CHAPTER II
A MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE
For the first few days of their stay in Nassau the boys found plentyto amuse them. They rowed out in a bright-hued rowboat with a glassset in the bottom and gazed at the famed "sea gardens" and found themeven more wonderful than the ship's purser had described. Theyclambered over the ancient forts Williams and George; they bathed,swam and fished to their hearts' content and they visited the spongedocks where the speedy little schooners and sloops with their grinningblack crews brought their catch of sponges to barter and trade.
The huge turtles, lying on their backs upon the decks of fishingboats, were a novelty to the boys and they were absolutely fascinatedby the rainbow-tinted fish that swarmed in the waters and were sold inthe market. And they learned many new and interesting things also.They had seen the bleached white corals in museums and saw the sameeverywhere for sale in Nassau; and the first time they visited the seagardens and gazed down through the crystal clear water they weresurprised that no corals were visible.
There were huge sea-fans--purple and golden brown, long, blacksea-rods, brown and purple sea plumes, huge dull-orange and maroonstarfish, innumerable sea anemones with immensely long andbright-colored tentacles and everywhere red, pink, yellow, blue andparticolored fish, like some sort of exotic butterflies, flittinglazily among the marine growths. But not a white coral was visible.Great rounded mounds of orange, bits of scarlet, masses of green andlavender, of old rose and soft fawn brown were cluttered upon thebottom, but in vain the boys sought for the massive brain corals andgraceful branched corals they knew so well.
"Well I don't see any corals," declared Tom after he had gazed at themulticolored objects upon the ocean bottom for some time. "It'spretty, but I thought corals grew everywhere down here."
The black boatmen chuckled. "Beggin' yo' pardon, Chief," he remarked,"tha's plenty coral down tha', Chief. Yaas, sir, all erbout. Doan' yo'di'sarn 'em, Chief?"
"No," replied Tom, "I can't see a single white thing there--all I seeare bright colored weeds and sea-fans and rocks."
The negro looked genuinely surprised. "Bless yo' soul!" he exclaimed."Yo' cawnt be a s'archin' fo' white coral is yo'? White coral's jus'dead coral, Chief. Tha's da culmination o' tha' manner o' it'sprep'ration, Chief. Yaas, sir, all tha' objec's yo' di'sarn growin'down to tha' bottom is corals, Chief. Yaas, sir, some of tha' kin's isyellow an' some red an' some green."
It was the boys' turn to be surprised. "Why, you don't mean all thosethings like stones covered with bright-colored weeds are coral!"exclaimed Frank incredulously.
"Yaas, sir, Chief," the negro assured him. "Ah'll demonstrate it toyo' entire satisfaction, Chief."
As he spoke, the half-naked negro stood up in the little craft andbefore the astonished boys realized what he was about to do he hadplunged into the clear water and the boys watched in wonder as theysaw him swimming easily straight towards the bottom, a little stringof bubbles rising from him and the pink soles of his feet flashingstrangely. In an instant he had reached the masses of growth on thesea floor and the boys saw him pulling and working at a projectingledge of vivid violet and green. Then he turned and shot up to thesurface like a flash. As he broke through the water he tossed a largelump of brilliant material into the boat and clambered over the stern.
Interestedly the boys examined what he had brought and to theirabsolute amazement discovered that it really was coral, but as the manexplained, completely concealed under the fleshy covering of theanimals which resembled tiny sea anemones of wonderful tints.
But after their first momentary surprise and interest at the discoverythe two boys found much more to attract them in the denizens of themass of coral than in the coral itself. Odd red and white crabsemerged from their hiding places, a tiny fish that glittered with thedazzling hues of a fire opal flapped from under a bit of adheringseaweed, funny slug-like molluscs of intense blue and gold crawledabout the mass, queer little snails were everywhere and when the boysdisturbed the coral or handled it they heard odd snapping noises likelilliputian firecrackers.
For a time this puzzled them until Frank discovered to his intensedelight that the sounds were made by tiny lobster-like crustaceansthat dwelt in holes in the hard coral and viciously snapped theirclaws when disturbed.
"Say," asked Tom presently, "weren't you afraid of a devilfish--octopus, you know--down there?"
"Bless your soul, no, Chief!" grinned the negro. "Tha' fellow doan'never humbug us. We eats them down here, Chief."
"Eat them!" exclaimed Frank in surprise. "Gee! I'd hate to eat theslimy things. But I thought they attacked divers, pulled them downwith their tentacles and killed them."
"No, sir!" declared the boatman. "Tha's jus' foolishness. 'Cose a bigfellow _might_ humbug a diver, but Ah ne'er knew o' such ahappenin' an' Ah was spongin' fo' ten years an' mo'." Then a broadgrin spread over the man's face and he shook silently as thoughlaughing to himself over some amusing memory. "Yaas, sir," he went on."Come to take consideration o' the matter Ah did know o' one o' tha'fellows makin' to fight with a diver. Yaas, sir, a almighty bigfellow--jes erbout three fathoms across he was, Chief. Yaas, sir, hewent fo' to make trouble with Mr. Rawlins, Chief, jus' fo' tocommo-date the picture, but tha' one was a tame orctopus--made out o'rubber an' springs fo' the occasion, Chief."
"Oh, yes, we heard about that," said Tom, "but do you know Mr.Rawlins?"
"Bless yo' soul, yaas, sir," the negro assured him. "'Cose Ah knowsMr. Rawlins, ev'yone here knows he. Why, Ah been we'kin fo' MisterRawlins fo' mos' two years, Chief. Does yo' know he too, Chief?"
"Oh, slightly," replied Frank casually, realizing that they had notadhered strictly to their motto. "But how about sharks? Don't theyattack people in the water?"
The darky fairly guffawed with merriment. "Ah speculate some folksbeen a yarnin' to yo'," he declared. "Yaas, sir, das' it. Sharks! Lorda'mighty 'cose tha's sharks plenty hereabouts, but no one don' make noflust'ration 'bout those fellows, no, sir! Why, Lawd bless yo' soul,Chief, we Conchs goes down an' kills sharks weselves. Yaas, sir, jus'take a knife erlong an' cotches hoi' o' a fin an' slashes of them."
"Gosh! then it's true after all!" cried Tom. "The purser on the shiptold us that, but we wouldn't believe it."
But despite the boys' desire to see a shark and their boatman'spromise to demonstrate the fact that it is an easy matter to kill aten-foot man-eater single-handed in his native element, none of thesea tigers presented themselves for the sake of the exhibition.
"Tha' don' is such a plenty o' sha'ks roun' here 'bout as tha' was,"the boatman informed them when the boys expressed their surprise atseeing no sharks in waters which they had imagined teemed with them.
"Yo' see tha' tourists an' folks what comes here-'bout cotches he an'shoots at he an' causes such a flustration 'mongst 'em tha's mos' allscared away, Chief. Yaas, sir, I 'spec' if yo' wants to see sha'ksyo'll bes' take a cruise 'board one of tha' spongers. Tha's plenty o'sha'ks roun' erbout tha' cays an' the sponging grounds."
But the boys did see an octopus or "sea cat" as the natives call them.As they were returning to Nassau they passed a fishing boat and goingalongside to see what the men had caught they were shown one of thedevil fishes which had just been hauled up from its home on the oceanfloor. It was not a large specimen--barely five feet across itsoutstretched tentacles, but as it writhed and squirmed upon the sloop'sdeck the boys shuddered at its sucker-covered, snake-like arms, itshideous pulpy body and its cold, cruel, lid-less, unwinking andbaleful eyes.
"Gosh! how can any one eat such things!" exclaimed Tom.
"And say, just imagine being tackled by such an awful beast down underthe sea!" added Frank. "I'd die of pure fright, I believe."
Little did the boys realize that they would have a chance to testtheir sensations under such circumstances and little did they knowthat the delicious, thick, stew-like soup which they had enjoyed somuch was made from the repulsive octopus.
When the boys reached Nassau they found a trim lit
tle gray destroyeranchored off the town and the American flag, flapping gently in thebreeze at her stern, left no doubt as to her nationality.
"Oh, say!" cried Frank. "There she is! Gee! why weren't we here whenshe came in?"
"May not be," declared Tom. "Lots of American destroyers drop in hereand we won't miss anything anyhow. The boat's only reaching the docknow. She must have just come in."
By the time the boys stepped ashore the officer from the destroyer'sboat had entered a rattle-trap carriage and had driven away, whileabout the white-clad bluejackets in the waiting cutter were crowds ofblacks, laughing and jabbering and striving to sell the sailorseverything from seed necklaces and bits of coral to pineapples andmangoes.
As they pushed through the close-packed, brightly-garbed throng theboys caught a glimpse of one broad-shouldered sailor who was arguingover a bunch of bananas with an immensely fat colored woman andinstantly they recognized him.
"Say, 'tis the destroyer," exclaimed Tom. "Look, there's the bosun'smate who told us about the schooner. Gee, I wonder if they got her!"
Hailing a carriage, for they were too eager to hear the news to walk,the two boys were driven quickly to their hotel and hurrying to theirrooms found Mr. Pauling and Mr. Henderson talking with an officer in acommander's uniform.
"Hello, just in time, boys!" exclaimed Mr. Pauling as the twoappeared. "Commander West just got in and was about to give us thenews."
"I'm sorry it's not very good news," said the officer. "In fact nonews at all--as far as results are concerned. We sighted the schoonerjust north of Watling's island and signaled her to heave to, but shedid not pay the least attention. We couldn't send a shot after her,you know--serious matter to fire on or near a vessel on the high seas,and she was flying the British flag. Before we could come alongsideshe slipped in between the reefs and we had to slow down and feel ourway--dangerous channels those between the coral, you know--and by thetime we rounded the next cay she'd completely disappeared. Strangestthing I've ever seen. Not a trace of her, if she'd sunk with all onboard she could not have vanished more mysteriously. Of course wesupposed that she'd slipped into some little bay or cove where wecouldn't follow so we anchored and sent our boats off. They ran aroundevery cay and island within sight, but not a sign of that blessedpacket. It gets me, I admit."
"H-m-m!" muttered Mr. Henderson. "Sort of phantom ship, eh? Was itpossible she slipped away behind the islands while you were gettingthrough the reefs?"
"Don't see how she could," replied Commander West. "Her topmasts wouldhave shown up somewheres. No, she must have got into some landlockedbay that our men missed--hard thing to see some of those with thefringe of palms along the outer beach hiding the entrance, you know.Well, to continue. We decided to search every cay the next morning--itwas pretty near dark then--and we did, but not a sign. Then we gave upand were cruising about, thinking she'd slipped out during the nightand we might pick her up and the next day what do you think? Why wegot a radio from Haverstraw of the _Porter_ saying they'd sightedher over by the Caicos and that she gave him the slip among the reefsthe same way. He had a little better luck though. Found her allright."
"Hurrah!" shouted Tom as the commander hesitated. "Did they get themen?"
"They found her, as I said," continued the officer, "anchored off oneof the cays and--absolutely deserted!"
"Jove!" exclaimed Mr. Henderson. "Deserted! Confound those fellows.They seem to have a habit of deserting their ships! First thesubmarine and now the schooner. Did Lieutenant Haverstraw findanything on her?"
"Nothing suspicious," replied the commander. "To all intents andpurposes she was merely a fishing smack. Didn't even have a wirelessaboard. He might have towed her to port as a derelict, but he radioedfor advice and I told him to leave her. If he'd brought her in theremight have been too many questions asked--Admiralty investigation andall--these Britishers are just as particular about a smack as a linerwhen it comes to maritime law, you know, and they have a blameduncomfortable way of asking too many questions sometimes. Of course Irealize that the two governments would straighten it out and keepmatters quiet, but the local authorities might not and she's just aswell off there as here as far as I can see."
"Yes, no need of arousing curiosity," agreed Mr. Pauling. "Did yousearch the islands near her to see if the men had gone ashore?"
"Haverstraw tells me he even looked inside the conch shells on thebeach," replied the officer with a laugh. "Says if he finds anotherabandoned ship he'll resign--getting on his nerves. He's the one whopicked up the submarine, you know. However, I'm sailing for the Caicosthis evening--if those men are on any of the cays or took to anothervessel we'll find them."
"Oh, I've an idea!" exclaimed Tom who had been thinking rapidly. "Ifthose fellows on the submarine deserted her and took to the schooneras we thought, perhaps they left the schooner and went to asubmarine."
"Well, I'll be----" began Mr. Henderson. "Why in thunder haven't wethought of that before? What did I tell you, Pauling? Didn't I saythese boys would give us old hands some new ideas? Jove! I'll wagerthat _is_ the solution. Probably knew where the sub was waitingand made for it. Had her ready for just such an emergency."
"That may be it," admitted Commander West, "but if 'tis where in thename of the Great Horn Spoon do they get the subs? They're prettydarned expensive little toys, you know, and a chap can't buy or buildone the way he can a skiff. Seems to me some one would have known ifthere were mysterious submarines knocking about."
"It is a mystery," agreed Mr. Pauling, "but the whole affair has beenfull of mystery. I think, however, there may be a simple solution tothis one. If we assume that the head of the organization is whom wesuspect it to be he might well have obtained German U-boats. We mustremember that in his original undertaking he possessed unlimited meansand almost unlimited authority and had the confidence of the Prussiangovernment. Is it not possible or even probable that he had severalsub-sea craft on this side of the Atlantic--we know he made use of onein his nefarious scheme--and that with the failure of his plans andthe collapse of Germany he appropriated the subs for his own privatedesigns? The crews in fact might have joined with him--we have proofthat some of those on the captured U-boat were formerly in the Germannavy and if he has a secret headquarters down here is it likely hewould risk all on one submarine?"
"I imagine your theory is very nearly correct," replied Mr. Henderson."If so, there is little use in attempting to accomplish anything untilRawlins arrives. When should he be here, Commander?"
"That's hard to say," replied the officer. "We had a code messageseveral days ago to the effect that she had completed refitting andwas expected to sail any time. If she left the following day--let'ssee, that was last Friday--she might be at her rendezvous by day afterto-morrow--Thursday. I should hardly expect her before then. ButDisbrow is posted near there and will undoubtedly notify you themoment she is sighted. You know the plan was for Rawlins to signal ourship about thirty miles off the island and then run submerged to avoidany possibility of being seen. Then Disbrow will radio you--Rawlins'outfit might not reach you and a simple and innocent-appearing messagefrom Disbrow would excite no comment. Well, I must be getting off. Ifwe stay here too long these Conchs will wonder why we're here. I gaveout we just dropped in for fresh vegetables and fruit and I expect mygobs have loaded up by now."
After the commander left, the conversation was all of this latestdevelopment in the search for the mysterious conspirators and everyphase and theory was thoroughly threshed out without coming to anymore definite conclusion than before.
"It's just one confounded disappearance after another!" declared Mr.Henderson. "I shouldn't be surprised now if Rawlins vanished or evenif that Smernoff had gone up in a wisp of smoke."