第27章

ODA YORIMOTO

ONLY four men of the Halfmoon's crew were lost in the wreck of the vessel.All had been crowded in the bow when the ship broke in two, and being far-flung by the forward part of the brigantine as it lunged toward the cove on the wave following the one which had dropped the craft upon the reef, with the exception of the four who had perished beneath the wreckage they had been able to swim safely to the beach.

Larry Divine, who had sat weeping upon the deck of the doomed ship during the time that hope had been at its lowest, had recovered his poise.Skipper Simms, subdued for the moment, soon commenced to regain his bluster.He took Theriere to task for the loss of the Halfmoon.

"An' ever we make a civilized port," he shouted, "I'll prefer charges ag'in' you, you swab you; a-losin' of the finest bark as ever weathered a storm.Ef it hadn't o' been fer you a-mutinyin'

agin' me I'd a-brought her through in safety an'

never lost a bloomin' soul."

'Stow it!" admonished Theriere at last; "your foolish bluster can't hide the bald fact that you deserted your post in time of danger.We're ashore now, remember, and there is no more ship for you to command, so were I you I'd be mighty careful how I talked to my betters.""What's that!" screamed the skipper."My betters! You frog-eatin' greaser you, I'll teach you.Here, some of you, clap this swab into irons.I'll learn him that I'm still captain of this here bunch."Theriere laughed in the man's face; but Ward and a couple of hands who had been shown favoritism by the skipper and first mate closed menacingly toward the second officer.

The Frenchman took in the situation at a glance.They were ashore now, where they didn't think that they needed him further and the process of elimination had commenced.

Well, it might as well come to a showdown now as later.

"Just a moment," said Theriere, raising his hand."You're not going to take me alive, and I have no idea that you want to anyhow, and if you start anything in the killing line some of you are going to Davy Jones' locker along with me.

The best thing for all concerned is to divide up this party now once and for all."As he finished speaking he turned toward Billy Byrne.

"Are you and the others with me, or against me?" he asked.

"I'm ag'in' Simms," replied the mucker non-committally.

Bony Sawyer, Red Sanders, Blanco, Wison, and two others drew in behind Billy Byrne.

"We all's wid Billy," announced Blanco.

Divine and Barbara Harding stood a little apart.Both were alarmed at the sudden, hostile turn events had taken.Simms, Ward, and Theriere were the only members of the party armed.Each wore a revolver strapped about his hips.All were still dripping from their recent plunge in the ocean.

Five men stood behind Skipper Simms and Ward, but there were two revolvers upon that side of the argument.Suddenly Ward turned toward Divine.

"Are you armed, Mr.Divine?" he asked.

Divine nodded affirmatively.

"Then you'd better come over with us--it looks like we might need you to help put down this mutiny," said Ward.

Divine hesitated.He did not know which side was more likely to be victorious, and he wanted to be sure to be on the winning side.Suddenly an inspiration came to him.

"This is purely a matter to be settled by the ship's officers,"he said."I am only a prisoner, call me a passenger if you like--I have no interest whatever in the matter, and shall not take sides.""Yes you will," said Mr.Ward, in a low, but menacing tone."You're in too deep to try to ditch us now.If you don't stand by us we'll treat you as one of the mutineers when we're through with them, and you can come pretty near a-guessin'

what they'll get."

Divine was about to reply, and the nature of his answer was suggested by the fact that he had already taken a few steps in the direction of Simms' faction, when he was stopped by the low voice of the girl behind him.

"Larry," she said, "I know all--your entire connection with this plot.If you have a spark of honor or manhood left you will do what little you can to retrieve the terrible wrong you have done me, and my father.You can never marry me.Igive you my word of honor that I shall take my own life if that is the only way to thwart your plans in that direction, and so as the fortune can never be yours it seems to me that the next best thing would be to try and save me from the terrible predicament in which your cupidity has placed me.

You can make the start now, Larry, by walking over and placing yourself at Mr.Theriere's disposal.He has promised to help and protect me."A deep flush mounted to the man's neck and face.He did not turn about to face the girl he had so grievously wronged--for the life of him he could not have met her eyes.Slowly he turned, and with gaze bent upon the ground walked quickly toward Theriere.

Ward was quick to recognize the turn events had taken, and to see that it gave Theriere the balance of power, with two guns and nine men in his party against their two guns and seven men.It also was evident to him that to the other party the girl would naturally gravitate since Divine, an old acquaintance, had cast his lot with it; nor had the growing intimacy between Miss Harding and Theriere been lost upon him.

Ward knew that Simms was an arrant coward, nor was he himself overly keen for an upstanding, man-to-man encounter such as must quickly follow any attempt upon his part to uphold the authority of Simms, or their claim upon the custody of the girl.

Intrigue and trickery were more to Mr.Ward's liking, and so he was quick to alter his plan of campaign the instant that it became evident that Divine had elected to join forces with the opposing faction.