Then Mr. Vandyne briefly related what had previously been done toward finding the boys.

When the Sally Walker failed to return it was supposed she had been blown out to sea, and every available craft was hired to search for the missing party. When a week pa.s.sed without the hoped-for result, it seemed certain that all were dead, and they were mourned for until the newspaper articles appeared.

The remainder of the story was brief. Mr. Vandyne had just purchased the schooner-yacht Lorlie--the same craft which was now hove-to off the key--and in her he started for the Bahamas.

"What was the meaning of those pistol-shots we heard, sir?" Joe asked.

"They sounded like a fight rather than a signal."

"I wanted to let you understand we were coming, and emptied my revolver at the same moment the captain did his. There was considerable noise, I'll admit; but knowing we should land in a few moments, I paid little attention to it at the time."

The sun was already sending forth heralds of his coming when the happy party exhausted their questions and explanations, and half an hour later the Lorlie was anch.o.r.ed in the cove, with the five who had pa.s.sed through so many adventures eating a hearty breakfast in her luxuriously-furnished cabin.

After the meal had been concluded the work of taking the gold on board was begun, and before nine o'clock the yacht was slipping swiftly out of the harbor, heading for Na.s.sau, all her white sails filled by a strong north-westerly breeze.

Instead of going directly to New York, it was Mr. Vandyne's intention to run down the shoal for the purpose of sending wreckers to the key, in the hope of saving such cargo from the Bonita as was on or near the island.

The three boys were standing aft as she pa.s.sed the point where Walter had done duty as sentinel with such happy results, and it was very difficult for either to restrain his joy at thus bidding adieu to the key.

"When I get my ship I won't come within a hundred miles of this place,"

Jim said emphatically; and his companions were quite positive it would not give them any pleasure to return.

Swiftly the gallant yacht sped on, bowing her long, tapering spars to the ocean swell, until the key was hardly more than a spot of blue on the horizon, and the accidental cruise was well-nigh at an end.

CHAPTER x.x.xIII.

Na.s.sAU.

The three boys and Joe were given quarters in the yacht's cabin, but nothing Mr. Vandyne could say would induce Bob to remain aft.

"For an old sh.e.l.l-back like me the only place is the fo'castle," he said in reply to all their arguments. "It don't stand to reason that a sailor would be comfortable anywhere else, an' I'd be like a fish out of water if I couldn't go on watch with the others of my kind."

"But what's the use of working when father expects you to be his guest?"

Harry asked; and Bob replied, with a hearty laugh:

"Workin'? Why it's nothin' more'n the rarest kind of a lark to help handle a craft like this! She's fitter for a gold frame an' hung up as a' ornament than to carry sich old barnacles as me! Bless you, lad, I wouldn't miss my trick at the wheel on a beauty like this any sooner'n I'd lose the gold we've had so much trouble in the savin'!"

Mr. Vandyne recognized the fact that the voyage would indeed be a disagreeable one to the old sailor if he was forced to play the part of pa.s.senger, and nothing more was said on the subject, although both Harry and Walter tried in vain many times afterward to coax him into the cabin at meal time.

It may be supposed that the boys had experienced so many trials on the sea that they simply looked forward to being on land once more, surrounded by the comforts of home; but this was not so. The Lorlie was in every respect a beautiful craft, and sailing in her was so different from what it had been on the brig that it seemed almost like another kind of traveling. This, in connection with the fact that all mental troubles were banished, served to make the short trip to Na.s.sau most enjoyable.

It would be necessary for Mr. Vandyne to remain at this port two or three days in order to complete the preparations for saving the Bonita's cargo; but no one thought of taking up quarters on sh.o.r.e when it was possible to live so comfortably aboard the yacht.

And now a word is necessary to explain why Harry's father interested himself in this work, which at first thought would seem too trifling to cause an extension of the cruise when Mrs. Vandyne and Mrs. Morse were anxiously waiting to greet once more the sons whom they had mourned as dead. This explanation seems to be the final link in the chain of mysterious or unaccountable occurrences which went to make up the career of the runaway brig.

Mr. Vandyne owned one-third of the Bonita, and the first intimation he had of her abandonment was through the newspaper article which apprised him of his son's safety; therefore his business in Na.s.sau was concerning the saving of his own property. It did seem remarkable, however, that Harry had been carried off by one of his father's vessels which at the time was supposed to be half-way across the Atlantic.

"I am confident that Bob's theory as to the reason for her abandonment is the correct one," Mr. Vandyne said shortly after leaving the key, when they were discussing the matter, "and my reason for the belief is founded on a similar accident which happened to one of the first vessels I ever owned. She was bound to Genoa from New Orleans, also with a cargo of alcohol. One day during moderately fine weather there was a sudden explosion in the hold, which burst the tarpaulin and shattered the hatch. The captain saw dense volumes of what he thought smoke, and ordered all hands to abandon ship. They did get into the boats, but before casting off had the same experience you had, and the ship was saved. In the Bonita's case I have no doubt but that the boats foundered shortly after the crew left, although possibly they were picked up by some outward-bound craft, and we shall hear from them later."

It was necessary for those who had been taken from the key to spend no small amount of time on sh.o.r.e giving evidence concerning the loss of the brig, that there might be no delay regarding payment of the insurance; and while attending to these matters they met an old acquaintance to whom they were deeply indebted.

This was none other than the captain of the schooner which had visited the island in search of the murderers, and who gave the information leading to their rescue.

"I was jes' thinkin' I'd run across the shoals an' see how you was gettin' on," he said, after a hearty greeting; "but I reckoned you had the steamer patched up before I got back from the States."

Joe related briefly their misadventures on the key, and also the particulars of the rescue, concluding by asking if the red-nosed man and his companions had been captured.

"I'm mighty glad that what we did in Savannah brought your friends on.

I'd been blamin' myself for not stoppin' here when we come back; but as things turned out, a delay of two hours would 'a' given them villains the chance of showin' us their heels."

"Then you caught 'em?" Bob asked eagerly.

"That's jes' what we did, an' no mistake, though it was a close shave.

We was comin' down past Egg Key, with a full breeze, when I saw a yawl edgin' insh.o.r.e, like as if her crew wanted to get out of sight. None of us expected that gang was aboard, knowin' as how they'd stole your brig; but I thought it wouldn't do any harm to cut in between them and the land. Two hours later an' they'd 'a' been on the shoals, where we couldn't follow."

"Did they show fight?" Bob asked.

"They attempted to, but we was fixed for jes' sich a crowd. When we hove-to not fifty yards off, an' showed the muzzles of half a dozen rifles, every one of 'em quieted down like lambs. We clapped irons on the gang, an' next day they were here in jail. It was hard work to prove the murder on 'em, although everybody knew they did it. They were sentenced yesterday to twenty years' imprisonment, an' us who live around here feel a good deal more easy in mind, because it wasn't safe for a man to travel very far alone while they were free."

Then the captain insisted on the boys going with him to the coral-reefs, where the spongers were at work, and a very pleasant afternoon did they spend.

There were to be seen, by aid of a gla.s.s, sponges of all varieties, from the "sheep's wool" and "velvet" to the bright scarlet "gloves," which grow in the shape of huge hands, and owe their peculiar color to the insects which build them. Reef-sponges, yet covered with their manufacturers and black as a coal; wire sponges, and gray ones, fashioned in the form of a cup; sponges of all shapes and hues, until the shoal looked like a garden of brilliantly-colored flowers which had been suddenly inundated.

The boys collected a huge store of curious things, among which was no small amount of purple and yellow fans, stars and trees of coral, which is so much more beautiful when living, and in the sea, than the dried specimens we see on land.

The day's pleasuring was brought to a close by a visit to the sponge-yard, where the Captain's guests learned very much about this branch of industry, which in the Bahamas alone gives employment to several thousand persons and five or six hundred vessels.

It was very like a revelation to them when the hospitable Captain explained that there were several grades of each variety of sheep-wool, white-reef, dark-reef, abaco, velvet, gra.s.s, boat, hard-head, yellow and glove sponges, all worth from five to ten cents per pound by the quant.i.ty; and, also, that when first taken from the water a sponge is useless for mechanical or domestic purposes.

Probably every boy knows that a sponge, as we see it, is only the skeleton of an organism. When first gathered it is covered with a thick, black, gelatinous substance which must be removed. Then it is sorted, clipped, soaked in lime-water, and dried in the sun before being compressed into hundred-pound packages.

It would be impossible to learn all that is really interesting concerning the sponge in one short article, or during a single visit to the yards; and Jim was so impressed with this fact that he said to Harry, when the latter hurried him away because the yacht's boat was waiting for them:

"The first thing I buy out of my share of the money will be a book about these things, an' then I'll know a good deal more than I do now."

On the third day after their arrival the boys saw a freighting-schooner, with a large crew of men, set sail for the key on which they had lived so long, to save what was left of the Bonita and her cargo.

This completed the business for which they had visited Na.s.sau--the wreckers being instructed to carry their find to New York--and word was given that every one should be ready for an early start homeward next morning.

"You've had adventures enough for one year, and can well afford to study hard until next summer," Mr. Vandyne said as he announced the early departure of the Lorlie; and, hearing the words, a troubled look came over Jim's face.

"We're ready for any amount of work at school after our accidental cruise," Harry replied promptly; "but what is to become of Jim?"

"He will go home, of course, after receiving his share of the pirates'

treasure."