Bert Wilson, Wireless Operator

by Marion Ames Taggart

  CHAPTER X

  THE DERELICT

  "Beat this if you can, fellows," said Tom, as, next morning, lazilystretched in his steamer chair on the deck of the _Fearless_, his eyestook in with delight the broad expanse of the ocean, with its heaving,green billows, capped with feathery foam of dazzling whiteness; thearching blue of the heavens, across which floated soft, gray clouds,which, pierced through and through by the brilliant sunshine, seemed astransparent as a gossamer veil. A sea-gull, rising suddenly from thecrest of a wave, soared high with gracefully waving wings; then suddenlyturning, swooped downward with the speed of an arrow, disappearing for amoment beneath the wave, rose again, triumphant, with a fish in itstalons, and swept majestically skyward.

  Fountains of spray cast up by the swiftly moving ship gleamed andflashed in the sunshine and fell to the deck in myriad diamonds.

  Tom's pleasure was fully shared by his comrades, and surely in contrastto the storm and stress and darkness of yesterday, the sunshine andcalm and beauty of this matchless day was enough to fill them withkeenest delight. The swift motion of the good ship that had so gallantlyweathered the terrible storm, the sea air which, freighted with saltspray as it rushed against their faces made the flesh tingle, thebrilliant sunshine,--all combined to make this one of the happiestmornings of their lives.

  From sheer exuberance of joy Dick started singing

  "A life on the ocean wave,"

  in which the others joined. As the last notes died away they began totalk of yesterday's storm. Something that Tom said reminded Dick of anexciting sea story he had read, and, complying with Tom's eager "Tell usabout it," he was soon in the midst of the yarn, the boys listening witheager delight. Others, seeing their absorbed interest, drifted up untilDick had quite an audience of interested listeners.

  This story was followed by others, and one of the passengers had justfinished describing the very narrow escape of a boatload of sailors whowere being drawn to destruction by the dying struggles of an enormouswhale which they had harpooned, when Bert, who, while he listened,had been idly watching a sail which had appeared above the horizon,suddenly sprang to his feet in great excitement and drew everybody'sattention.

  "What is it? what is it?" cried Tom, catching the excitement and alsospringing to his feet.

  "Why," Bert answered, "look at that ship to starboard. I've beenwatching her for some time and she acts differently from any ship I eversaw. At first she seemed to be sailing a little distance and then backagain in a sort of zig-zag course, but just a minute ago she turnedside-on toward us, and now she looks as if she were veering from onepoint of the compass to another without any attempt at steering."

  Following his gaze, all saw with intense surprise the ship, as Bert hadsaid, apparently without guidance and drifting aimlessly.

  After the first moments of startled silence, exclamations and questionsbroke forth on all sides.

  "Well, well, what a most extraordinary thing!" "What ship can she be?""She looks like a schooner." "Why does she drift in that aimlessfashion?" "What can be the matter with her?"

  By this time glasses had been brought. Eager eyes scanned the strangeship from stem to stern, and one of the gazers exclaimed:

  "She certainly doesn't seem to have anyone at her wheel. She isevidently at the mercy of the sea."

  This set everyone to talking at once and the greatest excitementreigned. Everyone crowded to the side of the ship to get a better view.The stranger seemed to be about three miles away, but, as the distancelessened between her and the _Fearless_, the excitement on boardincreased, and as, even with the glasses, no sign of living creaturecould be seen, the sense of mystery deepened.

  When, at last, the captain announced that he would send a boat out tospeak the strange ship, a murmur of satisfaction was heard on everyside. At the call for volunteers there was no lack of response and ourboys were among them.

  It was with breathless delight that they heard their names called, andtumbled with others into the boat.

  "Here's luck," Dick exulted as he scrambled to his place. The othersagreed with him. But, if they had expected a pleasure trip, they werequickly undeceived. Standing on the deck of a great ship like the_Fearless_ is a very different thing from sitting in a small boat, withthe waves which, from the ship's deck had looked only moderately large,now piling up into a great, green wall in front of them, looking as ifit must inevitably fall upon and crush them.

  That the wave did not conquer them, but that the boat mounted to the topof it, seemed little short of a miracle; and then, after poising for amoment at the top, the plunge down the other side of that green wall,seemed an equally sure way to destruction. They were glad indeed toremember that the boat was in the hands of experienced and capableseamen. Altogether, they were not sorry when, by the slowing up of thespeed, they knew that they were nearing their goal and saw the ship thathad so interested them looming up before them.

  Her name, _The Aurora_, flashed at them in great golden letters from herprow. She was a fair-sized schooner in first-class condition outwardly,and calling for a crew of eighteen or twenty beside the captain andofficers; but, where were they now? Sure enough, there was no one at thewheel nor anywhere about the decks. Were they below? If so, what was thedesperate need or urgent business that could hold officers and crewbelow decks while their ship, unguarded, her rudder banging noisily backand forth, lay, uncontrolled, upon the waves?

  Well, they from the _Fearless_ were here to answer these questions ifthey could, and preparations were made to go on board. As they drewcloser they realized that it was going to be a very difficult task togain her deck. With the wheel unmanned she broached to and fro withevery current and wave motion, and, constantly veering from point topoint, made it seemingly impossible to mount her decks. A littleassistance from on board would have helped them greatly, but, thoughthey hailed her again and again, she made no response.

  After repeated unsuccessful efforts one of the sailors, more agile thanthe others, succeeded in springing into and grasping the rudder chains,and hauling himself on deck. Catching up a rope that lay near him, hecast it to his shipmates and, by easing and adjusting the boat as muchas possible to the erratic heaving and plunging of the ship, made itpossible for the others to climb on board. Very soon all, except twosailors who, much to their disgust, were left in charge of the boat,were standing together on the steamer's deck.

  With bated breath they stood for many minutes, looking about them inwide-eyed amazement, but, as if by common instinct, not an audible soundwas heard, nor even a whispered word. A silence so intense as to makeitself felt, a sense of overwhelming loneliness and solitude held themmotionless. It was as if they stood in the presence of the dead. Herewas the body, this big schooner, but the soul had fled. The rush offeet, the quick word of command, the hearty "Aye, aye, sir," inresponse, the noise of gear and tackle, of ropes slapping on the deck,the songs of the sailors as they go lustily about their work,--all thesounds that make up the life of a ship were stilled, and no sound butthe splashing of the waves against her sides broke the awesome silence.

  At last, under the direction of Mr. Collins, four men from the_Fearless_ began to search the deck for some solution of the mystery,and not one among them was conscious of the fact that he moved about onhis toes in the presence of this awe-inspiring silence.

  Their search of the deck revealed nothing. Everything seemed undisturbed.The life-boats and even the little dinghy were in their places. All wasperfectly ship-shape, but over everything was the silence of desertion.

  While the deck was being searched by the four men, the others, includingBert and Dick and Tom, went below, for, here in the cabin, they hopedto find some solution of the mystery. But again they found the samechilling silence, the same absolute desertion.

  In the state-rooms the bunks were made up and all was in order. Anuncompleted letter lay on the captain's table and an open book layface-downward on the bed. In the cabin the only sign of haste ordisturbance was found. The table wa
s set for breakfast with the foodupon it only partly eaten. Chairs were pushed back from it and one wasoverturned. A handkerchief lay on the floor as if hastily dropped, butthere was no further sign of panic or of any struggle.

  Someone suggested that the storm had driven them away in panic. Mr.Collins soon proved to them the fallacy of that supposition by callingattention to an unfinished garment which lay on a sewing machine in oneof the state-rooms. A thimble and spool of cotton lay beside it. In astorm these things would inevitably have been thrown to the floor. Heshowed them further that the breakfast things on the table were in theirplaces and not overturned as they must have been in the storm. Then,too, the coffee in the urn was barely cold, and the fire in the galleystove was still burning. This proved conclusively that up to almost thelast moment before the desertion of the ship, all was normal andpeaceful on board. "And," he continued, "if there were nothing else thelast entry in the ship's log would show that she was not deserted untilafter the storm."

  While everyone listened with keenest interest, he read them the accountentered there of the storm, the gallant behavior of the _Aurora_, andthe safety of all on board. The entry was made with the kind of ink thatwrites blue but afterwards turns black, and the officer called theirattention to the fact that the ink was not yet black.

  "Why," said he, "they must at this moment be only a very few miles fromthe ship. Did anyone ever hear of anything like this?" wondered Dick."Such a little while ago, and absolutely nothing to show why they went.I'd give a whole lot to know."

  "Well, anyway, it is evident," said Bert as they examined the galley,"that it was not hunger or thirst that drove them away," and he pointedto the shelves of the pantry, well stocked with meats and vegetables andfruits, and lifted the cover from the water tank and showed it full ofsweet water.

  With the feeling of wonder and amazement growing upon them, theyexamined every corner of the ship from deck to hold, but found no signof living creature, nor any clue to the profound mystery. Cold shiversbegan to run up and down their spines.

  "What on earth or sea," said the irrepressible Tom, voicing the inmostthought of every mind, "could have driven a company of men to abandon aship in such perfect condition as this schooner is?" and again all stoodsilent in a last effort to solve the problem.

  "Well," said Mr. Collins, "we have made a most thorough search andnothing can be gained by remaining here longer." So, only waiting toprocure the ship's log that he had laid upon the table, he led the wayto the deck. With a last look about them, in the vain hope of findingsome living creature, they clambered into the boat and rowed back tothe _Fearless_.

  On the way over, everyone was too oppressed for further conversation,but as they neared the _Fearless_ their faces brightened; and as theystood once more upon her decks, with the eager people crowding aboutthem, it seemed good, after the desolation they had witnessed, to be onboard a live ship once more.

  "This is surely a most wonderful and mysterious thing," said thecaptain, after listening to their report. "What could have driven themto such a desperate measure as abandoning a ship in sound condition andso well provisioned? Was it mutiny?"

  "No, sir," and the mate shook his head. "I thought of that and wesearched the ship for any signs of a struggle or bloodshed; but therewas no evidence of fighting nor a drop of blood anywhere."

  "Was there, perhaps, a leak?" again suggested the captain.

  "Not that we could find," Dick answered. "The ship seemed as tight andsafe as could be. We are sure there is no leak."

  "What do you think about it?" asked Captain Manning, turning to a verygrave and thoughtful gentleman standing near. This was Captain Grant whothe day before had so nobly stood by his ill-fated ship and to whoserescue and that of his unfortunate passengers the _Fearless_ hadcome with not a minute to spare. Captain Manning had found him verycongenial, and in the few hours since he had come on board the twogentlemen had become firm friends. At Captain Manning's question heturned to him cordially and answered with a smile:

  "Well, as far as the crew are concerned, it might have been superstition,fear of ghosts perhaps. This unreasoning fear has driven more than onecrew bodily from their ship."

  "If that was the cause," ventured Bert, "is it not possible that theirpanic may leave them, and that they may return?"

  "It is possible," agreed Captain Manning, smiling, "and we will cruiseabout as soon as I can make preparation. We may be able to overtake themor perhaps meet them returning."

  "Was her cargo a valuable one?" asked one of Captain Grant's passengers.

  "Yes, quite," was the response, "but not so valuable as it would havebeen if she had been homeward instead of outward bound. The log showsher to be of Canadian construction and bound from Vancouver to Chinawith a cargo of dried fish, skins, and lumber. If she had been returningshe would have been freighted, as you know, with rich silks and tea andrice, of more value than the cargo she carried from British Columbia."

  "Shall you attempt to return her to her owners?" asked Mr. Collins. "Aschooner like the _Aurora_ would mean a large salvage."

  "It certainly would," replied the captain, "and, if we had found herearlier in the voyage, I should have towed her back. But now I cannotafford the time, and I hardly know what to do. She ought not to be leftdrifting; she is right in the track of steamships, and so is a menace.Wilson," he said, turning to Bert, "try to raise a United States vesseland give her the location of the derelict."

  It took two hours before Bert succeeded, but at last he reached thecruiser _Cormorant_ and received thanks for the information andassurance that the matter would be attended to at once.

  By this time all was ready and the _Fearless_ began to cruise inever-widening circles around the _Aurora_. With and without glasses allscanned the sea in every direction for signs of a boat. Once the call ofthe lookout drew all eyes to a dark object which, at that distance,looked as if it might be a yawl, and every heart beat faster with thehope that at last the mystery of the _Aurora_ might be solved. But,alas, it was found to be only a piece of broken mast, discarded fromsome ship.

  For several hours they cruised about, filled with eager hope whichgradually faded as the hours went by. At last, Captain Manning gave theorder, and the _Fearless_ again came about to her course.

  Everyone turned disappointedly from the rail as the quest was abandoned,and it seemed to the four young fellows that the _Fearless_ swung slowlyand reluctantly, as if she disliked to leave her sister ship to such anuncertain fate.

  The good ship gathered speed, and as they stood at the rail, Ralphthoughtfully said, "I wonder if the mystery of that deserted ship willever be made clear."

  "Well," said Bert, "when we return we can ascertain if she lived toreach port."

  "Yes," grumbled Tom. "But unless some of the crew had returned beforethe government ship reached her the mystery would be as profound asever. And," he added, sinking disgustedly into his steamer chair, andstretching himself out lazily, "I do hate mysteries."