A Woman of Thirty [82]
The surface of the sea was quite smooth again; he could not so much as see the place where his unhappy fellow-passengers had disappeared. By this time they were sinking down, bound hand and foot, below the waves, if, indeed, the fish had not devoured them already.
Only a few paces away, the treacherous steersman and the sailor who had boasted of the Parisian's power were fraternizing with the crew of the /Othello/, and pointing out those among their own number, who, in their opinion, were worthy to join the crew of the privateer. Then the boys tied the rest together by the feet in spite of frightful oaths. It was soon over; the eight gunners seized the doomed men and flung them overboard without more ado, watching the different ways in which the drowning victims met their death, their contortions, their last agony, with a sort of malignant curiosity, but with no sign of amusement, surprise, or pity. For them it was an ordinary event to which seemingly they were quite accustomed. The older men looked instead with grim, set smiles at the casks of piastres about the main mast.
The General and Captain Gomez, left seated on a bale of goods, consulted each other with well-nigh hopeless looks; they were, in a sense, the sole survivors of the /Saint-Ferdinand/, for the seven men pointed out by the spies were transformed amid rejoicings into Peruvians.
"What atrocious villains!" the General cried. Loyal and generous indignation silenced prudence and pain on his own account.
"They do it because they must," Gomez answered coolly. "If you came across one of those fellows, you would run him through the body, would you not?"
The lieutenant now came up to the Spaniard.
"Captain," said he, "the Parisian has heard of you. He says that you are the only man who really knows the passages of the Antilles and the Brazilian coast. Will you--"
The captain cut him short with a scornful exclamation.
"I shall die like a sailor," he said, "and a loyal Spaniard and a Christian. Do you hear?"
"Heave him overboard!" shouted the lieutenant, and a couple of gunners seized on Gomez.
"You cowards!" roared the General, seizing hold of the men.
"Don't get too excited, old boy," said the lieutenant. "If your red ribbon has made some impression upon our captain, I myself do not care a rap for it.--You and I will have our little bit of talk together directly."
A smothered sound, with no accompanying cry, told the General that the gallant captain had died "like a sailor," as he had said.
"My money or death!" cried the Marquis, in a fit of rage terrible to see.
"Ah! now you talk sensibly!" sneered the lieutenant. "That is the way to get something out of us----"
Two of the men came up at a sign and hastened to bind the Frenchmen's feet, but with unlooked-for boldness he snatched the lieutenant's cutlass and laid about him like a cavalry officer who knows his business.
"Brigands that you are! You shall not chuck one of Napoleon's troopers over a ship's side like an oyster!"
At the sound of pistol shots fired point blank at the Frenchman, "the Parisian" looked round from his occupation of superintending the transfer of the rigging from the /Saint-Ferdinand/. He came up behind the brave General, seized him, dragged him to the side, and was about to fling him over with no more concern than if the man had been a broken spar. They were at the very edge when the General looked into the tawny eyes of the man who had stolen his daughter. The recognition was mutual.
The captain of the privateer, his arm still upraised, suddenly swung it in the contrary direction as if his victim was but a feather weight, and set him down at the foot of the main mast. A murmur rose on the upper deck, but the captain glanced round, and there was a sudden silence.
"This is Helene's father," said the captain in a clear, firm voice. "Woe to any one who meddles with him!"
A hurrah of joy went up at the words, a shout rising to the sky like a prayer of the church; a cry like the first high notes of the /Te Deum/. The lads swung aloft in
Only a few paces away, the treacherous steersman and the sailor who had boasted of the Parisian's power were fraternizing with the crew of the /Othello/, and pointing out those among their own number, who, in their opinion, were worthy to join the crew of the privateer. Then the boys tied the rest together by the feet in spite of frightful oaths. It was soon over; the eight gunners seized the doomed men and flung them overboard without more ado, watching the different ways in which the drowning victims met their death, their contortions, their last agony, with a sort of malignant curiosity, but with no sign of amusement, surprise, or pity. For them it was an ordinary event to which seemingly they were quite accustomed. The older men looked instead with grim, set smiles at the casks of piastres about the main mast.
The General and Captain Gomez, left seated on a bale of goods, consulted each other with well-nigh hopeless looks; they were, in a sense, the sole survivors of the /Saint-Ferdinand/, for the seven men pointed out by the spies were transformed amid rejoicings into Peruvians.
"What atrocious villains!" the General cried. Loyal and generous indignation silenced prudence and pain on his own account.
"They do it because they must," Gomez answered coolly. "If you came across one of those fellows, you would run him through the body, would you not?"
The lieutenant now came up to the Spaniard.
"Captain," said he, "the Parisian has heard of you. He says that you are the only man who really knows the passages of the Antilles and the Brazilian coast. Will you--"
The captain cut him short with a scornful exclamation.
"I shall die like a sailor," he said, "and a loyal Spaniard and a Christian. Do you hear?"
"Heave him overboard!" shouted the lieutenant, and a couple of gunners seized on Gomez.
"You cowards!" roared the General, seizing hold of the men.
"Don't get too excited, old boy," said the lieutenant. "If your red ribbon has made some impression upon our captain, I myself do not care a rap for it.--You and I will have our little bit of talk together directly."
A smothered sound, with no accompanying cry, told the General that the gallant captain had died "like a sailor," as he had said.
"My money or death!" cried the Marquis, in a fit of rage terrible to see.
"Ah! now you talk sensibly!" sneered the lieutenant. "That is the way to get something out of us----"
Two of the men came up at a sign and hastened to bind the Frenchmen's feet, but with unlooked-for boldness he snatched the lieutenant's cutlass and laid about him like a cavalry officer who knows his business.
"Brigands that you are! You shall not chuck one of Napoleon's troopers over a ship's side like an oyster!"
At the sound of pistol shots fired point blank at the Frenchman, "the Parisian" looked round from his occupation of superintending the transfer of the rigging from the /Saint-Ferdinand/. He came up behind the brave General, seized him, dragged him to the side, and was about to fling him over with no more concern than if the man had been a broken spar. They were at the very edge when the General looked into the tawny eyes of the man who had stolen his daughter. The recognition was mutual.
The captain of the privateer, his arm still upraised, suddenly swung it in the contrary direction as if his victim was but a feather weight, and set him down at the foot of the main mast. A murmur rose on the upper deck, but the captain glanced round, and there was a sudden silence.
"This is Helene's father," said the captain in a clear, firm voice. "Woe to any one who meddles with him!"
A hurrah of joy went up at the words, a shout rising to the sky like a prayer of the church; a cry like the first high notes of the /Te Deum/. The lads swung aloft in