"For a quarter of an hour my tactics were defensive. It was evident to me from the very first that the man knew nothing of wrestling, that he had merely his strength to depend upon. My object, therefore, was to let him use it up as much as possible, reserving my own force for an occasion when I could call to my aid the useful art that I had learnt in my youth. Soon, indeed, he began to show signs of flagging. So, seizing a favourable opportunity, I suddenly drew upon all my resources, had recourse to a certain 'throw' which had many times gained me the victory at Keswick, and successfully passed him over my thigh.
"Just as his feet left the ground he released his hold of me in order to be able to break his fall. And well for me was it that he did so, for as he came down, like a slaughtered ox, I heard the sound of his body slipping away from me and of stones rolling down an abyss. He gave one wild and piercing cry of terror when he dropped down, down, down into the darkness!
"For fully a minute did I stand where I was, my knees trembling under me through fear and exertion. Fearing to move a step before I had ascertained the exact position of the precipice, I at last stooped down and, by feeling my way in all directions, succeeded in creeping out of the danger-zone to a sheltered spot where I could lie down and sleep until daybreak. To have attempted to have found my way to James Town out of that wilderness of rocks would have been madness. Besides, I was thoroughly exhausted, and had no sooner stretched myself on the ground than I fell into a sound slumber.
"It was still early when I awoke, aching in every muscle. But I lost no time in making for the town, a distance of some two miles, being anxious to obtain food and drink at the Rose and Crown, and to give information to the authorities on the subject of my adventure. I felt that I had still a bone to pick with the treacherous Mme. MacDonald, and the sooner she was arrested the better.
"In the absence of the Governor of the island I was received at his town offices by his chief representative, who patiently heard my tale from beginning to end.
"'Yours is a very remarkable story, Mr. Lees; one of the most romantic I have ever heard,' he exclaimed, earnestly. 'It is all the more strange, as we've been looking for years for a man bearing somewhat the description of your Captain Ivory. I am surprised that the commander of the Thunderbolt did not spot him at Ichaboe. But I rather imagine that that officer's knowledge of the judicial affairs of St. Helena does not go back fifteen years, otherwise he would have been sure to recollect the circumstances attending the capture of one of our schooners on June 28th, 1830. The commander of the vessel in question, Captain Harrison, a certain Dr. Waddell, and several of the crew were entrapped on board a ship called the Daspegado, flying French colours, and murdered. It has always been understood that the name of the captain of the pirate was Williams, but your description of Jasper Ivory tallies so exactly with his, that I have no doubt whatever that they are one and the same man. I shall, of course, have to institute an inquiry into this affair, and above all order the immediate arrest of this Mme. Valadon, or whatever she calls herself. Meanwhile, Mr. Lees, you will have to hold yourself at the disposal of the authorities. Manslaughter, you know, is a serious thing—even though the man you have killed is a pirate. And now, seeing that this matter is finished for the present, I hope you will do me the honour of dining with me this evening. I will call for you at six o'clock at the Rose and Crown and take you with me to Plantation House.'
"HE GAVE ONE WILD AND PIERCING CRY OF TERROR WHEN HE DROPPED DOWN, DOWN, DOWN INTO THE DARKNESS."
"The pistol and lantern of Captain Jasper Ivory, alias Williams, alias MacDonald, alias Valadon, were found where they had fallen. But his body was never recovered from the 'Devil's Punch Bowl,' as the rocky and precipitous region where we had wrestled was—and is still—called. Was he killed on the spot, or did he escape miraculously? I cannot tell you. All I know is this: not a trace of either him or his precious mother could be discovered. Years afterwards, however, when I had returned to England and was enjoying the fruits of my hard eight months' work at that horrible island of Ichaboe, I heard that she was living at Havre, where she kept a lodging-house and, it was said, continued to carry on at least one branch of her son's profession—that of smuggling—in collaboration with Daniel White, one-time steward of the good ship Elora."