by Kirk Munroe
CHAPTER XXIII
A BATTLE WITH SMUGGLERS
After supper that same evening the violence of Ralph Darrell's ragehad so subsided that his daughter ventured to inquire concerning itscause. When he had informed her, she said:
"Why should you let a little thing like that worry you, papa? Surelyyou can engage plenty more miners if you want them. I don't see whyyou should bother with the old mine, though. It don't seem to be worthanything."
"Not worth anything!" cried the old man, standing up in hisexcitement. "Why, child, it is worth millions! It is one of therichest copper properties in the world, and in one week's time it willbe all my own. Rather, it will be yours, since it is for you alonethat I have lived in this wilderness all these years, thereby savingit from destruction, and warding off the conspiracy that would reduceyou to beggary. For your sake only have I so guarded the secret of itswealth that no living soul suspects it. Even the men who delve in itsdepths know not the value of the material in which they toil, for Ihave not told them. Nor have I allowed an assay to be made of itssmallest fragment; but I know its worth, its fabulous value, that willmake the owner of the Copper Princess one of the richest heiresses inthe world."
"Who is the Copper Princess, papa?" asked the girl, who, thoughbewildered by the old man's extravagant statements, could not help butbe interested in them.
"You are, my darling, you are a copper princess; but the name alsoapplies to your mine, and was given to it before you were born.'Darrell's Folly' is what men, in their ignorance, call it now, but inone week's time it may assume its rightful title, and thereafter thefame of the Copper Princess will spread far and wide."
"But why not let people call the mine by its real name now, papa? Whatdifference will one week make?"
"Because," replied Ralph Darrell, bending towards his daughter, andlowering his voice almost to a whisper, as though fearful of beingoverheard, "in one week's time--only one week from this very day--thecontract will expire, and the heirs of Richard Peveril can make noclaim."
"Richard Peveril!" cried the girl, with a sudden recollection; "why,papa, that is the name of the young man who was in the cavern to-day,for he told me so himself. He is the same, you know, who came for yourlogs."
For an instant the old man glared at his daughter with an expressionso terrible that she shrank from him frightened. Then it cleared, andin his ordinary tone he said, gently:
"I wish, dear, you would go and change your dress. I don't like tohave you wear this boy's costume in the evening."
With only a moment of hesitation the girl obeyed him and left theroom.
She had no sooner disappeared than the strange expression that he hadso successfully banished for a minute returned to the man's face, and,possessing himself of a revolver, he proceeded to load it. As he didso he muttered:
"I must do it for her sake, though she must never know. RichardPeveril shall not be given an opportunity for making his claim. If heis really in the cavern he must not be allowed to escape from italive."
So saying, the old man left the room, while Mary Darrell, who had beenanxiously watching his movements through a crack of the oppositedoorway, followed swiftly after him.
In the cavern, at that moment, two groups of men were confronting eachother suspiciously, but hesitating as to what attitude they shouldassume. The expected schooner had reached the coast that evening, and,assured of safety by the single light displayed from the cliffs, hadrun boldly in to her accustomed anchorage. As the operations of thesmugglers were necessarily conducted with great promptness, a portionof her valuable cargo was immediately transferred to a small boat, andfour men accompanied it to the usual landing-place on the blackledge. Here the goods were taken out, and two of the men returned tothe schooner with the boat while the others remained on shore. Thesebecame so impatient at not receiving the usual intimation from abovethat all was in readiness for hoisting, nor any answer to theirrepeated signals, that they finally decided to avail themselves of thetackle hanging ready beside them to go up and investigate. The captainof the schooner, who was an Englishman, went first, and the other, whowas a French Canadian, followed closely after him.
A WILD-LOOKING MAN LEVELLED A PISTOL AT PEVERIL]
To their amazement they found the cavern, which they had been told wasnever entered except by old man Darrell or his son, in possession oftwo strangers, who appeared equally surprised at seeing them.
"What are you chaps doing 'ere?" demanded the Englishman.
"Oui. By gar! vat you do in zis place?" added his follower.
"I was about to ask that same question," said Peveril. "What are _you_doing here?"
"Yes, be jabers! That's what _we_ want to know. What be _yous_ doinghere?" chimed in Mike Connell.
At that moment a wild-looking, white-headed figure suddenly appearedon the scene, and, with one searching glance at Peveril, who stoodfully revealed in the light of Mike Connell's lantern, levelled apistol full at him. As he did so, a cry of terror rang through therock-hewn chamber, and a pair of soft arms were flung about the oldman from behind. By this his aim was so disconcerted that, though theshot still rang out with startling effect in that confined space, itsbullet flew wide of the intended mark, and Peveril stood unharmed.
In another second the schooner's captain had sprung upon the madmanand wrenched the pistol from his hand, crying out:
"No, no, Mr. Darrell! There must be no murder connected with thisbusiness. It is bad enough, God knows, without having that added!"
"C'est vrai! Certainment! By gar!" shouted the Canadian.
"You bet your sweet life, old man! That sort of thing don't go down inthe copper country, and it's mighty lucky for you that the youngfeller was on hand to kape you from carrying out your murderousintentions," said Mike Connell, sternly.
Peveril, seeing that the man, whom he had already recognized, wasrendered harmless by the loss of his pistol, remained coolly silent,waiting for some cue by which his own course of action might bedetermined.
"I see I have made a mistake, gentlemen," said Ralph Darrell, changinghis tactics with all a madman's cunning and readiness. "And I begMister--a--"
"Peveril," said the young man--"Richard Peveril is my name, sir."
"Yes, of course; and, as I was saying, I beg Mr. Richard Peveril'spardon for being so hasty; but my daughter here, having informed me ofhis suspicious presence in the vicinity of this warehouse, I came toprotect my property from possible depredation. Finding him in the veryplace that I was most anxious to guard, I very naturally took him fora burglar, and acted accordingly. I am sorry, of course, if I havemade a mistake; but, if I remember rightly, I have already hadoccasion to accuse Mr. Peveril of trespassing, and to order him frommy premises."
"You did, sir, and I refused to go until I had recovered certainproperty to which I have a claim."
"Do you refuse to go now, when I tell you that the property inquestion has been removed beyond your reach?"
"I do not."
"Will you promise never to return?"
"I will not."
"Will you go with these men on their schooner?"
"Certainly not, unless compelled by force, for I have no inclinationto trust myself with a gang of smugglers."
By this time two more of the schooner's crew, who had reached theledge with a second boat-load of goods in time to be attracted by thepistol-shot in the cavern, had made their appearance on the scene, andstood wonderingly behind their captain.
To this individual the old man whispered: "I will give you onethousand dollars to capture this spy, who threatens to break up ourbusiness. Carry him on board your schooner, and keep him there for oneweek--one whole week, remember. Five hundred down, and the remainderat the end of the week, if you have him still on board."
"Done!" said the captain, eagerly; and, turning to his men, hemuttered a few words to them in a low tone.
Peveril and Connell watched this by-play with considerable anxiety,for they had no idea what action would be best to take.
It would befolly to make an attack on so strong a force, especially as they hadno direct provocation for so doing. Even should they succeed indriving them from the cavern, they had no clear idea of what would begained. At the same time they did not relish the idea of waitingquietly while the others carried on their secret consultation.
"The divils mean mischief, Mister Peril," whispered Connell. "Kapeyour eye on them; and mind, if we get separated in the shindy, I'm notthe lad to desert a friend. Look out! Here they come! Take that, youimps of Satan!"
With this final exclamation, the Irishman hurled his lighted lanternfull into the faces of the group at that moment rushing towards them.It struck with a crash of glass, and then everything was enveloped indarkness.
The fight was fierce, but short-lived. Peveril found himself strikingout wildly, was conscious of delivering several telling blows, and ofreceiving twice as many in return. Then he was overwhelmed by numbers,and, still fighting stoutly, was borne to the rocky floor.
When all was over and a lantern was brought, it revealed severalbloody faces and blackened eyes. Peveril was lying flat on his back,with three men holding him down. Connell had disappeared, and so hadMary Darrell, who was still looked upon by all present, except herfather, as being a boy. The old man held the lighted lantern, and thecaptain of the schooner, swearing savagely, was holding his hands tohis face, which had been badly cut by the Irishman's missile.
A cord was brought, the very one that had lowered the lunch-basket,and with it Peveril was trussed like a fowl for roasting. Then he wasswung down to the ledge at the base of the cliffs, tossed into a boat,and rowed away. A few minutes later he was handed aboard the schooner,taken below, and chucked into a small, evil-smelling state-room, thedoor of which was locked behind him.
It was a very unpleasant position to occupy, and yet his thoughts werenot dwelling half so much upon it as they were upon the fact that theyoung person in golf costume who had saved his life that evening hadbeen spoken of as a _daughter_.