ON THE MOTOR BOAT AGAIN
“The ship is on fire!”
“I wonder how that happened?”
“I bet that’s the work of Small!” cried Jack.
“More than likely――unless we set fire to something in the galley,”
returned Fred.
“Maybe that loose gasoline caught,” said Ralph. “Quite a lot of it
spilled out on the oil-room floor in the darkness.”
While the boys gazed at the flames on the _Hildegarde_ they saw Ira
Small rush to the stern. The next instant the lanky sailor was sliding
down the cable.
“Quick! We ain’t got no time to spare!” gasped Ira Small, as he hauled
himself up to the motor boat. “Pull in on the cable and then cut it.
But don’t let the stuff on the line git away.”
All of the boys understood what was to be done, and Jack had already
obtained a hatchet which was in one of the lockers of the motor boat.
While Small, Gif and Spouter hauled in on the cable, Ralph and the
others continued to unloosen the tarpaulin. Then the young commander of
the _Fancy_ leaped into the cockpit and examined the motor.
“Some water here, but still dry enough to run, I think,” he announced.
“Wait! We don’t want to start up until we’ve cut loose!” cried Fred.
“That’s it, Ralph. If you start up now we might bump into the schooner.
She isn’t making much headway,” added Randy.
By this time those at the bow had hauled in five or six yards of the
cable. Then the heavy line was held down on the bow and Jack gave it
several vigorous blows with the hatchet. The last accomplished its
purpose, and the line snapped, the forward end whizzing back to the
_Hildegarde_.
“Now we can take the stuff aboard,” said Gif, and this was quickly
accomplished.
Many of the stores were soaked, a fact which did not please any of
them. But they were glad that they had the things. Otherwise it would
have been folly to attempt to escape in the motor boat. For all they
knew, it might take them several days to reach land.
In the meanwhile, the flames on the deck of the _Hildegarde_ had
mounted higher and higher, catching on a few of the tarred ratlines of
the mainmast.
“Now hurry up an’ git that engine started!” cried Ira Small. “We want
to git away while the goin’s good.”
A lantern was lit and in a few minutes Ralph and one or two of the
others had the motor in working order. Then the battery was turned on,
and in a second more the motor responded and a steady putt-putt greeted
the boys’ ears, much to their delight.
“I’ll take the wheel!” cried Jack. “You see that the motor does its
duty, Ralph.”
“All right. I think we’ll need some of that gasoline we brought along
before a great while. You know, I said our supply was running low when
we were captured.”
The _Fancy_ was headed away from the schooner, and then, as near as
he was able, Jack steered for where he supposed the far-distant coast
might be located. In the meanwhile, the other lads and Ira Small rested.
“Gee, but that was some get-away!” panted Andy.
“I’ll tell the world!” came from Fred. “When I came down the cable I
thought I would never reach the motor boat. Some strong pull to the
ocean!”
“What can you tell us about that fire, Small?” demanded Gif.
At this question the lanky sailor chuckled hoarsely.
“Scart you, didn’t it? Well, I reckon it’s scarin’ those left aboard
the schooner; and that’s jest what I want. They’ll be so int’rested
fightin’ that fire, they won’t think nothin’ about chasin’ us.”
“Did you set the fire?” questioned Randy.
“I sure did, lad. But don’t git excited,” went on Ira Small. “It ain’t
goin’ to do the old _Hildegarde_ much harm. All I did was to spread
some excelsior soaked in gasoline on the deck near one o’ the rails.
They kin put the fire out easy enough. But they’ll have to work lively
for a few minutes to do it.”
“Are you quite sure it won’t burn the ship so she’ll sink?” questioned
Fred, anxiously.
“We wouldn’t want to leave those men to drown,” added Randy.
“No sech luck, lad. You can’t drown a rascal who’s meant to be hung.
No, the fire’ll soon be out. You jest watch and see. But meanwhile,
we want to git as fur away from the schooner as possible. Now those
rascals have got an idee they kin hold you fur a ransom, they won’t let
you escape if they kin help it.”
With the motor of the _Fancy_ running fairly well, Gif and Spouter
turned their attention to bailing the craft. While this was being done
Fred and the twins stowed the food away in the cabin and saw to it that
nothing might happen to their precious supply of water. Meanwhile,
Ralph opened one of the cans of gasoline and emptied the contents into
the supply tank of the motor boat.
“There! That will carry us quite a few miles,” he declared. “Of course,
how many will depend on what kind of weather we strike and how the sea
is running.”
“I guess we can be thankful it’s so warm,” said Jack, doing his best
at the wheel to make the _Fancy_ ride the waves without ducking those
aboard. “If it was as cold down here as it is around Cape Cod, I think
we’d all catch our death of cold.”
“It’s too bad we’re wet,” said Gif. “But I suppose we’ve got to make
the best of that.”
They were soon out of sight of the schooner, save for the flames which
showed them a small part of the deck. As Ira Small had said, the fire
soon became lower and presently vanished completely.
“I guess it’s out,” said Fred, with a sigh.
“Yes; and I’m glad of it,” returned Randy.
“Gee, I’ll bet they were scared for a few minutes,” came from Andy.
“You can bet they are mighty mad at us,” was Spouter’s comment. “You
can be sure they’ll lay the fire at our door. They’ll say we wanted to
burn the ship and drown them.”
“I don’t think they’ll ever try and bring any o’ you fellows into court
about it,” chuckled Ira Small. “You’ve got too good a case ag’in’ ’em.”
With the extinction of the blaze on the _Hildegarde_, the only light
anywhere around the motor boat vanished and the Rover boys and the
others found themselves plowing along slowly and uncertainly over the
wide bosom of the Atlantic. Overhead there were drifting clouds, and
only a few stars could be seen.
“P’int her a little more to starboard, lad,” advised Ira Small, as he
joined Jack at the wheel. “I can’t give you the course direct, but I’ll
do my best.”
“I suppose you’ve often steered by the stars,” returned the young major.
“Yes, I did when I was on the old _Maria Deggett_,” answered the lanky
sailor. “I took three trips in that four-master, an’ we sailed pretty
nigh to ev’ry spot on the globe. She was a fine ship, an’ Cap’n Deggett
he was one fine man!”
“Why didn’t you remain on her?” questioned Ralph.
“She went ashore off the coast of Floridy in a hurricane. She was a
total wreck, an’ that nigh broke ol’ Cap’n Deggett’s heart, an’ he
never went to sea no more. That was the trip when I heard all about
the thirteen rocks an’ the pirates’ hidden gold,” went on Ira Small,
impressively.
“Do you really believe in that treasure?” questioned Fred, eagerly.
“Of course I do, lad! It’s there, an’ I know it! All I’ve got to do is
to locate them thirteen rocks.”
“I’d like to hear your yarn about it some day――when we’re out of this
trouble,” returned Fred.
On leaving the _Hildegarde_ behind, the boys had only one regret, and
that was that they had not recovered any of the things stolen from them.
“But never mind,” said Jack, in speaking of this. “If we ever get the
chance, we’ll make Captain Gilsen and Ferguson pay up!”
“Yes, and pay dearly!” added Gif. “Every one of those fellows ought to
be sent to prison.”
“Well, anyhow, we got our grub for nothing――not to mention the
gasoline,” chuckled Andy. “It isn’t much, but it’s something.”
Now that much of the excitement attending the escape from the schooner
had come to an end, the boys realized that they were both wet and
sleepy. A small oil stove of which the cabin boasted was lit, and here
one after another they made themselves as comfortable as possible.
There chanced to be just one heavy raincoat aboard the craft, and this
was passed out to be used by the one who was on duty at the wheel.
“I’ll take my trick at the wheel for a few hours,” announced Ira Small.
“That’ll give you lads a chance to take a nap an’ dry yourselves. The
motor boat ain’t a schooner, but I reckon I kin manage it.”
“All right,” answered Ralph, gratefully. “If anything goes wrong with
the engine, just call me.”
The boys retired to the cabin and there made themselves as comfortable
as the limited quarters permitted. They hung some of their clothing
close to the oil stove and then, utterly worn out, sank down to rest
wherever a place afforded.
Morning found them still on the bosom of the broad Atlantic with
neither a sail nor land in sight. The sun peeped out from behind a thin
bank of clouds, and by its rays they set their course due west.
“We’re bound to hit land sooner or later,” remarked Jack. “That is, if
the good weather and the gasoline hold out.”
“How many miles can we travel with the gasoline we have on hand?”
questioned Fred of Ralph.
“That’s a hard question to answer, Fred. You see, I’ve not been running
the _Fancy_ very long, and I don’t know what she can make in this sort
of sea. You know it’s one thing to run in smooth water, and quite
another in the swells of the ocean. We lose a lot of our headway every
time the stern is lifted out of the water.”
“Well, let’s hope, if it doesn’t carry us to land, that it will at
least carry us in the path of the ships sailing up and down the coast,”
put in Spouter.
“We’ll run straight for the first good-sized steamer we see,” answered
Ralph.
“Don’t run into any more rum-runners,” warned Andy, with a sickly grin.
“We’ve had enough of that class of rascals.”
With the coming of daylight, the boys and the lanky sailor felt better.
A pot of coffee was gotten ready on the oil stove and cups of this
beverage passed around with some bread and biscuits served to make them
still lighter hearted.
“I suppose we’ve got to be careful how we use up our grub and water,”
warned Jack. “There is no telling how long it has got to last us. For
all we know, we may be much farther from shore than we imagine.”
Slowly the morning wore away. About eleven o’clock Fred set up a shout.
“What is that smoke just ahead of us?” he queried.
“I don’t know,” answered Spouter. “Looks like some smoke on an island.”
“It’s a steamer!” came from Gif, a minute later. “A steamer! And she’s
moving northward.”
“Let’s see if we can’t get close enough to hail her!” cried Jack,
eagerly.
Ralph was willing, and soon had the _Fancy_ running at her best rate of
speed. Then he took the wheel from Gif, who was steering.
“Maybe I can manage her a little better,” he said. “You know, I’ve had
more experience.”
“Go to it, Ralph,” answered Gif, readily. “I never was very much of a
sailor.”
Then began a mad race in the direction of the distant steamer. Would
they be able to get close enough to signal to those on board?