"I reckon, after thinkin' of all that, there ain't any one of this 'ere crew as feels like complainin', eh?" and Captain Eph looked around sternly, much as though believing his assistants were on the verge of insubordination. "If a seventeen-year-old girl, with the same as nothin' to eat, can take care of a whole family an' a light for twenty-one days durin' heavy weather, we deserve to be kicked if there's any show of gettin' down at the heel."
"We're mighty lucky to be no worse off," Uncle Zenas said as he unfastened the bandages in order to look at his injuries, and this reminded Captain Eph that it was time to apply more scraped potato.
When the forenoon came to an end both the invalids were cared for, and Sidney had the noon-day meal ready.
Mr. Peters had made what served as tables, but which were really rough stools, and from these Captain Eph and Uncle Zenas ate their dinner with very little of discomfort.
Because there was nothing he could do in behalf of the invalids, Mr. Peters spent the greater portion of the afternoon in bed, and Sidney read to or talked with the keepers until it was time to get supper.
The record of this day would serve fairly well for the five succeeding days. The storm had cleared away after raging with mild violence forty-eight hours; but the wind seemed to have increased rather than subsided, and the waves were so boisterous that it would have been impossible, save at the cost of life, to descend from the kitchen to the ledge.
The keepers were storm-bound even though the sun was shining, and would be until the wind subsided. During all this time but few vessels were to be seen far down on the horizon, and never one near enough to be signaled.
Both the disabled keepers were recovering even more rapidly than could have been reasonably expected. Captain Eph's sprained leg no longer caused him very great pain; but he, as well as his companions, understood that very many days must elapse before he should venture to stand upon it.
Uncle Zenas was able to hobble around fairly well, and, with a certain amount of assistance from Sidney, attended to the greater portion of the cook's duties; but neither of the men had attempted to ascend the stairs.
Never for a moment had Mr. Peters faltered in his efforts to atone for his deceit. It was as if each day he tried the harder to perform more work, or minister to the comfort of his comrades, until Captain Eph said privately to Sidney that "Sammy's trip on the raft had worked a wonderful change."
On the morning of the sixth day after the combination of accidents, there was a break in the monotony, which excited the invalids greatly.
Mr. Peters, who had been in the lantern attending to some trifling duty, came down-stairs at a rapid pace as he cried:
"The light-house tender is headin' this way, not more'n two miles away, an' makin' heavy weather of it!"
In a twinkling the room was a scene of the greatest excitement. Captain Eph, forgetting his injured limb, attempted to spring to his feet, but sank back quickly with a groan, and Uncle Zenas, thinking only that the inspector might not be pleased at seeing beds in the kitchen, bent over to gather up the clothing, when the partially healed burns caused him to straighten up again as a cry of pain escaped his lips.
"What is the matter?" Sidney asked in surprise, not understanding why the announcement that the tender was coming toward the ledge should have so startled the two men.
"Matter, Sonny!" Captain Eph cried. "Why most likely the inspector is comin' on one of his reg'lar visits, an' what'll he say if he finds Uncle Zenas an' me off duty, so to speak?"
"I don't see why you need bother about him," Sidney began; but before he could finish the statement, Mr. Peters cried:
"Of course you don't, Sonny, 'cause you never was here when he overhauled everything on the ledge as if he expected we allers left 'em at sixes an' sevens."
"But he won't see anything to-day," Sidney continued. "Didn't you say we were storm-bound? If other people can't make a landing here, isn't he in just as bad a fix?"
Captain Eph leaned back in his chair and looked at the lad in astonishment, as he gasped:
"Wa'al, who'd thought that little shaver had more sense than all the rest of us put together? Of course the inspector can't make a landin', an' I don't understand why he has come out here, for he must have known what the weather was!"
"It's given me the worst scare I've had since I upset the kettle of lard!" Uncle Zenas exclaimed, leaning back on the bed as if after severe exertions.
"She's comin' out here jest the same," Mr. Peters said as he stood by the window which opened toward the mainland, "an' what is it they want?"
"You an' Sonny better show yourselves on the lantern gallery," Captain Eph suggested. "It won't take 'em long to find out that they can't step foot on Carys' Ledge this day; but it behooves us to make some signs of life."
Mr. Peters and Sidney ran up-stairs to obey this command. The lad had never been on the narrow gallery which ran around on the outside of what is known as the lantern-deck, and he experienced a decided sense of insecurity as he stepped on the narrow platform through one of the swinging windows of the lantern.
"You needn't walk so gingerly," Mr. Peters said with a laugh. "This 'ere would hold a hundred men as big as Uncle Zenas, an' I reckon your weight won't set it adrift. There's the steamer, an' it looks as if she was standin' on end 'bout half the time."
The little craft was indeed laboring in the heavy seas. More than once Sidney fancied that the tops of the waves were flung completely over her smoke-stack, and when she sank into the trough of the sea, it was as if she were bent on going to the bottom.
"I've yet got to guess why she's out here in this weather," Mr. Peters said half to himself, as he watched the steamer plunge and toss wildly when she was brought around parallel with the westerly side of the ledge. "They seem to know that there's no chance of makin' a landin,' an' it looks as if they wanted to speak to us."
Then the first assistant waved his arms wildly, and shouted at the full strength of his lungs:
"Ahoy! What's the matter?"
It was probable that the wind carried his words down to the steamer; but when a man emerged from the wheel-house with a megaphone, and evidently made some reply, it was as if he were indulging in a pantomime, for not a sound came to the ears of those on the tower.
"I can't hear you," Mr. Peters shouted, repeating the words again and again until he was literally red in the face, and the man on the steamer evidently replied again; but it was as if he had not spoken.
"I'm gettin' tired of this fool business," Mr. Peters said irritably. "Why didn't they stay at home?"
"Perhaps some one saw the smoke of the fire, and sent word that the tower was burned," Sidney suggested, and then Mr. Peters shouted, using his hands as a trumpet:
"We're all right here! Nothin' the matter with us!" and he added in a lower tone, "It's no use to try an' make 'em understand that Cap'n Eph an' Uncle Zenas are off duty, for they couldn't hear me."
Once more the man with the magaphone shouted, and then the bow of the little steamer was headed landward, the steam which escaped from the whistle-valve telling that she had saluted.
"If that ain't a leetle the biggest wild goose chase I ever heard of, then my name's Benjamin, which it ain't!" Mr. Peters exclaimed as he led the way inside the lantern, and when the window had been carefully closed, he asked sharply:
"What sent 'em out here on a day like this?"
"I can't tell you," Sidney replied with a laugh, and at that moment the voice of Captain Eph could be heard from below:
"Ahoy, Sammy! Are you goin' to stay there all day?"
It seemed as if the first assistant was about to make an impatient reply, as in the days before he had deceived his comrades; but he checked himself ere the first word was uttered, and replied:
"We're comin', Captain Eph. I only wanted to make certain everythin' was ship-shape up here."
Then the two descended the stairs, and they were yet on the floor above the kitchen when Captain Eph shouted again:
"What did they say to you?"
"That's what I wish I knew," the first assistant said emphatically, as he entered the kitchen. "Somebody danced 'round a good bit; but with this wind blowin' dead in his teeth, we couldn't hear so much as a single yip from him."
"But what did he want?" Uncle Zenas asked impatiently. "He must have been after something to come out here when he knew he couldn't land."
Again Mr. Peters was about to make an impatient reply, and again he checked himself in time, replying mildly:
"There was no show for me to find out what he wanted so long as I couldn't hear a word he said. He's gone now, though, an' I wish he hadn't come, for it's mixed us all up."
"Wa'al, if it was important business, an' I reckon it must have been else the steamer wouldn't have come out in this wind, they'll have another try at it in better weather, an' perhaps by that time, Uncle Zenas, we'll be able to toddle 'round a little."
"I'm countin' on bein' as spry as ever in a couple of days more," the second assistant said proudly, "an' it looks now as if this 'ere blow would last that long."
During the remainder of this day the only conversation indulged in was concerning the coming of the tender. Each of the keepers in turn had some theory, more or less plausible, to account for the visit, but nothing was presented that satisfied all, until Sidney said timidly:
"Perhaps some word has come from my father, and whoever was in the boat came out to see if I was still here."
"Sonny is right!" Captain Eph cried emphatically. "We're nothin' better'n three old fools, to be guessin' this an' that unlikely thing, while he, with more brains in his little finger than the whole of us can muster, comes up an' tells the facts. Of course that was why the tender came out here, an' we'll see her again before many days. Sammy, I'm goin' to make a try at gettin' up-stairs, so's there will be one bed less in this kitchen, an' we'll see if things can't be pulled 'round as they ought'er be 'cordin' to the rules an' regerlations."
"I can't make out why everything ain't that way now," Mr. Peters interrupted. "The lantern couldn't be any cleaner, an' I'm sure there's nothin' wrong with havin' beds down here when we've got to have a hospital somewhere."
"I'm not sayin', Sammy, that you an' Sonny haven't done wonders; but yet you know that the light isn't run as it should be, when the keeper an' his second assistant take up their quarters in the kitchen. We'll have all that changed, though, before this time to-morrow, even if you have to rig up a block an' tackle to send me into my room."
Sidney was almost sorry because he had guessed so nearly to what Captain Eph believed was the truth. Until that moment he had been well content so long as the invalids continued to improve; but now he was feverishly eager to know if his father had sent any message, and, if so, what it was.
Restlessly the lad wandered from one window to another, looking out in the hope of seeing some indication that the wind was subsiding, until Captain Eph said:
"Come here, Sonny, an' make yourself contented. I can give a guess as to how you're fussin', an' it's all wrong. You ought'er be feelin' mighty good because we've reason to believe your father knows where you are, an' there'll be no harm done if you don't hear what he's got to say for two weeks to come. S'posen he's sent a message, which I don't believe he has, for you to come to Porto Rico, what good would it do you to know it, seein's how you can't get off this 'ere ledge till the sea goes down? It's foolish to fret over what can't be helped. Tell me, did you ever hear of a light called Barnegat?"
"Indeed I have," the lad replied, surprised at this sudden turn in the conversation.
"Wa'al, did you ever hear why it had that name?"
"I suppose because it is near the New Jersey town of Barnegat."
"That may be, Sonny; but in the book you've been readin' lately are some verses tellin' how it got the name. Of course they ain't true; but there's a good deal of fun in 'em. Bring me the book an' I'll show you where they are."
Sidney now began to understand that the old keeper was simply trying to divert his mind from thoughts of the message which those on the tender had possibly tried to deliver; but nevertheless he hastened to obey what had sounded very like a command, and Captain Eph opened the volume to the alleged poetry, which is copied below, with the name "Adam Clark" appended as the author:
If Captain Eph had thought that reading the jingle would turn Sidney's thoughts from the possibility that those on the tender had tried to deliver a message from his father, he made a decided mistake; but the lad laughed heartily when he had finished the lines, and then did his best to hide from the old keeper that which was in his mind.
Next morning the wind was blowing quite as fresh as ever; but Captain Eph had not forgotten the determination to go into his own room, and when the routine work had been performed, Mr. Peters was summoned to assist in what promised to be quite a serious task.
"You're clean wild to think of sich a thing, Cap'n Eph," the first assistant said as he stood with folded arms in front of the keeper, and the latter replied petulantly:
"Perhaps I am, Sammy Peters; but I ain't so wild as to let you try to argue me out of it. I'm goin' to do what little lays in my power toward puttin' this 'ere tower ship-shape, an' you'll help me without any back talk."
"How do you count on doin' it, seein's you can't touch the floor with your lame foot?"
"You're allers ready enough to riggin' up schemes that ain't of the least earthly account, an' now let's see if you can't turn your mind to somethin' sensible."
"Then I shouldn't be thinkin' how to help you up them stairs, for that ain't in any way sensible," Mr. Peters said calmly, and Uncle Zenas cried pleadingly:
"Why don't you stay where you are, Ephraim Downs, leastways as long as this wind blows? When there's a turn in the weather, you'll have time enough to get up-stairs before the tender comes."
"I'm goin' now if I have to crawl," Captain Eph cried. "Things have come to a pretty pass if the keeper of a first-order light can't go where he pleases without both his assistants raisin' a rumpus."
"I'm thinkin' it'll be you who'll raise the rumpus," Mr. Peters said grimly, "but if you're so set that you won't listen to old friends, I'll get to work. Put one arm around my neck, an' I'll do my best at luggin' you up, though in case of a tumble you're likely to be lamed for life."
Even this possibility did not daunt Captain Eph, and the task was begun, with Sidney to assist so far as might be, and Uncle Zenas alternately uttering needless words of caution, and bewailing the keeper's "pig-headedness."
It was both a long and difficult job, and when, at the expiration of a full half hour from the time the first step had been taken, Captain Eph was seated in a chair in his own room, waiting until the bed could be brought up, all who had assisted were confident the keeper regretted having made the attempt.
"Wa'al, I'm up here," he said grimly, and Uncle Zenas shouted from below:
"Yes, you're there, Ephraim, an' I'd like to know how much better off you are, except that it'll be more work to wait on you."
"I declare I hadn't thought of that, Sonny," the old man said as he took the lad's hand in his; "but you won't mind a few extry steps if it makes me feel any easier in mind, will you?"
"I'd be glad to take a great many more than are necessary even now, if you'll be any more comfortable or contented, Captain Eph," and Sidney stroked the old keeper's hairy hand.
After Captain Eph had moved into his own room it became necessary, as a matter of course, to carry his food up to him, and when the first meal had been served by Sidney, and eaten by the old keeper without any very great evidence of enjoyment, he said to the lad:
"What's to hinder your messin' with me, Sonny? I didn't realize how kind'er lonesome it was goin' to be up here alone, an' Sammy will be company enough for Uncle Zenas."
"I'll be glad to do it, sir, if the others won't think that I don't want to stay with them."
"I'll 'tend to that part of it," the keeper said sharply. "Things are at a pretty pass if I've got to be shoved up here all by myself, an' can't call on any one to sit with me!"
"You wouldn't be up there, Ephraim Downs, if hadn't been for your own pig-headedness!" Uncle Zenas called from below, and Captain Eph whispered to the lad: "I never thought he could hear me, else I wouldn't have spoken so loud, for he's terrible kind of fretty since his wounds are beginnin' to heal in good shape," and he added in a louder tone to the second assistant, "I reckon I can make talk to Sonny, if I want'er, without your mixin' your tongue in, eh?"
"I'll mix in jest as often as you tell 'bout bein' shoved up there, when you know Sammy an' I were both set against it!" and Uncle Zenas' tone was what might truthfully be called "vinegary."
"Hello down there!" Mr. Peters called from the lantern, and, running to the foot of the stairs, Sidney answered the hail.
"Tell Cap'n Eph there's a dory comin' in from the east'ard. As nigh as I can make out, there are two men aboard, but they don't seem to have her in hand very well."
"A dory from the east'ard," the old keeper repeated, he having heard the first assistant's report. "There's likely to have been trouble out that way, Sonny, for the most venturesome fishermen who ever lived wouldn't be abroad in this blow unless somethin' had gone wrong. Tell Sammy to keep his eye on 'em."
Sidney repeated the instructions as Captain Eph had given them, and a smile overspread his face as he heard Mr. Peters mutter irritably:
"Keep my eye on 'em? I'd like to know what else I can do? Any idjut would have sense enough for that!"
"What's he sayin'?" the keeper asked sharply.
"Nothing more than talking to himself, I guess," Sidney replied, and Captain Eph retorted:
"That's a mighty bad habit Sammy has got. You can't rightfully say that he's makin' back talk; but he chews over a lot of words that kind'er riles a man, 'specially when he hasn't really got a right to find fault. Go up an' see what you can make out, Sonny."
Sidney obeyed promptly, although feeling quite confident that he could not hope to learn anything more than Mr. Peters had already reported.
"There's trouble of some kind out yonder," the first assistant said when he handed the glasses to the lad, "an' the worst of it is, that with both Cap'n Eph an' Uncle Zenas under the weather, we've got to sit still an' see those poor fellows drift past us while we're suckin' our thumbs."
Sidney took the glasses, and after Mr. Peters had pointed out the direction in which he should look, it was possible to see now and then, as she rose on the crest of a wave, a dory in which was a mass of something which might be human beings.
"Can you see 'em?" Mr. Peters asked impatiently, after Sidney had gazed in silence several moments.
"Yes; but I'm trying to make out why you should think that dark stuff may be men."
"Because the craft must have belonged to a fisherman, Sonny, an' they don't very often let their boats go adrift. Then agin, what else could be in her but men?"
The argument was not convincing to the lad; but since there was nothing he could say against it, he returned to make his report to the keeper.
"Ay, Sammy is right," Captain Eph said thoughtfully when Sidney explained what could be seen. "It must be some poor fellows who have been blown away from their vessel while settin' trawls, or hand-line fishin'. Is the dory comin' straight for the ledge?"
"That's the way it looks now, sir."
"An' here I am tied down like a log!" Captain Eph cried bitterly.
"What could be done if you were in good condition, sir? The waves are breaking over the ledge, and the boat-house is nearly under water."
"I know all that, Sonny, an' yet there might be a chance to lend a hand in some way. Tied up as I am, it would be out of the question even to pass 'em a rope if they were right under the window. Bring down the glasses, an' help me move around near the window, where I can look out."
It was necessary for Sidney to ask Mr. Peters to assist him in carrying out the latter portion of the order, and when everything had been done in accordance with his wishes, the old keeper, seated in front of the open window regardless of the chilling wind, gazed intently at the tiny object so far away, in which might be human beings sorely needing assistance.
"They should be close aboard the ledge within an hour," Captain Eph said half to himself, "an' it looks as if she might strike near about here, unless them as are on board can pull her around so's to pass it."
"Do you really think there are men in her, sir?" Sidney asked, as he tried in vain to see the distant object without the aid of glasses.
"That I'd be willin' to swear to, Sonny, though how much life may be in 'em is another matter. They're fishermen, that's certain, an' have likely parted company with their vessel in a fog—"
"What's goin' on up there?" Uncle Zenas cried from below. "It seems as if you'd struck somethin' out of the common, else you're makin' a good deal of talk 'bout nothin'."
"You'd better run down an' tell him what's in sight, Sonny," the old keeper whispered. "Uncle Zenas is one of them fretty men that can't seem to wait with any show of patience when they think anything 'special is goin' on."
"What's the matter?" came in tones of impatience from the kitchen. "Have you all gone crazy?"
"I'm comin' down to tell you about it," Sidney cried, and a moment later the second assistant's face paled as he learned that human beings who stood in sore need of aid were probably near at hand.
"It'll be a case of seein' the poor creeters perish right under our noses!" he exclaimed. "What with Cap'n Eph so lame that he can't stand on more'n one leg, an' me laid up through bein' pretty nigh broiled, this 'ere crew ain't in shape to lend a hand, no matter how much sufferin' may heave in sight."
Mr. Peters had gone into the lantern after helping the lad move Captain Eph, and, because he found it difficult to remain in any one place very long at a time, Sidney went up to him.
The first assistant was standing near the lens, looking into the glass intently, and Sidney asked in surprise:
"What's the matter? Anything wrong there?"
"Not a bit, Sonny; I was tryin' to figger somethin' out."
"Has it to do with the lens, that you are looking at it so sharply?" Sidney asked, and Mr. Peters wheeled suddenly around as he replied:
"I declare I don't know why my eyes happened to be on that, for it hadn't anything to do with what is in my mind. I was tryin' to figger how we might lend a hand if that 'ere dory strikes the ledge, as I reckon she will."
"You couldn't even stand on the rocks, while the sea is running as it is now."
"I ain't so certain 'bout that, though I'll admit that a man couldn't keep his footin' there, an' 'tend to much of anything else; but the tide is ebbin' now, an' it'll be within an hour of low water by the time that 'ere dory gets here. I'm thinkin' you'll be able to see quite a bit of Carys' Ledge by that time. Has Cap'n Eph made out anything new?"
"I didn't stop to ask him when I came up, and I may as well go back now."
Mr. Peters did not attempt to detain the lad; he was so deeply engrossed with the problem which presented itself, that it made little difference whether he was alone, or surrounded by the entire crew.
When he entered the keeper's room Captain Eph asked sharply:
"What's Sammy doin'?"
"Trying to figure out how he can help those who are in the dory, if she strikes the ledge, sir."
"I knew he was up to somethin' of that kind! Sammy may be pig-headed an' irritable at times, but let anything like this come up, an' his heart swells out till it's too big for his body. He never counts the danger if there's a show for helpin' them as are in trouble."
"He asked if you had made out anything new, sir."
"There's no question about men bein' in the dory—two of 'em, an' one's alive, for I saw him climb over the for'ard thwart. I allow they're hopin' the boat will drift this way, believin' we can pick 'em up."
Until this moment there had been a faint hope in Sidney's heart that the dory might have no living freight, and now he grew literally sick with fear. It would be far more horrible for the men to be thrown up on the ledge when nothing might be done to aid them, than when the Nautilus foundered, for then the sufferers could not be seen.
He had turned away that he might not look out upon the cruel sea, which could be so calm and smiling at times, when Captain Eph said suddenly:
"Tell Sammy to come down here. Oh, if I hadn't been so stubborn as to insist on gettin' inter this room!"
Sidney was considerably mystified by these last words; but he hastened to obey the command, and when the first assistant came down-stairs Captain Eph said hurriedly:
"If I'd staid in the kitchen where I belonged, we could have rigged a block to a bar across the outside of the west window, an' by overhaulin' all the spare line in the store room, have enough to make a tackle that would reach from the tower, well down inter the water."
"Yes, but what then?" Mr. Peters asked breathlessly, understanding that the keeper was eager to do something toward saving life.
"With the loose end, well padded so's it wouldn't cut, belayed jest under your arms, there'd be a good chance for you to go well inter the surf, seein's how Uncle Zenas an' I could haul you out all right; but the trouble is that I'm up here, an' he's down there."
"I can fix all that in a shake," Mr. Peters cried excitedly. "Get on my back, an' if I don't have you down there in short order, it'll be owin' to a stroke of hard luck."
Under almost any other circumstances the old keeper would not have made the painful attempt; but he was quite as eager to lend the sufferers a helping hand as was the first assistant, and Sidney was astounded by the rapidity with which the change was made.
Mr. Peters had not waited for Captain Eph to prepare for the move; but, swinging the old man's arms over his shoulders, he half-pulled, half-hoisted him on his back, running down the stairs as swiftly as he could have done without a burden.
Uncle Zenas cried out in alarm at the sudden appearance of the first assistant with the keeper on his back, and when Mr. Peters had lowered him into a chair, Captain Eph said grimly, striving to repress a groan:
"We had to come, Zenas, for we count on bein' ready for that 'ere dory, if so be she drifts in here."
"You look about as fit as I am for anything of that kind, Ephraim Downs," Uncle Zenas cried scornfully. "We're two poor old cripples who can't even help ourselves."
"I ain't so certain 'bout that, Uncle Zenas," the keeper said cheerily, for the hope of aiding others had brightened him up wonderfully. "I'm reckonin' that both you an' I can lend a hand. Hold on an' see what Sammy is doin'."
Mr. Peters had not waited to hear the conversation, but, immediately after depositing the keeper in a chair, had hastened to the store room, returning a moment later with a short length of joist and some seizing stuff.
Opening the window which looked toward the west, he shoved the timber through, pulling it across the aperture on the outside of the tower, and there making it fast.
A second visit to the store room, and he returned with a small pulley block, and a large quantity of rope about the size of that used on vessels as heaving-lines.
By the time he had made the block fast to the timber, Uncle Zenas began to have some idea of the plan, and he cried approvingly:
"You've got a great head, Ephraim, an' I reckon that's why you're so set in your ways. Sammy can stray off quite a bit from the tower, with us to look after him."
"Yes, an' the tide is fallin'," Mr. Peters added as he continued his work of making ready by taking off his coat and vest, and wrapping one end of the line with an old coat.
"There's no need of your goin' out yet a while, Sammy," Captain Eph said as he noted the first assistant's movements.
"I was allowin' that we'd better give the contrivance a try while we had time, so's to make certain it would work smooth."
This seemed a reasonable precaution, and Captain Eph knotted the padded rope around the first assistant's body, after which the window overlooking the eastern side of the ledge was opened, and Mr. Peters clambered up on the sill.
The keeper and Uncle Zenas, sitting near each other, hauled the line taut as it ran through the block, and when Mr. Peters swung himself off the sill of the window, they lowered him slowly to the rocks below.
Sidney, standing near by, could see the first assistant as he went boldly into the surf, and, as the waves carried him from his feet, the two men in the kitchen readily pulled him backward and upward until it was possible for him to regain his footing.
"It's a good plan, Uncle Zenas," Captain Eph said approvingly; "but I allow that Sammy stands a chance to get more or less skin scraped off of him if we're called upon to do the job in a hurry."
"He won't know it until the job is done, an' then we'll have plenty of time to patch him up. Sonny, s'pose you get the glasses, an' keep your eye on the dory."
When Sidney returned to the kitchen with the glasses in his hand, Mr. Peters had just been hauled up through the window, and was standing by the stove while the water, unheeded by Uncle Zenas, ran in streams from his garments to the floor.
It was now possible to see the oncoming dory plainly with the naked eye, for she was hardly more than a mile away, and drifting rapidly toward the ledge; but by the aid of the glasses the lad could make out plainly the forms of the two occupants, one of whom appeared to be crouching in the bow with his head above the rail as if watching, while the other lay without movement in the stern.
"She couldn't make a better course for this 'ere ledge if the best sailor who ever walked a plank was steerin' her," Captain Eph said as he looked seaward. "She'll strike nearabout the cove, an' the question is whether Sammy can get that far before bein' knocked down."
"Don't be in too big a hurry to pull me out, an' I'll get mighty near to those fellows, if so be the dory strikes anywhere near where we're expectin'," Mr. Peters said as he came toward the window. "We won't be havin' any too much time, if I start now," and he stepped out of the window, clutching the sill until the two at the rope were ready to lower him away.
Sidney no longer held the glasses to his eyes. It was possible to see everything plainly by this time, and, breathing heavily because of his excitement, the lad watched intently the movements of the boat, which now seemed to be close upon the rocks.
The man in the bow was standing up, having seen Mr. Peters' descent from the window, and understanding how a rescue was to be effected, if indeed such should prove to be the case.
Tossing on the crest of a wave, and then disappearing entirely in the trough of the sea, the dory pitched and staggered onward, coming as straight as an arrow for the tower, despite the plunging and rolling.
The man in the bow stepped toward the stern and appeared to be trying to drag the other to his feet; but it was as if he clutched one from whom life had already departed, and, with a gesture of despair, he went forward to the extreme bow.
Mr. Peters had made his way over the rocks to the very line of surf, and stood there until the moment should come for the supreme effort, while Uncle Zenas and Captain Eph watched his every movement closely, prepared to slacken the rope or haul in as should be necessary when the battle with the waves was begun. Nearly in the center of the room, but where he could see all that took place, Sidney stood, his eyes fixed on the boat while his hands were clenched as if by much straining of the muscles he might aid in the coming struggle.
Then the dory was raised high in the air by a huge comber, and Mr. Peters ran swiftly forward, knowing when that crest of water fell, the frail craft would be dashed upon the rocks.
There was an instant of agonizing suspense, and then the brave light keeper was lost to view amid the swirl of water and foam.
While one might have counted ten, neither men nor boat could be distinguished in the turmoil, and then came a sudden jerk on the line as the undertow carried Mr. Peters seaward, when Captain Eph shouted hoarsely:
"Haul! Haul for your life, Zenas!" and Sidney grasped the line, putting forth all his strength with the keepers, that their comrade might the more quickly be drawn to the surface.
The strain upon the rope seemed to be enormous; it was quite as much as the three could do to gather in any of the length, and Captain Eph was muttering half to himself that the line was not sufficiently large to bear the weight, when Uncle Zenas cried excitedly:
"He's got one of 'em! He's got one, an' what's more, the little runt looks as if he was all right. Sammy Peters isn't anybody's fool, an' that's a living fact!"
Now the rope came in more readily, and as the three hauled, more gently after a time lest their comrade be dragged too roughly across the jagged rocks, Mr. Peters staggered to his feet as he held close to his breast the man whose life he had saved at the peril of his own.
"The waves won't bother him now; don't do any more than take in the slack!" Captain Eph cried, and, raising his voice, he shouted as the wind lulled for an instant, "What about the other one, Sammy?"
"He was the same as dead before the boat struck, so this fellow tells me, leastways, I didn't see anything of him," Mr. Peters replied as he staggered onward toward the tower, and when he reached the base it could be seen that he was unfastening the rope from his body.
"What's goin' on now?" Captain Eph demanded.
"I'll send this man up first, for I ain't sure as he has got strength enough left to make himself fast," Mr. Peters replied, and a moment later he gave the word, "Haul away!"
"Stand by to fend off, Sonny," Uncle Zenas cried, and just as Sidney stepped to the window in obedience to the command, the head of the rescued man appeared above the sill.
Sidney screamed shrilly as if in terror, and the stranger gave every evidence of fear while he seemed to shrink back, until Captain Eph cried sharply:
"What's the matter with you, Sonny? Why don't you bear a hand? There's nothin' to be afraid of; you've seen sailors who were in worse shape than he is."
"It frightened me because he looked so much like Mr. Sawyer," the lad said hesitatingly as he went to the window again, and the stranger cried hoarsely:
"Are you Sidney Harlow?"
"Hold hard, matey!" Captain Eph said, shaking the rope as if to attract the rescued man's attention. "I don't allow that it's the proper time, while you're strung up here on the end of a line, to do very much tongue-waggin', leastways, if it is, I'd rather somebody else held turn. Shin in, an' be quick about it, for we can't afford to let the only sound keeper we've got on this 'ere light freeze to death on your account."
The stranger clambered over the window-sill, unfastened the rope from his body, and flung the free end down to Mr. Peters, after which he took Sidney's face in both his hands, as he asked again:
"Are you Sidney Harlow?"
"Of course I am; but you can't be Mr. Sawyer?"
"Why not, lad?"
"Because he was drowned. I saw him sink!"
"Ay, lad, but he came up within reach of the wreckage we went out to look at. Again and again I yelled while you were cruising around expecting to see me come to the surface near where I had disappeared; but you didn't hear me, and then the fog shut down again. I gave myself up for lost; but within an hour two fishermen in a dory blundered along, and took me to their vessel three or four miles away. There was no such thing as finding the West Wind while the sea was covered with fog so thick that it could almost be cut with a knife, and I've served an apprenticeship as fisherman, eating my heart out because the skipper wouldn't put into port until he had a full fare."
Then Mr. Sawyer, one-time mate of the schooner West Wind, lifted Sidney in his arms as if he had been a baby, and covered his face with kisses, while Captain Eph and Uncle Zenas, regardless of the shivering first assistant on the rocks below, stared at the two in open-mouthed astonishment.
"Do you mean to tell me you're the sailorman who fell out of the motor boat, leavin' Sonny alone?" the old keeper cried as soon as the stranger had ceased caressing the lad.
"I'm the same one," Mr. Sawyer replied with a laugh, "an' it surely seems as if I wasn't born to be drowned, for this is the second time I've been rescued when the chances were big against me; but how does it happen that Sidney is here, and where is the West Wind?"
"If you people are countin' on spinnin' yarns, don't you think it would be a good idee to pull me in where I wouldn't freeze to death quite so soon?" Mr. Peters cried from the ledge beneath the window. "I don't want to be fussy; but I'd rather be behind the stove than out here."
"I declare if I hadn't forgot all about poor little Sammy!" Captain Eph cried in a tone of contrition. "He must be chilled clean through to the bone by this time. Haul in, Uncle Zenas, an' stand by for squalls when he gets here, 'cause his temper ain't of the best jest now, an' there's good reason for losin' it."
Two minutes later Mr. Peters clambered through the window, looking around for a moment, and then he said that which gave his comrades to understand that he had heard all Mr. Sawyer said:
"I'm wonderin' how big a schooner I could pull inter the cove, if I hadn't anybody but two blessed old cripples to help me," and Uncle Zenas asked in surprise:
"What on earth do you mean, Sammy?"
"I was only tryin' to figger the thing out, 'cause after we've saved all hands belongin' to the West Wind, it will be a shame to let the schooner drift around instead of haulin' her up on the ledge," and having said this Mr. Peters slowly ascended to his own room that he might put on dry clothing.
This served to remind Captain Eph that Mr. Sawyer needed some attention, and he said to Sidney:
"S'pose you take the mate up-stairs, an' give him anything of mine that he can wear, Sonny? By the time he's made a change, Uncle Zenas will have plenty of hot coffee, which I reckon he'll be glad to drink."
Sidney did as he was bidden, the mate following at his heels, and when the two had disappeared from view Uncle Zenas said solemnly:
"The ocean does cut some queer capers now an' then; but the queerest I've ever heard of is that both them who left the West Wind in the motor boat should have drifted in here to Carys' Ledge."
And Captain Eph replied in quite as grave a tone:
"If this last one brings us as much comfort as the first has, we'll be two mighty lucky old men, Uncle Zenas."
Sidney told the story of his rescue to Mr. Sawyer, while the two were up-stairs selecting such articles from Captain Eph's wardrobe as the mate needed, and dwelt at length on the care and affection which the light-house crew had bestowed upon him.
When they descended to the kitchen again a substantial meal was set before the rescued sailor, and after it had been eaten, he explained how he chanced to be adrift in the dory with neither food nor water.
He, with one of the men from the fisherman, had been sent out to set trawls, and while they were thus engaged a white squall struck them. To make any effort at battling against it was out of the question, and they allowed their boat to drift before it, doing no more than to keep her head on to the seas, believing the fishing schooner would be able to pick them up.
Their story was not unlike the many which we read of from time to time, among the disasters to the fishing fleet. During the remainder of that day, and all the night, they scudded before the wind, and when morning came, with nothing to be seen on the angry waste of waters, they exhausted themselves in the effort to row the dory back whence they came, believing the schooner had been hove to.
When another night approached they were no longer able even to guide the boat. Both suffered bitterly with thirst and hunger, and as the wind continued to blow with great fury, it looked as if they were doomed to a lingering death, with but the faintest hope of a rescue. Mr. Sawyer's companion gave up the unequal struggle in despair, refusing to raise a hand in his own behalf.
"From that moment," Mr. Sawyer said as he concluded the sad story, "he remained aft in the bottom of the boat, and I was unable to arouse him. How long we drifted after that, I cannot rightly say; but when I saw you making preparations to aid us, I tried to pull him to his feet, that he might be in shape to help himself in some slight degree. I believe he was already dead, and, knowing that I could not get ashore through the surf burdened with his lifeless body, I gave no further heed to him. Even as it was, I came near drowning Mr. Peters, for the two of us were rolled over and over half a dozen times before you pulled us to our feet, and then I was so dazed that but for his grip on my collar I must have fallen back into the surf."
"If Sammy once got hold of you it was a case of your comin' out," Uncle Zenas said with a laugh. "He's so stubborn that nothin' short of bein' really choked to death would have made him give up."
Then the conversation turned upon the possibilities of Mr. Sawyer's being able to gain the mainland, and before it had come to an end Mr. Peters and Sidney were forced to go into the lantern to light the lamp.
Captain Eph was determined to return to his own room, and once more he was half-dragged, half-carried up-stairs; but this time the task was accomplished with less pain to him because of the assistance Mr. Sawyer was able to give.
Next morning the wind showed signs of abating, and the old keeper predicted that within eight and forty hours it would be possible to make a landing on the ledge.
"Then we shall see the tender again, if it so be the inspector wants to get some word to us, an' you can go back in her," Captain Eph said as if there was no question in his mind as to what would happen; and Mr. Sawyer asked concerning Sidney's plans for the future.
The lad himself explained that he proposed to remain on the ledge, unless his father should send instructions to the contrary, and Mr. Sawyer said in a matter-of-fact tone:
"I'll tell the captain how comfortably you are situated here, and even if he has made arrangements for you to go else-where, there's little doubt but that he'll change them."
"Do you expect to see father very soon?" Sidney asked in surprise.
"Ay, lad, if I can get ashore, and am lucky enough to find a vessel ready to sail for Porto Rico, I'm hopin' to get there before he leaves. I'd offer to take you with me; but in case my plan shouldn't work exactly as I've figgered, you would be in a bad fix."
"Sonny had better stay where he is," Captain Eph said emphatically, and Uncle Zenas added:
"We couldn't let him go while two of us are crippled, for we wouldn't be able to run the light without him."
Before night came the wind and sea had so far subsided that there was no longer any question about its being possible for the tender to send a boat ashore in case she came out to the reef within the next twenty-four hours, and Mr. Peters and Sidney worked like beavers to put the interior of the tower in the best possible shape for the reception of visitors.
When another day dawned the weather was all the veriest fresh-water sailor could have asked for, save that the sea still ran in long, heavy swells which might have caused any but seasoned sailors considerable discomfort, and from the time breakfast had been eaten all hands kept watch for the approach of the steamer.
It was Captain Eph who first saw her in the distance, and he said, after making known the fact that she was heading for the ledge:
"The inspector must have got it into his head that things have been goin' wrong in this 'ere tower, else he'd never come so soon again jest to bring a message from Sidney's father."
There is no need of saying that all hands were considerably excited by the time the little steamer slowed down on the western side of the ledge that a boat might be lowered, and Mr. Peters said, as he and Sidney went to the cove that they might meet whosoever was coming ashore:
"There's no sense of our gettin' into a stew before hand, Sonny. If so be we've done wrong without knowin' it, we'll hear about it soon enough, an' if it's a message from your father, there ain't any call to feel bad. Wa'al, I declare, if that ain't the inspector himself gettin' into the boat!" the first assistant added as he saw the officer. "This ain't the time for his reg'lar visit, an' I reckon we're goin' to be overhauled in great shape, though what it can be about beats me!"
Five minutes later the small boat was entering the cove, and a kindly-faced gentleman in the stern-sheets cried out:
"Well, Mr. Peters, I hear that the crew of this light have been distinguishing themselves. So that is the new assistant you have taken on?" and he nodded toward Sidney. "How are Captain Downs and Mr. Stubbs getting on?"
"Uncle Zenas is so he can 'tend to the cookin' all right, sir; but he can't amble 'round very lively. Cap'n Eph is likely to be lame quite a spell yet."
"Who is the stranger in the doorway?" and the inspector looked curiously toward the tower.
"He's a sailor we picked up day before yesterday, sir; drifted here in a dory."
"Been doing more work as life-savers, have you?" the inspector asked in such a kindly tone that Sidney decided he had not come out to find fault.
By this time the officer had stepped ashore and was going toward the tower; but, observing that Mr. Peters remained behind, he called:
"I want to see you and Captain Downs together, Mr. Peters, and we may as well attend to the Department's business first. Come in, please."
"Now there is trouble brewin'," Mr. Peters whispered to Sidney, "an' it must be mighty serious, for this is the first time the inspector ever wanted me around when he was overhaulin' Cap'n Eph's accounts."