CARRIED OUT TO SEA
"May I steer a bit?" asked Bob, when he and his chums had ridden in the
big motor boat some distance down the cove toward the bridge, that was
not far from the inlet.
"I guess so," answered Silas. "There aren't many craft about now, and I
don't believe you'll run into anybody."
"I wish I'd asked him," murmured Sammy to Frank. "But I didn't think
he'd let us."
All the boys were eager to take the wheel.
"We can take turns," said Bob, generously. Now that he had permission to
do what he had long been anxious to, he was not going to be selfish.
"Can't we take turns, Silas?" he asked.
"Oh, I guess so," was the good-natured answer. "It'll be as good a time
as any to give you boys some points on steering. No telling when you may
have a boat of your own."
"I wanted my father to get one this year," said Bob, "only he said I was
too young to run it, and he didn't have time. When I go back I'll tell
him I can steer a boat, and maybe he'll get one."
"I hope he does!" cried Sammy, with visions of what fine fun he and his
chums would have in a power boat of their own.
"Well, there's a heap sight more to learn about a motor boat than just
steering it," said Silas, with a grin, "though maybe steering comes
first. Now I'll show you what to do, and how to do it. Of course I can't
show you all the different twists and turns of the channel now--it would
take too long to learn them. But I can show you how to steer a boat, how
to keep her straight, and how to go to port or starboard, or left and
right, as they say now."
The three boys gathered about him as he sat at the wheel, which was made
fast to a bulkhead, or partition just outside the cabin. The cabin of
the _Skip_ took up about half of the boat, the forward part. The after
part was an open space, beneath the floor of which was the motor running
in a sort of cockpit.
The motor was covered with a cover, or hatch, as it is called, and when
this was in place you could not see the machinery, though it was running
beneath your feet.
The cabin was of good size, and had small bunks in it that could be made
up into beds. There were also lockers for food and water, and a small
oil stove on which Silas cooked when he went off on fishing trips. In
fact the _Skip_ was a snug little craft.
"This wheel is what is called a sea wheel," went on Silas, beginning his
steering lesson.
"Aren't all wheels sea wheels?" asked Bob.
"No, on some motor boats there are what are called land-lubber wheels."
"What's the difference?" asked Frank.
"It's easy to remember, once you've heard it," said Silas. "A
land-lubber wheel turns in the same direction you want the boat to
steer. For instance, if you want to go to the left you twist the wheel
toward your left hand, and if you want to go to the right you twist it
to the right.
"But a sea wheel is just the opposite from this. With that, if you want
your boat to go to the left, you turn the wheel to the right, and if
you want to go to the right you twist the wheel to the left."
"I should think you'd get all twisted up!" exclaimed Sammy.
"Well, you might, at first, but once you've learned to use a sea wheel
you won't want any other," went on Silas. "I'm not saying but what it
might not have been better at the start, for every boat to have a wheel
you could turn in the direction you wanted to go, but as long as they
have sea wheels you might as well learn that way. Now we'll begin."
In turn he let the boys handle the wheel, sending the boat this way and
that, until they found how quickly the _Skip_ responded to her rudder.
At first each of the lads got a little confused, and turned the wheel
the wrong way. But soon they remembered, and when Silas, pretending he
was the captain, ordered them to go to the right or left they did do it
without any trouble.
They passed several other boats from time to time, and Silas showed how
to get by them without getting too far out of the channel, or without
passing too close to the other craft. There was a compressed air whistle
on the _Skip_ and the boys took great delight in blowing this.
"It's a heap more fun on a trip like this than trailing that queer old
Professor Watson!" exclaimed Bob.
"That's right," said Frank. "I don't believe we'll bother with him any
more."
"No, I guess I was wrong about that pirate gold," admitted Sammy, and
his chums laughed, for this was the first time he had ever given up. But
he was so interested in the motor boat that he thought of little else.
The trip to the bridge, just above the inlet, was rather a long one, but
the boys enjoyed every bit of it, and they were sorry when the _Skip_
pulled up to a dock, and Silas announced that he would stay there for
some time, buying supplies for himself, and for a number of other
fishermen, who had asked him to obtain things for them. There was a
general store at the bridge--a store which supplied many sailors and
fishermen with the things they needed for their work.
While waiting for Silas, the boys went ashore and wandered about the
little settlement about the store. Finally the fisherman came out and
said:
"Boys, I find I've got to go down near the inlet after some stuff. Now
you said your folks didn't want you to go there, and I don't want to
take you when Mrs. Bouncer said you weren't to go. So you'd better stay
here until I come back. I won't be long."
"Oh, that's no fun!" exclaimed Bob.
"I wonder if we couldn't go," suggested Frank.
"There isn't any danger; is there?" asked Sammy.
"I don't think so," answered Silas, "but them women folks has their own
opinions. I never go agin 'em."
The three chums were much disappointed, when Bob saw a telephone on the
wall.
"That's the thing!" he cried. "I'm going to telephone my mother at the
cottage, and ask her if we can't go. I'll tell her there's no danger."
"And you can tell her I said so," put in Silas, for he liked the
Fairview boys, and wanted to give them the pleasures of the trip.
Bob was soon talking to his mother over the wire, and, after some
hesitation, she said the boys might make the longer trip. And, on the
suggestion of Silas, Bob said they would probably not be home for
dinner, since it would be late.
"We'll just get a lunch on my boat," said Silas. "I've got plenty to
eat, and a stove to cook it on."
"Oh, that will be fine!" cried Sammy, and the others agreed with him.
So it was arranged, and a little later the _Skip_ went under the bridge,
and pointed her bow toward the broader and deeper waters that led to the
inlet.
It was about three miles to where the waters of the ocean and Cove met,
and the channel was so twisting, on account of the shifting sands, that
Silas did not like to let the boys steer. So he held the wheel himself.
From time to time, as the boat went on Silas would raise the hatch
cover, and look at the throbbing motor, to see that it was running all
right. Once in a while he would oil it. The boys looked on with interest
when he did this, and asked many questions.
Silas explained how he had to spin the flywheel around to start the
motor, and how he turned on the spark and gasolene. Sometimes, he said,
the motor would start when the electric switch was closed, without the
flywheel being turned by hand.
Now and then, as the _Skip_ went along, Silas would look up at the sky,
and shake his head as though in doubt.
"What's the matter?" asked Sammy, after a bit.
"I don't like the looks of the weather," was the answer. "It looks to me
as though we were in for a heavy thunderstorm."
"They're not dangerous; are they?" asked Bob.
"Oh, well, not specially so. But down here, near the inlet, the wind
sometimes blows pretty strong, and when the tide's running out, as it is
now, there's a powerful current. I almost wish I hadn't brought you boys
along."
"Oh, we're not afraid," said Frank with confidence. "The _Skip_ is a
good boat; isn't she?"
"There's none better afloat, for her size," said Silas proudly. "I've
ridden out many a gale in her down in the big bay. But of course the
ocean is different. However, I'll just hurry through and maybe we can
get back before she blows too hard. I think we'll have a bite to eat
now, for we may not get time later. Here, one of you boys take the
wheel. There's a straight course now, and I'll get out the things and
make some coffee."
This was soon done, and the boys sat about, eating the sandwiches Silas
made. They were having the time of their lives, and the fact that in the
West a big bank of black clouds was gathering, from which now and then
lightning flashed, did not worry them. They were sure they would get
back all right.
[Illustration: The boys sat about eating the sandwiches.]
Silas had to stop at a small dock, not far from the inlet, where an old
sailmaker had his shanty. The fisherman was to call for a sail for one
of his neighbors.
Silas made fast the _Skip_ in a hurry, and, leaping out on the dock,
called to the boys:
"Wait here until I come back. I won't be long. Then we'll head for
Lighthouse Cove."
"All right," answered Bob. "We'll be all right."
The darkness had increased because of the clouds, and now a strong wind
sprang up. It whipped the waters of the channel into whitecaps, and
this, with the strong tide that was running, made the _Skip_ strain hard
at her mooring rope.
The wind blew harder, and then with a sudden outbreak of fury the storm
broke, the rain coming down in such torrents that the boys could not see
the shanty of the sailmaker.
"Get in the cabin!" cried Sammy.
"That's right!" yelled Frank. "We'll be soaked here!"
They tumbled into the cabin, which was below the level of the cockpit
deck, and pulled the sliding doors shut.
"Now we're all snug--let her rain!" cried Bob.
And rain it did. The pelting drops made so much noise on the cabin roof
that the boys had to shout to make each other hear. The thunder was
terrific, and the bright lightning cut through the blackness that was
almost as dark as night.
"Say, this boat is bobbing some!" suddenly exclaimed Frank.
Indeed the _Skip_ was in violent motion, and the boys did not know what
to make of it. She swung about, and then brought up suddenly as the rope
tightened.
Then, all at once, there was a violent jerk, and the boat swung about
more than ever.
"I hope that rope holds!" cried Sammy.
"So do I!" exclaimed Bob. "What if it should break?"
Then the _Skip_ seemed to swing entirely around, and a moment later she
raced off through the storm, tossing violently up and down on the waves.
The boys heard confused shouts above the noise of the storm.
"What is it?" cried Sammy.
"Something has happened!" yelled Frank.
"I'm going to have a look," said Bob resolutely, as he slid back one of
the cabin doors. The burst of wind and rain in his face almost drove him
within again, but he went out into the little open space.
Then his worst fears were realized. The _Skip_ had broken away from her
dock, and was racing before the wind and tide down the channel toward
the inlet.
Bob could just make out, on the end of the dock, the figure of an
excited man, waving his hands to him. But what he said could not be
heard. Bob was sure the man was Silas.
"What is it--what's happened?" called Frank.
"We've broken loose!" shouted Bob, coming back into the cabin. Even in
those few seconds he had been drenched with the rain.
"Broken loose from where?" asked Sammy.
"From the dock. We're adrift!"
"Adrift! Where are we going?" gasped Sammy and Frank together.
"We're being carried out to sea, I guess," answered Bob, and there was
fear in his voice, much as he tried to hide it.
Meanwhile the _Skip_, at the mercy of the wind and tide, was being
carried faster and faster out toward the inlet that led to the great
ocean.