OUR BOAT IS SCUTTLED
When Ray and I set our feet on the deck of the _Pearl_ again, I felt a
thrill go all through me. I felt like hugging the mainmast. Captain
Marat and Carlos were there, and Rufe. Rufe fairly blubbered with
happiness.
"Oh, Lordy!" he said, "somebody clap foh me, I jes' got to dance."
And we clapped our hands and patted our thighs in time for him, and he
began his "double-shuffle." Carlos caught the infection and jumped into
the ring, and there the two black men footed it hot on the deck for five
minutes. "Hoo-o-we," yelled Rufe at last, and ran for the galley.
In a little a sumptuous meal was on the table for Ray and me; and while
we ate, waited on by the others, we told our story.
"Five thousand dollars!" said Norris. "Duran spending five thousand on
the chance of getting us off his trail. That must be some gold mine,
that of yours, Carlos."
"Yes, I think," agreed Carlos.
At last came a whole big bread pudding. "I jes' know you was a'comin',
an' I saved it," said Rufe.
Ray turned over his stool, as he jumped to give the black a hug. "Oh, if
I'd only known that was coming." And he put his hand on his stomach.
When we two had stuffed ourselves the limit, Ray lingered at the table,
looking very sober, his chin in his hand, his eyes on the big remaining
portion of the pudding. Rufe sidled up.
"What it is make you so sad?" he said.
"Say, Rufe," said Ray, "isn't it the chicken that has two stomachs?"
"I reckon dat's right," said Rufe.
"Well, I guess I'm half a chicken," said Ray.
"Why," said Rufe, "has you got two stummicks?"
"No," returned Ray, a wail in his tone, "but I've got two appetites."
And Rufe rolled on the deck.
"Well, now," said Norris at last, "that voodoo skunk can sail when he
gets ready, the sooner the better."
"Yes," agreed Captain Marat. "Now we ready for heem. He ver' clever if
he fool us some more, now."
Norris volunteered to take the watch till two o'clock; then Robert
offered to follow him. All others turned in.
I awoke, hearing Robert in talk with Captain Marat. "It looks to me like
the _Orion's_ moving, slowly--no sails up," Robert was saying. In a
little while the two climbed into a small boat. The moon had gone down,
and it was quite dark. The night breeze was still blowing gently. I
again dozed off, too tired to note what was going forward.
I do not know how long I slept this time, but when I opened my eyes
next, it was to hear blocks creaking; and jib and mainsail were already
set, and the foresail was going up. Marat and Robert had gone to the
isle, and hurried over opposite the _Orion's_ berth, to find that that
schooner's crew had been warping the vessel out toward the south
passage. The two waited till the _Orion_ had made sufficient progress to
set her sails and attain headway, then they had hurried back to set the
_Pearl_ in pursuit again.
The tail end of a squall came to give us a boost. The _Orion_ got a
greater portion of it.
Ray did not waken till we were well out in the open sea.
"What!" said he, looking abroad. "Has the island sunk?"
In half an hour the sun burst out of the sea, showing that island
astern. The _Orion_ was perhaps three miles away, heading a little south
of west. It was not till eleven that morning that we got a wind to give
us good headway.
Day after day, now again, we kept the schooner, _Orion_, company. She
seemed to make no effort to elude us. The nights were bright moonlight,
making us an easy task. Then at last we sighted the towering, ragged
mountains of the great island of the voodoos. We were to the south of
the island this time.
"Looks like that skunk is going the long way round," said Norris.
"Hopes to shake us off somewhere on the south coast, maybe," I
suggested.
"Thad is ver' evident," said Captain Marat. "He could save ver' much
time to go back by the north coast."
"He'll be up to some new 'gum-game'," said Norris.
And so it proved, as we came to know.
We weathered a number of severe squalls, and sizzled during some calm
days. We followed the _Orion_ around a point of the island, and into a
harbor of that south coast.
We were somewhat disturbed by that movement of Duran's, feeling that it
meant some new trouble to meet. We picked a berth for the _Pearl_ rather
close to the _Orion's_, for we must have a close eye on Duran.
"Perhaps he's going overland," suggested Julian.
"If he does, we'll go overland too," I offered.
"I believe he too lazy," said Carlos. "No railroad--big mountain."
"Well," said Norris, "we'll keep a sharp lookout, and see."
It was past noon when we cast anchor in that harbor. The officials of
the place came and went. Duran did not go ashore, though he sent some
blacks. Carlos we sent with two sailors, after some needed provisions
and water.
The hot tropic sun beat down on us unmercifully; there was scarce a
breath of air coming into that place. I sauntered up to Grant Norris,
where he leaned, dripping sweat on his tarpaulin-covered cannon, looking
over toward the _Orion_.
"To think," he said, "that it depends on that skunk how long we're to
lie in this blazing hole. I can almost see him sneering over there."
"Never mind, Mr. Norris," I told him. "Maybe when our turn comes we can
pay him back."
"And, oh! Let me at him!" said Norris, "when that time comes."
Then the end of the day came; darkness fell. It turned almost chill, and
we turned in below. The moon was due to rise some time after nine, so
that there would be but a short time of darkness; and then would come
moonlight, making the watch on Duran's movements easy. It was Julian
took the first watch, eight to ten. When he called Norris, at four
bells--or ten o'clock--the land breeze had already risen. I awoke at the
change of watch, for I had come to be a light sleeper, and I heard the
little waves rippling along the schooner's hull. I saw, too, that it was
bright moonlight; the moon was just past the full.
It was not yet midnight, when I was aroused by a clamor in the cabin.
Norris had come in.
"Out with you! Every mother's son of you," he said. "We're sinking."
There was much consternation as we all turned out, jerking on bits of
clothing.
We followed Captain Marat into the hold. As we neared the bows, we heard
the splash of the water. Marat sent two sailors to the pumps. The rest
of us set to work to shift the stores to places out of reach of the
incoming water. To find the leak would require considerable time. Marat
soon determined that the water was not coming in so fast but that the
pump would be able to hold its own against it.
"We must put thee schooner on the beach," said Captain Marat.
Both boats were manned, and tow-lines put aboard them. The tide was
ebbing, so we had great labor to move the schooner toward the mouth of
the little river, where Captain Marat looked for a favorable place to
lay the bow of the _Pearl_. When we were in the boats and beginning to
bend our backs to the labor, we heard the voice of Duran on the _Orion_
in a loud, hearty laugh.
"Laugh, you filthy skunk," said Norris, who sat next to me, "I'll never
rest till you're paid for all your foul doings."
It was not many minutes till we saw the sails of the _Orion_ go up, and
the land breeze and ebbing tide, together, carried that schooner off
into the open sea, at last beyond our vigilance. I felt a sinking within
me at the realization. But I had already had thoughts of what should be
done in case we were by some chance to lose sight of Duran.
We had been tugging at our oars for little above half an hour, making
very poor progress, when the tide came to the turn. And then we had it
with us, and it was not long till we were moving in at a rate almost to
make us cheerful again.
It was a black sailor who had discovered the fact of the leak in the
_Pearl_. He had heard an unusual sound. It was the trickling water more
or less confused with the rippling of the waves against the hull. He had
gone to Norris with the news. And Norris had given his ear to the thing
only for a moment, before sounding the alarm.
At last we came to the piece of beach aimed for. We took the anchor in a
small boat well in to shore, so that as the tide rose the bow of the
schooner was pulled more and more on the sand. It would be well toward
noon of the new day, before the tide will have reached its height, and
so begin to recede, and leave the _Pearl_ showing gradually more and
more of her hull above water.
We found time to discuss the situation and the probable means employed
for our undoing; for no one of us was in any doubt that it was Duran who
had done this thing.
"He send one black weeth the augur, or brace and bit, an' drill holes in
thee hull," said Captain Marat. And he pointed to a loop of rope still
hanging on a starboard bowsprit stay. It was by that rope that the
worker had swung himself, while he bored holes into the hull below
water-line.
"And to think he sneaked up on me in broad moonlight and did that
thing!" said Grant Norris.
"Well, you see," I offered, "the swimmer approached on the opposite side
from the _Orion_; and the waves helped hide his head. We none of us
dreamed of his trying anything like that."
"We should have done even more than ever dream it," wailed Norris. "And
now he'll have at least twenty-four hours the start of us, the best we
can do."