THE WIRELESS AS TRICKY AS EVER.
"We're in for a bad night, Jack!" called George, some time later on;
while poor Nick hung over the side of the wobbling speed boat, and
looked forlorn indeed.
"You are, in that contraption, George; but the rest of us don't give a
hang whether the old storm holds on or not. We expect to get busy
cooking supper right soon now, as these bully little Juwel stoves will
burn, no matter how the boats jump up and down."
"Oh! I wish Herb would only open his heart, and invite me to spend the
night on board the good reliable old _Comfort_!" groaned Nick.
"Sure! Come right along; plenty of room for three here. George can
tuck in, too, if he says the word," called Herb, cheerily.
"What! desert my boat in time of need? What do you take me for?" cried
George, with a great show of righteous indignation; but as for Nick, he
became so excited, Jack feared he would jump in, and try to swim across.
By letting out more cable George was enabled to swing his boat close
enough to the big craft to allow of Josh seizing hold; and while he
thus held on clumsy Nick managed to crawl aboard, though he came within
an ace of taking a bath, and would have done so, only that Herb gave
him a helping hand.
Then George pulled back again to his former position. If he felt that
he was making something of a martyr of himself, in thus determining to
stick by the madly plunging _Wireless_ all night, George was too proud
to indicate as much. He might suffer all sorts of discomforts, and
never breathe a word of complaint.
But the storm proved short-lived after all.
Before they began to think of making up their beds the wind had
slackened in violence, and the clouds showed signs of breaking.
Indeed, as Jack pulled the blanket over him, he could see that the moon
was peeping out from behind the black curtains overhead.
"It'll be a fairly decent night after all, Jimmy," he muttered; but as
there was no answer, he took it for granted that his mate had passed
into slumberland by the short route; indeed, Jimmy had a faculty for
getting to sleep almost as soon as his head touched his pillow, which
in this case was an inflated rubber one.
And as the night wore on, the tossing of the boats became less and
less, until along about three in the morning Jack, chancing to awaken,
found that the little _Tramp_ lay perfectly quiet on the bosom of the
big sound.
He could see out, and looking toward the southeast beheld the glow of
that great beacon marking the position of the most stormy cape along
the whole Atlantic coast--Hatteras.
In the morning they were not long in getting under way, as soon as
breakfast had been hurried through with, and Nick had to get aboard his
own boat again, for his services were needed by his skipper.
Across the sound they sped at a clipping rate, heading direct for the
sandy spit where the lighthouse stands. The roar of the ocean beating
against that barrier that has kept it out for ages came strongly to
their ears, as the breeze changed with the turn of the tide.
Landing among the sand dunes near the light, they paid a visit to the
keeper, and met with a cordial reception. As a rule strangers are not
allowed to trespass upon Government property; but such a fine lot of
lads seemed to appeal to the heart of the keeper, who took them up to
the top of the tower, in order to let them have a view of what lay
before them to the south.
They listened to his stories of famous wrecks that had strewn the
neighboring beaches with dismembered portions of gallant ships and
steamers for fifty years; and looking out on the ocean to where the
treacherous reefs lay, waiting for fresh victims, Jack could easily
picture the tragic scenes that were being described, even though at
that time the sun chanced to be shining brightly, and the sea fairly
smooth.
Then again a start was made, for some difficult cruising lay ahead
before they could hope to reach Beaufort, where a little rest would be
taken, in order to carry out the promise they had made the young
aviator, Malcolm Spence.
They had heard ugly stories about Hatteras Inlet. It was said to have
treacherous currents, and to abound in fierce man-eating sharks. Hence
George became more or less concerned as they bore down upon it on this
same morning.
But like a good many other things in this world, the expectation of
trouble proved to be of far greater proportions than the actual
experience. Why, they passed over without the slightest difficulty.
Even Nick shouted in great glee when the dreaded inlet was a thing of
the past, and he waved his fat hand disdainfully back toward it as they
sped away.
"It was dead easy, fellows!" he exclaimed. "Why, I just shut my eyes,
and counted twenty. Then, when I opened them again, we were across!"
and Nick hardly knew why his innocent confession of alarm was greeted
by such uproarious shouts.
"But the sharks were there, all roight, beca'se I saw the muttherin'
critters pokin' their ould fins out of the wather!" declared Jimmy.
"That's right, I saw the same," admitted Herb.
The next crossing would be at Ocracoke Inlet. And then beyond that
they would come to Portsmouth, where mail from home might be expected,
since they had laid out a regular plan whereby those so dear to their
boyish hearts--the home folks--could communicate with the wanderers.
And at each place Jack, or one of the others, left word to have all
delayed mail forwarded on.
"Sure we do be getting closer all the while to that same ould Beaufort,
where ye expect to discover the gintleman by the name of Van Arsdale
Spence," Jimmy was remarking, as the flotilla moved majestically on in
one-two-three order, the _Wireless_ leading for the time being.
"We ought to get there some time tomorrow," Jack answered. "Tonight
the plan is to camp on Cedar Island, and that is in Cove Sound, where
Beaufort is located."
"And then we'll know what the wonderful letter contains. It's bothered
me more'n a little to guess, even though I knowed right well I had no
business to think of it at all. But there's George pointing to
somethin' ahead."
"Yes, he sees the rough water of Ocracoke Inlet, and is falling back,"
laughed Jack, who was amused when the usually reckless skipper of the
speed boat developed a cautious vein.
George was learning something by slow degrees, and this might be set
down to be the truth of that old proverb to the effect that the race is
not always to the swift. Perhaps, if he ever had another boat built to
order, he would not sacrifice safety and comfort to the mad desire to
make fast time.
But Ocracoke proved no harder to negotiate than had Hatteras. Perhaps
it might be that experience was teaching the young motor boat cruisers
just how to manage their craft when passing these dangerous openings,
where the sweep of the sea had a full chance to strike them.
Then came Portsmouth, where Jimmy was dispatched for the mail, as well
as some necessary food supplies. They all had such good appetites,
save perhaps Josh, for whose lack Nick more than made up, that it was
simply amazing how things just seemed to melt away. But then six boys
can always be depended upon to devour their own weight in "grub" during
a short cruise upon the water. The salty air seemed to make them
hungry all the time, so that it became necessary to piece between
regular meals.
Jack timed their departure from Portsmouth so as to break into Cove
Sound, and reach Cedar Island, before night came on. Somehow he had
set his mind in making a camp here. Possibly he had read of some
former lone boatman doing the same, for he had devoured several books
containing descriptions of this inland passage.
As nothing happened to disturb his plans, they drew up for the night at
Cedar Island, an hour and more before the sun would set.
This gave them plenty of chances to do a number of things that happened
to appeal to them individually. George went ashore to stretch his
cramped legs, whither Nick had of course preceded him, leaving the
_Wireless_ at anchor just beyond the other two boats.
And George took his gun with him, thinking there might be a chance to
pick up some shore birds, in the way of snipe or curlew.
Jack was bent on trying to get a mess of fish for supper, and noting
what seemed to be a promising place close by, he set to work. They saw
him pull in several finny captives; and Nick would rub his stomach in
mute delight every time the patient angler made a strike, as he viewed
the possibilities of a prospective feast.
Josh was busy making a fireplace out of some stones he picked up. It
always did him great good to have things fixed to suit his ideas of
what a cooking fire ought to be when in camp. It was fast becoming a
hobby with Josh; and yet, strange to say, with all his ability in the
line of cookery, he was often unable to partake of his own savory
messes on account of his disposition toward indigestion.
Herb seemed to be whittling something out of a piece of nice wood he
had found; while Jimmy, always good-natured, and willing to be the
"handy boy" of the bunch, gathered wood for the cook.
They heard George shoot a number of times, and new hope began to take
hold of Nick, who, moving closer to Josh, commenced quizzing him on how
shore birds ought to be cooked, in order to bring out their particular
flavor. Nick was never happier than when engaged in his favorite
conversation concerning appetizing things to eat. Indeed, there was
only one thing he liked better; and this was to indulge in the actual
demonstration itself, and devour the finished product of the cook's
skill.
Suddenly Jimmy gave a yell. The others started up, thinking that
perhaps Jack had made an unusually fine haul, or been pulled in himself
by a large fish. George was just breaking through the scrub near by,
and he echoed the shout of Jimmy.
"Look at the _Wireless_, would you, fellows? Say! she's bewitched,
that's what!" was what he whooped, as he started to run toward them.
And as they turned their eyes in the direction of the erratic speed
boat, what was their amazement to see the little craft moving away at a
fast pace, although the engine was quite dead and cold, and not the
first sign of a human being could be detected aboard.
It was a mystery that sent a cold chill through every heart!