King of the Air Part 9

He noticed that even during the few seconds in which he had been in communication with the yacht the situation had changed. One of the masts was now tenantless. Presumably its occupant had been washed off or through fatigue had dropped into the sea. But as the airship drew rapidly nearer, it was noticed that the figure on the other mast was bending low as if to raise something from the water. Then a head and shoulders appeared above the surface. Clearly the man Tom had supposed to be lost was trying to make his way to the mast to which his companion clung.

The airship was now less than half a mile distant, and from the alt.i.tude to which they had risen-some three hundred feet above the surface-the occupants could see every detail in the strange drama that was being enacted beneath them. a.s.sisted by the figure above, the swimmer was gradually making his way on to the mast, when suddenly a black fin appeared above the surface a few yards off. With a convulsive movement, the lowermost man had just succeeded in swinging himself a foot or two up the mast when the gaping jaws of a shark pa.s.sed immediately beneath him. Tom shuddered involuntarily. The man had escaped by a few inches at the most.

In a second the shark turned and glided beneath the clinging figure. The terror-stricken wretch clutched wildly at the man above him, and began to haul himself up hand over hand, clinging to his companion's body. But the latter, unable to bear the double weight on the smooth mast, slipped slowly downwards. He was the slighter of the two, and no match, apparently, for the man who had usurped his place.

"What a beast!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Tom, wondering at this strange want of fellow-feeling in a man who was evidently older and stronger than his companion in distress. Slowing down, he fixed his eyes on the extraordinary spectacle. The position was now reversed. The younger and slighter man was very manifestly the under dog. With every attempt on his part to swarm up the mast the man above him kicked savagely, while the shark circled below. The fact that the second mast had become untenable seemed to indicate that the tide was rising. Neither of the men, their whole attention fixed on the sea beneath, had noticed the airship that was now hovering just above their heads.

When, however, Tom gradually allowed the airship to sink towards the sea, the shark seemed to take fright, just as smaller fish are scared by signs of movement in the air above. It left the immediate neighbourhood of the mast, and its black fin could be seen describing a much larger circle some two or three hundred yards away. Clearly it had not given up hope. When the shark moved away and the strain of terror was relaxed, the two men became suddenly aware of the presence of the airship. The topmost man was almost as much scared by the sight of the airship as he had been by the presence of the shark. Tom had already noticed that both of the men were dark skinned. The larger and stronger-the brute, as Tom mentally called him-appeared to be middle-aged; the other was a stripling.

Tom was struck by the difference in their demeanour when they caught sight of the airship; neither he nor Timothy was at present visible to them. The elder man was aghast with fright, his eyes dilated, his mouth gaped between black moustache and beard. The younger, however, seemed to pull himself together as with renewed hope. Tom fancied that he heard a cry from his lips.

Looking round, Tom saw that the yacht had now hove to, and the boat was leaving her side. But his attention was again called to the wreck by a piercing shriek. The shark, regaining confidence, had made another dash at the mast. This time it seemed to come within an inch of the terrified youth; indeed, from the cry that had reached his ears, Tom thought that the poor wretch had actually been seized. But next moment he saw that the shark had again drawn off, scared, possibly, by the cry.

There was now less of the masts above the surface. The tide was evidently rising, and with its rise the shark would have another opportunity of coming within snapping distance. Tom felt that it would not again fail. It would be at least ten minutes before the boat reached the spot; by that time the hapless lad would probably have fallen a victim. Tom had noticed that when the shark was all but upon him, and he made a convulsive movement upwards, he was met by a storm of kicks from the man above, threatening to dislodge him completely from the mast and hurl him into the very jaws of the monster.

In a moment Tom made up his mind. He ordered Timothy to let down from the car a light grapnel carried for use in emergencies, and also for raising anything that might be needed, without having to bring the airship to rest on the ground. Then he allowed the machine to sink gently until the grapnel dangled within reach of the man at the top. Tom had no intention of helping him first; by his conduct he deserved to be left to drown or to make a meal for the shark. But the man seemed indeed quite incapable of movement, except when scared to frenzy by the efforts of the youth below to regain the position from which he had been forced.

He made no attempt to clutch the grapnel dangling at his very hand. Tom let the machine fall lower, until the grapnel came within reach of the younger man. He showed no such hesitation. Looking along the cable, he saw Timothy gazing down at him from the car. The sight of a human face gave him confidence. He clutched at the grapnel, let go his hold of the mast, and swung clear, Timothy attempting to steady the rope.

His sudden movement threatened a catastrophe. The airship was now only about sixty feet above the sea, and before Tom, his attention partly engaged by the efforts of the boy, could increase the speed of the ascensional screw, the light vessel was pulled swiftly downwards. For a moment he felt that it must inevitably be dragged into the water. The young fellow below, still clutching desperately at the grapnel, had actually begun to sink beneath the surface. But as soon as his weight was supported by the water, the ascensional screw, now set by Tom whirling at full speed, checked the downward movement, and in another couple of seconds the airship began to rise, dragging the youth upwards.

In his excitement Tom had momentarily forgotten the shark. That persistent creature, however, having overcome its fear of the monster of the air, made a dash for the youth as he entered the sea. The poor wretch had the narrowest escape of all when the shark pa.s.sed just beneath him, as, whirling round on the grapnel, he was swung clear of the water.

Now that he was safe from the cruel jaws, the lad showed himself to be possessed of no little agility. Hand over hand he swarmed up the cable until he reached the lower rail of the car, which he clutched, and by Timothy's aid he clambered over. Meanwhile Tom had steered the airship towards the approaching boat.

"Give way with a will, men!" he shouted. "There's no time to be lost.

We've got one; the other man will be nabbed by a shark if you aren't there pretty soon. I can see the brute's fin above the water just by the mast."

The men spurted. As the boat approached the submerged vessel, the shark took fright and glided swiftly away. In another half-minute the man was taken from his precarious perch, and lifted, in a state of complete collapse, into the boat.

CHAPTER VI-SALATHIEL BEN EZRA

"Bismillah!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed the young Moor when he stood in the car.

"Just saved your bacon, if that's what you mean," said Timothy. "And a nice sloppy mess you're making! I s'pose _I_'ll have to clean up."

Timothy scowled and growled, but that was only his way. Tom knew well enough that Timothy would clean up with great cheerfulness.

"We'll get back to the yacht," he said, "and find some dry things for him there."

The airship was now so well under control that Tom had no difficulty in letting her down safely on deck, though the yacht was at anchor.

"Uncommonly well done!" exclaimed Mr. Greatorex as Tom stepped out of the car.

"Yes; I thought she came down pretty neatly," said Tom.

"Didn't mean _that_, you egoist. I meant you saved this young fellow uncommonly well; saw it _all_ through my binocular. Dangerous things, sharks. Who _is_ the boy?"

"I haven't asked him yet. I thought we might give him a dry change and then see if we can make out anything. He probably can't speak English."

"Very well. Bodgers, find some toggery and take him into the cabin.

Who's the _other_ fellow?"

"We shall find out presently. Shall we go into the cabin? I'd like to put a few questions before the other man comes aboard."

They found that Captain Bodgers had rigged up the boy in a sailor's suit much too large for him.

"Capital!" cried Mr. Greatorex. "_Much_ more respectable! Can you speak English, boy?"

"Me speak English little bit, and Spanish little bit," replied the boy with a frank smile.

"That's capital! Not the _Spanish_, you know; but the English."

"I tank very much for the gentleman's goodness--"

"Yes, yes, _that's_ all right. But come now, how did you get into that pretty pickle?"

The boy looked puzzled.

"Tell us how the ship came to be wrecked," said Tom, translating.

"Aiyeh! She caught in fog last night, struck rock. Quick it was all over; no one live, only me and Salathiel ben Ezra."

"That is your friend's name, is it? A Jew?"

"Yes, excellency, a Jew. A dog of a Jew!"

"And you are not a Jew? What is your name?"

"Abdul, most merciful-Abdul ben Ca.s.sim, of Ain Afroo in Zemmur."

"Zemmur!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Mr. Greatorex. "Isn't that the neighbourhood where Ingleton is said to be?"

"Yes," replied Tom. "We may find the lad useful. Tell us, Abdul, how you came to be at sea with a Jew."

Abdul explained that, some five or six years before, his father, a well-to-do saddlemaker of Ain Afroo, had contrived to quarrel with the sheikh of his district, refusing, in fact, to pay the sheikh a very extortionate levy. It was, Abdul admitted, a foolish thing to do, for soon afterwards the saddlemaker died mysteriously. His family took instant flight with what possessions they could get together, and found refuge in Casa Blanca, where the boy had a distant relative, the owner of a small coasting vessel. Since that time he had been engaged in trading up and down the coast, and in his journeyings had picked up a smattering of English and Spanish.

The small capital which the family had brought with them had been considerably increased by profitable investments in trading ventures of the lad's kinsman. A share in the business was owned by Salathiel ben Ezra, the Jew who was now being brought from the wreck in the yacht's boat. It was very unlucky; Abdul could not but think that the wreck must have been caused by an evil spell cast on the boat by the Jew; for Salathiel had never voyaged on the vessel before. The loss of the ship meant the loss of almost the whole of his family's little fortune, and Abdul feared they would be placed in the power of Salathiel, who already had some claim on them which Abdul himself did not understand. But everything happened by the will of Allah; it was written, and what is written must be.

Abdul's story was hardly finished when the Jew was hauled on board. He appeared to have quite regained his self-possession during the short pa.s.sage of the boat. He made a deep obeisance when Mr. Greatorex met him on deck.

"I pay a thousand dutiful civilities," he said in a low smooth voice.

"The honourable sir overwhelms me with kindness in saving me and my humble companion from the jaws of the monster, and my thanks are even as the sand of the sh.o.r.e. May I beg the little loan of a dry garment or two?"

"Take Mr. Salathiel below, Captain Bodgers," said Mr. Greatorex, "and see what you can do for him."