IN PORT.
Vance continued to sleep as soundly as if he had been at home, and Ned
said enviously when Roy brought the coffee:
“I wish you an’ I were as well off as he. Until he wakes up it won’t
make any difference to him whether the wind blows a gale or fines down
into a calm.”
“Would you waken him for the coffee?”
“Not a bit of it; let the poor fellow sleep while he can. I only wish we
could join him.”
Wishing never did mend matters however, and Ned soon ceased such a very
unprofitable occupation.
The hot coffee was really refreshing, and after drinking two cups each,
the boys felt almost as if they had been taking a rest.
“It seems to me as if the wind was decreasing,” Ned said after a time,
and Roy replied:
“I am almost certain of it. I’ve noticed that the yacht rode easier
since we came so near being run down by the steamer.”
“And it seems to be hauling around again. If we have many more changes
the Zoe will have sailed in a circle before morning.”
“I reckon we shall have to take it as it comes,” Roy said grimly. “I am
more afraid of a calm than of an increase in the wind. It would be
terrible to be becalmed where we didn’t have the slightest idea of our
position.”
Ned made no reply.
According to his ideas there were plenty of disagreeable things close at
hand, without going into the future to find them.
Not until the clock had marked the hour of three, although it may have
been two or four, did Vance awaken, and then, whether the time-piece was
correct or not, he knew he had had more than his share of sleep.
“Say, why didn’t one of you fellows turn me out?” he asked as he came
toward the wheel. “Here I’ve been taking my ease as if I was a swell
passenger, while you two were on duty.”
“There was no reason why you shouldn’t have slept while it was
possible,” Roy replied. “There was nothing to be done, even if you had
remained awake, and now when one of us feels like taking a nap, you can
do your share of the steering.”
“How are we getting along?”
“Doing a heap of sailing, but it’s an open question whether we are
progressing very fast.”
“The storm seems to have cleared away.”
“Yes, we’ve got nothing but a fair sailing breeze now, and with the drag
of the screw I don’t fancy we are more than tossing about on the waves,”
Ned replied, and then he added to Roy; “Suppose you turn to and get
breakfast, old fellow? It’s pretty early, I know, but we shall feel the
better for something hot in the way of grub. Now that Vance is awake
there is nothing to prevent your staying below as long as may be
necessary.”
The amateur cook acted upon the suggestion at once, and half an hour
after he went into the kitchen the sun began to show himself above the
horizon.
“Now hunt around the cabin where the sailing master slept for an
almanac,” Ned said to Vance. “There must be one somewhere aboard.”
“What are you going to do with it? See what the weather prophets say
about the weather?”
“I want to find out what time the sun rises, so we can set this clock.”
Vance hurried away to obey this order, and in a few minutes returned
with the desired book, but it looked rather the worse for wear, owing to
its having been soaked well in salt water.
After some difficulty Ned succeeded in gaining the information required,
and to his surprise it was found that they had guessed within twenty
minutes of the true time, or as nearly as could be judged from the
coming of the day.
The hands of the clock were moved forward to where Ned thought they
belonged, and then he looked round the horizon, now that it was
sufficiently light to see surrounding objects, if indeed there were any.
At first glance it appeared as if they were alone upon the ocean.
Not a sail could be seen in either direction, and Vance announced that
there was no land in sight, when Ned exclaimed as he pointed about four
points to the southward of the course they were then heading:
“Look over there! What do you make that to be?”
Vance gazed earnestly in the direction indicated, and after a long
scrutiny replied in a careless tone:
“Nothing but a cloud.”
“It’s land! There’s no question about it. Call Roy, will you?”
“What’s that for?”
“We’ll see what he thinks about trying to make it. It is not in the
direction where we expected to see anything of the kind, but it strikes
me we should do our best to reach it, if for no other purpose than to
find out where we are.”
Roy was soon in the pilot-house, and after looking at what to an
inexperienced eye appeared nothing more than a cloud, as Vance had
suggested, he decided Ned was correct.
“What do you think of trying to make it?”
“Can you do so with this wind?”
“Yes, by trimmin’ the sails properly, an’ it seems as if we ought to be
able to do that.”
“Go ahead, then, so far as I’m concerned. If it is an island of any kind
we shan’t be worse off than we are now, and in case of its being
inhabited our troubles will be at an end, for most likely we can get
some one to take us to Key West.”
“You may keep on with your cooking. I reckon Vance and I can attend to
this matter,” Ned replied as he whirled the wheel around until the
steamer was headed for the apparent cloud.
Then, stationing Vance at the helm and directing him to keep her on that
course as near as possible, the amateur captain went on deck to trim the
sails.
This was not a difficult matter, and after some few experiments Ned
learned that there was very little difference between sailing a steamer
on the ocean and a small boat on the pond in Maine.
“She’s got a free wind now, and so long as that holds we won’t have any
trouble in keeping her headed as we want to go,” he said cheerily, for
the fact that the little craft behaved much as any other vessel raised
his spirits wonderfully.
“It will take us a month to get there, though,” Vance said ruefully.
“Nonsense! If the wind don’t die away entirely I reckon we shall be able
to see what that land looks like before the sun sets again. The screw
won’t drag so much now that she heels over considerably, an’ we’ll make
good headway.”
The weight of the breeze had forced the yacht over to an angle of
perhaps thirty degrees, and although it was rather more difficult to
keep her true to the course, she behaved very well.
Roy was preparing for a more sociable meal than had yet been served, as
was learned a few moments later when he came to the pilot-house to call
Vance.
“I’m going to bring the grub up here so we can eat together,” he said,
“therefore you must help me. After breakfast I’ll try and clean up
below, for if we reach port there’s no reason why we should look so
slovenly.”
“Something should be done with the treasure before any strangers come
aboard,” Vance added, thinking of the wealth in the cabin for almost the
first time since the previous night shut down upon them so forbiddingly.
“Where can we put it?”
“In the hold, well aft, an’ throw a lot of rope and canvas over it,” Ned
replied promptly. “No one will fancy we’ve got treasure aboard.”
This satisfied Vance, more particularly since his companions proposed
that he take full charge of the gold and silver, and ten minutes later a
most appetizing breakfast was spread on the wheel-house locker.
With the assistance of his companions in the way of passing him the
food, Ned was able to eat at the same time he performed his duties as
helmsman, and the spirits of the little crew revived wonderfully when
the meal had been concluded.
Ned was left alone while the other two went below, Roy to put things to
rights generally, and Vance to hide the treasure in anticipation of
visitors.
It seemed very much as if this particular breeze had come to stay until
the yacht should reach port.
It no longer shifted so often, but held steadily from the same point,
and with sufficient force to send the Zoe along at quite a respectable
rate of speed.
As might have been expected, the waves still ran very high, but the
little craft was showing herself to be a good sea-boat, even though
disabled, and each instant the apparent cloud took on more the semblance
of land.
Vance was the first to complete his work below, and he entered the
wheel-house shortly before noon, saying as he did so:
“I reckon the money is safe. I’ve hidden it where no one would ever
think of looking, unless they were certain we had something of the kind
on board. Say! but that land shows up now, don’t it?”
“There’s no longer any question about soon having all the assistance we
need,” Ned replied cheerily. “Anything as large as that, even if it is
only an island, must be inhabited.”
“I hope we shall be able to telegraph to father, for he must be worrying
about us by this time.”
“You won’t have any trouble on that score. Take the wheel awhile, and
I’ll see if I can’t trim the sails a little better. It looks to me as if
we might get more speed out of the yacht.”
Ned was correct in this belief, for after the canvas had been drawn in a
trifle more, it could readily be seen that she moved through the water
considerably faster, and the “bone in her teeth” was as large as one
could have desired.
The sea was rapidly subsiding. The little craft no longer flung the
water over her decks, but sent it swirling aft on either side in proper
fashion.
In the cabin, pantry, and kitchen Roy was doing wonders in the cleaning
line, and the Zoe was rapidly being gotten into shape for inspection.
“I’ll get dinner as soon as this is finished,” the amateur cook said
after Ned had praised him for the altered appearance of the craft. “If
you can spare Vance awhile it will help things along just so much.”
Once more Ned stood at the wheel alone; but the chances of reaching port
very soon seemed so good that he was perfectly willing to remain there
until it should be possible to come to an anchor.
The sun was yet above the horizon when, after a voyage which had been
made at the caprice of the wind and tides, the Zoe entered a roadstead
wherein were craft of every description.
“What city do you suppose this can be?” Roy asked in perplexity as the
three stood in the wheel-house, where they had been every moment since
the land could be distinctly seen.
It was a question which each member of the party had already asked half
a dozen times, and no one paid any particular attention to it.
It was sufficient for all that they had arrived at some place where an
engineer and sailing master could probably be hired.