Chapter 19
The Last of the "Kincaid"
Shortly after the break of day Tarzan was on deck noting the conditionof the weather. The wind had abated. The sky was cloudless. Everycondition seemed ideal for the commencement of the return voyage toJungle Island, where the beasts were to be left. And then--home!
The ape-man aroused the mate and gave instructions that the Kincaidsail at the earliest possible moment. The remaining members of thecrew, safe in Lord Greystoke's assurance that they would not beprosecuted for their share in the villainies of the two Russians,hastened with cheerful alacrity to their several duties.
The beasts, liberated from the confinement of the hold, wandered aboutthe deck, not a little to the discomfiture of the crew in whose mindsthere remained a still vivid picture of the savagery of the beasts inconflict with those who had gone to their deaths beneath the fangs andtalons which even now seemed itching for the soft flesh of further prey.
Beneath the watchful eyes of Tarzan and Mugambi, however, Sheeta andthe apes of Akut curbed their desires, so that the men worked about thedeck amongst them in far greater security than they imagined.
At last the Kincaid slipped down the Ugambi and ran out upon theshimmering waters of the Atlantic. Tarzan and Jane Clayton watched theverdure-clad shore-line receding in the ship's wake, and for once theape-man left his native soil without one single pang of regret.
No ship that sailed the seven seas could have borne him away fromAfrica to resume his search for his lost boy with half the speed thatthe Englishman would have desired, and the slow-moving Kincaid seemedscarce to move at all to the impatient mind of the bereaved father.
Yet the vessel made progress even when she seemed to be standing still,and presently the low hills of Jungle Island became distinctly visibleupon the western horizon ahead.
In the cabin of Alexander Paulvitch the thing within the black boxticked, ticked, ticked, with apparently unending monotony; but yet,second by second, a little arm which protruded from the periphery ofone of its wheels came nearer and nearer to another little arm whichprojected from the hand which Paulvitch had set at a certain point uponthe dial beside the clockwork. When those two arms touched one anotherthe ticking of the mechanism would cease--for ever.
Jane and Tarzan stood upon the bridge looking out toward Jungle Island.The men were forward, also watching the land grow upward out of theocean. The beasts had sought the shade of the galley, where they werecurled up in sleep. All was quiet and peace upon the ship, and uponthe waters.
Suddenly, without warning, the cabin roof shot up into the air, a cloudof dense smoke puffed far above the Kincaid, there was a terrificexplosion which shook the vessel from stem to stern.
Instantly pandemonium broke loose upon the deck. The apes of Akut,terrified by the sound, ran hither and thither, snarling and growling.Sheeta leaped here and there, screaming out his startled terror inhideous cries that sent the ice of fear straight to the hearts of theKincaid's crew.
Mugambi, too, was trembling. Only Tarzan of the Apes and his wiferetained their composure. Scarce had the debris settled than theape-man was among the beasts, quieting their fears, talking to them inlow, pacific tones, stroking their shaggy bodies, and assuring them, asonly he could, that the immediate danger was over.
An examination of the wreckage showed that their greatest danger, now,lay in fire, for the flames were licking hungrily at the splinteredwood of the wrecked cabin, and had already found a foothold upon thelower deck through a great jagged hole which the explosion had opened.
By a miracle no member of the ship's company had been injured by theblast, the origin of which remained for ever a total mystery to all butone--the sailor who knew that Paulvitch had been aboard the Kincaid andin his cabin the previous night. He guessed the truth; but discretionsealed his lips. It would, doubtless, fare none too well for the manwho had permitted the arch enemy of them all aboard the ship in thewatches of the night, where later he might set an infernal machine toblow them all to kingdom come. No, the man decided that he would keepthis knowledge to himself.
As the flames gained headway it became apparent to Tarzan that whateverhad caused the explosion had scattered some highly inflammablesubstance upon the surrounding woodwork, for the water which theypoured in from the pump seemed rather to spread than to extinguish theblaze.
Fifteen minutes after the explosion great, black clouds of smoke wererising from the hold of the doomed vessel. The flames had reached theengine-room, and the ship no longer moved toward the shore. Her fatewas as certain as though the waters had already closed above hercharred and smoking remains.
"It is useless to remain aboard her longer," remarked the ape-man tothe mate. "There is no telling but there may be other explosions, andas we cannot hope to save her, the safest thing which we can do is totake to the boats without further loss of time and make land."
Nor was there other alternative. Only the sailors could bring away anybelongings, for the fire, which had not yet reached the forecastle, hadconsumed all in the vicinity of the cabin which the explosion had notdestroyed.
Two boats were lowered, and as there was no sea the landing was madewith infinite ease. Eager and anxious, the beasts of Tarzan sniffedthe familiar air of their native island as the small boats drew intoward the beach, and scarce had their keels grated upon the sand thanSheeta and the apes of Akut were over the bows and racing swiftlytoward the jungle. A half-sad smile curved the lips of the ape-man ashe watched them go.
"Good-bye, my friends," he murmured. "You have been good and faithfulallies, and I shall miss you."
"They will return, will they not, dear?" asked Jane Clayton, at hisside.
"They may and they may not," replied the ape-man. "They have been illat ease since they were forced to accept so many human beings intotheir confidence. Mugambi and I alone affected them less, for he and Iare, at best, but half human. You, however, and the members of thecrew are far too civilized for my beasts--it is you whom they arefleeing. Doubtless they feel that they cannot trust themselves in theclose vicinity of so much perfectly good food without the danger thatthey may help themselves to a mouthful some time by mistake."
Jane laughed. "I think they are just trying to escape you," sheretorted. "You are always making them stop something which they see noreason why they should not do. Like little children they are doubtlessdelighted at this opportunity to flee from the zone of parentaldiscipline. If they come back, though, I hope they won't come bynight."
"Or come hungry, eh?" laughed Tarzan.
For two hours after landing the little party stood watching the burningship which they had abandoned. Then there came faintly to them fromacross the water the sound of a second explosion. The Kincaid settledrapidly almost immediately thereafter, and sank within a few minutes.
The cause of the second explosion was less a mystery than that of thefirst, the mate attributing it to the bursting of the boilers when theflames had finally reached them; but what had caused the firstexplosion was a subject of considerable speculation among the strandedcompany.