CHAPTER V.
MOTOR MATT'S FORBEARANCE.
"What's all this? Jupiter! Two webfeet sailing into one lone-handedyoungster! And he seems to be holding his own pretty well, at that. Letgo, you!"
With that, Jordan wrenched Cassidy away and flung him heavily againstone of the veranda posts.
The stranger, scowling and nursing a bruise on his chin, was gatheringup his blue cap. Cassidy, panting and wheezing, was leaning against thepost and glaring wrathfully at the consul.
"That man," said Matt, pointing toward the mate, "is Cassidy, second incommand aboard the submarine. He takes it hard because Captain Nemo,Jr., placed me in charge, and he came ashore without authority. Who theother fellow is I don't know, but I presume it is some trouble makerthe mate picked up."
"Trouble maker is right," went on Jordan. "That describes the rascal toa t, y, ty. I know him. He's Fingal, master of a shady schooner calledthe _North Star_, an all around bad one, and the authorities in a dozenports in Central America will tell you the same. We'll land him in theskookum house. And as for Cassidy, it's against regulations for anofficer to attack one who outranks him. We'll put _him_ in the cooler,too."
The consul was about to call some one from the house with the intentionof sending for an officer, when Matt interposed.
"I don't want to do anything like that, Jordan. These men have beendrinking."
"That's no excuse."
"But Cassidy, when he's not half-seas over and got a fancied grievance,is a good fellow. He has proved that to me a hundred times. Besides,Captain Nemo, Jr., thinks a lot of him."
"Well, he can't think much of the captain," answered the consul dryly,"or he'd pay more attention to his orders. What do you want to do withthe two men?"
"Let Fingal go about his business, if he has any. As for Cassidy, hecan go back to the submarine and give his brain a chance to clear.After that he'll see things differently."
"I know my rights," snapped Cassidy, shuffling around belligerently,"and I'm going to hold out for 'em. I've been mate of the _Grampus_ever since she was launched. And now that the old man's laid up, Iought to be master. This here Motor Matt hasn't been on the submarinemore'n two weeks, put together."
"Did you hear Captain Nemo, Jr., say that Motor Matt was to be put incharge of the craft?" queried Jordan.
"I heard it, but----"
"Did the rest of the crew hear it?"
"Yes, only they----"
"Everybody understands the situation, then?"
"I guess they do, if----"
"Then this is a case of all cry and no wool. You're making a fool ofyourself, Cassidy, let alone showing mighty poor taste. Motor Matt isshowing a whole lot more forbearance than I'd ever do, in the samecircumstances. You made an attack on your commanding officer----"
"I don't admit he's that," broke in Cassidy fiercely.
"Nonsense, man!" cried the consul, out of patience. "You'd admit itquick enough if you wasn't drunk."
"What business you got buttin' into this, anyway?"
Jordan pointed to the flag.
"This is a patch of American soil right in the middle of a foreigncountry," said he. "That flag is yours and mine, and I'm here to adjustjust such differences as this between my fellow-countrymen. Motor Mattis captain of the _Grampus_, and you've heard his orders. If you andFingal don't clear out, I'll call a policeman and have the pair of youtaken to the lock-up."
Fingal edged away toward the veranda steps. As he drew close toCassidy, he muttered something. The mate gave a thick response, and thetwo lurched down the steps and out of sight along the walk.
"Fingal," said Jordan, after watching the two out of sight, "is settingthe mate up to act as he's doing. His influence is bad, particularly asthe mate appears to be a good deal of a numskull without much reasoningability of his own."
"He has always been a first-rate hand," returned Matt regretfully, "upin his duties and entirely reliable. This sudden move of his is one ofthe biggest surprises I ever had sprung on me."
"That's the way with some people. Give 'em the idea that they've beenimposed on, and they're just weak enough in the head to make all sortsof trouble. If you've got the rest of the crew with you, though, itwill be easy enough to take care of Cassidy. However, if he wanted tohe could make lots of trouble for this expedition."
"I'll see that he doesn't do that. If he shows a disposition along thatline, I'll have him locked in the torpedo room. Why he ever came hereand set upon me like he did, is a mystery. I guess it was because hewas too drunk to know what he was doing."
"That's an easy way to explain it," was the consul's sarcastic comment."On the other hand, he may have come here with the expectation of doingsomething to you that would make it necessary for you to be left inBelize with Captain Nemo, Jr."
"No," answered Matt firmly, "I can't believe that."
"You're altogether too easy," proceeded the consul. "If you were hungup here with a couple of fractured ribs, or a broken arm, Cassidy wouldbe the only one left to command the _Grampus_."
Matt shook his head.
"Cassidy isn't a brute," said he. "I'd like to know, though, why thischap, Fingal, is putting in his oar."
"He's got an axe to grind. Drunk or sober, Abner Fingal always has hiseye on the main chance."
"Who is he?"
"He's a Yank, from somewhere up in Maine, but he's been in these watersso long he's about half Spanish. Crooked as a dog's hind leg--that'sFingal for you. Sometimes he hoists the flag of Costa Rica, sometimesthat of Nicaragua, and now and then the cross of St. George, but nomatter what colors he sails under he's the same old sixpence. Too badCassidy fell in with him. But there's no use of our wasting any time onthose fellows. We've got the job of our lives ahead of us, and we'vegot to get the work started. Any arms aboard the _Grampus_?"
"I thought you said there wasn't to be any fighting?"
"I hope there won't be, my lad, and we'll do everything possible toavoid it, but there's always a chance of being slipped up in ourcalculations. How's the submarine armed?"
"There's a Whitehead torpedo in the torpedo room."
"We'll not use any torpedoes. If there's a scrap, it will be on theland and hand to hand. Any rifles or ammunition aboard?"
"None that I know about."
"Then I'll bring a few guns, merely to be on the safe side. You'llattend to the other equipment?"
"About all we'll need is a barrel of gasoline. I can pick that up andhave it taken off to the boat."
"I'll come aboard, bringing this pilot I was telling you about, andthe rest of the plunder, along toward evening. We'll drop down thecoast to-night and start for the rendezvous of the revolutionistsin the morning. It will be well, I think, to go up the river withthe _Grampus_ submerged. In that manner we shall be able to hide ourapproach. However, that is something we can settle later. If you----"
The consul paused, his eyes down the street.
"Well," he muttered, "here comes your friend, Ferral, and he appears tobe in a tearing hurry. I wonder if anything has gone wrong with Nemo,Jr.?"
This thought was uppermost in Matt's mind as he sprang to the top ofthe steps and watched Dick running toward the consulate along thestreet.
"What's up, Dick?" he asked anxiously, as his chum came close. "Is thecaptain all right?"
"They're bringing him on a stretcher, and the doctor thinks he'll beall right in a few days," Dick answered. "It wasn't that that made meclap on all sail, matey, but something else."
"What else?"
"Why, Cassidy. As we were coming ashore with the captain I saw the matepulling off to a schooner that was anchored half a mile t'other sidethe _Grampus_. There was a chunk of a man with him in a blue cap andcoat. They were aboard the schooner when we hit the landing, and beforewe started for town, the schooner's anchor was tripped and she was offdown the coast with every rag of sail hoisted and drawing. What doesthat mean? What's Cassidy up to?"
Matt was astounded. Turning blankly on Jordan, he saw that
his face wasclouded and ominous.
Motor Matt's Quest; or Three Chums in Strange Waters Page 6
