I took all the arms he had about him, two revolvers and a knife; they
would give me fourteen more shots were I hard pressed. In any case they
were safer, so far as Marjory and I were concerned, in my hands than
in those of our enemies. I dragged the body of the negro into the cabin
with the other dead man; then I closed the door on them, and when
Marjory joined me, I locked the door of her cabin and took away the key.
In case of suspicion this might give us a few minutes of extra time.
Marjory came with me up on deck; and as she caught sight of the open sea
there was an unspeakable gladness on her face. We seized a favourable
opportunity, when no one was looking, for all on deck were busy hauling
up the treasure; and slipped behind the cask fastened to the mast. There
we breathed freely. We both felt that should the worst come to the
worst we could get away before any one could touch us. One rush to the
bulwarks and over. They would never attempt to follow us, and there was
a chance of a swim to shore. I gave Marjory a belt with two revolvers.
As she strapped it on she felt safer; I knew it by the way she drew
herself up, and threw back her shoulders.
When the last of the bags which held the treasure came on board, the men
who had come with it closed in a ring around the mass as it lay on deck.
They were all armed; I could see that they did not trust the sailors,
for each moment some one's hand would go back to his gun. We heard one
of them ask as he looked round: "What has become of that damned nigger?
He must take his share of work!" Marjory was very brave and very still;
I could see that her nerve was coming back to her. After a little
whispered conversation, the newcomers began to carry the bags down to
the cabin; it was slow work, for two always stood guard above, and two
remained down below evidently on similar duty. Discovery of the dead man
must come soon, so Marjory and I stole behind the foremast which was
well away from every one. She was first, and as she began to pass behind
she recoiled; she got the drop on some one in front of her. There was a
smothered 'h-s-s-sh' and she lowered her weapon. Turning to me she said
in a faint whisper:
"It is the Spaniard; what is he doing here?" I whispered back:
"Be good to him. He is a noble fellow, and has behaved like a knight of
old!" I pressed forward and took his hand. "How did you get here?" I
asked. His answer was given in so faint a voice that I could see that he
was spent and tired, if not injured:
"I swam, too. When I saw their boat pull out of the northern channel, I
managed to scramble down part of the cliff, and then jumped. Fortunately
I was not injured. It was a long, weary swim, and I thought I should
never be able to get through; but at last the current took me and
carried me to the ship. She was anchored with a hawser, not a cable.
I managed to climb up it; and when I was on board I cut it nearly
through."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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