KEEP IN.
Teddy Dunlap's father was formerly a coal-passer on a steam-tug, and
many times had the lad, while spending the day with his parent, seen
an ocean-going steamer at close range, while the small craft went
alongside the larger one for business purposes.
At such times the boy seldom lost an opportunity of boarding the big
vessel, and thus it was that he had a general idea of where he might
the most readily find a hiding-place this day when he was venturing so
much in the hope of meeting his only relative.
The dinner-pails and the parcel under his arm would have done much
toward warding off suspicion as to his purpose, had any one observed
him; but every person on deck, whether member of the crew or
temporarily employed to make the ship ready for sea, was so intent on
his duties as to have no thought for a lad who appeared to be
attending strictly to his own business.
Even if any one aboard had observed Teddy particularly, the natural
thought would have been that he had come to deliver the parcel and
pails to one of the workmen, and so long as the boy had been permitted
to come over the rail, it was reasonable to suppose he had due
authority for being there.
Teddy knew full well that his chances for successfully stowing away in
the vicinity of the main cabin, the engine-room, or the deck-houses,
were exceedingly slight, for such places were visited by many; but
down in the very eyes of the ship, where were located the quarters for
the seamen, was more than one dark, out-of-the-way hole into which he
could creep with but little fear of being discovered.
Turning his head neither to the right nor the left, and moving rapidly
as if it was his desire to be ashore again as soon as possible, the
boy went into the forecastle--the sailors' parlour.
The dark, ill-ventilated place, filled with noisome odours, had at
that moment no living occupants save the rats who had grown bold
through long tenancy. The crew were all on deck, for at this time,
when quick despatch was necessary, no skulking would be allowed, and
had Teddy's friend with the dinner-pails attended to the arrangements,
the boy could not have had a better opportunity.
He might be even boisterously noisy, and there was little likelihood
any would come to learn the cause of the uproar until after the
steamer had left the coal-sheds to begin her long voyage straight
toward the enemy's islands.
Being in a certain degree aware of this last fact, Teddy set about
making his arrangements for the ticketless voyage in a methodical
fashion, there being no reason why he should allow himself to be
hurried.
The crew on board the good steamer _Merrimac_ had neither better nor
worse quarters than those to be found on any other craft of her class;
but to a lad whose experiences of seafaring life had been confined to
short excursions around the harbour, this "sea parlour" was by no
means inviting, and save for the incentive which urged him forward,
Teddy Dunlap might have allowed himself to become disheartened even
before it had been proven that he could take passage secretly.
"It ain't so _awful_ tough," he said to himself, "an' daddy will be
all the more glad to see me after knowin' I've had a hard time gettin'
to him."
This last thought was sufficient to strengthen his failing courage,
and straightway he set about searching for a hiding-place where he
might remain concealed until the steamer should come alongside
Commodore Schley's flag-ship, the _Brooklyn_, whereon was his father.
Then--but there would be time enough to form plans for showing himself
when he had nothing better with which to occupy his attention.
The forecastle was well filled with sea-chests, bedding, which as yet
had not been put in place, and such like goods as seamen would
naturally bring with them on a reasonably long voyage, therefore Teddy
found it difficult to judge as to what might be the general
arrangements for stowage after the steamer should be under way; but he
had good reason to believe it was necessary to find some place so
small that it could not well be utilised by the men.
When, after some search, he came upon a narrow, dark, doorless
closet, partially filled with coils of rope, bolts of canvas, and what
appeared to be a general assortment of odds and ends, it seemed as if
he had indeed found that for which he was looking.
There was little chance this small den would be required for other
than what it was then used, and he had only to fear that some of the
articles it contained might suddenly be needed, when he must of a
necessity be discovered by whosoever should be sent to overhaul the
goods.
[Illustration]
"I'll have to take the chances," Teddy said to himself, having
considered well this possibility of discovery. "It ain't likely
they'll want anything out of here till after the steamer is at sea,
an' then it'll be too late to send me ashore."
Once having decided that this was to be his abiding-place during the
time he could remain in hiding on board the _Merrimac_, Teddy set
about making such bestowal of the goods as would best serve to his
comfort, arguing with himself that he might not have another
opportunity for putting the new quarters into decent shape.
Understanding that once the steamer was at sea she would be tossed
about by the waves until it might be difficult for him to remain in
whatever place he pleased, the boy's first care was to make of the
rope and canvas a barricade to hold the remainder of the goods in
proper position, and, this done, there was little else possible, save
to unroll a bolt of the sail-cloth that it should serve as a bed.
"It's a good deal snugger than I expected, an' the dark part of it
don't count," he said to himself, contentedly, as he wedged the two
tin pails filled with water, and his store of provisions, inside the
largest coil of rope. "When there ain't too much noise I can hear the
crew talkin', and that'll help out big if a feller happens to get
lonesome. Them signs on the coal-yard said 'keep out,' an' I come in;
now I ought'er put up one that says 'keep in,' an' perhaps I'll go out
quicker'n I'm countin' on. Anyhow it's a case of keepin' in mighty
snug, 'less I want to run up against that captain once more, an' I'm
thinkin' he'd be an ugly customer."
Teddy Dunlap was well content. He believed his store of provisions and
water was sufficient to keep both hunger and thirst at a distance
during such time as it might be necessary for him to remain there in
hiding, and when the short term of imprisonment should come to an end,
he would be with his father.
What more could any twelve-year-old boy ask for?
It was while counting up his reasons for being thankful that the
stowaway fell asleep, the heat, the darkness, and the comparative
quiet all contributing to make his eyelids heavy, and he was yet
unconscious when two noisy, bustling little tugs, one either side of
the big vessel, towed her down the harbour.
The voyage had begun, and, apparently, there was no suspicion in the
minds of the officers that the _Merrimac_ had on board other than her
regularly shipped crew.
When Teddy awakened he felt comfortable both in mind and body; the
steamer was rising and falling on the ocean swell, but not to such a
degree as inconvenienced him in the slightest, and the many odours
with which his nostrils were assailed passed almost entirely
unnoticed.
He believed, because of the pounding of the waves, that the _Merrimac_
was rushing through the waters at a sharp pace, and this supposed fact
was in itself sufficient to counterbalance any defects he may have
discovered in his hiding-place, for the greater the speed the sooner
he might see his father.
Not until after he had been awake several moments was it possible to
distinguish, amid the varied noises, the sound of human voices; but he
was finally able to do so, and became greatly cheered thereby.
"Now, this ain't goin' to be so bad," he said to himself, contentedly.
"I'll know everything that's goin' on, 'cause it won't be a big job to
crawl out far enough to hear the men talk, an' a feller couldn't be
better fixed, not if he'd paid two prices for a ticket."
Then the idea came to Teddy Dunlap that he was hungry, and he laughed
gently at the thought that it was only necessary to stretch out his
hand in order to satisfy the desire.
"Talk 'bout your palace-cars! They ain't a marker 'longside this way
of travellin'. I don't have to wait for any tousled-headed nigger to
bring my order, 'cause here it is!"
Straightway the boy began to satisfy his hunger, doing it in an
economical fashion, for he was not minded to exhaust his supply on the
first day of leaving port.
He drank sparingly of the water, but yet taking sufficient to quench
his thirst, and when the meal was come to an end lay back on the
canvas bed luxuriously, congratulating himself again and again, upon
his determination to go in search of his father.
The motion of the steamer grew more violent; but Teddy was proof
against such rolling as the _Merrimac_ was indulging in then.
There remained the same buffeting of the waves which told of progress;
told that the distance between himself and his father was rapidly
being lessened, and this was sufficient for the stowaway.
The plunging of the steamer was to Teddy Dunlap no more than the
violent rocking of a cradle would be to an infant; it prevented him
from remaining quiet as would have been pleasant, but did not drive
slumber from his eyelids.
In less than ten minutes after having partaken of the meal he was
again wrapped in slumber, and during a full twenty-four hours he
alternately slept and ate; but at the end of that time was more than
ready for a change of programme.
Then it was that his eyes refused to close; the folds of canvas, which
at first had seemed as soft as any fellow could have asked for, became
hard as iron, and he suddenly discovered that he was sore and lame
from having been flung about when the vessel rolled.
The hardships of a stowaway's life suddenly became a reality, and
instead of congratulating himself upon being on board the _Merrimac_,
he began to speculate upon the probable length of the voyage.
He hungered to hear the voices of the men more distinctly, and spent
full two hours gently moving the dunnage around so that he might crawl
out near the entrance to this seeming cave.
When he had gotten so far into the forecastle that no more than two
coils of rope hid him from view of the watch below, and understood it
would be dangerous to advance any farther, he learned that it was
impossible to hear any more than such words as were spoken in the
loudest tone. There was little hope of being able to realise what
might be going on around him by such means.
Then came a most dismal twenty-four hours, when the _Merrimac_, met
full in the teeth by a gale of wind, staggered, plunged, and rolled
her way along, every wave striking the iron hull with a force that
caused Teddy to wince, and then came that deathly sickness which
those who sail upon the sea are sometimes forced to endure.
There were many hours when the stowaway believed the steamer was about
to go to the bottom, and he fancied death was the only relief from his
agony. He even ceased to think of his father, and considered no person
save himself, wondering why he had been so foolish as to believe it
might be wise to search for Commodore Schley's flag-ship.
More than once while the malady had a firm hold upon him, did he
decide to throw himself upon the mercy of whosoever might chance to be
in view when he emerged from the hiding-place, and perhaps if the
sickness had been less severe, his adventures would have ended as do
the greater number of such exploits.
Once having recovered, however, his heart became braver, even though
he learned that nearly all the water had been spilled while the
steamer was tossing about so wildly, and his store of provisions,
which had seemed so large when he came on board, was nearly exhausted.
After this the hours passed more slowly, and each moment the
imprisonment seemed more irksome.
It was only with difficulty he could force himself to remain screened
from view, and more than once did he venture dangerously near the
entrance to his floating cave in the hope of seeing a human face, but
yet he kept his secret forty-eight hours longer, when the provisions,
as well as the water, had come to an end.
He had ceased to speculate upon the meeting with his father, but
thought only of how long he could endure the pangs of hunger and
thirst, and even the fear of the commander's possible brutality faded
away as he dwelt upon the pleasure of having sufficient to eat and
drink.
And finally, as might have been expected, the moment arrived when he
could no longer hold his courage against the suffering, and he made
preparations to discover himself.
How long he had been cooped up in that narrow place it was impossible
for him to so much as guess; he did not try to compute the number of
hours that had elapsed since he last tasted food or water; there was
only in his mind an intense desire to receive the punishment for
having stowed away, in order that he might the sooner satisfy the
cravings of his stomach.
"It's no use to hold on any longer; the voyage ain't comin' to an end
for weeks an' weeks, an' I'll be dead in another day if I don't have
somethin' to eat. I'll go out this minute, an' take whatever they give
me in the way of a floggin', for waitin' won't make things any
better."
Having arrived at this decision, Teddy Dunlap began to attack the
cordage which screened the entrance to his retreat as if each strand
of rope was a deadly enemy to be overcome without loss of time, and
when he had thrown down the last obstacle he stood blinking and
winking in the not overly strong light of the forecastle, confronted
by a short, round-faced sailor, who surveyed him in mingled fear and
astonishment.
"Where--who--what--oh, a stowaway, eh?" the little man cried, after
having expressed on his glistening face, in rapid succession, fear,
astonishment, and bewilderment. "Well, I'll eat my hat if I ever heard
of a lad stowin' away on a collier what's out on an errand like ours!"
[Illustration]
"Yes, I'm a stowaway, an' I don't care who knows it!" Teddy cried, in
a tone of desperation. "I held in just as long as any feller could,
an' it seems as if I was next door to bein' dead, I'm so thirsty an'
hungry!"
"You won't count triflin' things like that after you've come face to
face with the captain, lad," and the little man appeared as truly
sorrowful as any one of a like jolly countenance ever can, however
saddening the situation.
"Will he let in to me pretty tough?"
"I'm thinkin' that anything else you've had in that line will seem a
good deal like a joke, alongside of what he'll deal out, an' that
ain't the worst of it."
"What else can he do?" and Teddy looked up timidly, absolutely
frightened out of his hunger.
"This 'ere is the next thing to a government steamer, seein's we're on
naval service, an' the captain is like to turn you over to the first
cruiser we meet, for extra punishment. I don't know how Uncle Sam
treats them as stows away on his vessels, but I'll go bail it ain't
with any very tender hand."
Teddy Dunlap looked around the forecastle, searching for some one to
whom he could appeal, for he believed this jolly-looking little sailor
was trying to play upon his fears; but the sea-parlour was empty.
If he had waited forty-eight hours for an opportune time in which to
make his appearance, he could not have come at a better moment.
"What's the use tryin' to scare a feller almost to death?" he asked,
piteously. "I've got to take the dose, of course; but there's no need
of your rubbin' it in."
"I ain't comin' any game on you, lad, an' that's the solemn truth.
While I never saw the captain of this 'ere steamer till I came aboard,
I'll eat my hat if he ain't a tartar when you rub his fur the wrong
way, an' I'm tryin' to think if there ain't some way of gettin' you
out of the scrape."
"I'd go back into my hole if I had somethin' to eat an' drink."
"Where'd you come from?"
Teddy pointed to his late place of concealment, and the jolly little
man said, quite cheerfully:
"That's the very thing for you to do, my son. I don't want to see you
abused, an' it'll be hard lines if between us you can't be got off
this bloomin' steamer without everybody's knowin' that you've cheated
Uncle Sam out of a passage."
"Can you get me somethin' to eat?" Teddy asked, imploringly.
"I will if it takes every cent that's comin' to me in the way of
wages, to square the cook. Tell me what brought you here, sonny? You
can stand jest behind this dunnage, an' we'll be able to talk quite
comfortable."
That the little man would be a real friend there could be no doubt,
and without hesitation Teddy told him the whole story, neither adding
to nor taking therefrom, and saying, by way of conclusion:
"Of course it'll be all right when I come across daddy, for there
ain't no captain of a coal-steamer who'd dare give it to me very rough
while he was around."
"An' your father is aboard the _Brooklyn_, eh?"
"Yes; he shipped as coal-passer."
"Well, I don't rightly know what he'll be able to do for you in case
we come across him, which is doubtful; but from what I've seen of
skippers since this war begun, I'm thinkin' our captain will swing a
pretty heavy hand, unless he meets some other feller who holds a
bigger commission."
"You talk as if I couldn't find daddy," Teddy interrupted. "He's
aboard the flag-ship."
"That's what I heard you say; but it ain't any proof we'll come across
him. This 'ere cargo of coal is goin' where it's most needed, an' we
may never find any of Schley's fleet."
"But we're goin' right where the war-vessels are."
"See here, my son, Commodore Schley's fleet ain't the only squadron in
this war by a long chalk, an' we might work at coalin' the navy from
now till we're gray-headed without comin' across him. I'm afraid the
chances of findin' your father are slim; but I'm bound to help you
out'er the snarl that bloomin' longshoreman got you into, if it so be
I can. Get back into the hole, an' I'll see what can be found in the
way of grub."
Teddy, more disheartened because of the doubt expressed as to the
possibility of finding his father, obeyed the little man's order
without remonstrance, and once alone again, gave himself up to the
most disagreeable thoughts, absolutely forgetting for the moment that
he had supposed himself on the verge of starvation a short time
previous.
As yet he had not absolutely divulged his secret, save to the little
sailor who had promised to be his friend, and it might be possible
that at some port he could slip on shore without the knowledge of any
save this one man.
But all such counted for nothing at the moment, in view of the
possibility that he had, perhaps, made the venture in vain.
There was another and yet more alarming view to be taken of the
situation. He might be forced to go ashore in a strange harbour, for
it was hardly within the range of probability that he could return in
the _Merrimac_ to the home port, and then there was the ugly chance
that possibly there would be great difficulty in finding his way back.
"I've made the biggest kind of a fool of myself!" he wailed, very
softly; "but I won't let anybody know that I'm willin' to agree to it.
When a feller gets into a muss he's bound to crawl out of it an' keep
his upper lip stiff, else folks will have the laugh on him. It ain't
so certain but I'd better go straight on deck an' take my dose; the
captain won't be likely to kill me, an' the sooner it's over the
easier I'll feel."
It is not certain but that Teddy Dunlap might have put this new
proposition into execution at once, had it not been for the coming of
the little sailor, who said, in a cheery tone:
"Here you are, my hearty, salt horse an' tea! I reckon you can worry
along on that for a spell, an' meanwhile I'll keep my weather eye
liftin' for you. Things may not be more'n half as bad as they look,
an' even that'll be tough enough."
"I've been thinkin' I'd better have it out with the captain now, an'
then I wouldn't be dreadin' it."
"What's the sense of picklin' a rod for your own back when you may run
away from it? Hold on here for a spell, an' I'll get the lay of the
land before anything foolish is done."
"You're mighty good to me," Teddy murmured, softly, as he took the
hook-pot of tea and strip of cold meat from the sailor's hands.
"What's your name?"
"Bill Jones--Snippey, some of the hands call me when they want to be
funny. I reckon we'd best not do any more chinnin', for the port watch
will be in here precious soon, an' there's more'n one man who'd make
life hot for you if he had the chance. I know what sailors are, lad,
seein's I've been one myself, man an' boy, these thirty years, an'
their foolin' is pretty tough play for one like you. Lay low till I
give the word, an' if there don't seem to be any way out of this snarl
within the week, then it'll be time enough to let the old man have a
whack at your hide."