CHAPTER III
OFF FOR TRINGANU
It was Sunday afternoon. Joe Swanson and the second mate, "Liverpool"Peters, had departed that morning to enjoy their last few hours onshore. Captain Hollinger, Mart, and Bob were alone on board, save forthe steward, and the three were sitting around a big pitcher of lemonadeunder the after-deck awnings. The financier-yachtsman wasenthusiastically outlining his plans for sport during his trip.
"We're going to have a great time, boys," he exclaimed heartily, "I'vegot everything on board you can think of, from tackle for sharks todynamite."
"Huh? Dynamite?" asked Mart quickly. "What's that for, Cap'n?"
"I don't know," returned the captain coolly. The two boys stared.
"What--you don't know?" asked Bob in surprise. His father laughed.
"No. I put it aboard at the suggestion of old Jerry Smith. He said wemight have need for it during the diving operations, and I simply tookhis advice. He's pretty well posted on everything out in that section ofthe world, and promises me some exciting sport shooting tigers."
"I thought tigers were found only in India," put in Mart, puzzled."That's where they usually shoot 'em, isn't it?"
"No," said the captain, leaning back and lighting his cigar. "No, Mart,you're off there. You'll find tigers all through the Malay States and upinto China proper--I believe they've even been found in parts of Japan.We're going to have some great shooting, boys! And while I'm off withyou in the jungle, or hills--for I'm not sure which we'll find--oldJerry can be managing the diving and dredging operations at the otherend without bothering me till the work's ready for inspection."
"What's Jerry gettin' out o' this?" queried Mart thoughtfully.
"Oh, I'm to allow him one-third of the stock. Our consul at Singapore isalready getting us the concession, and Jerry has letters from the Sultanof Tringanu to all the native chiefs."
"What're they like, dad?" Bob sat up. "The letters, I mean."
"They're written in Arabic," laughed his father. "There are a good manyArabs out in that part of the world, and I suppose Arabic is the usualwritten language; or rather, the Malays use the Arabic characters.They're all Mohammedans, anyway."
"Can't we take a squint at those diving outfits?" Mart looked out at thesparkling waters of the bay, and sighed. "Oh, I'd give 'most anything togo down and really get underneath the ocean! Where are the outfits,Cap'n?"
"Boxed up in the hold, Judson. There's no chance of our using them tillafter we get to Tringanu. Swanson knows a good deal about diving, andJerry Smith promised to pick up a couple of men who were used to it, sowe'll be all right there."
"Oh!" Mart suddenly sat up and squared around in his seat. "Am I underSwanson's orders, Cap'n?"
"Nominally, yes, as a member of the crew. But in actual fact, no. Why?"
The boy's face was troubled, and he hesitated an instant.
"Nothing much," he said at last, his gray eyes suddenly hard and cold."Only, I had an argument with Swanson Friday, and by somethin' he saidyesterday I wondered if I was under him."
"I guess not!" cried Bob indignantly. "You're an officer, and you'reunder no one but the captain--who is dad."
"That's right, Mart," nodded Captain Hollinger. "You take your ordersfrom me, and that's all. Hello, there's Swanson now!"
The boys looked up to see the burly mate coming along the dock. Withoutheeding them, he crossed the gangplank and went forward, doubtless toremove his "shore clothes," in order to prepare for the night's work.
Captain Hollinger had heard the message left by Jerry Smith, saying thatthe old man could sign articles and draw wages if he liked. It looked toMart as though the old seaman was cranky and wanted to have things justso, in which opinion Bob agreed, but as Jerry was to all intents apartner in the expedition, it mattered little.
The sun was just going down, and the boys were looking for the last timeon the hills of San Francisco, when Swanson came along the deck andtouched his hat to the captain in a hesitant fashion. Mr. Hollinger, whowas no mere amateur sailor, nodded.
"Yes, Mr. Swanson? Mr. Peters come aboard yet?"
"Not yet, sir." Swanson hesitated again. "I--I wanted to ask yousomething, sir, meanin' no offense. Yesterday mornin', sir, there was alittle round-shouldered man come aboard--gray hair, he had, and--"
"You mean old Jerry Smith?" asked Captain Hollinger. Somehow both he andthe boys always thought of the man as "Old Jerry."
"Yes, sir, that's him. If I might ask, sir, is he a-going to ship aboardus?"
"Why, he was going as passenger, Mr. Swanson, but seems to have changedhis mind. Yes, he'll sign articles as quartermaster. Why, do you knowhim?"
"No, sir, not rightly," and the mate shuffled awkwardly. "He--he ain'tsaid to be a lucky shipmate, Cap'n. They tell queer yarns about him;I've heard say as he was off his head a bit. Is he the one what'sbringing the crew abroad, sir!"
"Yes--why? This talk is all nonsense, Swanson. Smith is as sound in hishead as you or I, and he certainly knows the sea."
"Yes, sir," agreed the mate quickly--a little too quickly, thought Mart,who was watching him keenly. "Yes, sir. He does that. And he'll bring acrew, Cap'n Hollinger, as'll take handlin'. I was thinkin', sir, thatmebbe we'd have quite a ruction to-night--"
The financier laughed. He, as well as the boys, saw now what was on themate's mind. Swanson believed that old Jerry would pick up a scoundrellycrew, most of them drunk when they came aboard, and that the millionairemight get drawn into a fight with them. Much as he disliked the bigmate, Mart gave him credit for being true to his salt, as indeed he was.
"Look here," smiled the captain, getting to his feet and facing themate, who was an inch shorter than he. "I wouldn't be captain of thisyacht unless I could take care of myself, Mr. Swanson. If you doubt it,I'll put on the gloves with you now!"
Swanson grinned. "No, sir, not me! I'm satisfied if you are, Cap'nHollinger. I just wanted to ease off steam a bit--"
"I understand," laughed the financier. "But I guess you and Peters canhandle the crew right enough. Now, you come down and mess with us, andMr. Peters can take the deck when he comes."
All four descended into the mess cabin as Ah Sing rang the bell, andduring the meal Mart revised his opinion of the mate to some extent. Hesaw that Swanson did not like him because he considered the wireless joba sinecure, and wanted to keep all the crew hard at work all the time.It was the usage of the sea, and the big mate himself was blunt andwell-meaning. But Mart Judson had no mind to be ordered about by anyone,and he determined that if Swanson tried it, the mate would find outsomething.
Peters, the second mate, came aboard before dark, and put theengine-room crew to work, so that after mess the boys went on deck tofind steam up and the lines ready to be flung off at a moment's notice.By ten o'clock no crew had come aboard, however, and Captain Hollingerfinally ordered the boys to their cabins, in order to get to sleepearly.
"Holly!" said Mart softly, when they had left the main cabin. "You goingto bed?"
"Huh! With a scrap due to arrive? Not much!"
"Me neither. Let's get up in the bow."
So, treading very softly, they made their way to the bow and crouchedthere as comfortably as possible. Hardly fifteen minutes had passed whenthere came a tramp of feet from the wharf, and a confused murmur ofvoices. Looking down the deck, by the gangway light the two boys couldsee Captain Hollinger and "Liverpool" Peters waiting. Swanson haddisappeared, as it was his watch below.
The noise of feet swelled up into a steady stamping; then, as Mart andBob got to the rail and looked over, they made out the figures of eightor ten men in the dim glow from the gangway. But, to their greatdisappointment, there was no fight whatever, and neither did any of thenew arrivals seem to be intoxicated. Instead, all halted at sight of thetwo waiting officers, and the boys saw the stoop-shouldered Jerry Smithcome forward and touch his hat.
"We've come aboard, sir, all shipshape and Bristol fashion."
"Very good, quartermaster," replied
Captain Hollinger briskly. "Mr.Peters, if you'll see that these men sign articles, we'll be off at theturn of the tide. I'd better come with you, while you send someone afterMr. Swanson. We'll want all hands--"
"On deck, sir," came the voice of Swanson, and Mart looked aft to seethe burly mate come to the gangway. Captain Hollinger nodded and led theway below, followed by the first mate and the crew, all of whom seemedto be decent-looking fellows, and far from what Swanson had so gloomilypredicted. But, as they vanished, the boys saw the stoop-shoulderedfigure of Jerry Smith stop abruptly by the gangway; then came Swanson'svoice once more, aggressive and heavy.
"Look a-here, Shark Smith! I don't know what your game is aboard thiscraft, but you lay a fair course or I'll trim you. Savvy that? Thisain't the old _Coralie_, not by a long shot. I'm workin' honest now, an'you ain't goin' to get me from _behind_ neither, like you got poor BuckoTom!"
Mart, watching in wild astonishment, saw old Jerry crouch abjectly. Thenwith the mate's final words the old man straightened up as if inaccusation. His white hair shone dimly in the light.
"You're right, Joe Swanson, you're right!" he said in his quiet voice,that carried clearly and distinctly to the boys at the forward rail."But if it _was_ me as got Bucko Tom, who was it got the officers o' the_Melbourne_, eh? No, no, Joe Swanson! I'm a new man now, and let'sforget the past. Fish tell no tales, Joe; fish tell no tales. I'm an oldman, but I'm quartermaster o' this packet. I'm an old man, but I'm a newman inside--"
And turning abruptly, muttering as if he was actually out of his head,old Jerry Smith shuffled to the companionway and vanished. For a momentSwanson stared after him as if in surprise, then Mart felt his chum'shand on his arm.
"Better get out o' here, Mart! They'll be sendin' the men forward prettysoon."
"You're right," Mart cautiously led the way aft, as Swanson beganascending the ladder to the bridge deck. When he had vanished, the twoboys hurriedly gained their own staterooms, and Bob stopped with Martfor a short chat.
"What d'you reckon those old fellows meant?" asked Mart, rumpling hisblack hair in perplexity. "Think they knew each other before this?"
"Looks like it," agreed Bob thoughtfully, his blue eyes narrowed. "Whatdid they mean by 'getting' Bucko Tom, an' the _Melbourne_ officers? Doyou s'pose--"
"Pirates!" cried Mart excitedly, and dropped his voice. "They werepirates together on a ship called the _Coralie_! Bet you a dollar onit!"
"Then we're off to sea with a couple o' pirates aboard," responded Bob,as they heard shouted orders above, and the engines began to throb."Shucks--forget it, Mart--we'll wake up plumb out of sight o' land.We're off--hooray for Tringanu!"
And the _Seamew_ had begun her long voyage.