BIGGLES AND THE PENITENT THIEF

by Captain W. E. Johns

11. BERTIE TAKES A WALK (Pages 93 – 103)

“When Bertie left the cabin he did so silently and slowly, but ready to move swiftly should Raulstein’s threat materialize. He did not think it would, if for no other reason than a man guarding the door would have to stand right up against it to serve his purpose, so dense was the fog”. Bertie moves, one step at a time, along the side of the cabin to the rear. He was then able to move with more confidence, “although that is not to say carelessly”. Bertie puts his gun back in his pocket and sets off. There were bound to be coves and creeks of varying extent on the island and he expected the launch to be moored in one of them. By listening intently, Bertie can make out the murmuring of the waves. He nearly comes to grief at one point when a dark, irregular mark lays across his path, which he takes to be an outcrop of black rock, when in fact it is a narrow crack in the cliff, an inlet of the sea. From far below comes the sound of water surging and gushing. He thinks of abandoning his search and then he feels a breeze and visibility increases to fifty yards, although not constant. After half an hour he hears the sounds of metal on metal and he goes to the cliff edge on all fours to look. “A hundred feet below, in a tiny cove, moored to a flat slab of rock which formed a ready-made landing-stage, was the launch. Or at any rate, a launch; and he was sure it could only be the one he sought. A man was on the deck. One man; hammering at something, although just what he was doing was not apparent. He wore overalls and appeared to be coloured. In fact, a Negro. Bertie didn’t mind what colour he was. He was only concerned with finding the way down. Obviously, as Raulstein and his companions had come up, there had to be a way”. Finding a sloping bank from a fall of loose rock, Bertie makes his way down without being noticed. “In fact, he had to speak to the Negro, a big powerfully built fellow, to call attention to himself”. “Hi, there!” he hailed. “Are you Mr. Raulstein’s man?” Bertie asks if Raulstein is onboard and is told that he has gone ashore with “the boss”. Bertie clarifies this is the one with the captain’s cap and he is told that his name is Mr. Read. Bertie says that Raulstein wants the man to join him about two miles along the coast for a digging job and he is to take a pick and shovel. The man, who is the cook, and the only person on board the launch, sets off as instructed. When he has disappeared into the mist, Bertie goes below into the galley and fills a potato sack with food. Finding a large can of paraffin, he decides there is no reason to leave the crooks free to leave the island when it suits them. Bertie empties the paraffin on the floor, adds some dirty dish-cloths to it and sets the boat on fire. He feels confident the oily black smoke won’t be seen in the fog. Reaching the top of the cliff, he sets off back to the cabin. Bertie has to hide in the trees when he hears approaching voices. It is Raulstein and the rest of his gang, Tommy with them, being held by the arm by the “Negro cook”. Carrying on to the cabin, Bertie soon hears voices behind him and realises the gang are now after him, having seen what he has done to their launch. Bertie again takes refuge in the trees and Raulstein and the two Americans pass by. Bertie, still with his sack of food, then follows on, knowing the gang are up ahead. Bertie gets to within a hundred yards of the cabin and knowing his entry into the cabin, should the gang be there, would be the signal for a show-down, he decides to hide the sack of food in the trees and put some moss over it. Bertie is about to move on when he hears a low hiss and a man comes out from the bushes. “It was a man, a tall, gaunt, haggard, bearded creature he had never seen before. A dirty, blood-stained rag, hung over his forehead. In filthy ragged clothes he might have been the lowest kind of tramp. “Don’t shoot, you must be Ginger’s pal, Bertie” the man says. “And who the devil are you? demanded Bertie. “What do you know about Ginger? Where is he?” “Watching the cabin,” was the answer. “He asked me to wait here for you and stop you if I saw you”.