Blue Ocean Nails
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’Tis a long, long way to go;
Far, far from home and friends,
Where the blue ocean nails are bound.
Far, far from the land of our birth,
We’ll sail for many a mile,
For we’re bound for the Blue Ocean Nails.
—The Ballad of the Blue Ocean Nails
***
“They were on board the first time I went down to the deck,” said Tom. “I thought they must be dead or asleep, but the Captain said they were just as well as he could expect them to be.”
“Why did you come back?” asked Jim. “You know you are not going to get away with it. We will find out who you are and what you have done.”
Tom laughed. “Oh, I’m not afraid of that,” he answered. “There is no one in the world who can make me tell where I got the money to buy this ship.”
“It was easy enough for you to take the ship from its owner,” said Jim. “He is in jail, and we can’t do anything about him now.”
“But that is different,” replied Tom. “When I bought this ship the Captain had it already. He had been out to sea for a long time and he had plenty of money in his pocket. If you had seen him, you would have thought he was rich. And he told me that he had plenty more. So I took the ship from him and put him into jail.”
“But how did you get the money to buy the ship?” asked Jim.
“I am not going to tell you that either,” replied Tom. “It was very hard work and I earned every penny of it myself. The Captain did not give me a cent.”
“How much did you earn?” asked Jim.
“About six hundred dollars,” answered Tom.
“And where did you get that money?” asked Jim.
“I got it from a man named Aylmore,” answered Tom. “He is an old friend of mine and he helped me to get the money.”
“What did you do to earn so much money?” asked Jim.
“I was working in the ship yards,” answered Tom. “I got work at first for five dollars a week, but when I began to get better at my work I could earn ten dollars a week.”
“And how long did you stay in the ship yards?” asked Jim.
“Three years,” answered Tom. “I worked there every day. I never missed a day.”
“Where were you living while you were earning all that money?” asked Jim.
“I lived in a boarding house in the town,” answered Tom. “I didn’t have any money to spend.”
“But how did you get the money to buy this ship?” asked Jim.
“I went to a bank and borrowed it,” replied Tom.
“You couldn’t do that,” said Jim. “The bank wouldn’t lend you any money unless you had a good reason for wanting to borrow it.”
“Oh, I had a good reason,” answered Tom. “I told the bank that I was going to take this ship out to sea and that I would pay them back in three years.”
“But that is impossible,” said Jim. “The Captain says that he has never heard of any man doing such a thing before.”
“That is true,” answered Tom. “But I did it and I will prove it to you. When you come to the Blue Ocean Nails, you will see a ship lying alongside her. That is the ship I bought from the Captain. You can ask him about it.”
“We shall be there in two or three days,” said Jim. “And we will look at that ship then.”
“Don’t you want to know who I am?” asked Tom.
“No,” answered Jim. “It doesn’t matter to us whether you are a sailor or a king. We have no time to waste on you.”
“Well, I am a sailor,” said Tom. “I have been in the navy for fourteen years.”
“You can’t be a sailor,” said Jim. “If you were a sailor, you would not have run away from your ship when she was captured by the French.”
“I wasn’t running away,” said Tom. “I was just trying to get away from the French before they got me. The French had already boarded my ship and were searching her. I thought that if I could get away, I would be safe. But you don’t understand. I was a sailor, and I did not want to be captured by the French.”
“You say you were a sailor,” said Jim. “What ship did you belong to?”
“I belonged to the Bonaparte,” answered Tom.
“The Bonaparte!” exclaimed Jim. “Then you are one of the men who fired on our ship and killed Lieutenant Hull.”
“That is so,” said Tom. “I fired on your ship because I thought that it was the French ship that had captured the Bonaparte.”
“I am glad to hear it,” said Jim. “But what will you do now? Will you come back with us to the Blue Ocean Nails?”
“No,” said Tom. “I have other work to do. I have some business to attend to here.”
“How long will you be staying here?” asked Jim.
“I don’t know,” answered Tom. “I have to see Mr. Aylmore first.”
“Where is he?” asked Jim.
“He lives in the town,” answered Tom. “He has a big house near the shore. It is hard to find. I’ll show you the way.”
Jim and Tom left the ship and walked down to the shore. There they found a large hotel. They went inside and asked for Mr. Aylmore.
“Oh, yes,” said the clerk. “He lives here. He has been staying here for several months. Why don’t you ask him yourself?”
Jim and Tom went up to the second floor of the hotel. There they saw a man sitting at a table, reading a newspaper. He was dressed in a dark blue suit. His hair was gray and he had a small beard.
“Mr. Aylmore,” said Jim. “Is that you?”
“Yes, it is,” answered the man. “I have been waiting for you.”
“We want to talk with you,” said Jim.
“Come into my room,” said the man.
Jim and Tom followed him to his room. It was very small. There was only one chair and a table.
“Have a seat,” said Mr. Aylmore.
Jim and Tom sat down. Mr. Aylmore looked at them and smiled.
“I have heard of you,” said the man. “You are the men who fired on the Bonaparte.”
“That is so,” answered Jim.
“I am glad to hear it,” said Mr. Aylmore. “But why did you fire on my ship?”
“It was an accident,” answered Jim. “We were trying to get away from the French.”
“And what became of the Bonaparte?” asked Mr. Aylmore.
“She was captured by the French,” answered Jim.
“What became of your crew?” asked Mr. Aylmore.
“They were killed,” answered Jim.
“Did you kill any of them?” asked Mr. Aylmore.
“No,” answered Jim. “I did not kill anybody.”
“Then I am glad to hear it,” said Mr. Aylmore. “You are a good man, Jim. You did the right thing by firing on my ship. And if you hadn’t done it, the French would have taken me, prisoner.”
“Thank you,” said Jim.
“Now, do you think you can find this ship?” asked Mr. Aylmore.
“Yes,” answered Jim. “I know the way to the Blue Ocean Nails.”
“Good,” said Mr. Aylmore. “You must go there and bring the rest of my crew back with you.”
“We will be glad to,” answered Jim.
“And now,” said Mr. Aylmore, “what will you do?”
“I am going to stay here until the end of the war,” answered Jim. “After the war is over, I will go back to my ship and try to get it back.”
“That’s all right,” said Mr. Aylmore. “But in the meantime, you are welcome to stay here.”
Jim and Tom left the hotel. They went down to the shore and boarded the Blue Ocean Nails.
“Now, let’s get back to the ship,” said Jim. “We’ll take a little trip around the island. I want to see how it looks.”
As they sailed out of the harbor, Jim looked at the island. He could see many things that he had not seen before. There were several white-sailed ships lying in the water. There was also a large dock where several men were working.
“What are they doing there?” asked Jim.
“They are building a new ship,” answered Tom. “It is called the New York.”
“Why do they need another ship?” asked Jim.
“I don’t know,” answered Tom. “Maybe the owner of the Blue Ocean Nails doesn’t like his ship anymore.”
“Or maybe he has more money than sense,” said Jim.
“Maybe so,” said Tom. “Anyway, we have to be careful when we are sailing around here. We don’t want to run into any of the French ships.”
“I hope we don’t,” said Jim. “They might try to board us.”
“Well, I’ll take care of that,” answered Tom. “You just watch the wind and sail as fast as you can.”
The Blue Ocean Nails sailed away from the island. The sea was calm. It was a beautiful day.
The End