from the deck of the goalong, bessie harlan watched the maneuvering of the pirate craft with an intensity which amounted almost to fascination.
it had not occurred to her thus far to feel personal fear. she remembered another occasion when she had met the pirate, and she recalled that she had been treated with the utmost consideration at that time, and now it did not occur to her that the rover of the sea would visit personal harm upon any of them.
she supposed that he intended merely to rob, and she did not know that, once having fired a gun from his deck, and thereby actually menacing another vessel on the high seas, he was just as amenable to capital punishment for his crime as if he had murdered the entire crew of the goalong in cold blood.
her ideas concerning his really harmless intention, so far as physical violence was concerned, seemed to be supported by the fact that after those six shots, some of which had found their way aboard kane’s yacht, he did not again resort to his gun.
it was plain, however, that he had discovered that kane did not mean to stop until he was compelled to do so; and that the rover had figured out a way to force him to stop his engines became more and more apparent as the moments passed.
[122]
it was a pretty sight, too, which bessie harlan and the others were watching. the long, low, narrow hull of the shadow, funnelless, and with no deck housings of any kind save the sunbonnet-shaped turret forward, and the larger one amidships, from which the gun had been fired; and with the two masts, devoid of spars and sails, shining like silver and pointing like fingers into the air, had more the appearance of a living monster of the deep, to her eyes, than the look of a modern vessel.
the shadow had been approaching the goalong from a direction which was a few points off the starboard bow, but now she had altered her course so that it somewhat resembled the shape of an inverted interrogation point, and which, if pursued, would eventually swing her around so that she would come up in a parallel course with the yacht, and on the starboard side of her.
she would be running in the same direction, also, and as she was much fleeter than the goalong, she would then have no difficulty in maintaining her position alongside and performing one of the acts which the skipper, manning, had suggested—that is, either her men would board the yacht or they would pour in upon her the contents of that deadly machine gun.
and now, as the shadow came about, a rod shot up from the interior of one of the steel masts, and from it there presently floated out to the breeze a blood-red flag; and at the same moment, from the amidships turret, a figure came out on the convex, turtle-back deck and stood there with folded arms, facing the yacht.
there was no mark of any kind upon the red field of[123] the flag, and it was not more red than the costume of the pirate himself, who seemed to have taken the pattern of his costume from the tragedy of “hamlet.”
a mask of the same color as his costume covered his face, and his left hand rested upon the gold-mounted hilt of a rapier at his side. and he stood there, calmly watching the yacht, which, although it was struggling through the water at its utmost speed, might as well have stopped its engines and waited, for the shadow was overhauling her as swiftly and as surely as a greyhound would have overtaken a terrier.
closer and closer the pirate craft approached, until not more than a hundred feet separated the two vessels; and then her engines slowed down until the two were running along side by side, and so near together that conversation might easily be carried on from one deck to the other. it was then that maxwell kane slowly and deliberately raised the revolver he held in his hand, and was taking careful aim at the pirate chief, when the quiet voice of bessie harlan murmured in his ear:
“don’t shoot, max. wait.” she said.
but instead of desisting, kane pulled the trigger.
the explosion followed and the bullet was sped on its way; but if those on the deck of the yacht had expected to see the pirate pitch forward to his own deck, shot through the heart, they were disappointed. he did not move from the position he had occupied ever since he made his appearance, save that he removed his plumed hat mockingly from his head and made a sweeping gesture[124] with it toward the man who had fired. and then he called out to him.
“don’t do that again,” he commanded coolly, “unless you wish me to riddle you with bullets, regardless of those who are standing beside you. put down your weapon, mr. kane, and command all others there to do the same. then order your engines stopped. if you do not, i will disable you.”
“you had better obey him,” said the skipper, in a low tone. “he means what he says. this is no child’s play, mr. kane.”
“i am beginning to realize that fact,” replied kane.
“shall i give the order to stop her, sir?”
“yes; there is no use in risking the lives of everybody aboard. the fellow is a pirate, all right.”
“and he is also the count of cadillac,” murmured bessie. “i remember his voice.”
“i have had no doubt of that from the first moment we discovered the shadow,” replied kane, with a grimace.
the bell in the engine-room rang at that moment, and the engines of the goalong were slowed down. then another bell, and they stopped altogether; and, although there was no sound of a bell from the pirate craft, she kept pace with the yacht in coming to a stop, so that after a moment they were forging ahead, side by side, with only their natural momentum to give them steerage way.
and after a moment this was also lost, and the two vessels were rolling almost side by side on the gentle rise and fall of the dead swell of the ocean. then, as[125] if by prearrangement, rather than as the result of an order just given, half a score of men suddenly appeared on the deck of the rover, beside their chief.
either they knew exactly what they were expected to do, or their orders were already given them, for they took their places along the rail of the shadow with the precision of automatons and waited.
a group of them went forward, another group aft, and a third remained almost amidships, near their chief. in the possession of each group there were two stout lines with grappling-irons attached to them, and kane and his party, on the deck of the yacht, could see that the men stood ready to heave them when the proper moment should arrive.
it was then that kane’s skipper, manning, shook his head doubtfully.
“the shadow is a much heavier craft than we are, mr. kane,” he said. “if they make fast to us with this dead swell a-running under us, and heaving our bows into the air with every rise, she’ll swamp us in no time; but——”
he paused in his pessimistic prognostication, for at that moment the grappling-irons were thrown aboard. they caught, too, as if they had been cast by well-practised hands, and then, as the men of the shadow made fast their own ends of the lines, power was given her and she forged ahead until, with the lines drawn taut, the two vessels were brought as safely side by side as if the act had been performed on the bosom of a mill-pond.
and from that moment, too, the wheel of the shadow was kept moving, so that the yacht to which she had[126] made fast was towed slowly through the water, and in that way the bows of the two vessels were kept headed toward the swell with sufficient steerageway to keep them so.
“that pirate feller is a sailor, all right,” muttered manning. “i couldn’t have done any better myself.”
in the meantime, the slack of the lines had been taken up, and now they were lashed firmly into place, so that the shadow and the goalong were held together exactly as if they had been one vessel. all this time the pirate chief had retained his position near the turret, with his arms folded across his breast; but now he took a few steps aft, until he was directly abreast of the group on the deck of the yacht, and then he swept them another bow.
“ladies,” he said, ignoring kane, “i have been lying on and off in the harbor of hamilton for something more than a week in order, ultimately, to enjoy the pleasure of this moment. i regret that i cannot be assured that it is mutual.”
“what the devil do you want, and what have you stopped us for on the high seas?” demanded kane angrily.
the rover turned his eyes, which shone like sparks of fire through the holes in the mask which concealed his face toward kane. then he made a gesture which his men evidently understood, for in an instant more kane discovered that three wicked-looking rifles were aimed at his breast, and that behind each one of them was a masked figure in red.
[127]
“mr. kane,” said the pirate coolly, “you are not expected to speak at all, unless it is in reply to a question addressed to you. my men have orders to fire and to kill you if you do not obey. i trust you will have sense enough to remain uninjured, since silence on your part is all that is necessary in order to do so.”
kane ground his teeth together in a rage; but he knew that the pirate had uttered no idle threat, and that it was useless to do other than to obey him.
“and shall i be shot, also, if i speak?” demanded bessie boldly.
“you, miss harlan? i shoot you? let me assure you that you are as safe from harm at this moment as if you were in the boudoir of your own home, surrounded by all your faithful attendants.”
“humph!” said bessie. “that may be true, but it doesn’t appear so. are you not count cadillac?”
the pirate shrugged his shoulders, and they thought he laughed a little.
“just now,” he replied, “i call myself the modern red rover—but i do that merely for the want of a better title. captain sparkle, who formerly commanded this vessel, is, unfortunately for him, detained elsewhere, and i have assumed his place. perhaps it is not too much for me to admit that i was only known to you as count cadillac. does that fact reassure you, miss harlan?”
“on the contrary, it fills me with dread.”
“indeed! why so?”
“because i cannot understand how a man who possesses so many of the prerogatives of a gentleman as you[128] do, can descend to such a vulgar calling as you have adopted.”
the pirate shrugged his shoulders again.
“it may be,” he said slowly, “that i will be able to make that plain to you—later.”
bessie tossed her head, and was on the point of turning away, when the voice of the pirate arrested her.
“wait!” he said sternly. “remain where you are, miss harlan.”
she wheeled and faced him, with flaming cheeks and blazing eyes.
“do you dare!” she began, and paused.
the pirate had made another gesture, which his men seemed to understand, and in obedience to it several of them stepped aboard the yacht, while the others drew up in line along the rail of the shadow and leveled their rifles at the entire party, which included, as may now be readily understood, the crew of the yacht, as well as her owner and guests.
“mrs. harlan,” said the pirate coldly, then, addressing the mother of the two young women, “you will oblige me if you will go to your cabin. not a man of my crew shall touch you if you obey, but if you refuse you will be taken there. thank you. that is the better way.”
he turned then a little, and added:
“now, mrs. kane, i will ask you to follow your mother. you, mr. kane, will follow the two ladies. no resistance, if you please, and no questions. mr. manning, follow your master.”
the pirate chief watched the four persons until they[129] disappeared inside the cabin, and then with a bound he leaped aboard the yacht and paused within three paces of where bessie harlan stood. she was turning away to follow in the footsteps of her mother and sister when the pirate suddenly appeared in front of her, barring her way.
“your way lies yonder, miss harlan,” he said quietly, pointing with one hand toward the deck of his own vessel.
bessie started back in terror, and then she would have darted past him, and so sought to escape; but, with a quick bound, he was beside her, and in another instant she was lifted from her feet and carried, bodily, aboard the shadow.
