Chapter 19

A CAPRICIOUS EARTHQUAKE

The fight was still raging fiercely when blackness fell upon us once more, and for the first time I became panic-stricken. The sky had not been clear all day, but we had managed to see until now, ever since the fight began, but with a black pall hanging all around us and thousands of enemies marking us for death the outlook was absolutely terrifying. The Faytans had not been afraid of the dark before, and if now they had the temerity to continue the attack we could not hope to resist them long.

My fears were soon justified. I heard Joe cry: “Look out, Sam!” and felt rather than saw a big warrior standing before me. The moaning sound that preceded a quake sang in my ears as I struck out furiously with my cutlass, and then the ship reared her stem and pitched us all in a struggling mass down the incline of the deck to the bow.

I struck against a naked body and two hands grasped my throat and effectually stopped my breath until I got a pistol out and shot my assailant dead. At least he relaxed his hold and slid away from me—and I slid too, rolling and bumping against obstacles of every sort till my bones cracked. And now through the pitch darkness everything seemed to go—ship and all—and a sheet of water struck me and made me gasp.

The Seagull was level now, but rolled from side to side while big waves dashed over her and rushed out of the scuppers in a perpetual stream. I heard a faint cheer from the forecastle; but now the elements were in a wild turmoil and I was too utterly bewildered to think.

The wind had instantly risen to a gale; the waves beat upon us in fury, and through the darkness the Seagull floundered here and there in an aimless way that was puzzling and perilous.

While I clung to a bit of rigging and tried to get my breath I realized but one thing clearly—that the ship was afloat again. An earthquake more severe than any that had previously occurred had split the two rocks asunder and allowed her to slide into the sea. But where were we now? And where were the Faytans?

It takes a good deal to phase Captain Steele. Even while I stood marveling my father had grasped the wheel, and, as our rudder and screw had been fully repaired the aimless pitching of the ship was rectified as soon as her head was brought to the wind and she faced the waves. Then suddenly the sky brightened sufficiently for us to see one another again.

In the bow stood huddled a group of nearly a dozen Faytan warriors, while our men were scattered here and there clinging to whatever support they could find. I found that Joe wasn’t a dozen yards away from me. The Seagull was floating serenely on a rather turbulent sea and the coast of Faytan was a quarter of a mile on our lee.

We stared at the warriors a moment, and they stared at us. Then with one accord we all made an advance toward the savages, determined to settle the fight the first thing we did. They did not wait for us, but leaped the rail into the sea and began swimming toward their island.

“Let ’em go!” shouted my father. “And some of you get busy and toss those bodies overboard. Where’s the firemen? Step lively, lads, and get up steam as soon as the Lord’ll let you.”

The men gave a cheer and responded with alacrity. We stripped all the pearl ornaments from the dead natives that cluttered the deck, and afterward threw the bodies overboard. During this operation I came upon Señor de Jiminez seated in the scupper with his back to the bulwark and sobbing like a baby.

“Is anything wrong, sir?” I asked anxiously.

“No—no! Everything is right,” he answered. “We are saved—the revolution is saved! Hurrah for the revolution!”

Joy affects some people that way, but I have no patience with men who cry.

We got up steam presently, but found the Seagull was leaking like a sieve. It took all the power of our engines to keep the pumps going; so my father ordered sail hoisted, and as the wind had moderated to a stiff breeze we were soon bowling along with the mainsail and jib set. The mizzenmast had gone by the board at the time of the wreck.

My father’s face wore an anxious expression and he called Uncle Naboth and me into the cabin for a consultation.

“We can keep afloat this way for a time—perhaps for days, if the leaks don’t get worse,” he said; “but it’s foolish to take such chances. There are islands near by, I’m sure. Shall we stop at the first one we sight?”

“H-m. It might prove to be another Faytan,” said my uncle, doubtfully. “I’ve had enough fighting to last me for a while.”

“Wait a moment,” said I. “I want to get Bry.”

“What for?” demanded my father.

“He’s the only one aboard who knows these seas,” I replied.

Bryonia came to the cabin and being questioned declared that he knew the way to his own island of Tuamotu from here, but could not tell how to get from there back to our regular course.

“I know, though,” said Captain Steele, “for Tuamotu is marked on my chart. It seems a French ship stopped there once, and did some trading with the natives, so I’ve got it pretty fairly located.”

“But what sort of a reception will your people give us, Bry?” I asked.

He smiled.

“I am Chief of Tuamotu,” he answered proudly. “I am equal to a king. My friends will be welcome.”

“All right,” said my father. “Take the wheel, Bry, and steer us towards Tuamotu.”

Bry became navigator then, and although he knew nothing of the science he possessed an instinct that guided him correctly. Having once been over the course from Tuamotu to Faytan he had the points firmly fixed in his mind, and as the distance was only about a hundred miles and the breeze held finely, on the second day we sighted a big island which both Bry and Nux declared to be Tuamotu.

Meantime a semblance of order had been restored to the ship. From being in the depths of despair our passengers were now elated with hope. They paid little heed to the fact that water was pouring into our hold as fast as the engines could pump it out, for having escaped the more tangible dangers of Faytan they believed our luck had changed and all would now be well with us.

Our men realized the situation and wore grave looks. But Lucia pounded the piano and sang her Spanish songs; Señor de Jiminez resumed his writing of the speech to be delivered before the Colombian Congress, and Madam de Alcantara dressed herself in her most gorgeous robes and declared she had enjoyed her recent adventure except for a sad attack of “nerves.”

Joe and I made a list of the pearls we had secured at Faytan, including those rifled from the dead bodies of our enemies. They made so large a collection and were of such extraordinary size and color that we knew they would sell for an immense sum in America. All of our men were to participate in the “prize money,” for all had helped to earn it.

Joe, however, was richer in pearls than all the rest of us. When left by Lucia at the Pearl City he had easily made his way unobserved to the temple and crept through the window into our old room. Here he remained quietly secreted for a time, but the silence throughout the great building was so profound that he ventured to explore some of the passages that were unknown to him. One of them led him to the inner shrine of the temple, where an ugly image of the Pearl God was installed. At the feet of this deity had been placed the most splendid pearls found by the Faytans for many generations past, and Joe calmly filled the folds of his loin cloth as full as they would hold of the choicest gems.

At that moment he was discovered by an attendant, who raised a hue and cry just as the king was returning from the bay at the head of his people, all heartily disgusted by my escape. Joe managed to leap from the window and speed away before the Faytans fully recovered from their astonishment, and then began the race which I had ended by taking Joe aboard the airship.

Next to Joe’s splendid pearls, the value of which would make any man rich, however greedy he might be, my own string of gems, presented me by Attero, was of prime importance. Tiffany has since valued them at forty thousand dollars, but I will not part with them. I liked Attero and have always regretted that Joe had to kill him.