As soon as the yacht had been made fast to the brig, Eugene and Bab sprang over the rail and hurried away in search of the revenue officer, leaving Chase and Wilson to put everything to rights, and to look out for the vessel. The latter, excited and delighted almost beyond measure at the prospect of the speedy rescue of Fred Craven, kept their eyes fastened upon Walter and Perk, as they ran up the hill, and when they disappeared from view, reluctantly set to work to furl the sails and clear up the deck. The deserters, however, suddenly seemed to have lost all interest in the yacht. Instead of assisting the young sailors at their work, they gathered in the standing-room and held a whispered consultation, ever and anon glancing toward the lieutenant, to make sure that he was not listening or observing their movements. Chase did not appear to notice what was going on, but for allthat he was wide awake. Feeling the full weight of the responsibility that Walter had thrown upon him, in leaving him in charge of the yacht, he was inclined to be nervous and suspicious of everything.
“What are those fellows up to?” he asked of his companion, in a whisper.
“What makes you think they are up to anything?” inquired Wilson.
“I judge by their actions. If they are not planning some mischief, why do they watch us so closely, and talk in so low a tone that we cannot hear them? How easy it would be for them to take the yacht from us and go to sea again, if they felt so inclined! I really believe that is what they are talking about.”
“I never thought of that,” said Wilson, almost paralyzed at the simple mention of the thing. “What would Walter say if some such misfortune should befall the Banner, while she is under our charge? He would never forgive us. But of course, they won’t attempt it, for they don’t understand navigation.”
But Wilson was not as well acquainted with the dispositions of the men with whom they had to deal as Chase was. The latter had made a shrewd guess,for the deserters were at that very moment discussing a plan for seizing the Banner and making off with her. They lived in constant fear of capture—they did not know at what instant they might see the revenue cutter coming into the harbor—and they could not feel free from danger until they were safe on board the privateer of which they were in search. They wanted to go to Havana at once, and this forced delay was more than they could endure. The leader of the deserters was urging an immediate departure, but his companions were not quite ready to give their consent to his plans.
“Perhaps we shall now find out what they are talking about,” whispered Chase, suddenly, “for here comes Tomlinson. Keep your weather-eye open, and be ready for any tricks.”
“I say, lads!” exclaimed the deserter, approaching the place where the boys were at work, “what’s your business here, anyhow? What brought you to Cuba?”
“Didn’t the captain tell you?” asked Chase.
“He didn’t even hint it.”
“Then it isn’t worth while to make inquiries of us. Our business concerns no one but ourselves and our friends.”
“Well, ain’t me and my mates friends of yours? Mebbe we can help you.”
“If the captain had thought so, no doubt he would have taken you into his confidence. Wait until he returns, and talk to him.”
“Where has he gone?”
“I don’t know.”
“When will he be back?”
“I haven’t the slightest idea.”
“How long before he is going to sail for Havana?”
“I don’t know that either. He’ll not start until this wind goes down and he gets some provisions—perhaps not even then. His business may keep him here a week.”
Tomlinson turned on his heel, and walking aft, joined his companions. “It must be done, mates,” said he in a whisper. “The lads are as dumb as tar-buckets, and all I could find out was that the yacht may stay here several days. During that time, the privateer may make up her crew and go to sea, and we shall be left out in the cold. We ought to be in Havana now.”
“But I am ’most afraid to trust you in command,Tom,” said one of the deserters. “The captain says it is a good hundred miles to Havana.”
“No matter if it is a thousand; I can find it. All we have to do is to sail along the coast. We’ll know the city when we see it, won’t we?”
“But we need some grub, and how are we going to get it?”
“As soon as it grows dark we’ll land and steal some—that’s the way we’ll get it. What do you say now? I am going to Havana in this yacht: who’s going with me?”
This question settled the matter at once. All the deserters were anxious to find the privateer, and since Tomlinson, who was the ruling spirit of the band, was determined to start in search of her, the others, rather than be left behind, decided to accompany him, and run all the risks of shipwreck.
The immediate seizure of the yacht having been resolved upon, the next question to be settled was: What should be done with the boys? After a few minutes’ conversation on this point, Tomlinson and two of his companions went forward to assist Chase and Wilson, while the fourth walked to the stern, and leaning his folded arms upon the rail, gazed listlessly into the water. Tomlinson and his twofriends lent effective aid, and the deck of the Banner soon began to present its usual scene of neatness and order. The former kept up a running fire of jokes and stories, in the midst of which he suddenly paused, and stood fiercely regarding his companion in the standing room.
“Bob,” said he, in a tone of command, “I never knew before that you were a soger. Look around and find something to do.”
“Where shall I go?” asked Bob, gruffly.
“Anywhere, so long as you don’t stand there skulking. Go into the cabin, and put it in order against the captain comes back.”
Bob slowly straightened up and sauntered down the companion-ladder, but almost immediately reappeared. “The cabin’s all right,” he growled. “Everything’s in order.”
“Then go into the galley, or into the hold, and see if things are all right there,” returned Tomlinson, angrily. “I know you can find something to do somewhere about the yacht.”
Bob disappeared in the cabin again, and presently Chase heard him tumbling things about in the hold. In a few minutes he once more thrust his head out of the companion-way.
“Well, what’s the row now?” asked Tomlinson. “Find anything to do down there?”
“Plenty of it,” was the reply. “Lieutenant, will you step down here a moment?”
Chase, believing from Bob’s tone and manner, that he had found something very much out of the way in the hold, started toward the companion-way; but just before he reached it, a thought struck him, and he stopped and looked earnestly at the man. “What’s the matter down there?” he asked.
“One of the water-butts has sprung a leak, sir,” said the sailor.
“That’s a dreadful calamity, isn’t it? Don’t you know what to do in such a case? Bail the water out of the leaky butt into one of the others.”
“But there’s none to bail out, sir. Every drop has leaked out, and the water is ankle deep all over the hold.”
“Wilson,” said Chase, turning to his companion, “just give a stroke or two on that pump, will you?”
Wilson did as he was requested, but not a drop of water was brought up. The Banner’s hold was as dry as a piece of hard-tack.
“How are you, leaky water-butt!” exclaimedChase, with a significant glance at Wilson. “Anything else wrong below, Bob?”
The sailor, somewhat disconcerted, did not know what to say at first, but after a look at Tomlinson, he replied:
“Yes, sir. Everything is pitched out of place, and I shall need some one to help me put ’em to rights. I can’t lift those heavy tool-chests by myself.”
“Look here, Bob,” said Chase, suddenly; “you’re not a good hand at this business. You can’t tell a falsehood and keep a straight face.”
“Falsehood, sir!” exclaimed the sailor, ascending a step or two nearer the top of the companion-ladder, as if he had half a mind to come on deck and resent the word. “Do you say I lie?”
“Well, no; I didn’t say so,” replied Chase, not in the least intimidated by the man’s threatening glances; “I can generally express myself without being so rude. But that is just what I mean. You know the hold is in order, and so do I; for I was down there not five minutes before we landed. I am too old to be taken in by any such flimsy trick as this. You’ll have to study up a better one if you expect to deceive me.”
So saying, Chase walked back to the forecastle and resumed his work, while Bob, not knowing what reply to make, went down into the cabin. The lieutenant kept his eye upon Tomlinson and his two friends, and saw that, when they thought themselves unobserved, they exchanged glances indicative of rage and disappointment. One by one they walked aft to the standing room, and in a few minutes more were holding another council of war.
“Chase, you’re a sharp one,” said Wilson, approvingly. “If I had been in your place I should have been nicely fooled. What do you suppose they want to do?”
“They intend to capture us and run off with the yacht; that’s their game. They are afraid to lay hands on us as long as we remain on deck, but if they could get us into the cabin out of sight, they would make prisoners of us in a hurry. O, there’s nothing to be afraid of,” added Chase, noticing the expression of anxiety that settled on his companion’s face. “If they attack us we’ll summon help from this brig.”
The deserters were much astonished as well as disheartened by the failure of their clumsy attempt to entice the lieutenant into the hold. They sawthat he suspected them and was on the alert. They were none the less determined, however, to possess themselves of the yacht, and when they gathered in the standing room Tomlinson, who was fruitful in expedients, had another plan to propose. While they were discussing it a sailor, who had for some time been leaning over the brig’s rail, watching all that was going on on board the Banner, swung himself off by his hands and dropped upon her deck. Chase and Wilson saw him, but supposing that he was one of the crew of the brig, whose curiosity had prompted him to visit the yacht, they said nothing to him.
The stranger, finding that no one paid any attention to his movements, set himself at work to examine the yacht very closely, especially as much of her internal arrangements as he could see through her hatchways. He spent ten minutes in this way, and then sauntered toward the standing room. The sound of his footsteps attracted the attention of Tomlinson, who looked up and greeted him with:
“Hallo, mate! Do you happen to have a pipeful of tobacco about you?”
The sailor produced a good-sized plug from hispocket and asked, as he handed it to Tomlinson: “What craft is this?”
“She’s a private yacht—the Banner—and belongs in Bellville, Louisiana,” was the answer. “Me and my mates here are the crew. We are hired by the year, and all we have to do is to take a half a dozen young gentlemen wherever they want to go.”
“You have papers, of course?”
“Yes. The captain keeps them in that desk in the cabin.”
The stranger directed his gaze down the companion-way, and after taking a good look at the little writing-desk Tomlinson pointed out to him, asked, as he jerked his thumb over his shoulder toward the two boys on the forecastle:
“Who are those fellows? I think I have seen them somewhere.”
“Their names are Chase and Wilson, and they are a couple of green hands who came out with us. The cap’n and steward have gone ashore to get some grub. We’ve been knocked about on the Gulf for the last five days, and we’ve made way with the last mouthful of salt horse and hard tack. We haven’t had any breakfast yet.”
“You haven’t!” exclaimed the sailor. “Thencome with me. I am mate of the schooner Stella, which lies a little way below here. I’ll give you a good breakfast and a pipe to smoke after it.”
Tomlinson and his friends were much too hungry to decline an invitation of this kind. Without saying a word they followed the mate on board the brig, thence to the wharf, and in a few minutes found themselves on board the Stella. After conducting them into the forecastle, their guide made his way across the deck and down the companion-ladder into the cabin, where he found Mr. Bell pacing to and fro.
“Well,” said the latter, pausing in his walk, “waste no time in words now. Have you succeeded?”
“Not yet, sir,” replied the mate. “I found more men there than I expected to find—four sailors, who say they are the hired crew of the yacht, but I know they are deserters from Uncle Sam’s revenue service. How they came on board the Banner, I did not stop to inquire. They told me they had eaten no breakfast, and I brought them up here. We can easily keep them out of the way until the work is done.”
“Very good,” said Mr. Bell. “Tell the stewardto serve them up a good meal at once. Was there anybody else on board the yacht?”
“Yes, sir; Chase and Wilson were there, and I am now going back to attend to them. The vessel’s papers are kept in a writing-desk in the cabin, and I shall have no trouble in securing them.”
The mate left the cabin, and after repeating Mr. Bell’s order to the steward, sprang over the rail, and hurried along the wharf toward the place where the Banner lay. When he arrived within sight of her, he was surprised to see that Chase and Wilson were making preparations to get under way. The jib was already shaking in the wind, and the foresail was slowly crawling up the mast. Chase was determined that the deserters should not return on board the yacht if he could prevent it. He would anchor the vessel at a safe distance from the shore, with the sails hoisted, and if Tomlinson and his friends attempted to reach her by the aid of a boat he would slip the cable and run away from them.
“It seems that I am just in time,” soliloquized the mate of the Stella. “A few minutes’ delay would have spoiled everything. Tony,” he added in Spanish, turning to a negro who stood close by, and who seemed to be awaiting his orders, “here’sthe note and here’s the money. Be in a hurry now, and mind what you are about.”
The negro took the articles the mate handed him, and after putting the money into his pocket, and stowing the letter away in the crown of his hat, he sprang on board the brig and made his way toward the yacht; while the mate concealed himself behind some sugar hogsheads that stood on the wharf to observe his movements. He saw the negro drop down upon the deck of the Banner and present the note to Chase, and he noticed too the excitement it produced upon the two boys.
The note the lieutenant received was as follows:
“FriendChase:We have come up with Featherweight at last. He is still in the hands of the smugglers, but with a little assistance, we can easily rescue him. Come immediately, and bring all the boys with you. This darkey will act as your guide.In great haste,Walter.”
“FriendChase:
We have come up with Featherweight at last. He is still in the hands of the smugglers, but with a little assistance, we can easily rescue him. Come immediately, and bring all the boys with you. This darkey will act as your guide.
In great haste,
Walter.”
“That’s business,” cried Chase, thrusting the note into his pocket, and bustling about in such a state of excitement that he scarcely knew what todo first. “We’ll see fun now. Close those hatches, and we’ll be off. I only hope I shall get a chance to do something for Fred Craven. I want to show him that I don’t forget favors.”
“Must we leave the Banner to take care of herself?” asked Wilson.
“What else can we do? We can’t very well put her into our pockets and take her with us.”
“But what if something should happen to her? Suppose the deserters should return and run off with her?”
“That’s Walter’s lookout, and not ours,” replied Chase, locking the door of the cabin, and putting the key into his pocket. “I wonder if this fellow can tell us where the captain is, and what he is doing? Can you speak English?” he added, addressing the negro.
The man stared at him, but made no answer.
“Can you talk French?” continued Chase, speaking in that language.
The negro grinned, but said nothing.
“Well, we can’t talk Spanish, so we must wait until we see Walter, before we can find out what has been going on,” said Wilson. “But it seems strange that he should ask us to come to him andleave the vessel with no one to watch her, doesn’t it?”
“Under ordinary circumstances it would,” answered Chase, springing upon the deck of the brig, and hurrying toward the wharf. “But Walter is working for Fred Craven, you know, and he would rather lose a dozen yachts, if he had them, than to allow a hair of his head to be harmed.”
When the boys reached the wharf they put themselves under the guidance of the negro, who led them through an arched gateway to the street, where stood a heavy cotton wagon, to which was attached a team of four mules. At a sign from the negro, the young sailors sprang into the vehicle, and the man mounting one of the mules, set up a shout, the team broke into a gallop, and the boys were whirled rapidly down the street.
When the wagon had disappeared, the mate of the Stella arose from his place of concealment behind the sugar hogsheads, and with a smile of satisfaction on his face walked rapidly toward his vessel. He spent a few minutes in the cabin with Mr. Bell, and when he came on deck, ordered the yawl to be manned. While this command was being obeyed by a part of the schooner’s company, the othersbusied themselves in bringing boxes and bales up from the cabin; and when the yawl was hauled alongside, these articles were handed down to her crew, who stowed them away under the thwarts. This done, the mate took his seat at the helm, the crew gave way on the oars, and presently the yawl was lying alongside Walter Gaylord’s yacht. The mate at once boarded her; the fore-hatch, which Chase and Wilson, in their haste to obey the order contained in Walter’s note, had neglected to fasten, was opened, and the officer and two of his men jumped down into the galley, whence they made their way into the hold. The boxes and bales were then passed up out of the yawl and through the hatches, one by one, and stowed away behind the water-butts. This much being accomplished, the mate came up out of the hold, and leaving his men to close the hatch, went into the cabin and opened the desk which Tomlinson had pointed out to him. Almost the first thing his eyes rested upon was an official envelope, addressed to “Captain Walter Gaylord, Commanding the Yacht Banner.” Thrusting it hastily into his pocket, he ascended to the deck, and in a few seconds more the yawl was on her way down the harbor. Arriving alongside theStella, the mate once more sought an interview with Mr. Bell, and handed him the envelope he had taken from Walter’s desk. The gentleman glanced quickly over the document it contained, and then tearing it into fragments, walked to one of the stern windows and threw the pieces into the water.
“There!” said he, in a tone of exultation. “The next time Captain Gaylord is asked to produce his clearance papers, I think he will have some trouble in finding them. Before he is done with us he will wish he had stayed at home where he belongs.”
Many were the speculations in which Chase and Wilson indulged, as they were whirled along over the rough road, and bumped about from one side to the other of the cotton wagon. What sort of a situation was Featherweight in? Where had Walter and Perk found the wagon; and how had they made the negro understand the service required of him, seeing that the man could speak neither English nor French, and the captain and his companion could not talk Spanish? These, and a multitude of questions of like character, occupied the minds of the boy-tars for the next half hour, and during that time, they left the village more than five miles behind them; but still they were whirled along without the least diminution of speed, the negro swinging his whip and yelling with all the power of his lungs, and the heavy wagon rolling and plunging in a way that reminded the youngsailors of the antics the Banner had performed during her voyage across the Gulf.
“There’s one thing about it”—shouted Wilson, holding fast to the side of the vehicle, and speaking in a very loud tone of voice, in order to make himself heard—“if Walter told this darkey to drive fast, he is obeying orders most faithfully. Where do you suppose he is taking us? And tell me, if you can, how Walter and Perk could have got so far out into the country, during the hour and a half they have been gone from the vessel?”
“That is the very question that was passing through my own mind,” said Chase. “To tell the truth, there’s something about this business that doesn’t look exactly right.”
“Well, you needn’t mind knocking my brains out, if it doesn’t look exactly right,” roared Wilson, as a sudden lurch of the wagon brought his friend’s head in violent contact with his own. “Keep on your side if you can, Chase.”
The loud rumbling of the wheels, and the rocking and swaying of the clumsy vehicle as it flew over the uneven road, proved an effectual check to conversation. The boys clung to opposite sides of the wagon, noting the different objects of interestas they sped along, and wondering what was to be the end of this adventure. Every mile of the way, they saw something to remind them that Cuba was in a state of insurrection. Groups of excited men were gathered in front of every plantation house they passed, and now and then they met squads of government patrols riding leisurely along the road. The officers of these squads all looked suspiciously at the boys, as they dashed by, and one, in particular, bent such savage glances upon them, that they were glad when he had passed out of sight.
“I say, Wilson,” shouted Chase, suddenly, “do you know that the expression on that officer’s face, has set me to thinking?”
“I don’t doubt it,” yelled Wilson, in reply. “It set me to thinking, too. Wouldn’t it have been a joke on us, if he had taken us for spies or something, and arrested us?”
“I confess, I can’t see where the joke would come in. How could we ever get out of a scrape of that kind? We are in a strange country, among people who speak a language different from ours, and we haven’t a friend within seven or eight hundred miles. It would be a serious matter for us, the first thing you know. I am glad that fierce-lookingfellow is out of sight, and I hope we shall not meet another like him.”
If the boys had known what the officer did in less than five minutes after they met him, they might not have felt so very much relieved after all. He rode straight ahead, until a bend in the road concealed him from view, and then suddenly halting his squad, addressed a few words to two of his men, who wheeled their horses and galloped back in pursuit of the young sailors. They rode just fast enough to keep the wagon in sight, and when they saw it draw up at the door of a plantation house, they faced about again and hurried back to their companions. They must have had some exciting report to make, for when their officer heard it, he ordered his men into their saddles, and led them down the road at a rapid gallop.
When the negro driver reined his mules through a wide gateway, and drew up in front of the door of the house of which we have spoken, the boys knew that their ride was ended. They were glad of it, for it was anything but pleasant to be jolted and bumped about over such roads as those they had just traversed. They jumped out when the wagon stopped, and after stretching their arms andlegs, and knocking the dust out of their hats, looked about them with interest. They saw before them a large and comfortable plantation house, situated in a little grove of oleanders and orange trees, flanked by neat negro quarters, and surrounded by extensive sugar-fields, which stretched away on every side. They looked around for Walter and Perk, but could see nothing of them. They were not allowed much time for making observations, however, for the moment the wagon stopped, a portly foreign-looking gentleman, whom the boys at once put down as the proprietor of the plantation, made his appearance at the door. He looked curiously at his visitors, and while the latter were wondering what they ought to say to him, the negro driver mounted the steps, and taking a letter from the crown of his hat, handed it to his master. The reading of the document had an astonishing effect upon the man. He opened his eyes to their widest extent, and muttering something in Spanish, hurried down the steps, and seized each of the boys by the hand.
“Come in! come in!” said he, hurriedly, and in tolerable English. “I am delighted to see you, but I am surprised that Captain Conway shouldhave sent you out here in the day time. Come in, before the patrols see you.”
Chase and Wilson looked inquiringly at one another. “Captain Conway!” whispered the latter, as he and his companion followed the gentleman up the steps. “Ifhehad any hand in sending us here, we are in a scrape, as sure as we’re a foot high.”
“I would give something to know what is in that letter,” said Chase. “Where are Walter and Perk?”
“Haven’t the slightest idea; but I know that we shall not find them here. The chances are ten to one that we shall never see them again. If there were not so many negroes standing around, I would take to my heels in short order.”
Chase was bewildered and perplexed beyond measure. The simple mention of the name of the captain of the Stella, had aroused a thousand fears in his mind; and imagining that all sorts of dreadful things were about to happen to him, he was more than half inclined to spring off the steps and make a desperate dash for his freedom, in spite of the presence of the negroes; but while he was thinking about it, the foreign-looking gentleman conductedhim and his companion through the hall and into a room, the door of which he was careful to close and lock behind him. The two boys watched his movements with a good deal of anxiety, and while Wilson glanced toward the open window, Chase stepped forward and confronted the man.
“I am afraid,” said he, “that there is some mistake here, Mr.—— Mr.—— ”
“Don Casper Nevis,” said the gentleman, supplying the name. “There is no mistake whatever.”
“But where is the captain?” continued Chase, “we expected to find him here.”
“O, he’ll not come until dark; and he ought not to have sent you out here in broad daylight, when he knows that every mile of the road is guarded. Where is the schooner?”
“We left her at the wharf.”
“She ought to be up here. These Spanish officers are getting to be very strict lately, and it is a wonder they didn’t search her the moment she landed. I understand that both you and your vessel are known and suspected. You must be very cautious. Your safest plan would be to go back to town, and have the schooner brought into the bayat the rear of my plantation. I have boats there, and everything in readiness.”
“But, Don,” replied Chase, “I don’t see the necessity for so much secrecy.”
“My young friend, you don’t understand the matter at all,” said Don Casper with a smile. “But you are weary with travel, and we will say no more about it, until you have refreshed yourselves. We shall have ample time to make all the arrangements after you have drank a cup of chocolate and eaten a piece of toast.”
As the Don said this, he unlocked the door and went out, leaving the boys to themselves.
“Didn’t I tell you that this thing didn’t look just right?” demanded Chase, in an excited whisper. “That darkey has made a mistake, and brought us to the wrong house.”
“But how in the name of sense could he do that?” asked Wilson, utterly confounded. “He must have known where Walter was when he gave him that note. By the way, let me look at it a moment.”
Chase handed out the letter, and was more amazed and alarmed than ever by the expression that settled on his friend’s face as he ran his eye over the missive.“What’s the matter now?” he asked. “Anything else wrong?”
“Nothing much,” was the answer; “only that’s not Walter Gaylord’s writing—that’s all.”
“Eh!” exclaimed Chase, jumping from his chair.
“O, it is the truth, as you will find out when you meet Walter again. I can tell his writing as far as I can see it.”
“Then who wrote this letter?”
“I wish I knew. Somebody has humbugged us very nicely, and I believe that Captain Conway and Mr. Bell are at the bottom of it.”
“Let’s jump out of this window and make the best of our way back to town,” exclaimed Chase, almost beside himself with excitement and terror. “There’s no knowing what this old Creole intends to do to us.”
“And there’s no knowing what may happen to the Banner in our absence. What if those deserters should run off with her? Here we are in Cuba, without a cent in our pockets, and if we should lose the yacht how would we ever get home?”
“Gracious!” exclaimed Chase.
“I’ll jump out of the window and run if you will,” continued Wilson.
With a common impulse the two boys arose from their seats and moved across the floor on tiptoe; but just as Chase placed his hands on the window-sill preparatory to springing out, the door suddenly opened, and three negroes came in—one bringing a small table, and each of the others carrying a tray filled with dishes and eatables on his head. So sudden was their entrance that the boys did not have time to retreat to their chairs, and Chase remained standing with his hands on the window-sill, gazing steadily out into the sugar-field as if he saw something there that interested him very much, while Wilson, with his hands clasped behind his back, and his head turned on one side, appeared to be lost in admiration of a picture that hung on the wall.
The boys stood in these positions until they were aroused by a tap on the shoulder. They turned to find themselves alone with one of the negroes, and to see the table spread in front of a window, and loaded with a most tempting display of viands. They did not wait for a second invitation. They had taken no breakfast; there was no knowing when and where they would obtain another meal; and there was no reason why they should go hungryeven if they were in trouble. No one, to have seen them at the table, would have imagined that they were under any apprehensions of danger, for the way the eggs and toast disappeared was wonderful; but in the midst of their enjoyment, and before their appetites were half appeased, the door was suddenly thrown open and Don Casper entered pale and breathless.
“The patrol!” he almost gasped. “It is just as I feared it would be. You have been seen and followed, and if you are found here, I am ruined. No time is to be lost. Come with me immediately.”
The man spoke so hurriedly and brokenly that the boys could not understand all he said, and consequently they were at a loss to determine what the danger was that threatened them. But the expression on the face of their host warned them that there was something amiss; and without stopping to ask questions, they caught up their hats and followed him from the room. As they were hurrying along the hall, they glanced toward the gate and, through a dense cloud of dust, raised by a multitude of horses’ hoofs, they caught a partial glimpse of a squadron of troopers who were galloping into the yard. And these were not the only soldiers uponthe premises, as they found when they reached the door which opened upon the back verandah. There was another squad of cavalrymen approaching along the lane that led to the negro quarters. The house was surrounded.
“Gracias á Dios!” ejaculated the Don, turning ghastly pale.
“What’s the matter?” asked Wilson, innocently. “We have done nothing wrong, and we are not afraid of the patrols.”
“Nothing wrong!” the Don almost shrieked. “Is it nothing to smuggle cases of arms into a country in a state of rebellion?”
“Cases of arms!” repeated Chase.
“Smuggle!” echoed Wilson. “We know a smuggler, but we never——”
“Don’t stop to talk,” interrupted the Don, almost fiercely; and as he spoke he seized the boys by their arms, and dragged them along the hall and down a flight of rickety steps that led into the cellar. Chase and Wilson, more perplexed than ever, tried to gain his ear for a moment, but he seemed all of a sudden to have been struck both deaf and dumb, for he would say nothing or listen to nothing, but hurried them along through utter darkness, andfinally, after giving them both a strong push, released his hold of them. A moment afterward the boys heard a door softly closed behind them, and a key turned in a lock. Filled with consternation, they stood for a few seconds speechless and motionless, listening intently, and afraid to move for fear of coming in contact with something in the darkness. Chase was the first to break the silence.
“Well, this beats all the scrapes I ever got into,” said he. “Do you begin to see through it yet?”
“I believe I do,” replied Wilson. “The last words that old Creole uttered, explain the matter clearly. He takes us for smugglers, and imagines that we have come here with a cargo of small-arms.”
“How did he get that impression?” asked Chase, who wanted to see how far his friend’s opinions coincided with his own.
“Through the note that negro gave him.”
“Who wrote that note?”
“Mr. Bell. He saw us come into the harbor, and he would have been dull indeed if he could not guess what brought us there. He and his crew have set themselves at work to outwit us, as they outwitted the revenue captain in the Cove.”
“And they have accomplished their object, andgot us into a pretty mess besides. They are altogether too smart for us. What’s that?”
The tramping of feet, the rattling of sabres, and the jingling of spurs sounded from the rooms overhead, telling them that the soldiers had arrived and were searching the house. Backward and forward passed the heavy footsteps, and presently they were heard upon the cellar stairs. The boys listened with curiosity rather than fear, and by the sounds which came to them from the cellar could tell pretty nearly what the soldiers were doing. They heard them talking to one another, and overturning boxes and barrels, and they knew too when the search was abandoned, and the soldiers returned to the room above.
The young tars did not breathe any easier after they were gone, for they were not in the least frightened by the proximity of the Spanish troopers. They were not smugglers, and they could prove the fact to anybody’s satisfaction. They almost wished they had not permitted the Don to conceal them, for that of itself looked like a confession of guilt, and might be used as evidence against them in case they were captured. The papers, which were safely stowed away in Walter’s desk in the cabin of theBanner, would show who they were and where they came from, and a few minutes’ examination of the yacht would prove that there were no small-arms on board of her. The boys thought of all these things, and waited impatiently for the Don to come and release them. They wanted to explain matters to him, if they could by any possibility induce him to listen.
For fully half an hour the troopers continued to search the house, and at the end of that time, having satisfied themselves that the boys were beyond their reach, they mounted their horses and galloped out of the yard. The young sailors now became more impatient than ever for the Don to make his appearance, but they waited in vain. They held their breath and listened, but could not hear a single footstep. The house was as silent as if it had been deserted. As the hours dragged slowly by without bringing any one to their relief, the boys became harassed by a new fear, and that was that the master of the plantation did not intend to release them—that he was keeping them locked up for some purpose of his own. Filled with dismay at the thought, they arose from the boxes on which they had seated themselves, and began movingcautiously about their prison with extended arms. A few minutes’ examination of the apartment showed them that it was a wine-cellar, for there were shelves on three sides of it, which were filled with bottles. On the fourth side was the door, and that was the only opening in the walls. There was no window to be found, nor even a crevice large enough to admit a ray of light. There was no way of escape. Wilson, determined to make the best of the matter, kept up a tolerably brave heart, but Chase, as was usual with him when in trouble, became despondent.
“We’re here,” said he, in a gloomy voice, “and here we may remain for the term of our natural lives, for all we know. If Mr. Bell wrote that note which we thought came from Walter, I know what object he had in view. This Don Casper is a friend of his, and now that he has got us in his power, he is going to hold fast to us.”
“He won’t if he gives us the least chance for our liberty,” said Wilson, striving to keep up his friend’s courage. “But things may not be as bad as you think.”
“They are bad enough, are they not? To be thrown as we were, under the most suspicious circumstances,into the hands of a man we never saw before, who, without condescending to give us an intelligible explanation of the motive that prompts his actions, shuts us up in a dark cellar, and walks off with the key in his pocket, to be gone nobody knows how long—that is bad enough, but there may be worse things yet to come. Do you know that we are in a country in which a terrible war is being carried on?”
“I do.”
“And that both sides are treating their prisoners with the greatest cruelty; in some cases shooting them?”
“Certainly. Having read the papers, I am not likely to be ignorant of the fact.”
“Well, now, did it ever strike you thatwe—Eh? You know,” said Chase, unable to give utterance to the fears that just then passed through his mind.
“No,” replied Wilson; “it never did.”
“It has struck me that some such thing might happen to us,” continued Chase, in a trembling voice. “This Creole is a rebel, and thinks we are friends of his. The Spaniards think so too, for they have searched the house with the intention ofcapturing us. If we had fallen into their hands, might they not have put an end to us without giving us an opportunity to say a word in our defence, believing as they do that we are friends of the Cubans?”
“It is possible,” replied Wilson, coolly.
“Gracious! If I had thought of all these things, I never would have had anything to do with this expedition, I tell you. How would I look, set up against a brick wall, with half a dozen Spaniards standing in front of me, ready to shoot me down at the word? I wish I had stayed on Lost Island and starved there.” And Chase, terrified almost beyond measure by the picture he had drawn, jumped to his feet, hurried off through the darkness, and bumped his head severely against the solid oak planks which formed the door of their prison.
“You are not set up against a brick wall yet, at all events,” said Wilson, laughing, in spite of himself. “Don’t take on so, old fellow, or I shall believe you are in a fair way to become a coward. Here’s a dry-goods box. Let’s lie down on it and try to get a wink of sleep.”
“Sleep!” groaned Chase, holding one hand tohis head, and with the other feeling his way through the darkness, in the direction from which his companion’s voice sounded; “how can you think of such a thing? Don’t lie there so still. Wake up and talk to me.”
It was not possible that Chase could ever become a greater coward than he was at that moment, and he told himself so. The thought that he was in a strange country, surrounded by men who were in arms against one another, and that some of them—perhaps the very ones who had perpetrated the cruelties of which he had read in the papers—had been in that very house searching for him, was dreadful. It tested his fortitude to the very utmost. Even the darkness which filled the wine-cellar had terrors for him, and he hardly dared to move a finger, for fear it might come in contact with some living thing. For three long hours he sat upon his box, in a state of terror beyond our power to describe, and all this while, the plucky Wilson, with a happy indifference to circumstances, which Chase greatly envied, slumbered heavily.
Wilson knew, as well as Chase, that the latter had not overestimated the dangers of their situation. Cuba was in a state of insurrection, having declared her independence of Spain. Several battles had been fought between the rebels and the Spanish troops, and deeds of violence were daily enacted in every part of the island. Wilson knew all this before the voyage for Cuba was commenced, but he had never dreamed that he and the rest of the crew of the yacht could in any way become mixed up in the troubles. He had set out simply with the intention of assisting to rescue Fred Craven from the power of the smugglers, and here he was suspected of being a smuggler himself, and of having in his possession cases of arms to be delivered to the agents of the Cuban government. Don Casper, to whose house he had been broughtin so strange a manner, thought that such was his occupation and character, for he had said so; and he had also hinted that the Spanish troopers suspected them, and that it would be dangerous to fall into their hands. This was certainly an unlooked for termination to the expedition upon which he and the members of the Sportsman’s Club had entered with so much eagerness, and it was enough to awaken in his mind the most serious misgivings. But he was a courageous fellow, and knowing that much depended upon keeping up the spirits of his desponding friend, he affected an indifference that he was very far from feeling. He slept because he was utterly exhausted by the labor and excitement he had undergone during the last few days.
Chase was equally wearied by his nights of watching and exposure, but his fears effectually banished sleep from his eyes. For three long hours, as we have said, he sat motionless on the dry-goods box, listening intently and wondering how his captivity was to end, and at the expiration of that time, he was frightened almost out of his senses by hearing a stealthy footfall outside the door of the wine-cellar, and the noise of a key grating in the lock. Utterly unable to speak, he sprang to his feet, andseizing his slumbering companion by the shoulders, shook him roughly.
“Ay! ay!” replied Wilson, drowsily. “I will be on deck in five minutes. Is Cuba in sight yet?”
“You are not on board the yacht,” whispered Chase, recovering the use of his tongue by an effort, “but in the cellar of that old Creole’s house; and here come the Spaniards to arrest us.”
These words aroused Wilson, who rubbed his eyes and sat up on the dry-goods box just as the door opened, admitting a muffled figure in slouch hat and cloak, who carried a lighted lantern in his hand. Chase looked over the man’s shoulder into the cellar beyond, expecting to see the troopers of whom he stood so much in fear; but their visitor was alone, and, if any faith was to be put in his actions, he had come there with anything but hostile intentions. He held his lantern aloft, and after gazing at the boys a moment, nodded his head and motioned to them to follow him. Wilson promptly obeyed, but Chase hung back.
“I am not sure that it will be safe,” said he, doubtfully. “Perhaps we had better ask him to tell who sent him here, and what he intends to do with us.”
“Let’s follow him now and listen to his explanation afterward,” replied Wilson. “I don’t care much what he does with us, so long as he leads us into the open air. Anything is better than being shut up in this dark prison.”
Chase was not fully satisfied on that point, but he was not allowed even a second to consider it. Wilson and their visitor moved off, and finding that he was about to be left alone in the dark, Chase stepped quickly out of the wine-cellar and followed them. The man led the way to the stairs, which he ascended with noiseless footsteps, stopping now and then to listen, his every movement being imitated by the anxious captives. They reached the hall, and moved on tiptoe toward the door, which opened upon the back verandah; but just before they reached it their guide paused, and after giving each of the boys a warning gesture, raised his hand and stood pointing silently before him. The young sailors looked, and their hearts seemed to stop beating when they discovered, stretched out directly in front of the door, the burly form of one of the Spanish troopers. He slumbered heavily upon his blanket, one arm thrown over his head, and the other resting upon his carbine which lay across hisbreast. What was to be done now? was the question each of the boys asked himself, and which was quickly answered by their guide, who, with another warning gesture, moved forward, and stepping nimbly over the prostrated sentinel, beckoned to them to follow. Wilson at once responded and reached the verandah without arousing the sleeper; but it seemed as if Chase could not muster up courage enough to make the attempt.
“I can’t do it,” he whispered, in reply to Wilson’s gestures of impatience. “Tell that man to come back and lead me out of the house by some other door.”
“What good will it do to talk to him?” replied Wilson, in the same cautious whisper. “It is very evident from his actions that he can’t talk English; and, besides, if there were any other way to get out, it isn’t likely that he would have brought us here. I’d show a little pluck, if I were you. Come on.”
“But what if that soldier should awake and spring up just as I was about to step over him?” continued Chase, in an ecstasy of alarm. “He’d catch me, sure.”
“He will catch you if you stay there—you may depend upon that.”
Chase might still have continued to argue thepoint, had not the actions of the guide aroused him to a full sense of his situation. The man, who had been beckoning vehemently to him, suddenly faced about, and tapping Wilson on the shoulder, started down the steps that led from the verandah to the ground. Then Chase saw that he must follow or remain a prisoner in the house. He started and passed the sleeping sentinel in safety; but his mind was in such a whirl of excitement and terror that to save his life he could not have told how he did it. When he came to himself he and Wilson were following close at the heels of their guide, who was leading the way at a rapid run along the lane that led to the negro quarters.
“I wish I had never seen or heard of the Sportsman’s Club,” panted Chase, drawing his handkerchief across his forehead, for the exciting ordeal through which he had just passed, had brought the cold perspiration from every pore of his body; “I never was in a scrape like this before, and if I once get out of it you’ll never see me in another. Fred Craven can take care of himself now; I am going home.”
“When are you going to start?” asked Wilson.
“Just as soon as I reach the village.”
“How are you going?”
“I don’t know, and what’s more, I don’t care. I’ll float there on a plank before I’ll stay here twenty-four hours longer. There’s another sentry. He’s awake too, and coming toward us. Which way shall we run now?”
While Chase was speaking a man stepped into view from behind the fence and hurried toward them; but they soon found that there was no cause for alarm, for the new-comer was Don Casper himself.
“My lads,” he exclaimed, gleefully, “I am overjoyed to see you once more, and in possession of your liberty too.” And as he threw aside his cloak and extended a hand to each of them, the boys saw that he wore a sword by his side, and that his belt contained a brace of pistols. “This afternoon’s work has ruined me,” continued the Don, hurriedly. “It was very wrong in Captain Conway to send you out here in broad daylight, knowing as he does that I have long been suspected of being a rebel, and that the patrol were only waiting for some proof against me to arrest me. They’ve got that proof now, and my property will all be confiscated.”
And now something happened which Wilson had feared and was on the lookout for—somethingwhich came very near placing him and his friend in a much worse predicament than they had yet got into. It was nothing more nor less than an effort on the part of Chase to explain matters to the Don. Wilson had thought over their situation since his release from the wine-cellar, and he had come to the conclusion that, in the event of again meeting with their host, it would not be policy to attempt to correct the wrong impressions he had received concerning them, for the reason that it might prove a dangerous piece of business. He was afraid that the Don might not believe their story. In order to make him understand it, it would be necessary to go back to the day of the panther hunt, and describe what had then taken place between Bayard Bell and the members of the Sportsman’s Club. That would consume a good deal of time, and there would be some things to tell that would look very unreasonable; and perhaps the Don would do as the captain of the revenue cutter had done—declare that it was all false. He would very likely think that the boys were trying to deceive him, and he might even go so far as to believe that they were in sympathy with the Spaniards, and that they had been employed by them to come to his house in the character of smugglers,on purpose to give the patrol an excuse for arresting him. This thought was enough to cause even the plucky Wilson some anxiety, and the longer he pondered upon it the more alarmed he became.
“We haven’t seen the worst of it yet, I am afraid,” he soliloquized. “We are in a much worse predicament than I thought. There will certainly be an explosion if the Don finds out that we are not the fellows he takes us for, and perhaps he’ll he mad enough to smash things. He’s got a good opinion of us now, and it would be foolish to say anything to change it. Our best plan will be to keep our mouths closed, and to get away from him without loss of time. If I only knew who wrote the note that negro gave him and what was in it, I would know just how to act.”
Wilson waited for an opportunity to talk this plan over with Chase, but did not find it, for the reason that the Don made his appearance too quickly. The only course then left for him to pursue was to do all the talking himself, and allow his companion no chance to speak; but the latter was too smart for him, and with a dozen words brought about the very state of affairs that Wilson had hoped to guard against.
“You must not blame us for your misfortune,” said Chase.
“I do not. It is Captain Conway’s fault.”
“He did not send us here—that is, we did not come by his orders. We are not smugglers, and neither have we any arms for you.”
“Eh?” exclaimed the Don.
“We don’t belong to the Stella, either. We came here in a private yacht, on our own private business, and know nothing about your transactions with Captain Conway.”
“Gracias á Dios!” cried the Cuban; and the words came out from between his clenched teeth in a way that Chase did not like.
“Hold easy. Don’t get angry until you hear my explanation. Remember that we have not tried to sail under false colors, since we have been here at your house. You did not ask us who we were, did you? If you had given us the opportunity, we should have been glad to have appeared before you in our true characters, and to have explained the reason for our visit.”
Having thus introduced his subject, Chase cleared his throat, thrust his hands into his pockets, and began a hurried and rather disconnected account ofthe events which had brought them to Cuba. The Don stood like a man in a dream. He was not listening to what the young sailor said, but was pondering upon some words he had uttered a few moments before. Suddenly he interrupted him.
“Your true character!” he exclaimed furiously. “Enough! That is all I wish to hear from you. I suspected you from the first. You have told me who you arenot, and now I shall ascertain for myself who youare. The Stella is at the village, I know, for one of my negroes saw her there. I shall introduce you into the presence of Captain Conway before you are an hour older; and when he sees you, he will probably be able to tell me whether or not you came here by his orders. If he cannot vouch for you, you will find yourselves in serious trouble, I can tell you. I am now going to the stable after some horses, and you and your companion will move up into the shadow of this storehouse and remain there, until I return, under the eye of my overseer, whom I shall instruct to shoot you down if you make the least attempt at escape.”
Chase listened to this speech in utter amazement. His under jaw dropped down, and for a few seconds he stood gazing stupidly at the Don, whoturned and began an earnest conversation in Spanish with his overseer—the man who had released the boys from the wine-cellar. At last he recovered himself in some measure, and made a bungling attempt to repair the damage he had done.
“I say, Don!” he exclaimed, “now you are laboring under another mistake, quite as bad as the first. You take us for Spanish sympathizers—I know you do, but we are not. We’ve got no interest in this fight, and we don’t care which whips. I mean—you know—of course you Cubans are in the right, and we hope you will succeed in establishing your independence. I wish we had a whole cargo of arms for you, but we haven’t. I wish the Banner was loaded so deep with them that she was on the point of sinking, but she isn’t. O dear! I wish he would stop talking to that man and listen to me. I could set everything right in a few minutes. Speak to him, Wilson.”
But his friend paid as little attention to him as the Don did. He stood narrowly watching the two men, and although he could not understand a word of their conversation, he knew pretty nearly what they were talking about. It was plain enough to him, too, that the overseer was as angry at themas his master was. He raised his lantern to allow its beams to fall full in their faces, scowled fiercely at each of them in turn, and then throwing aside his cloak and laying his hand on the butt of one of his pistols, motioned to them to follow him to the storehouse. As they obeyed the gesture, the Don hurried down the lane, not however without stopping long enough to tell the captives that the overseer was a good shot, and that an attempt to run away from him would be dangerous.
Never was a boy more astounded and alarmed than Chase was at that moment. Reaching the storehouse, he flung himself on the ground beside it in a state of utter dejection and misery. He looked at Wilson, who seated himself by his side, but even had there been light enough for him to see the expression that rested on the face of his friend, he would have found no encouragement there. Wilson was almost disheartened himself. Things looked even darker now than when they were confined in the wine-cellar—a state of affairs for which his companion was alone to blame. But Wilson had no fault to find. The mischief was done and could not be undone; and like a sensiblefellow, he determined to make the best of it, and say nothing about it.
“Don’t I wish I had never seen or heard of the Sportsman’s Club!” said Chase, feebly. “I wonder if that overseer understands English? Try him, Wilson. I want to say something to you.”
Wilson, for want of something better to do, addressed a few words to their guard, who stood close at their side, keeping a sharp eye on their movements, but he only shook his head, and threw aside his cloak to show his pistols.
“I think you may speak freely,” said Wilson. “What were you going to say?”
“We’re in trouble again,” replied Chase.
“O! Is that all? It’s no news.”
“I wish I had not tried to explain matters.”
“So do I.”
“Is there nothing we can do? Let’s jump up and take to our heels. I’ll risk the bullets in the overseer’s pistols, if you will.”
“What’s the use? Where shall we run to?”
“To town, of course. We want to go back to the yacht, don’t we?”
“Certainly. But if we wait a few minutes, the Don will bring us some horses, and then we canride there. That will be much easier than walking, and safer too; for not knowing the way, we might get lost in the darkness, or run against some of the patrols on the road.”
“Do you intend to go to town with the Don?” asked Chase, in great amazement.
“I do.”
“Well, if you don’t beat all the fellows I ever heard of! You have certainly taken leave of your senses. Don’t you know that Captain Conway and Mr. Bell will do all they can to strengthen the Don’s suspicions?”
“You didn’t hear me through. We don’t want to see either of those worthy gentlemen, if we can avoid it. We will go with the Don, simply because we can’t help ourselves, and perhaps during the ride he will get over his mad fit, so that we can talk to him. If he does, we will tell him our story from beginning to end, and ask him to go aboard the Banner with us. Walter and the other fellows must have returned by this time, and when the Don finds that their story agrees with ours, and sees the yacht’s papers, perhaps he will believe us. If he don’t, let’s see him help himself. We’ll be on board our vessel then, and we’ll stay there.”
“Yes. That’s all very nice. But suppose the Banner isn’t there? What then?”
“Eh?” exclaimed Wilson.
“Those deserters may have returned and run off with her during our absence. What would you do in that case?”
“I don’t know. I wasn’t calculating on that.”
“And what will the Don do?” continued Chase. “If we tell him that we shall find our yacht at the wharf and she happens to be gone, he will have more reason to suspect us than he does now.”
Wilson looked at his companion, and then settling back against the storehouse, went off into a brown study; while Chase, after waiting a few minutes for him to say something, sprang to his feet, and began pacing nervously back and forth. Just then, an incident happened which created a diversion in favor of the two boys, and which they were prompt to take advantage of, only in different ways.