with her engines in motion and her wheel in the hands of captain burke, the summer shelter was in no danger of being run into by the dunkery beacon, for she was much the more easily managed vessel.
as soon as they had recovered a moderate command of their senses, burdette and portman hurried below to find out what damage had been sustained by the yacht; but, although she must have been greatly strained and might be leaking through some open seams, the tough keelson of the well-built vessel, running her length like a stiff backbone, had received and distributed the shock, and although her bowsprit was shivered to pieces and her cut-water splintered, her sides were apparently uninjured. furniture, baggage, coils of rope, and everything movable had been pitched forward and heaped in disordered piles all over the vessel. a great part of the china had been broken. books, papers, and[pg 280] ornaments littered the floors, and even the coal was heaped up in the forward part of the bunkers.
burke gave the wheel to burdette and came down, when mrs. cliff immediately rushed to him. she was not hurt, but had been dreadfully shaken in body and mind. "oh, what are we going to do?" she cried. "they are wretched murderers! will they keep on trying to sink us? can't we get away?"
"we can get away whenever we please," said burke, his voice husky and cracked. "if it wasn't for shirley, i'd sail out of their sight in half an hour."
"but we can't sail away and leave mr. shirley," said she. "we can't go away and leave him!"
but little effort was made to get anything into order. bruised heads and shoulders were rubbed a little, and all on board seemed trying to get themselves ready for whatever would happen next. burke, followed by portman, ran to the cases containing the rifles, and taking them out, they distributed them, giving one to every man on board. some of the clergymen objected to receiving them, and expostulated earnestly and even piteously against connecting themselves with any bloodshed. "cannot we leave this scene of contention?" some of them said. "not with shirley on that steamer," said burke, and to this there was no reply.
burke had no definite reason for thus arming his crew, but with such an enemy as the dunkery beacon had proved herself to be, lying to a short distance away, two other vessels, probably pirates, in the vicinity, and the strong bond of shirley's detention holding the yacht[pg 281] where she was, he felt that he should be prepared for every possible emergency. but what to do he did not know. it would be of no use to hail the dunkery and demand shirley. he had done that over and over again before that vessel had proved herself an open enemy. he stood with brows contracted, rifle in hand, and his eyes fixed on the big steamer ahead. the two other vessels he did not now consider, for they were still some miles away.
willy croup was sitting on the floor of the saloon, sobbing and groaning, and mrs. cliff did not know what in the world was the matter with her. but mr. litchfield knew, and he knew also that it would be of no use to try to comfort her with any ordinary words of consolation. he was certain that she had not understood anything that she had said, not even, perhaps, the order to back the yacht, but the assertion of this would have made but little impression upon her agitated mind. but a thought struck him, and he hurried to burke and told him quickly what had happened. burke listened, and could not even now restrain a smile. "it's just like that dear willy croup," said he; "she's an angel!"
"will you be willing," said mr. litchfield, "to come and tell her that your orders could not have been forcibly and quickly enough impressed upon the engineer's mind in any other way?"
without answering, burke ran to where willy was still groaning. "miss croup," he exclaimed, "we owe our lives to you! if you hadn't sworn at the engineer,[pg 282] he never would have backed her in time, and we would all have been at the bottom of the sea!"
mrs. cliff looked aghast, and willy sprang to her feet. "do you mean that, mr. burke?" she cried.
"yes," said he, "in such desperate danger you had to do it. it's like a crack on the back when you're choking. you were the only person able to repeat my orders, and you were bound to do it!"
"yes," said mr. litchfield, "and you saved the ship!"
willy looked at him a few moments in silence, then wiping her eyes, she said, "well, you know more about managing a ship than i do, and i hope and trust i'll never be called upon to back one again!"
burke and most of the other men now gathered on deck, watching the dunkery beacon. she was still lying to, blowing off steam, and there seemed to be a good deal of confusion on her deck. suddenly burke saw a black object in the water near her starboard quarter. gazing at it intently, his eyes began to glisten. in a few moments he exclaimed, "look there! it's shirley! he's swimming to the yacht!"
now everybody on deck was straining his eyes over the water, and mrs. cliff and willy, who had heard burke's cry, stood with the others. "is it shirley, really?" exclaimed mrs. cliff. "are you sure that's his head in the water?"
"yes," replied burke, "there's no mistake about it! he's taking his last chance and has slipped over the rail without nobody knowing it."
"and can he swim so far?" gasped willy.[pg 283]
"oh, he can do that," answered burke. "i'd steam up closer if i wasn't afraid of attracting attention. if they'd get sight of him they'd fire at him, but he can do it if he's let alone!"
not a word was now said. scarcely a breath seemed to come or go. everybody was gazing steadfastly and rigidly at the swimmer, who with steady, powerful strokes was making a straight line over the gently rolling waves towards the yacht. although they did not so express it to themselves, the coming of that swimmer meant everything to the pale, expectant people on the summer shelter. if he should reach them, not only would he be saved, but they could steam away to peace and safety.
on swam shirley, evenly and steadily, until he had nearly passed half the distance between the two vessels, when suddenly a knot of men were seen looking over the rail of the dunkery. then there was a commotion. then a man was seen standing up high, a gun in his hand. willy uttered a stifled scream, and mrs. cliff seized her companion by the arm with such force that her nails nearly entered the flesh, and almost in the same instant there rang out from the yacht the report of eight rifles.
every man had fired at the fellow with the gun, even burdette in the pilot house. some of the balls had gone high up into the rigging, and some had rattled against the hull of the steamer, but the man with the gun disappeared in a flash. whether he had been hit or frightened, nobody knew. shirley, startled at this[pg 284] tremendous volley, turned a quick backward glance and then dived, but soon reappeared again, striking out as before for the yacht.
"now, then," shouted burke, "keep your eyes on the rail of that steamer! if a man shows his head, fire at it!"
if this action had been necessary, very few of the rifles in the hands of the members of the late synod would have been fired, for most of them did not know how to recharge their weapons. but there was no need even for burke to draw a bead on a pirate head, for now not a man could be seen on the dunkery beacon. they had evidently been so surprised and astounded by a volley of rifle shots from this pleasure yacht, which they had supposed to be as harmless as a floating log, that every man on deck had crouched behind the bulwarks.
now burke gave orders to steam slowly forward, and for everybody to keep covered as much as possible; and when in a few minutes the yacht's engine stopped and shirley swam slowly around her stern, there was a rush to the other side of the deck, a life preserver was dropped to the swimmer, steps were let down, and the next minute shirley was on deck, burke's strong arm fairly lifting him in over the rail. in a few moments the deck of the yacht was the scene of wild and excited welcome and delight. each person on board felt as if a brother had suddenly been snatched from fearful danger and returned to their midst.
"i can't tell you anything now," said shirley. "give me a dram, and let me get on some dry clothes![pg 285] and now all of you go and attend to what you've got to do. don't bother about that steamer—she'll go down in half an hour! she's got a big hole stove in her bow!"
with a cry of surprise burke turned and looked out at the dunkery beacon. even now she had keeled over to starboard so much that her deck was visible, and her head was already lower than her stern. "she'll sink," he cried, "with all that gold on board!"
"yes," said shirley, turning with a weak smile as he made his way to the cabin, accompanied by mr. hodgson, "she'll go down with every bar of it!"
there was great commotion now on the dunkery beacon. it was plain that the people on board of her had discovered that it was of no use to try to save the vessel, and they were lowering her boats. burke and his companions stood and watched for some minutes. "what shall we do!" exclaimed mr. arbuckle, approaching burke. "can we offer those unfortunate wretches any assistance?"
"all we can do," said burke, "is to keep out of their way. i wouldn't trust one of them within pistol shot." now shirley reappeared on deck—he had had his dram, and had changed his clothes. "you're right," said he, "they're a set of pirates—every man of them! if we should take them on board, they'd cut all our throats. they've got boats enough, and the other pirates can pick them up. keep her off, burke; that's what i say!"
there was no time now for explanations or for any[pg 286] story to be told, and burke gave orders that the yacht should be kept away from the sinking steamer and her boats. suddenly burdette, from the pilot house, sung out that there was a steamer astern, and the eyes which had been so steadfastly fixed upon the dunkery beacon now turned in that direction. there they saw, less than a mile away, a large steamer coming down from the north.
burke's impulse was to give orders to go ahead at full speed, but he hesitated, and raised his glass to his eye. then in a few moments he put down his glass, turned around, and shouted, "that's the monterey! the monterey! and captain horn!"
