Book: The Ruby of Kishmoor
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Howard Pyle >> The Ruby of Kishmoor
Indeed," cried Jonathan, in the same shrill and panting voice,
"it was themselves who did it. First one of them attacked me and
then the other, and I did but try to keep them from murdering me.
This one fell on his knife, and that one shot himself in his
efforts to destroy me."
"That," says the seaman, "you may very well tell to a dry-lander,
and maybe he will believe you; but you cannot so easily pull the
wool over the eyes of Captain Benny Willitts. And what, if I may
be so bold as for to ask you, was the reason for their attacking
so harmless a man as you proclaim yourself to be?"
"That I know not," cried Jonathan; "but I am entirely willing to
tell thee all the circumstances. Thou must know that I am a
member of the Society of Friends. This day I landed here in
Kingston, and met a young woman of very comely appearance, who
intrusted me with this little ivory ball, which she requested me
to keep for her a few days. The sight of this ball--in which I
can detect nothing that could be likely to arouse any feelings of
violence--appears to have driven these two men entirely mad, so
that they instantly made the most ferocious and murderous assault
upon me. See! wouldst thou have believed that so small a thing as
this would have caused so much trouble?" And as he spoke he held
up to the gaze of the other the cause of the double tragedy that
had befallen. But no sooner had Captain Willitts's eyes lighted
upon the ball than the most singular change passed over his
countenance. The color appeared to grow dull and yellow in his
ruddy cheeks, his fat lips dropped apart, and his eyes stared
with a fixed and glassy glare. He arose to his feet and, still
with the expression of astonishment and wonder upon his face,
gazed first at our hero and then at the ivory ball in his hands,
as though he were deprived both of reason and of speech. At last,
as our hero slipped the trifle back in his pocket again, the
mariner slowly recovered himself, though with a prodigious
effort, and drew a deep and profound breath as to the very bottom
of his lungs. He wiped, with the corner of his black silk cravat,
his brow, upon which the sweat appeared to have gathered. "Well,
messmate," says he, at last, with a sudden change of voice, "you
have, indeed, had a most wonderful adventure." Then with another
deep breath: "Well, by the blood! I may tell you plainly that I
am no poor hand at the reading of faces. Well, I think you to be
honest, and I am inclined to believe every word you tell me. By
the blood! I am prodigiously sorry for you, and am inclined to
help you out of your scrape.
"The first thing to do," he continued, "is to get rid of these
two dead men, and that is an affair I believe we shall have no
trouble in handling. One of them we will wrap up in the carpet
here, and t'other we can roll into yonder bed-curtain. You shall
carry the one and I the other, and, the harbor being at no great
distance, we can easily bring them thither and tumble them
overboard, and no one will be the wiser of what has happened. For
your own safety, as you may easily see, you can hardly go away
and leave these objects here to be found by the first-comer, and
to arise up in evidence against you."
This reasoning, in our hero's present bewildered state, appeared
to him to be so extremely just that he raised not the least
objection to it. Accordingly, each of the two silent, voiceless
victims of the evening's occurrences were wrapped into a bundle
that from without appeared to be neither portentous nor terrible
in appearance.
Thereupon, Jonathan shouldering the rug containing the little
gentleman in black, and the sea-captain doing the like for the
other, they presently made their way down the stairs through the
darkness, and so out into the street. Here the sea-captain became
the conductor of the expedition, and leading the way down several
alleys and along certain by-streets--now and then stopping to
rest, for the burdens were both heavy and clumsy to carry--they
both came out at last to the harbor front, without any one having
questioned them or having appeared to suspect them of anything
wrong. At the water-side was an open wharf extending a pretty
good distance out into the harbor. Thither the captain led the
way and Jonathan followed. So they made their way out along the
wharf or pier, stumbling now and then over loose boards, until
they came at last to where the water was of a sufficient depth
for their purpose. Here the captain, bending his shoulders, shot
his burden out into the dark, mysterious waters, and Jonathan,
following his example, did the same. Each body sank with a sullen
and leaden splash into the element where, the casings which
swathed them becoming loosened, the rug and the curtain rose to
the surface and drifted slowly away with the tide.
As Jonathan stood gazing dully at the disappearance of these last
evidences of his two inadvertent murders, he was suddenly and
vehemently aroused by feeling a pair of arms of enormous strength
flung about him from behind. In their embrace his elbows were
instantly pinned tight to his side, and he stood for a moment
helpless and astounded, while the voice of the sea-captain,
rumbling in his very ear, exclaimed: "Ye bloody, murthering
Quaker, I'll have that ivory ball, or I'll have your life!"
These words produced the same effect upon Jonathan as though a
douche of cold water had suddenly been flung over him. He began
instantly to struggle to free himself, and that with a frantic
and vehement violence begotten at once of terror and despair. So
prodigious were his efforts that more than once he had nearly
torn himself free, but still the powerful arms of his captor held
him as in a vise of iron. Meantime, our hero's assailant made
frequent though ineffectual attempts to thrust a hand into the
breeches-pocket where the ivory ball was hidden, swearing the
while under his breath with a terrifying and monstrous string of
oaths. At last, finding himself foiled in every such attempt, and
losing all patience at the struggles of his victim, he endeavored
to lift Jonathan off of his feet, as though to dash him bodily
upon the ground. In this he would doubtless have succeeded had he
not caught his heel in the crack of a loose board of the wharf.
Instantly they both fell, violently prostrate, the captain
beneath and Jonathan above him, though still encircled in his
iron embrace. Our hero felt the back of his head strike violently
upon the flat face of the other, and he heard the captain's skull
sound with a terrific crack like that of a breaking egg upon some
post or billet of wood, against which he must have struck. In
their frantic struggles they had approached extremely near the
edge of the wharf, so that the next instant, with an enormous and
thunderous splash, Jonathan found himself plunged into the waters
of the harbor, and the arms of his assailant loosened from about
his body.
The shock of the water brought him instantly to his senses, and,
being a fairly good swimmer, he had not the least difficulty in
reaching and clutching the cross-piece of a wooden ladder that,
coated with slimy sea-moss, led from the water-level to the wharf
above.
After reaching the safety of the dry land once more, Jonathan
gazed about him as though to discern whence the next attack might
be delivered upon him. But he stood entirely alone upon the
dock--not another living soul was in sight. The surface of the
water exhibited some commotion, as though disturbed by something
struggling beneath; but the sea-captain, who had doubtless been
stunned by the tremendous crack upon his head, never arose again
out of the element that had engulfed him.
The moonlight shone with a peaceful and resplendent illumination,
and, excepting certain remote noises from the distant town not a
sound broke the silence and the peacefulness of the balmy,
tropical night. The limpid water, illuminated by the resplendent
moonlight, lapped against the wharf. All the world was calm,
serene, and enveloped in a profound and entire repose.
Jonathan looked up at the round and brilliant globe of light
floating in the sky above his head, and wondered whether it were,
indeed, possible that all that had befallen him was a reality and
not some tremendous hallucination. Then suddenly arousing himself
to a renewed realization of that which had occurred, he turned
and ran like one possessed, up along the wharf, and so into the
moonlit town once more.
VI. The Conclusion of the Adventure with the Lady with the Silver
Veil
Nor did he check his precipitous flight until suddenly, being led
perhaps by some strange influence of which he was not at all the
master, he discovered himself to be standing before the
garden-gate where not more than an hour before he had first
entered upon the series of monstrous adventures that had led to
such tremendous conclusions.
People were still passing and repassing, and one of these
groups--a party of young ladies and gentlemen--paused upon the
opposite side of the street to observe, with no small curiosity
and amusement, his dripping and bedraggled aspect. But only one
thought and one intention possessed our hero--to relieve himself
as quickly as possible of that trust which he had taken up so
thoughtlessly, and with such monstrous results to himself and to
his victims. He ran to the gate of the garden and began beating
and kicking upon it with a vehemence that he could neither master
nor control. He was aware that the entire neighborhood was
becoming aroused, for he beheld lights moving and loud voices of
inquiry; yet he gave not the least thought to the disturbance he
was creating, but continued without intermission his uproarious
pounding upon the gate.
At length, in answer to the sound of his vehement blows, the
little wicket was opened and a pair of eyes appeared thereat. The
next instant the gate was cast ajar very hastily, and the
pock-pitted negress appeared. She caught him by the sleeve of his
coat and drew him quickly into the garden. "Buckra, Buckra!" she
cried. "What you doing? You wake de whole town!" Then, observing
his dripping garments: "You been in de water. You catch de fever
and shake till you die."
"Thy mistress!" cried Jonathan, almost sobbing in the excess of
his emotion; "take me to her upon the instant, or I cannot answer
for my not going entirely mad!"
When our hero was again introduced to the lady, he found her clad
in a loose and an elegant negligee, infinitely becoming to her
graceful figure, and still covered with the veil of silver gauze
that had before enveloped her.
"Friend," he cried, vehemently, approaching her and holding out
toward her the little ivory ball, "take again this which thou
gavest me! It has brought death to three men, and I know not what
terrible fate may befall me if I keep it longer in my possession.
"What is it you say?" cried she, in a piercing voice. "Did you
say it hath caused the death of three men? Quick! Tell me what
has happened, for I feel somehow a presage that you bring me news
of safety and release from all my dangers."
"I know not what thou meanest!" cried Jonathan, still panting
with agitation. "But this I do know: that when I went away from
thee I departed an innocent man, and now I come back to thee
burdened with the weight of three lives, which, though innocent I
have been instrumental in taking."
"Explain!" exclaimed the lady, tapping the floor with her foot.
"Explain! explain! explain!"
"That I will," cried Jonathan, "and as soon as I am able! When
I left thee and went out into the street I was accosted by a
little gentleman clad in black."
"Indeed!" cried the lady; "and had he but one eye, and did he
carry a gold-headed cane?"
"Exactly," said Jonathan; "and he claimed acquaintance with
friend Jeremiah Doolittle."
"He never knew him!" cried the lady, vehemently; "and I must tell
you that he was a villain named Hunt, who at one time was the
intimate consort of the pirate Keitt. He it was who plunged a
deadly knife into his captain's bosom, and so murdered him in
this very house. He himself or his agents, must have been
watching my gate when you went forth."
"I know not how that may be," said Jonathan, "but he took me to
his apartment, and there, obtaining a knowledge of the trust thou
didst burden me with, he demanded it of me, and upon my refusing
to deliver it to him he presently fell to attacking me with a
dagger. In my efforts to protect my life I inadvertently caused
him to plunge the knife into his own bosom and to kill himself."
"And what then?" cried the lady, who appeared well-nigh
distracted with her emotions.
"Then," said Jonathan, "there came a strange man--a
foreigner--who upon his part assaulted me with a pistol, with
every intention of murdering me and thus obtaining possession of
that same little trifle."
And did he," exclaimed the lady, "have long, black mustachios,
and did he have silver ear-rings in his ears?"
"Yes," said Jonathan, "he did."
"That," cried the lady, could have been none other than Captain
Keitt's Portuguese sailing-master, who must have been spying upon
Hunt! Tell me what happened next!"
"He would have taken my life," said Jonathan, "but in the
struggle that followed he shot himself accidentally with his own
pistol, and died at my very feet. I do not know what would have
happened to me if a sea-captain had not come and proffered his
assistance."
"A sea-captain!" she exclaimed; "and had he a flat face and a
broken nose?"
"Indeed he had," replied Jonathan.
"That," said the lady, "must have been Captain Keitt's pirate
partner--Captain Willitts, of The Bloody Hand. He was doubtless
spying upon the Portuguese."
"He induced me," said Jonathan, "to carry the two bodies down to
the wharf. Having inveigled me there--where, I suppose, he
thought no one could interfere--he assaulted me, and endeavored
to take the ivory ball away from me. In my efforts to escape we
both fell into the water, and he, striking his head upon the edge
of the wharf, was first stunned and then drowned."
"Thank God!" cried the lady, with a transport of fervor, and
clasping her jewelled hands together. "At last I am free of those
who have heretofore persecuted me and threatened my very life
itself! You have asked to behold my face; I will now show it to
you! Heretofore I have been obliged to keep it concealed lest,
recognizing me, my enemies should have slain me." As she spoke
she drew aside her veil, and disclosed to the vision of our hero
a countenance of the most extraordinary and striking beauty. Her
luminous eyes were like those of a Jawa, and set beneath
exquisitely arched and pencilled brows. Her forehead was like
lustrous ivory and her lips like rose-leaves. Her hair, which was
as soft as the finest silk, was fastened up in masses of
ravishing abundance. "I am," said she, "the daughter of that
unfortunate Captain Keitt, who, though weak and a pirate, was not
so wicked, I would have you know, as he has been painted. He
would, doubtless, have been an honest man had he not been led
astray by the villain Hunt, who so nearly compassed your own
destruction. He returned to this island before his death, and
made me the sole heir of all that great fortune which he had
gathered--perhaps not by the most honest means--in the waters of
the Indian Ocean. But the greatest treasure of all that fortune
bequeathed to me was a single jewel which you yourself have just
now defended with a courage and a fidelity that I cannot
sufficiently extol. It is that priceless gem known as the Ruby of
Kishmoor. I will show it to you." Hereupon she took the little
ivory ball in her hand, and, with a turn of her beautiful wrists,
unscrewed a lid so nicely and cunningly adjusted that no eye
could have detected where it was joined to the parent globe.
Within was a fleece of raw silk containing an object which she
presently displayed before the astonished gaze of our hero. It
was a red stone of about the bigness of a plover's egg, and which
glowed and flamed with such an exquisite and ruddy brilliancy as
to dazzle even Jonathan's inexperienced eyes. Indeed, he did not
need to be informed of the priceless value of the treasure, which
he beheld in the rosy palm extended toward him. How long he gazed
at this extraordinary jewel he knew not, but he was aroused from
his contemplation by the sound of the lady's voice addressing
him. "The three villains," said she, "who have this day met their
deserts in a violent and bloody death, had by an accident
obtained knowledge that this jewel was in my possession. Since
then my life has hung upon a thread, and every step that I have
taken has been watched by these enemies, the most cruel and
relentless that it was ever the lot of any unfortunate to
possess. From the mortal dangers of their machinations you have
saved me, exhibiting a courage and a determination that cannot be
sufficiently applauded. In this you have earned my deepest
admiration and regard. I would rather," she cried, "intrust my
life and my happiness to you than into the keeping of any man
whom I have ever known! I cannot hope to reward you in such a way
as to recompense you for the perils into which my necessities
have thrust you; but yet"--and here she hesitated, as though
seeking for words in which to express herself--"but yet if you
are willing to accept of this jewel, and all of the fortune that
belongs to me, together with the person of poor Evaline Keitt
herself, not only the stone and the wealth, but the woman also,
are yours to dispose of as you see fit!"
Our hero was so struck aback at this unexpected turn that he knew
not upon the instant what reply to make. "Friend," said he, at
last, "I thank thee extremely for thy offer, and, though I would
not be ungracious, it is yet borne in upon me to testify to thee
that as to the stone itself and the fortune--of which thou
speakest, and of which I very well know the history--I have no
inclination to receive either the one or the other, both the
fruits of theft, rapine, and murder. The jewel I have myself
beheld three times stained, as it were, with the blood of my
fellow-man, so that it now has so little value in my sight that I
would not give a peppercorn to possess it. Indeed, there is no
inducement in the world that could persuade me to accept it, or
even to take it again into my hand. As to the rest of thy
generous offer, I have only to say that I am, four months hence,
to be married to a very comely young woman of Kensington, in
Pennsylvania, by name Martha Dobbs, and therefore I am not at all
at liberty to consider my inclinations in any other direction."
Having so delivered himself, Jonathan bowed with such ease as his
stiff and awkward joints might command, and thereupon withdrew
from the presence of the charmer, who, with cheeks suffused with
blushes and with eyes averted, made no endeavor to detain him.
So ended the only adventure of moment that ever happened to him
in all his life. For thereafter he contented himself with such
excitement as his mercantile profession and his extremely
peaceful existence might afford.
Epilogue
In conclusion it may be said that when the worthy Jonathan Rugg
was married to Martha Dobbs, upon the following June, some
mysterious friend presented to the bride a rope of pearls of such
considerable value that when they were realized into money our
hero was enabled to enter into partnership with his former patron
the worthy Jeremiah Doolittle, and that, having made such a
beginning, he by-and-by arose to become, in his day, one of the
leading merchants of his native town of Philadelphia.