by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER VII
THE BELLIGERENT COMMANDER OF THE MAUD
"Here we are!" shouted Captain Scott, as the cable slid out through thehawse-hole.
"That's so; but where are we?" asked Louis, who had been watching thebottom for the last hour. "There is a big ledge of rocks not twenty feetfrom the cutwater. Here we are; but where are we?"
"We are on the south-west shore of Khrysoko Bay," replied the captain."That ledge of rocks is just what I have been looking for the lasthalf-hour."
"Then, I am glad we have found it," added Louis.
"What's the name of the bay, Captain?" inquired Felix, scratching hishead.
"Khrysoko," repeated Scott. "It pronounces well enough; but when youcome to the spelling, that's another affair."
"I could spell that with my eyes shut; for I used to cry so myself whenI was a baby. Cry so, with a co on the end of it for a snapper. But Ithought that bay was on the coast of Ireland, sou' sou'-west by nor'nor'-east from the Cove of Cork," added Felix.
"That's the precise bearing of the one you mean, Flix; but this isn'tthat one at all, at all," said the captain with a long gape.
"Then it must be this one."
"The word is spelled with two k's."
"That's a hard k'se; but where do you get them in?"
The captain spelled the word with another gape, for he had not slept awink during the night; and Louis advised him to turn in at once.
"Breakfast is all ready in the cabin, sir," said Pitts.
"That will do me more good than a nap," added Scott. "Don, keep a livelylookout on that high cape we came round, and see that it don't walk offwhile I'm eating my breakfast. Remember, all you fellows, that is CapeArnauti; and if any of you are naughty, you will get fastened to thatrock, as doubtless the chap it was named after was."
"Oh-h-h!" groaned Morris. "You are not sleepy, Captain; a fellow thatcan make a pun can keep awake."
"I should not need a brass band to put me to sleep just now; but I shallnot take my nap till we have overhauled the situation, and figured upwhere the pirate may be about this time in the forenoon," replied Scott,as he led the way to the cabin.
As Pitts was waiting on the table, nothing particular was said. Don hadhis morning meal carried to him on the forecastle, where Felipe joinedhim. He kept his eye fixed on the cape all the time, as though heexpected to see the Fatime double it. He knew nothing at all about thereal situation, though he could not help seeing that the Maud was tryingto keep clear of the Moorish steamer; and he was in full sympathy withthis idea.
The larder of the little steamer had been filled up at Alexandria, andPitts had prepared one of his best breakfasts. The party were in highspirits; for the little Maud had run away from the pirate, though ofcourse there were other chapters to the narrative.
"As soon as we get the situation a little more settled, and you fellowsget your eyes braced wide open, one of you must tackle the island ofCyprus, and get up a lecture on it; for the commander desired that weshould learn something about the place," said the captain.
"I move you, Mr. Commander, that Mr. Louis Belgrave be invited toprepare and deliver the lecture," interposed Morris; and the motion wasput and carried.
"I have no objection; and my own curiosity would have prompted me to doso without any invitation; but I thank you for the honor you confer onme in the selection," replied Louis; and the company adjourned to theforecastle.
"Well, Don, have you seen anything of the Moorish craft?" asked thecaptain.
"Not a sign, sir," replied the engineer. "If she is looking for theMaud, I don't believe she will find her in here very soon."
"I don't believe this is just the place to hold a consultation on adelicate subject," said Louis, as he pointed to the scuttle which hadbeen removed from its place by Felipe. "I think we shall do better onthe hurricane deck."
As this afforded a better place to observe the surroundings, andespecially the approaches from the sea, the captain assented to it, andthe "Big Four" repaired to the upper deck. They seated themselves in thelittle tender of the Maud, and all of them looked out in the directionof the cape, from beyond which the pirate was expected to put in anappearance.
"Our present situation is the subject before the house," the captainbegan. "We have made the bay for which I shaped the course of the Maudas soon as the gale began to make things sloppy. This is a mountainousisland, with nothing like a harbor on the west coast between Cape Gataand Cape Arnauti. There are from twelve to twenty fathoms of water inthis bay, within a mile of the shore; and the rocks close aboard of usreach out a mile and a half, with from ten to twelve feet of water onthem. There is no town within ten miles of the shore, and we are notlikely to see any natives, unless some of them come to this bay to fish.That's where we are."
"We should like to have you tell us now where the Fatty is," addedMorris.
"Or the Guardian-Mother," said Louis.
"I am sorry to say that I can't tell you where either of these vesselsis; and I am as anxious to know as any of you can be," replied Scott, ashe took a paper from his pocket. "I have followed the orders of CaptainRinggold, just as he wrote them down: 'Proceed to Cape Gata; but if itshould blow heavily from the southward, go to the north side of theisland, and get in behind Cape Arnauti.' And here we are."
Felix was seated where he could see that much more was written on thepaper which the captain did not choose to read. But he had the right tokeep his own council, and the Milesian asked no questions.
"Here we are--what next?" added Louis.
"That depends," replied Scott. "The commander of the Guardian-Motherknows where we are, though he may have to look in at the harbor ofLimasol to see if the Maud is there. When he comes I shall have nothingfurther to say."
"Don't you expect to see the Fatty before the ship comes?"
"It is quite impossible to form any idea what has become of the pirate.Perhaps she is looking for the Maud; and if she is she will probablyfind her. I think this is about as far as we can go now; and, if youwill excuse me, I will turn in and get my nap," said the captain as herose from his seat.
"That is the right thing to do," added Louis.
"You will all keep a sharp lookout to seaward, and call me as soon aseither vessel heaves in sight."
The captain went to the cabin, and in two minutes he was sound asleep.The rest of the ship's company had obtained about one-half of theirusual slumber, and they were not inclined to follow the example of thecaptain. Louis went to the cabin and proceeded to study up the island.He made notes in a little blank-book he kept for the purpose in hispocket, and he had already filled a dozen such books; for they containeda full diary of all the events of the voyage for over a year.
Felix kept his spy-glass in his hand all the time, and every few minuteshe swept the horizon to the northward with it. Morris had gone to sleepin the pilot-house, for his watch was not on duty. At about six bells inthe forenoon watch the Milesian began to show more sign of animationthan before. He held his glass in range with the cape, and directed hisattention steadily in that direction.
If he had been fishing, he would have said that he "had a bite." It wasclear that he saw something in the distance, which was hardly more thana speck on the ocean; but there was also a thread of black smoke on thesky above it, for it had cleared off since sunrise. Of course it was asteamer; but whether it was the Fatime or the Guardian-Mother, orneither of them, he could not determine, and he did not wish to disturbthe captain for nothing.
He continued to watch the appearance for half an hour longer, and thenhe struck seven bells. In that time the steamer could be seen moredistinctly, though she was still five or six miles distant. He wassatisfied from his reasoning that the vessel was approaching the cape.The craft looked smaller than the ship, and in another quarter of anhour he was convinced that she was the pirate. Then he hastened to thecabin, and announced the news to the captain, and Louis heard him.
"Are you sure it is the pirate, Flix?" demanded Captain Scott
, as hesprang from his bed and looked eagerly into the face of the messenger.
"Not absolutely sure; only reasonably confident," replied Felix, as hefollowed the captain to the forecastle.
Scott examined the distant sail with the glass for a little time, andLouis did the same with another. Morris was aroused by the voices, andrushed out with his field-glass.
"That's the pirate!" exclaimed the captain; and the others had waitedfor him to express his opinion.
"If my mother should step on deck and tell me so, I shouldn't know itany better," added Felix; and Louis and Morris were equally sure of thefact.
"Go to the engine-room, Morris, and tell Felipe to stir up his fires,"said the captain, who had suddenly become a mass of vim and activity."Then call all hands."
Scott observed the approaching steamer with his glass till she waswithin three miles of the Maud. Morris had been ordered to set theAmerican flag, and it was now floating in the light breeze at the ensignstaff.
"Now all hands will come with me," continued the captain; and all butFelipe followed him to the cabin.
His first movement was to throw off the cushions from the divan on theport side, and raise the lid of the transom. From this place he took outa breech-loading rifle, one of half a dozen deposited there three monthsor more before. They had been in service in the famous attack of theSamothraki on the Maud in Pournea Bay, and had never been removed. Noone asked any questions; and the captain ordered them to be conveyed tothe pilot-house and engine-room, where they would be available forimmediate use. A supply of cartridges was also sent forward, and thosewho had revolvers were instructed to put them in their pockets.
All these orders were promptly obeyed, and the situation began to lookdecidedly warlike. Louis could not help asking himself whether or notCaptain Scott was not proceeding too rapidly. But the belligerent chiefhad Captain Ringgold's written orders in his pocket, and there was noroom for a protest. Everything appeared to be ready to give the pirate awarm reception, and nothing more could be done.
The Moorish steamer was feeling her way into the bay very slowly,sounding all the time. The Maud was anchored in fourteen feet of water,which placed her keel very near the rocky bottom, and with no greaterdepth for a cable's length outside of her. Scott had chosen the positionof the little steamer so that the Fatime could not come alongside ofher, or within a cable's length of her, which is one-fifth of a nauticalmile.
"I think we are all right now, Louis," said Captain Scott when he hadcompleted his preparations.
"It looks as though you meant to fight the pirate," added Louis.
"Not if it can be avoided; but I do not intend to let Mazagan take anyone of my people out of the Maud; and all hands will shoot beforeanything of that kind can happen," replied Scott very mildly, and withno excitement in his manner; for he had studied the bearing of hismodel, and tried to imitate him.
"Do you expect Mazagan will resort to violence, Captain Scott?"
"That is an odd question, Louis," answered Scott, laughing heartily,perhaps as much to manifest his coolness as to treat the questionlightly. "Excuse me, Louis, but you make me smile. Do I expect Mazaganto resort to violence? For what did he visit Pournea Bay? Did he resortto violence when he caught you in that shop in the Muski? Did he resortto violence when his assistants attempted to capture you and MissBlanche in Zante? What do you suppose he followed the Maud up here for,Louis?"
"Perhaps to induce me to pay him twenty thousand dollars to let up onMiss Blanche and myself," replied Louis, overwhelmed by the argument.
"Are you ready to pay him?"
"Never!"
"Then he will resort to some other means to accomplish his purpose incoming to Cyprus. Do you wish me to surrender the Maud to him?" askedthe captain.
"Certainly not."
The Fatime let go her anchor as near the Maud as the depth of waterwould permit her to come.