Five Cent Wide Awake Library (vol. 2) (1895 09 13)
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.] HARKAWAY AND THE ITALIANS. 11 a jesolved in his own mind never to miss an oppor- [dropped his oar and hoisted a small mast and sail, unity of doing an injury to the three friends, But going back to Naples, where, perhaps, some ugly disclosures might be made respecting past transactions, did not suit him at all. He therefore opened his eyes, and began moan- ing : f Oh, noble gentleman, for Heaven’s sake, have pity on one who was once a happy ” “Shut up! Idon’t want that kind of gammon,” Jack said, very sharply. “Tf you are not quiet, we'll bury you again, head downwards, ” said Clear-the-Track. “Oh, gentleman, listen to the prayer of a miser- able Bigamini. Don’t take me to Naples. Do what you like with me except that. Send me to sea in an open boat, without oars, sail, or provi- sions, if you like, but don’t take me to Naples. Jack gave him a gentle touch with his toe, not far from the spot where the American’s bullet had penetrated, and bade him rise, an order which the wretched spy was constrained to obey. Bigamini was drenched to the skin with salt water, and the damp sand clung to his clothing. Ever and anon, he rubbed the wounded part, which the salt water caused to smart terribly, though it had stopped the bleeding, % a walk on in front of us,” said Jack, “ And remember,” added Clear-the-Track Sam, | “if you attempt to escape, I swear by the ghost of General Jackson, TVll let daylight through the other end of you.” By way of convincing Bigamini that he was in earnest, the young American reloaded his rifle. They kept along the beach, going towards Na- les, 3 Had it not been for Clear-the-Track’s threat, Bigamini would have bolted, but he had a whole- some fear of the rifle, and knew that an attempt to escape would be followed by swift punish- ment. When they had gone something like a couple of miles, they came in sight of a little fishing ‘vil- lage, where some eight or ten boats were drawn upon the beach. Telling Harvey and Sam to guard their prisoner earefully, Jack ‘Harkaway strode forward and en- tered into a bargain with the fisherman. One boat he purchased outright, paying for it in gold, with a liberality that fairly astonished the vender, Another small craft he hired. “Shall I assist you to row, signor?” asked the man. “No,” replied the former “stroke” of the Ox- ford eight; “launch the boats, fasten the how of the small one to the stern of the larger, and then J shall need no assistance.” The man did as desired, smiling at the difficul- ties he expected the English signor would en- counter when he got into the boat. But when Jack took up the oars and commenced rowing, his smile changed into a prolonged stare of astonishment. “ Per Baccho! These English signori are devils,” he exclaimed. ~ Jack soon ran his two boats aground just wnere Sam and Harvey were waiting with their prisoner. “Jn with you,” exclaimed our hero, “You Bigamini, in the small boat, Harvey and Sam with ” re Bigarainl hesitated, but Clear-the-Track’s rifle Bi mpelled obedience. rs What: are you a going todo with me, Mr, Hark- away ?” he asked. “You said you would rather be sent to sea in an open boat without oars or sail, so you shall have that treat. Come, Dick, take an oar, and we'll give this beggar a ride free gratis for nething, as poor Sidney Dawson’s scout used to say. “ For Heaven's sake,” he began, but the Amer- ican, who sat in the stern of the larger boat jerked that Bigamini occupied up and down in such a manner that the spy was compelled to devote all his attention to the preservation of his ‘balance, and therefore held his tongue. an ‘they receded trom it. “Jack and Harvey pulled away as though they had been pulling for a wager. Objects on shore grew smaller and smaller as Presently a breeze came off the land, then Jack > f 3 . f ~ Ture ad ty SP ag 8 Vad Oe ae | Pes oe cat which formed part of the equipment of the boat. Then merrily away before the wind, till the coast line became hazy, and finally vanished entirely. They were beyond sight of land. Jack then lowered his sail, and resuming his oars pulled round and around in a circle for some little time, to “puzzle the beggar,” as he said, When Jack had finished, he untied the rope which had held Bigamini’s boat to his own, and al- lowed the spy to drift away. “Mr. Harkaway,” shrieked the wretch, “ this ere is murder! Give usa chance for life; leave us one of them oars to guide the boat with.” Jack and his friends held a short consultation, the result of which was that Bigamini was per- mitted to keep both oars: and Clear-the-Track, at the last moment, threw to him a leather covered flask, half full of whisky. Then they hoisted sail and bore away, leaving Bigamini afloat on the Mediterranean. “We have been in a worse fix than his, eh, Dick?” said Jack, looking back at the spy, who was a very bad oarsman. “We have,” replied Harvey; ‘and we had done nothing very bad to deserve such luck.” “There are many chances in his favor. He is almost certain to be picked up by some passing ves- sel.” Tn an hour they had sighted land again. Bigamini and his little boat could n@jlonger be seen, Jack steered direct for Naples, guiding himself by a small compass attached to his watch chain. It was late in the evening, and the wind was blowing half a gale, when they landed. A poor look-out for Bigamini, they all agreed, yet they felt happier at the thought that they had at all events given him 4 chance of saving his own life, It would have been unlike Jack’s manly charac- ter to have allowed him to drown in that hole in the sands. But what of Bigamini himself? He knew little of rowing, and a current was run- ning fast, so that in spite of his endeavors to follow our hero, he was unable to do so. Presently he was all alone. Then he began to curse, but that did no good, so he applied to the whisky flask; and under the influence of a draught, hope once more began to whisper in his ear. ; A ship might pass and pick him up. But when the night was darkest, Bigamini’s guilty conscience began to people the surrounding space with spirits of his many victims. ; There was the old witch, his own wife, and many others whose days were shortened by his agency ; and they seemed to howl in his ear that the time of vengeance was at hand. The fearful visions he conjured up would not be ‘laid by repeated applications to the whisky flask, so the wretched little tailor laid down in the bot- tom of the boat, and cursed his ill fate till day- light chased away the phantoms with which dark- ness had surrounded him. And so the next night was passed by him, as al- so the third andthe fourth. Bigamini had long since given up rowing, so that the fourth day found-him drifting with the wind and current. Certainly the fates had not treated him kindly, but then he deserved no kindness, for his hand had been against every man. j ) Five days and nights did he toss about in his boat, in a state almost verging on madness, some- times blaspheming, at others whistling and sing- lug. And the idea of death, which at first had been very terrible, now seemed more familiar—nay, he even went so far as to contemplate it as a means of putting an end to the miseries he endured. “Hang it, who is afraid ?” he exclaimed. “ Ev- ery man must die, A man can die but once, and when it is over there is an end.” Bigamini tried to look extremely brave and reso- lute as he uttered these words, but when he re- membered that there was no one at hand to be surprised at his bravery, he relaxed a little. “T wonder if that would be the end. I don’t know much about it, but when I was a happy Smiffins I used to hear about another state, about = ¥ 7, PS > ’ rewards and punishments. Now, if that’s true, the old one below will have me, that’s certain.” » He paused a moment, but suddenly mustering up resolution, he shrieked: “Curse me! I'll think about it no longer. I am not afraid of death, so here goes.” With which words Bigamini struggled to his feet, and after one last despairing look around threw himself head foremost into the blue sea. ; CHAPTER XI. THE EXECUTION OF THE BRIGAND CHIEF, WueN the three friends reached the Strada Di Toledo, they were surprised to see Monday per- forming extraordinary antics on the door-step; “Hallo!” said Sam. “Look at the Kinki’s head cutting up Jim Crow capers. Look at him He’s gone clean off his cocoanut.” “What's the row, Monday?” asked Jack. “Um caught the brigand, sare,” replied Mien. day. “Who has ?”” “Mast? Walter. um,” “ Are you really in earnest?” said Jack, whose eyes burned lustrously, ; “Me see um, sare, lodged in um jail. All cay got um flags out. The general him been ere.” “This is great news,” said Jack. “JTmmense,” remarked Harvey. : * Guess the little coxswain’s a big chap,” obs served Clear-the-Track. “ Our task is nearly ended,” said Jack, who ran up stairs to his wife. Emily no sooner saw him than she threw her- self into his arms, sobbing with joy. “ Have you heard the news, dearest ?” he asked, “Oh, yes!” “Tt’s all over now,” continued Jack. “Thank God, Jack, thank God!” said Emily. Placing her on a sofa, he entered the next r where he found Mr. Mole and Walter Campbell engaged in a hot discussion. ‘ “J tell you straight,” said Walter, “that I cap. tured the brigand.’ “ And I tell you, sir,” replied Mr. Mole, “that I found him first.” “Why didn’t you collar him, then ?” : “Because I had too much generosity to hand # poor, broken-down blind man over to the police.” “ And I hadn’t, you see. That is just the dif- ference.” “‘Tt’s my find,” said Mole, doggedly. “And it’s my capture,” replied Walter, with equal doggedness. “My dear fellows,” said Jack, “I congratulate you both. Why grumble over the matter? You have got the scoundrel, and that ought to be enough for you.” “But it isn’t,” said Walter. ‘Mole says he did it all, and he didn’t.” < ‘ “T found him,” replied Mr. Mole, “aad I let him alone, out of pity.” “ More fool you,” said Walter. “Mr, Campbell,” replied Mr. Mole, “E will not put up with such language from you or anyone.” — “Then do the other thing.” “What's that, may I ask?” “Lump it.” y “Just what I might expect from a Cambridge man,” said Mole, with a sneer. “ Don’t you run Cambridge down.” “Look here,” said Jack. “I won’t have it. This is not the time for a row. Stash it, young one. I have something to tell you.” j “He’s so jolly aggravating, the old humbug,” said Walter. “You have captured the brigand ”»—— “No, I did it,” said Mole. ry. “Well, you did it between you, sir. Will that do? And if you’ve done one big thing, we've done another.” f ‘ What's that 2?” “We've been lucky enough to settle Bigamini.” “The bigger thief of the two,” said Walter. “The last snake in the nest,” said Mr. Mole. “ We'll have a champagne cup, as well iced a Monday can do it,” said Jack, “and sink all o differences in the flowing bowl.” : ain Him just come back with uy
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