without any marked incidents. Then another, and yet another, storm attacked them. The Bertha put into no port; she proceeded southward with ever-varying weather, and novel experiences for her passengers. So the parallels were traversed to the Trades, and the Line was approached.
II
Day after day passed. The last storm from the northwest had at length subsided. The weather was becoming very warm; the sailors donned straw hats, or other light head-gear, and thin garments. The decks were scorching. The wind fell entirely; and one day late in October, when in a sailing barque people would have been whistling for wind, the Bertha fell in with the north-east Trades, sail-shifting ceased, and the engine was at rest.
All this time there was much dissatisfaction in the minds of the three passengers. Esau Cordell's manner was not in his favour. The boys disliked him heartily, and even the young surgeon was prejudiced against the new commander. The three friends kept together, and frequently compared notes on their experiences and feelings.
"I cannot understand why your step-father sent you fellows aboard this ship," remarked the doctor. They were lying on the hot deck, beneath the shade of the quarter boat suspended in-board. "Why couldn't he have sent Arthur to the Mediterranean if he is delicate, though I don't admit that?"
"For money reasons," replied Reginald. "The 'boss' is as stingy as a tom-cat, and he gets the jaunt gratis."
"Stingy! I believe you," said Arthur. "He declares he is as poor as a church-mouse; and mice would he poor indeed if they depended upon his offertory."
"Ah, then perhaps he had some other motive," murmured the doctor. "However," he continued aloud, "you will both go home well and fit. Reggie may still go to Cambridge, and you, Arthur, may go as you please; perhaps try the Bar, as you have private means."
"We shall see," said Arthur quietly. "But I say, doctor, somehow I can't forget that letter about the 'traitors on board.' What was it all about, I wonder? The poor old captain was enraged, but he had something to go upon, I think."
"What became of the paper?" asked Reginald. "Has the mate got it?"
"Don't know. I suspect it has been picked up somewhere," replied the doctor. "There is nothing suspicious now, at any rate."
"Isn't there?" said Arthur, nodding significantly at the last speaker. "The mate came into our berth last night very quietly, and when he saw I was awake, he mumbled something and went out."
"Why didn't you tell me?" asked Reginald. "I thought we had fastened the door."
"Perhaps you heard some one in the passage close by," said Mr. Halbrake, "or perhaps you dreamt it all."
"No, I saw the man plainly in the dim light it must have been early in the morning, I expect—and that beast Esau——"
"Meaning me, young sir? Go on! Don't mind my feelings," continued the mate sarcastically; "I am only a beast, you know!"
The three chums were perfectly dumfounded, the man had come upon them so silently and so cautiously. What had he heard?
"We are sorry that you happened to hear my young friend's opinion," said Mr. Halbrake after a pause. "He seems, however, to have some objection to you. Of course I do not understand it, but——"
"But I understand that the accredited surgeon of this vessel, and a partner, I believe, of the owners, is inciting my passengers to insult the commander. The late skipper found out what that meant when he attacked me, and if
"Hullo, my young spitfire! so you want a lesson, do you?"
you and these cubs are not careful, you may all find yourselves in limbo."
"Cubs!" exclaimed Reginald. "What do you mean by such insolence? You are a mean cad! I think you drove the old captain overboard."
"Hullo, hullo, my young spitfire! so you want a lesson, do you? Well, then, take my advice; hold your tongue in future, else both of you will be put in irons below. I'll have no mutiny here; and you, doctor, had best just keep yourself to yourself, else you will find things raspy for you!"
With this hint, and a significant nod to the three seated in the shade of the boat, the commander walked away. His advent had struck the party dumb; his departure had a similar effect upon them.
At length, after a cautious look around, Reginald remarked—
"He must have been listening. After all, he took the matter fairly well. To be called a beast, and to be spoken of as a possible murderer, is a fair test of temper."
"So is 'cubs,' " said Arthur. "And he is a beast, anyway! I would like to find that paper; then we should know what to believe."
"I am afraid he will find means to 'pay us out,' " said the surgeon, reflectively. "Let us keep quiet. Perhaps we have been too hard on him, though I cannot understand what object he had in setting the captain against him. That he did so is evident."
"What object had our 'dear papa' in sending Arthur in this ship? Yet he did, knowing I would go also. You yourself were surprised, doctor. Could it be a planned thing, do you think?"
"Oh, impossible!" exclaimed the surgeon, rising from the desk. "We must be careful, that's all."
The lads acted on this advice. Nothing occurred to alarm them. The Bertha approached the Line, and one day, after the heart-breaking "Doldrums" had been passed under steam, the Equinoctial was reached about the end of October.
"One must draw the line somewhere, I suppose," remarked Arthur to Jackson; "here it is! Can you see it?" he asked, with a great assumption of innocence.
"Certainly," replied the man, calmly, "it's just ahead. If you ascend to the cross-trees, you may see it dipping like a gold and silver rope in the waves. Take the glass and have a squint."
"Thanks!" replied Arthur, somewhat abashed; "I'll see presently." He was uncertain what pranks might be played upon him when high jinks were the rule of the road at sea near the Line; so he waited the approach of Neptune patiently.
The sea-king came over the bows in due course, accompanied by his spouse and secretary; he was attended by a number of "policemen" and followers, who seized and questioned the intended victims. These were shaved with a hoop, compelled to swallow grease pills, and then soused in the water-sail, while queerly-dressed animals, seals, and such like assisted in the ducking.
The "doctor" did not escape, and, owing to what some people thought was no accident, the young man having been roughly shaved, soused, and jumped upon in the bath, was hunted down the companion-way. Here he came into violent collision with the commander, who was at that moment ascending. The surgeon was thrown down backwards and rendered insensible by the fall.
Mr. Halbrake was carried below, attended by his young friends and the mate. The festivity of the occasion was not greatly interrupted, but Arthur sat with Reginald in the doctor's berth, conversing in whispers, and with grave faces.
"Artie," said the latter, "we are getting into a fix! It seems to me that we are doomed somehow. The Bertha is under a ban!"
"I'm afraid there is something bad here, Reggie. Cordell is at the bottom of it. I wish he was at the bottom of the sea."
"Yes, he seems inclined to remove us one by one. Who's turn next, I wonder!"
"Do you think that he is a pirate?" exclaimed Arthur. "Surely our dear step-father would not have put us in such a situation. He couldn't!"
"Perhaps he might have had reasons," whispered a strange voice.
The