MT. DESERT ROCK.MT. DESERT ROCK.
"I knew both them men had the same idee in mind when they went out,an' it didn't make any difference how much I said agin it!" the cook cried impatiently, and Sidney asked in bewilderment:
"What do you mean by that, Uncle Zenas? What did they have in their minds?"
"The idee of tryin' to reach the wreck, if there was anything to be heard from the poor creeters after the tide went down so's they could get at the dory."
"Do you mean that they will try to launch the boat while the waves are breaking over the ledge?"
"If they wasn't up to something of the kind, why would Cap'n Eph be prowlin' 'round here to the lee'ard?"
"I can't see why that has anything to do with their trying to help the people who have been wrecked," Sidney said in perplexity.
"Why, he's lookin' 'round to see what kind of a chance he can find for launchin' the dory! He's crazy, dead crazy! Of course I know how wild he is at bein' obleeged to stay here idle when people are bein' drowned before our very eyes, even though we can't see 'em, for I feel the same way; but he an' Sammy will be only givin' up their own lives in tryin' anythin' of the kind."
It surely seemed as if Uncle Zenas had spoken no more than the truth. The sea was running as high as at any time since daybreak, and Sidneycould not believe that any small boat, however skilfully she might be handled, could live for a moment in such a swell.
Dimly amid the swirling snow Sidney could see Captain Eph as he crept over the rocks on the western side of the ledge, looked about him for a moment, and waved his hand to Mr. Peters, whereupon the first assistant began pulling the dory out of the boat-house. Then the lad cried to Uncle Zenas:
"Theyaregoing to launch the boat, sir. Mr. Peters is making her ready."
"God help them an' us, Sonny!" Uncle Zenas cried fervently, and he could have said nothing which would have caused Sidney more alarm, for he understood by the exclamation how dangerous the old man believed would be the attempt.
"Why don't you coax them not to try it?" Sidney asked tearfully.
"Because it wouldn't be any manner of use, Sonny. Ephriam Downs is pig-headed when he gets his mind set on anything, an' Sammy Peters ain't far behind him. Besides, how can you blame 'em for wantin' to make a try at it? I'd rather be with them in the dory, if I wasn't quite so fat, than sittin' here thinkin' of what may come to 'em."
By this time Captain Eph had returned to the vicinity of the tower, and was helping Mr. Peters drag the boat over the jagged rocks, a taskwhich seemed beyond their powers, and yet it was finally accomplished.
Uncle Zenas had come to the window by the side of Sidney, and the two could see the keepers as they shoved the dory out into the sea where it was comparatively calm because of being to the leeward of the ledge. Then both the men, heeding not the biting cold and the sleety snow, stripped off first their oil-skins, and afterward all superfluous clothing, until they stood in their shirtsleeves.
"What's that for?" Sidney asked excitedly. "They'll freeze to death!
"There'll be some little chance of their swimmin' ashore if they haven't got too many clothes on," Uncle Zenas replied mournfully, and then he raised his head quickly as the muffled report of the gun could be heard. "I'm proud of 'em, Sonny, proud of 'em! Talk about men being brave! I've wintered an' summered with them two, an' you can't find more courage in the same weight of human bein's than they've got!"
"But you believe they'll be drowned!" Sidney cried, striving to prevent his voice from trembling.
"There's nothin' we could say or do, Sonny, to prevent 'em from goin' an' we'll hope the good God will send 'em back to us, for I'd be a terrible lonesome, useless old man if them two were taken from me."
Uncle Zenas wiped the tears from his eyes as he strove to peer through the falling snow while the brave keepers leaped into the dory, after shoving her bow from the shore, and Sidney literally held his breath in suspense as the frail boat was tossed high up on the crest of a wave, only to be seemingly engulfed by the next.
"She'll be swamped before they can get around the ledge!" the lad cried in an agony of terror. "Oh, why did they go?"
"I ain't afraid but they'll keep her right side up for a spell, Sonny; but it's when they get anywhere near the wreck that the most dangerous part of the business will come in. Wouldn't you feel better if we went into the lantern? I don't reckon we can see any more there; but it'll seem as if we could."
For reply Sidney ran up the narrow staircase, Uncle Zenas following more rapidly than one would have supposed he could have moved, and when the two were in the lantern the shadowy forms of the keepers could be seen as they toiled at the oars in what seemed like a vain effort.
In a very few seconds the snow hid them completely from view, but yet the watchers stood with their faces pressed against the glass, picturing in their minds the dory and her brave crew as they saw them last.
"If—if—if nothing happens to them, how long before they ought to be back?" Sidney asked in a choking voice, and Uncle Zenas replied in tones hardly more steady:
"That is what we can't make any guess at, lad. It's certain they couldn't pull out to the wreck, against this wind, in less than an hour, an' if anything can be done toward savin' the crew, half a day may be none too long."
Sidney strove in vain to distinguish anything through the snow wreaths; but yet he remained at the window until Uncle Zenas, straightening himself up as if with an effort, said slowly:
"It's no good to stay here when nothin' can be seen but the snow; I must be doin' somethin', or nobody knows what will happen to me. We'll go down in the kitchen, where I can work on your coat."
"I want to get the first glimpse of them when they come back," Sidney said, reluctantly following the old man.
"Then don't begin to look for 'em till later in the day; it'll make you crazy to watch the snow-flakes while they're whirlin' 'round the tower at sich a rate."
Once in the kitchen Uncle Zenas took up his work, sewing feverishly, and keeping his eyes fixed on the garment as if he was afraid to look outof doors, while Sidney walked nervously from one window to another in silence.
When it seemed to the lad as if a full day had passed, the old man asked in a half-whisper:
"Do you reckon we'd better get dinner, Sonny?"
"I couldn't swallow a mouthful. It seems as if I'd never want any more to eat."
"That's about the way I'm feelin', Sonny, an' perhaps it won't do any good to force ourselves. I'll make a big lot of coffee, so we'll have plenty of hot drink for Cap'n Eph an' Sammy when they get back. I reckon they'll be more'n half frozen."
"I only wish I knew theywouldcome back!" Sidney said as if to himself, and Uncle Zenas cried with more of hopefulness in his tone than he had indulged in since his comrades went out:
"We're bound to think they'll come, Sonny. There's no sense in dwellin' on the dark side of things, an' we'vegotto keep our spirits up. You shall help me build a roarin' fire, for it ain't any ways certain we won't have half-drownded strangers here before a great while."
It was a positive relief to have something in the nature of work to do, and Sidney obeyed eagerly, bringing coal from the odd cellar, shaking the ashes from the grate, and brushing up the dust which had fallen tothe floor.
When he went back to the window again it seemed as if he could see a dark shadow through the snow to the southward of the ledge, and it was only with the greatest difficulty that he could prevent himself from crying aloud.
"I won't make a fool of myself by exciting Uncle Zenas about nothing," he said to himself, and then he was positive the shadow rose and sank, as if on the waves.
"I believe I can see something," he said softly, trying hard to repress any evidence of great joy. "There's a shadow out on the ocean, and—"
"It's our dory, Sonny, it's our dory!" Uncle Zenas cried loudly, suddenly lifting the lad in his big arms and kissing him again and again. "Yonder's a boat, sure enough, an' itmustbe ours!"
"But if she should be—"
Sidney could not finish the sentence, and the old man cried excitedly as he ran to and fro:
"But she won't be, Sonny. That craft is held straight on a course, else she'd be wabblin' 'round. Get somethin' on—Here, this coat is far enough along in the makin'. Get into it quick, an' we'll go out to bear a hand!"
"But what can we do?" Sidney cried, now showing quite as muchexcitement as did Uncle Zenas. "How are we to bear a hand?"
"They'll need some one to help 'em make a landin', whether there are passengers aboard or not! Be lively, Sonny, an' thank God that He has let Cap'n Eph an' Sammy come back to us!"
Neither Uncle Zenas nor Sidney were very well protected from the cold when they clambered down the iron ladder to the rocks; but it is safe to say that neither of them could have told whether he was warm or cold, wet or dry, as they stood on the ledge gazing with painful intentness at that dark line behind the snow which both believed to be the boat they were so anxious to see.
Then, slowly, the shadow took on form, until it was possible to trace the outlines of the dory, and an instant later a great cry of triumph went up from both.
There were four men at the oars instead of two, and a heap of something in the stern-sheets that might well be a human being.
"Just think of it!" Uncle Zenas cried, dancing to and fro over the icy rocks more like an insane person than a staid, elderly cook and second assistant of a first-order light. "Them two old idjuts have gone out when a man had no business even to walk the length of this 'ere ledge, an' saved sailors as were drownin'! There ain't another couple on thewhole coast, never mind how young they may be, who'd dared to put off in this gale."
It would be well nigh impossible to set down all that Uncle Zenas said or did while he waited, unmindful of the falling snow or flying spray, for the coming of his comrades. Never for an instant was he silent or motionless, and it is extremely doubtful if he was aware of what he said or did; his joy was so intense as to have become a form of delirium.
Sidney, on the contrary, neither moved nor spoke during that time of waiting; but with pallid face, and lips compressed until the blood was driven from them entirely, he watched eagerly and fearfully the approach of the dory.
The little craft was laboring fearfully in the heavy sea, even though the wind helped her along, and the watchers could have some dim idea of what a battle the two keepers must have had when advancing in the very teeth of the gale, by the labor which was required now, when the most difficult portion of the task was virtually at an end.
Then came the moment when, having run across the southerly end of the ledge, the dory was headed for the western shore and the two watchers ran into the water waist-deep in order to lend a hand.
Save for the incoherent cries of Uncle Zenas, no word was spoken untilthe bow of the little boat had been hauled up on the rocks, and Captain Eph leaped ashore.
His clothing was covered with ice; his hair weighted with snow, and his face so disguised by the mask of frost that even Uncle Zenas might have failed to recognize him under other circumstances; but he lifted Sidney in his arms, as if it was the lad instead of himself who had performed the bravest of brave deeds, and, kissing him again and again, said in a half-whisper:
"Thank God that I've got your face next to mine once more!"
"He has been good to let you come back to me," Sidney said reverentially, and the greetings were at an end.
"Bear a hand, Uncle Zenas, an' help get these poor fellows into the tower. Two of 'em are well nigh dead, an' the others ain't much better, though I reckon the work at the oars has done 'em a world of good."
Then, and only then, did Sidney understand that the keepers had rescued four sailors, two of whom were huddled in the bottom of the dory as if life had already departed.
It was as if Uncle Zenas had the strength of half a dozen men. He lifted one of the unconscious sailors in his big arms, as if handling a baby,and ran across the slippery rocks like a goat, depositing his burden in the kitchen and getting back to the dory before the second sufferer had been taken out.
"Leave him to me," the cook said as he raised the sailor in his arms, literally forcing Captain Eph to release his hold. "I'm feelin' so mighty good 'cause you've come back alive that I've got to do somethin' out of the common run, or take the chances of bustin'."
Sidney could do nothing more than help Captain Eph and Mr. Peters drag the boat across the rocks to the little boat-house, and when she was properly secured the three entered the kitchen.
Two of the survivors of the wreck were in front of the fire drinking hot coffee, while Uncle Zenas was stripping the clothing from the others, and the cook's first words showed that he intended to take entire charge of the rescue from that point.
"Sonny," he cried, "run up-stairs an' strip all the beds; bring the clothes here, an' then help me rub these poor creeters down. Ephraim Downs, you an' Sammy Peters are to get out of them wet duds jest as quick as you know how, an' don't you dare let me see you liftin' a finger till you're in dry clothes. I've had trouble enough about you this day, without your gettin' all drawed up with rheumatiz jest forspite. You're enough to wear a man down to skin an' bones, an' I've come to that pass where I can't stand any more of your capers."
All was bustle and excitement during the next hour. Sidney tried to obey promptly all the cook's orders; but at times he became so confused as to hardly be aware of what he was doing.
The two survivors who had assisted in working the boat were in no need of care after they had been supplied with dry clothing; but it was necessary to rub the others vigorously before they showed signs of returning consciousness.
Within an hour, however, the rescued men were lying in the beds which had been made up on the floor of the kitchen, and Captain Eph sat in the rocking-chair before the stove, with Sidney in his arms.
"You're a brave man, Captain Eph," the lad said as he clasped the keeper's big, brown hand, "and I'm mighty proud of you."
"That's a good deal more pay than I deserve for doin' what little was in my power, Sonny, dear."
"Were all the rest of the crew drowned?"
"Ay Sonny, sixteen of 'em either froze or went under before we got there, an' two of these couldn't have lasted another half hour; but we won't talk about that jest now. From the time Sammy an' me started, I kept sayin' to myself that when we got back I'd take you in my arms, asI've got you near an' hold you jest as long as you could stand it, for you're gettin' to be a good part of my life, laddie."
Uncle Zenas grumbled because Captain Eph insisted on holding Sidney inhis arms, instead of lying down to rest as it seemed he ought to have done; but to all his protests, uttered in whispers lest the rescued men who were sleeping on the floor be disturbed, the old keeper replied:
"I don't need any coddlin', Uncle Zenas, for what I've done this day hasn't tuckered me out a little bit. Besides, I'm restin' with Sonny in my arms, a good deal more'n I would alone in bed."
Sidney had a vague idea that he was much too large a boy to be thus held as if he were a baby; but he made no protest against being thus petted, because it could be plainly seen that it gave the old keeper real pleasure.
After a short time Uncle Zenas proposed that the strangers be left alone, lest their rest be disturbed by the conversation, and the crew of Carys' Ledge light went into the watch-room, where Mr. Peters had already built a fire in the small stove.
The storm raged as severely as at any other time during the day; but toSidney there was no longer any menace in the howling of the wind, while the beating of the snow against the windows only served to remind him how cosy and comfortable it was inside the tower, for with the return of the two keepers from their perilous voyage he had forgotten his fears.
"It doesn't seem possible that you could have kept the boat right side up in those terrible waves," the lad said at length, and Mr. Peters replied:
"There's a good deal of difference between a dory and a boat with a keel, Sonny. In almost any other kind of a craft I'll allow that it mightn't have been possible; but it was a mighty tough pull at the best."
"All it needed was a clear head an' plenty of grit, Sonny," Captain Eph added. "We were stripped down to it till we had to work or freeze, an' so we kept her goin', but more'n once I made up my mind that we'd have to turn back in spite of the hankerin' to give them poor fellows a lift. Sammy ain't overly fond of laborin', as a general thing; but I must say he pulled away this forenoon as if he was a glutton at it, an' time an' time again it seemed as if he reg'larly lifted the dory out'er the water with his oars."
"That's when I was tryin' to keep myself warm," Mr. Peters said with alaugh. "The hardest part of it for me was keepin' the snow out'er my eyes; twice they got froze up, what with the sleet an' spray, an' I had all I could do to pry 'em open without losin' stroke."
"Was the vessel where you believed, sir?" Sidney asked.
"Ah, Sonny. She'd struck the shoal jest as I allowed, an' had driven up on the rocks till the fo'c'sle deck was well out'er water, else never one of the crew would have lived to talk about it. She was a big barkentine—nigh to a thousand tons, I should say—breakin' up mighty fast when we got there, with only four men left on deck, an' they so covered with ice an' snow that you wouldn't have taken 'em for human beings. They had a small gun, sich as is used for signalin', lashed to the capstan; but were past firin' it when we hove in sight."
"How was it possible to get on board?" Sidney asked.
"That was what we couldn't do, Sonny. The cap'n of the vessel was the only one able to give us any help, an' all we could do was to run down under the lee of the wreck, trustin' to their jumpin' aboard as we passed, for it stands to reason we couldn't hold the dory in any one place many seconds, except at the cost of havin' her stove."
"Now don't you think, Sonny, that it didn't need some mighty fine workto do what Cap'n Eph's tellin' about so quiet-like," Mr. Peters interrupted. "There ain't another man on this whole coast who could have done the trick, an' I'm willin' to confess that my heart was in my mouth pretty much all the time."
"Sammy did his full share of the work, Sonny, an' did it like a little man," the old keeper said, continuing his story as if there had not been any interruption. "The first time we ran down, the captain of the wrecked vessel tossed one of the men aboard us, for the poor fellow was so far gone he couldn't help himself. The second trip we got another passenger in the same way, an' the third venture, which was nigh bein' the last of our work, owin' to an ugly sea catchin' us when we were within four or five feet of the wreck, the other two men jumped aboard."
"An' by that time we had a full cargo, I can tell you," Mr. Peters said, determined to relate his share of the story. "We had shipped a barrel of water while gettin' down there, an' when both the men jumped into the dory at the same minute, she had all any craft could swim under."
"The two men who had life enough left in 'em to bear a hand, bailed the water out while Sammy an' I pulled at the oars the best we knew how,"Captain Eph continued, "an' when she was lightened a bit, they got out the second pair of oars. Of course the wind helped us mightily, when we was homeward bound; but at the same time considerable work was needed to fetch her in safe. That's all there was to the rescue, Sonny, an' I reckon Sammy an' I are feelin' a good deal better than if we'd hung 'round here listenin' to the gun without liftin' a hand."
"You're brave men, the bravest that ever lived, as Uncle Zenas said this forenoon," Sidney whispered, and Captain Eph looked up quickly at his second assistant as he asked sharply:
"What right have you got to fill Sonny's head with sich stuff as that, Zenas Stubbs? I've seen you do plenty of bigger things in front of Petersburg, an' never yet felt called upon to say you was so terribly brave!"
"It's nobody's business what I said to Sonny when you two idjuts was away," Uncle Zenas said snappishly. "I didn't tell him then what I will now—that you're both the most pig-headed, opinionated old shell-backs that ever wheedled the Government into appointin' 'em to the charge of a light-house!"
Having thus expressed himself so forcibly, the cook went down-stairs as if suddenly attacked by a fit of the sulks, and Captain Eph whisperedin Sidney's ear:
"Now wouldn't you think he was a cross-grained old curmudgeon? Wa'al, he ain't, an' his heart is jest as big as his body. It's what you might call second nature for him to tear 'round when we don't get into the kitchen the very minute he has the food on the table; but, bless you, neither Sammy nor I pay any attention to what he says."
"It's gettin' well on to sunset," Mr. Peters suggested, "an' I was so mixed up this mornin' that I ain't willin' to swear the work in the lantern was done 'cordin' to the rules an' regerlations. It won't do any harm to have a look at the lamp."
"Go ahead, Sammy, though I'm allowin' that we did our duty as keepers before we started out to help them poor creeters," and Captain Eph followed his first assistant, while Sidney kept close at the latter's heels.
So far as the lad could judge, there was no decrease in the strength of the wind, nor could he see anything to betoken the end of the gale, yet Captain Eph confidently announced that the "backbone of the blow was broken," and the weather would be fair next morning.
"I hope you're right, Cap'n," Mr. Peters said, as he examined critically the apparatus, "for it ain't dead sure that we mightn't fetch away fromthe wreck quite a lot of stuff that would come in handy to us now an' then."
"That may be, Sammy; but the question is whether we'd get enough to pay us for pullin' the dory out there an' back while the sea is runnin' high."
Now, for the first time since the keepers returned from their dangerous errand of mercy, did Sidney think of the motor boat, and he asked concerning her.
"She's stove for good this time, Sonny," Mr. Peters replied, "an' if we hadn't gone ashore in her jest when we did, all my work would have been thrown away. I'm allowin' that you'd have hard work to find two of her timbers; but the motor lays there on the rocks in what I'd call pretty fair shape, considerin' how it was ripped out of her."
"I wouldn't waste many tears on her, Sonny, for, take it all in all, we've come out of this 'ere gale a good deal better than we had any right to expect," Captain Eph said, as if believing the lad would feel badly because his boat had been destroyed.
"Don't think I'd be so foolish as that, sir," Sidney said with a laugh. "Of course I'd rather we had her whole and sound; but she didn't begin to be of as much value in a place like this, as the dory, and if we hadput her into the house, taking your boat out, those poor fellows down-stairs would not now be alive."
"That's the way to look at it, Sonny," Captain Eph cried cheerily. "Now we'll start the light, an' then be ready for Uncle Zenas' call. I reckon he'd expect us to come down when supper was ready, even if the kitchen was stacked full of half-drowned sailors."
As if in answer to the keeper's remark, Uncle Zenas' head appeared just above the floor at the head of the stairs, and he said in a hoarse whisper:
"Two of your shipwreckers are hoppin' 'round down there lively as chickens; but the others are still asleep. What 'ere we doin' to do 'bout supper?"
"I reckon we'd better have it the same as usual, Uncle Zenas," the keeper replied. "It won't do any harm if them as are still in bed get wakened, for they're likely needin' food as much as sleep."
"Then the sooner you get into the kitchen an' go to eatin' the better it'll be for me. I've got work enough on hand, what with sewin' an' cookin', without havin' the table in the middle of the floor all night."
"If a fat man who claims to be cook on this 'ere ledge would get off the stairs so's we could pass, them as have to do all the work while he's loafin' 'round might get their meals in better season," Mr. Peterscried as he attempted to crowd past Uncle Zenas, and the latter hurried down to the kitchen muttering as if he was beside himself with rage.
When Sidney reached the kitchen all the rescued men were awake, and their captain was introducing them to the crew of the light-house.
"This is Henry Clark, second mate of the barkentineNautilus," he said as the man who had assisted in rowing the dory ashore stepped forward. "Carl Bragg and Thomas Cutler were of the crew, and are both able seamen. I was in command of the ship, and my name is Benjamin Nutter."
Then Captain Eph introduced himself and crew, including Sidney, and added when that formality was at an end:
"I reckon you're needin' somethin' hot to eat, an' the sooner you tackle what Uncle Zenas has cooked up, the better he'll be pleased."
The rescued men did not delay in acting upon what was a suggestion rather than an invitation, and instead of simply asking a blessing upon the food, Captain Eph offered a fervent prayer of thanksgiving because the crew of Carys' Ledge light had been permitted to save the lives of their fellows.
During the conversation which ensued while the meal was in progress, Captain Nutter explained that his compasses were to blame for thewreck, since, had they shown true, theNautiluswould have been nearly an hundred miles to the southward of where she struck. Then, suddenly, he asked:
"Is that lad one of your crew?"
"Wa'al," Captain Eph replied slowly, "we've begun to think he is, though I don't reckon we can hold him with us very long. He came ashore in a fog storm—"
"His father is Captain Harlow of the schoonerWest Wind!" Captain Nutter cried quickly.
"Ay, that's who he is," the keeper replied in surprise; "but how do you happen to know it?"
"Because I spoke theWest Windtwo days ago. She had been cruising around in search of the missing boat, and was only just put on her course again when I met her. Captain Harlow asked me to have the fact of the lad's being adrift in a motor boat inserted in all the leading newspapers, offering a reward to any one who could give information concerning the boy. He is bound for San Juan, and thence to Cadiz."
It was only natural that Sidney should be in the highest degree excited and delighted at thus hearing directly from his father; but an expression of disappointment came over his face as he heard the keeper's question and Captain Nutter's reply:
"How long is he likely to be gone on such a voyage as that?"
"Of course very much depends upon the length of time he is forced to remain in port discharging and loading; but it is safe to reckon on its being ended inside of a year. In the meantime, as I understood him to say, his owners will advance whatever money the boy may need."
"A year!" Sidney exclaimed ruefully.
"A year!" Captain Eph cried in delight, and Mr. Peters asked anxiously:
"Think you'd be able to stick it out on Carys' Ledge that long, Sonny, or will you go ashore the first chance that offers?"
"I'd rather stay here than anywhere else," Sidney replied; "but if the owners of theWest Windare to pay for my board, perhaps they may claim the right to say where I shall live."
"That is easily arranged if you want to stop here, lad," Captain Nutter said. "Write a letter to your father, explaining matters, and there is no doubt but he will prefer that you stay where it may be the most agreeable."
"But no one can say when I may be able to send a letter ashore, sir," Sidney replied in perplexity.
"Get it ready, lad, and I will see that it is mailed without delay. The keeper will be so eager to rid himself of four men, that, as soon asthe weather permits, you will see us pulling to the mainland in the dory."
"He's right, Sonny; we're bound to set him ashore as soon as it may be done, an' I'll write to your father myself, tellin' him what we old shell-backs are willin' to do for the sake of keepin' on Carys' Ledge a little shaver whom we're mighty glad to have with us. Of course you'd rather go to him; but since he's arranged for you to stay ashore, I hope you'll want to stop with us."
"Indeed I shall, Captain Eph, and if we can mail our letters very soon, perhaps I may hear from father before he leaves Porto Rico."
"I allow it can be done without turnin' a hair. I'm predictin' a fair day for to-morrow; but with a heavy sea runnin'. Four an' twenty hours later it should be possible for Sammy an' me to make the mainland in the dory. It'll take the best part of to-morrow for me to write out another report as to the wreck, an' a letter to your father, so we'll be gettin' off about as soon as all hands are ready."
Way down deep in Sidney's heart was a feeling of disappointment because so much time must elapse before he could see his father; but the keepers were so delighted at the prospect of his remaining with them during the winter at least, that he strove to hide his own feelings lest theymight think he was ungrateful.
Despite the protests of the shipwrecked men, they were sent to sleep in the room used by the assistants. Uncle Zenas laid down a pile of blankets in the kitchen for his couch, and the same kind of a bed was made for Sidney in the watch-room, he begging for the privilege of remaining there during the night, to the end that Mr. Peters and Captain Eph might use the keeper's room.
The occupants of the tower retired at a very early hour, and Sidney slept so soundly that he did not awaken until after Captain Eph had been on duty a long while.
"Why didn't you waken me when you came up here?" he asked reproachfully, and the old keeper replied:
"I allowed it would do you more good to sleep, Sonny, for you had what might be called a hard day, an' needed all the rest that could be scooped in."
"It was you and Mr. Peters who had the hard day, sir. I did nothing but idle the time away."
"Stayin' inside was the worst part of the whole job, Sonny. If a man can work he's all right; but when it comes that there's nothin' to be done, he reg'larly eats his heart out worryin'. What are you an' me goin' to do from now till sunrise?"
"Suppose you tell me some more sea stories?"
"All right, Sonny, if that's what you want, an' I only hope I'll always be able to satisfy you as easy. This'll be a great year for me; but I reckon I'll be a terrible lonesome old man after you go away."
"There is no good reason for looking ahead so far as that, sir, for no one knows what may happen before father comes back, so we'll get all the pleasure we can now," Sidney said as he seated himself on the old man's knee.
"You're right, Sonny. It's almost wicked for me to be thinkin' of anything but the fact that we're to have you with us nigh to twelve months longer than I thought yesterday at this time could possibly be the case."
Then Captain Eph drew upon his memory for some of the wildest and weirdest yarns that were ever spun during a northeast gale, and the time came for extinguishing the light before Sidney realized that he had been awake more than half an hour.
The morning's work was done, and breakfast made ready, while the survivors of the wreck were yet asleep, and Captain Eph would not allow Uncle Zenas to awaken the slumberers, claiming that it was far better the cook should do a little additional work, than deprive the unfortunate men of the rest they needed.
As Captain Eph had predicted, the storm subsided during the night, andbefore breakfast had been eaten the clouds were being driven eastward by the wind. The sea yet ran so high that the ledge was covered by the waves a goodly portion of the time; but all the crew were positive that within the next four and twenty hours it would be possible to make the trip to the mainland in the dory, even though she carried the four shipwrecked ones in addition to two of the keepers.
"Now we'll go into the watch-room, an' do our writin', Sonny," Captain Eph said as he arose from the table. "It may be a little early to begin; but we want to put down all the facts an' figgers so that your father an' the inspector may know what has happened, an' there's nothin' like havin' plenty of time when you're writin' out a long yarn."
Before he had finished giving his father a detailed account of all that had happened to him since he left theWest Wind, Sidney came to believe that Captain Eph was not far wrong when he proposed that the task be begun early in the day. The lad had the satisfaction of knowing, however, that he told a straightforward, connected story, even though the greater portion of the forenoon had been spent in writing it down.
Captain Eph did not finish his work very much sooner than had Sidney,and when the two went down into the kitchen, they found the rescued men discussing with Mr. Peters and Uncle Zenas the incidents of the disaster.
The details of the disastrous voyage were related by each of the survivors in turn, and then came the question as to whether it might be possible to save anything from the wreck.
Captain Nutter was of the opinion that theNautilushad already gone to pieces; but the crew of the light felt certain the forward portion of the vessel was yet held by the rocks, and Mr. Peters said decidedly:
"When we come back from the shore I'm goin' to make a try for it, an' if I bring away half a dory-load of canvas, I'll count the time well spent."
"I sincerely hope you may get enough to pay you for your trouble, and only wish I might be able to reward you for what you have done in our behalf; but with theNautilusa wreck, I'm the same as penniless," and the deep sigh which escaped Captain Nutter's lips told of the sorrow in his heart.
"We wouldn't take the value of a cent if you had all the money in the land," Captain Eph cried emphatically. "This 'ere crew tries to do its duty by the Government, an' when that's been done, if we can work in a little overtime, like takin' you off the wreck, we feel as if we couldlook ourselves in the face knowin' we'd lent a hand when it was needed."
The serious tone which the conversation had taken did not please Uncle Zenas, and in order to change the subject he held up the coat on which he had been working, saying as he did so:
"Come here, Sonny, an' let me see how it fits. I don't claim to be any great shakes of a tailor; but I hope there's gimp enough in me yet to do a job like this in a decent manner. Of course Cap'n Eph will buy you what's needed, when he goes ashore to-morrow, but even then this won't go amiss to knock around on the ledge in."
Uncle Zenas had no reason to be ashamed of his work; he had made a sailorly looking garment out of Captain Eph's second-best uniform coat, and it fitted Sidney quite as well, if not better, than any which could have been purchased ready made.
"I allers said you was a master hand with a needle, Uncle Zenas," Mr. Peters cried as he surveyed Sidney in his new coat, with the eye of a critic, "an' here's the proof that I knew what I was talkin' about. Captain Eph may buy clothes for Sonny till the day of his death, an' he won't get anything that'll match this one for all-around goodness."
"I'll do better than that before Sonny has finished his year on Carys' Ledge," the cook said, vainly striving to hide the pardonable pride hefelt because of his work. "Jest now, though, it's my business to get dinner, an' if you people will go up into the watch-room so's a man can have a chance to turn 'round, we'll have some prime salt fish boiled, with plenty of pork scraps."
"So long's you've got your coat on, you may as well come with me an' see what's left of the motor boat," Mr. Peters said to Sidney, and since Captain Eph did not make any objection to the proposition, the two went down to the ledge.
The machinery was all that could be seen of the little craft in which the lad had spent so many wretched hours, and that was so badly rent and rusted that Sidney felt confident it could never be put in working order again.
"I'm not so certain of that," Mr. Peters said as he examined the motor carefully. "Of course neither you nor me could set it up, because we don't know how; but if it holds good weather I'm goin' to take it ashore, an' put it in the hands of some man who understands his business. If it's possible to get it in shape, I'll buy a hull, an' next spring we can knock around out here like a couple of swells, with our own yacht."
Sidney was not particularly elated by the promise, since he believed the motor was injured beyond repair; but Mr. Peters was so confident thathe talked of little else during the remainder of the day, and before sunset even Uncle Zenas had begun to speculate upon the possibility of owning a power boat, which might be housed on the mainland during the winter season, when she could not be kept on the ledge.
"You're to stay with Uncle Zenas to-morrow, Sonny," Captain Eph said while he and Sidney were in the lantern waiting for the moment when the lamp should be lighted. "I allow it'll be a bit more lonesome than usual; but it's better than knockin' about in a boat that's overloaded with six grown men."
"I shall get along all right, sir," Sidney replied in a cheery tone, although the prospect was not pleasing. "I've been wanting to know more about light-houses, and I'll spend the time reading some of your books."
"That's right, Sonny," and the keeper stroked the lad's hair affectionately. "I like to see a boy try to make the best of everything, as you've done since comin' ashore here. It ain't likely I'll be gallivantin' all over creation this winter same's I've been doin' these three days past, an' we'll have some prime good times after we're shut in by the weather. Now what are you allowin' that I shall buy for you at the store?"
"I really don't want anything, except something more to wear, and ofcourse you know that father will give back all the money you may spend for me."
"He won't if I can prevent it," Captain Eph cried sharply. "It'll do me solid good to rig you out in proper shape; but I do wish you was hankerin' after gim-cracks."
"But I'm not, Captain Eph, and I'll be perfectly contented here till father comes, for I'm a mighty lucky boy to have fallen into such good hands after floating around so long in an open boat."
"Sunset, an' time to start the lamp!" the keeper cried, looking at the watch he had been holding in his hands, and once more the light on Carys' Ledge streamed out across the waters, warning sailormen of the treacherous rocks near at hand.
The inmates of the light-house were astir next morning very shortlyafter Captain Eph went on watch, because it was the desire of the keepers to start for the mainland at the earliest hour possible.
Uncle Zenas had insisted that they should leave as soon as breakfast had been eaten, declaring that he and Sidney could trim the lamp and clean the lens before the kitchen had been set to rights.
Therefore it was that the day had but just begun to break when the party was ready to set off, and Captain Eph said warningly to his second assistant when all were gathered at the cove, waiting for Mr. Peters to launch the dory:
"See to it, Uncle Zenas, that the light is shut off on the stroke of sunrise."
"I reckon I know enough to run this 'ere place one day, without any extry lessons from you," the cook said gruffly, and Captain Eph continued placidly, as if there had been no interruption:
"Remember that the lantern must be put in order before you get to work on the kitchen. It seems to me as if we'd been a little slack in ourduties lately, an' I'm countin' on keepin' a stiffer hand over this 'ere crew from now on."
"If you're goin' ashore, be off, an' don't try to teach your grandmother how to suck eggs!" Uncle Zenas cried as if in anger. "Unless I'm a nat'ral born idjut, I know as much 'bout this 'ere light as you do, Ephraim Downs."
"I ain't sayin' anythin' agin that part of it, Uncle Zenas. We'll all allow you know enough; but what worries me is that you'll get the idee inter your head that it's more important to fix up the kitchen first, an' I want you to keep sharp in mind that the cookin' part don't cut any figger alongside of the light itself."
"Anybody would reckon you thought the cookin' part was all in all on this 'ere ledge, if they could hear you growlin' when the meals don't jest suit you," Uncle Zenas cried, and perhaps he would have said more but for the fact that Captain Nutter came forward to say good-bye, and thank him for the hospitality extended.
"Don't say a word about it," Captain Eph interrupted. "It's mighty little we've done at the best, an' no more'n one Christian man ought'er do for another. If we could have saved your whole crew, then there'd be somethin' to talk about."
Each of the shipwrecked men in turn wanted to give words to hisgratitude, as was only natural, since, save for the exertions of the keeper and his first assistant they would not have been alive; but Mr. Peters was as much opposed to being thanked as was Captain Eph, and the men went on board the dory after silently shaking hands with Uncle Zenas and Sidney.
"Don't let Sammy linger 'round on shore any longer than is necessary!" the cook cried warningly. "He's been off so much lately that I'm afraid he'll get it inter his head it must be done reg'lar, whether he's got any business or not."
"I'll look after him all right, so you needn't worry, Uncle Zenas," the keeper cried cheerily, and then the dory was pushed off from the shore, the cook and Sidney watching her until she had rounded the ledge, heading a straight course for the shore.
"Now I reckon we'll go inter the lantern," Uncle Zenas said when it was no longer possible to distinguish the faces of those in the boat, owing to the dim light. "Cap'n Eph will keep his eyes on the light, an' if it shouldn't happen to die away at the very minute when the sun ought'er rise 'cordin' to his watch, the chances are he'd make all hands come back to straighten us out."
Nothing so serious as that took place, however, for the light wasextinguished at the proper moment, and then the work of making it ready for another night was begun.
"I declare for it, Sonny, you're as handy with this job as if you'd been at it all your life!" Uncle Zenas exclaimed while Sidney was working. "You're doin' it a heap better'n Sammy ever can, even if he sticks on this ledge to the day of his death."
"That is because I've been trying hard to find out just how it should be done," Sidney said laughingly, but decidedly pleased by the words of praise. "You've all been so good to me, that I'd be a pretty poor kind of a boy if I didn't do my best at the little jobs that come my way."
"It may seem as if you was gettin' the best end of the trade, Sonny; but you're way off mistaken. We old shell-backs are the ones who's havin' all the fat, 'cause it brightens us up wonderfully to have you 'round."
Sidney was at a loss for a reply to this remark, and changed the subject of the conversation by asking Uncle Zenas of what service a certain cylinder of thin brass, which entirely encircled the chimney of the lamp, could be in the general arrangement of the light.
"I reckon you've noticed that this 'ere light seems to die away once inevery forty seconds, eh?" the old man asked as he raised and lowered the cylinder. "Well, this cover of brass is what does it, an' the clock keeps it movin'. You see the clock is made fast to the brass cylinder, an' as the wheels go 'round it is raised till the whole of the flame is uncovered, an' then lowered till it's nearly shut out. The whole thing is simple enough, but it took a mighty clear-headed man to think it up. When a vessel comes off this coast, an' the cap'n sees Carys' Ledge light growin' dim an' then brightenin' up, he counts the number of seconds that go by from one bright flash to another, an' says to himself, says he: 'That 'ere is a forty-second flash, an' she's about so an' so off the coast.' Then he dives inter the cabin, hunts up his list of lights, sees which one answers to the description he's got in mind, an' says to himself, says he: 'That's Carys' Ledge, an' I'll make the course a leetle more southerly.' If that 'ere clock should happen to break down on account of not bein' properly cared for, we'd have to take turns grindin' a crank to keep the brass cylinder movin' up an' down 'cordin' to the rules an' regerlations, else there'd soon be another ship piled up on the rocks alongside theNautilus."
By the time Uncle Zenas had come to an end of his explanation, the necessary work had been performed, and he said with a sigh ofsatisfaction as he began to descend the stairs:
"Now I reckon we can be gettin' at the serious part of the business! It allers makes me feel lonesome to know that the kitchen hasn't been set to rights, for that's the first place a visitor gets into when he comes to the light, an' he's liable to judge everything by what he sees there."
"There isn't any great need to bother your head about visitors," Sidney said with a laugh. "People don't come out to this ledge every day."
"True for you, Sonny; but s'posen the kitchen was lookin' like all possessed on that pertic'lar day? I keep it put to rights as much of the time as I can, an' then I don't stand any chance of bein' caught nappin'."
Then Uncle Zenas went to work with a will, positively refusing all offers of assistance from Sidney, and, finally, the lad went into the watch-room, where he read about lenses and the refraction of light until he despaired of ever thoroughly understanding the subjects.
At noon there were no signs of the keepers' return, but Uncle Zenas declared the dory would "heave in sight" within the next two hours, and proposed that they "have a bite to stay their stomachs," deferring aregular dinner until all the crew were together once more.
"I don't want even a bite now," Sidney said decidedly. "Do you suppose Captain Eph would be displeased if I carried the glasses into the watch-room?"
"Not a bit of it, Sonny. Use 'em wherever you please, an' I'm allowin,' if you keep a sharp lookout, you'll see the dory inside of half an hour."
Then Sidney climbed the narrow stairs with the glasses held carefully under his arm, and twenty minutes had not elapsed before he could see, far away in the distance, what looked like a toy boat manned by a miniature crew.
"They're coming, Uncle Zenas! They're coming!" he shouted, and the cook replied:
"I reckoned it was about time they'd be showin' up, an' have jest put on the potatoes. Dinner'll be ready when they get here."
Sidney watched through the glasses until he could distinguish the features of both the keepers, and as he gazed Captain Eph waved his hand to show that he had seen the little lad in the window of the tower.
Then Sidney ran down-stairs and out on the ledge, standing at the head of the narrow cove as the dory rounded the rocks, while Mr. Peters shouted: