Ned had indulged in much speculation6 concerning Captain Briggs and his craft since he had become what he felt was virtually a prisoner on board her. He was puzzled to make out the vessel7's mission. Captain Briggs waxed more and more mysterious as the contents of the bottle and the sun together grew lower. From time[Pg 208] to time he threw out hints, which only served the purpose of further mystification.
The Dreadnought Boy began to think that he was on board a smuggler8. It was the only conclusion he could reach, although he was actually miles beside the mark in his guess.
As it grew dusk, the schooner was brought up opposite a sandy, desolate-looking stretch of ground on the Jersey9 shore. It was a brush-grown point with here and there steep, reddish-colored miniature cliffs, where landslides10 had occurred in the sandy earth.
On the summit of the point a tall, white semaphore, like some grotesque11 skeleton, spread its arms against the sky. A chill wind blew off shore. Ned felt that he had reached the last spot in civilization, even though off in the distance on the Staten Island shore the smoke from the factory chimneys of Tottenville could be seen like a dark and sooty pall12.
Ned was wondering whether they were going[Pg 209] to anchor there, when his unspoken question was answered by the rattle14 of the schooner's hawser15 as the rusty16 mud-hook dropped into the yellow, turbid17 tide.
"Well, of all queer cruises, this is the queerest," mused18 Ned, as he leaned against the rail and watched Captain Briggs bringing his craft to an anchorage.
He could not forbear smiling at the captain's importance as he issued his orders. A rear admiral on his own quarter-deck could not have been a bit more pompous19 or consequential20.
At last all was arranged to Captain Briggs' satisfaction, and the schooner, under bare poles, swung at anchor.
"What's coming now?" wondered Ned, as he saw the captain come sidling toward him like a red-nosed crab21, if such a thing can be imagined.
He was not left long in doubt. The captain eyed him with an oddly embarrassed air for a few seconds and then he spoke13.
[Pg 210]
"Seeing as how I'm looking to get a bit of money out of you, mate," he said at length, with a sidewise squint22 out of his red-rimmed eyes, "maybe what I'm agoin' to do ain't just right. But," and here the captain strengthened his resolution with a draft out of his bottle, "but," he resumed, wiping his lips with the back of his hand, "what's got to be has got to be, ain't it?"
"Certainly," said Ned, with a smile at the captain's rather obvious logic23.
"And that bein' the case, it will be, I reckon?" pursued the captain with the air of one propounding24 a profound question.
Again Ned agreed. This time he signified his entire understanding of the captain's views by a nod of his head.
"Well," resumed the skipper, "it's got to be that you've got to go below, and——"
"Go below?" repeated Ned indignantly. "See here, Captain Briggs, don't you think you're carrying this thing a little far?"
[Pg 211]
"I dunno as I am, and if I am, why, then, I dunno as it's any of your clamjamfried business," retorted the captain. "You wasn't asked to come on board this here fine vessel, was yer?"
"Certainly not, and as you know I'm more grateful than I can say to you for saving my life. But when——"
The captain shut Ned off with a wave of his hand.
"Least said, soonest mended," he remarked. "You an' me 'ull have our talk 'bout25 that later on. Cap'n Briggs, he gets paid fer his salvage26, be it human or 'totherwise. The p'int is this, you've got to go below."
"But what is your object in confining me in that stuffy27 cabin?" objected Ned. "Let me stay on deck and I'll pledge you my word that I wouldn't have a chance to escape from you,—that is, if you persist in your insane idea that I have wealthy relatives who will pay handsomely for my ransom28."
[Pg 212]
"'Tain't ransom, it's a man's rights," objected Captain Briggs; "but as I said before, tain't no manner o' use wasting of words. Below I want yer to go, and below you will go."
"If I refuse?"
"Wa'al," insinuated29 Captain Briggs, with a glance at his crew, who, as if they had been warned in advance, stood watching the scene, "wa'al, I op-pine t'wouldn't be just healthy like fer you to refuse. There's a heap of persuasion30 in a handspike and plenty of good argument in a capstan bar."
"What, you would dare to use violence on me? Maybe two can play at that game."
Ned's eyes flashed; his fists clenched31. Yet he knew that he must control his temper with this pig-headed old mariner32.
"I'll use violence, or anything else I please, to hev my orders carried out," flared33 out Captain Briggs. "Now then, are you going below peaceable or do we hev ter make yer?"
[Pg 213]
"Why are you so anxious to have me out of the way?" asked Ned. "What sort of nefarious34 business are you in?"
"Ain't in no 'farious business," bellowed35 the captain. "I'm an honest man, I am. But I'm on secret business,—business of the navy, ef you must know. Business fer the Blue fleet, as they calls it, ef you must know. Now will you go below?"
"Very well, if I must, I must," muttered Ned, with feigned36 reluctance37, for at that instant he would not have left Captain Briggs' shabby little schooner for a king's ransom.
"Business for the Blue fleet." Could it be that Fate, by ways devious38 for even that uncertain goddess, had led his feet into the arcanum of the Blue fleet's secrets?
As Ned descended4 the cabin stairs into the malodorous little cabin, he determined39 to find out before he was many hours older the exact meaning of Captain Briggs' remark.
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1
schooner
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| n.纵帆船 | |
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2
bibulous
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| adj.高度吸收的，酗酒的 | |
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3
condescended
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| 屈尊，俯就( condescend的过去式和过去分词 )； 故意表示和蔼可亲 | |
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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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glumly
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| adv.忧郁地，闷闷不乐地；阴郁地 | |
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speculation
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| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
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7
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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8
smuggler
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| n.走私者 | |
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jersey
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| n.运动衫 | |
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10
landslides
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| 山崩( landslide的名词复数 )； （山坡、悬崖等的）崩塌； 滑坡； （竞选中）一方选票占压倒性多数 | |
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11
grotesque
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| adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物） | |
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12
pall
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| v.覆盖，使平淡无味；n.柩衣，棺罩；棺材；帷幕 | |
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13
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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14
rattle
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| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
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15
hawser
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| n.大缆；大索 | |
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16
rusty
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| adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的 | |
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17
turbid
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| adj.混浊的，泥水的，浓的 | |
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18
mused
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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19
pompous
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| adj.傲慢的，自大的；夸大的；豪华的 | |
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20
consequential
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| adj.作为结果的，间接的；重要的 | |
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21
crab
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| n.螃蟹，偏航，脾气乖戾的人，酸苹果；vi.捕蟹，偏航，发牢骚；vt.使偏航，发脾气 | |
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22
squint
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| v. 使变斜视眼, 斜视, 眯眼看, 偏移, 窥视; n. 斜视, 斜孔小窗; adj. 斜视的, 斜的 | |
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23
logic
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| n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性 | |
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24
propounding
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| v.提出（问题、计划等）供考虑[讨论]，提议( propound的现在分词 ) | |
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25
bout
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| n.侵袭，发作；一次(阵，回)；拳击等比赛 | |
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salvage
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| v.救助，营救，援救；n.救助，营救 | |
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27
stuffy
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| adj.不透气的，闷热的 | |
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28
ransom
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| n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救 | |
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29
insinuated
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| v.暗示( insinuate的过去式和过去分词 )；巧妙或迂回地潜入；（使）缓慢进入；慢慢伸入 | |
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30
persuasion
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| n.劝说；说服；持有某种信仰的宗派 | |
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31
clenched
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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32
mariner
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| n.水手号不载人航天探测器，海员，航海者 | |
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33
Flared
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| adj. 端部张开的, 爆发的, 加宽的, 漏斗式的 动词flare的过去式和过去分词 | |
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34
nefarious
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| adj.恶毒的，极坏的 | |
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35
bellowed
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| v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的过去式和过去分词 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫 | |
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36
feigned
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| a.假装的，不真诚的 | |
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37
reluctance
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| n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿 | |
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38
devious
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| adj.不坦率的，狡猾的；迂回的，曲折的 | |
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39
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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