CHAPTER XXIX
A FIGHT FOR LIFE
The boys did not need any exhortation on the necessity of fighting tothe last. They knew that the issue was fairly joined and could only befinally settled by the complete victory of one side or the other. Themalignant threats of Ramirez still rang in their ears, and they had notthe slightest doubt that the scoundrel would do exactly what he hadstated, in case any of them were luckless enough to fall into his hands.
So they looked well to their weapons in the period of respite thatensued, and prepared for the coming onset. Yet as hour after hour passedwithout any move on the part of the enemy, they grew puzzled. Why wasthe attack delayed?
Once at some distance off in the woods they heard a shot, followed by ascream.
"Have they got to fighting among themselves, I wonder," remarked Phil.
"It would solve our problem if they'd only kill each other off like somany Kilkenny cats," said Tom.
"I guess that was Ramirez enforcing discipline and killing one of hisrascals to cow the others," concluded Benton. "If so, it makes one lessfor us to handle."
Another half hour passed, and still the attack hung fire.
"They'll have to come along pretty soon or it will be daylight, and thatwill be all to our advantage," muttered Benton in some perplexity at theenemy's tactics.
Just then there came a sharp exclamation from Phil. His eyes were keenerthan those of any of the others, and he had detected a black blur thatto him indicated a massing of men.
"I think they're getting ready for a rush," he exclaimed.
The words had scarcely left his lips before they were followed by theroar of a volley, and Ramirez and his men came plunging from the woods,uttering wild yells and making straight for the entrance of the cave.This time they did not scatter, but depended on the power of their massattack to overwhelm the little party of defenders by sheer weight ofnumbers.
It was a fatal mistake, for their course was taking them right over theplace where the mine had been planted. Phil already had his finger onthe key.
"Now!" shouted Benton, and Phil sent the spark along the wire.
There was a terrific explosion, as tons of earth were sent hurtlingupward, carrying with them the whirling, sprawling bodies of some of theattacking party. Others were sent staggering to the ground on eitherside of the great yawning hole that had been dug by the dynamite.
Even in the cave itself the force of the explosion was felt, and theboys were thrown from the positions in which they had ensconcedthemselves, while their weapons were sent clattering from their hands.
"Get ready to rush them, boys," Benton's voice rose high over the din."It's our turn now."
The boys sprang to their feet, and followed their leader through thenarrow passage between the rocks that formed the barricade.
They awaited the command to fire, but as Benton saw the devastation thathad been caused by the mine, he forbore to give the order.
For the victory had already been won. The mine had done all and morethan had been expected of it. It had taken all the fight out of theattacking party. Several had been killed, and the others in wild panichad sought refuge in flight. The boys could hear them plunging in a madstampede through the underbrush, their sole anxiety to get as far awayfrom the fatal spot as possible. In their confused minds they hadprobably interpreted the mine as another manifestation of theearthquake.
"No use of following them, boys," remarked Benton as they listened tothe fugitives crashing through the bushes. "They're making tracks fortheir ship as fast as they know how. No doubt we could follow them andpick them off like so many rabbits, but we don't want any slaughter.What we've done has been in self defense and because we had to. And wedon't want any captives either. They'd only add to our troubles and makea complicated situation."
"But don't you think that Ramirez may rally his men and make anotherattack?" asked Dick anxiously.
"Here's the answer to that," replied Benton, who had taken out hisflashlight and was sending its rays over the bodies lying on the ground."Here's Ramirez himself. He's done his last killing, and has met thefate that he has handed out so ruthlessly to others."
The boys crowded around him and gazed on the villainous features of thescoundrel who a few hours before had threatened them with unimaginabletortures.
"He met the fate he courted and the fate he well deserved," remarkedBenton. "That settles the question of any more fighting. He was the onlyone in the gang that had any of the qualities of leadership and withouthim the rest are only a lot of panic-stricken dogs. They think theisland's hoodooed, this end of it especially, and you couldn't drag themover here again with a team of horses. No, I think our worries are overas far as those rascals are concerned. But on the mere chance that somesniper may want to take a last shot at us before scurrying off after hiscomrades, we'd better get back to the cave now and wait till daylight.Then we'll bury these bodies and clear up some of this debris."
Phil felt a nudge on his arm, and turning about saw Bimbo standingbeside him.
"Please suh," said the negro with a note of pride in his voice, "Ah'swounded."
"Is that so?" asked Phil in quick concern. "Where?"
Bimbo exhibited his knuckles, which were bleeding where they had beengrazed by a bullet. Phil saw at a glance that it was nothing, but notfor the world would he have taken away from Bimbo the satisfaction thatthe wound gave him.
"Oh, that's too bad," he said gravely, "but it's what a fighter has toexpect. Come into the cave and I'll bathe and dress it for you."
Bimbo followed, his white teeth showing in a grin of pride, at the sametime nursing his scratched hand and emitting an occasional groan whichhe thought the situation demanded.
"Mighty lucky dat de mine done got dat Ramirez fo' dis nigger got athim," he ejaculated. "Ah had him mahked fo' def, an' Ah sho would huvmessed him up pow'ful."
"I'm sure you would," returned Phil, keeping his face straight withdifficulty. "If any of those fellows come back we'll let you have thefirst hack at them."
Bimbo's face fell at this.
"Yassuh, yassuh," he agreed, but with a marked loss of enthusiasm, "butaf'er you, Marse Phil, af'er you an' de udder gemmun. Dis nigger knowshis place, yassuh."
"And now, Bimbo," remarked Phil, after he had completed his task, "ifyou still feel equal to it, it might be a good thing to turn to andrustle us some grub. I guess I speak for all of us when I say that we'reas hungry as wolves."
There was a universal chorus of assent. Now that the strain was overthey had time to think of their material wants, and they did fulljustice to the abundant meal that Bimbo soon put before them.
They were tired too, desperately tired, and all would have welcomedsleep. But there was too much to do just now to think of that. By thetime they had finished their meal, daylight had come, and they set towork to remove the traces of the struggle.
The deep crater dug by the mine served as a burial place, and theyplaced in it the bodies of the attackers. Bimbo had ventured some feebleremonstrances at having them buried so near the cave and had hintedmysteriously at "ha'nts," but his objections were overruled.
"That dynamite has surely stood us in good stead," remarked Phil, asthey smoothed out the ground after their task had been completed."Without it we wouldn't have got the treasure and perhaps we'd have lostour lives."
"And don't forget radio," put in Dick. "If we hadn't had the batteriesof the set along the dynamite wouldn't have done us any good."
"They made a good team," assented Benton. "And now before we do anythingelse, we'll snatch a few hours of sleep. We'll post guards and keepwatch, turn and turn about."
This met with universal approval, and with the exception of the timespent in sentry duty they slept till noon and awoke refreshed and readyto resume the work of treasure hunting. They were in high spirits whenBenton summoned them to a council of war.
"You know why I think the danger is over from those ra
scals," he said,"but a wise general never takes anything for granted. We've got to makesure as to what they are up to. So we'll have to do a little scouting. Ithink Phil had better come along with me, while the rest of you stayhere to guard the cave and treasure. I've had a lot of experience inthis kind of work in San Domingo and Phil has the advantage of havingbeen over the ground before. We'll be off now, and probably be back intwo or three hours."
They looked well to their weapons and started off. The way wasdifficult, even more so than before, because of the changes made by theearthquake and volcanic eruption. In places there were streams of lava,not yet cooled, that had blasted everything in their paths. In othersections trees had been uprooted and thrown about in the wildest tangleand confusion. Many times they had to make wide detours, but each had akeen sense of direction, and they steadily pursued the general routethat led to the former camp of Ramirez and his gang.
They came to the lagoon, or rather the hollow basin that formed a lagoonwhen the tide was in. Just now the sands were bare, but Phil couldbarely repress a shudder as he pointed out to his companion the placewhere he had had his terrible experience with the sharks. Even now heseemed to feel those horrid noses poking at him through his envelope ofseaweed, and his skin prickled at the recollection.
They had reached a height of ground that commanded the sea when Bentonsuddenly grasped Phil's arm.
"Look!" he exclaimed, as he pointed out to sea.
A ship had just left the cove that had sheltered it and was beating itsway slowly to the open sea beyond. As they watched, another sail was runup, and under the added impetus the schooner quickened its pace and,rounding a headland, was lost to sight.
Benton and Phil looked at each other.
"They're off!" exclaimed Phil.
"Thank God!" said Benton.
CHAPTER XXX
VICTORY!
They went down to the place where Ramirez had made his camp. Here theyfound signs of haste and confusion. Utensils had been scattered about,and even some things of value left in the eagerness to be off. Evidenceof panic was everywhere.
"There's been no lack of booze here at any rate," remarked Phil with agrin, as he looked about at a host of empty bottles.
"Drink and loot were their watchwords, like those of the old pirates,"replied Benton. "'Heigh-O and a bottle of rum.' But now let's get backto the other fellows and set their minds at rest."
Great was the jubilation among their comrades when they returned withtheir news. It was like the passing of a nightmare. Now they had theisland to themselves, and could pursue their work without the danger ofbeing robbed and murdered.
One anxiety yet remained. Behind them the volcano reared its head, smokestill issuing from its cone, while every once in a while the earth shookwith that dizzying, sickening motion. At any moment, giant subterraneanforces might be unleashed that would mean their utter destruction.
"It's up to us to get a move on pronto," observed Phil. "It's too latenow to do anything further today, but tomorrow morning early we've gotto get on the job. If the volcano will only be good for a couple ofweeks longer, we'll have nothing more to ask."
"If it doesn't stay good we find ourselves in a worse fix than the otherfellows," said Dick. "They at least had a ship to get away in, but if wewere driven from the island we'd have nothing but that little dory. Andif a storm came up that wouldn't last for ten minutes. We'd lose notonly the treasure but our lives."
"The thought came to me of seizing that ship after the fight thismorning," said Benton. "Not exactly seizing it either, for it doesn'tbelong to us, but of getting possession of it long enough to put in itwhat treasure we've got, running it back to San Domingo where we couldplace it safely, and then coming back again to go on with our work. I'veno doubt that in the scared state those fellows were we could have doneit. But I dismissed the thought almost as soon as I had it, because itwould lead to all sorts of complications. The best use that schoonercould be to us would be to get those fellows away from the island.
"But the very fact that they are away makes it necessary for us to hurryup our work," he continued. "As soon as they get back to San Domingo,they'll get talking to fellows of their own kind, the wharf rats andtoughs that infest the water front. It might be an easy enough thing toget up another expedition, especially when they tell them how few weare. We'll have to scratch gravel now and make every minute tell."
They turned in early that night, in order to rise at the first streak ofdawn. The hurried look they cast at the sea told them that it wasscarcely disturbed by a ripple, and they looked forward to a day offruitful work. They hastened through their breakfast and then made forthe beach.
Phil was in the van, and as he reached the shore he gave a startledshout that speedily brought his comrades to his side.
There, scattered along the beach were the timbers of a ship, while otherdebris of a vessel, hatches, parts of masts and deck planks bobbed upand down in the surf.
They looked at each other in utter perplexity.
"Some ship must have foundered," exclaimed Dick, "and yet I don't seehow that could be. There hasn't been any big storm recently.
"An old ship it must have been too," said Tom, stooping to examine apiece of timber. "This beam is worm eaten. No wonder the old tub went topieces. I only hope that her crew has escaped."
"They didn't escape," said Phil quietly. "The ship went down with all onboard. And it went down more than two hundred years ago."
Dick jumped as though he had been shot.
"You mean, you mean--" he stammered and stopped, his brain whirling withthe tumultuous thoughts that surged through it.
"The old pirate ship!" gasped Tom, who had caught Phil's meaning.
"By ginger, that's what it is," cried Benton excitedly. "See," he wenton, pointing to a piece of hatch. "Look at that splintered piece thathas been torn off. See how new the broken place looks compared to theold. That's where it was torn apart by our charge of dynamite."
They stood for a moment as if stunned. There was something awe-inspiringin the sight of the remnants of the old ship that had come again intothe sunlight after its two-hundred years' sleep on the ocean bed.
Phil was the first to break the silence.
"How could it have happened?" he asked in bewilderment.
"I think I understand," said Benton. "It's all bound up with the volcanoand the earthquake. The same forces have caused an upheaval in the bedof the sea. The old ship has been close to the center of disturbance,the timbers already shattered by the dynamite have been further wrenchedapart and the entire mass thrown up to the surface of the sea."
"Then that puts an end to our treasure hunting," said Phil, voicing thethought that came in the minds of all.
"It sure does," replied Benton. "Even the log that marked the positionof the ship has disappeared," pointing out to the unbroken surface ofthe sea. "We might hunt now for a hundred years and not locate the spot.And even if we did, the treasure would have been scattered all over thesand of the ocean bed. No, the game is up. We can thank our stars thatwe got what we did. That is enough to make the expedition a glorioussuccess. Perhaps after all, it's better that nature took a hand, or wemight have stayed on here so long as to end in our destruction. Nowlet's get back to the cave and figure out our next move, for we'll haveto do some quick thinking."
They retraced their steps, Bimbo keeping well abreast of them andoccasionally casting frightened glances back at the fragments of thepirate ship.
"What Ah tell you, Marse Phil?" he said, as well as his chattering teethwould permit. "Dey's a spell on dis yar islan'. Nebber any good fussin'wiv daid men's bones. Nussah, deed dey ain't. Ole piyate ship come back.Bimeby dem piyate skelintons come moseyin' along too. Min' mah wuds,Marse Phil, min' mah wuds."
Phil made some laughing reply, but he was too much engrossed at themoment with the sudden change in the situation to pay much attention toBimbo's superstitious fears, and the latter,
with a shake of the head atPhil's obtuseness, retired within himself, still however keeping up hismutterings and giving a wide berth to the grave of Ramirez and his menas he approached the cave.
"Now here," said Benton, as they sat down for a conference, "is wherethat blessed radio of ours comes in to get us away from this island. Wewant to get busy right away and send out messages that will bring a shiphere to take us off. Some of the ships in these waters I wouldn't wantto come, for they're sailed by as precocious a gang of cutthroats asRamirez himself. But that kind don't have a radio outfit, so we candismiss them from consideration. Any of the liners that ply between theports of the Caribbean would be all right. But what I would prefer aboveany other would be one of Uncle Sam's naval vessels that patrol thesewaters. There are always some of them cruising about. But beggars can'tbe choosers and we'll have to take what we can get."
"He calls us beggars," grinned Dick, "and here we are with enoughtreasure to form a king's ransom."
"True enough," laughed Benton, "and about that same treasure we've gotto be mighty careful. It would be exasperating now to lose it afterwe've run such risks in getting it. We don't want any inquisitive peopleasking questions or any thievish people doing something worse."
"How are we going to explain our presence on the island?" asked Tom.
"And how are we going to get the treasure off without its beingnoticed?" put in Dick. "It's pretty heavy stuff."
"The answer to the first question is easy enough," replied Benton. "Wecan say that we were shipwrecked while cruising about the Caribbean. Wedon't have to tell them why we were cruising there. They'll probablyjump to the conclusion that it was just a pleasure trip, such as iscommon in these waters, and let it go at that.
"As for the second, that will take a little more planning. The jewels wecan fasten in our clothing securely. The gold however is heavier andbulkier and a different proposition. Of course it would never do to keepit in the boxes in which we brought it up. Those boxes would excitecuriosity at once. We'd better make some stout boxes out of rough boardsand pile a lot of our stores and belongings in them and hide the moneywell under everything. Then we can have those boxes taken on board ofthe ship that comes for us and their very roughness and commonplaceappearance would prevent anyone being especially interested in them.
"Now Phil, as you're the most expert sender, suppose you get busy at theradio while the rest of us hustle around, pack up the treasure and getready to leave."
For the next few hours they were as busy as beavers. Phil sent out hissignals winging their way through space and before an hour had passedhad several answers and offers of help. One especially appealed to himthat came from the American naval cutter Centaur doing patrol duty inthose waters. She was over a hundred miles distant at the time, but thecaptain, after Phil from Benton's figures had given him the exactlatitude and longitude of the island, promised to be on hand and takethem off the following morning.
He kept his promise and the boys' hearts thrilled as the smart cutterwith the Stars and Stripes flying over it hove into view the nextmorning. She stopped a little way out and sent a boat under the commandof an ensign to take them off. The ensign proved to be a fine upstandingyoung fellow of their own kind, and was most cordial and helpful. Thetransfer of their belongings was made without delay or difficulty, andbefore noon they were on their way to Jamaica, which for obvious reasonsthey had chosen as their first landing place instead of San Domingo,with its lurking dangers from the discomfited members of the gang ofRamirez.
They stood in a group on the after deck of the vessel that afternoon,looking back at the old pirate's island that was just sinking below thehorizon.
"Well," remarked Dick, with a sigh of huge satisfaction, "it wasn't awild goose chase after all. We got the treasure."
"And a mighty hefty one too," put in Tom. "I wonder how much it will panout."
"Fully a hundred thousand dollars, I should say at a rough guess,"replied Benton. "That'll be a pretty nice nest egg for each one of thefive of us."
"It'll come in mighty handy," observed Phil. "And just think of theadventures we had in getting it. I don't suppose we'll ever have suchexciting times again in all our lives."
But how far he was from the facts will be seen by those who read thenext volume of this series, entitled: "The Radio Boys In the Rockies;Or, The Mystery of Lost Valley."
They landed safely in Jamaica, and then as fast as boats and trainscould carry them made for home. At Bimbo's earnest entreaty, Phil agreedto take him along with them.
"The one thing this trip has taught me is that it pays to take chances,"Dick remarked, as they were speeding along in the last lap of theirjourney. "We took big chances and got away with them."
"He either fears his fate too much, Or his deserts are small, Who dreads to put it to the touch And win or lose it all,"
quoted Steve.
"What was it pulled us through?" mused Tom. "Luck or pluck?"
"A combination of both perhaps," laughed Benton. "Not throwing anybouquets at ourselves or anything like that."
"You've left out the most important thing," said Phil. "Without it wewouldn't have found the ship. Without it we wouldn't be here now."
"What is that?" asked Dick with a puzzled air.
"Radio," answered Phil.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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The Radio Boys Under the Sea; or, The Hunt for Sunken Treasure Page 29
