"Know then," went on Joe, still keeping up his oratorical pose and gestures, "that yon blazing wreck is none other than the good schooner 'Island Queen'—or, rather, it was the 'Island Queen.' On board her are the charred remains of the mysterious sailor who caused us so much trouble and scared me out of seven years' growth when he grabbed up that potato pan."
"Good gracious!" exclaimed Nat, in a shocked tone. "You talk about the death of the poor fellow as if it was not a thing to be serious over."
To his astonishment, the others broke into a laugh at this.
"Well, of all the cold-blooded, unfeeling——" began Nat indignantly.
"Ha! Ha! Ha!" laughed Joe, while Nat glowered at him wrathfully. "Don't waste any sympathy on the ruffian, Nat."
"Say, this is going too far," burst out Nat. "Do you mean to say that you let the poor fellow perish without making any effort to aid him? No matter what he had done he was a fellow being——"
"If the Darwinian theory is true, that is," put in Captain Akers quietly, but meaningly.
"Why? What is the——" began Nat, but Joe saw that the matter had gone far enough and put him out of his suspense.
"Why, that thing wasn't a man at all, Nat," chuckled Joe; "it was a monkey!"
"What!"
"That's right. A big orang-outang from one of the northern islands of the Malay peninsula, probably," put in Captain Akers.
"And he is dead in the flames?"
"Yes, in the flames he kindled himself," put in Joe. "You see, it was shortly before dark when we had all the kerosene transferred, but it was dim enough for us to need a light in the hold to work by. When all the stuff was out—or, rather, all that we needed of it—we came on deck for a breath of air.
"Hardly had we emerged from the hold before the great ape came leaping and bounding from forward. It clambered over the bow, so we conjectured that it must have hidden itself in the figure-head, or the bow carving, while we were searching for our mysterious annoyer. At any rate, as soon as we got a fair and full view of it, we knew it for what it was.
"It eluded us, when it saw we were in no mood to fly from it, and swung itself down into the hold. In a rage or panic, I don't know which, it seized up the lamp and smashed it. Instantly the oil-soaked wood blazed up and we lost no time in getting overboard. The last we heard of the orang was a repetition of the terrible cry that had so alarmed us on board the schooner. It evidently perished in the flames."
"Poor creature," said Nat. "I suppose it was a ship's pet and was left on board when the crew deserted their ship."
"You've no reason to feel so bad about it," put in Joe. "The animal came almost costing you your life."
"But I owed it a good turn for casting loose that boat," said Nat. "If it hadn't been for that, I would not be alive now."
"That's so," agreed Captain Akers soberly. "That fire also was a blessing in disguise, for if it had not occurred you would have had no means of finding us."
The others agreed that it was indeed a fortunate accident that had happened.
Soon after, as there was no occasion to linger about the scene of the destruction of the "Island Queen," the engine was started, on its new fuel, and the "Nomad" sped off.
Her course was south of west. There were light hearts on board as she cut her way along—while far behind her the last of the fire still glowed redly. After almost unparalleled setbacks, they were once more on the sapphire trail.
* * * * * * *
"Land ho!"
It was two months after the scene depicted above that the look-out—Cal Gifford—uttered the cry that thrilled the company of the gallant little craft.
They all rushed on deck. Nat and Captain Akers from the cabin, in which they had been bending over charts, Sam Hinckley from his engines in company with Captain Nelsen, who had been taking lessons in motor running, and upon the bridge Joe Hartley and Ding-dong, who had been dozing in the tropic noon, stirred into galvanic life.
The land which Cal had spied was plainly visible. A purple mist, like a small cloud, floating on the western horizon.
Nat's voice thrilled as he turned to Captain Akers and asked:
"Is it the Marquesas?"
"It should be," was the response. "But I'll take an observation and make sure."
The observation confirmed their belief that they were at last in sight of their goal.
"We are now in latitude eight degrees south and longitude one hundred and forty degrees west. Boys, this is a fine land fall," exclaimed the captain enthusiastically. "In all my years at sea I never made a better."
In the midst of the general rejoicing, they none of them noticed that Sam Hinckley alone looked troubled. The sight of the distant land seemed to agitate him strangely. Was it because he had been there before at some period of his life and held no pleasant recollections of it? We shall find out before long.
In the meantime, we must explain the reason for the "Nomad's" slow passage to the vicinity of the islands. In the first place at Honolulu, where they had been compelled to put in for provisions and fresh water, they had been held in quarantine for some time, owing to a plague scare.
The delay was the doubly aggravating because they knew that all the time they were held there the schooner "Nettie Nelsen"—a fast sailer, as we know—was hastening at top speed for the islands. She, too, they heard, had put in at the Hawaiian port and provisioned and watered, but had gotten away again before the plague scare.
Other delays, caused by the manner in which the kerosene carbonated the motor, had delayed the "Nomad" also. So much so, in fact, that the burning question with those on board her was: Would they be too late for the smart, two-masted craft they were in search of?
There was no reason to suppose that, guessing he would be pursued, Colonel Morello would elect to linger long at the islands. In fact, after disposing of the schooner, the rascally crew would probably split up and by devious routes make for Australia. If this had occurred before they arrived at Ohdahmi, all the Motor Rangers' high hopes were doomed to be blasted.
It was sundown when the "Nomad" at length dropped anchor in a small, glassy bay off the island which they believed to be Ohdahmi. It was a small spot of land, apparently, rising to a high peak in the center. The sides of this mountain, and, in fact, the whole island, so far as they could see, were clothed in vivid, tropical greenery, forming a sharp contrast to the dull gray of the volcanic rock composing the land.
The bay in which the "Nomad" was anchored was almost landlocked. Opposite to her a great cliff shot up with a perfect cascade of tropical plants falling down its face, at one point, in regular festoons. As their anchor chain rattled out, clouds of birds flew up from the jungle and, after flying about for a time with harsh screams, settled down again for the night.
The boys were crazy to explore the vicinity that night. After their long period of imprisonment in cramped quarters on board the "Nomad," they were naturally desirous of a run on shore. Captain Akers, on being consulted, agreed that there would be no harm in the lads taking the boat and pulling about the bay a bit; but he cautioned them not to land till the morning, as the natives of the Marquesas, while in the main peaceable enough, are sometimes savage and treacherous.
Of course, the boys promised readily enough and soon after, in the collapsible boat, they were lowered over the side. Nat, Joe Hartley, and Ding-dong Bell, the original Motor Rangers, comprised the party, the rest remaining on board.
With shouts of glee, they pulled for the great, gray cliff-face. The "stay at homes" leaned over the rail and watched their progress through the placid water till the boys neared the strange cascade of greenery hanging down the acclivity like a monstrous beard. At that moment a shout from Sam Hinckley, who had perceived some strange fish overside, distracted their attention for an instant.
When they looked up again, to their amazement the boat had vanished.
They rubbed their eyes and looked and looked again. But of the vanished boat not a sign was to be seen. If the sea had opened and swallowed it, it could not have disappeared more completely from their ken.
"Well, this beats all!" exclaimed Captain Akers. "What can have become of it?”