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

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  Speaker 1: After thirty one captured. Cliff had elected to imperil his
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  Speaker 1: own existence rather than allow one of the enemy's boats
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  Speaker 1: to pass that blockade without warning to the American ships.
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  Speaker 1: But he had no intention of lying idly by in
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  Speaker 1: the path of the hostile craft. He waited but a
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  Speaker 1: moment after the glare of the last rocket had died
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  Speaker 1: out in the air, and then bent to the oars
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  Speaker 1: and urged the boat toward the open sea beyond. And
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  Speaker 1: then he had every confidence that he had little to
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  Speaker 1: fear from the enemy's boat. They'll have all they can
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  Speaker 1: do to look out for their own safety. Now, he thought,
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  Speaker 1: without paying any attention to me, the New York has
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  Speaker 1: seen the signal and will not be slow in making
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  Speaker 1: out the cause. Then look out, mister Spaniard. But there
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  Speaker 1: was more taking place upon those waters than Cliff was
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  Speaker 1: cognizant of, and peril came from an unlooked for source.
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  Speaker 1: His decision to send up the warning signal had been
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  Speaker 1: quickly formed after his first discovery of the strange vessel.
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  Speaker 1: He had seen at a glance that it was not
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  Speaker 1: a warship but a merchant steamer. It was moving slowly
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  Speaker 1: and apparently seeking as much as possible the concealment afforded
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  Speaker 1: by the shadow of the coast, every feature about it
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  Speaker 1: showed that it was trying to quietly steal out past
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  Speaker 1: the blockading vessels. Cliff had not delayed, but on the
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  Speaker 1: impulse of the moment, had sent up the signal rockets
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  Speaker 1: while he was yet between the ship and the shore.
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  Speaker 1: But a few steady strokes would carry him beyond the
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  Speaker 1: enemy and toward the flagship, he thought. But to his
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  Speaker 1: surprise he noticed, on glancing over his shoulder as he
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  Speaker 1: drew nearer to the vessel, that the latter was moving
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  Speaker 1: slower than before, and in fact had just stopped. This
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  Speaker 1: was puzzling to him, for now, if at any time
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  Speaker 1: the boat should be showing its utmost speed, those on
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  Speaker 1: board must surely know from the signals that they had
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  Speaker 1: been discovered, and that pursuit would instantly follow. A few
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  Speaker 1: words Will explained the situation to the reader. The vessel was,
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  Speaker 1: as Cliff suspected, endeavoring to steal out past the American ships,
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  Speaker 1: which were known to be in the vicinity. But a
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  Speaker 1: short time before Cliff had left the shore for the
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  Speaker 1: second time, the blockade runner had slowed down, and a boat,
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  Speaker 1: manned by half a dozen soldiers, had been sent ashore.
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  Speaker 1: An officer in the Spanish army with important dispatches was
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  Speaker 1: to be taken aboard at a point not far from
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  Speaker 1: where Cliff had landed. The work of the Spanish boat's
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  Speaker 1: crew had been expeditiously performed, and when Cliff sent up
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  Speaker 1: his signal, they were returning to the ship. Unnoticed by
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  Speaker 1: Cliff in his excitement at the time, they were close
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  Speaker 1: to one side of his boat. At that fateful moment,
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  Speaker 1: a pistol shot suddenly ringing out in the air, and
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  Speaker 1: a bullet flying not far from his head, apprized the
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  Speaker 1: cadet of danger from that quarter. The Spaniards, as was
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  Speaker 1: natural for them to be, were aroused to a high
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  Speaker 1: pitch of excitement against the youth, whose vigilance promised to
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  Speaker 1: set all their plans at naught. With a hoarse yell
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  Speaker 1: of rage, they tugged at the oars, and their boat
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  Speaker 1: fairly leaped through the water after the intrepid young cadet.
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  Speaker 1: Cliff saw the movement and redoubled his efforts at the oars.
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  Speaker 1: It was a race for his life, one against seven.
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  Speaker 1: With frantic energy, he tugged at the oars, and his
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  Speaker 1: boat shut forward with encouraging speed. At that moment, the
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  Speaker 1: searchlight on the flagship sent its rays across the waters
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  Speaker 1: in answer to the signal, and a dazzling stream of
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  Speaker 1: light played upon the scene. It brought in clear relief
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  Speaker 1: the form of the waiting steamer and the two boats
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  Speaker 1: racing so desperately near at hand. What a thrilling scene
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  Speaker 1: it must have been to the officers on the bridge
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  Speaker 1: of the flagship, as with glass in hand, they watched
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  Speaker 1: the exciting race, but it was not given to them
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  Speaker 1: long to note the cadet's desperate struggle for freedom, or
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  Speaker 1: to marvel at his great endurance. The race was a
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  Speaker 1: short one, and the result of gone conclusion, there was
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  Speaker 1: no hope of Cliff's escaping from the pursuing boat with
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  Speaker 1: its crew of fresh and eager oarsmen. The latter closed
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  Speaker 1: in upon him with a leap and a bound, and
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  Speaker 1: soon were within oar's length of him. He recognized the
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  Speaker 1: uselessness of trying to escape from them, but was determined
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  Speaker 1: not to surrender without a struggle, even in the face
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  Speaker 1: of great numbers. He dropped his oars and sprang to
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  Speaker 1: his feet, facing his enemies. He drew his revolver, but
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  Speaker 1: before he could use it, one of the Spanish sailors
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  Speaker 1: who had risen in the boat, knocked it from his
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  Speaker 1: grasp with his oar. The boats were now side by side,
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  Speaker 1: almost touching, and the dark hult of the steamer was
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  Speaker 1: not many feet away from the latter arose a loud
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  Speaker 1: cheer as they saw that Cliff had been disarmed, and
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  Speaker 1: above the noise, Cliff could hear a few words of
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  Speaker 1: command from the Spanish army officer who sat in the
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  Speaker 1: stern of the boat at his side. It was to
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  Speaker 1: the sailor who had sprung up to attack Cliff. Don't shoot,
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  Speaker 1: he said, take him alive. Cliff had seized an oar
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  Speaker 1: when his revolver fell with a splash into the water,
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  Speaker 1: and there was no doubt that he intended using it.
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  Speaker 1: But two can play at that game, and the Spanish sailor,
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  Speaker 1: forbidden to shoot, attacked Cliff furiously with the oar, which
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  Speaker 1: he still held in his hand. Cliff dodged, but as
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  Speaker 1: he did so, another sailor aimed a blow at his head.
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  Speaker 1: The aim was good, a sharp pain shot through the
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  Speaker 1: young cadet's head. He reeled and all became dark before him.
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  Speaker 1: With a faint moan, he fell senseless into the bottom
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  Speaker 1: of his boat. The contests had been short and well
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  Speaker 1: it was for the Spaniards that such was the case.
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  Speaker 1: Already the flickering of the searchlight told that the flagship
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  Speaker 1: was hurrying to the scene. The Spaniards realized the importance
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  Speaker 1: of quick action they had, on the impulse of the moment,
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  Speaker 1: retaliated upon Cliff. Because it could take but a few minutes,
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  Speaker 1: and because they felt that the chase would end not
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  Speaker 1: far from their waiting vessel, they can ratulated themselves that
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  Speaker 1: it had indeed brought them almost to the ship's side,
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  Speaker 1: and now they lost no time in getting themselves and
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  Speaker 1: their prisoner aboard willing hands. Assisted from above, a couple
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  Speaker 1: of strokes of the oars had brought them to the
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  Speaker 1: ship's side, with Cliff's boat in tow. In obedience to
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  Speaker 1: a command, Cliff's boat, with its unconscious burden, was raised
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  Speaker 1: bodily to the deck. The captain thought he could use
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  Speaker 1: it in his business. A moment later, the Spaniards with
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  Speaker 1: the army officer, reached the deck, and the ship's captain
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  Speaker 1: signaled to go ahead. All now was excitement on board
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  Speaker 1: the Spaniard. Beyond securely fastening the arms and legs of
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  Speaker 1: their unconscious captive where he lay. They paid but little
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  Speaker 1: attention to cliff. They were all too wrapped up in
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  Speaker 1: thoughts of escape from the cruiser, whose piercing searchlight was
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  Speaker 1: streaming upon them. Among the crew there was here and
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  Speaker 1: there a murmur against a delay that had been caused
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  Speaker 1: by stopping to take on the army officer, and with
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  Speaker 1: this was coupled a note of resentment against the young cadet,
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  Speaker 1: whose appearance on the scene promised to spoil all their plans.
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  Speaker 1: But the captain's orders were carried out promptly, the more
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  Speaker 1: so as their own safety depended on it. They were
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  Speaker 1: not without hope of making good their escape in the end,
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  Speaker 1: for they knew what speed their craft was capable of.
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  Speaker 1: It was a fast boat, and the throbbing of the
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  Speaker 1: engines told that she was being urged to her full speed.
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  Speaker 1: Amid intense excitement of cruel and officers. The wild dash
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  Speaker 1: for freedom and safety had begun. Through all this confusion
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  Speaker 1: and flurry. The cadet, whose prompt signaling had occasioned it,
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  Speaker 1: lay helpless and unconscious. The steady thump of the machinery below,
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  Speaker 1: which was steadily carrying him further and further from his friends,
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  Speaker 1: made no impression upon his ears, nor was his mind
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  Speaker 1: aroused by the excitement of the chase or the hope
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  Speaker 1: of rescue. But the race had not been long under
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  Speaker 1: way before he began to show signs of returning consciousness.
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  Speaker 1: He stirred uneasily in the bottom of the boat where
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  Speaker 1: he lay, attempting to move his pinion limbs. Then a long,
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  Speaker 1: drawn breath, and he opened his eyes slowly. The noise
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  Speaker 1: from shipboard fell upon his ears, and the sounds confused him.
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  Speaker 1: His surroundings puzzled him, and his mind at first could
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  Speaker 1: not grasp the situation. Where was he? Then, with a
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  Speaker 1: rush of recollection, came the remembrance of the attack upon
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  Speaker 1: him in the open boat. His enemies had triumphed, he thought,
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  Speaker 1: and left him a helpless victim to drift about upon
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  Speaker 1: the open sea. But whence those sounds, He painfully raised
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  Speaker 1: himself to a sitting posture and looked down. To his astonishment,
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  Speaker 1: he found himself and boat upon the deck of a
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  Speaker 1: swiftly moving steamer. Then he saw it all and realized
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  Speaker 1: what had happened, he caught a glimpse of the rays
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  Speaker 1: of the searchlight that still streamed across the water. At
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  Speaker 1: a moment after heard the boom of a cannon out
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  Speaker 1: at sea. The New York here exclaimed, she is in pursuit,
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  Speaker 1: but she's too far away and can never catch this
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  Speaker 1: fast boat. The only chance of her stopping it is
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  Speaker 1: with one of her big guns. And then involuntarily he
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  Speaker 1: shuddered as he thought that, bound and helpless, he would
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  Speaker 1: share the fate of the Spanish crew if a shot
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  Speaker 1: from the flagship should penetrate the ship's side and send
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  Speaker 1: it to the bottom. He moved a little toward the
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  Speaker 1: stern of his boat as best he could to get
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  Speaker 1: a better view of the light that showed the approaching flagship.
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  Speaker 1: As he did so, he struck a round, hard object
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  Speaker 1: that lay behind him, the unexploded shell. He exclaimed as
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  Speaker 1: he recognized what it was. I still have that with
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  Speaker 1: me at any rate. And then he began to tug
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  Speaker 1: at the ropes that bound his arms in a frantic
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  Speaker 1: effort to loosen them. The rapid throb of the engines
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  Speaker 1: below and another boom of cannon from out to sea
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  Speaker 1: told that the Chase was becoming a hot one End
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  Speaker 1: of Chapter thirty one recording by Tom Weiss to audiobooks
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