But, alas, for poor Captain Jack Bergen, who had journeyed so many thousand miles, and had endured such a long imprisonment upon a lonely island! He sent back no answering shout to the repeated calls of his mate, whose eyes failed to catch sight of his gray head as he rose and sank for a brief while on the water.
When Fred Sanders got the proa about he guided its movements by the sound of the mate’s voice, and, in a short while, he ran alongside and assisted him on board. Nothing had been seen nor heard of the captain, and there could be no doubt now that he was gone forever. Nevertheless, the proa continued cruising around the place for fully an hour, in widening circles, until all were convinced that not a particle of hope remained, when they filled away again, and a long, last farewell was uttered to Captain Jack Bergen.
He had procured a fortune in a comparatively easy manner, and it looked for a time as if the payment was small; but the price demanded now was his life, and what more can a man give, excepting his soul?—which, most happily, was not the case with him.
During these minutes of excitement, Inez Hawthorne slept soundly, and she never knew anything of the sad occurrence until the morrow was well advanced. Her grief prostrated her for many hours, for she was a child unusually affectionate by nature, and she had been tenderly attached to the captain, who had been such a father to her.
It spread a gloom over the boat, as may be said, the only ones who showed no sorrow in their countenances being the dusky islanders, who seemed to take everything as it came along as a matter of course, and who obeyed the Caucasian captain like so many machines under the control of an engineer.
Fred Sanders was thoughtful, and, what was rather curious, had little to say to Inez during the first portion of the day. He uttered a few words of sympathy when she sought to restrain her tears, but after that he kept very much to himself, as if there was some new and important matter on his mind, as was indeed the case.
It will be remembered that the expectation was that the voyage of the proa would terminate that night by their arrival at their destination, but the delay caused by the moderate wind and the search for the lost captain led Mate Storms to feel some doubt, and he asked Captain Sanders his view of the matter.
“I can’t tell you anything about it!”
It was not these words alone, so much as the abrupt manner, which set the mate somewhat back. He had received nothing of the kind from the youth since their meeting, and it astonished him.
A hot reply rose to the lips of Abe Storms, but he suppressed it and moved away.
“I wonder whether he doesn’t feel soured at the thought that the death of the captain will prevent his getting such a large reward for his services?” said the mate to himself, who, after thinking over the matter for a few minutes longer, reached a conclusion. “We expected to reach Wauparmur Island tonight, before dark. We shall be late, but, as it is, I shall have no trouble in keeping awake the rest of the voyage, and I’ve little fear that I will not be able to protect my property as well as myself.”
With this, he moved back to the youth, and said, in a cheery voice:
“You recall, sir, that poor Captain Bergen made some promises to you about rewarding you liberally for your services. My friend was a little wild in what he said, but he was right when he declared we had the means, and I wish simply to say that his wishes and intentions in that respect, which accorded with my own from the start, shall be carried out to the letter.”
Mr. Storms immediately joined Inez, while the captain made no reply, much to the discomfiture of the mate, who said to Inez:
“What’s the matter with Sanders?”
“He is watching an object over the sea yonder. He has been expecting to discover something, and he has caught sight of it at last.”
The mate instantly produced his glasses, and leveled them in the direction the young captain was looking.
There was something, indeed.
As revealed by the instrument, it was what might be termed a double canoe, or proa—that is, two narrow canoes were joined together, side by side, and connected by a sort of framework, while an enormous lateen sail towered above them, and carried it forward with remarkable speed.
The surprised mate carefully scrutinized the strange craft, and saw that it contained a large crew, there being, as he estimated, fully twenty men on board. It was to the westward of the smaller proa, and like that was pursuing almost a northerly course, though the experienced eyes of the sailor told him that the paths of the two were converging, and that, unless changed, they undoubtedly would meet before nightfall.
The double canoe was about two miles distant, and as it rose on the crest of a swell the glass revealed the white foam which curled away from the bows, and there could be no doubt of its remarkable swiftness.
After watching this strange craft for a few minutes, Mr. Storms devoted some time to a furtive but careful study of the face of Fred Sanders, who was on the most elevated portion of the proa, and was carefully noting the course of the two vessels.
The alarming conclusion reached by Abram Storms was that the other craft contained a gang of pirates; that Fred Sanders knew them, and he was guiding his own proa by an understanding previously had with them.
And Abram Storms was right.
CHAPTER XXXII
A Friend Among Enemies
The double canoe, with its cumbersome lateen sail and its crew of twenty-odd pirates, had stolen down from somewhere among the Paumotu Islands, and was now gradually approaching the proa which contained Abram Storms and Inez Hawthorne.
The experience of the preceding few years, and especially of the last day or two, had given Mr. Storms an astonishing acuteness, which enabled him often to detect the truth without difficulty. The strong suspicion he now formed was that Fred Sanders was expecting the appearance of the craft, and that he was guiding his own proa in accordance with some prearranged plan. This was an alarming conclusion to reach, but Storms felt hardly a particle of doubt that he was right.
“He intends to betray us, and has intended to do so from the first.”
The New Englander took another look at the double canoe, and he saw, even in the few minutes that had passed, that they were closer together. And now that his suspicions were aroused, he detected several other little things which only confirmed all that had entered his mind. The two islanders who composed the crew were continually glancing off at their brothers, and frequently spoke in low tones, and showed by the gleam of their swarthy faces that they were on the tip-toe of expectation.
From one corner of the lateen sail, Storms now noticed that a large crimson handkerchief was fluttering in the wind.
“It is put there as a signal,” was the decision respecting that, “and doubtless signifies that they have us on board and all is going right.”
Fred Sanders was so occupied with this business that he never once suspected that he himself was being watched in turn.
“Inez,” said the mate, “go to the captain and speak a few words to him.”
“But he is so occupied that he will not wish to be disturbed.”
“Never mind about that; I wish you to go and say a few pleasant words to him. Let them be sympathetic.”
“What shall I say?”
“I can give you no further directions.”
“I am loth to do so, but if you wish it—”
“I wish it very much.”
That was enough, and the girl, with some natural hesitation of manner, advanced to the young captain, who did not notice her until she was at his elbow.
“Good-day, Captain Fred,” she said; “you have been busy so long that you must be tired, for you slept none last night.”
He looked toward her with a quick, curious expression. There was a half-smile on his face, while his forehead was wrinkled with displeasure. Inez noticed this, and would have withdrawn had she not recalled the strange earnestness with which Storms made the request for her to utter a few pleasant words to the youth. She therefore determined
to carry out his wishes.
“Can’t we relieve you of your work?” continued she.
Sanders was in reality doing nothing in the way of physical labor, since the steering oar was in the hands of one of the crew, but he was absorbed in “watching things,” as the expression goes.
“I am sure there is no way in which you can relieve me,” said Fred, unbending somewhat from his reserve.
“We are in such deep water, and the wind is so fair, that there can be no danger, I suppose. But tell me, what sort of a boat is that yonder which is pursuing nearly the same course with us?”
“That—I presume,” was the hesitating response, as the young man glanced in that direction, “is one of the double canoes or proas which are often seen among these islands.”
“And who are the crew?”
“Islanders, like my own.”
“Are we going to meet them?”
“I hardly know what to answer to that,” said Fred, looking inquiringly toward the large proa again, as if he had not seen it before.
“Well, Captain Sanders, they must be pirates,” said Inez, stepping close to him, and speaking in a low, tremulous voice; “but whether they are or not, my faith in God and in you cannot be changed. I know you will do all you can for us—”
“There! there!” protested the young captain, with an expression of pain on his face, “say no more. Please go away, Inez, and leave me alone.”
“Of course I will leave you, if you do not wish me here, but gratitude would not let me keep silent. I know, from what you said last night, that you have a good heart, and henceforth conscience is to be your master and guide.”
And without looking to see the effect of her words, Inez left the captain to his own thoughts.
Abram Storms, with folded arms, was intently watching him, and he carefully studied his countenance. He was still doing so, when Inez turned her back upon Sanders. Mr. Storms noted the strange expression on the handsome countenance, and just then Sanders turned and looked straight at the man before the latter could withdraw his gaze. As their eyes met, he signaled to Storms to approach, and the latter, with no little wonderment and some misgiving, did so.
“Mr. Storms,” said he, “that double canoe off yonder has twenty-three pirates on board.”
“I suspected as much,” coolly replied the other.
“And a set of worse villains cannot be found in the South Seas.”
“I am sure you are quite right.”
“These two men that I have on board belong to the same crew.”
“Indeed! I hadn’t thought of that.”
“I belong to the same gang.”
“I suspected that!”
“You did, eh? Did you suspect that I was in the plot to obtain possession of your pearls?”
“I did not suspect it; I was sure of it, which is why I have carried my loaded revolver with me.”
“That wouldn’t have defeated the plan we had laid, for when twenty-three odd savages, with their spears, war-clubs and a few muskets, had stolen up to the island in the darkness, and crept silently into your cabin, what good would your guns and revolvers have done you?”
“Was that the plan?”
“That was it precisely. By some means or other, which I never could understand, rumors reached Wauparmur, months ago, that two men and a child were on an island to the south of us, and that they had an immense lot of the most valuable pearls. I cannot comprehend how it was the natives gained such knowledge, for it must have had some basis of truth, inasmuch as it proved to be true.”
“There was a proa which passed close to the island while we were opening the pearl-oysters,” said Storms.“We all saw it.”
“The rumor came from them, then,” continued Sanders, “and a party was formed to go down there, and find out whether it was true, and, in case it was, the white men were to be overcome by treachery, and their possessions in the shape of pearls taken. Since there is no more desperate and wicked member of the gang than am I, of course I was one of the first chosen.
“We started in two boats, and, as we went along, I could see difficulties in the way which never occurred to them. It was not likely you carried the pearls about with you, as a person wears his jewelry; but most likely they were buried, so that if we came down upon you and made an overwhelming attack, as was first intended, we might put you all to death, and then be unable to find where you had hidden your treasures. Besides that, I saw that it was more than probable you had firearms, with which you could successfully hold out against a large force, and it would prove no easy thing to subdue you.”
“You were correct in both your surmises,” said Storms. “We were always prepared to make a fight, and, with our guns against your spears, we would have beaten you off. The pearls, too, were carefully concealed where you never would have found them.”
“I was well convinced of that, so we resorted to strategy. I was to go with a couple of the men and bring you away, trying all the time if I could to secure the pearls, which, of course, were afterwards to be disposed of and the proceeds divided among us—the intention being that when we got you on the proa, you would be pitched overboard, for then the situation would be so changed that we could manage it without trouble. If I thought it unsafe to make the attempt, I had only to wait until reinforcements should come up; for the larger boat, knowing the course I was to take on my return, had only to be on the lookout for us, and we would be sure to descry each other.”
“And that was to be your signal that you had us aboard?” said Storms, pointing to the fluttering handkerchief.
“That’s it precisely,” assented Sanders. “But there was one force which we did not think to provide against,” added the young man, in a low voice, in which Storms detected a slight tremor.
“What was that?”
“An awakened conscience,” was the impressive answer.“And it was she who aroused the sleeper. There was something in the goodness of the girl—the faith which she showed not only in heaven but in me as well—that upset all my calculations. Then, too, she seemed to say the right words just at the right time; and you saw how I suffered.”
“Yes; and it gave me great hope; for, Fred, I distrusted you from the beginning. I saw many little things which you never supposed I nor any one else would notice. And I may add,” said the mate, with a sly twinkle, “that I endeavored always to be prepared for you.”
The face of Sanders flushed, but he added, with the same seriousness:
“Matters now are going in accordance with the program arranged days ago. The large proa yonder has been waiting for us, and we are now to keep on converging lines until we meet tonight.”
“Do you intend to follow out your agreement?”
“No; I had an awful struggle with my conscience last night, after my talk with Inez and with the poor captain, but the evil triumphed in me, despite all I could do. The fight was still going on, being renewed this morning, and I had about yielded to Satan, when she came and spoke to me. That,” said Fred Sanders, with a compression of the lips, “has settled it forever. I am now your friend, and I am ready to give up my life for the safety of you and her, hoping that heaven will take it, with my repentance, as some atonement for the many sins I have committed.”
CHAPTER XXXIII
The Pursuit
There are two angels within us forever struggling for the mastery: One is the angel of darkness, and the other of light—of evil and of good.
They had waged their battle in the heart of Fred Sanders for a long time, and too often did the restraining spirit fold her hands over her face and withdraw in sorrow at the triumph of the other. But the final struggle—the decisive warfare—was now ended, and the beauteous countenance of the good angel was radiant with hope and courage, for a soul had been saved.
Abram Storms smiled with pleasure as he looked upon the manly young fellow, and he was filled with delight at the resolution shown by him.
“There is no shrinking or trembling there,” said
Storms to himself. “He means every word he says, and he will stick to the end.”
The man tried to look calm and self-possessed, when he moved forward and extended his hand, but there were tears in his eyes, and he could only murmur:
“God bless you, my boy! You have chosen the better part.”
They were silent for a minute or so, each one’s thoughts active, when Fred said:
“If you please, I would rather that Inez should know nothing of this.”
“She never shall know a word of it from me.”
“One of these days, perhaps, I will tell her what a villain she was the means of saving from destruction.”
Fred appreciated the skill, seamanship and shrewdness of Storms, and consulted fully with him, saying that, as he himself was captain, he would appoint the other to his old position—that of mate.
The whole scheme had already been made clear by the youth. The large proa was in sight, by appointment, having been cruising back and forth for several days, on the lookout for the smaller boat with the party who it was expected would be robbed and killed for the valuable pearls in their possession. The signal of the fluttering handkerchief from the triangular sail meant that the party were on board, and the original program was to be carried out. That is, the pursuing boat was to hold off until after dark. She was to keep on a converging course, so as not to lose sight of the small proa, and gradually approaching, overhaul and attack her at the time when the chances of success were at the best.
The plan decided upon by Captain Sanders was simply to keep away from the larger craft, and to do his utmost to prevent being overhauled; and he showed his earnestness in this respect by taking the steering oar and bearing away from the other, so that, instead of being converging, they became parallel.
The Edward S. Ellis Megapack Page 111
