"What kind of fish are you catching now?"
"Halibut mostly, some barracuda. Haven"t tried for sardines or albacore since your cannery shut down."
The _Petrel_ rolled lazily in the trough of the swell as she sped down the coast. Suddenly the darkness ahead was blurred by an indistinct shape and the man at the wheel put the vessel over sharply. As he did so he narrowly escaped a collision with an unlighted boat which loomed directly across their bow.
"Trawler fishing within the three-mile limit without lights," the girl explained to her pa.s.senger.
Gregory remembered d.i.c.kie Lang"s words concerning alien interference. He knew that running without lights was illegal. Why was the law not enforced?
In answer to his question, the girl burst out: "You just wait. I couldn"t take the time now to tell you of all the laws Mascola breaks and if I did you wouldn"t believe me."
"How can he get by with it?" Gregory asked.
d.i.c.kie Lang walked to the rail and searched the dark water in the direction of the sh.o.r.e before she replied: "There are three different kinds of laws out here. The navigation laws are made by the government, the fishing laws by the state, and the law of the sea is made by the fishermen. If you break the pilot-rules they"ll haul you up before the local inspector at Port Angeles and fine you, take away your license or put you in jail. But they"ve got to have the proof and that is hard to get. If you break the state"s laws you run up against the fish commissioner. His deputies do their best to protect the fish and see that the fishermen use the right kind of gear. If they catch an outfit with the goods, they put them over. But it"s hard to do."
She stared away into the faintly graying darkness.
"Cut through the kelp, Tom. It will save us a little and we"re going to need it."
"And the fisherman"s law you spoke about. What is that?" Gregory queried.
She faced him suddenly. "I don"t know how to explain it," she said.
"Every one has to learn it for himself. It"s the law of the biggest and fastest boat. The law of the longest and strongest arm. The law of sand and a quick trigger."
Gregory felt his pulse quicken as she went on:
"You see we have to depend on ourselves out here to settle our troubles.
Whatever happens, happens quick. Generally there are not many witnesses.
If you knew trouble was coming, you might get a deputy to come out, but the chances are ten to one they wouldn"t. They would say it was only a fisherman"s row and tell you to swear out a warrant. And if you go to law, Mascola will bring five witnesses for each of yours and they"ll outswear you every time for they can lie faster than a man can write it down."
Again she paused and searched the gray border of the receding curtain of night. Far away Gregory could hear the roar of the breakers. From out the gray dusk ahead appeared the shadowy outline of a rugged promontory jutting far out into the sea.
"Keep close in, Tom. Our last string"s dead ahead, off Peeble Beach.
When you get around the point swing on the outside of Coward Rocks and give her all she"ll stand."
She walked slowly about the deck with her eyes fixed on the wave-washed sh.o.r.e-line.
"So you see each outfit makes its own laws and it"s up to them to enforce them. Our law is to mind our own business and get the fish. The only law we break is Mascola"s. He tries to tell us where to fish. He bullies the ones he can and fights the ones he can"t in any way that is easiest and safest. He"s a thief and a crook and he"d commit murder in a minute if he thought he could get by with it."
The idea lodged in her brain. She leaned closer and exclaimed in a low voice: "And how do we know he doesn"t get by with murder the way he does with everything else? There"s many a man picked up along the coast as a "floater" that n.o.body knows how he drowned."
Daybreak was upon them as they hugged the sh.o.r.e-line and slipped into the protecting shadow of Long Point. d.i.c.kie Lang"s words sank deep into Gregory"s consciousness. A half-formed question found its way at last to his lips.
"Do you think," he began, but was interrupted by the man at the wheel.
"Can"t make the inside channel. Have to go round."
He altered the helm as he spoke. d.i.c.kie Lang jumped to his side.
"We"ve got to run the short-cut, Tom. No use going round. They"d spot us a mile away in this light. If they"re laying round my nets I want to surprise them. I"ll take the boat."
The fisherman surrendered the wheel and sidled out of the way.
"She"s your boat," he said with blunt emphasis. "But don"t forget it"s my license. I wouldn"t take the chance."
The girl nodded. "My license is hanging up in the engine-room," she retorted. "If anything happens, it"s me that is responsible. I won"t forget."
She spun the wheel over as she spoke and the _Petrel_ swerved like a gull and headed straight for the rugged cliff which towered high above the foaming water, bold and defiant of the angry waves which dashed relentlessly at its base.
Off the port bow Gregory saw a narrow pathway of quiet water fringed on one side by white-toothed swells, on the other by the barnacled feet of the point itself. He leaned over the rail and followed the course of the ribbon-like path which wound like a snake among the curling waves and jagged rocks. Could that be the channel the girl meant to take?
d.i.c.kie Lang"s eyes were fixed with his upon the devious waterway. The hand which held the wheel was steady and the _Petrel_ plunged boldly on as if bent upon flinging its fragile sh.e.l.l upon the time-defying rocks of Long Point.
Gregory measured the distance to the overhanging ledge. What was the use of taking such a chance as this? It looked like one in a million. In another minute they would pile up. They were almost abreast of the thread-like channel when he saw the fingers on the wheel tighten. The steering gear whirred and the _Petrel_ leaped forward to answer the master-hand at the helm.
Then came the miracle.
The slim bow of the little craft swung about. For a second she wallowed in the trough of the ground-swell, rose high on its foaming crest and nestled slowly down in the quiet water of the rock-bound channel. And the distance to safety had been gained by the scant margin of only a few inches. A sharper or blunter turn would have ripped the vessel from bow to stern. Was it luck? He shook his head slowly. Then he began to understand why the fishermen took orders from d.i.c.kie Lang. He was recalled to himself by a laughing voice and he saw that the girl"s eyes were sparkling, as she said without turning her head:
"Did you think you were going to have to swim ash.o.r.e?"
Gregory laughed. "I could feel the water about my ears," he said. Then he added: "Do you do stunts like that often?"
She shook her head. "Sometimes it is necessary to take a chance," she answered. "You"ve got to catch Mascola"s bunch red-handed. When we round the "bull-nose" we"ll be right on top of our nets."
Her lips were firmly compressed and the little lines which suddenly appeared about her mouth were hard. With her eyes still held by the barnacled rocks, she snapped: "Then you may see something."
They were nearing the end of Long Point. Throttling the throbbing motor until its soft breathing could be heard only a few boat-lengths, she nodded to the fisherman:
"All right, Tom. She"s yours. Plenty of water from here on. When you round "bull-nose" head for the cove with all you"ve got."
Relieved from the wheel she dodged into the engine-room and returned with two rifles. Flashing a glance sh.o.r.eward to determine the _Petrel"s_ position she rejoined Gregory and handed him one of the guns. Gregory reached eagerly for the weapon. For the past hour he had been forced to sit by a spectator. Now was a chance to do something. To play a game he knew. His fingers caressed the stock of the Winchester as the girl exclaimed:
"Don"t suppose there is any use telling you how to shoot. Only at sea things are a little different. You have to count on the roll. Sight full until you get on the range. Distances are deceiving on the water. Pull on the slow rise if you can. That"s when she"s steadiest."
He noted her quiet manner of speaking and the businesslike way with which she handled her gun. What she meant for him to do he did not clearly understand. Whatever it was, she would find him ready. He slipped a sh.e.l.l into the barrel from the magazine, and waited. He noticed that the girl was watching him closely as they came to the end of the winding channel. Then she gave him brief instructions.
"When we pa.s.s that big rock ahead we"ll head in. Then you will see a string of nets. You may see two strings, one laid around the other. If any of Mascola"s gang are hanging around I"m going to try to persuade them to give me sea-way."
She set her lips grimly and tapped the rifle. Drawing a pair of binocular-gla.s.ses from her pocket she focused them carefully.
"Don"t shoot until I do. If they are trying to lay around I"ll open up on them and start them moving. Aim at the water-line and pump away as fast as you like. All right, Tom. Give her the gun."
The _Petrel_ leaped under the advancing throttle and raced for the curiously fashioned nub at the cliff"s end.
Gregory crowded forward, striving to catch a glimpse of the water beyond. As they flashed by the "bull-nose" she saw silhouetted against the brightening light which streamed across the water from the beach, the sharp outline of a fishing-boat. Then he heard a low exclamation from the girl.
"He"s laid around my string," she gritted, and again the gla.s.ses flashed to her eyes. She whirled on the fisherman. "Look at that, Tom! He"s stripping my nets. I"ve got him with the goods this time and, so help me G.o.d, I"m going to make him pay. Don"t shoot," she cautioned Gregory.
"Wait till we get closer. I want to get him with the deadwood. Wide open, Tom, we"ll run him off his legs. I"ll----"