CHAPTER XVII
THE STORM BREAKS
Tyke was not the only one who had noted the falling barometer. CaptainHamilton was already standing at the foot of the mainmast, shoutingorders that were taken up by Ditty and Rogers and carried on to the men.
To the north, great masses of leaden-gray clouds were heaped up againstthe sky. The sea was as flat as though a giant roller had passed overit. A curious stillness prevailed--the wind seemed hushed, holding itsbreath before the tempest burst.
The hatches were battened down and the storm slides put on thecompanionway. Most of the sails were reefed close, and with everythingsnug alow and aloft, the _Bertha Hamilton_ awaited the coming storm.
This wait was not long. A streak of white appeared along the sea line,and this drove nearer with frightful rapidity. With a pandemonium ofsound, the tempest was upon them. The spars bent, groaning beneath thestrain, and the stays grew as taut as bowstrings. The schoonercareened until her copper sheathing showed red against the green andwhite of the foaming waves.
The screaming of the wind was deafening. Hundreds of tons of watercrashed against the schooner's sides and poured over her stern. Thesea clawed at her hull as though to tear it in pieces. Tatters of foamand spindrift swept over the deck and dashed as high as the topgallantyards. The spray was blinding and hid one end of the craft from theother.
Staggering under the repeated pounding of the tumbling, churning wavesthat shook her from stem to stern, the _Bertha Hamilton_ plunged on,her bow at times buried in the surges, her spars creaking and groaning,but holding gallantly.
Ruth had been ordered by her father to go below, and he had advisedParmalee and Drew to do the same. But the fascination of the storm hadbeen too much for the young men to resist, and they crouched in theshelter of the lee side of the deckhouse, holding on tightly while theywatched the unchained fury of the waters. As for Tyke, he was in hiselement, and nothing could have induced him to leave the deck.
For nearly twenty-four hours the storm continued, although its chieffury was spent before the following morning. But the billows still ranhigh, and it was evening before the topsails could be set. Later on,as the wind subsided, the schooner, having shown her mettle, settledonce more into her stride and flew along like a ghost.
Then, for the first time since the storm had begun, the captain laidaside his oil-skins and relaxed.
"That was a fierce blow," chuckled Tyke. "A little more and you mighthave called it a hurricane."
"It was a teaser," asserted the captain. "Did you see how the old girlcame through it? Never lost a brace or started a seam. Hardly a dropof water in the hold. Didn't I tell you she was a sweet sailer, eitherin fair weather or foul? But the crew! Holy mackerel! what a gang oflubbers."
"You're right to be proud of the craft," assented Tyke. "Has it takenher much out of her course?"
"A bit to the north, but nothing more. For that matter, we've passedMartinique. I figure it out that we may raise the hump-backed islandto-morrow, if we have luck."
A feeling of relief was experienced by the rest of the after-guard whenat last the danger was past, and it was a happy, if tired, party thatgathered about the captain's table that evening.
Supper over, they went on deck. The tropical night had fallen. Therewas no moon, and a velvety blackness stretched about the ship on everyside, broken here and there by a faint phosphorescent gleam as a wavereared and broke.
The schooner still rose and plunged from the aftermath of the storm,and the slipperiness of the wet decks made the footing insecure. Thecaptain was fearful that Ruth might have a fall, and after a whileurged her to go below. Drew and Parmalee offered to accompany her, butshe was very tired after the excitement and sleeplessness of theprevious night, and excused herself on the plea that she thought shewould retire early.
Drew and Parmalee were standing near each other just abaft themizzenmast, while Tyke and the captain were aft, talking in low voices.
An unusually big wave struck the schooner a resounding slap on thestarboard quarter, causing her to lurch suddenly. Drew was thrown offhis balance. He tried to regain his footing, but the slippery deck wastreacherous and he fell heavily, striking his head on the corner of thehatch cover.
How long he lay there he did not know, but it must have been forseveral minutes, for when he recovered consciousness his clothes werewet where they had absorbed the moisture from the deck. His head waswhirling, and he felt giddy and confused. He put his hand to hisforehead and felt a cut that was bleeding profusely.
Drew had a horror of scenes, and instead of reporting to Tyke or to thecaptain, he resolved to go quietly to his room, bind up the wound aswell as he was able, and then get into his berth with the hope that agood night's rest would put him in good shape again.
He wondered in a dazed way where Parmalee was. Why had not the otheryoung man sought to help him? He had been standing close by at thetime and could not have failed to notice the accident. Was it possiblethat Parmalee still nourished a grudge, and had refused the slightservice that humanity should have dictated? No, Parmalee was not thatkind. There was no love lost between the two, but Drew refused to dohim that injustice.
But Drew's wound demanded attention, and he was too confused just thento solve problems that could wait till later. So he picked his wayrather unsteadily to the companionway and went down.
He had to pass the captain's cabin on his way to his own room. As hedid so, the light streamed full upon him, and Ruth, who had not yetgone to her own room, looked up from her sewing and saw him. She gavea little scream and rushed toward him.
"Oh, Allen, Allen!" she cried, taking his face in her hands. "What hashappened? Your head is bleeding! Are you badly hurt?"
"Don't be frightened, Ruth," he returned. "I was stupid enough to falland cut my head a little. Bu it's nothing of any account. I'll bindit up and I'll be as right as a trivet in the morning."
"_You'll_ bind it up!" she exclaimed. "You'll do nothing of the kind.You'll come right in here and let me fix that poor head for you."
She drew him in and he went unresistingly, glad to yield to her gentletyranny.
Ruth found warm water, ointment, lint and bandages, and deftly bound upthe wound. She was a sailor's daughter, and an adept in first aid tothe wounded. Her soft hands touched his face and head, her eyes weredewy with sympathy, and Drew found himself rejoicing at the accidentthat had brought him this boon. She had never been so close to himbefore, and he was sorry when the operation was ended.
"Through so soon?" he asked regretfully.
She laughed merrily. She could laugh now.
"I can take the bandage off and start all over again if you say so,"she said mischievously.
"Do," he begged.
"Be sensible," she commanded. "Go at once now and get to bed.Remember, you're my patient and must obey orders."
She shook her finger at him and tried to frown with portentousseverity. But the dancing eyes and mutinous dimple belied the frown.
"If you're my nurse, I'm going to be sick for a long time," he warnedher.
He tried to grasp the menacing finger, but she eluded him and playfullydrove him out of the room.
The sun was shining brightly through the porthole of his room when heawoke the next morning, and on reaching for his watch he found that hehad waked later than usual. He dressed himself quickly. He felt alittle light-headed from the effect of his wound, but nothing more.
There was an exclamation of alarm from Tyke and the captain when theysaw his bandaged head.
"Only a cut," said Allen lightly. And he briefly narrated the detailsof his misadventure.
"Lucky it was no worse," commented Tyke.
"Wasn't there any one near by at that time?" asked the captain.
"Why----" began Drew, and stopped. To say that Parmalee had been nearhim would have been an indictment of the former for his seemingheartlessness. He did not want to take advantage of his absent riva
l.
"If there had been, he'd have certainly picked me up," he evaded,rather lamely.
Ruth greeted him in her usual gay and gracious manner, but he sought invain for any trace of the tenderness of the night before. She was onher guard again.
"How is my patient this morning?" she smiled.
"Fine," he answered. "If you ever want any recommendation as a nurseyou can refer to me. Only I wouldn't give it," he added.
"Why not?" she asked.
"Because I want to be your only patient."
She hastened to get off perilous ground.
"I wonder what's keeping Mr. Parmalee this morning," she observed."He's even more of a sleepy head than you are."
"Tired out, I guess," conjectured the captain. "This storm has used usall up pretty well."
Ruth summoned Namco and told him to knock on Mr. Parmalee's door. TheJapanese was back in a minute.
"Honorable gent no ansler," he reported.
"That's queer," remarked the captain. "I'll step there myself."
He returned promptly, looking very grave. "He isn't there," heannounced.
"Perhaps he's gone on deck to get an appetite for breakfast," suggestedDrew lightly.
"It's not alone that he's absent," said the captain in a worried tone."His bed hasn't been slept in!"
There was a chorus of startled exclamations. Drew and Tyke jumped totheir feet and Ruth lost her color.
"Oh, Daddy!" she cried, "it can't be that anything's happened to him?"
"Don't get excited, Ruth," said her father soothingly. "There may besome explanation. I'll have the ship searched at once."
They all hurried on deck, and the captain summoned the mate and Mr.Rogers. He told them what he feared and ordered that the ship besearched thoroughly.
Rogers turned to obey, but the one-eyed mate, Cal Ditty, stopped himwith a gesture.
"No use," he said. "Mr. Parmalee ain't here."
"How do you know?" cried the captain.
"Because he was thrown overboard last night," was the sudden grimanswer.
Ruth gave a smothered shriek and the others gasped in amazement andhorror.
"What do you mean?" shouted the captain.
"Just what I said."
"Who threw him overboard?"
"He did," declared Ditty, pointing to Drew.
There was a moment of terrible silence as the others looked in thedirection of the mate's pointing finger.
Drew stood as though he were turned to stone. His tongue wasparalyzed. He saw consternation in the faces of Tyke and the captain.He glimpsed the horror in the eyes of Ruth. Then, with a roar of rage,he hurled himself at the one-eyed mate.
"You lying hound!" he shouted. "If crime's been done, _you've_committed it."
Ditty slid back a step and met the younger man's charge with a coolnessthat showed his taunt had been premeditated and that this result wasexpected. As the enraged Drew closed in, the mate met him with afrightful swing to the side of his bandaged head.
Drew's head rocked on his shoulders, and for a moment he was dazed.Blood flowed from under the bandage, and in an instant his cheek andneck were besmeared with it. The bucko, with the experience of longyears of rough fighting, landed a second blow before the confused Drewcould put up his defense again.
But that was the last blow Ditty did land. Drew's brain clearedsuddenly. Hot rage filled his heart. He forgot his surroundings. Heforgot that Ruth stood by to see his metamorphosis from a civilized maninto an uncivilized one. He forgot everything but the leering face ofthe lying scoundrel before him, and he proceeded to change that faceinto a bruised mask.
His skill and speed made the mate, with only brute force behind him,seem like a child. Drew closed Ditty's remaining eye, split his upperlip, puffed both his cheeks till his nose was scarcely a ridge betweenthem, and ended by landing a left hook on the point of the jaw thatknocked the mate down and out.
As Drew fell back from the fray, which had lasted only seconds, soswift was the pace, Tyke seized him.
"You've done enough, boy! You've done enough, Allen!" he exclaimed."Leave life in the scoundrel so we can get the truth out of him."