The Stowaway Girl

  CHAPTER III

  WHEREIN THE "ANDROMEDA" NEARS THE END OF HER VOYAGE

  "Five bells, miss! It'll soon be daylight. If you wants to see theCross, now's your time!"

  Iris had been called from dreamless sleep by a thundering rat-tat onher cabin door. In reply to her half-awaked cry of "All right," thehoarse voice of a sailor told her that the Southern Cross had justrisen above the horizon. She had a drowsy recollection of someonesaying that the famous constellation would make its appearance at sevenbells, not at five, and the difference of an hour, when the timehappens to be 2:30 instead of 8:30 a.m. is a matter of some importance.But, perhaps that was a mistake; at any rate, here was the messenger,and she resolutely screwed her knuckles into her eyes and began todress. In a few minutes she was on deck. A long coat, a Tam o'Shanter, and a pair of list slippers will go far in the way of costumeat night in the tropics, and the _Andromeda's_ seventeenth day at seahad brought the equator very near. At dinner on the previousevening--in honor of the owner's niece fashionable hours were observedfor meals--Mr. Watts mentioned, by chance, that the Cross had been verydistinct during the middle watch, or, in other words, between midnightand 4 a.m. Iris at once expressed a wish to see it, and Captain Cokeoffered a suggestion.

  "Mr. Hozier takes the middle watch to-night," said he. "We can ax 'imto send a man to pound on your door as soon as it rises. Then you mustrun up to the bridge, an' 'e'll tell you all about it."

  If Iris was conscious of a slight feeling of surprise, she did not showit. Hitherto, the burly skipper of the _Andromeda_ had made it soclearly understood that none of the ship's company save himself was toenjoy the society of Miss Iris Yorke, that she had exchanged very fewwords with the one man whose manners and education obviously entitledhim to meet her on an equal plane. Even at meals, he was often absent,for the captain and chief officer of a tramp steamer are not altruistswhere eating is concerned. She often visited the bridge, her favoriteperch being the shady side of the wheel-house, but talking to theofficer of the watch was strictly forbidden. In everythingappertaining to the vessel's navigation the discipline of a man-of-warwas observed on board the _Andromeda_. So Coke's complacency came nowquite unexpectedly, but Iris was learning to school her tongue.

  "Thank you very much," she said. "When shall I see him?"

  "Oh, you needn't bother. I'll tell 'im meself."

  She was somewhat disappointed at this. Hozier would be free for anhour before he turned in, and they might have enjoyed a nice chat whilehe smoked on the poop. In her heart of hearts, she was beginning toacknowledge that a voyage through summer seas on a cargo vessel, withno other society than that of unimaginative sailormen, savored oftedium, indeed, almost of deadly monotony. Her rare meetings withHozier marked bright spots in a dull round of hours. During theirsmall intercourse she had discovered that he was well informed. Theyhad hit upon a few kindred tastes in books and music; they evendiffered sharply in their appreciation of favorite authors, and whatcould be more conducive to complete understanding than the attack anddefense of the shrine of some tin god of literature?

  While, therefore, it was strange that Captain Coke should actuallypropose a visit to the bridge at an unusual time--at a time, too, whenHozier would be on duty--it struck her as far more curious that heshould endeavor to prevent an earlier meeting. But she had never losther intuitive fear of Coke. His many faults certainly did not includea weak will. He meant what he said--also a good deal that he leftunsaid--and his word was law to everyone on board the _Andromeda_. SoIris contented herself with meek agreement.

  "I shall be delighted to come at any time. I have often read about theSouthern Cross, yet three short weeks ago I little thought----"

  "You reely didn't think about it at all," broke in Coke. "If you 'ad,you'd 'ave known you couldn't cross the line without seein' it."

  Here was another perplexing element in the skipper's conduct. ThatIris was a stowaway was forgotten. She was treated with the attentionand ceremony due to the owner's niece. Coke never lost an opportunityof dinning into the ears of Watts, or Hozier, or the steward, or anymembers of the crew who were listening, that Miss Yorke's presence intheir midst was a preordained circumstance, a thing fully discussed andagreed on as between her uncle and himself, but carried out in anirregular manner, owing to some girlish freak on her part. Theportmanteau, with its change of raiment, brought convincing testimony,and Iris's own words when discovered in the lazaretto supplied furtherproof, if that were needed. Her name figured in the ship's papers, andthe time of her appearance on board was recorded in the log. Cokemight be a man of one idea, but he held to it as though it were writtenin the Admiralty Sailing Directions; not his would be the fault ifDavid Verity failed to appreciate the logic of his reasoning longbefore an official investigation became inevitable.

  A keen, invigorating breeze swept the last mirage of sleep from thegirl's brain as she flitted silently along the deck. A wondrous galaxyof stars blazed in the heavens. In that pellucid air the sky was avivid ultramarine. The ship's track was marked by a trail ofphosphorescent fire. Each revolution of the propeller drew from theocean treasure-house opulent globes of golden light that danced andsparkled in the tumbling waters. It was a night that pulsated with theromance and abandon of the south, a night when the heart might throbwith unutterable longings, and the blood tingle in the veins under thestress of an emotion at once passionate and mystic.

  Iris, spurred on by no stronger impulse than that of the sight-seer,though not wholly unaware of an element of adventurous shyness in herexpectation of a _tete-a-tete_ with a good-looking young man of her ownstatus, climbed to the bridge so speedily and noiselessly that Hozierdid not know of her presence until he heard her dismayed cry:

  "Is _that_ the Southern Cross?"

  "Is that the Southern Cross?"]

  He turned quickly.

  "You, Miss Yorke?" he exclaimed, and not even her wonder at theinsignificance of the stellar display of which she had heard so muchcould cloak the fact that Hozier was unprepared for her appearance.

  "Of course, it is I--who else?" she asked. "Did not Captain Coke tellyou to expect me?"

  "No."

  "How odd! That is what he arranged. A man came and rapped at my door."

  "Pardon me one moment."

  He leaned over the bridge and hailed the watch. The same hoarse voicethat had roused Iris answered his questions, and, in the faint lightthat came from the binnacle, she caught a flicker of amusement on hisface.

  "Our excellent skipper's intentions have been defeated," he said. "Hetold one of the men to call him at seven bells, but not to wake youuntil the Cross was visible. His orders have been obeyed quiteliterally. He will be summoned in another hour, and you have beendragged from bed to gaze at the False Cross, which every foremast handpersists in regarding as the real article. The true Cross, of whichAlpha Crucis is the Southern Pole star, comes up over the horizon anhour after the false one."

  "But Captain Coke said he would see you and warn you of my visit."

  "I can only assure you that he did not. Perhaps he thought itunnecessary--meaning to be on deck himself."

  "Must I wait here a whole hour, then?"

  Hozier laughed. It was amusing to find how Coke's marked effort tokeep the girl and him apart had been defeated by a sailor's blunder.

  "I hope the waiting will not weary you," he said. "It is a beautifulnight. You will not catch cold if you are well wrapped up, and, nomatter what you may think of the real Cross when you see it, you willnever have a better chance of star-gazing. Look at Sirius up there,brighter than the moon; and Orion, too, incomparably grander than anystar in southern latitudes. Our dear old Bear of the north ranks farbeyond the Southern Cross in magnificence; but mist and smoke and dustcontrive to rob our home atmosphere of the clearness which adds suchluster to the firmament nearer the equator."

  Under other circumstances, Iris would have reveled in just such anopportunity of acquiring knowledge
easily. Astronomy, despite itslimitations, is one of the exact sciences; it has the charm ofwonderland; it makes to awe-stricken humanity the mysterious appeal ofthe infinite; but to-night, when the heart fluttered, and the soulpined for sympathy, she was in a mood to regard with indifference theinstant extinction of the Milky Way.

  "I am glad of the accident that brought me on deck somewhat earlierthan was necessary," she said. "You and I have not said much to eachother since you routed me out of the lazaretto, Mr. Hozier."

  "Our friends at table are somewhat--difficult. If only you knew how Iregretted----"

  "Oh, what of that? When I became a stowaway I fully expected to betreated as one. I suppose, though, that you have often asked yourselfwhy I was guilty of such a mad trick?"

  "Not exactly mad, Miss Yorke, but needless, since Captain Coke partlyexpected to have your company."

  "That is absurd. He had not the remotest notion----"

  "Forgive me, but there you are wrong. He says that your uncle and hediscussed the matter on the Sunday before we left Liverpool. Histheory is rather borne out by the present state of the ship's larder.I assure you that few tramp steamers spread a table like the_Andromeda's_ mess during this voyage."

  Iris laughed, with a spontaneous merriment that was rather astonishingin her own ears.

  "Being the owner's niece, I am well catered for?" she cried.

  "Something of the sort. It is only natural."

  "But I think I have read in the newspapers that when some unhappycreature is condemned to death by the law, he is supplied with luxuriesthat would certainly be denied to any ordinary criminal?"

  "Such doubtful clemency can hardly apply to you, Miss Yorke."

  "It might apply to the ship, or to that human part of her that thinks,and remembers, and is capable of--of giving evidence."

  She paused, fearing lest, perhaps, she might have spoken too plainly.Coke's counter-stroke in alluding to her dread of the proposed marriagewas hidden from her ken; Hozier, of course, was thinking of nothingelse. For the moment, then, they were at cross purposes.

  "Things are not so bad as that," he said gently. "I hope I am nottrespassing on forbidden ground, but it is only fair to tell you thatthe skipper was quite explicit, up to a point. He said you were beingforced into some matrimonial arrangement that was distasteful----"

  "And to escape from an undesirable suitor I ran away?"

  "Well, the story sounded all right."

  "Hid myself on my uncle's ship when I wished to avoid marrying the manof his choice?"

  Hozier was not neglecting his work, but he did then take his eyes offthe starlit sea for a few amazed seconds. There was no mistaking thescornful ring in the girl's words. He could see the deep color thatflooded her cheeks; the glance that met his sparkled with an intensityof feeling that thrilled while it perplexed.

  "Please pardon me if the question hurts, but if that is not yourmotive, and there never was any real notion of your coming with us onthe this trip, why are you here?" he said.

  "Because I am a foolish girl, I suppose; because I thought that mypresence might interpose a serious obstacle between a criminal and thecrime he had planned to commit. If one wants to avoid hateful people achange of climate is a most effectual means, and I had not the moneyfor ordinary travel. Believe me, Mr. Hozier, I am not on board theAndromeda without good reason. I have often wished to have a talk withyou. I think you are a man who would not betray a confidence. If youagree to help me, something may yet be done. At first, I was sure thatCaptain Coke would abandon his wicked project as soon as he discoveredthat I knew what was in his mind. But now, I am beginning to doubt.Each day brings us nearer South America, and--and----"

  She was breathless with excitement. She drew nearer to the silent, andimpassive man at her side; dropping her voice almost to a whisper, shecaught his arm with an appealing hand.

  "I am afraid that my presence will offer no hindrance to his scheme,"she murmured. "I am terrified to say such a thing, but I am certain,quite _certain_, that the ship will be lost within the next few days."

  Hozier, though incredulous, could not but realize that the girl wassaying that which she honestly thought to be true.

  "Lost! Do you mean that, she will be purposely thrown away?" he asked,and his own voice was not wholly under control, for he was called on torepress a sudden temptation to kiss away the tears that glistened inher brown eyes.

  "Yes, that is what he said--on the rocks, this side of Monte Video."

  "He said--who?"

  "The--the captain."

  "To whom did he say it?"

  "Oh, Mr. Hozier, do not ask that, but believe me and help me."

  "How?"

  "I do not know. I am half distracted with thinking. What can we do?Captain Coke simply swept aside my first attempt to speak plainly tohim. But, make no mistake--he knows that I heard his very words, andthere is something in his manner, a curious sort of quiet confidence,that frightens me."

  After that, neither spoke during many minutes. The _Andromeda_ joggedalong steadily south by west, and the threshing of the propeller beattime to the placid hum of her engines. The sturdy old ship couldseemingly go on in that humdrum way forever, forging ahead through theliving waters, marking her track with a golden furrow.

  "That is a very serious thing you have told me, Miss Yorke," mutteredHozier at last, not without a backward glance at the sailor in thewheel-house to assure himself that the man could not, by any chance,overhear their conversation.

  "But it is true--dreadfully true," said Iris, clasping her handstogether and resting them on the high railing of the bridge.

  "It is all the more serious inasmuch as we are helpless," he went on."Don't you see how impossible it is even to hint at it in anydiscussion with the man principally concerned? I want to say this,though--you are in no danger. There is no ship so safe as one that ispicked out for wilful destruction. Men will not sacrifice their ownlives even to make good an insurance policy, and I suppose that is whatis intended. So you can sleep sound o' nights--at any rate until wenear the coast of Brazil. I can only promise you if any watchfulnesson my part can stop this piece of villainy---- Hello, there! What'sup? Why is the ship falling away from her course?"

  The sudden change in his voice startled the girl so greatly that sheuttered a slight shriek. It took her an appreciable time to understandthat he was speaking to the man at the wheel. But the sailor knew whathe meant.

  "Something's gone wrong with the wheel, sir," he bawled. "I wasn'tcertain at first, so I tried to put her over a bit to s'uth'ard. Thenshe jammed for sure."

  Hozier leaped to the telegraph and signaled "slow" to the engine-room.Already the golden pathway behind the _Andromeda_ had changed from awavering yet generally straight line to a well-defined curve. Therewas a hiss and snort of escaping steam as the sailor inside thechart-house endeavored to force the machinery into action.

  "Steady there!" bellowed Hozier. "Wait until we have examined thegear-boxes. There may be a kink in a chain."

  A loud order brought the watch scurrying along the deck. Some of themen ran to examine the bearings of the huge fan-shaped casting thatgoverned the movements of the rudder, while others began to tap thewooden shields which protected the steering rods and chains. In themidst of the hammering and excitement, Captain Coke swung himself up tothe bridge.

  "Well, I'm blowed! _You_ here?" he said, looking at Iris. "Wot is itnow?" he asked, turning sharply to Hozier. "Wheel stuck again?"

  "Yes, sir. Has it happened before?"

  "Well--er--not this trip. But it 'as 'appened. Just for a minnit Iwas mixin' it up with the night you nearly ran down that bloomin'hooker off the Irish coast. Ah, there she goes! Everything O.K. now.W'en daylight comes we'll overhaul the fixin's. Nice thing if thewheel jammed just as we was crossin' the Recife!"

  Hozier tried to ascertain from the watch if they had found the cause ofthe disturbance, but the men could only guess that a chance blow
withan adze had straightened a kink in one of the casings. Coke treatedthe incident with nonchalance.

  "Thought you was to be called w'en the Cross hove in sight, MissYorke?" he said abruptly.

  "I am sorry to have to inform you that some people on board cannotdistinguish between falsity and truth," she answered. "But pleasedon't be angry with any of the men on my account. Mr. Hozier tells methey often confuse the False Cross with the real one, and the mistakehas been enjoyable. Now I know all about it--what were those stars youwere telling me the names of, Mr. Hozier?"

  Philip took the cue she offered.

  "Sirius, and Orion, and Ursa Major. I shall write the names andparticulars for you after breakfast," he said with a smile.

  "Reg'lar 'umbug the Southern Cross," grunted Coke; "it ain't a patch onthe Bear."

  "Mr. Hozier said something like that," put in Iris mischievously.

  "Did 'e? Well 'e's right for once. But don't you go an' take asGospel most things 'e says. Every shipmaster knows that the secondofficer simply can't speak the truth. It ain't natural. W'y, it 'udbust a steam pipe if 'e tole you wot 'e really thought of the ole man."

  Coke grinned at his own pleasantry. To one of his hearers, at least,it seemed to be passing strange that he was so ready to forget such avital defect in the steering gear as had manifested its existence a fewminutes earlier.

  At any rate, he remained on the bridge until long after Iris had seenand admired the cluster of stars which oldtime navigators used toregard with awe. When shafts of white light began to taper,pennon-like, in the eastern sky, the girl went back to her cabin.Contrary to Hozier's expectation, Coke did not attempt to draw from himany account of their conversation prior to the inexplicable mishap tothe wheel. He examined a couple of charts, made a slight alteration inthe course, and at four o'clock took charge of the bridge.

  "Just 'ave a look round now while things is quiet," he said, nodding toHozier confidentially. "I'll tell you wot I fancy: a rat dragged a bitof bone into a gear-box. If the plankin' is badly worn anywhere, getthe carpenter to see to it. I do 'ate to 'ave a feelin' that the wheelcan let you down. S'pose we was makin' Bahia on the homeward run, an'that 'appened! It 'ud be the end of the pore ole ship; an' oo'd creditit? Not a soul. They'd all say 'Jimmie threw 'er away!' Oh, I know'em, the swine--never a good word for a man while 'e keeps straight,but tar an' feathers the minnit 'e 'as a misforchun!"

  Hozier found a gnawed piece of ham-bone lying in the exact positionanticipated by Coke. An elderly salt who had served with the P. & O.recalled a similar incident as having occurred on board an Indian mailsteamer while passing through the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb. He drew alurid picture of the captain's dash across the forms of lady passengerssleeping inside a curtained space on deck, and his location of the areaof disturbance with an ax just in time to prevent a disaster.

  The carpenter busied himself with sawing and hammering during the wholeof the next two days, for the _Andromeda_ revealed many gaps in herwoodwork, but the escapade of an errant ham-bone was utterly eclipsedby a new sensation. At daybreak one morning every drop of water in thevessel's tanks suddenly assumed a rich, blood-red tint. This unnervingdiscovery was made by the cook, who was horrified to see a ruby streampouring into the earliest kettle. Thinking that an iron pipe hadbecome oxidized with startling rapidity, he tried another tap.Finally, there could be no blinking the fact that, by some uncannymeans, the whole of the fresh water on board had acquired the color ifnot the taste of a thin Burgundy.

  Coke was summoned hastily. _Noblesse oblige_; being captain, hevaliantly essayed the task of sampling this strange beverage.

  "It ain't p'ison," he announced, gazing suspiciously at the littlegroup of anxious-faced men who awaited his verdict. "It sartinly ain'tp'ison, but it's wuss nor any teetotal brew I've tackled in all me borndays. 'Ere, Watts, you know the tang of every kind o' likker--'ave asup?"

  "Not me!" said Watts. "I don't like the look of it. First time I'veever seen red ink on tap. For the rest of this trip I stick to bottledbeer, or somethink with a label."

  "It smells like an infusion of permanganate of potash," volunteeredHozier.

  "Does it?" growled Coke, who seemed to be greatly annoyed. "Wot a pityit ain't an infusion of whisky an' potash!" and he glared vindictivelyat Watts. "Some ijjit 'as bin playin' a trick on us, that's wot itis--some blank soaker 'oo don't give a hooraw in Hades for tea an'corfee an' cocoa, but wants a tonic. Stooard!"

  "Yes, sir," said the messroom attendant.

  "Portion out all the soda water in the lockers, an' whack it on thetable every meal till it gives out. See that nobody puts away more'n'is proper allowance, too. I'm not goin' to cry hush-baby w'en the_Andromeda_ gets this sort of kid's dodge worked off on 'er."

  "If you're alloodin' to me," put in the incensed "chief," whose temperrose on this direct provocation, "I want to tell you now----"

  "Does the cap fit?" sneered Coke.

  "No, it doesn't. I never 'eard of that kind of potash in me life.D'ye take me for a--chemist's shop?"

  "Never 'eard of it!" cried the incensed skipper, who had obviously madeup his mind as to the person responsible for the outrage. "There's'arf a dozen cases of it in the after hold--or there was, w'en we putthe hatches on."

  "Even if some of the cases were broken, sir, the contents could notreach the tanks," said Hozier, who fancied that Coke's attack on thebibulous Watts was wholly unwarranted. But the commander's wrath couldnot be appeased.

  "Get this stuff pumped out, an' 'ave the tanks scoured. We'll put intoFernando Noronha, an' refill there. It's on'y a day lost, an' I guessthe other liquor on board 'll last till we make the island. Sink me,if this ain't the queerest run this crimson ship 'as ever 'ad. I'll beglad w'en it's ended."

  Coke lurched away in the direction of the chart-room. Hozier found himthere later, poring over a chart of Fernando Noronha. Iris, on hearingthe steward's version of the affair, came to the bridge for furtherenlightenment, but Coke merely told her that the island was a Lloyd'ssignal station, so she could cable to her uncle.

  "Can I go ashore?" she asked.

  "I dunno. We'll see. It's a convict settlement for the Brazils, an'they're mighty partic'lar about lettin' people land, but they'll 'ardlyobject to a nice young lady like you 'avin' a peep at 'em."

  As his tone was unusually gruff, not to say jeering, she resolved tofind an opportunity of seeking Hozier's advice on the cablegramproblem. But the portent of the blood-red water was not to bedisregarded. Never was Delphic oracle better served by nature. The_Andromeda_ began to roll ominously; masses of black cloud climbed overthe southwest horizon; at midday the ship was driving through a heavysea. As the day wore, the weather became even more threatening. A skyand ocean that had striven during three weeks to produce in splendidrivalry blends of sapphire blue and emerald green and tenderest pink,were now draped in a shroud of gray mist. With increasing frequencyand venom, vaulting seas curled over the bows, and sent stingingshowers of spray against the canvas shield of the bridge. Instead ofthe natty white drill uniform and canvas shoes of the tropics, theship's officers donned oilskins, sou'westers, and sea-boots. Torrentsswept the decks, and an occasional giant among waves smote the hullwith a thunderous blow under which every rivet rattled and every plankcreaked. Despite these drawbacks, the _Andromeda_ wormed her waysouth. She behaved like the stanch old sea-prowler that she was, andlabored complainingly but with stubborn zeal in the teeth of a stiffgale.

  Iris, of course, thought that she was experiencing the storm of acentury. Badly scared at first, she regained some stock of couragewhen Hozier came twice to her cabin, pounded on the door, and shoutedto her such news as he thought would take her mind off the outerfuries! The first time he announced that they were just "crossing theline," and the girl smiled at the thought that Neptune's chosen lairwas uncommonly like the English Channel at its worst. On the secondoccasion her visitor brought the cheering news that they would be underthe lee of Fe
rnando Noronha early next morning. She had sufficient sealore to understand that this implied shelter from wind and wave, butHozier omitted to tell her that the only practicable roadstead in theisland, being on the weather side, would be rendered unsafe by thepresent adverse combination of the elements. In fact, Coke had alreadycalled both Watts and Hozier into council, and they had agreed with himthat the wiser plan would be to bear in towards the island from theeast, and anchor in smooth water as close to South Point as the leadwould permit.

  As for Iris's wild foreboding that the ship was intended to be lost,Philip did not give it other than a passing thought. Coke wasnavigating the _Andromeda_ with exceeding care and no little skill. Hewas a first-rate practical sailor, and it was an education to theyounger man to watch his handling of the vessel throughout the worstpart of the blow. About midnight the weather moderated. It improvedsteadily until a troubled dawn heralded some fitful gleams of the sun.By that time the magnificent Peak of Fernando Noronha was plainlyvisible. Coke came to the bridge and set a new course, almost duewest. The sun struggled with increasing success against the cloudbattalions, and patches of blue appeared in sky and sea. Soon it waspossible to distinguish the full extent of the coast line. Housesappeared, and trees, and green oases of cultivation, but these weremere spots of color amid the arid blackness of a land of bleak rock andstone-strewed hills.

  There was a strong current setting from the southeast, and the dyinggale left its aftermath in a long swell, but the _Andromeda_ rolled onwith ever-increasing comfort. Even Iris was tempted forth by thecontinued sunshine.

  Coke was not on the bridge at the moment. Mr. Watts was taking thewatch; Hozier was on deck forrard, looking for gravel and shells on theinstrument that picks up these valuable indications from the floor ofthe sea. Suddenly the captain appeared. He greeted Iris with a genialnod.

  "Ah, there you are," he cried. "Not seen you since this timeyesterday. Sorry, but there'll be no goin' ashore to-day. We're onthe wrong side of the island, an' it 'ud toss you a bit if you was totry an' land in eether of the boats. Take 'er in easy now, Mr. Watts.That's our anchorage--over there," and he pointed to the mouth of anarrow channel between South Point and the Ile des Fregates, the lattera tiny islet that almost blocks the entrance to a shallow bay intowhich runs a rivulet of good but slightly brackish water.

  The ship slowed perceptibly, and Hozier busied himself with the lead,which a sailor was swinging on the starboard side from the smallplatform of the accommodation ladder. Iris did not know what was said,but the queer figures repeated to Coke seemed to be satisfactory.Headlands and hills crept nearer. The rocky arms of the island closedin on them. A faint scent as of sweet grasses reached them from theshore. Iris could see several people, nearly all of them men inuniform, hurrying about with an air of excitement that betokened theunusual. Perhaps a steamer's advent on the south side of the islandwas a novelty.

  Now they were in a fairly smooth roadstead; the remnants of the galewere shouldered away from the ship by the towering cliff that juttedout on the left of the bay. The crew were mostly occupied in clearingblocks and tackle and swinging two life-boats outward on their davits.

  "All ready forrard?" roared Coke. Hozier ran to the forecastle. Hefound the carpenter there, standing by the windlass brake.

  "All ready, sir!" he cried.

  Coke nodded to him.

  "Give her thirty-five," he said, meaning thereby that the anchor shouldbe allowed thirty-five fathoms of chain.

  From the bridge, where Iris was standing, she could follow eachmovement of the commander's hands as he signaled in dumbshow to thesteersman or telegraphed instructions to the engine-room. It wasinteresting to watch the alertness of the men on duty. They were ascratch crew, garnered from the four quarters of the globe at theLiverpool shipping office, but they moved smartly under officers whoknew their work, and the _Andromeda_ was well equipped in that respect.

  The turbulent current was surging across the bows with the speed of amill-race, so Coke brought the vessel round until she lay broadsidewith the land and headed straight against the set of the stream. Itwas his intent to drop anchor while in that position, and help anyundue strain on the cable by an occasional turn of the propeller.

  "Keep her there!" he said, half turning to the man at the wheel; hechanged the indicator from "Full speed" to "Slow ahead"; in a fewseconds the anchor chain would have rattled through thehawse-hole--when something happened that was incomprehensible,stupefying--something utterly remote and strange from the ways ofcivilized men.

  The _Andromeda_ quivered under a tremendous buffet. There was a crashof rending iron and an instant stoppage of the engines. Almost merginginto the noise of the blow came a loud report from the land, but that,in its turn, was drowned by the hiss of steam from the exhaust.

  Coke appeared to be dumfounded for an instant. Recovering himself, heran to the starboard side, leaned over, looked down at a torn platethat showed its jagged edges just above the water-line, and then lifteda blazing face toward a point half-way up the neighboring cliff, wherea haze lay like a veil of gauze on the weather-scarred rocks.

  "You d--d pirates!" he yelled, raising both clenched fists at thehidden battery which had fired a twelve-pound shell into the doomedship.

  The _Andromeda_ herself seemed to recognize that she was stricken untodeath. She fell away before the current with the aimless drift of alog.

  "Let go!" bellowed Coke with frenzied pantomime of action to Hozier.It was too late. Before the lever controlling the steam windlass thatreleased the anchor could be shoved over, another shell plunged throughthe thin iron plates in the bows, smashing a steam pipe, and jammingthe hawser gear by its impact. The missile burst with a terrificreport. A sailor was knocked overboard, the carpenter was killedoutright, two other men were seriously wounded, and Hozier received ablow on the forehead from a flying scrap of metal that stretched him onthe deck.

  The gunners on shore had not allowed for the drifting of the ship.That second shell was meant to demolish the chart-house and clear thebridge of its occupants. Striking high and forward, it had robbed the_Andromeda_ of her last chance. Now she was rolling in the full gripof the tidal stream. It could only be a matter of a minute or lessbefore she struck.