SAVING THE SLOOP.
It was no pleasant position to be in. The three lads had been cast so
suddenly into the angry waters that for the moment they could not
comprehend the situation.
Then Blumpo let out a yell of terror.
"Save me! De boat has gone down!"
He was wrong, however, for a second later the row-boat bobbed up, less
than four yards off.
"This way!" shouted Harry to his companions, but the wind fairly drowned
his voice. He swam toward the upturned craft, and Blumpo and Jerry were
not slow in following it.
Hardly had they reached it when a new peril confronted them. The Cutwater
was bearing directly down upon them. With every sail set, she was in the
very act of cutting them to pieces!
"Look! look!" yelled Harry. "We are doomed!"
"My gracious!" moaned Blumpo.
On and on came the sloop, with gigantic bounds over the whitecaps.
Clarence Conant seemed utterly powerless to stay her course, or steer her
to the right or left.
The young ladies on board with him huddled in a heap near the tiny cabin,
their faces white with terror.
It was truly a thrilling moment.
Of the entire crowd Jerry was the only one to keep perfectly cool.
He was astride the row-boat, directly in the centre of the bottom, and it
seemed as if the prow of the Cutwater must strike him in a second more.
"Every one dive under!" he called out, and went overboard like a flash.
For a wonder Harry and Blumpo promptly followed suit.
Crash!
The row-boat was struck and stove in completely.
The Cutwater was quite a good sized craft, and though the force of the
collision did not damage her to any extent, it checked her progress
considerably.
Jerry went down and down. He made a long dive, and when he came up it was
within a yard of the sloop's rudder.
Before another boy would have had time to think, the boy who so loved the
water made up his mind what to do. He made a mighty leap and caught hold
of the rudder end ere the Cutwater could get beyond his reach. It was hard
work to hang on, as the sloop bobbed up and down with every wave, and the
rudder, being beyond control, swayed from side to side.
But Jerry was both plucky and full of grit. He clung fast, and, watching
his chance, climbed up to the stern and leaped on the deck.
A brief glance showed him the cause of the present trouble. Clarence
Conant was actually too much frightened to lower the sails. He had started
to act and got a rope twisted, and then, overcome with fear, had allowed
the matter to go while he clung to the bow in despair.
"You confounded coward!" cried the young oarsman. "You ought to have known
better than to go out on anything bigger than a duck pond."
He sprang to the halyards, and soon the main-sail came down with a bang.
The jib followed. There was no time to attend to the sails more than
this.
Jerry looked around anxiously for Harry and Blumpo, but for a long while
could see nothing of them.
"Look here," demanded Clarence Conant, recovering his composure, now the
greatest of the danger was over. "What--ah--do you mean by talking to me
in this fashion?"
"I mean just what I say," retorted Jerry. "You had no right to take these
young ladies out and expose them to such peril." "The--ah--hurricane took
me by surprise," was the dude's lame excuse.
"I am very thankful to you, Jerry Upton," cried Dora Vincent, the oldest
and prettiest of the girls on board.
"And so am I."
"And I."
"Thank you," replied the boy, blushing. "But now is no time to talk. Which
of you will take the tiller, if I tell you exactly what to do?"
"I can--ah--take the tiller," interposed Conant, haughtily.
"You won't touch it!" cried the young oarsman, sternly.
"Why, boy, what do you mean? Do you--ah--"
"Sit down! If you dare to stir I'll pitch you overboard!"
Overcome with a new terror, the dude collapsed. He was hatless, the curl
was out of his mustache and hair, and altogether he looked very much
"washed out."
He sank down near the bow, and it was well that he did so, for just then
came an extra heavy blast of the gale.
"Hold hard, every one!" yelled Jerry. "Perhaps you ladies had better go
into the cabin," he added.
"I am to take the tiller, you know," said Dora Vincent. "Well, then, let
the others go. We can work along better with a clear deck."
So while Dora went aft, the others crawled into the cabin, or cuddy. Under
pretense of seeing after their comfort, Conant crawled after them.
"Now I will tell you just how to move the tiller," said Jerry to Dora
Vincent.
"All right, I am ready," responded the brave girl.
Now that she had Jerry with her, and knowing he was well acquainted with
boats, she felt that she was safe, no matter how bad the storm might prove
itself.
After giving the girl some instructions Jerry hoisted the main-sail a few
feet only. The sloop then swung around and moved in a beating way against
the storm.
Jerry wished to learn what had become of his companions. He was fearful
that they had been drowned.
It took quite some time to reach the vicinity where the accident had
occurred, and even then but little was to be seen through the driving
rain.
"Hullo, Harry! Blumpo!" he called out.
No answer came back and he repeated the cry a dozen times. Then he fancied
he heard a response directly ahead. The sloop was moved cautiously in the
direction, and presently they saw Blumpo clinging to part of the shattered
row-boat. "Sabe me! sabe me!" yelled the youth. "Don't let me drown,
Jerry."
"Catch the rope, Blumpo!" cried Jerry in return, and threw forward the end
of a coil.
Blumpo clutched the rope eagerly, and then it was comparatively easy to
haul him on board.
"Praise de Lawd!" he muttered fervently as he came on deck. "I t'ought I
was a goner, suah!"
"Where is Harry?"
"I can't tell you, Jerry."
"You haven't seen him since we jumped from the row-boat?"
"No."
The young oarsman's face grew sober. What if their chum had really gone to
the bottom of Lake Otasco? It would be awful to tell Harry's parents that
their son was no more.
"We must find him, dead or alive, Blumpo. Take the tiller from Miss
Vincent, and we'll cruise around, with our eyes and ears wide open," said
Jerry, with determination.