CHAPTER XVIII.HAVANA.
The yacht was run in as far toward the piers as the wind would permit and then the anchor was let go.
It seemed as if this had but just been done when a boat rowed by four sailors, with a man in uniform at the helm, pulled out to the Zoe.
“It begins to look as if we’d soon find out what port this is,” Ned said as he noticed this craft. “Those fellows are comin’ out most likely to learn who we are, and I reckon they know where they live.”
Just at that moment almost any visitor would have been welcome because of the information he could impart, and the amateur crew were ready to receive the officer when he came alongside.
He hailed them in a foreign tongue, and Ned, acting as the captain, replied in English:
“I’m blessed if I know what you are sayin’. This is the steam yacht Zoe, disabled, and in here for repairs.”
The visitor could speak English, as was soon learned when he came over the rail, saying as he did so:
“Where is the captain?”
“I suppose I’m in charge,” Ned replied. “This craft was chartered by the fathers of my companions to be used at their winter home in Florida. The crew were washed overboard during a gale and the steamer nearly wrecked. We managed to get her off and have come in here under sail. Will you kindly tell me where we are?”
“This is the port of Havana.”
“And we are in Cuba!” Vance cried as if in alarm.
“That is not so very far from home,” the officer replied with a smile. “A sail of less than a hundred miles will bring you to Key West.”
Then he questioned them further regarding the craft, and on taking his departure promised to send the boys an interpreter.
“Do not pay him more than $2 a day, and if, while making your repairs, there should be any dispute arise, come directly to me. I shall be pleased to render you all the assistance in my power.”
“If the man whom you send can bring us a boat at a reasonable price it will be a favor,” Ned said. “All our tenders have been carried away.”
“I will see that it is done,” the man replied, and then, with many expressions of friendliness, the official took his departure.
“Ain’t you goin’ it a little strong when you talk of buying a boat?” Vance asked.
“We’ve got to have one, otherwise how will it be possible to go ashore?”
“But what about money to pay for it?”
“I reckon what we took out of the hulk will see us through.”
“Are you counting on using that?” Vance asked in surprise.
“What else can we do? The machinery must be put in working order, we are bound to hire a crew, and we’ve got to have the interpreter which the officer is goin’ to send. All that can’t be accomplished without funds, and I see no reason why we shouldn’t dip into the hoard which some very jolly fellow must have stowed away for our especial benefit.”
“Of course we shall use it,” Roy added. “It would be ridiculous to suffer for anything when we have sufficient means in the hold to buy even a new craft if it should become necessary.”
Roy understood that he must do as his companions wished, but at the same time it seemed almost a sacrilege to use the treasure. As a matter of facthe had become almost a miser since the discovery of the wealth, and it pained him to think of spending so much as a single coin.
It was necessary to draw on the hoard for funds, and since this should be done while they were alone, Vance went below to attend to that very important task.
He returned with about a hundred Mexican dollars and half that number of gold-pieces, the value of which none of the party knew.
“I think your first work should be to go on shore with the interpreter to have this money changed,” Ned said when Vance had found a bag in which to deposit the coin. “There must be plenty of places here where you can sell it, and we ought to know the value of it.”
“I’ll do that, and afterward send machinists on board to see in what condition the engine is. We can engage a crew the day before we are ready to leave.”
Vance was eager to make one of the shore party, and Ned insisted that there was no reason why he should not go.
“There is nothing to be done here,” he said, “an’ I reckon one is enough to attend to the loafin’; but if that fellow don’t come pretty soon there’ll be no goin’ ashore for any of us. It will be dark in anhour, an’ you want daylight for it if you’re thinkin’ of buyin’ anything.”
Ned had hardly ceased speaking when the interpreter came alongside in an apparently new boat, this last fact being sufficient to explain to the boys who he was.
Judging from his face one would have said he was a Cuban; but he spoke English so well that it seemed certain he must have been born in the United States.
He presented himself very politely, almost too much so, Ned thought, and although not one of the party could have told the reason why, all felt a certain distrust of the man.
He explained that the officer of the port, probably meaning a sort of harbor master, sent him, and that the official had said that his wages were to be two American dollars per day.
The boat, he said, was cheap at $30, but he had only brought it out on approval, consequently they were at liberty to return it if not satisfactory.
“We will talk about that when we come back,” Roy said curtly. “Just now it is necessary to go on shore at once. We have some Mexican money which we want to turn into such coins as pass current here.”
As he spoke Roy took one of the gold-pieces from the bag and showed it to the man.
“It is very old,” the latter said as he examined the coin intently. “Have you just come from Mexico?”
“No, indeed, we were wrecked on one of the keys, we don’t know where, and this was the first port we made.”
Ned believed the man was giving more attention to the gold-piece than would have been natural had his curiosity been excited simply because it was very old.
He turned it over and over, glanced furtively around the yacht as if expecting to see something which might be connected with the money, and then said:
“This looks as if it had been under water some time.”
“I don’t see why,” Roy said quickly. “If exposed for any length of time to the action of salt water gold will turn very dark, whereas this is as bright as could be expected if it had been in circulation many years.”
“And yet it has not been used for a very long while—perhaps a hundred years.”
“How do you make that out?” Vance asked quickly.
“Because of its age. I should think a collectorof old coins would like to purchase such pieces of money.”
“We haven’t the time to hunt for that class of people. Just now we need money to pay for what it is necessary to purchase, and unless we go ashore pretty soon it will be too late to do anything until to-morrow.”
“It is believed there is a great deal of piratical gold hidden on the keys near here,” the interpreter said as he gave back the coin.
“But that can’t be any of it,” Vance replied quickly, “for——”
Roy prevented anything more being said by stepping on his friend’s foot at that instant, and this time Ned fancied he saw an odd expression come over the man’s face.
He said nothing, however, but went toward the rail as if ready to embark, and in a few moments the three were pulling rapidly toward the nearest pier.
“We shan’t be gone more than an hour,” Roy cried as they left the yacht, “and when we come back the boat shall be half-loaded with fruit. This is a good place in which to buy such things.”
“Take your time. I’m all right here, an’ will see to it that nobody comes on board while you are away.”
Ned watched until the little boat touched the dock, and then muttered to himself as he examined the hawsers to make certain they were holding:
“I’ll own up to bein’ a Dutchman if that fellow don’t try to find out more about the gold before we lose sight of him. I didn’t like his face for a cent. He is one of that kind of fellows who wouldn’t hesitate about putting a knife into a man’s back, an’ I think will bear watching.”
After ascertaining that everything on deck was in proper order, Ned went into the wheel-house to watch for the return of his friends, and when they had been absent about an hour his attention was drawn to a small boat, containing two men, which was being rowed around and around the yacht as if to make a general inspection.
“I hope they’ll know the Zoe when they see her again,” he said to himself as he watched the movements of the craft, and then it seemed to him as if these inquisitive strangers must have some connection with the interpreter.
“I’m makin’ a fool of myself,” he said with a laugh as the boat was finally headed for the shore. “Just because I don’t like the man’s face I’m givin’ him the credit of bein’ a tough case, when most likely he’s a poor duffer who has never a thought ofmore than earning $2 a day by acting as interpreter for sea captains who can’t speak Spanish. It won’t do any harm to make preparations for trouble, though, even if there is precious little chance we shall ever have any.”
Half an hour later the party returned, evidently in the best of spirits.
Roy had kept his word in regard to buying fruit, and had brought off enough of all kinds to be found in the market, to provide for their wants during the next week.
“Did you have any trouble in exchanging the money,” Ned asked in a low tone as Roy came over the rail.
“None whatever. The broker seemed surprised to see the pieces, however, and he and the interpreter talked for a long while in Spanish. The machinists will come aboard bright and early to-morrow, and Manuel thinks he can find a competent engineer for us at a moment’s notice.”
“Who’s Manuel?”
“The interpreter, of course.”
“Say, Roy, give me about $30, will you?”
“It’s more yours than mine, so take as much as you want,” and Roy pulled from his pocket a handful of money. “What are you going to do with it?”
“I’ll show you when I come back. I’m thinking of getting Manuel to go ashore with me.”
“All right. Don’t stay too long, for we’re bound to have a swell supper to-night.”
“I shan’t be away more than half an hour,” Ned replied, and then he asked the interpreter if he would take him for a short trip.
Manuel professed to be not only willing, but pleased to grant the favor, and as soon as the purchases of fruit and provisions could be taken from the boat, the two rowed toward the pier from which she had just come.