Then he suddenly calmed down. This was no time for disputatiousness or the display of warm feeling between himself and the man who, if haply anything had gone wrong with the Captain, might become the head of them all. Besides, there was wisdom in that suggestion to wait and hear what the Dons had to say before jumping to a conclusion. Thus the little group of Englishmen on the high p.o.o.p of the _Adventure_ lapsed into sudden silence as the boat drew near; but it was a silence that was ominous, menacing, a silence of set lips and burning eyes, pregnant with dire possibilities for the city and all within it if aught of evil had befallen their Captain therein. For not only was Marshall, rough almost to uncouthness of manner though he was at times, beloved by all there, but also there was the feeling stirring in every breast that it was vitally important to each one of them that the Spaniard must be taught, once and for all, to regard an Englishman's life as sacred, no matter what the circ.u.mstances might be under which he might fall into their hands, or however helpless and friendless he might at the moment seem.

So it was a very grim-visaged, uncompromising-looking group of Englishmen at whom the newcomers stared upward when the boat arrived within easy hailing-distance and lay upon her oars.

An elderly man, attired in the usual mariner's costume of the period, rose in the stern-sheets of the boat and, doffing his cap, opened the conversation by remarking in English:

"Good morning, gentlemen! I am Gaspar Pacheco, lately a master of mariners, but now retired from the sea; and I am here to-day to act the part of interpreter between yourselves and the ill.u.s.trious Senors Don Luis Maria Alfonso Calderon, Governor of the city of Cartagena; Don Ricardo Picador Garcia, Alcalde of Cartagena; Don Hermoso Morillo, our Intendant; Don Sebastian Campana; Don Ferdinand Miguel Pavia; and Don Ramon Sylva, merchants of Cartagena." And as each individual was named he rose in the stern-sheets of the boat, bowed deeply, and seated himself again.

"I am instructed by my ill.u.s.trious fellow townsmen to inform you, senors, that although your cartel was handed to the Governor immediately upon the arrival of your messenger in the town, yesterday, it was not until very late in the day that anyone could be found possessed of a sufficient knowledge of your language to interpret it, the only person possessed of such knowledge being myself, who live not in Cartagena itself but in a small hacienda a few miles north of the city. Then, senors, when I had been found and conveyed to Cartagena, and had translated your letter to the authorities, a difficulty at once arose; for mention is therein made of one Capitan Marshall, who is said to have entered the city five days ago, and whose safe return you demand. Now, neither his Excellency the Governor nor Don Ricardo Garcia, our Alcalde, had ever before heard of such a person as el Capitan Marshall, or indeed of any other stranger, being in the city; and it at once became necessary, before anything else could be done, that enquiries should be set on foot to ascertain whether any such person had been seen, so that his whereabouts might be traced. Those enquiries, senors, were at once inst.i.tuted, and are still being actively pursued; but we are regretfully obliged to confess that thus far they have been entirely without result.

Meanwhile--"

"Stop!" interrupted Bas...o...b.. throwing up his hand with an imperative gesture. "Do you mean to tell me that it is possible for a stranger-- and that stranger an Englishman--to be four days and five nights in your city without anyone being the wiser?"

The interpreter shrugged his shoulders and spread his hands abroad deprecatingly.

"It would greatly depend upon the skill, courage, and resourcefulness of the stranger, senor," he answered. "If your Capitan Marshall speaks Spanish fluently, and possesses the knowledge of how to look and act like a Spaniard, it is quite possible that he might do so."

"But," objected Bas...o...b.. "he could not well have been in your city yesterday and have remained in ignorance of what was happening. And I know him well enough to feel certain that were he alive, in good health, and free, he would have rejoined the ship ere now. That he has not done so is evidence conclusive and convincing to us all that something untoward has happened to him, for which we shall hold the entire population of your city, individually and collectively, responsible.

"Now," he continued, turning and addressing his companions on the deck, "that is speaking plainly enough for even a Spaniard to understand, isn't it? But since Captain Marshall's safety and well-being must be our first consideration, I think we ought not to make our conditions so hard as to be impossible of fulfilment; I therefore propose that we allow them a little more time in which to find him, before we proceed to extremities. Let us make it clear to them that he must be found and delivered up to us, safe and sound, within a certain time, say noon to-day; and that failure to comply with this demand will be followed by the bombardment and sack of the town. What say you, gentles?"

"Agreed!" came the answer, as with one voice, from all present.

"Very well, then," concluded Bas...o...b.. and turning toward the boat, he hailed:

"Now, listen to me, Senor Interpreter, and mark well my words. It has come to the ears of us English that the Spaniards of the New World, in their selfish determination to retain in their own hands the whole of the trade of this rich country, are making a practice of seizing every Englishman upon whom they can lay hands, and delivering him over to your so-called Holy Inquisition in order that, while salving your own consciences with the plea of religious zeal, my countrymen may be subjected to fiendish tortures, and so be discouraged from attempting to secure a share of the immeasurable wealth which you enjoy. Now the time has come when your minds must be disabused of this notion. No amount of torture which you can possibly inflict upon solitary, helpless Englishmen will deter their fellow countrymen from striving, by fair means or foul, to secure a share of what they are as much ent.i.tled to as yourselves; and they will never rest until they have obtained it! Mark you that. And, further, remember this--that henceforward, for every Englishman who is lost on these sh.o.r.es, and is found to have perished under the hands of your Inquisitors, the English will take a terrible vengeance, exacting the lives of ten of the most distinguished Spaniards upon whom they can lay hands.

"Now, our Captain is somewhere in your city at this moment, and for your own sakes he must be found and brought on board this ship before noon.

And when that is done we will talk further with you. But if by noon he is not found and delivered up to us, then I say to you that we will first bombard your town, and afterwards sack and destroy it, as a lesson to you and all Spaniards to beware henceforward how you meddle with Englishmen, even when they seem to be absolutely at your mercy. Now, translate that to the ill.u.s.trious senors your companions."

The interpreter did so; and as he proceeded the varied emotions of indignation, horror, and fear that were evoked by Bas...o...b..s plain speaking were easily enough discernible upon the countenances of his audience. They flushed and turned pale by turns, they wrung their hands, and once his Excellency the Governor started to his feet and shook his fist savagely at the little group on the _Adventure's_ p.o.o.p, but was instantly dragged down again by his comrades, who evidently feared the English more than they did him. When at length the interpreter had finished and the Governor burst into a torrent of apparently violent language, which he seemed to wish the interpreter to translate to the Englishmen, the others interposed with what appeared to be an emphatic veto. This was followed by a somewhat lengthy and very animated discussion among themselves, during which the boat was kept in place by an occasional stroke of the oars. At length a resolution of some sort seemed to be arrived at, for the alcalde was seen to speak earnestly to the interpreter, who presently rose to his feet and hailed.

"Ill.u.s.trious senors," he said, "I am desired by Don Ricardo Garcia, our respected Alcalde, to say that every possible effort shall be made to find the missing Capitan; and when found he shall at once be restored to you. But, senors, the time you have allowed us is much too brief for an effective search to be made, and--"

"Did you not say that the search was begun yesterday, and is still being actively prosecuted?" interrupted Bas...o...b..

"Even so, ill.u.s.trious General," answered the interpreter.

"Very well, then," retorted the master; "if he is in the city, and is alive and well, he will be found before noon. If he is not found, then it will be because some evil has befallen him, for which Cartagena shall be made to suffer. Look in your Inquisition for him, senor; he is as likely to be there as anywhere. And tell your Inquisitors that if he is not forthcoming by noon, the Inquisition shall be the first building to suffer from our shot. Now, go!"

So they went, with much shaking of heads and wringing of hands.

CHAPTER SEVEN.

HOW THEY SET OUT TO RESCUE CAPTAIN MARSHALL, AND FAILED.

The morning was pa.s.sed strenuously by the English in preparing both the _Adventure_ and her prize for the grim business of bombarding Cartagena, if need were; the hope in every man's heart being that the spectacle of the preparations--which was clearly visible from the water front of the town--would have the effect of breaking down the stubborn wills of the Spaniards, and constraining them to surrender their prisoner. For up to this moment there had never been any real doubt in the mind of any one of the Englishmen that Marshall had been discovered and made a prisoner; and they were steadfastly resolved to secure his freedom, let the cost be what it would.

After carefully considering and discussing the matter together, Bas...o...b..and Winter arrived at the conclusion that it would be possible to effect such a division of the crew as would enable both ships to employ the whole of their heaviest ordnance against the town; and this was accordingly done, the _Adventure_ being afterward moved to a berth astern of the galleon, so that neither ship should obstruct the fire of the other.

It wanted about a quarter of an hour of noon, and the preparations aboard both ships were complete, when the boat which had visited them in the morning was observed to be putting out again from the wharf and pulling toward the _Adventure_; but it was soon perceived that on this occasion she carried only one figure, which was presently seen to be that of the interpreter.

"The Captain is not there!" exclaimed Bas...o...b.. when this was recognised.

"Now, what a plague do they mean by sending off the boat without him?

Are they going to beg for more time, I wonder? And, if so, why? For I will never believe but that they know where he is, but are determined to exhaust every artifice and subterfuge in the endeavour to avoid giving him up!"

The others said nothing, for what was the use of hazarding conjecture when they would soon know for certain? So they held their tongues and watched the approach of the boat with gloomy, louring glances. They were disappointed, and in a savage, dangerous mood, ready to plunge at a word into any desperate enterprise.

The boat ranged up alongside, and the oarsmen rested upon their oars as before.

"Hallo! the boat ahoy!" hailed Bas...o...b.. "What does this mean, senor?

Why have you not brought off our Captain? Are the people ash.o.r.e aware that within five minutes the bombardment of the town will begin?"

"Alas! yes, most ill.u.s.trious senors," answered the interpreter, "unless I should prove fortunate enough to be successful in the mission that has been entrusted to me--that of pleading with your excellencies for a further extension of time."

"Upon what grounds, senor?" demanded Bas...o...b.. "I have already granted an extension of six hours--without result, it would appear. Why should I grant another moment?"

"Because, Excellency, it is now believed that a clue to the whereabouts of your Capitan has at last been found, and it is hoped that in the course of another hour or two his freedom may be obtained," answered the interpreter.

"Ah!" returned Bas...o...b.. with a sigh of relief. "So our Captain has been found at last, has he? And where is he thought to be?"

"In the Inquisition, senor," answered the interpreter.

"The Inquisition!" interrupted Bas...o...b.. "Odds bodikins! didn't I say so? And how long has he been there, friend?"

"If the clue which has been obtained proves to be a true one, your Capitan will have been there close upon four days," was the reply. "The man whom we believe to be he was noticed in a small posada four evenings ago, and the landlord of the house is of opinion that someone must have suspected and informed upon him, for during the evening four familiars of the Inquisition called at the house and, in spite of his violent resistance, took him and carried him away."

"They did, did they?" retorted Bas...o...b.. "If I can lay my hand upon those four familiars I'll make them wish their hands had withered rather than that they had laid them upon an Englishman! But there seems to be a good deal of uncertainty even now about this story of yours, senor interpreter, and I think our best plan will be to take up and investigate the matter ourselves. What say you, gentles? Four days!

Why, they will have had time to maim the man for life in those four days! But if they have--! Well, what say ye, my masters; shall us take a strong party of men, go ash.o.r.e, make our way to their Inquisition, and see for ourselves whether or not Captain Marshall is there? And if he is there, and they have mis-used him, we shall be able to take vengeance upon the evildoers themselves instead of punishing a lot of innocent men and women by knocking their homes about their ears."

"I say that we ought to do as you propose, without a moment's unnecessary delay," replied Winter. "And I, too," answered each of the others present.

"Then it shall be done," answered Bas...o...b.. determinedly. "My proposal, Mr Winter, is that we make equal division of our force; one-half under my leadership to go ash.o.r.e and look for our Captain, while the other half under you remains aboard the _Adventure_ to take care of her and the prize. Is that agreeable to your worship?"

"Yes," answered Winter; "it is as good a plan as we are like to devise, even though we were to cogitate for the rest of the day. It is true that I would have preferred to lead the landing-party, since if aught should happen to you we shall be left without a navigator."

"Nay, that you need not be," answered Bas...o...b.. "for I will leave young Chichester with you, and he can be your navigator; he has been an apt pupil, and now knows as much about navigation as I do, so that difficulty is soon overcome. Hallo! the boat ahoy!" he continued, directing his conversation once more to the interpreter; "come aboard, senor, will you? We shall require your services anon."

"Have I your word, most ill.u.s.trious, that no evil shall befall me if I put myself into your hands?" asked the man.

"You have," answered Bas...o...b.. "You may trust yourself to us without fear; indeed you are like to be a great deal more safe with us than elsewhere during the next few hours."

"It is enough," returned the interpreter, and signed to the boatmen to put him alongside, climbing to the deck and stepping in through the gangway without fear when they had done so.

"Now then, Senor Pacheco," said Bas...o...b.. when the Spaniard, peering about him curiously, had joined the party on the p.o.o.p; "I am about to land a party and march it to the Inquisition, in order that I may ascertain for myself whether or not our Captain is within its walls.

Whereabout is the place? Can it be seen from here?"

"Nay, most ill.u.s.trious, it cannot, for it lies at the back, or northern extremity, of the western half of the town," answered Pacheco. "It lies in the direction of the western tower of the cathedral, but far beyond it."