CHAPTER XX.AN ILL-ADVISED START.
Vance hastened to the forward cabin as soon as he saw Ned go down the companion-way, and arrived there just in time to hear the last portion of his remark.
Roy seemed thoroughly bewildered on thus learning that the interpreter had deceived them, and stood silent and motionless as Vance said bitterly:
“With such a man to manage the job, it isn’t hard to fancy that they’ll make a pretty thorough search of this craft before leaving her.”
“The best thing we can do is to send him ashore at once,” Ned added. “We don’t want such fellows around, for it isn’t safe.”
“But Boy has already hired a sailing master and a steward. In addition to that, he has engaged Manuel to go with us to Key West.”
Ned looked at Roy as if asking if the statement was correct.
“I didn’t think there would be any harm in making ready to leave as soon as possible, for the machinists reported that the engine had been repaired, and by leaving now we can be in Key West before morning.”
“But you surely are not willing to take a crew selected by Manuel after what I have told you?” Ned said in surprise.
“When I engaged them I didn’t know there was anything wrong.”
“But now that—What is going on? It sounds as if we were under way!”
Ned ran hastily up the companion stairs, looked around for an instant, and then leaped below in the greatest excitement as he said hurriedly:
“It is a fact! We are steaming out of the harbor! What is the meaning of it?”
“I told them to start the minute you came on board,” Roy said in a low tone, wishing from the very bottom of his heart that he had never given such an order.
“And we are going to run across with four men on board who are perfect strangers, except that we know one told an absolute lie for the purpose of preventing you from sending any word to your parents!” Ned exclaimed as he literally threw himself into a chair and stared moodily at the floor.
“I wasn’t consulted in the matter at all,” Vance said angrily. “I told Roy I thought he should wait till you came aboard.”
“I surely asked your opinion about taking Manuel as interpreter,” Roy said sharply.
“Yes; but that was after you had made the trade with the others, and they virtually had possession of the yacht.”
“Well, it can’t be helped now, and we must decide what may be done to prevent them from taking us by surprise,” Ned said with a long-drawn sigh.
He fancied he knew exactly how Roy felt when he made the bargain, and that it had only been done from a desire to be with his parents as soon as possible, therefore it did not seem to him right that the boy should be blamed.
“Why can’t it be helped?” Vance cried sharply. “What is to prevent us from ordering them to put back?”
“If they have come on board with any idea of taking possession of the steamer, they wouldn’t obey the command and we should only succeed in starting a row before being prepared.”
“I’ll soon know what they mean!” Roy said angrily as he went toward the companion-way.
“Wait a minute!” Ned cried as he caught him by the arm. “Don’t act as hastily as you did before,but think the matter over first. Suppose they refuse to obey orders, what can we do before mapping out a plan?”
“I’ll take one of the revolvers with me and make them do as I say.”
“And probably be knocked down before you had spoken half a dozen words, even though the men were perfectly honest. Who do you suppose would allow a boy to come at him with a drawn weapon without making some kind of a row?”
It did not take many moments for Roy to realize the truth of this, and he seated himself on one of the lockers in moody silence.
“Well, see here, this won’t do,” Vance suddenly cried. “The yacht is getting further out of the harbor every moment, and if there is such an idea as turning back, it should be carried into effect at once.”
“I don’t know what to say,” Roy replied in dismay.
“And I think it would be foolish to attempt to change any of the orders which have been given,” Ned added. “If the men are bent on mischief they wouldn’t obey, and if they are honest we shall get to Key West without trouble.”
“Well, are you going to sit here and let matters take their own course?” Vance asked impatiently.
“This is what I think might be done,” Ned replied, speaking slowly, as if weighing well his words. “One of us could sit in the pilot-house and the other in the engine-room all the time, each armed with a revolver. The third would spell either when it became necessary, and thus a watch might be kept over the two most important sections of the craft.”
“But suppose they should raise a row because we remained on guard?” Vance asked.
“If they are perfectly honest nothing of the kind could happen, and if not, the question will surely arise, when we can speak right out and say exactly why we don’t like the looks of things. Men who have come aboard simply to earn their wages by performing the necessary work surely wouldn’t object to those who stand in the place of the owners caring for the property.”
“What do you think of that plan, Roy?” Vance asked.
“I’ll go in for anything you two believe best. After being so smart I ought to be willing to tie my head in a bag until we reach port.”
“But you haven’t made any provision for keeping an eye on the hold,” Vance suggested in a whisper.
“Why can’t you do that? I’ll go into the pilot-house, Roy into the engine-room, and you would beat liberty to prowl around anywhere. It won’t be a very long watch if they intend to play square.”
“Then let’s begin at once.”
All hands arose to their feet and ascended the companion-way, since it was necessary first to go on deck in order to reach either of the places referred to.
Manuel was standing just beneath the wheel-house when the boys reached the open air, and it looked very much as if he had been hovering around the hatch-way in the hope of overhearing what might be said in the forward cabin, where the consultation was held.
“We are under way,” he said to Roy, treating him as the leader of the party, as was but natural, since by him he and his friends had been put in possession of the little craft.
“So I see. We should arrive some time during the night, for this craft can make twelve knots under ordinary circumstances.”
“If the weather holds good you will awaken in port,” was the reply. “The captain has been to Key West many times, and will get the little steamer there as soon as any other person could.”
“How about the engineer?” Vance asked.
“Oh, he is a master of his trade; you need have no fears but that she will be kept at full speed.”
“I think I’ll have a look at him,” Roy said, and as he started aft followed by Manuel, Ned suddenly remembered that after deciding upon their course of action they had been so careless as to forget the weapons, which were in one of the after-cabin lockers.
“Hold on a minute!” he said quickly. “I wish you would show me where those papers were put.”
“What papers?” Roy asked innocently, and the most careless observer would have understood that there was nothing of the kind aboard.
“The ones I gave you just before I went on shore,” and by dint of much winking, which may or may not have been seen by the interpreter, Roy finally understood that he should accompany his friends.
“Well, of all thick-headed mortals you are the worst!” Vance whispered when they were in the after cabin. “It was necessary for Ned to give the whole snap away before you could understand that he wanted to speak with you.”
“I’ll admit that I’m about as stupid as fellows are usually made,” Roy replied seriously, “and the knowledge of what I have possibly done only makes me worse. What is it you wanted, Ned?”
“We forgot the revolvers, like a set of chumps, and they are here,” Ned replied as he opened the locker.
The words had hardly been spoken, and before the weapons could be raised, when the companion-way doors were suddenly pulled to, the hatch drawn over, while the click of metal told that the bolts had been drawn.
Vance was at the top of the stairs instantly pounding on the wood-work, but no attention was paid to him for several moments.
“Unlock this door!” he shouted. “What do you mean by shutting us in here?”
The party on the outside appeared to be making the fastenings secure, and not until this had been done to his satisfaction did he condescend to reply; then the prisoners heard the voice of Manuel as he said loudly:
“We have taken a notion to learn where those old coins come from and think you may have a good supply on board, consequently found it necessary to take possession. It won’t do any good to shout and rave, for we are well out of the harbor. So try to make the best of a bad matter.”
Ned took careful aim in the direction of the voice and discharged one barrel of his revolver, the bullet plowing its way through the thin barrier; but, so far as could be ascertained, doing no further damage.
“I’ll soon show you how to do that sort of thing,my bantam,” Manuel replied angrily, and then the sound of his footsteps on the roof of the cabin told that he had gone forward.
“It is just as I feared,” Ned said with a sigh. “That fellow had all the opportunity he needed and has taken advantage of it. The sight of the money told him almost as plainly as words could have done that we had found a treasure on the key where the yacht went ashore.”
“And I was such a fool as to arrange everything for them in the best possible shape!” Roy moaned. “It doesn’t seem as if a fellowcouldmake such a fool of himself as I have succeeded in doing.”
“It’s no use crying over what can’t be helped,” Ned said cheerily as he mentally braced himself to appear cheerful lest his companions should lose all courage. “We must try to get the best of those fellows.”
“And we stand a mighty good chance, don’t we? Four of them against three who are locked into a place where they not only can’t help themselves, but are shut out from every other portion of the steamer!” Vance said bitterly. “Now they are convinced there is treasure on board, it won’t take more than ten minutes to discover it, and most likely the yacht is being headed this very minute where they can trust to finding friends.”
Ned Shoots at Manuel Through the Cabin Skylight.—Page251.
Ned Shoots at Manuel Through the Cabin Skylight.—Page251.
Ned Shoots at Manuel Through the Cabin Skylight.—Page251.
“I don’t fancy she is bound for Key West,” Ned replied, “but I can’t see why it is necessary to look for friends, since they have got things all their own way, while we’re shut up here like rats in a trap.”
Then came a long interval of silence as each fellow was trying in vain to devise some scheme by which the recapture of the yacht would be possible, and all were startled as if by an electric shock when a loud report rang out, followed by the splintering of wood and glass, as a bullet lodged in the panels of the state-room door within a few inches of Ned’s head.
For an instant the three stood as if panic-stricken, and then Vance ran toward the bulkhead which divided the cabin from a portion of the engine-room as he cried:
“Get up here, quick! He’s trying for another shot!”
As he spoke he pointed to the skylight, from which direction the bullet had come, and there could be seen the interpreter’s legs as he was gliding noiselessly around in the hope of seeing his intended victims more clearly.
This was just the opportunity Ned wanted, and, resting his revolver on his arm in order to take more steady aim, fired twice in rapid succession.
A scream of pain told that at least one of the missiles had struck the target, and the oaths and imprecations which followed gave very good evidence as to who had been wounded.
“You shall pay for this, you scoundrels!” Manuel cried in a fury. “Don’t think that because you are hidden from view it is impossible to get at you. There is no need of our hunting you out; a few days with neither food nor water will soon do the business!”
“But what is to prevent our winging all hands of your party before we’re starved?” Ned cried. “We are justified in shooting to kill, for you have shown yourselves to be pirates, and we shan’t give in without a struggle. Watch your chance!” he added in a whisper to Roy. “We’ve got to shoot them down or else go under ourselves.”
“You won’t crow so loud to-morrow,” Manuel shouted, and then the sound of halting footsteps told that he had gone forward once more.
“You are shivering like a fellow with a chill,” Vance said to Roy.
“So would you if you had gotten us into the scrape that I have. It seems as if I had doomed all three to death.”
“You mustn’t give way like that,” Ned said sharply, “or there will be very little hope for us.Vance, you take the revolver until Roy pulls himself together, for just now I don’t believe he could hit the side of a barn.”
“Is this all we are to do—stand here for them to sneak up and shoot us whenever they feel like it?” Vance asked as he obeyed the order.
“Not by any manner of means, an’ it won’t pay to remain in this spot very long, for they can fire at us from the engine-room. I’ll go into one of the state-rooms, and you take the other. By leaving the doors open it will be possible to keep watch on the skylights, and that is the most dangerous point just now.”
Vance made his way quickly into the room on the starboard side, fastening the door open with a chair lest the motion of the craft should close it, and Ned went into the apartment opposite, Roy following him.
Not until this had been done was it learned that the stock of cartridges was yet in the locker, and it was necessary they be divided before Manuel should have attended to his wound and returned to watch for a chance to shoot one of the prisoners.
Ned darted out very swiftly, knowing he stood a poor show of returning if one of the pirates caught a glimpse of him, and in a very short time both the watchers were well supplied with ammunition.
There was no encouragement to be gained from the fact that they were well armed and sheltered from view, as all three realized after they had had time to think the matter over.
The men could easily find the gold and silver, run the yacht into some harbor, and there abandon her, or, making preparations to leave in the small boat at the proper moment, scuttle her.
It was more than probable they would pursue this last course, as Ned admitted to himself after studying the matter several moments, and he could not repress a shudder as he thought that even now they might be arranging such a plan.
The yacht need not be taken more than a dozen miles from the island of Cuba before the deed could be done with but slight chance of detection, and the treasure in the hold was sufficient to tempt such men as they undoubtedly were to commit even a greater crime in order to gain possession of it.
The watchers were sitting on the floor with their backs against the bunks, where they could have a full view of the skylight, and each held his revolver in his hand ready for immediate use.
“There’s precious little hope that either of you will get a chance to shoot,” Roy said after a long time of silence, during which he had remained with his face buried in his hands. “They are not obligedto come aft for everything, and even if it should be necessary, it could be done after dark when we can’t see them.”
“I’m a Dutchman if there isn’t one thing in our favor!” Ned cried as a sudden thought occurred to him.
“What is that?” Roy and Vance asked in concert.
“The boat is being towed behind. They have got to come around here before they can abandon the yacht.”
“There’s no chance of that being done unless——”
Vance ceased speaking very suddenly as he understood what Ned had been thinking about, and to him the future, not very bright before, suddenly grew yet more dark.
Then came another time of silence, during which the motion of the screw suddenly ceased, and the prisoners looked at each other in surprise and alarm.
Was this stoppage due to the engine itself, or had the pirates arrived at that point where they were ready to adopt yet bolder tactics than before?
As a matter of course this question could not be answered among themselves, and they waited in painful suspense for some noise by which they might gain an inkling of the true state of affairs.