“I have no hopes of it,” replied Walter. “We’ll take an observation to-morrow if the sun comes out, and hold straight for Havana. Call those fellows up from the cabin, and after we’ve made everything secure, go below and turn in for the night. There’s a good fire in the galley.”
The crew were quickly summoned to the deck, and in the face of blinding rain and sleet, proceeded to carry out the orders which Walter shouted at them through his trumpet. In twenty minutes more Chase and his drenched companions were enjoying the genial warmth of the galley stove, and the Banner, relieved of the strain upon her, and guided by the hands of her skilful young captain, who stood at the wheel, was riding the waves as gracefully as a sea-gull.
At eight o’clock the boys below, warmed and dried, and refreshed by the pot of hot coffee which the thoughtful Perk had left for them, were sleeping soundly, while Eugene steered the vessel, and Walter and Perk acted as lookouts. But there were other wakeful and active ones on board the Banner, besides Walter and his two companions—some, who, alarmed by the rolling and pitching of the little vessel, and knowing that she was manned only by boys, were making desperate efforts to reach the deck. Had any one been standing in the galley ten minutes after the watch below went into the cabin to sleep, his eyes and ears would have convinced him of this fact. He would have heard a sound like the cutting of wood, and a few seconds afterward he would have seen the point of an auger come up through the floor of the galley, in close proximity to the staple which confined the hatch leading into the hold. Presently he would have seen the auger disappear and come into view again in another place. Then it would have been clear to him that some one in the hold was cutting out the staple by boring holes in a circle around it. Such a proceeding was in reality going on on board the yacht, although the fact was unknown to her crew. Walter had come into the cabin every half hour during his watch to see that everything was safe—looking at the stove, and turning the coats and trowsers that hung before it, so that his companions might have dry clothing to put on when they awoke; but he never thought of casting his eyes toward the hatch.
The auger was kept steadily at work, and presently the plank into which the staple was driven, was cut entirely through, the staple with the circular piece of wood attached was pushed up, the hatch slowly and cautiously raised, and a pair of eyes appeared above the combings and looked through the open door into the cabin. They roved from one to the other of the sleeping boys, and then the hatch was laid carefully back upon the floor of the galley, and a man dressed in the uniform of the revenue service sprang out. Another and another followed, until four of them appeared—all stalwart men, and armed with hatchets, chisels and billets of wood. They halted a moment to hold a whispered consultation, and then, with quick and noiseless footsteps, passed into the cabin. Two of them stopped beside the locker on which Chase and his unconscious companions lay, and the others jerked open the door of the cabin and sprang out into the standing room. Paying no attention to Eugene, who was struck dumb and motionless with astonishment, they glanced about the deck, and discovering Walter and Perk standing on the forecastle, they rushed at them with uplifted weapons.
“Don’t move, my lad,” said one of the sailors, seizing Perk by the collar, and flourishing a heavy chisel over his head. “If you do, I’ll send you straight to Davy’s locker.”
“Now, just listen to me a minute, and I’ll tell you what’s a fact,” replied Perk. “Don’t trouble yourself to send me there or anywhere else. I am not likely to make much resistance as long as you keep that weapon over me.”
Walter was equally cool and collected. Although he was taken completely by surprise by the suddenness of the attack, he had no difficulty in finding an explanation for it. As quick as a flash, some words he had heard a few hours before, came back to him. He remembered that, when he told the captain of the cutter that there were two deserters on board the yacht, the latter had remarked to his lieutenant: “Only two! Then the others must have escaped to the shore.” These were the “others” to whom the captain referred. They had not shown themselves, or even made their presence known during the fight in the galley, and their two companions, whom Walter had delivered up to the revenue commander, had not betrayed them. The young captain wished now, when it was too late, that he had searched the hold while the cutter was alongside.
“Easy! easy!” said Walter, when his stalwart assailant seized him by the throat, and brandished his hatchet before his eyes.
“Who commands this craft?” demanded the sailor.