Kitabı oku: «The Last Cruise of the Spitfire: or, Luke Foster's Strange Voyage», sayfa 4
CHAPTER IX
UP LONG ISLAND SOUND
The loss of the letter worried me even more than the loss of the money. In the exciting events that had transpired since I had received it I had forgotten the writer's name and his address. I remembered the name was something like Noddington, and that the address was a number in Old Fellows Road, but that was all.
This was deeply to be regretted, for I had expected to put myself into immediate communication with my father's friend, having any reply addressed to the post-office of the place I might be then stopping at.
But now this scheme could not be carried out. To send a letter haphazard would probably do no good.
I was so worked up over my discovery that I left the forecastle without taking the trouble to don the clothing Lowell had pointed out to me. I looked around the deck, and seeing the boatswain at the bow, hastened towards him.
His brow contracted when he saw me.
"Why didn't you put on the suit I gave you?" he demanded.
"Because I first wanted to speak to you," I returned. "What have you done with my money?"
"Your money? I haven't seen any money," he returned coolly.
By his manner I could easily tell that his statement was untrue.
"I had four dollars and a half and some letters in my pockets," I went on. "I want them back."
"Why you good-for-nothing landlubber!" he roared. "Do you mean to say I'm a thief?"
"Well, where's my money?"
"How do I know? Come, do as I ordered you to."
And he shook his fist at me savagely.
"I want my stuff and I'm going to have it," I went on, as stoutly as I could.
"You're going to obey orders, that's what you're going to do," he cried. "I take no back talk from any one."
"If you don't give up that money I'll have you arrested as a thief the first time I get the chance," was my reply; and I meant just what I said.
"You will, will you?" he roared. "Just wait till I get a rope's end and we'll see who is boss here."
I was somewhat startled at his words, but I stood my ground. Lowell ran to the starboard side of the schooner, and presently returned with a stout rope some three feet long.
"Now, are you going to do as I told you?" he asked, as he advanced towards me.
"Don't you dare to touch me!" I cried. "If you do you will have to take the consequences!"
"Don't talk to me!" he cried. "Just wait till I tan your back for you!"
He swung the rope's end over his head, and brought it down with all force. I sprang aside, and received the blow squarely on my shoulder. Had I not done so the rope would have cut my neck deeply.
"You big coward!" I cried; and the next instant I gave him one strong blow from the shoulder that sent him staggering against the rail.
I do not know to this day how I came to deliver that blow as I did. Perhaps it was that my temper was at its highest, and I put all my force into it. I was surprised at my own power.
But if I was surprised Lowell was more so. The rope's end fell from his hand, and his face took on a sickly green color. A number of the sailors who had seen my action gathered around in amazement, and one of them winked his eye in a most knowing manner.
"I'll have your life for that!" yelled Lowell, as soon as he could recover.
"Don't you come near me," I replied.
"I'll flay you alive!"
"No, you won't. I'm not used to such treatment, and I won't stand it."
I stood my ground, and for a moment the boatswain did not appear to know what to do next.
"Catch him from behind, Crocker," he said finally, addressing the sailor I had seen with him in the lumber shed. "I'll give him a lesson he won't forget as long as he remains on board the Spitfire, or else my name ain't Lowell."
Crocker advanced upon me to do as he had been ordered. Evidently he did not relish the job, for he came on slowly.
Not to be caught in this manner I sprang aside, and retreated rapidly towards the stern of the schooner. I did not know anything about the vessel, and finally found myself near the cabin, and face to face with Captain Hannock.
"Here, what's the row about?" he demanded.
"I want Lowell to give up the money and letters he took from me," I replied; and a moment later the boatswain came up.
"He won't mind orders, captain," he exclaimed.
"You've got to mind orders while you're on board, Foster."
"Well, perhaps I will if I'm treated fairly," I replied.
"You'll be treated fair enough, never fear. If Lowell has anything of yours I'll get it and keep it for you until you need it. Now go forward, and do as you are told."
For a moment I hesitated. This was not a very satisfactory settlement; but evidently it was the best I could get, and so I retired.
"Bully for you," said Phil Jones, as he followed me into the forecastle. "My, how you did pitch into him!"
"And I'll do it again if he abuses me," I returned, hotly, for I was not yet calmed down over the recent encounter.
"You look able to," went on the cabin-boy. "My, don't I wish I was as strong as you!"
"You will be some day, Phil."
Phil shook his head.
"I reckon not – leastwise, not while I have to live such a dog's life as this on the Spitfire. Say, are them your clothes?" he went on, pointing to the articles of wearing apparel Lowell had given me.
"I presume they are – for this trip. But I don't fancy them much."
And the smell of grease on them was decidedly unpleasant.
"You'll get used to them after a while. Things on the Spitfire ain't as clean as they might be, although the captain keeps me hustling to keep the cabin tidy. Can I help you any?"
Before I could decline Phil's kind offer a dark form appeared at the entrance to the forecastle.
"Hi, Phil, you rat, come out of that!" roared Captain Hannock, savagely. "What business have you got in there? Git into the cabin and lively, or I'll warm you good!"
Phil made a break for the deck. As he passed the captain, that brute raised his brawny hand and boxed him on the side of the head.
"Take that to teach you a lesson!" the captain stormed; and then he and his victim moved out of sight and hearing.
This assault made me madder than ever. But I was powerless to assist Phil, much as I wished to do so. I could well understand the bully-like nature of Captain Hannock, and I resolved to be well on my guard against him.
After some consideration, I put on the suit of ship's clothing. It fitted fairly well, and after I had given the trousers several hitches I felt quite at home in them, and then I went on deck.
CHAPTER X
A NARROW ESCAPE
By the time the sun went down we were well out of sight of land. Here the breeze was even stronger; and at last several of the sailors prevailed upon the man at the wheel to send down word to the captain that sail must be shortened.
Lowell came on deck with the captain, and both had been drinking heavily.
"Shorten sail!" roared the captain. "Not a bit of it. If the mast goes, let her go."
Nevertheless, the wind soon freshened so much that several of the sails were reefed. I watched the performance from the bow.
"Here you, why don't you get to work?" cried Lowell savagely, as he came forward.
"I don't know what to do," I replied quietly.
"Don't know what to do? You're too lazy to do anything. Get aloft there!"
"Where?"
"There."
He pointed up to one of the masts. I looked in the direction indicated.
As I did so he caught me by the waist.
"I'll teach you to hit me!" he hissed.
"Here, hold up!" I cried, in alarm.
"Shut up!"
He placed one of his brawny hands over my mouth, thus endeavoring to silence me, but with an effort I cast the hand aside.
"Let me go!"
"I'll let you go when I'm done with you!" he whispered.
He was evidently in a very ugly mood, and I saw that he did not intend to treat me with any show of gentleness. Nevertheless, I was hardly prepared for what followed.
Once again he placed his hand over my mouth, and this time, in spite of my struggles, he managed to keep it there. Then he gradually forced me close to the rail.
In vain I tried to break away from him. He exerted all of his strength, and being but a boy, I was no match for him. In another moment he had me hard against the rail.
I endeavored to turn my head to see if our struggle was not noticed by some of the others. But Lowell kept my eyes turned seaward, and now he caught me about the arms and the waist.
"I'll fix you!" he went on, with a hiccough. "I'll teach you to hit me!"
"Let – let me go!" I managed to gasp.
"Oh, I'll let you go!" he went on, sarcastically. "I'll let you go quicker than you expect, you imp! How do you like that, eh?"
And the next instant he had hurled me bodily over the side. I went spinning through the air, and then fell with a splash into the waters of Long Island Sound!
Lowell's attack had been so unexpected that I hardly had time to realize what was taking place, and did nothing to stop the catastrophe.
But once in the water I regained my presence of mind. I reached the surface as soon as possible, and then shouted lustily for help.
By this time the Spitfire had gone on a considerable distance ahead, and as the wind was blowing little short of a gale, I was doubtful if my voice could be heard. Nevertheless I continued to call for assistance, and at the same time did all in my power to keep afloat.
This would have been an easy matter had I not been weighed down by any clothes. But the shirt and trousers I wore were heavy, and once soaked with water they felt like lead. I tried to get them off and also to unloosen my shoes; but, as is usual in such cases, succeeded in doing neither.
At the same time I watched the Spitfire and was not a little alarmed to see that the vessel was still forging ahead. Was it possible that those on board were going to leave me behind?
It certainly seemed so, and for a few moments I was thoroughly alarmed. I was out of sight of land, and the darkness of night was fast approaching.
As I moved about in an endeavor to rid myself of some of my clothing, my arm came in contact with something which proved to be a short spar. I grasped it at once, and its buoyancy helped greatly to keep me afloat.
By this time the Spitfire was far ahead, and I had about concluded that I had seen the last of her. I noticed that some of the sails were lowered, and finally that the schooner swung around and began to tack back.
It took some time for the old craft to come within hailing distance, and once or twice she stopped, as if those on board were about to give up the search.
But finally she tacked to my right, and I raised my voice to the top of its power.
"Help! Help!"
For a moment no answer was returned, and I repeated the cry.
"Ahoy! I see you!" was the answer.
Five minutes more and the schooner was alongside. A rope was thrown over, and, thoroughly exhausted, I crawled on board.
"You rascal!" roared Captain Hannock. "Thought you could escape that way, did you? I had half a mind to let you go to Davy Jones's locker!"
And he shook his fist at me savagely.
At these words I was almost too dumfounded to speak. Did he really imagine I had jumped overboard?
"What do you mean?" I gasped. "I didn't go over on purpose. Lowell pitched me over."
"What's that?" thundered the boatswain. "That's the biggest whopper I ever heard in my life."
"It's the truth."
"Stuff and nonsense," cried the captain. "Lowell seems to worry you altogether too much. Go forward, and don't you try any more such monkey tricks again, or I'll take the rope's end over you myself!"
And Captain Hannock advanced upon me so savagely that I was glad enough to retreat.
I went down into the forecastle, and here Tony Dibble, a hand, managed to hunt me up some dry clothing. While I was putting it on the old sailor stood by, and presently said:
"I'm afraid you're going to have a hard time of it, my lad. I was thinking Lowell pushed you over, though he stood by it that you had fallen. I saw you just as you reached the water and I flung a stick after you, thinking it might keep you afloat."
"And it did," I replied. "If it hadn't been for that I might have been at the bottom by this time."
"The old man didn't want to turn back at first when he heard you were overboard," went on the old sailor. "He said it was bad luck."
"You don't mean to say he would have let me go to the bottom!" I cried.
"That's it; and me and Goller and Sampson wouldn't have it, and told him so, and then he turned back."
"I shall never forget what you have done for me," said I. And I never have to this day.
With dry clothes on I went on deck with the old sailor. Lowell did not come near me, and I saw nothing of him until the next day.
CHAPTER XI
CAPTAIN HANNOCK'S PLOT
The sky was overcast, and Dibble said that a storm was brewing.
"Will it be a bad one?"
"I can't say. Sometimes a little storm outside is a bad one in the Sound, and then again it's just the opposite. I remember six years ago, sailing from Boston to Norwalk that we struck a little storm that didn't look like more than a puff of wind, and yet when we were done with it we hadn't any main-topmast worth speaking of."
"I should like to see a real storm," I said.
The old sailor shook his head.
"They're nicer to sit by a good fire and read about than to be in. You never know what to expect. Besides the Spitfire's best days are over."
Presently I saw the captain and Lowell go below together. I was satisfied that they intended to talk matters over, especially when, a little later, Crocker was called to join them.
If only I could hear what was said, both about myself and about the plan to be carried out! By hook or by crook I must get within hearing distance.
Presently Phil Jones came up the companionway to throw something over the side. I immediately approached him.
"Say, Phil, do you want to do me a favor?"
"Certainly I do," replied the cabin boy readily. "I'm always ready to do a favor for any one who stands up before Lowell."
And Phil Jones gave a grin.
In a few words I told him what I wanted, stating that I wished to hear whatever the trio in the cabin had to say about me.
"Tell you what I'll do," said he. "I'll take you down to the pantry. There is a door there that connects with the cabin, and by looking through the keyhole you can see all that is going on, and hear everything, too."
This just suited me, and under pretext of getting something to eat, I went aft with him, and was soon within the pantry he had mentioned.
It was not a large place, and I had some difficulty in turning about in it without knocking down the dishes that it contained. But at last I felt that I was in a good position, and then after making me promise not to tell who had let me in if I was discovered, Phil Jones closed the door and left me to myself.
At first I could see and hear but little, but as I grew accustomed to the place I discovered the captain, Lowell and Crocker seated around the cabin table, drinking.
"It's going to be a stormy night, and no mistake," remarked Crocker, as he helped himself to some more of the liquor that stood on the table.
"Guess you're right," said Lowell. "If it's bad enough we might let the old tub go down here without going any further."
Captain Hannock shook his head.
"It won't do," he said. "We want her to sink in deep water where the insurance people can't find her. You must remember that a good part of the cargo is bogus, and if that was ever found out we wouldn't get a penny."
"How far do you calculate to sail?" asked Lowell.
"I've been thinking I'd better wait till we're about three days out from Cape Cod. We can sail a little north of the regular track, and so have things all our own way."
"Don't go too far," said Crocker. "Remember we've got to get back. Money won't do us any good if we lose our lives on the ocean."
"Don't get chicken-hearted!" cried the captain angrily.
"I ain't chicken-hearted," replied Crocker. "But what's the use of taking too much risk?"
"I ain't going to risk being sent to prison for ten years or more," cried Captain Hannock, in a rising voice. "If you – "
"Hush, not so loud," put in Lowell. "We don't want any of the others to know of what's going on. If they did they'd make short work of the three of us."
"Now don't you get afraid, Lowell. Reckon your row with that boy has taken the nerve out of you."
Lowell muttered something under his breath.
"I'll fix him yet," he said.
"Don't do it so openly," said Captain Hannock. "If you do, those who see it may get you into trouble."
"Leave me to manage the affair."
This last remark was followed by a brief spell of silence. What I had heard interested me greatly. These three men were plotting the destruction of the Spitfire with a view of getting the insurance on the vessel and her cargo. How it was to be done I did not know, but I surmised that they intended to either sink the vessel or burn her up; perhaps they intended to try both.
While I was yet thinking over what I had heard, and wondering what was to follow, there came a loud knock on the cabin door, and Tony Dibble appeared.
"Excuse me, Captain, but the storm is coming up fast from the southeast," he said, touching his cap.
"Confound you and the storm!" howled Captain Hannock.
"It's getting ready for a heavy blow," added Dibble. "We all thought we ought to tell you."
"Get to the deck! I know my business. I'll be up when it's necessary."
"Yes, sir."
Touching his hat again Dibble withdrew. The captain brought his fist down on the table with a bang.
"Dibble knows too much!" he cried. "I wish we had left him behind."
"He's a good sailor," put in Lowell. "Maybe the storm is a bad one."
"Don't croak, Lowell; I know my business."
By this time the glasses were empty, and the three men filled them up again.
I was considerably alarmed by what Tony Dibble had said. I was sure he would not have spoken had there not been good cause. If I had not been so interested in what was going on in the cabin I would have gone on deck at once.
Yet what followed enchained my attention so deeply that I was glad I remained.
"Say, Lowell, did you read the letter you took from the lad?" asked the captain, after he had drained his glass.
"I glanced over it," was the reply. "I didn't have time to read it through."
"Well, there's a surprise in it."
"What is it?" asked Lowell; and eagerly I bent forward to catch what might follow.
"The boy is Felix Stillwell's nephew."
"What!"
"It is a fact. You could have knocked me down with a feather," said the captain. "How he should come on board the Spitfire is the strangest thing I ever heard of."
"I reckon Stillwell would be mightily surprised if he knew his nephew was with us," observed Lowell.
"And I reckon you'd treated the lad differently if you'd known who he was."
And Captain Hannock gave a loud laugh.
This bit of conversation puzzled me not a little. What did these men know about my uncle? Could it be possible that he had anything to do with the Spitfire?
I knew that he occasionally made a venture in lumber from down East. On one occasion I knew him to invest several thousand dollars in a raft from Maine, although whether it paid or not I never found out.
I had always believed my uncle straightforward and honest, but now, since receiving the letter from England, my confidence in him was shaken. He had not treated me rightly, and this being so, who knew where his wrongdoing ended?
"It don't make a bit of difference if he is the president's son," replied Lowell savagely. "I won't allow any boy to square up to me. And besides, Felix Stillwell is no great friend of mine."
"Nor of me, for the matter of that," said the captain. "But still, we must keep on the right side of him. Remember he has us where the hair is short."
"When do I get my pay?" spoke up Crocker, who was fast becoming the worse for liquor.
"That will be safe, never fear," said the captain, as he staggered to his feet, "only remember to keep a mum tongue in your head. If any one hears of our plans they may blow us sky high."
"I'm all right: only – What was that?"
As Crocker asked the last question all sprang to their feet in alarm.
I could have answered the question with ease. My position had become too cramped for me, and I had tried to change it. In doing so I dislodged several dishes from the rack, and they fell with a crash to the pantry floor.
"Some one's spying on us!" cried the captain. "Lowell, see who it is!"
