by L. T. Meade
CHAPTER II
A CRY FOR HELP
As the destroyer drew into the little port of Orange Town, it seemedas if every inhabitant of the quaint Dutch island had come to thewaterfront to welcome her, for the arrival of any ship, let alone adestroyer, was a remarkable event in Statia. Since the little warshipwas now visiting the island for the second time within a fortnight,the people felt as if their island must be becoming famous.
No sooner had the party landed from the cutter than Rawlins beganquestioning the natives in regard to the seaplane, but for some timeno one could be found who had seen it. The diver was just about togive up and had declared his belief that the plane had not passed theisland, when a gray-headed, broad-faced old man, whose yellow skin andkinky hair betokened negro blood and whose features and blue eyes werethoroughly Dutch, pushed through the crowd and told Rawlins he hadseen the machine passing over.
To the diver's questions the old man replied that he had been workingon his little plantation on the windward side of the island when hehad heard a strange noise and, glancing up, had been amazed to seesomething like a huge bird flying far overhead. For a time he couldnot imagine what it was and then he remembered the pictures andaccounts of airplanes he had seen in the illustrated papers thatarrived at Statia at rare intervals and realized that he was actuallygazing upon one of the marvelous things which he had always halfbelieved were impossible. In fact, he added, he had come to town forthe sole purpose of relating his story to his friends, but all hadscoffed at him and had declared he had been mistaken.
"Not a bit of it!" cried Rawlins. "You saw one all right, my friend.What direction was the plane going?"
The old man was not sure, for his mind had been so fully occupied withthe wonder of the sight that he had not noted its course, but after adeal of thinking he decided it had been bound for St. Kitts.
"Well, that knocks out my theory about Aves a bit," declared Rawlins."But there are plenty of spots around St. Kitts where he could havelanded or he might have gone on to Nevis. Now let's get up to thehospital and see that old walrus of a Dutch captain."
As they walked towards the tiny hospital, the boys expressed surprisethat there seemed to be no damage from the hurricane.
"Out of its track," explained Rawlins. "Remember, I told you thosehurricanes are narrow. Of course, there's got to be an edge to 'emsome place, and besides, they follow pretty regular routes. I'll betSt. Kitts got it, and yet over here--only a few miles away--they neverfelt it."
When they reached the hospital all hopes of securing information fromthe skipper of the tramp were abandoned, however, for the attendantstold the Americans that the Dutch sea captain had been taken away theprevious day by some friends who had called for him.
"That's blamed funny!" exclaimed Rawlins. "They told me down in thetown that no ship had been in port since the hurricane."
"Hmm," mused Mr. Pauling. "Perhaps they were friends living on theisland." Then, turning to the young doctor who was in charge, heasked, "What sort of men were they? Can you describe them? Did theymention how they arrived here?"
"Why, no, I did not ask," replied the interne, who spoke perfectEnglish. "I assumed they came in a vessel--small sloops and schoonersoften put in from St. Kitts and there are packets coming here fromCuracao. They seemed to be seafaring men--not Hollanders, though. Onewas a heavily built man with a red beard--German or Russian I shouldsay. The other was an American, I think--or possibly English--tall,and very broad, with a smooth face and dark hair."
Mr. Pauling and the others glanced at one another with knowing looks,and an exclamation of surprise escaped from Mr. Pauling's lips.
"I'll say they were his friends!" cried Rawlins, as the party, afterthanking the doctor, left the hospital. "And not far away right now.Beat us by twenty-four hours, but, by glory, we've picked up theirtrail!"
"But how could they get here?" asked Tom. "They didn't come in theairplane or by a ship."
"By the sub, of course!" replied the diver. "I told you I'd bet shegot clear before the old tramp blew up. And now they're hiking off tomeet that plane."
"If they haven't already met her," put in Mr. Henderson. "Rawlins, I'mbeginning to have as much faith in your hunches as Pauling."
"Well, it's up to us to find out," insisted the diver. "It'll be ahard job to trail the sub, but as long as the High Cockalorum is up inthe air, we can keep tabs on him. Let's get a move on and strike overto St. Kitts. The faster we get after those boys the better."
"But how could the sub come in here without being seen?" asked Frank.
"Couldn't," responded Rawlins tersely, "but a small boat from hercould. Or maybe they landed at St. Kitts and came over in a sloop.We'll find out down at the bayside."
"That's one advantage of a small place where every one knows every oneelse and visitors are rare," remarked Mr. Pauling when, after a fewquestions, they learned that the red-bearded stranger and hiscompanion had arrived in a small schooner and had departed in the samevessel with the Dutch sea captain.
"Yes, these islands are mighty poor places for crooks," agreed Mr.Henderson. "I imagine that's why every one is so honest and crime isso rare."
A few moments later they reached the destroyer, and as they steppedaboard Commander Disbrow approached.
"I have a bit of news that may interest you, Mr. Pauling," heannounced. "We picked up the _Guiana_--Furness liner, youknow--and had a chat with her. Never thought of getting any news ofyour man--just wanted data on the hurricane--and she reports havingsighted an airplane, or rather a sea plane, to the south ofMontserrat. Said they thought it a United States machine and tried tosignal it but had no response. Reported it as flying south--apparentlybound for Guadeloupe or Dominica and about three thousand feet up."
"Bully for you!" Cried Rawlins enthusiastically. "That saves us ajaunt over to St. Kitts or Nevis. When did the _Guiana_ sightit?"
"About five o'clock last night," replied the Commander.
"Then he was pretty near his landing place!" declared the diver. "Hecouldn't go on after dark. Come on, Commander, let's beat it forGuadeloupe!"
Half an hour later Statia was scarcely more than a blue cloud on thehorizon and St. Kitts loomed hazy and indistinct, while the toweringconical volcanic cone of Nevis lay to the eastward.
Although the boys had been disappointed at not being able to visitthese fascinating islands, they had learned much about them fromRawlins and Commander Disbrow. They had heard about the abandonedforts on Brimstone Hill at St. Kitts and about the troops of monkeyswhich haunt the old barracks and parapets. They had learned, also, forthe first time in their lives, that Nevis was the birthplace ofAlexander Hamilton and was famous as the spot where Admiral Nelson hadbeen married. But such matters of historical interest appealed farless to the boys than Rawlins' story of the submerged city ofJamestown which was destroyed by an earthquake and sank below the seain 1689.
"Say, wouldn't it be fun to go down there in a diving suit andlook around!" said Tom, when the diver had described how thecoral-encrusted ruins could still be seen through the water on calmdays.
"Yep," agreed Rawlins. "I've often kind of hankered to have a look atit--and at Port Royal, over in Jamaica. That slid into the sea oneday--with a lot of treasure in it, too. It used to be a regularhang-out for the pirates and the whole shooting match went underduring an earthquake in 1692. Some considerable spell of time sincethen, but I shouldn't wonder if a diver could find something there."
"Gee, I wouldn't like to live down here where towns have the habit ofgetting drowned," declared Frank.
Mr. Pauling laughed. "People who live in earthquake or volcaniccountries become accustomed to such things," he said. "Even St.Pierre, Martinique, where nearly forty thousand people were killed, isbeing built up and inhabited again, I hear."
A little later, land was reported ahead and through their glasses theboys saw a rounded, gray mass breaking the sea line. This, theCommander told them, was Redonda, and he added that it was anisolated, barren rock, whose o
nly inhabitants were the lighthousekeeper and a small company of laborers who were employed in gatheringthe phosphate rock.
Then, beyond, and so green that, as Tom said, it looked like a bit ofgreen velvet, the island of Montserrat gradually rose above thehorizon before the speeding destroyer.
"Gosh, that _is_ an emerald isle!" exclaimed Frank.
"Yes, and a little Ireland too," agreed Rawlins. "If you went ashorethere, you'd think you were dreaming. Every one of the niggers speakswith a brogue and there are Mulvaneys and Dennises and Muldoons asblack as the ace of spades and some of them with red hair. You see,Montserrat was settled originally by the Irish and the brogue and thenames have come down through generations."
"It seems to me we're leaving all the most interesting places withoutseeing them," said Frank regretfully. "I'd like mighty well to seeIrish negroes."
"You must remember we're neither on a pleasure cruise or a joy ride,"Mr. Pauling reminded him. "And you're fortunate even to see theislands."
Then, turning to Rawlins, he asked, "Have you definite plans in view,Rawlins? I suppose there is no use in stopping at Montserrat as longas the _Guiana_ reported the plane south of there."
"No, I'm going to ask you to let the Commander just hustle the oldgirl right along and radio Guadeloupe for information. He ought to beable to get it now. If they sighted the plane, we'll have to tryDominica, but there's no radio station there and I'm still betting onAves. You remember, about that looting of the bank at Dominica? Well,if they had a hang-out at Aves, that would have been dead easy. Ithink, unless we hear he passed Guadeloupe headed away from it, thatwe'll hike to Aves without stopping."
Mr. Pauling chuckled. "It seems to me that Henderson and I arescarcely more than accessories now," he declared. "Everything seems tohave fallen into your hands. But that's quite right, Rawlins. You knowthe islands and we don't, and we're following your hunch, you know."
A few moments later, Bancroft, the wireless operator, appeared. "Wegot Guadeloupe, Sir," he informed Mr. Pauling. "They have no report ofan airship."
"By glory, then 'tis Aves!" cried Rawlins. "There isn't another spothe could have made before dark last night."
"Unless he came down at some out of the way part of Guadeloupe," putin Mr. Henderson. "I've been talking with Disbrow and he says it's awild, little known coast, with few inhabitants."
"Yes," agreed the diver. "But I figure this way. That's not the firsttime the Old Boy has used a plane--and you can't grab a seaplane atany old time and place when the spirit moves you. No, he keeps thatmachine for emergencies or uses it as a regular thing between certainbases of his own and, even if he _could_ make a landing atGuadeloupe or one of the inhabited islands without being seen, hecouldn't keep the plane there unknown to any one. That's why I'mstrong on the Aves hunch. He could have anything he wanted there, andnone the wiser."
"Your reasoning is sound," declared Mr. Pauling, "and I agree withyou. When should we reach Aves?"
"We could make it to-night," replied the Commander, to whom Mr.Pauling had addressed the last query, "but I'd prefer to slow down andmake it by daybreak--its a mere speck and scarcely ten feet abovewater and there's a risk in running for it in the dark."
"Yes, by all means, wait for dawn," assented Mr. Pauling. "We couldaccomplish nothing at night and if there are men there, our lightsmight warn them."
Accordingly, the destroyer slowed down and with the vast bulk ofGuadeloupe stretching for miles along the eastern horizon, the littlevessel slid easily through the sea towards her goal. As usual,Bancroft or one of the boys constantly listened at the radioreceivers, but no sounds, save the messages passing between twodistant merchant ships, came in.
With the first faint streaks of light upon the eastern sky, thedestroyer picked up speed and tore southward for the tiny speck ofland that lay below the horizon ahead. The forward gun was manned andready for emergencies; the two boys and their companions peeredanxiously through the gray dawn for a first glimpse of the sought-forislet, and all thrilled with expectancy and excitement.
"There 'tis!" cried Rawlins, who was the first to catch a glimpse ofthe tiny gray smudge that broke the even level of the sea's rim.
Instantly, all glasses were focused on the spot and rapidly it roseand took form as a low, flat-topped bit of land, rimmed with whitesurf and with clouds of sea birds wheeling above it. So low was theisland that within half an hour of first sighting it, the destroyerwas as close to it as the Commander dared approach and all wereanxiously searching the desolate spot for some sign of life or of theplane.
"Looks as if your hunch were wrong for once, Rawlins," said Mr.Pauling. "I don't see a sign of anything but bare rock and birds."
"Well, it's all-fired funny," declared the diver, "but I'm not sureeven yet. Maybe the plane's on the other side of the island or in somecove. I won't be satisfied until I've searched every inch of theplace."
But when, a few minutes later, they landed upon this isolated, almostunknown bit of forsaken land and were almost deafened by the screams,cries, and protests of the countless thousands of gulls, terns,gannets, pelicans and boobies that made it their home, the islandseemed absolutely devoid of all traces of human beings. Rawlins,however, insisted there was no other place where the sea plane couldhave found a resting place for the night and he searched here, thereand everywhere.
Finally, when the party had almost completed the circuit of the littleten-acre spot, the diver, who was in advance, gave a shout.
"I'll say they were here!" he announced as the others hurried to wherehe stood at the head of a deep indentation or cove in the rocky shore."Look here," he continued, pointing to the bit of sandy beach, "aboat's been pulled up on the sand here within the last twenty-fourhours and there are their empty gasolene tins. Guess my hunch wasn'tso far wrong after all."
"Hmm," muttered Mr. Pauling, as he examined the marks on the beach andsniffed at the empty tin cans. "I'll have to admit your hunch wasright, but it doesn't do us much good. Our birds have flown."
"Yes, hang it all!" exclaimed Rawlins. "They probably saw us comingand cleared out, but they'll have to land again somewhere."
"That's quite true and all very well," agreed Mr. Pauling, "but wehaven't the least idea where or when. No, it's no use trying to chaseall over the Caribbean after them. There's nothing to do but go backand await future developments. I'm willing to admit we've beenbeaten."
"Yes, the gang's broken up and the tramp and their big submarinedestroyed. I doubt if they'll give further trouble," said Mr.Henderson. "I think we've succeeded in accomplishing a great deal asit is."
While they were talking, they approached the waiting cutter. Suddenlya screeching roar from the destroyer's siren drowned the clamor of thebirds.
"Jove! What's that for?" exclaimed Mr. Henderson. "Hello, Disbrow'ssignaling. Can you read the wigwag message, Rawlins?"
The diver stared fixedly at the figure of a sailor standing clearlyoutlined on the destroyer's bridge and rapidly waving the little flagsin an endeavor to convey some message to those on the island.
"Come a-b-o-a-r-d," translated Rawlins, as the flags flashed up anddown. "I-m-p-o-r-t-a-n-t n-e-w-s."
"By glory!" he ejaculated, as the sailor finished and the messageended. "What in blazes has he seen?"
Rapidly, they hurried to the boat, scrambled in, and were soonspeeding towards the destroyer, all impatient to learn what hadoccurred to cause them to be summoned and utterly at a loss as to whatthe "important news" could be.
"Great Scott, but he's in a hurry!" cried Rawlins, as the sound of theanchor winch and the rattle of incoming cable reached them. "He'sgetting in his anchors already. And he's pacing up and down as if thedeck were red hot. I wonder what's up!"
"It's an S. O. S.!" announced the Commander, as Mr. Pauling gained thedeck, "and it might mean anything. Came in 'S. O. S.--submarine' andthen stopped short. Not another word."
Before he had ceased speaking, the destroyer's screws were churningthe water and the island was rapidly
slipping away.
"By Jove!" exclaimed Mr. Pauling. "Looks as if these men were up totheir old game! But where was the ship when she called? Do you knowher position?"
"No, only in a general way," replied the Commander. "Bancroft got themessage by accident--was overhauling the radio compass when he pickedit up. That's the only way we know even the direction. They'resouthwest, that's all we know."
"I'll say that's important news!" cried Rawlins. "That shows the sub'sstill afloat, but I'd like to know what the dickens became of theplane."
"Do you think they really sank a ship?" asked Tom. "Why, they can'texpect to get away with that sort of thing!"
"Of course, they did," declared Mr. Pauling. "Otherwise the vesselwould not have sent the S. O. S. and the very fact that the messagewas cut off shows they did. Poor fellows! They never had a chance andwe may be too late to save them now. As for getting away with it,these men are desperate--utterly unprincipled, as you know. Nothingthey can do will make their plight any worse. They've sunk shipsbefore--so why not again?"
"But why should they?" persisted Tom. "I should think they'd just betrying to get away, not stopping to sink ships."
"That's what I've been thinking," declared Rawlins. "The whole thing'sblamed funny. I've a hunch it's all a blind. I'll bet that message wassent by the sub or the plane just to get us away from here--orsomething."
"Hunches or not, I'm not taking chances," declared the Commanderstiffly. "If I get an S. O. S. I answer."
"Righto!" exclaimed the diver. "Glad you do. And, if luck's with us,we may get there in time to sight the sub and kill two birds with onestone."
But to find a ship or its survivors when its exact latitude andlongitude are known and to find such a tiny speck upon the broad oceanwhen only its general direction is known are two very differentmatters. So meager had been the sudden call for aid which had reachedthe destroyer that no one could say whether the ship that sent it hadbeen five or fifty miles away and as there had been no time in whichto move the loop antenna of the radio compass about until the exactdirection was determined, the chances of the destroyer's finding thevessel or any of her company were very remote. Throughout the day andall through the night the destroyer searched, steaming in circles andwith her powerful searchlights sweeping the sea.
In the hopes that another signal might yet come in, men were keptconstantly at the radio instruments listening and sending forthmessages, but the only replies received were from far distant shipsasking what the trouble was. To all of these the operators gave whatlittle information they had and asked if others had heard the frenziedcall for help. But only one had, a tramp bound from Cuba for Curacao,and unlike the destroyer she had received the S. O. S. by her regularantenna and so could not know the direction whence it came.
"Well, some of those ships may pick up the poor rascals," said Mr.Henderson when on the following morning Commander Disbrow reported themessages which had been exchanged. "But it's odd none of them heardthe call except that tramp."
"I think that proves the vessel was near us," declared Tom. "If Mr.Bancroft got it on the loop and they couldn't hear it on their regularaerials, the message must have been sent from very close."
"Yes, that's quite true," agreed Mr. Henderson. "But it doesn't makematters much simpler. Even a few square miles of sea is a big place."
"You said it!" exclaimed Rawlins. "And a blamed sight bigger to thepoor beggars hanging on to wreckage or in a small boat than to us. ButI still have an idea it was a blind. That would account for thoseships not getting it."
"I don't just see what you mean," said Mr. Pauling.
"Why, if it was sent from the sub or the plane, it would be a weakmessage and wouldn't go far and it may have been sent from within halfa mile of the island. Yes, by glory!--Come to think of it, they mighthave been right there alongside and just sent that message fromunderwater!"
"Jove, I hadn't thought of that!" admitted Mr. Pauling. "I wonder--"
Before he could complete his sentence, the deep-throated cry of thelookout rang through the little ship, and at his words all crowded tothe rails and peered ahead.
"Small boat two points off the starboard bow!" was the sailor's shout.
