John Corwell, Sailor And Miner; and, Poisonous Fish
Page 4
IV
A light, cool breeze, which had set in at daylight, was blowing whenMary Corwell boarded the _Ceres_. Totten and Harris met her at thegangway, caps in hand. Poor Sam, their former shipmate, had died offever a month before. They were delighted to hear that she intended toremain on board, and Harris at once told Miguel, the scoundrelly-facedManila cook, to get breakfast ready.
"And you must have your breakfast with me," said Mary, "and after thatyou must obey _my_ orders. I am to be captain to-day."
* * * * *
As she and the two seamen sat aft under the awning, at their breakfast,Selak, the leading Malay, and his fellows squatted on the fore-hatch andtalked in whispers.
"I tell thee," said Selak, "that I have seen it. On the evening of theday when the man Sam died and was buried, I was sitting outside thehouse. It was dark, and the Tuan Korwal thought I had returned to theship. I crept near and listened. They were speaking of what should bedone with the dead man's share of the gold. Then I looked through thecave side of the house, and--dost remember that white basin of thine,Miguel?"
The Manila man nodded.
"The white woman, at a sign from her husband, went into the inner roomand brought it out and placed it on the table. It was full to the brimwith gold! and there was more in a bag!"
His listeners drew nearer to him, their dark eyes gleaming with avarice.
"Then the Tuan said, 'None of Sam's gold will I or my wife touch. Let itbe divided among you three. It is but fair.'
"They talked again, and then Mallet said to the Tuan, 'Captain, it shallbe as you wish. But let it all go together till the time comes for theeto give us our share.'
"I watched the white woman take the basin and the bag, put them intoa box, and place the box in a hole in the ground in her sleeping-room.Then I came away, for my heart was on fire with the wrong that hath beendone to us."
He rose to his feet and peered round the corner of the galley. Mary andthe two seamen were eating very leisurely.
"Three of them are here now and will sleep aboard to-night. God hathgiven them into our hands!"
"And what of the other two?--they are strong men," asked a wizen,monkey-faced Malay, nicknamed Nakoda (the captain).
"Bah! What is a giant if he sleeps and a kriss is swept across histhroat, or a spear is thrust into his back from behind? They, too, shalldie as quickly as these who sit near us. Now listen. But sit thou out onthe deck, Miguel, so that thou canst warn us if either of those accurseddogs approach."
The cook obeyed him silently.
"_This_ it is to be. To-night these three here shall die in their sleep,silently and without a sound. Then we, all but thou, Nakoda, shall takethe boat and go to the house. Both the Tuan and Mallet sleep heavily,and"--he drew his hand swiftly across his tawny throat.
"And then?" queried Nakoda.
"And then the gold--the gold, or our share of which we have beenrobbed--is ours, and the ship is ours, and I, Selak, will guide ye allto Dobbo in the Aru Islands, where we shall be safe, and become greatmen."
"But," muttered another man, "what if these black sons of Shaitan hereof the Island turn upon us after we have slain the white men?"
Selak laughed scornfully. "The sound of a gun terrifies them. They arecowards, and will not seek to interfere with us."
*****
Night had fallen. The two white seamen, tired out with their day's work,had spread their mats on the poop, and were sound in slumber. Below inthe cabin, the captain's wife lay reading by the light of a lamp; andSelak, standing in the waist, could see its faint reflection shiningthrough the cabin door, which opened on to the main deck. Sitting onthe fore-deck, with their hands clutching their knives, his companionswatched him.
At last the light was lowered, and Mary closed her eyes and slept.
The Malay waited patiently. One by one the remaining native fires on theshore went out; and, presently, a chill gust of air swept down from themountains, and looking shoreward he saw that the sky to the eastwardwas quickly darkening and hiding the stars--a heavy downpour of rain wasnear.
He drew his kriss from its tortoiseshell sheath and felt the edge, madea gesture to the crouching tigers for'ard, and then stepped lightlyalong the deck to the open cabin door; the other four crept after him,then stopped and waited--for less than a minute.
A faint, choking cry came from the cabin, and then Selak came out, hiskriss streaming with blood.
"It is done," he whispered, and pointing to the poop he sprang up.
"Hi, there! what's the matter?" cried Totten, who had heard the feintcry; and then, too late, he drew his pistol from his belt and fired--asSelak's kriss plunged into his chest. Poor Harris was slaughtered ere hehad opened his eyes.
Spurning Totten's body with his naked foot, Selak cursed it. "AccursedChristian dog! Would I could bring thee to life so that I might killthee again!" Then, as he heard the rushing hum of the coming rainsquall, and saw that the shore was hidden from view, as if a solid wallof white stone had suddenly arisen between it and the ship, he grinned.
"Bah! what does it matter? Had it been a cannon instead of a pistol itcould scarce have been heard on the shore in such a din."
Ordering the bodies of the two seamen to be thrown overboard, Selak, themost courageous, entered the cabin, took a couple of muskets from therack, and some powder and ball from the mate's berth, and returning tohis followers, bade them bring the boat alongside.
"Throw the woman after them," he cried to Nakoda, as the boat pushed offinto the darkness, just as the hissing rain began. "We shall return ereit is dawn."
Nakoda would have sprung over the side after the boat, but he feared thesharks even more than Selak's kriss; so running for'ard, he crept intohis bunk and lay there, too terrified to move.
* * * * *
Mallet and Corwell, with the natives, worked hard till near sunset, andthen ceased.
"There's nearly five ounces in that lot, Mallet," said the captain,pointing to two buckets of wash-dirt. "Let us have a bathe, and then getsomething to eat before it is too dark."
"The natives say we ought to get back to the house, sir, instead ofsleeping here tonight. They say a heavy storm is coming on, and we'll bewashed out of the camp."
"Very well, Mallet I don't want to stay here, I can assure you. Tellthem to hurry up, then. Get the shovels and other gear, and let us startas quickly as possible. It will take us a good three hours to get backto the house."
By sunset they started, walking in single file along the narrow,dangerous mountain-path, a false step on which meant a fall of hundredsof feet.
Half-way down, the storm overtook them, but guided by the surefootednatives they pressed steadily on, gained the level ground, and at lastreached the house about ten o'clock.
"Now that we have come so far we might as well go on board and givemy wife a surprise," said Corwell to Mallet. "Look, the rain is takingoff."
"Not for long, sir. But if we start at once we may get aboard afore itstarts again."
Two willing natives, wet and shivering as they were, quickly baled outa canoe, and in a few minutes they were off, paddling down towards thesea. But scarce had they gone a few hundred yards when another suddendownpour of rain blotted out everything around them. But the nativespaddled steadily on amid the deafening roar; the river was wide, andthere was no danger of striking anything harder than the hanging branchof a tree or the soft banks.
"I thought I heard voices just now," shouted Mallet.
"Natives been out fishing," replied Corwell.
As the canoe shot out through the mouth of the river into the open baythe rain ceased as suddenly as it began, and the _Ceres_ loomed up rightahead.
"Don't hail them, Mallet. Let us go aboard quietly."
They clambered up the side, the two natives following, and, wet anddripping, entered the cabin.
Corwell stepped to the swinging lamp, which burnt dimly, and pricked upthe wick. His wife seemed to be sound asleep on the cushioned transomlocker.
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br /> "Mary," he cried, "wake up, dearest. We---- ... Oh my God,Mallet!"
He sprang to her side, and kneeling beside the still figure, placed hishand on the blood-stained bosom.
"Dead! Dead! Murdered!" He rose to his feet, and stared wildly atMallet, swayed to and fro, and then fell heavily forward.
As the two natives stood at the cabin door, gazing in wondering horrorat the scene, they heard a splash. Nakoda had jumped overboard and wasswimming ashore.
*****
Long before dawn the native war-drums began to beat, and when Selakand his fellow-murderers reached the mouth of the river they ran into afleet of canoes which waited for them. They fought like the tigers theywere, but were soon overcome and made prisoners, tied hand and foot, andcarried ashore to the "House of the Young Men." The gold was taken careof by the chief, who brought it on board to Corwell.
"When do these men die?" he asked,
"To-day," replied Corwell huskily; "to-day, after I have buried mywife."
On a little island just within the barrier reef, she was laid to rest,with the never-ending cry of the surf for her requiem.
At sunset, Corwell and Mallet left the ship and landed at the village,and as their feet touched the sand the war-drums broke out withdeafening clamour. They each carried a cutlass, and walked quicklythrough the thronging natives to the "House of the Young Men."
"Bring them out," said Corwell hoarsely to the chief.
One by one Selak and his fellow-prisoners were brought out and placedon their feet, the bonds that held them were cut, and their handsseized and held widely apart. And then Corwell and Mallet thrust theircutlasses through the cruel hearts.
*****