Bill Bolton Flying Midshipman Part 22

From Osceola's throat came the raucous screech of an owl. As one man the flotilla stopped moving.

"Sh.e.l.l Island," the chief whispered. "The path up the cliffs is yonder, to the left. You go to the right, Bill. You know my plans, and I know yours."

"O-and likewise, K." Bill's voice was husky with excitement, though he strove to keep it casual. "Good luck and good hunting, old man."

"Good luck, Bill."

They clasped hands, and an instant later, the canoe following drew alongside. Bill immediately changed places with the Indian who had been paddling in the stern. He placed his rifle carefully on the bottom of the canoe and grasping his paddle, swung the craft round to the right.

Three more canoes fell into line behind him, and the four left the main flotilla and headed off to the westward, keeping the cliffs and the pounding surf off their port quarter.

Bill's canoes pushed swiftly ahead over the long ground swell until three quarters of an hour later, the narrow entrance to the bay was in sight. Now their pace slackened, the dip of their paddles in the quiet water became barely perceptible, and hugging the deep shadow of the cliff, the canoes glided into the bay like dark water wraiths on a jet black background.

The sky was overcast, the visibility poor, but Bill could make out the night lights of Martinengo's yacht. Nearby floated a large amphibian, evidently a sister ship of the one wrecked in the Glades. Tied up to the concrete pier was a smaller seaplane.

For a moment they rested on their paddles. Then at a sign from Bill, the other three canoes made off silently for the yacht.

Bill pointed his own craft for the amphibian. He doubted that a harbor watch would be kept aboard the plane, and in this he found his surmise correct. Drawing alongside, he made the canoe fast to an interplane strut, and motioned to his two companions to climb aboard.

While the Seminoles searched the hull, Bill busied himself with the engine. He removed two spark plugs, and disconnected the joints in the pipe line at both the fuel tank and carburetor. When he had finished the Seminoles reported that there was no crew aboard.

Bill nodded his satisfaction and the Indians followed him back into the canoe. Their next port of call was the seaplane, moored to the pier, where the same performance took place. When this aircraft had also been put out of commission, they turned their attention to the yacht.

As his canoe slid close to the long, black hull of Martinengo's palatial craft, Bill dimly discerned the dark blotches on the waterline below the overhang of the stern. An instant later, his canoe nosed in among the Indian dugouts.

Not a word was spoken. Except for the lap of wavelets against the yacht's hull, and stentorian snores from somewhere above their heads, the night was peculiarly silent. From afar came the dull boom of the surf. Then they heard the _pop-pop_ of rifle fire from the interior of the island, more than a mile away.

Bill faced about. "If these gunsters show fight, shoot to kill!" he hissed in a tense whisper. "But if a man throws down his arms, he is to be bound and held prisoner. I will have no murdering of unarmed men. And anyone who disobeys this order will be shot out of hand by me. Am I understood?"

He was answered by a low chorus of grunts.

"Then-let's go!"

Leaving but one man to guard the canoes, the little band swarmed over the low bulwarks and on to the yacht's deck. The sailor on watch was roused from his slumbers to find himself held fast by painted savages.

Before he was sufficiently awake to shout for help an oily rag was thrust into his mouth. Then while one Seminole knotted a scarf about his face to keep the gag in place, he was trussed up with rope from the coil on which he had been sleeping. His bonds were further secured to a ringbolt in the decking and then he was abandoned.

At a word from Bill, four Indians entered the companionway amidship, while he and the others hurried on to the forecastle entrance. He found the door closed, jerked it open and ran down a steep flight of steps.

His hand groped along the wall in the darkness, there came the click of a switch and the quarters of the crew sprang into view. A table ran down the middle of the long, narrow cabin, and twelve bunks lined the walls, six on either side. Eight of these were occupied.

Bill's words came sharp as the crack of a pistol.

"Hands in the air! Legs overside-and stay put!"

The man in the second bunk on the right reached stealthily under his pillow, and flashed an automatic into sight, while Bill's eyes raked the other side of the cabin. But before the sailor could crook his trigger finger, Bill felt an object whizz past his head from the rear, and to his astonishment, he saw the man crumple as though struck by lightning.

The dead body fell to the floor. Imbedded in the middle of the man's forehead was a Seminole tomahawk.

This summary piece of justice evidently cowed the other forecastle hands, for they offered no resistance. They were led on deck and effectively bound with rope and laid in a row beside the deck watch.

Bill did not wholly trust his Seminoles to keep to the promise he had extracted from them. In their eyes this night's work was a vendetta, war to the death, vengeance to be atoned by blood alone. They had come here to kill or be killed. He felt almost certain that they would murder these prisoners if given the slightest provocation. Therefore he remained on deck until the last gunster was laid beside his fellows, before going below. As it was, he met the men he had sent down to the cabins as he entered the companionway.

"Anybody down there?" he asked brusquely.

"Great Chief, there _were_ three white men," the leader said slowly.

"Where are they?"

"They were foolish enough to fight, Great Chief. They have gone to the Happy Hunting Ground. We have brought their scalps."

Bill turned away in disgust. Yet there was nothing he could do. Censure at this stage of the game would be sure to provoke mutiny. If he upbraided these savages for acts which according to their code were acts of justice, they would probably throw off his leadership and ma.s.sacre the remaining prisoners.

"Yellow Wing!" he beckoned to a subchief. "You and Long Snake will stay here with these men. You will be accountable to Chief Osceola for their safety. The rest of us will take three of the canoes and go ash.o.r.e."

Bill knew that this order did not please the two Indians, but they made no comment, and he led his group overside.

At the concrete pier he left another Indian on guard, and then, followed by the remainder of his band, hastened up the road to the top of the cliff. Ever since they had heard the report of the first gun, the firing in the middle of the island had been practically continuous.

Occasionally it would lessen for a few seconds, to break out in fresh bursts directly afterward. Now, as they ran along the road which led down into the broad valley of the island, the firing became more intermittent, and at last died away altogether.

They entered the belt of woods and were traveling along the winding roadway at a trot when the sound of rifles broke out afresh. This time, the volleys seemed to come from the woods ahead. The party stopped and listened.

"They're getting nearer," muttered Bill, after a moment.

"White Man retreating along this road, Red Man following, Great Chief,"

declared an elderly Seminole at Bill's side.

"How do you know they are White Men, Straight Arrow?"

"Those nearest us wear white men's boots, Great Chief. No Seminole makes noise like that when he runs."

Bill could hear nothing except the firing, but it never occurred to him to doubt the keen-eared Indian's word.

"Into the woods!" he commanded. "And don't fire until you hear me whistle!"

The dark shadows of his savage allies seemed to melt into the forest.

Bill slid behind the trunk of a palm, from where he had an un.o.bstructed view of the turn in the road beyond. He could hear the sound of running footsteps now. The reports of rifles came nearer and nearer.

Finally a band of fifteen or twenty men appeared around the bend. In the darkness of the dense woods it was difficult to distinguish objects clearly, but Bill saw that four of the men bore a burden, and as they got well past the turn in the road, they stopped and lowered it to the ground. Immediately afterward the trip hammer detonations of a machine gun shattered the night.

There came a flash and a sharp report from the woods on the opposite side of the road. The machine-gunner fell sideways, clutching his shoulder. Another took the wounded man's place. Before Bill could purse his lips to whistle, first one side of the road, then the other were raked with a hail of lead.

Bill could hear the bullets pinging into the soft palm that sheltered him. He dropped to the ground and lying flat, opened fire with his rifle, while the gangsters' bullets went on singing above his head.

Flashes lit the woods continuously in every direction now, and the night was made hideous by the bloodcurdling yells of the Seminoles.

Then another and heavier burst of firing came from the bend of the road.

The machine gun was suddenly silenced. The few gangsters that were left turned and fled toward the bay.

Out of the woods leapt painted demons, shouting war cries. The cornered gunmen wheeled and fought like frenzied rats. No quarter was asked or given. Presently the Indians returned to the machine gun.

Bill stood in the middle of the road, his rifle at the ready.

"The first who touches one of these wounded gets a bullet from me!" He shouted menacingly at the Seminoles, who, he knew were bent on taking their trophy.