Frederick Ferdinand Moore

“ Jarrow went into his room for the paper, and they heard him fumbling in the little bulkhead desk.
"No use arguing with a man when he's got the drop on you," said Locke. "If it wasn't for Miss Trinkets, here, it might be different. But I'd rather pay up than see anybody hurt."
Trask sat with his empty pistol across his knees, thoroughly dejected, staring out over the blood-red sea. Already a star, close to the horizon, had popped out, and the top of the island was gathering gloom. ”

“ This wild project of taking a young woman in a schooner, with a crew of men who had all the outer aspects of rascals, and a mild madman, to hunt an island, was largely his own fault and Trask now realized it.
Locke was far too credulous, or rather incredulous. Like most Americans who have lived quiet lives and attended to their own business, he lacked imagination for dangerous possibilities in the motives of others. ”

“ Will you wait here, Dinshaw?"
"I'll wait, Jarrow, I'll wait. Tell him I sent ye, and he'll know. It's all settled right enough if you lay alongside and make fast, and no time lost."
"See that he don't git away," Jarrow whispered to Vanderzee. "I can't take no chances with this—and keep him quiet—in there."
Pointing to the alcove, Jarrow slipped out through the door, followed by Peth, close at heel, like a well-trained dog behind his master.
"It's this way," said Jarrow, as they made their way [49] between the bales and barrels among the workers on the Mole. ”

“ Trask hastened to say.
"Hong Kong for mine," said Locke.
"Dad! Come here, please," called Marjorie. "Captain Dinshaw wants to go to his island. It seems to me that you men who are looking for something to do might help him out."
"I'll give him ten pesos for one of those pictures," said Locke.
"The other for me at the same price," said Trask.
"Stingies!" cried Marjorie. "If I were a man, I'd go find his island." ”

“ Then he smiled toothlessly and swung off his bowl of a hat with a grand air.
"Aye, sir," he said, in a weak but shrill voice. "Cap'n Dinshaw, late of the bark, James B. Wetherall, lost in a typhoon an' Lord ha' mercy on us!"
"This is a shame!" said Locke, in a cautious whisper to Trask, as he leaned back in his grass chair to light a cigar. "I hate to see a white man like that in this country."
"He looks hungry," said Marjorie. "Dad, call the boy!"
"It's an interesting case," said Trask. "I want you to hear him. Wilkins had him up so I could talk to him. He's got an island." ”

“ Marjorie, who had slept after midnight, leaned [230] against the taffrail with Trask, watching Shope and Pennock trimming the sails. Bevins had the wheel but Locke was asleep below, having remained up all night.
"Poor old Captain Dinshaw," said Marjorie. "He'll never have his big house with good soup for supper."
"Perhaps it's just as well," replied Trask. "He was too old and pitifully crazy ever to enjoy anything. It's likely he would have suffered more if he'd never come to his island. And he might have killed somebody not so deserving of the fate he meted out to Jarrow." ”

“ Locke was astounded.
"It would be great fun."
"Great guns!" said Locke. "Don't you know a schooner isn't what a liner is? You can't have suites and stewards and fancy things to eat."
"You'll find it comfortable enough on the Nuestra," said Jarrow, his hopes rising. "A good Chink cook, a coloured steward, all hands a room to theirselves. All Cap'n Dinshaw needs is a mouthful of sea-air an' a deck under his feet. There's a whallopin' lot of gold there, too, or I miss stays. ”

“ CHAPTER XII Trask Makes a Discovery
"The crazy fools!" exclaimed Trask, as he saw Jarrow being hustled into the jungle by the crew. "What sort of game do you suppose this is? Have they all gone mad?"
"Mutiny!" said Marjorie. "Why should they mutiny?"
"Search me," said her father, disgustedly. "We seem to have brought a fine pack of maniacs with us."
They could see Dinshaw exploring the beach, apparently oblivious of what had happened, or careless of the quarrels which Jarrow and Peth might have, so long as he was on his beloved island. ”

“ Early in the morning, when Manila was turning over for another nap, a victoria from the Bay View took Locke, Trask, and Marjorie over the Bridge of Spain and through Plaza Moraga to the landing steps, where the tug which was to take the Nuestra Señora del Rosario to sea was waiting to put the voyagers aboard the schooner. The Nuestra was at anchor down the bay.
As they got out of the carriage a black man hopped ashore from the tug and made for their baggage.
"I'm Doc Bird, the steward," he said. "I reckon yo' all is fo' Cap'n Jarrow's packet?"
"We are," said Locke. "Is everything ready?" ”

“ Jarrow said he'd take me, but he never did. He wants to go steal it himself. I know. I know. They can't fool me, if I am old."
"Steal your island?" asked Marjorie. "Why, how could anybody steal an island?"
"What's on it?" whispered Dinshaw. [25]
"Oh, ho," said Locke. "Then there's something on it, is there? Now we're interesting! Treasure, I suppose."
"Gold on it," piped Dinshaw, with childish simplicity. "Gold enough to make us all rich. Gold enough to ballast a hundred ships!"
"Ye see that reef? Well, I lay in that bight thar, an' the sun come out. ”

“ A straw hat, curled up into a grotesque shape, lay at his feet like some distorted bivalve. Its owner had an air of authority about him, even a touch of dominance in the way he scanned his cards or moved the pegs in the board. When his arm went out to the table, it moved with a ponderous steadiness. His brown and hairy hand had the slow, powerful sweep of a derrick-boom. ”

“ We were shipmates from Honolulu coming out, three months back."
"Very respectable people," said Wilkins. "I understand Mr. Locke's quite wealthy."
"I imagine so," replied Trask, despondently. It was hard luck, for he had managed to take a month's vacation for no other purpose than to meet Marjorie Locke for a few days in Manila and here he was, like a man marooned, with nothing to do, and the Lockes out in the China Sea, bound for the "States." ”

“ But it don't matter if we git a charter at fifty a day or so, and drag it out into a couple of weeks."
"We'll want our own crew," suggested Peth.
"Bevins," said Jarrow.
"Shope," said Peth.
"And Doc Bird for steward, and Shanghai Tom ships as cook."
"Right. Ye leave it to me, and if there's anything in it, I'll have all hands come dark."
"I ain't hatchin' no chickens on what Looney said," cautioned Jarrow, "but if there's a man who's lit up on Looney's island-o'-gold yarn, it ain't my way to throw sand in his eyes. And if we do find gold that's two tails to the cat. ”

“ From his conduct since sailing it was obvious that he intended to hold himself aloof from the rest of the party.
"Thinks he's navigatin'," whispered Jarrow, with a wink to Trask.
"He looks a lot better than he did," said Locke. "Has more colour and walks with more vigour."
"Good eatin'," said Jarrow. "He perked right up the minute he come aboard. Acts like he's master. Don't do no harm, only Mr. Peth gits rubbed the wrong way sometimes. I say, if the old man gits any fun out of thinkin' it's his own schooner, what's the odds?" ”

“ CHAPTER III Captain Dinshaw Pulls a Long Bow
Below the customs house in Manila, close to the embankment of the Pasig River, on the Binondo side, opposite Fort Santiago and the Walled City, there is an ancient adobe building thatched with nipa. Its narrow door opens on the waterfront. High and narrow windows, devoid of glass or shell, are mere slits cut through the walls. Seen from the river, they have a striking resemblance to the gun-ports of an ancient battleship. ”

“ He moved forward with careful steps, knowing that there must be a man sitting on the forecastle head facing toward him, else he could not have seen the light from the cigarette.
The foremast and the boom were faintly visible in relief against the lighter shade of the sky, and knowing he might be seen above the bulwark, Trask moved away from the edge of the schooner, and drew near the base of the foremast, which offered better concealment. He was now but a few feet from the forecastle scuttle [135] and could see it outlined by a dim pencilling of light. ”

“ Dinshaw declared that this was it, and pointed out the reef which he had painted into his picture, which showed like a white ridge over the greenish water.
"It was here the Wetherall struck," he said.
"But the four palm trees, and the big rock," said Trask; "I don't see them."
"Ah ha!" said Dinshaw, slyly. "I put them in to fool folks. There ain't no palm trees like them I painted." ”

“ Such people never believe in danger until they have a revolver thrust into their faces. And Locke had come aboard the schooner with a roll of yellow-backed bills so big that he could hold in his hand more wealth than all the ship's company together could earn in a year of honest labour.
Trask almost wished he had declined to go in with Locke on the trip to the island. He had been quite [134] too easy-going about it all himself, neglecting to take precautions about Jarrow and the crew because he had been reluctant to forego the pleasure of Miss Marjorie's company. ”

“ The schooner lay with her head to the northeast in response to a current that came around the northern end of the island and almost parallel with it.
"When people are out of their heads, no knowin' what they'll do," declared Jarrow. "Peth, he's always for makin' money in heaps. He can't see beyond his nose. Now I'm for goin' safe and sure. You ain't got no idea how he's bothered me off and on for the last couple years. But I had to humour him—he owns an eighth of the Nuestra."
"He can't have much sense if he thinks gold's to be [164] sacked up and carted away," said Trask. "Here's Mr. Locke." ”

“ If they don't find gold we'll have 'em [168] back on our hands. So there ain't no great hurt done."
"But if they do find gold?" suggested Locke.
"They might walk on gold and not know it," said Trask. "If they are looking for a fortune in fifteen minutes, I doubt if they'll find it, and they'll like the looks of this schooner pretty well."
"My idea exactly," said Jarrow, with a grin. "We might as well take this as a joke. If they ain't back by the time we have breakfast, I'll take a run over to shore in the long boat and see 'bout huntin' 'em up. You folks go aft, and let me handle it. ”

“ Comes up here and sells 'em to trippers."
"But the island?" persisted Trask. "There was a Swede yarning with the skipper, but they wouldn't let me hear."
"Dinshaw's loco," said Wilkins. "Lost his ship on this island three or four years ago. It's somewhere up the north coast. He was taken off by a Jap fisher crew blown down from the Rykukus. He lost his ship right enough, and his mind with it. To hear him talk you'd think it was solid gold."
"Solid gold is what I'm hunting for when I'm working," said Trask with a smile. "I'd like to look into [14] this business." ”

“ Jarrow appeared at the starboard break of the poop, his hands on his hips, a cigar aslant in his mouth. He gave the trio a critical glance, and turned his head toward the island.
"Not much chance to get out to-night," began Locke. "Do you look for a breeze?"
"I don't look for nothin'," said the captain, without looking at Locke. "I been thinkin' this thing over," he said presently, chewing his words with his cigar. [211] "I'm out of pocket on this deal."
"How do you mean?" asked Locke, with a startled glance at Trask. He had detected a belligerent note in the captain's voice. ”

“ Vanderzee leaned over the bar, and Peth craned his neck forward, maintaining his eternal grin. They had never seen Dinshaw with so much wealth before.
"Money!" piped Dinshaw, triumphantly. [45]
"Has he gone plumb loco?" asked Jarrow, looking at Vanderzee.
"Dot money ain'd crassy," said the black man.
"Where'd ye git it?" asked Jarrow, reluctantly gentle.
"A rich man at the Bay View—with a young lady and a young man in a helmet. I told 'em about the Wetherall and they give me this money to buy clothes, and sent me on the run for you. They want to go to the Golden Isle. ”

“ Considering these matters, Trask undressed and put on his pajamas. Then he opened the door of his room, and rolled into his bunk, purposely accentuating the creaking of the boards under his mattress so that any listener might be assured he had turned in for the night.
The hole cut in the upper part of Jarrow's door was open and dark. The captain, to all appearances, had gone to sleep, but Trask had plans for the night and did not care to take chances at having them upset. ”

“ Jarrow made some suggestion to Peth, but the mate shook his head.
"He says I come aboard now, this way, or not at all," said Jarrow. "You better let me tell you how the land lays."
"Nobody gets aboard here until Captain Dinshaw is brought back," said Trask. "And I'll take one man of the crew. The rest of 'em can stay here and starve for all I care. It's their own funeral. They had no business deserting the schooner."
"But I'm master, and that's my schooner, and I'm [193] to say what's to be done," said Jarrow. "If you try to do that, it's piracy. I can't help it if the men refuse duty. ”