CHAPTER XVI.
TRICKED.
When the conspirators came on deck, and before they finished smoking,the boys cleaned the cabin, ate their own dinner in the galley, and wereat liberty to remain idle until it should be time to prepare supper.
After the heat of the day had passed Bob proposed that all the brig'slower sails should be set; adding, in conclusion:
"'Cordin' to my way of thinkin', there's goin' to be a decent kind of abreeze about sunset, an' if we're ready for it jes' so much time will besaved in leavin' this place."
The three strangers appeared even more eager than he to see the brigunder canvas once more, and all hands turned to with a will, pulling,hoisting, and sheeting home as if the wind which was to waft them towardthe United States had already begun to blow.
By the time this work was done there could no longer be any question butthat a generous breeze from the south was near at hand. Thin, filmyclouds formed in the sky, while every now and then the heated air wouldbe set in motion slightly, as a token of what might be expected.
"There's no doubt now but that we'll be under way by sunset," Joe said,as he stood on the quarter-deck where the boys had taken refuge from theheat, "and it would be a good idea for me to be bringing my dunnage outof the tug, since it ain't likely I'll ever see the little craft again."
"Ain't you goin' to try and save anything else?" Jim asked.
"There isn't much that we can take. Suppose all hands go aboard and seeif there's anything belonging to the crew that'll pay for carryingaway?"
The boys accepted the invitation readily, for they did not care to moveabout the deck of the brig very much lest they came in contact with thered-nosed man and his friends, and all four went into the tinyafter-cabin of the Sea Bird, where Joe at once began his work ofinvestigation.
There were four chests here in addition to the one owned by Joe, andthese were broken open without ceremony, for the engineer did not intendto burden himself with anything that might not be of considerable valueto the owners.
"We'll unpack 'em, and then put the things back carefully, in case thelittle craft is carried home again," he said, going to worksystematically, while the boys watched him with mild curiosity.
There was no apparent necessity for haste, therefore Joe set about histask leisurely because of the intense heat, which made the slightestexertion almost painful, and but two of the chests had been overhauledwhen Bob came below to learn what was going on.
"Gettin' ready to leave, eh?" he asked, after looking at the perspiringengineer in silence several moments. "Well, it's time; for unless I'vemade a big mistake in them light clouds we'll start from here mightysoon."
"If we were going alone I'd feel tiptop," Joe said, as he paused for aninstant in his work; "but as it is, I'm afraid we'll have trouble withthat crowd before the United States coast heaves in sight, even if theydo talk so fair just now."
"We must keep our weather-eyes liftin' every minute, an' at the firstsign of a row pitch in so's to take 'em unawares;" and Bob stretchedhimself out on the port locker as if determined to enjoy all possiblecomfort before the serious work of sailing the brig without anexperienced navigator was begun. "I wouldn't hesitate to give 'em theslip by leavin' the whole crowd here; but there's no chance of theirgoin' ashore after the wind rises."
"No," Joe replied, with a long-drawn sigh, "we shall have to grin an'bear it, I reckon; but----"
He ceased speaking very suddenly, for just at that moment a footstep washeard on the steamer's deck, and an instant later the unpleasant-lookingface of the man with the red nose appeared at the companion-way.
"You all got outer sight so quick that I thought p'rhaps you'd goneoverboard," he said with a leer, glancing inquisitively around thecabin, but making no motion to descend.
"Joe is overhaulin' this dunnage, to see if there's anything worthcarryin' back to the States," Bob replied carelessly, as the engineercontinued his work in silence.
The man lowered his head as if to see the interior more plainly, and,unperceived by any one in the little apartment, made a quick motion withhis hand, evidently for the benefit of those aboard the brig.
During nearly five minutes he stood there carelessly pushing the hatchback and forth, until the Mexican waved his hat, when the red-nosed mansuddenly shut both doors, shoving into place the bolts which fastenedthem together.
The little party in the cabin looked up in surprise at this singularmaneuver, but it was not until the sound of quick footsteps was heard onthe deck as the man ran swiftly aboard the brig that any one thought oftreachery.
"They've locked us in here so's they can steal the Bonita!" Bob shouted,as he leaped to the companion-way and began pounding on the bolteddoors.
The oaken timbers were firm as a bulk-head, and, without a weapon, hemight have worked there all day in vain.
Joe had sprung to the windows; but his efforts were quite as useless asBob's. Heavy iron gratings, intended to keep out intruders and break theforce of the waves, were screwed so firmly in the wood-work that theycould not be removed from the inside save by the use of proper tools.
They were securely imprisoned, for the cabin had no outlet except at thecompanion-way, and two or three hours of hard work would be absolutelynecessary before they could escape by the doors.
While Bob and Joe were darting from one possible point of vantage toanother, shouting for help and uttering wild threats in the same breath,the boys had gathered at one of the port windows which looked directlyon the brig's bulwarks.
"They ain't gettin' under way!" Jim cried, as if trying to persuadehimself that the strangers were not intending to desert them.
"There's no need for the pirates to hurry," Bob said hoarsely, as hestood in the center of the cabin, his face convulsed by rage andtrembling like one in an ague fit. "If I had jumped on 'em with thebelayin'-pin when Joe held me back, all of that crowd wouldn't be ableto get away. Come here, you cowards, an' give us a fair show! Open thishatch or I'll foller you till your lives won't be worth the livin'!"
"The hawsers have been cast off, an' now the brig is beginnin' to movethrough the water!" Jim reported, as he pressed his face close to theiron bars.
This information gave fresh impetus to Bob's wrath. He rushed from onecorner of the cabin to another shouting the wildest threats, andbehaving generally like an insane person.
Joe was quite as angry as the old sailor, but not to such an extent thathis common sense had deserted him. While Bob strode back and forth hewas working on the screws which held the bars in place. By breaking offthe end of the largest blade in his pocket-knife quite an effective toolwas made, and he had accomplished no slight portion of his task when Jimmade the last report.
Rapidly as the engineer might labor, however, he knew it would beimpossible to remove this one particular barrier to freedom before theBonita would be beyond their reach. The promised wind had come soonerthan it was expected, as could be told by the rapidly increasing speedwith which the black bulwarks of the brig slipped past the window, andthe task was not half completed when blue water could be seen as thevessel's stern swept by, leaving a wake which bubbled and danced merrilyin the sunlight.
"There must be a pretty good breeze," Jim continued, speaking excitedly,as if the tears were very near his eyelids, "for the upper sails are alldrawing. Now I can see that red-nosed bully at the wheel, an' he'swavin' his hat!"
Joe continued to work at the bars, and now, when it was too late toeffect anything, Bob recovered from his anger sufficiently to make atleast an attempt at assisting, while Harry and Walter stood near thecompanion-way, so thoroughly bewildered by this last blow of a cruelfate that speech was well nigh impossible.
The brig remained within Jim's range of vision but a few moments longer,and when she disappeared entirely he threw himself on a locker, tryingto stifle with its cushion the sobs which convulsed him.
Without speaking, breathing like one after a long race, and heeding notthe wounds on his fingers inflicted by the sharp
edge of the knife, Joeworked on until the iron grating was held in place only by a couple ofscrews on one side. Then, standing on the locker, he used his foot as abattering-ram until the wood-work gave way, and the bars fell to thedeck with a clatter and a crash that must have been heard by those onthe brig.
If it had been possible to overtake the thieves the prisoners could nothave clambered out through the window more quickly, and on gaining thedeck the uselessness of any further efforts was painfully apparent.
The Bonita was already out of the little harbor, bowing and courtesyingon the ocean swell to the wind from the south which filled all hersails, and gliding through the water as if rejoicing at her escape fromthe shoal.
"Can't we row out to them?" Jim cried excitedly. "It wouldn't take longto launch the tug's yawl!"
"We couldn't catch 'em with anything slower than a steamer, now thatthey're well under way!" Bob cried angrily; and then, unfastening thehatch, he went into the cabin once more, as if unable to look longer atthe rapidly retreating brig.
"It's no use, boys; we've got to make the best of what can't be cured!"Joe said with a great but vain effort to speak in a cheery tone. "Wemust try and forget what has happened or we shall be in no condition tohelp ourselves." Then, noting the tears in Walter's eyes, he addedkindly: "Think of how much worse we might be situated. The Sea Birdisn't injured past mending, and in her we can make any port we choose."
"But you said it would be two or three weeks before she could berepaired," and Harry choked back a sob lest the evidences of his owngrief should make Walter's sorrow greater.
"In that I may have been mistaken. Let's set to work as if nothing hadhappened, and think only about going home presently with no one on boardof whom we are afraid. You boys get the yawl into the water, so we canland at any time, and I'll begin the job on the engine."