ON THE HIGH SEAS
Again did that awe-inspiring wand of light describe a great arc in the
sky. But it was plain to be seen that it sprang from an altered base.
The warship was in motion. She was about to steam around the group of
islands.
Boat and catamaran raced at once for the launch; a Babel of strange
oaths jarred the brooding silence; alarm, almost panic, stirred men's
hearts and bubbled forth in wild speech. Under pressure of this new
peril the instinct of self-preservation burst the bonds of discipline.
The first law of nature may be disregarded by heroes, but the
_Andromeda's_ crew were just common sailormen, who did not know when
they were heroic and did not care if they were deemed bestial. It may
be urged that they had suffered much. Out of a ship's company of
twenty-two exactly one half had survived the day's rigors. Domingo was
lying in the cabin, too seriously injured to be concerned whether he
lived or died. With him were two wounded soldiers, happily saved from
the ruthless ferocity of the fight alongside the wharf, when every
Brazilian in uniform found on deck was flung off to sink or swim as he
was best able. Indeed, it was during this phase of the struggle that
Hozier managed to scramble on shore unnoticed. He landed at the same
moment as enemies who were blind to every other consideration except
their own dangerous plight.
Small wonder, then, if authority was cast to the winds now that capture
seemed to be unavoidable. Coke tried to still the tumult by thundering
a command to Norrie, second engineer, to throw open the throttle valve.
He took the wheel in person, meaning to shape a course due east, and
thus endeavor to avoid the cruiser's baleful glance. But some of the
men realized instantly that this expedient would fail. They were in no
mood for half measures. Norrie felt a bayonet under his left
shoulder-blade. Coke was roared down, and a hoarse voice growled:
"Me for the tall timbers, maties. It's each one for hisself now."
"Aye, aye!" came the chorus . . . "Shove her ashore! . . . Give us a
chanst there. . . We've none at sea."
Dom Corria, being something of a fatalist, did not interfere. On this
cockleshell of a craft, among these rude spirits of alien races, he was
powerless. On land a diplomat and strategist of high order, here he
was a cipher. Moreover, he was beaten to his knees, and he knew it.
The arrival of the warship had upset his calculations. After many
months' planning of flight, he had been forced, by the events of a few
hours, into an aggressive campaign. His little cohort had done
wonders, it is true, but of what avail were these ill-equipped
stalwarts against a fast-moving fort, armed with heavy guns and
propelled by thousands of steam horses? None, absolutely none. Dom
Corria drew San Benavides aside.
"All is ended!" he said quietly. "We shall never see Brazil again,
Salvador _meu_! Carmela must find another lover, it seems."
Salvador did not appear to be specially troubled by the new quest
imposed on Carmela, but he was much perturbed by an uproar betokening
disunion among the men who had already saved his life twice. He was
beginning to believe in them. It was night, and they possessed a
vessel under steam. Why did they not hurry into the obscurity of the
smooth dark plain that looked so inviting?
It was left to Hozier to solve a problem that threatened to develop
into a disastrous brawl. Danger sharpens a brave man's wits, but love
makes him fey. To succor Iris was now his sole concern. He swung a
couple of the excited sailors out of his way and managed to stem the
torrent of Coke's futile curses.
"Give in to them!" he cried eagerly. "Tell them they are going ashore
in the creek. That will stop the racket. If they listen to me, I can
still find a means of escape."
"Avast yelpin', you swabs!" bellowed Coke. "D'ye want to let every
bally sojer on the island know where you are? We're makin' for the
creek. Will _that_ please you? Now, Mr. Norrie, let her rip!"
The head of the launch swung toward the protecting shadows. The men
knew the bearings of Cotton-Tree Bay, so the angry voices yielded to
selfish thought. If it was to be _sauve qui peut_ when the vessel
grounded, there was ample room for thought, seeing that each man's
probable fate would be that of a mad dog.
Hozier seized the precious respite. He spoke loudly enough that all
should hear, and he began with a rebuke.
"I am sorry that those of us who are left should have disgraced the
fine record set up by the _Andromeda's_ crew since the ship struck," he
said. "Your messmates who fell fighting would hardly believe St. Peter
himself if he told them that we were on the verge of open mutiny. I am
ashamed of you. Let us have no more of that sort of thing. Sink or
swim, we must pull together."
There was some discordant muttering, but he gained one outspoken
adherent.
"Bully for you!" said the man who had suggested tree-climbing as an
expedient.
"Shut up!" was the wrathful answer. "You've made plenty of row
already. I only hope you have not attracted attention on the island.
You may not have been heard, owing to the disturbance on the other
side, but no thanks to any of you for that. Our skipper's first notion
was to put to sea. Wasn't it natural? Do you want to be hunted over
Fernando Noronha at daybreak? But he would have seen the uselessness
of trying to slip the cruiser before the launch had gone a cable's
length. Now, here is a scheme that strikes me as workable. At any
rate, it offers a forlorn hope. There is a sharp bend in the creek
just where the tidal water ends. I fancy the launch will float a
little higher up, but we must risk it. We will take her in, unship the
mast, tie a few boughs and vines on the funnel, and not twenty
search-lights will find us."
A rumble of approving murmurs showed that he had scotched the dragon.
It was even ready to become subservient again. He continued rapidly:
"No vessel of deep draught can come close in shore from the east. The
cruiser will have the Grand-père rock abeam within an hour, but, to
make sure, two of you will climb the ridge and watch her movements.
The rest will load up every available inch of space with wood and water
and food. How can we win clear of Fernando Noronha without fuel? It
is a hundred to one that the launch would not steam twenty miles on her
present coal supply. Such as it is, we must keep it for an emergency,
even if we are compelled to tear up the deck and dismantle the cabin."
"Talks like a book!" snorted Coke, and some of the men grinned
sheepishly.
Hozier was coolly reminding them of those vital things which frenzy had
failed wholly to take into account. Confidence was reborn in them.
They wanted to cheer this fearless young officer who seemed to forget
nothing, but the island promontories were so close at hand that
perforce they were dumb.
The simplicity of the project was its best recommendation. Sailors
themselves, the mind of the cruiser's commander was laid bare to them.
He would soon be convinced that the launch had passed him in the dark
ere the search-light looked out over the sea. Long before the circuit
of Fernando Noronha was completed he would be itching to rush at top
speed along the straight line to Pernambuco. It was a bold thing, too,
to land on the island and stock their vessel for a voyage, the end of
which no man could foresee. The dare-devil notion fascinated them. In
that instant, the _Andromeda's_ crew returned to their allegiance,
which was as well, since it was fated to be stiffly tested many times
ere they were reported inside 1 degree West again.
Unfortunately, Coke was in a raging temper. Never before had his
supremacy been challenged. Having lost control over his men, he owed
its restoration to Hozier. Such a fact was gall and wormwood to a man
of his character, and he was mean-souled enough to be vindictive.
Promising himself the future joy of pounding to a jelly the features of
every mother's son among the forecastle hands, he began to snarl his
orders.
"Watts, you must leg it to the sky-line, an' pipe the cruiser. Olsen,
you go, too, an' see that Mr. Watts doesn't find a brewery. Hozier,
p'raps you'd like to rig the mistletoe. Miss Yorke 'll 'elp, I'm sure.
It's up to you, mister, an' his nibs with the sword, to parly-voo to
the other convicts about the grub. Is there a nigger's wood-pile
handy? If not, we must collar the hut. I'll take care of the stowage."
He meant each jibe to hurt, and probably succeeded, but Watts was too
despondent, and Hozier and De Sylva too self-controlled, to say aught
that would add to their difficulties. Nevertheless, he was answered,
from a quarter whence retort was least expected.
"You must modify your instructions, Captain Coke," said Iris with quiet
scorn. "It would be a shameful act to destroy the house of those who
befriended us. They gave freely of their stores, as you will see by
the supplies lashed to the catamaran, and will assist us further if
Senhor De Sylva appeals to them----"
"You can safely leave that to me," broke in Dom Corria.
But Iris was not to be placated thus easily.
"I know that," she said. "I only wished Captain Coke to understand
that if he cannot make clear his meaning he should obey rather than
command."
"The lady 'as 'ad the last word. Now let's get busy," sneered Coke.
Hozier, who had not quitted his side since the incipient outbreak was
quelled, gripped his shoulder.
"There is a pile of wood near the cottage," he said in Coke's ear. "I
saw it there. It must be paid for. Have you any money?"
"A loose quid or two--no more."
"A sovereign will be ample. Miss Yorke has already given the owners
two pounds."
"Wot for?"
"For their kindness. You are all there when it comes to a scrap,
skipper, but at most other times you ought to be muzzled. No, don't
talk now. We will discuss the point on some more suitable occasion,
when we can deal with it fully, and Miss Yorke is not present."
Philip spoke in a whisper, but the low pitch of his voice did not
conceal its menace. He was longing to twine his fingers round Coke's
thick neck, and some hint of his desire was communicated by the clutch
of his hand. Coke shook himself free. He feared no man born, but it
would be folly to attack Hozier then, and he was not a fool.
"Let go, you blank ijjit," he growled. "I've no grudge ag'in you. If
we pull out of this mess you'll 'ave to square matters wi' David Verity
an' that other ole ninny, Dickey Bulmer. She's promised to 'im, you
know. Told me so 'erself, so there's no mistake. I got me rag out, I
admit, an' 'oo wouldn't after bein' 'owled down by those swine forrard.
My godfather! Watch me put it over 'em w'en I get the chanst. Stop
'er, Norrie! There's plenty of way on 'er to round that bend."
Hozier reflected that he had chosen an odd moment to quarrel with his
captain, whose mordant humor in the matter of the mistletoe was only
accentuated by his reference to Iris's reported engagement. The
pungent smell of the mangrove swamp was wafted now to his nostrils. It
brought a species of warning that the disagreeable conditions of life
in Fernando Noronha were yet active. It was not pleasant to be thus
suddenly reminded of pitfalls that might exist in England; meanwhile,
here was the launch thrusting her nose into the mud and shingle of this
malevolent island.
To his further annoyance, San Benavides, who depended on his compatriot
for a summary of the latest scheme, asked Iris to accompany De Sylva
and himself to the hut.
"They are stupid creatures, these peasants," he said. "When they see
you they will not be frightened."
There was so much reason in the statement that Iris was a ready
volunteer. Soon all hands were at work, and it was due to the girl's
forethought that strips of linen were procured from Luisa Gomez, and
healing herbs applied to the cuts and bruises of the injured men.
Sylva was all for leaving the two soldiers on the island, but Coke's
sailor-like acumen prevented the commission of that blunder.
"No, that will never do," he said, with irritating offhandness. "These
jokers will be found at daylight, an' they'll be able to say exactly
wot time we quit. The wimmin can make out they was scared stiff an'
darsent stir. It 'ud be different with the sojers. An' we ain't goin'
to have such a 'eart-breakin' start, even if the cruiser clears away
soon after two o'clock."
"Where do you propose to make for?"
"Where d'ye think, mister? Nor'-east by nor', to be sure, until we
sight some homeward-bound ship."
There was a pause. The pair could talk unheard, since they were
standing on the bank, and the men were either loading firewood and
fruit and cassava, or stripping trees and vines to hide the
superstructure of the launch.
"You mean to abandon everything, then?" said De Sylva. He seemed to be
watching the onward sweep of the search-light as the warship went to
the north. But Coke was shrewd. He felt that there was something
behind the words, and he suspected the ex-President's motives.
"I don't see any 'elp for it," he answered. "Gord's trewth, wot is
there to abandon? I've lost me ship, an' me money, an' me papers, an'
'arf me men. Unless one was lookin' for trouble, this ain't no
treasure island, mister."
"Yet it might be made one."
"As how?"
"Do you not realize how greatly the members of the present Government
fear my return to Brazil? Here, I am their prisoner, practically
friendless, almost alone. They dare not kill me by process of law, yet
they are moving heaven and earth to prevent my escape, or shoot me down
in the act. Why? Because they know that the people are longing to
hail me as President again. Suppose you and your men took me to
Pernambuco----"
"S'pose hell!" snapped Coke.
"Please listen. You can but refuse when you look at the facts fairly.
If, as I say, I were put ashore at Pernambuco, or at any other of half
a dozen ports I can name, I should be among my own followers. You,
Captain Coke, and every officer and man of your ship, and her owners,
and the relatives of those who have lost their lives, would not only be
paid all just claims by the new Government, but adequately rewarded.
In your own case, the recompense would be princely. But, assuming that
we board a vessel bound for Europe, what certainty have you that you
will ever receive a penny?"
"Oh, reely, that's comin' it a bit thick, mister," growled Coke.
"You believe I am exaggerating the difficulties of your position? Pray
consider. Your vessel is broken up. She was fired on while at anchor
on the wrong side of the island, on the very day selected for my
escape. You and your men manage to dodge the bullets, and, under my
leadership, assisted by Captain San Benavides, you overrun the place by
night, kill several soldiers, seize a launch, despoil peasants of their
crops and stores, and make off with a good deal of property belonging
to the Brazilian Government, not to mention the presence in your midst
of such a significant personage as myself. Speaking candidly, Senhor
Captain, what chance have you of convincing any international court of
your innocence? Who will believe that you were not a true filibuster?
That is what Brazil will say you are. How will you disprove it? In
any event, who will enforce your claims against my country? English
public opinion would never compel your Government to take action in
such an exceedingly doubtful case, now would it?"
"If we was to try and land you in Brazil, we'd bust up our claim for
good an' all," muttered Coke. Though this was a powerful argument
against De Sylva's theory, it revealed certain qualms of perplexity.
The other man's brilliant eyes gleamed for an instant, but he guarded
his voice. He was in his element now. When words were weapons he
could vanquish a thousand such adversaries.
"I think otherwise," he said slowly. "A judge might well hold that in
a small vessel like the launch you were entitled to make for the
nearest land. But I grant you that point; it is really immaterial. If
I fail, you lose everything. Accept my offer, and you have a
reasonable chance of winning a fortune."
"Wot exactly is your offer?"
"Ample compensation officially. Five thousand pounds to you in person."
"Five thousand!" Coke cleared a throat husky with doubt. He scratched
his head under the absurd-looking kepi which he was still wearing; for
a moment, his lips set in grim calculation. "That 'ud make things
pretty easy for the missus an' the girls," he muttered. "An' there's
no new ship for me w'en Dickey Bulmer cocks 'is eye at Hozier. It's a
moral there'll be a holy row between 'im an' David. . . . D'ye mean
it, mister?"
"Even if I fail, and my life is spared, I will pay you the money out of
my own private funds," was the vehement reply.
"Well, well, leave the job to me. You sawr 'ow them tinkers jibbed
just now. I must 'umor 'em a bit, d--n 'em. But wait till the next
time some of 'em ships under me. Lord luv' a duck, won't I skin 'em?
Not 'arf!"
De Sylva, with all his admirable command of English, could not follow
the Coke variety in its careless freedom. But he knew his man. Though
bewildered by strange names and stranger words, he was alive to the
significance of things being made easy "for the missus and the girls."
So, even this gnarled sea-dog had a soft spot in his heart! On the
very brink of the precipice his mind turned to his women-kind, just as
De Sylva himself had whispered a last memory of his daughter to San
Benavides when their common doom was seemingly unavoidable.
He would urge no more, since Coke was willing to fall in with his
designs, but he could not forbear from clinching matters.
"I promise on my honor----" he began.
But the nearer surface of the sea flashed into a dazzling distinctness,
and Coke dragged him down to the launch. The cruiser had rounded Rat
Island, and was devoting one sweeping glance eastward ere she sought
her prey in creek or tortuous channel. The men were summoned hastily.
Watts and Olsen had been warned to crouch behind the rocks on the
crest, while those who remained near the launch were told to hide among
the trees or crowd into the small cabin. Movement of any kind was
forbidden. There was no knowing who might be astir on the hills, and a
sharp eye might note the presence of foreigners in Cotton-Tree Bay.
Hozier had not forgotten the risk of detection from the shore, and the
vessel was plentifully decorated with greenery. The long, large-leafed
vines and vigorous castor-oil plants were peculiarly useful at this
crisis. Trailing over the low freeboard into the water, they screened
the launch so completely that Watts and the Norwegian, perched high
above the creek at a distance of three hundred yards, could only guess
her whereabouts when the search-light made the Gomez plantation light
as day.
The cruiser evidently discovered traces of the _Andromeda_ on
Grand-pere. She stopped an appreciable time, and created a flutter in
many anxious hearts by a loud hoot of her siren. It did not occur to
anyone at the moment that she was signaling to the troops bivouacked on
South Point. De Sylva was the first to read this riddle aright. He
whispered his belief, and it soon won credence, since the warship
continued her scrutiny of the coast-line.
At last, after a wearying delay, she vanished. Five minutes later,
Watts and Olsen brought the welcome news that she was returning to the
roadstead.
It was then half-past two o'clock, and the sun would rise soon after
five. Now or never the launch must make her effort. Ready hands tore
away her disguise, she was tilted by crowding in the poop nearly every
man on board, the engines throbbed, and she was afloat.
At daybreak the thousand-foot peak of Fernando Noronha was a dark blur
on the western horizon. No sail or smudge of smoke broke the remainder
of the far-flung circle. The fugitives could breathe freely once more.
They were not pursued.
Iris fell asleep when assured that the dreaded warship was not in
sight. Hozier, too, utterly exhausted by all that he had gone through,
slept as if he were dead. Coke, whose iron constitution defied
fatigue, though it was with the utmost difficulty that he had walked
across the narrow breadth of Fernando Noronha, took the first watch in
person. He chatted with the men, surprised them by his candor on the
question of compensation, and announced his resolve to make for the
three-hundred-mile channel between Fernando Noronha and the mainland.
"You see, it's this way, me lads," he explained affably. "We're short
o' vittles an' bunker, an' if we kep' cruisin' east in this latitood
we'd soon be drawrin' lots to see 'oo'd cut up juiciest. So we must
run for the tramp's track, which is two hundred miles to the west.
We'll bear north, an' that rotten cruiser will look south for sartin,
seein' as 'ow they know we 'ave the next President aboard."
Coke paused to take breath.
"Wot a pity we can't give 'im a leg up," he added confidentially. "It
'ud be worth a pension to every man jack of us. 'Ere 'e is, special
freight, so to speak. W'y _'e'd sign anythink_."
Once the train was laid, it was a simple matter to fire the mine. When
Hozier awoke, to find the launch heading west, he was vastly astonished
by Coke's programme. It was all cut and dried, and there was really
nothing to cavil at. If they met a steamship, and she stopped in
response to their signals, her captain would be asked to take care, not
only of Miss Yorke, but of any other person who shirked further
adventure. As for Coke, and Watts, and the majority of the men, they
were pledged to De Sylva. Even Norrie, the engineer, a hard-headed
Scot, meant to stick to the launch until the President that was and
would be again was safely landed among his expectant people.
Watts let the cat out of the bag later.
"Those of us 'oo don't leave Dom Wot's-'is-name in the lurch are to get
ten years' full pay, extry an' over an' above wot the court allows," he
said. "Just think of it! Don't it make your mouth water? Reminds me
of a chap I wonst read about in a trac'. It tole 'ow 'e took to booze.
One 'ot Sunday, bein' out for a walk, 'e swiped 'arf a pint of ginger
beer, the next 'e tried shandy-gaff, the third 'e went the whole hog,
an' then 'e never stopped for ten years. My godfather! Ten years' pay
an' a ten years' drunk! It's enough to make a sinner of any man."
Hozier laughed. Two days ago he would have asked no better luck than
the helping of Dom Corria to regain his Presidentship. Now, there was
Iris to protect. He would not be content to leave her in charge of the
first grimy collier they encountered, nor was he by any means sure that
she would agree to be thus disposed of. He was puzzled by the singular
unanimity of purpose displayed by his shipmates. But that was their
affair. His was to insure Iris's safety; the future he must leave to
Providence.
And, indeed, Providence contrived things very differently.
By nightfall the launch was a hundred miles west of the island. Norrie
got eight knots out of her, but it needed no special calculation to
discover that she would barely make the coast of Brazil if she consumed
every ounce of coal and wood on board. The engines were strong and in
good condition, but she had no bunker space for a long voyage. Were it
not for Hozier's foresight she would have been drifting with the Gulf
Stream four hours after leaving the island. As it was, unless they
received a fresh supply of fuel from another ship, they must
unquestionably take the straightest line to the mainland.
During the day they had sighted three vessels, but at such distances
that signaling was useless, each being hull down on their limited
horizon. Moreover, they had to be cautious. The cruiser, trusting to
her speed, might try a long cast north and south of the launch's
supposed path. She alone, among passing ships, would be scouring the
sea with incessant vigilance, and it behooved them, now as ever, not to
attract her attention. They were burning wood, so there was no smoke,
and the mast was unstepped. Yet the hours of daylight were tortured by
constant fear. Even Iris was glad when the darkness came and they were
hidden.
At midnight a curious misfortune befell them. The compass had been
smashed during the fight, and not a sailor among them owned one of the
tiny compasses that are often worn as a charm on the watchchain. This
drawback, of little consequence when sun or stars could be seen,
assumed the most serious importance when a heavy fog spread over the
face of the waters. The set of the current was a guide of a sort, but,
as events proved, it misled them. Man is ever prone to over-estimate,
and such a slight thing as the lap of water across the bows of a small
craft was sure to be miscalculated; they contrived to steer west, it is
true, but with a southerly inclination.
At four o'clock, by general reckoning, they were mid-way between island
and continent. They were all wide awake, too weary and miserable to
sleep. Suddenly a fog-horn smote the oppressive gloom. It drew near.
A huge blotch crossed their bows. They could feel it rather than see
it. They heard some order given in a foreign language, and De Sylva
whispered:
"The _Sao Geronimo_!"
"The wot-ah?" demanded Coke, who was standing beside him.
"The cruiser!"
Coke listened. He could distinguish the half-speed beating of twin
screws. He knew at once that the ex-President must have recognized the
warship as she passed the creek, but, by some accident, had failed to
mention her name during the long hours that had sped in the meantime.
The sinister specter passed and the launch crept on. Everyone on board
was breathless with suspense. Faces were shrouded by night and the
fog, but some gasped and others mumbled prayers. One of the wounded
soldiers shouted in delirium, and a coat was thrust over his head with
brutal force. The fog-horn blared again, two cables' lengths distant.
They were saved, for the moment!
In a little while, perhaps twenty minutes, they heard another siren.
It sounded a different note, a quaintly harsh blend of discords.
Whatsoever ship this might be, it was not the _Sao Geronimo_. And in
that thrilling instant there was a coldness on one side of their faces
that was not on the other. Moist skin is a weather-vane in its way. A
breeze was springing up. Soon the fog would be rolled from off the sea
and the sun would peer at them in mockery.
Coke's gruff voice reached every ear:
"This time we're nabbed for keeps unless you all do as I bid you," he
said. "When the fog lifts, the cruiser will see us. There's only one
thing for it. Somewhere, close in, is a steamer. She's a tramp, by
the wheeze of 'er horn. We've got to board 'er an' sink the launch.
If she's British, or American, O.K., as 'er people will stand by us.
If she's a Dago, we've got to collar 'er, run every whelp into the
forehold, an' answer the cruiser's signals ourselves. That's the
sittiwation, accordin' to my reckonin'. Now, 'oo's for it?"
"Butt right in, skipper," said a gentleman who claimed Providence,
Rhode Island, as the place of his nativity.
Hozier, who had contrived to draw near Iris while Coke was speaking,
breathed softly, so that none other could hear:
"This is rank piracy. But what else can we do?"
"Is it wrong?" she asked.
"Well--no, provided we kill no one. We are justified in saving our own
lives, and the average German or Italian shipmaster would hand us over
to the Brazilians without scruple."
Iris was far from Bootle and its moralities.
"I don't care what happens so long as you are not hurt," she whispered.
"Mr. Hozier," said Coke thickly.
"Yes, sir."
"You've got good eyes an' quick ears. Lay out as far forrard as you
can, an' pass the word for steerin'."
Hozier obeyed. The discordant bleat of a foghorn came again,
apparently right ahead. In a few seconds he caught the flapping of a
propeller, and silenced the launch's engines.
"We are close in now," he said to Coke, after a brief and noiseless
drift. "Why not try a hail!"
"Ship ahoy!" shouted Coke, with all the force of brazen lungs.
The screw of the unseen ship stopped. The sigh of escaping steam
reached them.
"_Holla_! _Wer rufe_?" was the gruff answer.
"Sink me if it ain't a German!" growled Coke, _sotto-voce_, "Norrie,
you must stick here till I sing out to you. Then open your exhaust an'
unscrew a sea-cock. . . . Wot ship is that?" he vociferated aloud.
Some answer was forthcoming--what, it mattered not. The launch bumped
into the rusty ribs of a twelve-hundred ton tramp. A rope ladder was
lowered. A round-faced Teuton mate--fat and placid--was vastly
surprised to find a horde of nondescripts pouring up the ship's side in
the wake of a short, thick, bovine-looking person who neither
understood nor tried to understand a word he was saying.
These extraordinary visitors from the deep brought with them a girl and
three wounded men. By this time the captain was aroused; he spoke some
English.
"Vas iss diss?" he asked, surveying the newcomers with amazement, and
their bizarre costumes with growing nervousness. "Vere haf you coomed
vrom?"
Coke pushed him playfully into the cook's galley.
"This is too easy," he chortled. "Set about 'em, you swabs. Don't
hurt anybody unless they ax for it. Round every son of a gun into the
fo'c'sle till I come. Mr. Watts, the bridge for you. Olsen, take the
wheel. Mr. Hozier, see wot you can find in their flag locker. _Now_,
Mr. Norrie! Sharp for it. You're wanted in the engine-room."
And that is how ex-President Dom Corria Antonio De Sylva acquired the
nucleus of his fleet, though, unhappily, an accident to a sea-cock
forthwith deprived him of a most useful and seaworthy steam launch.