Kitabı oku: «The Light Keepers: A Story of the United States Light-house Service», sayfa 12
CHAPTER XII
MR. PETERS' MISHAP
On the morning after Mr. Peters had announced his intention of saving what he could in the way of timbers and rigging from the wreck, Sidney went on duty with Captain Eph, and instead of going to bed when his watch was ended, the first assistant remained in the room until the keeper asked sharply:
"What's the matter with you now, Sammy? Ain't you goin' to bed?"
"I want'er start for the wreck at the first crack of light, if Uncle Zenas will give me somethin' to eat when he gets up, an' there's no sense in goin' to the trouble of lyin' down jest for a half-hour nap. I'll turn in a good bit earlier to-night."
"Have your own way, Sammy, but I'm afraid that you won't get enough from the hulk to pay for the labor you're puttin' out. Why didn't you speak to Uncle Zenas last night, so's he'd kind'er stir his stumps this mornin'?"
"He had his back raised so high because I was goin' alone, that I knew it wouldn't be any use, an,' feelin' kind'er warm as he was, he might'er said 'no' right up an' down," Mr. Peters replied with a faint smile.
Captain Eph did not continue the conversation, but turned his attention to the work of cleaning the watch-room windows, which Sidney had voluntarily taken upon himself, and Mr. Peters dozed in his chair until awakened by the movements of Uncle Zenas in the room below, which told that he was making ready for the day's work.
"I reckon I'll be off now," the first assistant said, going toward the stairway as if almost afraid to descend.
"Uncle Zenas hasn't built the fire yet," Captain Eph said carelessly, "an' it'll be a good half hour before the coffee is ready."
"I don't count on waitin' for anything hot," Mr. Peters replied as he began the descent of the stairs. "A cold bite is all I'm askin' for, 'cause the sooner I get away the better."
"If that was all you wanted, the wisest course would have been to got it without askin' leave of anybody," Captain Eph said half to himself, and then he tiptoed his way to the head of the stairs.
"What is the matter?" Sidney asked curiously.
"Nothin' as yet, Sonny; but I'm allowin' that Sammy won't find it all plain sailin' when he runs up against Uncle Zenas. The old man is pretty stuffy when he gets a notion inter his head, an' for some reason or other he's dead set against our tryin' to save anything from the wreck."
Captain Eph had not yet ceased speaking when loud, almost angry conversation could be heard from the kitchen, and Sidney ran quickly to the keeper's side. It was impossible to distinguish any words spoken in the kitchen, however, and, two or three moments later, the emphatic closing of the outer door told that Mr. Peters had left the tower.
"Uncle Zenas wouldn't give him anything to eat until breakfast time, an' the poor, foolish fellow has gone off with an empty stomach, countin' on doin' a full day's work," Captain Eph said as he went to the window from which it was possible to have a view of the little cove. "I do wish our cook wasn't quite so crotchety!"
"Why didn't Mr. Peters take what he wanted from the pantry?" Sidney asked as he joined the keeper at the window.
"Then there would have been trouble," Captain Eph replied as if startled by such a bold proposition. "It has taken me a good many years to find out that when Uncle Zenas gets reg'larly set against a thing, the most peaceable way is for Sammy an' me to give in at the start."
Then the two stood gazing through the window, unable to distinguish objects clearly because of the dim, gray light, until Mr. Peters launched the dory, pulling out of the cove with a steady stroke as if to show that the loss of a breakfast was not sufficient to turn him from his purpose.
Half an hour later the lamp was extinguished, and the keeper and his young assistant set about the daily routine of making ready for another night. The work was considerably more than half completed when the voice of the cook sounded impatiently from the kitchen, as he summoned them to breakfast.
"This is one of the mornin's when I reckon we can't afford to loiter many seconds," Captain Eph said grimly, as he began to descend the stairs, Sidney following close at his heels, and when the two were in the kitchen, the old keeper asked as if in surprise:
"Where's Sammy? Didn't he hear you call?"
"He went off without his breakfast," Uncle Zenas replied in a tone of irritation.
"What's the matter?" Captain Eph asked as if wholly ignorant of what had taken place in the kitchen. "Ain't sick, is he?"
"He's pig-headed, that's what's the matter with him. He's next door to crazy, countin' on goin' alone to the wreck, an' I told him plainly that I wouldn't countenance sich foolishness by givin' him anythin' to eat till breakfast was ready. Then he rose right up in the air, an' started off empty-handed; but if he ain't sorry 'twixt now an' noon, I'm missin' my guess."
"Dear, dear, but I'm sorry!" Captain Eph exclaimed. "Sammy has got it inter his head that he can get enough from the wreck to go a long ways toward buildin' a motor boat, an' he'll work like a tiger, savin' stuff, never thinkin' that he stands a good chance of makin' himself sick by foolin' 'round while his stomach is empty."
Sidney fancied that he saw an expression of regret on the face of the cook; but decided that he had been mistaken, when Uncle Zenas said sharply:
"I ain't responsible for what he does in the way of foolishness, an' if it's his desire to go off before breakfast is ready, he'll have to take the consequences."
The keeper did not linger over his breakfast; as soon as the meal had been eaten he hurried back to the lantern, and, as a matter of course, Sidney joined him there without delay, the two working industriously and in silence until everything had been put in proper order.
Not until then did Captain Eph venture a remark, by saying as he looked toward the east, where could be seen a portion of the wreck:
"I'm allowin' that Sammy won't be able to put in a full day's work. The wind seems to be haulin' 'round, an' before noon the sea will be runnin' so high that he can't do anythin' in the way of strippin' the hulk."
"Can you see him?" Sidney asked.
"Not without the glasses. Run down an' get 'em, Sonny. We may as well watch him, as to sit here twirlin' our thumbs."
The lad obeyed promptly; but no sign of the amateur wrecker could be seen, and Captain Eph said as he turned to gaze westward:
"The hulk lays in sich a manner that we couldn't hope to see him, unless he was aloft. Hello, here comes a cat-boat from the shore, an' it wouldn't surprise me a little bit if the tinker Sammy talked about yesterday was comin' after that 'ere motor."
Because it was the first time since he landed on the ledge that he had seen a sail coming toward the light, Sidney gazed at it eagerly, until Captain Eph said:
"There's no use strainin' your eyes, Sonny, for it'll be a full hour before she gets anywhere near, with this wind. I reckon we'd better go down to the shore an' see the motor, for it ain't likely the tinker will care about stayin' here any very great while."
"Shall we let him take it before Mr. Peters comes back?" Sidney asked in surprise.
"Why not? When a man comes as far as he has while a storm seems to be brewin', it would kind'er be hard lines to hold him because Sammy was off wreckin'. We'll load on the motor as soon as it can be done, an' send him back while the weather is decent, else he might be on our hands quite a spell. People can't get out here at this time of year jest when the fancy strikes 'em."
Although the motor was not particularly heavy, Captain Eph and Sidney soon came to understand that it would be quite a difficult task to get it down to the cove where it might be put aboard the boat, for the jagged rocks presented most serious obstacles.
However, the old keeper set about the task with a will, and by the time the stranger had run into the cove the work was well advanced.
"I allowed that you'd be wantin' to put about as soon as might be, owin' to the looks of the weather, so Sonny an' I have been at work gettin' this 'ere thing where it could be handled. I reckon this is what you've come after," and the keeper pointed to the motor.
"Yes, that's what brought me out here, though I wish now I'd staid at home, for the wind is likely to blow pretty fresh before I can get back," the machinist replied as he made his boat fast to the ways, and began to make a critical inspection of the motor.
"Well, what about it?" Captain Eph asked after it seemed as if the newcomer must have made himself acquainted with every portion of the machinery. "Think you can put it in shape?"
"Sure," was the confident reply. "It hasn't been hurt any to speak of, an' I can have it runnin' in a couple of days. Where's the man who made the trade with me?"
The keeper explained why Mr. Peters was absent and before he was at an end Sidney cried:
"He's coming now; there is the dory!"
Both the men looked up quickly, and then it was that Captain Eph cried excitedly:
"That's our dory, sure enough; but she's empty! Went adrift I reckon, an' Sammy is in the biggest kind of luck because of his fiddlin' 'round 'bout the motor, else he'd be likely to stay on the wreck quite a spell, seein's we couldn't go after him. Say, Mister, I reckon you won't kick against pickin' our boat up, eh?" and the keeper turned to the machinist, who replied in a not particularly cheerful tone:
"Of course I'm bound to do that much, seein's you're in a pickle; but I don't like the idea of loafin' out here any longer than is necessary, for my boat ain't overly handy in a heavy sea, such as we're likely to have precious soon."
"Pick up the dory, an' we'll help you put the motor aboard before goin' after Sammy."
The machinist set off at once, refusing any assistance from Captain Eph, and ten minutes later he returned with the dory in tow. The boat was half laden with blocks and tackle which had evidently been taken from the wreck, and both pairs of oars were lying on top of the cargo.
When the runaway craft had been hauled up on the rocks beyond reach of the tide, and unloaded, the old keeper and Sidney set about carrying out their part of the bargain; but nearly an hour was spent before the motor had been stowed aboard the cat-boat to the satisfaction of all concerned.
While the visitor was working his boat out of the cove, Captain Eph said to Sidney:
"Run into the kitchen an' get your coat. Tell Uncle Zenas why we're goin' out, an' skip lively, for Sammy won't have any idea the tinker was here jest when we most needed him, an' will be in a terrible stew, thinkin' there's no way for him to get off the shoal."
Sidney obeyed promptly; but it was necessary to answer Uncle Zenas' eager questions, and fully five minutes more were spent before the rescuers could set off.
The cook came down to the cove before the dory had been pushed out, and the expression on his face told that he was very anxious regarding the safety of the first assistant.
"You ought'er started the very minute the dory was picked up, Ephraim Downs!" he cried. "It ain't no ways certain that the poor fellow didn't tumble out of the boat, an' has been swimmin' 'round ever since!"
"I'll go bail that Sammy never tumbled over-board," Captain Eph replied cheerily as he pulled the dory around until she was headed toward the east. "He's too good a sailor to do a trick like that; but I reckon he hasn't been any too comfortable in mind since the boat drifted away."
Then, when they were beyond sound of Uncle Zenas' voice, the old keeper muttered, as if to convince himself:
"Of course nothin' has happened to Sammy, beyond losin' the boat; but I do wish Uncle Zenas wouldn't do quite so much croakin'. Jest because he was set agin the wreckin', he'll be conjurin' up all sorts of terrible things that might have happened, an' Sammy won't have the pleasantest time that ever was, when he gets back."
"How do you suppose the dory got adrift?" Sidney asked, not knowing what else to say, and beginning to feel a bit nervous.
"That's what beats me. I'd never thought Sammy could be so careless, but it seems that he was."
Then Captain Eph pulled vigorously and in silence, Sidney steering to the best of his ability with one of the heavy oars, and the little craft rose and fell with an uneasy motion on the rising sea.
"There's the wreck!" Sidney cried as he swung the dory around, and Captain Eph turned quickly to look, as he asked huskily:
"See anythin' of Sammy?"
"He must be under the forecastle deck working, and perhaps doesn't know that the boat went adrift," Sidney replied, as he searched in vain with his eyes for some sign of the first assistant.
There was an expression of deepest anxiety on Captain Eph's face as he labored yet more energetically at the oars; but not a word was spoken until the dory was as near the hulk as was safe while the waves were running so high.
Then it was the old keeper shouted again and again at the full strength of his lungs, Sidney growing pale with fear as the hail remained unanswered.
"He ain't there, Sonny, he ain't there!" Captain Eph cried in a tearful tone as he turned toward the lad.
"But where can he be?" Sidney cried in an agony of fear.
"The good Lord knows, an' we'll pray that He may guide us toward him!" the keeper said as he raised his sou'wester reverentially. "It's our business to find out what has happened, if so be we can. I reckon we'd best pull 'round to the other side of the hulk, an' if needs be I'll go aboard."
"Are you afraid he may have got hurt, an' can't answer the hail?" Sidney asked in a tremulous voice.
"There's somethin' wrong, an' we'll hope that he's on board, with the breath of life yet in his body."
Then Captain Eph swung the dory around, and, ordering Sidney to take a pair of oars, made ready to board the hulk on the northerly side.
"Pull in till I sing out, an' then back water the best you know how," he said sharply. "It's a risky piece of business to board her with a lad like you at the oars; but I'd take bigger chances by a good bit, rather than go away without searchin' this 'ere hulk."
It was no more than natural that the lad should be frightened by the muttered words, and he was trembling violently as he obeyed the command.
"Fair an' softly, Sonny!" Captain Eph cried. "Don't get worked up over what may all turn out to be the simplest kind of a simple matter, an' keep your wits about you. Now! Back water for all you're worth!"
As he spoke the keeper had leaped for the shattered timbers of the hulk, and not daring to turn his head in order to see if a landing had been effected safely, Sidney threw all his strength on the oars, until the burden on his mind was lifted by hearing Captain Eph's cheery cry, which told that no accident had befallen him:
"Way enough, Sonny! Hold her as she is a minute!"
Sidney did not dare venture to turn his head lest the wind should swing the little craft around where the waves might throw her against the hulk; but worked at the oars to hold her as nearly in one position as possible, until he heard Captain Eph cry again:
"Now pull in, Sonny; but stand by to stop her mighty sudden when you get the word. Way enough! Keep her steady! One more stroke! Back! Back the best you know how!" and at the instant Sidney put all his strength on the oars, the dory rocked to and fro violently as Captain Eph leaped aboard.
An instant later and the keeper was pulling the little craft around, while Sidney clambered astern to his former seat.
"You didn't find anything, sir?" the lad asked timidly.
"No, Sonny, meanin' that Sammy wasn't there; but he's left signs enough to show he made into a raft sich timbers as he could get at, which gives us the biggest kind of a hope, for I'm allowin' he was on the raft when the dory went adrift."
"Would he be carried out to sea, sir?"
"This wind ought'er sent him toward the mainland, an' it's in that direction we must look for him."
It was quite natural Sidney should suppose Captain Eph would set off on the search without delay; but to his surprise the keeper ordered him to steer for the ledge, and at the same time keep a sharp lookout for anything in the shape of a raft.
"Why are we going back to the light, sir? Do you think he may have drifted in there?"
"Not a bit of it, Sonny. He must have pulled the raft clear of the wreck, an' then, when well off the shoal, stepped on it to make some of the timbers fast. In which case the wind would take him clear of Carys' Ledge."
"Then why don't we pull in the direction you think he may have gone?"
Instead of answering the question, Captain Eph asked abruptly: "Think you'd have any trouble in lightin' the lamp an' startin' the clock, Sonny?"
"I could do that much all right, I am positive."
"Then I'm goin' to leave you in charge while Uncle Zenas an' I go after Sammy. It ain't anyways likely we shall be away till after sunset; but there's allers the chance; an' no one can say how fast his raft may be travelin'."
"You don't want me in the boat with you?" Sidney asked tremulously.
"No, Sonny, an' for two mighty good reasons. The first is that it's goin' to blow hard inside of an hour, an' I'll need Uncle Zenas at one pair of oars. Then agin, the place is not to be left alone, no matter what straits we are in. Sammy would be the first to say we mustn't try to help him if it can't be done without takin' the risk of showin' no light at sunset. You'll be safe on the ledge, an' that's what I'm thinkin' about."
The temptation to beg that he might go to the rescue with Captain Eph, leaving the cook to care for the light, was very great; but he succeeded in holding his peace, knowing that it was not for him, at such a time, to make any change in the plan the keeper had formed.
"I'm allowin' we may have to pull eight or ten miles before catchin' the poor fellow, an' it'll be hard work in a heavy sea, so Uncle Zenas must do his share."
It was not necessary to spend any time warning the second assistant of what had been learned. Uncle Zenas was at the head of the cove when they pulled in, and in the fewest possible words Captain Eph made him acquainted with the situation.
"Get in, Uncle Zenas. Sonny will take care of the light, if so be we're called on to go further than now seems likely."
"An' I sent the poor fellow off without any breakfast!" the cook said tearfully, as he clambered aboard the boat with a certain eagerness which told how anxious he was to have a share in the rescue. "If I had only been half-way decent when he asked for somethin' to eat!"
"Keep your upper lip stiff, Sonny!" Captain Eph cried as he pulled the dory around. "By stayin' to care for the light you're doin' a good deal more towards findin' Sammy, than if you went with us in the boat. You can watch us best by goin' inter the lantern with the glasses."
"Be sure to get your dinner, Sonny," Uncle Zenas cried in a mournful tone. "Everything is on the stove, an' what you can't eat had better be put back in the pantry. If I could only give poor Sammy his share an' my own with it, how relieved I'd be!"
By this time the dory was out of the cove, with both men at the oars, and Sidney noted, before turning to obey Captain Eph's command, that the boat was headed southwest, leaving the ledge behind her in a lively fashion because of the strong wind, which helped her along as much if not more than the oars.
Now that he was alone – alone on the ledge beyond sight of land – Sidney found it very difficult to keep the tears from his eyes; but he made a brave effort, and went into the tower to do as Uncle Zenas had bidden him.
He had no desire for food – could not have eaten a mouthful save after a real exertion; but the keepers would need it when they returned, therefore it must be cared for in such a manner that it would be appetizing.
By thus looking forward to the time when the searchers might return, Sidney provoked the alarming question as to whether they would ever come back. Captain Eph had predicted that a storm was near at hand, and even if they did not lose their lives, it was well within the possibilities that many days might elapse before he saw them again.
Then it was that Sidney gave way to tears, feeling as if he had been abandoned – left to die on the desolate ledge; but after thus yielding to his sorrow for ten minutes or more, he resolutely put from him all forebodings, as he said aloud:
"I've been left in charge, and if it hadn't been for my being here Uncle Zenas couldn't have gone to help Captain Eph pull the boat. I'm not a baby; but if I don't mind my eye the keepers will have good reason for thinking I am one."
Suddenly the thought came into his mind that he had missed the chance of watching the dory as it sped before the wind on its errand of mercy, and, running up-stairs at full speed, he threw open that window in the watch-room which gave toward the south.
The rescuers had made such good speed that he could barely distinguish the boat with the naked eye, but by the aid of the glasses he saw that both men were rowing strongly and steadily, as if knowing exactly at what point the missing man could be found.
Search as he might, it was impossible to see anything floating on the sea. If Mr. Peters had been carried away by the raft, it must have been at an early hour in the forenoon, otherwise it should have been possible to see him.
Sidney watched the rapidly retreating dory as long as it was possible to distinguish the forms of her crew, and then, with a lump in his throat which threatened to choke him, he went into the kitchen.
Here he cared for the food, replenished the fire, swept the floor, and worked at whatsoever he could find for his hands to do until the room was seemingly as neat and tidy as ever it had been under Uncle Zenas' supervision.
It seemed to him that he must have been at work a full hour, and yet when he looked at the clock the hands were but ten minutes farther on their journey around the dial than when he began.
Again he went into the watch-room; but now it was impossible to see even the dory, and he felt more forsaken than before.
Uncle Zenas was too good a housekeeper to leave very much work undone at that time in the day, and, search as he might, Sidney could find nothing with which to keep his hands busy.
With such a weight of sorrow in his heart he could not read, and he went to and fro between the lantern and the kitchen, hardly conscious of what he did. Again and again he searched the surface of the heaving waters with the glasses, but without seeing the smallest object which his fancy could shape into a raft or a boat.
When the clock in the kitchen struck the hour of four, it was as if his heart ceased beating, for he understood that even if the dory should come in sight immediately, it would be impossible for the keepers to reach the ledge before sunset, and he felt positive they would never return. He would be the sole occupant of that lonely tower until the inspector found an opportunity of visiting Carys' Ledge.
The wind was increasing in force, as he could understand by the howling and shrieking around the lantern, while his eyes told him that the sea was running higher than at any time since the storm which had wrecked the Nautilus.
Suppose the keepers should return at the earliest possible moment – suppose the dory was even then headed toward the light? The men might not be able to make a landing on the ledge, and he could do absolutely nothing to aid them!
Five o'clock!
He went into the lantern ready to light the lamp at the exact moment of sunset. He was surrounded by the angry waters, which were creeping slowly but surely toward the tower, and there was nothing in sight to give him courage!
