"SONNY'S" OUTFIT.
The inmates of the light-house were astir next morning very shortly
after Captain Eph went on watch, because it was the desire of the
keepers to start for the mainland at the earliest hour possible.
Uncle Zenas had insisted that they should leave as soon as breakfast had
been eaten, declaring that he and Sidney could trim the lamp and clean
the lens before the kitchen had been set to rights.
Therefore it was that the day had but just begun to break when the party
was ready to set off, and Captain Eph said warningly to his second
assistant when all were gathered at the cove, waiting for Mr. Peters to
launch the dory:
"See to it, Uncle Zenas, that the light is shut off on the stroke of
sunrise."
"I reckon I know enough to run this 'ere place one day, without any
extry lessons from you," the cook said gruffly, and Captain Eph
continued placidly, as if there had been no interruption:
"Remember that the lantern must be put in order before you get to work
on the kitchen. It seems to me as if we'd been a little slack in our
duties lately, an' I'm countin' on keepin' a stiffer hand over this 'ere
crew from now on."
"If you're goin' ashore, be off, an' don't try to teach your grandmother
how to suck eggs!" Uncle Zenas cried as if in anger. "Unless I'm a
nat'ral born idjut, I know as much 'bout this 'ere light as you do,
Ephraim Downs."
"I ain't sayin' anythin' agin that part of it, Uncle Zenas. We'll all
allow you know enough; but what worries me is that you'll get the idee
inter your head that it's more important to fix up the kitchen first,
an' I want you to keep sharp in mind that the cookin' part don't cut any
figger alongside of the light itself."
"Anybody would reckon you thought the cookin' part was all in all on
this 'ere ledge, if they could hear you growlin' when the meals don't
jest suit you," Uncle Zenas cried, and perhaps he would have said more
but for the fact that Captain Nutter came forward to say good-bye, and
thank him for the hospitality extended.
"Don't say a word about it," Captain Eph interrupted. "It's mighty
little we've done at the best, an' no more'n one Christian man ought'er
do for another. If we could have saved your whole crew, then there'd be
somethin' to talk about."
Each of the shipwrecked men in turn wanted to give words to his
gratitude, as was only natural, since, save for the exertions of the
keeper and his first assistant they would not have been alive; but Mr.
Peters was as much opposed to being thanked as was Captain Eph, and the
men went on board the dory after silently shaking hands with Uncle Zenas
and Sidney.
"Don't let Sammy linger 'round on shore any longer than is necessary!"
the cook cried warningly. "He's been off so much lately that I'm afraid
he'll get it inter his head it must be done reg'lar, whether he's got
any business or not."
"I'll look after him all right, so you needn't worry, Uncle Zenas," the
keeper cried cheerily, and then the dory was pushed off from the shore,
the cook and Sidney watching her until she had rounded the ledge,
heading a straight course for the shore.
"Now I reckon we'll go inter the lantern," Uncle Zenas said when it was
no longer possible to distinguish the faces of those in the boat, owing
to the dim light. "Cap'n Eph will keep his eyes on the light, an' if it
shouldn't happen to die away at the very minute when the sun ought'er
rise 'cordin' to his watch, the chances are he'd make all hands come
back to straighten us out."
Nothing so serious as that took place, however, for the light was
extinguished at the proper moment, and then the work of making it ready
for another night was begun.
"I declare for it, Sonny, you're as handy with this job as if you'd been
at it all your life!" Uncle Zenas exclaimed while Sidney was working.
"You're doin' it a heap better'n Sammy ever can, even if he sticks on
this ledge to the day of his death."
"That is because I've been trying hard to find out just how it should be
done," Sidney said laughingly, but decidedly pleased by the words of
praise. "You've all been so good to me, that I'd be a pretty poor kind
of a boy if I didn't do my best at the little jobs that come my way."
"It may seem as if you was gettin' the best end of the trade, Sonny; but
you're way off mistaken. We old shell-backs are the ones who's havin'
all the fat, 'cause it brightens us up wonderfully to have you 'round."
Sidney was at a loss for a reply to this remark, and changed the subject
of the conversation by asking Uncle Zenas of what service a certain
cylinder of thin brass, which entirely encircled the chimney of the
lamp, could be in the general arrangement of the light.
"I reckon you've noticed that this 'ere light seems to die away once in
every forty seconds, eh?" the old man asked as he raised and lowered the
cylinder. "Well, this cover of brass is what does it, an' the clock
keeps it movin'. You see the clock is made fast to the brass cylinder,
an' as the wheels go 'round it is raised till the whole of the flame is
uncovered, an' then lowered till it's nearly shut out. The whole thing
is simple enough, but it took a mighty clear-headed man to think it up.
When a vessel comes off this coast, an' the cap'n sees Carys' Ledge
light growin' dim an' then brightenin' up, he counts the number of
seconds that go by from one bright flash to another, an' says to
himself, says he: 'That 'ere is a forty-second flash, an' she's about so
an' so off the coast.' Then he dives inter the cabin, hunts up his list
of lights, sees which one answers to the description he's got in mind,
an' says to himself, says he: 'That's Carys' Ledge, an' I'll make the
course a leetle more southerly.' If that 'ere clock should happen to
break down on account of not bein' properly cared for, we'd have to take
turns grindin' a crank to keep the brass cylinder movin' up an' down
'cordin' to the rules an' regerlations, else there'd soon be another
ship piled up on the rocks alongside the _Nautilus_."
By the time Uncle Zenas had come to an end of his explanation, the
necessary work had been performed, and he said with a sigh of
satisfaction as he began to descend the stairs:
"Now I reckon we can be gettin' at the serious part of the business! It
allers makes me feel lonesome to know that the kitchen hasn't been set
to rights, for that's the first place a visitor gets into when he comes
to the light, an' he's liable to judge everything by what he sees
there."
"There isn't any great need to bother your head about visitors," Sidney
said with a laugh. "People don't come out to this ledge every day."
"True for you, Sonny; but s'posen the kitchen was lookin' like all
possessed on that pertic'lar day? I keep it put to rights as much of the
time as I can, an' then I don't stand any chance of bein' caught
nappin'."
Then Uncle Zenas went to work with a will, positively refusing all
offers of assistance from Sidney, and, finally, the lad went into the
watch-room, where he read about lenses and the refraction of light until
he despaired of ever thoroughly understanding the subjects.
At noon there were no signs of the keepers' return, but Uncle Zenas
declared the dory would "heave in sight" within the next two hours, and
proposed that they "have a bite to stay their stomachs," deferring a
regular dinner until all the crew were together once more.
"I don't want even a bite now," Sidney said decidedly. "Do you suppose
Captain Eph would be displeased if I carried the glasses into the
watch-room?"
"Not a bit of it, Sonny. Use 'em wherever you please, an' I'm allowin,'
if you keep a sharp lookout, you'll see the dory inside of half an
hour."
Then Sidney climbed the narrow stairs with the glasses held carefully
under his arm, and twenty minutes had not elapsed before he could see,
far away in the distance, what looked like a toy boat manned by a
miniature crew.
"They're coming, Uncle Zenas! They're coming!" he shouted, and the cook
replied:
"I reckoned it was about time they'd be showin' up, an' have jest put on
the potatoes. Dinner'll be ready when they get here."
Sidney watched through the glasses until he could distinguish the
features of both the keepers, and as he gazed Captain Eph waved his hand
to show that he had seen the little lad in the window of the tower.
Then Sidney ran down-stairs and out on the ledge, standing at the head
of the narrow cove as the dory rounded the rocks, while Mr. Peters
shouted:
[Illustration: SADDLE BACK LIGHT.]
"I'll tell you what it is, Sonny, we must have our motor boat in
runnin' order before next spring, for pullin' a pair of oars when a man
can jest as well sit still an' let a screw do the work is all nonsense.
I've found a fellow who claims he can put your machinery in prime order
for us, an', what's more, he's comin' out here to get it, when the wind
hauls 'round to suit him."
By the time Mr. Peters had thus imparted his news, the dory's bow was on
the ways, and Captain Eph had leaped ashore to take the lad in his arms
as if they had been parted many days.
"Been lonesome, Sonny?" the keeper asked anxiously, and Sidney replied
laughingly:
"No sir, though I was glad when you came in sight. Have you had a good
time?"
"I was wishin' every minute that I'd staid at home an' let Uncle Zenas
go; but I don't reckon it would have done any good if I'd coaxed him all
night to take my place. He's kind'er shy 'bout knockin' 'round in a boat
since he's growed so fat. We'll haul the dory up, an' then you shall see
what I've brought in the way of an outfit."
Captain Eph had no more than ceased speaking before the cook called them
to dinner, and in such a peremptory tone that the old keeper said
hurriedly:
"I reckon we'd best put off seein' the things till after we've pacified
Uncle Zenas by eatin' what he's been cookin'. It does beat all how
nervous that old man gets if all hands ain't ready to sit down at the
table the minute he says the word, an' 'twixt you an' me, he's growin'
worse every year of his life."
"Wa'al, Ephraim Downs, I hope this is the end of your gallivantin' for a
good long spell," Uncle Zenas cried when the keeper and Sidney entered
the kitchen. "It don't seem as if you'd been at home more'n one hour out
of every ten for the past five days."
"I reckon you can count on my stickin' pretty close to the ledge till
next spring," Captain Eph said in a soothing tone as he took his place
at the table. "When this spell of weather breaks, we're likely to get it
so heavy that there won't be a chance for an honest man to stick even
the end of his nose outside the tower."
"That's jest the way I figger it," Mr. Peters added as he seated himself
opposite Captain Eph, "an' so I've made up my mind to have a look at the
wreck before sunset."
"Haven't you pulled a pair of oars long enough for one day?" the keeper
asked in surprise, and Mr. Peters replied:
"I can't say that I ain't a bit tired; but it stands to reason the wreck
won't stay on the shoal a great spell, an' I want to see her."
"What did you get for Sonny?" Uncle Zenas asked, interrupting Mr. Peters
without the slightest compunction.
"We bought what Sammy an' me both allowed was the proper kind of an
outfit for a boy who counted on spendin' the winter on Carys' Ledge, an'
you'd seen the whole lot by this time, if you hadn't been in sich a
pucker for us to come to dinner," Captain Eph replied, much as if he
felt in some way injured because the meal had been served so promptly.
"The sooner you eat what's set before you, the sooner we'll see what you
brought," Uncle Zenas said sharply, and, thus admonished, Captain Eph
asked that the food be blessed to them.
The meal was not prolonged; as soon as his hunger had been satisfied the
old keeper went out to the dory for the several packages which had been
stowed in the bow of the boat, and Uncle Zenas stood in the doorway that
he might have the first opportunity of examining the goods.
It did really seem to Sidney as if Captain Eph and Mr. Peters had
purchased twice as many articles of wearing apparel as he needed; but
Uncle Zenas talked as if he thought they had been niggardly in selecting
the outfit.
There were two full suits of clothes, neither of them very expensive or
stylish, but stout and serviceable; under garments, stockings, boots,
oil-skins which were somewhere near small enough for him, and, what
pleased the lad hugely, a sou'wester--meaning a waterproof hat--which
fitted him to a nicety.
After the wardrobe had been examined critically by Uncle Zenas, who
declared that he would be obliged to "sew up every seam, else they'd
fall apart the first time Sonny looked at 'em hard," Captain Eph
unwrapped a large paper box, saying as he removed the cover:
"I know that little shavers are powerful fond of candy, so I bought what
I reckon will last Sonny quite a spell. Least-ways, here's all there was
in the shop, so we couldn't have got any more, no matter how much he
might have wanted it."
"You must have as much as ten pounds there, Ephraim Downs, an' it's a
downright shame to give Sonny that kind of truck when, if he wanted
sweets, I could have made him plenty of wholesome molasses candy," and
Uncle Zenas helped himself liberally from the box.
"I reckon he'll soon be needin' the molasses candy if you're goin' in so
steep," Captain Eph said with a laugh, as he covered the box and placed
it on a shelf behind the stove.
"What's to hinder Sonny from comin' with me to see the wreck, now that
you've showed up all the assortment?" Mr. Peters asked, and the old
keeper looked inquiringly at the lad.
"I'd like to go, sir," Sidney said in reply to the mute question. "I
have never seen a wrecked vessel."
"All right, Sonny; but I'm goin' along too, for I couldn't trust you
alone with Sammy," Captain Eph cried cheerily, and Uncle Zenas grumbled:
"I knew it would turn out this way, when you went ashore with Sonny.
You're gettin' a bad habit of roamin', Cap'n Eph, an' I'll count myself
lucky if I find you at meal time."
"You'll reach me then, Uncle Zenas, so long as you have your tongue
left," Captain Eph replied with a hearty laugh at his own wit as he went
hurriedly out of the tower, beckoning Sidney to follow. Not until the
lad had put on the coat made from the keeper's uniform would the cook
allow him to leave the kitchen, and by the time he gained the head of
the little cove, Mr. Peters had the dory ready for the voyage.
With each of the men using a pair of oars, and Sidney in the
stern-sheets steering, it was not a long journey to an outlying spur of
Carys' Ledge on which the _Nautilus_ foundered. The stern of the vessel
had been carried away, and the timbers completely shattered forward of
the main-mast; but from that point toward the bow she remained
comparatively intact.
"There won't be much to take away, Sammy," Captain Eph said grimly as
Sidney steered the dory around the hulk that they might get a good view.
"The cargo has been washed out clean as a whistle, an' the decks swept
till there's not so much as a belayin' pin to be seen. I don't reckon
you count on strippin' off the forward riggin' single-handed, eh?"
"I had an idee we might pick up somethin' in the way of small timbers,"
Mr. Peters replied ruefully. "We'll be needin' considerable of that kind
of stuff for our motor boat, when we get at her."
"I thought you had decided to put the motor in a dory?" Sidney said in
surprise.
"That was what I had in mind till I talked with the machinist ashore,
an' now I think we may as well build a craft with a cabin, seein's we'll
have plenty of time," and Mr. Peters searched the wreck with his eyes
for such lumber as he believed might be needed in order to carry out his
newly formed plan.
"All the light stuff would have been in the cabin, an' I'm allowin' that
a good bit of it will be washed up on the ledge," Captain Eph said as he
looked with a weatherly eye at the sky. "We're goin' to have the wind
from the east'ard mighty soon, if signs count for anything, an' then's
when you'll get all the lumber needed for half a dozen boats, though
where it can be stored for the winter beats me."
"There's plenty of room in the boat-house on either side of the dory. It
won't do any harm to fill up that space, an' she'll lay more quiet when
it's flooded," Mr. Peters suggested.
"We'll allow you're right, so far as that goes, Sammy, an' now if
there's anythin' on the wreck that you believe is worth savin', shin
aboard, for it's gettin' time we was back to the ledge."
Then Captain Eph pulled the dory in toward the wreck until it was
possible for Mr. Peters to clamber on board at the expense of a thorough
wetting, and while the keeper and Sidney waited in the dory, after she
had been backed off at a safe distance, the lad said with more of
decision in his tones than he ordinarily used when speaking to the old
sailor:
"I was thinking while you were ashore this forenoon, sir, that if I am
to stay at the light until father gets back, it's time I made a change
of sleeping quarters."
"Is there anything the matter with the bed you've got now, Sonny?"
Captain Eph asked anxiously.
"Nothing, except that it is yours, and I'm not willing to have you
turned out any longer. I don't need a room all to myself, and you do,
so there must be a change."
"I couldn't be any more comfortable than I am the way we've already
fixed things, Sonny, an' it would do me a world of good to know I was
givin' you somethin' nigh as fine as you'd get ashore."
"Neither you nor I know how little I might have ashore, sir, and I
sha'n't feel contented so long as you are kept out of your own room."
"How would it do if Uncle Zenas could fix up another bed there? It seems
to me we'd be snug an' cosy then," and Captain Eph's tone was much the
same as if he had been asking a great favor.
"Then it would be all right, sir. What I want is, to know that you have
the same chance for sleeping as before I came."
"I'll get Uncle Zenas to see what can be done this very night. You shall
have half the shelves for your own things, an' we'll make it look mighty
homelike, unless I'm way off my reckonin'. Hello, you Sammy!" the old
man cried, raising his voice. "How much longer are you goin' to fiddle
'round there?"
"I ain't much more'n got aboard; but if you're in sich a pucker to get
back to the reef, I'll wind up business for the night, an' come alone
to-morrow mornin', when I can do somewhere nigh what I want'er."
"That'll be the ticket, Sammy. Come out here an' stop all day, if you
like; but jest now I'd rather be where I'm paid for stayin'."
The dory was backed in as Captain Eph spoke, and Mr. Peters succeeded in
boarding her without serious mishap.
"There's a good bit of stuff aboard that's worth savin'," the first
assistant said as he pulled at the oars. "I reckon I'll make a raft of
it, so's to get it ashore in one trip."
"Take what you like, Sammy; but don't forget that you've got a mighty
small place in which to stow it."
Mr. Peters was so busily engaged in planning how he could care for the
material which might be taken from the wreck at the expense of
considerable hard work, that he was not inclined for further
conversation, and no word was spoken during the return trip.
When, the dory having been hauled up on the ways and properly housed for
the night, Sidney went into the tower, he found Uncle Zenas sewing on
the clothing which Captain Eph had brought from the mainland, and he
asked in surprise:
"Do you have to make new things over, sir?"
"Yes, Sonny, when they're sich slop-shop things as these. A stitch here
an' there now will save a world of trouble later, an' I'm lookin' to the
future. Where are you to keep all this stuff?"
Sidney repeated the substance of the conversation he had so lately had
with Captain Eph regarding sleeping quarters, and without awaiting
orders from the keeper, Uncle Zenas set about making preparations at
once.
"I reckon you're both right about the bed, an' I know jest how we'll fix
the thing to suit you; there's plenty of time before I begin to get
supper."
"But perhaps Captain Eph would rather hear about it first," Sidney said
timidly, as the cook began to ascend the staircase, and the old man
halted suddenly as he cried:
"Why, Sonny? What does he know 'bout sich things? He's helpless as a
baby when it comes to the livin' part of keepin' a light-house, an' the
more he'd say 'bout it the less we'd know what ought'er be done. I'll
'tend to this part of the business myself!"
Then the old man went up-stairs, and a moment later, when Captain Eph
entered the kitchen, his first question was as to the cook's
whereabouts.
Sidney explained how it had happened that he spoke to Uncle Zenas
regarding the bed, and expressed sorrow because possibly he had
interfered with some plan which the keeper might have had in mind.
"Not a bit of it, Sonny," Captain Eph cried with a hearty laugh. "You've
saved me a world of trouble, perhaps, for if I'd said anything of the
kind to Uncle Zenas he'd been certain to want it this way or that, an'
we'd had a heap of tongue-waggin' before gettin' the matter settled. Now
he'll go ahead in his own way, as he thinks, an' the job is done."
Half an hour later Uncle Zenas came into the kitchen to cook supper,
when he announced that everything had been done in what he considered a
proper manner, and, curious to see how it was arranged, Sidney at once
went to the keeper's chamber.
On the floor, in that part of the room where it would be sheltered from
the draft of the stairway, was a rest-inviting bed with an ample supply
of coverings, and the lad said to himself that now he could lie down to
sleep knowing he was not depriving Captain Eph of the comforts which he
absolutely needed.
"Got it fixed, eh?" Mr. Peters asked when Sidney came into the kitchen
again, and the lad replied:
"It's as snug as possible. Uncle Zenas has done the thing up brown."
"That's 'cause I didn't have anybody standin' 'round sayin' it ought'er
be done this way or that," the cook said emphatically, and Captain Eph
winked slowly at Sidney and Mr. Peters.
"Well, Sammy, what time do you count on startin' for the wreck
to-morrow?" the keeper asked when they were eating supper, after
lighting the lamp in the lantern.
"Jest as soon as we get cleaned up. I reckon I'll make a good long day
of it, for the chances are she'll go to pieces mighty soon, if your
prediction about an easterly blow comes out true."
"I'll do your share of work in the morning," Sidney cried eagerly. "Then
you can start as soon as it's light."
"There's no reason why he shouldn't," Captain Eph said in answer to the
look Mr. Peters gave him. "Sonny could take care of the light all by
himself, if so be there was any need for it; he's the quickest little
shaver to learn I ever saw."
"Then I'll take up with his offer, an' be glad of the chance," the first
assistant replied, and by this time Uncle Zenas insisted on knowing what
it was Sammy proposed to do.
When Mr. Peters explained that it was his intention to save what he
could from the wreck, with the idea that the material thus obtained
might be useful in the future, Uncle Zenas made most vigorous protest
to the surprise of all. He declared that it was not safe for the first
assistant to go alone, and insisted that if the work must be done,
Captain Eph should accompany him.
It was useless for the others to argue the matter with the cook; he
would not allow that any one person was warranted in venturing alone on
the wreck, and begged that the keeper would refuse permission for Mr.
Peters to leave the ledge.
"I sha'n't do anything of the kind," Captain Eph replied bluntly. "Sammy
has got it inter his head that he'll get a lot of stuff from the wreck,
an' if he's willin' to do all the work, I can't see that I've got any
right to stop him."
Sidney believed Uncle Zenas was making a "mountain out of a mole-hill,"
but before four and twenty hours had passed he wished most fervently
that the cook had prevailed in the argument.