Part 17 (1/2)
Then I happened to hear this man's accomplice declare his intention of entering the forest in search of myself. I was to be put out of the way.
Happily I was able to turn the tables. Pedro was captured without a sound, and I dressed up in his clothes, and came here in search of the other fellow. I knew that if I could master him I could get rid of the others, for all the hands are lying in the forest at the edge of the clearing, and you saw for yourself how quickly they checked an attempt to reach the arms. Now I will tell them what to do, and then you can take matters into your own hands.”
Hal went to the window and called loudly.
”Half of you follow those brigands to the edge of the plantation, and see them well away,” he cried. ”Jake Johnson, you and four others can bring your prisoner in here; the remainder had better stay in the clearing and keep a good look-out.”
A moment later the bushes which lined the clearing opened, and Gerald and the negro hands appeared, the former accompanying Jake Johnson and the men in charge of the captive Pedro. They trudged across the open s.p.a.ce, looking weird and white in the pale moonbeams; then their feet were heard as they ascended the steps outside, and within a minute the two rascally Spaniards, who had dared to attack the hacienda, stood side by side, bound hand and foot, and awaiting sentence.
Hal looked at them searchingly, smiling at Pedro's appearance, for he was now clad in a tattered blanket in place of the fine clothes he had previously worn, and cut a very sorry figure; for this half-breed was not quite the man that he would have had his fellows believe. With all in his favor, and no fear for his own personal comfort and safety, he was a martinet, an insufferably proud man, who would stop at very little to support his position. Now, however, when any fate might be in store for him, and when his conscience told him that he deserved the severest punishment, he showed the stuff of which he was made. His knees trembled and shook so that he could scarcely stand upright, his face was of an ashen pallor, and big beads of perspiration trickled down his forehead.
A very different being was his leader. Rogue though he was, and coward enough to insult a lady when he had her in his power, he was yet a brave man, with a brave man's detestation for one who could not look adversity in the face. He stood there, his usually sallow face now flushed red with excitement, his head thrown back, and an air of reckless defiance about him.
”You hound!” he hissed, turning upon his quaking accomplice. ”Why do you tremble? What do you fear? Have you not been the means of killing men?
Then why should you grumble when your own fate reaches you? Senor, do me the favor of removing this fellow,” he continued, turning to Hal. ”He is my servant, I tell you, and he has no right to stand by my side.”
”Servant or friend makes little difference to me, Jose d'Arousta,” Hal answered coldly. ”He has been good enough to act as your comrade in this deed of roguery, and therefore is good enough to take his sentence with you. Now, Mr. Brindle, these two men came here unbidden and made a most unwarranted attack upon you. I leave you to settle with them, and will merely mention that three of the negro hands have been either killed or wounded by their following. Deal with them as you think they deserve.”
CHAPTER XII
A RISKY UNDERTAKING
Called upon to pa.s.s judgment on the two Spanish irregulars who had attacked the peaceful hacienda in search of plunder and revenge, it was long before Mr. Brindle opened his lips or endeavored to speak. He drew a chair before them, and, having seated himself with the utmost deliberation, extracted a long cheroot from a case of woven gra.s.s, which he always carried in his pocket. Turning it round and round in his fingers, as if to satisfy himself that it was one of good flavor, he bit off one end, and striking a match, lit the other very carefully. Even then he did not address the prisoners.
”Pull that lamp a little closer, Hal, old boy,” he said. ”That's it. Now lift the shade, that I may get a better look at these two--these two rascals.”
Hal did as he was asked, throwing a flood of light upon Jose d'Arousta and his accomplice.
”Senor, you are kind to us,” said the former, in the calmest of calm voices, and with more than a suspicion of irony in his tones. ”A strong light never did the gay d'Arousta harm. On the contrary, he has been told that it improves him.”
He laughed, and, jerking his wide-brimmed hat backward, turned still more to the light, showing a handsome face, which would have been quite taking but for the color and vindictive flash of the eyes, and for the involuntary twitch of his lips, which even he, calm though he had forced himself to appear, could not entirely control.
”It is a pity, a thousand pities, Jose d'Arousta, that all your deeds cannot bear the light,” said Mr. Brindle quietly. ”I know them well, and you are aware of it. Rogue, sir, is written on your face--rogue, vagabond, and thief. What have you to say for yourself?”
”To say, senor? Merely that ill fortune has befallen me. But for this dolt here I should have succeeded, so that I have little more to say than that I regret my failure greatly, and think myself a fool that I did not burn the hacienda about your ears. But this young Englishman was too clever for me. It is the second time, and the last, I can a.s.sure you, senor, for Jose d'Arousta never forgets nor forgives, and never neglects to repay his debts in full.”
”Exactly so,” Mr. Brindle replied dryly. ”It _is_ the last time. Now, listen to me. A state of war has commenced in the island, and everything is disorganized. If I send you into Santiago, you will be set at liberty again, for your services will be required. Therefore I must take matters into my own hands, for men who make an unwarranted attack, and who kill my servants in cold blood, must take the consequences.”
”Senor, you are scarcely wise,” Jose replied, with unruffled calmness.
”You mean, I understand, that you will shoot us. Ah, well! do so, and what will happen? In these lawless times my countrymen will retaliate, for the news is certain to reach their ears. That will be awkward, senor. On the other hand, you might set us at liberty, and profit yourself, for we will engage to leave you unmolested from this day onwards.”
”You will engage? But what is the value of a promise from you?” asked Mr. Brindle, with a disdainful shrug of his shoulders.
”That you must decide for yourself,” the Spaniard answered calmly.
Once more there was silence, Mr. Bundle sinking his face into his hands, as if in deep thought; while the captives stood in front of him, Jose apparently unconcerned, but for all that narrowly watching; and Pedro, with eyes that were full of fear, and knees that knocked together in sheer terror.
”Does anyone know which of my servants were hurt?” asked Mr. Brindle suddenly. ”Were any killed, or wounded so badly that they will die?”
”I can answer that question, father,” said Gerald, stepping forward.
”Black Pete is. .h.i.t badly, though not mortally, and will certainly recover: while the others have only trifling wounds.”