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Chapter XLIX

The captives were grouped together, some sitting, and some standing.
Not one of them looked dejected at his fate; though I could see by
their movements that they were impatient of the bonds that tied them.
My attention was most frequently directed to the old gentleman who
had been addressed as Mr Evelyn. Notwithstanding the grief expressed
in his countenance, it possessed an air of benevolence and kindness
of heart that even his settled melancholy did not conceal. I could
not understand why, but I felt a deeper interest for this person than
for any of the others--a sort of yearning towards him, mingled with a
desire to protect him from the malice of his enemies.

Almost as soon as they were gone, John Gough beckoned to Mr Evelyn
to sit down by his side. Possibly this was done to prevent his
assisting his companions to regain their liberty, as he, not being
pinioned like the rest, might easily have done, and they might have
overpowered their guard before his companions could come to his
assistance. But Gough was well armed, and the rest being without
weapons of any kind, it was scarcely probable that they would have
risked their lives in so desperate an attempt.

Mr Evelyn came and quietly sat himself down in the place indicated.
I observed him with increasing interest, and singular to relate, the
more I gazed on his venerable face, the more strongly I felt assured
that I had seen it before. This of course was impossible,
nevertheless, the fancy took possession of me, and I experienced a
strange sensation of pleasure as I watched the changes his features
underwent.

"John Gough, I am sorry to see you mixed up in this miserable
business," said he, mildly addressing his companion. The other did
not answer, and as his back was turned towards me I could not observe
the effect the observation had upon him.

"The men who have left us I know to be bad men," continued the
speaker; "I expect nothing but wickedness from them. But you I am
aware have been better brought up. Your responsibility therefore
becomes the greater in assisting them in their villainy."

"You had better not let them hear you, Mr Evelyn," replied Gough, at
last, in something like a surly tone; "I would not answer for the
consequences."

"Those I do not fear," the other answered. "The results of this
transaction can make very little difference to a man on the verge of
the grave, who has outlived all his relatives, and has nothing left
to fall back upon but the memory of his misfortunes: but to one in
the prime of life like yourself, who can boast of friends and
relatives who feel an interest in your good name, these results must
be serious indeed. What must be the feelings of your respectable
father when he learns that you have joined a gang of pirates; how
intense must be the grief of your amiable mother when she hears that
you have paid the penalty that must sooner or later overtake you for
embracing so lawless a life."

"Come, Mr Evelyn," exclaimed Gough, though with a tremulousness in
his voice that betrayed the state of his feelings, "you have no right
to preach to me. I have done as much as I could for you all. The men
would have made short work with you, if I had not interposed, and
pointed out to them this uninhabited island."

"Where it seems you left a poor woman to be starved to death,"
continued Mr Evelyn.

"It was no fault of mine," replied the man; "I did all I could to
prevent it."

"It would have been more manly if you had remained with her on this
rock, and left your cowardly associates to take their selfish course.
But you are weak and irresolute, John Gough; too easily persuaded
into evil, too slow to follow the impulses of good. The murder of
that poor woman is as much your deed as if you had blown her brains
out before you abandoned her. Indeed I do not know but what the
latter would have been the less criminal."

John Gough made no answer. I do not think, however, his mind was
quite easy under this accusation, for he seemed restless, and kept
playing with his pistols, with his eyes cast down.

"Your complicity in this mutiny, too, John Gough, is equally
inexcusable," continued Mr Evelyn. "It was your duty to have stood by
Captain Manvers and his officers, by which you would have earned
their eternal gratitude, and a handsome provision from the owners of
the vessel."

"It's no use talking of these things now, Mr Evelyn," said Gough,
hurriedly. "I have taken my course. It is too late to turn back.
Would to God," he added, dashing his hand violently against his brow,
"I had had nothing to do with it."

"It is never too late, John Gough, to do good," here cried out Mrs
Reichardt, as she rose from her place of concealment, as much to my
surprise as that of all who could observe her. But nothing could
equal the astonishment of Gough when he first caught sight of her
features;--he sprang to his feet, leaving his pistols on the ground,
and clasping his hands together, exclaimed, "Thank God, she is safe!"

"Yes," she replied, approaching him and taking his hand kindly. "By
an interposition of Providence, you are saved from the guilt of one
murder. In the name of that God who has so signally preserved you
against yourself, I command you to abandon your present wicked
designs."

The man hesitated, but it seemed as if he could not take his gaze
from her face, and it was evident that her presence exerted an
extraordinary influence over him. In the meantime I had made my
appearance on the scene, not less to the astonishment of the lookers-on;
and my first act was to take possession of the pair of pistols
that Gough had left on the ground; my next to hurry to the group of
captives, who had been regarding us, in a state as it were of perfect
bewilderment, and with my American knife to cut their bonds.

"I will do whatever you think proper," said John Gough. "Believe me
I have been reluctantly led into this, and joined the mutiny knowing
that I should have been murdered if I did not."

"You must endeavour to make what amends are in your power,"
continued Mrs Reichardt, "by assisting your officers in recovering
possession of the ship."

"I will gladly assist in whatever they may think feasible," said the
man. "But we must first secure the desperate fellows who have just
left us, and as we are but poorly provided with weapons, that of
itself will be a service of no slight danger. To get possession of
the ship I am afraid will be still more hazardous; but you shall find
me in the front of every danger."

Here Captain Manvers and the others came up to where John Gough and
Mrs Reichardt were conversing; he heard Gough's last speech, and he
was going to say something, when I interposed by stating that there
was no time now for explanations, for in a few minutes the fellows
who had gone to the hut would return, and the only way to prepare for
them was for the whole party to go to our house, to which Mrs
Reichardt would lead them, where they would find plenty of arms and
ammunition. In the meantime I would keep watch, and observe their
motions, and by firing one of the pistols would signal to them if I
was in any danger. Lastly, I recommended that the oars should be
removed from the boat, to prevent the mutineers making their escape
to the ship.

My appearance and discourse attracted general attention. I
particularly noticed that Mr Evelyn started as soon as he caught
sight of me, and appeared to observe me with singular carefulness;
but that, no doubt, arose from my unexpected address, and the strange
way in which I had presented myself before him.

The Captain approving of my proposal, the whole party, after taking
away the boat's oars, moved off rapidly in the direction of the
house. I again concealed myself in the grass, and waited the return
of the mutineers. They did not remain away long. I could hear them
approaching, for they laughed and shouted as they went along loud
enough to be heard at a considerable distance. When they began to
descend the rocks, they passed so close to me, that I could hear
every word that was spoken.

"Well, flesh is grass, as the parson says," said Jack; "they must
have died sooner or later, if we hadn't parted company with so little
ceremony. But, hallo! my eyes and limbs! Where's John Gough? Where's
the captain? Where's all on 'em?"

It is impossible to express the astonishment of the men on reaching
the spot where they had so lately left their prisoners, and
discovering that not a trace of them was to be seen. At first they
imagined that they had escaped in the boat, but as soon as they saw
that the boat was safe, they gave up that idea. Then they fancied
John Gough had taken the prisoners to stroll a little distance
inland, and they began to shout as loud as their lungs would permit
them. Receiving no response, they uttered many strange ejaculations,
which I could not then understand, but which I have since learned
were profane oaths; and seemed at a loss what to do, whether to
wander about the island in search of them, or return to their ship.

Only one chanced to be for the former, and the others overruled him,
not thinking it was worth their while to take so much trouble as to
go rambling about in a strange place. They seemed bent on taking to
the boat, when one of them suggested they might get into a scrape if
they returned without their companion. They finally resolved on
sitting down and waiting his return.

Presently, one complained he was very sleepy, as he had been too
busy mutineering to turn into his hammock the previous night, and the
others acknowledged they also felt an equal want of rest from the
same cause. Each began to yawn. They laid themselves at their full
length along the grass, and in a short time I could hear by their
snoring, as Jackson used to do, that they were asleep.

I now crept stealthily towards them on my hands and knees, and they
were in such a profound sleep, that I had no difficulty whatever in
removing the pistols from their belts. I had just succeeded in this,
when I beheld the captain, and John Gough, and Mr Evelyn, and all the
rest of them, well armed with guns and pistols, approaching the place
where we were.

In a few minutes afterwards the mutineers were made prisoners,
without their having an opportunity of making the slightest
resistance. I was much complimented by the captain for the dexterity
with which I had disarmed them; but while I was in conversation with
him, it is impossible to express the surprise I felt, on seeing Mr
Evelyn suddenly rush towards me from the side of Mrs Reichardt, with
whom he had been talking, and, embracing me with the most moving
demonstrations of affection, claim me as his grandson.

The mystery was soon explained. Mr Evelyn had met so many losses in
business as a merchant, that he took the opportunity of a son of his
old clerk--who had become a captain of a fine ship, employed in the
South American trade--being about to proceed on a trading voyage to
that part of the world, to sail in his vessel with a consignment of
goods for the South American market. He had also another object,
which was to inquire after the fate of his long-lost daughter and
son-in-law, of whom he had received no certain intelligence, since
the latter took ship with the diamonds he had purchased to return home.
The vessel in which they sailed had never been heard of since; and Mr
Evelyn had long given up all hopes of seeing either of them again, or
the valuable property with which they had been entrusted.

On their going to the house, he had asked Mrs Reichardt my name,
stating that I so strongly resembled a very dear friend of his, he
believed had perished many years ago, that he felt quite an interest
in me. The answer he received led to a series of the most earnest
inquiries, and Mrs Reichardt satisfied him on every point, showed him
all the property that had formerly been in the possession of Mrs
Henniker and her husband: related Jackson's story, and convinced him,
that though he had lost the daughter for whom he had mourned so long,
her representative existed in the Little Savage, who was saving him
from the fate for which he had been preserved by the mutineers.

I have only to add, that I had the happiness of restoring to my
grandfather the diamonds I had obtained from Jackson, which were no
doubt very welcome to him, for they not only restored him to
affluence, but made him one of the richest merchants upon Change.

I was also instrumental in obtaining for the captain the command of
his ship, and of restoring discipline amongst the crew. The
ringleaders of the mutiny were thrown into irons, and taken home for
trial; this resulted in one or two of them being hanged by way of
example, and these happened to be the men who so barbarously deserted
Mrs Reichardt. She accompanied me to England in Captain Manvers's
vessel, for when he heard of the obligations I owed her, my
grandfather decided that she should remain with us as long as she
lived. We however did not leave the island until we had shown my
grandfather, the captain, and his officers, what we had effected
during our stay, and every one was surprised that we could have
produced a flourishing farm upon a barren rock. I did not fail to
show the places where I had had my fight with the python, and where I
had been pursued by the sharks, and my narrative of both incidents
seemed to astonish my hearers exceedingly.

I must not forget to add, that the day before our departure, John
Gough came to me privately, and requested my good offices with the
captain, that he might be left on the island. He had become a very
different character to what he had previously been; and as there
could be no question that the repentance he assumed was sincere, I
said all I could for him. My recommendation was successful, and I
transferred to John Gough all my farm, farming stock, and
agricultural implements; moreover, promised to send him whatever he
might further require to make his position comfortable. He expressed
great gratitude, but desired nothing; only that his family might know
that he was well off, and was not likely to return.

Perhaps John Gough did not like the risk he ran of being tried for
mutiny, or was averse to sailing with his former comrades; but
whatever was the cause of his resolution, it is certain that he
remained behind when the ship left the island, and may be there to
this hour for all I know to the contrary.

We made a quick voyage to England, and as my readers will no doubt
be glad to hear, the Little Savage landed safely at Plymouth, and was
soon cordially welcomed to his grandfather's house in London.

THE END.

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