CHAPTER XIV.
A PLOT OVERHEARD.
"Say, didn't that boy move?"--the prisoner that Herc knew as Carl putthe question.
The lad heard rapid footsteps pace across the narrow cell, and felt thehot breath of one of the men in his ear as he lay still and feignedslumber as best he could, although his heart beat so wildly he was sureits agitation must have been audible to the two men.
Apparently, however, his ruse succeeded. The men were satisfied that hewas wrapped in slumber, for, with a growl, the one that had bent overhim said:
"He's off; sound as a top."
"A good thing," rejoined the other, "both for us and for him."
It was Carl who spoke, and the tone in which his soft, refined voiceuttered the words left the Dreadnought Boy no room to doubt that ifthe two plotters had imagined he had overheard them they would havedone something exceedingly unpleasant to prevent their secret beingbetrayed. As it was, however, they seemed to feel no uneasiness andresumed their conversation.
"The yacht will be waiting at Boco del Toros, about ten miles aboveGuantanamo Bay," continued the black-browed man. Herc recognized hisbearlike growl. "All we have to do when we get the plans is to stealaboard and sail. Her captain will be prepared for us, and will take uson board when we give the signal."
"Then all that we will have to do will be to waylay Varian," said Carlin his soft way, which, mild as it seemed, yet impressed Herc withthe same sense of chill as if the cold muzzle of a revolver had beenpressed to the nape of his neck.
"That's it. An easy way of earning ten thousand dollars, eh?"
"Yes, if--if we don't get caught."
"No fear of that," laughed the black-browed man; "at any rate, if weare it will be our own fault. But I see no chance of a slip-up. Variansails from New York to Havana on a vessel of the Ward line. He will putup at a hotel at Guantanamo. We are to meet the others ashore, and ifall goes well we'll finish our business in a few hours. If not----"
"Well, if not, we'll have to get what we're after from the captainhimself, and that's going to be difficult and perhaps fatal for him."
"Well, I've taken longer chances than that for less money," laughedCarl's companion. "Lucky thing they didn't look back into our records,or they'd have found out a thing or two which would have made us veryundesirable subjects for Uncle Sam's navy. Likewise Kennell, I guess.I'd 'a' hard time to get him to join, but a golden bait will catch theshyest fish."
Carl gave a high-pitched chuckle, almost a giggle, but the two worthiesinstantly lapsed into what seemed sullen silence as the key of theirjailer grated in the lock of the bulkhead door.
As for Herc, he judged that his best and safest course was to emit aloud snore, which he did. So well was his slumber simulated that themaster-at-arms who had entered, accompanied by two orderlies carryingthe prisoners' food, exclaimed in an astonished tone:
"That youngster must be an older hand than I thought him. He's actuallysleeping like a baby."
Herc pretended to feel very sleepy when the master-at-arms shook hisshoulder and indicated a smoking dinner of cornbeef and cabbage,flanked by bread and butter and a big mug of coffee.
"Here, wake up and eat this," commanded the officer; "you ought to bealive to your luck. The other prisoners only get full rations once aday. They have to dine on bread and water."
The boy stretched his arms as if he was only partially awake, and,after what he judged to be a proper interval of feigning sleepiness,fell to on his hot dinner. Empty as he was, the food heartened him upwonderfully, despite the scowls that his two companions leveled at himas he ate. When the master-at-arms arrived, just before two bells--oneo'clock--to take his prisoners to the tribunal at the mast, Sam feltbetter prepared to face his ordeal than he had a few hours previously.
The captain's "court" convened just forward of the stern awnings, and alittle abaft the towering "cage" aftermast.
The "old man," in full uniform, with a sword at his side,Lieutenant-Commander Scott, and several of the officers stood in alittle group chatting, as the prisoners were brought aft. All woreside arms and what the Jackie calls "quarter-deck faces"--meaning thatthey looked as stern and uncompromising as flint.
"I guess I'll get life," muttered Herc to himself, as he heard thestern doom, of stoppage of five days' pay and ten days in the brig,without future shore leave, pronounced on three sailors who had beenfound guilty of coming on duty in an intoxicated condition, at New York.
"You men are to understand that the United States navy has no placefor men who wilfully indulge in such practices," the captain had said,with blighting emphasis, as the men trembled before him. "Clean men,clean-living men is the material the government wants, and such as youare better out of the service. The navy is better off without you ifyou go on as you have been doing."
Herc felt his cheeks blanch as pale as had the countenances of theguilty ones as he heard this stern speech.
Next came the turns of the two men who had shared the same cell withhim.
"Carl Schultz, ordinary seaman, and Silas Wagg, ordinary seaman," readthe captain's yeoman who acted as a sort of "clerk of the court."
"What's the offense?" asked the captain.
"Overstaying their shore leave four hours, sir," was the rejoinder.
"Any previous bad record?"
"No, sir. I have found none," volunteered the master-at-arms.
"Men," said the captain, in the same icy tones as he had used towardthe three intemperate prisoners, "you are guilty of a serious offense.In the navy regularity should be a watchword with all of us. It mayseem to you that to overstay your leave by four hours was but a smallmatter, and that you yourselves would not be missed among eight hundredor more men. Yet every one of the crew and each of your forty-twoofficers has a niche of his own to fill. We are all cogs in the samegreat machine, servants working for the good of the same government.
"If any one of us is derelict in his duty, he is not only derelict tohimself and to his officers, but to his country and his flag. Alwaysbear that in mind. As this is your first offense, and your officerstell me you are hard-working men and good seamen, I shall dismiss youwith a reprimand. But mind," he added sternly, "if either of you isbrought before me again I shall not prove so lenient. Carry on."
With grateful faces, the two men hastened off forward.
How Herc longed to tell of what he had heard in the cell! But hedreaded to make himself appear ridiculous by reciting what might seeman improbable story, cooked up by one who already rested under a cloud,so he said nothing.
In fact, he was not allowed long to entertain these thoughts, forhardly had the two worthies who had shared his cell made the best oftheir way forward, before the yeoman, in a voice that affected Hercmuch as a sudden plunge into ice water would have done, shouted out:
"Ordinary Seaman Taylor!"
The story of Herc's knocking out the bully had already spread throughthe ship--a place where gossip travels as swiftly as through a smallvillage--and the officers and the few men whose duties brought themnear to the "court room"--eyed Herc curiously as he stepped forward,with head bared, holding himself as erect as possible. He saluted as heclicked his heels together with painstaking precision. His heart beatfast and thick, however, and there was an anxious look in his eyes ashe faced his inquisitors.
Herc was a brave boy, full of pluck and grit; but the ordeal before himmight have caused a stouter heart than his to quail.
"Master-at-arms, what do you know about this case?" asked the captain,as Herc stood rigid, twisting his cap in his big hands.
The master-at-arms rapidly rehearsed what he knew of the affair, andthen the captain turned to his executive officer.
"Mr. Scott, there is a complainant in this case, is there not?"
"Yes, sir," was the reply. "Mr. Andrews, who had the deck this morning,so reported to me."
"Able Seaman and Gunner Ralph Kennell is the man, sir," said LieutenantAndrews, stepping forward.
"Very good. Where is this m
an Kennell?"
"Here, sir," said Kennell, stepping forward in his turn.
His face shone with soap, which yet had not been able wholly toeradicate the traces of slate-colored paint with which he had beenshower-bathed. Over his left eye a big bit of plaster showed where"Pills" had patched him up. Beneath the same eye a dark bruise wasbeginning to spread. His jaw was also woefully swollen where Herc hadlanded his effective blow.
"Now, Kennell," began the captain, who was perfectly aware of thebully's record, and marvelled as much as his officers how such a slimlad as Herc could have inflicted such injuries on him; "now, Kennell,tell us in as few words as you can what occurred this morning betweenyou and Ordinary Seaman Taylor."
"Well, sir," began Kennell sullenly, "I was making my way aft to cleanbrasswork, sir, when this man here, sir, drops a pot of paint on myhead, sir, out of pure malice, as I believe, sir."
"Never mind what you believe. What happened then?"
"Then, when I protested, sir," went on Kennell, "he climbs down fromthe turret he was a-painting, sir, and strikes me."
"Where?"
"Right by the forward twelve-inch turret, sir."
"You mean your eye, don't you?"
"Well, sir, he struck me all over, sir," complained Kennell.
"And you had done nothing to him?"
"Nothing, sir."
"Very good. You may stand aside. Taylor, what have you to say to thisstory?"
"Not much, sir, except that it is a fabrication," said Hercindignantly, his fear at the officers swallowed in his wrath atKennell's lying tale. "It is true I dropped the paint on his head. Thatwas accidental, however. So far as his injuries go, I believe that hegot the cut over his eye when he fell against the turret. He hit it anawful whack, sir." Herc grinned broadly at the recollection.
"No levity, please. You are to understand this is a serious matter. Whostruck the first blow?"
Herc hesitated. It was no part of his ideas of what was right to telltales on a fellow seaman, and yet Kennell had lied cruelly about him.Suddenly his mind was made up.
"I had rather not say, sir," he said at length in a low tone.
"What! Are you aware that this is a confession of guilt, or equivalentto it?"
"Perhaps so, sir, but I cannot say," repeated Herc stubbornly.
"Very well, then," said the captain in his most dignified tones,"I shall have to inflict a heavier punishment on you than I wouldotherwise. You are one of the two recruits whose gallant conduct on the_Rhode Island_ caught my favorable attention. I am therefore doublyreluctant to punish you. But the discipline of the service must beupheld. Seemingly, you are screening some one. You must learn that yourofficers are to be obeyed, and also the regulations. No regulation ismore mandatory than that forbidding fighting and unseemly conduct onthe ships of the United States Navy. I shall therefore sentence you totwo days in the brig with prison rations. Master-at-arms!"
"Sir!"
"Carry on!"
The officer saluted, and a few minutes later poor Herc was once more inhis steel cell. This time he occupied it alone, however.
"Well, two days is not such a very long time," mused Hercphilosophically; "and I expected at least two months, by the way thatcaptain talked to me. I'm in here now, but let that old 'dog Kennel'look out for me when I'm foot loose again!"