CHAPTER XXVII
Farewell to Swan Island
Launching the dinghy, Burgoyne and his companions rowed off to theschooner. It was now close on high water and the wind had dropped toalmost a flat calm. Laboriously they manned the winch until the cablewas up and down, then for half an hour they toiled before theysucceeded in breaking out the heavy anchor from the tenacious hold ofthe bed of the lagoon. Then followed a strenuous task under thebroiling rays of the afternoon sun as they towed the vessel into thecreek.
By that time Burgoyne realized that he had been over sanguine in hissurmise. He had not taken into account the almost inevitable hitchesin his plans, and he had forgotten the now patent fact that none ofthem had had a good sleep for the last thirty hours.
"She'll lie there nicely," he decided, as the anchor was let go and astout warp taken ashore and made fast to a sturdy palm tree. "We'llspend the rest of the day making everything ship-shape, but I don'tquite fancy sleeping aboard to-night."
The work of cleansing this maritime Augean stables proceeded with awill, for the schooner was indescribably filthy both on deck andbelow. Her paraffin motor was in a terribly neglected state, so thatit was a source of wonder to Alwyn and Peter that the pirates eversucceeded in getting the engine to perform duty at all. Most of therunning gear was good, having been renewed from cordage taken fromthe captured merchantmen; but the sails, though serviceable in lightwinds, did not appear to be capable of standing up to a stiff blow.
Of provisions they found a liberal quantity, although the qualityleft much to be desired. Aided by stores from the island, the newcrew ought to be able to subsist comfortably for a month withouthaving to reprovision the grub-lockers. Particularly acceptable wereair-tight canisters of tea, coffee, and cocoa, boxes of sugar, and anunopened crate of condensed milk, as well as a variety of cookingutensils.
"Knock off time!" declared Burgoyne, to the relief of his weary andtired companions, although they had no cause for complaint that hehad shirked his fair share. "We'll turn in in the cave to-night,since most of our gear's there. Bring that grub along, Jasper; I'llsee to the kettle and the tea-pot; Peter, you cart along the knives,and milk, sugar, and tea. We're going to surprise Miss Vivian whenshe wakes up."
Soon after they landed a fire was blazing merrily. While the kettlewas boiling Mostyn made some tea-cups by cutting out a section ofseveral coco-nut shells. Although there were enamelled tea-cups inplenty on board, the three men could not bring themselves to make useof them. They were not fastidious, but they drew the line at drinkingout of cups used by pirates.
Compared with the food to which they had been accustomed during theircaptivity at the secret base and their subsequent escape, the mealpromised to be a sumptuous one.
When all was in readiness they roused Hilda from her slumbers. Beyonda slight stiffness she felt little the worse for her alarmingexperience. A refreshing sleep had driven away her headache, and, toquote her own words, she felt ready to go anywhere or do anything.
"Then, how about tea?" asked Burgoyne. "Real tea?"
Hilda looked a bit doubtful. She rather fancied that Burgoyne was"chipping her". Then she caught a whiff of the fragrant odour asPeter poured the boiling water on to the tea.
"Oh, how nice!" she exclaimed enthusiastically, and almost in thesame breath she added anxiously: "but I hope you washed the tea-potthoroughly?"
The meal over, another surprise was forthcoming when Minalto proudlyproduced a tin of tobacco and some cigarette papers, which he hadfound in the after-cabin of the schooner. With unexpected dexterityJasper's huge and clumsy-looking fingers rolled half a dozencigarettes, and soon the three men were enjoying the long-deniedluxury of smoking the fragrant weed; while Hilda, not to be left outin the cold, proceeded to make appetizing coco-nut cakes of flour,sugar, and grated nuts, which she baked on a piece of sheet iron overthe fire.
Early next morning all hands were up and doing. Each had his or herallotted task: the men to overhaul and clean out the schooner, whileHilda baked biscuits and boiled ham for the voyage.
By noon the schooner was presentable. The decks had been scrubbeddown with sand and water, the paintwork in both cabins washed down,and everything well aired. Mostyn tackled the motor, an Americankerosene engine, taking down the four cylinders, cleaning plugs andmagneto, and overhauling the thoroughly dirty carburettor.
"I don't know what her consumption is," he observed to Burgoyne, "butassuming that it is three gallons an hour, we have only enough fuelfor a twenty-four hours' run."
"Ought to be enough unless we strike bad luck in the way of calms,"replied Alwyn. "We'll carry on under sail whenever possible, and onlyuse the motor in cases of emergency. Think she'll fire?"
"We'll try her," said Mostyn hopefully. "We can declutch, but wecan't go astern. Not that that matters very much. Flood thecarburettor, old son, while I dope the cylinders. Yes, that's thepetrol-tap. When she's warm we can change over to paraffin. Ready?"
A dozen swings of the starting-handle failed to produced the desiredeffect. The two men, perspiring profusely, looked at one another morein sorrow than in anger.
"Try advancing the ignition," suggested Alwyn.
"She may back-fire," demurred Peter, "but I'll risk it. Give her moredope. Sure the carburettor's flooding?"
Again they swotted at turning the engine over, Peter at the fly-wheeland Burgoyne at the starting-handle.
"Obstinate as a mule," declared Mostyn. "Get Jasper to bear a hand,while I ''ot up them plugs'--you remember old Paterson's recipe fora refractory motor?"
They heated the sparking-plugs, primed them with petrol, and replacedthem. Minalto at the starting-handle heaved until the veins in hisforehead looked to be on the point of bursting, but not the faintestsign of an explosion on the part of the motor rewarded his efforts.
"I say," remarked Alwyn; "I suppose you've switched on the ignition?"
Mostyn pointed to the switch. The knob was down right enough.
"Swing her again, Jasper," said Burgoyne coaxingly.
Placing his fingers on the magneto, Alwyn received what he describedas a "beautiful shock".
"The mag's all right," he announced, rubbing his tingling elbow."Now, once more, Jasper, while I try the plug terminals."
Not the suspicion of a spark was obtainable with any of the fourplugs. Burgoyne scratched his head in his perplexity.
"Faulty insulation, I believe," he hazarded.
"Perhaps the ignition-switch has to be up, not down," he said."Sometimes they fit the wiring so that the current is 'shorted' andnot broken by the switch. Now try."
The result surpassed expectations, for the engine back-fired,throwing the starting-handle violently against the roof and barkingMinalto's knuckles into the bargain. But the motor was buzzing roundwith the precision of a steam-engine.
"_Experientia docet!_" exclaimed Peter, raising his voice above thedin of the whirring machinery.
"Ay, ay, sir," agreed Minalto, wiping the back of his hand with apiece of cotton waste. "Experience does it. Does she kick every timewe'm starting her like? Ef so my name's Johnny Walker this trip."
At length Mostyn decided that the initial trial was satisfactory. Theignition was cut off, and the engine clanked into a state of coma.
The midday meal over, the task of conveying the treasured relics oftheir stay on Swan Island from the cave to the schooner was begun.The provisions were shipped and the water-tanks replenished--thelatter a tedious task, since it necessitated twenty journeys betweenthe spring and the schooner By four o'clock in the afternoon,according to the schooner's chronometer, all was in readiness toheave up anchor and get under way.
"We'll be well clear of the reefs before sundown," said Burgoyne. "Ifwe keep her under easy canvas all night and crack on during daylight,we ought to make a fairly good passage."
Hilda was below, arranging to her requirements the after-cabin whichhad been allotted to her. The clanking of the winch, and the grindingof the cable as it came in link by link throu
gh the hawse-pipe,warned her that the last material bond with Swan Island was about tobe broken. She hurried on deck to find the dinghy already hoistedinboard, and the cable almost hove short.
"Good enough for the present," exclaimed Burgoyne. "Start up, Peter.Well, Miss Vivian, we're saying good-bye to the island."
"I'm sorry--and glad," replied Hilda. "We--at least, I have had somegood times on Swan Island. Until the pirates came I rather enjoyedit, although the thought that my father and the others were sufferinghardships made me feel as if I were wasting time. Not that it couldbe helped."
For a few moments her gaze rested on the blackened slopes of thefire-devastated part of the island; then her eyes travelled in thedirection of the still verdant part where the marauding pirates hadnot left their mark.
She remained silent for a little longer, feasting her eyes on thepicturesque scene, then with a sigh she turned abruptly and lookedresolutely seaward.
"All ready, skipper!" shouted Mostyn from below, as the deck quiveredunder the rapid impulses of the engine.
Going forward, Burgoyne assisted Minalto to break out and heave upthe anchor. Then, leaving Jasper to secure the ponderous "mud-hook"in its proper place, Alwyn returned aft to the wheel.
"Easy ahead."
The schooner forged gently through the placid water. A few turns ofthe wheel steadied her on her course, and in a few minutes she wasclear of the inlet and slipping quietly across the lagoon.
Keeping the schooner almost dead slow, Burgoyne nursed her throughthe narrow southern passage between the reef. Then, porting helm toavoid the ledges off Man-o'-War Island, he steered for the open sea.
Half an hour from the time of getting under way, the schooner wascurtsying to the deep blue waters of the Pacific. Ahead as far as theeye could see--and much farther--was a vast expanse of ocean.
"Do you mind taking her for a few minutes, Miss Vivian?" askedBurgoyne, standing aside to let the girl grasp the spokes of thewheel. "Yes, south by west, please."
Then, stepping to the motor-room hatchway, he called to Mostyn.
"Finished with the engines, my festive. All hands make sail."
For the next quarter of an hour the three men were busily engaged inhoisting the head-sails, since the wind was almost right aft, andthen the fore- and mainsails. In view of the approach of night, theydecided to dispense with the jib-headed top-sails. Not until thecanvas was well peaked up, and the falls of the halliards neatlycoiled down, did the crew relax their efforts, and by that time thehighest part of Swan Island had vanished in the gathering darkness.