High Seas Series: The Wilson O'Toole

There was shocked silence when the deliberately maimed boys were carried ashore, grown men wept without shame as they saw those pitiful little boys. Teen boys made up their minds that they were going to take care of those boys themselves and more than a hundred local youths stepped forward and offered to carry the injured children up to the Clinic.

Patrick felt they were at war with the slavers off the coast of Central America. This was new territory for them and the slavers had enjoyed a free ride long enough. After their End of Voyage meeting, everyone was on edge and angry. They could not believe anyone would deliberately maim children to be sex playthings for their masters.

It was just plain sick!

He sat down with Señor Rodrigo Ferguson, their liaison with the government of Costa Rica, and mapped out a campaign that would cover the entire west coast of all of Central America.

Señor Ferguson had insisted they all call him "Rod" and he had letters from all the governments of Central America saying they supported the campaign and would contribute to the cost of operating any ships the O'Tooles would send to help them.

If there were any who questioned the wisdom of such a campaign, all they had to do was take a stroll through the hospital wards and see the maimed children.

Their liaison with the American ONI was on board with the plan and Ben Ickes had been mobilized on temporary active duty. Ben Ickes had seen firsthand what awful things had been done to the children they had recently rescued and his confidential report to his boss at ONI, Captain Bill Jameson, had rattled more than a few "cages"!

The American President, however, felt he had "other fish to fry" and was less than eager to get involved in rescuing a bunch of foreign children. It was only after some members of Congress got wind of the situation that the President reluctantly agreed to American participation in the program.

The President was reminded that the O'Toole Family were private citizens and enjoyed widespread notoriety and support for their actions over the last twenty years. He backed down and remained silent when American assistance in ammunition and a few Navy "observers" from ONI were detailed to assist the O'Tooles.

Little did the President realize his silence would cost him his chance for reelection!

They decided to use all four ships, the Mary Joyce would sail independently as a scout, searching out the slaver nests. She would pretend to be a rich man's yacht and sail idly along the entire coast of Central America.

Min Tangimora was appointed Captain of the Mary Joyce and Pace Greely, a man they had rescued as a boy and later sent to the Maritime Academy in California, was appointed Chief Mate on the Wilson in Min's place.

Pace was delighted, he was tired of sailing on tankers and coming to the Wilson was like coming back to the only home he had ever known to him.

The Joseph O'Toole, their supply ship, was also going to accompany them, making it possible to operate at sea for much longer periods of time.

Boys from the Hotel were lined up at O'Toole House the morning it was announced that lottery tickets were being given out for positions on all the ships.

The line went around the building twice!

Andrew ran the lottery and was teary eyed himself when he decided that he could not go. The Hotel was nearing full capacity and he would be needed to reshuffle the rooms to provide for additional rescues.

Out of nearly twelve hundred boys, there were spaces for only two hundred. The girls had their own lottery and there were spaces for sixty girls allotted especially for them only. It was really more than they needed, but it was hard enough saying "no", without limiting the spaces to just those that were absolutely needed.

The morning of sailing day was a mad house as both the Wilson and the Joseph were anchored out in the harbor. Small boats were frantically delivering anxious boys and girls, all fearing they would be left behind.

It took all day to sort out the last minute supplies and the new crew members, fortunately, Pat had set the following day as the actual sailing day.

He was chuckling to himself about his cleverness when two sixteen year old girls presented themselves to him, telling him in no uncertain terms that they were his messenger runners! Both of them were dressed in men's trousers and a .38 caliber police special hung prominently at their waists. It took no stretch of his imagination to understand that the girls were also his bodyguards!

From their actions, Pat was sure they knew EXACTLY how to use those pistols and he could see spare cartridges in the holders on their belts. He smiled to them and told them to set their own hours between them so that at least one of them was available to him 24/7.

Sailing was set for 9 am and, as that time approached, Pat could see that each ship was warming up its engines. The Wilson did not have that advantage as her engine was direct connected to the shaft. 'Go had cheated a little bit and had the engine barely turning over, not enough, however, to drag the anchor.

The Wilson led the parade of ships out of Nawiliwili Harbor, her air horn reverberating off the mountains of the small island. Each ship, in its turn, saluted Lihue with its air horn and parked automobiles all around the harbor responded with their own salute.

There would be townsfolk camped in the radio room until "their ships" returned and any information the radio operators would give out was known all over the island in minutes.

Cell phones were a marvelous invention!

Pat took the Wilson up to her usual thirteen knots and headed southeast, directly for Acapulco with her main engine comfortingly pounding as each cylinder fired. It would be a ten day voyage, but he intended to search the coast of Mexico and Central America diligently.

The Patrick and the Joseph were capable of thirty-six knots in an emergency, so they could do the chasing that the Wilson could not do. The Mary Joyce would do the sneaking around the coastlines, searching out the lairs of the slavers. The seas remained calm all the way to the Mexican Coast,

The Mexican Navy was more of a Coast Guard and was very small, but Pat had contacted them to let them know his small fleet would be in the area. They never saw a single Mexican naval vessel the entire trip.

Pat planned to grab a couple of the cigarette boats if the opportunity presented itself. He wanted them for their own "chase boats". The slender craft were capable of in excess of sixty knots!

With as many extra young people on board the ships, there was no shortage of watchers, looking for suspicious ships. They had hardly reached the Mexican coast when the watcher on the bow of the Wilson screamed. It was one of the girls who had spotted a long hulled "cigarette boat" sneaking along the shore line.

Nate Fong ran the Joseph up to Ahead Emergency and took out after the small craft at thirty-five knots! He had the forward pedestal mounted fifty caliber machine guns manned as he pinned the small boat against the shore line. There was nowhere they could go, despite their greater speed, and the lookouts watched as they saw men jumping over the side and swimming for the beach.

Nate had the launch lowered with enough men to operate the small boat and, inside of an hour, the cigarette boat was hooked to the stern on the Joseph, complete with its cargo of narcotics.

The narcotics, they off-loaded to the Mexican Authorities, however, Nate was very uneasy as the "special policiá", who came out to collect the bales of narcotics, looked like criminals to him.

Nate had Gordon Yee, his First Mate, pour diesel fuel all over the burlap wrapped bales, soaking whatever was in them with fuel oil before he handed them over. He was not sure just who the policemen were, but, if they expected good drugs, they would be sadly mistaken!

Near the southern border of Mexico, they spotted some low lying islands that were not even on their charts. The lookout was using high powered glasses and she spotted some long, narrow boats pulled up in the beach opposite the mainland shore.

Pat was not adverse to destroying illegal drugs, but their primary target was slavers. Nonetheless, he headed his small fleet towards the islands, if nothing else, they would be able to see what was going on there.

They were about five miles off the island when the lookout shrieked, "Theys kids bein' dragged to them boats!" That was all Pat needed, he sent the Wilson in at full speed to cut off the escape of the boats! The Wilson's main engine began to thunder as the massive engine came up to speed.

The Patrick followed and began belching out black smoke as her diesels wound up and her bow rose up as if trying to plane. The Joseph followed just a little bit slower, also laying down a trail of black smoke.

The Mary Joyce and the Wilson were soon outpaced and they followed at a much slower pace, although the Mary Joyce had her auxiliary engines straining their mounting bolts and the Wilson was hammering her way right behind the Mary Joyce.

The boys on the Wilson were all out on deck, manning the machine guns and limbering up the three inch gun. The ready ammo lockers were all opened and spare machine gun belts were laid out at each position. Cases of three inch shells were opened and the gun was loaded.

They later realized that they had more fire power on the Wilson than the entire Mexican Navy had on that coast!

They had the beach blocked, the slender boats could not leave the little bay they were in, the boat crews were looking at more gun muzzles pointed at them than they could count.

Some boatmen jumped into the water and tried to swim away, but the sharks swam faster and none survived.

Pat feared what they were going to find ashore, but he was in the first boat headed for the beach. His two "body guards" were in the boat with him. Both girls had grim looks on their faces and their machine guns were held "at the ready" with the safeties off.

They spotted two men trying to crawl back to one of the boats, the girls stitched 40 mm slugs across both their legs. After they stopped screaming, they laid very still, hoping that their attackers would not come to finish the job.

Pat realized at that moment, that his girl "aides" were after bloodthirsty revenge and they were very good shots! They later told him that nobody was ever gonna hurt them again, EVER!

When the boat was beached, Pat hopped out and struggled across the beach in the loose sand. His metal leg kept loosing traction and slowing him down.

The girls tried to keep him out of the camp, but he pushed them aside, soon wishing he had not done so. There were about thirty boys and ten girls tied with ropes around their necks and the ropes were tied to a tree. All of the children had been brutally whipped, with blood running freely down their bodies.

Pat's temper was already nearing the boiling point and it overflowed when he spotted the dead children piled up like firewood.

There were bales of what looked like marijuana stacked up and plastic wrapped cases of, what he was sure, were also narcotics.

Pat was about to lose it completely when Jowto came up on either side of him and said, "Brother, these things are not important, let us get these children to the Wilson and let Pedro and Doc Ben help them."

That cooled Pat's temper, but did nothing for his anger and he swore he would see these fiends hang, even if he had to do the deed himself!

They collected four more of the slender "cigarette" boats and they burned the baled drugs as Pat did not trust the Mexican "Policiá". He was sure they were reselling the captured drugs, rather than destroying them.

His intuition would prove to be correct.

Doc Ben and Pedro went into high gear as the injured boys and girls were brought on board the Wilson. Their injuries were things of a nightmare and several boys had to have a hand or foot amputated just to save their lives.

The girls had been brutally and repeatedly raped. Doc Ben was beside himself, knowing that some of them would not survive a pregnancy, should the unlikely occur and they conceive, as they were less than ten years old!

The crew buried the dead children on the island, they knew that the Mexican Government either could not or would not assist in locating their families.

Trong came over from the Patrick, where he was serving as Chief Engineer, to support his Jowto as he tended the children in the Recovery Room. Both men were horrified at what had been done to the children, poor Jow was so upset, he could not even sing for the damaged children.

Their son, WangLi, was on his first trip with his Papas and a rescue mission, they could see Li trying to hold back his own tears and he comforted the hurt children.

Li had just turned sixteen and was taking some time off from his studies. He would be awarded his Bachelor's in Theoretical Physics shortly after his return. He would later earn his Doctorate in that discipline.

Li spent his time wiping the perspiration from the faces of the hurt children with a cool cloth and kind words. He spoke perfect Spanish, along with several other languages, so he could converse easily with the children.

Being small and only sixteen, Li related well with the new kids and they seemed to trust him. Unfortunately, like his Papa Trong, Li could not sing his Papa Jowto's songs. Both "Tro and Li had voices like bullfrogs.

It would not be until the next day that Jowto would be able to sing for the patients.

They now had five cigarette boats, Pat planned on using them for island and cove surveillance. For long distances, he would tow them behind the Wilson or place them in chalks on top of the forward hatch cover, over the Hospital spaces.

He had lumber just for that purpose, stored in the after hold. Since the cargo booms remained in place, it would be an easy and simple operation.

As they continued their voyage along the coast, it was apparent that the "word" had gone out that the "Crazy Norte Americanos" were back. They followed the coast south, towards Guatemala and, just south of Malacatan, they spotted several columns of smoke coming from a forested area. Their charts showed there were no habitations nearby.

Señor Ferguson was on the radio to the Guatemala Forces Militár to let them know they were working their way down the coast of that country. Guatemala had no naval forces as such, just a Guarda Frontier, so he was asked to report whatever it was that they discovered.

The cigarette boats were still tied off the fantail of the Wilson, so they put the small boat in the water and ferried the volunteer crews around to the five boats. Pat sent 'Go to be in charge and the small fleet headed to the beach. 'Go had much small boat experience as an officer, years earlier in the Indonesian Navy.

They discovered where boats had been pulled up on the sand, but there were none present when they landed. 'Go, Trong and Jowto led the boat crews inland, over an obvious pathway from the beach. 'Trong had one of the handheld radios so he could keep in touch with the Wilson.

In the meantime, Pat ordered the anchor dropped from the Wilson and the Patrick and the Joseph did likewise. The Mary Joyce patrolled just off the coast, watching for any attack on the anchored ships.

The shore party was gone from sight for about a half hour before Trong radioed in. Pat was getting a little anxious about their safety and, when Trong called in, Pat could hear gunfire in the background.

He asked Trong what was going on and Trong laughed, "We are just shooting a few feral pigs that were running around on two legs!" He added, "We need Pedro ASAP!"

Pat knew right then that there was trouble and he was not going to let his brothers get hurt! As he was rushing a crew of armed young men towards the shore in another of the cigarette boats, he spotted Nate Fong and a group dropping down from the Joseph into their Motor Whale Boat (MWB). They were headed to the beach also.

As soon as Pedro arrived, they started the outboard motors on the cigarette boats and joined the men from the Joseph as they all headed for the sand.

Pedro was carrying a large case of medical supplies and instruments over his shoulder as they ran along the trail that 'Trong and Jowto had entered in the forest. Go brought up the rear with a group of armed young men to prevent any chance of ambush.

Ten minutes later, they came out into a clearing, where both Tro and Jow were helping hurt children. It was fortunate that there were no dead children piled up, Pat was not sure he could have withstood a second dose of that awful sight. He was still having nightmares about it!

There were twenty injured boys, from about five years old to nearly teenaged. Pat had not seen Li sneak on board the cigarette boat, but he was there, speaking to the injured boys in Spanish.

Li had them all quieted down and he had already told them that Trong and Jowto were his Papas and that Doctor Pedro was his Uncle. Li worked alongside Pedro, speaking better Spanish to the children than Pedro was. Pedro was so angry, his voice was cracking!

Li brought a young man over to Trong and introduced him as Miguel and that the people who had abducted him had killed his whole family. Miguel was in tears and had Li in his arms.

Pedro saw both Trong and Jowto watching intently, he also saw that both young men were attracted to each other and that Li was successfully calming Miguel down.

Pedro went over to the boys and spoke with them, Pedro was immediately impressed with Miguel, as badly as he was hurt, both emotionally and physically, he was asking for help for the injured children.

Li winked at Pedro and whispered, "Please Tio..." Pedro knew immediately what Li wanted and he smiled at his nephew and shook his head in a "yes".

When Pedro had done all he could, they began the slow and tedious task of bringing the injured out to the beach. There was not one single person that was not injured in some way. Go led the party back to the beach, his machine gun cradled in his arms, ready to shoot anyone who would harm the rescued children or his fellow crewmembers.

Li stuck with Miguel like glue, all the way back to the Wilson. Pedro ran interference with Tong and Jowto, letting them know what he suspected. Both Trong and Jowto had already read the situation and they were both happy for their son that he had found his life partner!

For Miguel, however, it was not that easy, he had come from a culture that hated those who loved one of their own sex and he was afraid.

With Li's help, Miguel gathered all the children who were still able to walk and lined them up at the boats, and helping them into the narrow craft. He refused to leave until all the children had been sent to the Wilson, then he allowed Li to lead him to his Uncle's big ship.

Pat smiled at the young man who was clinging to Li and had the Bos'n head to boat back to their ship.

Miguel was wide eyed in amazement when he stepped on board the Wilson. There were children on deck, who were not tied up nor were they in cages. Several boys were tossing a small ball in the space between the cargo hatch cover and the deck house. Girls were enjoying the warm sunshine on the open deck and there were no adults with whips.

He looked in question at Li and WangLi took his hand as they sat on the hatch cover. Li explained that there was no slavery in this ship nor any place in America. He was a free man now and could do anything, be anything he wanted to be.

Miguel was no sure about all this, he had always been told that the Americanos were evil monsters and that their entire population were slaves, especially black and brown people.

Just then, Toby Morris, a young black man who had recently gotten out of the US Navy, strolled by eating an apple. He stopped and spoke with Pat for a few minutes and then continued on his way. He was an oiler in the Engine Room and wasn't scheduled to be on watch until the 12-4 shift.

Li chuckled and called out to Toby and asked him to come meet his new friend. Toby ambled over and welcomed Miguel aboard. He looked closely at Li and winked. Li turned bright red, but refused to drop Miguel's hand, officially claiming him.

That was nothing new to Toby, his own mate, Jess Turner, was standing nearby watching Toby's every move. The two walked off, each with his arm around the shoulder of the other, a brown boy and a white boy!

By now, Miguel was in tears himself and Li wrapped his own arms around the frightened young man and told him he was safe now and nobody would say anything against him because they were together.

When it was Miguel's turn to be treated in the hospital, Li went with him. Doc Ben had already been told about the two, so he just smiled as he treated Miguel's cuts and sewed up a particularly deep wound on his back.

All the while, Li was holding Miguel's hands and speaking with him to divert his attention from what Doc Ben was doing. When Ben had completed his work, he told the two young men to go up to the mess deck and that Li was to make sure his boyfriend drank plenty of fresh milk.

Ben's Spanish was not very good, but Miguel understood enough to make him blush a fiery red!

The two young men went through the berthing compartment so Miguel could check with all the children he had been guarding.

He wondered where his own bed was as Li led him back topside. He was truly frightened when Li led him to a stateroom right next to the Captain's and Trong's and Jowto's stateroom was directly across the passageway.

It took some fast talking by Li to get Miguel to even look in the stateroom. The stateroom had two bunks in it, but, after the first night, only one was ever used again.

Miguel, who began calling himself, "Mike", and was immediately Li's champion, not that one was ever needed. Li's easygoing nature won them both friends wherever they went. That WangLi was a genius did not register with Mike for a long time, but, by the time he discovered his boyfriend's mental powers, he was hooked, line and sinker!

The small fleet called at Las Pinitas Nature Preserve in Nicaragua to let the Guarda Mariña know that they were in the area with the knowledge of their central government.

Guard Captain was frantic, he had been advised about these Norte Americanos, but he feared he would be blamed. He knew there were criminals operating just south of Salinas Grande, but the area was so wild and full of dangerous swamps, his small force of soldiers had never been able to catch them.

Pat smiled and said to him, "Why don't you and a group of your senior soldiers come for a boat ride with us and let's see what we can find?" The Captain was eager to save face as well as get rid of the criminals, so he readily agreed.

They set sail from the Nature Preserve Headquarters the next day and made their way slowly down the coast. Pat ordered the cigarette boats put in the water and tied to the bollards on the Wilson's fantail.

When Capitán Adolfo Garcia spotted the smuggler's boats, Pat told how him how they had taken them from drug smugglers and slavers further north on the coast. The young soldier looked at Pat with renewed respect, here was a man who could think!

They were moving slowly south along the coast, they could see the thick jungle and swamps that covered the land. They had seen no human habitation in two days when the lookout shouted that there was smoke rising above the trees. That was enough for Pat to investigate and he ordered the crews into the fast boats. He then had the ships stand off the coast ten miles.

It was hazy enough that it was unlikely anyone could spot the ships, let alone identify them. He had the Patrick and the Joseph remain in standby and sent Pedro over to the Joseph and Doc Ben over to the Patrick because those two ships were much faster than the Wilson. The Mary Joyce was to continue patrolling the coastline.

It was not long before the handhelds were screaming for assistance! A horrified Min Tangimora was calling in the name of the Deity to come faster! Pat figured he had better start moving the Wilson in closer, if Min, who was about the most steady minded of men was that upset, it had to be pretty horrible.

It was!

By the time the sun had set, the hospital was full and sickbay on the Joseph had not a single empty bunk!

Miguel, Trong, Jowto and Li were shuttling between the ships encouraging the new children and young adults. Miguel, despite his own injuries, fit into the small group like a glove and he spoke a cultured Spanish, making Pat believe that he had come from a wealthy family.

He started to ask Li and Li started his tears rolling down his face as he said, "Uncle Patrick, do not ask, the story will tear you apart!" It would not be until they were back on Kauai that Pat would learn the true horror of what young Miguel Dos Santos de Garci  had been through!

There was no decent harbor or anchorage along that section of coast, where they could pull in and find refuge from the huge rollers as they came in from the west, so Pat decided to head for the shallow waters around Clipperton Island due west from Guatemala.

The island was listed as "uninhabited", although the charts indicated there were several fresh water springs on the island. It was several days sailing, with the Mary Joyce, but he was not willing to go off and leave her. She was carrying a load of injured children, the seamen had given up their own bunks so the children would have a clean, dry place to sleep. They figured they could get by sleeping on the deck in the Mess Deck, for a while.

Pat was not happy leaving, he was sure there were more "problems" on that coast, but every ship was overflowing with those whom they had rescued.

A good percentage of the rescued people were young adults, something they had not before encountered. One of them said his name was Brandon Davis, an American, but he refused to identify his parents. Pat figured that was his right, the boy was eighteen.

Pat found Brandon crying in a secluded place on the afterdeck. He sat down beside the young man and said nothing as he just put his arm on the young man's shoulders in companionship.

Finally, in a quiet voice, the young man began to talk, "He sold me, my own father sold me to those people! My Mama died a year ago and my Father wanted to marry a younger woman who did not like me. She told him I was gay and gays are evil people and should be killed."

Pat remained silent while Brandon cried. He then continued his story, "I don't know whether I am Gay or Bi or just confused, I have never had a boyfriend or a girlfriend either, for that matter."

Pat remained silent and Brandon looked up at Pat and asked, "Are you gonna judge me too?"

Pat smiled and replied, "Nope, I am just going to be your friend." Brandon's wails became even louder and attracted the attention of WangLi and Miguel. They came over and sat on the other side of Brandon and, like Pat, they were silent.

Brandon was wailing like a foghorn now, but the deck crew had been waved away by Captain Pat. When Brandon had cried himself out, Li whispered to him, "It don't matter to us who you love, just that your love is true and honest. Cap'n Pat has a wife and a new baby soon, I have my Miguel and my Papas have each other an' me."

He was silent for a time and then continued, "Ya' don't need your parents, you will be welcome with us at our home on Kauai. This is what we do an' we have been doing it for more than twenty years!"

Li was translating for Miguel to make sure he understood what was being said, both Miguel and Brandon were in near overload when Pat hugged them both and told them it was lunch time.

That made a break in the emotions and they all went up to the Mess Deck for a lunch that had been inspired my Mrs. Tangimora, Min's adopted Mother.

Both Brandon and Miguel promised themselves that they would stay with the Wilson and go back to Li's home. They did not know that Li was part of Captain Pat's Family nor did they realize that he was a "prodigy". By the time they found out, it just didn't matter anymore.

The Mary Joyce came sailing in with a load of rescued teens, both boys and girls. Min was in a terrible temper as he described how he had found the teens. He was sputtering so badly, he could hardly talk and frequently reverted to his Japanese language of his early childhood.

He had discovered the teens with his radar. They had commandeered a cigarette boat and escaped from a small bay on the coast, after having smashed holes in the three other boats to prevent them from being chased. They had no way of telling where they had escaped from and they had finally run out of fuel for the outboard motors when the Mary Joyce came up on them.

At first, they feared they had been recaptured, but they finally understood that they were free! The teens were all Americans and they had been vacationing with their families in Acapulco.

From what Min could understand, they had all been sold by their parents to the slavers! Pat's face was as red with anger as was Min's in the telling of the tale!

Pat asked Ben Ickes to take all particulars from the teens and radio it back to ONI in Washington. It was like a Christmas present for the teen's parents, a Warrant for their Arrest!

With the addition of the teens, all four ships were full up, there was not a single open bunk anywhere in the small fleet, it was time to head for home. The ships were tired as were the crews and their anger was held in check only by the innocent faces that looked to them for care and love.

Being a "convoy", they were limited to the speed of their slowest ship, the Mary Joyce. There was no real hurry, they had plenty of food on board and all the water distillers were working perfectly. The weather was warm and calm, the ocean was like a sheet of blue-green glass.

Pat set up a time of day where the passengers could speak to their counterparts on the other ships on the radio and Pat had used the SSB to contact their lawyers, Maxwell, Demming and Moore, in Honolulu, giving Billy Maxwell, Jr. all the information they had on the abused teens from Acapulco. He told them he wanted adoption papers for Miguel Dos Santos de Garci  to be adopted by Trong Robbins and Jowto O'Toole.

They swung by the Coastal Guard Station and let the soldiers off, loaded down with gifts from the crew of the Wilson. As far as the soldiers were concerned, they would have been happy to remain with the Norte Americanos and, in fact, that was exactly what one very young Private did.

He was not discovered until they were three days out from Lihue! Since he was only sixteen, Pat decided he could stay and he could adopt the boy himself!

He did!

Pat's wife, Alice, fell in love with the young man and he with her, calling her 'Little Mama" for the rest of his life.

Juan was a tall lanky young man, well over six feet, even at that young age. He would develop into a fine man and a soldier for Captain Pat! Young Juan Patrick O'Toole would be a lifetime protector of his little sister, Mary Alice O'Toole from the moment she was born!

The Wilson led the parade into Nawiliwili Harbor, Pat was leaning on the air horn, making the old dormant volcano, Waialeale, vibrate!

Most of the citizens of Lihue were lining the beach of the small bay, welcoming their heroes back home. Those who had their own automobiles sounded their car horns in welcome.

There had been rumors that their sailors were bringing back a huge load of rescued children and young adults but they had no idea of the magnitude of that load until they were being led or carried off the ships.

The Wilson was anchored out in the harbor and the small boats were running far into the night, bringing damaged children ashore. Local fathers were horrified at what they saw, many ran down to the landing to assist the wounded children in getting out of the boats and the men carried them to the O'Toole House Infirmary.

Miguel and Li were among the last and they were in the boat with Pat. Miguel was convinced the Policiá were waiting for him at the dock. Pat hung back and let Li lead his Miguel ashore.

He smiled as he watched the bewildered young man hang on WangLi's arm and spin his head around, looking for the Policiá that were not there! It would be several nights before the young man really felt safe and secure.

The two were seen walking around Lihue, which was a very small town, hand in hand. Li had wrangled a cottage on the grounds and it would be their home until they ran out of bedrooms for their own sons and one daughter!

It looks like it is going to be a tremendous task to rid the west coast of Central America of slavers and worse, they had heard an awful story of cannibalism from those they had rescued! Pat had promised himself that he was going back, loaded for bear!