CHAPTER XXXI: IN A BOILING SEA.
Two days later found the Morning Star, after much struggling against baffling winds, bowling along under a favoring breeze. Uncle Toby rubbed his hands as he looked aloft at the canvas, every foot of which was smartly drawing and urging the schooner forward.
Even Mr. Terrill’s face had lost its customary sour look. He stood conversing amidships with the mate, whose name was Jarrow. Jarrow was squat and broad and had a squint in his bloodshot eyes that gave him an expression that was not prepossessing.
“I wonder what those two are talking about,� remarked Jack to Raynor, as the two lads stood on the stern deck. “Somehow I’ve got it into my head that they and part of the crew are in a plot.�
“What makes you think so?� asked Raynor, giving a glance round to see that Noddy, who was splicing a rope, was not listening. Up forward Pompey could be seen aiding the Morning Star’s cook.
“Just this, and nothing more than the fact that they are always consulting together, and I’ve noticed that Jarrow talks to the crew more than a mate should. I’ve told Noddy and Pompey to be on the lookout and see if they can find out what’s going on. I’m certain some dirty work is brewing.�
Just then Jarrow looked round and caught Jack’s eye fixed on him. He nudged Mr. Terrill, and the two moved apart. Mr. Terrill favored Jack with a malevolent scowl as he passed him.
“He certainly does love me,� laughed the boy, careless if Terrill overheard him or not.
“We ought to be off Cedar Island to-morrow, lads,� said Uncle Toby, strolling up, “on Tom Tiddler’s ground picking up gold and silver.�
“Haven’t you ever thought there might be a possibility of the stone chest being gone?� asked Jack, “that is, if it was ever there?�
His uncle looked at him as if he had uttered some terrible heresy.
“Why, of course it’s there,â€� he declared, stamping his wooden leg; “where else: would it be? Didn’t Cap’n Walters say——â€�
“Deck ahoy!� came from the lookout forward.
“Ahoy,� roared Uncle Toby, “what’s up?�
“There is a mist right ahead and what looks like the top of a mountain,� came back the reply.
“Can it be Cedar Island?� wondered Jack.
“No, it’s not Cedar Island,� declared his uncle, “we couldn’t have made a landfall of that yet. Wait a brace of shakes and I’ll see what it is.�
With extraordinary agility he clambered into the weather main shrouds, bracing himself by thrusting his wooden leg through the ratlines. Then he clapped his glasses to his eyes. A puzzled look came over his weather-beaten countenance.
“Blessed if I know what it is,� he growled. “Looks more like a fire than anything else.�
Just then the bell sounded for dinner, a summons to which the boys were never deaf. When they came on deck again after the meal, an extraordinary scene met their gaze. The schooner was going fast through moderately smooth water, but a quarter of a mile ahead the sea was covered with a milky white mist under which the waves boiled and tumbled in wild confusion. As they looked from the body of the mist, there was belched a dense cloud of black smoke.
“Port! Hard aport!� bawled Cap’n Toby, and he himself sprang to the wheel and aided the helmsman in carrying out the maneuver, “flatten in those head sails! Look smart, now!�
The Morning Star shot off on a new tack just in time to avoid sailing right into the midst of the bubbling, boiling water, for the breeze had dropped and her progress was slower.
“What on earth is it?� demanded Raynor of Captain Toby.
“It’s a subterranean eruption!� shouted the captain. “I’ve heard of such in these parts. Sir John Franklin saw ’em. Look! Look yonder!�
A cable’s length off, a great black patch of what glistened like mud, rose out of the sea. It bubbled and blistered like baking dough. Thick columns of smoke rose all round it, and jets of steam shot from holes in its surface.
The breeze suddenly veered. A fierce gust, laden with steam and smoke, swept down on the Morning Star.
The sailors shouted with alarm. Mr. Terrill turned the color of parchment.
“Is-there-is—er-that is, are we in danger?â€� he stammered.
“Dunno yet,� snapped Uncle Toby, “consarn that thar wind, it’s coming frum every which way at once. Reg’lar Irishman’s hurricane.�
A fearful stench, sulphurous and choking, enveloped them with the cloud of noxious vapors. They coughed and choked as if they were being suffocated.
“Oh-oh, this is terrible,� wheezed Mr. Terrill, “oh, dear! oh, dear, are we all going to die? Ugh! ugh! I wish I’d never come on this trip.�
“Don’t talk so much and waste your breath, and you’ll feel better,� advised Jack.
Even in his misery and fright, Terrill shot the boy a malevolent look, but he said nothing.
A rushing, roaring sound was heard, as the Morning Star suddenly rushed forward once more as the breeze chopped round, mercifully blowing the suffocating fumes the other way. But the spray that flew over her bows was boiling hot. The men forward were forced to retreat aft.
For one terrible instant it looked as if the little craft must be driven into the midst of the inferno of smoke and steam and stench before she could be put on another tack, but in the next moment a cheer broke from all hands as she shot forward, and left the strange disturbance behind her.
“Phew! I couldn’t have stood much more of that,� said Jack. “Are such things common in the northern seas, Uncle Toby?�
“No, lad, they’re not. But once in a while a whaling master will report encountering one. They’re some of the queer things that them as goes down to the sea in ships, as the good book says, gets a chance to see. There, look!�
He pointed behind them. The boys followed the direction of his gaze. They saw the boiling mass of mud subside as suddenly as it had come, making great swells that came chasing after the Morning Star, making her plunge and dance on their crests.
The next morning the boys were up betimes. The crew were all on the alert too, for a bonus of ten dollars had been offered to the first man who should sight Cedar Island. Suddenly, from forward, from a man perched high in the crosstrees, came a shout.
“Land ho!�
“Where away?� bawled Uncle Toby.
“To the northwest, sir. It’s an island. There’s something sticking up on it, sir.�
Captain Toby swarmed into the rigging, using his wooden leg as if it were a good one. He held his glasses to his eyes for a spell, and then turned with an excited look on his storm-beaten face.
“Cedar Island!� he shouted, and all along the decks the cry was taken up.
The boys gave a loud cheer. The excitement of the treasure hunt, although Jack believed it was a wild goose chase, had entered into their blood. Just at this moment, while his eyes were riveted on the tiny, almost invisible blob of land to the northwest, something made Jack turn. He saw Mr. Terrill saying something in a quick, low tone to Jarrow, the mate. The boy’s quick ears caught a part of what was said, and it confirmed his worst suspicions.
“Don’t forget our plan, Jarrow. How does the crew stand?�
“Oh, I’ve fixed them O.K.,� was the rejoinder, and then the voices sunk so low that the lad could hear no more.