Dave Porter in the South Seas: or, The Strange Cruise of the Stormy Petrel

CHAPTER XXIV
THE CARGO MYSTERY EXPLAINED

There was a death-like silence for several seconds after Phil made his announcement. Even Captain Marshall was astonished, for he had not anticipated such a turn of affairs.

"Let me see that paper!" demanded Jasper Van Blott, wildly. "I will not believe a word of what you have said until I read that paper."

"Then read it," answered the shipowner's son, and passed it over.

With compressed lips, the supercargo perused the document. Then he gritted his teeth.

"So this is the game you have been playing on me, eh?" he snarled. "Well, it doesn't work."

"Doesn't work?" came from Roger, who was as much interested as any one.

"No, it doesn't work. That paper isn't worth the ink it's written with. It was drawn up in the United States, and we are not in the United States now."

"Perhaps not, but we are sailing under the United States flag, Mr. Van Blott," said Captain Marshall, quickly. "Besides that, I think the authorities here will respect a legal document drawn up in Uncle Sam's country."

"It's not worth a pinch of snuff!" roared the supercargo, and would have torn the paper to bits, had not Phil and Roger leaped forward and prevented him.

"None of that!" cried Phil. "Let that alone, or I'll have Captain Marshall place you under arrest."

"Arrest? Me under arrest? I'd like to see you do it!" fumed the supercargo.

"I'll do it, unless you do what is right," said the master of the Stormy Petrel, quickly. "Mr. Van Blott, your actions do you no credit. Trying to destroy that document proves to me beyond a doubt that you have something to conceal. I shall begin an investigation at once, and the boys shall aid me."

"I don't care!" roared Jasper Van Blott. "But I am done with the ship and the whole crowd."

"Please hand over the keys to your safe boxes."

With bad grace, the supercargo did so.

"Now you will please sit down and let us go through the accounts," continued the captain.

The supercargo squirmed and argued, and did his best to get away, but it was all to no purpose, and, in the end, he had to remain in the office until the captain, Phil, and Roger had examined all the shipping accounts. Some of the entries were mixed up, and they could not obtain any satisfactory explanation regarding them.

"Now we will go on deck and examine that stuff that was to go ashore," said Captain Marshall.

"Especially the goods for Baumann & Feltmuller," put in the senator's son.

"Ha! What do you know about that firm?" gasped Jasper Van Blott.

"Not much."

"You – you have been spying on me – you must have followed me on shore," gasped the supercargo. "But you are mistaken, you will find nothing wrong," he added, suddenly, and then appeared to calm down.

They went on deck, where they found Dave still on guard. The first mate was sulking near the rail. As soon as the captain appeared Dave walked up to him.

"I am glad you are here," he whispered. "Mr. Shepley wanted to send the goods ashore, but I told him that, if he did so, I would call you."

"Is that so? Thank you, Dave, I am glad you went on watch," replied the master of the Stormy Petrel.

The inspection of the goods began, and in the midst of the work Jasper Van Blott gave an exclamation.

"Did anybody bring that brown book up?" he queried.

Nobody knew anything about a brown book, and all looked puzzled.

"That has this transaction in it in full," went on the supercargo. "I remember now, I put the book in my stateroom. I will go below and get it. That will prove everything is as straight as a string. Then I am going to sue somebody for heavy damages," he added.

He walked to the companionway and disappeared. Captain Marshall continued to inspect the goods to go ashore, and the boys aided him. That something was wrong they did not doubt, and they waited impatiently for the supercargo to reappear with his brown book.

"The first mate has gone below, too," announced Roger, presently. "Maybe the pair are talking it over between them. They are certainly hand-in-glove with each other, according to what Dave says."

"Go below and tell Mr. Van Blott I want him to come up at once," returned Captain Marshall.

The senator's son disappeared down the companionway and was gone for several minutes. He came up with a worried look on his face.

"I can't find Mr. Van Blott anywhere!" he cried.

"What!" roared the master of the Stormy Petrel. "He must be down there."

"Unless he has sneaked ashore!" came quickly from Dave.

"Could he do that?" questioned Phil.

"He might."

"I will go below and look around," went on Captain Marshall. "You boys scatter on the deck and watch for him. He must not be allowed to get away!"

The boys did as requested, and the captain went below, to be gone quarter of an hour and more. When he came up, his face was much downcast.

"He has certainly gotten away," he declared. "His valise and some of his clothing are gone, and his money box is wide open and empty."

"Where is the mate?" asked Phil.

"There he is!" exclaimed Dave, pointing to the bow.

The captain ran forward.

"Mr. Shepley, have you seen Mr. Van Blott?"

"When?" inquired the mate, slowly.

"Within the last ten or twenty minutes."

"Why, yes."

"Where is he?"

"I think he walked ashore. I didn't notice, particularly."

"Humph! Did he have his valise?"

"I don't know but what he did. I wasn't paying any particular attention. Are we to unload, or not?" went on the first mate.

"We are to do nothing until Mr. Van Blott is found," answered the captain, shortly.

"All right; in that case, you'll wait a long time," murmured the mate to himself.

After that a regular hunt was instituted, and the boys went ashore, along with Billy Dill. They even visited the offices of Baumann & Feltmuller, but not a trace of the missing supercargo could be found anywhere.

When the boys got back to the bark, they found that Captain Marshall had begun on an examination of the goods taken from the hold. He found a number of cases mismarked – those which were to have been sent to Baumann & Feltmuller.

"This stuff seems to have been meant for some firm in Australia – Featherstone & Harmsworth," said the captain. "How it came on my ship is a mystery to me."

"Wait!" shouted Dave. "I know something about that. Just before we left San Francisco I heard some dock officials speaking about some costly cases of goods which had disappeared from a neighboring dock. The goods were for the firm of Featherstone & Harmsworth, I remember the name well. The stuff was to go to Sydney. They said they had tried their best, but could get no trace of the stolen cases."

"That explains it!" exclaimed Phil. "Van Blott took the cases and had them stowed away in the hold of this ship. He was going to sell the stuff to Baumann & Feltmuller, in part or in whole."

"I believe you have struck the truth," returned Captain Marshall. "And now, fearing exposure, he has fled."

"What can you do with the goods?" questioned Roger.

"I don't know, yet. Either return them to their owners, or sell them and forward the money. I'll have to think the matter over."

"What a rascal Van Blott has proved himself to be!" was Phil's comment.

"Yes, and I reckon that man in San Francisco, Bangor, was in with him," said Dave, and he was correct in his surmise. It may be added here, though, that Bangor never suffered for this crime, for he was caught, shortly after the sailing of the Stormy Petrel, and tried for something equally unlawful, and sentenced to prison for several years.

The stolen goods were placed in another part of the ship, and then the work of unloading a part of the regular cargo began. Paul Shepley had to superintend this work, and did so in a thoughtful mood.

"I wish I knew the truth about the mate," said Phil to Dave. "I am going to watch him pretty closely after this."

"He certainly had something in common with the supercargo," replied the country boy.

From Baumann & Feltmuller, Captain Marshall could learn but little. The merchants said that the supercargo had offered to sell them some goods which, he declared, had not been accepted by other parties because of delay in shipment. They had agreed to take the same and pay on delivery, and when convinced that all was fair and above board.

"They are a tricky firm," said the captain to the boys. "But, as I have no proof against them, I'll have to let them go."

In spite of the excitement over the exposure of the supercargo, Dave was anxious to sail from Cavasa Island and be on the way to Sobago. It was with great satisfaction that he heard Captain Marshall say they would set sail on the following Monday morning.

"And how long will it take us to reach Nanpi?" he asked of the master of the Stormy Petrel.

"That will depend upon the wind, lad. If we have luck, we ought to get there in four or five days. But sometimes the wind is mighty contrary around these parts."

While at Cavasa the boys spent one whole day ashore, and went out riding in the direction of the volcano in company with Billy Dill. The old tar showed them where he and Dunston Porter and Mr. Lemington had camped out, and where they had hunted for the treasure.

"I'd like to feel an earthquake once, just for fun," remarked Roger. "It must be a queer sensation."

"It is," answered Billy Dill. "An' one ye ain't apt to forgit in a hurry."

"If it was bad, I think I'd be scared out of my wits," said Phil. "What do you think about it, Dave?"

"I don't want any in mine."

"Oh, what's a little earthquake!" cried the senator's son. "It would be an experience worth talking about, that's all."

"Well, maybe you'll have your wish gratified before we leave this region of the globe," said Dave. "I understand that earthquakes are common for thousands of miles around. Sometimes the quakes make new islands, while other islands sink out of sight."

"Excuse me from being on an island when it sinks out of sight," cried Phil. "I'd rather be on solid ground any time." And in this statement the others agreed with him.

CHAPTER XXV
SWEPT ONWARD BY A TIDAL WAVE

"Off at last, and I am glad of it!"

"I suppose you are anxious to get to Nanpi, Dave?"

"I am, Roger. Can you blame me?"

"Not at all. In fact, if I were in your place, I think I'd be even more anxious. Meeting this Dunston Porter means so much to you," went on the senator's son.

The two chums were on the forward deck of the Stormy Petrel and the bark was just leaving the harbor of Tolao. It was a clear day, with a bright sun high overhead, and the boys felt in excellent spirits.

Nothing had been seen or heard of Jasper Van Blott, and, with the sailing of the bark, he was practically forgotten by Dave and Roger. But Phil and the captain remembered him and were sorry that they had not been able to bring the wicked supercargo to justice.

Although he was in nominal authority, Captain Marshall turned over the cargo books to Phil, and the shipowner's son did very well when it came to straightening out the tangle left by Van Blott. Phil wished to make a clean report to his father and worked with a will, until he "knew where he was at," as he declared.

"I rather think it will open my father's eyes," said Phil. "He has suspected Van Blott for some time, but he didn't think of anything like this."

On the second day out the wind died down utterly, and this state of affairs continued for several days. The sails flapped idly against the masts, and scarcely any progress was made.

"We are not going to make such a quick passage, after all," remarked Roger. "My! but this is slow work, I must declare!"

"And haven't you noticed the heat?" added Phil. "It seems to me to be unusually hot."

"It is," said Dave, who had been consulting a thermometer. "This is our warmest day, by four degrees. If it gets much warmer, we'll certainly melt."

That afternoon the sea appeared to be strangely agitated, and toward night the sailors noticed a large number of dead fish rising to the surface. Dave discovered a large shark, and this proved to be dead, also.

"There has been some disturbance under the ocean's surface," said Captain Marshall. "More than likely an earthquake."

"An earthquake! And we never knew it!" ejaculated Roger, and his tone showed his disappointment.

In the morning the sea was more agitated than ever. One minute it would appear to flatten out, the next, two waves would come together with a clash that sent the spray flying upward for many feet. More dead fish were in evidence on every hand.

"I have never witnessed anything like this," commented Captain Marshall. "I trust it gets no worse."

When the breeze sprang up, it came from the wrong direction, and the Stormy Petrel had to tack as best she could. The breeze kept growing stiffer and stiffer, until it was little short of a gale. Then a thick mist settled down on the ocean, shutting out the view upon all sides.

"I must say I don't like this," observed the senator's son. "Supposing we should run into something?"

"There isn't much to run into," replied Dave. "I just asked the captain, and he told me we were a good many miles from land of any sort."

"We might run into some other ship."

"There seem to be very few ships in this locality."

Morning found the Stormy Petrel still surrounded by the mist, and there was now little or no wind. The barometer had gone down, and the captain ordered some sail taken in, in anticipation of a storm.

At noon the mist appeared to lift a little, and once more the wind sprang up. This continued for several hours, when, of a sudden, a strange humming filled the air.

"What can that be?" cried Dave, who was on the forward deck.

"It's wind!" cried Billy Dill. "A reg'lar tornado, too."

Captain Marshall was on deck, no longer disposed to trust his first mate. He at once ordered all of the sails taken in and stowed away securely. This was just accomplished, when the hurricane – for it was nothing less – struck the Stormy Petrel, almost sending the bark on her beam ends.

"Better go below!" shrieked the captain to the three boys. "It's not safe for you on deck."

"I'll be careful," answered Phil, but the master of the bark shook his head, and then the three lads started for the companionway, holding on to first one thing and then another as they moved along.

Phil had just reached the bottom of the steps, Roger was half-way down, and Dave still at the top, when a wild cry from the bow reached their ears.

"Hold tight, all of ye!" came in the voice of Billy Dill. "Hold on, or ye'll be swept overboard, sure!"

Everybody on board the Stormy Petrel realized that this could be no idle warning, and all held on like grim death to anything that was handy. The next moment there was a strange hissing and pounding of the ocean, and, in a twinkling, the Stormy Petrel was caught on what seemed to be the top of a giant wave and carried along as if in the grip of a demon of the deep!

The upward and forward movement came with such a force that nearly everybody was taken clean and clear off his feet, and had not each one clung fast, as directed by Billy Dill, somebody must surely have been flung overboard. The bark turned around and around on the top of the wave, and then lurched forward and went on and on, the spray flying so thickly that scarcely a thing of what was beyond could be seen.

"My gracious!" gasped Roger, who had been flung down on top of Phil. "What is this?"

"Don't ask me!" returned Dave, who was sitting on the upper step with his arms entwined around the companionway rail. "I guess it's an earthquake and a hurricane rolled into one."

"Has anybody gone overboard?" asked Phil, as he tried to stand up.

"I don't know. Billy Dill gave the warning."

The door to the cabin was open, and the three lads fairly tumbled into the compartment. The bark was rocking to such an extent that to stand upright was out of the question. Everything that was loose was on the floor, shifting from one side to the other.

The boys waited with bated breath, and a few minutes later heard a crash on the deck, which told that a topmast, or one of the yards, had come down. Then came a yell of alarm from one of the sailors.

"We are going to sink! We are going to sink!"

"Did you hear that?" ejaculated Roger. "He said the Stormy Petrel was going to sink!"

"What shall we do?" put in Phil. "I don't want to drown!"

Phil had scarcely spoken when a side door to one of the staterooms burst open and a man came forth, wild with terror, his face scratched and bleeding. Much to their amazement, they saw it was Jasper Van Blott.

"Is the ship really going down?" cried the former supercargo, in a trembling voice.

"Where did you come from?" cried Dave.

"I – er – I've been in hiding. But, tell me, are we going down?"

"I don't know."

"I – er – I must go on deck and see. It nearly killed me, the bark bounced around so," went on Van Blott.

He started for the companionway, but had not yet reached the top when a big wave hit the Stormy Petrel broadside, sweeping the deck from end to end and sending some of the water into the cabin. The former supercargo was washed off the steps and came down flat on his back, screaming with terror.

The boys were nearly as much alarmed, and, as soon as it was possible to do so, all three crawled up to where they could get a view of the deck and the sea beyond.

The outlook was truly startling. The ocean was whipped up into a milk-white foam and was dashing and churning in all directions. One tremendous wave was rolling straight to the southward, and on this the bark was riding, like a monkey on a runaway race horse. The wind was whistling through the rigging, and the sky was filled with dark clouds and a strange, whitish dust.

"What is this?" called Dave to the captain, as the latter passed.

"It's a tidal wave!" yelled back Captain Marshall. "There has been another earthquake, and, most likely, some of the volcanoes in this vicinity have become active."

"Are we going down, as that sailor said?"

"Not yet. I will warn you, if there is any danger of our sinking."

"You can't put out any small boats, can you?" asked Phil.

"No, a small boat would not live a minute in such a sea as is now running."

"Has anybody been washed overboard?" asked Roger.

"I believe not – but I am not sure. It came on so sudden, we had no time to prepare for it," said Captain Marshall.

"Mr. Van Blott is below," said Dave.

"Van Blott! You must be dreaming!"

"No. He had been in hiding, and the alarm scared him."

"Humph! Well, we'll take care of him later – if we get out of this with a whole skin."

The boys could do nothing on deck, and so went below again, to find that the former supercargo had disappeared.

"It doesn't matter," observed Phil. "We know he is on board, and he can't get away until we land, and I guess we can root him out before that time."

The Stormy Petrel was still being carried forward, but now the motion was a bit more steady than before. It was true that she had encountered a tidal wave, due to a submarine earthquake, and also true that a volcano on the island of Cholomu had become active. The fine volcanic dust floated for miles over the ocean, covering the bark from stem to stern as with flour.

Half an hour later came another alarm. Somebody roared out: "Breakers ahead!" and in a moment more the Stormy Petrel was in the midst of a choppy sea, and staggered from side to side, as if ready to go over. Then came a scraping at the bottom.

"We have struck a reef!" cried the first mate. "We are done for now!" But, even as he spoke, the bark went on, over the reef and into what seemed to be a large harbor. Far in the distance could be seen a palm-fringed shore, with the waves dashing high up on the sands.

It took Captain Marshall but an instant to consider the situation, and he immediately gave orders to cast an anchor. The Stormy Petrel continued to rush onward, but quarter of a mile from the shore the forward progress was checked. Then another anchor was dropped, and it was seen that this had secured a good hold. In the meantime the waters of the tidal wave began to recede, and by sunset the ocean was almost as calm as ever.

"Thank fortune, that peril is a thing of the past!" said Dave, fervently; and the other boys and Captain Marshall echoed his sentiments.