CHAPTER VIII.
“A DEED OF DREADFUL NOTE”--ALL SAIL FOR THE ISLAND OF GOLD.
“In the dead vast and middle of the night.”--SHAKESPEARE.
“A sail! a sail! a promised prize to Hope.
* * * * *
Blow fair, thou breeze! she anchors ere the dark; How gloriously her gallant course she goes, Her white wings flying.... She walks the waters like a thing of life.”--BYRON.
“‘After all my adventures and the hard work and fatigue I had undergone in burying the gold, I slept soundly that night. I must have gone off almost immediately after I turned in. At all events, I heard nothing until the little nigger, Joe, came to tell me that “Pletty soon, sah, de flies gobble up all de bleakfast suppose you no come.”
“‘I was a little surprised that I saw no breakfast taken to the prisoners, and still more so when I went towards the door of their prison and found it ajar.
“‘I at once asked Morgan about the men. He smiled grimly.
“‘“Dead men tell no tales,” he said.
“‘Then he resumed his walk up and down the deck.
“‘I was horrified. Curses rose to my lips, but I did not utter them. I believe my hand felt its way to my pistol-belt, and I rushed down below for fear of doing something desperate.
“‘Morgan had murdered his prisoners, poisoned them and thrown them into the sea through the port, for fear they might tell to others the whereabouts of the hidden gold.
“‘I threw myself into my bunk and reasoned out all my plans.
“‘As soon as I went to Jamaica I determined to leave Morgan and his blood-stained fleet for ever and aye. I would put myself in communication with O’More, who indeed already knew my English address, and as soon as they reached Ireland and got settled, I should hurry across and claim my bride.
“‘I told Morgan nothing about this, for certain I am that though he liked me well as a friend, had he known I was about to leave, or desert as he would have called it, his suspicions would have been aroused: and for fear of that hidden gold being taken, he would have found means to murder me as he had to murder those faithful and honest sailors.
“‘Well, Morgan was an excellent commander, and a thorough fighting sailor, but he was very far indeed from being a good scholar.
“‘I determined, therefore, to punish him for the crime he had just been guilty of.
“‘“That hidden gold shall never be thine, Morgan,” I said to myself.
“‘Then I proceeded to execute a plan which I had well thought out.
“‘There in the privacy of my cabin I prepared a chart of the rocks, the sea-shore, the woods, and the haunted jungle, which to a casual observer in every way resembled the true chart I had given to Morgan. The figures and measurements, however, were entirely altered, so that with my new plan any one attempting to find the place where the gold was would be completely led astray.
“‘It was clever. I credit myself with being no fool.
“‘And now to change the two charts.
“‘Morgan’s locker was easily opened, so I chose a time when he had just gone on deck. I hurried to his cabin with a heart that thumped almost audibly against my ribs.
“‘Fortune favoured me. The locker opened easily, and very quickly indeed did I effect the exchange and rush away back to my own cabin.
“‘The real chart I now hastily sewed up in the lining of my jacket, and now I could breathe more freely.
“‘Indeed, once more did wave after wave of happiness flow over mind and soul as I thought of the beautiful girl Aileen O’More, who in a few months’ time would be all my own.
“‘We arrived in Jamaica in good time, and making secret inquiries, I found that a man-o’-war was leaving almost immediately.
“‘On her I secured a passage, and to her I transferred the gold I had in the bank.
“‘Then I went on board the pirate admiral’s ship to say good-bye.
“‘I had just received letters, I told him, that demanded my immediate presence in England, else I should lose a little fortune that had been left me.
“‘Morgan seemed much downcast. At all events, he said, I must dine with him that night.
“‘I promised to, but well I knew he would not permit me to go on shore alive.
“‘But I was as clever as he. I bribed the captain of the man-o’-war to hoist the Blue Peter, and have all hands on board that night. Then I sent a letter of apology, a long, kind one it was, telling Morgan that I dared not leave the man-o’-war, which might sail at any moment.
“‘Sly dog that I was, I even advised him to keep safely the chart we had made, and which could guide him at any time to the hidden gold!
“‘And now my story ends.
“‘I never saw Morgan alive again, and had no wish to.
“‘I am getting an old man now, and have more of this world’s wealth than I can spend. My life has been a very happy one with dear Aileen, and is so still.
“‘I shall never go in search of the hidden gold, but to this story I append the chart. The husband of one or other of our two girls, if ever they marry, may find out the treasure on Amelia Island. I leave the written story in a large box in an upper room, and that box I will never myself open or cause to be opened. Let whosoever finds it, if related by ties of blood to the Bassantos, do with it whatsoever seemeth unto him good.
“‘_A dios! a dios!_’”
* * * * *
Captain Reeves carefully put away the old yellow manuscript, and relit his great meerschaum. For a time he smoked in silence, then turning towards myself and young Miguel,--
“My dear friend,” he said to me--“for as a friend I look upon you--I need not say that I rely upon your not saying anything to any one concerning the story you have just heard completed.”
“That,” I said, “you may well do, Captain Reeves. I am a naval officer, and, I believe, a gentleman.
“But,” I added, “it is indeed a strange story, and had some men read it to me, I should have told them it was all a fable or romantic fabrication. Have you done anything yet concerning it?”
“No, but I mean to, and that right speedily, though I think it is but little likely that any party will be before us.
“My dear Gordon,” he added, “you are a sailor, and you have a long head of your own; do you feel inclined to join us in trying to unearth this gold? I will pay all expenses for our little yacht, our outfit, and everything else.”
I laughed.
“I am always well pleased,” I said, “to take up any scheme that promises adventure; besides,” I added, “a breath of the briny ocean would do me good, for I have recently come off a spell of very hard work.”
We shook hands.
“Miguel,” said Reeves, “of course I depend upon you. You may lose a session at the university; but you are a young man, and that you can make up.”
“Well,” I continued, “have you as yet formed any plan or scheme of procedure?”
“I have,” he answered. “But now, as the night is far spent, let us retire; and away on the hill to-morrow, with no one to listen to us save the titlarks, I shall lay it before you.”
* * * * *
To have seen us next day bringing down the ptarmigan and grouse in company with our ghillies and dogs, no one would have believed we had any grand gold-hunting scheme in our heads.
But as soon as luncheon was served, in a clearing among the heather, we gave our guns and bags to the ghillies, and telling them we should shoot no more, sent them home. One, we said, might return for the basket in a couple of hours.
We made a hearty meal; then once more Captain Reeves took up his tale.
“In this gold-chase of ours,” he said, “I have no intention to minimize the difficulties, not to say dangers, we shall have to encounter. As we have already seen, at the time or date of the hiding of the gold, the beautiful island of Amelia was almost all a wilderness, with many a jungle dark and drear. But there has been a change, and many a change, since then; and I am informed that it is now well populated, and has on it many a smiling farm, though much woodland still remains, and I am told that the larger and more ancient trees have been carefully preserved. There are, however, villages here, and a seaside resort called Ocean City. But, my dear friend Gordon, difficulties were made to be surmounted.”
“Yes,” I added, smiling; “or, like ninepins, Miguel, my lad, put up to be bowled over.”
“Well, anyhow, I’m going to make a good bid for success, and we can’t do more than our best, can we?”
“No, that we can’t.”
“Well, then, our search-ground, as far as I can tell, lies near a charming country seat called Citrona. Here is an extract I wish to read to you; no matter where I got it:--
“‘One mile from Fernandina, and an equal distance from Ocean City, lies the charming bayside estate of Citrona. It was once the property of James Casher, a gentleman of large means, who had a residence on it during a portion of the Spanish and British occupation of Amelia Island. In subsequent years, say from about 1885 to the time of his death, this attractive place was owned by the late Senator D. L. Yulee, who regarded the property as the most valuable suburb of the growing town of Fernandina. The property is now owned by Mr. Samuel Swann.’
“And now,” continued Reeves, “I have good reason to believe that in a plantation not far from this estate is our ground. But here comes difficulty number one. What excuse can we give for digging in mounds or elsewhere?”
As I did not answer immediately, he continued,--
“I have ever found your gentleman American a truly kind and hospitable sort of a fellow, and always willing to help a Britisher if he had it in his power. Well, now, I’m really afraid that a white lie or two will have to be exploited over this business; so I thought of casting anchor in the bay, and representing ourselves to be a party of enthusiastic scientists and geologists, engaged in anthropological and other studies, and so beg leave to open mounds here and there to unearth bones, pottery, and ancient armour.--Miguel, you will have to mount a pair of spectacles, and try to look wiser than ever you did before in your life.”
“That won’t be difficult,” said Miguel, laughing.
“I think,” said I, “that your plan is feasible enough.”
“Well, then, we shall consider it carried without a dissentient voice.--And now, Gordon, I depend upon you to charter for us a nice little steam-yacht. You are a doctor of science, at all events, and can talk science. I have studied a good deal, and Miguel, here, is also a student, so that our white lie will not be difficult, I think, to play up to.”
* * * * *
I lost no time in going south to Glasgow, and was soon fortunate enough to fall in with the very thing I required.
I wrote to my friends, with the result that they were soon with me in my hotel, bag and baggage, and by this time everything was ready. In a day or two we cleared away from the Broomielaw, dropped down the wide, romantic river, and next morning saw us not only safely round the stormy Mull of Cantyre, but standing well out to sea, skirting the northern shores of Ireland.
Though it was late in the year, the weather was clear and fine. Whenever a fair wind blew, we went ripping along before it; at other times we were under steam.
I confess that I for one felt somewhat anxious as we began to near the coast of Florida.
How would it all end, I wondered.
We had many a long talk about our prospects when there was no steward’s ear to listen, and we generally came to the conclusion that our chances of success were very fair indeed.
There was one thing, however, that I could not put my faith in, and do not even now, and that was and is Captain Reeves’s dipper.
This is an instrument which is carried along close to the surface of the ground, the long needle of which he assured me never failed to tilt if there be gold beneath the surface.
When we reached the bay at last we cast anchor. Reeves had a copy made of Bassanto’s chart and instructions, and this when we went ashore in a boat next morning he took with him, leaving the other on board; for to have lost the plans would have meant certain failure after all the trouble and expense we had been put to.
What will be our reception? Will our ruse be seen through? These were among the questions uppermost in my mind, at all events, as the little boat dashed through the water towards the beautiful beach.