“Here is more of our clothing,” came from Tom.
“Pick out all the things that are yours,” said the captain. “And take the other things that are yours, too.”
This was done, nobody paying any attention to Baxter’s protests. When the Rovers had what there was of their things the captain turned to the bully.
“I’ve made up my mind about you,” he said, speaking with great deliberation. “I am master here, and a judge and jury into the bargain. You can take your choice: Either sign articles as a foremast hand for the balance of the trip, or be locked up as a prisoner, on prison rations.”
“Do you mean th—that?” gasped Baxter, turning pale.
“I do.”
“But the passage money Goes to the credit of these young fellows.”
“It’s an outrage!”
“No, it’s simply justice, to my way of thinking. I’ll give you until to-morrow to make up your mind what you will do.”
This ended the talk with Dan Baxter. The captain said he wanted to see the Rover boys in the cabin, and they followed him to that place.
“Captain, I feel I must thank you for your fair way of managing this affair,” said Dick, feeling that a few good words at this point would not go amiss. “I hope you treat Baxter as he deserves.”
“I will try to do right,” was Captain Blossom’s answer. “But what I want to know now is, What do you intend to do with that money? It seems to me I should be paid something for keeping you on board.”
“I have a proposition to make, captain. We will give you two hundred dollars if you will allow us to consider ourselves passengers. And by ‘us’ I mean the young ladies as well as ourselves.”
“It’s not very much.”
“If we pay you that amount it will leave us but thirty dollars, hardly enough with which to cable home for more. Of course, when we get our money in Australia we will pay you whatever balance is due you,—and something besides for saving us.”
This pleased Captain Blossom and he said he would accept the offer. The matter was discussed for half an hour, and it was decided that the boys should have two staterooms, the one occupied by Baxter and another next to that given over to the girls.
When Dora, Nellie, and Grace heard of the new arrangement that had been made they were highly pleased.
“I didn’t want to see you do the work of a common sailor,” said Dora to Dick.
“Oh, it wouldn’t kill me,” he returned lightly. “Even as it is, I’ll give a hand if it is necessary.”
“It’s a wonder Captain Blossom took to your offer so quickly.”
“He loves money, that’s why, Dora. He would rather have that two hundred dollars than our services,” and with this remark Dick hit the nail squarely on the head.
CHAPTER X
A BLOW IN THE DARKNESS
It would be hard to describe Dan Baxter’s feelings after Captain Blossom and the Rover boys left him alone in his stateroom. At one instant he was fairly shaking with rage, and at the next quaking with fear over what the future might hold in store for him.
“They have got the best of me again!” he muttered, clenching his fists. “And after I felt sure I had escaped them. It must have been Fate that made Captain Blossom pick them up. Now I’ve either got to work as a common sailor or submit to being locked up in some dark, foul-smelling hole on the ship. And when we get to Australia, unless I watch my chance to skip out, they’ll turn me over to the police.”
He could not sleep that night for thinking over the situation and was up and dressed before daylight. Strolling on deck, he came face to face with Sam, who had come up to get the morning air.
“I suppose you think you have got the best of me,” growled Baxter.
“It looks like it, doesn’t it?” returned Sam briefly.
“The game isn’t ended yet.”
“No, but it will be when you land in prison, Baxter.”
“I’ll get square.”
“You have promised to get square times without number—and you have failed every time.”
“I won’t fail the next time.”
“Yes, you will. Wrong never yet triumphed over right.”
“Oh, don’t preach, Sam Rover.”
“I am not preaching, I am simply trying to show you how foolish it is to do wrong. Why don’t you turn over a new leaf?”
“Oh, such talk makes me sick!” growled the bully, and turned away.
A little while later Captain Blossom appeared and hunted up Dan Baxter, who sat in his state-room, packing up his few belongings.
“Well, have you decided on your course, young man?” demanded the master of the Golden Wave.
“Do you mean to lock me up if I refuse to become a sailor?” asked Dan Baxter,
“I do, and I won’t argue with you, either. Is it yes or no?”
“I don’t want to be locked up in some dark hole on your ship.”
“Then you are willing to become a sailor?”
“I—er—I suppose so.”
“Very well, you can remove your things to the forecastle. Jack Lesher, the first mate, will give you your bunk.”
This was “adding insult to injury,” as it is termed, so far as Baxter was concerned, for it will be remembered that it was Jack Lesher who had obtained the passage on the Golden Wave for the bully.
But Dan Baxter was given no chance to demur. Taking his traps he went on deck, where Jack Lesher met him, grinning in sickly fashion.
“So you are going to make a change, eh?” said the mate.
“You needn’t laugh at me, if I am,” growled Baxter.
“I shan’t laugh, my boy. It’s hard luck,” said Lesher. “Come along.”
He led the way to the forecastle and gave Baxter a bunk next to that occupied by old Jerry. Then he brought out an old suit of sailor’s clothing and tossed it over.
“You’ve run in hard luck, boy,” he said in a low voice, after he had made certain that nobody else was within hearing. “I am sorry for you.”
“Really?” queried Dan Baxter, giving the mate a sharp look.
“Yes, I am, and if I can do anything to make it easy for you, count on me,” went on Jack Lesher.
“Thank you.”
“I suppose taking that money and the other things was more of boy’s sport than anything, eh?”
“That’s the truth. I wanted to get square with those Rover boys. They are my bitter enemies. I didn’t want the money.”
Just then old Jerry came in and the conversation came to an end. But Baxter felt that he had a friend on board and this eased him a little. He did not know that the reason Jack Lesher liked him was because the first mate was a criminal himself and had once served a term in a Michigan jail for knocking down a passenger on a boat and robbing him of his pocketbook. As the old saying goes, “Birds of a feather flock together.”
When the girls came on deck they found Baxter doing some of the work which Dick and Tom had been doing the morning before. At first they were inclined to laugh, but Dora stopped herself and her cousins.
“Don’t let us laugh at him,” she whispered. “It is hard enough for the poor fellow as it is.”
“I am not going to notice him after this,” said Nellie. “To me he shall be an entire stranger.” And the others agreed to treat Dan Baxter in the same manner.
But the boys were not so considerate, and Tom laughed outright when he caught sight of Baxter swabbing up some dirt on the rear deck. This made the bully’s passion arise on the instant and he caught up his bucket as if to throw it at Tom’s head.
“Don’t you dare, Baxter!” cried Tom. “If you do we’ll have a red-hot war.”
“I can lick you, Tom Rover!”
“Perhaps you can and perhaps you can’t.”
Baxter put up his fists, but on the approa
ch of Dick and Sam he promptly retreated. But before he went he hissed in Tom’s ear:
“You wait, and see what I do!”
“He had better keep his distance,” said Dick. “If he doesn’t, somebody will get hurt.”
“I suppose it galls him to work,” said Sam. “He always was rather lazy.”
The day proved a nice one, and the Rover boys spent most of the time with the three girls, who were glad of their company once more.
All speculated on the question of what had become of the Tacoma, and of what the folks at home would think concerning their prolonged absence.
“I’d give a good deal to send a message home,” said Dick.
“We must cable as soon as we reach shore,” added Dora.
They saw but little of Dan Baxter during the day and nothing whatever of him the day following.
“He is trying to avoid us,” said Sam. “Well, I am just as well satisfied.”
Through old Jerry they learned that Baxter hated the work given to him and that he was being favored a little by the first mate.
“Tell ye what, I hate that mate,” said Jerry. “He’s got a wicked eye, and he drinks like a fish.”
“I know he drinks,” answered Tom. “I smelt the liquor in his breath.”
They were now getting down into warmer latitudes and the next night proved unusually hot. It was dark with no stars shining, and the air was close, as if another storm was at hand.
“I can’t sleep,” said Tom, after rolling around in his berth for half an hour. “I’m going on deck.” And he dressed himself and went up for some air. He walked forward and leaned over the rail, watching the waves as they slipped behind the noble ship.
Tom’s coming on deck had been noticed by Dan Baxter, who sat on the side of the fore-castle, meditating on his troubles. As the bully saw the youth leaning over the rail, his face took on a look of bitter hatred.
“I’ll teach him to laugh at me!” he muttered.
Gazing around he saw that nobody was within sight and then he arose to his feet. With a cat-like tread he came up behind Tom, who still looked at the waves, totally unconscious of danger.
Baxter’s heart beat so loudly that he was afraid Tom would hear it. Again he looked around. Not a soul was near, and the gloom of the night was growing thicker.
“He’ll laugh another way soon!” he muttered, and stepped closer.
His fist was raised to deliver a blow when Tom happened to straighten up and look around. He saw the form behind him and the upraised arm and leaped aside.
The blow missed its mark and Tom caught Baxter by the shoulder.
“What do you mean, Dan Baxter, by this attack?” he began, when the bully aimed another blow at him. This struck Tom full in the temple and partly dazed him. Then the two clenched awl fell heavily against the rail.
“I’ll fix you!” panted Baxter, striking another blow as best he could, and then, as Tom struck him in return, he forced Tom’s head against the rail with a thump. The blow made Tom see stars and he was more dazed than ever.
“Le—let up!” he gasped, but Baxter continued to crowd him against the rail, which at this point was very weak because of the collision with the steamer. Suddenly there was a snap and a crack and the rail gave way. Baxter leaped back in time to save himself from falling, but Tom could not help himself, and, with a wild cry, he went overboard!
CHAPTER XI
A CALL FROM THE STERN
For the instant after Tom slipped over the side of the Golden Wave, Dan Baxter was too dazed to do more than stare at the spot where he had last seen the boy with whom he had been struggling.
“Gone!” he muttered presently. “Gone!” he repeated and crouched back in the darkness.
The great beads of perspiration came to his brow as he heard rapid footsteps approaching. Would he be accused of sending Tom Rover to his death?
“What’s the trouble?” came in the voice of Captain Blossom.
Instead of answering, Dan Baxter crept still further back. Then, watching his chance, he darted into the forecastle.
“Hullo, the rail is broken!” he heard the captain exclaim. “Bring a lantern here, quick!”
A sailor came running with a lantern, which lit up the narrow circle of the deck near the rail and part of the sea beyond.
“Somebody gave a cry,” said the captain, to those who began to gather. “Looks to me as if the rail gave way and let somebody overboard.”
“Tom Rover was on deck,” came from old Jerry. “Do you reckon as how it was him?”
“I don’t know. It was somebody, that’s certain. Call all hands at once.”
This was done, and Dan Baxter had to come out with the rest. He was pale and trembled so he could scarcely stand.
“All here,” said Captain Blossom. “Must have been one of the Rover boys or one of the young ladies.”
Word was passed along and soon Sam and Dick came rushing on deck.
“Tom is missing!” cried Sam.
“If that is so, I’m afraid, boys, you have seen the last of your brother,” said Captain Blossom. He turned to his crew. “Do any of you know anything of this affair?”
There was a dead silence. Then he questioned the man at the wheel.
“Don’t know a thing, cap’n,” was the answer.
“It’s queer. He must have pressed on the rail very hard.. Here are half a dozen nails torn from the wood.”
While this talk was going on Dick and Sam had passed along the rail from the place of the accident to the stern.
“Perhaps he caught hold somewhere,” said Sam, who was unwilling to believe that his brother had really perished.
They had just gained the stern and were looking over when a call came from out of the darkness.
“He—help! Help!”
“It’s Tom!” screamed Dick in delight. “Tom, is that you?”
“Yes! Help!”
“Where are you?”
“Holding on to a rope. Help me quick. I—I can’t hold on mu—much longer!”
“We’ll help you,” answered Dick.
Captain Blossom was called and more lanterns were lit, and then a Bengal light, and Tom was seen to be holding fast to a rope which had in some manner fallen overboard and become entangled in the rudder chain.
By the aid of the boat-hook the rope was hauled up and to the side of the Golden Wave. At the same time the sails were lowered, and then a rope ladder was thrown down. Dick descended to the edge of the waves, and, watching his chance, caught Tom by the collar of his coat. Then the brothers came slowly to the deck.
A cheer went up when it was found that Tom was safe once more, and Nellie Laning could not resist rushing forward and catching the wet youth in her arms. Tom was so exhausted he dropped on the nearest seat, and it was several minutes before he had recovered strength enough to speak.
“I would have been drowned had it not been for that rope,” he said when questioned. “As I slid along the side of the ship the rope hit me in the face. I clutched it and clung fast for dear life. Then when I came up and swept astern I called as loudly as I could, but it seemed an age before anybody heard me.”
“It was a narrow escape,” said Dick. “You can thank a kind Providence that your life was spared.”
“You must have leaned on the rail awfully hard,” put in Nellie.
“Leaned on the rail?” repeated Tom. “It wasn’t my fault that I went overboard. It was Dan Baxter’s.”
“Dan Baxter!” came from several.
“Exactly. He tackled me in the dark, and we had it hot and heavy for a minute. Then he crowded me on the rail, and it gave way. He jumped back and let me go overboard.”
“The rascal! I’ll settle with him!” cried Dick. “I’ll teach him to keep his distance after this!”
He knew Baxter was st
ill forward, and ran in that direction. The bully saw him coming and tried to hide in the forecastle, but Dick was too quick for him and hauled him back on the deck.
“Take that for shoving my brother overboard, you scoundrel!” he exclaimed, and hit Baxter a staggering blow straight between the eyes.
“Stop!” roared the bully, and struck out in return. But Dick dodged the blow, and then hit Baxter in the chin and on the nose. The elder Rover boy was excited, and hit with all of his force, and the bully measured his length on the deck.
“Good fer you!” cried old Jerry, who stood looking on. “That’s the way to serve him, the sarpint!”
Slowly Baxter arose to his knees, and then his feet, where he stood glaring at Dick.
“Don’t you hit me again!” he muttered.
“But I will,” retorted Dick, and struck out once more. This time his fist landed on the bully’s left eye, and once again Baxter went down, this time with a thud.
The sailors were collecting, and soon Jack Lesher rushed up. He stepped between Dick and the bully.
“Stop it!” he ordered harshly. “We don’t allow fighting on board of this craft.”
“I wasn’t fighting,” answered Dick coolly. “I was just teaching a rascal a lesson.”
“It amounts to the same thing. If you have any fault to find tell the captain, or tell me.”
“Well, I’ll go to the captain, not you,” retorted Dick.
“All right,” growled the first mate. “But just remember you can’t boss things when I’m around.”
When Captain Blossom understood the situation he was thoroughly angry.
“Baxter certainly ought to be in prison,” he said. “I’ll clap him in the brig and feed him on bread and water for three days and see how he likes that.”
“He ought not to be left at large,” said Dora, with a shudder. “He may try to murder somebody next.”
“We’ll watch him after this,” said the captain.
He kept his word about putting Baxter in the ship’s jail. But through Lesher the bully, got much better fare than bread and water. Strange as it may seem, a warm friendship sprang up between the bully and the first mate.
The Rover Boys Megapack Page 96