CHAPTER IV.
FRANK MAKES A FRIEND.
It was clear to Jack that this was no place to stay if he could help it.From the first it had been evident to him that there was something wrongabout the ship. Apart from the lawless behavior of the crew, there wasthe fact that since he had come on board he had seen no vestige of anofficer.
The sailor who had first attacked him seemed to have some sort ofauthority. Jack naturally came to the conclusion that he was in commandof the vessel. There was only one reasonable answer, which was confirmedby a certain brown stain Jack had noticed on the deck. There had been amutiny on the ship.
Jack struck a match. The flame lighted up the corner into which he hadcrept and he saw several objects that he had not noticed before, ashipwright's auger, a calking mallet and probably a dozen wooden pegs,tapering at one end.
The purpose of these was unmistakable. The sailors intended to scuttlethe ship. Holes were to be bored in the bottom and the plugs driven intothem. Then, when the mutineers were ready to leave, the ship would beabandoned with the water pouring into her hold.
The tools suggested an idea to Jack. He picked up the auger and malletand groped his way aft. He climbed up on the pile of sacks and crawledalong until he came to the bulkhead that separated the cabin from thehold. He set the point of the auger against the bulkhead, and graspingthe cross lever, set to work vigorously. He was soon rewarded by feelingthe tool give with a jerk, and when he withdrew it there was a circularhole, through which daylight streamed faintly.
Jack put one eye to the hole and peered through. He could make outseveral objects in the cabin beyond. Having made this brief survey, hereturned to his task. Above the hole he had already bored, he boredanother slightly intersecting it, above this another, and so on, tracinga continuous row of holes, each encroaching on the next, in a widecircle.
By the time he had drilled the thirtieth hole, the weakening lightfiltering through told him the sun was setting. The fortieth hole waswithin an inch of the first one bored. Jack gave a vigorous kick on thespace inclosed by the line of holes, and sent the oval piece of plankflying into the cabin.
He slipped easily through the opening and groped about the cabin. Hefelt his way to the companion ladder, where he bumped against a bunk. Hesprawled headlong, and beneath his fingers felt a human form. He sprangback and struck a match.
Before him he saw the face of a boy, and he again approached the bunk.The lad's hands were bound and he was sleeping. Jack shook him, and theboy looked up.
"Hello," he said. "What are you doing here?"
"Rather, what are you doing here?" was Jack's reply.
"I'm Frank Chadwick, an American," was the answer. "Untie my hands andI'll tell you all about it."
Jack did as he was requested, and then Frank motioned toward the upperbunk just across from him.
"We'll perform the same operation there, and then we'll have a talk," hesaid.
Jack approached the bunk indicated, and perceived a second bound form.Quickly the two lads untied him, and the man slid to the floor andstretched himself.
"Thanks," he said, rubbing his hands. "I'm glad to get out of that."
"What's this all about, anyhow?" demanded Jack, in great surprise.
Frank gave an account of his adventures after meeting the littleAmerican with the red sweater in Naples. Then the man who had been tiedin the bunk repeated the story he had told Frank when the lad had firstentered the cabin, adding that his name was Albert Hetherington.
"But how do you come to be here?" he demanded of Jack.
Jack explained.
"Well," exclaimed Hetherington, "you have put your head into a hornet'snest, young man."
"Yes," replied Jack, "and I'm going to keep it there until I'm paid totake it out. I want two pounds four and I'm going to get it before Ileave this ship."
Jack climbed up on a small table, and wrapping his hand in hishandkerchief, crashed his fist through the skylight. The skylight had afixed top, and, instead of the usual guard bars, had loose woodenshutters for use in bad weather. Jack picked away the remainder of theglass. Placing a small box on top of the table, he climbed upon it andpeered out.
He could just catch a glimpse of the man at the wheel. The fellow wasnot taking his duties very seriously, for he was sitting on the gratingfilling his pipe and letting the ship steer itself. Jack considered,looked out again, then descended from the table with a distinctlypurposeful air.
"I'm looking for a piece of rubber plaster," he told Frank andHetherington.
He opened the medicine chest, and cut off several strips. Then he pickedup a piece of rope that hung upon a peg on the cabin wall.
"I want to try a little experiment," he told the others. "I'll tell youabout it later."
He cut off a couple of lengths of rope, and having pocketed one, andhaving made a small fixed loop in the end of the other, climbed up onthe box again and looked out on deck.
All was quiet without. Jack heard the helmsman yawn sleepily; he hadleft the wheel with a rope hitched around one of the spokes, and was nowleaning over the rail looking at the water.
Grasping the frame of the skylight, Jack gave a light spring and camestealthily through the opening. Then, creeping along the deck in theshelter of the small boat and the companion hood, he stole toward thesailor.
As the man threw back his head and yawned, Jack slipped his left handaround, holding the strip of plaster spread out on it, and clapped theplaster over the man's mouth, and instantly pinioned his hands byclasping him tightly round the chest.
The man struggled furiously and would have shouted, but was only able togrunt and snort, so well had the plaster done its work. The strugglewent on with little noise. Jack contrived to pass the end of the linethrough the loop and draw it until it was ready for a final pull. Thenhe hurled the man to the deck, jerked the line tight and sat on theprisoner's legs. He bound him tightly and then sat quiet a moment,listening.
Finally he arose and slid his helpless prisoner through the skylightinto the cabin and then lowered himself by the way he had emerged.
Here he seized the captive, dragged him across the cabin, and thrust himthrough the bulkhead, followed him through and removed the plaster fromthe man's mouth.
"Now," he said to his prisoner, "if you know what is good for you, youwill keep quiet."
Evidently the man knew. He signified his intention of keeping quiet, andJack returned to the cabin.
"Well, that's one of them out of the way," he told his new friends.
"Yes," replied Hetherington, "but there are five or six more up there."
"Five," said Frank.
"We'll see what can be done," remarked Jack, and again climbed on thetable and peered forth from the skylight.
But now there was no one to capture. The wheel jerked to and fro in itslashings. Suddenly the vessel heeled over crazily. At the same time avoice called:
"What's the matter, Pedro? You'll have the masts overboard if you don'tlook out."
A moment later the leader of the mutineers came staggering aft, followedby several of his men. He gazed at the wheel in surprise.
"Where has he gone?" he demanded.
"Down in the cabin, I guess," said one of the men.
"No," was the reply, "the companion is fastened up."
"He's gone overboard, that's where he's gone," said another voice.
"I guess you're right," replied the leader. "Here, Antonio, you mind thehelm, and don't you go overboard, too."
Muttering sleepily, another man took his place at the wheel, and theothers moved off. Jack bent down from the table and whispered to theothers.
"Now is the time to get the next one. You two stand by and take care ofhim when I pass him along to you."
"Better be careful," said Frank. "They are all liable to jump you."
Jack did not reply. He pulled himself up and dropped to the deck.