CHAPTER XXX
The gray November morning dawned damp and cold. In the sheer exhaustionthat followed on their adventure of the night before, Jeremy and hisfather slept heavily till close to nine o'clock, when Tom wakened them.His face was haggard with watching, and he looked so worried that theyhad no need to ask him if Bob had come in.
It was a gloomy party that sat down to the morning meal. The youngestcould eat nothing for thinking of his chum's fate. While his fatherstill spoke hopefully of the possibility that the boy might have found ahiding place which he dared not leave, Jeremy could only remember thefrightful, scarred visage of Pharaoh Daggs looming in the torchlight. Heknew that Bob would find little mercy behind that cruel face, and hecould not throw off the conviction that the lad had fallen into theclutches of the pirates.
All day, standing at the loopholes, they waited for some sign either ofBob's return, or, what seemed more probable, an attack by the buccaneercrew. But as the hours passed no moving form broke the dark line oftrees above them on the slope.
At length the dusk fell, and they gave up hope of seeing the boy again,though on the other score their vigilance was redoubled. The night wentby, however, as quietly as though the island were deserted.
It was about two hours after sunrise that Jeremy stole out to givefodder to the sheep, penned in the stockade ever since the first alarm.He had been gone a bare two minutes when he rushed back into the cabin.
"Look father," he cried. "In the bay--there's a sloop coming in toanchor!"
Amos Swan went to a northern loophole, and peered forth. "What is she?Can ye make her out? Seems to fly the British Jack all right," he said.Following the two boys, he hurried outside. Jeremy had run down the hillto the beach where he stood, gazing intently at the craft, and shadinghis eyes with his hand. After a moment he turned excitedly. "Father," heshouted, "it's the _Tiger!_ I saw her only once, but I'd not forgetthose fine lines of her. Look--there's Job, himself, getting into thecutter!"
A big man in a blue cloak had just stepped into the stern sheets of theboat, and seeing the figures on the shore, he now waved a hand in theirdirection.
Sure enough, in three minutes Captain Job Howland jumped out upon thesand and with a roar of greeting caught Jeremy's hand in his big fist."Well, lad," he laughed, "ye look glad to see us. Didn't know we washeaded up this way, did ye? But here we be! Soon as the sloop was readyMr. Curtis had a light cargo for Boston town, and he told me to coast uphere on the same trip. He wants Bob home again. Why--what ails ye, boy?"
They were climbing the path toward the shack, when Job noticed thedowncast look on Jeremy's face, and interrupted himself.
In a few words the boy told what had happened during the brief week theyhad been on the island.
"By the Great Bull Whale!" muttered the ex-buccaneer in astonishment."Sol Brig's treasure, sure enough! And that devil, Daggs--see here, ifBob's alive, we've got to get him out of that!" He swung about andhailed the boat's crew, all six of whom had remained on the beach.
"Adams, and you, Mason, pull back to the sloop and bring off all the menin the port watch, with their cutlasses and small-arms. The rest of youcome up here."
As soon as Job had shaken hands with Jeremy's father and brother, theyentered the cabin.
"Now, Jeremy," said the skipper, "you say this craft is careened on theother side of the island, close to the place where Stede Bonnet landedus that time? How many men have they?"
"We don't know," the boy replied. "But I don't think Daggs had time togather a big crew, and what's more, he'd figure the fewer the betterwhen it came to splitting up the gold. I doubt if there's above fifteenmen--maybe only fourteen now." He grinned as he thought of the bigpirate who had attacked him in the woods.
"Good," said Job. "We'll have sixteen besides you, Mr. Swan, and yourtwo boys. An even twenty, counting myself. If we can't put that crowdunder hatches, I'm no sailorman."
The crew of the _Tiger_, bristling with arms and eager for action, nowcame up. Without wasting time Job told them what was afoot and theymoved forward up the hill.
Once among the trees the attacking party spread out in irregularfan-formation, with Tom and Jeremy scouting a little in advance. Thestillness of the woods was almost oppressive as they went forward. Allthe men seemed to feel it and proceeded with more and more caution. Usedto the hurly-burly of sea-fighting, they did not relish this silentapproach against an unseen enemy.
Clearing the ridge they came down at length to the edge of the beach,close to the old pirate anchorage, and Jeremy led the way along throughthe bushes toward the mouth of the reedy inlet. Working carefully downthe shore to the place whence Bob and he had sighted the spars of thebuccaneer, he climbed above the reeds and peered up the creek. To hissurprise the masts had disappeared.
"She's gone!" he gasped.
Job and Tom looked in turn. Certain it was that no vessel lay in thecreek!
"Perhaps they sighted the _Tiger_," suggested Jeremy. "If so, they can'thave gotten far. They've likely taken the rest of the gold. And Bob mustbe aboard, too, if he's still alive."
As they turned to go back, one of the sailors who had walked down to thereeds at the edge of the creek, hurried up with a dark object in hisfist. He held it out as he drew near and they saw that it was a pistol,covered with a mass of black mud, Jeremy saw a gleam of metal throughthe sticky lump, and quickly scraping away the mud from the mounting hedisclosed a silver plate which bore the still terrible name "StedeBonnet." The boy gave a cry of pleasure as he saw it, and thrust theweapon quickly into Job's hands.
"Look!" he exclaimed. "It's Bob's pistol. And there's only one way itcould have gotten where it was. He must have thrown it from the sloop'sdeck as they went past, thinking we'd find it. See here! They can't begone more than a few hours, for there's not a bit of rust on the ironparts. Maybe we could catch them, Job, if we hurry!"
Job turned to his men and called, "What say you, lads--shall we givethem a chase?"
A chorus of vociferous "Ay, Ay's" was the answer.
"Here we go, then!" he shouted, and led the way back up the hill at atrot.
As they reached the ridge, Jeremy cut over to the left a little throughthe trees, so that his course lay past the treasure cleft. When hereached it he found just what he had expected--the shattered staves ofthe barrel lying open on the ledge, and several rough excavations in thedirt at the bottom of the chasm, where the buccaneers had searchedgreedily for more gold. The charred remnants of a bonfire, a few yardsfurther down the cleft, showed that they had worked partly at night.
Leaving the ledge, the boy was hurrying back to join the main party whenhe came out upon an elevated space, clear of trees, from which one couldcommand a view of the sea to the west and south. Involuntarily hepaused, and shading his eyes with his hand, swept the horizon slowly.Then he gave a start, for straight away to the westward, in a gapbetween two islands, was a white speck of sail.
"Job!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. "Job!"
The big skipper was only a short distance away, and he came through thetrees at a run followed by most of his men, in answer to Jeremy's hail.No words were necessary. The boy's pointing finger led their eyesinstantly to the far-off ship. Job took a quick look at the sun and thedistant islands, to fix his bearings, then set out for the northerninlet again, even faster than before.
As they came running down the slope toward the cabin, Amos Swan emerged,gun in hand, evidently believing that they were in full rout before theenemy.
"They've left the island," panted Jeremy, as he reached the door. "Wesaw their sail--we're going to chase them! We're sure, now, that Bob'saboard!"
His father looked relieved.
"Go--you and Tom!" he said. "I'll stay and mind the island."
Job, with a dozen of his men, was starting in the cutter, and hadalready hailed the _Tiger_ to order the other boat sent ashore. Tom andJeremy hurried into the cabin, and stuffing some clothes into Jeremy'ssea-chest along with a brace of good pistols and a cutlass ap
iece, weresoon ready to embark.