Blue Grass Seminary Girls on the Water

by Roy J. Snell

  CHAPTER IX.--ADRIFT.

  In the distance the Cuban city of Havana was slipping slowly from sight.Aft on the promenade deck Shirley, Mabel and the others of the party,together with many other passengers, were casting last looks at theisland metropolis.

  The sun was just sinking below the horizon, but there were still severalhours before darkness would fall. The view was indeed picturesque andthe passengers were impressed with it.

  The steamship _Yucatan_ was now on the last leg of her journey towardColon.

  In the main salon a crowd of men had gathered. On the upper deck, thegallery deck, the promenade deck and the main deck they had alsogathered in knots. They blocked the main staircase and the exits fromthe engine room below.

  A group somewhat larger than the rest had assembled about the captain'scabin. A close observer would have noticed that each man among thesedifferent groups wore a peculiar little button in the lapel of his coat.

  Each group was silent. It appeared that they were waiting for something.Now a young man appeared and spoke to the first group holding his openwatch in his hand. Then he passed on to the next, then to the next,until he had approached all. Then he took his place with the others nearthe bridge, and waited, watch in hand.

  Suddenly he pulled a little whistle from his pocket, put it to his lips,waited a moment, and then blew a shrill blast, that penetrated to thefarthest part of the ship.

  Instantly the various groups of men wearing the button of peculiardesign came to action.

  The passengers on the promenade deck, the Willing party among them,found themselves under the muzzles of many revolvers. On the gallery,the deck, the main salon, the grand stairway a like condition prevailed.

  Only the men who guarded the exit from the engine and boiler rooms wereinactive, but these stood with drawn revolvers.

  A dozen men swarmed from the bridge into the wheel house, where theyconfronted the pilot, the Captain, the first and second officers, whochanced to be there together. Officers in other parts of the ship alsohad been held up.

  The surprise had been complete. The _Yucatan_ was at the mercy of thisarmy of conspirators, whoever they chanced to be.

  Shirley and Mabel had eyed the strange proceedings upon their section ofthe ship with no less amazement than the rest of the passengers. Mr.Willing, Colonel Ashton and Dick were equally astonished.

  "What is it, a wholesale hold-up?" demanded the colonel.

  "Worse, I'm afraid," declared Mr. Willing.

  "I know!" exclaimed Shirley suddenly. "Mr. Bristow is concerned inthis."

  "My goodness! I believe you are right Shirley," declared Mabel.

  "I know I am right," returned Shirley positively. "This is why he sailedon the _Yucatan_."

  In the meantime the captors of the vessel had relieved all on board ofwhatever weapons they had. They had made a systematic search of thecabins, while some of their number kept the crew and passengers covered.Of the many aboard the ship the only ones who did not know what hadhappened were the engine crew and stokers.

  The wireless had been among the first points seized, and the operatorhad had no opportunity of sending a message.

  And now a young man moved about among the passengers, assuring them thatthere was no danger so long as they kept quiet. This young man came afton the promenade deck where the Willing party stood.

  Even as Shirley had surmised, he was Henry Bristow.

  He smiled as he approached them.

  "Well," growled Mr. Willing, "I see you have put the thing through."

  "Part of it sir, part of it," was the reply. "The rest is to come."

  "What are you going to do now, Mr. Bristow?" asked Mabel.

  The latter smiled at her.

  "Captain Von Blusen, if you please, Miss Ashton," he said, "I am nolonger Henry Bristow, but Captain Friederich Von Blusen, of His ImperialMajesty's service."

  "And what are you going to do with the ship?" asked Shirley.

  "Why, we shall do a little cruising," was the reply. "We haveestablished a naval base off the coast of Cuba, but we have no ships onthis side of the Atlantic. Therefore we must have ships. This is thefirst."

  "And what are you going to do with us, captain?" asked Mabel.

  "Ah, that is the hard part," was the reply, "but, before starting, wecame to a conclusion, though none of the passengers is likely to bepleased. We shall set you adrift in small boats."

  The others staggered back in dismay.

  "Impossible," declared Mr. Willing. "Surely you are not barbarians."

  "The law of necessity must be obeyed," replied the captain.

  He took his departure.

  "The cold-blooded scoundrel," declared Colonel Ashton. "This is what weget for helping him to escape."

  "And that is my fault," declared Mabel.

  "Well, there is no use talking about it now," said Dick. "It's toolate."

  An hour later the new crew began getting out the boats, and all thepassengers provided themselves with life preservers. Fortunately, theweather was calm and the sea smooth and there was little likelihood of astorm at this time of year.

  With everything in readiness, Captain Von Blusen once more approachedthe Willing party, and drew Mabel slightly to one side in spite of theprotests of the others.

  "Miss Ashton," he said, "in your cabin the other day you spoke of yoursympathies to the German cause. Now I shall tell you something, for youhave done much for me. Advise the others to make no attempt to reachColon, should they be picked up."

  "And why not?" demanded Shirley.

  The captain hesitated.

  "Well, there is no harm in telling you," he said at last. "Of course,you may not know that Germany is trying to bring the United States intothis war on her side. We have at last found a way. Just off Colon areseveral Japanese warships. We shall near them unobserved, and signal bywireless that a certain thing must be done, representing ourselves asone of the Japanese battleships.

  "Naturally, we shall be refused permission. Now we have a new inventionthat would enable us to destroy Colon from a distance, and in ourmessage we shall threaten this unless the supposed Japanese demand isgranted. Do you understand?"

  Mabel nodded her head slowly. She was beyond words.

  "And when the demand is refused," continued the captain "we shall usesome of this new explosive. That will mean war between Japan and theUnited States, and therefore, England also, as she is Japan's ally. Doyou see?"

  "Yes, I see," said Mabel quietly.

  "And what do you think of the plan?"

  "I think it is contemptible," declared Mabel.

  "But, but--" began the captain.

  "I don't care to hear any more," said Mabel. "But you will not succeed,I am sure of that. You can not succeed."

  She turned on her heel and made her way back to the others, the captainstanding as if rooted to the deck as he stared after her.

  Mabel turned the matter over in her mind. She felt certain that thecaptain had been boasting, and the more she thought it over the more shebecame convinced of it. Therefore, she decided to say nothing about itto the others.

  Under the muzzles of the revolvers of the captors of the big steamship,captain, officers, crew and passengers now took their places in thesmall boats, and were lowered over the side.

  Each boat was well stocked with provisions and water, for the Germanshad no mind to set their prisoners adrift and let them starve or perishof thirst.

  The shore of Cuba was not far away, and, with steady rowing by the men,it would be possible for them to reach there within twelve hours.Besides, there was always the chance they would be picked up by apassing vessel.

  Fortunately, the passenger list was not large. The bulk of it had beenmade up of the men who had later captured the ship. Therefore, officers,passengers and crew included, there were not more than three hundred setadrift.

  The engine room crew had been impressed into service by the Germans.

  The Willing party found themselves in the boat wi
th the captain andperhaps a dozen other passengers. As the boat struck the water, and themen began to row away from the big steamship at the captain's command,Shirley and Mabel were badly frightened.

  In spite of the cheering words spoken by their fathers, Dick and othermale passengers, they did not bear up very well. As they looked first inone direction and then the other and saw nothing but water, they brokeinto tears. The small boat looked very small indeed to be at large uponthe water.

  Presently all the boats were launched, and rowed some distance from thesteamer. There they stopped as a sudden blast signified that the bigship was about to get under way and leave them.

  It began to grow dark. The electric lights aboard the large vesselglowed suddenly, and slowly the brilliantly lighted floating palace madeoff in the gathering darkness.

  As it went away and left them to the mercies of the sea, cries ofanguish, despair and condemnation were hurled after the men who had thusset the passengers and crew adrift. Women sobbed, and men stood up inthe boats and shook their fists after the steamship _Yucatan_.

  And then the great ship disappeared from sight. The men in the smallboats renewed their work at the oars, and the boats moved toward thedistant Cuban coast.

  Adding to the fearfulness of their condition, darkness descended uponthem like a pall.