"I CANNOT TALK!"
"Father! Tell me that you are alive! That you are not dead!"
Such was the agonizing cry which issued from Dave's lips as he gazed
upon his parent.
Amos Fearless' face was like chalk, his eyes were set, and he
certainly looked as if the breath of life had gone from him forever.
The _Swallow_ was rolling and pitching so fearfully that for the time
being the young man could do but little.
Yet he raised a cry which quickly brought the cabin boy to his side.
"What's up?" asked the boy, and then, seeing the stilled form, he
continued: "Is he dead?"
"I--I hope not. But send Doctor Barrell here at once."
Doctor Barrell was one of the scientists attached to the expedition.
He was a learned man, and Dave felt certain that if anything could be
done for his parent, Doctor Barrell could do it.
The cabin boy went off with difficulty, and it was fully ten minutes
before he returned with the medical man.
In the meantime, Dave laid his parent on the floor.
By placing his ear to his parent's breast, he found that his father
still breathed faintly.
He was just pouring water over the sufferer's face when Doctor
Barrell came in.
"What is the trouble?" he asked. "Has he had a tumble? I do not
wonder; I have tumbled twice myself."
"No, he has been struck by lightning, doctor. Please do all you can
for him."
"Struck by lightning! In here? How?"
"The lightning entered on the electric-light wire and he got the full
force of the shock. I was partly stunned myself."
"I don't wonder. You can thank your stars that both of you are not
dead."
"But my father?"
Before replying to this query, Doctor Barrell proceeded to make a
thorough examination.
In the midst of this, Amos Fearless opened his eyes and stared around
him, feebly.
But he could not move his tongue.
"He will live," said the doctor, slowly. "But----"
"But what, sir?"
"He may not be able to--that is, he has had a very heavy shock."
"Yes, yes! But what will he not be able to do?" questioned Dave,
quickly.
"Perhaps I had better not answer that question just yet, David.
There is no use of alarming you," and the physician turned away to
prepare some medicines for the sufferer.
The night to follow was an anxious one to Dave.
Despite the storm, which did not let up for an instant, he remained
constantly by his parent's side.
It was daybreak before Amos Fearless was pronounced out of danger.
He still lay in a semi-dazed condition, but his heart-beats were
growing stronger every hour.
"In a few days he will probably be able to be around," said the
doctor, and then he turned away to hide his troubled looks from Dave.
The youth saw the action and was more worried than ever.
As soon as the storm had abated and something could be cooked, he had
a bowl of nourishment made for his father.
The sufferer swallowed a few spoonfuls, and that was all, and even
that little went down with difficulty.
"Do you feel better, father?" he asked, soothingly.
Slowly Amos Fearless nodded. His lips moved slightly, but no
intelligible sound came from them.
"Don't try to talk," went on the boy. "Take it easy and you will be
yourself in a few days."
Again Mr. Fearless nodded, and then fell back, to doze off again.
The next day he was strong enough to sit up. The storm was now over
and the _Swallow_ was proceeding on her way to the island at which
she was to stop.
"You are better now, surely," said Dave, speaking as cheerfully as he
could.
For answer, Amos Fearless pointed to his mouth and then made a motion
as if writing on paper.
A sudden horror seized Dave, causing a cold chill to run down his
backbone.
"What is it?" he cried. "Oh, father, can't you speak?"
Again the old diver made a motion as if writing, and Dave hurriedly
brought him a pencil and a writing pad.
Quickly Amos Fearless set down the following:
"My tongue is paralyzed and I cannot talk."
As Dave read the words, his very heart seemed to stop beating.
His father had become a mute!
The shock was an awful one.
He turned to the doctor, who had just come in.
"See what my father has written!" he cried. "Oh, doctor, cannot
something be done?"
"It is what I feared," replied Doctor Barrell, gravely. "I have
known of such cases before. I had such a case to treat in Richmond,
about six years ago."
"And the sufferer--does he talk now?" was Dave's eager question.
Doctor Barrell shook his head, slowly.
"I am sorry to say he does not, although in every other respect he is
a perfectly healthy man."
"But my father--cannot you give me some hope?"
"Let us hope for the best, David."
"You will do all you can for him?"
"To be sure I will."
The day was a perfect one, but Dave was utterly downcast and refused
to be comforted.
The thought that his parent might remain a mute forever almost
unnerved him.
"I'd rather lose the sunken treasure," he groaned to himself.
At nightfall the _Swallow_ came in sight of the island of San Murio,
and dropped anchor in a little bay surrounded by palms and other
tropical trees.
The scene was a beautiful one, and had Dave's mind been free from
care he would have enjoyed it thoroughly.
Amos Fearless was brought on deck and made comfortable in a steamer
chair.
He was gaining strength rapidly, and the doctor expected the old
diver to be around again in a week or ten days.
But he could not use his tongue for talking purposes, although he had
little trouble in swallowing food.
Early the next morning some of the sailors from the _Swallow_ were
sent ashore for water.
"I wouldn't mind going," said Dave, in reply to a question from
Captain Broadbeam. "But I hate to leave father."
Amos Fearless overheard this and at once wrote on a pad:
"Go, Dave, and have a good time. I'll be all right. This will be
your last chance to stretch your legs on shore for many weeks to
come."
So the young diver went ashore with the men, and while the sailors
filled their water casks, Dave and a young engineer of the ship,
named Bob Vilett, went off on a hunt, taking with them a shotgun and
a rifle.
They had heard that numerous wild goats lived upon the island of San
Murio, and thought to bag several of these by way of diversion.
"And who knows but what we'll bring down something larger, too!" said
Bob Vilett, who was in his way quite a sportsman.
The _Swallow_ was to remain at her anchorage until the next morning,
so the pair had the whole day before them. Dave carried a pouch full
of food, and Bob a good-sized water bottle, so that they were well
provided, even if they did not bring down anything worth eating.
"Take good care of yourselves," said Captain Broadbeam, on parting
with them. "Don't run into danger."
"We'll be careful," answered Dave, and off the pair set, never
dreaming of the strange adventure and the grave peril in store for
them.