazing towns, I wondered vaguely what had become of their lateowners.
At gesture from Tressady I was dragged to my feet and my arms jerked,twisted and bound before me crosswise, and so stood I helpless and inmuch painful discomfort whiles Tressady harangued his fellows, tappingme gently with his hook:
"Look'ee, my bullies," quoth he, "I promised ye gold a' plenty andhere, somewhere on this island, it lieth waiting to be found. Itneedeth but for this fool Martin here, as some o' you will mind forAdam Penfeather's comrade, with a curse, it needeth but for him tospeak, I say, and in that same hour each one o' you may fill yourclutch wi' more treasure than ever came out o' Eldorado or Manoa--sospeak he must and shall--eh bullies, eh?"
"Aye, aye, Cap'n!" they roared, pressing upon me with a shaking offists and glitter of eager steel.
"Twist his thumbs, Cap'n!" cried one.
"Slit his nose!" roared another.
"Trim his yeres!" cried a third. But Tressady silenced them with aflourish of his hook.
"Hark'ee, lads!" says he. "You all mean well, but you're bunglers,here's a little delicate matter as none can handle like the Smiler.There's none like Sam can make a man give tongue! Pass the word forSmiling Sam! Step forward, Sammy."
Hereupon cometh the great, fat fellow Spraggons who had been bo'sun'smate aboard the "Faithful Friend," forcing his way with vicious elbowsand mighty anxious to come at me.
"O love my limbs!" says he in his high-pitched voice and blinking hishairless lids at me, "O cherish my guts--leave him to me, Cap'n! Sam'sthe lad to make this yer cock crow. See now--a good, sharp knife'neath the finger or toe-nails--drew slow, mates, slow! Or a hot ironclose agen his eyes is good. Or boiling water poured in his yeresmight serve. Then--aha, Cap'n! I know a dainty little trick, a smallcord, d'ye see, twisted athwart his head just a-low the brows, twistedand twisted--as shall start his eyes out right pretty to behold. Imind too as Lollonais had a trick o' bursting a man's guts wi' water--"
"Bring him to the beach yonder!" says Tressady, watching me ever withhis pale eyes, "There shall be more room for't yonder!"
So they hailed me along betwixt them, and with huge merriment; butscarce were we out of the cove and hard beside Bartlemy's tree than Istarted to the vicious prick of a knife, and whirling about despite thefierce hands that sought to hold me, I saw Smiling Sam about to stab meagain. But now, as I strove with my reeling captors, was a flicker ofvicious steel as Tressady sprang and, whipping his hook beneath thegreat fellow's belt, whirled Smiling Sam from his feet despite hisprodigious weight and forthwith trampled upon him.
"So-ho, my merry lad!" quoth Tressady, glaring down into Smiling Sam'sconvulsed face, "And must ye be at it afore I give the word? Who'scaptain here--who? Come speak up, my roaring boy!" and he thrust hishook beneath the Smiler's great, flabby chin.
"Mercy, Cap'n--mercy!" cried Spraggons, his high-pitched voice risingto a pitiful squeal. "Not the hook, Cap'n--O Lord love me--not thehook!"
"Hook? And why not, Sam, why not? 'Tis sharp and clean and quick, andhath done the business o' nicer rogues than you, bully, aye and better,Sam, better--"
"O Cap'n--for God's sake--"
"Who're you to call on God so glib, Sammy? 'Tis marvel He don't strikeye blind, lad. Or there's your innards, Sam, here's that may whip outyour liver, lad--So!" I saw the glitter of the hook, heard SmilingSam's gasping scream as the steel bit into him, and then Tressady wason his feet smiling round upon his awed and silent company.
"Look'ee, bullies!" says he, pointing to the Smiler's inanimate form,"Here's poor Sam all swounded away at touch o' my hook like anywoman--and him my bo'sun! Pshaw! I want a man!" Here he stooped, andwrenching the silver pipe from Smiling Sam's fat throat stared from oneshuffling rogue to another: "Step forward, Abner," says he at last,"Come, you'll do--you're a prime sailor-man, you're my bo'sunhenceforth."
But now Smiling Sam awaking from his swoon moaned feebly and sat up:
"Not the hook, Cap'n!" he wailed, "O not that--"
"No, Smiler, no, I keep it for better men. Disobey me again and I'lldrown ye in a puddle. And now up wi' you, Sammy, up wi' you and standby to teach Martin here how to talk."
"Aye, aye, Cap'n--aye, aye!" says the gross fellow, rising nimblyenough, whiles his comrades closed about us expectant, and glancingfrom me to Tressady where he had seated himself on a boulder:
"Here will do!" says he, pointing to a brilliant strip of moonlit sandmidway betwixt the shadows of the cliff and Bartlemy's tree. "On hisback, hearties, and grapple him fast, he's strong well-nigh as I am.Now his hand, Smiler, his right hand--"
"Aye, aye, Cap'n!" quoth the fellow, kneeling above me where I layhelpless. "Will I cut it adrift--slow like?" And as he flourished hisknife I saw a trickle of saliva at the corners of his great, loosemouth, "Off at the wrist, Cap'n, or fingers first?"
"No, fool! His thumb-nail first--try that!"
Sweating and with every nerve a-quiver I watched that cruel knife,holding my breath in expectation of the coming agony, and then--fromthe black gloom of the cliff beyond burst a sudden echoing roar, Iheard the whine of a bullet and immediately all was confusion anduproar, shouts of dismay and a wild rush for shelter from this suddenattack. But as I struggled to my knees Tressady's great hand grippedmy throat, and dragging me behind a boulder he pinned me there.
"Stand by, lads!" he roared. "Level at the cliff yonder, but let noman pull trigger! Wait till they fire again and mark the flash!"
Helpless in my bonds and crushed beneath Tressady's knee I heard a stirand rustle to right and left of me, the click of cocking triggers andthereafter--silence. And, marking the gleam of pistol andmusket-barrel, I fell to an agony of dread, well knowing whence thatmerciful shot had come. For mayhap five minutes nought was to hearsave the rustle of stealthy arm or leg and the sound of heavybreathing, until at length one spoke, loud-voiced:
"What now, Captain? Us can't bide here all night
."
"How many are we, Purdy?"
"Thirty and nine, Captain."
"Then do you take ten and scale the starboard cliff and you, Abner,with other ten take the cliff to larboard. I'll bide here wi' the restand so we'll have 'em--"
"Them cliffs be perilous high, Cap'n!"
"My hook is more perilous, Tom Day! Off wi' you, ye dogs, or I'll showye a liver yet and be--"
He stopped all at once as, faint at first yet most dreadful to hear,there rose a man's cry, chilling the flesh with horror, a cry thatwaxed and swelled louder and louder to a hideous screaming thatshrilled upon the night and, sinking to an awful bubbling murmur, wasgone.
Up sprang Tressady to stare away across Deliverance whence thisdreadful cry had come, and I saw his hook tap-tapping at his greatchin; then beyond these shining sands was the thunderous roar of agreat gun, a furious rattle of small-arms that echoed and re-echoednear and far, and thereafter single shots in rapid succession.Hereupon rose shouts and cries of dismay:
"Lord love us we'm beset! O Cap'n, we be took fore and aft. What shallus do, Cap'n? Yon was a gun. What o' the ship, Cap'n--what o' theship?"
"Yonder--look yonder! Who comes?" cried Tressady, pointing towardsDeliverance Beach with his glittering hook.
Twisting my head as I lay, I looked whither he pointed, and saw onethat ran towards us, yet in mighty strange fashion, reeling in widezig-zags like a drunken man; and sometimes he checked, only to come onagain, and sometimes he fell, only to struggle up.
"By God--it's Abnegation!" cries Tressady. "'Tis my comrade Mings!Look to the prisoner, ye dogs--you Tom Purdy! I'm for Abnegation!"And off he went at a run. At his going was mighty talk and discussionwhat they should do, some men being for stealing away in the boats,others for taking to the woods, and all clean forgetting me where Ilay. But suddenly they fell silent all for Abnegation was hailingfeebly, and was come so nigh that we might see him, his face allbloody, his knees bending under him with weakness as he stumbled on.Suddenly, beholding Tressady, he stopped and hailed him in wild,gasping voice:
"Roger--O Roger! The devil's aboard us, Roger--Penfeather's onus--Penfeather's took the ship--I'm all that's left alive! They killedSol first--did ye--hear him die, Roger? O did ye hear--"
I saw him fall and Tressady run to lift him, and watched these piraterogues as, with oaths and cries of dismay, they hasted hither to throngabout the two; then, rolling into the nearest shadow I struggled to myfeet and found myself beneath the spreading branches of Bartlemy'stree. And now, as I strove desperately against the rope that bit intothe flesh of me, I felt the rope fall away, felt two soft arms closeabout me and a soft breath on my cheek:
"Martin--O thank God!" Turning, I caught my dear, brave lady to myheart. Heedless of aught else in the world beside I clasped her in myaching arms, and kissed her until she stayed me and showing me wherestood our enemies, a wild disordered company, took my hand and began torun. Reaching the cliff we climbed together nor stayed until she hadbrought me to a little cave where lay an arquebus together withbandoliers. "I tried to reload it, dear Martin, but 'twas vain--mypoor, silly hands shook so. For, O my dear, I--heard them--saw themand--thought I should run mad--O Martin my love!"
So now whiles I loaded the arquebus I told her as well as I mightsomething of what I thought concerning her brave spirit, of my undyinglove for her, though in fashion very lame and halting. Thereafter, theweapon being ready I placed it near and, sitting within the gloom ofthis little cave, I took my love into my arms, her dear head pillowedon my breast, and kissed the tremors from her sweet mouth and thehorror from her eyes. And thus with her arms about my neck and hersoft, smooth cheek against mine, we waited for what was to be.
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