from the interior, but nothing was to be seen on the top except a suit of very good clothes, carefully brushed and folded. They had never been worn, my mother said. Under that, the miscellany began – a quadrant, a tin canikin, several sticks of tobacco, two brace of very handsome pistols, a piece of bar silver, an old Spanish watch and some other trinkets of little value and mostly of foreign make, a pair of compasses mounted with brass, and five or six curious West Indian shells. I have often wondered since why he should have carried about these shells with him in his wandering, guilty, and hunted life.
In the meantime, we had found nothing of any value but the silver and the trinkets, and neither of these were in our way. Underneath there was an old boat-cloak, whitened with sea-salt on many a harbour-bar. My mother pulled it up with impatience, and there lay before us, the last things in the chest, a bundle tied up in oilcloth, and looking like papers, and a canvas bag that gave forth, at a touch, the jingle of gold.
«I’ll show these rogues that I’m an honest woman», said my mother. «I’ll have my dues, and not a farthing over. Hold Mrs. Crossley’s bag». And she began to count over the amount of the captain’s score from the sailor’s bag into the one that I was holding.
It was a long, difficult business, for the coins were of all countries and sizes – doubloons, and louis d’ors, and guineas, and pieces of eight, and I know not what besides, all shaken together at random. The guineas, too, were about the scarcest, and it was with these only that my mother knew how to make her count.
When we were about half-way through, I suddenly put my hand upon her arm, for I had heard in the silent frosty air a sound that brought my heart into my mouth – the tap-tapping of the blind man’s stick upon the frozen road. It drew nearer and nearer, while we sat holding our breath. Then it struck sharp on the inn door, and then we could hear the handle being turned and the bolt rattling as the wretched being tried to enter; and then there was a long time of silence both within and without. At last the tapping recommenced, and, to our indescribable joy and gratitude, died slowly away again until it ceased to be heard.
«Mother», said I, «take the whole and let’s be going», for I was sure the bolted door must have seemed suspicious and would bring the whole hornet’s nest about our ears, though how thankful I was that I had bolted it, none could tell who had never met that terrible blind man.
But my mother, frightened as she was, would not consent to take a fraction more than was due to her and was obstinately unwilling to be content with less. It was not yet seven, she said, by a long way; she knew her rights and she would have them; and she was still arguing with me when a little low whistle sounded a good way off upon the hill. That was enough, and more than enough, for both of us.
«I’ll take what I have», she said, jumping to her feet.
«And I’ll take this to square the count», said I, picking up the oilskin packet.
Next moment we were both groping downstairs, leaving the candle by the empty chest; and the next we had opened the door and were in full retreat. We had not started a moment too soon. The fog was rapidly dispersing; already the moon shone quite clear on the high ground on either side; and it was only in the exact bottom of the dell and round the tavern door that a thin veil still hung unbroken to conceal the first steps of our escape. Far less than half-way to the hamlet, very little beyond the bottom of the hill, we must come forth into the moonlight. Nor was this all, for the sound of several footsteps running came already to our ears, and as we looked back in their direction, a light tossing to and fro and still rapidly advancing showed that one of the newcomers carried a lantern.
«My dear», said my mother suddenly, «take the money and run on. I am going to faint».
This was certainly the end for both of us, I thought. How I cursed the cowardice of the neighbours; how I blamed my poor mother for her honesty and her greed, for her past foolhardiness and present weakness! We were just at the little bridge, by good fortune; and I helped her, tottering as she was, to the edge of the bank, where, sure enough, she gave a sigh and fell on my shoulder. I do not know how I found the strength to do it at all, and I am afraid it was roughly done, but I managed to drag her down the bank and a little way under the arch. Farther I could not move her, for the bridge was too low to let me do more than crawl below it. So there we had to stay – my mother almost entirely exposed and both of us within earshot of the inn.
4
Моряцька скриня
Я, звісно, не гаючись розповів матері все, що знав і що, певно, слід було б розповісти значно раніше. Нам стало ясно, що ми опинилися в небезпечному становищі.
Частина капітанових грошей – якщо тільки в нього були якісь гроші – безперечно, належала нам. Але важко було повірити, що корабельні товариші нашого капітана, а особливо два типи, яких я бачив, – Чорний Пес та сліпий жебрак, – згодилися б віддати свою здобич за борги покійного. Наказ капітана сісти на коня і мчати по доктора Лівсі я виконати не міг: для цього б довелося залишити матір саму, без усякого захисту. Про це не могло бути й мови. Але нам здавалося, що й лишатися тут теж не можна: тривогою сповнювало нас навіть падіння вугілля на залізну решітку в огнищі, навіть цокання нашого годинника. Скрізь нам вчувалися чиїсь кроки, ніби хтось до нас підходив.
Мертве тіло капітана на підлозі загальної кімнати й думки про те, що клятий сліпий жебрак блукає десь поблизу і щохвилини може повернутися, – все це сповнювало мене неймовірним жахом. Треба було негайно щось робити. І ми наважилися піти разом шукати допомоги в сусідньому селі. Сказано – зроблено. Навіть не одягаючись, побігли ми в темінь і холодний туман.
Села від нас не було видно, але воно було недалеко, всього за кількасот ярдів від нашого дому, на другому боці сусідньої затоки. Мене дуже підбадьорювало, що йти треба було не в той бік, звідки з’явився сліпий і куди він, очевидно, повернувся. Йшли ми недовго, хоч не раз зупинялися, прислухаючись. Але довкола не чути було нічого підозрілого:
