ahuge breaker, dashed against the reef and sunk. Captain Nat, his secondmate and five of his men were all that was left of the Sea Mist'scompany. And on that island they remained for nearly two weeks.Provisions they had brought ashore with them. Water they found bydigging. Nat hid the gold at night, burying it on the beach belowhigh-water mark.
Then, having made sure of his location by consulting the chart, hedetermined to attempt a voyage to the second island, where he knewthe English colony to be. Provisions were getting short, and to remainlonger where they were was to risk starvation and all its horrors. So,in the longboat, which was provided with a sail, they started. Chartsand papers and the gold the skipper took with them. None of the crewknew of the existence of the money; it was a secret which the captainkept to himself.
A hundred miles they sailed in the longboat and, at last, the secondisland was sighted. They landed and found, to their consternation andsurprise, that it, too, was uninhabited. The former residents had growntired of their isolation and, a trading vessel having touched there, hadseized the opportunity to depart for Tahiti. Their houses were empty,their cattle, sheep, goats, and fowl roamed wild in the woods, and thefruit was rotting on the trees. In its way the little island wasan Eyeless Eden, flowing with milk and honey; but to Captain Nat, aconscientious skipper with responsibilities to his owners, it was aprison from which he determined to escape. Then, as if to make escapeimpossible, a sudden gale came up and the longboat was smashed by thesurf.
"I guess that settles it," ruefully observed the second mate, "anotherCape Codder, from Hyannis. Cal'late we'll stay here for a spell now,hey, Cap'n."
"For a spell, yes," replied Nat. "We'll stay here until we get anothercraft to set sail in, and no longer."
"Another craft? ANOTHER one? Where in time you goin' to get her?"
"Build her," said Captain Nat cheerfully. Then, pointing to the row ofempty houses and the little deserted church, he added, "There's timberand nails--yes, and cloth, such as 'tis. If I can't build a boat out ofthem I'll agree to eat the whole settlement."
He did not have to eat it, for the boat was built. It took them sixmonths to build her, and she was a curious-looking vessel when done,but, as the skipper said, "She may not be a clipper, but she'll sailanywhere, if you give her time enough." He had been the guidingspirit of the whole enterprise, planning it, laying the keel, burningbuildings, to obtain nails and iron, hewing trees for the largest beams,showing them how to spin ropes from cocoa-nut fiber, improvising sailsfrom the longboat's canvas pieced out with blankets and odd bits ofcloth from the abandoned houses. Even a strip of carpet from the churchfloor went into the making of those sails.
At last she was done, but Nat was not satisfied.
"I never commanded a ship where I couldn't h'ist Yankee colors," hesaid, "and, by the everlastin'! I won't now. We've got to have a flag."
So, from an old pair of blue overalls, a white cotton shirt, and thered hangings of the church pulpit, he made a flag and hoisted it to thetruck of his queer command. They provisioned her, gave her a liberalsupply of fresh water, and, one morning, she passed through the openingof the lagoon out to the deep blue of the Pacific. And, hidden in hercaptain's stateroom under the head of his bunk, was the ten thousanddollars in gold. For Nat had sworn to himself, by "the everlasting"and other oaths, to deliver that money to his New York owners safe and,necessary expenses deducted of course, untouched.
For seven weeks the crazy nondescript slopped across the ocean. Fairwinds helped her and, at last, she entered the harbor of Nukahiva, overtwelve hundred miles away. And there--"Hammond's luck," the sailorscalled it--was a United States man-of-war lying at anchor, the firstAmerican vessel to touch at that little French settlement for fiveyears. The boat they built was abandoned and the survivors of the SeaMist were taken on board the man-of-war and carried to Tahiti.
From Tahiti Captain Nat took passage on a French bark for Honolulu.Here, after a month's wait, he found opportunity to leave for New Yorkon an American ship, the Stars and Stripes. And finally, after beingaway from home for two years, he walked into the office of his New Yorkowners, deposited their gold on a table, and cheerfully observed, "Well,here I am."
That was the yarn which Trumet was to hear later on. It filled columnsof the city papers at the time, and those interested may read it, in allits details, in a book written by an eminent author. The tale of a CapeCod sea captain, plucky and resourceful and adequate, as Yankee seacaptains were expected to be, and were, in those days.
But Trumet did not hear the yarn immediately. All that it heard and allthat it knew was contained in Captain Nat's brief telegram. "Arrivedto-day. Will be home Thursday." That was all, but it was enough, forin that dispatch was explosive sufficient to blow to atoms the doctor'splans and Keziah's, the great scheme which was to bring happiness toJohn Ellery and Grace Van Horne.
Dr. Parker heard it, while on his way to Mrs. Prince's, and, neglectingthat old lady for the once, he turned his horse and drove as fast aspossible to the shanty on the beach. Fast as he drove, Captain ZebedeeMayo got there ahead of him. Captain Zeb was hitching his white andancient steed to the post as the doctor hove in sight.
"By mighty!" the captain exclaimed, with a sigh of relief, "I'm gladenough you've come, doctor. I hated to go in there alone. You've heard,of course."
"Yes, I've heard."
"Say, ain't it wonderful! I'm tickled all up one side and sorry all downt'other. Nat's a true-blue feller, and I'm glad enough that he ain'tshark bait; but what about the minister and her? She's promised to Nat,you know, and--"
"I know. Don't I know! I've been going over the affair and trying to seea way out ever since I heard of the telegram. Tut! tut! I'm like you,mighty glad Hammond is safe, but it would have spared complications ifhe had stayed wherever he's been for a few months longer. We would havemarried those two in there by that time."
"Sartin we would. But he didn't stay. Are you goin' to tell Mr. Ellery?"
"Certainly not. And I hope he hasn't been told. He's getting well fastnow, but he mustn't be worried, or back he'll go again. We must see Mrs.Coffin. Keziah is our main hold. That woman has got more sense than allthe rest of us put together."
But it was Grace, not Keziah, who opened the shanty door in answer totheir knock. She was pale and greeted them calmly, but it was evidentthat her calmness was the result of sheer will power.
"Won't you come in, doctor?" she asked. "Good afternoon, Captain Mayo."
Dr. Parker entered the building, but Captain Zeb remained outside,stammering that he cal'lated he'd better stay where he could keep an eyeon his horse. This was such a transparent excuse that it would have beenfunny at any other time. No one smiled now, however.
"Is--is Mrs. Coffin--er--Keziah aboard?" the captain asked.
"No, she isn't. She went to the parsonage a few hours ago. Mr. Ellisbrought the mail and there was a letter in it for her. She said it wasimportant and that she must go home to see about some things. She'll beback pretty soon, I suppose."
The doctor whispered her name then and she went inside, closing the doorafter her. Captain Zebedee sat down on the step to ponder over the newand apparently insurmountable difficulty which had arisen. As he saidafterwards, "The more I tried to get an observation, the thicker it got.Blamed if I could see anything but fog, but I could hear--I could hearElkanah and his gang gigglin', ahead, astern and off both bows."
Parker found his patient sleeping soundly and had not disturbed him.Returning to the living room he spoke to Grace.
"Humph!" he grunted, watching her from under his brows, "everythingseems to be all right in there. He hasn't been excited or anything likethat?"
"No."
"That's good. He mustn't be. You understand that? He mustn't be toldanything that will upset him. He's getting well fast and I want it tocontinue."
"Yes, I understand."
"Hum! Er--have you heard--Has anyone been here?"
"Yes. I have heard. The telegram came and I answered it."
"You did? Well, it's a miracle and we're all thankful, of course. Didyou--er--er--"
"Doctor, I must go home. I mustn't stay here any longer."
"Why not?"
"You know why not. I must be at home when he comes. You must get someone to take my place. Aunt Keziah will stay, of course, and perhaps Mrs.Higgins would come, or Hannah Poundberry. She--"
"Not if I know it. I'd as soon have a hay-cutter running in here asHannah's tongue. I could stop a hay-cutter when it got too noisy.
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