Tony shrugged. "Then I won't have to report on that."
"No. And now that everything's taken care of, Tony, your uncle wants you. He was here a while ago, and when he found out you were safe, he left, asking me to tell you that he wants to see you right away."
"I thought he would," Tony sighed, gloomy again. "After what happened today, I suppose he's already packing to leave Acapulco."
"I suppose so," Juho agreed, with what seemed to Tony complete heartlessness.
"And Captain Ruiz?"
"He came tearing back to the docks as soon as he heard about the tidal wave, though he didn't know till he got here that you boys were still on the Albacora. He had ordered the speedboat to go back for you, when he came ashore, and he had left for the hospital before that first outgoing wave stranded the small boats."
"Was he angry with us for staying aboard?" Tony asked. "There wasn't any way to get back, after the thing started."
"I wouldn't say he was angry—exactly," Julio said in a noncommittal voice. "After Manuel signaled that you were all right, he talked to your uncle for a few minutes and then he went back to the hospital. His wife had an emergency operation, early this afternoon, but she's going to be okay."
"That's good," Tony muttered, thinking that at least one thing had gone right today. He wondered what Captain Ruiz and his uncle had been discussing together —probably his own carelessness in letting Peter fall overboard, he thought glumly. They would know about it, of course. Apparently everyone knew.
"Well, let's go now," Julio said briskly. "I promised to deliver you at home."
"We'll all go," Mr. Carson suggested. "Your aunt has invited us to supper, Tony. Sort of a farewell party."
Tony's heart numbed with despair at the word "farewell." He had nothing to say as the four of them crossed the ravaged park and boulevard and climbed the cement steps that led to Tony's house.
Only Julio was voluble, chattering on about the earthquakes and the tidal wave. There had been quite a lot of damage done, he said, but no lives lost and no one even seriously hurt. The restaurant where he worked had been spared, although a few chairs and tables left on the beach had been washed away. As a matter of fact, he went on, Acapulco had gotten off lightly, considering everything. Mexico City and the towns in-between had been harder hit by the quakes.
Tony hardly heard him. He was thinking rather bitterly that Julio was far more insensitive than he had always believed him to be. Even though he owed much to his Caletilla friend, Tony felt that he could never quite forgive him for being so indifferent to his impending exile from Acapulco.
As they entered the patio of the house, Tony saw that his Aunt Raquel was on the veranda, packing a box, and his heart sank still lower. She paused in her work to look at him with a strange, haff-sad smile that the boy could not interpret.
All she said was, "I'm glad you're back, my son. Go to your uncle now. He wants to see you alone in his office."
It was just like three months ago, Tony thought, as
his feet dragged unwillingly across the patio to the small office. Then he had sensed that bad news was coming. Now he knew it.
But three months ago there had been an alternative—a reprieve. Now the reprieve had run out.
He stood in the doorway, as he had stood then, watching his uncle work on a ledger. The thin face was paler than usual, and the amber-colored eyes were sober as he looked up.
"Come in, Antonio, and close the door."
Tony obeyed and sat down, his face wooden with the effort to mask his feelings.
For what seemed a long time, Uncle Juan said nothing at all. He sat with his eyes fixed on the pencil he was rolling in his fingers.
Well, go on, get it over with! Tony thought bitterly. I've failed. I'm a beach bum. So now I go to Mexico City to be a bellboy. . . .
When Uncle Juan finally spoke, his voice was quiet. "You think I've been ignoring you all these three months, Tony. Outwardly, I have, but actually I've been following your activities with the closest attention."
Tony slumped lower in his chair. This was even worse than he had expected. Not only had he failed—but Uncle Juan had watched him do it, and he was now going to lecture him about it.
"First you lost the glass-bottomed boat job," his uncle went on. "After that, I knew of your skin-diving efforts, and that you finally got the bends from going too deep."
"Not from going too deep," Tony interrupted des-
perately. "From coming up too fast, because my air ran out."
He didn't mention the shark. Perhaps Uncle Juan hadn't heard about that.
His uncle held up his hand, as though to halt further self-defense. "I know all about it. The shark, too. Then the night fishing. You did find out that there isn't much money in that, didn't you, Antonio? Just as I told you."
"There's enough to Hve on," Tony said stubbornly, "on a year-round average. But there's not enough to save a lot in a hurry, the way you wanted me to."
His uncle nodded slightly. "After that," he continued, "the treasure hunting at Puerto Marques. That was almost cheating, Tony. You were supposed to earn this money by your own efforts."
"I would have earned it, all right," Tony said grimly, "if we had gotten it. That was one of the worse nights I ever Hved through."
An odd expression crossed Uncle Juan's face that Tony would almost have thought was a smile, if he hadn't known that such a thing was impossible. At least, he thought, his uncle didn't know that he had planned to try again—and there was no need to tell him now.
"Well, then finally the deep-sea fishing and this crisis today," his uncle went on inexorably, "which will probably hurt the tourist business for some time. Can you say that any of your efforts have had spectacular success, Tony?"
"No," the boy muttered, looking down at his bare toes.
Why did his uncle have to drag it out and rub it in?
he thought wearily. Wasn't it bad enough without that? Uncle Juan had never been a gentle person, but this was the first time that Tony had thought of him as being deliberately cruel.
"You didn't materially succeed at any of it, and you made a lot of mistakes," his uncle repeated. Then, to Tony's astonishment, he added slowly, "But you tried, Antonio. You tried very hard. And, in a way, you succeeded."
Tony stared, dumfounded.
"Somewhere along the line, you made a lot of friends." Uncle Juan's voice was thoughtful. "Some enemies, too, of course, but among the worthwhile people, you made real friends. One after another, in these weeks, they have come to me on your behalf. Captain Garcia came over a month ago, to ask you to work on another of his glass-bottomed boats. He did not hold you responsible for the fight, and he had intervened with the authorities to get you back in their good graces."
Tony opened his mouth to speak and then closed it again.
"Your friend Julio came to propose that you help in his restaurant until you had the necessary stake to buy a boat of your own—but that would have taken years, I think. After that, Don Clemente came to ask me if you could work permanently as his night fishing partner. He said you were a good fisherman and you sold the fish for a higher price than he could get. Also, he appreciated your looking after him while he was ill."
Uncle Juan paused and glanced at Tony, whose mouth was openly gaping now-
"I refused all of these people, or at least I put them off," he continued slowly. "None of these propositions would have given you much security. Moreover, I wanted to observe your own unaided efforts to the end. You know, Tony, that most of all I wanted security for you, and that is why I insisted on the hotel business. But gradually I have come to see, during these weeks, that there are different kinds of security. My kind has always been money."
He gave a faint sigh. "Now, however, two things have convinced me that money isn't necessarily the only insurance for the future. One thing is—I've had word that our hotel in Mexico City was badly damaged by the earthquake two weeks ago."
Tony could only gasp. Words ha
d completely failed him.
"Oh, it's insured, fortunately," his uncle added, "and I'm leaving for the capital in the morning, to see about the repair work. Nevertheless, the damage made me realize that disaster can strike anywhere, anytime, and that money is not always proof against it.
"Apart from that, I have come to see that friends are a kind of security, too. I know now that you would never need to go begging in Acapulco, Tony. In spite of your failures and accidents, you have made a place for yom*-seff here, and I'm beginning to be convinced that it is wrong for me to force you into another environment, doing work that would obviously be distasteful to you."
Tony's heart had begun to boom like a high surf. He was sitting on the edge of his chair now, his mouth still open and his eyes blazing with excitement.
"Tell me, Antonio," his uncle said abruptly, "just how much have you managed to save in the last three months?"
Tony gulped and swallowed and finally found his tongue. "One thousand and forty pesos and sixty cen-tavos," he said breathlessly. He knew to the last penny. He had counted it often enough!
"Bring it here," his uncle ordered.
Tony flew to retrieve it from behind a loose adobe brick in the kitchen. When he returned, his uncle was writing a check. In a moment, he tore it out and handed it to his nephew.
"Here is a check for one thousand, nine hundred and fifty-nine pesos and forty centavos," he said, his face unsmiling. "It is my contribution to your future, Antonio. Captain Ruiz will be here soon, and you can deliver to him your savings and this check, totaling three thousand pesos, which will be a small down payment, giving you an interest in the Alhacora."
Tony's knees began to feel rubbery and he sat down abruptly as his uncle went on, "The captain and I discussed this when we were both down on the docks, after being reassured that you and young Pedro were all right. Captain Ruiz wants to take you on as mate and part owner of his boat, since his former mate has decided to stay in Chilpancingo and work for the government. He is grateful to you for saving the Alhacora. Moreover, he, too, hkes you and finds you an alert, responsible worker. This was the most promising of the various propositions that have been made, so I agreed. I trust it is in fine with your own desires."
It was too sudden. Tony couldn't take it in. He sat glued to the chair, his black eyes fixed unbelievingly on his uncle.
"This doesn't mean that your efforts are over," Uncle Juan warned. "You'll have to work long, hard hours, and save every centavo to meet the monthly payments which you'll owe—for months, or even years."
"I'll work like a slave," Tony breathed. "I'll do anything—any thing!"
Uncle Juan smiled at last, rather sadly.
"You're a good boy, Tony. It hurts a little to have you so happy to part with the only family you have."
Tony jerked his head up. "It isn't that. Uncle Juan!" he protested truthfully. "It's that I couldn't part with Acapulco—and the life I love here."
"I know." His uncle rose. "Well, that's settled, then. Let's go out now and you can tell your friends that they've succeeded in their project of saving Tony for the sea!" He smiled ruefully. "Oh, yes—one other thing. Pedro's father, apparently another devoted friend of yours, has decided to leave the pension where they've been staying, and move into a small house so they can fix their own food. He wants you to live with them. This makes me feel somewhat easier about leaving you here— when the rest of the family joins me in Mexico City, you'll be with a responsible older person."
All of a sudden, Tony began to really believe this miracle that had happened to him, and he exploded into action. First, he crossed the few feet that separated them and pounded his uncle's back—a thing he had never in his life dreamed of doing. Then he ran out the door.
"Pedro—Julio—Marta—Aunt Raquel! I'm staying!" he shouted, insane with joy.
He saw from their faces that they aheady knew, all except Peter.
"Welcome to Acapulco!" Julio yelled, repeating the words he had said on the dock. And now Tonv realized their significance and knew why JuHo had seemed so unfeelingly cheerful. He had known then that Tony was staying.
Aunt Raquel gave him the same half-sad smile that she had given him when he came in. "I'm glad for you, Tony," she said. "I was certain from the beginning that we should not take you away from here. But I'll miss you, boy."
"I'll miss you, too," Tony said, feehng a pang as he realized that he would, indeed, miss all of his adopted family, as well as his own sister Marta. "But I'll visit you as often as I can—I promise."
They were all there at the farewell party, which was a farewell only to Uncle Juan who was leaving the following day to attend to the repairs of the Mexico City hotel. Peter and his father, Julio, Don Clemente and Captain Ruiz joined the family party. The latter ate quickly in his haste to get back to his wife at the hospital. But he took time to seal his contract with Tony, giving the boy part interest in the Albacora, subject to monthly payments.
"Does the mate and part owner have anything to say about the hiring of deck hands?" Tony asked the captain hopefully, after their business had been concluded.
"He certainly has a vote in it." The captain's eyes
twinkled. "I know what you're thinking. Yes, it's all right with me if Pedro continues to work with us."
"But only on weekends until school lets out," Mr. Carson said firmly. "And you're going to finish your schooling in the evenings, Tony. Pete can help you."
Tony nodded, willing to agree to anything now.
"I can see I'm leaving you in good hands," Uncle Juan said. "More than one pair of good hands," he added, bowing to Captain Ruiz.
The captain smiled and returned the bow. Then he turned to Tony. "I must get back to the hospital now. I'll see you on the Alhacora tomorrow, mate, bright and early."
"I'll spend the night on her, mi Capitdn!" Tony answered eagerly. "Just to be sure that nothing more happens to our boat!"
"And I'll stay with you! May I, Dad?" Peter begged his father.
"If you promise not to fall overboard," Mr. Carson said gravely. "I don't think I could stand that twice."
"I'll try to take much better care of him from now on," Tony said, looking at his blond friend with deep affection.
There was no doubt in his mind that without Peter's constant encouragement and help, his dreams would never, never have come true.
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Treasure of Acapulco Page 14