第61章
"He went down to the ship.His wits were working actively, and he was thoroughly angry.He smiled, he says (it must have been the first grim smile of his life), at the thought of the seven-pound weight lashed to the end of the Frenchman's stump.The ruffian had taken that precaution in case of a quarrel that might arise over the division of the spoil.A man with an unsuspected power to deal killing blows could take his own part in a sudden scrimmage round a heap of money, even against adversaries armed with revolvers, especially if he himself started the row.
"'He's ready to face any of his friends with that thing.But he will have no use for it.There will be no occasion to quarrel about these dollars here,' thought Davidson, getting on board quietly.He never paused to look if there was anybody about the decks.As a matter of fact, most of his crew were on shore, and the rest slept, stowed away in dark corners.
"He had his plan, and he went to work methodically.
"He fetched a lot of clothing from below and disposed it in his hammock in such a way as to distend it to the shape of a human body; then he threw over all the light cotton sheet he used to draw over himself when sleeping on deck.Having done this, he loaded his two revolvers and clambered into one of the boats the Sissie carried right aft, swung out on their davits.Then he waited.
"And again the doubt of such a thing happening to him crept into his mind.He was almost ashamed of this ridiculous vigil in a boat.He became bored.And then he became drowsy.The stillness of the black universe wearied him.There was not even the lapping of the water to keep him company, for the tide was out and the Sissie was lying on soft mud.Suddenly in the breathless, soundless, hot night an argus pheasant screamed in the woods across the stream.Davidson started violently, all his senses on the alert at once.
"The candle was still burning in the house.Everything was quiet again, but Davidson felt drowsy no longer.An uneasy premonition of evil oppressed him.
"'Surely I am not afraid,' he argued with himself.
"The silence was like a seal on his ears, and his nervous inward impatience grew intolerable.He commanded himself to keep still.
But all the same he was just going to jump out of the boat when a faint ripple on the immensity of silence, a mere tremor in the air, the ghost of a silvery laugh, reached his ears.
"Illusion!
"He kept very still.He had no difficulty now in emulating the stillness of the mouse - a grimly determined mouse.But he could not shake off that premonition of evil unrelated to the mere danger of the situation.Nothing happened.It had been an illusion!
"A curiosity came to him to learn how they would go to work.He wondered and wondered, till the whole thing seemed more absurd than ever.
"He had left the hanging lamp in the cabin burning as usual.It was part of his plan that everything should be as usual.Suddenly in the dim glow of the skylight panes a bulky shadow came up the ladder without a sound, made two steps towards the hammock (it hung right over the skylight), and stood motionless.The Frenchman!
"The minutes began to slip away.Davidson guessed that the Frenchman's part (the poor cripple) was to watch his (Davidson's)slumbers while the others were no doubt in the cabin busy forcing off the lazarette hatch.
"What was the course they meant to pursue once they got hold of the silver (there were ten cases, and each could be carried easily by two men) nobody can tell now.But so far, Davidson was right.
They were in the cabin.He expected to hear the sounds of breaking-in every moment.But the fact was that one of them (perhaps Fector, who had stolen papers out of desks in his time)knew how to pick a lock, and apparently was provided with the tools.Thus while Davidson expected every moment to hear them begin down there, they had the bar off already and two cases actually up in the cabin out of the lazarette.
"In the diffused faint glow of the skylight the Frenchman moved no more than a statue.Davidson could have shot him with the greatest ease - but he was not homicidally inclined.Moreover, he wanted to make sure before opening fire that the others had gone to work.
Not hearing the sounds he expected to hear, he felt uncertain whether they all were on board yet.
"While he listened, the Frenchman, whose immobility might have but cloaked an internal struggle; moved forward a pace, then another.
Davidson, entranced, watched him advance one leg, withdraw his right stump, the armed one, out of his pocket, and swinging his body to put greater force into the blow, bring the seven-pound weight down on the hammock where the head of the sleeper ought to have been.
"Davidson admitted to me that his hair stirred at the roots then.
But for Anne, his unsuspecting head would have been there.The Frenchman's surprise must have been simply overwhelming.He staggered away from the lightly swinging hammock, and before Davidson could make a movement he had vanished, bounding down the ladder to warn and alarm the other fellows.
"Davidson sprang instantly out of the boat, threw up the skylight flap, and had a glimpse of the men down there crouching round the hatch.They looked up scared, and at that moment the Frenchman outside the door bellowed out 'TRAHISON - TRAHISON!' They bolted out of the cabin, falling over each other and swearing awfully.
The shot Davidson let off down the skylight had hit no one; but he ran to the edge of the cabin-top and at once opened fire at the dark shapes rushing about the deck.These shots were returned, and a rapid fusillade burst out, reports and flashes, Davidson dodging behind a ventilator and pulling the trigger till his revolver clicked, and then throwing it down to take the other in his right hand.
"He had been hearing in the din the Frenchman's infuriated yells 'TUEZ-LE! TUEZ-LE!' above the fierce cursing of the others.But though they fired at him they were only thinking of clearing out.