Loe raamatut: «Mrs. Cliff's Yacht», lehekülg 13
CHAPTER XXV
A NOTE FOR CAPTAIN BURKE
Notwithstanding the fact that the Summer Shelter made very good time, that she had coaled at Nassau, and was therefore ready for an extended cruise, it was impossible for any of those on board of her to conceal from themselves the very strong improbability of sighting the Dunkery Beacon after she had got out upon the wide Atlantic, and that she would pass the comparatively narrow channel south of Tobago Island before the yacht reached it, was almost a foregone conclusion.
Mr. Burke assured Mrs. Cliff and his passengers that although their chase after the steamer might reasonably suggest a needle and a haystack, still, if the Dunkery Beacon kept down the coast in as straight a line as she could for Cape St. Roque, and if the Summer Shelter also kept the same line, and if the yacht steamed a great deal faster than the other vessel, it stood to reason that it could not be very long before the Summer Shelter overhauled the Dunkery Beacon.
But those who consulted with Mr. Portman were not so well encouraged as those who pinned their faith upon the Captain. The sailing-master had very strong doubts about ever sighting the steamer that had sailed away two days before they left Kingston. The ocean being so very large, and any steamer being so very small comparatively, if they did not pass her miles out of sight, and if they never caught up to her, he would not be in the least surprised.
Four days had passed since they left Kingston, when Burke and Shirley stood together upon the deck, scanning the horizon with a glass. "Don't you think it begins to look like a wild goose chase?" said the latter.
Burke thrust his hands into the pockets of his jacket.
"Yes," said he, "it does look like that! I did believe that we were going to overhaul her before she got outside the Caribbees, but she must be a faster vessel than I thought she was."
"I don't believe she's fast at all," said Shirley. "She's had two days' start, and that's enough to spoil our business, I'm afraid!"
"But we'll keep on," said Burke. "We're not going to turn back until our coal bunkers tell us we've got to do it!"
Steamers they saw, sometimes two in an hour, – sailing-vessels were sighted, near by or far away; – schooners, ships, or brigs, and these were steaming and sailing this way and that, but never did they see a steamer with a single funnel painted black and white, with the stripes running up and down.
It was very early next morning after the conversation between Burke and Shirley that the latter saw a long line of smoke just above the horizon which he thought might give him reason for looking out for the steamer of which they were in quest; but when he got his glass, and the masts appeared above the horizon, he saw that this vessel was heading eastward, perhaps a little northeast, and therefore was not likely to be the Dunkery Beacon. But in half an hour his glass showed him that there were stripes on the funnel of this steamer which ran up and down, and in a moment Burke was called, and was soon at his side.
"I believe that's the Dunkery!" cried the Captain, with the glass to his eye. "But she's on the wrong course! It won't take us long to overhaul her. We'll head the yacht a few points to the east. Don't say anything to anybody, – we don't want to disappoint them."
"Oh, we can overhaul her," said Shirley, who now had the glass, "for it isn't a stern chase by any means."
In less than half an hour everybody on board the Summer Shelter knew that the large steamer, which they could plainly see on the rolling waves to the south, must be the Dunkery Beacon, unless, indeed, they should find that this was one of her sister ships coming north. There was great excitement on board the yacht. The breakfast, which was in course of preparation, was almost entirely forgotten by those who had it in charge, and everybody who could possibly leave duty crowded to the rail, peering across the waves to the southward. It was not long before Shirley, who had the best eyes on board, declared that he could read with his glass the name Dunkery Beacon on the port bow.
"That's not where we ought to see it," cried Burke; "we ought to see it on the stern! But we've got her, boys!" – and then he remembered himself, and added, – "ladies; and now let's give three good cheers!"
Three rousing cheers were given by all on board with such good-will that they would have been heard on the other steamer had not the wind been pretty strong from the west.
The Summer Shelter gained upon the larger vessel, and Burke now ran up signals for her to lay to, as he wished to speak with her. To these signals, however, the Dunkery paid no immediate attention, keeping steadily on, although altering her course towards the south-east.
"What does that mean, Mr. Shirley?" asked Mrs. Cliff. "Mr. Burke wants her to stop, doesn't he?"
"Yes," said Shirley, "that is what the signal is for."
"But she doesn't stop!" said Mrs. Cliff. "Do you think there is any chance of her not stopping at all?"
"Can't say, madam," he answered. "But she's got good reason for keeping on her way; a vessel with all that treasure on board could hardly be expected to lay to because a strange vessel that she knows nothing about asked her to shut off steam."
"That seems to me very reasonable, indeed," said Mr. Litchfield, who was standing by. "But it would be very bad fortune, if, after all the trouble and anxiety you have had in overtaking this vessel, she should decline to stop and hear the news we have to tell."
There was a strong breeze and a good deal of sea, but Burke determined to get near enough to hail the Dunkery Beacon and speak to her. So he got round on her weather quarter, and easily overtaking her, he brought the Summer Shelter as near to the other vessel as he considered it safe to do. Then he hailed her, "Dunkery Beacon, ahoy! Is that Captain Hagar?"
The wind was too strong for the Captain of the other vessel to answer through his trumpet, but he signalled assent. Then Burke informed him that he wished him to lay to in order that he might send a boat on board; that he had very important orders to Captain Hagar from his owners, and that he had followed him from Jamaica in order to deliver them. For some time there was no answer whatever to these loudly bellowed remarks, and the two vessels kept on side by side.
"Anyway," said Burke to Mr. Burdette, "she can see that we're a lot faster than she is, and that she can't get away from us!"
"It may be that she's afraid of us," said the mate, "and thinks we're one of the pirates."
"That can't be," said Burke, "for she doesn't know anything about the pirates! I'll hail her again, and tell her what we are, and what our business is. I think it won't be long before she lays to just to see what we want."
Sure enough, in less than fifteen minutes the Dunkery Beacon signalled that she would lay to, and before long the two vessels, their engines stopped and their heads to the wind, lay rising and falling on the waves, and near enough to speak to each other.
"Now, then, what do you want?" shouted the Captain of the Dunkery.
"I want to send a boat aboard with an important message from Blackburn!"
After a few minutes the answer came, "Send a boat!"
Orders were given to lower one of the yacht's boats, and it was agreed that Shirley ought to be the man to go over to the Dunkery Beacon. "Who do you want to go with you?" asked Burke.
"Nobody but the boat's crew," he answered. "I can explain things better by myself. Captain Hagar seems to be an obstinate fellow, and it won't be easy to turn him back on his course. But if I want anybody to stand by me and back me up in what I say, you might let some of the clergymen come over. He might believe them, and wouldn't me. But I'll talk to him first by myself."
Every member of the Synod declared that he was perfectly willing to go to the other vessel if he should be needed, and Mrs. Cliff assured Burke that if she could be of any good in making the Captain of the Dunkery Beacon understand that he ought to turn back, she would be perfectly willing to be rowed over to his vessel.
"I don't think it will be necessary to put a lady into a boat on such a sea as this," said Burke. "But when he hears what Shirley has to tell him, that Captain will most likely be glad enough to turn back."
Captain Burke was afraid to trust any of his clerical crew to row a ship's boat on such a heavy sea, and although he would be perfectly willing to go himself as one of the oarsmen, he would not leave the yacht so long as Mrs. Cliff was on board; but Mr. Burdette, the sailing-master, and the assistant engineer volunteered as crew of the boat, while Shirley himself pulled an oar.
When the boat reached the Dunkery Beacon, Shirley was soon on board, while the three men in the boat, holding to a line which had been thrown them, kept their little craft from bumping against the side of the big steamer by pushing her off with their oars. On board the Summer Shelter everybody stood and gazed over the rail, staring at the other steamer as if they could hear with their eyes what was being said on board of her. After waiting about twenty minutes, a note was passed down to the men in the boat, who pushed off and rowed back with it to the Summer Shelter.
The note, which Captain Burke opened and read as soon as he could lay hold of it, ran as follows:
"To Captain Burke of the 'Summer Shelter':
"It's my opinion that you're trying to play a beastly trick on me! It isn't like my owners to send a message to me off the coast of South America. If they wanted to send me a message, it would have been waiting for me at Kingston. I don't know what sort of a trick you are trying to play on me, but you can't do it. I know my duties, and I'm going to keep on to my port. And what's more, I'm not going to send back the man you sent aboard of me. I'll take him with me to Rio Janeiro, and hand him over to the authorities. They'll know what to do with him, but I don't intend to send him back to report to you whatever he was sent aboard my vessel to find out.
"I don't know how you came to think I had treasure on board, but it's none of your business anyway. You must think I'm a fool to turn back to Kingston because you tell me to. Anybody can write a telegram. So I'm going to get under way, and you can steam back to Kingston, or wherever you came from.
"Captain Hagar."
Captain Burke had hardly finished reading this extraordinary letter when he heard a cry from the boat lying by the side of the yacht in which the three men were waiting, expecting to go back to the other vessel with an answer. "Hello!" cried Mr. Burdette. "She's getting under way! That steamer's off!"
And at this a shout arose from everybody on board the Summer Shelter. The propeller of the Dunkery Beacon was stirring the water at her stern, and she was moving away, her bow turned southward. Burke leaned over the rail, shouted to his men to get on board and haul up the boat, and then he gave orders to go ahead full speed.
"What does all this mean?" cried Mrs. Cliff. "What's in that letter, Mr. Burke? Are they running away with Mr. Shirley?"
"That's what it looks like!" he cried. "But here's the letter. You can all read it for yourselves!" and with that he dashed away to take charge of his vessel.
All now was wild excitement on board the Summer Shelter, but what was to be done or with what intention they were pursuing the Dunkery Beacon and rapidly gaining upon her, no one could say, not even Captain Burke himself. The yacht was keeping on the weather quarter of the other vessel, and when she was near enough, he began again to yell at her through his speaking-trumpet, but no answer or signal came back, and everybody on board the larger vessel seemed to be attending to his duties as if nothing had happened, while Mr. Shirley was not visible.
While the Captain was roaring himself red in the face, both Mrs. Cliff and Willy Croup were crying, and the face of each clergyman showed great anxiety and trouble. Presently Mrs. Cliff was approached by the Reverend Mr. Arbuckle, the oldest of the members of the late Synod who had shipped with her.
"This is a most unfortunate and totally unexpected outcome of our expedition," said he. "If Mr. Shirley is taken to Rio Janeiro and charges made against him, his case may be very serious. But I cannot see what we are to do! Don't you believe it would be well to call a consultation of those on board?"
Mrs. Cliff wiped her eyes, and said they ought to consult. If anything could be done, it should be done immediately.
Captain Burke put the yacht in charge of the mate, and came aft where five of the clergymen, the sailing-master, and Mrs. Cliff and Willy were gathered together. "I'm willing to hold council," said he, "but at this minute I can't give any advice as to what ought to be done. The only thing I can say, is that I don't want to desert Shirley. If I could do it, I would board that vessel and take him off, but I don't see my way clear to that just yet. I'm not owner of this yacht, but if Mrs. Cliff will give the word, I'll follow that steamer to Rio Janeiro, and if Shirley is put on shore and charges made against him, I'll be there to stand by him!"
"Of course, we will not desert Mr. Shirley," cried Mrs. Cliff. "This yacht shall follow that vessel until we can take him on board again. I can't feel it in my heart, gentlemen, to say to you that I'm willing to turn back and take you home if you want to go. It may be very hard to keep you longer, but it will be a great deal harder if we are to let the Captain of that ship take poor Mr. Shirley to Rio Janeiro and put him into prison, with nobody to say a word for him!"
"Madam," said Mr. Arbuckle, "I beg that you will not speak of the question of an immediate return on our account. This is in every way a most unfortunate affair, but we all see what ought to be done, what it is our duty to do, and we will do it! Can you give me an idea, Mr. Portman, of the length of time it would probably require for us to reach Rio Janeiro?"
"I think this yacht could get there in a week," said the sailing-master; "but if we're to keep company with that hulk over there, it will take us ten days. We may have trouble about coal, but if we have good winds like these, we can keep up with the Dunkery Beacon with half steam and our sails."
"Mr. Litchfield," said Mrs. Cliff, "the Captain is up in the pilot house. I can't climb up there, but won't you go and tell him that I say that we must stand by Mr. Shirley no matter what happens, nor where we have to go to!"
CHAPTER XXVI
"WE'LL STICK TO SHIRLEY!"
When night began to fall, the Dunkery Beacon was still keeping on her course, – a little too much to the eastward, Mr. Portman thought, – and the Summer Shelter was still accompanying her almost abreast, and less than half a mile away. During the day it had been seldom that the glasses of the yacht had not been directed upon the deck of the larger vessel. Several times Mr. Shirley had been seen on the main deck, and he had frequently waved his hat. It was encouraging to know that their friend was in good condition, but there were many hearts on board the Summer Shelter which grew heavier and heavier as the night came on.
Burke and Burdette stood together in the pilot house. "Suppose she gets away from us in the night?" said the mate.
"I don't intend to let her do it," replied his Captain. "Even if she douses every glim on board, I'll keep her in sight! It will be starlight, and I'm not afraid, with a vessel as easily managed as this yacht, to lie pretty close to her."
"Then there's another thing," said Burdette.
"You're thinking they may get rid of him?" asked Burke.
"Yes," said the other, "I was thinking of that!"
The Captain did not reply immediately. "That came across my mind too," said he, "but it's all nonsense! In the first place, they haven't got any reason for wanting to get rid of him that way, and besides, they know that if they went into Rio Janeiro without Shirley, we could make it very hot for them!"
"But he's a queer one – that Captain Hagar!" said Burdette. "What was he doing on that easterly course? I think he's a scaly customer, that's what I think!"
"Can't say anything about that," answered Burke. "But one thing I know, – I'm going to stick to him like a thrasher to a whale!"
Very early the next morning Mr. Hodgson came aft where Captain Burke was standing with the sailing-master. "Sir," said he, "I am a clergyman and a man of peace, but I declare, sir, that I do not think any one, no matter what his profession, should feel himself called upon to submit to the outrageous conduct of the Captain of that vessel! Is there no way in which we could approach her and make fast to her, and then boldly press our way on board in spite of objection or resistance, and by force, if it should be necessary, bring away Mr. Shirley, whose misfortune has made us all feel as if he were not only our friend, but our brother. Then, sir, I should let that vessel go on to destruction, if she chooses to go."
Burke shook his head. "You may be sure if I considered it safe to run the two vessels together I would have been on board that craft long ago! But we couldn't do it, – certainly not with Mrs. Cliff on the yacht!"
"No indeed!" added Mr. Portman. "Nobody knows what damage they might do us. For my part, I haven't any faith in that vessel. I believe she's no better than a pirate herself!"
"Hold on!" exclaimed Burke. "Don't talk like that! It wouldn't do for the women to get any such notions into their heads!"
"But it is in your head, isn't it, sir?" said Mr. Hodgson.
"Yes," said Burke, "something of the sort. I don't mind saying that to you."
"And I will also say to you," replied the young clergyman, "that we talked it over last night, and we all agreed that the actions of the Dunkery Beacon are very suspicious. It does not seem at all unlikely that the great treasure she carries has been too much of a temptation for the Captain, and that she is trying to get away with it."
"Of course, I don't know anything about that Captain," said Burke, "or what he is after, but I'm pretty sure that he won't dare to do anything to Shirley as long as I keep him in sight. And now I'm going to bear down on him again to hail him!"
The Summer Shelter bore down upon the other steamer, and her Captain hailed and hailed for half an hour, but no answer came from the Dunkery Beacon.
Willy Croup was so troubled by what had happened, and even more by what was not happening, – for she could not see any good which might come out of this persistent following of the one vessel by the other, – that her nerves disordered and tangled themselves to such a degree that she was scarcely able to cook.
But Mrs. Cliff kept up a strong heart. She felt that a great deal depended upon her. At any moment an emergency might arise when she would be called upon, as owner of the yacht, to decide what should be done. She hoped very earnestly that if the Captain of the Dunkery Beacon saw that the Summer Shelter was determined to follow him wherever he went, and whatever he might do, he would at last get tired of being nagged in that way, and consent to give up Mr. Shirley.
About eight o'clock in the morning, all belief in the minds of the men on board the yacht that the Dunkery Beacon intended to sail to Rio Janeiro entirely disappeared, for that steamer changed her course to one considerably north of east. A little after that a steamer was seen on the horizon to the north, and she was bearing southward. In the course of half an hour it seemed as if this new steamer was not only likely to run across the course of the Dunkery Beacon, but was trying to do it.
"Captain," exclaimed Mrs. Cliff, grasping Burke by the arm, "don't you think it looks very much as if that Captain Hagar was trying to run away with the treasure which has been entrusted to him?"
"I didn't intend to say anything to you about that," he replied, "but it looks like it most decidedly!"
"If that should be the case," said Mrs. Cliff, "don't you think Mr. Shirley's situation is very dangerous?"
"Nobody knows anything about that, madam," said he, "but until we get him back on this yacht, I'll stick to her!"
Burke could not make out the new-comer very well, but he knew her to be a Mediterranean steamer. She was of moderate size, and making good headway. "I haven't the least bit of a doubt," said he to Burdette, "that that's the pirate vessel from Genoa!"
"I shouldn't wonder if you're right!" said the mate, taking the glass. "I think I can see a lot of heads in her bow, and now I wonder what is going to happen next!"
"That nobody knows," said Burke, "but if I had Shirley on board here, I'd steam away and let them have it out. We have done all we're called upon to do to keep those Peruvian fools from losing that cargo of gold!"
The strange vessel drew nearer and nearer to the Dunkery Beacon, and the two steamers, much to the amazement of the watchers on the yacht, now lay to and seemed prepared to hail each other. They did hail, and after a short time a boat was lowered from the stranger, and pulled to the Dunkery Beacon. There were but few men in the boat, although there were many heads on the decks from which they had come.
"This beats me!" ejaculated Burke. "They seem willing enough to lay to for her!"
"It looks to me," said Mr. Burdette, "as if she wanted to be captured!"
"I'd like to know," said the Captain, "what's the meaning of that queer bit of blotched bunting that's been run up on the Dunkery?"
"Can't tell," said the other, "but there's another one like it on the other steamer!"
"My friends," said Mr. Arbuckle, standing in a group of his fellow-clergymen on the main deck, "it is my earnest opinion that those two ships are accomplices in a great crime."
"If that be so," said another, "we are here in the position of utterly helpless witnesses. But we should not allow ourselves to look on this business from one point of view only. It may be that the intentions of that recently arrived vessel are perfectly honorable. She may bring later orders from the owners of the Dunkery Beacon, and bring them too with more authority than did Mr. Shirley, who, after all, was only a volunteer!"
The yacht was lying to, and at this moment the lookout announced a sail on the starboard quarter. Glancing in that direction, nearly everybody could see that another steamer, her hull well up in view, was coming down from the north.
"By George!" cried Burke, "most likely that's another of the pirates!"
"And if it is," said his mate, "I think we'll have to trust to our heels!"
Burke answered quietly, "Yes, we'll do that when we've got Shirley on board, or when it's dead sure we can't get him!"
The people from the Mediterranean steamer did not remain on board the Dunkery Beacon more than half an hour, and when they returned to their vessel, she immediately started her engines and began to move away. Making a short circuit, she turned and steamed in the direction of the distant vessel approaching from the northward.
"There," cried Burke, "that steamer off there is another of the pirates, and these scoundrels here are going to meet her. They've got the whole thing cut and dried, and I'll bet my head that the Dunkery Beacon will cruise around here until they're ready to come down and do what they please with her!"
The actions of the treasure ship now seemed to indicate that Mr. Burke was correct in his surmises. She steamed away slowly towards the south, and then making a wide sweep, she steered northward, directing her course toward the yacht as if she would speak with it.
