Kitabı oku: «Bert Wilson, Wireless Operator», sayfa 4
CHAPTER VI
The “Gray Ghost”
The next morning after an early breakfast the “Gray Ghost” was brought around in front of the “Seaside” and the boys began to look her over to make sure that she was in condition for the day’s trip. They found that everything was all right, so they began loading her with baskets of delicious eatables that the host had prepared for them. In a very short time all was ready and Tom, Dick and Ralph piled in the tonneau, while the Doctor took his seat beside Bert, who was to drive that day. There had been some discussion that morning as to whether Bert or Ralph were to run the machine. Bert claimed that as it was Ralph’s car it was his right and prerogative to drive. But Ralph wouldn’t listen to such an argument for a minute. For wasn’t Bert his guest and wasn’t he there to give his guest a good time, especially as he, Ralph, had driven the car the day before? So after a time it had been settled and Bert reluctantly took the wheel.
But the reluctance didn’t last long, for, when he found himself guiding the great car over the road, the old feeling of exultation took possession of him and the old wild desire to put on full speed came surging over him. But Bert was never one to give way to impulse when caution told him it would be unwise, so he held his desire and, incidentally, his machine well in check.
“You said last night that you would tell us about the hunt for sharks, Doctor Hamilton,” Dick reminded him. “Won’t you tell us about them, now?”
“Why, yes, if you would like to hear about it,” the Doctor consented. “These seas, as you probably know, are full of sharks, and therefore are very dangerous. The natives of Hawaii are not the people to be terrorized, however, by any animal on land or sea. So, after careful consideration, they decided that, as long as they couldn’t hope to exterminate the pests, the only thing for them to do was to learn how to defend themselves against them. So, when a man wanted to go out into the deep, shark-infested waters he would take with him a handy little dagger. Then, instead of swimming for home and safety at the first sign of a shark, he would wait boldly for the creature to come near enough for a hand-to-hand (or, rather, a fin-to-hand) conflict.”
“Say, a man would have to have some nerve to wait calmly while one of those cute, harmless little animals came prancing up playfully to be petted,” Tom broke in. “I’d rather be excused.”
“It does take an immense amount of courage to brave a shark, but I shouldn’t wonder if there were thousands of people in the world who are at this moment making greater sacrifices, performing deeds that call for more real fortitude and courage than these shark hunters ever dreamed of. Only, you see we don’t know of those cases. However, that’s neither here nor there. Well, to get back to my story, when the shark nears the man he turns on his back to grab him. Then comes the crucial moment. Before the shark has a chance to accomplish his purpose, the native deftly buries the dagger up to the hilt in the shark’s throat.”
“Yes, but suppose the shark nabbed the hunter before he had a chance to use his weapon,” Ralph suggested.
“It is very probable in that case that the hunter would hunt no more sharks,” the Doctor laughed. “However, that very rarely happens these days, for the Hawaiians are trained to hunt as soon as they leave the cradle, and are experts at the age of nine or ten.”
“I wouldn’t mind trying it myself,” Bert declared, for, to him danger and excitement were the very breath of life, “only I’d like to practice up for a few years before I hung out my sign.”
“Well, they went on killing the sharks by means of a dagger for some time,” the Doctor went on, “but one day some bright young native discovered what seemed to him to be a much more interesting and, at the same time, just as sure a way of killing the shark. So one day he called all his relatives and friends together and told them to watch his new method. They all noticed that, instead of the usual dagger, this youth carried in his hand a pointed stick. ‘What good will a sharp stick do?’ they all asked one another. ‘He surely cannot mean to kill the shark with such a weapon,’ and they tried to persuade him not to try anything so foolish. However, he was not to be persuaded, so he started out with his stick to fight the shark. He had not gone very far before his eagerly watching friends on the shore saw a fin rise above the water and knew that the shark was near. With breathless interest they watched the coming conflict. Nearer and nearer came the shark until it was only a very few yards from the daring hunter. Then in a flash it was on its back and bearing down on its prey. With the speed of lightning our hero reached down the shark’s throat and wedged the pointed stick right across it so that the shark couldn’t close his wicked, gaping mouth. Of course, not being able to shut his mouth he drowned there in his native element. There is an instance of the irony of fate, isn’t it?”
“It surely is,” Dick answered. “But, Doctor, is that really so or is it only a story?”
“It’s the truth. The shark hunters use both methods, the dagger and the sharp stick, but the stick is the favorite.”
So the morning was passed in interesting tale and pleasant conversation, and they were all amazed when the Doctor informed them that it was half-past twelve. Soon afterward they came to a cozy little inn with the sign “Welcome” over the door painted in great gold letters on a black background. At this hospitable place they stopped for lunch.
When this most important function of the day was satisfactorily accomplished, they went for a stroll on the beach, as they had about half an hour to look around them before it was necessary to start on their way once more.
This part of the beach was perfectly protected from the unwelcome visits of the sharks by the large coral reefs, and the boys were surprised to see the number of people that were enjoying their afternoon dip.
“Look at those fellows over there riding in on the breakers,” Tom cried, pointing to a group of boys that looked as if they might be Americans. “Will you please tell me what they think they have on their feet?”
“They look like snow shoes,” Bert said, “but I never knew that you could use skees on the water.”
“They are really nothing more nor less than snow shoes, but you see over here they have no snow to use them on, so they make them do for the water,” said the Doctor.
“It’s a great stunt,” said Dick. “I wish we had brought our bathing suits along, we could take a try at it ourselves.”
“If bathing suits are all you want,” Ralph broke in, “I can soon get you them. This morning I thought we might want them, so, at the last minute, I ran back to get mine. While I was there I discovered your suits all tied together with a strap, so I brought them along, too. They are under the seat in the tonneau.”
“Bully for you, old fellow,” said Dick. “You have a head on your shoulders, which is more than I can say for myself.”
“Yes, that’s fine. Now we can try our skill at skeeing on the water. But, by the way, where will we get the skees?”
“They are not really skees; they’re only pieces of wood pointed at one end,” the Doctor explained, “and I think you will be able to get all you want up at the inn.”
“But you will come with us, too, won’t you?” Bert asked. “It won’t be half as much fun if you don’t.”
“No, I don’t think that I’ll go in with you to-day. I brought a little work along, and I thought that if I got a minute I would try to do some of it. You will only have a little while to stay anyway, so go ahead and enjoy yourselves while you may. I’ll tell you when time is up. I’ll go with you as far as the house. You needn’t be afraid that I’ll forget.”
So, in a few minutes the boys were on the beach once more, ready to try their luck on the skees. They watched the group of fellows that had at first caught their attention until they thought that they knew pretty well what to do. When they fancied they could safely venture they waded out until the water was about to their waists. Then, resting the long board on the water, they tried their best to mount it, as they had seen the other fellows do. But they would just get the board placed nicely with its point toward the shore, when a wave would come along and carry it out from under their feet.
They had very nearly given it up in despair when one of the fellows from the other group came over and spoke to them.
“Is this your first try at the surf boards?” he asked, and they knew from the very tone of his voice that he was what they had thought him, an American. “We saw you were having trouble, and we thought you wouldn’t mind if we gave you a few pointers. It’s hard to do at first, but when you once catch on it’s a cinch.”
“We would be very much obliged if you would show us how to manage them,” Bert replied. “I thought that I had tried pretty nearly every kind of water trick, but this is a new one on me.”
“Yes, we can’t seem to get the hang of it,” Tom added. “How do you stay on the thing when you once get there?”
So our boys and the others soon became very well acquainted, and it wasn’t very long before they were doing as well as the strangers. All too soon they saw the Doctor coming down the beach toward them, and they knew that the time was up. They bade good-bye to their new found friends and hurried up to the inn to get ready for the rest of the journey. For the whole afternoon they rode through scenes of the most striking beauty and grandeur.
They went through the historic valley of Nuuanu, where the great battle was waged by Kamehameha the Great, sometimes called the Napoleon of the Pacific. They followed the scene of that terrible struggle until they came to the precipice over which the Oahu army of more than three thousand men had been forced to a swift death on the rocks below.
When they reached the hotel at which they had expected to stay for the night, they found a telegram waiting for them. Doctor Hamilton opened it and read, “Come at once. Ship sails to-morrow morning, nine o’clock.”
“That means,” said the Doctor, “that we will have to start for the Fearless as soon as we can get a bite to eat.”
So start they did, and it took hard riding nearly the whole night to get them to the ship in time. After they had settled with the landlord of the Seaside House and had hustled their belongings into the car, they started for the dock and found that they were just in the nick of time.
As Bert turned from his companions toward the operating room to take down any last messages that Hawaii might want to send, he said with a sigh, “I’m sorry that we had to leave sooner than we expected, but as long as we had to – say, fellows, wasn’t that ride great?”
CHAPTER VII
A Swim for Life
It was a hot day, even for the tropics, and everybody felt the heat intensely. Awnings had been stretched over the deck, and under their inviting shade the passengers tried to find relief from the burning sun, but with little success. A slight accident to the machinery had caused the ship to heave to, so that they were deprived of the artificial breeze caused by the vessel’s motion. The oppressive heat rivaled anything the boys had ever felt, and for once even their effervescent spirits flagged. They lolled about the deck in listless attitudes, and were even too hot to cut up the usual “monkeyshines” that gave the passengers many a hearty laugh. Dick looked longingly at the green, cool-appearing water, that heaved slowly and rhythmically, like some vast monster asleep.
“Make out it wouldn’t feel good to dive in there, and have a good, long swim,” he exclaimed, in a wistful voice. “Just think of wallowing around in that cool ocean, and feeling as though you weren’t about to melt and become a grease spot at any moment. Gee, I’d give anything I own to be able to jump in right now.”
“Go ahead,” grinned Bert, “only don’t be surprised if we fish you out minus a leg or two. Those two sharks that have been following the ship for the last week would welcome you as a very agreeable addition to their bill of fare.”
“Yes,” chimed in Ralph, “and that’s not the only thing, either. I’ve felt sorry for those poor old sharks for quite a while. Here they follow our ship around for a week, hoping that somebody will fall overboard and furnish them a square meal, and then everybody disappoints them. I call it pretty mean conduct.”
“That’s my idea exactly,” agreed Bert, “and I think it would only be doing the gentlemanly thing for Dick to volunteer. You won’t disappoint your friends on a little point like that, will you, Dick?”
“No, certainly not,” responded Dick, scornfully. “Just ring the dinner bell, so that the sharks will be sure not to miss me, and I’ll jump in any time you say. Nothing I can think of would give me greater pleasure.”
“Well, on second thought,” laughed Bert, “I think we’d better save you a little while, and fatten you up. I’m afraid you haven’t got fat enough on you at present to give entire satisfaction. We might as well do this thing up right, you know.”
“O, sure, anything to oblige,” grunted Dick. “Just dispose of me any way you think best. Naturally, the subject has little interest for me.”
“Aw, you’re selfish, Dick, that’s what’s the matter with you,” said Ralph. “I’d be willing to bet any money that you’re thinking more of yourself than you are of those two poor, hungry fish. Gee, I’m glad I’m not like that.”
“All right, then,” responded Dick, quickly, “as long as you feel that way, and I don’t, why don’t you serve yourself up to the suffering sharks? Besides, you’re fatter than I am.”
Apparently Ralph could think of no satisfactory answer to this profound remark and so changed the subject.
“Well,” he exclaimed, “all this doesn’t get us any nearer to a good swim. I wish this were one of the steamships I was on not long since.”
“Why, how was that?” inquired Bert.
“Well, on that ship they had a regular swimming tank on board. Of course, it wasn’t a very big one, but it was plenty large enough to give a person a good swim. Gee, I used to just about live in that tank on a day like this.”
“I suppose that was what you might call a tank steamer, wasn’t it?” said Bert, and his remark raised a general laugh.
But now an elderly man among the passengers, who up to now had listened to the boys’ conversation with a smile on his face, but had not spoken, said, “Why don’t you ask the captain to rig up the swimming nets? I’m sure he would be willing to do it for you, if you asked him in the right way.”
“Swimming nets!” exclaimed Dick, “what’s a swimming net?”
“Why, it’s simply a sort of a cage that they rig up alongside the ship, and anybody that wants to can swim to their heart’s content inside it. The net keeps sharks out, and makes it safe.”
“Say, that would certainly be great,” exclaimed Ralph. “Come along, fellows, and we’ll see if we can’t persuade the captain to fix us up. The idea of a good swim certainly hits me where I live.”
The rest were nothing loath, and they jumped to their feet and rushed off in search of Captain Manning. He was soon found, and listened smilingly to Ralph, who acted as spokesman for the others.
“I guess we can arrange that, all right,” he said, after Ralph had finished. “It will be at least two hours before our repairs are finished. Between you and me, I’d like to jump in myself,” he added, regretfully.
He gave orders accordingly, and the crew soon had the netting rigged. Before they had finished, news of what was going on had flown through the ship. All who felt so disposed or had bathing paraphernalia with them, appeared on deck attired for a dip. Needless to say, Bert, Dick, and Ralph were among the first to put in an appearance, and great was their impatience while the crew were putting the finishing touches to the “cage.” While they were waiting, Ralph said, “Look at that, fellows. Those two sharks that we were talking about a little while ago have disappeared. I guess they must have overheard our conversation, and given us up for a bad job.”
“They’re certainly not in sight, at any rate,” said Dick. “However, I think I shall manage to control my grief at their desertion.”
“It always gave me a creepy feeling,” said the passenger who had first suggested the swimming nets, “they hung on so persistently, just as though they felt sure that their patience would be rewarded some time. It seemed uncanny, somehow.”
“It certainly did,” agreed another. “I guess they’re gone for good, this time, though.”
This seemed to be the general opinion among the crew, also, and the boys felt relieved in spite of themselves, for swimming in close proximity to a couple of hungry sharks, even when separated from them by a net, is not a particularly cheerful experience.
Soon everything was ready, and the swimmers descended the steps let down alongside the ship, and plunged into the water. It was very warm, but a good deal cooler than the air, and you may be sure it felt good to the overheated passengers. Bert and Ralph were expert swimmers, and dove and swam in a manner to bring applause from the passengers up above. Dick was not such a very good swimmer, having had little experience in the water. He enjoyed the dip none the less on this account, however, and if he could not swim as well as the others, at least made quite as much noise as they.
After half an hour or so of this the boys ascended to the deck to rest a little before continuing their aquatic exercises.
“My, but that felt good, and no mistake,” said Bert.
“It sure did,” agreed Ralph. “The only objection I can find is that you can’t swim far enough in any one direction. I like to have enough space to let me work up a little speed. I’ve half a mind to take a chance and dive off here outside the net. There’s no sign of those pesky sharks around now. I’m going to take a chance, anyhow,” and before anybody had a chance to stop him he had made a pretty dive over the side. He struck the water with scarcely a splash, and in a few seconds rose to the surface and shook the water out of his eyes. Bert yelled at him to come back on board, but he only shook his head and laughed.
Then he struck out away from the ship with bold, rapid strokes, and soon had placed a considerable distance between himself and the vessel. Bert and the others watched his progress with anxious eyes.
“The young fool,” growled one of the passengers, “hasn’t he got any more sense than to do a thing like that? Those sharks are likely to show up any minute. They don’t usually give up so quickly, once they’ve started to follow a ship.”
It seemed, however, as though Ralph would experience no bad results from his rash act. He had swum several hundred yards from the vessel, and had turned to come back, when a cry went up from one of the women passengers.
“Look! Look!” she screamed, and pointed wildly with her parasol. All eyes followed its direction, and more than one man turned white as he looked. For there, not more than five hundred feet from the swimmer, a black fin was cutting the water like a knife-blade. It was not headed directly for Ralph, however, but was going first in one direction, then in another, showing that the shark had not yet definitely located his prey.
A few seconds later a second fin appeared, and there was little doubt in the minds of all that these were the two sharks that had followed the ship for the last few days.
In the meantime, Ralph had drawn nearer the ship, but was swimming in a leisurely fashion, and evidently had no inkling of the deadly peril that threatened him. Bert was about to yell to him and point out his danger, when he thought better of it.
“If he knew those two sharks were on his trail,” he said in a strained voice to Tom, “he might get frightened and be unable to swim at all. I think we had better leave him alone and hope that he gets to the ship before the sharks locate him.”
“Let’s go after him in a boat,” suggested one of the sailors, excitedly, and this was no sooner said than done. Without even waiting for orders from the captain, several of the crew started to launch a boat, but it became evident that this could be of no avail. For at that moment the two searching fins suddenly stopped dead for a second, and then started straight for the unconscious swimmer.
A cry went up from the passengers, which reached Ralph’s ears. He glanced behind him, and for a second seemed paralyzed at what he saw. Bert yelled wildly. “Swim for your life, Ralph,” he shrieked. “Here,” turning to the sailors, “get a long rope, and stand by. We’ll need it when he gets near the ship.”
Now Ralph had recovered from his panic to some extent, and struck out as he had never done before. At every stroke he fairly leaped through the water, but the two black fins overhauled him with lightning-like rapidity. Closer and closer they came, and still the swimmer was a good forty or fifty yards from the ship. Now he started a fast crawl stroke, and it was a lucky thing for him that day that he was an expert swimmer.
He was soon almost under the ship’s side, and one of the sailors threw the rope previously secured in his direction. Ralph grasped it with a despairing grip, but now the two fins were terribly close, and approaching at express train speed. A dozen willing hands grasped the rope, and just as the two man-eaters were within ten feet of him the exhausted swimmer was swung bodily out of the water. There was a swish alongside, two great white streaks flashed by, and the passengers caught a glimpse of two horrible, saw-like rows of gleaming teeth. Then Ralph was drawn up on a level with the rail, and strong hands pulled him safely inboard.
No sooner did he realize that he was safe, than he collapsed, and it was some time before he recovered from the strain. When he was once more himself, he grinned weakly at Bert. “Next time I’ll follow your advice,” he said.
“Oh, well, ‘all’s well that ends well,’” quoted Bert. “Just the same, it was more than you deserved to have us work ourselves to death a hot day like this trying to keep you from doing the Jonah act. It would have served you right if we had let the shark take a bite or two.”
“Sorry to have troubled you, I’m sure,” retorted Ralph. “But say, fellows, just as soon as I can get enough nerve back to think, I’m going to dope out some way of getting even with those man-eaters. I’ll be hanged if I’m going to let even a shark think he can try to make hash of me and get away with it. In the meantime, you and Tom might set your giant intellects to work and see if you can think of a plan.”
A sailor had overheard this, and now he touched his cap, and said:
“Excuse me for buttin’ in, but I think me and my mates here can fix up those sharks for you, if the captain’s willin’. On a bark I sailed in once we caught a shark that had been annoyin’ us like these has, just like you’d catch a fish. We baited a big hook, and pulled him in with the donkey engine. If the captain ain’t got no objections, I don’t see why we couldn’s sarve these lubbers the same trick.”
This idea met with instant approval, and Captain Manning was soon besieged by a fire of entreaty. At first he seemed inclined to say no, but when he found that the majority of the passengers were in favor of capturing the sharks, he gave a reluctant consent.
The sailors grinned in happy anticipation of a good time, and set about their preparations with a will, while an interested group that surrounded them watched the development of their scheme with intense interest.
