THE OYSTER BED
Little Inez Hawthorne was overrunning with delight at the prospect of
a romp on shore, after having been confined so long in the cramped
quarters of the schooner, and she was darting hither and thither,
eager to start upon her frolic.
"I say, captain," said Hyde Brazzier, bowing profoundly and with
great humility, "we be greatly surprised by what you tell us about
the pearls, and we are very much obliged for your kindness, which
the same is a great deal more than we expected; but it has set us
all topsy-turvy, as we may say. If it's all the same, we would like
to go and take a look at that same pearl-oyster bed, if it isn't
inconvenient."
The captain and mate both understood the meaning of this, for it
showed only too clearly how impatient the men were to commit the crime
which they had in mind. Still, there was no excuse for refusal, and
the officers were anxious enough to see the place for themselves. Each
had his revolver carefully shoved into his pocket, and each knew that
the six chambers were fully charged, when they sprang over the
vessel's side and started toward the northernmost part of the island.
The captain and mate led the way, for they were sure they were in no
personal danger so long as the oyster-bed remained undiscovered.
The fringe of coral trees was quite broad, but, as the little party
made their way through them, they could catch the gleam of the water
on each side, while the roar and boom of the breakers never ceased.
The sun seemed to linger in the horizon to their left, as if to guide
them in the search they were making.
As they advanced, all observed that the outer rim of this fringe was
very irregular, as if it had been broken up and changed by the action
of fierce tempests for many decades. This peculiarity, if such it may
be termed, left many places where the ocean was as calm as within the
atoll, and it was in one of these that the oyster-bed for which they
were searching was to be found.
Mate and captain advanced quite spiritedly for some distance, until
they were close to the northernmost portion, when they hesitated,
slackened their gait, looked to the right and left, conferred in low
tones, and then the captain suddenly exclaimed:
"This looks like the spot!"
The words were scarcely out of his mouth when the two men dashed down
the slight slope, ran a short distance, and then abruptly halted close
to the water's edge, at a point where the sea was locked in so that it
was only slightly disturbed by the ordinary swell. Close behind them
were Redvignez and Brazzier, while Pomp brought up the rear. The three
men exchanged only a word or two while following, and those were heard
by the leaders, because they were of no significance, but it is safe
to conclude they did a great deal of thinking.
The five grouped themselves along the water, standing side by side and
peering down into the depths before them. This perhaps averaged three
fathoms, and the water itself was as clear as crystal, without even
the tinge of green generally seen in the ocean. The bottom was quite
even and flat, resting upon a substratum of coral. The glinting rays
of the sun helped, so that a marble could have been distinguished many
fathoms down. And looking downward, the quintette saw the bottom
strewn with oysters of unusual size, lying so close together that in
many places they seemed to touch each other.
For a full minute the five stood motionless and speechless. It was
Pomp who was the first to recover his voice:
"My gracious! am dem 'isters full of pearls?"
"That can only be told by examination," was the quiet reply of Mr.
Storms.
"Dat's ruther deep to dive down, an' how 'bout sharks?"
The mate smiled.
"We thought of all that before we left home, Pomp."
"Well, what good did all de thinkin' do? Dat won't drive away de
shark, dat would as lief bite a man in two as to swaller a fish."
"If you and Redvig will return to the vessel and get that coat of mail
on deck, I will agree to go down there and take all the risks."
The three mutineers, as they may be called, exchanged glances, but
said nothing. The captain and mate noted this telegraphy of the eyes,
and they, too, were silent, but it was a little test which they had
determined upon before leaving the _Coral_, lying some distance away,
safely moored close inshore. Evidently the three could think of no
valid excuse, and Brazzier said, in a low voice, which was heard by
all:
"Go, men, and hurry back."
Pomp started off at once, Redvignez following close behind him. The
mate and captain saw they were speaking together; but, of course, it
could only be conjectured what they were talking about.
The three who remained behind were in an embarrassing situation, for
there could be no doubt that Brazzier, the leader in the plot, had had
his suspicions aroused by this little incident, and it was hard work
for him to conceal a certain uneasiness at the thought that he had
lost the confidence of the two officers of the _Coral_.
With a view of strengthening his position, Captain Bergen took out his
revolver, looked at it in an inquiring way, and then shoved it back
into his hip-pocket. Abe Storms did precisely the same thing,
excepting that he perhaps made a little more display about it.
Not one of the three as yet had spoken a word; but Brazzier, as if to
conceal his uneasiness, advanced to the edge of the water and peered
down into the crystal depths at the supposed wealth which lay
scattered over the bottom, awaiting the hour when some one should draw
it forth from the hiding-place it had occupied for so many years.
"If they've got pearls in 'em," observed Brazzier, "it'll make a good
haul for us."
"There is reason to think so," replied the captain, holding his peace,
for he began to suspect that too much deference had already been paid
to the crew.
Since Pomp and Redvignez were making good time, they soon reappeared,
bearing between them the coat of armor which Abe Storms had
constructed before leaving his New England home. This, it may be said,
was an invention peculiarly his own, containing some conveniences not
generally attributed to diving-bells or armor, and which, if they
withstood the test to which they were sure to be subjected, would be a
great step forward in the rapid improvements that have been made in
submarine armor during the last few years. A superficial examination
would not discover anything out of the usual order in the make of the
armor, with its bulging glass eyes and general resemblance to the
coats of mail such as were used by the crusaders and knights of the
middle ages. There were the two pipes, one of which went in at the
top of the helmet, as if the man were going to breathe through the crown
of his head, while the other was adjusted so as to come nearer the
front of the face. One of these was for the admission of fresh air, and
the other for the expulsion of that which was exhaled. Besides this,
there was the rope, fastened around the waist of the diver, to assist
him to the surface should a sudden necessity arise. But, without
going into any detailed description, we may say that the ingenious New
Englander had so constructed it that he required the assistance of no
second person at any portion of the work.
Storms immediately began adjusting the apparatus, the others standing
off and looking on, for he had declined their proffers of service.
The armor had never been tested, and the man might well pause, now
that he was going to stake his life upon the issue, as may be said.
But it was not that fact which caused the mate the most uneasiness,
for his confidence in his own invention was so strong that he would
not have hesitated a moment to trust himself in water of twice the
depth. Indeed, the pearls were so near at hand that a very ordinary
diver would have found no difficulty in bringing them up without the
help of any armor at all--the latter being required by other
considerations.
"Now, all I want done is to allow the two upper ends of the pipes to
be kept clear," said Storms, when he had adjusted the "harness" about
him. "I will do the breathing for myself, provided I am not interfered
with."
The two ends were secured among the coral in such a way that there was
no danger of their being drawn in by any action of the armor itself,
and then Storms, taking an immense sheath-knife in his hand, promptly
stepped off from the shore, and as promptly sank under water.
It was a singular sight the four companions whom he left behind saw,
when they approached to the edge of the water and looked over.
The mate, incased in his armor, looked like some huge, curiously-shaped
shellfish or monster, whose weight was such that he went as straight
down as an arrow, and, a few seconds later, was seen bent over and
moving about the bottom, loosening up the oysters.
This first venture of Storms' was more in the nature of an experiment
or preliminary reconnoissance. He wished to find how the land lay, as
the expression goes. If everything should prove to be in good shape,
he would venture down again, with a basket, and the real work of
gathering the pearl-oysters would begin.
As we have intimated, Abe Storms felt no misgivings concerning his
armor when he moved off from solid land and was submerged in the edge
of the Pacific, for he had constructed so many contrivances and
machines that he had learned to understand fully what they would do
before they were put to work. He carried the enormous sheath-knife in
his right hand, and when his feet lightly touched the shells on the
bottom, he began turning them over with the point of his knife. The
depth of the water being so moderate, he found no difficulty in
breathing, and indeed the conditions were such that whoever chose to
collect the oysters in this armor was not likely to experience the
slightest difficulty.
Down where he was at work the water seemed to be of a light-yellowish
tint, caused by the refraction of the sunlight as it made its way to
him. He noticed the mild glow, which, of course, would steadily
diminish as the sun went down, when all at once it was eclipsed so
suddenly by a dark shadow that he instantly suspected the true cause.
Looking upward, he saw an immense shark, certainly a dozen feet in
length, that had halted and was evidently surveying with some
curiosity this intruder upon his domains.
The man-eater being directly over the diver, was not in the best
position to use his fearful jaws with effect, but he was evidently
reconnoitering with a view to hostilities. Abe observed that this
shadowy figure was motionless, its fins slightly moving back and forth
as if it were using them like a balancing-pole, to maintain itself
motionless in position, and he marked the horridly-shaped mouth which
yawned over his head. Reaching upward with his long-bladed knife, he
touched it against the white belly of the monster, and then gave it a
strong push.
It was so keen and sharp that it entered deep into the yielding flesh
and inflicted a severe wound. Just then the gigantic man-eater
suspected he had committed a blunder, and with a lightning-like whirl
of his huge body, he dashed out to sea, leaving a crimson trail after
him.
Indeed, his charge was so sudden that the huge knife was wrenched from
the grasp of Abe Storms, and he was drawn forward off his balance.
Had it been in the open air, he would have been hurled to the ground
with great force. But he managed to recover himself, and caught a
shadowy glimpse of the great shark darting off, as the knife dropped
from the wound and sank to the bottom. Not wishing to lose the
valuable weapon, Storms walked forward, and seeing it lying on the
bottom, at a point which seemed to be the edge of the oyster-bed, he
stooped over and recovered it.
He had now been down a considerable while, and muttered:
"The captain promised to signal me if trouble came, and he hasn't done
so. But, for all that, I don't believe it will be safe for me to stay
down here much longer. I may as well----"
The sentence was never finished, for it received a startling
interruption. The rubber pipes by which he breathed were suddenly
closed, and Abe Storms knew it had been done purposely by some one
above.