Kitabı oku: «Bert Wilson, Wireless Operator», sayfa 6
CHAPTER X
The Derelict
“Beat this if you can, fellows,” said Tom, as, next morning, lazily stretched in his steamer chair on the deck of the Fearless, his eyes took in with delight the broad expanse of the ocean, with its heaving, green billows, capped with feathery foam of dazzling whiteness; the arching blue of the heavens, across which floated soft, gray clouds, which, pierced through and through by the brilliant sunshine, seemed as transparent as a gossamer veil. A sea-gull, rising suddenly from the crest of a wave, soared high with gracefully waving wings; then suddenly turning, swooped downward with the speed of an arrow, disappearing for a moment beneath the wave, rose again, triumphant, with a fish in its talons, and swept majestically skyward.
Fountains of spray cast up by the swiftly moving ship gleamed and flashed in the sunshine and fell to the deck in myriad diamonds.
Tom’s pleasure was fully shared by his comrades, and surely in contrast to the storm and stress and darkness of yesterday, the sunshine and calm and beauty of this matchless day was enough to fill them with keenest delight. The swift motion of the good ship that had so gallantly weathered the terrible storm, the sea air which, freighted with salt spray as it rushed against their faces made the flesh tingle, the brilliant sunshine, – all combined to make this one of the happiest mornings of their lives.
From sheer exuberance of joy Dick started singing
“A life on the ocean wave,”
in which the others joined. As the last notes died away they began to talk of yesterday’s storm. Something that Tom said reminded Dick of an exciting sea story he had read, and, complying with Tom’s eager “Tell us about it,” he was soon in the midst of the yarn, the boys listening with eager delight. Others, seeing their absorbed interest, drifted up until Dick had quite an audience of interested listeners.
This story was followed by others, and one of the passengers had just finished describing the very narrow escape of a boatload of sailors who were being drawn to destruction by the dying struggles of an enormous whale which they had harpooned, when Bert, who, while he listened, had been idly watching a sail which had appeared above the horizon, suddenly sprang to his feet in great excitement and drew everybody’s attention.
“What is it? what is it?” cried Tom, catching the excitement and also springing to his feet.
“Why,” Bert answered, “look at that ship to starboard. I’ve been watching her for some time and she acts differently from any ship I ever saw. At first she seemed to be sailing a little distance and then back again in a sort of zig-zag course, but just a minute ago she turned side-on toward us, and now she looks as if she were veering from one point of the compass to another without any attempt at steering.”
Following his gaze, all saw with intense surprise the ship, as Bert had said, apparently without guidance and drifting aimlessly.
After the first moments of startled silence, exclamations and questions broke forth on all sides.
“Well, well, what a most extraordinary thing!” “What ship can she be?” “She looks like a schooner.” “Why does she drift in that aimless fashion?” “What can be the matter with her?”
By this time glasses had been brought. Eager eyes scanned the strange ship from stem to stern, and one of the gazers exclaimed:
“She certainly doesn’t seem to have anyone at her wheel. She is evidently at the mercy of the sea.”
This set everyone to talking at once and the greatest excitement reigned. Everyone crowded to the side of the ship to get a better view. The stranger seemed to be about three miles away, but, as the distance lessened between her and the Fearless, the excitement on board increased, and as, even with the glasses, no sign of living creature could be seen, the sense of mystery deepened.
When, at last, the captain announced that he would send a boat out to speak the strange ship, a murmur of satisfaction was heard on every side. At the call for volunteers there was no lack of response and our boys were among them.
It was with breathless delight that they heard their names called, and tumbled with others into the boat.
“Here’s luck,” Dick exulted as he scrambled to his place. The others agreed with him. But, if they had expected a pleasure trip, they were quickly undeceived. Standing on the deck of a great ship like the Fearless is a very different thing from sitting in a small boat, with the waves which, from the ship’s deck had looked only moderately large, now piling up into a great, green wall in front of them, looking as if it must inevitably fall upon and crush them.
That the wave did not conquer them, but that the boat mounted to the top of it, seemed little short of a miracle; and then, after poising for a moment at the top, the plunge down the other side of that green wall, seemed an equally sure way to destruction. They were glad indeed to remember that the boat was in the hands of experienced and capable seamen. Altogether, they were not sorry when, by the slowing up of the speed, they knew that they were nearing their goal and saw the ship that had so interested them looming up before them.
Her name, The Aurora, flashed at them in great golden letters from her prow. She was a fair-sized schooner in first-class condition outwardly, and calling for a crew of eighteen or twenty beside the captain and officers; but, where were they now? Sure enough, there was no one at the wheel nor anywhere about the decks. Were they below? If so, what was the desperate need or urgent business that could hold officers and crew below decks while their ship, unguarded, her rudder banging noisily back and forth, lay, uncontrolled, upon the waves?
Well, they from the Fearless were here to answer these questions if they could, and preparations were made to go on board. As they drew closer they realized that it was going to be a very difficult task to gain her deck. With the wheel unmanned she broached to and fro with every current and wave motion, and, constantly veering from point to point, made it seemingly impossible to mount her decks. A little assistance from on board would have helped them greatly, but, though they hailed her again and again, she made no response.
After repeated unsuccessful efforts one of the sailors, more agile than the others, succeeded in springing into and grasping the rudder chains, and hauling himself on deck. Catching up a rope that lay near him, he cast it to his shipmates and, by easing and adjusting the boat as much as possible to the erratic heaving and plunging of the ship, made it possible for the others to climb on board. Very soon all, except two sailors who, much to their disgust, were left in charge of the boat, were standing together on the steamer’s deck.
With bated breath they stood for many minutes, looking about them in wide-eyed amazement, but, as if by common instinct, not an audible sound was heard, nor even a whispered word. A silence so intense as to make itself felt, a sense of overwhelming loneliness and solitude held them motionless. It was as if they stood in the presence of the dead. Here was the body, this big schooner, but the soul had fled. The rush of feet, the quick word of command, the hearty “Aye, aye, sir,” in response, the noise of gear and tackle, of ropes slapping on the deck, the songs of the sailors as they go lustily about their work, – all the sounds that make up the life of a ship were stilled, and no sound but the splashing of the waves against her sides broke the awesome silence.
At last, under the direction of Mr. Collins, four men from the Fearless began to search the deck for some solution of the mystery, and not one among them was conscious of the fact that he moved about on his toes in the presence of this awe-inspiring silence.
Their search of the deck revealed nothing. Everything seemed undisturbed. The life-boats and even the little dinghy were in their places. All was perfectly ship-shape, but over everything was the silence of desertion.
While the deck was being searched by the four men, the others, including Bert and Dick and Tom, went below, for, here in the cabin, they hoped to find some solution of the mystery. But again they found the same chilling silence, the same absolute desertion.
In the state-rooms the bunks were made up and all was in order. An uncompleted letter lay on the captain’s table and an open book lay face-downward on the bed. In the cabin the only sign of haste or disturbance was found. The table was set for breakfast with the food upon it only partly eaten. Chairs were pushed back from it and one was overturned. A handkerchief lay on the floor as if hastily dropped, but there was no further sign of panic or of any struggle.
Someone suggested that the storm had driven them away in panic. Mr. Collins soon proved to them the fallacy of that supposition by calling attention to an unfinished garment which lay on a sewing machine in one of the state-rooms. A thimble and spool of cotton lay beside it. In a storm these things would inevitably have been thrown to the floor. He showed them further that the breakfast things on the table were in their places and not overturned as they must have been in the storm. Then, too, the coffee in the urn was barely cold, and the fire in the galley stove was still burning. This proved conclusively that up to almost the last moment before the desertion of the ship, all was normal and peaceful on board. “And,” he continued, “if there were nothing else the last entry in the ship’s log would show that she was not deserted until after the storm.”
While everyone listened with keenest interest, he read them the account entered there of the storm, the gallant behavior of the Aurora, and the safety of all on board. The entry was made with the kind of ink that writes blue but afterwards turns black, and the officer called their attention to the fact that the ink was not yet black.
“Why,” said he, “they must at this moment be only a very few miles from the ship. Did anyone ever hear of anything like this?” wondered Dick. “Such a little while ago, and absolutely nothing to show why they went. I’d give a whole lot to know.”
“Well, anyway, it is evident,” said Bert as they examined the galley, “that it was not hunger or thirst that drove them away,” and he pointed to the shelves of the pantry, well stocked with meats and vegetables and fruits, and lifted the cover from the water tank and showed it full of sweet water.
With the feeling of wonder and amazement growing upon them, they examined every corner of the ship from deck to hold, but found no sign of living creature, nor any clue to the profound mystery. Cold shivers began to run up and down their spines.
“What on earth or sea,” said the irrepressible Tom, voicing the inmost thought of every mind, “could have driven a company of men to abandon a ship in such perfect condition as this schooner is?” and again all stood silent in a last effort to solve the problem.
“Well,” said Mr. Collins, “we have made a most thorough search and nothing can be gained by remaining here longer.” So, only waiting to procure the ship’s log that he had laid upon the table, he led the way to the deck. With a last look about them, in the vain hope of finding some living creature, they clambered into the boat and rowed back to the Fearless.
On the way over, everyone was too oppressed for further conversation, but as they neared the Fearless their faces brightened; and as they stood once more upon her decks, with the eager people crowding about them, it seemed good, after the desolation they had witnessed, to be on board a live ship once more.
“This is surely a most wonderful and mysterious thing,” said the captain, after listening to their report. “What could have driven them to such a desperate measure as abandoning a ship in sound condition and so well provisioned? Was it mutiny?”
“No, sir,” and the mate shook his head. “I thought of that and we searched the ship for any signs of a struggle or bloodshed; but there was no evidence of fighting nor a drop of blood anywhere.”
“Was there, perhaps, a leak?” again suggested the captain.
“Not that we could find,” Dick answered. “The ship seemed as tight and safe as could be. We are sure there is no leak.”
“What do you think about it?” asked Captain Manning, turning to a very grave and thoughtful gentleman standing near. This was Captain Grant who the day before had so nobly stood by his ill-fated ship and to whose rescue and that of his unfortunate passengers the Fearless had come with not a minute to spare. Captain Manning had found him very congenial, and in the few hours since he had come on board the two gentlemen had become firm friends. At Captain Manning’s question he turned to him cordially and answered with a smile:
“Well, as far as the crew are concerned, it might have been superstition, fear of ghosts perhaps. This unreasoning fear has driven more than one crew bodily from their ship.”
“If that was the cause,” ventured Bert, “is it not possible that their panic may leave them, and that they may return?”
“It is possible,” agreed Captain Manning, smiling, “and we will cruise about as soon as I can make preparation. We may be able to overtake them or perhaps meet them returning.”
“Was her cargo a valuable one?” asked one of Captain Grant’s passengers.
“Yes, quite,” was the response, “but not so valuable as it would have been if she had been homeward instead of outward bound. The log shows her to be of Canadian construction and bound from Vancouver to China with a cargo of dried fish, skins, and lumber. If she had been returning she would have been freighted, as you know, with rich silks and tea and rice, of more value than the cargo she carried from British Columbia.”
“Shall you attempt to return her to her owners?” asked Mr. Collins. “A schooner like the Aurora would mean a large salvage.”
“It certainly would,” replied the captain, “and, if we had found her earlier in the voyage, I should have towed her back. But now I cannot afford the time, and I hardly know what to do. She ought not to be left drifting; she is right in the track of steamships, and so is a menace. Wilson,” he said, turning to Bert, “try to raise a United States vessel and give her the location of the derelict.”
It took two hours before Bert succeeded, but at last he reached the cruiser Cormorant and received thanks for the information and assurance that the matter would be attended to at once.
By this time all was ready and the Fearless began to cruise in ever-widening circles around the Aurora. With and without glasses all scanned the sea in every direction for signs of a boat. Once the call of the lookout drew all eyes to a dark object which, at that distance, looked as if it might be a yawl, and every heart beat faster with the hope that at last the mystery of the Aurora might be solved. But, alas, it was found to be only a piece of broken mast, discarded from some ship.
For several hours they cruised about, filled with eager hope which gradually faded as the hours went by. At last, Captain Manning gave the order, and the Fearless again came about to her course.
Everyone turned disappointedly from the rail as the quest was abandoned, and it seemed to the four young fellows that the Fearless swung slowly and reluctantly, as if she disliked to leave her sister ship to such an uncertain fate.
The good ship gathered speed, and as they stood at the rail, Ralph thoughtfully said, “I wonder if the mystery of that deserted ship will ever be made clear.”
“Well,” said Bert, “when we return we can ascertain if she lived to reach port.”
“Yes,” grumbled Tom. “But unless some of the crew had returned before the government ship reached her the mystery would be as profound as ever. And,” he added, sinking disgustedly into his steamer chair, and stretching himself out lazily, “I do hate mysteries.”
CHAPTER XI
The Tiger at Bay
One day, about mid-afternoon, Bert was going through his duties in a more or less mechanical fashion, for the day had been warm, and he had been on duty since early morning. For several days past, practically no news of any interest had come in over the invisible aerial pathways, and as he had said to Dick only a short time before, “everything was deader than a door nail.”
Suddenly, however, the sounder began to click in a most unusual fashion. The clicks were very erratic, quick, and short, and to Bert’s experienced ear it was apparent that the person sending the message was in a state of great excitement. He hastily adjusted the clamp that held the receiver to his ear, and at the first few words of the message his heart leapt with excitement.
“Tiger broken loose,” came the message, in uneven spurts and dashes, “three of crew dead or dying – am shut up in wireless room – beast is sniffing at door – help us if you can – ” and then followed, latitude and longitude of the unlucky vessel.
Bert’s hand leaped to the sender, and the powerful spark went crashing out from the wires. “Will come at once – keep up courage,” he sent, and then snatched the apparatus off his head and rushed in mad haste to the deck. Captain Manning was below deck, and Bert communicated the message he had just received to the commanding officer at the time.
“Good heavens,” ejaculated the first officer, “there’s only one thing for us to do, and that’s to go to their aid just as fast as this old tub will take us.”
This was no sooner said than done, and in a few minutes the course of the vessel was changed, and she was headed in the direction of the distressed animal ship, for there could be little doubt that such was the nature of the cargo she had on board. It is not such an uncommon thing for a wild animal to break loose during a voyage, but generally it is recaptured with little trouble. Occasionally, however, an especially ferocious animal will escape, and at the very outset kill or maim the men especially employed to take care of them. Once let this happen, and the crew has little chance against such an enemy. Nothing much more terrible could be imagined than such a situation, and such was the plight in which the crew of the animal ship found themselves. They had made several vain attempts to trap the big tiger, but at each attempt one of their number had been caught and killed by the ferocious beast, until in a panic they had retreated to the forecastle, taking with them the first mate, who had been seriously injured by the murderous claws of the tiger as they were trying to cast a noose around his neck. Left without management, their ship was at the mercy of wind and wave, with no living creature on deck save the big cat. He had vainly tried to break into the men’s quarters, and failing in that, had laid siege to the cabin of the wireless operator. The door of this was fragile, however, and although the desperate man within had piled every article of furniture in the room against the door, there could be little doubt that it was but a matter of time when the maddened tiger would make use of his vast strength and burst in the frail barrier.
Such was the situation on board when, as a last resource, the devoted operator sent out the call for help that Bert had heard. The knowledge that help was at least on the way gave heart to the imprisoned and almost despairing man, and he waited for the rescuing ship to arrive with all the fortitude he could muster.
Meanwhile, on Bert’s ship, Captain Manning had been summoned to the bridge, and had immediately ordered full steam ahead. The ship quivered and groaned as the steam rushed at high pressure into the cylinders, causing the great propellers to turn as though they had been but toys. Great clouds of black smoke poured from the funnel, and the ship forged ahead at a greater speed than her crew had ever supposed her capable of making.
Fast as was their progress, however, it seemed but a crawl to the anxious group gathered on the bridge, and Bert went below to send an encouraging message to the unfortunate operator on the other ship.
Crash! crash! and the powerful current crackled and flashed from the wires.
“Keep up courage,” was the message Bert sent, “keep up courage, and we will get help to you soon. Are about ten knots from you now.”
For a few minutes there was no reply, and, when the receiver finally clicked, Bert could hardly catch the answer, so faint was it.
“The dynamo has stopped,” it read, “and batteries are almost exhausted. Heard shouting from the crew’s quarters a short time ago, and think the tiger is probably trying to break in there. A – few minutes – more – ” but here the sounder ceased, and Bert, in spite of his frantic efforts, was unable to get another word, good or bad. Finally, giving the attempt up as hopeless, he made his way to the bridge, where Captain Manning and the first officer were absorbed over a chart.
“We can’t be very far from them now, sir,” the latter was saying. “At the rate this old boat’s going now we ought to sight them pretty soon, don’t you think so, sir?”
“We surely should,” replied the captain. “But I wonder if Wilson has heard any more from them. As long as – ah, here you are, eh, Mr. Wilson? What’s the latest news from the distressed vessel?”
“Pretty bad, sir,” said Bert. “The crew seems to have become panic-stricken, including the engine-room force, and they’ve allowed the dynamo to stop. The wireless man didn’t have enough current left from the batteries to finish the message he was sending. He did say, though, that the tiger was raising a rumpus up forward, and trying to break into the men’s quarters. I can only hope, sir, that we will not arrive too late.”
“I hope so, indeed,” responded Captain Manning, gloomily, “but even if we get there before the beast has gotten at them, we’ll have our work cut out for us. We have no adequate weapons on board, and we can’t hope to cope with a foe like that barehanded.”
“That’s very true,” said the first officer, scratching his head. “I rather had a feeling that all we had to do was to get there and kill the tiger, but I must confess I hadn’t figured out how. However,” he added, “I’ve got a brace of pistols in my cabin, and I suppose you have, too, haven’t you, sir?” addressing the captain.
“Oh, of course I have them,” said the captain, impatiently, “but they’re not much good in an affair of this kind. What we need is a big game rifle, and that’s something we haven’t got. However, I imagine we’ll hit on some plan after we get there. Set your wits to work, Mr. Wilson, and see if you can’t figure out a scheme. You have always struck me as being pretty ingenious.”
“Well, I’ll do my best, you may be sure of that, sir,” replied Bert, “but meanwhile, I guess I’d better go below and see if by any chance they have got their wireless working again.”
“Aye, aye,” said the captain, “see what you can do, and I’ll see that you are informed when we get near the vessel.”
Bert did as he had proposed, but could get no response from his apparatus, and was just giving over the attempt as hopeless when he got a message from the captain that they were close up to the unfortunate ship.
Hastily unfastening the “harness” from his head, Bert rushed on deck, and gave a quick look about him. Sure enough, they were close aboard a rusty-looking steamer, that drifted aimlessly about, and at first glance seemed to have no living soul aboard. The deck was untenanted and showed no signs of life, and the silence was unbroken save for an occasional cry from the caged animals in the hold.
Of the tiger said to be loose on board there was no indication, however, but they soon made out a colored handkerchief waving from one of the portholes that afforded light and ventilation to the “fo’castle.” Presently they heard someone shouting to them, but were unable to make out what was said.
Captain Manning ordered a boat lowered, and carefully picked the men whom he desired to go in it. When he had chosen almost his full crew, Bert hurried up to him, and said: “I beg your pardon, sir, but I would like to ask you a favor. Do you think you could allow me and my friend, Mr. Trent, to go along? I think we could do our share of what’s to be done, and I feel that I ought to be among the party that goes in aid of a fellow operator.”
At first the captain would not hear of any such proposition, but finally, by dint of much persuasion, Bert won a reluctant consent.
“All right,” grumbled the captain. “If you must, you must, I suppose. But hurry up now. Step lively! All hands ready?”
“Aye, aye, sir,” sang out the crew, and after a few parting instructions from Captain Manning, the first officer, Mr. Collins, shouted the order to give way.
The crew bent to their oars with a will, and the heavy boat fairly leaped through the water at their sturdy strokes. In almost less time than it takes to tell, the boat was under the porthole from which they had first seen the signals, and Mr. Collins was talking in a low voice with a white-faced man who peered out of the circular opening.
“He almost had us a little time back,” said the latter, “but we managed to make enough noise to scare him away for the time. We haven’t heard anything of him for quite a while now, but he’s hungry, and he’ll soon be back. Heaven help us, then, if you fellows can’t do something for us.”
“We’ll get him, all right, never fear,” said Mr. Collins, reassuringly, “but how do you stand now? How many did the beast get before you got away from him?”
“He killed the three animal keepers almost at one swipe,” said the man, who proved to be the second mate. “Then the captain, as was a brave man, stood up to him with an old gun he used to keep in his cabin, and the beast crushed his head in before he could get the old thing to work. It must have missed fire, I guess. Then the brute started creeping toward us as was on deck, and we made a rush for the fo’castle door. The first officer happened to be the last one in, and the tiger just caught his arm with his claws and ripped it open to the bone. We managed to drag him in and slam the door in the beast’s face, though, and then we piled everything we could lay hand to against the door.”
“What did he do then?” inquired Mr. Collins.
“Why, he went ragin’ back and made a dive for one of the stokers that was up at the engine-room hatchway gettin’ a bit of fresh air, and he almost nabbed him. The dago dived below, though, and had sense enough to drop a grating after him. That stopped the cursed brute, and then I don’t know what he did for a while. Just a little while ago, though, as I was tellin’ ye, he came sniffin’ and scratchin’ around the door, and if he made a real hard try he’d get in, sure. Then it ’ud be good-night for us. Not one of us would get out of here alive.”
“But now that he’s left you for a time, why don’t you make an attempt to trap or kill him?” inquired Mr. Collins, and there was a little contempt in his tone.
“What, us? Never in a hundred years,” replied the man, in a scared voice. It was evident that the crew was completely unnerved, and Mr. Collins and his crew realized that if anything was to be done they must do it unaided.
“Well, here goes,” said he. “We might as well get on that deck first as last. We’ll never get anywhere by sitting here and talking.” Accordingly, they clambered up on deck, one by one, led by the first mate. In a short time they were all safely on deck, and looked around, their hearts beating wildly, for any sign of the ferocious animal. As far as any evidences of his presence went, however, the nearest tiger might have been in Africa. There was a deathlike hush over the ship, broken at times by the muffled chattering of the monkeys confined in cages below decks.
All the men were armed with the best weapons they were able to obtain, consisting chiefly of heavy iron bars requisitioned from the engine-room. Mr. Curtis, of course, had a pair of heavy revolvers, and both Bert and Dick had each a serviceable .45-calibre Colt. These were likely to prove of little avail against such an opponent, however, and more than one of the crew wished he were safely back on the deck of his own ship.
Not so Bert and Dick, however, and their eyes danced and sparkled from excitement. “Say,” whispered Dick in Bert’s ear, “talk about the adventures of that fellow you and I were reading about a day or two ago. This promises to outdo anything that I ever heard of.”
“It sure does,” said Bert, in the same suppressed voice. “I wonder where that beast can be hiding himself. This suspense is getting on my nerves.”
All the rescuing party felt the same way, but the tiger obstinately refused to put in an appearance. The men started on an exploring expedition, beginning at the bow and working toward the stern. At every step they took, the probability of their presently stumbling on the animal became more imminent, and their nerves were keyed to the breaking point.
In this manner they traversed almost two-thirds of the deck, and were about to round the end of the long row of staterooms when suddenly, without a moment’s warning, the tiger stood before them, not thirty feet away.
At first he seemed to be surprised, but as the men watched him, fascinated, they could see his cruel yellow eyes gradually change to black, and hear a low rumble issue from his throat. For a few seconds not one of them seemed able to move a hand, but then Mr. Curtis yelled, “Now’s your time, boys. Empty your revolvers into him, Wilson and Crawford,” and suiting the action to the word, he opened fire on the great cat.
Bert and Dick did likewise, but in their excitement most of their shots went wild, and only wounded the now thoroughly infuriated animal.
With a roar that fairly shook the ship the tiger leapt toward the hardy group. “Back! Back!” shouted Mr. Collins, and they retreated hastily. The tiger just fell short of them, but quickly gathered himself for another spring, and two of the more faint-hearted seamen started to run toward the bow. Indeed, it was a situation to daunt the heart of the bravest man, but Bert and the others who retained their self-control knew that it was now too late to retreat, and their only course, desperate as it seemed, was to stand their ground and subdue the raging beast if possible.
