direction, I found mesilf in the midst of a crowd. The sittin'-room was
full of people, all with misery in their faces. The woman whose cries
had woke me was standin' be the windey, with one hand around a
handkerchief. 'My God!' she was sayin'--'My God. And me bhoy is on that
boat!' And I knew that it was throuble and that many people would have
their heads in their hands that night, with aches in their throats. I
got up--shoes in me hand. At sight of me bright unifor-rm ten men flung
themselves on me. 'You will help save them?' they cried at me.
"'I will so soon as I get me shoes on,' I remar-rked, pushing them off
me toes. I put on me boots and stood up. 'Now I'll save thim,' says I.
'Where are they?'
"'They're on the _Gladys_,' says three at once. 'Thirty of our
people--women and men and childher.'
"'Why wake me?' I demanded crosslike. 'Aren't the brave life-savers even
now sitting be the fire waitin' for people to come and be saved? I'm a
chief engineer in the lighthouse establishmint and we save no lives
excipt whin we can't help it. Get the life-saving crew.'
"And they explained to me bould Mickey that the crew was gone twenty
miles up the coast to rescue the men on a steam schooner that was
wrecked off the Siletz, word of it having come down but two hours
since. They looked at me unifor-rm and demanded their relatives at me
hands. I shoved them away and wint out to think. In the prociss it
occurred to me that the _Gladys_ might not be lost. I wint back and
asked thim how they knew it was time to mourn. 'If that launch is ashore
they are as close to the fire as they can get,' I tould thim. 'And if
she has gone down 'tis too late to dhry their stockings.'
"'She is lost in the fog,' I was infor-rmed. She shud have been back at
her wharf at four o'clock. 'Twas now turned six and the bar was rough
and blanketed in mist. The captain of the harbor tug had stated, with
wise shakes of the head, that the _Gladys_ cud do no more than lay
outside the night and wait for sunshine and a smooth crossing. I shoved
thim away from me again and wint out to think.
"It was a mur-rky fog, that sort that slathers over the watther like
thick oil. Beyond the hill I cud hear the surf pounding like a riveter
in a boiler. Overhead was a sheet of gray cloud, flying in curds before
the wind, and in me mouth was the taste of the deep sea, blown in upon
me with the scent of the storm.
"Two words with the skipper of the tug tould me the rest. 'It's coming
on to blow a little from the south-ard,' said me bould mariner. 'It's so
thick the _Gladys_ can't find her way back. Her passengers will be cold
and hungry whin they retur-rn in the mor-rnin'.'
"'And will ye not go after thim?'
"'I can't,' says he. 'Me steamer is built for the bay and one sea on the
bar wud destroy the investmint. The life-saving crew is up north after a
wreck.'
"'Is there no seagoin' craft in this harbor?' I demands.
"'There is not,' says he. 'Captain Tyler took his gas schooner down the
coast yesterday.'
"So I sat down and thought, wonderin' how I cud sneak off me unifor-rm
and have peace. For I knew me brass buttons wud keep me tongue busy all
night explainin' that I was not a special providence paid by the
Governmint to save fools from purgat-ry. In me thoughts I heard a wor-rd
in me ear. I looked up. 'Twas me bould Tad, with a gang clustherin' at
his heels.
"'Ye have followed the sea for many years?' says he.
"'I have followed it whin it was fair weather,' I responded, 'but the
most of the time the sea has chased me ahead of it. Me coattail is still
wet from the times it caught me. Speak up! What is it?'
"The bhoy pulled out of his jacket his ould chart and laid it before me.
'The _Gladys_ is at anchor off these rocks,' says he, layin' a small
finger on a spot. 'And in this weather she will have to lie there as
long as she can. Whin it blows she must up anchor and get out or go
ashore here.' He moved his finger a mite and it rested on what meant
rocks.
"'Well,' I remar-rks.
"'Me father and all the bhoys' fathers are gone up north to rescue the
crew of a steam schooner that's wrecked. Before they get back it will be
too late. I thought----'
"'What were ye thinkin', ye scut?' says I fiercely.
"He dropped one foot on the other and looked me between the eyes. 'I was
thinkin' we wud go afther her and save her,' says he, very bould.
"I cast me eyes over the bunch of little felleys and laughed. But me
bould Tad didn't wink. 'There's people out there drownding,' says he.
'We've dhrilled and we know all the ropes; but we can't pull our skiff
across the bar and the big boat is not for us, bein' the keeper's
orders. And we haven't the weight to pull it anyhow.' And he stared me
out of me laugh.
"'There's no seagoin' craft in the harbor,' I says, to stop his
nonsinse.
"'There is another launch,' he remar-rks casually.
"We looked at each other and he thin says: 'Can ye run a gasoline
engine?'
"'I have had to,' I infor-rms him, 'but I dislike the smell.'
"'The owner of this launch is not here,' says me young sprig. 'And he
niver tould us not to take it. If you'll run the engine we'll be off and
rescue the folks on the _Gladys_!'
"Be the saints! I laughed to kill mesilf, till the little brat up and
remar-rks to his gang: 'These lighthouse officers wear a unifor-rm and
have no wor-rkin' clothes at all, not needin' thim in their business.'
"So I parleyed with thim a momint to save me face. 'And how will ye save
thim that's dyin' in deep watthers?'
"'By to-morrow nobody can cross the bar,' I'm infor-rmed. 'And the
skipper of the _Gladys_ don't know this coast. We'll just pick him up
and pilot him in.'
"'But the bar!' I protests. 'It's too rough to cross a launch
inward-bound, even if ye can get out.'
"'I know the soft places,' says the little sprig of a bhoy, very
proudly. 'Come on.'
"'And if I don't come?' I inquired.
"He leaned over and touched the brass buttons on me jacket. 'Ye have
sworn to do your best,' says he. 'I've not had a chance to take me oath
yet as a second-class scout, but between ourselves we have done so. I
appeal to yez as one man to another.'
"I got up. 'I niver expicted to serve undher so small a captain,' I
remarks, 'but that is neither here nor there. Where is that gasoline
engine?'
"We stepped proudly off in the dusk, me bould Tad houldin' himsilf very
straight beside me and the gang marchin' at our heels shoulder to
shoulder. Prisintly we came to a wharf, and ridin' to the float below it
was a big white launch, cabined and decked. Tad jumped down and the gang
folleyed. Thin I lowered mesilf down with dignity and intered the
miserable engine room.
"I have run every sort of engine and machine made by experts and other
ignoramuses. I balk at nothing. The engine was new to me, but I lit a
lantern and examined its inwards with anxiety and superciliousness.
Prisintly, by the grace of God, it started off. A very small bhoy held
the lantern for me while I adjusted the valves and the carbureter, and
this bould lad infor-rmed me with pride that the 'leader' had assigned
him to me as my engine-room crew. And whin the machine was revolvin'
with some speed that individal thrust his head in at the door to ask me
if I was ready. 'If ye are,' says that limb of wickedness, 'we will
start, chief.'
"'Ye may start any time,' I says, with great respict. 'But whin we'll
stop is another matther.'
"'Ye must keep her goin' whiles we cross the bar,' he infor-rms me, with
a straight look.
"The little gong rang and I threw in the clutch and felt the launch
slide away. The jingle came and I opened her up. 'Twas a powerful
machine and whin I felt the jerk and pull of her four cylinders I sint
me assistant to find the gasoline tank and see whether we had oil
enough. Thinks I, if this machine eats up fuel like this we must e'en
have enough and aplenty. The bhoy came back with smut on his nose and
sthated that the tank was full.
"'How do ye know?' I demanded.
"'I've helped the owner fill her up several times,' says the brat. 'The
leader insists that we know the insides of every boat on the bay. 'Tis
part of our practice, and whin we get to be scouts we will all run
gasoline engines.'
"So we went along and the engines war-rmed up; and I trimmed the lantern
and sat me down comfortable as a cat on a pan of dough. Thin there was a
horrible rumpus on deck and some watther splashed down the back of me
neck. ''Tis the bar,' says me proud engine-room crew, balancin' himsilf
on the plates.
"'They are shovin' dhrinks across it too fast for me,' I retorts, as
more watther simmers down.
"'Oh, the leader knows all the soft places,' he returns proudly, this
bould sprig. And with a whoop we drove through a big felly that almost
swamped us. Thin, as far as I cud judge, the worst was over.
"Prisintly we got into the trough of the sea and rowled along for an
hour more. Then the jingle tinkled and I slowed down. Me bould Tad stuck
his head in at the little door. 'The _Gladys_ is right inshore from us,'
he remarks, careless-like. 'We will signal her to up anchor and come
with us.' He took me lantern and vanished.
"Whin I waited long enough for all the oil to have burned out of three
lanterns I turned the engines over to me crew and stepped out on deck.
It was a weepin' fog, with more rowlin' in all the time, and the feel
on me cheek was like that of a stor-rm. I saw me bould Tad on the
little for'a'd deck, swingin' his little lamp.
"'What's the matther with that scut of a skipper?' I inquires.
"The boy was fair cryin' with rage and shame. 'He cannot undherstand the
signal,' says he; 'and 'tis dangerous to run closer to him in this sea.'
"'If he don't understand yer signal,' says I, ''tis useless to talk more
to him with yer ar-rms. Use yer tongue.'
"And at that he raised a squeal that cud be heard a hundred feet, the
voice of him bein' but a bhoy's, without noise and power. 'Let be,' says
I. 'I've talked me mind across the deep watthers many times.' And I
filled me lungs and let out a blast that fetched everybody on deck on
the other launch. Then I tould that skipper, with rage in me throat,
that he must up anchor and folley us or be drownded with all his
passengers dragging on his coattails through purgat'ry. And he listened,
and prisintly we saw the _Gladys_ creep through the darkness and fog up
till us. When she crossed our stern me bould Tad tould me to command her
to folley us into port.
"Ravin's and ragin's were nothin' to the language we traded across that
watther for the five minutes necessary to knock loose the wits of that
heathen mariner. In the end he saw the light, and the passengers that
crowded his sloppy decks waved their arms and yelled with delight. Me
bould Tad went into the little pilot house and slammed the door. He
spoke to me sharply. ''Twill blow a gale before midnight.' He rang the
bell for full speed ahead.
[Illustration: "I WENT TO LEEWARD AND THERE FOUND ME BOULD TAD LAUNCHIN'
THE LITTLE DINGY"]
"An hour later I was signaled to stop me machines. I dropped the clutch
and sint me assistant for news. He came back with big eyes. 'The leader
says the other launch can't make it across the bar,' he reports.
"'Well,' I says.
"'We're goin' to take off her passengers and cross it oursilves,' says
the brat. With that he vanishes. I folleyed him.
"We were stopped right in the fog, with roily waves towerin' past us and
the dull noise of the bar ahead of us. The _Gladys_ was right astern of
us, and even in the darkness I cud catch a glimpse of white faces and
hear little screams of women. I went to leeward and there found me bould
Tad launchin' the little dingy that was stowed on the roof of the cabin.
Whin it was overside four of me bould gang drops into it and pulls away
for the other launch. 'They'll be swamped and drownded,' I remar-rks.
"'They will not,' says Tad. 'I trained thim mesilf. 'Tis child's play.'
"'Childher play with queer toys in this counthry,' I continues to
mesilf; and I had a pain in me pit to see thim careerin' on the big
waves that looked nigh to breakin' any minute. But they came back with
three women and a baby, with nothin' to say excipt: 'There's thirty-one
of thim, leader!'
"'Leave the min,' says he, real sharp. 'Tell the captain we'll come back
for thim after we've landed the women safe.'
"I tucked the women down in the afther cabin, snug and warm, and wint
back on deck. The boat was away again, swingin' over the seas as easy as
a bird.
"'That's good boatmanship,' I remar-rks.
"'It's young Carson in command,' says me bould bhoy leader.
"'Twas fifteen minutes before the boat came back, and thin there was a
man in it, with two women. Whin it swung alongside Tad helped out the
ladies and thin pushed at the man with his foot. 'Back ye go!' he says.
'No room on this craft for min.'
"'But you're only a lot of bhoys!' says the man in a rage. 'Who are you
to give orders? I'll come aboard.'
"'Ye will not,' says me bould Tad, and I reached into the engine room
for a spanner whereby to back him up, for I admired the spunk of the
young sprig. But the man stared into the lad's face and said nothin'.
And the boat pulled away with him still starin' over his shouldher.
"The nixt boatload was all the rest of the womenfolks and childher and
Tad ordered the dingy swung in and secured. Thin he tur-rned to me. 'We
will go in.'
"'Which way?' I demands.
"He put his little hand to his ear. 'Hear it?' he asks calmly. I
listened and by the great Hivins there was a whistlin' buoy off in the
darkness. I wint down to me machines.
"I've run me engines many a long night whin the devil was bruising his
knuckles agin the plates beneath me. But the nixt hour made me tin years
ouldher. For we hadn't more'n got well started in before it was 'Stop
her!' and 'Full speed ahead!' and 'Ease her!' Me assistant was excited,
but kept on spillin' oil into the cups and feelin' the bearin's like an
ould hand. Once, whin the sea walloped over our little craft, he grinned
across at me. 'There ain't many soft places to-night!' says he.
"'Ye're a child of the Ould Nick,' says I, 'and eat fire out of an
asbestos spoon.'
"''Tis the scouts' law not to be afraid,' retor-rts me young demon. But
me attintion was distracted be a tremenjous scamperin' overhead. 'For
the love of mercy, what is that?' I yelled.
"'Tis the leader puttin' out the drag,' says me crew. 'Whin the breakers
are high it's safer to ride in with a drag over the stern. It keeps the
boat from broachin' to.' And to the dot of his last word I felt the
sudden, strong pull of something on the launch's tail. Thin something
lifted us up and laid us down with a slap, like a pan of dough on a
mouldin' board. Me machines coughed and raced and thin almost stopped.
Whin they were goin' again I saw me assistant houldin' to a stanchion.
His face was pasty white and he gulped. 'Are ye scared at last?' I
demanded of him.
"'I am seasick,' he chokes back. And he was, be Hivins!
"So we joggled and bobbled about and I wondhered how many times we had
crossed the bar from ind to ind, whin suddenly it smoothed down and I
saw a red light through the little windey. Me assistant saw it too.
'That's the range light off the jetty,' says he. 'We're inside.'
"I shoved open the door to the deck and looked out. The fog lay about us
thick and the wind was risin'; I cud barely make out the lights ahead. I
stuck me head out and glanced astern. 'Way back of us, like a match
behind a curtain, I saw a little light bobbing up and down in the fog. I
took me crew be the ear and thrust his head out beside mine. 'What is
that?' I demanded.
"'Tis the other launch,' he says. 'I guess they folleyed us in.'
"We ran up to the wharf and the gang made everything fast; and then me
bould Tad comes to me with a sheepish face. 'Wud ye mind tellin' the
ladies and childher that they can go ashore and get to the hotel?' he
says.
"So it was me that wint in and tould the ladies they were saved and
helped thim to the wharf and saw thim started for the hotel. Thin I came
back to the launch, but there was nobody there. Me bould gang had
disappeared. Just thin the other launch came up, limpin' on one leg,
covered with drippin' men and blasphemy. They didn't wait for the lines
to be put out, but jumped for the float like rats out of biscuit barrels
and swarmed for the hotel. Whiles I was watchin' thim the skipper of the
_Gladys_ pulls himself out of his wrecked pilot house and approaches me
with heavy footfalls. 'I'm toold that 'twas bhoys that manned this
launch,' he remar-rks. 'If it is so, I wudn't have come in and nearly
lost me ship.'
"'If it hadn't been for the bhoys ye'd now be driftin' into the breakers
off yer favorite fishin' spot,' I retor-rts. 'Nixt time ye try suicide
leave the women and childher ashore.' And with the words out of me mouth
the gale broke upon us like the blow of a fish.
"We took shelter behind a warehouse and the skipper of the 'Gladys' said
in me ear: 'I suppose the owner of the launch had to get what crew he
cud. Where is he? I'd like to thank him.'
"'If ye will come with me to the hotel ye shall see the man ye owe life
to,' I infor-rmed him.
"As we intered the hotel a tall man, with the mar-rk of aut'ority on
him, observed me unifor-rm and addressed me: 'What do you know about
this?'
"Aut'ority is always aut'ority, and I tould him what I knew and had
seen, not forbearin' to mintion the gang and their wild ambitions. And
whin I had finished this man said: 'I shall muster thim in to-morrow. I
happen to be in command of the scouts in this district.'
"'But they haven't their dollars to put in the little bank,' I remarked.
'And they tell me without their dollar they cannot be second-class
scouts, whativer that is.'
"At this a fat man reached for a hat off the hook and put his hand in
his pocket, drew it out and emptied it into the hat, and passed it.
"And while the money jingled into it my respict for the brave lads rose
into me mouth. 'They won't take it,' I said. 'They have refused money
before. 'Tis their oath.'
"The man with authority looked over at me. 'The chief is right,' he
said. 'They have earned only a dollar apiece. Whose launch was that they
took?'
"'Faith and I don't know,' I said. 'They remar-rked that the
owner--Hivin bless him!--had niver forbidden thim to use it.'
"'Thin we must pay the rint of it for the night,' says he. 'But the
bhoys will get only a dollar apiece." Where are they?'
"'They disappeared whin the boat was fast, sir,' says I. 'I think they
wint home. 'Tis bedtime.'
"'D'ye know where the patrol-leader lives?' he demands.
"So we walked up the hill in the darkness and wind till we reached the
house of me bould Tad. A knock at the door brought the missus, with a
towel on her ar-rm. I pushed in. 'We've come to see yer son,' says I.
"We stepped in and saw the young sprig be the fire, on a chair, with his
feet in a bowl of watther and musthard. He was for runnin' whin he saw
us, but cudn't for the lack of clothes. So he scowled at us. 'This is
the commander of the scouts,' I says, inthroducin' me tall companion.
'And here's yer five dollars to put with yer dollar and six bits into
the little bank, so's yez can all of yez be second-class scouts.'
"'We can't take the money,' says he, with a terrible growl. 'The oath
forbids us to take money for savin' life.'
"'Don't be a hero,' I rebukes him. 'Ye're only a small bhoy in his
undherclothes with yer feet in hot watther and musthard. No hero was
ever in such a predicament. This gintleman will infor-rm ye about the
money.'
"Me bould companion looked at the slip of a lad and said sharply:
'Report to me to-morrow morning with yer patrol at sivin o'clock to be
musthered in.'
"With that we mar-rched out into the stor-rm and back to the hotel,
where I wint to slape like a bhoy mesilf--me that was sixty-four me last
birthday and niver thought to make a fool of mesilf with a gang of bhoys
and a gasoline engine--and that on a holiday!"
FOOTNOTE:
[D] Reprinted from "Tad Sheldon, Boy Scout," by special permission of
The Macmillan Company. Copyright, 1913, by R. Harold Paget.
[Illustration]
IV.--The Red-Headed League
_By Arthur Conan Doyle_
I HAD called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, one day in the autumn
of last year, and found him in deep conversation with a very stout,
florid-faced elderly gentleman, with fiery red hair. With an apology for
my intrusion, I was about to withdraw, when Holmes pulled me abruptly
into the room and closed the door behind me.
"You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear Watson," he
said, cordially.
"I was afraid that you were engaged."
"So I am. Very much so."
"Then I can wait in the next room."
"Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my partner and helper
in many of my most successful cases, and I have no doubt that he will
be of the utmost use to me in yours also."
The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of greeting,
with a quick little questioning glance from his small, fat-encircled
eyes.
"Try the settee," said Holmes, relapsing into his arm-chair, and putting
his finger-tips together, as was his custom when in judicial moods. "I
know, my dear Watson, that you share my love of all that is bizarre and
outside the conventions and humdrum routine of everyday life. You have
shown your relish for it by the enthusiasm which has prompted you to
chronicle, and, if you will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish
so many of my own little adventures."
"Your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to me," I
observed.
"You will remember that I remarked the other day, just before we went
into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary Sutherland, that for
strange effects and extraordinary combinations we must go to life
itself, which is always far more daring than any effort of the
imagination."
"A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting."
"You did, doctor, but none the less you must come round to my view, for
otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you, until your
reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to be right. Now, Mr.
Jabez Wilson here has been good enough to call upon me this morning,
and to begin a narrative which promises to be one of the most singular
which I have listened to for some time. You have heard me remark that
the strangest and most unique things are very often connected not with
the larger but with the smaller crimes, and occasionally, indeed, where
there is room for doubt whether any positive crime has been committed.
As far as I have heard, it is impossible for me to say whether the
present case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of events is
certainly among the most singular that I have ever listened to. Perhaps,
Mr. Wilson, you would have the great kindness to recommence your
narrative. I ask you, not merely because my friend, Dr. Watson, has not
heard the opening part, but also because the peculiar nature of the
story makes me anxious to have every possible detail from your lips. As
a rule, when I have heard some slight indication of the course of events
I am able to guide myself by the thousands of other similar cases which
occur to my memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that
the facts are, to the best of my belief, unique."
The portly client puffed out his chest with an appearance of some little
pride, and pulled a dirty and wrinkled newspaper from the inside pocket
of his greatcoat. As he glanced down the advertisement column, with his
head thrust forward, and the paper flattened out upon his knee, I took a
good look at the man, and endeavored, after the fashion of my
companion, to read the indications which might be presented by his
dress or appearance.
I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor bore
every mark of being an average commonplace British tradesman, obese,
pompous, and slow. He wore rather baggy gray shepherd's check trousers,
a not over-clean black frock-coat, unbuttoned in the front, and a drab
waistcoat with a heavy brassy Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of
metal dangling down as an ornament. A frayed top hat and a faded brown
overcoat with a wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair beside him.
Altogether, look as I would, there was nothing remarkable about the man
save his blazing red head and the expression of extreme chagrin and
discontent upon his features.
Sherlock Holmes' quick eye took in my occupation, and he shook his head
with a smile as he noticed my questioning glances. "Beyond the obvious
facts that he has at some time done manual labor, that he takes snuff,
that he is a Freemason, that he has been in China, and that he has done
a considerable amount of writing lately, I can deduce nothing else."
Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger upon the
paper, but his eyes upon my companion.
"How, in the name of good fortune, did you know all that, Mr. Holmes?"
he asked. "How did you know, for example, that I did manual labor? It's
as true as gospel, for I began as a ship's carpenter."