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28 - Prisoner of Morro by Upton Sinclair · Prisoner of Morro

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  Speaker 1: Chapter twenty eight, A Struggle against Odds. The position in
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  Speaker 1: which Cliff found himself was so startlingly unexpected and so
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  Speaker 1: full of peril that, for a brief instant it almost
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  Speaker 1: unnerved him. Had he suspected the possibility of the boat
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  Speaker 1: being manned by Spaniards, he would have given up the
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  Speaker 1: thought as soon as he recognized it as one belonging
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  Speaker 1: to the flagship. It seemed natural that a boat should
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  Speaker 1: be sent to look for them after their protracted absence,
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  Speaker 1: and it was a decided shock to find that he
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  Speaker 1: had fallen alone and unarmed, in the way of his enemies.
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  Speaker 1: But his surprise affected him, but for an instant he
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  Speaker 1: did not propose to be shot down if he could
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  Speaker 1: help it. The report of the pistol that met Cliff's
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  Speaker 1: gaze rang out upon the air, but the bullet did
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  Speaker 1: not reach its intended mark. Like a flash, Cliff had
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  Speaker 1: released his hold upon the boat and dropped beneath the water,
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  Speaker 1: just in the nick of time. The spaniard peered over
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  Speaker 1: the side of the boat in the door darkness, expecting
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  Speaker 1: to see Cliff's form appear on the surface, and hoping
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  Speaker 1: to see his life's blood staining the waters. A testimony
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  Speaker 1: to his marchsmanship. How could he have failed to send
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  Speaker 1: that bullet crashing through the American's brain, thought he, But
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  Speaker 1: nothing of the sort happened. Cliff not only was not wounded,
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  Speaker 1: but was chipper as a lark. When he disappeared, he
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  Speaker 1: dove under the boat and rose again on the opposite side.
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  Speaker 1: The spaniard would look in vain in that spot or
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  Speaker 1: his intended victim. But the spaniard and the bow discovered
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  Speaker 1: Cliff's head as it appeared for an instant above water
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  Speaker 1: with an imprecation of rap. He called his companion's attention
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  Speaker 1: to the spot, but one of them was armed, it seemed.
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  Speaker 1: The other rushed to that side, But when he looked
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  Speaker 1: in the direction indicated revolver in hand, Cliff had again disappeared.
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  Speaker 1: The American lad was as lively as a cricket, and
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  Speaker 1: busy thoughts surged through his brain. In the first place,
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  Speaker 1: he did not propose being a target for a Spanish bullet.
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  Speaker 1: But above all he wanted that boat, and like the
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  Speaker 1: cowboy when he once a revolver, wanted it bad. How
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  Speaker 1: can I get it? He thought, as his die brought
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  Speaker 1: him up near the bow of the boat. Help came
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  Speaker 1: from an unexpected source. For a few moments after, he
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  Speaker 1: was driven by a new peril to attempt the only
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  Speaker 1: plan that could accomplish it. The agency that led to
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  Speaker 1: his delivery was a shark. It was not the everyday
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  Speaker 1: business of his sharkship, that of saving an imperiled life,
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  Speaker 1: for those inhabiting those waters are especially hungry and voracious.
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  Speaker 1: But it happened this way. As Cliff was quietly keeping
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  Speaker 1: himself afloat at the bow of the boat, confident that
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  Speaker 1: in that position he ran little risk of immediate discovery
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  Speaker 1: by his enemies. The plans and schemes revolving in his
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  Speaker 1: mind were brought to a sudden standstill by a sight
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  Speaker 1: that filled him with horror. A sharp triangular fin, cutting
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  Speaker 1: the water like a knife, flashed past him. Merciful Heaven,
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  Speaker 1: he muttered under his breath. A shark death faced him
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  Speaker 1: on every side. To be sure, he might frighten the
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  Speaker 1: shark by churning the surface of the water, but that
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  Speaker 1: very act would betray him to a no less certain
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  Speaker 1: death at the hands of his enemies. His resolve, a
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  Speaker 1: desperate one that caused him the shutter as he formed it,
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  Speaker 1: was reached on the instant, the broad back of his enemy,
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  Speaker 1: who sat in the stern, was within easy reach, and
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  Speaker 1: inspired his action. Quick as a flash, Cliff grasped the
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  Speaker 1: stern of the boat with one hand, and with one
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  Speaker 1: mighty effort, raised himself high out of the water. Before
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  Speaker 1: the spaniard could divine what was happening, Cliff's free arm
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  Speaker 1: was thrown around the fellow's neck, and he was drawn
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  Speaker 1: back into the water behind him. An instant after, Cliff
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  Speaker 1: clamored over the stern into the boat. With a shudder
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  Speaker 1: at the thought of the fate that awaited the luckless spaniard,
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  Speaker 1: he addressed himself to the work that lay before him,
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  Speaker 1: and there was plenty of it, and lively too while
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  Speaker 1: it left. The other Spaniard, who had been peering into
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  Speaker 1: the water ahead, turned sharply around when he heard the
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  Speaker 1: noise made by the splash of his companion, and in
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  Speaker 1: the act involuntarily dropped the revolver. What must have been
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  Speaker 1: his feelings upon beholding the lithe and dripping form of
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  Speaker 1: the plucky young American emerging from the sea may well
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  Speaker 1: be imagined, but Cliff did not pause to study the effects.
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  Speaker 1: He seized an oar and sprang toward his remaining foe.
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  Speaker 1: Surrender you, villain, he cried in Spanish as he advanced.
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  Speaker 1: The Spaniard seized an oar, and with an oath sprang
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  Speaker 1: toward the American, and there on the quiet bosom of
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  Speaker 1: the water, in the dim light of night, ensued a
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  Speaker 1: stubbornly contested duel, in which oars took the place of
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  Speaker 1: broad sword and sabor. Cliff thought savagely and desperately. His
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  Speaker 1: blood was up, and he knew that now, if ever,
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  Speaker 1: he was fighting for his life. But in the end
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  Speaker 1: it was fortune that favored him. A chance blow upon
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  Speaker 1: his antagonist's head rendered the latter unconscious, and victory again
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  Speaker 1: perched upon the young American's banner. There was no time
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  Speaker 1: for exultation, even if he had felt that way. The
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  Speaker 1: work had been too serious, and necessity for action was
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  Speaker 1: too imperative. Satisfied that he had nothing to fear from
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  Speaker 1: his enemy, now lying helpless in the bottom of the boat,
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  Speaker 1: Cliff seized the oars and turned the boat toward shore.
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  Speaker 1: It was trying work for one man to row that boat,
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  Speaker 1: even the short distance that lay between him and shore,
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  Speaker 1: especially after the ordeal through which he had passed, But
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  Speaker 1: excitement buoyed him up, and he made good progress. His companions,
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  Speaker 1: in the shade of the bushes where he had left them,
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  Speaker 1: had witnessed his exciting duel, and were wrought up to
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  Speaker 1: tense excitement. How they bemoaned the fact that they were
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  Speaker 1: not there to help him. It became evident that there
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  Speaker 1: were other spectators too, for no sooner had Cliff seized
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  Speaker 1: the oars and began to row for the shore, than
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  Speaker 1: a volley of bullets rattled out across the water from
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  Speaker 1: the hill that had witnessed such thrilling scenes earlier in
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  Speaker 1: the night, the Spanish soldiers had discovered Cliff. In the
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  Speaker 1: face of this, Cliff redoubled his efforts to reach the
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  Speaker 1: beach and rescue his companions, who might any moment be
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  Speaker 1: attacked by the soldiers in their rear. But the enemy's
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  Speaker 1: attention was concentrated upon Cliff and his boat, and he
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  Speaker 1: shot through the waters in a perfect hail of missiles.
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  Speaker 1: They spattered into the waters all around him, but wide
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  Speaker 1: of their mark. He reached the shore, and as he
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  Speaker 1: sprang upon the ground, his faithful little band could not
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  Speaker 1: repress a cheer at his bravery and pluck. But he
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  Speaker 1: urged them on. Not a moment could be lost. The enemy,
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  Speaker 1: shut off temporarily by the overhanging hill, might be down
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  Speaker 1: upon them any second. Cliff gathered up his clothing and
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  Speaker 1: at a word they all sprang to their places, and
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  Speaker 1: the boat leaped through the water with a bound and
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  Speaker 1: was away to the flagship. Cliff cried and then uttered
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  Speaker 1: an exclamation of alarm. The Despatches. He cried as he
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  Speaker 1: felt among his clothes they had been left behind. At
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  Speaker 1: a word, the boat was turned around and shot swiftly
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  Speaker 1: toward the beach. Yelling Spaniards could be heard racing down
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  Speaker 1: the hill side. They had discovered the landing place, and
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  Speaker 1: bullets began again to rain about the water. It seemed
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  Speaker 1: sure death to return in the face of that fire,
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  Speaker 1: but the intrepid crew sped on. The Despatches must not
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  Speaker 1: fall into Spanish hands. The boat grated on the sands,
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  Speaker 1: and Cliffs sprang out. One instant brought him to the
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  Speaker 1: spot where his clothes had lain. Fortune favored him. As
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  Speaker 1: he felt along the ground, his hand touched a package
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  Speaker 1: of papers, the Despatches. He cried as he sprang to
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  Speaker 1: his place in the stern of the boat, which had
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  Speaker 1: been turned ready for the start. He gave the word,
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  Speaker 1: and away they sped, this time with the flagship as
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  Speaker 1: their goal. Spanish bullets flew after them, but they were safe.
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  Speaker 1: It was only when they were for a moment brought
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  Speaker 1: out into bold relief by the searchlight that again began
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  Speaker 1: to play from that flat bagship, that bullets of the
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  Speaker 1: enemy came near their mark. And then the firing ceased,
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  Speaker 1: and the boats stat on an enthusiastic and jubilant crew.
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  Speaker 1: It was only Cliff seemed in the dissatisfied mood cory.
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  Speaker 1: He suddenly exclaimed, I came off without that shell. After all,
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  Speaker 1: you seem to lay great store by that, sir, said
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  Speaker 1: one of the men. I do, said Cliff, but will
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  Speaker 1: not return for it. Just now to the flagship. Not
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  Speaker 1: many minutes later they were safe aboard the captured Spaniard
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  Speaker 1: in proper custody, and best of all, the dispatches were
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  Speaker 1: personally delivered by Cliff to the rear admiral. But Cliff
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  Speaker 1: was not entirely satisfied. End of chapter twenty eight. Recording
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  Speaker 1: by Tom Weist Tom's Audio books dot Com