Frank V. Webster

“ Paul was quite useless because he knew so little about pulling an oar, while as a sailor, with some years experience on a vessel, Darry was at home on the water in any capacity.
"I certainly admire your grit, Darry," said Paul, shuddering as he looked out at the heaving waves, the white tops of which loomed up in the gloom.
"Oh! I'm used to these things. Dozens of storms I've been through, under all sorts of conditions," answered the boy.
"All the same it's a big risk. I hope nothing will go wrong. That's a mighty small boat to pit against the fury of the sea." ”

“ Captain Harley had always encouraged him in the belief that some happy day he would surely know the truth.
Just now, however, it really looked as though Darry need no longer allow himself to feel any anxiety on that score.
The ocean depths would offer just as easy a resting place to a nameless waif as to a crowned monarch.
When the great waves broke over the drifting vessel the rush of water must have swept him away, only that he had been wise enough to lash himself to the stump of the mizzen-mast. ”

“ Horrified, Darry pressed closer, for he fancied he had seen a feeble movement on the part of the figure drawn from the waves—doubtless alone and unassisted the swimmer could never have crawled out on the beach, but now that he was beyond reach of the waves, would the man who had snatched him ashore do the slightest thing to keep the spark of life from going out entirely? ”

“ Paul Singleton had been observing him curiously, but with kindling eyes, as if he saw more and more in this boy to admire; he could give something of a guess as to what was coming, and hence was not much surprised a little later when he heard the story of Darius Quarles and his long-slumbering revenge.
He laughed heartily at the quaint way in which Abner had hinted about Nancy tumbling overboard on purpose, in order to discover which of her lovers was the better man. ”

“ It's only fair you should know where your money is going, sir. As soon as I get my breath you shall hear," went on Darry, fingering the hundred dollar bill as though he could hardly believe his senses.
Never did a bill of like denomination seem to carry more happiness in its touch; he could easily picture the light that would dawn upon the worried features of Mrs. Peake when he handed her that mortgage, canceled, and Abner, too, how he would be likely to throw up his hat in the air and shout like a boy. ”

“ It was not often he appeared as a hero in the eyes of even a boy, and, being human, he could not help feeling some satisfaction.
"It's a dangerous calling, Darry; but, after all, no worse than that of a sailor. And while we risk our lives often, it is to try and save others. There's some satisfaction in that. But there sits Abner on that old keel of a wreck; suppose you go and tell him your story, and see what he says."
When the boy joined him Abner Peake looked up, and the solemn expression on his face changed to one of kindliness. ”

“ Darry would never forget that hour.
The impressions he received then would remain with him through life; and in his eyes the calling of a life saver must always be reckoned the noblest vocation to which a young man could pledge himself. ”

“ Bully for you, lad. If you had dropped in on us some time back we might have had a different class of boys around here by now. You're a reformer, that's what you are. First you knocks that tyrant Jim down; then you pepper him with shot after he has fired the pigpen of your new home, and now you brave him in his own dooryard. That's reforming all right, and I hope you keep at it until you've reformed the ugly beggar into the penitentiary. I begin to pluck up hope that soon public spirit will be so aroused that we can do something right. Would you mind shaking hands with me again, Darry. ”

“ Abner tried to make himself as agreeable as possible, for various reasons.
He saw that his wife had not yet become reconciled to the fact of a stranger coming among them, and was watching Darry out of the corners of her eyes from time to time, while a frown would gather on her brow.
She was a sharp-featured woman; but life goes hard with those of her sex in this coast country, and they grow old at forty. ”

“ Every man donned his oilskins, and as they had made all preparations there was little time wasted in doing this.
Paul rushed out with the rest, eager to be "in the swim," as he said.
It was a scene never to be forgotten.
The waves were running high and breaking upon the beach with a thunderous roar, while the wind added to the clamor; so that save for the absence of thunder and lightning the picture seemed to be a duplicate of that other so strongly impressed upon Darry's mind. ”

“ Among these he never fails to include Captain Harley, the skipper of the Falcon, whose widow Darry had communicated with while he was still under the roof of the life saver's home, and whom he later on met personally, as she came on to hear all he could tell about her lost husband.
And the brave life savers on that desolate Carolina beach have not been forgotten by the grateful mother of the boy they had adopted, for during each winter there always comes a huge box filled with such warm clothing as men in their arduous and dangerous profession greatly need. ”

“ He always gave it as his opinion that football was a brutal game, equal to the bull rights of the Spaniards, and could hardly be induced to even watch a baseball match, for fear one of the players be injured.
Nevertheless, Mr. Keeler was human, and from the door of his shop he had seen the little affair on the road, and recognized the combatants as Peake's new boy and the village bully.
He could hardly believe his eyes when he saw that Darry had come off victor, and that the idle men who gaped at the encounter were giving Jim the laugh as he crossly slouched away. ”

“ All that time those devoted men must be on the watch, ready to man their surfboat again and take their lives in hand, should another vessel strike the dangerous reefs that were marked upon the chart as the worst within a hundred miles of Hatteras.
Sick at heart over the loss of his wise friend and benefactor, Darry found the interior of the station almost unbearable just then. ”

“ Once he sat up as some men came in bearing another sailor who, alas, had apparently been dragged out of the sea too late to save the spark of life; but, upon learning that it was not the one in whose fate he was so keenly interested, Darry had fallen back again upon his hard pillow. ”

“ He saw Jim Dilks bend eagerly down.
Closer still Darry pressed, unconscious in his eagerness to see that he was placing his own life in danger.
The man who would not hesitate to rob the dead might go even further in order to conceal his crime. ”

“ Paul had known of her great trouble, and it was the remarkable resemblance of Darry to a picture he had seen of his uncle Rudolph as a boy that first startled him.
Then came the story about the waif, and this gave him strong hopes that by the wonderful favor of Providence he had been enabled to come across the long-lost boy, his own cousin.
Their happiness was subdued, for there had been lives lost in the storm, a number of passengers and crew having been swept from the deck of the steamer by the giant waves before the coming of the life savers. ”

“ Abner is a kind man, and as for his wife—well, she's got a temper all right, but if you don't rub it the wrong way she can be got on with, I reckon. Anyhow, it would pay you to try it until something else turns up. Maybe you want to ship on another vessel?"
"I think I have had all of the sea I want, after that time. I wake up nights, thinking I'm choking with the salt water, and trying to catch my breath. When I get older and stronger I want to be a life saver like you, sir." ”

“ The boy had seen considerable of foreign ports, and the many strange things he could tell were doubly interesting to this simple life saver, who had never been further than to Wilmington in all his life.
"See that light ahead, lad? That's a lamp in the windy o' my shack. They knows when my night comes around, an' the missus puts that lamp there. It's a big thing, Darry, to have a light in the windy, ashinin' only fur you. Makes a feller feel like he had one leetle nest in all this big world, where some un cared fur him. And that is goin' to be your home too, boy." ”

“ When a vessel is in danger of going to pieces, the passengers usually load themselves with what valuables they may possess in the hope of saving these in case they reach the shore in safety; so that these ghouls frequently find a little fortune upon the persons of the drowned travelers.
Darry had heard the crew of the lifeboat talking about these wreckers so frequently that he was more than curious with regard to them, and as he saw the lantern moving to and fro along the water's edge, now approaching and again retreating, he felt a sudden desire to look upon their methods of work. ”

“ After all, Paul and Darry did have a chance to spend some part of the winter cruising together on the sound, although our hero later on decided that he must start in to make himself worthy of the position which was from this time to be his lot, and enrolled at an academy where his fond mother could be near him, and have a home in which he might find some of the happiness that fate had cheated him out of for so long.
No one who knows the youth doubts that he has a promising future before him, and many prophesy that he will eventually make a more famous lawyer than his father was before him. ”

“ God sent you to us, I believe, just when things were at the worst. How different it looks now. I am the happiest woman in Ashley this night," she declared, and it seemed as though she could hardly take her beaming eyes off his face during that whole evening as they sat and built air castles for the future.
It can be set down as certain that Darry found it hard to get to sleep after so much excitement. Long he lay there and went over all the recent experiences, to wonder again and again why Providence was so good to him, the waif who had until the last few years known only cuffs and trouble. ”

“ A mistake is a serious thing in the eye of the law," he said, offering his hand in a friendly fashion.
"There's nothing wrong up at the house, sir; but I wanted to tell you something I think you ought to know, in case the time comes when you might want to find Jim Dilks and his gang and they were not at home," began Darry.
The constable quailed a trifle, then grew stern.
"Big Jim or little Jim, which?" he said, anxiously.
"The boy who has tried to make things so warm for me. He and his crowd have a shack in the swamp, where they camp out from time to time. ”

“ Being a boy you've been favored; but the time has come to know what you mean to do. Speak up, lad, and tell me your story?"
Encouraged by his kind voice, Darry told all he knew about himself up to the very moment when he parted from his friend, the captain.
Mr. Frazer seemed interested.
"I feel sorry for you, Darry. It must be hard to feel that you haven't got a friend in the world. My hands are tied in the matter, so I can do nothing; but there's Abner Peake telling me he'd like you to stay with him," he remarked. ”

“ As the rope had been fastened to the boat there was no longer necessity for the crew to strain at the oars, consequently they were at liberty to assist in caring for those sent down by the steamer's crew, working under the direction of a cool, level-headed captain.
Darry had cast off his oilskins, as being in the way.
A wetting was of small moment anyway to one so warm-blooded as he, and the cumbersome garments impeded his movements, since they were meant for a big man. ”

“ Darry looked upon him as a wonderful man, a hero, indeed, whose equal he had never known.
There were signs of distress seaward. Through his night glasses Mr. Frazer reported seeing a steamer in trouble. She had evidently gone on the reef, having gotten out of her course in the wild storm, or else because the wreckers further down the coast had deceived her navigator by means of false beacons.
No matter, she was fast upon the treacherous reef and would likely fill and be a wreck before morning, since her entire port side seemed exposed to the fury of the waves. ”

“ Then you will grow up to be a true man. And continue to search for some evidence of your people. That mark on your arm may be of great value to you some day. Hark! I fancied I caught the sound of the breakers just then! It is possible that the time has come for us to part. Good bye, my boy, and God bless you whatever betide!"
Another fierce pressure of the hand, and Captain Harley was gone.
Standing there, filled with horror and dismay, Darry caught a last glimpse of his guardian staggering across the wet deck, and then the gloom forever hid him from view. ”

“ There never was a fight yet that did not immediately attract a crowd of the curious and idle. Boys came running from several quarters, and not a few men too, the more shame to them, always glad to watch a contest, whether between a pair of aggressive dogs or roosters, or pugnacious lads.
Those who came running up could hardly believe their eyes, when they saw the recognized bully of the village engaged with a strange boy, and apparently, thus far, getting the worst of the bargain.
Darry felt rather ashamed to be caught in the centre of such a gathering ”

“ Perhaps it would have been the part of wisdom on the part of the young life saver to have taken to his heels and beat a masterly retreat.
Great generals have done this same thing and considered it no dishonor to save their army for another day.
To a high-spirited lad, however, it is the last thought, and many a fellow will stand the chances of a beating rather than to turn his back on the foe.
Of course there was no time to consider the matter.
The three disguised boys attacked him on all sides, and almost before Darry knew what he was doing blows were being exchanged with a vim. ”

“ There's a lurking spirit of mischief in her eyes to this day, though I know she has met with a great grief lately, for I heard all about poor little Joe," Paul said, after Darry had finished.
"You can never understand how glad I am to be able to bring a little joy to this poor couple. They have not known much happiness, sir. Even now, Abner is compelled to be away from home all the time in order to earn bread for his family." ”

“ I must see him again if we both live. Can it be possible he had any connection with Paul's telegram? I have come far, but I would go over the distance a thousand times if only a great joy awaited me. Yes, I must see him surely again!"
From which it would appear that the friendly fortune that seemed to be attending the affairs of our young hero of late had again started work; and that even in gratifying his wild desire to serve as a life saver Darry had been advancing his own cause.
Now the lifeboat was headed for the shore, and sweeping in on a giant roller. ”

“ Darius Quarles was a very small-minded man evidently; even a boy like Darry could understand that.
"No, she does not know I have come here," replied our hero.
"Then where did you get the money? Boys as a rule don't sport such sums as fourteen dollars in a bunch. I haven't heard of any bank being robbed, or a sportsman being held up; but you understand, it looks suspicious, boy."
Darry flushed with mortification at the insult; but because of Mrs. Peake he managed to bite his lips and refrain from telling the curmudgeon just what he thought of him. ”

“ It was noon when our hero arrived home. Mrs. Peake was interested in all he had to tell about the trip of the life savers.
"We get used to hearing these things," she said, "but all the same it keeps the wives of the life savers feeling anxious. Some night it happens one of the crew of the lifeboat goes out and does not return. At any time it may be my turn. I know three widows now."
"I think they ought to pick out the unmarried men," remarked Darry, who had himself been considering this very subject. ”