“Are you ready, Uncle?” I asked, unable to bear the suspense longer.
“Jest a minute, Sam. Let’s see; the opening shot was this way: There’s folks, ma’am, that can be more heartless than the brute beasts, more slyer than a roarin’ tiger, more fiercer than a yellow fox, an’ — ”
“That isn’t right, Uncle Naboth,” I interrupted. “The fox is sly and the tiger — ”
“I know, I know. Them speeches is gettin’ sorter mixed in my mind; but if that she-devil don’t quail when she hears ‘em, my name ain’t Naboth Perkins! Perhaps I ought to have committed ‘em more to memory — eh, Sam? What do you say to waitin’ till tomorrow?”
“No, Uncle. Let’s go to her now. You can reserve your vials of wrath, if you want to; but I shan’t sleep a wink unless I pay Mrs. Ranck that money.”
“All right,” said the old man, with assumed cheerfulness. “There’s no time like the present. ‘Never put off’ til tomorrer,’ you know. Come along, my lad!”
He sprang up and led the way with alacrity for a few steps, and then slackened his pace perceptibly.
“If I’m goin’ to forget all them speeches,” he whispered, in a voice that trembled slightly, “I might jest as well have saved my time a-composin’ of ‘em. Drat the old she-pirate! If she wasn’t a woman, I’d pitch her into the sea.”
By this time I was myself too much agitated to pay attention to my uncle’s evident fright on the eve of battle. The house was very near now; a few steps further and we were standing upon the little porch.
“You knock, Uncle,” I said, in a whisper.
Uncle Naboth glanced at me reproachfully, and then raised his knuckles. But before they touched the panel of the door he paused, drew out his handkerchief, and again wiped his brow.
I felt that my nerves would bear no further strain. With the desperation of despair or a sudden accession of courage — I never knew which — I rapped loudly upon the door.
À moment’s profound silence was followed by a peculiar sound. Thump, thump, thump! echoed from the room inside, at regular intervals, and then the door was suddenly opened and a man with a wooden leg stood before us. He was clothed in sailor fashion and a bushy beard ornamented his round, frank face.
For an instant we three stood regarding one another in mute wonder. The open door disclosed the long living-room, at the back end of which Mrs. Ranck stood by the kitchen table with a plate in one hand and a towel in the other, motionless as a marble statue and with a look of terror fixed upon her white face.
Singularly enough, I was the first to recover from my surprise.
“Dad!” I cried, in a glad voice, and threw myself joyfully into the sailor man’s arms.
“Why — Cap’n Steele, sir — what does this mean?” faltered Uncle Naboth. “I thought you was dead an’ gone, long ago, an’ safe in Davy Jones’s locker!”
CHAPTER 19
THE CONQUEST OF MRS. RANCK.
I regret to say that my father’s welcome was not especially cordial. Nevertheless, he was for some reason evidently pleased by the sudden appearance of his son and his brother-in-law. Releasing himself gently from my clinging embrace, he said, in his deep, grave voice:
“Come in and sit down. I never thought to see you again, Sam; and, much less you, Naboth Perkins. But now that you’re here, well have a few mutual explanations.”
Mrs. Ranck, a few paces behind him, was bristling like a frightened cat.
“If them thieves an’ scoundrels enters this house, I’ll go out!” she fairly screamed, in her shrill voice.
“Be quiet!” commanded the Captain, sternly. “This is my house; and, although it’s all that my friends have left to me,” he added, bitterly, “I’m still the master under my own roof. Sit down, Perkins, sit down, Sam, my lad.”
A sudden tenderness that crept into the last words seemed to rouse the woman to fury.
“That’s the boy that robbed you!” she cried, pointing at me a trembling, bony finger. “That’s the boy that skinned the house of all your valeybles and treasures as soon as he thought you was dead, and couldn’t come back to punish him! An’ stole all my savin’s too; and swore he’d be a pirate and murder and steal all his life; an’ that the man,” turning fiercely upon my horrified uncle, “as aided an’ abetted him in his wickedness, an’ threatened to kill me if I interfered with Sam’s carryin’ away of your property! Cap’n Steele, how dare you harbor sich varmints? Drive ‘em out, this instant, or I’ll go myself. This house can’t hold Sam Steele, the robber, and me at the same time!” Captain Steele looked toward me gravely as I stood regarding the woman with unmistakable amazement. Then he turned to Naboth Perkins, to find the little man doubled up in his chair and shaking with silent laughter. A moment later he began to gasp and choke and cough, until, just as he appeared to be on the verge of convulsions, he suddenly straightened up and wiped the tears from his eyes.
“Cap’n Steele, sir,” he said, “this is the best show I ever had a reserved seat at, an’ the admission’s free gratis for nothin’! Why, you measly old she-tiger,” turning with stern abruptness to Mrs. Ranck, “did you ever think, fer a minute, that such a lyin’ tale as you’ve trumped up would deceive grown men?”
Mrs. Ranck turned away and caught her shawl from a peg.
“I’ll go,” she said, sullenly.
“No, you don’t!” exclaimed Mr. Perkins, bounding between her and the door of her room, toward which she was hastening; “you’ll stay right here till this mystery is cleared up. For, if I understand Cap’s Steele aright, he can’t find the property he left in this house, ner imagine what’s become of it; an’ you’ve been stuffing him with lies about Sam’s running away with it. Am I right, Cap’n?”
My father nodded, gazing with lowering brow upon the cowed and trembling form of the housekeeper.
“The Cap’n’s property an’ his savin’s didn’t walk away by themselves,” continued Uncle Naboth, “and no one could ‘a’ took ‘em except Sam or this woman. Very good. They’re both here, now, an’ you’re going to clear up the mystery and get your money back, Cap’n, before you takes your eye offn either one. Just flop into that chair, Mrs. Ranck, an’ if you try to wiggle away I’ll call the police!” The woman obeyed. A dull glaze had come over her eyes, and her features were white and set. In all her cunning plotting she had never imagined that I or my uncle would ever return to Batteraft to confound her. She believed that the knowledge that I was in her debt would prevent my coming back, in any event, and she fully expected me to be buffeted here and there about the world, with never a chance of my being again heard of in my old home.
What a mistake she had made! But it was all owing to this little fat man whom she had driven thoughtlessly from her door the day that I was sent away into exile. She had never heard of Naboth Perkins before; nor did she know, any more than I myself did at the time, of the partnership formerly existing between the two men, or even the fact of their relationship. She felt that she was caught in a trap, in some unexpected way, and the disaster stunned her.
Captain Steele filled and lighted his pipe before the silence of the little group was again broken. Then, turning to me, he asked:
“Why did you believe I was dead?”
“One of your sailors brought the news, sir, and told us of the wreck. He gave Mrs. Ranck your watch and ring, which he believed were taken from your dead body.”
“It’s a lie!” snapped the woman, desperately. “I never seen the watch and ring; but he said the Cap’n was dead, all right, an’ that’s why Sam run away with the property.”
“Who was the sailor?” enquired my father, thoughtfully.
“Ned Britton, sir.”
“Aye, an honest, worthy lad, who sailed with me for years. And he had the watch and ring?”
“Yes, sir. Ned was taken with a fever when he escaped from the wreck, and after he recovered they told him that several bodies had been washed ashore and buried by the villagers. On one of the bodies they found the watch a
nd ring, so Ned naturally thought you had perished.”
“When the ship broke up,” said Captain Steele, slowly, “and I knew the end had come, I sent one of my lads to my cabin to get my trinkets while I attended to lowering the boats. I never saw him again. For my part, my leg was crushed by a falling mast, but I got entangled in the rigging and the mast floated me to a little island where a dozen fisher-folks lived. One was a bit of a doctor, and cut away my mangled leg and nursed me back to life. While I waited for a ship to touch the island I regained my strength and made myself a new leg out of cotton-wood. Then, one day, a schooner carried me to Plymouth, and the Captain, who was a kindly man, loaned me enough money to bring me to Batteraft where I thought I’d find my savings; enough to buy a new ship and start business again. But Mrs. Ranck met me with the news that my son had stripped the house of all my valuables and run away with a man that was known to be a pirate. My room was quite bare, I found, and Mrs. Ranck claimed she had hardly enough left of her savings to buy food with. So here I was, a cripple and condemned to poverty after a successful career; and it’s no wonder my thoughts were bitter towards my son, whom I never would have believed could act so ungratefully. My only comfort was that Sam had believed me dead.”
Uncle Naboth nodded approval.
“Quite proper, sir,” he said, “an’ all quite right and shipshape. Sam didn’t take a penny’s worth from this house; but I made him my partner, in your place, and we’ve had a successful voyage and come back rich as Croessuses. You’ll live in clover, from this time on, Cap’n Steele, even if you never get back the property Mrs. Ranck has robbed you of. But why not make her give it up? She can’t have squandered it on riotous living, by the looks of her.”
Captain Steele turned to the housekeeper.
“What have you to say, Mrs. Ranck?” he asked. “It’s all a pack o’ lies,” she snarled, “but there’s no call for you to believe me if you don’t want to. One thing’s certain, though. This is my house, an’ the deed of it’s in my name. You’ll have to clear out o’ here, all three of you, or I’ll have the law on you an’ put you out!”
Captain Steele arose calmly and seized the woman by her arms. In spite of her screams and struggles he carried her to his own little room and thrust her in, locking the door safely upon her.
“Now,” said he, “let’s explore the place and see what we can find. I’ve never been in Mrs. Ranck’s room, for until today I had no suspicions of her.
Come with me. If she’s honest we shall find nothing, for she can’t have disposed of the property.”
“Right you are, sir,” cried Uncle Naboth, springing up; and we all three at once proceeded to enter the room the housekeeper had for so many years reserved for her own use.
It was simply and plainly furnished, and a single glance served to convince us that it contained no evidence whatever of the missing property.
“Strange!” said my father, musingly. “There were nine cases and three chests, besides the great sea-chest that I found still in my room, although emptied of all its contents. Whatever could have become of them all?”
“Dad,” I exclaimed, suddenly, “I remember there used to be a sort of cellar under this room, that could only be reached by a trap-door.”
“True,” replied my father; “I remember that, too. But where is the trap?”
Uncle Naboth was already making a careful inspection of the old rag carpet that covered the floor. In one corner the tacks seemed far apart and scanty. He seized the carpet and jerked it away from the fastenings, disclosing a small square trap with an iron ring in the center.
“Here’s the treasure house, sir,” he announced triumphantly.
“Get a candle, Sam,” said my father, gravely. When it was brought, all three of us descended the narrow stairs to the underground room, where the cases and chests were speedily found, all stored in orderly fashion against the walls. The contents of the great sea-chest, which she had doubtless removed before admitting me to the Captain’s room, had been placed in boxes which Mrs. Ranck had secured from the grocery store. In addition to Captain Steele’s property, there was also a brass kettle almost full of gold and silver coins, which the miserly old woman had saved from the money my father had given her to clothe and care for me, as well as to defray the household expenses while the sailor was away upon his voyages.
Perhaps her own wages were added to this store, as well; anyway, Captain Steele seemed to think so. For, after assuring himself that all his missing property was safe, he carried the kettle up to the living room and proceeded to liberate Mrs. Ranck. When, scowling but subdued, she crept from the little room, my father offered to give to her the entire contents of the kettle if she would freely transfer to him the deed to the house, and quit Batteraft for good and all.
“It’s more than you deserve,” said he, “but I don’t want to go to the police in this matter unless you force me to. Take the money and go, and never let me see your face in Batteraft again.”
Of course she accepted the generous proposition. After gathering her few clothes into a bundle, she took her treasure and left the house. The first train that left Batteraft carried her with it, and I have never seen her since.
I acknowledge that I watched her go with a lighter and happier heart than I had known for months.
“It was in this way that she once drove me from my old home, father,” I said. “But it can’t be such a bad world, after all. For, if the wicked sometimes appear to triumph, they are usually punished in the end, and now that Mrs. Ranck has passed out of our lives we ought to be very happy again.”
“We will be, Sam!” returned my father, earnestly, as he affectionately pressed my hand.
“Hooray!” yelled Uncle Naboth.
CHAPTER 20
STEELE, PERKINS AND STEELE.
Captain Steele was extremely grateful to Uncle Naboth for his care of me, and was delighted by the relation of our adventures on the golden island, as well as pardonably proud of the financial success we had attained.
A new firm was created under the title of “Steele, Perkins and Steele,” and a new ship was soon found that seemed to have been especially constructed to meet our requirements. Captain Steele, declaring that his wooden leg would in no way interfere with his usefulness, decided to command the ship himself, and Ned Britton and I were appointed to look after all the finances and attend to the trading at the various ports, and Nux and Bryonia were brought from San Francisco and given posts on the new ship, to their great delight.
By the advice of his shrewder brother-in-law my father converted all his accumulated treasures into money, which was safely invested in Government bonds that were deposited in a Boston bank.
“Whatever happens now,” observed Uncle Naboth, “nobody can’t rob you again; and if our business ventures proves unsuccessful, and Sam and I go bankrupt, you’ve always got something to fall back on in your old age.”
But success seemed to follow in the wake of the new firm, and the “Cleopatra,” as our ship is named, has made voyage after voyage with unvarying good fortune.
THE BOY FORTUNE HUNTERS IN PANAMA
Reilly & Britton published The Boy Fortune Hunters in Panama in 1908, using one of Baum’s pennames, Floyd Akers, although the novel had originally appeared a year earlier under the title, Sam Steele’s Adventures in Panama, using another Baum pseudonym, Capt. Hugh Fitzgerald. Howard Heath provided the illustrations. This second novel in the series concerns young hero, Sam Steele, now captain of his own ship, traveling around South America with California his goal. After a storm forces them to visit the coast of Panama, Sam and his inventor companion, Duncan Moit, spend time with a “lost,” but extremely wealthy tribe descended from the Aztecs. Among other things, Sam experiences travel by amphibious automobile and meets a beautiful Indian princess.
A first edition copy of ‘The Boy Fortune Hunters in Panama’
CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER ONE
I UNDERTAKE A HAZARDOUS JOURNEY
The bark Nebuchadnesar came staggering into Chelsea harbor in a very demoralized condition. Her main and mizzen masts were both gone, the bulwarks were smashed in, the poop swept away, and she leaked so badly that all the short-handed crew were nearly ready to drop from the exhausting labor of working the pumps. For after weathering a dreadful storm in which the captain and mate were washed overboard, together with five of the men, those remaining had been forced to rig up a square-sail on the foremast and by hook or crook to work the dismantled hulk into harbor, and this they did from no love of the ship but as a matter of mere self-preservation, the small boats having all been lost or destroyed.
As soon as they dropped anchor in the harbor they fled from the crippled ship and left her to her fate.
It fortunately happened that an agent of the owners, a man named Harlan, lived at Chelsea and was able to take prompt action to save the company’s property. The Nebuchadnesar was loaded heavily with structural steel work from Birmingham, which had been destined for San Pedro, California, which is the port of entry for the important city of Los Angeles. It was a valuable cargo, and one well worth saving; so Mr. Harlan quickly sent a lot of men aboard to calk the sprung seams and pump her dry, and within twenty-four hours they had her safe from sinking, although she still looked more like a splintered tub than a ship.
Complete Works of L. Frank Baum Page 651