CHAPTER IX.
MANUEL'S RELEASE.
BEFORE the boys left the schooner next morning, the guard they had setover Manuel approached the captain, and by signs and gestures intimatedthat the prisoner wished to speak to him.
Manuel's sullen demeanor had entirely disappeared and he looked humbleand penitent.
"I wish to make my most humble apologies to you, noble captain," hedeclared. "All night long I have thought over my hasty actions withshame and regret. You were right and I wrong. I will work hard atwhatever you set me to do, and in the future you will have no cause tocomplain if you will set me at liberty."
There were tears in the fellow's eyes and his voice trembled as hespoke.
"Stop that blubbering," said the blunt old sailor, who detested tearsin men. "I reckon, if you are sure that you've learned your lesson an'won't try to act smart again, I'll set you free; but the minute you tryto start any trouble again, I'll put you down here for keeps."
As he removed the irons from the prisoner, the strange sailor burstinto a torrent of passionate speech.
The captain paid no attention to him for he could not understand aword of it, but Charley, who was watching closely, saw Manuel give thefellow a quick glance of sly triumph.
"I'm afraid you have made a mistake in setting that fellow free,Captain," the lad said, as they returned to the deck. "I believe itwould have been wiser to have kept him in irons until we could touchsome port and put him ashore."
"I never feel like being hard on a man when he's sorry for what he hasdone," the old sailor replied. "I guess it will make the crew feelbetter tempered to have him set free. I'm going to put him ashore atthe first port we touch. In the meanwhile we'll keep him hard at workan' keep a eye on him all the time."
"Perhaps we had better take him with us and put him to work at thepump," Walter suggested. "That's good hard work."
Charley approved the suggestion, for in spite of the Greek's seemingrepentance, the lad did not trust him in the least and thought itwisest that he and the captain should be kept separated for awhileafter their quarrel.
Manuel went at the hard labor at the air pump with a willingness andcheerfulness which seemed to show the sincerity of his repentance. Atfirst, he seemed inclined to talk overmuch with the rest of the crew,but Charley cut short his talkativeness with a curt command.
"I believe that fellow is a regular Jonah," he confided to his chumduring the noon hour rest. "Yesterday and the day before we got lots ofsponges, but we haven't taken in enough this morning to pay expenses."
"I guess this part of the ground is getting worked out, perhaps,"Walter replied. "I've noticed several schooners pulling up anchor andgetting under way."
His surmise proved correct for during the afternoon many of the fleetpassed them headed North. Evidently others were finding the ground aspoor as they did.
Late in the afternoon the captain recalled them to the schooner with asignal previously agreed upon,--a flag hoisted to the foremast head.
"I reckon we'd better be getting under way," the old sailor said whenthey got aboard. "I want to keep with the fleet an' all the schoonersseem to be getting under sail. I've noted the course they are takin'an' with this wind they'll be a long ways from us if we wait untilmorning. I hailed one of the captains and he said they intended to sailall night an' anchor an' get to work early in the morning."
By the time the sails were all hoisted and the anchor tripped, it hadgrown quite dark so the schooner's great side-lights of red and greenwere filled, lit, and lashed to the foremast shrouds, for, with so manyboats around them every caution must be taken to avoid running onedown, or being run down themselves. The crew was divided into threewatches. Of which Walter was to have charge of the first, from eight totwelve o'clock. Charley to have command of the second, or middle watch,from twelve to four o'clock, while the captain would take the third, ormorning watch, from four to eight A. M.
The breeze held steady and strong and the night passed away without anyexciting incident.
The boys were up again at first peep of day, expecting to have to startout with the diving boat as soon as the sun arose. But, when theygained the deck, they found the "Beauty" still swinging along on hercourse and the captain pacing the deck greatly perplexed.
"It's mighty queer, but thar ain't one of the fleet in sight," heexclaimed as he caught sight of the lads. "I don't understand it atall. Go aloft, Charley, an' see if you can see any of them."
The lad swung himself into the shrouds and made his way up to themainmast cross trees, but, although he gazed all around, his eyes metnothing but the broad expanse of the blue sparkling waters.
"Maybe we've run them all out of sight during the night," he suggestedwhen he regained the deck, but the old sailor shook his head.
"The 'Beauty's' mighty fast, but she's not speedy enough to do that,"he declared. "Some of those schooners were ten miles ahead of us whenwe started. Besides, I shortened sail as soon as I took my watch,because I did not want to get in the lead."
"Perhaps we have dropped away behind the rest," Walter said, but theothers knew that that was impossible. The "Beauty" was far too fast aboat to be left so far behind.
The Captain examined the log. "We have come a hundred and ten miles,"he said. "Do you reckon either of you boys could have made a mistake inthe course during your watch?"
"We didn't vary a quarter of a point from the direction you gave duringmy four hours," Charley declared. "I kept watch of the compass most ofthe time and the needle held steady at North."
"I was careful about that, also," Walter said. "We were headed exactlyNorth during my entire watch."
"Well, that compass is true," the captain declared. "I tested itcarefully before we left port. I reckon thar's only one explanation;the fleet must have changed their course during the night. We'd betterheave-to until noon when I can take the sun an' tell exactly where weare at. It ain't no use trying to pick up the fleet again, now theyare out of sight--it would be like hunting for a needle in a hay stack."
The crew were immediately set to taking in sail and in a few minutesthe little ship was lying head to the wind under reefed foresail sail.
When the noon hour drew near, Captain Westfield brought his instrumentson deck and prepared to take an observation of the sun. As soon as hesecured it he went below to work out their position on the chart.
When he reappeared his face wore a very puzzled expression. "Heave thelead and find out how deep the water is an' what kind of bottom," hesaid, briefly.
Charley took the lead, a heavy cone-shaped piece of lead, slightlyhollowed at the bottom, and with a long line attached to the smallend. Filling the hollow end with soft soap, he dropped the lead overthe side and let it sink until it struck the bottom. Then he pulled itaboard again, noting carefully the water mark on the line and examiningthe soap to which some particles of the bottom had adhered.
"Depth, six fathoms, (36 feet) bottom, soft gray mud," he announced.
The captain strode back to the compass and stared at it with a puzzledfrown on his face.
"We're forty miles from where we should be," he said as the boysgathered around him, "Sure neither of you boys made a mistake in thecourse last night?"
"Sure," declared both lads positively.
The four puzzled over the strange situation in silence for severalminutes. Then the captain with his knife loosened the screws andremoved the compass' face of glass.
"I wonder how that got there," he suddenly exclaimed.
Cunningly placed, so as to draw the magnetic needle West of North was asmall bright iron nail.
"It couldn't have got there by itself," Charley declared, excitedly."It must have been put there by someone while we were all at supperlast night."
"I guess there is no doubt as to who that someone was," with aninclination of his head towards Manuel who, standing a little ways offwas watching them closely. The Greek, as soon as he saw the attentionhe was receiving, turned and strolled carelessly forward.
The captain pondered gravely, "I don't see what his object was," hesaid, at last. "If we held on that course long it would only havecarried us further out into the Gulf, so he couldn't have been aimingto get us wrecked."
"He planned to get us separated from the fleet," Charley declared. "Doyou think we could find it again, captain?"
The old sailor shook his head. "There's no telling where we are now,"he said, gloomily, "we might hunt for days without coming across them.If that fellow did put that nail there to make us lose them, he'ssucceeded all right."
"What had we better do, captain?" Walter asked, anxiously.
"Well, we aint got no real proof that the fellow put that nail thar sowe can't do anything with him. It might have been in thar all the time,though I'm willing to take an oath that the compass was true when weleft port. Thar ain't much chance of picking up the fleet again an' Idon't reckon we'd better waste time trying it. The lead shows we arestill on the sponge banks an' I reckon we'd best just get to work, saynothing, an' keep a close watch on that oil Greek chap."
The "Beauty" was anchored accordingly, sails lowered and furled, andeverything made snug. As soon as that was done, the boys ordered theircrew into the diving boat and, running out a little ways from theschooner, gave the signal to resume the diving operations.
By sheer accident, they had chanced upon a spot rich in sponges and thelads watched with satisfaction the steady reappearance of the loweredbasket.