Across the Spanish Main: A Tale of the Sea in the Days of Queen BessCollingwood, Harry
General
Across the Spanish Main: A Tale of the Sea in the Days of Queen Bess
Collingwood, Harry
Adventure stories; Boys -- Juvenile fiction; Sea stories
The sensation of cold produced by the soaking bandage restored Harry to
consciousness, and, heaving a sigh, he opened his eyes; then memory
returned, and he gave a great shudder as he remembered the awful scene
upon which he had gazed but a short time since. His wandering eye
caught sight of Roger's familiar form; he called his friend to him, and
Roger assisted him to his feet. Harry quickly recovered, but said that
he felt rather sick and faint after what he had seen, and his head was
aching rather badly.
"Oh, Roger, what fiends in human shape are those men!" he exclaimed.
"They cut and slash and burn the living bodies of their fellow-men until
they lose all semblance of human beings. Surely some judgment from
heaven will some day fall upon them for committing such awful deeds!"
"Ay, doubtless it will; though not, perhaps, in this world," answered
Roger. "Now, if we could but find Mr Cavendish, let him know what is
going on here, and march up with a hundred or two of our lads from the
fleet, we would ourselves visit such a judgment upon them as would leave
room for no other. But, Harry, I have somewhat to tell you, dear lad.
After you had fainted at sight of poor de Soto, a man came in,
recognised us both, and ordered us to be taken back here, as he would
`require us both in the future'. That man was Alvarez! I see it all
now. He suspects de Soto of possessing the cryptogram, and has tortured
him to make him confess its whereabouts. De Soto, not having it, cannot
say where it is. Now, you and I were on the _Gloria del Mundo_ before
she sank. I don't know whether Alvarez saw you, but he did me the
honour of desiring to slay me as I lay helpless before he left the ship.
He was frustrated in his humane desire, however; but, knowing that I
escaped after all from the _Gloria_, his suspicious mind will almost
certainly jump to the conclusion that I have that paper, seeing that de
Soto has persistently, and despite the most frightful tortures,
evidently denied all knowledge of it. I can see that something of the
kind is in his thoughts, because of his stringent commands for us to be
`kept safe', as he will `require us in the future'. So we know what to
look forward to, my friend, if we cannot make our escape. The same sort
of torture as that through which poor de Soto has just passed will be
ours, God help us! Now, what counsel have you to offer under the
circumstances?"
"Well, my friend," answered Harry, "I should say that our best plan
would be to endeavour to translate that cryptogram, commit its meaning
to memory, and then destroy the paper. Then, if we are asked for it, we
can say that we have it not, and allow them to search us as proof that
what we say is true.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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