CHAPTER XIVTHE LONELY VIGIL OF THE COAST PATROL
Mrs. Peake looked amused.
"A young man called on me," she said.
Dairy's face lighted up.
"It must have been Mr. Singleton!" he exclaimed, eagerly.
She nodded in the affirmative.
"Did he come to see me?" he asked.
"No, I rather think he wanted to have a little talk with me. You see he guessed from what you told him that it all was because of me you wouldn't go with him, and he just dropped in, he said, to have a neighborly chat, and let me know how much he was interested in a boy by the name of Darry."
"That was fine of him. What did you think, wasn't he all I said?"
"As nice a young gentleman as I ever met. He asked a lot of questions about you."
"Of course. He had a right to. When a gentleman asks a strange fellow to go off with him on a cruise it's only business for him to learn all he canabout whether the other is honest and all that. You told him I never touched liquor, I hope?"
"He never asked about such things. In fact, it was all in connection with your past he seemed interested."
"My past—how could he be interested in that? He never saw me before." Yet, strange to say, the fact seemed to thrill Darry through and through; for he was still hugging that hope to his heart, and wondering if some day he might not be lucky enough to learn who and what he was.
"Well, all I can say is that he kept asking me all about you came here, why you were Darry, and what your other name might be; when he learned that you never knew who your parents were he seemed to be strangely agitated. He didn't take me into his confidence; but I'm morally convinced that Mr. Singleton believes he is on the track of some sort of discovery. I heard him ask Miss Pepper, who was hurrying over, seeing I had a visitor, if there was a telegraph office in Ashley; and when he left he was saying to himself: 'I must let her know—this may be important.' It would be a fine thing for you, my boy, if circumstances brought you face to face with some rich relative so soon after you landed on the soil of America."
Darry drew a long breath, and shook his head.
"It would be great, as you say, whether my father or mother were rich or poor, it wouldn't matter a bit to me; but I'm afraid you're getting too far along. Perhaps what you heard him say may refer to another affair entirely. No matter, I like Mr. Singleton, and have from the start. If we go off together I know I'd enjoy it first-rate in that dandy little motor-boat of his. I haven't said I would for sure. I mean to wait a while and see how things come out here ashore."
She knew he was thinking of Jim Dilks and his scheming for mischief—that he believed the fact of her giving him shelter and a home had drawn upon her head the vindictive fury of the lawless rascal, who, finding the little home undefended if Darry went away, might think it safe to continue his persecution.
When Darry strode forth into the marsh the next day he again carried the gun.
He found his traps all safe. Undoubtedly his defiance had had its effect upon the mind of Jim; and however much he may have felt like repeating the thievish act which Darry's prompt arrival on the scene had nipped in the bud, he dared not attempt it.
He was beginning to be afraid of this young chap who kept a chip on his shoulder, and dared him to knock it off.
This time four victims attested to the skill with which the new trapper attended to his business.
Already was the list reaching respectable proportions.
He expected to cross over that afternoon to see Abner, and carry the mail again; and it would be with satisfaction that he could inform his good friend how the traps Joe had left behind were still fulfilling their destiny at the same old stand.
The sky was clouded over when he started out on his long trip.
He had during his leisure minutes fashioned a sort of sail that could be used with the wind astern; and as this happened to be the case now Darry got it in position for service.
With the sail, he just rushed along over the bay; and all the while sat there taking his ease instead of dragging at the oars.
Having spent some years on the waters there was little in connection with boats, big or little, that the lad did not know.
He had found some good wood which Abner had expected to use for the purpose at some future date, and one oar was already pretty well advanced.
By the time he crossed again he believed he would have them both completed; and at that they would be nothing of which anyone need feel ashamed.
The favoring wind kept up until he drew in to the little landing where, as before, Abner stood waiting for him.
That was a great night for Darry. First there came the supper with those jolly fellows, whose laughter and jokes he enjoyed so much; after that a nice quiet chat with Abner, who asked for all the news, and was deeply interested in his success in catching the sly denizens of the marsh; although he frequently sighed while Darry was speaking, and the boy could easily comprehend that at such times the poor man was picturing in his mind how Joe used to go through with the same experiences.
When Darry thought it only right to tell how the three cronies had stolen his possessions, and how he had recovered them, Abner slapped his hand down on his knee, and exclaimed:
"I reckon Mr. Fraser was right t'other day when he sez as how the sun o' the Dilks tribe began to set when yuh kim ashore from that wreck. Somehow yuh seem to be hittin' 'em hard, son. I aint much o' a prophet, sence I caint even tell wot the weather's gwine to be tomorry; but I seem to just know from the way things is a heapin' up that they's gwine to be a big heave soon, an' that means the Dilks has got to move on—Ashley don't want ther kind no more."
Darry insisted on accompanying Abner when it came his turn to go out on his long patrol; this time it was in the earlier part of the night, so neither man nor boy thought of going to bed.
The night was not wholly dark, for there was a moon behind the clouds; but beyond a certain limited distance of the sea lay in gloom, only the steady wash of the incoming waves telling of the vast reach of water lying along toward the east.
They talked of many things as they plodded along the sandy beach.
Darry spoke for the first time of Paul Singleton, and his desire that he accompany him later on in his cruising up and down the series of connected bays that stretched for some hundreds of miles back of the sandbars.
Abner was silent at first, and the boy realized that he felt grieved to know there might come a break in the pleasant relations that had been established at home.
"Course it's only right yuh should accept, lad," he said presently, "It's give me much comfort to know yuh was gittin' on so well with the ole woman, for I've felt bad on 'count o' her many times sensehewar taken. But it's a chance thet may never kim again, an' we cudn't 'spect to tie yuh down. Anyhow, your comin' hez been a good thing furNancy, an' I reckons she'll begin to perk up from now on. 'Sides, who knows wot may kim outen this? Jest as she sez thet younker aint interested in yuh jest acause he wants a feller in the boat along with him—I tell yuh he thinks he knows who yuh belong to, and that's a fack, son."
"Oh! I hope so; but I don't dare dream of it. But I'm glad you think well of his offer. I can earn some money that will help out at home, besides having a good time," said Darry, eagerly; though truth to tell, it was the faint hope lodged in his heart that he might learn something concerning his past that chief of all influenced him in his desire to go with the owner of the motor-boat.
"Glad to hear yuh say that word 'home,' boy. I hopes it is a home to yuh, an' allers will be. I've ben thinkin' that your comin' war the greatest favor Heaven ever sent to me an' mine. If it gives Nancy new life that means a lot to me."
Darry knew not what to say to this, but he found the rough hand of Abner, and with a hearty squeeze expressed his feelings far better than any words could ever have done.
CHAPTER XVTHE POWER OF MUSIC
It seemed as though luck favored Darry on this trip, for the wind veered around during the night, and blew out of the southeast when he was ready to start on his return voyage to the mainland.
Thus he was able to use his little sail to advantage both ways.
It was coming so hard off the ocean, however, that at the advice of Abner he took a reef in the canvas before leaving—the life saver had become so attached to his new boy by this time that he could not bear to see him taking any unnecessary chances on that sheet of treacherous water that had already deprived him of one son.
Darry was glad he had taken his friend's advice before half way across. Where the wind had a full sweep of the bay the waves were quite heavy, and it required all his skill as a sailor to keep his cranky little craft head on.
As it was, he reached his haven with a rush, and his tactics in making a landing aroused the admirationof several old fisherman who were lounging at the dock.
He had only time to accomplish several little messages at the store and get on the road for home when it began to drizzle.
Darry was sorry for this, for he had laid out to visit his traps again during the afternoon, not wishing to leave any game that may have been taken, too long in the water.
When later on at lunch he mentioned this to Mrs. Peake she said he would find an old oilskin jacket of Abner's behind the closet door in the hall, which Joe had been wont to don under similar circumstances.
So after all, he went forth, defying the elements, as a true sailor lad always does; and was rewarded for his labor by taking three more trophies from the firm-jawed traps.
Really it was beginning to look like business, with so many on the stretching boards; and Mrs. Peake smiled to see how careful the boy was in everything he undertook.
It spoke well for his future, if he carried the same principle into his whole life.
Of course Darry knew full well that the skins he was taking thus early in the fall were not as good in quality, and would not be apt to bring ashigh prices in the fur marts as those to be captured when real cold weather had set in; but there are times when one has to make hay while the sun shines; and he could not be sure that he would have the opportunity to do these things later.
Besides, the supply of rats seemed unlimited, so rapidly do they breed all over the Eastern coast, from Maine to the Florida line.
The rain continued all that night and the better part of the following day.
It was one of those easterly storms that generally last out portions of three days, and are followed by a lengthy spell of good weather, with touches of frost in the early mornings.
Darry made his regular pilgrimage to the marsh in spite of the rain, and this time found only two prizes to reward his diligence.
From this he determined that it was time to make a change of base, and set his traps in other places where the game might not be so wary.
At any rate he was having no further trouble with the Dilks crowd, and in that he found more or less satisfaction.
Unconscious of the fact that he was being watched from time to time by one of the cronies of which Jim boasted, Darry went about his business,satisfied to do his daily duties, and each night count some progress made.
Twice had he crossed the bay to the strip of sandy beach where the tides of the mighty Atlantic pounded unceasingly, day and night.
His coming was always eagerly anticipated by the whole crew of the life-saving station, and for a good reason.
It happened that on his visit just after the easterly storm had blown out, while they were all gathered around just before dark, chatting and joking, Darry cocked up his ear at the tweeking sound of a fiddle, which one of the men had drawn out of its case, and was endeavoring to play.
Altogether he made a most doleful series of sounds, which upon analysis might prove to be an attempt to play "Annie Laurie," though one would need all his wits about him to settle whether this were the tune, or "Home, Sweet Home."
The men looked daggers at the player, for the screeching sounds were certainly anything but pleasant.
Darry sauntered over. He had played since a little lad, some Italian having first taught him; and on the brigantine Captain Harley had a violin of more than ordinary make, with which he had coaxed the cabin boy to make melody by the hour.
"Sounds like a pretty good instrument?" suggested Darry to the would-be performer.
"They tell me that, boy; but you see I ain't much of a judge. P'raps in time I may get on to the racket, that is if the boys don't fire me and the fiddle out before-hand," replied the surfman, grinning, for his clumsy hands were really never intended by Nature to handle a violin bow.
"Would you mind letting me try it? I used to play a little."
At the first sound of that bow crossing the strings, after Darry had properly tuned the instrument every man sat up and took notice; and as the boy bent down and lovingly drew the sweetest chords from the violin that they had ever heard, they actually held their breath.
After that he was kept busy; indeed they would hardly let him have any rest, and that was why those rough men looked forward eagerly to the expected coming of Abner Peake's new boy.
It seemed as though he must know everything there was, and the music would turn from riotous ragtime to the most tender chords, capable of drawing tears from those eyes so unused to weeping.
It was a rare treat to Darry, too, for he dearly loved music, and the absence of his fiddle had made a gap in his life.
The month was now passing, and closer drew the stormy period when, with the advent of grim November, the duties of the beach patrol naturally grow more and more laborious, since there are greater possibilities of wrecks, with the strong winds and the fogs that bewilder mariners, and allow them to run upon the reefs when they believe they are scores of miles away from the danger zone.
The boom of guns could now be heard all day, and frequently Darry saw Northern sportsmen in the village; though as a rule they kept on board their yachts or else stayed at the various private clubs up or down the sound.
Jim Dilks and his gang still lay low. They awaited a favorable opportunity to carry out some evil scheme, whereby the boy they had come to fear, as well as hate, might be injured.
Well, they knew that he made daily trips into the marsh, and it would seem that they might find the chance they craved at such times; but there was one thing to deter them, and this was the fact that Darry never went to examine his traps without carrying that steady-shooting old shotgun.
The burnt child dreads the fire, and Jim had hardly ceased to rub his injured parts, so that the possibility of getting a second dose was not at all alluring in his eyes.
He was a good waiter, and he felt that sooner or later fortune would turn the trick for him, and the chance arise whereby he might pay back the debt he owed the "interloper," as he chose to deem Darry.
CHAPTER XVIDARRY MEETS WITH A REBUFF
During these weeks Darry had accomplished many little jobs around his new home, things that had been wanting looking after for a long time; for Abner's visits were so few and far between that he had little time to mend broken doors, or put up shelves where they would save the "missus" steps.
If he went off with Paul Singleton later he would have no chance to look after these things, and so he made good use of his opportunities.
He had not seen the young gentleman once since, and upon making inquiries of the storekeeper, learned that he had gone to a very exclusive club to spend some little time.
Darry wondered whether he had been utterly forgotten.
Perhaps the youth had regretted asking him to keep him company; it may have been done on the spur of the moment, simply because he chanced to resemble someone he knew.
Once in the comfortable club, with experienced guides to attend him, and the very best points for shooting reserved, doubtless Paul Singleton had forgotten that there was such a boy as Darry in existence.
So he tried to forget about it, and make up his mind that he could find plenty of congenial work looking after his traps and assisting Abner's wife during the winter, with occasional trips across the sound, and possibly a chance to pull an oar in the surfboat, should luck favor him.
All this while he had taken toll of the feathered frequenters of the marsh, and many a plump fowl graced the table of the Peake family, thanks to the faithful old gun, and the steady nerves back of it.
Darry soon learned where there were squirrels to be found, and twice he had brought in a mess of the gray nutcrackers, though not so fond of hunting them as other game.
And one day he had delighted the good housewife with four nice quail, or as they were known in this section, "pa'tridge," which he had dropped out of a bevy that got up before him in the brush close to the woods where he looked for squirrel.
He knew that something had been troubling Mrs. Peake, but it was a long time before he could tempt her to speak of it.
It concerned money matters, of course, as is nearly always the case when trouble visits the poor.
Abner had been incautious enough to put a little mortgage upon his humble home in order to help a relative who was in deep distress because of several sudden deaths in her family.
He should not have done it, to be sure, but Abner had a big heart, as Darry well knew, and simply could not resist the pleading of his cousin.
No doubt she meant well, but circumstances had arisen that prevented her from repaying the debt, and for the want of just one hundred dollars the Peakes were in danger of being dispossessed.
Of course the mortgage was in the hands of a money shark, for even little villages boast their loan offices, where some usurer expects to get ten per cent. on his money, and will not hesitate to foreclose if it is not forthcoming.
Abner's friends were all as poor as he was, and besides, he was so bashful about such things that he could never muster enough courage to mention his financial troubles to anybody.
When by degrees Darry managed to draw this story from Mrs. Peake he thought it all over while off on one of his swamp trips, and reached a conclusion.
That very day he stepped into the store of a manwho as he chanced to know purchased the few furs that were taken in a season around that section.
He learned that pelts were bringing unusually good prices, and the party quoted as high as eighty cents for fall muskrat skins, properly treated.
When he got home, Darry counted his catch and found that he had some twenty-six in stock; with these he went back to the dealer, and struck a bargain whereby he came away with fourteen dollars in his pocket.
Then he made for the office of the lawyer who held the mortgage, thinking he could pay up the arrears of interest, and bring happiness to the face of his kind benefactress.
Just there he struck a snag.
The loan shark refused to accept the money.
He claimed that since they had defaulted on the interest the entire amount was due, and that he meant to have it, or foreclose.
Darry knew little of law, but he saw that Darius Quarles meant business, and suspected that for some reason he meant to hold to his advantage and give Abner Peake more or less trouble.
"Mr. Quarles, if you would only accept this interest now, I think I can promise that the whole sum will be paid by spring," Darry said, eagerly.
This was, of course, just what the lawyer did notwant. He pretended to look skeptical, and shook his head.
"I suppose you are the boy Peake has adopted. Where did you get this money, may I ask? Did Nancy send you here with it?" he went on; and from the look in his cold, blue eyes, it was apparent that he would have enjoyed having the woman on her knees before him.
Darius Quarles was a very small-minded man evidently; even a boy like Darry could understand that.
"No, she does not know I have come here," replied our hero.
"Then where did you get the money? Boys as a rule don't sport such sums as fourteen dollars in a bunch. I haven't heard of any bank being robbed, or a sportsman being held up; but you understand, it looks suspicious, boy."
Darry flushed with mortification at the insult; but because of Mrs. Peake he managed to bite his lips and refrain from telling the curmudgeon just what he thought of him.
"I received that fourteen dollars not ten minutes ago from a merchant in this village. He will vouch for it if you ask him," he said, quietly, though his eyes flashed fire.
"Just mention his name, if you please. I mighttake a notion to drop in and see if he corroborates your assertion. As I am a magistrate as well as a lawyer, it is my bounden duty to make sure there is nothing crooked in such transactions as come under my observation. Who is the man?"
He tried to look stern, but the attempt was a failure. Nature had made Mr. Quarles only to appear small and mean.
"It was Mr. Ketcham, the hardware man," the boy answered.
"And what would he be paying you this munificent sum for? So far as I know you have never worked for Ketcham, boy. Now, be careful not to commit yourself. What was this money given to you for doing?"
Darry smiled as he drew out a paper.
How fortunate that the hardware merchant who sold traps and purchased such furs as were taken in that region had insisted upon giving him a little bill of sale, in order to bind the transaction, and prove conclusively what the reigning price happened to be at the time.
"Please glance at that, sir."
Darius Quarles did so, and a shade of disappointment crossed his face.
"I see you have taken up the same foolish pursuit that young Joe Peake followed—wasting your timeloafing in the marsh when you had better be going to school and perhaps learning to become a useful man, a lawyer like myself for instance."
Darry shrugged his shoulders, and his action brought a frown to the face of the narrow-minded man who sat there before him; perhaps he jumped to the conclusion that this frank-faced lad did not entertain such an exalted notion of his greatness as he would have liked to impress upon him.
"At least that proves I did not steal the money, Mr. Quarles?" asked Darry.
"I suppose so, though it is an open question as to whether you have any right to take these little inoffensive animals, and sell their coats to Ketcham. I think he might be in a better business; but then he always was a cruel boy."
As Darry remembered the hardware man he believed him to be a jolly, red-faced man, and with a kindly eye, quite the opposite from the fishy orb of Mr. Quarles; but then there are some things that had better remain unsaid, and he did not try to voice his opinion.
"Then you will not do Mrs. Peake this little favor, sir?" he asked.
"Business is business with me, young man. Sometimes it is one person's day, and then the tables turn, and it is another's. This happens to be my time.According to the strict construction of the law, and the wording of the mortgage, the failure to pay the interest on time, with three days' grace, constitutes a lien on the property. I have a use for that cottage—in fact, a relative of mine fancies it. Here, I will give Nancy a chance to redeem her home. Wait a minute or two."
He wrote rapidly on a sheet of paper, signed the same, and held it out.
"Seven days I agree to wait, and if the principal and delayed interest are not handed over to me by next Tuesday, just one week from to-day, on Wednesday they will have to vacate. That will do, boy. Tell Nancy I only do that because of our old friendship. Had it been anyone else they would have cleared out before this. You can go now."
Darry had to bite his lips harder than ever to keep from telling the skinflint just what he thought of him.
Thrusting the paper in his pocket he stalked from the den of the human spider, his mind in a whirl; but grimly determined to try and find some means for saving the humble home of Abner Peake from the hand of the spoiler.
CHAPTER XVIIABNER TELLS A LITTLE HISTORY
As he walked home that evening Darry was figuring. Fourteen dollars was not going far when the sum required, according to the figures Mr. Quarles had written out, reached the grand total of a hundred and eleven dollars and thirty-seven cents.
He had had much more than that on board the poor oldFalconwhen she went to pieces, the amount of his savings for several years; but there was no use of his thinking about that.
To whom could he look for assistance?
He had not a friend, save new ones in the village; and even Mr. Keeler would be apt to decline to lend him money. Times were hard, collections very slow—he had heard this said many times of late—and to small merchants the sum of a hundred dollars means much.
Darry thought it best not to say anything just then to Mrs. Peake, though a little later he must tell her about his visit to the money lender, and deliver the message Mr. Quarles had sent to her.
He was due to cross the sound on the morrow, and perhaps it would be best to tell Abner first; he might have been making some arrangement to get someone else to assume the mortgage, and pay the lawyer off.
So Darry tried to assume a cheerfulness he was far from feeling.
Long he lay awake that night, thinking and trying to lay out some plan of action that might promise results.
In the morning Darry visited his traps.
Only one victim rewarded his labor, and this added to his gloom.
He finished all his various chores, and they were many, for he had taken numerous duties upon his shoulders in order to spare Abner's wife.
As before, it was nearly the middle of the afternoon before he could get away.
Mr. Keeler loaded him down with packages intended for the station-keeper; indeed Darry had to make two trips between the store and his boat before he had all his cargo aboard.
The weather was what a sailor would call "dirty"; that is, it gave promise of turning into more or less of a storm, and wise mariners would be keeping a weather eye out for a safe and snug harbor.
Darry had no fear. He believed he knew thatbay like a book now, and since he had tinkered with the boat and placed it in fair condition he thought it could stand any sea that might meet him in his passage to and fro between the mainland and the stretch of sand acting as a buffer to the ocean tides.
It was a dead calm when he started, and he was compelled to use the oars; but by the time he reached the middle a breeze sprang up, and quick to take advantage of his opportunity he spread his bit of a sail, and went flying along like a frightened gull.
Abner was always glad to see him, and taking advantage of the first chance to get the life saver alone, Darry told of his recent experience with the loan shark.
The other looked very downcast; indeed, Darry could not remember having ever seen him appear so disheartened.
"It means trouble for the poor ole woman, Darry. If I kin only muster up enough courage to ask some o' the folks to help me out p'raps we kin pull through; but the best o' friends pull back wen money is spoken of. They all got ther own burdens to kerry. I know I war a fool to ever do it; but Jenny got on my nerves yuh see, an' promised to give it back. An' thet shark, Quarles, it does him a lot o' good to know he kin push me down a peg," he said, with a heavy sigh.
"I seemed to get the notion that he didn't love you very much, Mr. Peake," remarked Darry.
"I thort he'd forgot all about it, but now I know he ain't, the skunk! He holds it agin me, and hes all these years. I reckon he jest hugged hisself wen I kim to him an' asked that loan. It war jest like playin' into his hands. Yuh see, lad, him an' me was rivals onct on a time."
Darry pricked up his ears.
Here was a touch of romance, something one would hardly expect to find in connection with so ordinary looking a man as Abner Peake.
"You mean that he wanted Nancy—that is Mrs. Peake, to marry him?" he asked.
"Thet's jest it, son. I reckon he'd a got her, too, fur I didn't hold a candle to Darius wen it kim to looks or larnin', but yuh see thet's whar chanct stepped in an' guv me a shove."
"Something happened then?"
"Nancy fell overboard off a boat we was all on. Darius, he didn't know how to swim and all he could do was to yell and wave his arms."
"And you went overboard after her?"
"I reckon I did. They sed as how I was in the water nigh about as quick as Nancy herself. She was a carryin' on high, like she was chokin', when I got to her, but I had her out in a jiffy. Arter thetshe kinder took to me, an' Darius he got the mitten."
"Now I understand why he feels that way toward you," said Darry, wisely.
"They was some things I never did understand 'bout that thing. Nancy, she was allers the best gal swimmer in the village, but she did act like she was drownin' that day. Some sed as how they thort she tumbled over apurpose jest to hev some fun, an' see which o' her beaux'd drap in arter her the quickest," and the surfman smiled at the thought.
"And you won out. I guess Mr. Quarles has never forgiven you for that. But what can be done to beat him at his game now? Isn't there any way?"
"We got a week to try, an' as I git off before the end o' the time I'll see if anything kin be did. P'rhaps Keeler might help me out, though I did hear him say he was mighty hard up jest now. It was nice in yuh tryin' to do wot yuh did, boy. I knowed I wasn't makin' no mistake when I sized yuh up as the right sorter lad to take leetle Joey's place."
The life saver put an arm affectionately across the shoulders of his companion, and Darry never felt prouder in his life than when he realized that he had "made good" with this simple surfman who had been so kind to him at their first meeting.
"I only wish I had been able to do what I wanted to. It it had been any other man but Mr. Quarles Ithink he would have fixed it up, and I meant to put aside what I earned this winter, either from trapping or working for Mr. Singleton, to wipe out all that debt. I will yet, if I have the chance, and you can get somebody to take over the mortgage," he said, stoutly.
"Give me time to think, lad. Wen yuh kim acrost another time p'raps I'll have some plan made up. I'd do nigh anything to save pore Nancy bein' put outen our leetle home. 'Taint much to look at, but she sets a heap by it, I reckon. And as soon as I git a chanct I mean to drop outen this business an' try to make a livin' another way, so I kin be home more. Fishin' it might be, er somethin' thet way."
That night Darry played for the men, but they could not help noticing that much of his music was along the sad order.
In the morning the sky was still overcast, and the sound lay in a bank of half darkness that looked like fog, though the whistling wind seemed to forbid such a thing.
Abner was a little dubious about letting the boy depart, but Darry laughed at the idea of any harm befalling him.
He had several things he wished to attend to, and besides, Mrs. Peake would need him through the day in many ways.
He entered his boat and took up the oars for a hard row, for the wind was of too deceptive a character to allow him to make use of his sail.
The men of the station had come down to see him off, for by this time Darry had won his way into the hearts of every rough fellow, and they looked upon him as a sort of general ward of the crew, pulled out of the sea at their door and destined for great things.
Not one of them but who believed a bright future awaited Peake's new boy, and many were the predictions made among them, some even venturing the assertion that he would be president yet.
So they waved their sou'westers and shouted a merry good-bye to him as he rowed into the gray blanket of mist that shrouded the sound.
CHAPTER XVIIITHE IMPRISONED LAUNCH
The prospect ahead did not dismay Darry at all.
He had been a sailor for some years and was accustomed to meeting all kinds of bad weather.
Besides, his boat though old, was staunch, and could hold its own against waves that would upset another craft less steady; and then again he knew how to handle his oars with the skill that only long practice can bring.
By degrees he lost sight of the sandy shore.
He was now surrounded by a heaving sheet of water, and it required all his knowledge of things nautical to keep his bearings, for it was impossible to see even the slightest object on any side.
The situation would have alarmed many a lad less accustomed to depending on himself in emergencies.
Darry felt no fear.
He noted the direction of the waves, and unless the wind shifted suddenly, which it was not apt to do, he felt positive he could bring up somewhere along the shore near the village.
To his surprise he heard the sullen boom of a gun close by and wondered what any sportsman could be doing out there in that dense atmosphere, where it was impossible to see more than fifty feet away.
Certainly ducks could not be coming to stool under such conditions.
What could he be firing at then?
There it was again, one shot following another in rapid order, until he had counted six.
That would indicate the possession of one of those new style repeating shotguns, capable of holding half a dozen shells, and worked with a pump action.
All of a sudden it struck Darry that possibly someone was in trouble and was taking this means of summoning assistance; though the chances were very slight that any bayman would be anywhere near with that gray blanket covering things—they knew enough to stick to the shore at such a time.
Our hero changed his course a little thinking it could do no harm to look into matters and see what the bombarding meant.
Should it prove that some green sportsman from one of the clubs was lost in the mist perhaps he would be glad of help, and might even promise to pay liberally to be taken ashore in tow.
Just then Darry's mind was filled with an eagerdesire to make money, for he knew of a good use to which he could put it.
Again as he approached, the rattle of a fusilade came to his ears, followed by a series of shouts in a strained voice.
He was close on the spot apparently.
"Hello!" he shouted in return.
An answering whoop came back.
"This way, please! I'm in a peck of trouble here!" he heard someone say.
Twisting his head around as he bobbed up and down on the rollers, our hero caught just a glimpse of some object that seemed stationary, with the waves breaking over it.
It was even worse than being lost upon the sound then—the unknown had driven his boat upon some half hidden rocks, and caught as in a vise she was in danger of being wrecked unless some other craft came upon the spot and pulled her off.
That accounted for the shots and shouts, her owner realizing his extreme peril, for he was two miles from land and the storm increasing constantly.
Darry pushed on and soon another surprise awaited him.
"Hello! is that you, Darry?" asked a voice, and now he recognized it, so that even before he turnedaround again he knew he was once more in the company of Paul Singleton.
"How are you, sir?" he cried. "Looks like you had run aground in the middle of the bay. If you will give me a rope I'll try and drag you off the way you went on. That is the only thing to be done."
"I like the way you go about business," answered the young man. "I begin to have hopes that my poor littleGriffinmay come out of this adventure with a whole skin. It began to look as though I might have to swim for it. Here you are with the painter, which I have fastened to the stern. All depends on how good a haul you can give, Darry."
"What happened to your engine, sir?" asked the boy, surprised that it was not working in the effort to help the boat off.
"I'll start it up again, but it did no good before, only churned the water. It seems I am wedged between two rocks so fast that even the lift of the waves has no effect upon the boat. They break all over us, and I'm wet to the skin and shivering in the bargain. You're as welcome as the flowers in May, Darry."
The engine was speedily started up and the little propeller thrashed the water at a great rate, but though the cedar craft trembled violently there was no change in her position.
"Keep that up and stay in the stern, so as to lighten the bow all you can. I think that is where she is caught fast. If you have anything heavy up forward and can manage to shift it aft so much the better," called Darry, as he kept off by an expert use of the oars; indeed, Paul never could understand how he managed to do this and secure the rope to a thwart at the same time.
"There are a few things up there I can move—the water can and a lot of stuff in tins. Will you be able to hold out a few minutes longer?" asked Paul.
"Easy enough. Take your own time, sir. When you're ready tell me, and I'll give a series of sharp jerks. I hope we can make her move some."
Presently the owner of the motor-boat declared he had moved everything possible, and that the bow seemed to be a little more free than before, as though almost ready to rise with each flowing wave that swept past with a rush.
Darry set to work and began to use every atom of strength in his sturdy muscles; at the same time he engineered matters in such a clever fashion that every time he pulled his oars through the water it was with a rapid movement in the nature of a shock, so that the little hawser tightening, gave a drag at the imprisoned craft.
"She's moving!" yelled Paul Singleton, excitedly.
Darry kept right along, pulling with even more vim than before.
"Bully boy! she's coming! I can feel her move each time. If only an inch, it is something. We're going to get her off! It's a cinch, I tell you!"
Plainly Paul Singleton was considerably excited over the changed prospect that confronted him, and his cries gave the lad heart to exert himself to the utmost.
Suddenly he found that he was towing the launch behind him.
She had left her berth in between the two rocks and floated on the waves.
The owner gave a last whoop of delight.
"I knew if anyone could accomplish it, you would. I think you must be my good genius, Darry. To think of our meeting again here in the middle of the bay and just when I was on my way to your home to see if I could induce you to keep your half-given promise. It's great! Tell me about destiny after this."
That was the way Paul was calling out, as he busied himself in righting things aboard the jaunty little cedar craft.