In the King's Name Part 24

"All right, your honour," said the gunner; "but if I didn't get a crack on the shoulder just about here from some one, I'm a Dutchman."

"Ay, ay," was uttered in chorus; and the members of the previous night's party stared up at the rocks on all sides, in search of some evidence to lay before their doubting commander; but none being forthcoming, they reluctantly followed him back to the open sh.o.r.e, where, as there was nothing to be seen but rocks, sand, and stones, and the towering cliff, they proceeded back to the boats.

"Fools! idiots! a.s.ses!" the lieutenant kept muttering till they embarked, the gunner and Tom Tully being in one boat, the lieutenant in the other, which was allowed to get well on ahead before the occupants of the second boat ventured to speak, when Tom Tully became the spokesman, the gunner being too much put out by the rebuff he had met with to do more than utter an occasional growl.

"Lookye here, my lads," said Tully; "arter this here, I'll be blessed."

That was all he said; but it was given in so emphatic a tone, and evidently meant so much, that his messmates all nodded their heads in sage acquiescence with his remark. Then they looked at each other and bent steadily to their oars, in expectation of what was to take place as soon as they got on board.

By the time they were three-quarters of the way Billy Waters had somewhat recovered himself.

"I've got it," he exclaimed.

"Got what?" said three or four men at once.

"Why that 'ere. I see it all now. Them chaps lives atop o' the cliff when they ar'n't afloat, and they've got tackle rigged up ready, and what do they do but whip one another up the side o' the rock, just as you might whip a lady out of a boat up the side of a three-decker."

Tom Tully opened his mouth and stared at the gunner in open admiration.

"Why, what a clever chap you are, Billy!" he growled. "I shouldn't ha'

thought o' that if I'd lived to hundred-and-two."

"I see it all now plain enough, mates," continued the gunner. "I was. .h.i.tting at that chap one minute in the dark, and then he was gone. He'd been keeping me off while his mates was whipped up, and then, when his turn came, up he goes like a bag o' biscuit into a warehouse door at Portsmouth, and I'll lay a tot o' grog that's what's become of our young orsifer."

"Hark at him!" cried Tom Tully, giving his head a sidewise wag. "That's it for sartain; and if I wouldn't rather sarve under Billy Waters for skipper than our luff, I ar'n't here."

"You'd best tell him, then, as soon as we get on board," said one of the men.

"What! and be called a fool and a hidiot!" cried the gunner. "Not I, my lads. I says let him find it out for hisself now, for I sha'n't tell nothing till I'm asked."

In this spirit the crew of the second boat reached the side of the cutter, went on board, the boats were hoisted up, and Billy Waters had the pleasure of finding himself placed under arrest, with the great grief upon his mind that his guns were left to the tender mercies of the boatswain, and a minor sorrow in the fact that his supply of grog was stopped.

CHAPTER NINETEEN.

IN THE MIDDLE WATCH.

How long Hilary had been asleep he did not know, but he was aroused suddenly by something touching his face, and he lay there wide awake on the instant, wondering what it meant.

And now for the first time the hards.h.i.+p of his position came with renewed force. He was accustomed to a rough life on board s.h.i.+p, where in those days there were few of the luxuries of civilisation, but there he had a tolerably comfortable bed. Here he had straw, and the absence of a coverlet of any description made him terribly cold.

The cold chill did not last many seconds after his awaking, for he felt a strange sensation of heat come over him; his hands grew moist, and in a state of intense excitement he lay wondering what it was that had touched his face.

He could not be sure, but certainly it felt like a cold, soft hand, and he waited for a renewal of the touch, determined to grasp at it if it came again.

He was as brave as most lads of his age, but as he lay there, startled into a sudden wakefulness, it was impossible to help thinking of Adela's words spoken that morning and his own light remarks, and for a time he felt in a strange state of perturbation.

All was perfectly still, and it was so dark that he could not for some time make out the shape of the window against the night sky; but inside his prison there was a faint light, so faint that it did not make the wall visible, and towards this he strained his eyes, wondering whence it came.

"Why, what a coward I am!" he said to himself, as he made an effort to master his childish fears. "Ghosts, indeed! What nonsense! I'm worse than a child--afraid of being in the dark."

He lay listening with the straw rustling at his slightest movement, and then, unable to bear the uncertainty longer, he started up on one elbow.

As he did so there was a quick noise to his right, and he turned sharply in that direction.

"I might have known it," he muttered--"rats. I daresay they swarm in this old place. How did that fellow get in? I saw no holes."

Unable to answer the question, he turned his attention to the faint light that seemed to pervade the place, and, after a time, he made out that it struck down through some crack or crevice in the ceiling.

As he tried to make out where, it seemed to die away, leaving the place as black as ever; but now, in place of the depressing silence, he could hear that something was going on. There was a dull noise somewhere below him, making his heart beat fast with excitement, for it was an endors.e.m.e.nt of his ideas that there was a cellar or vault. Then, in the distance, he fancied he could hear the rattle of chains, and the impatient stamp of a horse, with once or twice, but very faintly heard, a quick order or e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.n.

"I wonder whether there are many rats here?" he thought, for he wanted to get up and clamber to the window, and look out to see if he could witness any of the proceedings of his captors.

It was an unpleasant thought that about the rats, for, as a matter of course, he began directly afterwards to recall all the old stories about people being attacked by rats, and half devoured by the fierce little animals; and it was some time before he could shake off the horrible idea that if he moved dozens of the little creatures might attack him.

Making an effort over himself to master his cowardly feelings, he sprang up and stood listening; but there was not so much as a scuffle of the tiny feet, and groping his way to the wall beneath the window, he climbed up and looked out, but could see nothing, only hear voices from the other side of the house.

Directly after, though, he heard some one apparently coming to his prison; for there were the steps upon the boarded floor, then others upon a stone pa.s.sage, and a light shone beneath his door.

"They sha'n't find me up here," he thought; and he lowered himself down; but, to his surprise, instead of whoever it was coming right to his door, he seemed to go down some steps, with another following him. The light disappeared, and then the footsteps ceased, and he could hear the rumbling mutter of voices below his feet.

"I hope they are not getting up a gunpowder plot below," said Hilary to himself, for his dread had given place to curiosity. "I'll be bound to say that there's a regular store of good things down there waiting to be turned into prize-money for my lads when I once get back on board.

Hallo! here they come again."

The ascending steps were heard plainly enough, and the light reappeared, s.h.i.+ning feebly beneath the door; and, going softly across, Hilary looked through the great keyhole, and could see the ill-looking man Allstone with a candle in one hand and a little keg that might have contained gunpowder or spirit upon his shoulder.

"Here," he whispered to his companion, "lay hold while I lock up."

It was all in a moment. The keg was being pa.s.sed from one to the other, when, between them, they let it fall with a crash, knocking the candle out of Allstone's hands.

Hilary saw the flash of the contents of the keg as the candle fell upon the stones; then there was the noise of a dull explosion that rattled the door; and as the prisoner started back from the door a stream of blue fire began to run beneath it, and he heard one of the men yell out:

"There's that young officer in there, and he'll be burned to death!"

CHAPTER TWENTY.

A FIERY TRIAL.

It was a terrible position, and for a few moments Hilary felt helpless to move.

That blue stream of fire came gurgling and fluttering beneath the door, spreading rapidly over the floor, filling the chapel with a ghastly glare; and the prisoner saw that in a few moments it would reach the straw.

Even in those exciting moments he fully comprehended the affair. He knew, as in a case he had once seen on s.h.i.+pboard, that this was spirit of extraordinary strength, and that the vapour would explode wherever it gathered, even while the surface of the stream was burning.

He did not stand still, though, to think, but with all the matter-of-fact, business habitude of one accustomed to a life of emergencies, he proceeded to drag the straw into the corner farthest away from the increasing flame.