IN THE GRIP OF THE SQUALL
“We’re in for it, I’m afraid, Asa!” said Dick, as he saw what the other
had reference to, for the wind was coming in their track, and promised
to drive the boat toward the island rather than from it.
“Tell me what to do, Dick, and I’ll try to follow it out!” Asa
exclaimed.
His face was deathly white, and his lips quivered as he spoke. Still
Dick could see that the boy had a pretty good mastery over his fears.
Indeed, with such a dismal prospect staring them in the face, even a
more seasoned camper than Asa Gardner might have displayed nervousness.
“He’s got considerable nerve, anyway,” Dick said to himself, when he
saw his companion gritting his teeth, and clenching his hands. Raising
his voice he went on to say: “I guess two pairs of arms would be better
than one just now, Asa; so drop down on that other thwart and take this
oar.”
The boy did as he was bidden.
“Now, what’s the game, Dick?” he asked, as soon as he had clutched the
oar after it had been hastily placed in the rowlock by his comrade.
“We must turn around in a hurry, because that big wave might swamp us
if it came up over our stern,” he was told.
The boys hurriedly got the boat around so that the bow pointed toward
the shore from which they had so recently come, though toward a
point farther along the coast line. None too soon was the manoeuver
accomplished. The squall rushed across the half mile of water with
wonderful rapidity. It carried a “white bone in its teeth,” as a
mariner would say, for a line of foam showed directly in the wake of
the first rush of wind.
“Steady now! Keep her head straight into the wind, and don’t worry any;
we can hold our own as well as we want. Now, row hard, Asa!”
With those words they commenced to work their arms. The boat started
directly at the foamy track of the storm, met the wave, and plunged
into it.
Both boys were immediately drenched with the spray, but much to Dick’s
satisfaction Asa held firm, continuing to labor fiercely. The boat
reared up and pitched like a bucking bronco, but as its nose was headed
directly into the waves it could not capsize, as would have been the
case had they been caught beam on.
Perhaps Asa Gardner had never been in a position of real peril before.
He certainly showed considerable grit, Dick thought, for with set teeth
he was straining himself to the utmost while tugging at his oar; nor
did he once “catch a crab” by missing his stroke and falling backward.
“Take it easier, Asa!” shouted Dick, for the storm was making such a
din around them by this time that ordinary talk was next to useless.
“But it’ll drive us along if we don’t look out!” cried the other in
return.
“Just what I want it to do!” returned Dick reassuringly.
Asa complied with the orders he had received. Nevertheless he was
undoubtedly puzzled to understand what Dick was planning to do.
“But won’t we be washed out there into the middle of the lake, Dick?”
he asked, unable to grasp the other’s plan. The very thought of being
sent scudding before that howling summer storm into the waste of waters
terrified Asa.
“Not necessarily,” Dick snapped out. “From the way we’re going I’m in
hopes of striking Bass Island. There’s a long cape or spur that juts
out on this side, you may have noticed. When we get to that we’ll try
to draw in behind it!”
“Oh!” exclaimed Asa, and it was evident that he grasped the scheme his
companion had arranged on the spur of the moment.
The crisis could not be very far away, that was sure, because since
they had relaxed their efforts they were being carried swiftly along,
always with the bow of their boat pointed directly into the wind and
waves.
Many times the billows, growing higher the further they were driven
from the shore, would smash against the prow of the boat and scatter
spray over the occupants. But Dick cared nothing for that. Getting wet
was a small matter beside being swamped, with their lives placed in
danger.
“We’re close to the island!” cried Asa, presently, bracing himself for
the expected command to row furiously again.
“Yes, and that’s the spur I spoke of,” added Dick. “When we are a bit
nearer we must start to work. I’ll turn the boat in a little right now,
so as to be ready.”
“I can hear the fellows yelling like mad,” continued the other boy.
Dick heard the shouts too, but paid little attention to them. He
realized that Mr. Rowland and the boys who were racing like mad to get
out on that jutting cape could not do the least thing toward assisting
those who were in peril. If he and Asa managed to reach shore it would
have to be through good luck, seconded by their own desperate efforts.
The cape was close by. Indeed, it would have been an easy thing for
a boy to have thrown a stone from its extremity to the boat. Dick was
carefully keeping track of things, and he knew just when it was time
for them to begin pulling with might and main.
“Now, go for it, Asa!” he suddenly called out.
Both strained every muscle. And there was need of their greatest
exertions, for the wind and waves combined made a foe worthy of their
respect. The old boat seemed like a cork on the surface of the agitated
lake.
Just as Dick had calculated, they were now fairly well able to hold
their own when taking the waves on their starboard quarter. All the
while, however, progress was being made toward the island. If only they
could manage to get far enough along they would soon begin to feel the
advantage of that projecting arm, or cape, for behind it the waves were
far less boisterous.
It was a lively affair while it lasted, and Asa for one would never
forget his experience as long as he lived. Though the rain had stopped
the thunder still rolled heavily, while the beating of the waves
against the land added to the clamor. The waves rushed past the heaving
boat with a sharp hissing sound that Asa compared to that made by angry
serpents in fear of being cheated out of their intended prey.
The terminus of the little spur of land could be seen now, for they
had actually been carried past it. Much progress had also been made
in pushing toward the land, and Dick for the first time began to feel
satisfied that they would accomplish the object of their hard labors.
The other boys, together with the physical instructor, reached the
outer shore by now. They were still shouting, and were wildly agitated,
the boys, at least, under the false impression that those in the boat
had missed their aim, and were now in deadly danger of being carried
away toward the center of the big lake.
Indeed, Dan Fenwick was hurriedly disrobing as though to leap into the
water in an attempt to assist his chums, though, in fact, this would
have been a most foolish venture, nor would Mr. Rowland have allowed
him to attempt it.
Dick already felt the terrible strain lessening. He knew they must be
getting the benefit of the shelter offered by that projecting cape,
against which the waves were dashing angrily.
“It’s all right, Asa; take it a little easier now. We can make the land
without much trouble. Just keep pulling steadily, that’s all.”
Being short of breath Dick jerked out these sentences, but his
reassuring words were like balm to the disturbed mind of the boy at his
side.
Presently they began to draw nearer the land, a fact that gave the
observers the first hint as to what Dick’s plan had been. Cries of
alarm changed to ringing huzzas, and several boys could be seen waving
their soaked hats in triumph as they pushed through the wet undergrowth
to be in a position to meet the others when they landed.
Asa began to recover in a measure from his state of fear. Dick
understanding just how he must be feeling, talked confidently to him.
“I must say you did your part well, Asa,” was the way he spoke. “You’re
bound to make your mark if you keep on trying. It’s in you I can see
well enough. I wouldn’t want a better and pluckier comrade in a boat
than you proved to be.”
When the two lads finally drew in to land the thunder was muttering in
the distance, the wind had begun to die down, and there was a rift in
the clouds overhead. Like many summer squalls, the storm had been of
brief duration, and was already of the past.
Still Asa shuddered as he cast a look out toward the main lake, and
thought of what might have happened to them except for Dick’s clever
handling of the situation.