XX
ABOARD THE CUTTER
WHEN the boatswain made his report to the lieutenant on board he didnot confine himself to the points Larry had suggested. It had been hisfirst thought to do so, reporting only that he had found no smugglersbut had discovered a law-abiding company of youths who knew where thesmugglers were and were willing to act as guides to the point indicated.
But on his way it occurred to him that the lieutenant might ask himquestions—how he knew the character of the boys, and why he had notplaced them under arrest, and other things relating to the conduct ofhis expedition.
It would be humiliating to have the story thus drawn out of him, and itwould be awkward for him to explain why he had not reported the wholething in the first place. So, upon reflection, he told the story infull, though briefly.
When he mentioned Larry’s name the lieutenant gave a little start andleaning forward as if to make sure he heard aright, asked:
“What did you say his name is?”
“Lawrence Rutledge is the name he gave me, sir.”
“Of Charleston?”
“That’s where he said he lived, sir,” answered the boatswain, wonderingwhy his superior was so closely questioning him on these points.
The lieutenant resumed his upright position and with a half laugh said:
“It’s lucky for you that you chose discretion as the better part ofvalor this time. If Lawrence Rutledge is any way akin to his father,you’d have had the tidiest little fight you ever heard of on your handsif you’d charged him.”
“I don’t think there would have been any fight at all, sir, if you’llpardon me.”
“Why not?”
“Only that I think every man of us would have bitten dust before wecould have fired a gun. Those fellows were ready with guns cocked andleveled.”
“The moral of that is that you too should always be ready and have yourmen ready. Order the gig alongside—men unarmed.”
When the gig was ready, which was almost instantly, the lieutenant randown the ladder, dropped into her, took the helm, and gave the orders:
“Oars!” “Let fall!” “Give way!” and the boat shot away toward theplainly visible camp-fire.
Landing, he introduced himself to Larry, who received him cordially andin turn presented his comrades.
“I have the pleasure of knowing your father very well, Mr. Rutledge,”he began.
“Then, please,” Larry interrupted, “call me ‘Lawrence,’ or ‘Larry,’ andnot ‘Mr. Rutledge,’ Lieutenant. I’m only a boy yet, and I’ll never be‘Mister’ to any of my father’s friends.”
“Very well. ‘Larry’ it shall be then, the more gladly because that iswhat I called you years ago when, as I remember, I was telling a lot ofsea stories to you and your brother Calhoun—”
“Make it Cal, Lieutenant,” said the youth mentioned. “Larry and I aretwins, you know, and always share things evenly between us. We did sowith your stories, you know. I remember it very well, though we were apair of very small youngsters then.”
“So you were—so young that I didn’t think you would remember thematter. But we’re losing time, and time may be precious in this case.My petty officer tells me you young gentlemen have seen the miscreantsI’ve been hunting for and can tell me where they are.”
“We’ve seen them, and our friend Tom Garnett here has been inside oneof their caches and inspected their goods. We can tell you where theywere two nights or so ago, and perhaps they are there yet.”
“Almost certainly they are,” broke in the lieutenant. “It is calmweather outside, and not a craft of any kind has put in here under pleaof weather stress since the _Senorita_ sailed two or three days ago.”
“The _Senorita_?” Tom repeated; “why, that’s the ship’s name I sawmarked on some of the cigar cases and rum kegs they had.”
“Good, good, good!” said the officer enthusiastically. “If we can getto that hiding place before they remove the goods, I’ll telegraph toBaltimore to nab the ship also when she comes in. We _must_ get therein time. My officer understood that you and your party were willing togo with us. Was his understanding correct?”
“Yes,” Larry answered, “we’ll be glad to do that, but we must make someprovision for the safety of our boat while we are gone.”
“She’ll be safe enough when she rests on the cutter’s deck. I’ll senda crew to take her alongside and we’ll hoist her on board. When all’sover I’ll put you in the water again at any point you choose. Is thatsatisfactory?”
“I should say so,” answered Larry. “We’re ready, Lieutenant.”
“Come on then, and I’ll take you aboard. I’ll leave a man with yourcraft till a boat’s crew can come and tow her alongside. Then we’llweigh anchor and be off.”
It was less than fifteen minutes later when the boys saw the_Hunkydory_ carefully braced upon the little steamer’s deck and closelycovered with a tarpaulin.
But it was nearly midnight and the lieutenant invited the boys tosleep in the comfortable berths provided for them until the cuttershould reach the neighborhood of the smugglers’ camp. He thought hesufficiently recognized the locality from Cal’s description, andprobably he could have steamed to it without further guidance. Butthere was no sleep in the eyes of the boys after their adventurousnight, and they all heartily echoed Cal’s sentiment when he answered:
“What good is there in the frazzled end of a ragged night for sleepingpurposes. I for one will stay up till we see this thing through, if itis going through to-night.”
The little cutter was a fleet-winged craft, built for speed, andcarrying greatly more horse power than ordinary steamers of twice hersize. Her navigator and all her officers, indeed, knew every detailof the waters they were traversing, and so the lieutenant hoped thathe might reach his destination in time to descend upon the smugglersbefore morning.
In this he was disappointed. Some accident to the cutter’s machinerycompelled a delay of two or three hours in a narrow strait where, toadd to the annoyance of delay, a swarm of sand flies descended uponthe ship’s company. These are minute insects, so minute that no screenor netting, however finely woven, interferes in the least with theirfree passage in or out of any opening. Their bite or sting is even morepainful than that of a mosquito, and they come in myriads.
Under the advice of the commanding officer the boys retreated to aclosed cabin below and remained there until the ship was under wayagain—otherwise for two or three hours, during which they lolled aboutand managed to get some sleep in spite of their impatience over thedelay and the otherwise excited condition of their minds.
By way of making themselves more comfortable, they all drew off theirboots, but they could not be persuaded to go to the bunks assigned totheir use, because the ship might start again at any moment and theywere determined to be ready for that whenever it should occur.
Cal, as usual, was the most wakeful of the party, and at first he wasdisposed to talk, but his impulse in that way was promptly checked whenTom and Larry each threw a boot at him and Dick, half asleep, muttered:
“I second the motion.”
As a consequence of this drastic treatment Cal closed his lips and hiseyes at the same moment and was presently breathing as only a sleeperdoes. The others, tired and worn out with an excitement that had bythis time passed away, were soon in a profound slumber which lasteduntil the engines began to throb again and the ship to jar and tremblewith the rapid revolutions of the screw.
The sun was well up by that time, and after going on deck, where asailor doused bucketfuls of salt water over them as an eye-opener, theywere invited to breakfast with the commanding officer.