For one moment, as the men closed in on him, Howard struggled with a furious desire to wrest1 a cutlass from one of them, and with it exact terms from the others. The odds2, though great, were not necessarily overwhelming, and victory would mean much. Had he stood on equal terms before the law, he would have risked everything in an immediate3 fight.
But he did not stand even. Against him as a convict fighting for freedom, Forbes could throw the entire population of his colony; even Jackson might join in the unequal odds. The result of a struggle on that basis must be inevitable4; Dorothy would lose her only defender5. Later, when the time came, if it did come, to shift the fight to the defense6 of womanhood, he would have a better cause and might win allies. So he surrendered.
[136]“Take him to the Chester,” ordered Forbes, “and lock him up. Give him anything he wants to make him comfortable, and see after his meals. If he makes any trouble, put him in irons. Off with you.”
Sick at heart, Howard marched away between his captors. The way led to the edge of the wide platform that constituted the village, down a gang-plank, and away for some distance across the wrecks7. Finally it led through a rent in the side of a big iron steamer, and up to what had evidently once been the captain’s cabin. Into this he was thrust.
Gallegher paused, with his hand on the lock. “You heard what the cap’n said,” he growled8. “You behave yourself and nobody’ll hurt you. And, remember, there ain’t a mite9 of use tryin’ to escape, because there ain’t nowhere to escape to.”
The door slammed and Howard was left to his own reflections.
His first act was, of course, to inspect[137] his prison. It was not uncomfortable. Large, airy, and well furnished, it had evidently been selected because all its sides were of iron, three of them being formed by the sides of the vessel10, and the fourth by one of her bulkheads. Numerous port-holes admitted air and light, but were too small for a man’s body to pass through them. A skylight overhead had been closed with heavy timbers. Altogether it was a strong place.
Before he had had much more than time enough to familiarize himself with his surroundings, the key grated in the lock, and one of his captors entered with a tray, which he placed on a table built around the mizzenmast of the ship.
“Here’s your dinner, sor,” he announced.
Howard came over and sat down. As he did so, his eyes fell on some curious-looking mechanism11 which the man had pushed aside in making room for the tray. A question sprang to his lips, but[138] he choked it back as the other bent12 suddenly forward.
“I heard of what you said to Bill and Joe, sor,” he breathed. “Is it true that you could get away from here if you had the chance, sor?”
“True? Of course it’s true. Give me a boat, two or three men, and a compass, and I’d start away at an hour’s notice. I wonder that you men don’t see that.”
“And will you take me and Kathleen with you when you go, sor? Kathleen’s my wife—Joyce they call her, sor, though its nather chick nor child we’re after having, sor.”
“I’ll take anybody. But I’ve got to be free in order to prepare——”
“Whist! That’ll be all right, sor. Kape a stiff upper lip and everything will come right. The young lady and you have friends here, sor. I don’t dare to stop now, but it’s back again I’ll be later on.”
Howard made no effort to detain the[139] man. He was in a fever of impatience13 to examine the instruments on the table, and the moment he heard the key turn in the lock, he pushed aside his dinner and began to finger them.
“It isn’t possible,” he muttered. “It isn’t possible! Forbes would know better. But, by George, he doesn’t. It’s true! It’s true! He’s locked me up with a wireless14 outfit15. If it’s only in working order.” He pressed the key and a rumble16 and a crash gave answer. “It is! It is!” he exulted17. “By Heaven! It is!”
“Now to raise somebody before Forbes finds me out,” he continued. “If the wireless only sent as silently as it received, it would be all right. But—well! maybe no one will notice. It’s pretty noisy here! Anyhow, there’s nothing to do but try.”
He placed his finger on the key. “Let’s see!” he soliloquized. “The naval18 station at Guantanamo is nearest, but I don’t know its call. I’ll have to try C Q D—the emergency signal.”
[140]Again and again he pressed the key, and again and again the apparatus19 roared, sending the cry for help broadcast over the sea. No interruption came. The village was some distance away, and the noise passed unheard or unheeded. “C Q D! C Q D!” he called.
At last the answer came, faint but distinct, whispering in through the microphone on his head. “Hello! Hello! Hello!” it sounded. “Who’s this?”
“Survivor of the wrecked20 steamer Queen, now on board an unknown steamer in the middle of the Sargasso Sea. Is this Guantanamo?”
Sharply the answer came: “Yes. What did you say? Survivors21 of the Queen? Good Heavens, you were given up for lost. How many are you?”
“Three! Miss Fairfax—”
“Great Scott! Colonel Fairfax has been wild. Who else?”
“Police Officer Jackson!”
“Yes.”
[141]“And Frank Howard.”
“What! The murderer?”
“No. The convict. This is he talking.”
“Oh! Beg pardon! Didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. Where did you say you were?”
“We drifted into the Sargasso Sea on the Queen, and brought up finally against the wreck-pack in the middle. Then we changed to another ship. It’s a long story. You’d better note it down carefully. I may be cut off any minute.”
“Oh! I’ll note it down all right. Go ahead. But first about the others on the Queen. Two boats got to port all right. How about the third?”
“Capsized! All lost except Miss Fairfax, who was washed back to the Queen, and pulled aboard by Jackson and Howard, who had been left there by accident. Now listen. This is urgent. We are in great danger here, and need aid at the first possible moment——”
[142]“In danger? What’s the matter?”
“Listen, and I’ll tell you.”
Hurriedly, but concisely22, Howard narrated23 their adventures, describing the wreck-pack and its queer colony, and pointing out the danger to which Miss Fairfax was subjected. Toward the end of the story, Guantanamo evidently became restless, for he broke in.
“Say!” he clicked, disgustedly. “Do you expect me to believe all that?”
“Surely. Why not?”
“Because it’s nonsense. Say, friend, you are wasted at sea. You ought to be a New York yellow-journal reporter. Now, who the devil are you, really?”
“I’ve told you.”
“You’ve told me a pack of lies—begging your pardon. I’d got into a pretty fix if I reported this nonsense; now, wouldn’t I?”
“You’ll get into a worse one if you don’t. For God’s sake, man, don’t be a skeptical24 fool. As I’ve told you, I’m a[143] prisoner, and am only able to talk to you because this man Forbes apparently25 knows nothing of the wireless. My jail may be changed any minute, and I may never get another chance. This thing is very serious. There are about twenty-five people hopelessly confined here on these wrecks, and aid should be sent them at once.”
“Bah! You mean to tell me that people have been living there for years and years, and nobody has ever found it out?”
“Lots of people have found it out, but nobody has ever gone back to tell. If you never heard of the wreck-pack, ask any old sailor, and he’ll tell you of it—though he’s never seen it or known any one who has. Why shouldn’t there be people on it?”
“Well, suppose there are. How can we help you?”
“A ship can get to us if it tries hard enough. The weed can be cut through,[144] though with difficulty. A sort of steam-saw projecting over the bow will do the work. The propeller26 will have to be screened to prevent fouling27. Perhaps a paddle-wheel steamer would get along best. When it is once in, it should skirt the edge of the wreckage28 till it finds us. The latitude29 and longitude30 I have given you are only approximate. T have no proper instruments.”
“Who shall I notify?”
“Notify Colonel Fairfax, first of all. This Forbes may keep his threat and marry Miss Fairfax by force, or he may not. He shall not if I can help it. But I’m a prisoner and helpless just at present, though I have made at least one friend and hope for some others. Anyway, Colonel Fairfax will want to rescue his daughter. Then notify the government; there must be ships at Guantanamo now that could start for here very soon. Then notify the newspapers; if no one else will help us, they will. Notify[145] anybody and everybody you like. Stop! Somebody’s coming. Keep out till I call you again.”
It was only the Irishman who came to take away the tray. He must have heard the rumbling31 of the wireless, for only a deaf man could have failed to do so, but he asked no questions about it, though he looked sharply at the instruments that Howard had thrust aside.
Howard in fact gave him little chance, plying32 him with questions as to Forbes’s probable course of action. After he had gone, Howard talked with Guantanamo until late in the night.
The next morning the man came again. “Can you foight, sor?” he demanded.
“Fighting is my trade, Joyce. Why?”
“Well, sor, the captain’s going to marry the young lady at four o’clock the day, unless somebody stops him. And the only way to stop him is to foight him. It’s a big man an’ a bad man he is, sor. Are ye game for it?”
[146]Howard smiled. “Oh! yes. I’m game,” he declared.
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1
wrest
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| n.扭，拧，猛夺；v.夺取，猛扭，歪曲 | |
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odds
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| n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别 | |
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3
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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5
defender
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| n.保卫者，拥护者，辩护人 | |
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defense
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| n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩 | |
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7
wrecks
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| n.沉船( wreck的名词复数 )；（事故中）遭严重毁坏的汽车（或飞机等）；（身体或精神上）受到严重损伤的人；状况非常糟糕的车辆（或建筑物等）v.毁坏[毁灭]某物( wreck的第三人称单数 )；使（船舶）失事，使遇难，使下沉 | |
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8
growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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9
mite
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| n.极小的东西；小铜币 | |
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vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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mechanism
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| n.机械装置；机构，结构 | |
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12
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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13
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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14
wireless
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| adj.无线的；n.无线电 | |
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outfit
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| n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装 | |
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rumble
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| n.隆隆声；吵嚷；v.隆隆响；低沉地说 | |
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exulted
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| 狂喜，欢跃( exult的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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apparatus
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| n.装置，器械；器具，设备 | |
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wrecked
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| adj.失事的，遇难的 | |
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survivors
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| 幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 ) | |
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concisely
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| adv.简明地 | |
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narrated
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| v.故事( narrate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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skeptical
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| adj.怀疑的，多疑的 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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propeller
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| n.螺旋桨，推进器 | |
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27
fouling
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| n.（水管、枪筒等中的）污垢v.使污秽( foul的现在分词 )；弄脏；击球出界；（通常用废物）弄脏 | |
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28
wreckage
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| n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏 | |
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latitude
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| n.纬度，行动或言论的自由(范围)，(pl.)地区 | |
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longitude
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| n.经线，经度 | |
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31
rumbling
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| n. 隆隆声, 辘辘声 adj. 隆隆响的 动词rumble的现在分词 | |
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32
plying
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| v.使用（工具）( ply的现在分词 )；经常供应（食物、饮料）；固定往来；经营生意 | |
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tare
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| n.皮重；v.量皮重 | |
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