CAPRICIOUS FORTUNE
Drew experienced a thrill of delight. But he felt that he ought to
protest.
"I'm not putting up anything toward the expense," he said. "If things
go wrong, you'll lose heavily. I have nothing to lose and everything
to gain. It doesn't seem the square thing."
"Let us do the worrying about that," smiled the captain. "You've done
your fair share already toward this adventure. We'll all share and
share alike."
"You bet we will," chimed in Tyke. "There wouldn't be any cruise at
all if it hadn't been for you. Who suggested searching the box? Who
translated the paper and the map? You've been the head and front of
the whole thing from the beginning."
"But----" began Drew.
"'But,' nothing," interrupted Tyke. "Not another word. Remember I'm
your boss."
And Drew, glad enough for once in his life to be bossed, became silent.
But the walls of his air castle began to grow more solid.
"How long will it be before you can have the schooner ready to sail?"
Tyke inquired, turning to the captain.
"Oh, in a week or ten days if we are pressed," was the response. "It
won't take us more than that to get our supplies aboard and ship our
crew."
"The crew is an important matter," reflected Tyke. "It won't do to
pick up any riffraff that may come to hand. We want to git men that we
can trust. Sailors have a way of smelling out the meaning of any
cruise that is out of the usual order of things, an' if there's any
trouble-makers in the crew who git a hint that we're out for treasure,
they'll cause mischief."
"They won't get any hint, unless some of us talk in our sleep," replied
the captain. "I know where I can lay hands on quite a few of my old
crew, but I'll be so busy with other things that I'll have to leave the
picking of most of the men to Ditty."
"Ditty?" said Grimshaw inquiringly.
"He's my mate," explained the captain. "Cal Ditty. As smart a sailor
as one could ask for. But that about lets him out."
"Why! don't you like him?" asked Tyke quickly.
"No, I can't say I do," replied the captain slowly. "I've never warmed
toward the man. There's something about him that repels me."
"Why don't you git rid of him then?"
"Well, you see it's like this," explained Captain Hamilton. "He saved
Mr. Parmalee's life one time when the old man fell overboard, and
naturally Parmalee felt very grateful to him. He promised him that he
should always have a berth on one of his ships as long as he lived. Of
course, since the old man is dead, we could do as we liked about firing
Ditty, but young Parmalee feels that it's up to him to respect his
father's wishes. So rather than have any trouble about it, I've kept
Ditty on. But he's a lush when he's ashore, and I don't fully trust
him. That may be unjust too, for he's always done his work well and
I've had no reason to complain."
"Well, anyway," warned Tyke, "I'd keep my weather eye peeled if I was
you. When you feel that way about a man, there's usually something to
justify it sooner or later."
"Well, now, suppose I'm ready in a fortnight, how about you?" asked
Captain Hamilton.
"Oh, we'll be ready by that time," replied Tyke confidently. "Of
course we've got this moving to do, but we're pretty well packed up
now, an' before a week is over we'll have everything shipshape in our
new quarters."
"We'll race each other to see who'll be ready first," laughed Captain
Hamilton. "In the meantime, if you're not too rushed, come over and
take a squint at the _Bertha Hamilton_. And if you don't see the
niftiest little craft that ever gladdened the eyes of a sailorman, you
can call me a swab."
"Where is she lying?" asked Drew.
"Foot of Franklin Street, North River. You'll find me there most all
the time, but if you don't just go aboard and look her over anyway.
You'll be on her for some weeks, and you might as well get acquainted."
Tyke and Drew promised that they would, and, with a cordial handshake,
Captain Hamilton left the office.
Grimshaw carefully stowed the map and paper away in his safe, and then
turned to Drew.
"Named his craft after the daughter he spoke of, I reckon--_Bertha
Hamilton_. Well, perhaps it'll bring us luck. Cap'n Rufe is some
seaman, an' no mistake." Then he added, with a quizzical smile: "Quite
a lot's happened since this time yesterday."
"I should say there had!" responded Drew. "My head is swimming with
it. It'll take some time for me to settle down and get my bearings.
I'm tempted to pinch myself to see if I'm not dreaming. If I am, I
don't want to wake up. You're certainly good to me, Mr. Grimshaw," he
added warmly.
Tyke waved aside Drew's thanks by a motion of his hand.
"Everything does seem topsy-turvy," he said. "I thought that the old
hulk was laid up for good. But now it seems she's clearing for one
more cruise. An' it's all come about so queer like. Now if I----"
Tyke checked himself and rose to his feet.
"Well, now we've got one more reason for hustling," he declared.
"You'll have your hands full from this time on, my boy, an' so will I.
You want to begin to break Winters in right away, so that he'll be able
to take charge of things while we're gone."
"How shall I explain it?" asked Drew. "What shall I give as a reason
for the trip?"
Tyke reflected for a moment.
"Jest say that we're going for a cruise in Southern waters with an old
sea cap'n friend of mine. Tell him that you've been sticking pretty
close to your desk, an' that I thought it would be a good thing for you
to go along. Don't make any mystery of it. Tell him that we'll be
back in a couple of months, an' that it's up to him to make good while
we're gone.
"One thing more," he added, as Drew turned to go. "Tell him that I'm
going to raise his salary, an' he'll feel so good about that that he
won't waste much time thinking about us and our plans."
The recipe worked as Tyke had predicted, and after the first
expressions of surprise, Winters speedily became engrossed in his added
responsibilities and the increase in his pay, leaving Drew untroubled
by prying questions.
For the next three days all worked like beavers, and by nightfall of
the third day the moving had been effected and the stock arranged in
their new quarters.
"Guess we're going to be ready for that cruise before Cap'n Rufe is,"
grinned Tyke, as he surveyed the finished work.
But he exulted too soon. That very evening, Drew received a telephone
message from St. Luke's hospital saying that Mr. T. Grimshaw had been
brought in there with an injured leg as the result of a street
accident. He had requested that Drew be summoned at once.
Shocked and grieved, the young man hurried to the hospital. He was
ushered at once into the private room in which Tyke was lying.
The leg had been bandaged, and Tyke had recovered somewhat from the
first shock of the accident. He was suffering no special pain at the
moment, and was eagerly watching the door through which Drew would come.
The latter's heart ached as he saw how wan and gray the old man's face
looked. But his indomitable spirit still shone in his sunken eyes, and
he tried to summon a cheery smile as Drew came near the bed.
"Well, Allen, my boy," he remarked, "I guess I crowed too soon this
afternoon. I didn't think then that the old hulk would be laid up so
soon for repairs."
Drew expressed his sorrow, as he gripped Tyke's hand affectionately.
"How did it happen?" he asked.
"Cruising across the street in front of an auto," replied Tyke.
"Thought I had cleared it, but guess I hadn't. I saw that one-eyed
feller standing there--
"What one-eyed fellow?" Drew asked, interrupting.
"Why, I don't know who he was. Looked like a sea-faring man," returned
Tyke. "Oh! That does hurt! Doctor said it would if I moved it."
"Don't move your leg, then," advised Drew. "What about the one-eyed
man?"
"Why," repeated Tyke, reflectively, "I saw him on the curb jest as I
jumped to git out of the way of that auto. I ain't as spry as I used
to be I admit; but seems to me I would have made it all right if it
hadn't been for that feller."
"What did he do to you?" asked the anxious Drew. Of course, there was
more than one sailor in the world with only one eye; yet the young man
wondered.
"I saw his hand stretched out, an' I thought he was going to grab me.
But next I knew I was pushed right back an' the car knocked me flat.
B'fore I lost my senses, it seemed to me that that one-eyed swab was
down on his knees going through my pockets."
"Robbing you?" gasped Drew.
"Well--mebbe I dreamed it. I've been puzzling over it ever since I've
been lying here. I didn't lose my watch, nor yet my wallet, that's
sure," and Tyke grinned. "But it certainly was a queer experience.
An' I'd like to know who that one-eyed feller is."
"How badly is your leg hurt?" asked Drew.
"Might have been worse," answered Tyke. "Doctor says my knee's
wrenched an' the ligaments torn, but there's nothing that can't be
mended. I'll be off my pins for the next month or two, they say. So I
guess old Tyke won't be Johnny-on-the-spot when you dig up them
doubloons."
"Don't worry about that," protested Drew. "The only important thing
now is that you should get well. The treasure can wait. We'll
postpone the trip until you get ready to go."
"No you won't!" declared Tyke energetically. "You'll do nothing of the
kind! You'll go right ahead and look for it, an' I'll lie here an'
root for you."
He was getting excited, and at this juncture the nurse interposed and
Drew had to go, after promising to come again the first thing in the
morning.
He sent a message on leaving the hospital to Captain Hamilton, and the
next morning they went in company to visit the patient.
They were delighted to learn that he was doing well. There were no
complications, and it was only a matter of time before the injured leg
would be as well as ever.
The captain had been grieved to hear of his old friend's mishap. He
expressed his entire willingness to postpone the trip till some time in
the future when Tyke could go along. But the latter had been thinking
the matter over and was even more determined than he had been the night
before that his injury should not prevent the expedition going forward
as planned.
"One man more or less don't make any difference," he declared. "Of
course, I'd set my heart on going with you, an' I ain't denying it's a
sore disappointment to have to lie here like some old derelict. But it
would worry me a good deal more to know that I was knocking the whole
plan to flinders. Our agreement still stands, except that I'll have to
be a silent partner instead of an active one. Allen can represent me,
as well as himself, when you git to the island. But I can do my part
in outfitting the expedition as well as though I was on my feet. My
leg is out of commission, but my arm isn't, an' I can still sign
checks," and he chuckled. "You fellers go right ahead now and git
busy."
There was no swerving him from his determination, and, although
reluctantly, they were forced to acquiesce. The captain went ahead
with his preparations, and Drew redoubled his activities, as now he had
to do two men's work. But his superb vitality laughed at work and he
became so engrossed in it that he forgot everything else.
Except Ruth Adams!
Consciously or sub-consciously, her gracious memory was with him always.
In the first rush of exultation that he felt when he found himself
admitted as an equal partner in the possible gains of the expedition,
he had overlooked the fact that it meant an absence, more or less
prolonged, from the city where he supposed Ruth Adams to be. How many
things might happen in the interval! Suppose in his absence some
fortunate man should woo and win her? A girl so attractive could not
fail to have suitors. He felt that the golden fruit he might get on
the expedition would turn to ashes if he could not lay it at her feet.
So, tossed about by a sea of alternate hopes and fears, the days went
by until but forty-eight hours remained before the time agreed upon for
sailing.
On Tuesday, Allen had occasion to confer with Captain Hamilton. Up to
now, their meetings, when it had been necessary to see each other on
business connected with the trip, had been in the South Street office.
And, what with the multiplied demands on his time and his daily calls
on Tyke at the hospital, Drew had not yet visited the _Bertha
Hamilton_. He had planned to do so more than once, but had found it
out of the question. He told himself that he would have ample time to
get acquainted with the schooner from stem to stern when they had left
New York behind them and were heading for the island in the Caribbean.
But to-day the conference was to be aboard the _Bertha Hamilton_. Drew
was forced to confess, on reaching the pier at which the schooner was
moored and on catching his first glimpse of her, that the captain was
justified in his enthusiasm. She was indeed a beauty. With her long,
graceful, gently curving lines, she seemed more like a yacht than a
merchant vessel. She was schooner rigged, and, although of course the
sails were furled, the height of her masts indicated great
sail-carrying capacity. Everything about her suggested grace and
speed, and Drew did not doubt that she could show her heels to almost
any sailing craft in the port.
As his appreciative eyes swept the vessel throughout its entire length
from stern rail to bowsprit, his admiration grew. He was glad that
such a craft was to carry the hopes and fortunes of the treasure
hunters. She seemed to promise success in advance.
He went over the plank and turned to go aft in search of the captain.
Then he stopped suddenly. His heart seemed to cease beating for an
instant. He found himself looking into the hazel eyes of the girl of
whom he had been dreaming day and night since he had first seen her
down on the East River docks!