I am not alone. Engineer Serko is near me. He has attended to me himself, not because he regards me as a friend, I surmise1, but as a man from whom indispensable explanations are awaited, and who afterwards can be done away with if necessary.
I am still so weak that I could not walk a step. A little more and I should have been asphyxiated2 in that narrow compartment3 of the Sword at the bottom of the lagoon4.
Am I in condition to reply to the questions that Engineer Serko is dying to put to me? Yes—but I shall maintain the utmost reserve.
In the first place I wonder what has become of Lieutenant5 Davon and the crew of the Sword. Did those brave Englishmen perish in the collision? Are they safe and sound like us—for I suppose that Thomas Roch has also survived?
The first question that Engineer Serko puts to me is this:
“Will you explain to me what happened, Mr. Hart?”
Instead of replying it occurs to me to question him myself.
“And Thomas Roch?” I inquire.
“In good health, Mr. Hart.” Then he adds in an imperious tone: “Tell me what occurred!”
“In the first place, tell me what became of the others.”
“What others?” replies Serko, glancing at me savagely6.
“Why, those men who threw themselves upon Thomas Roch and me, who gagged, bound, and carried us off and shut us up, I know not where?”
On reflection I had come to the conclusion that the best thing to do was to pretend that I had been surprised before I knew where I was or who my aggressors were.
“You will know what became of them later. But first, tell me how, the thing was done.”
By the threatening tone of his voice, as he for the third time puts this question, I understand the nature of the suspicions entertained of me. Yet to be in the position to accuse me of having had relations with the outside he would have had to get possession of my keg. This he could not have done, seeing that it is in the hands of the Bermudan authorities. The pirates cannot, I am convinced, have a single proof to back up their suspicions.
I therefore recount how about eight o’clock on the previous evening I was walking along the edge of the lagoon, after Thomas Roch had passed me, going towards his laboratory, when I felt myself seized from behind; how having been gagged, bound, and blindfolded7, I felt myself carried off and lowered into a hole with another person whom I thought I recognized from his groans8 as Thomas Roch; how I soon felt that I was on board a boat of some description and naturally concluded that it was the tug9; how I felt it sink; how I felt a shock that threw me violently against the side, and how I felt myself suffocating10 and lost consciousness, since I remember nothing further.
Engineer Serko listens with profound attention, a stern look in his eyes and a frown on his brow; and yet he can have no reason that authorizes11 him to doubt my word.
“You claim that three men threw themselves upon you?” he asks.
“Yes. I thought they were some of your people, for I did not see them coming. Who were they?”
“Strangers, as you must have known from their language.”
“They did not utter a word!”
“Have you no idea as to their nationality?”
“Not the remotest.”
Do you know what were their intentions in entering the cavern12?”
“I do not.”
“What is your opinion about it?”
“My opinion, Mr. Serko? I repeat I thought they were two or three of your pirates who had come to throw me into the lagoon by the Count d’Artigas’ orders, and that they were going to do the same thing to Thomas Roch. I supposed that having obtained his secrets—as you informed me was the case—you had no further use for him and were about to get rid of us both.”
“Is it possible, Mr. Hart, that you could have thought such a thing!” continued Serko in his sarcastic13 way.
“I did, until having been able to remove the bandage from my eyes, I perceived that I was in the tug.”
“It was not the tug, but a boat of the same kind that had got through the tunnel.”
“A submarine boat?” I ejaculate.
“Yes, and manned by persons whose mission was to kidnap you and Thomas Roch.”
“Kidnap us?” I echo, continuing to feign14 surprise.
“And,” adds Engineer Serko, “I want to know what you think about the matter.”
“What I think about it? Well, it appears to me that there is only one plausible15 explanation possible. If the secret of your retreat has not been betrayed—and I cannot conceive how you could have been betrayed or what imprudence you or yours could have committed—my opinion is that this submarine boat was exploring the bottom of the sea in this neighborhood, that she must have found her way into the tunnel, that she rose to the surface of the lagoon, that her crew, greatly surprised to find themselves inside an inhabited cavern, seized hold of the first persons they came across, Thomas Roch and myself, and others as well perhaps, for of course I do not know——”
Engineer Serko has become serious again. Does he realize the inanity16 of the hypothesis I try to pass off on him? Does he think I know more than I will say? However this may be, he accepts my professed17 view, and says:
“In effect, Mr. Hart, it must have happened as you suggest, and when the stranger tried to make her way out through the tunnel just as the tug was entering, there was a collision—a collision of which she was the victim. But we are not the kind of people to allow our fellow-men to perish before our eyes. Moreover, the disappearance18 of Thomas Roch and yourself was almost immediately discovered. Two such valuable lives had to be saved at all hazards. We set to work. There are many expert divers19 among our men. They hastily donned their suits and descended20 to the bottom of the lagoon. They passed lines around the hull21 of the Sword——”
“The Sword?” I exclaim.
“That is the name we saw painted on the bow of the vessel22 when we raised her to the surface. What satisfaction we experienced when we recovered you—unconscious, it is true, but still breathing—and were able to bring you back to life! Unfortunately all our attentions to the officer who commanded the Sword, and to his crew were useless. The shock had torn open the after and middle compartments23, and they paid with their lives the misfortune—due to chance, as you observe—of having discovered our mysterious retreat.”
On learning that Lieutenant Davon and his companions are dead, my heart is filled with anguish24; but to keep up my role—as they were persons with whom, presumably, I was not acquainted, and had never seen—I am careful not to display any emotion. I must, on no account, afford ground for the suspicion that there was any connivance25 between the commander of the Sword and me. For aught I know, Engineer Serko may have reason to be very skeptical26 about the discovery of the tunnel being accidental.
What, however, I am most concerned about is that the unlooked-for occasion to recover my liberty was lost. Shall I ever be afforded another chance? However this may be, my notice reached the English authorities of the archipelago, and they now know where Ker Karraje is to be found. When it is seen that the Sword does not return to Bermuda, there can be no doubt that another attempt will be made to get inside Back Cup, in which, had it not been for the inopportune return of the tug, I should no longer be a prisoner.
I have resumed my usual existence, and having allayed27 all mistrust, am permitted to wander freely about the cavern, as usual.
It is patent that the adventure has had no ill effect upon Thomas Roch. Intelligent nursing brought him around, as it did me. In full possession of his mental faculties30 he has returned to work, and spends the entire day in his laboratory.
The Ebba brought back from her last trip bales, boxes, and a quantity of objects of varied31 origin, and I conclude that a number of ships must have been pillaged32 during this marauding expedition.
The work on the trestles for Roch’s engine goes steadily33 forward, and there are now no fewer than fifty engines. If Ker Karraje and Engineer Serko are under the necessity of defending Back Cup, three or four will be sufficient to render the island unapproachable, as they will cover a zone which no vessel could enter without being blown to pieces. And it occurs to me that they intend to put Back Cup in a state of defence after having argued as follows:
“If the appearance of the Sword in the lagoon was due to chance the situation remains34 unchanged, and no power, not even England, will think of seeking for the Sword inside the cavern. If, on the other hand, as the result of an incomprehensible revelation, it has been learned that Back Cup is become the retreat of Ker Karraje, if the expedition of the Sword was a first effort against the island, another of a different kind—either a bombardment from a distance, or an attack by a landing party—is to be expected. Therefore, ere we can quit Back Cup and carry away our plunder35, we shall have to defend ourselves by means of Roch’s fulgurator.”
In my opinion the rascals36 must have gone on to reason still further in this wise:
“Is there any connection between the disclosure of our secret—if it was, and however it may have been made—and the double abduction from Healthful House? Is it known that Thomas Roch and his keeper are confined in Back Cup? Is it known that the abduction was effected in the interest of Ker Karraje? Have Americans, English, French, Germans, and Russians reason to fear that an attack in force against the island would be doomed37 to failure?”
Ker Karraje must know very well that these powers would not hesitate to attack him, however great the danger might be. The destruction of his lair38 is an urgent duty in the interest of public security and of humanity. After sweeping
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CHAPTER XIV. BATTLE BETWEEN THE “SWORD” AND THE TUG.
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CHAPTER XVI. ONLY A FEW MORE HOURS.
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