THE RETURN OF THE VICTORIOUS KNIGHT-ERRANT
Felix was in the habit of doing what Louis asked him to do, and he
discharged one barrel of his revolver in the air; but he thought that
doing so was a piece of nonsense on the part of his friend which he
could not understand.
"What in the world is that for?" he asked.
"Fire it again, and in due time you will see what it is for," replied
Louis, as he discharged the second barrel of his weapon.
"I'll do that same as long as I have a ball in a barrel, if you say so,
my darling; but it looks like a waste of powder and lead," added Felix.
"Do you see the captain of the Golondrina just now, Felix?" asked Louis.
"I don't see him; but he was there on the bow not five minutes ago,
yelling as though he had a live lobster in his throat. He isn't doing
any yelling now."
"He is not, for I saw him go aft about the time we began to fire."
"I suppose he got tired of yelling."
"Not precisely that, but he got tired of our firing. I suppose he
was afraid a stray bullet might hit him in a soft place, either by
accident or design. I was going to hail him, and invite him to go aft;
but he has saved me the trouble by going without any invitation," Louis
explained.
"Then the shooting was not a waste of powder," added Felix.
"It was not. I doubt if we could have hit the captain if we had fired
at him for two hours, for the distance is too great for revolvers of
the calibre of ours, and the noise was just as good as bullets. I don't
want him to cut the tow-line if we can help it, though I would rather
he would chop it off than be compelled to shoot him."
"It would not be pleasant to go back to the Guardian-Mother with a dead
man standing on the forecastle."
"Or even lying on the deck. It might make trouble for us, though I
don't know why it should. But we are getting close to the New Mole
light, and I must go forward," added Louis. "You may remain here, Flix,
and if you see the captain of the Golondrina coming forward again, fire
out the rest of your barrels, and then load up again."
"I'll do that same. I'll take the fore mast for a mark, and fire at a
target."
"I am afraid you will hit him if you do that," suggested Louis.
"Do you think all the money you spent on my education as a shootist was
wasted? I believe I could hit the Rock of Gibraltar every time if I
was near enough to it," laughed Felix.
"I would trust you to do that."
"And I might hit the fore mast above the captain's head once in a
while, and it would make the thing seem a bit more real if he could
hear the noise of the ball as it flew through the air, or struck the
wood."
"Perhaps it would; but be sure and not hit the man," added Louis as he
moved forward.
Before he reached the pilot-house he heard another shot from his
crony's pistol. He looked into the engine-room on his way, where Felipe
wished him to explain what had happened on board; but he had no time
then to inform him. Francisco and Pedro were quiet enough, for their
fastenings prevented them from being otherwise.
"How goes it, Scott?" he asked when he came to the pilot-house.
"It goes first rate forward; but what is the matter aft, for I heard
you firing your revolvers?" inquired the pilot.
"Nothing is the matter; but I thought it best to let Captain Velazquez
know that we had fire-arms on board, and he was sensible enough to move
aft as soon as he heard the report of our pistols. For some time he had
been threatening to cut the tow-line, and I thought I would move him to
some other place on the checker-board if I could. He has saved me the
trouble of doing anything," Louis replied as he looked the prisoners
over.
"We have about finished the job, for we shall be alongside the
Guardian-Mother in a few minutes more," continued the pilot. "I have
sent Morris forward to get a heave-line ready."
"I will get one ready astern," added Louis, as he went aft again.
The lasso which had played so important a part in the capture of Gray
was in the cabin, where the noose had been removed from the neck of the
prisoner. Louis soon made a heave-line again of it, and attached it to
a fast he found at the stern.
"How do you find yourself, Captain Gray?" he asked of the prisoner on
the divan.
"I don't find myself in a very cheerful mood to go into port," replied
the Scotchman. "You have knocked me out at my own game, and I feel like
a whipped school-boy."
"I suppose you Scotchmen read the Scriptures diligently, and you have
found out that 'The way of the transgressor is hard.'"
"Yes, very hard," replied the prisoner with a profane expletive.
"Does your throat trouble you?"
"Not much, though it is still sore, and I have a bad cut on the hand."
"You ought to have considered these things before you committed an act
of piracy," suggested Louis.
"I have told you before that there is no piracy in it," added Gray, who
evidently did not like the sound of the word, and he interpolated some
very unnecessary expletives in his speech. "What are you going to do
with the schooner and those you have made prisoners?"
"I don't know; I intend to leave that matter to the commander of the
Guardian-Mother; but you will learn all about it in due time."
"I have no doubt of that. But you are the smartest lot of young
Dutchmen that I ever happened to come across. Are you all Dutchmen?"
asked Gray.
"Not one of us is a Dutchman."
"But you told me you were."
"I did not."
"I will swear that you did!" protested the Scotchman.
"I did not. When I told you my name was Belgrave, you said I must have
come from Belgravia; and I added that I came from Von Blonk Park, which
is quite true now as it was then."
"But where can Von Blonk be except in Holland?"
"It can be, and is, in the State of New Jersey, quite near to the city
of New York, in the United States of America," replied Louis, stating
the details very slowly so that the prisoner could understand them.
"That accounts for it!" exclaimed Gray. "You are Yankees, and you would
climb a greased rainbow, or the North Pole with the ice a foot thick
on it. If I had known you were Yankees, I should have put you on shore
in the Palmones River, for I should have known you would play off some
trick on us," said Gray, disgusted to the last degree with his present
situation.
"You played off a scabby trick upon our party, and I can assure you
that I am very happy to get even with you at your own game," replied
Louis, as he heard the speed bell jingle, indicating that the Salihé
was very near the New Mole.
"I suppose the commander of the Guardian-Mother, as you call her, is
also a Yankee," continued Gray.
"He is; and also from Von Blonk Park."
"Then his teeth are sharp enough to bite off a tenpenny nail. What do
you suppose he will do with us?"
"I have not the remotest idea; but he is a law-and-order man in the
highest meaning of the phrase; and he is not inclined to let the guilty
escape unpunished. You committed a piratical act upon us, and you may
be sure he will not wink at it. I had the idea at first of taking you
into the port of Algeciras and of handing you over to the police or
custom-house officers; but it was too much bother, and I was afraid
they would keep us there all night."
"I am very glad you did not."
The sound of the gong terminated the conversation, and Louis hastened
to the standing-room to be in readiness to heave the line on board
of the ship. But he found that the Guardian-Mother was still at some
distance from the little steamer.
"You can heave this line, Flix, when we get alongside," said he. "I
have had a talk with Gray, and he don't feel good at all."
"He has no right to feel good, the blackguard! He is not a bit
better than a pirate," replied Felix. "I have kept watch of Captain
Velazquizzer, and whenever he showed his head, I put a ball into the
foremast. He hasn't cut the tow-line yet."
"I see he has not; but stand by to heave the line," said Louis as he
went forward.
He found Morris stationed in the gangway within easy hail of the
pilot-house, and Scott stated that he had placed him there to notify
him if the Golondrina came too near the steamer as he slowed down.
"I am trying to get the headway out of the tow so that she shall not
foul our stern," said the pilot when Louis showed himself at the door.
"But you had better stay in the standing-room, Captain Belgrave, for
the captain may try to leap on board of us. If he chooses to use his
_cuchillo_, he can make a lot of mischief in a very short time. If
necessary, I will go aft and lasso him; for I don't think he can stand
that sort of thing any better than Gray did."
"He has kept out of sight since we began to fire revolvers in the air,
and as he knows that we have fire-arms, I don't believe he will give us
any trouble," answered Louis.
"But keep watch of him, though he seems to be afraid of powder and
ball," added Scott; and the leader went aft.
Diego was not to be seen as the steamer approached the stern of the
Guardian-Mother; and Louis could see that the taffrail was covered with
heads, and all the party on board, as well as the officers and seamen,
were watching the approach of the Salihé, for her appearance with a
vessel in tow had doubtless given them all a fit of wonderment.
"We have made an adventure out of this excursion, Flix, after all, as
Captain Ringgold insisted that we should, though he could not possibly
indicate what it might be," said Louis. "If you can keep Captain
Velazquez at a respectful distance, I will go on the hurricane deck and
hail the ship."
"He will not run his nose into any of the barrels of my revolver, you
may be sure of that."
By this time Scott had neutralized the headway of the schooner so that
the tow-line was taut, and the Salihé was moving at a snail's pace.
Louis ascended to the upper deck, which was nothing more than the roof
of the cabin, and hailed the Guardian-Mother.
"On board the Salihé!" responded Captain Ringgold; and his tones
indicated that he could hardly speak on account of a tendency he had to
indulge in a hearty laugh. "Have you captured a Spanish man-of-war?"
"No, sir; but we have taken in a gang of smugglers with their schooner;
and I will thank you to send half a dozen men on board to help us take
care of them," returned Louis.
"All right; I will do so," answered the commander, as the gong rang to
stop the little steamer.
Scott ran her very skilfully alongside the gangway, and by the time
she touched the platform Morris threw the heave-line attached to the
forward fast to the deck of the ship, and it was hauled on board. At
about the same moment the first officer, followed by ten seamen, leaped
over the rail of the Salihé.
"Go aft, Mr. Boulong, and look out for the captain of the schooner, who
is still on board of her. Flix is there, and he will tell you all about
it," called Louis, as the party from the ship came on board.
"Ay, ay, Mr. Belgrave!" replied Mr. Boulong, as he rushed forward
followed by all the sailors.
Captain Ringgold followed the seamen, and when he heard the voice of
Louis on the upper deck, he hastened to join him.
"What under the canopy have you been about this time, Louis?" asked the
commander, as he seized both the hands of the young knight-errant, as
he still insisted upon calling him. "But I am glad to see you safely
back, and I hope no one has got hurt."
Louis assured him that all were uninjured.