The Ocean Wireless Boys and the Lost Liner Part 29

"Don't do anything rash," implored the engineer, who knew how things stood. "The rest of the crew are with them and we'll have a general mutiny on our hands if you precipitate trouble."

The only answer was a roar of rage from the hunted man, about whom Uncle Sam was weaving a fine-meshed wireless net.

He swung down the steps from the bridge to the main deck with the agility of an ape. The captain, who also knew how matters stood, turned to the engineer and the mate.

"You fellows better get your guns," he said; "there's trouble coming now."

Suddenly the slender, graceful form of Jarrold's niece appeared on the bridge.

"Oh, what is it? What is the matter?" she implored.

"It's nothing, Miss Jarrold," began the captain, in a tone intended to pacify the half-hysterical girl. "You see--"

The sharp crack of a pistol shot cut him short. Following the shot, came a riot of savage cries and shouts.

The captain wasted no more words but, followed by his officers, all armed with revolvers, ran forward.

"That madman has spilled the fat now," he cried, as they rushed toward the forecastle. The sounds proceeding from it resembled the uproar from a den of wild beasts.

CHAPTER x.x.xVI

ADRIFT

c.u.mmings, like the rank coward that he was, had run for his cabin just behind the pilot house when the inferno broke loose. He was cowering in it with ashen cheeks when Miss Jarrold appeared in the doorway.

"Go away! Go away!" screamed Ralph, in an agony of fright. "The crew has mutinied. They'll kill us all. Oh, dear!"

"You coward!" said the girl, with flashing eyes, drawing her figure up to its full height. "Have you got a pistol?"

"Yes, there's one in the drawer there," stuttered Ralph.

With cool, firm hands, the girl took out the weapon.

"What are you going to do?" mewed Ralph fearfully.

"Help my uncle. You know what danger is on his track. Those men must go back to the furnaces."

"Oh, we'll all be killed," repeated Ralph tremulously; "or, if we're not killed, we'll be caught by a war ship. The air is full of messages about us. Scout cruisers from Vera Cruz, and war craft from other places are closing in all around us."

The girl bit her lip and turned a trifle pale.

"What are they saying?" she demanded.

"I can't tell. The messages are all in code, but I can catch the name of this yacht all the time."

The bulky figure of the captain suddenly appeared. The girl looked at him inquiringly. There was an expression on his bluff face that she could not fathom.

"Miss Jarrold, I have some unpleasant news for you," he said.

"Well, Captain, what is it?" she demanded haughtily.

The big seaman shifted from foot to foot uneasily.

"Your uncle has shot a fireman up in the forecastle," he said. "Oh, don't be alarmed; not dangerously, but the men are ugly. Your uncle, too, has confessed to me that there's a whole lot that is crooked about this cruise and I don't like it. The United States cruisers are after us, he says."

The girl bowed her head.

"So I believe. What of it? We have chartered this vessel and it is your duty to obey orders."

"I beg your pardon, Miss, that's what I was coming to. It's my duty to my owners not to get their craft in a position where it can be confiscated by the government. That is what will happen if we keep on running away. The situation amounts to this. The men have got your uncle captured and tied. They say they won't work the ship as long as he is on board unless he is made a prisoner."

The girl tapped her foot impatiently.

"Is that all the authority you have over them? Why don't you drive them to their posts?"

"Because I don't intend to, Miss. This cruise ain't regular; and I want this fellow here to send out a wireless message to the nearest battleship telling her our bearings and saying that we'll give up Mr.

Jarrold."

"And if he refuses to accept?"

"We'll have to provision a boat and turn him loose in it. It's in the regular steamer lane here and he won't suffer much inconvenience.

Somebody's bound to pick him up, and, anyhow, there are islands not far off."

The mate and the engineer appeared with Jarrold at this juncture. His hands were bound and his expression of rage was more like that of a wild beast than a man.

"I've already told Mr. Jarrold the men's terms and mine, Miss," said the captain. "Mr. Jarrold, sir, which is it to be?"

Jarrold looked like a trapped wolf. He glared at his niece and at his captors.

"You see, I can't lose my ship just because you've done something that seems to have stirred up the whole administration," said the captain diplomatically. "Personally, if you want to get away, I'd take to the boat. I can cook up a story about you and the young lady escaping one dark night, when we reach port."

Jarrold raged silently. The girl, white-lipped, erect and defiant, merely said: "Go on, please."

"You see we can't hope to get away. Every port we can touch at has a wireless plant of some sort. By this time the whole coast of the two Americas is on the lookout for us. And we can't keep on going without coal, and because of the crazy way we've been making steam, the bunkers are pretty nigh empty."

Jarrold nodded bitterly. The truth of the captain's arguments appeared to strike home on even his stubborn mind.

"You'll pledge your word to do no talking?" he said.

"Not a word, sir, and I'll answer for my officers, too."

"But the sailors?"

"Oh, they'll talk, but n.o.body believes a sailor's yarns, anyhow. I don't know what you've been doing, but it's clear that Uncle Sam wants you mighty bad. However, that's none of my business. My job is to save my ship from confiscation or being blowed up. So is it to be surrender by wireless or the boat?"