CHAPTER XI.
AN UNWELCOME PASSENGER.
John can hold back no longer, but gives his oar to the boatman, andseeks the bow in place of Aunt Gwen, who allows him the privilege.
They are now almost upon the floating swamped boat.
"Careful now. Don't run into the wreck. I see her," and with the lastwords, John, who has kicked off his shoes in almost a second of time,throws coat and vest down in the boat and leaps overboard.
His hands seize upon the gunwale of the nearly submerged boat, overwhich each wave breaks. He pulls himself along, and thus reaches LadyRuth whom he finds holding on to one of the tiller ropes which hasformed a loop, through which her arm is passed.
"Thank Heaven! You are safe! Here comes the boat! You must let me helpyou in, Lady Ruth!" he says, dodging a wave and ready to clutch her ifshe lets go.
"I am not alone. You must take him in first," she gasps.
Then John for the first time becomes aware that she is supporting SirLionel, whose arm has also been passed through the rounded tiller rope.
He seems to hang a dead weight.
Amazed at the action of the brave English girl, John at once takes holdof the soldier. The boat by this time comes up.
In getting him aboard a spill is narrowly averted, and now a newtrouble arises. The boat will hold no more, and is dangerously loadedeven now.
What can be done? Lady Ruth must be taken aboard. Her strength isalmost gone, and John, in deadly fear lest one of the hungry wavesshould tear her away before their very eyes, passes an arm around herwaist.
He takes in the situation.
"Here, you!" to the already wet boatman, "tumble overboard, quick now.We can hold on behind, I reckon."
The man hesitates, and this is a bad time for deliberation.
Professor Sharpe suddenly seizes upon him, and in almost the twinklingof an eye has the fellow overboard, more through a quick movement thanany show of strength.
"There's a boat from the steamer coming this way. Hail it, Philander!"exclaims Aunt Gwen, and this gives them new life.
Lady Ruth is now taken into the boat with some degree of caution.
Sir Lionel shows no sign of life, and both ladies are extremelysolicitous about him, so the professor bends down to make a cursoryexamination.
"He'll be all right when the water is pumped out of him," he announces.
The boat from the steamer comes up, led to the spot by Philander'sshrill whoops, and the men in the water are rescued.
In ten minutes they reach the side of the steamer and go aboard. Aterrible disaster has been narrowly averted, and John cannot but feelamazed at the wonderful grit shown by this girl, who saved the baronetfrom a watery grave.
It proves his estimation of her qualities at the time she assisted tobind up his arm was not out of the way.
As the two boatmen are about to go down into their craft again, the onewho has not been in the water beckons John, who has not yet sought hiscabin-room to change his soaked clothes.
"Will the gentleman recover?" he asks.
"You mean Sir Lionel? Oh, yes! He is already back in his senses.Strangely enough the first question he asked upon learning that LadyRuth was saved, concerned your companion, and when he learned that theboatman had also survived, he said: 'The devil!'"
At this the man chuckles.
"I understand--perhaps you can. I like you, sir, while his ways make memad. He thinks we Maltese dogs. I say no more--only look out for him. Iteasy to sink when plank in boat loosened."
Without another word the fellow slides down the rope to his boat, andpushes off with his soaked companion.
When John turns and heads for his state-room, he has something to thinkabout, and the consciousness that there has been some foul play aboutthis accident makes him decidedly uneasy.
Now they are off, the passengers who in the morning started on apilgrimage to Civita Vecchia having returned in good time.
When Doctor Chicago once more comes on deck, clad in warm, dry clothes,the lights of Valetta are astern, and the steamer is putting milesbetween them.
He paces up and down, reflecting upon the startling event of the evening.
What can the significant words of the boatman mean, if not what hesuspects.
John would not wrong any one, and he believes it policy to keep thisto himself. At the same time he realizes that the game is taking on adesperate phase, when a gentleman of Sir Lionel's caliber descends tosuch treachery, in order to make himself a favorite with the fairEnglish maid.
Of course, it was his intention to save Lady Ruth and appear the hero.He trusted in his well-known ability as an expert swimmer to accomplishthis, and never once thought fate would step in and deal him such a blow.
As near as can be learned from what the wet boatman said when pickedup, just when the craft was sinking Sir Lionel must have stumbled andfallen, striking his head upon the gunwale, which rendered himunconscious.
John walks up and down, smoking and pondering, and, when his thoughts gotoward Lady Ruth, he smiles as if they are pleasant.
Twice he goes to seek the stewardess to make inquiries concerning theyoung woman, and is gratified to hear that the ship's Scotch surgeon hasgiven her a glass of warm toddy to keep her from taking cold as a resultof her exposure, and that having retired she is now in a perfectlynatural sleep.
Pleased with this, he lights another cigar and resumes his walk, to meetSir Lionel, who has quite recovered from his ducking, and is disposed totreat the whole matter something like a joke.
John engages him in conversation for a purpose, and learns what he canabout the peculiar affair; but the soldier professes to know nothingbeyond the fact that the boatman suddenly cried that the craft wassinking, whereupon he called out for assistance from the other boat,and then, as the emergency seemed very close, he sprang up to save LadyRuth, when his foot caught in the thwart and he pitched heavily forward.
He was not wholly unconscious, and with some one's help, he knew notwhom at the time, he managed to crook his arm through the rope belongingto the tiller. After which he knew no more until he came to on board thesteamer and found the surgeon pouring whisky down his throat.
"Perhaps your boatman was crazy. I'm sure our fellow must have been outof his mind, judging from his actions when leaving the steamer. Why, heeven warned me to keep an eye on you, sir."
At this the Englishman removes his cigar from between his teeth, lookshard at the doctor, says "by Jove!" several times, and then laughsheartily.
"That is very funny. Indeed, I can't remember anything that strikesme as more peculiar. Any one can watch me--my actions are, I hope,above-board. It is true I am disappointed in not having been able tohave saved Lady Ruth, but so long as some one took her from the water,what does it matter? The boatmen are mad, because they lost a craft.Jove! I'd like to teach them a lesson for taking out passengers in acranky, rotten boat. Do you know, I believe my foot went clean throughthe bottom when I jumped up."
This, spoken in a frank, ingenuous way, quite disarms John.
He does not like to think evil of his fellow human beings, at any rate.
The wind is increasing meanwhile, and clouds hide the young moon.
"I believe we will have a storm," is the last remark Sir Lionel makes,as he staggers across the rising deck and makes a plunge down into thecabin, for although a duck in the water, the Briton is no yachtsman, andpossibly already feels the terrible grip of the coming _mal de mer_.
His words are soon verified, however, for the waves and wind continue torise until the steamer is mightily buffeted. Still John remains on deck.There is a fascination for him in the scene that words cannot express.When he has had enough he will find his state-room and sleep, for surelyhe needs it after being awake a good deal of the preceding night atValetta.
Darker grow the heavens. Thunder rolls, and the electric current cutsthe air, illuminating the wild scene with a picturesque touch that isalmost ghastly in its yellow white.
The steamer is well built, and in good condition to withstand thetempest, roar as it may. John tires of the weird spectacle at last,and he, too, makes a plunge for the cabin, reaching it just in time toescape a monster wave that makes the vessel stagger, and sweeps alongthe deck from stem to stern.
Below he finds considerable confusion, such as is always seen on board asteamer during a storm. Timid men looking as white as ghosts, frightenedwomen wringing their hands and screaming with each plunge of the ship,as if they expect it to be the last.
A few foreign passengers are aboard, and they do not seem free from thecontagion, though inclined to be more stoical than the Europeans.
As the steamer plunges, some of the passengers are huddled in a corner.Loud praying can be heard, and those who are least accustomed to suchthings on ordinary occasions are most vehement now.
A Mohammedan is kneeling on his rug, with his face turned in thedirection of Mecca, as near as he can judge, and going through withthe strange rigmarole of bows and muttered phrases that constitute hisreligion.
This scene is not a very pleasant one, but there are features about itwhich are worth being noticed, and John stands to gaze before seekinghis room.
He has heard from the captain that the boat is perfectly safe, unlessthe storm should grow much heavier, and with this assurance intends toseek his berth and sleep, if such a thing be possible.
He moves toward his state-room. Just then a billow strikes the steameralmost amidships, and she rolls. This, not being expected, causes Johnto slide across the cabin floor, to the accompaniment of a chorus ofcries from the frightened people, who are huddled in a corner by thisnew move on the part of the vessel.
He brings up alongside a state-room door, which is in the act of beingopened, even as he bangs up against it.
Consequently John has the greatest difficulty in maintaining hisbalance, and in order to keep from sliding through the door grasps thesides.
Some one has opened it. A face is exposed close to his own, a face that,although not terror-stricken, bears the evidence of sudden alarm, asthough the new pitch of the vessel and renewed shrieks from within havearoused fear--a face that John Craig recognizes with amazement.
"Tell me, are we sinking?" she exclaims.
Then she looks again.
"Ah! Doctor Chicago!"
"You here, Pauline Potter?"
The presence of the actress on board the steamer gives him a suddenthrill.
It is no mere accident that brings her, but a part of a deep-laid plan,which perhaps not only concerns him, but one in whom he has taken thedeepest interest--Lady Ruth.
That is why he cries out, and his words have more than an ordinaryamount of astonishment in them.
"Yes, I am leaving Malta. I have no reason to remain there longer. Buttell me the worst, John Craig; are we doomed to go down?"
The vessel does not toss so wildly now, and the wails of the alarmedpassengers grow less in volume.
"I hope not. The captain assured me there was no danger whatever, andtold me to get some sleep, if I could. I am on my way to my berth now.Be of good cheer, the morning will see us safe enough, I believe."
Then he leaves her, and the state-room door closes.
This encounter makes John think of the other ladies. Are Aunt Gwen andLady Ruth among those whose clamor arises from the cabin with each lurchof the ship?
As the thought flashes upon his mind, some one clutches his arm, and,turning, he beholds the little professor. There is a wild look inPhilander's eyes, and his teeth rattle like castanets. Really thesituation is terrible enough to appall any one.
"When do we go down, John?" he asks.
"Good Heaven! I trust not at all," and he cheers the other with what thecaptain has told him.
"I wish you could tell the ladies that."
"Where are they?" asks John.
"Come with me!"
In a few seconds the doctor sees the ladies, who have a state-roomtogether. They are fully dressed, and look woe-begone. At each lunge ofthe vessel they gasp, and, when a particularly big one occurs, fall intoeach other's arms.
Both are brave enough, and yet the situation is such that a strangefeeling creeps over the stoutest heart.
When John appears, and tells them what the captain has said, itreassures them considerably, and they feel better.
Presently he leaves them, and seeks his berth, where he actually goesto sleep. Tired nature will assert her power, even under the mostdiscouraging conditions.
During the night the storm abates.
John Craig is awake early, and can tell that all is well from the easymotion of the steamer, for her plunges are few and of small moment. Asilence broods over the scene; the tired passengers have gone to sleep;all John can hear as he lies there is the dull throb of the engines andthe swish of water against the side of the vessel.