THE BOYS ARE INTERESTED
For a moment the girls were too terrified to speak. And the next moment
they could not have spoken if they had wanted to, for _The Shelling_
collided so suddenly with whatever it was that had risen out of the mist
that they had all they could do to keep from being thrown to the deck.
Then Paul gave a cry of joy and sprang wildly to the side of the boat.
"Say, how's this for luck, fellows?" he cried. "I thought it was another
boat and that we were bound for Davy Jones' locker sure, and here it's
the dock instead. Say, talk about luck! I'll say it's grand!"
"The dock!" the others echoed wonderingly. The sudden relief was so great
that they were feeling rather dazed.
"You mean it's our dock--Lighthouse Island?" Connie asked stupidly, and
Paul's answer was impatient.
"I guess it is--looks like it," he said. "But then it doesn't matter much
what dock it is as long as it's _a_ dock. What do you people say to going
ashore?"
What they said was soon shown by the eagerness with which they scrambled
on to the dock. And when they found that it was really Lighthouse Island
dock their thankfulness was mixed with awe.
"Why, it's a miracle!" said Vi, staring wide-eyed about her.
"That's just about what it looks like," agreed Chet soberly.
"A miracle!" exclaimed Ferd derisively. "It's just that the wind and the
tide happened to be going in the right way, that's all."
"Well, it's a miracle that the wind and the tide did happen to be going
the right way," retorted Laura.
"Yes, and it's another miracle," said Billie softly, "that even with the
wind and the tide going the right way we didn't run into something before
we got here."
"I guess we did come pretty close to it," said Teddy soberly, staring out
into the heavy mist that still showed no sign of lifting. "I don't know
about the rest of you, but I do know that I'm mighty glad to be on the
good old ground again. It beats the water, just now."
"You bet," said Paul fervently, as he made his boat fast to the dock. "It
would have been a hot note if I'd had to lose my boat that way after
working all year to earn it."
The girls and boys stared at him in surprise for a moment. Then they
laughed, and the laughter broke the tension that they had been under and
made them feel more natural.
"Never mind us as long as you saved your boat," said Ferd with a chuckle.
"Come on, folks. It's mighty damp out here. I'll be glad when we can get
under cover and dry out a bit. Gee, but I'll say I'm some wet."
"And Mother will be just worried to death," cried Connie penitently, for
this was the very first minute she had given her mother a thought. "Oh,
let's hurry."
They were starting off almost at a run when Billie called to them.
"Do you know we forgot something?" she asked. Then she pointed to the
untouched lunch hamper which Mrs. Danvers had heaped high with good
things. This was still standing close to the railing on the deck of _The
Shelling_ where the boys had put it when they climbed aboard.
"We forgot all about eating," she said in an incredulous voice. "Now I
know we were scared."
"Say, what do you know about that?" asked Ferd weakly. "I'd have said it
couldn't be done."
"And it must be away past lunch time, too," added Chet.
"Oh, gosh! why did you go and remind me I was starving?" groaned Teddy,
and with a quick movement he leaped into the boat and caught up the
basket. "Come on, who's first?" he cried.
But Billie stopped him by pressing a determined hand down on the lid.
"Not here," she begged. "We're all wet and uncomfortable, and we'll enjoy
it ever so much more if we wait till we get to the house. Please, Teddy,
now mind."
Teddy looked longingly at the basket, then at Billie, and gave in.
"All right," he said. "Only we'll have to walk fast!"
When they reached the cottage they found Connie's mother almost beside
herself with anxiety and Connie's father doing his best to soothe her. So
that when the young folks came in the door looking rather damp and
bedraggled but safe, Mrs. Danvers cried out joyfully, ran to them, and
hugged them one after another till she was completely and rapturously out
of breath.
"You precious kiddies!" she cried, standing back and regarding them with
shining eyes. "You will never know how horribly worried Dad and I have
been. You poor children, why, you are soaked through! And," as her eyes
fell on the basket, "you don't mean to tell me you haven't had any lunch.
Oh dear, oh dear! Run into the library, the lot of you. Daddy made a fire
thinking if we ever did get you back you'd need some drying out--and you
can be starting in on sandwiches while I make you some hot chocolate. Now
run along--quick." And she disappeared into the kitchen while the young
folks went on into the library.
Connie would have run after her mother to offer her help, but Mr. Danvers
stopped her.
"I'll help Mother," he said. "You run along with the others, dear, and
get warmed through. I don't want my little girl to catch cold. It might
spoil your whole summer."
So Connie went on into the library and found that the boys had arranged
the chairs in a semicircle around the fire and were already opening the
lunch basket.
Mrs. Danvers came in a few minutes later with the chocolate, and, oh, how
that hot drink did taste! She demanded to know all about everything. They
told her, speaking one at a time, two at a time, and all at once, till it
was a wonder she could make any sense out of it at all. But when she and
her husband did realize how terribly close the young folks had been to
disaster they looked very sober and in their hearts thanked Providence
for guiding them back to safety.
After they had eaten, the girls and boys felt very lazy and lingered in
the pretty library before the open fire till the shadows began to fall.
"I hope we have half-way decent weather to start out on to-morrow," said
Paul suddenly as he gazed out of the window.
"Oh! must you go _to-morrow_?" asked Billie, with such genuine regret
that Teddy looked at her sideways.
"I'm afraid so," said Paul, also turning to look at her. "We've had a
bully good time and we'd like to stay longer, but you see I promised Dad
I'd pick him up a little farther along the coast and I can't do it unless
we start to-morrow."
"But suppose it isn't a nice day?" Connie put in. "Will you go anyway?"
"Oh, of course, if it was really stormy we couldn't. We would have to
wire Dad or something. But I think it's going to be clear to-morrow," he
finished cheerfully.
Connie shook her head.
"I don't know about that," she said. "Uncle Tom says that a terribly
heavy mist like this generally forecasts a storm, and a pretty bad storm,
too."
"Well, we don't have to worry about that now, anyway," said Teddy,
stretching his long legs out contentedly toward the fire. "Let's enjoy
ourselves while we can. By the way," he added, turning to Billie, and
Billie thought that Teddy was getting better looking every minute--or was
it the firelight? "What did you girls mean by speaking of a mystery? We
haven't heard a word about any mystery."
"Of course you haven't. You don't suppose we tell you _everything_, do
you?" said Laura, with a sisterly sniff.
"Well, but what did you mean?" asked Ferd, adding his voice to Teddy's
while the other boys seemed interested.
The girls looked at one another and then at Billie.
"Shall we tell them?" asked Vi.
"I don't see why we shouldn't," Billie answered, her eyes on the fire.
"Of course we don't know that there's any mystery about it. It only looks
queer, that's all."
Then with the help of the girls she told the boys all about the man who
lived in a hut in the woods and called himself Hugo Billings, and also
about Miss Arbuckle and the album she had been so overjoyed to recover.
The boys listened with an interest that fast changed to excitement.
"Well, I should say there was something queer about it!" Ferd Stowing
broke out at last. "Especially about the man who lives in the woods and
makes fern baskets. He's either crazy or he's a thief or something."
"Gee, I wish you had told us about it while we were there!" said Chet
regretfully. "We might have been able to find out something--landed him
in jail maybe."
"Then I'm glad we didn't tell you," said Billie promptly.
"Why?" asked Chet, amazed.
"Because I felt awfully sorry for him," his sister answered softly. "And
I'd rather help him than hurt him. I'd like to see him smile again."
"Smile?"
"Yes, for he looked so awfully downhearted."