The Pirate Shark

by Elliott Whitney

  CHAPTER IV

  THE PIRATE SHARK

  During the days that followed, the boys saw little of Captain Hollinger.He was largely occupied with getting everything running smoothly aboardship, during his watches on deck, and except at mealtime he kept to hisstateroom at work over maps and papers.

  Mart's work was extremely nominal, although necessary. He had fewmessages to send out and invariably directed that answers be sent at agiven time of day, so that he had little more than four hours of workeach morning. Bob usually stuck close to the wireless house at thistime, and in fact the boys made it a sort of headquarters during theday. It stood back of the chart house on the lower bridge, and thesecond mate or old Jerry Smith would spend many a "watch below" withthem. Swanson, however, kept surlily to himself.

  "Liverpool" Peters, the second mate, was a pleasant young Britisher whohad been at sea practically all his life, while old Jerry was full ofodd ways and tales which delighted both boys, though it was seldom thathe would open up to them. He seemed to take a great fancy to Mart, andoften when the boys were alone he would wander up, fill his cutty pipe,and settle down for a chat.

  The crew was a strange lot. Of the nine men, five were brown-skinnedKanakas, but the other four were white, and seemed to be all old men,though they moved about spryly enough. Dailey was wrinkled and leathery,Birch had only one very black and sparkling eye, Yorke's mouth wastwisted into a perpetual smile, and Borden was a quiet little man likeold Jerry, gray-haired and respectful.

  "They're a queer lookin' bunch," observed Bob one morning, as they leftthe wireless house and went forward to the bridge, watching the mensluicing down the decks forward.

  "You bet," nodded Mart, laughing with sheer enjoyment of the blue skyand bluer ocean. "Where'd you pick 'em up, Jerry?"

  Both boys turned to the quartermaster, who was at the wheel in thelittle house behind them. He smiled, as watches were changed and Daileycame up to relieve him.

  "Where'd I find them, Mart? Oh, I just ran across 'em. Dailey, here,used to be on a ship wi' me, once." He looked around, and the leatheryseaman grinned slightly.

  "Who'll do the diving?" asked Bob, as they walked back to the wirelesshouse and flung themselves into deck chairs, while old Jerry filled hispipe.

  "Two o' the Kanakas, lad. They're main good at that."

  "Are you goin' hunting with us?" shot out Mart. "Tiger hunting?"

  "That depends, lad, that depends," and Jerry wagged his head solemnly."I never killed a tiger yet. I've killed whales, though, aye, and tigersharks! Think of the mystery of the sea, lads--wave after wave, with thefish down below and us up here above! Fish tell no tales, lads, fishtell no tales. There's strange things out where we be bound for."

  "What?" asked Bob eagerly. "Sharks?"

  The quartermaster nodded. For a moment he seemed to hesitate, thenturned to Mart and laid a hand on the boy's knee.

  "Lads, did you ever hear tell o' the Pirate Shark?"

  Mart thrilled at the name, and the tone of the old man's voice gave hima creepy feeling, as it often did.

  "No!" he exclaimed delightedly, scenting a yarn. "What about him?"

  "Well, I've heard as he's livin' in the very place we're going to--thatKuala Besut, off Tringanu."

  "Huh?" grunted Bob, sitting up quickly. "And us going to dive? Notmuch!"

  Jerry laughed softly, gazing out at the sparkling waters.

  "The Kanakas ain't afraid, lad. Only they don't know--they don't know.You see, this here Pirate Shark is pretty famous down through the ChinySea. But old Jerry Smith, he's the only one that knows. He's the onlywhite man, lads. The Chinks know, and the Malays know, but they wouldn'tgo near the place. The mystery o' the sea, lads--wave after wave! Thegold down below, and us up above--and fish tell no tales, lads--"

  He fell silent, still gazing at the horizon. Mart glanced at Bob, andcaught a significant wink as Holly tapped his forehead. Mart frowned.

  "What do you mean?" he asked sharply. "Is there a shark by that name?What kind o' stuff are you handing us, Jerry?"

  The old man turned and looked square at him, and his gentle face seemedsuddenly changed into a swift vehemence that was amazing. But itvanished instantly, and he was himself again--as if he had put on amask, thought Mart quickly.

  "The Pirate Shark," answered old Jerry slowly. "Yes, I'll tell you aboutit, lads. There ain't many as knows where the Pirate Shark is, but oldJerry Smith, he knows. He's a big shark, he is--mighty big, an' aman-killer. He come up first at Thursday Island, years ago, an' caughthalf a dozen Jap pearlers. Then he showed up in the Flores Sea, an' fora year the fishers didn't dare visit the pearlin' beds. After that hewent over to the Sulu Islands, down to Java, back to the ChinySea--always killin' men, natives or white. Then he vanished for awhile--mystery o' the sea, lads, wave after wave--"

  Again the old man paused, dreaminess on his gentle face. The boys wereleaning forward eagerly, and Bob brought him back abruptly to thesubject.

  "But what about this place we're goin' to? Is he there now?"

  Once more that peculiar look flitted across the wrinkled face--a look ofswift suspicion, that vanished as quickly as it came. Jerry smiledsoftly.

  "Why, yes! See here, lads, you promise you'll say nothing? I likes youfine, but I don't want news leakin' out. I'm an old man--fish tell notales, lads--"

  "Of course," agreed Mart instantly. "We'll keep quiet, Jerry." Bobnodded.

  "Well, this is a yarn as a Chink told me, lads. But it's true, gospeltrue! A long time ago there was only Portugees an' Dutch in the Chinysea, an' they carried on somethin' awful, fightin' an' robbin'. Oncethere was a big battle--"

  "Yes!" volunteered Bob eagerly. "I was readin' about it last night--thattime back about 1600 when the Dutch fought a Spanish armada for a weekan' licked 'em!"

  "It was a big battle," went on old Jerry. "One o' the ships drifted upto the coast of Tringanu an' sunk. Some o' the men got away, but she'sthere still--right where we're goin', lads, in Kuala Besut Bay. She'sgot treasure aboard, gold an' pearls an' such, an' the Pirate Shark'sguarding her."

  "Oh, rats!" laughed Mart, to whose practical mind treasure stories wereall absurd. "If there'd been any treasure there it'd be gone long ago."

  "So?" Jerry looked at him, and Mart felt suddenly afraid, so strange wasthe look in the bleared old eyes. "So? This Chink had been there wi'some Chink divers, after pearls, lads. O' course, folks know the wreckis down there, eight fathom down, lads. The Dutch has been there, theJaps, the Chinks--but they didn't get the gold, lads! 'Cause why? ThePirate Shark is there, keepin' watch. The divers went down, but he cuttheir air lines--he cut their air lines, lads! And they didn't come up.He's got a black fin, a big black back fin, which is one reason why he'scalled the Pirate Shark.

  "But there's another reason, lads. That's because he went from one pearlfishery to another, cuttin' air hose, killin' men, keepin' the pearlersoff the grounds. They were scared of him all through the south seas.When the big black fin cut the water, not even a Jap would go down. Fishtell no tales, lads, fish tell no tales! Man after man he ate, Malay an'Chink an' Britisher an' Arab, and now he's got the old galleon an' hergold, and no one knows where it is but the old quartermaster. The fishdown below, lads, and us up above--"

  "I guess you're mixed up, Jerry," said Bob quickly. "A little while agoyou said that lots o' people know the wreck is there, but just now yousay no one knows where it is except you. How 'bout that?"

  Jerry chuckled, rising slowly to his feet.

  "She's inside the lagoon, lad, eight fathom down, an' no one knows butold Jerry Smith where she is _now_. She used to be under the sand, butthe tide and the river dug her out and she drifted, drifted, down withthe fish. Fish tell no tales, lads--fish tell no tales! Now she's wedgedup among the rocks, eight fathom down, wi' the Pirate Shark's flag overher. Lads, ye won't tell the cap'n or Joe Swanson that old Jerry told yeabout the Pirate Shark, will you?"

  "Sure not, Jerry," chorused the two together. Jerry nodded and turned. />
  "Well, I got to get down an' see to gettin' that cable flaked." And heshuffled away, muttering still of "wave after wave--the fish down belowand us up above!"

  The two boys stared at each other, their eyes sparkling. Incredible,wild and fantastic as the yarn sounded, something about the oldquartermaster's manner had impressed them both with the fact that hebelieved it firmly.

  "Do you s'pose it's true, Holly?" asked Mart.

  "Blamed if I know," returned Bob slowly, for he seldom gave any directopinion on a subject. "O' course it isn't true, because if he knew aboutthat place and the gold and the wreck, he'd get after that shark inshort order. It's prob'ly a sea yarn."

  "I ain't so sure," returned Mart. "It sounds fishy," and Bob grinned."Well, it does, for a fact. But Jerry believes it himself, that's sure.I tell you what, Holly, if that Pirate Shark's really there, and themKanakas get to diving, we're goin' to see something! Some idea, though!A big shark cruising around the pearling beds, killing men, and finallytaking possession of an old wreck full o' treasure! Why, it readslike--like a Jules Verne story! Say--you remember that dynamite your dadsaid Jerry wanted put aboard?"

  Bob looked up, startled, and gave a nod.

  "Well, I bet a cookie Jerry's goin' after that Pirate Shark with it!"

  "What!" Bob's blue eyes widened and his face lost its carelessexpression. "By juniper! Mart, do you s'pose he's after the gold? Let'sask dad--maybe that's what he meant all along by gold mining--"

  "Hold on there," cried Mart, hauling back the eager Holly. "We promisedwe wouldn't say anything to your dad or the mate, remember? Hello, herecomes Birch with a message I've got to send, prob'ly."

  "I'll ask him," began Bob, then the one-eyed seaman entered and touchedhis brow.

  "Cap'n's compliments, Mr. Judson," he said in his ever-respectful way,"and he wants you to send this here message."

  "All right, Birch," and Mart took the note. "Just a moment! Did you everhear of the Pirate Shark?"

  For a moment both boys were frightened by the effect of those words. Theold seaman whirled about, his one black eye blazing weirdly and his facecontorted. Then he collected himself with a little laugh.

  "Beg pardon, sir. That there word 'pirate' allus gets me, 'count of abrush I oncet had with pirates in the Sulu Sea. Why, sir, I've heardsummat o' that there fish; they say he's a monster shark with a blackfin, that he's a man-eater, an' haunts the pearl fisheries. Beggin' yourpardon, sir, but where might you have heard of him?"

  "Oh, we just heard some of the men talking," answered Bob carelessly,and Birch touched his forelock again and was gone. For a second time theboys' eyes met.

  "Holly, this doesn't look right to me," said Mart finally, his gray eyeshard. "Birch knows more'n he said. That explanation of his don't go downwith me, not a bit! I wouldn't wonder if there was such a fish--rightwhere we're going, too!"

  "By juniper!" Holly's face was troubled. "Of course, it's likely; such afish would hang around the pearl beds, 'cause that's where he'd mostlikely meet up with divers. If he's a man-eater, he'd do that. The storysticks together pretty well, Mart! Of course we've got to remember thatsailor yarns generally are stretched."

  "Well, you lay low," cautioned Mart, reaching for his key and sendingout a crashing spark in call, over and over. Then he leaned back andwaited for an answer. "We can't go to your dad with this, and anyway,Bob, there ain't much behind it. Here--I'll tell you! Mebbe that sharkis there, and old Jerry got the dynamite to have some fun with on hisown hook. If there was any wreck or treasure, he'd have kept his mouthshut."

  "That sounds more like it, Mart. Still, he's a talkative old guy, and helikes us a heap, you in particular. There's somethin' queer about it,though. Jerry said that Dailey--the leathery old scoundrel--had sailedwith him before; then there was that talk between him and Swanson. Andhave you noticed anythin' queer about the way those men hang together?"

  Mart sent him a quick look, as he adjusted his headpiece.

  "Huh? Well, I've noticed that they obey Swanson a heap quicker than theydo Peters. Peters got mad yesterday an' knocked that grinnin' Yorkegalley-west! But they're old men, Bob."

  "That's just it," returned Holly earnestly. "So's Jerry old, and Swansonain't a spring chicken by any means. They hang together, that's all. Andremember, Jerry was the one that signed 'em all on. I'll get dad tomention the _Coralie_ one o' these days."

  "Well, you go slow," cautioned Mart again. "Hello--there's a call--" heleaned forward. "TTY--that's the _Tenyo Maru_. She's just out o' SanFrancisco, so she can relay a message, I guess. Golly, your dad'skeepin' close watch on the stock market!"

  He grinned as he sent out the message and Bob watched the blue sparkleaping in fascinated silence. After all, this story of the Pirate Sharkwas a wild fancy, and these were the prosaic days of wireless and steampower; the whole tale was doubtless one of those strange and utterlyimprobable yarns that some intoxicated sailor cooks up and other sailorsimprove upon and embellish. At least, that was the opinion of the twoboys as they left the wireless house and joined Captain Hollinger, whohad just come to take the bridge. Mart wished they had not made Jerrythat promise, however.