And sure enough, as the owner of the Lotus found the brigantine again in the center of his lens he saw a thin column of black smoke rising amidships; but what he did not see was Mr.Ward upon the opposite side of the Halfmoon's cabin superintending the burning by the black cook of a bundle of oily rags in an iron boiler.
"By Jove!" exclaimed Mr.Harding."This is terrible.The poor devils are panic-stricken.Look at 'em making for the boats!" and with that he dashed back to the bridge to confer with his captain.
"Yes," said that officer, "I noticed the smoke about the same time you did--funny it wasn't apparent before.I've already signaled full speed ahead, and I've instructed Mr.
Foster to have the boats in readiness to lower away if we find that they're short of boats on the brigantine.
"What I can't understand," he added after a moment's silence, "is why they didn't show any signs of excitement about that fire until we came within easy sight of them--it looks funny.""Well, we'll know in a few minutes more," returned Mr.
Harding."The chances are that the fire is just a recent addition to their predicament, whatever it may be, and that they have only just discovered it themselves.""Then it can't have gained enough headway," insisted the captain, "to cause them any such immediate terror as would be indicated by the haste with which the whole ship's crew is tumbling into those boats; but as you say, sir, we'll have their story out of them in a few minutes now, so it's idle speculating beforehand."The officers and men of the Halfmoon, in so far as those on board the Lotus could guess, had all entered the boats at last, and were pulling frantically away from their own ship toward the rapidly nearing yacht; but what they did not guess and could not know was that Mr.Divine paced nervously to and fro in his cabin, while Second Officer Theriere tended the smoking rags that Ward and Blanco had resigned to him that they might take their places in the boats.
Theriere had been greatly disgusted with the turn events had taken for he had determined upon a line of action that he felt sure would prove highly remunerative to himself.It had been nothing less than a bold resolve to call Blanco, Byrne, "Bony," and "Red" to his side the moment Simms and Ward revealed the true purpose of their ruse to those on board the Lotus, and with his henchmen take sides with the men of the yacht against his former companions.
As he had explained it to Billy Byrne the idea was to permit Mr.Harding to believe that Theriere and his companions had been duped by Skipper Simms--that they had had no idea of the work that they were to be called upon to perform until the last moment and that then they had done the only thing they could to protect the passengers and crew of the Lotus.
"And then," Theriere had concluded, "when they think we are a band of heroes, and the best friends they have on earth we'll just naturally be in a position to grab the whole lot of them, and collect ransoms on ten or fifteen instead of just one.""Bully!" exclaimed the mucker."You sure got some bean, mate."As a matter of fact Theriere had had no intention of carrying the matter as far as he had intimated to Billy except as a last resort.He had been mightily smitten by the face and fortune of Barbara Harding and had seen in the trend of events a possible opportunity of so deeply obligating her father and herself that when he paid court to her she might fall a willing victim to his wiles.In this case he would be obliged to risk nothing, and could make away with his accomplices by explaining to Mr.Harding that he had been compelled to concoct this other scheme to obtain their assistance against Simms and Ward; then they could throw the three into irons and all would be lovely; but now that fool Ward had upset the whole thing by hitting upon this asinine fire hoax as an excuse for boarding the Lotus in force, and had further dampened Theriere's pet scheme by suggesting to Skipper Simms the danger of Theriere being recognized as they were boarding the Lotus and bringing suspicion upon them all immediately.
They all knew that a pleasure yacht like the Lotus was well supplied with small arms, and that at the first intimation of danger there would be plenty of men aboard to repel assault, and, in all probability, with entire success.
That there were excellent grounds for Theriere's belief that he could win Barbara Harding's hand with such a flying start as his daring plan would have assured him may not be questioned, for the man was cultivated, polished and, in a sinister way, good-looking.The title that he had borne upon the occasion of his visit to the yacht, was, all unknown to his accomplices, his by right of birth, so that there was nothing other than a long-dead scandal in the French Navy that might have proved a bar to an affiance such as he dreamed of.And now to be thwarted at the last moment! It was unendurable.
That pig of a Ward had sealed his own death warrant, of that Theriere was convinced.
The boats were now quite close to the yacht, which had slowed down almost to a dead stop.In answer to the query of the Lotus' captain Skipper Simms was explaining their trouble.
"I'm Captain Jones," he shouted, "of the brigantine Clarinda, Frisco to Yokohama with dynamite.We disabled our rudder yesterday, an' this afternoon fire started in the hold.
It's makin' headway fast now, an'll reach the dynamite most any time.You'd better take us aboard, an' get away from here as quick as you can.'Tain't safe nowhere within five hun'erd fathom of her.""You'd better make haste, Captain, hadn't you?" suggested Mr.Harding.
"I don't like the looks of things, sir," replied that officer.
"She ain't flyin' any dynamite flag, an' if she was an' had a hold full there wouldn't be any particular danger to us, an'
anyone that has ever shipped dynamite would know it, or ought to.It's not fire that detonates dynamite, it's concussion.
