"I am."
"It is our ball."
"See here, Mr. Carey, we didn"t mean to hit you, and we were only amusing ourselves catching," said Tom. "We have hired this yacht and we have a right to do as we please on board so long as we don"t interfere with the running of the vessel. I want you to give us our ball back."
And Tom stepped up and looked the mate squarely in the eyes.
"What! you dare to dictate to me!" roared the mate, and raised his hand as if to strike Tom. He thought the youth would retreat in fear, but Tom never budged.
"I am not trying to dictate, but I have rights as well as you. I want that ball."
"You can"t have it."
"If you don"t give it to me I shall report the matter to Captain Barforth."
At this threat the mate glared at Tom as if he wanted to eat the boy up.
"If I give you the ball you"ll be throwing it at me again," he growled.
"I didn"t throw it at you. But as for catching on the deck--I shall ask the captain if that is not allowable. I am quite sure it is, so long as we do no damage."
"Going to sneak behind the captain for protection, eh?" sneered Asa Carey. He did not like the outlook, for that very morning he had had some words with the commander of the steam yacht and had gotten the worst of it.
"I want that ball."
The mate glared at Tom for a moment and then threw the ball to him.
"All right, take your old ball," he muttered. "But you be mighty careful how you use it after this or you"ll get into trouble," and with this the mate walked away.
"Are you going to speak to the captain?" asked Sam, in a low tone.
Tom thought for a moment.
"Perhaps it will be better to let it go, Sam. I don"t want to stir up any more rows than are necessary. But after this I am going to keep my eye on that fellow."
But if the lads did not mention it to the captain they told their brother and their chums of it, and a long discussion followed.
"I noticed that the mate and the a.s.sistant engineer are quite thick,"
observed Fred. "It seems they were friends before they came aboard."
"And they are two of a kind," remarked d.i.c.k. "I feel free to say I do not like them at all."
It was growing warmer, and for the next few days the girls and the boys were content to take it easy under the awnings which had been spread over a portion of the deck. Once the lads amused themselves by fishing with a net and bait, but were not very successful. In the evening they usually sang or played games, and often Songbird would favor them with some of his poetry. For the most of the time Mrs. Stanhope and Mrs.
Laning did fancywork.
"Captain says there is a storm coming up," announced Sam, one evening.
"Oh, dear! I hope it doesn"t get very rough!" cried Mrs. Stanhope. "I detest a heavy storm at sea."
"Well, mamma, we"ll have to expect some storms," said Dora.
"Oh, I shan"t mind, if it doesn"t thunder and lightning and blow too much."
But this storm was not of the thunder and lightning variety, nor did it blow to any extent. It grew damp and foggy, and then a mist came down over the ocean, shutting out the view upon every side. At once the engine of the steam yacht was slowed down, and a double lookout was stationed at the bow, while the whistle was blown at regular intervals.
"This isn"t so pleasant," remarked Songbird, as he and d.i.c.k tramped along the deck in their raincoats. "Ugh! what a nasty night it is!"
"No poetry about this, is there, Songbird?" returned d.i.c.k, grimly.
"Hardly," said the poet, yet a few minutes later he began softly:
"A dreadful fog came out of the sea, And made it as misty as it could be.
The deck was wet, the air was damp----"
"It was bad enough to give you a cramp!" finished up Tom, who had come up. "Beautiful weather for drying clothes or taking pictures," he went on. "By the way, I haven"t used my new camera yet. I must get it out as soon as the sun shines again."
"And I must get out my camera," said Songbird. "I have a five by seven and I hope to take some very nice pictures when we get down among the islands."
"How do ye like this sea fog?" asked a voice at the boys" rear, and Bahama Bill appeared, wrapped in an oilskin jacket. "It puts me in mind of a fog I onct struck off the coast o" Lower Californy. We was in it fer four days an" it was so thick ye could cut it with a cheese knife.
Why, sir, one day it got so thick the sailors went to the bow an"
caught it in their hands, jess like that!" He made a grab at the air.
"The captain had his little daughter aboard an" the gal went out on deck an" got lost an" we had to feel around in that fog nearly an hour afore we found her, an" then, sure as I"m a-standin" here, she was next to drowned an" had to be treated jess like she had been under water."
"How long ago was that?" asked Tom, poking the other boys in the ribs.
"Seven years ago, this very summer."
"I thought so, Bill, for that very summer I was at Fort Nosuch, in Lower California. I remember that fog well. One of the walls of the fort had fallen down and the commander was afraid the desperadoes were going to attack him. So he had the soldiers go out, gather in the fog, and build another wall with it. It made a fine defence, in fact, it was simply out of sight," concluded the fun-loving Rover.
"Say, you----" began Bahama Bill. "You--er--you--say, I can"t say another word, I can"t! The idee o" building a wall o" fog! Why, say----"
What the old tar wanted to say, or wanted them to say, will never be known, for at that instant came a loud cry from the bow. Almost immediately came a crash, and the _Rainbow_ quivered and backed.
Then came another crash, and the old sailor and the boys were hurled flat on the deck.
CHAPTER XVII
A MISHAP IN THE FOG
"We have struck another vessel!"
"We are sinking!"
"How far are we from land?"
These and other cries rang out through the heavy fog, as the two crashes came, followed, a few seconds later, by a third.