diff options
| author | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-01-22 04:09:53 -0800 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-01-22 04:09:53 -0800 |
| commit | d82ceb9656a92221d37eea2116e0d4bec2061adb (patch) | |
| tree | eae33cef0d1ff22f453819669ce7fa2e575a2945 /old/67495-0.txt | |
| parent | 2c366054419c82ea2c6dbfa1e44c171de8818085 (diff) | |
Diffstat (limited to 'old/67495-0.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/67495-0.txt | 6645 |
1 files changed, 0 insertions, 6645 deletions
diff --git a/old/67495-0.txt b/old/67495-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 65695b1..0000000 --- a/old/67495-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6645 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of From Sea to Sea, by W. Bert Foster - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: From Sea to Sea - Or, Clint Webb’s Cruise on the Windjammer - -Author: W. Bert Foster - -Release Date: February 24, 2022 [eBook #67495] - -Language: English - -Produced by: D A Alexander, David E. Brown, and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was - produced from images generously made available by the - Library of Congress) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FROM SEA TO SEA *** - - -[Illustration: “YOU WANT US TO LOSE THIS RACE, YOU SAWNEY!” HE - EXCLAIMED. (From Sea to Sea) (Page 135)] - - - - - From Sea to Sea - - Or - - Clint Webb’s Cruise on the Windjammer - - By W. BERT FOSTER - - Author of - - The Frozen Ship; or, Clint Webb Among the Sealers. Swept Out to Sea; - or, Clint Webb Among the Whalers. The Ocean Express; or, Clint Webb - and the Sea Tramp. - - [Illustration] - - Chicago M. A. Donohue & Co. - - - - - Copyright 1914 M. A. Donohue & Company Chicago - - - - -CONTENTS - - - Chapter Page - - I--I Shield a Friend and Make an Enemy 7 - - II--I Relate My History and Stand Up to a Bully 15 - - III--The Bubble of My Conceit Is Pricked 27 - - IV--Captain Bowditch Crowds On Sail and There Is Much - Excitement 37 - - V--We See a Ship Sailing in the Sky 47 - - VI--The Gullwing Suffers a Ghostly Visitation 54 - - VII--Is Pictured a Race in Mid-Ocean 64 - - VIII--It Seems That a Prophecy Will Be Fulfilled 72 - - IX--I Pass Through Deep Waters 80 - - X--The Impossible Becomes the Possible 88 - - XI--I See That There Is Tragedy in This Ocean Race 96 - - XII--The Captain’s Dog Goes Overboard 103 - - XIII--I Learn a Deal About Sea Monsters in General and the - Giant Squid in Particular 110 - - XIV--A Signal Retards the Race 121 - - XV--We Have a Race in Good Earnest 131 - - XVI--I Return to the Gullwing--and With My Arms Full 138 - - XVII--We Learn the Particulars of the Wreck of the Galland 146 - - XVIII--I Become Better Acquainted with Phillis Duane 156 - - XIX--I Learn Something More About the Barney Twins 164 - - XX--Phillis Tells Me of Her Dream 172 - - XXI--The Sister Ships Once More Race Neck and Neck 179 - - XXII--The Capes of Virginia Are in Sight 189 - - XXIII--We Escape Death by the Breadth of a Hair 197 - - XXIV--The Tragedy of the Racing Ships Is Completed 203 - - XXV--A Very Serious Question Is Discussed 210 - - XXVI--Is Told How the Barney Boys Go Ashore 219 - - XXVII--I Receive a Telegram That Troubles Me 227 - - XXVIII--My Homecoming Proves To Be a Strange One Indeed 234 - - XXIX--Mr. Chester Downes and I Again “Lock Horns” 241 - - XXX--My Welcome Home Is a Real Welcome After All 249 - - - - -From Sea to Sea - -Or, - -Clint Webb’s Cruise on the Windjammer - - - - -CHAPTER I - -_In Which I Shield a Friend and Make an Enemy_ - - -The after port anchor had come inboard before I stepped over the rail -of the Gullwing, and leaped to the deck. The starboard and port bowers -were both catted and fished and the stay-fore-sail had filled to pay -off her head. - -The wind was blowing directly on shore; the current ran parallel -with the land; there was no choice of direction in getting the big -four-master under weigh, and she was headed into the stream. - -A clarion voice shouted from the poop: - -“Haul main-tack! - -“Come aft with that sheet! - -“Set jib and spanker! Look alive there! - -“Mr. Gates! see if you can’t get some action out of your watch!” - -“Aye, aye, sir!” from the mate. - -“Helm a-lee! hard a-lee!” - -“Hard a-lee she is!” growled the helmsman, a great, hairy, two-fisted -salt, with an enormous quid of tobacco in one cheek, a cast in his eye, -and his blue shirt so wide open at the throat that we could catch a -glimpse of a dashing looking mermaid, in blue and red, upon his chest. - -“Set fore-sail! Be alive, there, Mr. Barney. Those men of yours act as -stiff as Paddy’s father--and him nine days dead!” - -The stamping of the men on the deck as they hauled on the ropes, a -confusion of cries from those in the tops, the squeal of the cables -running over the drum, the coughing of the donkey-engine amidships by -which the huge anchors had been started from the bottom of Valpariso -roadstead, and the general bustle and running about, kept Thankful -Polk--who had followed me aboard the big, four-stick schooner--and I -right there by the rail, where we would be out of the way. Thankful -gave me a sly glance, as he whispered: - -“I reckon we’ve caught a Tartar in Cap’n Joe Bowditch--what?” - -But I had noted the lines about the skipper’s mouth and the wrinkles at -the corners of his quick, gray eyes. Those lines and wrinkles had not -been graved in the old sea-captain’s face by any long-standing grouch. -Captain Bowditch was a man who liked his joke; and even his voice as -he bawled orders from the quarter had a tang of good-nature to it that -was not to be mistaken. - -“I reckon we’ll get along all right with him, if we play the game -straight,” I observed to my chum, and turned then to wave my cap to -Cap’n Hi Rogers, of the whaling bark Scarboro, who was now being rowed -back to his own ship after leaving us to the tender mercies of Cap’n -Bowditch. - -“By hickey!” exclaimed the boy from Georgia, glancing now along the -deck, “ain’t she a monster? Looks a mile from the wheel to the break of -the fo’castle.” - -It was the largest sailing vessel I had ever been aboard of myself. The -Scarboro was a good sized bark, but as we crossed her stern we could -look down upon the whaler’s deck and wave our hats to the friendly crew -that had been so kind to us. Only a single scowling face was raised -to ours as the Gullwing swept on, a creamy wave breaking either side -of her sharp bow. This face belonged to my cousin, Paul Downes, who -scowled at me and shook his fist. But I merely smiled back at him. -I thought that--at length--I could afford to laugh at my cousin’s -threats. I was bound straight for home aboard the Gullwing; he had -eighteen months, or more, to serve aboard the whaling bark. - -Seeing that both the captain and the mates were too busy just then -to bother with us, Thank and I strolled forward. It was a long, long -deck--and the boards were as white as stone and water could make them. -There was some litter about just now, of course; but from the look of -the whole ship I made up my mind right then and there that if Captain -Bowditch was a martinet in anything, it was in the line of neatness -and order. The slush tub beside the galley door was freshly painted -and had a tight cover; there was no open swill bucket to gather flies; -the cook’s wiping towels had been boiled out and were now hung upon a -patent drying rack fastened to the house, and were as white and clean -as the wash of a New England housewife. Every bit of brightwork shone -and where paint was needed it had been newly put on with no niggard -hand. As the sails were broke out and spread to catch the light wind, -many of them were white-new, while those that were patched had been -overboard for a good sousing before being bent on again. Oh, the -Gullwing was a smart ship, with a smart skipper, and a smart crew; one -could appraise these facts with half an eye. - -“Makes you think you ought to have wiped your feet on the mat before -stepping in, eh?” chuckled Thank. “I bet we got to a place at last, -Sharp, where we’re bound to work. That old feller with the whiskers up -there could spot a fly-speck on the flying jib-boom. I wonder he don’t -have brass cuspidors setting ’round for the deck-watch!” - -Compared with the frowzy old vessels, captained and manned by -foreigners, that make American ports, this American ship, American -skippered, and American manned, was a lady’s parlor. “She’s a beauty,” -I said. “We may work for our pay--whatever it is to be--but thank’s be -’tis no sealing craft. The stench of the old Gypsey Girl will never be -out of my nostrils.” - -We stood about for a few minutes longer, trying to keep out of the way -of the busy crew; but one husky, red faced fellow came sliding down the -backstays and landed square on Thank’s head and shoulders, pitching him -to the deck. - -“Get out o’ the way, you two young sawneys!” growled this fellow. -“Don’t you know enough to keep out from under foot?” - -Thank had picked himself up quickly and turned with his usual -good-natured grin. It was hard for anybody to pick a quarrel with -Thankful Polk. - -“My law-dee, Mister” he exclaimed. “Is that the way you us’ally come -from aloft? Lucky I was right here to cushion ye, eh?” - -The red faced fellow, without a word, swung at him with his hard fist -doubled. I was a pretty sturdy fellow myself, with more weight than -my chum, and I saw no reason for letting him receive that blow when -interference was so easy. I stepped in and the bully crashed against -my shoulder, his blow never reaching Thank. Nor did he hurt me, -either. His collision with my shoulder threw him off his balance and -he sprawled upon the deck, striking his head hard. He rolled over and -blinked up at me for half a minute, too stunned to realize what had -happened to him. - -The encounter was seen by half a dozen of the men, but none of the -officers spied us. The spectators laughed as though they hugely enjoyed -the discomfiture of the bully. - -“Sarves ye right, Bob Promise,” muttered one of the A. B.s; “I bet ye -got more than ye bargained for in that youngster.” - -“Caught a Tartar, eh, Bob?” scoffed another man. - -The fellow on the deck “came to” then, and sprang up with every -apparent intention of attacking me. I had shielded my chum, but it was -plain that I had made an enemy. - -“I’ll teach ye, ye young swab!” Bob ejaculated, and started for me. - -But the others interfered. Several hustled the bully back. - -“None o’ that, Bob Promise!” exclaimed the first speaker. “We’ll have -the old man down here in a second.” - -“I’ll break that feller’s neck!” cried Bob. - -“I dunno whether ye will or not--in a stand up fight,” drawled another -of his shipmates. “He looks like he could take care of himself.” - -I had involuntarily fallen into an attitude of self-defense. That is -where I had the advantage of Thank; I knew something about boxing, and -although the bully was heavier and older than I, it was pretty certain -that he had no science. At any rate I wasn’t going to let him think I -was afraid of him. - -“You wait!” growled Bob Promise. “You stand up to me in the watch -below, and I’ll eat you alive.” - -I had an idea that if he did I should disagree with his stomach badly; -but I did not say this. I don’t think I am naturally a quarrelsome -fellow, if I am impulsive. Nor did I wish to get in bad with the -captain and officers of the ship by being mixed up in a fight. - -“Oh, pshaw!” I said, mildly. “I don’t want to fight you, Mister. Thank -didn’t intentionally get in your way, and I didn’t mean----” - -“You struck me, you white livered----” - -“I didn’t,” I denied. “You ran against me.” - -“Don’t you give me no back talk,” snarled the fellow, but looking out -watchfully for the officers now. - -“Don’t be mad,” I said, with a smile. “I’m sorry if I hurt you----” - -I guess that wasn’t a wise thing to say, although I did not mean to -heap fuel on the flames of his wrath. He gave me a black look as he -turned away, muttering: - -“Wait till I git you a-tween decks, my lad. I’ll do for you!” - -Thank and I looked at each other, and I guess my countenance expressed -all the chagrin I felt, for my chum did not smile, as usual. - -“You butted in for me, Sharp,” he said, gloomily, “and now that big -bruiser will beat you up, as sure as shooting.” - - - - -CHAPTER II - -_In Which I Relate My History and Stand Up to a Bully_ - - -A fine introduction to my readers! That is the way I look at it. It -does seem to me, looking back upon the last few years of my life, -that my impetuosity has forever been getting me into unpleasant -predicaments. Perhaps if I wasn’t such a husky fellow for my age, -and had not learned to use my fists to defend myself, I should not -have “butted in,” as Thankful Polk said, and so laid myself open to -a beating at the hands of Bob Promise, the bully of the Gullwing’s -fo’castle. - -A quarrel with my cousin, Paul Downes, on a certain September evening -more than a year and a half before, had resulted in a serious change in -my life and in a series of adventures which no sensible fellow could -ever have desired. For all those months I had been separated from my -home, and from my mother who was a widow and needed me, and at this -particular time when I had come aboard the Gullwing, my principal wish -and hope was to get back to my home, and that as quickly as possible. -That the reader may better understand my situation I must briefly -recount my history up to this hour. - -Something more than fifteen years previous my father, Dr. Webb, of -Bolderhead, Massachusetts, while fishing from a dory off shore was lost -overboard and his body was never recovered. This tragedy occurred three -weeks after the death of my maternal grandfather, Mr. Darringford, who -had objected to my mother’s marriage to Dr. Webb, and who had left his -large estate in trust for my mother and myself, but so tied up that we -could never benefit by a penny of it unless we separated from Dr. Webb, -or in case of my father’s death. Dr. Webb had never been a money-making -man--not even a successful man as the world looks upon success--and he -was in financial difficulties at the time of his fatal fishing trip. - -Considering these circumstances, ill-natured gossip said that Dr. Webb -had committed suicide. I was but two years old at the time and before I -had grown to the years of understanding, this story had been smothered -by time; I never should have heard the story I believe had it not been -for my cousin, Paul Downes. - -Mr. Chester Downes had married my mother’s older sister, and that -match had pleased Mr. Darringford little better than the marriage of -his younger daughter. But Aunt Alice had died previous to grandfather’s -own decease, so Mr. Downes and Paul had received but a very small part -of the Darringford estate. I know now that Chester Downes had attached -himself like a leech to my weak and easily influenced mother, and -had it not been for Lawyer Hounsditch, who was co-trustee with her, -my uncle would long since have completely controlled my own and my -mother’s property. - -Chester Downes and his son, who was only a few mouths older than -myself, had done their best to alienate my mother from me as I grew -older; but the quarrel between Paul and myself, mentioned above, had -brought matters to a crisis, and I believed that I had gotten the -Downeses out of the house for good and all. Fearing that Paul would try -to “get square” with me by harming my sloop, the Wavecrest, I slept -aboard that craft to guard her. At the beginning of the September gale -Paul sneaked out of the sloop in the night, nailed me into the cabin, -and cut her moorings. I was blown out to sea and was rescued by the -whaling bark, Scarboro, just beginning a three-years’ voyage to the -South Seas. - -I was enabled to send home letters by a mail-boat, but was forced to -remain with the Scarboro until she reached Buenos Ayres. The story -of an old boatsteerer, Tom Anderly by name, had revived in my mind -the mystery of my poor father’s disappearance. Tom had been one of -the crew of a coasting schooner which had rescued a man swimming in -the sea on a foggy day off Bolderhead Neck, at the time--as near as -I could figure--when my father was reported drowned. This man had -called himself Carver and had left the coasting vessel at New York -after having borrowed two dollars from Tom. Years afterward a letter -had reached Tom from this Carver, enclosing the borrowed money, and -postmarked Santiago, Chile. The details of the boatsteerer’s story made -me believe that the man Carver was Dr. Webb, who had deserted my mother -and myself for the obvious reason that, as long as he remained with us, -we could not benefit from grandfather’s estate. - -While ashore at Buenos Ayres I was accosted by a queer old Yankee named -Adoniram Tugg, master and owner of the schooner Sea Spell, but whose -principal business was the netting of wild animals for animal dealers. -He called me “Professor Vose,” not having seen my face, and explained -that my voice and build were exactly like a partner of his whom he -knew by that name. The character of this Professor Vose, as described -by Captain Tugg, as well as other details, led me to believe that he -was the same man whom the boatsteerer aboard the Scarboro had known as -Jim Carver, and the possibility of the man being my father took hold of -my imagination so strongly that I shipped on the Sea Spell for Tugg’s -headquarters, located some miles up a river emptying into the Straits -of Magellan. - -But when we reached the animal catcher’s headquarters we found -the shacks and cages destroyed and it was Tugg’s belief that his -partner--the mysterious man I had come so far to see--had been killed -by the natives. Making my way to Punta Arenas, to take a steamship for -home, feeling that my impulsiveness had delayed my return to my mother -unnecessarily, I fell in again with the Scarboro. - -To my surprise I found aboard of her, under the name of “Bodfish,” my -cousin, Paul Downes. Fearing punishment for cutting my sloop adrift, -when his crime became known, Paul had run away from home and had worked -his way as far as Buenos Ayres on a Bayne Line Steamship. There Captain -Rogers of the whaling bark had found him in a crimp’s place and had -bailed him out and taken him aboard the Scarboro. Paul didn’t like -his job, and demanded that I pay his fare home on the steamship, but -I believed that a few months’ experience with the whalers would do my -cousin no harm, and should have refused his demand even had I had money -enough for both our fares. The details of these adventures are related -in full in the first volume of this series, entitled, “Swept Out to -Sea; or, Clint Webb Among the Whalers.” - -Because I refused to aid Paul he threatened again to “get square,” and -he certainly made good his threat. I was to remain but two nights at -Punta Arenas and had already paid my passage as far as Buenos Ayres -on the Dundee Castle; but Paul got in with some men from the sealing -steamer, Gypsey Girl, and they shanghaied me aboard, together with a -lad from Georgia, Thankful Polk by name, who had tried to help me. Our -adventures with the sealers, and our finding of the whaleship Firebrand -frozen in the ice and deserted by her crew after her cargo of oil was -complete, is related in number two of the series, entitled, “The Frozen -Ship; or, Clint Webb Among the Sealers.” - -During those adventures I learned that Adoniram Tugg’s partner, -Professor Vose, escaped death at the hands of the Patagonians, had -joined forces with the animal catcher again, and in the Sea Spell they -likewise had sought and found the frozen ship and her valuable cargo. -Professor Vose boarded the abandoned ship and remained by her when the -Sea Spell lost most of her spars and top-hamper and Tugg was obliged to -beat into port to be refitted. Meanwhile, from the deck of the Gypsey -Girl, I saw the vast field of ice and bergs in which the Firebrand was -frozen break up in a gale; was horrified by the overwhelming of the -frozen ship, and had the evidence of my own eyes that, whether the -mysterious man in whom I was so greatly interested was merely Vose, -Jim Carver, or my own father, he had sunk with the Firebrand under the -avalanche of ice. - -Later the captain of the Gypsey Girl, a Russ named Sergius, and -Thankful Polk and I were lost from the sealing steamer and are picked -up by the Scarboro which was on her way to Valpariso to refit after the -gales she had suffered on the South Pacific whaling grounds. Captain -Rogers, knowing my exceeding anxiety to return home, got a chance for -Thank and I to work our passage on the Gullwing, which was just setting -sail from Valpariso as the Scarboro arrived at that port. - -And here we were on the deck of the handsome schooner, homeward -bound; but before I had been here half an hour, it seemed, my ill-luck -had followed me. I was enmeshed in a quarrel with the bully of the -fo’castle, and could look forward to suffering a most finished -trouncing when the sails were all set, the deck cleared, and the -captain’s watch was piped below. - -“I’ve got a good mind to give one of the mates warning,” muttered -Thank, in my ear, as the bully went grumbling away at some call to -duty by the dapper little second mate, whom I already judged to be Mr. -Barney. - -“Don’t you dare!” I admonished. “That’s no way to start. We’d have all -the men down on us, then. And we don’t know how many weeks we may have -to sail with them aboard of this windjammer.” - -When they began to clear up the litter made by the work of getting -under weigh, Thank and I saw where we could lend a hand, and we -did so. We learned, by talking with the men, that the Gullwing was -short-handed, and that is why Captain Bowditch, shrewd old Down East -skipper as he was, had so willingly given two rugged boys, with some -knowledge of seamanship, their passage home. Two men had deserted -at Honolulu, and another had to be taken ashore to the hospital at -Valpariso. - -The ship, we learned, was well found, and the men gave the officers a -good name. Most of the crew had been with her more than this one trip. -She was owned by the Baltimore firm of Barney, Blakesley & Knight, and -her run had been out from her home port, touching at Buenos Ayres, at -Valpariso and thence on to Honolulu and from there to Manila. On her -return voyage she made Honolulu again, Valpariso, and now hoped to not -drop her anchor until she reached the Virginia Capes. - -It was the captain’s watch that was short and we were turned -over to Mr. Barney, the smart young second mate. He was a natty, -five-foot-nothing man, whom, if he had voted once, that was as much as -he’d ever done! But the men jumped when he spoke to them, and he had a -blue eye that went right through you and Thank declared--made the links -of your vertebrae loosen. - -Meanwhile the Gullwing began to travel. Unless one has stood upon -the deck of a great sailing ship, and looked up into the sky full of -sails that spread above her, it is hard to realize how fast such a -craft can travel through the sea under a fair wind. Many a seaworthy -steamship would have been glad to make the speed that the Gullwing did -right then, with but a fairly cheerful breeze. She made a long tack -to seaward and then a short leg back, and in that time the Valpariso -roadstead was below the horizon and the outline of the Chilean coast -was but a faint, gray haze from the deck. - -We went below, leaving the mate’s watch to finish the job. “Now for -it,” I thought, for Bully Bob had kept his eye on me most of the -time, and he crowded down the stairs behind me when I entered the -well-lighted and clean fo’castle of the four-stick schooner. I expected -he might try to take me foul; for I knew what sort of fighters these -deep-sea ruffians were. As a whole the crew of the schooner seemed much -above the average; but I believed Bob Promise needed a good thrashing -and I wished with all my heart that I were able to give it to him. - -But if I could keep him off--make him fight with his fists alone--I -believed I at least might put up so good a fight that the other men -would interfere when they considered Bob had given me my lesson. I -hated the thought of being knocked down and stamped on, or kicked about -the fo’castle floor. I had seen two of the men fight aboard the Gypsey -Girl and a more brutal exhibition I never hope to witness. - -So I kept my eye on Bob, as he watched me, and drew off my coat and -tightened my belt the moment I got below. - -“Getting ready for that beating are you?” he demanded, with an evil -smile. - -“I hope you won’t insist,” I said. “But if I’ve got to take it, I -suppose I must. All I have to say, is, that I hope you other men will -see fair play.” - -“You can lay to that, younker,” declared the big fellow who had held -the wheel. He was an old man, but as powerful as a gorilla. “Give ’em -room, boys, and don’t interfere.” - -Scarcely had he spoken when the bully made for me. His intention was, -quite evidently, to catch me around the waist, pinion my arms, and -throw me. But I determined to be caught by no such wrestler’s trick. -The ship was sailing on an even keel and I was light of foot. Just -before the bully reached me I stepped aside and drove my right fist -with all my might into his neck as he passed me. - -Goodness! but he went down with a crash. Big as he was I had fairly -lifted him from his feet. The men roared with delight, and slapped -their thighs and each other’s backs. I could see that they were -going to enjoy this set-to if I lasted any length of time against my -antagonist. - -“Hold on!” I cried, before Bob Promise had managed to pick himself -up, and believing that my first blow had won me the sympathy of the -majority. “This man has all the advantage of weight and age over me. If -he’ll stand up and fight clean with his fists, I’ll do my best to meet -him. But I won’t stand for rough work, or clinches. He’ll best me in a -minute, wrestling.” - -“The boy speaks true,” declared the hairy man. “And I tell you what, -mates. It ain’t clear in my mind what the fight’s about, or who’s in -the wrong. But the lad shall have his way. If you try to grab him, or -use your feet, Bob, I’ll pull you off him with my own two hands and -break you in two! Mark that, now.” - -“Hurrah!” cried the irrepressible Thank. “Go to it, Sharp! I believe -you can win out.” - - - - -CHAPTER III - -_In Which the Bubble of My Conceit Is Pricked_ - - -Now this is no place to report the details of a fight of this -character. It is all well and good for a boy to learn to box; it is -one of the cleanest sports there is. It teaches one to be quick of -eye and foot, inculcates courage, gives even a naturally timid person -confidence, and aids wind and muscle. But the game should be played -only with soft gloves--never with bare fists. - -Maybe once or twice in the average boy’s life will he need the -knowledge gained in the gymnasium to save himself from a beating. I -think now I should have sidestepped this trouble with Bob Promise, and -could have done so with no loss of honor or self-respect. - -But as I saw how lubberly the fellow was, and how clumsy he was on his -feet, I was fired with the conceit that I had a chance to hold my own -in the contest. And so I did. - -I passed my watch to Thank and claimed two-minute rounds; he acted as -timekeeper while the gorilla man was referee. We fought altogether -five rounds, and during that time my antagonist only managed to reach -me half a dozen times, and only once did he knock me to the deck. - -I was pretty fresh at the end of this time, while Bob was blowing like -a porpoise, I had closed one of his eyes, and his face was bleeding -where my knuckles had cut him deeply. During the last round I noticed -that the men had kept mighty quiet, and as the big fellow stepped in -between us when Thank announced the end of the round, I saw Mr. Barney, -the second mate, standing behind me. - -“I reckon that’s enough, boys,” said the little second mate, -good-naturedly enough. “They’re not matched by the rules you are -following. This young fellow will soon have Bob groggy. The boy’s got -all the science and Bob has no show.” - -This was putting it in a light that vexed me. I had thought _I_ was the -one to earn sympathy, not the bully. - -“Why,” I complained, “he pitched on me for nothing. And he outweighs me -thirty pound.” - -“And you outweigh _me_ twenty pound, you young bantam, you!” laughed -the second mate. “Come! I’m a better match for you than Bob is.” - -I flushed pretty red at that, for although I saw Mr. Barney was a man -to respect, I did not think he handled his watch by the weight of his -muscle. - -“If you don’t think so, put up your hands again, and we’ll try a bout,” -said Mr. Barney, still laughing. “If you give me the kind of an eye Bob -has, I won’t chalk it up against you. The boys will tell you that if -there’s anything aboard the old Gullwing, it’s fair dealing.” - -“And that’s right for ye, Mr. Barney!” exclaimed the gorilla man. Then -he winked at me. “Hit him as hard as ye kin, boy!” he whispered. - -“Come on,” said the mate, buttoning his jacket tight and taking his -position. “You won’t have to fight the whole crew to get a standing.” - -I saw he meant it, and I knew by his smile that he was a fair-minded -man and wished me no harm. I secretly thought, too, that I was as good -as he was. - -“Time!” called Thank, rather shakily. - -The very next second something happened to me that I hadn’t expected. I -thought I could parry his first blow, at least; but it landed under my -jaw and every tooth in my head rattled. I leaped back and he followed -me up with a swiftness that made me blink. - -I parried several more swift blows and then hit out myself when I -thought I saw my chance. He just moved his head a trifle to one side -and my fist shot by. My whole weight went with it and I collided -against him. He only rocked a little on his feet, and as I dodged back -he struck me a blow on the chest that drove me half a dozen yards into -the arms of the spectators. - -“If I had placed that higher up--as I might--you would have been -asleep, my lad,” he said, coolly. “Don’t you believe it?” - -“I do, sir,” I said, panting. - -“I am just as much better than you, as you are than Bob,” he said, -laughing again. “He has no science and you have a little. But I have -more science and so we’re not fairly matched. And now, boys, that’s fun -enough for to-day,” and he turned on his heel and went up on deck. - -I tell you right now, I felt pretty foolish. But the men didn’t laugh. -The big man, whom I learned later was Tom Thornton, said: - -“He’s a smart little bit of a man, is Mr. Jim Barney. You might be -proud to be put out by him.” - -“Excuse me!” I returned, feeling to see if all my teeth were sound. -“No kicking mule has got anything on him when he hits you.” - -“And his brother Alf, on the Seamew, is a match for him,” said another -of the men. “There’s a pair of them--brothers and twins, and as much -alike as two peas in a pod. I mind the time they was looking for some -men down in a joint on Front Street, Baltimore, and a gang started in -to clean ’em up. Thought they was dudes trying to be rounders. The -Barney boys held off a dozen of them till the police came, and neither -of them even showed a scratch.” - -I pulled myself together and went over to Bob, who was swabbing his -face in a bucket of water. I held out my hand to him, and said: - -“The second mate was right. If we’d fought rough and tumble you could -have easily fixed me. But you’ve got lots of muscle and I bet that -second mate doesn’t sail without a set of gloves in his cabin. If he’ll -lend ’em to us I’ll teach you what little I know myself about boxing.” - -“That’s fair enough!” shouted Tom Thornton. “The boy’s all right.” - -“I’m game,” growled Bob, giving me his hand. “But I don’t like fresh -kids.” - -“That’s all right,” said I. “Mebbe I’ll get salted a little before the -voyage is over.” - -And so the affair ended in a laugh. But I guess I learned one lesson -that I was not likely to forget in a hurry. - -And both Thankful Polk and I had a whole lot to learn about this big -ship. Although my chum had been five years from home (leaving his -native village in the hills of Georgia when he was twelve) he had -learned little seamanship. Nowadays ships do not receive apprentices as -they used to in the palmy days of the American merchant marine, which -is a regrettable fact, for it was from the class of apprentices that -most of our best shipmasters came. - -A seaman--a real A. B.--must know every part of the ship he serves, -its rigging and whatnot, just as any other journeyman tradesman must -know his business. It is not necessary that an able seaman should be -a navigator; but every navigator should be an able seaman. Such a man -likewise should be something of a sailmaker, rigger and shipbuilder. In -these days when the work of a crew is so divided that men are stationed -at certain work in all weathers few men before the mast are all-round -seamen. And this is likewise regrettable. - -In the months I had spent upon the Scarboro I had learned much--and in -that I had the advantage of Thank. Captain Rogers and Mr. Robbins were -both thorough-going seamen, and when we were not chasing whales I had -been drilled by the mate, and by young Ben Gibson, the second officer, -in the ropes, the spars, the handling of gear, and taught to take my -trick at the wheel with the best man aboard. - -And I was thankful for all this now, for although the Gullwing was a -much larger ship, and differently rigged from the whaler, I could catch -hold now pretty well when an order was given. I knew, too, that men -like Captain Bowditch and Mr. Gates and Mr. Barney liked their hands to -be smart, and I was not afraid to tackle anything alow or aloft. - -The men told me, too, that “the old man” (which is a term given -the captain aboard ship not at all disrespectful in meaning) was a -terror for crowding on sail. Besides, there was a deeper reason for -Captain Bowditch wishing to put his ship through the seas and reaching -Baltimore just as soon as possible. - -“Ye see,” said old Tom Thornton, in the dog-watch that afternoon, “the -firm owns another ship like the Gullwing--the very spittin’ image of -it--the Seamew. They’re sister ships; built in the same dockyard, at -the same time, and by the very same plans. A knee, or a deck plank, -out o’ either one would fit exactly into the similar space in the -other--and vicy varsy. - -“They was put into commission the same month, and they make the same -v’yges, as usual. Cap’n Si Somes, of the Seamew is about the same -age as our skipper. They was raised together down east; they went to -sea together in their first ship. And they got their tickets at the -same time, since which they’ve always served in different ships, one -mounting a notch when the other did. Rivals, ye’d call them, but good -friends. - -“But they’re always and forever trying to best each other in a v’yge. -They races from the minute they cast off moorings at Baltimore to the -minute they’re towed inter their berths again. They crowd on sail, and -work their crews like kildee, and stow their cargoes, and unload the -same like they was racin’ against time. And now, this trip, they’ve got -a wager up,” and old Tom chuckled. - -“It was this here way: We battened down hatches the same morning the -Seamew did at Baltimore, and the tugs was a-swinging of us out. Cap’n -Si sung out from his poop: ‘Joe! I bet ye an apple I tie up here afore -you do when the v’yge is over.’ - -“‘I take ye,’ says our skipper, ‘pervidin’ it’s a Rhode Islan’ -Greenin’--I ain’t sunk my teeth into no other kind for forty year--it’s -the kind I got my first stomach-ache from eatin’ green, when I was a -kid.’ - -“And that settled it. The bet was on,” chuckled Tom. “And we fellers -for’ard have suffered for it, now I tell ye! The Seamew beat us to -Buenos Ayres by ten hours on the outward v’yge. We caught her up, -weathered the Horn and was unloading at Valpariso when the Seamew -arrived. But, by jinks! she beat us to Honolulu.” - -“How was that?” I asked. - -“Made a better passage. We got some top-hamper carried away in a -squall. To tell you the truth, Cap’n Joe carried on too much sail for -such a blow. But we weren’t long behind her at Manila, and my soul! how -Cap’n Joe did make those Chinks work unloadin’ an’ then stowin’ cargo -again when we started back. - -“The Seamew got away two days before we did. But we left Honolulu a few -hours ahead of her, and she has to touch at Guayaquil--up in Equidor. -As far as time and distance goes, however, both ships is about even. -We had to unload a lot of stuff back there at Valpariso, and load -again. Both are hopin’ not to touch nowheres till we git home. And it -wouldn’t surprise me none if we sighted the Seamew almost any day now, -unless she’s clawed too far off shore.” - -This good-natured competition between the two big ships had, I believe, -something to do with the smart way in which the crew of this one on -which I sailed went about their work. Jack Tar is supposed to be a -chronic grumbler; and surely the monotony of life at sea may get on the -nerves of the best man afloat; but I seldom heard any grumbling in the -fo’castle of the Gullwing. - -However, there was another rivalry connected with this voyage of the -sister ships--a much more serious matter--and, indeed, one that proved -tragic in the end, but of this I was yet to learn the particulars in -the eventful days that followed. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -_In Which Captain Bowditch Crowds On Sail and There Is Much Excitement_ - - -In writing a story of the sea--even a narrative of personal -experiences--it is difficult to give the reader a proper idea of the -daily life of the man before the mast. It naturally falls that the high -lights of adventure are accentuated while the shadows of monotony are -very faint indeed. But the sailor’s life is no sinecure. - -Saving on occasion the work on shipboard is not very hard. The -watch-and-watch system followed on all ships makes the work easy in -fair weather; and foul weather lasts but for short spells, save in -certain portions of the two hemispheres. - -“Eight bells! Rise and shine!” - -This order, shouted into the fo’castle at four o’clock in the morning, -roused Thankful Polk and I from our berths. No turning over for another -nap--or for even a wink of sleep--with that command ringing in one’s -ears. We tumbled out, got into our outer clothing, ran our fingers -through our hair (no chance for any fancy toilets at this hour) and -went on deck with the other members of the captain’s watch. - -There was plenty of light by which to chore around, and Mr. Barney’s -sharp voice kept us stirring until five when we lined up at the galley -door and each man got a tin of hot coffee--and good coffee it was too, -aboard the Gullwing. Then buckets and brooms was the order and the -ship began to be slopped and scrubbed from the bowsprit to the rudder -timbers. No housewife was ever half as thorough as we had to be to -satisfy Mr. Barney and the old man. Thank and I learned that Captain -Bowditch made a tour of the deck every morning after breakfast, and if -there had been any part of the work skimped he would call up the watch -and have the whole job done over again. - -“But that don’t happen more’n once on a v’yage,” chuckled Tom Thornton, -working beside us. “The feller that skips any part of the work he’s set -to do on this here packet, gets to be mighty onpopular with his mates.” - -Thus warned, we two boys were very careful with our share of the -scrubbing--and likewise the coiling down of ropes which followed. I can -assure the reader that, when we were through, everything in sight was -as spick and span as it could be--every stain was holystoned from the -deck, the white paint glistened, and the brasswork shone. - -At seven-thirty the watch below was given breakfast and at four -bells--eight o’clock--we were relieved and went below to our own -breakfast; and that was not a bad meal aboard the Gullwing. There are -no fancy dishes tacked onto Jack Tar’s bill of fare--nor does he expect -it; but on this ship food was served with some regard to decency. - -On the Gypsey Girl “souse” was served in a bucket, set down in the -middle of the long fo’castle table, and every man scooped his cup into -the mess, broke in his hardtack, and inhaled it a good deal after the -style of a pig at a trough. But for breakfast on this ship there was -more good coffee, tack that was not mouldy and scraps of meat and -potatoes fried together--a hearty, satisfying meal. - -Each man washed and put away his own cup, plate and knife and fork. -Some used their gulleys, or sheath-knives; but Thank and I had brought -aboard proper table tools in our dunnage bags. After the breakfast -was cleared away, and the fo’castle itself tidied up, the watch below -busied itself in mending, sock darning, and such like odd jobs. A -sailor has got to be his own tailor, seamstress and housewife; and -even such a horny-handed and tar-fingered giant as Tom Thornton was -mighty handy with his needle and “sailor’s palm.” - -Some of the men shaved at this time, one cut another’s hair and trimmed -his beard. The crew of the Gullwing respected themselves; the deck of -the fo’castle was kept as well scrubbed as the deck above. Nobody came -to the table without having scrubbed his face and hands clean; nor was -the men’s clothing foul with tar or the grease of the running gear. -They may all have been “sword-swallowers” when it came to “stowing -their cargo ’tween hatches,” but cleanliness was the order, and the -ordinary decencies of life were not ignored. These men may not have -been particularly strong on etiquette, and were not “parlor broke,” -as the saying is; but they were neat, accommodating, cheerful, and if -they skylarked some, it was fun of a good-natured kind and was not -objectionable. - -I liked old Tom Thornton, for despite the cast in his eye, and his -gorilla-like appearance, he was good hearted. He was just about -covered with tattooing, I reckon. As he said, if he’d wanted to take -any more indigo into his system he’d have to swallow it! Most of the -work had been done on him by a South Sea Islander who had sailed in -whaling ships and the like and made a little “on the side” by tattooing -pictures on foolish sailors. - -“’Taint done now, no more,” old Tom said, shaking his head. “But when -I was a youngster it was the fashion. Poor Jack can’t afford to buy -picters and have a family portrait gallery, or the like. But he used to -be strong for art,” and the old man grinned. - -“I was wrecked with this here nigger-man I tell you about. About all he -saved from the wreck was his colors and bone needles, and the patterns -he outlined his figgers from. We was held prisoner on that blamed reef, -living on stuff from the wreck, for three months. There wasn’t nothing -else to do. His tattooing me kept him from going crazy, and the smart -of the thing kept me alive. So there you have it--tit for tat! He never -charged me nothing for his work, neither, and I allus was a great lad -for gittin’ a good deal for my money.” - -Tom’s legs were mural paintings of serpents and sea monsters. He had -anklets and bracelets worked in red and blue. On his back was a picture -of three gallows with a man hanging in chains from the middle one. I -believe that it was the ignorant South Sea native’s idea of the story -of Calvary, for there was the typical cross and crown worked above -it at the back of Tom’s neck. The mermaid on Tom’s chest could have -won a job as fat woman with a traveling circus; but then, Tom had an -enormous chest which had given the tattooer plenty of space to work on. -Around his waist was tattooed a belt like a lattice-work fence. When he -stripped to “sluice down,” as he called his daily bath, he looked as -gay as a billboard. - -At ten o’clock (six bells) of the forenoon watch most of the watch -below turned in for a nap, and at half past eleven we answered the -call to dinner. At noon we were on duty again until four o’clock. In -pleasant weather this afternoon watch is a mighty easy one. Besides the -man at the wheel and the two on lookout, the others haven’t much to do -but tell stories, play checkers, or read. As long as everything was -neat and shipshape the old man did not hound us to work at odd jobs as -some masters do. - -From four to eight p. m. the time is divided into two dog-watches, -although the second half of that spell is the actual dog-watch. “Dog” -is a corruption of “dodge,” the object of this division being to make -an even number of watches to the twenty-four hours so that there -will be a daily changing or shifting, thus dodging the routine. For -example, the watch that goes below one day at noon will the next day -come on deck at that hour. - -At five-thirty our watch had supper and at six we took the deck once -more until eight o’clock. Then we could sleep until midnight and from -thence had the watch until four in the morning. It is a monotonous -round--especially in fair weather. We were like to welcome a bit of a -blow now and then, although the Gullwing was such a big ship, and her -crew was so small, that all hands had to turn out to shorten or make -sail. On some ships this fact would have made the crew ugly but these -boys had even a good word for the cook or “doctor,” and usually Jack -looks upon that functionary as his natural enemy. - -But during those first few days of the run down the coast of Chile it -was seldom that we were called on to shorten sail. Captain Bowditch -was living up to his reputation; the Gullwing foamed along through the -short green seas with every sail she would bear spread to the favoring -gale. With her four whole sails on the lower spars and all her jibs -set, she spread a vast amount of canvas to the wind. And the only -changes we made were in her topsails. Those the skipper kept spread -every moment that he dared; and it took a pretty strong gust to make -him give the order to reef down. - -When he left the deck himself, either day or night, he instructed his -mates to call him before they took in an inch of cloth. And Mr. Gates -and Mr. Barney were just as hungry for speed, as the old man. The -Gullwing was heavily laden, but there was probably few stiffer vessels -at sea that day than she. With plenty of ballast there was no gale or -no sea that could capsize her. - -She took cheerfully all the wind and all the sea could give her. A -little loose water flopping around her deck didn’t trouble Captain -Bowditch. “Tarpaulin her hatches, clamp ’em down, and let her roll!” -had been his order when we had got well away from our anchorage at -Valpariso. We had good weather, however, as I have said, for some days. - -Then suddenly, one afternoon in the first dog-watch, it came on to -blow. Carefully as the captain watched the glass, I do not think this -squall was foretold. A more cautious navigator might have been better -prepared for a squall. He wouldn’t have had his topsails spread in -any such gale as had been blowing. And when all hands were called to -go aloft, the wind shrieked down upon us and the foretopsail and two -staysails were blown clean out of the boltropes before the men could -get at them. - -“What are ye about, ye sawneys!” yelled Captain Bowditch, dancing up -and down on the deck and shaking his fists at the men above. “Save -my sails for me! Think I’m _made_ o’ sailcloth? And them right new -fixin’s, too! Git busy there!” - -Oh, we were busy! I had been sent aloft and so had Thank. We were -nimble enough in the shrouds; but we were not as smart about handling -the stiff canvas as some. I found my chum beside me as we hauled down -the stiff canvas upon the spar, and threw ourselves upon the folds to -hold them till they could be secured. - -“My law-dee!” gasped the Georgian boy, grinning. “Jest as lives try to -pin an apron around the waist of a baby hippopotamus--what?” - -I saw his wet, red, grinning face for a moment looking across at me. -Then, suddenly, the ship keeled over, the rope on which we stood -overhung those leaping, green, froth-streaked waves--waves which seemed -hungrily trying to lap our feet. Thank disappeared! Something gave way, -his weight left the sail to me alone. And perhaps, fearful for my chum, -I bore off the canvas myself to look for him. - -The next instant I was cast back by the wind tearing under the canvas -and lifting it in a great balloon. - -“Swish--r-r-rip!” - -Like a banshee on a broomstick that sail kited off to leeward, and I -was left hanging desperately to the shrouds, with the wind booming in -my ears so that I could not even hear the angry roaring of the skipper -below. - -And all the time this question kept thumping in my head: “Where was -Thankful Polk?” - - - - -CHAPTER V - -_In Which We See a Ship Sailing in the Sky_ - - -I had forgotten my own peril. Indeed, so disturbed was I for the moment -for my chum’s safety that I cared nothing for the lost sail. I yelled -for Thank at the top of my voice, though doubtless the shrieking of -the wind drowned all sound of my cries. And Thank, for all I knew, was -already far to leeward, fighting in that tempestuous sea. - -And then suddenly, through a rift in the flying spray that stung my -face so cruelly and almost blinded me, I beheld something swinging from -the ropes on which I stood. The ship was almost on her beam-ends and -the waves broke just below me. There Thank hung by his foot, which had -twisted in the ropes and was held firm, his head and shoulders buried -in the foaming sea at every plunge of the laboring Gullwing! - -I shrieked again and, clinging with one hand with a desperate grip, I -sought to seize him as he swung, pendulum-like, to and fro. _I could -not reach him._ - -But now the brave ship was righting herself. We rose higher and higher -from the leaping waves. Thank swung back and forth and, as we came -inboard, I feared he would batter his poor brains out against the wire -cables, or against some spar. - -He was unconscious. He was helpless. And it seemed as though I was -helpless as well. Those few momentous seconds showed me plainly how -deeply I loved the youth who had been my comrade in adventure and labor -and peril during these last few months. I had never had a chum before -of my own age--not one whom I had really cottoned to. Thank was as dear -to me as a brother would have been. - -As we rose higher and higher another fear smote me. If his foot -loosened now and he fell, he would be dashed to death upon the deck -below. In my struggles my hand found a loose rope. I hauled it in -quickly, hung to the spar by my elbows while I formed a noose in the -end, and was unsuccessfully trying to get this over Thank’s head and -shoulders when another man sprang to the footrope beside me. - -“Git down there and grab him!” yelled this individual in my ear. “I’ll -hold you both.” - -It was Bob Promise and although he was the man aboard whom I least -liked, he was an angel of mercy to me just then. I knew his muscle and -vigor. With one hand he clung to the rope and seized my belt with his -other paw. I knew that belt would hold, and I swung myself, without -question, head-downward. - -It was only for a moment that he had to be under the strain of all my -weight and Thank’s as well. Then I had scrambled back to the footrope, -and held my chum in the hollow of my arm. Thank was half drowned, -but his eyes opened and he gasped out something or other before Bob -steadied us both again upon the footrope. Later I realized that he -tried to say, in his cheerful way: “That’s all right, Sharp!” - -Between us Bob and I managed to get him down to the deck. We should not -have been able to do that without a sling had the squall not passed -away and left the old Gullwing once more on a comparatively level keel. - -When we landed upon the deck boards, Thank managed to stand erect. And -we three shook hands with a sort of grim satisfaction. I don’t think -any of us ever spoke of the event thereafter, and our mates had not -seen our peril, but we three were not likely to forget it. - -The old man was still careening around the quarter, like a hen on a hot -skillet, fussing about the lost sails. And scarcely had the squall -passed when he was ordering up new ones to replace those that had been -lost. We went to work bending on the fresh sails while it was yet -blowing so hard that most captains would have kept their crews out of -the rigging. - -I began to see that Tom Thornton had not been joking when he said that -the men were paying the penalty for the skipper’s betting an apple -with Captain Si Somes, of the Seamew. Had it been a thousand dollars -at stake, Captain Bowditch would have been no more earnest in his -determination to beat the Gullwing’s sister ship. - -But the wind was little more than a stiff gale when the new sails were -set and the ripping repaired. We drove along until night and then the -air became very light. During the night a fog began to gather and when -our watch was called at eight bells in the morning it was pretty thick. - -“Looks like a Cape Horn soup,” growled old Tom, as he stepped on deck. -“Though we’re a good bit of a ways from that latitude yet.” - -As we stumbled around the deck, doing that everlasting cleaning up -that Mr. Barney watched so sharply, the fog began to thin and waver. -Somewhere overhead there was a breeze; but it was pretty near a dead -calm down here on the deck of the Gullwing. - -By the time the sun began to glow upon the edge of the sea, looking -like a great argand lamp in the fog; overhead the billows of mist were -rolling in imitation of the long, swinging swell of the sea itself. -At first those billows in the sky glowed in purple, and rose hues, -ever changing, magnificently beautiful! It was a seascape long to be -remembered. - -The sun rose higher. Its rays shot through the rolling mist like -arrows. Now and then the breeze breathed on our sails and the Gullwing -forged ahead at a better pace. The fog left us. We were sailing in an -open space, it seemed, with the mist bank encircling us at a distance -on a few cable-lengths, and the billows still rolling high above the -points of our masts. - -And then, to the westward, the curtains rolled back as it seemed for -the scene that had been set for us. Like the stage of a great theatre, -this setting of cloud and mist and heaving sea appeared, and there, -sailing with her keel in the clouds, and her tapering masts and shaking -sails pointing seaward, was a beautiful, misty, four-stick schooner. - -“What do you know about that?” demanded Thankful Polk. “Do you see what -I see, Sharp, or have I ‘got ’em?’ That ship’s upside down.” - -“It’s a mirage,” I murmured. - -“It’s a Jim Hickey of a sight, whatever the right name of it is,” he -rejoined. - -Everybody else on deck was aware of the mirage, and a chorus of -exclamations arose from the watch. - -“It’s the Gullwing herself!” ejaculated Bob Promise. “Of course it is! -It’s a four-sticker.” - -“How do you make that out?” demanded Thank. “I know derned well _I_ -ain’t standing on my head, whatever you be.” - -“It’s her reflection, sawney!” said somebody else. - -“Oh! well I reckoned that I knew whether I was on my head, or my -heels,” chuckled the boy from Georgia. - -But I had been watching the mirage very sharply. I knew just what sails -were set upon the Gullwing, and I counted those upon the ship in the -sky. Misty as the reflection was I could distinguish them plainly. And -suddenly I saw a movement among those sails. _Sharply defined figures -of men swarmed into her rigging._ - -“That’s not the Gullwing at all!” I shouted. - -“That boy’s right,” said Mr. Barney sharply, coming out of the -afterhouse with his glass, and with the captain right behind him. -“You’ve got good eyes on you, Webb.” - -“By jinks! It’s the Seamew!” roared our skipper, the moment he set his -eyes upon the mirage. “And if she’s sailing that way, she’ll never beat -us to the Capes of Virginia.” - -A roar of laughter greeted this joke. But the ship in the sky began -immediately to fade away, and it had soon disappeared, while the wind -freshened with us and we forged ahead still faster. When the fog -completely disappeared there was not a sail in sight anywhere on that -sea, although Mr. Barney went into the tops himself and searched the -horizon with a glass. - -But I know that they made a note of the appearance on the log. Some of -the sailors thought the Seamew couldn’t be far from us, either head -or astern; but I knew that the mirage might have reflected our sister -ship hundreds of miles away. The incident gave us a deal to talk about, -however, and an added savor to the race we were sailing half around the -globe. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -_In Which the Gullwing Suffers a Ghostly Visitation_ - - -“The words of Agur, the son of Jaketh.... There be three things which -are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not: The way of an -eagle in the air, the way of a serpent upon a rock, _the way of a ship -in the midst of the sea_....” - -That old fellow whose wise sayings make up the final chapter of the -Book of Proverbs had a deal of experience and knowledge; but navigation -was a mystery to him. And to see a great ship sailing straight away on -her course, in the midst of the sea, without a sign of land anywhere -about, is like to make one think of the wonder of it. - -We picked up many a sail after the mirage of our sister ship, during -the next few days; but none of them were the Seamew. The wind increased -and the Gullwing went snoring through green seas, her bow in a smother -of foam and a good deal of loose water inboard on occasion. But that -did not bother the captain. We were speeding up toward the Horn and -little else mattered. - -We were getting into a colder latitude, too. Now we were down about to -the line where the Gypsey Girl had steamed in and out of the channels -after seals. But we never saw the land. The Gullwing was keeping well -off shore. - -The keen wind blew a fitful gale. We were glad to get into the lee of -the deck-houses when we were on duty. Thanks to Captain Rogers of the -Scarboro, however, my chum and I were well dressed for colder weather; -but we got each a suit of tarpaulins and hip boots from Captain -Bowditch, for we had not owned them. We could safely dress in these -water-shedding garments every watch above, when the weather was not -fair; for the schooner was bound to ship a deal of suds. - -In our watch besides old Tom Thornton, was another ancient mariner, and -the only man not an American born aboard the Gullwing--August Stronson. -He was a queer, gentle old man with the marks of dissipation strong -upon his face, although most of his spare time below he sat and read a -well-thumbed Swedish Bible. He was a man in whom Alcohol had taken a -strangle hold on Will. A more than ordinarily good seaman, when ashore -he soon became a derelict along the docks, finally ending in some -mission or bethel where he would be straightened out and a berth found -for him again. He was only safe aboard ship. Eternally sailing about -the Seven Seas was his salvation. - -He was aboard the Gullwing, as Thank and I were, merely by chance. And -his reason for wishing to make the port of Baltimore was a curious -one--yet one that gives a sidelight upon the sailor’s character. As a -usual thing, Jack is grateful to anybody who does him a kindness, and -he does not often forget a favor done him. Besides, he prides himself -on “being square.” Yet it seemed to me that old Stronson was carrying -that trait farther than most seamen. - -He had been picked up at Honolulu by Cap-Bowditch, after the two -men before mentioned had deserted the Gullwing to go with a native -trader into the South Seas. Stronson had already traveled by one craft -and another from Australia and would have traveled, when he reached -Baltimore, all of ten thousand miles to see just one man. He told me -this story in one watch below and I think it worth repeating. - -“Captain Sowle, who iss de superintendent of that mission where dey -iss so goot to sailormans, lend me a dollar five years ago when I was -sick. I ban goin’ to pay dat dollar, me! I ban going to Baltimore to -pay him.” - -“But why didn’t you send it to him by mail?” I asked the old fellow. - -“Captain Sowle, gif me dat dollar in his own hand, and I haf to give it -back to him mit mine. I could nefer forget his kindness--no. In many -foreign ports I thought of him--how goot he wass. I long carry that -dollar note in my shirt--yes. In Sydney I went to the sailor’s mission -one night and heard an old song das Captain Sowle sung to me and odders -in Baltimore. I had that dollar note I haf saved mit me den. Why! I ban -shipwrecked once and safe only dot dollar and a jumper. Luck foller me -mit das dollar. - -“I says to my mate dere in Sydney, ‘Bill,’ I says, ‘I got de old man’s -dollar yet. Meppe he need it for de poys when he sing dot old hymn -to-night over seas.’ - -“‘Do you feel uneasy like?’ Bill asks me. - -“‘No,’ says I, ‘but I seems to hear the old man singing and I’m minding -the old Bethel and the winter night he ban givin’ me de dollar.’ -‘Well,’ says Bill, ‘you must bring your cargo to port and get a -discharge. You must show de old man dat you sail straight. That’s my -verdict.’ - -“So we shook hands undt I go find me a berth to Manila--best I can do -just then. I makes Honolulu on a Pacific Mail; but she drops me there. -Then I finds de Gullwing. She iss de ship for me,” added Stronson, -smiling in his simple way. “She carry me straight for Baltimore, undt I -pay das dollar to Captain Sowle.” - -Some of the men made a good deal of fun of Stronson because he was slow -of intellect; but he was an able seaman and even the sharp-spoken Mr. -Barney seemed to bear easy on the old man. He was stiff in his joints -at times, for the sailor’s chief enemy, rheumatism, had got a grip -on Stronson. Thank and I saved him many a job aloft, and in return -he patiently set about teaching us all he knew about splicing and -knotting--which was no small job for either the old man or for us. - -It was soon after this that we got the four days’ gale that I, for one, -shall not soon forget. The wind, however, did not increase so suddenly -as before, and Captain Bowditch took warning in time and had the small -sails furled. But when the gale fairly struck us we had enough lower -canvas set in all good conscience. The ship fairly reeled under the -sudden stroke of the blast. - -With the wind, too, came the snow. Such a snowstorm I had not seen -for several years, for we had had two or three mild winters in New -England before I had gone to sea. We were forced to reef down the big -sails, though every order from the skipper to this end was punctuated -by groans. The canvas was stiff and the snow froze on it, and we had a -mess. Glad was I that the work was not to be done in the tops. - -A smother of snow wrapped the Gullwing about and we plunged on without -an idea as to what was in our path. The lookout forward could not see -to the end of the jib-boom. The sea was lashed to fury and, again -and again, a wave broke over our bows and washed the deck from stem -to stern. To add to the wonder of it, somewhere in the depths of the -universe above us an electrical storm raged; we could hear the sullen -thunder rolling from horizon to horizon. At first I had thought this -was surf on the rocks and believed we were going head-on to death and -destruction; but the officers knew where we were and they assured us -that the chart gave us an open sea. - -The decks were a mess of slush and it was dangerous to go about without -hanging to the lifelines that checkrowed the Gullwing from forward -of the fo’castle to the after companionway. Yet how the staunch -craft sailed! She shook the waves off her back like a duck under a -waterspout, and seemed to enjoy the buffeting of the sea like a thing -alive. - -While the storm continued we got just such food as we could grab in our -fists. Nothing was safe on the table. The doctor kept the coffee hot -in some magic way; yet there were times when the ship rolled so that -the lids flew off his stove and the fire was dumped on the deck of the -galley. - -Sixty hours and more of this sort of weather dragged past. I once said -to Tom Thornton: - -“It’s a pity the skipper didn’t try for the Straits, isn’t it?” - -“And what would the Gullwing be doing in the Straits, in a blow like -this, my lad?” he demanded. “A big ship like her in that narrow way has -little chance in a storm. The tail of such a gale as this would heave -her on the rocks. There’s not seaway enough there for anything bigger -than a bugeye canoe.” - -“But the Scarboro made a fair course through it,” I said. - -“That greaser!” snorted the old A. B. “She can loaf along as she -pleases. Sea-anchor, if there’s a bit of a gale. But the Windjammer -has to make time. These days the big sailin’ ships hafter compete with -them dirty steam tramps. We can’t risk bein’ becalmed in any narrow -waterway--no, sir!” - -It was on the fourth night, with the wind blowing a hurricane and the -snow as thick about us as a winding-sheet, that our watch had come on -deck at midnight. I was sent as second man with Bob Promise to the -wheel. It took both of us to handle the steering gear when the old -schooner kicked and plunged so. - -We were under close-reefed mainsail and jibs and were battling fearful -waves. The sleet-like snow drove across her deck and all but blinded -us. I had to keep wiping the slush off the binnacle, or the lamp would -have been completely smothered and we could not have seen the trembling -needle. - -Sometimes the officer on the quarter was hidden from our eyes, but his -voice reached us all right: - -“Steady your helm! You lubbers act like your muscles were mush. Keep -off! Can’t you hear that sail shaking? You’ll have us under sternway -yet. Call yourselves sailors? You’re a pair of farmers! What d’ye think -you’re doing? Plowing with a pair of steers? Steady!” - -Bob muttered imprecations on Mr. Barney’s head; but I knew better. - -“He’s nervous, that’s all,” I said. “He’s always so when the skipper -ain’t on deck.” - -“All he thinks of is whether we’re beatin’ the Seamew, or not,” growled -Bob. - -“I notice that bothers him,” said I. “But he hasn’t bet a Greening -apple on the race, has he?” - -“It’s bigger than that, I reckon. They say it’s something betwixt him -and his brother Alf. They’ve been sore on each other for a year or -more.” - -I knew Mr. Alfred Barney was second mate of the Seamew, and I wondered -what the trouble was between the twin brothers. - -But just as this moment something happened that gave our minds a slant -in another direction. The snow squall had thinned. We could see pretty -near the length of the deck from where we stood--Bob and I--at the -wheel. - -Suddenly my mate uttered a stifled yell and his hands dropped from the -spokes. - -“Looker there!” he gasped. - -I hung to the wheel, although a kick of the schooner near sent me on my -head. - -“Catch hold here, confound you!” I bawled. - -“There!” he cried again, pointing with a terror stiffened arm into the -forerigging. - -I saw a flash of light--a glow like that of a big incandescent lamp -bulb. It hung for fully thirty seconds to the very tip of one of the -fore-topmast spars. Again, another flashed upon another point of the -rigging. Bob Promise crouched by the wheel; he fairly groveled, while I -could hear cries and groans from many of the hands on deck. - -“What’s the matter with you? What is it?” I demanded, still fighting -with the wabbling wheel alone; and I am afraid I kicked him. “Catch -hold here!” - -“Corpse lights!” groaned Bob, not even resenting my foot. “We’re all -dead men. We’re doomed.” - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -_In Which Is Pictured a Race in Mid-Ocean_ - - -There was a snapping and crackling in the air over the laboring -ship. It sounded as though the taut stays were giving way, one after -another. For the moment, what Bob said about “corpse lights” I did not -understand; I was mainly giving my attention to the wheel. - -But the ship came to an even keel for a minute and I was able to hold -her on her course, and get my breath. Then I beheld the strange lights -shining here, there, and everywhere about the rigging, and I was -amazed. Not that I was frightened, as Bob and some of the others of -the watch appeared to be. The sailor is a very superstitious person; -and let him tell it, there are enough strange things happen at sea to -convince a most philosophical mind that there is a spirit world very, -very close to our own mundane sphere. There’s a very thin veil between -the two, and at times that veil is torn away. - -But I knew in a minute that what Bob meant by “corpse lights” were -corposant lights and were an electric display better known as “St. -Elmo’s fire.” The lights were globular in shape, and about four inches -in diameter. There were apparently a score of them all through the -rigging, and they appeared at intervals of a minute, or two. The -driving sleet could not hide them, and the fires illuminated the ship -and the sea for some distance around her. - -It certainly was a queer sight, and the brilliance of the corposant -lights was very marked. I heard Mr. Barney shouting from his station: - -“Keep your shirts on, you hardshells! They won’t bite--nor none o’ you -ain’t got to go aloft to put ’em out. There’s one sure thing about them -lights--they won’t set the rigging afire.” - -“Get up and take hold of this wheel, Bob,” I exclaimed, “or I’ll yell -for help. I can’t handle her proper if she plunges again.” - -He got up shakingly and took hold. When the sea was sucked away from -the bow of the Gullwing next time we held her on her course. But my -companion was still frightened and looked at the glowing lights askance. - -“Holding your own there at the wheel, boys?” demanded Mr. Barney. - -“Aye, aye, sir!” I replied, but Bob didn’t even whisper. - -Suddenly the last light disappeared--as suddenly as the first had -appeared--and immediately there was a loud explosion over our heads and -Mr. Barney pitched down the ladder to the deck. Several of the other -men were flung to the deck, too, and Bob gave another frightened yell -and started forward on a dead run. - -He collided with Captain Bowditch, who had just shot up through the -companionway. - -“What’s this, you swab?” yelled the skipper, grabbing Bob by the collar -with one hand and seizing a rope with the other, as the ship staggered -again. “What d’ye mean?” - -Then he saw Mr. Barney just scrambling to his feet. - -“What’s this mutinous swab been doing, sir?” added the captain. - -The second mate explained in a moment. But Bob suffered. The old man -was in a towering rage because he had left his post. - -“You flat-footed son of a sea-cook!” he bawled, shaking Promise, big as -he was, like a drowned kitten. “What d’ye mean by leaving the wheel? -That boy yonder kept his place didn’t he? Scared of a light, be ye? -Why, if a sea-sarpint came aboard that wouldn’t be no excuse for your -leaving the helm. Git back there!” - -And when he started Bob aft again he accelerated his motions with a -vigorous kick in the broad of the seaman’s back. Bob grabbed the spokes -of the wheel, and braced himself, with a face like a thundercloud. I -crowded down my amusement and perhaps it is well I did. The fellow was -in no mood for enduring chaffing. When a man is both angry and scared a -joke doesn’t appeal to him--much. - -I am reminded that this is a sorry scene to depict. Yet Captain -Bowditch was a kindly man and not given to unjust punishments. And I -believe that Bob got only what he deserved. Even terror cannot excuse -a man for neglecting his duty, especially at sea. It is like a private -in the ranks enduring the natural fear of a first charge against the -enemy. No matter what he may feel in his trembling soul, for the sake -of the example he sets the man next to him, he must crowd down that -fear and press on! - -The storm had broken, however. At daylight we found that four feet of -the fore-topmast had been snapped off short, whether by the electrical -explosion, or by the wind, we could not tell. But that was the end -of that bad spell of weather, thanks be! The Gullwing sailed through -it, we spliced on a new spar, trimmed our sails, and tore on, under a -goodly press of canvas, for the Horn. - -But several of the crew remained gloomy because of the “corpse lights.” -Something was bound to happen--of course, something unlucky. The lights -had foretold it. And Stronson, with Tom Thornton and other of the old -salts, told weird tales in the dog-watch. - -In spite of the hurricane we had made good time in this run from -Valparaiso. As far as I could see, however, nothing momentous happened -at once; and the next important incident that went down in the ship’s -log was the sighting of the Seamew. - -We really saw her this time--“in the flesh,” not a ghostly mirage. She -came out of the murk of fog to the south’ard at dawn and, far away as -she was, the lookout identified her. - -“Seamew, ahoy!” he yelled. - -It brought all hands upon deck--even the mate himself who had just -turned in, and the captain, too. There the sister of the Gullwing -sailed, her canvas spread to the freshening morning breeze, her prow -throwing off two high foamy waves as she tacked toward us. - -She was on one tack; we were on the other. Therefore we were -approaching each other rapidly. And what a sight! If a marine artist -could have painted the picture of that beautiful ship, with her -glistening paint, and pearl-tinted sails, and her lithe masts and taut -cordage, he would have had a picture worth looking at. And from her -deck the Gullwing must have seemed quite as beautiful to those aboard -the Seamew. - -The two ships were the best of their class--more trimly modeled than -most. I had not realized before what a beautiful ship the Gullwing was. -I saw her reflected in the Seamew. - -She carried an open rail amidships; and her white painted stations, -carved in the shape of hour-glasses, with the painted flat handrail -atop, stood clearly and sharply defined above her black lower sides and -the pale green seas. - -Not that either ship showed much lower planking, saving when they -rolled; they were heavily laden. With all her jibs and all her whole -sails on the four lower spars, and most of the small sails spread -above, our sister ship certainly was a beautiful picture. - -But the old man wasn’t satisfied. Through his glass he saw something -that spurred him to emulation. - -“She’s got all her t’gallant-sails set, by Pollox!” he bawled. “Mr. -Gates! what are you moonin’ about? Get them men up there in short -order, or I’ll be after them myself.” And as we jumped into the -rigging, I heard him growling away on the quarter: “That’s the way -Cap’n Si beats us. He crowds on sail, _he_ does. Why, I bet he never -furled a rag durin’ that four-day breeze we just struck, and like -enough had the crew pin their shirts on the wash line inter the -bargain.” - -Two vessels may be rigged alike and built alike, but that doesn’t mean -that they will sail exactly alike. The Seamew was a shade faster in -reaching and running than the Gullwing. Mr. Barney told me that. - -“But to windward we have the best of her. And that’s not because of -our sailing qualities. The difference is in the two masters,” the -second mate said. “Captain Joe can always get more out of his ship -than Captain Si can out of his when the going is bad. In fair weather -the Seamew will beat us a little every reach. But it isn’t all fair -weather in a voyage of ten thousand miles, or so,” and he smiled--I -thought--rather nastily. - -I was reminded of the hint Bob Promise had given me that there was bad -blood and no pleasant rivalry between our second mate and the twin -who held the same berth on our sister ship. Mr. Barney was in the tops -studying the Seamew a good deal through the glass that day, too. I -wondered if he was trying to see if his brother was on deck. - -For we did not run near enough to her that day for figures to be -descried very clearly either on her deck or in her rigging. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -_In Which It Seems That a Prophecy Will Be Fulfilled_ - - -We wallowed through the seas, but with comparatively fair winds, for -two days. The Seamew would stand off on one tack, we on the other; and -by and by we would lose her below the horizon; but, standing in, after -some hours, we found her again and were glad to see that she had not -pulled so very much ahead of us. But it made Captain Joe awful fidgety, -and he certainly did keep the men hopping--reefing and letting go the -topsails, and working every moment to gain a bit over his antagonist. -Why, we might as well have been sailing a crack yacht for the America’s -cup! - -All this activity was very well during bad weather; but the men began -to get pretty sore when the hard work continued throughout the hours of -fair days too. The Gullwing was, as I have said, short-handed. The sea -laws cover such cases as this; but there are so many excuses masters -may give for going to sea without sufficient hands to properly manage -the ship that it is almost impossible to get a conviction if the case -is carried to court. - -Besides, it is the law that, if a case is not proved against the master -of a vessel, the men bringing the suit must pay all the costs. Jack Tar -knows of something else to do with his small pay without giving it to -“landsharks of lawyers.” That is why being a sailor and being a slave -is an interchangeable term. Many legislators, having the welfare of -seamen at heart, have tried to amend the laws so that the sailor will -get at least an even break; but it seems impossible to give him as fair -a deal as the journeyman tradesman in any other line of work obtains. - -Old Captain Joe Bowditch, as decent a master as he really was, had a -streak of “cheese-paring” in him that made him delight in saving on the -running expenses of his ship. Besides, he probably knew his employers, -Barney, Blakesley & Knight. Many a sea captain takes chances, and runs -risks, and sails in a rotten ship with an insufficient crew, because -he needs to save his job, and if he doesn’t please his employers, some -other needy master will! - -Although the Gullwing was so large a ship, there are larger sailing -vessels afloat, notably some engaged in the Atlantic sea-board trade, -and a fleet of Standard Oil ships that circumnavigate the world. These -are both five and six masted vessels; but many of them are supplied -with steam winches, steam capstans, and various other mechanical helps -to the handling of the sails and anchors. The Gullwing had merely a -donkey-engine amidships, by which the anchors could be raised, one at a -time, or to which the pumps might be attached. The great sails on her -lower masts had to be raised by sheer bull strength. - -But in our watch old Tom Thornton was a famous chantey-man, and the -way we hauled under the impetus of his rhythm, and the swing of the -chants (“shanties,” the sailor-man calls them) would have surprised -a landsman. I learned that “a strong pull, a long pull, and a pull -altogether” would accomplish wonders. - -We were now down in the regions where the tide follows the growing and -waning of the moon exactly. Indeed, the great Antarctic Basin, south -of the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn, is the only division of the -seas where the tide follows the moon with absolute regularity. This is -because the great sweep of water here is uninterrupted by land. - -The enormous wave, raised by the moon’s attraction, courses around the -world with nothing to break it. Here in our northern hemisphere immense -masses of land interfere with the coursing of this tidal wave; and the -shallow seas interfere, too. In the Mexican Gulf, for instance, the -tide seldom rises more than two feet, while up along our north Atlantic -shores it often rises six and eight feet, while everybody has heard of -the awful tidal wave of the Bay of Fundy. - -The depth of the water, therefore, has much to do with tidal -irregularities. Out in the open ocean, where the tide is abyssmal--that -is, about five thousand fathoms--the speed of the waves is amazing. -Where the depth decreases to five fathoms the tide cannot travel -more than fifteen miles an hour. In England, for example, which is -surrounded by narrow land-broken seas, the result is that they get some -of the most terrible and dangerous tidal races and currents to be found -anywhere on the globe. - -In the South Seas--particularly at Tahiti--the ebb and flow of the -tide is perfectly adjusted. It is always full tide at noonday and at -midnight, while at sunrise and sunset it is low water. The rise and -fall seldom exceeds two feet; but once in six months a mighty sea comes -rolling in and, sweeping over the corral reefs, nature’s breakwater, -it bursts violently on the shore. Indeed, sometimes this tidal wave -inundates entire islands. - -In various parts of the world the tide creates various natural -phenomena. There is the whirlpool between the islands of Jura and -Scarba, on the west coast of Scotland, known as the “Cauldron of the -Spotted Seas.” The Maelstrom upon the coast of Norway is another -creation of the tide. The force of a heavy tidal current pushing up a -wide-mouthed river, causes what is termed a “bore.” The most striking -example of this tidal feature is seen at the mouth of the Amazon, where -a moving wall of water, thirty feet high and from bank to bank, rushes -inland from the ocean. - -The waves raced by the Gullwing’s bulwarks with dizzy speed. We plowed -on, gaining all we could in every reach, but noting likewise that the -Seamew, when she was in sight, seemed to draw away from us. When we had -beheld her in the mirage she must have been a long way behind. - -I reckon Captain Bowditch prayed for foul weather. And he did not have -to pray long in this latitude. We were in the district of the Boiling -Seas. Fogs are frequent; gales sweep this section below the Horn almost -continually--sometimes from one direction, sometimes from another. All -the winds of heaven seem to meet here and gambol together. - -“He’s runnin’ us into trouble, that’s what he ban doing,” croaked -Stronson. “De old man, I mean. He iss not satisfied with the fair -wedder; and who but a madt man vould crave for a gale down here under -de Horn?” - -But we younger fellows laughed at the old Swede. We were almost as -much excited in the race between the two windjammers as were Captain -Bowditch and Mr. Barney. - -“Remember!” croaked Stronson. “The corpus lights wass not for nottings. -Trouble iss coming.” - -“But not necessarily trouble to the ship,” declared Tom Thornton. “Them -St. Elmo’s fires foreruns death.” - -“Dey ban mean bad luck, anyway,” growled Stronson. - -Thank and I listened to all this croaking with a good deal of -amusement. It surely never entered my head that the prophecy of the old -men might be in anyway fulfilled. - -And I certainly did not feel any foredoom of peril myself. The expected -gale came down. We passed within sight of the islet named Cape Horn, -with a terrific wind blowing and the waves running half mast high. The -Seamew had then been dropped behind. Indeed, the last we saw of her, -she was wallowing in our very wake. - -“Gimme a breeze like this,” roared Captain Joe from his station, to Mr. -Gates and Mr. Barney, “all the way to the time we take our tug, and -we’ll be eating supper in Baltimore before that Seamew sights the Capes -o’ Virginia.” - -But this, of course, was only brag. The Seamew was not far behind us. - -And then, that very night the prophecy of ill-luck was fulfilled, at -least insofar as it affected me. Something broke loose and began to -slat in the tops. Mr. Gates, roaring through the captain’s speaking -trumpet, shouted for all hands. We had barely got to sleep below, and I -reckon I was half way up the shrouds before I got both eyes open. - -It was a black night, with the wind coming in strange, uneven puffs, -and the deck all a-wash with loose water. The ship was rolling till the -ends of her yardarms almost dipped in the leaping waves. - -My foot slipped; futilely I clutched at the brace with the tips of my -fingers. I knew I was lost, and the shriek I uttered was answered by -Thank’s voice as I whirled downward: - -“Man overboard!” - -I shot down, and down, and down--and then struck the sea and kept on -descending. I thought of Mahomet’s coffin, hung between the heavens and -the earth. I was hung between the ship’s keel and the bottom of the -vast deep, swinging in that coffin which can never rot--the coffin of -the ocean. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -_In Which I Pass Through Deep Waters_ - - -But I came to the surface after a time--and with all my wits about me. -I had need of them. - -In these months that I had been knocking about the seas I had been in -peril often. Nor was this the first time that death by drowning had -threatened me. - -But on no former occasion had I been in so desperate a strait. I know -that in this rising gale the Gullwing could neither be hove to, nor -could a boat be launched for me. - -The schooner had gone on at the pace of a fast steamship. And the tide -was sweeping me astern just as rapidly as the ship was sailing. When I -rose breast high on the first breaker I saw the Gullwing’s twinkling -lights so far ahead that they seemed like candle flames. - -I was alone--and this was one of the loneliest seas upon all this -great, round globe! - -But when one is thrown into such a situation of peril as I was then, -his thoughts are so confused that it is only afterward--if there _is_ -an afterward--that he analyzes his mental activities. Just then I had -only the clear desire to live. - -I turned on my back almost immediately and letting my legs hang well -down, floated easily with my nostrils just out of water, and enjoyed -two or three minutes of very, very grateful repose. I had been under -the surface so long that it was some time before I could breathe clear -to the bottom of my lungs again. - -The buzzing in my head gradually died away. I began to think -collectedly. I did not waste time thinking of rescue. At least, I could -expect no help from my comrades on the Gullwing. - -When I took my headlong plunge from the rigging I was clad in the heavy -garb that most deep-water seamen wear. I had on two thick shirts, a -heavy pea-jacket closely buttoned, and, worse than all, boots to my -hips. Sooner or later all this weight of clothing would drag me down. - -I had paddled half a day at a time in Bolderhead Bay; and even the -fresh water ponds about Darringford House, with their hidden springs -and under-tows, had never frightened me. I was the first boy to go in -swimming in the spring and it had to be a pretty cold day in the fall -that drove me out of the water after the first plunge. - -Of course, this sea off the boisterous islet of Cape Horn, was no warm -bath. The chill of it struck through to the marrow of my bones; yet I -believed I was good for several hours yet, if I could get rid of those -clothes. - -Undressing under water was a trick I had tried more than once; but it -was those long-legged boots that scared me. They already made my lower -limbs feel as heavy as lead. - -Paddling with one hand I tore open my jacket with the other, ripping -the buttons off or through the buttonholes as they pleased, and finally -got one shoulder and arm clear. As I was fumbling to get the other arm -out of the sleeve I felt the handle of my knife. - -The coat stuck to my left shoulder; but a few slashes cleared me of the -garment. It went floating away on the tide. - -I had bobbed up and down in this operation; but was none the worse for -the plunges under the surface, being careful to breathe no water into -my lungs. - -With the knife I slit both my shirts and tore them off. But the boots -were the problem that shook me. I had to rest a bit before I tackled -them. - -I doubled up in a sitting posture and made a slash at one bootleg. Down -I went--down, down, until it was a fight to get up again--especially -with my fist closed upon my knife handle. It was pretty hard work; -every slash meant a plunge under. It was slow. - -I would draw up my left foot, for example, paddle vigorously with my -left hand, take a long breath, make a slash with the knife in my right -hand--and start for the bottom of the sea! - -But I got those boots off at last, though not without suffering -several cuts and slashes upon my legs, which the salt seawater stung -tremendously. I had already gotten rid of my belt, and my trousers came -off easier. I was sorry to lose some things in my pockets; but was glad -to think that my father’s chronometer was hanging above my berth in the -Gullwing’s fo’castle and that what money I had was in the keeping of -Captain Bowditch. - -And yet, it seemed utterly foolish to think of escape from this -predicament. I had heard stories of wonderful rescues from drowning in -mid ocean; but why should _I_ expect a miracle? Here I was, struggling -miles behind the Gullwing, as naked as the day I was born. - -Not many minutes had been spent in these maneuvers, for all the time -occupied in their telling. For the Gullwing to have launched a boat to -hunt for me would have been ridiculous. By day there might have been -some chance of their finding me before I sank for good; but in the -night--and a night as black as this--such an attempt would endanger a -boat’s crew for nothing. - -If they had flung me life-buoys, they would have to come to me, for -I could not see them. Gazing up into the sky I saw that scurrying -clouds gave signs of a break in the weather. Here and there a little -lightening of the gloom overhead showed the moon’s rays trying to break -through the mists. - -Breast high again upon a rising wave, I took one swift, whirling look -all about. Dense blackness everywhere on the face of the ocean; but -just as I sank back again the moon, breaking through a rift, lighted up -a silvery path before me and at the end of that path--for an instant--I -believed I saw the glistening sails of the Gullwing! - -It may have been a mirage--a vision. The blackness shut down upon me, -and upon the sea again; but I fell back into the trough experiencing a -more sickening sense of desolation than I had yet felt. It seemed to me -as though I had looked upon the last sign of human life that I would -ever see. - -I suppose a more hopeless situation than mine could scarcely be -imagined. Yet I have philosophized upon it much more since than I did -at the time. I would not let my mind picture the natural end of this -adventure. My mind rebounded from the horrible thought that I was lost. -I would not contemplate it. - -In the middle of this broad, tempestuous sea--naked--alone. No hope of -rescue by my companions on the Gullwing, with not a splinter to cling -to, keeping from death only by constant effort. Yet there was something -inside me that would not give up hope--that would not let my muscles -relax--that clung with a desperation that clamped me to life! - -But at first it was little exertion for me to keep afloat. I was in -first rate physical condition and I was not afraid of sinking right -away. I knew how to handle myself. - -I lay on my back with my head deep, my mouth closed, only my nostrils -above, conserved the strength of my legs by letting them hang deep, -kept my arms outstretched, pretty well down in the water, palms down, -and paddled gently, sometimes with both legs and arms, and again only -with my hands. - -The waves rolled me over occasionally and used me roughly; but I did -not lose my head and never sank to any depth, having always plenty of -air in my lungs. When I felt that my arms might become wearied I folded -them under my head and kicked easily. - -I am not sure that the sea subsided; but I believe it must have done -so. It was a providence for me, then. I know that not many of the waves -broke over me, and I seemed sliding up and down vast swells which -heaved up out of Nowhere, gray and green and foam-streaked, and then -disappeared and left me floating in the deep trough. - -If anyone was ever literally rocked in the cradle of the deep, I was -that person--from the crest of the wave, down, down, in a gradually -diminishing rush, and then up and up to the crest of the next -roller--and so on, over and over again. - -Once I let my mind slip and began to calculate the chances for and -against my escape. The conviction that it was impossible rushed over me -and I turned over quickly and struck out with a savage, hand-over-hand -stroke through the waves, with the momentary insane feeling that I must -get somewhere! - -The dogged idea of living as long as I could, however, came to me -again with fatigue, and I rolled over and rested, cradled in the waves. - -My hand touched my knife, which still hung by its lanyard from my neck. -An awful thought touched my mind, at the same moment. They say it is an -easy death, this drowning; but I can imagine nothing more awful than -to drift for hours upon the surface of the sea with the knowledge in -one’s mind that, after all, there is but one end possible. I opened my -knife and held it tightly gripped in my hand a moment. Then I pulled -the lanyard over my head and let the knife and all drop into the -depths--and the curse went from me. - - - - -CHAPTER X - -_In Which the Impossible Becomes the Possible_ - - -Four hours had I floated on the tumbling sea, with the clouds above -gradually breaking and with the moon finally paleing under the stronger -light of the advancing sun. The blackness disappeared. A wind-driven -sky arched the sea. And I lay looking up into heaven, waiting for the -end. - -For I was in a sort of mesmerized state toward the last, and kept -myself afloat automatically. It must have been so; by no other means -can I explain that I was still floating on the surface when the sun -arose. - -The rocking motion of the swells soothed me to a strange content that -I can neither explain nor talk about sanely. I remember I babbled -something or other over and over again; I was talking to the moon -riding so high there among the rifted clouds. - - * * * * * - -In the night of July 14, 1886, the British ship Conqueror, fourteen -days out from Liverpool, bound for the lumber and fishing ports of -the Miramichi, in the Straits of Northumberland, lost overboard -Robert Johnson, A. B. The fact is registered on the ship’s log. Three -days after the Conqueror reached Miramichi, the Bark Adelaide, from -Belfast, likewise came into port and when she was warped into her berth -beside the Conqueror, the first man to step from the Adelaide to the -Conqueror’s deck was Bob Johnson. - -There are reasons for the sailor-men being superstitious. The crew of -the Conqueror would not sail with Bob Johnson again. He was _fey_. But -really, he had only experienced a strange and harsh adventure. The -Adelaide, following the unmarked wake of the Conqueror, had picked him -up after he had floated for some hours. - -And there are plenty of similar incidents in the annals of those who go -down to the sea in ships to match this narrative of Bob Johnson. - - * * * * * - -The men who picked _me_ up told me that I shouted to them; but I do not -remember it. They were a crew of a boat put overboard by the Seamew, -and they brought me aboard and I lay in a bunk in the fo’castle all -that day without knowing where I was, or how I had been snatched from -an ocean grave. - -About the first thing I remember clearly was that a young man stood -beside my berth and looked down upon me with a rather quizzical smile. -I knew him at once and thought that I must be in my old bunk aboard the -Gullwing. - -“I--I--. Have I been sick, Mr. Barney?” I asked, and was surprised to -find my voice so weak. - -He seemed surprised for a moment, too, and then I saw his face flush. -He exclaimed: - -“By the great hornspoon! this fellow is off the Gullwing.” - -“I _was_ off the Gullwing,” I whispered. “But I guess this is no dream? -I am aboard again now.” - -“No you’re not!” he declared, but he still seemed bewildered. - -“This isn’t the Gullwing?” - -“It’s the Seamew,” he said. - -“But--but--you’re Mr. Barney?” - -“I am,” he said, grimly. “But not the Mr. Barney you know, young man.” - -Then the mystery broke and I understood. It was Mr. Alf Barney I was -talking to, the second mate of the Seamew. - -“Then--then you picked me up,” I murmured. - -“And we had an idea that you were a merman,” he said, with a quick -laugh. “Out here in the ocean without a stitch of clothing on you.” - -I told him how I had got rid of my garments after falling overboard -from the other ship. The men below gathered around to listen. They were -men of about the same class as manned the Gullwing, I saw. - -“You’re the luckiest fellow that ever drew breath, I believe,” said the -second mate, finally. “You stay abed here till morning. Then you can go -forward and talk to the captain. It’s almost unbelievable.” - -And I scarce believed it myself--at least, not while I was so -lightheaded and weak. But being a husky fellow my strength quickly came -back to me, and the care of the kind fellows in the fo’castle set me on -my pins the next day. I had a brief interview with Captain Si Somes--a -long, cadaverous, hatchet-faced man who barked his words at one as -though he did not like to waste either voice or words. - -“So Cap’n Joe didn’t try to pick ye up?” - -“I reckon he couldn’t. It was blowing pretty hard just then.” - -“That’s like the old murderer,” he snapped. “Didn’t clew down his -tops’ls quick enough of course. He means to beat me if he kin.” - -“Yes, sir,” I said. - -“Well, he won’t. We’ll pick him up if the wind keeps this a-way.” - -“No chance of my getting back to her I sp’ose?” I suggested. - -“To the Gullwing?” - -“Yes, sir.” - -“Wa-al! I ain’t goin’ to waste no time puttin’ you aboard. He’s -short-handed anyway. He allus is. I’ll feed ye for the sake of keepin’ -ye,” and he cackled rather unpleasantly. - -I didn’t like him as well as I did Captain Bowditch. And my interest -was centered in the success of the Gullwing, too. I wanted to get back -to her and see her win the race. - -I found the fo’castle hands of the Seamew just as much interested -in the rivalry of the two ships as the Gullwing’s hands were. They -believed they were on the better craft, too. - -“Why, she sails a foot and a half to the Gullwing’s one in fair -weather,” one man told me. “Wait till we get out of this latitude. -You’ll see something like sailing, then, when the Seamew gits to going.” - -I thought she was sailing pretty fast just then, and said so. - -“If she ever struck another craft--or anything drifting in the -sea--she’d just about cut it down with that sharp bow,” I observed. - -“Ain’t much danger of running into anything down here. We ain’t seen -another sail but the Gullwing--save one--for a week.” - -“We hadn’t spoken a vessel on the Gullwing for a number of days,” I -replied. - -“No. Not many windjammers just now in these waters. And all the -steamers go through the Straits,” my informant said. “But this craft we -spoke three days ago was a-wallowin’ along pretty well--and she had a -tow, too.” - -“A steamship, then?” - -“No. She was a two-stick schooner, but she had a big auxiliary engine -and was under both steam and sail. The Sea Spell, she was.” - -“The Sea Spell!” I cried, in surprise. “I know her. I’ve been aboard -her. Cap’n Tugg, skipper and owner.” - -“That’s the Yankee,” said my friend. “And ain’t he a cleaner? What do -you suppose he had in tow?” - -I was too amazed to answer, and the man went on: - -“That’s one cute Yankee, that Adoniram Tugg. If there wasn’t but two -dollars left in the world he’d have one in his pocket and a mortgage -on the other.” - -I had to laugh at this description of the master of the Sea Spell. And -it hit off Adoniram pretty well, too. - -“That Yankee has made a killing this time,” continued my informant. “He -has been for weeks cruising south of here, so he yelled across to Cap’n -Somes, hunting for an old whaler stranded in the ice.” - -“The Firebrand. I know about her. Indeed, I’ve seen her,” I said, and -told him the story of my cruise on the Gypsey Girl and how we had come -across the frozen ship and I had boarded her. - -“Well! don’t that beat cock-fighting!” ejaculated the seaman, who was -called Job Perkins. “That old ile boiler was worth a mint of money.” - -“I know it. They said she had fifty thousand dollars in oil aboard.” - -“And if Adoniram Tugg makes port with her he’ll turn a pretty penny. -Salvage and all,” ruminated Job. - -“What do you mean?” I gasped, suddenly awakened to the fact that I was -listening to a mighty queer story. - -“Why, that’s what Tugg was tugging,” and Job smote his knee and laughed -at his own joke. - -“He was tugging _what_?” - -“Why, I told you he had a ship in tow. She was a sight, she was! Her -masts were just stumps; there wasn’t ten feet of her rail that hadn’t -carried away, and she was battered and bruised and looked like she’d -sink under the surface every time a wave struck her. - -“But that cute Yankee had broached oil barrels on her deck, and she -was just wallowin’ along in a pond of ile--a reg’lar slick. The waves -couldn’t break over her,” declared Job, still laughing. “I reckon he’d -patched up her hull in some way, and it looked to me as though he’d tow -her into San Pedro, at least.” - -“But, man alive!” I cried. “What was she? What was the Sea Spell -towing?” - -“Why, that Firebrand,” he said. “And he’ll make a mint of money out of -her, as sure as you’re a foot high.” - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -_In Which I See That There Is Tragedy in This Ocean Race_ - - -I was dumfounded by this story of Job Perkins. Later it was -corroborated by the other hands. It had really been Adoniram Tugg and -the Sea Spell that had sailed near enough to this ship for conversation -between the two skippers. And the Sea Spell actually had that old -whaleship in tow. - -_This_ was the astonishing part of it: The fact that the Firebrand was -not at the bottom of the seas. I thought I had seen her rained upon by -ice--beaten down by the bursting berg--driven under the leaping waves. - -Yet, come to think of it, the rotating icefield had turned so as to -hide the frozen ship from us aboard the Gypsey Girl when the ice split -up, and a curtain of ice-mist and leaping waves had really hidden the -spot where the Firebrand lay. - -I had taken it for granted that the frozen ship--more than a year and -a half in the ice--had found her grave right then and there. But I -remembered how sound the hulk of the whaleship seemed when I went -aboard of her. Only her spars and upper works were wrecked. She had -collided with the ice and slid right out of the sea at the collision. -Perhaps the blow had never made her leak a drop! - -And then it smote upon my mind that the man of mystery, Tugg’s partner, -must be alive, too. - -That stern, sturdy man with his gray beard and hair, and his -wonderfully sharp eyes, who had stuck by the frozen ship when his -mates were driven off, and had battled against the gang of sealers -to preserve the treasure of oil from their greed--this man in whose -presence I had felt a thrill not yet to be explained even in my most -serious times of thought. Why, Professor Vose must be alive! There was -no doubt of that. - -I could remember very distinctly our brief interview upon the frozen -ship. How quickly he had disarmed me and showed me that he was my -master. I could imagine that he had not given up hope even when the -ice split up and the Firebrand had slid back into the water amid the -crashing bergs and boiling sea. - -Whoever this man was, he was a person of marked character. He had -impressed me deeply and I felt that I could never really get him out -of my mind. Be he Jim Carver, the renegade that had stolen money from -the fish firm back in Bolderhead, or Professor Vose, the marvelous -scientist that Tugg claimed him to be, the man who had risked his life -for the fortune of oil aboard the Firebrand, was an individual whom I -should never forget. - -I can’t say that I was as pleased, as the hours passed, with my -situation aboard the Seamew as I had been on her sister ship. In the -first place, I had no proper niche here. I was not one of the crew. I -was really an outsider--and from the enemy’s camp at that. - -There seemed to be a different spirit in this crew. They spoke more -bitterly of the Gullwing’s company. They seemed to have no good word -for Captain Bowditch and Mate Gates, and it was from Job Perkins that -I finally got an insight into the real significance of the rivalry -between the sister ships. - -“Ye wanter jump quick, young feller, when Mr. Barney speaks,” Job -advised me. - -“I know. That is the way it is with _our_ Mr. Barney,” I replied. - -“Shucks! Jim Barney’s another sort of a man from Alf Barney.” - -“Not to the naked eye,” I responded, laughing. “I couldn’t tell ’em -apart.” - -“That’s because you don’t know either of them very well.” - -“Why--I don’t know. I think I know our Mr. Barney pretty well. He’s a -smart second officer and altogether a good fellow, too.” - -“Smart! Why, he’s a fool to his brother Alfred,” declared Job. “They -ain’t in the same class--them boys. No, they ain’t.” - -“Why, I thought they were considered very much alike,” I murmured. - -“Alf will show Jim, I reckon, how much better he is,” and Job chuckled. -“Ye see, they useter be the best of friends, though brothers----” - -“What do you mean by that?” I cried. “Hadn’t brothers ought to be the -best of friends?” - -“Never had a brother, had ye?” - -“No. For which I’m awfully sorry.” - -“I had brothers. You needn’t be sorry,” said Job, in his sneering way. -“And I reckon that is the way Alf Barney looks at it. Brothers can be -in your way, I tell ye. I found it so. So does Alf Barney. Them boys is -rivals.” - -“Well, so are Captain Si and Captain Joe.” - -“Huh! Them old tarriers!” snorted Job, very disrespectfully. “They only -play at fighting each other. These Barney boys mean business.” - -“But why?” I demanded. - -“Well, it’s something about their uncle. You know, their uncle, old -Jothan Barney, is senior partner of the firm?” - -“Yes.” - -“And he’s put ’em into the business. Not that he’s showed favoritism. -No. These Barney twins air good seamen.” - -“I’m glad you will allow that,” I said, rather sharply. - -“Yes. Jim is good; but Alf is a corker! a crackajack!” chuckled Job. -“They begun to be rivals in a serious way previous to the v’yge before -last. - -“Ye see, there ain’t but one rung at the top o’ any ladder. And there -can’t but one man stand at the top of a pyramid. When old Jothan passes -in his checks there will be just one chance for a nephew to take his -place.” - -“You mean that the two boys are jealous of who will get the old man’s -money?” - -“And stand in his place in the business,” said Job. “Jothan isn’t one -for dividing power. He’s always been the cock o’ the walk in the firm. -He’ll expect the nephew that takes his place to be the boss. Can’t -divide responsibility. That is the way he looks at it.” - -“And a bad thing for the Barney boys,” I muttered. - -“Well, he puts it to his nephews two years ago,” continued Job Perkins. -“He tells them they’re running too even. He can’t tell which is the -best man. He don’t believe they are just alike, even if they be twins. - -“‘You git up and dust, boys,’ he said. ‘One of ye do something -different from the other. Ye air jest of a pattern. I can’t tell which -is the man and which is his reflection in the glass.’ - -“Ye understand, old Jothan didn’t know which to put down in his will to -be boss of his money and the firm. The boys have got to show him. He -gives ’em both the same chance, but he expects one to beat the other. - -“Old Jothan begun before the mast. He believes in the boys working out -their salvation aboard ship. And even so near a thing as these two -craft racin’, and one beating the other, will tell in the favor of the -second mate who’s aboard the winning ship.” - -“I can’t believe it!” I said to Job. - -“You don’t hafter--only watch. Old Jothan is getting tired of holding -on to the business. He wants to be shown who is the best man of the two -boys. That best one he’ll take into the House after this voyage--and -you mark my word, sonny, that best man is going to be Mr. Alf Barney.” - -I didn’t know whether Job had told me the truth, or not; but I was -sorry to learn of the sordid rivalry between the two brothers. It was -tragic--no less; and I wondered what would come of it in the end? - -But my wildest imaginings would have been tame indeed beside what -really was to be the outcome of the misunderstanding between Jim and -Alf Barney. - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -_In Which the Captain’s Dog Goes Overboard_ - - -The heavy weather could not last forever; we came to a comparatively -calmer season of several days. But the Gullwing was not sighted and I -began to be worried. So many things might easily happen to her. The -officers and crew of the Seamew were interested in finding the sister -ship, too; but their comments upon her absence were neither kindly nor -cheering. - -“Is she still ahead, or has she sunk?” demanded Cap’n Si, after an -examination of the entire circle of sea through his glass. - -“I bet we’ve sailed clean around her,” said the first mate, chuckling. -“She’s in the discard.” - -“No,” said Cap’n Si. “It couldn’t be that.” - -“She’s reached land, then,” grinned the mate pointing downward. - -I thought that after all, both the crew and officers of the Seamew were -little like my friends aboard the Gullwing. But we had such fitful -winds for a time and made so little speed, that I reckon all hands were -badly rasped. - -We sighted several craft in these seas--all windjammers; but none of -them proved to be our sister ship. We were now in the South Atlantic, -and had clawed well off from the threatening rocks of Terra del Fuego. -We had passed from one great sea to another, and the prow of the Seamew -was turned northward. She was headed for home in earnest. - -The men and officers were decent enough to me. I had been drafted into -the mate’s watch and I was smart at my duties and had learned a deal -aboard the Gullwing which came into good play aboard her sister ship. -But I wasn’t happy. - -The captain had a big Newfoundland dog aboard--Major. He was the pet of -the crew and was a good fellow. Every day that it was not too rough he -went overboard for his bath--usually in a sling made of an old sail, -although in these waters there was not so much danger of sharks as in -the more tropical seas. - -However, there were other wicked marine creatures--far more -blood-thirsty than Mr. Shark. And we had occasion to find this fact -out for ourselves within a few days of my coming aboard the Seamew so -strangely. - -We had a morning when the sea was almost calm. The wind scarcely gave -the ship headway, and the canvas slatted and hung dead, from time to -time. We all “whistled for a breeze.” - -Along about the middle of the morning watch a school of porpoises came -into view. First we saw them in a string to windward, and stories of -sea-serpents, told by both seamen and landsmen, came to my mind. In the -distance, following one another with an undulating motion through the -short seas, the porpoises looked like one enormously long creature--a -huge serpent indeed. - -The porpoises struck a school of small fish nearby and then there was -fun. The big fish sported all around the ship, rolling and bouncing -through the water in much excitement. - -The Captain’s dog likewise grew excited. He ran to the open rail and -barked and yapped at the sea-pigs; and I believe that one of the men -slyly “set him on” at the porpoises. - -However, to the surprise of the watch on deck (the captain was below), -Major suddenly leaped the rail and went plump into the water. - -“Hi, there!” cried Job Perkins. “That dog’ll git inter trouble; and -then what will Cap’n Si say?” - -I fancy the surprise of the porpoises when Major got among them was -quite as great as the amazement of the men on the deck of the slow -moving Seamew. The schooner was just slipping through the sea, the -short waves lapping against her hull very gently. Major could easily -have kept up with us. - -The porpoises were sailing around and around the ship by this time, -and the big dog bounced among them, barking and biting--or trying to -bite--and otherwise acting like a mad dog. He plunged first for one -porpoise, then for another, rising as lightly as a dog of cork on the -waves, and throwing himself about in great abandon. - -He so excited the porpoises that they made a general charge upon him. -The dog beat a retreat in a hurry; but the sea-pigs had their “dander -up” now and a score of them followed him, jumping, snorting, and -tumbling about, evidently much delighted at putting the black stranger -to flight. - -Major came towards the ship with a rush--his only refuge. The men -cheered him excitedly; and the watch below was aroused and rushed up to -see what was going on. So did Captain Somes appear, and the moment he -saw the dog with the big fish after him, he sang out for the sling and -scolded us unmercifully for letting Major overboard. - -I verily believe that the porpoises would have torn the noble fellow -to shreds in a very few minutes. When Major came over the side, he was -cut in several places and one of his ears hung from a thread or little -more. I learned then that, although the porpoise is such a playful -creature, and apparently harmless, it has means of defending itself not -to be sneered at! - -I was leaning on the forward port rail, looking idly across the stretch -of comparatively quiet sea (the porpoises having rushed away to -lee’ard), when I saw rising to the surface not many furlongs from the -ship’s side, a great brownish mass that I took to be seaweed. - -After a storm we often met fields of rock weed, wrenched from the -shallow banks underneath the ocean by the terrific waves. This rising -mass was not much different--in first appearance--from many weed-fields -I had seen. - -Mr. Alfred Barney was seldom on deck without his fowling-piece--a -beautiful, double-barreled shotgun--in weather like this. He was a -splendid wing shot and seemed to delight in bringing a gull flapping -down into the sea, although he never shot at albatross. - -“What you looking at, Webb?” he demanded of me, suddenly, coming around -the corner of the forward house, gun in hand. - -“Why, sir,” said I, just making up my mind that I had made a mistake -in my first diagnosis of the nature of the brown mass that had now -risen to the surface, “why, sir, I believe it is something alive.” - -“Something alive?” - -“That thing off there,” I replied, pointing to the object that had -attracted my attention. - -He stepped to my side quickly and shaded his eyes under the palm of his -hand as he gazed at the peculiar looking brown patch. - -“A whale’s back?” I suggested, as he remained silent. - -“No. It hasn’t got slope enough,” replied Mr. Alf Barney. “By George, -though! it’s alive.” - -“That’s what I thought,” I said. “I believed it moved--there!” - -A tremor of life seemed to seize the object and passed all through it. -Whatever it was, its length was fifty or sixty feet. - -“Maybe it’s dying,” I said. “Some great beast----” - -“Not a bat-fish,” he muttered, half raising his rifle. - -“No, sir. I don’t see either head or tail to it.” - -It moved again--rather, it quivered. I can scarcely express the feeling -of horror and dislike for the thing that came over me. I shuddered. - -“I wish it would go away,” I muttered. - -Mr. Barney laughed, shortly. He raised his gun again. Suddenly we heard -a sharp, mandatory voice behind us: - -“Don’t do that, Mr. Barney!” - -We both turned. It was the mate, Mr. Hollister. He was a dark, stern, -silent man, who spoke to the men without much bustle, but who evidently -expected to be obeyed the first time. - -“That’s a giant squid, Mr. Barney,” said the mate. “He’s ‘bad -medicine.’ You don’t want to fool with one of those fellows. I did so -once to my sorrow.” - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -_In Which I Learn a Deal About Sea Monsters in General and the Giant -Squid in Particular_ - - -“A squid of _that_ size?” cried the young second mate, doubtfully, -while I gave my closer attention to the long, dark brown body that lay -quivering upon the surface of the sea. - -“There’s bigger,” said Mate Hollister, grimly. “Ask any old Norwegian -hardshell about the ‘kraken.’ I don’t mean the octopus; I mean the real -devil-fish--the squid.” - -“I know the octopus and the squid are two different creatures,” said -Barney. - -“Yes. And that yonder is a squid--a devil-fish of the largest size. -There! you can see his fore-arms now--look!” - -I had observed something moving thirty feet beyond one end of the bulky -brown creature. Two snake-like tentacles suddenly whipped out of the -water. They bore between their ends a struggling fish. In a moment -tentacles and fish disappeared, apparently sucked in toward the head of -the monster. - -“Good-bye, Johnny Fish!” said Mr. Hollister, grimly. “The parrot-beaks -of that gentleman have snapped him up.” - -I had seen small squid. This beast lying on the sea so near us was -between fifty and sixty feet long, with an average diameter of -something like five feet, and a ten-foot breadth of tail. - -The squid are the natural food of the sperm whale. Often the whale -is so greedy for the squid that it tackles one of these giants and -swallows the hard and indigestible beak which, causing a disease -in the cetacean’s stomach, sometimes brings about the death of the -gourmand. As parts of squid beaks have been found imbedded in masses of -ambergris, scientists are quite convinced that this gormandizing of the -sperm whale on squid is the immediate cause of that secretion in its -stomach which, strange as it may seem, is the basis of many of the best -perfumes. Ambergris is a very valuable “by-product” of the sperm whale. - -The orca--that tiger of the sea--is inordinately fond of the squid, -too, as a diet. This devil-fish, with its eight short arms, each -covered on the underside with innumberable “suckers,” and its two -fishing-arms which have suckers only at the extremity, excites no fear -in the killer-whale. - -Concealed at the base of the squid’s ten arms is the terrible beak, -shaped like that of a hawk, except that the upper jaw shuts into the -lower. This beak is likewise dark brown in color, almost black at the -tips, and is supported by powerful muscles. - -Years ago there was a huge squid captured at Catalina, on the southern -shore of Trinity Bay, Newfoundland. This squid was bought by the New -York Aquarium and was the largest perfect specimen of its kind ever -examined by scientists. Of course, they had to satisfy themselves with -a post-mortem examination! - -The beak of this immense fish--which could not have been much larger -than the one we were contemplating from the deck of the Seamew--was as -big as a six-gallon keg. - -No animal can have a more formidable appearance, or a more deadly -grasp, than these squid. It would seem as though the long, flexible, -muscular tentacles were a sufficient means of defense and offense, -without their being armed with the terrible suction cups. - -These cups have a serrated edge like a handsaw, and are used for -anchors as well as to secure prey. They cling with the greatest -tenacity, it being easier to tear away an arm from the body of the -squid, than to force the beast to give up its hold. It has all the -desperate nature of a bulldog. - -The beak, or jaw, is provided with terrible teeth, and even the -tongue is covered on the upper part by a horny bed, bristling in the -center with a series of recurving teeth, while its edge is armed with -three other erect teeth, which are slender and hooked. A man might as -well put his hand into a knitting machine and expect to take it out -unscarred, as to risk a hand in the jaws of a squid. Those teeth tear -the creature’s food to shreds. - -And one other characteristic the squid possesses which gives it -advantage over both enemy and prey. When excited, and at will, it can -eject a substance like ink--indeed, it was used by the ancients as -ink--by which it clouds the sea, and so often escapes an enemy. Its own -eyes being of a phosphorescent nature, it can see well enough through -the haze of this cloud of ink, therefore its prey cannot escape. -Besides, its fishing-arms being three times the length of its other -tentacles, the squid can “fish a long way from headquarters.” - -This ink of the squid, or cuttle-fish, when dried, is used in -water-color painting, and is known by the name of “sepia.” It is -practically indestructible. - -Now, all this by the way of introducing the squid. The Seamew crept by -the creature and I, for one, was not sorry to see it finally disappear. -And from what the men told about the cuttle-fish I judged that it would -have been the part of unwisdom for Mr. Barney to have fired at the -creature. - -“Lemme tell you,” said old Job Perkins, leaning on the rail beside me. -“Them ain’t critters to fool with. I know. I been there and learned.” - -“Did you ever get real close to a big squid, Job?” I asked him. - -“Big enough and near enough to suit me,” he said, wagging his head and -expectorating over the rail. “I went up against a reef-squid once--in -the Galapagos, it was--and that was enough for Job. Yes, sir! - -“I was in the clipper ship Chelsea that time, I was,” continued the old -man, taking another “chaw.” “Cap’n Daggett ordered a boat ashore for -turtles. He shot ’em for soup and fresh meat. Good eatin’, too. But I -took a seal-club with me, for I wanted a sea-lion’s skin to make me a -pair of moccasins, and I’d heard ’em roaring when we dropped anchor. - -“I went off by myself and waded around a low, rocky point, in water not -ha’f knee deep, but deep jest outside, when I saw Mr. Squid moving -along atop of the water. He made considerable thrashing as he come -along, like a whirligig waterwheel; his body part looked bigger than I -am, and his arms two or three times as long--at any rate, them two long -arms was tremendous. - -“It headed into a little bay ahead of me,” pursued Job, “and when it -got into about three foot of water it dropped anchor and began to feel -around with three or four of its arms. The upperside of them arms were -brown colored like the rocks, with wrinkles and stiff bristles all -along the edge; the underside was white--sort of a nasty, yallerish, -dead-looking white--with suckers like saucers in two rows. What I took -to be the head had something like eyes; but I couldn’t make ’em out -plain. - -“Ye know how it is when ye see a snake, when you’re walking on shore,” -said old Job. “Ye always want to try and kill it. That’s the way I felt -about that squid. I didn’t think of any danger when I waded to it, but -it seemed to be watchin’ me, for it squared round, head-on. I hit it a -clip with my iron-bound seal-club, when, quick as a thought, it took -a turn around the club with one o’ them short suckers, and held on. I -pulled my blessedest, but the critter was too much for me. Then’s when -I’d oughter backed out. - -“But I was obstinate and I kept tugging at the club. Just then it -showed its head--it shot out from the knob in front, a brown-and-purple -spotted thing with the eyes showing. And in a second one of its arms -was around me. It wound around my bare leg and another shot around my -neck. The suckers took hold like a doctor’s cups. - -“It began to heave and haul on me. You kin guess I pulled and hollered. -I got out my knife and hacked at it, but it would have mastered me--it -sure would!--if Cap’n Daggett hadn’t come running along the shore and -fired both barrels of his gun into its head. Then it let go and slid -back into deep water, squirting its nasty ink all about. - -“I ain’t never fooled with no squid again,” concluded Job Perkins. -“They ain’t no pets.” - -It was later in that day, when I was standing my trick on lookout, and -the Seamew had got a better wind and was forging ahead at a spanking -pace, that Mr. Hollister and Mr. Barney stood near me and I heard the -second mate ask the older man about the experience _he_ had had with a -giant squid. - -“Yes,” said Mr. Hollister, “when I was a young fellow I ran against -one of those squids, and I never want to bother with another one. I -was mate of a little schooner--the Pearl, she was--150 tons and a crew -of six men forward, with the cook. We were bound from the Mauritius to -Rangoon in ballast, to return with paddy, and had put in at Galle for -water. Three days out we fell becalmed in the bay--about latitude 8 -degrees 50 minutes North, longitude 84 degrees 5 minutes East. - -“On the 10th of May about five o’clock in the afternoon--eight bells, I -know, had gone some time before--we sighted a two masted screw steamer -on our port quarter, about five or six miles off. Very soon after, as -we lay motionless on a sea like glass, a great mass rose slowly to the -surface about half a mile on our larboard side, and remained spread -out, as it were, and stationary. - -“Even at that distance I could see that it was fully as long as the -Pearl, and I sung out to the skipper to ask what he thought it was. - -“‘Blest if I know,’ says he. ‘Barring its size, color and shape, it -might be a whale. Some deep-sea critter, sure enough,’ and he dove -below and came up with a heavy rifle. - -“The crew was discussing it, too, and as the skipper was preparing to -fire at the thing, Bill Darling, a Newfoundlander, exclaimed, putting -up his hand: - -“‘Have a care, Skipper. That ere is a squid and it’ll capsize ye if ye -hurt him.’ - -“I’d heard of squid, and seen squid,” proceeded Mr. Hollister, “and so -had the skipper. But we both laughed at old Bill. The skipper up with -his gun and let her go. He hit the thing, and it shook all over; there -was a great ripple all around him and he began to move. - -“‘Out with all your axes and knives!’ shouted Bill, ‘and cut at any -part of him that comes aboard.’ - -“The old fellow taking the deck in that way made the skipper mad, and I -was some surprised myself. You know how old sailors are--superstitious, -as Negroes were in slavery. We couldn’t do anything to move the -schooner, of course, and the skipper and I didn’t say a thing to the -crew. Bill and the two others got axes and one other a rusty cutlass. -We were all looking over the side at the advancing monster; but I for -one, didn’t believe it was dangerous. - -“We could now see a huge, oblong mass, moving by jerks, just under the -surface of the water, and an enormous train following. The oblong body -was at least half the size of the Pearl and just as thick. The wake, -or trail, might have been a hundred feet long. - -“In the time I’ve taken to tell you,” said Mr. Hollister, “the brute -struck us and the ship quivered under the thud; I wasn’t scared a mite -until then. The skipper gave a yell and plugged away with his rifle -another time. And then monstrous arms like trees seized the vessel and -she keeled over; in another second the monster was aboard, squeezing -its great polypus bulk in between the two masts. - -“Bill screamed, ‘Slash for your lives!’ But all our slashing and -yelling didn’t do a mite of good. Holding on by his arms, the monster -slipped back into the sea again, and dragged the vessel down with him -on her beam-ends. - -“The skipper and I were thrown into the water. I caught sight of old -Bill and one of the others squashed up betwixt the mast and one of them -arms. It was an awful sight, I tell you. - -“Of course, the Pearl’s hatches were open and in a few moments she -filled and went down. Those two went with her. The rest of us escaped -the brute’s tentacles and a boat from the Strathowen--the steamer we’d -seen--picked us up a little later. - -“That was the finish of the Pearl and two brave men,” added Mr. -Hollister, gravely. “And she isn’t the only craft that’s been carried -down by a giant squid. Most folks I’ve told it to think it’s a sailor’s -yarn. But the crew and the passengers of the Strathowen could swear to -it--and did so, too. The story was printed in the Indian papers when we -reached Madras. And you’ve seen one of the beasts yourself, to-day, and -know to what an enormous size they grow. There are dangerous monsters -in the sea, Mr. Barney; but I reckon there’s nothing worse than a -healthy, full-grown devil-fish.” - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -_In Which a Signal Retards the Race_ - - -It was at six bells in the morning watch of the next day that the -lookout in the top sang out the wailing cry: - -“On deck!” - -“Crow’s nest, ahoy!” responded Mr. Hollister, who had the deck. - -“Sail-oh!” - -“Where away?” - -“Two points off the weather bow. Four-sticker! It’s that blessed -Gullwing, by Jiminy Christmas!” responded the sharp-eyed seaman aloft. - -There was as much excitement aboard the Seamew now as though this was -the first time her sister ship had been spied in the offing. We ran up -the shrouds to see her better, and the officers were all on deck with -their glasses. - -She came snorting up to us on the starboard tack, all her bright canvas -bellying, and so trim and taut that it was a pleasure to gaze upon her. -I felt a thrill of delight as I watched the Gullwing. Aboard of her -was my chum, Thankful Polk, and my other friends, and I wished with all -my heart that I might rejoin them. - -But I knew very well that under the present circumstances that would be -impossible. Had the two schooners been becalmed the day before, side by -side, I might have got Cap’n Si to put me aboard the Gullwing. - -But one thing I did beg the captain of the Seamew to do, and, after -some little demur, he agreed to it. He ordered Mr. Barney to bring out -the signal flags, kept in the chest amidships, and instructed him to -inform Captain Bowditch that the Seamew had picked up, alive, the lost -member of his crew. - -This signaling was not done until the Gullwing was so near that both -ships were about to tack. As soon as the line of flags was run up on -the Seamew, they hustled about on the Gullwing and replied. Nor did -Captain Bowditch shift his helm at once. The sister ships continued to -approach each other. - -The Seamew had plainly overtaken the Gullwing, and now, when she -sheered off, she would begin to creep ahead of the craft in which I -was the more interested. With the wind as it was, and nothing untoward -occurring, the Seamew was bound to gain something over her rival in -each leg she made. - -“What’s he sayin’?” bawled Cap’n Si to Mr. Barney. - -I had already learned something about the signal code, and when the -second mate’s back was turned I got a squint at the codebook. Captain -Bowditch was asking if the Seamew would heave to and send me aboard! - -“Cap’n Joe is sure cracked!” cackled the commander of the Seamew. “Tell -him I wouldn’t do it for a hull barrel of greening apples.” - -I reckon Mr. Barney put the refusal more briefly. But the Gullwing -continued to hang in the wind while another line of flags was run up -to her fore. The book told me that the signal read: “I’ll send boat -aboard.” - -“No he won’t, by jinks!” crowed Cap’n Si. “Nor he wouldn’t wanter do it -if he warn’t so blamed short-handed. Stow your flags, Mr. Barney. Stand -by. Ready! haul sheet!” and he went ahead and gave swift orders to put -the Seamew about on the other tack. - -But I was glad that those aboard the Gullwing knew that I was alive. I -could imagine Thank’s relief, and how surprised and--I hoped--glad, the -others would be to know that I had not found my grave in the ocean. I -even thought kindly of Bob Promise, the bully, and believed that he -was likewise thinking kindly of me at that moment. - -“And to serve Cap’n Si out for not being willing to meet Cap’n Joe half -way, and let them take me aboard,” I muttered to myself, “I hope the -Gullwing beats the Seamew all to flinders!” - -The Seamew, however, gained slowly upon her sister ship. On every tack -that day she made a better showing. Sometimes the Gullwing was below -the horizon; but whenever we sighted her she was dropping back a bit. -The wind remained steady and from a favorable quarter and by and by the -night dropped down and divided the two ships more effectually than the -sea itself. - -As the light faded upon sea and sky we sailed under a vast, -black-velvet canopy embroidered upon which were the countless stars -and planets. Constellations that I knew nothing about glowed from the -depths of the firmament; and brighter than all was the Southern Cross. -The moon had dipped below the horizon and therefore the Cross and the -stars were the more brilliant. I paced the deck alone and thought of -my mother, and wondered what she was doing just then, and if Chester -Downes was still trying to circumvent me, and Mr. Hounsditch, and gain -control of the fortune, possession of which he so much begrudged my -mother and myself. - -And a thought came to me from out the stillness and immensity of that -night--a thought that forever after seemed to haunt me; was there not -some curse upon my grandfather’s huge property, which had been willed -my mother and I under such wicked conditions? For that Grandfather -Darringford’s will had been inspired by hatred of Dr. Webb, my father, -one could not doubt. - -Had my father not been drowned as he was off White Rock, that will -of grandfather’s would have been the source of heartburnings in the -family. Human nature is human nature; the time would have come when the -fact that Dr. Webb was a stumbling-block to his son’s advancement, or -his wife’s ease, would have been advanced. That is, if my father had -remained all these years a poor man. And what else could he have been -with his practice in Bolderhead? - -Men get stunted in small towns--especially professional men. Dr. Webb -could never have made much more than a miserably poor living for -mother and I had he lived; and all that time the thought of the great -Darringford Estate would have been the skeleton in our closet! - -It was better as it was, I suppose. It had been a dream that my father -was still alive. I believe I would have gladly given up my share of my -grandfather’s money to have found that the mysterious man aboard the -frozen ship was my father! I had been strangely drawn toward that man. - -Besides, I felt now as though I were old enough and big enough to make -my own way in the world, and to keep my mother in comfort, if not in -luxury, as well. - -Dawn drew near and the stars began to fade. Soon the deck would be -a-bustle with our watch washing down. We had probably crossed and -recrossed the way of the Gullwing during the night, but she had not -been hailed from the lookout. - -As the light of day advanced the wind fell. We hardly made steerage-way -in the pearl-colored light of dawn. The coming day is heralded ashore -by hundreds of feathered trumpeters; but here on the open sea it -advances with silence. - -Far, far out on the sea, where the gently swelling water seemed -buttoned to the rim of the sky, a sudden flush appeared. The hue lay -upon both sky and sea--indeed, it was hard to distinguish for a bit the -one element from the other. But I knew the sun was about to poke his -head up just there! - -And as the glow grew, a ghostly figure drew across the pink patch. -I watched it eagerly. The sun, mist-shrouded and sleepy, was thrust -out of the sea; and across the red face of him sailed a four-stick -ship--the Gullwing! It did not need the man in the crow’s nest to hail -the officer of the deck and announce the fact. I could identify our -sister ship from where I stood. - -Long red rays like pointing fingers played across the sea. The Gullwing -and the Seamew were several miles apart. The early rays of the sun -touched an object on the sea--at first merely a black spot--lying about -equi-distant of the two ships. - -When I first saw this black thing I sprang into the shrouds. Mr. -Hollister hailed me: - -“What do you see, Webb?” - -“Something adrift--yonder, sir!” - -“Lookout, ahoy!” bawled the mate. - -“Aye, aye, sir! I sees it.” - -“What d’ye make it out to be?” demanded the mate. - -“It’s the black hulk of an open boat,” I cried, as the seaman above -hesitated. I expect the rising sun half blinded him. “There’s a stump -of a mast and she seems decked over forward--no! it’s an awning.” - -“A ship’s boat?” cried the mate, eagerly. - -“Aye, aye, sir!” came down the voice of the man in the top. “That’s -what she be. And wrecked. Not a sign of life aboard her.” - -“How is it, Webb?” Mr. Hollister repeated. - -“I see nothing moving,” I admitted, slowly. - -Mr. Hollister sent down for his glass, and then joined me in the -shrouds. The deck was all a-bustle by now. Cap’n Si came up, rubbing -his eyes and yawning. - -“What’s the matter with all you lubbers?” was his pleasant demand. -“What’s that--the Gullwing? Ain’t you never seen her before?” - -“Drop your eyes a bit, Captain,” advised Mr. Hollister, swinging down -after a look through his glass. - -“Huh!” exclaimed the skipper. “A boat.” - -“Yes, sir.” - -“Empty?” - -“It looks so,” replied Mr. Hollister, and passed him the glass. - -“Ain’t wuth picking up,” decided Cap’n Si, after a long look at the -drifting boat. - -He closed the glass. Mr. Hollister waved me down and turned to order -the watch to work, when the man in the tops hailed again. He was in a -better position to see into the drifting boat than anybody else. - -“I see something moving in that boat, sir!” - -“What do you see?” bawled Cap’n Si. - -“It’s something fluttering--a flag, or a rag. There it is!” - -There were light airs stirring. Suddenly something upon the broken mast -moved. A flaw of wind fluttered something fastened there. Was it a -signal of distress? Was some poor creature adrift in the half wrecked -boat? - -I wondered what Cap’n Si would do. To ignore a flag of distress--to -pass by the opportunity of rescuing a fellow-creature from death--would -be an awful thing. Yet there might be nobody in the boat. I could see -the old man doubted. - -And then the lookout hailed again: - -“The Gullwing’s dropping a boat, sir!” - -“That’s enough!” roared Cap’n Si, all in a bluster at once. “I won’t -let Cap’n Joe do more’n me. Mr. Barney!” The second mate had followed -him on deck. “Call away a boat’s crew.” - -“Aye, aye, sir!” was the second mate’s smart response. - -“Beat the Gullwing’s boat to that barge. Understand me? You git there -first. I ain’t goin’ to let Joe Bowditch crow over me in Baltimore. -Mebbe the boat’s wuth savin’ after all.” - -Before he had ceased speaking Mr. Barney had shouted down the fo’castle -hatchway and his watch tumbled up. I had slid down the stays to the -deck and was right beside the boat Mr. Barney had elected to launch. I -wanted to go in that boat, but I belonged to the mate’s watch and knew -I would not be selected. - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -_In Which We Have a Good Race In Earnest_ - - -And I had an idea that if I asked the captain to go in the boat, or -suggested it to Mr. Barney, I’d get an immediate refusal. I had a -decided belief that Captain Somes didn’t wish me to get aboard the -Gullwing again. Not that he needed my services particularly--although -my work was costing him nothing but my grub and the cast-off clothes I -had been given; but Captain Si feared that Captain Joe needed me, and -my remaining with the Seamew was crippling his rival. Which, by the -way, was likely to be the facts in the case. - -So, with this scheme in my mind, I expect I was even more cautious than -was necessary. I might have been unnoticed had I jumped right into the -boat as it went overboard. - -But when I heard Mr. Barney call off the men’s names, I noted that Job -Perkins was among the chosen. I had sized up Job for what he was. I -grabbed him as he passed me on the run and shot into his ear: - -“Listen! ten dollars when we reach Baltimore if you’ll let me take your -place in the boat.” - -“Huh?” said Job, wonderstruck for a moment. But it was only for a -moment. The old fellow had all his wits about him and in working order. - -“It’s a bargain, boy,” he whispered, and the next moment he fell -sprawling over a coil of rope and scrambled up again right before Mr. -Barney. - -“Hullo! what’s the matter with you, old man?” demanded the second -officer. - -“Ow-ouch!” groaned Job, rubbing his arm. - -“Hurt you?” snapped Mr. Barney. - -“By gravey! I _did_ wrench my arm,” groaned Job, his face writhing with -an expression of pain. - -I stepped in at once. “I’ll take his place, sir,” I said. - -“All right!” cried the officer, without a glance, and I slid down the -falls and seized the bow oar. - -In another moment the officer followed me, getting into the stern, and -we cast off. - -“You git that boat for me, Mr. Barney!” bawled Cap’n Si, over our -heads. “Don’t you let them fellers from the Gullwing beat ye.” - -“We’ll do our best,” responded Mr. Barney, waving his hand. Then to us -he said: “Give way, men! See what you can do. Bend the ash!” - -Before we had left the deck of the Seamew we knew that the Gullwing’s -boat was off ahead of us. It looked as though the drifting boat was -about as far from one vessel as she was from the other. The air being -so light, we would have lost time trying to beat down to the spot. The -race was between the six-oared boats, and I do not believe any college -regatta was ever pulled amid more intense excitement. - -At first, however, as we were so low in the water, we could not see our -rival. Nor could we scarcely observe the object of our race. - -But over these gentle waves we could pull a mighty stroke, and I found -that the men with me at the oars were practiced hands. The strokeman -set a pace that made us bend our backs in good earnest. This was a race! - -Mr. Barney was using a steering oar, and using it well. He stood up to -the work, and therefore he could see much farther than we at the oars. -By glancing now and then over my left shoulder, however, I could see -the black hulk of the drifting boat rising and falling upon the gentle -waves. - -And at first I saw nothing about the boat to express life saving the -fluttering rag. It was a flag. After some minutes of hard pulling it -was revealed to us that it was a British flag, set union down. - -As I pulled I saw that Mr. Barney was looking across at some other -object than the mysterious black craft. His eyes were squinted up as he -gazed into the rising sun, and the expression of his face was mighty -grim. - -“He sees the Gullwing’s boat,” I thought. - -“Pull, you fellows!” he suddenly barked at us. “Why don’t you pull?” - -And we _were_ pulling. I could stand the pace for a bit longer, I -thought; but the stroke was certainly bending his back and driving his -oar with a vigor that left little more to be expected from mortal man. - -“Pull!” yelled our mate. “Pull, or those lubbers will beat you to it.” - -There was no feathering of oars, or any fancy work. This was just the -hard, deep pull of the deep-sea oarsman. We breathed heavily; the -sweat poured from our limbs; we neither spoke nor looked back over our -shoulders now. We became veritable pieces of mechanism, set to do this -certain stroke, and to do it until we broke down completely! - -“Keep it up! Break your backs!” yelled the second mate. - -I had an idea that there was an added incentive for Mr. Barney’s -excitement. His twin brother more than likely commanded the boat from -the Gullwing. But we at the oars could not see her yet. - -Nearer and nearer we came to the drifting boat. Our craft sprang -through the sea at the end of every stroke. Had one of the oars broken -I believe we would have been capsized. - -Once more I glanced around. Not a sign of life in that floating mystery -with its signal floating from the broken mast. But there _was_ a bit of -canvas spread forward of that mast, like an awning. - -Mr. Barney saw me look back and he swore at me good and plenty. - -“You want us to lose this race, you sawney!” he exclaimed. - -I was convinced that, for his part, he was more anxious to beat the -Gullwing’s crew--and incidentally his brother--than to save any life -there might be remaining on the wreck. - -But perhaps I misjudged Mr. Alfred Barney. We were all excited. Even -I, who had no reason for wishing to see the Seamew’s boat win, pulled -my oar with every last ounce of strength I possessed. Mr. Barney had -accused me without warrant of trying to throw the race. - -The two racing boats were not head-on to each other, but were -approaching the wreck at an angle that now brought each in sight of the -other. When the Gullwing’s boat flashed into the range of my eyes I saw -half a dozen of the men I knew. There was Thankful Polk, heaven bless -him, and Mr. Jim Barney at the steering oar. The sight of them made me -feel good all over. - -But I could not see the wreck now without twisting my head around. And -if I did that I knew I should bring the wrath of our second mate upon -me. The Gullwings cheered. For a moment I did not know what for. Could -they be winning? - -And then Thank’s jolly voice reached me across the stretch of sea: - -“Hurray, Clint! Go it, old boy! You’re a sight for sore eyes!” - -But I had no breath with which to answer. And I reckon if he had been -pulling his oar as I was, he would not have been so boisterous. - -The strain of the last few minutes of the race was terrific. My breath -came in great sobs, and I heard the other men with me groan as they -strained at the heavy oars. We were about all in. - -“Pull, you tarriers!” barked Mr. Alf Barney again. - -“Keep it up, boys!” yelled Mr. Jim Barney in the other boat. - -I saw scowling looks exchanged between the twin brothers. It must be -true, as Job Perkins had said, the two Barney boys were deadly enemies! - -Then suddenly our cox shouted: “In oars! Way all!” - -I felt the nose of the boat bump something behind me. I dropped my oar -and turned to seize the broken gunwale of the drifting hulk we had -pulled so hard to reach. We of the Seamew had won the race. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - -_In Which I Return to the Gullwing--and With My Arms Full_ - - -I hadn’t breath enough left at first to answer Thankful Polk’s hail. -And when my eyes fell upon the contents of the drifting boat that we -had pulled so far to reach, what I saw was not calculated to aid me to -easy breathing. Lying upon his back, face upwards, in the glare of the -morning sun, lay a man, bareheaded and barefooted, dead. - -And such an awful death as he must have died! His face was quite black, -although he was a white man by nature, it was as though the blood had -been congested in his face. His tongue had protruded slightly from -between his firm, white teeth. His legs were drawn up as though in a -convulsion and the corpse had stiffened that way. His limbs had not -been composed by any kindly hand after the spirit had left its body. - -He was a sailor. There was tattooing on his chest and arms. He had a -short, bushy beard. I believed at first glance that he was a British -seaman. And almost at this first moment of glancing into the boat I -made another discovery. I learned how the man had died. - -His tongue was not black; and although he was much emaciated, neither -thirst nor hunger had hounded the sailor to his dreadful end. - -He wore a gully slung by a lanyard around his neck. That knife was -twisted tightly in the cord, and the cord itself was imbedded in the -flesh of the dead man’s throat. Actually a tournequet had been made of -the knife and cord, and the sailor had been strangled. He was a horrid -sight, as he lay with his feet to the empty stern and his touseled head -thrown back over a seat. - -Perhaps many of the details of this awful scene were a matter of later -observation; but it seems to me now as though everything about the dead -man was photographed upon my brain at the first glance. - -And then my gaze roved beyond him. There was a piece of sailcloth laid -across the bow of the open boat beyond the stump of the mast. It was -dark under that awning. But right at the entrance lay something white -and gold. - -Without waiting for any order from Mr. Barney, I stood up and leaped -into the half wrecked boat. I heard none of the other men speak a -word. All my attention was given to the object which my dazzled eyes -now rested upon. - -A young girl--the prettiest, most appealing child I had ever seen--lay -under the awning. Her head was toward me. Her face was as white as -milk, and the blue veins showed plainly at her temples and were traced -along her throat. Her cheeks were without an iota of color. - -She was all white--her face, her thin, ruffled dress--the bare arm from -which the sleeve had been pushed back to her elbow. All white, save -the great mass of her hair. That was gold--pure gold. Such a beautiful -child I had never imagined before. She was twelve or thirteen years old. - -“What’s that you got there, Webb?” I heard Mr. Alf Barney shout. - -I had dropped on my knees beside the unconscious girl. I saw that she -was only delicate and exhausted. There was a breaker of water lashed -to the gunwale right beside her, and a cup with water in it. I saw no -food; but I knew well enough that the girl was not dying of thirst. No -more than the sailor had died of thirst! - -I gathered the girl up in my arms. She was a light weight. I thought -she sighed and her eyelids fluttered. - -And then suddenly sounded a raucous bellow, in a strange tongue, from -within the decked-over portion of the boat. Something moved. I leaped -back and almost trod upon the dead man. - -Out from under the awning crept a tall, lean, lithe brown man, dressed -in torn sailor togs, but with a dirty turban around his head. He was a -wild-eyed, yelling fiend. In a moment there flashed out of his dress, -from some secret place, a long, glittering blade. With this raised -above his head he bounded in his bare feet the length of the boat after -me. - -At that moment the boat from the Gullwing scraped alongside the wreck. -As I whirled to escape this murderer, this boat was nearest to me. -Thankful Polk, his red face transfixed with horror, shouted to me: - -“Here, Sharp! Quick! This way!” - -Their boat was really nearest me. I leaped into it. Thank shoved off -with his oar and the boat and the wreck were separated by a growing -streak of sea. - -The men in both boats all talked at once; and the two Mr. Barneys -shouted; but above all the uproar I could hear the frenzied shrieks of -the brown man in the turban. - -“Come back, here, Webb!” cried the second officer in the Seamew’s -boat. “We’ll take that child with us.” - -“Sit down, Clint!” commanded Mr. Jim Barney, quietly. “You’ll have us -swamped.” - -I obeyed him quickly. Thank smote me a hearty blow between the -shoulders. - -“Sharp! you’re a daisy! I knowed they couldn’t never drown you,” he -declared. - -But I couldn’t reply to him. I still held the girl in my arms. There -seemed to be no good place there in the stern to lay her down. And she -was so frail, and soft, and pretty! I had never seen such a delicate -creature before. - -We were still moving from the wreck and the Seamew’s boat, the men -backing water. There was a splash and a louder yell from the Seamew’s -men. I glanced over my shoulder. I could see the turbanned head of the -wild man and his thin, bare arms beating the water. He was swimming -desperately after our boat. - -“That monkey’ll be drowned,” Thank cried. - -“We kin get away from him easy,” said another of the rowers. - -“He’ll be drowned,” I said to Mr. Barney. “We’ll have to take him in.” - -“I reckon that’s so, Webb,” said the second mate. “The Seamew is -welcome to the old tub--and the dead man.” - -The brown man came to the side of our boat, panting and moaning. He was -near spent. - -“I believe he belongs to this girl and he thinks we’re running off with -her,” said Mr. Barney. - -“He’s crazy as he can be,” said Thank. - -“Help him in. See that he doesn’t have that knife. If he doesn’t -behave, we can lash his wrists together,” said Mr. Barney. - -The foreign looking man was hauled in. He lay panting on the bottom, -between Mr. Barney and I. We were being hailed from the other boat. - -“Let that Webb come back with us, you fellows!” cried Mr. Alf Barney. -“Cap’n Si will be furious.” - -“He belongs to the Gullwing,” said our Mr. Barney, promptly. “You can’t -have him.” - -“We’ll see about that--” - -“See about it, then,” said the officer, shortly. Then to his own crew -he said: “Give way, men! Altogether, now.” - -We swept away on a graceful curve and headed for the Gullwing. Mr. -Barney nodded to me with a smile. - -“You certainly had a close call for your life, Clint,” he said. “Luck -was with you when you went overboard from the Gullwing, after all. -Everybody gave you up for lost--save Thank there. He swore that if you -went to the bottom you could walk ashore, somehow.” - -At that moment the brown man drew a longer breath and struggled to his -knees. Mr. Barney reached forward to seize him; but I saw that the -foreigner’s eyes glowed no longer with the wild light that had made him -look so savage. - -“Sahib,” he said softly, “is Her Innocence safe? Is the Missee -unharmed? Is it well with her?” - -I looked down at the child’s face. She was breathing quietly, but her -eyes were still closed. - -“She is asleep. She does not seem to be harmed,” I said. - -“Sahib! I was overcome. I had watched so long. Two long weeks have -we been in that boat. Water we had, but little food. That food I had -brought myself for Missee. One man become touched of the finger of the -gods and leaped overboard. The other desired the fragments of food -which only remained for Her Innocence. I felt myself fast losing the -thread of life. Then--the other man died.” - -I knew what he meant. I understood how that man had been strangled by -the lanyard around his neck that the food might be saved for the girl. -I guess this strange man was pretty nearly a savage; but I believed -then--and I believe now--that he had done right. - -“I--Dao Singh--then fell asleep, Sahib. I believed it was to be my last -sleep. But the Missee had her food and the water.” - -“I see,” I said, for he spoke only to me, even ignoring Mr. Barney. -“Now you will both be saved. Our ship is at hand.” - -“It is well, Sahib,” he sighed. “Dao Singh--is the Sahib’s--servant--” - -He fell back into the bottom of the boat and his eyes closed. I feared -he had died then and there; but Mr. Barney bent over him, opened his -shirt, felt of his heart, and then nodded to me with encouragement. - -“He’s asleep,” he said. “Just done up--plucky brown devil. A Hindoo, -I take it. These folks were from a British ship; but that boat had no -name on her.” - -Half an hour later we pulled under the Gullwing’s rail. All hands were -there to eagerly welcome us. We caught the falls and they hauled us up -to the davits, heavy as the boatload was. - -As we swung inboard I leaped down to the deck, still bearing the -unconscious girl in my arms. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - -_In Which We Learn the Particulars of the Wreck of the Galland_ - - -Captain Joe Bowditch smiled down broadly at me from the poop as -I leaped to the deck; but when he saw the burden in my arms his -countenance changed queerly. - -“What in the name o’ goodness you got there?” he barked. - -“A little girl, Captain Bowditch,” I replied. - -“A little--well! what d’ye think o’ that?” he gasped, waddling down the -ladder. “Ye didn’t git that aboard the Seamew? Nor out o’ the ocean -when ye went overboard, neither?” - -“No, sir,” said Mr. Barney, who had followed me. “She is what we found -in that drifting boat--part of what we found, at least.” - -“A gal! Moses ter Moses, and all hands around!” groaned the captain. -“Whatever will we do with a gal aboard the Gullwing?” - -“I don’t see how we could have left her there, Captain,” laughed Mr. -Barney. - -“Now, don’t ye cackle!” snapped the old man. “Why didn’t you leave her -for Cap’n Si? He’s a man that’s more used to female children than I be. -Why, Cap’n Si’s sister married a man whose brother got spliced to a -widder woman that had twin gal babies. He’s more fitten to take such a -responsibility than what I be.” - -He looked as though he thought he had proved his case, too. But I was -too much worried over the condition of the pretty creature in my arms -to pay much attention to his growling. - -And when the Hindoo was brought inboard, Captain Joe went off into -another fit. “Holy smoke!” he yelled. “Another useless critter to feed. -Didn’t you leave nothin’ in that boat for the Seamew?” - -“We left a dead man,” chuckled one of the men. - -“Well--we could have buried him easy,” grunted the old man. “Take that -nigger below and find out what seems to be the matter with him.” - -But his bark was a whole lot worse than his bite. He hurried away -to open the spare cabin for the girl, and I followed him into the -afterhouse, still bearing her in my arms. - -Mr. Bates, who had the deck, came to look down upon her pretty, white -face as I started below. - -“Bless her!” he murmured. “Have a care with her, Clint. Glad to see you -again, boy. Ah! that pretty one ought to bring us luck, sure enough.” - -“Come right this way, boy, and lay her in the bed,” ordered Captain -Bowditch. “My! she looks bad--but pretty! Sh! is she asleep?” - -And then the trembling lids, with their long golden lashes, opened -slowly. With her complexion and hair, I had expected to look into blue -eyes. But I was astonished to find that the little creature’s orbs were -a beautiful, deep, deep brown, with golden sparks in their depths. My -face was so close to hers at the moment her lids parted that I could -see the reflection of my own countenance in the pupils. - -“My soul!” murmured Captain Joe, looking over my shoulder, “she’s jest -the prettiest thing I ever see.” - -Her wan face changed slowly. A faint color was breathed over it. She -gazed steadily into my countenance, and it was evident that I did not -frighten her. She put up one hand and touched my cheek. I tell you, the -touch thrilled me! - -Then her eyes closed again, she sank deeper into the pillow, and was -again asleep. - -“Here, boy!” croaked the master of the Gullwing, trying to speak -softly. “You run and tell the doctor to kill a chicken and make some -broth--strong broth, now. Don’t want no ‘phantom soup’--suthin’ that -tastes like a chicken did more than wade through a gallon of water on -stilts. If he don’t make it good I’ll be in his wool!” - -I ran to do his bidding. I knew very well that the little girl would -have the very best of everything there was upon the big schooner. - -In the dog-watch I held a regular reception. The men were eager to hear -the story of my adventure overboard, and old Tom Thornton declared I -might live to be “a second Methuserlum” and never experience a closer -call than that. Old Stronson shook his head. - -“De poy iss fey,” he muttered, shaking his head. - -“He’s sure a lucky youngster,” declared Bob Promise. “No wonder he got -the best of me when we had our set-to.” - -Thank and I had much to talk over. I know my chum had suffered in -spirit when it seemed that I was drowned. He never would admit to the -others that he had given up hope of seeing me again. Now he clung close -around me and did not seem to want to let me out of his sight--not -even long enough for me to go down to take a look at Dao Singh. - -“Let that Jasper be, Sharp,” Thank drawled. “You can’t kill a nigger -easy--sleep won’t hurt him. If he was pretty near two weeks on watch in -that boat, no wonder he’s all in.” - -“He is a faithful creature,” I said. “And he must love his mistress.” - -“That Jasper’s taken a fancy to you, too,” Thank said. “You’re ‘it’ -with him.” - -I did not realize at the time how very right Thank was, and what it -meant to be canyonized by Dao Singh. - -The report came forward that the little girl had taken some of the -broth the cook had made, was seemingly satisfied with her surroundings, -and had gone to sleep again. Mr. Barney told me that Cap’n Bowditch was -peeking in at her every hour or so, and that it was plain the old man -was prepared to get down on the deck and let his little visitor walk on -him--if she so desired. - -But in the morning watch they called me and I found that the girl -wanted to go up on deck, but had asked to be lifted by the boy who had -taken her from the wrecked boat. She remembered me, then! And I had not -really supposed she had seen me until after I had lain her down in the -berth and she had opened her eyes. - -She had had some breakfast. There was a little flush in her face. She -looked much brighter, and when she saw me she smiled delightfully. - -“I know your face!” she said, and although her voice was weak, it -was as sweet as a tinkling silver bell. “I was sure I could not be -mistaken.” - -“Mistaken?” I asked, puzzled. - -“Yes. You were the boy I saw before--oh, long, long before I came here.” - -That puzzled me, and I suppose my face must have shown my surprise. She -laughed--a pretty, resonant chime. I fell for that voice of hers! - -And then what she said about seeing me so long before got me going, too. - -“Say, you never saw me before I got you out of that boat,” I declared. - -“Oh, yes, I did,” she returned, confidently. “I haven’t been aboard -this big ship long, have I?” - -“Only since yesterday,” I admitted. - -“That is what the nice captain told me,” she returned, as though -satisfied. - -“Then you’ve seen me just once before. When I brought you below -yesterday.” - -“But you took me out of the boat?” - -“Yes.” - -“And held me all the time we were getting here?” - -“Yes, ma’am!” - -“I knew it,” she breathed, smiling up into my face again. “I knew it -couldn’t be all just a dream.” - -The captain had fixed a chair himself, with blankets and the like, in -the shade of the afterhouse. There I laid her down and then, having no -further orders, would have gone forward to my own place. But she clung -to my hand. - -“You sit down here on the deck beside me, tell me your name, and all -about you,” she said. “For although I saw you so long ago, I never -learned who you were.” - -I looked up at Mr. Gates and the Captain and slyly tapped my forehead. -I believed she was lightheaded. The old man nodded and said, gruffly -enough, for he was deeply moved: - -“You stay with her, Clint. Do jest what she wants ye to.” - -“Clint?” she repeated, questioningly. “Is that your name?” - -“Clinton Webb,” I replied. - -“Clinton is pretty. You are English?” - -“I should say not!” I exclaimed. “American.” - -“Oh, yes! I am an English girl; but I have lived in British India most -all my life.” - -“That’s it, Miss,” I said, knowing that the captain and mate were dying -to hear her story. “You tell us all about it. How did you come in that -boat? And what vessel was it that was wrecked?” - -“We sailed in the Galland, a big steamship, from Calcutta,” said the -girl softly. “I was with friends. They were taking me home--‘home’ -means England to all British India people who are white.” - -“Then you were going to relatives?” - -“I do not know. I am not sure. My father had some people--_once_. But -they treated him unkindly, I believe. He had not heard from them for -years. My father was Captain Erskin Duane. He died very, very suddenly. -My mother had been a long time dead,” and the tears now began to fill -her eyes and creep down her pale cheeks. - -“Friends who were about to go to England took me on the Galland with -them. These were Mr. Suffix, and Mr. and Mrs. Traine, and Cecelia -Traverstone.” - -“Were they saved?” asked Mr. Gates, quietly. - -“I do not know. I think not. I think the steamer’s boilers blew up and -smashed most of the boats and liferafts, so that few were saved,” said -the girl, simply. - -“You poor child!” breathed Captain Bowditch, blowing his nose right -afterward like a fog siren. - -“I am Phillis Duane,” she said, after a moment. “I traveled with my -_ayer_ and Dao Singh, who would not leave me when father died. He had -always served the captain. We lived up country from Calcutta. I do not -think that my father was very well acquainted with the people I sailed -with, after all. I was alone, and they were just kind to me.” - -“And you don’t know what you were going to do when you reached -England--whom you would meet?” queried Mr. Gates, gravely. - -“No. It was all in the hands of my friends,” she said, shaking her -head. “And I am quite sure they never got away from the Galland. I -would not, had it not been for Dao Singh.” - -“That nigger, eh?” grunted the captain. - -“He is a Hindoo. He is a very intelligent man in his own language -and among his own people. I have heard my father say so. I fear he -sacrificed his caste by attending on the captain--and on me.” - -“But he saved you from the wreck?” I urged, keeping her to the story of -the wreck. - -“Yes. When the boilers blew up (the steamship had been afire all night) -Dao Singh ran into the cabin and hurried my _ayer_ and me out on the -deck. Some men were lowering a boat. It was damaged some. - -“Singh tried to put the _ayer_ and me in it. But I believe she must -have fallen overboard, or been pushed overboard. There was much -confusion. I was scared and cried. When I understood a little better -about matters, we were in the boat, drifting without oars, and the -Galland, all a mass of flames, seemed to be going down, stern-foremost, -under the sea.” - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII - -_In Which I Become Better Acquainted With Phillis Duane_ - - -There was little more to be learned, it seemed, about the actual -tragedy of the burned steamship. How the fire had been started she -could not say. She had been asleep. Her nurse, or _ayer_ awoke her at -the height of the stampede of passengers for the deck. Whether the -officers and bulk of the crew had been killed by the explosion, or had -abandoned the ship and her human freight, she did not know. - -The Galland had been some months on the voyage, having circumnavigated -the world, when Phillis Duane and her friends boarded her at Calcutta. -She had touched at Chinese ports, and again at Tahiti. She was a -British tramp steamship and Phillis seemed to think that her home port -was Edinburgh. It might be that the lost girl’s friends were Scotch, -and that the friends she traveled with were likewise Scotch, and that -is why they had selected the ill-fated Galland to get home on. - -“Do you suppose that nigger knows?” demanded Captain Bowditch, of Mr. -Gates, in a whisper. - -“Doubtful if you get anything out of him,” returned the mate. - -“Understands English, doesn’t he?” growled the skipper. - -“And speaks it. But these Hindoo servants don’t really know anything -about the English sahibs they serve. The Britisher governs India in a -boiled shirt and evening clothes. He is about as human to the natives -as one of their own cast-iron gods. That’s how Johnny Bull has been -able to boss the several million of blood-thirsty inhabitants of his -colonies. No. The nigger wouldn’t be likely to know anything.” - -“But why did he follow the girl to wait on her, then, Mr. Gates?” I -asked. - -“Because he’s a nigger--an inferior tribe. That’s the nature of ’em.” - -I did not believe it. I had never read that the people of Hindoostan -were particularly inferior to the whites. And Dao Singh looked to me -as though he knew a whole lot more than the ordinary European. I was -mistaken if he was not the best educated person aboard the Gullwing at -that moment! - -But it might be that the Hindoo knew nothing of the cause of the wreck -and of what had become of her other passengers and the crew. Unless -some other boats had been picked up from the lost Galland, her case -was likely to be another of those unexplained tragedies of the deep -which fill the columns of our newspapers for a few issues and then are -forgotten--so easily forgotten! - -The officers and I had held the brief conversation noted above when we -had withdrawn out of earshot of the little girl. The cook had brought, -her a beaten egg to drink as a “pick-me-up” between breakfast and -dinner. When she had finished it she looked around for me again. - -“Go on, boy,” said the captain. “Keep her amused. Poor little thing.” - -“And encourage her to talk with you, Clint,” advised Mr. Gates. “Put -what she says down in your log. If you do that, you may gradually get -together a connected story of what and who she is. Such information -will be valuable in aiding her to find her friends.” - -I thought well of that idea, and promised to do so; though I wondered -how the mate knew I kept a log. I had taken notes of my adventures ever -since I had been blown out to sea on my little sloop, the Wavecrest; -but at this time I did not know what an aid to memory a log--or -diary--would be. By the way, a seaman never calls it “logbook;” the -daybook of a ship at sea is merely a “log.” One of the most popular -magazines published has a correspondence department called “The -Logbook,” and that makes the sailor smile! - -I had no objection to being attentive to our little passenger. I judged -her to be a mighty plucky little girl. Of course, her father had been -dead long enough for the first of her grief to have been assuaged -before she had sailed from India. And the friends she had sailed with -had won her heart; therefore she had not loved them enough to miss them -much now. - -She had endured privations in the drifting boat remarkably well. She -told me of the man that had gone crazy and leaped overboard. She did -not seem to know that the men aboard the boat with her had had no food. -I began to have a remarkably high opinion of Dao Singh. Yet I knew very -well that he had strangled the man I had found dead in the boat and had -been unable to throw the heavy body overboard. - -There’s a vast difference between the negro race and the Hindoo, I -thought, remembering Mr. Gates’ words, “This Dao Singh is a remarkable -man, or _I_ am much mistaken.” - -Mr. Barney came along and spoke to the little one, and she seemed to -like him--as I had--at first sight. Afterward the young second mate -talked a little in private with me. - -“Mr. Robbins says she takes to you and is willing to talk with you, -Webb.” - -“Yes, sir.” - -“And you’re trying to draw out from her her history?” - -“I am, sir.” - -“It’s a good idea. There may be some difficulty in getting trace of her -friends.” - -“Well, she sha’n’t suffer, if her friends don’t turn up,” I said, with -emphasis. “My mother is rich and she will be glad to take Phillis -herself, I have no doubt.” - -“That’s a good thing, too,” said Mr. Barney, heartily. “But you -understand, my lad, that there may be friends expecting the girl in -the Old Country, that she knows nothing about. We shall have to report -the case to the British consul at Baltimore, and he will look up her -folks--if she has any. In case there should be none, somebody might -have to step in to save the child from being sent to an institution--in -England, I presume. They would scarcely send her back to India.” - -“Not much, sir!” I exclaimed. “They will have to show pretty good -grounds for taking her from mother----” - -“Why, you don’t know whether your mother will take her or not,” laughed -Mr. Barney. - -“Yes she will,” I assured him. “She’d love to have a girl like Phillis.” - -And I had no fear on that score. Mother couldn’t help but fall in love -with such a dear little thing as Phillis Duane. I was glad to see that -Phillis seemed fond of me, too. I had never had a sister, and it struck -me just then that a sister was what I had missed all my life! - -We were getting on fine together and she was chattering to me just -as though she had known me for years, when I spied a figure coming -waveringly down the deck from the forward house. - -“It’s poor Dao Singh!” exclaimed Phillis. And then she called to him in -her sweet voice; but what she said none of us could understand as it -was in his own tongue. - -He glided rather than walked along the deck. Somehow he had obtained -clean garments; and he had washed his turban. Altogether he looked very -neat and trim. But he was very weak and cadaverous. That Hindoo had -come pretty near starving to death, and no mistake. - -When he had spoken to the girl in reply, bowing low before her, he -turned quickly to me. I was not only astonished, but I felt mighty -foolish when he dropped gracefully on his knees and touched the deck -lightly with his forehead right at my feet. - -“Dao Singh is the servant of Webb Sahib,” he said, softly. - -“For the love of Mike, get up!” I gasped, and I heard Thankful Polk -giggling behind me, while Mr. Barney laughed outright. “You don’t want -to kneel to _me_.” - -Singh arose and stood, with dignity, before me. - -“Webb Sahib has but to command,” he said, quietly. “He is the friend -and protector of Her Innocence,” indicating Phillis with a scarcely -perceptible gesture. “His word is law to Dao Singh.” - -“All right, if that is so,” I said, glad that he had spoken too low -for anybody else to hear. “If my word’s law, just you treat me with a -little less deference. I’m only a man before the mast on this ship, -and it won’t do to be kowtowing to me and treating me as you do the -Memsahib. That’s all right for _her_, Dao Singh; but I’m not used to -it.” - -“It is as the Sahib pleases,” he replied, gravely. “He has but to -command.” - -I began to wonder if a Hindoo, who was so enthusiastically my friend, -might not prove to be something of a nuisance in the end! - - - - -CHAPTER XIX - -_In Which I Learn Something More About the Barney Twins_ - - -The captain allowed Singh to wait upon his “Missee” to his heart’s -content, and I heard the two mates laughing over the fact that the -Hindoo insisted upon acting as steward and waiting upon the Captain -Sahib at table. The Old Man wasn’t used to having a man standing behind -his chair at meals and it near took his appetite away at first. But -Phillis being in the cabin and soon taking her meals at the first -table, pleased the officers immensely, I could see. - -Forward, Singh was forever trying to do little things for me, and -learning that I thought a good deal of Thankful Polk, the Hindoo -included my chum in his voluntary services. He looked over our clothes -and mended them, and insisted upon doing our washing. - -“That Jasper is just as handy as any house-broke nigger I ever saw,” -declared Thank. “My folks owned slaves before the war; but I don’t -know but being waited on by one is going to be too rich for my blood.” - -Thank saw no difference between a Hindoo and a Negro; anything off -color was a “Jasper” to him. But it tickled him when Singh called him -“Polk Sahib.” With the other hands he was never familiar; but nobody -save Bob Promise treated him unkindly. Bob was a bully, and that mean -streak in him was bound to show on the surface every once in awhile. - -Meantime the old Gullwing was snoring away up the coast of South -America. Not that the land was in sight, for we were miles and miles -off shore; but the course she followed was parallel to the coast. The -Seamew was not sighted for days at a stretch, and we did not know -whether she was ahead of us or astern. I had an idea, however, that -during the favorable weather she was walking away from us at a pretty -lively gait. - -Since I had returned from my sojourn aboard the Seamew I thought that -Mr. Barney treated me differently. That is, when we were off duty and -chance threw us together. Before my accident I had put on the gloves -with him on several occasions, and he had been kind enough to say that -I was as good a sparring partner as he had ever had. We took up this -exercise again, as the weather remained so favorable. - -He was curious about the attitude of the Seamew’s company toward us, -and whether they were as eager to win the race to Baltimore as were the -men aboard the Gullwing. - -“More so,” I told him. “They mean to beat us if they can--from Cap’n -Somes all down the line.” - -He threw off the gloves and said, with a side glance at me: - -“My brother, too?” - -“Yes, _sir_.” - -“Just as eager as the others?” - -“Just as eager, sir.” - -He was silent a moment, as I got into my shirt, and then he shot at me: - -“What did you think of my brother, Alf Webb?” - -I was rather taken aback for a moment. Then I saw that he expected a -straight answer and I did not like to say that I did not like Mr. Alf -as well as I did him. So I stammered: - -“I--I thought there was something troubling Mr. Alfred’s mind.” - -“Aye?” returned Mr. Barney, cocking his eye. “There’s something -troubling both our minds, I reckon.” And then, after a moment’s -silence, he asked: “Will the Seamew beat us, Webb?” - -“I hope not!” I cried. “But the spirit among the crew of the Seamew is -different from ours. Cap’n Somes would take any advantage he could to -beat us; so would Mr. Hollister and--and----” - -“And my brother?” - -“I--I am afraid so. That is the way it impressed me,” I admitted. - -“Alf didn’t use to be like that,” said Mr. Barney, gravely. “But he and -I have been at outs for some time. It’s a bad, bad affair,” he added, -more to himself than to me. “And it’s Uncle Jothan’s fault. Confound -that old man, anyway!” he completed, with a good deal of emphasis. - -Then it was just as Job Perkins had told me! The rivalry between the -Barney twins was fostered by their rich uncle. I had no comment to -make--it wasn’t my place. But Mr. Barney seemed to wish to talk to -somebody, and perhaps because I was so near his own age (he could not -have been twenty-three yet) and came from people who were more like his -own class, he warmed toward me for the moment. Perhaps, too, I am a -sympathetic listener. - -“Alf and I,” said Mr. Barney, thoughtfully, “have always been more than -brothers. We’ve been _friends_. There’s a difference. We understand -each other fully--or always have until now. I never had any other chum, -nor did he. We have been just as close to each other all our lives as -the day we were born. - -“I guess we had to be,” he added, thoughtfully. “There wasn’t anybody -else for us to get close to. Our mother died soon after we were born. -Father was lost in that old leaky bucket belonging to the firm, the -Timothy K.--named after T. K. Knight, who used to be head of Barney, -Blakesley & Knight before Uncle Jothan worked up in the firm. - -“And that’s what makes the old man so crazy now. He wants a Barney to -take his place so that another Knight won’t boss things. He’s nutty on -it--that’s what he is! - -“Uncle Jothan has had the care of us since we were small, you see. It’s -nothing to his credit, however. Father left some property--sufficient -to give Alf and me our education and set us out into the world with a -little something to rattle in our pants’ pockets besides a bunch of -keys! - -“Old Uncle Jothan tried to set us boys at each other long ago. He tried -his best to set one off against the other--to make Alf sore on me, or -me sore on Alf. We didn’t see what he was getting at, at first. - -“But he didn’t succeed very well. He made his favor, and his money, and -his influence an object for us to struggle for. As it happened, we just -wouldn’t struggle. We would not be rivals. What one had, t’other had. -And that satisfied us--until last year,” and Mr. Barney shook his head -dolefully. - -“When we got our tickets the old man was crazy to find out if one of -us passed better than another. We were about equal, I reckon. What one -knows about seamanship, the other knows. In navigation I’m sure we -stood equal. - -“That didn’t satisfy Uncle Jothan. The last day we saw Baltimore he had -us to breakfast with him. He was more ornery that morning than ever -before. - -“‘You two boys make me sick!’ he said to us. ‘I believe you try your -blamedest to keep even in everything.’ - -“‘And what if we do?’ I asked him. ‘Ain’t that as it should be? We’re -twins.’ - -“‘You’re a pair of twin fools,’ says he, with his usual politeness. -‘One of you don’t know which side of his slice of bread the butter’s -on.’ - -“I looked at mine. ‘The top side,’ I says, ‘so far,’ and Alf laughed. - -“‘And you’ll find it butter side down, if you don’t have a care,’ -snarled Uncle Jothan. ‘I got about tired of waiting for one of you to -show some sense. I tell you there’s only room for one of you in the -firm, and that one is going to handle my money. The other is going to -be a poor man all his life.’ - -“‘Which one’s going to be poor, and which one rich?’ Alf asked him. - -“‘You might as well tell us which will be rich, Uncle,’ I said, -laughing. ‘For if it’s Alf, then I can begin to borrow from him right -now.’ - -“‘That’s right,’ says Brother Alf. ‘What’s mine is yours.’ - -“That really made the old man mad, I expect. He pretty near gnashed his -teeth. - -“‘I believe I’ve got a pair of totally condemned fools for nephews!’ he -yelled, only he put it even stronger. - -“Oh, he was mad! I saw that we’d gone too far with him. - -“‘Never mind, Uncle,’ I said, soothingly. ‘We’ll both do our best for -you----’ - -“‘And your “best” will be just exactly alike,’ he cried. ‘When you -get your mate’s tickets it will be the same, and in the end I’ll have -a couple of masters of windjammers as near alike as old Somes and -Bowditch. What one can do the other can do. Ye stood just the same in -your books at school, and you stand just the same in your rating at -sea.’ - -“I expect the old man was pretty well heated up. But we just laughed as -though it was a joke. - -“‘I tell you what,’ says he, pushing back his chair. ‘You sha’n’t fool -me no more. One of you is going to take his place in the firm at the -end of this v’yge you are beginning. One of you will win and the other -will lose. And I’ll never let a penny of my money get into the hands of -the fellow that loses.’ - -“Oh, he was quite in earnest, we could see. Alf looked at me and shook -his head. It was past laughing at. - -“‘The Gullwing and the Seamew,’ says uncle, ‘are putting to sea on the -same day. They will practically make the same voyage. Now listen to -me! Whichever of you boys steps ashore at Baltimore at the end of the -voyage, that boy will be my heir, and the other sha’n’t have a cent. -Now, that’s final. One of you has got to win, whether you want to, or -not. I’ll settle it myself.’ - -“And with that he walked off and left us, too mad to even bid us -good-bye,” said Mr. Barney. - - - - -CHAPTER XX - -_In Which Phillis Tells Me of Her Dream_ - - -I thought Mr. Barney had finished his story, he was so long silent. I -saw, however, that he was still thinking of his brother, and I was not -sure whether he was expecting a word of sympathy, or not. I reckoned he -had been talking more to relieve his mind than for any other purpose. -And finally he went on with it: - -“Alf and I talked it over as we walked down to the docks. I told him -I was sick of Uncle Jothan’s nagging. I wished he’d pick the one he -wanted and close the discussion. I believed the price we’d have to pay -for his money was too great, anyway. - -“‘But money’s a good thing,’ says Alf. ‘And Uncle Jothan has got a good -deal of it.’ - -“‘I believe too much money spoils folks, Alf,’ says I. - -“‘We could stand some spoiling,’ he returns, laughing. - -“‘Look at uncle himself,’ says I. ‘He’s spoiled.’ - -“‘I’m not afraid of being spoiled by it,’ says Alf. - -“‘I believe it would hurt you as quick as anybody,’ I told him. And -that riled him, though I had no thought that it would. - -“‘Speak for yourself, Jim,’ says he. ‘Money’s worth going after.’ - -“‘We’ve had everything equal so far, Alf,’ says I. ‘I’m not hungry for -his money.’ - -“‘And I suppose you think I am?’ and then I saw he _was_ miffed. - -“‘The one that tries to get the best of the other for the sake of Uncle -Jothan’s money, will show he’s hungry,’ I said. - -“‘Then call it what you like, Jim!’ he cries. ‘I’m going after it.’ - -“‘How?’ says I. - -“‘I’m going to beat you back to Baltimore,’ says he. - -“‘I’ll be hard to beat,’ I told him. - -“‘Wait and see!’ cried Alf, and with that he flung off from me and went -his way to the Seamew alone. - -“I had to do an errand. When I got aboard the Gullwing the two -schooners were just about to pull out. It was then old Cap’n Si made -his bet with Cap’n Joe. I believe Alf put him up to it. When I saw -Alf in Buenos Ayres I told him so, and he didn’t deny it,” said Mr. -Barney, sorrowfully. - -“When we met in the other ports we had words. I’m blamed sorry now, but -it’s too late to patch it up. I’ll tell you honest, Webb, I don’t care -who gets Uncle Jothan’s money and the job with the firm; but I’m going -to not let Alf beat me to Baltimore if I can help it.” - -He went aft then without another word; but I did a good deal of -thinking about the friction between the two Barneys. Privately I liked -Mr. Jim Barney the better of the two; but it was a wicked shame that -the head of Barney, Blakesley & Knight should have set the twins by -their ears in this way. Money was at the root of the trouble. Mr. -Jothan Barney seemed about to devote his wealth to as bad a cause as my -grandfather had tried to devote _his_ property. - -The Gullwing struck a streak of headwinds soon after this and we -wallowed along without making much headway. That made us all feel -pretty sure. It was a chance that the Seamew might have forged so far -ahead of us that she had escaped these contrary winds entirely. - -Captain Bowditch was on deck almost all the time. His better seamanship -began to be displayed now. He took advantage of every flaw in the wind. -He had us making sail, and reefing down, most of the time, and Bob -Promise grumbled that we topmen had better stay up there in the rigging -all the time, and have our meals brought to us by the cook. - -We saw nothing of the Seamew, and that added to our anxiety, too. Days -passed and we crossed the line, under the heat of a tropical sun that -fairly stewed the pitch out of the deck planks. Dao Singh seemed the -only person aboard that accepted the heat with good temper. - -We rigged an awning for our passenger, and Phillis lived under it -both day and night. She was getting plump and hearty, however; surely -the voyage was doing her no harm. And she was the sweetest tempered, -jolliest little thing one could imagine. It cheered a fellow up and -made him ashamed to be grouchy, just to be near her. - -She liked Thankful Polk, and he amused her by the hour. The officers -were pretty easy on Thank and I as long as we were with her. To me she -clung as though I really was her brother--and I was proud that she so -favored me. - -Phillis told me much of her life in India--as far back as she could -remember it. She had come out from England when she was very small. On -her last birthday she had been twelve. But little that she could tell -me would help in finding her relatives--if she had any. - -Her father, Captain Erskin Duane, had not been in active service. Not -as far as she knew, at least. He had been an invalid for months; but -had died very suddenly. There seemed to have been few army friends, and -the people she had sailed with from Calcutta she had hardly ever seen -before the captain’s death. - -I had tried pumping Dao Singh about the private history of the little -girl; but either he knew nothing about the captain’s affairs, or he -would not tell me. He was as simple, apparently, as a child about his -own expectations. He had insisted upon accompanying the little Memsahib -in her voyage “because she needed him.” _Why_ he thought she needed him -he could not, or would not, explain. - -For my part I told Phillis everything about myself, and recounted, from -time to time, all the adventures through which I had been since leaving -Bolderhead. I told her much about my mother, too, and about Darringford -House, and our summer home on Bolderhead Neck. - -I assured her that I should take her at once to my mother when we -landed and that I knew my mother would be delighted to give her a home -with us. This seemed to please the little girl greatly. - -“Then we shall really be brother and sister, sha’n’t we?” she cried. - -“Of course,” I said. - -“That will be splendid! For, do you know, Clinton, I think you are the -very nicest brother I could have picked out. You are just as nice as I -dreamed you would be.” - -“There!” said I. “You have said that before. How do you mean, that you -_dreamed_ about me?” - -“So I did. Only it was a dream that came true.” - -“You mean that you dreamed of me when you were aboard that boat?” - -“Oh, no! it was long before that. It was soon after we left Calcutta -that I saw you,” she said, confidently. - -“Why, Philly!” I exclaimed. “That’s impossible, you know.” - -“But I _did_ dream about you,” she returned, seriously. “I knew that I -was in a little boat. I thought I was all alone on the great ocean. And -I was frightened, and sick--just as I _was_ frightened and sick when -the time came. But you came to me, and told me you would save me, and -you held me in your arms just as you _did_ hold me afterward all the -way to this ship.” - -She was so positive that she had dreamed it all before, that I saw -it was no use to gainsay it. And then, why should I contradict her? -Perhaps she had had some secret and wonderful assurance that she would -be saved from the wreck. I did not understand the clairvoyant part of -it, or whatever it might be; so I did not touch upon the subject again. - -It was after that that the great gale struck us and the staunch -Gullwing was battered continually for a week. We ran almost under bare -poles for a time, and fortunately the gale favored us. But we lost our -mizzen topmast completely and some of our other rigging was wrecked. - -Phillis had to remain below during this storm, and she was sick again. -She cried so for me that the captain--kind old man that he was--let -me go down to her whenever I could be spared from the deck. The child -seemed to feel that she was perfectly safe if I was with her. - -Her constant trust in me made a strong impression upon my mind. Nor was -it an unpleasant impression. Nobody had ever leaned before on me as -this child did--not even my mother. It made me feel more manly and put -me on my very best behavior. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI - -_In Which the Sister Ships Once More Race Neck to Neck_ - - -That gale hit the Gullwing harder than any blow she had been through -(so Mr. Barney said) since she had left Baltimore. We could not do much -toward making repairs until the gale had blown out; we only cleared -away the wreckage aloft, reefed everything snug, and let her drive. - -Captain Bowditch worried like an old hen with a mess of ducklings. I -don’t know when the old man slept. He was on deck every moment of his -own watch, and I could hear him often roaring orders during our watch -below. - -This was the time when the fact that the Gullwing was short-handed made -the crew groan. It was up and down at all hours for us. If there was a -lull in the gale we were yanked out and sent aloft to risk an inch more -canvas. Cap’n Joe coaxed her along every chance he saw. The thought of -getting ahead of the Seamew obsessed the Old Man’s mind while he _was_ -awake, that was sure! - -We discussed our chances forward with much eagerness, too. The Seamew -had left us behind during the fair weather; we could make up our minds -to that. But now we had a better chance. The Gullwing was better -worked, short of hands as she was, than the Seamew. - -I remembered vividly how Cap’n Si Somes hopped about, and bawled -orders, and seemed to get in his own way when a squall came up, or the -weather was unfavorable. He was a more nervous man that our skipper; -and, I believed, he was nowhere near so good a seaman. At least, I had -got that idea in my head, and comparing the actions of the two skippers -in a squall, I guessed any unprejudiced person would have accepted my -view as correct. - -We came out of this blow at last, fair weather returned, and Phillis -had her awning re-rigged, and was able to come on deck again, although -the Atlantic billows were tumbling heavily. - -All hands were busy on the new rigging. The captain had got up a spare -spar and Old Tom Thornton and Stronson, went to work on that. The -captain was determined to get up a new mizzen topmast and bend on new -sails. Every square inch of canvas spread to the favoring breeze would -aid us in the race home. - -We had gotten now into the greatest ocean current in the world--the -Gulf Stream. Ocean currents are mysterious phenomena. The source of -energy required to set and keep the vast masses of water in motion has -been productive of endless discussion. - -Temperature, barometric pressure, attractive force of the moon, have -all been advanced as bringing about ocean currents. Seamen believe that -it is the wind that brings about certain oceanic movements. But the -winds do not explain the reason entirely--not even in any single case. -As to the direct action of the wind on the surface of the sea alone, -it has been shown that with a wind blowing at twenty-five miles an -hour the surface water would have a movement of not more than fifteen -miles in the twenty-four hours! The Gulf Stream is the greatest of the -Atlantic currents, if not the greatest current on the wet portion of -the globe. It is really a wonderful river--a river flowing through an -ocean. Its temperature is different from the surrounding waters, it is -of a different color, and the edge of it can be noted almost exactly -wherever a ship crosses into or out of the Gulf Stream. - -This warm current starts between the coast of Cuba and the Florida -reefs, and certainly with this mighty current the wind has absolutely -nothing to do. The force of the current is at its maximum strength -when it emerges from the Bemimi Straits, between the Bahama Bank on the -east and the coast of Florida on the West. Between Fowey Rocks and Gun -Gay Light the average depth of the Gulf Stream is 239 fathoms, and it -runs at a speed of fifty miles in the twenty-four hours. Occasionally, -under particular circumstances, it will speed up to a hundred miles in -the twenty-four hours. Little wonder that homeward bound windjammers -are glad to strike the Gulf Stream. After we crossed into the clear -azure of that current there was a steady tug on the Gullwing’s prow. - -“The women-folks are pullin’ her home with their apron strings,” -chuckled Captain Bowditch. - -I rigged fishing tackle for Phillis and she caught some of the smaller -fish of the Gulf Stream--fish which cannot be caught in the waters -even a short distance outside of the line of the current. They were -brilliant trunk-fish, and angel-fish, and the like; not edible, but -interesting to look at. - -Shark were plentiful, too, and followed the ship like dogs, to fight -for the scraps the cook flung overboard. Thank got a big hook and about -a pound of fat pork (he could wheedle anything out of the black cook) -bent on a strong line, and we trolled for shark. - -We caught one about eight foot long; he was an ugly beast, and fought -like a tiger when we got him onto the deck. He would snap at a -broomstick and bite it through as neatly as we could have cut it with -an axe. A sailor hates a shark just as the ordinary man ashore dislikes -a snake. - -“I tell you what we’ll do with him,” said Bob Promise, chuckling. “I -seen it done on the old Beatrix two years ago. We ‘belled the cat’ -with an old he shark, and it’s an all right trick to play on the dirty -critters.” - -“How d’ye do it?” asked Tom Thornton. - -“Lemme have that broken broomstick,” said Bob, grabbing it. “Now -watch--when he snaps at me.” - -The huge fish, lying on its side, with its wicked eye watchful of us -all, opened wide his jaws when Bob Promise approached. The bully was a -reckless fellow, and as the shark snapped open his jaws he thrust his -hand and arm into the cavity and thrust the stick upright, far back in -the beast’s throat. - -Thank actually screamed aloud, and I felt sick--I thought sure the -foolish fellow’s arm would be snapped off between the closing jaws. - -But the shark couldn’t close his jaws! That was the trick of it. The -stick was thrust upright, sticking into the roof of the great mouth and -into the root of the tongue. The fish was “belled” indeed. - -There it writhed upon the deck, thrashing its strong tail about, its -wicked eyes rolling, and evidently in awful agony. - -“Now pitch him overboard,” laughed Bob Promise. “He’ll live some time -that way--mebbe till he starves to death or until some of the smaller -fish pitch upon him and eat his liver out. Ugh! the ugly beast!” - -Somebody took a turn of the rope around the fish’s tail and in a moment -the shark was swung up by the falls we had rigged. But while he hung in -the air and was about to be swung over the rail, Phillis ran up to us. - -“Don’t!” she cried. “Don’t do it! I saw you! How could you be so -dreadfully mean--Oh! Clint! how could _you_ do such a cruel thing?” - -I had been thinking all the time that it was a blamed mean piece of -business; but I hadn’t had the pluck to say so! - -“You stand away, Missee,” laughed Bob. “He’s all right. Overboard he -goes--plop into the sea--and it will be one murderin’ old shark fixed -jest right.” - -“You shall not do it!” she cried, and she was so earnest and excited -that she stamped her little foot upon the deck. “It is wicked and -cruel.” - -“Why, it ain’t nothin’ but an old shark, Missee,” growled Tom Thornton. -“He ain’t fit for nothing better.” - -“He’s God’s creature. God made him,” declared the child. “You’ve no -right to maltreat him. It’s wicked. I won’t have it.” - -She was so excited I was afraid she would get sick. I put in _my_ oar: - -“That’s all right, Philly. None of us stopped to think of that side of -it. Lower away here, boys, and we’ll knock that prop out of his mouth -again.” - -“No you won’t!” exclaimed Bob Promise. - -I stopped and looked at him. “Why, sure, Bob, you don’t mind. If the -little girl doesn’t want us to do it----” - -“Stow that,” said Bob, in his very ugliest tone. “That shark ain’t -hers. I put that stick there. I want to see the man that’ll pull it -out,” and he swelled up like a turkey-cock and acted as though he -thought he was the biggest man who ever stepped on the Gullwing’s deck. - -But if he had been twice as big I reckon I should have stepped up to -him! To have anybody speak before Phillis as he did was not to be -endured. Thankful Polk flamed up, too, until you could have touched off -a match on his face. Old Tom Thornton reached an arm across and put me -back as lightly as though I had been a feather, and seized the rope -above Bob’s hand. - -“Drop it, you landcrab!” he growled. Old Tom seldom got angry; when he -did we knew enough to stand from under! - -And then appeared Dao Singh. How he had heard the racket I do not know. -Light as a panther, and with an eye wickeder than the shark’s own, he -slid along the deck and stood right at the other elbow of the bully. - -“Let the rope go, as Webb Sahib say,” he hissed into Bob’s ear. - -The bully was as amazed as he could well be and keep on his pins. He -stepped back and glared from Thank and me to Old Tom, and then around -at Singh. - -“Holy mackerel!” he murmured. “Do the hull of ye’s want the blamed -fish? Then, take him!” - -The watch burst out laughing. Mr. Barney had himself come forward, and -now he spoke. - -“Get a harpoon, Webb, and kill the beast at once. That will settle the -controversy. I’m not sure that the little one isn’t right. We’re all -too big to torture even such a beast as a shark.” - -That was the kind of influence Phillis Duane had over all of us. The -captain had her on the bridge with him and showed her everything he -did when he took the sun’s altitude, and all that. Mr. Gates talked -with her by the hour. Mr. Barney was forever finding something new with -which she could amuse herself. And the black cook and Dao Singh almost -came to blows over who should wait upon her the most. - -Then came the day when, off Hatteras, we sighted another four-masted -ship. She crept out of a fogbank to leeward of us and it was some time -before we saw her clearly enough to be sure. That she was tacking -northward was the main fact at first which urged us to believe it was -our sister ship. - -But in an hour it came clearer, and we could be sure. It was the -Seamew, standing in very prettily, and it was plain she had sighted us, -too. We tacked and her course brought her across our stern. We ran so -near the captains could hail each other. Old Cap’n Si waved his glass -and shouted: - -“We’re about to bid you a fond farewell, Joe! Next tack will put us -ahead of you. That apple’s mine, by jolly!” - -“Seems to me if I had such a great craft as the Seamew, I’d have got -farther ahead than you be now,” returned our skipper, with scorn. “I -reckon the race ain’t over yet.” - -“It’s pretty near over. We got good weather comin’. The Seamew can walk -away with you in a fair wind.” - -“All right. Brag’s a good dog, but Holdfast’s a better one,” said Cap’n -Joe. “Wait till we sight the Capes o’ Virginia.” - -She was too far away from us then for Cap’n Si to shout again. The -rest of us had grinned or scowled at the men aboard the Seamew, as our -natures dictated. I had noticed that the boat found adrift with Singh -and Phillis in it, had been hoisted aboard the Seamew and was lashed -amidships. - -Away we went on our tack, came about, and again neared our rival. The -Seamew was not pulling away from us much; the wind was heavy. The -Gullwing crept up on her and, finally, when the Seamew tacked again, we -did the same and she had no chance to cross our bows, even had she been -able to. - -So we sailed, neck and neck, not half a mile from each other, both -ships plunging through the swells with a line of white foam under -their quarters, and well heeled over to the wind. Whichever won the -race--whether the Gullwing or the Seamew--it would be a good fight. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII - -_In Which the Capes of Virginia Are In Sight_ - - -We had a stiff wind blowing--half a gale, indeed--and when we raised -other sailing ships, their canvas was clewed down and some of them were -running under little more than stormsails. But neither the captain of -the Seamew nor of the Gullwing had any intention of losing a breath of -such a favorable breeze. - -Our ship heeled over until her rail was under water; and she was laden -so heavily that this sort of sailing was perilous. Suppose some of the -cargo should shift? Where would we be? Well, just about there, I guess! - -“Some day the old man will carry the sticks out of her completely,” -growled Mr. Gates to Mr. Barney. - -“Well, let him!” exclaimed the second mate. “We’ve got to win this -time.” - -“What for?” I heard the other ask, curiously. “Just so Cap’n Joe will -win his greening apple?” - -Mr. Barney cursed the captain and his apple. - -“You want us to win anyway, eh?” pursued Mr. Gates, in his slow, -thoughtful way. “No matter what happens to the Gullwing?” - -“She’s insured; so’s her freight,” snapped Mr. Barney. - -“It doesn’t matter if both good ships should founder and be lost?” - -“I don’t give a hang!” exclaimed the younger man, bitterly, “as long as -the Gullwing goes down fifty fathoms nearer Baltimore than the Seamew.” - -“And how about the crews?” - -“Who’s thinking of men--or ships--just now?” demanded Mr. Barney. -“Aren’t both captains risking lives and property for a silly -competition? I’m no worse than they are.” - -“And so, the rivalry of Cap’n Joe and Cap’n Si will excuse your own mad -determination to get to port first?” suggested Mr. Gates, quietly. “I -don’t believe you’ll feel that way, young man, twelve months from now. -And how about the little girl?” - -“Pshaw! there’s no danger,” said Mr. Barney, lightly. - -“I hope there will be no danger--no more than there is now, at least,” -said the mate, significantly. Then he saw me on lookout and said, -irritably: “Come away! This is no place to talk.” - -I wondered what the mate thought Mr. Barney would do for the sake of -helping the Gullwing to win the race; but I heard nothing more of their -conversation. This occurred in the evening when we could just see the -ghostly sails of the Seamew as she stood on for us. Mr. Barney soon -after took the wheel himself, it being the captain’s watch. From that -point on to the end the second mate was more frequently at the wheel -than at any previous time during the cruise. - -Day and night the two huge schooners ran almost even. Our skipper was -seldom off the deck. I don’t know when he found time to sleep. He never -lost a chance to make the most of a puff of wind. The men worked for -him eagerly and well; but they stood double watches. - -Some of the small sails Cap’n Joe even had us dip overboard so that, -well wetted, they would better hold the wind. It was four bells in the -morning watch when the Seamew crossed our bow. She had been trying for -it for twenty-four hours, or more. And when she cut us off and we had -to take her white water, a groan of derision was raised by her crew. - -We were sore--every man Jack of us. Cap’n Joe and Cap’n Si had it hot -and heavy from their respective stations. - -“Better give us a line aboard so’t we can tow ye in, Joe!” bawled Cap’n -Si. - -“You air mighty willin’ to give a helpin’ hand jest now, Si,” returned -our skipper, with scorn. “But it warn’t allus so.” - -I saw Mr. Alf Barney at the Seamew’s wheel. He handled the ship -splendidly. When the Seamew came about on the other tack, her helmsman -met the waves just right and swung her over so that the sails scarcely -shook at all. She reared up on one tack, turned as it were on her heel, -and swept away on the other tack at a speed that sent the spray flying -high above her rail. It was a pretty sight. - -Our Mr. Barney stood right beside me as I manipulated the Gullwing’s -helm. He watched the handling of our rival with lowering brow. - -“Gimme that wheel!” he snapped, pushing me away and seizing the spokes. -The Gullwing was right in the eye of the wind. Cap’n Bowditch was -shouting his orders. If the Seamew had rounded prettily, the Gullwing -went her one better. We wasted less time hanging in the wind than the -Seamew. - -“That’s the way to do it!” bawled our skipper, dancing on the quarter. -“By jinks, Mr. Barney, you handled that wheel well. Keep her so! -Steady.” - -The second mate let me take the wheel again after a minute or two; -and his face had remained unsmiling all the time. He had merely been -determined to show them all that he could handle the big ship’s helm as -well in every particular as did his brother. - -Our course was west-northwest now to the Capes of Virginia. The fresh -gale was out of the same quarter. Therefore we had to beat to windward -all the remainder of the race, and although the Seamew had gotten -a little the start of us, the Gullwing had a slight advantage. She -handled better to windward than her sister ship. - -The Seamew stood off on one tack, we on the other. She disappeared -beyond the sea line, but standing in some hours later we found her -again--and finding her were pleased more than a little in seeing that -we had made something up on her. Our skipper’s shrewdness was telling. - -I knew how it was with Cap’n Si; when things broke wrong for him he -paddled about the deck, cursing the hands and the wind and various -other things, altogether irrational. Whereas our skipper never lost a -trick, kept his head, and never gave an order he was sorry for--and -that last is saying a good deal. - -We filled away once more and stood back to her. We were making distance -fast. Had we held on this time we should have crossed her wake almost -under her stern. The man aloft suddenly sang out: - -“Land, ho!” - -I heard the cry repeated in the Seamew’s tops. - -“Cape Henry, sir!” shouted our man to the skipper. - -“Aye, aye,” said Cap’n Joe, eagerly. “And when we tack back again we’re -going to cross ahead of the Seamew’s bow--and the race will be over.” - -He said it with enormous satisfaction. He believed it, too. - -“Why will the race be over, Clint?” asked Phillis, who stood beside -me at the moment. “I looked at the chart. We’re a long way yet from -Baltimore. We are not in sight of the opening into Chesapeake Bay.” - -“There are tugs waiting up there in the roads for us,” I told her. -“You’ll soon see their smoke. _They_ will race out for us, as we race -in for the port. We shall go up to Baltimore under steam.” - -And my statement was scarcely made ere we saw in the far distance the -pillars of smoke from the stacks of the ocean-going tugs. The land -that had been merely a hazy line, grew more clearly defined, although -we were not approaching it directly. Soon I could point out to my -little friend the other cape guarding the mouth of the Chesapeake--Cape -Charles. - -The tugs steamed out to meet us under forced draught. More quickly to -get in tow of the tug nearest us, which was coming already hooked up, -Cap’n Bowditch put the Gullwing about earlier than he had originally -intended. As we tacked, so did the Seamew. - -“She’s afraid to give us an inch,” laughed Mr. Barney, taking his place -beside the wheel again, and looking up at Mr. Gates. - -“It’s nip and tuck,” returned the first mate. Then to the skipper he -said: “Shall I make ready to take the tug’s hawser, sir?” - -“Right-oh!” declared Captain Bowditch. “And be lively with it. We’re -too close to fool away a moment. I hope we get the fastest tug.” - -“She’s the Sea Horse, Cap’n!” bawled down the man aloft. - -“Smart tug, she is,” agreed the skipper. - -“And I believe that’s the Comet makin’ to meet the Seamew.” - -“Both Norfolk Tug Company’s craft--and good ones. I wouldn’t give a -dollar bonus either way on ’em, would you, Mr. Gates?” - -“They’re just as near alike as the Seamew and the Gullwing are alike,” -agreed the mate, and went forward. - -We were standing in now directly for the channel. The Seamew was headed -likewise. We were bound to pass close to our sister ship--so close -that, as the moments slipped past, I began to feel some disturbance of -mind. - -Heaven knows the ocean was broad enough; but the two skippers were -obstinate and eager. One would not be likely to want to give way to the -other. And moment after moment the two great ships, their canvas filled -and the white water split in great waves from their prows, rushed -closer and closer together. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII - -_In Which We Face Death by the Breadth of a Hair_ - - -I had walked forward, anxious over the situation of the sister ships. -Tom Thornton was right by my side, for Mr. Barney had taken the wheel -himself. - -“In case of doubt,” I asked Tom, “who gives way--the Seamew or the -Gullwing?” - -“Why, the Seamew, of course,” growled Tom. - -“Are you sure?” - -“I be,” he said, emphatically. “No gittin’ around it. It has to be her -gives way--not us. Both of us are close-hauled, that’s a fact; but we -on this tack has the right of way. The Seamew’s got to come about and -give us the road.” - -“She don’t look like she would,” I said, gravely. - -“Of course she will!” - -“Then she’ll miss meeting the other tug this time. It will give us a -big advantage.” - -“Don’t ye suppose our skipper knows that?” returned Tom, with a wide -grin. “That’s what he aimed to do. Oh, Cap’n Joe is a cleaner, now I -tell ye!” - -It did look to me as though the two great ships were rushing together. -If they had been two old-time frigates, aiming to come to a clinch and -the crews ordered to “board with cutlass,” the appearance of the two -could have been no more threatening. - -The Seamew’s men were grouped along her rail and swinging in her lower -shrouds, watching us; and every person aboard the Gullwing, including -the cook, was on deck. I heard Captain Bowditch growling to himself: - -“What does that lobster mean? Ain’t he goin’ to give us no seaway?” - -Mr. Barney had taken the wheel of the Gullwing. I saw that his brother -was already glued to the spokes of the Seamew’s wheel. - -“’Ware what ye do there, Mr. Barney,” sang out Captain Bowditch. - -“Aye, aye, sir.” - -“Keep her steady.” - -“Aye, aye, sir.” - -I caught old Tom by the sleeve of his jumper again. - -“Cap’n Si don’t mean to give way!” I gasped. - -“Wal,” said the old seaman, reflectively, “it’ll be up to him if he -doesn’t.” - -“But----” - -“It ain’t our place to give that blamed Seamew the whole ocean.” - -“But if the Seamew _won’t_ give way?” I repeated, vainly. - -“What! Not give way! That’d be foolish,” growled old Tom. “A man can go -bullying his way ashore, pushin’ folks inter the gutter and all that, -if he’s big enough--like Bob yonder. But a captain can’t do that at -sea. He’d only git what’s due him. He’ll _have_ to give way.” - -Yet no order was given from the Seamew’s quarter; nor did our skipper -say a word. I could not believe that Captain Bowditch, even with the -sea-law on his side, would risk his beautiful ship and the lives of her -crew. Yet if the Seamew continued to run in on us much longer we would -have to fall off, or collide with her. - -Little Phillis was sitting calmly under her awning, busied with some -pieces of sewing--for she was a housewifely little thing. It struck me -that an awful death was threatening the innocent child, and I moved -toward her. Thankful Polk was working his way along the deck in the -same direction, too. - -Captain Bowditch glanced at the child under the awning. If he had had -any desperate intention of keeping on, whether or no, so as to pick up -his tug ahead of the Seamew, I believe the presence of Phillis Duane -restrained him. His hard old face changed. - -The Seamew was holding on. She was going to force us. The old man -jumped to the rail and motioned with his arm for the helmsman of the -Seamew to keep off. But Mr. Alf Barney’s gaze rested only on the face -of his brother at _our_ wheel; and Captain Somes never gave an order. - -Captain Bowditch turned and yelled: - -“Keep off! keep off, I say! D’ye wanter wreck us?” - -He started for the wheel. I do not know whether our Mr. Barney obeyed -the order--or tried to obey it. The two great ships, their canvas -bellied with the strong gale, seemed to sweep together as though they -were magnetized! - -It may have been explained by the fact that we were so near each other -that one took the wind out of the other’s sails. At least, the two huge -ships were no longer under control. - -“I’m hanged if she ain’t got away from him!” I heard Tom Thornton -yell; but which ship he meant I did not know. - -The Gullwing took a shoot. The Seamew took a shoot. Then the two ships -clinched! - -Talk about a smash! It was the most awful collision one could imagine. -Two express trains on the same track, coming head-on, could have made -no greater explosion of sound. And it did seem as though no other kind -of a collision could have resulted in so much wreckage. - -I grabbed up Phillis just before the ships came together, and dashed -for the companionway. But as I gained its shelter I saw the spars -raining from aloft on both vessels, with the canvas and cordage in a -perfect jumble. - -It fairly shook the spars out of the Seamew. I believed, at the last -moment, that the Gullwing had sheered off. At least, she had taken the -blow on more of a slant. The wire stays upon our sister ship had been -torn away and her foremast came down and hung over the rail a complete -wreck. - -Her other masts wavered. I could see that she was shaking like a -wounded thing; I believe she was settling even then. She had opened a -great hole in her hull forward. I could see the ragged, splintered ends -of the planks. - -Our own damage and peril I could not gauge until I had set Phillis down -and rushed back to the deck. The old Gullwing was hobbling away from -her sister ship. Captain Bowditch was bawling orders from the bridge; -but I heard nothing but screams of rage and fear from the Seamew. _And -Captain Si Somes was no longer in sight._ - -“Axes, men!” roared our skipper. “Get aloft there! Cut away wreckage! -Clew up everything that ain’t torn away. Look alive, up there, Mr. -Gates.” - -“Aye, aye, sir!” responded the mate from forward. - -“Keep her steady, Mr. Barney!” commanded the captain. - -I heard no response. I glanced aft as I worked my way up the backstays. -Mr. Jim Barney still stood at our wheel. He hung to the spokes and held -the ship steady. But a whiter face and a more miserable face I had -never seen upon mortal man. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV - -_In Which the Tragedy of the Racing Ship Is Completed_ - - -League upon league of the sea--across and again across two oceans--the -sister ships had raced, to fall afoul of each other here almost within -sight of port! - -While we aboard the Gullwing were cutting adrift the wreckage for dear -life, another mast--the mizzen--fell across the Seamew. She was down -dreadfully by the head. We could hear the roar of the water pouring -into the hole stove in her hull. - -I knew Mr. Hollister’s voice, and he was shouting orders to the crew. -But nobody heard Cap’n Si speaking; nor was he in sight. I knew as -well then as I did afterward that, at the moment of the collision, the -master of the Seamew went overboard, sank, and never came up again! - -Down came the aftermast of the Seamew; the mainmast was swaying. I -reckon the crew responded to Mr. Hollister’s orders not at all. I -heard the wail of: - -“Boats! boats! take to the boats!” - -But when they took another look at the wabbling masts, they waited to -launch no boat. With a few words but much action the crew went over -her rail, now almost even with the sea, and one after the other began -to claw out for the Gullwing which lay to not two cable’s lengths away -from the sinking ship. - -But Mr. Alfred Barney held to the spokes of her wheel; he made no offer -to leave the Seamew, although Mate Hollister, like the men, was already -in the sea. - -As I hacked at the steel cordage and broken spars I heard Captain -Bowditch shouting directions to the men below, and to the men in the -water. Ropes and life-buoys were flung to the seamen from the sinking -ship. In this comparatively quiet sea there was little likelihood of -any of them being drowned. - -Mr. Hollister waited to see his hands drawn over the rail of the -Gullwing before he came inboard himself. But while this was going on -Captain Bowditch discovered the missing second mate still on the wreck. - -“Come away from that!” he shouted to Alfred Barney. “Come on! Jump in! -We’ll haul you out.” - -The young man made no reply, nor did he move from the wheel. - -“Come away, you fool!” roared Captain Bowditch. - -But Alfred Barney, like Jim Barney, seemed frozen to the spokes of -the wheel. The thought in my confused mind was: _Had the two brothers -deliberately wrecked the sister ships?_ - -The Gullwing had recovered from the shock of the collision. She was not -going to sink--at least, not right away. All her crew were inboard now, -and Mr. Hollister followed. Nobody spoke of poor Cap’n Si. We all knew -that he was missing. But there was a great to-do about Alfred Barney. - -“What does that etarnal fool want to stay over there for?” yelled -Captain Joe to Mr. Hollister. “Is he a dummy?” - -“He iss _fey_,” whispered old Stronson in my ear. - -“Looks like it was his fault the ships came together,” said Bob Promise. - -We had descended to the deck again now. Our upper works were in an -awful tangle; but we could do no more at present. The tug was steaming -in near to us now and it did not matter if we did drift. - -All our eyes were fastened upon the Seamew. She was going down -steadily, head-on. Already her bows were being lapped by the waves -clear to the butt of the jib-boom. - -Mr. Hollister sent another wailing cry across to the second mate at the -Seamew’s wheel; but the figure did not move, nor did Alf Barney make -any reply. - -Suddenly our Mr. Barney left the helm. He just motioned to me, and I -grabbed the spokes. He sprang to the rail and held out both his arms to -his brother. - -“Come! Alf, Alf! Come!” - -Then it was that Alfred Barney turned his head and looked across at us. -His face, white as his brother’s had been, broke into a frosty smile. -He raised one hand and waved it to his twin. And then---- - -There was a roar of sound, a rush of wind, a yell in chorus from all -hands aboard the Gullwing, and the mainmast of the Seamew came rushing -down, astern! The great spar had been shaken loose and it fell with all -its weight along the deck of the laboring schooner. The topmast broke -off and sprang into the air, along with a tangle of steel cable and -shredded sails. - -And when that topmast struck the deck again it wrecked the Seamew’s -wheel and pinioned Mr. Alfred Barney beneath its wreckage! - -A general shout of horror arose from the Gullwing; but above it rang -the clarion tone of Jim Barney’s voice: - -“Boat! Boat! Launch the quarterboat!” - -Our men sprang to their stations; the young second mate gave his orders -quick and sharp. Captain Bowditch did not gainsay him. Mr. Jim Barney -had it all his own way. - -His crew--the same that had manned the boat when she had picked up the -castaways--quickly took their places in the craft. She was lowered with -a plop into the sea. - -“Give way, men!” - -They bent to the oars like giants. The boat shot across the sea to the -fast sinking Seamew. I held the spokes of the Gullwing’s wheel idly and -watched. Indeed, the tug coming up to hook us attracted no attention -from anybody aboard our ship at that moment. - -The Seamew was wallowing deep in the water now. Her head was under and -her stern was kicking up. She was about to dive like a duck to the -bottom. - -Suddenly the air-pressure below blew off her forward hatch. Instantly -the waves broke across the deck and the water poured into the open -hatchway. - -Swiftly and more swiftly she sank. When our boat came to the hulk, she -presented a steep side for one to mount from the small boat. - -“Alf! Alf!” we heard our second mate yell. We could not hear that there -was an answer from the man under the wreckage of the topmast. - -“Hold her in close, boys!” commanded Mr. Jim Barney. “Give me that -boathook!” - -“You’ll be drowned, sir!” I heard Thankful Polk cry. - -“She’s going down--she’ll suck us all under,” declared Bob Promise. - -“Stand by, as I tell you!” commanded the second mate again. - -In a moment he had fastened the boathook somehow, and went up hand over -hand. He seized the rail of the sinking ship. The small boat backed -away. I believe Bob Promise thrust her off with his oar. - -“Look out there!” bawled Captain Bowditch, from our poop. “You’re -taking your life in your hand, lad!” - -Mr. Jim Barney merely waved his hand, notifying the master of the -Gullwing that his warning had been heard. But he crawled right up to -the stern over that wreckage. He did not look back once. - -And down settled the Seamew, lower and lower. She was under seas as -far back as the stump of the mainmast. The water boiled around her. -There was good reason for our men in the quarterboat to back off. Once -caught in the suck of the sinking ship, our men and their craft would -go under, too! - -I saw Mr. Jim Barney spring over a pile of debris. He stooped, tore -away some of the wrecked stuff, and then stood up with his brother’s -body clasped in his arms. - -For an instant I saw the white face of the unconscious man. There was -a streak of crimson on his forehead. Jim Barney looked down into the -countenance of his brother and the men in our quarterboat uttered in -chorus a long-drawn cry. The Seamew was going down. - -Slowly, the eddying water seething about her wounded hull, the ship -settled. - -“Jump!” shouted Cap’n Bowditch, leaning over the rail, his own face -pallid and his eyes aglare. - -But that would not have saved them. Mr. Barney could not have leaped -far enough with his burden to have overcome the suck of the maelstrom -forming about the wreck. And it was right for the men in the small boat -to sheer off. - -The wreck slid under the surface. Almost the last thing we saw was Mr. -Barney, holding his burden in his arms, his own face still bent above -the unconscious countenance of his brother. - - - - -CHAPTER XXV - -_In Which a Very Serious Question Is Discussed_ - - -The boat from the Gullwing was so near the maelstrom caused by the -sinking of the ship that her bow was sucked under and she shipped a lot -of water. We saw the boys bailing energetically. - -Then Thank stood up and cast off his outer clothing and his shoes. -Bob Promise, who pulled the bow oar, followed suit. They each took -the precaution to lash the end of a line to one wrist before going -overboard. Where the Seamew had sunk was a circle of tossing waves, and -broken bits of wreckage were popping up from below in a most dangerous -fashion. - -The suspense aboard the Gullwing and in the boat was great indeed as -the two young fellows went down. If the Barneys had been entangled in -any wreckage on the lost vessel, Thank and Bob would never be able to -reach them, for the sea at that spot is very deep, and the hulk of the -schooner would finally rest upon the bottom. - -Mr. Gates had run back to the stern and stood beside me, gazing off -across the tumbling sea. - -“God help the boy!” he muttered, and I knew he referred to our Mr. -Barney. “I doubt now he’d rather be under the seas than above after -this day’s work.” - -“Do you believe it was Mr. Barney’s fault?” I whispered. - -He started and looked around at me. I repeated my question. - -“Was it Jim Barney’s fault?” he returned. “What do you think?” - -“I don’t believe it. He sheered off----” - -“Too late,” muttered Mr. Gates. - -“Just as soon as the captain ordered him to,” I declared eagerly. “When -Captain Bowditch ordered him to ‘Keep off’ he swung her over. I saw -him.” - -“It was too late then, I tell you,” declared the first mate of the -Gullwing. - -“But how about Mr. Alf Barney?” I cried. “He held on to the course all -the time till she hit us.” - -Mr. Gates said nothing. - -“If it was anybody’s fault it was Mr. Alf Barney’s,” I repeated, -stubbornly. - -“No. It cannot be laid to his fault in any case,” said the mate, -sternly. - -“Why not, sir?” I asked. - -“Because his captain gave no order. Captain Si had the deck. He was in -command.” - -“Then Captain Bowditch is at fault, too,” I declared. “He did not speak -quick enough.” - -“He gave the order quick enough,” returned Mr. Gates, gloomily, “but -Jim Barney hesitated. That’s where the fault lies. Jim Barney hated to -give the Seamew right of way, and he held us onto the course after he -was ordered to keep off. That’s where the fault lies, my boy--that’s -where it lies.” - -At another time I do not suppose the mate would have discussed the -point with me, I being merely a foremast hand. But we were all stirred -up and for the moment quarterdeck etiquette was forgotten. - -But in a moment there was a cheer raised in our little boat, dancing -out there on the swells. Thank’s head appeared, and one hand grasped -the gunwale of the boat. He dragged into view the two Barney’s, locked -in an embrace that could not be broken. - -Bob Promise came to his help instantly. Together they held the twins -up. Both the Barneys were unconscious. Mr. Jim must have had a -frightful fight down there under the sea to hold to his brother and get -out of the strong suck of the settling wreck. - -The brothers were hauled into the small boat, and then Thank and Bob -followed. As quickly as possible she was rowed back to the Gullwing. - -Meanwhile the big tug Sea Horse had steamed up to us and rounded to -under our bows. The hawser was passed and Mr. Gates took charge of the -rigging of the bridle. Our skipper himself went to the rail to meet the -incoming boat. - -“Good boys,” he said, warmly. “It’s a pity poor old Si warn’t found, -too.” - -I wondered if that was so. It seemed to me that Captain Silas Somes was -the man mainly to blame for the tragedy. I could not believe that the -onus of it would be heaped upon our second mate. - -The boat was hoisted in. Both the Barneys remained unconscious; but Mr. -Hollister and the captain declared they would be all right soon. Mr. -Alf Barney had not been seriously injured by the falling of the mast. -They were taken below and Mr. Hollister took charge of them, with one -of his own hands to help in bringing the brothers back to their senses. - -The Gullwing quickly felt the tug of the hawser binding her to the Sea -Horse and with her sails clewed up she wallowed on through the choppy -seas into the broad mouth of the Chesapeake. - -No need of aiding the steam-tug by hoisting sail. The race was over. -The Seamew had run her course and the Gullwing was the winner. But a -sorry winning of the race it proved to be. - -Mr. Gates kept both watches at work for a time making the loose spars -secure. The steel stays that had been broken had to be reset, or we -might have one of our masts coming down as the Seamew’s had. - -The work was done before the second dog-watch and then we had a chance -to sit down and fraternize with the men from the Seamew. - -“What gave the old Seamew her ticket,” said Job Perkins, “was our -changing a live man for a dead one. When Clint, here, went over the -side and a man that had been garroted came back inboard, I knowed -we was in for trouble. And that ten dollars you’re to pay me at -Baltimore,” he whispered in my ear, “ain’t going to pay me for the -dunnage I lost.” - -“How d’ye s’pose that feller got strangled with his lanyard?” demanded -another of the Seamew’s men. - -“Ask that nigger they’ve got aboard the Gullwing here,” growled -another. “He knows. And he’ll hafter tell it to the consul.” - -But I made up my mind that, if it were possible, Dao Singh should not -be obliged to go before any court, or any consul, to explain that -matter. The fact was, there wasn’t anything he could explain. Under a -dreadful provocation he had killed the sailor. But I doubted if his -excuse for committing the act would be accepted by the law. - -The men were mainly interested, however, in the circumstances -surrounding the collision of the sister ships and the sinking of the -Seamew. The great question was: Who was at fault? But we conducted -the discussion in very low tones, that the officer on deck might not -overhear us. - -“Talk as ye please,” grunted Job Perkins. “If two other men--men that -warn’t Barneys--had been at the helm of the two ships, there wouldn’t -never been no trouble.” - -“Well,” declared I, “_our_ Mr. Barney sheered off.” - -“Not soon enough,” said Tom Thornton, shaking his head. - -“Just as soon as the order was given!” I cried. “And it wasn’t our -place to give way, at that.” - -“Oh,” said Job, “we’ll all grant the old man--Cap’n Si--was the main -one to blame. Leastways, he’s the one dead, and the dead man is always -blamed. But Mr. Alf Barney never got no word to change his helm--and -yours did.” - -“The ships come together; they was bound to do so, sooner or later,” -said old Stronson, shaking his head. “It iss not de men iss to -blame--no! You remember the Chieftain and de Antelope? Dey was sister -ships, too. Dey could not be anchored within a cable’s length of each -odder, or dey come togedder.” - -“By jings! the old man’s right,” declared Tom Thornton. “I sailed on -the Antelope once. There seemed to be magnets drawin’ them two ships -together. Gettin’ under way at Savannah we bumped the Chieftain and -tore away her fore chains and made a mess of our own bows.” - -“I heered if the two craft was anchored full and plenty apart, and in -no tideway, they’d rub sides within twenty-four hours,” said another -man. - -“And das iss de trut’,” declared Stronson. “Dey wass sister -ships--like das Seamew and Gullwing. Nopoty can keep dem apart when dey -gets jest so near to each odder.” - -“That’s so! I bet that was what did it more than the Barney boys,” -agreed Job Perkins. - -“Sich things happen, as we knows,” said Tom Thornton. - -And I declare, all the old fellows went off on this tangent and -accepted this idea as the true explanation for the sinking of the -Seamew. They talked it over and became more and more positive that it -was so. The superstition that the sister ships had a natural attraction -for each other took a firm hold upon their minds. I could see plainly -that if the firm had any of these old barnacles into court, they would -swear to this ridiculous idea. At least, it might throw a bit of weight -against the idea that the Barney boys had deliberately wrecked the two -ships. - -“Jest the same,” observed old Tom, slowly, “study on it as we may, -there’s one place where it’ll be decided for sure, as far as the legal -end of it goes. The insurance court will have the last say.” - -“Wrong you be, Tom,” declared Job, “wrong you be. The final settlement -of the hull matter will be in the offices of Barney, Blakesley & -Knight. Never mind what the court says, nor how the insurance is -adjusted; them two boys will hafter go before the firm.” - -“By mighty! that’s so,” agreed Tom. - -“And the way it’s turned out,” pursued Job, “it looks like Mr. Jim -Barney would have the best of it.” - -“How so?” we asked. - -“Don’t you see that he’s bound ter be first ashore at Baltimore?” and -the Seamew’s oldest hand chuckled. “He’s come through on his ship and -will stand first in the old man’s estimation--no matter how he done it. -Ye know Jothan Barney.” - -“By crackey! will Mr. Jim beat Mr. Alfred, then, and be boss of the -firm?” Thankful Polk demanded. - -“That’ll be the end of the story, son,” said Job, turning his cud in -his cheek. “Old Jothan sent ’em out, one ter beat the other. By jinks! -one _has_ beat the other. No matter how he’s done it. It’s done, and so -old Jothan will agree, I reckon.” - -“But won’t the firm punish Mr. Jim?” I asked. - -“I wanter see the firm do anything that old Jothan don’t want it to -do,” scoffed Job. - -“And that’s so, too,” agreed old Tom. - -“Then, believing that Mr. Jim Barney deliberately wrecked the Seamew so -as to beat his brother into Baltimore, you fellows think his uncle will -receive him with open arms?” - -“That’ll be about it,” said Job. “Jothan Barney is that way. He wanted -one of his nephews to show what they call ‘initiative’ and all that. -Jim Barney’s showed it----” - -“And risked drowning a whole ship’s crew--two ships’ crews, in -fact!--including his brother?” I cried. “You believe he did that just -to get ahead and win his uncle’s approval?” - -“That’s it,” said Job. - -“Then if he hated his brother so,” I demanded, raising my voice in my -earnestness, “why did he risk his own life to save him?” - -The men were silent for a moment. Then Mr. Gates’ voice came booming -forward from the quarter: - -“You men stow your jaw-tackle. You’re gassin’ too much.” - -That ended the discussion. But I was by no means convinced that the -seamen understood the two Barneys. I had an entirely different idea of -how the matter would fall out in the end. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVI - -_In Which Is Told How the Barney Boys Go Ashore_ - - -Of course, the sinking of the Seamew would be reported by the tug -Comet, that had gone out to meet her, and the news would be telegraphed -to Baltimore long before we reached the port. The owners would know all -about the trouble, and I reckon Captain Joe Bowditch had pretty serious -thoughts that night as we were towed up the bay. - -It was a lovely evening and Phillis came out on deck and begged me to -sit with her. She had not been so greatly frightened when the two ships -collided, because I had been right with her and the trouble was over so -quickly. I hated to think of what might have happened, however, if it -had been the fate of the Gullwing to sink instead of her sister ship. - -Since they have been carried below, unconscious, none of we foremast -hands had seen the two Barney boys. We only knew that they had both -recovered and were none the worse for their ducking. - -It was now the captain’s watch, however, and Mr. Jim Barney came up -and paced the larboard side of the deck, aft. It was not long before -I caught sight of a similar figure pacing the starboard side of the -house, and knew that Mr. Alf Barney had come up, too. - -Philly and I had been whispering together under her awning and suddenly -she put her finger on my lips to enjoin secrecy, and tripped away to -Mr. Jim Barney’s side. - -She tucked her hand in his, I could see, and walked beside him. I am -not sure whether she said anything to him, or not; but I know he did -not send her away from him, although he was on duty. - -Then, after a bit, I saw Philly go to the other side of the deck and -join Mr. Alf Barney. She must have got acquainted with him below deck, -for he welcomed her warmly. They talked earnestly for a few moments, -and then the little girl ran back to me. - -I had been gazing idly off over the rail, watching the lights ashore, -and thinking of my home-coming. In this land-locked bay I could be -pretty safe in believing that I would soon be with my mother. - -Of course, through the machinations of my cousin I had been kept from -coming directly home when I was at Punta Arenas. But Paul Downes would -not be in Baltimore when we landed, to trouble me in the least. Once -I got ashore with Phillis and Thank, I was determined to hike for -Darringford House in short order. - -I had enough money to pay two railroad fares home--the little girl’s -and my own. Thank and I were to receive no wages for our work aboard -the Gullwing. But I would leave Thank enough money to keep him until I -could telegraph him more from Darringford. - -He proposed to go home himself for a time--back to Georgia. He had a -half sister there that he wanted to see. Then he was to join me for -the balance of the summer on the Massachusetts coast. We had already -planned great fun at Bolderhead, despite the fact that my bonnie sloop, -the Wavecrest, was far, far away--at Buenos Ayres. - -The matter of Dao Singh was not so easily adjusted. I knew very -well that Captain Bowditch would insist upon reporting the case of -Phillis to the proper authorities at Baltimore. That would include the -examination of the Hindoo on the details of the wreck of the Galland. -And just as sure as they got the man into court I knew he would convict -himself. - -I was not willing to see the examination dragged on for weeks, perhaps -months. And the end was not sure, either. I did not want Dao Singh -punished; and I knew that it would trouble Philly greatly if the man -was not at her beck and call most of the time. - -However, if Dao Singh, as a pertinent witness in the case, was not to -be found, I believed I could get any fair-minded court to place Phillis -in the care of my mother until the matter was concluded. That was the -scheme I had in mind. - -Therefore, when we landed I proposed that Dao Singh should disappear. I -had already sounded him. I had no money to spare, but he seemed to have -worn a belt about his waist under his clothing, in which he told me he -carried valuables. Money I supposed. - -Nor was he ignorant of the port to which we were bound. He had studied -the geography of the world and he had corresponded in some way with -members of his own race located in Baltimore. - -“To them will I go, Webb Sahib, directly the ship docks. If there -is hue and cry, they will not find me. When your augustness and the -Memsahib en train for your home, I shall en train likewise. I shall not -be far from you.” - -“But you will not know when we go,” I cried. - -“Let not the Sahib fear for that. Dao Singh will have means of knowing. -Your movements, Webb Sahib, will be learned, although I be afar. Fear -not.” - -And this is all he would tell me. Rather a rare bird, was Singh. He -treated me always with immense deference, waited on me when I would let -him, hand and foot, yet always retained an air of being upon a mental -or spiritual plane immensely removed from my own. And I’m not at all -sure that he was not possessed of intelligence far above the order of -the European or American. - -But I have got away from my text. Philly and I were sitting watching -the lights on shore. As we were under towage, the watch on deck had -little to do. Therefore the captain did not mind being aft with the -little lass. - -Suddenly I saw the two Barney boys cross the deck and stand together -under the break of the quarter. It was dark there and I could not see -how they looked at each other, nor could I hear what they said. But -they stood there for some minutes and, when they separated, and Mr. Jim -went back to his duty, I hoped that they had not parted in anger. - -It seemed a dreadful thing if either, or both, of the twins should be -accused of losing one ship and all but wrecking the other. As young -merchant officers, just starting out in life, the affair would about -ruin them. And if old Jothan Barney stuck to his word and took Jim -Barney into the firm, and gave him all his money, what would become of -Mr. Alfred? - -At midnight I turned in; Philly had sought her cabin long before. She -wished to be up bright and early to see the Gullwing docked. But I -could not sleep for mulling over the case of the Barney boys in my mind. - -My watch was called at eight bells to wash down and make the deck as -tidy as possible for the docking, although we were not yet far north -of the mouth of the York river. The best we could do, however, our -beautiful Gullwing looked like a drunken old harridan that had been out -all night! - -The day was beautiful. As the shores and islands were more clearly -revealed, Philly’s delight knew no bounds. - -“Oh, the land! the beautiful land!” she sighed. “I want to jump for -joy.” - -“Have you got enough of the sea for all time?” - -“I do not think I am afraid of the sea--not as afraid as I was once,” -she replied. “But think how good it will be to step ashore! I really -don’t feel, Clint, as though I would care to sail again right away.” - -And despite the sorry story we had to tell of the Seamew, there was a -briskness in everybody’s movements that told of shore leave, and most -of the men’s faces were agrin. Those forward were making up parties for -certain pleasures and entertainments which had been denied them for so -many months. - -Old Stronson was going immediately to the Bethel, there to pay Captain -Sowle the dollar he had owed the good superintendent for five years and -more. - -“I do that chob at vonce,” said the old man, “pefore somet’ings happen -to me. Meppe Captain Sowle vill take my moneys for me and find me a -goot berth aboard some gentleman’s yacht. Das berth I like, I t’ank.” - -I knew he wanted to get away from the drink and I hoped with all my -heart that the old man would be able to do so. - -Tom Thornton had a married sister in Baltimore, over to whom the bulk -of his paycheck was always paid by Barney, Blakesley & Knight. He would -be put up by her, and cared for, and kept straight as long as possible; -then the old man would go to sea again--in the Gullwing if possible. - -As for Bob Promise and some other of the younger men, they were all for -“the sporting life.” - -“I’m goin’ to tog meself up in decent clothes,” said Bob. “No slops -or sheeny hand-me-downs for me. You watch my smoke, boy, when I get -ashore. I ain’t sure that I won’t go up to some swell hotel and stay -for a week. I reckon my bunch of coin will stand for it.” - -Never a word about salting some of the money away for some worthy -object. Jack Tar of the merchant marine has only two states of -existence--slavery aboard ship and license ashore. There seems to be no -happy medium for him. - -The Sea Horse towed us into our berth. The hawsers went ashore and we -were warped in beside the dock amid a deal of clatter and confusion. - -There was a crowd to receive us. Some of these people were newspaper -men. The story of the wreck of the Seamew had appeared in the Baltimore -morning papers and reporters for the afternoon sheets were here for the -particulars at first hand. Nobody was allowed aboard, however, although -the quarantine officers had given us a clean bill of health down the -bay. - -I saw standing upon the dock a tall, withered old man, with a very -sharp face and white hair and mustache. He looked like a hawk, and was -dressed all in shabby black. Without asking, I knew this to be old -Jothan Barney, the head of the firm that owned the Gullwing. - -I did not see either of his nephews greet him from the ship. Mr. Jim -had plenty to do while the ship docked, and Mr. Alf was not far from -his brother at any time. Indeed, I was not the only person who noticed -that the Barney boys stuck together. - -A section of the rail had been removed amidships. A narrow gangway was -run out from the dock, the ropes were caught by two of the seamen, and -the plank made fast. - -“First ashore!” sang out the old man and looked from our Mr. Barney to -his brother. - -We all fell back for a moment. It was evident that the Barneys would go -ashore even before Cap’n Joe. They approached the plank and both smiled. - -“All right, Alf?” I heard Mr. Jim say. - -“I’m with you, Jim,” was the reply. - -And with their arms locked, the twin brothers walked ashore together -and went straight to stand before old Jothan Barney! - - - - -CHAPTER XXVII - -_In Which I Receive a Telegram That Troubles Me_ - - -For a moment there was a dead silence among the crews of the sister -ships. Then Captain Bowditch himself took off his hat and started the -cheering. - -And how he did yell! If both vessels had come home safely we could not -have given tongue more joyfully. For in that moment every man of us -knew that whatever friction there had been betwixt Jim and Alf Barney, -they were once more brothers and friends! - -Of course, the crowd ashore thought we were just glad to get home -again--that we were expressing our satisfaction upon getting to -Baltimore, safe and sound. But the Barneys knew what it meant and both -of them waved their hands in response to our hearty hurrah. - -As the newspaper reporters crowded aboard to interview Captain Bowditch -I saw that the three Barneys walked away. The old man did not even -speak to the skipper of the Gullwing. I reckoned any comment upon the -skipper’s actions by the members of the firm of Barney, Blakesley & -Knight would be postponed until some later time. - -The newspaper fellows were eager for a story; but Mr. Gates and Mr. -Hollister “shooed” them away from the foremast hands. The men would -not be discharged until the next day, when they would be taken to the -offices of the firm for a settlement of their accounts, and to receive -their discharges. Until that time they must remain aboard and continue -under the discipline of the officers. - -“If you writer chaps,” said Mr. Gates, with a grin, “want to get these -old hardshells to spinning yarns, you’ll have to wait till they lay -their course for Front Street. You’ll have to be contented with facts -from Captain Bowditch just now.” - -So the stories of the Seamew’s tragedy were not very ornate in the -afternoon papers after all; and public interest in the affair was soon -quenched. - -When my watch was piped to dinner the doctor gave me the tip to wait on -deck and in a few minutes Mr. Gates beckoned me to the afterhouse. - -“Quarterdeck etiquette is busted all to flinders, Clint,” he said, in -an unusually jolly tone, for he was naturally a grave man. But the fact -that we were in the home port after so many months was bound to thaw -the iciest manner. “You’re to dine with the old man and Miss Philly.” - -It was a shame the way I looked! My second suit of slops from the -chest were pretty well worn out and my head was a regular mop. I had -reckoned on seeing a barber about the first thing I did when I went -ashore; and I hoped to squeeze out money enough for a cheap suit, too, -in which I might make a more presentable appearance going home. - -“Never mind your clothing, Clinton,” said Captain Bowditch, when I made -some remark of this kind. “We’ll excuse your looks.” - -“And I’m not much better off than you,” laughed Philly. “I have to go -to bed when Singh washes this dress.” - -“By the way, where _is_ Singh?” demanded the captain. “After dinner I -want we should all go up to the British consul--and I want Singh to go -to.” - -But Dao Singh was not to be found. I said nothing about my talk with -the Hindoo. I knew that nobody had seen him after we got into our -berth. He might, even, have gone ashore ahead of the Barneys. However, -gone he was and the captain was quite put out. - -“That’s the trouble with these natives,” he growled. “Can’t trust ’em. -I’d ought to put him in irons----” - -“What for, Captain? What has poor Singh done?” asked Philly. - -And then the captain took a tumble to himself. The little girl knew -nothing about the man murdered in the boat from the wreck of the -Galland. - -“Well, it’s a serious thing--for me--to have let him get away without -his going before the authorities,” Captain Bowditch growled. - -That was not exactly true however. Nobody would blame him because the -Hindoo had departed. But the old man said he would take us both up -town right after dinner. I begged for a little time to make myself -presentable and was given an hour’s leave ashore. I found a barber and -got my hair trimmed properly and then went to a second hand shop and -got an outfit of coat, pants and shoes, with a new hat for six dollars. -Nothing very fashionable, you may be sure; but I reckoned the butler -would let me into the house with ’em on--by the side door, at least! - -So the captain and Philly and I walked over to the British consulate -and saw a young man with eyeglasses and something of a lisp, dressed in -clothes that could not possibly be made so badly anywhere else but in -London. He was a nice young man, though; and he insisted upon making -tea for Philly when he heard that she had been two weeks in an open -boat, as though she might still need a “pick-me-up” because of that -adventure. - -It seemed that he had already heard of the loss of the Galland. Her -burned hull had been sighted by two steamships and reported before -the Gullwing arrived in port. But none of the crew or passengers of -the ill-fated ship, until Phillis Duane came, had been reported as -saved. The Galland had been posted as a complete loss, with crew and -passengers. - -“What puzzles me,” said the English official, “is the distance the -Galland and the boat you found drifted apart. Her bulk was reported as -sighted only a day or two after your Gullwing picked up the little girl -and the Hindoo.” The captain had already explained about Dao Singh. -“Yet,” continued the consul, “the Galland had drifted far up the coast -in the steamship route--she’s a dangerous derelict, and has been so -reported to the Hydrographic office at Washington, and to Lloyds in -London. - -“Whereas, Captain, the latitude and longitude you give is far, far to -the south. South of the Straits, in fact.” - -“Three hunder’ mile sou’east of the Capes of the Virgin, sure enough,” -admitted Captain Bowditch. - -“Yes. The Galland had come through the Straits and must have met with -her accident not far outside. It seems strange that only one boat got -away from her--and that one improperly manned.” - -“As near as we can find out, sir,” said the skipper, “she had but two -seamen in her beside the Hindoo and the little girl here.” - -He had taken the captain and I into his private office while he -examined us regarding the particulars of the affair. I told him frankly -about the dead man in the boat. - -“I must find this Dao Singh,” he said. “Until I get him I cannot call -the case closed, of course. And then, there’s the little girl.” - -Captain Bowditch spoke up for me, then. He had had a good report of me -from Captain Hiram Rogers of the Scarboro, and he believed what I had -told him about my folks. He would go bail for my appearance, and the -production of Philly safe and sound, whenever we should be wanted. - -“A very good arrangement,” agreed the consul, seemingly mightily -relieved regarding the girl. He was a bachelor himself. “Meanwhile I -will do my best to locate her people. Of course, she must have been -consigned to somebody in England, even if she does not know who. -It seems to me as though the name of Captain Erskin Duane is not -unfamiliar to me.” - -So we got away from there after a while. When I had gone ashore to get -my fancy rigout I had sent a telegram to Ham Mayberry. I did that so as -not to startle my mother, believing that Ham would know how to break -the news of my arrival to her better than anybody else. Ham had been -with us so many years that he was like one of the family. - -And having telegraphed him I was mighty anxious for a reply that all -was well. - -Captain Bowditch left us to report at the offices of the ship owners -and Philly and I went back to the Gullwing where Ham was to send his -message. It had arrived while we were at the consul’s and Mr. Gates -handed the envelope to me the moment I came aboard. - -With some perturbation, I broke the seal, and to say the least I was -amazed when I read Hamilton Mayberry’s telegram: - -“I will meet every train. Speak to nobody until you see me.--H. M.” - - - - -CHAPTER XXVIII - -_In Which My Homecoming Proves To Be a Strange One Indeed_ - - -Naturally I thought that Ham’s telegram spelled trouble; but I kept my -thoughts to myself. I did not feel like discussing the matter even with -Thankful Polk. - -We had begun to break out the Gullwing’s cargo and worked until dark. -The next day the roustabouts would come aboard and relieve us of that. -All hands (save Thank and I) would go up to the office to be paid off. - -We in the forecastle heard nothing about the Barneys that day, nor -did Mr. Jim return to the ship. We spent the evening skylarking on -the forward deck. A man had come aboard with an accordion and the men -danced, and sang, and had a general rough-and-tumble jollification. -But I only looked on. Tomorrow would close such scenes for me--perhaps -forever. - -In the morning a lawyer and his clerk came aboard to take testimony -regarding the loss of the Seamew. Just as I had supposed, the men -who talked most were the old fellows who believed that the two ships -had come together because of some supernatural attraction. The real -incidents of the collision were buried under a heap of rubbish, -testimony that would help the courts and the insurance people mighty -little in getting at the facts of the case. - -I was thankful that the lawyer did not put many questions to me. I -stuck to my belief that Mr. Jim Barney had obeyed Captain Bowditch’s -order to change the course of the Gullwing as soon as the order was -given. - -When the examination was over there was a deal of bustle in preparation -of all hands going ashore. I paid Job Perkins the ten dollars I had -promised him and lent Thank all I could spare after saving out enough -for the tickets for Philly and myself to Darringford. - -I suppose I might have borrowed a little money from Captain Bowditch; -but Thank could get along until I could telegraph him a hundred from -home. He had agreed to accept that much from me, and promised to join -me at my mother’s summer home later. - -Then we bade the men good-bye, and shook hands with the skipper and Mr. -Gates and Mr. Hollister. Thank went with Philly and me to the railroad -station. There I hoped to find Dao Singh--and Philly was anxious about -him, too. But the Hindoo did not appear. - -We could not wait for him; nor did I know how to find him in Baltimore. -But I told Thank to keep a watch out for him, and if he saw Singh to -let me know at once by telegraph. - -We took the fast express for Boston and only had to transfer at one -point. From that point I had engaged seats in the chair car and berths -for both Philly and myself. There was but one day coach attached to -the train when we changed, and we were scarcely aboard when a tall, -turbanned figure appeared at the window beside my seat. - -“Oh, Dao Singh!” cried Philly, and then rattled away to him in his own -tongue. - -He made me a low obeisance. “I have come, Sahib, as I promised,” he -said, softly. “I take train here with you and the Memsahib. I ride -forward in the other coach;” and bowing he left us. - -I saw that he had a complete new outfit--a costume of his own country. -He was a strange looking object as he stalked away to take his place in -the day car. - -I sent Ham another wire to say what hour we would arrive at Darringford -station. I was sincerely worried about my mother. Perhaps she was ill. -Perhaps--I dared not ruminate farther on that subject. - -Phillis was greatly interested in the country through which the -train flew. We looked pretty shabby--both of us--to be riding in a -first-class coach, and the other passengers were curious about us. But -we made no acquaintances on the way. - -We arrived safely in Boston in the morning, and crossed the city to the -other station. We had not long to wait for a local train that stopped -at Darringford. It was not long after nine o’clock when the train -stopped and we disembarked. - -I saw Ham instantly; but he did not have our carriage. There was nobody -else to welcome me--there was nobody about the station, indeed, who -recognized me. I had changed a good deal during the twenty-two months I -had been away. - -But old Ham knew me. He rushed at me and wrung my hands and sputtered -something at first that I could not understand. At last he said: - -“And ye couldn’t have timed it better, Master Clint. You’re just in the -nick of time. The court sits in ha’f an hour.” - -Then he caught sight of Phillis and Dao Singh right behind me. - -“What’s all this?” he muttered. - -“I’ll tell you later,” I said. “It’s too long a story to give you now. -Besides, you’ve got to tell me things first. Isn’t the carriage here? -Can’t we all go right to Darringford House? Haven’t you told mother?” - -He shook his head slowly. - -“Can’t take you home, jest yet, Master Clint,” he said. - -“But mother! is----?” - -“She ain’t sick, and she ain’t well. Only poorly. Nothing to be worried -about. And now that you’re here I reckon things will be straightened -out all right.” - -“Chester Downes!” I ejaculated. - -“Yes. He’s cutting up didoes,” grunted Ham. - -“But where is Lawyer Hounsditch?” I cried. - -And then Ham _did_ amaze me--and startle me, too. - -“Old Mr. Hounsditch died a month ago, Clint,” he said. “It was sudden. -He was an old man, you know, and there is nobody to take his place.” - -“My guardian is dead, then!” I exclaimed. - -“He was co-trustee with your mother, Clint. That’s where the trouble -lies. Chester Downes is riggin’ to get appointed in his place. It comes -up before the Judge of Probate this morning. You ain’t but jest in -time.” - -_That_ woke me up, now I tell you! All my wits were working in a -minute. Ham needed to make little more talk about it for me to fully -understand what was threatening. - -“And mother didn’t object?” I asked. - -“You know what a holt Downes has over her,” Ham said gravely. “She -_did_ want him to wait until you came home. We got your letter from -Valpariso and we knew the Gullwing was about due in Baltimore. But -Chester Downes--you know him!” - -“Let us take my little friend and Dao Singh to the hotel,” I said. -“They can wait for us there. I must have a lawyer, Ham.” - -“I got you one,” said the old man, quickly. “We’d have gone before the -court if you hadn’t come in time and tried to get a stay.” - -“Who is he?” - -“Colonel Playfair.” - -I knew him by reputation. A better man didn’t live in Darringford, nor -a better lawyer--now that Mr. Hounsditch was dead. And it seemed to me -that I remembered something about Colonel Playfair and my grandfather -having once been close friends. - -“Have you got any money, Ham?” I asked him. “For I haven’t a cent.” - -“Plenty,” he replied. - -“Get a carriage, then, and drive us to the hotel first; then to Colonel -Playfair’s office.” - -“Aye, aye, sir!” returned Ham and in a few moments we were off in a -station hack, Ham on the seat with the driver. - -Mr. and Mrs. Bramble kept the Darringford Hotel, and I left Philly in -the good lady’s care. Dao Singh remained with her, of course. Then Ham -and I raced to the office of the lawyer. - -It was already half past nine. There was no time to lose if the matter -of an appointment of a new trustee for the Darringford estate was the -first item on the docket. - -I knew Colonel Playfair by sight--a soldierly, white haired veteran -with one arm. His shabby offices were in a brick building near the -courthouse. I don’t suppose he would have known me in my present guise -had not Ham Mayberry vouched for my identity. - -“A close call, young man,” he said. “I understand you object to this -Chester Downes being appointed in the place of Mr. Hounsditch?” - -“I more than object,” I cried. “I won’t have it!” - -“Hoighty-toighty!” he said. “That’s not the way to go into court. You -have a choice, of course; but don’t speak that way to Judge Fetter.” - -“No, sir,” I said, restraining myself. - -“And you must have somebody else in mind to suggest for the -appointment.” - -“You are familiar with the situation, Colonel?” I asked. “You knew my -grandfather, and you know how he made his will?” - -“Humph! I know all about it,” he returned, grimly. - -“You are the man to take Lawyer Hounsditch’s place. The co-trustee -should be a lawyer, anyway.” - -“Well, well, I don’t know about this,” he said, slowly. “You really -should have another attorney, then, to appear before Judge Fetter.” - -“Jest git it put over, Colonel,” said Ham, eagerly. “Then we kin settle -about the trimmings afterward.” - -The colonel laughed and took up his hat. - -“All right,” he said. “We’ll go across to the judge’s chambers and see -what we can do,” and he led the way out of his office. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIX - -_In Which Mr. Chester Downes and I Again “Lock Horns”_ - - -This had not been the home-coming I had looked forward to. I had not -desired to take up the old fight with my uncle, Mr. Chester Downes. -But it seemed as though circumstances were forever opposing us in some -wrangle or other! - -We three, with the old Colonel leading, went quietly into the room -where Judge Fetter held his court. Nobody noticed us and Colonel -Playfair motioned Ham and I to seats well back in the room. There -were maybe a score of people on the benches. The lawyers and those -individuals who were pertinently interested in the matters to be -arranged, were allowed inside the rail before the Judge’s desk. Colonel -Playfair went up there and the justice nodded to him. Nobody knew whom -he represented, or in what matter he was interested. - -I saw Mr. Chester Downes at once; but my uncle did not see me. He sat -with his back to me, in fact, and beside him was a slim and sleek -looking man with a green bag before him on the table. - -“That’s Jim Maxwell,” whispered Ham. “And he’s the kind of a lawyer -that Chester Downes would cotton to, all right. I ain’t got no manner -o’ use for Jim Maxwell. He’s one o’ them landsharks, he is.” - -The proceedings droned along for a time. Two matters of probate were -settled before our case came up. Then his clerk handed Judge Fetter -some papers, he put on his nose glasses, glanced at them, and said: - -“In the matter of the appointment of Mr. Chester Downed as co-trustee -with Mrs. Mary Webb, Widow--the Darrington Estate. There is a minor -child, I believe? You speak in this matter, Mr. Maxwell?” - -“I have the honor to do so,” said the sleek man. - -“There is no objection to the appointment, I understand?” pursued the -Judge. “The widow is satisfied?” - -“Very much so,” declared the lawyer. - -“She is not here present?” - -“Ill health, your honor,” said Maxwell, briskly! “But Mr. Downes, who -is her brother-in-law, has been her man of business for years. Mr. -Hounsditch, lately deceased, although appointed under the will, was -merely a figure-head in the affairs of the estate.” - -“And this minor child--how old is he?” - -“Seventeen.” - -“Ah. He has no choice, then? He does not object to his uncle as a -trustee?” - -“The boy has run away from home, your honor. He is a little wild----” -began Mr. Maxwell. - -I was so enraged that I could not keep my seat; but Ham pulled me back. -“Take it easy, Clint,” he whispered. - -“In that case,” the judge mooned along, rustling the papers, “there -being no objection, and Mr. Chester Downes’ bond being entirely -satisfactory----” - -Colonel Playfair arose. The Judge looked at him in surprise. - -“I beg pardon, Brother Playfair,” he said, politely. “You surely do not -appear in this matter?” - -“Yes, your honor, I do,” said the Colonel. - -“You represent anybody interested?” - -“I most certainly do,” said the Colonel. “I represent the minor child, -Clinton Webb.” - -Mr. Chester Downes leaned forward and whispered to his lawyer. The -latter sprang up again. - -“I beg Colonel Playfair’s pardon,” Maxwell said. “Does he state that he -has been engaged directly by the boy mentioned to represent him before -this court?” - -Colonel Playfair was silent for a moment, and the other lawyer went on: - -“For if not, I object. No engagement of an attorney by outside parties -will stand, your honor. We expected some interference by officious -friends of the misguided boy. His mother is his legal guardian, Mr. -Hounsditch being dead----” - -“Wait,” said the Judge, patiently. “Colonel Playfair knows the law as -well as any man here,” and he smiled and bowed. “State your position, -sir,” he said to the Colonel. - -“I represent the minor, your honor,” he said, quietly. “If it becomes -necessary application will be made for the appointment of both a -guardian as well as co-trustee of the estate, on behalf of Clinton -Webb.” - -“But the boy has run away! He is incorrigible,” cried Lawyer Maxwell. - -“Brother Maxwell is misinformed,” said the Colonel, suavely, “If he -does not know the truth, his client does. Clinton Webb did not run away -from home. He was blown out to sea in a little sloop from Bolderhead. -It is a matter of record--newspaper record, your honor. He was picked -up by a vessel bound for the South Seas. From that distance he has only -lately been able to get a ship homeward bound.” - -Chester Downes was whispering again to his lawyer. The eyes of the -sleek Mr. Maxwell snapped. - -“Your honor!” cried he, interrupting Colonel Playfair. - -The colonel politely gave way to him. The Judge looked puzzled. - -“Your honor! The fact of his having left home in the first place -involuntarily is admitted. But he has refused to return. His mother -sent money for his passage to Buenos Ayres. He supposedly wasted the -money and remained wilfully out of her jurisdiction.” - -“Colonel Playfair?” queried the Judge. - -“If Brother Maxwell is quite finished,” said the colonel, “I would like -to state our side of the argument.” - -“Continue,” said the Judge. - -“I am sorry to wash dirty linen in court,” Colonel Playfair said, -quietly. “These family troubles would better be settled outside of -the courtroom. But it seems necessary to place the full facts before -your honor. It is not only a proven fact that Clinton Webb left home -involuntarily; but there was a crime attached to his adventure. He was -nailed into the cabin of his boat and the boat was cut adrift at the -beginning of the September gale, two years ago this coming fall.” - -The spectators began to sit up and take notice. The affair was assuming -a serious hue. - -“The person who committed this dastardly crime is known--known to -Brother Maxwell’s client. This person, afraid of being arrested for his -deed, actually _did_ run away from home, went to Buenos Ayres, there -represented himself as Clinton Webb and obtained the money sent there -by Mrs. Webb for her son, and is now, I understand, a member of the -crew of the whaling bark, Scarboro, in the South Pacific. - -“These final facts are proven by a letter from the American consul at -Buenos Ayres, sent to Mr. Hounsditch, deceased, together with the -amount of money which had been given to the false claimant by a clerk -in the consul’s office. Does Mr. Maxwell wish me to state the name of -the person who committed these criminal acts?” - -My uncle’s lawyer was evidently in a fine flurry. He jumped up to say: - -“We let the point pass for the present. But we claim that the minor -child, Clinton Webb, has no standing in this court. He is on the high -seas----” - -“Wrong, Brother Maxwell,” said the colonel, very sweetly. “He is here.” - -I saw Mr. Chester Downes start from his seat. He cried out something, -but the Judge rapped his desk for order. - -“You say your client is present in court, Colonel?” he asked. - -“Clinton Webb! Come forward!” commanded my lawyer, and that time Ham -did not try to keep me in my seat. - -I marched down the aisle. Mr. Chester Downes saw me coming. His dark -face never paled; the blood flooded into it, darkening it until his -cheeks and brow were almost black. - -We looked at each other. There was no need for either to threaten the -other. As of old, we were sworn enemies. And I believed that I had -again crossed him in his most precious project. - -The colonel let me into the enclosure through the gate. - -“You recognize your nephew, do you, Mr. Downes?” asked the Judge. - -Chester Downes nodded. He could not speak. - -“And I understand that Clinton Webb, here before us, objects to the -appointment of his uncle as co-trustee of the estate?” he asked the -colonel. - -“He does,” was the brief reply. - -“What is your wish, then, Colonel?” asked Judge Fetter. “This matter, -evidently, is not ready for closing to-day?” - -“No, your honor. We ask for a postponement--that is all.” - -“Do you agree, Brother Maxwell?” asked the judge. - -Maxwell looked at his client. There was nothing else to do but to agree -and Downes knew it as well as the lawyer. - -“Oh, yes!” snarled Chester Downes. “We will have to fight, I see.” - -He and I had locked horns again; but he would not admit then that he -was worsted. - -Colonel Playfair had a few moments’ whispered conversation with Judge -Fetter, and then we went back to the lawyer’s office. Chester Downes -and Maxwell had hastened away from the courthouse. My uncle did not try -to speak to me--and I was glad. I am afraid I could not have controlled -myself just then. - -There were some papers to sign and more discussion in Colonel -Playfair’s office. He called in a brother practitioner, Mr. Charles -Ahorn, and the matters were turned over to him. Colonel Playfair -agreed to step into poor Mr. Hounsditch’s shoes, and be my guardian -and co-trustee with my mother, if the other side could come to an -agreement. I believed, when I had talked with my mother, that she would -make no objection. - -Crafty as I knew my uncle to be, I could not believe that he had so -succeeded in warping my mother’s judgment that she would believe -everything ill he had said of me. And I counted on her love as a surety. - -Much as she might disregard my personal opinion of Chester Downes, I -was sure she would welcome me with open arms! - - - - -CHAPTER XXX - -_In Which My Welcome Home Is a Real Welcome, After All_ - - -Ham and I went back in the hack to the hotel, where we had dinner with -Phillis, Dao Singh standing behind my chair, and waiting at table. I -had an idea right then and there that James, the butler, would find his -job in danger when we got settled at Darringford House. - -Briefly, while we ate, I related some of my adventures to my old -friend. Particularly those that had to do with Philly and the Hindoo. - -“It beats all--it sure does!” Ham kept repeating, and could scarcely -keep his eyes off the turbanned servant. - -When we drove through the wide gateway to the grounds surrounding -Darringford House, I saw the flutter of a light dress upon the -verandah. When we rounded the turn in the drive and the shrubbery was -past, I knew my mother was standing there. But I certainly _was_ amazed -to see Chester Downes sitting in one of the arm chairs. No matter what -happened, he never owned up beat! I had to hand it to him there. - -But I saw what he was up to immediately. He had hurried ahead to break -the news of my coming to my mother, and to lay plans for his continued -influence in the house. My mother and the estate were practically his -bread and butter. I knew that well enough. - -But nothing then could spoil the joy of my home-coming. I tore open the -door of the hack before it stopped and leaped out. Mother rushed into -my arms as I came up the step and I swung her up off the ground--she -was such a little, dainty woman!--and I knew that she had never ceased -to love me. - -“Clint! Clint!” she sobbed. “My dear, dear boy!” - -“Hug me again, mother!” I returned, trying to laugh, but making a poor -mess of it. “This is the happiest minute I’ve seen for two years.” - -“And how you’ve grown!” she gasped, pushing me off a bit so that she -could look me over better. - -“And you haven’t grown a bit!” I laughed, and swung her again until she -was breathless. - -“And I hope you have got enough of the awful sea and sea-going!” she -cried. “Oh, Clint! You will stay at home now?” - -“I certainly hope to,” I returned, casting a meaning glance at Chester -Downes, who had risen, with a false smile on his face, and his hand -outstretched. - -But in spite of the fact that at that moment I meant all that I said, -and had not the remotest idea that I should ever go to sea again, -circumstances not then dreamed of changed my intentions later; and the -reader who so desires may follow my further course afloat in the fourth -volume of this series, entitled: “The Ocean Express; or, Clint Webb -Aboard the Sea Tramp.” - -Then my mother caught sight of Philly and Dao Singh. They had stepped -out of the hack and the tall Hindoo, in his oriental costume, stood -gravely behind the little golden haired beauty. She looked like a story -out of some Eastern Fairy Tale, and Dao Singh just set her off nicely. - -“The pretty child!” mother murmured, clasping her hands, and I know -that at that instant her heart went out to Phillis Duane. - -Philly was looking up at her with a bashful little smile; yet the -golden lights in her brown eyes were dancing. She had laughed to see -how I had caught my little mother up off the ground. - -“Who is she, Clinton?” mother asked. - -“My sister,” I told her, proudly. - -“What?” gasped mother, and I saw Chester Downes echo the word, but in a -whisper. I could imagine the start my announcement gave him. And yet, -my statement could not explain all that I saw in my uncle’s face as he -glared at little Phillis. It was not until afterward, however, that I -remembered how startled Chester Downes was. - -“That’s what we’ve agreed to, mother,” I said, smiling, too, at my -pretty little friend. “We have adopted each other. Now it remains with -you to take Phillis Duane right into your heart along with me.” - -“The dear, dear child!” mother murmured, and went down the verandah -steps to meet the girl. - -“I know I shall love you, dearly! dearly!” cried Philly, and put her -arms around mother’s neck as the latter stooped over her. - -Dao Singh made a low obeisance. Mother looked rather startled at him -and then turned to me. - -“Dao Singh,” I explained, “has had much care of Phillis since she was -little. He insists upon attending upon her----” - -“And upon the Webb Sahib,” concluded the Hindoo, gravely. “It is -well that the little Memsahib and Webb Sahib, come in health to Her -Ladyship, on whom be peace and health. Dao Singh is her servant.” - -He bent low again, took up the hem of my mother’s voluminous summer -dress, and pressed it to his forehead. Mother looked amazed, and well -she might--a new daughter and such a kingly serving person thrust upon -her so unexpectedly. I had to laugh. - -“Your Ladyship will get used to it in time. As a man before the mast -in an old windjammer, being served by an oriental prince has its -drawbacks; but you’ll get used to it, Little Mum!” - -But mother’s interest was soon fixed entirely upon Phillis, and with -her hand upon the child’s shoulder, she urged her up the steps. There -Chester Downes was hanging about, eager to be noticed, anxious to come -into the picture. - -“Your Uncle Chester, Clinton,” said mother, “has been so kind to me -while you were away.” - -I said nothing. She glanced from my face to his, and then back again, -and her lips began to tremble. - -“Oh! I hoped that you would meet him differently now, Clinton,” she -said. - -“I am sorry if I consider Mr. Downes just what he was before I went -away. Any house would be uncomfortable if both of us remained in it. -Can I speak plainer?” - -“You don’t need to, boy!” snarled Mr. Downes, his face reddening again. - -“Colonel Playfair will probably see you at any time you wish to call on -him--either he or Mr. Charles Aborn,” I said, pointedly. “They have my -affairs in charge.” - -Mother did not hear. She was talking with Phillis. And Mr. Downes, -after a brief hesitation, went down the steps and through the shrubbery -to the street. - -I took the chair upon the other side of Philly and Dao Singh, like -a gaily painted life-size statue, stood at a respectable distance. -Briefly we told mother the story of the little girl’s adventures; and -as I well knew mother received the waif with joy. - -“It has been a great sorrow all his life, my child,” mother said, -drawing Philly upon her lap, “that Clint had no sister. A boy is a -great comfort to a widowed woman; but he cannot take the place of a -daughter. Love me, my child, if you can.” - -And I knew by the way that the child threw her arms about mother’s -neck and sobbed upon her breast, that she had already begun to love my -mother. Philly’s heart had been sore for just the sort of protective -care my mother could give her. I saw that my scheme was going to be a -huge success! - -With Chester Downes out of the way my home-coming was all that I could -have hoped for. The help around the house welcomed me with delight, -too. Even my mother’s French maid, Marie Portent, gave me a wintry -smile--and I had never been a favorite with her. - -The neighbors came in to see me, too, for the news had spread all over -town that I had come back from my wanderings. Mr. Chester Downes had -not succeeded in turning everybody against me. - -But you may believe I got into some decent clothes before I held any -reception. Then I went down town and wired Thankful Polk a hundred -dollars and the news that everything was O. K. with me. - -“Now we will go to Bolderhead and open the house for the rest of the -summer,” mother said that very evening. “I could not bear to open it -without you, dear boy.” - -We kept off the subject of the Downes just then; but I might as well -state right here that Mr. Chester Downes was not appointed by the court -co-trustee with my mother. Colonel Playfair _was_, and that before we -closed Darringford house and went to live in mother’s summer villa on -Bolderhead Neck. - -Thankful Polk came north to visit us, too; and mother was greatly -pleased with him. Dao Singh, as I foresaw, soon made it advisable for -us to find another situation for James, our butler. Singh actually, -when we got to Bolderhead, took the entire responsibility of the -housekeeping upon himself, and mother thankfully declared that she had -never had so easy a time before, nor had the household been run so -smoothly. - -For the first time since I could remember Mr. Chester Downes did not go -to Bolderhead with us. I had no friction over it, and mother was not -troubled. Colonel Playfair knew how to bring things about. I liked him -a whole lot better for a guardian than I had Mr. Hounsditch. - -As for my cousin Paul, when he returned home--if he ever did--I knew I -had a method of keeping him at a distance. The threat of punishment for -what he had done to me still hung over him like a sword of Damocles. - -It was not many weeks before I had a letter from Mr. Jim Barney. Among -other interesting items of news, he stated that both he and his brother -had been exonerated together with Captain Bowditch in the matter of the -collision and the sinking of the Seamew. If blame lay anywhere it was -upon poor Captain Somes, who had gone down with his ship. - -As to the Barney brothers’ private affairs, they had both refused their -uncle’s offer of money and position. As long as the old man would not -divide his wealth between them and give both of them an opportunity of -entering the shipping firm, Jim and Alf had resigned and were going to -sail upon ships belonging to other owners. That seemed to them to be -the best and final settlement of the matter. - -I often thought of my long cruise in the Windjammer, and I could -not say that I was sorry for having gone through those adventures. -I certainly was not sorry that they had brought about the coming of -Phillis Duane to our house. For, as the weeks flew by, the British -consul heard nothing regarding the girl’s friends or relatives. - -It looked as though she was ours “for keeps,” as Thank said; and both -my mother and I were satisfied. - - -THE END. - - - - -TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES: - - - Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_. - - Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. - - Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized. - - Archaic or alternate spelling has been retained from the original. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FROM SEA TO SEA *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following -the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use -of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for -copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very -easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation -of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project -Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away--you may -do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected -by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark -license, especially commercial redistribution. - -START: FULL LICENSE - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full -Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at -www.gutenberg.org/license. - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or -destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your -possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a -Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound -by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the -person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph -1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this -agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the -Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection -of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual -works in the collection are in the public domain in the United -States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the -United States and you are located in the United States, we do not -claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, -displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as -all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope -that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting -free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm -works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the -Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily -comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the -same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when -you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are -in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, -check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this -agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, -distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any -other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no -representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any -country other than the United States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other -immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear -prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work -on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, -performed, viewed, copied or distributed: - - This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and - most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no - restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it - under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this - eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the - United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where - you are located before using this eBook. - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is -derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not -contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the -copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in -the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are -redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply -either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or -obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any -additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms -will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works -posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the -beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including -any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access -to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format -other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official -version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm website -(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense -to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means -of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain -Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the -full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -provided that: - -* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed - to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has - agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid - within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are - legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty - payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in - Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg - Literary Archive Foundation." - -* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all - copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue - all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm - works. - -* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of - any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of - receipt of the work. - -* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than -are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing -from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of -the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the Foundation as set -forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project -Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may -contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate -or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other -intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or -other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or -cannot be read by your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium -with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you -with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in -lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person -or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second -opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If -the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing -without further opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO -OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT -LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of -damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement -violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the -agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or -limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or -unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the -remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in -accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the -production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, -including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of -the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this -or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or -additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any -Defect you cause. - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of -computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It -exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations -from people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future -generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see -Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at -www.gutenberg.org - -Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by -U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, -Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up -to date contact information can be found at the Foundation's website -and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without -widespread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND -DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular -state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To -donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project -Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be -freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and -distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of -volunteer support. - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in -the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. - -Most people start at our website which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org - -This website includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |