Bracebridge Hemyng

“ Clara and Harry began to talk about the prospect of finding Jack.
“This calm and fog is very annoying,” said Clara. “How long will it last?”
“That is impossible to tell,” answered Harry. “I have been told that in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean they last for days, even weeks.”
“Not an encouraging prospect.”
“No; it may be a long time before we reach Pilgrim’s Rest.”
“Poor Jack! What can we do for him?”
“He can buy himself off. The letter he sent proves that. Kassala betrayed him to Koosh.” ”

“ Jack drew his revolver as soon as he could drop the coat, and prepared to defend himself.
It was altogether a useless undertaking.
The Arabs rushed upon him like demons.
In a twinkling he was disarmed and at their mercy.
Jack could not talk to them, although he tried.
They were pirates of another band, who occasionally made their headquarters at the castle.
They knew no more about the gold than Jack himself; their speech was a dialect which he could not understand.
The sight of the gold drove them fairly frantic. ”

“ In one encounter you may defeat them. If so, you shall have, each of you, a hat full of tomauns.”
The Arabs clapped their hands.
That was in token of approval of his offer.
“The pirates of the Red Sea are close by,” continued Jack. “They are after me! Defeat them and you shall have plenty of Bacsheesh.”
Again the Arabians struck the palms of their hands together.
“You can camp in here, making the best shift you can,” said Jack, “though I don’t think you will have long to wait. It is my opinion the pirates mean to attack us to-night. I will lead you.”
“And I!” exclaimed Harry. ”

“ Koosh and Kassala, with their attendant pirates, were indulging in a wholesale massacre of the passengers.
After robbing them they killed them.
Shot down like rabbits they were.
In a little while the shots and cries ceased. Not a sound was to be heard.
It was the eternal silence of the tomb.
Monday climbed up a tree.
He was good at that.
Old as he was, he could shin up a palm as well as a youngster.
What did he see?
To begin with, a heap of dead bodies scattered about in every direction.
Secondly, the wreck of the P. & O. steamer, set on fire. ”

“ Leveled with the dust, cut down and confounded.
“I say, Jack,” remarked Harry, “that is a splendid idea of yours.”
“We have licked the pirates—why shouldn’t we have their ship?”
“I see no reason against it.”
“If we wait for the steamer to call at Pilgrim’s Rest what will it be?”
“Pigging in with a lot of frowsy pilgrims who have more Koran than soap and water about them; yet I have always been taught that cleanliness is next to godliness—haven’t you?”
“A white man likes his tub.”
“What do you intend to do with Hunston?” asked Harry Girdwood. ”

“ Kardofan went away highly pleased with the present which had been given to him.
It was more than he expected.
A little money goes a long way in the East, where the natives live principally on rice.
“You intend to find my husband?” exclaimed Clara; “I shall be deeply indebted to you, Harry, if you will exert yourself and do your best.”
“Do you think I would ever desert Jack?” cried Harry. “I love him too much. We have always been dear chums, and always shall be.” ”

“ Monday said nothing.
“The passengers will be surrounded by Arabs soon,” exclaimed Harry.
“What then?”
“They will rob them of all they possess, which is not much. Some money—some jewelry—and then they will somehow come on here.”
“Do you think so?”
“There is another way to look at it—Koosh and his pirates may kill the lot.”
“If a holocaust like that is threatened,” said Jack, “the spot in a very short time will become a golgotha, or place of skulls. I must go with you, Monday.” ”

“ There seemed to be no good reason why they should hesitate, for here the gold was, and it seemed scarcely probable that any other than the Red Sea pirates could lay claim to the hoard.
So they pulled off their coats and began to fill them with the coins.
“Here, you do the filling and I’ll do the lugging,” said Jack: “that will make things go faster. Get down into the hole, dear boy, and we’ll work as fast as we can, for I don’t care to remain here a moment longer than necessary.”
“Ah! That whistle on the wrong side worried you, did it?” said Harry. ”

“ A boat was lowered from the Catamaran, and Jack was rowed to the shore.
Glad indeed he was when he landed at Pilgrim’s Rest.
It was not the traveling season, and there were no people about except the residents.
The Hotel Calabar was empty.
Pierre Leronge, the landlord, was on the veranda, and received him cordially.
“Welcome, Effendi!” he exclaimed; “do you come from afar? Are you for Mecca, or do you stay long? A caravan starts to-morrow. Are you a merchant or simply a traveler? No matter. I will make you comfortable for a day or a month. ”

“ Jack is the leader, and we will have to follow him.”
“The first thing to do is to charter a ship,” remarked Mole.
“That’s easy done, sah,” replied Monday. “The man we go fishing with has one to hire.”
“What is it called?” asked Harry.
“The Flying Fish.”
“Good name. Push it along.”
“We will.”
“I say!” cried Harry, “will you two go and engage the ship—take her for a month. I am not particular to terms.”
“We will do it at once,” replied Mole. “I shan’t pay what they ask, but make the best bargain I can.”
“That is it!”
Monday and Mole went away to see after the ship, and Harry talked to Clara. ”

“ He also mentioned the name of Hunston.
But he kept the most important bit of news to the last.
This was the fact that Koosh and the pirates of the Red Sea intended to wreck the Benares.
False lights were to be used for plundering purposes.
What mattered the death of scores to these venomous pests of the ocean.
“Yours is a strange story,” said Captain Nares, offering his unexpected visitor a cigar.
“Strange but true,” replied Harry. “My friend, Harkaway, is a great traveler. We have explored nearly every part of the globe.” ”

“ As a matter of course one snake cannot exist without another.
As one had been blown up, it was not fair to suppose that no others were at the bottom of the sea.
Their anxiety was relieved by the rising of the wind.
The sails which had been lying idle, began to fill up, and the Flying Fish forged ahead.
Night fell.
When the morning came, Harry was early on deck. He was afraid of Arabs. They are proverbially treacherous.
It was necessary to see what was going on all the time.
Kardofan was by his side as soon as he appeared.
He seldom let himself out of his sight for a moment. ”

“ She knew that she could depend on Harry Girdwood to the last moment.
“We shall have a vessel of our own,” continued Harry, “in a very short time. That will enable us to rescue Jack from the pirates of the Red Sea.” ”

“ And he knew it.
“The pirates,” he murmured, “have a white man on board.”
“It must be Young Jack,” said Harry.
“I know not his name.”
“What about him?”
“They are going to kill him if he does not give them a certain sum of money. I heard all about it.”
“Will he do it?”
“He is temporizing; he expects friends to come to his rescue shortly.”
“That is I and my party.”
“In addition to that,” said the trader, “I heard that Koosh, the pirate, is becoming more daring than ever.”
“What is he going to do now?”
“The Benares, a large steamer, is coming to Pilgrim’s Rest. ”

“ THE ATTACK ON THE CALABAR.
When Young Jack returned to the large room he found twenty fine-looking, well-built Arabs awaiting his arrival.
Mole, Monday and Harry Girdwood were still seated together.
Pierre Leronge was standing in front of the Arabs, who were drawn up in two rows.
They had carved swords like scimetars and seven chambered revolvers.
“Salute!” cried Leronge.
The men did so.
“Do they know their drill?” asked Jack.
“Oui, Monsieur. They went to Suakim to fight for the English against the Mahdi and the Hadendowahs.” ”

“ Here we are on the Arabian shore, hard and fast.”
“That’s what it is,” said Jack. “Shall we go back, or shall we make a landing and find out what we’ve struck?”
“Let’s go ashore first, if it is only for a minute or two. That seems to be a hill; perhaps if we could get to the top we might see something to the eastward; it certainly does look lighter over there now.”
They pulled the boat high up on the sand, and walked toward the dark mass which loomed up dimly through the mists.
“By gracious, it’s a house!” cried Jack; “that’s what it is!”
“A castle, rather.” ”

“ Every mile they went conveyed him further from Jack.
All at once the door of the cabin was darkened.
A tall, angular form appeared.
The sinister face of Hunston was revealed.
“Excuse me, captain,” he exclaimed, “I hope I don’t intrude. I came to inquire about the situation.”
“It is serious,” replied Nares, “but I do not think we need be alarmed.”
“These Red Sea fogs are dangerous.”
“Well, I know it to my sorrow. I lost a ship off this coast years ago.”
“Are you taking proper precautions?”
“Well, if I don’t know my business, who should? We are heaving the lead constantly.” ”

“ Ah! they are a bad lot to entertain. I do not like them at all, but”—he shrugged his shoulders—“I am here, and what am I to do!”
“Do the Arabs trouble you?”
“Not at all,” answered Leronge. “They are peaceable, so are the pilgrims. When they come, little money I get out of them. Poor—live on rice and lobscouth, which is a kind of Bouilabaise, which we have at Marseilles. Those I am afraid of are the pirates, but you know them.”
He looked at Jack suspiciously.
The “Catamaran” was well known to him.
He had seen Young Jack landed from it. ”

“ Clara, Young Jack’s wife, became quite sick, and fretted extremely.
Professor Mole and Monday made various suggestions about Young Jack’s absence.
But they did nothing to find him.
“If the truth is known,” remarked Mole, in the smoking room one evening after dinner, to Monday, Clara and Harry being up-stairs, “Young Jack has been cornered by Hunston.”
“That’s not at all unlikely, sah!” answered Monday. “It is the fate of all of us to get de push sometimes.” ”

“ Harry and Kardofan got into their boat and returned to the Flying Fish.
The trading vessel was a derelict on the broad bosom of the ocean.
It was a proof of what injury one section of humanity can do to another.
Sad, sad! The millennium and the federation of the world is yet far off. ”

“ A slave got me out of the temple, and took me to the ship, Catamaran, Captain Koosh. They are all pirates.
“My life is in danger every day. I am a prisoner on the pirate ship.
“You will wonder how I send this letter.
“I had concealed my diamond ring. An Arab who waited on me was going to Mecca. I bribed him with the ring to see that you had my letter. Take a ship and come after me. The pirates will kill me soon if I don’t pay the sum they demand for ransom, and you know my obstinate disposition.
“Come to me. You, Mole, Monday and my dear wife, Clara. We are not far up the coast. ”

“ When they got around on the other side, they discovered that they were on an island, and a very small one at that.
The sea was all around them; as for the fog, it was apparently beginning to break.
“There won’t be much of it left in half an hour, if I know anything,” remarked Jack. “I’ll give the captain the whistle again to let him know that we are all right.”
“I wouldn’t,” said Harry. ”

“ The draft on the bank at Mecca, given by Young Jack, had to be cashed.
It would take the messenger some while to go there and back.
There was danger at every turn for Jack.
Monday descended from the tree.
“It am all ober,” he said; “the pirates kill everybody, then they go to their ship. Now we skip jes’ soon as you are ready.”
“Good boy,” replied Mole. “We’re on the job; lead the way.”
“You tired, sah, ob shipwreck and pirates?”
“I’ve had a genteel sufficiency. Young Jack leads us into something. I wonder what the next fake will be.” ”

“ Before the shore was reached the sound of firing was heard.
The pirates had attacked the Benares.
They swarmed up her side like bees, though many of them were shot down and fell into the sea.
What happened afterwards could only be imagined.
The dismal fact was not revealed for some time afterwards.
Then it was ascertained that Captain Nares, his officers and crew were shot down or cut to pieces.
They made a desperate resistance.
Every man fought gallantly.
Koosh eventually was the victor. ”

“ You’ll find that I am entirely correct; we’ll be back in no time, and then we’ll move the Catamaran beyond the fog belt and go on our way rejoicing.”
“Better tell Clara or Mole or somebody that you are going.”
“No, no! There’s no need of disturbing them! We’ll push right along and have something definite to tell them when we get back.”
So they launched the boat and pulled away.
Jack felt great confidence in the Arab captain, and it was well founded.
There are a few Arabs who are honest, and Jack had found one. The captain was a man to be depended upon in every way. ”

“ They burn my house to the ground.”
“The pirates are not numerous. Cannot we hire some Arabs to fight and form a garrison?”
Pierre Leronge considered.
“Yes,” he said, at length, “that could be done.”
“I will pay you well for it.”
In an inside pocket of his coat Jack had a quantity of money.
The pirates had not robbed him because they had no idea that he had any money about him.
He put the whole of it in the hands of Leronge.
“That is for you,” he observed.
“Ver good,” replied the Frenchman, fully satisfied. “I will hire twenty Arabs; they shall bring their rifles with them. ”