"How do you know, Captain? You speak as positively as though Captain Mazagan had told you precisely what he intended to do."
"Of course he has told me nothing, for I have not seen him. Common-sense is all I have to guide me."
They were about to go into a further discussion of the question when Felix came tumbling down the ladder from the upper deck as though he was in a hurry.
"What has broken now, Flix?" demanded the captain.
"Nothing; but the question is settled," replied the lookoutman, stopping at the front window of the pilot-house, as though he had something important to say. "The ship looks like a punctuation mark on the sea, and"—
"Is it a full stop?" asked Captain Scott.
"I don't know; but I think not. She is so far off that I can't make out whether she is moving or not;but she is not sending as much smoke out of her funnel as she was."
"Then your news is a little indefinite."
"As indefinite as a broken barometer. But I did not come down to report upon the ship alone," added the lookoutman.
"Give out the text, and go on with the sermon."
"The text is in the back part of Jonah, where Job swallowed the whale. The Fatty has come about and is now under a full head of steam, as nearly as I can judge," said Felix, who thought he was treated with too much levity over a serious subject. "I couldn't see her compass, but the arrow-head is directly under the mark, according to my figuring of it."
"Don't be too nautical, Flix; but I suppose you mean that she is headed directly for the Maud," replied the captain. "That is precisely what I have been satisfied from the beginning she would do."
"Then Morris may enter on his log-slate that the chase began at 11.15a.m.," said Louis as he glanced at the clock over the binnacle.
"Not just yet, Morris," replied Captain Scott, who seemed to have no apprehension that the Moor would overhaul the Maud. "Let me have your glass, Flix; and it is your trick at the wheel, Louis."
He took the spy-glass and left the pilot-house. They saw him climb the ladder to the hurricane deck, and it was evident that he intended to take a look for himself.
"He does not accept my report," said Felix with a laugh.
"But he said just now that you had wonderfully sharp eyes, Flix," added Louis.
"Yet he will not trust them."
But the captain returned in a few minutes, and reported what steamers were in sight, with the added information that none of them were headed to the north-east; his shipmates could not see the significance of his information. He rang the speed bell, and Morris noted the time on the slate.
Captain Scott had evidently visited the hurricane deck with the spy-glass for the purpose of scanning the sea within eight or ten miles of the Maud, as his report was that no steamers going in a northeasterly direction were in sight. He did not say that he feared any interference on the part of such vessels if any were near. At eleven o'clock it was time for Felix to take his trick at the wheel; Morris's watch, consisting of himself and Louis, were off duty.
It was a very democratic routine that prevailed on board of the little steamer; for the captain was no bigger man than the two seamen before the mast, and was obliged to take his turn on the lookout; but the arrangement had been made by the boys, all had agreed to it, and no one could complain. Scott went to his place in the bow, taking the glass with him. He had given out the course to his successor at the wheel, and the Maud was now going at full speed.
The dignity of the quarter-deck does not permit an officer, much less a seaman, to ask questions of his superior. This sacred limit on board of a shipwas entirely constructive so far as the Maud was concerned; for she was provided with no such planking, and the dignity was applicable only to the persons to whom the quarter-deck is appropriated. But Captain Ringgold was a strict disciplinarian, having served in the navy during the War of the Rebellion.
The young navigators had imbibed this deference from the officers on board of the Guardian-Mother, and it had become, as it were, a part of their nautical being. It had never been incorporated in any regulation, but it was just as potent as though it had been set forth in an order from the commander. Captain Scott did not explain what other steamers headed in the same direction as the Maud had to do with the present voyage, and it was not in order to make any inquiries; but Louis Belgrave would have been very glad to know what was passing through the mind of his superior officer at this time.
The young commander "made no sign," and all that could be done was to wait until events developed themselves. Morris and Louis were at liberty to go where they pleased, and do what they liked, provided they did not interfere with the routine of the steamer. Both of them were desirous of understanding the situation, and they went upon the upper deck in order to obtain a better view of the other vessels.
Morris had a field-glass which he carried with him. Like everything else the magnate of the Fifth Avenueprovided for the members of his family, it was of the best quality, and had proved to be a powerful instrument. He first looked for the Guardian-Mother; but he could not make her out. The trend of the coast was to the southward, beyond Damietta, and she had either gone out of the reach of the glass, or she was concealed by the intervening land. The Fatimé was very distinctly to be seen, headed for the Maud, and there could be no doubt at all in regard to her intentions. She was in pursuit of the Maud, and her movements very plainly indicated that she was engaged in a mischievous mission.
"It begins to look serious, don't it, Louis?" asked Morris, after both of them had used the field-glass.
"It would look so if the Guardian-Mother were not somewhere in the vicinity," replied Louis. "Captain Mazagan has waited till she is well out of sight; and I have no doubt he is wondering why our two vessels have separated. At any rate, he has bitten at the bait prepared for him without seeing the hook it conceals."
"I don't see why the plan is not succeeding as well as could be desired," suggested the first officer. "Of course Captain Ringgold does not mean to leave us to fall into the hands of this pirate, as you all call her."
"It was distinctly the understanding that she was to come between us and any possible harm."
"Something may happen to prevent her from doing so."
"Of course there is no knowing what may happen," Louis admitted. "I do not see what can possibly occur to prevent her from following us to Cyprus, if we go there."
"Isn't it settled that we are to go there?" asked Morris, who had not heard the manœuvre discussed before the commander of the ship.
"It is not absolutely settled; for the Fatty might take to her heels, and no doubt would do so if she discovered the Guardian-Mother in her wake. Mazagan knows very well that she can make four knots to the Moorish craft's three; for that is just the ratio we figured out between them. With three or four knots the lead she could overhaul her in an hour."
"But the pirate could make her out in clear weather ten or a dozen miles off. But what was Captain Scott's idea in running for the island of Cyprus?"
"In order to have room enough for his manœuvre."
"Have you kept the run of the Maud's course, Louis?"
"I have not; I am not so much of a sailor as you are, my boy, and I don't figure on sailing the craft unless required to do so," replied Louis. "But why do you ask that question?"
"Because I think the captain has changed the course of the Maud, and is headed more to the northward," answered Morris.
"What makes you think so? He gave out anorth-east course to Flix. You have seen no compass since that time, and the sun is clouded in. I see that Captain Scott is no longer at the bow; he must have gone into the pilot-house," added Louis, his thought in regard to the indefinite idea in the mind of the navigator coming to him again.
"There is a compass in the standing-room, Louis; suppose we go below and look up this matter," Morris proposed, though he could have had no suspicion that the captain had any concealed intentions.
They went down the forward ladder to the forecastle, though there was one aft leading into the standing-room. Louis found that Scott was seated on the divan abaft the wheel, studying a chart, which he could see included the island of Cyprus. He took no notice of them as they descended the ladder, and they went to the standing-room without stopping on the forecastle. Morris led the way; for he seemed to be impatient to ascertain whether or not he was right in relation to the course of the steamer.
"There you are!" he exclaimed as he looked at the face of the compass. "The Maud is headed to the north north-east half east; and that is not the course Captain Scott gave out when Flix took the helm."
"But it is not a great change," added Louis.
"Just now it is not; but in making two hundred miles to the northward it would take the Maud to a point about forty miles to the westward of whereshe would have brought up on her former course," Morris explained.
"I understand your point; but what does it mean?"
"It means that we are going to a place forty miles west of the one we started for."
"I don't understand it; and Captain Scott is just as tenacious in keeping his own counsels as the commander of the Guardian-Mother himself," replied Louis.
"But you have as much influence with him as the commander."
"And for that reason I will not ask him any questions in regard to the sailing of the Maud."
Morris was not ready to ask him to call the captain to an account; and, leaving him in the standing-room, he went into the cabin. Louis was not willing to believe, or even to accept a suggestion that Scott had any ulterior purpose in his mind; for it seemed very much like treason to harbor such a thought of his friend. The only thing that gave him a hint in that direction was the fact he had expressed that Louis ought not to be on board of the Maud during her present mission.
If the little steamer was not to engage in some perilous adventure, why should Scott wish he were somewhere else? But the captain was certainly solicitous for one of those whose safety was threatened; and he tried to believe that this was a sufficient explanation. While he was thinking of the matter, Morris rushed out of the cabin, and looked and acted as though he were laboring under some excitement.
"What is the matter now, Morris?" he asked.
"Matter enough!" replied the first officer. "The barometer has made a considerable slump since I looked at it the last time."
"And that means bad weather, I suppose," added Louis, who very rarely became excited when a young fellow would be expected to be in such a condition.
"No doubt of it," answered the mate, wondering that he had made so slight an impression on his companion.
"We have weathered two pretty severe gales in the Maud, and I dare say we can do it again. I suppose the barometer will tell the same story on board of the ship that it has on the consort."
"No doubt of that."
"Then we shall soon see the Guardian-Mother bowling this way at her best speed," answered Louis.
The officer levelled his field-glass in the direction the ship had gone; but there was not the least sign of her or any other steamer in that quarter of the horizon.
"She isn't there; but she may have run in under a lee somewhere near Damietta, in order to watch the movements of the Fatty."
"That may be; and if she has done so it was not a bad idea. But I think we had better go forward and ascertain if there is any news there," added Louis, as he led the way.
If he was not alarmed at the situation in view of the weather indications, he was certainly somewhatanxious. When he reached the forecastle he found the captain there, using his glass very diligently, pointing it in the direction in which the ship was supposed to be. Louis and Morris did not interrupt his occupation. He discovered nothing, and he was apparently going aft to get a view of the Fatimé when he noticed the members of the port watch.
"I suppose you noticed that the course of the Maud has been changed, Louis?" said he.
This remark afforded the perplexed millionaire a decided relief; for it proved that the captain had not intended to conceal the change from him.
"I did not observe it, but Morris did; for he is boiling over with nautical knowledge and skill," replied Louis, and without asking any question.
"I was going aft to take a look at the Fatty; but I suppose you can report what she is doing," added Captain Scott.
"Morris can, but I cannot."
"Do you think she is gaining on us?" asked the captain, turning from Louis to the mate.
"Of course I can't tell while she is coming head on; but I cannot make out that she has gained a cable's length upon us."
"Mr. Sentrick and Felipe put our engine in first-rate condition while we were going up and down the Nile; and both of them say the Maud ought to make half a knot better time than before," continued the captain. "I am confident we are fully the equal of the Fatty in speed; and perhaps we could keepout of her way on an emergency. You know we had a little spurt with her in the Strait of Gibraltar. But come into the pilot-house, Louis, for I want to show you something there;" and he led the way.
When both of them were fairly in the little apartment, he pointed to the barometer. If Louis was not much of a sailor, he had learned to read the instrument, and he saw that the mercury had made a decided fall from the last reading.
"I see; and it means bad weather," he replied.
"Flix called my attention to the fall some time ago; and after a look at the chart I decided to alter the course," said the captain, as he pointed out the island of Cyprus on the chart spread out on the falling table over the divan.
"I have no doubt you have done the right thing at the right time, as you always do in the matter of navigation."
"But look at this chart, Louis;" and it almost seemed to him that the captain had fathomed his unuttered thoughts, because he was taking so much pains to explain what he had done, and why he had done it. "The course I gave out at first would have carried the Maud to Cape Gata, on the southern coast of the island."
"I understand it so far."
"The tumble of the barometer opened the matter under a new phase. We should have made Cape Gata about three to-morrow morning, and in my judgment in a smart southerly or south-westerlygale. The cape would afford us little or no shelter, as you can see for yourself; and it would be a very bad place in a heavy blow. Our course is now north north-east half-east for Cape Arnauti, on the north side of the island, where we shall be under the lee of the island, though we have to get forty miles more of westing to make it."
Louis thanked the captain for his lucid explanation. The next morning, in a fresh gale, the Maud was off the cape mentioned.
"It had been a stormy night.""It had been a stormy night." Page51.
It had been a stormy night, though the gale had not been so severe as either of the two the Maud had before encountered on the Mediterranean. It did not come on to blow hard till about eight bells in the afternoon; and at five o'clock in the morning Captain Scott estimated that the little steamer ought to be off Cape Arnauti; but all the lights of the island were on the south side. He kept her well off shore, where there were neither rocks nor shoals. There was nothing less than twenty fathoms of water a couple of miles from the shore.
The gale had come from the south; and the course of the Maud was only a couple of points from taking it directly aft, so that she was running too nearly before it for the comfort of those on board of her. But she had a little slant, and a close-reefed foresail had been set in the first dog-watch, and she had carried it all night.
The only difficulty about the Maud was her size when it blew hard and there was a heavy sea. She was too small to be at all steady on great waves, though the larger they were the better weather she made of it. Her worst behavior was in a smart,choppy sea, when the waves were not long, but short and violent. But this was not the kind of a sea she had through the night.
In a heavy sea of any kind she made a good deal of fuss; and being only forty feet long it could not be otherwise. She pitched tremendously, and mixed in a considerable roll every time she rose and fell; and it was not an easy thing for even a sailor to get about on her deck. Life-lines had been extended wherever they were needed, and all the ship's company were used to the erratic ways of the diminutive craft. After all, she was larger than some of the vessels used by the early voyagers to America, some of whose craft were not even provided with decks.
When the Maud was prepared for heavy weather she was as tight as a drum; and while the heavy seas rolled the whole length of her, not a bucketful of them found its way below her deck. The only danger of taking in a dangerous sea was at the scuttle on the forecastle, which was the usual door of admission to the forecastle below, where the two engineers and the cook had their quarters.
The steamer when she made a dive into a sea scooped up a quantity of water, which she spilled out over the rails, or over the taffrail in the standing-room. The captain had therefore ordered this scuttle to be secured below, so that it could not be removed. Those who had occasion to go below in that part of the vessel were compelled to do so through the fire-room. Though Scott was a boldand brave fellow, and even daring when the occasion required, he was a prudent commander, and never took any unnecessary chances.
But not a person on board had been permitted to "turn in" as the thing was done in moderate weather. The sail on the upper deck required one hand to stand by it all the time, though he was relieved every two hours. The engineers and the cook had broad divans upon which they could take a nap, and the sailing-force had taken turns on the broad sofa in the pilot-house. But Captain Scott had hardly closed his eyes during the night.
From the time the Fatimé was found to be headed to the northward, the officers of the Maud had lost sight of her for only a couple of hours, when a bank of fog swept over the sea, just before sundown. But at eight bells her lights had been discovered. At midnight they could still be seen; but the captain and Morris were confident that she had been losing ground, judging by the diminished clearness of the triangle of lanterns as they appeared over the stern of the Maud.
The lights of a vessel following another appear to the latter in this form, with the white, or plain one, at the upper apex of the triangle, the red and the green making the two abreast of each other. They were observed at seven bells in the first watch; but another fog-bank had passed over the sea, and at eight bells, or midnight, they could not be seen. Morris and Louis had the first watch. Felix hadgone to take his nap in the galley; for Pitts, the cook, had been called into service, and was attending to the reefed sail on the upper deck. Captain Scott had joined him here.
With a rope made fast around his waist, he had been to the standing-room to look out for the triangle of lights on the Fatimé. He could not find them; but the fog explained why they were not in sight. It was not a very comfortable position on the hurricane deck, for the spray stirred up at the stern was swept over it. All hands had donned their waterproof caps, with capes to protect the neck, and the oilskin suits they had found on board when the steamer was purchased.
"We have been gaining upon her, Pitts," said the captain, after he had looked attentively into the fog astern for some time. "We may not see her again."
"Perhaps not, sir; but she's a bad penny, and she is likely to turn up again," replied the cook. "But I suppose you will not weep, sir, if you don't see her again."
"I should like to know what had become of her if we don't see her again," added Scott carelessly.
"I suppose that Mustapha Pacha is still on board of her; and I should rather like to see Captain Ringgold pitch him into another muddy gutter, as he did in Gibraltar. But the Guardian-Mother is not with us just now, and that is not likely to happen on this little cruise."
Pitts hinted in this manner that he should like to know something more about the present situation; but the captain was willing to let him form his own conclusions, and he gave him no assistance in doing so. Eight bells struck on the forecastle; and this was the signal for the mid watch, which consisted of the captain and Felix; and Scott left the upper deck.
Pitts was relieved by Felix; for he could serve as lookout and take charge of the sail at the same time. Morris was the youngest person on board, and he was tired enough to camp down at once on the divan in the pilot-house. The cabin door could not be safely opened, or at least not without peril to the contents of the cabin; for an occasional wave combed over the taffrail, and poured itself upon it.
Louis was not inclined to sleep, and he went on the upper deck to pass the time with Felix; and the captain asked him to keep a lookout for the pirate. The fog still prevailed, and he could see nothing. He talked with the Milesian for quite two hours, when the time for the relief of the helm came. Just before the four bells struck, the fog disappeared as suddenly as it had dropped down on the sea.
Louis went aft and gazed into the distance; but he could see no triangle of lights, or even a single light in any direction. He made a thorough search, with no other result, and then stood by the sail till the captain came up to take the place of Felix.
"The fog has blown in ahead of us, Louis; butFlix reports that you have not been able to find the lights of the pirate," said Scott.
"Not a sign of them can be made out," replied Louis. "I have looked the sea over in every direction. What does that mean, Captain Scott?"
"It may mean any one of three things, and you have to take your choice among them. The pirate may have foundered in the gale, she may have put about to return to the coast of Egypt, or we may have beaten her so badly in the race of fifteen hours, that she has dropped out of sight astern of us. I don't know much about the Pacha's steamer, though our second engineer told me she was not built to order, as the Maud was, but purchased outright."
"But which of the three results you indicate do you consider the most probable, Captain?"
"The last one I named. This gale has not been heavy enough to wreck any vessel of ordinary strength, so that I cannot believe she has foundered. Captain Mazagan is working for his little twenty thousand dollars' reward; and if he has followed us up here with the intention of picking you up on the cruise, I don't believe he would retire from the field without making a bigger effort than he has put forth so far."
"Then, you think he is after me?"
"Don't we know that he is? Not one of the 'Big Four' is so indifferent and careless about the matter as you are yourself, Louis," replied the captain with a good deal of energy. "I still think youought not to have come with us on this perilous cruise; and I wonder with all my might that Captain Ringgold did not keep you on board of the Guardian-Mother."
"He desired to do so; but I would not stand it. I have not the slightest fear of the Pacha and all his blackguards and pirates," protested Louis.
"Not since Mazagan got his paw upon you, and you slipped out of it only by a lucky chance?" demanded the captain, more as an argument than as a question to be answered. "You got off by the skin of your teeth; and you may thank your stars that you are not shut up at this moment in some dungeon in Mogadore, where they don't ask hard questions as to what has become of troublesome Christians. If the shop had not been invaded by creditors, you would have been conveyed to Rosetta, and taken away on board the pirate. The rest of the party would not have known what had become of you; for we could not find you when we searched for you in Cairo."
"That is all very nice, Captain Scott," replied Louis, laughing out loud. "I would not have given two cents to have the guard of sailors who made things so sad for the Arabs at Gizeh in the cellar with me. Make as much fuss as you may over my danger at this time, I was master of the situation all the while," answered Louis very decidedly.
"Master of the situation!" exclaimed the captain."You might as well call the trout the master of the situation after he has the hook in his gills. I don't see it in that light."
"I had fired one shot from my revolver, and wounded Mazagan's assistant in the outrage; and I had five balls more in the weapon. I think the pirate counted upon the custom-house officers to deprive me of the pistol, or he would not have gone to work just as he did. My shot demoralized the wounded man, and scared his brother the shopkeeper out of his wits. My next shot was for Mazagan; and if he had taken another step in his programme he would not have been in command of that steamer just now."
"Perhaps there were some chances for your aim or your calculations to fail," suggested Scott; "though Flix says you never miss your mark when you shoot."
"Captain Ringgold said so much to me to induce me to remain on board of the Guardian-Mother, that I was tempted to yield the point; but it seemed to me to be cowardly to leave my friends in the face of a possible danger. I told him finally that I considered myself under his command, and if he ordered me to remain on board of the ship, I should obey. He would not do that, and I am here. If there is to be any row on my account I must be in it."
"You have a mind of your own, and you are in condition to have your own way. If your mother had been posted you would not have been here."
"We don't know; but I think I have as much influence with my mother as she has with me. I hardly believe she could or would make me act the part of a coward."
The subject was dropped there, for it seemed to be exhausted. The night wore away very slowly, and nothing more was seen of the Fatimé's lights. The morning watch came on duty at four o'clock; but the captain did not leave the deck. It was evident to him that the sail had increased the speed of the Maud, and perhaps that was the reason she had run away from the chaser. An hour later, with the dawn of the day, the gale broke.
"Land, ho!" shouted Louis over the forward part of the upper deck, so that Morris could hear him at the wheel; and the captain rushed out of the pilot-house where he had lain down on the divan.
"Where away?" called the first officer.
"Broad on the starboard bow," replied Louis.
"That must be the country south-west of Cape Arnauti," said Scott, after he had examined the shore with the glass. "Make the course north north-east, Morris," he shouted to the wheelman.
"North north-east!" returned the helmsman.
"There are mountains on this island, some of them nearly seven thousand feet high; and there is a cluster of them close to the shore here," added the captain.
It was another hour before they could distinctlymake out these mountains; and by that time the end of the cape could be seen on the beam. The speed of the Maud had been reduced one-half, and the course due east was given out. She followed the land around the cape, and was soon in smooth water. With the chart before him at the helm, and with Morris heaving the lead, Captain Scott piloted the Maud to the head of a considerable bay, where he ordered the anchor to be cast loose, and then stopped the screw.
"Here we are!" shouted Captain Scott, as the cable slid out through the hawse-hole.
"That's so; but where are we?" asked Louis, who had been watching the bottom for the last hour. "There is a big ledge of rocks not twenty feet from the cutwater. Here we are; but where are we?"
"We are on the south-west shore of Khrysoko Bay," replied the captain. "That ledge of rocks is just what I have been looking for the last half-hour."
"Then, I am glad we have found it," added Louis.
"What's the name of the bay, Captain?" inquired Felix, scratching his head.
"Khrysoko," repeated Scott. "It pronounces well enough; but when you come to the spelling, that's another affair."
"I could spell that with my eyes shut; for I used to cry so myself when I was a baby. Cry so, with a co on the end of it for a snapper. But I thought that bay was on the coast of Ireland, sou' sou'-west by nor' nor'-east from the Cove of Cork," added Felix.
"That's the precise bearing of the one you mean,Flix; but this isn't that one at all, at all," said the captain with a long gape.
"Then it must be this one."
"The word is spelled with two k's."
"That's a hard k'se; but where do you get them in?"
The captain spelled the word with another gape, for he had not slept a wink during the night; and Louis advised him to turn in at once.
"Breakfast is all ready in the cabin, sir," said Pitts.
"That will do me more good than a nap," added Scott. "Don, keep a lively lookout on that high cape we came round, and see that it don't walk off while I'm eating my breakfast. Remember, all you fellows, that is Cape Arnauti; and if any of you are naughty, you will get fastened to that rock, as doubtless the chap it was named after was."
"Oh-h-h!" groaned Morris. "You are not sleepy, Captain; a fellow that can make a pun can keep awake."
"I should not need a brass band to put me to sleep just now; but I shall not take my nap till we have overhauled the situation, and figured up where the pirate may be about this time in the forenoon," replied Scott, as he led the way to the cabin.
As Pitts was waiting on the table, nothing particular was said. Don had his morning meal carried to him on the forecastle, where Felipe joinedhim. He kept his eye fixed on the cape all the time, as though he expected to see the Fatimé double it. He knew nothing at all about the real situation, though he could not help seeing that the Maud was trying to keep clear of the Moorish steamer; and he was in full sympathy with this idea.
The larder of the little steamer had been filled up at Alexandria, and Pitts had prepared one of his best breakfasts. The party were in high spirits; for the little Maud had run away from the pirate, though of course there were other chapters to the narrative.
"As soon as we get the situation a little more settled, and you fellows get your eyes braced wide open, one of you must tackle the island of Cyprus, and get up a lecture on it; for the commander desired that we should learn something about the place," said the captain.
"I move you, Mr. Commander, that Mr. Louis Belgrave be invited to prepare and deliver the lecture," interposed Morris; and the motion was put and carried.
"I have no objection; and my own curiosity would have prompted me to do so without any invitation; but I thank you for the honor you confer on me in the selection," replied Louis; and the company adjourned to the forecastle.
"Well, Don, have you seen anything of the Moorish craft?" asked the captain.
"Not a sign, sir," replied the engineer. "If she is looking for the Maud, I don't believe she will find her in here very soon."
"I don't believe this is just the place to hold a consultation on a delicate subject," said Louis, as he pointed to the scuttle which had been removed from its place by Felipe. "I think we shall do better on the hurricane deck."
As this afforded a better place to observe the surroundings, and especially the approaches from the sea, the captain assented to it, and the "Big Four" repaired to the upper deck. They seated themselves in the little tender of the Maud, and all of them looked out in the direction of the cape, from beyond which the pirate was expected to put in an appearance.
"Our present situation is the subject before the house," the captain began. "We have made the bay for which I shaped the course of the Maud as soon as the gale began to make things sloppy. This is a mountainous island, with nothing like a harbor on the west coast between Cape Gata and Cape Arnauti. There are from twelve to twenty fathoms of water in this bay, within a mile of the shore; and the rocks close aboard of us reach out a mile and a half, with from ten to twelve feet of water on them. There is no town within ten miles of the shore, and we are not likely to see any natives, unless some of them come to this bay to fish. That's where we are."
"We should like to have you tell us now where the Fatty is," added Morris.
"Or the Guardian-Mother," said Louis.
"I am sorry to say that I can't tell you where either of these vessels is; and I am as anxious to know as any of you can be," replied Scott, as he took a paper from his pocket. "I have followed the orders of Captain Ringgold, just as he wrote them down: 'Proceed to Cape Gata; but if it should blow heavily from the southward, go to the north side of the island, and get in behind Cape Arnauti.' And here we are."
Felix was seated where he could see that much more was written on the paper which the captain did not choose to read. But he had the right to keep his own council, and the Milesian asked no questions.
"Here we are—what next?" added Louis.
"That depends," replied Scott. "The commander of the Guardian-Mother knows where we are, though he may have to look in at the harbor of Limasol to see if the Maud is there. When he comes I shall have nothing further to say."
"Don't you expect to see the Fatty before the ship comes?"
"It is quite impossible to form any idea what has become of the pirate. Perhaps she is looking for the Maud; and if she is she will probably find her. I think this is about as far as we can go now; and, if you will excuse me, I will turn in and get my nap," said the captain as he rose from his seat.
"That is the right thing to do," added Louis.
"You will all keep a sharp lookout to seaward, and call me as soon as either vessel heaves in sight."
The captain went to the cabin, and in two minutes he was sound asleep. The rest of the ship's company had obtained about one-half of their usual slumber, and they were not inclined to follow the example of the captain. Louis went to the cabin and proceeded to study up the island. He made notes in a little blank-book he kept for the purpose in his pocket, and he had already filled a dozen such books; for they contained a full diary of all the events of the voyage for over a year.
Felix kept his spy-glass in his hand all the time, and every few minutes he swept the horizon to the northward with it. Morris had gone to sleep in the pilot-house, for his watch was not on duty. At about six bells in the forenoon watch the Milesian began to show more sign of animation than before. He held his glass in range with the cape, and directed his attention steadily in that direction.
If he had been fishing, he would have said that he "had a bite." It was clear that he saw something in the distance, which was hardly more than a speck on the ocean; but there was also a thread of black smoke on the sky above it, for it had cleared off since sunrise. Of course it was a steamer; but whether it was the Fatimé or the Guardian-Mother, or neither of them, he could not determine, and he did not wish to disturb the captain for nothing.
He continued to watch the appearance for half an hour longer, and then he struck seven bells. In that time the steamer could be seen more distinctly, though she was still five or six miles distant. He was satisfied from his reasoning that the vessel was approaching the cape. The craft looked smaller than the ship, and in another quarter of an hour he was convinced that she was the pirate. Then he hastened to the cabin, and announced the news to the captain, and Louis heard him.
"Are you sure it is the pirate, Flix?" demanded Captain Scott, as he sprang from his bed and looked eagerly into the face of the messenger.
"Not absolutely sure; only reasonably confident," replied Felix, as he followed the captain to the forecastle.
Scott examined the distant sail with the glass for a little time, and Louis did the same with another. Morris was aroused by the voices, and rushed out with his field-glass.
"That's the pirate!" exclaimed the captain; and the others had waited for him to express his opinion.
"If my mother should step on deck and tell me so, I shouldn't know it any better," added Felix; and Louis and Morris were equally sure of the fact.
"Go to the engine-room, Morris, and tell Felipe to stir up his fires," said the captain, who had suddenly become a mass of vim and activity. "Then call all hands."
Scott observed the approaching steamer with hisglass till she was within three miles of the Maud. Morris had been ordered to set the American flag, and it was now floating in the light breeze at the ensign staff.
"Now all hands will come with me," continued the captain; and all but Felipe followed him to the cabin.
His first movement was to throw off the cushions from the divan on the port side, and raise the lid of the transom. From this place he took out a breech-loading rifle, one of half a dozen deposited there three months or more before. They had been in service in the famous attack of the Samothraki on the Maud in Pournea Bay, and had never been removed. No one asked any questions; and the captain ordered them to be conveyed to the pilot-house and engine-room, where they would be available for immediate use. A supply of cartridges was also sent forward, and those who had revolvers were instructed to put them in their pockets.
All these orders were promptly obeyed, and the situation began to look decidedly warlike. Louis could not help asking himself whether or not Captain Scott was not proceeding too rapidly. But the belligerent chief had Captain Ringgold's written orders in his pocket, and there was no room for a protest. Everything appeared to be ready to give the pirate a warm reception, and nothing more could be done.
The Moorish steamer was feeling her way into the bay very slowly, sounding all the time. The Maudwas anchored in fourteen feet of water, which placed her keel very near the rocky bottom, and with no greater depth for a cable's length outside of her. Scott had chosen the position of the little steamer so that the Fatimé could not come alongside of her, or within a cable's length of her, which is one-fifth of a nautical mile.
"I think we are all right now, Louis," said Captain Scott when he had completed his preparations.
"It looks as though you meant to fight the pirate," added Louis.
"Not if it can be avoided; but I do not intend to let Mazagan take any one of my people out of the Maud; and all hands will shoot before anything of that kind can happen," replied Scott very mildly, and with no excitement in his manner; for he had studied the bearing of his model, and tried to imitate him.
"Do you expect Mazagan will resort to violence, Captain Scott?"
"That is an odd question, Louis," answered Scott, laughing heartily, perhaps as much to manifest his coolness as to treat the question lightly. "Excuse me, Louis, but you make me smile. Do I expect Mazagan to resort to violence? For what did he visit Pournea Bay? Did he resort to violence when he caught you in that shop in the Muski? Did he resort to violence when his assistants attempted to capture you and Miss Blanche in Zante? What do you suppose he followed the Maud up here for, Louis?"
"Perhaps to induce me to pay him twenty thousand dollars to let up on Miss Blanche and myself," replied Louis, overwhelmed by the argument.
"Are you ready to pay him?"
"Never!"
"Then he will resort to some other means to accomplish his purpose in coming to Cyprus. Do you wish me to surrender the Maud to him?" asked the captain.
"Certainly not."
The Fatimé let go her anchor as near the Maud as the depth of water would permit her to come.
Captain Scott was ready to do anything the occasion might require. Possibly he would not have been sorry to come into collision with Captain Mazagan and his piratical craft, judging from what he had said to Louis Belgrave, and he had pluck enough to precipitate a conflict with the enemy; but sometimes it requires more courage to keep out of a fight than to plunge into one.
As he had admitted himself, Louis was his model; and he felt that no rashness, no braggadocio, no challenging, no casting down the gage of battle to the pirate who had already outlawed himself, no holding out of a temptation to cross swords with him, would be justified or palliated when he came to render an account of his conduct in what was yet to occur to the commander of the Guardian-Mother.
Whatever he did he was to do strictly in self-defence. The character of Captain Ringgold and of Louis would permit nothing more than this. The "Big Four" fully understood why the Fatimé was there. It was true that the Maud had held out the temptation for her to follow her; but it was as a man with a gold watch and plenty of money in his purse holdsout a temptation to the robber; but it does not follow that he should throw away his valuables.
But the plan suggested by Scott and adopted by the commander had not worked as had been expected. The Guardian-Mother ought to be there in the bay, or somewhere in the vicinity; but nothing had been seen of her, and no one knew what had become of her. According to the plan, the two steamers were to find a way to escape from the pirate, and Scott had marked out the manner in which it was to be done. The gale and the non-appearance of the ship had upset the plan, though the Maud had carried out her portion of the programme.
"What next, Captain Scott?" asked Louis.
"Wait," replied the captain.
"Wait for what?"
"I don't know," replied Scott, shaking his head. "Wait for whatever is to come."
"But what is to come?" asked Louis, who still had a fear that the captain would resort to some fool-hardy expedient.
"You know just as much about this affair as I do, Louis, and you may be a better prophet than I am. It is not a question of navigation just now, or I should be willing to take the entire responsibility. Of course the handling of the Maud is an important element in getting out of the scrape, whatever it may prove to be. I have somewhere seen a picture of a good-looking gentleman playing chess with an individual provided with horns, hoofs, and a caudalappendage. But in this game the mortal appeared to have the best of it, and he says to the infernal power, 'Your next move.'"
"And that is what you say to the representative of the same infernal majesty in Khrysoko Bay," interposed Louis, rather pleased with the illustration, especially in its application to Captain Mazagan.
"Precisely so; it is the pirate's move, and I shall not do a thing till he makes it," added Captain Scott. "What Mazagan will do, or how he will do it, I have no more idea than you have, Louis. That is where we stand. I am willing to listen to any advice that you wish to give me."
"I have no wish to give any advice," replied Louis; and by this time he was entirely satisfied with the position Scott had taken, and he approved everything he had done.
At this point Pitts announced that dinner was ready, and Scott led the way to the cabin. The ledge of rocks appeared to cover at least half an acre of the bottom of the bay. The Maud had anchored abreast of the rock, in two fathoms of water. It was just about high tide when she came in, as the captain had learned from his nautical almanac, and the ebb placed the craft broadside to the Moorish steamer, so that the "Big Four" could see her out the cabin windows.
The pirate made no demonstration of any kind, and the dinner was disposed of in good order, and with hardly an allusion to the exciting events that were expected. Pitts was instructed to give the engineerstheir dinner as soon as possible; for all hands might be needed at any moment.
"Heave the lead, Flix; it begins to look like shoal water around us," said the captain when they returned to the forecastle.
The great rock was of a light color, and could be distinctly seen from the deck. A portion of it rose about six feet above the surface of the water when the Maud anchored, and the receding tide now permitted two feet more of the projecting cone to be seen.
"By the mark two," reported Felix, as he drew up the line.
"Twelve feet; we have not much to spare under the keel," added the captain. "We had fourteen feet when we anchored, and the tide has been ebbing five hours."
"Hold on, Captain Scott!" shouted Felix, as he carried the lead-line to the other side of the vessel. "I have been measuring on the top of a bulging rock. And a half two!"
"Fifteen feet; that looks more like it. There ought to be about three feet ebb and flow here, and your sounding gave about double that, Flix."
"It was the fault of the rock on the bottom, Captain;" but the leadsman heaved the line all around the steamer with the same result.
There was nothing to do except to observe the Fatimé; but she did nothing, and there was no appearance of any movement on her deck.
"I think we had better attend to that lesson now, as we have nothing else to do," said the captain after they had looked about them for a time. "I don't care to have the pirate suppose we are on the anxious seat."
"All right," replied Louis, as he seated himself on the rail by the bow flag-pole. "I have studied my lesson, and I am all ready."
"Blaze away, then," replied the captain.
"If any of you have not yet found it out, I will begin by informing you that the land on three sides of us belongs to the island of Cyprus, and you are again on Turkish territory. The owners of the island call it Kebris, written by them G'br's, if you can make anything of that combination of consonants," Louis began, spelling out the strange names he introduced. "The Greeks call it Kupros, and the French, Chypre. Venus was the original goddess of spring among the Romans, but became the goddess of love, the Aphrodite of the Greeks, and was worshipped as such in this island by the Phœnicians and other ancients.
"One of this lady's names was Cypris, or Cypria; and that is why the island happens to be called Cyprus. It is in about the same latitude as South Carolina. It is about 35 to 50 miles from Asia Minor on the south and Syria on the east. It is 140 miles long by 60 in breadth, containing 3,707 square miles, or larger than both Rhode Island and Delaware united.
"It has two ranges of mountains extending east and west, the highest peak being 6,352 feet. It has plenty of rivers, with no water in them except after heavy rains, or when the snow melts on the mountains. There is no room for lakes of any size, though there is a small one on the east coast, which dries up completely in summer, like the rivers, but has an abundance of fish in winter. This is rather remarkable, and the fact is not doubted, though the phenomenon has not been explained."
"The fish must go down where the water goes," laughed Felix. "If there are any volcanoes here, I suppose they come up in the winter all boiled or broiled ready for the table."
"I don't know how that is, Flix, and we haven't time to investigate the matter. The interior of the island is mostly composed of a great plain, which was once famous for its crops of grain; but the system of irrigation which prevailed has been discontinued, and its fertility no longer exists. In a scarcity of rain five years ago there was almost a famine in the island.
"As you have seen for yourselves, there is a deficiency of harbors, and this bay is a fair specimen of them. It has two places they call seaports, but they are not worthy of the name. They are on the south side, and in such a blow as we had last night, they afford no shelter to shipping from southerly storms; and Captain Scott was wise in coming here instead of going to Limasol, which is just inside of Cape Gata.The ports on this side of the island would be similarly exposed in a northerly storm. Safe ports are necessary for the commerce of a country or an island, and therefore to its prosperity.
"In ancient times there were ports at Salamis, Paphos, and Famagusta, in the eastern part of the island, which was the portion celebrated in the past. The capital is Leucosia, as I find it on my chart, though I find it elsewhere put down as Nicosia; and even the cape we have in sight is Pifanio in a standard atlas. The population is 186,000, of whom not quite 50,000 are Mohammedans, and the rest are orthodox Greeks. The great majority of the people speak the Greek language, but it is so much corrupted that Flix would not understand it."
"You are right, my darling; I want the pure Greek of Kilkenny, or I don't take it in," replied the Milesian.
"The island was colonized by the Phœnicians, who have a history too long to be related now; but they occupied the northern part of Syria and the country to the north of us. They were the New Yorkers of their day and generation, and were largely engaged in commerce. They brought the worship of Venus over here, and called the island Kupros after her. It had at first nine independent kingdoms, and I should suppose that almost anybody could afford to be a king in this locality. It was conquered by the Egyptians about five hundred years before the time of Christ; then by the Persians;and finally came into the possession of the Romans.
"It went with the Eastern Empire when Rome was divided. The people embraced Christianity at an early date. It was said that a shepherd discovered the body of St. Matthew and a part of his Gospel in the island, which called many early saints to visit it. In 646a.d., Cyprus was taken by the Saracens, but was not long held by them. Richard CÅ“ur-de-Lion captured it on his way to Syria for the Third Crusade. In 1570 the Turks obtained possession of it, and have practically held it ever since.
"The ruins of Salamis may be seen at the other end of the island. In the Book of Acts we read that Paul came over here. 'And when they were at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews.' Then the account informs us that they went 'through the isle' to Paphos; and doubtless the place was near Point Papho, which I find on my chart. Don't forget to tell Mrs. Blossom, Flix, that you have been to an island visited by Paul and Barnabas in their missionary travels.
"The island has about the same productions as Egypt. Carobs, or locust beans, figure up to about $300,000. But I fear you will not remember any more figures if I should give them; and I see there is something like a movement on board of the pirate."
"You must repeat that lecture on board of the ship when we get back to her," added the captain. "It was telling us just what I wanted to know."
"I could have done better if I had had the library of the Guardian-Mother for reference," replied Louis, as all hands fixed their attention on the Fatimé.
"They are getting out a boat, sir," said Don, who had gone to the hurricane deck to obtain a better view.
"That means that they intend to pay us a visit; and as I intend to retain the command of the Maud until I am relieved by Captain Ringgold, I shall allow no one from the pirate to come on board," said Captain Scott in his most decided tones. "All hands except Felipe will arm with breech-loaders and revolvers, with a supply of ammunition, and form in the port gangway."
This order was promptly executed, and the force collected at the place designated. This gangway was concealed from the enemy by the house on deck. Louis had two revolvers, and he loaned one to Don. Scott had carried out a handsaw which was kept in the pilot-house in readiness for any emergency, as well as an axe and a hatchet. The captain had used this same saw with decided effect upon some smugglers who attempted to obtain possession of the little steamer in the Bay of Gibraltar, and he placed it where it was ready for use at any moment.
In addition to this novel weapon, he had sent for a small heave-line with which he had done some lassoing on the same occasion, and also on CaptainMazagan at a later period. The five hands in the port gangway had loaded their weapons, and were ready to be called into the field. The captain took a look at them, and all was satisfactory. He hastened back to the forecastle, where he saw that the boat was already pulling for the Maud.
Certainly it looked decidedly warlike on board of the little steamer Maud; and Felix, who was never inclined to be very serious over anything, declared that she was like a bantam rooster ready for a pitched battle in a farmyard. Captain Scott called Louis out, and proposed to him that he should take the command of the riflemen, who were required to keep out of sight of the Moors in the boat.
"Of course I will obey orders wherever I am placed; but, if you will excuse me, I must protest against the appointment," replied Louis, as they watched the approaching enemy. "Morris is one of our number in the gangway, and it would not be fair or right to put another fellow over the first officer."
"That is all right in theory; but Morris is the youngest fellow on board," reasoned the captain.
"But he is just as resolute, plucky, and prompt as any one on board. He thinks quick, and has good judgment," persisted Louis. "I should be very sorry to be placed over his head."
"Say no more! I only thought it would be unfortunateto lose you in the place where you could do the most good," added Scott. "I will give my orders to Morris, and let him carry them out. I don't know any better than the rest of the fellows what is coming out of this affair; but it is plain enough now that Mazagan intends to do something."
"No doubt of that; but it does not follow that he intends to attack us. He knows very well that such would be piracy," suggested Louis.
"Piracy! He makes no bones of anything that will put forty thousand dollars into his pocket; and that is what he expects to make out of us. Piracy is nothing but a pastime to him; and he relies upon His Highness to save his neck from any undue stretching," replied Captain Scott, as he walked to the port gangway. "Is everything ready here, Morris?"
"Everything, Captain," answered the first officer. "The rifles are all loaded, and every man has a supply of cartridges in his pocket. Every one has a revolver except Pitts."
"I have two, and he shall have one of them," interposed Felix, handing his extra weapon to the cook, with a package of ammunition for it.
"I think we shall be able to render a good account of ourselves, whatever may turn up in the course of the afternoon," added the captain. "I want you with me on the forecastle for the present, Louis; for, after all, there may be more talk than bullets in this affair."
"I hope so," added Louis sincerely; though it was evident that some of the boys looked upon the adventure as decidedly exciting, and therefore agreeable.
Louis walked to the forecastle with the captain, and both of them gave their entire attention to the boat that was approaching, having now accomplished more than half the distance between the two vessels.
"I can't imagine what has become of the Guardian-Mother," said Louis, as he directed a spy-glass to seaward. "She cannot have intended to desert us in this manner. What do you suppose has become of her, Captain Scott?"
"I shall have to give it up at once, for I cannot form any idea," replied Scott. "She was to follow us, and in some such place as this bay we were to bring things to a head, and give the pirate the slip."
"I hope nothing serious has happened to her. The last we saw of her she was rounding a point near Damietta."
"She intended to get out of sight of the pirate as soon as possible, so that the Fatty could follow the Maud; and she did all that in good order. But I have no doubt that she is safe enough; and, if we don't get chewed up in this scrape, I have no doubt she will soon put in an appearance in these waters."
"Steamer, ahoy!" shouted a rather tall man in the stern-sheets of the boat.
"In the boat!" replied Scott, after he had waited a moment, and then in a very careless and indifferent tone.
"That's Mazagan," said Louis.
"Of course it is; I knew he was there before he opened his mouth, the pirate!" added the captain.
"Is Mr. Belgrave on board?" demanded the captain of the Fatimé.
"What if he is? What if he is not?" answered the captain.
"I wish to see him."
"He is not to be seen at the present moment. What is your business with him?" Scott inquired, as indifferently as though the affair did not even remotely concern him.
Of course his manner was assumed, and Louis listened to him with the most intense interest; for he was anxious to ascertain in what manner the captain intended to conduct the negotiation, if there was to be anything of that kind. In spite of his affectation of indifference, he knew that Scott was quite as anxious in regard to the result of the parley as he was himself, though he was the intended victim of the pirate.
"My business is quite as important to Mr. Belgrave as it is to me," replied Mazagan.
"Very likely; but what is your business with him?"
"It is with him, and not with you," returned the pirate, apparently vexed at the reply. "Who areyou? I don't mean to talk my affairs with one I don't know."
"I am Captain Scott, commander of the steamer Maud, tender of the steamship Guardian-Mother, owned and in the service of Mr. Louis Belgrave," replied the captain as impressively as he could make the statement. "That ought to knock a hole through the tympanum of his starboard ear," he added with a smile, in a lower tone.
"Of course he knew who you were before," added Louis.
"He ought to know me, for I fished him out of the water in the harbor of Hermopolis."
"If Mr. Belgrave is on board, I wish to see him," continued Mazagan.
"I may as well face the music first as last," said Louis, as he stepped out from the shelter of the pilot-house which had concealed him from those in the boat.
"Of course it is no use to try to hide you. Do you wish to talk with the pirate, Louis?" asked the captain.
"I don't object to hearing what he has to say, though certainly nothing will come of it," replied the intended victim.
"It will use up some of the time, and the longer we wait before the curtain rises, the better the chance that the Guardian-Mother will come in to take a hand in the game," suggested the captain; and Louis took another look through the glass to seaward.
"You needn't look so far out to sea for the ship, my dear fellow; for when she appears she will come around Cape Arnauti, and not more than a mile outside of it, where she will get eight fathoms of water. She is coming up from the south; and if our business was not such here that none of us can leave, I would send Morris and Flix to the top of that hill on the point, where they could see the ship twenty miles off in this clear air."
While the captain was saying all this, the four Moorish rowers in the boat dropped their oars into the water, and began to pull again; for the patience of their commander seemed to be oozing out.
"That won't do!" exclaimed Scott. "Boat ahoy! Keep off!" he shouted.
"I told you I wished to see Mr. Belgrave, Captain Scott; and you do not answer me. You are using up my patience, and I tell you that I will not be trifled with!" said Captain Mazagan in a loud tone, with a spice of anger and impatience mixed in with it.
"That's just my case! I won't be trifled with! Stop where you are! If you pull another stroke, I shall proceed to business!" called the captain, with vim enough to satisfy the most strenuous admirer of pluck in a moment of difficulty.
The oarsmen ceased rowing; and when the boat lost its headway it was not more than forty feet from the side of the Maud. Scott did not object to this distance, as there was to be a talk with the pirate.
"Mr. Belgrave will speak with you since you desireit," said Captain Scott, as soon as he realized that the boat's crew did not intend to board the steamer.
He walked over to the port side of the deck, where he could still command a clear view of the boat all the time; and he did not take his eyes from it long enough to wink. He was ready to order the riflemen to the forecastle; and he intended to do so if the boat advanced another foot.
"What is going on, Captain Scott?" asked Morris, who stood at the head of the column.
"Mazagan wants to talk with Louis, and we are willing he should do so; for we desire to gain all the time we can, in order to enable the Guardian-Mother to arrive here before anybody gets hurt."
"We have heard all that has passed so far, and we expected to be called out by this time," added Morris.
"I don't care to have you show those rifles just yet, and I hope you will not have to exhibit them at all. You can sit down on the deck and hear all that is going on," added the captain, as he moved away. If he took his eyes off the boat at all, it was only to glance at the lofty cape where the ship would first be seen.
Louis had placed himself at the rail, ready for the conference that the pirate desired. Mazagan had met him face to face, and he could not help knowing him.
"Are you Mr. Louis Belgrave?" demanded theMoorish captain, more gently than he had spoken to Scott at the close of the interview with him.
"That is my name," replied the young millionaire with all his native dignity.
"We have had some business relations together, and at the present moment they are not in a satisfactory condition," the captain proceeded.
"Go on," replied Louis when he paused; for he had decided to say nothing that would unnecessarily irritate the villain.
"I wish you to join in the conversation, and express your mind freely."
"I shall do so as occasion may require. I am ready to hear any statement you wish to make; but I have nothing to say at present."
"Between the noble and exalted gentleman in whose services I sail his steam-yacht, and the commander of your larger steam-yacht, Captain Ringgold, there is a difficulty of very great magnitude;" and Captain Mazagan paused as if to note the effect of this announcement upon his auditor.