CHAPTER XXXITHE FORM OF AGREEMENT
The captain did not arrive, and we had the table to ourselves. Miss Temple was subdued, and her glances almost wistful. It gave me but little pleasure to humble her, or in any way to triumph over her; but I had made up my mind to be master whilst we were together, and not to spare her feelings in my effort to assert myself; and I may add here that I had determined, if it pleased God to preserve us, to make this noble and beautiful woman my wife. For I was now loving her, but so secretly, that my love was scarce like a passion even to my own reason; and the conclusion I had formed was that the only road to her heart lay behind the armour of her pride, which must be broken down and demolished if ever I was to gain her affection. And sure I was of this too; that she was of that kind of women who need to be bowed by a stronghand into a submissive posture before they can be won.
We spoke very little; the captain’s cabin was not far off, and the knowledge of his being in it held us very taciturn. However, we made amends for our silence after we had supped and regained the deck. She was now to be easily convinced that our best chance of escaping from this barque was for me to fool the captain to the top of his bent, that he might carry us to Rio; and before long she was even talking cheerfully of our prospects, asking me in a half-laughing way how we were to manage for money when we arrived at Rio, whether I had any friends there, and so on.
‘There are my jewels,’ she said; ‘but I should be very sorry to part with them.’
‘There will be no need to do that,’ said I. ‘I have a few bank-notes in my pocket which I think may suffice. There is an English consul, I suppose, at Rio, and he will advise us.’
Talk of this kind heartened her wonderfully. It gave her something happy and hopeful to think about; in fact, before we went below she told me that she now preferred the idea of proceeding to Rio to the old scheme of going aboard a ship bound to England.
‘I shall be able to purchase a few comforts,’ she said; ‘whereas I might be transferred to some horrid little vessel that would occupy weeks in crawling along the sea, and in all that time I should be as badly off as I am now. Do the ladies in South America dress picturesquely, do you know? I should like to be romantically attired on my arrival home. How my dearest mother would stare! What colour a long Spanish veil and a dress of singular fashion would give to my story of our adventures.’
And so she talked.
It was a very calm and lovely night, with the moon, a few days old, going down in the west. The breeze held everything silent aloft; a murmur as of the raining of a fountain floated up from alongside as the white body of the little barque slipped through the darkling waters brimming in a firm black line to the spangled sky of the horizon. The captain had arrived on deck at eight, but he kept to the after-part of the poop, nor once addressed us, often standing motionless for ten minutes at a time, till he looked like some ebony statue at the rail floating softly up and down against the stars to the delicate curtseying ofhis little ship. I seemed to notice, however, yet without giving much heed to the thing, an indisposition on the part of the watch on deck to coil themselves away for their usual fine-weather naps. From time to time, though dimly, there would steal aft a hum of voices from the black shadow upon the deck past the galley. Once a man kindled a phosphorus match to light his pipe, and a small group of faces showed to the flash of the flame, so to speak, as it soared and sank to the fellow’s sucking at it; but I found nothing in this to arrest my attention saving that I recollect asking Miss Temple to notice the odd effect produced by the coming out of those faces amid the dusk; for one sawthemonly and no other portion of the men’s bodies.
We walked to the companion to leave the deck. I scarcely knew whether or not to call a good-night to the captain, so absorbed in thought did his motionless posture express him. But as Miss Temple put her foot upon the steps, he quietly cried out: ‘Are ye going to bed?’
‘Yes, captain,’ I answered, ‘and we wish you a very good-night.’
‘A minute!’ he sung out, and came to us.He seemed to peer into Miss Temple’s face, that showed as a mere faint glimmer in the starlight, the moon being then sunk, and addressing me, exclaimed in a voice but a little above a whisper: ‘I suppose you have told the lady everything, Mr. Dugdale?’
‘Yes,’ I answered; ‘my oath allowed for that, you know.’
‘Certainly,’ said he. ‘It’s a grand opportunity for money-getting, mem. The brace of you know more than the wife of my own bosom has any suspicion of. As God’s my Saviour, never once have I opened my lips to Mrs. Braine about that there money.’
‘I had hoped you would have transferred me to a homeward-bound ship,’ said Miss Temple.
‘You don’t want to be separated from a sweetheart, do you?’ he exclaimed.
This was a stroke to utterly silence her. I believe she had spoken from no other motive than to finesse, that the captain might suppose her as sincere in her belief of his story as I was; but this wordsweetheartwas like a blast of lightning. What her face would have exhibited if there had been light enough to see it by, I could only imagine.
‘It grows late, captain; good-night,’ said I, pitying her for the confusion and disorder which I knew she would be under.
‘Have you been thinking over the tarms of that letter we were talking about?’ said he.
‘Yes,’ I answered. ‘I’ll pay your cabin a visit after breakfast and write it out.’
‘Very well, sir. That and the agreement about the division of the money too. I shall want to shift my hellum for Rio to-morrow.’
He left us, and we descended in silence, nor did Miss Temple speak a word to me as we made our way to our gloomy deep-sunk quarters, excepting to wish me good-night.
I slept well, and rose next morning at seven to get a bath in the head; for, as in the Indiaman, so in this barque, and so, indeed, in most ships in those days, there was a little pump fixed in the bows for washing down the decks of the fore-part of the craft. It was a very gay brilliant morning, a fresh breeze about a point before the starboard beam, and theLady Blanchewas moving through it at a meteoric pace with her royals and gaff topsail in, and all else save the flying jib abroad. The water was of a rich blue, and rolled in snow; the violet shadows of swollen steamcolouredclouds swept over the rolling lines of the ocean, and by their alternations of the sunshine made a very prism of the vast, throbbing disc of the deep. About two miles astern was a large schooner, staggering along on a westerly course, so close hauled that she seemed to look into the very eye of the wind and plunging bow under with a constant boiling of foam all about her head. By the time I had taken my bath she was a mere chip of white on the windy blue over our weather quarter.
There were a few sailors cleaning up about the decks, and as I passed them on the road to the cabin, I could not fail to observe that they eyed me with a degree of attention I had never before noticed in them. Their looks were full of curiosity, with something almost of impudence in the bold stare of one or two of them. What, I reflected, can this signify but that the fellow Wilkins overheard everything that passed between the captain and me, and has carried the news into the forecastle? So much the better, I thought; for should the captain come to guess that the men had his secret, the suspicion must harden him in hisinsane resolve to carry the barque forthwith to Rio to get rid of his crew.
When Miss Temple came out of her berth there was a momentary touch of bashfulness and even of confusion in her manner; then a laughing expression flashed into her eye. As we repaired to the cabin we exchanged some commonplaces about the weather. She warmed up a little when I spoke of the noble breeze and of the splendid pace of the barque, and assured her that the most distant port in the world could never be far off to people aboard such a clipper keel as this. The captain joined us at the breakfast table. I thought he looked unusually haggard and pale, appearing as a man might after a long spell of bitter mental conflict. His eyes seemed preternaturally large, and of a duller and deader black than my recollection found common in them. He seldom spoke but to answer the idle conversational questions one or the other of us put to him. I observed that he drank thirstily and ate but little, and that he would occasionally rest his forehead upon his hand as though to soothe a pain there. Yet lustreless as was his gaze, it was singularly eager and devouring in its steadfastness.He had been on deck since four o’clock, he told us, and had not closed his eyes during the previous four hours of his watch below.
‘I get but little sleep now,’ said he with a long trembling sigh.
‘That schooner astern this morning,’ said I, ‘looked as if she were bound somewhere Rio way.’
He responded with a dull nod of indifference.
‘Were you ever at Rio, Captain Braine?’ asked Miss Temple.
‘No, mem.’
‘I suppose I shall easily find a ship there to carry me home?’ said she.
He stared at her and then at me; and then said, looking at her again, ‘Don’t you mean to go along with him?’ indicating me with a sideways jerk of the head.
Her eyes sought mine for counsel.
‘It will be a question for you and me to discuss, captain,’ said I. ‘With all due deference to Miss Temple, it may be you will come to think that the presence of a lady could but encumber us in such a job as we have in hand.’
‘Ay, but she has my secret!’ said he swiftly and warmly.
‘Your secret is mine, and my interests are hers—you know that!’ I exclaimed.
‘What are the relations between you?’ he asked.
A blush overspread Miss Temple’s face and her eyes fell.
‘Ask me that question presently, captain,’ said I, laughing.
He continued to stare slowly at one or the other of us, but remained silent.
Wilkins entered with a pot of coffee. I furtively but attentively surveyed his expressionless veal-like countenance; but I might as well have explored the sole of his foot for hints of what was passing in his mind. He came and went quickly. Indeed, his practice of waiting consisted merely in placing our meals upon the table, and then lingering out upon the quarter-deck within hearing of the captain’s voice if he was wanted.
Presently the skipper rose.
‘I’ve made out that document consarning shares,’ said he; ‘perhaps you might now come with me and con-coct the letter you want me to sign.’
‘Very well,’ I answered; ‘Miss Temple is to witness your signature, and you will allow her to accompany us?’
For answer he gave her one of his astonishing bows, and the three of us went to his cabin. He opened the drawer that contained the chart of his island, and produced a sheet of paper, very oddly scrawled over.
‘I made this up last evening,’ said he; ‘jest see if it’ll do, Mr. Dugdale. If so, I’ll sign it, and ye can draw me up a copy for my own keeping.’
‘Miss Temple will have to witness this too,’ said I, ‘so I’ll read it aloud:
“BarqueLady Blanche.
At Sea (such and such a date).
At Sea (such and such a date).
At Sea (such and such a date).
I, John Braine, master of the barqueLady Blanche, do hereby agree with Dugdale, Esquire, that in consideration of his serving me as chief-officer for a voyage to an island situate in the South Pacific Ocean, latitude 83° 16′ S. longitude 120° 3′ W., unnamed, but bearing due south-west from Easter Island, distant ; I say that in consideration of your helping me to navigate this ship to that there island, and from there to Port Louis inthe island of Mauritius afterwards, the said John Braine do hereby undertake to give and secure to the said Dugdale, Esquire, by this here instrument as witnessed, one whole and full third of the money now lying buried in the above-said island, whereof the amount, as by calculation allowed, is in Spanish pieces from 180 to 200,000 pounds.
Witness my hand and seal.”’
It cost me a prodigious effort to keep my face whilst I read, almost tragical as was the significance of this absurd document to Miss Temple and myself, as forming a condition, so to speak, of the extraordinary adventure fate had put us upon. I durst not look at her for fear of bursting into a laugh. The man’s strange eyes were fixed upon me.
‘Nothing could be better,’ said I. ‘Now, sir, if you will kindly sign it—and I will ask you, Miss Temple, to witness it.’
He turned to seat himself; the girl’s glance met mine; but heaven knows there was no hint of merriment inherface. She was colourless and agitated, though I could perceive that she had a good grip of her emotions. The captain signed his name with a great scratchingnoise of his pen, then made way for Miss Temple, whose hand slightly trembled as she attached her signature to the precious document. It was now my turn; in a few minutes I had scribbled out a form of letter addressed to myself guaranteeing me immunity from all legal perils which might follow upon the captain’s piratical deviation from his voyage. This also he signed, and Miss Temple afterwards put her name to it as a witness.
‘I’ll take copies of these,’ said I, ‘at noon, after helping you to work out the sights.’
‘I beg pardon,’ he exclaimed, observing me to take a step towards the door; ‘I should be glad to know the relations ’twixt you and this young lady? It ain’t for inquisitiveness that I ask. She has my secret, sir;’ and he drew himself erect.
‘We were fellow-passengers,’ I answered with a side-look at the girl, whose expression was one of disgust and distress.
‘There’s nothing close in that,’ said he: ‘I counted upon ye as being sweethearts—that you was keeping company with her, and to be married when the chance came, when I told you there was no objection to your reporting my secret to her.’
‘We are sweethearts,’ I replied, smiling, and taking the girl’s hand; ‘andwhenthe chance comes along,’ I added, faintly accentuating the ‘when’ forherear only, ‘we shall be married, captain, and I shall hope to see you dancing at our wedding and heartily enjoying the entertainment, which, it will not need all my third share to furnish forth.’
Miss Temple could not contain herself; she uttered a short hysteric laugh.
‘Pity ye couldn’t have told me this at once,’ exclaimed the captain, regarding me sternly; ‘but,’ he went on whilst his countenance slightly relaxed, ‘there’s always sensitiveness in love-making whilst it keeps young. I’m obliged to you, mem, for your visit.’
I opened the door and followed Miss Temple out.
‘I am of opinion that he is not so mad as he appears,’ said I.
She averted her flushed face somewhat haughtily. No matter, thought I; it is a subject that will keep.
We got under the short awning on the poop and lounged away the morning there. Her good breeding speedily came to her rescue, and our chat was as easy, in a sense,as ever it could have been aboard the Indiaman—easier, i’ faith, by a long chalk! though it concerned troubles and anxieties which never could have occurred to us in theCountess Ida. I observed that Mr. Lush frequently directed his eyes at me as he paced the weather deck. To my accost he had satisfied himself with returning a surly ‘marning,’ and we spoke no more. He seemed unable to view me attentively enough to satisfy himself without growing offensive by staring.
‘I hope that fellow,’ I whispered to Miss Temple, ‘may not thwart my Rio programme. Yet I don’t see how he could do so. The barque wants a chiefmate, so the captain contends. It is no falsehood; the need would by all sailors be regarded as an imperative one. Still, I hate that surly fellow without exactly knowing why.’
‘Do you notice how those men yonder are constantly looking this way?’
‘Yes. As I have explained to you, Master Eavesdropper Wilkins has reported all he heard; and the Jacks understanding at last that their skipper is a madman, are wondering what on earth is going to happen next. They’llbe glad, you’ll find, to learn that we’re heading for Rio when the course is changed. They’ll report the skipper as insane, and end our difficulties out of hand for us.’
‘I hope so indeed!’ she sighed.
Well, for the rest of the day nothing happened worth relating. I took an observation with the captain, worked it out in his cabin, and made draughts of the two extraordinary documents. When we had calculated our situation, he went on deck, and by a tell-tale compass in his cabin I perceived that he had changed the barque’s course. Simultaneously with this, I heard the men bracing the yards more forward, and the heel of the barque slightly sharpened to the increased lateral pressure of the fresh breeze upon her canvas. I hastened on deck when I had done my copying to observe the crew’s deportment; but in the manner of the few men who were about I witnessed nothing to lead me to suppose that they made anything of this sudden change of course.
When I told Miss Temple that we were now heading as close as the wind would let us lie for the South American port she instantly grew animated; her eyes brightened, a lookof hope and pleasure entered her face, and her voice was full of cheerfulness. The captain, on the other hand, grew gloomier as the day advanced. During his watch on deck from twelve to four he paced the planks without any intermission that I was sensible of, walking nearly always in the same posture, with his hands clasped behind him and his head bowed; and with his long black hair, yellow face, and blue gills he needed nothing but the dress of a monk to look one, rehearsing his part for the cloisters.
Some dinner was taken to him on deck; but I saw Wilkins afterwards carry the dishes forward, and the food appeared to me untouched. At the supper hour he came to the table, but neither ate nor drank. During the greater part of the sitting he kept turning his eyes first on one and then on the other of us with a dim sort of strained interrogative expression in his stare, as though he was struggling with some degree of suffering to dislodge an imagination or idea out of a remote secret cell of his brain and bring it forward into the clear light of his understanding. He seemed to find Miss Temple’s presence a restraint. Sometimes, after eyeing me he’dstart as if about to speak, but instantly check himself with a glance at the girl, whilst his face would darken to some mood of irritation and impatience.
Another gloriously fine night followed sunset that day, with a brighter and longerliving moon, and a gushing of breeze that melted through, and through one with the delicious coolness that it brushed off the waters and gathered from the dew. The sea throbbed in flashings of foam, which shone with the radiance of moon-touched snow mingled with spangles of the gold and emerald light of the phosphor. There was a pleasant roaring and hissing noise off the weather bow, with merry whistlings aloft, where the fullthroated canvas soaring to the main-topgallant yard leaned in pale spaces against the stars, with frequent sweeps of the mastheads to the frisky plungings of the clipper hull upon the head seas.
The carpenter was in charge of the deck. He was standing at the rail abreast of the wheel, when it occurred to me to accost him, that I might gather from his replies what notions had been put into his head by the captain having changed the course. I hadMiss Temple on my arm, for the deck was hardly safe for her without some such support. We went to the binnacle, and I took a peep at the card, then crossed over to the carpenter.
‘Good-evening, Mr. Lush. A rattling breeze this! Since Rio is our destination, such a draught as this should put us in the way of making it smartly, off her course as the barque is.’
‘I suppose you know what we’re a-going there for?’ he answered in a gruff tone of voice, that left me in doubt as to whether he intended a question or not.
‘You are second mate, and of course are in the captain’s confidence. What should I know that you don’t?’
‘Ah, what?’ he exclaimed, in a voice like a dog’s growl.
Miss Temple slightly pressed my arm, as though she would have me walk away.
‘A vessel like this wants a chief mate,’ said I, ‘some one who knows what to do with the sun and stars.’
‘Oh, then, you’re acquainted with the reason why we’re going to Rio?’ said he in a tone of such impudent sarcasm, that without another word I rounded on my heel and led Miss Temple forward.
‘The brute!’ I exclaimed. ‘But I am rightly served. I have no business to address the surly illiterate baboon.’
‘You know thatheknows you have learnt the captain’s motives, if it be true, as you suppose, that Wilkins has repeated to the men what he overheard; why, then, do you feign an ignorance that can only excite the creature’s suspicions?’
‘Suspicions of what?’
‘That you are acting a double part: with the captain for the sake of his buried money, and with the crew for the sake of your safety.’
‘You put it shrewdly, and I am fairly hit,’ said I. ‘I wanted to get at the fellow’s mind, if he has any; it did not occur to me for the moment that he would know through Wilkins of what had passed in the cabin. That is to say if hedoesknow; for after all, Wilkins may not have overheard everything, and for aught we can tell he may not have repeated a syllable of the little that he managed to collect through that bulkhead. No matter, Miss Temple. A fortnight more, please God, and we shall be able to write the word finis to this passage of our adventures.’
‘I shall scarcely know myself again,’ she exclaimed cheerfully, whilst she extended her disengaged white hand to the sheen in the air flowing from the stars and scar of moon, ‘when I put my rings on once more. What an experience! How improbable, and how consistently possible and horribly absolute!’
And then she asked me how far it was from Rio to London; and we went on chatting and pacing, sometimes coming to a stand at the side to watch some sweep of foaming water roaring off from the blow of the lee bow into the weltering gloom until five bells were struck—half-past ten. She then said she felt chilly, and I took her below. It was a little early for bed, however; besides, the excitement of the day still lingered—the signing and witnessing of the queer documents: the captain’s insane dream of a treasure-quest, mad, as we deemed it, at all events: the sense of our speeding now towards a port whence we should be able to take ship and proceed comfortably to England.
I went to the cuddy door and called for Wilkins, and on his arrival told him to put a bottle of the wine that had been brought from the wreck on the table along with some biscuit,and thus furnished, Miss Temple and I managed to kill very nearly another hour. She removed her hat; the lamplight streamed fair upon the marble-like beauty of her face, upon her large, dark, soft, and glowing eyes, upon her rich neglected abundant hair.
‘Do you remember that night,’ I said, ‘in the English Channel, when after the collision with the Frenchman you came to where I stood and asked me to explain what had happened?’
‘I would rather not remember anything that passed between us on board the Indiaman, Mr. Dugdale,’ she replied with a droop of her long lashes as she spoke.
I gazed at her earnestly; a single glance would have enabled her to witness something of passion in my regard at that instant: I bit my lip to check what my instincts assured me would then have been said all too soon, and looking at my watch exclaimed: ‘Hard upon half-past eleven.’
She rose, and together we descended to our inhospitable steerage quarters.