THE AWAKENING
As the boat shot forward and her keel grated on the sand the crew were
over the sides like a shot, seizing upon her in order to prevent the
outgoing wave from carrying her along.
Then one by one the women and children were carried to the shore, and
hurried to the shelter of the station, where a warm fire and something
to drink in the way of coffee and tea would put new life in the
shuddering mass.
The woman who had been so strangely agitated at sight of Darry seemed to
be a lady of refinement, but she was almost perishing from the cold, and
did not resist when they forced her to seek shelter.
Once she turned around and looked back to where Darry was busy; but when
inside the house she swooned from exhaustion, to come to later and find
Paul Singleton bending anxiously over her, with words of affection on
his lips.
Meanwhile Darry was ready to again take his place with the rest, but
Abner had been busy, and spoke to Mr. Frazer, who in turn engaged a
stalwart fisherman to fill the vacancy caused by Tom's absence.
Although disappointed, Darry did not insist, for he knew the tax upon
his young muscles had been severe, and if he failed it might throw the
whole crew out of balance.
So he saw them set out again, with his heart in his eyes.
When they had vanished from view he walked nervously up and down the
beach for a short time; then noticing the presence of a moving light not
more than half a mile down the shore he remembered what he had heard Mr.
Frazer say about the wreckers being abroad, looking for anything of
value they could lay hands on.
Usually these men make their living by gathering up whatever may be cast
on the beach after a vessel has gone to pieces, and thus far their
calling is legitimate, but as a rule they are a bad class, and at times,
when fortune frowns upon their efforts, many of their kind resort to
desperate means for accumulating riches, even robbing the dead, and it
was hinted in connection with Jim Dilks' crowd, going still further.
When a vessel is in danger of going to pieces, the passengers usually
load themselves with what valuables they may possess in the hope of
saving these in case they reach the shore in safety; so that these
ghouls frequently find a little fortune upon the persons of the drowned
travelers.
Darry had heard the crew of the lifeboat talking about these wreckers so
frequently that he was more than curious with regard to them, and as he
saw the lantern moving to and fro along the water's edge, now
approaching and again retreating, he felt a sudden desire to look upon
their methods of work. It was not a wise move on his part at all, for
such men are as a rule desperate characters, and resent being spied
upon, since such action savors too much of the law and justice in their
eyes; but Darry was only a venturesome boy, who somehow never knew the
meaning of the word fear, and a little saunter along the beach would
pass away some of the time until the boat came in again.
So he started off, telling no one of his intention, though one man
noticed him walk away, which fact proved fortunate in the end.
As he drew nearer the moving light he saw that, as he had suspected, it
was a lantern held in the hand of a big man who was passing along as
close to the edge of the water as he could, and surveying with the eye
of a hawk each incoming billow, as though he expected to discover a
floating form that must be snatched away ere it were carried out again.
But it was no errand of mercy that caused this human vulture to keep up
his unceasing vigil; for should the body of a luckless passenger come
ashore his first act would be to rifle the pockets rather than attempt
to restore life.
Darry caught a glimpse of several other figures beyond, but their
lanterns had evidently given out, so they were trusting to their eyes
alone for seeing in the dark.
He had never as yet met big Jim Dilks, but something told him that this
man was now before him, and he wondered if the son might not also be one
of the other prowlers beyond, since he evidently possessed the same kind
of savage instincts that characterized his father.
Darry had come as close as he deemed prudent when he saw the man start
forward with a sudden swoop, and seizing some object from the inflowing
wave drag it up on the shore.
There was no outcry to call the attention of others, for evidently this
was a game of "every man for himself," though possibly a division of
spoils might be made later on.
Horrified, Darry pressed closer, for he fancied he had seen a feeble
movement on the part of the figure drawn from the waves--doubtless
alone and unassisted the swimmer could never have crawled out on the
beach, but now that he was beyond reach of the waves, would the man who
had snatched him ashore do the slightest thing to keep the spark of life
from going out entirely?
He saw Jim Dilks bend eagerly down.
Closer still Darry pressed, unconscious in his eagerness to see that he
was placing his own life in danger.
The man who would not hesitate to rob the dead might go even further in
order to conceal his crime.
He saw Jiw Dilks hurriedly search through the pockets of the figure,
transfer a number of articles to his own person, and then with a growl
lift the body in his arms, giving it a toss that once more sent it
afloat.
The terrible nature of this act brought out a half-stifled cry from the
watching boy, and the wrecker, startled, wheeled to see him there.
He darted upon him like a wolf, and ere Darry could lift a hand to save
himself he was struck a severe blow on the head.
After that he knew nothing more.
When he opened his eyes later he found himself in the life-saving
station, and for a minute or so wondered what had happened, for as he
started to rise there was a severe pain in his head, and he sank back
with a sigh.
Then it all seemed to pass before him.
Again he could see the savage face of big Jim, as he turned like a
sheep-killing dog caught in the act, and once more Darry shivered with
the terrible thought that life had not wholly departed from the wretched
passenger from the ill-fated steamer at the time the wrecker tossed him
back into the merciless sea.
Who had found him, and brought him here, when evidently the lawless man
had intended that he should share the fate of the doomed passenger, and
thus forever have his lips sealed?
Someone must have heard him sigh, for there was a movement close by, and
his eyes took in the eager face of Paul Singleton.
"Bully for you, Darry! We were getting mighty anxious about you, but I
can see you're all right now. It has been hard to keep Abner at his duty
watching the shore. Every little while he appears at the door to ask if
you have recovered your senses yet. Why, he couldn't be more fond of you
if you were his own Joe," said Paul, running his hand tenderly over the
boy's forehead.
"I don't understand how I got here," declared Darry; "the last thing I
remember was being struck by the fist of that brute, big Jim Dilks. He
had just robbed a passenger from the wreck. I saw him pull the body out
of the water, clean out the pockets, and then throw the poor fellow back
again. And, Mr. Singleton, it's a terrible thing to say, but I'm most
sure there was life still in the body of the man he robbed when he
tossed him back!"
"The scoundrel, I wouldn't put it past him a particle. And that isn't
the first time he and his gang have done the same thing either. But
their time has come, Darry. Even now I chance to know that the
government has sent agents down here to make arrests, urged on by the
women of Ashley, and before another day rolls around all of those
rascals will be in the toils. You may be called on to give evidence
against Dilks. But please forget all about this gruesome matter just
now, my dear boy. There is something else of a vastly different nature
that awaits you--some delightful intelligence, in fact."
Paul paused to let the half-dazed lad drink in the meaning of his words.
"Oh! Mr. Singleton!" he began.
"No, from this hour let it be Paul--Cousin Paul, in truth. You know, I
said I wanted you to look upon me as an elder brother, but now it seems
that we are actually related, and that I am your full-fledged cousin."
"My cousin! Oh! what can you mean?" gasped the bewildered Darry.
"I'll tell you without beating around the bush, then. You are no longer
the poor homeless waif you used to believe yourself."
"No, that is true, thanks to dear old Abner and Nancy," murmured Darry,
loyal to his good friends in this hour.
"But there is someone who has a better claim upon your affection than
either Abner or Nancy, kind-hearted though they undoubtedly are. It is
your own mother, Darry!" exclaimed the young man, leaning over closer as
he said that word of magic.
"Mother! My mother! How sweet that sounds! But tell me how can this be?
Who am I, and where is she? How did you find it out, and, oh! Paul, are
you _sure_, quite sure? A disappointment after this would be hard to
bear."
"Have no fears, Darry, there is no longer the slightest shadow of a
doubt. The minute my aunt set her eyes on that crescent-shaped mark on
your arm she knew beyond all question that Heaven had granted her
prayers of years, and in this marvelous way restored her only child to
her again. She saw you leap overboard to save that little child, and she
recognized in your face the look she remembered so well as marking the
countenance of her husband, now long since dead. She says you are his
living picture as a boy."
"I remember some lady seizing hold of my arm after they dragged me
aboard the lifeboat, but at the time I believed it must be the mother of
the child, and I was anxious to get back to my place, for the boat might
upset with one oar missing. And that was--my mother?"
How softly, how tenderly, he spoke the word, as though it might be
something he had only dared dream about, and had difficulty in realizing
now that he could claim what nearly all other boys had, a parent.
"Yes, that was my dear Aunt Elizabeth. I wired her away down in South
America, where she was visiting cousins, and it has taken her quite a
while to get here. She had to change steamers twice, and meant to come
back here from New York by rail, when a strange freak of fortune sent
that vessel upon the reef, and placed you in the lifeboat that went to
the rescue. After this I shall stand in awe of the mysterious workings
of Providence, since this beats anything I ever heard of. I could see
something familiar in your looks, and after hearing your story sent for
her on a chance. That was why I dared not tell you any more than I did.
If I had only known about the history of that scar on your arm I would
have been positive. She asked me immediately about it, and when I told
her it was surely there she fainted again."
"My mother! how strange it seems. Go on please, Paul," murmured the boy,
reaching out and possessing himself of the other's hand, as though its
touch gave him assurance that this was not one of his tantalizing
dreams.
"I went in search of you, and one of the men told me he had seen you
walking down the beach, as though attracted by the light which he
believed was a lantern carried by a wrecker, perhaps the feared Jim
Dilks. I engaged him to accompany me, and securing a lantern we hurried
along. And Darry, we found you just in time, for the sea was carrying
you out. I believe that wretch must have cast you into the water just as
he did the body of the passenger."
"Then I owe my life to you--Cousin Paul?"
"If so it only squares accounts, for I guess I'd have gone under out
there on the sound only for your coming in time. But Darry, do you think
you feel strong enough to see your mother? I forced her to lie down in
the little room beyond, but she cannot sleep from the excitement."
"Yes, oh! yes. Please bring her. I shall be a long time understanding it
all, and trying to realize that I am truly awake. To think that I
really have a mother!"
Darry drew a long breath, and followed Paul with eager eyes as he went
through the doorway into the other room.
It was dawn now.
In more senses than one the day had come to Darry.
He heard low voices, and then someone came through the door, someone
whose eyes were fastened hungrily upon his face.
Darry struggled to sit up, and was just in time to feel a pair of arms
around his neck and have his poor aching head drawn lovingly upon the
bosom of the mother whom he had not known since infancy.