it was about two weeks before the easter vacation would come on, and hal and tom would be free to start for anclote island in the three sisters. but the services of captain joe having been retained, the preparations for stocking the schooner with provisions and camp equipage went on from day to day. so interested did the boys become in this that the excursion to perdido was abandoned. a week from the day bob and tom returned from newark, bob was to go to tampa by rail. his mother was arranging to go with him.
jerry blossom’s acquisition of a fortune had turned the colored boy’s head. but, before he could make any great inroads on his share of the ten thousand dollars, his mother managed to secure it. thereafter, the improvident jerry was furnished only such sums as his frugal parent thought he needed. his preliminary inroad on his funds, however, had resulted in an outfit of gorgeous clothing and a gold plated[165] watch, which, with one evening’s “crap” shooting, had deprived fat mrs. blossom of sixty-five dollars.
when jerry settled down to a realization that his great fortune was beyond his control and had lost his new watch in gambling, it was nearly time for bob and mrs. balfour to start for tampa. in the two weeks since the colored boy had come into funds, he had thought little about anclote island. suddenly he realized that it would be better to reengage with the club and get the benefit of “board and keep” at small pay than to remain in town with his mother’s hand fast about the purse strings of his fortune.
for reasons which he did not quite understand, bob had somehow come to be looked on as the real leader of the club. the evening before bob left for tampa, the doleful-faced colored boy waited for him after the usual meeting broke up.
“mistah bob,” began jerry, diplomatically doffing his hat, “ah done reckon ah bettah seek out some employment, even if ah is a rich man.”
“aren’t you going with the boys on the schooner?” asked bob.
“ah ain’t been ’proached ’bout no contrac’,” replied jerry. “ah reckon mah ole frien’s done calklate ah’s too rich to wuk.”
“oh, i guess not, jerry,” said bob, laughing. “but i’ll speak to the boys.”
jerry did not seem wholly reassured. he shambled along hesitatingly a little way, and then went on:
“ah am ’bliged to you all, mistah bob, but dat ain’t prezackly all ah wants to say. dis money ah got done been havin’ a pow’ful ’fluence on me. ah’s been havin’ big dreams ’bout money fo’ three nights. yas, sah!”
“dreams about money?” asked bob, laughing again. “i guess we’ve all had dreams of that kind.”
“ain’t no one had no dreams like ah been havin’,” explained jerry soberly, shaking his head. “ah been havin’ dreams ’at’s visions. ah been seein’ things.”
“what have you been seein’?” asked bob, slowing up his steps.
jerry took the white boy by the arm, and, although it was late and the streets were practically deserted, he whispered:
“three nights, mistah bob, a ole pirate man wif a long sword and two big pistols done walk[167] straight through de wall o’ mah room an’ say—”
bob laughed and started ahead.
“hol’ on, mistah bob,” exclaimed jerry earnestly. “dis ole pirate wif de long sword, he’s a colored pirate. yas, sah, black as mah ole mammy.”
“well,” said bob, scenting at once some new fabrication of jerry’s fertile brain, “what did the colored pirate say?”
“he say,” went on jerry solemnly, “he say: ‘black boy, ah been watchin’ yo’.’ yas, sah,” explained jerry hastily. “dem ole spooks kin shorely watch yo’ thouten yo’ seein’ ’em. de ole pirate he say: ‘black boy, ah been watchin’ yo’. ah done selec’ yo’ fo’ to tell yo’ whar ah buried mah gold’.”
“and did he?” interrupted bob, with a smile.
the sharp-eyed jerry saw he had made his point. in his ignorant way, he realized that the romantically inclined bob liked nothing better than these stories of buried treasure and pirates.
“did he?” repeated jerry significantly. “dat ole pirate ah reckon was de onliest colored pirate in de worl’. he say: ‘black boy, yo’ ain’t gwine to know how come it so, but yo’[168] alls is related to we alls. yo’ is my heir’.”
“so you are descended from a cut-throat villain?” exclaimed bob, with mock seriousness. “heir of a bloody pirate?”
“ah cain’t hep dat,” urged jerry. “but dem’s his words. an’ he say: ‘black boy, dar’s gold and jewels waitin’ fo’ yo’; dar’s a big box o’ buried treasure waitn’ fo’ yo’—’”
“where, jerry, where?” exclaimed bob, with well assumed impetuousness.
but jerry shook his head.
“mah relation pirate he done make me swear on his razor sword ah ain’t gwine to tell no one ’bout dat place ’till ah gets mah hands on de box. no, sah, no one. ah done sweared it on de sword. if ah breave it, dat ole pirate man say he gwine come an’ cut off mah haid wif de sword.”
“oh, i see,” said bob. “well, i wish you luck, jerry.”
for a moment, jerry was silent. then, scratching his woolly head, he said:
“mistah bob, ah cain’t tell ’bout de big trees whar dat box is buried. but ah ain’t gwine dig up dat box when de moon’s full—like ah’s instructed—all by mahsef. ah’s got de directions all wrote down, jes’ lak de ole pirate done[169] told ’em to me, whisperin’ an’ a shakin’ his big sword ’at’s got blood on it. ah wants a partner—mebbe two or three so we don’t take no resk.”
the diplomatic jerry paused, while bob could hardly conceal his amusement. at last, bob said, half regretfully:
“i’m sorry, jerry, that the treasure isn’t over on anclote island or near by. then we could all be partners—”
“das whar it is,” broke in jerry. “ah reckon ah done got to pay my way over dar on de railroad cahs.”
without laughing, bob said:
“jerry, if you won’t take any one else as a partner, i’ll see that you are hired to go to anclote island on the three sisters. then you and i will sneak out some night and dig up the black pirate’s treasure.”
jerry’s relief and satisfaction were as apparent as his white teeth.
“ah reckon dat’s a faih bargain, mistah bob. leastways, ah am agreeable. on’y,” and his face sobered again, “de ole man wif de sword he says: ‘black boy, de mostest o’ dat gold is yo’s.’ ah reckon he calklate ah ain’t gwine to squandah it. but ah’ll be faih. ah’ll gib[170] you some of it. but ah cain’t give no half of it.”
“how much will i get?” asked bob, with apparent eagerness.
“oh, ’bout ten or twenty thousand dollahs,” answered jerry indifferently.
“that’s fair enough,” concluded bob. “it’s a go. but don’t tell tom or the other boys. i’ll see that you go along. you can count on that. but you’ll have to pretend to be working for us.”
bob and jerry had now reached the former’s boarding house.
the colored boy hesitated, ran his hands in his pockets, and then said:
“shorely, mistah bob, dat’ll be agreeable.” then he lowered his voice: “yo’ ain’t got no change ’bout yo’, is yo’, mistah bob? ah done fergit to go to de bank to-day, an’ ah needs a couple o’ dollahs.”
without even a smile, bob searched his pockets and found a single dollar.
“you can pay me back, jerry,” he said soberly, “when we open the black pirate’s box. good night, and don’t tell our secret.”
a few minutes later, bob was dreaming of big oak trees, moonlight shadows beneath them,[171] kinky haired african outlaws and spanish pieces-of-eight. at the same time, his new partner was down behind the creole coffee house playing “craps” with a half dozen colored stevedores, who relieved the munchausen-like jerry of his borrowed dollar with all the celerity of the most skilled pirate of the deep.
the next day was a busy one. and, at the last moment, many of the plans were changed. as the result of long and urgent petitions, tom and hal secured vacations of ten days. but even those, as the time for setting out approached, were found to be far too short to permit the execution of all that the boys hoped to do. the distance from pensacola to anclote keys was at least two hundred and seventy miles. even with a fair wind, the three sisters could not be expected to cover the distance in less than two days. two days for a return trip left less than a week on the island.
“it ain’t worth the money and trouble, just for that,” growled hal.
bob finally suggested that tom and hal follow him by rail, and that mac, jerry blossom and captain romano set out in the three sisters at once. the schooner would then have a week to reach the islands, set up a camp, and,[172] leaving either mac or jerry in charge, sail the sixty-five miles to tampa city, and report to bob. when tom and hal reached tampa, they would help start bob or tom or both on the flight of the aeroplane to the island, and the one left behind could return to the island on the schooner.
this idea met universal approval. mac and jerry could leave at any time. that afternoon, every member of the club worked valiantly in shipping the last of the three sisters’ cargo—which was by no means a light one—and when bob left the wharf at four o’clock to prepare for his railroad journey, captain romano said he was ready to sail. the hour of his departure was set at five o’clock the next morning.
mrs. balfour was almost as keen for the trip to tampa as bob, and, when the st. augustine night express drew out of the station at six o’clock, she fluttered her handkerchief as vigorously as bob waved his cap at the boys left on the depot platform. at five o’clock the next morning, sunday, tom and hal gave the same farewells to the three sisters as she fell away from the wharf before the fresh new day breeze. then the two doleful boys left behind began to count the minutes until the next friday[173] evening when the third section of the momentous excursion would be off.
before noon of sunday, bob and his mother were comfortably installed in apartments in one of the great tampa bay resort hotels. bob figured that captain joe and the three sisters would probably reach tampa bay thursday evening or friday morning. the captain was to report to bob at his hotel at once. tom and hal would arrive at noon on saturday. the aeroplane must be ready at that time. with five days in which to set up the airship, bob started out monday morning to locate his precious crates and bundles and to select a suitable aerodrome.
the aeroplane consignment was found in the freight depot. the securing of a secluded place, protected and large enough to permit the putting together of his thirty-nine-foot wide air craft was not so easy. after several hours of fruitless search, bob made his way to a machine shop, had a conference with the superintendent, and for five dollars a day, employed a bright young mechanic to “assist him in setting up a motor”.
with gabe rice’s help—after bob had confided to gabe his real object under a pledge of[174] secrecy—the two boys found a place fairly well suited to their needs. just north of the city, on the hillsborough river, they came across an abandoned, half demolished cigar factory. in the rear, an unfenced open ground ran down to the river. within the building, with double doors opening on the cleared space, was a room that had been used for the storage of tobacco.
the room would afford sufficient shelter for the unpacked boxes and crates and when gabe volunteered to spend the nights there, bob decided the place would do. bob found the owner the next morning. this gentleman refused to rent the place until he too was imparted the secret. then, in a burst of enthusiasm, he told bob to use the place free of charge. but bob knew that the pay would come in more than one visit from the gratified owner.
that evening, bob and gabe worked until the sun was low, clearing out the storeroom and leveling all the inequalities on the slope toward the river, for the aeroplane used no starting weights, requiring a smooth, level bit of ground of from seventy-five to one hundred yards to get under way.
thursday morning, a dray was secured and after two trips the dismembered car, its carefully[175] protected adjuncts and its oiled tarpaulin-covered motor crate were safely stowed in the storeroom. gabe remaining in charge, bob made another trip with the dray and purchased enough gasoline for a week’s flying. two tanks of this, with a supply of engine oil, were intended for the scene of his coming work, while the remainder was set aside to be conveyed to anclote island on the three sisters. when the dray returned to the yards again, it also carried a cot for gabe’s use and a hastily secured luncheon.
this disposed of, the great task was before the two boys. with screw driver, wrench and hammer, the crates were attacked.
type no. 1 of the american aeroplane company’s air vehicle represented all the tested and approved heavier-than-air flying machine ideas. nothing in it but what, in some form of aeroplane, had been successfully used.
“that’s why we selected the no. 1,” explained bob to gabe. “we’re all amateurs. when we’ve exhausted the possibilities of this machine, it will be time for us to take chances with the advanced types.”
“how fast’ll she go?” asked gabe.
“’bout forty miles in a pinch,” answered bob.
“in a day?” continued gabe.
“in an hour,” laughed bob. “maybe faster.”
“that ain’t any part o’ my job, is it?” gasped the astonished young mechanic.
“not till you see her,” answered bob laughing. “and then you’ll be beggin’ for a ride.”
