THE DERELICT
It was a rock whose brown head was thrust barely two feet above the
water.
"It's the ledge we grazed last night," cried Joe. "Could we get a rope
to that, Steve?"
"Why not? We'll have a go at it, anyway. Help me with the tender,
someone!"
It was difficult work. As a first step the bow line was replaced by a
smaller rope and taken through the breakers to the out-cropping ledge.
There, working precariously in the water while Joe held him from the
boat and Han did his best to keep the dingey steady, Steve eventually
got the big cable around the rock, protecting it from the rough edges by
a blanket from one of the berths. Fortunately, the rock was so formed
that, once drawn tight, there was no danger of the rope slipping off,
and they returned to the _Adventurer_, Steve towing behind, in triumph.
In the meanwhile the others, directed by Phil, were stuffing the worst
of the seams with strips of muslin, using table knives for caulking
irons. The cable to the rock was led through a ring at the stern and
carried forward to the windlass. By the time the tide had begun to rise
again they had got the hull free of water, taking turns at the hand-pump
and operating the bilge-pump at the same time. Then they waited to see
how well they had succeeded at their caulking. It was noon by that time,
and they ate cold rations in the galley, and while they were below a
transient gleam of sunlight shone for an instant through the hatch above
and they tumbled to deck. The fine rain had almost ceased and although
the sunlight was gone again, the clouds were breaking. Steve whooped for
joy and the others joined him. It might have been only in imagination,
but it seemed that the wind was less fierce and that the in-rolling
breakers were less formidable.
There was little to do save to set the cruiser as much to rights inside
and out as was possible and wait for high tide again. As the water once
more surrounded the boat they were pleased and encouraged to find that
while the water was again coming in through the seams it filled the
bilge so slowly that the pump could easily take care of it. Perry
declared proudly that they had done a "caulking job!" They went ashore
before the water cut them off entirely and built the fire up again.
About four the wind died down appreciably and the sun, which had been
flirting with the world ever since noon, burst forth in a sudden blaze
of glory. The mist disappeared as if by magic and exclamations of
surprise burst from six throats as eager eyes looked shoreward.
There, as it seemed scarcely a half-mile distant, was the mainland;
green fields, grey cliffs, white houses! In reality the distance was
well over a mile and a quarter, but so clear had the atmosphere suddenly
become that the space of tumbled green water intervening looked hardly
more than a swimmer's stunt! They cheered and would have waved their
caps had they had any to wave. A small steamer was ducking her way along
near shore and they could almost see the spray tossing from the bow.
They found a nearer way to the top of the cliff and climbed to the
summit and tried to decide just where they were, but even Steve was at a
loss, although he was fairly certain that Englishman's Bay was well to
the north, probably as far distant as six miles. But, since from where
they gazed islands and mainland melted into each other, even Wass Island
was not determinate. But after all it didn't much matter where they
were. In a calm sea they could reach the shore in the dingey if it
became necessary, while a distress signal would undoubtedly be soon seen
from the nearer head-land. But Steve was not ready to call for aid yet,
and together they made their way back to the beach and settled down
philosophically to await evening and high tide.
With the prospect of release from their desert island to cheer them,
waiting was not so hard. They had some supper about six and after that
the time passed fairly quickly. At half-past eight they made their way
out to the _Adventurer_. The wind had died entirely down at sunset and
now the sea was probably as quiet and well-behaved as it ever was just
there. About nine they began operations. No one was too sanguine of the
results, but when, having started the engine and experimentally moved
the clutch into reverse to clear the sand from around the propeller, no
untoward incident happened they became more encouraged. The heaving
lever was put into the windlass and, with Phil astern to watch the cable
where it ran through the ring bolt, Steve operated the engine while the
others took turns, two and two, at the windlass. Gradually the manila
cable tightened and strained and the screw churned hard, but the
_Adventurer_, save for righting herself a trifle, gave no indication of
moving from her sandy bed. Steve summoned the boys who were not working
the windlass to the after part of the boat in order to lighten the bow
as much as possible, and they worked on. Just when it seemed that not
another inch of the cable was to be conquered there was a shout from
Ossie and Han, who were panting at the lever, and the _Adventurer_
moved!
After that it was only a matter of time. Inch by inch the cruiser
dragged her keel along the sand, each minute floating a little freer and
each minute putting her deck more level as the stern found the deep
water. And, perhaps a half-hour from the time they had started, they had
the boat riding clear and slowly going astern to take up the cable. It
was out of the question to get the rope free of the rock and so they had
to cut it, and, having done so, they swung cautiously around in a wide
circle and headed toward the cheerful white beam of a lighthouse that
beckoned from the shore.
They had to keep the pump going, for a leak they had not suspected
developed forward, but that was a small matter and they were so glad to
get out of the adventure with nothing worse than a few sprung planks,
some bent stanchions and the loss of the side curtains that they would
willingly have pumped by hand. Half an hour later, after a slow and
careful passage from island to mainland, with the searchlight picking
out her path, the _Adventurer_ dropped anchor in a narrow harbour.
They stayed there only overnight, for in the morning they found that
there was no prospect of getting repairs made there, and so, with the
bilge pump sucking merrily, they ran ten miles further down the coast
and before dinner time saw the _Adventurer_ on a cradle and hauled high
and dry from the water. The damage to the hull, while nowhere severe,
was more general than they had thought, and the man who was to do the
repairs decreed a week's stay. After discussing the situation it was
decided that all save Steve and Phil were to proceed to Camden by rail
and wait there for the _Adventurer_. Steve was to remain to superintend
the repairs and painting--the cruiser stood in need of paint by
then--and Phil volunteered to keep him company and help take the boat on
when it was ready.
In the meanwhile, after a day of uncertainty, the _Follow Me_ was
located by telegraph at Jonesport. "All well. Sailing for Camden
tomorrow. Meet you there" was the reply from Harry Corwin. Steve and
Phil, watching seaward from the deck of the _Adventurer_, sitting high
up on a marine railway, thought that they made out the _Follow Me_ about
ten o'clock the next morning, but couldn't be sure. The two boys,
captain and first mate, lived aboard and took their meals wherever they
could get them. They were there just six days and had a very happy if
unexciting time. Several absurd epistles reached them from Camden, all
of which indicated that the other members of the Adventure Club were
enjoying themselves hugely. At last, shining with new paint and polished
brass and refurnished with new curtains, the _Adventurer_ slid down the
railway again, floated out from the cradle and pointed her nose toward
Penobscot Bay. In the middle of a bright Friday afternoon she dropped
anchor alongside her companion craft, Phil doing wild and ecstatic
things with the whistle and eliciting no response from the _Follow Me_.
Steve and Phil donned proper shore-going togs and tumbled into the
dingey. The _Follow Me_ was totally deserted, which accounted for the
fact that, while their noisy arrival had aroused not a little interest
on other craft, the _Follow Me_ had received them very coldly. They
found some of the party at the hotel and the others rounded up later.
Everyone was flatteringly glad to see the new arrivals again, but none
more so than Perry. Perry was absolutely pathetic in his greetings and
refused to let Steve out of his sight for an instant.
"I'm quite taken by surprise," declared Steve. "I knew you loved me
devotedly, Perry, but this is--this is really touching!"
Perry grew a trifle red and coughed. "Er--well--I hope so," he blurted.
"You hope so? Hope what?"
"Hope it's touching," explained the other, grinning. "You see, I'm flat
broke, Steve, and so is everyone else, or pretty near, and if you could
lend me a couple of dollars--"
"I feared it wasn't all just affection," sighed Steve, reaching for his
purse. "But it was worth the price, Perry!"
"Much obliged! You--you might make it three, if you don't mind. I owe
Han fifty cents and Ossie a quarter--no, thirty-five--"
"Here's five, you spendthrift. Let me have it back as soon as you can,
though, for I'm down near the bottom myself."
"I will, Steve. I've sent for some and it ought to be along in a day or
two. Money doesn't last any time here!"
Friends and acquaintances made during their former visit had done
everything possible to make the boys' stay so very more than pleasant,
and when the matter of going on was introduced the suggestion met with
scant sympathy. However, Steve was not at all averse to a week or so of
lotus eating and, having satisfied his conscience by the proposal, he
settled down, to enjoy himself with the rest. His friends ashore were
lavish with hospitality, while "Globbins the Speed Fiend," as Perry had
dubbed the freckle-faced proprietor of the restless automobile, was
indefatigably attentive. A second letter from Neil, forwarded from one
port of call to another in their wake, reached them one day, and they
composed a reply between them and all hands signed it. Neil was having
rather a dull time of it, they gathered, and they hoped their letter
would cheer him up a bit.
At last, when they had, after two postponements, fixed a day of
departure, a storm that tied up shipping all along the North Atlantic
Coast for four days caused a final delay, and consequently it was well
toward the last of August when they said good-bye and set forth for
Squirrel Island. No one particularly cared to visit Squirrel Island save
Han, who had friends there, but as there was still a full week at their
disposal they were in no great hurry and one port was as good as
another. They remained there a day and then made Portland. At Portland
supplies were put in, and one Wednesday morning they picked up the
anchor at a little after six o'clock and started for Provincetown with
the fine determination to cover the distance of approximately a hundred
and twenty-five miles before they sat down to supper. That they didn't
do so was no fault of either the _Adventurer_ or the _Follow Me_.
It was about half-past eight that Phil, sitting on the forward cabin
roof with his back braced against the smokestack, called Steve's
attention to an object far off to port. They had then put some thirty
miles between them and Portland and were twenty miles off Cape Neddick.
The morning was lowery, with occasional spatters of rain, and the storm,
which had blown off to the northward the day before, had left a heavy
sea running. For an hour the _Adventurer_ and the _Follow Me_ had been
climbing up the slopes of grey-green swells and sliding down into
swirling troughs, and for a minute Steve couldn't find the dark speck at
which Phil was pointing. When he did at last sight it over the tumbled
mounds of water he stared in puzzlement a moment before he took the
binoculars from their place and fitted them to his eyes. He looked long
and then silently handed the glasses through the window to Phil, punched
two shrill blasts on the whistle and swung the wheel to port.
"Looks like a wreck," said Phil, after an inspection of the distant
object. "Going to see?"
Steve nodded. "Might be someone aboard," he answered. "We can tell in
another mile or so, I guess."
Phil gave up the glasses to the others, who had clustered to the bridge,
while the _Follow Me_ altered her course in obedience to the signal, her
company probably wondering why Steve had suddenly chosen to stand out to
sea. At the end of ten minutes it was plainly to be determined with the
aid of the binoculars that the object which had attracted their
attention and curiosity was without any doubt a wreck, and as the
_Adventurer_ drew momentarily closer her plight was seen to be extreme.
Whether anyone remained aboard was still a question when the cruiser was
a mile distant, but everything pointed against it. The craft, which
proved to be a small coasting schooner, had evidently seen a lot of
trouble. Both masts were broken off, the foremast close to the deck and
the mainmast some dozen feet above it. She lay low in the water, with
her decks piled high with lumber. A tangle of spars and ropes hung
astern, but save for her cargo the decks had been swept clean. She was a
sad sight even at that distance, and more than one aboard the
_Adventurer_ felt the pathos of her.
"No sign of life," said Steve. "If anyone was aboard there'd be a signal
flying. And the boats are all gone, too, although that wouldn't mean
much in itself because they might have been swept away. I guess, though,
it got a bit too strenuous and the crew remembered the 'Safety First'
slogan. There's nothing we can do, anyway."
He started to swing the cruiser about again, but Perry intervened.
"She's a whatyoucallit!" he exclaimed excitedly. "She's--"
"No, little one," Joe corrected gently, "she's a wreck."
"She's a derelict," persisted Perry eagerly, "and no one belongs to her!
If we got her she'd belong to us, Steve! Wouldn't she?"
"I suppose she would," replied Steve dubiously, his hand hesitating on
the wheel, "but finding her and getting her are two mighty different
things, Perry. If we _could_ get her she'd be a nice prize, I guess, for
lumber's worth real money these days, and although she isn't very big
it's safe to say she's got quite a bunch of it on her, below deck and
above. I guess that lumber is what kept her afloat, from the looks of
the hull."
"Let's see what we can do," said Han. "Someone will find her and--"
"It might as well be us," added Perry enthusiastically. "Couldn't we tow
her, Steve!"
"Tow her! Gee, she'd follow about as easily as a brick house!"
"But if we both pulled--"
"Well"--Steve cast an appraising eye at the weather--"I'm game to try it
if the rest of you say so. Full steam ahead, Mr. Chapman!"