Gascoyne, the Sandal-Wood Trader

by R. M. Ballantyne

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

  GREATER MYSTERIES THAN EVER--A BOLD MOVE AND A CLEVER ESCAPE.

  We return now to the _Talisman_.

  The instant the broadside of the cruiser burst with such violence, andin such close proximity, on Manton's ears, he felt that he had run intothe very jaws of the lion; and that escape was almost impossible. Thebold heart of the pirate quailed at the thought of his impending fate,but the fear caused by conscious guilt was momentary; his constitutionalcourage returned so violently as to render him reckless.

  It was too late to put about and avoid being seen, for, before the shotwas fired, the schooner had already almost run into the narrow channelbetween the island and the shore. A few seconds later, she sailedgracefully into view of the amazed Montague, who at once recognised thepirate vessel from Gascoyne's faithful description of her, and hurriedlygave orders to load with ball and grape, while a boat was lowered inorder to slew the ship round more rapidly, so as to bring her broadsideto bear on the schooner.

  To say that Gascoyne beheld all this unmoved would be to give a falseimpression of the man. He knew the ring of his great gun too well torequire the schooner to come in sight in order to convince him that hisvessel was near at hand. When, therefore, she appeared, and Montagueturned to him with a hasty glance of suspicion and pointed to her, hehad completely banished every trace of feeling from his countenance, andsat on the taffrail puffing his cigar with an air of calm satisfaction.Nodding to Montague's glance of inquiry, he said--

  "Ay, that's the pirate. I told you he was a bold fellow, but I did notthink he was quite so bold as to attempt _this_!"

  To do Gascoyne justice, he told the plain truth here; for, having sent aperemptory order to his mate by John Bumpus, not to move from hisanchorage on any account whatever, he was not a little surprised as wellas enraged at what he supposed was Manton's mutinous conduct. But, aswe have said, his feelings were confined to his breast--they found noindex in his grave face.

  Montague suspected, nevertheless, that his pilot was assuming acomposure which he did not feel; for, from the manner of the meeting ofthe two vessels, he was persuaded that it was as little expected on thepart of the pirates as of himself. It was with a feeling of curiosity,therefore, as to what reply he should receive, that he put thequestion--

  "What would Mr Gascoyne advise me to do _now_?"

  "Blow the villains out of the water," was the quick answer; "I wouldhave done so before now, had I been you."

  "Perhaps you might, but not _much_ sooner," retorted the other, pointingto the guns which were ready loaded, while the men stood at theirstations matches in hand only waiting for the broadside to be brought tobear on the little vessel, when an iron shower would be sent against herwhich must, at such short range, have infallibly sent her to the bottom.

  The mate of the pirate schooner was quite alive to his danger, and hadtaken the only means in his power to prevent it. Close to where hisvessel lay, a large rock rose between the shore of the large island andthe islet in the bay which has been described as separating the twovessels from each other. Owing to the formation of the coast at thisplace, a powerful stream ran between the rock and this islet at lowtide. It happened to be flowing out at that time like a mill-race.Manton saw that the schooner was being sucked into this stream. Inother circumstances, he would have endeavoured to avoid the danger; forthe channel was barely wide enough to allow even a small craft to passbetween the rocks; but now he resolved to risk it.

  He knew that any attempt to put the schooner about, would only hastenthe efforts of the cruiser to bring her broadside to bear on him. Healso knew that, in the course of a few seconds, he would be carriedthrough the stream into the shelter of the rocky point. He thereforeordered the men to lie down on the deck; while, in a careless manner, heslewed the big brass gun round, so as to point it at the man-of-war.

  Gascoyne at once understood the intended manoeuvre of his mate; and, inspite of himself, a gleam of triumph shot from his eyes. Montaguehimself suspected that his prize was not altogether so sure as he haddeemed it; and he urged the men in the boat to put forth their utmostefforts. The _Talisman_ was almost slewed into position, when thepirate schooner was observed to move rapidly through the water, sternforemost, in the direction of the point. At first Montague couldscarcely credit his eyes; but when he saw the end of the main-boom passbehind the point, he became painfully alive to the fact that the wholevessel would certainly follow in the course of a few seconds. Althoughthe most of his guns were still not sufficiently well pointed, he gavethe order to fire them in succession. The entire broadside burst inthis manner from the side of the _Talisman_, with a prolonged and mightycrash or roar, and tore up the waters of the narrow channel.

  Most of the iron storm passed close by the head of the pirate. However,only one ball took effect; it touched the end of the bowsprit, and sentthe jib-boom into the air in splinters. Manton applied the match to thebrass gun almost at the same moment, and the heavy ringing roar of herexplosion seemed like a prolonged echo of the broadside. The gun waswell aimed; but the schooner had already passed so far behind the point,that the ball struck a projecting part of the cliff; dashed it intoatoms, and, glancing upwards, passed through the cap of the _Talisman's_mizzen-mast, and brought the lower yard, with all its gear, rattlingdown on the quarter-deck. When the smoke cleared away, the _Avenger_had vanished from the scene.

  To put the ship about, and follow the pirate schooner, was the firstimpulse of Montague; but, on second thoughts, he felt that the risk ofgetting on the rocks in the narrow channel was too great to be lightlyrun. He therefore gave orders to warp the ship about, and steer roundthe islet, on the other side of which he fully expected to find thepirate. But time was lost in attempting to do this, in consequence ofthe wreck of the mizzen-mast having fouled the rudder. When the_Talisman_ at last got under way, and rounded the outside point of theislet, no vessel of any kind was to be seen.

  Amazed beyond measure, and deeply chagrined, the unfortunate captain ofthe man-of-war turned to Gascoyne, who still sat quietly on the taffrailsmoking his cigar--

  "Does this pirate schooner sport wings as well as sails?" said he; "forunless she does, and has flown over the mountains, I cannot see how shecould disappear in so short a space of time."

  "I told you the pirate was a bold man; and now he has proved himself aclever fellow. Whether he sports wings or no is best known to himself.Perhaps he can dive. If so, we have only to watch until he comes to thesurface, and shoot him leisurely."

  "Well, he is off; there is no doubt of that," returned Montague. "Andnow, Mr Gascoyne, since it is vain for me to chase a vessel possessedof such mysterious qualities, you will not object, I daresay, to guidemy ship to the bay where your own little schooner lies. I have a fancyto anchor there."

  "By all means," said Gascoyne, coolly. "It will afford me much pleasureto do as you wish, and to have you alongside of my little craft."

  Montague was surprised at the perfect coolness with which the otherreceived this proposal. He was persuaded that there must be somemysterious connexion between the pirate schooner and the sandal-woodtrader, although his ideas on this point were somewhat undefined andconfused; and he had expected that Gascoyne would have shewn somesymptoms of perplexity, on being thus ordered to conduct the _Talisman_to a spot where he suspected no schooner would be found; or, if found,would appear under such a changed aspect, as to warrant his seizing iton suspicion. As Gascoyne, however, shewed perfect willingness to obeythe order, he turned away and left his strange pilot to conduct the shipthrough the reefs, having previously given him to understand that thetouching of a rock, and the termination of his (Gascoyne's) life, wouldcertainly be simultaneous events.

  Meanwhile the _Avenger_, alias the _Foam_, had steered direct for theshore, into which she apparently ran and disappeared like aphantom-ship. The coast of this part of the island, where the events weare narrating occurred, was peculiarly formed. There were severalnarrow inlet
s in the high cliffs which were exceedingly deep, but barelywide enough to admit of the passage of a large boat, or a small vessel.Many of these inlets or creeks, which in some respects resembled thenarrow fjords of Norway, though on a miniature scale, were so thicklyfringed with trees, and the luxuriant undergrowth peculiar to southernclimes, that their existence could not be detected from the sea.Indeed, even after the entrance to any one of them was discovered, noone would have imagined it to extend so far inland.

  Two of those deep narrow inlets, opening from opposite sides of the capewhich lay close to the islet above referred to, had approached so closeto each other at their upper extremities? that they had at last met, inconsequence of the sea undermining and throwing down the cliff thatseparated them. Thus the cape was in reality an island; and the twounited inlets formed a narrow strait, through which the _Avenger_ passedto her former anchorage, by means of four pair of powerful sweeps oroars. This secret passage was well known to the pirates; and it waswith a lurking feeling that it might some day prove of use to him, thatGascoyne invariably anchored near to it when he visited the island as asandal-wood trader.

  During the transit, the carpenters of the schooner were not idle. Thered streak and flag, and griffin's head, were removed; the big gun wascovered with the long boat, and the vessel which entered the one end ofthe channel as the warlike _Avenger_, issued from the other side as thepeaceful _Foam_; and, rowing to her former anchorage, dropt anchor. Theshattered jib-boom had been replaced by a spare one, and part of thecrew were stowed away under the cargo, in an empty space of the holdreserved for this special purpose, and for concealing arms. A few ofthem were also landed, not far from the cliff over which poor Bumpus hadbeen thrown, with orders to remain concealed, and be ready to embark ata moment's notice.

  Soon after the schooner anchored, the boat which had been sent off insearch of the body of our unfortunate seaman returned, having failed todiscover the object for which it was sent out.

  The breeze had by this time died away almost entirely, so that threehours elapsed before the _Talisman_ rounded the point, stood into thebay, and dropt anchor at a distance of about two miles from thesuspected schooner.