A GLEAM OF LIGHT
A broad ray of sunshine came streaming into the hold and the four boys
gave a shout of joy at the sight. Bobby made for the ladder that led up
toward the hatchway, and the others followed close at his heels.
“What in thunder’s going on here? Stowaways, and four of them, or I’ll
be blowed!” exclaimed a hoarse voice, as the boys tumbled out on deck.
“How in the name of all that’s good did you fellows get into that hold?
Ain’t been stowing cargo, have you?”
The voice was that of the second mate, and his astonishment was
ludicrous to behold. Behind him were two or three seamen, who also
regarded the boys in open-mouthed wonder. They had been coming down to
make everything shipshape in the hold.
“We’re not stowaways,” said Bobby, indignantly. “We were shanghaied on
board this ship by a bunch of thugs. You can bet we’re not here because
we want to be!”
“Well, I guess you’d better tell that to the captain and see what he
says about it,” replied the second mate. “I’m thinkin’ he won’t be
particularly overjoyed to see you on board his vessel, but then he’ll
probably be able to find plenty for you to do. We’re short-handed.”
“What he wants us to do and what we do may be different things,”
retorted Fred, his quick temper getting the better of his diplomacy.
The sailors snickered, and the second mate glared at them and then at
Fred. No suitable retort occurring to him, however, he merely grunted
and strode forward until they reached the bridge.
“Here’s a flock of stowaways we found down in the forward hold, Mr.
Garrish,” he said. “They claim that they were shanghaied aboard. But, of
course, that’s what they all say.”
“It’s the truth in this case though,” said Bobby, flushing at this slur
on his honesty. “I wouldn’t say that, if it weren’t true.”
“How did you get aboard!” asked Captain Garrish, and then Bobby gave him
a brief account of how they had been attacked by the bullies and carried
out to the ship. The captain listened attentively, and seemed more
inclined to accept his account than had the second mate.
“If what you tell me is true, I suppose I can’t blame you for it,” he
said, eying them moodily. “But I certainly don’t need four passengers on
this trip.”
“We don’t have to be passengers, exactly,” answered Bobby. “We’ll help
earn our keep in one way or another. But wouldn’t it be possible for you
to put us on board some vessel bound back to the United States? That
would probably suit you better, and it certainly would us.”
“Well, well. I’ll do the best I can,” said the captain. “It was a lucky
thing you found those crates of canned goods in the hold. Probably,
though, you’d all relish a meal of hot food by this time. How about it?”
“We’re not the ones to say no to that,” admitted Bobby, and in a short
time the boys were seated about a table in the cabin and were enjoying
the first hot meal for four days. The cook on that vessel was not noted
for his skill, but the boys thought that never in their lives had they
tasted better food. They cleaned their plates more than once, and won
the whole-souled admiration of the mess boy who waited on them. The
latter was a negro, and prided himself on his own ability to consume
food, but he was forced to admit that the boys were his superiors.
“You white boys sho’ mus’ hold cards in de platter-polishers’ union,” he
declared, with a grin that seemed to split his ebony countenance from
ear to ear. “Doan ’member when Ah ever seen nobody relish dere food so
thorough as you does.”
“Maybe if you’d lived on cold canned tomatoes and corn for a few days,
you’d be able to work up an appetite, Mose,” remarked Billy.
“Ah doan nebber have to work up an appetite, nohow,” declared the darky,
with a grin. “Seems lak it done come natchel to me, somehow. But you
white boys is about two skips an’ a hop ahead o’ me.”
“We’ll slow down after we’ve had a few square meals,” said Bobby. “But
tell me, Mose, where is this ship bound for?”
“Fo’ de No’th Pole,” declared the darky solemnly, with a shake of his
woolly head.
“The North Pole!” echoed Billy, while the others sat agape. “Are you
trying to kid us, Mose?”
“Well, ef it ain’t de No’th Pole it’s some place dat ain’t fur from it,”
declared the negro. “Dis mawnin’ Ah heered de captain say dat we’d be
seein’ de No’the’n Lights pretty soon, an’ Ah reckons dem lights ain’t
fur from de No’th Pole, is dey?”
“Good-night!” exclaimed, Billy, in a comical tone of dismay. “This is
getting worse and worse. I was prepared to learn Chinese, but now it
seems we’re going to pay a visit to the Eskimos, and I haven’t got my
English-Eskimo dictionary with me. I must have left it lying around the
house when I left.”
“Eskimo!” exclaimed the darky. “Dat’s de name ob de feller de captain’s
got aboard wid him. Dat’s his name, sure enough.”
The boys looked at each other, and then Billy gave a laugh.
“That’s a new name on me,” he said. “I guess you mean he’s got _an_
Eskimo with him, don’t you!”
“Mebbe so. Ah ain’t quite shuah. But he’s a strange-lookin’ critter,
anyhow, and furdermo’, it’s a funny kind ob animal he brought aboard wid
him jest befo’ we pulled up de anchor,” said Mose.
“What kind of animal?” asked Bobby, quickly. “It wasn’t a walrus, was
it?”
“Ah cain’t say about dat,” said the other. “Doan know whut is de name ob
de outlandish critter. But jest de same Ah doan like his looks. Floppin’
aroun’ in a tank, wid big teeth an whiskers lak a cat. Ah dares to
goodness, it doan seem as dough de Lord could hab made sech a critter,
deed it don’t.”
But the boys paid little heed to the negro’s outraged sense of
propriety. Many ideas and questions flashed through their minds, and it
did not take them long to reach the same conclusion.
“I’ll bet any money it’s old Chief Takyak and his trained walrus!”
exclaimed Bobby, excitedly, and the others nodded their heads. “What in
the world do you suppose is the big idea?”
“It may be that Takyak’s given up the circus, just as he told us he’d
like to do, and is on his way home to the frozen North,” suggested
Mouser. “I don’t see where there’s anything about it to get you all
excited.”
“Yes, but if your memory is so good, perhaps you can recall that old
Takyak was hinting around about some kind of a treasure when we were
interrupted,” said Bobby. “Do you remember that after the circus we saw
him talking to a man who looked like a sea captain—Say!” he exclaimed,
as another idea struck him. “Haven’t any of you fellows any memory at
all?”
“What do you mean?” asked Billy, in an injured tone. “If I didn’t have a
better memory than you, I’d jump over the side and end my misery.”
But Bobby was too excited to take any notice of this remark.
“The man we saw talking to Takyak that day is Captain Garrish, the
master of this vessel!” he said, and sat back to allow this statement to
soak into the others.
Fred was just about to say something in reply, when the negro, who had
been out to the galley during this conversation, returned, and the boys
kept their own counsel for the rest of the meal. When it was finished
they went up on deck and picked out a quiet corner where they could talk
without being overheard.
“Bobby, I believe you’ve got the right idea,” said Fred, excitedly. “It
looks to me as though we were maybe embarked on a treasure hunt. Maybe
Hen Lemming and his gang did us a favor, after all.”
“It may be so. But still I’ve got to be shown,” said Mouser. “I still
think that you’re getting excited over nothing. Maybe Takyak was just
talking to the captain about taking passage home when we saw them
together on the circus grounds.”
“Huh!” exclaimed Fred, contemptuously. “I suppose you think the captains
of ocean-going ships go round drumming up passengers like the chauffeur
of a sightseeing bus, don’t you? Maybe you think that Takyak got him to
come to the circus to talk over the first cabin accommodations for
walruses!”
“Oh, lay off,” returned Mouser. “Maybe you’re right, but a fellow has a
right to his own opinion, hasn’t he?”
“Not when it’s such a foolish one,” said Fred, but Bobby interposed with
a laugh.
“Possibly Mouser’s right, and we’re wrong,” he said. “We haven’t much to
go on, that’s a fact. Let’s keep our suspicions to ourselves and keep
our eyes and ears open. Maybe we can find out something from Takyak
without letting him know what we’re driving at.”
This seemed about the only thing to do under the circumstances, but, as
it happened, they were enlightened even sooner than they had hoped.