THE RESCUE
That same morning Mr. Smith, the hotel man, drove up to Sweetbrier
Cottage. He found Mr. Thornton sitting on the front steps sharpening
his knife.
“Good-morning, Sir,” said Mr. Smith. “Do you happen to know a boy named
Tom?”
“Tom Prout? Yes, I do,” said Mr. Thornton.
“Well, I want to see him,” said Mr. Smith. “I have a five-dollar bill
that belongs to him.”
“A five-dollar bill!” exclaimed Mr. Thornton in surprise. “What do you
mean?” Then Mr. Smith told him the story of the mosquito and the box of
candy.
“What do you think of that?” said Mr. Smith, when he had finished.
“I think that Tom was a brave boy to confess before all those people,”
answered Mr. Thornton. “He did wrong, of course, but he made up for it
as well as he could. Tom means to be a good boy, Mr. Smith.”
“I am sure of it,” agreed Mr. Smith warmly, “and I want to give him a
chance to make up for that candy without paying me a cent. I guess he
will want all his money by and by for school or for something else. I
should be glad to help him earn something at the hotel.”
“Tom would like that, I know,” said Mr. Thornton, much pleased. “He is
very handy with boats. I trust my children out with him every day.”
“Is that so?” cried Mr. Smith. “The very thing! I’ll get him to row the
ladies back and forth from the yacht. I’d like to see Tom.”
“I think we shall find him playing with the other children,” said Mr.
Thornton. “Will you come with me?” (You see, Mr. Thornton did not know
that Tom was an outlaw.)
The two men went along the cliff to Beech House. It was empty except
for the dolls and the Teddy Bear which Rose and Susan had left there
when they went to look for the treasure. Then they went on until they
came to the pirate cave. But Kenneth and Charlie were playing there
alone.
“Where is Tom?” asked Mr. Thornton. “This gentleman wants to see him.”
“I don’t know,” said Kenneth.
“He doesn’t play with us any more,” added Charlie.
“Why not?” asked Mr. Thornton. But the boys looked at each other and
were silent. They were not going to tell tales.
“We know all about the unlucky mosquito,” said Mr. Thornton. “Tom was
sorry, and told Mr. Smith the whole story himself. He gave his five
dollars to pay for the candy.”
“Did he do that?” said Charlie, his face brightening.
“Hurrah for Tom!” cried Kenneth. “I knew he was all right.--Hello!
there he goes now in his dory. Tom! oh, Tom!”
Kenneth waved his hat and shouted, but Tom did not seem to hear. He was
at some distance out in the bay, rowing towards the bathing beach. They
all shouted and waved, and finally Tom seemed to hear, for he looked
around; but he did not show any intention of rowing towards the cave.
Perhaps he still felt like an outlaw.
“He rows well,” said Mr. Smith, as Tom disappeared around the Point.
“He knows more about boats than a good many men ever learn,” said Mr.
Thornton. “I wonder where he is going.”
“We don’t seem likely to catch him this morning,” said Mr. Smith; “but
if you see him, I wish you would ask him to come over and talk with me
to-morrow. Hello! what’s this?”
Down the cliff scrambled Susan, panting and disheveled. As she ran she
shouted something which they could not understand. But when she came
nearer they made out the word “Rose! Rose!”
In an instant Mr. Thornton jumped to his feet and ran to meet her.
“What is the matter?” he cried, turning pale. “What has happened to
Rose?”
Presently Sue recovered enough breath to speak brokenly. “She--she
fell!” gasped Sue. “She broke her foot, I guess. She--can’t walk.
We--were looking--for the treasure--in the cave--out on the
rocks--beyond the bathing beach.”
“My poor little Rose!” gasped Mr. Thornton; and he started on the
run, followed by the others. They all ran as fast as they could, but
it was a long way. Poor Sue had found it so when she stumbled along
going in the other direction. Now she toiled back again far behind
the others,--behind even Mr. Smith, who was short and fat and grew
very red as he ran. He had to stop often and mop his forehead with his
handkerchief; but Mr. Thornton never stopped until he came to the
bathing beach. Kenneth and Charlie were close behind him. They heard
him give a loud cry when he looked across the beach to Gull Rock, where
Sue had said Rose was. In a minute they saw the reason.
Gull Rock was now an island!
A wide bay of water stretched between the rock and the shore, with only
a few stones poking up here and there on what had been the pathway
by which Rose and Sue had crossed. It was nearly high tide. As they
looked, a great wave rolled in and covered Gull Rock with spray.
“Look at that!” cried Mr. Thornton. “My little Rose is out there! Oh, I
must go to her!” And he dashed into the water and began to wade along
the rocks of the hidden pathway. But the stones were slippery and he
kept stumbling.
“You can’t do it!” yelled Mr. Smith. “We must get a boat.”
“There is no boat within half a mile,” cried Mr. Thornton, in despair.
“I must try to reach her in this way.” Just then another great wave
came rolling in. It broke against Mr. Thornton’s knees. He lost his
footing and tottered. The pool into which he fell was over his head,
and he would have drowned if he had not known how to swim. The water
was growing deeper all the time. “I must swim over,” thought Mr.
Thornton. “But even if I get there safely I don’t see how I can climb
up onto those steep rocks. However, I must try.”
Just as he was about to strike out into deep water, there came a shout
from Mr. Smith and the boys on the shore. “Tom! Tom!” they cried.
“Hurrah for Tom!”
“Papa! Papa! come ashore!” cried Kenneth. “Tom has Rose in his boat!”
Sure enough! Tom’s dory was just rounding Gull Rock, coming fast
towards shore, and in the stern sat Rose, very pale but safe.
You see, Tom was just passing Gull Rock in his dory when Rose gave that
last cry for help. He had heard it, but at first he thought her little
shrill voice was only a sea-gull screaming on the rock. But when he
heard it a second time cry,--“Help! oh, help!” he pricked up his ears.
No sea-gull ever spoke words so plainly as that. Tom shouted, “Hullo
there!” in answer, and in a moment he heard a voice cry, “Tom! Tom!
come quickly!”
“That is Rose’s voice!” thought Tom, surprised almost out of his wits.
He rowed as close to the rock as he dared, on account of the surf. “Is
that you, Rose?” he shouted. “Where are you?”
“I’m down in a dreadful cave, Tom,” said Rose very faintly. “My foot is
broken, and the water is coming in. Oh, come quickly, Tom, or I shall
be drowned!”
“I guess that’s so,” thought Tom, with a sudden idea, as a great wave
broke over Gull Rock. “She is down in the Punch Bowl! It’s almost high
tide. Oh, I must be quick or we’ll both be drowned.”
Tom had no thought of being afraid. Rose must be saved if he could do
it. Now he had a chance to prove what a good boatman he was. He rowed
as fast as possible around Gull Rock to a place where he thought he
could land. It was on the sheltered side of the rock, where the waves
did not break quite so heavily; but it was difficult enough. He drew up
his boat and fastened it securely. Then he hurried to the Punch Bowl,
which was the fisherman’s name for that dangerous cave.
Tom knew it well. When he came to the hole he shouted down anxiously.
Rose answered, so he knew that she was still safe. Down he climbed,
nimbly as a monkey. At the bottom he found the poor little girl in a
pool of water.
“Oh, Tom!” she cried. “I am so glad! Do you think you can get me out?”
“’Course I’ll get you out!” said Tom, feeling very big. Just then a
great wave came sweeping in and nearly drowned them both. “We must
hurry,” sputtered Tom; “there’s no time to spare. Come, Rose, you must
try as hard as you can.” Rose tried as hard as she could. Tom lifted
and pulled and pushed, and somehow or other he managed to help her out
of that dreadful hole. Then he half carried, half dragged her over the
rocks to his dory. Just as they were about to push off there came the
biggest wave of all. It broke completely over the rock, filled the boat
half full of water, and knocked both the children off their feet. But
they clung together and were not swept into the sea.
“If we had been in the cave when that wave broke,” said Tom solemnly,
“we should both have been drowned. Let’s get away before another of
those big fellows comes.”
He emptied the water out of the boat, lifted Rose in, and pushed off
with all his might. The next big wave leaped after them, burying Gull
Rock under a heap of foam. But the children had escaped. The boat was
moving through quieter waters towards the bathing beach.
They heard a shout from the shore, and looking up saw the crowd of
anxious watchers. There were Kenneth and Charlie dancing up and down
and shouting, “Hurrah!” There was Mr. Smith, first fluttering his
handkerchief, then using it to wipe his eyes. There was Mr. Thornton up
to his waist in the water, waving his arms and calling,--
“Rose! Rose! Are you safe?”
“Yes, I’m safe, Papa!” cried Rose. “Tom has saved me.”
In a few minutes Rose was in her father’s arms, and he was hugging
and kissing her, calling her by all her pet baby names. Mr. Smith was
shaking hands with Tom, who looked dazed.
“I’m proud to know you, Tom,” he said. “You are a regular sea-dog,
my boy. We must have you over to the hotel to help us with the boats
there.”
“Tom, my lad,” said Mr. Thornton, as he started to carry Rose up to
the cottage, where her sprained ankle could be cared for, “I’ll never
forget this. Boys,” he added, turning to Charlie and Kenneth, who
stood eagerly looking on, “if you want to see what a real hero looks
like, there he is. You had better write it down in your pirate log-book
that one of your band saved a little girl’s life. That is something for
you to boast of, indeed.”
“I must go home and get dry,” muttered Tom, turning away much
embarrassed. After all, he was an outlaw, and he knew that Mr. Smith
understood why, though Mr. Thornton might not. Tom did not belong to
the pirate band any more. But when he turned shamefacedly away, Kenneth
and Charlie came running up, and each seized him by the hand.
“Tom, old fellow, we are proud of you!” said Kenneth heartily.
“Tom,” said Charlie, taking something out of his pocket, “here is my
pirate knife. You have got to be captain now. You are the best of us
all, as Uncle Jack says.”
“Hurrah!” shouted Kenneth, dancing up and down. “We have a real live
hero for our captain, and we will do great things!”
“Oh, pshaw!” said Tom, turning red but looking pleased. He saw that
they no longer thought him an outlaw. “I don’t want to be captain,” he
protested.
“You must, you must!” cried Charlie and Kenneth. “Mustn’t he, Mr.
Smith?”
“Sure,” said Mr. Smith, “I think he will make a fine captain. But I
say, Captain, I hope you will find time to do a little un-piratical
work for me, as a plain sailor. I want you to help with the boats
at the hotel. Perhaps it isn’t as exciting as pirating or catching
mosquitoes,” he added, with a twinkle, “but I think you will find that
it pays better.”
“Oh, I want to earn some money,” said Tom. “Some day I want to go to
school in the city.”
“But if you go to Mr. Smith’s you won’t have time to play with us,”
said Charlie; and Kenneth added, “Then you won’t be our pirate captain,
Tom?”
“Oh, yes he will,” said Mr. Smith. “I’ll only keep him a few hours
every day, when the ladies want to go sailing. Tom, will you be my
sailor man?”
“Thank you, everybody,” said Tom, grinning. “I will be both, if you
want me to. I’ll be a pirate captain and an honest sailor.”
“Here’s a little advance wages to begin with,” said Mr. Smith, handing
Tom the famous five-dollar bill. Tom flushed.
“Thank you, sir,” he said. “But would you mind waiting until I have
earned it? I want to start square this time.”
“Good for you, Tom!” said Mr. Smith approvingly. “I see that we shall
be great friends.”
And Mr. Smith proved to be a true prophet.
The Riverside Press
CAMBRIDGE · MASSACHUSETTS
U · S · A
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:
Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_.
Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.