CHAPTER X.--COLON.

At a word from Mr. Willing, after several hours of rowing, Shirley and Mabel cuddled up in their end of the boat and tried to sleep; but this they found impossible, and all through the night they gazed out over the dark waters.

Here and there the lights in the other boats were visible, but before morning they had lost sight of these. When the first faint streaks of dawn appeared in the east there was not another boat to be seen. They had become separated in the night.

The almost twenty passengers in the little craft ate of the food that had been provided and drank of the water. Thus refreshed, and with the sun now appearing above the horizon, their predicament did not seem as serious as it had during the blackness of the night.

There was not an object in sight to break the monotony of the water, and the boat rocked gently on the easy swell of the sea. The men bent to the oars again and sent the little craft skimming through the water.

Came a cry from the man at the rudder, and the eyes of the others followed his gaze toward the distant horizon. They beheld a faint cloud in the otherwise clear sky.

"Steamer!" cried the first man.

The cloud approached nearer and at last the outline of a ship, appearing very small at that distance, could be made out. It was headed on a course that would bring it almost directly in the path of the smaller boat.

As the hull of the vessel grew larger by its approach, occasional cheers broke from the lips of those in the little craft. So far it was impossible to tell whether the castaways had been sighted or not; but as the big ship neared them--now scarcely more than a mile away--the shrill blast of the steamer's whistle split the air. The small boat with its passengers had been discovered. The passengers raised another cheer.

Rapidly the large vessel bore down on them, and the little craft bobbed swiftly toward it. At last they came alongside.

"Ladies first!" cried the captain of the _Yucatan_.

Shirley and Mabel were the first over the rail, where they stood awaiting the arrival of the others.

Mr. Willing, Colonel Ashton and Dick were the last to go aboard, and no sooner were the refugees all on deck than the big vessel resumed her course. The captain motioned them to his cabin.

The ship upon which they now found themselves proved to be the _Reliance_, with a cargo of freight from New Orleans for Colon.

This the captain explained when he learned where the erstwhile refugees were bound.

"We can't offer you the same accommodations you had aboard the _Yucatan_," he said, "but you are welcome to the best we have."

"And we are indeed glad to get it, captain," Shirley spoke up.

"No doubt, no doubt," smiled the captain. "All night in an open boat is no pleasure trip, even if this is the month of June," and he ordered them assigned quarters forward.

While by no means as large and pretentious as those on the _Yucatan_, the cabins were nevertheless clean and comfortable.

"We can thank our stars that we were fortunate enough to be picked up so soon," declared Dick.

"What can have become of the other boats?" asked Mabel.

"Probably reached the Cuban shore," replied Colonel Ashton. "We are doubtless the only ones that lost our course. The others more than likely stuck close together."

"I hope they are all safe," declared Shirley.

"I am sure they are," returned her father.

"Now," said Colonel Ashton, "the thing to be considered is, what to do when we reach Colon. Shall we take another steamer and continue our course, or shall we turn about and go home?"

"We don't want to go home, Dad," exclaimed Shirley. "You won't give up the trip to San Francisco, will you?"

"No, I think not," was the reply. "We can replenish our wardrobes in Colon sufficiently to get to Frisco, and we can do the rest of our buying there. No, we shall go on."

The girls clapped their hands in delight. Both had feared that the disaster might put an untimely end to their summer vacation.

"What do you suppose the Germans intend doing with the _Yucatan_?" asked Dick.

"Well, you heard the captain speak of a naval base on the coast of Cuba. They probably will run in there, put some big guns aboard and start out on a privateering cruise. There have been a couple of such German raiders, and they did considerable damage to British merchant ships before they were chased to the safety of internment in Newport News."

"I guess that is about what they plan to do," agreed Dick. "I'll surely have one experience of which to write when I get back to work."

An hour later the party was gathered on deck, when the captain of the _Yucatan_ approached.

"The first thing I shall do is to report this to General Fullaway, at Colon," he declared.

"General Fullaway!" exclaimed Mr. Willing. "You don't mean General Hugh Fullaway?"

"The same," replied the captain. "Do you know him?"

"Well, rather," replied Mr. Willing. "We were schoolmates years ago, and have been close friends since. He comes from my home town. I shall look him up. But I didn't know he was in command in Colon."

"He has only been recently put in command," was the reply. "I too know him well."

The _Reliance_ proved to be a very slow vessel, and it was days before the city of Colon was sighted.

At the entrance to the Panama Canal, Colon is a very picturesque city. Since work on the canal was begun, bringing thousands of Americans to the country, it has been more or less metropolitan in character, at the same time retaining its South American atmosphere.

Shirley and Mabel looked about with wonder as they made their way through the dirty narrow streets toward the hotel. This, however, they found to be strictly up to date in all respects, and they were soon installed in comfortable quarters.

Several hours later, Mr. Willing and Colonel Ashton left the hotel, announcing that they were going to pay their respects to General Fullaway. They were back several hours later and informed Shirley, Mabel and Dick that they were to dine with the general in his quarters that night.

The girls were naturally excited at this prospect, and spent most of the day in the purchase of suitable garments. Dick, as well as Mr. Willing and Colonel Ashton, also purchased more clothing to take the place of what had been lost when they were set adrift from the _Yucatan_.

General Fullaway had already heard the story from the captain of the _Yucatan_, but supper over, he desired to hear it once more from his guests.

Mr. Willing related their first meeting with the German commander, who had introduced himself as Henry Bristow when they had first met. He told of the experience aboard the _Yucatan_ while the vessel was tied up at Jacksonville.

"You did wrong not to let the men take him, no matter who they were," was General Fullaway's verdict.

"I realize that now," said Mr. Willing, "but who could have suspected such a gigantic plot?"

"It was a gigantic plot," agreed the general, "and was carried out excellently. It must have been well planned."

"Mr. Bristow warned us not to come to Colon, general," spoke up Shirley.

"He did?" exclaimed the general in surprise. "And why, pray?"

"Well, he said it wasn't safe," replied Shirley.

"Hm-m-m," muttered the general, with a smile. "And did he tell you why?"

"No, sir."

"I thought not," laughed the general.

"But he told me, general," put in Mabel.

The others looked at the girl in surprise, but Mabel bore up steadily under their scrutiny.

"What do you mean, Mabel?" demanded Colonel Ashton.

"You remember when he took me aside just before we were set adrift, father?" asked Mabel.

"Yes, of course."

"That's when he told me, but it seemed so absurd and impossible that I didn't repeat it."

"What was it, Miss Ashton?" asked General Fullaway. "Will you tell us?"

"He said that Colon was in danger," replied Mabel, and she repeated the conversation she had had with Captain Von Blusen aboard the _Yucatan_.

The others listened to her with breathless interest, and there were exclamations of surprise when she concluded.

"Absurd," said Mr. Willing.

"Impossible," Colonel Ashton agreed.

"It would seem so, on the face of it," said General Fullaway, "and I suppose it is. It is true, there are two Japanese warships off the entrance to the Canal. They have not been allowed to pass through because several German merchant vessels are here. As soon as they have cleared, of course we shall permit the Japs to go through."

"And have the Japs objected to the delay?" asked Mr. Willing.

"They have indeed. They have demanded permission to pass, which has been refused. That was yesterday. But this tale of yours," the general turned to Mabel, "is incredible. I suppose the German commander told it to you to frighten you."

"I suppose that was his reason," Mabel agreed.

At this moment an orderly entered the room and gave a message to General Fullaway. The latter read it, and then turned to Mabel again.

"It seems that your warning may bear fruit, after all," he said quietly.

"Why, sir?" asked the girl eagerly.

"Why, this message I have here," said the general, tapping the paper with his finger, "is, or seems to be at least, a communication from the Japanese commander. He says if his ships are not allowed to pass through the canal to-morrow, he will destroy the city of Colon!"