Howard Pyle's Book of pirates : fiction, fact & fancy concerning the buccaneers & marooners of the Spanish Main
beyond, Jonathan beheld himself to be surrounded by such a wealth of
exquisite and well-appointed tastefulness as it had never before been
his good fortune to behold.
Candles of clarified wax sparkled like stars in chandeliers of
crystal. These in turn, catching the illumination, glittered in
prismatic fragments with all the varied colors of the rainbow, so that
a mellow yet brilliant radiance filled the entire apartment. Polished
mirrors of a spotless clearness, framed in golden frames and built
into the walls, reflected the waxed floors, the rich Oriental carpets,
and the sumptuous paintings that hung against the ivory-tinted
paneling, so that in appearance the beauties of the apartment were
continued in bewildering vistas upon every side toward which the
beholder directed his gaze.
Bidding our hero to be seated, which he did with no small degree of
embarrassment and constraint, and upon the extreme edge of the gilt
and satin-covered chair, the negress who had been his conductor left
him for the time being to his own contemplation.
Almost before he had an opportunity to compose himself into anything
more than a part of his ordinary sedateness of demeanor, the silken
curtains at the doorway at the other end of the apartment were
suddenly divided, and Jonathan beheld before him a female figure
displaying the most exquisite contour of mold and of proportion. She
was clad entirely in white, and was enveloped from head to foot in the
folds of a veil of delicate silver gauze, which, though hiding her
countenance from recognition, nevertheless permitted sufficient of her
beauties to be discerned to suggest the extreme elegance and
loveliness of her lineaments. Advancing toward our hero, and extending
to him a tapering hand as white as alabaster, the fingers encircled
with a multitude of jeweled rings, she addressed him thus:
"Sir," she said, speaking in accents of the most silvery and musical
cadence, "you are no doubt vastly surprised to find yourself thus
unexpectedly, and almost as by violence, introduced into the house of
one who is such an entire stranger to you as myself. But though I am
unknown to you, I must inform you that I am better acquainted with my
visitor, for my agents have been observing you ever since you landed
this afternoon at the dock, and they have followed you ever since,
until a little while ago, when you stopped immediately opposite my
garden gate. These agents have observed you with a closeness of
scrutiny of which you are doubtless entirely unaware. They have even
informed me that, owing doubtless to your extreme interest in your new
surroundings, you have not as yet supped. Knowing this, and that you
must now be enjoying a very hearty appetite, I have to ask you if you
will do me the extreme favor of sitting at table with me at a repast
which you will doubtless be surprised to learn has been hastily
prepared entirely in your honor."
So saying, and giving Jonathan no time for reply, she offered him her
hand, and with the most polite insistence conducted him into an
exquisitely appointed dining room adjoining.
Here stood a table covered with a snow-white cloth, and embellished
with silver and crystal ornaments of every description. Having seated
herself and having indicated to Jonathan to take the chair opposite to
her, the two were presently served with a repast such as our hero had
not thought could have existed out of the pages of certain
extraordinary Oriental tales which one time had fallen to his lot to
read.
This supper (which in itself might successfully have tempted the taste
of a Sybarite) was further enhanced by several wines and cordials
which, filling the room with the aroma of the sunlit grapes from which
they had been expressed, stimulated the appetite, which without them
needed no such spur. The lady, who ate but sparingly herself,
possessed herself with patience until Jonathan's hunger had been
appeased. When, however, she beheld that he weakened in his attacks
upon the dessert of sweets with which the banquet was concluded, she
addressed him upon the business which was evidently entirely occupying
her mind.
"Sir," said she, "you are doubtless aware that everyone, whether man
or woman, is possessed of an enemy. In my own case I must inform you
that I have no less than three who, to compass their ends, would
gladly sacrifice my life itself to their purposes. At no time am I
safe from their machinations, nor have I anyone," cried she,
exhibiting a great emotion, "to whom I may turn in my need. It was
this that led me to hope to find in you a friend in my perils, for,
having observed through my agents that you are not only honest in
disposition and strong in person, but that you are possessed of a
considerable degree of energy and determination, I am most desirous of
imposing upon your good nature a trust of which you cannot for a
moment suspect the magnitude. Tell me, are you willing to assist a
poor, defenseless female in her hour of trial?"
"Indeed, friend," quoth Jonathan, with more vivacity than he usually
exhibited, with a lenity to which he had heretofore in his lifetime
been a stranger--being warmed into such a spirit, doubtless, by the
generous wines of which he had partaken--"indeed, friend, if I could
but see thy face it would doubtless make my decision in such a matter
the more favorable, since I am inclined to think, from the little I
can behold of it, that thy appearance must be extremely comely to the
eye."
"Sir," said the lady, exhibiting some amusement at this unexpected
sally, "I am, you must know, as God made me. Sometime, perhaps, I may
be very glad to satisfy your curiosity, and exhibit to you my poor
countenance such as it is. But now"--and here she reverted to her more
serious mood--"I must again put it to you: are you willing to help an
unprotected woman in a period of very great danger to herself? Should
you decline the assistance which I solicit, my slaves shall conduct
you to the gate through which you entered, and suffer you to depart in
peace. Should you, upon the other hand, accept the trust, you are to
receive no reward therefor, except the gratitude of one who thus
appeals to you in her helplessness."
For a few moments Jonathan fell silent, for here, indeed, was he
entering into an adventure which infinitely surpassed any anticipation
that he could have formed. He was, besides, of a cautious nature, and
was entirely disinclined to embark in any affair so obscure and
tangled as that in which he now found himself becoming involved.
"Friend," said he, at last, "I may tell thee that thy story has so far
moved me as to give me every inclination to help thee in thy
difficulties, but I must also inform thee that I am a man of caution,
having never before entered into any business of this sort. Therefore,
before giving any promise that may bind my future actions, I must, in
common wisdom, demand to know what are the conditions that thou hast
in mind to impose upon me."
"Indeed, sir," cried the lady, with great vivacity and with more
cheerful accents--as though her mind had been relieved of a burden of
fear that her companion might at once have declined even a
consideration of her request--"indeed, sir, you will find that the
trust which I would impose upon you is in appearance no such great
matter as my words may have led you to suppose.
"You must know that I am possessed of a little trinket which, in the
hands of anyone who, like yourself, is a stranger in these parts,
would possess no significance, but which while in my keeping is
fraught with infinite menace to me."
Hereupon, and having so spoken, she clapped her hands, and an
attendant immediately entered, disclosing the person of the same
negress who had first introduced Jonathan into the strange adventure
in which he now found himself involved. This creature, who appeared
still more deformed and repulsive in the brilliantly lighted room than
she had in the moonlight, carried in her hands a white napkin, which
she handed to her mistress. This being opened, disclosed a small ivory
ball of about the bigness of a lime. Nodding to the negress to
withdraw, the lady handed him the ivory ball, and Jonathan took it
with no small degree of curiosity and examined it carefully. It
appeared to be of an exceeding antiquity, and of so deep a yellow as
to be almost brown in color. It was covered over with strange figures
and characters of an Oriental sort, which appeared to our hero to be
of Chinese workmanship.
"I must tell you, sir," said the lady, after she had permitted her
guest to examine this for a while in silence, "that though this
appears to you to be of little worth, it is yet of extreme value.
After all, however, it is nothing but a curiosity that anyone who is
interested in such matters might possess. What I have to ask you is
this: will you be willing to take this into your charge, to guard it
with the utmost care and fidelity--yes, even as the apple of your
eye--during your continuance in these parts, and to return it to me in
safety the day before your departure? By so doing you will render me a
service which you may neither understand nor comprehend, but which
shall make me your debtor for my entire life."
By this time Jonathan had pretty well composed his mind for a reply.
"Friend," said he, "such a matter as this is entirely out of my
knowledge of business, which is, indeed, that of a clerk in the
mercantile profession. Nevertheless, I have every inclination to help
thee, though I trust thou mayest have magnified the dangers that beset
thee. This appears to me to be a little trifle for such an ado;
nevertheless, I will do as thou dost request. I will keep it in safety
and will return it to thee upon this day a week hence, by which time I
hope to have discharged my cargo and be ready to continue my voyage to
Demerara."
At these words the lady, who had been watching him all the time with a
most unaccountable eagerness, burst forth into words of such heartfelt
gratitude as to entirely overwhelm our hero. When her transports had
been somewhat assuaged she permitted him to depart, and the negress
conducted him back through the garden, whence she presently showed him
through the gate whither he had entered and out into the street.
III
_The Terrific Encounter with the One-Eyed Little Gentleman in Black_
Finding himself once more in the open street, Jonathan Rugg stood for
a while in the moonlight, endeavoring to compose his mind into
somewhat of that sobriety that was habitual with him; for, indeed, he
was not a little excited by the unexpected incidents that had just
befallen him. From this effort at composure he was aroused by
observing that a little gentleman clad all in black had stopped at a
little distance away and was looking very intently at him. In the
brightness of the moonlight our hero could see that the little
gentleman possessed but a single eye, and that he carried a
gold-headed cane in his hand. He had hardly time to observe these
particulars, when the other approached him with every appearance of
politeness and cordiality.
"Sir," said he, "surely I am not mistaken in recognizing in you the
supercargo of the ship _Susanna Hayes_, which arrived this afternoon
at this port?"
"Indeed," said Jonathan, "thou art right, friend. That is my
occupation, and that is whence I came."
"To be sure!" said the little gentleman. "To be sure! To be sure! The
_Susanna Hayes_, with a cargo of Indian-corn meal, and from my dear
good friend Jeremiah Doolittle, of Philadelphia. I know your good
master very well--very well indeed. And have you never heard him speak
of his friend Mr. Abner Greenway, of Kingston, Jamaica?"
"Why, no," replied Jonathan, "I have no such recollection of the