With a hoa.r.s.e yell of rage they tugged at the oars and their boat fairly leaped through the water after the intrepid young cadet.
Clif saw the movement, and redoubled his efforts at the oars. It was a race for his life--one against seven!
With frantic energy he tugged at the oars, and his boat shot forward with encouraging speed. At that moment the searchlight on the flagship sent its rays across the waters in answer to the signal, and a dazzling stream of light played upon the scene.
It brought in clear relief the form of the waiting steamer, and the two boats racing so desperately near at hand.
What a thrilling scene it must have been to the officers on the bridge of the flagship as with gla.s.s in hand they watched the exciting race.
But it was not given to them long to note the cadet"s desperate struggle for freedom, or to marvel at his great endurance.
The race was a short one, and the result a foregone conclusion. There was no hope of Clif"s escaping from the pursuing boat, with its crew of fresh and eager oarsmen. The latter closed in upon him with a leap and a bound, and soon were within oar"s length of him.
He recognized the uselessness of trying to escape from them, but was determined not to surrender without a struggle even in the face of great numbers.
He dropped his oars and sprang to his feet, facing his enemies. He drew his revolver, but before he could use it one of the Spanish sailors, who had risen in the boat, knocked it from his grasp with his oar.
The boats were now side by side, almost touching, and the dark hulk of the steamer was not many feet away.
From the latter arose aloud cheer as they saw that Clif had been disarmed, and above the noise Clif could hear a few words of command from the Spanish army officer who sat in the stern of the boat at his side. It was to the sailor who had sprung up to attack Clif.
"Don"t shoot!" he said. "Take him alive!"
Clif had seized an oar when his revolver fell with a splash into the water, and there was no doubt that he intended using it.
But two can play at that game, and the Spanish sailor, forbidden to shoot, attacked Clif furiously with the oar, which he still held in his hand.
Clif dodged, but as he did so another sailor aimed a blow at his head.
The aim was good.
A sharp pain shot through the young cadet"s head, he reeled and all became dark before him. With a faint moan he fell senseless into the bottom of his boat.
The contest had been short, and well it was for the Spaniards that such was the case. Already the flickering of the searchlight told that the flagship was hurrying to the scene.
The Spaniards realized the importance of quick action. They had, on the impulse of the moment, retaliated upon Clif because it could take but a few minutes and because they felt that the chase would end not far from their waiting vessel.
They congratulated themselves that it had, indeed, brought them almost to the ship"s side, and now they lost no time in getting themselves and their prisoner aboard. Willing hands a.s.sisted from above.
A couple of strokes of the oars had brought them to the ship"s side, with Clif"s boat in tow. In obedience to a command, Clif"s boat with its unconscious burden was raised bodily to the deck. The captain thought he could use it in his business.
A moment later the Spaniards with the army officer reached the deck, and the ship"s captain signaled to go ahead.
All now was excitement on board the Spaniard. Beyond securely fastening the arms and legs of their unconscious captive where he lay, they paid but little attention to Clif. They were all too wrapped up in thoughts of escape from the cruiser whose piercing searchlight was streaming upon them.
Among the crew there was, here and there, a murmur against the delay that had been caused by stopping to take on the army officer, and with this was coupled a note of resentment against the young cadet whose appearance on the scene promised to spoil all their plans.
But the captain"s orders were carried out promptly, the more so as their own safety depended upon it.
They were not without hope of making good their escape in the end, for they knew what speed their craft was capable of. It was a fast boat, and the throbbing of the engines told that she was being urged to her full speed.
Amid intense excitement of crew and officers, the wild dash for freedom and safety had begun.
Through all this confusion and flurry the cadet whose prompt signaling had occasioned it lay helpless and unconscious. The steady thump of the machinery below, which was steadily carrying him further and further from his friends, made no impression upon his ears, nor was his mind aroused by the excitement of the chase or the hope of rescue.
But the race had not been long under way before he began to show signs of returning consciousness. He stirred uneasily in the bottom of the boat where he lay, attempting to move his pinioned limbs; then a long-drawn breath, and he opened his eyes slowly.
The noise from shipboard fell upon his ears, and the sounds confused him. His surroundings puzzled him and his mind at first could not grasp the situation. Where was he?
Then with a rush of recollection came the remembrance of the attack upon him in the open boat. His enemies had triumphed, he thought, and left him a helpless victim to drift about upon the open sea. But whence those sounds?
He painfully raised himself to a sitting posture and looked out. To his astonishment, he found himself and boat upon the deck of a swiftly moving steamer.
Then he saw it all, and realized what had happened. He caught a glimpse of the rays of the searchlight that still streamed across the water, and a moment after heard the boom of a cannon out at sea.
"The New York!" he exclaimed. "She is in pursuit! But she"s too far away, and can never catch this fast boat. The only chance of her stopping it is with one of her big guns."
And then, involuntarily, he shuddered as he thought that, bound and helpless, he would share the fate of the Spanish crew if a shot from the flagship should penetrate the ship"s side and send it to the bottom!
He moved a little toward the stern of his boat, as best he could, to get a better view of the light that showed the approaching flagship. As he did so he struck a round, hard object that lay behind him.
"The unexploded sh.e.l.l!" he exclaimed, as he recognized what it was. "I still have that with me, at any rate!"
And then he began to tug at the ropes that bound his arms in a frantic effort to loosen them.
The rapid throb of the engines below and another boom of cannon from out to sea told that the chase was becoming a hot one.
CHAPTER x.x.xII.
CLIF FARADAY"S TEST.
The excitement among the crew of the Spanish steamer was intense as they watched the light from the flagship and noted the course of the projectiles that came toward them. For this reason they had not observed Clif"s movements, and gave themselves no concern about him.
Whatever may have been his intended course of action, he was at last compelled to abandon it.
Strain and tug as he would at the cords that bound his arms, they remained intact, nor could his ingenuity devise any way of releasing himself from their hold. Though hastily tied, the knots had been put there to stay, and Clif at last realized that it was a hopeless task to try to undo them.
But though he could not free his arms and legs, he could use his eyes, and the scene was one thrilling enough to rivet his attention.
The fast moving steamer, urged to its utmost speed, the exclamations of hope and fear among its crew, the more majestically moving flagship whose deficiencies of speed were more than atoned for by the range of her guns, suggested possibilities to one in Clif"s position that might well set one"s heart to beating wildly.
If the steamer should escape by reason of superior speed, it would bring joy to the crew, but disaster to Clif, their helpless prisoner.
If, on the other hand, a shot from the flagship should sink the Spanish boat, Clif perforce would share death with them. Little wonder that brave as he was, he struggled anxiously to free his arms and legs from their bonds.
"The New York can never catch us," he exclaimed, when he had settled down to watching the flagship as best he could. "She is too far away, and this boat is too fast."
There was little need of the searchlight now, as dawn was approaching.