THE MATE BECOMES CAPTAIN
"Poor Jack!" murmured Abe Storms, hastening after him. "I have been
fearing this very thing. He has taken the matter more to heart than I,
and there has been a look in his eye in the last few weeks which
showed he was not right; but I thought, when he found he was going
back to his home again, he would almost instantly regain his mental
equipoise.
"But it has operated the other way, and I shouldn't wonder if he is as
wild as a loon. When we get him away, dress him up, change his food,
and give him a sight of a Boston vessel, he will be sure to come
around; but, he has said too much already.
"I wonder what sort of a fellow that Fred Sanders is?" added Storms,
whose intellect seemed to be sharpened by the same cause which
overturned that of the captain. "I would be glad to trust him fully,
but somehow, I can't. While he is courteous and kind--and, no doubt,
means to carry us all to the inhabited island, where we shall be able
to take care of ourselves--there is something about him that awakens
distrust. The fact of his having been five years, as he says, in these
South Sea Islands, shows that all is not right, which is confirmed by
his dislike of saying anything about his earlier history.
"The best thing in his favor is his youth, and yet," continued Storms,
thoughtfully, "that, after all, may be the worst. It would seem that
he is too young to have done a great deal of evil; and yet, if he has
committed many transgressions, it is a woful record for such a lad. It
was too bad that the captain hinted that we have so much means, and he
wouldn't have done it had he been in his right mind; but it has
produced an effect upon Sanders, as I could see by the flash of his
eyes, and the apparently indifferent questions he asked afterwards.
"But we have saved our ammunition," muttered Storms, a minute later,
compressing his lips; "and I know how to use my revolver, and it is
only for a short time that I shall have to maintain watch."
While Abe Storms was talking to himself in this fashion, he had his
eye on the captain, who was walking slowly toward that portion of the
island where the pearls had been concealed so carefully, and there
could be no doubt of his errand. He did not hear the soft footstep
behind him, which was so regulated that it came up with him just as
the latter paused at the all-important spot.
The captain first looked out to sea, and then behind him, catching
sight, as he did so, of the smiling countenance of his mate--so far as
his countenance could be seen through the wealth of beard.
"Hello! What are you doing here?" asked the captain, in a voice which
showed some perplexity, if not displeasure.
"What are you doing here?" asked Storms, in turn, slapping him
familiarly on the shoulder. "I suppose we came upon the same errand,
as we are so soon to leave for home. The pearls are buried here, and
we must carry them away with us."
"How do you know that's what I came for, Abe?"
"I'm only saying I suspect it's your business. I know it's mine."
Captain Bergen was a little bewildered by the sharp manner in which
the good-natured mate caught him up, and, while he seemed to be
debating with himself what to say, Storms took his arm and led him a
short distance off, and, seating him on the beach, said:
"There's no hurry about the business, Jack, for we won't start until
to-morrow morning at daylight, so as to have as few nights on the
voyage as possible, and we had better decide on the proper course for
us to take."
"That is correct," replied the captain, assenting so quietly that his
friend hoped he would remain easily manageable.
"You remember, Jack, that when we buried the pearls there, we divided
them--your half is in a strong canvas bag, so packed that they won't
rub together, or make any noise; and mine are in another sack. The
single pearl which belongs to Inez is also carefully covered; and now
we must manage to get away with them, without letting Sanders know
they are in our possession."
"What do you want to do that for?" demanded the captain, turning
fiercely upon the mate. "I like that fellow. He's going to put me on a
ship and send me back to Boston; and any one who does that does me a
service worth more than all the pearls in the world. I am going to
give him all mine, and I hope Inez will do the same. I shall do my
best to persuade her, and if you don't, Abe, you and I are deadly
enemies, and I'll kill you the first chance!"
Storms showed his shrewdness by the manner in which he managed the
poor fellow.
"That's all right, Jack," he replied, assuming a look and expression
of anger, as he glared upon the lunatic, well aware that he must make
him afraid of him. "If it's any fun for you to talk in that style,
I'll let you do it once, but don't you try it again. Did I ever tell
you about those sixteen persons that I killed up in New Hampshire
before we started out with the _Coral?_"
"No!" gasped the captain, looking at him with awe.
"Well, I won't tell you now," said the mate, with the same frightful
earnestness, "for it would make you feel too bad. If they hadn't made
me mad, I wouldn't have killed them, and I'll let up on you if you do
not say anything of the kind again. If you do, I'll get mad, Jack."
"By the great horn spoon!" exclaimed the alarmed captain, "I'll let
the matter drop, if you will."
"All right," said the mate, relenting somewhat. "And, mind you, don't
you go to talking to Sanders about it. Don't you tell him another
thing, and never mention the word pearls."
"I won't--I won't!" was the meek rejoinder of poor Captain Bergen, who
had been completely cowed by the fierceness of his mate.
"I'm an awful man when my wrath is roused!" Abe Storms thought it best
to add; "and it was just rising to the boiling-point when you were
lucky enough to take back your foolish expression."
"What are we going to do now?" asked the captain, apparently anxious
to turn the current of conversation into a more agreeable channel.
"We'll go back and make ready to leave on the proa. We have
considerable to do before we depart. There are a number of things in
the cabin that we must carry with us."
"Yes, that's so; I forgot that. But, Abe--don't you get mad!--what
about them?"
"Just never you mind," replied the mate with an important wave of the
hand. "I'll attend to them."
"All right. I was afraid you would forget 'em!"
It pained Storms to tyrannize over his superior officer in this
fashion, but stern necessity compelled him to become the real captain.
The intention of the mate when he first followed his friend was to dig
up the pearls and give him his share, but he saw that that would never
do. It would precipitate a tragedy to allow the lunatic any option in
the matter. So, without any further reference to the pearls, the two
rose to their feet and walked slowly back in the direction of the
proa, talking on no particular subject, since the mate was desirous of
diverting the mind of the captain as much as possible.
The discoveries of the next few minutes did not serve to lighten the
apprehension of Storms, for when he reached the proa the two islanders
seemed to be enjoying a siesta, while neither Fred Sanders nor Inez
was in sight.
Suspecting what was wanted, one of the natives roused up and pointed
toward the sea, jabbering some odd words, which could not be
understood, but which Storms concluded were meant to indicate the
direction taken by the couple.
"That's almost the path to the spot where we were," he thought, as he
turned and walked away, holding the arm of the captain within his
own.
Sure enough, they had not gone far when they caught sight of Fred and
Inez sitting on the beach, just as if they were at some fashionable
seaside resort in summer time, and were chattering no particular sense
at all. Storms noticed that the place was such as to command a view of
that where he and the captain had held their conversation, and where
their precious possessions were buried.
"I wonder whether that was done on purpose?" he thought. "It may be he
meant nothing, but I fear he took Inez along merely to hide the fact
that he was playing the spy upon us."
It was not pleasant to believe this, and yet the suspicion was rooted
pretty firmly in the mind of the mate, who, perhaps, was becoming
over-suspicious.
"Ah, how are you?" asked Sanders, with a laugh, changing his lounging
to the sitting position. "I conducted Miss Inez over the proa, so as
to make her acquainted with the craft, as you may say, and since that
didn't take long, we thought we would try a little stroll down here,
where we could have a talk without those natives staring at us. How is
your friend?" asked the young man, suddenly lowering his voice to
such a sympathetic key that Storms felt guilty for the moment for ever
having suspected him capable of wrong.
"I'm a little uneasy about him," was the reply, as both glanced at the
captain, who sat down beside Inez and began talking to her, "for he
seems to have broken up all at once. He was such a strong man, just in
the prime of vigorous manhood, that it would hardly be supposed he
would give away so suddenly."
"I think he will soon recover, for the change will be so radical, and
the awakened hope so strong, that he will be sure to rally in the
course of a few days."
"I hope so," was the response, "but he must be watched very
carefully."