Under the Waves by Robert Michael Ballantyne (mobile ebook reader txt) 📕

which was a little wooden gate. A flight of dilapidated steps led to this gate.

"What if your friend should not be at home?" asked Joe, in a whisper.

"I'll land the bags in any case and await him, while you return to the port with Dwarro," replied Edgar.

If the pilot was interested in their proceedings, he must have been a consummate actor, for he took no notice whatever of the sudden change of the boat's course, but continued to smoke languidly, and to gaze abstractedly into the water as if trying to read his fortune there, while Edgar and Rooney landed the bags, and carried them through the little gate into the Scotchman's garden. In a few minutes Edgar returned to the boat, stepped in, and pushed off, while the two Chinamen, in obedience to orders, rowed out into the river.

"It's all right," whispered Edgar, sitting down beside Joe, "Wilson is at home, and has undertaken to have the bags carried to a place of safety long before any attempt to capture them could be organised, even if Dwarro knew our secret and were disposed to attempt such a thing. Besides, we will keep him under our eyes to-night as long as possible."

That night, highly elated at the success of their labours, our four friends sat round their evening meal in the pagoda and related their various diving adventures and experiences to the admiring and sympathetic Molly Machowl. They had previously entertained the pilot with unlimited hospitality and tobacco, and that suspected individual, so far from showing any restless anxiety to shorten his stay, had coolly enjoyed himself until they were at last glad when he rose to go away.

On the following morning, too, he was ready with his boat before day-break, and the party returned to the scene of operations at the wreck in high spirits.

It is certain that their enthusiasm would have been considerably damped had they known that exactly three hours after their gold was landed, a party of six stout nautical-looking Malays entered the residence of Wilson, the Scotchman, knocked down Wilson's servants, gagged Wilson's mouth, drank up the claret with which Wilson had been regaling himself, and carried off the bags of gold before his very eyes! Fortunately for their peace of mind and the success of their labours, our adventurers did _not_ know all this, but, descending to the wreck with heavy soles and light hearts, they proceeded to recover and send up additional bags of gold.

That day they were not quite so successful. Unforeseen difficulties lay in their way. Some of the gold had been washed out of the treasure-room in their absence, and was not easily recovered from the sand and sea-weed. In order the better to find this, the electric-lamp was brought into requisition and found to be most effective, its light being very powerful--equal to that of fifteen thousand candles,--and so arranged as to direct the light in four directions, one of these being towards the bottom by means of a reflecting prism. It burned without air, and when at the bottom, could be lighted or extinguished from the boat by means of electricity.

Still, notwithstanding its aid, they had not collected treasure beyond the value of about eight thousand pounds when the time for rest and taking their mid-day meal arrived. This amount was, however, quite sufficient to improve their appetites, and render them sanguine as to the work of the afternoon.

"You'd better signal Mr Berrington to come up," said Joe, who with all the others of the party were assembled in the stern of the boat, anxiously waiting to begin their dinner.

"Sure I've done it twice a'ready," replied Rooney, who was attending to our hero's life-line while Ram-stam and Chok-foo toiled at the air-pumps.

"What does he reply?" asked Joe.

"He replies, `all right,' but nothin' more. If he knew the imptiness of my--och! There he goes at last, four tugs. Come along, my hearty," said Rooney, coiling away the slack as Edgar rose slowly to the surface.

Presently his helmet appeared like a huge round goblet ascending from the mighty deep. Then the surface was broken with a gurgle, and the goggle-eyes appeared. Rooney unscrewed the front-glass, and the Chinamen were free to cease their weary pumping. When Edgar was assisted into the boat, it was observed that he had a small peculiarly-shaped box under his arm. He made no reference to this until relieved of his helmet, when he took it up and examined it with much curiosity.

"What have you got there, sir?" asked Joe Baldwin, coming forward.

"That is just what I don't know," answered Edgar. "It seems to me like an iron or steel box much encrusted with rust, and I shouldn't wonder if it contained something of value. One thing is certain, that we have not got the key, and must therefore break it open."

While he was speaking, David Maxwell gazed at the box intently. He did not speak, but there was a peculiar motion about his lips as if he were licking them. A fiend happened just then to stand at Maxwell's ear. It whispered, "You know it."

"Ay," said Maxwell, under his breath, in reply, "_I_ knows it--well."

"I wonder if there are valuables in it," said Edgar.

"Shouldn't wonder if there wor," said Rooney.

"Eight or nine thousand pounds, more or less," whispered the fiend, quoting words used by Mr Hazlit on a former occasion.

"Ah--jis' so," muttered Maxwell.

"Don't you say a word more, David," said the fiend.

"I wont," muttered Maxwell's heart; for the hearts of men are desperately wicked.

"That's right," continued the fiend, "for if you keep quiet, you know, the contents will fall to be divided among you, and the loss won't be felt by a rich fellow like old Hazlit."

Maxwell's heart approved and applauded the sentiment, but a stronger power moved in the rough man's heart, and softly whispered, "Shame!"

"Why, Maxwell," said Edgar, smiling, "you look at the box as if it were a ghost!"

"An' so it _is_," said Maxwell, with a sudden and unaccountable growl, at the sound of which the fiend sprang overboard, and, diving into the sea, disappeared from Maxwell's view for ever!

"Why, what d'ee mean, David?" asked Baldwin, in surprise.

"I mean, sir," said Maxwell, turning to Edgar with a look of unwonted honesty on his rugged face, "that that box is the ghost of one that belongs to Miss Hazlit, if it ain't the box itself."

"To Miss Hazlit," exclaimed Edgar, in surprise; "explain yourself."

In reply to this the diver told how he had originally become acquainted with the box and its contents, and said that he had more than once searched about the region of Miss Hazlit's cabin while down at the wreck in hope of finding it, but without success.

"Strange," said Edgar, "I too have more than once searched in the same place in the hope of finding something, or anything that might have belonged to her, but everything had been washed away. Of course, knowing nothing about this box, I did not look for _it_, and found it at last, by mere chance, some distance from the berth she occupied. Why did you not mention it before?"

Maxwell was silent, and at that moment the drift of thought and conversation was abruptly turned by Rooney Machowl shouting, "Dinner ahoy!" with impatient asperity.

While engaged in the pleasant duty of appeasing hunger, our divers chatted on many subjects, chiefly professional. Among other things, Rooney remarked that he had heard it said a diving-dress contained sufficient air in it to keep a man alive for more than five minutes.

"I have heard the same," said Edgar.

"Come, David," suggested Joe Baldwin, "let's test it on you."

"Ready," said Maxwell, rising and wiping his huge mouth.

The proposal which was made in jest was thereupon carried out in earnest!

Dinner being over, Maxwell put on his diving-dress; the Chinamen set the pump going, and the front-glass was screwed on. Air was forced into the dress until it was completely inflated and looked as if ready to burst, while Maxwell stood on the deck holding on to a back-stay. At a given signal the pumpers ceased to work, and the adventurous man was thus cut off from all further communication with the outward air.

At first the onlookers were amused; then they became interested, and as the minutes flew by, a little anxious, but Maxwell's grave countenance, as seen through the bull's-eye, gave no cause for alarm. Thus he stood for full ten minutes, and then opening the escape-valve, signalled for more air.

This was a sufficient evidence that a man might have ample time to return to the surface from great depths, even if the air-pumps should break down.

"But, perhaps," said Edgar, as they conversed on the subject, "you might not be able to hold out so long under water where the pressure would be great."

"Sure that's true. What d'ee say to try, David?" said Rooney.

Again Maxwell expressed willingness to risk the attempt. The glass was once more screwed on, the pumps set agoing, and down the bold diver went to the bottom. On receiving a pre-arranged signal, the pumps were stopped.

This, let the reader fully understand, is a thing that is never done with the ordinary pumps, which are not permitted to cease working from the time the bull's-eye is fixed on until after it is taken off, on the diver's return to the surface. It was therefore with much anxiety that the experimenters awaited the result--anxiety that was not allayed by Rooney Machowl's expression of countenance, and his occasional suggestion that "he must be dead by this time," or, "Och! He's gone entirely now!"

For full five minutes Maxwell stayed under water without a fresh supply of air--then he signalled for it, and the anxious pumpers sent it down with a will. Thus it was found that there was still sufficient time for a man to return to the surface with the air contained in his dress, in the event of accident to the pumps. [See Note 1.]

While the divers were engaged with these experiments, Chok-foo was sent on shore in the small boat for a supply of fresh water from a spring near the top of the island.

Having filled his keg, the Chinaman turned his fat good-humoured countenance toward the sea, for the purpose of taking an amiable view of Nature in general before commencing the descent. As he afterwards gazed in the direction of the mainland, he observed what appeared to be a line of sea-gulls on the horizon. He looked intently at these after shouldering his water-keg. Chok-foo's visage was yellow by nature. It suddenly became pale green. He dropped his burden and bounded down the hillside as if he had gone mad. The water-keg followed him. Being small and heavy it overtook him, swept the legs from under him, and preceded him to the beach, where it was dashed to atoms. Chok-foo recovered himself, continued his wild descent, sprang into the boat, rowed out to his companions in furious haste, and breathlessly gave the information that pirates were coming!

Those to whom he said this knew too well what he meant to require explanation. They were aware that many so-called "traders" in the Eastern seas become pirates