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CHAPTER X
THE SEAGULL LUGGER
A lugger is a three mast vessel, with narrow lines aft and bulging bows; it has a foremast, mainmast, and a driver greatly inclined over the stern; its bowsprit is short; it carries large sails and at times topsails.
From this description it is easy to see that luggers have the same rig, on a larger scale, as chasse-marées.
Although the draft on water of these vessels is rather great aft, as they are generally quick and good sea boats, they are largely employed for smuggling purposes, in spite of the inconvenience of the large sails which have to be shifted with each tack.
The Seagull was a vessel of ninety tons, neatly fitted up, and carrying four small iron guns of eight to the pound, which caused her to bear a greater resemblance with a corsair than a peaceful coaster.
Still, in spite of a rather numerous crew, and her rakish appearance, during about a year since this vessel began frequenting the coast of Provence and the Lerins islands, not a word of harm had been said against her. Skipper Nicaud passed for an honest worthy man, although a little rough and quarrelsome, – faults, by the way, peculiar to nearly all sailors, and which in no way diminished the excellent reputation which the master of the Seagull enjoyed.
So soon as Major de l'Oursière had regained the lugger's deck, and the vessel had stood off, after taking a parting glance at St. Honorat, whose outline was gradually disappearing in the mist, he walked aft, seized the manrope and went down into the cabin.
But on entering the cabin, which he supposed to be unoccupied, as the skipper was on deck, the Major with difficulty restrained an exclamation of surprise.
There was a man in the cabin, seated at a table, and contently imbibing rum and water, while smoking an enormous pipe, and forming an aureole around him of bluish smoke.
In this man the Major recognised Michael the Basque, the fisherman.
After a moment's hesitation, the Major walked in, although the presence of this individual aboard the lugger was rather singular. Still there was nothing in the thing that should terrify the Major, who had no reason to suppose that Michael was hostile to him, or that he had anything to apprehend from him.
At the noise made by the Major on entering the cabin, the sailor half turned to him, though without removing the pipe from his lips. After taking a pull at the glass he held in his right hand, he said in a bantering tone, —
"Why, if I am not mistaken, it is our estimable governor of St. Marguerite; delighted to see you, I am sure, Major."
"Why," the Major replied, in the same key, "it's that worthy fellow, Michael. By what chance do I find you here, when I had a right to suppose you engaged fishing, at this moment, Lord knows where?"
"Ah!" said Michael, with a laugh; "There's as good fishing here as anywhere. Won't you take a seat, Major, or are you afraid of compromising your dignity by sitting down by the side of a poor fellow like me?"
"You do not think that," the Major answered, as he seated himself.
"Don't you smoke, eh?" Michael asked him.
"No; that is a sailor's amusement."
"It is so, Major. But I suppose you drink?"
The Major held out a glass, which the sailor liberally filled.
"Here's your health, Major. If I expected to meet anyone, it wasn't you, I assure you."
"I thought so."
"Indeed I didn't."
"Well, to tell you the truth, I did not expect to meet you, either."
"I am aware of that. You have come from St. Honorat."
"Hang it all! You cannot be ignorant of that fact, since I find you here."
"It was on your account, then, that we lost two hours in tacking between the islands, at the risk of running on to a reef, instead of attending to our business?"
"What do you mean by business? Are you a smuggler at present?"
"I am everything," Michael replied, laconically, emptying his glass.
"But what the deuce are you doing here?" asked the Major.
"What are you?" the sailor said, answering one question by another.
"I – I?" the Major began, in embarrassment.
"You hesitate!" Michael continued, banteringly. "Well, I will tell you, if you like."
"You, Michael?"
"Why not? You went to St. Honorat to admire the beauties of nature," and he burst into a hearty laugh. "Is it not so?"
"Yes. I have always passionately admired the picturesque. But that reminds me. I have forgotten to tell skipper Nicaud where I wish him to land me."
And he made a movement, as if to rise.
"It is unnecessary," the sailor said, obliging him to sit down again.
"How? Unnecessary! On the contrary, I must do it, without further delay."
"Still you have time, Major," the sailor said, peremptorily; "besides, I must speak with you first."
"You speak with me?" the Major exclaimed, in stupefaction.
"So it is, Major," the other replied, sarcastically. "I have very important matters to tell you. In your devil of a castle that is impossible, because you have there a number of soldiers and gaolers, who, at your slightest frown, interrupt the person addressing you, and throw him without ceremony into some hole, where they unscrupulously leave him to rot. That is discouraging, on my honour. But here it is far more agreeable, as I am not afraid that you will have me locked up – at least, not for the present. Hence, as the opportunity offers, I wish to take advantage of it to empty my budget, and tell you what I have on my heart."
The Major felt internally anxious, without yet knowing positively what he had to fear, so extraordinary to him seemed this way of speaking on the part of a sailor, who had hitherto always displayed a servile politeness toward him. Still, he did not allow anything of this to be seen, but leaned carelessly over the table.
"Very good, let us talk, since you feel so great an inclination for it, my good Michael; for I have time, as I am in no hurry."
The sailor made his chair turn half round on its hind legs, and finding himself by this movement right facing M. de l'Oursière, he examined him cunningly, for an instant, then drained the contents of his glass; and, after banging the empty glass on the table, he said, —
"It is really a charming passion of yours, Major, to go thus at night to admire the ruins of the convent of St. Honorat in the darkness. It is, really, a charming passion, and a very profitable one, from what I have been able to learn."
"What do you mean?" the Major asked, turning pale.
"I mean what I say, nothing else! Do you believe in hazard, Major?"
"Why – "
"No more, I fancy, in that which makes me meet you here, than in the chance that makes you find on a desert island diamonds worth three hundred thousand livres; because the one thing is as impossible as the other?"
This time the Major did not attempt to reply, for he felt he was caught out.
Michael continued in the same sneering and bantering tone —
"It is certainly ingenious to act as you do. A man soon grows rich by taking with both hands, but like all trades that are too good, this one is rather risky."
"You insult me, scoundrel!" the Major stammered. "Take care what you say. If I call – "
"Come, come," the sailor interrupted, with a coarse laugh; "I do not intend to notice the insult you cast in my teeth, for I have something else to do. As for calling out, just try it, and you will see what will happen."
"That – that is treachery!"
"Hang it! Are we not all more or less traitors? You are one – I am one; that is allowed: hence, believe me, it is useless to dwell any longer on this subject, and we had better revert to our business."
"Speak," the Major muttered in a gloomy voice.
"But, stay. I wish to give you a proof of frankness, and show you once for all how wrong you would be in keeping up, I will not say the least hope, but the slightest illusion as to what is going on here."
Then, tapping the table smartly with the heel of his glass, he shouted, —
"Come here, Nicaud, I want you."
A heavy step resounded on the cabin stairs, and almost immediately Skipper Nicaud's cunning face was framed by the doorway.
"What do you want, Michael?" he asked, without seeming even to notice the Major's presence.
"Only a trifle, my lad," the sailor replied, pointing to the officer, who had turned pale, through the emotion he felt. "Only a simple question for the personal satisfaction of this gentleman."
"Speak."
"Who is the present commander of the Seagull lugger, in whose cabin we are now seated?"
"Why, you, of course."
"Then everyone aboard, yourself included, must obey me?"
"Certainly; and without the slightest observation."
"Very good. Then supposing, Nicaud, I were to order you to take the Major here present, fasten a couple of round shot to his feet, and throw him overboard, what would you do, my lad?"
"What would I do?"
"Yes."
"Obey."
"Without any observation?"
Skipper Nicaud shrugged his shoulders.
"Shall I do it?" he asked, stretching out his huge fist towards the Major, who shuddered.
"Not yet," Michael answered. "Go back on deck, but do not go far, as I shall probably want you soon."
"Very good," said the master, and disappeared.
"Are you now edified, Major?" Michael asked, turning carelessly to the horrified governor; "And are you not beginning to understand that I, poor chap as I am, compared with you, have you, temporarily, at any rate, completely in my power?"
"I allow it," the Major stammered, in a faint and choking voice.
"In that case, I believe we shall come to an understanding."
"Come to the facts, sir, without further circumlocution."
"Good!" Michael exclaimed, coarsely; "That's how I like to see you. In the first place, hand me the diamond which your accomplice gave you in the ruins."
"Then you mean robbery. I had hoped better things of you," the Major answered, disdainfully.
"Call it what you like, Major," the sailor said imperturbably; "the name does not alter the thing – give me the diamond."
"No," the Major answered coldly, "the diamond is my fortune, and you shall only have it with my life."
"That condition, illogical though it is, will not check me, I assure you, for I will kill you, if necessary, and then take the diamond," and he cocked a pistol.
There was a silence.
"Well, then, it is really this diamond you want?"
"That and something else," said Michael.
"I do not understand you."
The sailor rose, placed the pistol to his chest, and said frowningly —
"I will make you understand me."
The Major felt he was lost, and that this man would kill him.
"Stop!" he said.
"Have you decided?"
"Yes," he answered, in a voice choked with rage, and drawing the box from his bosom, he muttered, "Curse you, take it!"
Michael returned the pistol to his belt, opened the box, and attentively examined the diamond.
"It is the one," he said, as he closed the box again, and stowed it away.
The unlucky officer followed all these movements with a lack-lustre eye.
Michael resumed his seat, poured himself out a glass of rum, swallowed it at a draught, and then bending forward as he filled his pipe, said —
"Now, let us talk."
"What, talk?" asked the Major; "Have we not finished yet?"
"Not yet – what a hurry you are in. At present we have said nothing."
"What more do you want of me?"
"That is meant for a reproach; but I allow for your ill temper, and owe you no grudge for it. It is a sad thing for a man who has been poor all his life to see himself robbed in a moment of a fortune which he had only just secured. Well, then, listen to me, Major," he said, assuming a consolatory air, and putting his elbows on the table, "it is easy for you to regain the fortune you have lost, and it only depends on yourself."
The Major opened his eyes widely, not knowing whether to take what the sailor said to him seriously; but as he risked nothing by permitting an explanation, he prepared to give him the most earnest attention.
The other continued —
"No matter how I learned the fact – I know for certain, and the affair of the diamond is an undeniable proof of it – that, while on one hand, you feigned to feel the greatest interest for Count de Barmont, from whom you have drawn large sums, though I don't say it in reproach, by means of this feigned pity; on the other, you betray him without shame to his enemies, whom you make pay for it heavily. I merely mention this as a fact, and it is unnecessary to discuss it," Michael said, checking the Major, who was about to speak. "Now, I have made up my mind that, against wind and tide, and in spite of all the intrigues of his enemies to prevent it, the Count shall be free, and free through me. This is my plan: listen attentively to this, Mr. Governor, for the affair concerns you' more nearly than you seem to suppose. The Count has learnt the death of Cardinal de Richelieu, and I sent him the news in a letter from the Duc de Bellegarde. You see that I know everything, or nearly so: he at once requested to see you, and you granted his wish. What took place at your interview? Speak, and before all, be frank: in my turn, I will listen to you."
"Of what use is it to repeat our conversation?" the Major asked, ironically.
"For my private satisfaction," Michael answered, "and your special interest: do not be in too great a hurry to rejoice, Major, for you are not out of my hands yet. Believe me, you had better yield with a good grace, for your interest demands it."
"My interest?" he repeated, in amazement.
"Go on, Major; when the time arrives, be assured, I shall give you the explanation you desire."
The old officer reflected for a moment: at last he decided to speak, resolved, if the opportunity offered itself hereafter, to make the sailor pay dearly for all his agony and humiliation.
"The Count," he said, "engaged me to go to Paris, and negotiate with the Duc de Bellegarde, in order to bring him back his order of release, which the duke is certain to obtain from the king."
"That is good. And when do you intend to start for Paris?"
"I have started."
"Ah! Ah!" said Michael, with a laugh. "It appears that you have stopped on the road, but that has nothing to do with the affair. Is that all?"
"Nearly so."
"Hum! then there is something else?"
"Less than nothing."
"No matter – out with it, for I am very curious. Did not the Count promise you something?"
"Yes."
"How much?"
"Fifty thousand livres," the Major said, with repugnance.
"Ah, ah, that is a tidy sum! And you were setting about earning it in a strange fashion; but I do not wish to refer to that any more. Do you wish to recover your diamond, and at the same time gain the fifty thousand livres promised by the Count? Speak, it depends on yourself."
"You are jesting with me, and not speaking seriously."
"Never, on the contrary, have I been more serious. On the Count's arrival at the castle you command, you were only a poor scrub of an officer of fortune, who, during his whole life, had been struggling against odds, and perched like an owl on an old wall, you were exposed on your isle to die as you had lived; that is to say, without a rap. During the last fifteen or eighteen months, things have completely changed with you. With what you have extorted from the Count, and what his enemies have given you, you have succeeded in getting together a very decent sum. Admitting that you were to receive the Count's fifty thousand livres, and I were to give you back the diamond, it would produce you a perfectly independent fortune, enabling you to retire when you pleased, and end your days in joy and abundance. Is not that your opinion?"
"Certainly, but I shall not touch the 50,000 livres, and the diamond you have taken from me."
"That is true, but," he added, "it is only dependent on yourself, Major, to have it again in your possession."
"What must I do for that?"
"That is what I was waiting for, Major; you consent then, to enter into an arrangement?"
"I must; have I my free will at this moment?"
"A man always has it when he likes, Major, you know that as well as I do; the only thing is, that as you are a man endowed with a strong dose of intelligence, and understand, that when a person has made a fortune by means more or less honourable, he must keep it at all hazards, you are beginning to lend a more attentive ear to the propositions which you guess I am preparing to make you, for you are at length convinced that it is to your interest to come to an understanding with me."
"Suppose what you like, I do not care; but tell me your propositions, so that I may know whether my honour allows me to accept them or forces me to refuse them."
Michael began laughing unceremoniously at this outburst, by which the Major sought to mask his capitulation.
"Instead of going to Paris," he said, "you will simply return to Sainte Marguerite. You will go to the Count, tell him he is free, and then return with him on board the lugger, which will wait for you. When the Count and yourself are on board, the lugger will stand out to sea. Then I will restore you your diamond and pay you the amount agreed on; and as probably you will not care to resume the command of your castle after such a frolic, I will convey you, and your wealth wherever you like, in order to enjoy it without fear of being disturbed."
"But," the Major observed, "what shall I tell the Count to persuade him that he is free by the King's orders?"
"That does not concern me, it is your affair; but hang it all, my dear Major, you are unjust to yourself in raising any doubts as to the power of your imagination. Now what do you think of my proposition, and do you accept it?"
"What security have I that you are not deceiving me, and that when I have fulfilled the conditions of the bargain you impose on me, you keep yours as strictly?"
"The word of a honest man, sir, a word, which though that of a plain sailor, is worth that of a gentleman."
"I believe you, sir," the Major answered, lowering his eyes before Michael's flashing glance.
"Then, that is settled?"
"Yes, it is."
"All right. Hallo! Nicaud!" Michael shouted.
The skipper arrived with a speed that proved he had not been far from the two speakers.
"Here I am, Michael, what do you want?"
"Where are we at this moment?" the sailor asked.
"About five leagues to windward of Sainte Marguerite."
"Very good! Keep on the same course till daybreak; at sunrise we will stand for the island, and anchor off it."
"Very good, I understand."
"Ah! Here is Mr. Governor, who I think, has great want of a little rest; can't you put him up somewhere where he will be able to sleep for two or three hours?"
"Nothing easier, as I shall not turn in tonight, nor you, I suppose, my cabin is at the Major's service, if he will do me the honour of accepting it."
The old officer was really worn out, not only by the fatigue of a long watch, but also by the emotions he had suffered from during the night. Certain that he had now no apprehensions about his safety, he heartily accepted the skipper's offer, and withdrew into the cabin, the door of which the other politely opened for him.
The two sailors went up on deck again.
"This time," said Michael, "I believe that we have manoeuvred cleverly, and that our plan will succeed."
"I am beginning to be of your opinion; but I say, wasn't that old cormorant of a governor tough?"
"Not very," Michael replied with a laugh, "besides, he had no choice; he was obliged to give in, whether he liked it or not."
As had been arranged, the lugger stood off and on from the island during the whole night, at a distance of from four to five leagues from the coast.
At sunrise, they steered directly for St. Marguerite.
The breeze had lulled nearer shore, so that it occupied some time ere the light vessel reached the species of port serving as a landing place in front of the castle.
The lugger drew too much water for it to be possible to run alongside the quay; hence it lay to a short distance off; and Nicaud had a boat lowered, while Michael went down into the cabin to warn the Major.
The latter was awake; refreshed and rested by sleep, he was no longer the same man, he now regarded his position in its true light, and understood that the means offered him to escape from the disagreeable position in which he was placed by his double treachery, was more advantageous than otherwise for him.
It was almost with a smile that he wished Michael good day, and he made no difficulty about accepting the hand the sailor offered to him.
"Well," he asked him, "whereabouts are we, Michael?"
"We have arrived, Major."
"Already? Are you not afraid it is too early to go ashore?"
"Not at all; it is nine o'clock."
"So late? Hang it, it seems that I have slept soundly; in truth, I feel quite jolly this morning."
"All the better, Major, that is a good sign; I suppose you remember our arrangements?"
"Perfectly."
"And you will play fairly with us?"
"In my turn I pledge my honour to it, and I will keep it, whatever may happen."
"Come, I am glad to hear you talk like that; I am beginning to alter my opinion about you."
"Stuff," the Major remarked laughingly, "you do not know me yet."
"You are aware that the boat is ready, it is only waiting for you to go ashore."
"If that is the case, I will follow you, Michael; I am now as eager as you are to finish the affair."
The Major went on deck and got into the boat, which was at once pushed off, and set out for the landing place.
Michael's heart beat ready to burst, while he followed with an anxious eye, the light yawl which was rapidly leaving the lugger, and was already close in shore.
