TRICKED.
When the conspirators came on deck, and before they finished smoking,
the boys cleaned the cabin, ate their own dinner in the galley, and were
at liberty to remain idle until it should be time to prepare supper.
After the heat of the day had passed Bob proposed that all the brig's
lower sails should be set; adding, in conclusion:
"'Cordin' to my way of thinkin', there's goin' to be a decent kind of a
breeze about sunset, an' if we're ready for it jes' so much time will be
saved in leavin' this place."
The three strangers appeared even more eager than he to see the brig
under canvas once more, and all hands turned to with a will, pulling,
hoisting, and sheeting home as if the wind which was to waft them toward
the United States had already begun to blow.
By the time this work was done there could no longer be any question but
that a generous breeze from the south was near at hand. Thin, filmy
clouds formed in the sky, while every now and then the heated air would
be set in motion slightly, as a token of what might be expected.
"There's no doubt now but that we'll be under way by sunset," Joe said,
as he stood on the quarter-deck where the boys had taken refuge from the
heat, "and it would be a good idea for me to be bringing my dunnage out
of the tug, since it ain't likely I'll ever see the little craft again."
"Ain't you goin' to try and save anything else?" Jim asked.
"There isn't much that we can take. Suppose all hands go aboard and see
if there's anything belonging to the crew that'll pay for carrying
away?"
The boys accepted the invitation readily, for they did not care to move
about the deck of the brig very much lest they came in contact with the
red-nosed man and his friends, and all four went into the tiny
after-cabin of the Sea Bird, where Joe at once began his work of
investigation.
There were four chests here in addition to the one owned by Joe, and
these were broken open without ceremony, for the engineer did not intend
to burden himself with anything that might not be of considerable value
to the owners.
"We'll unpack 'em, and then put the things back carefully, in case the
little craft is carried home again," he said, going to work
systematically, while the boys watched him with mild curiosity.
There was no apparent necessity for haste, therefore Joe set about his
task leisurely because of the intense heat, which made the slightest
exertion almost painful, and but two of the chests had been overhauled
when Bob came below to learn what was going on.
"Gettin' ready to leave, eh?" he asked, after looking at the perspiring
engineer in silence several moments. "Well, it's time; for unless I've
made a big mistake in them light clouds we'll start from here mighty
soon."
"If we were going alone I'd feel tiptop," Joe said, as he paused for an
instant in his work; "but as it is, I'm afraid we'll have trouble with
that crowd before the United States coast heaves in sight, even if they
do talk so fair just now."
"We must keep our weather-eyes liftin' every minute, an' at the first
sign of a row pitch in so's to take 'em unawares;" and Bob stretched
himself out on the port locker as if determined to enjoy all possible
comfort before the serious work of sailing the brig without an
experienced navigator was begun. "I wouldn't hesitate to give 'em the
slip by leavin' the whole crowd here; but there's no chance of their
goin' ashore after the wind rises."
"No," Joe replied, with a long-drawn sigh, "we shall have to grin an'
bear it, I reckon; but----"
He ceased speaking very suddenly, for just at that moment a footstep was
heard on the steamer's deck, and an instant later the unpleasant-looking
face of the man with the red nose appeared at the companion-way.
"You all got outer sight so quick that I thought p'rhaps you'd gone
overboard," he said with a leer, glancing inquisitively around the
cabin, but making no motion to descend.
"Joe is overhaulin' this dunnage, to see if there's anything worth
carryin' back to the States," Bob replied carelessly, as the engineer
continued his work in silence.
The man lowered his head as if to see the interior more plainly, and,
unperceived by any one in the little apartment, made a quick motion with
his hand, evidently for the benefit of those aboard the brig.
During nearly five minutes he stood there carelessly pushing the hatch
back and forth, until the Mexican waved his hat, when the red-nosed man
suddenly shut both doors, shoving into place the bolts which fastened
them together.
The little party in the cabin looked up in surprise at this singular
maneuver, but it was not until the sound of quick footsteps was heard on
the deck as the man ran swiftly aboard the brig that any one thought of
treachery.
"They've locked us in here so's they can steal the Bonita!" Bob shouted,
as he leaped to the companion-way and began pounding on the bolted
doors.
The oaken timbers were firm as a bulk-head, and, without a weapon, he
might have worked there all day in vain.
Joe had sprung to the windows; but his efforts were quite as useless as
Bob's. Heavy iron gratings, intended to keep out intruders and break the
force of the waves, were screwed so firmly in the wood-work that they
could not be removed from the inside save by the use of proper tools.
They were securely imprisoned, for the cabin had no outlet except at the
companion-way, and two or three hours of hard work would be absolutely
necessary before they could escape by the doors.
While Bob and Joe were darting from one possible point of vantage to
another, shouting for help and uttering wild threats in the same breath,
the boys had gathered at one of the port windows which looked directly
on the brig's bulwarks.
"They ain't gettin' under way!" Jim cried, as if trying to persuade
himself that the strangers were not intending to desert them.
"There's no need for the pirates to hurry," Bob said hoarsely, as he
stood in the center of the cabin, his face convulsed by rage and
trembling like one in an ague fit. "If I had jumped on 'em with the
belayin'-pin when Joe held me back, all of that crowd wouldn't be able
to get away. Come here, you cowards, an' give us a fair show! Open this
hatch or I'll foller you till your lives won't be worth the livin'!"
"The hawsers have been cast off, an' now the brig is beginnin' to move
through the water!" Jim reported, as he pressed his face close to the
iron bars.
This information gave fresh impetus to Bob's wrath. He rushed from one
corner of the cabin to another shouting the wildest threats, and
behaving generally like an insane person.
Joe was quite as angry as the old sailor, but not to such an extent that
his common sense had deserted him. While Bob strode back and forth he
was working on the screws which held the bars in place. By breaking off
the end of the largest blade in his pocket-knife quite an effective tool
was made, and he had accomplished no slight portion of his task when Jim
made the last report.
Rapidly as the engineer might labor, however, he knew it would be
impossible to remove this one particular barrier to freedom before the
Bonita would be beyond their reach. The promised wind had come sooner
than it was expected, as could be told by the rapidly increasing speed
with which the black bulwarks of the brig slipped past the window, and
the task was not half completed when blue water could be seen as the
vessel's stern swept by, leaving a wake which bubbled and danced merrily
in the sunlight.
"There must be a pretty good breeze," Jim continued, speaking excitedly,
as if the tears were very near his eyelids, "for the upper sails are all
drawing. Now I can see that red-nosed bully at the wheel, an' he's
wavin' his hat!"
Joe continued to work at the bars, and now, when it was too late to
effect anything, Bob recovered from his anger sufficiently to make at
least an attempt at assisting, while Harry and Walter stood near the
companion-way, so thoroughly bewildered by this last blow of a cruel
fate that speech was well nigh impossible.
The brig remained within Jim's range of vision but a few moments longer,
and when she disappeared entirely he threw himself on a locker, trying
to stifle with its cushion the sobs which convulsed him.
Without speaking, breathing like one after a long race, and heeding not
the wounds on his fingers inflicted by the sharp edge of the knife, Joe
worked on until the iron grating was held in place only by a couple of
screws on one side. Then, standing on the locker, he used his foot as a
battering-ram until the wood-work gave way, and the bars fell to the
deck with a clatter and a crash that must have been heard by those on
the brig.
If it had been possible to overtake the thieves the prisoners could not
have clambered out through the window more quickly, and on gaining the
deck the uselessness of any further efforts was painfully apparent.
The Bonita was already out of the little harbor, bowing and courtesying
on the ocean swell to the wind from the south which filled all her
sails, and gliding through the water as if rejoicing at her escape from
the shoal.
"Can't we row out to them?" Jim cried excitedly. "It wouldn't take long
to launch the tug's yawl!"
"We couldn't catch 'em with anything slower than a steamer, now that
they're well under way!" Bob cried angrily; and then, unfastening the
hatch, he went into the cabin once more, as if unable to look longer at
the rapidly retreating brig.
"It's no use, boys; we've got to make the best of what can't be cured!"
Joe said with a great but vain effort to speak in a cheery tone. "We
must try and forget what has happened or we shall be in no condition to
help ourselves." Then, noting the tears in Walter's eyes, he added
kindly: "Think of how much worse we might be situated. The Sea Bird
isn't injured past mending, and in her we can make any port we choose."
"But you said it would be two or three weeks before she could be
repaired," and Harry choked back a sob lest the evidences of his own
grief should make Walter's sorrow greater.
"In that I may have been mistaken. Let's set to work as if nothing had
happened, and think only about going home presently with no one on board
of whom we are afraid. You boys get the yawl into the water, so we can
land at any time, and I'll begin the job on the engine."