The Rover Boys in Southern Waters: or, The Deserted Steam Yacht

CHAPTER XIX
THE STORM ON THE GULF

"Boys, we are going to have a corker of a storm if ever there was one."

"I believe you, Dick. My, how the black clouds are rolling up!"

"And just when we were doing so nicely too."

The three Rover boys had come to the deck in a bunch, directly after the bath and a hearty meal.

It was Dick who had noticed the black clouds rolling up so suddenly and had called the attention of the others.

"How kvick der veader can change," sighed Hans. "Ven ve vos in schwimming I dink it vos lofely for a veek, ain't it!"

The boys had a good fire under the boiler and had tested the engine, to find it now in good working order. From one of the new joints the steam bubbled the least bit, but not sufficiently to do any harm or cause alarm. Dick had tried the wheel, to find it in the best of order. It thrilled him to take hold of the spokes and make the steam yacht answer to his will.

"I don't wonder some men wish to be pilots," he had said. "It's great to have a big steamer do just as you want her to." Then he had run the vessel around in the form of the figure 8, just to "get the knack of it," as he said.

"Shall we start for land in such a storm as this?" asked Sam. "It might drive us up on the rocks somewhere."

"We're a good way from land, Sam. Let us see what the storm will do first."

The black clouds increased rapidly, until the whole sky was overcast. Then a strong wind sprang up and the gulf was covered with whitecaps as far as the eye could reach.

"It's coming!" cried Sam, as the big raindrops began to fall. "We may as well get out of the wet."

"I think I'll run before the storm," said Dick. "We must either do that or face it. The yacht is beginning to roil."

"Yah, I feel dot!" sighed Hans, who had begun to turn pale.

"Hans, are you getting seasick?" demanded Sam.

"I ton't know, put I clink me my stomach vos going inside owid alretty!"

"You're certainly seasick," said Dick, with a grin. "Better lie down for a while."

"Oh, my!" groaned the German youth, and rushed, first to the rail of the steam yacht and then to the cabin. He was indeed sick, and that was the last the others saw of him while the storm lasted.

Soon came a whistling wind and then the rain fell in torrents. The sea was lashed into a white foam and the waves became higher and higher, crashing against the stern of the Mermaid, as she ran before them. At one moment the steam yacht would be on the top of the waves, the next she would sink down and down in the trough of the sea.

"You don't think we'll be wrecked, do you?" asked Sam, as he left his duty as fireman and came to the wheelhouse, where Dick stood, with all the windows down, trying to peer forth through the fury of the elements.

"Not at all, Sam, – but this is something fierce and no mistake."

"Poor Hans is down and out. I heard him rolling on his berth and groaning with distress."

"Well, leave him alone. He'll be sick as long as the storm lasts, most likely, and you'll only make matters worse by looking at him."

With the coming of night the storm appeared to increase. It was pitch-black on every side and Dick did not dare to run the Mermaidat more than quarter speed – just enough to keep her from swinging around broadside to the storm. All the lanterns were lit and hung up, Sam doing this with an oilsilk coat around him – a garment found in one of the staterooms. Yet he came in pretty wet.

"It's a screamer," he announced to Tom, as he dried himself by the boiler. "Never knew they could have such storms down here."

"They have storms all over the world," answered Tom. "What is Dick doing?"

"Running before the wind."

"He just told me to slow down more yet."

"Well, he can't see a thing ahead and he doesn't want to run into anything."

"And Hans?"

"Down, the sickest ever."

"Too bad! I know what it is to be sick. Better leave him alone."

"That's what Dick said."

As but little steam was needed Sam had no call to urge on his fire beneath the boiler, and he and Tom sat down near the speaking tube, to talk occasionally to Dick.

Thus two hours went by. Nobody had the least desire to go to sleep, even though the long swim had made each boy rather tired. The fury of the elements made them nervous.

"This puts me in mind of the time we were on the Pacific," called down Dick through the speaking tube. He referred to the adventures they had had as related in "The Rover Boys on Land and Sea."

"Well, we don't want to be cast away on a lonely island as we were then," said Sam.

"There are no islands around here," answered Tom. "I looked on the chart to make sure."

"In that case we can't hit anything. I am thinking – "

"Back her!" yelled Dick, through the speaking tube, and then jingled the bell.

Tom leaped for the engine and reversed it. There was a pause, and they felt the steam yacht swing half around. Then, after a wait, Dick ordered the speed ahead.

"What was wrong?" asked Tom, at the tube.

"Light right ahead," was the answer. "We cleared it by fifty feet.

But I was scared, I can tell you that."

"What kind of a light?"

"A steamer – tramp, I reckon. She's way behind now."

Sam ran on deck to get a view of the stranger, but the fury of the storm shut out the sight.

"I suppose you didn't see much of her, Dick," he said, going into the wheelhouse.

"I saw enough," was the grim response. "I thought we were going to have a smashup sure, and I reckon the other pilot thought the same."

"Did you see anybody on board?"

"Not a soul. She came up like a ghost, with only two lights showing, and by the time I had backed and turned she was gone. But it nearly gave me nervous collapse," added the amateur pilot.

The wind was now so heavy that it sent the rain against the pilot house in solid sheets. Dick could not see ahead at all and he requested Sam to go to the bow, to keep the best lookout possible.

"If you see anything wrong yell to me," he said. "And be careful that you don't tumble overboard." And then he spoke to Tom through the tube and asked the amateur engineer to play fireman also for the time being.

Wrapped in the raincoat, and with a cap pulled far down over his head, Sam took up his station near the bow, clinging to the rail for protection. He knew their safety depended in good part on keeping a sharp lookout and he eyed the darkness ahead closely. So far there had been little lightning and scarcely any thunder, but now the rumbling increased until there came a crash and a flare that made all on the Mermaid jump.

"Did that hit us?" yelled Tom up the tube.

"No, but it was pretty close," answered Dick, "Where is Sam now?"

"At the forward rail. I can see nothing from the wheelhouse."

"If it gets much worse you had better come below and let the boat run itself, Dick."

"I can't do that, Tom – I must stick to my post."

Another half-hour went by, and there was no let up in the fury of the storm. Poor Sam was almost exhausted and, tying the wheel fast for the time being, Dick went to him.

"Better come in," he said. "If you'll take the wheel I'll stay out here. Just keep her straight before the storm."

"All right," panted poor Sam, and made his way back to the wheelhouse step by step, and holding on to whatever was handy, to keep from being swept overboard.

Sam had interested himself in steering from the start and knew how to handle a wheel moderately well. He looked at the compass and saw that they were running almost due east, varying a little to the southward. He untied the wheel and kept to the course with but little trouble.

"Dick has gone on the lookout," he explained to Tom. And then he added: "You've got the best job to-night."

"I'd come up, if you could run the engine," was Tom's reply.

"No, you had better attend to that, Tom."

"Doesn't the storm seem to be letting up?"

"Not a particle. If anything it is growing worse."

"It must be a hurricane."

"It is – or next door to it," answered the youngest of the Rovers.

The thunder and lightning appeared to draw closer, until the steam yacht was literally surrounded by the electrical display. The flashes of lightning were so blinding that, for the moment afterward, neither Sam nor Dick could see anything. Sam tried to keep the windows of the pilot house fairly clean, but the effort was a dismal failure.

Presently came one awful flash and crash that caused Sam to sink back in a heap on one of the pilot-house cushions. He felt that the steam yacht must have been struck and every nerve in his body tingled and quivered. Only after a strong effort was he able to pull himself together and clutch the wheel once more.

"Dick must have felt that," he murmured. "I wish – "

Another flash of lightning, but less vivid, interrupted his meditations.

He looked out of the front window towards where Dick had been standing.

Then he gave a cry of alarm.

His big brother had disappeared!

CHAPTER XX
A NIGHT OF ANXIETY

Had the lightning struck Dick and knocked him overboard?

Such was the terrifying question which Sam asked himself as he stared out of the pilothouse window into the darkness before him. Another flash of lightning lit up the scene and he made certain that his big brother was nowhere in sight.

"Tom! Tom!" he yelled down the tube, frantically.

"What now, Sam?"

"Dick is gone – struck by lightning, I guess. Come up!"

At this alarming information Tom left the engine room at a bound and came on deck almost as soon as it can be told. He met Sam running toward the bow.

"Where was Dick?" he screamed, to make himself heard above the roaring and shrieking of the wind.

"At the forward rail, on the lookout. He was standing there just before that awful crash came, and I haven't seen him since."

No more was said by either, but holding fast to whatever came to hand, the two Rovers worked their way forward until they reached the rail where Dick had been standing. They now saw that the foretopmast had come down, hitting the rail and breaking it loose for a distance of several feet.

"The mast must have hit Dick and knocked him overboard," said Tom, with a quiver in his voice.

"Oh, Tom!" Sam could say no more, but his heart sank.

The two boys stared around helplessly, not knowing what to do. Dick was very dear to them and they could not bear to think that he was lost, and forever.

Suddenly, as another flash of lightning lit up the scene, Sam caught sight of something dark lying just a few feet away. He rushed over, to see Dick lying in a heap, his head under his forearm.

"Dick! Dick!" he cried. "Are you killed?"

There was no answer, and now both Tom and Sam knelt beside their brother and raised him up. His face was pale and the blood was flowing from a cut over the left temple.

"The topmast hit him when it came down," said Tom. "Let us carry him to the cabin."

They raised their brother up and, not without difficulty, took him to the companionway and down to the cabin. Here they placed him on the couch and Sam got some water and bathed his wounded forehead. They saw he was not dead but unconscious from the blow received.

"I must look to the engine, – I don't want the Mermaid to blow up," said Tom, and rushed off, – to get back in less than three minutes. By this time Dick was gasping and groaning, and soon he opened his eyes.

"Dick," said Sam, softly. "Don't worry, you are safe."

"Sam! Th – the mast came down on m – me!"

"We know it. We found you in a heap on the deck. I was afraid you had been knocked overboard. It was that awful flash of lightning did it, I think."

"Yes."

Dick could say little more just then and did not try. Sam and Tom made him as comfortable as possible and found he had suffered only from the fall of the topmast and not the lightning stroke itself.

"If Hans felt a little better he might look after Dick, but he is still as sick as ever," said Tom. "He declares we are all going to the bottom and he doesn't care if we do!"

"That's the way with folks who are real seasick," answered Sam. "They feel so utterly miserable they don't care what happens."

Leaving Dick on the couch in the cabin, Sam returned to the wheelhouse and Tom to the engine room. The steam yacht had been drifting and the waves were dashing over a portion of her deck. As quickly as possible Sam brought the craft around and now headed her up to the storm, which made her ride better than ever.

For some reason neither Sam nor Tom thought of the disagreeableness of the situation after that. Both were overjoyed to think that Dick had escaped serious injury. The foretopmast lay on the forward deck still, but as it was not in the way it was allowed to remain there for the time being.

Thus the whole of the night wore away, and with the coming of morning the storm gradually died down. But the waves still ran high and it was noon ere the sun came out, to cheer them up.

"I am thankful that is over," said Sam, breathing a deep sigh of relief. "I never want to go through such a night again."

"Nor I," answered Tom. "It takes all the fun out of a chap."

Dick got up, a handkerchief tied around his forehead. He still felt a trifle weak but that was all.

"I will take the wheel," he said to Sam. "If you want to do something you can get breakfast – and be sure and make plenty of hot coffee, for we need it to make us less sleepy."

As the storm went down, Hans came forth from his stateroom, pale and so woebegone that Tom had to turn away to hide a smile.

"Vos dot storm ofer alretty?" asked Hans, sinking in a chair.

"Just about," answered Dick.

"Oh, such a night, Dick! I ton't forgot him of I lif a dousand years, ain't it!"

"We shan't forget it either, Hans."

"Dick, I durn me insides owit more as fifty dimes, yes!" went on the German youth, earnestly.

"We've had our own troubles too," said the eldest Rover, and then related what had occurred. Hans was glad Dick had escaped falling overboard but was still too weak to take a great deal of interest.

The wheel was lashed fast and the engine slowed down, and all hands went to breakfast. It was by no means an elaborate meal, yet it made all but Hans feel much better. The German youth had little appetite and ate sparingly.

"Der kvicker ve git py land on der besser vill I like him," said he.

"Maybe you won't be seasick after such a dose," said Sam, hopefully.

During the night all of the Rovers had become more or less soaked and they were anxious to find a complete change of clothing, so that their own might be thoroughly dried.

"Sam, you can hunt around for some things," said Dick. "I'll go back to the wheel and you, Tom, had better go back to the engine. Hans, will you help Sam?"

"Sure I vill dot," answered the German boy.

Sam knew where there were several lockers containing both outer clothing and underwear and he proceeded to these, followed by Hans. They soon had one locker open and hauled forth what it contained.

"This underwear will about fit Dick and Tom," he said. "It's rather big for me, though."

"Vell, maype der udder closets got someding schmaller in dem," suggested Hans, and opened up a second locker.

Here they found a variety of things, including socks, shoes, collars, cuffs, and even fancy neckties.

"Whoever was on board of this steam yacht left everything behind him when he went away," was the comment of the youngest Rover.

They next opened a locker filled with outer clothing, including linen coats and panama hats. As the weather was growing warmer this just suited the boys.

"Hello, here is a pretty big suit," observed Sam, hauling it forth and holding it up. "The man who wore that must have been a pretty large fellow. Even Dick would get lost in that suit."

"Dot's so!" exclaimed Hans. "Vait, I try on dot coats. Ha! Ha! Ain't he schmall alretty!" And Hans began to roar, for the coat came to his knees and the sleeves hid his hands from sight.

"You've got to grow, Hans, before you can fill that," said Sam, laughing.

"Vell, maype I grow some day."

"You will if you eat plenty of sauerkraut and Limburger cheese," and Sam grinned broadly.

"I vos eat vot I blease, Sam Rofer!"

Hans took off the coat and in doing so turned the garment over. From out of one of the pockets there fell a flat cardcase of red morocco leather.

"Hello, you've dropped something, Hans."

"So I tit," answered the German youth, and flinging aside the coat he picked up the leather cardcase.

"Has it got any cards in it?" questioned Sam, with sudden interest.

"Dot vos vot I vos going to see. Now vait, I vill oben him," went on Hans, backing away as the youngest Rover reached out for the case.

"Well, do hurry, Hans! You are so slow!" cried Sam, impatiently.

"Vot's der use of hurrying ven you got lots of dime, hey?"

"I want to see what is in the case."

"Maype der tont been noddings in him."

"Hans, will you open it, please?"

"Yah."

"Well, then, do so."

With great deliberation the German youth opened the leather cardcase. Out of it fluttered a small card photograph. Sam picked it up, gave one look, and let out a cry of astonishment.

"Well, I never!"

CHAPTER XXI
THE PICTURE IN THE CARDCASE

"Who is it?" questioned Hans, trying to gain possession of the photograph, but instead of answering Sam started from the cabin.

"I must show this to Dick and Tom!" he cried. "Come along."

"Yah, put – " began the German boy, and then stopped, for there was nobody to talk to, Sam being already out of sight.

"Dick, look what I found," cried the youngest Rover, as he dashed into the pilot house.

"A fortune?" asked Dick, with a smile.

"No, a picture. Just look!"

Dick did as requested and gave a start.

"You found this on the yacht?" he cried. "Yes. In the pocket of a big coat hanging in one of the lockers. It was in a cardcase."

"This is certainly queer. It looks exactly like Harold Bird, doesn't it?"

"It certainly is Harold. I wonder – Oh, look!"

Sam had turned the picture over. On the back were these words, written in a strong, masculine hand:

To father, from Harold. Merry Xmas!

"Why, Harold must have given this to his father," said Dick, thoughtfully. – "And if so – "

"Do you think the coat belonged to Mr. Bird?" broke in Sam.

"Perhaps. Did you find anything else?"

"Ve titn't look," came from Hans, who stood in the doorway. "So dot vos a picture of Harold Pird, alretty! Dot vos kveer!"

"It is astonishing," said Dick. "Sam, see if you can find anything else."

Sam went back and Hans with him, and while they were gone Dick, through the speaking tube, acquainted Tom with the discovery made.

"Maybe Mr. Bird was on this steam yacht," called up Tom.

Sam and Hans went over the stuff in the lockers with care. They found some cards bearing the name of James Morrison and a short note about a meeting of a yacht club addressed to Barton Knox.

"Those men must have been on the Mermaid," said Sam. "Perhaps they were part owners. Frequently several men or a whole club own a yacht like this in common."

"Vell, she ton't vos a common poat," was Hans' comment. "She vos a peauty."

Sam was on the point of giving up the search when he saw something sticking from a crack next to the wall. He pulled the object forth and saw it was the photograph of a big, heavy-set man with rather a handsome face. He turned it over and gave a short gasp, for on the back was written in pencil:

Sharwell Lee Bird, Murderer.

"What a horrible thing to write!" murmured the youngest Rover. "It makes a fellow shiver to read it!"

"Of he killed dot man ven he vos hunting he vos sure a murderer, Sam."

"Not exactly, Hans; he didn't mean to shoot the fellow. It was accidental."

"Yah, put der mans vos teat, ain't it!"

"Yes, and the death of the poor fellow drove Mr. Bird insane. I must show this to Dick, and to Tom, too."

Sam took the second picture, and all on board the steam yacht discussed the discovery for some time. But they could reach no conclusion saving that Mr. Bird had likely been on the vessel at one time and had left his coat and the two pictures behind him.

"Perhaps he was on this vessel after he disappeared from Kingston," said Tom. "If so, the question is, Where did he go after that?"

"We must tell Harold of this, the first chance we get," said Sam.

"Providing he is alive," answered Dick. "Remember, we are not at all sure that the Mascotte outlived that crash in the fog."

The middle of the afternoon found the Mermaid steaming on her course at a good rate of speed. Tom had now become fairly familiar with the engine and he allowed the steam to run up some pounds higher than before. Hans fell to tending the fire and Sam took turns with Dick at the wheel.

"We ought to sight some kind of land by to-morrow," said the eldest Rover. "But of course there is no telling where we will fetch up, exactly."

"Somewhere on the coast of Florida, and not very many miles from Tampa Bay, I reckon," returned Sam. "By the way, Dick, don't you think the rascals on the Dogstar have had ample time in which to make their escape?"

"Perhaps so. But the storm may have crippled them, and we may overtake them even yet. A sailing vessel can't make the speed a steamer or a steam yacht can."

Twice during the afternoon they saw vessels at a distance, one a steamer and the other a bark, and both bound westward. Neither came close enough to be hailed and our friends did not think it wise to raise any signals of distress.

"The yacht is running all right now," said Dick. "We may as well take her into port and get the salvage money. The amount will be a good round sum."

"Do you know, I shouldn't mind owning a steam yacht like this myself," said Tom, to whom he was speaking. "Couldn't we take some dandy trips, off the coast of New England and elsewhere!"

"We certainly could, Tom. But you must remember that we ought to go back to school. If we don't, we'll never get through. It's about time I was thinking of college."

"I hate to think of leaving Putnam Hall, Dick. Why, the place is just like a second home to me!"

"It is to all of us. But we are growing older and must either go to college or get into business."

The sun was setting when Dick went on deck again. Hans was preparing supper and Sam was at his station in the pilot house. The waters of the gulf were growing calm and the scene was a beautiful one.

"This is something like," remarked the eldest Rover, as he drew in a deep breath of fresh air. "Doesn't look like the storm of last night, eh, Sam?"

"No, Dick, this is just splendid."

"What's that ahead?" asked the big brother, casting his eye on a dark speck directly in the track of the steam yacht.

"I don't know – I didn't see it before."

The object, whatever it was, was a long way ahead, and by the time they drew closer it was too dark to see clearly. But Dick saw enough to make him cry out in astonishment:

"A rowboat, and full of men!"

The eldest Rover was indeed right, it was a large rowboat and it contained six persons, four of whom were at the oars and the others in the stern. The rowboat contained in addition a keg of water and several small boxes and tins.

"Ship ahoy!" came hoarsely over the water, as the steam yacht drew closer to the small craft.

"Ahoy!" called back Dick, and ran forward, while Sam signaled to Tom to stop the engine.

"Can you take us on board?" was the question from a man in the rowboat.

"We've lost our ship and we are played out."

"Certainly we can take you on board," answered Dick. "Wait a minute, and I'll throw you a rope ladder."

"Thank you very much!" called back the man.

The steam yacht was brought to a standstill and the ladder thrown out. Soon the rowboat came tip to the ladder, and one after another those aboard the small craft mounted to the deck of the Mermaid. The three Rovers and Hans were at hand to see who they were.

"Dan Baxter!"

"Sack Todd!"

Such were the cries that came from Sam and Tom. Two of the new arrivals were indeed the persons named, and a third was Gasper Pold.

"Did you come from the Dogstar?" demanded Dick.

"We did," answered Dan Baxter, sullenly. Evidently he was much chagrined over this unexpected meeting.

"Have you been following us in this steam yacht?" asked Sack Todd, with a sickly grin on his hard face.

"We were certainly following you," answered Tom. "But we didn't start out in this vessel. We – "

"Tom!" said Dick, warningly, and then Tom shut up instantly.

"Who's the captain here?" demanded one of the men from the rowboat.

"I suppose I am, for the present," answered Dick.

"You!" And the man, a burly fellow, took a step back in astonishment.

"Yes. Who are you?"

"I am Sid Jeffers, first mate of the Dogstar. We sprung several bad leaks in that storm last night and made up our mind the schooner was going down. So we got out the boats and I and two men and these three chaps manned one of them. We lost sight of the ship in the dark, – and here we are. We're mighty hungry and we'd like something to eat. And if you've got any liquor on board let us have it by all means," concluded Sid Jeffers.