him to the mast and proceed with their
Jack Connor left the bridge and went to the
work.
cabin to throw himself in a bunk and try to
It was peculiar instructions, but the
sleep, for he felt he would get no sleep that
men did not question. They knew Captain
night.
Bill had peculiar ways.
He realized within a few minutes that
As far as the mate was concerned,
Captain Adams was forcing the Amingo to
they knew there was bad blood between
her greatest speed. The attempt to dodge
him and the captain. They had missed
the gunboat had begun.
nothing during the voyage; they had
Had he been on deck, watching, he
witnessed clashes between Norene and the
would have seen a peculiar thing, for mate, and between Captain Bill and Captain Bill called the members of the Connor.
crew to him on the bridge, one by one, and
One other instruction they received,
to them imparted certain information. too: if the gunboat overhauled the Amingo These men, for the greater part, had sailed
and her officers asked questions, the men
with Adams for some time, had played
were to swear that whatever Captain Bill
parts in his evasions of the law, and were
said was the truth. They understood that—
ready to do his bidding.
many of them had sworn to lies before for
Others, newer on the Amingo, could
Captain Bill.
be trusted by the skipper, since they had
The
Amingo began to gain on the
been vouched for by tried and trusted men.
gunboat. The latter did not realize it until
Only one man failed to get the summons to
night began falling and she attempted to
the bridge and a message from the captain;
creep nearer, as she had done on previous
he was Morgan, Jack Connor’s friend.
nights. She found she could not; the
Morgan’s guarded inquiries as to
Amingo held her distance.
what was up were met by sneers from the
Then the gunboat put forth her
others, and one man told him to his face to
greatest speed, Garza, her commander,
attend to his own business. Morgan asked
realizing that the clash was near at hand. At
no more questions, but decided to mention
any time after dark he knew, the Amingo
the matter to Connor when next he saw the
might turn toward the shore and soon get
mate.
within Mexican waters.
Guerrero was on the bridge during
Night came. Captain Bill still paced
these conversations and heard them all. the bridge. Hatches were opened and huge One by one, the men were informed that
packing cases were put on deck—cases
Wild Norene
35
supposed to contain mining machinery; and
“But he’s never looked at me
they might have, as far as their weight was
twice—with any interest,” she said. “He—
concerned.
he feels sorry for me, I suppose. I have a
The men worked swiftly, silently,
share in his sympathy and perhaps his pity,
like men used to such labor. Senor but not in his love.”
Guerrero was among them, more nervous
Norene thought it best to change the
than ever, continually rubbing his hands
subject.
together, his eyes sparkling with
“Do you suppose you’ll ever meet
excitement. It was pitch-dark, and the the other—Riney?” she asked. “What are lights of the pursuing gunboat could not be
you going to do if you meet him?”
seen.
“I don’t know,” Sally answered.
An hour or two passed, and the
“I’ve had thoughts of revenge for years, but
nose of the Amingo was turned toward the
I never decided how I’d take it. I’ve
distant Mexican shore.
thought I’d find a way when I found him.
In the cabin below Jack Connor We never know what we’ll do, do we, slept. In an adjoining cabin Wild Norene
when we meet the person we’ve hated for
lay in a berth, her tempest of tears at an
years?”
end, and Sally Wood sat beside her,
“He may be on Garza’s boat,”
bathing the girl’s swollen face and telling
suggested Norene.
her of Jack Connor.
“In that case I hope I’ll not meet
“I heard it all—that night,” she was
him just now, for that would mean danger
saying. “I’ve known Jack Connor for some
for you and your uncle.”
time. He never looks at a woman. And I
Norene got up from the berth and
knew by the way he acted that night that he
walked across to the port-hole, to stare out
never would look at a woman unless that
at the blackness of the night.
woman was you. I could read him like a
Her uncle! There’d be another
book. You should have seen him hurl the
scene with him, she knew. And she was
men away and prohibit them mentioning
firm in her decision to leave the Amingo as the girl he had met on Commercial Street,
soon as the vessel was in a United States
even though they did not say your name.
port again. She had meant it when she said
“He didn’t know your name then. If
she would not sail with her uncle again
he had he’d never have spoken of Wild
until he turned honest.
Norene as he did a short time later.”
The
Amingo was steaming toward
“I know—I know,” Norene said. the coast without lights. On the bridge
“He wasn’t speaking of me; he was Captain Bill Adams searched the horizon speaking of the girl he thought I must be.”
with his night-glass, trying to locate the
“And he—he loves you, I am sure,”
gunboat, wondering whether she had gone
said Sally Wood.
on south, past the place where the Amingo
She looked away as she said it, and there
had turned her nose toward the shore.
was an expression of pain in her face.
And then from a masthead Captain
“I know he is clean and honest,”
Bill caused two red lights to be displayed
she went on.
for an instant, then extinguished, then
“You must be in love with him displayed again. Guerrero stood beside yourself,” Norene muttered.
him, and they watched in the direction of
Sally hesitated before she answered.
the coast.
All-Story Cavalier Weekly
36
Another hour passed, the lights case was being let down.
winking their signal now and then, and
He searched the sea, but did not see
finally the answer came—two green lights
the lights of any craft; nothing to indicate
that blinked ahead in the darkness.
the presence of the gunboat.
Captain Bill rang for half speed, and for a
“What are you doing
here?” he
few minutes there was an exchange of demanded of the men near the boat.
signals between the vessel and the shore.
“Cap’n’s orders, sir.”
“I want the gunboat to come up just
“Just what are the cap’n’s orders?”
after the cargo is landed and you are safe,
he demanded.
ashore,” Captain Bill told Guerrero.
The man did not answer, but turned
“It is a risky business, senor.”
to grasp a line. Connor gripped him by the
“We’ll carry it off, all right. You
shoulder and whirled him around.
remember your instructions.”
“Answer me, you scum, and be
“Everything shall be done as you
civil about it!” he roared.
wish, senor.”
By way of reply the man struck; the
“We’ll go below in a moment, blow grazed Connor’s shoulder.
then.”
“You would, would you? You’d
The red lights had disappeared from
strike an officer, would you?”
the masthead; on the distant shore one
As he spoke one fist shot out and
green light blinked as a signal and a guide.
the sailor struck the deck like a dead man.
The
Amingo crept nearer and But Connor found others upon him. They nearer, then stopped, and the anchor was let
grasped his arms, tried to trip him, rained
go.
blows upon his head and face and breast.
Captain Adams and Guerrero
Morgan sprang across the deck to
descended to the deck. A few whispered
the mate’s assistance. In an instant he, too,
orders, to the men and a boat went over the
had been conquered.
side, and the crew began letting down the
Both were carried to a mast, and
first heavy packing-case.
lashings appeared as if by magic. Kicking,
The stopping of the vessel had trying to strike, struggling to be free did not awakened Connor, and he left his cabin, to
avail. The crew left their work at the boat
meet Captain Adams and Guerrero at the
to help.
head of the companionway.
A moment—and Connor and
“You’d better stay in the cabin,” the
Morgan were lashed securely to the mast,
captain told him with a grin. “But you can
so that they could move neither hand nor
go on deck if you wish.”
foot.
“I beg your pardon, sir. Is the deck
“Cap’n’s orders,” grinned one of
to be left without an officer?”
the men as they started back across the
“Go on deck, by all means, if you
deck.
think an officer necessary,” the captain
“You’ll suffer for this, you dogs!”
retorted, grinning again, then walked to his
Connor cried.
cabin, with Guerrero following close
They gave him no reply; they
behind him.
hurried back to the boat and began
Connor sprang to the deck and lowering away another packing-case. They looked about him. He saw that a boat had
worked by only one dim light that was
been lowered, and that a heavy packing-
shielded so there would be no reflection in
Wild Norene
37
the distance of the open sea. They talked in
an idea we’ll see the captain presently, and
whispers.
I’ve an idea that he’s playing some sort of a
Connor and Morgan struggled at game.”
their bonds, but the sailors had done their
Then there was silence for a time,
work well and escape was impossible.
save for the creaking of the lines and the
“They’re
landin’ th’ contraband,” scraping of the cases as they were lowered Morgan whispered.
against the side, and low oaths of men who
“Yes.”
smashed fingers or cut hands, and the soft-
“Do you suppose it was cap’n’s spoken orders of Senor Guerrero.
orders?”
From the dark behind them after a
“Yes.”
time came a whisper:
“But he hasn’t come back on deck;
“Don’t speak! Don’t attract their
there ain’t anybody to boss the men.”
attention!”
“They don’t need a boss,” snorted
Connor felt his bonds give and
Connor. “They’ve got their orders, and knew a knife had slashed them. Another they’ve done this work before.”
slash of a knife, and he was free. Morgan,
Then he saw Guerrero, who had
too, was being favored, and without
come slowly across the deck and was making noise they turned slowly and standing before them.
peered around the mast at their deliverer.
“We are sending the playthings to
It was Wild Norene!
the ragged, ignorant fools,” Guerrero said.
“And you, my friend, will soon be one of
those men who tell no tales.”
CHAPTER VIII.
He turned and walked toward the
Caught!
men working at the packing-cases.
“Lively, men!” he called. “You’ll
be remembered with something extra THERE had been a peculiar scene enacted apiece if we come out all right.”
in the captain’s cabin. Entering it with
“Aye, aye, sir! “ replied the men in
Senor Guerrero, Captain Bill Adams had
chorus.
closed the door behind them, locked it, and
“Easy with that case, there! Those
draped a towel over a crack in it, through
lines need more grease; they are making a
which the light filtered.
devil of a noise!”
“Well?” the captain asked then,
“Cap’n’s orders,” muttered Connor
smiling.
to Morgan. “You notice, don’t you, who’s
They sat down at the table opposite
commanding the ship?”
each other.
“But where’s th’ cap’n?” Morgan
“You think there’s no danger?”
demanded. “Why isn’t he on deck? I’d
Guerrero asked.
think he’d want to boss this job himself,
“None for you, senor; the cargo will
with a gunboat liable to poke her nose at us
be put ashore and you will go with it.
out of th’ dark any minute. You don’t Everything seems to be in proper order. As suppose Guerrero has done for th’ cap’n,
for the cargo itself—you shipped it from
do you? You don’t suppose th’ men have
Portland to the lumber-camp in boxes
mutinied and turned to Guerrero?”
labeled machinery, and we picked it up as
“I do not,” replied Connor. “I have
we dropped down the Columbia to Astoria.
All-Story Cavalier Weekly
38
“As far as I know, I am carrying for
captain securely, except that one hand was
you certain machinery. If you desire to
left free, and in it Captain Bill held a
have it landed at this spot on the coast, well
revolver, so that when he was pla
ced in the
and good—you know your own business.”
bunk he could cover any one who entered
The captain grinned and puffed at
the cabin. The captain was chuckling at the
his cigar. Senor Guerrero, grinning also,
look of amazement on Guerrero’s face as
arose and turned his back, lifted up his
the senor finished the task.
vest, parted his shirt, and so reached the
“Now go on deck, senor,” he
opening of a money-belt he wore next his
directed, “and see that all your cargo is
skin. From this he took folded bills.
landed properly. After the last load send the
He turned to the captain again and
men back to the schooner, and we’ll
counted out a certain sum. The captain
consider that we’ve said farewell. If you
counted the bills in his turn.
need me again you know how to find me.”
“Correct,” he said. “One moment,
“Si, senor! Adios! ”
please.”
“Adios! ”
Behind a panel in the wall of the
Guerrero unlocked the door and
cabin the captain had a strong safe. He
went out, to close it after him as the captain
opened this now, put the money in it, and
had directed, and hurry back to the deck.
twirled the combination knob again.
Norene, with Sally Wood in the
Wild Norene by Johnston McCulley Page 9