Chapter VIII.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 4675, 20 June 1893, Page 1

Chapter VIII.

■•THS 6RBAT BALVAGE WATERIKO 6CHEJIS. When supper was reported ready, "Fletcher and Cadman went into the cabin and eat at the table under the skylight, which Btood open, so that I oaught their talk aa I paced past. It was on indifferent matters, and might have been the chat of two men meeting for the first time. I was mighty pleased that neither of the rogues had addressed me when on deck. I was young, with a tell-tale face; I wanted a little time to master myself. It is an eartbqnake-Bhock to any man to stumble unawares on a great crime in the hatching, to all of a sudden come across that ancient fool black hen, Sin, on one of the deadliest of her Wood-red eggs. I resolved to be decided by the behaviour of the two miscreants; if they gave me to know by the least" hint that they were awara 1 had overheard their talk, then I Bhould go to the carpenter, tell all, and be advised by him as an old experienced seaman. If, on the other hand, I judged by marks conclusive to my own instincts and apprehensions that the two men did not suppose I had listened, but that they wero willing to imagine I had looked into my cabin for a minute, taking what I wa-tted and leaving quiokly, seeing that I had charge of the deck, then I determined to hold my peace, for the present at all events,.always keeping a vigilant eye upon the brig's reckoning- and upon Oaptaia Cadman. If they meant to cast the brig away 'twixt Agnlhas and Capetown, I should have plenty of leisure for thinking on what waa best to be done. As things stood, I could offer no other proof of their design than declaring what I had overheard, but by waiting I might be able to bring tbeir villainy home to them and obtain evidence to justify myself and the crew in taking any Btepa we might think proper to gave our lives and .the ship. The two men sat in the cabin until shortly before aix. Cadman then came on deck and talked to me about the starboard fore shrondß being slack; he said those shrouds and other rigging which he named needed setting up afresh. He also told me that next miming he would require me to overhaul the stock of ffeih water aboard. " The casks are stowed under the main hatch," he said. " They're easily got at. No need to break out anything. Ever called at Madeira ?" "Never." " It's a Portuguese island, ain't it ?" "Yes." "Them Portuguese are just the. most swindling people on the face of the yearth. They sarved me some galias,- tricks at Lisbon—might have ruinated nic with their withering charges. Always keep th'horizon 'twixt yon and a Portugee. We're a poor ahip, and there's nothen in this here voyage that's a-goin' to set me up for life. Suppose we should need to fill a cask or two with fresh water, will-Madeira charge me a shilling a gallon? 'Moren't .likely. Them Portuguese 'ud chouse a shipmaster into bankruptcy as easy as lighing: one of their dammed paper cigars. Dyer know the salvages ? " • "I've sighted.them," I answered, meeting his askant gaze coolly. I waa how perfectly self-possessed, striving meanwhile to interpret his looks, but his snoutlike face was as expressionless to my needs as the head of a cod. " I fancy there's fresh water to be got there^-I ain't sure." " They're uninhabited, I believe ?" "So the yarn goes. Likely ac hot. So much the better if they're desolate. You take your fill and there's nothen to pay. It's only a matter of rafting a few casks and there y'are." As he Baid this four bells were struck and the carpenter at once came aft to relieve me. Cadman turned on his heel and looked down the skylight for Fletcher and I stepped below to get some supper. I found Fletcher at the table making rotes; he at once pocketed hiß book and in his accustomed way of addressing me asked about the weather, our rate of progress, where the trade wind was to be found and co on. He left me after a few minutes to eat my supper alone.. It now entered my head to imagine that the two men meant to watch me through the mask of their habitual behaviour, to gather by my looks or speech whether I had overheard them. I munched my _upper lost in thought. My situation was extraordinary for its tragic difficulty. Nevertheless, I determined on holding by my first resolution to carefully keep my own counsel, at all events for the present. "What did Cadman. mean by talking of watering at the Salvages ? We could not be running short of fresh water yet! Had the two villains concerted during' the time they were alone, after I had stepped out of my cabin and met Fletcher— had they agreed, I say, to wreck the brig on the Salvages after all—choosing to be quick with, the criminal job now they might: fear I had got wind of their intention ? Again and again in thus thinking I half started from the table, or from my bunk, where I afterwards lay down to smoke a pipe till eight o'clock, resolved to tell the carpenter what I had heard, and to bring the crew into the secret, but I was regularly checked by this consideration: What proof have I? The two fellows would "bluster, talk big, look innocent, swear I .was a foal liar, quiet the crew with repeated assurances, meanwhile lock me np with ironß on my legs, leaving me to lie in my cell of a cabin when they actually did put the brig ashore, so that it might end in my being drowned. The night passed quietly. Fletcher took a few turns of the deck with me at about nine o'clock. He talked of Bristol, asked me juestions about my father, my experi■enceß as a Bai'or and co on. In a vague way he made me understand that he had taken a fancy to me, and equally vague was the Bort of hint he ran through his •speech that it might be before long in his power to offer me command of a vessel. jHb went below with Cadman. and they _played at draughts till five bells. I would come to a stand sometimes and sneak a look at them as they Bat under \the open skylight. You precious pair! •thought I. It; was hot and Fletcher's face was oily; his whiskers glistened with distilled dew drops. He looked a very respectable man; _ admired his^atin cravat with its two larg« pins, his stiff stock-up collars, through whose eharp points hiß chin seemed to have burst as. though like a pale suet pudding it had ".broken through ita bag in boiling* I noticed a large signet ring on his little (finger, aad hia watcfe chain was of thick gold, and stretched from one waieteoat pocket to ihe other with a bunch of seals And fal-laj* between. Gib, you villain! I thought Thfl o.her scoundrel played with Jus head on one aide, and his little eyes Jeering down ugon the draughts board out of their cornerp.. His right b*.nd wandered often to a tumbler of spiritf. Sometimes they talked, and one or another would fcreak Soto a laugh. After watching them awhile Isaidtomjselfj "Theydotfi believe I overheard them for all Fletcher'*' taming white »■» death on meeting me &t jbat instant." The light breeze freshened atseven belfc, £nd befoie Utxumg jn I r_d taken the fore- ,

royal and flying jib off the brig, leaving it to tue carpenter to let her wash along for tho next, four hours under suoh sail as he ohose to hang on to. We were at this time about a hundred and twenty-miles northeast of Madeira, heading a course that would put that ieland abreast just out of sight behind the horizon to the westward. If Cadman was aiming for the Salvages, he was on the straight road for those rooks "which lie in latitude SOdeg 7min north and longitude 15deg 54min west. They are about 118 miles north of the Canaries — that is Teneriffe, and within an easy run of Madeira. I had sighted them on one occasion at a long distance. The mariner commonly gives them a wide berth, though the Great Salvage Island shows a bold peak of ,455 ft in one place. I had never heard of a Bhip watering there, and did not know, indeed, that there was fresh water to be found on the rook. What had Cadman in his mind P (To be continued.)