CHAPTER XXIX

LEFT ON A SANDBANK

The hull of the Phantom was now completely wrapped in flames, and it was impossible to save anything more from her. The ship’s company had worked hard from the time the fire was discovered, and they were tired out after their exertions. They had seated themselves on the sand above the beach, while Louis maintained his position in the pine-tree.

Whether or not Scoble had discovered that a steamer was blockading the only egress from what he called “Dolphin Bay,” Louis had no knowledge. He had not seen the Maud himself; but he had no doubt that Bickling’s report that she was in the bay was correct. He had read Kimpton’s letter from Scoble several times. In one sentence the writer said that he expected his confederate to assist him in getting out of the bay if he was pursued.

Kimpton appeared to have discharged this duty faithfully, for Louis did not question that he had set fire to the Phantom for this purpose. But there had been no communication between Scoble and his satellite so far as he knew. He wondered very much if the captain of the Maud was aware that the obstruction to his passage out to sea had been removed, for he had got under way as soon as the destruction of the steamer had been assured.

The Maud had a fresh breeze, and she was carrying a fore and a main gaff-topsail in addition to her ordinary canvas. She had the wind fair for her passage out. Those on board of her had plainly discovered Kimpton’s signals, for the schooner had changed her course directly for the point occupied by him. Louis watched the Maud with his glass, and saw that she was getting out her boat.

Within an eighth of a mile of Kimpton, the schooner came to, and the boat pulled for the shore. The confederate was conveyed on board, and the Maud filled away. She was making at least eight knots an hour, for Captain Ringgold had said this was her maximum speed, and she had everything favorable.

His elevated position was no longer necessary to observe the vessel, and Louis descended to the ground. He was the first to notify the captain of the approach of the Maud. It made the heart of the young millionaire beat violently when he considered the fact that his mother was on board of the schooner, and he could do nothing to assist her, or even to comfort her, prisoner as she was in the hands of her only enemy on the face of the earth.

“She will get out in spite of anything we can do now,” said Captain Brisbane when Louis had called his attention to the approach of the Maud.

“But can’t you do anything? We have your boat still,” added Louis in a pleading tone.

“Not a thing, Mr. Belgrave. I have lost my steamer in my efforts to assist you. What more would you have of me?” asked the disconsolate commander, as he glanced at the smouldering wreck of the Phantom; and there was a good deal of bitterness and reproach in his tones, as though he considered himself a much-abused man.

“Why cannot three or four of us go off in the boat and intercept the Maud as she goes through the inlet?” asked Louis earnestly.

“We cannot!” replied the captain sharply. “If I had known that I was to come down here on a fighting expedition, to overhaul a lot of cut-throats, I would not have come; at least not without a squad of policemen on board. What can you do if you go off in the boat, young man?” demanded Captain Brisbane sternly, and with a sneer on his lips.

“If we could get on board we could gain possession of the vessel,” replied Louis with spirit.

“Do you take me for a pirate, Mr. Belgrave? I would not attempt a thing like that under any circumstances. Besides, Captain Ringgold directed me to watch the Maud if I found her, and follow her if she got out of any of these inlets. He told me not to meddle with her,” returned the captain; and Louis had to admit to himself that he had the best of the argument.

“My mother is on board of that schooner, and am I to stand here like a mummy and do nothing to save her?” demanded Louis, somewhat excited.

“That is just what you are to do, young man. You cannot help yourself, and I cannot help you. I could not do anything more than I have done if it were my own mother they were carrying off,” replied Captain Brisbane in a more pliable tone. “It would be madness to attempt to board a vessel making eight or ten knots an hour with a jolly-boat. We should all be shot down.”

“I am almost sure there is not a firearm of any kind on board of the Maud, for I took care to obtain possession of all I could find.”

“I did not ship my men for this kind of duty, and they would mutiny if I required them to engage in such a venture.”

It was useless to argue the matter with the captain, or attempt to persuade him to embark in the foolhardy enterprise of capturing the vessel, and Louis could only watch the Maud as she continued on her course to the open sea. She kept well away from the point till she was about west of the inlet where the wreck of the Phantom lay, and then hauled her sheets till she had the wind over her port quarter. She dashed on her course with all the speed she could make, keeping as far to the southward as the depth of the water would permit.

By this time Kimpton had related his story, and Scoble was as wise as his pursuers. Louis looked at the vessel as she passed through the inlet, as both the bay and the passage into it are properly called, with the spy-glass. Frinks was at the helm, and no other person could be seen on her deck. Possibly the captain of the Maud feared that a pistol shot might disable him or some other person on board, and he had ordered all but the helmsman below; but the schooner was out of the reach of any weapon in Louis’s possession, even if he had been disposed to use one.

Sick at heart, Louis watched the Maud as she dashed through the inlet, and laid her course to the south-east as soon as she had made an offing. While Mrs. Belgrave was thankful in her heart that her son was not on board of the schooner with her, he was groaning in spirit that he was not with her. The only consolation he had was that Felix McGavonty was at her side, or within call. Captain Ringgold had been very sure that the poor lady would be subjected to no hardship or indignity of any kind; and he was disposed to accept his assurance.

“Which the Maud is bound for Bermuda, sir, as you can see from the course she is taking, sir,” said Bickling approaching him. “Which it is what I ’ad the pleasure of informing you, sir.”

“I have no doubt she is bound to Bermuda,” replied Louis, very sadly.

“Which it is a great pity that we have no vessel to follow her in, sir. With a fast yacht like the Blanche, sir, you could soon over’aul her, sir.”

As the cook knew nothing about the Guardian-Mother, he could not have informed Kimpton in regard to her. Louis was sure that nothing had been said about the steam-yacht in the presence of either of the men he had employed. Scoble could have obtained no information from his confederate; and it was evident from the course he had shaped in sight of the shore that he did not expect to be pursued any farther, now that the Phantom had been destroyed.

“We shall soon have a vessel which is faster than the Blanche, Bickling,” replied Louis after he had considered the subject for a few minutes.

“Which I am very ’appy to ’ear, sir,” added the cook; and he seemed to be really pleased. “Which I am very sorry, sir, that Flounder turned out to be a bad man, sir.”

“What did he wish you to do when he knocked you down?” asked Louis.

“Which he wanted me to go on board of the Maud, sir, and not tell you or the captain of the steamer that the Maud she was in there, sir,” answered Bickling. “Which I wouldn’t do, sir; no, sir, not for the crown of Hingland, sir, to a gentleman as ’as used me kindly, as you ’ave, sir.”

Louis had no doubt in regard to the honesty and fidelity of the cook; but his courage and intelligence were other things. The captain interrupted the conversation, which was of no importance at this stage of the adventure.

“The question just now is as to what we are to do next, Mr. Belgrave,” said Captain Brisbane, as he seated himself by the side of Louis.

“I am compelled to answer in your own words, ‘Not a thing,’” replied the young man. “We might as well be on a desolate island as here.”

“Not quite so bad as that, for we have saved from the wreck provisions enough to last us two or three days. We have the boat, and we could cross to the other side of the inlet, and find our way to the life-saving station, or we could row up the river to the town where Scoble mailed his letter to Kimpton.”

“I don’t expect to suffer from hunger or cold, or anything else but impatience at being in such a desolate place while that villain is conveying my mother away from me.”

“You ought to be old enough to do without your mother,” added the captain rather coarsely, “I was ordered to remain on this coast by Captain Ringgold until he came himself in a steamer. Do you know when he will be here, Mr. Belgrave?”

“He did not know himself, and therefore he could not tell me.”

“I doubt if any vessel will come into this bay in the next month. All we can do is to make the best of our situation. I suppose we might make a signal that would attract the attention of some vessel outside that would take us off.”

“You can do that if you wish, Captain Brisbane, but I shall remain here till Captain Ringgold takes me off,” replied Louis decidedly.

“He may not come for a week,” suggested the captain.

“Perhaps not; in that case I shall remain here a week.”

“You are not sure that Captain Ringgold will find you here.”

“I shall wait and see if he don’t, at any rate.”

The captain took the spy-glass, and directed it out at sea.

“There are two schooners coming up from the southward,” said he, still pointing the glass.

“Let them come,” added Louis.

“As I said, Captain Ringgold may not come here for a week: I don’t feel as though I ought to keep my men here on this sandbank any longer than is absolutely necessary,” added the captain, calling his mate to him.

“Of course you will do what you think best, Captain Brisbane,” replied Louis coldly.

The captain instructed the mate to rig a signal, and set it on the highest point of land in the vicinity. The order was executed at once; and the signal floated in the air till nearly sundown, when it attracted the attention of a tug-boat headed to the northward, which came within half a mile of the shore.

The little steamer, which had been towing a vessel down to Barnegat Inlet, ran her nose into the sandbank and hailed the party. He proved to be a friend of Captain Brisbane, and was all ready to take him and his ship’s company to New York, with all they had saved from the wreck.

“I don’t like to leave you here, Mr. Belgrave, but if you insist upon remaining, I can’t help myself,” said the captain, when all but him had gone on board of the tug.

“Don’t disturb yourself about me, Captain Brisbane,” replied Louis very stiffly.

“Very well, young man. Come along, Bickling!” added the captain.

“Which I don’t leave the young gentleman, sir,” replied the cook.

The remainder of the party hastened on board of the Rocket; and she steamed away, leaving Louis and the cook on the sandbank.