WORTH AND QUORUM ARE MISSING.
As Sumner was anxious to reach Lignum Vitæ by the shortest possible
route, the _Transit_ was headed in through the channel between Lower
Metacumba and Long keys. Both tide and wind being with her, the
nimble-footed sharpie seemed to fly past the low reefs and sand-spits
on either side. Now she skimmed by the feeding-grounds of flocks of
gray pelicans, whose wise expressions and bald heads gave them the
appearance of groups of old men, and then passed an old sponge crawl,
or the worm-eaten hull of some ancient wreck, both of which were
covered with countless numbers of cormorants, gannets, and gulls.
Waiting, with outstretched necks and pinions half spread, until the
schooner was within a stone's-throw, these would fly with discordant
cries of anger, wheel in great circles, and return to the places from
which they had been driven the moment the threatened danger had passed.
Even after the sharpie was well inside the bay, and the island they
sought was in sight, they could not lay a direct course towards it on
account of a reef several miles in length that presented an effectual
barrier to anything larger than a canoe. But one narrow channel cut
through it, and this was away to the northward, close under a tiny
mangrove key. Towards this then they steered, with Sumner at the
tiller, for he was the only one on board familiar with the intricate
navigation of those waters.
"You are certain that you are right, Sumner?" inquired Lieutenant
Carey, anxiously, as they seemed about to drive headlong on the bar,
and an ominous wake of muddy water showed that they were dragging
bottom.
"Certain," answered the boy, quietly.
"All right, then; I've nothing to say."
Inch by inch the great centre-board rose in its trunk, and the slack of
its pennant was taken in, as the water rapidly shoaled. Now she dragged
so heavily that it seemed as though she were about to stop. Again the
lieutenant looked at Sumner, and then cast a significant glance at
the man stationed by the fore-sheet. But the boy never hesitated nor
betrayed the least nervousness. An instant later the tiller was jammed
hard over, there was a sharp order of "Trim in!" and, flying almost
into the teeth of the wind, the light vessel shot through an opening
so narrow that she scraped bottom on both sides, and in another moment
was dashing through deep water on the opposite side of the bar.
From here the run to Lignum Vitæ was a long and short leg beat, with
numerous shoals to be avoided. In spite of being kept busy with these,
Sumner found time to note and wonder at a great column of smoke that
rose from the island. What could Worth and Quorum be about? It looked
as though they had managed to set the forest on fire. Filled with an
uneasy apprehension, he jumped into a boat the moment the _Transit's_
anchor was dropped in the well-remembered cove, and sculled himself
ashore. To his amazement he heard the sound of many voices, and
discovered a dozen or so of men hard at work apparently cutting down
the forest and burning it.
As he stepped ashore, and looked in vain for the familiar figures
of his friends, a pleasant-faced young man advanced from where the
laborers were at work to meet him.
"Can you tell me, sir, what has become of a boy named Worth Manton and
an old colored man whom I left here the day before yesterday?" Sumner
inquired, anxiously.
"If you mean the two whom I found camped here, and helping themselves
to my provisions, I think I can," answered the young man, with a smile.
"They went over to Indian Key last evening on the boat that brought me
here yesterday. They were very anxious concerning the fate of a friend
who left them the evening before, and went over there on a raft, I
believe they said. Can it be that you are the person they are seeking?"
"Yes, sir, I am."
"Then you are Sumner Rankin, and I am very happy to meet you. My name
is Haines. I have bought this key, and am clearing it, preparatory
to having it planted with cocoanuts. The provisions and camp outfit
that appeared here so mysteriously to you and your companions belong
to me, and were left here by the mail-schooner on her way up the
reef. I expected to arrive, with my men, about the same time, but was
detained. I am very glad, however, that they came in time to relieve
your distress. I am also much obliged to you for affording them a
shelter from the rain, without which some of the things would have been
injured. Now will you pardon my curiosity if I ask how you happen to
arrive here in a schooner from that direction when your friends said
you had gone the other way, and were confident of finding you on Indian
Key?"
[Illustration: AS HE STEPPED ASHORE A PLEASANT-FACED YOUNG MAN ADVANCED
TO MEET HIM.]
When Sumner had given a brief outline of his recent adventure, Mr.
Haines said: "You certainly have had a most remarkable experience, and
I am glad your friends did not know of it, for young Manton was worried
enough about you as it was. However, you will soon rejoin them, and
when you have recovered your canoes, if you feel so inclined, I should
be pleased to have you return here as my guests for as long as you
choose to stay."
Sumner thanked him, and said he should be happy to stop there on his
return from the main-land. Then, begging to be excused, as he was
impatient to go in search of his comrades, he jumped into his boat and
returned to the _Transit_.
Lieutenant Carey was perfectly willing to proceed at once to Indian
Key, but the tide was still running flood, and the breeze, which was
each moment becoming lighter, was dead ahead for a run out through
the channel. Under the circumstances, it would be useless to lift the
anchor, and the impatient boy was forced to wait for the tide to turn.
When it finally began to run ebb, the breeze had died out so entirely
that there was not even the faintest ripple on the water, and another
season of waiting was unavoidable.
By the lieutenant's invitation Mr. Haines came off and dined with
them. He proved a most charming companion, and laughed heartily at
Sumner's description of the amazement with which he, Worth, and Quorum
had discovered the mysterious godsend of provisions. Mr. Haines
declared that it was one of the best jokes he had ever known; though
he was in doubt as to whether it was on him or on them. He appreciated
Sumner's impatience to be off, and when, late in the afternoon, a fair
breeze sprang up, he made haste to take his leave that their departure
might not be delayed.
It was nearly sunset when the _Transit_ approached Indian Key so
closely that objects the size of a man could be distinguished on
it. Sumner was again at the helm, and he tried not to neglect his
steering; but he could not keep his eyes from scanning anxiously every
discernible foot of its surface. To his great disappointment not a soul
appeared.
"They may be on the other side, keeping a lookout for passing vessels,"
suggested Lieutenant Carey.
Hoping that this might be the case, but still heavy-hearted and
anxious, Sumner went ashore, accompanied by the lieutenant. For an hour
they searched over every foot of the key, and through its deserted
buildings, shouting as they went, but their search was in vain.
Nothing was seen of the lost ones, nor had they left a trace to show
that they had ever been on the island.
"It's no use," said Sumner at length; "they evidently are not here,
and must have gone on in the boat that brought them when they failed
to find me. Now, I don't know of anything to do but to go out to the
light-house after the canoes, and then come back here and wait. If
Worth has gone on up the reef, he must pass here on his way back, while
if he has gone the other way, he will hear of me at Key West and come
back here again. I'm awfully sorry that I can't go with you to the
main-land, but I don't see how I possibly can under the circumstances."
Although the boy tried to speak cheerfully, and to take the brightest
possible view of the disappearance of his young comrade, he was filled
with anxiety, and it was with a heavy heart that he turned into his
berth on board the schooner _Transit_ that night.