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villains replied readily:
"Nothin' yet awhile. Some chance will turn up before we're under way; but if it don't, the matter must be
CHAPTER XV. 61
settled at night while they're below. It won't be a hard job, for they can't stay on deck together all the time, and
when the crowd is separated it'll be like child's play. Don't act as if anything was in the wind, but be sweet as
molasses till the flies are where we want 'em!"
Then the three men ascended the ladder, and from the benign expression on their faces the most suspicious
would hardly have fancied they had been plotting to murder those who befriended them in a time of need.
CHAPTER XVI. 62
CHAPTER XVI.
TRICKED.
When the conspirators came on deck, and before they finished smoking, the boys cleaned the cabin, ate their
own dinner in the galley, and were at liberty to remain idle until it should be time to prepare supper.
After the heat of the day had passed Bob proposed that all the brig's lower sails should be set; adding, in
conclusion:
"'Cordin' to my way of thinkin', there's goin' to be a decent kind of a breeze about sunset, an' if we're ready for
it jes' so much time will be saved in leavin' this place."
The three strangers appeared even more eager than he to see the brig under canvas once more, and all hands
turned to with a will, pulling, hoisting, and sheeting home as if the wind which was to waft them toward the
United States had already begun to blow.
By the time this work was done there could no longer be any question but that a generous breeze from the
south was near at hand. Thin, filmy clouds formed in the sky, while every now and then the heated air would
be set in motion slightly, as a token of what might be expected.
"There's no doubt now but that we'll be under way by sunset," Joe said, as he stood on the quarter-deck where
the boys had taken refuge from the heat, "and it would be a good idea for me to be bringing my dunnage out
of the tug, since it ain't likely I'll ever see the little craft again."
"Ain't you goin' to try and save anything else?" Jim asked.
"There isn't much that we can take. Suppose all hands go aboard and see if there's anything belonging to the
crew that'll pay for carrying away?"
The boys accepted the invitation readily, for they did not care to move about the deck of the brig very much
lest they came in contact with the red-nosed man and his friends, and all four went into the tiny after-cabin of
the Sea Bird, where Joe at once began his work of investigation.
There were four chests here in addition to the one owned by Joe, and these were broken open without
ceremony, for the engineer did not intend to burden himself with anything that might not be of considerable
value to the owners.
"We'll unpack 'em, and then put the things back carefully, in case the little craft is carried home again," he
said, going to work systematically, while the boys watched him with mild curiosity.
There was no apparent necessity for haste, therefore Joe set about his task leisurely because of the intense
heat, which made the slightest exertion almost painful, and but two of the chests had been overhauled when
Bob came below to learn what was going on.
"Gettin' ready to leave, eh?" he asked, after looking at the perspiring engineer in silence several moments.
"Well, it's time; for unless I've made a big mistake in them light clouds we'll start from here mighty soon."
"If we were going alone I'd feel tiptop," Joe said, as he paused for an instant in his work; "but as it is, I'm
afraid we'll have trouble with that crowd before the United States coast heaves in sight, even if they do talk so
fair just now."
CHAPTER XVI. 63
"We must keep our weather-eyes liftin' every minute, an' at the first sign of a row pitch in so's to take 'em
unawares;" and Bob stretched himself out on the port locker as if determined to enjoy all possible comfort
before the serious work of sailing the brig without an experienced navigator was begun. "I wouldn't hesitate to
give 'em the slip by leavin' the whole crowd here; but there's no chance of their goin' ashore after the wind
rises."
"No," Joe replied, with a long-drawn sigh, "we shall have to grin an' bear it, I reckon; but----"
He ceased speaking very suddenly, for just at that moment a footstep was heard on the steamer's deck, and an
instant later the unpleasant-looking face of the man with the red nose appeared at the companion-way.
"You all got outer sight so quick that I thought p'rhaps you'd gone overboard," he said with a leer, glancing
inquisitively around the cabin, but making no motion to descend.
"Joe is overhaulin' this dunnage, to see if there's anything worth carryin' back to the States," Bob replied
carelessly, as the engineer continued his work in silence.
The man lowered his head as if to see the interior more plainly, and, unperceived by any one in the little
apartment, made a quick motion with his hand, evidently for the benefit of those aboard the brig.
During nearly five minutes he stood there carelessly pushing the hatch back and forth, until the Mexican
waved his hat, when the red-nosed man suddenly shut both doors, shoving into place the bolts which fastened
them together.
The little party in the cabin looked up in surprise at this singular maneuver, but it was not until the sound of
quick footsteps was heard on the deck as the man ran swiftly aboard the brig that any one thought of
treachery.
"They've locked us in here so's they can steal the Bonita!" Bob shouted, as he leaped to the companion-way
and began pounding on the bolted doors.
The oaken timbers were firm as a bulk-head, and, without a weapon, he might have worked there all day in
vain.
Joe had sprung to the windows; but his efforts were quite as useless as Bob's. Heavy iron gratings, intended to
keep out intruders and break the force of the waves, were screwed so firmly in the wood-work that they could
not be removed from the inside save by the use of proper tools.
They were securely imprisoned, for the cabin had no outlet except at the companion-way, and two or three
hours of hard work would be absolutely necessary before they could escape by the doors.
While Bob and Joe were darting from one possible point of vantage to another, shouting for help and uttering
wild threats in the same breath, the boys had gathered at one of the port windows which looked directly on the
brig's bulwarks. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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