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| 10 | Project Gutenberg's Etext of Tales of the Fish Patrol, by London
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| 11 | #8 in our series by Jack London
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| 46 | Tales of the Fish Patrol
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| 47 | </para>
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| 48 |
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| 49 | <para>
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| 50 | by Jack London
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| 54 | May, 1997 [Etext #911]
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| 350 | *END*THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END*
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| 351 | </para>
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| 352 |
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| 353 |
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| 354 |
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| 355 | <para>
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| 356 | Tales of the Fish Patrol by Jack London
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| 357 | Scanned and proofed by David Price
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| 358 | [email protected]
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| 359 | </para>
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| 360 | </gutblurb>
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| 361 |
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| 362 | <markupblurb>
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| 363 | Original markup by Frank Boumphrey. 2/4/2000
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| 364 | Validated against gutbook1.dtd using MSXML parser
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| 365 | </markupblurb>
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| 366 |
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| 367 |
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| 368 | <book>
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| 369 | <acknowledge>A production of Project Gutenberg and the HTML Writers Guild. E-text by David Price. Markup by Frank Boumphrey</acknowledge>
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| 370 | <frontmatter>
|
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| 371 | <titlepage>
|
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| 372 | <title>
|
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| 373 | Tales of the Fish Patrol
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| 374 | </title>
|
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| 375 | <author>Jack London</author>
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| 376 | </titlepage>
|
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| 377 | </frontmatter>
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| 378 |
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| 379 | <bookbody>
|
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| 380 | <chapter>
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| 381 | <title>
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| 382 | WHITE AND YELLOW</title>
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| 383 |
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| 384 |
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| 385 | <para>
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| 386 | San Francisco Bay is so large that often its storms are more
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| 387 | disastrous to ocean-going craft than is the ocean itself in its
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| 388 | violent moments. The waters of the bay contain all manner of fish,
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| 389 | wherefore its surface is ploughed by the keels of all manner of
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| 390 | fishing boats manned by all manner of fishermen. To protect the
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| 391 | fish from this motley floating population many wise laws have been
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| 392 | passed, and there is a fish patrol to see that these laws are
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| 393 | enforced. Exciting times are the lot of the fish patrol: in its
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| 394 | history more than one dead patrolman has marked defeat, and more
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| 395 | often dead fishermen across their illegal nets have marked success.
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| 396 | </para>
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| 397 |
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| 398 | <para>
|
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| 399 | Wildest among the fisher-folk may be accounted the Chinese shrimp-
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| 400 | catchers. It is the habit of the shrimp to crawl along the bottom
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| 401 | in vast armies till it reaches fresh water, when it turns about and
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| 402 | crawls back again to the salt. And where the tide ebbs and flows,
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| 403 | the Chinese sink great bag-nets to the bottom, with gaping mouths,
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| 404 | into which the shrimp crawls and from which it is transferred to
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| 405 | the boiling-pot. This in itself would not be bad, were it not for
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| 406 | the small mesh of the nets, so small that the tiniest fishes,
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| 407 | little new-hatched things not a quarter of an inch long, cannot
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| 408 | pass through. The beautiful beaches of Points Pedro and Pablo,
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| 409 | where are the shrimp-catchers' villages, are made fearful by the
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| 410 | stench from myriads of decaying fish, and against this wasteful
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| 411 | destruction it has ever been the duty of the fish patrol to act.
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| 412 | </para>
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| 413 |
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| 414 | <para>
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| 415 | When I was a youngster of sixteen, a good sloop-sailor and all-
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| 416 | round bay-waterman, my sloop, the Reindeer, was chartered by the
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| 417 | Fish Commission, and I became for the time being a deputy
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| 418 | patrolman. After a deal of work among the Greek fishermen of the
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| 419 | Upper Bay and rivers, where knives flashed at the beginning of
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| 420 | trouble and men permitted themselves to be made prisoners only
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| 421 | after a revolver was thrust in their faces, we hailed with delight
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| 422 | an expedition to the Lower Bay against the Chinese shrimp-catchers.
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| 423 | </para>
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| 424 |
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| 425 | <para>
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| 426 | There were six of us, in two boats, and to avoid suspicion we ran
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| 427 | down after dark and dropped anchor under a projecting bluff of land
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| 428 | known as Point Pinole. As the east paled with the first light of
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| 429 | dawn we got under way again, and hauled close on the land breeze as
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| 430 | we slanted across the bay toward Point Pedro. The morning mists
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| 431 | curled and clung to the water so that we could see nothing, but we
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| 432 | busied ourselves driving the chill from our bodies with hot coffee.
|
---|
| 433 | Also we had to devote ourselves to the miserable task of bailing,
|
---|
| 434 | for in some incomprehensible way the Reindeer had sprung a generous
|
---|
| 435 | leak. Half the night had been spent in overhauling the ballast and
|
---|
| 436 | exploring the seams, but the labor had been without avail. The
|
---|
| 437 | water still poured in, and perforce we doubled up in the cockpit
|
---|
| 438 | and tossed it out again.
|
---|
| 439 | </para>
|
---|
| 440 |
|
---|
| 441 | <para>
|
---|
| 442 | After coffee, three of the men withdrew to the other boat, a
|
---|
| 443 | Columbia River salmon boat, leaving three of us in the Reindeer.
|
---|
| 444 | Then the two craft proceeded in company till the sun showed over
|
---|
| 445 | the eastern sky-line. Its fiery rays dispelled the clinging
|
---|
| 446 | vapors, and there, before our eyes, like a picture, lay the shrimp
|
---|
| 447 | fleet, spread out in a great half-moon, the tips of the crescent
|
---|
| 448 | fully three miles apart, and each junk moored fast to the buoy of a
|
---|
| 449 | shrimp-net. But there was no stir, no sign of life.
|
---|
| 450 | </para>
|
---|
| 451 |
|
---|
| 452 | <para>
|
---|
| 453 | The situation dawned upon us. While waiting for slack water, in
|
---|
| 454 | which to lift their heavy nets from the bed of the bay, the Chinese
|
---|
| 455 | had all gone to sleep below. We were elated, and our plan of
|
---|
| 456 | battle was swiftly formed.
|
---|
| 457 | </para>
|
---|
| 458 |
|
---|
| 459 | <para>
|
---|
| 460 | "Throw each of your two men on to a junk," whispered Le Grant to me
|
---|
| 461 | from the salmon boat. "And you make fast to a third yourself.
|
---|
| 462 | We'll do the same, and there's no reason in the world why we
|
---|
| 463 | shouldn't capture six junks at the least."
|
---|
| 464 | </para>
|
---|
| 465 |
|
---|
| 466 | <para>
|
---|
| 467 | Then we separated. I put the Reindeer about on the other tack, ran
|
---|
| 468 | up under the lee of a junk, shivered the mainsail into the wind and
|
---|
| 469 | lost headway, and forged past the stern of the junk so slowly and
|
---|
| 470 | so near that one of the patrolmen stepped lightly aboard. Then I
|
---|
| 471 | kept off, filled the mainsail, and bore away for a second junk.
|
---|
| 472 | </para>
|
---|
| 473 |
|
---|
| 474 | <para>
|
---|
| 475 | Up to this time there had been no noise, but from the first junk
|
---|
| 476 | captured by the salmon boat an uproar now broke forth. There was
|
---|
| 477 | shrill Oriental yelling, a pistol shot, and more yelling.
|
---|
| 478 | </para>
|
---|
| 479 |
|
---|
| 480 | <para>
|
---|
| 481 | "It's all up. They're warning the others," said George, the
|
---|
| 482 | remaining patrolman, as he stood beside me in the cockpit.
|
---|
| 483 | </para>
|
---|
| 484 |
|
---|
| 485 | <para>
|
---|
| 486 | By this time we were in the thick of the fleet, and the alarm was
|
---|
| 487 | spreading with incredible swiftness. The decks were beginning to
|
---|
| 488 | swarm with half-awakened and half-naked Chinese. Cries and yells
|
---|
| 489 | of warning and anger were flying over the quiet water, and
|
---|
| 490 | somewhere a conch shell was being blown with great success. To the
|
---|
| 491 | right of us I saw the captain of a junk chop away his mooring line
|
---|
| 492 | with an axe and spring to help his crew at the hoisting of the
|
---|
| 493 | huge, outlandish lug-sail. But to the left the first heads were
|
---|
| 494 | popping up from below on another junk, and I rounded up the
|
---|
| 495 | Reindeer alongside long enough for George to spring aboard.
|
---|
| 496 | </para>
|
---|
| 497 |
|
---|
| 498 | <para>
|
---|
| 499 | The whole fleet was now under way. In addition to the sails they
|
---|
| 500 | had gotten out long sweeps, and the bay was being ploughed in every
|
---|
| 501 | direction by the fleeing junks. I was now alone in the Reindeer,
|
---|
| 502 | seeking feverishly to capture a third prize. The first junk I took
|
---|
| 503 | after was a clean miss, for it trimmed its sheets and shot away
|
---|
| 504 | surprisingly into the wind. By fully half a point it outpointed
|
---|
| 505 | the Reindeer, and I began to feel respect for the clumsy craft.
|
---|
| 506 | Realizing the hopelessness of the pursuit, I filled away, threw out
|
---|
| 507 | the main-sheet, and drove down before the wind upon the junks to
|
---|
| 508 | leeward, where I had them at a disadvantage.
|
---|
| 509 | </para>
|
---|
| 510 |
|
---|
| 511 | <para>
|
---|
| 512 | The one I had selected wavered indecisively before me, and, as I
|
---|
| 513 | swung wide to make the boarding gentle, filled suddenly and darted
|
---|
| 514 | away, the smart Mongols shouting a wild rhythm as they bent to the
|
---|
| 515 | sweeps. But I had been ready for this. I luffed suddenly.
|
---|
| 516 | Putting the tiller hard down, and holding it down with my body, I
|
---|
| 517 | brought the main-sheet in, hand over hand, on the run, so as to
|
---|
| 518 | retain all possible striking force. The two starboard sweeps of
|
---|
| 519 | the junk were crumpled up, and then the two boats came together
|
---|
| 520 | with a crash. The Reindeer's bowsprit, like a monstrous hand,
|
---|
| 521 | reached over and ripped out the junk's chunky mast and towering
|
---|
| 522 | sail.
|
---|
| 523 | </para>
|
---|
| 524 |
|
---|
| 525 | <para>
|
---|
| 526 | This was met by a curdling yell of rage. A big Chinaman,
|
---|
| 527 | remarkably evil-looking, with his head swathed in a yellow silk
|
---|
| 528 | handkerchief and face badly pock-marked, planted a pike-pole on the
|
---|
| 529 | Reindeer's bow and began to shove the entangled boats apart.
|
---|
| 530 | Pausing long enough to let go the jib halyards, and just as the
|
---|
| 531 | Reindeer cleared and began to drift astern, I leaped aboard the
|
---|
| 532 | junk with a line and made fast. He of the yellow handkerchief and
|
---|
| 533 | pock-marked face came toward me threateningly, but I put my hand
|
---|
| 534 | into my hip pocket, and he hesitated. I was unarmed, but the
|
---|
| 535 | Chinese have learned to be fastidiously careful of American hip
|
---|
| 536 | pockets, and it was upon this that I depended to keep him and his
|
---|
| 537 | savage crew at a distance.
|
---|
| 538 | </para>
|
---|
| 539 |
|
---|
| 540 | <para>
|
---|
| 541 | I ordered him to drop the anchor at the junk's bow, to which he
|
---|
| 542 | replied, "No sabbe." The crew responded in like fashion, and
|
---|
| 543 | though I made my meaning plain by signs, they refused to
|
---|
| 544 | understand. Realizing the inexpediency of discussing the matter, I
|
---|
| 545 | went forward myself, overran the line, and let the anchor go.
|
---|
| 546 | </para>
|
---|
| 547 |
|
---|
| 548 | <para>
|
---|
| 549 | "Now get aboard, four of you," I said in a loud voice, indicating
|
---|
| 550 | with my fingers that four of them were to go with me and the fifth
|
---|
| 551 | was to remain by the junk. The Yellow Handkerchief hesitated; but
|
---|
| 552 | I repeated the order fiercely (much more fiercely than I felt), at
|
---|
| 553 | the same time sending my hand to my hip. Again the Yellow
|
---|
| 554 | Handkerchief was overawed, and with surly looks he led three of his
|
---|
| 555 | men aboard the Reindeer. I cast off at once, and, leaving the jib
|
---|
| 556 | down, steered a course for George's junk. Here it was easier, for
|
---|
| 557 | there were two of us, and George had a pistol to fall back on if it
|
---|
| 558 | came to the worst. And here, as with my junk, four Chinese were
|
---|
| 559 | transferred to the sloop and one left behind to take care of
|
---|
| 560 | things.
|
---|
| 561 | </para>
|
---|
| 562 |
|
---|
| 563 | <para>
|
---|
| 564 | Four more were added to our passenger list from the third junk. By
|
---|
| 565 | this time the salmon boat had collected its twelve prisoners and
|
---|
| 566 | came alongside, badly overloaded. To make matters worse, as it was
|
---|
| 567 | a small boat, the patrolmen were so jammed in with their prisoners
|
---|
| 568 | that they would have little chance in case of trouble.
|
---|
| 569 | </para>
|
---|
| 570 |
|
---|
| 571 | <para>
|
---|
| 572 | "You'll have to help us out," said Le Grant.
|
---|
| 573 | </para>
|
---|
| 574 |
|
---|
| 575 | <para>
|
---|
| 576 | I looked over my prisoners, who had crowded into the cabin and on
|
---|
| 577 | top of it. "I can take three," I answered.
|
---|
| 578 | </para>
|
---|
| 579 |
|
---|
| 580 | <para>
|
---|
| 581 | "Make it four," he suggested, "and I'll take Bill with me." (Bill
|
---|
| 582 | was the third patrolman.) "We haven't elbow room here, and in case
|
---|
| 583 | of a scuffle one white to every two of them will be just about the
|
---|
| 584 | right proportion."
|
---|
| 585 | </para>
|
---|
| 586 |
|
---|
| 587 | <para>
|
---|
| 588 | The exchange was made, and the salmon boat got up its spritsail and
|
---|
| 589 | headed down the bay toward the marshes off San Rafael. I ran up
|
---|
| 590 | the jib and followed with the Reindeer. San Rafael, where we were
|
---|
| 591 | to turn our catch over to the authorities, communicated with the
|
---|
| 592 | bay by way of a long and tortuous slough, or marshland creek, which
|
---|
| 593 | could be navigated only when the tide was in. Slack water had
|
---|
| 594 | come, and, as the ebb was commencing, there was need for hurry if
|
---|
| 595 | we cared to escape waiting half a day for the next tide.
|
---|
| 596 | </para>
|
---|
| 597 |
|
---|
| 598 | <para>
|
---|
| 599 | But the land breeze had begun to die away with the rising sun, and
|
---|
| 600 | now came only in failing puffs. The salmon boat got out its oars
|
---|
| 601 | and soon left us far astern. Some of the Chinese stood in the
|
---|
| 602 | forward part of the cockpit, near the cabin doors, and once, as I
|
---|
| 603 | leaned over the cockpit rail to flatten down the jib-sheet a bit, I
|
---|
| 604 | felt some one brush against my hip pocket. I made no sign, but out
|
---|
| 605 | of the corner of my eye I saw that the Yellow Handkerchief had
|
---|
| 606 | discovered the emptiness of the pocket which had hitherto overawed
|
---|
| 607 | him.
|
---|
| 608 | </para>
|
---|
| 609 |
|
---|
| 610 | <para>
|
---|
| 611 | To make matters serious, during all the excitement of boarding the
|
---|
| 612 | junks the Reindeer had not been bailed, and the water was beginning
|
---|
| 613 | to slush over the cockpit floor. The shrimp-catchers pointed at it
|
---|
| 614 | and looked to me questioningly.
|
---|
| 615 | </para>
|
---|
| 616 |
|
---|
| 617 | <para>
|
---|
| 618 | "Yes," I said. "Bime by, allee same dlown, velly quick, you no
|
---|
| 619 | bail now. Sabbe?"
|
---|
| 620 | </para>
|
---|
| 621 |
|
---|
| 622 | <para>
|
---|
| 623 | No, they did not "sabbe," or at least they shook their heads to
|
---|
| 624 | that effect, though they chattered most comprehendingly to one
|
---|
| 625 | another in their own lingo. I pulled up three or four of the
|
---|
| 626 | bottom boards, got a couple of buckets from a locker, and by
|
---|
| 627 | unmistakable sign-language invited them to fall to. But they
|
---|
| 628 | laughed, and some crowded into the cabin and some climbed up on
|
---|
| 629 | top.
|
---|
| 630 | </para>
|
---|
| 631 |
|
---|
| 632 | <para>
|
---|
| 633 | Their laughter was not good laughter. There was a hint of menace
|
---|
| 634 | in it, a maliciousness which their black looks verified. The
|
---|
| 635 | Yellow Handkerchief, since his discovery of my empty pocket, had
|
---|
| 636 | become most insolent in his bearing, and he wormed about among the
|
---|
| 637 | other prisoners, talking to them with great earnestness.
|
---|
| 638 | </para>
|
---|
| 639 |
|
---|
| 640 | <para>
|
---|
| 641 | Swallowing my chagrin, I stepped down into the cockpit and began
|
---|
| 642 | throwing out the water. But hardly had I begun, when the boom
|
---|
| 643 | swung overhead, the mainsail filled with a jerk, and the Reindeer
|
---|
| 644 | heeled over. The day wind was springing up. George was the
|
---|
| 645 | veriest of landlubbers, so I was forced to give over bailing and
|
---|
| 646 | take the tiller. The wind was blowing directly off Point Pedro and
|
---|
| 647 | the high mountains behind, and because of this was squally and
|
---|
| 648 | uncertain, half the time bellying the canvas out and the other half
|
---|
| 649 | flapping it idly.
|
---|
| 650 | </para>
|
---|
| 651 |
|
---|
| 652 | <para>
|
---|
| 653 | George was about the most all-round helpless man I had ever met.
|
---|
| 654 | Among his other disabilities, he was a consumptive, and I knew that
|
---|
| 655 | if he attempted to bail, it might bring on a hemorrhage. Yet the
|
---|
| 656 | rising water warned me that something must be done. Again I
|
---|
| 657 | ordered the shrimp-catchers to lend a hand with the buckets. They
|
---|
| 658 | laughed defiantly, and those inside the cabin, the water up to
|
---|
| 659 | their ankles, shouted back and forth with those on top.
|
---|
| 660 | </para>
|
---|
| 661 |
|
---|
| 662 | <para>
|
---|
| 663 | "You'd better get out your gun and make them bail," I said to
|
---|
| 664 | George.
|
---|
| 665 | </para>
|
---|
| 666 |
|
---|
| 667 | <para>
|
---|
| 668 | But he shook his head and showed all too plainly that he was
|
---|
| 669 | afraid. The Chinese could see the funk he was in as well as I
|
---|
| 670 | could, and their insolence became insufferable. Those in the cabin
|
---|
| 671 | broke into the food lockers, and those above scrambled down and
|
---|
| 672 | joined them in a feast on our crackers and canned goods.
|
---|
| 673 | </para>
|
---|
| 674 |
|
---|
| 675 | <para>
|
---|
| 676 | "What do we care?" George said weakly.
|
---|
| 677 | </para>
|
---|
| 678 |
|
---|
| 679 | <para>
|
---|
| 680 | I was fuming with helpless anger. "If they get out of hand, it
|
---|
| 681 | will be too late to care. The best thing you can do is to get them
|
---|
| 682 | in check right now."
|
---|
| 683 | </para>
|
---|
| 684 |
|
---|
| 685 | <para>
|
---|
| 686 | The water was rising higher and higher, and the gusts, forerunners
|
---|
| 687 | of a steady breeze, were growing stiffer and stiffer. And between
|
---|
| 688 | the gusts, the prisoners, having gotten away with a week's grub,
|
---|
| 689 | took to crowding first to one side and then to the other till the
|
---|
| 690 | Reindeer rocked like a cockle-shell. Yellow Handkerchief
|
---|
| 691 | approached me, and, pointing out his village on the Point Pedro
|
---|
| 692 | beach, gave me to understand that if I turned the Reindeer in that
|
---|
| 693 | direction and put them ashore, they, in turn, would go to bailing.
|
---|
| 694 | By now the water in the cabin was up to the bunks, and the bed-
|
---|
| 695 | clothes were sopping. It was a foot deep on the cockpit floor.
|
---|
| 696 | Nevertheless I refused, and I could see by George's face that he
|
---|
| 697 | was disappointed.
|
---|
| 698 | </para>
|
---|
| 699 |
|
---|
| 700 | <para>
|
---|
| 701 | "If you don't show some nerve, they'll rush us and throw us
|
---|
| 702 | overboard," I said to him. "Better give me your revolver, if you
|
---|
| 703 | want to be safe."
|
---|
| 704 | </para>
|
---|
| 705 |
|
---|
| 706 | <para>
|
---|
| 707 | "The safest thing to do," he chattered cravenly, "is to put them
|
---|
| 708 | ashore. I, for one, don't want to be drowned for the sake of a
|
---|
| 709 | handful of dirty Chinamen."
|
---|
| 710 | </para>
|
---|
| 711 |
|
---|
| 712 | <para>
|
---|
| 713 | "And I, for another, don't care to give in to a handful of dirty
|
---|
| 714 | Chinamen to escape drowning," I answered hotly.
|
---|
| 715 | </para>
|
---|
| 716 |
|
---|
| 717 | <para>
|
---|
| 718 | "You'll sink the Reindeer under us all at this rate," he whined.
|
---|
| 719 | "And what good that'll do I can't see."
|
---|
| 720 | </para>
|
---|
| 721 |
|
---|
| 722 | <para>
|
---|
| 723 | "Every man to his taste," I retorted.
|
---|
| 724 | </para>
|
---|
| 725 |
|
---|
| 726 | <para>
|
---|
| 727 | He made no reply, but I could see he was trembling pitifully.
|
---|
| 728 | Between the threatening Chinese and the rising water he was beside
|
---|
| 729 | himself with fright; and, more than the Chinese and the water, I
|
---|
| 730 | feared him and what his fright might impel him to do. I could see
|
---|
| 731 | him casting longing glances at the small skiff towing astern, so in
|
---|
| 732 | the next calm I hauled the skiff alongside. As I did so his eyes
|
---|
| 733 | brightened with hope; but before he could guess my intention, I
|
---|
| 734 | stove the frail bottom through with a hand-axe, and the skiff
|
---|
| 735 | filled to its gunwales.
|
---|
| 736 | </para>
|
---|
| 737 |
|
---|
| 738 | <para>
|
---|
| 739 | "It's sink or float together," I said. "And if you'll give me your
|
---|
| 740 | revolver, I'll have the Reindeer bailed out in a jiffy."
|
---|
| 741 | </para>
|
---|
| 742 |
|
---|
| 743 | <para>
|
---|
| 744 | "They're too many for us," he whimpered. "We can't fight them
|
---|
| 745 | all."
|
---|
| 746 | </para>
|
---|
| 747 |
|
---|
| 748 | <para>
|
---|
| 749 | I turned my back on him in disgust. The salmon boat had long since
|
---|
| 750 | passed from sight behind a little archipelago known as the Marin
|
---|
| 751 | Islands, so no help could be looked for from that quarter. Yellow
|
---|
| 752 | Handkerchief came up to me in a familiar manner, the water in the
|
---|
| 753 | cockpit slushing against his legs. I did not like his looks. I
|
---|
| 754 | felt that beneath the pleasant smile he was trying to put on his
|
---|
| 755 | face there was an ill purpose. I ordered him back, and so sharply
|
---|
| 756 | that he obeyed.
|
---|
| 757 | </para>
|
---|
| 758 |
|
---|
| 759 | <para>
|
---|
| 760 | "Now keep your distance," I commanded, "and don't you come closer!"
|
---|
| 761 | </para>
|
---|
| 762 |
|
---|
| 763 | <para>
|
---|
| 764 | "Wha' fo'?" he demanded indignantly. "I t'ink-um talkee talkee
|
---|
| 765 | heap good."
|
---|
| 766 | </para>
|
---|
| 767 |
|
---|
| 768 | <para>
|
---|
| 769 | "Talkee talkee," I answered bitterly, for I knew now that he had
|
---|
| 770 | understood all that passed between George and me. "What for talkee
|
---|
| 771 | talkee? You no sabbe talkee talkee."
|
---|
| 772 | </para>
|
---|
| 773 |
|
---|
| 774 | <para>
|
---|
| 775 | He grinned in a sickly fashion. "Yep, I sabbe velly much. I
|
---|
| 776 | honest Chinaman."
|
---|
| 777 | </para>
|
---|
| 778 |
|
---|
| 779 | <para>
|
---|
| 780 | "All right," I answered. "You sabbe talkee talkee, then you bail
|
---|
| 781 | water plenty plenty. After that we talkee talkee."
|
---|
| 782 | </para>
|
---|
| 783 |
|
---|
| 784 | <para>
|
---|
| 785 | He shook his head, at the same time pointing over his shoulder to
|
---|
| 786 | his comrades. "No can do. Velly bad Chinamen, heap velly bad. I
|
---|
| 787 | t'ink-um - "
|
---|
| 788 | </para>
|
---|
| 789 |
|
---|
| 790 | <para>
|
---|
| 791 | "Stand back!" I shouted, for I had noticed his hand disappear
|
---|
| 792 | beneath his blouse and his body prepare for a spring.
|
---|
| 793 | </para>
|
---|
| 794 |
|
---|
| 795 | <para>
|
---|
| 796 | Disconcerted, he went back into the cabin, to hold a council,
|
---|
| 797 | apparently, from the way the jabbering broke forth. The Reindeer
|
---|
| 798 | was very deep in the water, and her movements had grown quite
|
---|
| 799 | loggy. In a rough sea she would have inevitably swamped; but the
|
---|
| 800 | wind, when it did blow, was off the land, and scarcely a ripple
|
---|
| 801 | disturbed the surface of the bay.
|
---|
| 802 | </para>
|
---|
| 803 |
|
---|
| 804 | <para>
|
---|
| 805 | "I think you'd better head for the beach," George said abruptly, in
|
---|
| 806 | a manner that told me his fear had forced him to make up his mind
|
---|
| 807 | to some course of action.
|
---|
| 808 | </para>
|
---|
| 809 |
|
---|
| 810 | <para>
|
---|
| 811 | "I think not," I answered shortly.
|
---|
| 812 | </para>
|
---|
| 813 |
|
---|
| 814 | <para>
|
---|
| 815 | "I command you," he said in a bullying tone.
|
---|
| 816 | </para>
|
---|
| 817 |
|
---|
| 818 | <para>
|
---|
| 819 | "I was commanded to bring these prisoners into San Rafael," was my
|
---|
| 820 | reply.
|
---|
| 821 | </para>
|
---|
| 822 |
|
---|
| 823 | <para>
|
---|
| 824 | Our voices were raised, and the sound of the altercation brought
|
---|
| 825 | the Chinese out of the cabin.
|
---|
| 826 | </para>
|
---|
| 827 |
|
---|
| 828 | <para>
|
---|
| 829 | "Now will you head for the beach?"
|
---|
| 830 | </para>
|
---|
| 831 |
|
---|
| 832 | <para>
|
---|
| 833 | This from George, and I found myself looking into the muzzle of his
|
---|
| 834 | revolver - of the revolver he dared to use on me, but was too
|
---|
| 835 | cowardly to use on the prisoners.
|
---|
| 836 | </para>
|
---|
| 837 |
|
---|
| 838 | <para>
|
---|
| 839 | My brain seemed smitten with a dazzling brightness. The whole
|
---|
| 840 | situation, in all its bearings, was focussed sharply before me -
|
---|
| 841 | the shame of losing the prisoners, the worthlessness and cowardice
|
---|
| 842 | of George, the meeting with Le Grant and the other patrol men and
|
---|
| 843 | the lame explanation; and then there was the fight I had fought so
|
---|
| 844 | hard, victory wrenched from me just as I thought I had it within my
|
---|
| 845 | grasp. And out of the tail of my eye I could see the Chinese
|
---|
| 846 | crowding together by the cabin doors and leering triumphantly. It
|
---|
| 847 | would never do.
|
---|
| 848 | </para>
|
---|
| 849 |
|
---|
| 850 | <para>
|
---|
| 851 | I threw my hand up and my head down. The first act elevated the
|
---|
| 852 | muzzle, and the second removed my head from the path of the bullet
|
---|
| 853 | which went whistling past. One hand closed on George's wrist, the
|
---|
| 854 | other on the revolver. Yellow Handkerchief and his gang sprang
|
---|
| 855 | toward me. It was now or never. Putting all my strength into a
|
---|
| 856 | sudden effort, I swung George's body forward to meet them. Then I
|
---|
| 857 | pulled back with equal suddenness, ripping the revolver out of his
|
---|
| 858 | fingers and jerking him off his feet. He fell against Yellow
|
---|
| 859 | Handkerchief's knees, who stumbled over him, and the pair wallowed
|
---|
| 860 | in the bailing hole where the cockpit floor was torn open. The
|
---|
| 861 | next instant I was covering them with my revolver, and the wild
|
---|
| 862 | shrimp-catchers were cowering and cringing away.
|
---|
| 863 | </para>
|
---|
| 864 |
|
---|
| 865 | <para>
|
---|
| 866 | But I swiftly discovered that there was all the difference in the
|
---|
| 867 | world between shooting men who are attacking and men who are doing
|
---|
| 868 | nothing more than simply refusing to obey. For obey they would not
|
---|
| 869 | when I ordered them into the bailing hole. I threatened them with
|
---|
| 870 | the revolver, but they sat stolidly in the flooded cabin and on the
|
---|
| 871 | roof and would not move.
|
---|
| 872 | </para>
|
---|
| 873 |
|
---|
| 874 | <para>
|
---|
| 875 | Fifteen minutes passed, the Reindeer sinking deeper and deeper, her
|
---|
| 876 | mainsail flapping in the calm. But from off the Point Pedro shore
|
---|
| 877 | I saw a dark line form on the water and travel toward us. It was
|
---|
| 878 | the steady breeze I had been expecting so long. I called to the
|
---|
| 879 | Chinese and pointed it out. They hailed it with exclamations.
|
---|
| 880 | Then I pointed to the sail and to the water in the Reindeer, and
|
---|
| 881 | indicated by signs that when the wind reached the sail, what of the
|
---|
| 882 | water aboard we would capsize. But they jeered defiantly, for they
|
---|
| 883 | knew it was in my power to luff the helm and let go the main-sheet,
|
---|
| 884 | so as to spill the wind and escape damage.
|
---|
| 885 | </para>
|
---|
| 886 |
|
---|
| 887 | <para>
|
---|
| 888 | But my mind was made up. I hauled in the main-sheet a foot or two,
|
---|
| 889 | took a turn with it, and bracing my feet, put my back against the
|
---|
| 890 | tiller. This left me one hand for the sheet and one for the
|
---|
| 891 | revolver. The dark line drew nearer, and I could see them looking
|
---|
| 892 | from me to it and back again with an apprehension they could not
|
---|
| 893 | successfully conceal. My brain and will and endurance were pitted
|
---|
| 894 | against theirs, and the problem was which could stand the strain of
|
---|
| 895 | imminent death the longer and not give in.
|
---|
| 896 | </para>
|
---|
| 897 |
|
---|
| 898 | <para>
|
---|
| 899 | Then the wind struck us. The main-sheet tautened with a brisk
|
---|
| 900 | rattling of the blocks, the boom uplifted, the sail bellied out,
|
---|
| 901 | and the Reindeer heeled over - over, and over, till the lee-rail
|
---|
| 902 | went under, the cabin windows went under, and the bay began to pour
|
---|
| 903 | in over the cockpit rail. So violently had she heeled over, that
|
---|
| 904 | the men in the cabin had been thrown on top of one another into the
|
---|
| 905 | lee bunk, where they squirmed and twisted and were washed about,
|
---|
| 906 | those underneath being perilously near to drowning.
|
---|
| 907 | </para>
|
---|
| 908 |
|
---|
| 909 | <para>
|
---|
| 910 | The wind freshened a bit, and the Reindeer went over farther than
|
---|
| 911 | ever. For the moment I thought she was gone, and I knew that
|
---|
| 912 | another puff like that and she surely would go. While I pressed
|
---|
| 913 | her under and debated whether I should give up or not, the Chinese
|
---|
| 914 | cried for mercy. I think it was the sweetest sound I have ever
|
---|
| 915 | heard. And then, and not until then, did I luff up and ease out
|
---|
| 916 | the main-sheet. The Reindeer righted very slowly, and when she was
|
---|
| 917 | on an even keel was so much awash that I doubted if she could be
|
---|
| 918 | saved.
|
---|
| 919 | </para>
|
---|
| 920 |
|
---|
| 921 | <para>
|
---|
| 922 | But the Chinese scrambled madly into the cockpit and fell to
|
---|
| 923 | bailing with buckets, pots, pans, and everything they could lay
|
---|
| 924 | hands on. It was a beautiful sight to see that water flying over
|
---|
| 925 | the side! And when the Reindeer was high and proud on the water
|
---|
| 926 | once more, we dashed away with the breeze on our quarter, and at
|
---|
| 927 | the last possible moment crossed the mud flats and entered the
|
---|
| 928 | slough.
|
---|
| 929 | </para>
|
---|
| 930 |
|
---|
| 931 | <para>
|
---|
| 932 | The spirit of the Chinese was broken, and so docile did they become
|
---|
| 933 | that ere we made San Rafael they were out with the tow-rope, Yellow
|
---|
| 934 | Handkerchief at the head of the line. As for George, it was his
|
---|
| 935 | last trip with the fish patrol. He did not care for that sort of
|
---|
| 936 | thing, he explained, and he thought a clerkship ashore was good
|
---|
| 937 | enough for him. And we thought so too.
|
---|
| 938 | </para>
|
---|
| 939 |
|
---|
| 940 |
|
---|
| 941 | </chapter>
|
---|
| 942 |
|
---|
| 943 | <chapter>
|
---|
| 944 | <title>THE KING OF THE GREEKS</title>
|
---|
| 945 |
|
---|
| 946 |
|
---|
| 947 | <para>
|
---|
| 948 | Big Alec had never been captured by the fish patrol. It was his
|
---|
| 949 | boast that no man could take him alive, and it was his history that
|
---|
| 950 | of the many men who had tried to take him dead none had succeeded.
|
---|
| 951 | It was also history that at least two patrolmen who had tried to
|
---|
| 952 | take him dead had died themselves. Further, no man violated the
|
---|
| 953 | fish laws more systematically and deliberately than Big Alec.
|
---|
| 954 | </para>
|
---|
| 955 |
|
---|
| 956 | <para>
|
---|
| 957 | He was called "Big Alec" because of his gigantic stature. His
|
---|
| 958 | height was six feet three inches, and he was correspondingly broad-
|
---|
| 959 | shouldered and deep-chested. He was splendidly muscled and hard as
|
---|
| 960 | steel, and there were innumerable stories in circulation among the
|
---|
| 961 | fisher-folk concerning his prodigious strength. He was as bold and
|
---|
| 962 | dominant of spirit as he was strong of body, and because of this he
|
---|
| 963 | was widely known by another name, that of "The King of the Greeks."
|
---|
| 964 | The fishing population was largely composed of Greeks, and they
|
---|
| 965 | looked up to him and obeyed him as their chief. And as their
|
---|
| 966 | chief, he fought their fights for them, saw that they were
|
---|
| 967 | protected, saved them from the law when they fell into its
|
---|
| 968 | clutches, and made them stand by one another and himself in time of
|
---|
| 969 | trouble.
|
---|
| 970 | </para>
|
---|
| 971 |
|
---|
| 972 | <para>
|
---|
| 973 | In the old days, the fish patrol had attempted his capture many
|
---|
| 974 | disastrous times and had finally given it over, so that when the
|
---|
| 975 | word was out that he was coming to Benicia, I was most anxious to
|
---|
| 976 | see him. But I did not have to hunt him up. In his usual bold
|
---|
| 977 | way, the first thing he did on arriving was to hunt us up. Charley
|
---|
| 978 | Le Grant and I at the time were under a patrol-man named Carmintel,
|
---|
| 979 | and the three of us were on the Reindeer, preparing for a trip,
|
---|
| 980 | when Big Alec stepped aboard. Carmintel evidently knew him, for
|
---|
| 981 | they shook hands in recognition. Big Alec took no notice of
|
---|
| 982 | Charley or me.
|
---|
| 983 | </para>
|
---|
| 984 |
|
---|
| 985 | <para>
|
---|
| 986 | "I've come down to fish sturgeon a couple of months," he said to
|
---|
| 987 | Carmintel.
|
---|
| 988 | </para>
|
---|
| 989 |
|
---|
| 990 | <para>
|
---|
| 991 | His eyes flashed with challenge as he spoke, and we noticed the
|
---|
| 992 | patrolman's eyes drop before him.
|
---|
| 993 | </para>
|
---|
| 994 |
|
---|
| 995 | <para>
|
---|
| 996 | "That's all right, Alec," Carmintel said in a low voice. "I'll not
|
---|
| 997 | bother you. Come on into the cabin, and we'll talk things over,"
|
---|
| 998 | he added.
|
---|
| 999 | </para>
|
---|
| 1000 |
|
---|
| 1001 | <para>
|
---|
| 1002 | When they had gone inside and shut the doors after them, Charley
|
---|
| 1003 | winked with slow deliberation at me. But I was only a youngster,
|
---|
| 1004 | and new to men and the ways of some men, so I did not understand.
|
---|
| 1005 | Nor did Charley explain, though I felt there was something wrong
|
---|
| 1006 | about the business.
|
---|
| 1007 | </para>
|
---|
| 1008 |
|
---|
| 1009 | <para>
|
---|
| 1010 | Leaving them to their conference, at Charley's suggestion we
|
---|
| 1011 | boarded our skiff and pulled over to the Old Steamboat Wharf, where
|
---|
| 1012 | Big Alec's ark was lying. An ark is a house-boat of small though
|
---|
| 1013 | comfortable dimensions, and is as necessary to the Upper Bay
|
---|
| 1014 | fisherman as are nets and boats. We were both curious to see Big
|
---|
| 1015 | Alec's ark, for history said that it had been the scene of more
|
---|
| 1016 | than one pitched battle, and that it was riddled with bullet-holes.
|
---|
| 1017 | </para>
|
---|
| 1018 |
|
---|
| 1019 | <para>
|
---|
| 1020 | We found the holes (stopped with wooden plugs and painted over),
|
---|
| 1021 | but there were not so many as I had expected. Charley noted my
|
---|
| 1022 | look of disappointment, and laughed; and then to comfort me he gave
|
---|
| 1023 | an authentic account of one expedition which had descended upon Big
|
---|
| 1024 | Alec's floating home to capture him, alive preferably, dead if
|
---|
| 1025 | necessary. At the end of half a day's fighting, the patrolmen had
|
---|
| 1026 | drawn off in wrecked boats, with one of their number killed and
|
---|
| 1027 | three wounded. And when they returned next morning with
|
---|
| 1028 | reinforcements they found only the mooring-stakes of Big Alec's
|
---|
| 1029 | ark; the ark itself remained hidden for months in the fastnesses of
|
---|
| 1030 | the Suisun tules.
|
---|
| 1031 | </para>
|
---|
| 1032 |
|
---|
| 1033 | <para>
|
---|
| 1034 | "But why was he not hanged for murder?" I demanded. "Surely the
|
---|
| 1035 | United States is powerful enough to bring such a man to justice."
|
---|
| 1036 | </para>
|
---|
| 1037 |
|
---|
| 1038 | <para>
|
---|
| 1039 | "He gave himself up and stood trial," Charley answered. "It cost
|
---|
| 1040 | him fifty thousand dollars to win the case, which he did on
|
---|
| 1041 | technicalities and with the aid of the best lawyers in the state.
|
---|
| 1042 | Every Greek fisherman on the river contributed to the sum. Big
|
---|
| 1043 | Alec levied and collected the tax, for all the world like a king.
|
---|
| 1044 | The United States may be all-powerful, my lad, but the fact remains
|
---|
| 1045 | that Big Alec is a king inside the United States, with a country
|
---|
| 1046 | and subjects all his own."
|
---|
| 1047 | </para>
|
---|
| 1048 |
|
---|
| 1049 | <para>
|
---|
| 1050 | "But what are you going to do about his fishing for sturgeon? He's
|
---|
| 1051 | bound to fish with a 'Chinese line.'"
|
---|
| 1052 | </para>
|
---|
| 1053 |
|
---|
| 1054 | <para>
|
---|
| 1055 | Charley shrugged his shoulders. "We'll see what we will see," he
|
---|
| 1056 | said enigmatically.
|
---|
| 1057 | </para>
|
---|
| 1058 |
|
---|
| 1059 | <para>
|
---|
| 1060 | Now a "Chinese line" is a cunning device invented by the people
|
---|
| 1061 | whose name it bears. By a simple system of floats, weights, and
|
---|
| 1062 | anchors, thousands of hooks, each on a separate leader, are
|
---|
| 1063 | suspended at a distance of from six inches to a foot above the
|
---|
| 1064 | bottom. The remarkable thing about such a line is the hook. It is
|
---|
| 1065 | barbless, and in place of the barb, the hook is filed long and
|
---|
| 1066 | tapering to a point as sharp as that of a needle. These hoods are
|
---|
| 1067 | only a few inches apart, and when several thousand of them are
|
---|
| 1068 | suspended just above the bottom, like a fringe, for a couple of
|
---|
| 1069 | hundred fathoms, they present a formidable obstacle to the fish
|
---|
| 1070 | that travel along the bottom.
|
---|
| 1071 | </para>
|
---|
| 1072 |
|
---|
| 1073 | <para>
|
---|
| 1074 | Such a fish is the sturgeon, which goes rooting along like a pig,
|
---|
| 1075 | and indeed is often called "pig-fish." Pricked by the first hook
|
---|
| 1076 | it touches, the sturgeon gives a startled leap and comes into
|
---|
| 1077 | contact with half a dozen more hooks. Then it threshes about
|
---|
| 1078 | wildly, until it receives hook after hook in its soft flesh; and
|
---|
| 1079 | the hooks, straining from many different angles, hold the luckless
|
---|
| 1080 | fish fast until it is drowned. Because no sturgeon can pass
|
---|
| 1081 | through a Chinese line, the device is called a trap in the fish
|
---|
| 1082 | laws; and because it bids fair to exterminate the sturgeon, it is
|
---|
| 1083 | branded by the fish laws as illegal. And such a line, we were
|
---|
| 1084 | confident, Big Alec intended setting, in open and flagrant
|
---|
| 1085 | violation of the law.
|
---|
| 1086 | </para>
|
---|
| 1087 |
|
---|
| 1088 | <para>
|
---|
| 1089 | Several days passed after the visit of Big Alec, during which
|
---|
| 1090 | Charley and I kept a sharp watch on him. He towed his ark around
|
---|
| 1091 | the Solano Wharf and into the big bight at Turner's Shipyard. The
|
---|
| 1092 | bight we knew to be good ground for sturgeon, and there we felt
|
---|
| 1093 | sure the King of the Greeks intended to begin operations. The tide
|
---|
| 1094 | circled like a mill-race in and out of this bight, and made it
|
---|
| 1095 | possible to raise, lower, or set a Chinese line only at slack
|
---|
| 1096 | water. So between the tides Charley and I made it a point for one
|
---|
| 1097 | or the other of us to keep a lookout from the Solano Wharf.
|
---|
| 1098 | </para>
|
---|
| 1099 |
|
---|
| 1100 | <para>
|
---|
| 1101 | On the fourth day I was lying in the sun behind the stringer-piece
|
---|
| 1102 | of the wharf, when I saw a skiff leave the distant shore and pull
|
---|
| 1103 | out into the bight. In an instant the glasses were at my eyes and
|
---|
| 1104 | I was following every movement of the skiff. There were two men in
|
---|
| 1105 | it, and though it was a good mile away, I made out one of them to
|
---|
| 1106 | be Big Alec; and ere the skiff returned to shore I made out enough
|
---|
| 1107 | more to know that the Greek had set his line.
|
---|
| 1108 | </para>
|
---|
| 1109 |
|
---|
| 1110 | <para>
|
---|
| 1111 | "Big Alec has a Chinese line out in the bight off Turner's
|
---|
| 1112 | Shipyard," Charley Le Grant said that afternoon to Carmintel.
|
---|
| 1113 | </para>
|
---|
| 1114 |
|
---|
| 1115 | <para>
|
---|
| 1116 | A fleeting expression of annoyance passed over the patrolman's
|
---|
| 1117 | face, and then he said, "Yes?" in an absent way, and that was all.
|
---|
| 1118 | </para>
|
---|
| 1119 |
|
---|
| 1120 | <para>
|
---|
| 1121 | Charley bit his lip with suppressed anger and turned on his heel.
|
---|
| 1122 | </para>
|
---|
| 1123 |
|
---|
| 1124 | <para>
|
---|
| 1125 | "Are you game, my lad?" he said to me later on in the evening, just
|
---|
| 1126 | as we finished washing down the Reindeer's decks and were preparing
|
---|
| 1127 | to turn in.
|
---|
| 1128 | </para>
|
---|
| 1129 |
|
---|
| 1130 | <para>
|
---|
| 1131 | A lump came up in my throat, and I could only nod my head.
|
---|
| 1132 | </para>
|
---|
| 1133 |
|
---|
| 1134 | <para>
|
---|
| 1135 | "Well, then," and Charley's eyes glittered in a determined way,
|
---|
| 1136 | "we've got to capture Big Alec between us, you and I, and we've got
|
---|
| 1137 | to do it in spite of Carmintel. Will you lend a hand?"
|
---|
| 1138 | </para>
|
---|
| 1139 |
|
---|
| 1140 | <para>
|
---|
| 1141 | "It's a hard proposition, but we can do it," he added after a
|
---|
| 1142 | pause.
|
---|
| 1143 | </para>
|
---|
| 1144 |
|
---|
| 1145 | <para>
|
---|
| 1146 | "Of course we can," I supplemented enthusiastically.
|
---|
| 1147 | </para>
|
---|
| 1148 |
|
---|
| 1149 | <para>
|
---|
| 1150 | And then he said, "Of course we can," and we shook hands on it and
|
---|
| 1151 | went to bed.
|
---|
| 1152 | </para>
|
---|
| 1153 |
|
---|
| 1154 | <para>
|
---|
| 1155 | But it was no easy task we had set ourselves. In order to convict
|
---|
| 1156 | a man of illegal fishing, it was necessary to catch him in the act
|
---|
| 1157 | with all the evidence of the crime about him - the hooks, the
|
---|
| 1158 | lines, the fish, and the man himself. This meant that we must take
|
---|
| 1159 | Big Alec on the open water, where he could see us coming and
|
---|
| 1160 | prepare for us one of the warm receptions for which he was noted.
|
---|
| 1161 | </para>
|
---|
| 1162 |
|
---|
| 1163 | <para>
|
---|
| 1164 | "There's no getting around it," Charley said one morning. "If we
|
---|
| 1165 | can only get alongside it's an even toss, and there's nothing left
|
---|
| 1166 | for us but to try and get alongside. Come on, lad."
|
---|
| 1167 | </para>
|
---|
| 1168 |
|
---|
| 1169 | <para>
|
---|
| 1170 | We were in the Columbia River salmon boat, the one we had used
|
---|
| 1171 | against the Chinese shrimp-catchers. Slack water had come, and as
|
---|
| 1172 | we dropped around the end of the Solano Wharf we saw Big Alec at
|
---|
| 1173 | work, running his line and removing the fish.
|
---|
| 1174 | </para>
|
---|
| 1175 |
|
---|
| 1176 | <para>
|
---|
| 1177 | "Change places," Charley commanded, "and steer just astern of him
|
---|
| 1178 | as though you're going into the shipyard."
|
---|
| 1179 | </para>
|
---|
| 1180 |
|
---|
| 1181 | <para>
|
---|
| 1182 | I took the tiller, and Charley sat down on a thwart amidships,
|
---|
| 1183 | placing his revolver handily beside him.
|
---|
| 1184 | </para>
|
---|
| 1185 |
|
---|
| 1186 | <para>
|
---|
| 1187 | "If he begins to shoot," he cautioned, "get down in the bottom and
|
---|
| 1188 | steer from there, so that nothing more than your hand will be
|
---|
| 1189 | exposed."
|
---|
| 1190 | </para>
|
---|
| 1191 |
|
---|
| 1192 | <para>
|
---|
| 1193 | I nodded, and we kept silent after that, the boat slipping gently
|
---|
| 1194 | through the water and Big Alec growing nearer and nearer. We could
|
---|
| 1195 | see him quite plainly, gaffing the sturgeon and throwing them into
|
---|
| 1196 | the boat while his companion ran the line and cleared the hooks as
|
---|
| 1197 | he dropped them back into the water. Nevertheless, we were five
|
---|
| 1198 | hundred yards away when the big fisherman hailed us.
|
---|
| 1199 | </para>
|
---|
| 1200 |
|
---|
| 1201 | <para>
|
---|
| 1202 | "Here! You! What do you want?" he shouted.
|
---|
| 1203 | </para>
|
---|
| 1204 |
|
---|
| 1205 | <para>
|
---|
| 1206 | "Keep going," Charley whispered, "just as though you didn't hear
|
---|
| 1207 | him."
|
---|
| 1208 | </para>
|
---|
| 1209 |
|
---|
| 1210 | <para>
|
---|
| 1211 | The next few moments were very anxious ones. The fisherman was
|
---|
| 1212 | studying us sharply, while we were gliding up on him every second.
|
---|
| 1213 | </para>
|
---|
| 1214 |
|
---|
| 1215 | <para>
|
---|
| 1216 | "You keep off if you know what's good for you!" he called out
|
---|
| 1217 | suddenly, as though he had made up his mind as to who and what we
|
---|
| 1218 | were. "If you don't, I'll fix you!"
|
---|
| 1219 | </para>
|
---|
| 1220 |
|
---|
| 1221 | <para>
|
---|
| 1222 | He brought a rifle to his shoulder and trained it on me.
|
---|
| 1223 | </para>
|
---|
| 1224 |
|
---|
| 1225 | <para>
|
---|
| 1226 | "Now will you keep off?" he demanded.
|
---|
| 1227 | </para>
|
---|
| 1228 |
|
---|
| 1229 | <para>
|
---|
| 1230 | I could hear Charley groan with disappointment. "Keep off," he
|
---|
| 1231 | whispered; "it's all up for this time."
|
---|
| 1232 | </para>
|
---|
| 1233 |
|
---|
| 1234 | <para>
|
---|
| 1235 | I put up the tiller and eased the sheet, and the salmon boat ran
|
---|
| 1236 | off five or six points. Big Alec watched us till we were out of
|
---|
| 1237 | range, when he returned to his work.
|
---|
| 1238 | </para>
|
---|
| 1239 |
|
---|
| 1240 | <para>
|
---|
| 1241 | "You'd better leave Big Alec alone," Carmintel said, rather sourly,
|
---|
| 1242 | to Charley that night.
|
---|
| 1243 | </para>
|
---|
| 1244 |
|
---|
| 1245 | <para>
|
---|
| 1246 | "So he's been complaining to you, has he?" Charley said
|
---|
| 1247 | significantly.
|
---|
| 1248 | </para>
|
---|
| 1249 |
|
---|
| 1250 | <para>
|
---|
| 1251 | Carmintel flushed painfully. "You'd better leave him alone, I tell
|
---|
| 1252 | you," he repeated. "He's a dangerous man, and it won't pay to fool
|
---|
| 1253 | with him."
|
---|
| 1254 | </para>
|
---|
| 1255 |
|
---|
| 1256 | <para>
|
---|
| 1257 | "Yes," Charley answered softly; "I've heard that it pays better to
|
---|
| 1258 | leave him alone."
|
---|
| 1259 | </para>
|
---|
| 1260 |
|
---|
| 1261 | <para>
|
---|
| 1262 | This was a direct thrust at Carmintel, and we could see by the
|
---|
| 1263 | expression of his face that it sank home. For it was common
|
---|
| 1264 | knowledge that Big Alec was as willing to bribe as to fight, and
|
---|
| 1265 | that of late years more than one patrolman had handled the
|
---|
| 1266 | fisherman's money.
|
---|
| 1267 | </para>
|
---|
| 1268 |
|
---|
| 1269 | <para>
|
---|
| 1270 | "Do you mean to say - " Carmintel began, in a bullying tone.
|
---|
| 1271 | </para>
|
---|
| 1272 |
|
---|
| 1273 | <para>
|
---|
| 1274 | But Charley cut him off shortly. "I mean to say nothing," he said.
|
---|
| 1275 | "You heard what I said, and if the cap fits, why - "
|
---|
| 1276 | </para>
|
---|
| 1277 |
|
---|
| 1278 | <para>
|
---|
| 1279 | He shrugged his shoulders, and Carmintel glowered at him,
|
---|
| 1280 | speechless.
|
---|
| 1281 | </para>
|
---|
| 1282 |
|
---|
| 1283 | <para>
|
---|
| 1284 | "What we want is imagination," Charley said to me one day, when we
|
---|
| 1285 | had attempted to creep upon Big Alec in the gray of dawn and had
|
---|
| 1286 | been shot at for our trouble.
|
---|
| 1287 | </para>
|
---|
| 1288 |
|
---|
| 1289 | <para>
|
---|
| 1290 | And thereafter, and for many days, I cudgelled my brains trying to
|
---|
| 1291 | imagine some possible way by which two men, on an open stretch of
|
---|
| 1292 | water, could capture another who knew how to use a rifle and was
|
---|
| 1293 | never to be found without one. Regularly, every slack water,
|
---|
| 1294 | without slyness, boldly and openly in the broad day, Big Alec was
|
---|
| 1295 | to be seen running his line. And what made it particularly
|
---|
| 1296 | exasperating was the fact that every fisherman, from Benicia to
|
---|
| 1297 | Vallejo knew that he was successfully defying us. Carmintel also
|
---|
| 1298 | bothered us, for he kept us busy among the shad-fishers of San
|
---|
| 1299 | Pablo, so that we had little time to spare on the King of the
|
---|
| 1300 | Greeks. But Charley's wife and children lived at Benicia, and we
|
---|
| 1301 | had made the place our headquarters, so that we always returned to
|
---|
| 1302 | it.
|
---|
| 1303 | </para>
|
---|
| 1304 |
|
---|
| 1305 | <para>
|
---|
| 1306 | "I'll tell you what we can do," I said, after several fruitless
|
---|
| 1307 | weeks had passed; "we can wait some slack water till Big Alec has
|
---|
| 1308 | run his line and gone ashore with the fish, and then we can go out
|
---|
| 1309 | and capture the line. It will put him to time and expense to make
|
---|
| 1310 | another, and then we'll figure to capture that too. If we can't
|
---|
| 1311 | capture him, we can discourage him, you see."
|
---|
| 1312 | </para>
|
---|
| 1313 |
|
---|
| 1314 | <para>
|
---|
| 1315 | Charley saw, and said it wasn't a bad idea. We watched our chance,
|
---|
| 1316 | and the next low-water slack, after Big Alec had removed the fish
|
---|
| 1317 | from the line and returned ashore, we went out in the salmon boat.
|
---|
| 1318 | We had the bearings of the line from shore marks, and we knew we
|
---|
| 1319 | would have no difficulty in locating it. The first of the flood
|
---|
| 1320 | tide was setting in, when we ran below where we thought the line
|
---|
| 1321 | was stretched and dropped over a fishing-boat anchor. Keeping a
|
---|
| 1322 | short rope to the anchor, so that it barely touched the bottom, we
|
---|
| 1323 | dragged it slowly along until it stuck and the boat fetched up hard
|
---|
| 1324 | and fast.
|
---|
| 1325 | </para>
|
---|
| 1326 |
|
---|
| 1327 | <para>
|
---|
| 1328 | "We've got it," Charley cried. "Come on and lend a hand to get it
|
---|
| 1329 | in."
|
---|
| 1330 | </para>
|
---|
| 1331 |
|
---|
| 1332 | <para>
|
---|
| 1333 | Together we hove up the rope till the anchor I came in sight with
|
---|
| 1334 | the sturgeon line caught across one of the flukes. Scores of the
|
---|
| 1335 | murderous-looking hooks flashed into sight as we cleared the
|
---|
| 1336 | anchor, and we had just started to run along the line to the end
|
---|
| 1337 | where we could begin to lift it, when a sharp thud in the boat
|
---|
| 1338 | startled us. We looked about, but saw nothing and returned to our
|
---|
| 1339 | work. An instant later there was a similar sharp thud and the
|
---|
| 1340 | gunwale splintered between Charley's body and mine.
|
---|
| 1341 | </para>
|
---|
| 1342 |
|
---|
| 1343 | <para>
|
---|
| 1344 | "That's remarkably like a bullet, lad," he said reflectively. "And
|
---|
| 1345 | it's a long shot Big Alec's making."
|
---|
| 1346 | </para>
|
---|
| 1347 |
|
---|
| 1348 | <para>
|
---|
| 1349 | "And he's using smokeless powder," he concluded, after an
|
---|
| 1350 | examination of the mile-distant shore. "That's why we can't hear
|
---|
| 1351 | the report."
|
---|
| 1352 | </para>
|
---|
| 1353 |
|
---|
| 1354 | <para>
|
---|
| 1355 | I looked at the shore, but could see no sign of Big Alec, who was
|
---|
| 1356 | undoubtedly hidden in some rocky nook with us at his mercy. A
|
---|
| 1357 | third bullet struck the water, glanced, passed singing over our
|
---|
| 1358 | heads, and struck the water again beyond.
|
---|
| 1359 | </para>
|
---|
| 1360 |
|
---|
| 1361 | <para>
|
---|
| 1362 | "I guess we'd better get out of this," Charley remarked coolly.
|
---|
| 1363 | "What do you think, lad?"
|
---|
| 1364 | </para>
|
---|
| 1365 |
|
---|
| 1366 | <para>
|
---|
| 1367 | I thought so, too, and said we didn't want the line anyway.
|
---|
| 1368 | Whereupon we cast off and hoisted the spritsail. The bullets
|
---|
| 1369 | ceased at once, and we sailed away, unpleasantly confident that Big
|
---|
| 1370 | Alec was laughing at our discomfiture.
|
---|
| 1371 | </para>
|
---|
| 1372 |
|
---|
| 1373 | <para>
|
---|
| 1374 | And more than that, the next day on the fishing wharf, where we
|
---|
| 1375 | were inspecting nets, he saw fit to laugh and sneer at us, and this
|
---|
| 1376 | before all the fishermen. Charley's face went black with anger;
|
---|
| 1377 | but beyond promising Big Alec that in the end he would surely land
|
---|
| 1378 | him behind the bars, he controlled himself and said nothing. The
|
---|
| 1379 | King of the Greeks made his boast that no fish patrol had ever
|
---|
| 1380 | taken him or ever could take him, and the fishermen cheered him and
|
---|
| 1381 | said it was true. They grew excited, and it looked like trouble
|
---|
| 1382 | for a while; but Big Alec asserted his kingship and quelled them.
|
---|
| 1383 | </para>
|
---|
| 1384 |
|
---|
| 1385 | <para>
|
---|
| 1386 | Carmintel also laughed at Charley, and dropped sarcastic remarks,
|
---|
| 1387 | and made it hard for him. But Charley refused to be angered,
|
---|
| 1388 | though he told me in confidence that he intended to capture Big
|
---|
| 1389 | Alec if it took all the rest of his life to accomplish it.
|
---|
| 1390 | </para>
|
---|
| 1391 |
|
---|
| 1392 | <para>
|
---|
| 1393 | "I don't know how I'll do it," he said, "but do it I will, as sure
|
---|
| 1394 | as I am Charley Le Grant. The idea will come to me at the right
|
---|
| 1395 | and proper time, never fear."
|
---|
| 1396 | </para>
|
---|
| 1397 |
|
---|
| 1398 | <para>
|
---|
| 1399 | And at the right time it came, and most unexpectedly. Fully a
|
---|
| 1400 | month had passed, and we were constantly up and down the river, and
|
---|
| 1401 | down and up the bay, with no spare moments to devote to the
|
---|
| 1402 | particular fisherman who ran a Chinese line in the bight of
|
---|
| 1403 | Turner's Shipyard. We had called in at Selby's Smelter one
|
---|
| 1404 | afternoon, while on patrol work, when all unknown to us our
|
---|
| 1405 | opportunity happened along. It appeared in the guise of a helpless
|
---|
| 1406 | yacht loaded with seasick people, so we could hardly be expected to
|
---|
| 1407 | recognize it as the opportunity. It was a large sloop-yacht, and
|
---|
| 1408 | it was helpless inasmuch as the trade-wind was blowing half a gale
|
---|
| 1409 | and there were no capable sailors aboard.
|
---|
| 1410 | </para>
|
---|
| 1411 |
|
---|
| 1412 | <para>
|
---|
| 1413 | From the wharf at Selby's we watched with careless interest the
|
---|
| 1414 | lubberly manoeuvre performed of bringing the yacht to anchor, and
|
---|
| 1415 | the equally lubberly manoeuvre of sending the small boat ashore. A
|
---|
| 1416 | very miserable-looking man in draggled ducks, after nearly swamping
|
---|
| 1417 | the boat in the heavy seas, passed us the painter and climbed out.
|
---|
| 1418 | He staggered about as though the wharf were rolling, and told us
|
---|
| 1419 | his troubles, which were the troubles of the yacht. The only
|
---|
| 1420 | rough-weather sailor aboard, the man on whom they all depended, had
|
---|
| 1421 | been called back to San Francisco by a telegram, and they had
|
---|
| 1422 | attempted to continue the cruise alone. The high wind and big seas
|
---|
| 1423 | of San Pablo Bay had been too much for them; all hands were sick,
|
---|
| 1424 | nobody knew anything or could do anything; and so they had run in
|
---|
| 1425 | to the smelter either to desert the yacht or to get somebody to
|
---|
| 1426 | bring it to Benicia. In short, did we know of any sailors who
|
---|
| 1427 | would bring the yacht into Benicia?
|
---|
| 1428 | </para>
|
---|
| 1429 |
|
---|
| 1430 | <para>
|
---|
| 1431 | Charley looked at me. The Reindeer was lying in a snug place. We
|
---|
| 1432 | had nothing on hand in the way of patrol work till midnight. With
|
---|
| 1433 | the wind then blowing, we could sail the yacht into Benicia in a
|
---|
| 1434 | couple of hours, have several more hours ashore, and come back to
|
---|
| 1435 | the smelter on the evening train.
|
---|
| 1436 | </para>
|
---|
| 1437 |
|
---|
| 1438 | <para>
|
---|
| 1439 | "All right, captain," Charley said to the disconsolate yachtsman,
|
---|
| 1440 | who smiled in sickly fashion at the title.
|
---|
| 1441 | </para>
|
---|
| 1442 |
|
---|
| 1443 | <para>
|
---|
| 1444 | "I'm only the owner," he explained.
|
---|
| 1445 | </para>
|
---|
| 1446 |
|
---|
| 1447 | <para>
|
---|
| 1448 | We rowed him aboard in much better style than he had come ashore,
|
---|
| 1449 | and saw for ourselves the helplessness of the passengers. There
|
---|
| 1450 | were a dozen men and women, and all of them too sick even to appear
|
---|
| 1451 | grateful at our coming. The yacht was rolling savagely, broad on,
|
---|
| 1452 | and no sooner had the owner's feet touched the deck than he
|
---|
| 1453 | collapsed and joined, the others. Not one was able to bear a hand,
|
---|
| 1454 | so Charley and I between us cleared the badly tangled running gear,
|
---|
| 1455 | got up sail, and hoisted anchor.
|
---|
| 1456 | </para>
|
---|
| 1457 |
|
---|
| 1458 | <para>
|
---|
| 1459 | It was a rough trip, though a swift one. The Carquinez Straits
|
---|
| 1460 | were a welter of foam and smother, and we came through them wildly
|
---|
| 1461 | before the wind, the big mainsail alternately dipping and flinging
|
---|
| 1462 | its boom skyward as we tore along. But the people did not mind.
|
---|
| 1463 | They did not mind anything. Two or three, including the owner,
|
---|
| 1464 | sprawled in the cockpit, shuddering when the yacht lifted and raced
|
---|
| 1465 | and sank dizzily into the trough, and between-whiles regarding the
|
---|
| 1466 | shore with yearning eyes. The rest were huddled on the cabin floor
|
---|
| 1467 | among the cushions. Now and again some one groaned, but for the
|
---|
| 1468 | most part they were as limp as so many dead persons.
|
---|
| 1469 | </para>
|
---|
| 1470 |
|
---|
| 1471 | <para>
|
---|
| 1472 | As the bight at Turner's Shipyard opened out, Charley edged into it
|
---|
| 1473 | to get the smoother water. Benicia was in view, and we were
|
---|
| 1474 | bowling along over comparatively easy water, when a speck of a boat
|
---|
| 1475 | danced up ahead of us, directly in our course. It was low-water
|
---|
| 1476 | slack. Charley and I looked at each other. No word was spoken,
|
---|
| 1477 | but at once the yacht began a most astonishing performance, veering
|
---|
| 1478 | and yawing as though the greenest of amateurs was at the wheel. It
|
---|
| 1479 | was a sight for sailormen to see. To all appearances, a runaway
|
---|
| 1480 | yacht was careering madly over the bight, and now and again
|
---|
| 1481 | yielding a little bit to control in a desperate effort to make
|
---|
| 1482 | Benicia.
|
---|
| 1483 | </para>
|
---|
| 1484 |
|
---|
| 1485 | <para>
|
---|
| 1486 | The owner forgot his seasickness long enough to look anxious. The
|
---|
| 1487 | speck of a boat grew larger and larger, till we could see Big Alec
|
---|
| 1488 | and his partner, with a turn of the sturgeon line around a cleat,
|
---|
| 1489 | resting from their labor to laugh at us. Charley pulled his
|
---|
| 1490 | sou'wester over his eyes, and I followed his example, though I
|
---|
| 1491 | could not guess the idea he evidently had in mind and intended to
|
---|
| 1492 | carry into execution.
|
---|
| 1493 | </para>
|
---|
| 1494 |
|
---|
| 1495 | <para>
|
---|
| 1496 | We came foaming down abreast of the skiff, so close that we could
|
---|
| 1497 | hear above the wind the voices of Big Alec and his mate as they
|
---|
| 1498 | shouted at us with all the scorn that professional watermen feel
|
---|
| 1499 | for amateurs, especially when amateurs are making fools of
|
---|
| 1500 | themselves.
|
---|
| 1501 | </para>
|
---|
| 1502 |
|
---|
| 1503 | <para>
|
---|
| 1504 | We thundered on past the fishermen, and nothing had happened.
|
---|
| 1505 | Charley grinned at the disappointment he saw in my face, and then
|
---|
| 1506 | shouted:
|
---|
| 1507 | </para>
|
---|
| 1508 |
|
---|
| 1509 | <para>
|
---|
| 1510 | "Stand by the main-sheet to jibe!"
|
---|
| 1511 | </para>
|
---|
| 1512 |
|
---|
| 1513 | <para>
|
---|
| 1514 | He put the wheel hard over, and the yacht whirled around
|
---|
| 1515 | obediently. The main-sheet slacked and dipped, then shot over our
|
---|
| 1516 | heads after the boom and tautened with a crash on the traveller.
|
---|
| 1517 | The yacht heeled over almost on her beam ends, and a great wail
|
---|
| 1518 | went up from the seasick passengers as they swept across the cabin
|
---|
| 1519 | floor in a tangled mass and piled into a heap in the starboard
|
---|
| 1520 | bunks.
|
---|
| 1521 | </para>
|
---|
| 1522 |
|
---|
| 1523 | <para>
|
---|
| 1524 | But we had no time for them. The yacht, completing the manoeuvre,
|
---|
| 1525 | headed into the wind with slatting canvas, and righted to an even
|
---|
| 1526 | keel. We were still plunging ahead, and directly in our path was
|
---|
| 1527 | the skiff. I saw Big Alec dive overboard and his mate leap for our
|
---|
| 1528 | bowsprit. Then came the crash as we struck the boat, and a series
|
---|
| 1529 | of grinding bumps as it passed under our bottom.
|
---|
| 1530 | </para>
|
---|
| 1531 |
|
---|
| 1532 | <para>
|
---|
| 1533 | "That fixes his rifle," I heard Charley mutter, as he sprang upon
|
---|
| 1534 | the deck to look for Big Alec somewhere astern.
|
---|
| 1535 | </para>
|
---|
| 1536 |
|
---|
| 1537 | <para>
|
---|
| 1538 | The wind and sea quickly stopped our forward movement, and we began
|
---|
| 1539 | to drift backward over the spot where the skiff had been. Big
|
---|
| 1540 | Alec's black head and swarthy face popped up within arm's reach;
|
---|
| 1541 | and all unsuspecting and very angry with what he took to be the
|
---|
| 1542 | clumsiness of amateur sailors, he was hauled aboard. Also he was
|
---|
| 1543 | out of breath, for he had dived deep and stayed down long to escape
|
---|
| 1544 | our keel.
|
---|
| 1545 | </para>
|
---|
| 1546 |
|
---|
| 1547 | <para>
|
---|
| 1548 | The next instant, to the perplexity and consternation of the owner,
|
---|
| 1549 | Charley was on top of Big Alec in the cockpit, and I was helping
|
---|
| 1550 | bind him with gaskets. The owner was dancing excitedly about and
|
---|
| 1551 | demanding an explanation, but by that time Big Alec's partner had
|
---|
| 1552 | crawled aft from the bowsprit and was peering apprehensively over
|
---|
| 1553 | the rail into the cockpit. Charley's arm shot around his neck and
|
---|
| 1554 | the man landed on his back beside Big Alec.
|
---|
| 1555 | </para>
|
---|
| 1556 |
|
---|
| 1557 | <para>
|
---|
| 1558 | "More gaskets!" Charley shouted, and I made haste to supply them.
|
---|
| 1559 | </para>
|
---|
| 1560 |
|
---|
| 1561 | <para>
|
---|
| 1562 | The wrecked skiff was rolling sluggishly a short distance to
|
---|
| 1563 | windward, and I trimmed the sheets while Charley took the wheel and
|
---|
| 1564 | steered for it.
|
---|
| 1565 | </para>
|
---|
| 1566 |
|
---|
| 1567 | <para>
|
---|
| 1568 | "These two men are old offenders," he explained to the angry owner;
|
---|
| 1569 | "and they are most persistent violators of the fish and game laws.
|
---|
| 1570 | You have seen them caught in the act, and you may expect to be
|
---|
| 1571 | subpoenaed as witness for the state when the trial comes off."
|
---|
| 1572 | </para>
|
---|
| 1573 |
|
---|
| 1574 | <para>
|
---|
| 1575 | As he spoke he rounded alongside the skiff. It had been torn from
|
---|
| 1576 | the line, a section of which was dragging to it. He hauled in
|
---|
| 1577 | forty or fifty feet with a young sturgeon still fast in a tangle of
|
---|
| 1578 | barbless hooks, slashed that much of the line free with his knife,
|
---|
| 1579 | and tossed it into the cockpit beside the prisoners.
|
---|
| 1580 | </para>
|
---|
| 1581 |
|
---|
| 1582 | <para>
|
---|
| 1583 | "And there's the evidence, Exhibit A, for the people," Charley
|
---|
| 1584 | continued. "Look it over carefully so that you may identify it in
|
---|
| 1585 | the court-room with the time and place of capture."
|
---|
| 1586 | </para>
|
---|
| 1587 |
|
---|
| 1588 | <para>
|
---|
| 1589 | And then, in triumph, with no more veering and yawing, we sailed
|
---|
| 1590 | into Benicia, the King of the Greeks bound hard and fast in the
|
---|
| 1591 | cockpit, and for the first time in his life a prisoner of the fish
|
---|
| 1592 | patrol.
|
---|
| 1593 | </para>
|
---|
| 1594 |
|
---|
| 1595 |
|
---|
| 1596 | </chapter>
|
---|
| 1597 |
|
---|
| 1598 | <chapter>
|
---|
| 1599 | <title>A RAID ON THE OYSTER PIRATES</title>
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| 1600 |
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| 1601 |
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| 1602 | <para>
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| 1603 | Of the fish patrolmen under whom we served at various times,
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| 1604 | Charley Le Grant and I were agreed, I think, that Neil Partington
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| 1605 | was the best. He was neither dishonest nor cowardly; and while he
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| 1606 | demanded strict obedience when we were under his orders, at the
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| 1607 | same time our relations were those of easy comradeship, and he
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| 1608 | permitted us a freedom to which we were ordinarily unaccustomed, as
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| 1609 | the present story will show.
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| 1610 | </para>
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| 1611 |
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| 1612 | <para>
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| 1613 | Neil's family lived in Oakland, which is on the Lower Bay, not more
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| 1614 | than six miles across the water from San Francisco. One day, while
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| 1615 | scouting among the Chinese shrimp-catchers of Point Pedro, he
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| 1616 | received word that his wife was very ill; and within the hour the
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| 1617 | Reindeer was bowling along for Oakland, with a stiff northwest
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| 1618 | breeze astern. We ran up the Oakland Estuary and came to anchor,
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| 1619 | and in the days that followed, while Neil was ashore, we tightened
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| 1620 | up the Reindeer's rigging, overhauled the ballast, scraped down,
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| 1621 | and put the sloop into thorough shape.
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| 1622 | </para>
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| 1623 |
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| 1624 | <para>
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| 1625 | This done, time hung heavy on our hands. Neil's wife was
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| 1626 | dangerously ill, and the outlook was a week's lie-over, awaiting
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| 1627 | the crisis. Charley and I roamed the docks, wondering what we
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| 1628 | should do, and so came upon the oyster fleet lying at the Oakland
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| 1629 | City Wharf. In the main they were trim, natty boats, made for
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| 1630 | speed and bad weather, and we sat down on the stringer-piece of the
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| 1631 | dock to study them.
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| 1632 | </para>
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| 1633 |
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| 1634 | <para>
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| 1635 | "A good catch, I guess," Charley said, pointing to the heaps of
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| 1636 | oysters, assorted in three sizes, which lay upon their decks.
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| 1637 | </para>
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| 1638 |
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| 1639 | <para>
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| 1640 | Pedlers were backing their wagons to the edge of the wharf, and
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| 1641 | from the bargaining and chaffering that went on, I managed to learn
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| 1642 | the selling price of the oysters.
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| 1643 | </para>
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| 1644 |
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| 1645 | <para>
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| 1646 | "That boat must have at least two hundred dollars' worth aboard," I
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| 1647 | calculated. "I wonder how long it took to get the load?"
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| 1648 | </para>
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| 1649 |
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| 1650 | <para>
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| 1651 | "Three or four days," Charley answered. "Not bad wages for two men
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| 1652 | - twenty-five dollars a day apiece."
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| 1653 | </para>
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| 1654 |
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| 1655 | <para>
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| 1656 | The boat we were discussing, the Ghost, lay directly beneath us.
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| 1657 | Two men composed its crew. One was a squat, broad-shouldered
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| 1658 | fellow with remarkably long and gorilla-like arms, while the other
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| 1659 | was tall and well proportioned, with clear blue eyes and a mat of
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| 1660 | straight black hair. So unusual and striking was this combination
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| 1661 | of hair and eyes that Charley and I remained somewhat longer than
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| 1662 | we intended.
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| 1663 | </para>
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| 1664 |
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| 1665 | <para>
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| 1666 | And it was well that we did. A stout, elderly man, with the dress
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| 1667 | and carriage of a successful merchant, came up and stood beside us,
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| 1668 | looking down upon the deck of the Ghost. He appeared angry, and
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| 1669 | the longer he looked the angrier he grew.
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| 1670 | </para>
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| 1671 |
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| 1672 | <para>
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| 1673 | "Those are my oysters," he said at last. "I know they are my
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| 1674 | oysters. You raided my beds last night and robbed me of them."
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| 1675 | </para>
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| 1676 |
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| 1677 | <para>
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| 1678 | The tall man and the short man on the Ghost looked up.
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| 1679 | </para>
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| 1680 |
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| 1681 | <para>
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| 1682 | "Hello, Taft," the short man said, with insolent familiarity.
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| 1683 | (Among the bayfarers he had gained the nickname of "The Centipede"
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| 1684 | on account of his long arms.) "Hello, Taft," he repeated, with the
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| 1685 | same touch of insolence. "Wot 'r you growling about now?"
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| 1686 | </para>
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| 1687 |
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| 1688 | <para>
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| 1689 | "Those are my oysters - that's what I said. You've stolen them
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| 1690 | from my beds."
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| 1691 | </para>
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| 1692 |
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| 1693 | <para>
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| 1694 | "Yer mighty wise, ain't ye?" was the Centipede's sneering reply.
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| 1695 | "S'pose you can tell your oysters wherever you see 'em?"
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| 1696 | </para>
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| 1697 |
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| 1698 | <para>
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| 1699 | "Now, in my experience," broke in the tall man, "oysters is oysters
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| 1700 | wherever you find 'em, an' they're pretty much alike all the Bay
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| 1701 | over, and the world over, too, for that matter. We're not wantin'
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| 1702 | to quarrel with you, Mr. Taft, but we jes' wish you wouldn't
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| 1703 | insinuate that them oysters is yours an' that we're thieves an'
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| 1704 | robbers till you can prove the goods."
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| 1705 | </para>
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| 1706 |
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| 1707 | <para>
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| 1708 | "I know they're mine; I'd stake my life on it!" Mr. Taft snorted.
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| 1709 | </para>
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| 1710 |
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| 1711 | <para>
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| 1712 | "Prove it," challenged the tall man, who we afterward learned was
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| 1713 | known as "The Porpoise" because of his wonderful swimming
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| 1714 | abilities.
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| 1715 | </para>
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| 1716 |
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| 1717 | <para>
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| 1718 | Mr. Taft shrugged his shoulders helplessly. Of course he could not
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| 1719 | prove the oysters to be his, no matter how certain he might be.
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| 1720 | </para>
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| 1721 |
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| 1722 | <para>
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| 1723 | "I'd give a thousand dollars to have you men behind the bars!" he
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| 1724 | cried. "I'll give fifty dollars a head for your arrest and
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| 1725 | conviction, all of you!"
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| 1726 | </para>
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| 1727 |
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| 1728 | <para>
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| 1729 | A roar of laughter went up from the different boats, for the rest
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| 1730 | of the pirates had been listening to the discussion.
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| 1731 | </para>
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| 1732 |
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| 1733 | <para>
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| 1734 | "There's more money in oysters," the Porpoise remarked dryly.
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| 1735 | </para>
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| 1736 |
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| 1737 | <para>
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| 1738 | Mr. Taft turned impatiently on his heel and walked away. From out
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| 1739 | of the corner of his eye, Charley noted the way he went. Several
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| 1740 | minutes later, when he had disappeared around a corner, Charley
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| 1741 | rose lazily to his feet. I followed him, and we sauntered off in
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| 1742 | the opposite direction to that taken by Mr. Taft.
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| 1743 | </para>
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| 1744 |
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| 1745 | <para>
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| 1746 | "Come on! Lively!" Charley whispered, when we passed from the view
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| 1747 | of the oyster fleet.
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| 1748 | </para>
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| 1749 |
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| 1750 | <para>
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| 1751 | Our course was changed at once, and we dodged around corners and
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| 1752 | raced up and down side-streets till Mr. Taft's generous form loomed
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| 1753 | up ahead of us.
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| 1754 | </para>
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| 1755 |
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| 1756 | <para>
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| 1757 | "I'm going to interview him about that reward," Charley explained,
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| 1758 | as we rapidly over-hauled the oyster-bed owner. "Neil will be
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| 1759 | delayed here for a week, and you and I might as well be doing
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| 1760 | something in the meantime. What do you say?"
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| 1761 | </para>
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| 1762 |
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| 1763 | <para>
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| 1764 | "Of course, of course," Mr. Taft said, when Charley had introduced
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| 1765 | himself and explained his errand. "Those thieves are robbing me of
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| 1766 | thousands of dollars every year, and I shall be glad to break them
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| 1767 | up at any price, - yes, sir, at any price. As I said, I'll give
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| 1768 | fifty dollars a head, and call it cheap at that. They've robbed my
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| 1769 | beds, torn down my signs, terrorized my watchmen, and last year
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| 1770 | killed one of them. Couldn't prove it. All done in the blackness
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| 1771 | of night. All I had was a dead watchman and no evidence. The
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| 1772 | detectives could do nothing. Nobody has been able to do anything
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| 1773 | with those men. We have never succeeded in arresting one of them.
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| 1774 | So I say, Mr. - What did you say your name was?"
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| 1775 | </para>
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| 1776 |
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| 1777 | <para>
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| 1778 | "Le Grant," Charley answered.
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| 1779 | </para>
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| 1780 |
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| 1781 | <para>
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| 1782 | "So I say, Mr. Le Grant, I am deeply obliged to you for the
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| 1783 | assistance you offer. And I shall be glad, most glad, sir, to co-
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| 1784 | operate with you in every way. My watchmen and boats are at your
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| 1785 | disposal. Come and see me at the San Francisco offices any time,
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| 1786 | or telephone at my expense. And don't be afraid of spending money.
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| 1787 | I'll foot your expenses, whatever they are, so long as they are
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| 1788 | within reason. The situation is growing desperate, and something
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| 1789 | must be done to determine whether I or that band of ruffians own
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| 1790 | those oyster beds."
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| 1791 | </para>
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| 1792 |
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| 1793 | <para>
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| 1794 | "Now we'll see Neil," Charley said, when he had seen Mr. Taft upon
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| 1795 | his train to San Francisco.
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| 1796 | </para>
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| 1797 |
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| 1798 | <para>
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| 1799 | Not only did Neil Partington interpose no obstacle to our
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| 1800 | adventure, but he proved to be of the greatest assistance. Charley
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| 1801 | and I knew nothing of the oyster industry, while his head was an
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| 1802 | encyclopaedia of facts concerning it. Also, within an hour or so,
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| 1803 | he was able to bring to us a Greek boy of seventeen or eighteen who
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| 1804 | knew thoroughly well the ins and outs of oyster piracy.
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| 1805 | </para>
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| 1806 |
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| 1807 | <para>
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| 1808 | At this point I may as well explain that we of the fish patrol were
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| 1809 | free lances in a way. While Neil Partington, who was a patrolman
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| 1810 | proper, received a regular salary, Charley and I, being merely
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| 1811 | deputies, received only what we earned - that is to say, a certain
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| 1812 | percentage of the fines imposed on convicted violators of the fish
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| 1813 | laws. Also, any rewards that chanced our way were ours. We
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| 1814 | offered to share with Partington whatever we should get from Mr.
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| 1815 | Taft, but the patrolman would not hear of it. He was only too
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| 1816 | happy, he said, to do a good turn for us, who had done so many for
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| 1817 | him.
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| 1818 | </para>
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| 1819 |
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| 1820 | <para>
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| 1821 | We held a long council of war, and mapped out the following line of
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| 1822 | action. Our faces were unfamiliar on the Lower Bay, but as the
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| 1823 | Reindeer was well known as a fish-patrol sloop, the Greek boy,
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| 1824 | whose name was Nicholas, and I were to sail some innocent-looking
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| 1825 | craft down to Asparagus Island and join the oyster pirates' fleet.
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| 1826 | Here, according to Nicholas's description of the beds and the
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| 1827 | manner of raiding, it was possible for us to catch the pirates in
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| 1828 | the act of stealing oysters, and at the same time to get them in
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| 1829 | our power. Charley was to be on the shore, with Mr. Taft's
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| 1830 | watchmen and a posse of constables, to help us at the right time.
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| 1831 | </para>
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| 1832 |
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| 1833 | <para>
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| 1834 | "I know just the boat," Neil said, at the conclusion of the
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| 1835 | discussion, "a crazy old sloop that's lying over at Tiburon. You
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| 1836 | and Nicholas can go over by the ferry, charter it for a song, and
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| 1837 | sail direct for the beds."
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| 1838 | </para>
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| 1839 |
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| 1840 | <para>
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| 1841 | "Good luck be with you, boys," he said at parting, two days later.
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| 1842 | "Remember, they are dangerous men, so be careful."
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| 1843 | </para>
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| 1844 |
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| 1845 | <para>
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| 1846 | Nicholas and I succeeded in chartering the sloop very cheaply; and
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| 1847 | between laughs, while getting up sail, we agreed that she was even
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| 1848 | crazier and older than she had been described. She was a big,
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| 1849 | flat-bottomed, square-sterned craft, sloop-rigged, with a sprung
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| 1850 | mast, slack rigging, dilapidated sails, and rotten running-gear,
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| 1851 | clumsy to handle and uncertain in bringing about, and she smelled
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| 1852 | vilely of coal tar, with which strange stuff she had been smeared
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| 1853 | from stem to stern and from cabin-roof to centreboard. And to cap
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| 1854 | it all, Coal Tar Maggie was printed in great white letters the
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| 1855 | whole length of either side.
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| 1856 | </para>
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| 1857 |
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| 1858 | <para>
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| 1859 | It was an uneventful though laughable run from Tiburon to Asparagus
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| 1860 | Island, where we arrived in the afternoon of the following day.
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| 1861 | The oyster pirates, a fleet of a dozen sloops, were lying at anchor
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| 1862 | on what was known as the "Deserted Beds." The Coal Tar Maggie came
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| 1863 | sloshing into their midst with a light breeze astern, and they
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| 1864 | crowded on deck to see us. Nicholas and I had caught the spirit of
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| 1865 | the crazy craft, and we handled her in most lubberly fashion.
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| 1866 | </para>
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| 1867 |
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| 1868 | <para>
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| 1869 | "Wot is it?" some one called.
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| 1870 | </para>
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| 1871 |
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| 1872 | <para>
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| 1873 | "Name it 'n' ye kin have it!" called another.
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| 1874 | </para>
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| 1875 |
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| 1876 | <para>
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| 1877 | "I swan naow, ef it ain't the old Ark itself!" mimicked the
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| 1878 | Centipede from the deck of the Ghost.
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| 1879 | </para>
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| 1880 |
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| 1881 | <para>
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| 1882 | "Hey! Ahoy there, clipper ship!" another wag shouted. "Wot's yer
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| 1883 | port?"
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| 1884 | </para>
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| 1885 |
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| 1886 | <para>
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| 1887 | We took no notice of the joking, but acted, after the manner of
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| 1888 | greenhorns, as though the Coal Tar Maggie required our undivided
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| 1889 | attention. I rounded her well to windward of the Ghost, and
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| 1890 | Nicholas ran for'ard to drop the anchor. To all appearances it was
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| 1891 | a bungle, the way the chain tangled and kept the anchor from
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| 1892 | reaching the bottom. And to all appearances Nicholas and I were
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| 1893 | terribly excited as we strove to clear it. At any rate, we quite
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| 1894 | deceived the pirates, who took huge delight in our predicament.
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| 1895 | </para>
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| 1896 |
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| 1897 | <para>
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| 1898 | But the chain remained tangled, and amid all kinds of mocking
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| 1899 | advice we drifted down upon and fouled the Ghost, whose bowsprit
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| 1900 | poked square through our mainsail and ripped a hole in it as big as
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| 1901 | a barn door. The Centipede and the Porpoise doubled up on the
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| 1902 | cabin in paroxysms of laughter, and left us to get clear as best we
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| 1903 | could. This, with much unseaman-like performance, we succeeded in
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| 1904 | doing, and likewise in clearing the anchor-chain, of which we let
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| 1905 | out about three hundred feet. With only ten feet of water under
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| 1906 | us, this would permit the Coal Tar Maggie to swing in a circle six
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| 1907 | hundred feet in diameter, in which circle she would be able to foul
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| 1908 | at least half the fleet.
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| 1909 | </para>
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| 1910 |
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| 1911 | <para>
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| 1912 | The oyster pirates lay snugly together at short hawsers, the
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| 1913 | weather being fine, and they protested loudly at our ignorance in
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| 1914 | putting out such an unwarranted length of anchor-chain. And not
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| 1915 | only did they protest, for they made us heave it in again, all but
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| 1916 | thirty feet.
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| 1917 | </para>
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| 1918 |
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| 1919 | <para>
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| 1920 | Having sufficiently impressed them with our general lubberliness,
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| 1921 | Nicholas and I went below to congratulate ourselves and to cook
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| 1922 | supper. Hardly had we finished the meal and washed the dishes,
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| 1923 | when a skiff ground against the Coal Tar Maggie's side, and heavy
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| 1924 | feet trampled on deck. Then the Centipede's brutal face appeared
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| 1925 | in the companionway, and he descended into the cabin, followed by
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| 1926 | the Porpoise. Before they could seat themselves on a bunk, another
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| 1927 | skiff came alongside, and another, and another, till the whole
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| 1928 | fleet was represented by the gathering in the cabin.
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| 1929 | </para>
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| 1930 |
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| 1931 | <para>
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| 1932 | "Where'd you swipe the old tub?" asked a squat and hairy man, with
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| 1933 | cruel eyes and Mexican features.
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| 1934 | </para>
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| 1935 |
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| 1936 | <para>
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| 1937 | "Didn't swipe it," Nicholas answered, meeting them on their own
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| 1938 | ground and encouraging the idea that we had stolen the Coal Tar
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| 1939 | Maggie. "And if we did, what of it?"
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| 1940 | </para>
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| 1941 |
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| 1942 | <para>
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| 1943 | "Well, I don't admire your taste, that's all," sneered he of the
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| 1944 | Mexican features. "I'd rot on the beach first before I'd take a
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| 1945 | tub that couldn't get out of its own way."
|
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| 1946 | </para>
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| 1947 |
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| 1948 | <para>
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| 1949 | "How were we to know till we tried her?" Nicholas asked, so
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| 1950 | innocently as to cause a laugh. "And how do you get the oysters?"
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| 1951 | he hurried on. "We want a load of them; that's what we came for, a
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| 1952 | load of oysters."
|
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| 1953 | </para>
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| 1954 |
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| 1955 | <para>
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| 1956 | "What d'ye want 'em for?" demanded the Porpoise.
|
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| 1957 | </para>
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| 1958 |
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| 1959 | <para>
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| 1960 | "Oh, to give away to our friends, of course," Nicholas retorted.
|
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| 1961 | "That's what you do with yours, I suppose."
|
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| 1962 | </para>
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| 1963 |
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| 1964 | <para>
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| 1965 | This started another laugh, and as our visitors grew more genial we
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| 1966 | could see that they had not the slightest suspicion of our identity
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| 1967 | or purpose.
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| 1968 | </para>
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| 1969 |
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| 1970 | <para>
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| 1971 | "Didn't I see you on the dock in Oakland the other day?" the
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| 1972 | Centipede asked suddenly of me.
|
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| 1973 | </para>
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| 1974 |
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| 1975 | <para>
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| 1976 | "Yep," I answered boldly, taking the bull by the horns. "I was
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| 1977 | watching you fellows and figuring out whether we'd go oystering or
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| 1978 | not. It's a pretty good business, I calculate, and so we're going
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| 1979 | in for it. That is," I hastened to add, "if you fellows don't
|
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| 1980 | mind."
|
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| 1981 | </para>
|
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| 1982 |
|
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| 1983 | <para>
|
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| 1984 | "I'll tell you one thing, which ain't two things," he replied, "and
|
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| 1985 | that is you'll have to hump yerself an' get a better boat. We
|
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| 1986 | won't stand to be disgraced by any such box as this. Understand?"
|
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| 1987 | </para>
|
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| 1988 |
|
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| 1989 | <para>
|
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| 1990 | "Sure," I said. "Soon as we sell some oysters we'll outfit in
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| 1991 | style."
|
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| 1992 | </para>
|
---|
| 1993 |
|
---|
| 1994 | <para>
|
---|
| 1995 | "And if you show yerself square an' the right sort," he went on,
|
---|
| 1996 | "why, you kin run with us. But if you don't" (here his voice
|
---|
| 1997 | became stern and menacing), "why, it'll be the sickest day of yer
|
---|
| 1998 | life. Understand?"
|
---|
| 1999 | </para>
|
---|
| 2000 |
|
---|
| 2001 | <para>
|
---|
| 2002 | "Sure," I said.
|
---|
| 2003 | </para>
|
---|
| 2004 |
|
---|
| 2005 | <para>
|
---|
| 2006 | After that and more warning and advice of similar nature, the
|
---|
| 2007 | conversation became general, and we learned that the beds were to
|
---|
| 2008 | be raided that very night. As they got into their boats, after an
|
---|
| 2009 | hour's stay, we were invited to join them in the raid with the
|
---|
| 2010 | assurance of "the more the merrier."
|
---|
| 2011 | </para>
|
---|
| 2012 |
|
---|
| 2013 | <para>
|
---|
| 2014 | "Did you notice that short, Mexican-looking chap?" Nicholas asked,
|
---|
| 2015 | when they had departed to their various sloops. "He's Barchi, of
|
---|
| 2016 | the Sporting Life Gang, and the fellow that came with him is
|
---|
| 2017 | Skilling. They're both out now on five thousand dollars' bail."
|
---|
| 2018 | </para>
|
---|
| 2019 |
|
---|
| 2020 | <para>
|
---|
| 2021 | I had heard of the Sporting Life Gang before, a crowd of hoodlums
|
---|
| 2022 | and criminals that terrorized the lower quarters of Oakland, and
|
---|
| 2023 | two-thirds of which were usually to be found in state's prison for
|
---|
| 2024 | crimes that ranged from perjury and ballot-box stuffing to murder.
|
---|
| 2025 | </para>
|
---|
| 2026 |
|
---|
| 2027 | <para>
|
---|
| 2028 | "They are not regular oyster pirates," Nicholas continued.
|
---|
| 2029 | "They've just come down for the lark and to make a few dollars.
|
---|
| 2030 | But we'll have to watch out for them."
|
---|
| 2031 | </para>
|
---|
| 2032 |
|
---|
| 2033 | <para>
|
---|
| 2034 | We sat in the cockpit and discussed the details of our plan till
|
---|
| 2035 | eleven o'clock had passed, when we heard the rattle of an oar in a
|
---|
| 2036 | boat from the direction of the Ghost. We hauled up our own skiff,
|
---|
| 2037 | tossed in a few sacks, and rowed over. There we found all the
|
---|
| 2038 | skiffs assembling, it being the intention to raid the beds in a
|
---|
| 2039 | body.
|
---|
| 2040 | </para>
|
---|
| 2041 |
|
---|
| 2042 | <para>
|
---|
| 2043 | To my surprise, I found barely a foot of water where we had dropped
|
---|
| 2044 | anchor in ten feet. It was the big June run-out of the full moon,
|
---|
| 2045 | and as the ebb had yet an hour and a half to run, I knew that our
|
---|
| 2046 | anchorage would be dry ground before slack water.
|
---|
| 2047 | </para>
|
---|
| 2048 |
|
---|
| 2049 | <para>
|
---|
| 2050 | Mr. Taft's beds were three miles away, and for a long time we rowed
|
---|
| 2051 | silently in the wake of the other boats, once in a while grounding
|
---|
| 2052 | and our oar blades constantly striking bottom. At last we came
|
---|
| 2053 | upon soft mud covered with not more than two inches of water - not
|
---|
| 2054 | enough to float the boats. But the pirates at once were over the
|
---|
| 2055 | side, and by pushing and pulling on the flat-bottomed skiffs, we
|
---|
| 2056 | moved steadily along.
|
---|
| 2057 | </para>
|
---|
| 2058 |
|
---|
| 2059 | <para>
|
---|
| 2060 | The full moon was partly obscured by high-flying clouds, but the
|
---|
| 2061 | pirates went their way with the familiarity born of long practice.
|
---|
| 2062 | After half a mile of the mud, we came upon a deep channel, up which
|
---|
| 2063 | we rowed, with dead oyster shoals looming high and dry on either
|
---|
| 2064 | side. At last we reached the picking grounds. Two men, on one of
|
---|
| 2065 | the shoals, hailed us and warned us off. But the Centipede, the
|
---|
| 2066 | Porpoise, Barchi, and Skilling took the lead, and followed by the
|
---|
| 2067 | rest of us, at least thirty men in half as many boats, rowed right
|
---|
| 2068 | up to the watchmen.
|
---|
| 2069 | </para>
|
---|
| 2070 |
|
---|
| 2071 | <para>
|
---|
| 2072 | "You'd better slide outa this here," Barchi said threateningly, "or
|
---|
| 2073 | we'll fill you so full of holes you wouldn't float in molasses."
|
---|
| 2074 | </para>
|
---|
| 2075 |
|
---|
| 2076 | <para>
|
---|
| 2077 | The watchmen wisely retreated before so overwhelming a force, and
|
---|
| 2078 | rowed their boat along the channel toward where the shore should
|
---|
| 2079 | be. Besides, it was in the plan for them to retreat.
|
---|
| 2080 | </para>
|
---|
| 2081 |
|
---|
| 2082 | <para>
|
---|
| 2083 | We hauled the noses of the boats up on the shore side of a big
|
---|
| 2084 | shoal, and all hands, with sacks, spread out and began picking.
|
---|
| 2085 | Every now and again the clouds thinned before the face of the moon,
|
---|
| 2086 | and we could see the big oysters quite distinctly. In almost no
|
---|
| 2087 | time sacks were filled and carried back to the boats, where fresh
|
---|
| 2088 | ones were obtained. Nicholas and I returned often and anxiously to
|
---|
| 2089 | the boats with our little loads, but always found some one of the
|
---|
| 2090 | pirates coming or going.
|
---|
| 2091 | </para>
|
---|
| 2092 |
|
---|
| 2093 | <para>
|
---|
| 2094 | "Never mind," he said; "no hurry. As they pick farther and farther
|
---|
| 2095 | away, it will take too long to carry to the boats. Then they'll
|
---|
| 2096 | stand the full sacks on end and pick them up when the tide comes in
|
---|
| 2097 | and the skiffs will float to them."
|
---|
| 2098 | </para>
|
---|
| 2099 |
|
---|
| 2100 | <para>
|
---|
| 2101 | Fully half an hour went by, and the tide had begun to flood, when
|
---|
| 2102 | this came to pass. Leaving the pirates at their work, we stole
|
---|
| 2103 | back to the boats. One by one, and noiselessly, we shoved them off
|
---|
| 2104 | and made them fast in an awkward flotilla. Just as we were shoving
|
---|
| 2105 | off the last skiff, our own, one of the men came upon us. It was
|
---|
| 2106 | Barchi. His quick eye took in the situation at a glance, and he
|
---|
| 2107 | sprang for us; but we went clear with a mighty shove, and he was
|
---|
| 2108 | left floundering in the water over his head. As soon as he got
|
---|
| 2109 | back to the shoal he raised his voice and gave the alarm.
|
---|
| 2110 | </para>
|
---|
| 2111 |
|
---|
| 2112 | <para>
|
---|
| 2113 | We rowed with all our strength, but it was slow going with so many
|
---|
| 2114 | boats in tow. A pistol cracked from the shoal, a second, and a
|
---|
| 2115 | third; then a regular fusillade began. The bullets spat and spat
|
---|
| 2116 | all about us; but thick clouds had covered the moon, and in the dim
|
---|
| 2117 | darkness it was no more than random firing. It was only by chance
|
---|
| 2118 | that we could be hit.
|
---|
| 2119 | </para>
|
---|
| 2120 |
|
---|
| 2121 | <para>
|
---|
| 2122 | "Wish we had a little steam launch," I panted.
|
---|
| 2123 | </para>
|
---|
| 2124 |
|
---|
| 2125 | <para>
|
---|
| 2126 | "I'd just as soon the moon stayed hidden," Nicholas panted back.
|
---|
| 2127 | </para>
|
---|
| 2128 |
|
---|
| 2129 | <para>
|
---|
| 2130 | It was slow work, but every stroke carried us farther away from the
|
---|
| 2131 | shoal and nearer the shore, till at last the shooting died down,
|
---|
| 2132 | and when the moon did come out we were too far away to be in
|
---|
| 2133 | danger. Not long afterward we answered a shoreward hail, and two
|
---|
| 2134 | Whitehall boats, each pulled by three pairs of oars, darted up to
|
---|
| 2135 | us. Charley's welcome face bent over to us, and he gripped us by
|
---|
| 2136 | the hands while he cried, "Oh, you joys! You joys! Both of you!"
|
---|
| 2137 | </para>
|
---|
| 2138 |
|
---|
| 2139 | <para>
|
---|
| 2140 | When the flotilla had been landed, Nicholas and I and a watchman
|
---|
| 2141 | rowed out in one of the Whitehalls, with Charley in the stern-
|
---|
| 2142 | sheets. Two other Whitehalls followed us, and as the moon now
|
---|
| 2143 | shone brightly, we easily made out the oyster pirates on their
|
---|
| 2144 | lonely shoal. As we drew closer, they fired a rattling volley from
|
---|
| 2145 | their revolvers, and we promptly retreated beyond range.
|
---|
| 2146 | </para>
|
---|
| 2147 |
|
---|
| 2148 | <para>
|
---|
| 2149 | "Lot of time," Charley said. "The flood is setting in fast, and by
|
---|
| 2150 | the time it's up to their necks there won't be any fight left in
|
---|
| 2151 | them."
|
---|
| 2152 | </para>
|
---|
| 2153 |
|
---|
| 2154 | <para>
|
---|
| 2155 | So we lay on our oars and waited for the tide to do its work. This
|
---|
| 2156 | was the predicament of the pirates: because of the big run-out,
|
---|
| 2157 | the tide was now rushing back like a mill-race, and it was
|
---|
| 2158 | impossible for the strongest swimmer in the world to make against
|
---|
| 2159 | it the three miles to the sloops. Between the pirates and the
|
---|
| 2160 | shore were we, precluding escape in that direction. On the other
|
---|
| 2161 | hand, the water was rising rapidly over the shoals, and it was only
|
---|
| 2162 | a question of a few hours when it would be over their heads.
|
---|
| 2163 | </para>
|
---|
| 2164 |
|
---|
| 2165 | <para>
|
---|
| 2166 | It was beautifully calm, and in the brilliant white moonlight we
|
---|
| 2167 | watched them through our night glasses and told Charley of the
|
---|
| 2168 | voyage of the Coal Tar Maggie. One o'clock came, and two o'clock,
|
---|
| 2169 | and the pirates were clustering on the highest shoal, waist-deep in
|
---|
| 2170 | water.
|
---|
| 2171 | </para>
|
---|
| 2172 |
|
---|
| 2173 | <para>
|
---|
| 2174 | "Now this illustrates the value of imagination," Charley was
|
---|
| 2175 | saying. "Taft has been trying for years to get them, but he went
|
---|
| 2176 | at it with bull strength and failed. Now we used our heads . . ."
|
---|
| 2177 | </para>
|
---|
| 2178 |
|
---|
| 2179 | <para>
|
---|
| 2180 | Just then I heard a scarcely audible gurgle of water, and holding
|
---|
| 2181 | up my hand for silence, I turned and pointed to a ripple slowly
|
---|
| 2182 | widening out in a growing circle. It was not more than fifty feet
|
---|
| 2183 | from us. We kept perfectly quiet and waited. After a minute the
|
---|
| 2184 | water broke six feet away, and a black head and white shoulder
|
---|
| 2185 | showed in the moonlight. With a snort of surprise and of suddenly
|
---|
| 2186 | expelled breath, the head and shoulder went down.
|
---|
| 2187 | </para>
|
---|
| 2188 |
|
---|
| 2189 | <para>
|
---|
| 2190 | We pulled ahead several strokes and drifted with the current. Four
|
---|
| 2191 | pairs of eyes searched the surface of the water, but never another
|
---|
| 2192 | ripple showed, and never another glimpse did we catch of the black
|
---|
| 2193 | head and white shoulder.
|
---|
| 2194 | </para>
|
---|
| 2195 |
|
---|
| 2196 | <para>
|
---|
| 2197 | "It's the Porpoise," Nicholas said. "It would take broad daylight
|
---|
| 2198 | for us to catch him."
|
---|
| 2199 | </para>
|
---|
| 2200 |
|
---|
| 2201 | <para>
|
---|
| 2202 | At a quarter to three the pirates gave their first sign of
|
---|
| 2203 | weakening. We heard cries for help, in the unmistakable voice of
|
---|
| 2204 | the Centipede, and this time, on rowing closer, we were not fired
|
---|
| 2205 | upon. The Centipede was in a truly perilous plight. Only the
|
---|
| 2206 | heads and shoulders of his fellow-marauders showed above the water
|
---|
| 2207 | as they braced themselves against the current, while his feet were
|
---|
| 2208 | off the bottom and they were supporting him.
|
---|
| 2209 | </para>
|
---|
| 2210 |
|
---|
| 2211 | <para>
|
---|
| 2212 | "Now, lads," Charley said briskly, "we have got you, and you can't
|
---|
| 2213 | get away. If you cut up rough, we'll have to leave you alone and
|
---|
| 2214 | the water will finish you. But if you're good we'll take you
|
---|
| 2215 | aboard, one man at a time, and you'll all be saved. What do you
|
---|
| 2216 | say?"
|
---|
| 2217 | </para>
|
---|
| 2218 |
|
---|
| 2219 | <para>
|
---|
| 2220 | "Ay," they chorused hoarsely between their chattering teeth.
|
---|
| 2221 | </para>
|
---|
| 2222 |
|
---|
| 2223 | <para>
|
---|
| 2224 | "Then one man at a time, and the short men first."
|
---|
| 2225 | </para>
|
---|
| 2226 |
|
---|
| 2227 | <para>
|
---|
| 2228 | The Centipede was the first to be pulled aboard, and he came
|
---|
| 2229 | willingly, though he objected when the constable put the handcuffs
|
---|
| 2230 | on him. Barchi was next hauled in, quite meek and resigned from
|
---|
| 2231 | his soaking. When we had ten in, our boat we drew back, and the
|
---|
| 2232 | second Whitehall was loaded. The third Whitehall received nine
|
---|
| 2233 | prisoners only - a catch of twenty-nine in all.
|
---|
| 2234 | </para>
|
---|
| 2235 |
|
---|
| 2236 | <para>
|
---|
| 2237 | "You didn't get the Porpoise," the Centipede said exultantly, as
|
---|
| 2238 | though his escape materially diminished our success.
|
---|
| 2239 | </para>
|
---|
| 2240 |
|
---|
| 2241 | <para>
|
---|
| 2242 | Charley laughed. "But we saw him just the same, a-snorting for
|
---|
| 2243 | shore like a puffing pig."
|
---|
| 2244 | </para>
|
---|
| 2245 |
|
---|
| 2246 | <para>
|
---|
| 2247 | It was a mild and shivering band of pirates that we marched up the
|
---|
| 2248 | beach to the oyster house. In answer to Charley's knock, the door
|
---|
| 2249 | was flung open, and a pleasant wave of warm air rushed out upon us.
|
---|
| 2250 | </para>
|
---|
| 2251 |
|
---|
| 2252 | <para>
|
---|
| 2253 | "You can dry your clothes here, lads, and get some hot coffee,"
|
---|
| 2254 | Charley announced, as they filed in.
|
---|
| 2255 | </para>
|
---|
| 2256 |
|
---|
| 2257 | <para>
|
---|
| 2258 | And there, sitting ruefully by the fire, with a steaming mug in his
|
---|
| 2259 | hand, was the Porpoise. With one accord Nicholas and I looked at
|
---|
| 2260 | Charley. He laughed gleefully.
|
---|
| 2261 | </para>
|
---|
| 2262 |
|
---|
| 2263 | <para>
|
---|
| 2264 | "That comes of imagination," he said. "When you see a thing,
|
---|
| 2265 | you've got to see it all around, or what's the good of seeing it at
|
---|
| 2266 | all? I saw the beach, so I left a couple of constables behind to
|
---|
| 2267 | keep an eye on it. That's all."
|
---|
| 2268 | </para>
|
---|
| 2269 |
|
---|
| 2270 |
|
---|
| 2271 | </chapter>
|
---|
| 2272 |
|
---|
| 2273 | <chapter>
|
---|
| 2274 | <title>THE SIEGE OF THE "LANCASHIRE QUEEN"</title>
|
---|
| 2275 |
|
---|
| 2276 |
|
---|
| 2277 | <para>
|
---|
| 2278 | Possibly our most exasperating experience on the fish patrol was
|
---|
| 2279 | when Charley Le Grant and I laid a two weeks' siege to a big four-
|
---|
| 2280 | masted English ship. Before we had finished with the affair, it
|
---|
| 2281 | became a pretty mathematical problem, and it was by the merest
|
---|
| 2282 | chance that we came into possession of the instrument that brought
|
---|
| 2283 | it to a successful termination.
|
---|
| 2284 | </para>
|
---|
| 2285 |
|
---|
| 2286 | <para>
|
---|
| 2287 | After our raid on the oyster pirates we had returned to Oakland,
|
---|
| 2288 | where two more weeks passed before Neil Partington's wife was out
|
---|
| 2289 | of danger and on the highroad to recovery. So it was after an
|
---|
| 2290 | absence of a month, all told, that we turned the Reindeer's nose
|
---|
| 2291 | toward Benicia. When the cat's away the mice will play, and in
|
---|
| 2292 | these four weeks the fishermen had become very bold in violating
|
---|
| 2293 | the law. When we passed Point Pedro we noticed many signs of
|
---|
| 2294 | activity among the shrimp-catchers, and, well into San Pablo Bay,
|
---|
| 2295 | we observed a widely scattered fleet of Upper Bay fishing-boats
|
---|
| 2296 | hastily pulling in their nets and getting up sail.
|
---|
| 2297 | </para>
|
---|
| 2298 |
|
---|
| 2299 | <para>
|
---|
| 2300 | This was suspicious enough to warrant investigation, and the first
|
---|
| 2301 | and only boat we succeeded in boarding proved to have an illegal
|
---|
| 2302 | net. The law permitted no smaller mesh for catching shad than one
|
---|
| 2303 | that measured seven and one-half inches inside the knots, while the
|
---|
| 2304 | mesh of this particular net measured only three inches. It was a
|
---|
| 2305 | flagrant breach of the rules, and the two fishermen were forthwith
|
---|
| 2306 | put under arrest. Neil Partington took one of them with him to
|
---|
| 2307 | help manage the Reindeer, while Charley and I went on ahead with
|
---|
| 2308 | the other in the captured boat.
|
---|
| 2309 | </para>
|
---|
| 2310 |
|
---|
| 2311 | <para>
|
---|
| 2312 | But the shad fleet had headed over toward the Petaluma shore in
|
---|
| 2313 | wild flight, and for the rest of the run through San Pablo Bay we
|
---|
| 2314 | saw no more fishermen at all. Our prisoner, a bronzed and bearded
|
---|
| 2315 | Greek, sat sullenly on his net while we sailed his craft. It was a
|
---|
| 2316 | new Columbia River salmon boat, evidently on its first trip, and it
|
---|
| 2317 | handled splendidly. Even when Charley praised it, our prisoner
|
---|
| 2318 | refused to speak or to notice us, and we soon gave him up as a most
|
---|
| 2319 | unsociable fellow.
|
---|
| 2320 | </para>
|
---|
| 2321 |
|
---|
| 2322 | <para>
|
---|
| 2323 | We ran up the Carquinez Straits and edged into the bight at
|
---|
| 2324 | Turner's Shipyard for smoother water. Here were lying several
|
---|
| 2325 | English steel sailing ships, waiting for the wheat harvest; and
|
---|
| 2326 | here, most unexpectedly, in the precise place where we had captured
|
---|
| 2327 | Big Alec, we came upon two Italians in a skiff that was loaded with
|
---|
| 2328 | a complete "Chinese" sturgeon line. The surprise was mutual, and
|
---|
| 2329 | we were on top of them before either they or we were aware.
|
---|
| 2330 | Charley had barely time to luff into the wind and run up to them.
|
---|
| 2331 | I ran forward and tossed them a line with orders to make it fast.
|
---|
| 2332 | One of the Italians took a turn with it over a cleat, while I
|
---|
| 2333 | hastened to lower our big spritsail. This accomplished, the salmon
|
---|
| 2334 | boat dropped astern, dragging heavily on the skiff.
|
---|
| 2335 | </para>
|
---|
| 2336 |
|
---|
| 2337 | <para>
|
---|
| 2338 | Charley came forward to board the prize, but when I proceeded to
|
---|
| 2339 | haul alongside by means of the line, the Italians cast it off. We
|
---|
| 2340 | at once began drifting to leeward, while they got out two pairs of
|
---|
| 2341 | oars and rowed their light craft directly into the wind. This
|
---|
| 2342 | manoeuvre for the moment disconcerted us, for in our large and
|
---|
| 2343 | heavily loaded boat we could not hope to catch them with the oars.
|
---|
| 2344 | But our prisoner came unexpectedly to our aid. His black eyes were
|
---|
| 2345 | flashing eagerly, and his face was flushed with suppressed
|
---|
| 2346 | excitement, as he dropped the centre-board, sprang forward with a
|
---|
| 2347 | single leap, and put up the sail.
|
---|
| 2348 | </para>
|
---|
| 2349 |
|
---|
| 2350 | <para>
|
---|
| 2351 | "I've always heard that Greeks don't like Italians," Charley
|
---|
| 2352 | laughed, as he ran aft to the tiller.
|
---|
| 2353 | </para>
|
---|
| 2354 |
|
---|
| 2355 | <para>
|
---|
| 2356 | And never in my experience have I seen a man so anxious for the
|
---|
| 2357 | capture of another as was our prisoner in the chase that followed.
|
---|
| 2358 | His eyes fairly snapped, and his nostrils quivered and dilated in a
|
---|
| 2359 | most extraordinary way. Charley steered while he tended the sheet;
|
---|
| 2360 | and though Charley was as quick and alert as a cat, the Greek could
|
---|
| 2361 | hardly control his impatience.
|
---|
| 2362 | </para>
|
---|
| 2363 |
|
---|
| 2364 | <para>
|
---|
| 2365 | The Italians were cut off from the shore, which was fully a mile
|
---|
| 2366 | away at its nearest point. Did they attempt to make it, we could
|
---|
| 2367 | haul after them with the wind abeam, and overtake them before they
|
---|
| 2368 | had covered an eighth of the distance. But they were too wise to
|
---|
| 2369 | attempt it, contenting themselves with rowing lustily to windward
|
---|
| 2370 | along the starboard side of a big ship, the Lancashire Queen. But
|
---|
| 2371 | beyond the ship lay an open stretch of fully two miles to the shore
|
---|
| 2372 | in that direction. This, also, they dared not attempt, for we were
|
---|
| 2373 | bound to catch them before they could cover it. So, when they
|
---|
| 2374 | reached the bow of the Lancashire Queen, nothing remained but to
|
---|
| 2375 | pass around and row down her port side toward the stern, which
|
---|
| 2376 | meant rowing to leeward and giving us the advantage.
|
---|
| 2377 | </para>
|
---|
| 2378 |
|
---|
| 2379 | <para>
|
---|
| 2380 | We in the salmon boat, sailing close on the wind, tacked about and
|
---|
| 2381 | crossed the ship's bow. Then Charley put up the tiller and headed
|
---|
| 2382 | down the port side of the ship, the Greek letting out the sheet and
|
---|
| 2383 | grinning with delight. The Italians were already half-way down the
|
---|
| 2384 | ship's length; but the stiff breeze at our back drove us after them
|
---|
| 2385 | far faster than they could row. Closer and closer we came, and I,
|
---|
| 2386 | lying down forward, was just reaching out to grasp the skiff, when
|
---|
| 2387 | it ducked under the great stern of the Lancashire Queen.
|
---|
| 2388 | </para>
|
---|
| 2389 |
|
---|
| 2390 | <para>
|
---|
| 2391 | The chase was virtually where it had begun. The Italians were
|
---|
| 2392 | rowing up the starboard side of the ship, and we were hauled close
|
---|
| 2393 | on the wind and slowly edging out from the ship as we worked to
|
---|
| 2394 | windward. Then they darted around her bow and began the row down
|
---|
| 2395 | her port side, and we tacked about, crossed her bow, and went
|
---|
| 2396 | plunging down the wind hot after them. And again, just as I was
|
---|
| 2397 | reaching for the skiff, it ducked under the ship's stern and out of
|
---|
| 2398 | danger. And so it went, around and around, the skiff each time
|
---|
| 2399 | just barely ducking into safety.
|
---|
| 2400 | </para>
|
---|
| 2401 |
|
---|
| 2402 | <para>
|
---|
| 2403 | By this time the ship's crew had become aware of what was taking
|
---|
| 2404 | place, and we could see their heads in a long row as they looked at
|
---|
| 2405 | us over the bulwarks. Each time we missed the skiff at the stern,
|
---|
| 2406 | they set up a wild cheer and dashed across to the other side of the
|
---|
| 2407 | Lancashire Queen to see the chase to wind-ward. They showered us
|
---|
| 2408 | and the Italians with jokes and advice, and made our Greek so angry
|
---|
| 2409 | that at least once on each circuit he raised his fist and shook it
|
---|
| 2410 | at them in a rage. They came to look for this, and at each display
|
---|
| 2411 | greeted it with uproarious mirth.
|
---|
| 2412 | </para>
|
---|
| 2413 |
|
---|
| 2414 | <para>
|
---|
| 2415 | "Wot a circus!" cried one.
|
---|
| 2416 | </para>
|
---|
| 2417 |
|
---|
| 2418 | <para>
|
---|
| 2419 | "Tork about yer marine hippodromes, - if this ain't one, I'd like
|
---|
| 2420 | to know!" affirmed another.
|
---|
| 2421 | </para>
|
---|
| 2422 |
|
---|
| 2423 | <para>
|
---|
| 2424 | "Six-days-go-as-yer-please," announced a third. "Who says the
|
---|
| 2425 | dagoes won't win?"
|
---|
| 2426 | </para>
|
---|
| 2427 |
|
---|
| 2428 | <para>
|
---|
| 2429 | On the next tack to windward the Greek offered to change places
|
---|
| 2430 | with Charley.
|
---|
| 2431 | </para>
|
---|
| 2432 |
|
---|
| 2433 | <para>
|
---|
| 2434 | "Let-a me sail-a de boat," he demanded. "I fix-a them, I catch-a
|
---|
| 2435 | them, sure."
|
---|
| 2436 | </para>
|
---|
| 2437 |
|
---|
| 2438 | <para>
|
---|
| 2439 | This was a stroke at Charley's professional pride, for pride
|
---|
| 2440 | himself he did upon his boat-sailing abilities; but he yielded the
|
---|
| 2441 | tiller to the prisoner and took his place at the sheet. Three
|
---|
| 2442 | times again we made the circuit, and the Greek found that he could
|
---|
| 2443 | get no more speed out of the salmon boat than Charley had.
|
---|
| 2444 | </para>
|
---|
| 2445 |
|
---|
| 2446 | <para>
|
---|
| 2447 | "Better give it up," one of the sailors advised from above.
|
---|
| 2448 | </para>
|
---|
| 2449 |
|
---|
| 2450 | <para>
|
---|
| 2451 | The Greek scowled ferociously and shook his fist in his customary
|
---|
| 2452 | fashion. In the meanwhile my mind had not been idle, and I had
|
---|
| 2453 | finally evolved an idea.
|
---|
| 2454 | </para>
|
---|
| 2455 |
|
---|
| 2456 | <para>
|
---|
| 2457 | "Keep going, Charley, one time more," I said.
|
---|
| 2458 | </para>
|
---|
| 2459 |
|
---|
| 2460 | <para>
|
---|
| 2461 | And as we laid out on the next tack to wind-ward, I bent a piece of
|
---|
| 2462 | line to a small grappling hook I had seen lying in the bail-hole.
|
---|
| 2463 | The end of the line I made fast to the ring-bolt in the bow, and
|
---|
| 2464 | with the hook out of sight I waited for the next opportunity to use
|
---|
| 2465 | it. Once more they made their leeward pull down the port side of
|
---|
| 2466 | the Lancashire Queen, and once more we churned down after them
|
---|
| 2467 | before the wind. Nearer and nearer we drew, and I was making
|
---|
| 2468 | believe to reach for them as before. The stern of the skiff was
|
---|
| 2469 | not six feet away, and they were laughing at me derisively as they
|
---|
| 2470 | ducked under the ship's stern. At that instant I suddenly arose
|
---|
| 2471 | and threw the grappling iron. It caught fairly and squarely on the
|
---|
| 2472 | rail of the skiff, which was jerked backward out of safety as the
|
---|
| 2473 | rope tautened and the salmon boat ploughed on.
|
---|
| 2474 | </para>
|
---|
| 2475 |
|
---|
| 2476 | <para>
|
---|
| 2477 | A groan went up from the row of sailors above, which quickly
|
---|
| 2478 | changed to a cheer as one of the Italians whipped out a long
|
---|
| 2479 | sheath-knife and cut the rope. But we had drawn them out of
|
---|
| 2480 | safety, and Charley, from his place in the stern-sheets, reached
|
---|
| 2481 | over and clutched the stern of the skiff. The whole thing happened
|
---|
| 2482 | in a second of time, for the first Italian was cutting the rope and
|
---|
| 2483 | Charley was clutching the skiff when the second Italian dealt him a
|
---|
| 2484 | rap over the head with an oar, Charley released his hold and
|
---|
| 2485 | collapsed, stunned, into the bottom of the salmon boat, and the
|
---|
| 2486 | Italians bent to their oars and escaped back under the ship's
|
---|
| 2487 | stern.
|
---|
| 2488 | </para>
|
---|
| 2489 |
|
---|
| 2490 | <para>
|
---|
| 2491 | The Greek took both tiller and sheet and continued the chase around
|
---|
| 2492 | the Lancashire Queen, while I attended to Charley, on whose head a
|
---|
| 2493 | nasty lump was rapidly rising. Our sailor audience was wild with
|
---|
| 2494 | delight, and to a man encouraged the fleeing Italians. Charley sat
|
---|
| 2495 | up, with one hand on his head, and gazed about him sheepishly.
|
---|
| 2496 | </para>
|
---|
| 2497 |
|
---|
| 2498 | <para>
|
---|
| 2499 | "It will never do to let them escape now," he said, at the same
|
---|
| 2500 | time drawing his revolver.
|
---|
| 2501 | </para>
|
---|
| 2502 |
|
---|
| 2503 | <para>
|
---|
| 2504 | On our next circuit, he threatened the Italians with the weapon;
|
---|
| 2505 | but they rowed on stolidly, keeping splendid stroke and utterly
|
---|
| 2506 | disregarding him.
|
---|
| 2507 | </para>
|
---|
| 2508 |
|
---|
| 2509 | <para>
|
---|
| 2510 | "If you don't stop, I'll shoot," Charley said menacingly.
|
---|
| 2511 | </para>
|
---|
| 2512 |
|
---|
| 2513 | <para>
|
---|
| 2514 | But this had no effect, nor were they to be frightened into
|
---|
| 2515 | surrendering even when he fired several shots dangerously close to
|
---|
| 2516 | them. It was too much to expect him to shoot unarmed men, and this
|
---|
| 2517 | they knew as well as we did; so they continued to pull doggedly
|
---|
| 2518 | round and round the ship.
|
---|
| 2519 | </para>
|
---|
| 2520 |
|
---|
| 2521 | <para>
|
---|
| 2522 | "We'll run them down, then!" Charley exclaimed. "We'll wear them
|
---|
| 2523 | out and wind them!"
|
---|
| 2524 | </para>
|
---|
| 2525 |
|
---|
| 2526 | <para>
|
---|
| 2527 | So the chase continued. Twenty times more we ran them around the
|
---|
| 2528 | Lancashire Queen, and at last we could see that even their iron
|
---|
| 2529 | muscles were giving out. They were nearly exhausted, and it was
|
---|
| 2530 | only a matter of a few more circuits, when the game took on a new
|
---|
| 2531 | feature. On the row to windward they always gained on us, so that
|
---|
| 2532 | they were half-way down the ship's side on the row to leeward when
|
---|
| 2533 | we were passing the bow. But this last time, as we passed the bow,
|
---|
| 2534 | we saw them escaping up the ship's gangway, which had been suddenly
|
---|
| 2535 | lowered. It was an organized move on the part of the sailors,
|
---|
| 2536 | evidently countenanced by the captain; for by the time we arrived
|
---|
| 2537 | where the gangway had been, it was being hoisted up, and the skiff,
|
---|
| 2538 | slung in the ship's davits, was likewise flying aloft out of reach.
|
---|
| 2539 | </para>
|
---|
| 2540 |
|
---|
| 2541 | <para>
|
---|
| 2542 | The parley that followed with the captain was short and snappy. He
|
---|
| 2543 | absolutely forbade us to board the Lancashire Queen, and as
|
---|
| 2544 | absolutely refused to give up the two men. By this time Charley
|
---|
| 2545 | was as enraged as the Greek. Not only had he been foiled in a long
|
---|
| 2546 | and ridiculous chase, but he had been knocked senseless into the
|
---|
| 2547 | bottom of his boat by the men who had escaped him.
|
---|
| 2548 | </para>
|
---|
| 2549 |
|
---|
| 2550 | <para>
|
---|
| 2551 | "Knock off my head with little apples," he declared emphatically,
|
---|
| 2552 | striking the fist of one hand into the palm of the other, "if those
|
---|
| 2553 | two men ever escape me! I'll stay here to get them if it takes the
|
---|
| 2554 | rest of my natural life, and if I don't get them, then I promise
|
---|
| 2555 | you I'll live unnaturally long or until I do get them, or my name's
|
---|
| 2556 | not Charley Le Grant!"
|
---|
| 2557 | </para>
|
---|
| 2558 |
|
---|
| 2559 | <para>
|
---|
| 2560 | And then began the siege of the Lancashire Queen, a siege memorable
|
---|
| 2561 | in the annals of both fishermen and fish patrol. When the Reindeer
|
---|
| 2562 | came along, after a fruitless pursuit of the shad fleet, Charley
|
---|
| 2563 | instructed Neil Partington to send out his own salmon boat, with
|
---|
| 2564 | blankets, provisions, and a fisherman's charcoal stove. By sunset
|
---|
| 2565 | this exchange of boats was made, and we said good-by to our Greek,
|
---|
| 2566 | who perforce had to go into Benicia and be locked up for his own
|
---|
| 2567 | violation of the law. After supper, Charley and I kept alternate
|
---|
| 2568 | four-hour watches till day-light. The fishermen made no attempt to
|
---|
| 2569 | escape that night, though the ship sent out a boat for scouting
|
---|
| 2570 | purposes to find if the coast were clear.
|
---|
| 2571 | </para>
|
---|
| 2572 |
|
---|
| 2573 | <para>
|
---|
| 2574 | By the next day we saw that a steady siege was in order, and we
|
---|
| 2575 | perfected our plans with an eye to our own comfort. A dock, known
|
---|
| 2576 | as the Solano Wharf, which ran out from the Benicia shore, helped
|
---|
| 2577 | us in this. It happened that the Lancashire Queen, the shore at
|
---|
| 2578 | Turner's Shipyard, and the Solano Wharf were the corners of a big
|
---|
| 2579 | equilateral triangle. From ship to shore, the side of the triangle
|
---|
| 2580 | along which the Italians had to escape, was a distance equal to
|
---|
| 2581 | that from the Solano Wharf to the shore, the side of the triangle
|
---|
| 2582 | along which we had to travel to get to the shore before the
|
---|
| 2583 | Italians. But as we could sail much faster than they could row, we
|
---|
| 2584 | could permit them to travel about half their side of the triangle
|
---|
| 2585 | before we darted out along our side. If we allowed them to get
|
---|
| 2586 | more than half-way, they were certain to beat us to shore; while if
|
---|
| 2587 | we started before they were half-way, they were equally certain to
|
---|
| 2588 | beat us back to the ship.
|
---|
| 2589 | </para>
|
---|
| 2590 |
|
---|
| 2591 | <para>
|
---|
| 2592 | We found that an imaginary line, drawn from the end of the wharf to
|
---|
| 2593 | a windmill farther along the shore, cut precisely in half the line
|
---|
| 2594 | of the triangle along which the Italians must escape to reach the
|
---|
| 2595 | land. This line made it easy for us to determine how far to let
|
---|
| 2596 | them run away before we bestirred ourselves in pursuit. Day after
|
---|
| 2597 | day we would watch them through our glasses as they rowed leisurely
|
---|
| 2598 | along toward the half-way point; and as they drew close into line
|
---|
| 2599 | with the windmill, we would leap into the boat and get up sail. At
|
---|
| 2600 | sight of our preparation, they would turn and row slowly back to
|
---|
| 2601 | the Lancashire Queen, secure in the knowledge that we could not
|
---|
| 2602 | overtake them.
|
---|
| 2603 | </para>
|
---|
| 2604 |
|
---|
| 2605 | <para>
|
---|
| 2606 | To guard against calms - when our salmon boat would be useless - we
|
---|
| 2607 | also had in readiness a light rowing skiff equipped with spoon-
|
---|
| 2608 | oars. But at such times, when the wind failed us, we were forced
|
---|
| 2609 | to row out from the wharf as soon as they rowed from the ship. In
|
---|
| 2610 | the night-time, on the other hand, we were compelled to patrol the
|
---|
| 2611 | immediate vicinity of the ship; which we did, Charley and I
|
---|
| 2612 | standing four-hour watches turn and turn about. The Italians,
|
---|
| 2613 | however, preferred the daytime in which to escape, and so our long
|
---|
| 2614 | night vigils were without result.
|
---|
| 2615 | </para>
|
---|
| 2616 |
|
---|
| 2617 | <para>
|
---|
| 2618 | "What makes me mad," said Charley, "is our being kept from our
|
---|
| 2619 | honest beds while those rascally lawbreakers are sleeping soundly
|
---|
| 2620 | every night. But much good may it do them," he threatened. "I'll
|
---|
| 2621 | keep them on that ship till the captain charges them board, as sure
|
---|
| 2622 | as a sturgeon's not a catfish!"
|
---|
| 2623 | </para>
|
---|
| 2624 |
|
---|
| 2625 | <para>
|
---|
| 2626 | It was a tantalizing problem that confronted us. As long as we
|
---|
| 2627 | were vigilant, they could not escape; and as long as they were
|
---|
| 2628 | careful, we would be unable to catch them. Charley cudgelled his
|
---|
| 2629 | brains continually, but for once his imagination failed him. It
|
---|
| 2630 | was a problem apparently without other solution than that of
|
---|
| 2631 | patience. It was a waiting game, and whichever waited the longer
|
---|
| 2632 | was bound to win. To add to our irritation, friends of the
|
---|
| 2633 | Italians established a code of signals with them from the shore, so
|
---|
| 2634 | that we never dared relax the siege for a moment. And besides
|
---|
| 2635 | this, there were always one or two suspicious-looking fishermen
|
---|
| 2636 | hanging around the Solano Wharf and keeping watch on our actions.
|
---|
| 2637 | We could do nothing but "grin and bear it," as Charley said, while
|
---|
| 2638 | it took up all our time and prevented us from doing other work.
|
---|
| 2639 | </para>
|
---|
| 2640 |
|
---|
| 2641 | <para>
|
---|
| 2642 | The days went by, and there was no change in the situation. Not
|
---|
| 2643 | that no attempts were made to change it. One night friends from
|
---|
| 2644 | the shore came out in a skiff and attempted to confuse us while the
|
---|
| 2645 | two Italians escaped. That they did not succeed was due to the
|
---|
| 2646 | lack of a little oil on the ship's davits. For we were drawn back
|
---|
| 2647 | from the pursuit of the strange boat by the creaking of the davits,
|
---|
| 2648 | and arrived at the Lancashire Queen just as the Italians were
|
---|
| 2649 | lowering their skiff. Another night, fully half a dozen skiffs
|
---|
| 2650 | rowed around us in the darkness, but we held on like a leech to the
|
---|
| 2651 | side of the ship and frustrated their plan till they grew angry and
|
---|
| 2652 | showered us with abuse. Charley laughed to himself in the bottom
|
---|
| 2653 | of the boat.
|
---|
| 2654 | </para>
|
---|
| 2655 |
|
---|
| 2656 | <para>
|
---|
| 2657 | "It's a good sign, lad," he said to me. "When men begin to abuse,
|
---|
| 2658 | make sure they're losing patience; and shortly after they lose
|
---|
| 2659 | patience, they lose their heads. Mark my words, if we only hold
|
---|
| 2660 | out, they'll get careless some fine day, and then we'll get them."
|
---|
| 2661 | </para>
|
---|
| 2662 |
|
---|
| 2663 | <para>
|
---|
| 2664 | But they did not grow careless, and Charley confessed that this was
|
---|
| 2665 | one of the times when all signs failed. Their patience seemed
|
---|
| 2666 | equal to ours, and the second week of the siege dragged
|
---|
| 2667 | monotonously along. Then Charley's lagging imagination quickened
|
---|
| 2668 | sufficiently to suggest a ruse. Peter Boyelen, a new patrolman and
|
---|
| 2669 | one unknown to the fisher-folk, happened to arrive in Benicia and
|
---|
| 2670 | we took him into our plan. We were as secret as possible about it,
|
---|
| 2671 | but in some unfathomable way the friends ashore got word to the
|
---|
| 2672 | beleaguered Italians to keep their eyes open.
|
---|
| 2673 | </para>
|
---|
| 2674 |
|
---|
| 2675 | <para>
|
---|
| 2676 | On the night we were to put our ruse into effect, Charley and I
|
---|
| 2677 | took up our usual station in our rowing skiff alongside the
|
---|
| 2678 | Lancashire Queen. After it was thoroughly dark, Peter Boyelen came
|
---|
| 2679 | out in a crazy duck boat, the kind you can pick up and carry away
|
---|
| 2680 | under one arm. When we heard him coming along, paddling noisily,
|
---|
| 2681 | we slipped away a short distance into the darkness, and rested on
|
---|
| 2682 | our oars. Opposite the gangway, having jovially hailed the anchor-
|
---|
| 2683 | watch of the Lancashire Queen and asked the direction of the
|
---|
| 2684 | Scottish Chiefs, another wheat ship, he awkwardly capsized himself.
|
---|
| 2685 | The man who was standing the anchor-watch ran down the gangway and
|
---|
| 2686 | hauled him out of the water. This was what he wanted, to get
|
---|
| 2687 | aboard the ship; and the next thing he expected was to be taken on
|
---|
| 2688 | deck and then below to warm up and dry out. But the captain
|
---|
| 2689 | inhospitably kept him perched on the lowest gang-way step,
|
---|
| 2690 | shivering miserably and with his feet dangling in the water, till
|
---|
| 2691 | we, out of very pity, rowed in from the darkness and took him off.
|
---|
| 2692 | The jokes and gibes of the awakened crew sounded anything but sweet
|
---|
| 2693 | in our ears, and even the two Italians climbed up on the rail and
|
---|
| 2694 | laughed down at us long and maliciously.
|
---|
| 2695 | </para>
|
---|
| 2696 |
|
---|
| 2697 | <para>
|
---|
| 2698 | "That's all right," Charley said in a low voice, which I only could
|
---|
| 2699 | hear. "I'm mighty glad it's not us that's laughing first. We'll
|
---|
| 2700 | save our laugh to the end, eh, lad?"
|
---|
| 2701 | </para>
|
---|
| 2702 |
|
---|
| 2703 | <para>
|
---|
| 2704 | He clapped a hand on my shoulder as he finished, but it seemed to
|
---|
| 2705 | me that there was more determination than hope in his voice.
|
---|
| 2706 | </para>
|
---|
| 2707 |
|
---|
| 2708 | <para>
|
---|
| 2709 | It would have been possible for us to secure the aid of United
|
---|
| 2710 | States marshals and board the English ship, backed by Government
|
---|
| 2711 | authority. But the instructions of the Fish Commission were to the
|
---|
| 2712 | effect that the patrolmen should avoid complications, and this one,
|
---|
| 2713 | did we call on the higher powers, might well end in a pretty
|
---|
| 2714 | international tangle.
|
---|
| 2715 | </para>
|
---|
| 2716 |
|
---|
| 2717 | <para>
|
---|
| 2718 | The second week of the siege drew to its close, and there was no
|
---|
| 2719 | sign of change in the situation. On the morning of the fourteenth
|
---|
| 2720 | day the change came, and it came in a guise as unexpected and
|
---|
| 2721 | startling to us as it was to the men we were striving to capture.
|
---|
| 2722 | </para>
|
---|
| 2723 |
|
---|
| 2724 | <para>
|
---|
| 2725 | Charley and I, after our customary night vigil by the side of the
|
---|
| 2726 | Lancashire Queen, rowed into the Solana Wharf.
|
---|
| 2727 | </para>
|
---|
| 2728 |
|
---|
| 2729 | <para>
|
---|
| 2730 | "Hello!" cried Charley, in surprise. "In the name of reason and
|
---|
| 2731 | common sense, what is that? Of all unmannerly craft did you ever
|
---|
| 2732 | see the like?"
|
---|
| 2733 | </para>
|
---|
| 2734 |
|
---|
| 2735 | <para>
|
---|
| 2736 | Well might he exclaim, for there, tied up to the dock, lay the
|
---|
| 2737 | strangest looking launch I had ever seen. Not that it could be
|
---|
| 2738 | called a launch, either, but it seemed to resemble a launch more
|
---|
| 2739 | than any other kind of boat. It was seventy feet long, but so
|
---|
| 2740 | narrow was it, and so bare of superstructure, that it appeared much
|
---|
| 2741 | smaller than it really was. It was built wholly of steel, and was
|
---|
| 2742 | painted black. Three smokestacks, a good distance apart and raking
|
---|
| 2743 | well aft, arose in single file amidships; while the bow, long and
|
---|
| 2744 | lean and sharp as a knife, plainly advertised that the boat was
|
---|
| 2745 | made for speed. Passing under the stern, we read Streak, painted
|
---|
| 2746 | in small white letters.
|
---|
| 2747 | </para>
|
---|
| 2748 |
|
---|
| 2749 | <para>
|
---|
| 2750 | Charley and I were consumed with curiosity. In a few minutes we
|
---|
| 2751 | were on board and talking with an engineer who was watching the
|
---|
| 2752 | sunrise from the deck. He was quite willing to satisfy our
|
---|
| 2753 | curiosity, and in a few minutes we learned that the Streak had come
|
---|
| 2754 | in after dark from San Francisco; that this was what might be
|
---|
| 2755 | called the trial trip; and that she was the property of Silas Tate,
|
---|
| 2756 | a young mining millionaire of California, whose fad was high-speed
|
---|
| 2757 | yachts. There was some talk about turbine engines, direct
|
---|
| 2758 | application of steam, and the absence of pistons, rods, and cranks,
|
---|
| 2759 | - all of which was beyond me, for I was familiar only with sailing
|
---|
| 2760 | craft; but I did understand the last words of the engineer.
|
---|
| 2761 | </para>
|
---|
| 2762 |
|
---|
| 2763 | <para>
|
---|
| 2764 | "Four thousand horse-power and forty-five miles an hour, though you
|
---|
| 2765 | wouldn't think it," he concluded proudly.
|
---|
| 2766 | </para>
|
---|
| 2767 |
|
---|
| 2768 | <para>
|
---|
| 2769 | "Say it again, man! Say it again!" Charley exclaimed in an excited
|
---|
| 2770 | voice.
|
---|
| 2771 | </para>
|
---|
| 2772 |
|
---|
| 2773 | <para>
|
---|
| 2774 | "Four thousand horse-power and forty-five miles an hour," the
|
---|
| 2775 | engineer repeated, grinning good-naturedly.
|
---|
| 2776 | </para>
|
---|
| 2777 |
|
---|
| 2778 | <para>
|
---|
| 2779 | "Where's the owner?" was Charley's next question. "Is there any
|
---|
| 2780 | way I can speak to him?"
|
---|
| 2781 | </para>
|
---|
| 2782 |
|
---|
| 2783 | <para>
|
---|
| 2784 | The engineer shook his head. "No, I'm afraid not. He's asleep,
|
---|
| 2785 | you see."
|
---|
| 2786 | </para>
|
---|
| 2787 |
|
---|
| 2788 | <para>
|
---|
| 2789 | At that moment a young man in blue uniform came on deck farther aft
|
---|
| 2790 | and stood regarding the sunrise.
|
---|
| 2791 | </para>
|
---|
| 2792 |
|
---|
| 2793 | <para>
|
---|
| 2794 | "There he is, that's him, that's Mr. Tate," said the engineer.
|
---|
| 2795 | </para>
|
---|
| 2796 |
|
---|
| 2797 | <para>
|
---|
| 2798 | Charley walked aft and spoke to him, and while he talked earnestly
|
---|
| 2799 | the young man listened with an amused expression on his face. He
|
---|
| 2800 | must have inquired about the depth of water close in to the shore
|
---|
| 2801 | at Turner's Shipyard, for I could see Charley making gestures and
|
---|
| 2802 | explaining. A few minutes later he came back in high glee.
|
---|
| 2803 | </para>
|
---|
| 2804 |
|
---|
| 2805 | <para>
|
---|
| 2806 | "Come on lad," he said. "On to the dock with you. We've got
|
---|
| 2807 | them!"
|
---|
| 2808 | </para>
|
---|
| 2809 |
|
---|
| 2810 | <para>
|
---|
| 2811 | It was our good fortune to leave the Streak when we did, for a
|
---|
| 2812 | little later one of the spy fishermen appeared. Charley and I took
|
---|
| 2813 | up our accustomed places, on the stringer-piece, a little ahead of
|
---|
| 2814 | the Streak and over our own boat, where we could comfortably watch
|
---|
| 2815 | the Lancashire Queen. Nothing occurred till about nine o'clock,
|
---|
| 2816 | when we saw the two Italians leave the ship and pull along their
|
---|
| 2817 | side of the triangle toward the shore. Charley looked as
|
---|
| 2818 | unconcerned as could be, but before they had covered a quarter of
|
---|
| 2819 | the distance, he whispered to me:
|
---|
| 2820 | </para>
|
---|
| 2821 |
|
---|
| 2822 | <para>
|
---|
| 2823 | "Forty-five miles an hour . . . nothing can save them . . . they
|
---|
| 2824 | are ours!"
|
---|
| 2825 | </para>
|
---|
| 2826 |
|
---|
| 2827 | <para>
|
---|
| 2828 | Slowly the two men rowed along till they were nearly in line with
|
---|
| 2829 | the windmill. This was the point where we always jumped into our
|
---|
| 2830 | salmon boat and got up the sail, and the two men, evidently
|
---|
| 2831 | expecting it, seemed surprised when we gave no sign.
|
---|
| 2832 | </para>
|
---|
| 2833 |
|
---|
| 2834 | <para>
|
---|
| 2835 | When they were directly in line with the windmill, as near to the
|
---|
| 2836 | shore as to the ship, and nearer the shore than we had ever allowed
|
---|
| 2837 | them before, they grew suspicious. We followed them through the
|
---|
| 2838 | glasses, and saw them standing up in the skiff and trying to find
|
---|
| 2839 | out what we were doing. The spy fisherman, sitting beside us on
|
---|
| 2840 | the stringer-piece was likewise puzzled. He could not understand
|
---|
| 2841 | our inactivity. The men in the skiff rowed nearer the shore, but
|
---|
| 2842 | stood up again and scanned it, as if they thought we might be in
|
---|
| 2843 | hiding there. But a man came out on the beach and waved a
|
---|
| 2844 | handkerchief to indicate that the coast was clear. That settled
|
---|
| 2845 | them. They bent to the oars to make a dash for it. Still Charley
|
---|
| 2846 | waited. Not until they had covered three-quarters of the distance
|
---|
| 2847 | from the Lancashire Queen, which left them hardly more than a
|
---|
| 2848 | quarter of a mile to gain the shore, did Charley slap me on the
|
---|
| 2849 | shoulder and cry:
|
---|
| 2850 | </para>
|
---|
| 2851 |
|
---|
| 2852 | <para>
|
---|
| 2853 | "They're ours! They're ours!"
|
---|
| 2854 | </para>
|
---|
| 2855 |
|
---|
| 2856 | <para>
|
---|
| 2857 | We ran the few steps to the side of the Streak and jumped aboard.
|
---|
| 2858 | Stern and bow lines were cast off in a jiffy. The Streak shot
|
---|
| 2859 | ahead and away from the wharf. The spy fisherman we had left
|
---|
| 2860 | behind on the stringer-piece pulled out a revolver and fired five
|
---|
| 2861 | shots into the air in rapid succession. The men in the skiff gave
|
---|
| 2862 | instant heed to the warning, for we could see them pulling away
|
---|
| 2863 | like mad.
|
---|
| 2864 | </para>
|
---|
| 2865 |
|
---|
| 2866 | <para>
|
---|
| 2867 | But if they pulled like mad, I wonder how our progress can be
|
---|
| 2868 | described? We fairly flew. So frightful was the speed with which
|
---|
| 2869 | we displaced the water, that a wave rose up on either side our bow
|
---|
| 2870 | and foamed aft in a series of three stiff, up-standing waves, while
|
---|
| 2871 | astern a great crested billow pursued us hungrily, as though at
|
---|
| 2872 | each moment it would fall aboard and destroy us. The Streak was
|
---|
| 2873 | pulsing and vibrating and roaring like a thing alive. The wind of
|
---|
| 2874 | our progress was like a gale - a forty-five-mile gale. We could
|
---|
| 2875 | not face it and draw breath without choking and strangling. It
|
---|
| 2876 | blew the smoke straight back from the mouths of the smoke-stacks at
|
---|
| 2877 | a direct right angle to the perpendicular. In fact, we were
|
---|
| 2878 | travelling as fast as an express train. "We just streaked it," was
|
---|
| 2879 | the way Charley told it afterward, and I think his description
|
---|
| 2880 | comes nearer than any I can give.
|
---|
| 2881 | </para>
|
---|
| 2882 |
|
---|
| 2883 | <para>
|
---|
| 2884 | As for the Italians in the skiff - hardly had we started, it seemed
|
---|
| 2885 | to me, when we were on top of them. Naturally, we had to slow down
|
---|
| 2886 | long before we got to them; but even then we shot past like a
|
---|
| 2887 | whirlwind and were compelled to circle back between them and the
|
---|
| 2888 | shore. They had rowed steadily, rising from the thwarts at every
|
---|
| 2889 | stroke, up to the moment we passed them, when they recognized
|
---|
| 2890 | Charley and me. That took the last bit of fight out of them. They
|
---|
| 2891 | hauled in their oars, and sullenly submitted to arrest.
|
---|
| 2892 | </para>
|
---|
| 2893 |
|
---|
| 2894 | <para>
|
---|
| 2895 | "Well, Charley," Neil Partington said, as we discussed it on the
|
---|
| 2896 | wharf afterward, "I fail to see where your boasted imagination came
|
---|
| 2897 | into play this time."
|
---|
| 2898 | </para>
|
---|
| 2899 |
|
---|
| 2900 | <para>
|
---|
| 2901 | But Charley was true to his hobby. "Imagination?" he demanded,
|
---|
| 2902 | pointing to the Streak. "Look at that! just look at it! If the
|
---|
| 2903 | invention of that isn't imagination, I should like to know what
|
---|
| 2904 | is."
|
---|
| 2905 | </para>
|
---|
| 2906 |
|
---|
| 2907 | <para>
|
---|
| 2908 | "Of course," he added, "it's the other fellow's imagination, but it
|
---|
| 2909 | did the work all the same."
|
---|
| 2910 | </para>
|
---|
| 2911 |
|
---|
| 2912 |
|
---|
| 2913 | </chapter>
|
---|
| 2914 |
|
---|
| 2915 | <chapter>
|
---|
| 2916 | <title>CHARLEY'S COUP</title>
|
---|
| 2917 |
|
---|
| 2918 |
|
---|
| 2919 | <para>
|
---|
| 2920 | Perhaps our most laughable exploit on the fish patrol, and at the
|
---|
| 2921 | same time our most dangerous one, was when we rounded in, at a
|
---|
| 2922 | single haul, an even score of wrathful fishermen. Charley called
|
---|
| 2923 | it a "coop," having heard Neil Partington use the term; but I think
|
---|
| 2924 | he misunderstood the word, and thought it meant "coop," to catch,
|
---|
| 2925 | to trap. The fishermen, however, coup or coop, must have called it
|
---|
| 2926 | a Waterloo, for it was the severest stroke ever dealt them by the
|
---|
| 2927 | fish patrol, while they had invited it by open and impudent
|
---|
| 2928 | defiance of the law.
|
---|
| 2929 | </para>
|
---|
| 2930 |
|
---|
| 2931 | <para>
|
---|
| 2932 | During what is called the "open season" the fishermen might catch
|
---|
| 2933 | as many salmon as their luck allowed and their boats could hold.
|
---|
| 2934 | But there was one important restriction. From sun-down Saturday
|
---|
| 2935 | night to sun-up Monday morning, they were not permitted to set a
|
---|
| 2936 | net. This was a wise provision on the part of the Fish Commission,
|
---|
| 2937 | for it was necessary to give the spawning salmon some opportunity
|
---|
| 2938 | to ascend the river and lay their eggs. And this law, with only an
|
---|
| 2939 | occasional violation, had been obediently observed by the Greek
|
---|
| 2940 | fishermen who caught salmon for the canneries and the market.
|
---|
| 2941 | </para>
|
---|
| 2942 |
|
---|
| 2943 | <para>
|
---|
| 2944 | One Sunday morning, Charley received a telephone call from a friend
|
---|
| 2945 | in Collinsville, who told him that the full force of fishermen was
|
---|
| 2946 | out with its nets. Charley and I jumped into our salmon boat and
|
---|
| 2947 | started for the scene of the trouble. With a light favoring wind
|
---|
| 2948 | at our back we went through the Carquinez Straits, crossed Suisun
|
---|
| 2949 | Bay, passed the Ship Island Light, and came upon the whole fleet at
|
---|
| 2950 | work.
|
---|
| 2951 | </para>
|
---|
| 2952 |
|
---|
| 2953 | <para>
|
---|
| 2954 | But first let me describe the method by which they worked. The net
|
---|
| 2955 | used is what is known as a gill-net. It has a simple diamond-
|
---|
| 2956 | shaped mesh which measures at least seven and one-half inches
|
---|
| 2957 | between the knots. From five to seven and even eight hundred feet
|
---|
| 2958 | in length, these nets are only a few feet wide. They are not
|
---|
| 2959 | stationary, but float with the current, the upper edge supported on
|
---|
| 2960 | the surface by floats, the lower edge sunk by means of leaden
|
---|
| 2961 | weights,
|
---|
| 2962 | </para>
|
---|
| 2963 |
|
---|
| 2964 | <para>
|
---|
| 2965 | This arrangement keeps the net upright in the current and
|
---|
| 2966 | effectually prevents all but the smaller fish from ascending the
|
---|
| 2967 | river. The salmon, swimming near the surface, as is their custom,
|
---|
| 2968 | run their heads through these meshes, and are prevented from going
|
---|
| 2969 | on through by their larger girth of body, and from going back
|
---|
| 2970 | because of their gills, which catch in the mesh. It requires two
|
---|
| 2971 | fishermen to set such a net, - one to row the boat, while the
|
---|
| 2972 | other, standing in the stern, carefully pays out the net. When it
|
---|
| 2973 | is all out, stretching directly across the stream, the men make
|
---|
| 2974 | their boat fast to one end of the net and drift along with it.
|
---|
| 2975 | </para>
|
---|
| 2976 |
|
---|
| 2977 | <para>
|
---|
| 2978 | As we came upon the fleet of law-breaking fishermen, each boat two
|
---|
| 2979 | or three hundred yards from its neighbors, and boats and nets
|
---|
| 2980 | dotting the river as far as we could see, Charley said:
|
---|
| 2981 | </para>
|
---|
| 2982 |
|
---|
| 2983 | <para>
|
---|
| 2984 | "I've only one regret, lad, and that is that I have'nt a thousand
|
---|
| 2985 | arms so as to be able to catch them all. As it is, we'll only be
|
---|
| 2986 | able to catch one boat, for while we are tackling that one it will
|
---|
| 2987 | be up nets and away with the rest."
|
---|
| 2988 | </para>
|
---|
| 2989 |
|
---|
| 2990 | <para>
|
---|
| 2991 | As we drew closer, we observed none of the usual flurry and
|
---|
| 2992 | excitement which our appearance invariably produced. Instead, each
|
---|
| 2993 | boat lay quietly by its net, while the fishermen favored us with
|
---|
| 2994 | not the slightest attention.
|
---|
| 2995 | </para>
|
---|
| 2996 |
|
---|
| 2997 | <para>
|
---|
| 2998 | "It's curious," Charley muttered. "Can it be they don't recognize
|
---|
| 2999 | us?"
|
---|
| 3000 | </para>
|
---|
| 3001 |
|
---|
| 3002 | <para>
|
---|
| 3003 | I said that it was impossible, and Charley agreed; yet there was a
|
---|
| 3004 | whole fleet, manned by men who knew us only too well, and who took
|
---|
| 3005 | no more notice of us than if we were a hay scow or a pleasure
|
---|
| 3006 | yacht.
|
---|
| 3007 | </para>
|
---|
| 3008 |
|
---|
| 3009 | <para>
|
---|
| 3010 | This did not continue to be the case, however, for as we bore down
|
---|
| 3011 | upon the nearest net, the men to whom it belonged detached their
|
---|
| 3012 | boat and rowed slowly toward the shore. The rest of the boats
|
---|
| 3013 | showed no, sign of uneasiness.
|
---|
| 3014 | </para>
|
---|
| 3015 |
|
---|
| 3016 | <para>
|
---|
| 3017 | "That's funny," was Charley's remark. "But we can confiscate the
|
---|
| 3018 | net, at any rate."
|
---|
| 3019 | </para>
|
---|
| 3020 |
|
---|
| 3021 | <para>
|
---|
| 3022 | We lowered sail, picked up one end of the net, and began to heave
|
---|
| 3023 | it into the boat. But at the first heave we heard a bullet zip-
|
---|
| 3024 | zipping past us on the water, followed by the faint report of a
|
---|
| 3025 | rifle. The men who had rowed ashore were shooting at us. At the
|
---|
| 3026 | next heave a second bullet went zipping past, perilously near.
|
---|
| 3027 | Charley took a turn around a pin and sat down. There were no more
|
---|
| 3028 | shots. But as soon as he began to heave in, the shooting
|
---|
| 3029 | recommenced.
|
---|
| 3030 | </para>
|
---|
| 3031 |
|
---|
| 3032 | <para>
|
---|
| 3033 | "That settles it," he said, flinging the end of the net overboard.
|
---|
| 3034 | "You fellows want it worse than we do, and you can have it."
|
---|
| 3035 | </para>
|
---|
| 3036 |
|
---|
| 3037 | <para>
|
---|
| 3038 | We rowed over toward the next net, for Charley was intent on
|
---|
| 3039 | finding out whether or not we were face to face with an organized
|
---|
| 3040 | defiance. As we approached, the two fishermen proceeded to cast
|
---|
| 3041 | off from their net and row ashore, while the first two rowed back
|
---|
| 3042 | and made fast to the net we had abandoned. And at the second net
|
---|
| 3043 | we were greeted by rifle shots till we desisted and went on to the
|
---|
| 3044 | third, where the manoeuvre was again repeated.
|
---|
| 3045 | </para>
|
---|
| 3046 |
|
---|
| 3047 | <para>
|
---|
| 3048 | Then we gave it up, completely routed, and hoisted sail and started
|
---|
| 3049 | on the long windward beat back to Benicia. A number of Sundays
|
---|
| 3050 | went by, on each of which the law was persistently violated. Yet,
|
---|
| 3051 | short of an armed force of soldiers, we could do nothing. The
|
---|
| 3052 | fishermen had hit upon a new idea and were using it for all it was
|
---|
| 3053 | worth, while there seemed no way by which we could get the better
|
---|
| 3054 | of them.
|
---|
| 3055 | </para>
|
---|
| 3056 |
|
---|
| 3057 | <para>
|
---|
| 3058 | About this time Neil Partington happened along from the Lower Bay,
|
---|
| 3059 | where he had been for a number of weeks. With him was Nicholas,
|
---|
| 3060 | the Greek boy who had helped us in our raid on the oyster pirates,
|
---|
| 3061 | and the pair of them took a hand. We made our arrangements
|
---|
| 3062 | carefully. It was planned that while Charley and I tackled the
|
---|
| 3063 | nets, they were to be hidden ashore so as to ambush the fishermen
|
---|
| 3064 | who landed to shoot at us.
|
---|
| 3065 | </para>
|
---|
| 3066 |
|
---|
| 3067 | <para>
|
---|
| 3068 | It was a pretty plan. Even Charley said it was. But we reckoned
|
---|
| 3069 | not half so well as the Greeks. They forestalled us by ambushing
|
---|
| 3070 | Neil and Nicholas and taking them prisoners, while, as of old,
|
---|
| 3071 | bullets whistled about our ears when Charley and I attempted to
|
---|
| 3072 | take possession of the nets. When we were again beaten off, Neil
|
---|
| 3073 | Partington and Nicholas were released. They were rather shamefaced
|
---|
| 3074 | when they put in an appearance, and Charley chaffed them
|
---|
| 3075 | unmercifully. But Neil chaffed back, demanding to know why
|
---|
| 3076 | Charley's imagination had not long since overcome the difficulty.
|
---|
| 3077 | </para>
|
---|
| 3078 |
|
---|
| 3079 | <para>
|
---|
| 3080 | "Just you wait; the idea'll come all right," Charley promised.
|
---|
| 3081 | </para>
|
---|
| 3082 |
|
---|
| 3083 | <para>
|
---|
| 3084 | "Most probably," Neil agreed. "But I'm afraid the salmon will be
|
---|
| 3085 | exterminated first, and then there will be no need for it when it
|
---|
| 3086 | does come."
|
---|
| 3087 | </para>
|
---|
| 3088 |
|
---|
| 3089 | <para>
|
---|
| 3090 | Neil Partington, highly disgusted with his adventure, departed for
|
---|
| 3091 | the Lower Bay, taking Nicholas with him, and Charley and I were
|
---|
| 3092 | left to our own resources. This meant that the Sunday fishing
|
---|
| 3093 | would be left to itself, too, until such time as Charley's idea
|
---|
| 3094 | happened along. I puzzled my head a good deal to find out some way
|
---|
| 3095 | of checkmating the Greeks, as also did Charley, and we broached a
|
---|
| 3096 | thousand expedients which on discussion proved worthless.
|
---|
| 3097 | </para>
|
---|
| 3098 |
|
---|
| 3099 | <para>
|
---|
| 3100 | The fishermen, on the other hand, were in high feather, and their
|
---|
| 3101 | boasts went up and down the river to add to our discomfiture.
|
---|
| 3102 | Among all classes of them we became aware of a growing
|
---|
| 3103 | insubordination. We were beaten, and they were losing respect for
|
---|
| 3104 | us. With the loss of respect, contempt began to arise. Charley
|
---|
| 3105 | began to be spoken of as the "olda woman," and I received my rating
|
---|
| 3106 | as the "pee-wee kid." The situation was fast becoming unbearable,
|
---|
| 3107 | and we knew that we should have to deliver a stunning stroke at the
|
---|
| 3108 | Greeks in order to regain the old-time respect in which we had
|
---|
| 3109 | stood.
|
---|
| 3110 | </para>
|
---|
| 3111 |
|
---|
| 3112 | <para>
|
---|
| 3113 | Then one morning the idea came. We were down on Steamboat Wharf,
|
---|
| 3114 | where the river steamers made their landings, and where we found a
|
---|
| 3115 | group of amused long-shoremen and loafers listening to the hard-
|
---|
| 3116 | luck tale of a sleepy-eyed young fellow in long sea-boots. He was
|
---|
| 3117 | a sort of amateur fisherman, he said, fishing for the local market
|
---|
| 3118 | of Berkeley. Now Berkeley was on the Lower Bay, thirty miles away.
|
---|
| 3119 | On the previous night, he said, he had set his net and dozed off to
|
---|
| 3120 | sleep in the bottom of the boat.
|
---|
| 3121 | </para>
|
---|
| 3122 |
|
---|
| 3123 | <para>
|
---|
| 3124 | The next he knew it was morning, and he opened his eyes to find his
|
---|
| 3125 | boat rubbing softly against the piles of Steamboat Wharf at
|
---|
| 3126 | Benicia. Also he saw the river steamer Apache lying ahead of him,
|
---|
| 3127 | and a couple of deck-hands disentangling the shreds of his net from
|
---|
| 3128 | the paddle-wheel. In short, after he had gone to sleep, his
|
---|
| 3129 | fisherman's riding light had gone out, and the Apache had run over
|
---|
| 3130 | his net. Though torn pretty well to pieces, the net in some way
|
---|
| 3131 | still remained foul, and he had had a thirty-mile tow out of his
|
---|
| 3132 | course.
|
---|
| 3133 | </para>
|
---|
| 3134 |
|
---|
| 3135 | <para>
|
---|
| 3136 | Charley nudged me with his elbow. I grasped his thought on the
|
---|
| 3137 | instant, but objected:
|
---|
| 3138 | </para>
|
---|
| 3139 |
|
---|
| 3140 | <para>
|
---|
| 3141 | "We can't charter a steamboat."
|
---|
| 3142 | </para>
|
---|
| 3143 |
|
---|
| 3144 | <para>
|
---|
| 3145 | "Don't intend to," he rejoined. "But let's run over to Turner's
|
---|
| 3146 | Shipyard. I've something in my mind there that may be of use to
|
---|
| 3147 | us."
|
---|
| 3148 | </para>
|
---|
| 3149 |
|
---|
| 3150 | <para>
|
---|
| 3151 | And over we went to the shipyard, where Charley led the way to the
|
---|
| 3152 | Mary Rebecca, lying hauled out on the ways, where she was being
|
---|
| 3153 | cleaned and overhauled. She was a scow-schooner we both knew well,
|
---|
| 3154 | carrying a cargo of one hundred and forty tons and a spread of
|
---|
| 3155 | canvas greater than other schooner on the bay.
|
---|
| 3156 | </para>
|
---|
| 3157 |
|
---|
| 3158 | <para>
|
---|
| 3159 | "How d'ye do, Ole," Charley greeted a big blue-shirted Swede who
|
---|
| 3160 | was greasing the jaws of the main gaff with a piece of pork rind.
|
---|
| 3161 | </para>
|
---|
| 3162 |
|
---|
| 3163 | <para>
|
---|
| 3164 | Ole grunted, puffed away at his pipe, and went on greasing. The
|
---|
| 3165 | captain of a bay schooner is supposed to work with his hands just
|
---|
| 3166 | as well as the men.
|
---|
| 3167 | </para>
|
---|
| 3168 |
|
---|
| 3169 | <para>
|
---|
| 3170 | Ole Ericsen verified Charley's conjecture that the Mary Rebecca, as
|
---|
| 3171 | soon as launched, would run up the San Joaquin River nearly to
|
---|
| 3172 | Stockton for a load of wheat. Then Charley made his proposition,
|
---|
| 3173 | and Ole Ericsen shook his head.
|
---|
| 3174 | </para>
|
---|
| 3175 |
|
---|
| 3176 | <para>
|
---|
| 3177 | "Just a hook, one good-sized hook," Charley pleaded.
|
---|
| 3178 | </para>
|
---|
| 3179 |
|
---|
| 3180 | <para>
|
---|
| 3181 | "No, Ay tank not," said Ole Ericsen. "Der Mary Rebecca yust hang
|
---|
| 3182 | up on efery mud-bank with that hook. Ay don't want to lose der
|
---|
| 3183 | Mary Rebecca. She's all Ay got."
|
---|
| 3184 | </para>
|
---|
| 3185 |
|
---|
| 3186 | <para>
|
---|
| 3187 | "No, no," Charley hurried to explain. "We can put the end of the
|
---|
| 3188 | hook through the bottom from the outside, and fasten it on the
|
---|
| 3189 | inside with a nut. After it's done its work, why, all we have to
|
---|
| 3190 | do is to go down into the hold, unscrew the nut, and out drops the
|
---|
| 3191 | hook. Then drive a wooden peg into the hole, and the Mary Rebecca
|
---|
| 3192 | will be all right again."
|
---|
| 3193 | </para>
|
---|
| 3194 |
|
---|
| 3195 | <para>
|
---|
| 3196 | Ole Ericsen was obstinate for a long time; but in the end, after we
|
---|
| 3197 | had had dinner with him, he was brought round to consent.
|
---|
| 3198 | </para>
|
---|
| 3199 |
|
---|
| 3200 | <para>
|
---|
| 3201 | "Ay do it, by Yupiter!" he said, striking one huge fist into the
|
---|
| 3202 | palm of the other hand. "But yust hurry you up wid der hook. Der
|
---|
| 3203 | Mary Rebecca slides into der water to-night."
|
---|
| 3204 | </para>
|
---|
| 3205 |
|
---|
| 3206 | <para>
|
---|
| 3207 | It was Saturday, and Charley had need to hurry. We headed for the
|
---|
| 3208 | shipyard blacksmith shop, where, under Charley's directions, a most
|
---|
| 3209 | generously curved book of heavy steel was made. Back we hastened
|
---|
| 3210 | to the Mary Rebecca. Aft of the great centre-board case, through
|
---|
| 3211 | what was properly her keel, a hole was bored. The end of the hook
|
---|
| 3212 | was inserted from the outside, and Charley, on the inside, screwed
|
---|
| 3213 | the nut on tightly. As it stood complete, the hook projected over
|
---|
| 3214 | a foot beneath the bottom of the schooner. Its curve was something
|
---|
| 3215 | like the curve of a sickle, but deeper.
|
---|
| 3216 | </para>
|
---|
| 3217 |
|
---|
| 3218 | <para>
|
---|
| 3219 | In the late afternoon the Mary Rebecca was launched, and
|
---|
| 3220 | preparations were finished for the start up-river next morning.
|
---|
| 3221 | Charley and Ole intently studied the evening sky for signs of wind,
|
---|
| 3222 | for without a good breeze our project was doomed to failure. They
|
---|
| 3223 | agreed that there were all the signs of a stiff westerly wind - not
|
---|
| 3224 | the ordinary afternoon sea-breeze, but a half-gale, which even then
|
---|
| 3225 | was springing up.
|
---|
| 3226 | </para>
|
---|
| 3227 |
|
---|
| 3228 | <para>
|
---|
| 3229 | Next morning found their predictions verified. The sun was shining
|
---|
| 3230 | brightly, but something more than a half-gale was shrieking up the
|
---|
| 3231 | Carquinez Straits, and the Mary Rebecca got under way with two
|
---|
| 3232 | reefs in her mainsail and one in her foresail. We found it quite
|
---|
| 3233 | rough in the Straits and in Suisun Bay; but as the water grew more
|
---|
| 3234 | land-locked it became calm, though without let-up in the wind.
|
---|
| 3235 | </para>
|
---|
| 3236 |
|
---|
| 3237 | <para>
|
---|
| 3238 | Off Ship Island Light the reefs were shaken out, and at Charley's
|
---|
| 3239 | suggestion a big fisherman's staysail was made all ready for
|
---|
| 3240 | hoisting, and the maintopsail, bunched into a cap at the masthead,
|
---|
| 3241 | was overhauled so that it could be set on an instant's notice.
|
---|
| 3242 | </para>
|
---|
| 3243 |
|
---|
| 3244 | <para>
|
---|
| 3245 | We were tearing along, wing-and-wing, before the wind, foresail to
|
---|
| 3246 | starboard and mainsail to port, as we came upon the salmon fleet.
|
---|
| 3247 | There they were, boats and nets, as on that first Sunday when they
|
---|
| 3248 | had bested us, strung out evenly over the river as far as we could
|
---|
| 3249 | see. A narrow space on the right-hand side of the channel was left
|
---|
| 3250 | clear for steamboats, but the rest of the river was covered with
|
---|
| 3251 | the wide-stretching nets. The narrow space was our logical course,
|
---|
| 3252 | but Charley, at the wheel, steered the Mary Rebecca straight for
|
---|
| 3253 | the nets. This did not cause any alarm among the fishermen,
|
---|
| 3254 | because up-river sailing craft are always provided with "shoes" on
|
---|
| 3255 | the ends of their keels, which permit them to slip over the nets
|
---|
| 3256 | without fouling them.
|
---|
| 3257 | </para>
|
---|
| 3258 |
|
---|
| 3259 | <para>
|
---|
| 3260 | "Now she takes it!" Charley cried, as we dashed across the middle
|
---|
| 3261 | of a line of floats which marked a net. At one end of this line
|
---|
| 3262 | was a small barrel buoy, at the other the two fishermen in their
|
---|
| 3263 | boat. Buoy and boat at once began to draw together, and the
|
---|
| 3264 | fishermen to cry out, as they were jerked after us. A couple of
|
---|
| 3265 | minutes later we hooked a second net, and then a third, and in this
|
---|
| 3266 | fashion we tore straight up through the centre of the fleet.
|
---|
| 3267 | </para>
|
---|
| 3268 |
|
---|
| 3269 | <para>
|
---|
| 3270 | The consternation we spread among the fishermen was tremendous. As
|
---|
| 3271 | fast as we hooked a net the two ends of it, buoy and boat, came
|
---|
| 3272 | together as they dragged out astern; and so many buoys and boats,
|
---|
| 3273 | coming together at such breakneck speed, kept the fishermen on the
|
---|
| 3274 | jump to avoid smashing into one another. Also, they shouted at us
|
---|
| 3275 | like mad to heave to into the wind, for they took it as some
|
---|
| 3276 | drunken prank on the part of scow-sailors, little dreaming that we
|
---|
| 3277 | were the fish patrol.
|
---|
| 3278 | </para>
|
---|
| 3279 |
|
---|
| 3280 | <para>
|
---|
| 3281 | The drag of a single net is very heavy, and Charley and Ole Ericsen
|
---|
| 3282 | decided that even in such a wind ten nets were all the Mary Rebecca
|
---|
| 3283 | could take along with her. So when we had hooked ten nets, with
|
---|
| 3284 | ten boats containing twenty men streaming along behind us, we
|
---|
| 3285 | veered to the left out of the fleet and headed toward Collinsville.
|
---|
| 3286 | </para>
|
---|
| 3287 |
|
---|
| 3288 | <para>
|
---|
| 3289 | We were all jubilant. Charley was handling the wheel as though he
|
---|
| 3290 | were steering the winning yacht home in a race. The two sailors
|
---|
| 3291 | who made up the crew of the Mary Rebecca, were grinning and joking.
|
---|
| 3292 | Ole Ericsen was rubbing his huge hands in child-like glee.
|
---|
| 3293 | </para>
|
---|
| 3294 |
|
---|
| 3295 | <para>
|
---|
| 3296 | "Ay tank you fish patrol fallers never ban so lucky as when you
|
---|
| 3297 | sail with Ole Ericsen," he was saying, when a rifle cracked sharply
|
---|
| 3298 | astern, and a bullet gouged along the newly painted cabin, glanced
|
---|
| 3299 | on a nail, and sang shrilly onward into space.
|
---|
| 3300 | </para>
|
---|
| 3301 |
|
---|
| 3302 | <para>
|
---|
| 3303 | This was too much for Ole Ericsen. At sight of his beloved
|
---|
| 3304 | paintwork thus defaced, he jumped up and shook his fist at the
|
---|
| 3305 | fishermen; but a second bullet smashed into the cabin not six
|
---|
| 3306 | inches from his head, and he dropped down to the deck under cover
|
---|
| 3307 | of the rail.
|
---|
| 3308 | </para>
|
---|
| 3309 |
|
---|
| 3310 | <para>
|
---|
| 3311 | All the fishermen had rifles, and they now opened a general
|
---|
| 3312 | fusillade. We were all driven to cover - even Charley, who was
|
---|
| 3313 | compelled to desert the wheel. Had it not been for the heavy drag
|
---|
| 3314 | of the nets, we would inevitably have broached to at the mercy of
|
---|
| 3315 | the enraged fishermen. But the nets, fastened to the bottom of the
|
---|
| 3316 | Mary Rebecca well aft, held her stern into the wind, and she
|
---|
| 3317 | continued to plough on, though somewhat erratically.
|
---|
| 3318 | </para>
|
---|
| 3319 |
|
---|
| 3320 | <para>
|
---|
| 3321 | Charley, lying on the deck, could just manage to reach the lower
|
---|
| 3322 | spokes of the wheel; but while he could steer after a fashion, it
|
---|
| 3323 | was very awkward. Ole Ericsen bethought himself of a large piece
|
---|
| 3324 | of sheet steel in the empty hold.
|
---|
| 3325 | </para>
|
---|
| 3326 |
|
---|
| 3327 | <para>
|
---|
| 3328 | It was in fact a plate from the side of the New Jersey, a steamer
|
---|
| 3329 | which had recently been wrecked outside the Golden Gate, and in the
|
---|
| 3330 | salving of which the Mary Rebecca had taken part.
|
---|
| 3331 | </para>
|
---|
| 3332 |
|
---|
| 3333 | <para>
|
---|
| 3334 | Crawling carefully along the deck, the two sailors, Ole, and myself
|
---|
| 3335 | got the heavy plate on deck and aft, where we reared it as a shield
|
---|
| 3336 | between the wheel and the fishermen. The bullets whanged and
|
---|
| 3337 | banged against it till it rang like a bull's-eye, but Charley
|
---|
| 3338 | grinned in its shelter, and coolly went on steering.
|
---|
| 3339 | </para>
|
---|
| 3340 |
|
---|
| 3341 | <para>
|
---|
| 3342 | So we raced along, behind us a howling, screaming bedlam of
|
---|
| 3343 | wrathful Greeks, Collinsville ahead, and bullets spat-spatting all
|
---|
| 3344 | around us.
|
---|
| 3345 | </para>
|
---|
| 3346 |
|
---|
| 3347 | <para>
|
---|
| 3348 | "Ole," Charley said in a faint voice, "I don't know what we're
|
---|
| 3349 | going to do."
|
---|
| 3350 | </para>
|
---|
| 3351 |
|
---|
| 3352 | <para>
|
---|
| 3353 | Ole Ericsen, lying on his back close to the rail and grinning
|
---|
| 3354 | upward at the sky, turned over on his side and looked at him. "Ay
|
---|
| 3355 | tank we go into Collinsville yust der same," he said.
|
---|
| 3356 | </para>
|
---|
| 3357 |
|
---|
| 3358 | <para>
|
---|
| 3359 | "But we can't stop," Charley groaned. "I never thought of it, but
|
---|
| 3360 | we can't stop."
|
---|
| 3361 | </para>
|
---|
| 3362 |
|
---|
| 3363 | <para>
|
---|
| 3364 | A look of consternation slowly overspread Ole Ericsen's broad face.
|
---|
| 3365 | It was only too true. We had a hornet's nest on our hands, and to
|
---|
| 3366 | stop at Collinsville would be to have it about our ears.
|
---|
| 3367 | </para>
|
---|
| 3368 |
|
---|
| 3369 | <para>
|
---|
| 3370 | "Every man Jack of them has a gun," one of the sailors remarked
|
---|
| 3371 | cheerfully.
|
---|
| 3372 | </para>
|
---|
| 3373 |
|
---|
| 3374 | <para>
|
---|
| 3375 | "Yes, and a knife, too," the other sailor added.
|
---|
| 3376 | </para>
|
---|
| 3377 |
|
---|
| 3378 | <para>
|
---|
| 3379 | It was Ole Ericsen's turn to groan. "What for a Svaidish faller
|
---|
| 3380 | like me monkey with none of my biziness, I don't know," he
|
---|
| 3381 | soliloquized.
|
---|
| 3382 | </para>
|
---|
| 3383 |
|
---|
| 3384 | <para>
|
---|
| 3385 | A bullet glanced on the stern and sang off to starboard like a
|
---|
| 3386 | spiteful bee. "There's nothing to do but plump the Mary Rebecca
|
---|
| 3387 | ashore and run for it," was the verdict of the first cheerful
|
---|
| 3388 | sailor.
|
---|
| 3389 | </para>
|
---|
| 3390 |
|
---|
| 3391 | <para>
|
---|
| 3392 | "And leaf der Mary Rebecca?" Ole demanded, with unspeakable horror
|
---|
| 3393 | in his voice.
|
---|
| 3394 | </para>
|
---|
| 3395 |
|
---|
| 3396 | <para>
|
---|
| 3397 | "Not unless you want to," was the response. "But I don't want to
|
---|
| 3398 | be within a thousand miles of her when those fellers come aboard" -
|
---|
| 3399 | indicating the bedlam of excited Greeks towing behind.
|
---|
| 3400 | </para>
|
---|
| 3401 |
|
---|
| 3402 | <para>
|
---|
| 3403 | We were right in at Collinsville then, and went foaming by within
|
---|
| 3404 | biscuit-toss of the wharf.
|
---|
| 3405 | </para>
|
---|
| 3406 |
|
---|
| 3407 | <para>
|
---|
| 3408 | "I only hope the wind holds out," Charley said, stealing a glance
|
---|
| 3409 | at our prisoners.
|
---|
| 3410 | </para>
|
---|
| 3411 |
|
---|
| 3412 | <para>
|
---|
| 3413 | "What of der wind?" Ole demanded disconsolately. "Der river will
|
---|
| 3414 | not hold out, and then . . . and then . . ."
|
---|
| 3415 | </para>
|
---|
| 3416 |
|
---|
| 3417 | <para>
|
---|
| 3418 | "It's head for tall timber, and the Greeks take the hindermost,"
|
---|
| 3419 | adjudged the cheerful sailor, while Ole was stuttering over what
|
---|
| 3420 | would happen when we came to the end of the river.
|
---|
| 3421 | </para>
|
---|
| 3422 |
|
---|
| 3423 | <para>
|
---|
| 3424 | We had now reached a dividing of the ways. To the left was the
|
---|
| 3425 | mouth of the Sacramento River, to the right the mouth of the San
|
---|
| 3426 | Joaquin. The cheerful sailor crept forward and jibed over the
|
---|
| 3427 | foresail as Charley put the helm to starboard and we swerved to the
|
---|
| 3428 | right into the San Joaquin. The wind, from which we had been
|
---|
| 3429 | running away on an even keel, now caught us on our beam, and the
|
---|
| 3430 | Mary Rebecca was pressed down on her port side as if she were about
|
---|
| 3431 | to capsize.
|
---|
| 3432 | </para>
|
---|
| 3433 |
|
---|
| 3434 | <para>
|
---|
| 3435 | Still we dashed on, and still the fishermen dashed on behind. The
|
---|
| 3436 | value of their nets was greater than the fines they would have to
|
---|
| 3437 | pay for violating the fish laws; so to cast off from their nets and
|
---|
| 3438 | escape, which they could easily do, would profit them nothing.
|
---|
| 3439 | Further, they remained by their nets instinctively, as a sailor
|
---|
| 3440 | remains by his ship. And still further, the desire for vengeance
|
---|
| 3441 | was roused, and we could depend upon it that they would follow us
|
---|
| 3442 | to the ends of the earth, if we undertook to tow them that far.
|
---|
| 3443 | </para>
|
---|
| 3444 |
|
---|
| 3445 | <para>
|
---|
| 3446 | The rifle-firing had ceased, and we looked astern to see what our
|
---|
| 3447 | prisoners were doing. The boats were strung along at unequal
|
---|
| 3448 | distances apart, and we saw the four nearest ones bunching
|
---|
| 3449 | together. This was done by the boat ahead trailing a small rope
|
---|
| 3450 | astern to the one behind. When this was caught, they would cast
|
---|
| 3451 | off from their net and heave in on the line till they were brought
|
---|
| 3452 | up to the boat in front. So great was the speed at which we were
|
---|
| 3453 | travelling, however, that this was very slow work. Sometimes the
|
---|
| 3454 | men would strain to their utmost and fail to get in an inch of the
|
---|
| 3455 | rope; at other times they came ahead more rapidly.
|
---|
| 3456 | </para>
|
---|
| 3457 |
|
---|
| 3458 | <para>
|
---|
| 3459 | When the four boats were near enough together for a man to pass
|
---|
| 3460 | from one to another, one Greek from each of three got into the
|
---|
| 3461 | nearest boat to us, taking his rifle with him. This made five in
|
---|
| 3462 | the foremost boat, and it was plain that their intention was to
|
---|
| 3463 | board us. This they undertook to do, by main strength and sweat,
|
---|
| 3464 | running hand over hand the float-line of a net. And though it was
|
---|
| 3465 | slow, and they stopped frequently to rest, they gradually drew
|
---|
| 3466 | nearer.
|
---|
| 3467 | </para>
|
---|
| 3468 |
|
---|
| 3469 | <para>
|
---|
| 3470 | Charley smiled at their efforts, and said, "Give her the topsail,
|
---|
| 3471 | Ole."
|
---|
| 3472 | </para>
|
---|
| 3473 |
|
---|
| 3474 | <para>
|
---|
| 3475 | The cap at the mainmast head was broken out, and sheet and downhaul
|
---|
| 3476 | pulled flat, amid a scattering rifle fire from the boats; and the
|
---|
| 3477 | Mary Rebecca lay over and sprang ahead faster than ever.
|
---|
| 3478 | </para>
|
---|
| 3479 |
|
---|
| 3480 | <para>
|
---|
| 3481 | But the Greeks were undaunted. Unable, at the increased speed, to
|
---|
| 3482 | draw themselves nearer by means of their hands, they rigged from
|
---|
| 3483 | the blocks of their boat sail what sailors call a "watch-tackle."
|
---|
| 3484 | One of them, held by the legs by his mates, would lean far over the
|
---|
| 3485 | bow and make the tackle fast to the float-line. Then they would
|
---|
| 3486 | heave in on the tackle till the blocks were together, when the
|
---|
| 3487 | manoeuvre would be repeated.
|
---|
| 3488 | </para>
|
---|
| 3489 |
|
---|
| 3490 | <para>
|
---|
| 3491 | "Have to give her the staysail," Charley said.
|
---|
| 3492 | </para>
|
---|
| 3493 |
|
---|
| 3494 | <para>
|
---|
| 3495 | Ole Ericsen looked at the straining Mary Rebecca and shook his
|
---|
| 3496 | head. "It will take der masts out of her," he said.
|
---|
| 3497 | </para>
|
---|
| 3498 |
|
---|
| 3499 | <para>
|
---|
| 3500 | "And we'll be taken out of her if you don't," Charley replied.
|
---|
| 3501 | </para>
|
---|
| 3502 |
|
---|
| 3503 | <para>
|
---|
| 3504 | Ole shot an anxious glance at his masts, another at the boat load
|
---|
| 3505 | of armed Greeks, and consented.
|
---|
| 3506 | </para>
|
---|
| 3507 |
|
---|
| 3508 | <para>
|
---|
| 3509 | The five men were in the bow of the boat - a bad place when a craft
|
---|
| 3510 | is towing. I was watching the behavior of their boat as the great
|
---|
| 3511 | fisherman's staysail, far, far larger than the top-sail and used
|
---|
| 3512 | only in light breezes, was broken out. As the Mary Rebecca lurched
|
---|
| 3513 | forward with a tremendous jerk, the nose of the boat ducked down
|
---|
| 3514 | into the water, and the men tumbled over one another in a wild rush
|
---|
| 3515 | into the stern to save the boat from being dragged sheer under
|
---|
| 3516 | water.
|
---|
| 3517 | </para>
|
---|
| 3518 |
|
---|
| 3519 | <para>
|
---|
| 3520 | "That settles them!" Charley remarked, though he was anxiously
|
---|
| 3521 | studying the behavior of the Mary Rebecca, which was being driven
|
---|
| 3522 | under far more canvas than she was rightly able to carry.
|
---|
| 3523 | </para>
|
---|
| 3524 |
|
---|
| 3525 | <para>
|
---|
| 3526 | "Next stop is Antioch!" announced the cheerful sailor, after the
|
---|
| 3527 | manner of a railway conductor. "And next comes Merryweather!"
|
---|
| 3528 | </para>
|
---|
| 3529 |
|
---|
| 3530 | <para>
|
---|
| 3531 | "Come here, quick," Charley said to me.
|
---|
| 3532 | </para>
|
---|
| 3533 |
|
---|
| 3534 | <para>
|
---|
| 3535 | I crawled across the deck and stood upright beside him in the
|
---|
| 3536 | shelter of the sheet steel.
|
---|
| 3537 | </para>
|
---|
| 3538 |
|
---|
| 3539 | <para>
|
---|
| 3540 | "Feel in my inside pocket," he commanded, "and get my notebook.
|
---|
| 3541 | That's right. Tear out a blank page and write what I tell you."
|
---|
| 3542 | </para>
|
---|
| 3543 |
|
---|
| 3544 | <para>
|
---|
| 3545 | And this is what I wrote:
|
---|
| 3546 | </para>
|
---|
| 3547 |
|
---|
| 3548 | <para>
|
---|
| 3549 |
|
---|
| 3550 | Telephone to Merryweather, to the sheriff, the constable, or the
|
---|
| 3551 | judge. Tell them we are coming and to turn out the town. Arm
|
---|
| 3552 | everybody. Have them down on the wharf to meet us or we are gone
|
---|
| 3553 | gooses.
|
---|
| 3554 | </para>
|
---|
| 3555 |
|
---|
| 3556 | <para>
|
---|
| 3557 |
|
---|
| 3558 | Now make it good and fast to that marlin-spike, and stand by to
|
---|
| 3559 | toss it ashore."
|
---|
| 3560 | </para>
|
---|
| 3561 |
|
---|
| 3562 | <para>
|
---|
| 3563 | I did as he directed. By then we were close to Antioch. The wind
|
---|
| 3564 | was shouting through our rigging, the Mary Rebecca was half over on
|
---|
| 3565 | her side and rushing ahead like an ocean greyhound. The seafaring
|
---|
| 3566 | folk of Antioch had seen us breaking out topsail and staysail, a
|
---|
| 3567 | most reckless performance in such weather, and had hurried to the
|
---|
| 3568 | wharf-ends in little groups to find out what was the matter.
|
---|
| 3569 | </para>
|
---|
| 3570 |
|
---|
| 3571 | <para>
|
---|
| 3572 | Straight down the water front we boomed, Charley edging in till a
|
---|
| 3573 | man could almost leap ashore. When he gave the signal I tossed the
|
---|
| 3574 | marlinspike. It struck the planking of the wharf a resounding
|
---|
| 3575 | smash, bounced along fifteen or twenty feet, and was pounced upon
|
---|
| 3576 | by the amazed onlookers.
|
---|
| 3577 | </para>
|
---|
| 3578 |
|
---|
| 3579 | <para>
|
---|
| 3580 | It all happened in a flash, for the next minute Antioch was behind
|
---|
| 3581 | and we were heeling it up the San Joaquin toward Merryweather, six
|
---|
| 3582 | miles away. The river straightened out here into its general
|
---|
| 3583 | easterly course, and we squared away before the wind, wing-and-wing
|
---|
| 3584 | once more, the foresail bellying out to starboard.
|
---|
| 3585 | </para>
|
---|
| 3586 |
|
---|
| 3587 | <para>
|
---|
| 3588 | Ole Ericsen seemed sunk into a state of stolid despair. Charley
|
---|
| 3589 | and the two sailors were looking hopeful, as they had good reason
|
---|
| 3590 | to be. Merryweather was a coal-mining town, and, it being Sunday,
|
---|
| 3591 | it was reasonable to expect the men to be in town. Further, the
|
---|
| 3592 | coal-miners had never lost any love for the Greek fishermen, and
|
---|
| 3593 | were pretty certain to render us hearty assistance.
|
---|
| 3594 | </para>
|
---|
| 3595 |
|
---|
| 3596 | <para>
|
---|
| 3597 | We strained our eyes for a glimpse of the town, and the first sight
|
---|
| 3598 | we caught of it gave us immense relief. The wharves were black
|
---|
| 3599 | with men. As we came closer, we could see them still arriving,
|
---|
| 3600 | stringing down the main street, guns in their hands and on the run.
|
---|
| 3601 | Charley glanced astern at the fishermen with a look of ownership in
|
---|
| 3602 | his eye which till then had been missing. The Greeks were plainly
|
---|
| 3603 | overawed by the display of armed strength and were putting their
|
---|
| 3604 | own rifles away.
|
---|
| 3605 | </para>
|
---|
| 3606 |
|
---|
| 3607 | <para>
|
---|
| 3608 | We took in topsail and staysail, dropped the main peak, and as we
|
---|
| 3609 | got abreast of the principal wharf jibed the mainsail. The Mary
|
---|
| 3610 | Rebecca shot around into the wind, the captive fishermen describing
|
---|
| 3611 | a great arc behind her, and forged ahead till she lost way, when
|
---|
| 3612 | lines we're flung ashore and she was made fast. This was
|
---|
| 3613 | accomplished under a hurricane of cheers from the delighted miners.
|
---|
| 3614 | </para>
|
---|
| 3615 |
|
---|
| 3616 | <para>
|
---|
| 3617 | Ole Ericsen heaved a great sigh. "Ay never tank Ay see my wife
|
---|
| 3618 | never again," he confessed.
|
---|
| 3619 | </para>
|
---|
| 3620 |
|
---|
| 3621 | <para>
|
---|
| 3622 | "Why, we were never in any danger," said Charley.
|
---|
| 3623 | </para>
|
---|
| 3624 |
|
---|
| 3625 | <para>
|
---|
| 3626 | Ole looked at him incredulously.
|
---|
| 3627 | </para>
|
---|
| 3628 |
|
---|
| 3629 | <para>
|
---|
| 3630 | "Sure, I mean it," Charley went on. "All we had to do, any time,
|
---|
| 3631 | was to let go our end - as I am going to do now, so that those
|
---|
| 3632 | Greeks can untangle their nets."
|
---|
| 3633 | </para>
|
---|
| 3634 |
|
---|
| 3635 | <para>
|
---|
| 3636 | He went below with a monkey-wrench, unscrewed the nut, and let the
|
---|
| 3637 | hook drop off. When the Greeks had hauled their nets into their
|
---|
| 3638 | boats and made everything shipshape, a posse of citizens took them
|
---|
| 3639 | off our hands and led them away to jail.
|
---|
| 3640 | </para>
|
---|
| 3641 |
|
---|
| 3642 | <para>
|
---|
| 3643 | "Ay tank Ay ban a great big fool," said Ole Ericsen. But he
|
---|
| 3644 | changed his mind when the admiring townspeople crowded aboard to
|
---|
| 3645 | shake hands with him, and a couple of enterprising newspaper men
|
---|
| 3646 | took photographs of the Mary Rebecca and her captain.
|
---|
| 3647 | </para>
|
---|
| 3648 |
|
---|
| 3649 |
|
---|
| 3650 | </chapter>
|
---|
| 3651 |
|
---|
| 3652 | <chapter>
|
---|
| 3653 | <title>DEMETRIOS CONTOS</title>
|
---|
| 3654 |
|
---|
| 3655 |
|
---|
| 3656 | <para>
|
---|
| 3657 | It must not be thought, from what I have told of the Greek
|
---|
| 3658 | fishermen, that they were altogether bad. Far from it. But they
|
---|
| 3659 | were rough men, gathered together in isolated communities and
|
---|
| 3660 | fighting with the elements for a livelihood. They lived far away
|
---|
| 3661 | from the law and its workings, did not understand it, and thought
|
---|
| 3662 | it tyranny. Especially did the fish laws seem tyrannical. And
|
---|
| 3663 | because of this, they looked upon the men of the fish patrol as
|
---|
| 3664 | their natural enemies.
|
---|
| 3665 | </para>
|
---|
| 3666 |
|
---|
| 3667 | <para>
|
---|
| 3668 | We menaced their lives, or their living, which is the same thing,
|
---|
| 3669 | in many ways. We confiscated illegal traps and nets, the materials
|
---|
| 3670 | of which had cost them considerable sums and the making of which
|
---|
| 3671 | required weeks of labor. We prevented them from catching fish at
|
---|
| 3672 | many times and seasons, which was equivalent to preventing them
|
---|
| 3673 | from making as good a living as they might have made had we not
|
---|
| 3674 | been in existence. And when we captured them, they were brought
|
---|
| 3675 | into the courts of law, where heavy cash fines were collected from
|
---|
| 3676 | them. As a result, they hated us vindictively. As the dog is the
|
---|
| 3677 | natural enemy of the cat, the snake of man, so were we of the fish
|
---|
| 3678 | patrol the natural enemies of the fishermen.
|
---|
| 3679 | </para>
|
---|
| 3680 |
|
---|
| 3681 | <para>
|
---|
| 3682 | But it is to show that they could act generously as well as hate
|
---|
| 3683 | bitterly that this story of Demetrios Contos is told. Demetrios
|
---|
| 3684 | Contos lived in Vallejo. Next to Big Alec, he was the largest,
|
---|
| 3685 | bravest, and most influential man among the Greeks. He had given
|
---|
| 3686 | us no trouble, and I doubt if he would ever have clashed with us
|
---|
| 3687 | had he not invested in a new salmon boat. This boat was the cause
|
---|
| 3688 | of all the trouble. He had had it built upon his own model, in
|
---|
| 3689 | which the lines of the general salmon boat were somewhat modified.
|
---|
| 3690 | </para>
|
---|
| 3691 |
|
---|
| 3692 | <para>
|
---|
| 3693 | To his high elation he found his new boat very fast - in fact,
|
---|
| 3694 | faster than any other boat on the bay or rivers. Forthwith he grew
|
---|
| 3695 | proud and boastful: and, our raid with the Mary Rebecca on the
|
---|
| 3696 | Sunday salmon fishers having wrought fear in their hearts, he sent
|
---|
| 3697 | a challenge up to Benicia. One of the local fishermen conveyed it
|
---|
| 3698 | to us; it was to the effect that Demetrios Contos would sail up
|
---|
| 3699 | from Vallejo on the following Sunday, and in the plain sight of
|
---|
| 3700 | Benicia set his net and catch salmon, and that Charley Le Grant,
|
---|
| 3701 | patrolman, might come and get him if he could. Of course Charley
|
---|
| 3702 | and I had heard nothing of the new boat. Our own boat was pretty
|
---|
| 3703 | fast, and we were not afraid to have a brush with any other that
|
---|
| 3704 | happened along.
|
---|
| 3705 | </para>
|
---|
| 3706 |
|
---|
| 3707 | <para>
|
---|
| 3708 | Sunday came. The challenge had been bruited abroad, and the
|
---|
| 3709 | fishermen and seafaring folk of Benicia turned out to a man,
|
---|
| 3710 | crowding Steamboat Wharf till it looked like the grand stand at a
|
---|
| 3711 | football match. Charley and I had been sceptical, but the fact of
|
---|
| 3712 | the crowd convinced us that there was something in Demetrios
|
---|
| 3713 | Contos's dare.
|
---|
| 3714 | </para>
|
---|
| 3715 |
|
---|
| 3716 | <para>
|
---|
| 3717 | In the afternoon, when the sea-breeze had picked up in strength,
|
---|
| 3718 | his sail hove into view as he bowled along before the wind. He
|
---|
| 3719 | tacked a score of feet from the wharf, waved his hand theatrically,
|
---|
| 3720 | like a knight about to enter the lists, received a hearty cheer in
|
---|
| 3721 | return, and stood away into the Straits for a couple of hundred
|
---|
| 3722 | yards. Then he lowered sail, and, drifting the boat sidewise by
|
---|
| 3723 | means of the wind, proceeded to set his net. He did not set much
|
---|
| 3724 | of it, possibly fifty feet; yet Charley and I were thunderstruck at
|
---|
| 3725 | the man's effrontery. We did not know at the time, but we learned
|
---|
| 3726 | afterward, that the net he used was old and worthless. It could
|
---|
| 3727 | catch fish, true; but a catch of any size would have torn it to
|
---|
| 3728 | pieces.
|
---|
| 3729 | </para>
|
---|
| 3730 |
|
---|
| 3731 | <para>
|
---|
| 3732 | Charley shook his head and said:
|
---|
| 3733 | </para>
|
---|
| 3734 |
|
---|
| 3735 | <para>
|
---|
| 3736 | "I confess, it puzzles me. What if he has out only fifty feet? He
|
---|
| 3737 | could never get it in if we once started for him. And why does he
|
---|
| 3738 | come here anyway, flaunting his law-breaking in our faces? Right
|
---|
| 3739 | in our home town, too."
|
---|
| 3740 | </para>
|
---|
| 3741 |
|
---|
| 3742 | <para>
|
---|
| 3743 | Charley's voice took on an aggrieved tone, and he continued for
|
---|
| 3744 | some minutes to inveigh against the brazenness of Demetrios Contos.
|
---|
| 3745 | </para>
|
---|
| 3746 |
|
---|
| 3747 | <para>
|
---|
| 3748 | In the meantime, the man in question was lolling in the stern of
|
---|
| 3749 | his boat and watching the net floats. When a large fish is meshed
|
---|
| 3750 | in a gill-net, the floats by their agitation advertise the fact.
|
---|
| 3751 | And they evidently advertised it to Demetrios, for he pulled in
|
---|
| 3752 | about a dozen feet of net, and held aloft for a moment, before he
|
---|
| 3753 | flung it into the bottom of the boat, a big, glistening salmon. It
|
---|
| 3754 | was greeted by the audience on the wharf with round after round of
|
---|
| 3755 | cheers. This was more than Charley could stand.
|
---|
| 3756 | </para>
|
---|
| 3757 |
|
---|
| 3758 | <para>
|
---|
| 3759 | "Come on, lad," he called to me; and we lost no time jumping into
|
---|
| 3760 | our salmon boat and getting up sail.
|
---|
| 3761 | </para>
|
---|
| 3762 |
|
---|
| 3763 | <para>
|
---|
| 3764 | The crowd shouted warning to Demetrios, and as we darted out from
|
---|
| 3765 | the wharf we saw him slash his worthless net clear with a long
|
---|
| 3766 | knife. His sail was all ready to go up, and a moment later it
|
---|
| 3767 | fluttered in the sunshine. He ran aft, drew in the sheet, and
|
---|
| 3768 | filled on the long tack toward the Contra Costa Hills.
|
---|
| 3769 | </para>
|
---|
| 3770 |
|
---|
| 3771 | <para>
|
---|
| 3772 | By this time we were not more than thirty feet astern. Charley was
|
---|
| 3773 | jubilant. He knew our boat was fast, and he knew, further, that in
|
---|
| 3774 | fine sailing few men were his equals. He was confident that we
|
---|
| 3775 | should surely catch Demetrios, and I shared his confidence. But
|
---|
| 3776 | somehow we did not seem to gain.
|
---|
| 3777 | </para>
|
---|
| 3778 |
|
---|
| 3779 | <para>
|
---|
| 3780 | It was a pretty sailing breeze. We were gliding sleekly through
|
---|
| 3781 | the water, but Demetrios was slowly sliding away from us. And not
|
---|
| 3782 | only was he going faster, but he was eating into the wind a
|
---|
| 3783 | fraction of a point closer than we. This was sharply impressed
|
---|
| 3784 | upon us when he went about under the Contra Costa Hills and passed
|
---|
| 3785 | us on the other tack fully one hundred feet dead to windward.
|
---|
| 3786 | </para>
|
---|
| 3787 |
|
---|
| 3788 | <para>
|
---|
| 3789 | "Whew!" Charley exclaimed. "Either that boat is a daisy, or we've
|
---|
| 3790 | got a five-gallon coal-oil can fast to our keel!"
|
---|
| 3791 | </para>
|
---|
| 3792 |
|
---|
| 3793 | <para>
|
---|
| 3794 | It certainly looked it one way or the other. And by the time
|
---|
| 3795 | Demetrios made the Sonoma Hills, on the other side of the Straits,
|
---|
| 3796 | we were so hopelessly outdistanced that Charley told me to slack
|
---|
| 3797 | off the sheet, and we squared away for Benicia. The fishermen on
|
---|
| 3798 | Steamboat Wharf showered us with ridicule when we returned and tied
|
---|
| 3799 | up. Charley and I got out and walked away, feeling rather
|
---|
| 3800 | sheepish, for it is a sore stroke to one's pride when he thinks he
|
---|
| 3801 | has a good boat and knows how to sail it, and another man comes
|
---|
| 3802 | along and beats him.
|
---|
| 3803 | </para>
|
---|
| 3804 |
|
---|
| 3805 | <para>
|
---|
| 3806 | Charley mooned over it for a couple of days; then word was brought
|
---|
| 3807 | to us, as before, that on the next Sunday Demetrios Contos would
|
---|
| 3808 | repeat his performance. Charley roused himself. He had our boat
|
---|
| 3809 | out of the water, cleaned and repainted its bottom, made a trifling
|
---|
| 3810 | alteration about the centre-board, overhauled the running gear, and
|
---|
| 3811 | sat up nearly all of Saturday night sewing on a new and much larger
|
---|
| 3812 | sail. So large did he make it, in fact, that additional ballast
|
---|
| 3813 | was imperative, and we stowed away nearly five hundred extra pounds
|
---|
| 3814 | of old railroad iron in the bottom of the boat.
|
---|
| 3815 | </para>
|
---|
| 3816 |
|
---|
| 3817 | <para>
|
---|
| 3818 | Sunday came, and with it came Demetrios Contos, to break the law
|
---|
| 3819 | defiantly in open day. Again we had the afternoon sea-breeze, and
|
---|
| 3820 | again Demetrios cut loose some forty or more feet of his rotten
|
---|
| 3821 | net, and got up sail and under way under our very noses. But he
|
---|
| 3822 | had anticipated Charley's move, and his own sail peaked higher than
|
---|
| 3823 | ever, while a whole extra cloth had been added to the after leech.
|
---|
| 3824 | </para>
|
---|
| 3825 |
|
---|
| 3826 | <para>
|
---|
| 3827 | It was nip and tuck across to the Contra Costa Hills, neither of us
|
---|
| 3828 | seeming to gain or to lose. But by the time we had made the return
|
---|
| 3829 | tack to the Sonoma Hills, we could see that, while we footed it at
|
---|
| 3830 | about equal speed, Demetrios had eaten into the wind the least bit
|
---|
| 3831 | more than we. Yet Charley was sailing our boat as finely and
|
---|
| 3832 | delicately as it was possible to sail it, and getting more out of
|
---|
| 3833 | it than he ever had before.
|
---|
| 3834 | </para>
|
---|
| 3835 |
|
---|
| 3836 | <para>
|
---|
| 3837 | Of course, he could have drawn his revolver and fired at Demetrios;
|
---|
| 3838 | but we had long since found it contrary to our natures to shoot at
|
---|
| 3839 | a fleeing man guilty of only a petty offence. Also a sort of tacit
|
---|
| 3840 | agreement seemed to have been reached between the patrolmen and the
|
---|
| 3841 | fishermen. If we did not shoot while they ran away, they, in turn,
|
---|
| 3842 | did not fight if we once laid hands on them. Thus Demetrios Contos
|
---|
| 3843 | ran away from us, and we did no more than try our best to overtake
|
---|
| 3844 | him; and, in turn, if our boat proved faster than his, or was
|
---|
| 3845 | sailed better, he would, we knew, make no resistance when we caught
|
---|
| 3846 | up with him.
|
---|
| 3847 | </para>
|
---|
| 3848 |
|
---|
| 3849 | <para>
|
---|
| 3850 | With our large sails and the healthy breeze romping up the
|
---|
| 3851 | Carquinez Straits, we found that our sailing was what is called
|
---|
| 3852 | "ticklish." We had to be constantly on the alert to avoid a
|
---|
| 3853 | capsize, and while Charley steered I held the main-sheet in my hand
|
---|
| 3854 | with but a single turn round a pin, ready to let go at any moment.
|
---|
| 3855 | Demetrios, we could see, sailing his boat alone, had his hands
|
---|
| 3856 | full.
|
---|
| 3857 | </para>
|
---|
| 3858 |
|
---|
| 3859 | <para>
|
---|
| 3860 | But it was a vain undertaking for us to attempt to catch him. Out
|
---|
| 3861 | of his inner consciousness he had evolved a boat that was better
|
---|
| 3862 | than ours. And though Charley sailed fully as well, if not the
|
---|
| 3863 | least bit better, the boat he sailed was not so good as the
|
---|
| 3864 | Greek's.
|
---|
| 3865 | </para>
|
---|
| 3866 |
|
---|
| 3867 | <para>
|
---|
| 3868 | "Slack away the sheet," Charley commanded; and as our boat fell off
|
---|
| 3869 | before the wind, Demetrios's mocking laugh floated down to us.
|
---|
| 3870 | </para>
|
---|
| 3871 |
|
---|
| 3872 | <para>
|
---|
| 3873 | Charley shook his head, saying, "It's no use. Demetrios has the
|
---|
| 3874 | better boat. If he tries his performance again, we must meet it
|
---|
| 3875 | with some new scheme."
|
---|
| 3876 | </para>
|
---|
| 3877 |
|
---|
| 3878 | <para>
|
---|
| 3879 | This time it was my imagination that came to the rescue.
|
---|
| 3880 | </para>
|
---|
| 3881 |
|
---|
| 3882 | <para>
|
---|
| 3883 | "What's the matter," I suggested, on the Wednesday following, "with
|
---|
| 3884 | my chasing Demetrios in the boat next Sunday, while you wait for
|
---|
| 3885 | him on the wharf at Vallejo when he arrives?"
|
---|
| 3886 | </para>
|
---|
| 3887 |
|
---|
| 3888 | <para>
|
---|
| 3889 | Charley considered it a moment and slapped his knee.
|
---|
| 3890 | </para>
|
---|
| 3891 |
|
---|
| 3892 | <para>
|
---|
| 3893 | "A good idea! You're beginning to use that head of yours. A
|
---|
| 3894 | credit to your teacher, I must say."
|
---|
| 3895 | </para>
|
---|
| 3896 |
|
---|
| 3897 | <para>
|
---|
| 3898 | "But you mustn't chase him too far," he went on, the next moment,
|
---|
| 3899 | "or he'll head out into San Pablo Bay instead of running home to
|
---|
| 3900 | Vallejo, and there I'll be, standing lonely on the wharf and
|
---|
| 3901 | waiting in vain for him to arrive."
|
---|
| 3902 | </para>
|
---|
| 3903 |
|
---|
| 3904 | <para>
|
---|
| 3905 | On Thursday Charley registered an objection to my plan.
|
---|
| 3906 | </para>
|
---|
| 3907 |
|
---|
| 3908 | <para>
|
---|
| 3909 | "Everybody'll know I've gone to Vallejo, and you can depend upon it
|
---|
| 3910 | that Demetrios will know, too. I'm afraid we'll have to give up
|
---|
| 3911 | the idea."
|
---|
| 3912 | </para>
|
---|
| 3913 |
|
---|
| 3914 | <para>
|
---|
| 3915 | This objection was only too valid, and for the rest of the day I
|
---|
| 3916 | struggled under my disappointment. But that night a new way seemed
|
---|
| 3917 | to open to me, and in my eagerness I awoke Charley from a sound
|
---|
| 3918 | sleep.
|
---|
| 3919 | </para>
|
---|
| 3920 |
|
---|
| 3921 | <para>
|
---|
| 3922 | "Well," he grunted, "what's the matter? House afire?"
|
---|
| 3923 | </para>
|
---|
| 3924 |
|
---|
| 3925 | <para>
|
---|
| 3926 | "No," I replied, "but my head is. Listen to this. On Sunday you
|
---|
| 3927 | and I will be around Benicia up to the very moment Demetrios's sail
|
---|
| 3928 | heaves into sight. This will lull everybody's suspicions. Then,
|
---|
| 3929 | when Demetrios's sail does heave in sight, do you stroll leisurely
|
---|
| 3930 | away and up-town. All the fishermen will think you're beaten and
|
---|
| 3931 | that you know you're beaten."
|
---|
| 3932 | </para>
|
---|
| 3933 |
|
---|
| 3934 | <para>
|
---|
| 3935 | "So far, so good," Charley commented, while I paused to catch
|
---|
| 3936 | breath.
|
---|
| 3937 | </para>
|
---|
| 3938 |
|
---|
| 3939 | <para>
|
---|
| 3940 | "And very good indeed," I continued proudly. "You stroll
|
---|
| 3941 | carelessly up-town, but when you're once out of sight you leg it
|
---|
| 3942 | for all you're worth for Dan Maloney's. Take the little mare of
|
---|
| 3943 | his, and strike out on the country road for Vallejo. The road's in
|
---|
| 3944 | fine condition, and you can make it in quicker time than Demetrios
|
---|
| 3945 | can beat all the way down against the wind."
|
---|
| 3946 | </para>
|
---|
| 3947 |
|
---|
| 3948 | <para>
|
---|
| 3949 | "And I'll arrange right away for the mare, first thing in the
|
---|
| 3950 | morning," Charley said, accepting the modified plan without
|
---|
| 3951 | hesitation.
|
---|
| 3952 | </para>
|
---|
| 3953 |
|
---|
| 3954 | <para>
|
---|
| 3955 | "But, I say," he said, a little later, this time waking me out of a
|
---|
| 3956 | sound sleep.
|
---|
| 3957 | </para>
|
---|
| 3958 |
|
---|
| 3959 | <para>
|
---|
| 3960 | I could hear him chuckling in the dark.
|
---|
| 3961 | </para>
|
---|
| 3962 |
|
---|
| 3963 | <para>
|
---|
| 3964 | "I say, lad, isn't it rather a novelty for the fish patrol to be
|
---|
| 3965 | taking to horseback?"
|
---|
| 3966 | </para>
|
---|
| 3967 |
|
---|
| 3968 | <para>
|
---|
| 3969 | "Imagination," I answered. "It's what you're always preaching -
|
---|
| 3970 | 'keep thinking one thought ahead of the other fellow, and you're
|
---|
| 3971 | bound to win out.'"
|
---|
| 3972 | </para>
|
---|
| 3973 |
|
---|
| 3974 | <para>
|
---|
| 3975 | "He! he!" he chuckled. "And if one thought ahead, including a
|
---|
| 3976 | mare, doesn't take the other fellow's breath away this time, I'm
|
---|
| 3977 | not your humble servant, Charley Le Grant."
|
---|
| 3978 | </para>
|
---|
| 3979 |
|
---|
| 3980 | <para>
|
---|
| 3981 | "But can you manage the boat alone?" he asked, on Friday.
|
---|
| 3982 | "Remember, we've a ripping big sail on her."
|
---|
| 3983 | </para>
|
---|
| 3984 |
|
---|
| 3985 | <para>
|
---|
| 3986 | I argued my proficiency so well that he did not refer to the matter
|
---|
| 3987 | again till Saturday, when he suggested removing one whole cloth
|
---|
| 3988 | from the after leech. I guess it was the disappointment written on
|
---|
| 3989 | my face that made him desist; for I, also, had a pride in my boat-
|
---|
| 3990 | sailing abilities, and I was almost wild to get out alone with the
|
---|
| 3991 | big sail and go tearing down the Carquinez Straits in the wake of
|
---|
| 3992 | the flying Greek.
|
---|
| 3993 | </para>
|
---|
| 3994 |
|
---|
| 3995 | <para>
|
---|
| 3996 | As usual, Sunday and Demetrios Contos arrived together. It had
|
---|
| 3997 | become the regular thing for the fishermen to assemble on Steamboat
|
---|
| 3998 | Wharf to greet his arrival and to laugh at our discomfiture. He
|
---|
| 3999 | lowered sail a couple of hundred yards out and set his customary
|
---|
| 4000 | fifty feet of rotten net.
|
---|
| 4001 | </para>
|
---|
| 4002 |
|
---|
| 4003 | <para>
|
---|
| 4004 | "I suppose this nonsense will keep up as long as his old net holds
|
---|
| 4005 | out," Charley grumbled, with intention, in the hearing of several
|
---|
| 4006 | of the Greeks.
|
---|
| 4007 | </para>
|
---|
| 4008 |
|
---|
| 4009 | <para>
|
---|
| 4010 | "Den I give-a heem my old-a net-a," one of them spoke up, promptly
|
---|
| 4011 | and maliciously,
|
---|
| 4012 | </para>
|
---|
| 4013 |
|
---|
| 4014 | <para>
|
---|
| 4015 | "I don't care," Charley answered. "I've got some old net myself he
|
---|
| 4016 | can have - if he'll come around and ask for it."
|
---|
| 4017 | </para>
|
---|
| 4018 |
|
---|
| 4019 | <para>
|
---|
| 4020 | They all laughed at this, for they could afford to be sweet-
|
---|
| 4021 | tempered with a man so badly outwitted as Charley was.
|
---|
| 4022 | </para>
|
---|
| 4023 |
|
---|
| 4024 | <para>
|
---|
| 4025 | "Well, so long, lad," Charley called to me a moment later. "I
|
---|
| 4026 | think I'll go up-town to Maloney's."
|
---|
| 4027 | </para>
|
---|
| 4028 |
|
---|
| 4029 | <para>
|
---|
| 4030 | "Let me take the boat out?" I asked.
|
---|
| 4031 | </para>
|
---|
| 4032 |
|
---|
| 4033 | <para>
|
---|
| 4034 | "If you want to," was his answer, as he turned on his heel and
|
---|
| 4035 | walked slowly away.
|
---|
| 4036 | </para>
|
---|
| 4037 |
|
---|
| 4038 | <para>
|
---|
| 4039 | Demetrios pulled two large salmon out of his net, and I jumped into
|
---|
| 4040 | the boat. The fishermen crowded around in a spirit of fun, and
|
---|
| 4041 | when I started to get up sail overwhelmed me with all sorts of
|
---|
| 4042 | jocular advice. They even offered extravagant bets to one another
|
---|
| 4043 | that I would surely catch Demetrios, and two of them, styling
|
---|
| 4044 | themselves the committee of judges, gravely asked permission to
|
---|
| 4045 | come along with me to see how I did it.
|
---|
| 4046 | </para>
|
---|
| 4047 |
|
---|
| 4048 | <para>
|
---|
| 4049 | But I was in no hurry. I waited to give Charley all the time I
|
---|
| 4050 | could, and I pretended dissatisfaction with the stretch of the sail
|
---|
| 4051 | and slightly shifted the small tackle by which the huge sprit
|
---|
| 4052 | forces up the peak. It was not until I was sure that Charley had
|
---|
| 4053 | reached Dan Maloney's and was on the little mare's back, that I
|
---|
| 4054 | cast off from the wharf and gave the big sail to the wind. A stout
|
---|
| 4055 | puff filled it and suddenly pressed the lee gunwale down till a
|
---|
| 4056 | couple of buckets of water came inboard. A little thing like this
|
---|
| 4057 | will happen to the best small-boat sailors, and yet, though I
|
---|
| 4058 | instantly let go the sheet and righted, I was cheered
|
---|
| 4059 | sarcastically, as though I had been guilty of a very awkward
|
---|
| 4060 | blunder.
|
---|
| 4061 | </para>
|
---|
| 4062 |
|
---|
| 4063 | <para>
|
---|
| 4064 | When Demetrios saw only one person in the fish patrol boat, and
|
---|
| 4065 | that one a boy, he proceeded to play with me. Making a short tack
|
---|
| 4066 | out, with me not thirty feet behind, he returned, with his sheet a
|
---|
| 4067 | little free, to Steamboat Wharf. And there he made short tacks,
|
---|
| 4068 | and turned and twisted and ducked around, to the great delight of
|
---|
| 4069 | his sympathetic audience. I was right behind him all the time, and
|
---|
| 4070 | I dared to do whatever he did, even when he squared away before the
|
---|
| 4071 | wind and jibed his big sail over - a most dangerous trick with such
|
---|
| 4072 | a sail in such a wind.
|
---|
| 4073 | </para>
|
---|
| 4074 |
|
---|
| 4075 | <para>
|
---|
| 4076 | He depended upon the brisk sea breeze and the strong ebb-tide,
|
---|
| 4077 | which together kicked up a nasty sea, to bring me to grief. But I
|
---|
| 4078 | was on my mettle, and never in all my life did I sail a boat better
|
---|
| 4079 | than on that day. I was keyed up to concert pitch, my brain was
|
---|
| 4080 | working smoothly and quickly, my hands never fumbled once, and it
|
---|
| 4081 | seemed that I almost divined the thousand little things which a
|
---|
| 4082 | small-boat sailor must be taking into consideration every second.
|
---|
| 4083 | </para>
|
---|
| 4084 |
|
---|
| 4085 | <para>
|
---|
| 4086 | It was Demetrios who came to grief instead. Something went wrong
|
---|
| 4087 | with his centre-board, so that it jammed in the case and would not
|
---|
| 4088 | go all the way down. In a moment's breathing space, which he had
|
---|
| 4089 | gained from me by a clever trick, I saw him working impatiently
|
---|
| 4090 | with the centre-board, trying to force it down. I gave him little
|
---|
| 4091 | time, and he was compelled quickly to return to the tiller and
|
---|
| 4092 | sheet.
|
---|
| 4093 | </para>
|
---|
| 4094 |
|
---|
| 4095 | <para>
|
---|
| 4096 | The centre-board made him anxious. He gave over playing with me,
|
---|
| 4097 | and started on the long beat to Vallejo. To my joy, on the first
|
---|
| 4098 | long tack across, I found that I could eat into the wind just a
|
---|
| 4099 | little bit closer than he. Here was where another man in the boat
|
---|
| 4100 | would have been of value to him; for, with me but a few feet
|
---|
| 4101 | astern, he did not dare let go the tiller and run amidships to try
|
---|
| 4102 | to force down the centre-board.
|
---|
| 4103 | </para>
|
---|
| 4104 |
|
---|
| 4105 | <para>
|
---|
| 4106 | Unable to hang on as close in the eye of the wind as formerly, he
|
---|
| 4107 | proceeded to slack his sheet a trifle and to ease off a bit, in
|
---|
| 4108 | order to outfoot me. This I permitted him to do till I had worked
|
---|
| 4109 | to windward, when I bore down upon him. As I drew close, he
|
---|
| 4110 | feinted at coming about. This led me to shoot into the wind to
|
---|
| 4111 | forestall him. But it was only a feint, cleverly executed, and he
|
---|
| 4112 | held back to his course while I hurried to make up lost ground.
|
---|
| 4113 | </para>
|
---|
| 4114 |
|
---|
| 4115 | <para>
|
---|
| 4116 | He was undeniably smarter than I when it came to manoeuvring. Time
|
---|
| 4117 | after time I all but had him, and each time he tricked me and
|
---|
| 4118 | escaped. Besides, the wind was freshening, constantly, and each of
|
---|
| 4119 | us had his hands full to avoid capsizing. As for my boat, it could
|
---|
| 4120 | not have been kept afloat but for the extra ballast. I sat cocked
|
---|
| 4121 | over the weather gunwale, tiller in one hand and sheet in the
|
---|
| 4122 | other; and the sheet, with a single turn around a pin, I was very
|
---|
| 4123 | often forced to let go in the severer puffs. This allowed the sail
|
---|
| 4124 | to spill the wind, which was equivalent to taking off so much
|
---|
| 4125 | driving power, and of course I lost ground. My consolation was
|
---|
| 4126 | that Demetrios was as often compelled to do the same thing.
|
---|
| 4127 | </para>
|
---|
| 4128 |
|
---|
| 4129 | <para>
|
---|
| 4130 | The strong ebb-tide, racing down the Straits in the teeth of the
|
---|
| 4131 | wind, caused an unusually heavy and spiteful sea, which dashed
|
---|
| 4132 | aboard continually. I was dripping wet, and even the sail was wet
|
---|
| 4133 | half-way up the after leech. Once I did succeed in outmanoeuvring
|
---|
| 4134 | Demetrios, so that my bow bumped into him amidships. Here was
|
---|
| 4135 | where I should have had another man. Before I could run forward
|
---|
| 4136 | and leap aboard, he shoved the boats apart with an oar, laughing
|
---|
| 4137 | mockingly in my face as he did so.
|
---|
| 4138 | </para>
|
---|
| 4139 |
|
---|
| 4140 | <para>
|
---|
| 4141 | We were now at the mouth of the Straits, in a bad stretch of water.
|
---|
| 4142 | Here the Vallejo Straits and the Carquinez Straits rushed directly
|
---|
| 4143 | at each other. Through the first flowed all the water of Napa
|
---|
| 4144 | River and the great tide-lands; through the second flowed all the
|
---|
| 4145 | water of Suisun Bay and the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. And
|
---|
| 4146 | where such immense bodies of water, flowing swiftly, clashed
|
---|
| 4147 | together, a terrible tide-rip was produced. To make it worse, the
|
---|
| 4148 | wind howled up San Pablo Bay for fifteen miles and drove in a
|
---|
| 4149 | tremendous sea upon the tide-rip.
|
---|
| 4150 | </para>
|
---|
| 4151 |
|
---|
| 4152 | <para>
|
---|
| 4153 | Conflicting currents tore about in all directions, colliding,
|
---|
| 4154 | forming whirlpools, sucks, and boils, and shooting up spitefully
|
---|
| 4155 | into hollow waves which fell aboard as often from leeward as from
|
---|
| 4156 | windward. And through it all, confused, driven into a madness of
|
---|
| 4157 | motion, thundered the great smoking seas from San Pablo Bay.
|
---|
| 4158 | </para>
|
---|
| 4159 |
|
---|
| 4160 | <para>
|
---|
| 4161 | I was as wildly excited as the water. The boat was behaving
|
---|
| 4162 | splendidly, leaping and lurching through the welter like a race-
|
---|
| 4163 | horse. I could hardly contain myself with the joy of it. The huge
|
---|
| 4164 | sail, the howling wind, the driving seas, the plunging boat - I, a
|
---|
| 4165 | pygmy, a mere speck in the midst of it, was mastering the elemental
|
---|
| 4166 | strife, flying through it and over it, triumphant and victorious.
|
---|
| 4167 | </para>
|
---|
| 4168 |
|
---|
| 4169 | <para>
|
---|
| 4170 | And just then, as I roared along like a conquering hero, the boat
|
---|
| 4171 | received a frightful smash and came instantly to a dead stop. I
|
---|
| 4172 | was flung forward and into the bottom. As I sprang up I caught a
|
---|
| 4173 | fleeting glimpse of a greenish, barnacle-covered object, and knew
|
---|
| 4174 | it at once for what it was, that terror of navigation, a sunken
|
---|
| 4175 | pile. No man may guard against such a thing. Water-logged and
|
---|
| 4176 | floating just beneath the surface, it was impossible to sight it in
|
---|
| 4177 | the troubled water in time to escape.
|
---|
| 4178 | </para>
|
---|
| 4179 |
|
---|
| 4180 | <para>
|
---|
| 4181 | The whole bow of the boat must have been crushed in, for in a few
|
---|
| 4182 | seconds the boat was half full. Then a couple of seas filled it,
|
---|
| 4183 | and it sank straight down, dragged to bottom by the heavy ballast.
|
---|
| 4184 | So quickly did it all happen that I was entangled in the sail and
|
---|
| 4185 | drawn under. When I fought my way to the surface, suffocating, my
|
---|
| 4186 | lungs almost bursting, I could see nothing of the oars. They must
|
---|
| 4187 | have been swept away by the chaotic currents. I saw Demetrios
|
---|
| 4188 | Contos looking back from his boat, and heard the vindictive and
|
---|
| 4189 | mocking tones of his voice as he shouted exultantly. He held
|
---|
| 4190 | steadily on his course, leaving me to perish.
|
---|
| 4191 | </para>
|
---|
| 4192 |
|
---|
| 4193 | <para>
|
---|
| 4194 | There was nothing to do but to swim for it, which, in that wild
|
---|
| 4195 | confusion, was at the best a matter of but a few moments. Holding
|
---|
| 4196 | my breath and working with my hands, I managed to get off my heavy
|
---|
| 4197 | sea-boots and my jacket. Yet there was very little breath I could
|
---|
| 4198 | catch to hold, and I swiftly discovered that it was not so much a
|
---|
| 4199 | matter of swimming as of breathing.
|
---|
| 4200 | </para>
|
---|
| 4201 |
|
---|
| 4202 | <para>
|
---|
| 4203 | I was beaten and buffeted, smashed under by the great San Pablo
|
---|
| 4204 | whitecaps, and strangled by the hollow tide-rip waves which flung
|
---|
| 4205 | themselves into my eyes, nose, and mouth. Then the strange sucks
|
---|
| 4206 | would grip my legs and drag me under, to spout me up in some fierce
|
---|
| 4207 | boiling, where, even as I tried to catch my breath, a great
|
---|
| 4208 | whitecap would crash down upon my head.
|
---|
| 4209 | </para>
|
---|
| 4210 |
|
---|
| 4211 | <para>
|
---|
| 4212 | It was impossible to survive any length of time. I was breathing
|
---|
| 4213 | more water than air, and drowning all the time. My senses began to
|
---|
| 4214 | leave me, my head to whirl around. I struggled on, spasmodically,
|
---|
| 4215 | instinctively, and was barely half conscious when I felt myself
|
---|
| 4216 | caught by the shoulders and hauled over the gunwale of a boat.
|
---|
| 4217 | </para>
|
---|
| 4218 |
|
---|
| 4219 | <para>
|
---|
| 4220 | For some time I lay across a seat where I had been flung, face
|
---|
| 4221 | downward, and with the water running out of my mouth. After a
|
---|
| 4222 | while, still weak and faint, I turned around to see who was my
|
---|
| 4223 | rescuer. And there, in the stern, sheet in one hand and tiller in
|
---|
| 4224 | the other, grinning and nodding good-naturedly, sat Demetrios
|
---|
| 4225 | Contos. He had intended to leave me to drown, - he said so
|
---|
| 4226 | afterward, - but his better self had fought the battle, conquered,
|
---|
| 4227 | and sent him back to me.
|
---|
| 4228 | </para>
|
---|
| 4229 |
|
---|
| 4230 | <para>
|
---|
| 4231 | "You all-a right?" he asked.
|
---|
| 4232 | </para>
|
---|
| 4233 |
|
---|
| 4234 | <para>
|
---|
| 4235 | I managed to shape a "yes" on my lips, though I could not yet
|
---|
| 4236 | speak.
|
---|
| 4237 | </para>
|
---|
| 4238 |
|
---|
| 4239 | <para>
|
---|
| 4240 | "You sail-a de boat verr-a good-a," he said. "So good-a as a man."
|
---|
| 4241 | </para>
|
---|
| 4242 |
|
---|
| 4243 | <para>
|
---|
| 4244 | A compliment from Demetrios Contos was a compliment indeed, and I
|
---|
| 4245 | keenly appreciated it, though I could only nod my head in
|
---|
| 4246 | acknowledgment.
|
---|
| 4247 | </para>
|
---|
| 4248 |
|
---|
| 4249 | <para>
|
---|
| 4250 | We held no more conversation, for I was busy recovering and he was
|
---|
| 4251 | busy with the boat. He ran in to the wharf at Vallejo, made the
|
---|
| 4252 | boat fast, and helped me out. Then it was, as we both stood on the
|
---|
| 4253 | wharf, that Charley stepped out from behind a net-rack and put his
|
---|
| 4254 | hand on Demetrios Contos's arm.
|
---|
| 4255 | </para>
|
---|
| 4256 |
|
---|
| 4257 | <para>
|
---|
| 4258 | "He saved my life, Charley," I protested; "and I don't think he
|
---|
| 4259 | ought to be arrested."
|
---|
| 4260 | </para>
|
---|
| 4261 |
|
---|
| 4262 | <para>
|
---|
| 4263 | A puzzled expression came into Charley's face, which cleared
|
---|
| 4264 | immediately after, in a way it had when he made up his mind.
|
---|
| 4265 | </para>
|
---|
| 4266 |
|
---|
| 4267 | <para>
|
---|
| 4268 | "I can't help it, lad," he said kindly. "I can't go back on my
|
---|
| 4269 | duty, and it's plain duty to arrest him. To-day is Sunday; there
|
---|
| 4270 | are two salmon in his boat which he caught to-day. What else can I
|
---|
| 4271 | do?"
|
---|
| 4272 | </para>
|
---|
| 4273 |
|
---|
| 4274 | <para>
|
---|
| 4275 | "But he saved my life," I persisted, unable to make any other
|
---|
| 4276 | argument.
|
---|
| 4277 | </para>
|
---|
| 4278 |
|
---|
| 4279 | <para>
|
---|
| 4280 | Demetrios Contos's face went black with rage when he learned
|
---|
| 4281 | Charley's judgment. He had a sense of being unfairly treated. The
|
---|
| 4282 | better part of his nature had triumphed, he had performed a
|
---|
| 4283 | generous act and saved a helpless enemy, and in return the enemy
|
---|
| 4284 | was taking him to jail.
|
---|
| 4285 | </para>
|
---|
| 4286 |
|
---|
| 4287 | <para>
|
---|
| 4288 | Charley and I were out of sorts with each other when we went back
|
---|
| 4289 | to Benicia. I stood for the spirit of the law and not the letter;
|
---|
| 4290 | but by the letter Charley made his stand. As far as he could see,
|
---|
| 4291 | there was nothing else for him to do. The law said distinctly that
|
---|
| 4292 | no salmon should be caught on Sunday. He was a patrolman, and it
|
---|
| 4293 | was his duty to enforce that law. That was all there was to it.
|
---|
| 4294 | He had done his duty, and his conscience was clear. Nevertheless,
|
---|
| 4295 | the whole thing seemed unjust to me, and I felt very sorry for
|
---|
| 4296 | Demetrios Contos.
|
---|
| 4297 | </para>
|
---|
| 4298 |
|
---|
| 4299 | <para>
|
---|
| 4300 | Two days later we went down to Vallejo to the trial. I had to go
|
---|
| 4301 | along as a witness, and it was the most hateful task that I ever
|
---|
| 4302 | performed in my life when I testified on the witness stand to
|
---|
| 4303 | seeing Demetrios catch the two salmon Charley had captured him
|
---|
| 4304 | with.
|
---|
| 4305 | </para>
|
---|
| 4306 |
|
---|
| 4307 | <para>
|
---|
| 4308 | Demetrios had engaged a lawyer, but his case was hopeless. The
|
---|
| 4309 | jury was out only fifteen minutes, and returned a verdict of
|
---|
| 4310 | guilty. The judge sentenced Demetrios to pay a fine of one hundred
|
---|
| 4311 | dollars or go to jail for fifty days.
|
---|
| 4312 | </para>
|
---|
| 4313 |
|
---|
| 4314 | <para>
|
---|
| 4315 | Charley stepped up to the clerk of the court. "I want to pay that
|
---|
| 4316 | fine," he said, at the same time placing five twenty-dollar gold
|
---|
| 4317 | pieces on the desk. "It - it was the only way out of it, lad," he
|
---|
| 4318 | stammered, turning to me.
|
---|
| 4319 | </para>
|
---|
| 4320 |
|
---|
| 4321 | <para>
|
---|
| 4322 | The moisture rushed into my eyes as I seized his hand. "I want to
|
---|
| 4323 | pay - " I began.
|
---|
| 4324 | </para>
|
---|
| 4325 |
|
---|
| 4326 | <para>
|
---|
| 4327 | "To pay your half?" he interrupted. "I certainly shall expect you
|
---|
| 4328 | to pay it."
|
---|
| 4329 | </para>
|
---|
| 4330 |
|
---|
| 4331 | <para>
|
---|
| 4332 | In the meantime Demetrios had been informed by his lawyer that his
|
---|
| 4333 | fee likewise had been paid by Charley.
|
---|
| 4334 | </para>
|
---|
| 4335 |
|
---|
| 4336 | <para>
|
---|
| 4337 | Demetrios came over to shake Charley's hand, and all his warm
|
---|
| 4338 | Southern blood flamed in his face. Then, not to be outdone in
|
---|
| 4339 | generosity, he insisted on paying his fine and lawyer's fee
|
---|
| 4340 | himself, and flew half-way into a passion because Charley refused
|
---|
| 4341 | to let him.
|
---|
| 4342 | </para>
|
---|
| 4343 |
|
---|
| 4344 | <para>
|
---|
| 4345 | More than anything else we ever did, I think, this action of
|
---|
| 4346 | Charley's impressed upon the fishermen the deeper significance of
|
---|
| 4347 | the law. Also Charley was raised high in their esteem, while I
|
---|
| 4348 | came in for a little share of praise as a boy who knew how to sail
|
---|
| 4349 | a boat. Demetrios Contos not only never broke the law again, but
|
---|
| 4350 | he became a very good friend of ours, and on more than one occasion
|
---|
| 4351 | he ran up to Benicia to have a gossip with us.
|
---|
| 4352 | </para>
|
---|
| 4353 |
|
---|
| 4354 |
|
---|
| 4355 | </chapter>
|
---|
| 4356 |
|
---|
| 4357 | <chapter>
|
---|
| 4358 | <title>YELLOW HANDKERCHIEF</title>
|
---|
| 4359 |
|
---|
| 4360 |
|
---|
| 4361 | <para>
|
---|
| 4362 | "I'm not wanting to dictate to you, lad," Charley said; "but I'm
|
---|
| 4363 | very much against your making a last raid. You've gone safely
|
---|
| 4364 | through rough times with rough men, and it would be a shame to have
|
---|
| 4365 | something happen to you at the very end."
|
---|
| 4366 | </para>
|
---|
| 4367 |
|
---|
| 4368 | <para>
|
---|
| 4369 | "But how can I get out of making a last raid?" I demanded, with the
|
---|
| 4370 | cocksureness of youth. "There always has to be a last, you know,
|
---|
| 4371 | to anything."
|
---|
| 4372 | </para>
|
---|
| 4373 |
|
---|
| 4374 | <para>
|
---|
| 4375 | Charley crossed his legs, leaned back, and considered the problem.
|
---|
| 4376 | "Very true. But why not call the capture of Demetrios Contos the
|
---|
| 4377 | last? You're back from it safe and sound and hearty, for all your
|
---|
| 4378 | good wetting, and - and - " His voice broke and he could not speak
|
---|
| 4379 | for a moment. "And I could never forgive myself if anything
|
---|
| 4380 | happened to you now."
|
---|
| 4381 | </para>
|
---|
| 4382 |
|
---|
| 4383 | <para>
|
---|
| 4384 | I laughed at Charley's fears while I gave in to the claims of his
|
---|
| 4385 | affection, and agreed to consider the last raid already performed.
|
---|
| 4386 | We had been together for two years, and now I was leaving the fish
|
---|
| 4387 | patrol in order to go back and finish my education. I had earned
|
---|
| 4388 | and saved money to put me through three years at the high school,
|
---|
| 4389 | and though the beginning of the term was several months away, I
|
---|
| 4390 | intended doing a lot of studying for the entrance examinations.
|
---|
| 4391 | </para>
|
---|
| 4392 |
|
---|
| 4393 | <para>
|
---|
| 4394 | My belongings were packed snugly in a sea-chest, and I was all
|
---|
| 4395 | ready to buy my ticket and ride down on the train to Oakland, when
|
---|
| 4396 | Neil Partington arrived in Benicia. The Reindeer was needed
|
---|
| 4397 | immediately for work far down on the Lower Bay, and Neil said he
|
---|
| 4398 | intended to run straight for Oakland. As that was his home and as
|
---|
| 4399 | I was to live with his family while going to school, he saw no
|
---|
| 4400 | reason, he said, why I should not put my chest aboard and come
|
---|
| 4401 | along.
|
---|
| 4402 | </para>
|
---|
| 4403 |
|
---|
| 4404 | <para>
|
---|
| 4405 | So the chest went aboard, and in the middle of the afternoon we
|
---|
| 4406 | hoisted the Reindeer's big mainsail and cast off. It was
|
---|
| 4407 | tantalizing fall weather. The sea-breeze, which had blown steadily
|
---|
| 4408 | all summer, was gone, and in its place were capricious winds and
|
---|
| 4409 | murky skies which made the time of arriving anywhere extremely
|
---|
| 4410 | problematical. We started on the first of the ebb, and as we
|
---|
| 4411 | slipped down the Carquinez Straits, I looked my last for some time
|
---|
| 4412 | upon Benicia and the bight at Turner's Shipyard, where we had
|
---|
| 4413 | besieged the Lancashire Queen, and had captured Big Alec, the King
|
---|
| 4414 | of the Greeks. And at the mouth of the Straits I looked with not a
|
---|
| 4415 | little interest upon the spot where a few days before I should have
|
---|
| 4416 | drowned but for the good that was in the nature of Demetrios
|
---|
| 4417 | Contos.
|
---|
| 4418 | </para>
|
---|
| 4419 |
|
---|
| 4420 | <para>
|
---|
| 4421 | A great wall of fog advanced across San Pablo Bay to meet us, and
|
---|
| 4422 | in a few minutes the Reindeer was running blindly through the damp
|
---|
| 4423 | obscurity. Charley, who was steering, seemed to have an instinct
|
---|
| 4424 | for that kind of work. How he did it, he himself confessed that he
|
---|
| 4425 | did not know; but he had a way of calculating winds, currents,
|
---|
| 4426 | distance, time, drift, and sailing speed that was truly marvellous.
|
---|
| 4427 | </para>
|
---|
| 4428 |
|
---|
| 4429 | <para>
|
---|
| 4430 | "It looks as though it were lifting," Neil Partington said, a
|
---|
| 4431 | couple of hours after we had entered the fog. "Where do you say we
|
---|
| 4432 | are, Charley?"
|
---|
| 4433 | </para>
|
---|
| 4434 |
|
---|
| 4435 | <para>
|
---|
| 4436 | Charley looked at his watch, "Six o'clock, and three hours more of
|
---|
| 4437 | ebb," he remarked casually.
|
---|
| 4438 | </para>
|
---|
| 4439 |
|
---|
| 4440 | <para>
|
---|
| 4441 | "But where do you say we are?" Neil insisted.
|
---|
| 4442 | </para>
|
---|
| 4443 |
|
---|
| 4444 | <para>
|
---|
| 4445 | Charley pondered a moment, and then answered, "The tide has edged
|
---|
| 4446 | us over a bit out of our course, but if the fog lifts right now, as
|
---|
| 4447 | it is going to lift, you'll find we're not more than a thousand
|
---|
| 4448 | miles off McNear's Landing."
|
---|
| 4449 | </para>
|
---|
| 4450 |
|
---|
| 4451 | <para>
|
---|
| 4452 | "You might be a little more definite by a few miles, anyway," Neil
|
---|
| 4453 | grumbled, showing by his tone that he disagreed.
|
---|
| 4454 | </para>
|
---|
| 4455 |
|
---|
| 4456 | <para>
|
---|
| 4457 | "All right, then," Charley said, conclusively, "not less than a
|
---|
| 4458 | quarter of a mile, not more than a half."
|
---|
| 4459 | </para>
|
---|
| 4460 |
|
---|
| 4461 | <para>
|
---|
| 4462 | The wind freshened with a couple of little puffs, and the fog
|
---|
| 4463 | thinned perceptibly.
|
---|
| 4464 | </para>
|
---|
| 4465 |
|
---|
| 4466 | <para>
|
---|
| 4467 | "McNear's is right off there," Charley said, pointing directly into
|
---|
| 4468 | the fog on our weather beam.
|
---|
| 4469 | </para>
|
---|
| 4470 |
|
---|
| 4471 | <para>
|
---|
| 4472 | The three of us were peering intently in that direction, when the
|
---|
| 4473 | Reindeer struck with a dull crash and came to a standstill. We ran
|
---|
| 4474 | forward, and found her bowsprit entangled in the tanned rigging of
|
---|
| 4475 | a short, chunky mast. She had collided, head on, with a Chinese
|
---|
| 4476 | junk lying at anchor.
|
---|
| 4477 | </para>
|
---|
| 4478 |
|
---|
| 4479 | <para>
|
---|
| 4480 | At the moment we arrived forward, five Chinese, like so many bees,
|
---|
| 4481 | came swarming out of the little 'tween-decks cabin, the sleep still
|
---|
| 4482 | in their eyes.
|
---|
| 4483 | </para>
|
---|
| 4484 |
|
---|
| 4485 | <para>
|
---|
| 4486 | Leading them came a big, muscular man, conspicuous for his pock-
|
---|
| 4487 | marked face and the yellow silk handkerchief swathed about his
|
---|
| 4488 | head. It was Yellow Handkerchief, the Chinaman whom we had
|
---|
| 4489 | arrested for illegal shrimp-fishing the year before, and who, at
|
---|
| 4490 | that time, had nearly sunk the Reindeer, as he had nearly sunk it
|
---|
| 4491 | now by violating the rules of navigation.
|
---|
| 4492 | </para>
|
---|
| 4493 |
|
---|
| 4494 | <para>
|
---|
| 4495 | "What d'ye mean, you yellow-faced heathen, lying here in a fairway
|
---|
| 4496 | without a horn a-going?" Charley cried hotly.
|
---|
| 4497 | </para>
|
---|
| 4498 |
|
---|
| 4499 | <para>
|
---|
| 4500 | "Mean?" Neil calmly answered. "Just take a look - that's what he
|
---|
| 4501 | means."
|
---|
| 4502 | </para>
|
---|
| 4503 |
|
---|
| 4504 | <para>
|
---|
| 4505 | Our eyes followed the direction indicated by Neil's finger, and we
|
---|
| 4506 | saw the open amidships of the junk, half filled, as we found on
|
---|
| 4507 | closer examination, with fresh-caught shrimps. Mingled with the
|
---|
| 4508 | shrimps were myriads of small fish, from a quarter of an inch
|
---|
| 4509 | upward in size.
|
---|
| 4510 | </para>
|
---|
| 4511 |
|
---|
| 4512 | <para>
|
---|
| 4513 | Yellow Handkerchief had lifted the trap-net at high-water slack,
|
---|
| 4514 | and, taking advantage of the concealment offered by the fog, had
|
---|
| 4515 | boldly been lying by, waiting to lift the net again at low-water
|
---|
| 4516 | slack.
|
---|
| 4517 | </para>
|
---|
| 4518 |
|
---|
| 4519 | <para>
|
---|
| 4520 | "Well," Neil hummed and hawed, "in all my varied and extensive
|
---|
| 4521 | experience as a fish patrolman, I must say this is the easiest
|
---|
| 4522 | capture I ever made. What'll we do with them, Charley?"
|
---|
| 4523 | </para>
|
---|
| 4524 |
|
---|
| 4525 | <para>
|
---|
| 4526 | "Tow the junk into San Rafael, of course," came the answer.
|
---|
| 4527 | Charley turned to me. "You stand by the junk, lad, and I'll pass
|
---|
| 4528 | you a towing line. If the wind doesn't fail us, we'll make the
|
---|
| 4529 | creek before the tide gets too low, sleep at San Rafael, and arrive
|
---|
| 4530 | in Oakland to-morrow by midday."
|
---|
| 4531 | </para>
|
---|
| 4532 |
|
---|
| 4533 | <para>
|
---|
| 4534 | So saying, Charley and Neil returned to the Reindeer and got under
|
---|
| 4535 | way, the junk towing astern. I went aft and took charge of the
|
---|
| 4536 | prize, steering by means of an antiquated tiller and a rudder with
|
---|
| 4537 | large, diamond-shaped holes, through which the water rushed back
|
---|
| 4538 | and forth.
|
---|
| 4539 | </para>
|
---|
| 4540 |
|
---|
| 4541 | <para>
|
---|
| 4542 | By now the last of the fog had vanished, and Charley's estimate of
|
---|
| 4543 | our position was confirmed by the sight of McNear's Landing a short
|
---|
| 4544 | half-mile away. Following along the west shore, we rounded Point
|
---|
| 4545 | Pedro in plain view of the Chinese shrimp villages, and a great to-
|
---|
| 4546 | do was raised when they saw one of their junks towing behind the
|
---|
| 4547 | familiar fish patrol sloop.
|
---|
| 4548 | </para>
|
---|
| 4549 |
|
---|
| 4550 | <para>
|
---|
| 4551 | The wind, coming off the land, was rather puffy and uncertain, and
|
---|
| 4552 | it would have been more to our advantage had it been stronger. San
|
---|
| 4553 | Rafael Creek, up which we had to go to reach the town and turn over
|
---|
| 4554 | our prisoners to the authorities, ran through wide-stretching
|
---|
| 4555 | marshes, and was difficult to navigate on a falling tide, while at
|
---|
| 4556 | low tide it was impossible to navigate at all. So, with the tide
|
---|
| 4557 | already half-ebbed, it was necessary for us to make time. This the
|
---|
| 4558 | heavy junk prevented, lumbering along behind and holding the
|
---|
| 4559 | Reindeer back by just so much dead weight.
|
---|
| 4560 | </para>
|
---|
| 4561 |
|
---|
| 4562 | <para>
|
---|
| 4563 | "Tell those coolies to get up that sail," Charley finally called to
|
---|
| 4564 | me. "We don't want to hang up on the mud flats for the rest of the
|
---|
| 4565 | night."
|
---|
| 4566 | </para>
|
---|
| 4567 |
|
---|
| 4568 | <para>
|
---|
| 4569 | I repeated the order to Yellow Handkerchief, who mumbled it huskily
|
---|
| 4570 | to his men. He was suffering from a bad cold, which doubled him up
|
---|
| 4571 | in convulsive coughing spells and made his eyes heavy and
|
---|
| 4572 | bloodshot. This made him more evil-looking than ever, and when he
|
---|
| 4573 | glared viciously at me I remembered with a shiver the close shave I
|
---|
| 4574 | had had with him at the time of his previous arrest.
|
---|
| 4575 | </para>
|
---|
| 4576 |
|
---|
| 4577 | <para>
|
---|
| 4578 | His crew sullenly tailed on to the halyards, and the strange,
|
---|
| 4579 | outlandish sail, lateen in rig and dyed a warm brown, rose in the
|
---|
| 4580 | air. We were sailing on the wind, and when Yellow Handkerchief
|
---|
| 4581 | flattened down the sheet the junk forged ahead and the tow-line
|
---|
| 4582 | went slack. Fast as the Reindeer could sail, the junk outsailed
|
---|
| 4583 | her; and to avoid running her down I hauled a little closer on the
|
---|
| 4584 | wind. But the junk likewise outpointed, and in a couple of minutes
|
---|
| 4585 | I was abreast of the Reindeer and to windward. The tow-line had
|
---|
| 4586 | now tautened, at right angles to the two boats, and the predicament
|
---|
| 4587 | was laughable.
|
---|
| 4588 | </para>
|
---|
| 4589 |
|
---|
| 4590 | <para>
|
---|
| 4591 | "Cast off!" I shouted.
|
---|
| 4592 | </para>
|
---|
| 4593 |
|
---|
| 4594 | <para>
|
---|
| 4595 | Charley hesitated.
|
---|
| 4596 | </para>
|
---|
| 4597 |
|
---|
| 4598 | <para>
|
---|
| 4599 | "It's all right," I added. "Nothing can happen. We'll make the
|
---|
| 4600 | creek on this tack, and you'll be right behind me all the way up to
|
---|
| 4601 | San Rafael."
|
---|
| 4602 | </para>
|
---|
| 4603 |
|
---|
| 4604 | <para>
|
---|
| 4605 | At this Charley cast off, and Yellow Handkerchief sent one of his
|
---|
| 4606 | men forward to haul in the line. In the gathering darkness I could
|
---|
| 4607 | just make out the mouth of San Rafael Creek, and by the time we
|
---|
| 4608 | entered it I could barely see its banks. The Reindeer was fully
|
---|
| 4609 | five minutes astern, and we continued to leave her astern as we
|
---|
| 4610 | beat up the narrow, winding channel. With Charley behind us, it
|
---|
| 4611 | seemed I had little to fear from my five prisoners; but the
|
---|
| 4612 | darkness prevented my keeping a sharp eye on them, so I transferred
|
---|
| 4613 | my revolver from my trousers pocket to the side pocket of my coat,
|
---|
| 4614 | where I could more quickly put my hand on it.
|
---|
| 4615 | </para>
|
---|
| 4616 |
|
---|
| 4617 | <para>
|
---|
| 4618 | Yellow Handkerchief was the one I feared, and that he knew it and
|
---|
| 4619 | made use of it, subsequent events will show. He was sitting a few
|
---|
| 4620 | feet away from me, on what then happened to be the weather side of
|
---|
| 4621 | the junk. I could scarcely see the outlines of his form, but I
|
---|
| 4622 | soon became convinced that he was slowly, very slowly, edging
|
---|
| 4623 | closer to me. I watched him carefully. Steering with my left
|
---|
| 4624 | hand, I slipped my right into my pocket and got hold of the
|
---|
| 4625 | revolver.
|
---|
| 4626 | </para>
|
---|
| 4627 |
|
---|
| 4628 | <para>
|
---|
| 4629 | I saw him shift along for a couple of inches, and I was just about
|
---|
| 4630 | to order him back - the words were trembling on the tip of my
|
---|
| 4631 | tongue - when I was struck with great force by a heavy figure that
|
---|
| 4632 | had leaped through the air upon me from the lee side. It was one
|
---|
| 4633 | of the crew. He pinioned my right arm so that I could not withdraw
|
---|
| 4634 | my hand from my pocket, and at the same time clapped his other hand
|
---|
| 4635 | over my mouth. Of course, I could have struggled away from him and
|
---|
| 4636 | freed my hand or gotten my mouth clear so that I might cry an
|
---|
| 4637 | alarm, but in a trice Yellow Handkerchief was on top of me.
|
---|
| 4638 | </para>
|
---|
| 4639 |
|
---|
| 4640 | <para>
|
---|
| 4641 | I struggled around to no purpose in the bottom of the junk, while
|
---|
| 4642 | my legs and arms were tied and my mouth securely bound in what I
|
---|
| 4643 | afterward found to be a cotton shirt. Then I was left lying in the
|
---|
| 4644 | bottom. Yellow Handkerchief took the tiller, issuing his orders in
|
---|
| 4645 | whispers; and from our position at the time, and from the
|
---|
| 4646 | alteration of the sail, which I could dimly make out above me as a
|
---|
| 4647 | blot against the stars, I knew the junk was being headed into the
|
---|
| 4648 | mouth of a small slough which emptied at that point into San Rafael
|
---|
| 4649 | Creek.
|
---|
| 4650 | </para>
|
---|
| 4651 |
|
---|
| 4652 | <para>
|
---|
| 4653 | In a couple of minutes we ran softly alongside the bank, and the
|
---|
| 4654 | sail was silently lowered. The Chinese kept very quiet. Yellow
|
---|
| 4655 | Handkerchief sat down in the bottom alongside of me, and I could
|
---|
| 4656 | feel him straining to repress his raspy, hacking cough. Possibly
|
---|
| 4657 | seven or eight minutes later I heard Charley's voice as the
|
---|
| 4658 | Reindeer went past the mouth of the slough.
|
---|
| 4659 | </para>
|
---|
| 4660 |
|
---|
| 4661 | <para>
|
---|
| 4662 | "I can't tell you how relieved I am," I could plainly hear him
|
---|
| 4663 | saying to Neil, "that the lad has finished with the fish patrol
|
---|
| 4664 | without accident."
|
---|
| 4665 | </para>
|
---|
| 4666 |
|
---|
| 4667 | <para>
|
---|
| 4668 | Here Neil said something which I could not catch, and then
|
---|
| 4669 | Charley's voice went on:
|
---|
| 4670 | </para>
|
---|
| 4671 |
|
---|
| 4672 | <para>
|
---|
| 4673 | "The youngster takes naturally to the water, and if, when he
|
---|
| 4674 | finishes high school, he takes a course in navigation and goes deep
|
---|
| 4675 | sea, I see no reason why he shouldn't rise to be master of the
|
---|
| 4676 | finest and biggest ship afloat."
|
---|
| 4677 | </para>
|
---|
| 4678 |
|
---|
| 4679 | <para>
|
---|
| 4680 | It was all very flattering to me, but lying there, bound and gagged
|
---|
| 4681 | by my own prisoners, with the voices growing faint and fainter as
|
---|
| 4682 | the Reindeer slipped on through the darkness toward San Rafael, I
|
---|
| 4683 | must say I was not in quite the proper situation to enjoy my
|
---|
| 4684 | smiling future. With the Reindeer went my last hope. What was to
|
---|
| 4685 | happen next I could not imagine, for the Chinese were a different
|
---|
| 4686 | race from mine, and from what I knew I was confident that fair play
|
---|
| 4687 | was no part of their make-up.
|
---|
| 4688 | </para>
|
---|
| 4689 |
|
---|
| 4690 | <para>
|
---|
| 4691 | After waiting a few minutes longer, the crew hoisted the lateen
|
---|
| 4692 | sail, and Yellow Handkerchief steered down toward the mouth of San
|
---|
| 4693 | Rafael Creek. The tide was getting lower, and he had difficulty in
|
---|
| 4694 | escaping the mud-banks. I was hoping he would run aground, but he
|
---|
| 4695 | succeeded in making the Bay without accident.
|
---|
| 4696 | </para>
|
---|
| 4697 |
|
---|
| 4698 | <para>
|
---|
| 4699 | As we passed out of the creek a noisy discussion arose, which I
|
---|
| 4700 | knew related to me. Yellow Handkerchief was vehement, but the
|
---|
| 4701 | other four as vehemently opposed him. It was very evident that he
|
---|
| 4702 | advocated doing away with me and that they were afraid of the
|
---|
| 4703 | consequences. I was familiar enough with the Chinese character to
|
---|
| 4704 | know that fear alone restrained them. But what plan they offered
|
---|
| 4705 | in place of Yellow Handkerchief's murderous one, I could not make
|
---|
| 4706 | out.
|
---|
| 4707 | </para>
|
---|
| 4708 |
|
---|
| 4709 | <para>
|
---|
| 4710 | My feelings, as my fate hung in the balance, may be guessed. The
|
---|
| 4711 | discussion developed into a quarrel, in the midst of which Yellow
|
---|
| 4712 | Handkerchief unshipped the heavy tiller and sprang toward me. But
|
---|
| 4713 | his four companions threw themselves between, and a clumsy struggle
|
---|
| 4714 | took place for possession of the tiller. In the end Yellow
|
---|
| 4715 | Handkerchief was overcome, and sullenly returned to the steering,
|
---|
| 4716 | while they soundly berated him for his rashness.
|
---|
| 4717 | </para>
|
---|
| 4718 |
|
---|
| 4719 | <para>
|
---|
| 4720 | Not long after, the sail was run down and the junk slowly urged
|
---|
| 4721 | forward by means of the sweeps. I felt it ground gently on the
|
---|
| 4722 | soft mud. Three of the Chinese - they all wore long sea-boots -
|
---|
| 4723 | got over the side, and the other two passed me across the rail.
|
---|
| 4724 | With Yellow Handkerchief at my legs and his two companions at my
|
---|
| 4725 | shoulders, they began to flounder along through the mud. After
|
---|
| 4726 | some time their feet struck firmer footing, and I knew they were
|
---|
| 4727 | carrying me up some beach. The location of this beach was not
|
---|
| 4728 | doubtful in my mind. It could be none other than one of the Marin
|
---|
| 4729 | Islands, a group of rocky islets which lay off the Marin County
|
---|
| 4730 | shore.
|
---|
| 4731 | </para>
|
---|
| 4732 |
|
---|
| 4733 | <para>
|
---|
| 4734 | When they reached the firm sand that marked high tide, I was
|
---|
| 4735 | dropped, and none too gently. Yellow Handkerchief kicked me
|
---|
| 4736 | spitefully in the ribs, and then the trio floundered back through
|
---|
| 4737 | the mud to the junk. A moment later I heard the sail go up and
|
---|
| 4738 | slat in the wind as they drew in the sheet. Then silence fell, and
|
---|
| 4739 | I was left to my own devices for getting free.
|
---|
| 4740 | </para>
|
---|
| 4741 |
|
---|
| 4742 | <para>
|
---|
| 4743 | I remembered having seen tricksters writhe and squirm out of ropes
|
---|
| 4744 | with which they were bound, but though I writhed and squirmed like
|
---|
| 4745 | a good fellow, the knots remained as hard as ever, and there was no
|
---|
| 4746 | appreciable slack. In the course of my squirming, however, I
|
---|
| 4747 | rolled over upon a heap of clam-shells - the remains, evidently, of
|
---|
| 4748 | some yachting party's clam-bake. This gave me an idea. My hands
|
---|
| 4749 | were tied behind my back; and, clutching a shell in them, I rolled
|
---|
| 4750 | over and over, up the beach, till I came to the rocks I knew to be
|
---|
| 4751 | there.
|
---|
| 4752 | </para>
|
---|
| 4753 |
|
---|
| 4754 | <para>
|
---|
| 4755 | Rolling around and searching, I finally discovered a narrow
|
---|
| 4756 | crevice, into which I shoved the shell. The edge of it was sharp,
|
---|
| 4757 | and across the sharp edge I proceeded to saw the rope that bound my
|
---|
| 4758 | wrists. The edge of the shell was also brittle, and I broke it by
|
---|
| 4759 | bearing too heavily upon it. Then I rolled back to the heap and
|
---|
| 4760 | returned with as many shells as I could carry in both hands. I
|
---|
| 4761 | broke many shells, cut my hands a number of times, and got cramps
|
---|
| 4762 | in my legs from my strained position and my exertions.
|
---|
| 4763 | </para>
|
---|
| 4764 |
|
---|
| 4765 | <para>
|
---|
| 4766 | While I was suffering from the cramps, and resting, I heard a
|
---|
| 4767 | familiar halloo drift across the water. It was Charley, searching
|
---|
| 4768 | for me. The gag in my mouth prevented me from replying, and I
|
---|
| 4769 | could only lie there, helplessly fuming, while he rowed past the
|
---|
| 4770 | island and his voice slowly lost itself in the distance.
|
---|
| 4771 | </para>
|
---|
| 4772 |
|
---|
| 4773 | <para>
|
---|
| 4774 | I returned to the sawing process, and at the end of half an hour
|
---|
| 4775 | succeeded in severing the rope. The rest was easy. My hands once
|
---|
| 4776 | free, it was a matter of minutes to loosen my legs and to take the
|
---|
| 4777 | gag out of my mouth. I ran around the island to make sure it was
|
---|
| 4778 | an island and not by any chance a portion of the mainland. An
|
---|
| 4779 | island it certainly was, one of the Marin group, fringed with a
|
---|
| 4780 | sandy beach and surrounded by a sea of mud. Nothing remained but
|
---|
| 4781 | to wait till daylight and to keep warm; for it was a cold, raw
|
---|
| 4782 | night for California, with just enough wind to pierce the skin and
|
---|
| 4783 | cause one to shiver.
|
---|
| 4784 | </para>
|
---|
| 4785 |
|
---|
| 4786 | <para>
|
---|
| 4787 | To keep up the circulation, I ran around the island a dozen times
|
---|
| 4788 | or so, and clambered across its rocky backbone as many times more -
|
---|
| 4789 | all of which was of greater service to me, as I afterward
|
---|
| 4790 | discovered, than merely to warm me up. In the midst of this
|
---|
| 4791 | exercise I wondered if I had lost anything out of my pockets while
|
---|
| 4792 | rolling over and over in the sand. A search showed the absence of
|
---|
| 4793 | my revolver and pocket-knife. The first Yellow Handkerchief had
|
---|
| 4794 | taken; but the knife had been lost in the sand.
|
---|
| 4795 | </para>
|
---|
| 4796 |
|
---|
| 4797 | <para>
|
---|
| 4798 | I was hunting for it when the sound of rowlocks came to my ears.
|
---|
| 4799 | At first, of course, I thought of Charley; but on second thought I
|
---|
| 4800 | knew Charley would be calling out as he rowed along. A sudden
|
---|
| 4801 | premonition of danger seized me. The Marin Islands are lonely
|
---|
| 4802 | places; chance visitors in the dead of night are hardly to be
|
---|
| 4803 | expected. What if it were Yellow Handkerchief? The sound made by
|
---|
| 4804 | the rowlocks grew more distinct. I crouched in the sand and
|
---|
| 4805 | listened intently. The boat, which I judged a small skiff from the
|
---|
| 4806 | quick stroke of the oars, was landing in the mud about fifty yards
|
---|
| 4807 | up the beach. I heard a raspy, hacking cough, and my heart stood
|
---|
| 4808 | still. It was Yellow Handkerchief. Not to be robbed of his
|
---|
| 4809 | revenge by his more cautious companions, he had stolen away from
|
---|
| 4810 | the village and come back alone.
|
---|
| 4811 | </para>
|
---|
| 4812 |
|
---|
| 4813 | <para>
|
---|
| 4814 | I did some swift thinking. I was unarmed and helpless on a tiny
|
---|
| 4815 | islet, and a yellow barbarian, whom I had reason to fear, was
|
---|
| 4816 | coming after me. Any place was safer than the island, and I turned
|
---|
| 4817 | instinctively to the water, or rather to the mud. As he began to
|
---|
| 4818 | flounder ashore through the mud, I started to flounder out into it,
|
---|
| 4819 | going over the same course which the Chinese had taken in landing
|
---|
| 4820 | me and in returning to the junk.
|
---|
| 4821 | </para>
|
---|
| 4822 |
|
---|
| 4823 | <para>
|
---|
| 4824 | Yellow Handkerchief, believing me to be lying tightly bound,
|
---|
| 4825 | exercised no care, but came ashore noisily. This helped me, for,
|
---|
| 4826 | under the shield of his noise and making no more myself than
|
---|
| 4827 | necessary, I managed to cover fifty feet by the time he had made
|
---|
| 4828 | the beach. Here I lay down in the mud. It was cold and clammy,
|
---|
| 4829 | and made me shiver, but I did not care to stand up and run the risk
|
---|
| 4830 | of being discovered by his sharp eyes.
|
---|
| 4831 | </para>
|
---|
| 4832 |
|
---|
| 4833 | <para>
|
---|
| 4834 | He walked down the beach straight to where he had left me lying,
|
---|
| 4835 | and I had a fleeting feeling of regret at not being able to see his
|
---|
| 4836 | surprise when he did not find me. But it was a very fleeting
|
---|
| 4837 | regret, for my teeth were chattering with the cold.
|
---|
| 4838 | </para>
|
---|
| 4839 |
|
---|
| 4840 | <para>
|
---|
| 4841 | What his movements were after that I had largely to deduce from the
|
---|
| 4842 | facts of the situation, for I could scarcely see him in the dim
|
---|
| 4843 | starlight. But I was sure that the first thing he did was to make
|
---|
| 4844 | the circuit of the beach to learn if landings had been made by
|
---|
| 4845 | other boats. This he would have known at once by the tracks
|
---|
| 4846 | through the mud.
|
---|
| 4847 | </para>
|
---|
| 4848 |
|
---|
| 4849 | <para>
|
---|
| 4850 | Convinced that no boat had removed me from the island, he next
|
---|
| 4851 | started to find out what had become of me. Beginning at the pile
|
---|
| 4852 | of clamshells, he lighted matches to trace my tracks in the sand.
|
---|
| 4853 | At such times I could see his villanous face plainly, and, when the
|
---|
| 4854 | sulphur from the matches irritated his lungs, between the raspy
|
---|
| 4855 | cough that followed and the clammy mud in which I was lying, I
|
---|
| 4856 | confess I shivered harder than ever.
|
---|
| 4857 | </para>
|
---|
| 4858 |
|
---|
| 4859 | <para>
|
---|
| 4860 | The multiplicity of my footprints puzzled him. Then the idea that
|
---|
| 4861 | I might be out in the mud must have struck him, for he waded out a
|
---|
| 4862 | few yards in my direction, and, stooping, with his eyes searched
|
---|
| 4863 | the dim surface long and carefully. He could not have been more
|
---|
| 4864 | than fifteen feet from me, and had he lighted a match he would
|
---|
| 4865 | surely have discovered me.
|
---|
| 4866 | </para>
|
---|
| 4867 |
|
---|
| 4868 | <para>
|
---|
| 4869 | He returned to the beach and clambered about, over the rocky
|
---|
| 4870 | backbone, again hunting for me with lighted matches, The closeness
|
---|
| 4871 | of the shave impelled me to further flight. Not daring to wade
|
---|
| 4872 | upright, on account of the noise made by floundering and by the
|
---|
| 4873 | suck of the mud, I remained lying down in the mud and propelled
|
---|
| 4874 | myself over its surface by means of my hands. Still keeping the
|
---|
| 4875 | trail made by the Chinese in going from and to the junk, I held on
|
---|
| 4876 | until I reached the water. Into this I waded to a depth of three
|
---|
| 4877 | feet, and then I turned off to the side on a line parallel with the
|
---|
| 4878 | beach.
|
---|
| 4879 | </para>
|
---|
| 4880 |
|
---|
| 4881 | <para>
|
---|
| 4882 | The thought came to me of going toward Yellow Handkerchief's skiff
|
---|
| 4883 | and escaping in it, but at that very moment he returned to the
|
---|
| 4884 | beach, and, as though fearing the very thing I had in mind, he
|
---|
| 4885 | slushed out through the mud to assure himself that the skiff was
|
---|
| 4886 | safe. This turned me in the opposite direction. Half swimming,
|
---|
| 4887 | half wading, with my head just out of water and avoiding splashing,
|
---|
| 4888 | I succeeded in putting about a hundred feet between myself and the
|
---|
| 4889 | spot where the Chinese had begun to wade ashore from the junk. I
|
---|
| 4890 | drew myself out on the mud and remained lying flat.
|
---|
| 4891 | </para>
|
---|
| 4892 |
|
---|
| 4893 | <para>
|
---|
| 4894 | Again Yellow Handkerchief returned to the beach and made a search
|
---|
| 4895 | of the island, and again he returned to the heap of clam-shells. I
|
---|
| 4896 | knew what was running in his mind as well as he did himself. No
|
---|
| 4897 | one could leave or land without making tracks in the mud. The only
|
---|
| 4898 | tracks to be seen were those leading from his skiff and from where
|
---|
| 4899 | the junk had been. I was not on the island. I must have left it
|
---|
| 4900 | by one or the other of those two tracks. He had just been over the
|
---|
| 4901 | one to his skiff, and was certain I had not left that way.
|
---|
| 4902 | Therefore I could have left the island only by going over the
|
---|
| 4903 | tracks of the junk landing. This he proceeded to verify by wading
|
---|
| 4904 | out over them himself, lighting matches as he came along.
|
---|
| 4905 | </para>
|
---|
| 4906 |
|
---|
| 4907 | <para>
|
---|
| 4908 | When he arrived at the point where I had first lain, I knew, by the
|
---|
| 4909 | matches he burned and the time he took, that he had discovered the
|
---|
| 4910 | marks left by my body. These he followed straight to the water and
|
---|
| 4911 | into it, but in three feet of water he could no longer see them.
|
---|
| 4912 | On the other hand, as the tide was still falling, he could easily
|
---|
| 4913 | make out the impression made by the junk's bow, and could have
|
---|
| 4914 | likewise made out the impression of any other boat if it had landed
|
---|
| 4915 | at that particular spot. But there was no such mark; and I knew
|
---|
| 4916 | that he was absolutely convinced that I was hiding somewhere in the
|
---|
| 4917 | mud.
|
---|
| 4918 | </para>
|
---|
| 4919 |
|
---|
| 4920 | <para>
|
---|
| 4921 | But to hunt on a dark night for a boy in a sea of mud would be like
|
---|
| 4922 | hunting for a needle in a haystack, and he did not attempt it.
|
---|
| 4923 | Instead he went back to the beach and prowled around for some time.
|
---|
| 4924 | I was hoping he would give me up and go, for by this time I was
|
---|
| 4925 | suffering severely from the cold. At last he waded out to his
|
---|
| 4926 | skiff and rowed away. What if this departure of Yellow
|
---|
| 4927 | Handkerchief's were a sham? What if he had done it merely to
|
---|
| 4928 | entice me ashore?
|
---|
| 4929 | </para>
|
---|
| 4930 |
|
---|
| 4931 | <para>
|
---|
| 4932 | The more I thought of it the more certain I became that he had made
|
---|
| 4933 | a little too much noise with his oars as he rowed away. So I
|
---|
| 4934 | remained, lying in the mud and shivering. I shivered till the
|
---|
| 4935 | muscles of the small of my back ached and pained me as badly as the
|
---|
| 4936 | cold, and I had need of all my self-control to force myself to
|
---|
| 4937 | remain in my miserable situation.
|
---|
| 4938 | </para>
|
---|
| 4939 |
|
---|
| 4940 | <para>
|
---|
| 4941 | It was well that I did, however, for, possibly an hour later, I
|
---|
| 4942 | thought I could make out something moving on the beach. I watched
|
---|
| 4943 | intently, but my ears were rewarded first, by a raspy cough I knew
|
---|
| 4944 | only too well. Yellow Handkerchief had sneaked back, landed on the
|
---|
| 4945 | other side of the island, and crept around to surprise me if I had
|
---|
| 4946 | returned.
|
---|
| 4947 | </para>
|
---|
| 4948 |
|
---|
| 4949 | <para>
|
---|
| 4950 | After that, though hours passed without sign of him, I was afraid
|
---|
| 4951 | to return to the island at all. On the other hand, I was almost
|
---|
| 4952 | equally afraid that I should die of the exposure I was undergoing.
|
---|
| 4953 | I had never dreamed one could suffer so. I grew so cold and numb,
|
---|
| 4954 | finally, that I ceased to shiver. But my muscles and bones began
|
---|
| 4955 | to ache in a way that was agony. The tide had long since begun to
|
---|
| 4956 | rise, and, foot by foot, it drove me in toward the beach. High
|
---|
| 4957 | water came at three o'clock, and at three o'clock I drew myself up
|
---|
| 4958 | on the beach, more dead than alive, and too helpless to have
|
---|
| 4959 | offered any resistance had Yellow Handkerchief swooped down upon
|
---|
| 4960 | me.
|
---|
| 4961 | </para>
|
---|
| 4962 |
|
---|
| 4963 | <para>
|
---|
| 4964 | But no Yellow Handkerchief appeared. He had given me up and gone
|
---|
| 4965 | back to Point Pedro. Nevertheless, I was in a deplorable, not to
|
---|
| 4966 | say dangerous, condition. I could not stand upon my feet, much
|
---|
| 4967 | less walk. My clammy, muddy garments clung to me like sheets of
|
---|
| 4968 | ice. I thought I should never get them off. So numb and lifeless
|
---|
| 4969 | were my fingers, and so weak was I, that it seemed to take an hour
|
---|
| 4970 | to get off my shoes. I had not the strength to break the porpoise-
|
---|
| 4971 | hide laces, and the knots defied me. I repeatedly beat my hands
|
---|
| 4972 | upon the rocks to get some sort of life into them. Sometimes I
|
---|
| 4973 | felt sure I was going to die.
|
---|
| 4974 | </para>
|
---|
| 4975 |
|
---|
| 4976 | <para>
|
---|
| 4977 | But in the end, - after several centuries, it seemed to me, - I got
|
---|
| 4978 | off the last of my clothes. The water was now close at hand, and I
|
---|
| 4979 | crawled painfully into it and washed the mud from my naked body.
|
---|
| 4980 | Still, I could not get on my feet and walk and I was afraid to lie
|
---|
| 4981 | still. Nothing remained but to crawl weakly, like a snail, and at
|
---|
| 4982 | the cost of constant pain, up and down the sand. I kept this up as
|
---|
| 4983 | long as possible, but as the east paled with the coming of dawn I
|
---|
| 4984 | began to succumb. The sky grew rosy-red, and the golden rim of the
|
---|
| 4985 | sun, showing above the horizon, found me lying helpless and
|
---|
| 4986 | motionless among the clam-shells.
|
---|
| 4987 | </para>
|
---|
| 4988 |
|
---|
| 4989 | <para>
|
---|
| 4990 | As in a dream, I saw the familiar mainsail of the Reindeer as she
|
---|
| 4991 | slipped out of San Rafael Creek on a light puff of morning air.
|
---|
| 4992 | This dream was very much broken. There are intervals I can never
|
---|
| 4993 | recollect on looking back over it. Three things, however, I
|
---|
| 4994 | distinctly remember: the first sight of the Reindeer's mainsail;
|
---|
| 4995 | her lying at anchor a few hundred feet away and a small boat
|
---|
| 4996 | leaving her side; and the cabin stove roaring red-hot, myself
|
---|
| 4997 | swathed all over with blankets, except on the chest and shoulders,
|
---|
| 4998 | which Charley was pounding and mauling unmercifully, and my mouth
|
---|
| 4999 | and throat burning with the coffee which Neil Partington was
|
---|
| 5000 | pouring down a trifle too hot.
|
---|
| 5001 | </para>
|
---|
| 5002 |
|
---|
| 5003 | <para>
|
---|
| 5004 | But burn or no burn, I tell you it felt good. By the time we
|
---|
| 5005 | arrived in Oakland I was as limber and strong as ever, - though
|
---|
| 5006 | Charlie and Neil Partington were afraid I was going to have
|
---|
| 5007 | pneumonia, and Mrs. Partington, for my first six months of school,
|
---|
| 5008 | kept an anxious eye upon me to discover the first symptoms of
|
---|
| 5009 | consumption.
|
---|
| 5010 | </para>
|
---|
| 5011 |
|
---|
| 5012 | <para>
|
---|
| 5013 | Time flies. It seems but yesterday that I was a lad of sixteen on
|
---|
| 5014 | the fish patrol. Yet I know that I arrived this very morning from
|
---|
| 5015 | China, with a quick passage to my credit, and master of the
|
---|
| 5016 | barkentine Harvester. And I know that to-morrow morning I shall
|
---|
| 5017 | run over to Oakland to see Neil Partington and his wife and family,
|
---|
| 5018 | and later on up to Benicia to see Charley Le Grant and talk over
|
---|
| 5019 | old times. No; I shall not go to Benicia, now that I think about
|
---|
| 5020 | it. I expect to be a highly interested party to a wedding, shortly
|
---|
| 5021 | to take place. Her name is Alice Partington, and, since Charley
|
---|
| 5022 | has promised to be best man, he will have to come down to Oakland
|
---|
| 5023 | instead.
|
---|
| 5024 | </para>
|
---|
| 5025 | </chapter>
|
---|
| 5026 |
|
---|
| 5027 | </bookbody>
|
---|
| 5028 | </book>
|
---|
| 5029 | <endgutblurb>
|
---|
| 5030 | End of Project Gutenberg's Etext of Tales of the Fish Patrol, by London
|
---|
| 5031 | </endgutblurb>
|
---|
| 5032 |
|
---|
| 5033 | </gutbook>
|
---|