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diff --git a/76263-0.txt b/76263-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8de143f --- /dev/null +++ b/76263-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,466 @@ + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76263 *** + + + + + + Heritage of the Sea + + By CAPT. W. R. BETHEL + + _Fog blinded the captains of the + vessels on Long Island Sound--blinded + them to everything but honor._ + + [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from + Argosy All-Story Weekly March 2 1929. + Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that + the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] + + + +In the exact center of the bridge of the lightless vessel, the lanky +captain leaned far out over the dripping weather apron and listened +tensely into the murky darkness of Long Island Sound. Astern and to the +starboard, the Montauk bell buoy tolled faintly as it was left behind. +Far off to the right the distant clanging of other buoys came from the +Connecticut shore. + +"_Gr-r-r-r-r-unh!_" a bass whistle grunted up ahead. That would be the +Fall River boat. + +"_Gr-r-r-r-unh!_" again she grunted, dead ahead. + +The captain whirled his head and spoke in a hoarse whisper to the man +at the wheel. + +"Port a bit, Sims!" + +"Aye, sir!" + +The slowly moving rum-runner veered slightly as she answered the +suppressed rattle of the steering engine in the bowels of the ship. + +The harsh chuffing of the Fall River boat began to cough closer, and in +a moment her fog-veiled lights hove into view to the starboard. + +"_Gr-r-r-r-r-unh!_" her fog horn blared as she churned eastward at +half speed toward the open Atlantic. From along the black side of the +rum-runner came the slosh and sucking of the wave the big steamer had +raised, and the smaller vessel rose and fell softly upon it for an +instant as it crept along. + +"_Hoo-o-o-o-ooh!_" That would be the Boston turbine. + +"Starboard a hair, Sims!" + +"Starboard, sir!" + +"_Hoo-o-o-o-ooh!_" + +A dripping gray shape with phosphorescent rows of dim lights along her +decks forged by, high over the port rail. + +"_Wh-a-a-a-h!_" a seagoing tug spoke astern, and in a moment she +wallowed by out of sight on the port side. + +Here and there all over the Sound, vessels were blaring and tooting +their warnings and giving their answers as they forged up and down the +channel and crossed between Connecticut and the Long Island shore. + +The rum-runner's captain craned farther out and strained his ears as he +exactly placed the nearest of them. The dank fog was congealing on his +oilskins and dripping from his face. He straightened up and groped for +the speaking tube. Thrusting it to his lips he growled a terse order to +the man deep below in the engine room. + +"Give me half speed, chief, until I change it!" + +He clanked the tube back on its hook and as he craned out again the +ship began to vibrate gently to the increased throttle. + +A man who had been standing silently in the starboard wing clutched the +bridge rail and groped over beside the captain. + +"You no thinka you go too fast now, cap, hey?" + +His hand tugged at the captain's oilskin sleeve as he voiced the +question. + +The captain whirled his head and peered back over his shoulder at the +unseen speaker. + +"What the hell's biting you now, Joe?" he growled. + +The questioner prefaced his words with a chuckle, but there was panic +and hysteria in it. + +"I no lika this fog too moch. Too moch traffic in dam Sound thisa +night. You no thinka we run too fast, cap?" + + * * * * * + +The captain shoved himself erect. + +"Feet gettin' cold, huh? Well, this is just our sort of weather, Joe. +We'll slide to Oldfield Point under cover of the fog, slip the stuff +to your men at the landing, and then we'll turn tail and hop out +again. The chasers 'll be wondering whatinell happened this time. This +is our eighth trip in together. I'm another thousand to the good and +you're another hundred thousand. I never see you get scared before. +What are you kicking about?" + +"I no feela right, cap! I have hoonch this time not so good! Listen, +cap, you no think we better back up and get back out for less foggy +time?" + +Up ahead two big fog horns blared. A long, lean tanker loomed out of +the murk and grazed by. + +"Aw, damn it, Joe, shut up! Get to hell away from me! How can I con +this ship with your bazoo going? Scat! Get over where you was and make +a noise like a mouse!" + +"Leesten, cap!" Hysteria was making the Italian's voice tremble +reedily. "You better swing round and put back out! I got two hunderd +t'ousand dollars' wort' on board here. I lose that an' my guarantee on +thisa vessel, see?" + +"Aw! Go back where you was, I told ye!" + +He gave the scared Italian a shove away from him. + +Joe Parento shuffled back along the rail and whined his woes to himself +as he peered, listening desperately, into murk from the starboard wing. +The fog had constantly thickened, and he dodged back as a huge black +tramp wallowed by so close he could almost have reached out and touched +it. + +"For Heaven's sake, cap!" He scrambled over and again tugged at the +captain's sleeve. + +"Get to hell away, Joe! You're yellow as a Chink! I haven't lost a dime +yet for you and I've made you a million while I was makin' seven grand +for myself. What's got you scared of a little hatful of fog?" + +He groped for the speaking tube. + +"Give her another twenty revolutions, chief," his tense growl spoke +down the tube. + +"_Per Dio!_" swore the Italian. "You get crazy lika the hell!" + +"Sh! Listen!" + +The captain craned out again. + +"_Wh-a-a-a-h! Whuh! Whuh! Whuh!_" + +The captain chuckled. + +"That's the Bridgeport-Port Jeff ferry! He's divin' over, and he's +makin' it! Bully for him, and I'm glad he's out of our way!" + +Two big fog horns began booming, in question and answer, off to the +port quarter ahead. + +"Them big fellows are gettin' worried," he growled half to himself, +"gettin' close together and neither one knows just where t'other one is +exactly!" + +"_Hoo-o-o-o-ooh! Hoo! Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!_" + +"_Gr-r-r-r-r-unh! Grr! Grr!_" + +In a moment came a long blast followed at an interval by two short +grunts. + +"By Godfrey, that was a close shave for 'em!" enthused the captain of +the rum-runner, _sotto voce_. + +He spoke into the speaking tube. + +"Cut her to half throttle, chief!" he murmured. + +He felt the Italian's hand trembling on his sleeve. + +"You no thinka we better turna back, cap? I have hoonch thisa time we +have trooble, hey, what you theenk?" + +The captain grabbed the quivering hand on his sleeve and with his +calloused clutch he firmly tore the hand away. + +"You give me the heebie-jeebies, Joe! Whyn't you be reasonable? What're +you askeard of?" + + * * * * * + +Something up ahead caught his ear and he half crawled out on the +weather apron. + +"There's some damned thing up ahead of us goin' our way with no lights +either! She ain't a hundred fathoms ahead of us!" he blurted as he +crawled back. He put the mouth-piece of the tube to his lips. + +"Hey, chief! Cut her to about forty revolutions and stand by! May need +full speed astern any moment!" + +He spoke in a tense whisper to the man at the wheel. + +"Port a bit, Sims! Steady as you go!" + +"Steady, sir!" + +The captain started to stretch out over the apron again and a rasping +sound from up ahead caused him to pause, tensely listening. A big siren +and a hoarse whistle blared at the same instant. A terrific smashing, +grinding crash leaped to a crescendo of harsh noise. Excited voices +shrilled across the water. + +The rum boat captain's voice rose to an excited snarl. + +"They've met head on! It's this feller ahead of us and somepin. It's +one of them big fellers that's got him! He's either a booze boat like +us or he's a chaser!" + +The Italian was sniveling. + +"Cap, you turn back, cap, you hear me?" + +The captain gave him a shove that sent him scurrying to the end of the +bridge. From up ahead came the jangle of ship's bells and the sharp +coughs of the exhausts. + +"Hell's bells! The big fellow's rammed 'em and he's runnin' off to +leave 'em drown!" + +The lights of the oncoming steamer loomed out of the fog and bore down +on them, scraped along the side and moved by. The bootleg captain +snatched up a flash light and snapped it on as he dashed to the wing, +and he roughly elbowed the Italian aside as he thrust it upward to peer +at the vessel. Scared yellow faces blinked down at him from along the +rail. + +"You yellow devils!" the captain shrilled up at them. "What you runnin' +off for after ramming a vessel?" + +He glimpsed the word "_Maru_" on the stern of the tramp as she surged +by with engines pounding full speed ahead. + +He leaped to the speaking tube. + +"Shut her down, chief, and let her drift! Somebody rammed up ahead. +Don't want to smash into one of their boats or run down anybody +swimmin'. Stand tight by the tube, too! I may want to use the engine +quick at any time!" + +His words leaped down the tube like pistol shots. He snatched the +megaphone down and whirling, shouted down to the deck. + +"Snap on the lights, mister!" + +"Aye, aye, sir!" + +The metal switch-box door clanged open as the thudding feet of the mate +reached it and his hand clawed it open. Globes of light sprang out +along the foggy deck and up in the wheelhouse. + +The captain bawled down the tube: "All right, chief! Hold her there! +Watch the indicator!" + +A bell clanged harshly as he rammed the telltale over to "Stop." + +"Man the boats! Get them hooks and life-rings out! Snap to it, mister! +Snap them carrions into it!" His voice was bawling through the short +megaphone. He sprawled out upon the weather apron and bawled ahead. + +"Ahoy, out there! Ahoy!" his voice roared and quavered. + + * * * * * + +Faintly through the fog came: "Ahoy! Ahoy! This way!" + +He sprang back into the bridge and grabbed wildly for the whistle +cord and the black steamer's hoarse whistle began to roar staccato +blasts which echoed and reëchoed into the night. Men were racing about +the deck to the sharp commands of the mate, which were punctuated by +thudding fists and heavy boot toes. + +Port and starboard davits creaked outward, and the ropes whined in the +sheaves as the lifeboats raced down and crashed into the water. The +gangplank clattered to the water's edge. The mate ran down it and began +to bawl through his megaphone. Up overhead the big whistle was still +booming. + +Up on the bridge Joe Parento, the bootleg king, was gaping open-mouthed +at the lanky captain, whose long arm was still yanking the whistle cord. + +"You stoppa that! You heara me? You quit it? You gone _lunatico_? +What's matter you, cap? Cut it out, now!" + +He leaped forward and seized the captain's arm with both his own and +dragged it down. + +"I'm goin' to stand by, Joe! They's men drowndin' out thar ef we don't +help 'em!" + +"Stand by lika the hell!" the Italian jabbered. "You crazy! Swing +'round! Head back out! You hear me, hey?" + +[Illustration: _"You crazy!" the Italian jabbered. "Head back out!"_] + +He groped in the pocket of his coat and came out with a snub-nosed +automatic. + +"Turn her 'round, cap, and don't waste no time, or I blow you to hell!" +His voice was a yelping scream. + +The captain sprang toward him with clenched fist and arm doubled back, +ready to strike. A lurid flame burst forth from the blunt muzzle of the +pistol and searing pain jabbed at the left shoulder of the seaman. + +"Drop the gun, wop!" + +His clenched fist smashed down and the gun exploded in mid-air as it +dropped toward the floor. The sturdy sea-muscled arm lashed upward and +the blocky fist crunched under Parento's chin, lifting him upward from +the floor and propelling him backward. He fell on his back with a thud. +The captain snatched up the fallen pistol and thrust it into the pocket +of his sou'-wester. + +The lifeboats were thumping against the vessel's side and grating along +as the riffraff crew returned with the swimmers they had rescued. The +captain picked up the unconscious body of the Italian bootleg king and +strode down the bridge stairs with it under his right arm. A patch +of blood was already oozing out from the burning hole in his left +shoulder, painting the yellow oilskin crimson. + +He deposited his unconscious burden upon the deck underneath an +electric light. Walking to the head of the gangplank, he bent to peer +downward, where dripping figures were climbing from the boats upon the +landing platform of the gangplank and starting up toward the deck. + +At the head of the line was a man in a blue uniform, and as he stepped +upon the deck he snorted with astonishment, for the menacing figure of +the captain shot out a long arm with a stubby automatic gripped in his +huge fist. + +"I'm grabbing for the sky, skipper!" the uniformed man chuckled, +stretching both his hands high overhead. + +"What vessel?" snarled the oilskin-clad figure. + +"Coast Guard cutter Quadras. We were laying without lights for the +rum-runner Bear, from St. John, when we got rammed by a Jap tramp who +went on and left us." + + * * * * * + +The blunt nose of the automatic whipped toward the face of the next +gaping man who stepped on the deck. + +"Hands up! Get 'em up, I said, damn you!" + +The gaunt skipper stepped to the side of the Coast Guard commander and +tapped the back of his coat with the back of his left hand. Finding +no hidden weapons, he thrust the pistol muzzle into the face of the +dumfounded seaman, who had frozen in his tracks at the top of the +gangplank. + +"I ain't got no gun, cap!" the man blurted. + +"Step ahead, then, you're blocking traffic!" + +One by one the others filed up and ranged along the deck, grinning +sheepishly, their hands uplifted. + +The Coast Guard commander turned to confront him. + +"I give you my word, sir, neither my men nor myself will commit an +overt act. We're too glad to be picked up, no matter who you may be." + +The skipper smiled grimly as he thrust the automatic into his pocket. + +"At your ease, men. Your arms might get stiff from keepin' 'em up so +long. I hate to do it, but I'm in honor bound to protect my cargo. This +is the rum-runner Bear, with two hundred and fifty thousand dollars' +worth of Canadian Club." + +The Coast Guard commander slapped his wet thigh and laughed heartily. + +"That's pretty rich!" + +A roar went up from the line of men, glad to enjoy a joke on themselves. + +Several of the rum vessel's crew came stalking up the gangplank, with +guns and knives gleaming in their hands, only to thrust them out of +sight and join in the laughter. Down on the landing platform the mate +was bawling to the men he had sent to scull the boats to the davit +falls. + +In a moment he came up, scowling, only to grin as he saw the good +nature of all hands. With a wave of his arm he sent men to the davits, +and in a few minutes the boats came bobbing up and were swung onto the +deck and made fast. + +Joe Parento crawled to his feet and came stumbling toward the group on +the deck with his hand nursing his bruised jaw. He gaped dazedly about +into the grinning faces. He gasped with fright as his eyes rested on +the blotch of blood which had oozed from the captain's left shoulder +and stained his oilskins. + +"I no go for to shoot you, cap, honest!" he denied. + +"Shut up!" the skipper roared. "Here's your gun! Better toss it over +the side, or you'll get into real trouble with it." + +He flung the gun to the Italian, who caught it and threw it over the +rail into the water. + +"Is everything snug, mister?" the skipper bawled to the mate. + +"Shipshape and Bristol fashion, sir!" the mate answered as he came to +the skipper's side. + +"Break out dry clothes for these sailors and find places for 'em to +sleep. Break out a half dozen quarts of whisky and give 'em a nip. +They've been wet and might catch cold." + +He spoke kindly to the captured commander. + +"If you'll come with me, sir, I'll show you your quarters up alongside +my own, and some dry clothes, and some real stuff, if you'll have it. +We'll be back at the twelve-mile line in an hour or so, and you can +wireless from one of the boats in the row for a cutter to come after +you and your men." + +As they walked by the switch-box he reached in and snapped off the +lights. His flash light glowed for a moment as he opened the door of +a cabin and ushered the rescued officer inside. Walking to his own +room, he came out with an armful of clothing and handed them to the +commander, telling him to don them in the dark. Then he lurched to the +ladder and climbed the bridge. + +"Half speed, chief, stand by for full!" he growled down the tube. +He swayed back and forth dizzily as his head swam from weakness and +gnawing pain in his left shoulder. The scuff of the Coast Guard +commander's shoes sounded as he climbed the steps and groped along the +bridge. His arm ran around the sagging waist of the skipper. + +"Better come on down and rest awhile yourself, sir," he suggested. "I'm +fresh, and I know this Sound as well as you do. I'll con the old tub +out and deliver her in Rum Row." + +He supported the faltering steps of the old man down the steps and +along to his stateroom, and then raced back to the bridge. Half +crawling out on the weather apron, he peered and listened into the +impenetrable murk. The black ship swung slowly around to his orders and +began to forge up the Sound out toward the open sea. + + + THE END + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76263 *** |