A GRIM DISCOVERY
Frank had some difficulty in getting about the vessel. She was rolling
wildly and loose ropes and blocks whipped blindly to and fro, but he
noticed that the boat had gone, and the cleanly severed shrouds
indicated that her mainmast had been cut loose after it had fallen over
the side. It was evident that the crew had made some attempt to save the
vessel before they abandoned her. The mainboom had disappeared, though
the broken gaff and part of the sail were still attached to the hull by
a mass of tangled gear. Scrambling forward he found the anchor lying
still hooked to a tackle and half secured with its arms upon the rail,
which suggested that the smugglers had sailed in haste and had been kept
too busy afterward to make it fast. It was reassuring to discover that
the anchor could be dropped without much trouble if this became
necessary. Then he came upon a lantern hooked beneath the forecastle
scuttle and went back to report to Harry. The latter, who was standing
at the wheel, listened to him attentively.
"Well," he said at length, "I can't figure out the thing, and unless
some of the dope men explain it I don't think we're likely to be much
wiser. As Jake said, it looks as if they had jibed her by accident,
which would probably rip out the mainmast, but, although it's easy to
bring the mainboom over on a fore-and-aft rigged craft, it's mighty
seldom that a capable sailor does it. Then, as there's water in her,
they must have bumped her on a reef, though she could only have struck
once or twice before she drove over it. That's as far as I can get, and
the first thing is to find out what water there is below. It's fortunate
you have a lantern."
Frank looked around. There was no doubt that the wind was falling, and
the schooner, having only part of her forward canvas set, steered
easily. The sloop, which had sheered off a little farther, was sailing
abreast of her with lowered peak about a hundred yards away, rising and
falling with the long combers which, however, broke less angrily.
"Jake will stand by for three or four hours," Harry explained. "After
that he'll have to haul her up to make the inlet where we were to join
Barclay, but it will be close on daylight by then."
Frank was glad to hear it. There would be some peril in getting on board
the sloop if that became necessary, but it was comforting to see her
close at hand. In the meanwhile he shrank from going below and made no
move to do so until Harry spoke again.
"I'm anxious about that water and you had better get down," he said. "Go
in by the house; there'll probably be a lazaret below it with an opening
in the deck."
Frank reluctantly scrambled forward around the house, the door of which
faced toward the bows, and being out of the wind there he contrived to
light the lantern, though he struck several matches in the attempt. The
house, which occupied most of the vessel's quarter, was low so that the
mainboom could swing over it, and it was evident that the cabin floor
was sunk some feet below the level of the deck. Frank thrust the door
open and then stood hesitating, holding up the lantern, which did not
burn well and only flung a faint light into the obscurity before him. He
could hear an ominous gurgle of water below when the schooner rolled and
made out three or four steps which seemed to lead down into it. As he
placed his foot on the first of them the vessel lurched wildly and he
went down with a bang, while the lantern flew out of his hand. For no
very evident reason, except that he was overstrung, he could have
shouted in alarm as he lay upon the wet flooring in the dark. He had
struck his knee in his fall and for a moment or two he feared to move
it.
Then he noticed a pale reflection against what he supposed to be the
bottom of a seat, and as it was evident that the overturned lantern had
not quite gone out he crawled toward it. As he did so the splash and
gurgle of water seemed much louder than it had done on deck. He could
hear it surge against the sides of the vessel and the hollow sound
jarred upon his nerves. He longed to escape from the oppressive
obscurity and get out into the moonlight by his companion's side, but he
reflected that it would not be pleasant to tell Harry that he had run
away from the darkness and left the lantern. He determined to secure the
latter, and he was moving toward it on hands and knees when his fingers
struck something that felt like a pistol. He let it lie, however, and
stretched out his hand for the lantern, setting it upright. The
flickering flame grew brighter, and standing up he flung the uncertain
light about him. There was undoubtedly a revolver on the uncovered
floor, which was dripping wet, and he thought it curious that the
smugglers should have left the weapon lying in that position; but ever
since he had boarded the schooner he had been troubled by an
uncomfortable sense of strangeness. The fact that her crew had abandoned
her, apparently without a sufficient reason, suggested a mystery. Then
he raised his hand so that the radiance touched a little, clamped-down
table, and as it did so he started and came near dropping the lantern
again, for a man sat at the table with his head and shoulders resting
upon it as if he had suddenly fallen forward.
Frank afterward confessed that his first impulse was to run toward the
door, and he was never quite certain why he did not do so, but he stood
still holding up the lantern, while his heart throbbed painfully and his
flesh seemed to creep. The bent figure was unnaturally still, but when
the schooner lurched and the table slanted it fell forward a little
farther, all in one piece--which was how he thought of it--and as a
heavy sack would have done. That was too much for Frank, and clambering
up the steps he ran back to Harry in breathless haste.
"You look as if something had scared you," said the latter with a trace
of anxiety in his voice.
Frank leaned against the house, and his face showed white and set in the
moonlight.
"There's a man lying across the table in the cabin," he panted.
Harry started, but he pulled up his helm a spoke or two.
"She'll come up if I leave her, but that won't matter much," he said.
"We'll go back together."
Frank felt a little easier now that he had a companion, and he was more
collected when he stood in the cabin holding up the light while Harry,
who called first and got no answer, walked cautiously toward the huddled
figure. Then he shrank back a pace or two.
"The man's dead!" he said.
After that neither of them moved for half a minute during which the deck
slanted wildly beneath them, and then Frank proceeded very reluctantly
toward the table. Harry followed him, and when they stooped over the
shadowy figure Frank caught a partial glimpse of a yellow face and saw
that the man wore a loose blue jacket.
"Turn the light a little," said Harry in a low, hoarse voice, and when
Frank had done so he looked around at him.
"It's the man we got dinner with the day we went up the creek. He's been
shot," he added.
Once more the horror of the thing was almost too much for Frank, but
just then a furious thrashing of loose canvas and clatter of blocks
broke out above them and relieved the tension.
"She's luffing with the sea on her quarter," said Harry. "I must get
back to the helm, but we'll wait a moment and look around first. Lower
your lantern. There's something on the floor--no, I don't mean the
pistol, though you can pick that up."
He stooped down beside Frank, who held the lantern close to the wet
planking, and saw for the first time a broad wet stain upon it leading
toward the steps. That was enough for both of them, and saying nothing
further they scrambled toward the door. They did not stop until they
reached the wheel, and then Harry spent a few moments getting the vessel
before the wind again.
"We're no wiser about the water yet," he said at length with a strained
laugh.
"No," said Frank. "I didn't think about it--I only wanted to get out as
quick as I could." He broke off, and then added, "What do you make of
it?"
Harry stretched out one hand for the pistol, opened it, and held it up
in the moonlight.
"There's a shell still in," he said. "The man it belonged to must have
dropped it in a mighty hurry. It's clear that there was a row on board
her either before or after she lost her mast. That Chinaman had a bullet
through his head and somebody else was hurt, though he got out of the
house--the stains showed that. I wonder"--and he dropped his voice--"if
we ought to search the forecastle."
"_I'm_ not going down," Frank answered decisively.
"Well," said Harry, "I don't feel like it either. That's the simple
fact."
Again there was silence for a while and both were glad that the solid
end of the house stood between them and what lay in the cabin. Then
Frank roused himself.
"We've forgotten about the water, but the hatch is smashed," he said. "I
expect they dropped the boat upon it in heaving her out. I might get
down that way."
"You had better try," said Harry, glancing around and pointing to the
sloop, which was now nearer them. "Jake must have edged her in when he
saw the schooner come up with no one at the helm," he added. "It's nice
to feel that he's about."
Frank agreed with him. Once more he found the sight of the sloop
curiously reassuring, but he scrambled forward, and, wriggling through a
hole in the broken hatch, clambered partly down a beam. There was water
below him, but there was less than he expected, and he could not hear
any more pouring in, though he recognized that this would have been
difficult on account of the gurgling and splashing that was going on.
After listening for a minute or two he went back to Harry.
"There's a good deal of water in her," he said. "Hadn't we better heave
some of it out?"
"I don't think it would be worth while," was Harry's answer. "You could
hardly work the pump alone, and if I left the helm she'd keep running up
into the wind and yawing about. I'd rather shove her along steadily
toward the land."
"Then can't we get the foresail properly set and drive her a little
faster?" Frank inquired. "She ought to bear it now the wind's dropping."
It was not only the leak that troubled him. He wanted to escape as soon
as possible from the horror that seemed to pervade the vessel, and his
companion eagerly seized upon the suggestion.
"Why, of course!" replied Harry. "I might have thought of it, but I've
been kind of dazed since we got out of the cabin."
They went forward and led the halliards to the winch, but they would
have had trouble in setting the partly lowered sail if the schooner had
not come up into the wind and relieved the strain on it. By degrees
they heaved up the gaff and peaked it, after which they went aft, as the
vessel plowed faster over the falling sea.
"Now," said Frank, "the question is, where are we heading for?"
"I've been worrying over that while we set the sail," Harry responded.
"If we hauled her up right now we might, perhaps, fetch the inlet where
we arranged to join Barclay, but we'd have to jibe the foresail over,
and as I would have to keep the helm while I brought her round and you
wouldn't be able to check the sheet alone, it's very likely that
something would smash when the boom came across. Besides that, we'd have
a strip of rocky coast to lee of us presently, and we mightn't be able
to keep her off it with only the foresail set. On the other hand, so far
as I can recollect from looking at the chart, the islands are dead to
leeward and we'd only have to keep her running to reach them. There's a
sound where we'd find smooth water once we sailed her in. That would be
the wiser plan."
Frank, concurring in this, sat down near the helm. He felt that he would
not like to go far away, and he remembered that night watch long
afterward.
The moon crept on to the westward, getting lower, and now and then
flying clouds obscured the silvery light. The combers still came surging
after them crested with glittering froth, though they no longer broke
about the rail, and there was a constant gurgling and splashing of water
inside the lurching vessel. At last Jake jibed the sloop's mainsail over
and stood away from them. The moon was very low now and Frank grew
somewhat uneasy as he watched the boat's canvas fade into the creeping
gloom. Shortly afterward the moon dipped altogether and it was very
dark.
"We can't be far off the land," said Harry. "I don't want to come up
with it before daylight, but with no after canvas on her I don't suppose
we could round her up and wait. If we did, I'm not sure we could get
her to fall off again--one of the jibs is torn to ribands and the
other's split. We'll have to keep her running."
They drove on and presently a faint gray light crept across the water to
the east. A little later, when all the sky was flushed with red and
saffron, a long black smear cut sharply across the glow.
"The first of the islands," announced Harry. "It's right abeam. We must
get some foresail sheet in."
They had difficulty in doing so, though they led the sheet to the winch,
but the schooner came up closer afterward, and when the sun had climbed
above a bank of cloud the end of the island was rising before them and a
strip of water opening up beyond it. Half an hour later they ran in with
the foresail peak lowered down, and Frank gazed anxiously ahead as they
drove on more slowly up a broad channel. On one hand there were rocks
and scrubby pines, with larger trees behind, but he wondered what the
result would be if a reef or a jutting point lay in front of them. The
vessel's speed, however, grew slower still, the water became smoother,
and at last Harry looked around at him.
"If you'll unhook the tackle and cut the lashing you ought to get the
anchor over," he remarked. "I'll luff her as far as possible and you'll
heave the thing off when I drop the foresail."
There followed a clatter of blocks, and a furious rattle of running
chain, which presently stopped. Then as the swinging vessel drew her
cable out they toiled desperately at the windlass to heave up more of it
from below. The task was almost beyond their strength, but somehow they
managed it and Harry clapped on a chain stopper.
"That should hold her," he said. "There's not much wind now. I'd be glad
to leave her if I could get ashore."
This, however, was out of the question, since the canoe had gone, and
very much against their will they waited on board for several hours
until at length a trail of smoke arose above the pines. Then a little
steamer with foam about her bows appeared from behind a point and the
hoot of her whistle rang sharply across the water.
"Barclay, sure!" said Harry. "I'm certainly glad to see him."
A few minutes later Mr. Barclay climbed on board and went down into the
cabin and all over the vessel with them before he made any remarks. At
length he turned to the boys as they stood by the rail.
"You have done a very smart thing and I don't think you'll have any
reason for regretting it," he said pointedly. "This is a good set-off
against the failure at the other end. Jake got in with the message and
we started as soon as I'd had a talk with him. Fortunately, we were able
to creep along through the sounds and it's scarcely likely that any of
the smugglers can have seen us."
"But what has become of this vessel's crew?" Frank asked.
"I don't know," replied Mr. Barclay. "We'll probably ascertain something
about them later."
"Do you expect to corral the rest of them to-night?" Harry broke in.
"It's possible," said Mr. Barclay with a trace of dryness. "The first
thing, however, is to beach this vessel, and then you and Jake must get
off in the sloop. There's a good deal to be done, and I want to run the
steamer back out of sight up the inlet as soon as it can be managed."
He called some of his companions on board, and when Frank and Harry sat
down to an excellent meal in the steamer's cabin they heard the men
heaving the schooner's anchor.