Under The Star Spangled Banner Part 24

Hal darted to the ladder, and, thrusting his head through the opening above, hung there listening.

"There are men coming along the quay," he said. "What can they want?

This is the only boat moored over in this direction."

They looked into each other's faces in the dim light given by the fire, and each noticed that the other had turned deathly pale.

"They must be coming here," gasped Gerald.

"Then we must disappoint them," answered Hal. "Quick! throw off the for'ard mooring, Gerald. No, not that way; you will get at it sooner by hopping ash.o.r.e. Then do the same aft, and jump on board. Quick! hop, I say; for we have very little time to lose."

He turned at once to the furnace, and commenced to shovel coal into it at a rapid pace, keeping his eye all the time fixed on the pressure gauge.

"One hundred and fifteen pounds," he said. "Good! That will help us finely. Now we'll get the bearings warmed."

He turned the steam c.o.c.k slightly, and sent a cloud of hot vapor rushing into the cylinders.

"Below there! she's loose. I've cast off the moorings," whispered Gerald at this moment, thrusting his head down into the stoke-hole.

"Then give her a good push off, and go to the wheel," answered Hal.

Gently, and without a sound, save the low drone of the fire, and the roar of flames rushing through the funnel, the launch left the quay, and, propelled by a thrust of Gerald's foot, glided some yards into the harbor. She was away only just in time, for, a minute or two later, some twenty soldiers marched up, and voices were heard.

"Halt, men, and see that you keep in your places," someone was heard to exclaim, in far from pleasant tones. "Now, senor, what is it? These beggarly Americans seem to have disturbed the whole town. First, my comrade is so upset by a blow in the face that I have to take his duty; and then you must needs turn me out at this uncomfortable hour to follow some wild-goose chase. Why could you not use your own ruffians?"

"Grumbling will not mend matters," was the suave answer, in a voice which Hal and his comrade recognized as Jose d'Arousta's. "These two Americans escaped from a fool of a jailer, and are still about. We have reason to believe that they are in the harbor, for their boots were found not an hour ago, beneath the Morro Castle. I received orders to call you and your men, and to instruct you to come here, so that you might get on board the launch. Caramba, but it is dark! It is like the bottom of a pit. Where can the boat be?"

"Alongside, you said, senor," the other answered sourly. "Where is it, then?"

Footsteps were heard on the paving as Jose d'Arousta and some of the soldiers hunted along the quay. Meanwhile the launch lay off at a distance of a few yards, her pa.s.sengers crouching in the stoke-hole, and hoping to remain undiscovered.

"Look, Senor Capitan, there is the boat!" one of the men suddenly cried, "I can see flames and smoke coming from the funnel."

"What? The furnaces in full blast!" Jose shouted. "The fires were banked for the night, and no one was aboard her."

"Perhaps the engineer in charge has got here before us," the officer remarked. "Why not hail him?"

"Hi! Aboard there! Put in alongside the quay," Jose promptly sang out.

The only answer was a shower of sparks from the funnel, and the splash and noise of churning water, for Gerald had been listening to all that pa.s.sed, and had rapidly interpreted to Hal.

"Sing out that you are coming," said the latter, "and then steer her for the harbor mouth. I'll give her steam."

He turned to the throttle and opened it wide, at the same time allowing the steam-blast to come into action.

"She's moving now," he cried. "Keep her well away, Gerald, and dodge the searchlight, whatever you do."

[Ill.u.s.tration: HAL AND HIS COMPANION ESCAPE FROM SANTIAGO.]

"Hi there! Where are you going? Where are you steering to?" a voice cried from the quay; and then, as the launch sped on into the harbor basin, Jose d'Arousta was heard calling to the soldiers to open fire.

"Ah, treachery!" he shouted. "Something is wrong; for see, she is running away. I have it; those rascally spies are aboard. Let your men open fire at once, senor."

A single rifle cracked immediately, no doubt fired in order to give the alarm, and almost instantly the searchlight went through the same strange antics as before. Finally it settled on the harbor, and, sweeping slowly across it, lit full upon the launch. In a minute there was a roll of musketry, and a shower of bullets hurtled about her, some piercing her woodwork as if it had been merely paper, but none, fortunately, hitting Hal or Gerald, or any part of the machinery. A minute later they had run into the shadow cast by a long line of shipping, behind which the light failed to reach them. Hal at once thrust his head up through the opening, and then cut off steam.

"They'll expect us to pop out at the other end," he said quietly, "but we'll disappoint them by going about and cutting back by way of the quay. Ready? Then shove the wheel over. There's enough row going on all round to drown any we may make."

And this was the case, for the gyrations of the searchlight and the rattle of musketry had effectually awakened the shipping world. The crews of vessels lying in the harbor came tumbling up on deck, while many of the ships rang their bells, as though a general attack by the enemy in force were imminent. A few who had news of the runaways put off in their boats, and pulled into the open water, their hands shouting loudly for information as to the whereabouts of the escaping prisoners.

"Just keep these ships in line with the searchlight," said Hal, a few moments later, thrusting his head up again. "That will give us a dark patch in which to run, and will carry us almost as far as the exit.

That's it. Steady so. I'm going to pile the coal till she's fit to burst."

He dived below again, and, seizing the shovel which had already proved so useful, threw the fuel into the open door of the furnace. By now the dial showed a greater head of steam, but he was not yet satisfied, and kept at the work, even going to the length of tossing an open can of oil into the flames.

As for Gerald, with eyes shifting from right to left, and returning ever and anon to the searchlight, he gripped the wheel and steered the launch in a dead line ahead. Once, a boat suddenly sprang out of the dense darkness directly in front, and he caught sight of the water flashing faintly at the tips of the oars. But he would not alter his course, and went rushing on, only missing the other craft by a foot or two, and leaving it behind in a trice, rocking so violently that it was a wonder that it did not fill and sink at once.

"Where are they? What is all this bother about?" someone cried.

Gerald did not trouble to answer. He kept grimly on till a flash of the broad beam overhead showed him that he was approaching the edge of the harbor. Then, hesitating how to act, he looked down at Hal as if to ask his advice, and saw him stripped to the waist, and standing in the glare of the furnace, into which he was throwing coal as if life itself depended on his exertions--as, indeed, it did.

Round spun the wheel, and the launch swayed to the left, rolling heavily as she did so.

"This is my job," murmured Gerald, unconsciously repeating the words Hal had used when giving him the post of steersman. "I'll see the show through. Now for the channel that leads to the sea."

"Will the searchlight fall upon it just as we enter? Yes--no--perhaps it will not. Ah! it must. It is all up with us!"

The thoughts flashed through his mind, one moment high hope surging through his heart, and the next some movement of the electric beam shattering all thoughts of escape. The light fluttered onto the thin band of water leading out between the steep cliffs to the sea, to safety and friends, and then whisked back to the harbor, flying across every foot of its surface that it was possible to reach, and searching every nook and corner.

Round spun the wheel again.

"In the channel, and now bang straight ahead," murmured Gerald. "If the Dons who man the castle batteries do not spot us we shall be lucky. But how can they fail, when flames like that are pouring from the funnel?

They're bound to let fly at us."

He cast an upward glance at the smoke-stack, and longed to be able to smother the flaring streak which poured from it into the night, lighting up the surroundings like a torch. Luck, however, seemed to have followed the runaways, for if anyone noticed them, he made no sign, not thinking that this tiny vessel, rushing so boldly out to sea, could contain any but friends. Perhaps, even, he may have thought it was the officer who had been told off to conduct the search; though then it was strange that he should feed his fires till the funnel was on the point of melting, while the escape steam whistled through the valve with a deafening noise.

Fortunate indeed was it for the fugitives that another part attracted the attention of the Spaniards. From Morro Castle, and from all the defenses, the eyes of the garrison were fixed upon the searchlight.

Breathless with excitement, and too occupied to utter as much as a sound, they followed the revolving beam, till at last it fell full upon a launch steaming across the harbor. No doubt it contained Jose d'Arousta and his men; but the watchers were ignorant of that, and set up a shout of exultation that awoke the echoes. They rushed to their guns and rifles, and would have opened fire had not the workers of the light known more than they, and flashed it elsewhere in search of the escaping prisoners. And all the while Hal and Gerald were speeding, with their most eager efforts, along the narrow track that led to the sea.

"Another half-mile and we shall be away," screamed the latter, looking down at his friend. But the escaping steam smothered his voice, and only the click and sc.r.a.pe of the busy shovel answered him.

Bang! A huge column of water blew up into the night some hundred paces behind, sending a heavy swell rolling along, which caught the launch and caused it to bob sharply.

"A mine!" shouted Hal, who had heard the roar. "I should say that it is about their last. Keep her over to one side, for those infernal machines are usually laid in the center, so as to catch the large ships. A miss is as good as a mile, old boy!"

"We're out now," shouted Gerald, taking a hasty look round, and noticing that the reflection of the flames upon the wet rock on either side had just vanished. "Now where away?"

"Bang straight for the deep blue sea, old chap, and the farther out the better. If we could put a hundred miles between us and the Dons within the next few minutes I should feel all the happier."

To steer directly out was, indeed, the best course they could follow, and neither of the lads relaxed his energies till the tiny launch had plowed a way ten miles out to sea. All was in their favor, for the night, though intensely dark, was beautifully calm, and the surface of the water undisturbed by even a ripple. An hour later, when they had obtained a good offing, Hal left the door of the furnace wide open, and stopped the engines.