The Moving Picture Girls at Sea
L >> Laura Lee Hope >> The Moving Picture Girls at Sea"But I never knew they could make vessels over," Alice protested.
--"Oh, yes, it's often done," the sailor assured her. "This certainly
was the old _Halcyon_, as she was called when the mutineers had her, and
anyone who had sailed in her would know it. A sailor's eye can't be
deceived. There's others on board as know it, too."
"Others here? Of the mutinous crew?"
"Hush, Miss, if you please! Not so loud! Yes, others who were in the
mutiny, but who got off scott free, while I was the one to suffer. But
they're tryin' to keep under cover. There's a game afoot, but I'll spoil
it if I can--that is, if this British steamer don't make trouble for
me."
Alice's head seemed to swim. She was getting into the depths of the
mystery now with a vengeance. What did it all mean? To what did Jack
have reference? Could it be that Captain Brisco, and the man with whom
he was so friendly, were in a plot?
Alice felt as if she must tell someone. It was too big a secret for her
to keep to herself.
One thing seemed necessary. She must rid Jack of some of his fear of
being arrested again.
"But if the ship is changed so, how could any of the British officers,
provided any are on that steamer, recognize her?" Alice asked.
"I don't know how, but I'm sure they could," said Jack, rather
unreasonably. "And you mark my words. They'll see us and in spite of our
change of rig, they will want to speak us. A sailor never forgets a
ship. Of course there may be no officers on that steamer who would know
the old _Halcyon_, but ag'in, there may be. I'm afeered, Miss."
"Oh, but you needn't be. Mr. Pertell will make it all right even if----"
"He isn't bigger than Johnnie Bull," said Jack ominously, "though Mr.
Pertell is a good friend of mine. Ha! Didn't I tell you? There they come
right for us, and they're signallin' us to lay to."
It was evident that something had taken place aboard the steamer. A
signal flag broke out at her mast, and Captain Brisco, seeing it,
exclaimed impatiently:
"What can they want with us?"
"They want to talk, that's evident," said Hen Lacomb, who stood near the
commander.
"But what about?"
"We'll soon know."
As the _Mary Ellen_ lay almost motionless on the sea, for she had been
brought up sharply, the steamer approached. It was so calm that she
could come quite close without danger of a collision. A man, evidently
an officer, hailed through a megaphone. Jack dared not desert his place
as lookout.
"What vessel is that?" demanded the officer of the British steamer.
"The _Mary Ellen_, from New York," answered Captain Brisco. "Out on a
moving picture cruise. We're in a hurry."
"Better not be," was the exasperating comment. "There's someone here who
wants to ask you a few questions."
Another figure joined the speaker, and at the sight of this second
officer, old Jack Jepson groaned.
"I knew it! I knew it," he whispered to Alice. "That's the man in charge
of the revenue cutter who arrested me years ago. See! He recognizes me!
I thought this would happen."
It was evident that something out of the ordinary was taking place.
"_Mary Ellen_ ahoy!" called the second officer. "If you didn't used to
be the _Halcyon_, I miss my guess. And there's a man aboard you I want!
There he stands!" and he pointed an accusing finger at Jack Jepson.
CHAPTER XVII
THE STORM
The old sailor seemed to shrink down in his clothes and become smaller.
He cast an appealing glance at Alice who stood near him.
"See!" he murmured. "What did I tell you?"
"It may be all right yet," she answered. "Surely after these years they
can do nothing to you, especially when you were not guilty."
"Ah, but it's the escape from the prison that hangs over me," he said.
"They want me more for that than on the mutiny charge. Oh, what shall I
do?"
"Stay here and 'face the music,' as Russ or Paul would say," suggested
Alice. "I'll speak to my father, and to Mr. Pertell. You are an American
citizen, and----"
But she had no time for further advice. Again came the hail from the
steamer.
"Stand by there, _Mary Ellen_, or _Halcyon_, as your name used to be,"
was the sharp order. "I'm going to send a boat aboard you. We want that
man!" and once more he pointed accusingly at Jack.
"I don't know what you're talking about," blustered Captain Brisco.
"That man is my second mate, and you can't take him from me that way.
This isn't war time," and he seemed disposed to protect Jack.
"Don't let them take me, Captain!" the old sailor pleaded. "You know
what it means. Don't let them take me away!"
"I won't!" declared Captain Brisco, and for the moment the heart of
Alice warmed to him. She fancied she had misjudged him. But as she
looked at him, she saw a look on his face that made her doubt. It was a
look that made his words seem insincere. And when the moving picture
girl saw the captain speaking in an aside to Hen Lacomb, her doubts were
redoubled.
"Stand by!" someone on the steamer ordered. "We're sending a boat to
take the prisoner."
"This is a pretty how-d'-do!" blustered Captain Brisco. "They're going
to leave me short-handed, and just at a time when I'm likely to need
every man I can get, too," and he cast an anxious look around the
horizon. It had suddenly become quite dark. A bank of clouds, slate
colored, and fringed with an ominous yellow, had gathered in the west,
and there was a moaning in the air as though a far-off wind were sending
a message to those in peril to beware of its breath.
The sea, too, had a glassy look. The big waves rose sullenly, and sank
back into troughs, with an oily smooth motion as though they resented
being thus confined. It was like the action of some raging beast in
leash. There was a curious oppressiveness in the air, too, and more than
one found difficulty in breathing.
"What is it? Oh, what is it?" asked Ruth, as she came toward her sister.
"I feel as though something terrible were going to happen."
"Something _has_ happened!" Alice exclaimed. "They've got poor old Jack!
Isn't it a shame, when everything was going so nicely?"
"Got him!" questioned Ruth. "What do you mean?"
"It's those Britishers! They recognized this ship as the one on which
the mutiny occurred. She's been built over--the ship I mean--but the
steamer knew her--I mean some officer did. And they're going to take
Jack away. You know he told us how he broke out of jail, after he was
locked up on an unjust charge. Well, they want him for that, but he
doesn't want him to go--at least he pretends he doesn't."
Alice paused for breath--she needed it.
"Well!" exclaimed Ruth. "You may understand what you mean, but I don't,
my dear. Who wants whom, and who doesn't want whom--and what?"
Thereupon Alice explained how Captain Brisco had declared Jack should
not be taken, and yet how Alice, herself, believed he would give him up.
"But what does it all mean--that enmity you say Captain Brisco has
against Jack?" Ruth asked Alice, for Alice spoke about the time Jack had
fallen overboard, and mentioned how the sailor had said he was tossed
over the rail.
"I don't know what it means," the younger girl replied. "It is all queer
and mysterious, and it's getting worse. But I think there is some secret
between Captain Brisco and that Hen Lacomb that Jack has found out, and
they're afraid he'll tell. That's why I think they would be glad to see
him taken away--no matter what happened to him. It's all very well for
Captain Brisco to say he doesn't want Jack to go, but I believe he's
glad this happened."
"Oh, Alice! What a thing to say!"
"I don't care! I believe it!"
All this while preparations had been under way aboard the steamer to
lower a small boat, but there seemed to be some delay.
Meanwhile Jack Jepson remained as lookout on the _Mary Ellen_, though
there was no need of him there, for the schooner was now merely
drifting, with sails aback, and the steamer, too, was at the call of the
wind and currents.
"Come on, mate!" hoarsely whispered a sailor to Jack. "Slip below, mate,
and we'll hide you. If they try to take you, we'll stand 'em off. I
don't like the Britishers anyhow. I was shanghaied into one of their
lime-juicers once, an' I never forgot it! Slip below!"
"No, I'll take my medicine!" said Jack grimly. "Might as well get it
done with. This thing has been hangin' over my head a number of years
now, and I'll be glad to hear the last of it. It's a terrible thing for
an innocent man."
"Perhaps some way may be found for clearing you," suggested Alice. "I'll
speak to my father. He knows some prominent lawyers in New York, and
they will induce the government to take up your case. Go quietly, Jack,
and we'll do all we can for you."
"Oh, I shan't raise a row, Miss, never fear. No good'd come of that, and
it would only make trouble. I'll go quietly enough."
"Ha! What is going on?" asked Mr. DeVere, who had been down below. "Has
anything happened?"
Alice and Ruth tried to tell him at once, the former eager to enlist
his sympathies in Jack's cause. Mr. DeVere promised readily enough.
"Though I can't hold out any hope for you," he said. "I know nothing of
law, but international affairs are always slow."
"But I ought to get justice in the end, ought I not?" asked Jack,
respectfully.
"You ought, my man, and I'll do all I can for you," said Mr. DeVere.
"Oh, what a pretty sight!" exclaimed the voice of Miss Dixon, as she
emerged from a companionway with her chum, Miss Pennington. "Isn't it
romantic--stopping to speak to a steamer at sea?"
"Delightful," agreed Miss Pennington. "I wonder if the captain of the
steamer will ask us to tea? It's a British vessel, and Englishmen are so
fond of tea."
"Yes, and they are so romantic and good-looking," agreed Miss Dixon.
"But perhaps this is only for moving pictures."
"Oh, pshaw! Perhaps it is!" sighed her companion, and the two of them,
who had been taking surreptitious glances in mirrors, enclosed in the
flaps of their bags, ceased "primping," until they could be sure whether
or not there was any object in it.
"What's it all about?" asked Miss Dixon again.
"Oh, they're going to take one of our men, I believe," said Pop Snooks,
the property "angel," as the ladies often called him.
"Oh dear! What are they? Pirates?" gasped Miss Pennington.
"No, it's Jack Jepson they're after. Some old charge, I believe."
"Ha! I knew something would happen on this voyage!" exclaimed Mr. Pepper
Sneed. "I felt it in my bones all along."
"Good thing you're not disappointed," murmured Alice.
"Oh dear!" sighed her sister. "It's too bad. And I liked Jack so."
"So did I," returned Alice. "But they're a long while sending that
boat."
It did seem so, for there were no signs yet, of one being lowered over
the side, though Captain Brisco, after the command to lay to, had
ordered his accommodation ladder lowered to receive the visitors.
Then came another hail from the steamer.
"_Mary Ellen_ ahoy!"
"Aye, aye!"
"We won't send a boat right away. A hurricane is sweeping up fast, and
this is a bad locality in which to be caught," called one of the
steamer's officers through a megaphone. "We'll have to get out of here,
and so had you better. There's no sea-room here. We'll pick you up
later, and don't forget you are in English waters, and subject to our
orders. We're going to have that man!"
"Well, if you put it that way, of course I'll have to give in," said
Captain Brisco. "I'll wait for you after the blow."
"Well, that's a respite, anyhow, but not a very pleasant one," said
Alice.
"No," agreed Jack Jepson, who breathed easier now. "We're in for a bad
storm, I reckon. We'll have to make everything snug."
"Attention!" once more came the hail from the steamer, and when Captain
Brisco answered, he was ordered to follow a certain course by compass,
as being safest.
"Then I can pick you up!" the steamer captain cried as the propellers
began to churn the water. The British vessel swept away, leaving Jack
Jepson still on the schooner, but under threat of arrest.
Then the forerunner of the storm came, filling the sails of the _Mary
Ellen_, and heeling her over until the lee scuppers were awash.
"Make everything snug!" cried Captain Brisco. "It's coming on to blow
great guns!"
CHAPTER XVIII
GRINDING AWAY
Events aboard the _Mary Ellen_ did not transpire at all slowly. In a
comparatively short space of time she had been converted from an old
hulk into a good sailing vessel, she had put to sea with a party of
moving picture workers, including a sailor accused of mutiny, who had
broken jail. She had been stopped by the English ship, and now the old
schooner was starting to scud before the blast of a hurricane. For the
time being the accusation against Jack Jepson was forgotten.
"Lively now, everyone!" cried Captain Brisco. "When a storm breaks down
here, it isn't any child's play. Double reefs in all sails, and two men
at the wheel. Lash everything fast, pass life-lines, and passengers keep
below."
"Oh, but I want to see the storm!" exclaimed Alice.
"Oh, how can you!" remonstrated Ruth. "It is going to be--awful!"
And indeed, if the evidence of sky and sea, and the moaning of the wind,
were any indication, a great storm was in prospect.
The billows that had been rolling with oily smoothness now began to show
little feathery crests of foam, and they were following one another with
greater quickness, as if impatient to be at their shattering work.
The wind seemed most ominous of all. It was as though it came from afar
off, down behind the horizon line that showed black, with a fringe of
angry yellow in the west. A low, mumbling, roaring, moaning wind it was,
that whistled mournfully through the rigging of the schooner, and howled
down the companionways.
"Oh dear!" sighed Ruth, as she slipped her arm into that of her sister,
and started for their cabin. "Come on, Alice. I'm afraid!"
"Nonsense! What of? Nothing has happened--yet."
"No, but there is going to be a terrible storm!"
"And I just love a blow. I've never seen one at sea, and, as this may be
the only chance I'll get, I'm not going to miss it. Stay up with me,
Ruth. Don't be like those sillies, and go below," and she motioned to
Miss Pennington and Miss Dixon who were scurrying for cover, as the wind
and the sea increased.
"Well, I'll stay up a little while," agreed Ruth. "But I--I'm afraid all
the same."
"Nonsense!" cried Alice gaily. "We have a good ship under us. It went
through a mutiny, and I guess it can weather a storm."
"That's just the point--can it?" asked Ruth in a low voice.
"What do you mean?" Alice asked in a curiously strained voice.
"I mean that this is an old vessel, 'made over,' as we would say of a
dress, Alice, it can't be as good and strong as a new one would be, and
in a storm----"
"Oh, don't be nervous!" broke in Alice. "Here, I'll ask Mr. Blake," and
she stopped the first mate who was hurrying to and fro directing the men
at their work of making everything snug below and aloft.
"Isn't she safe, Mr. Blake?" Alice appealed.
"Who?" the first mate wanted to know.
"This ship."
"I--I think so," he said. "Yes, surely," he added quickly. "We will ride
out the storm, never fear. It hasn't gotten here yet, and we may only
get the outer edge of it. But you must excuse me now," and he hastened
along the deck.
"There!" cried Alice. "What did I tell you?" she asked triumphantly.
"Well, I'll stay here with you a little while," Ruth agreed. "Then I'm
going below and----"
"Bundle up all your possessions and sit on a life preserver," broke in
Alice with a laugh. "Oh, Ruth, you are--hopeless!"
"Yes, but look at that!" and the older sister pointed to the west. There
had been a rapid change. There was more yellow in the clouds now and
less blackness, though there was enough of that ominous color too.
"Doesn't it scare you, Alice?"
"Not so much, no. Of course I've never been in a bad storm down here,
and I don't know what they do to one. But I think we'll weather it, as
the sailors say. But I wonder what Mr. Pertell is doing?"
She motioned to the manager who was seen amidships, talking to Russ, the
chief camera operator. They were near the big motorboat _Ajax_, which
still rested in the cradle on deck.
Mr. DeVere was also in conversation with the manager and his chief
helper.
"Let's go over and see what it is," suggested Alice. "Maybe they are
frightened too."
"I wouldn't blame them," murmured Ruth, with a nervous glance over her
shoulder at the oncoming storm.
The two girls joined their father and the others. Pop Snooks, the
property man, who could make almost anything from a brick wall to a
king's palace, on short notice, was called into the consultation.
"I'm sure they're going to do something!" Alice exclaimed, as she
noticed Mr. Pertell beckon Captain Brisco to him. And when the girls
reached the group they learned what was afoot.
"Why yes, you'd have time for some pictures before the storm gets here,"
Captain Brisco was saying. "It's evidently going to be slow in
breaking."
"And it wouldn't be too rough for the motorboat?" asked Mr. Pertell.
"Oh, no. She's built dory fashion, and bigger waves than these wouldn't
swamp her. It's a question though, if your man is game."
"Oh, don't worry about me!" exclaimed Russ Dalwood. "I'll make pictures
as long as the light will hold good. How is the boat? Is she all ready
to start?"
"All ready to put into the water," the captain assured him. "She has
been that way since we reached this locality. What do you say?" he asked
the manager. "Shall we lower away?"
"I think so," was the answer from Mr. Pertell. "I want to get some views
of the schooner sailing off before the storm. It will be a sort of
introduction to the shipwreck that is to come later."
"All right!" exclaimed Russ. "That suits me. I'll get the camera and
films ready. I'll need a helper."
"Oh, of course," agreed the manager. "You can't manage the boat and the
engine and work the camera too. Grinding away at the film will keep you
busy, especially as the water's a bit rough."
"A _bit_ rough!" exclaimed Russ with a smile. "I like the way you say
it. But the rougher it is the better effect we'll get on the film. I'll
be ready when you are, Captain Brisco."
"All right, I'll have the boat over at once," and the commander gave the
necessary orders for lowering the _Ajax_ over the side. This had been
provided for when she was cradled, so there was little delay at this
task.
"Are we to do any 'stunts,' while Russ is taking pictures?" asked Alice
of the manager.
"No, you are just to stand around on deck, and look a bit anxious. You
are supposed to be an old-time passenger packet you know, on a long
voyage, and you are running away from the storm. We don't want many feet
of this film--just enough to indicate what is to come. The real
shipwreck--that is the imitation of it--will come later, when this
storm blows over. Get on the side where the motorboat will be," the
manager directed, "and line up along the rail."
While Russ was "loading" his camera, Ruth and Alice watched the sailors
getting the _Ajax_ ready. The engine had been tested, and seemed to work
well. Jack Jepson came along with a small keg of water, and a bundle
done up in a piece of sail cloth.
"What's that for?" asked Alice.
"Provisions and water," answered the old sailor.
"But they're only going to be away a few minutes," the girl objected.
"They won't want anything to eat or drink."
"It's a rule of th' sea," said old Jack, "never to put a boat over the
side without provisioning and watering her. You never can tell what will
happen on th' ocean. I've seen boats put out just for a little row
around, and a fog would come up, and they'd be away nearly a week. And
when they didn't have any water or food aboard--well, Miss, them's not
nice things to talk about to ladies," he said simply. And Alice
understood.
The storm seemed to be holding off, at least for a time. Far away the
dark mass of the British steamer could be seen. The _Ajax_ was soon
ready, and lowered to the heaving water.
"Mr. Sneed, you get in and help Russ," ordered Mr. Pertell. "You know
something about motor-boats, don't you?"
"A little, yes. But I--er--I don't like to get in one when a storm is
coming up."
"Nonsense!" the manager ejaculated. "There's no danger! You are going
only a short distance away from the schooner, to get some views of her
as she rides the waves. It will make a good film, the coming storm, and
the waters rising and falling. Get aboard, Mr. Sneed, and do whatever
Russ wants you to. He'll be busy with the camera so you will have to
steer, and run the engine. The last won't bother you though, for it has
a self-starter on and a gear clutch. You'll be in no danger."
Mr. Sneed did not seem anxious to go. However, orders were orders, and
members of the company, even Mr. Wellington Bunn, thought twice before
refusing Mr. Pertell. So, when Russ came up with his cameras, bringing
two in case of emergency, Mr. Sneed was already in the boat, which was
rising and falling at the foot of the accommodation ladder over the side
of the schooner.
"All aboard!" sang out Russ gaily, as he prepared to descend, his
cameras having been lowered to Mr. Sneed by a rope. "Look pleasant,
girls, you're going to have your pictures took," and he laughed.
There was an ominous hush in the air now. The moaning of the wind seemed
to have died down, at least for the time being, but the waves were
higher, the swells were long, and did not break much.
It was lighter, also, though the light was of a sickly yellowish cast.
However, it would serve for a few pictures.
"Let her go, Pepper!" called Russ to his actor-helper and the motor
whirred, as the _Ajax_ started away from the side of the schooner. Russ,
setting his camera up on the platform made for it in the bow, began
grinding at the crank, taking many views of the pitching, tossing
schooner as it rose and fell on the bosom of the heaving ocean.
"I don't like this!" exclaimed Mr. Sneed, when a dash of spray wet him,
as he sat at the wheel. "I wish I hadn't come. I'm sure something will
happen!"
"Something sure _will_, if you don't keep her headed up into the seas,"
declared Russ. "We'll be swamped, that's what will happen. Steady now.
I'm getting some good ones," and he worked away at the camera, while the
schooner sailed farther and farther away. Russ wanted to give the idea
of distance on the film.
CHAPTER XIX
DISABLED
"How much longer you going to be?" asked Mr. Pepper Sneed, as he saw
Russ change slightly the position of the camera.
"Oh, not much longer now," was the answer. "I have about all they'll
want, I guess. This is only a sort of 'cut-in' effect, anyhow--a
preliminary to the grand performance that is to come later. Poor old
_Mary Ellen_, we'll soon see the last of her, I expect."
"Burr-r-r!" exclaimed Mr. Sneed as he shifted his helm. "Don't talk that
way. It sounds rather prophetic, you know, seeing the last of the ship,
and all that, you know."
"Well, I meant that they're going to sink her. You knew that, didn't
you?"
"Oh, yes, worse luck! I'm to be one of the last to jump over the side, I
believe. I don't like it."
"Well, it won't be for long," Russ said. "It will be all over in a few
minutes--I mean the shipwreck proper, though there'll be a lot of
rescue scenes, and then the castaways on an island, and all that sort of
thing. Put me over a little more to the left, Pepper. I can get a fine
view that way, with the light shining on the passengers at the rail."
He clicked away at the camera crank, and then exclaimed:
"No, no! I said to the left. You're putting me to the right."
"Oh, so I am. I was watching that storm. I don't like the looks of
things, Russ. I believe we're going to be in for it sooner than they
thought."
"It does look as though it were going to burst," Russ agreed, as he
looked up from the "finder" of his machine long enough to take a glimpse
at the weather. "Mr. Pertell said he'd signal us with a flag when he
thought we had enough, but I don't see anything of a signal, do you?"
"No," answered the gloomy actor, who had not been needed in the present
scenes. "And I wish I _could_ see it. It's getting too rough out here
for me, even if we have a good boat," and he adjusted the gasoline feed
to give a little more power to the engine.
"Well, it's getting almost too dark to get any more pictures, anyhow,"
Russ declared. "We sure are in for a blow. It's coming up fast too.
We'd better get back to the ship without waiting for a signal. They may
have hoisted one, that we didn't see."
"That's it, I think!" cried the other. "Say, where is the schooner,
anyhow?"
Russ, who was taking the tripod from his camera looked up quickly.
"Why, can't you see her?" asked the young operator.
"No, and I don't believe you can, either, nor can your camera find her.
She's disappeared!"
"Disappeared? Nonsense!" Russ cried. "It's just that the sea mist has
come up and hidden her. It will blow away in a moment. Say, but it is
getting rough!"
Well might he say that, for he could hardly keep his footing on the
platform where he had stood to make the views. He came down into the
half-covered cabin which formed the forward part of the _Ajax_.