me all the time. Levanter is very ill. He is quite feverish, and at
times has been a little delirious. He kept saying that the man Harrison
had betrayed him and that I had helped him to do it. The rest of them
couldn’t get any sense out of Levanter’s words but Johnston has become
very suspicious. He has been pestering me with questions all the time
he was not trying to get some sense out of Levanter. I’m sure that he
is really mad. Last night he threatened me and kept bullying me, trying
to find how Levanter was shot. At first he accused me of doing it but
he doesn’t any more. Last night he told me he was determined to find
out what was back of it all. He said he would go out in the airplane to
see if any of the government ships were ‘snooping around.’ Those were
the words he used. Really, I am afraid of him.”
Redmond thought long and deeply. He was convinced that the time for
action had arrived, but precipitate action might spoil all chance
of safety. What should he do? If only the other cruiser were here
they could both seize this opportunity and leave the island. He hated
himself at the present thought of sending the girl he loved back to the
pirate gang. The situation had already passed into the critical stage,
and there was no telling what might happen when the crew arrived.
Nor was there any doubt that the pirate crew would soon discover the
cruiser which must be heading toward the island by this time, now that
the pirates were in the air.
Suddenly he made up his mind. Turning to the girl beside him, he said
gravely:
“Mary, I’m not going to let you go back there.”
“But do you think that’s safe?” she inquired. “I’m not a bit afraid
as long as I know you are on the island, Mr. Redmond. They would come
after me surely, don’t you think, and you know your cruiser is not here
yet.”
“It’s a risk whatever we do,” he said, “and I prefer taking the risk
which I can control best. You know I’m armed now, and we could fight
them from cover if they came after us and located us. When they get
back this time, there’s no telling what they’ll do. That gang of
cut-throats would abandon Levanter readily enough if they figured it
was necessary to save their own skins. They are just as likely to fly
away tomorrow for good as not, and if they did they would probably take
you along with them. I hate to think of it and I’m not going to take
the chance. That man Johnston probably suspects that the government
authorities know the island he is on now. I feel sure that’s why he
went off in the airplane this morning.
“Do you really think it’s best then that I go with you?” asked Mary.
“Indeed I do,” replied Redmond, “and I think it best to get started
right away.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
It was late in the afternoon when Johnston, in a towering rage, brought
the airplane down upon the waters of the harbor. He was convinced now
that they had been betrayed in some way which he could not understand.
During the lengthy flight which had been made at a very high altitude
and which covered an enormous stretch of the Pacific, he had observed
the cruiser New Orleans headed apparently toward the island. He had
watched it carefully and noted that the course and speed of the ship
were far too fast and straight for patrol duty. Moreover, he was
confirmed in his suspicion that her present course would take her
straight to Patrocinio.
It was until late in the day that he had first seen the ship. The
flight had first been in an easterly direction. In the course of it
several steamers had been observed but no particular attention was
paid to them. The New Orleans, however, was traversing such an unusual
course that she was distinctly conspicuous.
As soon as the airplane had been made fast, Johnston ordered the crew
ashore.
“You guys had better stick around here. You’ve got to do some mighty
snappy work pretty soon, I’m telling you,” he exclaimed.
He strode over to the huts and rushed into Levanter’s room. Seeing that
the latter was awake and ignoring his condition, he asked roughly:
“Where’s that woman?”
Levanter was very weak with pain and very feverish. He turned wearily
on his pillow and replied:
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen her today.”
“You’ve got us in a hell of a mess!” exclaimed Johnston. “I told you it
was a damn fool trick to bring her here, but you would have your way.
Now look at us.”
“What’s the matter?” inquired Levanter.
“Matter, hell! I can tell you what’s the matter when you tell me who
shot you.”
“I don’t know that either.”
“That’s what you’ve told me. There’s something to be real worried
about. Looks as though we’ll have to make a quick getaway from here.
There’s one of them damn government boats coming right here, and take
it from me there’s someone on this blasted island besides us, and I’m
going to find out who it is right now, and what’s more, your little
lady friend is going along with me to find ’em. If I’m right and they
get gay with their guns, they can take a chance of hitting her too.”
Without waiting for any further reply from his chief, Johnston went
over to Mary’s room, grasped the knob and pushed the door open, crying
out as he did so:
“Hey! young lady, come out here, I want to talk to you.”
Getting no response, he walked in. A quick but thorough search
convinced him that she was not inside. He then went out and, getting
the crew together, ordered them to make a search for her and bring her
to him as quickly as they could find her.
They scattered about to different parts around the shore of the harbor
where Mary had been in the habit of going. While they were thus engaged
Johnston went into the workshop, grabbed hold of the chief Kanaka and
put him through a heavy fire of questions about the movements of Mary
while he had been away on his flight.
The questioning was fruitless, and Johnston finally gave it up in
disgust. He went out and waited for his men to return. It was getting
close to sundown, and that fact added to his anger, as he realized that
he could do nothing after dark.
After a while all of the men returned, each bringing the same report
they had found no trace of the girl. Johnston strode up and down for a
few moments, swearing viciously while the men stood meekly by. Finally
he turned to them and said:
“Fix up everything on the ship. We’ve got to get out of here in a hell
of a hurry, and I want to have everything right. Get me?”
They did his bidding without question. As he watched he tried to work
out some plan of escaping the unwelcome situation. The disappearance of
Mary did not perplex him at all. Although he had not expected it, the
fact that she wasn’t around confirmed the guess he had made during the
flight that some one else was on the island. Why he had come to that
conclusion, he did not know; but once it entered his mind, he accepted
it as the most logical means of explaining Levanter’s wound.
How many strangers there were on the island, and how they got there, he
did not even bother to speculate upon. He just naturally accepted the
belief that Harrison in some way or other had betrayed them.
As soon as the men had completed the work of putting fuel and
provisions aboard the airplane, he ordered them to place the most
valuable and most easily removable loot gathered from the three
airships shot down by the pirate in the airplane. This done, he said:
“Beat it, and get something to eat quick. When you’re through bring
your guns out with you. We may need ’em. You’ve got a bunch of work to
do tonight.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
No sooner had Redmond made up his mind to take Mary Ingleton with him
than they both set out for the other side of the island. It was the
first time she had been beyond the rock which had always been their
meeting place. When they came to the cave in the center of the island
they took a short rest, and Redmond showed her the place where he had
lived so long. They soon started out again, but the progress was very
slow, as Mary was not used to the rough going, and he had to assist her
quite frequently.
She was quite tired out by the time they reached the southern cove.
Redmond got some blankets, which were stowed away in the boat, and laid
them out, so that she could lie down and rest awhile. He then went out
and plucked some of the tropical fruit and brought it to her, as well
as a beaker full of water from the nearby stream. She took the food
gratefully, and, after eating, fell into a light sleep.
In the meantime Redmond brought out his portable wireless set and
carried it over to the rock where it would be in readiness for use
as soon as darkness set in. He also took out the spare gun he had
brought in the boat and laid it alongside Mary for her use in case of
emergency. His own gun he carried slung across his shoulder all the
time, and in addition had a revolver in the holster strapped to his
waist.
These preparations served to keep his mind away from the worrying
thoughts regarding the wisdom of his present move. Once the tasks were
completed, however, they came back to torture him. He sat down beside
Mary, slipped the rifle from his shoulder and let it drop between his
hands where it would be ready for instant use. With every sense keenly
alert, his ears were strained for any unusual sound that might come
from the part of the island they had just left.
Thus he watched and waited but nothing happened.
As the sun began to race toward the Western horizon he gently awoke the
sleeping girl beside him.
“It will be dark soon, Mary,” he said, “and we’ll have to be very
careful then. I’m going to start calling on the wireless as soon as the
sun goes down, and I want you to be on the watch for the gang while I
do it.”
Mary was fully refreshed from her sleep and was in buoyant spirits.
“It’s all awfully exciting,” she said, with a little laugh. “You would
scarcely believe it, but I feel really happy for the first time since
I have been on this wretched island.”
Redmond’s heart beat rapidly and he turned quick toward her. What did
those fateful words really mean? With difficulty he restrained his
impulse to grasp her within his arms and tell her of the love which he
felt for her. His calmer judgement intervened before he could execute
the dictates of his heart.
“I’m very glad,” was all he could say, and even that escaped his lips
in the most incoherent manner.
He then went over to the rock where he had left his portable radio
set. Taking it up over his shoulders, he began to send out the general
call which had been agreed upon when the Farragut’s crew had passed
him ashore, listening now and then for a possible reply. Carefully and
slowly he searched in every direction with the reflectors as he worked.
It was a monotonous task and one which required the utmost
concentration--a task to try the patience of even the most persistent
man. Redmond was made of the stuff that knows no defeat. He vigorously
quashed the desire which naturally sprang up within his mind to drop
his efforts because of their futility and applied himself still more
earnestly to the task before him.
For two hours he kept it up, his low toned, oft repeated, “Hello.
Check” the code call agreed upon becoming more and more wearisome as
the time passed on. Ever and anon he would pause and peer through the
darkness toward the dimly outlined figure of the girl who was keeping
watch over the northern approaches to the little cove.
She was sitting up alongside the rock, resting against it, but in such
position that he could clearly see her outlined figure. The night was
dark, in spite of the stars studding the heavens.
Thus passed the early part of the evening, and lapsed into the second
watch of the night when suddenly there came an abrupt halt in the
monotonous call of Redmond’s oft repeated, “Hello. Check.”
Rapidly he made a few delicate adjustments on the set about his
shoulders and, holding his mouth a little closer to the microphone in
his hand, said:
“Hello! What ship is that?”
This break in the monotony aroused Mary from the stupor which had been
enveloping her gradually, and she involuntarily straightened up, keenly
alert. Her first impulse was to inquire what had happened, but she
quickly suppressed it and waited patiently.
“Where are you now?” was the next question Redmond asked over his
’phone.
He had picked up the long expected relief ship and learned that it was
the “New Orleans,” and to his great joy had also been told that Captain
Moore of the “Farragut” was in command.
“Wait a moment and I’ll find out,” came the response from the operator
on the war-vessel.
Redmond took advantage of their brief respite to turn to Mary and tell
her the gladsome news. She was so excited that she made a few steps
toward him, but he cautioned her to remain and listen as attentively as
the wireless conversation would allow for any intruder.
A few seconds later the voice came back in the receivers upon his ears:
“The Captain says we are about fifty miles SSE of you right now.”
“Fine!” replied Redmond. “Tell him I have got a chart of the mine
positions around the island, and he can come up within eight miles of
the cove, but no closer. A small launch can be used for the landing.
Tell him I’ve got Miss Ingleton here at the cove, and it is imperative
that she be taken off tonight. The pirates are hunting us now.”
The operator acknowledged the message and after a pause came back on
his transmitter and said:
“Captain says he is putting on full steam and will have a boat there in
two hours from now.”
With a sigh of relief Redmond unstrapped the apparatus and laid it
carefully upon the rock, so that it was still pointing in the same
direction as it was when he had been conversing with the operator of
the “New Orleans.”
He then went over to the place where his companion was sitting.
“I’ve got some great news for you, Mary,” he said as he looked at
her intently in the darkness. While he could not see her features, he
could, by that inexplicable means which sometimes permits us to divine
another’s thoughts, tell what her feelings were. He continued before
she could speak.
“I hope you won’t mind my calling you Mary. I’ve just picked up the
other cruiser. It will be here in two hours, and they are going to take
you right off the island tonight.”
Mary’s heart was too full for words. The moment she had been praying
for and hoping for and looking forward to for months had at last
arrived. Soon she would be on her way back to her parents. The
possibility overwhelmed her and left her momentarily speechless.
Redmond misinterpreted her silence and blurted out:
“Really, Miss Mary, I’m sorry, but--er--”
His floundering brought her back to realities and she rapidly
intervened.
“Oh, dear, there’s nothing to apologize for. You are splendid. I don’t
know how I shall ever be able to thank you for all that you have done
for me. I’ve been waiting for this moment a long time, but it came so
suddenly that I did not know just what to say. Really I can’t believe
it even now. It all seems like a dream,--too good to be true.”
“Then you are not angry with me?” asked Redmond with relief.
“Of course not, Howard,--how could I be?” she replied with a
coquettish laugh.
It was the first time she had ever used his name and it electrified him.
“Mary,” he exclaimed impulsively and stopped abruptly.
She waited for a few moments, then said simply:
“Well, Howard?”
“I was just going to say that it will seem like a long time before the
boat gets here,” he replied lamely.
“Oh!” she ejaculated.
There was something in that simple sound which so clearly expressed
disappointment, that it aroused all the conflicting emotions he had
been prey to ever since he realized his love for her. Again he felt
those alternate doubts and hopes which confounded his otherwise
decisive nature and robbed him of the power to speak his mind
unhesitatingly. He was too afraid of a refusal, and rather than risk
it, he chose to remain quiet.
Mary intuitively had long since guessed his secret, and she fully
realized the cause of his embarrassment. Somehow the happiness she
experienced when the realization of her hope of escape from the pirate
came was not an altogether unalloyed feeling. There was a new and
strange element in it, and in her heart she knew what it was. For
several seconds both were lost in deep thought.
Mary finally broke the silence by asking him:
“What are you going to do when we get on the cruiser?”
“I’m coming back here,” he replied.
“But what for?” queried Mary in alarm.
“Well,” he said slowly, “I’m going to stick around ’till we’ve settled
with this outfit. Besides, the government people have asked me to do
it, and I can’t refuse them. Anyway I don’t want to be a quitter, and
it will be a great pleasure to see the finish of this gang.”
She did not reply. What he said however, instilled within her a fear
which she had never before experienced, a fear over another’s safety.
She wanted to urge him not to return to the island, but hesitation and
a certain delicate inhibition prevented her from doing that.
Neither spoke for the next half hour each being far too engrossed with
his own thoughts to indulge in conversation.
Redmond kept automatically sweeping the blackness of the night in all
directions seaward in continuous and trained observation. Suddenly he
exclaimed:
“I can see a light. It must be the cruiser.”
“Where?” she asked.
“Look straight along my finger and you will see it,” he replied,
holding out his arm and pointing his finger toward the faint pin-point
of light in the distance.
“Oh! yes, I see it,” she exclaimed joyfully. “Oh, dear! It’s just too
wonderful for words.”
Redmond got up. “I’m going to speak to him,” he said. He then walked
over to the place where he had left his wireless apparatus. He let it
lay open upon the rock, merely picking up the microphone and switching
on the current.
“Hello! ‘New Orleans,’” he called.
The answer came immediately, then he continued:
“We can see your lights now. When do you expect to send a boat?”
There was a short pause, and the operator came back:
“Captain says he will come to you in ten minutes and put out a launch
right away. He’s not going to take any chances of coming any closer
tonight.”
“All right,” responded Redmond. “We’ll be waiting for you. I’m going to
turn this off now.”
He then went back to his companion and told her the news.
“You might as well come over to the rock now, Mary, so we’ll be ready
when the boat gets here.”
She assented, and he assisted her over the difficult ground in the
darkness. Then they both sat down.
Fifteen minutes later they heard the smooth toned exhaust of the
power launch as it plowed its way through the water toward them, and
shortly afterwards they were both outlined vividly in the rays of the
searchlight which was suddenly thrown on by the oncoming boat.
“Thank God!” he said fervently. “You are safe at last, Mary.”
It did not take long for the launch to pull up alongside the rock.
The maneuvre was greatly assisted by the illuminating rays of the
searchlight. A couple of sailors held it fast to the rock by means of
boat-hooks, and an officer sprang ashore.
“Good evening,” he said, then added after bowing: “My name is Lockwood.”
“This is Miss Ingleton,” replied Redmond, who then introduced himself
and continued: “I think we had better push off right away, Lieutenant.
There’s no telling how soon that pirate gang will be after us.”
They both assisted Mary into the launch, and Lockwood gave the order to
let go. The words had scarcely left his mouth when a shot rang out from
the foliage fringing the cove.
“Douse that light,” yelled Lockwood as he rang the engine bell for full
speed ahead.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
The run to the cruiser was quickly made by the launch with no
casualties, despite the sudden appearance of the pirates at the cove.
“By George! That was a close shave,” exclaimed Lockwood. “If we’d been
a few minutes later some one would have been hurt for sure. They would
certainly have hit one of us with that searchlight on.”
As soon as they got aboard they went into Captain Moore’s cabin. The
captain greeted Mary effusively and congratulated her on her fortunate
rescue. Mary briefly acknowledged his solicitations and then asked
anxiously:
“How was my mother when you left Honolulu, Captain?”
Redmond was standing back of her, and he put up a warning finger to his
lips, which the captain fortunately saw in time.
“I am afraid, Miss Ingleton,” he replied cautiously, “that she is not
so well.”
While on the island she had often asked Redmond about her mother, but
he assured as best he could and always adroitly changed the subject
before she could question him further.
On this occasion Mary tried to press the captain for more details, but
he told her that he had not been given any direct information. He also
studiously refrained from mentioning anything about her father. Seeing
that she could get no further information, Mary asked disappointedly:
“How soon can we get back to Honolulu then, captain?”
“Really I can’t hold out any hope for you there either, Miss Ingleton.
I’ve just got a code message from the Navy Department in Washington
with instructions to wait here until further orders are received. I
had planned to take you back right away, but this order came in just
a few minutes ago, and I will be compelled to obey it. I don’t know
just what’s going to happen, but I am going to drop out of sight of the
island for the remainder of the night and come back after sun-up. We’ve
got a cabin all fixed for you, Miss Ingleton, and I hope you will find
everything all right. We shall do everything we possibly can to make
you comfortable.”
Mary felt keenly disappointed, but did not express it. After a short
conversation she retired to her room, tired out after the strenuous and
exciting day she had experienced. After she had gone Redmond said:
“I’m glad you didn’t say anything, Captain, that would have indicated
she had lost her mother. She’s been through a terrible ordeal, and I’m
afraid the shock of the news would be too much for her. We’ll have to
break it to her gradually after she has had a long rest.”
Then, changing the subject, he gave the captain an outline of what had
occurred since they had last seen each other.
“You say the pirate is in very bad condition,” remarked Captain Moore.
“Well, that changes the situation completely. It seems to me this would
be a good time to land and go after him.”
“Well, I don’t know,” replied Redmond. “I hadn’t thought of it.”
“By George! It looks to me like the right thing to do, especially as we
know just what the situation around the island is now that we have his
mine chart. I’ll advise Honolulu by code through wireless and see what
they have to say about it.”
Having made up his mind on this point, the captain worked out the
necessary code words and then sent the message in to the wireless
operator with instructions to dispatch it immediately. This done, he
turned to Redmond and said:
“The chances are that Honolulu will refer the matter to Washington
before replying to me, but if they happen to agree with me on the
advisability of landing now, would you be willing to go along and guide
the landing party?”
“Why of course, I would,” replied Redmond.
“Well, that’s fine. I don’t know whether that gang is still hanging
around this side of the island or not, but we can cover your landing
with our light guns. That will hold them back until you get ashore and
under cover.”
“I don’t think they’ll stick around here,” said Redmond. “They’re more
likely to go back and be ready to make a getaway in the airplane, take
a chance on landing somewhere without being seen, and then get back
to civilization without being caught. That’s the way I figure it out,
although, of course, you can’t tell just what they will do.”
Captain Moore called in his executive officer, and for the next hour
all three went over every possible detail in the event that a landing
would be decided upon. Redmond produced the rough chart of the island
he had drawn during his first stay on it, and he pointed out to the two
officers the more important aspects of its topography. They had just
about completed their preliminary plans when an orderly entered the
room with a message for Captain Moore. The latter took it, tore it open
and hurriedly scanned its contents.
“It’s in code!” he exclaimed. “Wait a moment ’till I decode it. It’s
the answer from Honolulu.”
The others waited almost breathlessly while the captain performed the
task of translation. This done, he turned to them and read:
“Concur in landing proposal. Important reinforcements will reach you at
daybreak.”
He paused for a moment, then continued:
“Well, we couldn’t wish for anything better than that. It looks like
the beginning of the end to me now.”
“I wonder what the reinforcements will be?” said Redmond.