Motor Matt's Close Call; or, The Snare of Don Carlos
Page 17
CHAPTER XVI.
CONCLUSION.
Captain Nemo, Jr., made an astonishing rally during the night the_Grampus_ was creeping slowly up the shore of British Honduras. Heawoke from a refreshing slumber, sound of mind and with an optimisticoutlook on life which boded good things for Speake, Gaines and Clackett.
The doctor, when he called, shook his hand in congratulation.
"You are doing better than I dared to hope, captain," said he.
"Can I talk business, doctor?" asked the captain.
"As much as you like. Keep on with the same medicine, Cassidy," thedoctor added to the mate; "I don't think we can improve on that."
As soon as the doctor had gone, Cassidy made a confession which hehad been keeping stored away in his mind for several days. It was aconfession of his treachery toward Motor Matt and the rest of hismates aboard the _Grampus_ during the other cruise south to rescue theAmerican consul.
Cassidy did not spare himself, but told the astonishing facts fully andin detail.
Captain Nemo, Jr., listened in pained surprise. For several minutesafter Cassidy finished he did not speak.
"If you're going to begin drinking again, Cassidy," said the captain,"I suppose we ought to part company."
"I've taken my last drink," declared Cassidy.
"Do you mean it?"
"I do."
"And Motor Matt, on his way back from the River Izaral, put you back inthe ship as mate?"
"Yes."
"Well, whatever Motor Matt does is good enough for me. If you were putthere as mate, then you stay there."
"Thank you, sir," said Cassidy, shaking his captain's hand.
At that moment a rap fell on the door. Cassidy opened it, and Gaines,Speake, Clackett and Motor Matt walked into the room.
"Well, well, Matt!" cried Captain Nemo, Jr., his face brighteningwonderfully at sight of the young motorist, "this is a pleasure, I mustsay! You've brought the entire crew of the _Grampus_ with you, eh?"
"Not quite all of them," laughed Matt. "Cassidy was here, taking careof you, and we left Dick and Carl aboard for an anchor watch."
"You fellows act as though you had something on your minds," observedthe captain, giving the three members of the crew a curious look.
"That's what we have, sir," answered Gaines. "We have a confession tomake."
"Confession!" muttered the captain. "This seems to be my morning forhearing confessions. Well, go ahead."
Thereupon Speake, Gaines and Clackett, on their part, told the captainexactly what had taken place during this second trip to the RiverIzaral. Captain Nemo, Jr., was dumfounded. Pursing his thin lips,he leaned back in his chair and watched and listened with the utmostattention.
"So," said he cuttingly, when the recital was done, "Motor Matt refusedto take my boat south, in response to the request of this scoundrellydon, and you locked Matt and Dick in the storage room of the submarineand went off whether they would or no! And you called Matt out of theroom to fix the motor and keep the boat from going on the reefs; andyou picked up a supposedly shipwrecked crew out of a boat, and thecrew turned on you and captured the _Grampus_; and, with the aid ofMiss Sixty, Motor Matt and his friends recovered the boat, capturedFingal, Pitou and some others, and turned them over to the cruiser_Seminole_--all of which would not have happened had not you, Speake,Gaines and Clackett acted in an insubordinate and mutinous manner. Whathad I ought to do with them, Matt?"
"They behaved finely during the fighting and while we were running downthe river, past the fort," replied Matt, "so I don't think they shouldbe dealt with very severely, captain."
"You're too easy with them, Matt! Look at the trouble they caused you!"
"But see what good luck came out of it, captain. We captured Pitou andFingal."
"That isn't the best thing that has come out of it, Matt," remarked thecaptain. "The best thing for me is the fact that this mutinous conductof Speake, Clackett and Gaines proves, more than ever, that you arealways to be depended on. You refused to sail away on a wild-goosechase after listening to a plausible story told by this rascally don,and----"
"I took a good deal of stock in the story at the time it was told,captain," said Matt.
"That may be; but you didn't let your own desires override what youconceived to be your duty. There would have been no merit in your act,for you, if you had not wanted to go with the don, but yet allowedyour idea of duty to me hold you back. I am much obliged to you,Speake, Gaines and Clackett, for affording me this added proof that myconfidence in Motor Matt is not misplaced. But, if I ever hear of anyfurther mutiny on the _Grampus_, there will be something happen whichnone of you will ever forget.
"The U. S. cruiser _Seminole_ is in the harbor, and I am positive thather captain bears some news for me of a very important nature. This maymake it necessary for a call to be made upon the officers and crew ofthe _Grampus_ for some further work. I cannot tell yet as to that. Ifso it turns out, then your commanding officer will be Motor Matt. Nowleave me, all of you, for I have both listened and talked too much,and I am beginning to feel tired. Have the periscope ball and mastrepaired, Matt, as soon as possible, and call and see me to-night."
As Matt left the house and made his way along the street, he camesuddenly upon Ysabel Sixty, again clad in her feminine clothes andlooking like the Ysabel he used to know of old.
"You did not stay long at home, Ysabel," smiled Matt.
"I couldn't," she answered. "I wanted to find out what your plans were,and how long you expect to remain in Belize."
"That's all in doubt, as yet. I am to call on Captain Nemo, Jr.,to-night, and perhaps he will be able to tell me something about futureplans."
"I hope," and there was a tremulous earnestness in the girl's words,"that you are not going to leave Belize very soon."
"I should like to stay here a little while, Ysabel, myself," said Matt.
Her face brightened.
"And if you are here for a while, you will come often and see me?"
"You may depend upon it, little girl," said Matt, taking her handcordially. "I shall never forget this last experience of yours, and howyou undertook an exceedingly risky venture solely to be of aid to me."
There was a gentleman waiting for a word with Matt, and Ysabel, with aglad smile, turned away in the direction of home.
"Se?or Motor Matt?" asked the gentleman, who had been waiting forYsabel to finish her talk with Matt.
"The same, sir," replied Matt.
"I, my boy, am Don Ramon Ortega, the Spanish consul in Belize. I wishto beg your pardon for the serious misadventures into which you wereplunged through the unwarranted use of my name by that unmitigatedscoundrel, Don Carlos Valdez."
"You were not to blame for that, don."
"Perhaps not, but I feel keenly the trouble which my name--always anhonorable one--has caused you. Some time, when my family return fromMexico, I shall hope to see you at my home as an honored guest. Willyou come?"
"Certainly, sir, if I am in Belize."
"I thank you, se?or," said the don; and then, with a courtly bow, hepassed on.
The king of the motor boys hardly knew whether to laugh or look sober;but when he reflected on how the rascally Don Carlos had juggled withthe Spanish consul's name, and used it for base purposes, he felt thatperhaps the consul was right in taking the matter so much to heart.
That evening, Pedro was taken ashore and lodged in the house ofYsabel's relatives. The next day he took passage to Cuba, and forevercut himself adrift from revolutions and the filibusters who foster them.
THE END.
THE NEXT NUMBER (18) WILL CONTAIN
Motor Matt in Brazil;
OR,
UNDER THE AMAZON.
The Cachalot--John Henry Glennie, U. S. N.--The Meeting in the Harbor--Ah Sin's Clue--Off for the Amazon--Villainous Work--Rubbing Elbows with Death--A Dive for Safety--Putting Two-and-two Together--Under the Amazon--Hand-to-hand--Boarded--A Prisoner, and a Surprise--The Old Slouch Hat--Para-
-A Desperate Risk.