Swords From the Sea (89 page)

"Whereby it does appear," the high voice of the clerk reached his ears, "that these four men be servants of this Francisco Andreque who is no other than a heretic, offending against the grace of his Majesty and his Excellency, the Viceroy of Peru and Mexico. And it is not less certain that they did land at Arica, despoiling the town and defiling the church of most fair vestments, according to their custom, when taken by our brave soldiers of Arica. And this is but one of their insolences whereby it does appear that the English dogs are pirates of the lowest order."

A buzz of excitement circulated in the crowd. The pallid faces of the followers of the Inquisition gleamed, and beautiful mestizos raised inquiring glances to their attendant caballeros. Only the governor made no sign.

"It is the just opinion of the court," Fray Raymundo heard the clerk conclude, "that the English prisoners be chastised in the way most fitting to their crime, by order of his Excellency, Don Francisco de Toledo, Governor of Peru."

Before the governor could speak a tall figure stepped before him, and the priest recognized the man who had been pointed out to him as the leader of the English.

"Would you condemn a soldier to the fate of a villain, senor?" said this man in halting Spanish. "My faith, that were a crime greater than aught we are charged with. Did you not take us prisoner in fair fight?"

The black head of the governor bent slightly, while a smile curled his thin mouth.

"I will hear what you have to say, Senor Falconer. Yet it does not bear the ring of truth to me that you claim to be honorable prisoners of war, when you were taken in act of plunder and lawless despite."

Fray Raymundo was swept nearer the governor's seat by the eager crowd which pushed and jostled to catch what was said. Seldom had such an at traction offered, for in one day there was rumor of the presence of the corsair off the coast who had promised in writing to pay a visit to no less a person than his Excellency himself, and four of the English dogs were to be executed. Surely, the Englishman was foolhardy who dared to match words with the governor.

"It is true that I did take some silver vessels and altar cloth from the church," admitted Falconer bluffly, "but they were for the use of Master Fletcher, our minister, who lacked such things. As for plunder, we took nothing from the coast but silver bars and the cargoes of certain ships. No vessel did we sink with men aboard."

"Senor," said the governor, and the priests of the Inquisition nodded assent, "that were a greater offense than to rob the church for gain. Do you pretend that you came not here of your own will, being pirates in the truest sense, since our countries are not at war?"

"We came," replied Falconer quickly, "in the service of the queen, our sovereign lady, who bade us find a passage to the South Sea, an' we could. Our orders were to take toll of the silver that flows from here to Spain and enriches our enemies."

"Yet, senor," repeated the governor with a hard smile, "you came to Spanish waters and took toll of Spanish ships, a dishonorable voyage-"

"An honorable voyage, senor," retorted Falconer, shaking his yellow head, "at her Highness's command. The silver we take is not for us, but for our country. Spanish silver, forsooth! Wrested, rather, from the people of the New World by despite. Show me the will of Adam which gave the world to Spain, and I will say that we are pirates! "

"You grow scurrilous, senor," answered the governor coldly. "And you blaspheme without shame in speaking thus of holy matters. An' you desire proof of your crimes, I have it here, taken from your person the day you were made prisoner at Arica."

He produced a roll of parchment from under his cloak and tapped it against his knee.

"This was given me by a worthy captain who found it in your belt. It is in the hand of your master, the corsair chief, who declares that he is coming to Lima to pull my beard for me, and to take what jewels he may. Call you that the letter of a gentleman?"

"My faith," muttered Falconer, "I knew not the contents of the letter. I was told to leave it in the town where it would be found. 'Tis like my general, in truth-"

"Enough of this," commanded the governor. "Is there aught to be said relating to the trial?"

Fray Raymundo considered the opportunity good to tell what he had heard about the English ship being sighted near the port. He edged forward to the front of the crowd. As he did so, he was conscious of another pushing in his tracks, and as he raised his hand for attention, this other stepped past him to the clear space before the governor. And Fray Raymundo saw a strange thing.

The newcomer, in spite of the purple robe tucked about him, was the native who had prostrated himself before the governor in the plaza and endured the humiliation of his Excellency's foot. The priest thought he caught a gleam of hate in the Indian's eyes, and a brown hand slipped from a fold in the robe.

But the Indian held out nothing more than a slip of parchment to his Excellency, who recognized him not, as he had not seen his face before. All eyes were on the governor as he tore open the parchment and scanned the contents of the letter. As he did so his pale face flushed and the blue veins showed in his forehead.

"What deviltry is this!" he snapped, glaring at the Indian. "A letter, senors, from the pirate chief who says that he is coming to the trial in person this night, and that if a finger of his men be touched before he comes, two thousand Spaniards shall die!"

A silence of amazement fell on the crowd. A laugh rose from a few throats, then stifled. Who was this corsair, to say he would come to Lima through two thousand soldiers and a score of cannon, and to the presence of his Excellency, who, as was well known, had vowed the death of El Francisco Andreque should the latter ever come within reach? Fray Raymundo crossed himself as he thought of the captured towns further down the coast and the ravaged shipping. Surely El Andreque had concourse with the Devil, no less!

He caught a few words of the governor, as the latter spoke in a low tone to his captains.

"Where got you the letter?" demanded one of the soldiers of the Indian.

"Chief, I found it upon a table at an inn in the town," muttered the native.

The captain shrugged his shoulders, and the Indian seized the chance to slip out through the crowd. As he did so, Fray Raymundo saw him shoot a venomous glance over his shoulder at the governor.

"... lights the entire water-front," one of the soldiers was saying. "No one could land from a vessel without being seen. To make doubly sure, we have ordered all the crews ashore, but some watchmen, from the sixteen vessels at anchor. Another is expected tonight, from Panama. The harbor is quiet, and patrols of the custom-house are out in small boats. Nothing is reported."

"The roads leading to Lima?" inquired the governor sharply.

"All guarded by men with torches, your Excellency."

"The streets?"

"Are patrolled and quiet, your Excellency. Two thousand men bear arms tonight in your service, and were El Andreque the Devil himself he could not invade Lima now. His ship would be seen entering the harbor."

"Yet he sends me this missive," mused the governor. "It is, in truth, in the same hand as the other."

"A bit of bravado, your Excellency. The English dog barks out of fear, not bravery."

Without warning the governor tore the parchment in two and stamped the pieces underfoot. His face twisted into a pale mask of rage.

"Fools, idiots!" he snarled, "the man is here in town. Look," he held up one hand, which was stained with black spots, "the ink upon the parchment is not yet dry!"

The thick ink was in truth still wet upon the parchment-the Indian could have received it but a short time before.

What came to pass within the next hour occurred with such swiftness that the good fray scarce had time to cross himself and mutter a prayer as protection against the black art which brought the letter to the hand of his Excellency.

Stooping over, he picked up one of the pieces of parchment, and found that the governor had spoken truly when he said the ink was still wet. The parchment had not been sanded, and when the fray rubbed one of his fingers against it, it made a dark smear. The writing must have been done, thought the priest, within the quarter hour. If so, and if it was truly by the hand of the corsair, El Andreque must be now within the limits of the town.

There was little doubt that the soldiers, dispatched by the governor on the instant, would take their quarry prisoner, in a search of the town. All trace of the Indian in the purple robe who had brought the letter had disappeared.

Swift questions by his Excellency of the captains and custom-house officials made clear the following facts. No man had landed from the shipping in the harbor-seventeen vessels, now that the ship from Panama had been seen to enter the port. No one save some natives from the mines had passed the guards on the roads since nightfall. The soldiers had not observed any strangers in the streets. If El Andreque was in hiding in the town, he must be in the residence of one of the inhabitants.

The priest thought otherwise. To him, a man who accomplished the deeds of the corsair was without doubt in league with Satan. What followed upon the words of the governor convinced him of the truth of his belief. For a miracle, to the mind of the fray, was reported by the customhouse officer who burst into the Audencia with a drawn sword and eyes wide with amazement of what he had to tell.

"The harbor!" snapped the governor. "What is toward?"

"The ships are drifting out to sea, your Excellency," cried the man. "They have slipped their cables! Name of the Devil, it is witchcraft. In spite of the watchers we left on the galleons, they are loose from their moorings and drifting away from the town like frightened sheep."

"Send out small boats and work them back to anchorage," commanded the governor. "Has a wind sprung up of a sudden?"

"No, your Excellency, there is little air stirring. The ships seem to be moving out of their own accord. All the seventeen are in motion. It is clear starlight, and we can see them passing well from the shore."

The governor gestured angrily for silence and whispered to one of his captains, who started and clapped hand to his sword. Slowly at first the buzz of whispered tidings spread around the hall. To Fray Raymundo the rumor came as he was repeating his prayer against heretic black arts. The corsair was in the harbor! What the guards had taken to be the vessel from Panama was no other than the devil ship of El Andreque. It had slipped in among the other vessels and begun its work of evil unnoticed.

It was now too late for the priest to tell his tidings, and he stepped back from his position before the governor to seek the harbor and learn the truth of what was happening. He had scarce taken a step when the buzz of whispers in the hall was broken by the sound of a cannon in the harbor. And when the echo had died away, no one spoke. The priest went no further toward the door.

For he saw, quite clearly by the torches held by the halberdiers at the entrance, three Englishmen walk into the Audencia, and advance through the crowd toward the governor. The leader of the trio was a stocky man with red checks and a fair beard, and eyes that seemed to take in everything in the hall with a single glance. Behind him came two tall gentlemen who curled their beards and cast sidelong glances at the mestizos.

The unexpectedness of their entrance cleared the way for the Englishmen, when the halberdiers stopped them in the open space before the governor. The leader of the English prisoners, Falconer, gave a cry of surprise which was drowned in the uproar of the crowd.

Soldiers, officials, and populace, once they were sure that no more of the English dogs were in the street, gazed open-mouthed at the trio who stood calmly in the midst of the Audencia. Although armed, their weapons were sheathed, and they showed no disposition to use them. Above the confusion the voice of the English leader reached the ears of Fray Raymundo.

"I have come, senor," he began, in very fair Spanish, "to pay you a promised visit, and to see that my men whom you hold prisoners are released without ado."

Not until then did Fray Raymundo realize that before him stood the notorious El Andreque, corsair and heretic. Surely, he thought, the man was stricken with madness to come to the trial as he had done, with two companions and swords sheathed.

Only by a slight lift of the eyebrows did that astute personage, his Excellency Don Francisco de Toledo, show his astonishment and gratification.

"You come at an excellent time, Senor Andreque," he responded, his mouth twitching into a smile, "for we were sitting in judgment upon other pirates and robbers of your breed. Now it will be possible to hang seven instead of four. You remember the vow that I made after your sack of Nombre de Dios? Tomorrow it will cease to be a vow, because its purpose will be fulfilled."

El Andreque swept off his hat in a bow which would not have discredited a Spanish courtier.

"I also made a vow, senor," he said in his hearty voice, "that goads me to fulfillment. I have sworn that I would make my way to the waters of the South Sea, if I lived, and I have done so. Even have I come to your court, which, I am told, is the second richest in the world."

"As you may see," the governor swept his hand gracefully around the room, while a slight frown crossed his brow as he considered the English captain. "Yet tomorrow, I regret, senor, that you will not see it, for vultures will be pecking at your eyes, and your body will hang upon our gibbet."

Whereupon Fray Raymundo saw Falconer start forward as if to speak, being checked by a quick word from El Andreque. The two spoke together in English briefly, while his Excellency's glance wandered from one to the other and darkened when Falconer threw back his yellow head in a hearty laugh.

"You will not laugh," he said harshly, "when your bones crack in the grip of the rack tomorrow. Enough of this play, my men will see that you have good entertainment in irons and shackles. How came you here?"

"Through the courtesy of an Indian, senor," returned the visitor calmly, "who met us when we landed on the shore further south, where we learned from a tribe hostile to you that the trial was to be ended tonight, with other things. We encountered this same Indian at the outskirts of Lima, and he consented to smuggle us into an inn where the patrons were so deep in wine, they would not have noticed had we been Neptune himself. It was there I wrote my letter, a few minutes ago to advise you of my coming."