Captain Joe; or, The Days of the Mint — page 10: what you’re looking at

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58 —— THE HALFPENNY STANDARD. **The risk would be too great,” said Sherlock, ** for the sake‘of a few kegs of Geneva.” ** Don’t think I would risk it for a few kegs of Geneva?” said Vandergrift, snapping his fingers in contempt. ‘These kegs of mine are full of gold.” “Gold !"’ Sherlock repeated. come by so much gold ?”’ ““A stroke of luck that,” said Vandergrift. “' My lugger was not far from the Spanish trea- sure-ship, the‘ Don Estevan,’ when she foundered aud went down— you heard of that, ch ?” ‘‘T heard that she went down with all the cargo and every soul en board.” ‘A mistake, friend David, Four men, who once sailed with me were on board, and they were sayed ; and the long boat of my lugger hap- pened to be alongside the ‘Don Estevan’ an hour before she foundered, and these four men of mine lowered a few kecs into the boat—only twenty. They were very v-xvy : but not till I went to try the quality of the 1qnor did I find that the con- tents were gold instead of gin,” ““The ship was scuttled by those four men of yours, and you were there by preconcerted ar- rangement,” Sherlock said; ‘‘that is the truth of it,”* The Dutchman shrugged his huge shoulders. ‘* There is some suspicion of the kind,” he said ; ‘‘and as even my reputation as an honest captain in the service of Bachander Brothers may not save my house from being searched, I brought the kegs away. Each keg contains about fifty pounds weight,” *“* And you have twenty kegs ?” ii So.” ** Nearly a thousand pounds weight of gold,” “That is right, and worth, say, sixty thou- sand pounds. Now, it would be safe with-you till I can get rid of it by degrees, and you shall have your share.” “* And if we were discovered ?” ““We would not be nnless you betrayed me,” the Dutchman said, ‘‘and you would not do that, for I never desert a friend or forgive an enemy, and this hand of Heidrich Vandergrift, though it may be slow, is sure.”’ “If you can land it safely,” Sherlock said grimly, though his eye glimmered at the threat, ‘**T will take care of it, and for my trouble——” “ Aye, what will you expect ?” ** Ons keg.” “Good. That is less than I intended.” ‘What did you intend ? “Two,” ‘I have made money, I can afford to be content with one,” Sherlock said, ‘So, to-night, when the tide is low, you can float them in, but take eare that Lindrake does not see,you, he is staying here,” ‘* Here in this house ?” ““ Yes, he very often does,” ‘‘Himmel,"’ said Vandergrift, ‘‘so much the better. He takes some drink before he goes to bed ?” ‘‘ Always; but never enough to make him drank.” ‘*Put something in it that will make him sleep,” said Heidrich, ‘‘Or should he be awake, and interfere, I shall take a shorter way with him, What does he drink ?” “ Brandy.” * A little of this will keep him sound till morn- ing,’ the skipper said, giving Sherlock a small phial half full of a thick, dark-coloured liquid. ‘‘It will only give his grog a deeper tinge, and he will not notice that.” ‘‘Isit a drag merely ? Not a poison ?” ‘‘Hejil! there is no danger. It is a drug, ana must be used with care, or he would be wake- Iul instead of sleepy. I take it myself when I eannot rest. Let him have twenty drops, not more. He will but sleep a little later, and when he wakes my lugger will be gone,” ‘‘ If your Ingger went to the bottom of the sea, and took you with it.”’ Sherlock thought, ‘‘I, for one, should not be very sorry.” ‘* How did you CHAPTER XII. THE SECRET CAVERN. THE skipper of the ‘‘ Katterina”’ felt sure that his gold would be safe now that David Sherlock a. aL A had consented to take care of it. He had no fear of treachery—the man who had planned the scuttling of the “Don Estevan” and the land- lord of the ‘‘ Albatross" dared not be false to each other. : As for landing the richly-laden kegs in safety in spite of Lindrake’s watchfulness, Captain Vandergrifé had no doubt, There were some secret landing places known only to a few, and one of these places could only be reached by a natural inlet—an opening in the rocks—never visible except at low tide, and this ran right through to the cellarage under Sherlock’s dwel- ling-house and tavern, where it formed a kind of dock, in which a goodly cargo could be stored and left floating or submerged till required. Vandergrift went back to his lugger soon after- wards, and Lindrake, watching from his post of observation, saw that the lights were put out, ex- cept for the lanterns left burning to keep other craft from running into her. All was apparently made fast for the night, but the revenue officer was too old a hand at his work to be taken in by appearances ; yet, as the hours passed and he did not hear a sound or see a sign of life, he began to think that he was watehing in vain, ‘“*T showed my hand too openly, and put that infernal Dutchman on his guard,” he. thonght. “* Perhaps he will sail away quietly, and come back in a day or two when he thinks he will have a better chance,” He was always a cool and collected fellow, who never lost his nerve and rarely lost his temper ; but he would have gone nearly mad with vexation had he known that even while he was watching the work was going on. When Vandergrift went back to his vessel he had taken a line with him, connected with a stout rope, one end of which was fastened to an iron pillar in Sherlock’s cellar, andthe other was attached to a piece of timber, worked by a pulley, and thus it reached the outlet in the rocks. Here it was picked up by Heidrich, and towed to the ‘‘ Katterina” under water out of sight. When this was done the rest was easy. The kegs were lowered one by one into.a boat on the side furthermost from shore, each one being slung in a kind of cradle with a ring fixed to it, so that it could slide along the rope. The kegs were fastened at regular distances from each other, and thus nothing remained to be done but to haul them along under water into the cave. This could be done from the cellar by means of a windlass, and for that final operation Sherlock was awaiting Vandergrift’s return. He had to wait some time for that. The skipper, feeling sure that Lindrake was on the watch, did not venture ashore with his men till he had a signal from the tavern window, and Sherlock could not give that signal, for just as he was about to do so Lindrake, tired of what seemed a useless watch, knocked at the door. “You did not expect me ?” the revenue officer said, as Sherlock withdrew the bolts, reluctantly it seemed. \ ‘Tt is rather late,” said David, sleepily. ‘Not too late I hope for a welcome and a nighteap ¢” “* Never too late for either, captain, when you are in the way. You will stay to-night, I suppose ?”” ‘Ves; it is too late for a journey to the station. Is Dick in bed?” ‘Over an hour ago; like me, the lad is an early riser, often at his books tbefore day- break,” ‘“‘The best time for study,” Lindrake said. “* Night work is no good to anyone.” It was a purely natural remark, but Sherlock felt that it had a significance for him, and re- solved to give him such a dose of that drug as would ensure him a sound sleep. ‘It will keep him out of mischief and out of danger as well,” David thought ; ‘‘ for if he had | an inkling of what was going on he would be in the midst of it if he had ten lives and risked them all.” *' What will you drink t” he asked. ** Brandy or schnapps, I am not particular.” “Try the brandy,” Sherlock suggested with an eye to the colourof the drug. ‘ The schnapps are fiery and new.” which he had scareely tasted, ‘Whatever you drink,” said the officer, ‘* will do for me.” Sherlock went downstairs to the locker and took out two bottles of brandy ; he also took an empty bottle and poured twenty drops of the drug into the bottom of it, on that he poured a fifth of the brandy from one bottle, then put in another twenty drops, and so proceeded till what had been an empty bottie was a full one— the captain generally took abouta fifth of a bottle at atime. “Tt will be awkward if he feels inclined to take a second drink,” Sherlock thought, when he had finished his ingenious arrangement,’ tor then he will have forty drops instead of twenty in him ; but there may not be much danger, he is a sound sleeper, and our work is done so quietly that he would not be likely to overhear us,” He took both the full bottles, with the corks drawn, and placed them on a tray with glasses, hot water, lemon, and sugar. His uneasy conscience made him fancy that the revenue officer looked at him doubtingly, and, in fact, there was a change that Lindrake could not fail to notice, ‘*You have been a long time finding those bottles, Dave,” he said, “T keep them in 2 quiet corner, captain, in case they might be used by accident when I am out ; they are too good for the thirsty-throated fishermen, who do not mind what they drink so that it is strong enough.” ‘*Why were you so liberal as to bring two ?” ‘© A bottle each,” was the reply ; ‘‘ it is getting scarce, and what you do not drink to-night you can save for to-morrow.” “A good thought,” said Lindrake, as he mixed a stiff jorum for himself, ‘‘ what has be come of our friend the Dutchman ¢” ‘* He went on board,” ** How long does he remain ?” ‘‘T think he is going in the morning.” ‘Then why should he have put in here at all if he has no further business to do. He would hardly waste nearly four and twenty hours here for the sake of calling on you as an old friend and giving you a keg or two of hollands,” Sherlock had not thought of that, and was rather disconcerted by the other’s ready penetra- tion. “The fact is, captain,” he said, with an ap- pearance of blunt frankness, ‘* he wanted me to do a little business with him, but I have no money to spare and told him so. He thinks, perhaps, that I shall change my mind by the morning.” “You will not if you take my advice,” Lindrake said ; ‘the fellow has a doubtful reputa- tion, and you know the old saying—that a man is judged by the company he keeps.” “ As for that,”’ said David, ‘I should be sorry to be guided by old sayings—though some of them are true enough. We say ‘give a dog a bad name and hang him,’ which is not fair to the dog. Not that I care much for Vandergrift. I would rather any time have his room than his company, but he did me a good turn once, and I never forget friends or foes.” “ Right,” said Lindrake, rising with the glass, ** oratitude is always a good thing. I will finish this in my owr room, Sherlock, or I shall fall asleep as I sit. So good-night.” ‘** Good-night, captain,” Sherlock gave. him a lamp, an old-fashioned thing made of brass and shaped like a sauce- boat with a lid to it,and the wick sticking out of the spout. "You will take the bottle with you?” David said, ; “Thanks. I may as well.” ‘‘I can bring the tray to your door,” said David, as he dexterously changed. the bottles so that he kept the one that was drugged. The Captain thanked him again for his civility, took the tray from him at the door and they parted. Lindrake turned the key and sat down on the edge of his bed with the glass in his hand. ** Something wrong here,” he said to himself, aa he put the liquor te his nose and tasted it again. ‘* Let me see, he brought two bottles, both un- corked, a thing he has never done before, He rartine aise REE BO