As soon as Chase found himself at liberty his courage all returned. Having been brought up on board a yacht, like all the rest of the Bellville boys, he was not very much afraid of a gale, although he could not help being appalled at the scene that was now presented to his gaze. The sky was clearing up a little to windward, and there was light enough for him to see that the water was in a frightful commotion. One moment the pirogue would be riding on the top of a wave, which to a landsman would have looked as high as a mountain; the next she would sink down into an abyss that appeared to be almost bottomless, and the huge billows would come rolling after her, seemingly on the point of engulfing her every instant. Chase looked at the waves and then at his captors to see what they thought about it, and he was satisfied that if they could have put the boat about without danger of swamping her, and gone back to the shore, they would have done it gladly. She was now running before the wind, and consequently was comparatively safe; but an attempt on the part of her crew to bring her about and to beat back to the main land, would have resulted in her destruction. She must go on, for she could not turn back. Pierre and Coulte both knew that as well as Chase did. The old Frenchman was literally shaking with terror, while Pierre was as white as a sheet.
When Chase had noted these things, he went to work with his bucket, and for two hours scarcely paused to take breath. At the end of that time Pierre began to keep a sharp lookout in front of him, knowing that if he had not missed his course he ought to be somewhere near the island. Presently Chase discovered it looming up through the darkness, looking a thousand-fold more gloomy and uninviting than it had ever before appeared in his eyes, and then he too began to be uneasy, lest the pirogue should be dashed upon the beach and broken in pieces by the surf. But the good fortune that had attended them during the voyage had not yet deserted them, and in spite of the wind and the waves Pierre succeeded in piloting the boat between two high points, and running her ashore in a little cove where she was effectually protected from the fury of the gale.
CHAPTER XIV.
CHASE TURNS THE TABLES.
When Chase, who was the first to spring ashore, had drawn the bow of the pirogue out of the water, he took a turn up and down the beach and looked about him. This was not the first time he had visited the island. He had often been there in company with Wilson and Bayard Bell and his cousins, and he knew every tree and stump on it. It was a favorite shooting and fishing ground of his, and he thought it a fine place to camp out for a night or two; but he had never wanted to live there. He was thinking busily while he was walking up and down the beach, and revolving something in his mind that made his heart beat a trifle faster than usual. He did not want to remain there alone, and he was determined that he would not. He would return to the village if he could that very night; but if he was obliged to stay, Coulte and Pierre should stay with him.
The cove in which the pirogue landed, and which was large enough to receive and shelter a vessel of a hundred tons burden, was surrounded on three sides by a high bluff thickly covered with bushes from base to summit. In these bluffs were two or three caves in which cooking-utensils, old-fashioned weapons, and rusty pieces of money had been found, giving rise to the supposition that the island had at one time been the harboring-place of the noted Lafitte. The story-tellers of the village declared that some thrilling scenes had been enacted there. Whether or not this was true we cannot tell; but this we do know: that before Chase set his foot on the mainland again, he saw as much excitement and adventure there as he wanted, and even more than enough to satisfy him.
“Well,” exclaimed Pierre, who seemed to be greatly relieved to find himself on solid ground once more, “we did it, didn’t we? We’re here at last.”
“I’d rather be somewhere else,” replied Chase. “Do you know, Pierre, that I shall be hard up for bread while I stay here? The corn-meal in that bag is thoroughly soaked with salt water.”