_On to Cuba_
When the storm came at dawn on the thirtieth of June, it awakened Linda
first. As the rain descended upon the slickers that covered the girls,
and upon their faces, Dot merely buried her head sleepily under the
raincoat, but Linda sat bolt upright on the bed of leaves.
The wind was howling about the lonely island, and the rain was pouring
down in sheets. The blackness of it all was terrifying, yet she knew
that she must get up.
"Dot!" she whispered, hoarsely. "Wake up!"
Her companion opened her eyes sleepily as she pushed the slicker aside.
"Yes.... Why Linda, it's--pouring!"
"It certainly is." Linda was slipping on her shoes and her knickers
over her pajamas. "We've got to rescue the boat."
"Why?"
"Because water mustn't get into the gasoline. And because the tide
might come up high enough to wash the boat out to sea."
"O.K.," replied Dot, now quite wide awake. "I'm with you, Linda--in
just a second."
Holding on to each other's hands, they made their way with difficulty
down to the beach where the boat had been left, and together they
dragged it back and covered it with one of the slickers.
Panting from the effort, they dropped back on the sand and sat down,
not bothering about the rain that was descending relentlessly upon
them, soaking them to the skin.
"We might as well use the other slicker as a roof for ourselves,"
suggested Dot, as she got to her feet again. "We can hang it over some
bushes, and crawl under it."
"That's an idea!" approved Linda. "I was wondering how one raincoat
could keep us both dry."
"It won't keep us dry--we're wet now. But it will protect us from the
worst force of this cloud-burst."
They went back to their camping site and arranged the slicker as best
they could--carefully putting the bag of money and the box of tools
under it, before they crawled in themselves. The bushes were wet, and
so was the ground, but the girls were saved the discomfort of having
the rain actually pour in their faces.
They watched the storm for some time, hoping that it would soon abate,
and finally, becoming drowsy, they fell asleep again, with their feet
sticking out under the covering.
Cramped by the awkward position, they awakened in a couple of hours.
Daylight had arrived--but not sunlight. It was still raining steadily
and dismally.
"Don't you suppose we can go today?" asked Dot.
"Maybe later on," replied Linda, cheerfully. "There's one thing good
about this, Dot. We can get a drink."
"How heavenly!" exclaimed the other, sitting up. "But how do we manage
it? We won't get much by just opening our mouths!"
"Get up carefully. I'm sure there's a lot of water lodging on the top
of this slicker. Wait--get the thermos bottles out of the tool-box
first. We'll use the cups, and then stand them up to catch the rain as
it falls."
Linda's surmise was correct; there was so much water on the slicker
that it was in danger of collapsing any moment. They dipped their cups
into the pool and drank eagerly. How good it tasted to their parched
throats!
"There must be more down on the boat's cover," suggested Dot. "Let's
get it, and pour it into our thermos bottles."
When they had carried out this idea, they set the bottles firmly in the
sand, and crept back under cover.
"Shall we eat?" asked Dot, after watching the rain for some minutes in
silence.
"Let's wait a while--till noon, if we can. We have only those two
oranges and a half a dozen crackers. It'll be something to look forward
to."
"There's still some tea and sugar--and one can of milk," the other
reminded her. "You know we didn't use them, because we couldn't afford
the water. Now it'll be different."
"I'd forgotten all about that!" exclaimed Linda, smiling. "Let's have
tea and one cracker for lunch, and save the oranges for supper."
"But how can we ever hope to build a fire in this rain? We'd never find
any dry sticks--and if we made one under here, we'd be smoked out."
"I hadn't thought of that. But we can make cold tea. If we leave the
leaves in the water long enough, they'll flavor it--anyway, that's what
I read in an ad one time."
"You think of everything, Linda! It's no wonder you've gotten out of a
dozen disasters that would have killed an ordinary girl!"
"Now Dot!" protested the other girl, modestly. "Just so long as we get
out of this one, I'll be satisfied."
To help pass the tediousness of the long gloomy day, the girls took a
brisk walk encircling the entire island. Soaked as they were before
they started, they decided it would be foolish to stop because of the
rain. The sight of the ocean, wild and angry as it was because of the
storm, aroused their wonder and admiration, and rewarded them for their
wet excursion. In vain they squinted through the spyglasses for a
glimpse of the autogiro, but even the island on which it had been left
by Susie was obliterated from their vision.
It was no wonder, therefore, that they did not see the plane which
brought Sergeant Worth and the two pilots to that other island. All
unaware that Ladybug had flown home that afternoon, the girls finally
settled down after dark to try to sleep under their improvised roof.
When they awakened the following morning, they were disappointed not to
see the sun. It was still raining, but no longer in torrents; the storm
had slackened to a monotonous drizzle.
"We better go," said Linda, as they breakfasted on tea and two crackers
apiece. "I can keep the engine pretty well covered up. And this rain
may keep up for days."
"I shouldn't care to keep up this reducing diet for days," observed
Dot. "If we were only too fat, Linda, how we would welcome such a
chance to starve ourselves!"
"Yes.... If--Oh, Dot, don't you wish we had a thick steak
now--smothered in mushrooms----"
"With creamed potatoes and fresh peas----"
"Fruit salad and cheese wafers----"
"Meringues, salted nuts, and coffee!"
Both girls suddenly laughed out loud.
"Anyway, we can both have our drinks of water," concluded Dot. "And
they say thirst is worse than hunger."
"We'll fill both thermos bottles before we push off," said Linda. "But
I'm counting on reaching the Ladybug before noon, and then we ought to
get to the Georgia coast by two o'clock."
"Where we eat that dinner!" added Dot.
Carrying their belongings, they walked down to the beach in their
rain-soaked clothing, and pushed the boat out towards the water. The
ocean was still so high and so rough that Linda hesitated a moment.
"Do you think we can make it?" asked Dot, noticing the expression of
doubt on her companion's face.
"Yes, I think so. That island didn't look far, yesterday."
"That's true. But I can't see it now, Linda. Suppose the storm had
washed the Ladybug away--or even the whole island?"
Linda shuddered, realizing that there was that possibility. She took
the glasses from her pocket, and peered through them in the direction
she remembered the island to be.
"I can't see a thing but ocean," she stated. "The waves are so high.
But let's go in that direction anyway. It must be there."
She turned to the motor-boat and attempted to start the engine, but for
some minutes she labored in vain, for the engine refused to catch. Was
everything in the world against them, Dot silently wondered, as she
watched Linda repeat her efforts with infinite patience.
At last, however, there was a sputter, and the motor started. The girls
pushed the boat into the water and climbed into it.
It would have been great sport riding the waves, had it not been
for the grave danger attached. This was no sporting contest, with a
life-guard in readiness to rescue them if anything went wrong! It was a
race between life and death.
The wind had died down, however, and the sea was gradually growing
calmer. Up and down the little boat bobbed, now in the trough of a
wave, seemingly under a mountain of water--now rising again to a height
that made the girls think of a scenic-railway at a pleasure park. Dot
screamed with excitement, but Linda's lips were set in a firm line of
determination, her attention riveted on the engine.
By some miracle, it seemed to the girls, the little boat forged
triumphantly ahead, with its motor running smoothly. A feeling of
confidence was gradually taking the place of fear, and Dot strained her
eyes for the island that was their goal. Half an hour later she spotted
it, and almost upset the boat in her joy.
"There it is, Linda!" she cried, excitedly. "Oh, Linda, we're saved!
We're----" She stopped suddenly, hardly able to believe her eyes. The
autogiro was gone!
"What's the matter, Dot?" asked Linda, unable to understand the abrupt
end of her chum's rejoicing. "Anything wrong!"
"Yes.... The Ladybug's gone!"
"What? Oh, it can't be!" Linda's voice was hoarse with terror. "Look
again, Dot--you have the glasses."
Dot squinted her eyes, but was rewarded by no trace of the plane.
"You take a look, Linda," she suggested. "Maybe you can see better."
The other girl eagerly caught the glasses which her companion tossed,
and with trembling fingers held them to her eyes. The island was in
plain sight now, but it was a ghastly fact that the autogiro had
completely disappeared.
Linda continued to gaze at the barren spot, her eyes fixed and staring,
as if she were looking at death itself. Then, dropping the glasses into
her lap, she seemed to be thinking intently.
"It's true, Dot," she said, in an expressionless tone. "Yet that must
be the right island.... Something has happened.... I don't know whether
the wind could have lifted the Ladybug--or whether that gangster came
back for it.... In any case, there's only one thing for us to do."
"Yes?" faltered Dot, biting her lips to keep back the tears. She must
not fail Linda now, in her darkest hour.
"Turn the boat around, and make for the shore. We mustn't waste another
drop of gasoline. It--won't last forever."
"Shall we go back to our island--if we can find it?" asked Dot, as she
turned the wheel.
"No, we'll go straight west.... Or is that the west? Oh, if we only
had a compass, or the sun to guide us.... But that must be the right
direction."
Linda was speaking bravely, trying to keep her voice normal, and her
companion took heart from her manner. The boat went forward in the
opposite direction, presumably towards the coast.
Half an hour passed in silence, each girl intent upon her task. Linda
took out her extra can of gasoline and filled the tank. Once Dot drank
some water from the thermos bottle and reminded Linda of hers. All the
while they continued to keep a sharp look-out for the coast.
Another hour passed, and the girls' hunger began to assault them. The
rain continued to fall, and weariness stole over them both. They were
too weak and too tired to talk.
At last Linda broke the silence by asking Dot to take another good look
for the coast through the glasses. She did not add that it was vital
this time, that the gasoline was running very low. On a rough sea like
this, oars would be out of the question, even if the girls had been as
strong as boys.
"I can't see anything but water," was the reply.
But just at that moment Linda saw something that held her speechless
with terror. The boat was springing a leak! Water appeared to be
pouring in by the bucket-full!
As the significance of this catastrophe dawned upon Linda, her throat
grew dry and parched; the words with which she meant to tell Dot choked
her so that she could not speak. How, oh how could she possibly inform
her brave chum of what was literally their death sentence!
It was Dot, however, who spoke instead. Rather, she cried out
hysterically,
"Linda, I see a boat! A steam-boat! Coming towards us!"
"Where?" gasped the other girl, her heart beating wildly between hope
and fear.
"Right ahead! Look! You can see her without the glasses now!"
Linda shot a swift glance at the approaching boat, then looked again at
the floor, where the water was fast deepening. Would the rescue come in
time? And would the boat stop at their signal of distress?
Wild with excitement, both girls raised their arms and waved
desperately at the approaching craft, until it was only fifty yards
away. Then they both shouted with a power and volume that they would
not have believed they possessed.
The oncoming boat decreased its speed until it was almost beside the
girls' sinking craft. To their overwhelming joy and relief, they saw
that it was stopping. A man appeared on the deck, and called to them in
a pleasant voice.
"In trouble, girls?"
"Our boat's sinking!" shouted Linda to Dot's amazement, for the latter
was still unaware of the immediate tragedy that was threatening them.
"Can you take us aboard?"
"Sure!" he replied. "Wait till I get a rope ladder."
While he was gone, Linda pointed to the water in the boat, which by
this time Dot had seen, and signaled to the other girl to say nothing
of their experiences to this man, until they learned more about him.
Linda's recent association with criminals had made her exceedingly wary.
"Pull up closer," instructed the man, as he returned with the ladder.
"Now, can you climb?"
"Easily!" Dot assured him. "We're in knickers, anyhow."
"May we throw our stuff on board first?" inquired Linda, picking up
the bag which contained, besides their few possessions, all the bank's
money.
"Sure! Anything breakable in it?"
"Only a couple of mirrors," returned Dot, who had regained her
cheerfulness with amazing speed. "And we're not afraid of bad luck,"
she added.
A moment later the girls climbed to safety, and pressed their rescuer's
hand in gratitude. It seemed like a miracle to them both, and the old
seaman was like an angel from heaven.
"How soon will we get to the coast?" asked Linda eagerly.
The man shook his head.
"We can't go to the coast," he replied. "We're headed for Cuba."
"But we must get back as soon as possible," pleaded Linda, beginning to
wonder whether she was about to be kidnapped again.
"You were headed for the open ocean," the seaman informed her, to both
girls' consternation. "And that's where we have to go. I can't stop at
the United States.... I'm awfully sorry...."