Part 10 (2/2)
The ood-natured, evidently one who had profound respect for the cloth
”_Caraht not o, when he looked in He reat chest lu up the entire room Know you how it ever came there?”
”It was the senor Lieutenant's state-rooht aboard I think it ht be his sea-chest”
”Well, the Cooes It leaves no space for us to kneel in prayer”
I bent down as I spoke, exerting allthe heavy, iron-bound chest forward, across the threshold My heart beat fiercely in ht feel azed atfrom him all the interior possible with my body, I spoke a brief word of farewell to the prisoner, supposed to be safely within, then closed and locked the door
”Here,” I said authoratively, ht at so successful an issue, ”lay hold on one end of this, and give ly, and apparently without ain years and doubtless a new recruit, leaned his gun against thedoith hand upon the rope handle
”Where to, senor _padre_?”
”The Coht be placed in the store-rooh there, and bother nobody Know you where that is?”
”Ay; only a step this way”
”Lead on then, yet Saint Cecilia! it ht load The Lieutenant must have kept his stock of ithin”
I durst not venture bearing the thing farther, fearful lest we uard ould prove more suspicious than this honest fellow, besides, allnow upon the faith retained, that the half-open cuddy door had direct communication with the provisions stored below Surely they could never be loaded and unloaded by ent in the diht appeared the face of the fellow opposite, as we strained forward beneath the weight of the chest, I ventured upon a question
”How does the cook get out all that provender from here?”
”I know not, senor _padre_; but I think there will be opening from the store-room to the upper deck They were at work there yesterday while I was on guard”
By good fortune the rooeway As it was, my forehead ith perspiration for fear De Noyan would lose what little stock of patience he possessed before we reached there, or that the Spaniard would begin to wonder at the surprising weight Dropping the chest with good will a up the floor space, we caun, while, uard-roo up the key
This was a task I approached with dread Even now soue, or action, could easily ruin everything accomplished, yet I durst not o key awaken suspicion and lead to iely intoin his chair, and, stepping softly, so as not to arouse hiladly handed that iuard, hi Relieved of this duty, ratitude for all the ht, I betook myself up the ladder unmolested, and a moment later stood in comparative freedo dawn in the fresh , yet there was no sign of it in the sky; indeed I felt therein the ath not sufficiently heavy to drip in moisture It required only athe forward deck, and I beca the to this, as well as the garb I wore for conceal no one Then, fearful of observation fro the poop, I skulked stealthily along in the black shadow of the cook's galley, until I reached the cuddy door, quaking with fear lest it fail me It opened instantly to the touch of the hand, and with heart throbbing wildly, for now all that had been accoroped about within seeking to solve the loo, square box; by stretching out across the edge I could barely reach the farther side, but could touch no botto down It reseht immediately took possession of me that the crew hauled up their provisions by use of ropes, yet I could discover no hoisting apparatus of any kind With head projected far below the deck level I ventured a soft whisper into the darkness:
”Are you there, Chevalier?”
There was a slight movement beneath, as if he drew closer to where I was
”Yes, it is all right,” he returned, his voice soin this darkness to aid in reaching the deck Know you where a rope can be secured?”
”Ay; lie quiet until I return”
It was a bit ticklish, yet required doing A trip to the foremast put in my possession quite a section of line sliced fro from the upper yard Incidentally as I passed back and forth I revisited Father Cassati, still resting easily in his bonds, but now peacefully sleeping off his earlier potations undiscovered upon the hard deck Returning with my treasure, I payed it out into the intense blackness of the cuddy hole, and anxiously awaited develop to wait--there came a touch on the line followed by a firth For awith his end to some purpose, then there followed three sharp jerks which I interpreted to th to it, bracing both feet firainst a heavy cross-piece of timber, evidently nailed there for that very purpose The rope ran over a s, which I had failed to observe in my hasty search, so I found the strain less than expected, although a heavy weight was evidently attached to the other end But I uplifted this, for I was vain of reat but that shortly his hands rip hold upon the deck planks, and a moment later he stood beside me, coalley
”_Sacre_! 'tis aon the Dons, friend Benteen,” heabout him in the darkness ”And nohat is the next act in thisof a still tongue until we are both overboard,” I replied sohly ”Follow htest care for your life”
It was not much of a trick, the rest of it, and within five h the darkness, seeking after so-place below the fleet