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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/31528-h.zip b/31528-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..07df056 --- /dev/null +++ b/31528-h.zip diff --git a/31528-h/31528-h.htm b/31528-h/31528-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c85d938 --- /dev/null +++ b/31528-h/31528-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,15629 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<HTML> +<HEAD> + +<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> + +<TITLE> +The Project Gutenberg E-text of Doubloons--and the Girl, by John Maxwell Forbes +</TITLE> + +<STYLE TYPE="text/css"> +BODY { color: Black; + background: White; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +P {text-indent: 4% } + +P.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +P.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; } + +P.letter {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.block {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.salutation {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.finis { font-size: larger ; + text-align: center ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +</STYLE> + +</HEAD> + +<BODY> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's Doubloons--and the Girl, by John Maxwell Forbes + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Doubloons--and the Girl + +Author: John Maxwell Forbes + +Release Date: March 6, 2010 [EBook #31528] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DOUBLOONS--AND THE GIRL *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + +</pre> + + +<BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +DOUBLOONS—AND THE GIRL +</H1> + +<BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BY +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +JOHN MAXWELL FORBES +</H2> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +INTERNATIONAL FICTION LIBRARY +<BR> +CLEVELAND, O. ——— NEW YORK, N. Y. +<BR> +MADE IN U. S. A. +</H3> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H5 ALIGN="center"> +Copyright, 1917, by +<BR> +SULLY AND KLEINTEICH +<BR><BR> +All rights reserved +<BR><BR><BR> +PRESS OF +<BR> +THE COMMERCIAL BOOKBINDING CO. +<BR> +CLEVELAND +</H5> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CONTENTS +</H2> + +<TABLE ALIGN="center" WIDTH="80%"> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">CHAPTER</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> </TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">I. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap01">ON THE BLIND SIDE OF CHANCE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">II. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap02">TYKE GRIMSHAW AND HIS AFFAIRS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">III. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap03">HARD HIT</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap04">THE SHADOW OF ROMANCE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">V. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap05">A SETBACK</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap06">THE BROKEN CHEST</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap07">A MYSTERIOUS DOCUMENT</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap08">THE SCOURGES OF THE SEA</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap09">GETTING DOWN TO "BRASS TACKS"</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">X. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap10">CAPRICIOUS FORTUNE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap11">A DREAM REALIZED</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap12">A SATISFACTORY OUTLOOK</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap13">STORM SIGNALS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap14">BEGINNING THE VOYAGE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap15">THE GREEN-EYED MONSTER</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap16">GATHERING CLOUDS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap17">THE STORM BREAKS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap18">A SEA COURT</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap19">FOREBODINGS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap20">THE EARTH TREMBLES</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap21">"IF I WAS SUPERSTITIOUS——"</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap22">BURIED ALIVE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap23">A DESPERATE SITUATION</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap24">THE ALARM</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap25">THE LAKE OF FIRE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXVI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap26">HOPE DEFERRED</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXVII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap27">THE GIANT AWAKES</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXVIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap28">BY FAVOR OF THE EARTHQUAKE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap29">MUTINY</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap30">THE FLAG OF TRUCE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap31">A DARING VENTURE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap32">THE BATTLE IN THE FORECASTLE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap33">THE GHOST</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXIV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap34">THE BATTLE IS ON</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap35">THE SURRENDER—CONCLUSION</A></TD> +</TR> + +</TABLE> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +DOUBLOONS—AND THE GIRL +</H2> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER I +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +ON THE BLIND SIDE OF CHANCE +</H4> + +<P> +Allen Drew, glancing carelessly about as he started for the shore-end +of the pier, suddenly saw the girl coming in his direction. From that +moment—dating from the shock of that first glimpse of her—the current +of his life was changed. +</P> + +<P> +Women were rare enough down here on the East River docks; one of the +type of this gloriously beautiful girl seemed an impossibility—an +hallucination. Curiosity was not even blended with his second glance +at her. An emotion never before conceived in his heart and brain +gripped him. +</P> + +<P> +Somehow she fitted the day and fitted, too, his mood. The very spirit +of April seemed incarnated in her, so springy her step, so lissom the +swaying of her young body, so warm and pink the color in her cheeks. +Her dress, of some light gray material, had a dash of color lent to it +by the bunch of violets at her waist. Her figure was slender and +slightly above the middle height. A distracting dimple dented the +velvet of her right cheek, and above her small mouth and perfectly +formed nose a pair of hazel eyes looked frankly out upon the world. +Her oval face was surmounted by a dainty toque, from under which a +vagrant tendril of hair had escaped. This blew about her ears, +glistening like gold in the sunshine. +</P> + +<P> +Drew saw beautiful women every day of his life. He could not fail to +do so in a city where they abound. But aside from the day and his +mood, there was much about this slip of a girl that stirred him +mightily and set his pulse to galloping. +</P> + +<P> +He had lunched heartily, if not sumptuously, at one of the queer little +restaurants that seem to have struck their roots into Fulton Market and +endured for generations. There were no shaded candles on the table, +and finger bowls would have evoked a puzzled stare or a frown from most +patrons of the place. But the food was abundant and well cooked, and +at twenty-two, with a keen appetite and the digestion of an ostrich, +one asks for little more. +</P> + +<P> +Drew paid his check and stepped out into the crooked side street that +led to the East River, only a block distant. From force of habit, his +steps turned in the direction of the chandlery shop where he was +employed. On reaching South Street, he remembered a commission that +had been given him to execute; so, turning to the right, he walked +briskly toward the Battery. +</P> + +<P> +It was a glorious day in early April. A sudden shower, vanishing +almost as quickly as it had come, had washed the rough pavement of the +old street to a semblance of cleanliness. In a very real sense it had +also washed the air until it shimmered with the translucence of a +pearl. A soft wind blew up from the south and the streets were +drenched with sunshine. +</P> + +<P> +It was a day that might have prompted a hermit to leave his cave, a +philosopher to renounce his books, a miser to give a penny to a beggar. +It spoke of youth and love and growing things, of nest building in the +trees, of water rippling over stones, of buds bursting into bloom, of +grass blades pushing through the soil. +</P> + +<P> +Yet, despite this—or perhaps because of it—Allen Drew was conscious +of a vague restlessness. A feeling of discontent haunted him and +robbed the day of beauty. Something was lacking, and he had a sense of +incompleteness that was quite at variance with his usual complacent +outlook on life. He was not given to minute self-analysis, but as this +feeling persisted and bothered him, he began harking back to the events +of the morning in the hope of finding an explanation. Was there +anything he had done that was wrong or anything that he had neglected +to do that came in his province? He cudgeled his brains, but thought +of nothing that should give him uneasiness. +</P> + +<P> +He had corrected that imperfect invoice and sent it on to White & +Tenny. He had reminded his employer that their stock of compasses was +low and should be replenished. He had directed young Winters to answer +that cablegram from Kingston. Try as he would, he could think of no +omission. The books were strictly up to date and everything was moving +in the usual routine. +</P> + +<P> +Ah, there he had it! Routine! That was the key to the enigma. It was +just that unvarying smooth routine, that endless grinding away at the +same familiar things that to-day, when everything about him spoke of +change and growth and freedom, was making him restless and perturbed. +He was just a cog in the ever-turning wheel. He was a slave to his +desk, and not the less a slave because his chains happened to be +invisible. +</P> + +<P> +"It won't do," he murmured to himself. "I've got to have a +change—some excitement—something!" +</P> + +<P> +With the springtime fermenting in his blood and stirring him to +rebellion, he went on, turning out now and then to avoid the trucks +that, with a cheerful disregard for police regulations, backed up on +the sidewalks to receive their loads from the warehouse doors, until he +reached Wall Street. Just beyond was Jones Lane, whose sylvan name +seemed strangely out of place in the whirl and hubbub of that crowded +district. Here he turned, and, picking his way across the muddy +street, went out on the uncovered pier that stretched for five hundred +feet into the river. +</P> + +<P> +The pier was buzzing with activity. Bales and boxes and barrels by the +thousands were scattered about in what seemed to be the wildest +confusion. Gangs of sweating stevedores trundled their heavy burdens +over the gangplanks of the vessels that lay on either side, and great +cranes and derricks, their giant claws seizing tons of merchandise at a +time, swung creakingly overhead to disgorge their loads into yawning +hatchways. +</P> + +<P> +Drew threaded his way through the tangled maze until he reached the end +of the pier where the bark <I>Normandy</I> was lying. +</P> + +<P> +"Captain Peters around anywhere?" he asked of the second officer, who +was superintending the work of the seamen, and had just relieved +himself of some remarks that would have made a truck driver envious. +</P> + +<P> +"Below in his cabin, sir," was the answer, and Drew went aboard, walked +aft, and swung himself down the narrow stairs that led to the captain's +quarters. +</P> + +<P> +He found the skipper sitting at his table, looking over a sheaf of +bills of lading. +</P> + +<P> +"Good afternoon, Captain Peters," was Drew's greeting. +</P> + +<P> +"Howdy," responded the captain. "Jest sit down an' make yerself +comf'table. I'll be through with these papers in jest a minute or two." +</P> + +<P> +His work concluded, the captain shoved the bills aside with a sigh of +relief and looked up. +</P> + +<P> +"I s'pose ye come to see me about that windlass?" he remarked. "But +first," he added, as Drew was about to reply, "won't ye have somethin' +to wet yer whistle?" +</P> + +<P> +He reached for a decanter and a couple of glasses. Drew smilingly +declined, and the captain, nothing daunted, poured out enough for two +and drank it in a single Gargantuan swallow. +</P> + +<P> +"I just came to say," explained Drew, as the captain set down the +glass, smacking his lips complacently, "that we'll have that windlass +over to you by to-morrow, or the next day at the latest. The factory +held us up." +</P> + +<P> +"That's all right," replied the captain good-naturedly. "I haven't +been worryin' about it. I've been dealin' with Tyke Grimshaw goin' on +twenty year an 'he ain't never put me in a hole yet. I knew it would +come along in plenty of time fur sailin'." +</P> + +<P> +"By the way, when do you sail, Captain?" asked Drew. +</P> + +<P> +"In a week, more or less. It all depends on how soon we get our cargo +stowed." +</P> + +<P> +"What are you carrying?" +</P> + +<P> +"Mostly machinery an' cotton prints fur China and Japan." +</P> + +<P> +"And what will you bring back?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ain't sure about that yet. Owners' orders will be waitin' fur me when +we get to Hong Kong. Probably load up with tea and such truck. Maybe +get some copra at some of the islands." +</P> + +<P> +China, Japan, the South Seas! Lands of mystery, adventure and romance! +Lands of eternal summer! Azure seas studded with islands like +emeralds! Velvet nights spangled with flaming stars! +</P> + +<P> +The wanderlust seized on Allen Drew more fiercely than before, and his +heart sickened with longing. +</P> + +<P> +"It must be wonderful to see all those places," he ventured. +</P> + +<P> +"Huh?" said the captain, looking at him blankly. +</P> + +<P> +"I mean," explained the landsman, half ashamed of his enthusiasm, "that +everything is so different—so old—so mysterious—so beautiful——. +You know what I mean," he ended lamely. +</P> + +<P> +The captain sniffed. +</P> + +<P> +"Pooty enough, I s'pose," he grunted. "But I never pay no 'tention to +that. What with layin' my course an' loadin' my cargo an' followin' +owners orders, my mind's what ye might call pooty well took up." +</P> + +<P> +The irony of it all! The captain who did not care a copper for romance +was going into the very thick of it, while he, Allen Drew, who panted +for it, was doomed to forego it forever. Of what use to have the soul +of a Viking, if your job is that of a chandler's clerk? +</P> + +<P> +The captain applied himself to the decanter again and Drew roused from +his momentary reverie. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," he observed, as he took his hat from the table on which he had +thrown it, "I'll keep a sharp eye out for that windlass and see that it +is shipped to you the minute it reaches us from the factory." +</P> + +<P> +"All right," responded the captain, rising to his feet. "I'll be +lookin' for it. I wouldn't dare risk the old one fur another v'yage." +</P> + +<P> +They shook hands, and Drew climbed the stairs, crossed the deck and +went out on to the wharf. +</P> + +<P> +The river was a scene almost as busy as that which lay behind him in +the crowded streets of the metropolis. Snorting tugs were darting to +and fro, lines of barges were being convoyed toward the Sound, +ferryboats were leaving and entering their slips, tramp steamers were +poking their way up from Quarantine, and a huge ocean liner was moving +majestically toward the Narrows and the open sea beyond. +</P> + +<P> +Drew took off his hat and let the soft breeze cool his brow. Things +seemed hopelessly out of gear. He felt like a trapped animal. So he +imagined a squirrel might feel, turning the wheel endlessly in the +narrow limits of its cage. Or, to make the image human, his thoughts +wandered to the shorn and blinded Samson grinding his tale of corn in +the Philistine town. +</P> + +<P> +He found himself envying a man who leaned against a neighboring spile. +He was a tall, spare fellow, dressed a little better than the common +run of sailors, but unmistakably a sea-faring man. What Drew +especially noted was that the stranger had only one eye—and that set +in a rather forbidding countenance. Ordinarily he might have pitied +him, but in his present mood Drew envied him. The stranger's one +remaining eye had, after all, seen more of the world than his own two +good optics would likely ever see. +</P> + +<P> +From these fruitless and fantastic musings he roused himself with an +effort. A glance at his watch startled him. This would never do. As +long as he took Tyke Grimshaw's money he must do Tyke Grimshaw's work. +</P> + +<P> +"Back to the treadmill," he said to himself, grimly; and it was then, +as he started for the head of the pier, that he first saw the girl. +</P> + +<P> +He slackened his pace instantly, so as to have her the longer in sight, +mentally blessing the bales and boxes that made her progress slow. Not +for the world would he have offended her by staring; but he stole +covert glances at her from time to time; and with each swift glance the +impression she had made upon him grew in strength. +</P> + +<P> +She came on, seemingly unconscious of his presence, until they were +almost opposite each other. One hand held her dress from contact with +the litter of the dock; in the other she carried what appeared to be a +packet of letters. The path she chose led her to the very edge of the +dock. +</P> + +<P> +Drew would have passed the next instant had the girl not stopped +suddenly, a startled expression becoming visible on her face. The +young man turned swiftly. The one-eyed seaman, whose appearance he had +previously marked, stood almost at his elbow and confronted the girl. +</P> + +<P> +She stepped back to avoid the seaman, and her foot caught in a coil of +rope. For a moment she swayed on the verge of the dock—then Drew's +hand shot out, and he caught her arm, steadying her. But the packet +she carried flew from her hand and disappeared beyond the stringpiece +of the pier. +</P> + +<P> +The girl uttered a little cry of distress. Drew shot a belligerent +glance at the one-eyed man. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you want?" he demanded, with truculence. "Isn't the dock +broad enough for you to pass without annoying the lady? Get along with +you!" +</P> + +<P> +The one-eyed man uttered an oath, but moved away, though slowly. Drew +turned to the girl again, hat in hand, a smile chasing the frown from +his face. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER II +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +TYKE GRIMSHAW AND HIS AFFAIRS +</H4> + +<P> +"I beg your pardon," Drew said, bowing low, "but can I be of any +further assistance?" +</P> + +<P> +The girl looked up at him a little doubtfully, but what she saw in his +frank brown eyes must have reassured her, for she spoke without +hesitation. +</P> + +<P> +"You are very kind," she answered, "but I fear it is too late. I had +some letters in my hand, and when I slipped they went into the water. +I'm afraid you can't get them." +</P> + +<P> +Mentally resolving to dive for them if such a procedure became +necessary, Drew stepped upon the stringpiece of the pier beside her and +looked down. +</P> + +<P> +She gave a joyous exclamation as she saw the package lying in the +bottom of a small boat that floated at the stern of a steamer moored to +the pier. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, there they are!" she cried delightedly. "How lucky!" Then her +face changed. "But after all it is going to be hard to get them," she +added. "The pier is high and there don't seem to be any cleats here to +climb down by." +</P> + +<P> +"Easiest thing in the world," returned Drew confidently. "I'll go +aboard the steamer, haul the boat up to the stern, and drop into it." +</P> + +<P> +"But the stern is so very high," she said, measuring it with her eye. +</P> + +<P> +"That doesn't matter," he replied. "If you'll just wait here, I'll go +aboard and be back with the letters before you know it." He glanced +around swiftly. "I don't think that fellow will trouble you again." +</P> + +<P> +"I am not at all afraid of that man. He only startled me for the +moment. But I hate to put you to so much trouble," she added, looking +at him shyly. +</P> + +<P> +"It will be a pleasure," protested Drew, returning her look with +another from which he tried to exclude any undue warmth. +</P> + +<P> +It is to be feared that he was not altogether successful, judging from +the faint flush that rose in her cheek as she dropped her gaze before +his. +</P> + +<P> +His mind awhirl, the young man hurried up to the gangway of the steamer +where he found one of the officers. He briefly explained that he +wanted to secure a package that a young lady had dropped into the boat +lying astern, and the officer, with an appreciative grin, readily +granted permission to him to go aboard. +</P> + +<P> +Drew hurried to the stern, which, as the steamer had discharged her +cargo, rose fully twenty feet from the water. He hauled in the boat +until it lay directly beneath. Then he gathered up the slack of the +painter and wound it about a cleat until it was taut. This done, he +dropped over the rail and let himself down by the rope until his feet +touched the thwart of the tender. +</P> + +<P> +He worked his way aft carefully, and picking up the package placed it +in his breast pocket. Then he caught hold of the rope and climbed up, +hand over hand. +</P> + +<P> +It was unaccustomed work for a landsman, but Drew was supple and +athletic and he mounted rapidly. Not for a fortune would he have +faltered with those hazel eyes fixed upon him. With the girl watching +him, he felt as though he could have climbed to the top of the +Woolworth Building. +</P> + +<P> +It was his misfortune that he could not see the look of admiration in +her eyes as they followed his movements—a look, however, which by the +exercise of maidenly repression she had changed to one of mere +gratitude when at last, breathing a little quickly, he approached her +with the packet he had recovered in his hand. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh!" she exclaimed, taking it eagerly and clasping it tightly, "how +very good of you to take all that trouble! I don't know how to thank +you enough." +</P> + +<P> +"It was no trouble at all," Drew responded. "I count myself lucky to +have happened along just when you needed me." +</P> + +<P> +His speech won him a radiant smile, and he promptly decided that the +dimple in her cheek was not merely distracting. It was divine! +</P> + +<P> +There was a moment of embarrassed silence. The young man was wild to +pursue the conversation. But he was too much of a gentleman to presume +on the service he had rendered, and he knew that he should lift his hat +and depart. +</P> + +<P> +One feeble resource was left by which he might reconcile duty with +desire. +</P> + +<P> +"It's very hard getting about on this crowded pier," he ventured, "and +you see there are some rough characters around. You might perhaps like +to have me see you safely to the street when you are ready to go?" +</P> + +<P> +She hesitated for a moment, her own inclination evidently battling with +convention. But convention won. +</P> + +<P> +"I think not," she said, flashing him a smile that softened her refusal +and at the same time completed his undoing. "You see it is broad +daylight and I am perfectly safe. Thank you for the offer though, and +thank you again for what you have done for me." +</P> + +<P> +It was dismissal, none the less final because it was gracious, and Drew +yielded to the inevitable. +</P> + +<P> +He glanced back once or twice, assuring himself that it was his plain +duty to keep her in sight in order to see that nothing happened to her. +He found himself wishing that she would drop the letters overboard +again—that the one-eyed man would reappear—that something would +occur, however slight, to call him to her side once more. It was with +a thrill of exultation that he saw her approach the gangplank of the +<I>Normandy</I>. +</P> + +<P> +Then, for a moment, at least, he was sure he was going to have his +wish. He spied the one-eyed man coming into view from behind a heap of +freight and approach the boarding-plank. He spoke to the girl and she +halted. +</P> + +<P> +Drew was on the point of darting back to the girl's rescue. But the +seaman's attitude was respectful, and it seemed that what he said was +not offensive. At least, the girl listened attentively, nodded when +the man had finished speaking, and as the latter fell back she tripped +lightly aboard the <I>Normandy</I>, and so disappeared. +</P> + +<P> +Drew's curiosity was so great that he might have lingered until the +girl came ashore again, but the one-eyed man was coming up the dock and +the young fellow was cooler now and felt that it would not be the part +of wisdom to have another altercation with the rough looking stranger. +Perhaps, after all, the one-eyed man had merely spoken to the girl to +ask pardon for having previously startled her. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," Drew said to himself, "Peters knows her and can tell me all +about her. Anyhow I know her name and I'll find out where she lives if +I have to search New York from end to end." +</P> + +<P> +For on the envelope that had lain uppermost when he had picked up the +package from the grating of the tender, he had seen the name, "Ruth +Adams." The address had escaped him in that momentary glance, and +although he could have easily repaired the omission while he was +passing back along the steamer's deck, his instincts revolted at +anything that looked like prying. +</P> + +<P> +But there was nothing in his code that forbade his using every +legitimate means of searching her out and securing an introduction in +the way dictated by the approved forms, and he promised himself that +the episode should not end here. +</P> + +<P> +"Hope springs eternal in the human breast," especially when that breast +is a youthful one, and Allen Drew's thoughts spun a dozen rainbow +visions as he made his way back to the shop whose insistent call he had +for the last hour put aside. He walked automatically and only that +sixth sense peculiar to city dwellers prevented his being run down more +than once. But the objurgations of startled drivers as they brought up +their vehicles with a jerk bothered him not a whit. His physical +presence was on South Street but his real self was on the crowded pier +where he had left Ruth Adams. +</P> + +<P> +Still moving on mechanically, he entered the door of the chandlery +shop, over which a signboard, dingy with age, announced that "T. +Grimshaw" was the proprietor. He nodded absently in response to the +salutations of Sam, the negro porter, and Winters, the junior clerk, +and sat down at his desk. +</P> + +<P> +The building that housed the chandlery shop was a very old one, dating +back to a time previous to the Revolution. When it was erected the +Boston "Tea Party" was still in the future. If its old walls could +have spoken they might have told of the time when almost all New York +was housed below Chambers Street; when the "Bouwerie," free from its +later malodorous associations, was a winding country lane where lads +and lasses carried on their courtships in the long summer evenings; +when Cherry Hill, now notorious for its fights and factions, was the +abode of the city's wealth and fashion; when Collect Pond, on whose +site the Tombs now stands, was the skating center where New York's +belles and beaux disported themselves; when merry parties picnicked in +the woods and sylvan glades of Fourteenth Street. +</P> + +<P> +Those same walls, looking across the East River, had seen the prison +ship <I>Jersey</I>, in whose foul and festering holds had died so many +patriots. And they had shaken to the salvos of artillery that greeted +Washington, when, at the end of the Revolutionary War, he had landed at +the Battery and had gone in pomp to Fraunce's Tavern for a farewell +dinner to his officers. +</P> + +<P> +In its day it had been a stout and notable building, and even now it +might be good for another hundred years. But the inexorable march of +progress and the worth of the land on which it stood had sealed its +doom. Grimshaw had occupied it for twenty years, but when he sought to +renew his lease he had been told that no renewal would be granted. He +could still occupy the building and pay the rent from month to month. +But he now held possession only on sufferance, and it was distinctly +understood that he might be called upon to vacate at any time on a few +days' notice. +</P> + +<P> +But "threatened men live long," and it was beginning to look as though +the same might be said of the old building. For two years the months +had come and gone without any hint of change, and Tyke had settled down +in the belief that the building would last as long as he did. After +that it did not matter. He had no kith or kin to whom to leave his +business. +</P> + +<P> +He was a grim and grizzled old fellow, well on in his sixties. In his +earlier days he had been a master mariner, and had sailed all the Seven +Seas. He had rounded the Horn a dozen times; had scudded with reefed +topsails in the "roaring forties"; had lost two fingers of his left +hand in a fight with Malay pirates; had battled with waterspouts, +tornadoes and typhoons; had harpooned whales in the Arctic; had lost a +ship by fire, and been shipwrecked twice; and from these combats with +men and nature he had emerged as tough and hardy as a pine knot. +</P> + +<P> +The profits of a notable whaling expedition from which he had returned +with the tanks filled to bursting, barrels crowded on the deck, and the +very scuppers running oil, together with a tidy little inheritance that +fell to him about the same time, had enabled him to buy the chandlery +shop from its former proprietor and settle down to spend the rest of +his life ashore and yet in sight and scent of salt water. +</P> + +<P> +How he had gained the name of "Tyke," by which everybody called him, +nobody knew. He himself never volunteered to tell, and in all his +bills and accounts used only the initial "T." Some of his employees +favored Tyrus, others Titus. One in a wild flight of fancy suggested +Ticonderoga. But the mystery remained unsolved, and, after all, as the +checks that bore the scrawl, "T. Grimshaw," were promptly honored at +the bank, it did not matter. +</P> + +<P> +He was not what could be called an enterprising business man and there +were many houses in his line that made a more pretentious appearance, +carried a larger stock, and had a much more extensive trade. But he +lived frugally, discounted his bills, and had such a broad acquaintance +among seafaring men that each year's end showed a neat profit on his +books. +</P> + +<P> +His store force was modest, being only three in number. Allen Drew was +a sort of general manager, and Tyke was growing more and more into the +habit of leaving the conduct of the business to him. Winters was the +junior clerk. He had come direct from high school and was now in his +second year of service. Then there was Sam, the colored porter and man +of all work, whose last name was as much a mystery as Grimshaw's first. +</P> + +<P> +Drew took up some papers that had been laid on his desk during his +absence, and tried to fix his mind upon them. He was dimly aware that +somebody had entered the store door, had spoken to Winters, and that +the junior clerk had shown the visitor into Grimshaw's private office. +</P> + +<P> +But Allen Drew's thoughts were too far afield to be caught by this +incident, or to become easily concentrated upon humdrum business +affairs. He laid down the papers, and sighed. +</P> + +<P> +He began to day-dream again. In the whole category of feminine names +was there ever one so pretty as Ruth? And surely never did a girl, in +both form and feature, so fit the name. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly he realized that the door of the private office was open and +that Grimshaw's head was thrust out. +</P> + +<P> +"Hey! Come here a minute, Allen," he called. +</P> + +<P> +There was a note of trouble in the old man's voice, and Tyke's face +expressed some strong emotion. Alert on the instant, Drew rose to obey +his employer's summons. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER III +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +HARD HIT +</H4> + +<P> +Drew was not surprised to find that his employer was not alone. A man +whom he now recognized as the agent of the estate controlling the +building was seated at one end of the desk and was drumming upon it +with his fingers. +</P> + +<P> +Tyke was hunched up in his big revolving chair with a look of agitation +on his face. His hands were clenching and unclenching rapidly. It was +evident that something much out of the ordinary had occurred to rob him +of his usual placidity. +</P> + +<P> +He motioned Drew to a seat. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, Allen," began Grimshaw, in a voice that he tried in vain to +render calm, "it's come at last. We've got to get out of the old +place." +</P> + +<P> +"What?" cried the young man; yet this only confirmed the suspicion +which his recognition of the visitor had suggested. +</P> + +<P> +"We're sorry, of course," purred the agent, who had tried to break the +unwelcome news to the old man as easily as possible. "But, of course, +you know that you held the place on the distinct understanding that we +should take possession at will." +</P> + +<P> +"I ain't denying that, Mr. Blake," admitted Tyke. "There's isn't +anything underhand or wrong about what you're doing. I kept on here +with my eyes wide open and I'm ready to take my medicine. But all the +same, it comes as a shock. I'd hoped to hold on to the old craft as +long as I lived." +</P> + +<P> +"I wish you could, both for your sake and ours," returned Blake. "We +haven't a tenant anywhere who pays his rent more promptly and bothers +us less about repairs. But the trustees of the estate have had an +offer from parties who want to put up a more modern building on this +site, and it was too good to decline." +</P> + +<P> +"When are they going to start?" asked Drew. +</P> + +<P> +"They're in something of a hurry," replied the agent. "You see this is +the right time of the year for construction work, and they want to have +the foundations laid by fall." +</P> + +<P> +"It's only a matter of days then before we have to find another place?" +went on Drew. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I should hardly say that," replied Blake, soothingly. "You know +how those things are. They'll have a lot to do in the way of plans and +contracts before they get down to the actual work of building. Still," +he went on, more cautiously, "they may get busy on wrecking the old +building at almost any time, and I'd advise you as a friend not to let +the grass grow under your feet. You've got a lot of stuff here, and it +will take a good deal of time to move it. If I were you, I'd figure on +being out in a week or ten days." +</P> + +<P> +"Ten days!" groaned Tyke. "An' I haven't even got a place to go to." +</P> + +<P> +"It may take some hustling," admitted the agent. "But a good deal can +be done in a short time when you have to. I'll look around, and if I +learn of any place that would suit you I'll let you know." +</P> + +<P> +There was little else to be said, and after another expression of +regret at the unpleasant duty he had had to perform, Blake took his +leave. +</P> + +<P> +The two men left in the office, contrasting types of age and youth, +looked at each other for a moment without speaking. Allen Drew had a +real affection for his employer, who for some time past had treated him +more like a son than an employee, and he was genuinely shocked to see +how this blow had affected him. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't mind, Mr. Grimshaw," he said cheerily. "It doesn't mean the end +of the world. We'll find another place that is just as good. And this +time we'll get a lease, so we won't have to worry about being routed +out in this way." +</P> + +<P> +Tyke shook his head dismally. +</P> + +<P> +"That's all very well for you youngsters," he replied. "You're at an +age when you'd as soon change as not. But I've kind o' stuck my kedge +deep into the old place, an' it's like plucking my heart out to have to +up anchor and make sail for another port." +</P> + +<P> +The younger man thought it would be best to leave Grimshaw alone for a +while, and he rose briskly to his feet. +</P> + +<P> +"If you say so, I'll go out and look around," he suggested. "I've had +this thing in the back of my mind for some time past, and I know of two +or three likely places that may fill the bill." +</P> + +<P> +"All right," assented Tyke apathetically. "Jest tell Winters to look +after things in the shop while you're gone. I reckon I won't be much +good for the rest of the afternoon." +</P> + +<P> +Drew went out, and after imparting the news, which shocked Winters and +Sam, put on his hat and left the office. +</P> + +<P> +That morning he had been hoping for a change. This afternoon he was +getting it with a vengeance. +</P> + +<P> +It was desirable from every standpoint that the new place should be as +near to the old one as possible. This consideration limited his choice +to two buildings which he knew were vacant, and toward these he bent +his steps. +</P> + +<P> +The first place he visited had just been rented, but at the second he +had better luck. He returned about four o'clock and burst into the +store, flushed and jubilant. +</P> + +<P> +"I've found it," he announced, going into the private office. "Just +what the doctor ordered. Plenty of room, a better pair of show windows +than we have here, and a long-time lease for a rent that's only a +trifle more than we're paying now." +</P> + +<P> +Tyke looked up with the first sign of animation he had shown since +Blake's visit. +</P> + +<P> +"Where is it?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Just on the next block," answered Drew. "Turner's old place." +</P> + +<P> +"We'll go right over now an' look at it," said Tyke, rising and putting +on his hat. +</P> + +<P> +After inspecting the three floors thoroughly, Grimshaw agreed with his +young manager that they were in luck to get the building. A visit to +the agent followed, and before they left his office Tyke had handed +over a check for the first month's rent and had a five-year lease in +his pocket. +</P> + +<P> +"A good piece of work, Allen, my boy," he said, as they parted outside +the shop that night. "I don't know what I'd do without you. But I'm +mighty sorry to have to leave the old place. No other will ever seem +exactly like it." +</P> + +<P> +"Poor old Tyke," mused Drew, as he looked after the retreating figure +that suddenly seemed older than he had ever seen it. "He's hard hit." +</P> + +<P> +In all the stir and bustle of that crowded afternoon, Drew had been +conscious of a glow at his heart that was not due to mere business +excitement. One name had been upon his lips, one thought had sought to +monopolize him. And now that business was over for the day, he yielded +utterly to the obsession of that meeting on the wharf. +</P> + +<P> +Instead of striding uptown as usual, he turned in the other direction +and went down to the Jones Lane pier, now for the most part deserted +and quiet in the waning light. Here and there a watchman sat on a bale +smoking his pipe, while occasionally a sailor lay a more or less +unsteady course for his ship. +</P> + +<P> +Drew made his way to where the <I>Normandy</I> was moored, and asked for +Captain Peters. +</P> + +<P> +"Gone ashore, sir," said the man he addressed. "Some friends of his +came aboard this afternoon and he's gone off with them to celebrate." +</P> + +<P> +There was a grin on the man's face as he spoke, and this, together with +his recollection of the decanter, left no illusions in Drew's mind as +to the character of the celebration. +</P> + +<P> +"Any message to leave for the captain, sir?" the man inquired. +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing important," returned Drew carelessly. "I may drop around and +see him to-morrow." And he blessed the belated windlass which would +give him a reasonable excuse for returning. +</P> + +<P> +But even though the captain was absent, there were other things at hand +that spoke of the girl with the hazel eyes. There was the place where +she had dropped the letters. There was the post against which she had +leaned as she watched him recover them. And there, as he bent over the +edge of the pier, he saw the little boat that had played its part in +the day's happenings. +</P> + +<P> +How musical her voice was! And she had smiled at him once—no, twice! +Smiled not only with her lips but with her eyes. +</P> + +<P> +He thought of her as he went slowly uptown. He thought of her until he +went to sleep and then his thinking changed to dreaming. +</P> + +<P> +Decidedly, Tyke was not the only one who was hard hit on that eventful +day. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IV +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE SHADOWS OF ROMANCE +</H4> + +<P> +When Allen Drew opened his eyes the next morning, he was conscious of +an unusual feeling of elation. He lay for a moment in the twilight +zone between sleeping and waking, seeking the reason. Then in a flash +it came to him. +</P> + +<P> +He was out of bed in a twinkling. Life was too full and rich now to +waste it in sleep. Yesterday morning it had seemed drab and +commonplace. To-day it sparkled with prismatic hues. He was a new man +in a new world. +</P> + +<P> +He found himself whistling from sheer excess of good spirits as he +moved about the room. He hurried through his shower and dressing in +record time. Then he despatched his breakfast with a speed and +absent-mindedness that were most unusual for him and evoked the mild +astonishment of his landlady. A few minutes later he had joined the +hurrying throng that was moving toward the nearest subway station. He +left the train at Fulton Street and surprised Winters by appearing at +the shop a half hour earlier than his usual time. +</P> + +<P> +There were two reasons for pressing haste on this morning. The moving +from the old quarters to the new involved an amount of work that was +appalling. There were a thousand things to be done, and for the next +week or ten days the force of three employees must work at top speed. +Current business would have to be attended to as usual, and in addition +there was the colossal task of removing the contents of the three +crowded floors from the old building to the new. +</P> + +<P> +There was a second task which, in Drew's secret heart, seemed the more +important. That was to discover the address of the girl he had met on +the pier and learn what he could about her. +</P> + +<P> +In the first flush of determination this had seemed to be a +comparatively easy matter. The very fact that he wanted it so badly +seemed to guarantee his success. Such difficulties as suggested +themselves he waved airily aside. No young Lochinvar coming out of the +West had felt more certain of carrying off his Ellen than Allen Drew +had felt the night before of finding Miss Ruth Adams. But when he +applied his mind to the task in the cold light of day, it did not seem +so easy and he was hazy as to the best way to go about it. +</P> + +<P> +He opened his desk, and before looking at the mail that mutely besought +his attention, he reached for the huge city directory and opened to the +letter "A." He was appalled to find how many Adamses there were. +There were dozens, scores, hundreds! Even with the firm and +corporation names eliminated, the individual Adamses were legion. And +not one of them had Ruth before it. +</P> + +<P> +This, however, he had hardly expected. She was too young to be listed +separately, and would probably be included under the name of her father +or her mother. +</P> + +<P> +He had had a vague idea that, if there were not too many Adamses, he +might take them one by one and by discreet inquiries in the +neighborhood of each find out if the family included a young lady named +Ruth. If he succeeded, that would be a great point gained. What he +should do after that he would have been puzzled to tell. But he had a +desperate hope that, hovering in the vicinity, some way, somehow, he +could manage to secure an introduction. +</P> + +<P> +But now, with this formidable array of names before him, his plan +vanished into thin air. Life was too short, and he could not wait for +eternity! +</P> + +<P> +And how did he know that she lived in the city at all? It was +probable, but not at all certain. She might simply be here on a visit; +and for all he knew her permanent home might be Chicago or San +Francisco. +</P> + +<P> +Clearly, he must see Captain Peters without loss of time. The girl had +gone aboard his bark, and the probability was that her errand had been +with him. +</P> + +<P> +He looked hastily through the mail, and was glad to see that it +included a notification from the freight department of the railroad +that a windlass consigned to "T. Grimshaw" had arrived and was awaiting +his orders. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll just drop around to see Peters and set his mind at rest about +that windlass," he said to Winters, reaching for his hat. +</P> + +<P> +"I thought you did that yesterday," replied Winters. +</P> + +<P> +"I told him we expected it," said Drew, flushing a little; "but he may +be worrying about it, being delayed on the way. He's an old customer +of ours and we want to keep on the right side of him." +</P> + +<P> +Winters looked his surprise at this sudden spasm of business anxiety, +but said nothing further, and Drew hastened down to the Jones Lane pier +and boarded the <I>Normandy</I>. But again he was doomed to meet with +disappointment. +</P> + +<P> +"Sorry, sir," said the second officer, biting off a chew from a plug of +tobacco, "but the skipper can't be seen just now. Just came aboard a +little while ago and there was a friend on either side of him. You +know how it is," and he winked. "He's below now, sound asleep, and +'twould be as much as my billet's worth to disturb him." +</P> + +<P> +"Well," Drew said thoughtfully, "that windlass he ordered has arrived +and I'll see that it's carted down here to-day. But there was another +matter I wanted to speak to him about." +</P> + +<P> +"Better wait a day or two if it's any favor you want to ask the old +man," advised the seaman. "Let his coppers get cooled first. A better +navigator than Cap'n Peters never stepped, and he don't lush none +'twixt port and port; but he's no mamma's angel child when his coppers +is hot, believe me!" +</P> + +<P> +"Thanks. I'll remember," Drew said. "Of course you did not notice the +young lady who came aboard here yesterday afternoon just after I left?" +</P> + +<P> +"Didn't I, though?" responded the second officer of the <I>Normandy</I>. +"My eye!" +</P> + +<P> +"Do you know who she is?" blurted out Drew. +</P> + +<P> +"No, sir. But the skipper does, I reckon." +</P> + +<P> +"All right," Drew said, and turned to descend the plank to the dock. +As he did so he found himself confronting the one-eyed man who had +figured in the incident on the dock the previous afternoon. +</P> + +<P> +The fellow's countenance was raised to his own as Drew came down the +plank, and the latter obtained a good view of the scarred face. +</P> + +<P> +It was almost beardless, and even the brows were so light and scanty +that they lent no character to the remaining shallow, furtive blue eye. +The empty socket gave a horribly grim appearance to the whole face. +</P> + +<P> +Momentary as Drew's scrutiny was, he saw that the one-eyed man was +intoxicated. Not desiring to engage in a controversy with a stranger +in that condition, he would have passed on quickly, but the fellow +would not step aside. +</P> + +<P> +"Just let me pass, will you?" Drew said, eyeing the other warily. +</P> + +<P> +"You lubberly swab!" the one-eyed man said thickly, and with it spat +out a vile epithet that instantly raised a flame of hot anger in Allen +Drew. +</P> + +<P> +He plunged down the plank, his fists clenched and his eyes ablaze. The +one-eyed man was by no means unsteady on his legs; he met the charge of +the young fellow boldly enough. +</P> + +<P> +But Drew dodged his swing, and having all the push of his descent of +the plank behind the straight-arm jolt he landed on the other's jaw, +the impact was terrific. +</P> + +<P> +"Whee!" yelled the second officer of the <I>Normandy</I>, leaning on the +rail, an interested spectator. "That's a soaker!" +</P> + +<P> +Others came running to the scene. A fight will bring a crowd quicker +than any other happening. +</P> + +<P> +The one-eyed man had been driven back against the nearest pile of +freight. Drew was after him before he could recover from that first +blow, and he got in a couple of other punches that ended the +encounter—for the time being, at least. His antagonist went to the +floor of the dock and stayed there. +</P> + +<P> +"Beat it, 'bo!" advised a seaman at the <I>Normandy's</I> rail. "Here comes +the cop." +</P> + +<P> +Drew accepted the advice as good, dodged around a tier of freight, and +so escaped. He was not of a quarrelsome disposition; yet somehow the +memory of those three blows he had struck gave him a deal of +satisfaction. +</P> + +<P> +"I never supposed those sparring lessons at the gym would come in so +handy," he thought, hurrying officeward. Then he chuckled. "Yesterday +I was grouching because nothing ever happened to me. And look at it +now! That fellow had it coming to him, that's all. I wonder who he +is. Like enough I'll never see him again." +</P> + +<P> +But he was never more mistaken in his life than in this surmise. +</P> + +<P> +Grimshaw had come in by the time Drew got back to the shop, and was +busy in his office. Winters and Sam were condoling with each other +over the amount of work that lay before them. +</P> + +<P> +"It's a whale of a job," complained Winters, looking about the crowded +shop. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah kin feel de mis'ry comin' into ma back ag'in," groaned Sam, who had +formerly been a piano mover, but had been obliged to seek a less +strenuous occupation because of having wrenched his back. "Ah suttinly +will be ready fo' de hospital when Ah gits t'rough wid dis movin'." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, you're just plain lazy, Sam," chaffed Drew. "It won't be half so +bad as you think. We'll have a gang of truckmen and their helpers to +do most of the heavy work. But I suppose we've got our hands full, +packing these instruments so they won't be broken and scratched. And +'hustle' is the word from now on." +</P> + +<P> +"But think of the junk upstairs!" groaned Winters. "Why doesn't the +old man call in the Salvation Army and give them the whole bunch on +condition that they take it away? He's got the accumulation of twenty +years on that top floor, and it's not worth the powder to blow it up. +It beats me why Tyke keeps all that old clutter." +</P> + +<P> +"It doesn't seem worth house room," admitted Drew; "and now that we're +moving, perhaps we can get rid of a lot of the stuff. I'll speak to +Tyke about it. But let's forget the upper floors and get busy on this +one. There's a man's job right here." +</P> + +<P> +"A giant's job, to my way of thinking," grumbled Winters, as he looked +around him. +</P> + +<P> +It was indeed a varied and extensive stock that was carried on the main +floor. To name it all would have been to enumerate almost everything +that is used on shipboard, whether driven by wind or by steam. +Thermometers, barometers, binoculars, flanges, couplings, carburetors, +lamps, lanterns, fog horns, pumps, check valves, steering wheels, +galley stoves, fire buckets, hand grenades, handspikes, shaftings, +lubricants, wire coils, rope, sea chests, life preservers, spar +varnish, copper paint, pulleys, ensigns, twine, clasp knives, boat +hooks, chronometers, ship clocks, rubber boots, fur caps, splicing +compounds, friction tape, cement, wrenches, hinges, screws, oakum, +oars, anchors—it was no wonder that the force quailed at sight of the +work that lay before them. +</P> + +<P> +They set to work smartly and had already made notable progress when +Tyke stepped out of the private office. He looked around with a +melancholy smile. +</P> + +<P> +"Dismantling the old ship, I see," he observed to Drew. +</P> + +<P> +"Right on the job," replied the young man, glad to note that Tyke +seemed to have somewhat recovered his equanimity after the trying +events of the day before. +</P> + +<P> +Grimshaw watched them for a while, making a suggestion now and then but +leaving most of the direction of the work to his chief clerk while he +ruminated over the coming change. +</P> + +<P> +At last he roused himself. +</P> + +<P> +"Better leave things to Winters now and come upstairs with me," he said +to Drew. "There's a heap of stuff up there, and we want to figure on +where we're going to stow it all in the new place." +</P> + +<P> +Drew followed him and they mounted to the second floor. Here the +surplus stock was held in reserve, and there was nothing that could be +dispensed with. But the third floor held a bewildering collection that +made it a veritable curiosity shop. When they reached this, Drew +looked about and was inclined to agree with Winters in classifying it +as "junk." +</P> + +<P> +All the discarded and defective stock of the last twenty years had +found a refuge here. And in addition to this debris there was a pile +of sailors' boxes and belongings that reached to the roof. Tyke had a +warm spot in his heart for sailormen, especially if they chanced to +have sailed with him on any of his numerous voyages; and when they were +stranded and turned to him for help they never met with refusal. +</P> + +<P> +In some cases this help had taken the form of money loans or gifts. At +other times he had taken care of the chests containing their meagre +belongings, while they were waiting for a chance to ship, or perhaps +were compelled to go to a hospital. +</P> + +<P> +In the course of a score of years, these boxes had increased in number +until now they usurped a great part of the space on that upper floor. +Drew had often been on the point of suggesting that they be got rid of, +but as long as they did not encroach on the space actually needed by +the business this thought had remained unspoken. Now, when they were +about to move and needed to have their work lightened as much as +possible, the time seemed opportune to dispose of the problem. +</P> + +<P> +Tyke listened with a twinkle in his eye as Allen repeated the +suggestion of Winters that the contents of the floor be held for what +it would bring or given to the Salvation Army. +</P> + +<P> +"Might be a good idea, I s'pose," he remarked. "Them old things ain't +certainly doing any one any good. An' yet, somehow, I've never been +able to bring myself to the point of getting rid of 'em. Seems as +though they were a sort of trust. Though I s'pose most of the boys +they belonged to are dead and gone long ago." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't imagine there's anything really valuable in any of the +chests," remarked Drew. +</P> + +<P> +"No, I don't think the hull kit an' boodle of 'em is worth twenty +dollars," acquiesced the old man. "Although you can't always tell. +Sometimes the richest things are found in onlikely places. But I kind +of hate to part with these old boxes. Almost every one of 'em has +something about it that reminds me of old times. +</P> + +<P> +"You know I ain't much of a reading man," Grimshaw went on, "an' these +boxes make the only library I have. I come up here an' moon around +sometimes when I git sick of living ashore, an' these old chests seem +to talk to me. They smell of the sea an' tell of the sea, an' each one +of 'em has some history connected with it." +</P> + +<P> +Drew scented a story, and as Tyke's tales, while sometimes garrulous, +were always interesting, he forebore to interrupt and disposed himself +to listen. +</P> + +<P> +"Now take that box over there, for instance," continued Tyke, pointing +to a stained and mildewed chest which bore all the marks of great age +and rough handling. "That belonged to Manuel Gomez, dead ten year +since. He went down in the <I>Nancy Boardman</I> when she was rounding the +Cape. Big, dark, upstanding man he was, an' one of the best bo'suns +that ever piped a watch to quarters in a living gale. +</P> + +<P> +"An' he was as good a fighting man as he was sailor. Nobody I'd rather +have at my side in a scrap. He was right up in front with me when +those Malay pirates boarded us off the Borneo coast. Those brown +devils came over the side like a tidal wave, an' no matter how many we +downed, they still kep' coming on. +</P> + +<P> +"It was nip an' tuck for a while, but we were fighting for our lives, +an' we beat 'em off at last an' sent what was left of 'em tumbling into +their praus. As it was, they sliced off two of my fingers, an' one +fellow would have buried that crooked kriss of his in my neck if Manuel +hadn't cut him down jest in time. +</P> + +<P> +"Of course, I was grateful to him for saving my life, an' he sailed +with me for several voyages after that. That scrap with the pirates +never seemed to do him an awful lot of good. He had pirates on the +brain anyway. You see, he come from Trinidad on the Spanish Main, +where the old pirates used to do their plundering an' butchering, an' I +s'pose he'd heard talk about their doings ever since he was a boy. +</P> + +<P> +"He used to talk about 'em whenever he got a chance. Of course, +discipline being what it is on board ship, he couldn't talk as free +with me as I s'pose he did with his mates. But once in a while he'd +reel off a yarn, an' then he'd hint kind of mysterious like that he +knew where some of the old Pirates' doubloons were buried an' that some +day, if luck was with him, he'd be a rich man. +</P> + +<P> +"I'd heard so much of that kind o' stuff in my time that I used to +laugh at him, an' then he'd get peeved—that is, as peeved as he dared +to be, me being skipper. But that wouldn't last long, and after a +while he'd be at it again. Jest seemed as though he couldn't get away +from the thought of it." +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps there was something in it after all," said Drew, to whom just +now anything that savored of adventure appealed more strongly than +usual. +</P> + +<P> +"More likely his brain was a bit touched," replied Grimshaw carelessly. +"I lost sight of him for several years when I quit the sea. But just +before he went on his last voyage, he wanted me to take charge of this +chest of his until he returned. Said he didn't dare trust it with any +one else. +</P> + +<P> +"'All right, Manuel. No diamonds or anything of that kind in it, I +s'pose?' I says with a laugh and a wink. +</P> + +<P> +"But he didn't crack a smile. +</P> + +<P> +"'Somet'in' wort' more zan diamon's,' he said solemnly, an' went away. +I never saw him again, an' a few months later I heard of the <I>Nancy +Boardman's</I> going down with all hands." +</P> + +<P> +"Why not examine the chest?" cried Drew eagerly. +</P> + +<P> +The recital of the grizzled veteran had fired his blood. All that he +had ever read or heard of the old buccaneers came back to him. In +fancy he saw them all, Avery, Kidd, Bartholomew Roberts, Stede Bonnet, +Blackbeard Morgan, the whole black-hearted and blood-stained crew of +daring leaders ranging up and down the waters of the Spanish Main, +plundering, sacking, killing, boarding the stately galleons of Spain, +sending peaceful merchant ships to the bottom, wasting their gains in +wild orgies ashore capturing Panama and Maracaibo amid torrents of +blood and flame. Silks and jewels and brocades and pearls and gold! +From the whole world they had taken tribute, until that world—tried at +last beyond bearing—had risen in its might and ground the whole nest +of vipers beneath its wrathful heel. +</P> + +<P> +Tyke looked at the young man quizzically. +</P> + +<P> +"Thinking of the pirate doubloons, Allen?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why not?" Drew defended himself, albeit a little sheepishly. "Perhaps +the key to treasure is right over there in that old chest of Manuel's." +</P> + +<P> +Then Tyke laughed outright. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER V +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +A SETBACK +</H4> + +<P> +"I wouldn't bank on finding treasure," Grimshaw advised. "What those +old pirates got they spent as they went along. They warn't of the +saving kind. 'Easy come, easy go' was their motto." +</P> + +<P> +"That's true enough of the majority of them, no doubt," conceded Drew. +"The common sailors got only a small portion of the loot anyway. But +some of the leaders were shrewd and far-sighted men. They didn't look +forward to dying as pirates. They wanted to save enough to buy their +pardons later on and live the rest of their lives ashore in peace and +luxury. What was more natural than that they should hide their shares +of the plunder on some of the little islands they were familiar with? +They wouldn't dare to keep it on their ships, where their throats might +be cut at any moment if their crews knew there was treasure aboard." +</P> + +<P> +"That's true enough," admitted his employer. +</P> + +<P> +"And if they did bury it," pursued the young man, encouraged by this +concession, "why shouldn't a good deal of it be there yet? Gold and +silver and jewels don't perish from being kept underground. And as +most of the pirates died in battle, they had no chance to go back and +dig the plunder up from where they had buried it." +</P> + +<P> +"But some of the crews must have been in the secret," objected Tyke, +"an' after the death of their captains what was to hinder them from +going after the doubloons an' getting 'em." +</P> + +<P> +"There might have been a good many reasons," answered Drew. "In the +first place, the captains seem to have had a cheerful little habit of +killing the men who did the digging and leaving their skeletons to +guard the treasure-chests. And even when that didn't happen, what +chance would the common sailor have had of going after the loot? He +couldn't have got a ship without giving away his secret, and the minute +he'd given it away his own life wouldn't have been worth a copper cent. +</P> + +<P> +"And then, too," went on Drew, warming to his subject, "look at all the +traditions there are on the subject. Where there is so much smoke +there must be some fire. A single rumor wouldn't amount to much, but +when that rumor persists and is multiplied by a thousand others until +it becomes a settled belief, there must be something in it. The rumors +are like so many spokes of a wheel all pointing to a single hub, and +that hub is—treasure!" +</P> + +<P> +"I declare! you're getting all het up about it," grinned Tyke, as Drew +paused for breath. "But all the same, my boy, you want to get back to +earth. You've got as good a chance of finding hidden treasure as I +have of taking first prize in a beauty show." +</P> + +<P> +"What's the matter with taking a look in Manuel's box and finding out +what it was he was so anxious about?" questioned Drew, a little dashed +by Tyke's skepticism. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, perhaps we shall some time later on," conceded Tyke, somewhat +doubtfully. "We can't think of doing it until we git moved an' +settled. We've got enough on hand now to keep us as busy as ants for a +good many days to come." +</P> + +<P> +Drew was disappointed, but as his employer had spoken there was nothing +more to be said, and he regretfully followed Grimshaw to the ground +floor. +</P> + +<P> +The chronicle of his life for the rest of that day and the two +following could be summed up in the one word, work—hard, breathless, +unceasing work. A reminder had come from Blake that the moving must be +expedited, and from Tyke himself down to Sam no one was exempt. +</P> + +<P> +Not that the thought of Ruth Adams was ever for long out of Drew's +mind. But the colors had grown more sombre in his rainbow of hope. He +had snatched a few moments from his noon hour on the second day to run +over to the <I>Normandy</I>, and although this time he saw Captain Peters, +it was only to learn that he could expect no help from that quarter. +</P> + +<P> +The captain was curt and irritable after his prolonged drinking bout, +and answered chiefly in monosyllables. No, he had not seen any young +girl come aboard two days before. Did not know of any one who had. +</P> + +<P> +"Now you git out," snarled Peters in conclusion. "You'll git no +information here. Make no mistake about that!" +</P> + +<P> +Drew was startled by the change in Captain Peters' manner and look. +The skipper glared at him as though Drew were a strange dog trying to +get the other's bone. The young man's temper was instantly rasped; but +Peters was a considerably older man than he, and he seemed to be +laboring under some misapprehension. +</P> + +<P> +"I assure you, Captain Peters," Drew said, "my reasons for asking were +perfectly honorable." +</P> + +<P> +"You needn't assure me of anything. Just git out!" roared the skipper +of the <I>Normandy</I>; and, seeing that there was nothing but a fight in +prospect if he remained, the young man withdrew. On deck he saw the +second officer, and that person winked at him knowingly and followed +him to the plank. +</P> + +<P> +"Old man on the rampage?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Seems to be," said the confused Drew. +</P> + +<P> +"Chance was, that that Bug-eye you knocked out the other day is a +pertic'lar friend of the skipper's. But gosh! you're some boy with +your mits." +</P> + +<P> +Drew might again have tried to find out from this fellow about the +girl, but he shrank from making her the subject of any general inquiry +or discussion. To him she was something to be kept sacred. His heart +was a shrine with her as its image, and before that image he burned +imaginary tapers with the fervor of a devotee. +</P> + +<P> +One thought came to him with a suddenness that made him quake. Could +it be that she was already married? +</P> + +<P> +He tried to remember whether "Mrs." or "Miss" had preceded the name on +the letter. For the life of him he could not recall. He had so +utterly assumed that she was unmarried, on the occasion of their +meeting, that any thought to the contrary had not even occurred to him +then. He was somewhat comforted by the probability that, had she been +married, her husband's name or initials would have followed the "Mrs." +instead of her given name. Yet, this was a custom that was becoming as +much honored in the breach as in the observance, and the use of her own +given name would not be at all conclusive. +</P> + +<P> +Then, with a great wave of relief, the memory came to him that he had +placed the letters in her left hand and had noted that she had no rings +on that hand at all. The thought had come to him at the time that no +ornament could make those tapered fingers prettier than they were. +</P> + +<P> +His heart leaped with elation. She was unmarried then! She wore no +wedding ring! +</P> + +<P> +There was still greater cause for jubilation. She wore no ring of any +kind! She was not even engaged! +</P> + +<P> +She probably was somewhere in this teeming city. Many times their +paths might almost cross, perhaps had already almost crossed since that +first meeting on the pier. +</P> + +<P> +Fantastic musings took possession of him. Who was it that, in a burst +of hyperbole, said that if one took up his station at Broadway and +Thirty-fourth Street, he would, if he stayed there long enough, see +everybody in the world go past? Or was it Kipling who said that of +Port Said? +</P> + +<P> +Where should he take his stand? What places should he frequent with +the greatest likelihood of meeting her? Theatres, the opera, art +galleries, railway stations, Central Park? +</P> + +<P> +He recalled himself from these fantasies with a wrench. How foolish +and fruitless they were! He was no man of leisure, to do as he +pleased. He was bound as securely to his desk as the genie was to the +lamp of Aladdin, and he must answer its call just as unfailingly. +</P> + +<P> +So, alternately wretched and elated, tasting the torments as well as +the joys of this experience that had revolutionized his life, he tore +desperately into his work, but with the girl's face ever before him. +</P> + +<P> +On the third day after Tyke had received notice to move, the +preparations were far advanced. Delicate instruments had been +carefully wrapped; heavier objects had been clothed with burlap; +truckmen were notified to be ready on the following day. Tyke and Drew +had made frequent pilgrimages to the new place and had arranged where +the stock could be placed to the best advantage. New bills and +letterheads had been ordered from the printers, and even the old sign +over the door, which Tyke obstinately refused to leave behind, had been +taken down to have the old number painted out and the new one +substituted. +</P> + +<P> +There was no elevator in the old building. Drew had often urged +Grimshaw to have one installed, but the old man was dead set against +any such "new-fangled contraptions." So, everything from the upper +lofts, when it was called for, had to be carried or rolled down the +rickety stairs, a proceeding which often roused rumbles of rebellion in +the breast of Sam, upon whom fell the brunt of the heavy work. +</P> + +<P> +He had spent most of that afternoon in getting down the boxes from the +third floor so that they might be within easier reach of the truckmen +when the moving should begin. He was on his way down with one of them, +perspiring profusely and tired from the work that had gone before, +when, as he neared the lowest step, he slipped and dropped his burden. +</P> + +<P> +He was fortunate enough to scramble out of the way of the box and thus +escape injury. But the box itself came to the floor with a crash, and +split open. +</P> + +<P> +Drew and Winters sprang to the help of the porter, and were relieved to +find that he was not hurt. He rose to his feet, his black face a +picture of consternation. +</P> + +<P> +"Dat ole mis'ry in ma back done cotched me jes' when Ah got to de las' +step," he explained. "Ah hope dey ain't much damage done to dat 'er +box." +</P> + +<P> +"Pretty badly done up, it seems to me," remarked Winters, as he +surveyed the broken chest critically. +</P> + +<P> +"Never mind, Sam," consoled Drew. "It wasn't your fault and the old +box wasn't of much account anyway." +</P> + +<P> +Just then Tyke thrust his head out of his office to learn the meaning +of the crash. At the sight of the broken box he came into the shop. +</P> + +<P> +"How did this happen?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah couldn't help it, Mistah Grimshaw," said Sam ruefully. "Ma back +jes' nacherly give way, an' Ah had to let go. Ah'm pow'ful sorry, sah." +</P> + +<P> +Sam was a favorite with the old man, who refrained from scolding him +but stood a moment looking curiously at the box. +</P> + +<P> +"Carry it into the office," he said at last to Sam. "And you, Allen, +come along." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VI +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE BROKEN CHEST +</H4> + +<P> +Sam lifted the big chest, and, very carefully this time to make amends +for his previous dereliction, carried it into the private office. He +placed it on two chairs that his employer indicated and then withdrew, +closing the door softly behind him and rejoicing at having got off so +easily. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, Allen," remarked Tyke, wiping his glasses and replacing them on +the bridge of his nose, "you're going to get your wish sooner than +either one of us expected." +</P> + +<P> +"What do you mean?" asked Drew wonderingly. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't you see anything familiar about this box?" replied Tyke, +answering a question in Yankee fashion by asking one. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know that I do," responded the other. Then, as he bent over +to examine the broken chest more closely, he corrected himself. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, yes I do!" he cried eagerly. "Isn't this the one you pointed out +to me the other day as belonging to the man who fought with you against +the Malays?" +</P> + +<P> +"That's it," confirmed Tyke. "It's Manuel Gomez's box. Queer," he +went on reflectively, "that of all the chests there were in that loft +the only one we thought of looking in should burst open at our very +feet. If I was superstitious" (here Drew smothered a smile, for he +knew that Tyke was nothing if not superstitious), "I might think there +was some meaning in it. But of course," he added hastily, "we know +there isn't." +</P> + +<P> +"Of course," acquiesced the younger man. +</P> + +<P> +Tyke seemed rather disappointed at this ready assent. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, anyway, now that it has opened right under our noses, so to +speak, we'll look into it. I guess we've got far enough ahead with our +moving to take the time." +</P> + +<P> +Drew, who was burning with curiosity and impatience, agreed with him +heartily. +</P> + +<P> +The chest had split close to the lock, so that it was an easy matter +after a minute or two of manipulation to throw the cover back. +</P> + +<P> +A musty, discolored coat lay on top, and Tyke was just about to lift +this out when Winters stuck his head into the office. +</P> + +<P> +"Some one to see you, sir," he announced. +</P> + +<P> +Tyke gave a little grunt of impatience. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell him I'm busy," he snapped. Then he caught himself up. "Wait a +minute," he said. "Did he tell you his name?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, sir," returned Winters. "But I'll find out." In a moment he was +back. "Captain Rufus Hamilton, he says." +</P> + +<P> +The petulant expression on Grimshaw's face changed instantly to one of +pleasure. +</P> + +<P> +"Bring him right in," he ordered. +</P> + +<P> +Drew, thinking that Grimshaw would wish to see his friend alone, rose +to follow Winters. +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose we'll put this off until after he's gone," he remarked. +</P> + +<P> +But his employer motioned to him to remain. +</P> + +<P> +"Stay right where you are," he directed. "Cap'n Rufe is one of the +best friends I have, and I'm glad he came jest now." +</P> + +<P> +The door opened again, and Winters ushered in a powerfully built man +who seemed to be about fifty years of age. He had piercing blue eyes, +a straight nose with wide nostrils, and a square jaw, about which were +lines that spoke of decision and the habit of command. His face was +bronzed by exposure to the weather, and his brown hair was graying at +the temples. There was something open and sincere about the man that +caused Drew to like him at once. +</P> + +<P> +The newcomer stepped briskly forward, and Tyke met him half way, +gripping his hand in the warmest kind of welcome. +</P> + +<P> +"Well met, Cap'n!" cried Tyke. "I haven't seen you in a dog's age. I +was jest wondering the other day what had become of you. There's +nobody in the world I'd rather see. What good wind blew you to this +port?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm just as glad to see you, Tyke," replied the visitor, with equal +heartiness. "I've been in the China trade for the last few years, with +Frisco as my home port. You can be sure that if I'd been hailing from +New York I'd have been in to see you every time I came into the harbor." +</P> + +<P> +Tyke introduced Drew to the newcomer, and then the two friends settled +down to an exchange of reminiscences that seemed sure to be prolonged +for the rest of the afternoon. +</P> + +<P> +After a while Captain Hamilton leaned back to light a cigar, and in the +momentary nagging of conversation that ensued while he was getting it +to going well, his gaze fell on the open chest. +</P> + +<P> +"What have you got here?" he asked with a smile. "Looks like a +sailor's dunnage." +</P> + +<P> +"And that's jest what it is," answered Tyke, recalled to the work on +which he had been engaged when the captain's coming had interrupted. +"I declare! your visit put it clean out of my head. It's the box that +used to belong to Manuel, that old bo'sun of mine that I guess I've +told you about in some of my yarns. The one that was with me off +Borneo when I lost these two fingers." +</P> + +<P> +"That run-in you had with the Malays?" returned the captain. "Yes, I +remember your telling me about him. Saved your life, I think you said, +when one of the beggars was going to knife you." +</P> + +<P> +"That's the one," confirmed Grimshaw. "He was shipwrecked later off +the Horn. He left his box here with me to take care of for him." +</P> + +<P> +"Seems to be pretty well broken up." +</P> + +<P> +"The porter dropped it coming downstairs," explained Drew. +</P> + +<P> +"You had it brought in here to save room, I suppose," said the captain. +"I noticed that you were all cluttered up outside." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, it wasn't that exactly," replied Tyke, slightly embarrassed. +"You see, Allen an' I were rummaging around in the top loft the other +day, an' among other things our eyes fell on this box. That started me +off yarning about the tight places Manuel an' I had been in together, +an' how he'd hinted that some day he'd be rich. Then I told Allen of +how Manuel said, when he left his box with me, that there was something +in it worth more'n diamonds an' then—— +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I can guess the rest," said Captain Hamilton, with a quiet smile. +"And then you both got a hankering to see what was in the box." +</P> + +<P> +"Allen did," admitted Tyke, "'an' I ain't denying that my fingers +itched a little too. But I put it off until we had got moved into our +new place. Now, didn't I, Allen?" he demanded virtuously. +</P> + +<P> +Drew assented smilingly. +</P> + +<P> +"Why didn't you wait then?" gibed the captain. +</P> + +<P> +"We would have," affirmed Grimshaw eagerly, conscious that here at last +he was on firm ground, "but that black rascal, Sam, the porter, dropped +the box on his way downstairs an' it split wide open, as you see. If I +was superstitious——" here he glared challengingly at both of his +listeners, who by an effort kept their faces grave, "I'd sure think it +was meant that we should look into it right away. What do you say, +Cap'n Rufe?" +</P> + +<P> +"I agree with you," replied the captain. "The man is dead, and the box +is yours by right of storage if nothing else. This Manuel didn't have +wife or children that you know of, did he?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nary one," responded Grimshaw. "When he'd been drinking too much he +used to cry sometimes an' say that he hadn't a relative in the world to +care whether he lived or died." +</P> + +<P> +"That being the case, heave ahead," advised the captain. "You don't +owe anything to the living or the dead to keep you from finding out all +you want to know." +</P> + +<P> +Reinforced by this opinion, the old man again lifted the coat from the +top of the box. +</P> + +<P> +What lay beneath was a curious medley of articles such as might have +been gathered at various times by a sailor who was familiar with all +the ports of the world. Mingled in with old trousers and boots and +caps, were curiously tinted shells, clasp knives with broken blades, +grotesque images of heathen gods, a tarantula and a centipede preserved +in a small jar of alcohol, miraculously saved from breakage. +</P> + +<P> +But what especially attracted their attention in the midst of this +miscellaneous riffraff was a small cedar box, about eight inches long +by six inches wide and deep. It was heavily carved, and was secured by +a lock of unusual size and strength. +</P> + +<P> +"Wonder if this is the thing that was worth more'n diamonds," grunted +Tyke, with a carelessness that was too elaborate not to be assumed. +</P> + +<P> +"It must be that, if anything," replied Captain Hamilton, who had let +his cigar go out and was now vigorously chewing the stub. +</P> + +<P> +Drew said nothing, but his cheeks were flushed and his eyes brighter +than usual. +</P> + +<P> +Grimshaw fumbled with the lock for a moment, but found it immovable. +</P> + +<P> +"Jest step out, Allen, and get all the keys we have an' we'll see if +any of 'em fit," he directed. +</P> + +<P> +Drew did so, and returned in a moment with the entire collection that +the shop boasted. Tyke tried them all in turn, but none fitted. +</P> + +<P> +"I guess there's no help for it," he said at last. "I hate to spoil +the box, but we'll have to force the lock. Get a chisel, and we'll pry +the thing open." +</P> + +<P> +The chisel was brought and did its work promptly. There was a rasping, +groaning sound, as if the box were complaining at this rude assault +upon its privacy, then, with a hand that trembled a little, Tyke lifted +the cover. +</P> + +<P> +All three heads were close together as the men bent over and peered in. +Their first glimpse brought a sense of disappointment. They had half +expected to catch the sheen of gold or the glitter of jewels. Instead +they saw only a piece of oilskin that was carefully wrapped about what +proved to be some sheets of paper almost as stiff as parchment. +</P> + +<P> +"Huh," grunted Tyke. "Pesky lot of trouble with mighty little result. +I told you I thought Manuel was a bit touched in the brain, an' I guess +I was right." +</P> + +<P> +"Wait a minute," said Captain Hamilton. "Don't go off at half-cock. +Let's see what's in that oil-skin." +</P> + +<P> +Tyke opened the packet. The others drew up their chairs, one on either +side, as he unfolded the oilskin carefully on his desk. +</P> + +<P> +There were two sheets of paper inside, so old and mildewed that they +had to be handled carefully to prevent their falling to pieces. +</P> + +<P> +One of the papers seemed to be an official statement written in +Spanish. The other consisted of rude tracings, moving apparently at +random, with here and there a word that was almost illegible. +</P> + +<P> +The three men looked at this blankly. Drew was the first to speak. +</P> + +<P> +"It's a map!" he exclaimed eagerly. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap07"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +A MYSTERIOUS DOCUMENT +</H4> + +<P> +The two captains scanned the document closely. +</P> + +<P> +"It certainly is a map," pronounced Captain Hamilton decisively. +</P> + +<P> +"That's what it 'pears to be," admitted Tyke. +</P> + +<P> +"And it's the map of an island," went on Hamilton. "See," he pointed +out, "these wavy lines are meant to represent water and these firmer +lines stand for the land." +</P> + +<P> +The others followed the movement of his finger and agreed with him. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, after all, what of it?" asked Tyke, leaning back in his chair +with affected indifference. +</P> + +<P> +"There's this of it," said his visitor throwing his extinguished cigar +into the waste-basket and drawing his chair still closer. "I feel that +we have a mystery on our hands, and we should examine it fore and aft +to find what there is in it." +</P> + +<P> +"I s'pose the next thing you'll be saying is that's it's a guide to +hidden treasure or something like that," jeered Tyke feebly, to conceal +his own growing excitement. +</P> + +<P> +"Stranger things than that have happened," replied the captain +sententiously. +</P> + +<P> +"Have it your own way," assented Tyke, rising and going to the door. +</P> + +<P> +"Winters," he called, "jest remember that I'm not in to anybody for the +rest of the afternoon." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, sir," replied Winters dutifully. +</P> + +<P> +Having locked the door as an additional guard against intrusion, Tyke +rejoined the two at the desk. +</P> + +<P> +"Fire away," he directed. "What's the first move?" +</P> + +<P> +"The first thing is to make out what's written on this other paper," +said the captain, handling it gingerly. +</P> + +<P> +The three bent over and studied the document closely. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, it's some foreign lingo; Spanish probably!" exclaimed Grimshaw. +"Not a word of English anywhere, as far as I can make out." +</P> + +<P> +"That's so," agreed the captain, a little dismayed at the discovery. +"We've struck a snag right at the start. If we have to call in any one +to translate it, we'll be taking the whole world into the secret, if +there is any secret worth taking about." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't let that worry you," Drew intervened. "I think I know enough +Spanish to be able to make out the paper." +</P> + +<P> +There was an exclamation of delight from Captain Hamilton and a snort +of surprise from Tyke. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, I never knew that you knew anything about that lingo!" the latter +ejaculated. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know any too much about it," returned Drew, modestly. "But +the South American trade is getting so big now that I thought it would +be a good thing to know something of Spanish; so I've been studying it +at night and at odd times for the last two years." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, don't that beat the Dutch!" cried Tyke delightedly. "Now if I +was superstitious"—he stared truculently at the suspicious working of +Drew's mouth—"I'd be sure there was something in this that wasn't +natural. We want to look into the box, an' it busts open in front of +us. We want to read that Spanish lingo, an' you know how to do it. +I'll be keelhauled if it don't make me feel a little creepy. That is," +he corrected himself quickly, "it would if I believed in them things." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, now that we know you don't believe in them," said Captain +Hamilton, with the faintest possible touch of sarcasm, "and since our +young friend here is able to read this paper, suppose we go to it." +</P> + +<P> +"You bet we'll go to it!" cried Tyke eagerly. "You jest take a pencil +an' write it down in English as Allen reels it off." +</P> + +<P> +"There won't be any 'reeling off'," warned Drew, as with knitted brow +he pored over the document. "In the first place, the Spanish used here +is very old, and some of the words that were common then aren't in use +any more. I can see that. Then, too, the ink has faded so much that +some of the words can't be made out at all. And where the paper has +been folded the lines have entirely crumbled away." +</P> + +<P> +"Sort o' Chinese puzzle, is it?" queried Tyke dismally. +</P> + +<P> +"A Spanish puzzle, anyway," smiled Drew. "I need something to help out +my eyes. I wish we had some microscopes in our stock, as well as +telescopes." +</P> + +<P> +"We'll get the best there is in the market if necessary," declared +Tyke. "But jest for the present, here is something that may fill the +bill." +</P> + +<P> +He reached into a drawer and brought out a reading glass that could be +placed over the paper as it lay on the desk. +</P> + +<P> +"The very thing!" exclaimed Drew as he applied it. "That helps a lot." +</P> + +<P> +There was a tense air of expectancy over all three as he began to read. +Tyke kept nervously polishing his glasses, and Captain Hamilton's hand +was the least bit unsteady as it guided the pencil. Drew's voice +trembled, though he tried studiously to keep it as calm as though he +were reading off the items on a bill of lading in the ordinary course +of business. +</P> + +<P> +But if the work was exciting, it was none the less very slow. Once in +a while there would be a word that was wholly outside Drew's +vocabulary. In such cases the captain put it down in the original +Spanish for Drew to study out later by the aid of his dictionary. Then +at the points where the story seemed most important, there would be a +crease in the paper that would eliminate an entire line. Other words +had faded so completely that the magnifying glass failed to help. +</P> + +<P> +But at last, despite all the tantalizing breaks, the final word was +reached, and the captain sat back and drew a long breath while the +younger man refolded the paper. +</P> + +<P> +"Well now," said Tyke, "lets have it all from the first word to the +last. An' Cap'n, read mighty slow." +</P> + +<P> +Amid a breathless silence, Captain Hamilton commenced reading what he +had taken down. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="block"> +"Trinidad, March 18, 17—. +</P> + +<P CLASS="block"> +"In the name of God, amen. +</P> + +<P CLASS="block"> +"I Ramon ...... rez unworthy sin .......... ...... fit .... ...... +name ...... .... lips .... ...... ...... knowing ..... .... .... .... +.... mercy ........ ...... ...... shown none, expecting .... .... .... +.... .... .... deepest hell yet .... .... .... .... .... Mary .... .... +.... .... saints .... shriving .... .... Holy Church .... .... .... +confess .... .... .... life. +</P> + +<P CLASS="block"> +".... .... .... wild .... .... .... .... .... .... .... Tortugas .... +French .... <I>Reine Marguerite</I> .... .... .... .... .... .... death. +</P> + +<P CLASS="block"> +From there we ran to Port au Spain .... .... .... plundering .... .... +.... .... city, .... many men and boys and .... .... .... women and +..... Off one of Baha .... Cays .... .... .... galleon .... .... .... +.... fought stoutly .... .... .... .... walk .... plank. Other ships +.... .... .... .... .... forgotten. We took great spoils .... .... +.... .... accursed ... ... spent .... .... living, +</P> + +<P CLASS="block"> +"I .... .... .... captain. Down in the Caribbean Sea we .... .... +caravel .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... one hundred and +twenty. Lost ship in tornado .... .... .... .... got another. +</P> + +<P CLASS="block"> +"Many more .... .... .... .... .... .... .... weary .... .... telling +we .... .... .... God .... man. +</P> + +<P CLASS="block"> +"At last .... .... ten .... .... .... butchery .... frigates .... .... +ch ..... Fled to one of the .... islands .... careened. Tired knowing +.... .... sooner or later I made up my mind .... .... .... .... one +more rich prize .... .... wickedness. +</P> + +<P CLASS="block"> +"We captured the .... Guadalquiver ..... Desperate .... .... blood +..... thousand doubloons .... pearls .... .... price. +</P> + +<P CLASS="block"> +"I knew of an island off the beaten track where there was good hiding +.... .... found, night. Cutter .... .... ashore, mutiny .... .... +killed them both. And there the booty is still .... .... .... .... +.... forbid. +</P> + +<P CLASS="block"> +"Now standing .... .... .... .... .... hell, I have made .... drawing +.... .... island where .... buried. I give it freely .... Mother .... +.... .... .... cand .... .... .... altar and .... .... masses .... .... +unworthy soul. +</P> + +<P CLASS="block"> +his<BR> +(X) <I>Al</I> .... ....<BR> +mark<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="block"> +"Attest <I>Pablo Ximenes</I>, notary." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The captain laid the paper on the desk and glanced at the intent faces +of his companions. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, what do you make of that?" he asked. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap08"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VIII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE SCOURGES OF THE SEA +</H4> + +<P> +Tyke's eyes were staring and his face was so apoplectic that Drew was +alarmed. +</P> + +<P> +"Make out of it?" Tyke spluttered, getting up and nearly overturning +his chair. "I make out of it that Manuel was right when he said that +the old chest held something worth more'n diamonds." +</P> + +<P> +Grimshaw was so shaken out of his usual calm that Captain Hamilton, +too, shared Drew's alarm. +</P> + +<P> +"I tell you what we'd better do," he suggested. "We're all too much +excited to discuss this thing intelligently now. We've got a whole lot +to digest, and it will take time. This thing will keep. Suppose we +have our young friend here take this rough draft home with him and +piece out the missing parts as well as he can. In the meantime we'll +all mull it over in our minds, look at it from every angle, and meet +here fresh and rested to-morrow morning to decide on what we'd better +do." +</P> + +<P> +"I guess you're right," assented Tyke, mopping his forehead. "This old +head of mine is whirling around like a top." +</P> + +<P> +Tyke locked the map carefully in his safe and committed the other paper +and the captain's partial transcription to his chief clerk with solemn +injunctions to take the utmost care of them. +</P> + +<P> +But the latter stood in no need of the admonition. He would have +defended those papers with his life. They meant for him—what did they +not mean? +</P> + +<P> +Romance, adventure, wealth! Now at last he would have something to +justify his search for Ruth Adams and his suit for her hand. Now he +could frame his jewel, when he found it, in a proper setting. +</P> + +<P> +The three men prepared to leave the private office. Captain Hamilton +was first at the door, and he unlocked it. The instant he pulled the +door open, Drew heard him ejaculate: +</P> + +<P> +"Thunderation! Mr. Ditty! What are you doing here?" +</P> + +<P> +"You told me to follow you here, Captain Hamilton," said a respectful +voice. "They told me you were inside, and so I waited for you." +</P> + +<P> +"Humph! quite right, Mr. Ditty," Captain Hamilton said hastily. Then +he thrust his, head back into the office. "My mate's come for me, +Tyke. We've got an errand on Whitehall Street. See you to-morrow. +Good night, Mr. Drew." +</P> + +<P> +Both the captain and the other man had gone when Drew went out into the +larger room. The remainder of that afternoon he spent in a dream. +</P> + +<P> +When the day's work was over, Drew dined hastily and then shut himself +in his room where he worked busily until midnight, filling in the +vacant spaces in the rough draft of the confession. He was critical of +his efforts, recasting and revising again and again until he was +satisfied that he had caught the full meaning of the old document as +far as it was humanly possible. Only then did he lay it aside—to +dream of Ruth. +</P> + +<P> +Drew was at the shop before his usual time the next morning, and Tyke +and Captain Hamilton came in soon afterward. The three went at once +into secret session, leaving the entire conduct of the chandlery +business to Winters, much to the mystification of that youth. +</P> + +<P> +All three were fresh and cool this morning as they buckled down to the +problem they had to solve, and the wisdom of the previous night's +adjournment was clearly evident. +</P> + +<P> +"I got to talking this thing over with my daughter last night," said +Captain Hamilton. "You'd forgotten I had a daughter, Tyke? Wait till +you see her! Well, she was aboard the schooner for dinner with me, and +she said: 'Daddy, if there is a real pirate's treasure, please go after +it. Then you can stay ashore and not go sailing away from me any +more.' So, I've a double incentive for pursuing this thing," and the +captain laughed. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, that's like the women-folk," observed Grimshaw. "They're always +for a man's leaving the sea." +</P> + +<P> +"That isn't what made you leave it, Tyke," Captain Hamilton said slyly. +</P> + +<P> +"An' it won't be women-folk that sends me back to it, neither," growled +the older man. "An' now, Allen," he added, as they settled comfortably +into their chairs, "how did you git along with the paper? Have you got +it so that it makes sense?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'll let you judge of that for yourselves," replied Drew, taking the +revised draft from his pocket. "Of course, I can't say that it's +exactly right. Some of the missing words and sentences I had to guess +at. But it's as nearly right as I know how to make it." +</P> + +<P> +He waited while Grimshaw and Captain Hamilton lighted their cigars, and +then proceeded to read: +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="block"> +"Trinidad, March 18, 17 ..... +</P> + +<P CLASS="block"> +"In the name of God, amen. +</P> + +<P CLASS="block"> +"I, Ramon Alvarez, unworthy sinner that I am and not fit to take the +name of God upon my lips, and well knowing that I deserve no mercy who +have ever shown none, expecting to be plunged into the deepest hell, +yet basing my only hope on the Virgin Mary and the blessed saints and +the shriving of Holy Church, do hereby confess the misdeeds of my life. +</P> + +<P CLASS="block"> +"From my youth up I was wild. I was with the buccaneers who, off the +Tortugas, captured the French ship, <I>Reine Marguerite</I>, all of whose +crew and passengers we put to death. From there we ran to Port au +Spain, ravaging and plundering. We captured the city, killing most of +the men and boys and carrying off the women and girls. Off one of the +Bahama Cays we took a Spanish galleon, and although her people fought +stoutly, we made them finally walk the plank. Other ships we captured +whose names I have forgotten. We took great spoils, but the money was +accursed and was soon spent in wild living. +</P> + +<P CLASS="block"> +"I myself soon became a captain. Down in the Caribbean Sea we won a +caravel and killed all on board, one hundred and twenty. I lost my +ship in a tornado, but soon got another. +</P> + +<P CLASS="block"> +"Many more evil deeds we did that would make me weary with the telling. +We feared neither God nor man. +</P> + +<P CLASS="block"> +"At last, after ten years or more of butchery, the nations sent many +frigates in chase of us. I fled to one of the islands and careened my +ship. Tired, knowing I would be taken sooner or later, I made up my +mind that I would capture one more rich prize and then be done with my +wickedness. +</P> + +<P CLASS="block"> +"We captured the ship <I>Guadalquiver</I>. The fight was desperate and the +decks ran with blood. We took ...... thousand doubloons, many pearls +and jewels of price. +</P> + +<P CLASS="block"> +"I knew of an island off the beaten track where there was good hiding +to be found. I took the cutter one night and went ashore to bury +treasure. Two men with me mutinied and I killed them both. And there +the booty is still, unless it has been taken away, which God forbid. +</P> + +<P CLASS="block"> +"Now, standing mayhap on the very brink of hell, I have made this +drawing of the island where the treasure is buried. I give it freely +to Holy Mother Church, and beg that part be spent for candles to be +burned before the altar and for masses to be said for my unworthy soul. +</P> + +<P CLASS="block"> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 3.5em">his</SPAN><BR> +<I>"Ramon</I> (X) <I>Alvarez</I>.<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 3.5em">mark</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="block"> +"Attest, <I>Pablo Ximenes</I>, notary." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"Good work, Allen," commended Tyke, as the reader stopped. +</P> + +<P> +"Very cleverly done," added Captain Hamilton. +</P> + +<P> +Drew flushed with pleasure. +</P> + +<P> +"Those old fellows were well called 'the scourges of the sea,' weren't +they?" he said. "Now here! There are just two things missing that it +would be the merest guess-work to supply," he added. "One is the date. +We know the century, but the year is absolutely rubbed out. The other +is the number of doubloons captured with his last prize. That was in a +crease of the paper and had crumbled away." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," replied Captain Hamilton; "but neither is so very important. Of +course, the later the date, the less time there has been for any one to +find the doubloons and take them away. We have the names of some of +the ships that were captured though, and we might look the matter up in +some French or Spanish history and so get a clue to the date. +</P> + +<P> +"As to the extent of the treasure, we'll find that out for ourselves +when we get it, if we ever do. And if we don't get it, the amount +doesn't matter." +</P> + +<P> +"It seems to be a pretty good-sized one, from the way the rascal speaks +about it," remarked Tyke. +</P> + +<P> +"Plenty big enough to pay for the trouble of getting it," agreed +Captain Hamilton. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, now that we know what the paper says, let's git right down to +brass tacks," suggested Grimshaw. "In the first place, this particular +pirate, Alvarez, was evidently a Spaniard. The language the paper is +written in proves that." +</P> + +<P> +"Not necessarily," objected the captain. "Spanish is the language +spoken in Trinidad, and even if the dying man were a Frenchman or an +Englishman, the notary would probably translate what he said into +Spanish. Still, the first name, and probably the last, indicate +Spanish birth. I guess we're pretty safe in considering that point +settled." +</P> + +<P> +"But I thought most of the pirates, the leaders anyway, were French or +English," persisted Tyke. +</P> + +<P> +"So they were," answered the captain; "but the Portuguese and Spaniards +ran them a close second. As a matter of fact, those fellows +acknowledged no nationality and cut the throats of their own countrymen +as readily as any others. The only flag they owed any allegiance to +was the skull and crossbones." +</P> + +<P> +"But how comes it that this confession was made before a notary?" asked +Drew. "I should think it would have been made verbally to a priest." +</P> + +<P> +"Well," said the captain thoughtfully, "there are various ways of +accounting for that. Alvarez may have been taken sick suddenly, and +the notary may have been nearest at hand. Even if the priest had been +summoned, the sick man might have feared that he would die before the +priest got there and wanted to get it off his mind. He didn't seem to +have much hope of heaven, from the way the paper reads." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't wonder," put in Tyke, dryly. +</P> + +<P> +"But whatever chance there was, he wanted to take it," finished the +captain. +</P> + +<P> +"I wonder how the paper ever got into Manuel's hands," pondered Tyke. +</P> + +<P> +"The churches and convents seemed to suffer most in those wild days," +said the captain. "They were sacked and plundered again and again. It +might very well be that this paper was stolen by ignorant adventurers, +and in some way got into the hands of one of Manuel's ancestors and so +came down to him. Probably most of them couldn't read and had no idea +of what the paper contained. Could Manuel read?" he asked, turning to +Grimshaw. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, yes; but rather poorly," answered Tyke. +</P> + +<P> +"I've seen him sometimes in port looking over a Spanish newspaper, +moving his finger slowly along each line." +</P> + +<P> +"That explains it then," said the captain. "He was able to make out +just enough to guess that the paper and map referred to hidden +treasure, but he wasn't able to make good sense of it." +</P> + +<P> +"I s'pose that was the reason he was always trying to git me interested +in his pirate stories," put in Tyke. "He was kind o' feeling me out, +an' if I'd showed any interest or belief in it, he'd have probably +tried to git me to take a ship and go after it with him." +</P> + +<P> +"Not a doubt in the world," agreed Captain Hamilton. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, now we've looked at the matter of the paper from most every +side," remarked Tyke; "an' I guess we're all agreed that it looks like +a <I>bona fide</I> confession. We've seen, too, how it was possible for it +to git into the hands of Manuel. Now let's see if we can make head or +tail of the map." +</P> + +<P> +He brought out the paper from his safe and the three men crowded around +it. Here, after all, was the crux of the whole matter. By this they +were to stand or fall. It booted little to know merely that the +doubloons were buried somewhere in the West Indies. They might as well +be at the North Pole, unless they could locate their hiding place with +some degree of precision. +</P> + +<P> +The dark, heavily shaded part in the center of the map was evidently +meant to mark the position of the island itself. Quite as surely, the +light, undulating lines surrounding it were intended to show the water. +</P> + +<P> +"There seems to be just one inlet," said Captain Hamilton, pointing to +an indentation that bit deeply into the dark mass of the island. +</P> + +<P> +"Lucky there's even one," grunted Tyke. "I've known many of those +picayune islands where there was no safe anchorage at all." +</P> + +<P> +The island was irregular in shape and seemed to have an elevation in +the center. But what most attracted their attention were three small +circles some distance in from the shore that seemed to indicate some +special spot. +</P> + +<P> +"There's some writing alongside of these," announced Drew, after a +sharp scrutiny. "If you'll hand me the reading glass I think I can +make it out." +</P> + +<P> +The glass was quickly brought into use, and Drew stared at the writing +hard and long. +</P> + +<P> +"'The Witch's Head.' 'The Three Sisters'," he translated. +</P> + +<P> +"Sounds like a suffragette colony," muttered Tyke. +</P> + +<P> +But Drew was too deeply engrossed with his task to notice the play of +fancy. +</P> + +<P> +"Thirty-seven long paces due north from the Witch's Head.' +'Eighty-nine long paces due east from The Three Sisters,'" he went on. +</P> + +<P> +"Now we're getting down to something definite!" exclaimed Captain +Hamilton. +</P> + +<P> +"That's all," announced Drew. "What do you suppose it means?" +</P> + +<P> +"It can mean only one thing, it seems to me," said Tyke excitedly. +"It's pointing to the spot where the doubloons are buried." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," agreed the captain, "I should take it to mean that if you mark +off thirty-seven long paces north from the Witch's Head and eighty-nine +long paces east from The Three Sisters, the spot where those paths +cross would be the place to dig." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you see anything on the map that would give a hint as to the +latitude and longitude?" asked Grimshaw anxiously. +</P> + +<P> +"No," answered Drew. "Wait a minute though," he added hastily. +"Here's something that looks like figures down in the lower left hand +corner. Fifty-seven .... No! Sixty-seven-three is one, and +thirteen-ten is the other." +</P> + +<P> +"That can only stand for longitude and latitude!" cried Tyke. "Quick, +Allen, git down that Hydrographic Office chart. That'll cover it." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap09"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IX +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +GETTING DOWN TO "BRASS TACKS" +</H4> + +<P> +In a moment the chart was taken down from its hook and spread out on +Tyke's big desk. With shaking fingers the old man found the line of +longitude indicated on the pirate's map, and followed it down till he +came to the thirteenth degree of latitude. +</P> + +<P> +"Thirteen-ten; sixty-seven-three," he muttered. "Thirteen degrees, ten +minutes latitude; sixty-seven degrees, three minutes longitude. There +it is!" and he made a mark with his pencil on the chart. "Right down +there in the Caribbean, west of Martinique. Glory Hallelujah!" +</P> + +<P> +The old man was as frisky as a colt, and under the stimulus of +excitement the years seemed to drop away from him. +</P> + +<P> +Captain Hamilton was quite as delighted, though he did not give so free +a rein to his emotions. +</P> + +<P> +"Splendid!" he beamed. "When we can actually get down to figures, it +begins to look like business. Of course, there are innumerable small +islands down that way. But it won't take much cruising around to try +them all." +</P> + +<P> +Once more he studied the shape and the size of the island, and his +brows knitted almost to a scowl, so close was his concentration. +</P> + +<P> +"That elevation in the middle looks something like a whale's hump," +remarked Drew. +</P> + +<P> +Captain Hamilton jumped as though he had been shot. +</P> + +<P> +"That's it!" he cried. "By Jove! I know that island! I remember +thinking that very thing about it one day some years ago when I was +coming up from Maracaibo. My mate was standing by me at the time. It +was just as sunset, and the island stood out plain against the sky. I +remember saying to him that it looked to me just like the hump of a +whale. Now we've located it sure. I'll recognize it the minute my +eyes fall on it whether it's charted or not. My boy, you're a wonder. +You've helped us out at every turn in this business." +</P> + +<P> +"That he has," declared Tyke enthusiastically. "Neither the paper nor +the map would have been any good without Allen to translate 'em. I'm +proud of you, Allen." +</P> + +<P> +The young man flushed with pleasure and murmured deprecatingly that it +was just a bit of luck that he happened to know Spanish. +</P> + +<P> +"Luck! 'Tisn't luck that makes a man dig out a foreign lingo," said +Tyke. "An', anyway, you've been smart at every point with your +suggestions, an' helped us out as we went along. You started things +with your eagerness to look into Manuel's box an' you put the cap sheaf +on when you jest now gave Cap'n Rufe that last pointer. +</P> + +<P> +"An' now," Tyke went on, when they had sobered down a little, "let's +get down to brass tacks. There's jest one thing that remains to be +done, but it's a mighty big thing. We feel pretty sure that there is a +treasure, an' we think we know where that treasure is. Now the +question is, how are we going to git it?" +</P> + +<P> +Drew experienced a feeling of dismay. He had been so engrossed with +the preliminary work that he had hardly given a thought to the +practical problem involved. He had taken it for granted that it would +be easy enough to get a ship to go after the pirate's hoard. +</P> + +<P> +Now with Tyke's bald statement confronting him, a host of perplexities +sprang up to torment him. Where were they to get the right kind of +ship? How could they escape telling the captain of that ship just +where they were going and what they were going for? +</P> + +<P> +But if the matter puzzled Tyke and his chief clerk, it bothered Captain +Hamilton not at all. He lighted a fresh cigar, crossed his legs and +smiled broadly. +</P> + +<P> +"That's an easy one," he remarked. "Give me something hard." +</P> + +<P> +Tyke looked at him in some surprise and Drew's face reflected his +bewilderment. +</P> + +<P> +"Seems to me it's hard enough," grumbled Tyke. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you mean?" asked Drew quickly. +</P> + +<P> +"I mean," said the captain complacently, "that we'll make this voyage +in my schooner." +</P> + +<P> +The two others jumped to their feet. +</P> + +<P> +"Splendid!" cried Drew. +</P> + +<P> +"Glory be!" ejaculated Tyke. +</P> + +<P> +"The plan seems to suit you," smiled the captain. +</P> + +<P> +"Suit us!" shouted Tyke. "Why, it's jest made to order. But how're +you going to git the owner's permission? How do you know he'll be +willing to have the ship chartered for such a cruise? An' how are we +going to keep the secret from him?" +</P> + +<P> +"As I happen to be the chief owner, as well as the captain, I guess we +won't have any trouble on that score." +</P> + +<P> +"Owner!" exclaimed Tyke, in astonishment. "I hadn't any idee that you +had any int'rest in her outside of your berth as captain. You've been +pretty forehanded to have got so far ahead as to own a craft like that." +</P> + +<P> +"I haven't done so badly in the last few years," said the captain +modestly; "and as fast as I saved money I kept buying more stock in the +old girl. Mr. Parmalee encouraged that idea in his captains. He knew +human nature, and knew that when a man's own money was invested in the +deck under him he was going to be mighty careful of the ship's safety +and would have a personal interest in seeing that she was a money +maker. The old man's dead now, but his son has inherited a third +interest in the <I>Bertha Hamilton</I>, while I hold the other two-thirds. +I renamed her when I got control of the bonny craft. I hope some day +to buy out Parmalee's share and become the sole owner." +</P> + +<P> +"You're a lucky man," congratulated Tyke warmly. "It must be great +when you tread the plank to feel that you're not only boss for the time +being, but that you actually own her. What is she like? How big is +she? And how much of a crew do you ship?" +</P> + +<P> +"She's three stick, schooner rigged," replied the captain. "A hundred +and fifty feet over all and carries a crew of about thirty. Oh! she's +a sailing craft, Tyke. She's not afoul with steam winches and the +like. And she's a beauty," he added, his eyes kindling with pride. +"There are mighty few ships on this coast that she can't show a pair of +heels to, and she's a sweet sailer in any weather. She stands right up +into the wind's eye as steady as a church and when it comes to reaching +or running free, I'd back her against anything that carries sails." +</P> + +<P> +"But how about your other engagements?" suggested Grimshaw. "Is she +chartered for a voyage anywhere soon?" +</P> + +<P> +"That's another rare bit of luck," returned the captain. "I had an +engagement to-day with Hollings & Company, who were thinking of having +me take a cargo for Galveston. If I hadn't run plump into this +treasure business as I did, there isn't any doubt but I would have +closed with them to-day. But now it's all off. I'll see them this +afternoon and tell them they'll have to get somebody else." +</P> + +<P> +Tyke sat down heavily in his chair and wagged his grizzled head +solemnly. +</P> + +<P> +"It's beyond me," he said. "It must be meant. Here we might be weeks +or months before we could git a ship that suited us, if we got it at +all; but along comes Cap'n Rufe here with the very thing we want. If I +was superstitious,"—before his stony stare they sat unwinking—"I'd +think for sure there was something in this more'n natural. It can't +be, after all this, that we're going on a wild goose chase." +</P> + +<P> +"Well," replied Captain Hamilton cautiously, "it may be that after all. +Things certainly have worked to a charm so far, but that doesn't prove +anything. 'There's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip,' and this +may be one of them. When all is said and done, it's a gamble. For all +we know, the doubloons may have been taken away a hundred years ago, +and all we'll find after we get there may be an empty hole in the +ground. But 'nothing venture, nothing have'; and with all the evidence +we have, I'm willing to take a chance." +</P> + +<P> +"So am I!" cried Tyke heartily. "Of course, we stand to lose a tidy +little sum if it should turn out to be a fluke. There's the outfitting +to be done, the crew's wages to be paid, an' a lot of other expenses +that'll mount up into money. But it's worth a chance, and if we lose +I'm willing to stand the gaff without whining." +</P> + +<P> +It goes without saying that Drew heartily echoed these sentiments in +his mind, but he felt some delicacy about expressing them. After all, +it was Captain Hamilton and his employer who would have to provide the +funds for the expedition and stand the loss if there were any. He +himself would be called on to risk nothing. +</P> + +<P> +And with this thought came another with the suddenness of a stab. On +what was he building his hopes for a share in the profits of the +adventure? After all, he was only Tyke's employee. The very time he +was spending in unraveling this mystery belonged to Tyke and was paid +for by him. He felt again the weight of his chains, and the air castle +he had built for Ruth's occupancy suddenly took on the iridescent +colors of a bubble. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, now that we've got down to brass tacks as you say, Tyke, let's +get along to the next point," said the captain briskly. "I don't +suppose you could come along with me?" +</P> + +<P> +"You don't!" snorted Tyke. "Well then, you're due for another guess. +You bet your binoculars I'm coming along. I'd like to see anything +that would stop me!" +</P> + +<P> +Drew's heart sank. If Tyke were going, that would mean that he would +have to stay behind to look after the interests of the chandlery shop. +</P> + +<P> +"But your business?" objected the captain. +</P> + +<P> +"Business be hanged!" roared Tyke. "It can go to Davy Jones, for all I +care. Anyway, I can leave it in good hands. But I'm going to have one +more sight of blue water before I turn up my toes for good, no matter +what happens. An' I'm going to take Allen along with me!" +</P> + +<P> +Drew was struck dumb for the moment and could only stare at the excited +old man. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes!" repeated Tyke, "he's going to have his fling along with the rest +of us. We ought to be back in a couple of months, if we have any kind +of luck. Winters is a bright boy, and he can keep things going for a +while." +</P> + +<P> +"That'll be fine," said the captain with enthusiasm. "I'd like nothing +better than to have the two of you for messmates." +</P> + +<P> +"But say!" broke in Tyke, as a thought suddenly occurred to him, "what +about that feller—Parmalee—who has a third int'rest in your craft? +Of course, he'll want to know, an' he'll have a right to know, why you +don't take this Galveston cargo an' why you're going on this cruise of +ours. How are you going to git around that?" +</P> + +<P> +"That is something of a problem," the captain replied slowly, "and +especially as he thought of going with me to Galveston for the sake of +his health. He's lame and delicate, and the doctor told him that a sea +voyage was just what he needed to build him up. +</P> + +<P> +"Of course," he went on, "I'm the principal owner of the ship, and what +I say, goes. I could do this against his will, if I wished, although +of course in that case I'd be bound to see that he got as much profit +as he would have done if I'd taken the Galveston job." +</P> + +<P> +"What kind of feller is this Parmalee?" asked Grimshaw cautiously. +</P> + +<P> +"As fine a lad as you'd care to meet," answered the captain heartily. +"Friendly and good-hearted and white all through. He's sickly in body, +but his head's all right. And just because he is that kind, I don't +want to do anything that would hurt or offend him. +</P> + +<P> +"But that's a matter that can wait," he continued. "In any event it +won't affect our plans. Either I'll fix the matter up with him +satisfactorily in a money way, or, if you think best, we'll let him +into the secret and take him along." +</P> + +<P> +"Would that be safe?" inquired Tyke dubiously. +</P> + +<P> +"Absolutely," affirmed the captain. "He's a man of honor, and if he +promised to keep our secret, wild horses couldn't drag it from him. +I'd trust him as I would myself. Maybe he'd like to come along with +us. He's too rich to care anything about the doubloons, but he's +romantic, and he might like the fun of hunting for it." +</P> + +<P> +"Well," said Tyke, "we'll have to leave that matter to you to settle as +you think best. Any one you vouch for will be good enough for me." +</P> + +<P> +"And now," said Captain Hamilton, "there's one thing more that we +haven't touched on yet. I suppose we understand, Tyke, that you and I +put up the expenses of this expedition, fifty-fifty?" +</P> + +<P> +"Sure thing," agreed Tyke. +</P> + +<P> +"And if nothing comes of it, we simply charge it up to profit and +loss——' +</P> + +<P> +"An' let it go at that," finished Tyke. "We'll have had a run for our +money, anyhow." +</P> + +<P> +"On the other hand," the captain continued, "if we find the treasure, +and it proves to be of any size, we'll first deduct the cost of the +trip, lay aside enough for Parmalee to make things right with him—he +may not want it, but we'll make him take it—and then divide what's +left into three equal shares?" +</P> + +<P> +"Three!" Drew uttered the ejaculation, and the blood drummed in his +temples. +</P> + +<P> +"That's right," assented Tyke placidly. "One for you, one for me, and +the third for Allen." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap10"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER X +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +CAPRICIOUS FORTUNE +</H4> + +<P> +Drew experienced a thrill of delight. But he felt that he ought to +protest. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm not putting up anything toward the expense," he said. "If things +go wrong, you'll lose heavily. I have nothing to lose and everything +to gain. It doesn't seem the square thing." +</P> + +<P> +"Let us do the worrying about that," smiled the captain. "You've done +your fair share already toward this adventure. We'll all share and +share alike." +</P> + +<P> +"You bet we will," chimed in Tyke. "There wouldn't be any cruise at +all if it hadn't been for you. Who suggested searching the box? Who +translated the paper and the map? You've been the head and front of +the whole thing from the beginning." +</P> + +<P> +"But——" began Drew. +</P> + +<P> +"'But,' nothing," interrupted Tyke. "Not another word. Remember I'm +your boss." +</P> + +<P> +And Drew, glad enough for once in his life to be bossed, became silent. +But the walls of his air castle began to grow more solid. +</P> + +<P> +"How long will it be before you can have the schooner ready to sail?" +Tyke inquired, turning to the captain. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, in a week or ten days if we are pressed," was the response. "It +won't take us more than that to get our supplies aboard and ship our +crew." +</P> + +<P> +"The crew is an important matter," reflected Tyke. "It won't do to +pick up any riffraff that may come to hand. We want to git men that we +can trust. Sailors have a way of smelling out the meaning of any +cruise that is out of the usual order of things, an' if there's any +trouble-makers in the crew who git a hint that we're out for treasure, +they'll cause mischief." +</P> + +<P> +"They won't get any hint, unless some of us talk in our sleep," replied +the captain. "I know where I can lay hands on quite a few of my old +crew, but I'll be so busy with other things that I'll have to leave the +picking of most of the men to Ditty." +</P> + +<P> +"Ditty?" said Grimshaw inquiringly. +</P> + +<P> +"He's my mate," explained the captain. "Cal Ditty. As smart a sailor +as one could ask for. But that about lets him out." +</P> + +<P> +"Why! don't you like him?" asked Tyke quickly. +</P> + +<P> +"No, I can't say I do," replied the captain slowly. "I've never warmed +toward the man. There's something about him that repels me." +</P> + +<P> +"Why don't you git rid of him then?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, you see it's like this," explained Captain Hamilton. "He saved +Mr. Parmalee's life one time when the old man fell overboard, and +naturally Parmalee felt very grateful to him. He promised him that he +should always have a berth on one of his ships as long as he lived. Of +course, since the old man is dead, we could do as we liked about firing +Ditty, but young Parmalee feels that it's up to him to respect his +father's wishes. So rather than have any trouble about it, I've kept +Ditty on. But he's a lush when he's ashore, and I don't fully trust +him. That may be unjust too, for he's always done his work well and +I've had no reason to complain." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, anyway," warned Tyke, "I'd keep my weather eye peeled if I was +you. When you feel that way about a man, there's usually something to +justify it sooner or later." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, now, suppose I'm ready in a fortnight, how about you?" asked +Captain Hamilton. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, we'll be ready by that time," replied Tyke confidently. "Of +course we've got this moving to do, but we're pretty well packed up +now, an' before a week is over we'll have everything shipshape in our +new quarters." +</P> + +<P> +"We'll race each other to see who'll be ready first," laughed Captain +Hamilton. "In the meantime, if you're not too rushed, come over and +take a squint at the <I>Bertha Hamilton</I>. And if you don't see the +niftiest little craft that ever gladdened the eyes of a sailorman, you +can call me a swab." +</P> + +<P> +"Where is she lying?" asked Drew. +</P> + +<P> +"Foot of Franklin Street, North River. You'll find me there most all +the time, but if you don't just go aboard and look her over anyway. +You'll be on her for some weeks, and you might as well get acquainted." +</P> + +<P> +Tyke and Drew promised that they would, and, with a cordial handshake, +Captain Hamilton left the office. +</P> + +<P> +Grimshaw carefully stowed the map and paper away in his safe, and then +turned to Drew. +</P> + +<P> +"Named his craft after the daughter he spoke of, I reckon—<I>Bertha +Hamilton</I>. Well, perhaps it'll bring us luck. Cap'n Rufe is some +seaman, an' no mistake." Then he added, with a quizzical smile: "Quite +a lot's happened since this time yesterday." +</P> + +<P> +"I should say there had!" responded Drew. "My head is swimming with +it. It'll take some time for me to settle down and get my bearings. +I'm tempted to pinch myself to see if I'm not dreaming. If I am, I +don't want to wake up. You're certainly good to me, Mr. Grimshaw," he +added warmly. +</P> + +<P> +Tyke waved aside Drew's thanks by a motion of his hand. +</P> + +<P> +"Everything does seem topsy-turvy," he said. "I thought that the old +hulk was laid up for good. But now it seems she's clearing for one +more cruise. An' it's all come about so queer like. Now if I——" +</P> + +<P> +Tyke checked himself and rose to his feet. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, now we've got one more reason for hustling," he declared. +"You'll have your hands full from this time on, my boy, an' so will I. +You want to begin to break Winters in right away, so that he'll be able +to take charge of things while we're gone." +</P> + +<P> +"How shall I explain it?" asked Drew. "What shall I give as a reason +for the trip?" +</P> + +<P> +Tyke reflected for a moment. +</P> + +<P> +"Jest say that we're going for a cruise in Southern waters with an old +sea cap'n friend of mine. Tell him that you've been sticking pretty +close to your desk, an' that I thought it would be a good thing for you +to go along. Don't make any mystery of it. Tell him that we'll be +back in a couple of months, an' that it's up to him to make good while +we're gone. +</P> + +<P> +"One thing more," he added, as Drew turned to go. "Tell him that I'm +going to raise his salary, an' he'll feel so good about that that he +won't waste much time thinking about us and our plans." +</P> + +<P> +The recipe worked as Tyke had predicted, and after the first +expressions of surprise, Winters speedily became engrossed in his added +responsibilities and the increase in his pay, leaving Drew untroubled +by prying questions. +</P> + +<P> +For the next three days all worked like beavers, and by nightfall of +the third day the moving had been effected and the stock arranged in +their new quarters. +</P> + +<P> +"Guess we're going to be ready for that cruise before Cap'n Rufe is," +grinned Tyke, as he surveyed the finished work. +</P> + +<P> +But he exulted too soon. That very evening, Drew received a telephone +message from St. Luke's hospital saying that Mr. T. Grimshaw had been +brought in there with an injured leg as the result of a street +accident. He had requested that Drew be summoned at once. +</P> + +<P> +Shocked and grieved, the young man hurried to the hospital. He was +ushered at once into the private room in which Tyke was lying. +</P> + +<P> +The leg had been bandaged, and Tyke had recovered somewhat from the +first shock of the accident. He was suffering no special pain at the +moment, and was eagerly watching the door through which Drew would come. +</P> + +<P> +The latter's heart ached as he saw how wan and gray the old man's face +looked. But his indomitable spirit still shone in his sunken eyes, and +he tried to summon a cheery smile as Drew came near the bed. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, Allen, my boy," he remarked, "I guess I crowed too soon this +afternoon. I didn't think then that the old hulk would be laid up so +soon for repairs." +</P> + +<P> +Drew expressed his sorrow, as he gripped Tyke's hand affectionately. +</P> + +<P> +"How did it happen?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Cruising across the street in front of an auto," replied Tyke. +"Thought I had cleared it, but guess I hadn't. I saw that one-eyed +feller standing there— +</P> + +<P> +"What one-eyed fellow?" Drew asked, interrupting. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, I don't know who he was. Looked like a sea-faring man," returned +Tyke. "Oh! That does hurt! Doctor said it would if I moved it." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't move your leg, then," advised Drew. "What about the one-eyed +man?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why," repeated Tyke, reflectively, "I saw him on the curb jest as I +jumped to git out of the way of that auto. I ain't as spry as I used +to be I admit; but seems to me I would have made it all right if it +hadn't been for that feller." +</P> + +<P> +"What did he do to you?" asked the anxious Drew. Of course, there was +more than one sailor in the world with only one eye; yet the young man +wondered. +</P> + +<P> +"I saw his hand stretched out, an' I thought he was going to grab me. +But next I knew I was pushed right back an' the car knocked me flat. +B'fore I lost my senses, it seemed to me that that one-eyed swab was +down on his knees going through my pockets." +</P> + +<P> +"Robbing you?" gasped Drew. +</P> + +<P> +"Well—mebbe I dreamed it. I've been puzzling over it ever since I've +been lying here. I didn't lose my watch, nor yet my wallet, that's +sure," and Tyke grinned. "But it certainly was a queer experience. +An' I'd like to know who that one-eyed feller is." +</P> + +<P> +"How badly is your leg hurt?" asked Drew. +</P> + +<P> +"Might have been worse," answered Tyke. "Doctor says my knee's +wrenched an' the ligaments torn, but there's nothing that can't be +mended. I'll be off my pins for the next month or two, they say. So I +guess old Tyke won't be Johnny-on-the-spot when you dig up them +doubloons." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't worry about that," protested Drew. "The only important thing +now is that you should get well. The treasure can wait. We'll +postpone the trip until you get ready to go." +</P> + +<P> +"No you won't!" declared Tyke energetically. "You'll do nothing of the +kind! You'll go right ahead and look for it, an' I'll lie here an' +root for you." +</P> + +<P> +He was getting excited, and at this juncture the nurse interposed and +Drew had to go, after promising to come again the first thing in the +morning. +</P> + +<P> +He sent a message on leaving the hospital to Captain Hamilton, and the +next morning they went in company to visit the patient. +</P> + +<P> +They were delighted to learn that he was doing well. There were no +complications, and it was only a matter of time before the injured leg +would be as well as ever. +</P> + +<P> +The captain had been grieved to hear of his old friend's mishap. He +expressed his entire willingness to postpone the trip till some time in +the future when Tyke could go along. But the latter had been thinking +the matter over and was even more determined than he had been the night +before that his injury should not prevent the expedition going forward +as planned. +</P> + +<P> +"One man more or less don't make any difference," he declared. "Of +course, I'd set my heart on going with you, an' I ain't denying it's a +sore disappointment to have to lie here like some old derelict. But it +would worry me a good deal more to know that I was knocking the whole +plan to flinders. Our agreement still stands, except that I'll have to +be a silent partner instead of an active one. Allen can represent me, +as well as himself, when you git to the island. But I can do my part +in outfitting the expedition as well as though I was on my feet. My +leg is out of commission, but my arm isn't, an' I can still sign +checks," and he chuckled. "You fellers go right ahead now and git +busy." +</P> + +<P> +There was no swerving him from his determination, and, although +reluctantly, they were forced to acquiesce. The captain went ahead +with his preparations, and Drew redoubled his activities, as now he had +to do two men's work. But his superb vitality laughed at work and he +became so engrossed in it that he forgot everything else. +</P> + +<P> +Except Ruth Adams! +</P> + +<P> +Consciously or sub-consciously, her gracious memory was with him always. +</P> + +<P> +In the first rush of exultation that he felt when he found himself +admitted as an equal partner in the possible gains of the expedition, +he had overlooked the fact that it meant an absence, more or less +prolonged, from the city where he supposed Ruth Adams to be. How many +things might happen in the interval! Suppose in his absence some +fortunate man should woo and win her? A girl so attractive could not +fail to have suitors. He felt that the golden fruit he might get on +the expedition would turn to ashes if he could not lay it at her feet. +</P> + +<P> +So, tossed about by a sea of alternate hopes and fears, the days went +by until but forty-eight hours remained before the time agreed upon for +sailing. +</P> + +<P> +On Tuesday, Allen had occasion to confer with Captain Hamilton. Up to +now, their meetings, when it had been necessary to see each other on +business connected with the trip, had been in the South Street office. +And, what with the multiplied demands on his time and his daily calls +on Tyke at the hospital, Drew had not yet visited the <I>Bertha +Hamilton</I>. He had planned to do so more than once, but had found it +out of the question. He told himself that he would have ample time to +get acquainted with the schooner from stem to stern when they had left +New York behind them and were heading for the island in the Caribbean. +</P> + +<P> +But to-day the conference was to be aboard the <I>Bertha Hamilton</I>. Drew +was forced to confess, on reaching the pier at which the schooner was +moored and on catching his first glimpse of her, that the captain was +justified in his enthusiasm. She was indeed a beauty. With her long, +graceful, gently curving lines, she seemed more like a yacht than a +merchant vessel. She was schooner rigged, and, although of course the +sails were furled, the height of her masts indicated great +sail-carrying capacity. Everything about her suggested grace and +speed, and Drew did not doubt that she could show her heels to almost +any sailing craft in the port. +</P> + +<P> +As his appreciative eyes swept the vessel throughout its entire length +from stern rail to bowsprit, his admiration grew. He was glad that +such a craft was to carry the hopes and fortunes of the treasure +hunters. She seemed to promise success in advance. +</P> + +<P> +He went over the plank and turned to go aft in search of the captain. +Then he stopped suddenly. His heart seemed to cease beating for an +instant. He found himself looking into the hazel eyes of the girl of +whom he had been dreaming day and night since he had first seen her +down on the East River docks! +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap11"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XI +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +A DREAM REALIZED +</H4> + +<P> +For a moment Drew almost doubted his own eyesight. But there was no +mistake. There could be only one girl like her in the world, he told +himself. She was wearing a simple white dress and her head was bare. +The bright sunshine rioted in her golden hair, and her eyes were +luminous and soft. A wave of color mounted to her forehead as she came +face to face with Allen Drew. +</P> + +<P> +She had turned the corner of the deck house, and they had almost +collided. She stepped back, startled, and Drew collected his scattered +wits sufficiently to lift his hat and apologize. +</P> + +<P> +"I—I beg your pardon," he stammered. "I ought to have been more +careful." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, it was my fault entirely," she answered graciously. "I shouldn't +have turned the corner so sharply." +</P> + +<P> +What next he might have said Drew never knew, for just then there came +a heavy step and the sound of a jovial voice behind him, and Captain +Hamilton's hand was grasping his. +</P> + +<P> +"So you did manage to come over and get a look at the beauty, did you? +What do you think of her?" +</P> + +<P> +"The most beautiful thing I've ever seen!" answered Drew fervently. +</P> + +<P> +He might have had a different beauty in mind from that which the +captain had, and perhaps this suspicion occurred to the girl, for the +flush in her cheek became slightly more pronounced. But the +unsuspecting captain was hugely gratified at the tribute, though +somewhat surprise at its ardor. +</P> + +<P> +A glance from the girl reminded the captain of a duty he had overlooked. +</P> + +<P> +"I was forgetting that you two hadn't met," he said. "Drew, this is my +daughter, Miss Hamilton. Ruth, this is Mr. Allen Drew, the young man +I've been telling you so much about lately." +</P> + +<P> +They acknowledged the introduction and for one fleeting, delicious +moment her soft hand rested in his. +</P> + +<P> +So she was Captain Hamilton's daughter! Her name was not Adams! What +a blind trail he had been following! +</P> + +<P> +But Drew's thoughts were interrupted by the girl's voice. +</P> + +<P> +"We have met before, Daddy," Ruth said with a smile. "Don't you +remember my telling you about the young man who came to my aid that day +when I went on an errand for you to the <I>Normandy</I>? You remember—the +day I dropped the letters over the side? That was Mr. Drew." +</P> + +<P> +"You don't say!" exclaimed the captain. "And here we've been seeing +each other every day or so and I've never thanked him. Drew, consider +yourself thanked by a grateful father." +</P> + +<P> +They all laughed, and then the captain put his hand on the young man's +shoulder. +</P> + +<P> +"Come into the cabin and let's get that business settled. You'll +excuse us, won't you, Ruth?" he added, turning to his daughter. "We've +got a hundred things to do yet, and we can't afford to lose a minute." +</P> + +<P> +Ruth smilingly assented, and Drew was dragged off, raging internally, +his only comfort being the glance she gave him beneath her lowered +eyelids. +</P> + +<P> +He tried to listen intelligently to the captain's talk and give +coherent answers to his questions. But bind himself down as he would, +his mind and heart were in the wildest commotion. +</P> + +<P> +So she was Captain Hamilton's daughter! Her name was not Adams! The +thought kept repeating itself. +</P> + +<P> +But he had found her now, he wildly exulted. The search that might +have taken years—that even then might not have found her—had come to +an end. He had been formally introduced to her. He need no longer +worship from afar. Her father was his friend. He could see her, talk +to her, listen to her, woo her, and at last win her. Poor fellow! he +was so hard hit he scarcely knew how to conduct himself. +</P> + +<P> +"As I was saying," he heard the captain remarking in a voice that +seemed to be coming from a great distance, "young Parmalee has finally +made up his mind to come with us. His doctor insists that the one +thing he needs just now is a sea voyage. Not the kind that he might +get on an ocean steamer, with its formality and heavy meals and +chattering crowds, but the kind you can get nowhere but on a sailing +craft." +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose you had to tell him just what we were going down there to +look for?" Drew forced himself to say. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I did, after putting him on his word of honor never to breathe a +word about the object of the cruise to anybody. I'd as lief have his +word as any one's else bond." +</P> + +<P> +"What did he think about our chances in such an enterprise?" +</P> + +<P> +"Now, there's a thing that rather surprised me," replied the captain. +"To tell the truth, I felt a little sheepish about mentioning the +doubloons to him, for I rather expected him to laugh. But he took it +in dead earnest, and honestly thinks we have a chance." +</P> + +<P> +"Is he perfectly willing, as far as his interest in the schooner goes, +that she shall be used for this purpose?" Drew queried. +</P> + +<P> +"Perfectly. In fact, he was enthusiastic about it. Wouldn't even hear +of any compensation for the use of the vessel. Said he expected to get +his money's worth in the fun he'd have." +</P> + +<P> +"He seems to have a sportsmanlike spirit, all right," commented Drew, +with a smile. +</P> + +<P> +"He surely has," confirmed the captain. "I think you'll like him when +you come to know him." +</P> + +<P> +"How old is he?" +</P> + +<P> +"About your own age I should judge. You're twenty-two, I think I've +heard you say? Parmalee is perhaps twenty-three or twenty-four, but +not more than that." +</P> + +<P> +"Have you got your full crew shipped yet?" Drew inquired, after a pause. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, some of them are aboard," was the answer. "We've got two dozen +in round numbers, but we still need five or six more men before we get +our full quota. Ditty's ashore looking them up now." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you think they're going to suit you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I've seen better crews and I've seen worse," answered the captain. +"There are some of them whose faces I don't just like, but that's true +in every ship's company. I guess they'll average up all right. +</P> + +<P> +"There's one thing I want to show you," went on the captain, opening +the door of a closet built into the cabin. +</P> + +<P> +Drew looked, and was surprised to see as many as a dozen rifles, as +well as several revolvers and a sheaf of machetes. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, it looks like a small arsenal!" he exclaimed, in surprise. "What +on earth will we want all these for? One might think that we expected +to have a scrap ourselves with pirates on the Spanish Main." +</P> + +<P> +"Not that exactly," said the captain laconically, "but in an enterprise +like ours it's wise to take precautions. 'Better to be safe than be +sorry.' If it's known that we're after treasure, there may be sundry +persons who will take an unwholesome interest in our affairs." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you mean members of the crew?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not necessarily; though they may. It's not likely, for it's probably +nothing but a turtle cay, but there may be people living on the island +where we're going who would seriously dispute our right to take +anything away and might try to stop us. Few of those small islands are +inhabited; still, I'll feel a good deal more comfortable to know that +I've got these weapons stowed away where I can get them at a moment's +notice. By the way, do you know how to shoot?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," answered Drew. "I belong to a rifle club, and I'm a fairly good +shot with either a pistol or a gun." +</P> + +<P> +"A useful accomplishment," commented the captain. "You never know when +it may come in handy." +</P> + +<P> +Drew was wild to go on deck again to talk with Ruth. He had scarcely +exchanged three sentences with her, and there were a thousand things he +wanted to say. The time was getting so terribly short! In two days +more he would be sailing away with her father, leaving her behind, and +months might elapse before he could see her again. +</P> + +<P> +It was his eager desire just now to get her interested in him to some +extent, so that she would think of him sometimes while he was away; to +give her some hint of the tumult in his heart; to let her guess +something of the wealth of homage and adoration she had inspired. +Surely, if he could talk with her, she could not fail to see something +of what he felt. And seeing, she might perhaps respond. +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose you'll find it hard to leave your daughter behind?" he +ventured to say. +</P> + +<P> +The captain looked at him in surprise. +</P> + +<P> +"Bless your heart, I'm not going to leave her behind!" he exclaimed. +"She's going with us after those doubloons," and he laughed. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap12"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +A SATISFACTORY OUTLOOK +</H4> + +<P> +Drew was transported with delight, but he threw a certain carelessness +into his tone as he observed: +</P> + +<P> +"I remember. Does she know what we're going for?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh yes," replied her father. "She and I are great chums, and I don't +keep anything from her. She wanted to go with me anyway when I was +thinking of taking on a cargo for Galveston, and now that she knows +treasure is in the wind, she's more eager than ever. You know how +romantic girls are, and she's looking forward with immense pleasure to +this unusual venture of ours." +</P> + +<P> +Drew would have liked to ask whether the captain's wife were going too, +but he felt that he might be treading on delicate ground, so he used a +round-about method. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't suppose there'll be any other women in the company?" he said +lightly. +</P> + +<P> +"No," replied the captain, a little soberly. "When my wife was alive +she used to go with me occasionally on my voyages. The schooner's +named for her. But she's been dead for three years now, and as Ruth is +the only child I have, she and I will be thrown together more closely +than ever. She's finished school. +</P> + +<P> +"But I'm keeping you," he added, rising from the table at which they +had been sitting; "and I suppose you've got more work on your hands +than you know how to attend to." +</P> + +<P> +Drew rose with alacrity. +</P> + +<P> +"I am pretty busy, for a fact," he assented. "That accident to Mr. +Grimshaw has just about doubled my work. But it isn't getting the +upper hand of me, and by the time we are ready to sail I'll have tied +all the lose ends." +</P> + +<P> +"That's good. By the way, speaking of Tyke, how did you find him this +morning? I suppose you stopped in at the hospital on your way downtown +as usual?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. He's getting along in prime shape, but he's as sore as the +mischief because he can't go along." +</P> + +<P> +"It's too bad," remarked the captain sympathetically. "I'd have liked +to have him along, not only for his company, but for his shrewdness as +well. He's got a level head on those shoulders of his, and his advice +at times might come in mighty handy. +</P> + +<P> +"I won't go on deck with you, if you'll excuse me," continued the +captain, reaching out his hand for a farewell shake, "because I've some +work to do in connection with my clearance papers. Good-bye." +</P> + +<P> +The young man was perfectly willing to be deprived of the captain's +further company, much as he liked him. The captain's daughter would +make a very good substitute. He hoped ardently that she, unlike her +father, would have no business to keep her below. +</P> + +<P> +His hopes were realized, for he caught sight of her leaning on the rail +and gazing out upon the river with as much absorption as though she had +never seen it before. +</P> + +<P> +Possibly it did interest her. Possibly, too, she had forgotten all +about the handsome young man who was in conference with her father in +the cabin. Possibly she had not been stirred by the adoration in his +eyes or the agitation in his voice. So many things are possible! +</P> + +<P> +Anyway, despite a heightened color in her cheeks and a starry +brightness in her eyes, her start of surprise, as she looked up and saw +Drew standing beside her, was done very well indeed. +</P> + +<P> +"So you conspirators have got through plotting already," she said +lightly. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," Drew laughed; "we've been going over every link of the chain and +have decided that it is good and strong. Not that my judgment was +worth very much, I fear, this morning." +</P> + +<P> +"Why not?" she asked demurely. +</P> + +<P> +"Because I couldn't put my mind on it," he answered. "My wits were +wool gathering. I scarcely heard what your father said. I'm glad he +isn't a mind reader." +</P> + +<P> +"So few people are." +</P> + +<P> +"I wish you were," he said earnestly. +</P> + +<P> +She stiffened a little, and from that he took warning. He must check +the impetuous words that strove for utterance. He had but barely met +her. How was she to know the feelings that had possessed him since +their casual encounter on the pier? He must not frighten her by trying +to sweep her off her feet. This citadel was to be captured, if at all, +by siege rather than by storm. He would risk disaster by being +premature. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you know," he said in a lighter tone, "that it was the surprise of +my life when I found that your name was Hamilton?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why should it have been a surprise?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Because I had been thinking all along that your name was Adams." +</P> + +<P> +"What made you think that?" she inquired in genuine surprise. +</P> + +<P> +"W—why," he stammered, "I saw that name on one of the letters when I +picked up the packet from the grating of the boat." +</P> + +<P> +She flushed. +</P> + +<P> +"You mustn't think," he said earnestly, "that I tried to pry. If I'd +done that, I'd have found out the address at the same time. The name +just looked up at me, and I couldn't help seeing it." +</P> + +<P> +His tone carried conviction, and she unbent. +</P> + +<P> +"I can see how you made the mistake," she smiled. "The letter on top +of the packet was addressed to a very dear friend whose first name +happens to be the same as mine. She and I were great chums in boarding +school. The letter had been sent to her by a girl we both knew and who +had been traveling abroad, and as Ruth knew I would be interested in +it, she sent it on for me to read." +</P> + +<P> +"That explains the foreign stamp," he commented. +</P> + +<P> +"You noticed that too, did you?" she asked, flashing a mischievous +glance at him. "Really, you took in a lot at a single look. You ought +to be a detective." +</P> + +<P> +"I wish I were," said Drew, as he thought ruefully of the unavailing +plans he had made to find her. "I'm afraid I'm a pretty bungling +amateur." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, you were only half wrong, anyway," she answered. "The first +part of the name was right." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," he admitted. "But that didn't help me much. The last one +didn't either for that matter. There are so many Adamses in the city." +</P> + +<P> +"How do you know?" she challenged. +</P> + +<P> +He grew red. "I—I looked in the directory," he confessed. +</P> + +<P> +She thought it high time to change the subject. +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose it will be quite a wrench to say good-bye to your people +here," she remarked. +</P> + +<P> +"I haven't any," replied Drew. "My father and my mother died when I +was small. The only brother I have is out West, and I haven't seen him +for years. I've been boarding since I came to the city, five years +ago." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I'm sorry," she said with ready sympathy. "I know something of +how you feel, because I lost my own mother three years ago. I've been +in boarding school most of the time since then. So I know what it is +to be without a real home. Sometimes our only home was on shipboard." +</P> + +<P> +"But it's always possible to make a real home," said Drew daringly. +Then he checked himself and bit his lip. That troublesome tongue of +his! When would he learn to control it? +</P> + +<P> +She pretended not to have heard him. +</P> + +<P> +"I have my father left," she went on; "and he's the best father in the +world." +</P> + +<P> +"And the luckiest," put in Drew. +</P> + +<P> +"He didn't want to take me on this trip at first," she continued, "but +the most of my relatives and friends are in California, and I knew I'd +be horribly lonely in New York. So I begged and teased him to let me +go along, and at last he gave in." +</P> + +<P> +"Of course he would," Drew said with conviction. "How could he help +it?" +</P> + +<P> +He knew that if she should ask him, Allen Drew, for the moon he would +promise it to her without the slightest hesitation. He wished he dared +tell her so. +</P> + +<P> +"Have you ever been to sea?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +"No," replied Allen. "But I've always wanted to go." +</P> + +<P> +And he told her of the longing that had sprung up in him when Captain +Peters had spoken so indifferently about the wonder-lands of mystery +and romance to which his bark was sailing. +</P> + +<P> +While he talked, she was studying him closely, as is the way of girls, +without appearing to do so. She noted the stalwart well-knit figure, +the handsome features—the strong straight nose, the broad forehead, +the brown eyes that sparkled with animation. +</P> + +<P> +Drew was at his best when he talked, especially when his audience was +attentive, and there was no doubt that his audience of one was that. +She listened almost in silence only putting in a word now and then. +</P> + +<P> +The thought came to him that he might be boring her, and he stopped +abruptly. +</P> + +<P> +"If I keep on, you'll be talked to death," he said apologetically. +</P> + +<P> +"Not at all," she protested. "I've been intensely interested. I'm +glad you feel so strongly about far-off places, because you're sure to +find plenty of romance where we are going." +</P> + +<P> +"And treasure, the doubloons, too—don't forget the doubloons," he +laughed, lowering his voice and looking around to see that no one was +listening. +</P> + +<P> +"And that too," she agreed. "I suppose you've spent your share +already?" she bantered. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I'm not quite so optimistic as all that," he laughed. "But I +really think we have a chance. Don't you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed I do!" she exclaimed. "I don't think it's a wild goose chase +at all!" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm glad you feel that way about it." +</P> + +<P> +"Even if things go wrong, we can't be altogether cheated," she went on. +"We'll have had lots of fun looking for our treasure. Then, too, we'll +have had the voyage, and the schooner is a splendid sailing craft." +</P> + +<P> +"She's a beauty," assented Drew. "I don't wonder you're proud of her." +</P> + +<P> +"It was really quite flattering that you men should tell me what you +were going for," she said mockingly. "You're always saying that a +woman can't keep a secret." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't feel that way," protested Drew. "And to prove it, I'll——" +</P> + +<P> +"Listen!" said Ruth hurriedly. "Wasn't that my father calling me?" +</P> + +<P> +"I didn't hear him," he replied, looking at her suspiciously. +</P> + +<P> +"I think I'd better go and make sure," decided Ruth, moved by a sudden +impulse of filial duty. +</P> + +<P> +"Let him call again," suggested Drew. +</P> + +<P> +But Ruth was sure that this audacious young man had said quite enough +for one morning, and she held out her hand. +</P> + +<P> +"Good-bye," she smiled. "I know from what my father has told me that +you have an awful lot to do to get ready for the trip." +</P> + +<P> +"Have I?" rejoined Drew. "I'd forgotten all about them." +</P> + +<P> +They laughed. +</P> + +<P> +He held the soft hand and fluttering fingers a trifle longer than was +absolutely necessary, and after he released them he stood watching her +lithe figure until she disappeared. +</P> + +<P> +When Drew left the <I>Bertha Hamilton</I> he was treading on air and his +head was in the clouds. +</P> + +<P> +His dream had come true—part of it at least. He had found her, had +talked with her. He was going to sail in the same ship with her. They +would be thrown together constantly in the enforced intimacy of an +ocean voyage. He would see her in the morning, in the afternoon, in +the evening. And at last he would win her. The last part of his dream +would be realized as surely as the first had been. +</P> + +<P> +But when he got back to the shop he found that he was in a practical +world whose claims refused to be ignored. Winters still needed a lot +of coaching, and the time was short. The business must not suffer +while Drew was gone. +</P> + +<P> +One thing lifted from his shoulders some of the weight of +responsibility. Tyke would be at hand to superintend things and to +keep a check on Winter's inexperience. To be sure, he would be in the +hospital for some time to come, but Winters could go to see him every +evening, and get help in his problems. +</P> + +<P> +The <I>Bertha Hamilton</I> was to sail at high tide on Thursday morning, and +by Wednesday night Drew had sent his baggage on board and had settled +the last item that belonged to Tyke's part of the contract. Everything +from now on was in the hands of Captain Hamilton. +</P> + +<P> +He went up to the hospital to report to his employer and to say +farewell. They talked long and late, and both were strongly moved when +they shook hands in parting. Who knew what might happen before they +met again? Who knew that they ever would meet again? +</P> + +<P> +"Good-bye, Mr. Grimshaw," said Drew. "I hope you'll be as well and as +strong as ever when I get back." +</P> + +<P> +"Good-bye, Allen," responded Tyke, with a suspicious moisture in his +eyes. "I'll be rooting for you an' thinking of you all the time. +Good-bye an' good luck." +</P> + +<P> +At daybreak the next morning Drew stepped on board the <I>Bertha +Hamilton</I> and the most thrilling experience of his life had begun. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap13"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +STORM SIGNALS +</H4> + +<P> +Naturally Drew's first thought as he glanced about the vessel, was of +Ruth. But it was too early for the young lady to be in evidence. +</P> + +<P> +Captain Hamilton met him with a cordial grasp of the hand, and took him +down to the room assigned to him for the voyage. It was one of a +series of staterooms on either side of a narrow corridor aft, and, +although of course small, it was snug and comfortable. +</P> + +<P> +There was a berth built against one side of the room. Apart from a +tiny washstand, with bowl and pitcher, and a small swinging rack for a +few books, a chair completed the equipment of the stateroom. The room +was immaculately neat and clean, and in a glass on the washstand was a +tiny bunch of violets. Drew wondered who had put it there. +</P> + +<P> +"Rather cramped," laughed the captain; "but we sailors have learned how +to live in close quarters, and you'll soon get used to it. There are +some drawers built into the side where you can put your clothes, and +your trunk and bags can go under the berth." +</P> + +<P> +Drew, with his eyes and thoughts on the flowers, hastened to assure the +captain that there was plenty of room. +</P> + +<P> +"The stateroom next to yours, I had set aside for Tyke," said Captain +Hamilton regretfully. "It's too bad that the old boy isn't coming. +The one on the other side is Parmalee's." +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose he hasn't come aboard yet?" half questioned Drew, as he +unstrapped his bags, preparatory to putting their contents in the +drawers. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes he has," returned the captain. "He came aboard last night. I +suppose he's still asleep. Haven't heard him stirring yet." +</P> + +<P> +"What time do you expect to pull out?" asked Drew. +</P> + +<P> +"Almost any minute now. We've got everything aboard and we're only +waiting for the tug that will take us down the bay. The wind's not so +fair this morning." +</P> + +<P> +The captain excused himself and went on deck, and a little later, +having finished his unpacking, the younger man followed him. +</P> + +<P> +The one person on whom his thoughts were centered was still invisible, +and Drew had ample time to watch the busy scene upon the schooner's +deck. The members of the crew were hurrying about in obedience to +shouted orders, stowing away the last boxes and provisions that had +come on board. +</P> + +<P> +The sails were in stops ready to be broken out when the vessel should +be out in the stream. A snorting tug was nosing her way alongside. A +slight mist that had rested on the surface of the water was being +rapidly dissipated by the freshening breeze, and over the Long Island +horizon the sun was coming up, red and resplendent. +</P> + +<P> +Drew made his way along the deck until he came near the foremast, where +the mate was standing, bawling orders to the men. He was a tall, spare +man, and in his voice there was a ring of authority, not to say +truculence, that boded ill for any man who did not jump when spoken to. +His back was toward Drew, but there was something about the figure that +seemed familiar. +</P> + +<P> +While he was wondering why this was so, the man turned, and, with +amazement, Drew saw that the mate of the <I>Bertha Hamilton</I> was the +one-eyed man with whom he had had his unpleasant encounter upon the +Jones Lane wharf. +</P> + +<P> +There was a flash of recognition and plenty of insolence in that one +eye as it was turned upon Drew, but the next moment the man had turned +his back and was again bellowing at the sailors. +</P> + +<P> +Drew had a feeling of discomfort. He knew from the look the mate had +given him that he still cherished malice. It was unpleasant to have a +discordant note struck at the very outset of the voyage. And then, +there was the suspicious circumstance of Grimshaw's accident. A +one-eyed seaman had figured in that. Should he go to Captain Hamilton +and report his vague suspicions of this fellow? +</P> + +<P> +He had no time to pursue the thought, however, for at that moment he +heard the clang of a gong, and an ambulance came dashing out on the +pier just as the moorings of the <I>Bertha Hamilton</I> were about to be +cast off. +</P> + +<P> +Drew's first thought was that an accident had happened, and he hurried +over to the starboard rail. The ambulance had stopped, and two +white-clad attendants were helping out a man who had been reclining on +a mattress within. They stood him on one foot while they slipped a +pair of crutches under his arms. The man lifted his head, and, with a +yell of delight, Drew leaped to the wharf. +</P> + +<P> +It was Tyke Grimshaw! Pale and haggard the old man looked, but his +indomitable spirit was still in evidence and his eyes twinkled with the +old whimsical smile. +</P> + +<P> +"Hurrah!" yelled Drew. +</P> + +<P> +The cry was echoed by Captain Hamilton, who had likewise leaped from +the taffrail to the pier. +</P> + +<P> +"Didn't expect to see me, eh?" queried Tyke, while the ambulance men +stood by, grinning. +</P> + +<P> +"No, I didn't," roared Captain Hamilton, gripping him by one hand while +Drew held the other. "But I can't tell you how glad I am that you made +up your mind to come." +</P> + +<P> +"We might have known you'd get here if you had to walk on your hands," +cried Drew jubilantly. +</P> + +<P> +"Had to fight like the mischief to get them doctors to let me come," +chortled Tyke, evidently delighted by the warmth of the greeting. +"They told me I was jest plumb crazy to think of it. But after Allen, +here, left me last night I got so lonesome an' restless there was no +holding me. Seemed like I'd go wild if I'd had to stay in that +sick-bay while you fellers were sniffing the sea air. So I jest reared +up on my hind legs, as you might say, an' they had to let me come." +</P> + +<P> +"And you got here just in the nick of time," said the captain. "Ten +minutes more and we'd have been slipping down the river." +</P> + +<P> +Carefully supporting him on either side, for he found the unaccustomed +crutches awkward, Captain Hamilton and Drew helped him on board the +vessel and seated him comfortably in a deck chair. +</P> + +<P> +Tyke drew in great draughts of the salt-laden air and his eyes +glistened as he scrutinized the lines and spars of the schooner, noting +her beauties with the expert eye of the sailor. +</P> + +<P> +"Great little craft," he said approvingly. "I wouldn't have missed +sailing on her for the world. A cruise in a tidy schooner like this +will do me more good than them blamed doctors could if they fiddled +around me for a year." +</P> + +<P> +"How is your leg feeling now?" asked Drew solicitously. +</P> + +<P> +"Better already," grinned Tyke. "In less'n a week I'll be chucking +these crutches overboard. See if I don't." +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly Tyke fell silent. Drew turned swiftly and saw that the old +man was staring under bent brows at the mate of the schooner. +</P> + +<P> +"Who's that?" Tyke finally demanded. +</P> + +<P> +"That's Ditty—my mate," said Captain Hamilton. "I told you he was no +handsome dog, didn't I?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ugh!" grunted Tyke, and said no more. +</P> + +<P> +Before Drew could ask the question that was on the tip of his tongue, a +musical voice at his elbow said: +</P> + +<P> +"Good morning, Mr. Drew." +</P> + +<P> +He was on his feet in a flash, holding out his hand in eager greeting. +"I was wondering when I was going to see you!" he exclaimed. +</P> + +<P> +"You'll probably see too much of me before this voyage is over," Ruth +said demurely. "I expect you men will be frightfully bored with one +lone woman hovering around all the time." +</P> + +<P> +Drew's eyes were eloquent with denial. +</P> + +<P> +"Impossible!" he said emphatically. Then he became conscious that Tyke +was looking on with some curiosity. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I forgot," he said. "Mr. Grimshaw, this is Miss Hamilton, Captain +Hamilton's daughter. Miss Hamilton, this is Captain Grimshaw." +</P> + +<P> +Ruth held out her hand, but Tyke deliberately drew her to him and +kissed her on the cheek. She extricated herself blushingly. +</P> + +<P> +"An old man's privilege, my dear," said Tyke placidly. "An' I've known +your father going on thirty years." +</P> + +<P> +Drew wished that it were a young man's privilege as well. +</P> + +<P> +"So you're Rufus Hamilton's daughter," went on Tyke. "My, my! An' +pooty as a picture, too." +</P> + +<P> +Ruth flushed a little at so open a compliment, but smiled at Grimshaw +and said brightly: +</P> + +<P> +"I'm so glad you can come with us. I was dreadfully sorry to hear of +your accident. It would have been horrid for you to stay cooped up in +that old hospital. Father has told me how much you had counted on the +trip." +</P> + +<P> +"The old craft isn't a derelict jest yet," replied Tyke complacently. +"I'm afraid I'll be something of a nuisance till I get steady on my +pins again, but I'll try not to be too much in the way." +</P> + +<P> +"We'll all be glad to wait on you, I'm sure," protested Ruth, with +another smile that won Grimshaw completely. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll go down now and see how Wah Lee is getting along with breakfast," +the girl continued. "I've no doubt you folks will be hungry enough to +do justice to it." +</P> + +<P> +"This air would give an appetite to a mummy," declared Drew. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm some sharp set myself," admitted Tyke, as the fragrance of +steaming coffee was wafted to him from the cook's galley. "Jest the +very thought of eating in a ship's cabin again makes me hungry." +</P> + +<P> +Drew's eyes followed the girl as she disappeared down the companionway, +and when he looked up it was to find Tyke regarding him amusedly. +</P> + +<P> +"So that's the way the wind blows, is it?" the old man chuckled. +</P> + +<P> +"Nonsense!" disclaimed Drew, although conscious that his tone did not +carry conviction. "She's a very nice girl, but this is only the second +time I've met her." To avoid further prodding, he added: "I'll go down +to your room and see if that Jap has put things shipshape for you." +</P> + +<P> +As he went to the room reserved for Grimshaw, he met Ruth just coming +out of it. Her skirts brushed against him in the narrow corridor and +he tingled to the finger tips. +</P> + +<P> +"I've just put a few flowers in Mr. Grimshaw's room," she said. "They +seem to make the bare little cubby holes a bit more homey, don't you +think? I thought they would be a sort of welcome." +</P> + +<P> +Drew agreed with her, but the hope he had been hugging to his breast +that he had been singled out for special attention vanished. +</P> + +<P> +"I was foolish enough to think that I had them all," he confessed with +a sheepish grin. +</P> + +<P> +"What a greedy man!" she laughed. "No, indeed! Did you think I was +going to overlook my father or Mr. Parmalee? You men are so conceited!" +</P> + +<P> +As though the mention of his name had summoned him, the door of a +neighboring stateroom opened just then and a young man stepped out. He +smiled pleasantly as his gaze fell on Ruth. +</P> + +<P> +"Good morning, Miss Ruth. I'm incorrigibly lazy, I'm afraid," he +remarked, "or else this good air is responsible for my sleeping more +soundly than for a long time past." +</P> + +<P> +Ruth assured him that it was still early. +</P> + +<P> +"If you are lazy, the sun is too," she said, "for, like yourself, it +has just risen." +</P> + +<P> +"That makes him lazier," returned Parmalee, "for he went to rest a good +deal earlier than I did last night." +</P> + +<P> +Ruth laughed, and, after introducing the young men to each other, she +vanished in the direction of the captain's cabin. +</P> + +<P> +The pair exchanged the usual commonplaces as they moved toward the +companionway. Parmalee walked with some difficulty, leaning on a cane, +and Drew had to moderate his pace to keep in step. When they emerged +into the full light of the upper deck, Drew had a chance to gain an +impression of the man who was to be his fellow-voyager. +</P> + +<P> +Lester Parmalee was fully four inches shorter than the trifle over six +feet to which Drew owned, and his slender frame gave him an appearance +of fragility. This impression was heightened by the cane on which he +leaned and the lines in his face which bespoke delicate health. His +complexion was pale, and seemed more pallid because of its contrast +with a mass of coal black hair which overhung his rather high forehead. +His nose and mouth were good and his eyes dark and keenly intelligent. +Some would have called him handsome. Others would have qualified this +by the adjective romantic. All would have agreed that he was a +gentleman. +</P> + +<P> +His physical weakness was atoned for to a great extent by other +qualities that grew on one by longer acquaintance. His manners were +polished, his mind trained and well stored. He was a graduate of +Harvard and had traveled extensively. His inherited wealth had not +spoiled him, although it had, perhaps, given him too much +self-assurance and just a shade of superciliousness. +</P> + +<P> +The two young men as they chatted formed a violent contrast. If Drew +suggested the Viking type, Parmalee would, with equal fitness, have +filled the role of a troubadour. The one was powerful and direct, the +other suave and subtle. One could conceive of Drew's wielding a broad +axe, but would have put in Parmalee's hands a rapier. Each had his own +separate and distinct appeal both to men and women. +</P> + +<P> +Drew introduced Parmalee to Grimshaw. Then the captain came along, and +all four were engaged in an animated conversation when Namco, the +Japanese steward, announced: +</P> + +<P> +"Lady say I make honorable report: Bleakfast!" +</P> + +<P> +"And high time for it!" cried the captain. "I'm as hungry as a hawk +and I guess the rest of you are too. We'll go down and see what that +slant-eyed Celestial has knocked up for us." +</P> + +<P> +Wah Lee had "done himself proud" in this initial meal, which proved to +be abundant, well-cooked and appetizing. +</P> + +<P> +All were in high spirits as they gathered about the table. Ordinarily, +the mate would have formed one of the company while the second officer +stood the captain's watch. But the narrow quarters and the unusual +number of passengers on this trip made it necessary that the mate +should eat after the captain and his guests had finished. +</P> + +<P> +The captain sat at the head of the table while Ruth presided over the +coffee urn at the foot. Tyke sat at the captain's right, and the two +young men were placed one on either side of their hostess. +</P> + +<P> +She wore a fetching breakfast cap, which did not prevent a rebellious +wisp or two of golden hair from playing about her pink ears. Her +cheeks were rosy, her eyes sparkling, and her demure little housewifely +air as she poured the coffee was bewitching. The excitement of the +start, the novelty of the quest on which they had embarked, and the +presence of two young and attentive cavaliers put her on her mettle, +and she was full of quaint sayings and witty sallies. +</P> + +<P> +Her father gazed on her fondly, Tyke beamed approvingly, and Parmalee's +admiration was undisguised. As for Drew, the havoc she had already +made in his heart reached alarming proportions. He found himself +picturing a home ashore, where every morning that face would be +opposite to him at the breakfast table with that ravishing dimple +coming and going as she smiled at him. +</P> + +<P> +"How do you like your coffee?" she asked him, her slender fingers +hovering over the cream jug and the sugar tongs. +</P> + +<P> +"Two lumps of cream and plenty of sugar," he responded. +</P> + +<P> +She laughed mischievously. +</P> + +<P> +"We always try to please," she said; "but really our cream doesn't come +in lumps." +</P> + +<P> +He reddened. +</P> + +<P> +"I surely did get that twisted," he said a little sheepishly. "Suppose +we put it the other way around." +</P> + +<P> +"I guess your mind was far away," she jested. "You must have been +thinking of the treasure." +</P> + +<P> +"That's exactly right," he returned, looking into her eyes as he took +the cup she handed him. "I was thinking of the treasure." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap14"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIV +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +BEGINNING THE VOYAGE +</H4> + +<P> +Ruth bent a little lower over her coffee urn to hide the additional +flush that had come into her cheeks, and after that she guided the +conversation to safer ground and took care to leave no opening for +Drew's audacity. +</P> + +<P> +The meal over, all went on deck. The captain took charge and sent +Ditty and Rogers, the second officer, below to get breakfast. The crew +had already breakfasted. +</P> + +<P> +Tyke had been carefully helped up by Drew and Captain Hamilton and +placed in a chair abaft the mizzenmast, where his keen old eyes could +delight themselves with the activities of the crew. Ruth had fussed +around him prettily with cushions and a rest for his injured leg, until +the veteran vowed that he would surely be spoiled before the voyage was +over. +</P> + +<P> +They had passed the Battery by this time, and were moving sluggishly +with the tide. Behind them stretched the vast metropolis, with its +wonderful sky-line sharply outlined by the bright rays of the morning +sun. The Goddess of Liberty held her torch aloft as though to guide +them in their venture. At the right the hills of Staten Island smiled +in their vernal beauty, while at the left, white stretches of gleaming +beach indicated the pleasure resorts where the people of the teeming +city came to play. +</P> + +<P> +Ditty had come on deck again. Unpleasant though his countenance was, +and as suspicious as Drew was of him, it was plain that the mate of the +<I>Bertha Hamilton</I> was a good seaman. +</P> + +<P> +He looked now at Captain Hamilton for permission to make sail. The +latter signed to him to go ahead. Useless to pay towage with a +favoring wind and flowing tide. +</P> + +<P> +Ditty bawled to the crew: +</P> + +<P> +"Break her out, bullies! H'ist away tops'ls!" +</P> + +<P> +The halyards were promptly manned. One man started the chorus that +jerked the main topsail aloft. +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"Oh, come all you little yaller boys<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">An' roll the cotton <I>down</I>!</SPAN><BR> +Oh, a husky pull, my bully boys,<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">An' roll the cotton <I>down</I>!"</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +In a trice, it would seem, her three topsails were mastheaded and the +foretopsail laid to the mast. The fore-braces came in, hand over hand, +the hawsers were tossed overboard and the tug fell astern. The <I>Bertha +Hamilton</I> leaned gracefully to the freshening gale, and was shooting +for the Narrows. +</P> + +<P> +"It is perfectly beautiful, isn't it?" cried Ruth. +</P> + +<P> +"Magnificent," agreed Drew. +</P> + +<P> +"It's the finest harbor in all the world, to my mind," declared +Parmalee. +</P> + +<P> +"I wonder when we'll see it again," mused Ruth, with a touch of +apprehension in her voice. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, it won't be long before we're back," prophesied Parmalee. +</P> + +<P> +"And when we do come back, we'll have enough doubloons with us to buy +up the whole city," joked Drew. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't be too sure of that," smiled Ruth. "Those who go out to shear +sometimes come back shorn." +</P> + +<P> +"We simply can't fail," asserted Drew. "Especially as we're taking a +mascot along with us." +</P> + +<P> +"The mascot may prove to be a hoodoo," laughed Ruth. "I've thought +more than once that I shouldn't have teased my father to take me along." +</P> + +<P> +"He'd have robbed the whole trip of brightness if he had refused," +affirmed Parmalee. +</P> + +<P> +"It's nice of you to say that," returned Ruth. "But if any serious +trouble should come up, fighting or anything of that kind, you might +find me terribly in the way." +</P> + +<P> +"We'd only have an additional reason to fight the harder," declared +Drew. "No harm should come to you while any of us were left alive. +But really, there's nothing to worry about. This trip is going to be a +summer excursion." +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing more serious to fear than the ghosts of some of the old +pirates who may be keeping guard over their doubloons and may resent +our intrusion," said Parmalee. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm not afraid of ghosts," cried Ruth. "It's only creatures of flesh +and blood that give me any worry." +</P> + +<P> +"If anything should come up," said Drew, "we're in pretty good shape to +give the mischief-makers a tussle. Your father has a good collection +of weapons down in the cabin." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," assented Ruth; "and I know how to load and handle a revolver." +</P> + +<P> +Drew put up his hands in pretended fright. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't shoot!" he pleaded. +</P> + +<P> +Thus with jest and compliment and banter the time passed until they +were off Sandy Hook. The breeze, while brisk, was light enough to +warrant carrying all sails, and a cloud of canvas soon billowed from +aloft. One after another the sails were broken out on all three masts +until they creaked with the strain. The <I>Bertha Hamilton</I> heeled over +to port, and with every stitch drawing before a following wind gathered +way until she boomed along at a gait that swiftly carried her out of +sight of land. Before long the Sandy Hook Lightship sank from view +astern, and nothing could be seen on any side but the foam-streaked +billows of the Atlantic. +</P> + +<P> +When the schooner was fairly under way and the watches had been chosen, +the captain gave her into charge of the mate and rejoined Tyke. +</P> + +<P> +That grizzled veteran was enjoying himself more than he had done at any +time for the last twenty years. As the old warhorse "sniffs the battle +from afar," so he already anticipated with delight the coming battle +with wind and waves. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, Tyke, what do you think of her?" the captain asked. +</P> + +<P> +"She's a jim dandy!" ejaculated Tyke enthusiastically. "She rides the +waves like a feather. Jest slips along like she was greased." +</P> + +<P> +"She's a sweet sailer," declared the captain proudly. "Just wait till +you see how she manages against head winds. Even when she's jammed up +right into the wind, she's good for six knots, and with any kind of a +fair gale, she's good for ten or twelve." +</P> + +<P> +"With ordinary luck, then, we ought to git to the Caribbean in ten or +twelve days," said Tyke. +</P> + +<P> +"Unless we meet up with something that strips our spars," returned the +captain confidently. "Of course, a hurricane might knock us out in our +calculations. Taking it by and large though, and allowing for the time +we may have to cruise around before we find the island we're looking +for, I'm figuring that we'll make Sandy Hook again in two months all +right." +</P> + +<P> +"Better count on three and be sure," cautioned Grimshaw. "You know it +isn't a matter of simply finding the island, staying there mebbe a day +or two an' coming away again. This is more'n jest sending a boat's +crew ashore for water. We may be a month hunting around and trying to +find the pesky thing." +</P> + +<P> +"And even then we may not find it," laughed the captain. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, it'll be some satisfaction if we even find the hole it used to +be in," said Tyke. "That'll show that we weren't altogether fools in +taking the paper an' map for gospel truth." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know that there'd be much comfort in that," returned Captain +Hamilton. "If you're hungry it doesn't do much good to look at the +hole in a doughnut. There isn't much nourishment except in the +doughnut itself," and he grinned over his little joke. +</P> + +<P> +The wind held fair for the rest of the day, and the schooner kept on at +a spanking gait, reeling off the miles steadily. By night the +increasing warmth of the air showed how rapidly the South was drawing +near. +</P> + +<P> +Ruth was a good sailor and felt no bad effect from the long ocean +swells as the ship ploughed over them. Drew, too, who had no sea-going +experience at all and had inwardly dreaded possible sea-sickness, was +delighted to find that he was to be exempt. +</P> + +<P> +Parmalee, however, although he had traveled extensively, had never been +immune from paying tribute to Neptune. He ate but little at the +noon-day meal, and when the rest gathered around the table at night he +did not appear at all. +</P> + +<P> +Drew felt that he should be sympathetic, and, to do him justice, he +tried to be. He visited Parmalee in his cabin, condoled with him, and +offered to be of any possible service. But Parmalee wanted nothing +except to be let alone, and, with the consciousness of duty done, Drew +left him to his misery and joined the rest at the table. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm awfully sorry for poor Mr. Parmalee," remarked Ruth, as she poured +Drew's tea. +</P> + +<P> +"Poor fellow," chimed in the young man perfunctorily. +</P> + +<P> +"You don't say that as though you meant it at all," objected Ruth +reprovingly. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you expect me to do?" laughed Drew. "Weep bitter tears? I'll +do it if you want me to. In fact, I'll do anything you want me to +do—jump through a hoop, roll over, play dead, anything at all." +</P> + +<P> +"I didn't know you had so many accomplishments," remarked Ruth, with a +touch of sarcasm. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I'm a perfect wonder," replied the young man. "There isn't +anything I can't do or wouldn't do—for you," he added, dropping his +voice so only she could hear it. +</P> + +<P> +Ruth, however, pretended not to hear, and addressed her next remark to +Grimshaw. +</P> + +<P> +"How do you like Wah Lee's cooking?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Fine," replied Tyke. "There's no better cooks anywhere than the +Chinks. Want to look out that he don't slip one over on you, though, +if the victuals run short. Might serve up cat or rat or something of +the kind an' call it pork or veal. An' he'd probably git away with it, +too." +</P> + +<P> +Ruth gave a little shudder. +</P> + +<P> +"Cat might not be so bad at that," remarked her father. "Down in +Chili, for instance, they haven't any rabbits and they serve up cats +instead. 'Gato piquante' they call it, which means savory cat. I've +never tasted it, but I know those who have, and they say that it makes +the finest kind of stew." +</P> + +<P> +"Why not?" commented Drew, with a grin. "Catfish is good. So is +catsup. Why not cat stew?" +</P> + +<P> +"I think you men are just horrid!" exclaimed Ruth. "Taking away poor +Wah Lee's character like this behind his back." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I guess we won't have to worry about his falling from grace on +this cruise," laughed her father. "We're too well stocked up for him +to be driven to try experiments." +</P> + +<P> +When they went up on deck, the moon had risen. Its golden light tipped +the waves with a sheen of glory and turned the spray into so much +glittering diamond dust. Under its magic witchery, the ropes and +rigging looked like lace work woven by fairy fingers. +</P> + +<P> +The crew were grouped up in the bow, and one of them was playing a +concertina. Mr. Rogers paced the deck, casting a look aloft from time +to time to see that the sails were drawing well. The wind had a slight +musical sound as it swept through the rigging, and this blended with +the regular slapping of the water against her sides as the <I>Bertha +Hamilton</I> sailed steadily on her course. +</P> + +<P> +The air was the least bit chilly, and this gave Drew an excuse for +tucking Ruth cozily into the chair he had placed in a sheltered +position behind the deckhouse. His fingers trembled as he drew the +rugs and shawls around her. She snuggled down, wholly content to be +waited on so devotedly, and perhaps—who knows?—sharing to some degree +the emotion that made the man's pulse race so madly. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap15"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XV +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE GREEN-EYED MONSTER +</H4> + +<P> +Drew placed his own chair close beside Ruth's—as close as he dared. +And they talked. +</P> + +<P> +There was something in the witchery of that moonlit night that seemed +to remove certain restraints and reserves imposed by the cold light of +day, and they spoke more freely of their lives and hopes and ambitions +than would have been possible a few hours earlier. +</P> + +<P> +The girl told of the main events that had filled her nineteen years of +life. Her voice was tender when she spoke of her mother, whose memory +remained with her as a benediction. After she had been deprived by +death of this gentle presence, she, Ruth, had stayed with relatives in +Santa Barbara and Los Angeles during her vacations and had passed the +rest of her time at boarding school. She had neither sister nor +brother, and she spoke feelingly of this lack, which had become more +poignant since her mother's death. She had felt lonely and restless, +and the bright spots in her life had been those which were made for her +by the return of her father from his voyages. +</P> + +<P> +Of her father she spoke with enthusiasm. Nobody could have been more +thoughtful of her comfort and happiness than he had been. The fact +that they were all that were left of their family, had made them the +more dependent for their happiness on each other, and the affection +between them was very strong. +</P> + +<P> +It had been her dearest wish that he should be able to retire from the +sea entirely, so that she could make a home for him ashore. As far as +means went, she supposed he was able to give up his vocation now if he +chose. But he was still in the prime of health and vigor, and she had +little doubt that the sea—that jealous mistress—would beckon to him +for years to come. +</P> + +<P> +This time she could not bear being left behind, and as the voyage +promised to be a short one, he had yielded to her persuasions to be +taken along. +</P> + +<P> +Drew listened with the deepest sympathy and interest, watching the play +of emotion that accompanied her words and made her mobile features even +more charming than usual. +</P> + +<P> +Encouraged by her confidences, he in turn told her of his experiences +and ambitions. He could scarcely remember his parents, and to this +degree his life had been even more lonely than her own. He had come to +the city from an inland town in New York State when he was but little +over seventeen, and had secured a position in the chandlery shop. He +had worked hard and had gained the confidence and good will of his +employer, of whose goodness of heart he spoke in the warmest terms. +His own feeling for Tyke, he explained, was what he imagined he would +have felt for his father if the latter had lived. He had felt that he +was progressing, and had been fairly content until lately. +</P> + +<P> +But now—and his voice took on a tone that stirred Ruth as she +listened—he had been shaken entirely out of that contentment. He had +suddenly realized that life held more than he had ever dreamed. There +was something new and rich and vital in it, something full of promise +and enchantment, something that he must have, something that he would +give his soul to get. +</P> + +<P> +He had grown so earnest as he talked, so compelling, his eyes so glowed +with fire and feeling, that Ruth, though thrilled, felt almost +frightened at his intensity. She knew perfectly well what he meant, +knew that he was wooing her with all his heart and soul. And the +knowledge was sweet to her. +</P> + +<P> +But he had come too far and fast in his wooing, and she was not yet at +the height of her own emotion. To be sure, he had attracted her +strongly from the very first. From the day when she had met him on the +pier, she had thought often of the gallant young knight who had aided +her in her emergency, and his delight when he had found her on her +father's ship had been only a shade greater than her own. +</P> + +<P> +But, although her heart was in a tumult and she secretly welcomed his +advances, she did not want to be carried off her feet by the sheer +ardor of his passion. She wanted to study him, to know him better, and +to know her own feelings. She was not to be won too easily and +quickly. An obscure virginal instinct rather resented the excessive +sureness of this impetuous suitor. +</P> + +<P> +So she roused herself from the soft languor into which the moonlight +and his burning words had plunged her, and rallied, jested and parried, +until, despite his efforts, the conversation took a lighter tone. +</P> + +<P> +"You've made quite an impression on daddy," she laughed. "He thinks it +was wonderfully clever of you to get at the meaning of that map and the +confession as quickly as you did." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm glad if he likes me," Drew answered. "I may have to ask him +something important before long, and it will be a good thing to stand +well with him." +</P> + +<P> +"He'll be on your side," she replied lightly. "I wouldn't dare tell +you all the nice things he has said about you. It might make you +conceited, and goodness knows——" +</P> + +<P> +"Am I conceited?" he asked quickly. +</P> + +<P> +"All men are," she answered evasively. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't think I am," he protested. "As a matter of fact, I'm very +humble. I find myself wondering all the time if I am worthy." +</P> + +<P> +"Worthy of what?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Worthy of getting what I want," he answered. +</P> + +<P> +"The doubloons?" she asked mischievously. "Dear me! I can hardly +imagine you in a humble role. To see the confident Mr. Drew in such a +mood would certainly be refreshing." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't call me Mr. Drew," he protested. "It sounds so formal. We're +going to be so like one big family on this ship for the next few weeks +that it seems to me we might cut out some of the formality without +hurting anything." +</P> + +<P> +"What shall I call you then?" she asked demurely. +</P> + +<P> +"There are lots of things that I should like to have you call me if I +dared suggest them," he replied. "But for the present, suppose you +call me Allen." +</P> + +<P> +"Very well, then—Allen," she conceded. +</P> + +<P> +His pulses leaped. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't suppose I'd dare go further and beg permission to call you +Ruth?" he hazarded. +</P> + +<P> +"Make it Miss Ruth," she teased. +</P> + +<P> +"No, Ruth," he persisted. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, well," she yielded, "I suppose you'll have to have it your own +way. It's frightful to have to deal with such an obstinate man as you +are, Mr.—Allen." +</P> + +<P> +"It's delightful to have to deal with such a charming girl as you are, +Miss—Ruth." +</P> + +<P> +They laughed happily. +</P> + +<P> +"It's getting late," she said, drawing herself up out of the warm nest +that Drew had made for her, "and I think I really ought to go below." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't go yet," he begged. "It isn't a bit late." +</P> + +<P> +"How late is it?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +He drew out his watch and looked at it in the moonlight. +</P> + +<P> +"I told you it wasn't late," he declared, putting the watch back in his +pocket. +</P> + +<P> +"You don't dare let me look at it," she laughed. +</P> + +<P> +"It must be fast," he affirmed. +</P> + +<P> +"You're a deceiver," she retorted. "Really I must go. You wouldn't +rob me of my beauty sleep, would you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Leave that to other girls," he suggested. "You don't need it." +</P> + +<P> +"You're a base flatterer," she chided. +</P> + +<P> +Drew reluctantly gathered up her wraps, and, with a last lingering look +at the glory of the sea and sky, they went below. +</P> + +<P> +It was not really necessary for him to take her hand as they parted for +the night, but he did so. +</P> + +<P> +"Good night, Ruth," he said softly. +</P> + +<P> +"Good night—Allen," she answered in a low voice. +</P> + +<P> +His eyes held hers for a moment, and then she vanished. +</P> + +<P> +It was the happiest night that Drew had ever known. He had opened his +heart to her—not so far as he would have liked and dared, but as far +as she had permitted him. And in the soft beauty of her eyes he +thought that he had detected the beginnings of what he wanted to find +there. And she had permitted him to call her "Ruth." And she had +called him "Allen." How musical the name sounded, coming from her lips! +</P> + +<P> +It was fortunate that he had the memory of that night to comfort him in +the days that followed. +</P> + +<P> +Ruth was more distracting than ever the next morning when she appeared, +fresh and radiant, at the breakfast table. But in some impalpable way +she seemed to have withdrawn within herself. Perhaps she felt that she +had let herself go too far in the glamour of the moonlight. +</P> + +<P> +She was, if anything, gayer than before, full of bright quips and +sayings that kept them laughing, but she distributed her favors +impartially to all. And she was blandly unresponsive to Drew's efforts +to monopolize her attentions. +</P> + +<P> +It was so all through that day and the next. There was nothing about +her that was stiff or repellant, but, nevertheless, Drew felt that she +was keeping him at arm's length. It was as though she had served +notice that she would be a jolly comrade, but nothing more. +</P> + +<P> +Poor Drew, unused to the ways of women, could not understand her. He +tried again and again to get her by herself, in the hope that he might +regain the ground that seemed to be slipping away from under him. But +she seemed to have developed a sudden fondness for the society of her +father and Grimshaw, and she managed in some way to include one or both +of them in the walks and chats that Drew sought to make exclusive. +</P> + +<P> +Then, too, there was Parmalee. +</P> + +<P> +That young man fully recovered from his seasickness after the third day +out and resumed his place in the life of the ship. +</P> + +<P> +Ruth had been full of solicitude and attentions during his illness, and +when he again took his place at table, she expressed her pleasure with +a warmth that Drew felt was unnecessary. His own congratulations were +much more formal. +</P> + +<P> +Parmalee seemed to feel that he had appeared somewhat at a disadvantage +in succumbing to the illness which the others had escaped, and the +feeling put him on his mettle. He made special efforts to be genial +and companionable, and his conversation sparkled with jests and +epigrams. He could talk well; and even Drew had to admit to himself +grudgingly that the other young man was brilliant. +</P> + +<P> +Ruth, always fond of reading, had turned to books in her loneliness +after her mother's death and had read widely for a girl of nineteen, +and their familiarity with literature made a common ground on which she +and Parmalee could meet with interest. He had brought along quite a +number of volumes which he offered to lend to Ruth and to Drew. +</P> + +<P> +Ruth thanked him prettily and accepted. Drew thanked him cooly and +declined. +</P> + +<P> +All three were sitting on deck one afternoon, while Tyke and the +captain talked earnestly apart. Ruth's dainty fingers were busy with +some bit of embroidery. Her eyes were bent on her work, but the eyes +of the young men rested on her. And both were thinking that the object +of their gaze was well worth looking at. +</P> + +<P> +Ruth herself knew perfectly well the attraction she exerted. And she +would have been less than human if she had not been pleased with it. +What girl of nineteen would not enjoy the homage of a Viking and a +troubadour? +</P> + +<P> +She was not a coquette, but there was a certain satisfaction that she +could not wholly deny herself in playing one off against the other. It +would do Drew no harm to make him a little less sure of himself and of +her. In her heart she liked his Lochinvar methods, while, at the same +time, she rather resented them. She was no cave woman, to be dragged +off at will by a determined lover. +</P> + +<P> +She had a real liking for Parmalee. He was suave, polished and +deferential. His attentions gallant without being obtrusive, and his +geniality and culture made him a very pleasant companion. +</P> + +<P> +"We're like the Argonauts going out after the Golden Fleece," Parmalee +was remarking. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," Ruth smiled, looking up from her work, "it doesn't seem as +though this were the twentieth century at all. Here we are, as much +adventurers as they were in the old times of Jason and his companions." +</P> + +<P> +"Let's hope we'll be as lucky as they were," said Drew. "If I remember +rightly, they got what they went after." +</P> + +<P> +"And yet when they started out they weren't a bit more sure than we +are," rejoined Parmalee. +</P> + +<P> +"And we won't find any old dragon waiting to swallow us, as they did," +laughed Ruth. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, whether we find the treasure or not, we'll have plenty of fun in +hunting for it," prophesied Parmalee. "Somehow, I feel that we are on +the brink of a great adventure. I think I know something of the +feeling of the old explorers when they first came down to these parts. +Do you remember the way Keats describes it, Miss Ruth?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't recall," answered Ruth. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll go and get the book. I have it in my cabin. Or wait. Perhaps I +can remember the way it goes." He paused a moment, and then began: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"Then feel I like some watcher of the skies<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">When a new planet swims into his ken;</SPAN><BR> +Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">He stared at the Pacific—and all his men</SPAN><BR> +Looked at each other with a wild surmise—<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">Silent, upon a peak in Darien."</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"What noble verse!" exclaimed Ruth. +</P> + +<P> +Drew remained silent. +</P> + +<P> +"The very air of these southern seas is full of romance," went on +Parmalee. "And of tradition too. Have you ever heard the story of +Drake's drum?" +</P> + +<P> +"What is it?" asked Ruth. +</P> + +<P> +"The old drum of Sir Francis Drake that called his men to battle is +still preserved in the family castle in England," explained Parmalee. +"It went with him on all his voyages. It beat the men to quarters in +the fight with the Spanish Armada and in all his battles on the Spanish +Main, when, to use his own words, he was 'singeing the whiskers of the +King of Spain.' He was buried at sea in the West Indies, and the drum +beat taps when his body was lowered into the waves. +</P> + +<P> +"The story goes that when Drake was dying he ordered that the drum +should be sent back to England. Whenever the country should be in +mortal danger, his countrymen were to beat that drum, and Drake's +spirit would come back and lead them to victory." +</P> + +<P> +"And have they ever done it?" asked Ruth, intensely interested. +</P> + +<P> +"Twice," replied Parmalee. "Once when the Dutch fleet entered the +Thames with a broom at the masthead to show that they were going to +sweep the British from the seas. They beat it again when Nelson broke +the sea power of Napoleon at Trafalgar. +</P> + +<P> +"Here's what an English writer supposes Drake to have said when he was +dying: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +'Take my drum to England, hang it by the shore,<BR> +Strike it when your powder's running low;<BR> +If the Dons sight Devon, I'll quit the port of heaven<BR> +And drum them up the Channel, as we drummed them long ago.'"<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"How stirring that is!" cried Ruth, clapping her hands. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," admitted Drew, a little dryly. "They must have forgotten to +beat it though at the time of the American Revolution." +</P> + +<P> +It was a discordant note and all felt it. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, how horrid of you!" exclaimed Ruth. "You take all the romance out +of the story." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm sorry," said Drew, instantly penitent. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't believe you are a bit," declared Ruth. "And Mr. Parmalee told +that story so beautifully," she added, with a wicked little desire to +punish Drew. +</P> + +<P> +"Cross my heart and hope to die," protested Drew, to appease his +divinity. "Put any penance on me you like. I'll sit in sackcloth and +put ashes on my head if you say so, and you'll never hear a whimper." +</P> + +<P> +"He seems to be suffering horribly," said Parmalee, a bit +sarcastically, "and you know, Miss Ruth, that cruel and unusual +punishments are forbidden by the Constitution. I think you'd better +forgive him." +</P> + +<P> +Ruth laughed and the tension was broken. But there was still a little +feeling of restraint, and after a few minutes Parmalee excused himself +and strolled away. +</P> + +<P> +Ruth kept on stitching busily, her face bent studiously over her work. +</P> + +<P> +Drew looked at her miserably, bitterly regretting the momentary impulse +to which he had yielded. He knew in his heart that he had been jealous +of the impression that Parmalee, by his easy and graceful narration, +had seemed to be making on Ruth, and he hated himself for it. +</P> + +<P> +"Ruth," he said softly. +</P> + +<P> +She seemed not to have heard him. +</P> + +<P> +"Ruth," he repeated. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes?" she answered, but without looking up. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap16"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVI +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +GATHERING CLOUDS +</H4> + +<P> +"Ruth," Drew pleaded. "Look at me." +</P> + +<P> +She dropped her work then and met his eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"You're angry with me, aren't you?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"No; I'm not angry," she replied slowly. +</P> + +<P> +"But you're vexed?" he suggested. +</P> + +<P> +"I should say rather that I am sorry," she answered. "Everything has +been so pleasant between us all up to now, and I hoped it was going to +remain so." +</P> + +<P> +"It was that impulsive tongue of mine," he said. "The words slipped +out before I thought." +</P> + +<P> +"What you said was nothing," she replied. "But the tone in which you +spoke was unpleasant. It seemed as though you were trying to put a +damper on things. It came like a dash of cold water, and I'm sure that +Mr. Parmalee felt chilled by it." +</P> + +<P> +"You seem very much interested in Mr. Parmalee's feelings," he said, +with a return of jealousy at the mention of the other's name. +</P> + +<P> +"No more than I am in those of any of my friends," she answered. "I +think he is very nice, and I was very much interested in what he was +saying," she added, with a tiny touch of malice. +</P> + +<P> +But she repented instantly as she saw the pain in Drew's eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Let's forget all about it!" she exclaimed. "It was only a trifle, +anyway." +</P> + +<P> +"You forgive me then?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Of course I forgive you, you foolish boy! And to prove it, I'm not +going to make you do any penance," she added gaily. +</P> + +<P> +From that time, a smile from Ruth raised Drew to the seventh heaven, +but when her smile was bestowed on Parmalee, he was dashed to the +depths. +</P> + +<P> +One thing especially was calculated to torture the jealous heart of a +lover. Several times Drew observed Ruth and Parmalee engaged in what +seemed to be a peculiarly confidential talk. Their heads were close +together and their voices low. They seemed to be talking of something +that concerned themselves alone. +</P> + +<P> +The first time he saw them together in this way, he strolled up to +them, but they changed instantly to a lighter and more careless tone, +and introduced a topic in which he could join. But Ruth's face was +flushed and Parmalee was scarcely able to disguise his impatience at +the interruption. +</P> + +<P> +After the first time, Drew left them alone. His pride refused to let +him be a third in a conversation plainly designed for two. +</P> + +<P> +In his secret musings Allen Drew dwelt on and exaggerated the +advantages which Parmalee possessed. To be sure, he was weak and +delicate, while Drew had the strength of a young ox. But Parmalee had +wealth and standing and a polished manner that appealed strongly to +women. Why should he not, with his suavity and winning smile, +fascinate an impressionable girl? +</P> + +<P> +Ruth herself, warned by the chilliness between the men that grew more +pronounced with every day that passed, did her best to be prudent. The +mischievous pleasure of having them both dangle when she pulled the +strings had been replaced by a feeling almost of alarm. She realized +enough of the fervor of Drew's passion to know that he was in deadly +earnest and would brook no rivalry. +</P> + +<P> +Tyke had been enjoying himself hugely from the start. He had utterly +cast aside all thoughts of the business he had left behind him, and +when Drew sometimes referred to it he refused to listen. The sea air +and the delight of being once more in the surroundings of his early +days had proved a tonic. His leg mended with magical rapidity, and by +the time they had been ten days at sea he cast aside his crutches and +managed to get about with the aid of a cane. Almost every moment of +the day and evening when he was not at meals, he spent on deck, +exchanging yarns with Captain Hamilton, studying the set of the sails, +or gazing on the boundless expanse of sea and sky. +</P> + +<P> +The weather so far had been perfect, and the schooner had slipped along +steadily and rapidly, most of the time carrying her full complement of +canvas. The captain thought that in about two or three days more they +would be in the vicinity of Martinique. Once there, to the westward of +that island, they would cruise about until the cay shaped like the hump +of a whale should appear on the horizon. +</P> + +<P> +But despite the good weather, there had been for some time past a +shadow on the face of the captain which betrayed uneasiness. The young +people, absorbed in their own affairs, had not noticed it, but Tyke's +shrewd eyes had seen that all was not well, and one day when the +captain dropped into a chair beside him, he broached the subject +without ceremony. +</P> + +<P> +"What's troubling you, Cap'n Rufe?" he asked. "Out with it and git it +off your chest." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, nothing special," replied the captain evasively. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes there is," retorted Tyke. "You can't fool me. So let's have it." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, to tell you the truth," said Captain Hamilton, "I don't quite +like the actions of the crew." +</P> + +<P> +"No more do I," said Tyke calmly. +</P> + +<P> +"Have you noticed it too?" +</P> + +<P> +"I've still got a pair of pretty good eyes in my head. But heave +ahead." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, in the first place," said the captain, "it's about the worst set +of swabs that ever called themselves sailors. Some of 'em don't seem +to know the spanker boom from the jib. Of course, that isn't true of +all of 'em. Perhaps half of them are fairly good men. But the rest +seem to be scum and riffraff." +</P> + +<P> +"What did you ship the lubbers for?" asked Grimshaw. +</P> + +<P> +"I didn't," answered Captain Hamilton. "I was so busy with other +things that I left it to Ditty." +</P> + +<P> +"An' there you left it to a good man!" Tyke said scornfully. "I've +been keeping tabs on that Bug-eye, as they call him, since I come +aboard. He's a bad actor, he is. Listen here, Cap'n Rufe——" and the +old man, with a warning hand on Captain Hamilton's knee and in a low +voice, repeated what he had told Drew in the hospital about the +one-eyed man being at the scene of his accident. +</P> + +<P> +"And was it Ditty?" gasped Captain Hamilton. +</P> + +<P> +"Surest thing you know. An' I don't believe I dreamed he went through +my pockets. What was that for, when he didn't rob me of my watch and +cash?" +</P> + +<P> +The master of the schooner shook his head thoughtfully, making no +immediate reply. +</P> + +<P> +"Ditty's a pretty good sailor himself, I notice," went on Tyke. +</P> + +<P> +"None better," assented the captain. +</P> + +<P> +"An' he knows a sailor when he sees one?" continued the old man. +</P> + +<P> +"Of course he does," the captain affirmed. "And that's what has seemed +strange to me. He's often picked crews for me before, and I've never +had to complain of his judgment." +</P> + +<P> +"Well then," concluded Tyke, "it stands to reason that if he's shipped +a lot of raffraff this time, instead of decent sailors, he'd a reason +for it." +</P> + +<P> +"It would seem so," admitted the captain uneasily. +</P> + +<P> +"Have you put it up to him?" asked Tyke. +</P> + +<P> +"I have. And he admits that some of the men are no good, but says that +he was stuck. He left it to some boarding-house runners, and he says +they put one over on him by bundling the worst of the gang aboard at +the last minute." +</P> + +<P> +"A mighty thin excuse," commented Tyke. +</P> + +<P> +"Of course it is; and I raked Ditty fore and aft on account of it. I'm +through with him after this cruise. I've only kept him on as long as I +have because Mr. Parmalee wanted it so. But he finds another berth as +soon as we reach New York." +</P> + +<P> +"I've noticed him talking to some of the men a good deal," remarked +Tyke. +</P> + +<P> +"That's another thing that's worried me," said the captain. "Up to +now, Ditty has always been a good bucko mate and has kept the men at a +distance. Did you see the man I knocked down the other day when he +started to give me some back talk?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," grinned Tyke. "You made a neat job of it. Couldn't have done +it better myself in the old days." +</P> + +<P> +"But the peculiar thing about it," continued the captain, "was that I +had to do it although the mate was a good deal nearer to the fellow +than I was. Ordinarily, Ditty would have put him on his back by the +time he'd got out the second word. But this time he had paid no +attention, and I had to do the job myself." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, what do you make of it all?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know what to make of it, and that's just what's troubling me. +If I could only get to the bottom of it, I'd make short work of the +mystery." +</P> + +<P> +"How's your second officer, Rogers? Is he a man you can depend on?" +</P> + +<P> +"He's true blue. A fine, straight fellow and a good sailor." +</P> + +<P> +"That's good." +</P> + +<P> +"I wish he were mate in place of Ditty," muttered the captain. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, he ain't," replied Tyke. "An' to make any change jest now with +nothing more'n you've got to go on, would put you in bad with the +marine court. We'll jest keep our eyes peeled for the first sign of +real trouble, and' if them skunks start to make any we'll be ready for +'em." +</P> + +<P> +"I wonder what the matter is with Drew and Parmalee over there!" +exclaimed the captain suddenly. "More trouble?" +</P> + +<P> +Tyke followed the direction the captain indicated and was astonished to +see that the young men seemed to be on the verge of an altercation. +Their faces were flushed and their attitude almost threatening. +</P> + +<P> +The captain hurried toward them, and Tyke hobbled after him as fast as +he was able. +</P> + +<P> +The tension between Parmalee and Drew had been slowly but steadily +tightening. Little things, trifles in themselves, had increased it +until they found it hard to be civil to each other. In the presence of +Ruth and the two older men, they suppressed this feeling as much as +possible; and except by Ruth it had been unsuspected. +</P> + +<P> +The purest accident that afternoon had brought the matter to a crisis. +</P> + +<P> +Ruth was detained below by some duty she had on hand, and Drew was +pacing the deck while Parmalee, leaning on his cane, was standing near +the rail looking out to sea. +</P> + +<P> +As Drew passed the other, the ship lurched and his foot accidentally +struck the cane, which flew out of Parmalee's hand. Deprived of the +support on which he relied, the latter staggered and almost lost his +balance. He saved himself by clutching at the rail. Then he turned +about with an angry exclamation. +</P> + +<P> +Drew stooped instantly and picked up the cane, which he held out to +Parmalee. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm sorry," he said. "It was an awkward accident." +</P> + +<P> +"Awkward, sure enough," sneered Parmalee. +</P> + +<P> +"As to it's being an accident——" He paused suggestively. +</P> + +<P> +Drew stepped nearer to him, his eyes blazing. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you mean?" he asked. "Do you intimate that I did it +purposely?" +</P> + +<P> +Parmalee regretted the ungenerous sneer as soon as he spoke. But his +blood was up, and before Drew's menacing attitude he would not retract. +</P> + +<P> +"You can put any construction on it that you please," he flared. +</P> + +<P> +Just then Tyke and the captain came hurrying up. +</P> + +<P> +"Come, come, boys," said the captain soothingly, "keep cool." +</P> + +<P> +"What's the trouble with you two young roosters?" queried Tyke. +</P> + +<P> +They looked a little sheepish. +</P> + +<P> +"Just a little misunderstanding," muttered Drew. +</P> + +<P> +"I fear it was my fault," admitted Parmalee. "Mr. Drew accidentally +knocked my cane out of my hand, and I flew off at a tangent and was +nasty about it when he apologized." +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing mor'n that?" said Tyke, with relief. "You young fire-eaters +shouldn't have such hair-trigger tempers." +</P> + +<P> +"Shake hands now and forget it," admonished the captain genially. +</P> + +<P> +The young men did so, both being ashamed of having lost control of +themselves. But there was no cordiality in the clasp, and Tyke's keen +sense divined that something more serious than a trivial happening like +the cane incident lay between the two. +</P> + +<P> +Tyke had never seen the French motto: "<I>Cherchez la femme</I>," and could +not have translated it if he had. But he had seen enough of trouble +between men, especially young men, to know that in nine cases out of +ten a woman was at the bottom of it. He thought instantly of Ruth. +</P> + +<P> +He decided to have a serious talk with Drew at the earliest +opportunity. But as he looked about, after the young men had departed, +he saw signs of a change in the weather that in a moment drove all +other thoughts out of his head. He limped into the cabin companionway +to look at the barometer. +</P> + +<P> +"Jumping Jehoshaphat!" he shouted, "we're going to ketch it sure! +She's down to twenty-nine an' still a-dropping!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap17"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE STORM BREAKS +</H4> + +<P> +Tyke was not the only one who had noted the falling barometer. Captain +Hamilton was already standing at the foot of the mainmast, shouting +orders that were taken up by Ditty and Rogers and carried on to the men. +</P> + +<P> +To the north, great masses of leaden-gray clouds were heaped up against +the sky. The sea was as flat as though a giant roller had passed over +it. A curious stillness prevailed—the wind seemed hushed, holding its +breath before the tempest burst. +</P> + +<P> +The hatches were battened down and the storm slides put on the +companionway. Most of the sails were reefed close, and with everything +snug alow and aloft, the <I>Bertha Hamilton</I> awaited the coming storm. +</P> + +<P> +This wait was not long. A streak of white appeared along the sea line, +and this drove nearer with frightful rapidity. With a pandemonium of +sound, the tempest was upon them. The spars bent, groaning beneath the +strain, and the stays grew as taut as bowstrings. The schooner +careened until her copper sheathing showed red against the green and +white of the foaming waves. +</P> + +<P> +The screaming of the wind was deafening. Hundreds of tons of water +crashed against the schooner's sides and poured over her stern. The +sea clawed at her hull as though to tear it in pieces. Tatters of foam +and spindrift swept over the deck and dashed as high as the topgallant +yards. The spray was blinding and hid one end of the craft from the +other. +</P> + +<P> +Staggering under the repeated pounding of the tumbling, churning waves +that shook her from stem to stern, the <I>Bertha Hamilton</I> plunged on, +her bow at times buried in the surges, her spars creaking and groaning, +but holding gallantly. +</P> + +<P> +Ruth had been ordered by her father to go below, and he had advised +Parmalee and Drew to do the same. But the fascination of the storm had +been too much for the young men to resist, and they crouched in the +shelter of the lee side of the deckhouse, holding on tightly while they +watched the unchained fury of the waters. As for Tyke, he was in his +element, and nothing could have induced him to leave the deck. +</P> + +<P> +For nearly twenty-four hours the storm continued, although its chief +fury was spent before the following morning. But the billows still ran +high, and it was evening before the topsails could be set. Later on, +as the wind subsided, the schooner, having shown her mettle, settled +once more into her stride and flew along like a ghost. +</P> + +<P> +Then, for the first time since the storm had begun, the captain laid +aside his oil-skins and relaxed. +</P> + +<P> +"That was a fierce blow," chuckled Tyke. "A little more and you might +have called it a hurricane." +</P> + +<P> +"It was a teaser," asserted the captain. "Did you see how the old girl +came through it? Never lost a brace or started a seam. Hardly a drop +of water in the hold. Didn't I tell you she was a sweet sailer, either +in fair weather or foul? But the crew! Holy mackerel! what a gang of +lubbers." +</P> + +<P> +"You're right to be proud of the craft," assented Tyke. "Has it taken +her much out of her course?" +</P> + +<P> +"A bit to the north, but nothing more. For that matter, we've passed +Martinique. I figure it out that we may raise the hump-backed island +to-morrow, if we have luck." +</P> + +<P> +A feeling of relief was experienced by the rest of the after-guard when +at last the danger was past, and it was a happy, if tired, party that +gathered about the captain's table that evening. +</P> + +<P> +Supper over, they went on deck. The tropical night had fallen. There +was no moon, and a velvety blackness stretched about the ship on every +side, broken here and there by a faint phosphorescent gleam as a wave +reared and broke. +</P> + +<P> +The schooner still rose and plunged from the aftermath of the storm, +and the slipperiness of the wet decks made the footing insecure. The +captain was fearful that Ruth might have a fall, and after a while +urged her to go below. Drew and Parmalee offered to accompany her, but +she was very tired after the excitement and sleeplessness of the +previous night, and excused herself on the plea that she thought she +would retire early. +</P> + +<P> +Drew and Parmalee were standing near each other just abaft the +mizzenmast, while Tyke and the captain were aft, talking in low voices. +</P> + +<P> +An unusually big wave struck the schooner a resounding slap on the +starboard quarter, causing her to lurch suddenly. Drew was thrown off +his balance. He tried to regain his footing, but the slippery deck was +treacherous and he fell heavily, striking his head on the corner of the +hatch cover. +</P> + +<P> +How long he lay there he did not know, but it must have been for +several minutes, for when he recovered consciousness his clothes were +wet where they had absorbed the moisture from the deck. His head was +whirling, and he felt giddy and confused. He put his hand to his +forehead and felt a cut that was bleeding profusely. +</P> + +<P> +Drew had a horror of scenes, and instead of reporting to Tyke or to the +captain, he resolved to go quietly to his room, bind up the wound as +well as he was able, and then get into his berth with the hope that a +good night's rest would put him in good shape again. +</P> + +<P> +He wondered in a dazed way where Parmalee was. Why had not the other +young man sought to help him? He had been standing close by at the +time and could not have failed to notice the accident. Was it possible +that Parmalee still nourished a grudge, and had refused the slight +service that humanity should have dictated? No, Parmalee was not that +kind. There was no love lost between the two, but Drew refused to do +him that injustice. +</P> + +<P> +But Drew's wound demanded attention, and he was too confused just then +to solve problems that could wait till later. So he picked his way +rather unsteadily to the companionway and went down. +</P> + +<P> +He had to pass the captain's cabin on his way to his own room. As he +did so, the light streamed full upon him, and Ruth, who had not yet +gone to her own room, looked up from her sewing and saw him. She gave +a little scream and rushed toward him. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Allen, Allen!" she cried, taking his face in her hands. "What has +happened? Your head is bleeding! Are you badly hurt?" +</P> + +<P> +"Don't be frightened, Ruth," he returned. "I was stupid enough to fall +and cut my head a little. Bu it's nothing of any account. I'll bind +it up and I'll be as right as a trivet in the morning." +</P> + +<P> +"<I>You'll</I> bind it up!" she exclaimed. "You'll do nothing of the kind. +You'll come right in here and let me fix that poor head for you." +</P> + +<P> +She drew him in and he went unresistingly, glad to yield to her gentle +tyranny. +</P> + +<P> +Ruth found warm water, ointment, lint and bandages, and deftly bound up +the wound. She was a sailor's daughter, and an adept in first aid to +the wounded. Her soft hands touched his face and head, her eyes were +dewy with sympathy, and Drew found himself rejoicing at the accident +that had brought him this boon. She had never been so close to him +before, and he was sorry when the operation was ended. +</P> + +<P> +"Through so soon?" he asked regretfully. +</P> + +<P> +She laughed merrily. She could laugh now. +</P> + +<P> +"I can take the bandage off and start all over again if you say so," +she said mischievously. +</P> + +<P> +"Do," he begged. +</P> + +<P> +"Be sensible," she commanded. "Go at once now and get to bed. +Remember, you're my patient and must obey orders." +</P> + +<P> +She shook her finger at him and tried to frown with portentous +severity. But the dancing eyes and mutinous dimple belied the frown. +</P> + +<P> +"If you're my nurse, I'm going to be sick for a long time," he warned +her. +</P> + +<P> +He tried to grasp the menacing finger, but she eluded him and playfully +drove him out of the room. +</P> + +<P> +The sun was shining brightly through the porthole of his room when he +awoke the next morning, and on reaching for his watch he found that he +had waked later than usual. He dressed himself quickly. He felt a +little light-headed from the effect of his wound, but nothing more. +</P> + +<P> +There was an exclamation of alarm from Tyke and the captain when they +saw his bandaged head. +</P> + +<P> +"Only a cut," said Allen lightly. And he briefly narrated the details +of his misadventure. +</P> + +<P> +"Lucky it was no worse," commented Tyke. +</P> + +<P> +"Wasn't there any one near by at that time?" asked the captain. +</P> + +<P> +"Why——" began Drew, and stopped. To say that Parmalee had been near +him would have been an indictment of the former for his seeming +heartlessness. He did not want to take advantage of his absent rival. +</P> + +<P> +"If there had been, he'd have certainly picked me up," he evaded, +rather lamely. +</P> + +<P> +Ruth greeted him in her usual gay and gracious manner, but he sought in +vain for any trace of the tenderness of the night before. She was on +her guard again. +</P> + +<P> +"How is my patient this morning?" she smiled. +</P> + +<P> +"Fine," he answered. "If you ever want any recommendation as a nurse +you can refer to me. Only I wouldn't give it," he added. +</P> + +<P> +"Why not?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Because I want to be your only patient." +</P> + +<P> +She hastened to get off perilous ground. +</P> + +<P> +"I wonder what's keeping Mr. Parmalee this morning," she observed. +"He's even more of a sleepy head than you are." +</P> + +<P> +"Tired out, I guess," conjectured the captain. "This storm has used us +all up pretty well." +</P> + +<P> +Ruth summoned Namco and told him to knock on Mr. Parmalee's door. The +Japanese was back in a minute. +</P> + +<P> +"Honorable gent no ansler," he reported. +</P> + +<P> +"That's queer," remarked the captain. "I'll step there myself." +</P> + +<P> +He returned promptly, looking very grave. "He isn't there," he +announced. +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps he's gone on deck to get an appetite for breakfast," suggested +Drew lightly. +</P> + +<P> +"It's not alone that he's absent," said the captain in a worried tone. +"His bed hasn't been slept in!" +</P> + +<P> +There was a chorus of startled exclamations. Drew and Tyke jumped to +their feet and Ruth lost her color. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Daddy!" she cried, "it can't be that anything's happened to him?" +</P> + +<P> +"Don't get excited, Ruth," said her father soothingly. "There may be +some explanation. I'll have the ship searched at once." +</P> + +<P> +They all hurried on deck, and the captain summoned the mate and Mr. +Rogers. He told them what he feared and ordered that the ship be +searched thoroughly. +</P> + +<P> +Rogers turned to obey, but the one-eyed mate, Cal Ditty, stopped him +with a gesture. +</P> + +<P> +"No use," he said. "Mr. Parmalee ain't here." +</P> + +<P> +"How do you know?" cried the captain. +</P> + +<P> +"Because he was thrown overboard last night," was the sudden grim +answer. +</P> + +<P> +Ruth gave a smothered shriek and the others gasped in amazement and +horror. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you mean?" shouted the captain. +</P> + +<P> +"Just what I said." +</P> + +<P> +"Who threw him overboard?" +</P> + +<P> +"He did," declared Ditty, pointing to Drew. +</P> + +<P> +There was a moment of terrible silence as the others looked in the +direction of the mate's pointing finger. +</P> + +<P> +Drew stood as though he were turned to stone. His tongue was +paralyzed. He saw consternation in the faces of Tyke and the captain. +He glimpsed the horror in the eyes of Ruth. Then, with a roar of rage, +he hurled himself at the one-eyed mate. +</P> + +<P> +"You lying hound!" he shouted. "If crime's been done, <I>you've</I> +committed it." +</P> + +<P> +Ditty slid back a step and met the younger man's charge with a coolness +that showed his taunt had been premeditated and that this result was +expected. As the enraged Drew closed in, the mate met him with a +frightful swing to the side of his bandaged head. +</P> + +<P> +Drew's head rocked on his shoulders, and for a moment he was dazed. +Blood flowed from under the bandage, and in an instant his cheek and +neck were besmeared with it. The bucko, with the experience of long +years of rough fighting, landed a second blow before the confused Drew +could put up his defense again. +</P> + +<P> +But that was the last blow Ditty did land. Drew's brain cleared +suddenly. Hot rage filled his heart. He forgot his surroundings. He +forgot that Ruth stood by to see his metamorphosis from a civilized man +into an uncivilized one. He forgot everything but the leering face of +the lying scoundrel before him, and he proceeded to change that face +into a bruised mask. +</P> + +<P> +His skill and speed made the mate, with only brute force behind him, +seem like a child. Drew closed Ditty's remaining eye, split his upper +lip, puffed both his cheeks till his nose was scarcely a ridge between +them, and ended by landing a left hook on the point of the jaw that +knocked the mate down and out. +</P> + +<P> +As Drew fell back from the fray, which had lasted only seconds, so +swift was the pace, Tyke seized him. +</P> + +<P> +"You've done enough, boy! You've done enough, Allen!" he exclaimed. +"Leave life in the scoundrel so we can get the truth out of him." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap18"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVIII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +A SEA COURT +</H4> + +<P> +"Mr. Rogers, take the deck!" commanded Captain Hamilton sharply. "You +bullies, get forward with you!" he added to the curious men of the +watch. "Don't any of you lose sight of the fact that if it were a +seaman instead of a passenger who attacked Mr. Ditty, he'd be in the +chain-locker now. +</P> + +<P> +"Drew, you and Tyke come below with me. When you've washed your face, +Mr. Ditty, I want to see you there too. Mr. Rogers!" +</P> + +<P> +"Aye, aye, sir!" responded the second officer, smartly. +</P> + +<P> +"Pass the word forward. Has anybody seen Mr. Parmalee or does any of +them know personally what's happened to him? No second-hand tales, +mind you." +</P> + +<P> +"Aye, aye, sir." +</P> + +<P> +With all his rage and confusion of mind, Drew realized that easy-going, +peace-loving Captain Hamilton had suddenly become another and entirely +different being. +</P> + +<P> +Even Ruth descried no softness in her father's countenance now. She +noted that his eye sparkled dangerously. He waved her before him, and +she fled down the companionway steps ahead of Drew and Grimshaw. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, what's all this about?" the master of the <I>Bertha Hamilton</I> +demanded, facing Drew across the cabin table. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Father!" gasped Ruth. "That—that—Mr. Ditty says Mr. Parmalee is +murdered and that Allen did it!" +</P> + +<P> +"That's neither here nor there," said the captain sternly. "I don't +believe that any more than you do. But what is this between Ditty and +Mr. Drew? They went at each other like two bulldogs that have nursed a +grudge for a year. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, I want to know what it means, Drew. I heard—Ruth told me—of +the little run-in you had with Ditty the day you first met my daughter +on the Jones Lane pier," pursued Captain Hamilton. "Ruth was carrying +a letter to Captain Peters for me. The <I>Normandy</I> is bound for Hong +Kong, where I'd just come from, and Peters and I have mutual friends +out there. I forgot something I wanted Ruth to tell Captain Peters, +and I asked Ditty, who had shore leave, to waylay her and give her my +message. She'd never seen Ditty, and he startled her. He isn't a +beauty, I admit. But now, what happened after that between you two, +Drew?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing at all that day," said the young man promptly. "But another +day I was over there, at the <I>Normandy</I>, to see—er—Captain Peters, +and this fellow showed up half drunk and gave me the dirty side of his +tongue. I knocked him down." +</P> + +<P> +"Seems to me you're mighty sudden with your fists," growled Captain +Hamilton. +</P> + +<P> +"And Mr. Grimshaw can tell you something about Ditty, too," Drew began; +but the master of the schooner stopped him. +</P> + +<P> +"Never mind about that. We're discussing your affair with Ditty. I've +got to judge between you two. I'm judge, jury, and hangman in this +case—until we make some port where there's a consul, at least. Now, +here's the mate. No more fighting, remember or I'll take a hand in it +myself." +</P> + +<P> +The battered Ditty stumbled down the cabin steps. He could scarcely +see out of his single eye; but that eye glittered malevolently when it +fell upon Allen Drew. +</P> + +<P> +"Sit down, Mr. Ditty," said the captain evenly. "We've got to get to +the bottom of this business. You've said something, Mr. Ditty, that's +got to go down on the log—and it's going to make you a peck of trouble +if you don't prove it. You understand that?" +</P> + +<P> +"I know it," snarled Ditty, through his puffed lips. "He done it." +</P> + +<P> +"You lying hound!" muttered Drew. +</P> + +<P> +Captain Hamilton ignored this. He said: +</P> + +<P> +"What makes you say that Mr. Drew flung Mr. Parmalee overboard?" +</P> + +<P> +"Because I seen him do it," answered Ditty. +</P> + +<P> +Drew started for the mate again, but Tyke held him back. +</P> + +<P> +"Go ahead, Mr. Ditty. Tell your story," commanded the captain curtly. +</P> + +<P> +"They was both standin' abaft the mizzen," the mate began, "and I heard +'em quarrelin' about something. I went there, thinkin' to stop 'em if +it was anything serious, and jest as I got near 'em I seen Mr. Parmalee +up and hit Mr. Drew on the head with his cane. Then, before you could +say Jack Robinson, Mr. Drew picked up Mr. Parmalee as if he had been a +baby and threw him over the rail." +</P> + +<P> +There was a stifled murmur from the group. +</P> + +<P> +"Why didn't you give the alarm and lower a boat?" asked the captain. +</P> + +<P> +"I was goin' to, but Mr. Drew turned round and saw me. He whipped a +gun out of his pocket and swore he'd shoot me if I gave the alarm or +said a word. He held me under the point of his gun till it was too +late to lower a boat, and only let me go after I promised him I'd keep +mum about the hull thing." +</P> + +<P> +"You're a fine sailorman," charged the captain bitterly, "to let a man +drown without doing anything to help him! Why didn't you take a +chance?" +</P> + +<P> +"He had the drop on me," mumbled the mate. +</P> + +<P> +The captain turned to Drew. +</P> + +<P> +"What about it?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Do I have to deny such a yarn?" the young man burst out hotly. "What +can I say except that this infernal scoundrel is lying? The whole +ridiculous story is as new to me as it is to you. The last time I saw +Mr. Parmalee was when he was standing beside me on the deck last night. +I never laid a finger on him!" +</P> + +<P> +"Where were you standing?" asked the captain. +</P> + +<P> +"Just where Ditty says I was," replied Drew frankly. "That part of the +story is true. And it's the only thing in it that is true." +</P> + +<P> +"Did you have any unfriendly words with Mr. Parmalee?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not a word," was the answer. +</P> + +<P> +"Ask him if he ever had any quarrel with him afore that," snarled the +mate. +</P> + +<P> +"I know all about that," replied the captain sharply. "I was there +myself. It was just a little misunderstanding, and it blew over in a +minute." +</P> + +<P> +"Ev'ry one on board knows there was bad blood 'twixt 'em," put in the +mate, "and they come pretty nigh to guessin' the reason for it, too," +he added with a leering glance at Ruth. +</P> + +<P> +"Stop, you dog!" shouted the captain in sudden rage. "If you say +another word along that line I'll knock you down!" +</P> + +<P> +The mate took a step backward, and mumbled an apology. +</P> + +<P> +"Go on, Drew," ordered the captain. "When did you lose sight of Mr. +Parmalee?" +</P> + +<P> +"I slipped on the deck and struck my head on the corner of the +hatch-cover. Mr. Parmalee was with me at the time. I lost my senses +from the blow, and when I came to, Parmalee wasn't there. I remember +thinking it strange that he hadn't helped me when I fell, but I was +dizzy and confused and soon forgot about it. If I thought of him at +all, it was to suppose that he had gone to his room. I fully expected +to see him at the breakfast table this morning, and I was as much +surprised as you were when he didn't turn up." +</P> + +<P> +His story was told so frankly and simply that it carried conviction. +But Ditty still had a card up his sleeve. He went over to the open +companion-way. +</P> + +<P> +"Give me that cane, Bill," he called to a sailor standing at a little +distance. +</P> + +<P> +The man obeyed, and a thrill went through the group as they recognized +it as having belonged to Lester Parmalee. Ruth was making a strong +effort for self-control. +</P> + +<P> +"Look at the blood-stains on this cane," said Ditty triumphantly, as he +handed it over to the captain. +</P> + +<P> +There were, in truth, dark red stains on the end of the cane, standing +out clearly in contrast with the light oak color of the stick itself. +</P> + +<P> +"That's where the cut on Mr. Drew's head come from, jest as I says," +proclaimed Ditty. +</P> + +<P> +"And what's more," he went on, "there ain't any blood on the edge of +the hatch cover." +</P> + +<P> +"No, there wouldn't be," muttered Tyke, "for the deck was washed down +this morning, of course." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you own a pistol, Drew?" asked Captain Hamilton, after a painful +pause. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," admitted the accused man. "I have an automatic. It's in my +stateroom now. But I haven't carried it since I came on board the +ship. I didn't have it on me last night." +</P> + +<P> +The captain mused for a moment in evident perplexity. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," he said, rising to his feet, "that's all, Mr. Ditty. I'll +think this over and figure out what it's best to do." +</P> + +<P> +"Ain't you goin' to put him in irons?" asked the mate truculently. +</P> + +<P> +"That's none of your business," snapped the master of the schooner. +"I'm captain of this craft, and I'll do as I think best. You are +relieved from duty for the present. Lord man! but you're a sight." +</P> + +<P> +Ditty wavered as though some impudent reply were forming on his tongue; +but he thought better of it beneath the steady gaze of the captain's +eyes and turned to go. He could not, however, forbear a parting shot. +</P> + +<P> +"You can see from the way he went at me what a savage temper he's got," +he said. "He'd 've killed me if he could 've. And if he'd do that to +me for what I said, what would 've stopped his doin' it to a man who +had already hit him?" +</P> + +<P> +"That'll do, Mr. Ditty!" snapped the captain again. +</P> + +<P> +Tyke left no doubt as to where he stood. Out of respect for the +captain, he had left the inquiry entirely in his hands, but now he +hobbled over to Drew and clapped him vigorously on the shoulder. +</P> + +<P> +"Brace up, my boy!" he exclaimed. "I don't know jest what the motive +of that swab is, but I know he was lying from first to last." Ruth was +sobbing, and could not speak, but her little hand stole into the young +man's, and he grasped it convulsively. +</P> + +<P> +"I can't believe that you did it either, Drew," declared the captain; +but there was a lack of heartiness in his tone that Drew was quick to +detect. "I'll have to look into the whole matter as carefully as I +know how. Parmalee's disappearance must be accounted for. All we know +now is that he isn't to be found. I'll have the ship searched, but I +have little doubt but the poor fellow has gone overboard. In itself +that doesn't prove anything. He may have fallen over. But we can't +get away from the fact that one man says he knows how Parmalee came to +his death. He may be lying. I think he is. I hope to God he is. But +the whole matter will have to be taken up by the proper authorities as +soon as we get back to New York." +</P> + +<P> +Drew's brain reeled. He saw himself in a court of justice, on trial +for his life, charged with a horrible crime that he had no means of +refuting, except by his own unsupported denial. And even if he were +acquitted, the black cloud of suspicion would hang over him forever. +</P> + +<P> +"But I'm going to believe you're innocent until I'm forced to believe +the contrary," continued the captain; "and God help Ditty if I find +he's been lying!" +</P> + +<P> +"He is lying," protested Drew passionately. "I never dreamed of +injuring Parmalee. Did I act like a murderer last night when you bound +up my head, Ruth?" +</P> + +<P> +"No! no!" sobbed the girl. +</P> + +<P> +"Did I act like a murderer at the table this morning?" Drew continued, +conscious that he was proving nothing, but clutching eagerly at every +straw. +</P> + +<P> +"You're no more a murderer than I am!" almost shouted Tyke, moved to +the depth by Drew's distress. +</P> + +<P> +"You're going to have the benefit of every doubt, my boy," the captain +assured him soothingly. "But now you'd better go to your room and try +to pull yourself together. We're all upset, and talking won't do us +any good until we've got something else to go on. But you have got to +promise me that you'll leave Ditty alone." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll leave him alone if he leaves me alone." +</P> + +<P> +"That is all I ask. I'll warn him to keep away from you." +</P> + +<P> +Drew released Ruth's hand. She threw herself on her father's breast, +and the young man groped his way to his room. Once there, he sat down +and tried to face calmly the terrible indictment that had been made +against him. +</P> + +<P> +He did not delude himself as to the bits of circumstantial evidence +that might be used to piece out that indictment to make it plausible. +</P> + +<P> +What was Ditty's motive? He racked his brain in vain to find it. +There was, to be sure, the row upon the pier, but that had been only a +trifle, and the world would never believe that for anything like that a +man would swear away the life of another. +</P> + +<P> +The previous quarrel between him and Lester Parmalee seemed to +establish the fact that there was bad blood between them. There was +the cut upon his head, received at the very time that Parmalee +disappeared. There were the blood stains on the cane, carrying the +inference that that stick in the hand of Parmalee had inflicted his +wound. He owned a revolver, which would bear out Ditty's statement +that the mate had been intimidated by it. Then there was his own +savage attack on Ditty, which showed his hot and impetuous temper. +</P> + +<P> +He groaned as he saw what could be made of all these things in the +hands of a clever district attorney. He could see the picture that +would be drawn for the benefit of the jury. The old, old story—a +beautiful woman with two young and ardent suitors; one quarrel already +having occurred; a meeting in the dark; a renewal of the quarrel; an +attack by the weaker with a cane; the blow that turned the stronger +into a maddened beast and prompted him to grasp his frail rival and +throw him into the sea. What was more possible? What was more +probable? Jealousy had caused thousands of similar tragedies in the +history of the world. +</P> + +<P> +And when to these damaging circumstances was added the testimony of a +declared eye-witness who seemed to have no sufficient reason for lying, +what would the jury do? +</P> + +<P> +Drew shuddered, and his soul turned sick within him. +</P> + +<P> +And Ruth! He ground his teeth in rage at the thought of her name being +dragged into the terrible story, as it certainly would be. +</P> + +<P> +Even supposing that he should be given the benefit of the doubt and +discharged, his life would be utterly wrecked. He could not ask her to +share the life of a man who the world would believe owed his escape +from the penitentiary to luck rather than to his innocence. Even if +she were willing, he could not ask her to link her life with his. +</P> + +<P> +All through that day and part of the next, he lived in an inferno. By +tacit consent, the members of the party refrained from talking of the +one thing about which all were thinking. When they met, they spoke of +indifferent matters, but there was a hideous feeling of restraint that +could not be dispelled, and gloom hung over them like a pall. +</P> + +<P> +The morning of the second day, as they were cruising about in the +longitude and latitude indicated by the map, the voice of the lookout +resounded from the masthead. +</P> + +<P> +"Land ho!" +</P> + +<P> +"Where away?" shouted Rogers, who chanced to be officer of the deck. +</P> + +<P> +"Three points on the weather bow," was the answer. +</P> + +<P> +Rogers reported instantly to the captain, who came rushing on deck, +followed by the other members of the party. +</P> + +<P> +The captain adjusted his binoculars and looked hard and long at a black +speck rising from the waves. Finally he dropped the glass. +</P> + +<P> +"The hump of the whale!" he announced. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap19"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIX +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +FOREBODINGS +</H4> + +<P> +The hearts of all on board were thrilled. Crew and passengers alike +were delighted, although the latter had a special reason for excitement +of which the former were supposed to be ignorant. +</P> + +<P> +The schooner had been proceeding under full sail, but as she approached +nearer to the land whose outlines at every moment became more distinct, +the topgallants were taken in until the <I>Bertha Hamilton</I> had just +enough canvas drawing to give her good steerage way. +</P> + +<P> +Before long the schooner approached near enough for those on board to +see the island plainly with the naked eye. It seemed to be several +miles in length. It looked like an emerald floating in the sunlight. +Lush vegetation extended to within a hundred yards of the sea, and a +silvery stretch of beach edged the breakers that curled and burst with +an unceasing roar. +</P> + +<P> +There was no sign of human habitation anywhere. No hut broke the +smooth expanse of the beach or peeped out from among the trees. The +impression of an uninhabited wilderness was heightened by great numbers +of pelicans and cranes, who stood sleepily on one foot or stalked +solemnly about pursuing their fishing in the shallows. +</P> + +<P> +There was only one place where the outline of the coast was broken. At +the eastern end the claws of a reef extended for about half a mile into +the sea, making a barrier behind which the water was comparatively +calm, though at the opening, of about two hundred yards, there ran a +turbulent sea. +</P> + +<P> +"That must be the inlet shown on the pirate's map," whispered Tyke, who +was standing at the rail of the <I>Bertha Hamilton</I> close beside the +captain. +</P> + +<P> +"That's probably what it is," replied Captain Hamilton, his voice +showing the agitation under which he was laboring. "But before we put +her through the opening, I'm going to take soundings. Mr. Ditty!" he +called, "heave to and lower a boat to take soundings." +</P> + +<P> +"Aye, aye, sir," responded the mate. +</P> + +<P> +In a twinkling the necessary orders were given, the <I>Bertha Hamilton</I> +lost way and rounded to, and a boat manned by six sailors was dropped +from the davits on the lee side. +</P> + +<P> +"Pull away smartly now, my lads," called the mate as he took the +tiller-ropes. +</P> + +<P> +It required smart seamanship to get through that rushing raceway +without capsizing; but, whatever Ditty's faults, he did not lack +ability, and the work was done in a way that elicited an unwilling +grunt of admiration from Tyke. +</P> + +<P> +In less than two hours the requisite soundings had been taken, and +Ditty came to report. +</P> + +<P> +"Plenty of depth, sir," he reported. "No less than ten fathoms +anywhere. And a good bottom." +</P> + +<P> +"All right, Mr. Ditty," replied the captain. "Put the canvas on her +now and we'll take her through." +</P> + +<P> +The captain himself assumed charge of this critical operation, and +under half sail the <I>Bertha Hamilton</I> dashed through as though +welcoming the end of her journey. She made the channel without mishap, +and let go her anchor within a quarter of a mile of the head of the +lagoon. +</P> + +<P> +Inside the breakwater the sea was almost as smooth as a mirror. The +water was wonderfully transparent, and they could see hundreds of +tropical fish swimming lazily at a great depth. On the beach the waves +lapped in musical ripples, in striking contrast to the thundering surf +on the reef. +</P> + +<P> +The captain wiped his perspiring forehead and drew a long breath of +relief. "So far so good," he remarked. "It won't be long now before +we'll know whether we've come on a fool's errand or not." +</P> + +<P> +"There's one thing about which the map hasn't lied, anyway," said Drew. +"It pointed out the inlet just where we found it. That's a good omen, +it seems to me." +</P> + +<P> +"Let's hope the rest of the map is all right," replied the captain. +"But it's nearly time for dinner now, and we'll have that before going +ashore." +</P> + +<P> +All were so feverishly impatient, now that they were almost in sight of +their goal, that none of them paid much attention to the meal, and it +was soon over. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you s'pose the crew have any idee why we're stopping at this +island?" asked Tyke. There was a grim look on his seamed countenance, +and both the captain and Drew looked at him curiously. +</P> + +<P> +"What's milling in your brain, Tyke?" asked Captain Hamilton. "I've +kept my eyes peeled, and I swear I haven't seen anything more to +suggest treachery. Ditty's on his best behavior——" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; that's so," agreed Tyke. "But did you spy the men he took with +him in the boat jest now, when he came in here to make soundings?" +</P> + +<P> +"I didn't notice," the captain confessed. +</P> + +<P> +"The orneriest ones of the whole bunch. An', believe me! this is the +wo'st crew of dock scrapings I ever set eyes on," growled Tyke. "Ditty +did a lot of talking in the boat—I watched 'em through my glass. Them +six are his close friends, Cap'n Rufe. They've laid their plans——" +</P> + +<P> +"Holy mackerel!" exclaimed Captain Hamilton. "What are you saying, +Tyke?" +</P> + +<P> +"I've figgered out that we aren't going to have things our own way down +here," the other said earnestly. "I've been waiting for you to say +something, Cap'n Rufe, ever since that Bug-eye accused Allen like he +did. Ditty's on to our game—has been on to it right along—an' he +selected this crew of wharf-rats for a purpose." +</P> + +<P> +"I agree with you, Mr. Grimshaw," Drew declared eagerly. "That's what +Ditty was after when he tried to rob you at the time you were knocked +down by the automobile. You were right. He did push you back in front +of the machine, and then he searched your pockets while you were on the +ground." +</P> + +<P> +"For what?" demanded Captain Hamilton, staring. +</P> + +<P> +"For the paper and the map. Ditty believed Mr. Grimshaw carried that +confession in his pocket," Drew replied. +</P> + +<P> +The master of the schooner rose and began to walk about in excitement. +</P> + +<P> +"That's it! He was lurking outside your office door that day, Tyke, +when we first found the papers in Manuel Gomez's chest. I see it now. +He was aboard the schooner that very evening, too, when I told Ruth at +dinner about the pirate's doubloons. He might have been eavesdropping +then." +</P> + +<P> +"An' I bet he flung poor Parmalee over the rail himself," said Tyke. +Hamilton's expression changed and he shook his head at that. +</P> + +<P> +"He'd git rid of one of the after-guard that way," urged Tyke. +"Parmalee could shoot. An' if it comes to a fight——" +</P> + +<P> +"My soul!" groaned Captain Hamilton suddenly. "And Ruth with us!" +</P> + +<P> +"What about Ruth?" asked that young lady cheerfully, coming from her +cabin. "Aren't you all ready yet? I am going ashore with you." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; you'd better come," said her father gloomily. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, what is the matter?" she demanded. +</P> + +<P> +"We were just wondering," said Drew quickly, assuming a casual tone to +cover their real emotion, "if the crew suspected our reason for +touching at this island." +</P> + +<P> +Captain Hamilton picked up the ball at once. +</P> + +<P> +"But I don't believe they do," he said. "Of course, it would have +seemed strange to the mate and to Rogers if I hadn't given them some +explanation, especially as we came out in ballast. So I dropped hints +that we were out on a survey expedition that couldn't be talked of just +now. They probably have the idea that we're looking up a suitable +coaling station for the Government, or something of that kind. To +carry that out, I've got some surveyor's instruments here that we'll +take along with us, just for a blind." +</P> + +<P> +"Let's hope it'll work," said Tyke dubiously. "An' it won't do any +harm to take our guns along." +</P> + +<P> +"There's a pair of revolvers for each of us," replied Captain Hamilton, +opening the closet where he kept the arms that Drew had previously +seen; "and we'll take half a dozen guns along with us in the boat. +There may be snakes or wild animals on the islands." +</P> + +<P> +"I must have a revolver too, Daddy," said the girl. +</P> + +<P> +"Of course, my dear," agreed the captain. +</P> + +<P> +"Mebbe you'd better not put any cartridges in it, Cap'n Rufe," said +Grimshaw, taking Ruth playfully by the arm, "They'd be more dangerous +to us than to anything else." +</P> + +<P> +"It's mean of you to say that, Mr. Grimshaw," pouted Ruth. "You'll +find that I can use a gun as well as anybody." +</P> + +<P> +"Mebbe so, mebbe so, my dear," said Tyke indulgently. +</P> + +<P> +"Hadn't we better take some provisions along?" asked Ruth, as she +slipped the cartridges into her revolver and put the weapon in the +pocket of the sports skirt that she had donned. +</P> + +<P> +"That won't be necessary," replied the captain. "We'll be back before +nightfall. This is just a little preliminary scouting. We won't have +time for more than that this afternoon. The real work of searching for +the treasure will begin to-morrow." +</P> + +<P> +The preparations finished, the party went on deck. +</P> + +<P> +"Crew had their dinner yet, Mr. Ditty?" Captain Hamilton asked of his +first officer. +</P> + +<P> +"My watch have, sir," was the answer. "The others are eating now." +</P> + +<P> +"Pick out half a dozen men and lower the boat," ordered the captain. +"We're going ashore for a few hours. We'll be back for supper." +</P> + +<P> +"How long will we lay up here, sir?" +</P> + +<P> +"Can't tell yet. Perhaps two or three days. Possibly a week or more." +</P> + +<P> +"How about shore leave for the men, sir?" +</P> + +<P> +"Beginning to-morrow, they can go ashore in batches of ten. This +afternoon, Mr. Rogers and a boat's crew can take the long boat and some +casks and go ashore to look for water." +</P> + +<P> +"Very well, sir," replied the mate, with a curious expression on his +face. +</P> + +<P> +As he turned away, his one eye fell on Drew. They had not met since +the fight two days before. They stared at each other for several +seconds, until Ditty's eye fell before the concentrated fury in those +of the young man. +</P> + +<P> +Ruth, who had witnessed the interchange of looks, put her hand lightly +on Drew's arm. +</P> + +<P> +"Aren't you going to help me into the boat, Allen?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +His rage at Ditty vanished in an instant as he turned to her. She was +trying to smile, but there was no laughter in her dewy eyes. But Drew +saw there something deeper and sweeter and tenderer. There was immense +sympathy and—what was that other fugitive expression that he caught +before her eyelids lowered? +</P> + +<P> +He bent toward her, but just then Grimshaw and the captain ranged +alongside, and they had to take their places in the boat. +</P> + +<P> +The members of the crew who had been told off for the service, bent to +the oars, and, at a rapid pace, they approached the shore. The beach +shelved gradually, and they had no trouble in making a landing. The +sailors leaped out into the shallow water and drew the boat well up on +the strand, and the party disembarked. +</P> + +<P> +Drew wished that they had found it necessary to wade. With what +delight he would have carried Ruth in those strong arms of his! +</P> + +<P> +"We'll be back in an hour or two, my lads," said the captain. "You can +scatter about and do as you like until we return, as long as you keep +within hail of the boat." +</P> + +<P> +With the captain and Tyke in the lead, and Drew following behind to +help Ruth over the hard places, they plunged into the unknown forest. +After all, they went slowly, for Tyke had to favor what he called his +"game leg." +</P> + +<P> +For all the evidence that the wood afforded, it had been untrodden for +many years. Giant ceiba trees reared themselves two hundred feet into +the air. Lianas hung in festoons from the boughs like monstrous boa +constrictors. Parrots flew squawking from branch to branch, and +humming birds and butterflies of many hues and gorgeous beauty darted +like bright arrows among the flowers. +</P> + +<P> +The underbrush was thick and in some places impenetrable, and the +treasure seekers would have found their progress very slow if it had +not been for certain irregular trails that seemed to have been hewn +through the woods at intervals. In some places these trails were many +yards wide, while at others they narrowed to a foot or two. Nothing +grew upon them, but they were covered by dead leaves and twigs of +varying depths. +</P> + +<P> +"Wonder how these trails came here," said the captain. "There are no +footprints on them, and yet they must have been made by animals or men." +</P> + +<P> +"Better keep our eyes peeled," warned Tyke. +</P> + +<P> +The captain, who had scraped away some of the accumulated leaves and +rubbish, gave a sudden exclamation. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, this path is made of stone!" he cried. He dropped on his knees +and examined more closely. When he rose to his feet his face was grave. +</P> + +<P> +"It's lava!" he stated. +</P> + +<P> +"Then the island must be volcanic!" exclaimed Drew, startled by the +thought. +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing very surprising about that when you come to think of it," Tyke +declared. "We're right down here in the earthquake zone, where the +earth's liable to throw a fit any time. Like enough this old whaleback +is a sleeping volcano. She may blow up again some time." +</P> + +<P> +"Just as it did at Martinique," confirmed the captain. "Perhaps that +may explain the absence of people hereabouts. They may have all been +wiped out by some eruption, or they may have been so scared that they +left the island for safer quarters." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't think we have much to worry about," remarked Tyke. "There +ain't any doubt but this hill we're heading for has been at some time a +volcano. But likely it's been quiet for hundreds of years. An' it's +not likely that it's going to git busy now jest for our special +benefit. Let's hike along." +</P> + +<P> +"There's one good thing about it, anyway," remarked Drew, as they +resumed their march. "It's burned out these paths and made the walking +easier. And it's pointed out just the way we want to go. All we have +to do is to follow this path and it can't help but lead us right up to +the whale's hump." +</P> + +<P> +"That's the point we want to head for," replied the captain, consulting +the map. "You'll notice that these circles seem to be on the slope of +the hill not so very far from the top. Besides, that pirate fellow +would be likely to go quite a way in from the shore to bury his loot." +</P> + +<P> +Half a mile further on, a little stream ran through the forest. The +party went over to it, and Drew, bending down and making a cup of his +hands, bore some of the water to his lips. He made a wry face and +almost choked. +</P> + +<P> +"Sulphur!" he exclaimed. "It's full of it." +</P> + +<P> +Captain Hamilton, too, tasted. +</P> + +<P> +"Another proof, if we needed it, that the island is volcanic," he +observed. Then, in a tone that only Drew heard, he added: "What I +don't like about it is that it shows there's brimstone in the old +whale's hump yet. If there wasn't, the water would have sweetened long +ago." +</P> + +<P> +Tyke and Ruth each took a few drops of the water, and then the party +went on a little more soberly than before. The trees soon became more +scattered, though the undergrowth was dense. Before long they emerged +on a sort of plateau above which was lifted, at a height of two hundred +feet or more, the whale's hump. +</P> + +<P> +Its sides were heaped with masses of hardened lava in all kinds of +grotesque shapes. It was utterly desolate and bare. Ruth shuddered as +she looked at the weird scene. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't wonder that some place around here is called the Witch's +Head," she remarked. "This must be like the place where Macbeth saw +the witches brewing their potions." +</P> + +<P> +"Except that they brewed them 'in lightning, thunder and in rain'," +said Drew. "Those are the only things that are missing." +</P> + +<P> +He had scarcely spoken when there was a rumbling that sounded like +thunder. Drew was startled, and Ruth grew slightly pale. +</P> + +<P> +"That's funny," remarked Tyke. "Weather's as clear as a bell too. +This ain't the hurricane season." +</P> + +<P> +The captain was in a brown study, seemingly unheedful of the rumbling +sound. In a moment he roused himself and said: +</P> + +<P> +"Well, now let's scatter about and see if we can find anything that +looks like The Three Sisters or the Witch's Head." +</P> + +<P> +Grimshaw sat down to rest, not wishing to put too heavy a strain on the +leg that had been injured, and the others wandered about for half an +hour trying to discover anything that might be identified as the places +named on the map. But their efforts were fruitless, and the captain, +looking at his watch, called a halt. +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing more doing now," he said. "We have only time to get back to +the boat. But we've got our bearings and have done a good afternoon's +work. To-morrow's a new day, and we'll get on the job early." +</P> + +<P> +Reluctantly, the little party went back to the boat. They found the +crew waiting for them and were pulled rapidly to the schooner, whose +anchor lights were already gleaming like fireflies in the sudden dusk. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap20"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XX +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE EARTH TREMBLES +</H4> + +<P> +It was with a feeling of relief after their surroundings of the last +few hours, that the treasure seekers found themselves again on board +the <I>Bertha Hamilton</I> and seated in the bright cabin at the appetizing +and abundant meal that Wah Lee had prepared for them. +</P> + +<P> +All four felt jubilant at the discoveries they had made. Drew and Ruth +were sure that they were on the very brink of finding the pirate hoard, +and might, that very afternoon, have uncovered it if they had had a few +more hours of daylight. To-morrow, they felt sure, would find them in +possession of the doubloons. +</P> + +<P> +Drew's personal trouble had been for the moment obscured, although the +thought of it was sure to return to torment him as soon as the +excitement of the afternoon's search was past. +</P> + +<P> +One thing served to delight and to torture him at the same time. He +was almost sure that he had surprised a secret in the eyes of Ruth. He +was thrilled as he thought of it. But the next moment he groaned in +anguish as he remembered the frightful charge hanging over his head. +What had he now to offer her but a wrecked career and a blackened name? +</P> + +<P> +The exhilaration all had felt on their return was followed soon by +reaction. Ruth withdrew early to her room, pleading weariness. Tyke +was thoughtful, thinking of the thunder he had heard just before they +had left the island. The captain went on deck only to find in the +report of the second officer more cause for gravity. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Rogers came up to him as he emerged from the cabin. +</P> + +<P> +"Couldn't get any water this afternoon, sir," he reported. "Found +some; but it tasted strong of sulphur, sir." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I know, Mr. Rogers," replied the captain. "I tasted some myself +while I was ashore, and found it no good. Still, we've got plenty on +board, so it doesn't matter." +</P> + +<P> +Still the second officer lingered. +</P> + +<P> +"What is it, Mr. Rogers?" asked the captain, who saw that the man had +something on his mind. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, I hardly know how to put it, sir," answered the second officer, a +little confusedly. "Perhaps it's foolish to speak about it; and there +may be nothing in it, after all." +</P> + +<P> +"Out with it, Mr. Rogers," ordered the captain, all alert in an instant. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, it's this way, sir," returned the second officer. "I don't like +the way the men are acting. I never was sweet on the crew from the +beginning, for the matter of that, not meaning any disrespect to Mr. +Ditty, who had the choosing of most of them. There's a few of them +that are smart seamen, but most of them are rank swabs that don't know +a marlinspike from a backstay. Seem more like a gang of river pirates +than deep-sea sailors." +</P> + +<P> +"I know that most of them are a poor lot," replied the captain. "But +they've managed to work the ship down here, and I guess they can get +her home again." +</P> + +<P> +"But it isn't only that, sir," went on the other. "There's altogether +too much whispering and getting into corners when the men are off duty +to suit me. And they shut up like clams when I pass near 'em. And +they're surly and impudent when I give 'em orders. I've had to lick a +half dozen of 'em already." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, you've got Mr. Ditty to help you out," said the captain. +</P> + +<P> +"That's another queer thing, sir," continued the second officer, +evidently reluctant to speak against his superior. "Mr. Ditty is +usually quicker with his fists than he is with his tongue; but I never +saw him like he is on this voyage. Seems like at times as though he +took the men's part, sir." +</P> + +<P> +"That's a hard saying, Mr. Rogers," said the captain. +</P> + +<P> +"True enough, sir; but you told me to speak out. I had trouble with +some of the men this very afternoon, sir, when I went over to the +island. They found the water tasted of sulphur, and some of 'em +started in saying that the devil wasn't very far off when you could +taste brimstone so plain. Of course, sailors are superstitious, and I +wouldn't have thought anything of that, only it seemed as if the bad +ones were just making that an excuse to get the others sore and +discontented. They were growling and muttering amongst themselves all +the time they were ashore. +</P> + +<P> +"I've got it off my chest now, sir, and maybe you'll think it's +foolish, but I thought you ought to know. There's something going on +that I can't understand, and it bothers me." +</P> + +<P> +"You've done quite right to tell me what you have, Mr. Rogers," replied +the captain, "and I'm obliged to you. I'll think it over. In the +meantime, keep your eyes wide open and let me know at once if anything +comes to light. By the way, did you ever find anybody who saw what +happened to Mr. Parmalee?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not a man among 'em will own to having seen anything. It was a dark +night," replied Mr. Rogers, touching his cap and turning away. +</P> + +<P> +Captain Hamilton sought out Tyke immediately and related to him what +Rogers had said. +</P> + +<P> +"How many men that you know you can depend on have you got in your +crew?" asked Tyke quickly. +</P> + +<P> +"Not more than a dozen that I'm sure of," admitted Captain Hamilton. +"That many've sailed with me on a number of voyages and they came home +with me from Hong Kong. They are as good men as ever hauled on a +sheet. But even some of them may have been affected by whatever it is +that's brewing. It takes only a few rotten apples to spoil a barrel, +you know." +</P> + +<P> +"A dozen," mused Tyke reflectively. "Those, with you and Allen and me +would make fifteen." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't forget Rogers," put in Hamilton. +</P> + +<P> +"Sixteen," corrected Tyke. "That leaves only eighteen, if Ditty's got +'em all. Counting himself, that's nineteen. Sixteen against nineteen. +Considering the kind of muts they are, we ought to lick the tar out of +'em." +</P> + +<P> +"We could if it came to open fighting. But if they're up to mischief, +they'll know what they're after and will have the advantage of striking +the first blow. +</P> + +<P> +"That is," he went on, "if there's anything in it at all. Perhaps +we're just imagining they mean something serious, when after all it may +be only a matter of sailors' grumbling. Rogers may have only uncovered +a mare's nest." +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps," admitted Tyke. "All the same, I've never trusted that +rascal, Ditty, from the minute I clapped eyes on him. An' since he +lied so about Allen, I <I>know</I> he's a scoundrel." +</P> + +<P> +"I hope he did lie," said the captain doubtfully. +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Hope!</I>" cried the old man hotly. "Don't you <I>know</I>? Look here, Rufe +Hamilton, you an' me have been friends for going on thirty years, but +we break friendship right here and now if you tell me you don't <I>know</I> +that Ditty lied!" +</P> + +<P> +"There, there, Tyke," soothed the skipper, "have it your own way. But +what we have on hand just now is how to get the better of Ditty and his +gang." +</P> + +<P> +Gradually Tyke's ruffled feathers were smoothed and he devoted himself +to the matter in hand. +</P> + +<P> +They talked late and long, but in the face of only vague conjectures, +could reach no definite conclusion. One thing they did decide: It was +so to manage matters as to leave Rogers in command of the schooner when +the captain himself should be ashore. Unless Ditty were actually +deposed, and as yet there was no valid excuse for doing this, the only +way they could carry out this plan was to see that Ditty was on shore +at the same time that the treasure seekers were. +</P> + +<P> +The next morning when the party was ready to start, Captain Hamilton +spoke to Ditty. +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Ditty," he directed, "you will take ten of the men ashore on leave +this morning in the long-boat. I am going myself with the crew of the +smaller boat. Mr. Rogers will remain in charge of the ship. If you +find sweet water, send back for the casks." +</P> + +<P> +Ditty started to make an objection. +</P> + +<P> +"Beg pardon, sir, but I don't care for shore leave myself. Mr. Rogers +can go in my place if he wants to, sir." +</P> + +<P> +"You heard what I said, Mr. Ditty. Mr. Rogers went yesterday," said +the captain curtly. "Have both boats lowered at once." +</P> + +<P> +There was no help for it, and Ditty yielded a surly obedience. +</P> + +<P> +"What time shall I bring the men back, sir?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"When I give you the signal," replied the captain. "Perhaps not till +late afternoon. Take your dinner grub with you." +</P> + +<P> +The boats left the ship's side together, and in a few minutes both +reached the beach. With instructions to Ditty to keep his men on the +east end of the island, the captain's party entered the jungle. +</P> + +<P> +They easily found the path they had trodden the day before, and were +well on their way to the whale's hump when they were startled by a +queer vibration of the earth. There was no sound accompanying it. On +the contrary, everything seemed hushed in a deathlike stillness. The +cries of birds and the humming of insects had stopped as though by +magic. Nature seemed to be holding her breath. +</P> + +<P> +Then came a second quivering stronger than the first—a shock which +threw the four treasure hunters violently to the ground. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap21"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXI +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +"IF I WAS SUPERSTITIOUS——-" +</H4> + +<P> +"What is this?" +</P> + +<P> +"An earthquake!" +</P> + +<P> +"The island is sinking!" +</P> + +<P> +"We'll have to get out of this!" +</P> + +<P> +Such were some of the cries of the treasure hunters as the earth +trembled beneath them. +</P> + +<P> +For perhaps twenty seconds the sickening vibration continued. Then it +stopped as suddenly as it had begun. The swaying trees finished their +dizzy dance, and the rocks that had seemed to be bowing to each other +like so many mummers resumed their impassive attitudes. Their lawless +frolic had ended! +</P> + +<P> +Drew had caught Ruth by the arm as she went down, and thus had broken +the violence of her fall. But all were jarred and shaken. +</P> + +<P> +As the more agile of the quartet, the young man was first on his feet. +He tenderly assisted Ruth to rise, while the others scrambled up +unaided. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you hurt?" Drew asked the girl solicitously. +</P> + +<P> +"Not a bit," she answered pluckily, and Drew reflected on what a +thoroughbred she was. +</P> + +<P> +The others also had sustained no injury. But their forebodings as to +their safety on the island had been quickened by this striking example +of nature's restlessness. The giant in the volcano was not dead. He +was uneasy and had turned in his sleep. It was as though he resented +the coming of these interlopers, and was giving them warning to go away +and leave him undisturbed. +</P> + +<P> +"Now if I was superstitious," remarked Tyke, "I should say that +something was trying to keep us from getting this treasure." +</P> + +<P> +"Let it try then," said the captain grimly. "We haven't come as far as +this to turn tail and run just when we're on the point of getting what +we came for." +</P> + +<P> +"Good for you, Daddy!" cried Ruth gaily. "We're bound to have that +treasure." +</P> + +<P> +They quickened their steps now. This was no time for leisurely +investigation of the phenomena of earthquakes. They soon reached the +point they had attained the day before. But as they had explored that +section of the hillside already, they did not halt there, but pushed on +to the west. +</P> + +<P> +"Now," said the captain, as he and Drew disburdened themselves of the +spades and mattocks they had brought along, carefully wrapped under the +guise of surveyors instruments, "we'll go at this thing in a scientific +way. We'll make a rough division of this whole section"—he included +with a wave of his hand a space half a mile square—"into four parts. +No, three parts. Tyke must rest his leg. Then each must search his +section to find some rocks that look like those beauties marked on the +map." +</P> + +<P> +The three scattered promptly, and began the search. They looked +diligently, but for a long time found nothing to reward their efforts. +Drew tried as conscientiously as the rest, although at times he could +not make his eyes behave, and his gaze would wander over in Ruth's +direction. It was in one of these lapses from industry that he saw her +lift her arm and wave eagerly in his direction. He did not wait for a +second summons, but hurried over, after calling to the others to follow. +</P> + +<P> +The girl was flushed and excited. +</P> + +<P> +"What have you found?" Drew asked, as soon as he got within speaking +distance. +</P> + +<P> +"Look!" she answered. "Doesn't that big rock over there seem to you +like a witch's head—wild and ragged locks, and all that?" +</P> + +<P> +From where he was then standing, he could trace no resemblance, but +when he reached her side and looked from the same angle he raised a +shout. +</P> + +<P> +"The very thing!" he cried. "There can't be any doubt of it." +</P> + +<P> +The rock in question stood apart from the rest on the slope of the +hill. Nature had carved it in a moment of prankishness. There were +all the features of an old crone, forehead, nose, sunken mouth, +nut-cracker jaws, while small streams of lava, hardening as they had +flowed, gave the similitude of scanty tresses. +</P> + +<P> +Tyke and the captain, soon came up, and all their doubts disappeared as +they gazed. +</P> + +<P> +"The Witch's Head!" they agreed exultantly. +</P> + +<P> +"With that to start with, the rest will be easy," cried Drew. "The +Three Sisters can't be more than a few hundred feet or so away." +</P> + +<P> +Ten minutes' further search revealed a group of three rocks, which, +while having no resemblance to female faces, were the only ones that +stood apart from all the rest as a trio. +</P> + +<P> +The hands of the three men trembled as they got out the old map and +pored over it. +</P> + +<P> +"Thirty-seven big paces due north from the Witch's Head; eighty-nine +big paces due east from The Three Sisters," muttered the captain. +</P> + +<P> +"Paces, even big paces, is rather indefinite," commented Drew. "If it +were yards or feet, now, it would be different. But one man's paces +differ from another's, and a short man's differ from a tall man's." +</P> + +<P> +"It was very inconsiderate of that old pirate not to tell exactly how +tall he was," jested Ruth. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, we can't have everything handed to us on a gold plate," said the +captain. "We may have to dig in a good many places before we strike +the right spot." +</P> + +<P> +"Let's do this," suggested Tyke. "Each one of us men will mark off the +paces, taking good long strides, an' see where we bring up. Then we'll +mark off a big circle that will include all three results. It's a +moral certainty that it will be somewheres in that circle if it's here +at all." +</P> + +<P> +They acted on this suggestion, Ruth, with pencil and paper, serving as +scribe, while the men did the pacing. She was elated at the part she +had played in the discovery. +</P> + +<P> +It was an easy enough matter to make thirty-seven big paces from one +point and eighty-nine big paces from another, but, as every student of +angles knows, it was very difficult to make the two lines converge at +the proper point. But though their methods were rough, they succeeded +at last in getting a very fair working hypothesis. A rough circle of +forty feet in diameter was drawn about the stake Drew set up, and +within that circle they were convinced the treasure lay. +</P> + +<P> +By this time the sun had reached the zenith, and before they started to +dig they retreated to the shade in the edge of the jungle and ate their +lunch. +</P> + +<P> +"Hadn't you better wait until it gets a little cooler by and by?" asked +Ruth anxiously. "It will be frightful under this hot sun. This is the +hour of siesta." +</P> + +<P> +"I guess we're too impatient for that," answered her father. "But +we'll work only a few minutes at a time and take long resting spells +between." +</P> + +<P> +Fortunately the ground was moderately soft within the circle, and their +spades sank deep with every thrust. Tyke was not allowed to share in +this work of excavation, much to his disgust. As for Drew and Captain +Hamilton, their muscular arms worked like machines, and they soon had +great mounds of earth piled around their respective pits. +</P> + +<P> +But fortune failed to reward their efforts. One place after another +was abandoned as hopeless. +</P> + +<P> +They were toiling away with the perspiration dripping from them, when +Drew was startled by a cry from Ruth. He leaped instantly out of his +excavation, and ran to her. Ruth was standing in the shade of the +jungle's edge; but she was staring across the barren hillside toward +the west. +</P> + +<P> +"What is it?" demanded the young man. "What do you see?" +</P> + +<P> +"I—I don't know. I'm not <I>sure</I> I saw anything," she admitted. "And +yet——" +</P> + +<P> +"Some of the seamen?" demanded Drew. "I've been expecting that, though +your father is so sure that Ditty and his gang will remain at the +eastern end of the island." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Allen! Not Ditty! Not one of the sailors! I—I could almost +believe in—in ghosts," and she tried to laugh. +</P> + +<P> +"What is it, my dear?" asked Tyke, who had come over. "What's +happened? Did you see something?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. It moved. It was there, and then it wasn't there. The space it +stood in was empty," said the girl earnestly. +</P> + +<P> +"For the love o' goodness!" cried Tyke, mopping his brow. "You've got +me all stirred up. Now, if I was superstitious——" +</P> + +<P> +"You will be if I tell you more about that—that thing," Ruth said. +She said it jokingly, and Tyke turned away, going over to where Captain +Hamilton was still at work. +</P> + +<P> +"It must have been the spirit of the old pirate come back to guard his +hoard," Drew said lightly. +</P> + +<P> +Ruth looked at him very oddly. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you think?" she whispered, when Tyke was out of hearing. "Why +should the ghost of Ramon Alvarez look so much like Mr. Parmalee?" +</P> + +<P> +Drew paled, and then flushed. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you mean that, Ruth?" he asked, and he could not keep his voice +from trembling. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," she said. Then she flashed him a sudden smile. "Of course, it +was merely an hallucination. But, 'if I was superstitious——'" and +she quoted Tyke with a look which she tried to make merry. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap22"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +BURIED ALIVE +</H4> + +<P> +Ruth pointed out to Drew exactly where the figure that had so startled +her had stood. It was down the slope of the hill to the westward, and +directly between two lava boulders at the edge of the jungle. +</P> + +<P> +The figure—man, apparition, what or whoever it was—had lingered in +sight but a moment. +</P> + +<P> +Before returning to work in his excavation, Drew went down to the spot +Ruth had pointed out. There was not a sign of anybody having been +there. The earth between the huge lumps of lava seemed not to have +been disturbed. He could find no broken twigs or torn vines at the +edge of the jungle. +</P> + +<P> +"She dreamed it—that's all," muttered Drew. "Poor Parmalee!" +</P> + +<P> +He thought of the man whose tragic end was so linked with his own +existence—of the body buffeted by the waves somewhere in the blue +expanse that stretched easterly from this little island. +</P> + +<P> +Of what use would the pirate treasure, if they found it, be to Allen +Drew? This bitter query obsessed him. He would gladly give every coin +and jewel Ramon Alvarez had buried here, were it his to give, to see +Parmalee, leaning on his cane, walk out of the jungle. +</P> + +<P> +He was so lost in these gloomy musings that he started when he felt a +light touch on his arm. +</P> + +<P> +He looked up to find Ruth standing beside him. +</P> + +<P> +"Did you find any trace of him, Allen?" she asked, in a voice from +which the tremor had not entirely gone. +</P> + +<P> +"Not the slightest sign," he answered. "The man or thing, whatever it +was, seems to have vanished into thin air." +</P> + +<P> +"It must have been mere fancy," she murmured, though without conviction. +</P> + +<P> +"Our nerves play strange tricks sometimes," Drew rejoined lightly. "We +are all of us in such an excited state just now that anything may +happen." +</P> + +<P> +"I've always felt that nerves had been left out of my composition," +said Ruth, smiling faintly. "But when it comes to the pinch, I suppose +I'm just as liable to them as any one else." +</P> + +<P> +"No, you're not," denied Allen Drew warmly. "You're the most perfect +thoroughbred of any woman I ever knew." +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps your experience has been limited," she suggested, with a flash +of her old mischief. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm perfectly willing it should be limited from this time on to just +one woman," he was on the point of saying, but bit his lip just in time. +</P> + +<P> +"It is strange that this apparition, for want of a better name, should +have taken the form of Parmalee," he continued, his jealousy in spite +of himself taking possession of him. "Perhaps you were thinking of +him, just then," he hazarded. +</P> + +<P> +"Not at all," returned Ruth frankly. "Just at that moment I'm afraid +my mind was fixed on nothing else but the hunt for the pirate's +treasure." +</P> + +<P> +Drew felt somewhat reassured by this, and they had turned to retrace +their steps when he suddenly stood stock still. +</P> + +<P> +"What is it?" asked Ruth in some alarm. +</P> + +<P> +"I thought I saw an opening in the side of the mountain over there," he +replied. "Perhaps the ghost, or whatever it was, is hiding in that," +he added jestingly. "At any rate I'm going to take a minute and see +what it is." +</P> + +<P> +He made a step in the direction he had indicated. Ruth sought to +restrain him. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't you think you had better call my father and Mr. Grimshaw before +you venture in there?" she asked. "You don't know what may be lurking +there." +</P> + +<P> +"Nonsense," laughed the man lightly. "They'd only be vexed at being +interrupted in their digging. At any rate they're within easy call—if +there should be any need of them." +</P> + +<P> +Ruth was silenced though only half convinced. Together they went over +to a gaping rent in the side of the hill. +</P> + +<P> +As a matter of precaution, Drew had taken his revolver from his belt +and held it ready in his hand. He had really no expectation of meeting +anything hostile in human shape and he did not believe that any animal +that would be at all formidable ranged the island. +</P> + +<P> +"If it's a ghost, I don't suppose this revolver would do any good," he +joked, more to relieve Ruth's uneasiness than any that he felt himself. +"At the very least I'd have to have a silver bullet or one that had +been dipped in the river Jordan." +</P> + +<P> +The opening before which they stood was irregular in shape and seemed +to have been made by one of the convulsions of nature that apparently +were so common to the island. It was, roughly speaking, about four +feet wide and nine high, and from the glimpse they got into its depths +seemed to widen out in the interior. There was nothing about it to +speak of human occupancy and the ground leading to it bore no marks of +footprints. Nor were there any bones scattered about that might +indicate that it was the lair of wild beasts. +</P> + +<P> +Drew cupped his hands to his mouth and sent forth a ringing call. +</P> + +<P> +"Hello, in there!" he shouted. +</P> + +<P> +There was no answer, but the reverberations of his own voice that came +back to him seemed to show that the cave extended inward to a +considerable depth. +</P> + +<P> +"Hello!" he shouted again. "If there's any one in there, come out! +We're friends and won't hurt you." +</P> + +<P> +Again there was no answer. +</P> + +<P> +"Doesn't seem to be sociably inclined," muttered Allen grimly. +</P> + +<P> +"I guess there's nobody there," said Ruth. "Let's go back to the +others, Allen. We've spent too much time already on this foolish +notion of mine." +</P> + +<P> +"It wasn't foolish at all," protested Drew. "As a matter of fact it +may prove to be of the greatest importance. We ought to sift the +matter to the bottom. If there's anybody on this island we don't know +about, it ought to be our first business to find out. I think I'll +take a peep into this mysterious cave." +</P> + +<P> +He made a step forward, but Ruth's hand tightened on his arm and he +stopped. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you think you'd better risk it, Allen?" she asked. "How do you +know what may be in there. Suppose—suppose——" +</P> + +<P> +"Suppose what?" he asked with a whimsical smile. +</P> + +<P> +"Suppose anything should happen to you?" she half whispered. +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing will happen to me," he rejoined. "Not that it matters much +anyway," he added bitterly, as the thought swept over him of the black +cloud of suspicion that hung above him. +</P> + +<P> +"Just give me a minute, Ruth," he pleaded, hating himself for his +reckless words as he saw the pained look in her eyes. "I won't go in +for more than twenty or thirty feet, just to see if there's anything +about this place that we really ought to know. You stay here and I'll +be back before you fairly know I've gone." +</P> + +<P> +She reluctantly loosened her grasp of his arm and he plunged forward +into the darkness. +</P> + +<P> +For the first ten feet or so, the going was rendered rather difficult +by projecting bits of rock that caught at his clothes and impeded his +progress. But then the passage widened out steadily until he could not +feel the sides even when his arms were stretched to their utmost limit. +</P> + +<P> +The light that had followed him from the small entrance finally +vanished, and he went forward with the utmost caution, carefully +planting each foot for the next step. At any moment, for all he knew, +he might find himself on the brink of a precipice. +</P> + +<P> +"Black as Egypt in here," he muttered to himself, as he felt for the +matches he carried in an oilskin bag in the pocket of his coat. "I +guess I'd better strike a——" +</P> + +<P> +But he never finished the sentence. +</P> + +<P> +A deafening roar resounded through the cavern and he was thrown +violently forward on his hands and knees. Again came that dizzy, +sickening shaking of the earth, that nauseating sense of being lifted +to a height and suddenly let fall, that squirming of the ground beneath +him as though it were a gigantic reptile. +</P> + +<P> +His earlier experience in the open air had been bad enough, but there +at least he had had the sense of space and sunlight and companionship. +Here in the darkness and confinement the horrors of the earthquake were +multiplied. +</P> + +<P> +For more than a minute, which seemed to him an hour, the convulsions of +the earth continued. Then they gradually subsided, though it was some +minutes later before the quivering finally ceased. +</P> + +<P> +Dazed and bewildered, Allen Drew scrambled to his feet. His hands were +scraped and bleeding, though he thought little of this in his mental +perturbation. +</P> + +<P> +His thought turned instantly to Ruth. What might have happened to her +while he was away from her? The trees were thick near the mouth of the +cave. Suppose one had fallen and caught her before she could escape? +</P> + +<P> +He started to rush back to the entrance, but to his astonishment, could +see no trace of the light that had marked the place where the opening +had been. +</P> + +<P> +He stopped short, puzzled and alarmed. +</P> + +<P> +"That's queer," he muttered. "I guess that jar I got has turned me +around. It must be in the other direction." +</P> + +<P> +He hastily retraced his steps. But as the cave grew wider and he found +no sign of the narrow passage by which he had entered, he knew that he +was wrong. +</P> + +<P> +"Must have had it right the first time," he thought, "but it's strange +that I didn't see any light. Perhaps there was a bend in the passage +that I hadn't noticed." +</P> + +<P> +Again he went back, feeling his way. The path narrowed and his +outstretched hand came in contact with a shred of cloth that had been +torn from his coat when he had entered. This was proof positive that +he was on the right track. But where then was the light? +</P> + +<P> +The answer came to him with startling suddenness when he plunged +violently into a mass of earth and rock that barred his way. +</P> + +<P> +<I>The entrance to the cave had vanished!</I> +</P> + +<P> +In its place was a vast mass of earth, a slice of the mountain side +that had been torn loose by that last mighty writhing of tortured +nature and that now held him as securely a prisoner as though he were +in the center of the earth. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap23"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXIII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +A DESPERATE SITUATION +</H4> + +<P> +Mechanically, Drew took his handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the +cold sweat from his brow. He tried to steady his reeling brain and +bring some semblance of order into his thoughts. +</P> + +<P> +This then was the end! Trapped like a rat in a cage, shut out forever +from the world of men, doomed to die miserably and hopelessly,—sealed +in a tomb while yet alive! +</P> + +<P> +All the dreams he had cherished, all the hopes he had nourished, all +the future he had planned—planned with Ruth—— +</P> + +<P> +Ruth! +</P> + +<P> +The thought of her wrung his soul with anguish, but it also woke him +from his torpor. +</P> + +<P> +He <I>would</I> see her again! He would not surrender! He would <I>not</I> die! +Not while a breath remained in his body would he give in to despair. +There must be some way out. Fate would not be so cruel as to carry its +ghastly joke to the very end. He would call on all his resources. He +would struggle, fight, never give up for a moment. +</P> + +<P> +His brain cleared and he took a grip on himself. The blood once more +ran hot in his veins. His youth and manhood asserted themselves in +dauntless vigor and determination. +</P> + +<P> +The first thing to do was to attack the wall of fresh dirt and rock +that hemmed him in. Perhaps it was less thick than it seemed. He had +no implement to help him; but his muscular arms and powerful hands +might suffice to dig a way to freedom. +</P> + +<P> +He sought to fortify himself by calling to mind all that he had ever +read about prisoners digging their way to freedom. Their cases had +seemed desperate, but often they had succeeded. He too would +succeed—he must succeed. Ruth was outside waiting for him, working +for him, praying for him. +</P> + +<P> +He set to work with a dogged resolution and fierce energy that soon had +the perspiration flowing from him in streams. Behind him the dirt and +debris piled up in a rapidly growing mound. His hands and nails were +torn, but his excitement and absorption were so great that no sensation +of physical pain was conveyed to his overwrought brain. +</P> + +<P> +At times he stopped to rest a moment and to listen for the stroke of +pick or shovel from the opposite side of his living grave. But no +sound came to him. He seemed to be in a soundless universe except for +the rasp of his own labored breathing. +</P> + +<P> +It was after one of these intervals of listening that he was about to +resume his frenzied efforts when he thought he heard a slight sound in +the cave behind him. +</P> + +<P> +His heart seemed to stand still for a moment while he strained his ears. +</P> + +<P> +There was no mistake. Some living thing was in the cave besides +himself! +</P> + +<P> +Instinctively, his hand gripped the butt of his revolver. Then with a +bitter smile he put it back in its place. Why should he hurt or kill +anything that was alive? Death seemed sure enough for any occupant of +that cave. +</P> + +<P> +He went back stealthily until he reached the wider part of the cave, +where he had been when the shock came that had entombed him. +</P> + +<P> +Again that faint sound, undeniably human, came to his ears. Pacing +cautiously in the direction from which it came, his foot struck against +something soft. He reached down and his hand came in contact with a +woman's dress. +</P> + +<P> +In an instant he had gathered the yielding form in his arms. +</P> + +<P> +"Ruth!" he shouted. +</P> + +<P> +"Allen!" came back faintly from her parted lips. +</P> + +<P> +For an instant everything reeled about Drew and his mind was awhirl. +Then he laid his burden down and fell frantically to rubbing her hands. +Incoherent cries came from his lips as he sought to restore her to +complete consciousness. +</P> + +<P> +His vigorous efforts were rewarded a few moments later when Ruth +stirred and tried to sit up. +</P> + +<P> +"I must have fainted," she said; "or perhaps I struck my head against +the side of the cave when the shock came." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't try to talk yet," said Drew. "Just lie still a few minutes till +you are stronger." +</P> + +<P> +She obeyed, while he sat beside her holding her hand. +</P> + +<P> +"I can sit up now," she said after a few minutes. "My head is +perfectly clear again." +</P> + +<P> +"Are you sure you didn't hurt yourself when you fell?" +</P> + +<P> +"I think not," she answered, as she passed her hand over her hair. "My +head doesn't seem to be bruised or bleeding anywhere. It must have +been the shock." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank God it was nothing worse!" returned Drew fervently. "But tell +me how you happened to be here. It seems like a miracle. The whole +thing staggers me. I thought I left you outside of the cave when I +went in." +</P> + +<P> +"So you did," she assented with a touch of her old demureness, "but +that doesn't say that I stayed there." +</P> + +<P> +"I see it doesn't," he replied. "But why didn't you?" +</P> + +<P> +"I guess it's because I'm not used to obeying anybody except my +father," she answered evasively. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell me the real reason." +</P> + +<P> +"Well," she said, driven to bay, "I was afraid there might be something +dangerous in here and—and—I didn't want you to have to face it +alone—and"—here she paused. +</P> + +<P> +Drew's heart beat wildly. +</P> + +<P> +"And so you came in to stand by my side," he said with emotion. "Ruth, +Ruth——" +</P> + +<P> +"But now," said Ruth hastily, following up her advantage, "we must +hurry and get back to the others. Father will begin to worry about me." +</P> + +<P> +Anguish smote Drew. Ruth had evidently not the slightest idea that +anything stood between her and freedom. How could he break the +dreadful news to her? He felt like an executioner compelled by some +awful fate to slay the one he loved most dearly. +</P> + +<P> +"You mustn't look at me after we get outside until I've had a chance to +arrange my hair," she warned him gaily. "I must look a perfect fright." +</P> + +<P> +Every innocent word was a stab that went straight to the man's heart. +</P> + +<P> +His mind was a tumult of warring emotions. At first there had been a +wild delight when he had found himself in the presence of his heart's +desire, after he feared that he would never hear her voice again. In +the excitement of bringing her back to consciousness and listening to +her story, the fearful peril in which they stood had been relegated to +the background. Now it came back at him with re-doubled force, and he +had to close his lips tightly to suppress a groan. +</P> + +<P> +He could have died alone, if escape had proved impossible, and met +death like a man. But to have to watch Ruth die—die perhaps after +enduring unspeakable suffering—the mere thought threatened to drive +him mad. +</P> + +<P> +And she was here because she had feared that he might encounter danger +and wanted to meet it at his side when it came. But for that +courageous impulse, she might at this moment be safe and sound out +under the open sky instead of being buried alive in this island tomb. +</P> + +<P> +Moreover her very presence here made their danger all the greater. +There was little chance now of help coming to them from the outside. +No doubt Tyke and Captain Hamilton would grow uneasy at their absence +and look them up—probably they were hunting for them now. But they +did not know of the existence of the cave, and now that the entrance +was closed there was not the slightest chance of finding them. They +would explore the mountain side, search every foot of the island, but +their quest would be doomed to failure from the beginning. +</P> + +<P> +While these thoughts had been hurrying through his tortured brain, Ruth +had arranged her disordered hair as best she could in the darkness and +stood ready to go. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, Allen, what are we waiting for?" she asked. "You men are always +complaining that the girls keep you waiting, but this time you're the +guilty one." +</P> + +<P> +He tried to adopt her bantering mood, but failed miserably. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll have to throw myself on your mercy," he said. "But wait here a +moment, Ruth, till I see if the path is clear." +</P> + +<P> +Even in the darkness, he was almost conscious that she looked at him in +surprise. But he needed time to get his thoughts together and decide +on the easiest way of breaking the terrible news that weighed on his +heart. +</P> + +<P> +He cudgeled his brain to find the gentlest, most reassuring phrases +that would alarm her least and keep up her courage. But there was the +stark, hideous fact that could not be blinked or dodged, and when at +last his lagging steps returned, he was no nearer a solution of his +problem than before. +</P> + +<P> +"I declare you sound like Tyke coming along the passage," Ruth laughed +merrily. "They say bad news travels fast. So your news must be good, +or you wouldn't be coming so slowly." +</P> + +<P> +"I only wish you were right," he said, grasping at the opening. "But +to tell the truth my news isn't any too good. Oh, nothing to be +alarmed about," he added hastily, as he caught her stifled exclamation. +"A little loose earth seems to have come down the slope of the hill and +blocked up the entrance. I'll get to work at it and clear it out in a +jiffy." +</P> + +<P> +He tried to throw a world of confidence into his tone, but it failed to +ring true. In the darkness he heard Ruth catch her breath. +</P> + +<P> +"Let's go and see just how bad it is," was all she said, and Drew with +a chill in his heart, led the way. +</P> + +<P> +"What is this dirt in here?" asked Ruth, as she stumbled over a mound +that Allen had thrown behind him in his frantic digging. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, that's some that I've dug out already," Allen replied with assumed +carelessness. "I just wanted to find out how hard the dirt was and +whether it would give way easily. It's fresh and soft and we'll get +the whole lot out of our way in no time." +</P> + +<P> +He was about to start in again at the task when Ruth laid her hand upon +his arm. +</P> + +<P> +"You didn't dig all this out in that minute you were away from me just +now," she said quietly. "You must have been working while I lay in +there unconscious. Come now, Allen, tell me the whole truth. Remember +that I am a sailor's daughter and am not afraid to face things, no +matter how bad they may be. The cave entrance is badly blocked up, +isn't it?" +</P> + +<P> +"God bless your staunch, plucky heart, Ruth," blurted out Drew, his own +heart kindling at her courage. "You're one woman in a thousand, yes, +in a million. I might have known you'd face the truth without weeping +or hysterics. You're right about the landfall. I'm afraid it's a +heavy one. I've been digging at it for some time without making much +impression. But after all it's all guess-work and it may not be so +thick as it seems to be. We may let daylight through at any minute. +At any rate I'm going at it like a tiger. I worked hard before when I +thought I was alone, but now that I've got you to look out for I'll do +ten times as much. I've only begun to fight. We're just going to get +out of this and that's all there is about it." +</P> + +<P> +"And I'll help you," cried Ruth. +</P> + +<P> +"Not with those little hands," replied the man vehemently. "You just +stand back there and pray while I do the work." +</P> + +<P> +"Those little hands, as you call them, are stronger than you think. +I'm going to work with all my might and help you out. And that won't +keep me from praying either. I guess the cave women used to work and +fight just about as much as the men, and I'm a cave woman now if I +never was before." +</P> + +<P> +Again Drew sought to deter her, but she was determined and he had to +let her have her way. The only concession he could gain was to make +her put on a pair of buckskin gloves that dangled at his belt. They +were woefully large for her shapely hands and at any other time would +have furnished a subject for jesting. But nothing now was further from +their minds than laughter. They were engaged on a grim work of life or +death and both of them knew it. +</P> + +<P> +But though brave, there was a limit to Ruth's physical strength, and +under such strenuous and unaccustomed effort it was not long before +that limit was reached. Drew discerned it coming before Ruth herself +would admit it. +</P> + +<P> +He took her gently but firmly by both wrists and fairly compelled her +to sit down on one of the mounds, where he improvised a seat that +enabled her to rest her back against one side of the cave. Then he +returned to the work with redoubled vigor, tossing the dirt aside as +though he were a tireless steam shovel. +</P> + +<P> +But though Ruth's body was resting, her mind was working actively, +darting hither and thither in an effort to find a way of escape from +their fearful predicament. +</P> + +<P> +"Allen," she said, as he stopped for an instant to rest, "come here and +sit down beside me." +</P> + +<P> +He had never hesitated before at accepting that coveted invitation, but +just now he wondered whether he ought to stop even for an instant. His +herculean efforts had brought him to the very edge of collapse, but he +was feverishly eager to keep on. +</P> + +<P> +"Ought I, Ruth?" he questioned. "Every minute now is precious, you +know." +</P> + +<P> +"I know it," she admitted, "but you'll drop dead from exhaustion if you +don't stop and rest. You must rest." +</P> + +<P> +The gentle tyrant had her way and Drew yielded. He sat down beside +her, his chest contracting and expanding under the stress of his +labored breathing. +</P> + +<P> +"Poor boy!" she said softly, and Drew thrilled at the sympathy in her +tone. +</P> + +<P> +"I've been thinking, Allen, that perhaps we had better not rely +entirely on your digging for getting out of here," she continued. +"It's all a guess as to how thick that wall of earth and rock is, and +we may be using on it the strength that we need for other things. If +you had an implement of some kind it would be different. But with your +bare hands together with what little help I can give you it may be +impossible." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," he was forced to concede, "I can't go on forever. Sooner or +later my strength will give out. But what can we do but keep on +trying? I'd go raving mad if I didn't keep on taking the one little +chance we have." +</P> + +<P> +"But is it the only chance we have?" she argued. "Did you bring your +revolver with you?" +</P> + +<P> +For answer he took it out of his belt and put it in her hand. +</P> + +<P> +"Have you any extra cartridges?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Not a single one, but the revolver itself is fully loaded. That's +just six we have to count on." +</P> + +<P> +She was silent for a moment. +</P> + +<P> +"There isn't any likelihood we'll have to use these for defending +ourselves," she said at length. "There doesn't seem to be any living +thing in this cave of which we need to be afraid. But, nevertheless, +suppose we keep two for emergencies. That would give us four to +experiment with, wouldn't it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Experiment? How?" he inquired. +</P> + +<P> +"I was thinking that perhaps father"—here her voice faltered a +little—"and Tyke might be somewhere in the neighborhood hunting for +us. If we should discharge the revolver they might possibly hear one +or more of the shots and get some idea of where we were. I know it's +only a forlorn hope, but we've got to try everything just now." +</P> + +<P> +"It's a good idea!" exclaimed Drew, though he knew in his heart how +slender a chance it offered. "And in the meantime, I'll keep on +digging, so that if the shots aren't heard we won't be any worse off +anyway. You fire the four shots at intervals of a minute or two and +we'll see what happens." +</P> + +<P> +He went savagely to work again and Ruth at short intervals discharged +the revolver. The noise and the echoes in that compressed space were +deafening and it certainly seemed as though the sound ought to +penetrate to the world outside. +</P> + +<P> +But though they fairly held their breath as they listened for a +response, no answering sound penetrated from the outside into the +cavern, and their hearts sank as they realized that one more of their +few hopes had failed them. +</P> + +<P> +"It's of no use," observed Ruth sadly, as she handed the weapon back to +Allen. "Either they didn't hear the shots, or, if they did, they +thought it was some sound made by the volcano. We'll have to try +something else." +</P> + +<P> +Both were silent for a few moments, immersed in bitter thoughts that +were as black as the darkness that surrounded them. +</P> + +<P> +"Can you ever forgive me, Ruth, for having gotten you into such a trap +as this?" he burst out suddenly. +</P> + +<P> +"You didn't get me in it," protested Ruth. "I came in of my own +accord." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't mean that," explained Drew. "But you tried to persuade me not +to enter the cave in the first place, and if I'd only had sense enough +to listen to you; we'd both of us be out in the sunlight at this +minute. Headstrong fool that I was!" he ended in an agony of self +condemnation. +</P> + +<P> +"Now don't blame yourself a bit for that, Allen," said Ruth earnestly. +"You only did what you thought you ought to do, and ninety-nine times +out of a hundred no harm would have come of it." +</P> + +<P> +"And it was our luck to strike the hundredth time," replied Drew +bitterly. +</P> + +<P> +"Besides," said Ruth with a trifle of hesitation, "I think I'd have +been a little disappointed at the time if you had done as I asked. I'd +have felt that perhaps in your secret heart you did it apparently to +please me, but really because you were glad enough not to have to take +any chances of what you might meet in here." +</P> + +<P> +Drew was somewhat puzzled at this bit of feminine psychology, but he +gathered some comfort from it, and this was perhaps after all the +result that Ruth was seeking. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you notice, Allen, how fresh the air seems to be in here?" she +asked. +</P> + +<P> +"I've been wondering at that," he answered. "To tell the truth my +worst fear has been that it would get too close and foul for us to +breathe. But it seems to be just as sweet now as it was at the +beginning." +</P> + +<P> +"What do you suppose is the reason?" +</P> + +<P> +"It must be that the cave is a little larger than it seems to be. It +seemed to be getting bigger and bigger as I went further into it. If +that is so, it accounts for the fact that the air supply has not yet +begun to be vitiated." +</P> + +<P> +"But mayn't there be any other reason?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +"I can't think of any other," he answered. Then as a thought suddenly +struck him, he jumped as though he had been shot. +</P> + +<P> +"Why didn't I think of that before?" he fairly shouted. "There may be +another entrance!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap24"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXIV +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE ALARM +</H4> + +<P> +Unaware of the possible tragedy that was being developed within a few +hundred yards of them, Tyke and Captain Hamilton had kept on digging in +the excavation. For Tyke had refused to be kept out of the work of +recovering the treasure, and when Drew had strolled off with the +intention of discovering what had frightened Ruth and had been followed +shortly after by the latter, the old man had seized Drew's abandoned +shovel and had gone lustily to work. +</P> + +<P> +"Too much of a strain on that game leg of yours to be heaving up those +shovelfuls," the captain protested. +</P> + +<P> +"Nary a bit of it," answered Tyke. "I ain't ready to be put on the +shelf yet, not by a blamed sight, and I guess if it came to a showdown, +Rufe, my muscles are as good as yours." +</P> + +<P> +"You're a tough old knot all right," admitted Captain Hamilton, his +eyes twinkling. "But there's no sense in your doing Allen's work. +Where in thunder has the boy gone anyway?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, he'll turn up in a minute or two," returned Tyke. "Wherever he is +you can bet your boots he's doing something connected with this here +work of treasure seeking. It simply ain't in that boy to lay down on +any job." +</P> + +<P> +"Drew makes a hit with you all right," laughed the captain. +</P> + +<P> +"And why shouldn't he?" asked Tyke belligerently. "He's been with me +for some years now, and I've had plenty of chances of sizin' him up. +If there was a yellow streak in him, I'd have found it out long ago. +If I'd had a son of my own, I wouldn't have asked for him to be any +better fellow than Allen is, and nobody could say any more'n that. +He's got grit an' brains an' gumption, an' more'n that he's as straight +as a string." +</P> + +<P> +"Go ahead," laughed the captain, as Tyke paused for want of breath. +"Don't let me stop you." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't mind tellin' you, Rufe, what I've never told yet to any human +soul," continued Tyke, waxing confidential, "an' that is that when I +lay up in my last harbor, Allen is goin' to come into everything I've +got. He don't know it himself yet, but I've got it down shipshape in +black and white an' the paper's in my office safe." +</P> + +<P> +"He's a lucky fellow," commented the captain briefly. +</P> + +<P> +"An' let me tell you another thing, Rufe," said Tyke, "an' that is that +Allen would make not only a good son, but a mighty good son-in-law." +</P> + +<P> +He nudged the captain in the ribs as he spoke, with the familiarity of +old comradeship. +</P> + +<P> +"Lay off on that, Tyke," said the captain, flushing a little beneath +his bronze. +</P> + +<P> +"You don't mean to say that you haven't seen the way the wind was +blowin'?" rejoined Tyke incredulously. "Why, any one with a pair of +good eyes in his head can't help but see that those two are just made +for each other." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm not blind, of course," returned the captain, who now that the ice +was broken seemed not averse to talking the matter over with his old +comrade. "I know of course that I can't keep Ruth forever and that +some time some fellow will lay me aboard and carry her off right from +under my guns. And I'm not denying that up to a few days ago, I'd +rather it would have been young Drew than any one else. But now—" +here he paused. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, but now," repeated Tyke. +</P> + +<P> +"You know just as well as I do what I'm meaning," blurted out Captain +Hamilton. "This matter of Parmalee's death has got to be cleared up +before I'd even consider him in connection with Ruth. You can't blame +me for that, Tyke." +</P> + +<P> +The old man's face clouded. +</P> + +<P> +"I ain't exactly blaming you, Rufe," he conceded, for despite his +ardent partisanship of Allen, he could realize how Captain Hamilton as +a parent must feel; "but I'm mortal sure that thing will be cleared up +before long. You know just as well as I do that Allen didn't kill +Parmalee any more than you or I did." +</P> + +<P> +"That's what I want to believe," returned the captain. "I mean," he +corrected, as he saw the choleric flash in Tyke's eyes, "that's what I +do believe." +</P> + +<P> +"It's that scoundrel, Ditty, that did it himself," growled Tyke +savagely. "He cooked up the whole thing and then shoved it off on +Allen. You've seen enough of him since then to know that he's capable +of anything." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," admitted the captain, "he's a dirty dog. But don't you see, +Tyke, that even allowing that Allen is innocent, he's been <I>charged</I> +with doing it. And to lots of people, that's just about the same as +though he were actually guilty. Then, too, the matter will have to be +tried out in the courts. Allen will have to stand trial and even if he +gets off, as I hope he will, there'll be a cloud on his name as long as +he lives. How could I let Ruth marry a man who had been charged with +murder and who got off because there wasn't evidence enough to convict?" +</P> + +<P> +"Mebbe Ruth would be willing to take the chance," persisted Tyke +stubbornly. +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe she would," agreed the captain, "but she'd never do it with my +consent. She's too good and sweet and pretty a girl to link her life +with a man whose name was smirched. I wouldn't stand for it for a +minute." +</P> + +<P> +Tyke was framing a reply when suddenly the earthquake which wrought +such dire results to the two of whom they were speaking shook the +ground. The two men were thrown against each other and both went in a +heap to the bottom of the ditch. The breath was knocked out of their +bodies, and every thought was driven from their minds except the +instinctive desire to remain alive until nature's onslaught had ceased. +</P> + +<P> +When the worst was over, they scrambled to their feet, brushed the dirt +from their clothes and faces, and stared grimly at each other. +</P> + +<P> +"If it didn't seem too conceited to think that all this fuss was being +made on our account," growled the captain, as he picked up his spade. +"I'd surely make up my mind that something was trying to shoo us away +from this treasure hunting." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," agreed Tyke. "Now, if I was superstitious—" +</P> + +<P> +"I wonder," broke in the captain with sudden alarm, as he thought of +the two errant members of the party, "where Ruth and Allen were when +this quake happened." +</P> + +<P> +"The only safe thing is to say that they were together somewhere," said +Tyke. "I notice that they're never far apart. Don't you worry, Rufe. +Allen will take good care of her." +</P> + +<P> +But the captain was already climbing out of the excavation. He gave +Tyke a hand and helped him up. +</P> + +<P> +"Where did you last see them, Tyke?" Hamilton asked, as his eyes +scanned the surrounding landscape without catching a glimpse of the +figures he sought. +</P> + +<P> +"The last I saw of Allen he was going down toward them trees," replied +Tyke, indicating a corner of the jungle, "an' a little later, out o' +the corner of my eye, I saw Ruth going in the same direction. Now, +don't fret, Rufe. They'll turn up as right as a trivet in another +minute or two." +</P> + +<P> +"The jungle!" gasped the captain in alarm. "Don't you see, Tyke, that +some of those trees have been shaken down. Maybe they've been caught +under one of them. Hurry! hurry!" +</P> + +<P> +He set off, running hurriedly, and Tyke hastened after him as fast as +he could. +</P> + +<P> +They were soon at the jungle's edge. Several giant trees had fallen +victims to the earthquake's wrath, but a frantic searching among their +trunks revealed no traces of the missing ones. +</P> + +<P> +The captain wiped his brow and gave a great sigh of relief. +</P> + +<P> +"So far, so good!" he exclaimed. "They've escaped that danger anyway. +I had a fearful scare. I don't mind admitting that my heart was in my +mouth for a minute." +</P> + +<P> +"Same here," assented Tyke, who despite his faith in Drew's +resourcefulness had secretly shared the captain's alarm. "But if +they're not here, where in Sam Hill can they be?" +</P> + +<P> +They raised their voices in a shout, but no answering sound came back. +</P> + +<P> +Several times they repeated the call, but all to no purpose. +</P> + +<P> +"Strange," muttered the captain uneasily. "It isn't like Ruth to go +off to any distance without telling me about it beforehand." +</P> + +<P> +"Nor Allen neither," put in Tyke loyally. +</P> + +<P> +"You might almost think the earth had swallowed them up," pursued the +captain, little thinking how near he was to guessing the truth. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, the only thing to do is to keep looking for 'em until we find +'em," said Tyke. "You take that side of the hill, Rufe, and I'll take +the other. We'll come across them probably before we meet up with each +other." +</P> + +<P> +The two men separated on their quest, calling out at frequent +intervals. It did not take them long to skirt the base of the whale's +hump, but when at last they met each saw only disappointment and a +growing alarm in the eyes of the other. +</P> + +<P> +"We'll have to try it again and make a wider circle," exclaimed +Hamilton desperately. "We've simply got to come across them somewhere +around here." +</P> + +<P> +"Of course we shall," said Tyke heartily, though the crease in his +forehead belied the confidence of his words. +</P> + +<P> +Once more they made the round of the hump, this time ranging out much +further from the base. Still their efforts were fruitless, and when +they met once more, neither tried to disguise from the other the +growing panic in his heart. +</P> + +<P> +"Ruth, Ruth!" groaned the captain. +</P> + +<P> +"Come now, Rufe, brace up," comforted Tyke. "While there's life +there's hope." +</P> + +<P> +"That's just it," replied the captain. "But how do we know there is +life? Something serious must have happened to them, or they'd never +stay away like this. They'd know we'd be worried about them after that +shock came and they couldn't have come back to us quick enough, if +they'd been able to come." +</P> + +<P> +Tyke could not deny the force of this. +</P> + +<P> +"Well now, Rufe, let's get down to the bottom of this," he said. "I'm +afraid just as you be that they're in trouble of some kind. Now what +could make trouble for them on this island? There ain't any wild +beasts of any account here, do you think?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not that I ever heard of," replied the captain. "We're too far south +for mountain lions and too far north for jaguars. There may be an +occasional wildcat, but it wouldn't be likely to attack a single person +let alone two together. There may be snakes here though for all I +know." +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing doing there," said Tyke decisively. "Mebbe there's boas, but +if so there're a mild and harmless kind, such as those they make +household pets of in some places to keep away the rats. And if there +are any poisonous snakes, it's against all likehood that both Ruth and +Allen would be bitten. One of them would come scurrying to us at once +for help for the other. +</P> + +<P> +"Besides," he went on, "I know that Allen had his revolver along with +him and he's a sure shot. No, I don't think we have to worry about +animals or snakes." +</P> + +<P> +"What is there left then?" groaned the captain. +</P> + +<P> +"There's two things left," replied Tyke reflectively. "One of 'em is +old nature herself. What she can do is a plenty, as we've seen since +we come to this island——." +</P> + +<P> +"This infernal island," broke in the captain viciously. "I wish to +heaven we'd never seen it. I wish some one of these earthquakes had +sent it to the bottom of the sea." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't blame you much," assented Tyke. "But being here, we've got to +take things as they come. Now, as I was saying, old nature may have +taken a hand in causing trouble for the two young folks. But for the +life of me I don't see how. We've already seen that they weren't +caught under those falling trees. And there didn't any lava flow come +with that last quake. And that being so I can't see where nature's got +into the game. +</P> + +<P> +"Now," he continued, "there's just one thing left—and that's men! +There may be some natives on this island that feel sore at our butting +in on 'em and they may have come across them youngsters and captured +'em." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't think that's at all likely," rejoined the captain. "There'd +certainly have been some sign of them, some boat, some hut or something +else of the kind. But we haven't seen hide or hair of anything since +we landed. The boat's crew, too, have been roaming over the island and +they'd have reported to us anything they'd seen that looked as though +people lived in this God-forsaken spot." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," assented Tyke. "And it stands to reason that Allen with his +automatic would have put up a fight and we'd have heard the sound of +shots. But there are other men besides natives on the island." +</P> + +<P> +"What do you mean?" asked the captain in surprise. +</P> + +<P> +"I mean Ditty and his gang of water rats," replied Tyke. +</P> + +<P> +"You don't think that skunk would dare—" spluttered the captain. +</P> + +<P> +"I think that one-eyed rascal would dare almost anything," answered +Tyke. "And it struck me as barely possible that he might have come +sneaking around to see what we were doing and perhaps run across Allen +and Ruth. There's bad blood there, as you know, and it wouldn't take +much to bring about a scrap. +</P> + +<P> +"Not that I think that has happened," he went on, "because it isn't +likely that Ditty's plans are far enough forward yet for him to show +his hand. Still I may be wrong. I tell you what I think you'd better +do. You can git around faster than I can with this old game leg of +mine. Suppose you run back to the shore and see if Ditty is hanging +around there. If he is and everything seems shipshape we can leave him +out of our calculations. Then we'll have to figure out what we're to +do next." +</P> + +<P> +It was grasping at straws, but in their utter ignorance of the real +facts they had nothing but straws to grasp at. The captain set off +hurriedly, while Tyke went once more around the mountain base in the +forlorn hope that this time something tangible would come to reward his +efforts. +</P> + +<P> +Once he thought he heard something that sounded like shots and he +stopped short in his tracks. His old eyes, keen yet, despite his +years, looked eagerly around. But as far as his eyes could reach there +was nothing to be seen, and he came to the conclusion that he must have +imagined the sounds or that they were caused by some rumbling of the +earth. +</P> + +<P> +In a surprisingly short time, the captain was back, panting and winded +by his exertions. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," asked Tyke eagerly, "did you find out anything?" +</P> + +<P> +"The men were all huddled down on the shore evidently scared out of +their wits. I guess we can cross them off our slate. But how about +you? Did you find any clue?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nary a thing," answered Tyke dejectedly. "I thought at one time that +I heard shots, but when I come to look it up there was nothing in it." +</P> + +<P> +"We must find them!" cried the captain excitedly, pacing back and forth +like a wild animal and digging his nails into his palms as he clenched +his fists in anguish. "We'll go over every foot of this island. I'll +get out every man on the ship and set him to work searching." +</P> + +<P> +"I wouldn't do that—at least not yit," adjured Tyke, laying his hand +on the captain's arm. "Of course we may have to do that as a last +resort. But you know what sailors are, an' we don't want to have 'em +cracking their jokes 'bout Allen an' Ruth going off together. Wait a +bit. The day's young yet an' they may turn up any time of their own +accord. In the meantime, we'll explore places that we haven't tried +before an' mebbe we'll run across 'em. If everything else fails, then +we'll turn out every man jack of the crew and go over every inch of the +island." +</P> + +<P> +To the agonized father, everything that savored of delay seemed +intolerable, but he yielded to the wisdom of Tyke's suggestion and once +more they started out in their desperate search. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap25"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXV +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE LAKE OF FIRE +</H4> + +<P> +Drew was all animation in an instant at the new hope that sprang up +within him with its offer of possible safety for his companion and +himself. +</P> + +<P> +"Why didn't I think of it before?" he repeated, his voice shaken with +excitement. +</P> + +<P> +"You didn't think of it before, because you were working like a slave. +No man can work like that and think of anything but what he is doing. +Oh, Allen, won't it be great if you are right?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm going to see if I am right," he replied. +</P> + +<P> +"How can you tell?" she asked divining that he was fumbling at his +pocket. +</P> + +<P> +"In this way," he answered, drawing out the oilskin bag that contained +his precious matches. +</P> + +<P> +He struck a match and held it aloft. +</P> + +<P> +At first the flame mounted straight up in the air. Then an instant +later it was deflected and stood out at a distinct angle from the stick. +</P> + +<P> +"See," cried Allen jubilantly. "There's a current of air in the cave. +It's too slight for us to feel, but the flame feels it. If we were +sealed up utterly in the cave, the air would be still. Somewhere the +air is coming in from the outside world and it's up to us to find out +where." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank God!" murmured Ruth tremulously. +</P> + +<P> +In the sudden transition from despair to hope, they took little account +of the difficulties they might have to overcome before they reached +that other entrance—or the exit, from their point of view—which they +had reason to believe existed. But as their first jubilation subsided +somewhat, a soberer view began to thrust itself upon them. +</P> + +<P> +Admitting that there was an exit, what guarantee had they of reaching +it? Suppose a fathomless gulf barred their way? Suppose the passage +narrowed to a point too small for them to thrust themselves through? +Suppose when the coveted exit should at last be found it should prove +to be in the ceiling of the cave instead of the side, and hopelessly +out of reach? +</P> + +<P> +But they quickly dismissed these dismal forebodings. Those problems +could wait for solution until they faced them. The present at least +was illumined by hope. +</P> + +<P> +"Come along, Ruth," cried Allen gaily. "Pack up your trunks and let's +be moving." +</P> + +<P> +"Only too gladly," the girl responded, falling into his mood. "I never +did care much for this place anyway." +</P> + +<P> +But suddenly a reflection came to her. +</P> + +<P> +"How are we to find our way in this pitch darkness?" she asked. "I +don't know how many matches you have with you, but at the most they +can't last long. And the time may come when a match would be more +precious than a diamond." +</P> + +<P> +Drew took out his bag again, and, taking the greatest precautions not +to drop one, counted the matches by the sense of touch. +</P> + +<P> +"Just thirty-two," he announced when he had counted them twice. +</P> + +<P> +"Only thirty-two!" echoed Ruth. "And we may need a hundred and +thirty-two before we get to the other mouth of the cave." +</P> + +<P> +For a moment Drew pondered. +</P> + +<P> +"You're right, as always, Ruth," he agreed. "We can't depend on the +matches alone. We'll have to get something that will serve as a torch. +While I was digging, I remember I came across many branches of trees +that had been carried down by the slide in its rush. We'll see if we +can't make some torches out of them." +</P> + +<P> +He set lustily to work and soon had as many as ten good-sized sticks +that promised to supply his need. He was afraid that not being +seasoned wood they would prove difficult to light. But there proved to +be a resinous quality in the wood that atoned for its greenness, and +before long he had a torch that burned steadily though rather murkily. +</P> + +<P> +"Eureka!" he cried waving it aloft. +</P> + +<P> +"Good for you, Allen," applauded Ruth. "Now give me the rest of those +sticks to carry and you go ahead with the lighted torch." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll carry them myself," he protested. +</P> + +<P> +"No you won't," she said decidedly, at the same time gathering them up +in her arms. "You'll have the torch in one hand and you need to have +the other free for emergencies." +</P> + +<P> +He recognized the common sense of this, but found it hard to let her do +it. +</P> + +<P> +"It's too much like the Indians," he said. "You know that with them +the buck carries his dignity, while his squaw carries everything else." +</P> + +<P> +"But I'm not your squaw," slipped saucily from Ruth's lips before she +could realize the possible significance of her remark. +</P> + +<P> +"Not yet," replied Allen daringly, wanting to bite his tongue out a +moment later for having taken advantage of her slip. +</P> + +<P> +"But let's hurry now, Ruth," he went on hastily to cover their mutual +confusion. "Follow close in my steps and don't keep more than two or +three feet behind me at any time." +</P> + +<P> +They set off on the unknown path whose end meant to them either +deliverance or death. The chances were against them, but their hearts +were high and their courage steadfast. +</P> + +<P> +They had need of all their fortitude, for they had not advanced forty +paces before danger menaced them. +</P> + +<P> +Drew holding his torch high so as to throw its light as far ahead as +possible, stepped on what seemed to be a crooked stick in the path. +Instantly the stick sprang to life, and a powerful, slimy coil wound +itself around the man's leg as high as the knee. +</P> + +<P> +His first impulse was to spring back. His next was to grind down with +crushing force on the squirming thing beneath his heel. The second +impulse conquered the first and he stood like a statue while a cold +sweat broke out all over his body. +</P> + +<P> +For he had realized by the feel that it was the reptile's head that was +beneath his heel and must be kept there at all costs until the life was +crushed out of it. +</P> + +<P> +Gradually the writhings grew feebler, until at last the coils relaxed +and fell in a heap about his foot. +</P> + +<P> +"What is it Allen?" asked Ruth in alarm at his sudden stop and rigid +pose. "Do you see anything?" +</P> + +<P> +"There's no danger," he assured her, though his voice was not quite +steady. "I must have stepped on a lizard or something like that, and +it gave me a start." +</P> + +<P> +He kicked the mangled reptile out of the path, but not before Ruth's +horrified glance had seen that it was no lizard but something far more +deadly. +</P> + +<P> +Here was a new terror added to the others. For all they knew there +might be a colony of the reptiles in the cave. And in that +semi-tropical region, the chances were vastly in favor of their being +poisonous. At all events it behooved them to advance with redoubled +caution. +</P> + +<P> +They kept a wary lookout for anything that looked like a crooked stick +after that, and their progress, already slow, became still slower as +they went on. +</P> + +<P> +Before long they came to a place where the cave seemed to divide into +three separate passageways. Two of them had nothing to distinguish +them from each other, but in the third they distinguished a faint light +in the distance. +</P> + +<P> +"The blessed light!" exclaimed Ruth fervently. +</P> + +<P> +"I guess that's the path to take, all right," exulted Drew. "In all +probability that light comes from the outlet of the cave. Hurrah for +us, Ruth!" +</P> + +<P> +Ruth echoed his enthusiasm, and they accelerated their pace. The hope +that they had cherished seemed now about to become certainty. +</P> + +<P> +But the way was rougher now, and at one place they had to make a long +detour. But they made no complaint. As long as no impassable barrier +of rock loomed up before them they could feel that they were getting +nearer and nearer to freedom and life. +</P> + +<P> +But before long both became conscious of a steadily-growing heat in the +air of the cave. The perspiration flowed from them in streams. At +first they were inclined to attribute this to their strenuous exertions +and the mental strain under which they were laboring. +</P> + +<P> +"Strange it should be so frightfully hot," remarked Drew, as he stopped +for a moment to wipe his brow. +</P> + +<P> +"It's no wonder," responded Ruth. "It's hot enough on this island even +when you're in the outer air, and it would naturally be worse still in +this confined place." +</P> + +<P> +"But we didn't feel that way ten minutes ago," objected Drew. +</P> + +<P> +"We've done a good deal of walking since then," said Ruth, though +rather doubtfully. "But let's get along, Allen. I'm just crazy to get +to the outlet." +</P> + +<P> +They were about to resume their journey, when a great flame of fire +leaped to the very roof of the cave about a hundred yards in front of +them. +</P> + +<P> +They stopped abruptly, and in the smoky light of the torch both of +their faces were white as chalk, as they faced each other with a +question in their eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Fire!" gasped the man. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," assented Ruth quietly but bitterly. "What we thought was +daylight is nothing other than fire." +</P> + +<P> +"Shall we keep on?" debated Allen. +</P> + +<P> +"We're so close that we might as well," advised Ruth. "Perhaps we may +be able to get around it somehow." +</P> + +<P> +They went forward, though with excessive care, and a moment later stood +on the brink of the most awe-inspiring spectacle they had ever +witnessed. +</P> + +<P> +In a deep pit perhaps six hundred feet in circumference was a lake of +liquid fire! The molten lava twisted and writhed as though a thousand +serpents were coiling and uncoiling. A vapor rose from the fiery mass +that glowed with a hideous radiance in all the colors of the spectrum. +</P> + +<P> +At intervals, huge geysers of living flame spurted up from the surface +to a height of many feet and fell back in a glistening of molten gold +and coruscating diamonds. +</P> + +<P> +It was a scene that if it could have been viewed with safety would have +drawn tourists in thousands from every corner of the globe. +</P> + +<P> +But to the two spectators the thought that they were looking on one of +the marvels of the world brought nothing but desolation and despair. +</P> + +<P> +"This must be the source of the lava flow when the whale's hump is in +eruption," said Drew in a toneless voice. +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose so," said Ruth in a voice that for dreariness was a replica +of his own. "Do you think it's possible for us to get around it in any +way, Allen?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not a chance in the world," answered Drew. "You can see that the +passage we followed ends at the brink of the crater. From there on, +there's just a wall of solid rock. The only thing left for us to do is +to get back to the place where the cave split into three parts." +</P> + +<P> +They retraced their steps with hearts that grew heavier at every step. +The passage that had seemed most promising had yielded nothing but +bitter disappointment. Only two other chances remained, and who could +tell that they led anywhere but to death? +</P> + +<P> +At the juncture of the passageways, they hesitated for a moment only. +There was absolutely nothing to indicate that they should take one of +the remaining two paths rather than the other. Impenetrable blackness +covered both. +</P> + +<P> +"Which shall it be, Ruth?" asked Drew. +</P> + +<P> +"You do the choosing, Allen," Ruth responded. +</P> + +<P> +At a venture he took the one leading to the left, but had not proceeded +more than a hundred feet when he stopped abruptly on the very brink of +a chasm that spanned the entire width of the passage-way. There was no +ledge however narrow to furnish a foothold along its sides. Once more +they were absolutely blocked. +</P> + +<P> +Drew checked a groan and Ruth stifled something suspiciously like a +sob. The tension under which they were was fast reaching the breaking +point. +</P> + +<P> +"Never mind," said Drew, stoutly recovering himself. "There's luck in +odd numbers and the third time we win." +</P> + +<P> +"First the worst, second the same, last the best of all the game," +responded Ruth with an attempt at heartiness. +</P> + +<P> +Again they went back and took the only way remaining. Upon the ending +of that passage their life or death depended. +</P> + +<P> +But as they advanced steadily and no barrier interfered, their spirits +rose. Then suddenly they cried aloud in their joy, for on turning a +sharp bend in the path a rush of air almost extinguished the torch that +Drew was carrying. +</P> + +<P> +A hundred feet ahead was an opening thickly covered with bushes, but +large enough to admit of forcing a passage! +</P> + +<P> +Ruth dropped her load of surplus torches. Drew, grasping her arm, +hurried her along. He forced the bushes apart and pushed her through. +Then he followed. They heard a wild shout and the next minute Ruth was +sobbing in her father's arms, while Tyke—hardy grizzled old Tyke—had +thrown his arms around Allen in a bear's hug and was blubbering like a +baby. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap26"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXVI +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +HOPE DEFERRED +</H4> + +<P> +There was a wild babble of questions and answers, and it was a long +time before all had calmed down enough to talk coherently. +</P> + +<P> +The captain and Tyke in their frantic search had come just abreast of +the outlet at the moment when Ruth and Allen had burst out into +daylight and safety. +</P> + +<P> +Their hearts thrilled as they listened to the dreadful perils through +which had passed the two who were dearest to them on earth and the +narration was punctuated with expressions of consternation and sympathy. +</P> + +<P> +"Well now," suggested Ruth after a half hour had passed, "let's get +back to work." +</P> + +<P> +"No more work this afternoon," ejaculated the captain. "You're going +straight back to the ship." +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed I'm not, Daddy," rejoined Ruth. "I'm all right now and I'll be +vastly happier sitting here and seeing you go on with the work than to +feel I've made you lose a day. We've got some hours of daylight yet." +</P> + +<P> +The captain protested, but Ruth coaxed and wheedled him till he +consented and they all went back to the ditch they had started and went +to work, Ruth alone of the party being forbidden to lift a finger. +</P> + +<P> +They excavated to the volcanic ledge in half a dozen places. In none +did they find a trace of treasure—not a sign that this soil had ever +before been disturbed by the hand of man. +</P> + +<P> +"Bad mackerel!" grumbled Captain Hamilton, finally climbing out of his +last pit. "This looks as if we'd been handed a rotten deal from a cold +deck." +</P> + +<P> +Tyke looked up from his work, and began: +</P> + +<P> +"Mebbe that—Now, if I was superstitious—Oh, well," he went on +hastily, "you can't expect to find a fortune in a minute." +</P> + +<P> +"But we got the bearings all right, according to the map, didn't we?" +demanded the captain with some asperity. +</P> + +<P> +"We certainly did," Drew put it. +</P> + +<P> +"We can't dig over the whole island," complained Captain Hamilton. "It +would be foolish. Hush! What's that?" +</P> + +<P> +A rumble, a sound from the very bowels of the hill, smote upon their +ears. Ruth ran to them. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Daddy!" she cried, "is there going to be another earthquake?" +</P> + +<P> +"Look there!" Drew said pointing upward. +</P> + +<P> +Over the summit of the whale's hump hung a balloon of smoke, or of +steam, its underside of a lurid hue. +</P> + +<P> +"I say I've had enough for one day," declared the master of the <I>Bertha +Hamilton</I>. "Let's get back to the schooner before anything else +occurs. Maybe a night's sleep will put heart in us. But I tell you +right now, I, for one, would sell my share in the pirate's treasure at +a big discount." +</P> + +<P> +The captain was the most outspoken of the treasure seekers; but they +were all despondent. They hid their digging tools, and departed for +the shore of the lagoon, the volcano rumbling at times behind them. +</P> + +<P> +They emerged from the forest just as the sun was setting. As they came +out on the beach they were surprised to see that it was bare. Neither +the longboat nor the smaller one was in sight, nor could anything be +seen of the crews. +</P> + +<P> +The captain called some of the men by name. There was no response. +Then he cupped his hands at his mouth, and his stentorian voice rang +over the waters of the lagoon. +</P> + +<P> +"Ship ahoy!" +</P> + +<P> +In a moment there was an answering hail, and they soon saw that a boat +was being manned. It came rapidly inshore, propelled by four members +of the crew, and, as it drew nearer, they could see that Rogers was +seated at the tiller. +</P> + +<P> +As the boat reached the beach the second officer stepped out. +</P> + +<P> +"What does this mean, Mr. Rogers?" asked the captain sternly. +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Ditty's orders, sir," replied the second officer. "The men got +scared at the earthquake this morning, sir, and after that second quake +they flatly refused to stay ashore. So Mr. Ditty let them go back to +the ship." +</P> + +<P> +"But why didn't he leave the other boat's crew waiting for me?" asked +the captain. "If they were afraid to remain ashore they could have +stayed in the boat, rigged an awning to shield them from the sun, and +laid off and on within hail." +</P> + +<P> +"That's what I thought, sir, and I said as much to Mr. Ditty. But he +shut me up sharp, and said it would be time enough to send a boat when +you should come in sight, sir." +</P> + +<P> +The captain bit his lip, but said no more, and the party stepped into +the boat. They soon reached the <I>Bertha Hamilton</I>, and all climbed +aboard. The first officer was standing near the rail. +</P> + +<P> +"Come aft and report to me after supper, Mr. Ditty," ordered the +captain brusquely. +</P> + +<P> +"Aye, aye, sir," replied the mate. +</P> + +<P> +As soon as supper was over and Ruth had gone to her stateroom the +captain started to go on deck, but Tyke put his hand on his arm. +</P> + +<P> +"Going to give Ditty a dressing down, I suppose," he remarked. +</P> + +<P> +"He's got it coming to him," snapped Captain Hamilton. +</P> + +<P> +"He surely has," agreed Tyke. "But have you thought that perhaps +that's jest what he wants you to do?" +</P> + +<P> +The captain sat down heavily. +</P> + +<P> +"Get it off your chest, Tyke," he said. "Tell me what you mean." +</P> + +<P> +"I mean jest this," said Tyke. "Often there's trouble in the wind that +never comes to anything because the feller that's brewing it don't git +a chance to start it. He fiddles 'round waiting for an opening; but if +he don't find it the trouble jest dies a natural death. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, this Ditty, <I>I</I> think, is looking for an opening. As far as his +letting his own boat's crew come on board when you had told him to keep +them on shore for the day is concerned, that can be overlooked. You +can't blame the men for being scared, an' any mate might be excused for +using his own judgment under those conditions. +</P> + +<P> +"But his not keeping your boat's crew waiting for you, even if they +stayed a little away from the shore, was rank disrespect. He knew you +would take it so. He knew it would weaken your authority with the +crew. An' he expects you'll call him down for it. Isn't that so?" +</P> + +<P> +"Of course it is," agreed Captain Hamilton. +</P> + +<P> +"Well then," pursued Tyke, "if he did that deliberately, expecting +you'd rake him fore and aft for it, it shows that he wants you to start +something, don't it? An' my principle in a fight is to find out what +the other feller wants and then not do it. He wants to provoke you. +Don't let yourself be provoked or you'll play right into his hands." +</P> + +<P> +"I might as well make him captain of the ship and be done with it," +cried Captain Hamilton bitterly. "I've never let a man get away with +anything like that yet." +</P> + +<P> +"An' we won't let this feller git away with it for long," answered +Tyke. "We'll give him a trimming he'll never forgit. But we'll choose +our own time for it, an' that time ain't now. Wait till we've found +the treasure an' got it safe on board. Then, my mighty! if he starts +anything, put him an' his gang ashore an' sail without 'em." +</P> + +<P> +"You think, then, he wants me to knock the chip off his shoulder?" +mused the captain. +</P> + +<P> +"Exactly," replied Tyke. "An' if you don't, he may be so flabbergasted +that before he cooks up anything new we'll have the whip hand of him." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I'll do as you say, though it sure does go against the grain." +</P> + +<P> +Tyke's recipe worked; for when Ditty sauntered to the poop a little +later to receive the rebuke which he expected and which he was prepared +to resent, the wind was taken out of his sails by the captain's good +nature and pleasant smile. +</P> + +<P> +"Quite a little scare the men got, I suppose, when they felt the quake +this morning?" Captain Hamilton inquired genially. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, sir," replied the mate. "There was nothin' to do but to get back +to the ship. Some of 'em was so scared that they would 've swum the +lagoon, and I didn't want 'em to do that for fear of sharks." +</P> + +<P> +"Quite right, Mr. Ditty," returned the captain approvingly. "That is +all." +</P> + +<P> +Still Ditty lingered. +</P> + +<P> +"I ordered the men in your boat to come back too," he said, eyeing the +skipper aslant. +</P> + +<P> +"That was all right too," replied the captain absently, as though the +matter was of no importance. "The ship was so near that it wasn't +worth while keeping the men out there in the sun all day." +</P> + +<P> +Ditty stared. This was not the strict disciplinarian that Captain +Hamilton had always been. He hesitated, opened his mouth to say +something, found nothing to say, and at last, with his ideas +disordered, went sullenly away. If he had planned to bring things to a +crisis he had signally failed. +</P> + +<P> +Captain Hamilton watched the retreating back of his mate with a somber +glow in his eyes that contrasted strongly with the forced smile of a +moment before, and then retired to the cabin to go again into +conference with Grimshaw. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap27"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXVII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE GIANT AWAKES +</H4> + +<P> +Allen Drew had not been a party to the conference between Captain +Hamilton and Grimshaw after supper. After the strenuous exertions of +the day he had felt the need of a bath and a change of linen. +</P> + +<P> +Once more clothed and feeling refreshed, Drew paced the afterdeck with +his cigar, hearing the voices of Captain Hamilton and Tyke in the +former's cabin, but having no desire just then to join them. +</P> + +<P> +Although his body was rejuvenated, his mind was far from peaceful. He +had not lost hope of their finding what they had come so far to search +for; he still believed the pirate hoard to be buried on the side of the +whale's hump. "Hope deferred maketh the heart sick;" but hope had not +been long enough deferred in this case to sicken any of the party of +treasure seekers. Yet there was a great sickness at the heart of Allen +Drew. +</P> + +<P> +That particular incident of the afternoon that had brought the +remembrance of Parmalee so keenly to his mind, had thrown a pall over +his thoughts not easily lifted. +</P> + +<P> +It had shown, too, that Parmalee's strange and awful death had strongly +affected Ruth. That mystery was likely to erect a barrier between the +girl and himself. Indeed, it had done so already. Drew felt it—he +knew it! +</P> + +<P> +There was in her father's attitude something intangible, yet certain +enough, which spelled the captain's doubt of him. As long as +Parmalee's disappearance remained unexplained, as long as Ditty's story +could not be disproved, Drew felt that Captain Hamilton would nurse in +his mind a doubt of his innocence. +</P> + +<P> +And that doubt, if it remained, whether Drew was ever tried for the +crime of Parmalee's murder or not, just as surely put Ruth out of his +grasp as though his hands actually dripped of the dead man's blood. +</P> + +<P> +Captain Hamilton would never see his daughter marry a man under such a +cloud. Drew appreciated the character of the schooner's commander too +thoroughly to base any illusions upon the fact that Hamilton treated +him kindly. They were partners in this treasure hunt. The doubloons +once secured, the <I>Bertha Hamilton</I> once in port, Drew well knew that +Ruth's father would do what he felt to be his duty. He would be Drew's +accuser at the bar of public justice. That, undoubtedly, was a +foregone conclusion. +</P> + +<P> +Plunged in the depth of these despairing thoughts, Drew was startled by +the light fall of a soft hand upon his arm, and he descried the slight +figure of Ruth beside him. +</P> + +<P> +"Walking the deck alone, Allen?" she said softly. "I wondered where +you were." +</P> + +<P> +"Just doing my usual forty laps after supper," he responded, trying to +speak lightly. +</P> + +<P> +"I should think your work to-day in the digging, to say nothing of our +experience in the cave, would have been as much exercise as you really +needed," she said, laughing. "And all for nothing!" +</P> + +<P> +"We could scarcely expect success so soon," he replied. +</P> + +<P> +"No? Perhaps success is not to be our portion, Allen. What then?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well," and he tried to say it cheerfully, "we've had a run for our +money." +</P> + +<P> +"A run for the pirate's money, you mean. Let's see," she added slyly, +"that confession did not state just how many doubloons were buried, did +it?" +</P> + +<P> +"The amount specified I failed to make out," he told her. "Time had +erased it." +</P> + +<P> +"Then we are after an unknown amount—an unknown quantity of doubloons. +And perhaps we are fated never to know the amount of the pirate's +hoard," and she laughed again. Then, suddenly, she clutched his arm +more tightly as they paced the deck together, crying under her breath: +"Oh! look yonder Allen." +</P> + +<P> +A strangely flickering light dispelled the pall that hung above the +hilltop. The cloud of smoke or steam, rising from the crater and which +they had first seen that afternoon, was now illuminated and shot +through with rays of light evidently reflected from the bowels of the +hill. +</P> + +<P> +"The volcano is surely alive!" cried the young man. +</P> + +<P> +The crew, loafing on the forecastle, saw the phenomenon, and their +chattering voices rose in a chorus of excitement. Tyke came up from +below and joined Drew and the captain's daughter. The glare of the +volcano illuminated the night, and they could see each other's features +distinctly. +</P> + +<P> +"Looks like we'd stirred things up over there," chuckled the old man. +"There are more'n ghosts of dead and gone pirates guarding that +treasure." +</P> + +<P> +"It—it is rather terrifying, isn't it?" Ruth suggested. +</P> + +<P> +"It is to them ignorant swabs for'ard," growled Tyke. "Good thing, +though. They'll be too scared to want to roam over the island. We +want it to ourselves till we find the loot. Don't we, Allen?" +</P> + +<P> +"That's true. The disturbance over there may not be an unmitigated +evil," was the young man's rejoinder. +</P> + +<P> +Captain Hamilton called Ruth through the open window of his cabin, and +she bade Grimshaw and Allen Drew good night and went below. Tyke +remained only long enough to finish his cigar, then he departed. +</P> + +<P> +The light over the volcano faded, the rumblings ceased. Drew, in his +rubber-soled shoes, paced the deck alone; but he could not be seen ten +feet away, for he wore dark clothes. +</P> + +<P> +He knew that Mr. Rogers had long since gone to his room. Most of the +crew had either sought their bunks or were stretched out on the +forecastle hatch. Yet he heard a low murmur of voices from amidships. +When he paced to that end of his walk, the voices reached him quite +clearly and he recognized that of the one-eyed mate. The other man he +knew to be Bingo, the only English sailor aboard—a shrewd and +rat-faced little Cockney. +</P> + +<P> +"Blime me, Bug-eye! but wot Hi sye Hi means. The devil 'imself's near +where there's so much brimstone. If that hull bloomin' 'ill blows hup, +where'll we be, Hi axes ye?" +</P> + +<P> +"Jest here or hereabouts," growled Ditty. +</P> + +<P> +Drew stepped nearer and frankly listened to the conversation. +</P> + +<P> +"Hi'm as 'ungry for blunt as the next bloke, an' ye sye there's plenty +hin it——" +</P> + +<P> +"Slathers of it, Bingo," said the mate earnestly. "Why, man! some of +these islands down here are rotten with buried pirate gold. Millions +and millions was stole and buried by them old boys." +</P> + +<P> +"Yah! Hi've 'eard hall that before, Hi 'ave. Who hain't?" said Bingo, +with considerable shrewdness. "Honly hit halways struck me that if +them old buccaneers, as they calls 'em, was proper sailormen, they'd +'ave spent the hull blunt hinstead o' buryin' hof hit." +</P> + +<P> +"Holy heavers, Bingo, they couldn't spend it all!" exclaimed Ditty. +"There was too much of it. Millions, mind you!" +</P> + +<P> +"Millions! My heye!" croaked the Cockney. "A million of yer Hamerican +dollars or a million sterling?" +</P> + +<P> +"You can lay to it," said Ditty firmly, "that there's more'n one +million in English pounds buried in these here islands. And there's a +bunch of it somewheres on this island." +</P> + +<P> +"Then, Bug-eye, wye don't we git that map hand dig it hup hourselves on +the bloomin' jump? Wye wite? We kin easy 'andle the hafter-guard." +</P> + +<P> +"The boys are balkin', that's why," growled Ditty. "They're like +you—afraid of that rotten old volcano." +</P> + +<P> +"Blime me! Hand wye wouldn't they be scare't hof hit?" snarled the +Cockney. +</P> + +<P> +"That bein' the general feelin'," Ditty said calmly, "why we'll stick +to my plan. Let the old man dig it up hisself and bring it aboard. +</P> + +<P> +"It'll save us the trouble, won't it? And mebbe we can git rid of some +of the swabs, one at a time——" +</P> + +<P> +"Huh!" chuckled Bingo. "One's gone halready. Hi see yer bloomin' +scheme, Bug-eye." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, then," said the mate, rising from his seat, "keep it to yourself +and take your orders from me, like the rest does." +</P> + +<P> +"Hall right, matey, hall right," said Bingo, and likewise stood up. +</P> + +<P> +Drew dared remain no longer. He stole away to the stern and stood for +a while, looking over the rail into the black water—no blacker than +the rage that filled his heart. +</P> + +<P> +He felt half tempted to attack the treacherous Ditty with his bare +hands and strangle the rascal. But he knew that this was no time for a +reckless move. There were only himself, the captain, and Tyke to face +this promised mutiny. Probably they could trust Rogers, and some few +of the men forward might be faithful to the after-guard. The +uncertainty of this, however, was appalling. +</P> + +<P> +After a time he went below and rapped lightly on the captain's door. +The commander of the <I>Bertha Hamilton</I> opened to him instantly. He was +partly undressed. +</P> + +<P> +"Eh? That you, Mr. Drew?" +</P> + +<P> +"Sh! Put out your light, Captain. I'll bring Mr. Grimshaw. I have +something to tell you both," whispered the young man. +</P> + +<P> +"All right," said the captain, quick to understand. +</P> + +<P> +His light was out before Drew reached Tyke's door. This was unlocked, +but the old man was in his berth. Long years at sea had made Tyke a +light sleeper. He often said he slept with one eye open. +</P> + +<P> +"That you, Allen?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. Hush! We want you in the captain's room—he and I. Come just +as you are." +</P> + +<P> +"Aye, aye!" grunted the old man, instantly out of his berth. +</P> + +<P> +The light was turned low in the saloon. Drew did not know whether +Ditty had come down or not; but unmistakable nasal sounds from Mr. +Roger's room assured him that the second officer was safe. +</P> + +<P> +Tyke, light-footed as a cat, followed him to Captain Hamilton's door. +It was ajar, and they went in. The commander of the schooner sat on +the edge of his berth. They could see each other dimly in the faint +light that entered through the transom over the door. Captain Hamilton +had drawn the blind at the window. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, what's up?" he murmured. +</P> + +<P> +Drew wasted no time, but in whispers repeated the conversation he had +overheard between Bingo and the mate. When he had finished, Tyke +observed coolly: +</P> + +<P> +"I'd 've bet dollars to doughnuts that that was the way she headed. +Now we know. Eh, Cap'n Rufe?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," grunted the captain. +</P> + +<P> +"What shall we do?" asked Drew. +</P> + +<P> +"Do? Keep on," Captain Hamilton said firmly. "What d' you say, Tyke?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," agreed Grimshaw. "Ditty is playing a waiting game. So will we. +An' we have the advantage." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't see that," Drew muttered. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, we know his plans. He don't know ours," explained the old man. +"We haven't got to worry about them swabs till we've found the +doubloons, anyway." +</P> + +<P> +"If we find 'em," murmured the captain. +</P> + +<P> +"By George! we're bound to find 'em," Tyke said, with confidence. +"That's what we come down here for." +</P> + +<P> +His enthusiasm seemed unquenched. Drew could not lose heart when the +old man was so hopefully determined. +</P> + +<P> +"But Miss Ruth?" Allen suggested timidly, looking at Captain Hamilton. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't bother about her," answered the captain shortly. "She'll not be +out of my sight a minute. She must go ashore with us every day. I'll +not trust her aboard alone with these scoundrels." +</P> + +<P> +They talked little more that night; but it was agreed to take all the +firearms and much of the ammunition, disguised in wrappings of some +kind, ashore with them in the morning and conceal all with the digging +tools. +</P> + +<P> +"Jest as well to take them all along," Tyke had advised. "I hope we +won't have to use 'em. But if we're going to take Rogers with us +to-morrow and leave Ditty in charge here, the rascal might go nosing +around an' find them guns." +</P> + +<P> +"I hate to leave Ditty in possession of the schooner," returned the +captain, with a worried look. +</P> + +<P> +"So do I," admitted Tyke. "But after all, it isn't only the schooner +he wants. She's no good to him until we git the treasure aboard. The +only men it will be wise to take with us to-morrow are Rogers an' a +boat's crew that you know you can trust." +</P> + +<P> +Immediately after breakfast the next morning the captain summoned the +second officer. +</P> + +<P> +"I want you to take me ashore this morning, Mr. Rogers," he said; "and +as I have a lot of heavy dunnage that the men will have to carry, I'll +want a husky crew. Take six men; and I want you to take special pains +in picking out the best men we have. Men whom we can trust and who +haven't been mixed up with the whispering and the queer business that +you mentioned." +</P> + +<P> +The second officer's eye flashed, and he nodded understandingly. +</P> + +<P> +"Aye, aye, sir," he replied. "As for the men, sir," he went on +reflectively, "there's a dozen I could stake my life on who wouldn't be +in any crooked game. Suppose," he counted off on his fingers, "we take +Olsen and Binney and Barker and Dodd and Thompson and Willis. They're +all true blue, and I don't think they're in such a funk over the +volcano as some of the others." +</P> + +<P> +"They'll do," assented the captain. "They're the very men I had in +mind. Call some of them down now and have them get this stuff up on +deck. And tell the cook to send dinner grub along, for we may be gone +all day." +</P> + +<P> +"Aye, aye, sir," answered Rogers, as he left the cabin. +</P> + +<P> +A little later the party gathered at the rail, and the captain spoke to +the mate. +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Rogers is going to take us ashore, Mr. Ditty," he said pleasantly. +"There are no special orders. You can let some of the men have shore +leave if they want it, although after yesterday I don't suppose they +will." +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose not," replied Ditty surlily. "They'll all be glad when we +turn our backs on this cursed island." +</P> + +<P> +The captain pretended not to hear. The goods were stowed in the boat, +the party and crew took their places, and the craft was pulled smartly +to the beach. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, my lads," said the captain briskly, as he stepped ashore, +"there's quite a trip ahead of you and you've got a man's job in +carrying this stuff, but I'll see that you don't lose anything by it. +Step up smartly now." +</P> + +<P> +The men shouldered their burdens and started off on the trail that had +now grown familiar to the treasure seekers. The men were able to +maintain a fairly rapid pace, and before long the party arrived at the +edge of the clearing within which the treasure was supposed to be +buried. +</P> + +<P> +The captain took Rogers aside. +</P> + +<P> +"Take your men back to the beach now, Mr. Rogers," he directed. +"Remember, I want none of them poking about here. We'll rejoin you in +good season for supper, if not before." +</P> + +<P> +"Aye, aye, sir!" was the cheerful reply. +</P> + +<P> +Rogers turned with his men, and the captain watched their backs far +down the forest path, until they were lost to sight in the greenery of +the jungle. +</P> + +<P> +"Well now," he remarked, as he turned again to the others, "lively's +the word. Let's get busy and——. Great Scott! Look at that!" he +exclaimed, staring at the top of the whale's hump. +</P> + +<P> +A column of black smoke was rising from the crater. +</P> + +<P> +"Looks like the whale was going to blow again," Tyke said, with a +feeble attempt at levity to disguise his apprehension. +</P> + +<P> +The next moment the ears of the party were deafened by a terrific +explosion. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap28"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXVIII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +BY FAVOR OF THE EARTHQUAKE +</H4> + +<P> +No thunder that had ever been heard could be compared with the sound of +the explosion. It was like the bellowing of a thousand cannon. It was +as though the island were being ripped apart. +</P> + +<P> +The earth shook and staggered drunkenly beneath the feet of the +treasure seekers. Great trees in the adjacent forest fell with +tremendous uproar. The slope of the whale's hump was ridged until it +looked like a giant accordion. Crevasses opened, extending from the +summit of the hill downward. Rocks came tumbling down by the score, +and a column of smoke and flame rose from the crater to a height of two +hundred feet or more. +</P> + +<P> +None of the party had been able to keep on a footing. All had been +thrown to the ground by the first shock, and there they lay, sick from +that awful seismic vibration. +</P> + +<P> +A cloud of almost impalpable dust spread broadly and shrouded the sun. +There was not a breath of air astir. Not a living thing was to be seen +in the open—even the lizards had disappeared. +</P> + +<P> +The spot where they had delved the day before, was now in plain view to +the treasure seekers. They saw the hillside yawn there in an awful +paroxysm, till the aperture was several yards wide. Then, from +beneath, there shot into the open, smoking rocks, debris of many kinds, +and—something else! Drew, seeing this final object, shrieked aloud. +His voice could not be heard above the uproar, but the others saw his +mouth agape, and struggled to see that at which he was pointing so +wildly. +</P> + +<P> +The crevasse closed with a crash and jar that rocked the whole island. +It was the final throe of the volcano's travail. The lurid light above +the crater subsided. The dust began to fall thick upon the treasure +seekers as they lay upon the ground. They sat up, dazed and +horror-stricken. It was some time before their palsied tongues could +speak, and when they did, the words came almost in whispers. +</P> + +<P> +Drew found that his arm was around Ruth. She had been near him when +the first shock came, and he had seized her instinctively. Now he +turned to her and asked: +</P> + +<P> +"You're not hurt, are you, Ruth?" +</P> + +<P> +"N—no," she gasped, "but dreadfully frightened! Oh, let's get away +from here!" +</P> + +<P> +She realized that he was holding her and drew away with a faint blush. +He released her and staggered to his feet. +</P> + +<P> +Tyke and the captain followed suit, and the three men looked at each +other. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, if I was superstitious——" began Tyke in a quavering voice. +</P> + +<P> +"Never mind any 'ifs' just now," interrupted the captain. "We've got +to get away from here just as fast as the good Lord will let us. I +don't believe in tempting Providence." +</P> + +<P> +"And leave the doubloons?" queried Tyke, in dismay. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, and leave the doubloons," replied the captain stubbornly. "If +Ruth weren't here, we men might take a chance, but my daughter is worth +more to me than all the pirate gold buried in the Caribbean." +</P> + +<P> +Drew, if inaudibly, agreed with him. "Let's get Ruth down to the +shore, anyway," he said. "Then, if you'll come back—— I saw +something just at that last crash." +</P> + +<P> +"By the great jib-boom!" roared Tyke, "so did I. What did you see, +Allen? Something shot up out o' one o' them pits we dug yesterday. I +saw it. An' it wasn't a lava boulder, neither!" +</P> + +<P> +"You're right, there," Drew agreed. "It was a box or something. Too +square-shaped to be a rock." +</P> + +<P> +"We can't fool with it now," Captain Hamilton said, with determination, +though his eyes sparkled. "Come, Ruth. I must get you down to the +boat." +</P> + +<P> +But here the girl exercised a power of veto. "I don't go unless the +rest of you do—and to remain, too," she declared. "I am not a child. +Of course, I'm afraid of that volcano. But so are you men. And it's +all over now. If Allen really saw something that looked like a box or +a chest thrown out of that opening, I'm going to——" +</P> + +<P> +She left the rest unspoken, but started boldly for the barren patch +where they had dug the day before. It looked now like a piece of +plowed ground over which were scattered blocks of lava of all sizes and +shapes. +</P> + +<P> +Captain Hamilton hesitated, but Drew ran ahead, reaching the spot +first. Anxious and frightened as he had been at the moment of the +phenomenon, the young man had noted exactly the spot where the strange +object had fallen. Half buried in a heap of earth was a discolored, +splintered chest. Its ancient appearance led Drew to utter a shout of +satisfaction. +</P> + +<P> +"I guess we've got it," he remarked in a tone that he tried to keep +calm, but which trembled in spite of himself. +</P> + +<P> +A cry of delight rose from all. The men joined Drew, and helped him +clear away the earth. The chest soon stood revealed. Then by using +their spades as levers, they pried it loose and by their united efforts +dragged it over to the shade at the jungle's edge. They sat beside it +there, panting, almost too exhausted from the excitement and their +tremendous efforts to move or speak. +</P> + +<P> +Ruth fluttered about like a humming bird, excited and eager. She +looked somewhat less disheveled and begrimed than the men. But if they +looked like trench diggers, they felt like plutocrats, and their hearts +were swelling with jubilation. +</P> + +<P> +The map had not lied! The paper had not lied! That old pirate, Ramon +Alvarez, who had probably told a thousand lies, had told the truth at +last in his ardent desire for the shriving of Holy Church. The +treasure lay before them! +</P> + +<P> +And how wonderfully the chest had been revealed to them! Not by their +own exertions had the pirate hoard been uncovered! +</P> + +<P> +A moment more and they were on their feet, Tyke panting: +</P> + +<P> +"Now, if I was superstitious——" +</P> + +<P> +They would have plenty of time for resting later on. Now a fierce +impatience consumed them. They must see the contents of the box! +</P> + +<P> +The chest was about five feet long, two feet wide and three feet deep. +It was made of thick oak, and was bound by heavy bands of iron. A huge +padlock held it closed. +</P> + +<P> +The box had originally been of enormous strength, but time and nature +and the earthquake had done their work. The wood was swollen and +warped, the iron bands were eaten with rust. But the lock resisted +their efforts when they sought to lift the cover. +</P> + +<P> +"Stand clear!" cried Captain Hamilton, raising his spade. +</P> + +<P> +He struck the padlock a smashing blow. Then he stooped and lifted the +cover, which yielded groaningly. +</P> + +<P> +A cry burst simultaneously from the treasure seekers. +</P> + +<P> +"Gold!" +</P> + +<P> +"Doubloons!" +</P> + +<P> +"Jewels!" +</P> + +<P> +"Riches!" +</P> + +<P> +Priceless treasures heaped in careless profusion, glinting, glowing, +coruscating, scintillating threw back in splendor the rays of the +tropic sun. +</P> + +<P> +None of them could remember afterward quite how they acted in those +first few minutes of unchained emotion. But they laughed and sang, +cheered and shouted, and it was a long time before the rioting of their +blood ceased and they regained a measure of self-control. +</P> + +<P> +There was no attempt made to measure the value of the treasure trove. +There would be time for that later on. What they did know beyond the +shadow of a doubt was that wealth enough lay before them to make them +all rich for the rest of their lives. +</P> + +<P> +Gold there was, both coined and melted into bars; Spanish doubloons, +Indian rupees, French louis, English guineas; cups and candelabra; +chains and watches; jewels too, in whose depths flashed rainbow hues, +amethysts, rubies, diamonds, emeralds, strings upon strings of +shimmering pearls. +</P> + +<P> +The discoverers bathed their hands in the golden store, running the +coins in sparkling streams through their fingers, all the time feeling +that they were moving in a dream from which at any moment they must be +rudely awakened. +</P> + +<P> +At last the captain's voice, a bit husky from emotion, brought them +back to practical realities. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, the first log of our voyage is written up," he said. "But now +let's get down to the question of what we're to do next. How are we to +get this stuff aboard?" +</P> + +<P> +All sobered a little as they faced the problem. +</P> + +<P> +"We can take the chest just as it is," said Tyke. "A four-man load, +though." +</P> + +<P> +"What will the crew think?" Drew asked somewhat anxiously. +</P> + +<P> +"Let 'em think and be hanged to 'em!" replied Captain Hamilton. "Yet," +he added a moment later, "with things in the shaky condition they are +and that rascal, Ditty, planning mischief, we don't want to take too +many chances." +</P> + +<P> +"Couldn't we make a number of trips back and forth and take some of the +treasure with us each time until we got it all on board?" suggested +Ruth. "We could carry a lot in our clothes and we could wrap some up +to look like the bundles we brought ashore." +</P> + +<P> +"Take too long," objected her father. +</P> + +<P> +"How would this do?" was Drew's contribution. "As has already been +said, the men would be surprised to see us bring a box aboard if they +hadn't first seen us take it ashore. Now, suppose we take one of the +ship's chests, load it with some worthless junk that would make it as +heavy as this box, and bring it ashore. We could bring it up here, +throw away the contents, put the treasure in it, and then call on the +men to take it back to the ship. They'd recognize it as the same one +they'd brought over, and their thinking would stop right there." +</P> + +<P> +"By Jove, I believe you've hit it, Allen!" exclaimed the captain. +</P> + +<P> +"That sounds sensible," conceded Tyke. "I guess it's the only way." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, now that that's settled," went on the captain, "what are we +going to do with the treasure in the meanwhile? It's getting late now. +We can't get it aboard to-day. We'll want eight men besides Rogers. +Then, there's all this hardware," and he indicated the firearms. +</P> + +<P> +"Couldn't we leave it just where it is until we come back to-morrow?" +ventured Ruth. "There isn't a soul on the island, and we'll be here +the first thing in the morning." +</P> + +<P> +"A little too risky, I'm afraid," said Tyke. "It's dollars to +doughnuts that there's no one on the island but ourselves and the +boat's crew; yet we'd go 'round kicking ourselves for the rest of our +lives if we found to-morrow that some one had been here an' helped +himself." +</P> + +<P> +"Let's pile some of these loose lava blocks on top of the chest," said +Drew. "Make a regular mound. It will look as though the earthquake +had done it." +</P> + +<P> +That plan seemed the best, and they acted on it. They closed the cover +after one more lingering, delighted look at the chest's gleaming +contents, then they built the cairn. +</P> + +<P> +"One sure thing," observed Tyke. "There isn't anybody going to come up +here for jest a little pleasure jog—not much! That volcano's likely +to spit again 'most any time." +</P> + +<P> +The party started for the lagoon with their hearts bounding with +exultation. But as they entered the forest path they were startled by +the sight of Rogers and his men hastening toward them. +</P> + +<P> +The captain was about to utter a rebuke, but when he saw the pale and +frightened faces of the men he checked his tongue. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, Mr. Rogers, what is it?" he asked. "Got a pretty good scare, I +suppose, like the rest of us. I guess the quake's all over now." +</P> + +<P> +"I hope so, sir," replied the second officer. "I thought sure it was +all over with the lot of us. But it isn't that, sir, that I came back +for. The boat's gone." +</P> + +<P> +"Gone!" exclaimed the captain, staring. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, sir. It must have pushed away from the shore when the earth +shook so. Just down here below a bit is a place where you can see the +lagoon, and I caught sight of the boat about half-way between the shore +and the ship." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh well, if that's all, there isn't any great harm done. Mr. Ditty +will send out and pick up the boat." +</P> + +<P> +"But there's something else, sir," went on the seaman hoarsely. "As I +looked out, it seemed to me, sir, as if the reef had closed up behind +the schooner." +</P> + +<P> +"What?" roared the captain. +</P> + +<P> +"It's gospel truth sir," persisted the second officer. "I thought at +first I must be dreaming. But I looked carefully, sir, and you can +call me a swab if it isn't so! I couldn't see any sign at all of the +passage where we came in, sir." +</P> + +<P> +The captain's bronzed face paled, as the full significance of the news +burst upon him. +</P> + +<P> +"Come along and show me the place where you can see the schooner," he +commanded, and started to run, followed by the whole party. +</P> + +<P> +They had not far to go. At a place where the earthquake had rooted out +a monster tree, a clear view could be had of the entire lagoon. +</P> + +<P> +There lay the <I>Bertha Hamilton</I>, straining at her cable in the +commotion of the waters that had been stirred up by the earthquake. +And there was the small boat tossing about like a chip. But the +captain wasted not a second glance at these. He had seized his +binoculars and his gaze was fixed upon the reef. As he looked, his +visage became ashen. +</P> + +<P> +The passage through which the ship had come into the lagoon was +entirely closed! +</P> + +<P> +A barrier had been thrown up from the ocean floor, and this completely +landlocked the lagoon in which the schooner rode at anchor. The lagoon +had welcomed the ship as though with extended arms. Now those arms +were closed and the hands were interlocked. +</P> + +<P> +The captain groaned at the magnitude of the disaster. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Daddy, dear!" cried Ruth, darting to his side. "Don't take it so +hard! There'll be some way out!" +</P> + +<P> +"Never!" cried the captain. "The <I>Bertha Hamilton</I> is done for. +There's no way to get her out. She'll lie there now until she rots." +</P> + +<P> +"And we're prisoners on this island," gasped Drew. +</P> + +<P> +They looked at each other, appalled. This last statement seemed to be +irrefutable. They were captives on the island, which seemed itself to +be in the throes of dissolution. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap29"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXIX +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +MUTINY +</H4> + +<P> +Drew was the first to rally from the shock of this discovery. +</P> + +<P> +"It is a terrible situation, God knows," he said. "And I know, too, +Captain, how you must feel the loss of the schooner—if it is lost. +But there may be a chance left of releasing her. The reef looks solid +from here, but when you get close to it there may be a crevice through +which she can be warped. +</P> + +<P> +"She don't draw much water in ballast," comforted Tyke, although in his +heart he had little hope. "An' you've got some giant powder on board. +Perhaps we can blast a passage." +</P> + +<P> +The captain straightened up and took a grip on himself. +</P> + +<P> +"We won't give up without a fight, anyway," he said; and Ruth rejoiced +to hear the old militant ring in his voice. "The first thing to do is +to get on board the ship. Come along down to the beach." +</P> + +<P> +The others hurried after him as fast as they could, but, owing to the +number of trees that had been thrown down, their progress was +exasperatingly slow. But even in the turmoil of his emotion, Drew +blessed the chance that made it possible for him to hold Ruth's arm, +and in some especially difficult places to lift her over obstacles. +</P> + +<P> +They reached the beach and the captain hailed the ship. Again and +again he sent his voice booming over the water, and the others +supplemented his efforts by waving their arms. It was impossible that +they should not have been heard or seen; but the <I>Bertha Hamilton</I> +might have been a phantom vessel for all the response that was evoked. +</P> + +<P> +The captain fumed and stormed with impatience. +</P> + +<P> +"What's the matter with those swabs?" he growled. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah! now they're lowering a boat," cried Drew. +</P> + +<P> +"They've taken their time about it," growled the captain. +</P> + +<P> +The boat put out from the side and headed for the beach. When half-way +there, the rowers overtook the captain's boat and secured it. Then, +instead of resuming their journey, they turned deliberately about and +rowed back. The boats were both hoisted to the davits and quietness +again reigned on the schooner. +</P> + +<P> +The stupefied spectators on the beach felt as though they had taken +leave of their senses. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, of all the——" raged Captain Hamilton, when he was interrupted +by the sound of a shot fired on the schooner. Two others followed in +quick succession. Then came a roar of voices. A moment later a man +leaped from the mizzen shrouds over the rail. He was shot in midair, +and those ashore heard his shriek as he threw up his arms and +disappeared in the still heaving waters of the lagoon. +</P> + +<P> +"Mutiny!" roared Captain Hamilton. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," echoed Tyke; "mutiny!" +</P> + +<P> +Horror was stamped on every face. One blow had been succeeded by +another still more crushing. It was now not only a question of the +loss of the schooner. Their very lives might be threatened. +</P> + +<P> +"That scoundrel, Ditty!" gasped the captain. +</P> + +<P> +"It's too bad we pulled Allen off him the other day," ejaculated Tyke +savagely. "We ought to have let him finish the job." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank God we've got the weapons anyway!" exclaimed Captain Hamilton. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't think that he hasn't got some too," warned Tyke. "You heard +those shots. No doubt the rascal's got all the guns and ammunition he +wants. You can gamble on it that he isn't figuring on fighting us with +his bare hands." +</P> + +<P> +The captain turned to Rogers and the boat's crew. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you know about this, Mr. Rogers?" he said quietly. "Can we +count on you?" +</P> + +<P> +"That you can, Captain," replied Rogers heartily. "I only know what +I've told you before, sir." +</P> + +<P> +"And how about you, my lads?" Captain Hamilton continued, addressing +the boat's crew. "Are you going to stand with your captain?" +</P> + +<P> +There was a chorus of eager assent. Not one of them flinched or +wavered, and indignation was hot in their eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Good!" cried the captain approvingly. "I knew you'd sailed with me +too long to desert me when it came to a pinch." +</P> + +<P> +"That makes ten of us altogether," observed Tyke Grimshaw. +</P> + +<P> +"Eleven," put in Ruth. "Don't forget me." +</P> + +<P> +"Eleven," repeated the master of the <I>Bertha Hamilton</I>, looking at her +fondly. "You're a true sailor's daughter, Ruth. I'm proud of you, my +dear." +</P> + +<P> +"Eleven," said Drew. "That leaves twenty-five on the ship, including +Ditty." +</P> + +<P> +"Twenty-four," put in Tyke. "There's one less than there was a few +minutes ago." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," agreed the captain sadly. "And I've no doubt the poor fellow +was killed because he wouldn't join the rest of the gang. Twenty-four, +then. That's pretty big odds against eleven." +</P> + +<P> +"Beggin' your pardon, sir," said Barker, who was the oldest man of the +crew, "but there's some of our mates over there that wouldn't never +fight on the side of that Bug-eye—meanin' no disrespect to the mate, +sir. Whitlock wouldn't for one, nor Gunther, nor Trent. I'd lay to +that, sir." +</P> + +<P> +"No, sir," put in Thompson; "an' Ashley wouldn't neither. No more +would Sanders." +</P> + +<P> +"I believe you, my lads," replied the captain. "They've sailed with us +before. But even if they don't fight against us, they can't fight with +us as things stand now. The very least that Ditty will do with them is +to hold them prisoners until he's put the job through." +</P> + +<P> +"But he isn't going to put it through," cried Drew, his eyes kindling. +</P> + +<P> +"Not by a jug full!" declared Tyke. "But we'll know we've been in a +fight, I s'pose, before we can prove that to him. He's put his head in +the noose now, an' he'll be desperate." +</P> + +<P> +"I only hope I get a chance at him before the hangman does," muttered +Drew. +</P> + +<P> +"There's not much to be done until those fellows come over here," said +the captain reflectively. "We've no way of getting out there to the +schooner. This thing will have to be fought out on land." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you suppose they'll attack us right away, or try to starve us out?" +Drew asked. "They've got the advantage in having provisions." +</P> + +<P> +"No chance of starving us," replied Captain Hamilton. "There's plenty +of fruit here, and then there are birds and small game. I saw an +agouti run by a little while ago." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh! Why, that's a rat, Daddy! Or is it a sort of 'possum?" cried +Ruth, with a shudder. "And you men were hinting the other day that +poor Wah Lee might serve us up some dainty dish like that!" she added +with a chuckle. +</P> + +<P> +"By George!" Tyke suddenly shouted. "There's cookee an' the steward! +We forgot them in our calculations. How about 'em, Cap'n Rufe?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, that's so!" cried Ruth. "That little Jap boy never would turn +against us, surely!" +</P> + +<P> +"Nor Wah Lee," said Captain Hamilton reflectively. +</P> + +<P> +"Neither of 'em would be much good," remarked Tyke. "You know how them +critters are—both Chinks and Japs. Cold-blooded as fish. They'll +keep on cooking for the mutineers an' serving 'em. It's none of their +pidgin whether that rascal, Ditty, bosses 'em or you are at the helm, +Cap'n Rufe." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I expect you're right," agreed Captain Hamilton. "They're poor +fish to fry. We can't count on them to supply us with grub, that's +sure," and he laughed shortly. +</P> + +<P> +"An' look here!" exclaimed Tyke, coming back to their former +discussion. "How about water? We might git along on this sulphur +water for a little while, but we couldn't stand it long." +</P> + +<P> +"That's a little more serious," admitted the captain. "But we can get +milk from the cocoanuts. There's plenty of them. And there's the +chance of rain, too. +</P> + +<P> +"But I don't think it will come to a siege," he continued, aside to +Tyke. "Ditty will figure that he's got to have quick action. He knows +that a vessel of some kind may come along any time, and then his cake +will be dough. Besides, that bunch of rough-necks will be impatient +for the loot that I've no doubt he's promised them." +</P> + +<P> +"Where are you going to wait for him?" asked Tyke. +</P> + +<P> +"Up at the whale's hump," replied the captain. "We can build a sort of +fortification there that will help make up for our lack of numbers. +They'll have to come out of the woods into the open up there, too. We +might wait here on the beach, but they could keep out of gunshot, and +we wouldn't get a decision. They can't land too quick to suit me." +</P> + +<P> +Acting on this decision, the party started back at once, dropping +Rogers by the way at the ledge that overlooked the sea, so that he +could bring to them a report of any action taken by the mutineers. +</P> + +<P> +Ruth's presence at his side was very dear to Drew as they toiled along, +but he was deeply apprehensive for her safety. The men of the party +had only death to fear if the worst came to the worst, but his heart +turned to ice as he thought of Ruth left without protection in the +hands of the mate and his gang. +</P> + +<P> +She seemed to realize his thoughts, for she looked up at him bravely. +</P> + +<P> +"I wish I had the carpet of Solomon here," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"Why?" she smiled. +</P> + +<P> +"I'd put you on it and have you whisked off to New York in a flash." +</P> + +<P> +"Suppose I refused to go?" +</P> + +<P> +"You wouldn't." +</P> + +<P> +"I would! Why should I go to New York? All whom I love are here." +</P> + +<P> +"Here?" he breathed eagerly. +</P> + +<P> +"Surely. I love my father dearly." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh!" he said disappointedly. +</P> + +<P> +"You don't seem to approve of filial devotion," she observed, darting a +mischievous look at him from under her long lashes. +</P> + +<P> +"It's a beautiful thing," he answered promptly. "But there's another +kind that——" +</P> + +<P> +"We'd better hurry," the girl broke in hastily. "We're letting them +get too far ahead of us." +</P> + +<P> +They hastened on, and the words that were on Drew's lips remained +unspoken. +</P> + +<P> +After all, he thought to himself as the old bitter memory, forgotten in +the excitement, came back to him, it was better so. They must not be +spoken. They never could be spoken while he was under the awful cloud +of suspicion. The love that had grown until it absorbed all his life +must be ruthlessly crushed under foot. +</P> + +<P> +The party emerged upon the slope of the whale's hump. Nothing had +disturbed the cairn they had built over the treasure chest, nor were +the rifles and tools displaced. Captain Hamilton's decision to make +the stand here was admittedly a wise one. Here was enough lava, +rubbish to build a dozen forts. +</P> + +<P> +"Jest the spot," Tyke said vigorously, waving his hand in the direction +of the heap of lava blocks that hid the pirate's chest. "What do you +say, Cap'n Rufe? Shall we make that pile o' rocks the corner of our +breastworks?" +</P> + +<P> +"Good idea, Tyke," agreed the captain. "But pass guns around first, +boys. All of you can handle a rifle, I suppose?" +</P> + +<P> +"Aye aye, sir," said Barker, "you'd better believe we kin." +</P> + +<P> +"If it comes to bullets," said Captain Hamilton, "those swabs will be +so near to us we can scarcely miss 'em. That is, if they come out of +the jungle. +</P> + +<P> +"Suppose they circle around and come at us from above?" Drew suggested. +</P> + +<P> +"We'll build a circular fort, by gosh!" cried Tyke. "An' build the +back higher'n the front. How about it, Cap'n Rufe? Then if them swabs +climb the hill to git the better of us, they can't shoot over." +</P> + +<P> +"You're right, Tyke," agreed the master of the <I>Bertha Hamilton</I>. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't believe," said Drew, "that Ditty and the men have many +firearms. Nothing like these high-powered rifles, that's sure." +</P> + +<P> +"That's so, Drew, I'm sure," said the captain promptly. "Now, boys, +get to work," he added. "Roll 'em down! Here, Barker, you're +chantey-man. Set 'em the pace." +</P> + +<P> +Weirdly, echoing back from the wall of the jungle and hollowly from the +hillside, the improvised chantey was raised by Barker, and the chorus +line taken up by the other seamen as though they were jerking aloft the +schooner's topsails. +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"Oh, Bug-eye's dead an' gone below,<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">Oh, we says so, an' we hopes so;</SPAN><BR> +Oh, Bug-eye's dead an' he'll go below<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">Oh, poor—ol'—man!</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"He's deader'n the bolt on the fo'c'sle door,<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">Oh, we says so, an' we hopes so;</SPAN><BR> +Oh, he'll never knock us flat no more,<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">Oh, poor—ol'—man!"</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Under the impetus of this dirge with its innumerable verses the men +rolled the boulders down. The fortification began to take form and +give promise of shelter in time of need. +</P> + +<P> +And there was no telling how soon that time might come! +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap30"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXX +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE FLAG OF TRUCE +</H4> + +<P> +The seamen rolled the larger boulders to the line Tyke indicated. +Captain Hamilton himself and Drew chocked the interstices between the +larger blocks with broken lava. A chance bullet might slip through +into the fort, but under a rain of lead those within the fortification +would be fairly well protected. +</P> + +<P> +In two hours, and not long before sunset, the work was finished. +Facing the jungle, from which the expected attack would come, if at +all, the wall was breast high; in the rear, it rose higher so that no +man unless he stood fairly in the lip of the crater above, could shoot +over the barrier. +</P> + +<P> +"And take it from me," said Tyke Grimshaw, "those bums ain't going to +run their legs off to reach the top of this volcano. They're scared to +death of it." +</P> + +<P> +"And our own boys aren't much better," muttered Captain Hamilton. "See +'em looking over their shoulders now and again? They're expecting a +shoot-off any minute." +</P> + +<P> +"Well," the older man agreed, "that may be so. But it strikes me that +the volcano and the earthquakes have been mighty helpful to us. Now, +if I was superstitious——" +</P> + +<P> +"How about locking my schooner in that blasted lagoon?" growled the +master of the <I>Bertha Hamilton</I>. "This island is hoodooed, I've half a +mind to believe." +</P> + +<P> +Next the rifles and revolvers were carefully cleaned and loaded, and +the ammunition distributed. +</P> + +<P> +"How are we off for cartridges?" Drew asked. +</P> + +<P> +"None too well," answered the captain. "If these fellows were sure +shots, there'd probably be all we'd need. But they'll waste a lot. +I've got several hundred in a box under my berth—and clips for the +automatics, too. I certainly wish I'd brought 'em along." +</P> + +<P> +"S'pose Ditty's gobbled 'em?" inquired Grimshaw. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't think he'd find them. But they're no good to us now," groaned +the captain. +</P> + +<P> +At this moment Rogers came hurrying up. +</P> + +<P> +"They're putting off from the ship," he reported breathlessly. +</P> + +<P> +"How many of them?" asked the captain. +</P> + +<P> +"Ten in the longboat and seven in the other," was the answer. +</P> + +<P> +"Seventeen in all," mused the captain. "I wonder where the rest are." +</P> + +<P> +"Probably dead or prisoners," put in Tyke. "The men who wouldn't join +him he's likely killed or triced up an' left 'em under guard of one or +two of the gang." +</P> + +<P> +"That's probably so," agreed the master of the <I>Bertha Hamilton</I>. +"Well, that reduces the odds somewhat; but they're heavy enough just +the same. We'll have action now 'most any time." +</P> + +<P> +They had been so excited and absorbed in their preparations that they +had not thought of food. Now the captain insisted upon their eating +what Wah Lee had put up for them that morning. But he portioned out +water from the cask very sparingly. +</P> + +<P> +Another hour passed, and still they heard no tread of approaching feet. +It would soon be dark. But suddenly they were startled when a voice +hailed them. It came from the direction of a big ceiba tree a hundred +yards down the forest path. +</P> + +<P> +"Ahoy, there!" +</P> + +<P> +"Ahoy, yourself!" shouted back the captain. +</P> + +<P> +A stick was thrust from behind the tree. A white cloth was tied to the +end of it. +</P> + +<P> +"This is Ditty talkin'," came the voice. +</P> + +<P> +"I know it is, you scoundrel," roared the captain. +</P> + +<P> +"No hard words, Cap'n," came the answer. "It'll only be the worse for +you. I want to have a confab with you." +</P> + +<P> +"Come along then and say your say," replied Captain Hamilton. +</P> + +<P> +"You won't shoot?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not you," promised the captain. "I hope to see you hung later on." +</P> + +<P> +"No tricks, now," said Ditty cautiously +</P> + +<P> +"I said I wouldn't and that's enough," responded the captain. "You can +take it or leave it." +</P> + +<P> +The mate emerged fully from behind the tree and came into the open +space. At fifty paces from the fortress he halted. +</P> + +<P> +"There's guns coverin' you from behind them trees, if anything happens +to me," he said in further warning. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't wonder you think that every man's a liar, Ditty," the captain +replied bitterly. "You judge them out of your own black heart. Now, +what do you want? Why have you seized my ship? Why have you killed +one of my men?" +</P> + +<P> +"I hain't seized your ship," answered Ditty sullenly. "You left me in +charge of it. An' I didn't kill any of your men. Sanders got drunk +an' fell overboard." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't lie to me, you rascal," returned the captain. "We heard the +shooting and saw the man shot as he leaped overboard. You'll hang for +that yet, if I don't kill you first. You're a bloody mutineer and you +know it. Now stow your lies and get to the point. What do you want?" +</P> + +<P> +"We want them doubloons!" fairly shouted Ditty, stung by the captain's +contempt, "an' we're goin' to have 'em." +</P> + +<P> +"Doubloons? What do you mean?" asked the captain. +</P> + +<P> +"The treasure you come here to dig for," answered Ditty. "You can't +fool me. I've been on to your little game ever since before the +schooner left New York. I got sharp ears, I have," pursued the mate, +his one eye gleaming balefully as he looked at the heads above the line +of the breastwork. "I know you found a map an' some sort of a paper +what explained about that old pirate treasure. It was in a sailorman's +chest in Tyke Grimshaw's office. Like enough Tyke stole it from the +poor feller. An' I heard you tellin' Miss Ruth about it that night at +dinner," he added, with a leering glance at the pale-faced girl. +</P> + +<P> +"So that's why you shipped me such a lot of scum and riffraff, was it, +you villain?" Captain Hamilton asked. +</P> + +<P> +"You can think as you like about that," answered Ditty. "But this here +kind of chinning won't git us anywhere. I know all about the map and +that paper, an' I know that you come here lookin' for that loot. An' I +bet you've found it a'ready. Now, to put it short an' sweet, me an' my +mates want it." +</P> + +<P> +"Suppose you got it?" parleyed the master of the <I>Bertha Hamilton</I>. +"It wouldn't do you any good. The schooner is landlocked and can't get +away." +</P> + +<P> +"Even so it'll do us as much good as it will you," countered Ditty. +"We've got the longboat an' we can easily make one of the islands near +by where we can find a ship to take us to the States." +</P> + +<P> +"And suppose I have the treasure and refuse to give it to you?" pursued +the captain. +</P> + +<P> +"Then we'll take it!" threatened Ditty, his one eye glowing with +malevolence. "We'll take it if we have to kill every last one of you +to git it! +</P> + +<P> +"Hey! Barker! Olsen! The rest of you bullies!" he added, raising his +voice, "you know blamed well the after-guard won't do nothin' for you +fellers but let you git shot. You better come with us. +</P> + +<P> +"We're nearly two to one, anyway, an' you've got no chance," he added +to Captain Hamilton. +</P> + +<P> +"We haven't, eh?" exploded the captain, his pent-up rage finding vent. +"Do your worst, you black-hearted hound! And if you're not behind that +tree in one minute, may God have mercy on your soul!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap31"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXXI +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +A DARING VENTURE +</H4> + +<P> +With an expression of baffled rage convulsing his features, Ditty +turned and made for shelter. Once safely there, he hurled back the +wildest threats and imprecations. So vile they were that Ruth +shuddered and put her hands to her ears. +</P> + +<P> +"I said I'd kill you all!" the mate shouted. "I'll take that back. +I'll kill all but one!" +</P> + +<P> +The threat was easily understood. Captain Hamilton's face went white, +and he glanced hastily at Ruth. But he only said: +</P> + +<P> +"Keep down out of sight, men. They know where we are, but we don't +know where they are. They may try to rush us, but I don't think they +will at first. Aim carefully and shoot at anything that offers a fair +target, but don't waste the ammunition." +</P> + +<P> +He had hardly finished speaking before there came a volley, and the +bullets pattered against the rocks. They came from several directions. +Ditty had arranged his men in the form of a semicircle. They had ample +cover, and the only chance for the besieged lay in the chance that one +of the enemy should protrude his head or shoulder too far from behind +his tree. +</P> + +<P> +Many times in the next hour the fusilade was repeated. It was plain +that the mutineers were armed only with pistols. +</P> + +<P> +"Probably Ditty laid in a stock before he left New York," the captain +muttered to Tyke. "Automatics, too." +</P> + +<P> +"His ammunition won't last long if he keeps wasting it this way," +replied Tyke. "An' an automatic ain't always a sure shot." +</P> + +<P> +Just then a cry from Olsen showed that the mutineers' cartridges had +not been wholly wasted. A bullet had caught the Swede in the shoulder. +He dropped, groaning. +</P> + +<P> +Ruth was by his side in an instant. She bound up his wound as best she +could, and, putting a coat beneath his head, made him as comfortable as +possible. +</P> + +<P> +"One knocked out," muttered the captain. "I wonder who'll be the—— +Ah! Good boy, Allen!" he cried delightedly. +</P> + +<P> +One of the enemy had thrown up his hands and, with a yell, had crashed +heavily to the ground. He lay there without motion. +</P> + +<P> +"Leaned his head out a little too far," remarked Drew composedly. +"That was the cockney, Bingo." +</P> + +<P> +"An' a dirty rat," Tyke said grimly. "That evens up the score." +</P> + +<P> +"Not exactly," replied Drew. "We'll have to pot two of them to every +one they get, to keep the score straight. And they'll be more careful +now about exposing themselves." +</P> + +<P> +He was right; for in the short moments of daylight that remained they +lessened no further the number of their foes. Nor did any bullet find +its billet in the body of any of the besieged. But one ball knocked a +splinter from a rock and drove it against the knuckles of Binney's +right hand, making it difficult for him to use his rifle. +</P> + +<P> +Now darkness fell, and the enemy seemed to have withdrawn. +</P> + +<P> +"The real fight will come to-morrow," prophesied Captain Hamilton. +"This was only a skirmish to feel us out." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you think they'll try to do anything to-night?" asked Drew +thoughtfully. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't believe so," was the reply; "but we'll post sentinels, and if +they come they won't take us by surprise." +</P> + +<P> +"As a matter of fact," the captain went on, "I wish they would adopt +rushing tactics. Then they'd be out in the open and we could get a +good crack at them. As it is, we're concentrated and they're +scattered, and their bullets have a better chance than ours of finding +a mark. These sniping methods are all in their favor, if Ditty has +sense enough to stick to them." +</P> + +<P> +"They've gained already by this afternoon's work," pondered Tyke. +"When they started in we were seventeen to 'leven. Now, as far as we +know, they're sixteen to our nine, for neither Olsen nor Binney's what +you might call able-bodied. The odds are getting bigger against us." +</P> + +<P> +"All the ammunition we have spent has accounted for only one man," +added the captain. "Their cover has served 'em well. And our +ammunition is short. I figure out that we haven't much more than +thirty cartridges apiece left for the rifles. That won't last us long." +</P> + +<P> +"Why not dash out and charge them?" suggested Drew. +</P> + +<P> +"We will when our cartridges get low," agreed the captain. "But I'm +hoping they'll charge us first in the morning. We could drop a bunch +of 'em before they closed in on us, and then we'd have a better chance +in hand-to-hand fighting." +</P> + +<P> +After dark the captain posted three men some distance within the +forest, with the promise that they should be relieved at midnight and +with strict injunctions to keep a vigilant watch and report to him at +once should anything seem suspicious. +</P> + +<P> +Rogers was delegated to make his way down to the beach, where it was +supposed the mutineers would encamp for the night, to see if he could +gain any information as to their plan of attack on the morrow. +</P> + +<P> +To Ruth this whole situation was a most terrifying one; but nobody +displayed more bravery than she. +</P> + +<P> +She had attended to the two wounded men skilfully. She had been +obliged to arrange a tourniquet on Olsen's shoulder, or the man would +have bled to death; and she had done this as well as a more practised +nurse. The wound was a clean one, the bullet having bored right +through the shoulder. +</P> + +<P> +Binney's wound was merely painful, and he could not use his rifle +effectively. But he could handle an automatic with his left hand. +</P> + +<P> +The departure of the mutineers and the coming of night released their +minds and hearts from anxiety to a certain degree. Night fowls in the +forest shouted their raucous notes back and forth, and there were some +squealings and gruntings at the edge of the jungle that betrayed the +presence of certain small animals that might add to their bill of fare +could they but capture them. +</P> + +<P> +"We'll forage for grub to-morrow," said Captain Hamilton. "It's too +dark to-night to tell what you were catching, even if you went after +those creatures. Ruth says she doesn't want agouti because they're too +much like rats; but maybe there are creatures like polecats here—and +they'd be a whole lot worse." +</P> + +<P> +A daring idea came into Drew's mind, but he did not mention it to Tyke +or the captain because he felt sure that they would not approve. He +acknowledged to himself that it was a forlorn hope, but he knew, too, +that forlorn hopes often won by their very audacity. +</P> + +<P> +He knew that the moon rose late that night, and as darkness was +essential to the execution of his plan, he rose shortly and said: +</P> + +<P> +"Think I'll go out and do a little scouting on my own account." +</P> + +<P> +The captain looked at him in some surprise. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," he said slowly, "we can't get any too much information; but +we're fearfully short of men, and you're the best shot we have. Better +be careful." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, do be careful, Allen!" exclaimed Ruth. "For my sake," she added +in a whisper. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you care very much?" he responded, in the same tone. +</P> + +<P> +"Care!" she repeated softly. It was only one word, but it was eloquent +and her eyes were suspiciously moist. +</P> + +<P> +He pressed her hand and she did not try to withdraw it. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll be careful," he promised, releasing it at last. Another moment +and he had surmounted the barrier and was swallowed up in the gloom of +the forest. +</P> + +<P> +From his repeated trips over the trail, Drew had a pretty good idea of +the locality, and had it not been for the fallen trees that had been +torn up by the cataclysm of the morning, he would have had little +difficulty in gaining the beach. But again and again he had to make +long detours, and as the darkness was intense he had to rely entirely +on his sense of touch; so his progress was slow. +</P> + +<P> +Nearly two hours elapsed before he caught sight of a light beyond the +trees that he thought must come from the campfire of the mutineers. He +crept forward with exceeding care, for at any moment he might stumble +over some sentinel. But, with the lack of discipline that usually +accompanies such lawless ventures and relying upon their preponderance +in numbers, the mutineers had neglected such a precaution. +</P> + +<P> +With the stealth of an Indian on a foray, Drew approached the beach +until he was not more than a hundred yards from the fire. There he +sheltered himself behind a massive tree trunk and surveyed the scene. +</P> + +<P> +He saw Rogers nowhere about. The mutineers had made a great fire of +driftwood, more for its cheerful effect than for any other reason, for +the night was oppressively warm. At some distance from it the men were +sitting or lying in sprawling attitudes. Some were sleeping, some +singing, while one tall man, whom Drew recognized as Ditty, was engaged +in earnest conversation with two others, probably his lieutenants. +</P> + +<P> +Drew counted them twice to make sure there was no mistake. There were +sixteen in all. Only one, then, had been accounted for that afternoon. +And there were but nine able-bodied men in the fort, counting Binney as +able-bodied. +</P> + +<P> +Sixteen to nine! Nearly two to one! And men who would fight +desperately because in joining this mutiny they knew that they stood in +peril of the hangman's noose or the electric chair. +</P> + +<P> +Drew's resolution hardened. The fire cast a wide zone of light on the +beach and the surrounding water. But over the eastern end of the +lagoon darkness hung heavily. Keeping in the shelter of the palms, he +went northward, following the contour of the lagoon until he reached +the point where vegetation ceased and the reef began. +</P> + +<P> +Although this reef was volcanic (indeed the whole island had +undoubtedly been thrown up from the floor of the sea by some +subterranean convulsion in ages past), the coral insects had been at +work adding to the strength of the lagoon's barriers. The recent quake +that had lifted the reef had ground much of this coral-work to dust. +Drew found himself wading ankle deep in it as he approached the water. +</P> + +<P> +The little waves lapped at his feet. There was a shimmering glow on +the surface of the lagoon, as there always is upon moving water. +Outside, the surf sighed, retreated, advanced, and again sighed, in +unchanging and ceaseless rotation. +</P> + +<P> +Drew disrobed slowly. He could not see the schooner, but he knew about +where she lay. Indeed, he could hear the water slapping against her +sides and the creaking of her blocks and stays. She was not far off +the shore. +</P> + +<P> +And yet he hesitated before wading in. He was a good swimmer, and the +water was warm; the actual getting to the schooner did not trouble his +mind in the least. But, as he scanned the surface of the lagoon, there +was a phosphorescent flash several fathoms out. Was it a leaping fish, +or—— +</P> + +<P> +His eyes had become accustomed to the semi-darkness. Drifting in was +some object—a small, three-cornered, sail-like thing. Another flash +of phosphorescence, and the triangular fin disappeared. Drew shuddered +as he stood naked at the water's edge. He could not fail to identify +the creature. Something besides the <I>Bertha Hamilton</I> had been shut in +the lagoon by the rising reef. +</P> + +<P> +"And I venture to say that that shark is mighty hungry, too—unless he +found poor Sanders," muttered the shivering Drew. +</P> + +<P> +He then waded into the water. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap32"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXXII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE BATTLE IN THE FORECASTLE +</H4> + +<P> +Making as little disturbance as possible, Drew sank to his armpits in +the pellucid waters, and then began to swim. He believed the shark had +started briskly for some other point in the lagoon; but he knew the +eyes of the creature were sharp. +</P> + +<P> +All about him, as the young man moved through the water, there were +millions of tiny organisms that would betray his presence, as they had +the shark's, at the first ripple. These minute infusorians would glow +with the pale gleam of phosphorescence if the water were ruffled. +Therefore, he had to swim carefully and slowly, when each second his +nerves cried out for rapid, panic-stricken action. +</P> + +<P> +He came at last to the schooner's stern without mishap. He could see +her tall hull and taller spars above him. There was no light in the +after part of the vessel; nor was there even a riding light. The +mutineers whom Ditty had left aboard had evidently thrown off all +discipline. +</P> + +<P> +Finding no line hanging from the rail aft, Drew swam around the +schooner to her bows. Here was the anchor chain, and up this he +clambered nimbly to the rail. +</P> + +<P> +Cautiously he raised his head above the rail and looked about him. +There was a light in the forecastle, but most of the deck was in deep +shadow. Very slowly he pulled himself inboard and dropped down in the +bows. Then, on hands and knees and avoiding any spot of light, he +crept noiselessly toward the forecastle and looked in. +</P> + +<P> +By the light of the lamp swinging in its gimbals, he could see five men +seated on the floor with their hands tied behind them. At a little +distance two other men were seated, both with revolvers thrust in their +belts. +</P> + +<P> +The nearest of the guards was talking at the moment, and Drew easily +heard what was said. +</P> + +<P> +"You're a bloomin' fool, I tell you, Trent," he was saying to one of +the prisoners. "Ditty has got the old man dead to rights. The +after-guard hain't got the ghost of a chance. You'd better pitch in an +take your luck along with the rest of us." +</P> + +<P> +"You're a lot of bloody murderers," growled the one addressed, "and +you'll swing for this business yet." +</P> + +<P> +"Not as much chance of our swingin' as there is of you gittin' what +Sanders got," retorted the other. "He's 'bout eat up by the sharks by +this time. An' when Ditty comes back with the loot; he ain't goin' to +let you live to peach on 'im. No, siree, he ain't. Dead men tell no +tales." +</P> + +<P> +Drew waited no longer. He had no weapon with him, not even a knife. +But he counted on the advantage of surprise. He gathered himself +together, and, with the agility of a panther, leaped upon the shoulders +of the man seated beneath him. They went to the deck with a crash. +The fellow was stunned by the shock, and lay motionless; but Drew was +on his feet in a second. +</P> + +<P> +The other mutineer leaped up, but when he saw the white and dripping +figure of the unexpected visitor he dropped the automatic and fell back +against the mess table, shaking and with his hands before his eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"It's a ghost!" yelled Trent, no less frightened than the others, but +more voluble. "It's Sanders been an' boarded us!" +</P> + +<P> +The prisoners, crowded together on the deck of the forecastle, glared +at the apparition of the naked man in horror. After all, the mutineer +had the most courage. +</P> + +<P> +"Blast my eyes!" he suddenly shouted. "Sanders wasn't never so big as +him; 'nless he's growed since he was sent to the sharks." +</P> + +<P> +He sprang forward to peer into Drew's face. The latter's fist shot out +and landed resoundingly on the fellow's jaw. +</P> + +<P> +"Nor he don't hit like Sanders, by mighty!" yelled the fellow. "Nor +like no ghost. It's that blasted Drew—I knows 'im now." +</P> + +<P> +"And you're going to know more about me directly," said Drew, between +his teeth, following the fellow up for a second blow. +</P> + +<P> +But the mutineer had recovered himself, both in mind and body. He was +a big, beefy chap, weighing fifty pounds heavier than Drew, despite the +latter's bone and muscle. No man, no matter how well he can spar, can +afford to give away fifty pounds in a rough and tumble fight and expect +not to suffer for it. +</P> + +<P> +The fellow put up a good defense, and Drew suddenly became aware that +he himself was at a terrible disadvantage. He was a naked man against +one clothed and booted. He could defend himself from the flail-like +blows of his antagonist and could get in some of his own swift hooks +and punches. But when he was at close quarters the fellow played a +deadly trick on him. +</P> + +<P> +As Drew stepped in to deliver a short-armed jolt to the mutineer's +head, the latter took the punishment offered, but, with all his weight, +stamped on Drew's unprotected foot. +</P> + +<P> +The groan that this forced from the young man's lips brought a +diabolical grin to the mutineer's face. Even the satisfaction of +changing that grin to a bloody smear, as he did the very next moment by +giving a fearful blow to the mouth, did not relieve Drew's pain. +</P> + +<P> +He had to keep the fellow at arm's length, and that was not +advantageous to his own style of fighting. He could make a better +record in close-up work. But the mutineer wore heavy sea-boots, and +Drew already felt himself crippled. His own footwork was spoiled. He +limped as badly as had Tyke Grimshaw for a while. +</P> + +<P> +There was not room for a fair field in the crowded forecastle, at best. +The big sailor was very wary about stepping near the five prisoners, +but he forced Drew, time and again, against the body of the prone and +unconscious man on the deck. Three times his naked antagonist all but +sprawled over this obstruction. +</P> + +<P> +In fact, Drew was not getting much the best of it, although few of the +mutineer's blows landed. This fighting at arm's length never yet +brought a quick decision. And that was what Allen Drew was striving +for. For all he knew, Ditty might take it into his head to come off to +the schooner before bedtime. If he were caught in this plight, he +would be utterly undone. +</P> + +<P> +This thought harried the young man's very soul. All he had risked in +swimming out to the schooner would go for nothing. Not only would his +object in coming fail of consummation, but if Ditty caught him, the +besieged party up on the side of the whale's hump would lose its best +shot. +</P> + +<P> +Thus convinced of the necessity for haste, Drew suddenly rushed in. He +stifled a cry as the heavy boot crunched down on his foot once again. +This was no time for fair fighting. He seized his antagonist by the +collar of his shirt, jerked him forward, and at the same time planted a +right upper-cut on the point of the jaw. +</P> + +<P> +The fellow crashed to the deck—down and out without a murmur. Drew, +panting and limping, leaving a trail of blood wherever he stepped, +secured some lengths of spun yarn and tied both mutineers hand and foot +before he gave any attention to the murmuring prisoners. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, men," he said, turning to the five, "you know me. I'm Mr. Drew +and I'm no ghost." +</P> + +<P> +"You don't hit like no ghost," grinned Trent. "I'm mighty glad you +come, Mr. Drew. It would have been all up with us when old Bug-eye +come back if you hadn't." +</P> + +<P> +"You're fine fellows and all right to stand up for your captain," +replied Drew; "and you'll find that you've not only been on the right +side, but on the winning side. However, we've got to hurry. Where's a +knife?" +</P> + +<P> +"You'll find one in that fellow's belt," said Whitlock, pointing to one +of the mutineers. +</P> + +<P> +Drew secured it and cut the ropes that bound the prisoners. They fell +to rubbing their arms and legs to get the blood to circulating. +</P> + +<P> +"As soon as you can move about, get the dinghy ready," directed Drew. +"Stow in it all the provisions it will hold together with some casks of +water. And you'd better bring Wah Lee and the Jap along. I've got to +go to the captain's cabin, but I'll be back before you're ready. +Smart, now, for we don't know what minute Ditty may take a notion to +come aboard." +</P> + +<P> +Drew hurried aft and into his own room where he quickly got into some +clothing and bandaged his crushed foot. Then he pushed into the +captain's stateroom. There was no light there, but he dropped on his +hands and knees and felt under the berth. +</P> + +<P> +His hand touched the sharp corner of a box. He dragged it out and +hurried up the companionway where he could examine it by the light of a +lantern. He recognized at once the label of a well-known ammunition +company, and knew that these must be the cartridges of which the +captain had spoken. That box perhaps spelled salvation for the +treasure seekers. +</P> + +<P> +With his heart throbbing with elation and tightly clutching the +precious box, Drew hastened to the rail where the men were preparing to +launch the boat. Wah Lee and Namco stood by, blinking with true +Oriental stolidity. They betrayed neither eagerness nor reluctance, +nor was there the slightest trace of curiosity. For them it was all in +the day's work. +</P> + +<P> +The seamen heaped in all the provisions and water that the boat would +hold and still leave room for its occupants. Drew advised muffling the +oars, and with barely a sound the craft moved toward the shore. +Heavily laden at is was, the progress was slow. They kept cautiously +out of the zone of light cast by the mutineers' campfire, which now, +however, was dying out. Finally the craft grated on the sand. +</P> + +<P> +Under Drew's whispered directions, the men shouldered the stores, and +the party commenced the toilsome march inland to the little fort. +</P> + +<P> +It was fully midnight when they were challenged by the sentinels at the +edge of the wood. +</P> + +<P> +"Ahoy, there!" called Drew, hailing the fort. +</P> + +<P> +"Ahoy, yourself!" came back the answer. "Is that you, Allen?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. And some friends with me." +</P> + +<P> +"Friends?" There was surprise in the tone. "Who are they?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'll let you see for yourself." +</P> + +<P> +The besieged, whose sleep had been fitful, had all been aroused by the +colloquy, and they crowded to the front of the barricade. The moon had +now risen, and their faces could be clearly discerned. Ruth lovelier +every time he saw her, Allen thought, stood beside her father. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, it's Whitlock!" cried Captain Hamilton jubilantly. "And +Gunther—and Trent—and Ashley—and <I>Barnes</I>!" he went on in +ever-increasing wonderment and excitement, as he recognized the +weather-beaten faces. "And blest if here isn't that old heathen, Wah +Lee! And the Jap! Glory hallelujah!" +</P> + +<P> +There was a moment of wild exclamations and handshakings. +</P> + +<P> +"Bully lads!" cried the master of the <I>Bertha Hamilton</I>, with deep +emotion. "So you broke away and came to help your captain, did you? +Good lads." +</P> + +<P> +"We didn't exactly break away, Cap'n," said Gunther. "Though God knows +we wanted to bad enough. But it's Mr. Drew you want to thank for our +bein' here. He done it all." +</P> + +<P> +"I knowed it! I knowed it!" cried Tyke. "I felt it in my bones when I +first saw 'em! Glory be!" +</P> + +<P> +"He did it all?" inquired the captain. "What do you mean? Tell us, +Allen." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, there isn't much to tell," replied Drew. "I was lucky enough to +reach the schooner and I found the men there with their hands tied. I +cut the ropes and brought them along." +</P> + +<P> +"You reached the schooner!" the captain repeated. "How?" +</P> + +<P> +"Did you git the boat from under the eyes of them fellers?" asked Tyke. +</P> + +<P> +"No. I swam over." +</P> + +<P> +"Swam!" ejaculated the captain. +</P> + +<P> +Ruth gave a little shriek and put her hand to her heart. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh!" she cried. "The sharks!" +</P> + +<P> +"Haven't I always told you that boy was a wonder?" chuckled Tyke. +</P> + +<P> +But here Whitlock touched his cap. +</P> + +<P> +"Beggin' your pardon, Cap'n," he said apologetically, "but if Mr. Drew +was as slow with his fists as he is with tellin' his story, meanin' no +disrespec', me an' my mates wouldn't be here." +</P> + +<P> +"Go ahead, Whitlock," said the captain. "It is like pulling teeth to +get anything from Mr. Drew." +</P> + +<P> +Whitlock told the story, which lost nothing in the telling. +</P> + +<P> +There was a pause, tense with emotion, and all eyes were turned on +Drew. Tyke's hand clapped him on the shoulder, but the old man did not +trust himself to speak. Ruth's eyes were wet, but the tears could not +obscure a look that made the young man's heart thump wildly. +</P> + +<P> +"Allen," said the captain, taking his hand, "it was the pluckiest thing +I ever heard of. If we get out of this place alive, we shall owe it +all to you." +</P> + +<P> +"You make too much of it," disclaimed Drew, red and confused. "But +hadn't we better stow away these things the men have brought along? +Here's the box of cartridges I found under your berth." +</P> + +<P> +The captain fairly shouted. +</P> + +<P> +"That puts the cap sheaf on!" he exulted. "Now Ditty and his gang are +done for. They can't come too soon." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap33"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXXIII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE GHOST +</H4> + +<P> +The camp quieted down after a time. In one corner, Ruth had a shelter +of rugs which had been brought up from the boat, and she retired to +this after helping her father dress and rebandage Drew's foot. +</P> + +<P> +The captain, as so many skippers are, was a good amateur surgeon; and +as far as he could discern there were no bones broken. But the foot +was so very painful that the young man could not coax the drowsy god. +He tossed restlessly on the hard bed of lava rock, and, though his eyes +closed at times, they opened again as though fitted with springs. +</P> + +<P> +The exciting events of the day and the chances he had taken were +repeated over and over in his mind. For the first time in his life he +had aimed a deadly weapon at another human being. +</P> + +<P> +He knew that Bingo had fallen by his hand. But, oddly enough, that +fact did not sear his conscience. He had been accused of drowning +Lester Parmalee, and the thought of that accusation now made him shrink +and writhe. +</P> + +<P> +He was guiltless of Parmalee's awful end; still, he shuddered at the +thought that he might have been guilty. At one time he had felt such +rage and animosity, through jealousy, that he might have struck +Parmalee a fatal blow. +</P> + +<P> +Drew had considered the missing man his rival for Ruth's affection. +Fate had removed that rival from his path. Yet, in doing this, fate +had likewise raised a barrier to Drew's own happiness with Ruth. +</P> + +<P> +The man groaned aloud at this thought. Then, fearing that some of the +others would be disturbed, that Ruth might hear him, he arose and +hobbled to the barrier. +</P> + +<P> +He felt in a pocket of the coat he had put on while aboard the schooner +and found pipe and tobacco. He filled the pipe and fell to smoking, +hoping to soothe his jumping nerves, while he stared out across the +moonlit open. +</P> + +<P> +The tropical moonlight revealed every object to the edge of the jungle +as clearly as though it were broad day. It was a peaceful scene—so +peaceful that it was hard to imagine that daybreak might change it to a +place of carnage. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly he took his pipe from his lips and peered more closely at a +spot near the edge of the jungle. Something had moved there. +</P> + +<P> +It could not be one of the sentinels. Attack was not expected from the +west. Nor was it one of the small, night-roaming animals of the +forest. Drew was sure there were no beasts of prey on this island. It +was too far from the mainland and the larger islands. +</P> + +<P> +The something which he had seen moved farther out from the line of +verdure. It was a man. +</P> + +<P> +Although the distance was fully a cable's length, Drew's eyes were +keen. The moonlight for a full minute shone on the face of the figure +before it moved again. +</P> + +<P> +The sight of the pallid countenance, with the black hair above it, +smote Drew with an emotion akin to terror. He could not understand the +apparition—he could scarcely believe his eyes; yet that face was +Lester Parmalee's! +</P> + +<P> +In a moment more the man had disappeared. The figure seemed to have +melted into the black background of the jungle. +</P> + +<P> +Without a grain of superstition in his being, Allen Drew felt that he +was in the presence of the supernatural. He had not imagined the +figure. It was no figment of a waking dream. +</P> + +<P> +This was what Ruth had seen. This was what had so startled her on the +occasion of the treasure seekers' first visit to the whale's hump. She +thought she had imagined the appearance of Lester Parmalee. Drew knew +he had seen it! +</P> + +<P> +He was tempted to arouse Captain Hamilton. Yet he shrank from that. +He could not utter the missing man's name to Ruth's father, knowing, as +he did, that the captain was doubtful of his, Drew's, innocence in +connection with Parmalee's disappearance. +</P> + +<P> +He whispered to the man on guard that he was going outside, and quickly +surmounted the barrier. He had his automatic revolver; and, anyway, he +did not think any of the mutineers were in the neighborhood. +</P> + +<P> +Having marked well the spot where the ghostly figure had presented +itself to his startled vision, Drew hobbled directly to it, forgetting +in his excitement the painful foot. He did not halt to search for +foot-prints, but looked instead for an opening in the jungle, into +which the figure could have disappeared. +</P> + +<P> +It was there—one of those strange lava paths through the thick +vegetation. The moonlight scarcely illuminated it, for it was narrow; +but Drew entered boldly. This matter must be brought to a conclusion. +He felt that the mystery had to be solved without delay. +</P> + +<P> +There was light enough to show him the black wall of the jungle on +either side of the path. There were no openings. Tropical undergrowth +is not like that of a northern forest. Here the lianas and thorns +intermingled with strong brush, make an impervious hedge. One could +not penetrate it without the aid of a machete. +</P> + +<P> +Drew heard no sound as he went on. The man he followed was not +struggling through the jungle in an attempt to escape pursuit. Allen +hastened his footsteps, his hand on his revolver. Was that a figure +moving through the semi-dusk ahead? Should he call? His lips formed +the name of Parmalee, but no sound came from them. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly he came to a clearing, perhaps a dozen yards across. Here the +lava had formed a pool and cooled in this circular patch. The +moonlight now revealed all. +</P> + +<P> +A figure—the same he had seen upon the edge of the jungle—was +crossing this opening in the forest. The pursuer sprang forward. +</P> + +<P> +"Wait!" he gasped. "It's I—Drew! Wait!" +</P> + +<P> +The other whirled. He held only a club as a means of defense. He was +in rags. His black hair hung in dank locks about his pale brow. +</P> + +<P> +"Who are you?" he cried. "Keep off!" +</P> + +<P> +"Parmalee!" +</P> + +<P> +Allen Drew rushed in, making light of the club, and seized the other in +his arms. +</P> + +<P> +"My God, man! don't you know me? How came you here? Are you real?" he +chattered. +</P> + +<P> +"Is it you, Drew?" queried the other, brokenly. "Lord! don't take my +breath, old fellow." +</P> + +<P> +"They accuse me of taking your life!" ejaculated Drew, with hysterical +laughter. "Don't mind a little thing like being hugged. Gad, +Parmalee! how glad I am to see you!" +</P> + +<P> +"Accused you of taking my life!" the other exclaimed, amazed. +</P> + +<P> +"Ditty, the black-hearted hound, accused me of throwing you overboard. +Said he saw me do it. Captain Hamilton half believes it yet. Heavens, +Parmalee, but you're a sight to put heart into a man! +</P> + +<P> +"Only," Drew added, "you quite took the heart out of me just now when I +saw you standing there at the edge of the forest staring at the fort." +</P> + +<P> +"The fort. Yes. That's what puzzled me," Parmalee said. "I wasn't +sure which party was defending it. The sailors mutinied, didn't they? +You're fighting them?" +</P> + +<P> +"I should say we are, the——" +</P> + +<P> +He got no further. In their eagerness, the two men had been talking in +ordinary tones and had paid no attention to their surroundings. A +voice suddenly crackled through the other sounds of the night. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, we've got two of 'em. Hands up, or we'll blow your heads off!" +</P> + +<P> +It was Ditty with half a dozen of the mutineers at his back. They held +Drew and Parmalee under the muzzles of their automatics. +</P> + +<P> +It was useless to attempt to escape. Even Drew, reckless as he had +shown himself at times, would not take his life so lightly in his +hands. And, besides, he knew well that Ditty would be only too glad to +shoot him. +</P> + +<P> +His hands, as well as Parmalee's, went up promptly. One of the seamen, +laughing a little, came forward and searched them both, taking away +Drew's weapon. Parmalee had dropped his useless club. +</P> + +<P> +The young men, so suddenly made captives by the mutineers, stood with +their backs to the strong moonlight, their faces in the shadow. The +moon was now sinking behind a buttress of the volcano. As yet, neither +had been recognized by their captors. But now Ditty came forward, and +first of all thrust his face into that of Parmalee. +</P> + +<P> +"Who the devil are you?" he demanded. +</P> + +<P> +The young man lifted his head and stared into the mate's pale eye. +Ditty started back with a shriek. +</P> + +<P> +"What—what—— Who is it?" chattered the mate. His henchmen gazed at +him in amazement. Suddenly Ditty came forward again, and whirled +Parmalee around so that he faced the sinking moon. +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Parmalee!" he whispered. +</P> + +<P> +The latter smiled faintly. +</P> + +<P> +"It's Parmalee, all right," he said. "You didn't expect to see me +again, I imagine, Mr. Ditty." +</P> + +<P> +The sound of the man's voice seemed to reassure the mate. The other +mutineers chattered their surprise. Finally Ditty, licking his dry +lips, stammered: +</P> + +<P> +"I—I thought that you—you were——" +</P> + +<P> +"No thanks to you that I'm not drowned, Mr. Ditty, if that's what you +mean," said Parmalee bitterly. "You tried your best to murder me." +</P> + +<P> +"Not me!" declared Ditty, with a gesture of denial, turning his single +eye away from the other's accusing gaze. "It was that swab, Drew, +threw you overboard." +</P> + +<P> +"Liar," declared Parmalee evenly. "Drew lay on the deck unconscious +from his fall. I was stooping to help him. Though you crept up behind +me, I knew you when you seized me in your arms, you villain. And I +hope to see you punished for it." +</P> + +<P> +Ditty, with a curse, would have struck Parmalee, but Drew stepped +between them and received the blow intended for his comrade. +</P> + +<P> +"If you must hit a man, hit one of your own size," he said quietly. +</P> + +<P> +"Drew! Drew himself!" shouted the mate, recognizing the second +captive. "The very one we wanted! Hi, bullies! we've got the +whip-hand now. We've got the old man's right bower! An' him an' the +gal an' Tyke Grimshaw will pay us our price for the freedom of this +laddy-buck, to say nothin' of Parmalee. Bring 'em along!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap34"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXXIV +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE BATTLE IS ON +</H4> + +<P> +Helpless and almost hopeless, the two captives were led deeper into the +forest paths. Drew realized that they were skirting the barren +hillside and gaining a position nearer to the treasure seekers' fort. +</P> + +<P> +Finally they saw a fire in the now dark wood, and soon came to a +stockade. Several fallen trees formed this barrier, and in addition to +the protection they afforded, a number of branches had been so arranged +as to form an abattis. The work had been hastily done; but with +determined men behind it, it would offer a formidable obstacle to an +attacking party. +</P> + +<P> +At a fire in the further end of the enclosure the mutineers were +preparing their breakfast. Ditty went over and talked earnestly with +some of his men, but finally broke off abruptly and came back to the +prisoners, who had both been tied, wrist and ankle. +</P> + +<P> +"So I've got you where I've wanted you at last, have I?" he taunted +Drew. "Little moonlight walks don't always pan out as you expect." +</P> + +<P> +Drew disdained to reply. +</P> + +<P> +"You wont talk, eh?" the mate snarled, kicking him in the ribs with his +heavy boot. "Well, I know some cunnin' little ways of makin' people +talk when I want 'em to. But I'm goin' to wait a while before I try +'em on you. I want somebody here to see you cringe and hear you howl. +Bless her pretty eyes, how she'll enjoy it!" +</P> + +<P> +Then Drew's eyes flashed and he strained at his bonds. +</P> + +<P> +"You vile scoundrel!" he cried. "If my hands were free I'd choke the +life out of you!" +</P> + +<P> +"So you can talk, after all?" sneered the mate, his cold eye becoming +still more reptilian. +</P> + +<P> +"And more than talk—give me the chance," Drew flung back at him. +</P> + +<P> +"Smart boy," jeered the mate. "Smart enough to translate Spanish and +the pirate's old map, eh? An' now you're goin' to smart more when you +see me an' my mates walk off with the doubloons," and he laughed. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. When I do!" the young man said boldly. "You'll be a deal older +when that happens, Ditty." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll show you!" ejaculated the mate, and kicked him again. +</P> + +<P> +"The brute!" gasped Parmalee. +</P> + +<P> +"Parmalee," Drew said in a trembling voice, "I never wanted the use of +my hands so much as I do now. When I do get free, I shall be tempted +to kill that fellow." +</P> + +<P> +"He deserves it—the double-dyed villain!" groaned Parmalee. "And he +threw me overboard." +</P> + +<P> +"I knew he must have done so," said Drew. "But why did he do it? Not +just to put the crime on me? How were you saved and how did you get +here? Let's hear it all." +</P> + +<P> +"I had overheard the rascal plotting with some of the men," returned +Parmalee. "Ditty must have caught a glimpse of me. I suppose he felt +the time was not ripe for exposure; so he put me out of the way. He +must have been lurking near us that night when you fell. I was +stooping to help you when he grabbed me and flung me over the rail. I +didn't have time to cry out. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm a good swimmer—one of the few active accomplishments I +possess—and I swam as long as I could. Just as I lost strength, my +hand touched a cask lashed to a grating that must have fallen from some +vessel, or been thrown from it. That held me up till morning. By that +time I was about all in. But just then a sloop—a turtle catcher she +was—bore down on me, sighted me, and answered my frantic appeal, and +picked me up. It was a terrible experience." +</P> + +<P> +"It must have been," breathed the other. "Go on. How did you get here +to this very island where the doubloons were buried?" +</P> + +<P> +"Are they here?" asked Parmalee eagerly. "Do you know?" +</P> + +<P> +"Sh!" whispered Drew. "Don't say a word. We have 'em—pecks of them! +And jewels and other stuff besides—enough to make us all as rich as +Midas." +</P> + +<P> +"Humph!" commented Parmalee, with sudden gravity. "And he had asses' +ears. I'm afraid this mess we're all in shows that we did an asinine +thing in coming down here after the doubloons. What is wealth compared +to life itself?" +</P> + +<P> +"True," murmured Drew. "And what we've been through besides. But go +on. Tell the rest." +</P> + +<P> +"When those turtle catchers landed here I had no idea that this island +was the one marked on the pirate's map which Captain Hamilton showed +me," pursued Parmalee. "I was treated well enough. But I happened to +have no money in my pockets, and the men disbelieved my claim that I +would pay them if they would get me to a civilized port! So they made +me work. That was all right, but the work was too heavy for me; so I +went off into the interior of the island to see if there were not some +inhabitants. Then the first earthquake came. It frightened those +half-breeds and negroes blue. They set off in the sloop, leaving me +behind. +</P> + +<P> +"Day before yesterday I came up this way. I guessed that the +fortification must have been thrown up by one party from the <I>Bertha +Hamilton</I> and that this was the island we had been seeking; but +hesitated to come nearer, unarmed as I was, fearing that Ditty and his +gang of cut-throats were fortified here." +</P> + +<P> +"Ruth saw you," Drew volunteered. "She thought you were an apparition. +And so did I, this morning. But you must have had a frightful time of +it." +</P> + +<P> +"I've been keeping myself alive on fruit and shell-fish since the +turtle catchers deserted me. It's not a satisfying diet," Parmalee +said with a little laugh. +</P> + +<P> +During this low-voiced conversation between the two prisoners, the +mutineers had been eating breakfast. They offered the young men none; +but neither Drew nor Parmalee was thinking of his appetite. +</P> + +<P> +"Sit up close behind me, Parmalee," whispered Drew. "I believe I can +work on that cord that fastens your wrists. If I can get you free, you +can free me." +</P> + +<P> +"Good! We'll try it," said the other confidently. +</P> + +<P> +"That will do. Get close to me and let me pick away at this knot. +Ditty's too busy to come over here now. Besides, they're getting ready +to attack our people, I think. He believes we're safe here, and he'll +need all his men with him." +</P> + +<P> +"You're getting it, Drew, old fellow," whispered Parmalee eagerly. +</P> + +<P> +"Bet your life! One of the easiest knots a seaman ever tied. Now try +mine." +</P> + +<P> +Parmalee did as directed, and the knot that fastened Drew's wrists soon +yielded. But the latter still kept his hands behind him and assumed a +pose of deep dejection, his companion doing the same. +</P> + +<P> +As Drew had conjectured, Ditty had made up his mind to attack. He was +still unaware of what had taken place on the schooner during the night, +and was confident that he outnumbered the besieged by about two to one. +Time was pressing, for a ship might appear at any time. He resolved to +hazard all his chances on one throw. +</P> + +<P> +At the head of his band he left the stockade. Drew and Parmalee waited +till they felt sure that all had gone and that no guard left behind was +stealthily watching them through the trees. Drew then got out his +pocket knife and severed their ankle lashings. +</P> + +<P> +At that moment a volley of shots was heard in the direction of the +barricade. It was followed by another and still another. The fight +had begun. +</P> + +<P> +"Come on!" cried Drew excitedly, and he dashed out of the stockade +followed by Parmalee. +</P> + +<P> +Day was just breaking. Overhead the twittering of doves, the squeaking +of parrakeets, the countless sounds of bird and insect life, welcomed +the sun. +</P> + +<P> +But the fusilades of gun shots hushed the clamor of wild life, and sent +the birds and the animals shrieking away from the vicinity. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap35"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXXV +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE SURRENDER—CONCLUSION +</H4> + +<P> +Great was the consternation in the little fortress when it was +discovered that Drew was absent. And as the time dragged by and he did +not return, his friends knew that either he had been killed or was a +prisoner in the hands of the mutineers. And if the latter, they knew +only too well what mercy he had to expect from the mate. One murder +more or less was nothing to that scoundrel now. +</P> + +<P> +Grimshaw and Captain Hamilton were abnormally grave, and Ruth's eyes +were wild with anguish and terror. She no longer had any doubt of her +feeling for Allen. She knew that she loved him with all her heart. +</P> + +<P> +At the first sign of daylight, the master of the <I>Bertha Hamilton</I> put +his little band on a war footing. The ammunition was distributed, and +he rejoiced to see how abundant it was. That he had Drew to thank for. +Ruth prepared lint and bandages for the wounded from supplies which +Allen had also brought, then she stood ready to reload the extra rifles +and small arms, or, at need, to use a revolver herself. Her eyes were +clear and dauntless, and if her father looked at her with grave +anxiety, it was also with pride. +</P> + +<P> +Breakfast despatched, the men took the places assigned to them. The +captain had formed his plan of battle. +</P> + +<P> +"They'll rush us after a few volleys," he asserted. "Wait till they +get within thirty feet before you fire. Then let them have it, and aim +low. If they waver, and I think they will, jump over the breastworks +when I give the word, and we'll charge in turn. If we once get them on +the run, they'll never rally and we'll hunt them down like rats until +they surrender. We're going to win, my lads!" +</P> + +<P> +The answer was a cheer, and Captain Hamilton had no doubt as to the +spirit with which his little force was going into the fray. +</P> + +<P> +The outposts came hurrying in with the news that the mutineers were +coming. And not long after, this was confirmed by a spatter of bullets +against the rocks. +</P> + +<P> +The defenders made a spirited reply, and several volleys were +exchanged. But the mutineers were in the shelter of the wood. +</P> + +<P> +Ditty knew that the pistol bullets of his men would do little damage at +long range. +</P> + +<P> +There came an ominous pause. +</P> + +<P> +"They're getting ready now," said Captain Hamilton quietly. "Mind what +I told you, my lads, about shooting low. And when you see me jump over +the rocks, come close on my heels. I'll be up in front." +</P> + +<P> +It was a nerve-trying wait. Then, suddenly, the mutineers emerged from +the wood and rushed toward the fort, yelling as they came. +</P> + +<P> +They had covered nearly half the distance when Captain Hamilton gave +the word and the rifles spoke. Some of the bullets went high and wide, +but several of the attacking force staggered and went down. Their +comrades hesitated for a second, and the master of the <I>Bertha +Hamilton</I> seized his opportunity. +</P> + +<P> +"Follow me!" he yelled. "Come on!" +</P> + +<P> +He leaped over the rocky breastwork, and with a cheer the seamen +followed him. +</P> + +<P> +The check of the mutineers had been only temporary. Ditty raged and +stormed and swore at them and they regained some semblance of order. +By the time the captain and his force had fairly cleared the lava +barricade and had got into the full momentum of their charge, the +mutineers had reformed. In another instant the lines had met and were +locked in deadly combat. +</P> + +<P> +There was no longer any pretense of discipline. When their guns were +empty, every man singled out his antagonist and grappled with him. The +forces were now about evenly divided, and for a time the issue was +doubtful. +</P> + +<P> +Then came a diversion. +</P> + +<P> +Out from the wood leaped Drew, whirling a heavy club, his eyes blazing +with rage and the lust of battle. Here was the chandlery clerk, +metamorphosed indeed! He was followed by Parmalee, plucky, but for the +moment breathless from the struggle through the jungle. +</P> + +<P> +"Shoot him, you bullies! Pull him down!" yelled Ditty, seeing the +charging Drew. +</P> + +<P> +He aimed his own revolver at the young man and fired. Drew felt as +though his head had been seared by a red-hot iron. He staggered, but, +nevertheless, kept on, charging directly at the one-eyed mate. +</P> + +<P> +They met. As Drew struck at his enemy with the club, the latter flung +his emptied revolver full in the face of the younger man. Drew ducked, +but could not avoid it. But the bodies of the two came together, and +they clenched. +</P> + +<P> +Back and forth they strained, each struggling for a wrestler's hold in +order to enable him to throw the other. For half a minute or more +neither was successful. +</P> + +<P> +But the mate was the better man in the rough-and-tumble fight. He +suddenly lifted Drew from the ground and flung him to the ground. But +Ditty fell too, landing heavily on his victim. +</P> + +<P> +The shock almost deprived Drew of breath. The wound in his head had +confused him. His grasp on Ditty relaxed, and with a yell of triumph +the latter released himself, leaped to his feet, seizing the club as he +arose. +</P> + +<P> +"Now I've got you!" he yelled, and swung the club aloft. +</P> + +<P> +At that moment Captain Hamilton shot Ditty through the breast. With a +snarl, the mate, losing the club, hurled himself toward the captain and +grappled with him. They went down, the latter's head striking the +ground so that he was dazed for a moment. +</P> + +<P> +The mutineer jerked the knife from his belt and raised it to strike; +but Tyke Grimshaw, who had been fighting furiously, kicked the knife +from his hand and the captain, recovering, threw his enemy from him and +arose. +</P> + +<P> +Ditty did not rise. The remaining mutineers wavered when their leader +fell, then turned to flee. +</P> + +<P> +"After them, my lads!" cried Captain Hamilton. "We've got 'em on the +run!" +</P> + +<P> +But the battle ended abruptly. +</P> + +<P> +In the excitement of the fight, none had noticed the black cloud +shooting up from the crater so close at hand. There was a stupendous +roar, and the earth shook again as though twisted between the fingers +of a Titan. The crashing of trees in the forest, and the bursting of +hot lava spewed out of the volcano, grew into a cannonade. +</P> + +<P> +Prone on the ground, terrified and bewildered before this awful seismic +phenomenon, neither belligerent party thought of fighting. Not until +the uproar and quaking had subsided some minutes later, could they +reconcile themselves to the conviction that by a miracle only were they +alive. +</P> + +<P> +The mutineers crept away into the forest unmolested. Gradually the +others regained self-control. Tyke nursed the lame foot which had done +such timely service in thwarting Ditty, while the captain tallied up +his losses. Two of the faithful seamen were dead, Ashley and Trent, +and several were rather badly wounded, while none had emerged from the +struggle without some injury. Five of the mutineers had been killed, +and three more were severely though not mortally wounded. +</P> + +<P> +Drew had at first thought that the wound inflicted by Ditty's bullet +was slight. But suddenly a deadly weakness came over him. He seemed +to be falling into a stupor from which he tried desperately to save +himself. Ruth was bandaging his wound when she noticed his growing +faintness. She cried out in alarm. +</P> + +<P> +"Allen, dear, Allen!" she begged. "Rouse up! Don't faint!" +</P> + +<P> +"I—I'm going, Ruth," he answered. +</P> + +<P> +"No, no;" she cried desperately. "I won't let you!" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm going," he muttered, clinging to her. +</P> + +<P> +"You mustn't!" she exclaimed wildly. "Don't go, Allen! Not until I +tell you——" +</P> + +<P> +But the next moment Drew slipped into unconsciousness. +</P> + +<P> +When he awoke to find himself between snowy sheets in his old berth +with Ruth's cool hand upon his forehead and her tender eyes looking +into his, he had many things to learn. She pieced out for him the +happenings after that stark fight on the island. She told how Parmalee +had picked up a revolver from the field and played his part in the +fight; how, after the burial of the dead and aid to the wounded, the +treasure chest had been transferred to the schooner; how the remnant of +the mutineers had evaded capture and had fled to the remote parts of +the island; and, greatest of all, how that last earthquake shock had +tipped the reef again and made a new opening in the barrier that had +hemmed in the schooner. She told him, too, that in an hour the <I>Bertha +Hamilton</I> would be ploughing the waves of the Caribbean. +</P> + +<P> +To all these things he listened with unutterable content and peace +beyond all telling. He was alive! His name was stainless! His future +was secure! And Ruth was beside him! It was heaven just to lie there, +drinking in the beauty of her eyes and breathing the fragrance of her +hair when she bent over to adjust his pillow. +</P> + +<P> +"And we shall soon have bidden good-bye to Earthquake Island!" Ruth +exclaimed gaily. +</P> + +<P> +"Is that what you've dubbed it?" he asked, smiling. "It couldn't be +better christened. Earthquakes seem to be its chief stock in trade." +</P> + +<P> +"Except doubloons," she reminded him. "Don't be ungrateful." +</P> + +<P> +Tyke came in and sat patting Drew's hand, too deeply moved at first to +trust himself to speak. The captain, too, was a visitor, confidently +attributing the salvation of the party to Drew's pluck and daring. And +Parmalee—a vastly stronger and healthier Parmalee than before he had +been compelled to "rough it"—showed himself exceedingly friendly. +</P> + +<P> +"It has been a great voyage for me," he said. "I'm open to +congratulations, Drew. My health is so much improved, that I shall be +married as soon as we reach New York." +</P> + +<P> +Drew's heart suddenly turned to ice. He knew he ought to say +something, but for the life of him he could not speak. He looked +unseeingly at Parmalee, his face the color of ashes. +</P> + +<P> +"Her name is Edith," continued Parmalee, with the egotism of a lover. +"Beautiful name, don't you think? We've been engaged for more than a +year, but I didn't want to marry until I was stronger." +</P> + +<P> +The blood flowed into Drew's face once more. +</P> + +<P> +"Beautiful?" he cried. "I should say it was! And I bet she's as +beautiful as her name. Parmalee, I congratulate you. With all my +heart I congratulate you. You're a lucky dog. Shake hands." +</P> + +<P> +Parmalee's eyes twinkled. +</P> + +<P> +"Upon my word! you're a fellow of sudden and wonderful enthusiasms," he +exclaimed. "But I can guess why. I'm not blind. Go in and win, old +fellow." +</P> + +<P> +Ruth came back just then, gay and radiant. +</P> + +<P> +"Seems to me there's a lot of noise here for a sick man's room," she +remarked, looking smilingly from one to the other. "I'll have to drive +you out, Mr. Parmalee, if you get my patient too greatly excited," she +went on, shaking her finger at him with mock severity. +</P> + +<P> +"I imagine I haven't done him any harm," laughed Parmalee slyly. +</P> + +<P> +"Harm!" cried Drew. "You've given me a new lease on life. I'll get +well now in no time. I've just got to get well!" +</P> + +<P> +"I was telling him about Edith," explained Parmalee. +</P> + +<P> +"Edith!" exclaimed Ruth. "Isn't she just the dearest girl? So you've +taken Allen into the secret too? Go and get her picture and let him +see what a darling she is." +</P> + +<P> +Parmalee, nothing loth, rose and left the room. +</P> + +<P> +"You'll simply fall in love with her when you see her picture," +prophesied Ruth, as she adjusted the pillow. +</P> + +<P> +"No, I won't," declared Drew with emphasis. +</P> + +<P> +"She's one of the dearest friends I have," Ruth continued, teasingly +keeping her hand just out of Allen's reach. "Of course, I knew all +about their engagement, and Mr. Parmalee's talked to me a lot about her +during this voyage. The poor fellow was so lonely without her that I +suppose he had to have some one to confide in." +</P> + +<P> +A great light broke upon Drew's mind. +</P> + +<P> +"So that's what you two used to talk about when I was so——" he +hesitated, seeking for a word. +</P> + +<P> +"So what?" she asked demurely, with a glint of the old mischief in her +eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, you know," he answered, hardly knowing how to proceed. He was +doing his best to catch her eye but could not. +</P> + +<P> +He raised up and caught her by the forearm, but he was too weak to hold +her and she drew herself gently away. +</P> + +<P> +"I told Mr. Parmalee that he must not excite you, and now I'm acting +just as badly," she said. "You must rest or you'll never get well." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I'm bound to get well now!" he declared. At that moment Tyke +Grimshaw's face appeared at the doorway. +</P> + +<P> +"How are you making it, Allen?" he questioned. +</P> + +<P> +"First rate," was the answer. The young man was rather put out over +the interruption, yet he could not help but remember what Grimshaw had +done for him and he gave the old man a warm look of gratitude. +</P> + +<P> +"We're going to have some rough sailing for a little while," announced +Grimshaw. "We're going to sail through that there gap in the reef—if +it can be done." +</P> + +<P> +From a distance they could hear the voice of Mr. Rogers giving orders. +And the stamp of the seamen's feet announced that the <I>Bertha Hamilton</I> +was getting under way. Short-handed as she was, never did sailors +swing into the ancient chantey in better tune and with more +cheerfulness. +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"Oh, haul the bowline, Katy is my darling,<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">Oh, haul the bowline, the bowline <I>haul</I>!</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"Oh, haul the bowline, London girls are towing,<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">Oh, haul the bowline, the bowline <I>haul</I>!</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"Oh, haul the bowline, the packet is a-rolling,<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">Oh, haul the bowline, the bowline <I>haul</I>!"</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +With anchor apeak, topsails jerked aloft and flattened, the schooner +took the wind. Although the earthquake had subsided, the waters both +inside the reef and outside were much troubled. Where the two jaws of +the rocky barrier still remained, the waves pounded and foamed +furiously. +</P> + +<P> +Would they be able to get out safely? That was the question in the +mind of every man who trod the deck of the schooner. Soundings had +been made, and they had learned that the lane to safety was both narrow +and winding. +</P> + +<P> +"If we hit, it will be all up with us," said one of the tars to his +mates. +</P> + +<P> +"We got ter take a chance," was the answer. "Keelhaul me, if I want to +stay at this island any longer!" +</P> + +<P> +Closer and closer to the jaws of the reef sped the <I>Bertha Hamilton</I>. +Then up and down like a cork danced the schooner. For one brief +instant as she plunged through the waves and the foam, scattering the +flying spray in all directions, it looked as if nature might force her +upon the rocks, there to be battered into a shapeless hulk. But then, +as if by a miracle, she righted herself, answered her helm, and shot +through the miraculously opened lane into the blue waters of the ocean +beyond. +</P> + +<P> +They were homeward bound. +</P> + +<P> +A week later as the schooner was running up the Florida coast, Drew, +who had gained strength magically after his enlightening interview with +Parmalee, was standing with Ruth near the rail. Dusk was coming on, +and a crescent moon was already showing its horns in the sky, still +touched by the sun's aftermath. +</P> + +<P> +In the hush of the twilight they had fallen silent. Ruth's hand was +resting on the rail. Allen reached over gently and took it in his own. +It was quivering, but she did not withdraw it. +</P> + +<P> +"Ruth, look at me," he said, somewhat huskily. She lifted her eyes to +his, but dropped them instantly. +</P> + +<P> +"Ruth," he continued, "when I was hurt and was losing consciousness on +the island, do you remember what you said to me?" She was silent. +"Tell me, Ruth," he urged. "Do you?" +</P> + +<P> +"How can I?" she said evasively. "I—I said so many things. I was so +excited——" +</P> + +<P> +"I remember," he said softly. "I will never forget. You said: 'Don't +go, Allen, not until I tell you——' What was it you wished to tell +me, Ruth?" +</P> + +<P> +"Don't make me say it, Allen," she murmured, her gaze downcast. +</P> + +<P> +"Was it this?" he asked; and now his voice was shaking. "Was it: Don't +go, Allen, not until I tell you that I love you? Was that it, Ruth?" +</P> + +<P> +She looked at him then, and her eyes were wonderful. +</P> + +<P> +With a stifled cry he opened his arms, and she crept into them in shy +and sweet surrender. +</P> + +<P> +His lips met hers. +</P> + +<P> +He had gained the Doubloons—and the Girl. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="finis"> +THE END +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Doubloons--and the Girl, by John Maxwell Forbes + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DOUBLOONS--AND THE GIRL *** + +***** This file should be named 31528-h.htm or 31528-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/5/2/31528/ + +Produced by Al Haines + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Doubloons--and the Girl + +Author: John Maxwell Forbes + +Release Date: March 6, 2010 [EBook #31528] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DOUBLOONS--AND THE GIRL *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + + + + +DOUBLOONS--AND THE GIRL + + + +BY + +JOHN MAXWELL FORBES + + + + +INTERNATIONAL FICTION LIBRARY + +CLEVELAND, O. ------ NEW YORK, N. Y. + +MADE IN U. S. A. + + + + +Copyright, 1917, by + +SULLY AND KLEINTEICH + + +All rights reserved + + + +PRESS OF + +THE COMMERCIAL BOOKBINDING CO. + +CLEVELAND + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + + I. ON THE BLIND SIDE OF CHANCE + II. TYKE GRIMSHAW AND HIS AFFAIRS + III. HARD HIT + IV. THE SHADOW OF ROMANCE + V. A SETBACK + VI. THE BROKEN CHEST + VII. A MYSTERIOUS DOCUMENT + VIII. THE SCOURGES OF THE SEA + IX. GETTING DOWN TO "BRASS TACKS" + X. CAPRICIOUS FORTUNE + XI. A DREAM REALIZED + XII. A SATISFACTORY OUTLOOK + XIII. STORM SIGNALS + XIV. BEGINNING THE VOYAGE + XV. THE GREEN-EYED MONSTER + XVI. GATHERING CLOUDS + XVII. THE STORM BREAKS + XVIII. A SEA COURT + XIX. FOREBODINGS + XX. THE EARTH TREMBLES + XXI. "IF I WAS SUPERSTITIOUS----" + XXII. BURIED ALIVE + XXIII. A DESPERATE SITUATION + XXIV. THE ALARM + XXV. THE LAKE OF FIRE + XXVI. HOPE DEFERRED + XXVII. THE GIANT AWAKES + XXVIII. BY FAVOR OF THE EARTHQUAKE + XXIX. MUTINY + XXX. THE FLAG OF TRUCE + XXXI. A DARING VENTURE + XXXII. THE BATTLE IN THE FORECASTLE + XXXIII. THE GHOST + XXXIV. THE BATTLE IS ON + XXXV. THE SURRENDER--CONCLUSION + + + + +DOUBLOONS--AND THE GIRL + + +CHAPTER I + +ON THE BLIND SIDE OF CHANCE + +Allen Drew, glancing carelessly about as he started for the shore-end +of the pier, suddenly saw the girl coming in his direction. From that +moment--dating from the shock of that first glimpse of her--the current +of his life was changed. + +Women were rare enough down here on the East River docks; one of the +type of this gloriously beautiful girl seemed an impossibility--an +hallucination. Curiosity was not even blended with his second glance +at her. An emotion never before conceived in his heart and brain +gripped him. + +Somehow she fitted the day and fitted, too, his mood. The very spirit +of April seemed incarnated in her, so springy her step, so lissom the +swaying of her young body, so warm and pink the color in her cheeks. +Her dress, of some light gray material, had a dash of color lent to it +by the bunch of violets at her waist. Her figure was slender and +slightly above the middle height. A distracting dimple dented the +velvet of her right cheek, and above her small mouth and perfectly +formed nose a pair of hazel eyes looked frankly out upon the world. +Her oval face was surmounted by a dainty toque, from under which a +vagrant tendril of hair had escaped. This blew about her ears, +glistening like gold in the sunshine. + +Drew saw beautiful women every day of his life. He could not fail to +do so in a city where they abound. But aside from the day and his +mood, there was much about this slip of a girl that stirred him +mightily and set his pulse to galloping. + +He had lunched heartily, if not sumptuously, at one of the queer little +restaurants that seem to have struck their roots into Fulton Market and +endured for generations. There were no shaded candles on the table, +and finger bowls would have evoked a puzzled stare or a frown from most +patrons of the place. But the food was abundant and well cooked, and +at twenty-two, with a keen appetite and the digestion of an ostrich, +one asks for little more. + +Drew paid his check and stepped out into the crooked side street that +led to the East River, only a block distant. From force of habit, his +steps turned in the direction of the chandlery shop where he was +employed. On reaching South Street, he remembered a commission that +had been given him to execute; so, turning to the right, he walked +briskly toward the Battery. + +It was a glorious day in early April. A sudden shower, vanishing +almost as quickly as it had come, had washed the rough pavement of the +old street to a semblance of cleanliness. In a very real sense it had +also washed the air until it shimmered with the translucence of a +pearl. A soft wind blew up from the south and the streets were +drenched with sunshine. + +It was a day that might have prompted a hermit to leave his cave, a +philosopher to renounce his books, a miser to give a penny to a beggar. +It spoke of youth and love and growing things, of nest building in the +trees, of water rippling over stones, of buds bursting into bloom, of +grass blades pushing through the soil. + +Yet, despite this--or perhaps because of it--Allen Drew was conscious +of a vague restlessness. A feeling of discontent haunted him and +robbed the day of beauty. Something was lacking, and he had a sense of +incompleteness that was quite at variance with his usual complacent +outlook on life. He was not given to minute self-analysis, but as this +feeling persisted and bothered him, he began harking back to the events +of the morning in the hope of finding an explanation. Was there +anything he had done that was wrong or anything that he had neglected +to do that came in his province? He cudgeled his brains, but thought +of nothing that should give him uneasiness. + +He had corrected that imperfect invoice and sent it on to White & +Tenny. He had reminded his employer that their stock of compasses was +low and should be replenished. He had directed young Winters to answer +that cablegram from Kingston. Try as he would, he could think of no +omission. The books were strictly up to date and everything was moving +in the usual routine. + +Ah, there he had it! Routine! That was the key to the enigma. It was +just that unvarying smooth routine, that endless grinding away at the +same familiar things that to-day, when everything about him spoke of +change and growth and freedom, was making him restless and perturbed. +He was just a cog in the ever-turning wheel. He was a slave to his +desk, and not the less a slave because his chains happened to be +invisible. + +"It won't do," he murmured to himself. "I've got to have a +change--some excitement--something!" + +With the springtime fermenting in his blood and stirring him to +rebellion, he went on, turning out now and then to avoid the trucks +that, with a cheerful disregard for police regulations, backed up on +the sidewalks to receive their loads from the warehouse doors, until he +reached Wall Street. Just beyond was Jones Lane, whose sylvan name +seemed strangely out of place in the whirl and hubbub of that crowded +district. Here he turned, and, picking his way across the muddy +street, went out on the uncovered pier that stretched for five hundred +feet into the river. + +The pier was buzzing with activity. Bales and boxes and barrels by the +thousands were scattered about in what seemed to be the wildest +confusion. Gangs of sweating stevedores trundled their heavy burdens +over the gangplanks of the vessels that lay on either side, and great +cranes and derricks, their giant claws seizing tons of merchandise at a +time, swung creakingly overhead to disgorge their loads into yawning +hatchways. + +Drew threaded his way through the tangled maze until he reached the end +of the pier where the bark _Normandy_ was lying. + +"Captain Peters around anywhere?" he asked of the second officer, who +was superintending the work of the seamen, and had just relieved +himself of some remarks that would have made a truck driver envious. + +"Below in his cabin, sir," was the answer, and Drew went aboard, walked +aft, and swung himself down the narrow stairs that led to the captain's +quarters. + +He found the skipper sitting at his table, looking over a sheaf of +bills of lading. + +"Good afternoon, Captain Peters," was Drew's greeting. + +"Howdy," responded the captain. "Jest sit down an' make yerself +comf'table. I'll be through with these papers in jest a minute or two." + +His work concluded, the captain shoved the bills aside with a sigh of +relief and looked up. + +"I s'pose ye come to see me about that windlass?" he remarked. "But +first," he added, as Drew was about to reply, "won't ye have somethin' +to wet yer whistle?" + +He reached for a decanter and a couple of glasses. Drew smilingly +declined, and the captain, nothing daunted, poured out enough for two +and drank it in a single Gargantuan swallow. + +"I just came to say," explained Drew, as the captain set down the +glass, smacking his lips complacently, "that we'll have that windlass +over to you by to-morrow, or the next day at the latest. The factory +held us up." + +"That's all right," replied the captain good-naturedly. "I haven't +been worryin' about it. I've been dealin' with Tyke Grimshaw goin' on +twenty year an 'he ain't never put me in a hole yet. I knew it would +come along in plenty of time fur sailin'." + +"By the way, when do you sail, Captain?" asked Drew. + +"In a week, more or less. It all depends on how soon we get our cargo +stowed." + +"What are you carrying?" + +"Mostly machinery an' cotton prints fur China and Japan." + +"And what will you bring back?" + +"Ain't sure about that yet. Owners' orders will be waitin' fur me when +we get to Hong Kong. Probably load up with tea and such truck. Maybe +get some copra at some of the islands." + +China, Japan, the South Seas! Lands of mystery, adventure and romance! +Lands of eternal summer! Azure seas studded with islands like +emeralds! Velvet nights spangled with flaming stars! + +The wanderlust seized on Allen Drew more fiercely than before, and his +heart sickened with longing. + +"It must be wonderful to see all those places," he ventured. + +"Huh?" said the captain, looking at him blankly. + +"I mean," explained the landsman, half ashamed of his enthusiasm, "that +everything is so different--so old--so mysterious--so beautiful----. +You know what I mean," he ended lamely. + +The captain sniffed. + +"Pooty enough, I s'pose," he grunted. "But I never pay no 'tention to +that. What with layin' my course an' loadin' my cargo an' followin' +owners orders, my mind's what ye might call pooty well took up." + +The irony of it all! The captain who did not care a copper for romance +was going into the very thick of it, while he, Allen Drew, who panted +for it, was doomed to forego it forever. Of what use to have the soul +of a Viking, if your job is that of a chandler's clerk? + +The captain applied himself to the decanter again and Drew roused from +his momentary reverie. + +"Well," he observed, as he took his hat from the table on which he had +thrown it, "I'll keep a sharp eye out for that windlass and see that it +is shipped to you the minute it reaches us from the factory." + +"All right," responded the captain, rising to his feet. "I'll be +lookin' for it. I wouldn't dare risk the old one fur another v'yage." + +They shook hands, and Drew climbed the stairs, crossed the deck and +went out on to the wharf. + +The river was a scene almost as busy as that which lay behind him in +the crowded streets of the metropolis. Snorting tugs were darting to +and fro, lines of barges were being convoyed toward the Sound, +ferryboats were leaving and entering their slips, tramp steamers were +poking their way up from Quarantine, and a huge ocean liner was moving +majestically toward the Narrows and the open sea beyond. + +Drew took off his hat and let the soft breeze cool his brow. Things +seemed hopelessly out of gear. He felt like a trapped animal. So he +imagined a squirrel might feel, turning the wheel endlessly in the +narrow limits of its cage. Or, to make the image human, his thoughts +wandered to the shorn and blinded Samson grinding his tale of corn in +the Philistine town. + +He found himself envying a man who leaned against a neighboring spile. +He was a tall, spare fellow, dressed a little better than the common +run of sailors, but unmistakably a sea-faring man. What Drew +especially noted was that the stranger had only one eye--and that set +in a rather forbidding countenance. Ordinarily he might have pitied +him, but in his present mood Drew envied him. The stranger's one +remaining eye had, after all, seen more of the world than his own two +good optics would likely ever see. + +From these fruitless and fantastic musings he roused himself with an +effort. A glance at his watch startled him. This would never do. As +long as he took Tyke Grimshaw's money he must do Tyke Grimshaw's work. + +"Back to the treadmill," he said to himself, grimly; and it was then, +as he started for the head of the pier, that he first saw the girl. + +He slackened his pace instantly, so as to have her the longer in sight, +mentally blessing the bales and boxes that made her progress slow. Not +for the world would he have offended her by staring; but he stole +covert glances at her from time to time; and with each swift glance the +impression she had made upon him grew in strength. + +She came on, seemingly unconscious of his presence, until they were +almost opposite each other. One hand held her dress from contact with +the litter of the dock; in the other she carried what appeared to be a +packet of letters. The path she chose led her to the very edge of the +dock. + +Drew would have passed the next instant had the girl not stopped +suddenly, a startled expression becoming visible on her face. The +young man turned swiftly. The one-eyed seaman, whose appearance he had +previously marked, stood almost at his elbow and confronted the girl. + +She stepped back to avoid the seaman, and her foot caught in a coil of +rope. For a moment she swayed on the verge of the dock--then Drew's +hand shot out, and he caught her arm, steadying her. But the packet +she carried flew from her hand and disappeared beyond the stringpiece +of the pier. + +The girl uttered a little cry of distress. Drew shot a belligerent +glance at the one-eyed man. + +"What do you want?" he demanded, with truculence. "Isn't the dock +broad enough for you to pass without annoying the lady? Get along with +you!" + +The one-eyed man uttered an oath, but moved away, though slowly. Drew +turned to the girl again, hat in hand, a smile chasing the frown from +his face. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +TYKE GRIMSHAW AND HIS AFFAIRS + +"I beg your pardon," Drew said, bowing low, "but can I be of any +further assistance?" + +The girl looked up at him a little doubtfully, but what she saw in his +frank brown eyes must have reassured her, for she spoke without +hesitation. + +"You are very kind," she answered, "but I fear it is too late. I had +some letters in my hand, and when I slipped they went into the water. +I'm afraid you can't get them." + +Mentally resolving to dive for them if such a procedure became +necessary, Drew stepped upon the stringpiece of the pier beside her and +looked down. + +She gave a joyous exclamation as she saw the package lying in the +bottom of a small boat that floated at the stern of a steamer moored to +the pier. + +"Oh, there they are!" she cried delightedly. "How lucky!" Then her +face changed. "But after all it is going to be hard to get them," she +added. "The pier is high and there don't seem to be any cleats here to +climb down by." + +"Easiest thing in the world," returned Drew confidently. "I'll go +aboard the steamer, haul the boat up to the stern, and drop into it." + +"But the stern is so very high," she said, measuring it with her eye. + +"That doesn't matter," he replied. "If you'll just wait here, I'll go +aboard and be back with the letters before you know it." He glanced +around swiftly. "I don't think that fellow will trouble you again." + +"I am not at all afraid of that man. He only startled me for the +moment. But I hate to put you to so much trouble," she added, looking +at him shyly. + +"It will be a pleasure," protested Drew, returning her look with +another from which he tried to exclude any undue warmth. + +It is to be feared that he was not altogether successful, judging from +the faint flush that rose in her cheek as she dropped her gaze before +his. + +His mind awhirl, the young man hurried up to the gangway of the steamer +where he found one of the officers. He briefly explained that he +wanted to secure a package that a young lady had dropped into the boat +lying astern, and the officer, with an appreciative grin, readily +granted permission to him to go aboard. + +Drew hurried to the stern, which, as the steamer had discharged her +cargo, rose fully twenty feet from the water. He hauled in the boat +until it lay directly beneath. Then he gathered up the slack of the +painter and wound it about a cleat until it was taut. This done, he +dropped over the rail and let himself down by the rope until his feet +touched the thwart of the tender. + +He worked his way aft carefully, and picking up the package placed it +in his breast pocket. Then he caught hold of the rope and climbed up, +hand over hand. + +It was unaccustomed work for a landsman, but Drew was supple and +athletic and he mounted rapidly. Not for a fortune would he have +faltered with those hazel eyes fixed upon him. With the girl watching +him, he felt as though he could have climbed to the top of the +Woolworth Building. + +It was his misfortune that he could not see the look of admiration in +her eyes as they followed his movements--a look, however, which by the +exercise of maidenly repression she had changed to one of mere +gratitude when at last, breathing a little quickly, he approached her +with the packet he had recovered in his hand. + +"Oh!" she exclaimed, taking it eagerly and clasping it tightly, "how +very good of you to take all that trouble! I don't know how to thank +you enough." + +"It was no trouble at all," Drew responded. "I count myself lucky to +have happened along just when you needed me." + +His speech won him a radiant smile, and he promptly decided that the +dimple in her cheek was not merely distracting. It was divine! + +There was a moment of embarrassed silence. The young man was wild to +pursue the conversation. But he was too much of a gentleman to presume +on the service he had rendered, and he knew that he should lift his hat +and depart. + +One feeble resource was left by which he might reconcile duty with +desire. + +"It's very hard getting about on this crowded pier," he ventured, "and +you see there are some rough characters around. You might perhaps like +to have me see you safely to the street when you are ready to go?" + +She hesitated for a moment, her own inclination evidently battling with +convention. But convention won. + +"I think not," she said, flashing him a smile that softened her refusal +and at the same time completed his undoing. "You see it is broad +daylight and I am perfectly safe. Thank you for the offer though, and +thank you again for what you have done for me." + +It was dismissal, none the less final because it was gracious, and Drew +yielded to the inevitable. + +He glanced back once or twice, assuring himself that it was his plain +duty to keep her in sight in order to see that nothing happened to her. +He found himself wishing that she would drop the letters overboard +again--that the one-eyed man would reappear--that something would +occur, however slight, to call him to her side once more. It was with +a thrill of exultation that he saw her approach the gangplank of the +_Normandy_. + +Then, for a moment, at least, he was sure he was going to have his +wish. He spied the one-eyed man coming into view from behind a heap of +freight and approach the boarding-plank. He spoke to the girl and she +halted. + +Drew was on the point of darting back to the girl's rescue. But the +seaman's attitude was respectful, and it seemed that what he said was +not offensive. At least, the girl listened attentively, nodded when +the man had finished speaking, and as the latter fell back she tripped +lightly aboard the _Normandy_, and so disappeared. + +Drew's curiosity was so great that he might have lingered until the +girl came ashore again, but the one-eyed man was coming up the dock and +the young fellow was cooler now and felt that it would not be the part +of wisdom to have another altercation with the rough looking stranger. +Perhaps, after all, the one-eyed man had merely spoken to the girl to +ask pardon for having previously startled her. + +"Well," Drew said to himself, "Peters knows her and can tell me all +about her. Anyhow I know her name and I'll find out where she lives if +I have to search New York from end to end." + +For on the envelope that had lain uppermost when he had picked up the +package from the grating of the tender, he had seen the name, "Ruth +Adams." The address had escaped him in that momentary glance, and +although he could have easily repaired the omission while he was +passing back along the steamer's deck, his instincts revolted at +anything that looked like prying. + +But there was nothing in his code that forbade his using every +legitimate means of searching her out and securing an introduction in +the way dictated by the approved forms, and he promised himself that +the episode should not end here. + +"Hope springs eternal in the human breast," especially when that breast +is a youthful one, and Allen Drew's thoughts spun a dozen rainbow +visions as he made his way back to the shop whose insistent call he had +for the last hour put aside. He walked automatically and only that +sixth sense peculiar to city dwellers prevented his being run down more +than once. But the objurgations of startled drivers as they brought up +their vehicles with a jerk bothered him not a whit. His physical +presence was on South Street but his real self was on the crowded pier +where he had left Ruth Adams. + +Still moving on mechanically, he entered the door of the chandlery +shop, over which a signboard, dingy with age, announced that "T. +Grimshaw" was the proprietor. He nodded absently in response to the +salutations of Sam, the negro porter, and Winters, the junior clerk, +and sat down at his desk. + +The building that housed the chandlery shop was a very old one, dating +back to a time previous to the Revolution. When it was erected the +Boston "Tea Party" was still in the future. If its old walls could +have spoken they might have told of the time when almost all New York +was housed below Chambers Street; when the "Bouwerie," free from its +later malodorous associations, was a winding country lane where lads +and lasses carried on their courtships in the long summer evenings; +when Cherry Hill, now notorious for its fights and factions, was the +abode of the city's wealth and fashion; when Collect Pond, on whose +site the Tombs now stands, was the skating center where New York's +belles and beaux disported themselves; when merry parties picnicked in +the woods and sylvan glades of Fourteenth Street. + +Those same walls, looking across the East River, had seen the prison +ship _Jersey_, in whose foul and festering holds had died so many +patriots. And they had shaken to the salvos of artillery that greeted +Washington, when, at the end of the Revolutionary War, he had landed at +the Battery and had gone in pomp to Fraunce's Tavern for a farewell +dinner to his officers. + +In its day it had been a stout and notable building, and even now it +might be good for another hundred years. But the inexorable march of +progress and the worth of the land on which it stood had sealed its +doom. Grimshaw had occupied it for twenty years, but when he sought to +renew his lease he had been told that no renewal would be granted. He +could still occupy the building and pay the rent from month to month. +But he now held possession only on sufferance, and it was distinctly +understood that he might be called upon to vacate at any time on a few +days' notice. + +But "threatened men live long," and it was beginning to look as though +the same might be said of the old building. For two years the months +had come and gone without any hint of change, and Tyke had settled down +in the belief that the building would last as long as he did. After +that it did not matter. He had no kith or kin to whom to leave his +business. + +He was a grim and grizzled old fellow, well on in his sixties. In his +earlier days he had been a master mariner, and had sailed all the Seven +Seas. He had rounded the Horn a dozen times; had scudded with reefed +topsails in the "roaring forties"; had lost two fingers of his left +hand in a fight with Malay pirates; had battled with waterspouts, +tornadoes and typhoons; had harpooned whales in the Arctic; had lost a +ship by fire, and been shipwrecked twice; and from these combats with +men and nature he had emerged as tough and hardy as a pine knot. + +The profits of a notable whaling expedition from which he had returned +with the tanks filled to bursting, barrels crowded on the deck, and the +very scuppers running oil, together with a tidy little inheritance that +fell to him about the same time, had enabled him to buy the chandlery +shop from its former proprietor and settle down to spend the rest of +his life ashore and yet in sight and scent of salt water. + +How he had gained the name of "Tyke," by which everybody called him, +nobody knew. He himself never volunteered to tell, and in all his +bills and accounts used only the initial "T." Some of his employees +favored Tyrus, others Titus. One in a wild flight of fancy suggested +Ticonderoga. But the mystery remained unsolved, and, after all, as the +checks that bore the scrawl, "T. Grimshaw," were promptly honored at +the bank, it did not matter. + +He was not what could be called an enterprising business man and there +were many houses in his line that made a more pretentious appearance, +carried a larger stock, and had a much more extensive trade. But he +lived frugally, discounted his bills, and had such a broad acquaintance +among seafaring men that each year's end showed a neat profit on his +books. + +His store force was modest, being only three in number. Allen Drew was +a sort of general manager, and Tyke was growing more and more into the +habit of leaving the conduct of the business to him. Winters was the +junior clerk. He had come direct from high school and was now in his +second year of service. Then there was Sam, the colored porter and man +of all work, whose last name was as much a mystery as Grimshaw's first. + +Drew took up some papers that had been laid on his desk during his +absence, and tried to fix his mind upon them. He was dimly aware that +somebody had entered the store door, had spoken to Winters, and that +the junior clerk had shown the visitor into Grimshaw's private office. + +But Allen Drew's thoughts were too far afield to be caught by this +incident, or to become easily concentrated upon humdrum business +affairs. He laid down the papers, and sighed. + +He began to day-dream again. In the whole category of feminine names +was there ever one so pretty as Ruth? And surely never did a girl, in +both form and feature, so fit the name. + +Suddenly he realized that the door of the private office was open and +that Grimshaw's head was thrust out. + +"Hey! Come here a minute, Allen," he called. + +There was a note of trouble in the old man's voice, and Tyke's face +expressed some strong emotion. Alert on the instant, Drew rose to obey +his employer's summons. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +HARD HIT + +Drew was not surprised to find that his employer was not alone. A man +whom he now recognized as the agent of the estate controlling the +building was seated at one end of the desk and was drumming upon it +with his fingers. + +Tyke was hunched up in his big revolving chair with a look of agitation +on his face. His hands were clenching and unclenching rapidly. It was +evident that something much out of the ordinary had occurred to rob him +of his usual placidity. + +He motioned Drew to a seat. + +"Well, Allen," began Grimshaw, in a voice that he tried in vain to +render calm, "it's come at last. We've got to get out of the old +place." + +"What?" cried the young man; yet this only confirmed the suspicion +which his recognition of the visitor had suggested. + +"We're sorry, of course," purred the agent, who had tried to break the +unwelcome news to the old man as easily as possible. "But, of course, +you know that you held the place on the distinct understanding that we +should take possession at will." + +"I ain't denying that, Mr. Blake," admitted Tyke. "There's isn't +anything underhand or wrong about what you're doing. I kept on here +with my eyes wide open and I'm ready to take my medicine. But all the +same, it comes as a shock. I'd hoped to hold on to the old craft as +long as I lived." + +"I wish you could, both for your sake and ours," returned Blake. "We +haven't a tenant anywhere who pays his rent more promptly and bothers +us less about repairs. But the trustees of the estate have had an +offer from parties who want to put up a more modern building on this +site, and it was too good to decline." + +"When are they going to start?" asked Drew. + +"They're in something of a hurry," replied the agent. "You see this is +the right time of the year for construction work, and they want to have +the foundations laid by fall." + +"It's only a matter of days then before we have to find another place?" +went on Drew. + +"Oh, I should hardly say that," replied Blake, soothingly. "You know +how those things are. They'll have a lot to do in the way of plans and +contracts before they get down to the actual work of building. Still," +he went on, more cautiously, "they may get busy on wrecking the old +building at almost any time, and I'd advise you as a friend not to let +the grass grow under your feet. You've got a lot of stuff here, and it +will take a good deal of time to move it. If I were you, I'd figure on +being out in a week or ten days." + +"Ten days!" groaned Tyke. "An' I haven't even got a place to go to." + +"It may take some hustling," admitted the agent. "But a good deal can +be done in a short time when you have to. I'll look around, and if I +learn of any place that would suit you I'll let you know." + +There was little else to be said, and after another expression of +regret at the unpleasant duty he had had to perform, Blake took his +leave. + +The two men left in the office, contrasting types of age and youth, +looked at each other for a moment without speaking. Allen Drew had a +real affection for his employer, who for some time past had treated him +more like a son than an employee, and he was genuinely shocked to see +how this blow had affected him. + +"Don't mind, Mr. Grimshaw," he said cheerily. "It doesn't mean the end +of the world. We'll find another place that is just as good. And this +time we'll get a lease, so we won't have to worry about being routed +out in this way." + +Tyke shook his head dismally. + +"That's all very well for you youngsters," he replied. "You're at an +age when you'd as soon change as not. But I've kind o' stuck my kedge +deep into the old place, an' it's like plucking my heart out to have to +up anchor and make sail for another port." + +The younger man thought it would be best to leave Grimshaw alone for a +while, and he rose briskly to his feet. + +"If you say so, I'll go out and look around," he suggested. "I've had +this thing in the back of my mind for some time past, and I know of two +or three likely places that may fill the bill." + +"All right," assented Tyke apathetically. "Jest tell Winters to look +after things in the shop while you're gone. I reckon I won't be much +good for the rest of the afternoon." + +Drew went out, and after imparting the news, which shocked Winters and +Sam, put on his hat and left the office. + +That morning he had been hoping for a change. This afternoon he was +getting it with a vengeance. + +It was desirable from every standpoint that the new place should be as +near to the old one as possible. This consideration limited his choice +to two buildings which he knew were vacant, and toward these he bent +his steps. + +The first place he visited had just been rented, but at the second he +had better luck. He returned about four o'clock and burst into the +store, flushed and jubilant. + +"I've found it," he announced, going into the private office. "Just +what the doctor ordered. Plenty of room, a better pair of show windows +than we have here, and a long-time lease for a rent that's only a +trifle more than we're paying now." + +Tyke looked up with the first sign of animation he had shown since +Blake's visit. + +"Where is it?" he asked. + +"Just on the next block," answered Drew. "Turner's old place." + +"We'll go right over now an' look at it," said Tyke, rising and putting +on his hat. + +After inspecting the three floors thoroughly, Grimshaw agreed with his +young manager that they were in luck to get the building. A visit to +the agent followed, and before they left his office Tyke had handed +over a check for the first month's rent and had a five-year lease in +his pocket. + +"A good piece of work, Allen, my boy," he said, as they parted outside +the shop that night. "I don't know what I'd do without you. But I'm +mighty sorry to have to leave the old place. No other will ever seem +exactly like it." + +"Poor old Tyke," mused Drew, as he looked after the retreating figure +that suddenly seemed older than he had ever seen it. "He's hard hit." + +In all the stir and bustle of that crowded afternoon, Drew had been +conscious of a glow at his heart that was not due to mere business +excitement. One name had been upon his lips, one thought had sought to +monopolize him. And now that business was over for the day, he yielded +utterly to the obsession of that meeting on the wharf. + +Instead of striding uptown as usual, he turned in the other direction +and went down to the Jones Lane pier, now for the most part deserted +and quiet in the waning light. Here and there a watchman sat on a bale +smoking his pipe, while occasionally a sailor lay a more or less +unsteady course for his ship. + +Drew made his way to where the _Normandy_ was moored, and asked for +Captain Peters. + +"Gone ashore, sir," said the man he addressed. "Some friends of his +came aboard this afternoon and he's gone off with them to celebrate." + +There was a grin on the man's face as he spoke, and this, together with +his recollection of the decanter, left no illusions in Drew's mind as +to the character of the celebration. + +"Any message to leave for the captain, sir?" the man inquired. + +"Nothing important," returned Drew carelessly. "I may drop around and +see him to-morrow." And he blessed the belated windlass which would +give him a reasonable excuse for returning. + +But even though the captain was absent, there were other things at hand +that spoke of the girl with the hazel eyes. There was the place where +she had dropped the letters. There was the post against which she had +leaned as she watched him recover them. And there, as he bent over the +edge of the pier, he saw the little boat that had played its part in +the day's happenings. + +How musical her voice was! And she had smiled at him once--no, twice! +Smiled not only with her lips but with her eyes. + +He thought of her as he went slowly uptown. He thought of her until he +went to sleep and then his thinking changed to dreaming. + +Decidedly, Tyke was not the only one who was hard hit on that eventful +day. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE SHADOWS OF ROMANCE + +When Allen Drew opened his eyes the next morning, he was conscious of +an unusual feeling of elation. He lay for a moment in the twilight +zone between sleeping and waking, seeking the reason. Then in a flash +it came to him. + +He was out of bed in a twinkling. Life was too full and rich now to +waste it in sleep. Yesterday morning it had seemed drab and +commonplace. To-day it sparkled with prismatic hues. He was a new man +in a new world. + +He found himself whistling from sheer excess of good spirits as he +moved about the room. He hurried through his shower and dressing in +record time. Then he despatched his breakfast with a speed and +absent-mindedness that were most unusual for him and evoked the mild +astonishment of his landlady. A few minutes later he had joined the +hurrying throng that was moving toward the nearest subway station. He +left the train at Fulton Street and surprised Winters by appearing at +the shop a half hour earlier than his usual time. + +There were two reasons for pressing haste on this morning. The moving +from the old quarters to the new involved an amount of work that was +appalling. There were a thousand things to be done, and for the next +week or ten days the force of three employees must work at top speed. +Current business would have to be attended to as usual, and in addition +there was the colossal task of removing the contents of the three +crowded floors from the old building to the new. + +There was a second task which, in Drew's secret heart, seemed the more +important. That was to discover the address of the girl he had met on +the pier and learn what he could about her. + +In the first flush of determination this had seemed to be a +comparatively easy matter. The very fact that he wanted it so badly +seemed to guarantee his success. Such difficulties as suggested +themselves he waved airily aside. No young Lochinvar coming out of the +West had felt more certain of carrying off his Ellen than Allen Drew +had felt the night before of finding Miss Ruth Adams. But when he +applied his mind to the task in the cold light of day, it did not seem +so easy and he was hazy as to the best way to go about it. + +He opened his desk, and before looking at the mail that mutely besought +his attention, he reached for the huge city directory and opened to the +letter "A." He was appalled to find how many Adamses there were. +There were dozens, scores, hundreds! Even with the firm and +corporation names eliminated, the individual Adamses were legion. And +not one of them had Ruth before it. + +This, however, he had hardly expected. She was too young to be listed +separately, and would probably be included under the name of her father +or her mother. + +He had had a vague idea that, if there were not too many Adamses, he +might take them one by one and by discreet inquiries in the +neighborhood of each find out if the family included a young lady named +Ruth. If he succeeded, that would be a great point gained. What he +should do after that he would have been puzzled to tell. But he had a +desperate hope that, hovering in the vicinity, some way, somehow, he +could manage to secure an introduction. + +But now, with this formidable array of names before him, his plan +vanished into thin air. Life was too short, and he could not wait for +eternity! + +And how did he know that she lived in the city at all? It was +probable, but not at all certain. She might simply be here on a visit; +and for all he knew her permanent home might be Chicago or San +Francisco. + +Clearly, he must see Captain Peters without loss of time. The girl had +gone aboard his bark, and the probability was that her errand had been +with him. + +He looked hastily through the mail, and was glad to see that it +included a notification from the freight department of the railroad +that a windlass consigned to "T. Grimshaw" had arrived and was awaiting +his orders. + +"I'll just drop around to see Peters and set his mind at rest about +that windlass," he said to Winters, reaching for his hat. + +"I thought you did that yesterday," replied Winters. + +"I told him we expected it," said Drew, flushing a little; "but he may +be worrying about it, being delayed on the way. He's an old customer +of ours and we want to keep on the right side of him." + +Winters looked his surprise at this sudden spasm of business anxiety, +but said nothing further, and Drew hastened down to the Jones Lane pier +and boarded the _Normandy_. But again he was doomed to meet with +disappointment. + +"Sorry, sir," said the second officer, biting off a chew from a plug of +tobacco, "but the skipper can't be seen just now. Just came aboard a +little while ago and there was a friend on either side of him. You +know how it is," and he winked. "He's below now, sound asleep, and +'twould be as much as my billet's worth to disturb him." + +"Well," Drew said thoughtfully, "that windlass he ordered has arrived +and I'll see that it's carted down here to-day. But there was another +matter I wanted to speak to him about." + +"Better wait a day or two if it's any favor you want to ask the old +man," advised the seaman. "Let his coppers get cooled first. A better +navigator than Cap'n Peters never stepped, and he don't lush none +'twixt port and port; but he's no mamma's angel child when his coppers +is hot, believe me!" + +"Thanks. I'll remember," Drew said. "Of course you did not notice the +young lady who came aboard here yesterday afternoon just after I left?" + +"Didn't I, though?" responded the second officer of the _Normandy_. +"My eye!" + +"Do you know who she is?" blurted out Drew. + +"No, sir. But the skipper does, I reckon." + +"All right," Drew said, and turned to descend the plank to the dock. +As he did so he found himself confronting the one-eyed man who had +figured in the incident on the dock the previous afternoon. + +The fellow's countenance was raised to his own as Drew came down the +plank, and the latter obtained a good view of the scarred face. + +It was almost beardless, and even the brows were so light and scanty +that they lent no character to the remaining shallow, furtive blue eye. +The empty socket gave a horribly grim appearance to the whole face. + +Momentary as Drew's scrutiny was, he saw that the one-eyed man was +intoxicated. Not desiring to engage in a controversy with a stranger +in that condition, he would have passed on quickly, but the fellow +would not step aside. + +"Just let me pass, will you?" Drew said, eyeing the other warily. + +"You lubberly swab!" the one-eyed man said thickly, and with it spat +out a vile epithet that instantly raised a flame of hot anger in Allen +Drew. + +He plunged down the plank, his fists clenched and his eyes ablaze. The +one-eyed man was by no means unsteady on his legs; he met the charge of +the young fellow boldly enough. + +But Drew dodged his swing, and having all the push of his descent of +the plank behind the straight-arm jolt he landed on the other's jaw, +the impact was terrific. + +"Whee!" yelled the second officer of the _Normandy_, leaning on the +rail, an interested spectator. "That's a soaker!" + +Others came running to the scene. A fight will bring a crowd quicker +than any other happening. + +The one-eyed man had been driven back against the nearest pile of +freight. Drew was after him before he could recover from that first +blow, and he got in a couple of other punches that ended the +encounter--for the time being, at least. His antagonist went to the +floor of the dock and stayed there. + +"Beat it, 'bo!" advised a seaman at the _Normandy's_ rail. "Here comes +the cop." + +Drew accepted the advice as good, dodged around a tier of freight, and +so escaped. He was not of a quarrelsome disposition; yet somehow the +memory of those three blows he had struck gave him a deal of +satisfaction. + +"I never supposed those sparring lessons at the gym would come in so +handy," he thought, hurrying officeward. Then he chuckled. "Yesterday +I was grouching because nothing ever happened to me. And look at it +now! That fellow had it coming to him, that's all. I wonder who he +is. Like enough I'll never see him again." + +But he was never more mistaken in his life than in this surmise. + +Grimshaw had come in by the time Drew got back to the shop, and was +busy in his office. Winters and Sam were condoling with each other +over the amount of work that lay before them. + +"It's a whale of a job," complained Winters, looking about the crowded +shop. + +"Ah kin feel de mis'ry comin' into ma back ag'in," groaned Sam, who had +formerly been a piano mover, but had been obliged to seek a less +strenuous occupation because of having wrenched his back. "Ah suttinly +will be ready fo' de hospital when Ah gits t'rough wid dis movin'." + +"Oh, you're just plain lazy, Sam," chaffed Drew. "It won't be half so +bad as you think. We'll have a gang of truckmen and their helpers to +do most of the heavy work. But I suppose we've got our hands full, +packing these instruments so they won't be broken and scratched. And +'hustle' is the word from now on." + +"But think of the junk upstairs!" groaned Winters. "Why doesn't the +old man call in the Salvation Army and give them the whole bunch on +condition that they take it away? He's got the accumulation of twenty +years on that top floor, and it's not worth the powder to blow it up. +It beats me why Tyke keeps all that old clutter." + +"It doesn't seem worth house room," admitted Drew; "and now that we're +moving, perhaps we can get rid of a lot of the stuff. I'll speak to +Tyke about it. But let's forget the upper floors and get busy on this +one. There's a man's job right here." + +"A giant's job, to my way of thinking," grumbled Winters, as he looked +around him. + +It was indeed a varied and extensive stock that was carried on the main +floor. To name it all would have been to enumerate almost everything +that is used on shipboard, whether driven by wind or by steam. +Thermometers, barometers, binoculars, flanges, couplings, carburetors, +lamps, lanterns, fog horns, pumps, check valves, steering wheels, +galley stoves, fire buckets, hand grenades, handspikes, shaftings, +lubricants, wire coils, rope, sea chests, life preservers, spar +varnish, copper paint, pulleys, ensigns, twine, clasp knives, boat +hooks, chronometers, ship clocks, rubber boots, fur caps, splicing +compounds, friction tape, cement, wrenches, hinges, screws, oakum, +oars, anchors--it was no wonder that the force quailed at sight of the +work that lay before them. + +They set to work smartly and had already made notable progress when +Tyke stepped out of the private office. He looked around with a +melancholy smile. + +"Dismantling the old ship, I see," he observed to Drew. + +"Right on the job," replied the young man, glad to note that Tyke +seemed to have somewhat recovered his equanimity after the trying +events of the day before. + +Grimshaw watched them for a while, making a suggestion now and then but +leaving most of the direction of the work to his chief clerk while he +ruminated over the coming change. + +At last he roused himself. + +"Better leave things to Winters now and come upstairs with me," he said +to Drew. "There's a heap of stuff up there, and we want to figure on +where we're going to stow it all in the new place." + +Drew followed him and they mounted to the second floor. Here the +surplus stock was held in reserve, and there was nothing that could be +dispensed with. But the third floor held a bewildering collection that +made it a veritable curiosity shop. When they reached this, Drew +looked about and was inclined to agree with Winters in classifying it +as "junk." + +All the discarded and defective stock of the last twenty years had +found a refuge here. And in addition to this debris there was a pile +of sailors' boxes and belongings that reached to the roof. Tyke had a +warm spot in his heart for sailormen, especially if they chanced to +have sailed with him on any of his numerous voyages; and when they were +stranded and turned to him for help they never met with refusal. + +In some cases this help had taken the form of money loans or gifts. At +other times he had taken care of the chests containing their meagre +belongings, while they were waiting for a chance to ship, or perhaps +were compelled to go to a hospital. + +In the course of a score of years, these boxes had increased in number +until now they usurped a great part of the space on that upper floor. +Drew had often been on the point of suggesting that they be got rid of, +but as long as they did not encroach on the space actually needed by +the business this thought had remained unspoken. Now, when they were +about to move and needed to have their work lightened as much as +possible, the time seemed opportune to dispose of the problem. + +Tyke listened with a twinkle in his eye as Allen repeated the +suggestion of Winters that the contents of the floor be held for what +it would bring or given to the Salvation Army. + +"Might be a good idea, I s'pose," he remarked. "Them old things ain't +certainly doing any one any good. An' yet, somehow, I've never been +able to bring myself to the point of getting rid of 'em. Seems as +though they were a sort of trust. Though I s'pose most of the boys +they belonged to are dead and gone long ago." + +"I don't imagine there's anything really valuable in any of the +chests," remarked Drew. + +"No, I don't think the hull kit an' boodle of 'em is worth twenty +dollars," acquiesced the old man. "Although you can't always tell. +Sometimes the richest things are found in onlikely places. But I kind +of hate to part with these old boxes. Almost every one of 'em has +something about it that reminds me of old times. + +"You know I ain't much of a reading man," Grimshaw went on, "an' these +boxes make the only library I have. I come up here an' moon around +sometimes when I git sick of living ashore, an' these old chests seem +to talk to me. They smell of the sea an' tell of the sea, an' each one +of 'em has some history connected with it." + +Drew scented a story, and as Tyke's tales, while sometimes garrulous, +were always interesting, he forebore to interrupt and disposed himself +to listen. + +"Now take that box over there, for instance," continued Tyke, pointing +to a stained and mildewed chest which bore all the marks of great age +and rough handling. "That belonged to Manuel Gomez, dead ten year +since. He went down in the _Nancy Boardman_ when she was rounding the +Cape. Big, dark, upstanding man he was, an' one of the best bo'suns +that ever piped a watch to quarters in a living gale. + +"An' he was as good a fighting man as he was sailor. Nobody I'd rather +have at my side in a scrap. He was right up in front with me when +those Malay pirates boarded us off the Borneo coast. Those brown +devils came over the side like a tidal wave, an' no matter how many we +downed, they still kep' coming on. + +"It was nip an' tuck for a while, but we were fighting for our lives, +an' we beat 'em off at last an' sent what was left of 'em tumbling into +their praus. As it was, they sliced off two of my fingers, an' one +fellow would have buried that crooked kriss of his in my neck if Manuel +hadn't cut him down jest in time. + +"Of course, I was grateful to him for saving my life, an' he sailed +with me for several voyages after that. That scrap with the pirates +never seemed to do him an awful lot of good. He had pirates on the +brain anyway. You see, he come from Trinidad on the Spanish Main, +where the old pirates used to do their plundering an' butchering, an' I +s'pose he'd heard talk about their doings ever since he was a boy. + +"He used to talk about 'em whenever he got a chance. Of course, +discipline being what it is on board ship, he couldn't talk as free +with me as I s'pose he did with his mates. But once in a while he'd +reel off a yarn, an' then he'd hint kind of mysterious like that he +knew where some of the old Pirates' doubloons were buried an' that some +day, if luck was with him, he'd be a rich man. + +"I'd heard so much of that kind o' stuff in my time that I used to +laugh at him, an' then he'd get peeved--that is, as peeved as he dared +to be, me being skipper. But that wouldn't last long, and after a +while he'd be at it again. Jest seemed as though he couldn't get away +from the thought of it." + +"Perhaps there was something in it after all," said Drew, to whom just +now anything that savored of adventure appealed more strongly than +usual. + +"More likely his brain was a bit touched," replied Grimshaw carelessly. +"I lost sight of him for several years when I quit the sea. But just +before he went on his last voyage, he wanted me to take charge of this +chest of his until he returned. Said he didn't dare trust it with any +one else. + +"'All right, Manuel. No diamonds or anything of that kind in it, I +s'pose?' I says with a laugh and a wink. + +"But he didn't crack a smile. + +"'Somet'in' wort' more zan diamon's,' he said solemnly, an' went away. +I never saw him again, an' a few months later I heard of the _Nancy +Boardman's_ going down with all hands." + +"Why not examine the chest?" cried Drew eagerly. + +The recital of the grizzled veteran had fired his blood. All that he +had ever read or heard of the old buccaneers came back to him. In +fancy he saw them all, Avery, Kidd, Bartholomew Roberts, Stede Bonnet, +Blackbeard Morgan, the whole black-hearted and blood-stained crew of +daring leaders ranging up and down the waters of the Spanish Main, +plundering, sacking, killing, boarding the stately galleons of Spain, +sending peaceful merchant ships to the bottom, wasting their gains in +wild orgies ashore capturing Panama and Maracaibo amid torrents of +blood and flame. Silks and jewels and brocades and pearls and gold! +From the whole world they had taken tribute, until that world--tried at +last beyond bearing--had risen in its might and ground the whole nest +of vipers beneath its wrathful heel. + +Tyke looked at the young man quizzically. + +"Thinking of the pirate doubloons, Allen?" + +"Why not?" Drew defended himself, albeit a little sheepishly. "Perhaps +the key to treasure is right over there in that old chest of Manuel's." + +Then Tyke laughed outright. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +A SETBACK + +"I wouldn't bank on finding treasure," Grimshaw advised. "What those +old pirates got they spent as they went along. They warn't of the +saving kind. 'Easy come, easy go' was their motto." + +"That's true enough of the majority of them, no doubt," conceded Drew. +"The common sailors got only a small portion of the loot anyway. But +some of the leaders were shrewd and far-sighted men. They didn't look +forward to dying as pirates. They wanted to save enough to buy their +pardons later on and live the rest of their lives ashore in peace and +luxury. What was more natural than that they should hide their shares +of the plunder on some of the little islands they were familiar with? +They wouldn't dare to keep it on their ships, where their throats might +be cut at any moment if their crews knew there was treasure aboard." + +"That's true enough," admitted his employer. + +"And if they did bury it," pursued the young man, encouraged by this +concession, "why shouldn't a good deal of it be there yet? Gold and +silver and jewels don't perish from being kept underground. And as +most of the pirates died in battle, they had no chance to go back and +dig the plunder up from where they had buried it." + +"But some of the crews must have been in the secret," objected Tyke, +"an' after the death of their captains what was to hinder them from +going after the doubloons an' getting 'em." + +"There might have been a good many reasons," answered Drew. "In the +first place, the captains seem to have had a cheerful little habit of +killing the men who did the digging and leaving their skeletons to +guard the treasure-chests. And even when that didn't happen, what +chance would the common sailor have had of going after the loot? He +couldn't have got a ship without giving away his secret, and the minute +he'd given it away his own life wouldn't have been worth a copper cent. + +"And then, too," went on Drew, warming to his subject, "look at all the +traditions there are on the subject. Where there is so much smoke +there must be some fire. A single rumor wouldn't amount to much, but +when that rumor persists and is multiplied by a thousand others until +it becomes a settled belief, there must be something in it. The rumors +are like so many spokes of a wheel all pointing to a single hub, and +that hub is--treasure!" + +"I declare! you're getting all het up about it," grinned Tyke, as Drew +paused for breath. "But all the same, my boy, you want to get back to +earth. You've got as good a chance of finding hidden treasure as I +have of taking first prize in a beauty show." + +"What's the matter with taking a look in Manuel's box and finding out +what it was he was so anxious about?" questioned Drew, a little dashed +by Tyke's skepticism. + +"Well, perhaps we shall some time later on," conceded Tyke, somewhat +doubtfully. "We can't think of doing it until we git moved an' +settled. We've got enough on hand now to keep us as busy as ants for a +good many days to come." + +Drew was disappointed, but as his employer had spoken there was nothing +more to be said, and he regretfully followed Grimshaw to the ground +floor. + +The chronicle of his life for the rest of that day and the two +following could be summed up in the one word, work--hard, breathless, +unceasing work. A reminder had come from Blake that the moving must be +expedited, and from Tyke himself down to Sam no one was exempt. + +Not that the thought of Ruth Adams was ever for long out of Drew's +mind. But the colors had grown more sombre in his rainbow of hope. He +had snatched a few moments from his noon hour on the second day to run +over to the _Normandy_, and although this time he saw Captain Peters, +it was only to learn that he could expect no help from that quarter. + +The captain was curt and irritable after his prolonged drinking bout, +and answered chiefly in monosyllables. No, he had not seen any young +girl come aboard two days before. Did not know of any one who had. + +"Now you git out," snarled Peters in conclusion. "You'll git no +information here. Make no mistake about that!" + +Drew was startled by the change in Captain Peters' manner and look. +The skipper glared at him as though Drew were a strange dog trying to +get the other's bone. The young man's temper was instantly rasped; but +Peters was a considerably older man than he, and he seemed to be +laboring under some misapprehension. + +"I assure you, Captain Peters," Drew said, "my reasons for asking were +perfectly honorable." + +"You needn't assure me of anything. Just git out!" roared the skipper +of the _Normandy_; and, seeing that there was nothing but a fight in +prospect if he remained, the young man withdrew. On deck he saw the +second officer, and that person winked at him knowingly and followed +him to the plank. + +"Old man on the rampage?" he asked. + +"Seems to be," said the confused Drew. + +"Chance was, that that Bug-eye you knocked out the other day is a +pertic'lar friend of the skipper's. But gosh! you're some boy with +your mits." + +Drew might again have tried to find out from this fellow about the +girl, but he shrank from making her the subject of any general inquiry +or discussion. To him she was something to be kept sacred. His heart +was a shrine with her as its image, and before that image he burned +imaginary tapers with the fervor of a devotee. + +One thought came to him with a suddenness that made him quake. Could +it be that she was already married? + +He tried to remember whether "Mrs." or "Miss" had preceded the name on +the letter. For the life of him he could not recall. He had so +utterly assumed that she was unmarried, on the occasion of their +meeting, that any thought to the contrary had not even occurred to him +then. He was somewhat comforted by the probability that, had she been +married, her husband's name or initials would have followed the "Mrs." +instead of her given name. Yet, this was a custom that was becoming as +much honored in the breach as in the observance, and the use of her own +given name would not be at all conclusive. + +Then, with a great wave of relief, the memory came to him that he had +placed the letters in her left hand and had noted that she had no rings +on that hand at all. The thought had come to him at the time that no +ornament could make those tapered fingers prettier than they were. + +His heart leaped with elation. She was unmarried then! She wore no +wedding ring! + +There was still greater cause for jubilation. She wore no ring of any +kind! She was not even engaged! + +She probably was somewhere in this teeming city. Many times their +paths might almost cross, perhaps had already almost crossed since that +first meeting on the pier. + +Fantastic musings took possession of him. Who was it that, in a burst +of hyperbole, said that if one took up his station at Broadway and +Thirty-fourth Street, he would, if he stayed there long enough, see +everybody in the world go past? Or was it Kipling who said that of +Port Said? + +Where should he take his stand? What places should he frequent with +the greatest likelihood of meeting her? Theatres, the opera, art +galleries, railway stations, Central Park? + +He recalled himself from these fantasies with a wrench. How foolish +and fruitless they were! He was no man of leisure, to do as he +pleased. He was bound as securely to his desk as the genie was to the +lamp of Aladdin, and he must answer its call just as unfailingly. + +So, alternately wretched and elated, tasting the torments as well as +the joys of this experience that had revolutionized his life, he tore +desperately into his work, but with the girl's face ever before him. + +On the third day after Tyke had received notice to move, the +preparations were far advanced. Delicate instruments had been +carefully wrapped; heavier objects had been clothed with burlap; +truckmen were notified to be ready on the following day. Tyke and Drew +had made frequent pilgrimages to the new place and had arranged where +the stock could be placed to the best advantage. New bills and +letterheads had been ordered from the printers, and even the old sign +over the door, which Tyke obstinately refused to leave behind, had been +taken down to have the old number painted out and the new one +substituted. + +There was no elevator in the old building. Drew had often urged +Grimshaw to have one installed, but the old man was dead set against +any such "new-fangled contraptions." So, everything from the upper +lofts, when it was called for, had to be carried or rolled down the +rickety stairs, a proceeding which often roused rumbles of rebellion in +the breast of Sam, upon whom fell the brunt of the heavy work. + +He had spent most of that afternoon in getting down the boxes from the +third floor so that they might be within easier reach of the truckmen +when the moving should begin. He was on his way down with one of them, +perspiring profusely and tired from the work that had gone before, +when, as he neared the lowest step, he slipped and dropped his burden. + +He was fortunate enough to scramble out of the way of the box and thus +escape injury. But the box itself came to the floor with a crash, and +split open. + +Drew and Winters sprang to the help of the porter, and were relieved to +find that he was not hurt. He rose to his feet, his black face a +picture of consternation. + +"Dat ole mis'ry in ma back done cotched me jes' when Ah got to de las' +step," he explained. "Ah hope dey ain't much damage done to dat 'er +box." + +"Pretty badly done up, it seems to me," remarked Winters, as he +surveyed the broken chest critically. + +"Never mind, Sam," consoled Drew. "It wasn't your fault and the old +box wasn't of much account anyway." + +Just then Tyke thrust his head out of his office to learn the meaning +of the crash. At the sight of the broken box he came into the shop. + +"How did this happen?" he asked. + +"Ah couldn't help it, Mistah Grimshaw," said Sam ruefully. "Ma back +jes' nacherly give way, an' Ah had to let go. Ah'm pow'ful sorry, sah." + +Sam was a favorite with the old man, who refrained from scolding him +but stood a moment looking curiously at the box. + +"Carry it into the office," he said at last to Sam. "And you, Allen, +come along." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE BROKEN CHEST + +Sam lifted the big chest, and, very carefully this time to make amends +for his previous dereliction, carried it into the private office. He +placed it on two chairs that his employer indicated and then withdrew, +closing the door softly behind him and rejoicing at having got off so +easily. + +"Well, Allen," remarked Tyke, wiping his glasses and replacing them on +the bridge of his nose, "you're going to get your wish sooner than +either one of us expected." + +"What do you mean?" asked Drew wonderingly. + +"Don't you see anything familiar about this box?" replied Tyke, +answering a question in Yankee fashion by asking one. + +"I don't know that I do," responded the other. Then, as he bent over +to examine the broken chest more closely, he corrected himself. + +"Why, yes I do!" he cried eagerly. "Isn't this the one you pointed out +to me the other day as belonging to the man who fought with you against +the Malays?" + +"That's it," confirmed Tyke. "It's Manuel Gomez's box. Queer," he +went on reflectively, "that of all the chests there were in that loft +the only one we thought of looking in should burst open at our very +feet. If I was superstitious" (here Drew smothered a smile, for he +knew that Tyke was nothing if not superstitious), "I might think there +was some meaning in it. But of course," he added hastily, "we know +there isn't." + +"Of course," acquiesced the younger man. + +Tyke seemed rather disappointed at this ready assent. + +"Well, anyway, now that it has opened right under our noses, so to +speak, we'll look into it. I guess we've got far enough ahead with our +moving to take the time." + +Drew, who was burning with curiosity and impatience, agreed with him +heartily. + +The chest had split close to the lock, so that it was an easy matter +after a minute or two of manipulation to throw the cover back. + +A musty, discolored coat lay on top, and Tyke was just about to lift +this out when Winters stuck his head into the office. + +"Some one to see you, sir," he announced. + +Tyke gave a little grunt of impatience. + +"Tell him I'm busy," he snapped. Then he caught himself up. "Wait a +minute," he said. "Did he tell you his name?" + +"No, sir," returned Winters. "But I'll find out." In a moment he was +back. "Captain Rufus Hamilton, he says." + +The petulant expression on Grimshaw's face changed instantly to one of +pleasure. + +"Bring him right in," he ordered. + +Drew, thinking that Grimshaw would wish to see his friend alone, rose +to follow Winters. + +"I suppose we'll put this off until after he's gone," he remarked. + +But his employer motioned to him to remain. + +"Stay right where you are," he directed. "Cap'n Rufe is one of the +best friends I have, and I'm glad he came jest now." + +The door opened again, and Winters ushered in a powerfully built man +who seemed to be about fifty years of age. He had piercing blue eyes, +a straight nose with wide nostrils, and a square jaw, about which were +lines that spoke of decision and the habit of command. His face was +bronzed by exposure to the weather, and his brown hair was graying at +the temples. There was something open and sincere about the man that +caused Drew to like him at once. + +The newcomer stepped briskly forward, and Tyke met him half way, +gripping his hand in the warmest kind of welcome. + +"Well met, Cap'n!" cried Tyke. "I haven't seen you in a dog's age. I +was jest wondering the other day what had become of you. There's +nobody in the world I'd rather see. What good wind blew you to this +port?" + +"I'm just as glad to see you, Tyke," replied the visitor, with equal +heartiness. "I've been in the China trade for the last few years, with +Frisco as my home port. You can be sure that if I'd been hailing from +New York I'd have been in to see you every time I came into the harbor." + +Tyke introduced Drew to the newcomer, and then the two friends settled +down to an exchange of reminiscences that seemed sure to be prolonged +for the rest of the afternoon. + +After a while Captain Hamilton leaned back to light a cigar, and in the +momentary nagging of conversation that ensued while he was getting it +to going well, his gaze fell on the open chest. + +"What have you got here?" he asked with a smile. "Looks like a +sailor's dunnage." + +"And that's jest what it is," answered Tyke, recalled to the work on +which he had been engaged when the captain's coming had interrupted. +"I declare! your visit put it clean out of my head. It's the box that +used to belong to Manuel, that old bo'sun of mine that I guess I've +told you about in some of my yarns. The one that was with me off +Borneo when I lost these two fingers." + +"That run-in you had with the Malays?" returned the captain. "Yes, I +remember your telling me about him. Saved your life, I think you said, +when one of the beggars was going to knife you." + +"That's the one," confirmed Grimshaw. "He was shipwrecked later off +the Horn. He left his box here with me to take care of for him." + +"Seems to be pretty well broken up." + +"The porter dropped it coming downstairs," explained Drew. + +"You had it brought in here to save room, I suppose," said the captain. +"I noticed that you were all cluttered up outside." + +"Why, it wasn't that exactly," replied Tyke, slightly embarrassed. +"You see, Allen an' I were rummaging around in the top loft the other +day, an' among other things our eyes fell on this box. That started me +off yarning about the tight places Manuel an' I had been in together, +an' how he'd hinted that some day he'd be rich. Then I told Allen of +how Manuel said, when he left his box with me, that there was something +in it worth more'n diamonds an' then---- + +"Yes, I can guess the rest," said Captain Hamilton, with a quiet smile. +"And then you both got a hankering to see what was in the box." + +"Allen did," admitted Tyke, "'an' I ain't denying that my fingers +itched a little too. But I put it off until we had got moved into our +new place. Now, didn't I, Allen?" he demanded virtuously. + +Drew assented smilingly. + +"Why didn't you wait then?" gibed the captain. + +"We would have," affirmed Grimshaw eagerly, conscious that here at last +he was on firm ground, "but that black rascal, Sam, the porter, dropped +the box on his way downstairs an' it split wide open, as you see. If I +was superstitious----" here he glared challengingly at both of his +listeners, who by an effort kept their faces grave, "I'd sure think it +was meant that we should look into it right away. What do you say, +Cap'n Rufe?" + +"I agree with you," replied the captain. "The man is dead, and the box +is yours by right of storage if nothing else. This Manuel didn't have +wife or children that you know of, did he?" + +"Nary one," responded Grimshaw. "When he'd been drinking too much he +used to cry sometimes an' say that he hadn't a relative in the world to +care whether he lived or died." + +"That being the case, heave ahead," advised the captain. "You don't +owe anything to the living or the dead to keep you from finding out all +you want to know." + +Reinforced by this opinion, the old man again lifted the coat from the +top of the box. + +What lay beneath was a curious medley of articles such as might have +been gathered at various times by a sailor who was familiar with all +the ports of the world. Mingled in with old trousers and boots and +caps, were curiously tinted shells, clasp knives with broken blades, +grotesque images of heathen gods, a tarantula and a centipede preserved +in a small jar of alcohol, miraculously saved from breakage. + +But what especially attracted their attention in the midst of this +miscellaneous riffraff was a small cedar box, about eight inches long +by six inches wide and deep. It was heavily carved, and was secured by +a lock of unusual size and strength. + +"Wonder if this is the thing that was worth more'n diamonds," grunted +Tyke, with a carelessness that was too elaborate not to be assumed. + +"It must be that, if anything," replied Captain Hamilton, who had let +his cigar go out and was now vigorously chewing the stub. + +Drew said nothing, but his cheeks were flushed and his eyes brighter +than usual. + +Grimshaw fumbled with the lock for a moment, but found it immovable. + +"Jest step out, Allen, and get all the keys we have an' we'll see if +any of 'em fit," he directed. + +Drew did so, and returned in a moment with the entire collection that +the shop boasted. Tyke tried them all in turn, but none fitted. + +"I guess there's no help for it," he said at last. "I hate to spoil +the box, but we'll have to force the lock. Get a chisel, and we'll pry +the thing open." + +The chisel was brought and did its work promptly. There was a rasping, +groaning sound, as if the box were complaining at this rude assault +upon its privacy, then, with a hand that trembled a little, Tyke lifted +the cover. + +All three heads were close together as the men bent over and peered in. +Their first glimpse brought a sense of disappointment. They had half +expected to catch the sheen of gold or the glitter of jewels. Instead +they saw only a piece of oilskin that was carefully wrapped about what +proved to be some sheets of paper almost as stiff as parchment. + +"Huh," grunted Tyke. "Pesky lot of trouble with mighty little result. +I told you I thought Manuel was a bit touched in the brain, an' I guess +I was right." + +"Wait a minute," said Captain Hamilton. "Don't go off at half-cock. +Let's see what's in that oil-skin." + +Tyke opened the packet. The others drew up their chairs, one on either +side, as he unfolded the oilskin carefully on his desk. + +There were two sheets of paper inside, so old and mildewed that they +had to be handled carefully to prevent their falling to pieces. + +One of the papers seemed to be an official statement written in +Spanish. The other consisted of rude tracings, moving apparently at +random, with here and there a word that was almost illegible. + +The three men looked at this blankly. Drew was the first to speak. + +"It's a map!" he exclaimed eagerly. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +A MYSTERIOUS DOCUMENT + +The two captains scanned the document closely. + +"It certainly is a map," pronounced Captain Hamilton decisively. + +"That's what it 'pears to be," admitted Tyke. + +"And it's the map of an island," went on Hamilton. "See," he pointed +out, "these wavy lines are meant to represent water and these firmer +lines stand for the land." + +The others followed the movement of his finger and agreed with him. + +"Well, after all, what of it?" asked Tyke, leaning back in his chair +with affected indifference. + +"There's this of it," said his visitor throwing his extinguished cigar +into the waste-basket and drawing his chair still closer. "I feel that +we have a mystery on our hands, and we should examine it fore and aft +to find what there is in it." + +"I s'pose the next thing you'll be saying is that's it's a guide to +hidden treasure or something like that," jeered Tyke feebly, to conceal +his own growing excitement. + +"Stranger things than that have happened," replied the captain +sententiously. + +"Have it your own way," assented Tyke, rising and going to the door. + +"Winters," he called, "jest remember that I'm not in to anybody for the +rest of the afternoon." + +"Yes, sir," replied Winters dutifully. + +Having locked the door as an additional guard against intrusion, Tyke +rejoined the two at the desk. + +"Fire away," he directed. "What's the first move?" + +"The first thing is to make out what's written on this other paper," +said the captain, handling it gingerly. + +The three bent over and studied the document closely. + +"Why, it's some foreign lingo; Spanish probably!" exclaimed Grimshaw. +"Not a word of English anywhere, as far as I can make out." + +"That's so," agreed the captain, a little dismayed at the discovery. +"We've struck a snag right at the start. If we have to call in any one +to translate it, we'll be taking the whole world into the secret, if +there is any secret worth taking about." + +"Don't let that worry you," Drew intervened. "I think I know enough +Spanish to be able to make out the paper." + +There was an exclamation of delight from Captain Hamilton and a snort +of surprise from Tyke. + +"Why, I never knew that you knew anything about that lingo!" the latter +ejaculated. + +"I don't know any too much about it," returned Drew, modestly. "But +the South American trade is getting so big now that I thought it would +be a good thing to know something of Spanish; so I've been studying it +at night and at odd times for the last two years." + +"Well, don't that beat the Dutch!" cried Tyke delightedly. "Now if I +was superstitious"--he stared truculently at the suspicious working of +Drew's mouth--"I'd be sure there was something in this that wasn't +natural. We want to look into the box, an' it busts open in front of +us. We want to read that Spanish lingo, an' you know how to do it. +I'll be keelhauled if it don't make me feel a little creepy. That is," +he corrected himself quickly, "it would if I believed in them things." + +"Well, now that we know you don't believe in them," said Captain +Hamilton, with the faintest possible touch of sarcasm, "and since our +young friend here is able to read this paper, suppose we go to it." + +"You bet we'll go to it!" cried Tyke eagerly. "You jest take a pencil +an' write it down in English as Allen reels it off." + +"There won't be any 'reeling off'," warned Drew, as with knitted brow +he pored over the document. "In the first place, the Spanish used here +is very old, and some of the words that were common then aren't in use +any more. I can see that. Then, too, the ink has faded so much that +some of the words can't be made out at all. And where the paper has +been folded the lines have entirely crumbled away." + +"Sort o' Chinese puzzle, is it?" queried Tyke dismally. + +"A Spanish puzzle, anyway," smiled Drew. "I need something to help out +my eyes. I wish we had some microscopes in our stock, as well as +telescopes." + +"We'll get the best there is in the market if necessary," declared +Tyke. "But jest for the present, here is something that may fill the +bill." + +He reached into a drawer and brought out a reading glass that could be +placed over the paper as it lay on the desk. + +"The very thing!" exclaimed Drew as he applied it. "That helps a lot." + +There was a tense air of expectancy over all three as he began to read. +Tyke kept nervously polishing his glasses, and Captain Hamilton's hand +was the least bit unsteady as it guided the pencil. Drew's voice +trembled, though he tried studiously to keep it as calm as though he +were reading off the items on a bill of lading in the ordinary course +of business. + +But if the work was exciting, it was none the less very slow. Once in +a while there would be a word that was wholly outside Drew's +vocabulary. In such cases the captain put it down in the original +Spanish for Drew to study out later by the aid of his dictionary. Then +at the points where the story seemed most important, there would be a +crease in the paper that would eliminate an entire line. Other words +had faded so completely that the magnifying glass failed to help. + +But at last, despite all the tantalizing breaks, the final word was +reached, and the captain sat back and drew a long breath while the +younger man refolded the paper. + +"Well now," said Tyke, "lets have it all from the first word to the +last. An' Cap'n, read mighty slow." + +Amid a breathless silence, Captain Hamilton commenced reading what he +had taken down. + + +"Trinidad, March 18, 17--. + +"In the name of God, amen. + +"I Ramon ...... rez unworthy sin .......... ...... fit .... ...... +name ...... .... lips .... ...... ...... knowing ..... .... .... .... +.... mercy ........ ...... ...... shown none, expecting .... .... .... +.... .... .... deepest hell yet .... .... .... .... .... Mary .... .... +.... .... saints .... shriving .... .... Holy Church .... .... .... +confess .... .... .... life. + +".... .... .... wild .... .... .... .... .... .... .... Tortugas .... +French .... _Reine Marguerite_ .... .... .... .... .... .... death. + +From there we ran to Port au Spain .... .... .... plundering .... .... +.... .... city, .... many men and boys and .... .... .... women and +..... Off one of Baha .... Cays .... .... .... galleon .... .... .... +.... fought stoutly .... .... .... .... walk .... plank. Other ships +.... .... .... .... .... forgotten. We took great spoils .... .... +.... .... accursed ... ... spent .... .... living, + +"I .... .... .... captain. Down in the Caribbean Sea we .... .... +caravel .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... one hundred and +twenty. Lost ship in tornado .... .... .... .... got another. + +"Many more .... .... .... .... .... .... .... weary .... .... telling +we .... .... .... God .... man. + +"At last .... .... ten .... .... .... butchery .... frigates .... .... +ch ..... Fled to one of the .... islands .... careened. Tired knowing +.... .... sooner or later I made up my mind .... .... .... .... one +more rich prize .... .... wickedness. + +"We captured the .... Guadalquiver ..... Desperate .... .... blood +..... thousand doubloons .... pearls .... .... price. + +"I knew of an island off the beaten track where there was good hiding +.... .... found, night. Cutter .... .... ashore, mutiny .... .... +killed them both. And there the booty is still .... .... .... .... +.... forbid. + +"Now standing .... .... .... .... .... hell, I have made .... drawing +.... .... island where .... buried. I give it freely .... Mother .... +.... .... .... cand .... .... .... altar and .... .... masses .... .... +unworthy soul. + + his + (X) _Al_ .... .... + mark + +"Attest _Pablo Ximenes_, notary." + + +The captain laid the paper on the desk and glanced at the intent faces +of his companions. + +"Now, what do you make of that?" he asked. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE SCOURGES OF THE SEA + +Tyke's eyes were staring and his face was so apoplectic that Drew was +alarmed. + +"Make out of it?" Tyke spluttered, getting up and nearly overturning +his chair. "I make out of it that Manuel was right when he said that +the old chest held something worth more'n diamonds." + +Grimshaw was so shaken out of his usual calm that Captain Hamilton, +too, shared Drew's alarm. + +"I tell you what we'd better do," he suggested. "We're all too much +excited to discuss this thing intelligently now. We've got a whole lot +to digest, and it will take time. This thing will keep. Suppose we +have our young friend here take this rough draft home with him and +piece out the missing parts as well as he can. In the meantime we'll +all mull it over in our minds, look at it from every angle, and meet +here fresh and rested to-morrow morning to decide on what we'd better +do." + +"I guess you're right," assented Tyke, mopping his forehead. "This old +head of mine is whirling around like a top." + +Tyke locked the map carefully in his safe and committed the other paper +and the captain's partial transcription to his chief clerk with solemn +injunctions to take the utmost care of them. + +But the latter stood in no need of the admonition. He would have +defended those papers with his life. They meant for him--what did they +not mean? + +Romance, adventure, wealth! Now at last he would have something to +justify his search for Ruth Adams and his suit for her hand. Now he +could frame his jewel, when he found it, in a proper setting. + +The three men prepared to leave the private office. Captain Hamilton +was first at the door, and he unlocked it. The instant he pulled the +door open, Drew heard him ejaculate: + +"Thunderation! Mr. Ditty! What are you doing here?" + +"You told me to follow you here, Captain Hamilton," said a respectful +voice. "They told me you were inside, and so I waited for you." + +"Humph! quite right, Mr. Ditty," Captain Hamilton said hastily. Then +he thrust his, head back into the office. "My mate's come for me, +Tyke. We've got an errand on Whitehall Street. See you to-morrow. +Good night, Mr. Drew." + +Both the captain and the other man had gone when Drew went out into the +larger room. The remainder of that afternoon he spent in a dream. + +When the day's work was over, Drew dined hastily and then shut himself +in his room where he worked busily until midnight, filling in the +vacant spaces in the rough draft of the confession. He was critical of +his efforts, recasting and revising again and again until he was +satisfied that he had caught the full meaning of the old document as +far as it was humanly possible. Only then did he lay it aside--to +dream of Ruth. + +Drew was at the shop before his usual time the next morning, and Tyke +and Captain Hamilton came in soon afterward. The three went at once +into secret session, leaving the entire conduct of the chandlery +business to Winters, much to the mystification of that youth. + +All three were fresh and cool this morning as they buckled down to the +problem they had to solve, and the wisdom of the previous night's +adjournment was clearly evident. + +"I got to talking this thing over with my daughter last night," said +Captain Hamilton. "You'd forgotten I had a daughter, Tyke? Wait till +you see her! Well, she was aboard the schooner for dinner with me, and +she said: 'Daddy, if there is a real pirate's treasure, please go after +it. Then you can stay ashore and not go sailing away from me any +more.' So, I've a double incentive for pursuing this thing," and the +captain laughed. + +"Yes, that's like the women-folk," observed Grimshaw. "They're always +for a man's leaving the sea." + +"That isn't what made you leave it, Tyke," Captain Hamilton said slyly. + +"An' it won't be women-folk that sends me back to it, neither," growled +the older man. "An' now, Allen," he added, as they settled comfortably +into their chairs, "how did you git along with the paper? Have you got +it so that it makes sense?" + +"I'll let you judge of that for yourselves," replied Drew, taking the +revised draft from his pocket. "Of course, I can't say that it's +exactly right. Some of the missing words and sentences I had to guess +at. But it's as nearly right as I know how to make it." + +He waited while Grimshaw and Captain Hamilton lighted their cigars, and +then proceeded to read: + + +"Trinidad, March 18, 17 ..... + +"In the name of God, amen. + +"I, Ramon Alvarez, unworthy sinner that I am and not fit to take the +name of God upon my lips, and well knowing that I deserve no mercy who +have ever shown none, expecting to be plunged into the deepest hell, +yet basing my only hope on the Virgin Mary and the blessed saints and +the shriving of Holy Church, do hereby confess the misdeeds of my life. + +"From my youth up I was wild. I was with the buccaneers who, off the +Tortugas, captured the French ship, _Reine Marguerite_, all of whose +crew and passengers we put to death. From there we ran to Port au +Spain, ravaging and plundering. We captured the city, killing most of +the men and boys and carrying off the women and girls. Off one of the +Bahama Cays we took a Spanish galleon, and although her people fought +stoutly, we made them finally walk the plank. Other ships we captured +whose names I have forgotten. We took great spoils, but the money was +accursed and was soon spent in wild living. + +"I myself soon became a captain. Down in the Caribbean Sea we won a +caravel and killed all on board, one hundred and twenty. I lost my +ship in a tornado, but soon got another. + +"Many more evil deeds we did that would make me weary with the telling. +We feared neither God nor man. + +"At last, after ten years or more of butchery, the nations sent many +frigates in chase of us. I fled to one of the islands and careened my +ship. Tired, knowing I would be taken sooner or later, I made up my +mind that I would capture one more rich prize and then be done with my +wickedness. + +"We captured the ship _Guadalquiver_. The fight was desperate and the +decks ran with blood. We took ...... thousand doubloons, many pearls +and jewels of price. + +"I knew of an island off the beaten track where there was good hiding +to be found. I took the cutter one night and went ashore to bury +treasure. Two men with me mutinied and I killed them both. And there +the booty is still, unless it has been taken away, which God forbid. + +"Now, standing mayhap on the very brink of hell, I have made this +drawing of the island where the treasure is buried. I give it freely +to Holy Mother Church, and beg that part be spent for candles to be +burned before the altar and for masses to be said for my unworthy soul. + + his + + _"Ramon_ (X) _Alvarez_. + + mark + +"Attest, _Pablo Ximenes_, notary." + + +"Good work, Allen," commended Tyke, as the reader stopped. + +"Very cleverly done," added Captain Hamilton. + +Drew flushed with pleasure. + +"Those old fellows were well called 'the scourges of the sea,' weren't +they?" he said. "Now here! There are just two things missing that it +would be the merest guess-work to supply," he added. "One is the date. +We know the century, but the year is absolutely rubbed out. The other +is the number of doubloons captured with his last prize. That was in a +crease of the paper and had crumbled away." + +"Yes," replied Captain Hamilton; "but neither is so very important. Of +course, the later the date, the less time there has been for any one to +find the doubloons and take them away. We have the names of some of +the ships that were captured though, and we might look the matter up in +some French or Spanish history and so get a clue to the date. + +"As to the extent of the treasure, we'll find that out for ourselves +when we get it, if we ever do. And if we don't get it, the amount +doesn't matter." + +"It seems to be a pretty good-sized one, from the way the rascal speaks +about it," remarked Tyke. + +"Plenty big enough to pay for the trouble of getting it," agreed +Captain Hamilton. + +"Well, now that we know what the paper says, let's git right down to +brass tacks," suggested Grimshaw. "In the first place, this particular +pirate, Alvarez, was evidently a Spaniard. The language the paper is +written in proves that." + +"Not necessarily," objected the captain. "Spanish is the language +spoken in Trinidad, and even if the dying man were a Frenchman or an +Englishman, the notary would probably translate what he said into +Spanish. Still, the first name, and probably the last, indicate +Spanish birth. I guess we're pretty safe in considering that point +settled." + +"But I thought most of the pirates, the leaders anyway, were French or +English," persisted Tyke. + +"So they were," answered the captain; "but the Portuguese and Spaniards +ran them a close second. As a matter of fact, those fellows +acknowledged no nationality and cut the throats of their own countrymen +as readily as any others. The only flag they owed any allegiance to +was the skull and crossbones." + +"But how comes it that this confession was made before a notary?" asked +Drew. "I should think it would have been made verbally to a priest." + +"Well," said the captain thoughtfully, "there are various ways of +accounting for that. Alvarez may have been taken sick suddenly, and +the notary may have been nearest at hand. Even if the priest had been +summoned, the sick man might have feared that he would die before the +priest got there and wanted to get it off his mind. He didn't seem to +have much hope of heaven, from the way the paper reads." + +"I don't wonder," put in Tyke, dryly. + +"But whatever chance there was, he wanted to take it," finished the +captain. + +"I wonder how the paper ever got into Manuel's hands," pondered Tyke. + +"The churches and convents seemed to suffer most in those wild days," +said the captain. "They were sacked and plundered again and again. It +might very well be that this paper was stolen by ignorant adventurers, +and in some way got into the hands of one of Manuel's ancestors and so +came down to him. Probably most of them couldn't read and had no idea +of what the paper contained. Could Manuel read?" he asked, turning to +Grimshaw. + +"Why, yes; but rather poorly," answered Tyke. + +"I've seen him sometimes in port looking over a Spanish newspaper, +moving his finger slowly along each line." + +"That explains it then," said the captain. "He was able to make out +just enough to guess that the paper and map referred to hidden +treasure, but he wasn't able to make good sense of it." + +"I s'pose that was the reason he was always trying to git me interested +in his pirate stories," put in Tyke. "He was kind o' feeling me out, +an' if I'd showed any interest or belief in it, he'd have probably +tried to git me to take a ship and go after it with him." + +"Not a doubt in the world," agreed Captain Hamilton. + +"Well, now we've looked at the matter of the paper from most every +side," remarked Tyke; "an' I guess we're all agreed that it looks like +a _bona fide_ confession. We've seen, too, how it was possible for it +to git into the hands of Manuel. Now let's see if we can make head or +tail of the map." + +He brought out the paper from his safe and the three men crowded around +it. Here, after all, was the crux of the whole matter. By this they +were to stand or fall. It booted little to know merely that the +doubloons were buried somewhere in the West Indies. They might as well +be at the North Pole, unless they could locate their hiding place with +some degree of precision. + +The dark, heavily shaded part in the center of the map was evidently +meant to mark the position of the island itself. Quite as surely, the +light, undulating lines surrounding it were intended to show the water. + +"There seems to be just one inlet," said Captain Hamilton, pointing to +an indentation that bit deeply into the dark mass of the island. + +"Lucky there's even one," grunted Tyke. "I've known many of those +picayune islands where there was no safe anchorage at all." + +The island was irregular in shape and seemed to have an elevation in +the center. But what most attracted their attention were three small +circles some distance in from the shore that seemed to indicate some +special spot. + +"There's some writing alongside of these," announced Drew, after a +sharp scrutiny. "If you'll hand me the reading glass I think I can +make it out." + +The glass was quickly brought into use, and Drew stared at the writing +hard and long. + +"'The Witch's Head.' 'The Three Sisters'," he translated. + +"Sounds like a suffragette colony," muttered Tyke. + +But Drew was too deeply engrossed with his task to notice the play of +fancy. + +"Thirty-seven long paces due north from the Witch's Head.' +'Eighty-nine long paces due east from The Three Sisters,'" he went on. + +"Now we're getting down to something definite!" exclaimed Captain +Hamilton. + +"That's all," announced Drew. "What do you suppose it means?" + +"It can mean only one thing, it seems to me," said Tyke excitedly. +"It's pointing to the spot where the doubloons are buried." + +"Yes," agreed the captain, "I should take it to mean that if you mark +off thirty-seven long paces north from the Witch's Head and eighty-nine +long paces east from The Three Sisters, the spot where those paths +cross would be the place to dig." + +"Do you see anything on the map that would give a hint as to the +latitude and longitude?" asked Grimshaw anxiously. + +"No," answered Drew. "Wait a minute though," he added hastily. +"Here's something that looks like figures down in the lower left hand +corner. Fifty-seven .... No! Sixty-seven-three is one, and +thirteen-ten is the other." + +"That can only stand for longitude and latitude!" cried Tyke. "Quick, +Allen, git down that Hydrographic Office chart. That'll cover it." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +GETTING DOWN TO "BRASS TACKS" + +In a moment the chart was taken down from its hook and spread out on +Tyke's big desk. With shaking fingers the old man found the line of +longitude indicated on the pirate's map, and followed it down till he +came to the thirteenth degree of latitude. + +"Thirteen-ten; sixty-seven-three," he muttered. "Thirteen degrees, ten +minutes latitude; sixty-seven degrees, three minutes longitude. There +it is!" and he made a mark with his pencil on the chart. "Right down +there in the Caribbean, west of Martinique. Glory Hallelujah!" + +The old man was as frisky as a colt, and under the stimulus of +excitement the years seemed to drop away from him. + +Captain Hamilton was quite as delighted, though he did not give so free +a rein to his emotions. + +"Splendid!" he beamed. "When we can actually get down to figures, it +begins to look like business. Of course, there are innumerable small +islands down that way. But it won't take much cruising around to try +them all." + +Once more he studied the shape and the size of the island, and his +brows knitted almost to a scowl, so close was his concentration. + +"That elevation in the middle looks something like a whale's hump," +remarked Drew. + +Captain Hamilton jumped as though he had been shot. + +"That's it!" he cried. "By Jove! I know that island! I remember +thinking that very thing about it one day some years ago when I was +coming up from Maracaibo. My mate was standing by me at the time. It +was just as sunset, and the island stood out plain against the sky. I +remember saying to him that it looked to me just like the hump of a +whale. Now we've located it sure. I'll recognize it the minute my +eyes fall on it whether it's charted or not. My boy, you're a wonder. +You've helped us out at every turn in this business." + +"That he has," declared Tyke enthusiastically. "Neither the paper nor +the map would have been any good without Allen to translate 'em. I'm +proud of you, Allen." + +The young man flushed with pleasure and murmured deprecatingly that it +was just a bit of luck that he happened to know Spanish. + +"Luck! 'Tisn't luck that makes a man dig out a foreign lingo," said +Tyke. "An', anyway, you've been smart at every point with your +suggestions, an' helped us out as we went along. You started things +with your eagerness to look into Manuel's box an' you put the cap sheaf +on when you jest now gave Cap'n Rufe that last pointer. + +"An' now," Tyke went on, when they had sobered down a little, "let's +get down to brass tacks. There's jest one thing that remains to be +done, but it's a mighty big thing. We feel pretty sure that there is a +treasure, an' we think we know where that treasure is. Now the +question is, how are we going to git it?" + +Drew experienced a feeling of dismay. He had been so engrossed with +the preliminary work that he had hardly given a thought to the +practical problem involved. He had taken it for granted that it would +be easy enough to get a ship to go after the pirate's hoard. + +Now with Tyke's bald statement confronting him, a host of perplexities +sprang up to torment him. Where were they to get the right kind of +ship? How could they escape telling the captain of that ship just +where they were going and what they were going for? + +But if the matter puzzled Tyke and his chief clerk, it bothered Captain +Hamilton not at all. He lighted a fresh cigar, crossed his legs and +smiled broadly. + +"That's an easy one," he remarked. "Give me something hard." + +Tyke looked at him in some surprise and Drew's face reflected his +bewilderment. + +"Seems to me it's hard enough," grumbled Tyke. + +"What do you mean?" asked Drew quickly. + +"I mean," said the captain complacently, "that we'll make this voyage +in my schooner." + +The two others jumped to their feet. + +"Splendid!" cried Drew. + +"Glory be!" ejaculated Tyke. + +"The plan seems to suit you," smiled the captain. + +"Suit us!" shouted Tyke. "Why, it's jest made to order. But how're +you going to git the owner's permission? How do you know he'll be +willing to have the ship chartered for such a cruise? An' how are we +going to keep the secret from him?" + +"As I happen to be the chief owner, as well as the captain, I guess we +won't have any trouble on that score." + +"Owner!" exclaimed Tyke, in astonishment. "I hadn't any idee that you +had any int'rest in her outside of your berth as captain. You've been +pretty forehanded to have got so far ahead as to own a craft like that." + +"I haven't done so badly in the last few years," said the captain +modestly; "and as fast as I saved money I kept buying more stock in the +old girl. Mr. Parmalee encouraged that idea in his captains. He knew +human nature, and knew that when a man's own money was invested in the +deck under him he was going to be mighty careful of the ship's safety +and would have a personal interest in seeing that she was a money +maker. The old man's dead now, but his son has inherited a third +interest in the _Bertha Hamilton_, while I hold the other two-thirds. +I renamed her when I got control of the bonny craft. I hope some day +to buy out Parmalee's share and become the sole owner." + +"You're a lucky man," congratulated Tyke warmly. "It must be great +when you tread the plank to feel that you're not only boss for the time +being, but that you actually own her. What is she like? How big is +she? And how much of a crew do you ship?" + +"She's three stick, schooner rigged," replied the captain. "A hundred +and fifty feet over all and carries a crew of about thirty. Oh! she's +a sailing craft, Tyke. She's not afoul with steam winches and the +like. And she's a beauty," he added, his eyes kindling with pride. +"There are mighty few ships on this coast that she can't show a pair of +heels to, and she's a sweet sailer in any weather. She stands right up +into the wind's eye as steady as a church and when it comes to reaching +or running free, I'd back her against anything that carries sails." + +"But how about your other engagements?" suggested Grimshaw. "Is she +chartered for a voyage anywhere soon?" + +"That's another rare bit of luck," returned the captain. "I had an +engagement to-day with Hollings & Company, who were thinking of having +me take a cargo for Galveston. If I hadn't run plump into this +treasure business as I did, there isn't any doubt but I would have +closed with them to-day. But now it's all off. I'll see them this +afternoon and tell them they'll have to get somebody else." + +Tyke sat down heavily in his chair and wagged his grizzled head +solemnly. + +"It's beyond me," he said. "It must be meant. Here we might be weeks +or months before we could git a ship that suited us, if we got it at +all; but along comes Cap'n Rufe here with the very thing we want. If I +was superstitious,"--before his stony stare they sat unwinking--"I'd +think for sure there was something in this more'n natural. It can't +be, after all this, that we're going on a wild goose chase." + +"Well," replied Captain Hamilton cautiously, "it may be that after all. +Things certainly have worked to a charm so far, but that doesn't prove +anything. 'There's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip,' and this +may be one of them. When all is said and done, it's a gamble. For all +we know, the doubloons may have been taken away a hundred years ago, +and all we'll find after we get there may be an empty hole in the +ground. But 'nothing venture, nothing have'; and with all the evidence +we have, I'm willing to take a chance." + +"So am I!" cried Tyke heartily. "Of course, we stand to lose a tidy +little sum if it should turn out to be a fluke. There's the outfitting +to be done, the crew's wages to be paid, an' a lot of other expenses +that'll mount up into money. But it's worth a chance, and if we lose +I'm willing to stand the gaff without whining." + +It goes without saying that Drew heartily echoed these sentiments in +his mind, but he felt some delicacy about expressing them. After all, +it was Captain Hamilton and his employer who would have to provide the +funds for the expedition and stand the loss if there were any. He +himself would be called on to risk nothing. + +And with this thought came another with the suddenness of a stab. On +what was he building his hopes for a share in the profits of the +adventure? After all, he was only Tyke's employee. The very time he +was spending in unraveling this mystery belonged to Tyke and was paid +for by him. He felt again the weight of his chains, and the air castle +he had built for Ruth's occupancy suddenly took on the iridescent +colors of a bubble. + +"Well, now that we've got down to brass tacks as you say, Tyke, let's +get along to the next point," said the captain briskly. "I don't +suppose you could come along with me?" + +"You don't!" snorted Tyke. "Well then, you're due for another guess. +You bet your binoculars I'm coming along. I'd like to see anything +that would stop me!" + +Drew's heart sank. If Tyke were going, that would mean that he would +have to stay behind to look after the interests of the chandlery shop. + +"But your business?" objected the captain. + +"Business be hanged!" roared Tyke. "It can go to Davy Jones, for all I +care. Anyway, I can leave it in good hands. But I'm going to have one +more sight of blue water before I turn up my toes for good, no matter +what happens. An' I'm going to take Allen along with me!" + +Drew was struck dumb for the moment and could only stare at the excited +old man. + +"Yes!" repeated Tyke, "he's going to have his fling along with the rest +of us. We ought to be back in a couple of months, if we have any kind +of luck. Winters is a bright boy, and he can keep things going for a +while." + +"That'll be fine," said the captain with enthusiasm. "I'd like nothing +better than to have the two of you for messmates." + +"But say!" broke in Tyke, as a thought suddenly occurred to him, "what +about that feller--Parmalee--who has a third int'rest in your craft? +Of course, he'll want to know, an' he'll have a right to know, why you +don't take this Galveston cargo an' why you're going on this cruise of +ours. How are you going to git around that?" + +"That is something of a problem," the captain replied slowly, "and +especially as he thought of going with me to Galveston for the sake of +his health. He's lame and delicate, and the doctor told him that a sea +voyage was just what he needed to build him up. + +"Of course," he went on, "I'm the principal owner of the ship, and what +I say, goes. I could do this against his will, if I wished, although +of course in that case I'd be bound to see that he got as much profit +as he would have done if I'd taken the Galveston job." + +"What kind of feller is this Parmalee?" asked Grimshaw cautiously. + +"As fine a lad as you'd care to meet," answered the captain heartily. +"Friendly and good-hearted and white all through. He's sickly in body, +but his head's all right. And just because he is that kind, I don't +want to do anything that would hurt or offend him. + +"But that's a matter that can wait," he continued. "In any event it +won't affect our plans. Either I'll fix the matter up with him +satisfactorily in a money way, or, if you think best, we'll let him +into the secret and take him along." + +"Would that be safe?" inquired Tyke dubiously. + +"Absolutely," affirmed the captain. "He's a man of honor, and if he +promised to keep our secret, wild horses couldn't drag it from him. +I'd trust him as I would myself. Maybe he'd like to come along with +us. He's too rich to care anything about the doubloons, but he's +romantic, and he might like the fun of hunting for it." + +"Well," said Tyke, "we'll have to leave that matter to you to settle as +you think best. Any one you vouch for will be good enough for me." + +"And now," said Captain Hamilton, "there's one thing more that we +haven't touched on yet. I suppose we understand, Tyke, that you and I +put up the expenses of this expedition, fifty-fifty?" + +"Sure thing," agreed Tyke. + +"And if nothing comes of it, we simply charge it up to profit and +loss----' + +"An' let it go at that," finished Tyke. "We'll have had a run for our +money, anyhow." + +"On the other hand," the captain continued, "if we find the treasure, +and it proves to be of any size, we'll first deduct the cost of the +trip, lay aside enough for Parmalee to make things right with him--he +may not want it, but we'll make him take it--and then divide what's +left into three equal shares?" + +"Three!" Drew uttered the ejaculation, and the blood drummed in his +temples. + +"That's right," assented Tyke placidly. "One for you, one for me, and +the third for Allen." + + + + +CHAPTER X + +CAPRICIOUS FORTUNE + +Drew experienced a thrill of delight. But he felt that he ought to +protest. + +"I'm not putting up anything toward the expense," he said. "If things +go wrong, you'll lose heavily. I have nothing to lose and everything +to gain. It doesn't seem the square thing." + +"Let us do the worrying about that," smiled the captain. "You've done +your fair share already toward this adventure. We'll all share and +share alike." + +"You bet we will," chimed in Tyke. "There wouldn't be any cruise at +all if it hadn't been for you. Who suggested searching the box? Who +translated the paper and the map? You've been the head and front of +the whole thing from the beginning." + +"But----" began Drew. + +"'But,' nothing," interrupted Tyke. "Not another word. Remember I'm +your boss." + +And Drew, glad enough for once in his life to be bossed, became silent. +But the walls of his air castle began to grow more solid. + +"How long will it be before you can have the schooner ready to sail?" +Tyke inquired, turning to the captain. + +"Oh, in a week or ten days if we are pressed," was the response. "It +won't take us more than that to get our supplies aboard and ship our +crew." + +"The crew is an important matter," reflected Tyke. "It won't do to +pick up any riffraff that may come to hand. We want to git men that we +can trust. Sailors have a way of smelling out the meaning of any +cruise that is out of the usual order of things, an' if there's any +trouble-makers in the crew who git a hint that we're out for treasure, +they'll cause mischief." + +"They won't get any hint, unless some of us talk in our sleep," replied +the captain. "I know where I can lay hands on quite a few of my old +crew, but I'll be so busy with other things that I'll have to leave the +picking of most of the men to Ditty." + +"Ditty?" said Grimshaw inquiringly. + +"He's my mate," explained the captain. "Cal Ditty. As smart a sailor +as one could ask for. But that about lets him out." + +"Why! don't you like him?" asked Tyke quickly. + +"No, I can't say I do," replied the captain slowly. "I've never warmed +toward the man. There's something about him that repels me." + +"Why don't you git rid of him then?" + +"Well, you see it's like this," explained Captain Hamilton. "He saved +Mr. Parmalee's life one time when the old man fell overboard, and +naturally Parmalee felt very grateful to him. He promised him that he +should always have a berth on one of his ships as long as he lived. Of +course, since the old man is dead, we could do as we liked about firing +Ditty, but young Parmalee feels that it's up to him to respect his +father's wishes. So rather than have any trouble about it, I've kept +Ditty on. But he's a lush when he's ashore, and I don't fully trust +him. That may be unjust too, for he's always done his work well and +I've had no reason to complain." + +"Well, anyway," warned Tyke, "I'd keep my weather eye peeled if I was +you. When you feel that way about a man, there's usually something to +justify it sooner or later." + +"Well, now, suppose I'm ready in a fortnight, how about you?" asked +Captain Hamilton. + +"Oh, we'll be ready by that time," replied Tyke confidently. "Of +course we've got this moving to do, but we're pretty well packed up +now, an' before a week is over we'll have everything shipshape in our +new quarters." + +"We'll race each other to see who'll be ready first," laughed Captain +Hamilton. "In the meantime, if you're not too rushed, come over and +take a squint at the _Bertha Hamilton_. And if you don't see the +niftiest little craft that ever gladdened the eyes of a sailorman, you +can call me a swab." + +"Where is she lying?" asked Drew. + +"Foot of Franklin Street, North River. You'll find me there most all +the time, but if you don't just go aboard and look her over anyway. +You'll be on her for some weeks, and you might as well get acquainted." + +Tyke and Drew promised that they would, and, with a cordial handshake, +Captain Hamilton left the office. + +Grimshaw carefully stowed the map and paper away in his safe, and then +turned to Drew. + +"Named his craft after the daughter he spoke of, I reckon--_Bertha +Hamilton_. Well, perhaps it'll bring us luck. Cap'n Rufe is some +seaman, an' no mistake." Then he added, with a quizzical smile: "Quite +a lot's happened since this time yesterday." + +"I should say there had!" responded Drew. "My head is swimming with +it. It'll take some time for me to settle down and get my bearings. +I'm tempted to pinch myself to see if I'm not dreaming. If I am, I +don't want to wake up. You're certainly good to me, Mr. Grimshaw," he +added warmly. + +Tyke waved aside Drew's thanks by a motion of his hand. + +"Everything does seem topsy-turvy," he said. "I thought that the old +hulk was laid up for good. But now it seems she's clearing for one +more cruise. An' it's all come about so queer like. Now if I----" + +Tyke checked himself and rose to his feet. + +"Well, now we've got one more reason for hustling," he declared. +"You'll have your hands full from this time on, my boy, an' so will I. +You want to begin to break Winters in right away, so that he'll be able +to take charge of things while we're gone." + +"How shall I explain it?" asked Drew. "What shall I give as a reason +for the trip?" + +Tyke reflected for a moment. + +"Jest say that we're going for a cruise in Southern waters with an old +sea cap'n friend of mine. Tell him that you've been sticking pretty +close to your desk, an' that I thought it would be a good thing for you +to go along. Don't make any mystery of it. Tell him that we'll be +back in a couple of months, an' that it's up to him to make good while +we're gone. + +"One thing more," he added, as Drew turned to go. "Tell him that I'm +going to raise his salary, an' he'll feel so good about that that he +won't waste much time thinking about us and our plans." + +The recipe worked as Tyke had predicted, and after the first +expressions of surprise, Winters speedily became engrossed in his added +responsibilities and the increase in his pay, leaving Drew untroubled +by prying questions. + +For the next three days all worked like beavers, and by nightfall of +the third day the moving had been effected and the stock arranged in +their new quarters. + +"Guess we're going to be ready for that cruise before Cap'n Rufe is," +grinned Tyke, as he surveyed the finished work. + +But he exulted too soon. That very evening, Drew received a telephone +message from St. Luke's hospital saying that Mr. T. Grimshaw had been +brought in there with an injured leg as the result of a street +accident. He had requested that Drew be summoned at once. + +Shocked and grieved, the young man hurried to the hospital. He was +ushered at once into the private room in which Tyke was lying. + +The leg had been bandaged, and Tyke had recovered somewhat from the +first shock of the accident. He was suffering no special pain at the +moment, and was eagerly watching the door through which Drew would come. + +The latter's heart ached as he saw how wan and gray the old man's face +looked. But his indomitable spirit still shone in his sunken eyes, and +he tried to summon a cheery smile as Drew came near the bed. + +"Well, Allen, my boy," he remarked, "I guess I crowed too soon this +afternoon. I didn't think then that the old hulk would be laid up so +soon for repairs." + +Drew expressed his sorrow, as he gripped Tyke's hand affectionately. + +"How did it happen?" he asked. + +"Cruising across the street in front of an auto," replied Tyke. +"Thought I had cleared it, but guess I hadn't. I saw that one-eyed +feller standing there-- + +"What one-eyed fellow?" Drew asked, interrupting. + +"Why, I don't know who he was. Looked like a sea-faring man," returned +Tyke. "Oh! That does hurt! Doctor said it would if I moved it." + +"Don't move your leg, then," advised Drew. "What about the one-eyed +man?" + +"Why," repeated Tyke, reflectively, "I saw him on the curb jest as I +jumped to git out of the way of that auto. I ain't as spry as I used +to be I admit; but seems to me I would have made it all right if it +hadn't been for that feller." + +"What did he do to you?" asked the anxious Drew. Of course, there was +more than one sailor in the world with only one eye; yet the young man +wondered. + +"I saw his hand stretched out, an' I thought he was going to grab me. +But next I knew I was pushed right back an' the car knocked me flat. +B'fore I lost my senses, it seemed to me that that one-eyed swab was +down on his knees going through my pockets." + +"Robbing you?" gasped Drew. + +"Well--mebbe I dreamed it. I've been puzzling over it ever since I've +been lying here. I didn't lose my watch, nor yet my wallet, that's +sure," and Tyke grinned. "But it certainly was a queer experience. +An' I'd like to know who that one-eyed feller is." + +"How badly is your leg hurt?" asked Drew. + +"Might have been worse," answered Tyke. "Doctor says my knee's +wrenched an' the ligaments torn, but there's nothing that can't be +mended. I'll be off my pins for the next month or two, they say. So I +guess old Tyke won't be Johnny-on-the-spot when you dig up them +doubloons." + +"Don't worry about that," protested Drew. "The only important thing +now is that you should get well. The treasure can wait. We'll +postpone the trip until you get ready to go." + +"No you won't!" declared Tyke energetically. "You'll do nothing of the +kind! You'll go right ahead and look for it, an' I'll lie here an' +root for you." + +He was getting excited, and at this juncture the nurse interposed and +Drew had to go, after promising to come again the first thing in the +morning. + +He sent a message on leaving the hospital to Captain Hamilton, and the +next morning they went in company to visit the patient. + +They were delighted to learn that he was doing well. There were no +complications, and it was only a matter of time before the injured leg +would be as well as ever. + +The captain had been grieved to hear of his old friend's mishap. He +expressed his entire willingness to postpone the trip till some time in +the future when Tyke could go along. But the latter had been thinking +the matter over and was even more determined than he had been the night +before that his injury should not prevent the expedition going forward +as planned. + +"One man more or less don't make any difference," he declared. "Of +course, I'd set my heart on going with you, an' I ain't denying it's a +sore disappointment to have to lie here like some old derelict. But it +would worry me a good deal more to know that I was knocking the whole +plan to flinders. Our agreement still stands, except that I'll have to +be a silent partner instead of an active one. Allen can represent me, +as well as himself, when you git to the island. But I can do my part +in outfitting the expedition as well as though I was on my feet. My +leg is out of commission, but my arm isn't, an' I can still sign +checks," and he chuckled. "You fellers go right ahead now and git +busy." + +There was no swerving him from his determination, and, although +reluctantly, they were forced to acquiesce. The captain went ahead +with his preparations, and Drew redoubled his activities, as now he had +to do two men's work. But his superb vitality laughed at work and he +became so engrossed in it that he forgot everything else. + +Except Ruth Adams! + +Consciously or sub-consciously, her gracious memory was with him always. + +In the first rush of exultation that he felt when he found himself +admitted as an equal partner in the possible gains of the expedition, +he had overlooked the fact that it meant an absence, more or less +prolonged, from the city where he supposed Ruth Adams to be. How many +things might happen in the interval! Suppose in his absence some +fortunate man should woo and win her? A girl so attractive could not +fail to have suitors. He felt that the golden fruit he might get on +the expedition would turn to ashes if he could not lay it at her feet. + +So, tossed about by a sea of alternate hopes and fears, the days went +by until but forty-eight hours remained before the time agreed upon for +sailing. + +On Tuesday, Allen had occasion to confer with Captain Hamilton. Up to +now, their meetings, when it had been necessary to see each other on +business connected with the trip, had been in the South Street office. +And, what with the multiplied demands on his time and his daily calls +on Tyke at the hospital, Drew had not yet visited the _Bertha +Hamilton_. He had planned to do so more than once, but had found it +out of the question. He told himself that he would have ample time to +get acquainted with the schooner from stem to stern when they had left +New York behind them and were heading for the island in the Caribbean. + +But to-day the conference was to be aboard the _Bertha Hamilton_. Drew +was forced to confess, on reaching the pier at which the schooner was +moored and on catching his first glimpse of her, that the captain was +justified in his enthusiasm. She was indeed a beauty. With her long, +graceful, gently curving lines, she seemed more like a yacht than a +merchant vessel. She was schooner rigged, and, although of course the +sails were furled, the height of her masts indicated great +sail-carrying capacity. Everything about her suggested grace and +speed, and Drew did not doubt that she could show her heels to almost +any sailing craft in the port. + +As his appreciative eyes swept the vessel throughout its entire length +from stern rail to bowsprit, his admiration grew. He was glad that +such a craft was to carry the hopes and fortunes of the treasure +hunters. She seemed to promise success in advance. + +He went over the plank and turned to go aft in search of the captain. +Then he stopped suddenly. His heart seemed to cease beating for an +instant. He found himself looking into the hazel eyes of the girl of +whom he had been dreaming day and night since he had first seen her +down on the East River docks! + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +A DREAM REALIZED + +For a moment Drew almost doubted his own eyesight. But there was no +mistake. There could be only one girl like her in the world, he told +himself. She was wearing a simple white dress and her head was bare. +The bright sunshine rioted in her golden hair, and her eyes were +luminous and soft. A wave of color mounted to her forehead as she came +face to face with Allen Drew. + +She had turned the corner of the deck house, and they had almost +collided. She stepped back, startled, and Drew collected his scattered +wits sufficiently to lift his hat and apologize. + +"I--I beg your pardon," he stammered. "I ought to have been more +careful." + +"Oh, it was my fault entirely," she answered graciously. "I shouldn't +have turned the corner so sharply." + +What next he might have said Drew never knew, for just then there came +a heavy step and the sound of a jovial voice behind him, and Captain +Hamilton's hand was grasping his. + +"So you did manage to come over and get a look at the beauty, did you? +What do you think of her?" + +"The most beautiful thing I've ever seen!" answered Drew fervently. + +He might have had a different beauty in mind from that which the +captain had, and perhaps this suspicion occurred to the girl, for the +flush in her cheek became slightly more pronounced. But the +unsuspecting captain was hugely gratified at the tribute, though +somewhat surprise at its ardor. + +A glance from the girl reminded the captain of a duty he had overlooked. + +"I was forgetting that you two hadn't met," he said. "Drew, this is my +daughter, Miss Hamilton. Ruth, this is Mr. Allen Drew, the young man +I've been telling you so much about lately." + +They acknowledged the introduction and for one fleeting, delicious +moment her soft hand rested in his. + +So she was Captain Hamilton's daughter! Her name was not Adams! What +a blind trail he had been following! + +But Drew's thoughts were interrupted by the girl's voice. + +"We have met before, Daddy," Ruth said with a smile. "Don't you +remember my telling you about the young man who came to my aid that day +when I went on an errand for you to the _Normandy_? You remember--the +day I dropped the letters over the side? That was Mr. Drew." + +"You don't say!" exclaimed the captain. "And here we've been seeing +each other every day or so and I've never thanked him. Drew, consider +yourself thanked by a grateful father." + +They all laughed, and then the captain put his hand on the young man's +shoulder. + +"Come into the cabin and let's get that business settled. You'll +excuse us, won't you, Ruth?" he added, turning to his daughter. "We've +got a hundred things to do yet, and we can't afford to lose a minute." + +Ruth smilingly assented, and Drew was dragged off, raging internally, +his only comfort being the glance she gave him beneath her lowered +eyelids. + +He tried to listen intelligently to the captain's talk and give +coherent answers to his questions. But bind himself down as he would, +his mind and heart were in the wildest commotion. + +So she was Captain Hamilton's daughter! Her name was not Adams! The +thought kept repeating itself. + +But he had found her now, he wildly exulted. The search that might +have taken years--that even then might not have found her--had come to +an end. He had been formally introduced to her. He need no longer +worship from afar. Her father was his friend. He could see her, talk +to her, listen to her, woo her, and at last win her. Poor fellow! he +was so hard hit he scarcely knew how to conduct himself. + +"As I was saying," he heard the captain remarking in a voice that +seemed to be coming from a great distance, "young Parmalee has finally +made up his mind to come with us. His doctor insists that the one +thing he needs just now is a sea voyage. Not the kind that he might +get on an ocean steamer, with its formality and heavy meals and +chattering crowds, but the kind you can get nowhere but on a sailing +craft." + +"I suppose you had to tell him just what we were going down there to +look for?" Drew forced himself to say. + +"Yes, I did, after putting him on his word of honor never to breathe a +word about the object of the cruise to anybody. I'd as lief have his +word as any one's else bond." + +"What did he think about our chances in such an enterprise?" + +"Now, there's a thing that rather surprised me," replied the captain. +"To tell the truth, I felt a little sheepish about mentioning the +doubloons to him, for I rather expected him to laugh. But he took it +in dead earnest, and honestly thinks we have a chance." + +"Is he perfectly willing, as far as his interest in the schooner goes, +that she shall be used for this purpose?" Drew queried. + +"Perfectly. In fact, he was enthusiastic about it. Wouldn't even hear +of any compensation for the use of the vessel. Said he expected to get +his money's worth in the fun he'd have." + +"He seems to have a sportsmanlike spirit, all right," commented Drew, +with a smile. + +"He surely has," confirmed the captain. "I think you'll like him when +you come to know him." + +"How old is he?" + +"About your own age I should judge. You're twenty-two, I think I've +heard you say? Parmalee is perhaps twenty-three or twenty-four, but +not more than that." + +"Have you got your full crew shipped yet?" Drew inquired, after a pause. + +"Well, some of them are aboard," was the answer. "We've got two dozen +in round numbers, but we still need five or six more men before we get +our full quota. Ditty's ashore looking them up now." + +"Do you think they're going to suit you?" + +"Oh, I've seen better crews and I've seen worse," answered the captain. +"There are some of them whose faces I don't just like, but that's true +in every ship's company. I guess they'll average up all right. + +"There's one thing I want to show you," went on the captain, opening +the door of a closet built into the cabin. + +Drew looked, and was surprised to see as many as a dozen rifles, as +well as several revolvers and a sheaf of machetes. + +"Why, it looks like a small arsenal!" he exclaimed, in surprise. "What +on earth will we want all these for? One might think that we expected +to have a scrap ourselves with pirates on the Spanish Main." + +"Not that exactly," said the captain laconically, "but in an enterprise +like ours it's wise to take precautions. 'Better to be safe than be +sorry.' If it's known that we're after treasure, there may be sundry +persons who will take an unwholesome interest in our affairs." + +"Do you mean members of the crew?" + +"Not necessarily; though they may. It's not likely, for it's probably +nothing but a turtle cay, but there may be people living on the island +where we're going who would seriously dispute our right to take +anything away and might try to stop us. Few of those small islands are +inhabited; still, I'll feel a good deal more comfortable to know that +I've got these weapons stowed away where I can get them at a moment's +notice. By the way, do you know how to shoot?" + +"Yes," answered Drew. "I belong to a rifle club, and I'm a fairly good +shot with either a pistol or a gun." + +"A useful accomplishment," commented the captain. "You never know when +it may come in handy." + +Drew was wild to go on deck again to talk with Ruth. He had scarcely +exchanged three sentences with her, and there were a thousand things he +wanted to say. The time was getting so terribly short! In two days +more he would be sailing away with her father, leaving her behind, and +months might elapse before he could see her again. + +It was his eager desire just now to get her interested in him to some +extent, so that she would think of him sometimes while he was away; to +give her some hint of the tumult in his heart; to let her guess +something of the wealth of homage and adoration she had inspired. +Surely, if he could talk with her, she could not fail to see something +of what he felt. And seeing, she might perhaps respond. + +"I suppose you'll find it hard to leave your daughter behind?" he +ventured to say. + +The captain looked at him in surprise. + +"Bless your heart, I'm not going to leave her behind!" he exclaimed. +"She's going with us after those doubloons," and he laughed. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +A SATISFACTORY OUTLOOK + +Drew was transported with delight, but he threw a certain carelessness +into his tone as he observed: + +"I remember. Does she know what we're going for?" + +"Oh yes," replied her father. "She and I are great chums, and I don't +keep anything from her. She wanted to go with me anyway when I was +thinking of taking on a cargo for Galveston, and now that she knows +treasure is in the wind, she's more eager than ever. You know how +romantic girls are, and she's looking forward with immense pleasure to +this unusual venture of ours." + +Drew would have liked to ask whether the captain's wife were going too, +but he felt that he might be treading on delicate ground, so he used a +round-about method. + +"I don't suppose there'll be any other women in the company?" he said +lightly. + +"No," replied the captain, a little soberly. "When my wife was alive +she used to go with me occasionally on my voyages. The schooner's +named for her. But she's been dead for three years now, and as Ruth is +the only child I have, she and I will be thrown together more closely +than ever. She's finished school. + +"But I'm keeping you," he added, rising from the table at which they +had been sitting; "and I suppose you've got more work on your hands +than you know how to attend to." + +Drew rose with alacrity. + +"I am pretty busy, for a fact," he assented. "That accident to Mr. +Grimshaw has just about doubled my work. But it isn't getting the +upper hand of me, and by the time we are ready to sail I'll have tied +all the lose ends." + +"That's good. By the way, speaking of Tyke, how did you find him this +morning? I suppose you stopped in at the hospital on your way downtown +as usual?" + +"Yes. He's getting along in prime shape, but he's as sore as the +mischief because he can't go along." + +"It's too bad," remarked the captain sympathetically. "I'd have liked +to have him along, not only for his company, but for his shrewdness as +well. He's got a level head on those shoulders of his, and his advice +at times might come in mighty handy. + +"I won't go on deck with you, if you'll excuse me," continued the +captain, reaching out his hand for a farewell shake, "because I've some +work to do in connection with my clearance papers. Good-bye." + +The young man was perfectly willing to be deprived of the captain's +further company, much as he liked him. The captain's daughter would +make a very good substitute. He hoped ardently that she, unlike her +father, would have no business to keep her below. + +His hopes were realized, for he caught sight of her leaning on the rail +and gazing out upon the river with as much absorption as though she had +never seen it before. + +Possibly it did interest her. Possibly, too, she had forgotten all +about the handsome young man who was in conference with her father in +the cabin. Possibly she had not been stirred by the adoration in his +eyes or the agitation in his voice. So many things are possible! + +Anyway, despite a heightened color in her cheeks and a starry +brightness in her eyes, her start of surprise, as she looked up and saw +Drew standing beside her, was done very well indeed. + +"So you conspirators have got through plotting already," she said +lightly. + +"Yes," Drew laughed; "we've been going over every link of the chain and +have decided that it is good and strong. Not that my judgment was +worth very much, I fear, this morning." + +"Why not?" she asked demurely. + +"Because I couldn't put my mind on it," he answered. "My wits were +wool gathering. I scarcely heard what your father said. I'm glad he +isn't a mind reader." + +"So few people are." + +"I wish you were," he said earnestly. + +She stiffened a little, and from that he took warning. He must check +the impetuous words that strove for utterance. He had but barely met +her. How was she to know the feelings that had possessed him since +their casual encounter on the pier? He must not frighten her by trying +to sweep her off her feet. This citadel was to be captured, if at all, +by siege rather than by storm. He would risk disaster by being +premature. + +"Do you know," he said in a lighter tone, "that it was the surprise of +my life when I found that your name was Hamilton?" + +"Why should it have been a surprise?" she asked. + +"Because I had been thinking all along that your name was Adams." + +"What made you think that?" she inquired in genuine surprise. + +"W--why," he stammered, "I saw that name on one of the letters when I +picked up the packet from the grating of the boat." + +She flushed. + +"You mustn't think," he said earnestly, "that I tried to pry. If I'd +done that, I'd have found out the address at the same time. The name +just looked up at me, and I couldn't help seeing it." + +His tone carried conviction, and she unbent. + +"I can see how you made the mistake," she smiled. "The letter on top +of the packet was addressed to a very dear friend whose first name +happens to be the same as mine. She and I were great chums in boarding +school. The letter had been sent to her by a girl we both knew and who +had been traveling abroad, and as Ruth knew I would be interested in +it, she sent it on for me to read." + +"That explains the foreign stamp," he commented. + +"You noticed that too, did you?" she asked, flashing a mischievous +glance at him. "Really, you took in a lot at a single look. You ought +to be a detective." + +"I wish I were," said Drew, as he thought ruefully of the unavailing +plans he had made to find her. "I'm afraid I'm a pretty bungling +amateur." + +"Well, you were only half wrong, anyway," she answered. "The first +part of the name was right." + +"Yes," he admitted. "But that didn't help me much. The last one +didn't either for that matter. There are so many Adamses in the city." + +"How do you know?" she challenged. + +He grew red. "I--I looked in the directory," he confessed. + +She thought it high time to change the subject. + +"I suppose it will be quite a wrench to say good-bye to your people +here," she remarked. + +"I haven't any," replied Drew. "My father and my mother died when I +was small. The only brother I have is out West, and I haven't seen him +for years. I've been boarding since I came to the city, five years +ago." + +"Oh, I'm sorry," she said with ready sympathy. "I know something of +how you feel, because I lost my own mother three years ago. I've been +in boarding school most of the time since then. So I know what it is +to be without a real home. Sometimes our only home was on shipboard." + +"But it's always possible to make a real home," said Drew daringly. +Then he checked himself and bit his lip. That troublesome tongue of +his! When would he learn to control it? + +She pretended not to have heard him. + +"I have my father left," she went on; "and he's the best father in the +world." + +"And the luckiest," put in Drew. + +"He didn't want to take me on this trip at first," she continued, "but +the most of my relatives and friends are in California, and I knew I'd +be horribly lonely in New York. So I begged and teased him to let me +go along, and at last he gave in." + +"Of course he would," Drew said with conviction. "How could he help +it?" + +He knew that if she should ask him, Allen Drew, for the moon he would +promise it to her without the slightest hesitation. He wished he dared +tell her so. + +"Have you ever been to sea?" she asked. + +"No," replied Allen. "But I've always wanted to go." + +And he told her of the longing that had sprung up in him when Captain +Peters had spoken so indifferently about the wonder-lands of mystery +and romance to which his bark was sailing. + +While he talked, she was studying him closely, as is the way of girls, +without appearing to do so. She noted the stalwart well-knit figure, +the handsome features--the strong straight nose, the broad forehead, +the brown eyes that sparkled with animation. + +Drew was at his best when he talked, especially when his audience was +attentive, and there was no doubt that his audience of one was that. +She listened almost in silence only putting in a word now and then. + +The thought came to him that he might be boring her, and he stopped +abruptly. + +"If I keep on, you'll be talked to death," he said apologetically. + +"Not at all," she protested. "I've been intensely interested. I'm +glad you feel so strongly about far-off places, because you're sure to +find plenty of romance where we are going." + +"And treasure, the doubloons, too--don't forget the doubloons," he +laughed, lowering his voice and looking around to see that no one was +listening. + +"And that too," she agreed. "I suppose you've spent your share +already?" she bantered. + +"Well, I'm not quite so optimistic as all that," he laughed. "But I +really think we have a chance. Don't you?" + +"Indeed I do!" she exclaimed. "I don't think it's a wild goose chase +at all!" + +"I'm glad you feel that way about it." + +"Even if things go wrong, we can't be altogether cheated," she went on. +"We'll have had lots of fun looking for our treasure. Then, too, we'll +have had the voyage, and the schooner is a splendid sailing craft." + +"She's a beauty," assented Drew. "I don't wonder you're proud of her." + +"It was really quite flattering that you men should tell me what you +were going for," she said mockingly. "You're always saying that a +woman can't keep a secret." + +"I don't feel that way," protested Drew. "And to prove it, I'll----" + +"Listen!" said Ruth hurriedly. "Wasn't that my father calling me?" + +"I didn't hear him," he replied, looking at her suspiciously. + +"I think I'd better go and make sure," decided Ruth, moved by a sudden +impulse of filial duty. + +"Let him call again," suggested Drew. + +But Ruth was sure that this audacious young man had said quite enough +for one morning, and she held out her hand. + +"Good-bye," she smiled. "I know from what my father has told me that +you have an awful lot to do to get ready for the trip." + +"Have I?" rejoined Drew. "I'd forgotten all about them." + +They laughed. + +He held the soft hand and fluttering fingers a trifle longer than was +absolutely necessary, and after he released them he stood watching her +lithe figure until she disappeared. + +When Drew left the _Bertha Hamilton_ he was treading on air and his +head was in the clouds. + +His dream had come true--part of it at least. He had found her, had +talked with her. He was going to sail in the same ship with her. They +would be thrown together constantly in the enforced intimacy of an +ocean voyage. He would see her in the morning, in the afternoon, in +the evening. And at last he would win her. The last part of his dream +would be realized as surely as the first had been. + +But when he got back to the shop he found that he was in a practical +world whose claims refused to be ignored. Winters still needed a lot +of coaching, and the time was short. The business must not suffer +while Drew was gone. + +One thing lifted from his shoulders some of the weight of +responsibility. Tyke would be at hand to superintend things and to +keep a check on Winter's inexperience. To be sure, he would be in the +hospital for some time to come, but Winters could go to see him every +evening, and get help in his problems. + +The _Bertha Hamilton_ was to sail at high tide on Thursday morning, and +by Wednesday night Drew had sent his baggage on board and had settled +the last item that belonged to Tyke's part of the contract. Everything +from now on was in the hands of Captain Hamilton. + +He went up to the hospital to report to his employer and to say +farewell. They talked long and late, and both were strongly moved when +they shook hands in parting. Who knew what might happen before they +met again? Who knew that they ever would meet again? + +"Good-bye, Mr. Grimshaw," said Drew. "I hope you'll be as well and as +strong as ever when I get back." + +"Good-bye, Allen," responded Tyke, with a suspicious moisture in his +eyes. "I'll be rooting for you an' thinking of you all the time. +Good-bye an' good luck." + +At daybreak the next morning Drew stepped on board the _Bertha +Hamilton_ and the most thrilling experience of his life had begun. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +STORM SIGNALS + +Naturally Drew's first thought as he glanced about the vessel, was of +Ruth. But it was too early for the young lady to be in evidence. + +Captain Hamilton met him with a cordial grasp of the hand, and took him +down to the room assigned to him for the voyage. It was one of a +series of staterooms on either side of a narrow corridor aft, and, +although of course small, it was snug and comfortable. + +There was a berth built against one side of the room. Apart from a +tiny washstand, with bowl and pitcher, and a small swinging rack for a +few books, a chair completed the equipment of the stateroom. The room +was immaculately neat and clean, and in a glass on the washstand was a +tiny bunch of violets. Drew wondered who had put it there. + +"Rather cramped," laughed the captain; "but we sailors have learned how +to live in close quarters, and you'll soon get used to it. There are +some drawers built into the side where you can put your clothes, and +your trunk and bags can go under the berth." + +Drew, with his eyes and thoughts on the flowers, hastened to assure the +captain that there was plenty of room. + +"The stateroom next to yours, I had set aside for Tyke," said Captain +Hamilton regretfully. "It's too bad that the old boy isn't coming. +The one on the other side is Parmalee's." + +"I suppose he hasn't come aboard yet?" half questioned Drew, as he +unstrapped his bags, preparatory to putting their contents in the +drawers. + +"Oh, yes he has," returned the captain. "He came aboard last night. I +suppose he's still asleep. Haven't heard him stirring yet." + +"What time do you expect to pull out?" asked Drew. + +"Almost any minute now. We've got everything aboard and we're only +waiting for the tug that will take us down the bay. The wind's not so +fair this morning." + +The captain excused himself and went on deck, and a little later, +having finished his unpacking, the younger man followed him. + +The one person on whom his thoughts were centered was still invisible, +and Drew had ample time to watch the busy scene upon the schooner's +deck. The members of the crew were hurrying about in obedience to +shouted orders, stowing away the last boxes and provisions that had +come on board. + +The sails were in stops ready to be broken out when the vessel should +be out in the stream. A snorting tug was nosing her way alongside. A +slight mist that had rested on the surface of the water was being +rapidly dissipated by the freshening breeze, and over the Long Island +horizon the sun was coming up, red and resplendent. + +Drew made his way along the deck until he came near the foremast, where +the mate was standing, bawling orders to the men. He was a tall, spare +man, and in his voice there was a ring of authority, not to say +truculence, that boded ill for any man who did not jump when spoken to. +His back was toward Drew, but there was something about the figure that +seemed familiar. + +While he was wondering why this was so, the man turned, and, with +amazement, Drew saw that the mate of the _Bertha Hamilton_ was the +one-eyed man with whom he had had his unpleasant encounter upon the +Jones Lane wharf. + +There was a flash of recognition and plenty of insolence in that one +eye as it was turned upon Drew, but the next moment the man had turned +his back and was again bellowing at the sailors. + +Drew had a feeling of discomfort. He knew from the look the mate had +given him that he still cherished malice. It was unpleasant to have a +discordant note struck at the very outset of the voyage. And then, +there was the suspicious circumstance of Grimshaw's accident. A +one-eyed seaman had figured in that. Should he go to Captain Hamilton +and report his vague suspicions of this fellow? + +He had no time to pursue the thought, however, for at that moment he +heard the clang of a gong, and an ambulance came dashing out on the +pier just as the moorings of the _Bertha Hamilton_ were about to be +cast off. + +Drew's first thought was that an accident had happened, and he hurried +over to the starboard rail. The ambulance had stopped, and two +white-clad attendants were helping out a man who had been reclining on +a mattress within. They stood him on one foot while they slipped a +pair of crutches under his arms. The man lifted his head, and, with a +yell of delight, Drew leaped to the wharf. + +It was Tyke Grimshaw! Pale and haggard the old man looked, but his +indomitable spirit was still in evidence and his eyes twinkled with the +old whimsical smile. + +"Hurrah!" yelled Drew. + +The cry was echoed by Captain Hamilton, who had likewise leaped from +the taffrail to the pier. + +"Didn't expect to see me, eh?" queried Tyke, while the ambulance men +stood by, grinning. + +"No, I didn't," roared Captain Hamilton, gripping him by one hand while +Drew held the other. "But I can't tell you how glad I am that you made +up your mind to come." + +"We might have known you'd get here if you had to walk on your hands," +cried Drew jubilantly. + +"Had to fight like the mischief to get them doctors to let me come," +chortled Tyke, evidently delighted by the warmth of the greeting. +"They told me I was jest plumb crazy to think of it. But after Allen, +here, left me last night I got so lonesome an' restless there was no +holding me. Seemed like I'd go wild if I'd had to stay in that +sick-bay while you fellers were sniffing the sea air. So I jest reared +up on my hind legs, as you might say, an' they had to let me come." + +"And you got here just in the nick of time," said the captain. "Ten +minutes more and we'd have been slipping down the river." + +Carefully supporting him on either side, for he found the unaccustomed +crutches awkward, Captain Hamilton and Drew helped him on board the +vessel and seated him comfortably in a deck chair. + +Tyke drew in great draughts of the salt-laden air and his eyes +glistened as he scrutinized the lines and spars of the schooner, noting +her beauties with the expert eye of the sailor. + +"Great little craft," he said approvingly. "I wouldn't have missed +sailing on her for the world. A cruise in a tidy schooner like this +will do me more good than them blamed doctors could if they fiddled +around me for a year." + +"How is your leg feeling now?" asked Drew solicitously. + +"Better already," grinned Tyke. "In less'n a week I'll be chucking +these crutches overboard. See if I don't." + +Suddenly Tyke fell silent. Drew turned swiftly and saw that the old +man was staring under bent brows at the mate of the schooner. + +"Who's that?" Tyke finally demanded. + +"That's Ditty--my mate," said Captain Hamilton. "I told you he was no +handsome dog, didn't I?" + +"Ugh!" grunted Tyke, and said no more. + +Before Drew could ask the question that was on the tip of his tongue, a +musical voice at his elbow said: + +"Good morning, Mr. Drew." + +He was on his feet in a flash, holding out his hand in eager greeting. +"I was wondering when I was going to see you!" he exclaimed. + +"You'll probably see too much of me before this voyage is over," Ruth +said demurely. "I expect you men will be frightfully bored with one +lone woman hovering around all the time." + +Drew's eyes were eloquent with denial. + +"Impossible!" he said emphatically. Then he became conscious that Tyke +was looking on with some curiosity. + +"Oh, I forgot," he said. "Mr. Grimshaw, this is Miss Hamilton, Captain +Hamilton's daughter. Miss Hamilton, this is Captain Grimshaw." + +Ruth held out her hand, but Tyke deliberately drew her to him and +kissed her on the cheek. She extricated herself blushingly. + +"An old man's privilege, my dear," said Tyke placidly. "An' I've known +your father going on thirty years." + +Drew wished that it were a young man's privilege as well. + +"So you're Rufus Hamilton's daughter," went on Tyke. "My, my! An' +pooty as a picture, too." + +Ruth flushed a little at so open a compliment, but smiled at Grimshaw +and said brightly: + +"I'm so glad you can come with us. I was dreadfully sorry to hear of +your accident. It would have been horrid for you to stay cooped up in +that old hospital. Father has told me how much you had counted on the +trip." + +"The old craft isn't a derelict jest yet," replied Tyke complacently. +"I'm afraid I'll be something of a nuisance till I get steady on my +pins again, but I'll try not to be too much in the way." + +"We'll all be glad to wait on you, I'm sure," protested Ruth, with +another smile that won Grimshaw completely. + +"I'll go down now and see how Wah Lee is getting along with breakfast," +the girl continued. "I've no doubt you folks will be hungry enough to +do justice to it." + +"This air would give an appetite to a mummy," declared Drew. + +"I'm some sharp set myself," admitted Tyke, as the fragrance of +steaming coffee was wafted to him from the cook's galley. "Jest the +very thought of eating in a ship's cabin again makes me hungry." + +Drew's eyes followed the girl as she disappeared down the companionway, +and when he looked up it was to find Tyke regarding him amusedly. + +"So that's the way the wind blows, is it?" the old man chuckled. + +"Nonsense!" disclaimed Drew, although conscious that his tone did not +carry conviction. "She's a very nice girl, but this is only the second +time I've met her." To avoid further prodding, he added: "I'll go down +to your room and see if that Jap has put things shipshape for you." + +As he went to the room reserved for Grimshaw, he met Ruth just coming +out of it. Her skirts brushed against him in the narrow corridor and +he tingled to the finger tips. + +"I've just put a few flowers in Mr. Grimshaw's room," she said. "They +seem to make the bare little cubby holes a bit more homey, don't you +think? I thought they would be a sort of welcome." + +Drew agreed with her, but the hope he had been hugging to his breast +that he had been singled out for special attention vanished. + +"I was foolish enough to think that I had them all," he confessed with +a sheepish grin. + +"What a greedy man!" she laughed. "No, indeed! Did you think I was +going to overlook my father or Mr. Parmalee? You men are so conceited!" + +As though the mention of his name had summoned him, the door of a +neighboring stateroom opened just then and a young man stepped out. He +smiled pleasantly as his gaze fell on Ruth. + +"Good morning, Miss Ruth. I'm incorrigibly lazy, I'm afraid," he +remarked, "or else this good air is responsible for my sleeping more +soundly than for a long time past." + +Ruth assured him that it was still early. + +"If you are lazy, the sun is too," she said, "for, like yourself, it +has just risen." + +"That makes him lazier," returned Parmalee, "for he went to rest a good +deal earlier than I did last night." + +Ruth laughed, and, after introducing the young men to each other, she +vanished in the direction of the captain's cabin. + +The pair exchanged the usual commonplaces as they moved toward the +companionway. Parmalee walked with some difficulty, leaning on a cane, +and Drew had to moderate his pace to keep in step. When they emerged +into the full light of the upper deck, Drew had a chance to gain an +impression of the man who was to be his fellow-voyager. + +Lester Parmalee was fully four inches shorter than the trifle over six +feet to which Drew owned, and his slender frame gave him an appearance +of fragility. This impression was heightened by the cane on which he +leaned and the lines in his face which bespoke delicate health. His +complexion was pale, and seemed more pallid because of its contrast +with a mass of coal black hair which overhung his rather high forehead. +His nose and mouth were good and his eyes dark and keenly intelligent. +Some would have called him handsome. Others would have qualified this +by the adjective romantic. All would have agreed that he was a +gentleman. + +His physical weakness was atoned for to a great extent by other +qualities that grew on one by longer acquaintance. His manners were +polished, his mind trained and well stored. He was a graduate of +Harvard and had traveled extensively. His inherited wealth had not +spoiled him, although it had, perhaps, given him too much +self-assurance and just a shade of superciliousness. + +The two young men as they chatted formed a violent contrast. If Drew +suggested the Viking type, Parmalee would, with equal fitness, have +filled the role of a troubadour. The one was powerful and direct, the +other suave and subtle. One could conceive of Drew's wielding a broad +axe, but would have put in Parmalee's hands a rapier. Each had his own +separate and distinct appeal both to men and women. + +Drew introduced Parmalee to Grimshaw. Then the captain came along, and +all four were engaged in an animated conversation when Namco, the +Japanese steward, announced: + +"Lady say I make honorable report: Bleakfast!" + +"And high time for it!" cried the captain. "I'm as hungry as a hawk +and I guess the rest of you are too. We'll go down and see what that +slant-eyed Celestial has knocked up for us." + +Wah Lee had "done himself proud" in this initial meal, which proved to +be abundant, well-cooked and appetizing. + +All were in high spirits as they gathered about the table. Ordinarily, +the mate would have formed one of the company while the second officer +stood the captain's watch. But the narrow quarters and the unusual +number of passengers on this trip made it necessary that the mate +should eat after the captain and his guests had finished. + +The captain sat at the head of the table while Ruth presided over the +coffee urn at the foot. Tyke sat at the captain's right, and the two +young men were placed one on either side of their hostess. + +She wore a fetching breakfast cap, which did not prevent a rebellious +wisp or two of golden hair from playing about her pink ears. Her +cheeks were rosy, her eyes sparkling, and her demure little housewifely +air as she poured the coffee was bewitching. The excitement of the +start, the novelty of the quest on which they had embarked, and the +presence of two young and attentive cavaliers put her on her mettle, +and she was full of quaint sayings and witty sallies. + +Her father gazed on her fondly, Tyke beamed approvingly, and Parmalee's +admiration was undisguised. As for Drew, the havoc she had already +made in his heart reached alarming proportions. He found himself +picturing a home ashore, where every morning that face would be +opposite to him at the breakfast table with that ravishing dimple +coming and going as she smiled at him. + +"How do you like your coffee?" she asked him, her slender fingers +hovering over the cream jug and the sugar tongs. + +"Two lumps of cream and plenty of sugar," he responded. + +She laughed mischievously. + +"We always try to please," she said; "but really our cream doesn't come +in lumps." + +He reddened. + +"I surely did get that twisted," he said a little sheepishly. "Suppose +we put it the other way around." + +"I guess your mind was far away," she jested. "You must have been +thinking of the treasure." + +"That's exactly right," he returned, looking into her eyes as he took +the cup she handed him. "I was thinking of the treasure." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +BEGINNING THE VOYAGE + +Ruth bent a little lower over her coffee urn to hide the additional +flush that had come into her cheeks, and after that she guided the +conversation to safer ground and took care to leave no opening for +Drew's audacity. + +The meal over, all went on deck. The captain took charge and sent +Ditty and Rogers, the second officer, below to get breakfast. The crew +had already breakfasted. + +Tyke had been carefully helped up by Drew and Captain Hamilton and +placed in a chair abaft the mizzenmast, where his keen old eyes could +delight themselves with the activities of the crew. Ruth had fussed +around him prettily with cushions and a rest for his injured leg, until +the veteran vowed that he would surely be spoiled before the voyage was +over. + +They had passed the Battery by this time, and were moving sluggishly +with the tide. Behind them stretched the vast metropolis, with its +wonderful sky-line sharply outlined by the bright rays of the morning +sun. The Goddess of Liberty held her torch aloft as though to guide +them in their venture. At the right the hills of Staten Island smiled +in their vernal beauty, while at the left, white stretches of gleaming +beach indicated the pleasure resorts where the people of the teeming +city came to play. + +Ditty had come on deck again. Unpleasant though his countenance was, +and as suspicious as Drew was of him, it was plain that the mate of the +_Bertha Hamilton_ was a good seaman. + +He looked now at Captain Hamilton for permission to make sail. The +latter signed to him to go ahead. Useless to pay towage with a +favoring wind and flowing tide. + +Ditty bawled to the crew: + +"Break her out, bullies! H'ist away tops'ls!" + +The halyards were promptly manned. One man started the chorus that +jerked the main topsail aloft. + + "Oh, come all you little yaller boys + An' roll the cotton _down_! + Oh, a husky pull, my bully boys, + An' roll the cotton _down_!" + + +In a trice, it would seem, her three topsails were mastheaded and the +foretopsail laid to the mast. The fore-braces came in, hand over hand, +the hawsers were tossed overboard and the tug fell astern. The _Bertha +Hamilton_ leaned gracefully to the freshening gale, and was shooting +for the Narrows. + +"It is perfectly beautiful, isn't it?" cried Ruth. + +"Magnificent," agreed Drew. + +"It's the finest harbor in all the world, to my mind," declared +Parmalee. + +"I wonder when we'll see it again," mused Ruth, with a touch of +apprehension in her voice. + +"Oh, it won't be long before we're back," prophesied Parmalee. + +"And when we do come back, we'll have enough doubloons with us to buy +up the whole city," joked Drew. + +"Don't be too sure of that," smiled Ruth. "Those who go out to shear +sometimes come back shorn." + +"We simply can't fail," asserted Drew. "Especially as we're taking a +mascot along with us." + +"The mascot may prove to be a hoodoo," laughed Ruth. "I've thought +more than once that I shouldn't have teased my father to take me along." + +"He'd have robbed the whole trip of brightness if he had refused," +affirmed Parmalee. + +"It's nice of you to say that," returned Ruth. "But if any serious +trouble should come up, fighting or anything of that kind, you might +find me terribly in the way." + +"We'd only have an additional reason to fight the harder," declared +Drew. "No harm should come to you while any of us were left alive. +But really, there's nothing to worry about. This trip is going to be a +summer excursion." + +"Nothing more serious to fear than the ghosts of some of the old +pirates who may be keeping guard over their doubloons and may resent +our intrusion," said Parmalee. + +"I'm not afraid of ghosts," cried Ruth. "It's only creatures of flesh +and blood that give me any worry." + +"If anything should come up," said Drew, "we're in pretty good shape to +give the mischief-makers a tussle. Your father has a good collection +of weapons down in the cabin." + +"Yes," assented Ruth; "and I know how to load and handle a revolver." + +Drew put up his hands in pretended fright. + +"Don't shoot!" he pleaded. + +Thus with jest and compliment and banter the time passed until they +were off Sandy Hook. The breeze, while brisk, was light enough to +warrant carrying all sails, and a cloud of canvas soon billowed from +aloft. One after another the sails were broken out on all three masts +until they creaked with the strain. The _Bertha Hamilton_ heeled over +to port, and with every stitch drawing before a following wind gathered +way until she boomed along at a gait that swiftly carried her out of +sight of land. Before long the Sandy Hook Lightship sank from view +astern, and nothing could be seen on any side but the foam-streaked +billows of the Atlantic. + +When the schooner was fairly under way and the watches had been chosen, +the captain gave her into charge of the mate and rejoined Tyke. + +That grizzled veteran was enjoying himself more than he had done at any +time for the last twenty years. As the old warhorse "sniffs the battle +from afar," so he already anticipated with delight the coming battle +with wind and waves. + +"Well, Tyke, what do you think of her?" the captain asked. + +"She's a jim dandy!" ejaculated Tyke enthusiastically. "She rides the +waves like a feather. Jest slips along like she was greased." + +"She's a sweet sailer," declared the captain proudly. "Just wait till +you see how she manages against head winds. Even when she's jammed up +right into the wind, she's good for six knots, and with any kind of a +fair gale, she's good for ten or twelve." + +"With ordinary luck, then, we ought to git to the Caribbean in ten or +twelve days," said Tyke. + +"Unless we meet up with something that strips our spars," returned the +captain confidently. "Of course, a hurricane might knock us out in our +calculations. Taking it by and large though, and allowing for the time +we may have to cruise around before we find the island we're looking +for, I'm figuring that we'll make Sandy Hook again in two months all +right." + +"Better count on three and be sure," cautioned Grimshaw. "You know it +isn't a matter of simply finding the island, staying there mebbe a day +or two an' coming away again. This is more'n jest sending a boat's +crew ashore for water. We may be a month hunting around and trying to +find the pesky thing." + +"And even then we may not find it," laughed the captain. + +"Well, it'll be some satisfaction if we even find the hole it used to +be in," said Tyke. "That'll show that we weren't altogether fools in +taking the paper an' map for gospel truth." + +"I don't know that there'd be much comfort in that," returned Captain +Hamilton. "If you're hungry it doesn't do much good to look at the +hole in a doughnut. There isn't much nourishment except in the +doughnut itself," and he grinned over his little joke. + +The wind held fair for the rest of the day, and the schooner kept on at +a spanking gait, reeling off the miles steadily. By night the +increasing warmth of the air showed how rapidly the South was drawing +near. + +Ruth was a good sailor and felt no bad effect from the long ocean +swells as the ship ploughed over them. Drew, too, who had no sea-going +experience at all and had inwardly dreaded possible sea-sickness, was +delighted to find that he was to be exempt. + +Parmalee, however, although he had traveled extensively, had never been +immune from paying tribute to Neptune. He ate but little at the +noon-day meal, and when the rest gathered around the table at night he +did not appear at all. + +Drew felt that he should be sympathetic, and, to do him justice, he +tried to be. He visited Parmalee in his cabin, condoled with him, and +offered to be of any possible service. But Parmalee wanted nothing +except to be let alone, and, with the consciousness of duty done, Drew +left him to his misery and joined the rest at the table. + +"I'm awfully sorry for poor Mr. Parmalee," remarked Ruth, as she poured +Drew's tea. + +"Poor fellow," chimed in the young man perfunctorily. + +"You don't say that as though you meant it at all," objected Ruth +reprovingly. + +"What do you expect me to do?" laughed Drew. "Weep bitter tears? I'll +do it if you want me to. In fact, I'll do anything you want me to +do--jump through a hoop, roll over, play dead, anything at all." + +"I didn't know you had so many accomplishments," remarked Ruth, with a +touch of sarcasm. + +"Oh, I'm a perfect wonder," replied the young man. "There isn't +anything I can't do or wouldn't do--for you," he added, dropping his +voice so only she could hear it. + +Ruth, however, pretended not to hear, and addressed her next remark to +Grimshaw. + +"How do you like Wah Lee's cooking?" she asked. + +"Fine," replied Tyke. "There's no better cooks anywhere than the +Chinks. Want to look out that he don't slip one over on you, though, +if the victuals run short. Might serve up cat or rat or something of +the kind an' call it pork or veal. An' he'd probably git away with it, +too." + +Ruth gave a little shudder. + +"Cat might not be so bad at that," remarked her father. "Down in +Chili, for instance, they haven't any rabbits and they serve up cats +instead. 'Gato piquante' they call it, which means savory cat. I've +never tasted it, but I know those who have, and they say that it makes +the finest kind of stew." + +"Why not?" commented Drew, with a grin. "Catfish is good. So is +catsup. Why not cat stew?" + +"I think you men are just horrid!" exclaimed Ruth. "Taking away poor +Wah Lee's character like this behind his back." + +"Well, I guess we won't have to worry about his falling from grace on +this cruise," laughed her father. "We're too well stocked up for him +to be driven to try experiments." + +When they went up on deck, the moon had risen. Its golden light tipped +the waves with a sheen of glory and turned the spray into so much +glittering diamond dust. Under its magic witchery, the ropes and +rigging looked like lace work woven by fairy fingers. + +The crew were grouped up in the bow, and one of them was playing a +concertina. Mr. Rogers paced the deck, casting a look aloft from time +to time to see that the sails were drawing well. The wind had a slight +musical sound as it swept through the rigging, and this blended with +the regular slapping of the water against her sides as the _Bertha +Hamilton_ sailed steadily on her course. + +The air was the least bit chilly, and this gave Drew an excuse for +tucking Ruth cozily into the chair he had placed in a sheltered +position behind the deckhouse. His fingers trembled as he drew the +rugs and shawls around her. She snuggled down, wholly content to be +waited on so devotedly, and perhaps--who knows?--sharing to some degree +the emotion that made the man's pulse race so madly. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE GREEN-EYED MONSTER + +Drew placed his own chair close beside Ruth's--as close as he dared. +And they talked. + +There was something in the witchery of that moonlit night that seemed +to remove certain restraints and reserves imposed by the cold light of +day, and they spoke more freely of their lives and hopes and ambitions +than would have been possible a few hours earlier. + +The girl told of the main events that had filled her nineteen years of +life. Her voice was tender when she spoke of her mother, whose memory +remained with her as a benediction. After she had been deprived by +death of this gentle presence, she, Ruth, had stayed with relatives in +Santa Barbara and Los Angeles during her vacations and had passed the +rest of her time at boarding school. She had neither sister nor +brother, and she spoke feelingly of this lack, which had become more +poignant since her mother's death. She had felt lonely and restless, +and the bright spots in her life had been those which were made for her +by the return of her father from his voyages. + +Of her father she spoke with enthusiasm. Nobody could have been more +thoughtful of her comfort and happiness than he had been. The fact +that they were all that were left of their family, had made them the +more dependent for their happiness on each other, and the affection +between them was very strong. + +It had been her dearest wish that he should be able to retire from the +sea entirely, so that she could make a home for him ashore. As far as +means went, she supposed he was able to give up his vocation now if he +chose. But he was still in the prime of health and vigor, and she had +little doubt that the sea--that jealous mistress--would beckon to him +for years to come. + +This time she could not bear being left behind, and as the voyage +promised to be a short one, he had yielded to her persuasions to be +taken along. + +Drew listened with the deepest sympathy and interest, watching the play +of emotion that accompanied her words and made her mobile features even +more charming than usual. + +Encouraged by her confidences, he in turn told her of his experiences +and ambitions. He could scarcely remember his parents, and to this +degree his life had been even more lonely than her own. He had come to +the city from an inland town in New York State when he was but little +over seventeen, and had secured a position in the chandlery shop. He +had worked hard and had gained the confidence and good will of his +employer, of whose goodness of heart he spoke in the warmest terms. +His own feeling for Tyke, he explained, was what he imagined he would +have felt for his father if the latter had lived. He had felt that he +was progressing, and had been fairly content until lately. + +But now--and his voice took on a tone that stirred Ruth as she +listened--he had been shaken entirely out of that contentment. He had +suddenly realized that life held more than he had ever dreamed. There +was something new and rich and vital in it, something full of promise +and enchantment, something that he must have, something that he would +give his soul to get. + +He had grown so earnest as he talked, so compelling, his eyes so glowed +with fire and feeling, that Ruth, though thrilled, felt almost +frightened at his intensity. She knew perfectly well what he meant, +knew that he was wooing her with all his heart and soul. And the +knowledge was sweet to her. + +But he had come too far and fast in his wooing, and she was not yet at +the height of her own emotion. To be sure, he had attracted her +strongly from the very first. From the day when she had met him on the +pier, she had thought often of the gallant young knight who had aided +her in her emergency, and his delight when he had found her on her +father's ship had been only a shade greater than her own. + +But, although her heart was in a tumult and she secretly welcomed his +advances, she did not want to be carried off her feet by the sheer +ardor of his passion. She wanted to study him, to know him better, and +to know her own feelings. She was not to be won too easily and +quickly. An obscure virginal instinct rather resented the excessive +sureness of this impetuous suitor. + +So she roused herself from the soft languor into which the moonlight +and his burning words had plunged her, and rallied, jested and parried, +until, despite his efforts, the conversation took a lighter tone. + +"You've made quite an impression on daddy," she laughed. "He thinks it +was wonderfully clever of you to get at the meaning of that map and the +confession as quickly as you did." + +"I'm glad if he likes me," Drew answered. "I may have to ask him +something important before long, and it will be a good thing to stand +well with him." + +"He'll be on your side," she replied lightly. "I wouldn't dare tell +you all the nice things he has said about you. It might make you +conceited, and goodness knows----" + +"Am I conceited?" he asked quickly. + +"All men are," she answered evasively. + +"I don't think I am," he protested. "As a matter of fact, I'm very +humble. I find myself wondering all the time if I am worthy." + +"Worthy of what?" she asked. + +"Worthy of getting what I want," he answered. + +"The doubloons?" she asked mischievously. "Dear me! I can hardly +imagine you in a humble role. To see the confident Mr. Drew in such a +mood would certainly be refreshing." + +"Don't call me Mr. Drew," he protested. "It sounds so formal. We're +going to be so like one big family on this ship for the next few weeks +that it seems to me we might cut out some of the formality without +hurting anything." + +"What shall I call you then?" she asked demurely. + +"There are lots of things that I should like to have you call me if I +dared suggest them," he replied. "But for the present, suppose you +call me Allen." + +"Very well, then--Allen," she conceded. + +His pulses leaped. + +"I don't suppose I'd dare go further and beg permission to call you +Ruth?" he hazarded. + +"Make it Miss Ruth," she teased. + +"No, Ruth," he persisted. + +"Oh, well," she yielded, "I suppose you'll have to have it your own +way. It's frightful to have to deal with such an obstinate man as you +are, Mr.--Allen." + +"It's delightful to have to deal with such a charming girl as you are, +Miss--Ruth." + +They laughed happily. + +"It's getting late," she said, drawing herself up out of the warm nest +that Drew had made for her, "and I think I really ought to go below." + +"Don't go yet," he begged. "It isn't a bit late." + +"How late is it?" she asked. + +He drew out his watch and looked at it in the moonlight. + +"I told you it wasn't late," he declared, putting the watch back in his +pocket. + +"You don't dare let me look at it," she laughed. + +"It must be fast," he affirmed. + +"You're a deceiver," she retorted. "Really I must go. You wouldn't +rob me of my beauty sleep, would you?" + +"Leave that to other girls," he suggested. "You don't need it." + +"You're a base flatterer," she chided. + +Drew reluctantly gathered up her wraps, and, with a last lingering look +at the glory of the sea and sky, they went below. + +It was not really necessary for him to take her hand as they parted for +the night, but he did so. + +"Good night, Ruth," he said softly. + +"Good night--Allen," she answered in a low voice. + +His eyes held hers for a moment, and then she vanished. + +It was the happiest night that Drew had ever known. He had opened his +heart to her--not so far as he would have liked and dared, but as far +as she had permitted him. And in the soft beauty of her eyes he +thought that he had detected the beginnings of what he wanted to find +there. And she had permitted him to call her "Ruth." And she had +called him "Allen." How musical the name sounded, coming from her lips! + +It was fortunate that he had the memory of that night to comfort him in +the days that followed. + +Ruth was more distracting than ever the next morning when she appeared, +fresh and radiant, at the breakfast table. But in some impalpable way +she seemed to have withdrawn within herself. Perhaps she felt that she +had let herself go too far in the glamour of the moonlight. + +She was, if anything, gayer than before, full of bright quips and +sayings that kept them laughing, but she distributed her favors +impartially to all. And she was blandly unresponsive to Drew's efforts +to monopolize her attentions. + +It was so all through that day and the next. There was nothing about +her that was stiff or repellant, but, nevertheless, Drew felt that she +was keeping him at arm's length. It was as though she had served +notice that she would be a jolly comrade, but nothing more. + +Poor Drew, unused to the ways of women, could not understand her. He +tried again and again to get her by herself, in the hope that he might +regain the ground that seemed to be slipping away from under him. But +she seemed to have developed a sudden fondness for the society of her +father and Grimshaw, and she managed in some way to include one or both +of them in the walks and chats that Drew sought to make exclusive. + +Then, too, there was Parmalee. + +That young man fully recovered from his seasickness after the third day +out and resumed his place in the life of the ship. + +Ruth had been full of solicitude and attentions during his illness, and +when he again took his place at table, she expressed her pleasure with +a warmth that Drew felt was unnecessary. His own congratulations were +much more formal. + +Parmalee seemed to feel that he had appeared somewhat at a disadvantage +in succumbing to the illness which the others had escaped, and the +feeling put him on his mettle. He made special efforts to be genial +and companionable, and his conversation sparkled with jests and +epigrams. He could talk well; and even Drew had to admit to himself +grudgingly that the other young man was brilliant. + +Ruth, always fond of reading, had turned to books in her loneliness +after her mother's death and had read widely for a girl of nineteen, +and their familiarity with literature made a common ground on which she +and Parmalee could meet with interest. He had brought along quite a +number of volumes which he offered to lend to Ruth and to Drew. + +Ruth thanked him prettily and accepted. Drew thanked him cooly and +declined. + +All three were sitting on deck one afternoon, while Tyke and the +captain talked earnestly apart. Ruth's dainty fingers were busy with +some bit of embroidery. Her eyes were bent on her work, but the eyes +of the young men rested on her. And both were thinking that the object +of their gaze was well worth looking at. + +Ruth herself knew perfectly well the attraction she exerted. And she +would have been less than human if she had not been pleased with it. +What girl of nineteen would not enjoy the homage of a Viking and a +troubadour? + +She was not a coquette, but there was a certain satisfaction that she +could not wholly deny herself in playing one off against the other. It +would do Drew no harm to make him a little less sure of himself and of +her. In her heart she liked his Lochinvar methods, while, at the same +time, she rather resented them. She was no cave woman, to be dragged +off at will by a determined lover. + +She had a real liking for Parmalee. He was suave, polished and +deferential. His attentions gallant without being obtrusive, and his +geniality and culture made him a very pleasant companion. + +"We're like the Argonauts going out after the Golden Fleece," Parmalee +was remarking. + +"Yes," Ruth smiled, looking up from her work, "it doesn't seem as +though this were the twentieth century at all. Here we are, as much +adventurers as they were in the old times of Jason and his companions." + +"Let's hope we'll be as lucky as they were," said Drew. "If I remember +rightly, they got what they went after." + +"And yet when they started out they weren't a bit more sure than we +are," rejoined Parmalee. + +"And we won't find any old dragon waiting to swallow us, as they did," +laughed Ruth. + +"Well, whether we find the treasure or not, we'll have plenty of fun in +hunting for it," prophesied Parmalee. "Somehow, I feel that we are on +the brink of a great adventure. I think I know something of the +feeling of the old explorers when they first came down to these parts. +Do you remember the way Keats describes it, Miss Ruth?" + +"I don't recall," answered Ruth. + +"I'll go and get the book. I have it in my cabin. Or wait. Perhaps I +can remember the way it goes." He paused a moment, and then began: + + "Then feel I like some watcher of the skies + When a new planet swims into his ken; + Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes + He stared at the Pacific--and all his men + Looked at each other with a wild surmise-- + Silent, upon a peak in Darien." + + +"What noble verse!" exclaimed Ruth. + +Drew remained silent. + +"The very air of these southern seas is full of romance," went on +Parmalee. "And of tradition too. Have you ever heard the story of +Drake's drum?" + +"What is it?" asked Ruth. + +"The old drum of Sir Francis Drake that called his men to battle is +still preserved in the family castle in England," explained Parmalee. +"It went with him on all his voyages. It beat the men to quarters in +the fight with the Spanish Armada and in all his battles on the Spanish +Main, when, to use his own words, he was 'singeing the whiskers of the +King of Spain.' He was buried at sea in the West Indies, and the drum +beat taps when his body was lowered into the waves. + +"The story goes that when Drake was dying he ordered that the drum +should be sent back to England. Whenever the country should be in +mortal danger, his countrymen were to beat that drum, and Drake's +spirit would come back and lead them to victory." + +"And have they ever done it?" asked Ruth, intensely interested. + +"Twice," replied Parmalee. "Once when the Dutch fleet entered the +Thames with a broom at the masthead to show that they were going to +sweep the British from the seas. They beat it again when Nelson broke +the sea power of Napoleon at Trafalgar. + +"Here's what an English writer supposes Drake to have said when he was +dying: + + 'Take my drum to England, hang it by the shore, + Strike it when your powder's running low; + If the Dons sight Devon, I'll quit the port of heaven + And drum them up the Channel, as we drummed them long ago.'" + + +"How stirring that is!" cried Ruth, clapping her hands. + +"Yes," admitted Drew, a little dryly. "They must have forgotten to +beat it though at the time of the American Revolution." + +It was a discordant note and all felt it. + +"Oh, how horrid of you!" exclaimed Ruth. "You take all the romance out +of the story." + +"I'm sorry," said Drew, instantly penitent. + +"I don't believe you are a bit," declared Ruth. "And Mr. Parmalee told +that story so beautifully," she added, with a wicked little desire to +punish Drew. + +"Cross my heart and hope to die," protested Drew, to appease his +divinity. "Put any penance on me you like. I'll sit in sackcloth and +put ashes on my head if you say so, and you'll never hear a whimper." + +"He seems to be suffering horribly," said Parmalee, a bit +sarcastically, "and you know, Miss Ruth, that cruel and unusual +punishments are forbidden by the Constitution. I think you'd better +forgive him." + +Ruth laughed and the tension was broken. But there was still a little +feeling of restraint, and after a few minutes Parmalee excused himself +and strolled away. + +Ruth kept on stitching busily, her face bent studiously over her work. + +Drew looked at her miserably, bitterly regretting the momentary impulse +to which he had yielded. He knew in his heart that he had been jealous +of the impression that Parmalee, by his easy and graceful narration, +had seemed to be making on Ruth, and he hated himself for it. + +"Ruth," he said softly. + +She seemed not to have heard him. + +"Ruth," he repeated. + +"Yes?" she answered, but without looking up. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +GATHERING CLOUDS + +"Ruth," Drew pleaded. "Look at me." + +She dropped her work then and met his eyes. + +"You're angry with me, aren't you?" he asked. + +"No; I'm not angry," she replied slowly. + +"But you're vexed?" he suggested. + +"I should say rather that I am sorry," she answered. "Everything has +been so pleasant between us all up to now, and I hoped it was going to +remain so." + +"It was that impulsive tongue of mine," he said. "The words slipped +out before I thought." + +"What you said was nothing," she replied. "But the tone in which you +spoke was unpleasant. It seemed as though you were trying to put a +damper on things. It came like a dash of cold water, and I'm sure that +Mr. Parmalee felt chilled by it." + +"You seem very much interested in Mr. Parmalee's feelings," he said, +with a return of jealousy at the mention of the other's name. + +"No more than I am in those of any of my friends," she answered. "I +think he is very nice, and I was very much interested in what he was +saying," she added, with a tiny touch of malice. + +But she repented instantly as she saw the pain in Drew's eyes. + +"Let's forget all about it!" she exclaimed. "It was only a trifle, +anyway." + +"You forgive me then?" he asked. + +"Of course I forgive you, you foolish boy! And to prove it, I'm not +going to make you do any penance," she added gaily. + +From that time, a smile from Ruth raised Drew to the seventh heaven, +but when her smile was bestowed on Parmalee, he was dashed to the +depths. + +One thing especially was calculated to torture the jealous heart of a +lover. Several times Drew observed Ruth and Parmalee engaged in what +seemed to be a peculiarly confidential talk. Their heads were close +together and their voices low. They seemed to be talking of something +that concerned themselves alone. + +The first time he saw them together in this way, he strolled up to +them, but they changed instantly to a lighter and more careless tone, +and introduced a topic in which he could join. But Ruth's face was +flushed and Parmalee was scarcely able to disguise his impatience at +the interruption. + +After the first time, Drew left them alone. His pride refused to let +him be a third in a conversation plainly designed for two. + +In his secret musings Allen Drew dwelt on and exaggerated the +advantages which Parmalee possessed. To be sure, he was weak and +delicate, while Drew had the strength of a young ox. But Parmalee had +wealth and standing and a polished manner that appealed strongly to +women. Why should he not, with his suavity and winning smile, +fascinate an impressionable girl? + +Ruth herself, warned by the chilliness between the men that grew more +pronounced with every day that passed, did her best to be prudent. The +mischievous pleasure of having them both dangle when she pulled the +strings had been replaced by a feeling almost of alarm. She realized +enough of the fervor of Drew's passion to know that he was in deadly +earnest and would brook no rivalry. + +Tyke had been enjoying himself hugely from the start. He had utterly +cast aside all thoughts of the business he had left behind him, and +when Drew sometimes referred to it he refused to listen. The sea air +and the delight of being once more in the surroundings of his early +days had proved a tonic. His leg mended with magical rapidity, and by +the time they had been ten days at sea he cast aside his crutches and +managed to get about with the aid of a cane. Almost every moment of +the day and evening when he was not at meals, he spent on deck, +exchanging yarns with Captain Hamilton, studying the set of the sails, +or gazing on the boundless expanse of sea and sky. + +The weather so far had been perfect, and the schooner had slipped along +steadily and rapidly, most of the time carrying her full complement of +canvas. The captain thought that in about two or three days more they +would be in the vicinity of Martinique. Once there, to the westward of +that island, they would cruise about until the cay shaped like the hump +of a whale should appear on the horizon. + +But despite the good weather, there had been for some time past a +shadow on the face of the captain which betrayed uneasiness. The young +people, absorbed in their own affairs, had not noticed it, but Tyke's +shrewd eyes had seen that all was not well, and one day when the +captain dropped into a chair beside him, he broached the subject +without ceremony. + +"What's troubling you, Cap'n Rufe?" he asked. "Out with it and git it +off your chest." + +"Oh, nothing special," replied the captain evasively. + +"Yes there is," retorted Tyke. "You can't fool me. So let's have it." + +"Well, to tell you the truth," said Captain Hamilton, "I don't quite +like the actions of the crew." + +"No more do I," said Tyke calmly. + +"Have you noticed it too?" + +"I've still got a pair of pretty good eyes in my head. But heave +ahead." + +"Well, in the first place," said the captain, "it's about the worst set +of swabs that ever called themselves sailors. Some of 'em don't seem +to know the spanker boom from the jib. Of course, that isn't true of +all of 'em. Perhaps half of them are fairly good men. But the rest +seem to be scum and riffraff." + +"What did you ship the lubbers for?" asked Grimshaw. + +"I didn't," answered Captain Hamilton. "I was so busy with other +things that I left it to Ditty." + +"An' there you left it to a good man!" Tyke said scornfully. "I've +been keeping tabs on that Bug-eye, as they call him, since I come +aboard. He's a bad actor, he is. Listen here, Cap'n Rufe----" and the +old man, with a warning hand on Captain Hamilton's knee and in a low +voice, repeated what he had told Drew in the hospital about the +one-eyed man being at the scene of his accident. + +"And was it Ditty?" gasped Captain Hamilton. + +"Surest thing you know. An' I don't believe I dreamed he went through +my pockets. What was that for, when he didn't rob me of my watch and +cash?" + +The master of the schooner shook his head thoughtfully, making no +immediate reply. + +"Ditty's a pretty good sailor himself, I notice," went on Tyke. + +"None better," assented the captain. + +"An' he knows a sailor when he sees one?" continued the old man. + +"Of course he does," the captain affirmed. "And that's what has seemed +strange to me. He's often picked crews for me before, and I've never +had to complain of his judgment." + +"Well then," concluded Tyke, "it stands to reason that if he's shipped +a lot of raffraff this time, instead of decent sailors, he'd a reason +for it." + +"It would seem so," admitted the captain uneasily. + +"Have you put it up to him?" asked Tyke. + +"I have. And he admits that some of the men are no good, but says that +he was stuck. He left it to some boarding-house runners, and he says +they put one over on him by bundling the worst of the gang aboard at +the last minute." + +"A mighty thin excuse," commented Tyke. + +"Of course it is; and I raked Ditty fore and aft on account of it. I'm +through with him after this cruise. I've only kept him on as long as I +have because Mr. Parmalee wanted it so. But he finds another berth as +soon as we reach New York." + +"I've noticed him talking to some of the men a good deal," remarked +Tyke. + +"That's another thing that's worried me," said the captain. "Up to +now, Ditty has always been a good bucko mate and has kept the men at a +distance. Did you see the man I knocked down the other day when he +started to give me some back talk?" + +"Yes," grinned Tyke. "You made a neat job of it. Couldn't have done +it better myself in the old days." + +"But the peculiar thing about it," continued the captain, "was that I +had to do it although the mate was a good deal nearer to the fellow +than I was. Ordinarily, Ditty would have put him on his back by the +time he'd got out the second word. But this time he had paid no +attention, and I had to do the job myself." + +"Well, what do you make of it all?" + +"I don't know what to make of it, and that's just what's troubling me. +If I could only get to the bottom of it, I'd make short work of the +mystery." + +"How's your second officer, Rogers? Is he a man you can depend on?" + +"He's true blue. A fine, straight fellow and a good sailor." + +"That's good." + +"I wish he were mate in place of Ditty," muttered the captain. + +"Well, he ain't," replied Tyke. "An' to make any change jest now with +nothing more'n you've got to go on, would put you in bad with the +marine court. We'll jest keep our eyes peeled for the first sign of +real trouble, and' if them skunks start to make any we'll be ready for +'em." + +"I wonder what the matter is with Drew and Parmalee over there!" +exclaimed the captain suddenly. "More trouble?" + +Tyke followed the direction the captain indicated and was astonished to +see that the young men seemed to be on the verge of an altercation. +Their faces were flushed and their attitude almost threatening. + +The captain hurried toward them, and Tyke hobbled after him as fast as +he was able. + +The tension between Parmalee and Drew had been slowly but steadily +tightening. Little things, trifles in themselves, had increased it +until they found it hard to be civil to each other. In the presence of +Ruth and the two older men, they suppressed this feeling as much as +possible; and except by Ruth it had been unsuspected. + +The purest accident that afternoon had brought the matter to a crisis. + +Ruth was detained below by some duty she had on hand, and Drew was +pacing the deck while Parmalee, leaning on his cane, was standing near +the rail looking out to sea. + +As Drew passed the other, the ship lurched and his foot accidentally +struck the cane, which flew out of Parmalee's hand. Deprived of the +support on which he relied, the latter staggered and almost lost his +balance. He saved himself by clutching at the rail. Then he turned +about with an angry exclamation. + +Drew stooped instantly and picked up the cane, which he held out to +Parmalee. + +"I'm sorry," he said. "It was an awkward accident." + +"Awkward, sure enough," sneered Parmalee. + +"As to it's being an accident----" He paused suggestively. + +Drew stepped nearer to him, his eyes blazing. + +"What do you mean?" he asked. "Do you intimate that I did it +purposely?" + +Parmalee regretted the ungenerous sneer as soon as he spoke. But his +blood was up, and before Drew's menacing attitude he would not retract. + +"You can put any construction on it that you please," he flared. + +Just then Tyke and the captain came hurrying up. + +"Come, come, boys," said the captain soothingly, "keep cool." + +"What's the trouble with you two young roosters?" queried Tyke. + +They looked a little sheepish. + +"Just a little misunderstanding," muttered Drew. + +"I fear it was my fault," admitted Parmalee. "Mr. Drew accidentally +knocked my cane out of my hand, and I flew off at a tangent and was +nasty about it when he apologized." + +"Nothing mor'n that?" said Tyke, with relief. "You young fire-eaters +shouldn't have such hair-trigger tempers." + +"Shake hands now and forget it," admonished the captain genially. + +The young men did so, both being ashamed of having lost control of +themselves. But there was no cordiality in the clasp, and Tyke's keen +sense divined that something more serious than a trivial happening like +the cane incident lay between the two. + +Tyke had never seen the French motto: "_Cherchez la femme_," and could +not have translated it if he had. But he had seen enough of trouble +between men, especially young men, to know that in nine cases out of +ten a woman was at the bottom of it. He thought instantly of Ruth. + +He decided to have a serious talk with Drew at the earliest +opportunity. But as he looked about, after the young men had departed, +he saw signs of a change in the weather that in a moment drove all +other thoughts out of his head. He limped into the cabin companionway +to look at the barometer. + +"Jumping Jehoshaphat!" he shouted, "we're going to ketch it sure! +She's down to twenty-nine an' still a-dropping!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE STORM BREAKS + +Tyke was not the only one who had noted the falling barometer. Captain +Hamilton was already standing at the foot of the mainmast, shouting +orders that were taken up by Ditty and Rogers and carried on to the men. + +To the north, great masses of leaden-gray clouds were heaped up against +the sky. The sea was as flat as though a giant roller had passed over +it. A curious stillness prevailed--the wind seemed hushed, holding its +breath before the tempest burst. + +The hatches were battened down and the storm slides put on the +companionway. Most of the sails were reefed close, and with everything +snug alow and aloft, the _Bertha Hamilton_ awaited the coming storm. + +This wait was not long. A streak of white appeared along the sea line, +and this drove nearer with frightful rapidity. With a pandemonium of +sound, the tempest was upon them. The spars bent, groaning beneath the +strain, and the stays grew as taut as bowstrings. The schooner +careened until her copper sheathing showed red against the green and +white of the foaming waves. + +The screaming of the wind was deafening. Hundreds of tons of water +crashed against the schooner's sides and poured over her stern. The +sea clawed at her hull as though to tear it in pieces. Tatters of foam +and spindrift swept over the deck and dashed as high as the topgallant +yards. The spray was blinding and hid one end of the craft from the +other. + +Staggering under the repeated pounding of the tumbling, churning waves +that shook her from stem to stern, the _Bertha Hamilton_ plunged on, +her bow at times buried in the surges, her spars creaking and groaning, +but holding gallantly. + +Ruth had been ordered by her father to go below, and he had advised +Parmalee and Drew to do the same. But the fascination of the storm had +been too much for the young men to resist, and they crouched in the +shelter of the lee side of the deckhouse, holding on tightly while they +watched the unchained fury of the waters. As for Tyke, he was in his +element, and nothing could have induced him to leave the deck. + +For nearly twenty-four hours the storm continued, although its chief +fury was spent before the following morning. But the billows still ran +high, and it was evening before the topsails could be set. Later on, +as the wind subsided, the schooner, having shown her mettle, settled +once more into her stride and flew along like a ghost. + +Then, for the first time since the storm had begun, the captain laid +aside his oil-skins and relaxed. + +"That was a fierce blow," chuckled Tyke. "A little more and you might +have called it a hurricane." + +"It was a teaser," asserted the captain. "Did you see how the old girl +came through it? Never lost a brace or started a seam. Hardly a drop +of water in the hold. Didn't I tell you she was a sweet sailer, either +in fair weather or foul? But the crew! Holy mackerel! what a gang of +lubbers." + +"You're right to be proud of the craft," assented Tyke. "Has it taken +her much out of her course?" + +"A bit to the north, but nothing more. For that matter, we've passed +Martinique. I figure it out that we may raise the hump-backed island +to-morrow, if we have luck." + +A feeling of relief was experienced by the rest of the after-guard when +at last the danger was past, and it was a happy, if tired, party that +gathered about the captain's table that evening. + +Supper over, they went on deck. The tropical night had fallen. There +was no moon, and a velvety blackness stretched about the ship on every +side, broken here and there by a faint phosphorescent gleam as a wave +reared and broke. + +The schooner still rose and plunged from the aftermath of the storm, +and the slipperiness of the wet decks made the footing insecure. The +captain was fearful that Ruth might have a fall, and after a while +urged her to go below. Drew and Parmalee offered to accompany her, but +she was very tired after the excitement and sleeplessness of the +previous night, and excused herself on the plea that she thought she +would retire early. + +Drew and Parmalee were standing near each other just abaft the +mizzenmast, while Tyke and the captain were aft, talking in low voices. + +An unusually big wave struck the schooner a resounding slap on the +starboard quarter, causing her to lurch suddenly. Drew was thrown off +his balance. He tried to regain his footing, but the slippery deck was +treacherous and he fell heavily, striking his head on the corner of the +hatch cover. + +How long he lay there he did not know, but it must have been for +several minutes, for when he recovered consciousness his clothes were +wet where they had absorbed the moisture from the deck. His head was +whirling, and he felt giddy and confused. He put his hand to his +forehead and felt a cut that was bleeding profusely. + +Drew had a horror of scenes, and instead of reporting to Tyke or to the +captain, he resolved to go quietly to his room, bind up the wound as +well as he was able, and then get into his berth with the hope that a +good night's rest would put him in good shape again. + +He wondered in a dazed way where Parmalee was. Why had not the other +young man sought to help him? He had been standing close by at the +time and could not have failed to notice the accident. Was it possible +that Parmalee still nourished a grudge, and had refused the slight +service that humanity should have dictated? No, Parmalee was not that +kind. There was no love lost between the two, but Drew refused to do +him that injustice. + +But Drew's wound demanded attention, and he was too confused just then +to solve problems that could wait till later. So he picked his way +rather unsteadily to the companionway and went down. + +He had to pass the captain's cabin on his way to his own room. As he +did so, the light streamed full upon him, and Ruth, who had not yet +gone to her own room, looked up from her sewing and saw him. She gave +a little scream and rushed toward him. + +"Oh, Allen, Allen!" she cried, taking his face in her hands. "What has +happened? Your head is bleeding! Are you badly hurt?" + +"Don't be frightened, Ruth," he returned. "I was stupid enough to fall +and cut my head a little. Bu it's nothing of any account. I'll bind +it up and I'll be as right as a trivet in the morning." + +"_You'll_ bind it up!" she exclaimed. "You'll do nothing of the kind. +You'll come right in here and let me fix that poor head for you." + +She drew him in and he went unresistingly, glad to yield to her gentle +tyranny. + +Ruth found warm water, ointment, lint and bandages, and deftly bound up +the wound. She was a sailor's daughter, and an adept in first aid to +the wounded. Her soft hands touched his face and head, her eyes were +dewy with sympathy, and Drew found himself rejoicing at the accident +that had brought him this boon. She had never been so close to him +before, and he was sorry when the operation was ended. + +"Through so soon?" he asked regretfully. + +She laughed merrily. She could laugh now. + +"I can take the bandage off and start all over again if you say so," +she said mischievously. + +"Do," he begged. + +"Be sensible," she commanded. "Go at once now and get to bed. +Remember, you're my patient and must obey orders." + +She shook her finger at him and tried to frown with portentous +severity. But the dancing eyes and mutinous dimple belied the frown. + +"If you're my nurse, I'm going to be sick for a long time," he warned +her. + +He tried to grasp the menacing finger, but she eluded him and playfully +drove him out of the room. + +The sun was shining brightly through the porthole of his room when he +awoke the next morning, and on reaching for his watch he found that he +had waked later than usual. He dressed himself quickly. He felt a +little light-headed from the effect of his wound, but nothing more. + +There was an exclamation of alarm from Tyke and the captain when they +saw his bandaged head. + +"Only a cut," said Allen lightly. And he briefly narrated the details +of his misadventure. + +"Lucky it was no worse," commented Tyke. + +"Wasn't there any one near by at that time?" asked the captain. + +"Why----" began Drew, and stopped. To say that Parmalee had been near +him would have been an indictment of the former for his seeming +heartlessness. He did not want to take advantage of his absent rival. + +"If there had been, he'd have certainly picked me up," he evaded, +rather lamely. + +Ruth greeted him in her usual gay and gracious manner, but he sought in +vain for any trace of the tenderness of the night before. She was on +her guard again. + +"How is my patient this morning?" she smiled. + +"Fine," he answered. "If you ever want any recommendation as a nurse +you can refer to me. Only I wouldn't give it," he added. + +"Why not?" she asked. + +"Because I want to be your only patient." + +She hastened to get off perilous ground. + +"I wonder what's keeping Mr. Parmalee this morning," she observed. +"He's even more of a sleepy head than you are." + +"Tired out, I guess," conjectured the captain. "This storm has used us +all up pretty well." + +Ruth summoned Namco and told him to knock on Mr. Parmalee's door. The +Japanese was back in a minute. + +"Honorable gent no ansler," he reported. + +"That's queer," remarked the captain. "I'll step there myself." + +He returned promptly, looking very grave. "He isn't there," he +announced. + +"Perhaps he's gone on deck to get an appetite for breakfast," suggested +Drew lightly. + +"It's not alone that he's absent," said the captain in a worried tone. +"His bed hasn't been slept in!" + +There was a chorus of startled exclamations. Drew and Tyke jumped to +their feet and Ruth lost her color. + +"Oh, Daddy!" she cried, "it can't be that anything's happened to him?" + +"Don't get excited, Ruth," said her father soothingly. "There may be +some explanation. I'll have the ship searched at once." + +They all hurried on deck, and the captain summoned the mate and Mr. +Rogers. He told them what he feared and ordered that the ship be +searched thoroughly. + +Rogers turned to obey, but the one-eyed mate, Cal Ditty, stopped him +with a gesture. + +"No use," he said. "Mr. Parmalee ain't here." + +"How do you know?" cried the captain. + +"Because he was thrown overboard last night," was the sudden grim +answer. + +Ruth gave a smothered shriek and the others gasped in amazement and +horror. + +"What do you mean?" shouted the captain. + +"Just what I said." + +"Who threw him overboard?" + +"He did," declared Ditty, pointing to Drew. + +There was a moment of terrible silence as the others looked in the +direction of the mate's pointing finger. + +Drew stood as though he were turned to stone. His tongue was +paralyzed. He saw consternation in the faces of Tyke and the captain. +He glimpsed the horror in the eyes of Ruth. Then, with a roar of rage, +he hurled himself at the one-eyed mate. + +"You lying hound!" he shouted. "If crime's been done, _you've_ +committed it." + +Ditty slid back a step and met the younger man's charge with a coolness +that showed his taunt had been premeditated and that this result was +expected. As the enraged Drew closed in, the mate met him with a +frightful swing to the side of his bandaged head. + +Drew's head rocked on his shoulders, and for a moment he was dazed. +Blood flowed from under the bandage, and in an instant his cheek and +neck were besmeared with it. The bucko, with the experience of long +years of rough fighting, landed a second blow before the confused Drew +could put up his defense again. + +But that was the last blow Ditty did land. Drew's brain cleared +suddenly. Hot rage filled his heart. He forgot his surroundings. He +forgot that Ruth stood by to see his metamorphosis from a civilized man +into an uncivilized one. He forgot everything but the leering face of +the lying scoundrel before him, and he proceeded to change that face +into a bruised mask. + +His skill and speed made the mate, with only brute force behind him, +seem like a child. Drew closed Ditty's remaining eye, split his upper +lip, puffed both his cheeks till his nose was scarcely a ridge between +them, and ended by landing a left hook on the point of the jaw that +knocked the mate down and out. + +As Drew fell back from the fray, which had lasted only seconds, so +swift was the pace, Tyke seized him. + +"You've done enough, boy! You've done enough, Allen!" he exclaimed. +"Leave life in the scoundrel so we can get the truth out of him." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +A SEA COURT + +"Mr. Rogers, take the deck!" commanded Captain Hamilton sharply. "You +bullies, get forward with you!" he added to the curious men of the +watch. "Don't any of you lose sight of the fact that if it were a +seaman instead of a passenger who attacked Mr. Ditty, he'd be in the +chain-locker now. + +"Drew, you and Tyke come below with me. When you've washed your face, +Mr. Ditty, I want to see you there too. Mr. Rogers!" + +"Aye, aye, sir!" responded the second officer, smartly. + +"Pass the word forward. Has anybody seen Mr. Parmalee or does any of +them know personally what's happened to him? No second-hand tales, +mind you." + +"Aye, aye, sir." + +With all his rage and confusion of mind, Drew realized that easy-going, +peace-loving Captain Hamilton had suddenly become another and entirely +different being. + +Even Ruth descried no softness in her father's countenance now. She +noted that his eye sparkled dangerously. He waved her before him, and +she fled down the companionway steps ahead of Drew and Grimshaw. + +"Now, what's all this about?" the master of the _Bertha Hamilton_ +demanded, facing Drew across the cabin table. + +"Oh, Father!" gasped Ruth. "That--that--Mr. Ditty says Mr. Parmalee is +murdered and that Allen did it!" + +"That's neither here nor there," said the captain sternly. "I don't +believe that any more than you do. But what is this between Ditty and +Mr. Drew? They went at each other like two bulldogs that have nursed a +grudge for a year. + +"Now, I want to know what it means, Drew. I heard--Ruth told me--of +the little run-in you had with Ditty the day you first met my daughter +on the Jones Lane pier," pursued Captain Hamilton. "Ruth was carrying +a letter to Captain Peters for me. The _Normandy_ is bound for Hong +Kong, where I'd just come from, and Peters and I have mutual friends +out there. I forgot something I wanted Ruth to tell Captain Peters, +and I asked Ditty, who had shore leave, to waylay her and give her my +message. She'd never seen Ditty, and he startled her. He isn't a +beauty, I admit. But now, what happened after that between you two, +Drew?" + +"Nothing at all that day," said the young man promptly. "But another +day I was over there, at the _Normandy_, to see--er--Captain Peters, +and this fellow showed up half drunk and gave me the dirty side of his +tongue. I knocked him down." + +"Seems to me you're mighty sudden with your fists," growled Captain +Hamilton. + +"And Mr. Grimshaw can tell you something about Ditty, too," Drew began; +but the master of the schooner stopped him. + +"Never mind about that. We're discussing your affair with Ditty. I've +got to judge between you two. I'm judge, jury, and hangman in this +case--until we make some port where there's a consul, at least. Now, +here's the mate. No more fighting, remember or I'll take a hand in it +myself." + +The battered Ditty stumbled down the cabin steps. He could scarcely +see out of his single eye; but that eye glittered malevolently when it +fell upon Allen Drew. + +"Sit down, Mr. Ditty," said the captain evenly. "We've got to get to +the bottom of this business. You've said something, Mr. Ditty, that's +got to go down on the log--and it's going to make you a peck of trouble +if you don't prove it. You understand that?" + +"I know it," snarled Ditty, through his puffed lips. "He done it." + +"You lying hound!" muttered Drew. + +Captain Hamilton ignored this. He said: + +"What makes you say that Mr. Drew flung Mr. Parmalee overboard?" + +"Because I seen him do it," answered Ditty. + +Drew started for the mate again, but Tyke held him back. + +"Go ahead, Mr. Ditty. Tell your story," commanded the captain curtly. + +"They was both standin' abaft the mizzen," the mate began, "and I heard +'em quarrelin' about something. I went there, thinkin' to stop 'em if +it was anything serious, and jest as I got near 'em I seen Mr. Parmalee +up and hit Mr. Drew on the head with his cane. Then, before you could +say Jack Robinson, Mr. Drew picked up Mr. Parmalee as if he had been a +baby and threw him over the rail." + +There was a stifled murmur from the group. + +"Why didn't you give the alarm and lower a boat?" asked the captain. + +"I was goin' to, but Mr. Drew turned round and saw me. He whipped a +gun out of his pocket and swore he'd shoot me if I gave the alarm or +said a word. He held me under the point of his gun till it was too +late to lower a boat, and only let me go after I promised him I'd keep +mum about the hull thing." + +"You're a fine sailorman," charged the captain bitterly, "to let a man +drown without doing anything to help him! Why didn't you take a +chance?" + +"He had the drop on me," mumbled the mate. + +The captain turned to Drew. + +"What about it?" he asked. + +"Do I have to deny such a yarn?" the young man burst out hotly. "What +can I say except that this infernal scoundrel is lying? The whole +ridiculous story is as new to me as it is to you. The last time I saw +Mr. Parmalee was when he was standing beside me on the deck last night. +I never laid a finger on him!" + +"Where were you standing?" asked the captain. + +"Just where Ditty says I was," replied Drew frankly. "That part of the +story is true. And it's the only thing in it that is true." + +"Did you have any unfriendly words with Mr. Parmalee?" + +"Not a word," was the answer. + +"Ask him if he ever had any quarrel with him afore that," snarled the +mate. + +"I know all about that," replied the captain sharply. "I was there +myself. It was just a little misunderstanding, and it blew over in a +minute." + +"Ev'ry one on board knows there was bad blood 'twixt 'em," put in the +mate, "and they come pretty nigh to guessin' the reason for it, too," +he added with a leering glance at Ruth. + +"Stop, you dog!" shouted the captain in sudden rage. "If you say +another word along that line I'll knock you down!" + +The mate took a step backward, and mumbled an apology. + +"Go on, Drew," ordered the captain. "When did you lose sight of Mr. +Parmalee?" + +"I slipped on the deck and struck my head on the corner of the +hatch-cover. Mr. Parmalee was with me at the time. I lost my senses +from the blow, and when I came to, Parmalee wasn't there. I remember +thinking it strange that he hadn't helped me when I fell, but I was +dizzy and confused and soon forgot about it. If I thought of him at +all, it was to suppose that he had gone to his room. I fully expected +to see him at the breakfast table this morning, and I was as much +surprised as you were when he didn't turn up." + +His story was told so frankly and simply that it carried conviction. +But Ditty still had a card up his sleeve. He went over to the open +companion-way. + +"Give me that cane, Bill," he called to a sailor standing at a little +distance. + +The man obeyed, and a thrill went through the group as they recognized +it as having belonged to Lester Parmalee. Ruth was making a strong +effort for self-control. + +"Look at the blood-stains on this cane," said Ditty triumphantly, as he +handed it over to the captain. + +There were, in truth, dark red stains on the end of the cane, standing +out clearly in contrast with the light oak color of the stick itself. + +"That's where the cut on Mr. Drew's head come from, jest as I says," +proclaimed Ditty. + +"And what's more," he went on, "there ain't any blood on the edge of +the hatch cover." + +"No, there wouldn't be," muttered Tyke, "for the deck was washed down +this morning, of course." + +"Do you own a pistol, Drew?" asked Captain Hamilton, after a painful +pause. + +"Yes," admitted the accused man. "I have an automatic. It's in my +stateroom now. But I haven't carried it since I came on board the +ship. I didn't have it on me last night." + +The captain mused for a moment in evident perplexity. + +"Well," he said, rising to his feet, "that's all, Mr. Ditty. I'll +think this over and figure out what it's best to do." + +"Ain't you goin' to put him in irons?" asked the mate truculently. + +"That's none of your business," snapped the master of the schooner. +"I'm captain of this craft, and I'll do as I think best. You are +relieved from duty for the present. Lord man! but you're a sight." + +Ditty wavered as though some impudent reply were forming on his tongue; +but he thought better of it beneath the steady gaze of the captain's +eyes and turned to go. He could not, however, forbear a parting shot. + +"You can see from the way he went at me what a savage temper he's got," +he said. "He'd 've killed me if he could 've. And if he'd do that to +me for what I said, what would 've stopped his doin' it to a man who +had already hit him?" + +"That'll do, Mr. Ditty!" snapped the captain again. + +Tyke left no doubt as to where he stood. Out of respect for the +captain, he had left the inquiry entirely in his hands, but now he +hobbled over to Drew and clapped him vigorously on the shoulder. + +"Brace up, my boy!" he exclaimed. "I don't know jest what the motive +of that swab is, but I know he was lying from first to last." Ruth was +sobbing, and could not speak, but her little hand stole into the young +man's, and he grasped it convulsively. + +"I can't believe that you did it either, Drew," declared the captain; +but there was a lack of heartiness in his tone that Drew was quick to +detect. "I'll have to look into the whole matter as carefully as I +know how. Parmalee's disappearance must be accounted for. All we know +now is that he isn't to be found. I'll have the ship searched, but I +have little doubt but the poor fellow has gone overboard. In itself +that doesn't prove anything. He may have fallen over. But we can't +get away from the fact that one man says he knows how Parmalee came to +his death. He may be lying. I think he is. I hope to God he is. But +the whole matter will have to be taken up by the proper authorities as +soon as we get back to New York." + +Drew's brain reeled. He saw himself in a court of justice, on trial +for his life, charged with a horrible crime that he had no means of +refuting, except by his own unsupported denial. And even if he were +acquitted, the black cloud of suspicion would hang over him forever. + +"But I'm going to believe you're innocent until I'm forced to believe +the contrary," continued the captain; "and God help Ditty if I find +he's been lying!" + +"He is lying," protested Drew passionately. "I never dreamed of +injuring Parmalee. Did I act like a murderer last night when you bound +up my head, Ruth?" + +"No! no!" sobbed the girl. + +"Did I act like a murderer at the table this morning?" Drew continued, +conscious that he was proving nothing, but clutching eagerly at every +straw. + +"You're no more a murderer than I am!" almost shouted Tyke, moved to +the depth by Drew's distress. + +"You're going to have the benefit of every doubt, my boy," the captain +assured him soothingly. "But now you'd better go to your room and try +to pull yourself together. We're all upset, and talking won't do us +any good until we've got something else to go on. But you have got to +promise me that you'll leave Ditty alone." + +"I'll leave him alone if he leaves me alone." + +"That is all I ask. I'll warn him to keep away from you." + +Drew released Ruth's hand. She threw herself on her father's breast, +and the young man groped his way to his room. Once there, he sat down +and tried to face calmly the terrible indictment that had been made +against him. + +He did not delude himself as to the bits of circumstantial evidence +that might be used to piece out that indictment to make it plausible. + +What was Ditty's motive? He racked his brain in vain to find it. +There was, to be sure, the row upon the pier, but that had been only a +trifle, and the world would never believe that for anything like that a +man would swear away the life of another. + +The previous quarrel between him and Lester Parmalee seemed to +establish the fact that there was bad blood between them. There was +the cut upon his head, received at the very time that Parmalee +disappeared. There were the blood stains on the cane, carrying the +inference that that stick in the hand of Parmalee had inflicted his +wound. He owned a revolver, which would bear out Ditty's statement +that the mate had been intimidated by it. Then there was his own +savage attack on Ditty, which showed his hot and impetuous temper. + +He groaned as he saw what could be made of all these things in the +hands of a clever district attorney. He could see the picture that +would be drawn for the benefit of the jury. The old, old story--a +beautiful woman with two young and ardent suitors; one quarrel already +having occurred; a meeting in the dark; a renewal of the quarrel; an +attack by the weaker with a cane; the blow that turned the stronger +into a maddened beast and prompted him to grasp his frail rival and +throw him into the sea. What was more possible? What was more +probable? Jealousy had caused thousands of similar tragedies in the +history of the world. + +And when to these damaging circumstances was added the testimony of a +declared eye-witness who seemed to have no sufficient reason for lying, +what would the jury do? + +Drew shuddered, and his soul turned sick within him. + +And Ruth! He ground his teeth in rage at the thought of her name being +dragged into the terrible story, as it certainly would be. + +Even supposing that he should be given the benefit of the doubt and +discharged, his life would be utterly wrecked. He could not ask her to +share the life of a man who the world would believe owed his escape +from the penitentiary to luck rather than to his innocence. Even if +she were willing, he could not ask her to link her life with his. + +All through that day and part of the next, he lived in an inferno. By +tacit consent, the members of the party refrained from talking of the +one thing about which all were thinking. When they met, they spoke of +indifferent matters, but there was a hideous feeling of restraint that +could not be dispelled, and gloom hung over them like a pall. + +The morning of the second day, as they were cruising about in the +longitude and latitude indicated by the map, the voice of the lookout +resounded from the masthead. + +"Land ho!" + +"Where away?" shouted Rogers, who chanced to be officer of the deck. + +"Three points on the weather bow," was the answer. + +Rogers reported instantly to the captain, who came rushing on deck, +followed by the other members of the party. + +The captain adjusted his binoculars and looked hard and long at a black +speck rising from the waves. Finally he dropped the glass. + +"The hump of the whale!" he announced. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +FOREBODINGS + +The hearts of all on board were thrilled. Crew and passengers alike +were delighted, although the latter had a special reason for excitement +of which the former were supposed to be ignorant. + +The schooner had been proceeding under full sail, but as she approached +nearer to the land whose outlines at every moment became more distinct, +the topgallants were taken in until the _Bertha Hamilton_ had just +enough canvas drawing to give her good steerage way. + +Before long the schooner approached near enough for those on board to +see the island plainly with the naked eye. It seemed to be several +miles in length. It looked like an emerald floating in the sunlight. +Lush vegetation extended to within a hundred yards of the sea, and a +silvery stretch of beach edged the breakers that curled and burst with +an unceasing roar. + +There was no sign of human habitation anywhere. No hut broke the +smooth expanse of the beach or peeped out from among the trees. The +impression of an uninhabited wilderness was heightened by great numbers +of pelicans and cranes, who stood sleepily on one foot or stalked +solemnly about pursuing their fishing in the shallows. + +There was only one place where the outline of the coast was broken. At +the eastern end the claws of a reef extended for about half a mile into +the sea, making a barrier behind which the water was comparatively +calm, though at the opening, of about two hundred yards, there ran a +turbulent sea. + +"That must be the inlet shown on the pirate's map," whispered Tyke, who +was standing at the rail of the _Bertha Hamilton_ close beside the +captain. + +"That's probably what it is," replied Captain Hamilton, his voice +showing the agitation under which he was laboring. "But before we put +her through the opening, I'm going to take soundings. Mr. Ditty!" he +called, "heave to and lower a boat to take soundings." + +"Aye, aye, sir," responded the mate. + +In a twinkling the necessary orders were given, the _Bertha Hamilton_ +lost way and rounded to, and a boat manned by six sailors was dropped +from the davits on the lee side. + +"Pull away smartly now, my lads," called the mate as he took the +tiller-ropes. + +It required smart seamanship to get through that rushing raceway +without capsizing; but, whatever Ditty's faults, he did not lack +ability, and the work was done in a way that elicited an unwilling +grunt of admiration from Tyke. + +In less than two hours the requisite soundings had been taken, and +Ditty came to report. + +"Plenty of depth, sir," he reported. "No less than ten fathoms +anywhere. And a good bottom." + +"All right, Mr. Ditty," replied the captain. "Put the canvas on her +now and we'll take her through." + +The captain himself assumed charge of this critical operation, and +under half sail the _Bertha Hamilton_ dashed through as though +welcoming the end of her journey. She made the channel without mishap, +and let go her anchor within a quarter of a mile of the head of the +lagoon. + +Inside the breakwater the sea was almost as smooth as a mirror. The +water was wonderfully transparent, and they could see hundreds of +tropical fish swimming lazily at a great depth. On the beach the waves +lapped in musical ripples, in striking contrast to the thundering surf +on the reef. + +The captain wiped his perspiring forehead and drew a long breath of +relief. "So far so good," he remarked. "It won't be long now before +we'll know whether we've come on a fool's errand or not." + +"There's one thing about which the map hasn't lied, anyway," said Drew. +"It pointed out the inlet just where we found it. That's a good omen, +it seems to me." + +"Let's hope the rest of the map is all right," replied the captain. +"But it's nearly time for dinner now, and we'll have that before going +ashore." + +All were so feverishly impatient, now that they were almost in sight of +their goal, that none of them paid much attention to the meal, and it +was soon over. + +"Do you s'pose the crew have any idee why we're stopping at this +island?" asked Tyke. There was a grim look on his seamed countenance, +and both the captain and Drew looked at him curiously. + +"What's milling in your brain, Tyke?" asked Captain Hamilton. "I've +kept my eyes peeled, and I swear I haven't seen anything more to +suggest treachery. Ditty's on his best behavior----" + +"Yes; that's so," agreed Tyke. "But did you spy the men he took with +him in the boat jest now, when he came in here to make soundings?" + +"I didn't notice," the captain confessed. + +"The orneriest ones of the whole bunch. An', believe me! this is the +wo'st crew of dock scrapings I ever set eyes on," growled Tyke. "Ditty +did a lot of talking in the boat--I watched 'em through my glass. Them +six are his close friends, Cap'n Rufe. They've laid their plans----" + +"Holy mackerel!" exclaimed Captain Hamilton. "What are you saying, +Tyke?" + +"I've figgered out that we aren't going to have things our own way down +here," the other said earnestly. "I've been waiting for you to say +something, Cap'n Rufe, ever since that Bug-eye accused Allen like he +did. Ditty's on to our game--has been on to it right along--an' he +selected this crew of wharf-rats for a purpose." + +"I agree with you, Mr. Grimshaw," Drew declared eagerly. "That's what +Ditty was after when he tried to rob you at the time you were knocked +down by the automobile. You were right. He did push you back in front +of the machine, and then he searched your pockets while you were on the +ground." + +"For what?" demanded Captain Hamilton, staring. + +"For the paper and the map. Ditty believed Mr. Grimshaw carried that +confession in his pocket," Drew replied. + +The master of the schooner rose and began to walk about in excitement. + +"That's it! He was lurking outside your office door that day, Tyke, +when we first found the papers in Manuel Gomez's chest. I see it now. +He was aboard the schooner that very evening, too, when I told Ruth at +dinner about the pirate's doubloons. He might have been eavesdropping +then." + +"An' I bet he flung poor Parmalee over the rail himself," said Tyke. +Hamilton's expression changed and he shook his head at that. + +"He'd git rid of one of the after-guard that way," urged Tyke. +"Parmalee could shoot. An' if it comes to a fight----" + +"My soul!" groaned Captain Hamilton suddenly. "And Ruth with us!" + +"What about Ruth?" asked that young lady cheerfully, coming from her +cabin. "Aren't you all ready yet? I am going ashore with you." + +"Yes; you'd better come," said her father gloomily. + +"Why, what is the matter?" she demanded. + +"We were just wondering," said Drew quickly, assuming a casual tone to +cover their real emotion, "if the crew suspected our reason for +touching at this island." + +Captain Hamilton picked up the ball at once. + +"But I don't believe they do," he said. "Of course, it would have +seemed strange to the mate and to Rogers if I hadn't given them some +explanation, especially as we came out in ballast. So I dropped hints +that we were out on a survey expedition that couldn't be talked of just +now. They probably have the idea that we're looking up a suitable +coaling station for the Government, or something of that kind. To +carry that out, I've got some surveyor's instruments here that we'll +take along with us, just for a blind." + +"Let's hope it'll work," said Tyke dubiously. "An' it won't do any +harm to take our guns along." + +"There's a pair of revolvers for each of us," replied Captain Hamilton, +opening the closet where he kept the arms that Drew had previously +seen; "and we'll take half a dozen guns along with us in the boat. +There may be snakes or wild animals on the islands." + +"I must have a revolver too, Daddy," said the girl. + +"Of course, my dear," agreed the captain. + +"Mebbe you'd better not put any cartridges in it, Cap'n Rufe," said +Grimshaw, taking Ruth playfully by the arm, "They'd be more dangerous +to us than to anything else." + +"It's mean of you to say that, Mr. Grimshaw," pouted Ruth. "You'll +find that I can use a gun as well as anybody." + +"Mebbe so, mebbe so, my dear," said Tyke indulgently. + +"Hadn't we better take some provisions along?" asked Ruth, as she +slipped the cartridges into her revolver and put the weapon in the +pocket of the sports skirt that she had donned. + +"That won't be necessary," replied the captain. "We'll be back before +nightfall. This is just a little preliminary scouting. We won't have +time for more than that this afternoon. The real work of searching for +the treasure will begin to-morrow." + +The preparations finished, the party went on deck. + +"Crew had their dinner yet, Mr. Ditty?" Captain Hamilton asked of his +first officer. + +"My watch have, sir," was the answer. "The others are eating now." + +"Pick out half a dozen men and lower the boat," ordered the captain. +"We're going ashore for a few hours. We'll be back for supper." + +"How long will we lay up here, sir?" + +"Can't tell yet. Perhaps two or three days. Possibly a week or more." + +"How about shore leave for the men, sir?" + +"Beginning to-morrow, they can go ashore in batches of ten. This +afternoon, Mr. Rogers and a boat's crew can take the long boat and some +casks and go ashore to look for water." + +"Very well, sir," replied the mate, with a curious expression on his +face. + +As he turned away, his one eye fell on Drew. They had not met since +the fight two days before. They stared at each other for several +seconds, until Ditty's eye fell before the concentrated fury in those +of the young man. + +Ruth, who had witnessed the interchange of looks, put her hand lightly +on Drew's arm. + +"Aren't you going to help me into the boat, Allen?" she asked. + +His rage at Ditty vanished in an instant as he turned to her. She was +trying to smile, but there was no laughter in her dewy eyes. But Drew +saw there something deeper and sweeter and tenderer. There was immense +sympathy and--what was that other fugitive expression that he caught +before her eyelids lowered? + +He bent toward her, but just then Grimshaw and the captain ranged +alongside, and they had to take their places in the boat. + +The members of the crew who had been told off for the service, bent to +the oars, and, at a rapid pace, they approached the shore. The beach +shelved gradually, and they had no trouble in making a landing. The +sailors leaped out into the shallow water and drew the boat well up on +the strand, and the party disembarked. + +Drew wished that they had found it necessary to wade. With what +delight he would have carried Ruth in those strong arms of his! + +"We'll be back in an hour or two, my lads," said the captain. "You can +scatter about and do as you like until we return, as long as you keep +within hail of the boat." + +With the captain and Tyke in the lead, and Drew following behind to +help Ruth over the hard places, they plunged into the unknown forest. +After all, they went slowly, for Tyke had to favor what he called his +"game leg." + +For all the evidence that the wood afforded, it had been untrodden for +many years. Giant ceiba trees reared themselves two hundred feet into +the air. Lianas hung in festoons from the boughs like monstrous boa +constrictors. Parrots flew squawking from branch to branch, and +humming birds and butterflies of many hues and gorgeous beauty darted +like bright arrows among the flowers. + +The underbrush was thick and in some places impenetrable, and the +treasure seekers would have found their progress very slow if it had +not been for certain irregular trails that seemed to have been hewn +through the woods at intervals. In some places these trails were many +yards wide, while at others they narrowed to a foot or two. Nothing +grew upon them, but they were covered by dead leaves and twigs of +varying depths. + +"Wonder how these trails came here," said the captain. "There are no +footprints on them, and yet they must have been made by animals or men." + +"Better keep our eyes peeled," warned Tyke. + +The captain, who had scraped away some of the accumulated leaves and +rubbish, gave a sudden exclamation. + +"Why, this path is made of stone!" he cried. He dropped on his knees +and examined more closely. When he rose to his feet his face was grave. + +"It's lava!" he stated. + +"Then the island must be volcanic!" exclaimed Drew, startled by the +thought. + +"Nothing very surprising about that when you come to think of it," Tyke +declared. "We're right down here in the earthquake zone, where the +earth's liable to throw a fit any time. Like enough this old whaleback +is a sleeping volcano. She may blow up again some time." + +"Just as it did at Martinique," confirmed the captain. "Perhaps that +may explain the absence of people hereabouts. They may have all been +wiped out by some eruption, or they may have been so scared that they +left the island for safer quarters." + +"I don't think we have much to worry about," remarked Tyke. "There +ain't any doubt but this hill we're heading for has been at some time a +volcano. But likely it's been quiet for hundreds of years. An' it's +not likely that it's going to git busy now jest for our special +benefit. Let's hike along." + +"There's one good thing about it, anyway," remarked Drew, as they +resumed their march. "It's burned out these paths and made the walking +easier. And it's pointed out just the way we want to go. All we have +to do is to follow this path and it can't help but lead us right up to +the whale's hump." + +"That's the point we want to head for," replied the captain, consulting +the map. "You'll notice that these circles seem to be on the slope of +the hill not so very far from the top. Besides, that pirate fellow +would be likely to go quite a way in from the shore to bury his loot." + +Half a mile further on, a little stream ran through the forest. The +party went over to it, and Drew, bending down and making a cup of his +hands, bore some of the water to his lips. He made a wry face and +almost choked. + +"Sulphur!" he exclaimed. "It's full of it." + +Captain Hamilton, too, tasted. + +"Another proof, if we needed it, that the island is volcanic," he +observed. Then, in a tone that only Drew heard, he added: "What I +don't like about it is that it shows there's brimstone in the old +whale's hump yet. If there wasn't, the water would have sweetened long +ago." + +Tyke and Ruth each took a few drops of the water, and then the party +went on a little more soberly than before. The trees soon became more +scattered, though the undergrowth was dense. Before long they emerged +on a sort of plateau above which was lifted, at a height of two hundred +feet or more, the whale's hump. + +Its sides were heaped with masses of hardened lava in all kinds of +grotesque shapes. It was utterly desolate and bare. Ruth shuddered as +she looked at the weird scene. + +"I don't wonder that some place around here is called the Witch's +Head," she remarked. "This must be like the place where Macbeth saw +the witches brewing their potions." + +"Except that they brewed them 'in lightning, thunder and in rain'," +said Drew. "Those are the only things that are missing." + +He had scarcely spoken when there was a rumbling that sounded like +thunder. Drew was startled, and Ruth grew slightly pale. + +"That's funny," remarked Tyke. "Weather's as clear as a bell too. +This ain't the hurricane season." + +The captain was in a brown study, seemingly unheedful of the rumbling +sound. In a moment he roused himself and said: + +"Well, now let's scatter about and see if we can find anything that +looks like The Three Sisters or the Witch's Head." + +Grimshaw sat down to rest, not wishing to put too heavy a strain on the +leg that had been injured, and the others wandered about for half an +hour trying to discover anything that might be identified as the places +named on the map. But their efforts were fruitless, and the captain, +looking at his watch, called a halt. + +"Nothing more doing now," he said. "We have only time to get back to +the boat. But we've got our bearings and have done a good afternoon's +work. To-morrow's a new day, and we'll get on the job early." + +Reluctantly, the little party went back to the boat. They found the +crew waiting for them and were pulled rapidly to the schooner, whose +anchor lights were already gleaming like fireflies in the sudden dusk. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE EARTH TREMBLES + +It was with a feeling of relief after their surroundings of the last +few hours, that the treasure seekers found themselves again on board +the _Bertha Hamilton_ and seated in the bright cabin at the appetizing +and abundant meal that Wah Lee had prepared for them. + +All four felt jubilant at the discoveries they had made. Drew and Ruth +were sure that they were on the very brink of finding the pirate hoard, +and might, that very afternoon, have uncovered it if they had had a few +more hours of daylight. To-morrow, they felt sure, would find them in +possession of the doubloons. + +Drew's personal trouble had been for the moment obscured, although the +thought of it was sure to return to torment him as soon as the +excitement of the afternoon's search was past. + +One thing served to delight and to torture him at the same time. He +was almost sure that he had surprised a secret in the eyes of Ruth. He +was thrilled as he thought of it. But the next moment he groaned in +anguish as he remembered the frightful charge hanging over his head. +What had he now to offer her but a wrecked career and a blackened name? + +The exhilaration all had felt on their return was followed soon by +reaction. Ruth withdrew early to her room, pleading weariness. Tyke +was thoughtful, thinking of the thunder he had heard just before they +had left the island. The captain went on deck only to find in the +report of the second officer more cause for gravity. + +Mr. Rogers came up to him as he emerged from the cabin. + +"Couldn't get any water this afternoon, sir," he reported. "Found +some; but it tasted strong of sulphur, sir." + +"Yes, I know, Mr. Rogers," replied the captain. "I tasted some myself +while I was ashore, and found it no good. Still, we've got plenty on +board, so it doesn't matter." + +Still the second officer lingered. + +"What is it, Mr. Rogers?" asked the captain, who saw that the man had +something on his mind. + +"Why, I hardly know how to put it, sir," answered the second officer, a +little confusedly. "Perhaps it's foolish to speak about it; and there +may be nothing in it, after all." + +"Out with it, Mr. Rogers," ordered the captain, all alert in an instant. + +"Why, it's this way, sir," returned the second officer. "I don't like +the way the men are acting. I never was sweet on the crew from the +beginning, for the matter of that, not meaning any disrespect to Mr. +Ditty, who had the choosing of most of them. There's a few of them +that are smart seamen, but most of them are rank swabs that don't know +a marlinspike from a backstay. Seem more like a gang of river pirates +than deep-sea sailors." + +"I know that most of them are a poor lot," replied the captain. "But +they've managed to work the ship down here, and I guess they can get +her home again." + +"But it isn't only that, sir," went on the other. "There's altogether +too much whispering and getting into corners when the men are off duty +to suit me. And they shut up like clams when I pass near 'em. And +they're surly and impudent when I give 'em orders. I've had to lick a +half dozen of 'em already." + +"Well, you've got Mr. Ditty to help you out," said the captain. + +"That's another queer thing, sir," continued the second officer, +evidently reluctant to speak against his superior. "Mr. Ditty is +usually quicker with his fists than he is with his tongue; but I never +saw him like he is on this voyage. Seems like at times as though he +took the men's part, sir." + +"That's a hard saying, Mr. Rogers," said the captain. + +"True enough, sir; but you told me to speak out. I had trouble with +some of the men this very afternoon, sir, when I went over to the +island. They found the water tasted of sulphur, and some of 'em +started in saying that the devil wasn't very far off when you could +taste brimstone so plain. Of course, sailors are superstitious, and I +wouldn't have thought anything of that, only it seemed as if the bad +ones were just making that an excuse to get the others sore and +discontented. They were growling and muttering amongst themselves all +the time they were ashore. + +"I've got it off my chest now, sir, and maybe you'll think it's +foolish, but I thought you ought to know. There's something going on +that I can't understand, and it bothers me." + +"You've done quite right to tell me what you have, Mr. Rogers," replied +the captain, "and I'm obliged to you. I'll think it over. In the +meantime, keep your eyes wide open and let me know at once if anything +comes to light. By the way, did you ever find anybody who saw what +happened to Mr. Parmalee?" + +"Not a man among 'em will own to having seen anything. It was a dark +night," replied Mr. Rogers, touching his cap and turning away. + +Captain Hamilton sought out Tyke immediately and related to him what +Rogers had said. + +"How many men that you know you can depend on have you got in your +crew?" asked Tyke quickly. + +"Not more than a dozen that I'm sure of," admitted Captain Hamilton. +"That many've sailed with me on a number of voyages and they came home +with me from Hong Kong. They are as good men as ever hauled on a +sheet. But even some of them may have been affected by whatever it is +that's brewing. It takes only a few rotten apples to spoil a barrel, +you know." + +"A dozen," mused Tyke reflectively. "Those, with you and Allen and me +would make fifteen." + +"Don't forget Rogers," put in Hamilton. + +"Sixteen," corrected Tyke. "That leaves only eighteen, if Ditty's got +'em all. Counting himself, that's nineteen. Sixteen against nineteen. +Considering the kind of muts they are, we ought to lick the tar out of +'em." + +"We could if it came to open fighting. But if they're up to mischief, +they'll know what they're after and will have the advantage of striking +the first blow. + +"That is," he went on, "if there's anything in it at all. Perhaps +we're just imagining they mean something serious, when after all it may +be only a matter of sailors' grumbling. Rogers may have only uncovered +a mare's nest." + +"Perhaps," admitted Tyke. "All the same, I've never trusted that +rascal, Ditty, from the minute I clapped eyes on him. An' since he +lied so about Allen, I _know_ he's a scoundrel." + +"I hope he did lie," said the captain doubtfully. + +"_Hope!_" cried the old man hotly. "Don't you _know_? Look here, Rufe +Hamilton, you an' me have been friends for going on thirty years, but +we break friendship right here and now if you tell me you don't _know_ +that Ditty lied!" + +"There, there, Tyke," soothed the skipper, "have it your own way. But +what we have on hand just now is how to get the better of Ditty and his +gang." + +Gradually Tyke's ruffled feathers were smoothed and he devoted himself +to the matter in hand. + +They talked late and long, but in the face of only vague conjectures, +could reach no definite conclusion. One thing they did decide: It was +so to manage matters as to leave Rogers in command of the schooner when +the captain himself should be ashore. Unless Ditty were actually +deposed, and as yet there was no valid excuse for doing this, the only +way they could carry out this plan was to see that Ditty was on shore +at the same time that the treasure seekers were. + +The next morning when the party was ready to start, Captain Hamilton +spoke to Ditty. + +"Mr. Ditty," he directed, "you will take ten of the men ashore on leave +this morning in the long-boat. I am going myself with the crew of the +smaller boat. Mr. Rogers will remain in charge of the ship. If you +find sweet water, send back for the casks." + +Ditty started to make an objection. + +"Beg pardon, sir, but I don't care for shore leave myself. Mr. Rogers +can go in my place if he wants to, sir." + +"You heard what I said, Mr. Ditty. Mr. Rogers went yesterday," said +the captain curtly. "Have both boats lowered at once." + +There was no help for it, and Ditty yielded a surly obedience. + +"What time shall I bring the men back, sir?" he asked. + +"When I give you the signal," replied the captain. "Perhaps not till +late afternoon. Take your dinner grub with you." + +The boats left the ship's side together, and in a few minutes both +reached the beach. With instructions to Ditty to keep his men on the +east end of the island, the captain's party entered the jungle. + +They easily found the path they had trodden the day before, and were +well on their way to the whale's hump when they were startled by a +queer vibration of the earth. There was no sound accompanying it. On +the contrary, everything seemed hushed in a deathlike stillness. The +cries of birds and the humming of insects had stopped as though by +magic. Nature seemed to be holding her breath. + +Then came a second quivering stronger than the first--a shock which +threw the four treasure hunters violently to the ground. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +"IF I WAS SUPERSTITIOUS-----" + +"What is this?" + +"An earthquake!" + +"The island is sinking!" + +"We'll have to get out of this!" + +Such were some of the cries of the treasure hunters as the earth +trembled beneath them. + +For perhaps twenty seconds the sickening vibration continued. Then it +stopped as suddenly as it had begun. The swaying trees finished their +dizzy dance, and the rocks that had seemed to be bowing to each other +like so many mummers resumed their impassive attitudes. Their lawless +frolic had ended! + +Drew had caught Ruth by the arm as she went down, and thus had broken +the violence of her fall. But all were jarred and shaken. + +As the more agile of the quartet, the young man was first on his feet. +He tenderly assisted Ruth to rise, while the others scrambled up +unaided. + +"Are you hurt?" Drew asked the girl solicitously. + +"Not a bit," she answered pluckily, and Drew reflected on what a +thoroughbred she was. + +The others also had sustained no injury. But their forebodings as to +their safety on the island had been quickened by this striking example +of nature's restlessness. The giant in the volcano was not dead. He +was uneasy and had turned in his sleep. It was as though he resented +the coming of these interlopers, and was giving them warning to go away +and leave him undisturbed. + +"Now if I was superstitious," remarked Tyke, "I should say that +something was trying to keep us from getting this treasure." + +"Let it try then," said the captain grimly. "We haven't come as far as +this to turn tail and run just when we're on the point of getting what +we came for." + +"Good for you, Daddy!" cried Ruth gaily. "We're bound to have that +treasure." + +They quickened their steps now. This was no time for leisurely +investigation of the phenomena of earthquakes. They soon reached the +point they had attained the day before. But as they had explored that +section of the hillside already, they did not halt there, but pushed on +to the west. + +"Now," said the captain, as he and Drew disburdened themselves of the +spades and mattocks they had brought along, carefully wrapped under the +guise of surveyors instruments, "we'll go at this thing in a scientific +way. We'll make a rough division of this whole section"--he included +with a wave of his hand a space half a mile square--"into four parts. +No, three parts. Tyke must rest his leg. Then each must search his +section to find some rocks that look like those beauties marked on the +map." + +The three scattered promptly, and began the search. They looked +diligently, but for a long time found nothing to reward their efforts. +Drew tried as conscientiously as the rest, although at times he could +not make his eyes behave, and his gaze would wander over in Ruth's +direction. It was in one of these lapses from industry that he saw her +lift her arm and wave eagerly in his direction. He did not wait for a +second summons, but hurried over, after calling to the others to follow. + +The girl was flushed and excited. + +"What have you found?" Drew asked, as soon as he got within speaking +distance. + +"Look!" she answered. "Doesn't that big rock over there seem to you +like a witch's head--wild and ragged locks, and all that?" + +From where he was then standing, he could trace no resemblance, but +when he reached her side and looked from the same angle he raised a +shout. + +"The very thing!" he cried. "There can't be any doubt of it." + +The rock in question stood apart from the rest on the slope of the +hill. Nature had carved it in a moment of prankishness. There were +all the features of an old crone, forehead, nose, sunken mouth, +nut-cracker jaws, while small streams of lava, hardening as they had +flowed, gave the similitude of scanty tresses. + +Tyke and the captain, soon came up, and all their doubts disappeared as +they gazed. + +"The Witch's Head!" they agreed exultantly. + +"With that to start with, the rest will be easy," cried Drew. "The +Three Sisters can't be more than a few hundred feet or so away." + +Ten minutes' further search revealed a group of three rocks, which, +while having no resemblance to female faces, were the only ones that +stood apart from all the rest as a trio. + +The hands of the three men trembled as they got out the old map and +pored over it. + +"Thirty-seven big paces due north from the Witch's Head; eighty-nine +big paces due east from The Three Sisters," muttered the captain. + +"Paces, even big paces, is rather indefinite," commented Drew. "If it +were yards or feet, now, it would be different. But one man's paces +differ from another's, and a short man's differ from a tall man's." + +"It was very inconsiderate of that old pirate not to tell exactly how +tall he was," jested Ruth. + +"Well, we can't have everything handed to us on a gold plate," said the +captain. "We may have to dig in a good many places before we strike +the right spot." + +"Let's do this," suggested Tyke. "Each one of us men will mark off the +paces, taking good long strides, an' see where we bring up. Then we'll +mark off a big circle that will include all three results. It's a +moral certainty that it will be somewheres in that circle if it's here +at all." + +They acted on this suggestion, Ruth, with pencil and paper, serving as +scribe, while the men did the pacing. She was elated at the part she +had played in the discovery. + +It was an easy enough matter to make thirty-seven big paces from one +point and eighty-nine big paces from another, but, as every student of +angles knows, it was very difficult to make the two lines converge at +the proper point. But though their methods were rough, they succeeded +at last in getting a very fair working hypothesis. A rough circle of +forty feet in diameter was drawn about the stake Drew set up, and +within that circle they were convinced the treasure lay. + +By this time the sun had reached the zenith, and before they started to +dig they retreated to the shade in the edge of the jungle and ate their +lunch. + +"Hadn't you better wait until it gets a little cooler by and by?" asked +Ruth anxiously. "It will be frightful under this hot sun. This is the +hour of siesta." + +"I guess we're too impatient for that," answered her father. "But +we'll work only a few minutes at a time and take long resting spells +between." + +Fortunately the ground was moderately soft within the circle, and their +spades sank deep with every thrust. Tyke was not allowed to share in +this work of excavation, much to his disgust. As for Drew and Captain +Hamilton, their muscular arms worked like machines, and they soon had +great mounds of earth piled around their respective pits. + +But fortune failed to reward their efforts. One place after another +was abandoned as hopeless. + +They were toiling away with the perspiration dripping from them, when +Drew was startled by a cry from Ruth. He leaped instantly out of his +excavation, and ran to her. Ruth was standing in the shade of the +jungle's edge; but she was staring across the barren hillside toward +the west. + +"What is it?" demanded the young man. "What do you see?" + +"I--I don't know. I'm not _sure_ I saw anything," she admitted. "And +yet----" + +"Some of the seamen?" demanded Drew. "I've been expecting that, though +your father is so sure that Ditty and his gang will remain at the +eastern end of the island." + +"Oh, Allen! Not Ditty! Not one of the sailors! I--I could almost +believe in--in ghosts," and she tried to laugh. + +"What is it, my dear?" asked Tyke, who had come over. "What's +happened? Did you see something?" + +"Yes. It moved. It was there, and then it wasn't there. The space it +stood in was empty," said the girl earnestly. + +"For the love o' goodness!" cried Tyke, mopping his brow. "You've got +me all stirred up. Now, if I was superstitious----" + +"You will be if I tell you more about that--that thing," Ruth said. +She said it jokingly, and Tyke turned away, going over to where Captain +Hamilton was still at work. + +"It must have been the spirit of the old pirate come back to guard his +hoard," Drew said lightly. + +Ruth looked at him very oddly. + +"What do you think?" she whispered, when Tyke was out of hearing. "Why +should the ghost of Ramon Alvarez look so much like Mr. Parmalee?" + +Drew paled, and then flushed. + +"Do you mean that, Ruth?" he asked, and he could not keep his voice +from trembling. + +"Yes," she said. Then she flashed him a sudden smile. "Of course, it +was merely an hallucination. But, 'if I was superstitious----'" and +she quoted Tyke with a look which she tried to make merry. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +BURIED ALIVE + +Ruth pointed out to Drew exactly where the figure that had so startled +her had stood. It was down the slope of the hill to the westward, and +directly between two lava boulders at the edge of the jungle. + +The figure--man, apparition, what or whoever it was--had lingered in +sight but a moment. + +Before returning to work in his excavation, Drew went down to the spot +Ruth had pointed out. There was not a sign of anybody having been +there. The earth between the huge lumps of lava seemed not to have +been disturbed. He could find no broken twigs or torn vines at the +edge of the jungle. + +"She dreamed it--that's all," muttered Drew. "Poor Parmalee!" + +He thought of the man whose tragic end was so linked with his own +existence--of the body buffeted by the waves somewhere in the blue +expanse that stretched easterly from this little island. + +Of what use would the pirate treasure, if they found it, be to Allen +Drew? This bitter query obsessed him. He would gladly give every coin +and jewel Ramon Alvarez had buried here, were it his to give, to see +Parmalee, leaning on his cane, walk out of the jungle. + +He was so lost in these gloomy musings that he started when he felt a +light touch on his arm. + +He looked up to find Ruth standing beside him. + +"Did you find any trace of him, Allen?" she asked, in a voice from +which the tremor had not entirely gone. + +"Not the slightest sign," he answered. "The man or thing, whatever it +was, seems to have vanished into thin air." + +"It must have been mere fancy," she murmured, though without conviction. + +"Our nerves play strange tricks sometimes," Drew rejoined lightly. "We +are all of us in such an excited state just now that anything may +happen." + +"I've always felt that nerves had been left out of my composition," +said Ruth, smiling faintly. "But when it comes to the pinch, I suppose +I'm just as liable to them as any one else." + +"No, you're not," denied Allen Drew warmly. "You're the most perfect +thoroughbred of any woman I ever knew." + +"Perhaps your experience has been limited," she suggested, with a flash +of her old mischief. + +"I'm perfectly willing it should be limited from this time on to just +one woman," he was on the point of saying, but bit his lip just in time. + +"It is strange that this apparition, for want of a better name, should +have taken the form of Parmalee," he continued, his jealousy in spite +of himself taking possession of him. "Perhaps you were thinking of +him, just then," he hazarded. + +"Not at all," returned Ruth frankly. "Just at that moment I'm afraid +my mind was fixed on nothing else but the hunt for the pirate's +treasure." + +Drew felt somewhat reassured by this, and they had turned to retrace +their steps when he suddenly stood stock still. + +"What is it?" asked Ruth in some alarm. + +"I thought I saw an opening in the side of the mountain over there," he +replied. "Perhaps the ghost, or whatever it was, is hiding in that," +he added jestingly. "At any rate I'm going to take a minute and see +what it is." + +He made a step in the direction he had indicated. Ruth sought to +restrain him. + +"Don't you think you had better call my father and Mr. Grimshaw before +you venture in there?" she asked. "You don't know what may be lurking +there." + +"Nonsense," laughed the man lightly. "They'd only be vexed at being +interrupted in their digging. At any rate they're within easy call--if +there should be any need of them." + +Ruth was silenced though only half convinced. Together they went over +to a gaping rent in the side of the hill. + +As a matter of precaution, Drew had taken his revolver from his belt +and held it ready in his hand. He had really no expectation of meeting +anything hostile in human shape and he did not believe that any animal +that would be at all formidable ranged the island. + +"If it's a ghost, I don't suppose this revolver would do any good," he +joked, more to relieve Ruth's uneasiness than any that he felt himself. +"At the very least I'd have to have a silver bullet or one that had +been dipped in the river Jordan." + +The opening before which they stood was irregular in shape and seemed +to have been made by one of the convulsions of nature that apparently +were so common to the island. It was, roughly speaking, about four +feet wide and nine high, and from the glimpse they got into its depths +seemed to widen out in the interior. There was nothing about it to +speak of human occupancy and the ground leading to it bore no marks of +footprints. Nor were there any bones scattered about that might +indicate that it was the lair of wild beasts. + +Drew cupped his hands to his mouth and sent forth a ringing call. + +"Hello, in there!" he shouted. + +There was no answer, but the reverberations of his own voice that came +back to him seemed to show that the cave extended inward to a +considerable depth. + +"Hello!" he shouted again. "If there's any one in there, come out! +We're friends and won't hurt you." + +Again there was no answer. + +"Doesn't seem to be sociably inclined," muttered Allen grimly. + +"I guess there's nobody there," said Ruth. "Let's go back to the +others, Allen. We've spent too much time already on this foolish +notion of mine." + +"It wasn't foolish at all," protested Drew. "As a matter of fact it +may prove to be of the greatest importance. We ought to sift the +matter to the bottom. If there's anybody on this island we don't know +about, it ought to be our first business to find out. I think I'll +take a peep into this mysterious cave." + +He made a step forward, but Ruth's hand tightened on his arm and he +stopped. + +"Do you think you'd better risk it, Allen?" she asked. "How do you +know what may be in there. Suppose--suppose----" + +"Suppose what?" he asked with a whimsical smile. + +"Suppose anything should happen to you?" she half whispered. + +"Nothing will happen to me," he rejoined. "Not that it matters much +anyway," he added bitterly, as the thought swept over him of the black +cloud of suspicion that hung above him. + +"Just give me a minute, Ruth," he pleaded, hating himself for his +reckless words as he saw the pained look in her eyes. "I won't go in +for more than twenty or thirty feet, just to see if there's anything +about this place that we really ought to know. You stay here and I'll +be back before you fairly know I've gone." + +She reluctantly loosened her grasp of his arm and he plunged forward +into the darkness. + +For the first ten feet or so, the going was rendered rather difficult +by projecting bits of rock that caught at his clothes and impeded his +progress. But then the passage widened out steadily until he could not +feel the sides even when his arms were stretched to their utmost limit. + +The light that had followed him from the small entrance finally +vanished, and he went forward with the utmost caution, carefully +planting each foot for the next step. At any moment, for all he knew, +he might find himself on the brink of a precipice. + +"Black as Egypt in here," he muttered to himself, as he felt for the +matches he carried in an oilskin bag in the pocket of his coat. "I +guess I'd better strike a----" + +But he never finished the sentence. + +A deafening roar resounded through the cavern and he was thrown +violently forward on his hands and knees. Again came that dizzy, +sickening shaking of the earth, that nauseating sense of being lifted +to a height and suddenly let fall, that squirming of the ground beneath +him as though it were a gigantic reptile. + +His earlier experience in the open air had been bad enough, but there +at least he had had the sense of space and sunlight and companionship. +Here in the darkness and confinement the horrors of the earthquake were +multiplied. + +For more than a minute, which seemed to him an hour, the convulsions of +the earth continued. Then they gradually subsided, though it was some +minutes later before the quivering finally ceased. + +Dazed and bewildered, Allen Drew scrambled to his feet. His hands were +scraped and bleeding, though he thought little of this in his mental +perturbation. + +His thought turned instantly to Ruth. What might have happened to her +while he was away from her? The trees were thick near the mouth of the +cave. Suppose one had fallen and caught her before she could escape? + +He started to rush back to the entrance, but to his astonishment, could +see no trace of the light that had marked the place where the opening +had been. + +He stopped short, puzzled and alarmed. + +"That's queer," he muttered. "I guess that jar I got has turned me +around. It must be in the other direction." + +He hastily retraced his steps. But as the cave grew wider and he found +no sign of the narrow passage by which he had entered, he knew that he +was wrong. + +"Must have had it right the first time," he thought, "but it's strange +that I didn't see any light. Perhaps there was a bend in the passage +that I hadn't noticed." + +Again he went back, feeling his way. The path narrowed and his +outstretched hand came in contact with a shred of cloth that had been +torn from his coat when he had entered. This was proof positive that +he was on the right track. But where then was the light? + +The answer came to him with startling suddenness when he plunged +violently into a mass of earth and rock that barred his way. + +_The entrance to the cave had vanished!_ + +In its place was a vast mass of earth, a slice of the mountain side +that had been torn loose by that last mighty writhing of tortured +nature and that now held him as securely a prisoner as though he were +in the center of the earth. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +A DESPERATE SITUATION + +Mechanically, Drew took his handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the +cold sweat from his brow. He tried to steady his reeling brain and +bring some semblance of order into his thoughts. + +This then was the end! Trapped like a rat in a cage, shut out forever +from the world of men, doomed to die miserably and hopelessly,--sealed +in a tomb while yet alive! + +All the dreams he had cherished, all the hopes he had nourished, all +the future he had planned--planned with Ruth---- + +Ruth! + +The thought of her wrung his soul with anguish, but it also woke him +from his torpor. + +He _would_ see her again! He would not surrender! He would _not_ die! +Not while a breath remained in his body would he give in to despair. +There must be some way out. Fate would not be so cruel as to carry its +ghastly joke to the very end. He would call on all his resources. He +would struggle, fight, never give up for a moment. + +His brain cleared and he took a grip on himself. The blood once more +ran hot in his veins. His youth and manhood asserted themselves in +dauntless vigor and determination. + +The first thing to do was to attack the wall of fresh dirt and rock +that hemmed him in. Perhaps it was less thick than it seemed. He had +no implement to help him; but his muscular arms and powerful hands +might suffice to dig a way to freedom. + +He sought to fortify himself by calling to mind all that he had ever +read about prisoners digging their way to freedom. Their cases had +seemed desperate, but often they had succeeded. He too would +succeed--he must succeed. Ruth was outside waiting for him, working +for him, praying for him. + +He set to work with a dogged resolution and fierce energy that soon had +the perspiration flowing from him in streams. Behind him the dirt and +debris piled up in a rapidly growing mound. His hands and nails were +torn, but his excitement and absorption were so great that no sensation +of physical pain was conveyed to his overwrought brain. + +At times he stopped to rest a moment and to listen for the stroke of +pick or shovel from the opposite side of his living grave. But no +sound came to him. He seemed to be in a soundless universe except for +the rasp of his own labored breathing. + +It was after one of these intervals of listening that he was about to +resume his frenzied efforts when he thought he heard a slight sound in +the cave behind him. + +His heart seemed to stand still for a moment while he strained his ears. + +There was no mistake. Some living thing was in the cave besides +himself! + +Instinctively, his hand gripped the butt of his revolver. Then with a +bitter smile he put it back in its place. Why should he hurt or kill +anything that was alive? Death seemed sure enough for any occupant of +that cave. + +He went back stealthily until he reached the wider part of the cave, +where he had been when the shock came that had entombed him. + +Again that faint sound, undeniably human, came to his ears. Pacing +cautiously in the direction from which it came, his foot struck against +something soft. He reached down and his hand came in contact with a +woman's dress. + +In an instant he had gathered the yielding form in his arms. + +"Ruth!" he shouted. + +"Allen!" came back faintly from her parted lips. + +For an instant everything reeled about Drew and his mind was awhirl. +Then he laid his burden down and fell frantically to rubbing her hands. +Incoherent cries came from his lips as he sought to restore her to +complete consciousness. + +His vigorous efforts were rewarded a few moments later when Ruth +stirred and tried to sit up. + +"I must have fainted," she said; "or perhaps I struck my head against +the side of the cave when the shock came." + +"Don't try to talk yet," said Drew. "Just lie still a few minutes till +you are stronger." + +She obeyed, while he sat beside her holding her hand. + +"I can sit up now," she said after a few minutes. "My head is +perfectly clear again." + +"Are you sure you didn't hurt yourself when you fell?" + +"I think not," she answered, as she passed her hand over her hair. "My +head doesn't seem to be bruised or bleeding anywhere. It must have +been the shock." + +"Thank God it was nothing worse!" returned Drew fervently. "But tell +me how you happened to be here. It seems like a miracle. The whole +thing staggers me. I thought I left you outside of the cave when I +went in." + +"So you did," she assented with a touch of her old demureness, "but +that doesn't say that I stayed there." + +"I see it doesn't," he replied. "But why didn't you?" + +"I guess it's because I'm not used to obeying anybody except my +father," she answered evasively. + +"Tell me the real reason." + +"Well," she said, driven to bay, "I was afraid there might be something +dangerous in here and--and--I didn't want you to have to face it +alone--and"--here she paused. + +Drew's heart beat wildly. + +"And so you came in to stand by my side," he said with emotion. "Ruth, +Ruth----" + +"But now," said Ruth hastily, following up her advantage, "we must +hurry and get back to the others. Father will begin to worry about me." + +Anguish smote Drew. Ruth had evidently not the slightest idea that +anything stood between her and freedom. How could he break the +dreadful news to her? He felt like an executioner compelled by some +awful fate to slay the one he loved most dearly. + +"You mustn't look at me after we get outside until I've had a chance to +arrange my hair," she warned him gaily. "I must look a perfect fright." + +Every innocent word was a stab that went straight to the man's heart. + +His mind was a tumult of warring emotions. At first there had been a +wild delight when he had found himself in the presence of his heart's +desire, after he feared that he would never hear her voice again. In +the excitement of bringing her back to consciousness and listening to +her story, the fearful peril in which they stood had been relegated to +the background. Now it came back at him with re-doubled force, and he +had to close his lips tightly to suppress a groan. + +He could have died alone, if escape had proved impossible, and met +death like a man. But to have to watch Ruth die--die perhaps after +enduring unspeakable suffering--the mere thought threatened to drive +him mad. + +And she was here because she had feared that he might encounter danger +and wanted to meet it at his side when it came. But for that +courageous impulse, she might at this moment be safe and sound out +under the open sky instead of being buried alive in this island tomb. + +Moreover her very presence here made their danger all the greater. +There was little chance now of help coming to them from the outside. +No doubt Tyke and Captain Hamilton would grow uneasy at their absence +and look them up--probably they were hunting for them now. But they +did not know of the existence of the cave, and now that the entrance +was closed there was not the slightest chance of finding them. They +would explore the mountain side, search every foot of the island, but +their quest would be doomed to failure from the beginning. + +While these thoughts had been hurrying through his tortured brain, Ruth +had arranged her disordered hair as best she could in the darkness and +stood ready to go. + +"Well, Allen, what are we waiting for?" she asked. "You men are always +complaining that the girls keep you waiting, but this time you're the +guilty one." + +He tried to adopt her bantering mood, but failed miserably. + +"I'll have to throw myself on your mercy," he said. "But wait here a +moment, Ruth, till I see if the path is clear." + +Even in the darkness, he was almost conscious that she looked at him in +surprise. But he needed time to get his thoughts together and decide +on the easiest way of breaking the terrible news that weighed on his +heart. + +He cudgeled his brain to find the gentlest, most reassuring phrases +that would alarm her least and keep up her courage. But there was the +stark, hideous fact that could not be blinked or dodged, and when at +last his lagging steps returned, he was no nearer a solution of his +problem than before. + +"I declare you sound like Tyke coming along the passage," Ruth laughed +merrily. "They say bad news travels fast. So your news must be good, +or you wouldn't be coming so slowly." + +"I only wish you were right," he said, grasping at the opening. "But +to tell the truth my news isn't any too good. Oh, nothing to be +alarmed about," he added hastily, as he caught her stifled exclamation. +"A little loose earth seems to have come down the slope of the hill and +blocked up the entrance. I'll get to work at it and clear it out in a +jiffy." + +He tried to throw a world of confidence into his tone, but it failed to +ring true. In the darkness he heard Ruth catch her breath. + +"Let's go and see just how bad it is," was all she said, and Drew with +a chill in his heart, led the way. + +"What is this dirt in here?" asked Ruth, as she stumbled over a mound +that Allen had thrown behind him in his frantic digging. + +"Oh, that's some that I've dug out already," Allen replied with assumed +carelessness. "I just wanted to find out how hard the dirt was and +whether it would give way easily. It's fresh and soft and we'll get +the whole lot out of our way in no time." + +He was about to start in again at the task when Ruth laid her hand upon +his arm. + +"You didn't dig all this out in that minute you were away from me just +now," she said quietly. "You must have been working while I lay in +there unconscious. Come now, Allen, tell me the whole truth. Remember +that I am a sailor's daughter and am not afraid to face things, no +matter how bad they may be. The cave entrance is badly blocked up, +isn't it?" + +"God bless your staunch, plucky heart, Ruth," blurted out Drew, his own +heart kindling at her courage. "You're one woman in a thousand, yes, +in a million. I might have known you'd face the truth without weeping +or hysterics. You're right about the landfall. I'm afraid it's a +heavy one. I've been digging at it for some time without making much +impression. But after all it's all guess-work and it may not be so +thick as it seems to be. We may let daylight through at any minute. +At any rate I'm going at it like a tiger. I worked hard before when I +thought I was alone, but now that I've got you to look out for I'll do +ten times as much. I've only begun to fight. We're just going to get +out of this and that's all there is about it." + +"And I'll help you," cried Ruth. + +"Not with those little hands," replied the man vehemently. "You just +stand back there and pray while I do the work." + +"Those little hands, as you call them, are stronger than you think. +I'm going to work with all my might and help you out. And that won't +keep me from praying either. I guess the cave women used to work and +fight just about as much as the men, and I'm a cave woman now if I +never was before." + +Again Drew sought to deter her, but she was determined and he had to +let her have her way. The only concession he could gain was to make +her put on a pair of buckskin gloves that dangled at his belt. They +were woefully large for her shapely hands and at any other time would +have furnished a subject for jesting. But nothing now was further from +their minds than laughter. They were engaged on a grim work of life or +death and both of them knew it. + +But though brave, there was a limit to Ruth's physical strength, and +under such strenuous and unaccustomed effort it was not long before +that limit was reached. Drew discerned it coming before Ruth herself +would admit it. + +He took her gently but firmly by both wrists and fairly compelled her +to sit down on one of the mounds, where he improvised a seat that +enabled her to rest her back against one side of the cave. Then he +returned to the work with redoubled vigor, tossing the dirt aside as +though he were a tireless steam shovel. + +But though Ruth's body was resting, her mind was working actively, +darting hither and thither in an effort to find a way of escape from +their fearful predicament. + +"Allen," she said, as he stopped for an instant to rest, "come here and +sit down beside me." + +He had never hesitated before at accepting that coveted invitation, but +just now he wondered whether he ought to stop even for an instant. His +herculean efforts had brought him to the very edge of collapse, but he +was feverishly eager to keep on. + +"Ought I, Ruth?" he questioned. "Every minute now is precious, you +know." + +"I know it," she admitted, "but you'll drop dead from exhaustion if you +don't stop and rest. You must rest." + +The gentle tyrant had her way and Drew yielded. He sat down beside +her, his chest contracting and expanding under the stress of his +labored breathing. + +"Poor boy!" she said softly, and Drew thrilled at the sympathy in her +tone. + +"I've been thinking, Allen, that perhaps we had better not rely +entirely on your digging for getting out of here," she continued. +"It's all a guess as to how thick that wall of earth and rock is, and +we may be using on it the strength that we need for other things. If +you had an implement of some kind it would be different. But with your +bare hands together with what little help I can give you it may be +impossible." + +"Yes," he was forced to concede, "I can't go on forever. Sooner or +later my strength will give out. But what can we do but keep on +trying? I'd go raving mad if I didn't keep on taking the one little +chance we have." + +"But is it the only chance we have?" she argued. "Did you bring your +revolver with you?" + +For answer he took it out of his belt and put it in her hand. + +"Have you any extra cartridges?" she asked. + +"Not a single one, but the revolver itself is fully loaded. That's +just six we have to count on." + +She was silent for a moment. + +"There isn't any likelihood we'll have to use these for defending +ourselves," she said at length. "There doesn't seem to be any living +thing in this cave of which we need to be afraid. But, nevertheless, +suppose we keep two for emergencies. That would give us four to +experiment with, wouldn't it?" + +"Experiment? How?" he inquired. + +"I was thinking that perhaps father"--here her voice faltered a +little--"and Tyke might be somewhere in the neighborhood hunting for +us. If we should discharge the revolver they might possibly hear one +or more of the shots and get some idea of where we were. I know it's +only a forlorn hope, but we've got to try everything just now." + +"It's a good idea!" exclaimed Drew, though he knew in his heart how +slender a chance it offered. "And in the meantime, I'll keep on +digging, so that if the shots aren't heard we won't be any worse off +anyway. You fire the four shots at intervals of a minute or two and +we'll see what happens." + +He went savagely to work again and Ruth at short intervals discharged +the revolver. The noise and the echoes in that compressed space were +deafening and it certainly seemed as though the sound ought to +penetrate to the world outside. + +But though they fairly held their breath as they listened for a +response, no answering sound penetrated from the outside into the +cavern, and their hearts sank as they realized that one more of their +few hopes had failed them. + +"It's of no use," observed Ruth sadly, as she handed the weapon back to +Allen. "Either they didn't hear the shots, or, if they did, they +thought it was some sound made by the volcano. We'll have to try +something else." + +Both were silent for a few moments, immersed in bitter thoughts that +were as black as the darkness that surrounded them. + +"Can you ever forgive me, Ruth, for having gotten you into such a trap +as this?" he burst out suddenly. + +"You didn't get me in it," protested Ruth. "I came in of my own +accord." + +"I don't mean that," explained Drew. "But you tried to persuade me not +to enter the cave in the first place, and if I'd only had sense enough +to listen to you; we'd both of us be out in the sunlight at this +minute. Headstrong fool that I was!" he ended in an agony of self +condemnation. + +"Now don't blame yourself a bit for that, Allen," said Ruth earnestly. +"You only did what you thought you ought to do, and ninety-nine times +out of a hundred no harm would have come of it." + +"And it was our luck to strike the hundredth time," replied Drew +bitterly. + +"Besides," said Ruth with a trifle of hesitation, "I think I'd have +been a little disappointed at the time if you had done as I asked. I'd +have felt that perhaps in your secret heart you did it apparently to +please me, but really because you were glad enough not to have to take +any chances of what you might meet in here." + +Drew was somewhat puzzled at this bit of feminine psychology, but he +gathered some comfort from it, and this was perhaps after all the +result that Ruth was seeking. + +"Do you notice, Allen, how fresh the air seems to be in here?" she +asked. + +"I've been wondering at that," he answered. "To tell the truth my +worst fear has been that it would get too close and foul for us to +breathe. But it seems to be just as sweet now as it was at the +beginning." + +"What do you suppose is the reason?" + +"It must be that the cave is a little larger than it seems to be. It +seemed to be getting bigger and bigger as I went further into it. If +that is so, it accounts for the fact that the air supply has not yet +begun to be vitiated." + +"But mayn't there be any other reason?" she asked. + +"I can't think of any other," he answered. Then as a thought suddenly +struck him, he jumped as though he had been shot. + +"Why didn't I think of that before?" he fairly shouted. "There may be +another entrance!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE ALARM + +Unaware of the possible tragedy that was being developed within a few +hundred yards of them, Tyke and Captain Hamilton had kept on digging in +the excavation. For Tyke had refused to be kept out of the work of +recovering the treasure, and when Drew had strolled off with the +intention of discovering what had frightened Ruth and had been followed +shortly after by the latter, the old man had seized Drew's abandoned +shovel and had gone lustily to work. + +"Too much of a strain on that game leg of yours to be heaving up those +shovelfuls," the captain protested. + +"Nary a bit of it," answered Tyke. "I ain't ready to be put on the +shelf yet, not by a blamed sight, and I guess if it came to a showdown, +Rufe, my muscles are as good as yours." + +"You're a tough old knot all right," admitted Captain Hamilton, his +eyes twinkling. "But there's no sense in your doing Allen's work. +Where in thunder has the boy gone anyway?" + +"Oh, he'll turn up in a minute or two," returned Tyke. "Wherever he is +you can bet your boots he's doing something connected with this here +work of treasure seeking. It simply ain't in that boy to lay down on +any job." + +"Drew makes a hit with you all right," laughed the captain. + +"And why shouldn't he?" asked Tyke belligerently. "He's been with me +for some years now, and I've had plenty of chances of sizin' him up. +If there was a yellow streak in him, I'd have found it out long ago. +If I'd had a son of my own, I wouldn't have asked for him to be any +better fellow than Allen is, and nobody could say any more'n that. +He's got grit an' brains an' gumption, an' more'n that he's as straight +as a string." + +"Go ahead," laughed the captain, as Tyke paused for want of breath. +"Don't let me stop you." + +"I don't mind tellin' you, Rufe, what I've never told yet to any human +soul," continued Tyke, waxing confidential, "an' that is that when I +lay up in my last harbor, Allen is goin' to come into everything I've +got. He don't know it himself yet, but I've got it down shipshape in +black and white an' the paper's in my office safe." + +"He's a lucky fellow," commented the captain briefly. + +"An' let me tell you another thing, Rufe," said Tyke, "an' that is that +Allen would make not only a good son, but a mighty good son-in-law." + +He nudged the captain in the ribs as he spoke, with the familiarity of +old comradeship. + +"Lay off on that, Tyke," said the captain, flushing a little beneath +his bronze. + +"You don't mean to say that you haven't seen the way the wind was +blowin'?" rejoined Tyke incredulously. "Why, any one with a pair of +good eyes in his head can't help but see that those two are just made +for each other." + +"I'm not blind, of course," returned the captain, who now that the ice +was broken seemed not averse to talking the matter over with his old +comrade. "I know of course that I can't keep Ruth forever and that +some time some fellow will lay me aboard and carry her off right from +under my guns. And I'm not denying that up to a few days ago, I'd +rather it would have been young Drew than any one else. But now--" +here he paused. + +"Well, but now," repeated Tyke. + +"You know just as well as I do what I'm meaning," blurted out Captain +Hamilton. "This matter of Parmalee's death has got to be cleared up +before I'd even consider him in connection with Ruth. You can't blame +me for that, Tyke." + +The old man's face clouded. + +"I ain't exactly blaming you, Rufe," he conceded, for despite his +ardent partisanship of Allen, he could realize how Captain Hamilton as +a parent must feel; "but I'm mortal sure that thing will be cleared up +before long. You know just as well as I do that Allen didn't kill +Parmalee any more than you or I did." + +"That's what I want to believe," returned the captain. "I mean," he +corrected, as he saw the choleric flash in Tyke's eyes, "that's what I +do believe." + +"It's that scoundrel, Ditty, that did it himself," growled Tyke +savagely. "He cooked up the whole thing and then shoved it off on +Allen. You've seen enough of him since then to know that he's capable +of anything." + +"Yes," admitted the captain, "he's a dirty dog. But don't you see, +Tyke, that even allowing that Allen is innocent, he's been _charged_ +with doing it. And to lots of people, that's just about the same as +though he were actually guilty. Then, too, the matter will have to be +tried out in the courts. Allen will have to stand trial and even if he +gets off, as I hope he will, there'll be a cloud on his name as long as +he lives. How could I let Ruth marry a man who had been charged with +murder and who got off because there wasn't evidence enough to convict?" + +"Mebbe Ruth would be willing to take the chance," persisted Tyke +stubbornly. + +"Maybe she would," agreed the captain, "but she'd never do it with my +consent. She's too good and sweet and pretty a girl to link her life +with a man whose name was smirched. I wouldn't stand for it for a +minute." + +Tyke was framing a reply when suddenly the earthquake which wrought +such dire results to the two of whom they were speaking shook the +ground. The two men were thrown against each other and both went in a +heap to the bottom of the ditch. The breath was knocked out of their +bodies, and every thought was driven from their minds except the +instinctive desire to remain alive until nature's onslaught had ceased. + +When the worst was over, they scrambled to their feet, brushed the dirt +from their clothes and faces, and stared grimly at each other. + +"If it didn't seem too conceited to think that all this fuss was being +made on our account," growled the captain, as he picked up his spade. +"I'd surely make up my mind that something was trying to shoo us away +from this treasure hunting." + +"Yes," agreed Tyke. "Now, if I was superstitious--" + +"I wonder," broke in the captain with sudden alarm, as he thought of +the two errant members of the party, "where Ruth and Allen were when +this quake happened." + +"The only safe thing is to say that they were together somewhere," said +Tyke. "I notice that they're never far apart. Don't you worry, Rufe. +Allen will take good care of her." + +But the captain was already climbing out of the excavation. He gave +Tyke a hand and helped him up. + +"Where did you last see them, Tyke?" Hamilton asked, as his eyes +scanned the surrounding landscape without catching a glimpse of the +figures he sought. + +"The last I saw of Allen he was going down toward them trees," replied +Tyke, indicating a corner of the jungle, "an' a little later, out o' +the corner of my eye, I saw Ruth going in the same direction. Now, +don't fret, Rufe. They'll turn up as right as a trivet in another +minute or two." + +"The jungle!" gasped the captain in alarm. "Don't you see, Tyke, that +some of those trees have been shaken down. Maybe they've been caught +under one of them. Hurry! hurry!" + +He set off, running hurriedly, and Tyke hastened after him as fast as +he could. + +They were soon at the jungle's edge. Several giant trees had fallen +victims to the earthquake's wrath, but a frantic searching among their +trunks revealed no traces of the missing ones. + +The captain wiped his brow and gave a great sigh of relief. + +"So far, so good!" he exclaimed. "They've escaped that danger anyway. +I had a fearful scare. I don't mind admitting that my heart was in my +mouth for a minute." + +"Same here," assented Tyke, who despite his faith in Drew's +resourcefulness had secretly shared the captain's alarm. "But if +they're not here, where in Sam Hill can they be?" + +They raised their voices in a shout, but no answering sound came back. + +Several times they repeated the call, but all to no purpose. + +"Strange," muttered the captain uneasily. "It isn't like Ruth to go +off to any distance without telling me about it beforehand." + +"Nor Allen neither," put in Tyke loyally. + +"You might almost think the earth had swallowed them up," pursued the +captain, little thinking how near he was to guessing the truth. + +"Well, the only thing to do is to keep looking for 'em until we find +'em," said Tyke. "You take that side of the hill, Rufe, and I'll take +the other. We'll come across them probably before we meet up with each +other." + +The two men separated on their quest, calling out at frequent +intervals. It did not take them long to skirt the base of the whale's +hump, but when at last they met each saw only disappointment and a +growing alarm in the eyes of the other. + +"We'll have to try it again and make a wider circle," exclaimed +Hamilton desperately. "We've simply got to come across them somewhere +around here." + +"Of course we shall," said Tyke heartily, though the crease in his +forehead belied the confidence of his words. + +Once more they made the round of the hump, this time ranging out much +further from the base. Still their efforts were fruitless, and when +they met once more, neither tried to disguise from the other the +growing panic in his heart. + +"Ruth, Ruth!" groaned the captain. + +"Come now, Rufe, brace up," comforted Tyke. "While there's life +there's hope." + +"That's just it," replied the captain. "But how do we know there is +life? Something serious must have happened to them, or they'd never +stay away like this. They'd know we'd be worried about them after that +shock came and they couldn't have come back to us quick enough, if +they'd been able to come." + +Tyke could not deny the force of this. + +"Well now, Rufe, let's get down to the bottom of this," he said. "I'm +afraid just as you be that they're in trouble of some kind. Now what +could make trouble for them on this island? There ain't any wild +beasts of any account here, do you think?" + +"Not that I ever heard of," replied the captain. "We're too far south +for mountain lions and too far north for jaguars. There may be an +occasional wildcat, but it wouldn't be likely to attack a single person +let alone two together. There may be snakes here though for all I +know." + +"Nothing doing there," said Tyke decisively. "Mebbe there's boas, but +if so there're a mild and harmless kind, such as those they make +household pets of in some places to keep away the rats. And if there +are any poisonous snakes, it's against all likehood that both Ruth and +Allen would be bitten. One of them would come scurrying to us at once +for help for the other. + +"Besides," he went on, "I know that Allen had his revolver along with +him and he's a sure shot. No, I don't think we have to worry about +animals or snakes." + +"What is there left then?" groaned the captain. + +"There's two things left," replied Tyke reflectively. "One of 'em is +old nature herself. What she can do is a plenty, as we've seen since +we come to this island----." + +"This infernal island," broke in the captain viciously. "I wish to +heaven we'd never seen it. I wish some one of these earthquakes had +sent it to the bottom of the sea." + +"I don't blame you much," assented Tyke. "But being here, we've got to +take things as they come. Now, as I was saying, old nature may have +taken a hand in causing trouble for the two young folks. But for the +life of me I don't see how. We've already seen that they weren't +caught under those falling trees. And there didn't any lava flow come +with that last quake. And that being so I can't see where nature's got +into the game. + +"Now," he continued, "there's just one thing left--and that's men! +There may be some natives on this island that feel sore at our butting +in on 'em and they may have come across them youngsters and captured +'em." + +"I don't think that's at all likely," rejoined the captain. "There'd +certainly have been some sign of them, some boat, some hut or something +else of the kind. But we haven't seen hide or hair of anything since +we landed. The boat's crew, too, have been roaming over the island and +they'd have reported to us anything they'd seen that looked as though +people lived in this God-forsaken spot." + +"Yes," assented Tyke. "And it stands to reason that Allen with his +automatic would have put up a fight and we'd have heard the sound of +shots. But there are other men besides natives on the island." + +"What do you mean?" asked the captain in surprise. + +"I mean Ditty and his gang of water rats," replied Tyke. + +"You don't think that skunk would dare--" spluttered the captain. + +"I think that one-eyed rascal would dare almost anything," answered +Tyke. "And it struck me as barely possible that he might have come +sneaking around to see what we were doing and perhaps run across Allen +and Ruth. There's bad blood there, as you know, and it wouldn't take +much to bring about a scrap. + +"Not that I think that has happened," he went on, "because it isn't +likely that Ditty's plans are far enough forward yet for him to show +his hand. Still I may be wrong. I tell you what I think you'd better +do. You can git around faster than I can with this old game leg of +mine. Suppose you run back to the shore and see if Ditty is hanging +around there. If he is and everything seems shipshape we can leave him +out of our calculations. Then we'll have to figure out what we're to +do next." + +It was grasping at straws, but in their utter ignorance of the real +facts they had nothing but straws to grasp at. The captain set off +hurriedly, while Tyke went once more around the mountain base in the +forlorn hope that this time something tangible would come to reward his +efforts. + +Once he thought he heard something that sounded like shots and he +stopped short in his tracks. His old eyes, keen yet, despite his +years, looked eagerly around. But as far as his eyes could reach there +was nothing to be seen, and he came to the conclusion that he must have +imagined the sounds or that they were caused by some rumbling of the +earth. + +In a surprisingly short time, the captain was back, panting and winded +by his exertions. + +"Well," asked Tyke eagerly, "did you find out anything?" + +"The men were all huddled down on the shore evidently scared out of +their wits. I guess we can cross them off our slate. But how about +you? Did you find any clue?" + +"Nary a thing," answered Tyke dejectedly. "I thought at one time that +I heard shots, but when I come to look it up there was nothing in it." + +"We must find them!" cried the captain excitedly, pacing back and forth +like a wild animal and digging his nails into his palms as he clenched +his fists in anguish. "We'll go over every foot of this island. I'll +get out every man on the ship and set him to work searching." + +"I wouldn't do that--at least not yit," adjured Tyke, laying his hand +on the captain's arm. "Of course we may have to do that as a last +resort. But you know what sailors are, an' we don't want to have 'em +cracking their jokes 'bout Allen an' Ruth going off together. Wait a +bit. The day's young yet an' they may turn up any time of their own +accord. In the meantime, we'll explore places that we haven't tried +before an' mebbe we'll run across 'em. If everything else fails, then +we'll turn out every man jack of the crew and go over every inch of the +island." + +To the agonized father, everything that savored of delay seemed +intolerable, but he yielded to the wisdom of Tyke's suggestion and once +more they started out in their desperate search. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +THE LAKE OF FIRE + +Drew was all animation in an instant at the new hope that sprang up +within him with its offer of possible safety for his companion and +himself. + +"Why didn't I think of it before?" he repeated, his voice shaken with +excitement. + +"You didn't think of it before, because you were working like a slave. +No man can work like that and think of anything but what he is doing. +Oh, Allen, won't it be great if you are right?" + +"I'm going to see if I am right," he replied. + +"How can you tell?" she asked divining that he was fumbling at his +pocket. + +"In this way," he answered, drawing out the oilskin bag that contained +his precious matches. + +He struck a match and held it aloft. + +At first the flame mounted straight up in the air. Then an instant +later it was deflected and stood out at a distinct angle from the stick. + +"See," cried Allen jubilantly. "There's a current of air in the cave. +It's too slight for us to feel, but the flame feels it. If we were +sealed up utterly in the cave, the air would be still. Somewhere the +air is coming in from the outside world and it's up to us to find out +where." + +"Thank God!" murmured Ruth tremulously. + +In the sudden transition from despair to hope, they took little account +of the difficulties they might have to overcome before they reached +that other entrance--or the exit, from their point of view--which they +had reason to believe existed. But as their first jubilation subsided +somewhat, a soberer view began to thrust itself upon them. + +Admitting that there was an exit, what guarantee had they of reaching +it? Suppose a fathomless gulf barred their way? Suppose the passage +narrowed to a point too small for them to thrust themselves through? +Suppose when the coveted exit should at last be found it should prove +to be in the ceiling of the cave instead of the side, and hopelessly +out of reach? + +But they quickly dismissed these dismal forebodings. Those problems +could wait for solution until they faced them. The present at least +was illumined by hope. + +"Come along, Ruth," cried Allen gaily. "Pack up your trunks and let's +be moving." + +"Only too gladly," the girl responded, falling into his mood. "I never +did care much for this place anyway." + +But suddenly a reflection came to her. + +"How are we to find our way in this pitch darkness?" she asked. "I +don't know how many matches you have with you, but at the most they +can't last long. And the time may come when a match would be more +precious than a diamond." + +Drew took out his bag again, and, taking the greatest precautions not +to drop one, counted the matches by the sense of touch. + +"Just thirty-two," he announced when he had counted them twice. + +"Only thirty-two!" echoed Ruth. "And we may need a hundred and +thirty-two before we get to the other mouth of the cave." + +For a moment Drew pondered. + +"You're right, as always, Ruth," he agreed. "We can't depend on the +matches alone. We'll have to get something that will serve as a torch. +While I was digging, I remember I came across many branches of trees +that had been carried down by the slide in its rush. We'll see if we +can't make some torches out of them." + +He set lustily to work and soon had as many as ten good-sized sticks +that promised to supply his need. He was afraid that not being +seasoned wood they would prove difficult to light. But there proved to +be a resinous quality in the wood that atoned for its greenness, and +before long he had a torch that burned steadily though rather murkily. + +"Eureka!" he cried waving it aloft. + +"Good for you, Allen," applauded Ruth. "Now give me the rest of those +sticks to carry and you go ahead with the lighted torch." + +"I'll carry them myself," he protested. + +"No you won't," she said decidedly, at the same time gathering them up +in her arms. "You'll have the torch in one hand and you need to have +the other free for emergencies." + +He recognized the common sense of this, but found it hard to let her do +it. + +"It's too much like the Indians," he said. "You know that with them +the buck carries his dignity, while his squaw carries everything else." + +"But I'm not your squaw," slipped saucily from Ruth's lips before she +could realize the possible significance of her remark. + +"Not yet," replied Allen daringly, wanting to bite his tongue out a +moment later for having taken advantage of her slip. + +"But let's hurry now, Ruth," he went on hastily to cover their mutual +confusion. "Follow close in my steps and don't keep more than two or +three feet behind me at any time." + +They set off on the unknown path whose end meant to them either +deliverance or death. The chances were against them, but their hearts +were high and their courage steadfast. + +They had need of all their fortitude, for they had not advanced forty +paces before danger menaced them. + +Drew holding his torch high so as to throw its light as far ahead as +possible, stepped on what seemed to be a crooked stick in the path. +Instantly the stick sprang to life, and a powerful, slimy coil wound +itself around the man's leg as high as the knee. + +His first impulse was to spring back. His next was to grind down with +crushing force on the squirming thing beneath his heel. The second +impulse conquered the first and he stood like a statue while a cold +sweat broke out all over his body. + +For he had realized by the feel that it was the reptile's head that was +beneath his heel and must be kept there at all costs until the life was +crushed out of it. + +Gradually the writhings grew feebler, until at last the coils relaxed +and fell in a heap about his foot. + +"What is it Allen?" asked Ruth in alarm at his sudden stop and rigid +pose. "Do you see anything?" + +"There's no danger," he assured her, though his voice was not quite +steady. "I must have stepped on a lizard or something like that, and +it gave me a start." + +He kicked the mangled reptile out of the path, but not before Ruth's +horrified glance had seen that it was no lizard but something far more +deadly. + +Here was a new terror added to the others. For all they knew there +might be a colony of the reptiles in the cave. And in that +semi-tropical region, the chances were vastly in favor of their being +poisonous. At all events it behooved them to advance with redoubled +caution. + +They kept a wary lookout for anything that looked like a crooked stick +after that, and their progress, already slow, became still slower as +they went on. + +Before long they came to a place where the cave seemed to divide into +three separate passageways. Two of them had nothing to distinguish +them from each other, but in the third they distinguished a faint light +in the distance. + +"The blessed light!" exclaimed Ruth fervently. + +"I guess that's the path to take, all right," exulted Drew. "In all +probability that light comes from the outlet of the cave. Hurrah for +us, Ruth!" + +Ruth echoed his enthusiasm, and they accelerated their pace. The hope +that they had cherished seemed now about to become certainty. + +But the way was rougher now, and at one place they had to make a long +detour. But they made no complaint. As long as no impassable barrier +of rock loomed up before them they could feel that they were getting +nearer and nearer to freedom and life. + +But before long both became conscious of a steadily-growing heat in the +air of the cave. The perspiration flowed from them in streams. At +first they were inclined to attribute this to their strenuous exertions +and the mental strain under which they were laboring. + +"Strange it should be so frightfully hot," remarked Drew, as he stopped +for a moment to wipe his brow. + +"It's no wonder," responded Ruth. "It's hot enough on this island even +when you're in the outer air, and it would naturally be worse still in +this confined place." + +"But we didn't feel that way ten minutes ago," objected Drew. + +"We've done a good deal of walking since then," said Ruth, though +rather doubtfully. "But let's get along, Allen. I'm just crazy to get +to the outlet." + +They were about to resume their journey, when a great flame of fire +leaped to the very roof of the cave about a hundred yards in front of +them. + +They stopped abruptly, and in the smoky light of the torch both of +their faces were white as chalk, as they faced each other with a +question in their eyes. + +"Fire!" gasped the man. + +"Yes," assented Ruth quietly but bitterly. "What we thought was +daylight is nothing other than fire." + +"Shall we keep on?" debated Allen. + +"We're so close that we might as well," advised Ruth. "Perhaps we may +be able to get around it somehow." + +They went forward, though with excessive care, and a moment later stood +on the brink of the most awe-inspiring spectacle they had ever +witnessed. + +In a deep pit perhaps six hundred feet in circumference was a lake of +liquid fire! The molten lava twisted and writhed as though a thousand +serpents were coiling and uncoiling. A vapor rose from the fiery mass +that glowed with a hideous radiance in all the colors of the spectrum. + +At intervals, huge geysers of living flame spurted up from the surface +to a height of many feet and fell back in a glistening of molten gold +and coruscating diamonds. + +It was a scene that if it could have been viewed with safety would have +drawn tourists in thousands from every corner of the globe. + +But to the two spectators the thought that they were looking on one of +the marvels of the world brought nothing but desolation and despair. + +"This must be the source of the lava flow when the whale's hump is in +eruption," said Drew in a toneless voice. + +"I suppose so," said Ruth in a voice that for dreariness was a replica +of his own. "Do you think it's possible for us to get around it in any +way, Allen?" + +"Not a chance in the world," answered Drew. "You can see that the +passage we followed ends at the brink of the crater. From there on, +there's just a wall of solid rock. The only thing left for us to do is +to get back to the place where the cave split into three parts." + +They retraced their steps with hearts that grew heavier at every step. +The passage that had seemed most promising had yielded nothing but +bitter disappointment. Only two other chances remained, and who could +tell that they led anywhere but to death? + +At the juncture of the passageways, they hesitated for a moment only. +There was absolutely nothing to indicate that they should take one of +the remaining two paths rather than the other. Impenetrable blackness +covered both. + +"Which shall it be, Ruth?" asked Drew. + +"You do the choosing, Allen," Ruth responded. + +At a venture he took the one leading to the left, but had not proceeded +more than a hundred feet when he stopped abruptly on the very brink of +a chasm that spanned the entire width of the passage-way. There was no +ledge however narrow to furnish a foothold along its sides. Once more +they were absolutely blocked. + +Drew checked a groan and Ruth stifled something suspiciously like a +sob. The tension under which they were was fast reaching the breaking +point. + +"Never mind," said Drew, stoutly recovering himself. "There's luck in +odd numbers and the third time we win." + +"First the worst, second the same, last the best of all the game," +responded Ruth with an attempt at heartiness. + +Again they went back and took the only way remaining. Upon the ending +of that passage their life or death depended. + +But as they advanced steadily and no barrier interfered, their spirits +rose. Then suddenly they cried aloud in their joy, for on turning a +sharp bend in the path a rush of air almost extinguished the torch that +Drew was carrying. + +A hundred feet ahead was an opening thickly covered with bushes, but +large enough to admit of forcing a passage! + +Ruth dropped her load of surplus torches. Drew, grasping her arm, +hurried her along. He forced the bushes apart and pushed her through. +Then he followed. They heard a wild shout and the next minute Ruth was +sobbing in her father's arms, while Tyke--hardy grizzled old Tyke--had +thrown his arms around Allen in a bear's hug and was blubbering like a +baby. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +HOPE DEFERRED + +There was a wild babble of questions and answers, and it was a long +time before all had calmed down enough to talk coherently. + +The captain and Tyke in their frantic search had come just abreast of +the outlet at the moment when Ruth and Allen had burst out into +daylight and safety. + +Their hearts thrilled as they listened to the dreadful perils through +which had passed the two who were dearest to them on earth and the +narration was punctuated with expressions of consternation and sympathy. + +"Well now," suggested Ruth after a half hour had passed, "let's get +back to work." + +"No more work this afternoon," ejaculated the captain. "You're going +straight back to the ship." + +"Indeed I'm not, Daddy," rejoined Ruth. "I'm all right now and I'll be +vastly happier sitting here and seeing you go on with the work than to +feel I've made you lose a day. We've got some hours of daylight yet." + +The captain protested, but Ruth coaxed and wheedled him till he +consented and they all went back to the ditch they had started and went +to work, Ruth alone of the party being forbidden to lift a finger. + +They excavated to the volcanic ledge in half a dozen places. In none +did they find a trace of treasure--not a sign that this soil had ever +before been disturbed by the hand of man. + +"Bad mackerel!" grumbled Captain Hamilton, finally climbing out of his +last pit. "This looks as if we'd been handed a rotten deal from a cold +deck." + +Tyke looked up from his work, and began: + +"Mebbe that--Now, if I was superstitious--Oh, well," he went on +hastily, "you can't expect to find a fortune in a minute." + +"But we got the bearings all right, according to the map, didn't we?" +demanded the captain with some asperity. + +"We certainly did," Drew put it. + +"We can't dig over the whole island," complained Captain Hamilton. "It +would be foolish. Hush! What's that?" + +A rumble, a sound from the very bowels of the hill, smote upon their +ears. Ruth ran to them. + +"Oh, Daddy!" she cried, "is there going to be another earthquake?" + +"Look there!" Drew said pointing upward. + +Over the summit of the whale's hump hung a balloon of smoke, or of +steam, its underside of a lurid hue. + +"I say I've had enough for one day," declared the master of the _Bertha +Hamilton_. "Let's get back to the schooner before anything else +occurs. Maybe a night's sleep will put heart in us. But I tell you +right now, I, for one, would sell my share in the pirate's treasure at +a big discount." + +The captain was the most outspoken of the treasure seekers; but they +were all despondent. They hid their digging tools, and departed for +the shore of the lagoon, the volcano rumbling at times behind them. + +They emerged from the forest just as the sun was setting. As they came +out on the beach they were surprised to see that it was bare. Neither +the longboat nor the smaller one was in sight, nor could anything be +seen of the crews. + +The captain called some of the men by name. There was no response. +Then he cupped his hands at his mouth, and his stentorian voice rang +over the waters of the lagoon. + +"Ship ahoy!" + +In a moment there was an answering hail, and they soon saw that a boat +was being manned. It came rapidly inshore, propelled by four members +of the crew, and, as it drew nearer, they could see that Rogers was +seated at the tiller. + +As the boat reached the beach the second officer stepped out. + +"What does this mean, Mr. Rogers?" asked the captain sternly. + +"Mr. Ditty's orders, sir," replied the second officer. "The men got +scared at the earthquake this morning, sir, and after that second quake +they flatly refused to stay ashore. So Mr. Ditty let them go back to +the ship." + +"But why didn't he leave the other boat's crew waiting for me?" asked +the captain. "If they were afraid to remain ashore they could have +stayed in the boat, rigged an awning to shield them from the sun, and +laid off and on within hail." + +"That's what I thought, sir, and I said as much to Mr. Ditty. But he +shut me up sharp, and said it would be time enough to send a boat when +you should come in sight, sir." + +The captain bit his lip, but said no more, and the party stepped into +the boat. They soon reached the _Bertha Hamilton_, and all climbed +aboard. The first officer was standing near the rail. + +"Come aft and report to me after supper, Mr. Ditty," ordered the +captain brusquely. + +"Aye, aye, sir," replied the mate. + +As soon as supper was over and Ruth had gone to her stateroom the +captain started to go on deck, but Tyke put his hand on his arm. + +"Going to give Ditty a dressing down, I suppose," he remarked. + +"He's got it coming to him," snapped Captain Hamilton. + +"He surely has," agreed Tyke. "But have you thought that perhaps +that's jest what he wants you to do?" + +The captain sat down heavily. + +"Get it off your chest, Tyke," he said. "Tell me what you mean." + +"I mean jest this," said Tyke. "Often there's trouble in the wind that +never comes to anything because the feller that's brewing it don't git +a chance to start it. He fiddles 'round waiting for an opening; but if +he don't find it the trouble jest dies a natural death. + +"Now, this Ditty, _I_ think, is looking for an opening. As far as his +letting his own boat's crew come on board when you had told him to keep +them on shore for the day is concerned, that can be overlooked. You +can't blame the men for being scared, an' any mate might be excused for +using his own judgment under those conditions. + +"But his not keeping your boat's crew waiting for you, even if they +stayed a little away from the shore, was rank disrespect. He knew you +would take it so. He knew it would weaken your authority with the +crew. An' he expects you'll call him down for it. Isn't that so?" + +"Of course it is," agreed Captain Hamilton. + +"Well then," pursued Tyke, "if he did that deliberately, expecting +you'd rake him fore and aft for it, it shows that he wants you to start +something, don't it? An' my principle in a fight is to find out what +the other feller wants and then not do it. He wants to provoke you. +Don't let yourself be provoked or you'll play right into his hands." + +"I might as well make him captain of the ship and be done with it," +cried Captain Hamilton bitterly. "I've never let a man get away with +anything like that yet." + +"An' we won't let this feller git away with it for long," answered +Tyke. "We'll give him a trimming he'll never forgit. But we'll choose +our own time for it, an' that time ain't now. Wait till we've found +the treasure an' got it safe on board. Then, my mighty! if he starts +anything, put him an' his gang ashore an' sail without 'em." + +"You think, then, he wants me to knock the chip off his shoulder?" +mused the captain. + +"Exactly," replied Tyke. "An' if you don't, he may be so flabbergasted +that before he cooks up anything new we'll have the whip hand of him." + +"Well, I'll do as you say, though it sure does go against the grain." + +Tyke's recipe worked; for when Ditty sauntered to the poop a little +later to receive the rebuke which he expected and which he was prepared +to resent, the wind was taken out of his sails by the captain's good +nature and pleasant smile. + +"Quite a little scare the men got, I suppose, when they felt the quake +this morning?" Captain Hamilton inquired genially. + +"Yes, sir," replied the mate. "There was nothin' to do but to get back +to the ship. Some of 'em was so scared that they would 've swum the +lagoon, and I didn't want 'em to do that for fear of sharks." + +"Quite right, Mr. Ditty," returned the captain approvingly. "That is +all." + +Still Ditty lingered. + +"I ordered the men in your boat to come back too," he said, eyeing the +skipper aslant. + +"That was all right too," replied the captain absently, as though the +matter was of no importance. "The ship was so near that it wasn't +worth while keeping the men out there in the sun all day." + +Ditty stared. This was not the strict disciplinarian that Captain +Hamilton had always been. He hesitated, opened his mouth to say +something, found nothing to say, and at last, with his ideas +disordered, went sullenly away. If he had planned to bring things to a +crisis he had signally failed. + +Captain Hamilton watched the retreating back of his mate with a somber +glow in his eyes that contrasted strongly with the forced smile of a +moment before, and then retired to the cabin to go again into +conference with Grimshaw. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +THE GIANT AWAKES + +Allen Drew had not been a party to the conference between Captain +Hamilton and Grimshaw after supper. After the strenuous exertions of +the day he had felt the need of a bath and a change of linen. + +Once more clothed and feeling refreshed, Drew paced the afterdeck with +his cigar, hearing the voices of Captain Hamilton and Tyke in the +former's cabin, but having no desire just then to join them. + +Although his body was rejuvenated, his mind was far from peaceful. He +had not lost hope of their finding what they had come so far to search +for; he still believed the pirate hoard to be buried on the side of the +whale's hump. "Hope deferred maketh the heart sick;" but hope had not +been long enough deferred in this case to sicken any of the party of +treasure seekers. Yet there was a great sickness at the heart of Allen +Drew. + +That particular incident of the afternoon that had brought the +remembrance of Parmalee so keenly to his mind, had thrown a pall over +his thoughts not easily lifted. + +It had shown, too, that Parmalee's strange and awful death had strongly +affected Ruth. That mystery was likely to erect a barrier between the +girl and himself. Indeed, it had done so already. Drew felt it--he +knew it! + +There was in her father's attitude something intangible, yet certain +enough, which spelled the captain's doubt of him. As long as +Parmalee's disappearance remained unexplained, as long as Ditty's story +could not be disproved, Drew felt that Captain Hamilton would nurse in +his mind a doubt of his innocence. + +And that doubt, if it remained, whether Drew was ever tried for the +crime of Parmalee's murder or not, just as surely put Ruth out of his +grasp as though his hands actually dripped of the dead man's blood. + +Captain Hamilton would never see his daughter marry a man under such a +cloud. Drew appreciated the character of the schooner's commander too +thoroughly to base any illusions upon the fact that Hamilton treated +him kindly. They were partners in this treasure hunt. The doubloons +once secured, the _Bertha Hamilton_ once in port, Drew well knew that +Ruth's father would do what he felt to be his duty. He would be Drew's +accuser at the bar of public justice. That, undoubtedly, was a +foregone conclusion. + +Plunged in the depth of these despairing thoughts, Drew was startled by +the light fall of a soft hand upon his arm, and he descried the slight +figure of Ruth beside him. + +"Walking the deck alone, Allen?" she said softly. "I wondered where +you were." + +"Just doing my usual forty laps after supper," he responded, trying to +speak lightly. + +"I should think your work to-day in the digging, to say nothing of our +experience in the cave, would have been as much exercise as you really +needed," she said, laughing. "And all for nothing!" + +"We could scarcely expect success so soon," he replied. + +"No? Perhaps success is not to be our portion, Allen. What then?" + +"Well," and he tried to say it cheerfully, "we've had a run for our +money." + +"A run for the pirate's money, you mean. Let's see," she added slyly, +"that confession did not state just how many doubloons were buried, did +it?" + +"The amount specified I failed to make out," he told her. "Time had +erased it." + +"Then we are after an unknown amount--an unknown quantity of doubloons. +And perhaps we are fated never to know the amount of the pirate's +hoard," and she laughed again. Then, suddenly, she clutched his arm +more tightly as they paced the deck together, crying under her breath: +"Oh! look yonder Allen." + +A strangely flickering light dispelled the pall that hung above the +hilltop. The cloud of smoke or steam, rising from the crater and which +they had first seen that afternoon, was now illuminated and shot +through with rays of light evidently reflected from the bowels of the +hill. + +"The volcano is surely alive!" cried the young man. + +The crew, loafing on the forecastle, saw the phenomenon, and their +chattering voices rose in a chorus of excitement. Tyke came up from +below and joined Drew and the captain's daughter. The glare of the +volcano illuminated the night, and they could see each other's features +distinctly. + +"Looks like we'd stirred things up over there," chuckled the old man. +"There are more'n ghosts of dead and gone pirates guarding that +treasure." + +"It--it is rather terrifying, isn't it?" Ruth suggested. + +"It is to them ignorant swabs for'ard," growled Tyke. "Good thing, +though. They'll be too scared to want to roam over the island. We +want it to ourselves till we find the loot. Don't we, Allen?" + +"That's true. The disturbance over there may not be an unmitigated +evil," was the young man's rejoinder. + +Captain Hamilton called Ruth through the open window of his cabin, and +she bade Grimshaw and Allen Drew good night and went below. Tyke +remained only long enough to finish his cigar, then he departed. + +The light over the volcano faded, the rumblings ceased. Drew, in his +rubber-soled shoes, paced the deck alone; but he could not be seen ten +feet away, for he wore dark clothes. + +He knew that Mr. Rogers had long since gone to his room. Most of the +crew had either sought their bunks or were stretched out on the +forecastle hatch. Yet he heard a low murmur of voices from amidships. +When he paced to that end of his walk, the voices reached him quite +clearly and he recognized that of the one-eyed mate. The other man he +knew to be Bingo, the only English sailor aboard--a shrewd and +rat-faced little Cockney. + +"Blime me, Bug-eye! but wot Hi sye Hi means. The devil 'imself's near +where there's so much brimstone. If that hull bloomin' 'ill blows hup, +where'll we be, Hi axes ye?" + +"Jest here or hereabouts," growled Ditty. + +Drew stepped nearer and frankly listened to the conversation. + +"Hi'm as 'ungry for blunt as the next bloke, an' ye sye there's plenty +hin it----" + +"Slathers of it, Bingo," said the mate earnestly. "Why, man! some of +these islands down here are rotten with buried pirate gold. Millions +and millions was stole and buried by them old boys." + +"Yah! Hi've 'eard hall that before, Hi 'ave. Who hain't?" said Bingo, +with considerable shrewdness. "Honly hit halways struck me that if +them old buccaneers, as they calls 'em, was proper sailormen, they'd +'ave spent the hull blunt hinstead o' buryin' hof hit." + +"Holy heavers, Bingo, they couldn't spend it all!" exclaimed Ditty. +"There was too much of it. Millions, mind you!" + +"Millions! My heye!" croaked the Cockney. "A million of yer Hamerican +dollars or a million sterling?" + +"You can lay to it," said Ditty firmly, "that there's more'n one +million in English pounds buried in these here islands. And there's a +bunch of it somewheres on this island." + +"Then, Bug-eye, wye don't we git that map hand dig it hup hourselves on +the bloomin' jump? Wye wite? We kin easy 'andle the hafter-guard." + +"The boys are balkin', that's why," growled Ditty. "They're like +you--afraid of that rotten old volcano." + +"Blime me! Hand wye wouldn't they be scare't hof hit?" snarled the +Cockney. + +"That bein' the general feelin'," Ditty said calmly, "why we'll stick +to my plan. Let the old man dig it up hisself and bring it aboard. + +"It'll save us the trouble, won't it? And mebbe we can git rid of some +of the swabs, one at a time----" + +"Huh!" chuckled Bingo. "One's gone halready. Hi see yer bloomin' +scheme, Bug-eye." + +"Well, then," said the mate, rising from his seat, "keep it to yourself +and take your orders from me, like the rest does." + +"Hall right, matey, hall right," said Bingo, and likewise stood up. + +Drew dared remain no longer. He stole away to the stern and stood for +a while, looking over the rail into the black water--no blacker than +the rage that filled his heart. + +He felt half tempted to attack the treacherous Ditty with his bare +hands and strangle the rascal. But he knew that this was no time for a +reckless move. There were only himself, the captain, and Tyke to face +this promised mutiny. Probably they could trust Rogers, and some few +of the men forward might be faithful to the after-guard. The +uncertainty of this, however, was appalling. + +After a time he went below and rapped lightly on the captain's door. +The commander of the _Bertha Hamilton_ opened to him instantly. He was +partly undressed. + +"Eh? That you, Mr. Drew?" + +"Sh! Put out your light, Captain. I'll bring Mr. Grimshaw. I have +something to tell you both," whispered the young man. + +"All right," said the captain, quick to understand. + +His light was out before Drew reached Tyke's door. This was unlocked, +but the old man was in his berth. Long years at sea had made Tyke a +light sleeper. He often said he slept with one eye open. + +"That you, Allen?" + +"Yes. Hush! We want you in the captain's room--he and I. Come just +as you are." + +"Aye, aye!" grunted the old man, instantly out of his berth. + +The light was turned low in the saloon. Drew did not know whether +Ditty had come down or not; but unmistakable nasal sounds from Mr. +Roger's room assured him that the second officer was safe. + +Tyke, light-footed as a cat, followed him to Captain Hamilton's door. +It was ajar, and they went in. The commander of the schooner sat on +the edge of his berth. They could see each other dimly in the faint +light that entered through the transom over the door. Captain Hamilton +had drawn the blind at the window. + +"Well, what's up?" he murmured. + +Drew wasted no time, but in whispers repeated the conversation he had +overheard between Bingo and the mate. When he had finished, Tyke +observed coolly: + +"I'd 've bet dollars to doughnuts that that was the way she headed. +Now we know. Eh, Cap'n Rufe?" + +"Yes," grunted the captain. + +"What shall we do?" asked Drew. + +"Do? Keep on," Captain Hamilton said firmly. "What d' you say, Tyke?" + +"Yes," agreed Grimshaw. "Ditty is playing a waiting game. So will we. +An' we have the advantage." + +"I don't see that," Drew muttered. + +"Why, we know his plans. He don't know ours," explained the old man. +"We haven't got to worry about them swabs till we've found the +doubloons, anyway." + +"If we find 'em," murmured the captain. + +"By George! we're bound to find 'em," Tyke said, with confidence. +"That's what we come down here for." + +His enthusiasm seemed unquenched. Drew could not lose heart when the +old man was so hopefully determined. + +"But Miss Ruth?" Allen suggested timidly, looking at Captain Hamilton. + +"Don't bother about her," answered the captain shortly. "She'll not be +out of my sight a minute. She must go ashore with us every day. I'll +not trust her aboard alone with these scoundrels." + +They talked little more that night; but it was agreed to take all the +firearms and much of the ammunition, disguised in wrappings of some +kind, ashore with them in the morning and conceal all with the digging +tools. + +"Jest as well to take them all along," Tyke had advised. "I hope we +won't have to use 'em. But if we're going to take Rogers with us +to-morrow and leave Ditty in charge here, the rascal might go nosing +around an' find them guns." + +"I hate to leave Ditty in possession of the schooner," returned the +captain, with a worried look. + +"So do I," admitted Tyke. "But after all, it isn't only the schooner +he wants. She's no good to him until we git the treasure aboard. The +only men it will be wise to take with us to-morrow are Rogers an' a +boat's crew that you know you can trust." + +Immediately after breakfast the next morning the captain summoned the +second officer. + +"I want you to take me ashore this morning, Mr. Rogers," he said; "and +as I have a lot of heavy dunnage that the men will have to carry, I'll +want a husky crew. Take six men; and I want you to take special pains +in picking out the best men we have. Men whom we can trust and who +haven't been mixed up with the whispering and the queer business that +you mentioned." + +The second officer's eye flashed, and he nodded understandingly. + +"Aye, aye, sir," he replied. "As for the men, sir," he went on +reflectively, "there's a dozen I could stake my life on who wouldn't be +in any crooked game. Suppose," he counted off on his fingers, "we take +Olsen and Binney and Barker and Dodd and Thompson and Willis. They're +all true blue, and I don't think they're in such a funk over the +volcano as some of the others." + +"They'll do," assented the captain. "They're the very men I had in +mind. Call some of them down now and have them get this stuff up on +deck. And tell the cook to send dinner grub along, for we may be gone +all day." + +"Aye, aye, sir," answered Rogers, as he left the cabin. + +A little later the party gathered at the rail, and the captain spoke to +the mate. + +"Mr. Rogers is going to take us ashore, Mr. Ditty," he said pleasantly. +"There are no special orders. You can let some of the men have shore +leave if they want it, although after yesterday I don't suppose they +will." + +"I suppose not," replied Ditty surlily. "They'll all be glad when we +turn our backs on this cursed island." + +The captain pretended not to hear. The goods were stowed in the boat, +the party and crew took their places, and the craft was pulled smartly +to the beach. + +"Now, my lads," said the captain briskly, as he stepped ashore, +"there's quite a trip ahead of you and you've got a man's job in +carrying this stuff, but I'll see that you don't lose anything by it. +Step up smartly now." + +The men shouldered their burdens and started off on the trail that had +now grown familiar to the treasure seekers. The men were able to +maintain a fairly rapid pace, and before long the party arrived at the +edge of the clearing within which the treasure was supposed to be +buried. + +The captain took Rogers aside. + +"Take your men back to the beach now, Mr. Rogers," he directed. +"Remember, I want none of them poking about here. We'll rejoin you in +good season for supper, if not before." + +"Aye, aye, sir!" was the cheerful reply. + +Rogers turned with his men, and the captain watched their backs far +down the forest path, until they were lost to sight in the greenery of +the jungle. + +"Well now," he remarked, as he turned again to the others, "lively's +the word. Let's get busy and----. Great Scott! Look at that!" he +exclaimed, staring at the top of the whale's hump. + +A column of black smoke was rising from the crater. + +"Looks like the whale was going to blow again," Tyke said, with a +feeble attempt at levity to disguise his apprehension. + +The next moment the ears of the party were deafened by a terrific +explosion. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +BY FAVOR OF THE EARTHQUAKE + +No thunder that had ever been heard could be compared with the sound of +the explosion. It was like the bellowing of a thousand cannon. It was +as though the island were being ripped apart. + +The earth shook and staggered drunkenly beneath the feet of the +treasure seekers. Great trees in the adjacent forest fell with +tremendous uproar. The slope of the whale's hump was ridged until it +looked like a giant accordion. Crevasses opened, extending from the +summit of the hill downward. Rocks came tumbling down by the score, +and a column of smoke and flame rose from the crater to a height of two +hundred feet or more. + +None of the party had been able to keep on a footing. All had been +thrown to the ground by the first shock, and there they lay, sick from +that awful seismic vibration. + +A cloud of almost impalpable dust spread broadly and shrouded the sun. +There was not a breath of air astir. Not a living thing was to be seen +in the open--even the lizards had disappeared. + +The spot where they had delved the day before, was now in plain view to +the treasure seekers. They saw the hillside yawn there in an awful +paroxysm, till the aperture was several yards wide. Then, from +beneath, there shot into the open, smoking rocks, debris of many kinds, +and--something else! Drew, seeing this final object, shrieked aloud. +His voice could not be heard above the uproar, but the others saw his +mouth agape, and struggled to see that at which he was pointing so +wildly. + +The crevasse closed with a crash and jar that rocked the whole island. +It was the final throe of the volcano's travail. The lurid light above +the crater subsided. The dust began to fall thick upon the treasure +seekers as they lay upon the ground. They sat up, dazed and +horror-stricken. It was some time before their palsied tongues could +speak, and when they did, the words came almost in whispers. + +Drew found that his arm was around Ruth. She had been near him when +the first shock came, and he had seized her instinctively. Now he +turned to her and asked: + +"You're not hurt, are you, Ruth?" + +"N--no," she gasped, "but dreadfully frightened! Oh, let's get away +from here!" + +She realized that he was holding her and drew away with a faint blush. +He released her and staggered to his feet. + +Tyke and the captain followed suit, and the three men looked at each +other. + +"Now, if I was superstitious----" began Tyke in a quavering voice. + +"Never mind any 'ifs' just now," interrupted the captain. "We've got +to get away from here just as fast as the good Lord will let us. I +don't believe in tempting Providence." + +"And leave the doubloons?" queried Tyke, in dismay. + +"Yes, and leave the doubloons," replied the captain stubbornly. "If +Ruth weren't here, we men might take a chance, but my daughter is worth +more to me than all the pirate gold buried in the Caribbean." + +Drew, if inaudibly, agreed with him. "Let's get Ruth down to the +shore, anyway," he said. "Then, if you'll come back---- I saw +something just at that last crash." + +"By the great jib-boom!" roared Tyke, "so did I. What did you see, +Allen? Something shot up out o' one o' them pits we dug yesterday. I +saw it. An' it wasn't a lava boulder, neither!" + +"You're right, there," Drew agreed. "It was a box or something. Too +square-shaped to be a rock." + +"We can't fool with it now," Captain Hamilton said, with determination, +though his eyes sparkled. "Come, Ruth. I must get you down to the +boat." + +But here the girl exercised a power of veto. "I don't go unless the +rest of you do--and to remain, too," she declared. "I am not a child. +Of course, I'm afraid of that volcano. But so are you men. And it's +all over now. If Allen really saw something that looked like a box or +a chest thrown out of that opening, I'm going to----" + +She left the rest unspoken, but started boldly for the barren patch +where they had dug the day before. It looked now like a piece of +plowed ground over which were scattered blocks of lava of all sizes and +shapes. + +Captain Hamilton hesitated, but Drew ran ahead, reaching the spot +first. Anxious and frightened as he had been at the moment of the +phenomenon, the young man had noted exactly the spot where the strange +object had fallen. Half buried in a heap of earth was a discolored, +splintered chest. Its ancient appearance led Drew to utter a shout of +satisfaction. + +"I guess we've got it," he remarked in a tone that he tried to keep +calm, but which trembled in spite of himself. + +A cry of delight rose from all. The men joined Drew, and helped him +clear away the earth. The chest soon stood revealed. Then by using +their spades as levers, they pried it loose and by their united efforts +dragged it over to the shade at the jungle's edge. They sat beside it +there, panting, almost too exhausted from the excitement and their +tremendous efforts to move or speak. + +Ruth fluttered about like a humming bird, excited and eager. She +looked somewhat less disheveled and begrimed than the men. But if they +looked like trench diggers, they felt like plutocrats, and their hearts +were swelling with jubilation. + +The map had not lied! The paper had not lied! That old pirate, Ramon +Alvarez, who had probably told a thousand lies, had told the truth at +last in his ardent desire for the shriving of Holy Church. The +treasure lay before them! + +And how wonderfully the chest had been revealed to them! Not by their +own exertions had the pirate hoard been uncovered! + +A moment more and they were on their feet, Tyke panting: + +"Now, if I was superstitious----" + +They would have plenty of time for resting later on. Now a fierce +impatience consumed them. They must see the contents of the box! + +The chest was about five feet long, two feet wide and three feet deep. +It was made of thick oak, and was bound by heavy bands of iron. A huge +padlock held it closed. + +The box had originally been of enormous strength, but time and nature +and the earthquake had done their work. The wood was swollen and +warped, the iron bands were eaten with rust. But the lock resisted +their efforts when they sought to lift the cover. + +"Stand clear!" cried Captain Hamilton, raising his spade. + +He struck the padlock a smashing blow. Then he stooped and lifted the +cover, which yielded groaningly. + +A cry burst simultaneously from the treasure seekers. + +"Gold!" + +"Doubloons!" + +"Jewels!" + +"Riches!" + +Priceless treasures heaped in careless profusion, glinting, glowing, +coruscating, scintillating threw back in splendor the rays of the +tropic sun. + +None of them could remember afterward quite how they acted in those +first few minutes of unchained emotion. But they laughed and sang, +cheered and shouted, and it was a long time before the rioting of their +blood ceased and they regained a measure of self-control. + +There was no attempt made to measure the value of the treasure trove. +There would be time for that later on. What they did know beyond the +shadow of a doubt was that wealth enough lay before them to make them +all rich for the rest of their lives. + +Gold there was, both coined and melted into bars; Spanish doubloons, +Indian rupees, French louis, English guineas; cups and candelabra; +chains and watches; jewels too, in whose depths flashed rainbow hues, +amethysts, rubies, diamonds, emeralds, strings upon strings of +shimmering pearls. + +The discoverers bathed their hands in the golden store, running the +coins in sparkling streams through their fingers, all the time feeling +that they were moving in a dream from which at any moment they must be +rudely awakened. + +At last the captain's voice, a bit husky from emotion, brought them +back to practical realities. + +"Well, the first log of our voyage is written up," he said. "But now +let's get down to the question of what we're to do next. How are we to +get this stuff aboard?" + +All sobered a little as they faced the problem. + +"We can take the chest just as it is," said Tyke. "A four-man load, +though." + +"What will the crew think?" Drew asked somewhat anxiously. + +"Let 'em think and be hanged to 'em!" replied Captain Hamilton. "Yet," +he added a moment later, "with things in the shaky condition they are +and that rascal, Ditty, planning mischief, we don't want to take too +many chances." + +"Couldn't we make a number of trips back and forth and take some of the +treasure with us each time until we got it all on board?" suggested +Ruth. "We could carry a lot in our clothes and we could wrap some up +to look like the bundles we brought ashore." + +"Take too long," objected her father. + +"How would this do?" was Drew's contribution. "As has already been +said, the men would be surprised to see us bring a box aboard if they +hadn't first seen us take it ashore. Now, suppose we take one of the +ship's chests, load it with some worthless junk that would make it as +heavy as this box, and bring it ashore. We could bring it up here, +throw away the contents, put the treasure in it, and then call on the +men to take it back to the ship. They'd recognize it as the same one +they'd brought over, and their thinking would stop right there." + +"By Jove, I believe you've hit it, Allen!" exclaimed the captain. + +"That sounds sensible," conceded Tyke. "I guess it's the only way." + +"Well, now that that's settled," went on the captain, "what are we +going to do with the treasure in the meanwhile? It's getting late now. +We can't get it aboard to-day. We'll want eight men besides Rogers. +Then, there's all this hardware," and he indicated the firearms. + +"Couldn't we leave it just where it is until we come back to-morrow?" +ventured Ruth. "There isn't a soul on the island, and we'll be here +the first thing in the morning." + +"A little too risky, I'm afraid," said Tyke. "It's dollars to +doughnuts that there's no one on the island but ourselves and the +boat's crew; yet we'd go 'round kicking ourselves for the rest of our +lives if we found to-morrow that some one had been here an' helped +himself." + +"Let's pile some of these loose lava blocks on top of the chest," said +Drew. "Make a regular mound. It will look as though the earthquake +had done it." + +That plan seemed the best, and they acted on it. They closed the cover +after one more lingering, delighted look at the chest's gleaming +contents, then they built the cairn. + +"One sure thing," observed Tyke. "There isn't anybody going to come up +here for jest a little pleasure jog--not much! That volcano's likely +to spit again 'most any time." + +The party started for the lagoon with their hearts bounding with +exultation. But as they entered the forest path they were startled by +the sight of Rogers and his men hastening toward them. + +The captain was about to utter a rebuke, but when he saw the pale and +frightened faces of the men he checked his tongue. + +"Well, Mr. Rogers, what is it?" he asked. "Got a pretty good scare, I +suppose, like the rest of us. I guess the quake's all over now." + +"I hope so, sir," replied the second officer. "I thought sure it was +all over with the lot of us. But it isn't that, sir, that I came back +for. The boat's gone." + +"Gone!" exclaimed the captain, staring. + +"Yes, sir. It must have pushed away from the shore when the earth +shook so. Just down here below a bit is a place where you can see the +lagoon, and I caught sight of the boat about half-way between the shore +and the ship." + +"Oh well, if that's all, there isn't any great harm done. Mr. Ditty +will send out and pick up the boat." + +"But there's something else, sir," went on the seaman hoarsely. "As I +looked out, it seemed to me, sir, as if the reef had closed up behind +the schooner." + +"What?" roared the captain. + +"It's gospel truth sir," persisted the second officer. "I thought at +first I must be dreaming. But I looked carefully, sir, and you can +call me a swab if it isn't so! I couldn't see any sign at all of the +passage where we came in, sir." + +The captain's bronzed face paled, as the full significance of the news +burst upon him. + +"Come along and show me the place where you can see the schooner," he +commanded, and started to run, followed by the whole party. + +They had not far to go. At a place where the earthquake had rooted out +a monster tree, a clear view could be had of the entire lagoon. + +There lay the _Bertha Hamilton_, straining at her cable in the +commotion of the waters that had been stirred up by the earthquake. +And there was the small boat tossing about like a chip. But the +captain wasted not a second glance at these. He had seized his +binoculars and his gaze was fixed upon the reef. As he looked, his +visage became ashen. + +The passage through which the ship had come into the lagoon was +entirely closed! + +A barrier had been thrown up from the ocean floor, and this completely +landlocked the lagoon in which the schooner rode at anchor. The lagoon +had welcomed the ship as though with extended arms. Now those arms +were closed and the hands were interlocked. + +The captain groaned at the magnitude of the disaster. + +"Oh, Daddy, dear!" cried Ruth, darting to his side. "Don't take it so +hard! There'll be some way out!" + +"Never!" cried the captain. "The _Bertha Hamilton_ is done for. +There's no way to get her out. She'll lie there now until she rots." + +"And we're prisoners on this island," gasped Drew. + +They looked at each other, appalled. This last statement seemed to be +irrefutable. They were captives on the island, which seemed itself to +be in the throes of dissolution. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +MUTINY + +Drew was the first to rally from the shock of this discovery. + +"It is a terrible situation, God knows," he said. "And I know, too, +Captain, how you must feel the loss of the schooner--if it is lost. +But there may be a chance left of releasing her. The reef looks solid +from here, but when you get close to it there may be a crevice through +which she can be warped. + +"She don't draw much water in ballast," comforted Tyke, although in his +heart he had little hope. "An' you've got some giant powder on board. +Perhaps we can blast a passage." + +The captain straightened up and took a grip on himself. + +"We won't give up without a fight, anyway," he said; and Ruth rejoiced +to hear the old militant ring in his voice. "The first thing to do is +to get on board the ship. Come along down to the beach." + +The others hurried after him as fast as they could, but, owing to the +number of trees that had been thrown down, their progress was +exasperatingly slow. But even in the turmoil of his emotion, Drew +blessed the chance that made it possible for him to hold Ruth's arm, +and in some especially difficult places to lift her over obstacles. + +They reached the beach and the captain hailed the ship. Again and +again he sent his voice booming over the water, and the others +supplemented his efforts by waving their arms. It was impossible that +they should not have been heard or seen; but the _Bertha Hamilton_ +might have been a phantom vessel for all the response that was evoked. + +The captain fumed and stormed with impatience. + +"What's the matter with those swabs?" he growled. + +"Ah! now they're lowering a boat," cried Drew. + +"They've taken their time about it," growled the captain. + +The boat put out from the side and headed for the beach. When half-way +there, the rowers overtook the captain's boat and secured it. Then, +instead of resuming their journey, they turned deliberately about and +rowed back. The boats were both hoisted to the davits and quietness +again reigned on the schooner. + +The stupefied spectators on the beach felt as though they had taken +leave of their senses. + +"Well, of all the----" raged Captain Hamilton, when he was interrupted +by the sound of a shot fired on the schooner. Two others followed in +quick succession. Then came a roar of voices. A moment later a man +leaped from the mizzen shrouds over the rail. He was shot in midair, +and those ashore heard his shriek as he threw up his arms and +disappeared in the still heaving waters of the lagoon. + +"Mutiny!" roared Captain Hamilton. + +"Yes," echoed Tyke; "mutiny!" + +Horror was stamped on every face. One blow had been succeeded by +another still more crushing. It was now not only a question of the +loss of the schooner. Their very lives might be threatened. + +"That scoundrel, Ditty!" gasped the captain. + +"It's too bad we pulled Allen off him the other day," ejaculated Tyke +savagely. "We ought to have let him finish the job." + +"Thank God we've got the weapons anyway!" exclaimed Captain Hamilton. + +"Don't think that he hasn't got some too," warned Tyke. "You heard +those shots. No doubt the rascal's got all the guns and ammunition he +wants. You can gamble on it that he isn't figuring on fighting us with +his bare hands." + +The captain turned to Rogers and the boat's crew. + +"What do you know about this, Mr. Rogers?" he said quietly. "Can we +count on you?" + +"That you can, Captain," replied Rogers heartily. "I only know what +I've told you before, sir." + +"And how about you, my lads?" Captain Hamilton continued, addressing +the boat's crew. "Are you going to stand with your captain?" + +There was a chorus of eager assent. Not one of them flinched or +wavered, and indignation was hot in their eyes. + +"Good!" cried the captain approvingly. "I knew you'd sailed with me +too long to desert me when it came to a pinch." + +"That makes ten of us altogether," observed Tyke Grimshaw. + +"Eleven," put in Ruth. "Don't forget me." + +"Eleven," repeated the master of the _Bertha Hamilton_, looking at her +fondly. "You're a true sailor's daughter, Ruth. I'm proud of you, my +dear." + +"Eleven," said Drew. "That leaves twenty-five on the ship, including +Ditty." + +"Twenty-four," put in Tyke. "There's one less than there was a few +minutes ago." + +"Yes," agreed the captain sadly. "And I've no doubt the poor fellow +was killed because he wouldn't join the rest of the gang. Twenty-four, +then. That's pretty big odds against eleven." + +"Beggin' your pardon, sir," said Barker, who was the oldest man of the +crew, "but there's some of our mates over there that wouldn't never +fight on the side of that Bug-eye--meanin' no disrespect to the mate, +sir. Whitlock wouldn't for one, nor Gunther, nor Trent. I'd lay to +that, sir." + +"No, sir," put in Thompson; "an' Ashley wouldn't neither. No more +would Sanders." + +"I believe you, my lads," replied the captain. "They've sailed with us +before. But even if they don't fight against us, they can't fight with +us as things stand now. The very least that Ditty will do with them is +to hold them prisoners until he's put the job through." + +"But he isn't going to put it through," cried Drew, his eyes kindling. + +"Not by a jug full!" declared Tyke. "But we'll know we've been in a +fight, I s'pose, before we can prove that to him. He's put his head in +the noose now, an' he'll be desperate." + +"I only hope I get a chance at him before the hangman does," muttered +Drew. + +"There's not much to be done until those fellows come over here," said +the captain reflectively. "We've no way of getting out there to the +schooner. This thing will have to be fought out on land." + +"Do you suppose they'll attack us right away, or try to starve us out?" +Drew asked. "They've got the advantage in having provisions." + +"No chance of starving us," replied Captain Hamilton. "There's plenty +of fruit here, and then there are birds and small game. I saw an +agouti run by a little while ago." + +"Oh! Why, that's a rat, Daddy! Or is it a sort of 'possum?" cried +Ruth, with a shudder. "And you men were hinting the other day that +poor Wah Lee might serve us up some dainty dish like that!" she added +with a chuckle. + +"By George!" Tyke suddenly shouted. "There's cookee an' the steward! +We forgot them in our calculations. How about 'em, Cap'n Rufe?" + +"Oh, that's so!" cried Ruth. "That little Jap boy never would turn +against us, surely!" + +"Nor Wah Lee," said Captain Hamilton reflectively. + +"Neither of 'em would be much good," remarked Tyke. "You know how them +critters are--both Chinks and Japs. Cold-blooded as fish. They'll +keep on cooking for the mutineers an' serving 'em. It's none of their +pidgin whether that rascal, Ditty, bosses 'em or you are at the helm, +Cap'n Rufe." + +"Well, I expect you're right," agreed Captain Hamilton. "They're poor +fish to fry. We can't count on them to supply us with grub, that's +sure," and he laughed shortly. + +"An' look here!" exclaimed Tyke, coming back to their former +discussion. "How about water? We might git along on this sulphur +water for a little while, but we couldn't stand it long." + +"That's a little more serious," admitted the captain. "But we can get +milk from the cocoanuts. There's plenty of them. And there's the +chance of rain, too. + +"But I don't think it will come to a siege," he continued, aside to +Tyke. "Ditty will figure that he's got to have quick action. He knows +that a vessel of some kind may come along any time, and then his cake +will be dough. Besides, that bunch of rough-necks will be impatient +for the loot that I've no doubt he's promised them." + +"Where are you going to wait for him?" asked Tyke. + +"Up at the whale's hump," replied the captain. "We can build a sort of +fortification there that will help make up for our lack of numbers. +They'll have to come out of the woods into the open up there, too. We +might wait here on the beach, but they could keep out of gunshot, and +we wouldn't get a decision. They can't land too quick to suit me." + +Acting on this decision, the party started back at once, dropping +Rogers by the way at the ledge that overlooked the sea, so that he +could bring to them a report of any action taken by the mutineers. + +Ruth's presence at his side was very dear to Drew as they toiled along, +but he was deeply apprehensive for her safety. The men of the party +had only death to fear if the worst came to the worst, but his heart +turned to ice as he thought of Ruth left without protection in the +hands of the mate and his gang. + +She seemed to realize his thoughts, for she looked up at him bravely. + +"I wish I had the carpet of Solomon here," he said. + +"Why?" she smiled. + +"I'd put you on it and have you whisked off to New York in a flash." + +"Suppose I refused to go?" + +"You wouldn't." + +"I would! Why should I go to New York? All whom I love are here." + +"Here?" he breathed eagerly. + +"Surely. I love my father dearly." + +"Oh!" he said disappointedly. + +"You don't seem to approve of filial devotion," she observed, darting a +mischievous look at him from under her long lashes. + +"It's a beautiful thing," he answered promptly. "But there's another +kind that----" + +"We'd better hurry," the girl broke in hastily. "We're letting them +get too far ahead of us." + +They hastened on, and the words that were on Drew's lips remained +unspoken. + +After all, he thought to himself as the old bitter memory, forgotten in +the excitement, came back to him, it was better so. They must not be +spoken. They never could be spoken while he was under the awful cloud +of suspicion. The love that had grown until it absorbed all his life +must be ruthlessly crushed under foot. + +The party emerged upon the slope of the whale's hump. Nothing had +disturbed the cairn they had built over the treasure chest, nor were +the rifles and tools displaced. Captain Hamilton's decision to make +the stand here was admittedly a wise one. Here was enough lava, +rubbish to build a dozen forts. + +"Jest the spot," Tyke said vigorously, waving his hand in the direction +of the heap of lava blocks that hid the pirate's chest. "What do you +say, Cap'n Rufe? Shall we make that pile o' rocks the corner of our +breastworks?" + +"Good idea, Tyke," agreed the captain. "But pass guns around first, +boys. All of you can handle a rifle, I suppose?" + +"Aye aye, sir," said Barker, "you'd better believe we kin." + +"If it comes to bullets," said Captain Hamilton, "those swabs will be +so near to us we can scarcely miss 'em. That is, if they come out of +the jungle. + +"Suppose they circle around and come at us from above?" Drew suggested. + +"We'll build a circular fort, by gosh!" cried Tyke. "An' build the +back higher'n the front. How about it, Cap'n Rufe? Then if them swabs +climb the hill to git the better of us, they can't shoot over." + +"You're right, Tyke," agreed the master of the _Bertha Hamilton_. + +"I don't believe," said Drew, "that Ditty and the men have many +firearms. Nothing like these high-powered rifles, that's sure." + +"That's so, Drew, I'm sure," said the captain promptly. "Now, boys, +get to work," he added. "Roll 'em down! Here, Barker, you're +chantey-man. Set 'em the pace." + +Weirdly, echoing back from the wall of the jungle and hollowly from the +hillside, the improvised chantey was raised by Barker, and the chorus +line taken up by the other seamen as though they were jerking aloft the +schooner's topsails. + + "Oh, Bug-eye's dead an' gone below, + Oh, we says so, an' we hopes so; + Oh, Bug-eye's dead an' he'll go below + Oh, poor--ol'--man! + + "He's deader'n the bolt on the fo'c'sle door, + Oh, we says so, an' we hopes so; + Oh, he'll never knock us flat no more, + Oh, poor--ol'--man!" + + +Under the impetus of this dirge with its innumerable verses the men +rolled the boulders down. The fortification began to take form and +give promise of shelter in time of need. + +And there was no telling how soon that time might come! + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +THE FLAG OF TRUCE + +The seamen rolled the larger boulders to the line Tyke indicated. +Captain Hamilton himself and Drew chocked the interstices between the +larger blocks with broken lava. A chance bullet might slip through +into the fort, but under a rain of lead those within the fortification +would be fairly well protected. + +In two hours, and not long before sunset, the work was finished. +Facing the jungle, from which the expected attack would come, if at +all, the wall was breast high; in the rear, it rose higher so that no +man unless he stood fairly in the lip of the crater above, could shoot +over the barrier. + +"And take it from me," said Tyke Grimshaw, "those bums ain't going to +run their legs off to reach the top of this volcano. They're scared to +death of it." + +"And our own boys aren't much better," muttered Captain Hamilton. "See +'em looking over their shoulders now and again? They're expecting a +shoot-off any minute." + +"Well," the older man agreed, "that may be so. But it strikes me that +the volcano and the earthquakes have been mighty helpful to us. Now, +if I was superstitious----" + +"How about locking my schooner in that blasted lagoon?" growled the +master of the _Bertha Hamilton_. "This island is hoodooed, I've half a +mind to believe." + +Next the rifles and revolvers were carefully cleaned and loaded, and +the ammunition distributed. + +"How are we off for cartridges?" Drew asked. + +"None too well," answered the captain. "If these fellows were sure +shots, there'd probably be all we'd need. But they'll waste a lot. +I've got several hundred in a box under my berth--and clips for the +automatics, too. I certainly wish I'd brought 'em along." + +"S'pose Ditty's gobbled 'em?" inquired Grimshaw. + +"I don't think he'd find them. But they're no good to us now," groaned +the captain. + +At this moment Rogers came hurrying up. + +"They're putting off from the ship," he reported breathlessly. + +"How many of them?" asked the captain. + +"Ten in the longboat and seven in the other," was the answer. + +"Seventeen in all," mused the captain. "I wonder where the rest are." + +"Probably dead or prisoners," put in Tyke. "The men who wouldn't join +him he's likely killed or triced up an' left 'em under guard of one or +two of the gang." + +"That's probably so," agreed the master of the _Bertha Hamilton_. +"Well, that reduces the odds somewhat; but they're heavy enough just +the same. We'll have action now 'most any time." + +They had been so excited and absorbed in their preparations that they +had not thought of food. Now the captain insisted upon their eating +what Wah Lee had put up for them that morning. But he portioned out +water from the cask very sparingly. + +Another hour passed, and still they heard no tread of approaching feet. +It would soon be dark. But suddenly they were startled when a voice +hailed them. It came from the direction of a big ceiba tree a hundred +yards down the forest path. + +"Ahoy, there!" + +"Ahoy, yourself!" shouted back the captain. + +A stick was thrust from behind the tree. A white cloth was tied to the +end of it. + +"This is Ditty talkin'," came the voice. + +"I know it is, you scoundrel," roared the captain. + +"No hard words, Cap'n," came the answer. "It'll only be the worse for +you. I want to have a confab with you." + +"Come along then and say your say," replied Captain Hamilton. + +"You won't shoot?" + +"Not you," promised the captain. "I hope to see you hung later on." + +"No tricks, now," said Ditty cautiously + +"I said I wouldn't and that's enough," responded the captain. "You can +take it or leave it." + +The mate emerged fully from behind the tree and came into the open +space. At fifty paces from the fortress he halted. + +"There's guns coverin' you from behind them trees, if anything happens +to me," he said in further warning. + +"I don't wonder you think that every man's a liar, Ditty," the captain +replied bitterly. "You judge them out of your own black heart. Now, +what do you want? Why have you seized my ship? Why have you killed +one of my men?" + +"I hain't seized your ship," answered Ditty sullenly. "You left me in +charge of it. An' I didn't kill any of your men. Sanders got drunk +an' fell overboard." + +"Don't lie to me, you rascal," returned the captain. "We heard the +shooting and saw the man shot as he leaped overboard. You'll hang for +that yet, if I don't kill you first. You're a bloody mutineer and you +know it. Now stow your lies and get to the point. What do you want?" + +"We want them doubloons!" fairly shouted Ditty, stung by the captain's +contempt, "an' we're goin' to have 'em." + +"Doubloons? What do you mean?" asked the captain. + +"The treasure you come here to dig for," answered Ditty. "You can't +fool me. I've been on to your little game ever since before the +schooner left New York. I got sharp ears, I have," pursued the mate, +his one eye gleaming balefully as he looked at the heads above the line +of the breastwork. "I know you found a map an' some sort of a paper +what explained about that old pirate treasure. It was in a sailorman's +chest in Tyke Grimshaw's office. Like enough Tyke stole it from the +poor feller. An' I heard you tellin' Miss Ruth about it that night at +dinner," he added, with a leering glance at the pale-faced girl. + +"So that's why you shipped me such a lot of scum and riffraff, was it, +you villain?" Captain Hamilton asked. + +"You can think as you like about that," answered Ditty. "But this here +kind of chinning won't git us anywhere. I know all about the map and +that paper, an' I know that you come here lookin' for that loot. An' I +bet you've found it a'ready. Now, to put it short an' sweet, me an' my +mates want it." + +"Suppose you got it?" parleyed the master of the _Bertha Hamilton_. +"It wouldn't do you any good. The schooner is landlocked and can't get +away." + +"Even so it'll do us as much good as it will you," countered Ditty. +"We've got the longboat an' we can easily make one of the islands near +by where we can find a ship to take us to the States." + +"And suppose I have the treasure and refuse to give it to you?" pursued +the captain. + +"Then we'll take it!" threatened Ditty, his one eye glowing with +malevolence. "We'll take it if we have to kill every last one of you +to git it! + +"Hey! Barker! Olsen! The rest of you bullies!" he added, raising his +voice, "you know blamed well the after-guard won't do nothin' for you +fellers but let you git shot. You better come with us. + +"We're nearly two to one, anyway, an' you've got no chance," he added +to Captain Hamilton. + +"We haven't, eh?" exploded the captain, his pent-up rage finding vent. +"Do your worst, you black-hearted hound! And if you're not behind that +tree in one minute, may God have mercy on your soul!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +A DARING VENTURE + +With an expression of baffled rage convulsing his features, Ditty +turned and made for shelter. Once safely there, he hurled back the +wildest threats and imprecations. So vile they were that Ruth +shuddered and put her hands to her ears. + +"I said I'd kill you all!" the mate shouted. "I'll take that back. +I'll kill all but one!" + +The threat was easily understood. Captain Hamilton's face went white, +and he glanced hastily at Ruth. But he only said: + +"Keep down out of sight, men. They know where we are, but we don't +know where they are. They may try to rush us, but I don't think they +will at first. Aim carefully and shoot at anything that offers a fair +target, but don't waste the ammunition." + +He had hardly finished speaking before there came a volley, and the +bullets pattered against the rocks. They came from several directions. +Ditty had arranged his men in the form of a semicircle. They had ample +cover, and the only chance for the besieged lay in the chance that one +of the enemy should protrude his head or shoulder too far from behind +his tree. + +Many times in the next hour the fusilade was repeated. It was plain +that the mutineers were armed only with pistols. + +"Probably Ditty laid in a stock before he left New York," the captain +muttered to Tyke. "Automatics, too." + +"His ammunition won't last long if he keeps wasting it this way," +replied Tyke. "An' an automatic ain't always a sure shot." + +Just then a cry from Olsen showed that the mutineers' cartridges had +not been wholly wasted. A bullet had caught the Swede in the shoulder. +He dropped, groaning. + +Ruth was by his side in an instant. She bound up his wound as best she +could, and, putting a coat beneath his head, made him as comfortable as +possible. + +"One knocked out," muttered the captain. "I wonder who'll be the---- +Ah! Good boy, Allen!" he cried delightedly. + +One of the enemy had thrown up his hands and, with a yell, had crashed +heavily to the ground. He lay there without motion. + +"Leaned his head out a little too far," remarked Drew composedly. +"That was the cockney, Bingo." + +"An' a dirty rat," Tyke said grimly. "That evens up the score." + +"Not exactly," replied Drew. "We'll have to pot two of them to every +one they get, to keep the score straight. And they'll be more careful +now about exposing themselves." + +He was right; for in the short moments of daylight that remained they +lessened no further the number of their foes. Nor did any bullet find +its billet in the body of any of the besieged. But one ball knocked a +splinter from a rock and drove it against the knuckles of Binney's +right hand, making it difficult for him to use his rifle. + +Now darkness fell, and the enemy seemed to have withdrawn. + +"The real fight will come to-morrow," prophesied Captain Hamilton. +"This was only a skirmish to feel us out." + +"Do you think they'll try to do anything to-night?" asked Drew +thoughtfully. + +"I don't believe so," was the reply; "but we'll post sentinels, and if +they come they won't take us by surprise." + +"As a matter of fact," the captain went on, "I wish they would adopt +rushing tactics. Then they'd be out in the open and we could get a +good crack at them. As it is, we're concentrated and they're +scattered, and their bullets have a better chance than ours of finding +a mark. These sniping methods are all in their favor, if Ditty has +sense enough to stick to them." + +"They've gained already by this afternoon's work," pondered Tyke. +"When they started in we were seventeen to 'leven. Now, as far as we +know, they're sixteen to our nine, for neither Olsen nor Binney's what +you might call able-bodied. The odds are getting bigger against us." + +"All the ammunition we have spent has accounted for only one man," +added the captain. "Their cover has served 'em well. And our +ammunition is short. I figure out that we haven't much more than +thirty cartridges apiece left for the rifles. That won't last us long." + +"Why not dash out and charge them?" suggested Drew. + +"We will when our cartridges get low," agreed the captain. "But I'm +hoping they'll charge us first in the morning. We could drop a bunch +of 'em before they closed in on us, and then we'd have a better chance +in hand-to-hand fighting." + +After dark the captain posted three men some distance within the +forest, with the promise that they should be relieved at midnight and +with strict injunctions to keep a vigilant watch and report to him at +once should anything seem suspicious. + +Rogers was delegated to make his way down to the beach, where it was +supposed the mutineers would encamp for the night, to see if he could +gain any information as to their plan of attack on the morrow. + +To Ruth this whole situation was a most terrifying one; but nobody +displayed more bravery than she. + +She had attended to the two wounded men skilfully. She had been +obliged to arrange a tourniquet on Olsen's shoulder, or the man would +have bled to death; and she had done this as well as a more practised +nurse. The wound was a clean one, the bullet having bored right +through the shoulder. + +Binney's wound was merely painful, and he could not use his rifle +effectively. But he could handle an automatic with his left hand. + +The departure of the mutineers and the coming of night released their +minds and hearts from anxiety to a certain degree. Night fowls in the +forest shouted their raucous notes back and forth, and there were some +squealings and gruntings at the edge of the jungle that betrayed the +presence of certain small animals that might add to their bill of fare +could they but capture them. + +"We'll forage for grub to-morrow," said Captain Hamilton. "It's too +dark to-night to tell what you were catching, even if you went after +those creatures. Ruth says she doesn't want agouti because they're too +much like rats; but maybe there are creatures like polecats here--and +they'd be a whole lot worse." + +A daring idea came into Drew's mind, but he did not mention it to Tyke +or the captain because he felt sure that they would not approve. He +acknowledged to himself that it was a forlorn hope, but he knew, too, +that forlorn hopes often won by their very audacity. + +He knew that the moon rose late that night, and as darkness was +essential to the execution of his plan, he rose shortly and said: + +"Think I'll go out and do a little scouting on my own account." + +The captain looked at him in some surprise. + +"Well," he said slowly, "we can't get any too much information; but +we're fearfully short of men, and you're the best shot we have. Better +be careful." + +"Yes, do be careful, Allen!" exclaimed Ruth. "For my sake," she added +in a whisper. + +"Do you care very much?" he responded, in the same tone. + +"Care!" she repeated softly. It was only one word, but it was eloquent +and her eyes were suspiciously moist. + +He pressed her hand and she did not try to withdraw it. + +"I'll be careful," he promised, releasing it at last. Another moment +and he had surmounted the barrier and was swallowed up in the gloom of +the forest. + +From his repeated trips over the trail, Drew had a pretty good idea of +the locality, and had it not been for the fallen trees that had been +torn up by the cataclysm of the morning, he would have had little +difficulty in gaining the beach. But again and again he had to make +long detours, and as the darkness was intense he had to rely entirely +on his sense of touch; so his progress was slow. + +Nearly two hours elapsed before he caught sight of a light beyond the +trees that he thought must come from the campfire of the mutineers. He +crept forward with exceeding care, for at any moment he might stumble +over some sentinel. But, with the lack of discipline that usually +accompanies such lawless ventures and relying upon their preponderance +in numbers, the mutineers had neglected such a precaution. + +With the stealth of an Indian on a foray, Drew approached the beach +until he was not more than a hundred yards from the fire. There he +sheltered himself behind a massive tree trunk and surveyed the scene. + +He saw Rogers nowhere about. The mutineers had made a great fire of +driftwood, more for its cheerful effect than for any other reason, for +the night was oppressively warm. At some distance from it the men were +sitting or lying in sprawling attitudes. Some were sleeping, some +singing, while one tall man, whom Drew recognized as Ditty, was engaged +in earnest conversation with two others, probably his lieutenants. + +Drew counted them twice to make sure there was no mistake. There were +sixteen in all. Only one, then, had been accounted for that afternoon. +And there were but nine able-bodied men in the fort, counting Binney as +able-bodied. + +Sixteen to nine! Nearly two to one! And men who would fight +desperately because in joining this mutiny they knew that they stood in +peril of the hangman's noose or the electric chair. + +Drew's resolution hardened. The fire cast a wide zone of light on the +beach and the surrounding water. But over the eastern end of the +lagoon darkness hung heavily. Keeping in the shelter of the palms, he +went northward, following the contour of the lagoon until he reached +the point where vegetation ceased and the reef began. + +Although this reef was volcanic (indeed the whole island had +undoubtedly been thrown up from the floor of the sea by some +subterranean convulsion in ages past), the coral insects had been at +work adding to the strength of the lagoon's barriers. The recent quake +that had lifted the reef had ground much of this coral-work to dust. +Drew found himself wading ankle deep in it as he approached the water. + +The little waves lapped at his feet. There was a shimmering glow on +the surface of the lagoon, as there always is upon moving water. +Outside, the surf sighed, retreated, advanced, and again sighed, in +unchanging and ceaseless rotation. + +Drew disrobed slowly. He could not see the schooner, but he knew about +where she lay. Indeed, he could hear the water slapping against her +sides and the creaking of her blocks and stays. She was not far off +the shore. + +And yet he hesitated before wading in. He was a good swimmer, and the +water was warm; the actual getting to the schooner did not trouble his +mind in the least. But, as he scanned the surface of the lagoon, there +was a phosphorescent flash several fathoms out. Was it a leaping fish, +or---- + +His eyes had become accustomed to the semi-darkness. Drifting in was +some object--a small, three-cornered, sail-like thing. Another flash +of phosphorescence, and the triangular fin disappeared. Drew shuddered +as he stood naked at the water's edge. He could not fail to identify +the creature. Something besides the _Bertha Hamilton_ had been shut in +the lagoon by the rising reef. + +"And I venture to say that that shark is mighty hungry, too--unless he +found poor Sanders," muttered the shivering Drew. + +He then waded into the water. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +THE BATTLE IN THE FORECASTLE + +Making as little disturbance as possible, Drew sank to his armpits in +the pellucid waters, and then began to swim. He believed the shark had +started briskly for some other point in the lagoon; but he knew the +eyes of the creature were sharp. + +All about him, as the young man moved through the water, there were +millions of tiny organisms that would betray his presence, as they had +the shark's, at the first ripple. These minute infusorians would glow +with the pale gleam of phosphorescence if the water were ruffled. +Therefore, he had to swim carefully and slowly, when each second his +nerves cried out for rapid, panic-stricken action. + +He came at last to the schooner's stern without mishap. He could see +her tall hull and taller spars above him. There was no light in the +after part of the vessel; nor was there even a riding light. The +mutineers whom Ditty had left aboard had evidently thrown off all +discipline. + +Finding no line hanging from the rail aft, Drew swam around the +schooner to her bows. Here was the anchor chain, and up this he +clambered nimbly to the rail. + +Cautiously he raised his head above the rail and looked about him. +There was a light in the forecastle, but most of the deck was in deep +shadow. Very slowly he pulled himself inboard and dropped down in the +bows. Then, on hands and knees and avoiding any spot of light, he +crept noiselessly toward the forecastle and looked in. + +By the light of the lamp swinging in its gimbals, he could see five men +seated on the floor with their hands tied behind them. At a little +distance two other men were seated, both with revolvers thrust in their +belts. + +The nearest of the guards was talking at the moment, and Drew easily +heard what was said. + +"You're a bloomin' fool, I tell you, Trent," he was saying to one of +the prisoners. "Ditty has got the old man dead to rights. The +after-guard hain't got the ghost of a chance. You'd better pitch in an +take your luck along with the rest of us." + +"You're a lot of bloody murderers," growled the one addressed, "and +you'll swing for this business yet." + +"Not as much chance of our swingin' as there is of you gittin' what +Sanders got," retorted the other. "He's 'bout eat up by the sharks by +this time. An' when Ditty comes back with the loot; he ain't goin' to +let you live to peach on 'im. No, siree, he ain't. Dead men tell no +tales." + +Drew waited no longer. He had no weapon with him, not even a knife. +But he counted on the advantage of surprise. He gathered himself +together, and, with the agility of a panther, leaped upon the shoulders +of the man seated beneath him. They went to the deck with a crash. +The fellow was stunned by the shock, and lay motionless; but Drew was +on his feet in a second. + +The other mutineer leaped up, but when he saw the white and dripping +figure of the unexpected visitor he dropped the automatic and fell back +against the mess table, shaking and with his hands before his eyes. + +"It's a ghost!" yelled Trent, no less frightened than the others, but +more voluble. "It's Sanders been an' boarded us!" + +The prisoners, crowded together on the deck of the forecastle, glared +at the apparition of the naked man in horror. After all, the mutineer +had the most courage. + +"Blast my eyes!" he suddenly shouted. "Sanders wasn't never so big as +him; 'nless he's growed since he was sent to the sharks." + +He sprang forward to peer into Drew's face. The latter's fist shot out +and landed resoundingly on the fellow's jaw. + +"Nor he don't hit like Sanders, by mighty!" yelled the fellow. "Nor +like no ghost. It's that blasted Drew--I knows 'im now." + +"And you're going to know more about me directly," said Drew, between +his teeth, following the fellow up for a second blow. + +But the mutineer had recovered himself, both in mind and body. He was +a big, beefy chap, weighing fifty pounds heavier than Drew, despite the +latter's bone and muscle. No man, no matter how well he can spar, can +afford to give away fifty pounds in a rough and tumble fight and expect +not to suffer for it. + +The fellow put up a good defense, and Drew suddenly became aware that +he himself was at a terrible disadvantage. He was a naked man against +one clothed and booted. He could defend himself from the flail-like +blows of his antagonist and could get in some of his own swift hooks +and punches. But when he was at close quarters the fellow played a +deadly trick on him. + +As Drew stepped in to deliver a short-armed jolt to the mutineer's +head, the latter took the punishment offered, but, with all his weight, +stamped on Drew's unprotected foot. + +The groan that this forced from the young man's lips brought a +diabolical grin to the mutineer's face. Even the satisfaction of +changing that grin to a bloody smear, as he did the very next moment by +giving a fearful blow to the mouth, did not relieve Drew's pain. + +He had to keep the fellow at arm's length, and that was not +advantageous to his own style of fighting. He could make a better +record in close-up work. But the mutineer wore heavy sea-boots, and +Drew already felt himself crippled. His own footwork was spoiled. He +limped as badly as had Tyke Grimshaw for a while. + +There was not room for a fair field in the crowded forecastle, at best. +The big sailor was very wary about stepping near the five prisoners, +but he forced Drew, time and again, against the body of the prone and +unconscious man on the deck. Three times his naked antagonist all but +sprawled over this obstruction. + +In fact, Drew was not getting much the best of it, although few of the +mutineer's blows landed. This fighting at arm's length never yet +brought a quick decision. And that was what Allen Drew was striving +for. For all he knew, Ditty might take it into his head to come off to +the schooner before bedtime. If he were caught in this plight, he +would be utterly undone. + +This thought harried the young man's very soul. All he had risked in +swimming out to the schooner would go for nothing. Not only would his +object in coming fail of consummation, but if Ditty caught him, the +besieged party up on the side of the whale's hump would lose its best +shot. + +Thus convinced of the necessity for haste, Drew suddenly rushed in. He +stifled a cry as the heavy boot crunched down on his foot once again. +This was no time for fair fighting. He seized his antagonist by the +collar of his shirt, jerked him forward, and at the same time planted a +right upper-cut on the point of the jaw. + +The fellow crashed to the deck--down and out without a murmur. Drew, +panting and limping, leaving a trail of blood wherever he stepped, +secured some lengths of spun yarn and tied both mutineers hand and foot +before he gave any attention to the murmuring prisoners. + +"Now, men," he said, turning to the five, "you know me. I'm Mr. Drew +and I'm no ghost." + +"You don't hit like no ghost," grinned Trent. "I'm mighty glad you +come, Mr. Drew. It would have been all up with us when old Bug-eye +come back if you hadn't." + +"You're fine fellows and all right to stand up for your captain," +replied Drew; "and you'll find that you've not only been on the right +side, but on the winning side. However, we've got to hurry. Where's a +knife?" + +"You'll find one in that fellow's belt," said Whitlock, pointing to one +of the mutineers. + +Drew secured it and cut the ropes that bound the prisoners. They fell +to rubbing their arms and legs to get the blood to circulating. + +"As soon as you can move about, get the dinghy ready," directed Drew. +"Stow in it all the provisions it will hold together with some casks of +water. And you'd better bring Wah Lee and the Jap along. I've got to +go to the captain's cabin, but I'll be back before you're ready. +Smart, now, for we don't know what minute Ditty may take a notion to +come aboard." + +Drew hurried aft and into his own room where he quickly got into some +clothing and bandaged his crushed foot. Then he pushed into the +captain's stateroom. There was no light there, but he dropped on his +hands and knees and felt under the berth. + +His hand touched the sharp corner of a box. He dragged it out and +hurried up the companionway where he could examine it by the light of a +lantern. He recognized at once the label of a well-known ammunition +company, and knew that these must be the cartridges of which the +captain had spoken. That box perhaps spelled salvation for the +treasure seekers. + +With his heart throbbing with elation and tightly clutching the +precious box, Drew hastened to the rail where the men were preparing to +launch the boat. Wah Lee and Namco stood by, blinking with true +Oriental stolidity. They betrayed neither eagerness nor reluctance, +nor was there the slightest trace of curiosity. For them it was all in +the day's work. + +The seamen heaped in all the provisions and water that the boat would +hold and still leave room for its occupants. Drew advised muffling the +oars, and with barely a sound the craft moved toward the shore. +Heavily laden at is was, the progress was slow. They kept cautiously +out of the zone of light cast by the mutineers' campfire, which now, +however, was dying out. Finally the craft grated on the sand. + +Under Drew's whispered directions, the men shouldered the stores, and +the party commenced the toilsome march inland to the little fort. + +It was fully midnight when they were challenged by the sentinels at the +edge of the wood. + +"Ahoy, there!" called Drew, hailing the fort. + +"Ahoy, yourself!" came back the answer. "Is that you, Allen?" + +"Yes. And some friends with me." + +"Friends?" There was surprise in the tone. "Who are they?" + +"I'll let you see for yourself." + +The besieged, whose sleep had been fitful, had all been aroused by the +colloquy, and they crowded to the front of the barricade. The moon had +now risen, and their faces could be clearly discerned. Ruth lovelier +every time he saw her, Allen thought, stood beside her father. + +"Why, it's Whitlock!" cried Captain Hamilton jubilantly. "And +Gunther--and Trent--and Ashley--and _Barnes_!" he went on in +ever-increasing wonderment and excitement, as he recognized the +weather-beaten faces. "And blest if here isn't that old heathen, Wah +Lee! And the Jap! Glory hallelujah!" + +There was a moment of wild exclamations and handshakings. + +"Bully lads!" cried the master of the _Bertha Hamilton_, with deep +emotion. "So you broke away and came to help your captain, did you? +Good lads." + +"We didn't exactly break away, Cap'n," said Gunther. "Though God knows +we wanted to bad enough. But it's Mr. Drew you want to thank for our +bein' here. He done it all." + +"I knowed it! I knowed it!" cried Tyke. "I felt it in my bones when I +first saw 'em! Glory be!" + +"He did it all?" inquired the captain. "What do you mean? Tell us, +Allen." + +"Oh, there isn't much to tell," replied Drew. "I was lucky enough to +reach the schooner and I found the men there with their hands tied. I +cut the ropes and brought them along." + +"You reached the schooner!" the captain repeated. "How?" + +"Did you git the boat from under the eyes of them fellers?" asked Tyke. + +"No. I swam over." + +"Swam!" ejaculated the captain. + +Ruth gave a little shriek and put her hand to her heart. + +"Oh!" she cried. "The sharks!" + +"Haven't I always told you that boy was a wonder?" chuckled Tyke. + +But here Whitlock touched his cap. + +"Beggin' your pardon, Cap'n," he said apologetically, "but if Mr. Drew +was as slow with his fists as he is with tellin' his story, meanin' no +disrespec', me an' my mates wouldn't be here." + +"Go ahead, Whitlock," said the captain. "It is like pulling teeth to +get anything from Mr. Drew." + +Whitlock told the story, which lost nothing in the telling. + +There was a pause, tense with emotion, and all eyes were turned on +Drew. Tyke's hand clapped him on the shoulder, but the old man did not +trust himself to speak. Ruth's eyes were wet, but the tears could not +obscure a look that made the young man's heart thump wildly. + +"Allen," said the captain, taking his hand, "it was the pluckiest thing +I ever heard of. If we get out of this place alive, we shall owe it +all to you." + +"You make too much of it," disclaimed Drew, red and confused. "But +hadn't we better stow away these things the men have brought along? +Here's the box of cartridges I found under your berth." + +The captain fairly shouted. + +"That puts the cap sheaf on!" he exulted. "Now Ditty and his gang are +done for. They can't come too soon." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +THE GHOST + +The camp quieted down after a time. In one corner, Ruth had a shelter +of rugs which had been brought up from the boat, and she retired to +this after helping her father dress and rebandage Drew's foot. + +The captain, as so many skippers are, was a good amateur surgeon; and +as far as he could discern there were no bones broken. But the foot +was so very painful that the young man could not coax the drowsy god. +He tossed restlessly on the hard bed of lava rock, and, though his eyes +closed at times, they opened again as though fitted with springs. + +The exciting events of the day and the chances he had taken were +repeated over and over in his mind. For the first time in his life he +had aimed a deadly weapon at another human being. + +He knew that Bingo had fallen by his hand. But, oddly enough, that +fact did not sear his conscience. He had been accused of drowning +Lester Parmalee, and the thought of that accusation now made him shrink +and writhe. + +He was guiltless of Parmalee's awful end; still, he shuddered at the +thought that he might have been guilty. At one time he had felt such +rage and animosity, through jealousy, that he might have struck +Parmalee a fatal blow. + +Drew had considered the missing man his rival for Ruth's affection. +Fate had removed that rival from his path. Yet, in doing this, fate +had likewise raised a barrier to Drew's own happiness with Ruth. + +The man groaned aloud at this thought. Then, fearing that some of the +others would be disturbed, that Ruth might hear him, he arose and +hobbled to the barrier. + +He felt in a pocket of the coat he had put on while aboard the schooner +and found pipe and tobacco. He filled the pipe and fell to smoking, +hoping to soothe his jumping nerves, while he stared out across the +moonlit open. + +The tropical moonlight revealed every object to the edge of the jungle +as clearly as though it were broad day. It was a peaceful scene--so +peaceful that it was hard to imagine that daybreak might change it to a +place of carnage. + +Suddenly he took his pipe from his lips and peered more closely at a +spot near the edge of the jungle. Something had moved there. + +It could not be one of the sentinels. Attack was not expected from the +west. Nor was it one of the small, night-roaming animals of the +forest. Drew was sure there were no beasts of prey on this island. It +was too far from the mainland and the larger islands. + +The something which he had seen moved farther out from the line of +verdure. It was a man. + +Although the distance was fully a cable's length, Drew's eyes were +keen. The moonlight for a full minute shone on the face of the figure +before it moved again. + +The sight of the pallid countenance, with the black hair above it, +smote Drew with an emotion akin to terror. He could not understand the +apparition--he could scarcely believe his eyes; yet that face was +Lester Parmalee's! + +In a moment more the man had disappeared. The figure seemed to have +melted into the black background of the jungle. + +Without a grain of superstition in his being, Allen Drew felt that he +was in the presence of the supernatural. He had not imagined the +figure. It was no figment of a waking dream. + +This was what Ruth had seen. This was what had so startled her on the +occasion of the treasure seekers' first visit to the whale's hump. She +thought she had imagined the appearance of Lester Parmalee. Drew knew +he had seen it! + +He was tempted to arouse Captain Hamilton. Yet he shrank from that. +He could not utter the missing man's name to Ruth's father, knowing, as +he did, that the captain was doubtful of his, Drew's, innocence in +connection with Parmalee's disappearance. + +He whispered to the man on guard that he was going outside, and quickly +surmounted the barrier. He had his automatic revolver; and, anyway, he +did not think any of the mutineers were in the neighborhood. + +Having marked well the spot where the ghostly figure had presented +itself to his startled vision, Drew hobbled directly to it, forgetting +in his excitement the painful foot. He did not halt to search for +foot-prints, but looked instead for an opening in the jungle, into +which the figure could have disappeared. + +It was there--one of those strange lava paths through the thick +vegetation. The moonlight scarcely illuminated it, for it was narrow; +but Drew entered boldly. This matter must be brought to a conclusion. +He felt that the mystery had to be solved without delay. + +There was light enough to show him the black wall of the jungle on +either side of the path. There were no openings. Tropical undergrowth +is not like that of a northern forest. Here the lianas and thorns +intermingled with strong brush, make an impervious hedge. One could +not penetrate it without the aid of a machete. + +Drew heard no sound as he went on. The man he followed was not +struggling through the jungle in an attempt to escape pursuit. Allen +hastened his footsteps, his hand on his revolver. Was that a figure +moving through the semi-dusk ahead? Should he call? His lips formed +the name of Parmalee, but no sound came from them. + +Suddenly he came to a clearing, perhaps a dozen yards across. Here the +lava had formed a pool and cooled in this circular patch. The +moonlight now revealed all. + +A figure--the same he had seen upon the edge of the jungle--was +crossing this opening in the forest. The pursuer sprang forward. + +"Wait!" he gasped. "It's I--Drew! Wait!" + +The other whirled. He held only a club as a means of defense. He was +in rags. His black hair hung in dank locks about his pale brow. + +"Who are you?" he cried. "Keep off!" + +"Parmalee!" + +Allen Drew rushed in, making light of the club, and seized the other in +his arms. + +"My God, man! don't you know me? How came you here? Are you real?" he +chattered. + +"Is it you, Drew?" queried the other, brokenly. "Lord! don't take my +breath, old fellow." + +"They accuse me of taking your life!" ejaculated Drew, with hysterical +laughter. "Don't mind a little thing like being hugged. Gad, +Parmalee! how glad I am to see you!" + +"Accused you of taking my life!" the other exclaimed, amazed. + +"Ditty, the black-hearted hound, accused me of throwing you overboard. +Said he saw me do it. Captain Hamilton half believes it yet. Heavens, +Parmalee, but you're a sight to put heart into a man! + +"Only," Drew added, "you quite took the heart out of me just now when I +saw you standing there at the edge of the forest staring at the fort." + +"The fort. Yes. That's what puzzled me," Parmalee said. "I wasn't +sure which party was defending it. The sailors mutinied, didn't they? +You're fighting them?" + +"I should say we are, the----" + +He got no further. In their eagerness, the two men had been talking in +ordinary tones and had paid no attention to their surroundings. A +voice suddenly crackled through the other sounds of the night. + +"Well, we've got two of 'em. Hands up, or we'll blow your heads off!" + +It was Ditty with half a dozen of the mutineers at his back. They held +Drew and Parmalee under the muzzles of their automatics. + +It was useless to attempt to escape. Even Drew, reckless as he had +shown himself at times, would not take his life so lightly in his +hands. And, besides, he knew well that Ditty would be only too glad to +shoot him. + +His hands, as well as Parmalee's, went up promptly. One of the seamen, +laughing a little, came forward and searched them both, taking away +Drew's weapon. Parmalee had dropped his useless club. + +The young men, so suddenly made captives by the mutineers, stood with +their backs to the strong moonlight, their faces in the shadow. The +moon was now sinking behind a buttress of the volcano. As yet, neither +had been recognized by their captors. But now Ditty came forward, and +first of all thrust his face into that of Parmalee. + +"Who the devil are you?" he demanded. + +The young man lifted his head and stared into the mate's pale eye. +Ditty started back with a shriek. + +"What--what---- Who is it?" chattered the mate. His henchmen gazed at +him in amazement. Suddenly Ditty came forward again, and whirled +Parmalee around so that he faced the sinking moon. + +"Mr. Parmalee!" he whispered. + +The latter smiled faintly. + +"It's Parmalee, all right," he said. "You didn't expect to see me +again, I imagine, Mr. Ditty." + +The sound of the man's voice seemed to reassure the mate. The other +mutineers chattered their surprise. Finally Ditty, licking his dry +lips, stammered: + +"I--I thought that you--you were----" + +"No thanks to you that I'm not drowned, Mr. Ditty, if that's what you +mean," said Parmalee bitterly. "You tried your best to murder me." + +"Not me!" declared Ditty, with a gesture of denial, turning his single +eye away from the other's accusing gaze. "It was that swab, Drew, +threw you overboard." + +"Liar," declared Parmalee evenly. "Drew lay on the deck unconscious +from his fall. I was stooping to help him. Though you crept up behind +me, I knew you when you seized me in your arms, you villain. And I +hope to see you punished for it." + +Ditty, with a curse, would have struck Parmalee, but Drew stepped +between them and received the blow intended for his comrade. + +"If you must hit a man, hit one of your own size," he said quietly. + +"Drew! Drew himself!" shouted the mate, recognizing the second +captive. "The very one we wanted! Hi, bullies! we've got the +whip-hand now. We've got the old man's right bower! An' him an' the +gal an' Tyke Grimshaw will pay us our price for the freedom of this +laddy-buck, to say nothin' of Parmalee. Bring 'em along!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +THE BATTLE IS ON + +Helpless and almost hopeless, the two captives were led deeper into the +forest paths. Drew realized that they were skirting the barren +hillside and gaining a position nearer to the treasure seekers' fort. + +Finally they saw a fire in the now dark wood, and soon came to a +stockade. Several fallen trees formed this barrier, and in addition to +the protection they afforded, a number of branches had been so arranged +as to form an abattis. The work had been hastily done; but with +determined men behind it, it would offer a formidable obstacle to an +attacking party. + +At a fire in the further end of the enclosure the mutineers were +preparing their breakfast. Ditty went over and talked earnestly with +some of his men, but finally broke off abruptly and came back to the +prisoners, who had both been tied, wrist and ankle. + +"So I've got you where I've wanted you at last, have I?" he taunted +Drew. "Little moonlight walks don't always pan out as you expect." + +Drew disdained to reply. + +"You wont talk, eh?" the mate snarled, kicking him in the ribs with his +heavy boot. "Well, I know some cunnin' little ways of makin' people +talk when I want 'em to. But I'm goin' to wait a while before I try +'em on you. I want somebody here to see you cringe and hear you howl. +Bless her pretty eyes, how she'll enjoy it!" + +Then Drew's eyes flashed and he strained at his bonds. + +"You vile scoundrel!" he cried. "If my hands were free I'd choke the +life out of you!" + +"So you can talk, after all?" sneered the mate, his cold eye becoming +still more reptilian. + +"And more than talk--give me the chance," Drew flung back at him. + +"Smart boy," jeered the mate. "Smart enough to translate Spanish and +the pirate's old map, eh? An' now you're goin' to smart more when you +see me an' my mates walk off with the doubloons," and he laughed. + +"Yes. When I do!" the young man said boldly. "You'll be a deal older +when that happens, Ditty." + +"I'll show you!" ejaculated the mate, and kicked him again. + +"The brute!" gasped Parmalee. + +"Parmalee," Drew said in a trembling voice, "I never wanted the use of +my hands so much as I do now. When I do get free, I shall be tempted +to kill that fellow." + +"He deserves it--the double-dyed villain!" groaned Parmalee. "And he +threw me overboard." + +"I knew he must have done so," said Drew. "But why did he do it? Not +just to put the crime on me? How were you saved and how did you get +here? Let's hear it all." + +"I had overheard the rascal plotting with some of the men," returned +Parmalee. "Ditty must have caught a glimpse of me. I suppose he felt +the time was not ripe for exposure; so he put me out of the way. He +must have been lurking near us that night when you fell. I was +stooping to help you when he grabbed me and flung me over the rail. I +didn't have time to cry out. + +"I'm a good swimmer--one of the few active accomplishments I +possess--and I swam as long as I could. Just as I lost strength, my +hand touched a cask lashed to a grating that must have fallen from some +vessel, or been thrown from it. That held me up till morning. By that +time I was about all in. But just then a sloop--a turtle catcher she +was--bore down on me, sighted me, and answered my frantic appeal, and +picked me up. It was a terrible experience." + +"It must have been," breathed the other. "Go on. How did you get here +to this very island where the doubloons were buried?" + +"Are they here?" asked Parmalee eagerly. "Do you know?" + +"Sh!" whispered Drew. "Don't say a word. We have 'em--pecks of them! +And jewels and other stuff besides--enough to make us all as rich as +Midas." + +"Humph!" commented Parmalee, with sudden gravity. "And he had asses' +ears. I'm afraid this mess we're all in shows that we did an asinine +thing in coming down here after the doubloons. What is wealth compared +to life itself?" + +"True," murmured Drew. "And what we've been through besides. But go +on. Tell the rest." + +"When those turtle catchers landed here I had no idea that this island +was the one marked on the pirate's map which Captain Hamilton showed +me," pursued Parmalee. "I was treated well enough. But I happened to +have no money in my pockets, and the men disbelieved my claim that I +would pay them if they would get me to a civilized port! So they made +me work. That was all right, but the work was too heavy for me; so I +went off into the interior of the island to see if there were not some +inhabitants. Then the first earthquake came. It frightened those +half-breeds and negroes blue. They set off in the sloop, leaving me +behind. + +"Day before yesterday I came up this way. I guessed that the +fortification must have been thrown up by one party from the _Bertha +Hamilton_ and that this was the island we had been seeking; but +hesitated to come nearer, unarmed as I was, fearing that Ditty and his +gang of cut-throats were fortified here." + +"Ruth saw you," Drew volunteered. "She thought you were an apparition. +And so did I, this morning. But you must have had a frightful time of +it." + +"I've been keeping myself alive on fruit and shell-fish since the +turtle catchers deserted me. It's not a satisfying diet," Parmalee +said with a little laugh. + +During this low-voiced conversation between the two prisoners, the +mutineers had been eating breakfast. They offered the young men none; +but neither Drew nor Parmalee was thinking of his appetite. + +"Sit up close behind me, Parmalee," whispered Drew. "I believe I can +work on that cord that fastens your wrists. If I can get you free, you +can free me." + +"Good! We'll try it," said the other confidently. + +"That will do. Get close to me and let me pick away at this knot. +Ditty's too busy to come over here now. Besides, they're getting ready +to attack our people, I think. He believes we're safe here, and he'll +need all his men with him." + +"You're getting it, Drew, old fellow," whispered Parmalee eagerly. + +"Bet your life! One of the easiest knots a seaman ever tied. Now try +mine." + +Parmalee did as directed, and the knot that fastened Drew's wrists soon +yielded. But the latter still kept his hands behind him and assumed a +pose of deep dejection, his companion doing the same. + +As Drew had conjectured, Ditty had made up his mind to attack. He was +still unaware of what had taken place on the schooner during the night, +and was confident that he outnumbered the besieged by about two to one. +Time was pressing, for a ship might appear at any time. He resolved to +hazard all his chances on one throw. + +At the head of his band he left the stockade. Drew and Parmalee waited +till they felt sure that all had gone and that no guard left behind was +stealthily watching them through the trees. Drew then got out his +pocket knife and severed their ankle lashings. + +At that moment a volley of shots was heard in the direction of the +barricade. It was followed by another and still another. The fight +had begun. + +"Come on!" cried Drew excitedly, and he dashed out of the stockade +followed by Parmalee. + +Day was just breaking. Overhead the twittering of doves, the squeaking +of parrakeets, the countless sounds of bird and insect life, welcomed +the sun. + +But the fusilades of gun shots hushed the clamor of wild life, and sent +the birds and the animals shrieking away from the vicinity. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV + +THE SURRENDER--CONCLUSION + +Great was the consternation in the little fortress when it was +discovered that Drew was absent. And as the time dragged by and he did +not return, his friends knew that either he had been killed or was a +prisoner in the hands of the mutineers. And if the latter, they knew +only too well what mercy he had to expect from the mate. One murder +more or less was nothing to that scoundrel now. + +Grimshaw and Captain Hamilton were abnormally grave, and Ruth's eyes +were wild with anguish and terror. She no longer had any doubt of her +feeling for Allen. She knew that she loved him with all her heart. + +At the first sign of daylight, the master of the _Bertha Hamilton_ put +his little band on a war footing. The ammunition was distributed, and +he rejoiced to see how abundant it was. That he had Drew to thank for. +Ruth prepared lint and bandages for the wounded from supplies which +Allen had also brought, then she stood ready to reload the extra rifles +and small arms, or, at need, to use a revolver herself. Her eyes were +clear and dauntless, and if her father looked at her with grave +anxiety, it was also with pride. + +Breakfast despatched, the men took the places assigned to them. The +captain had formed his plan of battle. + +"They'll rush us after a few volleys," he asserted. "Wait till they +get within thirty feet before you fire. Then let them have it, and aim +low. If they waver, and I think they will, jump over the breastworks +when I give the word, and we'll charge in turn. If we once get them on +the run, they'll never rally and we'll hunt them down like rats until +they surrender. We're going to win, my lads!" + +The answer was a cheer, and Captain Hamilton had no doubt as to the +spirit with which his little force was going into the fray. + +The outposts came hurrying in with the news that the mutineers were +coming. And not long after, this was confirmed by a spatter of bullets +against the rocks. + +The defenders made a spirited reply, and several volleys were +exchanged. But the mutineers were in the shelter of the wood. + +Ditty knew that the pistol bullets of his men would do little damage at +long range. + +There came an ominous pause. + +"They're getting ready now," said Captain Hamilton quietly. "Mind what +I told you, my lads, about shooting low. And when you see me jump over +the rocks, come close on my heels. I'll be up in front." + +It was a nerve-trying wait. Then, suddenly, the mutineers emerged from +the wood and rushed toward the fort, yelling as they came. + +They had covered nearly half the distance when Captain Hamilton gave +the word and the rifles spoke. Some of the bullets went high and wide, +but several of the attacking force staggered and went down. Their +comrades hesitated for a second, and the master of the _Bertha +Hamilton_ seized his opportunity. + +"Follow me!" he yelled. "Come on!" + +He leaped over the rocky breastwork, and with a cheer the seamen +followed him. + +The check of the mutineers had been only temporary. Ditty raged and +stormed and swore at them and they regained some semblance of order. +By the time the captain and his force had fairly cleared the lava +barricade and had got into the full momentum of their charge, the +mutineers had reformed. In another instant the lines had met and were +locked in deadly combat. + +There was no longer any pretense of discipline. When their guns were +empty, every man singled out his antagonist and grappled with him. The +forces were now about evenly divided, and for a time the issue was +doubtful. + +Then came a diversion. + +Out from the wood leaped Drew, whirling a heavy club, his eyes blazing +with rage and the lust of battle. Here was the chandlery clerk, +metamorphosed indeed! He was followed by Parmalee, plucky, but for the +moment breathless from the struggle through the jungle. + +"Shoot him, you bullies! Pull him down!" yelled Ditty, seeing the +charging Drew. + +He aimed his own revolver at the young man and fired. Drew felt as +though his head had been seared by a red-hot iron. He staggered, but, +nevertheless, kept on, charging directly at the one-eyed mate. + +They met. As Drew struck at his enemy with the club, the latter flung +his emptied revolver full in the face of the younger man. Drew ducked, +but could not avoid it. But the bodies of the two came together, and +they clenched. + +Back and forth they strained, each struggling for a wrestler's hold in +order to enable him to throw the other. For half a minute or more +neither was successful. + +But the mate was the better man in the rough-and-tumble fight. He +suddenly lifted Drew from the ground and flung him to the ground. But +Ditty fell too, landing heavily on his victim. + +The shock almost deprived Drew of breath. The wound in his head had +confused him. His grasp on Ditty relaxed, and with a yell of triumph +the latter released himself, leaped to his feet, seizing the club as he +arose. + +"Now I've got you!" he yelled, and swung the club aloft. + +At that moment Captain Hamilton shot Ditty through the breast. With a +snarl, the mate, losing the club, hurled himself toward the captain and +grappled with him. They went down, the latter's head striking the +ground so that he was dazed for a moment. + +The mutineer jerked the knife from his belt and raised it to strike; +but Tyke Grimshaw, who had been fighting furiously, kicked the knife +from his hand and the captain, recovering, threw his enemy from him and +arose. + +Ditty did not rise. The remaining mutineers wavered when their leader +fell, then turned to flee. + +"After them, my lads!" cried Captain Hamilton. "We've got 'em on the +run!" + +But the battle ended abruptly. + +In the excitement of the fight, none had noticed the black cloud +shooting up from the crater so close at hand. There was a stupendous +roar, and the earth shook again as though twisted between the fingers +of a Titan. The crashing of trees in the forest, and the bursting of +hot lava spewed out of the volcano, grew into a cannonade. + +Prone on the ground, terrified and bewildered before this awful seismic +phenomenon, neither belligerent party thought of fighting. Not until +the uproar and quaking had subsided some minutes later, could they +reconcile themselves to the conviction that by a miracle only were they +alive. + +The mutineers crept away into the forest unmolested. Gradually the +others regained self-control. Tyke nursed the lame foot which had done +such timely service in thwarting Ditty, while the captain tallied up +his losses. Two of the faithful seamen were dead, Ashley and Trent, +and several were rather badly wounded, while none had emerged from the +struggle without some injury. Five of the mutineers had been killed, +and three more were severely though not mortally wounded. + +Drew had at first thought that the wound inflicted by Ditty's bullet +was slight. But suddenly a deadly weakness came over him. He seemed +to be falling into a stupor from which he tried desperately to save +himself. Ruth was bandaging his wound when she noticed his growing +faintness. She cried out in alarm. + +"Allen, dear, Allen!" she begged. "Rouse up! Don't faint!" + +"I--I'm going, Ruth," he answered. + +"No, no;" she cried desperately. "I won't let you!" + +"I'm going," he muttered, clinging to her. + +"You mustn't!" she exclaimed wildly. "Don't go, Allen! Not until I +tell you----" + +But the next moment Drew slipped into unconsciousness. + +When he awoke to find himself between snowy sheets in his old berth +with Ruth's cool hand upon his forehead and her tender eyes looking +into his, he had many things to learn. She pieced out for him the +happenings after that stark fight on the island. She told how Parmalee +had picked up a revolver from the field and played his part in the +fight; how, after the burial of the dead and aid to the wounded, the +treasure chest had been transferred to the schooner; how the remnant of +the mutineers had evaded capture and had fled to the remote parts of +the island; and, greatest of all, how that last earthquake shock had +tipped the reef again and made a new opening in the barrier that had +hemmed in the schooner. She told him, too, that in an hour the _Bertha +Hamilton_ would be ploughing the waves of the Caribbean. + +To all these things he listened with unutterable content and peace +beyond all telling. He was alive! His name was stainless! His future +was secure! And Ruth was beside him! It was heaven just to lie there, +drinking in the beauty of her eyes and breathing the fragrance of her +hair when she bent over to adjust his pillow. + +"And we shall soon have bidden good-bye to Earthquake Island!" Ruth +exclaimed gaily. + +"Is that what you've dubbed it?" he asked, smiling. "It couldn't be +better christened. Earthquakes seem to be its chief stock in trade." + +"Except doubloons," she reminded him. "Don't be ungrateful." + +Tyke came in and sat patting Drew's hand, too deeply moved at first to +trust himself to speak. The captain, too, was a visitor, confidently +attributing the salvation of the party to Drew's pluck and daring. And +Parmalee--a vastly stronger and healthier Parmalee than before he had +been compelled to "rough it"--showed himself exceedingly friendly. + +"It has been a great voyage for me," he said. "I'm open to +congratulations, Drew. My health is so much improved, that I shall be +married as soon as we reach New York." + +Drew's heart suddenly turned to ice. He knew he ought to say +something, but for the life of him he could not speak. He looked +unseeingly at Parmalee, his face the color of ashes. + +"Her name is Edith," continued Parmalee, with the egotism of a lover. +"Beautiful name, don't you think? We've been engaged for more than a +year, but I didn't want to marry until I was stronger." + +The blood flowed into Drew's face once more. + +"Beautiful?" he cried. "I should say it was! And I bet she's as +beautiful as her name. Parmalee, I congratulate you. With all my +heart I congratulate you. You're a lucky dog. Shake hands." + +Parmalee's eyes twinkled. + +"Upon my word! you're a fellow of sudden and wonderful enthusiasms," he +exclaimed. "But I can guess why. I'm not blind. Go in and win, old +fellow." + +Ruth came back just then, gay and radiant. + +"Seems to me there's a lot of noise here for a sick man's room," she +remarked, looking smilingly from one to the other. "I'll have to drive +you out, Mr. Parmalee, if you get my patient too greatly excited," she +went on, shaking her finger at him with mock severity. + +"I imagine I haven't done him any harm," laughed Parmalee slyly. + +"Harm!" cried Drew. "You've given me a new lease on life. I'll get +well now in no time. I've just got to get well!" + +"I was telling him about Edith," explained Parmalee. + +"Edith!" exclaimed Ruth. "Isn't she just the dearest girl? So you've +taken Allen into the secret too? Go and get her picture and let him +see what a darling she is." + +Parmalee, nothing loth, rose and left the room. + +"You'll simply fall in love with her when you see her picture," +prophesied Ruth, as she adjusted the pillow. + +"No, I won't," declared Drew with emphasis. + +"She's one of the dearest friends I have," Ruth continued, teasingly +keeping her hand just out of Allen's reach. "Of course, I knew all +about their engagement, and Mr. Parmalee's talked to me a lot about her +during this voyage. The poor fellow was so lonely without her that I +suppose he had to have some one to confide in." + +A great light broke upon Drew's mind. + +"So that's what you two used to talk about when I was so----" he +hesitated, seeking for a word. + +"So what?" she asked demurely, with a glint of the old mischief in her +eyes. + +"Oh, you know," he answered, hardly knowing how to proceed. He was +doing his best to catch her eye but could not. + +He raised up and caught her by the forearm, but he was too weak to hold +her and she drew herself gently away. + +"I told Mr. Parmalee that he must not excite you, and now I'm acting +just as badly," she said. "You must rest or you'll never get well." + +"Oh, I'm bound to get well now!" he declared. At that moment Tyke +Grimshaw's face appeared at the doorway. + +"How are you making it, Allen?" he questioned. + +"First rate," was the answer. The young man was rather put out over +the interruption, yet he could not help but remember what Grimshaw had +done for him and he gave the old man a warm look of gratitude. + +"We're going to have some rough sailing for a little while," announced +Grimshaw. "We're going to sail through that there gap in the reef--if +it can be done." + +From a distance they could hear the voice of Mr. Rogers giving orders. +And the stamp of the seamen's feet announced that the _Bertha Hamilton_ +was getting under way. Short-handed as she was, never did sailors +swing into the ancient chantey in better tune and with more +cheerfulness. + + "Oh, haul the bowline, Katy is my darling, + Oh, haul the bowline, the bowline _haul_! + + "Oh, haul the bowline, London girls are towing, + Oh, haul the bowline, the bowline _haul_! + + "Oh, haul the bowline, the packet is a-rolling, + Oh, haul the bowline, the bowline _haul_!" + + +With anchor apeak, topsails jerked aloft and flattened, the schooner +took the wind. Although the earthquake had subsided, the waters both +inside the reef and outside were much troubled. Where the two jaws of +the rocky barrier still remained, the waves pounded and foamed +furiously. + +Would they be able to get out safely? That was the question in the +mind of every man who trod the deck of the schooner. Soundings had +been made, and they had learned that the lane to safety was both narrow +and winding. + +"If we hit, it will be all up with us," said one of the tars to his +mates. + +"We got ter take a chance," was the answer. "Keelhaul me, if I want to +stay at this island any longer!" + +Closer and closer to the jaws of the reef sped the _Bertha Hamilton_. +Then up and down like a cork danced the schooner. For one brief +instant as she plunged through the waves and the foam, scattering the +flying spray in all directions, it looked as if nature might force her +upon the rocks, there to be battered into a shapeless hulk. But then, +as if by a miracle, she righted herself, answered her helm, and shot +through the miraculously opened lane into the blue waters of the ocean +beyond. + +They were homeward bound. + +A week later as the schooner was running up the Florida coast, Drew, +who had gained strength magically after his enlightening interview with +Parmalee, was standing with Ruth near the rail. Dusk was coming on, +and a crescent moon was already showing its horns in the sky, still +touched by the sun's aftermath. + +In the hush of the twilight they had fallen silent. Ruth's hand was +resting on the rail. Allen reached over gently and took it in his own. +It was quivering, but she did not withdraw it. + +"Ruth, look at me," he said, somewhat huskily. She lifted her eyes to +his, but dropped them instantly. + +"Ruth," he continued, "when I was hurt and was losing consciousness on +the island, do you remember what you said to me?" She was silent. +"Tell me, Ruth," he urged. "Do you?" + +"How can I?" she said evasively. "I--I said so many things. I was so +excited----" + +"I remember," he said softly. "I will never forget. You said: 'Don't +go, Allen, not until I tell you----' What was it you wished to tell +me, Ruth?" + +"Don't make me say it, Allen," she murmured, her gaze downcast. + +"Was it this?" he asked; and now his voice was shaking. "Was it: Don't +go, Allen, not until I tell you that I love you? Was that it, Ruth?" + +She looked at him then, and her eyes were wonderful. + +With a stifled cry he opened his arms, and she crept into them in shy +and sweet surrender. + +His lips met hers. + +He had gained the Doubloons--and the Girl. + + + + +THE END + + + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Doubloons--and the Girl, by John Maxwell Forbes + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DOUBLOONS--AND THE GIRL *** + +***** This file should be named 31528.txt or 31528.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/5/2/31528/ + +Produced by Al Haines + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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