in the Hilo’s lifeboat? No? he thought to himself, that would have been
impossible. He could not have repaired it and made it seaworthy in
such a short time, and besides his disappearance had been discovered
immediately. Moreover, the search he and his men had made with the
airplane the following day would have quickly disclosed the presence of
any boat on the sea, and he remembered that the search had been very
thorough indeed. Not only this, but the search on the island itself had
been very complete. Finally he dismissed the thought by deciding that
Harrison had been drowned after all.
Having convinced himself on this point, he tried to reason out some
plausible explanation of the other incidents which were puzzling
him. His thoughts kept him so fully engrossed that he was completely
oblivious of his surroundings. The sudden exclamation of Mary brought
him back to actualities. He looked at her for a few moments before
replying, his temper mounting rapidly again.
“By God!” he said finally, “I’m going to find out what you were doing
and what it was all about.”
“Do you mean you are going to hurt me?” demanded Mary, with a show of
defiance.
“Suppose I decide to,” he said with a sneer, “who do you think would
stop me?”
“If you try to molest me, I shall call the Kanakas.”
“A lot of good they would do you!” he jeered. “You needn’t get alarmed,
though. I’m not going to hurt you. At any rate, not now.”
Then, as though to belie his words, he started over toward her, saying
as he went:
“What do you know about that man of mine, Harrison, who disappeared?”
As he spoke Levanter raised his hand and brought it down on Mary’s
shoulder. He had scarcely touched her when he uttered a cry of pain,
and then suddenly fell in a heap upon the ground.
Mary was completely staggered at the sudden turn of affairs. For
several moments she stood in stupified silence, looking at the pirate
who was writhing in agony where he lay. Finally collecting her wits,
she said:
“What’s the matter?”
“Good Lord!” he gasped, “I’ve been shot.”
“Shot!” exclaimed Mary incredulously. “Who could have shot you? I
didn’t hear anything.”
“I don’t know,” he replied weakly.
“Where are you hurt?” she asked.
“In my right leg. I think the bone is shattered.”
Suddenly a great light dawned on Mary. Surely it must have been Redmond
who had fired the shot. It was a long time since she had received the
welcome code letters over the wireless from the big government naval
radio station at Honolulu which told of his safe arrival there, and
she had been waiting anxiously day by day for his return. Many times
had she strolled expectantly to their old meeting place in the hope of
seeing him, only to be disappointed. Surely this must be Redmond now.
Who else could have fired the shot?
Almost instinctively she turned and looked over to the rock. Suddenly
her heart leaped with joy; there at the side of the boulder she could
clearly make out his head peering out from behind it. Unthinkingly she
motioned him to get back. Then realizing that her gesture might have
been observed by the pirate, she turned in alarm at her foolish action.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Fortunately for Mary Ingleton the pirate was in such intense pain he
had not observed the motion she had made when signalling Redmond to
get back behind the rock. She realized that if he became aware of
the latter’s presence on the island their chance of escape would be
very slim indeed, but she felt sure that Levanter was in far too much
pain at the present moment to ask questions about the bullet that had
wounded him. Having assured herself that for the moment everything was
safe, she bent toward the wounded man and said:
“I’m going over to get the Kanakas to come over and carry you into the
hut.”
He murmured his assent between groans.
Seizing the opportunity thus presented, Mary walked as far as the first
house between herself and Levanter, where she was in sight of the rock
behind which Redmond was hiding. She waved her arm until she saw his
head cautiously emerge from the rock. Then she gave him the signal to
remain there until she could come over.
Having assured that Redmond had understood her, Mary went over to
the shop where the Kanakas were at work. Having found the chief, she
explained to him what had happened, and in a few moments the whole gang
walked over with her to the place where Levanter was lying.
It took but a few moments to improvise a stretcher under Mary’s
direction, and the wounded man was carefully placed upon it by the
tribesmen. This completed, the Kanakas bandaged up the injured leg to
prevent further bleeding and carried Levanter over to the living hut
where they placed him on a bed.
As they entered the room Mary, who was following in the rear, happened
to cast a quick glance toward the rough table on which the pirate
generally did his planning. A familiar looking paper was lying on it.
A closer but quick glance showed here it was the chart of the island,
marked with the position of every mine which the pirate had sown around
the island. Making use of her opportunity, Mary hurriedly snatched it
and thrust it in the neck of her dress.
Immediately after Levanter had been laid upon the bed Mary went over
and asked him how he felt. He answered in a gruff manner. Then she said:
“I don’t know whether I should but if there is anything I can do for
you I will.”
“I don’t want anything,” he replied ungraciously.
“Well, then,” she added, “I am going out to see if I can see the
airplane and if so get them to come to you immediately.”
Without waiting any further she walked out of the hut. Once outside,
she looked quickly over the harbor and, convincing herself that there
was no sign of the pirate aircraft, hurried over to the rock were
Redmond was hiding.
She went straight behind the rock where she was completely out of sight
of the settlement along the beach. As she was behind its sheltering
form she turned toward the former airship officer and with all the
fervor in her voice she exclaimed:
“Oh! I’m so glad you are back, Mr. Redmond! I thought you would never
come.”
As she said this Mary uttered a deep sigh. In it were concentrated all
the mingled emotions that had been pent up within her. It brought to
her a sense of security and contentment such as she had not felt since
she came to the island and it removed the terrific strain on her nerves
which had almost resulted in a swoon.
For Redmond this was one of the epochal moments of his life. Through
his mind there rushed tumultuously a hundred thoughts in a pell-mell
fashion, but overshadowing all, there was the impelling desire to grasp
the girl before him in his arms and tell her how deeply he loved her.
For a few seconds there was a desperate struggle within him between
desire and wisdom, and throughout that time he remained tongue-tied.
It had been a most trying hour for him indeed. Ever since he had fired
the shot which wounded the pirate his mind had been preyed upon by
the thought that perhaps his hasty action had ruined all chances of
rescuing the girl whose existence he was convinced meant his future
happiness.
He shuffled uneasily and finally blurted out:
“I couldn’t get here before, Miss Mary.”
The spell at last broken, Redmond plunged into his narrative and told
his companion all that happened since the time he pushed off alone in
the dead of the night on his fateful trip in the frail lifeboat.
“We are in a pretty bad mess,” he concluded, “because I don’t know how
long it will be before the relief ship is able to get here, and it will
be impossible to get you off the island until it does get here. That’s
the reason why I am afraid that I made a mistake in shooting Levanter.
From here it looked as though he was going to strike you, and I just
lost my head and shot him.”
“Don’t worry about it,” said Mary with a soothing tone in her voice,
“perhaps it will all turn out for the best, after all. At least, let’s
hope so.”
She then told him what had happened and the reason for the scene which
had led up to the shooting. At that point she added:
“Oh! while I was in his room just now, I saw the chart he had with all
the places where he has put those dreadful mines. I picked it up. Do
you think it will be of any use to you?”
“Will it?” said Redmond with glee. “Why, that’s the best thing we could
possibly get hold of. I’ll give it to the captain of the ship that is
coming in place of the Farragut.”
Thus they talked for quite a while until Mary suddenly came back to
realities.
“The airplane will be back any time now,” she said. “What do you think
I had best do?”
Redmond thought a while before replying. It was indeed a serious
situation, and difficult to decide just what to do. There was no doubt
that both of them would have to be extremely careful, as the pirate’s
wound would have to be explained somehow. The crew would undoubtedly
suspect the presence of a stranger on the island. Having turned the
problem over in his mind thoroughly, Redmond finally said:
“At first I was going to suggest that you come along with me and take
a chance of escaping at the first opportunity, but as we don’t know
just when the next cruiser will get here, it would mean that we would
both have to hide on the island until it arrived, and that would be
suicidal. I hate to send you back there, Miss Mary, but I think it
would be best under the circumstances, and it might allay to their
suspicions. Besides, it will make the whole affair more of a mystery to
them. You will have to deny all knowledge of how the shooting occurred.”
“If you were to disappear at this time,” Redmond continued, “they would
begin to search the island. Maybe they will anyway. I’m going to be
as careful as I can. Much more so than I was before. I’m going to the
southern end of the island tonight and send out a call on the portable
wireless set I have there, in the hope of picking up whatever cruiser
is coming along to take the place of the Farragut. I’ll try to get back
to the rock here tomorrow if the conditions are right.”
Then after a short pause he added:
“I know it’s going to be very trying and very hard for you, Miss Mary,
but I think it’s the best thing to do under the circumstances. I’ll try
to keep within call of you in case of need. You know I’m armed now and
that makes a great difference to both of us.”
Mary listened very attentively to all he said. As soon as he had
finished she replied without any hesitation:
“I don’t mind it at all now that you are on the island again. Before
you came back I was really afraid at times. You see I was all alone
with these terrible men. Now I feel brave again. Don’t worry about
me. I’ll be able to take care of myself alright, but I really think I
should be going back now before the airplane comes in again.”
Before Mary got up to go they both glanced cautiously around the
sheltering rock to make sure that everything was clear. There was still
no sign of the outlaw aircraft in the harbor. For several seconds they
both looked at each other in silence, then Mary put out her hand and
Redmond grasped it.
“Au Revoir,” she said simply.
That was all. A moment later she was already walking resolutely toward
the harbor.
From behind the sheltering form of the rock he watched, his mind a prey
to a thousand fears over her safety and the disturbing thought that his
judgement in sending her back might eventually prove to have been wrong.
Mary walked steadily forward. Not once did she turn back, although
she was strongly tempted to. She was wondering whether Redmond was
staying at the rock, or whether he had already left for the other side
of the island. She was in high spirits. The gravity of the situation
confronting her did not impress itself upon her mind in any way.
Somehow, subconsciously, the conviction that everything would turn out
alright had settled upon her, removing all fears that had beset her
a short time ago. Her spirits were as buoyant now as they had been
depressed a few hours ago. The pendulum of life had swung to the side
of hope at last.
When she neared the beach she saw the airplane turn the headland on the
eastern side of the harbor as it moved along the surface of the sea.
She stopped abruptly, then watched a while, as it came slowly in toward
its mooring. As it got closer she commenced to walk slowly up and down
as though she had been doing nothing else at any time.
It was not long before the crew had secured the machine to its mooring
and made their way ashore. Johnston was in the lead, and Mary went
over toward him. The unusual greeting surprised the pirate’s chief
lieutenant, and he exclaimed:
“What’s the matter, Miss?”
“Levanter had an accident,” she replied. “That’s what I came to tell
you. His leg is hurt. He’s in the hut. He says he was shot, but I don’t
know what’s the matter.”
“Shot!” exclaimed Johnston incredulously. “Who could have shot him?”
“That’s what I can’t say,” answered Mary truthfully enough.
Johnston clearly showed his perplexity.
“That sounds dam’ funny to me--Oh! excuse me, Miss,” he blurted
apologetically, “but I can’t get that at all. Well, anyway, let’s go
over and see what’s happened.”
Mary went after him as he strode rapidly toward the hut where the
pirate was lying. He was already inside the room before she reached the
door. He went over to the cot and asked vigorously:
“What in ’ell’s happened?”
“I’ve been shot, Walter,” replied Levanter weakly.
“Who the devil could shoot you?”
“I don’t know. I was talking to Mary when it happened. I got it in the
leg.”
Without further ado Johnston bent over and examined the injured leg.
The Kanakas had been bathing the wound under the feeble instructions
Levanter had been able to give them.
By this time the rest of the crew had entered the room, and Mary was
standing by the door.
“Is there anything I can do?” she inquired.
“No,” replied Johnston gruffly.
He turned to the others and ordered them to get a piece of wood to
act as a splint to bind the pirate’s leg up. He then went over to the
emergency medicine chest and made a dressing for the wound.
All hands worked quickly, and it was not long before the injured leg
was bandaged up as well as could be done under the circumstances. There
was no doubt about the ease it brought Levanter. He expressed it in the
sigh that escaped his lips just before he fell into slumber.
After administrating his aid Johnston ordered the rest of the crew out
of the room, and went over to Mary.
“I want to talk to you, Miss,” he said as he led her out.
Outside the hut he continued:
“I’m a plain man, Miss, and I don’t stand for any monkey business--it’s
too risky in this job. Now tell me straight what happened.”
“Why I’ve told you all I can already,” said Mary. “There’s nothing else
I can tell you.”
“Well, he says he was talking to you when he was shot. Who shot him?”
“That’s the funniest part about it,” replied Mary. “I was talking to
him. He was very angry over something. He was talking to me when all of
a sudden he fell over. I didn’t hear a sound and I didn’t see any one.
Even the Kanakas were all inside the workshop. It may sound funny, but
honestly that’s the truth.”
“Well it’s dam’ funny to me,” he said with a perplexed air. “I can’t
understand it.”
“If it’s funny to you, just think how mysterious it was to me, because
I was standing with him,” she said.
A sudden thought entered Johnston’s mind. Looking straight at Mary, he
asked:
“Say was he trying to interfere with you?”
“Why do you ask that,” queried Mary in reply.
“Because I think you shot him,” replied Johnston menacingly.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Redmond stayed behind the rock, watching the trend of events closely
when the pirate crew came off the airplane and walked over to Mary. He
saw her engage in conversation with Johnston and watched them as they
hurried to the hut where they all lived.
Realizing that they would be inside for some considerable time and
that there was nothing further that he could do at present, he began
his journey across the island to the cove on the southern shore where
he had landed from the cruiser Farragut. He was anxious to get there
before darkness set in, as he was not sure that he could find the
hidden boat in the dark.
Instinctively he looked at his watch. It was already four thirty in
the afternoon, consequently he had no time to lose, as it would be
completely dark within an hour and a half. As soon as he was out of
sight from the pirate’s settlement, he quickened his step as fast as
the tropical growths about him would permit.
After a weary trudge he arrived at his destination, fortunately before
darkness set in. He readily located the hidden boat and took from
it the portable wireless set which had been included for emergency
purposes to communicate with the Farragut.
It was a very remarkable piece of apparatus, so efficiently constructed
that it could be carried in the hand and yet it had an effective range
of twenty-five miles in daylight. Its basic principle rested upon the
discovery successfully developed by Marconi and his assistants in
the year 1922, by which the electro-magnetic waves were concentrated
and reflected in one direction only, just as a beam of light is
concentrated and reflected in a narrow band of brilliance by a mirror
reflector.
Its portability was obtained by the fact that it radiated waves of only
a quarter of a meter in length. To get such radiation an alternating
current of 1,200,000,000 cycles per second had to be produced. This
terrifically high frequency was obtained from a wonderful development
of the vacuum tube--the Alladin’s lamp of radio--which had such an
efficient filament that it operated from a very small dry cell.
The reflecting medium consisted of a parabolic frame arranged around
the transmitter, on which were strung a number of wires which acted as
the reflecting antennae. Each of these wires was one wavelength long,
in other words--a quarter of a meter.
The apparatus which had been given to Redmond was designed for wireless
telephone transmission and reception. A small microphone and telephone
were included, both of which were arranged on a holder in such fashion
that when the ’phone was at the ear of the operator the microphone
naturally came before the mouth. A small push button in the center of
the handle switched the apparatus over from the transmitting to the
receiving condition and vice versa.
The set could either be operated upon the ground where the direction
of communication was known, or from the operator’s shoulder in other
cases. For the latter purpose a leather sling was attached to the
framework supporting the small aerials, by which it could be suspended
from the neck, thus leaving the hands of the operator free. This was a
very necessary provision because the telephone-microphone had to be in
one hand, and the reflector worked with the other when searching for
another station whose direction was unknown.
Since Redmond did not know the whereabouts of the cruiser, which he
hoped was on its way to replace the damaged Farragut, he picked up the
apparatus, slung it across his shoulder and walked down the shelving
rock which jutted out into the cove.
He took a position where he could command the entire southern, eastern
and western approaches to the island. Although he did not know over
what course the new cruiser would come, he had an idea that it would be
pretty close to that which the Farragut followed when it brought him
from Honolulu back to Patrocinio. With the aid of his pocket compass he
figured out the bearing of this course, then turning on the current to
the filament of his vacuum tube, commenced to call:
“Hello! Hello!”
For four weary hours he kept up the incessant calling, breaking it
only at intervals in order to listen for a possible reply. Not a sound
came to him from the black expanse beyond. By midnight he had given up
all idea of getting in touch with any government vessel. After all, he
thought, this was only the day after the Farragut had placed him ashore
and the possibility of any relief ship being in the neighborhood so
soon was very slight. He had gone there on the bare possibility that
one of the other cruisers which were patrolling in the vicinity might
have been intercepted and ordered to Patrocinio.
Having come to the conclusion that further calling was useless, Redmond
groped his way ashore in the darkness, placed his apparatus beneath
some foliage and lay down and slept.
The following morning he set up his radio in the lifeboat and made his
way to his cave. During his previous stay he had discovered a narrow
ledge inside just above his head. Further investigation now showed
that it would make an ideal couch and, moreover, a good place to lay
in hiding in the event that he was closely pressed in any search that
might be made.
After a brief rest during the noon-day heat he made his way cautiously
to the rock where he had always met Mary. He lay down alongside it and
watched, but though he stayed there practically until sundown, he did
not see a soul.
It was with very downcast heart that he made his way back to his crude
habitation. He was very worried about the safety of Mary more so
because of his inability to do anything that would help her. If he had
only caught a glimpse of her even without being able to speak to her,
his mind would have been much easier. As it was, he was a prey to all
kinds of grave doubts.
He decided earlier in the day that it was practically useless to go
back to the southern cove for at least three days, consequently he had
to make daily trips to the rendezvous instead, in order to keep as
close a watch over the pirate crew as possible and protect Mary, if
necessary.
The next day passed as had the preceding one, without a sight of Mary,
although on this day Redmond had seen the crew of the pirate craft
moving about at various tasks around the hut and upon the airplane.
Again with heavy heart, and weary mind and body he gave up his
monotonous vigil and went back to his cave.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
On the fourth day Redmond woke up uneasily. He was tortured by a mental
uneasiness such as oftentimes precedes events of great moment in life.
He had the feeling of impending disaster and a gloomy mood cast its
overshadowing mantle about him, penetrating not only his mind but also
his body until it seemed to sap all his strength.
He tried vainly to cast it from him, but his efforts were of no avail.
Sluggishly and almost sullenly he forced himself forward and made his
way to the meeting place. Once there, he threw himself down behind the
rock and almost automatically peered out as cautiously as ever upon the
beach below.
What he saw immediately dispelled the shadows of gloom and galvanized
him into alert attention. The entire piratical crew with Johnston in
the lead was walking down to the airplane. In the rear were some of the
Kanakas, carrying packages which he rightly guessed were supplies.
He quickly surmised that they were about to make a flight, and he
watched them with the keenest interest. It did not take long to
transfer the load the Kanakas had carried into the airplane, and within
a short time afterwards the machine taxied over the surface of the
water and took off into the air.
Redmond was well covered where he was, as the tropical vegetation was
quite thick about the rock. His previous stay upon the island had
proven that there was no prospect of his being seen from the air, even
when the machine flew low over the island, which it rarely did. On this
occasion it flew straight over sea, climbing rapidly as it went.
Shortly after the Kanakas had returned to the hut Redmond’s heart leapt
with joy, as he saw Mary emerge from the living house. She looked
around a few moments and began to walk toward the rock. Redmond could
scarcely restrain his impulsive desire to jump up and meet her. Only
the realization of the utter folly of such a move restrained him. As
she came within hearing distance, he called out:
“Good morning, Miss Mary! I’ve been very worried about you. You don’t
know how relieved I am.”
She quickly took her place near him, but still in full view of the
beach, pretending to be reading a book which she had purposely brought
with her.
“I am awfully glad to get here,” she said.
Redmond paused a few moments, wondering what to say, but finally
blurted out:
“I’ve been imagining all kinds of terrible things, Mary, and reviling
myself for having sent you back to that gang.”
Suddenly he stopped short and reddened deeply, as he realized that he
had called her familiarly for the first time in his life. She turned
toward him as he spoke and noticed his evident embarrassment. She
immediately divined the cause, but with true feminine wisdom passed it
by pretending not to have noticed it.