The Pirate Shark

by Elliott Whitney

  CHAPTER V

  WHAT HAPPENED AT HONOLULU

  Back in Honolulu Bay lay the _Seamew_, and here at Waikiki were CaptainHollinger, Bob, and Mart, spending two days at the great Moana Hotel.For Waikiki is the great seaside resort of Honolulu--throbbing withmotor cars, gay with villas and stately with hotels; trolley carsrunning to the city brought out the tourists and surf-bathers, as wellas everyone in Honolulu who could get a day off to go on a picnic.

  To Mart it was wonderful in the extreme. Captain Hollinger was busy withhis cables and letters, for after leaving Honolulu he would not be intouch with business or friends for three weeks or a month, except bywireless. So the two boys were seeing the sights by themselves, more orless, which did not detract from their enjoyment a bit.

  It was the evening of their first day ashore, and the captain had goneover to the cable office. The boys, after dinner, had wandered aroundthrough the crowds, avidly watching everything, from the Portuguesewomen selling fruit, to the phosphorescent surf rolling in across thereef in the moonlight.

  Finally they turned in at the big gateway of the Japanese Inn, tired andthirsty and with curiosity somewhat satisfied. A Japanese waiter,dressed in his white garments, received them smilingly and led them inthrough the building to the _lanai_, or veranda, opening on the beach.

  They passed between the tables, where sat every kind ofpeople--millionaire tourists, common sailors, magnificently gownedwomen, natives, townfolk--and finally dropped into chairs at a smalltable set among the palms and looking out on the sea. The place was setaside by itself, out of the glare of electric lights, and the two boyssighed contentedly as the music blared out inside and their littlewaiter bobbed respectfully.

  "Mebbe you have some whiskey?" he queried with bland innocence. Bobgrinned.

  "No, thanks," chuckled Mart. "Nothing in that line for us. Plain icecream and melon for me."

  "Same here," nodded Bob. The little waiter bobbed again and was gone.

  "Golly, ain't this quiet an' restful!" breathed Mart. "This place isjust like fairyland to me, Holly. I'd like to stay here a week insteadof two days!"

  "Oh, we got enough ahead of us," laughed the other happily. "By juniper,this place is crowded! He must have stuck us off here in the cornerbecause we didn't look like good spenders, eh?"

  At this juncture the little Japanese returned with their melon and icecream, which he set down rather superciliously. Mart, who had been paidoff that day, in common with the rest of the crew, handed him a dollar.

  "Here, keep the change, and don't come back for a while. We won't orderany more, and we're going to stay right here, savvy?"

  The little waiter bowed low, grinned cheerfully, and vanished behind thepalms that hedged in their table. Both boys were rather glad to be outof the crowd, however; they could hear perfectly, could get occasionalglimpses of the people around them, and out beyond them the white surfbroke and maintained its low thunder as the tide came in.

  Mart, who believed in "resting while the resting was good," as he termedit, leaned back comfortably after his melon had vanished, and listenedto the orchestra. Bob was too excited to keep quiet, however; he wastaking peeps through the encircling palm branches, commenting on thecurious jumble of people all about, and wishing that his father had beenable to come with them.

  "There's a couple o' British officers from the warship in the harbor,Mart!" he cried hastily. "There go those Chinese who were chatteringaway at the table next to us--wonder who'll take their place?"

  Mart grinned easily, taking no interest. Suddenly he saw Bob leanforward, as if unbelieving his own eyes; a flush came into the eagerlad's face, then he breathed a single incredulous gasp.

  "By juniper!"

  "What's the matter now?" queried his chum unconcernedly.

  "By juniper!" exclaimed Bob again, more slowly. Then he leaned forward,watching. "Look, Mart! Of all the nerve!"

  His tone roused Mart, who leaned over the table, glancing through thesame opening which Bob was utilizing. A waiter stood over the table juston the other side of the palms, pulling back the chairs; slouching intotheir places were three men. Mart's eyes opened at sight of them, forthey were no other than old Jerry Smith, the one-eyed seaman Birch, andYorke, the old seaman with the twisted, leering mouth that was alwayssmiling horribly. Mart chuckled.

  "Well, what about it, Holly? Haven't they as much right here as wehave?"

  "But the nerve o' them!" Bob straightened up, his blue eyes flashingangrily. "Seamen like them comin' out here to Waikiki as if they weremillionaires!"

  "Well, I'm no millionaire myself," rejoined Mart quickly. "Judging fromthe crowd, everybody's welcome here that's got the price to pay, Bob.You're no better than anyone else, are you?"

  "I didn't mean that!" retorted his chum, flaring up. "And you know it.Only it seems funny. Huh! look at that!"

  Mart looked again, and saw Jerry fling a gold piece to the waiter. Thecrew had been given their wages up to date, he knew, so there wasnothing strange in this, but when the quartermaster carelessly waved thewaiter to keep the change, it did look queer.

  "Well, boys," and the thin clear voice of old Jerry pierced to them,"here's a health to the old crowd, and a quick passing to the PirateShark! Pity all the boys ain't here."

  "Blast that Swanson!" growled the one-eyed Birch evilly. "He kep' JimmyDailey an' Borden in his watch--"

  "Shut up!" snapped out Yorke, with a leer around. Jerry laughed softly.

  "Perfectly safe, Yorke, perfectly safe! Best place to talk is in themiddle of a crowd, as old Bucko Tom used to say. You mind old Bucko Tom,boys? Fish tell no tales--"

  "Stow that jaw o' yours," exclaimed Yorke again. "I say it ain't safe."

  The two boys looked at each other. Bob's eyes were burning, and Martknew his own cheeks were flushed.

  "Lay low," he said softly, his hand on Bob's wrist. "There's somethin'going on here, Holly. Remember when Swanson an' Jerry met, the night wesailed?"

  Bob nodded excitedly, and Mart pressed him back out of sight. The youngwireless operator was more deeply alarmed than he showed, and had noscruples about listening. They were not intentionally spying, and evenif they had been, he would have thought little of it.

  He remembered the strange things that had already chanced--the evidentacquaintance between Swanson and the rest of their crew, the significantconversation between the first mate and the quartermaster, the talesabout Jerry's former life. Then there was this toast to the PirateShark! What did it all mean? And Bucko Tom--that was the man Jerry had"got" according to Swanson's talk that first night. What was going onhere beneath the surface? Could these old men really have all been partof a pirate crew in other days?

  "That's what it looks like," concluded Mart under his breath, as heoutlined his thoughts to Bob. Then he repressed his chum's answer, forold Jerry's voice was once more reaching them, soft and gentle as ever.

  "The mystery o' the sea, lads, wave after wave, wi' the fish down belowand us up above. Now, how'll we make out with it? Singapore?"

  "Singapore nothin'!" growled Birch, his one eye blazing darkly. "NoBritish investigations for me, Shark Smith! No, I say let's go up toSaigon or one o' them there French ports."

  Yorke leered, his twisted mouth grimacing. "Birch is right, Shark. Keepaway from the Britishers. You lads mind the time when the _Coralie_ putinto Sarawak--"

  "None of that, Yorke, none o' that!" warned Jerry, his voice piercinglike a knife. "We ain't back in 'Frisco now, remember that. Keep namesout of it, lads."

  Mart thrilled excitedly as he caught a glance from Bob. Inwardly hedetermined to find out more about this mysterious ship _Coralie_.

  As if they had taken caution, the three old men leaned over the tableand spoke in whispers, Yorke's twisted mouth leering, and Birch's oneblack eye flaming across the table at the gentle, white-hairedquartermaster. Mart noticed that they seemed to pay him deference, andhe did most of the conversing, but so softly that no word reached thestartled boys. Then the three rose, and
Birch spoke in a louder voice.

  "Well, Shark Smith's got a head on him, lads! That's the thing todo--wait. Joe Swanson won't leave his old mates in a hole, neither.Wait--that's the word!"

  All three lurched off, but Bob gazed over at his chum in wild surmise.

  "Mart, there's somethin' wrong, by juniper! What's in the wind?"

  "Search me, Holly. Of course it looks queer--but they're all old men. Iwouldn't be s'prised if old Jerry was off his head, mumbling like hedoes. As far as being pirates goes, that's all foolishness; piratesain't old men like them, and besides, piratin' is gone out of stylethese days."

  "I guess that's true, Mart. They're all old men, for a fact, and I'venoticed that Borden complains of rheumatism pretty bad. Pirates don'thave rheumatism, in any book I ever read. Still, they're a queergang--Birch with his one eye and Yorke with that silly-lookin' twistedmouth of his."

  "Yes, they're queer," agreed Mart thoughtfully. "I tell you, Holly,let's go back and put it up to your dad. He said he'd have more time togive us, now, and he's a mighty square sort of man."

  "Yes, but we promised Jerry to keep quiet!" objected Bob hastily.

  "Well, we don't have to say anythin' about the Pirate Shark, do we? Thatain't what's on my mind, anyhow. I'm thinking about what they said aboutgetting to Singapore or Saigon, and about the _Coralie_ and the_Melbourne_, and all that. If they're a gang of pirates, we want to knowit. And your dad's level-headed, Holly."

  To this Bob agreed, being himself in no little alarm over the things hehad heard and the other things he imagined. So without more ado the twoboys made their way back to the hotel, and with every step theirimaginations rose higher. By the time they located Captain Hollinger inthe writing room, both were flushed and bursting with their tidings.When the captain saw them, he gave a startled exclamation.

  "Good gracious! What've you boys been up to? What's the matter?"

  "Come along up to the rooms," said Bob mysteriously. "We've got somenews."

  Captain Hollinger followed them, with laughing questions as to theirevening's amusement, but neither boy would say a word until they weresafely within their rooms. Then Mart whirled about excitedly.

  "Say, Cap'n, do you know we got a bunch o' pirates aboard the _Seamew_?"

  "We've--_what_?"

  "You bet!" added Bob hastily. "Old Jerry Smith's the head of the gang,and Joe Swanson was with 'em on a pirate ship!"

  "Look here, what's happened to you two?" exclaimed the captainwonderingly. "Are you trying to put up a joke on me?"

  "Not much," retorted Mart, and plunged into their story. Withinterruptions and additions from his chum, he managed to finish it withsome degree of coherence, Captain Hollinger listening without comment.When they had done, he looked at Mart soberly.

  "And you honestly believe those old men are pirates, eh?"

  "Well, don't it look like it?" answered Mart stoutly.

  Captain Hollinger looked from him to the excited Bob, then with astifled shout of laughter he dropped into a chair. For a moment he gaveway completely to a wild spasm of mirth, laughing as Mart had never seenhim laugh before, while the two boys began to feel sheepish anduncomfortable.

  "Pirates!" gasped the captain at length. "Pirates! Oh, this is rich! OldJerry Smith--steady Joe Swanson--Wow! It's the best joke I ever heard!"

  "Well, isn't there something in it?" queried Bob sharply. His fatherwiped his streaming eyes and sat up.

  "Why, of course not! Can't you hear a gang of old sailors romancing anddreaming about the things they'd like to do, without going off at halfcock this way! Oh, you'll never hear the last of this, you two!"

  And he went off into another fit of laughter.

  "Never mind," and Mart grimaced sourly; "you wait and see. You askSwanson some day if he ever sailed on a ship called the _Melbourne_."

  "Of course he did!" returned the captain, to the boys' chagrin. "She wasa ship lost at sea ten years ago--he was on his third voyage then, anddrifted about in an open boat for three weeks before being picked up.Don't I know his whole record? Look here, boys. There's not a sailoralive who hasn't had some mighty queer experiences, and you haven'ttaken that into consideration. I never heard of the _Coralie_, and whileI admit that Jerry may have seen piratical days, and probably has, thewhole thing's absurd on the face of it. Now get off to bed, and don'tchase any more wild geese!"

  None the less, Mart turned to Bob while they sought their own rooms.

  "That's all right, Holly--but you just remember one thing. Your daddidn't know anything about that Pirate Shark yarn--"

  "Oh, shut up and go to bed!" grinned Bob delightedly. "We got excited,that was all. Forget it!"

  But Mart did not forget it.