Kitabı oku: «Motor Boat Boys Down the Danube; or, Four Chums Abroad», sayfa 5

CHAPTER IX
THE HUNGARIAN MOB

“There’s only one thing we can do,” Jack told them, “which is to work the boat along closer to the western shore. Before long, unless my map of the river is all wrong, we ought to strike a town by the name of Mohaca, a railroad place situated on a sharp bend of the Danube, and there must be some one in that town who can do the necessary repairs to our engine, if we hold over half a day.”

The others admitted that the plan proposed by their leader sounded good to them. And accordingly they set to work first of all to get the trailing anchor aboard, so that their progress would be delayed no longer.

Buster was much relieved. Besides, it was Josh who was saturated to the skin now, and when one means to be cheerful it counts for considerable “whose ox is gored,” as Buster liked to put it.

Still he felt sorry when he saw Josh shivering, for the air had become suddenly quite cool after the passing of the storm, and insisted on wrapping a blanket about the slim boy.

All of them kept watch for signs of the town below. The afternoon was wearing on very fast now, and they hoped to arrive before sunset. It might be a difficult matter to find the machinist they wanted if they reached the town on the bank of the Danube after darkness had set in.

“I reckon it’s at that bend below there,” said Jack; “if you look sharp you can see the sun glinting from what looks to me like a church steeple, with a cross on the same.”

“You hit it that time, Jack,” asserted Josh, “because that’s just what it is. For one I’ll be glad to get where we can have a fire and dry out.”

They were compelled to work pretty hard in order to get the boat over close to the shore where the town stood. The current seemed to run in a contrary direction, and did its best to frustrate their efforts.

Jack, however, remembering many other times when they had been aboard motorboats that acted queerly, or else broke down, had seen to it that there was a push-pole lashed to the side of the craft. The river at this point proved to be comparatively shallow, so that it was easily possible to reach bottom.

By changing hands, and each one having a turn, they kept where they wanted to go, and in this way made the town.

It did not differ from other places they had been seeing along the Danube, and after the storm it looked rather subdued. In the morning they would find the customary amount of life in the place, together with the usual display of soldiers’ uniforms, Jack did not doubt in the least.

As they were passing slowly along in search of some place where they might hope to have their broken-down engine repaired on the following day, as well as a harbor of refuge for the coming night, loud cheers drew their attention to the railroad which ran close to the river bank.

“It’s only another train-load of troops going to the front!” announced Josh, as they saw numerous heads thrust from the windows of the carriages, together with wildly waving hands.

“They think it’s a picnic to start with,” said George, “but before long they’ll sing a different tune, I guess; that is, those who live through the first battle. In these days of quick-firing guns and the terrible shells, the chances a fellow has of coming back home are mighty small. No soldiering for me if I know myself.”

“Oh, that’s all hot air you’re giving us, George,” scoffed Josh. “You know mighty well that if our country was in danger, and you were old enough, you’d enlist right away. So would we all of us, as well as Herb and Andy at home. You’ve got your faults, George, as all of us have, but being a coward isn’t one of them by a long shot.”

George did not make any reply to this speech, but smiled as though he felt rather pleased to know even Josh had such a good opinion of his fighting abilities.

The long train with its shouting crowds passed from sight. Evidently these troops were headed for the Servian border, and expected to see warm service there, fighting against the brave little country that had long since won its independence from the Turks.

“I think I see what we’re wanting to find,” remarked Jack presently.

“It’s the usual boatyard you find in nearly all river towns,” added Josh; “and we ought to be able to make arrangements for having our engine looked over and repaired in the morning.”

“Make your minds easy on that score,” advised George, calmly enough; “for even if we don’t run across a machinist who can do the job, trust me to tackle it.”

“What! you?” ejaculated Buster.

“Why not?” demanded George, as though aggrieved that any one should for a moment question his ability in that line. “Haven’t I taken the engine of my Wireless to pieces many a time and put it together again?”

“That’s right, you have,” spoke up Josh, “because you never could let well enough alone, but must be monkeying around your engine all the time. That’s why Jack insisted in the beginning of this voyage that you were to be a passenger and let him act as pilot and engineer.”

“But the engine’s broken down, isn’t it?” demanded George.

“Sure it has,” Josh admitted, “but that was a sheer accident, and you didn’t have a thing to do with it.”

“There’s no reason to believe we’ll get left about finding a machinist here,” Jack remarked, to calm the troubled waters. “I think that sign tells us as much. But we’ll soon know.”

They managed to push the boat inside the enclosure. Here they found a number of river craft of various types, and Jack noticed that among them were several launches, from which fact he judged that the man did all kinds of general repairing.

A short time later they landed and found the owner of the shop. He could understand English, fortunately enough, so they were able to make a bargain with him. Doubtless he must have charged them an exorbitant price, for upon their accepting his terms he showed them unusual courtesy, even telling them to push the boat inside his house, where he could get to work at the engine in the morning.

He also informed the boys that if they chose to sleep aboard they were at perfect liberty to do so. Should it storm again they would have the benefit of a roof over their heads; and they could cook their supper at the fire he would leave in the forge.

Buster immediately declared it would be a jolly thing all around.

“You know we do feel more or less cramped aboard our boat,” he went on to remark, with considerable eagerness. “And if you say the word, why, I’ll take my blanket and camp out here on the floor. There are plenty of chips to make a soft bed, even if they don’t smell as sweet as hemlock browse such as we have at home.”

“And another thing,” added Josh, “Jack and myself can get nice and dry at the fire here in the forge. I think the man must have noticed that we’d been soaked.”

“Yes, and he soaked us some more in the bargain,” complained George, “according to the price we agreed to pay him for the easy job of mending a broken engine. See, you might have saved all that money if you’d had enough confidence in me to let me run the job.”

“Perhaps!” said Josh dryly, and there was such a world of meaning in that one word as pronounced by him that George immediately fell silent, not caring to bring about another verbal controversy.

The owner of the boatyard and shop was certainly very kind in allowing those who were perfect strangers to him to remain over night there. He must have seen by looking at the faces of the four boys that they were worthy of trust. It was not everybody whom he would grant such a favor to, and Jack told his chums they had reason to feel quite proud of the fact.

It was by this time getting quite dark. The man had lighted a lamp for them, which served to dispel the gloom in the shop’s interior. Josh was already using the bellows in order to blow the dying fire into new life. When the heat became noticeable he and Jack proceeded to warm up. By degrees they found that this steaming process dried their clothes admirably. Buster could tell them how efficient it had been in his own case, only that Buster was now impatient for them to get through, so he could have the red bed of coals for the purpose of cooking supper.

At the time the proprietor of the boatyard went away Jack had stepped outside the door with him. As he expected, he found that the shop faced on a street running close to the river itself.

As they had laid in plenty of provisions at Budapest, there was really no necessity for any of them to wander around the town. If the boys exhibited any curiosity in that respect, Jack meant to dampen their zeal by telling them there might be some danger of strangers being eyed with suspicion in these exciting days, and that it would be safest to stay at the shop.

Besides, there could be no telling just when the repairs would be finished, for, after all, the damage was apt to be slight; and in this event they would want to be on the move with as little delay as possible.

Bumpus was soon in his glory. It had indeed been a long while since they had enjoyed the privilege of preparing a meal over such a fine fire as the blacksmith forge afforded them. Besides, the glowing coals seemed so much nicer than ordinary smoking wood; as Bumpus said, it saved the cook’s back considerable, in that he did not have to bend down so much.

They found something that answered for a table, and by the light of the lamp so kindly loaned by the owner they ate their supper. No matter what it consisted of, for there is no time to go into particulars – at least it had a “homey” taste to it, and brought back to their minds numerous other meals which had accompanied their various cruises down American rivers, through the Great Lakes, and among the islands of the Florida coast.

It seemed very quiet down by the river. If the town itself was booming with the spirit of war, the boys heard very little of it while they sat around chatting, after partaking of the meal Bumpus provided.

Once George sauntered over to the door that led to the street and looked out, but he did not venture forth. When he came back Josh, of course, wanted to know what he had heard.

“Oh, nothing much,” the other replied with a yawn. “There’s considerable noise up above, and perhaps some soldiers are getting ready to go away. You know they make an awful lot of fuss over here when the boys are off for the war.”

“So far as that goes, they do it everywhere,” remarked Jack. “I remember plainly hearing my folks telling all that happened in our town in ninety-eight, when the war with Spain broke out. Of course, all of us were kids then, babies in fact, and we knew nothing about it; but I take it there were lots of exciting things happening day after day, as trains passed through. One country doesn’t differ a great deal from another, when you come to take notice.”

“I hope you took pains to put up that stout bar again, George, after you shut the double doors?” remarked Bumpus. “Not that I expect we’ll be troubled with unwelcome visitors in the shape of thieves while we’re roosting here, but you know it’s a heap nicer to know everything’s lovely and the goose hangs high.”

“Oh, don’t borrow any trouble about that bar, Buster,” George assured him. “Sure I put it back, just like I found it. I reckon the owner uses it when he’s working in here behind closed doors and doesn’t want to be disturbed. You know he locked the small door before going away. It’s all right, Buster, so let your dear timid soul rest in peace.”

“Oh, not that I’m afraid,” asserted the other indignantly; “honest, George, I only mentioned the matter as a simple precaution. Jack here might have done the same, given a little more time. You ought to know me better than that, George.”

The boat lay tied up in the basin inside the shed. Back of it was a water gate, which had also been closed and fastened by the owner before departing. Surrounded as they were by all the tools of a boat repairer’s trade, the boys felt as though they were in strange company. Possibly some of these same tools were built along different lines from what they might have found in the same sort of an establishment in the States.

For quite some time the four chums sat there and talked over various things of interest. Of course, these as a general rule had some connection with their own fortunes. Many questions were asked and answered, by one or another, as the case might be, although as a rule it was Jack to whom most of them were addressed. The whole scheme of a cruise down the Danube had originated with Jack, and for this reason, as well as others, the remaining three boys looked to him to find answers to the many puzzling enigmas that faced them.

Jack was fully qualified to assume this task, and it was seldom they were ever able to “stump” him with a twister.

So the time passed on, and, judging from the repeated way in which some of the motorboat boys were yawning without even putting up a hand to hide the gap, it became evident that they could not remain awake much longer.

Indeed, Jack himself felt pretty drowsy, and was just about to propose that the meeting adjourn sine die, so that each could prepare his cot for the night, just as he saw fit, when something occurred to interfere with this peaceful scheme.

“Listen! Seems to me that hollerin’s coming closer to us,” exclaimed Josh.

“Sure it is,” added George, which was pretty conclusive evidence pointing that way, because as a rule he would have questioned it before giving in.

“There’s a crowd coming,” said Jack quietly.

“More like an angry mob, it sounds to me,” muttered Josh.

“Say, you don’t think for a minute, do you,” cried Buster, “that they know about us being hidden in this coop, and mean to interview the bunch, perhaps shoot us for Servian spies?”

“Oh, hardly as bad as that,” Jack went on to say, seeking to calm the excited Buster; “they may pass by and never bother us at all. Perhaps some soldiers are going along to a place of meeting, where they expect to entrain for the front.”

“Anyway, we’ll soon know the worst,” declared Josh, “because they’re nearly up to the shop by now.”

The shouts outside had an angry and insistent ring about them that Jack did not like. Then came a series of heavy and imperative knocks on the closed shop doors!

CHAPTER X
CLEVERLY DONE

“My stars! it’s us they’re after, fellows!” Buster was heard to gurgle, when the knocks ceased as suddenly as they had begun.

No one had to be told that, for they all knew it just as well as Buster. George turned an anxious look on Josh; and then, perhaps unconsciously placing their hopes on their leader, both of them wheeled to face Jack.

“I knew we’d be sorry if ever we tried stopping over at one of these ratty little towns,” muttered George.

“But there they start to knocking again!” exclaimed Josh. “If we don’t do something, and pretty quick at that, they’ll start to pulling this shanty down over our heads, even if it is made of stones.”

Jack had to think fast. He knew Josh spoke the truth, and that so far as offering resistance went they were practically helpless against the mob. He could easily imagine how in some manner suspicion had been excited against the four young strangers stopping over night at the river town. One word would lead to another in these exciting times, until all sorts of extravagant surmises must result; and finally some bold spirit must have suggested that they proceed to the boathouse and drag the unknown parties out, to question, perhaps hang them.

So far as trying to escape was concerned, it seemed equally hopeless. Besides the double door there was also the small one, which the proprietor had securely locked before leaving them. Both led to the street.

To be sure, there were the water gates, but to leave in that way must necessitate abandoning their motorboat, something the boys would be loth to do. Further than this, there was no small boat handy, even if they could manage to get it out on the river without being noticed and pursued.

As to attempting to swim off, that was impossible, since they could not make any headway with their clothes on, and leaving these behind was not to be considered for a minute.

So Jack quickly decided that the only thing left for them was to throw open the double doors and trust to their customary good luck to make friends with the clamorous mob without.

“I’m going to open up, fellows,” he told the others. “You keep back of me, and say nothing unless I ask you to speak. Leave it all to me to manage.”

“You just bet we will, Jack,” assented Josh.

“I should say yes,” Buster hastily added.

“It’s a risky thing to do, Jack,” remarked George, “but seems that we haven’t got much of a choice. We’re between the devil and the deep sea. Go ahead, then, and let’s see how our luck holds good.”

Jack waited no longer. Indeed, it would have been dangerous to have held the clamorous crowd in waiting much longer, for their pounding on the door had assumed a more threatening phase, several having taken it upon themselves to pick up heavy stones, with which they started to beat the woodwork furiously, while all manner of loud cries arose.

Suddenly the double doors were swung wide open. The outcries ceased as if by magic. Jack, looking out, saw that fully fifty people stood in the moonlit street. Most of them were men and boys, though a sprinkling of women could also be seen.

They were typical Hungarians, just such people as one would expect to meet in a river town along the lower Danube. Some were flourishing what appeared to be clubs, and the whole aspect of the mob looked threatening indeed.

It required considerable nerve to calmly face this crowd, but Jack actually smiled, and waved his hand in friendly greeting, while Buster held his breath in very awe, and the other two trembled a little between excitement and alarm.

One burly man in the front of the mob called out harshly. Jack could not for a certainty know what he said, but it was easy to guess he must be demanding who they were, where they came from, and what they were doing in this part of the country in these perilous times.

So Jack, waving his hand to entreat silence, called out:

“Is there any one here who can talk English!”

Somehow his question created considerable surprise. Evidently the crowd had suspected that they were Serbians or natives of Montenegro, both of which states at the time were antagonistic to Austria-Hungary.

Several voices were heard announcing that they could understand and speak the English language. Jack swept his eyes around to see who these persons were, and, discovering that one of them stood in the front rank of the crowd, he pointed at the man as he went on to say:

“Please push your way up here. We will tell you everything you want to know, and you can explain to your friends.”

The man did so, looking very important. Perhaps that was the first time in all his life that he had been called upon to act in such a capacity as interpreter, and he felt as though placed upon a pedestal.

“Now, if you will please give me a chance, all of you,” continued Jack, “I will with the greatest pleasure tell everything. In the first place, we are not, as you think, English boys, but Americans. Of course, you know about America, for we have many thousands of good Hungarians over there working with us, who send millions on millions of dollars back home every year for the old folks. Tell them what I have just said, will you?”

The man had listened intently. He collected his wits, and then, turning around so as to face the rest, commenced speaking. At the same time he made good use of both hands, in the Hungarian fashion, to emphasize his points.

Some few of the more unruly made remarks among themselves as he proceeded, but on the whole the crowd listened intently. It was already apparent to Jack that he had gone about the business in the right way, and had succeeded in making a good impression.

He had read recently in a paper, whether it were true or not, that the tens of thousands of Hungarians in the United States, men in the mines and working on public improvements, and girls in service, sent back home during the course of a year as much as a hundred and fifty million dollars. Even if a third of that amount came across the sea it could be understood that the people of the dual monarchy must have a very tender spot in their hearts for America, where so many of their compatriots were making big wages and happy.

“Keep it moving, Jack,” whispered Josh. “I tell you they’re already on the run. Lay it on thick, and don’t spare the adjectives. They like to hear things praised up to the skies. And say something nice about old Francis Joseph, because, you know, they worship him.”

“Cut it out, Josh,” growled George; “leave Jack alone to run this game, can’t you?”

The man had by now finished telling what Jack had said to him. He again turned with a look of expectancy on his face, waiting for the second “installment of the story,” as Josh afterwards called it.

“We are American boys,” continued Jack, “who have come over here on a vacation. In our own country we own three motorboats, with which we often cruise up and down the Mississippi River and others. So, having heard so much about your beautiful blue Danube, we made up our minds to spend a month or six weeks voyaging down it. This boat does not belong to us. We hired it from a man in a town part-way between Vienna and Budapest. We can show you the paper both parties signed proving how we paid a certain sum in advance for the use of it until we reached the Black Sea. Now tell them all that, please, while I get our American passports ready to show you, as well as letters we have received from our home while in Budapest.”

It took the interpreter a long time to translate all this. He struggled heroically to master every detail, though Jack feared he might get mixed more or less in his endeavor to find words to express the English meaning.

The crowd listened intently.

It would have been amusing to watch their faces as seen in the bright moonlight had the danger element been lacking. As it was, the boys were still on the anxious seat, not knowing “which way the cat would jump.”

Jack was the exception, it may be said. He felt that his tactics and the frank way he was taking the crowd into his confidence had already made a favorable impression upon most of the men. They in turn would be apt to suppress any of the more boisterous spirits who might feel like getting out of bounds.

Truth to tell, it was as much the manner of Jack Stormways as what he said that worked this change in the feelings of the populace. No one of intelligence could very well look upon his smiling face and believe ill of him.

By the time the man had managed to translate all that second batch of explanations to his fellows Jack was ready for him again. He had meanwhile collected from the other three their passports, properly vised through the efforts of the American consul in Vienna, and also several letters addressed to the general delivery at Budapest, with the American stamps and postmarks to prove where they had come from.

These papers he now handed to the man who could speak and read English. Each one Jack opened and explained, after asking Josh to fetch the lamp forward so that its light could be utilized.

Meanwhile the crowd listened and pushed and gaped, some exchanging low comments; but Buster was delighted to see that the threatening gestures had stopped. From this he felt that Stormways’ stock was rising fast and would soon bull the market.

It took a long time to go over the four passports with their seals, and then read extracts from the letters. The man spoke several times, asking questions, which proved that he meant to conduct his examination in a thorough manner. Jack was in truth pleased to find that he had to deal with so intelligent a party, for the travelers had really nothing to conceal.

He even mentioned about the three Hungarian officers who had overtaken them some miles below Budapest, coming in a speed launch, and how they had parted the best of friends after looking the boys over.

Seeing that the crowd was becoming impatient, Jack cut his explanations short and asked that the interpreter make his report to his friends. He had taken the advice of shrewd Josh, and managed to speak highly of the aged emperor; while this may have been done artfully as a stroke of diplomacy, Jack really knew nothing but good of Francis Joseph, of whom he had often read, so that he did not feel that he was attempting any deception.

Still holding the sheaf of passports, the man started to harangue the crowd. He seemed to improve as he gained new confidence, and Jack saw that he was something of a crude born orator, able to sway others by the force of his will and words.

Jack believed the best part of their luck lay in having picked on this particular man. Another might have bungled things and made them worse than they were originally.

It took a very long time to explain about the papers, the letters and everything else. Jack even heard the man mention the emperor’s name, and from this judged that he was repeating what the boy had said in order to prove that the four strangers from America were favorable to the Austrian side of the controversy.

“He’s got ’em whipped to a standstill, Jack,” muttered Josh in the ear of the other. “They’ll do whatever he tells ’em, you mark me. I guess I can read all the signs if I can’t understand the lingo.”

Jack himself believed the same thing. He no longer felt his heart heavy within him, with the prospect of having their fine cruise broken off and themselves thrown into some prison, from which it would take all the efforts of the American Ambassador to release them.

Before the man who was speaking had finished there were desertions from the mob, possibly some of those more ardent spirits who had hoped to help hang a suspected Serbian spy and were grievously disappointed.

When the speaker closed with what seemed to be a fervent peroration there followed a general shout and much waving of hands. Jack caught the one word America, and judged that the cheers were intended for his native land, for surely many of these people had good reason to think of the haven of the oppressed as a Paradise flowing with gold, milk and honey.

Then the mob began to disintegrate. A number who could speak English came crowding around. They wished to shake hands with the four stout-hearted lads who were not to be deterred from continuing their hazardous voyage down the Danube by the mere fact that hostilities had begun, and that there must be heavy firing between the Austrian batteries and monitors and the hostile forces in Belgrade, the Serbian capital, situated on the southern bank of the river.

By degrees they went away, after giving this popular demonstration. Somehow Buster changed his mind completely after seeing how those same shouting men could turn into friends. He even remarked afterwards that he thought the Hungarians were a warm-hearted race, and that he was growing to like them immensely; though when he first saw the mob he believed they were a lot of cutthroats eager for the lives of helpless American boys.

The interpreter was the last to go. Jack was seen to shake hands heartily with him for the third time ere saying good-by.

“I reckon now, Jack,” remarked George, as they closed the double doors once more, shutting out the bright moonlight, “you slipped a bill of some kind in that fine fellow’s hand the last time you said good-by to him?”

“Never mind about that, George,” retorted the other; “if I did, that’s between the two of us, and nobody need know about it. It was worth ten times as much just to see the way he swayed that crowd. From howling at us they came to cheer us, and a good deal of the change was due to his oratory.”

“As for me,” piped up Buster, with a great sigh of relief, “I never will forget this experience. There was a time at first when I thought of having my head put on a pike and carried in a procession around town, just like the mob used to do in the French Revolution; or, if it wasn’t that, I expected they’d get a rope and swing us all up, Wild Western way. I tell you I’m shaking yet from being so anxious about you fellows.”

Josh and George laughed at hearing this, and the whole of them went back to their seats.