第72章

It was settled.I had now the courage to turn about.Our men crouched about the decks here and there with anxious, crestfallen faces, all turned one way to watch the chaser.For the first time that morning I perceived Cesar stretched out full length on the deck near the foremast and wondered where he had been skulking till then.But he might in truth have been at my elbow all the time for all I knew.We had been too absorbed in watching our fate to pay attention to each other.Nobody had eaten anything that morning, but the men had been coming constantly to drink at the water-butt.

I ran down to the cabin.I had there, put away in a locker, ten thousand francs in gold of whose presence on board, so far as I was aware, not a soul, except Dominic had the slightest inkling.When I emerged on deck again Dominic had turned about and was peering from under his cowl at the coast.Cape Creux closed the view ahead.To the left a wide bay, its waters torn and swept by fierce squalls, seemed full of smoke.Astern the sky had a menacing look.

Directly he saw me, Dominic, in a placid tone, wanted to know what was the matter.I came close to him and, looking as unconcerned as I could, told him in an undertone that I had found the locker broken open and the money-belt gone.Last evening it was still there.

"What did you want to do with it?" he asked me, trembling violently.

"Put it round my waist, of course," I answered, amazed to hear his teeth chattering.

"Cursed gold!" he muttered."The weight of the money might have cost you your life, perhaps." He shuddered."There is no time to talk about that now.""I am ready."

"Not yet.I am waiting for that squall to come over," he muttered.

And a few leaden minutes passed.

The squall came over at last.Our pursuer, overtaken by a sort of murky whirlwind, disappeared from our sight.The Tremolino quivered and bounded forward.The land ahead vanished, too, and we seemed to be left alone in a world of water and wind.

"PRENEZ LA BARRE, MONSIEUR," Dominic broke the silence suddenly in an austere voice."Take hold of the tiller." He bent his hood to my ear."The balancelle is yours.Your own hands must deal the blow.I - I have yet another piece of work to do." He spoke up loudly to the man who steered."Let the signorino take the tiller, and you with the others stand by to haul the boat alongside quickly at the word."The man obeyed, surprised, but silent.The others stirred, and pricked up their ears at this.I heard their murmurs."What now?

Are we going to run in somewhere and take to our heels? The Padrone knows what he is doing."Dominic went forward.He paused to look down at Cesar, who, as Ihave said before, was lying full length face down by the foremast, then stepped over him, and dived out of my sight under the foresail.I saw nothing ahead.It was impossible for me to see anything except the foresail open and still, like a great shadowy wing.But Dominic had his bearings.His voice came to me from forward, in a just audible cry:

"Now, signorino!"

I bore on the tiller, as instructed before.Again I heard him faintly, and then I had only to hold her straight.No ship ran so joyously to her death before.She rose and fell, as if floating in space, and darted forward, whizzing like an arrow.Dominic, stooping under the foot of the foresail, reappeared, and stood steadying himself against the mast, with a raised forefinger in an attitude of expectant attention.A second before the shock his arm fell down by his side.At that I set my teeth.And then -Talk of splintered planks and smashed timbers! This shipwreck lies upon my soul with the dread and horror of a homicide, with the unforgettable remorse of having crushed a living, faithful heart at a single blow.At one moment the rush and the soaring swing of speed; the next a crash, and death, stillness - a moment of horrible immobility, with the song of the wind changed to a strident wail, and the heavy waters boiling up menacing and sluggish around the corpse.I saw in a distracting minute the foreyard fly fore and aft with a brutal swing, the men all in a heap, cursing with fear, and hauling frantically at the line of the boat.With a strange welcoming of the familiar I saw also Cesar amongst them, and recognised Dominic's old, well-known, effective gesture, the horizontal sweep of his powerful arm.I recollect distinctly saying to myself, "Cesar must go down, of course," and then, as I was scrambling on all fours, the swinging tiller I had let go caught me a crack under the ear, and knocked me over senseless.

I don't think I was actually unconscious for more than a few minutes, but when I came to myself the dinghy was driving before the wind into a sheltered cove, two men just keeping her straight with their oars.Dominic, with his arm round my shoulders, supported me in the stern-sheets.