A HAPPY SURPRISE.
The monotonous roar of the surf should have lulled the boys to sleep
very shortly after they lay down on the sand where a number of boulders
formed a partial shelter; but instead of doing so it appeared to have
the opposite effect.
For a long while after Cummings and Jake were wrapped in slumber they
talked of the journey which lay before them, and speculated with heavy
hearts as to the fate of those who had left the burning yacht in their
company.
This was a topic of conversation seldom brought up since the day they
first saw the Silver City, because their peril had been so great as to
overshadow everything else. Now, however, when it seemed as if they were
very near home, the fear that but one boat of the four had lived to
reach the land came to both with painful intensity, and fully half the
night was spent in trying to persuade themselves that it was well with
the remainder of the Sea Dream's crew.
When they did finally sink into slumber Poyor was sitting bolt upright
with his back against a huge block of coral-like rock, looking out over
the water, and in the morning when Neal opened his eyes the Indian was
in the same position.
"Have you seen a vessel?" the boy asked.
"There is one," was the calm reply, and Neal sprang to his feet in the
greatest excitement to see a small, schooner-rigged craft with all sail
set moving slowly through the water on a parallel line with the coast,
about three miles away.
In another instant he had awakened the remainder of the party by
shouting vigorously, as if believing it possible that those on board
could hear his voice.
"What's the matter?" Cummings asked: but before the question could be
answered he also saw the craft.
"It looks as if she was bound in our direction, and we had better try to
attract attention; but you'll never do it by shouting, my boy."
"What shall we do?"
"Build a fire, of course," Jake replied. "They have got plenty of time
to send a boat ashore, for it is nearly calm, and in another hour there
won't be so much as a breath of wind."
Before he had ceased speaking Neal and Teddy were running back toward
the line of trees for wood, and in a short time a cloud of smoke was
ascending from the shore at the very edge of the water.
While the others continued to bring fuel Poyor sprinkled the flames with
a bough wet in the sea in order to prevent them from burning too freely,
and there was no interruption in the work until a flag was raised on the
schooner's main-mast to signify that the signal would be answered.
"We're in great luck," Cummings said, as he seated himself on one of the
boulders, for it was no longer necessary to keep the fire burning. "No
matter where she is bound I don't fancy we shall have much trouble in
persuading them to put into Progresso, and the tramp up the shore which
all have been dreading can be avoided."
As a matter of course the entire party were in the best of spirits, and
to Neal and Teddy the little craft had a particularly friendly look.
The schooner had been headed for the shore when the smoke first began to
ascend; but the wind was so light that she hardly moved through the
water, and, after a few moments, the watchers could see that a boat was
being lowered.
"That dashes some of my hopes," Cummings said with a laugh.
"What do you mean?" Neal asked.
"I thought there might be just a chance that she hailed from Progresso,
and we should have no trouble in persuading them to do as we wished."
"Why do you think that isn't the case?"
"Because you couldn't find a crew of natives who would willingly row so
far; the majority would wait for a breeze a week before voluntarily
performing so much labor."
The boys watched the boat as she approached slowly, and when she neared
the shore both they and Jake started in surprise, scrutinized her more
intently, and then looking at each other as if in fear.
"What is the matter?" Cummings asked, and Neal replied slowly:
"The man who is steering resembles Mr. Walters, the sailing master of
the Sea Dream, that is all."
"It _is_ him!" Teddy cried excitedly. "I am certain of it now; but how
did he get here in that schooner?"
As a matter of course the question could not be answered by his
companions, and all waited with the liveliest signs of impatience until
the gentleman was within hailing distance, and then Neal shouted:
"Is that really you, Mr. Walters?"
"To the best of my knowledge it is," was the laughing reply. "Are you
all well?"
"In first-class condition. Where is father?"
"On board the schooner. I will give the signal to let him know the crew
of the yacht have all been saved."
As he spoke he discharged a revolver, and the waving of the flag told
that the good news was understood.
"Not all, Mr. Walters, the three sailors in our boat were drowned while
trying to land on this coast."
"It is too late now to rectify the mistake. I hoped when I saw so many
that there had been no disaster."
By this time the little craft had been rowed around the point of the
lagoon where it was possible to effect a landing without danger of being
swamped, and the sailing master leaped ashore to welcome by hearty
handshakes those whom he had feared were dead.
Cummings and Poyor were introduced, and then Neal asked:
"Where did you get the schooner?"
"Chartered her to hunt for you; but Mr. Emery shall tell the story. Will
you come aboard now?"
"You are to go with us," Neal said, turning quickly toward Cummings.
"I hardly know what to do. It would probably be wisest for Poyor and I
to begin the homeward march since there is no longer any necessity of
going to Progresso."
"But you must see my father. Time is not so precious just now but that
you can afford to spend another day in our company."
"It shall be as you say," Cummings replied laughingly. "I hesitated only
because the sooner our long tramp comes to an end the more comfortable I
shall feel in mind."
Jake and Teddy had already clambered into the boat; the others followed,
and the little craft, loaded down nearly to the water's edge, was rowed
out toward the schooner.
It is not necessary to make any attempt at trying to describe the
reception the castaways met with from the remainder of the yacht's crew,
nor the manner in which Poyor and Cummings were welcomed.
After the heartiest greetings had been exchanged Mr. Emery and the
sailing master asked for an account of the landing and subsequent
wanderings, and it is safe to say that they were treated to a wilder
story than they had ever dreamed of hearing.
Mr. Walters was at first disposed to look upon it as a "yarn;" but the
souvenir which Jake carried on his face was evidence that could not be
doubted, and Cummings soon convinced the skeptical sailing master that
the Chan Santa Cruz really had an existence.
"That is an adventure I would like to have," he finally said in a tone
of enthusiasm. "I can't understand why it shouldn't be possible to hit
upon some hiding place within half a mile of the city, and on a stormy
night, for instance, lug away precious metal enough to make ourselves
rich."
"That and more can be done if one has patience and discretion."
"Now we're where there's little doubt about gettin' home you may rap at
me as often as you please," Jake said with a hearty laugh. "I admit
having acted like a fool; but so long as nothing serious came of it,
except the cut on my own cheek, it isn't a hanging matter."
"I haven't a relative in this world," Mr. Walters continued, "and now
the Sea Dream has gone down would be obliged to look around for a job,
therefore if you'll accept me as a comrade I'll stay here instead of
going back to the states."
"Do you really mean to enter upon such a wild venture?" Mr. Emery asked
in surprise.
"Most certainly. What is to prevent?"
"Nothing that I know of; but it seems little less than suicide to go
there after the Indians have been so thoroughly aroused."
"We shall not make the attempt for several months, perhaps a year,"
Cummings added.
"Where would you propose to stop? Here?"
"How far do you intend to go in this schooner?"
"To the nearest port where we can find a steamer bound for the United
States."
"That is Progresso, and if you have no objections Poyor and I will
accompany you there. We need some supplies from Merida, and if Mr.
Walters is of the same mind when we arrive I shall be more than pleased
to have him go with us."
"The vessel is at your disposal. We will land you at any point, and I
yet have sufficient money with me to pay Walters' wages and make him a
slight advance if he needs it."
"Very little will be required if he joins Poyor and myself. The cost of
living in this country is small, for nature provides bountifully."
The captain of the schooner, a full-blooded negro, was told to head his
craft for Progresso as soon as the wind should spring up again, and then
Mr. Emery asked many questions concerning the city the boys had seen,
while their answers only made the sailing master more eager to remain
with Cummings.
"This is hardly fair," Neal finally said. "All the time we have been
telling you of our adventures, and not one word have we heard regarding
your movements. I would like to know where the three boats we out-sailed
went to on the night after leaving the yacht, and where this schooner
was found?"
"It is not a long story," Mr. Emery replied. "When you disappeared in
the darkness we continued on the same course, and succeeded in keeping
the three boats well together. At sunrise your craft was not in sight.
We held on all that day and the next, finally arriving at Cozumel where
we stayed three days in the hope you would appear. Then this schooner
touched at the island, and I chartered her to search for you. We have
been cruising up and down the coast ever since, for it seemed positive
your boat reached the land in this immediate vicinity."
"How long would you have stayed here?"
"Not many days more, for we had begun to believe you were picked up by a
vessel. Knowing Jake could handle a small craft better, perhaps than any
other member of the crew, and also that she was the most seaworthy of
the four tenders, it did not seem reasonable she had foundered while the
others went through in safety."
"Then we came out just in time."
"Yes, for I had no idea you could be so far up this way, and we should
have left the locality as soon as the wind would permit."
Jake wanted to ask the sailing master how it happened that he had made
such a mistake in his reckoning; but it was a delicate question, and he
thought it best to wait until Mr. Walters had left them, when Neal's
father could probably give the desired explanation.