THE CAMP UNDER CAPE CHARLES LIGHT.
"Say, he don't look bothered a teenty bit!" exclaimed Josh, surprised
because Jack seemed so free from care.
"And look at him, would you!" burst out Herb; "why, blessed if he ain't
grinning right now, to beat the band!"
"Here, own up, Jack, old boy, what's got you? Didn't you care much
whether you ever got that mysterious packet into the hands of this
Spence fellow?" demanded George.
"To be sure, I did; and do yet," replied Jack; "but that's no reason
why I ought to go around pulling a long face and whimpering, especially
since no milk has been spilled after all."
"But, sure, it was the ould coat as I saw go over!" ejaculated Jimmy,
stubbornly.
"I guess it must have been, because I just can't find the same
anywhere," admitted the other, nodding.
"And ye put that packet in the inside pocket, beca'se I saw ye," Jimmy
went on.
"Yes, I did," Jack chuckled; "but then none of you saw me take it out
again later and stow it in another place. You see, I seemed to have an
idea my coat might get lost, because half the time I have it off."
"Then the packet is,--where?" asked George, brightening up.
"Down in the bottom of my fishing tackle box at this very minute, and
not in the stomach of a Watchapreague shark!" declared Jack,
confidently.
"Hurrah! Count another for our wise ould chum, Jack. He's got the
long head, so he has. Let's have a squint at the documint again, now.
'Twould be good for sore eyes to glimpse the same!" Jimmy declared,
enthusiastically.
So Jack had to get out his fishing tackle box, and, dipping down into
its depths, produce the valuable packet.
After that, preparations for supper were allowed to go on apace. As
for the missing coat, Jack declared that it did not amount to much,
anyhow, as he had another handy. And besides, with a sweater to fall
back upon in case of cold occasions, he had no regrets.
"I wonder will we really find this party, when we get around Beaufort?"
Herb remarked, as they sat there, watching Josh wrestle with the broken
crackers which, with the large pan of oysters, were to form the mess
which, cooked as best they could over the red coals of the fire, would
form the main part of the meal.
"We will, if anybody can," replied Jack, with determination in his
manner.
"You just bet we will," affirmed Nick, showing unexpected interest in
the idea.
The fact was, despite the many raw oysters he had swallowed, Nick was
almost famished, and was trying the best he knew how to keep his
attention from the slow preparations being made for supper.
But all in good time the meal was pronounced ready. Josh, in lieu of
an oven in which to bake his scalloped oysters, had kept the pan on the
fire, with a cover over the top; and really it had been pretty well
browned.
They pronounced it simply delicious. Nick softened toward his ancient
tormentor, Josh, and, patting him on the back, declared that when it
came to cooking he had them all "beaten to a frazzle."
"What's that light away off there to the south, Jack?" asked Herb,
after they had eaten to a standstill.
"I rather fancy that must be the Hog Island Light," replied the other.
"Before we make that, we have to cross another inlet, this time over a
mile wide; but they say Little Machipongo isn't in the same class as
that last one, for danger and ugly currents."
"Gee! I hope not," grumbled Nick, who was scraping the pan in which
the oysters had been cooked so beautifully.
"Then comes Great Machipongo Inlet, and a few more for tomorrow, after
which we are due to reach Cape Charles," Jack went on, always ready to
impart information when he saw that his chums wanted to know anything.
"This whole coast seems to be a series of bays and sounds, connected by
little creeks and channels that, at flood time, can be safely navigated
by a boat that don't happen to draw many feet of water," Herb remarked.
"Yes, and that is the case pretty near all the way from New York to the
lower end of Florida," Jack observed. "Some day it's going to be
possible to make the entire trip as easy as falling off a log. The
Government is doing a heap of dredging in lots of places."
"Yes," remarked George, sarcastically; "if they'd only put some of the
millions in here that they squander on good-for-nothing creeks in the
backwoods, it'd be done in no time."
"Huh!" grunted Nick, "I'd just like to have the fat contract for
dredging out some of these muddy creeks. Say, mebbe a fellow wouldn't
get rich on the job, eh? I think I'll have to mention it to my dad,
for he's keen on contracts, you know."
They passed a pleasant evening. Jimmy was easily induced to get out
his banjo and give them many brisk tunes that seemed to just go with
the plunkety-plunk of the joyous instrument.
"Seems like a banjo just chimes in with Southern scenes," remarked Herb.
"Oh! shucks! this ain't the Sunny South yet awhile, Herb," laughed
Josh. "Wait till we get down in South Carolina, anyhow, where we'll
run across some palmetto trees. That gives the real tropical flavor."
"If there were only some monkeys frisking about in the feathery tops,
it'd add a heap to it, in my opinion," remarked Nick.
"Or a few coy mermaids," laughed Jack; "but then our friend here
wouldn't find it quite so easy to climb to the top of a palmetto as to
tumble overboard."
"Let up on that, won't you, Jack? It's mean, rubbing it in so hard,"
complained the object of the roar that followed.
In this way, then, the evening passed. As the mosquitoes began to get
in their work later, the boys changed their minds, and concluded to
sleep aboard, instead of on shore, as they had at first intended.
With the morning, things began to happen again. Breakfast was eaten
first, and then Jack, who had been assisting George examine his motor,
discovered the cause of the unfortunate stop, so that the freakish
engine was now apparently all right again.
They crossed both the Machipongo Inlets without any accident, though it
was evident that the skipper of the _Wireless_ was more or less
nervous, and kept hovering close to the other boats, with an eye on the
ropes which they kept coiled in the stern.
And Nick also crouched down in the body of the boat, gripping some
substantial part of the framework, with the grim air of one who had
determined not to be pitched out into the water again, come what would.
Both heaved plain sighs of relief when the crossings were made without
the least trouble. Cobb's Island now lay close by, and beyond were
several more openings, where the sea connected with the shore waters.
But these were small compared with those already navigated, and with a
fair amount of caution they had no need to borrow trouble longer.
"There's what we're aiming to reach by evening, fellows!" remarked
Jack, about the middle of the afternoon.
Following the direction in which his extended hand pointed, the others
could see a lighthouse not a great way ahead, though it might take some
time to reach it by way of winding connecting creeks.
"The great Cape Charles Light, ain't it, Jack?" demanded Herb.
"Just what it is," replied the commodore.
"Then, tomorrow we'll have to cross the mouth of the Chesapeake and
arrive at Norfolk or Portsmouth; is that the programme?" asked George.
"If everything looks good to us, yes," replied Jack, seriously. "We
want to take as few chances, you know, as we must. And that twenty
miles is a big trip for our little craft. All depends on the wind and
the sky. But there are always lots of boats around here; and if we got
in a peck of trouble they'd help us out."
"That's a comfort," remarked Nick. "It was bad enough dropping
overboard in that inlet, and I don't hanker to try it in the ocean
itself. Excuse me, boys; I pass. I've shown you how to do the trick;
some one else take the next try."
"We'll hope there isn't going to be any next, like the little boy's
apple core," Jack laughed.
Then they had to drop into single file as the channel narrowed again,
with the pilot boat _Tramp_ leading the way as usual.
"This is Smith Island, and the one on which the lighthouse is built.
We ought to bring up there in short order now, when the mouth of the
bay will be spread in front of us like a picture," Jack called, over
his shoulder.
"All very nice," grumbled Nick; "but as for me, I'd much rather it was
spread out _behind_ us," and George doubtless echoed the thought,
though too proud to show any nervousness over the prospective trip on
the open sea.
At least Jack's prediction came true, for they did succeed in making
the point of the island where the Cape Charles Light stood, a beacon to
all vessels trying to enter the great Chesapeake Bay.
Far across the heaving waters lay Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Fortress
Monroe, the Government station. Near here one of the most important
naval engagements of the Civil War was fought, when Ericsson's "cheese
on a raft," the _Monitor_, faced the terrible Confederate ironclad ram,
_Merrimac_, and forced her to retire, after it seemed as though the
entire wooden United States navy was to be at the mercy of the enemy.
No doubt many of these events thronged the minds of the four high
school lads as they stood there on the sandy beach looking across that
stretch of sea toward the object of their expectation. And George,
with Nick a good second, must have devoutly wished the labor of the
next twenty-four hours were completed, with the little fleet at safe
anchorage off the town of Norfolk, which they had determined to visit,
so as to get their mail, and secure a few fresh supplies, since the
hungry Nick was making a terrible hole in what they carried.
And on this October night they camped ashore under the gleaming Cape
Charles Light.