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
"Not so fast, not so fast, lad," his friend replied. "That is a
difficulty which we must find means to overcome. Let us have a look
round, and first see if there is anything that we can use for a pen. If
we can find such a thing, the ink will be an easy matter afterwards."
"Indeed?" exclaimed Harry incredulously. "I pray you explain how in the
world you are going to get a supply of ink?"
"Never mind," retorted Roger with a quiet smile; "you leave that to me.
Get me something that will serve for a pen, and I will find the ink
quickly enough."
Seeing that Roger was not going to divulge the secret of the ink, Harry
joined him in a search of the cell, looking for something that would
answer the purpose.
Just at that moment there was a "click", and, turning quickly round,
they perceived that another meal had been pushed in through the
trap-door.
"We will leave that for a time," said Roger, intent upon his search.
"The food can wait; but we cannot delay with what we are now doing; for
we can never know when we may be interrupted."
Harry agreed, and the search proceeded without very conspicuous success.
A few fragments of straw, a quantity of woolly dust, a few tiny
splinters of wood, and a small and extremely rusty nail were all that
rewarded them.
"Ah!" ejaculated Harry, "I had forgotten that window-sill; there is more
likely to be something in that accumulation of stuff up there than in
the cell itself. Come and stand below it, so that I can mount on your
shoulders, Roger; and then I can rake about there and see if I can find
anything for our purpose.
"And, now that I come to think of it, we have never yet had a look out
of that window. We can only see those high walls; there may be
something to interest us below there, in the courtyard, or whatever it
may be."
Roger moved quickly to the other end of the cell, and, standing below
the grated opening, allowed Harry to clamber up his body and finally to
stand upon his shoulders.
Harry then grasped the bars of the grating, to take some of the pressure
off his friend's back, and began to burrow in the heap of dust and
rubbish that had accumulated for years upon years on the sill. Suddenly
Roger heard his name whispered softly--"Roger, Roger, Roger", and became
aware of the fact that Harry was hurriedly preparing to descend from his
perch. Roger eased his friend to the floor, and then asked what was the
matter.
"Why," said Harry, "there is a man below who appears to be waiting there
for some definite purpose; and when he saw me at the window he began to
make signs, which, unfortunately, I could not understand; and then held
out his hands, as though to catch something he expected me to throw out.
I cannot make out at all what it is he wants; you had better have a
look, Roger."
"Yes," answered Roger, "let me get on your shoulders at once, Harry;
this may be an important matter. Perchance it may be someone who is
willing to help us to escape, and wishes to communicate with us."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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