THE ARMY AND NAVY.
Harry Green was greatly encouraged by the report Simmonds brought him
concerning the state of affairs in the cove. The Crusoe men were
surrounded, and, although he and his crew might not be able to capture
them, protected as they were by the burglars' revolvers, they could at
least keep them in the cove until the arrival of re-enforcements. He
sent Simmonds back to the midshipman with a few orders, and after
instructing the second lieutenant to have the jolly-boat called away, he
ran down into his cabin and dashed off two short notes, containing, in a
condensed form, the report he had just received from Richardson. When
Packard, the third lieutenant, who was to go in charge of the boat,
reported for orders, Harry commanded him to proceed toward the village,
and give one of the notes into the hands of the captain of the first tug
met. If he met none of the tugs, he was to go on to Newport and find Mr.
Newcombe, or Mr. Henry, if either of them were there, and after that
report to Captain Steele, and give him the second note. The young
officer was not at all pleased with his orders. He would have been much
better satisfied if Harry had sent him ashore to take command of the
storming party. He was afraid that if he left the yacht he would not see
her again until the pursuit of the pirates was ended. Captain Steele
might tell him to remain at the academy; or, if the principal sent out
re-enforcements, he might be ordered to take command of his company
(Packard was captain of company C), and that was something he did not
want to do. The military would join in the pursuit with alacrity, and
make the most strenuous exertions to effect the capture of the Crusoe
men, and thus rob the navy of the honors now almost within its grasp.
Since the advent of the Storm King, there had been a hot rivalry
existing between the military and naval portions of the academy, and
many a stormy debate had been held as to the relative merits of the two
branches of the service. The military officers said that the navy would
do well enough to convey transports of troops in time of war, and that
was all it was good for. The hard fighting was always done on the land,
and the victories that decided the war were gained by the soldiers.
"Sour grapes!" Harry would always reply. "If I were in your places, I
would not run down a thing, after trying my best to win it. You
landlubbers burned gallons of midnight oil in preparing for the naval
examination. I heard more than one among you say that he would rather be
a midshipman than major of the battalion; and now, because you failed to
gain any position on board the yacht, the navy is of no account. As for
hard fighting--why, fellows, you must have forgotten your history, if
you ever knew any thing about it. Take the case of the Bon Homme
Richard, in her fight with the Serapis! The action lasted three hours
and a half, and, during that time, one hundred and fifty, out of the
three hundred and twenty men who composed the crew of the Richard, were
killed and wounded. The loss on board the Serapis was about the same.
Nearly one-half the men on board the two vessels fell in the fight, and
that is something you never heard of in a modern land engagement. And,
more than that, the fire of the enemy was not the only thing Commodore
Jones had to contend with. The Richard was in flames from the beginning.
In the heat of the action she sprang a leak, and the master-at-arms,
believing that she was about to sink, released a hundred British
prisoners who were confined in the hold."
"Didn't he deserve to be pitched overboard?" asked Jackson.
"This thing can never be decided by argument, fellows," said Major
Williams. "I wish something would turn up, so that we might have a
chance to show ourselves."
"So do I," answered Harry. "We would soon convince you that the infantry
of the Newport Academy is a slow coach compared with its navy."
But for a long time that "something" did not "turn up," and the rival
students despaired of ever having an opportunity to test their
respective abilities. If Tom Newcombe had only been there to organize
another runaway expedition; or if some discontented boy could be found
to take his place! But no one thought of deserting the academy now that
the grand commander was gone, and the students, determined to excel
their opponents in every thing, devoted themselves to their studies.
Each side put forward its best scholars for the valedictory and other
academic honors, and some of those who were the loudest in denouncing
the navy, picked out the offices on board the yacht that they thought
themselves competent to fill, and worked night and day to prepare for
the examination. But now came Tom Newcombe and his band of outlaws, and
gave them the very opportunity they had so long wished for. To the
soldiers he did not come so much as an incendiary as a solution. They
wanted to capture him simply to beat the navy. The reason why Packard
was in no hurry to go back to the academy was, because if he and his
boat's crew were ordered to join their company, they would be obliged to
work against their favorite branch of the service, and they wanted to
assist it by every means in their power.
When the jolly-boat had left the yacht, Harry took his stand on the
quarter-deck, and watched the shoals as closely as ever a cat watched a
mouse. His crew was now reduced to seven men--a small force with which
to board the Sweepstakes, but still the first lieutenant wished she
would come out. He knew that his note to Captain Steele would bring all
the troops at the academy about the cove, and he was impatient to have
the work done before they arrived. The captain would soon be on hand to
take command of the vessel, and then, if the Crusoe men were captured by
the navy, the lion's share of the honors would fall upon the shoulders
that wore the double anchors. Captain Steele was a great man at the
academy already, and he did not need any more glory; but Harry did. It
might be a point in his favor at the next examination. He kept the yacht
sailing back and forth, as close to the entrance to the channel as he
dared to go, ready at an instant's warning to intercept the pirate
captain; but he never came. Somebody else came, however. It was the
midshipman with his company of small-armed men. He had built a bridge in
ten minutes after Tom destroyed the other, and led his men at a reckless
pace down the path into the cove, only to find it deserted. He met no
desperate Crusoe band, drawn up in battle array, to dispute his advance.
There was the cabin they had occupied, and a few useless articles they
had left scattered about, but nothing was to be seen of them or their
vessel.
"They are captured now," exclaimed the midshipman, joyfully. "They have
put out to sea again, and I expect they are in Harry Green's clutches by
this time."
Richardson frantically searched every nook and corner of the cove, to
satisfy himself that the pirates had really abandoned their harboring
place, and then returned with his men to the top of the cliff, and led
them toward the yacht. The young tars went pell-mell down the bank,
falling over rocks and logs, and scrambling through bushes, that made
sad work with their new uniforms. They expected to find the crews of the
two vessels engaged in a desperate fight; and fearing that Harry, with
his small force, might get the worst of the encounter, they were in a
great hurry to reach the sloop. A minute's delay on their part might
give the pirates time to beat off the boarding party and escape.
Breathless and excited, Richardson halted on the bank, and there was the
yacht, sailing tranquilly back and forth, and not another vessel in
sight.
"Storm King, ahoy!" yelled the midshipman, utterly amazed, and wondering
what sort of a craft the Sweepstakes was, anyhow, that she could slip
out of a narrow channel under the very noses of so many watchful
students. "Where is she, sir?"
"Whom do you mean?" asked the first lieutenant, beginning to feel uneasy
at once.
"The schooner. She has left the cove. Didn't you see her when she went
by you, sir?"
Harry understood from this that the Sweepstakes had again escaped. She
certainly had not run past him, as the midshipman had intimated; the
Crusoe men could not have taken her out of the cove and carried her
across the island, and yet she had escaped. Harry asked himself if he
had ever seen her at all that night. He turned and gazed at the second
lieutenant, who stood at his side looking the very picture of
consternation and bewilderment.
"I don't understand it, sir," said the latter.
"Neither do I," replied Harry. "Run alongside the bank and take those
men on board."
While the order was being obeyed, Harry paced up and down the deck,
racking his brain in the hope of finding some explanation for this
second disappearance of the schooner; but the only conclusion he could
come to was, that he had been outwitted in some mysterious way, and that
Tom Newcombe, or whoever was the presiding genius of the Crusoe band,
possessed more brains than he had given him credit for. He saw now that
the pirate captain knew what he was doing when he ran into the cove.
"I will tell you what I think about it, Harry," exclaimed Johnny
Harding, who was the first to board the sloop. "The Sweepstakes crossed
the shoals farther down."
"Impossible!" cried the first lieutenant.
"Perhaps it is, but how, then, could she get out of the cove without
your knowing something about it? From this time forward it will be hard
work to make me believe that any thing is impossible. If a man had told
you, an hour ago, that a boat could live on those shoals, you would have
thought he was crazy, wouldn't you?"
By this time the midshipman came up to report, and after Harry had
listened to his story, and held a short consultation with Jackson, he
admitted that Johnny's idea concerning the manner of the schooner's
escape was correct. He ordered the second lieutenant to fill away for
the narrows, and once more the Storm King went dashing over the waves in
pursuit of the Crusoe men. But there was little enthusiasm among her
officers. A stern chase is always a long one, and they were following a
vessel that could sail three feet to the yacht's two. The young sailors
thought of the military, and looked anxious.
When the yacht was fairly under way, an eager group gathered on the
forecastle to listen to a smooth-tongued fellow who related to them the
particulars of the fight at the bridge; and, on the quarter-deck, Johnny
Harding entertained the officers with a recital of his adventures. When
he finished his story, he was in his turn astonished at what they had to
say of the attempt the captain of the Crusoe band had made to destroy
their vessel.
"Any sensible boy could have told that Tom would come to something like
this," said Johnny, as he went below with the first lieutenant to look
at the galley. "A fellow can't keep such company as he has been keeping
for the last three months, without getting into serious trouble, sooner
or later."
The two friends talked about Tom's probable future, until they were
interrupted by the entrance of the officer of the deck, who informed
Harry that a tug was following them down the narrows, and that she had
whistled three times--indicating a desire to communicate with the yacht.
Harry hurried on deck, gave Jackson the necessary orders, and the Storm
King was thrown up into the wind to wait for the approaching vessel.
"Tug ahoy!" shouted the officer of the deck, when he heard the bell ring
to "slow down."
"Storm King!" was the response.
"That's Captain Steele," said Harry. "I wish he had stayed away a little
longer, for I don't like to give up the command without having
accomplished any thing. Man the side, Mr. Jackson."
The young commander was received by the first lieutenant, the officer of
the deck, and four side boys, each of the latter holding a lantern to
light him on board. Tom Newcombe had greatly admired him when he was
nothing more than an adjutant, and if he could have seen him when he
stepped on board his vessel he would willingly have given every thing he
possessed to have been in his place. No doubt the wide difference that
existed between the captain and himself would have served to confirm him
in the opinion he had long entertained--that this was a hard world, and
he the unluckiest boy in it.
Tom was not the only one who would have been glad to stand in Captain
Steele's boots. The students all envied him, and especially when they
saw him in his naval uniform. He presented a fine appearance on
horseback, at the head of the battalion, but he looked better with his
jaunty-cap and the six stripes of gold lace and star he wore on his
arms. Then he had so much authority, and there were the privileges to
which his double rank entitled him. He was allowed to decide certain
questions of discipline without an appeal to the principal. He was at
liberty to go on a cruise in the Storm King twice each week, and he
could select the days for the sport. If he wanted to visit Newport at
any time after study hours, all he had to do was to report to the
principal that he was going; and, if he did not feel like walking, there
was a horse always at his service. He and the major had a cosy little
room of their own at the academy, nicely furnished, and plentifully
supplied with books, and no one, not even the teachers, ever intruded
there. The privileges and comforts that fell to his lot were highly
prized by the students, and it was no wonder that they envied him, and
declared that he should not hold the honors longer than the next
examination. Lieutenant Green and Major Williams were his principal
rivals. Harry, like a good many others, cared nothing for the
lieutenant-colonel's commission, but he did want to command the yacht,
and the captain knew it and was afraid of him.
When the young commander came on board his vessel he lifted his cap,
saluting first the quarter-deck and then the officers; but, being too
excited to maintain his dignity, he exclaimed, as he shook Johnny warmly
by the hand:
"What does this mean, Harry? You are not running away from the enemy?"
The first lieutenant was not allowed an opportunity to reply, for he was
immediately assailed on all sides. The tug was loaded with students (she
had also brought back Lieutenant Packard and his boat's crew), and Major
Williams and several other military officers had accompanied the captain
on board the yacht. They were intensely excited and impatient, and
nearly overwhelmed Harry with their questions and their eager demands
to be led to the hiding-place of the Crusoe men without an instant's
delay, and the babel that arose from the quarter-deck effectually
drowned the lieutenant's voice when he attempted to reply.
The soldiers did not hesitate to follow the example set them by their
officers. They poured over the rail and engaged in loud conversation
with the foremast hands, and, for a few seconds, the confusion and noise
were enough to drive one distracted. Harry tried in vain to make himself
understood, and was finally obliged to fall back on his authority as
commander of the vessel. He made a motion to Jackson, who hurried off to
the forecastle, and a moment afterward the boatswain's whistle was heard
above the tumult, followed by the command: "Hear there, fore and aft!
Keep silence, every body!"
However much the impatient military might have been disposed to
disregard a request, they could not refuse to yield obedience to an
order when it came from the lawful master of the vessel.
"Now," said Harry, when quiet had been restored, "ask your questions one
at a time, and I will answer them if I can. In the first place, captain,
I am not running away from the pirate; I am pursuing him. I thought I
had cornered him in the cove, but he has got out, and how he did it is a
mystery to me."
"Escaped!" exclaimed the major, in disgust.
Without noticing the interruption, Harry went on to tell Captain Steele
what he had done, and to describe to him the movements of the phantom
schooner, which filled every body with astonishment. The major and his
officers listened attentively to all that was said, and exchanged
significant winks with one another. The chase after the pirates promised
to be interesting, and to afford them full scope for the exercise of all
the judgment and foresight they possessed, and if the skipper of the
Sweepstakes continued to show the skill he had thus far exhibited, he
might succeed in getting safely on the sea in spite of all their efforts
to capture him. They hoped to obtain some clue to his intended
movements, but the officers of the yacht were as much in the dark as
themselves.
"I might have known better than to ask any information of you," said the
major. "If you could put your finger on Tom Newcombe at this moment you
wouldn't tell me."
"Indeed I would," replied Harry, honestly. "If the Crusoe men were
simply runaway students, and were guilty of no more serious offense than
deserting the academy, perhaps I should decline to give you any
assistance in the way of advice or information. If they escaped, there
would be no great harm done. But Tom Newcombe must not be allowed to
remain at liberty after trying to burn our vessel, and if we don't catch
him I hope you will. If you are smart enough to do it, you will simply
be performing an act of justice, and you can claim the honors."
"Well, we'll be off," said the major. "If you want some help we'll make
fast to you and tow you down the narrows."
Harry looked at the captain, but the latter had not yet assumed the
command, and had nothing to say, so the lieutenant replied that he was
much obliged for the offer of assistance, but, if it was all the same to
the major, he would use his own motive power.
"All right," said Williams. "We wish you the best of luck, but that
won't help you any; and so you might as well go back to the academy. You
have had the 'pirates,' as you call them, twice within your grasp, and
allowed them to escape. Just let us put our eyes on them once! The next
time you see us we'll have them prisoners."
The major and his officers went on board the tug, which steamed down the
narrows, and the Storm King, as soon as the jolly-boat had been hoisted
at the davits, followed after. The captain now intimated that he was
ready to take command of the vessel, and Harry assumed the duties of
executive, while Jackson modestly took his place with the other watch
officers. They all heard what the major said, and laughed at it, but
they were by no means in as good spirits as they pretended to be. They
wished he and his men had stayed away a little longer. The navy had
heavy odds to contend against, and some of the officers thought their
rivals stood an excellent chance of snatching from their grasp the
honors they had hoped to win by their cruise after the pirates. Major
Williams was working for promotion, and he possessed a decided
advantage over the captain, having a tug and two companies of infantry
under his command. More than that, there was another tug in pursuit of
the Crusoe men, having on board the principal, Mr. Newcombe, Mr. Henry,
two constables, and two more companies of infantry under Spencer, the
ranking captain. The commander of the Storm King was not so much afraid
of Williams as he was of Spencer. The former, if he found himself in
need of advice, could consult only with his officers and the captain of
the tug, while Spencer's movements would be directed by the "brains" of
the academy.
"We must look to our laurels now," said Captain Steele. "Have you any
thing to propose? Shall we go out to sea, or stay in the bay?"
"Let us remain here, by all means," replied the first lieutenant, who
had talked the matter over with Johnny. "My idea is, that we ought to
begin a thorough search of these islands. Tom isn't foolish enough to
keep on out to sea now, for it is nearly daylight."
The captain thought the suggestion a good one, and he proceeded to act
upon it. Deer Island came first on the list, and, by the time the sun
arose, he had sailed around it without discovering any signs of the
Crusoe band. "Now comes the creek," said he. "Mr. Green, have the
jolly-boat called away, and send Mr. Jackson aft."
"I'd like to go with him, Bill," said Johnny.
"You won't see any comfort if you do. The jolly-boat can't seat more
than three fellows."
"I don't care for comfort. If you will let Jackson take me as far as the
shore I will get out and walk."
"Go ahead, and I will tell him to call you when he gets ready to come
back. While you are gone I'll run down and look at the other islands."
In a few minutes the jolly-boat, with an armed crew at the oars, and
Johnny Harding crouching in the bow, disappeared among the reeds and
bushes that lined the banks of the creek, and Captain Steele, unwilling
to waste an instant of time, filled away to continue his search among
the lower islands. Had he known all that was to happen in that creek
before he saw his boat's crew again, he might not have been in so great
a hurry to leave them.
Jackson and his men wondered why Johnny had come ashore, and if they had
asked him for a reason, the only one he could have offered was that he
desired to be doing something. He believed that the Crusoe men were
concealed in some place where the sloop would not be likely to go, and,
if he took a run about the interior of the island he might, perhaps,
obtain some clue to their whereabouts. Jackson set him ashore, and
continued his voyage of discovery up the creek, and half an hour
afterward came in sight of the tall, raking masts of the Sweepstakes
rising above the bushes. His first impulse was to make the best of his
way back to his vessel and report the matter to the captain, but he knew
that the Storm King was a mile down the bay by that time, and before she
could return to the creek the Crusoe men might be a long distance from
there. They were slippery fellows--they had three times succeeded in
making their escape when Jackson would have staked his chances of
promotion on their capture--and now that he had found their vessel
again, he did not want to lose sight of her. He peered through the
bushes, but could see no signs of life about the schooner. Perhaps her
crew, believing themselves safe from pursuit, had gone to sleep; and, if
that was the case, could he not board the vessel and secure them before
they recovered their wits sufficiently to resist him? Midshipman
Richardson had dared to attack them with a force no larger than the one
now at his command, and had nearly succeeded in capturing Tom Newcombe,
and that, too, when the pirates were wide-awake and ready for him. Was
he afraid to follow in the lead of an inferior officer--a boy scarcely
more than half his size? Jackson told himself that he was not, and that
if he could once get his hands on Tom's collar he would like to see him
escape.
"Give way together," said he, in an excited whisper, "and stand by me,
no matter what happens."
A few swift, silent strokes carried them up the creek to the edge of the
bushes that surrounded the Sweepstakes, and then the oars were drawn in,
and the crew forced the jolly-boat ahead by pulling at the bushes and
reeds. When she came alongside the schooner the lieutenant drew himself
up and looked over the rail. The deck was deserted; neither the robbers
nor the Crusoe men were in sight.
"Perhaps they are below," said Jackson. "We will go on board and make a
rush for the cabin. If they are down there, and we can shut the door on
them, we'll have them safe enough."
The boat's crew clambered over the rail and moved across the deck with
noiseless steps. They had nearly reached the companion-way, and Jackson
was in the act of reaching out his hand to close the door, when, as if
by magic, two figures appeared at the head of the ladder, and a brace of
revolvers were leveled full at their heads.
"Don't move hand or foot," said a gruff voice.
The students stood as if petrified.