"WHAT THE NIGHT HELD"
"Oh--h, take me back to the cabin!" moaned Pola.
"I guess we might as well," muttered Mart. Their matches had been long
since exhausted; they had been of little avail for the one ship's light
on the boat was without oil.
One on each side of her, Mart and Sidney helped Pola down into the
cabin. The boat was rolling heavily now in the rough sea, each lift and
drop sending terror to the three young hearts. In the blackness of the
night the waves looked mountain high. Even Mart was glad to shut them
from view.
"If--if we're going to drown I'd rather drown in--a--room," gasped
Pola, clinging to Sidney and burying her face in Sidney's shoulder.
It seemed to the girls as though months had passed since Lav had
plunged to what they felt certain was his death. The _Arabella_ had
tossed about on the roughening water like some wild thing, her old
timbers creaking and groaning under their new living. Just at first
Sidney and Mart had been too concerned in quieting the panic-stricken
Pola to face their danger; not until Pola had exhausted herself did
they think of their possible fate.
Unless Lav succeeded in reaching the beach and giving an alarm, they
might toss about for days or be dashed to pieces on some reef. Or,
worse fate, Jed Starrow and his gang might find the boat and--
"Wh-at are you thinking about, Mart?" whispered Sidney after a long
time of silence, broken only by the howling of the wind and the
pounding of the water. "Let's talk--and then we can't hear--"
"Don't be afraid, Sidney," Mart spoke calmly. "You sort o' belong to
the Cape and we Cape folks don't think anything of drowning. We sort of
expect to, sometime--" But here her voice broke with a tremble. "I--I
was thinking of gran'ma. I wish I'd been better to her. I talk back to
her lots of times when I shouldn't."
"But you _are_ good to her, Mart. And--_I_ was thinking of Aunt Achsa.
I shouldn't have deceived her--about coming out here. I fooled myself
into thinking that even a lie didn't matter considering what we were
trying to do. But the honor of Cape Cod isn't worth anything happening
to Lav. And if anything does happen there won't be anyone to tell about
Jed Starrow, anyway! Oh, Mart, I can't bear to _think_ about Lav. Why
did we let him do it? Dear old Lav. I've been mean to him, too. He
adores poetry and I--I never even told him that my father was a poet
and that I know lots and lots of poems and--and--that I've written most
a book myself."
"Honest, Sid, was your father a poet? And you can write it yourself?
Gee," softly. "I wish I could do something like that. I'd rather be
like that than anything else. I just pretend that I hate school and
books and such things--it's because I had to stop going to school to
stay with gran'ma that I've put on that I didn't have any use for it.
Even when I was sort of laughing at you, Sid, down in my heart I was
feeling aw'fly proud that you'd want to fool 'round with anyone like
me--I'll _always_ be proud."
"Oh, Mart--" Sidney faltered. "I wish I could put into words what Mr.
Dugald taught me when I first came here. That it's the big inside
things that really count. He told me so's I'd see Aunt Achsa and Lav as
they really are. And, Mart, your giving up school to take care of your
grandmother is a big thing, a real thing! You don't want to forget it."
"Oh, I'm--I'm--sick!" broke in Pola.
"Sit up straight and talk and you won't think about it," commanded
Mart, so sternly that Pola straightened, her white face wan in the
darkness.
"I don't see how you _can_ talk when you're--may be--going--to die!"
"Well, talking helps you more than crying."
"But I--I don't _want_ to--die."
"Who does?" retorted Mart roughly. Nevertheless, touched by Pola's
helplessness, she found Pola's hand and held it close in hers. "But
let's face whatever happens with our heads up!"
"To the wind," breathed Sidney, shivering.
"I--I just can't be brave like you two. I--I'm an awful coward. I can't
help it. I've always been afraid to even try to swim. I'm afraid of
lots of things. Oh, I'm afraid to--to--"
Sidney caught Pola's other hand.
"Don't say it, Pola. Maybe someone will find us. And probably you can't
help feeling afraid."
Mart suddenly remembered the cookies she had brought. She found them
where she had hidden them at the back of one of the bunks.
"Here, eat a cookie and you'll forget things. I'm hungry, aren't you,
too?"
Pola ate with nervous greed. Sidney bit off a piece but found it dry in
her mouth. She was thinking of her sisters and the safety of the dear
old house; as vividly as though it hung in a picture before her eyes
she saw the little circle around the dining room table, the embroidered
square of Indian cloth, the green shaded lamp, Issy's books and Trude's
sewing, Vick's sketching things, the girls at their beloved tasks--and
her chair empty! Oh, what if she never sat again in that dear circle?
Her heart broke in an agony of longing for Trude.
A sudden thought roused Pola to a feeble show of spirit.
"If I had known how to swim we'd all be ashore now! And you two stayed
with me! I--I don't believe I'm worth that, girls." She spoke with
gloomy conviction.
But Mart answered with a promptness that settled that question forever.
"Forget it. Why, you don't think we could a' done anything else, do
you? And now I'm going up on deck and get some air. We must be most to
Halifax by this time."
"_Halifax!_" But this time Pola did not scream.
* * * * *
Lavender, after his first plunge, had struck out toward the lighthouse.
His Mr. Dugald had taught him the science of swimming and because it
was the one thing he could do easily and well, in spite of his
misshaped body, Lavender had taken pride in perfecting the practice.
His assurance helped him now; he had no fear, he knew how to save his
strength; he swam first with one stroke, then with another, always
keeping in sight the beacon of light.
But after a little it came to him that the yellow gleam did not seem
any closer; in fact, it grew fainter; he knew then, with a moment's
panic, that the tide and wind were too strong for him. He cursed his
frail strength, with a smarting in his eyes that did not come from the
salt water.
There was only one thing he could do. Turn his back on the friendly
light and strike out in the direction of the beach. It would be
further, but the cross currents of the tide would not impede his
progress so much.
For a long time he fought ahead stubbornly, changing his strokes, even
swimming on his back. But his breath came with increasing difficulty, a
sharp pain stabbed at his side. He labored on. The pain grew sharper
and caught at him like a horrible vise. Once he yielded to it and sank
down, down into the black water. But it passed and, as he rose, he
struck out again, blindly, now, for he had lost all sense of direction.
"Oh, God! Oh, God!" he shouted in his heart. His Aunt Achsa's God,
whose All-embracing Love he had questioned because that God had made
him crooked, must help him now! "I _got_ to get help!" God _must_ hear
him.
A great exhaustion seized him. He sank again with a quivering breath.
But now his feet touched sand. With new strength he plunged ahead.
Again he was in deep water but he swam with eager strokes. The dreadful
pain stabbed but he did not heed. Now he saw moving lights. He was near
the beach! With a heartbreaking effort he fought the strength of the
water, finally gaining the shallow depths. He heard voices nearby in
the darkness.
Knee-deep in the water he tried to shout but he had no strength. A
terrible faintness was creeping over him. His arms outstretched, he
stumbled forward toward the voices. Oh, he must _not_ yield to that
overpowering sleepiness until he had made them know!
"Help--help!" he gasped, reeling toward the shadowy forms.
"What the blazes--" A man ran forward. Two others came at his heels.
"Why, _it's Lav Green_!" one of them cried.
"The _Arabella_--adrift out there--Sidney's on it--oh--_help_! And then
Lavender slipped into the strong arms that reached out to catch him.
"Quick, the _Sally_! She's at Rockman's!" Captain Davies ran toward
Rockman's wharf. Before Jed Starrow's men, concealed behind the shed
could guess their intention, three men had jumped into the big motor
boat and had swung her free of the wharf.
"What the hell--" shouted an ugly voice after them, but the _Sally_
only chugged out into the darkness of the bay.
* * * * *
"Look, Sid--light! It's--it's--morning!" Mart's voice came in a thin
whisper. For a long time the girls had lain huddled against the
taff-rail of the boat, too weary and disheartened to even talk.
Sidney lifted her face to the tiny streak of light that gleamed palely
in the east.
Then she shook Pola ever so slightly. Poor Pola had fallen into a sleep
of exhaustion. She stirred now with a little cry. "What is it?"
"It's morning--daylight. See--there--"
"Oh--h!" Pola whimpered. "Is that all?" She clung to Sidney in fresh
terror. "If we're going to die--I'd rather not _see_--"
"Hark," cried Mart, suddenly leaning forward. "Don't you hear
something? Girls, that's a motor boat! I _know_! Quick. Let's signal!
Yell! Wave something! _Anything!_" She sprang to her feet, leaning her
body against the rail for support as the boat rolled in the heavy sea.
She cupped her hands to her lips and shouted lustily. "Come on, girls!"
she commanded.
"Maybe it's the pirates," wailed Pola.
"I don't care if it is! I don't care _what_ it is!" And Mart and Sidney
lifted their chorus.
Out of the mist that lay over the surging water a small, gray object
gradually shaped. The chug-chug of an engine now came distinctly to
their ears. After a little they could make out the forms of two men
standing. And then someone shouted faintly.
Pola, a solemn happiness transfiguring her face, clung to Sidney.
"Girls," she whispered, "We're going to be saved! And I'll never forget
this night--never. Or you two. Or what you've done! Or what you _are_.
And I'm never going to get over being ashamed of myself!"
Sidney had some solemn resolutions of her own shaping in her heart but
the moment gave her no time to pronounce them.
"Mart!" she cried. "It's _not_ Jed Starrow! It's--it's--Cap'n Phin
Davies! And that means that--_Lav_--_made_--_it_!" And happy tears ran
down her cheeks.
Under the skilled guidance of the man at its wheel the _Sally_ soon
came alongside of the _Arabella_. Cap'n Davies promptly boarded the
schooner and the next instant Sidney was in his arms.
"All I'll say is praise be to God!" the old mariner muttered. "And now
I cal'late you and your mates here are 'bout ready to abandon your
cruisin'--"
"Lav, is he--all right?" demanded Sidney, still clinging to Cap'n Phin.
"Well, he jest about made port and how he is now I can't say for I
didn't waste any time shippin' in the _Sally_. Lucky for us it was
lyin' there at Rockman's. Give us a hand, Saunders, while we load on
this cargo of distress!" A roughness in the old man's voice betrayed
that the big heart was not as light as he would have the girls think.
For hours they had searched the bay with only their knowledge of tides
and winds to guide them; more than once the others had been ready to
abandon the search as futile, but the Captain had held them stubbornly
to it.
Pola needed no urging but leaped into the _Sally_ and sank to its
bottom with a long gasp of relief. Sidney and Mart were about to follow
her example when a word from Cap'n Davies held Sidney.
"We'll let a government boat pick up the _Arabella_. We'll take no
chances tryin' to tow her in with the _Sally_." And then Sidney thought
of the treasure.
"But the diamonds!" she cried.
"_Diamonds_--" Cap'n Davies stared at her, his mouth open.
"Why, yes, they're on this boat. They _must_ be! We were in the forward
cabin watching and Jed Starrow came on board and they talked right
where we could hear. They were going to take them off and then they
decided it wasn't safe and they'd wait and they went away. And then
they must have cut the boat adrift. But we're _sure_ they're on this
boat."
"So that was it! Of all the low-down dastardly tricks! Well, never mind
your diamonds, now. We got to get back to shore and let a few folks
know--"
"But I won't _go_ until we've looked!" Sidney protested, almost in
tears. "Why, that was why we risked everything! And Lav wants to save
the name of the Cape--the--the way--you do! Oh, please look!"
The old Captain dropped his hold of the girl's arm. "Well, I'll be
ding-blasted!" he stormed. But he motioned to Saunders. "Climb aboard
and give us a hand. 'Taint likely they'd hide their stuff above deck.
You look round the stern and the girls and me'll give a hunt forward.
Of all the stubborn, crazy-headed female pieces you'll beat 'em all!"
While Saunders searched the stern of the schooner the Captain and
Sidney and Mart searched the fo'castle cabin. Sidney, tugging away the
heavy tarpaulins, disclosed a small wooden box.
"I'm _sure_ it wasn't there before--" she cried. "Why--why, I was
_sitting_ on it--"
Cap'n Davies lifted the box. "It's pretty big to be diamonds but it
looks suspicious like! And you're sure it wasn't there before? That it
ain't the property of that summer boarder of Miss Green's?"
Sidney's face was flaming with excitement. "Oh, I'm _sure_! The other
stuff was there but there wasn't any box under it. If I hadn't been so
excited listening I'd have realized I was sitting on something
different. Can't we look inside?"
"We won't take the time to look at anything now, mate. We'll get
ashore. I reckon by this time there are folks strainin' their eyes for
a sight o' you--"
He fairly pushed Sidney and Mart ahead of him and toward the _Sally_.
Saunders lifted the girls into the smaller boat, then took the box.
"To Rockman's. Quick as you can make it," snapped Cap'n Phin.