The Search for the Silver City Part 42

"We shall not make the attempt for several months, perhaps a year,"

c.u.mmings added.

"Where would you propose to stop? Here?"

"How far do you intend to go in this schooner?"

"To the nearest port where we can find a steamer bound for the United States."

"That is Progresso, and if you have no objections Poyor and I will accompany you there. We need some supplies from Merida, and if Mr.

Walters is of the same mind when we arrive I shall be more than pleased to have him go with us."

"The vessel is at your disposal. We will land you at any point, and I yet have sufficient money with me to pay Walters' wages and make him a slight advance if he needs it."

"Very little will be required if he joins Poyor and myself. The cost of living in this country is small, for nature provides bountifully."

The captain of the schooner, a full-blooded negro, was told to head his craft for Progresso as soon as the wind should spring up again, and then Mr. Emery asked many questions concerning the city the boys had seen, while their answers only made the sailing master more eager to remain with c.u.mmings.

"This is hardly fair," Neal finally said. "All the time we have been telling you of our adventures, and not one word have we heard regarding your movements. I would like to know where the three boats we out-sailed went to on the night after leaving the yacht, and where this schooner was found?"

"It is not a long story," Mr. Emery replied. "When you disappeared in the darkness we continued on the same course, and succeeded in keeping the three boats well together. At sunrise your craft was not in sight.

We held on all that day and the next, finally arriving at Cozumel where we stayed three days in the hope you would appear. Then this schooner touched at the island, and I chartered her to search for you. We have been cruising up and down the coast ever since, for it seemed positive your boat reached the land in this immediate vicinity."

"How long would you have stayed here?"

"Not many days more, for we had begun to believe you were picked up by a vessel. Knowing Jake could handle a small craft better, perhaps than any other member of the crew, and also that she was the most seaworthy of the four tenders, it did not seem reasonable she had foundered while the others went through in safety."

"Then we came out just in time."

"Yes, for I had no idea you could be so far up this way, and we should have left the locality as soon as the wind would permit."

Jake wanted to ask the sailing master how it happened that he had made such a mistake in his reckoning; but it was a delicate question, and he thought it best to wait until Mr. Walters had left them, when Neal's father could probably give the desired explanation.

CHAPTER x.x.xIII.

HOMEWARD BOUND.

One can readily fancy what a feeling of perfect content had come over the boys after finding themselves once more with nearly all the crew of the Sea Dream.

There was no longer anything to cause anxiety; the vengeful Indians had been left far behind, and the fear of an attack was among the things of the past.

"I used to think it would be mighty nice to go into some such place as we have just left," Neal said to Teddy, while the two were sitting under the awning aft, some distance from their companions; "but now we know what the reality is like, I've had enough."

"I suppose our story would sound pretty fair if it was put into a book; but whoever wrote it couldn't be all the time telling about how hungry and tired we were, how the mosquitoes and flies nearly ate us up, how thoroughly we were frightened the greater portion of the time, nor how disagreeable it is to be where there's precious little chance for a fellow to keep clean."

"That is why adventures seem so nice when you read about them, for all the trifling things which serve to make a person uncomfortable in both body and mind are omitted."

"Yes," Teddy said very emphatically, "one day would be enough for any fellow I know, and the idea of going where there is likely to be plenty of chance for adventure will never again have any fascination for me."

In this strain the boys talked until dinner was served on deck, which was not a particularly well cooked meal, after which the conversation became general.

The re-united party spoke chiefly of Mr. Walters' determination to remain with c.u.mmings, and while listening to it Jake forgot all else save the wonderful sights he had seen in the famous city.

"I have a good mind to stay with you," he finally said. "The idea that I have been where silver could be had for the labor of carrying it away, and didn't get any, makes me angry with myself. Now that Mr. Walters has concluded to try his hand at it I believe I'll do the same thing."

Poyor looked up quickly, shook his head very decidedly, and c.u.mmings said emphatically:

"Then it will be necessary for you to go alone; I've been there once with you, and it was only by the rarest good fortune that we succeeded in coming away alive, therefore I'm not disposed to try the same dangerous experiment again."

"I suppose you think I would make a fool of myself once more?"

"I am positive of it. When your opinion chanced to be at variance with ours you would go straight on without giving the slightest heed to the consequences. It is best for you to stay with the boys."

Jake had nothing more to say; but later in the day he told Neal and Teddy privately that he believed he would venture into the swamp alone.

"I could do it as well as Poyor can. They want to make out that it is a very dangerous venture."

"You thought the same on the night when that beautiful scar was presented, and also when you wandered away from the cave, unable to find your way back," Neal replied with a laugh.

Then Jake had a desperate fit of the sulks from which he did not recover until the schooner was standing up the coast under the influence of the strong night breeze.

The voyage to Progresso from this time on occupied but a few hours. The clumsy looking vessel proved to be a good sailor, and on the following afternoon she had dropped anchor in the harbor, twenty-four hours before the next steamer was advertised to leave.

There was yet plenty of chance to bid good-by to those who intended to remain behind, and the last moments were spent together rather than visit the quaint town, for no one could say whether they would meet again.

Jake made no further preparation to join the treasure seekers, and Neal felt positive that if they had allowed him to make one of the party his courage would have failed him at the last minute.

Not until a late hour in the night was there any attempt to break up the gathering. Each felt a certain repugnance to so doing, and if Mr. Emery had not finally insisted on retiring all might have remained under the awning until morning.

"It is good-by as well as good-night," c.u.mmings said as he arose. "We do not care to stay here very long for fear some of the Chan Santa Cruz may recognize us, and by daybreak I propose to be on our way to Merida, from which point we shall return to the hut where we first saw the castaways."

"We can at least count on hearing from you," Mr. Emery said. "The boys will be eager to learn how your venture succeeded."

"It is not convenient to post a letter where a journey of fifty miles on foot is necessary to reach a mailing place; but you shall hear from us at the first favorable opportunity."

With Jake, c.u.mmings and Poyor spent but little time; neither had any especial love for him after all that had happened; but with the boys the Indian was almost affectionate.

"If the G.o.ds will listen to Poyor's prayer your lives shall be free from clouds," he said gravely, and laying his hands on their heads he went through a certain ceremony as if blessing them, after which he did not speak again.

If good wishes were of any avail both Walters and c.u.mmings should have succeeded in their attempt to carry away treasure from the Silver City; but whether they have yet been able to do so neither Neal nor Teddy know, for not a word has been heard from them since that parting in the harbor at Progresso.

The trip home was as uneventful as is usually the case when one travels on a steam vessel, and at about the time when the Sea Dream should have arrived the castaways landed in New York before the news of the yacht's destruction had been learned.

As a consequence neither Teddy's parents nor Neal's mother had been anxious concerning them, and the home coming was a very tame affair, as compared with what both had been through.