After supper that night, a meal consisting of fried salt pork, boiled
potatoes and some fresh fish which Frank had caught earlier in the day,
the elder of the Chester lads called what he termed "a conference,"
although Billy Barnes declared it was more in the nature of a "council
of war."
We are not going to detail here all that was said as it would make
wearisome reading; but, after an hour or more of talk, Frank spoke his
mind.
"It may be all foolishness, of course," he said, "but I think that we
ought not to leave the island unguarded to-night. Daniels and his son
have had a taste of that wire fence and they may have figured out some
way to get around it--it would be a simple enough matter to do, after
all."
"Well, what's your proposal?" inquired Billy Barnes.
"To patrol the island all night, taking turns on watch. It's not more
than a mile or so all round it, and it ought to be an easy matter to
keep the ground thoroughly covered."
"Rifles and rattlesnakes!" burst out Pudge, "I thought this was to be a
sort of working vacation and not a civil war."
Frank smiled, and then assumed a graver expression as he went on:
"There is so much valuable property here which it would be easy for
malicious people to injure that I wouldn't feel justified in leaving the
island unguarded all night. What do the rest of you think?"
"Just as you do, Frank," rejoined Harry heartily, while Billy and Pudge
nodded vigorously; "we've got to keep a sharp lookout. I nominate myself
and Pudge for the first watch--say from eight to twelve. You and Billy
can go on duty from midnight till daylight."
After some discussion this order of procedure was adopted. Promptly at
eight o'clock Harry and Pudge Perkins went "on duty," while Frank and
Billy turned in to get what sleep they could. As a matter of precaution,
when they came to the island, the boys had brought along a revolver, and
Harry was armed with this when he went on duty. He was not, of course,
to use it as a weapon of offence, but it was agreed that, in case there
was any alarm during his watch, he was to fire it three times, when the
others would come to his assistance.
Harry and Pudge accompanied each other as far as the gate, and then
threaded their way down the path among the rocks toward the beach. A
mild current had been turned on in the fence, enough to give an
uncomfortable shock to any one tampering with it, but not enough to
exhaust the storage batteries which supplied it.
When they reached the beach, Harry paused.
"We'd better start this patrol in opposite directions," he said, "and
then we can meet each other once on every circuit."
"All right," agreed Pudge, "but--pirates and parachutes--keep a good eye
open."
"Don't worry about me," rejoined Harry; "so long!"
As he spoke each boy stepped off into the darkness to begin the patrol.
As Harry trudged along the beach his mind was full of the events of
which Frank had spoken that afternoon. Up in the lighted hut, with his
companions around him, it had seemed a very remote possibility to the
boy that any attack should be made on the island. But pacing along under
the stars, with only the sound of his own footsteps for company, placed
a very different light on the matter. What if the disgruntled fishermen
should make a night descent on the island?
"This won't do," exclaimed Harry to himself, coming to a sudden halt in
the cove opposite to which the motor boat was moored, and where a
blacker patch on the dark sand showed him the beached dinghy, "it's no
use getting shivery and scared just because a couple of cranky fishermen
are so sore at us. I've got to brace up, that's all there is to it."
His surroundings, however, were not calculated to soothe the nervous
suspense of the lad. Except for the stars glittering like steel points
in the night sky there was no light. The night was so pitchy dark, on
the beach under the shadow of the trees, that he could hardly see with
certainty a yard ahead of him. The surf roared hoarsely against the
rocks at the point--for the tide was full, and the night wind moaned in
the trees like a note of warning.
With an idea of carrying out his patrol properly, Harry went toward the
darker patch amid the gloom which showed him where the beached dinghy
lay. He examined it as well as he could, and made sure that it was well
above tide water. Having completed this, he paced on, and in due time
heard footsteps approaching him which he knew must be those of Pudge
Perkins. A minute later the two young sentinels met and exchanged
greetings. Pudge had nothing to report, except that it was what he
called a "creepy" job. However, he pluckily averred: "Ghosts and
gibberish, Harry, I'm going to stick it out."
"That's right," approved Harry, and after a few words both boys once
more started out on their lonesome tours of duty.
In due course Harry again reached the cove opposite the schooner hulk,
and this time, being rather tired, he decided to sit down on the beached
dinghy and take a rest. But, to his astonishment, it didn't seem to be
in the place where it should have been.
"I could have sworn it was right here," said Harry to himself, as he
trudged about on his quest, "it must be close at hand. Guess I'll fall
over it and hurt my shins in a minute."
But although he reassured himself, the boy felt far from secure in his
belief. After a further painstaking search he was fain to confess--what
he really believed from the first--that the dinghy which had lain there a
short time before had mysteriously vanished!
"Can it be those miserable Daniels?" gasped Harry to himself. "Yes, it
must be," he went on, answering his own questions, "who else would have
done it, unless it drifted off."
He was moving about as he spoke, and as he uttered the last words he
stumbled across something that showed him very plainly that the dinghy
could not have drifted away from the beach. What he had fallen over was
the anchor firmly embedded in the sand, with a length of rope still
attached to it.
Harry felt along the bit of rope in the darkness till he reached the end
of it. Then he struck a match. In the flicker of light which followed he
saw plainly enough what had occurred--the rope had been slashed through.
The boy had just made this discovery when from the water he heard
something that caused him to listen acutely, bending every sense to the
operation.
What he had heard was the splash of an oar, and a quick exclamation of
impatience, as if the rower, whoever he was, had blamed his involuntary
misstroke.
"Some one's out there, and they're aboard the schooner, too; or I'm very
much mistaken," exclaimed Harry to himself, as, listening acutely, he
caught the sound of footsteps proceeding, seemingly, by their hollow
ring, from the decks of the dismantled hulk; "what will I do? If I fire
the pistol I'll scare them off, and if I don't----"
He stopped short. A sudden daring idea had flashed into his mind. The
boy hastily slipped off his shoes and divested himself of all but his
undergarments. Then, leaving his pistol on the beach, he slipped
noiselessly into the bay and struck out in the direction of the
schooner. The water was bitterly cold, as it always is off the Maine
coast, even in the height of summer, but Harry kept dauntlessly on,
determined to brave anything in the execution of his purpose.
The hulk lay only about a hundred yards off the shore, and before long
he could see her dark outlines looming up against the lighter darkness
of the sky on the horizon. He fancied, but could not be certain that it
was not an illusion, that for an instant he could see two forms creeping
along the decks. The next moment something showed up ahead of him with
which he almost collided.
Harry, with a gasp of gratitude, for the water had chilled him to the
bone, recognized it as the motor boat. As silently as he could he drew
himself up into it, and then, casting himself flat in the cockpit, he
listened with all his might for further sounds from the schooner.