THE EXPEDITION.
During the entire passage from Nevis to St. Kitts Montbarts was in a strange state of excitement.
The interview he had held with the monk had rearoused in his heart a profound sorrow which time had deadened but not cauterized, and at the first word that fell in this hour's conversation the wound burst open again, bleeding and livid as on the day of its receipt.
How had this woman, whom he would not name, of whose presence in America he was ignorant, whom, in short, he fancied he had escaped by hiding himself among the filibusters, succeeded in so short a time, not only in learning his presence in the islands, but also in finding him again? For what object did she insist on finding him? What interest could she have in seeing him?
All these questions, which he asked himself in turn, necessarily remained unanswered, and for that very reason augmented his anxiety.
For a moment he thought of laying an ambush in the straits of Nevis and St. Eustache, the two islands between which St. Kitts is situated, capturing the Spanish vessel, and obtaining by torture the information the monk had refused to give him.
But he gave up this plan almost immediately; he had pledged his word of honour, and would not break it for anything in the world.
In the meanwhile, night had set in, and the canoe was still advancing.
Montbarts steered for the lugger, which was anchored a short distance from land.
When the light boat was under the vessel's counter, the filibuster made his engagé a sign to lay on his oars, and shouted in a loud voice—
"Lugger, ahoy!"
At once, a man whose black outline was designed on the dark blue horizon, leant over.
"Boat ahoy!" he shouted.
"Is that you, Bowline?" Montbarts continued.
"All right."
"Is Michael aboard?"
"Yes, admiral."
"Ah, you have recognised me, my lad?"
"Of course," said the Breton.
"I suppose you are watching over my prisoner?"
"I answer for him."
"But do not annoy him unnecessarily."
"All right, admiral, we will be gentle with him."
"Is Omopoua aboard at this moment?"
"Here I am, master," a second voice immediately replied.
"Ah, ah," the filibuster said with satisfaction, "all the better. I want you—come ashore."
"Are you in a hurry, master?"
"A great hurry."
"In that case, wait a moment."
And ere the filibuster could guess the Carib's intention, the noise of a body falling in the water could be heard, and two or three minutes later the Indian rested his hands on the gunwale of the canoe.
"Here I am," he said.
Montbarts could not refrain from smiling on seeing with what promptitude the savage obeyed his orders. He held out his hand, and helped him to get into the boat.
"Why such a hurry?" he said to him in a tone of friendly reproach.
The Indian shook himself like a drowned poodle.
"Nonsense," he said, "I am all right."
"Have you got the Indian?" Bowline asked.
"Yes: now good night; you will see me tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?"
"Pull," the filibuster said to the engagé.
The latter dipped his paddles, and the canoe resumed its course.
Ten minutes later, it ran aground at the very spot where Montbarts had seized it for the purpose of going to Nevis. The three men landed on the beach, pulled up the canoe, and went off in the direction of the hatto.
They passed through the town and a swarm of filibusters, who were celebrating by songs, shouts, and libations their last hours of liberty.
They went on in silence. When the three men reached the hatto, Montbarts lit a candle, and searched the house with the greatest care, to make sure that no stranger was present; then he returned to his two comrades, who were waiting for him in the Esplanade.
"Come in," he merely said to them.
They followed him.
Montbarts sat down in a chair, and then turned to the Carib.
"I have to talk with you, Omopoua," he said.
"Good," the Indian remarked, joyously; "in that case you have need of me."
"If that were true you would be satisfied, then?"
"Yes, I should be."
"For what reason?"
"Because, since I have found a white man who is good and generous, I am anxious to prove to you that all the Caribs are not ferocious and untameable, but know how to be grateful."
"I promised you, I think, to take you back to your country?"
"Yes, you made me that promise."
"Unfortunately, as I am appointed chief of an important expedition, which will probably last some time, it is impossible for me at this moment to take you back to Haiti."
The Indian's face grew dark on hearing this.
"Do not grieve, but listen to me attentively," the filibuster continued, who had noticed the change that took place in the Indian's face.
"I am listening to you."
"What I cannot do you are able to effect by yourself, if I supply you with the means."
"I do not exactly understand what the white Chief means; I am only a poor Indian, with limited ideas. I require to have things explained to me very clearly before I understand them; but it is true, that when I do understand I never forget."
"You are a Carib, hence you know how to manage a canoe?"
"Yes," the Indian answered, with a proud smile.
"Suppose I gave you a canoe, do you believe that you could fetch Haiti?"
"The great land is very far away," he said, in a sorrowful voice, "the voyage very long for a single man, however brave he may be."
"Agreed; but suppose I placed in the canoe not only provisions, but cutlasses, axes, daggers, and four fusils, with powder and ball?"
"The pale Chief would do that!" he said, with an incredulous air. "Thus armed, who could resist Omopoua?"
"Suppose I did more?" the adventurer continued, with a smile.
"The Chief is jesting; he is very gay. He says to himself, the Indians are credulous; I will have a laugh at the expense of Omopoua."
"I am not jesting, Chief—on the contrary, I am very serious; I will give you the things I have enumerated to you, and, in order that you may reach your country in safety, I will lend you a comrade, a brave man, who will be your brother, and defend you as you would defend yourself."
"And that companion?"
"Is here," said Montbarts, pointing to his engagé, who was standing calm and motionless by his side.
"Then I am not to make the expedition with you, Montbarts?" the latter said, in a sad voice, and with a reproachful accent.
"Reassure yourself," said Montbarts, tapping him gently on the shoulder; "the mission I send you on is most confidential, and even more perilous than the expedition I am undertaking. I wanted a devoted man—another self—and I have chosen you."
"You have done well, in that case; I will prove to you that you are not mistaken about me."
"I am convinced of that already, my lad. Do you accept this companion, Omopoua? He will help you to pass without being insulted through the filibusters you may meet on your route."
"Good! The pale Chief really loves Omopoua. What is the Indian to do on arriving in his country?"
"Omopoua's brothers have sought shelter, I think, in the neighbourhood of the Artibonite?"
"Yes, in the great savannahs to which the French have given the name of Mirebalais."
"Good! Omopoua will go and join his friends; he will tell them in what way the filibusters treat the Caribs: he will present his companion to them, and wait."
"I will wait: the pale Chief, then, is coming to Haiti?"
"Probably," said Montbarts, with a smile of indefinable meaning; "and the proof is, that my engagé will remain with your tribe till my arrival."
"Good! I will await the coming of the pale Chief. When am I start?"
"This very night. Go down to the beach; go in my name to the owner of the canoe which brought us ashore—here is money," and he gave him several piastres; "tell him that I buy his boat exactly as it stands. You will lay in provisions at the same time, and then wait for your comrade, to whom I have a few words to say—but he will rejoin you soon."
"I will go, then; gratitude is in my heart, and not on my lips. On the day when you ask for my life I will give it you, because it is yours, as well as that of all those who love me. Farewell!"
And he made a movement to leave the room.
"Where are you going?" Montbarts asked him.
"I am off; did you not give me leave to go?"
"Yes, but you are forgetting something."
"What is it?"
"The arms I promised you. Take from the rack a fusil for yourself, and four others, which you can dispose of as you please, six cutlasses, six daggers, and six hatchets; when you leave port, on passing the lugger, you will ask Michael the Basque, in my name, for two barrels of gunpowder and two bags of bullets—he will give them to you. Now go, and I wish you all good fortune."
The Carib, overcome by this generosity, so simple and so full of grandeur, knelt to the adventurer, and seizing his feet, which he placed on his head, he exclaimed, in a deeply affected voice—
"I pay you homage as to the best of men. I and mine are henceforth and eternally your devoted slaves." He got up, placed on his shoulder the arms which the engagé handed him, and quitted the hatto.
For some minutes his footsteps could be heard resounding on the path; but this sound gradually died away, and a complete silence returned.
"Now for us two, Olonnais!" Montbarts then said, addressing the engagé.
The latter drew nearer.
"I am listening, master," he said.
"I saw you today for the first time, and yet you pleased me at the very first glance," the adventurer continued. "I fancy myself a tolerable physiognomist. Your frank and open face, your bold-looking eyes, and the expression of audacity and intelligence spread over your features, disposed me in your favour. That is the reason why I bought you. I trust that I am not deceived about you; but I wish to make trial of you. You know that I am at liberty to shorten your engagement, or even, if I like, restore you your freedom tomorrow, so think of that, and act accordingly."
"Whether engaged or free I shall always be devoted to you, Montbarts," the Olonnais said, "hence do not speak to me of recompense, for it is useless with me: make your trial, and I hope to emerge from it with honour."
"That is speaking like a man and a frank adventurer: listen to me, then, and do not let a word of what you are about to hear escape your lips."
"I shall be dumb."
"In ten days at the most I shall anchor in Port Margot in St. Domingo; the expedition I command is intended to take Tortoise Isle by surprise; but while we are occupied on our side in surprising the Spaniards, they must not be able to attack us in the rear, and ruin our establishments at Grande Terre."
"I understand; Omopoua's Caribs are scattered along the Spanish frontier, and must be converted into allies of the expedition."
"The very thing—you have understood me perfectly. Such is your missive; but you must act with extreme cleverness and considerable prudence, in order not to give the alarm to the Gavachos on one hand, or arouse the suspicious of the Caribs on the other; the Indians are susceptible and mistrustful, especially with white men, against whom they have so many causes of complaint. The part you have to play is rather difficult, but I think you will succeed—thanks to the influence of Omopoua; besides, two days after my arrival at Port Margot, I will proceed to the savannahs of the Artibonite, in order to have an understanding, and to make the arrangements I may consider necessary. You see that I act toward you with perfect frankness, and rather as with a brother than an engagé."
"I thank you for it; you shall have no cause to repent it."
"I am glad to believe it—ah! A final recommendation, of secondary importance, but, for all that, serious."
"What is it?"
"The Spaniards frequently hunt, or make excursions in the savannahs of the Artibonite; watch them, though without letting them perceive you; let them not have the slightest suspicion of what we are meditating against them, for the least imprudence might have excessively grave consequences for the success of our plans."
"I will act with prudence, be assured."
"Now, my lad, I have only to wish you a pleasant trip, and successful result."
"Will you allow me, in my turn, to ask you a question before departing?"
"Speak, I allow it."
"For what reason have you, who possess so many brave and devoted friends, instead of applying to one of them, chosen an obscure engagé, whom you hardly know, to confide to him so difficult and so confidential a mission?"
"Are you anxious to know?" the adventurer asked, laughingly.
"Yes, if you do not consider the question indiscreet."
"Not the least in the world, and you shall be satisfied in a couple of words. Apart from the good opinion I have of you, and which is only personal, I have chosen you, because you are only a poor engagé, who arrived from France but two days ago—no one knows you, or is aware that I have purchased you: for this reason no one will dream of suspecting you, and consequently you will be a more valuable agent to me, as no one will imagine that you are my plenipotentiary, and acting under my orders. Now do you understand, my lad?"
"Perfectly, and I thank you for the explanation you have given me. Good-bye; within an hour the Carib and I will have left St. Kitts."
"Allow him to guide you during the voyage, that man is very clever, though an Indian, and he will conduct you so that you will both reach port in safety."
"I shall not fail to do so; besides, the deference I shall show him will dispose him in my favour, and further advance the success of our projects."
"Come, come," the adventurer said, with a laugh, "I see that you are a sharp lad, and I now have good hopes of the issue of your mission."
The Olonnais armed himself as the Carib had done, then took leave of his master, and went away.
"Come," Montbarts muttered, when he was alone, "I believe that my plans are beginning to assume consistency, and that I shall soon be able to deal a grand stroke."
The next morning at sunrise an unusual agitation prevailed in the township, which, however, was never very tranquil.
The filibusters, armed to the teeth, were taking leave of their friends, and preparing to proceed on board the vessels for which they had enlisted on the previous day.
The roads were cut up in all directions by a prodigious number of canoes which passed to and fro, carrying men and provisions to the departing ships.
The Chevalier de Fontenay, surrounded by a numerous staff of renowned filibusters, and having at his side Montbarts, David Drake, and Michael the Basque, was standing at the end of the wooden mole that served as a landing place, and witnessing thence the departure of the adventurers.
These men with bronzed complexion, energetic and ferocious features, and vigorous limbs, scarce clad in canvas drawers and old hats or caps, but armed with long fusils, manufactured at Dieppe expressly for them, having a heavy sharpened cutlass hanging from their belt, and carrying their stock of powder and bullets, had a strange and singularly formidable appearance, rendered even more striking by the expression of carelessness and indomitable audacity spread over their faces.
On seeing them it was easy to understand the terror with which they must inspire the Spaniards, and the incredible exploits they achieved almost as if in play, reckoning their lives as nothing, and only seeing the object, that is to say, plunder.
As they defiled before the governor and the officers elected to command them, they saluted them respectfully, because discipline demanded it, but the salute had nothing low or servile about it, it was that of men fully conscious of their value, and aware that though sailors today, they might, as they liked, be captains tomorrow.
Towards midday the crews were complete, and only the Admiral and three captains were still ashore.
"Gentlemen," Montbarts said to his officers, "so soon as we are out to sea, each of you will sail as you like; we have but a small stock of provisions on board, but the islands we pass will supply us, do not hesitate to pillage the corales of the Gavachos, for that will be so much taken from the enemy. Hence it is settled that we will each proceed separately to the general meeting place, for prudence urges us not to let the enemy suspect our strength; our meeting place is the northern island of the Grand Key; the first to arrive will await the two others, there I will give you my final instructions about the object of the expedition, of which you already know a part."
"So then," said M. de Fontenay, "you insist on keeping your secret?"
"If you absolutely demand, sir," Montbart replied, "I will—"
"No, no," he interrupted him with a laugh; "keep it, for I do not know what to do with it; besides, I have pretty nearly guessed your secret."
"Ah," Montbarts said with an air of incredulity.
"Confound it, I am greatly mistaken or you mean to make some attempt on St. Domingo."
The adventurer only answered by a crafty smile, and took leave of the governor, who rubbed his hands joyously, for he was persuaded that he had guessed the secret which it was attempted to conceal from him. An hour later the three vessels raised their anchors, set sail, and went off after giving a parting salute to the land, which was immediately answered by the battery at the point.
They soon became confounded with the white mist on the horizon, and ere long disappeared.
"Well," M. de Fontenay said to his officers as he returned to the government house, "you will see that I am not mistaken, and that this demon of a Montbarts really has a design on St. Domingo. Lord help the Spaniards!"