From that time on, Carl and the rest of the passengers were wise in staying within the confines of the passenger deck. The crew was literally drunk at all times. How they managed to do their work was a mystery to Carl.
The slow tedious passage to New York was quite uneventful after the uprising had been taken care of, with the exception of the storm they encountered the fifth day out. Early that morning a gale sprang up, increasing in velocity until, by noon, it was a roaring hurricane. The “Resolute” was slowed down to almost a standstill, her engines running just enough to keep her head on to the wind. During the storm, which lasted over fifteen hours, the decks were continually swept with great waves, which tore away rafts and boat, broke ports twenty feet above the water line and flooded the staterooms. One of the passengers ventured out on deck during the storm and was picked up with a broken leg, having been thrown heavily against the cabin walls by a great mass of water.
The crew sobered up considerably during the storm, while the three men in irons were willing to promise anything if they were released.
Some seventeen days later, Carl was told that they were nearing New York. Long before reaching port, however, wireless messages were sent out to the effect that the ship had developed some slight boiler troubles, at the same time giving her location, but adding that no assistance was needed. Knowing that there was nothing wrong below decks, Carl figured that this was but a code message intended for the bootleggers, who were awaiting the arrival of the vessel.
When the ship was about ten miles from New York, Captain Billings gave the command to cast anchor. At nine o’clock sharp that evening, a red rocket was sent up. Within half an hour, an auxiliary schooner, the “Viking,” commanded by a former Customs guard, was lying alongside the “Resolute.” Under the direction of the Captain and the watchful eyes of the gunmen the crew was immediately set to discharging the treasure of liquor.
This work kept the men busy the entire night. Early the next morning two fast motorboats came up and drew alongside the steamer. The men boarded the “Resolute” and with the aid of the latter’s crew a large number of cases of whisky were put on board the motorboats, which then sped away.
Hardly had they departed with their treasure, however, when one of the motorboats was stopped by a large powerboat. This took place near enough to the “Resolute” to enable Carl to read its name—“Buzzard.” The crew of this latter boat was heavily armed, and resistance being useless, the cases were transferred from the smaller boat to the “Buzzard,” which Carl now recognized as one of the much spoken of pirate outfits gotten up to terrorize other rum-running vessels. The commander of this vessel no doubt had an understanding with Captain Billings so that the latter’s employers, the New York bootlegging gang, would be cheated out of the liquor as well as the price the rum-runners had paid for it.
The other motorboat, as well as the schooner “Viking” got away, but the “Resolute” was picked up by a Government dry navy patrol boat. This patrol had been on the lookout for a fleet of five English rum-laden vessels, some twenty miles out at sea off Fire Island. These English ships were supposed to be the mother ships of the rum-runners. The patrols had been given orders to board and capture the English vessels at high sea in order to test out a custom house ruling to the effect that the Federal authorities had the right to seize and search beyond the three mile limit.
A comparatively small quantity of liquor was found on board, but a list was found of the foremost New York hotel managers, evidently bootleg customers. The vessel and cargo, as well as some three hundred thousand dollars in gold, found in an iron chest was seized by the authorities and taken to New York, where the officers and crew were confined to jail. At the court hearing the next morning, the Captain explained, “I delivered the liquor on the high seas and not within the jurisdiction of the United States Government. The liquor still on the ship is bound for Bermuda and not for your country. I was at the wheel and when the prohibition boat came along I took it for a pirate ship. Even when I heard the voice through the megaphone, ‘Heave to, we are Revenue men,’ I thought they were pirates and at first I intended ramming their ship. On second thought I demanded that they turn their searchlight on their flag and crew. When this was done I could see that they were indeed Revenue men and I was glad to have them come aboard a British boat outside the three mile limit.”
The judge questioned Billings as to how he had come into possession of so large an amount of gold and was informed that it was customary for rum-running captains to demand gold, because of the large amount of counterfeit money the bootleggers had succeeded in passing in payment of the liquors.