FIREWORKS FROM THE MASTHEAD
"Wait for Mrs. Livingston," replied Harriet in answer to the man's
question. "You are not the captain, are you?"
He shook his head. Mrs. Livingston came upon the scene. Harriet
assisted her into the rowboat. The Chief Guardian directed the other
Meadow-Brook girls to get in, telling the girls who were left on shore
that they would be taken out to the "Sister Sue" as fast as possible,
until there was no more room. The others would have their turn soon
afterward.
If the girls had been pleased with the "Sister Sue" from a shore view,
they were enthusiastic at what they saw when they got on board. The
decks were white from scouring, the binnacle that held the compass
shone with mirror-like brightness, ropes were neatly coiled and
everywhere was the smell of fresh paint and the faint, salty odor of
the deep sea.
The "Sue" was some forty feet in length over all, broad of beam,
covered over about half her length amidships by a raised deck cabin, a
cabin that rises above the deck a few inches with narrow windows on
the two sides. Two doors from the cockpit led into the cabin. Into
this the Meadow-Brook Girls hurried, after one quick look over the
trim craft. They cried out for Mrs. Livingston to join them. The
interior of the cabin was in white with plush seats on each side, the
seats being broad and comfortable, affording lounging space for
several persons at one time. A tank holding drinking water, at the
forward end of the cabin, was the only other furnishing.
The "Sue" was far from palatial, but the Camp Girls thought they had
never seen a neater or prettier boat, and as for its ability to sail,
they had seen something of that as the sloop came into the bay.
Mrs. Livingston had remained outside to speak with the skipper.
Harriet soon joined them. Captain Billy was a type. His grizzled, red
beard was so near the color of his face that it was not easy to
determine where the beard left off and the face began. Billy had a
habit of avoiding one's eyes when speaking. Either he would be
consulting the deck of the "Sue" or gazing at the sky. He was looking
up at the clouds now.
"The captain says he can safely carry ten persons without crowding,
Harriet," the Chief Guardian informed her. Then turning to the
captain, "This young lady has been placed in charge of the boat by
Mr. McCarthy; of course, your judgment as to what is best for all
concerned must prevail."
Captain Billy's whiskers bristled. He swept the Meadow-Brook Girl with
a quick, measuring glance, then permitted his eyes to gaze upward
again.
"I was going to suggest, Mrs. Livingston, that we first take you and
the other guardians out for a sail, say to-morrow morning. I don't
think the captain will wish to go out in the evening," said Harriet.
He shook his head.
"Certainly not," declared Mrs. Livingston. "And now, sir, what about
your meals--the board for yourself and your man?"
"Get my own. He goes away early in the morning. Sleep on board, too.
You needn't worry about me. Got any gear you want to get aboard?"
"Gear?" questioned the Chief Guardian blankly.
"Dunnage?" nodded the skipper. "Anything you want to bring aboard?" he
shouted.
"No, thank you, nothing at present," answered Harriet.
"Man will fetch it off before he goes away if there is. Don't ask me
to do any packing."
"Our young women are perfectly able to help themselves," replied Mrs.
Livingston with dignity. "I suppose, however, that having only one
rowboat you will come ashore for us whenever we wish to go out?" she
added.
The captain shook his head. He was the most ungracious person they
ever had known. But when Harriet said they had better get word to Mr.
McCarthy at once, the captain changed his mind quickly. He said he
would come for them whenever they gave him the word. He told them,
further, that they would have to bring their own provisions when they
went out for a sail, but that he could show them how to catch some
fish if they desired to do so.
"We shall be ready to go out about ten o'clock to-morrow morning,"
Mrs. Livingston told him. "If there is anything you wish us to do, you
might call to the young women who occupy the cabin there on the
Lonesome Bar. I am very glad you are going to remain aboard your boat,
for we are not equipped for putting up strangers. But if there is
anything you wish in the way of supplies, do not hesitate to send word
to me. We have quite a quantity. We are obliged to go beyond the
highway for our drinking water, and it is a trifle brackish."
"Hadn't we better go ashore and give the others a chance to come out?"
asked Harriet.
"You and I will remain here. The others may go," returned Mrs.
Livingston.
Several boatloads of excited girls were put aboard the "Sister Sue."
The girls were enthusiastic; they chattered and sang and made merry,
Captain Billy growing more taciturn and sour as the moments passed.
Finally, Mrs. Livingston said they must put off further visiting of
the boat until morning; that night was now upon them. They bade good
night to Captain Billy, and his man put them ashore, Mrs. Livingston
leaving the sloop last.
"He is a queer character," she declared after joining Harriet on the
beach later on. "What do you make of him?"
"I suppose he is like many of his calling, gruff and of few words. But
there is something beyond that which I can't quite make out."
"What do you mean? Do you think that he is untrustworthy?"
"I don't know, Mrs. Livingston. I do know that I dislike him. Isn't
that silly in me?" asked the girl laughingly. "I have no confidence in
him."
"I think you are in error. Mr. McCarthy would not send us a man who
was not trustworthy in every way. He is supposed to be a skillful
skipper, and from my observation I know he will behave himself, so we
don't care what he is beyond that. Shall you go back to the camp with
us, or direct to the cabin?"
"To camp."
The girls sat about the campfire, singing the songs of the Camp Girls
until ten o'clock that evening, after which the Meadow-Brook party
bade good night to their companions and strolled down to the bar,
thence out to the cabin. All were keenly alive to the pleasures that
awaited them on the following day, when they were to have their first
sail in the "Sister Sue."
Harriet made ready for bed with her companions, but she was not
sleepy. She lay on her bough bed near the door, where she remained
wide awake, thinking over the occurrences of the past few days. A
sound out on the bay, as if something had dropped to the deck of the
sloop, attracted her attention. The girl crawled from her bed and out
to the front of the cabin on all fours. She then sat up, leaning her
back against the cabin; shading her eyes, she gazed off at the boat
riding easily in the bay.
The "Sue" was faintly outlined in the dim light of the night, but the
night was too dark to enable the girl to make out anything in detail,
nor was there a sound on board to indicate that any one was awake.
"It may be that the captain is putting his man ashore, or else has
just returned from doing so. Still, this seems to me a pretty late
hour to be sending any one ashore." Harriet thought she could now make
out the small boat floating astern of the "Sue," where it was
ordinarily kept, though she could not be certain of this. "Ah! There
is something going on over there."
The faint creak of block and tackle reached her listening ears, which
she strained and strained, even closing her eyes that she might
concentrate wholly on the sense of hearing. The creaking continued for
a couple of minutes, then ceased altogether.
"I wonder if the captain can be making sail to go out?" Harriet asked
herself, opening wide her eyes and gazing toward the sloop. But the
latter was riding lazily on the gentle swell as before, the girl being
unable to make out anything that looked like the sail. She thought she
surely would be able to see the sail, had it been hoisted.
Something was dropped on the deck, making a great clatter, then for
several minutes all was silent on board the "Sister Sue." Harriet
could not imagine what was going on there. After a time there were
further evidences of activity on board; noises, faint, it is true,
which indicated that something out of the ordinary was taking place on
the boat. Harriet wondered if she had not better call Miss Elting and
have her listen, too. Upon second thought, however, she decided not
to do so. In the first place she could see and hear fully as much as
could the guardian, besides which, were she to awaken the guardian,
the other girls undoubtedly would be disturbed. They might make a
noise that would prevent her learning what was being done on board the
sloop.
Harriet shivered, for she was in her kimono, while the breeze blowing
in from the sea was fresh and penetrating. She felt a sneeze coming.
The girl made heroic efforts to repress the sneeze, then, finding she
could not, stuffed an end of her kimono into her mouth and covered her
nose with both hands.
It was a long, shuddering sneeze that Harriet Burrell uttered. She
feared it had not only attracted the attention of the man or men on
board the sloop, but awakened her companions as well. The faint noises
on deck continued as before. No sound came from the cabin.
"Thank goodness, no one heard me," she muttered. "Why is it that one
has to sneeze when she doesn't want to, I wonder? I--" She started at
sound of a low voice close at hand speaking her name.
"Harriet, ith that you?"
"Tommy, what a start you gave me! When did you wake up? What are you
doing here?" questioned Harriet in a whisper.
"That ith what I wath going to athk you. What ith it?"
"Sh-h-h! You will waken the others."
"If you didn't wake them up with that thneeze nothing but a club will
wake them." Tommy crept close to her companion. "You thee thomething,
don't you?"
"Not much. The night is too dark. I can see the outlines of the 'Sue'
over there, but that is about all."
"Ith anything the matter with her?"
"I think not."
"Then why are you watching her tho clothely?"
"You are altogether too observant, Tommy. But don't speak so loudly,
please. There is nothing of any importance over there. Please go back
to bed. You will complain about having to get up for breakfast in the
morning."
"Did you ever hear me complain about having to eat?"
"I can't say that I ever did," smiled Harriet. "But you will catch
cold out here."
"Tho will you. You will catch cold firtht becauthe you have been out
here longer than I have. Anything elthe?"
"No, except that I am not going to waste my breath giving you advice.
When you become cold enough I presume you will go back to bed."
"Yeth, when I find out what ith going on out here. I won't catch cold,
but maybe if I thtay out here long enough I'll catch a fithh. There! I
know what you are watching. You are watching that 'Thilly Thue.'"
"Sh-h-h!"
The creaking on board had begun again. It continued at intervals for
several moments, both girls listening almost breathlessly.
"Wha--at are they doing?" whispered Tommy.
"I don't know. That is what I am trying to find out."
"My grathiouth! Maybe the captain is going to run away with the
'Thilly Thue'."
"No. Come to think of it, I believe he must be getting the boat ready
for our sail to-morrow."
"Not without a light. There ith thomething else going on. Oh, look!"
Following a period of silence, blue sparks began sputtering from the
masthead of the "Sister Sue." The girls could hear the sparks crackle
and snap spitefully.
"Oh, look at the fireworkth!" cried Tommy out loud. "The thhip ith on
fire!"
Harriet laid a firm hand on her arm. "Keep still!"
A faint squealing sound was now distinguishable, while the sparking
at the masthead continued with almost rhythmic regularity.
"I know! I know what it is!" gasped Harriet excitedly. "Listen, Tommy,
listen. Don't you know?"