A Bid for Fortune, Guy Boothby [easy books to read TXT] 📗

“I’ll do so with pleasure,” I answered, and then we went below. Directly our meal was over I accompanied the skipper to look at the chart, and upon it we marked our anchorage. Then an adjournment was made aft, and our equipment of rifles and revolvers thoroughly overhauled. We had decided earlier that our landing party should consist of eight men⁠—Wetherell, Beckenham, the mate of the yacht, myself, and four of the crew, each of whom would be supplied with a Winchester repeating rifle, a revolver, and a dozen cartridges. Not a shot was to be fired, however, unless absolutely necessary, and the greatest care was to be taken in order to approach the hut, if possible, without disturbing its inmates.

When the arms had been distributed and carefully examined, the sixteen foot surfboat was uncovered and preparations made for hoisting her overboard. By the time this was done it was late in the afternoon, and almost soon enough for us to be thinking about overcoming the distance which separated us from our destination. Exactly at four o’clock the telegraph on the bridge signalled “go ahead,” and we were on our way once more. To tell the truth, I think we were all so nervous that we were only too thankful to be moving again.

About dusk I was standing aft, leaning against the taffrail, when Beckenham came up and stood beside me. It was wonderful what a difference these few months had made in him; he was now as brown as a berry, and as fine-looking a young fellow as any man could wish to see.

“We shall be picking up the island directly,” I said as he came to an anchor alongside me. “Do you think you ought to go tonight? Remember you will run the risk of being shot!”

“I have thought of that,” he said. “I believe it’s my duty to do my best to help you and Mr. Wetherell.”

“But what would your father say if he knew?”

“He would say that I only did what was right. I have just been writing to him, telling him everything. If anything should happen to me you will find the letter on the chest of drawers in your cabin. I know you will send it on to him. But if we both come out of it safely and rescue Miss Wetherell I’m going to ask a favour of you?”

“Granted before I know what it is!”

“It isn’t a very big one. I want you to let me be your best man at your wedding?”

“So you shall. And a better I could not possibly desire.”

“I like to hear you say that. We’ve been through a good deal together since we left Europe, haven’t we?”

“We have, and tonight will bring it to a climax, or I’m much mistaken.”

“Do you think Nikola will show fight?”

“Not a doubt about it I should think. If he finds himself cornered he’ll probably fight like a demon.”

“It’s Baxter I want to meet.”

“Nikola is my man. I’ve a big grudge against him, and I want to pay it.”

“How little we thought when we were cruising about Bournemouth Bay together that within such a short space of time we should be sailing the South Pacific on such an errand! It seems almost too strange to be possible.”

“So it does! All’s well that ends well, however. Let’s hope we’re going to be successful tonight. Now I’m going on the bridge to see if I can pick the land up ahead.”

I left him and went forward to the captain’s side. Dusk had quite fallen by this time, rendering it impossible to see very far ahead. A hand had been posted in the fore-rigging as a lookout, and every moment we expected to hear his warning cry; but nearly an hour passed, and still it did not come.

Then suddenly the shout rang out, “Land ahead!” and we knew that our destination was in sight. Long before this all our lights had been obscured, and so, in the darkness⁠—for a thick pall of cloud covered the sky⁠—we crept up towards the coast. Within a couple of minutes of hearing the hail every man on board was on deck gazing ahead in the direction in which we were proceeding.

By teatime we had brought the land considerably nearer, and by eight o’clock were within three miles of it. Not a sign, however, of any craft could we discover, and the greatest vigilance had to be exercised on our part to allow no sign to escape us to show our whereabouts to those ashore. Exactly at nine o’clock the shore party, fully armed, assembled on deck, and the surfboat was swung overboard. Then in the darkness we crept down the gangway and took our places. The mate was in possession of the tiller, and when all was ready we set off for the shore.

Once we had left her side and turned our boat’s nose towards the land, the yacht lay behind us, a black mass nearly absorbed in the general shadow. Not a light showed itself, and everything was as still as the grave; the only noise to be heard was the steady dip, dip of the oars in the smooth water and now and then the chirp of the rowlocks. For nearly half an hour we pulled on, pausing at intervals to listen, but nothing of an alarming nature met our ears. The island was every moment growing larger, the beach more plain to the eye, and the hill more clearly defined. As soon as the boat grounded we sprang out and, leaving one hand to look after her, made our way ashore. It was a strange experience that landing on a strange beach on such an errand and at such an hour, but we were all too much taken up with the work which lay before us to think of that. Having left the water’s edge we came to a standstill beneath a group of palms and discussed the situation. As