A WELCOME REFUGE
The change of course had not been effected without shipping a
considerable amount of water as the boat hung for a moment in the wind.
Bill and Teddy bailed desperately, and an instant later the _Ariel_
was heading in a new direction. The wind now, instead of striking her
sail at an angle, was following directly over the stern, and the little
craft fairly flew. The power of the wind made her careen at a dangerous
angle, and Bill and Teddy had to climb up on the further side to keep
her from capsizing.
It was perilous sailing, but the bite of the salt spray on their cheeks
and the swift pace at which they were moving filled the boys with wild
exhilaration. They might have been four young Vikings out on a voyage of
discovery, as they faced and dared the storm.
"See how she foots it through the water!" exclaimed Lester. "Isn't she a
beauty?"
"You bet she is!" responded Teddy with enthusiasm. "I don't wonder that
sailors get so fond of their boats that they'd rather go down with them
than live without them."
"I can't say that I've got so far as that," laughed Lester. "But I'm
sure I'd feel as bad about losing the _Ariel_ as you boys would if
you lost Star and Colonel."
"You'd feel mighty bad then," responded Teddy, as he thought of the
horses that he and Fred had brought with them from the West.
At this moment, his attention was attracted by a movement on the part of
the boy they had rescued. They had sheltered him as much they could, but
they could not prevent an occasional dash of spray from striking his
face and this had hastened his awakening. This time, his eyes were
lighted with intelligence, and it was clear that he had largely
recovered from the effect of his immersion.
Teddy bent over toward him.
"How are you feeling?" he asked with a friendly smile.
"Better," was the response in a faint voice. "I can't remember yet,
though, just what happened to me."
"A big wave threw you overboard," broke in Bill. "We happened to be
cruising near by, and we picked you up."
"I guess I must have hit my head against something when I went over,"
said the stranger. "I don't remember a thing that happened while I was
in the water. Did I swim?"
"You seemed to be swimming a little," said Teddy, "but I guess it was
more instinct than anything else. You went down before we got to you.
But you'd better not talk any more just now. We'll be on shore before
long I hope, and then we'll tell you all about it."
"There's the shore now," called out Bill in accents of relief, as he
pointed to a long dark line ahead of them.
On the right it seemed to be sandy and level, but a little to the left
there was a rocky elevation, against which the waves broke with a
thunderous roar, sending back sheets of crested foam.
The boat kept on with unslackened speed and the boys grew somewhat
uneasy as the tumbling breakers grew plainer to the sight. But that
uneasiness became consternation, when Lester with a quick twist of the
tiller headed the _Ariel_ straight toward two immense rocks that
seemed to stand out as sentinels on the coast.
"Lester!" shouted Bill in warning and then stopped. A look at the
strained intent face of the helmsman told Bill that he knew exactly what
he was doing.
They came nearer and nearer, and the faces of the boys blanched at the
fearful turmoil of the breakers. Then Lester threw the tiller to port.
"Sit tight!" he yelled, and the next moment the _Ariel_ dashed
straight for a point midway between the two giant rocks.
There was an awful moment as she staggered through that seething turmoil
of raging waters. But this was followed by an immense relief when they
found themselves rocking on the waters of a sheltered cove, which, while
rough, were like a mill pond compared to the sea outside.
Before them stretched a sandy beach, which bore no trace of human
habitation except a tumbled down hut which stood fifty feet inland. A
few scrub pines were scattered here and there, and some dejected looking
bushes grew in a little patch of green that the sand had not yet
swallowed up. It was not an attractive landscape, but to the boys, after
escaping the perils of the sea, it seemed a bit of Paradise.
"Lower the sail, Fred," directed Lester. "We'll get out the sweeps and
feel our way to a landing place."
The sail came down with a run, and Fred rose and stretched himself after
having been so long in a cramped position.
"Lester, you're some sailor," he said in hearty admiration. "You handled
the _Ariel_ to the queen's taste. I take off my hat to you."
"Same here," echoed Teddy. "It certainly looked as if it were all up
with us when you came shooting toward these rocks."
"It was a dandy bit of work," said Bill warmly. "It's a lucky thing for
this crowd that you were at the helm. If you hadn't been, we might be
food for the fishes by this time."
"Oh, I don't know," returned Lester, flushing a little at the chorus of
appreciation. "I just happened to know of this place, and I knew we had
to get to shore before dark. So I took a chance on making it. But it's
nearly dark now, and we've got a lot to do, before we're snug and tidy
for the night.
"The first thing to do is to find a shallow place where you fellows can
wade ashore. Then I'll take the _Ariel_ out a way and anchor her.
As soon as that's done, I'll swim ashore and join you."
They poled the boat in carefully with a pair of long sweeps until their
soundings showed them that they were in less than three feet of water.
Here Bill and the two Rushton boys jumped overboard, and while they held
out their arms to him, Lester carefully let down the stranger. He could
walk by this time, although he was still weak and shaky, and the boys
helped him to the shore.
"Now you sit here for a while," said Fred, when they had reached a point
twenty feet or so up the beach, "while the rest of us hustle around and
get something to eat. Do you feel hungry?"
"I'm beginning to," smiled the other. "I guess I can punish my part of
the supper pretty well."
"Good!" said Fred heartily. "That reminds me. Say, Lester!" he called,
as he waded back, "hand us over that string of bluefish. It's lucky we
caught them before the storm came up. Is there anything left from the
lunch?"
"Not a thing," answered Lester. "You wolves went through that lunch like
a prairie fire. But I've got some slices of bacon in the locker, and
here's some salt and pepper. I guess we won't go hungry."
"Not from the looks of that string we won't," laughed Fred, as he
received from Lester enough bluefish to feed a dozen men. "Now hand over
the other things, and by the time you anchor and come ashore, we'll be
ready to fill you up."
"That's a big contract," grinned Lester, "but I'm going to hold you to
it."
He poled the _Ariel_ out a little way and dropped the anchor. Then
he made everything shipshape about the little craft, slipped into the
water, and swam ashore.
He found that his comrades had not been idle. Teddy had ransacked the
hut and found an old frying pan and a bent up broiler, probably left
there by the hunters that made this their rendezvous in the sniping
season. Bill collected all the shrubs and twigs that he could find, and
taking a match from an oilskin pouch started a fire. Fred was busy with
his clasp knife, cleaning the fish, and when Lester reached them, he had
half a dozen speckled beauties ready for the frying pan.
"Let's use the busted broiler instead," suggested Lester. "Bluefish are
twice as good broiled as they are fried. We'll use the frying pan for
the bacon."
"The fish would be better yet, if we had some oak twigs to broil them
on, instead of the broiler," said Bill, whose experience in camping out
made him an expert adviser, "but there doesn't seem to be any wood
around here except pine. And the flavor of that spoils the fish."
So they compromised on the dilapidated broiler, holding the fish over a
fire of embers that they raked out from the main blaze. Bill busied
himself with the bacon, and the appetizing odors that blended together
made the hungry boys wild with anticipation.
At last the meal was ready, and they found it a feast fit for a king.
They had no forks, but they used their knives as substitutes.
"Eating with your knife, Fred!" said Teddy, in mock horror. "What would
mother say if she saw you?"
"I certainly am some sword swallower," grinned Fred. "But we're all in
the same boat, and everything goes. I don't suppose Robinson Crusoe and
Friday were very particular about their table manners. And this is
certainly a Robinson Crusoe stunt we're doing."
"Except that this isn't an island," laughed Lester.
"And there are no cannibals ready to make us into soup," added Bill.
"And our boat hasn't been wrecked," exulted Teddy, looking out over the
water, where the _Ariel_ lay with the firelight reflected from her
side.