THE WIND-JAMMERS of The "Windjammers - $1*50 The Black Barque - J.50 The Voyage of the Arrow - J.50 L. C PAGE & COMPANY New England Building BOSTON, - - MASS. Copyright by 8. 8. MoClure Co. "CLAWING OFF THE CAPE." THE WIND-JAMMERS By T. JENKINS HAINS Author of "The Voyage of the Arrow," "The Black Barque," "The Strife of the Sea," etc. BOSTON L. C PAGE & COMPANY PUBLISHERS Copyright, 1894, 1898, 1899, by T. JENKINS HAINS Copyright, 1897, by FRANK A. MUNSEY M*arch; 1906. COLONIAL PRESS PRINTED BY C. H. SIMONDS & Co. BOSTON, U. S. A. TO GENERAL P. C. HAINS UNITED STATES ARMY A STERN CRITIC AND MY OLDEST FRIEND CONTENTS PAGE THE EXECUTIVE OF THE RANDOLPH 9 TIMBER NOGGINS 28 OFF THE HORN : A TALE OF THE SOUTHERN OCEAN ... 38 THE BLACK CREW OF COOPER'S HOLE 52 JOHNNIE 71 THE TREASURE OF TINIAN REEF 84 THE LE MAIRE LIGHT no THE BACKSLIDERS 124 CAPTAIN CRAVEN'S COURAGE 146 THE DEATH OF HUATICARA 161 A BLUNDER 181 To CLIPPERTON REEF 196 THE TRANSMIGRATION OF AMOS JONES 227 MURPHY OF THE CONEMAUGH 235 MY PIRATE 244 THE CURSE OF WOMAN 264 THE EXECUTIVE OF THE RANDOLPH I WAS a few months over sixteen when my father set me to work in the ship-yard. My task con- sisted in carrying water for the men to drink and distributing among them armfuls of bolts and trunnels. In this way I became acquainted with the different men employed upon the various parts of the vast hull for the ship of war that was being set up, and I knew their peculiarities and some of their affairs. My father was working with several other men, one day, on the dead-wood aft, when an unfinished butt flew out from its fastenings and struck a man named Simms, injuring him so badly that he was laid off As the building dragged very slowly, other men were put on and my father had a new assistant. This new man was about thirty years of age and rather good-looking. He had no beard or mustache, and his sensitive mouth wore a grave expression, as if he were much given to deep thought. It was his eyes, however, that appeared to me most remarkable. They seldom met mine when he took his water from me, and when they did I always had the impression that I had seen only the whites of them in their corners. Only once did he look straight at me, and that was when I was a trifle slow about bringing him a 9 ' The "< Wiri&r Jammers bolt. Then he gazed 'at trie 'for fully a quarter of a minute, and I was so frightened by his fierce look that I almost dropped the bolt from my hand. At other times he smiled so pleasantly, and said so many flattering things to everybody, that the other workmen took a strong liking to him. He always had the latest war news, and solemnly bade the men thank Providence for each success that at- tended General Washington's army. My father finally invited him to our house one Sunday, and he appeared there all dressed and powdered like any gentleman of wealth and position, much to my father's disgust and to my sister Peggy's astonishment He saw our looks, and explained that he was more careful of his appearance on the Lord's day, inas- much as he had held clerical orders, and that the only reason he took up the work at the ship-yard was because he felt that he could serve the Lord better by helping to build defences for the suffering country than by talking. His manner to both Peggy and my mother was such, that had they been of the blood royal, he could hardly have treated them with more deference and respect The way he took to Peggy was remarkable, and he spent much time, after this first visit, in her com- pany talking of church affairs, with which he ap- peared to be quite familiar. My mother and father did not object to this, for they were religious people, and their dislike for the young man's effeminacy 10 The Executive of the Randolph soon gave place to admiration for his zeal in these elevating matters. The only person frequenting our house who did not take greatly to Mr. Robinson was George Rhett, our young Episcopal clergyman, who was very at- tentive to Peggy. He thought Mr. Robinson's con- versation more fascinating than instructive. One day, late in the winter, three rough-looking men appeared in the yard and asked for work. They were put on the gang under my father. The leader of these men was a perfect giant in size, and had a head as big and bald as the butt of a twelve- pounder. He also had a face and manner of pe- culiar fierceness. I happened to be near him one day when my father gave him an order, which he roughly answered with a great oath. Instantly Mr. Robinson turned about and, holding up his hands, raised his face to heaven and bade him ask forgiveness for using such language. The deep tones of his voice startled me at first with their intenseness, but the great ruffian laughed. Then he suddenly caught Mr. Robinson's eye, and a change came upon him. He quietly asked my father's forgiveness and apologized for swearing ; then he resumed work with an agility that reminded me I must not stand about gaping. Mr. Robinson, however, was not satisfied with what he had accomplished. He went to the fore- man and, after a little argument, persuaded him to ii The Wind-jammers discharge the three new men, much to the big bald- headed ruffian's apparent disgust. This fellow and his comrades left the yard with some show of feeling against Mr. Robinson, and went directly to our young pastor, Mr. Rhett, with their grievance. They showed him letters telling of their good character, signed by several prominent officers in the army at the North, and explained that they wished to work, and could do so to some ad- vantage on a part of the hull where Mr. Robinson would not be annoyed by their presence. When Mr. Rhett heard it was Mr. Robinson who had had the men discharged his indignation ran high, and he went about telling such a tale of per- secution that even my mild-mannered sister Peggy was ready to take up matters in their behalf. Mr. Rhett went to the foreman and had the men put back on the work, and was loud in his praise of them. They really were the best men for heavy work in the yard, and when, a few days later, they asked to have several of their friends employed, Mr. Rhett was quite willing to recommend them. As he was very popular in the community, his word was of so much value that they were immediately turned to with their comrades. Mr. Robinson took no further notice of the mat- ter, but about a week before the launching Peggy came to me and, with many pretty blushes, told me I was about to have a new brother. My father and mother had consented to the marriage and every one 12 The Executive of the Randolph was as happy as could be. That is, every one ex- cept Mr. Rhett The wedding took place the day of the launching of the ship, and Peggy was a proud girl as she stood there on the forward deck and watched a beautiful woman break a bottle of wine over the vessel's bows. Then a cannon-shot boomed out and the name " Randolph" was cheered again and again. It was a memorable day in our family, and my father came home in such a state my poor mother instantly sent me for the doctor. Of course, after this event of the launching, all talk was of the war and of what part the frigate named after the Hon. Peyton Randolph, of Virginia would take in it It was not long before the ship had her guns aboard and the riggers were through with her. Then Captain Biddle began looking for volunteers to help man her. Seamen were not plentiful, but as a man-of-war must have men to man her battery, landsmen are as good as any other class for this work after they have had a little training. I begged hard to join, and as I had now been out of employment nearly two months, while the frigate was fitting out, and as I also had a hearty appetite, my poor father and mother at last consented. This, provided that I could be regularly shipped, and so have some chance of promotion. I was very happy and excited the morning my father took me on board and asked Captain Biddle 13 The Wind-jammers for his favor, and when I found I was really to go to sea in that splendid ship I fairly danced with joy. I was a heavy, active boy, and soon learned to handle a musket, cutlass, or boarding-pike in a satis- factory manner. The best men for this sort of thing, however, were those recommended by Mr. Rhett There were over twenty men aboard in this party, and they had en- listed for the full term of the cruise. It was astonish- ing to see how that bald ruffian would perk himself up when handling a musket or cutlass. Finally the day came for sailing, and a great crowd collected to bid us farewell. I saw my parents early in the day, and then Peggy and her husband came to bid me an affectionate good-by, my poor sister weeping upon my shoulder and hugging me again and again. Three hundred and five men stood upon the frigate's deck and manned the yards, to answer the shouts from the shore with three ringing cheers. A gun boomed the parting salute, our yards were braced sharp on the backstays to the southerly breeze, and we stood rapidly out to sea. When the bar was crossed and the long, easy roll of the ocean was felt, I began to get a little home- sick. I forgot the grand thoughts I had indulged in but an hour before. I struggled against this peculiar feeling for some time, and then a particularly heavy rolling sea taking the frigate squarely on the beam, I leaned over the side, and cared not whether I was alive or dead The Executive of the Randolph My paroxysms must have attracted some attention, for I heard several men laugh. I turned quickly, and at that moment a hand was laid heavily upon my shoulder, and Mr. Robinson stood before me. He flashed a look at the grinning men and they turned away. Then he raised that thin, piping voice of his into a deep, sonorous tone, and, lifting his face skyward, bade me have faith in the Lord. I had actually begun to think I was dying, for the qualms were most severe ; so the grave face and solemn manner of my brother-in-law were very welcome to me in spite of my utter astonishment at seeing him aboard. I thanked him for his kindness, and gained much strength from his words, and then, without further remark, I lay down beside a broadside gun and tried to lose consciousness. All that night and the next day I suffered agony, but I found myself able to attend to some duties, and asked Mr. Robinson why and how he came to be on board. These questions he answered abruptly, but gave me to understand that it was my sister's wish that he should serve his country as a sailor. In a few days I was entirely well, and I was put to work as a powder-boy, to help pass ammunition from the magazine to the guns. The gun crews were drilled and the pieces fired to test their accuracy and exercise the men. Then we were ready for any enemy of our size and rating. Even greater, for that matter ; for while we only rated as a thirty-six-gun frigate, Captain Biddle was '5 The Wind-jammers an officer of such high spirit and courage that he would have willingly engaged a ship of the line had one appeared. Robinson was made captain of an after broadside gun crew, for in spite of his knowledge of religious matters he was every inch a sailor, and knew more of nautical affairs including the handling of naval guns than any man on the ship, except, perhaps, Captain Biddle himself. Four of the men recommended by Mr. Rhett were in his gun's crew, and they were the stoutest and most grim-looking ruffians when working stripped to the waist that ever stood behind the breech of a twenty-four-pounder. When they drilled, they would practise running in their gun and whirling it around on the deck, and then send the tackles about in a most confusing manner. Finally the officer of the deck had to interfere, and give Robinson to understand that gymnastic ex- ercises were out of place on the gun-deck. In spite of this he was highly esteemed by Cap- tain Biddle, and when his men yelled at each dis- charge he was not reprimanded. We were off Charleston one evening, cruising to the eastward under easy canvas, and waiting for a prize to heave in sight. Several British vessels were known to be bound for the colonies, loaded with arms and supplies for the enemy's troops, and it would be a godsend to catch up with one, as there were not half enough muskets ashore to equip the volunteers in the Carolinas. 16 The Executive of the Randolph It was noticed by some on board that, while the majority of the men and all the officers appeared anxious for a meeting with the foe, there was a peculiar apathy shown among a part of the crew. These were the men whom Mr. Rhett had helped to get work, and they appeared quiet and listless, taking no interest in the sails we raised above the horizon and maintaining a manner of sullen effrontery to all who did not share their intimacy. It was first supposed that the new life and disci- pline did not appeal favorably to them, but as they made no complaint little thought was given to the matter. Robinson kept away from this crowd ex- cept at drill times, and then he did much to exhort them not to be so profane. Several times I noticed groups of men, who were not on watch, having a large sprinkling of these fel- lows among them standing about, talking in a man- ner that could hardly be said to speak well of the discipline aboard the ship. The sun had gone down but little over half an hour, dyeing the light clouds in the west a fiery red, when the man on the lookout in the foretop hailed the deck. "Sail dead ahead, sir !" he bawled In half a second all eyes were turned in that di- rection. Instantly royals were sheeted home, while the outer jibs, topmast, and topgallant-staysails were run up, making the frigate heel to leeward under the pressure. Men were sent to quarters, the magazines opened, 2 I? The Wind-jammers the guns loaded and run out, and everything was ready for action. We had little time to wait to find out what the vessel was ahead, for her captain was evidently as anxious to meet us as we were to meet him, and he stood for us with every stitch of canvas drawing alow and aloft. It grew quite dark, but we could still see the stranger, and by the heavy topsails and well-trimmed yards it was easy to see that the vessel was a man-of- war. In about half an hour we came abreast, and not more than fifty fathoms distant, but somehow the Randolph was sent to leeward, giving the stranger the weather-gage. Then we had no difficulty in recognizing the frigate Yarmouth, sixty-four guns, commanded by Captain Vincent of his majesty's navy. As we were new and unknown, the British ensign had been run up to deceive the enemy, Captain Bid- die hoping to get in close and deliver a crippling broadside before the Yarmouth was aware of our intentions, but I am not certain whether it was seen or not in the darkness. Every man was at his post, standing silent and motionless in the dim light of the battle-lanterns, and every gun on the starboard broadside was kept trained on the British frigate. We drew directly abreast, and a hoarse voice hailed us through the gloom. " Fire !" came the order clear and distinct from 18 The Executive of the Randolph the quarter-deck, and our answer to the hail was the deep rolling thunder of twenty heavy guns, fired almost simultaneously. Then, as we ran clear of the cloud from our guns, the Yarmouth appeared to burst into a spitting line of flame, and the shot from her answering broad- side crashed among us while she disappeared in a storm of smoke. The scene on our spar-deck was frightful. Men struck by the flying shot or splinters were hurled and pitched about and fell in mangled groups upon the sanded planks. Then the order came to wear ship, and we paid off rapidly to the northward, to bring our port broad- side to bear upon the enemy as she crossed our wake, coming after us in full chase. We were new and light, and probably able to go two knots to her one, if no accident happened to our sailing gear. Our rigging had not been seriously cut and our spars were sound, so it is hard to tell just how the action would have ended had the fight continued as it commenced. But there were other matters at hand far more dangerous to us than his majesty's sixty-four-gun frigate Yarmouth. As I passed a powder charge to the after starboard gun, I turned and looked across the deck at Robin- son and his crew. Instead of running his gun out and laying it to- wards the enemy, he and his men quickly shifted the tackles and, sjewing it around, trained it down the 19 The Wind-jammers port broadside through the line of gun crews. As he did so, some thirty men among whom I recog- nized the big bald ruffian and his comrades of the ship-yard rushed down the starboard side, and came aft, yelling and swearing and with their cutlasses swinging in their hands. They took their places around and behind Robin- son's gun, while one man stepped out and coolly rammed a bag of musket-balls down the muzzle. "What are you doing?" roared the officer of the deck from the break of the poop. " Watch me," said Robinson, quietly ; and with that he let off the heavy gun, double charged, along the deck. The discharge swept the gangway clear of living men, the poor, surprised fellows going down in groups like grass before a scythe-blade. Then, with a roaring yell, the ruffians left the spar-deck to the gun crews and rushed aft in a body, with Robinson and the bald-headed giant at their front It was all so sudden no one realized what was taking place. The ship was off before the wind, racing along to the northward through the gloom. The lanterns of the port battery were smashed or blown out, and the shrieks and groans of the wounded men added to the confusion and terror of the scene. Those men left alive and unhurt on the port side were tailing on to the waring braces. The officers forward bawled and swore at the be- wildered sailors, trying to get them to realize their 20 The Executive of the Randolph position, and while they did so the villains were taking the quarter-deck. It was a short, desperate fight aft, but they had laid their plans so well that every officer was taken off his guard and cut down before even preparing to make a defence. Then the ruffians were masters of the quarter-deck. I saw the Yarmouth on the port quarter. She loomed dimly through the gloom nearly a mile away, and as I looked I saw the intermittent flashes of her bow-chasers and heard the regular firing. A shot from one of her long twenty-fours tore past me, and killed a man who was just starting aft to join in the affray on the poop. I thought for an instant that they might know on the Yarmouth what was taking place on board the Randolph, but after- wards I found they knew nothing. In a few moments the men forward began to see what had happened aft, and they just recovered themselves as Robinson and his crew finished off the last man and were running the ship away to the northward without a thought of engaging the enemy. So far the villains had been successful, and with another turn of good luck would be masters of a large frigate, fully equipped and provisioned for a long cruise. Robinson could then have become a wealthy pirate in the West Indian and South American waters, and retired from the sea in a year or two without much danger of being caught, for his vessel was larger and faster than any he would be likely to meet 21 The Wind-jammers From the capes of Virginia to the river Plate no vessel of this size had cruised for years, and he would have had a good chance to make a clean sweep before anything caught up with him. But this turn of luck for him did not occur. When he had finished his deadly work aft and started his men forward, our men rallied, and, led on by the under officers left alive, began to make a stand. Robinson rushed his men on in a style worthy of a better cause. And the way that great bald ruffian went into our poor fellows was astounding. They charged up the port gangway in a close body and engaged with pike and cutlass, forcing those be- fore them who were not cut down, until they reached the mainmast. Robinson appeared like a fiend. He roared and yelled to his men to press on, and slashed right and left with amazing power. The great bald ruffian, who now appeared as his right-hand man, kept close to him, and they went along that deck leaving a bloody path to mark their course. They cut down and killed or wounded every man who had the hardihood to dispute their way. I saw Robinson strike a gunner a blow that stretched him dead with his skull cleft to the ears, and then, in- stantly recovering his weapon, he drove it clear through the body of the man next to him. One officer alone stood before the rush. I do not remember his name, but he commanded the forward battery. He engaged Robinson for an instant and smote 22 The Executive of the Randolph him sorely with his weapon, for, although. I could not see the stroke in the gloom, I heard the villain cry out fiercely as if in pain. The next instant the bald man struck the officer to the deck and pressed on harder than ever. This officer evidently understood the situation to be more desperate than it really was, for, as the crowd of ruffians passed over him, he arose with difficulty and staggered to the hatchway which led to the magazine. I guessed his purpose the instant he disappeared, and I saw him no more. The fight went on forward for some minute longer, and I was driven to the forecastle by a fierce scoun- drel who bore down on me with a reeking cutlass. Then a sudden rally of our men turned my enemy and their rush was brought to an end. As we were five to one in point of numbers f it now began to look as if we would soon make way against the assault. Some of our men got around in their rear, and we began to close in on them with something like a chance of winning the fight, but it was never fought out. I saw the big bald man strike furiously at a man near me, and swing his weapon around so fiercely that not one of our men dared get within its reach, although they brought up stubbornly just beyond it. Then Robinson dashed in to where I stood with my loaded musket. I fired blindly and then saw his blade flash up, and I felt my end had come. At that instant the whole ship shivered and burst into a mass of flame. I felt myself hurled into the 23 The Wind-jammers air as the deck disappeared under me, and the next moment I found myself in the water. I looked around me on all sides and saw nothing but the waves that stretched away into the sur- rounding gloom. I was uninjured and swam easily, thinking that my end must be near, and that I could only prolong my existence by half an hour's hard struggle. I was much dazed, but remembered the Yar- mouth, and looked about for some sign of her. Finally I made out a dark object over a mile away, and soon I recognized her standing directly for me. This gave me hope for a short time, and I struck out strongly, thinking it might be possible to gain her if she remained in the vicinity of the blown- up frigate. I was a good swimmer, and made some headway until I butted hard into a floating object I failed to see in the darkness and nearly stove in my skull. I reached wildly upward, and my hands clutched the combings of a hatchway. Then I recovered myself and drew my tired body clear of the sea. I had a float that would keep me from sinking as long as I had strength to stay upon it The Yarmouth bore down on me, and I cried out. She altered her course a point or two, but did not stop, and in a moment she was gliding away into the darkness, leaving me alone on the hatch- way. I could hear the rush of the water under her bluff 24 The Executive of the Randolph bows, and the cries of the men on deck calling out orders. Then she faded away into the night In a little while I heard a cry from the dark water near me, and soon I made out a man's head close to the hatch. I called to him, and reached out and pulled him up on the float, for he was too weak to help himself. He raised his face as it came close to mine, and I recognized my brother-in-law, Mr. Robinson. He was very feeble, and I soon saw that he was badly hurt, but he said not a word and lay there on his back, quietly gazing up at the stars. I could see his features with that look of profound thought expressed upon them as in the days we worked in the ship-yard together. My only feeling towards him was one of awe. No idea of killing him entered my head, though I could easily have disposed of him in his present weak state, so there I sat gazing at him, and he took no more notice of me than if I was part of the float- ing hatchway. In a little while I made out another dark object in the water near us, and presently a voice hailed me. I answered, and soon afterwards a piece of spar supporting three men came alongside the hatch. They were all Robinson's followers. Taking some of the rigging that trailed from the spar, they lashed it to the hatch, and the two pieces together made a serviceable raft. Then all drew themselves clear of the water and lay prone on the float to rest. 25 The Wind-jammers It was an awful night we spent on that bit of wood washed by the waves, but when morning dawned the breeze fell away entirely, so the sea no longer broke over us. The sun rose and shone hot on a glassy ocean, and not a sail was in sight. There is little use in describing the four days of suffering spent on that float. Robinson was horribly burned and badly cut by a blow from a cutlass. His left arm was shattered from the shot I fired at him, and he was otherwise used up from the minor blows he had received in his fierce rush. But he lived long enough to prevent his ruffian crew from killing me. I was bound by a solemn oath to say nothing of the affair as I had seen it, so that if we were the sole survivors which we were not certain of being at that time there could be no evidence to implicate my shipmates. Robinson must have known that he was fatally hurt, and that is the reason he made them spare my life. Whatever I told would not harm him ; and, besides, I really think he turned to the memory of my sister during those last hours. He died very shortly after the Yarmouth picked us up, and the British officers and men buried him with some ceremony ; especially respectful were they when they were told that he was our executive officer. There was some truth in this grim falsehood, although not of the kind suspected. He was sewn carefully in canvas the day after we were rescued, and had a twelve-pound shot lashed 26 The Executive of the Randolph to his feet The burial service was read by the ship's chaplain in much the same tone I had heard Robinson quote from the Scriptures in my father's house. All the officers uncovered as he was dropped over the side, and the silence that followed the splash of his body into the sea was the most impressive -I have ever observed to fall on so large a body of men. Had they known the truth about this villain, it is doubtful if they would have shown him so much honor and respect ; but then the truth is often hard to secure, and also often undesirable when attained. Peggy mourned her husband a year or more, but after her boy began to occupy her attention she brightened up and married Mr. Rhett, who was ever faithful to her. I kept my oath because I took it. The three surviving ruffians had joined the British navy and no retribution could be meted out to them ; and as for my sister, she always held her husband's memory sacred, and only harm could come to her and her son through knowledge of the truth about him. Captain Vincent of the Yarmouth may have thought it strange a frigate like the Randolph should have met such a sudden end, but it was al- ways understood that she must have blown up from the effects of the shot from his bow-chasers. Some of these did hull her, and it was the most reasonable way to understand the matter. Now, when all are gone, there can be no harm in telling what I know of that affair. 27 TIMBER NOGGINS MR. ROPESEND, the senior member of the firm of Snatchblock, Tackle & Co., sat in his office and drew forth his pocket-knife. Upon the desk before him lay a small wooden box which contained a patent taffrail log. After some deliberation he opened his knife and began to pry off the lid of the box, whistling softly as he did so. In doing this he awakened a strange-looking animal which lay at his feet. But the animal, which Mr. Ropesend called a "daschund," after raising its long body upon four twisted and double-jointed legs until its belly barely cleared the floor, appeared overcome by the effort and flopped down again with its head towards its master and its hind legs trailing out be- hind on the floor. Mr. Ropesend carefully removed the lid of the box and with considerable anxiety removed the in- strument. Then he laid it carefully upon the table, while Gaff, his pet, looked lazily up with one eye, and then, not caring for logs, slowly closed it again. Presently Mr. Ropesend appeared to have de- veloped an idea. He rang the bell. A boy ap- peared almost instantly at the door leading into the main office. "Tell Mr. Tackle to step here a moment, please," said Mr. Ropesend in a soothing tone. The boy vanished, and in a few minutes a man 28 Timber Noggins with red whiskers trimmed " dishonestly" with bare chin made his appearance. " Good-morning, Mr. Tackle ; here's the patent log for Captain Green. What do you think of it?" " H'm. Yes. H'm-m. I see. I don't know as I'm any particular judge of logs, although I've been in this shipping house for twenty years. But it ap- pears to me to be a very fine instrument. Very fine indeed, sir. Sort of screw-propeller that end affair, ain't it?" "That's it, of course," said Mr. Ropesend in a tone bordering on contemptuous ; " sort of a fin- screw with long pitch. It says in order to regulate it you simply have to adjust the timber noggins. I should suppose a man who has been in a shipping house as long as you have would know all about a plain taffrail log and be able to regulate it so as to use it, if necessary." "Ah, yes, I see," said Mr. Tackle instantly, with- out appearing to hear the last part of the senior's remarks. " Eggzackly. Regulated by timber nog- gins, of course. I didn't notice it, but any one might know it couldn't be regulated without timber nog- gins. Let me see it closer. That new cord gave it a strange look." "I'm glad you like it and understand all about it," said Mr. Ropesend in a tone of decision, " for I'm very busy, and you can just take it into your office and explain it to Captain Green when he comes for it. " He will be here presently." So saying the senior quickly replaced the instru' The Wind-jammers ment in the box and had it in the astonished Tackle's hands before he could get out an H'm-m. Then he commenced writing rapidly upon some important- looking papers before him, giving Mr. Tackle to understand that the incident had closed. Mr. Tackle flushed, hesitated a moment, and then quickly retired into the outer office, and Mr. Ropes- end, having rid himself of the log, smiled grimly to Gaff, turned half-way around in his chair, proceeded to light a cigar and puff the smoke at the dog's face. This provoked the animal to such an extent that he growled, snarled, and grew quite savage, much to Mr. Ropesend's delight The dog finally grew frantic, and had just risen from the floor to find more congenial quarters, when the door opened suddenly and Captain Green stepped into the room with a hoarse roar of " Good-morning, Mr. Ropesend ; I've come for that patent log." This sudden entrance of the loud-voiced skipper was too much for Gaff's nerves, and he no sooner found himself attacked in the rear than he made a sudden turn, and grabbed the first thing that came within his reach. This happened to be the calf of Captain Green's left leg, which he held on to in a manner that showed he had a healthy appetite. " Let go, you son of a sea cook !" bawled the skipper. " Let go, or I'll stamp the burgoo out o* you." "Let go, Gaff; that's a good doggie," said Mr. 30 Timber Noggins Ropesend in his mildest tone. " Let go, Gaff; you'll hurt your teeth, doggie." " Let go, you son of a pirate !" roared the skip- per. " Let go, or I'll smash you !" " Good heavens, Captain Green, you forget your- self. What, strike a poor dumb brute !" cried Mr. Ropesend. And he arose from his chair as if to ward oft a threatened blow. Gaff at this juncture looked up, and apparently realized the energy stored within the skipper's raised boot. He let go and waddled under his master's desk, his long belly touching the ground amidships, as his legs were too short to raise it clear. From this safe letreat he sent forth peculiar sounds which were evidently intended by nature to terrify the enemy. "Wouldn't strike him, hey!" roared the skipper, rubbing his leg. " Well, maybe I wouldn't, I don't think. By Gorry, Mr. Ropesend, that's a long-geared critter. I didn't know but what he was a sort o' walking snake or sea-sarpint. I felt as if a shark had me. It's a good thing I had on these sea- boots." "Calm yourself. Calm yourself, captain," said the senior. " Did he hurt you ?" " No, confound him, not to speak of. It's a fine watch-dog he is when he bites his friends like this. I came for that log you spoke of the other day." " Oh, yes," said Mr. Ropesend ; " I've just given it to Mr. Tackle to give to you. He will explain it to you, how it works and all that. Right in the front The Wind-jammers office, yes, that door. Good-morning." And the skipper went out cursing softly. In the front office he met the boy with the box containing the log and a note from Mr. Tackle deliv- ering the same to him, in which he excused himself from explaining the management of the instrument by the fact that he was called out suddenly. The note concluded, however, with the remark that " the instrument was quite easy to regulate by means of the timber noggins, and that he anticipated no dif- ficulty with it." The captain took the box and carried it on board his ship, and locked it in the cabin. He was going to sea the next morning, and, as he had a good deal to attend to, he couldn't stop to investigate further. When the ship had crossed the bar, the next after- noon, and backed her main-yards in order to put the pilot off, the mate brought out the box containing the log, and proposed to put the instrument over the taffrail. The third mate happened to be standing near and noticed him. The third mate's name was Joseph, but being a very young man, and very bright, having a fine grammar-school education, he was familiarly called Joe by his superiors for fear that the handle of " Mister" to his name might trim him too much by the head. Joe despised his superiors with all the scornful feeling that a highly educated sailor has for the more ignorant officers above him, and it required more than ordinary tact on his part to keep from getting into trouble. Timber Noggins " Why, the skipper don't know enough to be mate of a liner," said he to the steward one day in a burst of confidence. " As for Gantline, he don't know nothing. You just wait and see if I don't get a shove up before we make another voyage around the Cape." He had waited, but Joseph was still in his old berth this voyage. It was natural he should be a little more scornful than ever now, and as he watched the mate clumsily handling the patent log a strong desire to revenge himself for slighted genius came upon him. When the ship's 'yards were squared again the skipper took up the log and examined it. " I suppose you know how to regulate the ma- chine, Mr. Gantline," said he, addressing the mate. " Can't say as I do. I never seen one like this before." " Why, blast you, all you've got to do is to twist them timber noggins till it goes right, and that does the whole business. Then you let her go." "Where's any timber noggins hereabouts?" asked the mate. " Why, on the tail of the log ; see ?" and the skip- per took up the trailing-screw. ' ' Ah, yes, I see ; but how about this clock ma- chine that goes on the rail. Don't seem to open exactly." The skipper took up this part and examined it carefully. 3 33 The Wind-Jammers "That's all right It don't open ; you just keep on letting her twist, and add on to where you start from or subtract from where you are." "I see," said the mate, and without further ado he dropped the trailing-screw overboard. The third mate saw all this, and he determined to investigate the instrument during his watch that night. When he went forward he stopped at the car- penter's room. "Chips," said he, addressing his chum, "we've got a new log on board and the skipper and mate don't know how to use it Now, I'll bet you they will have to get me to show them, and if I do, I'll make them shove me up the next voyage. Why, I tell you, putting a good instrument like that in the hands of such men is like casting pearls before be- fore Captain Green and Gantline. You just wait and see." That night there was very little wind, but the third mate wound the log up for about fifty miles more than the ship travelled. "We don't need any more sights for a while," said the skipper the next morning. " Mr. Snatchblock said that the log was dead accurate, so we'll let her run. Must have blown pretty stiff during the mid- watch, Mr. Gantline, eh ?" he continued, as he looked at what the log registered. "No, I can't say as it did," said the mate, scratch- ing his head thoughtfully as he looked at the night's run. 34 Timber Noggins "Tears to me as if we made an all-fired long run of it" " Well, I guess you were a little off your first night out. You'll be sober in a day or so," said the skipper, with a grin. The next day it was dead calm and foggy, but in spite of this the log registered a good fifty-mile run, and, as the ship was to put into Norfolk to complete her cargo, she was headed more to the southward. "I haven't any faith in that log, captain," said Mr. Gantline ; "it don't seem as if we were off shore enough to head the way we do." * " Well, haul it in and let's look at it," said the skipper. x, The thijrd mate was standing close by and helped haul in the line. "Captain," said he, as the screw came over the rail, " this log is not set right ; and if we've been running by it, we are too close in to the beach." "Eh ! what's that? Too close in are we? How do you know the log ain't all right?" " Why, it's just a matter of calculation of angles," replied the third mate. " These fins that Mr. Tackle calls timber noggins are set at the wrong angle. You see the sine of the angle, at which this blade meets the water, must be in the same proportion to the cosine of the angle to which it is bent as its tangent is to its secant, see ?" "H'm-m, yes, I see," growled the skipper; "but why didn't you mention it before, if you knew it all this time, instead of waiting until we got way in here ? 35 The Wind-jammers Why didn't you tell Mr. Gantline ?" His voice rising with his anger. " Why didn't you tell Mr. Gantline this when you knew he'd never seen a log like this before? What do you suppose you are here for, anyhow?" he fairly roared. "Go forward, sir; I won't have such a man for a mate on my ship." "Mr. Gantline," he said, after Joe had gone, " get the lead-line and make a few casts, sir, by yourself, by yourself, sir, and then come and tell me how much water we've got under us." The mate, without any unnecessary disturbance, got out the lead, and, as it was calm and the vessel had no motion, he had no difficulty in making a deep-sea sounding. He was also materially aided by the startling effect of the lead, when he hove it over the side with fifty fathoms of coiled line to fol- low it To his great amazement the line suddenly ceased running out after the five-fathom mark had passed over, and it became necessary to heave the remaining forty-five fathoms of coiled line after it, in order not to transmit this startling fact to any one that might be looking on. Then, with a great deal of exertion, he laboriously hauled the forty-five fathoms in again, and then called to Joe to haul in and coil down the rest, and then put the lead away. After this he went quickly aft to the skipper and whispered something in his ear that sounded to the man at the wheel like "Shoal Barnegat" The man at the wheel might have been mistaken, and it is only fair to presume that he was, but in a very short time the ship was headed due east again. 36 Timber Noggins As night came on, a slight breeze came through the fog and the ship gathered headway. The cap- tain, who had been walking fore and aft on the quarter in his shirt-sleeves, mopping great beads of perspi- ration from his forehead, now seemed to be aware of the chilliness of the air and forthwith went below. The ship made a very quick voyage around Cape Horn, and a year later, when she returned, Mr. Ropesend met Captain Green in his office the morn- ing he arrived. "How did you like the patent log, captain?" said Mr. Ropesend. " Mr. Ropesend," said the captain, in a deep voice that made Gaff look up and recognize his old friend, " Mr. Ropesend, I don't believe in these new-fangled logs what's regulated by timber noggins, no more'n I do in these worthless third mates that's only good for teaching school." 37 OFF THE HORN: A TALE OF THE SOUTHERN OCEAN THE average man knows as little of the region where the backbone of the American con- tinent disappears beneath the ocean as he does of the heart of Africa. The mighty chain of mountains that raise their peaks miles above the surrounding country at the equator sink gradually until only a single cone-shaped hump the last ver- tebraraises itself above the sea in latitude 55 50' south. This is the desolate and uninhabited end of the southern continent, commonly known as Cape Horn, and no man gets any nearer to it than he can help. Past it flows the deep ocean stream known as the Pacific Antarctic Drift, and over it whirl fierce hurricanes in almost uninterrupted succession. To the southward and westward rise the jagged rocks of the Ramirez, but these do not break in any manner the force of the high, rolling sea which sweeps down from the Pacific. There is but little life on any of these tussock-covered peaks, and they 3ffer no shelter, save to the white albatross and the wingless penguin. It is past this dreaded cape, in a region of almost continual storm and with a rapidly shifting needle, the navigator of the sailing vessel has to drive his way. The Straits of Magellan offer no passage to the handler of square canvas, and the furious, whirl- Off the Horn ing current of the Le Maire is usually avoided, as when navigated it only saves a few miles of westing. The floating ice is always a dreaded menace, for with the spume-drift flying before a freezing gale and surrounded by the gloom of the high latitude in winter, it is difficult to distinguish an object fifty fathoms ahead of a ship's cut- water. Rough, hard men were the " wind-jammers," as they were called, who earned a right to live by driv- ing overloaded ships around this cape, from 50 south latitude on one side to 50 south latitude on the other. With the yards "jammed" hard on the backstays, they would take advantage of every slant in the wind, until at last it would swing fair, and then away they would go, running off for the other side of the world with every rag the vessel would stand tugging away at clew and earring, sending her along ' ten or twelve knots an hour towards the latitude of the trade-wind. Men of iron nerve, used to suffering and hard- ship, they were, for they had to stand by for a call to shorten sail at any hour of the day or night. Their food consisted of salt-junk and hardtack, with roasted wheat boiled for coffee, and a taste of sugar to sweeten it. Beans and salt pork were the only other articles to vary the monotonous and unhealthful diet. As for lime-juice, it existed only in the imagination of the shipping commissioner who signed-on the men. The Silver Sea was manned and officered by a set of men who had been longer in the trade around the 39 The Wind-jammers Cape than any others of the deep-water fleet. She crossed the 5 "and, as I went into the surf after it, I want to divide it with Garnett here, who says it's his because he saw it first" " Lump of grease ! Now, bless me, my friend, it has a most unholy odor for grease. 'Tis a poor beef that gives forth such tallow ; but let me examine it closer, for there is no need to guard it, as Sangaan there will have no disputes about the ownership of property on his most civilized island." "Sangaan be hanged!" grunted Garnett; "the stuff's mine, and I'll have it if I have to bring the schooner in and fire on the village with our twelve- pounder. Who's Sangaan, that he must meddle with the affairs of an American citizen, hey? After a while I suppose I'll have to be asking permission from every chief in the Archipelago to carry the stuff we just brought ashore for you. Have your niggers clear our boat and give me the bill, for it's time we were aboard again." 93, The Wind-jammers " Not so fast, friend Garnett," said the missionary ; "your boat is stove, and it will take a man a half a day to repair it, and as you haven't enough spare hands aboard your vessel to man another, you will have to stay ashore with me this evening. Perhaps I may find a nice tender shote and entertain you according to your taste," and he glanced sharply at the sailor. "As for this find, as you call it, it seems to me that I have heard of the stuff* before, and that it has some value ; so I will have it carried up to the village and stored safely. In the mean time we can discuss its ownership and also examine certain articles billed to me at our leisure ; for although your cap- tain is an honest trader and a true Christian man, yet one of his last year's kegs did contain a most unsavory mixture, and gave rise to the impression that his vessel's hold contained much liquid tar in a free state. As for Sangaan, it will be well for you to show him some deference, for, although a good chief and a devout man, he has little love for sailors, as you may remember if you have not forgotten that affair of the Petrel. He is coming this way now with his men, so have a care." Garnett saw there was nothing to do but as the missionary said. The boat was injured so as to be unsafe for a long pull through the heavy surf, and it would have to be repaired before launching again. Gantline had the fetid mass which he was guarding so closely put into an empty keg, and several natives carried it off* to the mission as Sangaan walked up. The chief evidently remembered the mate, for he 94 The Treasure of Tinian Reef advanced smiling and held out his hand, saying, in good English, " How do you do ? Had a bad time in surf, so come up to the mission and we'll have a good time." Garnett shook his hand, and then, the missionary joining them, they walked towards the mission house together. They proceeded in silence, Garnett eyeing the chief suspiciously and trying to remember if he had ever committed any deviltries which Sangaan might still feel sore about. The missionary kept Gantline and the two sailors in view, but appeared to be lost in deep thought. A close observer, how- ever, might have noticed an unholy twinkle in his eye when he glanced at the natives who were carry- ing the keg of ambergris towards his home. As for Sangaan, he suddenly seemed to remember some of Garnett' s former trips through the Archipel- ago, and asked very abruptly, " How's Mr. 'Toole?" And at the memory of O'Toole's affairs with the natives Garnett snapped out, " He's dead." Where- upon the chief laughed so heartily that Garnett's suspicions were aroused again, and he remained silent " And Captain Crojack, how is he ? He used to do good trade with the people to the southward." "Oh, he's still alive," answered Garnett, somewhat reassured. " He's in the China trade now." " And 'Toole, his mate, I think you must lie " " He is dead, I tell you," answered the mate quickly, for it was evident that the chief still wished 95 The Wind-jammers to hear some news of him. "That's a fine big mission house, by the Beg your pardon, but it is just the same ; and, by thunder, it's the best on the islands." " Be not so violent, friend Garnett," said the mis- sionary. " It is a good house , and, by the blessing of Providence, we have striven successfully to keep it in good repair against the fierce typhoon and the hot sun." " It's good and large," said Sangaan, with pride ; "and you and your men may sleep upstairs. The room is wide and cool." Garnett grunted out thanks for the chief's hos- pitality, but remarked that if the boat could be fixed in time he would rather go aboard the ship. All he wished for was the loan of a few tools and a piece of wood, and he thought the boat could be fixed fast enough. These the missionary lent him ; so, after going over the list of goods and testing some of the contents of the kegs and packages, he and Gantline, accompanied by the two sailors, went back to the beach and began work on the boat They were soon surrounded by a curious crowd of natives, who squatted around them in a circle and looked on, regardless of the hot sunshine, while the mates and men toiled bravely at their task. The boat was so badly stove, however, that it was dark before they were half through repairing her ; so, when Father Easyman came down on the beach and told them that they would find something to eat at the mission, all hands knocked off and started for it 96 The Treasure of Tiokc Reef Garnett and Gantline had been arguing about the possession of their find of the morning, but had not come to blows ; for the mate knew that it would rest with the skipper as to who would have the largest share of it, and that nothing could be settled until they got aboard ship. There was little use, either, in getting the missionary mixed up in the matter, for he would be likely to press the weight of his judgment against him if called upon to help decide the case. The mission house was a large frame building, built of boards brought ashore from a vessel, and had a sloping thatch roof. It was two stories high, however, the upper one serving as a loft for storing supplies belonging to the missionary. It was now nearly empty ; a large, cool room, with a slight opening all around it under the overhanging eaves of the thatch. In this loft Garnett and his men were left to pass the night, after having partaken of a good meal at the expense of their host, who lived several hundred yards farther back in the village, in a modest little cottage close to the larger abode of Sangaan. The good chief had offered them shelter under his roof, but as he had a numerous company in his household, and the weather being warm, the mates had expressed a keen desire to sleep alone with their men. The keg containing their prize was also stored away with them for the night, and soon silence settled upon the peaceful village of Sun- haron. Ihc Wiad-jammerr The gentle rustle of the trade-wind soothed the ears of the tired men and they slept soundly oa " By the Holy Smoke ! what's up ?" exclaimed Garnett, as he sprang up from the tarpaulin on which he and the men were lying. There was a tremendous uproar in the room beneath, and the voice of Sangaan could be heard singing lustily. It was a little past midnight, but the chieftain's voice was thick and husky, and it was evident that he intended celebrating the arrival of the supplies. Garnett had carefully withdrawn the charges from the brace of huge muzzle-loading pistols he had carried ashore with him, and had managed to get a handful or two of dry powder from the missionary, so he was prepared to defend any attack upon his treasure. He awaited developments, but as no one appeared on the ladder which led to the loft, he crawled to the opening and looked below. About twoscore of natives, with Sangaan in their midst, were crowding around a keg which Garnett recognized as one of his own wares, and a smile broke upon his grizzled features. Gantline had come to his side, and they gazed down upon the mob. In a moment Sangaan saw their faces and waved his hands, "Come down ! come down !" he cried in a thick voice, and the whole assembly took up the cry, laughing and shouting. The Treasure of Tinian Reef " Come, drink health !" bawled Sangaan, as he staggered towards the ladder. " No, sirree !' ' roared Garnett. " What ! you ex- pect me to come down and drink with a lot o' niggers like them. No, sirree, not by a darned sight." "Go fell, then !" bawled Sangaan, and he walked to the keg for another drink, flourishing an empty cocoanut shell as he went. It was well that the natives could not understand Garnett's remarks, or there might have been trouble, but, instead of paying any attention whatever to the white men, they shouted, laughed, and sang in the highest good humor. " Gad, Lord love ye, but what heads you'll have in the morning," muttered Gantline, with a grin. " 'Tis nearly half Norway tar the devils are pouring into their skins. However, I suppose it's best, after all, for if 'twas the real stuff, like what we gave the missionary, they would set fire to half the village before morning and probably murder us." "By thunder, I'm about tired of the racket as it is," said Garnett ; "let's see, if we can't get a move on them anyhow," and he poked one of his pistols down the opening. "Yell together, Gantline." " Hooray ! Let 'er go slow !" they roared as Gar- nett fired. " Hooray !" and he banged away with the other, filling the place with smoke and smashing the lantern on the table beneath him. "Load her up, Gantline," and he passed one of the pistols to the second mate. There was wild 99 The Wind-jammers scrambling for the door in the room beneath, but before the frightened natives could get clear the mates had fired again, yelling all the time like mad- men, while the two sailors hove everything they could get their hands on down upon the struggling crowd. In a few moments Sangaan had retreated, but, as he carried the keg of rum along with him, he doubtless thought it was not worth while to go back again. The shouting gradually died away in the dis- tance, and only a faint hum from the direction of Sangaan's abode told that the celebrating natives were still in high good humor. "After all, Gantline," said Garnett, "now that these barkers are dry and in good condition, we might decide who's to be owner of that keg, if we only had a little more light," and he began to re- load one of the pistols. "You're the most bloody-minded devil I ever sailed with," growled Gantline ; "but I'll just go you this time, for there's light enough for me to see to bore a hole in that stove-in figure-head of yours. Here, give me a bullet and powder and take your place over there by that barrel of rice, and let Jim here give the word." " If it's murder ye' re up to, I'll be for calling the missionary," cried the sailor. " Faith, an' who iver heard ave fi'tin' a jewel in sich a dark hole. As fer me, I won't witness it," and he started for the ladder, closely followed by his shipmate. " Go, and be hanged," growled Garnett ; " but mark ye, this is a fair fight and don't you go trying 100 The Treasure of Tiniah Reef to make the missionary believe different, for I never struck a sailor or mate under me that couldn't have a chance to strike back. I don't belong to that kind o' crowd." " Take your place and stop your jaw tackle ; if you don't hurry they'll be back with a crowd before we begin," said Gantline, as the sailors disappeared down the ladder and started off "We ought to have stopped them." " Darnation ! but it's dark. Where are you now?" asked Garnett from his position. " Ready. Fire !" bawled Gantline, and his pistol lit up the darkness. Bang went Garnett' s, and then there was a dead silence. "Garnett," growled Gantline. "Blast you! what is it?" "Did you get a clip?" " No, you infernal fool ; but you came within an inch of my ear, and I fired before I put the ball in my pistol. You owe me a shot." "It'll be a hard debt to collect, mate, for Til be stove endways before we try that again. Here comes Easyman with the men now." As he spoke there was a rush of feet, and the two sailors, followed by the missionary and a crowd of half-sober natives, burst into the room below. " Hello aloft, there !" sung out a sailor. "What's the matter?" asked Garnett, quietly, from the opening above. " Have you done him any harm ?" asked the 101 The Wind-jammers missionary, in a voice that showed him to be a man of action when necessary. "No," answered Gantline; "there's nothing hap- pened." A lantern flashed in the room, and in a moment Father Easyman was upon the ladder. In another moment he was in the loft, and the sailors with a crowd of natives followed. "Now," said the missionary, "hand over those pistols, or I will have to assert my authority, even as the good King David did of old. I know you, Gar nett, a fierce and unholy man, but you have enough sins on your soul now, so don't force me to set these men upon you." " By thunder !" growled the mate, " it's to protect ourselves we've been forced to fire, to scare that drunken Sangaan out of the room below. It's a pretty mess he's been making in a decent mission house, coming here drinking that tar I mean rum, and waking us out of peaceful sleep." "Fact, he woke us up with his yelling," said Gantline, "and we fired down below just to scare the crowd away." " But what is this the men say about you two fighting?" asked the missionary. " Oh, they were as badly frightened as the nig- gers. Hey, Jim, ain't that so?" said Garnett, and he gave the sailor so fierce a look that the fellow stammered out, " Faith, an' it must 'a' been so ; it was so dark we couldn't see nothing at all." " Well, come with me, anyway," said the mission- 102 The Treasure of Tinian Reef ary. " It won't do for Sangaan to take it into his head to come back here if he gets drunk. He is easy enough to manage sober, but you remember the Petrel affair." "Sangaan be blowed," grunted Garnett. "I can take care of any crowd o' niggers that ever saw a mission, but if you insist on our cruising with a sky- pilot, why, we're agreeable. Come on, Gantline." They followed the good man down the ladder and up the village street to his house. When they were in the starlight the mates noticed that several of the natives who had followed the men back carried short spears, and one or two had long knives in the belts of their grass cloths. When they saw this they began to realize that perhaps the missionary was right after all, and it was just as well that they changed their sleeping quarters for the remainder of the night. The next morning they patched the stove-in plank on the boat's bottom, and after getting all the gear into her, including the keg into which they had put their treasure the day before, they ran her out into the surf and started off! Several natives helped them until they were beyond the first line of breakers, but Garnett was in a bad humor and accepted this favor on their part in very bad grace. When the men and Gantline put good way on the craft with their oars, the mate swore a great oath and rapped the nearest native, holding to the gun- wale, a sharp blow across the head with his boat- hook and bade them get ashore. This fellow gave 103 The Wind-jammers a yell which was taken up by the crowd on the beach, and instantly several rushed into the surf carrying short spears. "Give way, bullies," grunted Garnett, "or the heathen will be aboard of us." And the men bent to their oars with a hearty good will. As it was, several managed to get within throwing distance, and a spear passed between the mate's bow-legs and landed in the bottom of the boat He instantly picked it up and threw it with such wonderful aim at a native that it cut a scratch in the fellow's shoulder. This had the effect of stopping the most ambitious of the crowd, and they con- tented themselves with yelling and brandishing their weapons. "Steady, bullies," said Garnett, as they neared the outer line of combing water ; "if we miss it this time there'll be trouble." The old mate balanced himself carefully on his bow-legs and grasped the steering oar firmly as they neared the place where the sea fell over the outer barrier. They went ahead slowly until there came a com- paratively smooth spell, then they went for the open water as hard as they could. As they reached almost clear, a heavy sea rose before them with its crest growing sharper and sharper every moment. Garnett, with set jaw and straining muscles, held her true, and with a "Give way, bullies," hissed between his teeth, the boat's head rose almost perpendicular for an instant on the 104 The Treasure of Tinian Reef side of the moving wall. Then with a smothering roar it broke under and over her and she fell with a crash into the smooth sea beyond. "Drive her !" he roared, as the half-swamped craft lay almost motionless ; and Gantline, bracing his feet, gave three gigantic strokes and his oar snapped short off at the rowlock. " Drive her through !" he roared again, as one of the men turned with a scared look at the sea ahead. " Drive her or I'll drive this boat-hook through you !" and he made a motion towards the bottom of the boat. The two remaining oars bent and strained under the pressure, and in another instant they rose on a smooth crest and went clear, while the sea fell but two fathoms astern. "Lord love ye, Garnett, but that was a close shave," panted Gantline; "give us the bailer and let me get some of this water out of her. It's as- tonishing how those seas deceive one, for from here it looks as smooth on the reef as the top of Easy- man's head. It's evident that you calculate to go out of the island trade on the profits of this voyage. They would have handled us rough enough had we been stove down on the reef again." Garnett muttered something, as he glared astern at the crowd on the beach, and passed Gantline the bailer from the after-locker. He then headed the boat for the schooner, which had been working in all the morning, and now lay hove-to about a mile distant. In a little while they were on board and Captain 105 The Wind-jammers Foregaff was handed the receipts of his trade, which he carried below and deposited in a strong box ; making a note afterwards, in a small book, of the percentage due his mates. Then he came on deck, and as the boat was dropped astern he drew away his head-sheets and stood to the eastward. On going forward he noticed the keg they had brought back with them and instantly demanded to know its contents. " It's a find o' grease," said Garnett, as he picked it up and carried it aft, where he deposited it care- fully in the cockpit "Find o' what?" asked Foregaff, as he and Gant- line followed hard in his wake. " Find o' whale grease," said the mate. " It's the stuff that sells so high in the States. I found it in the surf, and Gantline here has been trying to prove half of it his because he was along with me." " Well, where, in the name o' Davy Jones, do I come in on this deal?" bawled Foregaff "Ain't we running this business on shares, I want'er know?" "So far as concerns trade, you're right; but d'ye mean to say that what I find ain't my own ?" said the mate in a menacing tone. "Trade be blowed ! Gantline and I come in on this, share an' share alike. Knock in the head o' the keg an' let's have a look at it." And the skip- per's eyes gleamed with anticipation. Gantline reached an iron belaying-pin and quickly knocked in the top of the keg and tore off the pieces. 106 The Treasure of Tinian Reef "You see, it's ill-smellin' stuff," grunted Garnett, " and its value is according to its smell." He bent over the keg and peered into it. " It's pretty hard," he continued, " when a man's been through all the danger and trouble o' getting a prize to have to divy up with them that ain't in the contract " " Gord A 'mighty ! Hard down the wheel there ! Spring your luff!" he roared, as he sprang to his feet. " Pig grease ! s'help me, the scoundrel's robbed us!" The men rushed to the sheets as the schooner came up on the wind and headed for the island again, while Gantline and Foregaff bent over the open keg. " 'Tis as good lard as ever fried doughnut," said the skipper, as he stuck his finger into the mass and then drew it through his lips, while Gantline glared at it as though it was the ghost of Father Tellman's Pig- " Clear away the gun for'ard, and get " "Hello, what's the matter?" asked the skipper, as Garnett was getting ready for action. " Why, we can't get ashore there again. They well-nigh murdered us as it was," said the mate. " Well, what good can we do with that gun, then ? It won't throw a ball across the surf, let alone to the village. You must have been up to some deviltry ashore." And the skipper eyed the mates sus- piciously. " Devil be hanged ! We were as soft as you please, but they were for mischief from the time 107 The Wind-jammers we rolled over in the surf. I guess, perhaps, you'd better go ashore, though, for old Easyman don't like me." " Not by the holy Pope," said the skipper, with a grin. ''You don't catch me on that beach for all the wliale grease afloat, or ashore either, for that matter. If that's the game, we might as well stand off again." " Let's at least have a try at that sky-pilot's house," growled Garnett "Give me a couple of charges and I'll see what I can do, anyhow." " As for that, go ahead ; but no good' 11 come of it," muttered the skipper. Garnett was on the forecastle in a few minutes with several cartridges for the old twelve-pounder. The schooner was rapidly nearing the surf, and Foregaff could see the natives with great distinctness through his glass. When she was as near as was safe to navigate, she yawed and Garnett fired. The shot struck the crest of a comber, in spite of all he could do to elevate the gun, and ricochetted on to the sand, where a native picked it up and danced a peculiarly aggressive dance while he held it aloft in his hand The flag on the mission dipped gracefully three times while Garnett loaded for a second shot " If I only had a shell Fd make those niggers see something," he muttered, as he rammed home the charge, " Fire !" And the gun banged again. lot The Treasure of Tinian Red The flag dipped again in the breeze, and several natives, joining hands, danced wildly to and fro. " Keep her off!" bawled the skipper, with a broad smile on his face. " Done by a nigger chief," he muttered to himself. " I want'er know, I want'er know." THE LE MAIRE LIGHT IT had been calm all day, and the dull light of the overcast sky made the sea have that peculiar black tint seen in this latitude. It rolled silently with the swell, like a heaving world of oily ink, and, although we were almost midway between the Falk- lands and the Straits of Magellan, Captain Green determined to try a deep-sea sounding. This proved barren of result with a hundred-fathom line on end. The silent calm continued, and the weird, lone- some cry of a penguin greeted our ears for the first time on the voyage. Late in the afternoon a light breeze sprang up from the westward. As the ship gathered headway, a school of Antarctic porpoises came plunging and jumping after her. The toggle-iron was brought out, and the carpenter tried his luck at harpooning one on the jump. After lacerating the backs of several he gave it up and turned the iron over to Gantline, with the hope that he might do better. The old mate took the iron in his right hand and balanced it carefully. Then he took several short coils of line in his left hand, and, bracing himself firmly on the backstays just forward of the cathead, waited for a " throw." Almost instantly a big fel- low came jumping and plunging towards the vessel, swerving from side to side with lightning-like ra- pidity. He passed unHer the bowsprit end so The Le Maire Light quickly that Gantline's half- raised arm was hardly rigid before it was too late to throw. Suddenly back he came like a flash across the ship's cut-water. There was a sharp "swish," and the line was trailing taut through the snatch-block with three men heav- ing on it as hard as they could. It was done so quickly that it seemed less than a second from the time the animal flashed past to when he hung trans- fixed a few feet above the sea beneath the bowsprit end. Chips, who had harpooned many a porpoise in the low latitudes, was filled with admiration, and instantly lent a hand to get the striped fellow on deck. I went aft, for it was my watch on deck, and we expected to sight land before darkness compelled us to stand off to the eastward. At five o'clock a man stationed in the mizzen-top sung out that he could see something on the weather-beam to the westward, and soon by the aid of the glass we made out the high, grim cliffs of Staten Land looming indistinctly through the haze on the horizon. The first land sighted for seventy days. The ship's head was again pointed well up to the wind to try and turn the "last corner" of the world, Cape Horn. Captain Zack Green stood looking at the land a long time, and then remarked, " I would have gone through the Straits ten years ago, but I don't want to get in there any more." "What!" I asked, "would you take a vessel as heavy as we are through the Straits of Magellan ?" The Wind-jammers " Straits of thunder !" he replied. " Who said anything about going through the Straits of Magel- lan with a deep loaded clipper ship ? Man alive ! That's the way of it. Whenever anybody talks of going through the Straits, every eternal idiot thinks it the Magellan, when he ought to know no sailing ship ever goes through Smith's Channel. Strait of Le Maire, man, between Staten Land and Tierra del Fuego. It would have saved us thirty miles west- ing, and thirty miles may be worth thirty days when you are to the s'uth'ard." I admitted that what he said was true, but as people knew very little of this part of the world, they usually associated the word " Straits" down here with the Magellan. "Well," said he, "they ought to know better, for nothing but small sailing craft and steamers could go through there without standing a good chance of running foul of the rocks. It's the Le Maire Strait I was thinking of; but even that is dangerous, for there is no light there any more, and the current swirls and cuts through like a tide-race. I've been going to the eastward since they had trouble with the light and can't get any one to stay and tend it" " What's the matter?" I asked ; " is it too lonely?" "No," he answered, slowly, "it isn't that alto- gether, though I reckon it's lonely enough with nothing but the swirling tide on one side and barren rocks and tussac on the other. I was ashore there once and saw the fellows who ran the light, before they died, and the head man told me some queer 112 The Le Maire Light things. If s a bad place for the falling sickness, too, and that's against it, but the mystery of the light- keepers was enough to scare a man. " I knew old Tom Jackson, the skipper of the re- lief boat, and he asked me to go over to the light with him. If s only a day's run from the Falklands, and, as I was laid up with a topmast gone, I went. "We had a whaling steamer to go over in. A vessel about one hundred tons, with an infernal sort of cannon mounted for'ard which threw a bomb- harpoon big enough to stave the side of a frigate. " On the way over Jackson told me how hard it was to get any one to stay at the light, and how he came across the two men who were now keepers. " Two men had drifted ashore near the settlement lashed to the thwarts of a half-sunken whale-boat. They were all but dead and unable to speak Finally, after careful nursing, one began to show some life, and he raved about a lost ship and the Cooper's Hole. "You see, over there in the South Orkneys there is a hole through the cliffs about a hundred feet wide, with the rocks rising straight up hundreds of feet on both sides. Inside this narrow passage, which is like an open door, is the great hole, miles around inside, with water enough for all the vessels afloat to lie in without fouling. "This fellow raved about driving a ship through the hole during a storm. He talked of revenge, and would laugh when he raved about the captain of the ship. 8 113 The Wind-jammers " When these men were well again they told a straight story about the loss of the ship Indian. As near as they could make out, they had been fifteen days in that open boat, which they clung to when the vessel foundered off the Horn. They had nothing saved but the rags they came ashore in, so they were glad enough to take Jackson's offer of two hundred pounds a year to tend the Le Maire light. "We arrived off the light the next afternoon. There was no place to land except on the rocks, where the heave of the swell made it dangerous. It was dead calm this evening, so we got ashore all right. As we climbed the rocks towards the light the fellows there came out of the small house to meet us. "The head keeper walked in front, and he was the queerest-looking critter that ever wore breeches. His hair was half a fathom long and the color of rope yarn, and his eye was as green and watery as a cuttlefish's. The other fellow was somewhat younger, but he seemed taken up with the idea that his feet were the only things in nature worth looking at, so I paid little attention to him. " The older fellow with long hair grunted some- thing to Jackson and held out his hand, which the skipper shook heartily. "'Well,' he roared, 'how's things on the rocks? Damme if I don't wish I was a light-keeper myself, so's I could sit around and admire the sun rise and set' 114 The Le Maire Light "'I wish to blazes you was/ grunted the long- haired heathen ; 'as for me, I'm about tired of this here job, and you might as well tell the governor that if he gives me the whole East Falkland I wouldn't stay here through another winter.' " * That's just the way with a man soon as he gets a soft job. Never satisfied. Now, here's my friend Green just waiting to step into your shoes the min- ute you think two hundred pounds a year is too infernal much for a gent like you to live on.' " The old fellow looked hard at me with his fishy eyes, but said nothing. " * No,' went on Jackson, ' you wouldn't be satis- fied with ten thousand. What's the matter, anyhow ? Have you seen the bird lately ?' "At this the fellow glanced around quickly and took in every point of the compass, but he didn't answer. "Finally he mumbled, 'To-night's the night' Then he turned to me and asked, 'Be you going to stay ashore to-night ?' " ' No,' I answered, ' not if we can get back on board.' " Then the fellow turned and led the way to the light and Jackson and I followed after him. "The light-house was built of heavy timber, brought ashore from a vessel, and the lantern was one of those small lenses like what you see in the rivers of the States. It had a small platform around it, guarded by an iron hand-rail, which, I should judge, was about fifty feet above the rocks. Outside "5 The Wind-jammers the lens was the ordinary glass covering, making a small room about the lantern, and outside of all was a heavy wire netting to keep birds from driving through the light during a storm. " There were some repairs needed, and the lamp- ist had to go back on board the steamer for some tools. He had hardly started before the dull haze settled over the dark water, and in half an hour you couldn't see ten fathoms in any direction. " ' By thunder ! Green, we are in for a night of it, sure/ said Jackson to me. 'There'll be no chance of that boat coming back while this lasts.' " 'Let her go,' I replied ; ' I'd just as soon spend a night in the lantern as in that infernal hooker soaked in sour oil and jammed full of bedbugs. I don't know but what I'd rather like the change/ " ' Like it or not, here we are, so we might as well take a look around before dark.' "We hadn't gone more than half a mile through the gigantic tussac-grass when I felt a peculiar sen- sation at my heart. The next moment I was lying flat on my back and Jackson was doing all he could to bring me to. I had the falling sickness, and I realized what the governor meant by the order that no person should be allowed to travel alone on the Falklands. " In a little while I grew better, and with Jackson's help managed to get back to the light, faint and weak. " That old long-haired fellow was there waiting for us, and he expressed about as much surprise and 116 The Le Maire Light feeling at my mishap as if I had been an old pen- guin come ashore to die. However, after I had a glass of spirits and eaten some of the truck he had cooked for supper, I felt better. Then the old fel- low went into the lantern and lit up for the night He then came back and joined us in the house, where we sat talking. " ' It's the first quarter o' the moon an' third day,' said he, coming in and sitting down at the table and lighting his pipe from the sperm-oil lamp. " ' I never made any remarks to the contrary/ said Jackson. " ' It's this night, sure, and the Strait will be crowded before morning ; then he'll be here.' "'Who?' I asked. "Old man Jackson laughed. * That's his friend the bird,' he said, looking towards me. ' He has a visitor every now and then, you see, so it isn't so blooming lonesome here after all.' " The keeper looked hard at me with his fishy eyes, and then continued. " * He has been here twice before/ he said. " ' Well, suppose he has/ snapped Jackson. " * If you can get another man, get him. I don't want to be here when he comes again.' " I looked at Jackson and saw his face contracted into a frown. * It's some sailor's joke/ said he. ' Nobody but a fool would send a message tied to the leg of an albatross.' " ' It's a joke I don't like, an' I'd like you to take us away.' "7 The Wind-jammers " ' Well, joke or no joke, you'll have to stay until I get some one to take your place,' and Jackson filled his pipe and smoked vigorously. " I must have been dozing in my chair, for it was quite late and the fire in the stove almost out, when I was aroused by a peculiar sound. " I noticed Jackson start up from the table and then stand rigid in the centre of the room. " There was a deep moaning coming from the water that sounded like wind rushing through the rigging of a ship. Then I heard cries of men and the tumbling rush of water, as if a vessel were tearing through it like mad. Jackson sprang to the door and was outside in an instant. I followed, but the old keeper sat quietly smoking. " Outside, the light from the tower shone like a huge eye through the gloom, and as the fog was thick, it lit up the calm sea only a few fathoms beyond the ledge. This made the blackness beyond all the more intense. " * That vessel will be on the rocks if they don't look sharp,' said Jackson. ' Ship ahoy !' he bawled in his deep base voice, but the sound died away in the vast stillness about us. " ' There's no wind,' said I ; ' but I distinctly heard the rattle of blocks and snaps of slatting canvas as she came about' " We stood there staring into the night, and were aware of the presence of the old keeper, who had joined us. Suddenly we heard the rushing sound again, and it seemed as if a mighty wind was blow- 118 The Le Maire Light ing through the Strait There were faint cries as if at a great distance. Then the noise of waring braces coupled with the sharp snapping of slatting canvas. " Jackson looked at me, and there was a strange look in his eyes. "' They'll pass through all night/ said the old keeper, ' and in the morning there won't be a sail in sight, calm or storm.' " We stood in the fog for half an hour listening to the noises in the Strait, while the glare from the light made the mist-drifts form into gigantic shapes which came and melted again into the darkness. Once again Jackson went to the water's edge and bawled into the blackness. The long-haired keeper smiled at his attempts, and his eyes had a strange glow in them like the phosphor flares in water of the tropics. " ' The devil take this infernal place !' said Jackson. ' I never heard of so many vessels passing through here in a whole season. The whole Cape Horn fleet are standing to the s'uth'ard to-night.' " I felt a little creepy up the back as we went into the house. Jackson made up the fire, while I lay in a bunk. " * It's been so since the light went out last winter; but it was the fault of the oil, not me/ said the old keeper. "'Why didn't you stay awake and look to it?' asked Jackson. " ' It was a terrible night, and I got wet I sat by the stove and fell asleep, and when I woke up it 119 The Wind-jammers was daylight, and the light was out That bird was there on the platform.' " Jackson talked to the old fellow sharply, but I finally fell asleep. He aroused me at daylight, and I went outside. "The sun was shining brightly, and the light air had drifted the fog back across the Strait to the ragged shore of Tierra del Fuego, where it hung like a huge gray pall, darkening underneath. To the northward lay the steamer, but besides her there was not a floating thing visible. "The younger keeper, with the hang-dog look, started up the tower to put out the light, and I followed, taking the telescope to have a look around. We had just reached the platform when there wad- dled out from behind the lantern the most gigantic albatross I ever saw. The creature gave a hoarse squawk and stretched its wings slowly outward as if about to rise. But instead of going it stood mo- tionless, while the keeper gave a gasp and nearly fell over the rail, his face showing the wildest terror. " 'That's him,' he whispered. "And I must say I felt startled at seeing a bird four fathoms across the wings. I stood looking at the creature a moment, and was aware of something dangling from its leg. Then I went slowly towards it. It stood still while I bent down and unfastened the piece of canvas hanging to its leg, but it kept its great black eye fixed on me ; then it snapped its heavy hooked beak savagely, and I started backward. 120 The Le Maire Light "The creature dropped gracefully over the edge of the platform, and, falling in a great circular sweep, rose again and held its way down the Strait I watched it with the telescope until it disappeared in the distance, and then swept the horizon for signs of a sail. There was nothing in sight, and the sea was like oil as far as the eye could reach. I put down the glass and examined the piece of rag. It was nothing but a bit of tarred canvas, with nothing on it to tell where it came from. The keeper asked to see it, and he could make no more of it than I could. Then we went down, and as we approached the house the old keeper came out of the door and looked around in the air above him. I held out the piece of canvas and he gave a start " * He was there, then ?' he asked. " ' If you mean that all-fired big albatross, yes,' I answered. ' But why the devil are you so scared of him?' "The old fellow didn't answer, but stood looking at the piece of canvas, saying, ' Only one left This is the third time.' " ' Only one fool !' I cried. ' How, by Davy, can you read anything on that bit of canvas when it's as blank as a fog-bank ?' " * And you are that fool,' he replied, in a low tone, so smoothly that I damned him fore and aft for every kind of idiot I could think of. " ' Let him alone,' said Jackson, hearing the rum- pus. 'All these outlying keepers are as crazy as 121 The Wind-jammers mollyhawks. It's some joke, or some fellow's trying to get the place.' " In a little while we went aboard the steamer and started for the Falklands. " I was still there three weeks later, when two small sealing schooners came in and unloaded their pelts. The men aboard them told a strange tale of a wreck in the great hole of the Orkneys. They had gone into the crater after seals and had found a large ship driven into a cleft in the rocky wall. Her bow was clear of the water, but her stern was fathoms deep in it, so they couldn't tell her name. On their way up they had gone to the westward and come through the Le Maire. They had hunted for two days off the rocks and reported the light out both nights. " Jackson started off in a day or so to see what was the matter, and he took a goose-gun for that albatross. When he reached the light there wasn't a sign of those keepers. Everything was in its place and the house was open, but there was noth- ing to tell how the fellows left " In a little while he noticed the head of an alba- tross peering over the platform of the light, and he tried to get a sight at it. But the critter seemed to know better than to show itself. " He finally started up the ladder and gained the platform. There were the two keepers, stark and stiff, one of them holding an oil-can in his dead grip. The sight gave him such a turn that when the giant bird gave a squawk and started off he missed The Le Maire Light it clean, although it wasn't three fathoms from the muzzle of his gun. He yelled to the men below to come up, but by the time they got there the whole top was afire from the spilled oil catching at the flash, or burning wad, from his gun. "There was no way to put the fire out, so they had the satisfaction of climbing down and watching the tower burn before their eyes. " It's hard to say just how those keepers died. It may have been the falling sickness, or it may have been natives that killed them. As for me, I've be- lieved there was something unnatural about the whole affair, for I've never heard of an albatross landing on a light before. There was some talk about fear of mutiny aboard the Indian by her owners, but there was no ground for it Those fel- lows probably told a straight story. There was a boat picked up to the northward of the Strait some time afterwards, but there was no name on it, and the only man in it was dead. He had several ugly knife wounds, but it proved nothing. "There's room to the eastward of the island for me. You had better watch those fore- and mizzen- t' gallant-sails, it looks as if we may get a touch of the Cape before morning." I went forward and started some men aft to the mizzen. We were about to begin the struggle "around the corner." The deepening gloom of the winter evening increased, and the distant flares and flashes from the Land of Fire gave ominous thoughts of the future in store for us. 123 THE BACKSLIDERS a W W TAL, I swow !" exclaimed Captain Breeze, \l\l as ne came to the break of the poop the morning after the Northern Light had dropped down the bay to await the tide before put- ting to sea. The object that had called forth this remark was the figure of a very pretty and strongly built woman, dressed in a close-fitting brown dress with a white apron, standing at the galley door wait- ing to receive the breakfast things from the " doctor," who was busy with the morning meal inside. It was quite early and the mates were forward getting the men to the windlass. The tug was along- side waiting to take the tow as soon as the anchor came to the cat-head. The passengers were still below in their bunks and the skipper had only just turned out. He was bound out on a long voyage to the West Coast, and both he and his mates had en- joyed a more than usually convivial time the even- ing before. This accounted for the skipper not having seen his stewardess until the next morning, for she had come aboard quietly and had gone un- perceived to her state-room in the forward cabin. He had asked for a good stewardess this voyage, for he had several female passengers. The company had evidently tried to accommodate him, for this girl certainly looked everything that was good and nothing bad. He stood gazing at her in amazement 124 The Backsliders Stewardesses on deep-water ships were not of this breed. Forward, the men manned the brakes, and a lusty young fellow looking aft from the clew of his eye caught a glimpse of the vision at the galley door and broke forth, all hands joining in the chorus, " A Bully sailed from Bristol town, Singihg yo, ho, ho, oh, blow a man down ; A Bully sailed, and made a tack, Hooray for the Yankee Jack, Waiting with his yard aback, Soo-aye ! Hooray ! Oh, knock a man down." The rising sun shone upon the white topsails hang- ing in the buntlines and glittered upon the brass bin- nacle and companion-rail. In the bright light the hair of the young woman at the galley door looked like burnished copper or a deep red gold. The curve of her rosy cheek was perfect, and every now and then the skipper caught a glimpse of red lips and a gleam of white teeth. " Wai, I swow !" he exclaimed again. "Anchor's short, sir!" came the hoarse cry of Mr. Enlis from the head of the top-gallant-forecastle. "Sink me if that ain't the all-aroundest, fore an' aft, alow an' aloft, three skysail-yard, close-sailin' little clipper I " "Anchor's short, sir !" came Garnett's bawl from the capstan. " 1 ever see," continued the skipper, com- pletely deaf and lost to everything else. "Stand by to take the line !" roared Mr. Enlis to the tow-boat 125 The Wind-jammers He was a cool, collected, and extremely profane mate, and he saw in an instant that if the tug did not get the ship's head she would swing around with the sea-breeze and be standing up the harbor with the tide. As it was, she kept paying off so long that the natural sailorly instinct, alive in every true deep- water navigator as to a sudden change of bearings, asserted itself in the skipper and brought him out of his dream with a start. His vision faded, and in its place he saw his vessel swinging towards Staten Island, her topsails filling partly as they hung. " What's the matter for'ard ?" he roared. " Wake up, you ," and he let drive a volley of oaths which for descriptive power stood far and away above any of that extensive collection of words found in the English dictionary. Had Mr. Garnett been of a literary turn of mind he might have noted them down for future reference, but he apparently did not appreciate their depth and power, for he caught them up carelessly as they came and flung them into the faces of the crew with no concern whatever. No one was affected much by this outburst, but after the skipper had taken pains to explain that his mates and crew were all sons of female dogs, and that they had inherited a hundred other bad things besides low descent from their ancestors, he subsided a little and another voice was heard from the main- deck. "That's right, old man; don't mind me. Cuss 126 The Backsliders them out, I shan't pay any attention. I'll get used to your tune, even if I don't to your words," cried the pretty girl from the galley door, smiling up at him. Jimmy Breeze looked down upon the main-deck from the break of the poop. Then he scratched his head, first on one side and then on the other. Never before in the twenty years he had followed deep water had he ever heard of a stewardess addressing a captain like this. Had she been old and ugly a belaying-pin would have found itself flying through the air in the direction of her head. But this beau- tiful, gentle young girl ! It was too much for the skipper, so he turned slowly upon his heel and walked aft with the air of a much disturbed man, muttering incoherently to himself. At three bells in the morning the female pas- sengers had their breakfast served in the saloon. The skipper happened to be in his room adjoining and could hear the praise bestowed upon his stew- ardess by Mrs. O'Hara, the Misses O'Hara, and Mrs. McCloud. " A perfect jewel," affirmed the latter, while " Car- rie" was forward getting her tea. " I really don't think we could make a voyage without her." "And so beautiful and good," said the Misses O'Hara. "Faith, tu be sure, she's a rale saint av a gurl," added Mrs. O'Hara, just as she appeared with the tea things. " An', Carrie, me gurl, d'ye like th' sea 127 The Wind-jammers that ye follow it alone, so to spake ?" she continued, addressing the stewardess. "Yes, indeed, ma'am. But it's not alone I am entirely, for surely the captain is the finest I ever saw, and they told me he was a father to his crew. He's a man after my own heart." " Humph!" growled Jimmy Breeze in the solitude of his state-room. He thought his stewardess was not only very pretty, but an extremely discerning young woman. It was, however, this very perfection in appearance and deportment that caused trouble this morning, for when "Bill," the cabin boy, passed the stewardess in the alley- way he was quite over- come by the vision of loveliness. He had some of the dinner things for the officers' mess, and when he turned suddenly at the door, a heavy lurch of the Vessel sent him against the coamings. This had the effect of throwing the things scattering to leeward about the feet of Mr. Enlis. "You holy son of Belial !" roared the mate. And he continued to curse him loudly until Mr. Garnett came up. " Whang him !" grunted the second officer, shortly. " Whang the lights out of him, the burgoo-eating, lazy," etc. Mr. Enlis had seized the unfortunate " Bill" by the slack of his coat and had yanked him to the mast to " whang" him, when the form of the stewardess appeared at the door of the forward cabin. The mate laid on one good whang, when he was interrupted by the remark, " Soak it to him ; don't 128 The Backsliders mind me, I'll get used to hearing him pipe." And the pretty girl smiled pleasantly. "Ye had better go below, missie, for there's a-going to be a little hee-hawing for'ards. Come back again soon," said Garnett, with a leer. " Not exactly, while the fun lasts," answered Miss Carrie. But, somehow, the mate could not curse loud enough to keep his temper up before the young girl, and he ended matters by giving Bill a kick that sent him to leeward, where he landed in the mess- kit. Then the mate touched his forelock to Miss Carrie and went forward muttering something about there being no discipline aboard a boat with wim- men folks around. Garnett balanced himself upon his short bow-legs to the heave of the ship, which was now well off shore, and took his cap in his hand while he mopped a deep, greasy dent in the top of his bald head. Then he took out a vial of pepper- mint salts and sniffed loudly at it, looking out of the clew of his eye at the stewardess. " Holy smoke an' blazes, but she's a craft to sail with ! To think of a tender-hearted young gurl like that wanting to see a man whanged." And he went forward like a man in a dream. Each time during the following days when the oaths flew thick and fast from poop or forecastle, Miss Carrie appeared upon the scene and cheered on the contestants. It was simply uncanny to see the fresh young girl telling the skipper or mates to "go ahead and cuss them out," or " don't mind me, 9 129 The Wind-jammers boys, I'll get used to it." They could not go on while the young girl stood by. Once Enlis con- tinued to use foul language before her, but two or three groans and hisses made his face flush for the very shame of it. He threatened to kill every man who uttered a sound, and seized a belaying-pin to carry out his design, but a laugh from the galley door drove him into a frenzy, and he sent the pin flying at the girl's head. He was instantly reported to the skipper for his brutal conduct and had the satisfaction of being knocked down by that trucu- lent commander, barely escaping forward with his life. " He's a real captain," said Miss Carrie to the O' Haras, whenever she thought the skipper was in his state-room and could hear. She was a very pretty girl, and what she said was seldom lost en- tirely. Day after day life grew quieter on board the Northern Light. There was no help for it. And while life grew quieter, so likewise did Jimmy Breeze, the skipper. He was just "losing his tone," as Mr. McCloud expressed it. He sometimes burst forth at odd moments, but the presence of his stewardess usually ended the flare into deep mutterings. One morning he came on the poop and joined his passengers. "There's no use denyin' it," he said, "cussin's wrong, and that young gurl shan't be exposed to it no more. She's a-tryin' not to mind the rough words ; but, sink me, any one can tell how they effects 130 The Backsliders her, young and innercent as she is. Things is goin' much better this v'yage, and blast me if I allows any d d swab to shoot off his bazoo in my hearing. No, sir ; if there's any cussin' to be done, I'll do it. Yes, sir, I'll do it ; and I'll whang the lights out of any d d junk-eating son of a sea-cook aboard here I catches, an' I don't make no exceptions for pas- sengers." Here he glared at Mr. O'Hara, but that gentleman appeared absorbed in the weather-leach of the main- top-sail. "An' I don't make no exceptions for passengers," repeated the skipper, still glaring at the small and inoffensive O'Hara, who stared vacantly aloft. Then the skipper went aft to the wheel and noted the ship's course. Within another week after this speech of Captain Breeze's a change had come over the ship's company almost equal to that which had physically come over Mr. Garnett, whose long, flowing jet-black mus- taches had now given place to a natural growth of stubbly, grizzly beard and whiskers. But of course the change of ships' morals did not cause as much comment after the skipper had repeated his remarks in regard to swearing to the mates. Mr. Garnett's private affairs were always of a nature that caused inquisitive and evil-disposed persons much interest, whereas the ship's company interested no one, unless it was the stewardess. As there was war on the West Coast of South America between Chile and P^ru, the Northern The Wind-jammers Light carried her specie in the captain's safe, as drafts and exchanges were difficult to negotiate. Captain Breeze was a careful and determined skip- per and he had the confidence of the owners. He was a bachelor, but he debauched in moderation, that is, in moderation for a deep-water sailor. There- fore it was something over ten thousand dollars in negotiable form that he carried in the small steel safe lashed to the deck beside his capacious bunk. On the days he opened his "slop-chest" to sell nigger-head tobacco which cost him seven cents a pound for ninety, and shoes which cost him thirty cents a pair for two dollars and a half, he took pride in opening the steel doors and displaying his wealth to the stupid gaze of the men. The men were not forced to pay the prices he asked for his stores, but it was a case of monopoly. They could go without tobacco or shoes for all he cared. When they had done so for a short time they usually accepted mat- ters as they were and signed on for both at any price he had the hardihood to demand. Oil-skins and sou'westers usually took a whole month's pay, but that was no affair of his. If the men wished to go wet they could do so. He had no fear that they would attempt to crack his safe or steal his stores, for behind the safe and within easy reach of his strong hand stood his Winchester rifle loaded full of cartridges. Mr. McCloud and Mr. O'Hara often had the pleasure of viewing the ship's wealth, for there were occasions when the skipper's temper was suf- 13* The Backsliders ficiently mellow to allow them in his room that they might marvel at his power. He seldom failed to im- press them. When the Northern Light had crossed the line he had impressed them into such a state of high respect for himself, and had subdued their own spirits so far, that he actually began to make their ac- quaintance. He would now hold conversation with them, but always in a tone of immeasurable and hopeless superiority. During this period the moral tone of the crew had likewise risen accordingly. Garnett marvelled greatly during his watch below, and at night when on deck he could be seen walk- ing to and fro in the light of the tropic moon, mop- ping the dent in his bald head and sniffing hard at his little vial. The change was dreadful to the old sailor's nerves. Mr. Enlis went about his duties silently, muttering strange sounds when things went wrong. The skip- per's promise to " whang the lights out" of any one caught swearing had had its effect. One warm morning, after breakfast, the skipper invited McCloud and O'Hara below to try some beer. This feeling of good fellowship, starting as it did under impressive surroundings, developed into one of real confidence within a very short time. Mr. O'Hara had pronounced the hot, flat beer the best he had ever tasted, and McCloud had affirmed without an oath that he told nothing but the truth. "Th' only wan av all th' saints that cud come within a mile av it," said O'Hara, "is that paragin The Wind-jammers av goodness and all the virtues, me own old woman, Molly. She kin make beer." "Ah, the blessings of a good lassie!" said Mo Cloud, holding his mug at arm's length. " Captain, ye have me pity, fra I weel ken ye need it, being as ye are a puir lonely sailor-man. I drink to ye, sir, with much feeling " "An' hope as ye will not be always be sich," interrupted O'Hara. Jimmy Breeze sat silent and sullen upon his safe, glaring at his passengers over the rim of his mug each time he raised it to his lips. At the end of the sixth measure he dashed the mug upon the deck and swore loudly for nearly a minute, and his guests were wondering what had happened. " I'll not be any d d sich any longer !" he roared. " I've stood it long enough, s'help me." O'Hara put down his mug and edged towards the cabin door, and McCloud was in the act of following his example when Breeze sprang forward and locked it, putting the key in his pocket " Sit down, you swabs, and give me your advice. You can't leave here till you do ; so take your time and lay me a straight course." "What's what's the matter?" gasped O'Hara. The skipper seated himself on top of his safe. " It's like this," he said " Here I'm bound for the West Coast in cargo and passengers, likely to be at sea four months or more, and here I am bound to get marred even if I have to run the bleeding hooker clear back to Rio to have it done." The Backsliders " Whew !" said McCloud. "Whew!" said O'Hara. "What I wants is advice. Shall I lay a course back to the Brazils and cross the hawse of some shaved-headed priest, or put into the river Plate and have her own kind of sky-pilot do the job? She lays she won't have no shave-head splice her, and it's a good three weeks' run to the river, to say nothing of the danger of the Pompero this time o' year. Ain't there any way to make her 'bout ship an' head her on the right tack, or have I got to be slanting about this d d ocean until I get to be an old man ?" "What wud ye loike us to do?" asked O'Hara. " Do !" roared Breeze. " If I knew, do you sup- pose I'd ask you? I'd make you do it so infernal quick you " " Or whang yer lights out, ye insolent man," said McCloud, turning upon him. "Well, well, I'm no priest," said the repentant O'Hara. " No more ye ken, Mickey, me boy ; na is it the likes o' you as will be o' service in this case. Now, ye know, Mickey, I knows law, and I always have told ye the skipper of a vessel is a law to himself. Ain't that be the truth, sir?" he asked, turning to the captain. Captain Breeze nodded. " That being the case, I know a skipper can marry people, perform religious worship, and do all manner o' things aboard ships off soundings, as the saying is." The Wind-jammers The skipper nodded encouragingly from the safe. "That being the case," says I, "there's no reason or being or state as can keep him fra marrying this minute if if he wants to. " "I know that all right," said Breeze ; "but who's to marry me?" "I don't happen to be able to guess the leddie 's name," said McCloud. "D n the lady ! Who's to marry me? That's what I want to know," roared the skipper. "Why, the leddie will marry you, and you will marry the leddie to yourself, I presume. We are both married, O'Hara and me." The skipper sat glaring at his passengers, while he repeatedly damned the lady, the priests, the passes gers, and all else connected with the affair. "You infernal cross-checkered sea-lawyer, how can I marry myself? How can I marry myself and the girl too ? Answer me that, sir," and he glared at McCloud. "Sure, 'tis aisy enough, a little bit av a thing loike that, sur," said O'Hara. " Mac is right, an' he has the lure strong an' fast in his books foreninst th* state-room." "I'll get the law and read it to ye so ye may ken it, ye hard-headed sailor-man," said McCloud, some- what ruffled, and he started for the door. The skip- per unlocked it and let him out, holding O'Hara as hostage against his return. In a few minutes McCloud came back with several The Backsliders leather-covered books, and, seating himself, opened one of them and began his search for authority. " Here it is," he said, at length, while the skipper sat and looked curiously at him. " Here's law for ye, an' good law at that Just as binding as any law ever writ." O'Hara nodded at the skipper and smiled an "I told you so." Jimmy Breeze came over to his passenger and looked over his shoulder sheepishly. McCloud read, "And therefore be it enacted, that all such mas- ters of vessels when upon the high seas on voyages lasting one month or more shall have authority to perform such services upon such members of the ship's company as they may see fit ; provided that notice of the consent of the contracting parties has been previously given, etc." "Wai, I swow !" said Breeze, after a short pause. "Get married first," suggested O'Hara, draining one of the mugs. "Sink me if I don't pull off the affair before eight bells, and if I find your infernal book is wrong, blast me if I don't ram the insides of its law down your throat and whang your hide off with the leather cover," said the skipper, hopefully. "'Tis good, rale good lure," muttered O'Hara, looking for more beer. " Who's th' leddy ?" Although no one had mentioned the name of the fair stewardess for fear of precipitating an outburst on the part of the skipper, no doubt was felt by the passengers that she was the object of the skipper's 133 The Wind-jammers affections. His contempt for the O' Haras in gen- eral precluded the possibility of a match with either of the young ladies of that prosperous family. Be- sides, they both had pug-noses and were exceedingly well freckled. The beauty of Miss Carrie had long been observed to have had its effect upon Captain Breeze ; so his answer to O'Hara's apparently hopeful question caused the latter little real disap- pointment, although he may have had secret ambi- tions. " Seems to me ye might give the lassie some no- tion of your hurry, especially if it's going to happen so soon. The puir child na kens your purpose, no doubt," said McCloud. "Faith, I think ye right, Mac. I gave th' owld gal nigh six months tu git ready in " "Six thunder !" growled Breeze. " I mean to get married afore eight bells, at high noon, according to good English law, and if you fellows want to help you can get your wives and darters to bear a hand. " They went into the saloon, where they found Carrie fixing the table for dinner. The skipper hitched up his trousers impressively while his passengers stood at either hand. " Carrie," said he, solemnly, " we'll stand by to tack ship at seven bells, an' an' and after that we'll make the rest of the voyage in company. Hey ? How does that strike you, my girl ?" " Mercy ! What a man you are, Captain Breeze !" said Carrie, blushing crimson. "Sure it's sort of sudden like." 138 The Backsliders "You'll have half an hour to get ready in," said the skipper. " Plenty of time," chimed in McCloud. " An' an aisy toime iver afterwards as th' capt'in's leddy," said O'Hara, with dignity. " But who's to marry us ?" asked the maiden, shyly, glancing at the skipper. "I'm to marry you," said Jimmy Breeze. "It's law and it's all right. I'm master of this here hooker, and what I says goes aboard, or ashore either, for that matter. It's put down in that yaller book, an* it's law." " Land sakes ! I never could, Captain Breeze, really, now, not before these people, I never could in the world." And Carrie blushed furiously. " You passed your word last night, so I holds you in honor bound," said Breeze, with great fervor. "You have half an hour, so I leaves you." And he drew himself up and strode to the companion, and so up on the main-deck out of sight. McCloud and O'Hara, seeing danger ahead, strove with all the power of their persuasive tongues to get the fair girl to listen to reason, or rather law. She was stubborn on the point, however, and the female portion of the O'Hara faction, together with Mrs. McCloud, was brought to bear. These ladies, after expressing their modest astonishment at the skipper's unseemly haste, immediately, however, vied with each other to argue in his behalf They were so per- suasive in their appeals, and so adroit in painting the picture of Miss Carrie's future happiness, that in i39 The Wind-jammers less than a quarter of an hour that refractory young lady gave way in a flood of tears. After this she hastily prepared herself for the ordeal by reading over the marriage service with Miss O'Hara, and things looked propitious for the skipper. At seven bells that truculent commander promptly put in an appearance, dressed in a tight-fitting coat and cap with gold braid. He was followed below by Mr. Enlis, who looked uncertain and sour. After a short preliminary speech the skipper called the blushing bride to his side as he stood at the head of the cabin table. The book lay open before him, and without further ado he plunged boldly into the marriage service, answering for himself in the most matter-of-fact manner possible. He placed a small gold ring upon the middle finger of his bride's right hand, which she dexterously removed and transferred to her left, and after the ceremony was over he glared around at the assembled company as if inviting criti- cism. No one had the hardihood to venture upon any. Then the paper which was to do duty as certificate was drawn up by the clerky McCloud and was duly signed by all present. It was afterwards transferred to the skipper's safe. Whiskey and water was pro- duced for the men and ale for the ladies, and before long even the sour mate was heard holding forth in full career by the envious Mr. Garnett, who was forced to stand watch while his superiors enjoyed themselves. It was a memorable affair for some and immemorable for others, for the next day O'Hara 140 The Backsliders could remember nothing, and Mr. Enlis remembered that he had gotten exceedingly drunk. Much he related to Garnett during the dog-watch, and that worthy rubbed the top of his bald head and sniffed furiously at his vial, swearing softly that the " old man" had made a fool of himself, and that he was accordingly glad of it. The cruise continued as a cruise should when a bride is aboard ship, and at the end of a fortnight the Northern Light was in the latitude of the river Plate. There had been never an oath uttered since the skipper's marriage, and the mates had begun to chafe under the restraint. The bride was on deck nearly all the time, and was certain to make remarks and cheer on any attempt at a fracas. One afternoon the carpenter sounded the well and was astonished to find a foot of water in the hold. The weather had been fine and the vessel steady, so he was at a loss to account for this phenomenon. He sounded again an hour later and found the water had gained six inches. Then he lost no time in report- ing the condition of the ship to the captain. With water gaining six inches an hour, the crew manned the pumps with set faces, appalled at the sudden danger in mid-ocean. Suddenly, however, the pumps " sucked." An investigation showed the ship was rapidly becoming dry. The water-tanks were examined and found to be empty, but no leaks in them could be discovered. To be at sea without water to drink is most dreaded by deep-water sailors, so Jimmy Breeze 141 The Wind-jammers started his condenser and headed his ship for Bue- nos Ayres, cursing the fates for the foul luck that would ruin his anticipated quick passage. His wife consoled him as best she could and lamented her husband's luck to the passengers. Whereat she received the sympathy of the O' Haras and Mrs. McCloud, and was looked upon as a very unfortunate woman. " Ah, pore thing ! to think av it happening on her honeymoon at that," cried Mrs. O'Hara. " The sweet child, trying all she can to help her husband to forget his lost chances for extra freight money. To think of it, and just married at that," said Mrs. McCloud. "Pore young sowl," said Kate O'Hara. "'Tis a good wife that sticks to her husband in disthress," said O'Hara. " Ye ken it's a jewel he has to be na thinking of money losses," said McCloud. Finally the ship made port and anchored off the city to take in water and continue her voyage at the earliest opportunity. Mrs. O'Hara and Mrs. McCloud insisted on being allowed ashore to see the sights. Captain Breeze would hear of no such thing, but finally, when his bride added her voice to the occasion, he relented, and the ladies went ashore together. Mrs. Breeze pointed out many places of interest, as she admitted having been there before, and at one of the principal hotels she left the party. She told them not to wait for her, as she would stop and 142 The Backsliders see a friend, but to go down to the landing, where the boat might wait for her after she was through her call. The day passed gayly, but when the party as- sembled at the landing, Mrs. Breeze was not there. They never saw her again. The next day Captain Breeze called Mr. Enlis aft and took him below. When he had him in the privacy of his state-room he pointed to his little safe, and asked him to look through it This operation took but a moment, for it was almost entirely empty, and when he was through he looked at the skipper. "What would you do?" asked Jimmy Breeze, huskily. " Me ?" asked the mate, apparently amazed at the question. " Yes, you." "About what?" asked Enlis, trying to look utterly lost. "About that gal and the money, blast you !" " Oh !" exclaimed Mr. Enlis, as if a sudden light had flooded the dark recesses of his brain. He remained silent "Well, what?" asked the skipper, in real anger. "I dunno," said Mr. Enlis, after a long pause. "Tears to me I wouldn't let on nothing about it Mum's the word, says I." " But the money, you swab?" growled the skipper. "To be sure," said Enlis. "The money." "Well?" The Wind-jammers "Well, you might ask the police about the money on the quiet like," ventured the mate. "Suppose you and Garnett go ashore and see about it without making any fuss. Garnett is a good one for such matters. It would hardly do for me, seeing as how I stand in the matter of hus- band." " Egg-zactly ; we'll do it right away ;" and the mate hastened forward to take advantage of the opportunity. Garnett and Enlis went ashore with what money they could get, and they entered a description of the missing stewardess with the police. "An old hag with side whiskers, having a wart under her left eye and all her teeth gone," said Garnett, as he finished. " An' I hopes you'll soon find her," he added, with a leer at the official. " Ye'll know her by the way she swears." Several hours afterwards two exceedingly happy and drunken sailor-men staggered down the street towards the landing. A beggar accosted them, but after a search for coin, they protested they were cleaned out "Don't make no difference. Give me clothes," whined the mendicant. "I'd give ye anything, me boy, for a weight is off my mind. Was ye ever married ?" cried Garnett "Give the pore fellow clothes, Garnett, you swine !" roared Enlis. Garnett staggered against a house and undid his belt Then with much trouble he drew off his 144 The Backsliders trousers and stood with his white legs glistening in the moonlight " Here, pore fellow. You are a long-shore swab, but I knows by your look ye are married. Take them, blast ye !" And he flung his trousers from him. "This bean-swillin' mate is too mean to give ye anything." " Not I !" bawled Enlis, casting off his belt " Here, you swivel-eyed land-crab ;" and he drew off his trousers likewise and handed them to the beggar. "Thanky," hissed the creature, and ran away. The men in the boat looked up the street towards where they heard singing, and they beheld two very drunken men in flowing jumpers staggering trouser- less along, while their voices roared upon the quiet night, " A Bully sailed from Bristol town, Singing yo, ho, ho, oh, blow a man down ; A Bully sailed, aud made a tack, Hooray for the Yankee Jack, Waiting with his yard aback, Soo-aye ! Hooray ! Oh, knock a man down." CAPTAIN CRAVEN'S COURAGE EVERY man develops during the period of his growth a certain amount of nerve-power. This energy or life in his system will usually last him, with ordinary care, twoscore or more years before it fails. Sometimes it is used prodigally, and the man suffers the consequence by becoming a debtor to nature. It is this that makes the ending of many overbold men out of keeping with their lives. Some religious enthusiasts would have it that they are repentant towards the end of their careers, that is, if they have not led conventional lives, and that accounts for their general break-down from the high courage shown during their prime. Among sailors, soldiers, hunters, and others who live hard lives of exposure, the strain is sometimes peculiarly apparent. It is often the case that the man of hard life dies before his life-flame burns low, and then he is some- times classed as a hero. For instance, the captain of the Penguin, who ran his ship ashore on the North Head of San Francisco Bay, was the most notorious desperado in the whole Cape Horn fleet Many men who sailed with him never saw the land again. Their names appeared upon his log as "missing," " lost overboard in heavy weather," etc. Investigation of such matters resulted in nothing but 14* Captain Craven's Courage expense to the courts and the development of the ruffian's sinister character and reputation. Yet when he ran the Penguin ashore with the terrible south- east sea rolling behind her, he maintained his rigid discipline to the last and saved his passengers and part of his crew. He died as a brave man should, never flinching from his post until his life was crushed out There were some who said he dared not come ashore, as he had overrun his distance through care- lessness, and that without the backing of his ship's owners he would have been stranded in a bad way upon the beach. But the majority were willing to forget his record in his gallant end, and he will be known in the future by the men who follow deep- water as a hero. Craven, the pirate, was a much bolder and des- perate man, yet his end was different He hailed from the same port as the skipper of the Penguin, and sailed with the Cape Horn fleet in its early days. He retired from the sea at the age of thirty- five and settled on the southern coast of California, taking to farming with that peculiar zeal shown by all deep-water sailors. He fell desperately in love, married, and the following year shot and killed a man who was less pious than polite in his behavior towards Craven's wife. After this affair he fled. Nothing was heard of him again for several years, but as he was an expert nav- igator it was supposed he took to the sea for safety, H7 The Wind-jammers One day an American trader was standing in the Hoogla River, China, when a junk appeared head- ing for her under all sail. Behind the junk, about a mile to windward, came a trading schooner. The Chinese on the junk made desperate efforts to over- take the American ship. When they came within hailing distance they begged to be allowed along- side. The skipper of the Yankee warned them off with his guns, and ten minutes later the schooner had laid the junk aboard. There was some sharp firing for a few minutes, and then the Americans saw the men from the schooner swarm over the junk's deck. After that Chinamen were dropped overboard in twos and threes, and before they had drawn out of sight ahead the schooner was standing away again, leaving the junk a burning wreck. When the ship made harbor they learned that Craven had appeared on the coast He had been there the preceding year and had been recognized. Altogether it was said he had taken over five hundred junks and put their crews overboard. The captain of the Ameri- can ship reported the incident he had just witnessed to the English gunboat Sovereign, but no action was taken in the matter. There was no treaty between the United States and China, and, as Craven was an American, it was a case for the Chinese to settle. Craven had been on the coast several times. He had a rendezvous to the eastward somewhere among the numerous coral reefs, and from this den he would sally forth in his schooner, armed with six twelve- 148 Captain Craven's Courage pounders, and swoop down upon some unsuspecting Chinese town. His boldness was remarkable. Once he held a whole village in check single- handed while his men carried a boat-load of young maidens aboard the schooner, and then returned for the rest of their booty left upon the sand. It was said that had the emperor himself been within a day's journey of the coast, Craven would have had him aboard his vessel to gratify his sinister humor. His cruelty was phenomenal. A favorite amuse- ment of his being to tie two Chinamen together by their pigtails and sling them across a spring-stay. Then he would offer freedom to the one who would demolish the other the quicker. It was seldom that he failed to produce a horrible spectacle. On one occasion when he captured a prominent mandarin he asked an enormous ransom. Not get- ting it within the time specified, he had the unfortu- nate man skinned and stuffed. Then he was carried ashore and left standing for his friends to greet. Craven's crew numbered less than twenty-five men, and they were all white, except two or three who acted as servants to the rest, taking a hand in the fracases only when ordered to. It might be supposed that the pirate wasted much time and energy for little gain taking junks. He dared not touch a white trader, and the junks were the easiest to handle. There was little left for him to prey upon, so he went along the Chinese coast like a ravenous shark, leaving a smoking wake be- hind, strewn with the blackened timbers of burned 149 The Wind-jammers junks and dotted with the corpses of murdered men. Everything Chinese was game for his crew, and what he lost in quality of plunder he made up in quantity. While the American ship lay in the Hoogla an accident occurred aboard which delayed her de- parture. During the time spent in making some of the necessary repairs Craven appeared at the mouth of the river, and was so bold that the English gun- boat was at last prevailed upon to drive him away. The Sovereign met him some twenty miles off shore in the act of scuttling a captured junk. This was too much for the Englishman, and he fired a shot to drive him off. To his surprise Craven re- turned the fire. That settled the matter. The heavy Blakely rifle on the gunboat's forecastle was trained upon the schooner, and it sent a shell that cut both masts out of her and left her helpless. Craven returned the fire with vigor, landing several telling shots. A heavy shell from the rifle was then fired at half a mile range, and struck the schooner in the stern above the water-line. It ranged for- ward, raking her whole length, and left her a burning wreck. She began settling rapidly by the head, and the gunboat, firing a parting broadside, which destroyed the schooner's two boats, drew slowly away. The Englishman waited within sight until the schooner disappeared beneath the sea, and then, thinking it would be more merciful to let the crew remain in the water than to bring them ashore, steamed away for the river. ISO Captain Craven's Courage A few weeks after this a Spanish brig came in. She was a trader bound south, and the mate of the American ship made arrangements to take passage on her as far as Singapore to get some necessary supplies for his vessel. The first person he met on rowing over to the brig to secure a passage was a small, peculiarly yellow man with a Spanish cast of features, who met him at the gangway and asked him his business before allowing him to come aboard. On telling his desire to secure a passage to the southward, he was peremptorily refused ; but when he explained his business was urgent and that he had many necessary supplies to secure, the man at the gangway recon- sidered the matter, and bade him wait alongside until he could consult his skipper, who was below suffering from an attack of gout in his leg. In a little while he reappeared at the brig's side and announced gruffly that he might bring his things aboard the following morning, as that was the time set for the brig's sailing. The next day the mate, Mr. Camp, came aboard the brig, and soon afterwards she was standing out to sea. There were two passengers besides himself aboard, Manila traders, who had come over from the Philippines and who wished to get to the southward. When the brig had made an offing, Camp was surprised at the appearance of a most peculiar look- ing colored man, who limped up the companion-way to the poop. His skin was an orange-yellow, and appeared dry and dark in spots. His right leg was The Wind-jammers swathed in bloody rags, and he limped as if in some pain. He had an eye that glinted strangely as the mate came within its range of vision, and his face wore the determined look of a fighter who is making a desperate stand against heavy odds. In a quiet voice he addressed the man who had made the arrangement with the mate, Mr. Camp. "Collins," said he, "get me the glass. I believe I see a couple of birds making in along the beach for the harbor." This he said in good English, with a slight Yankee accent, and Camp turned in astonishment to look at him more closely. The man Collins, who was the mate of the brig, handed him the glass, and after a moment Craven laid it down with an oath. "The two fellows we missed last week. They'll loose off at having seen us, and that gunboat will be hard in our wake before night. You might send a few men aft to get to work on our passengers. They are poor whelps." Camp went towards him. " I don't understand what you mean by that last remark," said he. "I am an American and wish a certain amount of civility aboard here." The skipper smiled grimly at him and sat upon the poop-rail. "You'll get the best the coast affords, my boy," said he. "You'll be a gentleman of leisure after you quit this hooker. This is the brig Cristobal, Captain Craven ; and now you can make up your mind whether you will be a member of the ship's 152 Captain Craven's Courage company or try and float a twelve-pound shot. It's piracy, says you? Well, it's swim, then, says we, and good luck to you," and he chuckled hoarsely, while several men came aft and stood by the mate for further orders. Camp saw that it was death in a hideous form to disobey. Both he and the two Manila men were led below, where they swore allegiance to Craven and joined his crew. In a crisis of this nature a man even of strong mould is apt to think twice before accepting the inevitable. Time is valuable when one has but a few moments to live, and to gain it these three innocent men were glad to accept any terms. They were sent forward with the men and joined the crew, which now numbered fourteen hands. Here they learned how Craven and four men had clung to some of the wreck of his schooner for two days. Then the brig Cristobal picked them up in an exhausted state. Two days later Craven and his fellows quietly dropped the skipper over- board and announced to the crew their intention of taking charge of the brig. All who wished to could join. There were six unarmed men against five desperadoes armed to the teeth, and in a short time matters were settled satisfactorily. Craven was in command of a vessel and crew bound for China from the Philippines, and it was his humor to keep her on her course and have a look at things in the harbor. This he did to his satisfaction, and no opportunity offering for him to revenge himself upon the gun- boat there, he took on some supplies and put to The Wind-jammers sea. When he met Camp at the break of the poop after the latter had joined, he became more com- municative than usual. " This color we have will soon wear off, my boy," said he. " Collins there thought he knew something about medicine, and he broke open the medicine chest to get this iodine to paint us with. He's a clown. The infernal stuff burned half the skin off, and that accounts for his looks. Where's the skip- per of this hooker, says you ? Well, that depends somewhat on his morals. I don't call to mind any island trader as will go to the heaven some old women pray for. A trader's life is always a hard one, so I don't think we did any harm in helping the fellow to something different, although he did struggle mighty hard to stay. Some religious people would call it bad to put yellow-skinned heathen overboard, but we don't look at it that way. Most of these junk-men are no better than animals, and we do them a clean favor by ending their sufferings. Yes, sir, that's the way to look at the matter, my son. There isn't a man alive who can look back and see anything in his life worth living for and suffering for. It's all in his mind's eye that something will be bet- ter in the future. We know that's all blamed non- sense, for that something better never comes, so in helping him to what's coming to all of us we just do him a favor. Now, you are a likely chap, Camp, and I hope you'll see the reason of things. Go be- low and tell one of the girls we got yesterday to give you your grog. Collins has the key. Then you Captain Craven's Courage want to bear a hand and get our little battery in working order. We'll raise half a dozen junks be- fore night and we've got a little business with the first one." In a short time all hands were hard at work get- ting the brig's twelve-pounders in working order. In the late afternoon a lateen-sail showed above the horizon, and everything was ready for action. By night the junk ahead was still out of range, and the watch was set, and half the men went below to get some rest. At two in the morning Camp was turned out, and the smudge on the lee bow showed that the brig would soon have the wind of the unsuspecting Chinaman. In half an hour Craven had him under his lee, and he paid off gradually until he brought him fair on his lee broadside, not two hundred feet distant. Then he swung up his ports and let go his battery, serving it with remarkable accuracy and rapidity. The astonished Chinaman let go everything in the way of running gear, and the junk, which was run- ning free, broached to and lay helpless, wallowing in the swell, with her deck crowded with screaming men. Craven then brought the Cristobal to, and taking the boat with four men, carried a line to the junk, and soon had her alongside. The Chinamen were bound hand and foot after sev- eral who showed fight were killed. Then Craven had them transferred to the Cristobal, and with untiring energy went to work to transfer his ammunition and '55 The Wind-jammers guns to the junk. It was noon before this was ac- complished, and then he told the Chinaman who was the junk's captain that he really owed him much for swapping such a fine Spanish brig for his worth- less old hulk. In consideration of this debt he re- quested him to keep the brig on her course to the Peninsula, and crowd on all sail if he saw an English gunboat in his wake. If he failed, and showed such ingratitude as to disobey this request during the next twenty-four hours, he hinted in a mild way that he would overhaul him, and then fry him in whale-oil and serve him to his shipmates. As Craven was never known to make an idle threat, the conversation had its desired effect The Cristobal stood away on her course with a Chinese crew, and Craven, bracing his lateen-sail sharp on the wind, headed slowly back again over the course he had just run. About eight bells in the afternoon the Sovereign was sighted dead ahead. She was driving along full speed with a bone in her teeth. That is, with the bow wave roaring off on either side in a snowy- white smother, looking like a great white streak against her dark cut-water. She passed within hailing distance, and Craven kept below the rail and rubbed his wounded leg while he smiled grimly. " I've a notion to let go at her," said he to Camp. " We could slap a couple of twelves into her before she knew what was up. I'd like to see her skipper with a couple of shot through his teakettle before 156 Captain Craven's Courage he knew where he was at. Jim, suppose you lay the port guns on her." But Collins had sense enough not to get the guns trained in time. In ten minutes the gunboat was a speck on the horizon. Craven knew she would overhaul the brig in a few hours, but hoped his merciful attack on the junk's crew would lessen the heat of the chase. He might have sunk her and escaped, but his fancy took a dif- ferent turn, and he played his game out. Before sundown he was rapidly nearing the China coast and several junks were made out ahead. All hands, tired as they were, turned out and stood by for a fracas. It was not long in coming. The nearest junk was laid close under Craven's lee and the Chinamen could be seen crowding about her decks. He was so close a conversation could be carried on with the men on the junk, and the rush of the foam under her forefoot sounded loud upon Camp's ears. Craven let go his port broadside into her without warning. In five minutes he had her alongside. Several of her crew were dead, but he lost no time in transferring the living to his junk and making them lend a hand to shift his guns again. Then he sailed away with his battery transferred for the second time. Craven fought his way up the coast, shifting his guns and ammunition from vessel to vessel at every available opportunity. Towns that had been warned of his approach in a junk, would Qe_ a peaceful The Wind-jammers trading schooner come quietly into the harbor at dusk. Nothing would be thought of this until in the early hours of the morning a heavy cannonade would arouse his victims, and those who survived would see the finest vessel there standing out to sea in tow of a schooner that fairly disappeared in the smoke of her own guns. The pirate had ammunition in plenty within three days' sail of Hong-Kong, and he dodged everything sent after him for nearly a year. He kept the sea with remarkable cunning, and his absolute fearlessness won him many recruits. Once he was heard from far down the Straits of Malacca, where he engaged a Malay pirate for sev- eral hours whose crew outnumbered his ten to one. He finally sank her with all hands. A few months after this he again fell in with the gunboat Sovereign. He was sailing a huge junk at this time, and under this disguise came near escaping again. He was recognized, however, and captured with his entire crew. They were taken to Hong- Kong. Here he was confined for nearly a year, an object of curiosity, until they were ready to cut off his head. He and his men were led out every day or two and held in line while the swordsman walked along them with upraised blade. When this grim execu- tioner had chosen a man, which he did at random, he would bring the weapon down suddenly upon the back of his neck. This was trying on the nerves of those of the crew who had to look on. No one knew just when his turn would come. 158 Captain Craven's Courage Craven, however, stood it well for a month or two and was apparently indifferent to the sight of death, but the long strain of hunting his fellow-men and of being hunted in turn by them had done its work. His nervous energy had been pretty well used up. One day a trader came into the harbor and brought a woman to the English consul's. She claimed to be Craven's wife. It took some time before she could get to see her husband, but through the consul's influence she finally did. Then came the break in the man's nerve. From that time on he trembled when the sword struck. At the end of a week he was hysterical, and they had to hold him when they brought him out. His sole idea now was to live to see the woman who had caused his ruin. This he struggled and cried for, and the idea of separating from her again caused him more agony than one can well conceive. The Chinese are always particular that great criminals of theirs shall get great punishments. Craven's sufferings were prolonged as much as pos- sible. There were forty men of his crew taken with him, and he had seen the heads of nearly all cut off. When his turn came, and it was next the last, he screamed shrilly as the swordsman swung up the blade two or three times over the victim's head before giving the final stroke. Craven was trem- bling all over. He cried and begged for a little delay. His horror of death was terrible, and he pleaded to see his wife once more. The idea of '59 The Wind-jammers separating from her now forever was more than he could stand, and it caused the greatest possible amusement to the on-lookers. They laughed and drew their long pigtails upward, meaningly, in de- rision. When the sword fell, Craven had gone entirely to pieces and died the death of a most pitiable coward. Camp, who was the only man left, finally managed to get the English consul to intercede in his behalf. He was afterwards released, but his sufferings had been so great during his imprisonment that he died soon afterwards. THE DEATH OFHUATICARA WE were lying in the stream with the topsails hanging in the buntlines. Everything was stowed ready for getting under way. The night was very dark, as the sky was obscured by the lumpy clouds which had been banking in from the westward all day before the light sea-breeze. Now it was dead calm, and the water was smooth and streaky as it rippled past the anchor-chain and cut- water, making a low lapping sound in the gloom be- neath us, which was intensified by the stillness of the quiet bay. Gantline and I sat on the forecastle-rail, watching the lights of the city and small craft anchored closer in shore. On the port bow the black hull of the Blanco Encalada loomed like a monster in the gloom, her anchor-lights shining like eyes of fire. Her black funnel gave forth a light vapor which shone for an instant against the dark sky and van- ished. Long tapering shadows cast in the dim light of her turret ports told plainly that she had her guns ready for emergencies. She lay there silent and grim in the darkness, and our clipper bark of a thousand tons appeared like a pilot-fish nestling under the protecting jaws of some monster shark, as we compared the two vessels in respect to size and strength. It was quite late and our last boat had come ii 161 The Wind-jammers aboard some time since, bringing our skipper, Zach- ary Green, his pretty daughter, and two passengers. At daylight we would clear with the ebb-tide and land-breeze of the early morning, and then, with good luck, we would make an offing and stand away for the States. We were sick of the war-ridden country, and even the town of Valparaiso itself of- fered no attraction for us. Our cargo hardly paid enough freight money to buy the vessel a suit of sails, and it was with a feeling of great relief that we steved in the last bale and closed the hatches. While we sat on the rail we heard a slight rippling in the water ahead of the vessel. It sounded as if a large fish was making its way slowly across the bows. We listened in silence for some moments while the sounds came nearer. I looked aft and saw two figures in the light from the after companion-way, and I recognized Miss Green and the smaller of the two passengers standing close to the hatch. The sounds in the water interested me no longer, and I gazed rather hard at the figures aft. The two pas- sengers, who were missionaries on their way home, had been aboard ship several times during the last week, but they had always been so pious and reserved in manner that I never once thought to see one of them talking to a young woman alone at such a late hour. But there are many things a sailor must learn not to see. Memory is not always a congenial friend of his. Suddenly I heard a sound of some one breathing, followed by a smothered oath, coming from the 162 The Death of Huaticara direction of the rippling water which drew more and more beneath us. " Ha ! Voila, me gay sons, que voules vous si padrone. Hace bien tiempo, manana hell-fire but the bloody lingo gets crossways of me gullet," came a deep voice from the black water. " Och ! stow ye grandsons, ye blathering ijiot, an' kape yer sinses. If them's Dagoes on watch 'twill be all up with us. Whist, then ! Ye men on the fo'c'stle !" "What's the matter?" asked Gantline and I in the same breath. " Faith, an' if yez have a drap av th' milk av hu- man pity in yer hearts, ye' 11 give two poor divils a lift out av this haythen country. Say not er whurd, but let us come on deck quiet like. Ef ye don't, th' blood av two innocent men will be upon yer sowls fer ever an' ever, amen. Spake aisy." " Now, Lord love ye, what kind of a man is this ?" asked Gantline, as a naked man climbed slowly up the martingale-stays and crouched close to the star- board bow out of sight of the man-of-war. "By th' luck av Lyndon ! Is this old Tom Gant- line who talks? Gorry, man, we've just escaped from th' prison on th' beach. Don't you remember me? I'm Mike McManus, own cousin to Reddy O'Toole who used to be mate with ye an' owld man Crojack." " No, I don't remember you," answered Gantline ; "but if you had said you were any one else you would have gone overboard again fast enough. No The Wind-jammers one but a chip of that devil's limb, O'Toole, would have come out here in this tideway, right under the guns of that man-o'-war. Who's with you ?" and he peered over at the man who still clung to the bob- stays as if uncertain whether to trust himself on board or again swim for it "That's a man called Collins, a 'Frisco man, who got taken along with me, when we was smugglin' in th' rifles, up to th' north' ard. Whist ! below there ; come up and make yerself known amongst friends. We're safe." " I ain't so almighty certain about that," growled Gantline ; " what am I to do with you but put you ashore? I can't run the risk of having the vessel overhauled for such fellows as you. You may be some bloody cutthroats for all I know. What do you mean by smuggling rifles? Ain't there enough on shore without bringing any more into this infernal country? I reckon a rifle won't look as if it was worth so much when they stand you up against a wall and let you peep into the muzzle of a dozen or two." "Ah, shipmate, ye haven't the heart to turn us over fer that, when all we've done was to try an' land a few fer thim poor fellows, an' this Dago with his ironclad overhauled us. Oh, me boy, ye haven't seen th' inside av one av thim black iron holes on th' beach, to talk av puttin' us ashore again. Gord ! men, to sit ther fer six whole months behind them steel walls and never see th' sun rise or set, an' do nothing but kill lice and chintz-bugs all day long, 164 The Death of Huaticara an' all night. No, ye may be in sympathy with Chilly, but ye have th' look av a sailor-man for all that" As he spoke he climbed to the catheads and drew himself gently onto the top of the top-gallant-fore- castle. He was followed by the man Collins. They crouched shivering behind the capstan, and I saw they were in a bad condition. They were wasted and gaunt, and their flesh had a soft, sickly look, as if they had spent a long time in close con- finement. The hair of their heads was long and matted. How they swam so far in that tideway was strange, and told plainly of their desperate courage in attempting to escape from the terrors of the beach. Gantline stood irresolute a moment, looking at their shivering forms. Then he glanced sharply at the man on watch, who walked in the port gangway. It was too dark to see him distinctly, so trusting that he in turn had seen nothing of what had occurred forward, he started aft. The two figures I had no- ticed a few minutes before had now disappeared. "Keep quiet," I said to the naked men, whose teeth chattered in the cool night air. " Lie flat on deck until he comes back and perhaps we can do something. Haste ! Not a word !" The man Mike was about to make some reply, but at that moment the fellow on watch came close to the edge of the forecastle. I stepped quickly in front of the man, and in doing so trod on a project- ing foot which cracked horribly, and, twisting, brought 165 The Wind-jammers me down in a heap upon them. A deep groan told of the damage done, but I instantly regained myself and began to hum a song in a low bass voice. The man on the main-deck stopped a moment and looked hard at me , but it was so dark he could see but little and my singing reassured him, so he turned again and went off In a short time Gantline returned with a bundle. " Now, bear a hand there, you men, and put these clothes on in a quarter less no time," he whispered. " Come, hurry up," and he passed a shirt and a pair of dungaree trousers to each. " Och ! he has broken me toe clane off," groaned Mike, slipping on the garments. His companion dressed rapidly in silence. " Now then, up you go, both of you, into the foretop, and lie out of sight till we get to sea, and if I see a hair of your heads inside the next twenty- four hours I'll turn you both over on the beach. Here, take a nip apiece before you go," and he passed a small bottle to the man Collins. The poor fellow's eyes sparkled as he thrust the neck of it into his thick beard and tilted his head back in order to let the liquor have free way down his throat. Gantline suddenly jerked it out of his hand and passed it to the Irishman, who put it to his lips, gave a grunt of disgust, and threw the empty bottle over the side. " Now wait till you see me go aft with the watch, \nd then aloft with you," said Gantline, as he left us. 1 66 The Death of Huaticara When he reached the man he started off with him to the quarter-deck, and as they disappeared together over the break of the poop the men crawled for the rigging. They were so weak from their exertions that it seemed as if they would never get over the futtock-shrouds, but finally the man Collins gained the top, and dragged his companion after him. Then I went into the forward cabin and took what salt-junk was left and carried it aloft before Gantline returned. By the time I reached the deck he had started forward again and joined me on the forecastle. His seamed and lined face wore an anxious look as he took his place beside me and acted as if nothing had happened to seri- ously interrupt our former conversation. We sat a few moments discussing our stowaways and then went aft to get a little sleep before clearing. I turned in and lay awake thinking of the men in the foretop, hoping nothing would occur to make it necessary for more than one man to go aloft there. The sails were all loosed except the foreroyal, and this I would go aloft for myself. It was past midnight before I lost consciousness, and it seemed almost instantly afterwards Gantline poked his head in my doorway and announced, "Eight bells, sir." I turned out and found it was still dark, but a faint light in the east told of the approaching day. The men were getting their coffee from the galley, and the steward was on his way to the cabin with three large steaming cups for the skipper and passengers. A light air was ruffling 167 The Wind-jammers the water and the tide was setting seaward, so if nothing unusual happened we would soon be stand- ing out. The dark outlines of the Blanco Encalada began to take more definite shape, but all was quiet on board of her. By the time the men finished their coffee Zachary Green came on deck, and then he gave the order to " heave short" In a few moments all was noise and bustle on the forecastle-head. The clanking of the windlass mingling with the hoarse cries of " Ho ! the roarin' river !" and " Heave down, Bullies," broke the still- ness of the quiet harbor. "Anchor's short, sir !" roared Gantline's stentorian voice from the starboard cathead. This was followed by an order to sheet home the topsails. In a few minutes we broke clear and swung off to starboard with the fore- and main-yards aback. Then we came around and stood out with the ebb-tide, the light breeze sending us along with good steering way. In a short time we hauled our wind around the point, and, with everything drawing fore and aft to the puffs that came over the highlands, we started to make our offing, leaving the Blanco Encalada with her brass-work shining in the first rays of the rising sun. We had gone clear without mishap, but although we were making six knots an hour off the land, we knew the breeze would not hold after the sun rose. As we expected, it fell before the men had finished breakfast, and we lay becalmed a few miles off shore on a sea of oily smoothness. 1 68 The Death of Huaticara The passengers came on deck to take a last look at the harbor astern, and their voices sounded pleas- ant to the ear as they held forth on the beauties of a morning in the South Pacific. These passengers were both clerical-looking men, and were fair types of the missionaries who live on the islands of the South Sea. They had engaged passage to the States more than a week before we sailed, and since then were almost inseparable. Their clothes were of some dark material, much alke in cut, but their faces and head-gear were in marked contrast. The younger one had a smooth, sallow face, with- out a sign of beard, and wore a low black hat with a broad rim. The other looked to be ten years older, apparently a little over fifty. His face was as brown as a sailor's and an enormous beard covered it almost to the eyes, which sparkled merrily from under an old slouch hat. His hair was also long, and his figure was of gigantic build. "I was speaking to those poor fellows in the prison there only yesterday," the younger one was saying, as I came aft, " and I did my best to cheer them, but they were both much set against spiritual consolation ; and the one, McManus, stole my pocket-knife with its saw blade, which I used to carry to cut cocoanuts." "How do you know it was he who took it? Might not you have lost it?" asked the big man, with a smile. " Do you suppose I would bear false witness 169 The Wind-jammers against any man?" replied the younger, in a tone of reproach. " I noticed he came close to me while I was praying for him, and felt his hand touch me, but did not know my loss until after I left the prison. It will do him little good, however, as he and his companion in crime are to be shot this morning. It is probably just as well, for I know that those sailor men are a wicked lot and much given to wine, women, and desperate deeds." "Ah !" said the big man in a deep voice, "it is probably true ; but you are rather severe on sailor- men, for all that These sailors are an intelligent lot for the most part And think you, dear friend, that there is probably not one who would not rather marry a sweet, good woman and live a pleasant and pious life, even as we ourselves do. We do this because we have money to maintain our positions ; but the sailor has our -feelings and longings without the means to gratify them, and, as he is intelligent enough to see that his life is hopeless, he gets as much pleasure out of it as possible and hesitates not at a desperate deed for gain." " Charity is very good and noble, but it gives me great pain to hear you express such unsound views as that If it were not for the many noble deeds you have done for the islanders, I should be tempted to shun you as a recreant I trust you only jest, but it is even ill to jest on such subjects," answered the younger, with a flushed face and a voice vibrating with suppressed feeling. The big man made no answer to this, but suddenly 170 The Death of Huaticara called his companion's attention to several large " alberco" which had followed the ship until she lay becalmed, and then plunged and jumped like so many porpoises in the wake. We drifted slowly all the morning, and about noon the sea-breeze set in from the southward and sent us along at a comfortable rate. Nothing occurred to make it necessary for a man to go aloft in the foretop, and those who had gone up the main and mizzen in the early morning had noticed nothing unusual. The platform in the top was as large as that in a full-rigged ship, so the men who were hiding were not visible from the deck as long as they lay flat on their backs or faces. Gantline had decided to tell the skipper the whole affair of the night before, but the old man was in such a bad humor that the mate delayed telling him until the prospect of a serious burst of anger was less apparent. The day wore on and the bark held steadily on to the westward, making from eight to ten knots an hour. After supper the skipper came on deck with his passengers and they were soon joined by Miss Green. They sat aft around the taffrail and chatted, the men smoking and very much at the/ir ease. Miss Green was of an extremely religious disposi- tion, but it was easy to see that it was not entirely the devoutness of the younger passenger that at- tracted her to him. There was a mysterious power about the man that was apparent to any one after being an hour in his company. Something in his deep, vibrating voice, when he was talking, appeared 171 The Wind-jammers to hold the attention, and I, more than once, looked at him as he sat next to the skipper's daughter, holding forth on matters of the church. Zachary Green was still in a bad humor because of his low freight money, and it was evident that he would ease his pent-up feelings on some one. He had listened to the talk of the missionaries with ill- concealed contempt, whenever they fell to discussing their ecclesiastical affairs, and now he asked the younger abruptly when he was to return. "Ah," replied he, "I shall return as soon as pos- sible, for my flock will get along poorly without me. I have converted many chiefs, who wrangle among themselves, as has also my friend here." The skipper turned with a look of disdain at the big-bearded man who appeared to understand the implied interrogation and hastened to answer. " It is true, I have converted many to the Christian faith," he said, in a low voice, " but I shall not return to the islands of the Pacific, for I think there is a better field nearer home. Not that I believe my labors wasted, for the converted natives never stole anything but ammunition and utensils, while the others stole everything from me they could lay hand to. Not that the effort was entirely vain, I say, but that better work can be done among our own people, such as sailors, for instance." "Eh ! What's that?" growled Zachary Green, as he listened to the last part of this sentence. " What do you mean by sailors ?" and his eyes flashed omi- nously. 172 The Death of Huaticara "Why, go among them, and see that they get the proper books in the libraries sent out on vessels for them to read, for instance." " Now, by Gorry ! you are talking some sense. Instead of whining around among a lot of good- for-nothing niggers, like your friend here, you'll really do something if you follow that up. Yes, sir, if you'll only put something in these libraries be- sides 'Two Years before the Mast,' Bible diction- aries, and the like, and get some police reports nicely bound, along with some yarns like ' Davy Crockett,' you'll be a blessing to sailors, and skip- pers, too, for that matter. No, sir, don't play fool with those islanders any further. They were all right before they ever saw a Christian, and they've been all wrong ever since. Hang it, you talk like a man of sense, after all, and I hope what I've said won't be lost on you." And as he finished his per- oration he stood up and looked astern. " Hello !" Before the astonished missionaries could say a word the skipper started for his glasses, and, seizing them, he looked steadily at a faint trail of smoke which rose above the horizon directly in the vessel's wake. " Now, by Gorry ! That's strange," he muttered. " There's no steamer bound out to-day, and yet that fellow seems to be standing right after us." " Mr. Gantline !" he called, as he turned towards where the mate stood. " Go aloft with the glass and see if you can make out that fellow astern of us." The Wind-jammers " Aye, aye, sir !" answered Gantline. And he took the skipper's glass and made his way leisurely up the main-ratlines. From the lower top he could see nothing but a black funnel and masts without yards, so he went higher. On reaching the cross-trees he looked for- ward, and there, lying prone on their stomachs, were the two hiding men. Their eyes were straining at the vessel astern, and even if Gantline had not already made out who she was, one look at those faces would have told him. He came on deck and returned the skipper's glasses without a word, and then started forward, but Zachary Green stopped him. " Could you make her out ?" he asked. "Well, there isn't much of her rising yet, but I suppose she's the Blanco Encalada," he answered. " Seems to me it is hardly time for her to put to sea," growled the skipper, " and she's heading almost the same course as we are. It is generally the way with you, though, after you get ashore on the beach, and it will take a week to soak the liquor out of you so you can see enough to know a downhaul from a clew-line." And the old man turned back to his passengers. Before two bells in the first watch that evening it was blowing half a gale to the southward out of a clear sky, and the old bark flew along on her course with everything drawing below and aloft. There was no sea running, so she heaved over and drove along at a rate that bade fair to keep the 174 The Death of Huaticara Blanco below the horizon for several hours. As it grew late the air became quite chilly, and the skip- per went below with his passengers. The moon rose and shone with great brilliancy, so that our towering mam-skysail must have been visi- ble a long distance, while the foam flaked and surged from the vessel's black hull as white as a mass of liquid silver. All night we drove along with nothing visible astern, and at daylight the hull of the steamer was still below the horizon. At seven bells Zachary Green came on deck "Name o' thunder ! What's he after?" he growled, as he gazed astern. " By Gorry ! It is the Blanco, after all, Gantlme ; but what makes him hold on like this ? We are going to the westward of Juan Fer- nandez, and that is more than a hundred miles out of his course." The mate made no answer, but went on with his work overseeing the washing down of the quarter- deck. " It's just like those Dagoes to go running all over the Southern Ocean for no other purpose than to wear out their gear and burn coal/' con- tinued the skipper. " If this wind keeps slacking up, he ought to be abreast of us before noon, though I never knew this old hooker to send the suds be- hind her at the rate she's been doing all night. Breakfast ! did you say ? Well, steward, just give those sky-pilots a chance to shake off the odor of sanctity they've slept in and put on their natural one of hypocrisy and gin-and-bitters. Pshaw ! there's lots lazier men than missionaries in the The Wind-jammers world, though I can't call to mind exactly where I've seen them Mr. Gantline, you may let her head a point more to the north'ard." Saying this, the skipper took a last look at the approaching steamer and then disappeared down the companion- way Although the vessel still raced along at a rate that sent the foam flying from her sharp clipper bows, she was no longer doing her utmost, and the Blanco rose rapidly in her wake with the black smoke pour- ing from her funnel. Suddenly, while Gantline was watching her, she appeared to be enveloped in a white cloud of steam. Then there was a sharp, shrieking rush as something tore its way through the air close to the main-top-gal- lant-yard, and struck the smooth sea almost half a mile ahead, followed by the sullen boom of a heavy rifled gun. The rush of the shot brought Captain Green on deck, closely followed by his passengers. "Gorry! what's the matter?" he bawled, as he /ushed to the taffrail, while the younger passen- ger, who had followed close at his heels, smiled grimly The Blanco came driving heavily along a couple of miles astern. She was rapidly drawing up. "Wants us to heave to, I suppose," growled Gant- line, and he eyed the skipper suspiciously. " Man alive !" roared Green, " why in the name of thunder don't you do it, then, before he cuts the spars out of us ? Fore- and main -royals, there, quick ! 176 The Death of Huaticara Let go by the run. Main-clew-garnets all hands !" And the skipper bounded onto the poop and cast off everything he could lay hands on. The bark was soon luffed and her main-yards backed. Then the Blanco came abreast, and all hands had a chance to look into the muzzles of her ten-inch rifles, which were trained towards us. A swarm of men crowded the deck of the ironclad while a boat shot out from her side and approached us rapidly, with a short, thick-set man in uniform sitting in the stern-sheets. Zachary Green stood at the break of the poop, scowling at him as he swung himself lightly into the mizzen-channels and leaped onto the quarter-deck, followed by six men. Hardly had he done so when the younger of our two passengers drew a heavy revolver from somewhere about his back and fired point-blank at this officer. The Chilian was in the act of drawing his sword and the hilt was across his breast at that instant The bullet intended for him struck the hilt and flattened on the brass. The next instant there was a rapid fusillade, the six Chilians firing together, and the passenger with a six-shooting revolver in each hand, backing away behind a cloud of smoke. It was all over in half a minute. Three of the blue-jackets were dead and their officer badly hurt when the firing ceased. The passenger tossed his empty pistols over the side and staggered aft, and not one of the survivors dared follow him. He gained the after companion-way, and as he did so the figure in 177 The Wind-jammers of the captain's daughter appeared on deck. I could see her face pale as she caught the look in the passenger's eyes, but she said no word. He went to her, kissed her lightly, and passed on to the star- board taffrail. The Chilians now recovered them- selves and rushed for him. He climbed over with difficulty, but did not hesitate. Then he plunged headlong into the sea before any one could seize him ; and as we rushed to the side we could see his body sink slowly down into the green depths until it finally vanished. The skipper, Gantline, and the big missionary stood looking on in amazement, and then the wounded officer turned towards them. " That was Sefior Jose Huaticara ; of course you did not know." And he nodded to the skipper. Then the dead were placed in the boat, while a tour- niquet was passed around the officer's leg to stop the flow of blood until he could reach his ship. In a few moments he and his men were on their way back to the Blanco. Zachary Green stood staring after them without a word. The name of the dead desperado was too well known to him to protest against the manner he was treated while on an American ship, but he de- sired some explanation. The Blanco dipped her colors, and he came to his senses. " Hard up the wheel, there !" he bawled. " Stand by the lee-brace !" and the bark paid off again on her course. The ironclad headed away to the northward and 178 The Death of Huaticara in a few minutes was a couple of miles away on the starboard quarter. " I met him only a week ago," explained the big; missionary, in answer to the skipper's look, " and I thought, of course, he was what he claimed to be." Zachary Green gave a grunt of disgust and went aft " Mr. Gantline," said he, as he met the mate, "are there any more missionaries aboard this ship, for if there are we will put them ashore on Mas-a-Fuera." " There are two more/' answered Gantline, look- ing the skipper in the eyes. " Show them to me," said the skipper. Gantline went forward and looked aloft "Come down from there!" he bawled, and two lean figures stood in the foretop and then painfully descended the ratlines before the astonished gaze of the crew. When they gained the deck they followed the mate aft to Zachary Green, who stared at them in amazement " We are off soundings and that fellow has no right to board me," he said, " but if you belong to that Jose gang, I'll signal for him to come back for you." " Faith, an' if we did, Captain Green, it isn't such a crowd av cutthroats as ye seem to belave," said McManus. "The fact is we're just broke away from bein' shot fer no more than th' carryin' av a few Remingtons. I see ye remember me, so for th' sake av auld times ye better give us a passage to th' 179 The Wind-jammers States an' not make Crusoes av us on the Fer- nandez." Zachary Green looked at Gantline. " It's the truth," said the mate. "Truth be hanged! Who says it's the truth? I'll " At that moment a slight figure appeared at the companion-way, and the next instant Miss Green seized her father's arm. He turned roughly, but there was something in the poor girl's face that made him look to her. She led him below, and the escaped men stood staring after her. " You fellows can turn to with the men forward,' ' said Gantline. And they went A little later Zachary Green came on deck again and stood looking silently over the bright Pacific. He stood there by the taffrail looking long at the eastern horizon. No one approached or spoke to him, for all knew Captain Green when his mind was full of unpleasant memories. 1 80 A BLUNDER ABOUT three o'clock in the morning Garnett slid back the hatch-slide and bawled, " Cape Horn, sir !" Captain Green was asleep, but the news brought him to his feet in an instant, and stopping just long enough to complete his toilet, which consisted of gulping down four fingers of stiff grog, he sprang up the companion-way and was on deck. It was broad daylight, although the wind had shifted to the northward and brought with it a thick haze which partly obscured the light of the rising sun. Some miles away on the weather-beam rose a rocky hump, showing dimly through the mist ; but its peculiar shape, not unlike that of a camel lying down with its head to the westward, told plainly that it was the dreaded Cape. Beyond it lay Tierra del Fuego, now almost invisible, and past it swept the high-rolling seas of the Antarctic Drift. Captain Green stood blinking and winking in the crisp air of the early morning as Garnett walked up. It was January and daylight twenty hours out of twenty-four, but it was cold and the morning watch was a cheerless one. The old mate came up and pointed to the northward. " It's the Cape, I make it, though it don't show up mighty high. We've been holding on like this most of my watch, but it's been getting a dirty look 181 The Wind-jammers to the west'ard," and as he spoke he leaned over the weather-rail and spat into the foam, which drifted past at the rate of six knots an hour. " It's the Cape, right enough," said Zack Green ; " and if we can hold on a few hours longer we ought to weather the Ramirez and get clear. How's she heading now?" " Sou' west b' sought," answered the man at the wheel. "Well," said Green, "there's almost four points easterly variation here, so that brings her head a little to the s'uth'ard of west b' south. Let her go up all she will, Mr. Garnett, and call me when we make the Ramirez. I don't believe much in that drift ; it's all in that big easterly variation. Watch the maint' gallant-sail if it begins to come down sharp from the north' ard," and as he finished speaking the skipper disappeared down the companion-way. Garnett sniffed the air hungrily as the odor of stiff grog disappeared also. "'Tis a pius drink, s'help me, 'tis a pius drink," he muttered. "Yes, a truly moral beverage, as they would say in the islands ; but there's no use thinking a dog of a mate will get any pleasure in these days of thieving ship-masters." He walked fore and aft in no pleasant frame of mind, glancing at each turn at the distant loom of the land on the weather-beam. "How d'ye head?" he bawled to the man at the wheel, in total disregard for the skipper and sleeping passengers. 182 A Blunder "Sought b' west a quarter west, sir," answered the helmsman. "Well, what in the name of the great eternal Davy Jones are you running the ship off like that for?" "She's touchin' now, sir, an' goin' off all the time." " Going to " but before he could finish the maintop- gallant-sail came aback against the mast. " For'ard there ! clew down the maint' gallant- sail !" he roared, and he looked sharply to windward, where the giant Cape Horn sea came rolling down through the deepening haze. " Maint' gallant-sail !" echoed the cry forward, as the men sang out and jumped for the halyards, while some of the watch sprang into the ratlines and made their way aloft " Come, bear a hand there ! Get that sail rolled up and lay aft to the mizzentop-sail." The vessel was driving along at a comfortable rate in spite of the heavy sea, and it looked as though she might give the grim Cape the slip and go scudding away on the other side of the world. A few hours running to the westward with the wind holding and she would go clear. But the giant sea began rolling down from the northwest, growing heavier, so by the time the maintop-gallant-sail was rolled up and eight bells struck it had the true Cape Horn heave to it. Mr. Gantline came on deck to relieve the mate, and he soon had the ship dressed down to her lower 183 The Wind-jammers topsails. It was not blowing more than an ordinary gale, but the tremendous sea made it dangerous to force the vessel ahead, so she drifted and sagged off to leeward. The "sea-calmer" was rigged forward, and soon the water to windward had an oily look, while the wind, catching up the tops of the combers, hurled a spray down upon the ship that made shroud and backstay, downhaul, and clew-line smell strong of fish-oil, as they cut the wind like bow-strings and hummed in unison until the volume of sound swelled into a deep booming roar. " Let her come up all she will !" bawled Garnett into Gantline's ear, as he started to go below. " If she sags off any more you better call the old man, for it looks bad. By the way, Gantline, where's that bottle of alcohol the old man gave you for varnishing the wheel ? I've got one of his porous plasters on my chest, and the blooming thing has glued itself to every hair on my body, and I can't get it adrift" " It's in the right-hand corner of the boson's locker," said the mate, with a grin. " But go easy, Garnett. The old man put a spoonful of tartar- emetic into the stuff, 'for,' says he, 'tartar-emetic makes the varnish have a more enduring effect against the weather.' ' " Sink him for a scoundrel !" growled Garnett, his little eyes flashing and beard bristling with rage. "It's always something he's doing to make bad feeling aboard ship. Why should he suspect a man of drinking raw spirit, hey?" 184 A Blunder "Why, indeed," said Gantline. And Garnett went below muttering a string of fierce oaths. At six o'clock the gale had increased, and the noise of the bawling men struggling with the fore- and mizzentop-sails awakened the skipper, who, fearing all was not well, hastily made his toilet again and appeared at the head of the companion-way. " How is it now ?" he asked of Gantline, who stood near the wheel. " Gone off two points, and there's an almighty sea running. I'm shortening her down fast Whew !" As he spoke a great hill of water full forty feet high rolled down on the weather-beam. The ship headed it a couple of points and sank slowly into the slanting trough. Then she began to rise to it The comb- ing crest struck her forward of the main-rigging, and with a roar like Niagara crashed over the top-gallant- rail. It hove her down on her bearings and filled the main-deck waist-deep, while the shock made the skipper and Gantline clutch for support The next instant Green sprang on to the poop. "All hands there !" he bawled. "Get that fore- top-sail on the yard !" Garnett came struggling on deck, muttering some- thing about being afloat in a diving-bell, and was almost washed off his feet by the roaring flood in the waist In a few moments he was on the fore- yard bellowing out orders to the men stowing the topsail. The uproar and cries of the men startled the two 185 The Wind-jammers passengers, Dr. Davis and his wife, who had under- taken the passage at a physician's advice. The physician, knowing nothing at all about the sea, had unhesitatingly recommended a sea-voyage for the Reverend Dr. Davis as a certain cure for the nervous ailment from which that gentleman suffered. The strain at being face to face with death so often was doing wonders for the minister, and he in turn was doing what he could for the crew. All except Mr. Garnett had profited much by his presence on board, but the mate stubbornly held out against any form of religion. " Keep the main on her as long as it will hold !" bawled Green. " It looks as if we will catch it sure." Then, catching a glimpse of Dr. Davis' s face at the companion-way, he added, "I'll be hanged if I ever overload a ship again and run such risk." The minister stepped out on deck. "Good-morning, doctor ; we are having a touch of the Cape this morning," cried the skipper. "So it seems ; is the Cape in sight?" " No ; but I guess you'll see it again before we get clear." "Mr. Garnett said he thought we would make some northing to-day. He does not believe in so much easterly variation, but says it is the drift that makes it appear so. It seems to me an easy thing to decide." " Garnett be hanged !" snorted Green in disgust " He will get into trouble some day with his fool's 186 A Blunder ideas. Hello ! there goes the steward with the hash," and the skipper dived below, where he was followed by his passenger. Garnett appeared at the table, but Mrs. Davis kept her bunk, as the plunging ship made it difficult to eat with comfort. No one spoke during the meal, as the crashing noise from the straining bulkheads drowned all sounds save the roar of the elements on deck. Garnett stopped in the alley-way to light his pipe and get a few whiffs before relieving Gantline. Then he made his way to the poop and stood close to the mizzen, trying to get shelter from the wind and spray, while Gantline went below. Dr. Davis came on deck and found the second officer trying to smoke, so he joined him. " It's harder to be mate with a man like Green than anything I've tackled," said he. " I've been to a few places and seen a few men in my day, but most of them would reason things out. There's no reason in him." "What's the matter?" asked Dr. Davis. " It's all about variation now. He's always trying to work off new-fangled notions on me. When I first began coming around this way the drift was good enough to figure by." "But hasn't it been proved?" " Proved nothing. How's a man going to prove he's steering north when he's heading nor' west in a three-knot drift with nothing to get a bearing on? I'll allow there's some variation in a compass, but 187 The Wind-jammers nothing like that. Besides, he does other unreason- able things. There's no reason in him." " Well, I suppose it is hard to get along with un- reasonable people," said the minister; "but there are some things we know are true without being able to reason about them. For instance " " No, sir," interrupted Garnett. " There ain't anything we know about anything unless we can reason it out. You have your ideas and I have mine ; that's all there is to it" "Fore-staysail!" bawled the skipper from the wheel, and that piece of canvas was run up, quickly followed by the trysail on the spanker-boom. Dr. Davis, left alone, started aft. He went safely along until he reached the middle of the poop, when a heavy sea struck the vessel and made her heel quickly to leeward. The minister tried to seize the rail, but missed it, and the next instant fell headlong into the seething water alongside. Garnett was not ten feet distant working at the trysail, and without a moment's hesitation he seized a downhaul and plunged overboard with the line about him. The passenger arose with a look of peaceful res- ignation on his face which contrasted strongly with the old mate's fierce expression of determination. As the vessel was making no headway against the sea it was less difficult than it appeared to seize the drowning man and give the signal to haul away. In another minute Garnett was on deck again with Dr. Davis, neither of them much the worse for 188 A Blunder their bath. The cold, however, made it necessary for them to change their clothes. The gale held on all day, but nothing unusual occurred. At eight bells that evening Dr. Davis had recovered sufficiently to again venture on deck. It was Gantline's dog-watch, but as there was as much light as there had been during the day, Dr. Davis kept him company. " Mr. Garnett is a very hard man to convince when he has once set his mind against a thing," said the minister. "There's no way of showing him he is wrong when he has made a mistake." "That's true enough, especially if you try to rough him. He's mad to-day because the skipper found fault with his swearing at the men." "He does swear most horribly," said Dr. Davis. "It's nothing to what he used to. He don't realize he does it at all now." " How do you mean ?" "Why, he used to be a most blasphemous old cuss. One day he went ashore at Tinian, and the missionary there asked him to dinner. When he asked Garnett what he would have he sung out, ' Gimme a bowl of blood, ye tough old ram of the Lord,' just to shock the good man. The missionary rose and ordered him out of the house, but Garnett wouldn't go, so he struck him over the head with a dish of fried plantains, he was that mad. Garnett was two days getting over the stroke, for he had been stove down before by a handspike in the hands of a drunken sailor. He always thought the 189 The Wind-jammers good man had called a curse down upon him, and since then he's been slow at figures." " I see," said Dr. Davis. "Yes, it's a fact, you've got to show a thing pretty plain to Garnett before he believes it As to that missionary, he wasn't overbright at converting savages." "What do you mean? That he wasn't strong enough physically?" " No, no, love ye, no ; that missionary could take care of himself and not half try. What I mean is downright religious and Christian argument. There was one chief he never could convert The fellow had an idol, the most uncanny thing I ever saw ; sort of half bird, half beast, part fish, and having a strain of dragon. He used to pray to the thing, although he could speak English well enough and had seen plenty of white men. The missionary told him it was wrong to worship anything in an image of things in the heavens above, the earth beneath, or waters under the earth, and the chief took it all kindly. The good man finally gave him up, but the chief never could tell why. Once he offered to bet the missionary two wives against a bottle of rum that there wasn't anything in the heavens above or earth beneath that resembled the strange thing in any way ; and as the good man couldn't prove it, the matter ended." The gale increased as the night wore on, and the vessel lay to on the port tack and drifted off with her head pointing northwest by north, but she was 190 A Blunder to the westward of the Ramirez. It was Garnett's watch and the skipper was below. The ship was driving off to leeward, and the skipper determined to wear ship and stand to the southward again if she was headed off any farther. Garnett had orders to report any change which might take place. The old mate had a chart in his room with the variation marked on it above the fiftieth parallel, some ten degrees less than where he now was. But even this variation appeared excessive to him, and, as the skipper told him to report if the vessel's head fell off to the eastward of north, he held on. Figuring on a two-knot drift, he would not be in the vicinity of the rocks during his watch even if she headed as far as north by west, for at noon she had made a good westing. The ship's head was to the eastward at four bells, but, as there was really over twenty degrees' variation, Garnett held on and made sail whenever he could. Long before his watch was out the vessel had been making little leeway and reaching heavily along under lower topsails. At seven bells the wind hauled again to the southward and came harder than ever, carrying the foretop-sail out of the bolt- ropes. The noise of bawling men brought the skipper on deck, and he had the mizzentop-sail rolled up and the fore-staysail ready for waring ship. While he stood on the poop he looked to leeward. The mist seemed to break into rifts in the dull light of the early morning, and through one he saw an 191 The Wind-jammers object that made him catch his breath. In an in- stant the flying spume closed in again and all was blank. Garnett came aft, and, although it was cold, he took off his sou'wester and mopped the top of his bald head as he glanced at the skipper. The old man stood petrified gazing into the blank to leeward. Then he turned on the mate with a savage glare in his eye. " Get all hands on that fore-staysail, quick !" he roared, and Garnett went plunging forward, the skipper's voice following him and rising almost to a shriek, " Loose the jib and foresail !" Then turn- ing, he dashed for the wheel and rolled it hard up. Back again on the poop he roared to Gantline, who came plunging out on the main-deck to loose the foretop-sail. The men started to obey orders and sprang to the halyards and braces, looking over their shoulders to leeward at each roll of the ship to find out the cause of the excitement. Suddenly the flying spume broke again, and there, dead under the lee, lay the outer rocks of the Rami- rez not a mile distant. Then some of the crew be- came panic-stricken, and it was all the mates could do to keep them in hand. "There's no land there !" roared Garnett " H'ist away the fore-staysail." Then the ship's head paid off, while the staysail tore to ribbons under the pressure. The topsail was loosened, and it thundered away to bits, almost taking the topmast with it. The jib followed suit, 192 A Blunder but together they lasted long enough to get her head off before the wind. Then Garnett, casting off the weather-clew of the reefed foresail, hauled it down far enough to keep the wind under it, and away they went In a few moments her head swung to on the starboard tack, and as they hauled the wind a deep thunderous sound rose above the gale. The trusty maintop-sail was trimmed hard on the backstays, and all hands waited with eyes straining to leeward. "Will she go clear?" asked Dr. Davis, calmly, as he stood by the skipper's side on the poop. But Green's teeth were shut tight, and the muscles of his straining face were as taut as the clews of the storm-topsail. Nearer and nearer sounded that dull, booming thunder, and now, right under her lee, they could see the great white rush of those high- rolling seas that tore over the ledges and crashed into a world of smother that hid eveiything beyond in a thick haze. " She'll go clear," said Garnett, and he took out his handkerchief and mopped the dent in his bald head. "But it's a d d close shave," answered Gant- line. As he spoke a great rolling sea rose on the weather-quarter, lifting full forty feet from trough to crest as it began its shoreward rush. On and on it rolled in majestic grandeur, a gigantic, white- topped mass, until it vanished into the thick haze of flying spray, but still bearing more and more to the northward. They went clear. 13 193 The Wind-jammers Dr. Davis was not present at a little conversation held between Mr. Garnett and the skipper some minutes later, but during the mate's next watch on deck he found a chance to speak to him. He saw him standing under the mizzen watching the main- top-sail, and he crowded close into the mast, wiping his spectacles. "Well, what do you think of it now?" he asked. "Nothing," growled Garnett, "except I made a mistake ; and if I'd held on ten minutes there' d have been thirty more men gone to a lower latitude, that's all." "But think of the responsibility. How would you have felt with the lives of thirty men on your conscience ? Don't you see, we have to accept some truths without stopping to reason them out There may be no reason for that variation, but you see it exists, after all. It is the same way in regard to the duty we owe our Maker, and I am afraid you will acknowledge it only after you have 'held on too long,' as you admit in this case. As for a man going to a lower latitude, as you call it, there is no such place. A man's hell is his own conscience." Garnett remained silent for some minutes watch- ing the clews of the maintop-sail, and appeared to be absorbed in deep thought. "Maybe you're right about there not being any hell below, and maybe you're not," he finally said. " I hope you are right ; but I've had some experi- ence in my day, and had all kinds of luck, both A Blunder good and bad. It don't seem probable I'd strike it as rich as that. No, sir, it ain't probable ; though, of course, it's possible." And Dr. Davis left him standing there with a strange, hopeful gleam in his eyes. TO CLIPPERTON REEF THIS rather singular expedition left San Francisco under the direct charge of Pro- fessor Frisbow, of the West Coast Museum. While an entirely private affair, its object was to secure specimens of several of the almost extinct species of pelagic fish. The vessel used for the purpose was a small seal- ing schooner of about seventy-five tons, and the crew, including the captain and mate, consisted of five able-bodied men. The rest of the party were the professor and myself. As we were both good sailors, the size of our vessel did not inconvenience us, so that, after fitting up two state-rooms in the cabin, we found, although a little crowded, we were as snug " as weevils in a biscuit" The wind was blowing almost a gale when we towed out between the heads of the bay, and as it came from the northwest, a stout pea-coat was far from uncomfortable while walking the narrow limits of the quarter-deck. The setting sun shone red on the rolling hill-side of North Head, where herds of cattle cropped the short grass of the highlands. In the clear atmos- phere small objects were visible with strange dis- tinctness. To the southward the jets of spray shooting skyward told p/amly of the heavy sea that 196 To Clipperton Reef fell upon the Seal Rocks. Our skipper shook out the double reef he had in the mainsail and deter- mined to drive his vessel off shore as far as possi- ble while the fair wind held. It was nearly dark before the tug gave a short whistle for the men forward to cast off the tow-line, and as the last light on the western horizon faded into shadow the head-sheets were flattened and we stood away to the southwest Clipperton Isle or Reef lies 10 17' north latitude and 109 10' west longitude. The distance on a straight course being but little over fifteen hundred miles from our starting-point, but as the northeast trade is very light and unsteady along the coast of the continent, we deemed it wiser to take the regu- lar sailing route to the southward and make our easting afterwards. The first twenty-four hours out were uncomfort- able enough, as the heavy sea caught us fair on the starboard beam and made the stanch little vessel roll horribly. Gradually, however, the wind hauled more to the northward and we made better weather of it. Our Bliss log registered two hundred and fifty-four miles for the first day's run, and on the fourth day out we picked up the trade in 26 north latitude and headed away due south. Our reason for selecting this almost unknown spot for our field of operations was owing, prin- cipally, to the reports of the captains of two whaling ships who had been consulted in regard to our object, and also, I fear, to the keen desire 197 The Wind-jammers of my companion, the professor, to explore this curious island. Fish of several varieties which we desired to pro- cure abounded along the southern coast of Califor- nia, and the California Gulf swarmed with almost every species of shark except the one we wished for. We had finally decided, however, to stick to deep water, and had procured the schooner for a small amount and the services of Captain Brown, an old whaleman, who had been in the vicinity of the island on several voyages. During the first week out we had an opportunity to get acquainted with our skipper, who with his mate occupied the starboard side of the after-cabin. Old Captain Brown was a typical whaling skipper and as crusty an old sailor as one could wish to sail with. He had acquired the true sailor habit of finding fault with everything, and divided his time between making sarcastic personal remarks to the mate and cursing the men. As for Garnett, the mate, I had sailed before in his company and knew him thoroughly. He had been nearly everything that was bad, and had been in every part of the world. He was fifty-five and over, but he was one of the roughest and toughest specimens of humanity, both morally and physically, I had ever seen. His hairy chest bore a mark where a bullet had passed through, the calf of his right leg was twisted where a bayonet had penetrated, for he had been a soldier, and the index-finger of his left hand was missing. Besides these trifles he had 198 To Clipperton Reef a large dent, nearly half an inch deep, on the top of his bald head, where a sailor had " stove him down" with a handspike. This was the only injury he had received that had ever given him much trouble, and sometimes the pain in his head affected his eyesight. In spite of his ugly record and many drawbacks I knew him to be the best sailor that ever handled canvas and worth a whole ship's company in an emergency. Therefore we let the skipper rate him, and while he confined himself to sarcasm and inso- lence I believed Garnett would not turn rusty. It was not long before Captain Brown found out the mate's defect in vision, and at about the same time he was convinced that he was also the greatest liar afloat. After this he used to amuse us by calling out " Ship ahoy !" and gazing steadfastly at a part of the blank horizon. Then, if Garnett was near, he would discuss the ship in detail, and the mate would swear positively, with great emphasis, " My God ! but that's the old Moose," or some other vessel he had sailed in ; and then the skipper would suddenly break off and begin to walk fore and aft with rapid and excited strides. When he would reach the vicinity of Garnett he would look up at the main- top-sail and wish to know, in a loud voice, why in the name of Ananias all the liars were not struck dead. Then he would storm and swear at all people who ever told the truth, and thank heaven he never told the truth when he could possibly help it ; all of which noise had about as much effect on Garnett as 199 The Wind-jammers if he had been pouring water gently into the dent in his oily bald head. " Aren't you afraid to curse and call on the Lord so often?" I asked, during one of his fits. " 'Fraid o' nothin'. Do you suppose the Lord minds my cursing at such a fellow as Garnett ? What difference does it make, anyhow? The Lord never yet answered either prayer or curse of mine." "Yes," I replied, "but Garnett might, and then " " He might, might he ? Now, by all thunder, I guess not. He might as well git it through his head that if there's any swearing to be done I'll do it. Yes, sir, I'll do it, s'help me " And here he broke off into a string of such expressive pro- fanity, relating to gods, devils, and men, that Fris- bow came up from below to listen. On the morning of the tenth day out we crossed the twelfth parallel, and at noon we hauled our wind and headed straight for the island as located by Sir Edward Belcher. On the fifteenth day the wind left us in 10 43' north latitude and about 113 west longitude, or nearly two hundred and fifty miles westward of the reef. Here we encountered the most trying part of the whole voyage out For two days the log registered less than a ten-mile run, and the four following less than twenty. Finally, after ten days of drifting, we sighted the island, one bright morning, almost directly over our knight-heads. As the wind was light, our skipper To Clipperton Reef feared to approach within less than a mile of the shore, as there was danger of drifting into the breakers. There were hundreds of fathoms of water close in near the beach, and it was useless tc think of anchoring, so we hove the vessel to about a mile to leeward. After setting the shark line the boat was put overboard, and the mate and one man proceeded to pull us to the shore. On arriving close to the island the surf was found to be too heavy to make a safe landing, and we were compelled to pull around to the entrance of the lagoon on the south side. We landed with little difficulty inside the entrance, and, securing the boat, proceeded to explore the reef. Lying low in the water, it presented a peculiar and, at the same time, beautiful appearance. No part of it was over ten feet above the sea, and it lay shaped into a most perfect oval. On the outside of the circle the beach was of snow-white coral, which, as it sloped away seaward on the north side, reflected various shades of green and blue through the clear water. On the south side the sea had just the faintest milky color, showing that there was a slight set to the southward. We devoted the whole day to exploring the reef, and only returned on board when darkness made the schooner almost invisible. As we passed through the entrance we made soundings, and found a depth of five or six fathoms 201 The Wind-jammers nearly all the way across, or enough water for quite a large vessel to pass through. On getting aboard we found that the skipper had caught several de- sirable specimens for our collection and had sighted a small sperm-whale about a half a mile to wind- ward just before dark. This had stirred his blood, and he had been cursing his luck heartily at our staying ashore in the boat when we might be after big game, for we had several irons and a few tubs of line on board and also a bomb-gun. After supper we were so worked up by listening to Captain Brown's whaling yarns that we decided to have a try at the first whale sighted. At daylight the next morning Garnett sung out to the skipper that there was something off the weather-beam. We turned out and found the sea just ruffled by a light air and the sun shining fiercely out of a cloudless sky. On searching the horizon we found nothing visible except the reef, which lay some three miles to the northward. All of a sudden we noticed a blur of white to the westward, and Frisbow immediately went below for the glasses. Garnett sung out again from for- ward and pointed at the blur, then, thinking we could not see anything, he came aft to where we stood. By this time both the skipper and Frisbow had their glasses, and were just in the act of focussing them upon the object when it suddenly vanished. Captain Brown began to mutter something about people who saw so many strange things, and Garnett 202 To Clipperton Reef removed his cap to wipe the perspiration from the dent in his head. "What kind of vessel can it be?" asked Frisbow. " I'll be hanged if I know," I answered. "Might be the Flying Dutchman," suggested Garnett, with his usual gravity. This was too much for the skipper, and he warned Garnett that such jokes were out of place among intelligent men and liable to be followed by disas- trous consequences, and then added that " Most people knew a whale when they saw it." Suddenly the blur appeared again. This time it lasted for over a minute. It was not a " blow," and I was just about to ask the skipper what he made it out to be when he quickly shoved his glass into my hand and told me to "look quick." I did so, and saw that the blur was a great cloud of spray and foam thrown up from the sea. In- stantly a large gray object rose from the churned water, then fell again in the thick of it, and I recog- nized the form of a huge thresher-shark. He ap- peared to land heavily upon the whale, for that animal, after lashing the sea furiously, sounded, and presently the disturbance subsided. After breakfast we saw a blow half a mile to windward, and the skipper said it was the same whale we had noticed in the early morning. We didn't stop to argue the question, but hauled the whale-boat, that was towing astern, alongside and made haste to get the gear into her. Leaving the schooner in charge of the three men, 203 The Wind-jammers all of whom were picked sailors, the rest of us manned the boat and started out. Captain Brown took his place in the bow as harpooner and boat- steerer, while Garnett and the professor pulled bow and stroke oars respectively, leaving me to handle the steering oar. The sea was almost like glass, and under the skipper's direction we rapidly approached our game. My heart beat so with excitement that it seemed to choke me as we silently drew head on to the mon- ster, the skipper motioning with his hand which way he wanted me to steer. Then we shipped the oars carefully and took out the paddles for a close throw. All of a sudden he raised the iron and hurled it at the black mass ahead. Garnett and Frisbow backed water as hard as they could, and in an instant there was a tremendous splash as the animal fluked and sounded. The skipper stood by the line, while the professor took up the bomb-gun, determined to have the honor of shooting the beast The whale didn't go down far or stay long below the surface, but when he did come up he came with a rush that took him clear of the water and almost aboard of us. The surging splash he made as he fell alongside nearly swamped us with the sea and sent Frisbow over the thwart into the bottom of the boat, while the lance came near lodging in Garnett' s neck as the gun exploded in the air. Old Captain Brown stormed and swore, and, call- ing Garnett to tend the line, he picked up the gun and began loading it himself as I passed him a 204 To Clipperton Reef charge, while Frisbow scrambled to his feet and asked if he had "killed him." A hoarse chuckle from Garnett warned him of his mistake, but before any one could answer the skipper passed him the gun again and sprang forward to the line. I looked over the side, and suddenly noticed a dark spot in the clear depths directly beneath us growing rapidly larger. Putting forth all my strength, I swung on the steering oar to slue the boat to one side, and it was just by good luck I managed to do so in time. I heard an exclamation from the skipper, and saw Frisbow standing with the gun ready, when, without an instant's warning, the great bulk of the whale rose alongside close enough to touch. The professor fired with the muzzle not two feet from the animal's body, which, as it fell alongside, half filled the boat with water. Instead of sounding again the whale swam slowly away, towing us after it. Captain Brown started to load the gun, and had just put in the powder charge when the whale slowed up and began blowing rapid jets of crimson spray. "We've got him now," he said, and laid down the gun to wait for the end. In about ten minutes the animal was motionless upon the water, and after waiting a little longer we hauled alongside. He was a small sperm-whale, not over thirty feet in length, with about enough blubber to make a "twenty-barrel," as he was termed by the skipper. We made a line fast to and then sat and waited for the schooner, that The Wind-jammers was creeping slowly up from leeward with the light breeze. The heat was terrific as we sat there in the open boat, and it was long past noon before the schooner picked us up. After dinner Frisbow, myself, and two men manned the boat to tow the whale ashore. We worked the schooner in as close as possible to the entrance of the lagoon, and then we had to work into the lagoon in the small boat with a white-ash breeze. We finally landed our prize inside the entrance, and Frisbow turned to work at once to get off the skin. This appeared to be a useless object, but as he was bent upon it there was nothing else to do. During the whole of the following week he was ashore nearly all the time with one or two men, and sometimes, when the wind was light and we drifted well off, it was nearly midnight before he would get aboard. It was while this work was progressing that the incident occurred which caused all our troubles. Frisbow and Garnett had both tried to persuade Captain Brown that it was the best and safest place for the schooner inside the lagoon, as there was plenty of water and quite smooth anchorage. The skipper, like a true deep-water sailor, dreaded the proximity of the beach even worse than he did fresh water on his skin, and he was several times made furious at the idea of putting his vessel inside the lagoon. One day after Garnett and Frisbow had gone ashore, where they had been hard at work at the 206 To Clipperton Reef whale, I told the skipper that I would look out for the vessel, and he went below and turned in. The two men left on board were idling about the galley. One of them, the one who acted as cook, sat in the doorway and worked a pan of "duff" which he held between his knees. The schooner had her mainsail set and hauled flat aft, while her jib was drawn to windward, thus heaving her to in the light air that barely ruffled the surface of the ocean. There was not a cloud in the sky, and only a dull haze tempered the fierce heat of the sun. I had the wheel lashed hard down and lay at full length on the quarter, trying to keep in the shadow of the mainsail. I smoked a cigar and gazed at the eddies that drifted from the vessel's side to wind- ward. After about an hour, when I had smoked my cigar down to a stump, I was aware that the wind had died out entirely and that it was oppressively hot on deck. I lounged aft and leaned over the rail and tried to see if I could distinguish anything moving on the island, but could not, and the distant hum of the surf was the only sound that broke the painful stillness. Suddenly the hum of the surf seemed to grow louder. I turned to look to the westward, and in an instant saw the ocean whipped to foam along the horizon. " All hands !" I yelled, and sprang to the peak halyards. 207 The Wind-jammers I let them go by the run, and had just cast off the throat when with a rush the white squall struck us just forward of the weather-beam. One of the men let go the jib halyard and tugged at the downhaul and managed to get the sail half down before the full weight of the wind struck us. The mainsail, hanging half way down the mast, thundered away at a great rate until it split from head to leach, while the little schooner lay on her beam ends, letting the water pour in a torrent down the open companion-way. In less than five minutes it was all over. The wind slacked up as suddenly as it began, and the vessel slowly righted. Captain Brown clambered on deck half drowned from the flooded cabin and helped to get in what was left of the mainsail. We got all the canvas in, but the sea was as calm as before, except for the swell stirred up, and there was not enough wind to fill a topsail. "White squall, eh?" inquired the skipper as soon as we had the sails secured. " It was some kind of a squall," I said ; " but there was no warning whatever of its coming." "There never is," he answered, with a sickly grin. " I wonder how much water we've got into us. If it had held on five minutes longer we'd have passed in our papers, sure ; and, as it was, I am all but drowned. It seemed as if the whole ocean poured into my bunk and held me down." We found the cabin half full of water, and it took us all day to get things straightened out below, while 208 To Clipperton Reef the men unbent the split mainsail and began to re- pair it. When Garnett and the professor came on board that night they were astonished at the damage done, for there had been no sign of wind on the reef. In the schooner's hold we found everything in a mess, and all our fishing-gear and lines piled up on the port side in one big tangle. Garnett managed to pick out the bomb-gun and some irons from the pile, and Frisbow, after wiping the gun, had the cook fill it with beef tallow to keep out the rust That night we held a council, and, as there were three to one for going inside the reef, the skipper's objections were finally overruled, and it was de- cided that we should remain in there until work on the whale was finished. The next morning at sun- rise we headed in through the entrance, and by noon were moored snugly enough on the inside. The work of skinning the whale was soon accom- plished, and the skin was staked out, with one or two of the sharks we had captured, and left to the care of the professor. I did not fancy the work of getting out the ani- mal's skeleton, as the stench from the body was now unbearable, so I spent my time in procuring speci- mens of a more attractive sort from the clear waters of the reef. I had been thus engaged for several days, and was returning to the schooner one evening, when I heard a deep booming sound that seemed to fill the air about me. The ground under me trembled violently 14 209 The Wind-jammers and it was with difficulty I kept my feet I hurried towards the schooner, and met Frisbow on the beach opposite where she was moored. His face expressed great anxiety, and he asked me if I had felt the earthquake. I replied that I had, and wondered what would happen next. He didn't answer, but I could see that he was more excited than I had ever seen him before. When we reached the schooner Garnett was being rated by Captain Brown for having suggested bring- ing the vessel into such a hole. The skipper had felt the shock, and swore that we would have the ac- companying tidal wave in about half an hour, adding that if it caught us in there we were as good as dead men. It was not quite dark, so without a moment's de- lay we made sail and stood for the entrance. There was no wind to speak of, and the skipper, fearing that we might drift into the breakers, had Garnett and the three sailors man the whale-boat and tow us to keep up good headway. I took the wheel and Captain Brown went forward to direct our movements. We went straight for the middle of the cut, while the sun dipped below the western horizon and the sudden tropic night fell upon the ocean. The moon was a few degrees high in the east, and we knew that there would be plenty of light, anyhow, to steer by, as we kept slowly on. In a little while we neared the entrance, and it looked as if we would be on the open ocean within half an hour, when all of a sudden I heard a harsh, 210 To Clipperton Reef grinding sound, and the schooner, with a slight jar, became motionless. The skipper came rushing aft and peered over the taffrail, muttering a string of oaths through his set teeth. "What is it?" I asked, as I left the wheel and rushed to the rail. He said nothing, but dived below for a lead-line. In a moment he was forward again and flung the lead overboard, but I noticed that the line failed to run out. "What is it ?" I asked again. He turned his face towards me, and I saw its ghastly expression in the moonlight. "God knows," he growled, "but we are hard and fast on the reef, and there isn't half a fathom of water anywhere ahead of us." He bawled for Gar- nett to come on board, and I heard the startled ex- clamations from the men in the boat as they hauled in the tow-line and came alongside. In a moment the skipper jumped into the boat with the hand-lead and started off through the en- trance. I could see him making soundings for nearly a quarter of a mile ahead as they glided over the calm moonlit water, and then the boat was put about suddenly, and she came for the schooner. Frisbow and I went to the side. "We're in for it now," said the skipper, with an oath, as he clambered on deck. " The whole bot- tom seems to have raised up, and there isn't enough water to float a junk-barrel across the whole cut." 211 The Wind-jammers " Come, bear a hand !" he yelled to Garnett. "Get a line out aft and we'll see if we can kedge her off; we can't lay here all night." Frisbow looked at me and I at him, but we said nothing. We were caught like a rat in a hole, and the only thing to do was to get the schooner afloat and wait for daylight, when things might not be as bad as they appeared. There was no time to speculate until we got the schooner off the ledge, so we lent a hand and got the kedge into the boat, and Garnett bent on the tow-line and dropped astern. In a few minutes he came on board, and all hands tailed onto the line to haul her off We hauled and tugged, but it was no use, we couldn't start her. Finally we passed the line forward to the windlass, and after half an hour's heaving we had the satis- faction of feeling the little vessel slide off into deep water again. There was nothing to do but to go back to our moorings, so, sending the boat ahead again, we towed back and made fast at our old berth, all hands quite worn out with our exertions. There was no thought of rest, however, for any of us ; our case was too bad for that. We were in no immediate danger, but we were cut off from the world as suddenly and as effectually as if we were confined on the moon. Our provisions would last six months with care, but even in that time the chances were against our sighting a vessel in that locality. As soon as the schooner was safely moored we 212 To Clipperton Reef went ashore and explored the reef, but there was no apparent change in any part above water. The skipper was beside himself with rage at being caught, and blamed Garnett for the whole affair. Garnett said little and mopped his head frequently with his handkerchief, but I fancied I saw a peculiar gleam in his eye when the captain became more than usually violent. After spending the whole night trying to work out some solution of our difficulty, we came to the con- clusion that the only way was to strip the vessel, heel her over on her bilge, and force her through the entrance. We discussed every possible method of lighten- ing her, and the skipper finally thought that by taking everything out of her except her masts we might get across the reef with what little current there would be to favor us. As soon as it was daylight we started for the en- trance to examine it carefully and find the deepest water. The air was hot and still, and the water of the lagoon had a greasy look. The first thing that attracted our attention was a large, dark object that rose on the reef where yes- terday there had been nearly fifty feet of water. All eyes were directed to it as it lay there like a huge mass of coral weed with great festoons hanging from its sides. Suddenly the skipper sprang to his feet " My God, it's a ship !" he cried All hands stopped rowing and turned in their seats, 213 The Wind-jammers when Garnett, who was steering, bawled out to " Give way together !" and we headed straight for it As we approached, we saw that it was the huJ of a large ship lying on its bilge, but so covered with marine growths that its outline could hardly be traced in the great mass. It lay well out, and the wash of the surf broke against the stern ; this is the reason we didn't notice it during the night There were three or four feet of water around it, so we forced the boat through the floating weed until we were alongside. Garnett clambered to the deck amidships closely followed by Frisbow and myself. We made our way aft aloft along the slippery incline by clinging to the weed that covered everything, and reached a large hole that had evidently been the entrance to the cabin. The whole design of the ship was strange and different from any modern vessel 1 had ever seen. We peered down the opening, but could see noth- ing inside except various-colored marine growths. The professor was for going below instantly, but Garnett held back and contented himself with ex- amining the steering-gear, where he was joined by the skipper. Frisbow let himself down the opening and I, feeling ashamed to let him go alone, let myself down after him. The cabin was dark inside, for the windows were covered with weed, but I could make out the form of the professor as he groped his way along the slippery floor into the darkness forward. 214 To Clipperton Reef After going a short distance into what appeared to be a large saloon the grass seemed to grow thinner and I stood up and looked about me. As I did so my head came in sharp contact with a curious brass lamp which hung suspended from one of the deck-beams. My exclamation caused Frisbow to join me, and together we examined the strange fittings about us. A table and some chairs, which were fastened to the floor, still held their shapes although covered with grass and slime, and from the strange carving on their legs, which was still visible in places, the professor pronounced them to be Spanish. A little farther on we came to a bulkhead with two doors, which were open and led into an inky black space beyond. The professor struck a match, and we saw that both doors had short companion- ways leading to a cabin on the berth- deck and that the ladders were sound although covered with slime. The match went out, but Frisbow instantly struck another and started down. We reached the floor of a small cabin, which had two doors on each side and which was quite free from the heavy sea-growth we had encountered above. There was a table in the centre and the frames of several heavy chairs, while from above hung a large brass lamp covered with verdigris and similar in pattern to the one I had encountered with my head. Striking another match, we entered the first door to the right. There was nothing in it but a large wooden chest, which lay open and contained a 215 The Wind-jammers pulpy and slimy mass. In a bunk was the same material, while on the bulkheads were green brass rods which had evidently held some sort of drapery that had long ago succumbed to the action of sea- water. In the other rooms we found several old matchlock guns almost entirely rust and also half a dozen long straight swords. On a shelf was a tinder- box of brass with the flint as good as new, but the steel was a brown lump. There were a number of rusty knives and several brass frames, together with a lot of glassware and crockery. Some of this rubbish crunched sharply underfoot in the ooze, but everything else not of wood or iron had decayed beyond recognition. The professor was down to his last match when we came across a small chest in the last room. It was of iron but not heavy, so I took it under my arm as we made for the companion-way. It gave me a nervous feeling to be down in the black, slimy hold of that lost ship, and I was rather glad to start for the deck again. Before we reached the ladder the professor's last match was out, and we groped our way aft as best we could, encumbered with all the spoils we could carry. The silence and darkness made me hasten my steps, when just before I reached the ladder a terrific yell echoed through the blackness, causing me to drop everything and start with a sudden terror. Then in a moment the skipper's hoarse voice bawled down to us from the door above, wanting to know if we intended to remain aboard 216 To Clipperton Reef all the morning. The old sword I had was too rusty to be of any use, otherwise I think I should have run him through the body ; so, cursing him loudly for his impatience, to the professor's great amuse- ment, I picked up my things and mounted the ladder. On reaching the deck we found Garnett had discovered a brass gun lying on the port side of the ship, and he was busy spinning a yarn to the men in the boat, when the skipper bawled out for them to lend a hand to get our stuff aboard. We placed the iron box in the stern and, jumping in, started to examine the cut for a channel to get to sea. We had only been on the wreck a few minutes, but we had no desire to remain any longer until we found a way out of the lagoon. After sounding all the morning we found the depth pretty much the same all the way across, and we now noticed that the whole reef appeared much higher on the south side than before. The part above high-water also showed many seams and fissures that we had not seen there when we first examined it. About noon we headed for the schooner, feeling anxious and depressed. Frisbow was more sanguine than the rest of us about lighting the schooner and forcing her across the barrier, but I knew it would be a desperate undertaking when we struck the breakers, that now rolled clear across the entrance. When we reached the schooner we pried off the \id of the iron box and found a mass of discolored 217 The Wind- Jammers pulp, at the bottom of which was a brass plate with the word Isabella cut upon it in large char- acters. We were so tired out with our exertions that as soon as we had something to eat all hands turned in for a short rest before beginning to unload every- thing on the beach. This appeared to be the only way out of the difficulty, and the skipper's anxiety increased at every delay. In the afternoon we began to get the gear out of the hold, and soon had the deck covered with stuff of all kinds to be sent ashore. As we had to break out some of our provisions, we closed the hatchway that evening on account of the heavy dew that fell at night. After supper we started to load the boat, but as the men were tired they worked slowly. Garnett was growing ugly under the continual nagging by the skipper, and once Frisbow started to remon- strate with the captain for directing his abuse against the mate. This only had the effect of precipitating matters, and Garnett, who was passing some of the gear into the boat alongside, threw down the coil of rope he had in his hand and swore a great oath that he would not do another stroke of work until the skipper " mended his jaw tackle." This drove the old man into a frenzy, and before we could stop him he grabbed a harpoon and poised it to hurl at the mate. "You mutinous scoundrel," he yelled, "I'll show you who's captain of this craft!" Quick as thought 218 To Clipperton Reef he threw the iron, and I believed Garnett's end had come. Quicker still did the old sailor spring to one side, and, grabbing the bomb-gun, let drive at the skip- per's head, while the harpoon drove clear through the port bulwarks and hung there. The recoil of the gun sent Garnett staggering backward, while the captain, throwing up his hands, fell like a log across the hatchway. Frisbow and I stood horror- stricken for an instant and then we rushed to the captain's side. I expected to find half of his head torn off by the shell, but, although his face was black with powder and the blood oozed from his mouth, he appeared to have no wound whatever. We carried him aft and laid him out in his bunk, Garnett lending a hand as if nothing had happened between them. Then the professor went for the medicine-chest. After washing blood, grease, and powder from the old man's bruised face and applying a little spirits between his swelling lips, he suddenly opened his eyes and saw Garnett standing close by. He made a quick movement as though to rise, but Frisbow held him down. Then seeing we had mis- taken the motive, he smiled a ghastly smile and held out his hand in the direction of the mate. Garnett stepped forward and took it and their eyes met. "You've killed me fair and square and I don't bear you any malice," said the captain with great difficulty. 219 The Wind-jammers " Killed nothing," growled Garnett, with half a smile ; " I only blowed a gallon or two of tallow into your whiskers ; you were so almighty quick, you know." Here the skipper muttered an oath and tried to get up again, but Frisbow and I both held him quiet. " You lie quiet to-night," said the professor ; "there's no tremendous hurry about this business, and to-morrow this dizziness will be out of your head." He poured out a stiff glass of spirits, which the captain gulped down, and, after bandaging up the lower part of the bruised face with wet towels, we left him and went on deck. Garnett kept chuckling to himself during the evening as we loaded the boat, and when the moon came up he and two men started to carry the load to the beach. While they were absent Frisbow and I sat on the rail and discussed our chances of getting to sea again in a few days. I did not like to tell him how small our chances were, for he appeared to have perfect confidence in our ability to float the vessel overland on a heavy dew if it became necessary. The boat had been gone about an hour and the moon was now high in the cloudless heavens, and I was getting sleepy, so I lit my pipe and smoked hard to keep awake. The water shone like a polished mir- ror of silver, and the dark outline of the reef loomed distinctly through the night on all sides. We could 220 To Clipperton Reef hear Garnett and the men talking on the beach as they unloaded the boat, but besides this there was not a sound on that desolate spot save the deep hum of the surf outside the barrier. My thoughts turned to the wreck, which shone like a black speck in the white wash of the sea, and we talked of how she had probably run on the ledge in the night, years ago, and then slid off into deep water. Her crew, even if they were rescued, must have died over a century ago, and there was little chance of our ever rinding any record of her loss. That she was a Spanish ship and her name Isabella I felt quite certain ; but even that fact conveyed little knowledge to any of us. While we sat on the rail and talked a deep booming like thunder suddenly broke the stillness about us, and the little vessel trembled violently. We started to our feet and listened as the great volume of sound filled the air around us, dying away gradually in pulsations. We heard the cries of the men on the beach, followed by a few moments of silence ; then the booming began again and lasted a few seconds, dying out as before. "I suppose we're about as safe here as any- where," muttered the professor; "but I must say that is the most terrific sound I've ever heard." We waited ten or fifteen minutes in silence, when the stillness was broken by the wash of oars as Gar- nett started to come aboard. We could not see the boat against the dark outline of the shore, but we could hear the clank of the rowlocks, and I leaned The Wind-jammers over the side, knowing it would be in sight in a few moments. As I watched the water I was suddenly aware of a strong current setting past the vessel towards the entrance, and at the same instant Frisbow uttered a startled exclamation. In an instant the boat showed clear in the moonlight and Garnett's voice bawled out for to throw him a line. Seizing the main-sheet, I threw it to him as the men were bending to the oars as if rowing through a rapid. The man forward caught it and hauled alongside, all hands wasting no time in clambering to the schooner's deck. " It's a tidal wave, sure," grunted Garnett, out of breath. "Look out for the hatches." In less than a minute we had everything lashed down forward, and then all hands came aft to the companion-way of the cabin. As we stood there we heard a deep murmur from the northward and westward, which gradually increased as the seconds flew by. " How are the anchors ?' ' asked the professor of Garnett. " Every fathom of the best Norway iron tailing to each one," answered the mate; "but they'll never hold if the sea comes over the reef." Suddenly the deep murmur swelled into a thun- dering roar. The schooner strained at her cables as the water flashed past, and then above the reef we saw a hill rise white in the moonlight with its crest ragged and broken against the night sky. The To Clipperton Reef very air shook with the jar of that foaming crest as it fell with a mighty crash on the reef and went over it. " Get below !" roared Garnett, and we tumbled down the companion into the cabin, the mate pulling the hatch-slide after him and fastening it. The skipper had sprung from his bunk when the roar had awakened him, and stood looking at us in dismay as we tumbled below. In an instant I felt the schooner rise as, with a deafening, smothering crash, the surge struck and passed over her. She seemed to mount into the air and fly through space for nearly a minute. I found myself lying on the port side with my feet against the deck-beams and my hands stretched out against the cabin floor. The next instant she righted with a jerk and I found myself lying on top of Garnett in the middle of the cabin. The water poured through the crack of the hatchway and down the skylight, so for an instant I supposed we were at the bottom of the sea. Garnett, however, flung me aside and started for the deck. The schooner made a few sharp rolls and then partly steadied herself on an even keel as the mate slid back the hatch-slide. Instead of tons of water pouring down upon us, as we looked up we caught a glimpse of the full moon in a clear sky, and I don't remember anything that looked half so beau- tiful as it did to me at that moment. We scrambled on deck and looked about us. There, a quarter of a mile away to the northward, 223 The Wind-jammers lay Clipperton Reef, quiet and peaceful on the bosom of the calm Pacific Ocean. Not a thing was left, save a few streaks in the moonlit water which looked like tide-rips, to show that any dis- turbance had taken place. As for the schooner, our bowsprit and foretop-mast were missing, and the main-boom was broken at the saddle, but our lower masts were all right. The bits forward were torn completely out of her with the surge on the anchors, and her decks were swept perfectly clean, but when we sounded the well and found only two feet of water in the hold we knew we were safe. She had gone over the reef on the crest of the tidal wave and had not even touched it. Whether we went through the cut or not it was impossible to tell. The boat was gone, so we could not go ashore again even if we wanted to, but the professor was the only one who showed the slightest inclination in this respect, and after we assured him of the loss of his specimens he showed even less than the rest of us. The skipper stayed on deck during the remainder of the night while we worked the schooner away from the breakers. As there was no wind we had to do this by means of a drag, which one man car- ried forward and dropped overboard, while the rest of us tailed on to the rope which led through a block on her quarter. By midnight we were out of all danger, and, after putting the foresail on her, we divided into our regular watches again. 224 To Clipper ton Reef The next morning we went to work to repair damages, and by noon we had all the lower sails set. A light air drifted us slowly to the westward, and before night we saw the reef for the last time. We had nearly a hundred valuable specimens in the hold, and, considering our bad luck, we were not entirely unsuccessful. Frisbow fretted a good deal about his whale, but when we struck the trade- wind his spirits rose so high at the prospect of being home again in a few weeks that even this loss was forgotten. The skipper and Garnett got along together splen- didly, and there was less swearing done on board during the run home than probably ever before among five sailors afloat. The only great incon- venience was the loss of our galley, which caused us to have to cook in the cabin and eat with the fore- castle mess things. On the sixty-first day out we sighted the Farra- lone Islands, and that night we were ashore in San Francisco. After being ashore about a month I was astonished one day to find Professor Frisbow's card at my lodg- ings asking me to call at once on him at the Museum. I did so and found him greatly excited. Without giving me a chance to ask questions he immediately began to tell me about the wreck we saw on the reef. "She was the Spanish ship Isabella," he said, " and I want your confidence in the matter I'm going to arrange." 15 225 The Wind-jammers I promised secrecy, and then he told me that upon looking up old records he had found there was a ship by that name lost with all hands somewhere in the Pacific, and that she was fairly loaded with silver bullion. I did not place much faith in the matter, but told him I would try and get a vessel to take him back there if he wanted to go. He was much disappointed at my reception of his scheme, but he accompanied me to Garnett's board- ing-place, where we discussed the matter with that sailor at the risk of losing everything. After a little talk the mate finally convinced Fris- bow that the wreck was either washed ofT into deep water or torn to pieces by the sea that carried us over the reef, so that in either case it would be useless to hunt for the treasure. This ended the matter so far as the professor and I were concerned, but I heard afterwards how Garnett had bribed the skipper of the next ship he sailed on to put in there and examine the place. No one ever knew if he found anything, for the captain and he were the only ones who went ashore during three weeks spent there, but it was his last voyage, for he afterwards bought a little farm up the valley and lived quietly with a very young and pretty girl for a wife. 226 THE TRANSMIGRATION OF AMOS JONES A~~TER supper Zack Green came on deck, and, seating himself on the bitt coverings near the port quarter-rail, lit a villanous looking cigar and began to smoke. We had run into the southeast trade and were reaching along to the southward under skysails. It was just seven bells and O'Toole, the first mate, had half an hour more of his watch on deck. The even- ing was clear, and the lumpy little trade-clouds flew merrily away to the northwest. Not even a skysail halyard had been touched for a week, so O'Toole lounged carelessly fore and aft on the quarter-deck, stopping at every turn when he reached the skipper to see if he had anything to say. In good weather Captain Green's discipline was not too strict, and he would often talk to the officer on watch. " I was thinking,' 1 said he, without tak- ing his eyes from the horizon-line, " about this trans- portation or emigration of souls you hear so much about nowadays. You know what I mean, one per- son's soul getting the weather-gauge of another's ; and do you know, by Gorry, I believe there's some truth in it." "Sure ! No fear, 'pon me whurd ; I know it's a fact," said O'Toole. "There's no doubt of it" 227 The Wind-jammers " I was just thinking av a case in hand, an', 'pon me whurd, 'twas typical av th' machination. D'ye remember owld man Crojack ? But ye must, fer he was one av th' owld shell-back wind-jammers av yer time, an' a man to decorate a quarter-deck. "Ye remember th' time he took Mr. Jones to Chancy? That's th' case in hand. Twas transmi- gration av sowl fer sowl, sure. " He was a contumacious rask'l, this Jones, an' 'twas by this token I came to like him. " His governor offered Crojack one thousand dol- lars if he would take him to sea an' bring him back again minus th' unaccountable thirst he had fer iced wines an' owld liquors. An' th' owld man did it "There was money enough in th' Jones family. But that is where th' trouble came in. Th' young divil must have had nigh onto a ton av stuff sent outside th' bar to meet us th' day we sailed. Bot- tles av all kinds came over th' rail whin th' owld man lay th' topsail to th' mast an' waited to see what th' small boat ahead av us wanted. Crojack didn't object, fer he reckoned to lock th' stuff in th' lazarette an' sell it at a fair figure in Hong-Kong. I remember th' outfly th' youngster made over th' grub. We were living better than any ship in th' Chancy trade, an' more like a man-o'-war than any trader afloat, but nothing would do him. "Wan morning he came to th' owld man an' said there was a bug in his bunk. ' Likely as not,' said Crojack ; * 'pon me sowl, there's wan in mine.' 228 The Transmigration of Amos Jones " If it hadn't been fer me th' owld man would have made out av th' wines, but when he had th' stuff locked fast th' young man came to me, so sor- rowful like, I didn't have th' heart to refuse him th' loan av a capstan-bar. Thin we went halves, an' as fast as we'd drink th' stuff he would fill th' bottles with good salt water an' put them back again. " ' Faith, ye have th' makin' av an uncommon nose on ye,' said th' owld man one day to th' young Jones. He was suspicious av th' color. *'Tis a good rule not to belave anything ye see an' noth- ing ye hear,' said that Amos, cocking his eye at me. An' th' owld man never thought to examine his lazarette till we made Singapore. Thin we came near having a mutiny aboard. "After this we grew mighty quiet, fer our grog was cut off intirely, an' we began to nose around fer something to scratch. Jones drank all th' Wor- cestershire sauce from th' cabin mess, an' wound up on th' alcohol av th' varnish tins in th' carpenter's room. " I was feeling blue, an' by th' time we struck into th' hot calms av th' Chancy Sea I was seeing queer things. Wan stifling, foggy morning I could stand it no longer, fer I'd had a nightmare that set me shaking. I went aft to th' owld man an' said, all tremblin' like, ' Captain, there's something wrong on this here ship, an' I had a bad night last night.' " * Anything wrong for'ard ?' said he. ' I thought ye were man enough to manage a lot av fellers like these.' The Wind-jammers " ' Tain't that/ I said. ' Nothin' th' matter there.' "Well, what in blazes is it?' he roared. 'Out with it. What's th' matter with ye ?' " I must have looked pretty rough, fer he kept his eyes on me, staring like, but I was a little ner- vous about telling my suffering. Finally I had to let it come. "'It's like this,' said I. 'Last night I lay out on the main-hatch durin' my watch below. I was draming av Billy Malone's wake, Bill, yer know, that used to be mate with Cutwater, an' I could see it all so plain, even Bill's pet goat. Th' goat had a pigtail as long as yer arrum hanging right under his chin, an' his eyes were bad looking. I gives th' baste a kick, an' Malone that's dead sat right up an' grinned horrible. Thin he called fer water, an' it seemed like th' new taste was too much fer him. He drank an' drank an' swelled an 1 swelled till he got as big as th' mainsail, an' all th' time I heard th' splash, splash, splash av th' liquid washing down his innerds. Thin he seemed to overshadow me an' thin draw slowly away, beck'ning me to follow. An' I tried to follow an' woke up. Ton me whurd, fer a fact, may th' saints belave me, there he was drifting off th' port beam, an' I could hear th' splash, splash, splash fer a minute afterwards.' " ' Is that all ?' said th' owld man. " ' No, sir ; ever since we struck this calm, three days ago, I've been feeling quare like, an' I ain't slept overmuch an', an* well, if ye have a drap av th' craythur it would do me good.' 230 The Transmigration of Amos Jones " ' Go for'ard an' send th' carpenter aft, an' then come here.' " So I did, an' whin I got there th' owld man give me an uncommon long grog. " ' Now,' said he, ' clear away th' after battery an* get out th' muskets. Ye air a fine dramist, Mr. O'Toole.' So I lent a hand an' got th' two six- pounders we carried on th' poop clear fer firing. Thin I looks out th' muskets. Amos Jones came on deck an' saw th' manoeuvres. " ' What fell !' said he. * Be ye going to engage in an engagement? Where's th' inimy?' Forth' wasn't a rag above th' sea-line. " ' Pirits,' said Chips, ramming a bag av powder into wan av th' guns. " ' Ye don't tell !' said Amos. " ' Fact,' said Chips ; * an' now if you'll pass me a ball I'll finish this roarer.' "But there wasn't wan aboard. No, sir; powder there was in plenty, but divil a ball aboard th' ship. "Th' owld man swore, an' we hunted all 'tween- decks, but 't wasn't any use, so we dealt out th' muskets an' waited for night. " Pretty soon Amos Jones came on deck again. "'I have it,' said he. 'Here's th' thing,' an' he held up a bottle filled full av bullets an' nails. 'Stave me, but this is good ammunition ; 'twill fit to a T.' An' sure enough it did. It fitted th' bore av th' little guns exactly. A most uncommon bad thing to have hove at ye close up. 231 The Wind-jammers " Th' fog held an' at night it was blacker than th' inside av th' galley stove-pipe. We had begun to laugh at th' skipper, but he said nothing, except that we'd see something before morning or else he'd put me in irons fer the biggest liar afloat I was tired that night, but I kept awake an* was leaning on th' port rail about midnight. Suddenly I heard a rip- pling in th' calm ocean off th' port beam. I passed th' whurd an' we lay waiting, Amos standing at th' lanyard av th' port gun. " All av a suddin we saw thim. Two junks right alongside jammed to th' rail with pigtails. " ' Turn her loose !' bawled th' owld man, an' Amos let her go slap into thim. That bottle burst close aboard, fer ye never heard sich yelling. Thin they ranged alongside an' was fast to us, an' they swarmed over th' rail like so many rats. "Well, there was bloody murder aboard us fer half an hour. 'Twas a nasty fight an' things looked bad at wan time. But Amos trained a culverin down th' main-deck an' gave thim ground glass, bullets, an' lug-bolts to th' quane's taste. "Thin we cleared up th' mess an' they let go. But Amos had got it bad. " A big pigtail had hit him a chip in th' thick av his leg, an' he was bleeding fer further orders. " There we were, two days' sail from Hong- Kong, an' no doctur aboard. "We tied him up th' best we could an' drew th' hooker with th' quarter-boats ranged ahead. Fi- nally th' air come an' we went along. 232 The Transmigration of Amos Jones "Whin we made th' harbor we had th' doctur, an' he said, " 'Lost too much blood.' " ' Well,' says Crojack, ' there's plenty av it in Chaney.' " ' Fact,' said th' doctur, an' he brought th' first loafer he found aboard. " ' Now,' says he, ' I'll have sum av yer juice, me boy, an' pay ye tin dollars fer it' " Th' Chaneyman was scared at first, but th' doctur said he would have him skinned alive if he wouldn't trade, so he finally did. " He guv him some spirits an' hitched th' yeller boy's artery to Amos Jones's. Thin th' natur av th' proceedings did th' rest. "We shut off grog on th' voyage home an' Amos acted like he was trying to become a dacent member av his father's church. Whin he landed an' said good -by, Crojack was making his reckon- ing fer that thousand dollars. " He went to th' office wan day an' there he met Amos Jones senior, an' he reminded th' gent av his debt. ' What ?' bawled Jones. ' Cured him, do ye say? Well, he was bad enough before, drinking like a gentleman, but ye've ruined him intirely. Here he is getting biled rice cooked fer every meal an' getting drunk on Chaney saki every night. No, sir, not a cent from me, sir.' An' they say he cried like th' good owld father he was." O'Toole stopped here and went to the break of the poop. When he returned, Zack Green was 233 The Wind-jammers thinking. " It may be so," said the skipper ; " but did you ever hear what become of the Chinaman ?" "That I did," said OToole. "What?" asked Zack Green. "Well, Amos Jones was a frind av mine, so, if ye' 11 excuse me, I'll not say. Ton me whurd, I won't." *34 MURPHY OF THE CONE- MAUGH A" L deep-water ships carry mascots. As the mascot must be some kind of living creat- ure, a cat will often supply the necessary medium for carrying on pleasant intercourse with the fickle goddess of fortune. But men on deep- water ships must be fed, especially those who live in the after-cabin or who help to form what is called the after-guard. Therefore it is not an uncommon sight to see a ship's deck looking like a small farm- yard afloat The clipper ship Conemaugh was noted for her long voyages. She was a product of the old school of wind-jammers and her skipper was a Yankee of Calvinistic views, who " Proved his religion orthodox By apostolic blows and knocks." He met little Murphy, the ship's pig, the morning the youngster was brought aboard. The little fel- low was in the arms of his sponsor, James Murphy, able seaman, and the way he kicked and squealed made the black moke of a cook poke his head out of the galley door and grin. "Take good care of that fellow," said the skip- per. " Them white hogs air wuth two black ones on the West Coast, so if we don't have to eat him I kin swap him off easy enough." 235 The Wind-Jammers So Murphy was put in a pen under the top-gallant- forecastle, and Jim was detailed to scrub him and otherwise attend to his wants. With all this care it would seem that he could hardly help becoming a good pig. But he was like many youngsters who have the best of care lavished upon them ; that is, he was thrown with mixed company. It is very hard, however, to separate the sheep from the goats, and as luck would have it Murphy's lot was thrown with Jim, the sailor who had the worst reputation among the mates of any man aboard the ship. The day the vessel put to sea the skipper mustered the men according to his custom, and made them an address. "The master," said he, " air greater than the ser- vant, and the servant ain't above the master." Here he looked straight at Jim. " So saith the holy gos- pel, an' whatsoever saith the gospel is er fact, an' is truth. If it ain't, I'll make it so if I have to take the hide off every burgoo-eating son of a sea-cook aboard the ship." There were many men aboard there who had heard little of the Scriptures, but even if they had heard much they would doubtless not have cared to discuss them or any other matter with the skipper. His voice rose to the deep, roaring tone of the hur- ricane on all occasions, and when it failed to convince the listener of the owner's logic, a sudden clap from his heavy hand generally ended verbal matters about as effectively as a stroke of lightning. Most of the men on board were used to kicks and curses, for the 236 Murphy of the Conemaugh skipper reckoned he could handle any class of men that ever trod a deck. He had a fair sprinkling of all on this cruise. As the mates followed the skip- per's example in matters of discipline, the ship was as near to being a floating hell as anything above water could be. Jim Murphy resented even the curses of the cap- tain and mates, so he was rated among the after- guard as the worst man on board. His friendship for the pig was against him in the forecastle, and soon even the men of the starboard watch began to hold off from him. "What d'ye want to fool with that porker fer? Yell never get er taste of him, hide or hair," growled old Dan. " He ain't the only pig aboard this here ship," answered Jim, "an* I like him better than most." "Kind goes with kind," observed the second mate, whenever he saw them together. Remarks like this made by the second officer caused great amusement to the men of the starboard watch. But those who applauded the most were old Dan and his chum Bull Davis. These two wor- thies gave Mr. Tautline to understand that he was the wittiest second mate afloat, in the hope that he would "pet" them. When they found this was use- less, the united curses of the whole crew were weak in expression as compared to the audible reflections of this worthy pair. When the ship reached the latitude of the River Plate, old Dan came out openly for mutiny. He told 237 The Wind-jammers with grim coolness and great detail of how he had taken part in an affair of this kind before. How he had crawled along the projecting sheer-strake out- side the bulwarks towards the quarter-deck, while a companion had done likewise on the side opposite. How they had made the sudden rush aft and had engaged with their sheath-knives against the revolv- ers of the after-guard. A little more nerve in a few men who hung back and the ship would have been taken. He had served part of a ten-years' sentence for this, had escaped, and had been continuously afloat ever since. Bull Davis was an escaped convict from Australia, and he seconded the old villain's project in every detail. One day, off the Horn, Dan was careless in mod- ulating his voice when the second mate gave an order. The next instant he was sprawling in the lee-scuppers and the second mate was addressing him coolly. "Don't make no remarks about the weather in my watch. It's a square wind, so up you go on that yard now a little quicker* n greased lightning." The devil was peeping from the old villain's eyes as he gained the ratlines, but he said nothing. When the ship ran into the sou|Jieast trade-wind, Murphy, the pig, was turned out on the deck to root at the seams. He would start down the gang- ways suddenly, without apparent reason, and go rushing along the water-ways at full speed, punctu- 238 Murphy of the Conemaugh ating his squeals with deep "houghs" that would have done credit to a bear. On these occasions Jim, the sailor, was perfectly happy. He would call the little fellow to him and the pig would follow him like a dog. " He is a cute little baste, an' he makes me home- sick," Jim would say, and the mates and men would rail and curse at him for it. The only living thing on board the ship that was in sympathy with them was the blasphemous green parrot belonging to the carpenter. This bird would pray and curse in the same breath, and whenever Jim came near the galley would call out "pig," "pig," in a high key. Then it would curse him and pray for his soul. One night Jim noticed that old Dan sat up late, sharpening his knife on a piece of holy-stone. Just before his watch turned out at midnight he awoke, and found that neither Dan nor Bull Davis were in the forecastle. He went on deck and walked aft, waiting for the bells to strike. In a moment Davis appeared, coming out of the cabin with Mr. Tautline. "There's something wrong with the port back- stay in the fore-riggin'," said the sailor to the mate. "What's that?" asked Tautline. "The lug-bolt in the lee fore-riggin' is busted. You had better take a look at it afore away goes the backstay," said Davis. "All right. Wait here till I get a pipe o' to- bacco, and we'll look at it" Jim hurried forward. He looked over the rail* The Wind- Jammers and peered into the blackness alongside. The phos- phorus flared in a ghostly manner as the water rolled lazily from the vessel's side, but everything appeared all right. Suddenly a gleaming bit of something shot up- ward. He started back quickly, and a hand hold- ing a knife struck savagely at his chest. The blade ripped his shirt from neck to waist, but did not wound him. The next instant old Dan arose from the channels and climbed over the rail to the deck. "The wrong man, ye murtherin' villain," growled Jim. "So it was, messmate," said Dan, coolly. "What's the row?" asked Tautline, coming up to where the men stood. He saw something was wrong, but had not seen Dan come over the side. "That busted dead-eye," answered Dan. "I was just lookin' at it" " Well, get out before I put a couple of dead-eyes in your ugly figgerhead. Slant away !" And Dan slunk around the corner of the deck-house. As the good weather held, the galley cat came out of hiding and sunned herself in the lee of the galley during the warm part of the day. Jim saw her and tried to make friends. "Keetie, keetie, nice leetle keetie," said h, trying to, stroke the brute on the head. But long confinement had told on Maria's liver, and she reached out and drew several long, bloody lines on the sailor's hand. "Ye infernal shnake !" cried Jim; and he aimed a 240 Murphy of the Conemaugh blow at the animal that would have knocked it clear across the equator had it not jumped nimbly to one side. His hand brought up against the galley with a loud bang. " Let that cat alone. What d' ye mean by trying to spoil a dumb brute's temper?" roared the voice of Tautline, and his form came lurching down the weather gangway. "Don't strike me !" cried Jim, as they closed. The belaying-pin in Tautline's hand came down with a sickening crack on the sailor's skull. "Stop !" he cried again. But Tautline was carried away by his passion and they went to the deck together. It was all over in a moment. Tautline lay gasp- ing in a red pool and Jim sat up, sheath-knife in hand, staring about him in a dazed manner. Then the captain and mate rushed up. " Handcuff him ! Put him in double irons !" cried the skipper, stretching Jim with a heavy blow. The next day little Murphy ran up and down the deck. The ports over the water-ways had been knocked out as the ship was very deep; they had not been nailed in again. Murphy came to where Jim was lying in irons under the top-gallant-fore- castle. He sniffed his bloody clothes and ran away with a squeal. The sailor called after him, but he did not stop until he reached the open port in the waist. Then he sniffed at the ominous stain on the bright deck planks and poked his head through the open port 16 241 X The Wind-jammers " Blood ! Blood ! Blood !" screamed the parrot in the galley. Murphy started, slipped, and was gone. The cook rushed to the side, bawling out something that sounded like "man overboard," and the noise brought the starboard watch on deck with a rush. "That bloomin' old pig," growled Dan, looking over the rail. There he was, sure enough, swimming wildly and striking himself under the jowl with every stroke. The captain watched his pig drifting slowly astern for a moment Then he turned to the mate. "All hands wear ship !" he bawled, and the men rushed to the braces. " Mr. Enlis," said the skipper, " you go aloft and keep the critter in sight Take my glass with you." The ship was heavy, so before she could be wore around the little pig was lost in the blue waste of sparkling waters. The mate came down from the ratlines with the glass and a smile which peculiarly emphasized the singleness of a solitary tooth. He did not like portc. The skipper walked the quarter-deck and mused with his chin in his hand. "That's too bad. Too bad. Too bad," said he. "I paid two dollars for that pig." And his voice was as mournful as the sound of the sea washing through the ribs of a lost ship. " Poor little pig," muttered Jim, and he tried to look astern from his place under the top-gallant-fore- 242 Murphy of the Conemaugh castle. "Poor little pig !" And the tears ran down his dirty, sun-bronzed face. "Wonder!" cried Dan, coming forward; "there's a murderer for you. Crying over an old pig he won't get a taste of, hide nor hair." "It's all that young devil's fault," mused the skip- per. " The master is above the servant an' the ser- vant ain't the master's equal. So says the Holy Scriptures. When a man takes up with them what is below him, he is gone wrong. That's Jim with the pig. Yes, sir, the Scriptures say them very words somewhere, I can't call to mind exactly where, but they are so. If they ain't I'll make them so, and I'll hang that Irish dog when I get him to 'Frisco." And he did. 243 MY PIRATE WE were sitting in old Professor Frisbow's room in the West Coast Museum, and our host had been listening to accounts of wonderful adventures on deep-water. Each had spoken, and it was Frisbow's turn. We settled ourselves comfortably, and he began : , " Few people remember the old town of St Au- Vgustine as it was before the war, with its old coquina houses and flat, unpaved streets, that abounded with sand-fleas in dry weather and turned into swamps of mud and sand when it rained. Those who can look so far back through life's vista will remember its peculiar inhabitants. " The Southern negro, sleeping in the hot sunshine on the plaza, or loafing about the sea-wall talking to the white 'cracker/ was, of course, the most numerous ; but there were also the Spaniards and Minorcans, who married and intermarried among themselves, that made up a large part of the population. "St. Augustine was not a thriving town. Its business could be seen almost any morning quite early, when a few long, narrow, dugout canoes, with a swarthy Minorcan rowing on one side, and a companion sitting aft paddling on the other, would come around the ' Devil's Elbow' in the Matanzas River, and glide swiftly and silently up to a break 244 My Pirate in the sea-wail and deposit their loads of mullet or whiting. Then the canoes would disappear with their owners, after a little haggling had been indulged ^.n between the latter and the purchasers of the fish, and the quiet of the long, hot day would begin. " It is astonishing how lazy one may become under the influence of that blue, semi-tropical sky, with the warm, gentle breeze from the southern ocean rippling the clear, green waters of the bay. Life seems a bright dream, and any unwonted exertion causes a jar to the nerves such as one feels when rudely awakened from a sound, pleasant sleep. During the daytime in summer no one but the negro and a few long-haired Minorcans would tempt the torrid sunshine ; and even I, with my passion for sport, would seldom show my pith helmet to the sun during July and August. " The inlets and rivers along the coast of Florida abound with all kinds of fish, from the little mullet to the mighty tarpon ; and many a day's sport have I had with them in either canoe or surf along that sandy coast. " For a guide I often had an old Spaniard called ' Alvarez.' This old man lived alone in a coquina house of rather large size, and affected the airs and manners of a grandee. He associated with no one, and no one seemed to know anything about him, except that he came there on a schooner from the West Indies years ago, being then an old man. He had bought this house, and had continued to live there without any visible means of support other 245 The Wind-jammers than the fish he caught He always went to the stre opposite the plaza, at the end of every month, and paid cash in Spanish or American gold and silver for his frugal supplies. "I had been out 'gator-shooting, and was returning home after two days' sport with a few good skins, when, on turning the last bend in South River about twenty miles from St. Augustine, I came suddenly upon an old man in a dugout canoe fishing. He had just hooked a large bass, and I started the sheet of my sharpie to stop its headway, and waited until he landed him. I then sailed up alongside of the canoe, intending to buy the fish and take it home with me, thinking, of course, that the old man would be glad to sell it. What was my surprise when he informed me politely that he did not care to sell it, though he had a score or two in the bottom of his canoe. This from an old long-haired Spaniard who seemed in the depths of poverty excited my curi- osity, and I endeavored to start a conversation with him about the different fishing * drops' in the locality. He eyed me suspiciously at first, and finally answered my questions with an ease that puzzled me greatly. "There was one particular place, or 'drop,' for catching drum-fish down the South River of which I had often heard but could never find, so I ventured upon this subject to the stranger. To my great surprise he offered to accompany me to it any time that I should find it convenient, telling me at the same time that he lived in St Augustine, and that I would probably find him there the next day. I My Pirate thanked him, and, letting go, squared away before the southeast breeze and soon left him out of sight " The next day I was walking along the sea-wall smoking my pipe and thinking of this peculiar old fisherman with his mahogany-colored face and bright eye, wondering if I could get him to pilot me on an expedition to the southward. I had a rambling idea of spending several weeks in fishing down the Indian River, and I wanted some one to pilot me who knew the way through the inland passages. While I was trying to form some plan of this in- tended trip I saw a canoe come around the bend in the Matanzas, and, on its approaching nearer, I recognized the old man whom I had met the day before. I went up to him as he landed at the break in the sea-wall and asked him what luck he had had fishing. For a reply he showed me as fine a catch of red bass as I had ever seen, at the same time offering me a couple as a present. I took them ; and after he had tied his boat to a ring in the wall, he joined me and walked part of the way home with me. " On our way I asked him if he had ever been through the passages to the Indian River, and he smiled as he answered ' yes.' I then asked him if he would guide me through on a trip that I intended to make. He was silent for some moments, and finally said he would, provided there was no party going along with me. I then left him ; and after going home with my fish I went around to see my friend the sheriff, to find out more about him. I 247 The Wind-jammers was told that he was a peaceable old fellow, and as he fished a great deal he probably knew all the best places for miles around, that his name was Alvarez, and that he was a reliable man as far as any one knew. " About a week after this we started out one fine ?day bound south. Although Alvarez was an absent- minded old fellow, and in spite of his peculiar man- ner, so different from the common class of dirty, poverty-stricken Spaniards, we got along together splendidly. I was never a great talker, especially when hunting or fishing, and the dearth of conver- sation on this trip was one of the most enjoyable features of it. Old .Alvarez and I became quite good friends after this expedition, and I often used to question him about himself and his affairs. As long as the conversation related to his life in the town he would talk readily enough, but anything re- garding his birth or former life he always avoided, merely saying that he ran away to sea when quite young, and that was all that could be drawn from him. " My fancy often pictured him a pirate or ' beach- comber,' and, in fact, there was a rumor to that effect in the town. People said that he had treas- ures buried along the shore somewhere on Anas- tasia Island ; and that if he chose to talk, more than one vessel that had cleared Cuban ports and had never been heard from could be accounted foi\ This was mere idle gossip and amounted to noth ing, but once somebody had seen his canoe at mid- 248 My Pirate night hauled up on the sand on a narrow part of the island some ten miles below the town. " Sailing by, they had seen Alvarez walking up and down the beach with his head bowed forward as if looking for something. It was not the season for turtles' eggs, so it was hard to imagine what he was looking for in the soft yellow sand. People, how- ever, did not like to inquire too closely into his affairs, for when he was annoyed his face assumed such a sinister expression that it boded no good for those who were inclined to chaff him. " One night a negro ruffian and a Minorcan forced an entrance into his house with the evident intention of securing his imagined treasure. The next morn- ing Alvarez came out and told the sheriff that there were two dead men in his house that he would like to have removed. The sheriff, who was a Spaniard, came around, and there, sure enough, lay both ; one shot through the neck and the other through the head, while two immense old-fashioned pistols lay empty on a table in his room. There were no signs of a struggle except a long smear of blood from his room to the hall where the body of the negro lay. He was easily aquitted, and afterwards became more stoical than ever, but he was never disturbed again. " Although these things happened long before I knew him, I did not hear of them until some time afterwards, and I've often wondered since what made the old fellow take such a fancy to me. "Alvarez and I used to shoot pelicans together. 249 The Wind-jammers We would go down the river to a narrow part of the island and then cross over to the front beach. I had always remembered this place on account of a bunch of tall palmettoes that grew on the outside of the island and towered above the low bunches of scrub-oak. A more lonely spot it would be hard to find even in that wild country. Here we would make a blind for the night, and shoot the birds as they came in on the beach to roost among the sand- dunes. By the light of a full moon fair sport could be had in this way, and often we would secure a fine bird with long pencilled feathers. " One night after shooting several birds we turned in on the sand, intending to spend the rest of the night there, as there was no wind. I awoke during the night, and, looking around, found that Alvarez had disappeared. I looked across the sand-spit and saw the boat all right, so I wondered where he could have gone. I arose, and, shaking the sand from my clothes, followed his tracks, which were plainly visi- ble down the beach towards the clump of palmettoes that stood out sharply against the moonlit sky. On nearing them I saw a figure sitting on the sand un- der the largest tree, and on getting closer I saw that it was Alvarez with his head bowed forward on his arms, which rested on his knees. He started up sud- denly on hearing me approach, and asked, sharply, " * How long have, you been here ?' " His voice sounded so different from what I had been accustomed to that I was quite startled, and stood looking at him for some moments wondering 250 My Pirate if he had gone mad. He returned my gaze steadily and gave me a most searching look. I finally an- swered that I had come to look for him ; at the same time I wondered what he meant and tried to curb my rising temper. His fixed look relaxed and he turned his head slightly. I followed his glance, and saw that he was looking at the ground near the foot of one of the palmettoes. The sand about the roots was much disturbed, as if he had been digging for something. "'Alvarez,' said I, 'what have you been hunting for, and what do you mean by asking how long I've en watching you ?' " He remained silent for some moments, then rising, he placed his hand on my shoulder : ' That's all right, Mr. Frisbow,' he said. ' I have these night- mare fits on me once in a while.' "'Well,' I answered. 'It's a strange sort of nightmare that makes one go rooting around in the sand like a hog.' " He looked at me again with that curious ex- pression, and then said, slowly, " ' I was a young man when I first came onto the Florida reef, and there's many things happened about here and Barrataria before you was born. Some day I'll talk with you about old times, but not to-night It's late. We go to sleep.' " ' No,' said I, ' tell me what you mean. There's plenty of time for sleep, and, besides, it's too hot, anyhow.' " ' Well/ said he, ' there's just one thing I think 251 The Wind-jammers about every time I come to this spot, and that is the fight which took place a couple of miles off shore, abreast this clump of palmettoes.' '"What kind of fight?' I asked. 'I never heard of any fight taking place off here.' " He looked at me sharply, and I fancied the hard lines in his weather-beaten face relaxed into the faintest suspicion of a smile. " ' Quite likely not,' he answered, ' but there was one off here a long time ago. It isn't likely many people remember much about it, for the men who took part in it probably died years ago. It was between two schooners. " 'There was one that carried fruit from Havana, and she started down the coast one night from St. Augustine, homeward bound, but without any lights. This was probably an oversight, or, perhaps, a desire on the part of her skipper to save oil. " ' There was another schooner coming up the coast that evening, and she didn't have any lights because she was all the way from the Guinea Coast loaded with ebony.' " ' I don't see why a vessel carrying ebony shouldn't carry lights,' I interrupted. "Old Alvarez's face showed a net- work of lines and wrinkles and the stumps of his yellow teeth shone bright in the moonlight. " 'There isn't any real reason why they shouldn't,' said he ; 'but there used to be a prejudice against the trade. As for me, I don't see why people con- sidered it in such a bad light, for shipping the article 252 My Pirate not only paid the owners but improved the ebony after they got it ashore.' " ' I see/ I answered ; * the ebony was alive, then, and in the form of men and women. ' " 'Most likely,' he replied, 'though they do say that life in a ship's hold is not uncoupled with death, especially when a vessel gets caught in the hot calms outside the Guinea Gulf. Anyhow, the vessel had no lights and was crowding along with every rag on her. " ' The first thing anybody on board knew of the whereabouts of the fruit schooner was the crash of her bowsprit poking into the fore-rigging and knock- ing the foremast out of the Guinea trader. Then she ranged alongside, all fast, with her head-gear tangled in the wreck. " ' There were a great many men on the vessel carrying the ebony, and in a few minutes they swarmed on deck with muskets and cutlasses. As soon as they found the fellow was a fruit schooner they started to cut her adrift, cursing the captain and crew for the damage. " ' Everything might have gone well and the ves- sels separated but for the fact that the passengers on board were two officers and their families bound for Havana. These two men came on deck in uni- form, and in less than a minute the men saw them. To let them go meant certain death to all hands on the ebony schooner, so they started over the rail after them. ' " Here Alvarez became suddenly silent for a few 253 The Wind-jammers moments, and his eyes wandered towards the trees, as if expecting to see some one. Then, facing me again, he continued : " ' They made a terrible fight, they say, cutting down half a dozen men as they crowded aft. The captain and crew of the schooner were soon tied up, and the men rushed onto the quarter-deck to take the officers at any cost. It was all over in a minute, and the two wives and a beautiful girl were carried on board the ebony schooner. The men were so worked up that a plank was rigged from the weather- rail and the lashings cast off from the feet of the prisoners. One by one they walked to their death along that narrow strip of wood with their eyes bandaged and elbows lashed fast behind them and that was all. ' " He remained silent for some moments after this, and again looked sharply at the clump of palmettoes. " 'But, Alvarez,' I said, "what became of the two women and the beautiful young girl?' " ' I never heard/ he answered, dryly, and started to walk slowly back to the blind. "'Did they ever catch the ebony schooner?' I ventured again. " ' I don't know,' he replied, shortly, and, as I saw he would talk no more, I kept silent " After walking up and down the beach trying to get cool, we finally laid down under the trees and slept until daybreak. Then we started home. On the way back we were becalmed, and having drunk up all the water, we drifted along under a scorching 254 My Pirate sun with our mouths too dry to open. As I lay on my back in the bottom of the boat, I could not help thinking of the stories about this old man, and it suddenly flashed upon me that he had been seen near those same palmettoes before. " I vaguely wondered if he had been a pirate and had buried his ill-gotten money under those trees on that lonely shore. There he sat in the stern-sheets, his grizzled hair shining in the bright sunlight under his old slouch hat, and his small gray eyes looking seaward for the first cat's-paw of the coming morning breeze. His skin, tanned to leather from long ex- posure to the weather, made him as impervious to the sun's rays as a negro. But in spite of this his features were as clearly cut and as strongly marked as those of a Don of bluest blood Altogether he was not a bad looking old man, even with his slightly hooked nose and too firm mouth. " I soon fell asleep and dreamed of rich galleons fighting huge canoes full of grizzled pirates, armed to the teeth, who squinted carefully along their old muskets and fired with loud yells. I suddenly awoke to find Alvarez calling to me to sit to windward, as we were heeling over and rushing along through the water before the sea-breeze only a few miles from town. "The next day we started out bass-fishing in the surf on the outer beach. A rod and reel would have been considered strange instruments in those days down there. We used to take our hand-lines, which were very long, and, coiling them carefully, 255 The Wind-jammers would wade out to our armpits. Then swinging the heavy sinkers about our heads until they acquired sufficient velocity, we would send them flying out beyond the first line of breakers, and paying out line, would wade back the beach. Sharks abounded, and often we lost our gear when they took a fancy to our baits. We never feared their attacking us, as the waters abounded with fish, and in such places they seldom if ever attack a man. " One day after some good sport Alvarez seemed tired, and instead of holding the end of his line in his hand he tied it around his waist. I noticed this and was about to call his attention to the danger of it, when I hooked a huge bass and was kept busy playing it for some time. The lines we used were about the size of the cod-lines used in the North, and capable of holding a strain of nearly two hun- dred pounds, while the hooks were like the drum hooks now used. While I was playing my fish my line, which was old, parted near the end, and I hauled it in to fit a new hook and sinker. During the time I was thus engaged Alvarez had waded out up to his shoulders in the surf and had cast his line into deep water. He then started to wade slowly back towards the shore. Before he had made a dozen steps I saw him suddenly reach for his line. "Three heavy breakers had just rolled in, fol- lowed by a comparatively smooth spell that lasted for a few moments. I stopped working at my line and watched him, for I knew he must have had a good bite. Suddenly I saw him throw his whole 256 My Pirate weight on the line, but in spite of this go slowly forward. He was now in water so deep that he had to jump up every time the swell came to keep his head out of the foam. In a moment I turned, and as I caught the expression of his face I knew what had happened. That face I've often seen since in my dreams, and I will never forget the expression of sudden fear that filled it. " He had gone out so far that he could not get a good foothold ; a shark had seized his bait and was making slowly out to sea. He called my name and beckoned me to come and help him. With trem- bling fingers I finished knotting the sinker to my line and rushed headlong with it down the beach. Water is a yielding fluid, but all who have tried know what tremendous exertion is required to make speed through it when in above the knees. When I was close enough I swung my sinker over my head and sent it whizzing straight and true towards the old man, who was now out to the first line of breakers, and swimming, though steadily moving outward. " I flung the lead towards him, and he would have caught the line, but at that instant a huge sea broke right over him and he disappeared in the smothering foam. When he reappeared he was beyond reach and going steadily seaward. With a sickening feel- ing I hauled in the line and plunged into the surf to swim out to him. I made good headway until I reached the first line of curling water, when a heavy breaker fell over me and swept me back a hundred feet from where I started. Standing there in the 17 257 The Wind-jammers surf, with the bright sun shining, I saw old Alvarez passing slowly out to sea to disappear forever. I tried to think what to do. He evidently could not break the line. It was impossible to untie it with the strain on it, and he being only half dressed had left his knife ashore. " I thought of our boat which was on the lee side of the island, and knew that it would take a couple of hours to get around the point However, it seemed the only thing to do, so I made my way ashore and started across the island as fast as possi- ble. Just before entering the woods I looked sea- ward, and there on the breast of a long swell, a quarter of a mile off, was Alvarez, swimming stead- ily with his face turned towards the beach. " In about a quarter of an hour I reached the boat, hoisted the sail, and shoved off There was hardly any wind on the lee side of the island, so I put out an oar and sculled until the perspiration poured down my face and my heart seemed as though it would burst. In spite of this I made but little headway, and finally had to give it up ex- hausted. It was about two in the afternoon when I started, and it was after three before I cleared the point and got wind enough to get to sea. I came around on the sea side of the island and close enough in to see our coats on the beach, but of Alvarez there was not a trace. " I headed out to sea in the direction that he was going when I saw him last, and searched about until dark, when I gave it up as hopeless. It was late -53 My Pirate when I arrived in the town that night, so I waited until morning before I reported the accident. " The sheriff searched the house in which the old man lived, but nothing was found except an old sea-chest filled with clothes, some of which appeared to be Spanish uniforms, but very dilapidated. No money was found in the house except a few Spanish gold coins, and these were in the room that he oc- cupied as a bedroom. " For months afterwards I kept thinking of Alvarez and his tragic end. Although I felt very sorry for him, I could not help wondering if he did have money concealed in the neighborhood. I often felt heartily ashamed of myself, after discussing with some friend the probability of his having concealed wealth, but, nevertheless, the fancy that he had took a strong hold of me. " I tried to imagine where on earth he could have hidden anything, and always my thoughts centred on that clump of palmettoes on that low sandy island. This feeling finally took such hold of me that one night I started out pelican-shooting with a shovel in the bottom of my boat " I felt something like a robber, but knowing that the old fellow had no relations, or friends even, for that matter, I tried to convince myself that I was right. It was about eight o'clock when I started with a good sailing breeze off the land, so it could ,not have been more than ten when I ran my boat's bow on the sand and lowered the sail on the west e of the island. sid it The Wind-jammers "As I took up my gun and shovel a feeling of excitement came over me, and I felt as though I had already found a mass of untold wealth. When I started to walk across the island this feeling in- creased, and soon I was plunging and ploughing through the deep dry sand at a great rate. " I could see the bunch of trees standing out clearly against the sky, and also the white surf be- yond, for, although the moon was only in its first quarter, the night was clear and bright. I halted on the crest of a circular sand-dune to get my breath, and a feeling of lonesomeness crept over me as I looked towards the dark grove and down the lonely beach where everything was lifeless. The stillness seemed intensified by the deep booming of the surf, and I felt as if something or somebody was watching me. I had just turned towards the trees and was starting down the side of the dune when, with a sudden rush and flapping of wings, a huge gray pelican started up within ten feet of me and made off like a great gray ghost to seaward. A sudden chill shot up my spine. Dropping the shovel, I grabbed my gun in both hands and fired instantly at the retreating shadow. The shot was an easy one, but I missed ; so, swearing at myself audibly for my nervousness, I picked up the shovel and went on. "I halted under the largest tree, and, resting my gun against the trunk, tried to form some plan of action. Although the trees were some thirty feet above high-water, there were no tracks or anything else to indicate that any one had ever been there 260 My Pirate before. I might dig the whole grove up, for all that I had to guide me, before striking the right spot However, I went to work at the front of the big tree and started to dig to the eastward. " I toiled for an hour and was getting pretty warm. Thus far I had struck nothing but the roots of a tree, so I began to despair. I knew that I might keep on digging holes clear through to China, and, with nothing to guide me, pass within a foot of what I searched for. I took off my shirt, and the cool breeze blowing on my warm body invigorated me ; so, taking up the shovel again, I started to lengthen the hole to the eastward. I dug steadily for another half-hour, when my shovel suddenly struck something solid. This made my heart almost leap into my mouth, and with quickening breath I dug fiercely on. " Like a miner on making his first find of gold, I trembled all over, and the perspiration poured down my naked breast and shoulders as I .threw clouds of sand on all sides. I was as drunk as if I had swal- lowed a pint of liquor, and I remember nothing ex- cept that I felt like shouting with delight. I finally cleared a box of the sand over it and then tried to lift it. To my intense surprise it moved easily. But my excitement gave way to the deepest disappoint- ment, for I well knew that if a box about six feet long, two wide, and two deep contained coin it would take more than one man of my size to move it. "I lost no time thinking these thoughts, but started to pry off the lid. The wood, which was 261 The Wind-jammers extremely well preserved, resisted the edge of my shovel so well that it broke the iron. I was losing patience, so, whirling the shovel above my head, I brought it down with crushing force upon the lid. After a few blows it gave way, and I eagerly tore off the splintered fragments. As I did so I leaned over and peered into the face of a corpse. " I leaped back and gazed at it in a stupefied way for some moments, my head in a whirl, then par- tially recovering myself, I went forward to examine it. It looked like the body of a man in the uniform of an officer ; at least so I judged by some buttons on the coat ; but everything had passed through the last stages of decomposition. There was nothing left on the head at all, and the teeth grinned horribly in the moonlight. " As I stood and gazed I thought of Alvarez. So this was his secret ! How came a man to be buried in such a lonely spot ? Was it a friend or victim of his former days, brought ashore from some vessel in the offing that dare not land at St. Augustine ? " I did not molest the body, but after recovering myself I put the fragments of the lid back as well as I could and piled the sand over it. I then dressed, and, taking my gun, started for the boat After sailing several hours with hardly any wind, I arrived at the town just as the rising sun came up out of the ocean. I said nothing of my trip to any one, and soon after left St Augustine to return no more for years. " The town is a queer old place, but it has changed 262 My Pirate greatly to one who remembers it as it was years ago. Its quaint old fort and coquina walls doubtless con- tain many secrets of their former owners. As for old Alvarez, he carried his to sea with him that bright afternoon with a shark for a pilot" 26* THE CURSE OF WOMAN