The Old Tobacco Shop

"There a skull and cross-bones under it," said Toby. "Pirates, as sure as you're born."

"We'd better be getting away from here," said Aunt Amanda.

"Better not speak so loud," said Toby. "How are we to – ?"

"S-sh!" said the Old Codger with the Wooden Leg, in a frightened whisper. "Excuse me – look – I saw something under the water-fall. What's that?"

"Stand close back against the wall," whispered Toby, "and don't speak a word."

They crowded back against the wall, alongside of the treasure, and looked towards the water-fall.

A dark object was rising from the shallow water at the foot of the fall. As they watched, another dark object appeared to come through from under the fall and apparently from behind it; and this object rose also from the shallow water near the foot of the fall, and took its place beside the other. One after another, five more of these dark objects came from under the fall and apparently from behind it, and stood upright in the shallow water.

There were now seven in all. They moved in a group towards the shore. Each of them had two legs, and each was muffled from top to toe in a single loose garment with baggy legs; they walked somewhat like a company of bears. They stood on the dry ground, and one of them proceeded to take off the loose garment with which he was muffled, while the others assisted him with evident deference.

First came off a close hood which covered his head, cheeks, and neck. As the watchers by the wall saw his head, they held their breath in terror, and Aunt Amanda clutched Freddie's arm. Around the head was a tight-fitting kerchief, knotted behind; in his ears were great round ear-rings; and gripped between his teeth was a long pointed knife.

Aunt Amanda gave a sign as if she was about to scream, but Toby quickly put his hand over her mouth.

As the man with the ear-rings got himself out of the legs of his loose garment, the party by the wall saw that he was a short and burly man, of a ferocious aspect. In a sash which he wore was stuck on one side a cutlass, and on the other a long pistol. He wore no coat, and his shirt was open at the throat. His arms showed from the elbows down, and they were thick with muscles. His trousers were knee breeches, buckled just below the knee, and he was very bow-legged; his calves were big and knotted.

When his outer covering had been removed, it was plain that he was perfectly dry from head to foot, except for water on his face and hands; and while the others were taking off their coverings, he withdrew with one hand the knife from between his teeth, and with the other hand wiped the water from his eyes and face. He then stuck the knife in his sash, waved his hands somewhat daintily in the air as if to dry them, took from his breeches pocket a large white handkerchief, completed with this handkerchief the drying of his face and hands, examined his finger-nails carefully, blew on them, and proceeded to polish them delicately with his pocket-handkerchief, at the same time swearing two dreadful oaths, in a low tone of voice, at the six men who were struggling with their coverings. When these had been removed, the six appeared in much the same style of dress as the first, and each bore a cutlass and a pistol; but their clothing was much ruder than his, and they had no ear-rings; instead of sashes they wore leather belts.

"Kerchoo!" rang out a sneeze as sharp as a pistol-shot, from the party by the wall.

"Dear me," said the Sly Old Codger, out loud, "I do believe I'm catching cold."

At the sudden discharge of the sneeze, the seven men jumped as if they had in fact been shot. Each one snatched out his cutlass with his right hand and his pistol with his left, and faced in the direction of the sneeze.

"Confound your cold," whispered Toby fiercely to the Sly Old Codger, "now we're done for."

The seven men with their cutlasses and pistols, with the ear-ringed man in the lead, tiptoed stealthily in the direction of the sneeze.

As they came closer to the party who were crouched against the wall, Aunt Amanda slipped down quietly to the ground at Toby's feet. The captain of the expedition had fainted.

CHAPTER XVI

CAPTAIN LINGO AND A FINE PIECE OF HEAD-WORK

The man with the ear-rings muttered something in a fierce undertone to his six followers. They spread out behind him in a wide line. With a stealthy step they came forward noiselessly. The party by the wall held their breath in terror. Nearer and nearer came the seven men, still in perfect silence. They reached the cowering company by the wall, leveled their pistols at their breasts, held up their cutlasses ready to strike, and looked at their leader for the command to kill.

At this moment the man with the ear-rings observed the form of Aunt Amanda on the ground. He stooped down and examined her, and stood up again. Then he eyed the company of travellers with a hard cold eye, and spoke deliberately and in a low voice. His manner of speech was somewhat stilted and precise, and scarcely what might have been expected of a pirate.

"The ceremony," said he, "will be deferred for the moment. I commend you meanwhile to perfect quietness; one movement, and the consequences may be fatal. A hint is sufficient. I perceive here a lady in distress. 'Tis a monstrous pity, indeed. I regret that we were unaware of the presence of a lady; had we known, we should certainly have taken our measures more fittingly. I crave your pardon. No one has yet accused Captain Lingo of rudeness to a lady. Ketch, put up thy cutlass and go straightway to the pool and wet this pocket-handkerchief. Be brisk, thou muddle-pated son of a sea-cook! Haste!"

The man called Ketch jumped as though he had been stung, and took from Captain Lingo's hand a fine white cambric handkerchief which the captain had produced from his breeches pocket, and running to the water moistened it and returned in great haste.

While this was going on, the poor captives were able to examine their chief captor more carefully. They remarked with surprise the fine quality of the handkerchief which he had handed to his man, and they were even more surprised to note the whiteness and fineness of the linen of his shirt. His breeches were of blue velvet, and his sash and the kerchief which bound his head were of crimson silk. On the fingers of each hand he wore three or four diamond rings, which sparkled brilliantly in the half-darkness. His stockings were plainly of silk, and the buckles at his knees and on his shoes were of polished silver, outlined in diamonds. His face was hard and cruel, but its unpleasantness may have been due to a long scar which crossed his mouth from his right cheek to his chin. When he smiled, as he did in referring to the lady in distress, the scar gave to his face a singularly evil expression.

Taking the wet handkerchief from Ketch's hand, he knelt beside Aunt Amanda and bathed her face and wrists, slapping her cheeks and temples smartly now and then with the handkerchief, and changing her position so that her head lay lower than her body. After he had worked over her with much care for a few moments, Aunt Amanda opened her eyes. She was staring at the frightful crooked smile of a strange man with rings in his ears and a kerchief on his head. She started up, bewildered.

"Where's Toby? Where am I? Who are you?"

"Captain Lingo, ma'am," said the strange man, "at your service."

"Let me up," said Aunt Amanda. She struggled to her feet, rejecting the assistance offered by the ear-ring'd man, and stood facing him, her bedraggled bonnet very much over her right ear. "Who are you?" she said again.

"Your humble servant, ma'am," said the strange man, smiling his crooked smile. "Captain Lingo, by name. A gentleman adventurer of the high seas. Owner of the treasure which you have discovered here in our little retreat. Known here on the Spanish Main as the Scourge of Ships, and loyal servant of his blessed Majesty King James, whom the saints defend. Your obedient humble servant to command." He made the lady a very courtly bow.

Toby whispered into Freddie's ear. "He can't be so terrible bad, not with all that polite way of talking. Don't be afraid. We'll be all right with this pirate. Who on earth is King James?"

Aunt Amanda was also much relieved by the pirate's polite address.

"As long as you are my obedient servant," said she, "I'll thank you to help us to get out of here as soon as possible. We didn't want to come in the first place, and we are in a hurry to get out."

Captain Lingo laughed heartily. "They are in a hurry to get out, lads," he said to his companions; and at this they all laughed uproariously.

"I don't see anything to laugh at," said Aunt Amanda. "If we don't get out of here soon, we'll catch our death of cold."

This made Captain Lingo laugh more heartily than before. "Ha! ha! ha! Their death of cold! That would be a rare fine thing, but a bit too slow, lads, eh?" And the other six laughed again, so that the walls of the chamber echoed with their mirth.

"What do you mean by too slow?" said Aunt Amanda.

"Madam," said Captain Lingo, "we are a little pressed for time. We really could not wait for you to die of colds."

"What?" said Aunt Amanda faintly, her feeling of confidence beginning to ooze away. "Do you mean to say – ?"

"Madam," said the pirate, seriously, "I will put it to you plainly. Our treasure, which you have discovered, has taken a great deal of hard work to accumulate. We really couldn't bear to lose it. The people of this island, and a great many other people besides, have been trying for many years to find it. You have not only found it, but you have even gone so far as to open certain of our bags, in spite of the warning posted above your heads. Now picture to yourselves, dear madam and gentlemen, what consequences would certainly ensue if you were to leave – here – ahem! – alive."

"Oh!" gasped Aunt Amanda. "Leave – here – alive!"

"All the fruits of our industry would be lost, and our own safety would be imperilled. You will readily see that, of course. 'Tis a pity so many will have to die at once, for it will mess up the place very badly, and I always endeavor to be neat. But why, why did so many of you come at once? Couldn't you have come, say two at a time? It would have made so much less trouble."

"Ho!" said Mr. Punch. "Hif we 'ad only stopped at 'ome, hall of us!"

"However, I do not wish you to feel too keenly the trouble you are putting us to; my brave lads will cheerfully put up with the inconvenience, though I must confess the amount of blood will be quite unusual, and so many bodies will be troublesome to bury. I wish it were possible to have you walk the plank. However, pray do not bother too much on our account."

"We weren't thinking about you at all," said Toby. "We were thinking about ourselves."

"Oh," said Captain Lingo, in a tone of disappointment. "I beg your pardon; I misunderstood. At any rate, we will now prepare for our little ceremony. If there are any trifling articles of jewelry and the like, I will be pleased to – "

"But this boy!" cried Toby. "And this lady! You don't mean to – you can't mean – "

"Not for worlds," said Captain Lingo, "would I be rude to a lady. I trust you will find my conduct towards the lady beyond reproach. There shall be no rudeness of any kind. Merely a quick stroke, and all will be over. No violence, no roughness of any kind; not a word to offend the most sensitive ears. A single stroke, and the affair is done. And let me tell you, I have here with me a Practitioner who is very expert in this sort of business: our friend Ketch, in fact, who was so kind as to wet the handkerchief for the lady. I assure you that you are in great luck to fall into the hands of such a Practitioner; he will make it as pleasant for you as possible; one stroke only, I promise you. With one stroke of a cutlass, he is able to slice off a head as neatly as you could do it with a broadaxe; there are very few who can do it with a cutlass, let me tell you that. Many men have become famous by being operated on by Ketch. I remember a case – However," he said, looking about him as if considering something, and speaking rather to himself than to the others, "it would be difficult to bury the bodies here, and the light is not very good. I think, yes, I think it had better be done outside. You are already wet, and I trust that another immersion will not inconvenience you too much. Lads," he said to his six men, "put on the rubber suits, and help our friends under the fall. Look alive, now."

The six men immediately ran to their rubber suits and began to put them on. While they were doing this, Toby put one arm about Freddie and the other about Aunt Amanda. She lowered her head to his shoulder for a moment, but she soon raised it, and standing very erect she said, "Very well, if it must be, it must. It's easy to see that this bloodthirsty villain means every word he says; but I ain't going to whimper; I'm the captain, and I order that everybody keep up his courage, and wait and see what will happen."

"Ay, ay, ma'am," said the Churchwarden.