Part 55 (1/2)

And then, when his strength and nerve had all but given out, came deliverance. Before him he saw a faint glimmer of light, which grew brighter and brighter as he pressed painfully forward, and ere he knew that he was safe he found himself in the gallery behind the organ loft.

But what was the brilliant light that filled the nave of the Cathedral?

What was the sound he heard? It was the sound of men's voices.

Sitting round a fire, whose red flames illumined the white walls of the grotto, were four men, who talked loudly as they dried their wet garments before the blaze.

Tresco crept to the trellis-work of the gallery, and peered down upon the scene. In the s.h.i.+fting light which the unsteady flames threw across the great cave below he could hardly distinguish one man from another, except where facing the ruddy light the features of this intruder or of that reflected the fierce glow.

”I had to chiv the fat bloke, an' he squealed like a pig when I jabbed 'im.” The speaker was sitting cross-legged with his back towards Tresco, and was wiping the blade of a big butcher's knife.

”My man died coughing,” said another. ”'E coughed as 'e sat like a trussed fowl, an' when I 'squeezed' 'im, 'e just give one larst little cough an' pegged out quite pleasant, like droppin' orf to sleep.”

”It's been a b.l.o.o.d.y mess,” remarked a third speaker. ”There's Garstang there, a ma.s.s of blood all over his s.h.i.+rt, and there's the two men that was shot; any'ow you like to look at it, it's an unworkmanlike job. All four of 'em should ha' been 'squeezed'--bullets make reports and blood's messy.”

”Garn! Whatyer givin' us, Dolly?” said the youngest member of the gang.

”Didn't you shoot your own man--an' on the track, too? I don't see what you've got to growl at. We've got the gold--what more do you want?”

”I shot the unfortunate man, your Honour, firstly because he was a constable, and secondly because he was givin' trouble, your Honour. But I prefer to do these things professionally.” Dolphin's mock seriousness tickled his hearers, and they laughed. ”But, joking apart,” he said, ”after all the experience we've had, to go and turn that mountain-side into a butcher's shambles is nothin' short of disgraceful. They all ought to've been 'squeezed,' an' have died as quiet as mice, without a drop of blood on 'em.”

”All food for worms; all lying in the howling wilderness, where they'll stop till kingdom come. What's the use of worrying? Hand over that bag of gold, Garstang, an' let's have a look. I've got an awful weakness for nuggets.”

A blanket was spread on the floor of the cavern, and upon this were heaped bank-notes and sovereigns and silver that glittered in the fire-light.

The four men gathered round, and the leader of the gang divided the money into four lots.

”Here's some of the gold.” The shrill-voiced young man handed a small but heavy bag to Dolphin. ”There's stacks more.”

”One thing at a time, William,” said the leader. ”First, we'll divide the money, then the gold, which won't be so easy, as we've got no scales. Here, take your cash, and count it. I make it 157 7s. apiece.”

From a heap of bundles which lay a few yards off he drew forward a tent-fly, and then he carried into the light of the fire a number of small but heavy bags, one by one, and placed them on the canvas.

”My lot's only 147 7s.,” said a deep and husky voice.

”You must ha' made a mistake, Garstang,” said Dolphin. ”Count it again.”

While the hulking, wry-faced robber bent to the task, the leader began to empty the contents of the bags upon the tent-fly.

Peering through the tracery of the Organ Gallery, Tresco looked down upon the scene with wonder and something akin to envy. There, on the white piece of folded canvas, he could see dull yellow heaps, which, even in the uncertain light of the fire, he recognised as gold.

At first, half-stunned by the presence of the strangers, he was at a loss to determine their character, but from their conversation and the display of such ill-gotten riches, he quickly grasped the fact that they were greater criminals than himself. He saw their firearms lying about; he heard their disjointed talk, interlarded with hilarious oaths; he saw them stooping over the heaps of gold, and to his astonished senses it was plain that a robbery on a gigantic scale had been committed.

On one side of the fire the wet and steaming garments of the murderers were hung on convenient stalagmites to dry; upon the other side of the red blaze the four men, dressed in strange motley, gleaned from their ”swags,” wrangled over the division of the plunder.

”There's only a hundred-an'-forty-seven quid in my lot, I tell yer!”

Garstang's rasping voice could be plainly heard above the others. ”Count it yerself.”

”Count it, Dolly, an' shut his crooked mouth.”

”I'll take his word for it,” said the leader. ”We can make it good to you, Garstang, when we get to town and sell some gold. Now listen, all of you. I'm going to divide the biggest haul we've ever made, or are likely to make.”