A Millionaire at Sixteen by Oliver Optic

Louis Belgrave had become sufficiently accustomed to the motion of the steamer, even in a rough sea, to feel quite at home on deck or in the cabin. The Guardian-Mother had crossed the Gulf Stream while a northerly wind was blowing, and even Captain Ringgold called it "decidedly lumpy. " The young millionaire's experience in the Maud, and before that in the Blanche, had very nearly made a sailor of him, so far as his ability to handle himself on shipboard was concerned, and he had made some progress in the details of practical seamanship.

The information given him by the captain that the Maud was in sight was like a bolt of electricity shot into the being of Louis. His mother was actually near him again, and his bosom bounded with the violent emotions which agitated him. The commander only made his announcement at the door of the stateroom, and was gone in a moment. The young man was filled with hope that he should soon be in his mother's arms, and he did not stop to consider the many difficulties that were still in the way.

He dressed himself very hurriedly in his common suit, for he knew not what his next mission in the object of his existence might prove to be. As he had been since the abduction of his mother, he was ready for anything that might come. There were sixteen picked seamen on the forecastle, besides the officers, engineers, and quartermasters. Every person on board comprehended the mission of the Guardian-Mother, for nothing else had been talked about since the young owner came on board of the steamer. All hands were interested in the story told of him and his mother, and there was not a single one of them who was not anxious to assist in the recovery of the lady.

Louis put on his overcoat, and made sure that his revolver was in condition for immediate use, though he hoped there would be no occasion for such a weapon. He hastened on deck as soon as he had made his hurried preparations. The motion of the vessel was more violent than it had been the night before when he left the deck. The air was heavy with moisture, which felt like fog, though he could see none. The wind was directly ahead, and the steamer was pitching smartly in the heavy sea. The wind had gone around to the opposite quarter, and Louis thought it was blowing more than half a gale, as the captain measured it the day before.

"You are getting it rough this morning, Captain Ringgold," said the owner, as he entered the pilot-house.

"Good-morning, Mr. Belgrave; but I hope you don't call this very rough," replied the commander, peering out at the ocean ahead of the vessel.

"Rougher than I have seen it before on this trip," added Louis. "But I don't see the Maud."

"You must have a pair of good nautical eyes to see her under present circumstances; but I have made her out, and I am certain that she is not far ahead of us," said the commander, levelling his spy-glass at the open window. "I can't make her out now, for the air is full of streaks of fog, which may settle down upon us, and bury us out of sight."

"That would be unfortunate," suggested the owner.

"Perhaps not; it may be a good thing for us. But I am confident that Scoble is heading too far to the westward," said Captain Ringgold anxiously, though he did not communicate his fears to his owner.

Half a dozen times in the next two hours the fog-banks settled and rose again, but the Maud could be distinctly seen when she was not wreathed in a mantle of vapor. The relative position of the two vessels was now changed, for the commander had headed the steamer farther to the eastward, and the leadsman was sounding all the time, though his response was still "no bottom. " The occasional lift of the fog had revealed the breakers on the reef, twenty-four miles in extent, and about eight north-west of the Bermuda Islands.

"I suppose you know where you are, Captain Ringgold," said Louis, laughing.

"I do, very well indeed; and I wish that fellow in charge of the Maud knew where he was," replied the commander, looking more anxious than ever, for the fog had just settled down again on the chase. "We must have passed him by this time, for if he kept his course, he must be two miles to leeward of us."

"By the mark, fifteen! " shouted the leadsman in a vigorous tone, as though he had important news to tell.

"All right; that settles it, and I know where I am to a hair," added the commander, as he directed the quartermaster at the wheel to head the steamer to the westward.

From this moment two leads were going all the time, and the reports came rapidly. The water was shoaling all the time, and the engine was reduced to half speed. While it looked as though the fog was lifting again, those in the pilot-house were startled by the boom of a small cannon directly ahead.

"What does that mean, captain? " inquired Louis very anxiously, as he tried to penetrate the fog-bank ahead with his vision.

"It means trouble for some one," replied the commander, looking quite as anxious as his owner. "Some vessel has evidently gone on the reef."

"But what vessel? " demanded Louis, almost overcome with an agony of suspense.

"Of course I don't know; but I am very much afraid it is the Maud," added Captain Ringgold, his brow wrinkled and his lips compressed.