VAGABOND VOYAGE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 24 June 1938, Page 10

VAGABOND VOYAGE

PUBLISHED BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT COPYRIGHT

BY

ALROY WEST

(Author of “Stratosphere Express”)

CHAPTER XXVll.—Continued. The small launch was coming round from the leeward side of the yacht. It was hopelessly outclassed so far as speed was concerned, but Alla took up one of the rifles and fired towards it. Evidently her shots were sufficient near to be unpleasant, for the tiny launch swung round and returned to the yacht. Peter exchanged smiles with Alla. “Very satisfactory so far,” he commented. The launch was easy to handle. Owing to her shallow draught there was no likelihood of her coming to grief on any of the sandbanks which surrounded the island. Peter glanced anxiously at the sky. “That storm seems to be blowing over,” he remarked “It caused us to lose the trawler and I suppose it has not done its worst.” “You shouldn’t say that,” Alla reproved. “You may tempt it to smite us.” Peter smiled at her fears. “We’re more likely to have trouble from another source,” he pointed out “The yacht will be after us pretty quickly.” The launch was making excellent progress, and was already working round the island. "What do you propose to do?” Alla demanded. “Surely you don’t contemplate taking her out to sea?" “She’s built for sea work,” Peter declared. “I know our position, and I think that we shall be able to make Grenada with the amount of fuel we have on board. I’ll say one thing for Nunez, he did see that his launches were fiteed out properly. I should ima'gine he had a terror of being drowned.”

This was perfectly correct. Raul Nunez had come near to losing his life when he was on a small liner which caught fire. Ever since, being an exceeding cautious man, he had made certain that the launches he carried on his yacht would be perfectly capable of both supporting him and of carrying him to safety. There were additional lockers in order to hold the extra quantity of food and drink. Nunez wasted valuable time in getting his men from the shore. Then the particular dread which had caused him to be so careful aided Peter and Alla to an extent that was little short of ’miraculous. Nunez refused to have the yacht put to sea. From his examination of the two men left as guards he was satisfied that the gold had not left the island. It was the gold with which he was concerned. It was troublesome to think of two of the crew of the trawler eluding him, but he expected that they would be lost at sea. It was when he realized that there was only the small launch that Nunez lost his nerve. The small launch was only intended for pottering about between the yacht and the shore. As a means of escape from a disaster at sea it was hopelessly inadequate. The remaining launch had been put out of order.

. Nunez, despite the urgings of those about him. refused to give chase to the escaping launch. “I will not do it,” he declared over and over again. “Once I had four launches. One has been sunk. Another has been stolen. A third is damaged. I will not run the risk! We might strike a sandbank after the manner of the trawler. Then we should drown.”

The thought of the water slowly rising up to engulf him was too much for him. He retired to his cabin to fortify himself with a drink. When he felt calmer he sent an urgent radio message in the hope that Delgado would pick it up. Then he ordered the search to continue on the island. The gold was there, he felt certain of that, Also there were some more of the trawler’s crew. In the meantime the launch was drawing away from the island at a fairly good speed. Time after time Peter glanced backwards expecting to see the yacht bearing down upon them. But the yacht never came.

“Whaf shall you do if the yacht overtakes us right out at sea?” Alla demanded. "She could open fire on us.” “I doubt if it would do much good. A launch can be a very difficult target. They would never be able to get right alongside us because this is very easy to handle. And there is nothing to fear from that very small launch they carry. The greatest danger will be the launch which I damaged. I think I did the job efficiently. It will take an hour or so to get it put right. And if I know anything of the sort of helpers Nunez has to depend upon, it will take the best part of the day.” “It will not be so long before the day is gone.’ Alla observed. “We can go on through the night in this. There is nothing to worry about. We shall see the lights of any ships long before they are dangerously near to us.”

“What about the destroyer? Nunez may send for it?” “We shall travel without lights. I don’t think for a minute we shall be spotted. A launch doesn't show up all that well.” “You seem to have an answer fo’ everything!” “I feel decidedly optimistic," Peter informed her. “The man I am sorry for is Captain Wicks. I’m afraid he’s going to have a very unpleasant time. He was foolish not to come to terms with me.” “I wonder if he saw us get away! He must have been envious. Probably very angry as well. His revolver made it possible. I can imagine his language.” “He’s far more likely to be worried over the gold. It’s really very funny. Wicks brought the gold all the way from the English Channel. Doyle has plotted to get it all for himself from the moment he knew about it. Sinclair — who was kept in ignorance lor some

time —has similar sentiments. And obviously Nunez is after the gold. They are all near it —and I doubt if they 11 be able to find it. We have the secret and are getting farther and farther away from the island.” “The only other one who knew was poor Gallop,” Alla said sadly. “I’m sorry about his death —in a way. But I can’t get rid of the idea that he would have taken the first opportunity of knocking one over the head and dropping me over the side.” “I expect you are right,” the girl said thoughtfully. Night fell quickly and ..Peter took charge while Alla had a sleep. Later on she relieved him. There was a compass in the launch, and Peter had already worked out a course, which should bring them to the Windward Islands. He had studied the chart very carefully when on the trawler. Unfortunately Wicks had not possessed a very good one, but it had been sufficient to guide him across the Atlantic. Peter hoped that his recollection of it would be good enough to enable him to reach one of the Islands. To have gone to the south would most certainly have brought him to the land, but he did not like to risk running into the destroyer again. Apart from that the mainland was the sphere where Nunez had considerable influence. Accordingly, the only reasonable thing to do was to make for the islands. Peter did not let his mind dwell on what would happen if he missed them. There was just a wilderness of sea and almost certain death. The launch behaved reasonably well in the open sea, although the manner in which it was tossed up and down by the waves was not always conducive to comfort. Even when Alla relieved him he was not to get very much rest. By dawn he was anxiously scanning the horizon. There was no sign of land. “Should we be making a landfall yet?” Alla demanded. ’ "Peter shook his head. “I very much doubt it,” he said. ‘But there was just a change that we have made better progress than I calculated.” The day wore on and the heat became almost unbearable. The glare of the sea hurt their eyes and the tossing of the launch wearied them. Fortunately there were no shortage of supplies, and they both felt better after a good meal. There were even cigarettes in a small locker and these, although not very good, were exceedingly welcome. “Some time this afternoon we might see some indication of the land,” Peter announced. But when afternoon came there was still the same dreary expanse of glittering sea under a pitiless sun. Alla frowned and turned to Peter. “Do you think we’ve gone past them? she asked, in little more than a whisper. Peter shook his head. “We couldn’t have done that,” he said, in a very decided tone. But, somehow, the doubt persisted. He found himself trying to workout the course and remember the chart. Each time he arrived at a rather different result.

Later in the afternoon they saw the grey feather of smoke from a passing steamer. She was too far away for it to bo possible to alter course and overtake her. There was no method of signalling to her. The red lights in the watertight tin wore useless during the day. So they had to watch the thin trail of smoke move gradually out of sight. Alla was near to tears. As there was a slight breeze. Peter rigged up a sail in order to conserve the fuel. But by nightfall they were once more relying on the motor. Peter reduced speed for fear of passing the land during the night. Neither of them slept, and when morning came they were hollow-eyed from lack of rest. Their meal cheered them up considerably. and Peter once more hoisted the sail. They remained close together during the best part of the morning, just smoking cigarettes and gazing at the great expanse of sea. As the day wore on their spirits drooped. They lost the desire to talk to one another. Th only sound was the slight flapping of the sail mingled with the eternal splashing of the waves. With the passing of the morning the breeze strengthened. Peter, more with the idea of occupying his mind than anything else, tried to calculate how much fuel they had, and how far they could expect to travel by using the motor. The result of his calculations was not encouraging, and he did not say anything about it to the girl. Alla stared out at sea and made no comment. In this way the time went past, until she suddenly disturbed Peter, who had started to drowse. “Land ahead!” she cried. Instantly he was sitting up, staring in the direction which she was indicating. There were some anxious minutes, and then they sat helplessly and laughed at one another like foolish children. They were in sight of land. There was no mistaking it. CHAPTER XXVIII. Alla and Peter returned to the island where the gold was concealed. This time, however, they were on board a gun boat. Fortunately Peter had a good idea of the position of the island so that no time was lost in searching for it. There was no sign of the yacht, but the luckless trawler was still fast in the grip of the sandbank. Her list was much more pronounced, and a portion of her deck was under water. There was nothing to indicate that there was still anybody on the island. Even the dinghy belonging to the trawler had gone. Alla, who was suffering from the effects of the experiences through which

she had been, remained on board, but Peter went ashore with the white officer in charge of the black police, and six of the policemen. He directed them to the place where the gold had been buried. He was consumed with anxiety for fear the spot should have been visited by either Wicks or Nunez. But the sand was undisturbed and it was not long before the two boxes had been dug up and taken back to the gunboat. “I should feel more comfortable if we searched the island,” Peter said to the officer in charge of the police. Kirk, for such was the man’s name, smiled at him. “I doubt if it be much good,’ he said. “We've heard a good bit about Nunez. Evidently he didn’t get the gold—but I expect he killed your Captain Wicks and his companions. Kirk, however, was wrong. They found Wicks in the small cave where the supplies had been collected. His clothing was torn almost to shreds and his right arm was broken. He had made a clumsy attempt to set it. bui had not succeeded very well. Completely exhausted by what had taken place on the island he had fallen into a sleep which the arrival of the people from the gunboat had failed to disturb. He blinked at them and then smiled. “Sorry I didn't hear you." he said. "I could at least have walked down to the beach and saved you the trouble." “What about Sinclair and Doyle?” Peter asked him. Wicks gave a sardonic smile. “They were so impressed by the escape which you managed to effect, that they tried to do something on similar lines. The small launch was in the bay and thej' tried to slip across to it. Neither of them reached it. Doyle was shot down first and Sinclair tried to double back to the shelter of the trees. I was watching them from some distance away. It seemed to me that Sinclair would just about do it. I think he would have escaped, but for an unlucky happening. He slipped and just as he was picking himself up he was shot.

•■[ hid away among the bushes. Several times they passed quite near to me. Nunez had the island searched.

I didn't get a wink of sleep.” While Wicks was relating what had occurred. Kirk was attending to his broken arm. Peter gave the captain a drink of whisky from a flask he was carrying. Wicks drained it and then licked his lips. “That’s better!” he declared with satisfaction. “I must make the most of my opportunities for enjoying myself. I expect that I shall be in prison for quite a time if they can patch me up sufficient to make it worth while shipping me back home.” Kirk made no comment. “What happened next?" Peter asked. (To be Continued).