Oliver Optic

“ Help! Save me! Save me!" came in rather feeble tones from the wreck of the Fatimé.
At the same time the form of a man was seen staggering to the end of the bridge.
"That's Captain Mazagan!" shouted Felix from the forecastle.
"Mazagan!" exclaimed Louis.
"Shall we do anything for that man, Captain Scott?" asked Don, coming to the front windows of the pilot-house. "If we do, it must be done in a hurry, for that craft is going to the bottom in less than two minutes."
"Of course we shall save him," replied the captain, looking at Louis. ”

“ He knows very well that such would be piracy," suggested Louis.
"Piracy! He makes no bones of anything that will put forty thousand dollars into his pocket; and that is what he expects to make out of us. Piracy is nothing but a pastime to him; and he relies upon His Highness to save his neck from any undue stretching," replied Captain Scott, as he walked to the port gangway. "Is everything ready here, Morris?"
"Everything, Captain," answered the first officer. "The rifles are all loaded, and every man has a supply of cartridges in his pocket. Every one has a revolver except Pitts." ”

“ Captain Ringgold sprang out of his chair, evidently startled by the intelligence; and he had never been known to make so much of a demonstration before since he had been in command of the ship. He stood looking into the face of Captain Scott as though he were incredulous in regard to the announcement just made to him; and that a little steam-yacht only forty feet in length had run into and sunk a vessel of four hundred tons was calculated to stagger a man of his experience in nautical affairs. ”

“ If there was no channel here to deep water, of course you could not pass through it," replied Louis. "You have done everything you could."
"I have been asking myself if I was to blame for getting into the trap; for we certainly are in a trap," continued Scott. "I followed the instructions of Captain Ringgold to the letter; and when I brought the Maud to her anchorage by the ledge, the pirate was not in sight, and I knew no more of what had become of him than I did in regard to the Guardian-Mother."
"You have no occasion to censure yourself for anything," replied Louis. ”

“ If I should follow out my natural, inborn inclination, I should pitch into the Fatimé, and open fire upon her officers and crew with all the rifles and revolvers we could muster. But I don't do that sort of thing now. I am not the same fellow I was when I came on board of the Guardian-Mother. Now I shall run away if I get a chance to do so."
"I think you are wise, Captain Scott," added Louis.
"Whatever my recording angel sets down for or against me, he shall not write that I tried to get into a fight with that pirate," said the captain with a great deal of emphasis. ”

“ We are now abreast of a plateau 1,600 feet high, which extends for about thirty miles along the coast. It is a part of the desert of Kaa, which extends to the southern point of the peninsula, over which you would have had to travel first by camel for nearly twenty miles, if we had gone to Mount Sinai by the only route open to us.
"We have seen about deserts enough," added the lady.
"Then you are the better prepared for the immense contrast between plains of sand and the rich lands of India, covered with the most luxuriant foliage. Now we have it at its best!" exclaimed the commander. ”

“ The men had come to beg some provisions, as they had not a morsel to eat.
"Give them all they want to eat," replied the captain when the request was translated to him.
"The Guardian-Mother!" suddenly shouted Felix at the top of his lungs.
All hands gave three rousing cheers, to the astonishment of the Frenchman and those in the boat. Pitts came out of the galley to ascertain the cause of the demonstration, and he made out for himself the bow of the ship passing the point of the cape. A plentiful supply of food was put into the boat, and the Maud continued on her course. ”

“ If we go to sea, she will not know where to find us," replied Captain Scott. "What do you think of it, Louis?"
"I am decidedly opposed to remaining where we are. Though you and I may agree that what has been done is all right, the officers of the Turkish government in authority on this island may not be of that opinion. There is no town, or anything like one, in sight, and I have not been able to make out even a single house or habitation of any kind."
"It is an exceedingly rough-looking country on shore. There are nothing but mountains and forests to be seen. ”

“ Stories exaggerated beyond all decent limits have been told about us. Louis's million and a half have been stretched to hundreds of millions, and the Guardian-Mother has been regarded as a floating mine of wealth. I suspect that Mazagan spread such stories in Egypt, and they have travelled to this port."
"What have these stories to do with a voyage to Bombay by the Maud?" asked Scott, with something like a laugh; for he could see no connection.
"Mr. Gaskill asked me about the little steamer that was sailing with the ship; so that he had heard of her, for she came through the canal with us. ”

“ The men bent to their oars, and they were soon in sight of the beautiful vessel, as everybody called her; and Captain Ringgold could not but indorse the general verdict; at least, he thought she was quite as handsome as the Guardian-Mother, which was enough to say of any vessel in his estimation. The barge made a landing at the platform of the gangway.
"May I be permitted to go on board?" asked the captain of the sailor who stood at the head of the steps.
"Yes, sir; she is open to ladies and gentlemen to-day," replied the man. ”

“ I consider him one of the most unmitigated villains that ever walked the earth or sailed the seas," added Captain Ringgold. "The scoundrel does not seem to have common-sense; for he puts forward the most absurd claims that ever were invented, and it would not surprise me at all if he advanced another against me or Louis, in spite of the overwhelming defeat he has just sustained." ”

“ If Mazagan had been shot dead, I should know that Louis did not do it."
"I remember that the fellow in the Muski was hit in the right shoulder," added the captain.
"That disables a man without making a very dangerous wound. But, Captain, darling, don't whisper a word to Louis that he did it, for it might make him feel bad."
"I won't say a word; but ask him to come to the pilot-house, for I want to see him, Flix," said Scott, as he had had no opportunity since the catastrophe to speak to the one he regarded as the most important personage on board of the Maud. ”

“ Whatever doubts Louis had in the first instance about Captain Scott's management of the defence of the Maud, he now believed that he honestly and sincerely desired to escape from the difficult and trying situation without an encounter with the pirate. He had feared the temptation to make a hero of himself would lead him into a conflict with the enemy when it might be avoided. ”

“ Mazagan is a sea-captain, and probably has spent most of his life sailing in these waters. I am afraid he knows more about this channel than I do, or has a more detailed chart of this bay than mine."
The Maud passed the cone, and continued on her course for a short time longer. Half a mile more would take her into twenty fathoms of water.
"It would look very hopeful, Louis, if the Fatimé were only doing her best to overhaul us in a chase; but she is like an alligator sunning himself on the water, she don't move a muscle," said the captain. ”

“ I am not a nonresistant in such a situation as this," said Louis. "We can't run away, and we must fight!"
"I am glad the suggestion comes from you, Louis," replied Scott. "Morris, bring out your company of riflemen! You will act as sharpshooters, and pay particular attention to the bridge and pilot-house of the enemy."
"Ay, ay, Captain!" returned Woolridge.
Louis left the pilot-house to join the ranks. Don came up from the fire-room, and Morris led his force to the hurricane deck, which commanded the best view of the enemy. By this time the Fatimé was within the eighth of a mile of the Maud. ”

“ The 'Big Four' might make a pleasant affair of it, but most of the others would not.
"All the preparations for the excursion have to be made at Cairo, where dragomans who contract to supply tents, camels, food, and everything required are to be found, and I was approached by three of them at Shepheard's Hotel."
"Then the trip seems to be impossible now, and it is useless to talk about it," suggested Mr. Woolridge; and the captain thought he could perceive an expression of relief on his face.
"It is not impossible," added the commander with a smile. ”

“ If I can navigate the Maud, I could do the same with the Guardian-Mother; for the size of the vessel don't make any difference in the navigation as long as both of them go out to sea off soundings. I suppose you doubt what I say?"
"I do not; for I am not a qualified judge in the [Pg 25] matter," replied Louis, who was considerably surprised at the amount of confidence the captain of eighteen years of age had in himself. "But why is it lucky for the pirate that Captain Ringgold, instead of Captain Scott, happens to be in command of the ship?" ”

“ What can be done next?" demanded Louis, rousing his energies to face the difficulty.
"What we do next depends mainly upon what the Fatimé does; and she isn't doing anything," replied Captain Scott, apparently roused to new exertion by the burst of energy on the part of his companion in the pilot-house. "I have no doubt Mazagan intends to make an effort to get possession of our millionaire as soon as he has the opportunity; but he will never succeed unless he knocks the Maud all to pieces with his twelve-pounders, which I don't believe he can do, Louis. ”

“ They could not explain her delay, and it was useless to attempt to do so.
"What do you suppose will become of those fellows from the pirate, Captain Scott?" asked Louis, looking at the people from the Fatimé on the shore.
"I haven't the least idea, and I don't think I shall trouble my head with the question," replied the captain. "We have given them provisions enough to keep them alive for several days, and they can make their way to some town. I don't consider their condition as at all desperate. If Captain Ringgold thinks it necessary, he will do whatever he deems advisable." ”

“ The larder of the little steamer had been filled up at Alexandria, and Pitts had prepared one of his best breakfasts. The party were in high spirits; for the little Maud had run away from the pirate, though of course there were other chapters to the narrative.
"As soon as we get the situation a little more settled, and you fellows get your eyes braced wide open, one of you must tackle the island of Cyprus, and get up a lecture on it; for the commander desired that we should learn something about the place," said the captain. ”

“ Before Captain Scott had finished his report, Dr. Hawkes rejoined the party; and he was immediately beset by the curious ones for information. The seal of secrecy had been removed by the commander, and he had not been instructed to be silent. He knew the patient as soon as he saw him; for Mazagan had been a prisoner on board of the ship for a considerable time after his capture in Pournea Bay.
"What is your patient, Dr. Hawkes?" asked Mrs. Blossom before he had fairly crossed the threshold of the door.
"A wounded man; bullet in the shoulder," replied the surgeon with professional discretion. ”

“ Woolridge; and all the party gazed with interest at the phenomenon.
"Only apparently so," the captain insisted.
"Please to explain it to us, Commodore," said Miss Blanche, who had long ago applied this title to him.
"With pleasure, Miss Woolridge. It is the mirage, from the Latin miror, to wonder, which appears to be what you are doing just now. The steamer you see sailing along the shore is an optical illusion, a reflection, and not a reality. Refraction, which is the bending of the rays of light, produces this effect. ”

“ After we had run as far as we could go up the channel, we should hardly be more than four hundred and fifty feet from her, and she could batter the Maud to pieces at her leisure. We must face the music. That is our only safety, if there is any safety anywhere."
"I am with you, Captain Scott. But we are taking all the shot, and giving none. ”

“ Belgrave?" asked Miss Blanche, with a pleasant smile of approval.
"Captain Scott had talked the whole thing to us on board of the Maud while he steered the steamer," replied Louis.
"But he knows five times as much about metres as I do; for I could not have explained the meridian business," interjected the captain of the Maud.
"Five miles an hour is slow travelling; but it enables us to see the country, and also to talk about it," said Dr. Hawkes. ”

“ The Fata Morgana is a sort of mirage seen in the Strait of Messina. A person standing on the shore sees the images of men, houses, ships, and other objects, sometimes in the air, sometimes in the water, the originals frequently magnified, passing like a panorama before the beholder. The vapory masses above the strait may cause the pictures to be surrounded by a colored line. ”

“ On the African side you will see mountains all the way to the strait, with only sand between them and the water. There is nothing that can be called a town between Suez and Koser, over 300 statute miles. All around the sea are coral-reefs; and we shall pass a lighthouse on one right in the middle of it. Not a single river flows into the Red Sea, for there are no rains in Egypt; and if there were on either side, the desert would absorb all the water. ”

“ The Maud, with the Parsee merchants and all the friendly officers, followed the two magnificent steamers to sea the next day, and both vessels fired salutes for them at parting. The party were going to India; new sights, different from anything they had ever seen before, were to open upon them, and it is more than possible that the young men on board would fall into some stirring adventures as they proceeded. The company of the Blanche was likely to bring with it some attractions, and to change somewhat the order of events on board both vessels. ”