Chapter THIRTY-SIX

No sooner had Redmond made up his mind to take Mary Ingleton with him than they both set out for the other side of the island. It was the first time she had been beyond the rock which had always been their meeting place. When they came to the cave in the center of the island they took a short rest, and Redmond showed her the place where he had lived so long. They soon started out again, but the progress was very slow, as Mary was not used to the rough going, and he had to assist her quite frequently.

She was quite tired out by the time they reached the southern cove. Redmond got some blankets, which were stowed away in the boat, and laid them out, so that she could lie down and rest awhile. He then went out and plucked some of the tropical fruit and brought it to her, as well as a beaker full of water from the nearby stream. She took the food gratefully, and, after eating, fell into a light sleep.

In the meantime Redmond brought out his portable wireless set and carried it over to the rock where it would be in readiness for use as soon as darkness set in. He also took out the spare gun he had brought in the boat and laid it alongside Mary for her use in case of emergency. His own gun he carried slung across his shoulder all the time, and in addition had a revolver in the holster strapped to his waist.

These preparations served to keep his mind away from the worrying thoughts regarding the wisdom of his present move. Once the tasks were completed, however, they came back to torture him. He sat down beside Mary, slipped the rifle from his shoulder and let it drop between his hands where it would be ready for instant use. With every sense keenly alert, his ears were strained for any unusual sound that might come from the part of the island they had just left.

Thus he watched and waited but nothing happened.

As the sun began to race toward the Western horizon he gently awoke the sleeping girl beside him.

“It will be dark soon, Mary,” he said, “and we’ll have to be very careful then. I’m going to start calling on the wireless as soon as the sun goes down, and I want you to be on the watch for the gang while I do it.”

Mary was fully refreshed from her sleep and was in buoyant spirits.

“It’s all awfully exciting,” she said, with a little laugh. “You would scarcely believe it, but I feel really happy for the first time since I have been on this wretched island.”

Redmond’s heart beat rapidly and he turned quick toward her. What did those fateful words really mean? With difficulty he restrained his impulse to grasp her within his arms and tell her of the love which he felt for her. His calmer judgement intervened before he could execute the dictates of his heart.

“I’m very glad,” was all he could say, and even that escaped his lips in the most incoherent manner.

He then went over to the rock where he had left his portable radio set. Taking it up over his shoulders, he began to send out the general call which had been agreed upon when the Farragut’s crew had passed him ashore, listening now and then for a possible reply. Carefully and slowly he searched in every direction with the reflectors as he worked.

It was a monotonous task and one which required the utmost concentration--a task to try the patience of even the most persistent man. Redmond was made of the stuff that knows no defeat. He vigorously quashed the desire which naturally sprang up within his mind to drop his efforts because of their futility and applied himself still more earnestly to the task before him.

For two hours he kept it up, his low toned, oft repeated, “Hello. Check” the code call agreed upon becoming more and more wearisome as the time passed on. Ever and anon he would pause and peer through the darkness toward the dimly outlined figure of the girl who was keeping watch over the northern approaches to the little cove.

She was sitting up alongside the rock, resting against it, but in such position that he could clearly see her outlined figure. The night was dark, in spite of the stars studding the heavens.

Thus passed the early part of the evening, and lapsed into the second watch of the night when suddenly there came an abrupt halt in the monotonous call of Redmond’s oft repeated, “Hello. Check.”

Rapidly he made a few delicate adjustments on the set about his shoulders and, holding his mouth a little closer to the microphone in his hand, said:

“Hello! What ship is that?”

This break in the monotony aroused Mary from the stupor which had been enveloping her gradually, and she involuntarily straightened up, keenly alert. Her first impulse was to inquire what had happened, but she quickly suppressed it and waited patiently.

“Where are you now?” was the next question Redmond asked over his ’phone.

He had picked up the long expected relief ship and learned that it was the “New Orleans,” and to his great joy had also been told that Captain Moore of the “Farragut” was in command.

“Wait a moment and I’ll find out,” came the response from the operator on the war-vessel.

Redmond took advantage of their brief respite to turn to Mary and tell her the gladsome news. She was so excited that she made a few steps toward him, but he cautioned her to remain and listen as attentively as the wireless conversation would allow for any intruder.

A few seconds later the voice came back in the receivers upon his ears:

“The Captain says we are about fifty miles SSE of you right now.”

“Fine!” replied Redmond. “Tell him I have got a chart of the mine positions around the island, and he can come up within eight miles of the cove, but no closer. A small launch can be used for the landing. Tell him I’ve got Miss Ingleton here at the cove, and it is imperative that she be taken off tonight. The pirates are hunting us now.”

The operator acknowledged the message and after a pause came back on his transmitter and said:

“Captain says he is putting on full steam and will have a boat there in two hours from now.”

With a sigh of relief Redmond unstrapped the apparatus and laid it carefully upon the rock, so that it was still pointing in the same direction as it was when he had been conversing with the operator of the “New Orleans.”

He then went over to the place where his companion was sitting.

“I’ve got some great news for you, Mary,” he said as he looked at her intently in the darkness. While he could not see her features, he could, by that inexplicable means which sometimes permits us to divine another’s thoughts, tell what her feelings were. He continued before she could speak.

“I hope you won’t mind my calling you Mary. I’ve just picked up the other cruiser. It will be here in two hours, and they are going to take you right off the island tonight.”

Mary’s heart was too full for words. The moment she had been praying for and hoping for and looking forward to for months had at last arrived. Soon she would be on her way back to her parents. The possibility overwhelmed her and left her momentarily speechless.

Redmond misinterpreted her silence and blurted out:

“Really, Miss Mary, I’m sorry, but--er--”

His floundering brought her back to realities and she rapidly intervened.

“Oh, dear, there’s nothing to apologize for. You are splendid. I don’t know how I shall ever be able to thank you for all that you have done for me. I’ve been waiting for this moment a long time, but it came so suddenly that I did not know just what to say. Really I can’t believe it even now. It all seems like a dream,--too good to be true.”

“Then you are not angry with me?” asked Redmond with relief.

“Of course not, Howard,--how could I be?” she replied with a coquettish laugh.

It was the first time she had ever used his name and it electrified him.

“Mary,” he exclaimed impulsively and stopped abruptly.

She waited for a few moments, then said simply:

“Well, Howard?”

“I was just going to say that it will seem like a long time before the boat gets here,” he replied lamely.

“Oh!” she ejaculated.

There was something in that simple sound which so clearly expressed disappointment, that it aroused all the conflicting emotions he had been prey to ever since he realized his love for her. Again he felt those alternate doubts and hopes which confounded his otherwise decisive nature and robbed him of the power to speak his mind unhesitatingly. He was too afraid of a refusal, and rather than risk it, he chose to remain quiet.

Mary intuitively had long since guessed his secret, and she fully realized the cause of his embarrassment. Somehow the happiness she experienced when the realization of her hope of escape from the pirate came was not an altogether unalloyed feeling. There was a new and strange element in it, and in her heart she knew what it was. For several seconds both were lost in deep thought.

Mary finally broke the silence by asking him:

“What are you going to do when we get on the cruiser?”

“I’m coming back here,” he replied.

“But what for?” queried Mary in alarm.

“Well,” he said slowly, “I’m going to stick around ’till we’ve settled with this outfit. Besides, the government people have asked me to do it, and I can’t refuse them. Anyway I don’t want to be a quitter, and it will be a great pleasure to see the finish of this gang.”

She did not reply. What he said however, instilled within her a fear which she had never before experienced, a fear over another’s safety. She wanted to urge him not to return to the island, but hesitation and a certain delicate inhibition prevented her from doing that.

Neither spoke for the next half hour each being far too engrossed with his own thoughts to indulge in conversation.

Redmond kept automatically sweeping the blackness of the night in all directions seaward in continuous and trained observation. Suddenly he exclaimed:

“I can see a light. It must be the cruiser.”

“Where?” she asked.

“Look straight along my finger and you will see it,” he replied, holding out his arm and pointing his finger toward the faint pin-point of light in the distance.

“Oh! yes, I see it,” she exclaimed joyfully. “Oh, dear! It’s just too wonderful for words.”

Redmond got up. “I’m going to speak to him,” he said. He then walked over to the place where he had left his wireless apparatus. He let it lay open upon the rock, merely picking up the microphone and switching on the current.

“Hello! ‘New Orleans,’” he called.

The answer came immediately, then he continued:

“We can see your lights now. When do you expect to send a boat?”

There was a short pause, and the operator came back:

“Captain says he will come to you in ten minutes and put out a launch right away. He’s not going to take any chances of coming any closer tonight.”

“All right,” responded Redmond. “We’ll be waiting for you. I’m going to turn this off now.”

He then went back to his companion and told her the news.

“You might as well come over to the rock now, Mary, so we’ll be ready when the boat gets here.”

She assented, and he assisted her over the difficult ground in the darkness. Then they both sat down.

Fifteen minutes later they heard the smooth toned exhaust of the power launch as it plowed its way through the water toward them, and shortly afterwards they were both outlined vividly in the rays of the searchlight which was suddenly thrown on by the oncoming boat.

“Thank God!” he said fervently. “You are safe at last, Mary.”

It did not take long for the launch to pull up alongside the rock. The maneuvre was greatly assisted by the illuminating rays of the searchlight. A couple of sailors held it fast to the rock by means of boat-hooks, and an officer sprang ashore.

“Good evening,” he said, then added after bowing: “My name is Lockwood.”

“This is Miss Ingleton,” replied Redmond, who then introduced himself and continued: “I think we had better push off right away, Lieutenant. There’s no telling how soon that pirate gang will be after us.”

They both assisted Mary into the launch, and Lockwood gave the order to let go. The words had scarcely left his mouth when a shot rang out from the foliage fringing the cove.

“Douse that light,” yelled Lockwood as he rang the engine bell for full speed ahead.