CHAPTER XVII.IN PORT.
Vance continued to sleep as soundly as if he had been at home, and Ned said enviously when Roy brought the coffee:
“I wish you an’ I were as well off as he. Until he wakes up it won’t make any difference to him whether the wind blows a gale or fines down into a calm.”
“Would you waken him for the coffee?”
“Not a bit of it; let the poor fellow sleep while he can. I only wish we could join him.”
Wishing never did mend matters however, and Ned soon ceased such a very unprofitable occupation.
The hot coffee was really refreshing, and after drinking two cups each, the boys felt almost as if they had been taking a rest.
“It seems to me as if the wind was decreasing,” Ned said after a time, and Roy replied:
“I am almost certain of it. I’ve noticed that the yacht rode easier since we came so near being run down by the steamer.”
“And it seems to be hauling around again. If we have many more changes the Zoe will have sailed in a circle before morning.”
“I reckon we shall have to take it as it comes,” Roy said grimly. “I am more afraid of a calm than of an increase in the wind. It would be terrible to be becalmed where we didn’t have the slightest idea of our position.”
Ned made no reply.
According to his ideas there were plenty of disagreeable things close at hand, without going into the future to find them.
Not until the clock had marked the hour of three, although it may have been two or four, did Vance awaken, and then, whether the time-piece was correct or not, he knew he had had more than his share of sleep.
“Say, why didn’t one of you fellows turn me out?” he asked as he came toward the wheel. “Here I’ve been taking my ease as if I was a swell passenger, while you two were on duty.”
“There was no reason why you shouldn’t have slept while it was possible,” Roy replied. “There was nothing to be done, even if you had remained awake, and now when one of us feels like taking a nap, you can do your share of the steering.”
“How are we getting along?”
“Doing a heap of sailing, but it’s an open question whether we are progressing very fast.”
“The storm seems to have cleared away.”
“Yes, we’ve got nothing but a fair sailing breeze now, and with the drag of the screw I don’t fancy we are more than tossing about on the waves,” Ned replied, and then he added to Roy; “Suppose you turn to and get breakfast, old fellow? It’s pretty early, I know, but we shall feel the better for something hot in the way of grub. Now that Vance is awake there is nothing to prevent your staying below as long as may be necessary.”
The amateur cook acted upon the suggestion at once, and half an hour after he went into the kitchen the sun began to show himself above the horizon.
“Now hunt around the cabin where the sailing master slept for an almanac,” Ned said to Vance. “There must be one somewhere aboard.”
“What are you going to do with it? See what the weather prophets say about the weather?”
“I want to find out what time the sun rises, so we can set this clock.”
Vance hurried away to obey this order, and in a few minutes returned with the desired book, but it looked rather the worse for wear, owing to its having been soaked well in salt water.
After some difficulty Ned succeeded in gaining the information required, and to his surprise it was found that they had guessed within twenty minutes of the true time, or as nearly as could be judged from the coming of the day.
The hands of the clock were moved forward to where Ned thought they belonged, and then he looked round the horizon, now that it was sufficiently light to see surrounding objects, if indeed there were any.
At first glance it appeared as if they were alone upon the ocean.
Not a sail could be seen in either direction, and Vance announced that there was no land in sight, when Ned exclaimed as he pointed about four points to the southward of the course they were then heading:
“Look over there! What do you make that to be?”
Vance gazed earnestly in the direction indicated, and after a long scrutiny replied in a careless tone:
“Nothing but a cloud.”
“It’s land! There’s no question about it. Call Roy, will you?”
“What’s that for?”
“We’ll see what he thinks about trying to make it. It is not in the direction where we expected tosee anything of the kind, but it strikes me we should do our best to reach it, if for no other purpose than to find out where we are.”
Roy was soon in the pilot-house, and after looking at what to an inexperienced eye appeared nothing more than a cloud, as Vance had suggested, he decided Ned was correct.
“What do you think of trying to make it?”
“Can you do so with this wind?”
“Yes, by trimmin’ the sails properly, an’ it seems as if we ought to be able to do that.”
“Go ahead, then, so far as I’m concerned. If it is an island of any kind we shan’t be worse off than we are now, and in case of its being inhabited our troubles will be at an end, for most likely we can get some one to take us to Key West.”
“You may keep on with your cooking. I reckon Vance and I can attend to this matter,” Ned replied as he whirled the wheel around until the steamer was headed for the apparent cloud.
Then, stationing Vance at the helm and directing him to keep her on that course as near as possible, the amateur captain went on deck to trim the sails.
This was not a difficult matter, and after some few experiments Ned learned that there was very little difference between sailing a steamer on the ocean and a small boat on the pond in Maine.
“She’s got a free wind now, and so long as that holds we won’t have any trouble in keeping her headed as we want to go,” he said cheerily, for the fact that the little craft behaved much as any other vessel raised his spirits wonderfully.
“It will take us a month to get there, though,” Vance said ruefully.
“Nonsense! If the wind don’t die away entirely I reckon we shall be able to see what that land looks like before the sun sets again. The screw won’t drag so much now that she heels over considerably, an’ we’ll make good headway.”
The weight of the breeze had forced the yacht over to an angle of perhaps thirty degrees, and although it was rather more difficult to keep her true to the course, she behaved very well.
Roy was preparing for a more sociable meal than had yet been served, as was learned a few moments later when he came to the pilot-house to call Vance.
“I’m going to bring the grub up here so we can eat together,” he said, “therefore you must help me. After breakfast I’ll try and clean up below, for if we reach port there’s no reason why we should look so slovenly.”
“Something should be done with the treasure before any strangers come aboard,” Vance added, thinking of the wealth in the cabin for almost thefirst time since the previous night shut down upon them so forbiddingly. “Where can we put it?”
“In the hold, well aft, an’ throw a lot of rope and canvas over it,” Ned replied promptly. “No one will fancy we’ve got treasure aboard.”
This satisfied Vance, more particularly since his companions proposed that he take full charge of the gold and silver, and ten minutes later a most appetizing breakfast was spread on the wheel-house locker.
With the assistance of his companions in the way of passing him the food, Ned was able to eat at the same time he performed his duties as helmsman, and the spirits of the little crew revived wonderfully when the meal had been concluded.
Ned was left alone while the other two went below, Roy to put things to rights generally, and Vance to hide the treasure in anticipation of visitors.
It seemed very much as if this particular breeze had come to stay until the yacht should reach port.
It no longer shifted so often, but held steadily from the same point, and with sufficient force to send the Zoe along at quite a respectable rate of speed.
As might have been expected, the waves still ran very high, but the little craft was showing herself to be a good sea-boat, even though disabled, and each instant the apparent cloud took on more the semblance of land.
Vance was the first to complete his work below, and he entered the wheel-house shortly before noon, saying as he did so:
“I reckon the money is safe. I’ve hidden it where no one would ever think of looking, unless they were certain we had something of the kind on board. Say! but that land shows up now, don’t it?”
“There’s no longer any question about soon having all the assistance we need,” Ned replied cheerily. “Anything as large as that, even if it is only an island, must be inhabited.”
“I hope we shall be able to telegraph to father, for he must be worrying about us by this time.”
“You won’t have any trouble on that score. Take the wheel awhile, and I’ll see if I can’t trim the sails a little better. It looks to me as if we might get more speed out of the yacht.”
Ned was correct in this belief, for after the canvas had been drawn in a trifle more, it could readily be seen that she moved through the waterconsiderably faster, and the “bone in her teeth” was as large as one could have desired.
The sea was rapidly subsiding. The little craft no longer flung the water over her decks, but sent it swirling aft on either side in proper fashion.
In the cabin, pantry, and kitchen Roy was doing wonders in the cleaning line, and the Zoe was rapidly being gotten into shape for inspection.
“I’ll get dinner as soon as this is finished,” the amateur cook said after Ned had praised him for the altered appearance of the craft. “If you can spare Vance awhile it will help things along just so much.”
Once more Ned stood at the wheel alone; but the chances of reaching port very soon seemed so good that he was perfectly willing to remain there until it should be possible to come to an anchor.
The sun was yet above the horizon when, after a voyage which had been made at the caprice of the wind and tides, the Zoe entered a roadstead wherein were craft of every description.
“What city do you suppose this can be?” Roy asked in perplexity as the three stood in the wheel-house, where they had been every moment since the land could be distinctly seen.
It was a question which each member of theparty had already asked half a dozen times, and no one paid any particular attention to it.
It was sufficient for all that they had arrived at some place where an engineer and sailing master could probably be hired.