MR. PETERS' MISHAP.
On the morning after Mr. Peters had announced his intention of saving
what he could in the way of timbers and rigging from the wreck, Sidney
went on duty with Captain Eph, and instead of going to bed when his
watch was ended, the first assistant remained in the room until the
keeper asked sharply:
"What's the matter with you now, Sammy? Ain't you goin' to bed?"
"I want'er start for the wreck at the first crack of light, if Uncle
Zenas will give me somethin' to eat when he gets up, an' there's no
sense in goin' to the trouble of lyin' down jest for a half-hour nap.
I'll turn in a good bit earlier to-night."
"Have your own way, Sammy, but I'm afraid that you won't get enough from
the hulk to pay for the labor you're puttin' out. Why didn't you speak
to Uncle Zenas last night, so's he'd kind'er stir his stumps this
mornin'?"
"He had his back raised so high because I was goin' alone, that I knew
it wouldn't be any use, an,' feelin' kind'er warm as he was, he might'er
said 'no' right up an' down," Mr. Peters replied with a faint smile.
Captain Eph did not continue the conversation, but turned his attention
to the work of cleaning the watch-room windows, which Sidney had
voluntarily taken upon himself, and Mr. Peters dozed in his chair until
awakened by the movements of Uncle Zenas in the room below, which told
that he was making ready for the day's work.
"I reckon I'll be off now," the first assistant said, going toward the
stairway as if almost afraid to descend.
"Uncle Zenas hasn't built the fire yet," Captain Eph said carelessly,
"an' it'll be a good half hour before the coffee is ready."
"I don't count on waitin' for anything hot," Mr. Peters replied as he
began the descent of the stairs. "A cold bite is all I'm askin' for,
'cause the sooner I get away the better."
"If that was all you wanted, the wisest course would have been to got it
without askin' leave of anybody," Captain Eph said half to himself, and
then he tiptoed his way to the head of the stairs.
"What is the matter?" Sidney asked curiously.
"Nothin' as yet, Sonny; but I'm allowin' that Sammy won't find it all
plain sailin' when he runs up against Uncle Zenas. The old man is pretty
stuffy when he gets a notion inter his head, an' for some reason or
other he's dead set against our tryin' to save anything from the wreck."
Captain Eph had not yet ceased speaking when loud, almost angry
conversation could be heard from the kitchen, and Sidney ran quickly to
the keeper's side. It was impossible to distinguish any words spoken in
the kitchen, however, and, two or three moments later, the emphatic
closing of the outer door told that Mr. Peters had left the tower.
"Uncle Zenas wouldn't give him anything to eat until breakfast time, an'
the poor, foolish fellow has gone off with an empty stomach, countin' on
doin' a full day's work," Captain Eph said as he went to the window from
which it was possible to have a view of the little cove. "I do wish our
cook wasn't quite so crotchety!"
"Why didn't Mr. Peters take what he wanted from the pantry?" Sidney
asked as he joined the keeper at the window.
"Then there _would_ have been trouble," Captain Eph replied as if
startled by such a bold proposition. "It has taken me a good many years
to find out that when Uncle Zenas gets reg'larly set against a thing,
the most peaceable way is for Sammy an' me to give in at the start."
Then the two stood gazing through the window, unable to distinguish
objects clearly because of the dim, gray light, until Mr. Peters
launched the dory, pulling out of the cove with a steady stroke as if to
show that the loss of a breakfast was not sufficient to turn him from
his purpose.
Half an hour later the lamp was extinguished, and the keeper and his
young assistant set about the daily routine of making ready for another
night. The work was considerably more than half completed when the voice
of the cook sounded impatiently from the kitchen, as he summoned them to
breakfast.
"This is one of the mornin's when I reckon we can't afford to loiter
many seconds," Captain Eph said grimly, as he began to descend the
stairs, Sidney following close at his heels, and when the two were in
the kitchen, the old keeper asked as if in surprise:
"Where's Sammy? Didn't he hear you call?"
"He went off without his breakfast," Uncle Zenas replied in a tone of
irritation.
"What's the matter?" Captain Eph asked as if wholly ignorant of what had
taken place in the kitchen. "Ain't sick, is he?"
"He's pig-headed, that's what's the matter with him. He's next door to
crazy, countin' on goin' alone to the wreck, an' I told him plainly that
I wouldn't countenance sich foolishness by givin' him anythin' to eat
till breakfast was ready. Then he rose right up in the air, an' started
off empty-handed; but if he ain't sorry 'twixt now an' noon, I'm missin'
my guess."
"Dear, dear, but I'm sorry!" Captain Eph exclaimed. "Sammy has got it
inter his head that he can get enough from the wreck to go a long ways
toward buildin' a motor boat, an' he'll work like a tiger, savin' stuff,
never thinkin' that he stands a good chance of makin' himself sick by
foolin' 'round while his stomach is empty."
Sidney fancied that he saw an expression of regret on the face of the
cook; but decided that he had been mistaken, when Uncle Zenas said
sharply:
"I ain't responsible for what he does in the way of foolishness, an' if
it's his desire to go off before breakfast is ready, he'll have to take
the consequences."
The keeper did not linger over his breakfast; as soon as the meal had
been eaten he hurried back to the lantern, and, as a matter of course,
Sidney joined him there without delay, the two working industriously and
in silence until everything had been put in proper order.
Not until then did Captain Eph venture a remark, by saying as he looked
toward the east, where could be seen a portion of the wreck:
"I'm allowin' that Sammy won't be able to put in a full day's work. The
wind seems to be haulin' 'round, an' before noon the sea will be runnin'
so high that he can't do anythin' in the way of strippin' the hulk."
"Can you see him?" Sidney asked.
"Not without the glasses. Run down an' get 'em, Sonny. We may as well
watch him, as to sit here twirlin' our thumbs."
The lad obeyed promptly; but no sign of the amateur wrecker could be
seen, and Captain Eph said as he turned to gaze westward:
"The hulk lays in sich a manner that we couldn't hope to see him, unless
he was aloft. Hello, here comes a cat-boat from the shore, an' it
wouldn't surprise me a little bit if the tinker Sammy talked about
yesterday was comin' after that 'ere motor."
Because it was the first time since he landed on the ledge that he had
seen a sail coming toward the light, Sidney gazed at it eagerly, until
Captain Eph said:
"There's no use strainin' your eyes, Sonny, for it'll be a full hour
before she gets anywhere near, with this wind. I reckon we'd better go
down to the shore an' see the motor, for it ain't likely the tinker will
care about stayin' here any very great while."
"Shall we let him take it before Mr. Peters comes back?" Sidney asked in
surprise.
"Why not? When a man comes as far as he has while a storm seems to be
brewin', it would kind'er be hard lines to hold him because Sammy was
off wreckin'. We'll load on the motor as soon as it can be done, an'
send him back while the weather is decent, else he might be on our hands
quite a spell. People can't get out here at this time of year jest when
the fancy strikes 'em."
Although the motor was not particularly heavy, Captain Eph and Sidney
soon came to understand that it would be quite a difficult task to get
it down to the cove where it might be put aboard the boat, for the
jagged rocks presented most serious obstacles.
However, the old keeper set about the task with a will, and by the time
the stranger had run into the cove the work was well advanced.
"I allowed that you'd be wantin' to put about as soon as might be, owin'
to the looks of the weather, so Sonny an' I have been at work gettin'
this 'ere thing where it could be handled. I reckon this is what you've
come after," and the keeper pointed to the motor.
"Yes, that's what brought me out here, though I wish now I'd staid at
home, for the wind is likely to blow pretty fresh before I can get
back," the machinist replied as he made his boat fast to the ways, and
began to make a critical inspection of the motor.
"Well, what about it?" Captain Eph asked after it seemed as if the
newcomer must have made himself acquainted with every portion of the
machinery. "Think you can put it in shape?"
"Sure," was the confident reply. "It hasn't been hurt any to speak of,
an' I can have it runnin' in a couple of days. Where's the man who made
the trade with me?"
The keeper explained why Mr. Peters was absent and before he was at an
end Sidney cried:
"He's coming now; there is the dory!"
Both the men looked up quickly, and then it was that Captain Eph cried
excitedly:
"That's our dory, sure enough; but she's empty! Went adrift I reckon,
an' Sammy is in the biggest kind of luck because of his fiddlin' 'round
'bout the motor, else he'd be likely to stay on the wreck quite a spell,
seein's we couldn't go after him. Say, Mister, I reckon you won't kick
against pickin' our boat up, eh?" and the keeper turned to the
machinist, who replied in a not particularly cheerful tone:
"Of course I'm bound to do that much, seein's you're in a pickle; but I
don't like the idea of loafin' out here any longer than is necessary,
for my boat ain't overly handy in a heavy sea, such as we're likely to
have precious soon."
"Pick up the dory, an' we'll help you put the motor aboard before goin'
after Sammy."
The machinist set off at once, refusing any assistance from Captain Eph,
and ten minutes later he returned with the dory in tow. The boat was
half laden with blocks and tackle which had evidently been taken from
the wreck, and both pairs of oars were lying on top of the cargo.
When the runaway craft had been hauled up on the rocks beyond reach of
the tide, and unloaded, the old keeper and Sidney set about carrying out
their part of the bargain; but nearly an hour was spent before the motor
had been stowed aboard the cat-boat to the satisfaction of all
concerned.
While the visitor was working his boat out of the cove, Captain Eph said
to Sidney:
"Run into the kitchen an' get your coat. Tell Uncle Zenas why we're
goin' out, an' skip lively, for Sammy won't have any idea the tinker was
here jest when we most needed him, an' will be in a terrible stew,
thinkin' there's no way for him to get off the shoal."
Sidney obeyed promptly; but it was necessary to answer Uncle Zenas'
eager questions, and fully five minutes more were spent before the
rescuers could set off.
The cook came down to the cove before the dory had been pushed out, and
the expression on his face told that he was very anxious regarding the
safety of the first assistant.
"You ought'er started the very minute the dory was picked up, Ephraim
Downs!" he cried. "It ain't no ways certain that the poor fellow didn't
tumble out of the boat, an' has been swimmin' 'round ever since!"
"I'll go bail that Sammy never tumbled over-board," Captain Eph replied
cheerily as he pulled the dory around until she was headed toward the
east. "He's too good a sailor to do a trick like that; but I reckon he
hasn't been any too comfortable in mind since the boat drifted away."
Then, when they were beyond sound of Uncle Zenas' voice, the old keeper
muttered, as if to convince himself:
"Of course nothin' has happened to Sammy, beyond losin' the boat; but I
do wish Uncle Zenas wouldn't do quite so much croakin'. Jest because he
was set agin the wreckin', he'll be conjurin' up all sorts of terrible
things that might have happened, an' Sammy won't have the pleasantest
time that ever was, when he gets back."
"How do you suppose the dory got adrift?" Sidney asked, not knowing what
else to say, and beginning to feel a bit nervous.
"That's what beats me. I'd never thought Sammy could be so careless, but
it seems that he was."
Then Captain Eph pulled vigorously and in silence, Sidney steering to
the best of his ability with one of the heavy oars, and the little craft
rose and fell with an uneasy motion on the rising sea.
"There's the wreck!" Sidney cried as he swung the dory around, and
Captain Eph turned quickly to look, as he asked huskily:
"See anythin' of Sammy?"
"He must be under the forecastle deck working, and perhaps doesn't know
that the boat went adrift," Sidney replied, as he searched in vain with
his eyes for some sign of the first assistant.
There was an expression of deepest anxiety on Captain Eph's face as he
labored yet more energetically at the oars; but not a word was spoken
until the dory was as near the hulk as was safe while the waves were
running so high.
Then it was the old keeper shouted again and again at the full strength
of his lungs, Sidney growing pale with fear as the hail remained
unanswered.
"He ain't there, Sonny, he ain't there!" Captain Eph cried in a tearful
tone as he turned toward the lad.
"But where _can_ he be?" Sidney cried in an agony of fear.
"The good Lord knows, an' we'll pray that He may guide us toward him!"
the keeper said as he raised his sou'wester reverentially. "It's our
business to find out what has happened, if so be we can. I reckon we'd
best pull 'round to the other side of the hulk, an' if needs be I'll go
aboard."
"Are you afraid he may have got hurt, an' can't answer the hail?" Sidney
asked in a tremulous voice.
"There's somethin' wrong, an' we'll hope that he's on board, with the
breath of life yet in his body."
Then Captain Eph swung the dory around, and, ordering Sidney to take a
pair of oars, made ready to board the hulk on the northerly side.
"Pull in till I sing out, an' then back water the best you know how," he
said sharply. "It's a risky piece of business to board her with a lad
like you at the oars; but I'd take bigger chances by a good bit, rather
than go away without searchin' this 'ere hulk."
It was no more than natural that the lad should be frightened by the
muttered words, and he was trembling violently as he obeyed the command.
"Fair an' softly, Sonny!" Captain Eph cried. "Don't get worked up over
what may all turn out to be the simplest kind of a simple matter, an'
keep your wits about you. Now! Back water for all you're worth!"
As he spoke the keeper had leaped for the shattered timbers of the hulk,
and not daring to turn his head in order to see if a landing had been
effected safely, Sidney threw all his strength on the oars, until the
burden on his mind was lifted by hearing Captain Eph's cheery cry, which
told that no accident had befallen him:
"Way enough, Sonny! Hold her as she is a minute!"
Sidney did not dare venture to turn his head lest the wind should swing
the little craft around where the waves might throw her against the
hulk; but worked at the oars to hold her as nearly in one position as
possible, until he heard Captain Eph cry again:
"Now pull in, Sonny; but stand by to stop her mighty sudden when you get
the word. Way enough! Keep her steady! One more stroke! Back! Back the
best you know how!" and at the instant Sidney put all his strength on
the oars, the dory rocked to and fro violently as Captain Eph leaped
aboard.
An instant later and the keeper was pulling the little craft around,
while Sidney clambered astern to his former seat.
"You didn't find anything, sir?" the lad asked timidly.
"No, Sonny, meanin' that Sammy wasn't there; but he's left signs enough
to show he made into a raft sich timbers as he could get at, which gives
us the biggest kind of a hope, for I'm allowin' he was on the raft when
the dory went adrift."
"Would he be carried out to sea, sir?"
"This wind ought'er sent him toward the mainland, an' it's in that
direction we must look for him."
It was quite natural Sidney should suppose Captain Eph would set off on
the search without delay; but to his surprise the keeper ordered him to
steer for the ledge, and at the same time keep a sharp lookout for
anything in the shape of a raft.
"Why are we going back to the light, sir? Do you think he may have
drifted in there?"
"Not a bit of it, Sonny. He must have pulled the raft clear of the
wreck, an' then, when well off the shoal, stepped on it to make some of
the timbers fast. In which case the wind would take him clear of Carys'
Ledge."
"Then why don't we pull in the direction you think he may have gone?"
Instead of answering the question, Captain Eph asked abruptly: "Think
you'd have any trouble in lightin' the lamp an' startin' the clock,
Sonny?"
"I could do that much all right, I am positive."
"Then I'm goin' to leave you in charge while Uncle Zenas an' I go after
Sammy. It ain't anyways likely we shall be away till after sunset; but
there's allers the chance; an' no one can say how fast his raft may be
travelin'."
"You don't want me in the boat with you?" Sidney asked tremulously.
"No, Sonny, an' for two mighty good reasons. The first is that it's
goin' to blow hard inside of an hour, an' I'll need Uncle Zenas at one
pair of oars. Then agin, the place is not to be left alone, no matter
what straits we are in. Sammy would be the first to say we mustn't try
to help him if it can't be done without takin' the risk of showin' no
light at sunset. You'll be safe on the ledge, an' that's what I'm
thinkin' about."
The temptation to beg that he might go to the rescue with Captain Eph,
leaving the cook to care for the light, was very great; but he succeeded
in holding his peace, knowing that it was not for him, at such a time,
to make any change in the plan the keeper had formed.
"I'm allowin' we may have to pull eight or ten miles before catchin' the
poor fellow, an' it'll be hard work in a heavy sea, so Uncle Zenas must
do his share."
It was not necessary to spend any time warning the second assistant of
what had been learned. Uncle Zenas was at the head of the cove when they
pulled in, and in the fewest possible words Captain Eph made him
acquainted with the situation.
"Get in, Uncle Zenas. Sonny will take care of the light, if so be we're
called on to go further than now seems likely."
"An' I sent the poor fellow off without any breakfast!" the cook said
tearfully, as he clambered aboard the boat with a certain eagerness
which told how anxious he was to have a share in the rescue. "If I had
only been half-way decent when he asked for somethin' to eat!"
"Keep your upper lip stiff, Sonny!" Captain Eph cried as he pulled the
dory around. "By stayin' to care for the light you're doin' a good deal
more towards findin' Sammy, than if you went with us in the boat. You
can watch us best by goin' inter the lantern with the glasses."
"Be sure to get your dinner, Sonny," Uncle Zenas cried in a mournful
tone. "Everything is on the stove, an' what you can't eat had better be
put back in the pantry. If I could only give poor Sammy his share an' my
own with it, how relieved I'd be!"
By this time the dory was out of the cove, with both men at the oars,
and Sidney noted, before turning to obey Captain Eph's command, that the
boat was headed southwest, leaving the ledge behind her in a lively
fashion because of the strong wind, which helped her along as much if
not more than the oars.
Now that he was alone--alone on the ledge beyond sight of land--Sidney
found it very difficult to keep the tears from his eyes; but he made a
brave effort, and went into the tower to do as Uncle Zenas had bidden
him.
He had no desire for food--could not have eaten a mouthful save after a
real exertion; but the keepers would need it when they returned,
therefore it must be cared for in such a manner that it would be
appetizing.
By thus looking forward to the time when the searchers might return,
Sidney provoked the alarming question as to whether they would ever come
back. Captain Eph had predicted that a storm was near at hand, and even
if they did not lose their lives, it was well within the possibilities
that many days might elapse before he saw them again.
Then it was that Sidney gave way to tears, feeling as if he had been
abandoned--left to die on the desolate ledge; but after thus yielding to
his sorrow for ten minutes or more, he resolutely put from him all
forebodings, as he said aloud:
"I've been left in charge, and if it hadn't been for my being here Uncle
Zenas couldn't have gone to help Captain Eph pull the boat. I'm not a
baby; but if I don't mind my eye the keepers will have good reason for
thinking I am one."
Suddenly the thought came into his mind that he had missed the chance of
watching the dory as it sped before the wind on its errand of mercy,
and, running up-stairs at full speed, he threw open that window in the
watch-room which gave toward the south.
The rescuers had made such good speed that he could barely distinguish
the boat with the naked eye, but by the aid of the glasses he saw that
both men were rowing strongly and steadily, as if knowing exactly at
what point the missing man could be found.
Search as he might, it was impossible to see anything floating on the
sea. If Mr. Peters had been carried away by the raft, it must have been
at an early hour in the forenoon, otherwise it should have been possible
to see him.
Sidney watched the rapidly retreating dory as long as it was possible to
distinguish the forms of her crew, and then, with a lump in his throat
which threatened to choke him, he went into the kitchen.
Here he cared for the food, replenished the fire, swept the floor, and
worked at whatsoever he could find for his hands to do until the room
was seemingly as neat and tidy as ever it had been under Uncle Zenas'
supervision.
It seemed to him that he must have been at work a full hour, and yet
when he looked at the clock the hands were but ten minutes farther on
their journey around the dial than when he began.
Again he went into the watch-room; but now it was impossible to see even
the dory, and he felt more forsaken than before.
Uncle Zenas was too good a housekeeper to leave very much work undone at
that time in the day, and, search as he might, Sidney could find nothing
with which to keep his hands busy.
With such a weight of sorrow in his heart he could not read, and he went
to and fro between the lantern and the kitchen, hardly conscious of what
he did. Again and again he searched the surface of the heaving waters
with the glasses, but without seeing the smallest object which his fancy
could shape into a raft or a boat.
When the clock in the kitchen struck the hour of four, it was as if his
heart ceased beating, for he understood that even if the dory should
come in sight immediately, it would be impossible for the keepers to
reach the ledge before sunset, and he felt positive they would never
return. He would be the sole occupant of that lonely tower until the
inspector found an opportunity of visiting Carys' Ledge.
The wind was increasing in force, as he could understand by the howling
and shrieking around the lantern, while his eyes told him that the sea
was running higher than at any time since the storm which had wrecked
the _Nautilus_.
Suppose the keepers should return at the earliest possible
moment--suppose the dory was even then headed toward the light? The men
might not be able to make a landing on the ledge, and he could do
absolutely nothing to aid them!
Five o'clock!
He went into the lantern ready to light the lamp at the exact moment of
sunset. He was surrounded by the angry waters, which were creeping
slowly but surely toward the tower, and there was nothing in sight to
give him courage!