Sam Steele's Adventures on Land and Sea

Chapter XVI

Perhaps it was only natural that I should become the hero of the miners when the camp was at last reached and the men learned the strange story of our recovery of the gold. Nux and Bry also came in for a good share of praise, which they well deserved, and it seemed as if the adventure had established a permanent good feeling between the gold seekers and our crew of the “Flipper.” There was no more suspicion on either side, and when the Major made a new division of the recovered gold he generously insisted that I should receive even more than I had been robbed of, for my share. Whatever the Major’s faults might be, he was certainly liberal in his dealings with others, and Uncle Naboth was greatly pleased with the profitable result of an adventure that had at first threatened to ruin the fortunes of the firm of Perkins & Steele.

No one mourned very much over the death of the men who had stolen the gold; on the contrary, there was a feeling of general relief that the four desperadoes were unable to cause any more trouble. Therefore the camp resumed its former routine, and the miners set to work with renewed vigor to wash out the golden grains from the rich sands of the inlet.

It was about this time that the grave and reserved Captain Gay proved himself to be a genius, and by an act of real cleverness that crowned his name with glory materially shortened the stay of our entire community on the island.

The Captain had worked side by side with the common sailors, for the Major showed no favoritism, and insisted that every able–bodied man should perform his share of the work. Even Uncle Naboth had from the first day of our capture toiled from morning till night; but he accepted his tasks with rare good nature, and frequently confided to me, in his droll way, that his enforced labor had added ten years to his life.

“I was gettin’ altogether too chunked and fat,” he said one evening, “and likely enough I’d ’a’ been troubled sooner or later with apoplexy or dropsical. But now I’ve lost twenty or thirty pounds weight, an’ feel as lively as a cricket in a hornet’s nest. Work’s a good thing, Sam. I’m glad the Major made me do it. Probably he’s saved my life by his cussedness.”

Captain Gay had been working at the upper end of the inlet near to the place where a slender mountain stream fell from a precipice above and mingled its fresh water with that of the inlet. This stream fell upon a rocky bottom, but in course of years it had worn a bowl–shaped hollow in the rock, which could be distinctly observed through the transparent water.

“There ought to be a lot of gold in that hollow,” Ned Britton had remarked to the Captain one day. “I’ve an idea all the gold we find in the sands of the inlet has been brought here by the mountain streams.”

“I’ve been thinking that, myself,” answered the Captain; but it was a week later that he climbed the rock and followed the bent of the stream for nearly a mile, marking carefully the lay of the land.

The next morning he went to the Major with his plan, which was nothing less than a proposal to turn the stream from its bed, several hundred yards above, and let it follow a new course and reach the inlet a hundred feet distant from its present fall.

The Major stared thoughtfully at the Captain for a time, and then followed him up the stream and made a careful examination of the territory. The result was an order for all the seamen of the “Flipper” to place themselves at the disposal of Captain Gay and obey his orders.

In three days they had built a dam of rocks and brushwood nearly across the stream, and pried away the banks in another place to allow the water to escape by the new channel.

The fourth day the opening was closed in the dam, and the stream plunged away on its new course, leaving its former bed practically dry.

Immediately the men ran down to the inlet, where the Major himself waded to the hollow caused by the previous fall of water and dipped a pan of sand from the cavity. Upon examination it proved richer in gold than any of us had anticipated, the sands containing many small nuggets which, being heavier than the grains of metal, had been accumulating for many years in the basin.

All hands were set to work in this locality, and inspired by the rich harvest that rewarded their toil, they labored early and late, until the bags of dust and nuggets had become so numerous that even the Major was filled with amazement.

But this was not all that was gained by turning the mountain stream from its bed. In several hollows up above Captain Gay discovered rich deposits of small nuggets that were secured with ease, and two weeks later the Major called a meeting of all the members of the party on the sands before his tent.

“Boys,” said he, “we’ve got enough to make every one of us rich for life. What’s the use of staying here longer? I’m getting homesick, for one, and a good many of you are longing to get back to the States and begin spending your piles. What do you say—shall we board the ship and go home?”

“Yes!” they yelled, without a dissenting voice.

“Then,” said the Major, “tomorrow we’ll divide the spoils, so that every man has his honest share; and then we’ll pay our passage money to Mr. Perkins and sail away home.”

The division was accomplished with very little dissatisfaction or friction, for the worst elements in our assorted company had been removed, and the Major was absolutely just in his decisions. One or two, to be sure, grumbled that the provisions from the “Flipper” had been purchased at too high a price, or that too much of the gold was set aside to pay for the passage back to San Francisco; but not one objected when the Major set aside three heavy bags of gold to reward Captain Gay for his clever feat in turning the mountain stream.

When Uncle Naboth and I, in the seclusion of my hut, had figured out our share of the profits, the old man was hugely delighted.

“My partner!” he exclaimed, slapping his thigh with enthusiasm, “it’s paid us better than three trips to Alaska! We’ve nearly made our fortunes, Sam, my boy, and if we get safe home again we can thank the Major for making us his prisoners.”

It did not take our party long to transfer all their possessions to the decks of the “Flipper,” where the ship’s carpenter and part of the crew had been sent beforehand to clear up the rigging, ship a new rudder, and make some repairs that had been rendered necessary by the storm that had driven us to this strange island.

To my own inexperienced eyes the damage had been so great that it seemed as if the sailors would require weeks in which to make the vessel fit to put to sea again; so that I was astonished, when I went aboard, to note how quickly the task had been accomplished. Indeed, the “Flipper” seemed as trim and staunch as when she last sailed out of the Golden Gate, and doubtless she was fully able to bear us all safely home again.

All our party having been put aboard, together with their property, Captain Gay ordered the anchors hoisted, and at eleven o’clock on the morning of September 16th, the “Flipper” headed out to sea before a fair breeze.

The quarters aft had been given up to the miners, most of whom were obliged to swing hammocks in the cabin. The mate offered his little room to the Major and bunked with the sailors in the forecastle; but Captain Gay and Mr. Perkins retained their own rooms, and so did I, in order to watch over the firm’s gold, which was stowed carefully away in my lockers. You may be sure I was glad to get back to my books and my comfortable bed again, and overjoyed to find myself on the way to a more civilized land.

As the ship stood out to sea, the Major, who had been pacing the deck with a thoughtful brow, noticed Captain Gay taking his bearings with the aid of the sextant, while I stood by observing him. At once the big man’s countenance cleared, and he strode over to us and anxiously watched the Captain while the latter made notes of his observations. Several of the miners likewise seemed interested, but it was evident they did not understand in the least what the Captain was doing.

No sooner, however, had Captain Gay returned to his cabin, where at his request I followed him, than the Major knocked for admittance, and being invited to enter he cautiously closed the door after him and said:

“You’ve relieved me of a great worry, Captain. I was afraid we’d never be able to find this island again. But the sextant gives you the latitude and longitude, doesn’t it?”

Captain Gay nodded, and looked thoughtfully out of his little window at the fast receding island.

“That island’s mine,” continued the Major, in a stern voice; “and I shall claim it until some one else proves a better right to the place.”

Still the Captain made no reply.

The Major stared at him as though he had just discovered the man.

“Does any one else aboard know how to use those instruments?” he finally asked.

“No one,” answered the Captain, briefly.

“Then the secret is safe with us,” resumed the Major. “I’ll just trouble you, my good fellow, to give me the exact latitude and longitude of the island. I’ll mark them down in my note–book.”

“Come to me tomorrow noon,” said Captain Gay.

“Why tomorrow noon?” with a sudden frown.

“Can’t you understand? Don’t you know it requires hours to figure out so complicated a problem?”

“Oh, does it?”

A nod.

“Well, I’ll come in tomorrow. But understand, not a word of the true reckoning to a soul on board. Not even to Perkins or the boy here, who has no business to be listening to this conversation, and had better forget it. The island is mine!”

Captain Gay sat silent; merely drumming with his fingers on the little table before him. The Major gave him another curious look and stalked away, whistling softly to himself, as if something had occurred to puzzle him. Indeed, the Captain’s face was so set and stern that it made me uncomfortable, and I soon left him and returned to my own room.

The “Flipper” made good time during the afternoon, and before darkness fell those on board saw the island where they had labored so hard and endured so much, gradually sink into the sea and disappear.

The breeze held all through the night, and daybreak found the sturdy ship plowing steadily onward over the waste of gray waters. The sailors had fallen into their usual routine and performed their labors with mechanical precision, while the miners lay around the deck and watched them with the interest landsmen usually show when on a sailing ship.

At the stroke of twelve I saw the Major promptly approach the Captain’s room, where I knew the seaman was busily engaged in writing.

Wishing to learn the result of this second interview I crept forward and without hesitation established myself beside the door, which the red–beard had carelessly left ajar. I even ventured to peer curiously through the opening; but neither of the men observed my intrusion.

The Major for a moment stood staring with the same wondering gaze he had bestowed on Captain Gay the day before; but suddenly his face brightened and he said:

“By Jupiter! I’ve struck it at last!”

“Struck what?” asked the Captain, looking up.

“The resemblance that bothered me. You’re the living image of that man Daggett, who caused us that trouble on the island. It’s a wonder I never noticed it before.”

The Captain flushed, but said nothing.

“No relation, I hope?” queried the Major, grinning.

“To Daggett?”

“Yes; the scoundrel who stole our gold.”

Captain Gay had resumed his writing, but said, lightly, as if the matter was too preposterous to be treated seriously:

“Is it likely, sir?”

But already the Major’s mind had turned to a more important subject.

“I’ve come for that little memorandum, sir.”

“What memorandum?” asked the Captain, quietly.

“The location of the island.”

“Oh; I can’t give it to you,” said the other. “When you left this room yesterday the draft from the open door caught the paper I had made my figures on, and carried it out of the window. So the record is lost.”

“Leave this room, sir!”

“Lost!” The Major stared at him in amazement.

“Absolutely lost, sir.”

“Do you mean to tell me you don’t know where that island is?” demanded the Major, fiercely.

“I haven’t the slightest idea of its location. During the night the helmsman altered our course several times, steering by the stars. I think we’re going in the right direction, but I can tell better when I’ve taken our observations for today. Unfortunately, however, that won’t help us to locate the island.”

The Major sat down heavily on a chest. The information he had received fairly dazed him, but his gaze remained firmly fixed on the Captain’s expressionless face.

After a time he gave a laugh, and said:

“I told you yesterday that island was mine. I’ll take that back. It’s yours and mine. You’ll share it with me, Captain Gay, I’m sure.”

“It is still yours, Major, as far as I’m concerned. If I knew its location, I would tell you willingly. But I don’t. You’ll have to find your property yourself.”

The Major sprang up with an oath.

“You infernal scoundrel!” he cried, “do you think I’ll be played with like this? Give me the location of that island, or by the nine great gods, I’ll kill you where you sit!”

“Leave this room, sir.”

The Captain was angry too, by this time. He stood erect and pointed with dignity to the doorway, from which I dodged with alacrity.

“I command this ship, sir,” he said, “and here my will is law. I’ll endure no browbeating, Major, or any insolence from you or any of my passengers. On the island I obeyed you. Here you will obey me, or I’ll lock you fast in your cabin. Leave this room!”

The Major stood irresolute a moment. Then sullenly and slowly, he quit the cabin and returned to the deck.

Even to my wondering but immature intellect it was evident that Captain Gay had won the battle.