THE MYSTERY O' THE SEA
As around the stern of the _Seamew_ came a prau, Ah Sing shrieked aloud
in delight and the boys gave a hearty cheer at sight of Captain
Hollinger and Swanson standing in the prow of the craft. Beside them
stood the two engineers, while the Kanaka crew of the yacht were at the
sweeps.
"By golly, they got away!" gasped Mart, managing to scramble to his
feet. The sight of the motionless figure of Jerry Smith sobered both
boys, however, and while Bob stepped forward to meet his father, Mart
kneeled down beside Jerry with feeble efforts to revive him. His own
strength was not yet fully returned.
"What's all this?" demanded the captain, as he leaped from the prau to
the landing. "Where are those mutineers, Bob?"
"Ashore, all but Jerry," returned Bob promptly, pointing to the
quartermaster's figure. Captain Hollinger waved back his men and joined
Mart. After a cursory examination he rose to his feet and pulled Mart up
also.
"No use, boys," he said softly. "Jerry has found the mystery of the sea
at last. Now come along. Tell me what's been going on here."
Mart was unable to speak for a moment, but startled as Bob was, he
replied with another question, as Captain Hollinger drew them both up
the ladder to the deck.
"Tell us how you got away, first. We thought the Malays had you!"
"So they did," grimaced the captain, "until that assistant engineer came
ashore with the Kanakas. Before they got him into the river he had
impelled the Kanakas to capture the prau. Then he got his irons cut off
and led the Kanakas straight up to the village. I was just starting for
the hunt, in blissful security, when he broke in on us and told us what
was up. As the Kanakas were armed, the Malays had to give in
gracefully--and here we are. Now come across, you boys!"
Naturally, his wonder was great at finding Mart and Jerry in diver's
dress, the old quartermaster dead, and Bob looking pretty shaky. Bit by
bit the boys told their tale, and only by an effort could they realize
that so many things had happened in this one day, for it was not yet
sunset.
While they were talking, Swanson joined them with word that Jerry must
have died from heart failure, not from suffocation; no doubt the shock
of finding himself cut off had stricken him. But Captain Hollinger and
his first mate forgot all else in their amazement at Mart's story of the
fight eight fathoms down. In fact, Mart saw plainly that they did not
believe him and thought that the descent must have shaken his mind.
With that he pulled off the diving costume, which as yet he had had no
chance to remove. When they had helped him out of it, and three or four
gold pieces fell to the floor, all incredulity vanished. Bob, Mart and
Swanson crowded around the captain, examining the coins with wild
excitement.
"Well, I'm bound to say that your story and Jerry's yarns seem to be
substantiated, boys!" exclaimed Captain Hollinger. "These seem to be old
Spanish or Portuguese coins--they coined them out here then, you know.
And here's the date--1632. Yes, they all have the same date. By Jove,
Mart, you've made a haul here!"
The boys stood silent, and Swanson pawed over the gold pieces with a
flame in his eyes until Captain Hollinger had switched up the electric
lights, for the sudden night of the far east had fallen. Then the mate
abruptly pushed the coins across the table, and faced the captain,
breathing heavily.
"Cap'n Hollinger," he said, with a visible effort, "when you took me on
you knew that I'd had a more or less shaky kind o' past, didn't you?"
"Eh?" The captain flung him a keen glance. "What do you mean, Mr.
Swanson?"
"Just this, Cap'n. Once, when I was a fool young fellow, I got mixed up
wi' old Jerry. He was a trader among the islands then, nothin' short of
piracy it was in them days. When he come aboard this yacht, wi' them
four men out o' his old crew, I knowed there was trouble brewin'. He
finally told me about this here treasure, and how he was a-goin' to take
the yacht, and wanted me to join him. I warned him off, Cap'n, and I was
fool enough to think he'd take the warnin'. But he didn't. Now that it's
come out right, I wanted to get it off'n my conscience, that's all."
Captain Hollinger reached across the table, and gripped Swanson's hand.
"Mr. Swanson," he said, smiling, "I'm proud of you. Your wages are
doubled this trip--no, no protests, please! Evidently Jerry led me
astray all along, and the only gold in this lagoon was the treasure. Now
I think you'd better take the deck, Mr. Swanson."
"Yes, sir," replied Swanson humbly, his eyes gleaming oddly. "And what
about them four men on the island, sir?"
"Let them go, Swanson. They'll get food from the Malays, and they can
easily make their way to Singapore in the boat. I'll not prosecute them.
As for Jerry, we'll bury him in the morning."
Swanson lumbered out of the cabin. Captain Hollinger turned to Mart, and
asked him to go over his fight with the Pirate Shark in more detail.
Mart did so, for by this time he had recovered entirely except for a
shakiness in his legs. The captain listened to the story silently, then
nodded.
"I'm pretty sure you finished off the brute, Mart. That finishing blow
of yours seems to have driven in the kris either through his throat or
else through his mouth to the brain."
"But you didn't see anything of the body as you came?" asked Bob
anxiously.
"No. He'd probably not rise until to-morrow, in any case. I've no doubt,
however, that we'll find his body to-morrow or next day, boys. What a
trophy his skin would make, eh?"
"Could we have it mounted, dad?" queried Bob.
"Too big," retorted Mart practically. "The only place it could be used
would be in a museum, Holly."
"Well, why not?" smiled the captain. "It would be a welcome addition to
any museum, Mart, and our Kanakas can take off the skin in a few hours.
And think--after it's mounted and set up, you'll see your name on the
bottom--killed and presented by Mart Judson! How's that?"
"Pretty good," grinned Mart. "But say, let's get down to solid earth,
Cap'n. Are we going to get after the rest of that treasure down there?"
"Are we?" retorted the captain. "Surest thing you know, Mart! We'll bury
poor old Jerry to-morrow morning, and in the afternoon we'll send down a
couple of the men, when we've made sure that the Pirate Shark is out of
the way. And if there's as much of the stuff as you say you saw, Mart,
you'll have a good stake to--"
"Hold on," interrupted Mart, surprised. "You seem to think that I'm
trying to grab it all, Cap'n. I didn't mean to--"
"Of course you didn't," laughed Captain Hollinger, stretching out easily
in his chair. "But I'd like to know who else the gold belongs to, Mart.
You've won it by right of conquest, seems to me."
"That's right," added Bob hastily. "It's all yours, old boy. You fought
for it, and you ought to--"
"Now look here," and Mart leaned forward earnestly, with his air of
determination. "That's not right. I'd never have got up if it hadn't
been for Bob, Cap'n. We're in on this thing as partners, and when we get
that treasure we're goin' to split on it, or Mart Judson isn't goin' to
touch any of it. Now, that goes."
There was no doubt that he meant his words. Bob, however, still
attempted to protest, but Mart promptly shut him up.
"None of that, Holly. I guess there's enough treasure there to satisfy
us all, and my end of it is going for an education. That's all I have to
say."
"Then that settles it," laughed Captain Hollinger, rising at the sound
of the gong from the mess saloon. "Ah Sing has mess ready, and I'm
famished. Come along, boys, and we'll all feel better after a bite to
eat."
He led the way out, but at the door Mart stopped his chum.
"I forgot to thank you, Holly," he said quietly. "I won't forget that it
was you pulled me up, old man. And when we mount the Pirate Shark, our
names go on that brass plate together!"
And Bob grinned happily as they struck hands.