NEWS OF THE "RAMONA"
Over the slowly heaving swell of the blue waters the swift revenue
cutter came on. Those aboard the Tartar watched her with eager eyes.
Did she have some news for them? This was the question in the mind
of the motor girls.
"Oh, perhaps they have mother aboard!" breathed Cora, her hopes
running thus high.
"And they might have our mother and father!" added Bess, taking bold
heart as she heard Cora speak.
Inez said nothing. It was too much for her to dare to think that her
father might be released from his political prison. She could only
wait and hope.
"Some speed to her," observed Jack, admiringly, as he watched the
white foam piled up in front of the bow of the oncoming craft.
"But she's not very big," spoke Walter.
"She's built for speed," remarked Engineer Joe. "She doesn't usually
come out this far to sea; just hangs around the harbors, and tries to
catch small smugglers. She couldn't stand much of a blow, and it's
my opinion we're going to get one."
"Oh, I hope not soon!" exclaimed Cora, with a little nervous glance
up at the sky.
"Well, within a day or so," went on Joe. "It's making up for a storm
all right, and I guess that cutter is trying to get her job
done--whatever it is--and scoot back into harbor."
"But why should she want to speak to us?" asked Bess. "Of course
it's interesting, and all that--almost like a story, in fact--but
what does she want?"
"Tell you better when she gets here," said Walter with a laugh.
"Perhaps there are some ladies aboard, and they want to learn the
latest styles from the United States-seeing how recently you girls
came from there."
"Silly!" murmured Belle, but it was noticed that she glanced at her
brown linen dress, relieved with little touches of flame-colored
velvet here and there--in which costume she made a most attractive
picture. At least, Walter thought so.
"Perhaps zey are in search of him," suggested Inez, pointing to
Sailor Ben, who was lying on a coil of rope in the bow.
"That's right!" exclaimed Jack, with a look of admiration at the
Spanish girl. "They may have heard a story of his being on the
island, and come out to rescue him. They could tell we came from
that direction."
"It's possible," admitted Walter.
Whoever was in charge of the revenue cutter, seeing that their
signals to speak the Tartar had been observed and answered, cut down
the speed somewhat, so that the government vessel came on more
slowly. In a short time, however, she was near enough for a hail,
through a megaphone, to be heard.
"What boat is that?" was the demand.
"The Tartar, from San Juan," was Jack's reply.
"Where bound?"
"It's too long a story to yell this way," was Jack's answer. "Shall
we come aboard?"
"No, I'll send a boat," came back. Presently a small boat,
containing three men, was lowered, for the sea was very smooth, and
in a little while a trim-looking lieutenant was at the accommodation
ladder of the Tartar.
"Why, it's just like a play!" murmured Bess, as she saw the sword at
the officer's side. "I wonder if he's going to put us all under
arrest?"
"Would you mind?" asked Cora.
"I don't know. He has nice eyes, hasn't he?"
"Hopeless!" sighed. Cora, with a little smile at her chum.
A quick glance on the part of the lieutenant seemed to give him an
idea of the nature of the cruise of the Tartar.
"Oh! a pleasure party!" he exclaimed. "I am sorry we had to stop
you, but--"
"That's all right," said Cora, for she thought it would be less
embarrassing if one of the feminine members gave some assurance. "It
doesn't happen to be a pleasure trip."
"No? You astonish me, really! I should say--"
His eyes caught sight of the ragged and un-kempt figure of the
marooned sailor.
"Has there been a wreck? Did you save some one?" the lieutenant
asked, quickly. His practiced eye told him at once that some tragedy
had occurred.
"Something like that--yes," Cora assented. "But the rescue is not
over yet. My brother will tell you all about it," and she nodded to
Jack. The lieutenant, with a courteous lifting of his cap, turned to
face Walter's chum.
"We rescued him from a little island back there," Jack said. "We
thought you might be on the same errand."
"No," the officer said, "though we would have gone if we had heard of
it. But we are after bigger game. Are you going back to St. Kitts?"
"Yes, and then on again. We're trying to find the Ramona, or some--"
"The Ramona!" cried the lieutenant, and there was wonder in his
tones. "Do you, by any possible chance, mean the Ramona of the Royal
Line?"
"That's the one," said Jack, something of the other's excitement
'communicating itself to him. "Why, do you know anything about her?"
"I only wish we knew more of her!" snapped the lieutenant, with a
grim tightening of his lips, while the girls looked on in wonder at
the strange scene. "We're after her, too," the officer continued.
"She's in the hands of a mutinous crew, and she's been trying to do
some smuggling. We've orders to take her if we can, but first we
have to find her, and that's the errand we're on now. We stopped you
to ask if you had had a sight of her. But why are you interested in
finding her, if I may ask?"
"We're looking for my mother, who sailed on her," said Cora, quickly,
"and for Mr. and Mrs. Perry Robinson, the parents of these girls,"
and she nodded toward the twins.
"Is it possible!" exclaimed the lieutenant. "This is indeed a
coincidence."
"Have you sighted the Ramona?" asked Cora.
"No, Miss, and I wish we would--soon," spoke the lieutenant. "We're
going to have a storm, if I'm any judge, and our cutter isn't any too
sea-worthy. But it's all in the line of business," and he shrugged
his shapely shoulders as though preparing for the worst. He would
not shirk his duty.
"Well, I'm sorry we can't give you any information," Cora said. "We,
too, are very anxious to find the steamer, for we are not even sure
that our parents are aboard. There was a terrible storm, you know,
and she may have foundered."
"No, she did not. We have good evidence of that," was the officer's
answer. "She had a hard time in the hurricane, and suffered some
damage, Miss, but she's sound and able to navigate. We heard that
some of the crew, who would not join with the mutineers, were
marooned--I am glad to get confirmation of that," and he nodded at
Ben, whose story had been briefly told.
"But what of the passengers?" asked Bess, anxiously. "Oh, did you
hear anything of father and mother?"
"Not personally, I am sorry to say," was the answer of the lieutenant
as he touched his cap, and smiled at the eager girl.
"But did you hear anything?" asked, Cora, for somehow she fancied she
detected a tone as though the officer would have been glad to answer
no further.
"Well, Yes, Miss, I did," he was the somewhat reluctant reply. "The
story goes that all the passengers are still aboard."
"Still on board!" echoed Jack. "Why, I thought they were also
marooned."
"Evidently not," said the lieutenant. "Either the storm must have
made them change their plans, or the mutineers were afraid of
evidence being given against them by the passengers, for they kept
them aboard, according to the latest reports we have had.
"After living through the hurricane, the Ramona was headed for a
quiet harbor, where the smugglers have their headquarters, and there
repairs were made. Since then the ship, under another name, has been
engaged in running contraband goods. We were ordered to get after
her, but, so far, we have had our trouble for our pains. We hoped
you might have sighted her."
"We're going to keep on trying," said Cora. "We are going back to
St. Kitts, to land him," and she nodded at the sailor they had
rescued.
"Well, then we may see you again," the lieutenant said, with a bow,
that took in the motor girls impartially. He shot a quick glance at
Inez, but Cora did not think it wise to speak of the Spanish girl,
nor mention her father.
After some further talk, in the course of which the lieutenant said
the mutineers and smugglers would be harshly dealt with when caught,
he returned to the cutter, which was soon under way again. She
sheered off on a new tack, while the Tartar resumed her journey to
St. Kitts.
"Wasn't that remarkable?" asked Bess.
"Very strange," agreed Cora.
"And it gave us news," spoke Belle. "We know now that your mother,
Cora, and that our folks are all right."
"All right?" cried Jack, questioningly.
"Well, I mean they are safe on board, and not suffering on some
little island," went on Belle.
"They might better off on some island," murmured Jack, but only
Walter heard him, and he cautioned his chum quickly.
"Don't let the girls hear you say that," he whispered. "I agree with
you that they might be better off on an island, than on the steamer,
with the mutineers and smugglers. But if the girls hear that, they'll
have all kinds of fits. Keep still about it."
"Oh, I intend to. But this complicates matters doesn't it? We'll
have to find a constantly moving steamer, instead of a stationary
island."
"It's about six of one and a half dozen of the other," spoke Walter.
"But we have help in our search now," and he nodded toward the
cutter, only the smoke of which could now be seen.
St. Kitts was reached without further incident, and Sailor Ben was
taken ashore, Cora insisting on leaving him a sufficient sum of money
to insure his care until he could find another berth. Then the
pursuit of the Ramona was again taken up.
For two days the Tartar cruised about on her strange quest, and when
the third evening came, with the sun setting behind a bank of
slate-colored clouds, Cora said to Jack:
"It looks like a storm."
"You're right, Sis," he agreed. And, I even as he spoke, there came
a strange moaning of the wind, which sprang up suddenly, whipping
feathers of foam from the crests of the oily waves.
At the same moment, Joe, who had come up from the motor room for a
breath of fresh air, cried out:
"Sail ho!"