“Thank you very much,” said Lance. “I have no doubt a little music now and then would prove a solace to them; indeed, it would make the evenings much more pleasant for us all, and if you feel disposed to spare us an instrument we shall remember you all the more gratefully.”
“Then you may consider it done,” Johnson replied, as the boat’s keel grated on the beach and the party stepped ashore. “Come up to the capstan-house with me, and you can choose which you will have, and I will send it along at once.”
Lance accordingly proceeded to the capstan-house with Johnson, while the remainder of the party wended their way straight to the hut, well pleased at what they considered a mark of great consideration on the part of the pirate chief.
When Lance found himself alone with his companion he thought it would be a favourable opportunity to prefer a request which had been in his mind for several days, but which he had had no previous chance of mentioning.
“I am glad,” he said, “to have this opportunity of thanking you, captain, in the name of our party, for all you have done for our comfort, under circumstances which I could not fail to perceive have been somewhat trying to you. I now want to ask you to add one favour more, and that is, to supply us with a sufficiency of arms and ammunition to enable us to defend ourselves, if need be, in your absence. Whilst you are on the island we feel ourselves to be safe, but I confess I am not altogether without doubts as to the treatment which we may receive at the hands of your Greek friend Ralli after your departure. And it would add very greatly to our feeling of security in your absence if we were provided with the means of resisting any attempt at unfair dealing on his part. I presume it is unnecessary for me to say that we should only use the weapons in a case of absolute necessity?”
“Waal now, colonel,” said Johnson, “what you ask is fair enough, and for my own part I’d be willing enough to let you have all you want, but I vow I don’t just see exactly how I’m to do it. The key of the arm-chest is in the armourer’s pocket, and I can’t issue anything out of that chest without his knowledge. Now, I know that cuss, he’s no friend of mine, and he’d just go straight away and tell Ralli what I’d done, and that’d set the Greek dead agin you all for a certainty and make things just as uncomfortable for you as could be. Besides which, Ralli ’d just take ’em all away from you again as soon as my back was turned, and then you’d be worse off ’n ever. No, that won’t do, we’ll have to go some other way about it; but you leave it to me, general; you may bet your pile I’ll find out a way to do it before I sail. Now, which of these boxes of music will you have?”
They had arrived by this time at the capstan-house, and were standing near the pianofortes, all of which had been placed together on the floor of the sail-loft, the packing-cases having been ripped off and probably used for firewood. Lance ran his fingers over the key-board of each instrument in turn, striking a few chords and harmonies to test the quality of the tone and touch, and finally selected a superb “grand” by Broadwood.
“All right, general, I’ll have the durned thing taken down to your quarters to oncet. But do you mean to say that you know how to thump music out of them things as well as how to build batteries and ships and so forth?” ejaculated Johnson.
“Well, yes,” said Lance, laughingly, “I believe I must plead guilty to being somewhat of a musician, though I have not touched an instrument for many a day until now.”
“Then sit right down there, colonel, and play me something good,” said Johnson, rolling a nail-keg as a seat up to one of the instruments.