LEFT ON A SANDBANK
The hull of the Phantom was now completely wrapped in flames, and it
was impossible to save anything more from her. The ship’s company had
worked hard from the time the fire was discovered, and they were tired
out after their exertions. They had seated themselves on the sand above
the beach, while Louis maintained his position in the pine-tree.
Whether or not Scoble had discovered that a steamer was blockading the
only egress from what he called “Dolphin Bay,” Louis had no knowledge.
He had not seen the Maud himself; but he had no doubt that Bickling’s
report that she was in the bay was correct. He had read Kimpton’s
letter from Scoble several times. In one sentence the writer said that
he expected his confederate to assist him in getting out of the bay if
he was pursued.
Kimpton appeared to have discharged this duty faithfully, for Louis did
not question that he had set fire to the Phantom for this purpose. But
there had been no communication between Scoble and his satellite so far
as he knew. He wondered very much if the captain of the Maud was aware
that the obstruction to his passage out to sea had been removed, for he
had got under way as soon as the destruction of the steamer had been
assured.
The Maud had a fresh breeze, and she was carrying a fore and a main
gaff-topsail in addition to her ordinary canvas. She had the wind fair
for her passage out. Those on board of her had plainly discovered
Kimpton’s signals, for the schooner had changed her course directly for
the point occupied by him. Louis watched the Maud with his glass, and
saw that she was getting out her boat.
Within an eighth of a mile of Kimpton, the schooner came to, and the
boat pulled for the shore. The confederate was conveyed on board, and
the Maud filled away. She was making at least eight knots an hour,
for Captain Ringgold had said this was her maximum speed, and she had
everything favorable.
His elevated position was no longer necessary to observe the vessel,
and Louis descended to the ground. He was the first to notify the
captain of the approach of the Maud. It made the heart of the young
millionaire beat violently when he considered the fact that his mother
was on board of the schooner, and he could do nothing to assist her, or
even to comfort her, prisoner as she was in the hands of her only enemy
on the face of the earth.
“She will get out in spite of anything we can do now,” said Captain
Brisbane when Louis had called his attention to the approach of the
Maud.
“But can’t you do anything? We have your boat still,” added Louis in a
pleading tone.
“Not a thing, Mr. Belgrave. I have lost my steamer in my efforts to
assist you. What more would you have of me?” asked the disconsolate
commander, as he glanced at the smouldering wreck of the Phantom;
and there was a good deal of bitterness and reproach in his tones, as
though he considered himself a much-abused man.
“Why cannot three or four of us go off in the boat and intercept the
Maud as she goes through the inlet?” asked Louis earnestly.
“We cannot!” replied the captain sharply. “If I had known that I was
to come down here on a fighting expedition, to overhaul a lot of
cut-throats, I would not have come; at least not without a squad of
policemen on board. What can you do if you go off in the boat, young
man?” demanded Captain Brisbane sternly, and with a sneer on his lips.
“If we could get on board we could gain possession of the vessel,”
replied Louis with spirit.
“Do you take me for a pirate, Mr. Belgrave? I would not attempt a thing
like that under any circumstances. Besides, Captain Ringgold directed
me to watch the Maud if I found her, and follow her if she got out of
any of these inlets. He told me not to meddle with her,” returned the
captain; and Louis had to admit to himself that he had the best of the
argument.
“My mother is on board of that schooner, and am I to stand here like a
mummy and do nothing to save her?” demanded Louis, somewhat excited.
“That is just what you are to do, young man. You cannot help yourself,
and I cannot help you. I could not do anything more than I have done if
it were my own mother they were carrying off,” replied Captain Brisbane
in a more pliable tone. “It would be madness to attempt to board a
vessel making eight or ten knots an hour with a jolly-boat. We should
all be shot down.”
“I am almost sure there is not a firearm of any kind on board of the
Maud, for I took care to obtain possession of all I could find.”
“I did not ship my men for this kind of duty, and they would mutiny if
I required them to engage in such a venture.”
It was useless to argue the matter with the captain, or attempt to
persuade him to embark in the foolhardy enterprise of capturing the
vessel, and Louis could only watch the Maud as she continued on her
course to the open sea. She kept well away from the point till she was
about west of the inlet where the wreck of the Phantom lay, and then
hauled her sheets till she had the wind over her port quarter. She
dashed on her course with all the speed she could make, keeping as far
to the southward as the depth of the water would permit.
By this time Kimpton had related his story, and Scoble was as wise as
his pursuers. Louis looked at the vessel as she passed through the
inlet, as both the bay and the passage into it are properly called,
with the spy-glass. Frinks was at the helm, and no other person could
be seen on her deck. Possibly the captain of the Maud feared that a
pistol shot might disable him or some other person on board, and he had
ordered all but the helmsman below; but the schooner was out of the
reach of any weapon in Louis’s possession, even if he had been disposed
to use one.
Sick at heart, Louis watched the Maud as she dashed through the
inlet, and laid her course to the south-east as soon as she had made
an offing. While Mrs. Belgrave was thankful in her heart that her son
was not on board of the schooner with her, he was groaning in spirit
that he was not with her. The only consolation he had was that Felix
McGavonty was at her side, or within call. Captain Ringgold had been
very sure that the poor lady would be subjected to no hardship or
indignity of any kind; and he was disposed to accept his assurance.
“Which the Maud is bound for Bermuda, sir, as you can see from the
course she is taking, sir,” said Bickling approaching him. “Which it is
what I ’ad the pleasure of informing you, sir.”
“I have no doubt she is bound to Bermuda,” replied Louis, very sadly.
“Which it is a great pity that we have no vessel to follow her in, sir.
With a fast yacht like the Blanche, sir, you could soon over’aul her,
sir.”
As the cook knew nothing about the Guardian-Mother, he could not have
informed Kimpton in regard to her. Louis was sure that nothing had
been said about the steam-yacht in the presence of either of the men
he had employed. Scoble could have obtained no information from his
confederate; and it was evident from the course he had shaped in sight
of the shore that he did not expect to be pursued any farther, now that
the Phantom had been destroyed.
“We shall soon have a vessel which is faster than the Blanche,
Bickling,” replied Louis after he had considered the subject for a few
minutes.
“Which I am very ’appy to ’ear, sir,” added the cook; and he seemed to
be really pleased. “Which I am very sorry, sir, that Flounder turned
out to be a bad man, sir.”
“What did he wish you to do when he knocked you down?” asked Louis.
“Which he wanted me to go on board of the Maud, sir, and not tell you
or the captain of the steamer that the Maud she was in there, sir,”
answered Bickling. “Which I wouldn’t do, sir; no, sir, not for the
crown of Hingland, sir, to a gentleman as ’as used me kindly, as you
’ave, sir.”
Louis had no doubt in regard to the honesty and fidelity of the cook;
but his courage and intelligence were other things. The captain
interrupted the conversation, which was of no importance at this stage
of the adventure.
“The question just now is as to what we are to do next, Mr. Belgrave,”
said Captain Brisbane, as he seated himself by the side of Louis.
“I am compelled to answer in your own words, ‘Not a thing,’” replied
the young man. “We might as well be on a desolate island as here.”
“Not quite so bad as that, for we have saved from the wreck provisions
enough to last us two or three days. We have the boat, and we could
cross to the other side of the inlet, and find our way to the
life-saving station, or we could row up the river to the town where
Scoble mailed his letter to Kimpton.”
“I don’t expect to suffer from hunger or cold, or anything else but
impatience at being in such a desolate place while that villain is
conveying my mother away from me.”
“You ought to be old enough to do without your mother,” added the
captain rather coarsely, “I was ordered to remain on this coast by
Captain Ringgold until he came himself in a steamer. Do you know when
he will be here, Mr. Belgrave?”
“He did not know himself, and therefore he could not tell me.”
“I doubt if any vessel will come into this bay in the next month. All
we can do is to make the best of our situation. I suppose we might make
a signal that would attract the attention of some vessel outside that
would take us off.”
“You can do that if you wish, Captain Brisbane, but I shall remain here
till Captain Ringgold takes me off,” replied Louis decidedly.
“He may not come for a week,” suggested the captain.
“Perhaps not; in that case I shall remain here a week.”
“You are not sure that Captain Ringgold will find you here.”
“I shall wait and see if he don’t, at any rate.”
The captain took the spy-glass, and directed it out at sea.
“There are two schooners coming up from the southward,” said he, still
pointing the glass.
“Let them come,” added Louis.
“As I said, Captain Ringgold may not come here for a week: I don’t feel
as though I ought to keep my men here on this sandbank any longer than
is absolutely necessary,” added the captain, calling his mate to him.
“Of course you will do what you think best, Captain Brisbane,” replied
Louis coldly.
The captain instructed the mate to rig a signal, and set it on the
highest point of land in the vicinity. The order was executed at
once; and the signal floated in the air till nearly sundown, when it
attracted the attention of a tug-boat headed to the northward, which
came within half a mile of the shore.
The little steamer, which had been towing a vessel down to Barnegat
Inlet, ran her nose into the sandbank and hailed the party. He proved
to be a friend of Captain Brisbane, and was all ready to take him and
his ship’s company to New York, with all they had saved from the wreck.
“I don’t like to leave you here, Mr. Belgrave, but if you insist upon
remaining, I can’t help myself,” said the captain, when all but him had
gone on board of the tug.
“Don’t disturb yourself about me, Captain Brisbane,” replied Louis very
stiffly.
“Very well, young man. Come along, Bickling!” added the captain.
“Which I don’t leave the young gentleman, sir,” replied the cook.
The remainder of the party hastened on board of the Rocket; and she
steamed away, leaving Louis and the cook on the sandbank.