The Adventures of Captain Horn

by Frank Richard Stockton

  CHAPTER XXXII

  A MARINER'S WITS TAKE A LITTLE FLIGHT

  When Captain Horn, in the brig _Miranda_, with the American sailors Burkeand Shirley, and the four negroes, left Acapulco on the 16th ofSeptember, he might have been said to have sailed "in ballast," as theonly cargo he carried was a large number of coffee-bags. He had clearedfor Rio Janeiro, at which port he intended to touch and take on board asmall cargo of coffee, deeming it better to arrive in France withsomething more than the auriferous mineral matter with which he hoped toreplace a large portion of discarded ballast. The unusual cargo of emptycoffee-bags was looked upon by the customs officials as a bit of Yankeethrift, it being likely enough that the captain could obtain coffee-bagsin Mexico much cheaper than in Rio Janeiro.

  The voyage to the Peruvian coast was a slow one, the _Miranda_ proving tobe anything but a clipper, and the winds were seldom in her favor. But atlast she rounded Aguja Point, and the captain shaped his course towardthe coast and the Rackbirds' cove, the exact position of which was nowdotted on his chart.

  A little after noon on a quiet October day, they drew near enough toland to recognize the coast-line and the various landmarks of thelocality. The negroes were filled with surprise, and afterwards withfright, for they had had no idea that they were going near the scene oftheir former horrible captivity. From time to time, they had debatedamong themselves the intentions of Captain Horn in regard to them, andnow the idea seized them that perhaps he was going to leave them where hehad found them. But, through Maka, who at first was as much frightened asthe rest, the captain succeeded in assuring them that he was merely goingto stop as near as possible to the cave where he had stayed so long, toget some of his property which it had been impossible to take away whenthe rest of the party left. Maka had great confidence in the captain'sword, and he was able to infuse a good deal of this into the minds of thethree other negroes.

  Captain Horn had been in considerable doubt in regard to the best methodof shipping the treasure; should he be so fortunate as to find it as hehad left it. The cove was a quiet harbor in which the small boats couldeasily ply between the vessel and the shore, but, in this case, the goldmust be carried by tedious journeys along the beach. On the other hand,if the brig lay too near the entrance to the caves, the treasure-ladenboats must be launched through the surf, and, in case of high seas, thisoperation might be hazardous; consequently, he determined to anchor inthe Rackbirds' cove and submit to the delay and inconvenience of theland transportation of the gold.

  When the captain and Shirley went ashore in a boat, nothing was seen toindicate that any one had visited the spot since the last cargo of guanohad been shipped. This was a relief, but when the captain had wanderedthrough the place, and even examined the storehouse of the Rackbirds, hefound, to his regret, that it was too late for him to visit the cavesthat day. This was the occasion of a night of wakefulness andunreasonable anxiety--unreasonable, as the captain assured himself overand over again, but still impossible to dissipate. No man who has spentweeks in pursuit of a royal treasure, in a vessel that at times seemedhardly to creep, could fail to be anxious and excited when he iscompelled to pause within a few miles of that treasure.

  But early in the morning the captain started for the caves. He took withhim Shirley and Maka, leaving the brig in charge of Burke. The captainplaced great confidence in Shirley, who was a quiet, steady man. In fact,he trusted every one on the ship, for there was nothing else to do. Ifany of them should prove false to him, he hoped to be able to defendhimself against them, and it would be more than foolish to trouble hismind with apprehensions until there should be some reason for them. Butthere was a danger to be considered, quite different from the criminalcupidity which might be provoked by companionship with the heap of gold,and this was the spirit of angry disappointment which might be looked forshould no heap of gold be found. At the moment of such possibledisappointment, the captain wanted to have with him a man not given tosuspicions and resentments.

  In fact, the captain thought, as the little party strode along thebeach, that if he should find the mound empty,--and he could not drivefrom his mind that once he had found it uncovered,--he wished to havewith him some one who would back him up a little in case he should lowerhis lantern into a goldless void.

  As they walked up the plateau in the path worn principally by his ownfeet, and the captain beheld the great stone face against the wall ofrock, his mind became quieter. He slackened his pace, and even began toconcoct some suitable remarks to make to Shirley in case of evil fortune.

  Shirley looked about him with great interest. He had left the placebefore the great stone face had been revealed by the burning of thevines, and he would have been glad to stop for a minute and examine it.But although Captain Horn had convinced himself that he was in no hurry,he could not allow delay. Lighting a lantern, they went through thepassageway and entered the great cave of the lake, leaving Maka rummagingaround with eager delight through the rocky apartments where he had oncebeen a member of a domestic household.

  When they reached the mound, the captain handed his lantern to Shirley,telling him to hold it high, and quickly clambered to the top.

  "Good!" he exclaimed. "The lid is just as I left it. Come up!"

  In a moment Shirley was at his side, and the captain with hispocket-knife began to pick out the oakum which he had packed around theedges of the lid, for otherwise it would have been impossible for him tomove it. Then he stood up and raised the lid, putting it to one side.

  "Give me the lantern!" he shouted, and, stooping, lie lowered it andlooked in. The gold in the mound was exactly as he had left it.

  "Hurrah!" he cried. "Now you take a look!" And he handed the lantern tohis companion.

  Shirley crawled a little nearer the opening and looked into it, thenlowered the lantern and put his head down so that it almost disappeared.He remained in this position for nearly a minute, and the captain gazedat him with a beaming face. His whole system, relieved from thestraining bonds of doubt and fear and hope, was basking in a flood ofecstatic content.

  Suddenly Shirley began to swear. He was not a profane man, and seldomswore, but now the oaths rolled from him in a manner that startledthe captain.

  "Get up," said he. "Haven't you seen enough?"

  Shirley raised his head, but still kept his eyes on the treasure beneathhim, and swore worse than before. The captain was shocked.

  "What is the matter with you?" said he. "Give me the lantern. I don't seeanything to swear at."

  Shirley did not hand him the lantern, but the captain took it from him,and then he saw that the man was very pale.

  "Look out!" he cried. "You'll slip down and break your bones."

  In fact, Shirley's strength seemed to have forsaken him, and he was onthe point of either slipping down the side of the mound or tumbling intothe open cavity. The captain put down the lantern and moved quickly tohis side, and, with some difficulty, managed to get him safely to theground. He seated him with his back against the mound, and then, while hewas unscrewing the top of a whiskey flask, Shirley began to swear againin a most violent and rapid way.

  "He has gone mad," thought the captain. "The sight of all that gold hascrazed him."

  "Stop that," he said to the other, "and take a drink."

  Shirley broke off a string of oaths in the middle, and took a pull at theflask. This was of service to him, for he sat quiet for a minute or two,during which time the captain brought down the lantern. Looking up athim, Shirley said in a weak voice:

  "Captain, is what I saw all so?"

  "Yes," was the reply, "it's all so."

  "Then," said the other, "help me out of this. I want to get out intocommon air."

  The captain raised Shirley to his feet, and, with the lantern in onehand, he assisted him to walk. But it was not easy. The man appeared totake no interest in his movements, and staggered and leaned upon thecaptain as if he were drunk.

  As soon as they came out of the utter darkness and had reached
thelighter part of the cave, the captain let Shirley sit down, andwent for Maka.

  "The first mate has been taken sick," said he to the negro, "and you mustcome help me get him out into the open air."

  When the negro saw Shirley in a state of semi-collapse, he began totremble from head to foot, but he obeyed orders, and, with a great dealof trouble, the two got the sailor outside of the caves and gave himanother drink of whiskey.

  Maka had his own ideas about this affair. There was no use telling himMr. Shirley was sick--at least, that he was afflicted by any commonailment. He and his fellows knew very well that there were devils backin the blackness of that cave, and if the captain did not mind them, itwas because they were taking care of the property, whatever it was,that he kept back here, and for which he had now returned. With whatthat property was, and how it happened to be there, the mind of thenegro did not concern itself. Of course, it must be valuable, or thecaptain would not have come to get it, but that was his business. Hehad taken the first mate into that darkness, and the sight of thedevils had nearly killed him, and now the negro's mind was filled withbut one idea, and that was that the captain might take him in there andmake him see devils.

  After a time Shirley felt very much better, and able to walk.

  "Now, captain," said he, "I am all right, but I tell you what we must do:I'll go to the ship, and I'll take charge of her, and I'll do whateverhas got to be done on shore. Yes, and, what's more, I'll help do thecarrying part of the business,--it would be mean to sneak out ofthat,--and I'll shoulder any sort of a load that's put out on the sand inthe daylight. But, captain, I don't want to do anything to make me lookinto that hole. I can't stand it, and that is the long and short of it. Iam sorry that Maka saw me in such a plight--it's bad for discipline; butit can't be helped."

  "Never mind," cried the captain, whose high spirits would have overlookedalmost anything at that moment. "Come, let us go back and have ourbreakfast. That will set you up, and I won't ask you to go into the cavesagain, if you don't want to."

  "Don't let's talk about it," said Shirley, setting off. "I'd rather getmy mind down to marlin-spikes and bilge-water."

  As the captain walked back to the cove, he said to himself:

  "I expect it struck Shirley harder than it did the rest of us becausehe knew what he was looking at, and the first time we saw it we werenot sure it was gold, as it might have been brass. But Shirley knew,for he had already had a lot of those bars, and had turned them intomoney. By George! I don't wonder that a poor fellow who had struggledfor life with a small bag of that gold was knocked over when he saw awagon-load of it."

  Maka, closely following the others, had listened with eagerness to whathad been said, and had been struck with additional horror when he heardShirley request that he might not again be asked to look into that hole.Suddenly the captain and Shirley were startled by a deep groan behindthem, and, turning, saw the negro sitting upon the sand, his knees drawnup to his face, and groaning grievously.

  "What's the matter?" cried the captain.

  "I sick," said Maka. "Sick same as Mr. Shirley."

  "Get up and come along," said the captain, laughing. He saw thatsomething was really ailing the black fellow, for he trembled from headto foot, and his face had the hue of a black horse recently clipped. Buthe thought it best not to treat the matter seriously. "Come along," saidhe. "I am not going to give you any whiskey." And then, struck by asudden thought, he asked, "Are you afraid that you have got to go intothat cave?"

  "Yes, sir," said Maka, who had risen to his feet. "It make me pretty neardie dead to think that."

  "Well, don't die any more," said the captain. "You sha'n't go anywherethat you have not been before."

  The pupils of Maka's eyes, which had been turned up nearly out of sight,were now lowered. "All right, cap'n," said he. "I lot better now."

  This little incident was not unpleasant to the captain. If the negroeswere afraid to go into the blackness of the caves, it would make fewercomplications in this matter.