FOG BOUND WHILE AT SEA.
"How much further do we have to go, Jack?"
It was Herb calling out after this style. The three boats were close
together, and steadily making progress over the heaving surface of the
ocean. Off to the right lay the shore, plainly seen, though they did
not dare approach too close, lest they get into that sickening ground
swell, that rolled the narrow _Wireless_ in a way to make those aboard
dizzy.
"As near as I can judge we ought to see the mouth of Winyah Bay inside
of the next half hour. It's different from an inlet, you understand,
and wide enough to fool us, unless we take great care," replied the
commodore, who had his marine glasses leveled at the shore about half
the time, trying to pick up landmarks calculated to tell him where they
were.
"Wow! that _would_ be a tough proposition, now!" shouted Josh. "What
if we did go past, why we'd just have to keep right along this way till
we made Charleston."
"Don't you think of trying it," called Nick, from the _Wireless_, which
was being held in leash by the now cautious skipper. "Why, this
racking fever of anxiety would just kill us if it had to keep up much
longer, and that's right, fellows, even if George here won't
acknowledge the corn."
"Oh! shucks! it isn't half as bad as you make out, Nick. The trouble
is, you're so plagued logy you can't keep the balance of the boat.
These thoroughbreds are delicately constructed, you see, and have to be
treated different from other boats."
"I should just guess, yes," complained poor Nick, in a dolorous tone.
"A feller has to be thinking of the blessed old boat all the while, and
forget his own aches and pains. Why, every muscle in my whole body is
sore from the strain."
"I say, Jack, would ye moind turnin' the glass back yander and tellin'
us what sort of thing that cloud is that hugs the wather so close?
I've been watching the same some time now, and I do think it's comin'
this way," Jimmy remarked, loud enough for the others to hear, so that
immediately every eye was quickly turned in the quarter toward which
the Irish lad had pointed.
Jack immediately felt a sudden thrill of alarm pass over him, even
before he had focussed the glasses upon Jimmy's so-called "cloud." He
suspected what it might prove to be, and the very thought of being
caught out on the ocean by a fog gave him a decidedly unpleasant
sensation.
"Say, that ain't a cloud, I bet you," declared Nick.
"Looks more like fog to me," Josh called out, "and as sure as you live,
boys, it's creeping down this way and widening out like fun. Hey!
Jack, ain't that fog?"
"It sure is," replied the one who held the glasses, as he lowered them
and cast an anxious look in the direction of the shore, as though he
would take a last survey before the land became blotted out.
This was one of the things Jack had feared. A sudden storm of course
would have brought alarm in its train; but this silent yet gripping fog
might be just as potent a force toward their undoing. Once it
enveloped them, they were apt to grope along for hours, possibly
working more and more out to see. And when a wind dissipated the fog,
perhaps they could not see land!
Jack immediately determined to risk minor dangers by turning in more
toward the shore. If he could only listen for the beating of the
rollers on the beach, it would be possible to tell when they came to
the open bay by the sudden cessation of this sound.
"What are you changing the course for?" demanded George, suspiciously,
a minute later, though he followed suit readily enough, determined not
to get far away from the other more stable boats.
"We'd better get in nearer shore, so we can hear the sound of the
surf," Jack replied.
"Oh! I see, you hope to keep tabs on our course by ear, when the eye
fails us; is that it, Jack?" asked Herb.
"That's one reason," Jack called back. "Perhaps we may be able to tell
when we're opposite the mouth of the bay, if we listen carefully. But
in another five minutes that fog will be down on us, boys, by the way
it creeps on, faster than we are going."
"How about signals?" asked George.
"Every boat has a horn of some sort, and you remember what the
different blasts mean. The _Tramp_ is a single toot, the _Comfort_ two
in quick succession, while your _Wireless_ is denoted by three sharp
ones, George. Four will mean that we must turn a little more to
starboard, and five, draw closer together for a confab. Got all that,
now?"
"All right here, Jack," assented Herb.
"And ditto with us," declared George.
"Well, be watchful and ready for anything, for here comes the wet
blanket to cover us," observed Jack.
It was a nasty fog, as thick as pea soup, as George called out a little
later. First the outlines of the shore were blotted out as though by
an impenetrable curtain. Then even the boats, close as they were,
began to go, until it was no longer possible to distinguish them from
the sea of gray vapor around.
Naturally the boys felt exceedingly nervous every minute of the time.
Jack had reduced speed, for he did not wish to run past the mouth of
Winyah Bay, if such a thing could be prevented by due caution.
An hour crept along. It seemed like three times that length of time to
every one of the listening lads. All this while they had managed to
catch that low throbbing sound from the shore. Sometimes it would be
very faint, and require careful work in order to locate it; then again
the beat of the waves on the sandy strand came quite distinctly.
Somehow, as long as they could catch this reassuring sound, they seemed
to feel renewed confidence. And yet the strain was terrible. The day
was passing, and if night came on, to find them still groping their way
in this incertain manner down the South Carolina coast, the prospect
would seem gloomy indeed.
No one seemed to care to eat much. Even Nick, for the time being, had
gone back on that wonderful appetite of his, and actually turned up his
nose when George got out the bag that contained hard tack and cheese,
asking the fat boy if he cared to have a "snack" to fortify him against
what might yet be in store for them.
"Excuse me," said Nick, loftily. "There are times to eat, but
according to my way of thinking this ain't one of 'em. When a feller
has to do a lot of high thinking he'd be wise to keep his mind clear
and let grub alone."
Truth to tell, Nick was feeling rather squeamish. The swell rolled the
narrow boat more than had been the case when they kept further out; and
besides, such were his fears that they affected his nerves, and also
his stomach.
"All right," said George, who did not happen to be in the same
condition, "I'm not a big feeder, but it's always wise to keep up your
strength. And talking about letting grub alone, when you once get
ashore again the way you'll pitch in must make our supplies look sad.
I know you, Nick; you can't fool me."
Nick disdained to make any reply. He even turned his back on the
skipper when George started to munch biscuit and cheese.
"What time is it?" asked George, after a while, upon seeing the fat boy
look at his little nickel watch, for the tenth time at least.
"Just three o'clock!" groaned Nick, sadly replacing his timepiece and
looking longingly toward the west, where he knew solid ground lay, if
only they could ever set feet upon it once more.
"And we started out on the sea by eight," remarked George. "Say,
that's something worth while; and when we get to talking it over we'll
have reason to be proud of the way these bully little boats have served
us. Eight hours on the ocean; just think of that, will you?"
The others were close enough to hear what was said, for it was quite
still, as the motors were running at a reduced speed.
"Perhaps it may be eighty before we're done!" called Josh, on the right.
"I do believe we're going to bring up on the coast of Ould Ireland
before we're through with this job!" Jimmy was saying, from some unseen
place on the port side of the _Wireless_, which happened to be
occupying the middle berth at the time.
At that the rest broke out into a laugh, though truth to tell there was
not any too much mirth about the same.
"Say, I haven't heard anything for nearly five minutes now, Jack!"
called Herb, who, it seemed, was paying strict attention to business,
and not bothering about whether he got anything to eat or not, or what
would happen in case they headed out into the vast expanse of salt
water that stretched across to Africa.
"Same here, Herb," echoed Jack.
"Do you think we've been heading out too far, and is that the reason,
Jack?"
"I've got my compass right before me and, if anything, we've been
edging in just a little bit more than at any other time," came Jack's
answer.
"Then what?" asked the _Comfort's_ skipper, eagerly.
"Perhaps the bay has opened up, and the shore line is miles away from
us!" was the cheering way Jack put it.
"Good for you, commodore!" called Josh.
"Oh! I hope that's so!" wailed Nick.
"But how are we going to find out?" queried Herb.
"By changing our course directly into the west, and taking the bull by
the horns," Jack replied, boldly. "We can creep along, you know, and
if we've made a mistake, why, it's easy to turn around and bear away
again. But somehow, I've got a pretty strong notion things are going
to work out all right for us, fellows."
"Hurrah! that's the kind of talk!" cried Nick, beginning to perk up a
little, and wonder if after all George might not be right when he said
that they owed it to themselves as a duty to eat, whether hungry or
not, in order to conserve their strength for any emergency.
"Are you turning now, Jack?" asked George.
"Yes; keep close by and try to pattern after what I do. Here goes,
then, fellows."
"Hit her up; who cares for expenses?" cried Josh, who had been taking
it comfortably right along, and seemed almost free from care.
By exercising more or less caution, they managed to change their course
without losing each other in the fog. This was accomplished by calling
out from time to time, or even sounding the signals on the horns.
In this fashion then they began to creep along. Only for that compass
which Jack had before him, they might as well have been heading out to
sea, for all any one could say.
"Me to get a compass as soon as we strike Charleston!" declared Herb.
"Yes, and George must do the same," Jack declared, from somewhere in
the opaque mist. "Supposing we were separated in some way; you two
fellows would be badly off with no means for locating east from west,
or north from south."
"Jack, darlint!" they heard Jimmy cry out just then.
"What is it?" asked the skipper of the _Tramp_.
"I do be thinkin' I saw a break in the beastly ould fog beyont us; yis,
an' by the powers, it's a braze that fans me cheek at this identical
minute!"
"He's right, fellows!" shouted George.
"Then that means good-bye to the nasty old fog, which will be a
riddance of bad rubbish!" called the overjoyed Nick, reaching out and
possessing himself of the cracker bag, so as to be ready to do his duty
by his system.
"The breeze is dead ahead, boys," said Jack. "And in that event the
fog will be swept to sea. Watch now, and you'll see something worth
while."
Jack evidently knew what he was talking about, for in less than five
minutes it seemed as though some wizard must have waved his magical
wand, for suddenly they shot out of the thick pea-soup atmosphere and
into the bright sunshine.
They were indeed in a big bay, with land on three sides. The sun, now
half way and more down the western sky, shone in an unclouded field,
and the water danced in the fresh shore breeze.
Then every fellow shouted and waved his hat, such was the relief that
passed over them at the successful termination of the long outside dash.
"Don't any one of you ever dare to run my bully engine down, after it
has stood by me so nobly," George was saying, as they started at a
faster clip up still further into Winyah Bay, into which the Peedee
River empties.
No one was disposed to cast the slightest reflection on the cranky
motor of the speed boat; for just then they were feeling at peace with
all the world, and quite ready to forgive their worst enemies.
That night they camped on the shore of a creek that emptied into the
bay, ready to take up their southern journey with the coming of the
morrow.