CHAPTER XIX--THE MISSING SHIP
"How much longer do you think this storm will last?"
It was Dave who asked this question, of Captain Sanders, when thelatter came down to get a bite for breakfast. To get a regular meal,with the vessel pitching and tossing wildly, was out of the question.
"I don't know, Dave," was the grave answer. "I am hoping the wind willdie down by sunset. But the storm may last several days."
"Are we in any danger?" questioned Phil.
"There is always danger during a storm," answered the master of the_Golden Eagle_. "But I hope to weather this blow without muchtrouble."
"Can we be of any assistance?" went on our hero.
"No, boys. There is nothing you can do but keep yourselves fromfalling overboard. How is Roger?"
"A little better."
"I heard that two of those Englishmen are pretty sick," went onCaptain Sanders, with a faint smile.
"They are."
"It's queer to me that they sailed with us. It's not such a pleasantvoyage."
"I overheard a little of their talk," answered Dave, and, knowing hecould trust the captain, he related what had been said.
"Pirates' gold, eh?" muttered the master of the ship. "Most of thoseyarns are fairy-stories. I've known expedition after expedition to befitted out, to search for treasures said to be hidden by the old-timebuccaneers, but I never saw a man yet who got even a smell of atreasure. Where were they going for it, Dave?"
"I don't know. I think one of them mentioned Cave Island. Is theresuch a place?"
"There may be, although I never heard of it. Many of the islands inthis part of the globe, being of volcanic origin, contain caves."
"They must expect to get to Cave Island from Barbados."
"More than likely," answered the captain, and then hurried on deckagain.
The storm continued for the remainder of the day, but by nightfall thewind commenced to die down, and by midnight the clouds had passed andthe stars were shining brightly. In the morning the big sun came outof the sea to the east like a globe of fire.
"Now we are going to have some warm weather," remarked Billy Dill, andthe old tar was right. As the sun mounted in the heavens it grewpositively hot, until the boys had to go to their staterooms and donthinner clothing. With the departure of the storm, Roger's seasicknessleft him, but the two Englishmen remained slightly unwell for sometime longer.
"Phew! how warm it is!" remarked Phil. "And just think of it!--up athome they are having snow and ice!"
With the passing of the storm, the boys settled down as before. Theysaw but little of the Englishmen, especially of the pair who weresick. But one day something happened which came close to causing acrisis.
The boys were seated on the rear deck, talking over matters ingeneral, when a strong puff of wind caused a sheet of paper to blowfrom somewhere ahead towards Dave. He reached out and caught the sheetjust as it was about to go overboard.
"Hello, what's this?" he cried, as he looked the sheet over. "Must besome sort of a chart."
"It is," answered Roger, gazing at the paper. "See, here is a spotmarked Barbados, and another marked Cave Island, a little to theeastward."
"Why, look what it says, up here!" cried Phil. "'_Map of the DonAmorandos Treasure, buried in 1715_.' Say, do you think thoseEnglishmen----"
"Hi, you! Give me that map!" bawled a voice from near by, and with avery red face, the Englishman named Geswick bore down on the boys."How dare you look at this?" he went on, as he snatched the sheet outof their hands and folded it up.
"We wanted to see what it was and whom it belonged to," answered Dave,as calmly as he could.
"You had no right to look at it," stormed Andrew Geswick. "That isprivate property."
"Then why did you let it fall in our hands?" asked Phil.
"If it hadn't been for Dave, it would have gone overboard," put inRoger.
"Humph!" The man fell back a little. "Well, I am thankful for that.But you boys had no right to look at it," he grumbled.
"Why, it's only a chart, isn't it?" asked the senator's son,curiously.
"Never mind what it is!" answered Andrew Geswick, sharply. "Did youread what was on it?" he demanded, an instant later.
"We saw it was a chart," answered Dave, and looked knowingly at hischums, to make them keep silent.
"It--er--it belongs to Mr. Pardell and he is very particular about it,"went on the Englishman. And then without another word he walked away.
"My, isn't he sweet!" muttered Phil.
"Just as sweet as a can of sour milk," answered the senator's son."Dave, I guess you wish you had allowed that map to blow overboard."
"Not exactly that, Roger. But he might have been a little morethankful for saving something that he thinks so valuable."
"Do you think there is anything in this treasure idea?" questionedPhil, after a pause.
"No, Phil. That is, there may be some lost treasure, secreted by thepirates and buccaneers of old, but I doubt if anybody will ever findit--excepting by accident."
"If there was a treasure on this Cave Island, we might hunt for it,"went on the shipowner's son.
"Phil, don't let that bee get into your bonnet!" cried Roger. "Many aman has gone crazy looking for pirates' gold. Better drop it, andthink of how we are to round up Merwell and Jasniff."
"Well, I'd like to go to Cave Island anyway," said Phil. "We might----"And then he stopped short, as he saw Geswick and Pardell near by. TheEnglishmen had been listening to part of the conversation.
"So you'd like to go to Cave Island, would you?" cried Andrew Geswick,his face red with rage. "You take my advice and keep away from thatplace!"
"Say, do you own that island?" demanded Phil, getting angry because ofthe other's dictatorial manner.
"No, we don't own the island. But we----" Andrew Geswick stopped shortas his companion plucked him by the sleeve. "Never mind, you keep awayfrom it, that's all," he growled.
"We'll go there if we want to," called out Phil.
"If you do you may get into trouble," called back Pardell. Then he andhis companion disappeared in the direction of the cabin.
"They are touchy enough," was Roger's comment. "Phil, you had betterdrop Cave Island after this."
"I'll talk about it as much as I please," grumbled the shipowner'sson. "Those fellows make me tired. They act as if they owned theearth!"
Sunday was a quiet day on shipboard. The Englishmen did not showthemselves excepting at meals, and the boys were content to leave themseverely alone. They told Captain Sanders of the chart and of the talkthat had occurred.
"Let them alone, lads," said the commander of the _Golden Eagle_."I'll venture to say that sooner or later they'll find out they are ona wild goose chase."
"The only one that seems to be anyway nice is the fellow named GilesBorden," said Dave. "He is rather quiet. The other fellow, Rumney, isalmost as bad as Geswick and Pardell."
"So I've noticed, Dave. And the queer part of it is, Borden paid forthe passages. He appears to be the only one with money."
"Maybe he is backing the expedition," suggested Roger.
"I'm sorry for him if he is," answered the captain.
The Bahama Islands had been passed, and now they were in the vicinityof Porto Rico. Then commenced the trip southward, through the LesserAntilles.
"This is the spot for active volcanoes," observed Phil. "Don't youremember how the Island of Martinique suffered?"
"Oh, don't speak of volcanoes!" cried Roger. "I have no use forthem--or for earthquakes either."
"There must be hundreds of islands around here," observed Dave. "Thecharts are full of them."
"That must make navigation difficult," came from Phil.
"Oh, I reckon Captain Sanders knows what he is about."
"Wonder how soon we'll run into the harbor at Bridgetown?" mused theshipowner's son, the place he mentioned being the main seaport ofBarbados.
"Inside of three days, I hope, Phil," answered our hero.
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"Merwell and Jasniff must be there by this time."
"It's more than likely--unless something happened to delay them,"returned Dave.
At last came the day when they sighted Barbados and ran into theharbor of Bridgetown. The place was a picturesque one, but the boyshad just then no time to view the scenery or the shipping. As soon asit could be accomplished, they went ashore, and Captain Sanders wentwith them, leaving his vessel in charge of the first mate.
"You may have trouble with those two rascals, if you find them," saidthe commander of the _Golden Eagle_. "I'll be on deck to help you allI can."
"Shall we go to the hotel first?" questioned Roger.
"Might as well," answered Phil. "They'd strike for the hotel firstthing, after a sea trip like that. Maybe they were both seasick."
"I hope they were--it would serve them right," growled the senator'sson.
Dave and the captain were willing, and a little later walked into theRoyal George Hotel. Here the boys looked at the register, but found nonames that they could recognize. Then Dave brought out his photographsof Merwell and Jasniff and showed them to the hotel proprietor and hisclerk.
"Nobody here that looks like either of them," said the proprietor,while his clerk also shook his head.
"They came in on the _Emma Brower_," said Captain Sanders.
"The _Emma Brower_!" cried the hotel man. "Is she in?"
"Why, I suppose so," and now the commander of the _Golden Eagle_showed his surprise.
"She wasn't in last night, and the agents were a bit worried abouther. I know the agents personally, you see."
"Then maybe she isn't in yet!" cried Dave. "Let us go down to thedocks and find out about this."
They lost no time in visiting the docks and the shipping offices.There they learned that nothing had been heard of the _Emma Brower_since the vessel had left Jacksonville.
"We must have passed her on the way!" cried Dave, to Captain Sanders."Could we do that?"
"Perhaps, since we only had half a cargo, Dave. Besides, maybe thatvessel was damaged by the storm."
"I wonder how soon she will get in?" mused Roger.
At this the captain shrugged his shoulders.
"It is impossible to say. I've known a ship to be a week and sometimesnearly a month overdue. And I've known a ship to drop out altogether,"he added, soberly.
"Oh, don't say you think she has gone down!" cried Dave, in alarm.
"Let us hope not, Dave."
The day passed, and also the next and the next. The cargo of the_Golden Eagle_ was unloaded, and the Englishmen, who had beenpassengers, left for parts unknown. As each day slipped by, Dave grewmore serious. What if the _Emma Brower_ had gone down, carryingMerwell, Jasniff, and the Carwith jewels with her?