"PORT YOUR HELM!"
When a thorough search of the steamer _Polynesia_ made known the truth
that little Inez Hawthorne was nowhere upon it, the sorrowful
conclusion was that she had fallen overboard in some manner and been
drowned.
But the belief was scarcely formed, when the discovery was made that
such was not the case; that in fact she had been taken away by the
schooner _Coral_, whose mate performed such good service in mending
the broken shaft of the _Polynesia_.
The story as told Captain Strathmore was as follows:
The two officers of the schooner were rowed to the steamer by one of
the crew, who climbed up the ladder at the side of the _Polynesia_,
and spent a few minutes in inspecting the broken shaft. He then came
back. His attention was attracted to little Inez, whose childish
curiosity was excited by the appearance of a stranger who had but one
eye, and who looked so different from the trim-looking members of the
steamer's crew. The two fell into conversation, and Inez asked so many
questions about the schooner that the stranger invited her to take a
look at it. He was heard to say that the captain and mate would be
engaged for two or three hours, and there would be plenty of time to
row the child over the intervening distance, explore the _Coral_, and
come back before Captain Bergen and his mate would be ready to leave.
Naturally, Inez gladly accepted the invitation, and the sinister-looking
man, picking her up, carefully descended the ladder to his small boat,
and rowed away to the schooner.
This story, it will be observed, corresponded with that told by
Brazzier himself.
No one thought anything of the proceeding, which was one of the most
natural in the world, and there was nothing to arouse misgiving on the
part of those who witnessed it.
Inez was almost a spoiled child from the indulgence shown her by every
one with whom she came in contact. She distrusted no one, because she
had never had any reason to do so. It was night when the officers of
the schooner were rowed back, and those who had seen Inez taken away
did not observe that the boat returned without her. Holding no thought
of anything wrong, they gave no further attention to the strange
sailor.
The moment Captain Strathmore learned these facts, he caused an abrupt
change to be made in the course of the _Polynesia_. For he was
determined that no effort should be spared to recover the lost child,
who had so endeared herself to every one on board the steamer.
The precise point where the accident had befallen the shaft was
recorded on the log, as a matter of course, and it was within the
power of the chief officer to return wonderfully close to that spot.
If the schooner _Coral_ should remain anywhere in that latitude and
longitude, she could be found and Inez recovered.
"But it is not likely the schooner is near there," reflected Captain
Strathmore, as he swept the horizon with his glass and failed to catch
sight of a sail. "They could not have taken away the child ignorantly,
and instead of remaining there or attempting to find us, the captain
has headed in some direction which is not the one he named, as if by
accident, when he was aboard."
The captain was in that mood that it would have been dangerous for him
to come upon the daring thieves. He could conceive of no explanation
that would relieve them from his wrath, and as the steamer described
a huge curve in the sea and headed toward the point where he hoped to
gain sight of the sail, full steam was put on, and she ran at a rate
of speed which, in the condition of her shaft, was certainly dangerous
to a high degree.
It may be said there was not a heart on board the _Polynesia_ that did
not share in the general anxiety, and there was scarcely an eye that
did not scan the broad ocean again and again in the hope of catching
sight of the schooner.
Several sails were descried in the course of the day, but not one was
that of the _Coral_, and when the night descended not only had there
been a complete failure, but the captain was convinced that it was
useless for him to delay the steamer by hunting further.
With an angry and sad heart he gave over the search, and the
_Polynesia_ was headed once more toward the far-off imperial Japanese
city of Tokio.
"I would give a thousand dollars to know what it all means," said
Captain Strathmore, as he stood on the bridge debating the matter with
himself. "There is something about the whole business which I don't
understand. In the first place, Inez came under my charge in an
extraordinary way. I don't believe that that man who brought her down
to the wharf told the truth, and I very much doubt whether the parents
of the little one have ever been in Japan. She may have been stolen
from some one, and this means has been resorted to in order to get her
out of the way. I wish I had questioned her more closely," continued
the perplexed captain, following up the train of thought, "for she let
drop an expression or two now and then that showed she had some
remembrances which it would have been interesting to call up. It's too
late now," added the old sailor, with a sigh, "and probably I shall
never see her again. She had nestled down into that spot in my heart
which was left vacant many weary years ago, when my own Inez died and
my only boy became as one dead, and there is no sacrifice I would not
make would it but bring this one back to me. It is curious, but the
feeling is strong upon me that somewhere at some time we shall meet
again."
"Port your helm!"
This was the startling order which the quartermaster sent to the
wheel-house at that moment, and which was obeyed with as much
promptness as is possible on such a gigantic craft as an ocean
steamer.
The night, for a rarity, was dark and misty, a peculiar fog resting
upon the water, and shutting out the view in every direction. It would
seem that there could be little danger of a collision on the broad
bosom of the mightiest ocean of the globe, but there must always be a
certain ratio of danger, and none realized this more than Captain
Strathmore.
The _Polynesia_ had been running at half speed ever since the sun went
down, and her whistle blew at irregular intervals. At the moment the
startling order was communicated to the man at the wheel, the lights
of another steamer were discerned directly ahead. And these were
scarcely observed when the mountainous hull loomed up to view in
appalling proximity, and a cold shudder ran through every officer and
sailor at the sight, for there was just a single second or two when it
seemed certain that the two crafts would come together with an
earthquake shock and such an irresistible momentum as would crash the
two prodigious hulls to splinters, and send the crews and passengers
to join the multitudes who have gone before them to the bottom of the
sea.
Signals and commands were rapidly exchanged, and the slight
misunderstanding which existed between the two steamers at first was
quickly removed. The shouts and orders, the tinkling of the engineer's
bell, and even the sound of hurrying feet, were heard on one ship as
distinctly as on the other.
Most fortunately the officers of each were sensible men, who enforced
discipline, and who, therefore, did not lose their heads when sudden
peril came upon them.
There was desperate need of haste on the part of all, but the haste
was intelligent, and something was accomplished.
The stranger instantly reversed her screw, while the _Polynesia_ was
equally prompt in her backward movement. They escaped by a chance so
narrow that it was terrifying. The bow of the _Polynesia_ grazed the
side of the stranger as they passed upon their diagonal courses, and
every one on the two ships who understood the dreadful peril drew a
deep breath and uttered a prayer of thankfulness when it swept by, and
the two steamers vanished from each other's sight in the misty
darkness.
The engineer of the _Polynesia_ was signaled to go forward again, and
the screw was started; but, if the one who uttered the order had
forgotten the contingency against which they had been warned, the one
who executed that order had not, and he gave the engine just enough
steam to start the shaft.
As he did so, listening intently the meanwhile, he heard an ominous
crunching, grinding and jarring in the after hold, and he knew too
well what it meant. He instantly shut off steam, and with the captain
hastened to make the investigation. As they feared, the broken shaft
had been wrenched apart again, and it looked as if it were injured
beyond repair.
But what man has done, man can do, and the ingenious recourse of Abe
Storms was resorted to again. With great care the fractured pieces
were reunited and bound, but the task was, in reality, harder than
before, since the terrific grinding and wrenching to which it had been
subjected broke off much of the corrugated surface.
The work was completed after many long hours of hard work, and once
more the _Polynesia_ started slowly under steam for the strange
island-empire of Asia. This unexpected delay, as the reader will see,
doubtless had much to do with the failure of the schooner to find the
steamer, since it threw out all possibility of calculating where the
larger craft could be.
"Now, if we have no more vessels trying to run into us," muttered the
captain, as he resumed his place on the bridge, "we stand a chance of
reaching Japan after all, without calling on our sails to help us."
But, standing at his post, with everything going well, his thoughts
naturally reverted to the strange mischance by which little Inez
Hawthorne was lost to him.
"I don't believe Captain Bergen or his mate, Abe Storms, would
knowingly take off the child in that fashion, though the girl was
enough to tempt any one to steal her. There is something about the
whole business which I don't understand. We ought to have found each
other, though, if he is still hunting for me. This second breakage of
the shaft will tend to keep us apart."
The long voyage of the steamer to Japan terminated without any
incident worth the recording, and Captain Strathmore naturally became
anxious to meet the parents of Inez, though sorrowing very much over
the story he would be forced to tell them. But no one appeared at
Tokio to claim the child, and the wondering captain proceeded to make
inquiries.
It was easy to obtain from the church authorities a list of the names
of the Christian missionaries in Japan, and they were scanned
carefully by the captain, who was given such assistance by the
officials themselves that there could be no mistake. Among them was no
one by the name of Hawthorne. It was plain then that deception had
been used when the man in San Francisco declared that the parents of
Inez were missionaries in Japan.
As day after day passed and the steamer _Polynesia_ was gradually
prepared for her return voyage to California, there was one strong,
harrowing conviction which forced itself upon the distressed captain:
"Had Inez not been stolen from the steamer, no one would have come to
claim her, and she would have been mine."
His heart thrilled at the thought of how close he had come to
obtaining such a priceless prize for his possession, and then he
added, as if to cheer himself:
"Never mind; the earth is far and wide. She is alive somewhere upon
its face, and at some time, at heaven's own pleasure, she and I shall
meet again."
Brave and rugged Captain Strathmore! Was the spirit of prophecy upon
you when you muttered the cheering words?