Ralph Henry Barbour

“ Leaving the wheel to take care of itself—for the boat was no longer under control—he sprang forward to help George in the task of getting the useless sail down and stowing the jib, and as the sloop fell away into the trough of the sea, trouble of a very real nature began to overwhelm her. A solid green wave slapped the side and slopped inboard, filling the cockpit and nearly washing both captain and mate off their feet. ”

“ Cap’n Crumbie walked from the wharf to see how they were getting on with the Sea-Lark, and Jack took him into consultation on the pressing subject of paint.
The watchman meditatively ran a stubby forefinger through his whiskers.
“Aye, she’s bleached for fair,” he said. “She won’t sail no better with paint on her woodwork, but she’ll look a world different. As you say, though, paint’s expensive, and it’ll take a tidy bit to give her even one thin coat.” ”

“ It was on the bold summit of Indian Head, a rocky barrier which for centuries had kept the encroaching sea at bay, that they had built their first wigwam out of driftwood, and stood, at the mature ages of nine and ten respectively, [26] adorned with feathers and armed with spears, guarding their hunting-grounds from the hated palefaces who never seemed to approach much nearer than Greenport. From there they let their eyes wander in imagination over vast herds of buffalo, moose and antelope grazing peacefully on a far-stretching prairie. ”

“ The loom of the shore was hazy, and as soon as he went about once more and bore away almost due south the mist swallowed up the coast-line entirely. The wind sang shrilly in the rigging and the boys’ faces smarted with the salt spume [161] which whipped their cheeks and at times half blinded them.
“Want to go back?” Jack shouted to his chum, jokingly, when the Sea-Lark in a particularly playful moment had kicked up her heels and dived with somewhat alarming suddenness down a steep green mountain-side, fetching up at the bottom with a splash and burying her nose. ”

“ And—why, look here, Jack, maybe these fellows is the ones that stole the money from your father!”
“I wonder!” said Jack. “Anyway, it’s all a puzzle to me. Why should the men have hidden it on the Sea-Lark? And if they did hide it there, why didn’t they take it away again during all the time the sloop lay on the dunes?”
Bob Sennet shook his head in perplexity. “Now’s the time to find out, if it ever is to be found out,” he said as the schooner’s sails dropped and she sidled toward her usual berth, much to the surprise of those who had seen her put to sea a short time before. ”

“ The sloop came to a standstill with a jerk, and George, his hands outstretched to grasp his pole once more, took a graceful dive straight over the side. He could swim like a young otter, but there was no need for that, as the water came up only to his chest, and he soon climbed back on board, there to withstand the playful taunts of his father and of the captain, who condemned him to twenty years’ imprisonment in the chain-locker and ordered him to be deprived of his [52] wages for life, for absenting himself from the ship without leave. ”

“ It was perhaps half a mile away, and Jack’s thoughts were on the navigation of his own boat, but the brief glance showed him something amiss. With a shout to George to haul in the sheet, he put the helm hard over and jibed the Sea-Lark, rather than make the turn in a safer but slower way. There was a stiff wind blowing, and the boom swept across the deck with a rattle and a bang, fetching up on the other side with a wrench. But the gear stood the strain, and the sloop was now racing in the direction of the canoe, which had capsized. ”

“ From that moment the launching of the sloop, though slow, was a certainty. A dozen times Tony had to make the trip across the river to adjust the planks and rollers beneath the boat’s keel, but she came up the slope without mishap.
“My word, she looks big!” Jack exclaimed when he had climbed to the top and was lumbering along on her side, down to the water’s edge.
“What did you take her for?—a canoe?” Tony laughed. “She won’t look as big, though, when she gets into the water. Still, a thirty-foot sloop is all you two will want to handle in a breeze.” ”

“ As a matter of fact, Cap’n Crumbie was very seriously upset. He had every faith in the lads’ ability to handle their craft, even if something more than a capful of wind came along, provided it was not too squally. But there was the distinct promise, now, of something more than mere squalls. And if Jack was far out he would have a hard fight to beat his way back against this wind. ”

“ The boys spent full twenty minutes, in all, struggling to release their anchor from the bottom of the sea, and then the skipper drew out his knife and hacked the manila rope through. The end disappeared over the side with a splash just as a fresh squall burst upon the sloop.
“Whew! That’s fierce!” exclaimed the elder boy. “She’ll need to be close-reefed for the job.”
More precious minutes were wasted while [211] the reef-points were being tied. By the time the mainsail could be hauled half a gale was blowing; and though they were but a few miles from shore, the sea was rising ominously. ”

“ For an hour or so after darkness came, he chatted with Cap’n Crumbie in the latter’s cubby on the wharf, and then climbed down to the sloop with no thought of impending danger. In the cabin he lighted his lantern, read the last two chapters of a book, stuck his head out of the companionway to see what the weather was like, and then slipped off his shoes, preparatory to turning in. As he placed the shoes under the bunk he began to chuckle.
“It isn’t necessary,” he muttered, going over to a locker and taking from it certain articles, including a hammer. ”

“ You can’t sit on the deck of the sloop all night, Cap’n Crumbie, and if some one wasn’t right on the spot every minute I believe this mysterious chap would get away with her.”
“I’m going to sleep on board, too,” said George.
“All right,” agreed the watchman. “’Tain’t such a bad idea, at that; only you want to keep your light going all the time. Not that you’ll catch anybody that way, but you’ll be safest.” ”

“ I’m getting hungry, aren’t you?”
“Don’t mention breakfast to me,” protested George. “I could eat the side of a house!”
As Jack put the helm over, the canvas flapped and slashed madly, and then, as the sails bellied, a terrific gust of wind swept down on the Sea-Lark. Before Jack had time to ease her up into the wind again she listed far over, the wind screaming in her halyards while a smother of spume weltered over her deck. It seemed that something must give way under the strain, and in the midst of the confusion the eye-bolt pulled out of the mast. ”

“ Ghosts don’t patter about the deck in bare feet, do they, Cap’n Crumbie?”
“’Tain’t no ghost,” grunted the watchman. “It must be the same chap who came aboard her last night, and ghosts don’t float around in dories; leastwise I never heard of ’em doing it. No, it’s something he’s after, but what in thunder that might be I dunno.”
“I wish to goodness I knew,” said Jack. “It’s—it’s worse than ghosts. I believe it is some one who wants to steal the sloop. ”

“ There was no “give” to ease her, with that solid weight dragging astern. Sometimes, also, a following sea hit the sloop viciously, breaking over her quarter, half drenching the boy at her wheel, and pouring down into the cockpit. Once, after the sloop had been struck in this manner, Captain Jordan hailed the Sea-Lark from the deck of the schooner.
Putting his hand to his ear Jack turned to listen.
“I’ll send you a man to give a hand if you like,” the fisherman shouted down the wind. ”

“ And even if I wasn’t here all summer George could run it for me and I’d still make on it. But what the Sea-Lark needs, Dad, is an engine—just a two-cylinder motor that’ll kick her back and forth, wind or no wind. And I know where I can get a perfectly good second-hand one for a hundred and twenty-five, maybe less. So that’s where the rest of that salvage money is going, Dad. I’m going to invest it in Holden’s Ferry. ”

“ George proved not only a willing but an extremely useful helper. Though not so tall as his chum, he was strong, and gave promise of developing into an unusually powerful man. But it was the spirit with which he threw himself into the task that Jack appreciated as much as anything. Just before the date of the appointment with Tony, once when they were resting, perched on the side of the Sea-Lark, George surveyed the piles [42] of sand which they had removed in the past week. ”

“ Holden, though he had never discouraged the boy in his project, had always been a little skeptical as to whether the ferry would bring much grist to the mill, but he now grew really enthusiastic, for there were times when the Sea-Lark carried as many as fifteen people at a time. To some extent Cap’n Crumbie was responsible for the boy’s success in the early stages of the ferry’s career, as he rarely allowed a party of sight-seers to wander down to his wharf without urging them to make the trip in the Sea-Lark. ”

“ Jack nodded and looked up into the clear blue sky, as though seeking inspiration.
“I have wondered that myself,” he said. “But what’s the use of wondering? As Cap’n Crumbie says, there are a hundred million people in the United States, and it might have been any one of them.”
During the first few weeks while the ferry was running Jack had purposely avoided giving his father exact figures of what the Sea-Lark had earned, as he wished to save up a pleasant surprise for him. More than once Mr. Holden had made inquiries on the subject, expressing the hope that his son was not being disappointed. ”

“ The boat-hook was firmly caught in the fish’s gills, and with a comical expression of wonderment the mate saw his prize drawn inboard.
“Why—why, it is a bluefish, I suppose?” he said, surveying the beautiful creature now flopping about in the bottom of the cockpit. “I’ve never seen one quite so big as that.”
“It’s twelve or thirteen pounds of bluefish, all in one piece,” replied Jack, admiringly. “They don’t run to that size very often round about here. You’re a hero! ”

“ Two minutes later Tony was in the ship-owner’s office, demanding that the Simon P. Barker should put to sea without any delay, in search of the Sea-Lark.
“It’s all very well you talking to me like that,” said Mr. Barker, “but you must remember I don’t come down to your place and order you about. A thing of this kind is a matter of business with me. I can’t interrupt my men in what they’re doing and send my tug out to sea every time a couple of lads get sky-larking in a boat.”
“I’m not asking you any favor,” said Tony, coldly. “All I do ask you is to hustle. ”

“ Yet, despite his natural light-heartedness, Jack had a level head. The time would come, and before very long, when he must face the problem of winning a place for himself in the world. It had been decided that, if it could be arranged, he was to spend another two years at High School, after [20] which he would seek a position. But two years is a long time, and Jack was by no means certain that he would not have to turn out and become a wage-earner long before his education was completed. For his father was now a very different man from the old Samuel Holden. ”

“ How’s your leg?”
“Nothing much wrong,” replied Jack. “I’ll be on board again by Tuesday, but I’ve got to stop in bed till then.”
“You’d better let George and me run the ferry for a day or two,” said Rodney. “You see if we don’t do a roaring business. The story’s got all over the place by now, and half the town has been down to look at the bullet holes on the sloop. Everybody will want to run across in the Sea-Lark to-morrow.” ”

“ Sailing across to the landing, they found Rod awaiting them, and then the sloop’s bow was turned toward the sea.
“Now, which way do you want to go?” asked Jack. “The water is dead calm.”
“How about a run down the coast as far as Penley?” Martin suggested, glancing sideways at Hegan.
“It’s all the same to me,” replied Hegan, airily. “So long as I’m afloat with a good [263] cigar in my mouth, it don’t make any odds whether we go north, south, east, or west.” ”

“ Sailing was an old accomplishment for both the captain and his young mate, but most of their experience in that direction had been gained in dories, which compared with taking the Sea-Lark out on a trip was child’s play. The Sea-Lark was not, however, too large for two to handle. Other sloops even larger were wont to flit about the waters of Greenport harbor in the summer with only two persons aboard, and there was one, fifty feet over all, which one man usually handled alone. ”

“ George’s face was haggard, and the captain would not have allowed him to take more than an occasional brief trick at the pump, but there was no alternative to both lads sharing the work. Their hands were raw, and every muscle in their bodies seemed to be crying aloud in protest.
“We’ll stick it as long as we can,” said Jack, laboring painfully at the pump as darkness enveloped the stricken sloop. “We’ve drifted miles and miles away from Greenport by now, [219] but there’s always a chance, so long as we keep afloat.” ”

“ Jack felt a little sheepish because of the resentment he had shown, and after Rodney Farnham’s frank explanation he began to reconsider his opinion of the lad.
“I didn’t understand,” he said. “Sorry if I was rude. I haven’t seen Mr. Farnham yet, but I want to, to tell him how glad I am he gave me the boat. I wrote to tell him I’d got her afloat, but he didn’t reply.”
[95]
“Dad’s a pretty busy man when he’s in New York, and I guess he hasn’t had too much time to write. You may be sure he meant to look you up when he came down to Greenport, though,” replied Rod. ”

“ You wouldn’t think he could say ‘boo’ to a goose, would you? But he can! A holy terror, that’s what he is, when he starts, though he looks as though butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth.”
“But what happened?” George demanded.
“Pretty near everything, except blue murder!” replied Cap’n Crumbie. “After you left he was hanging around here as usual, when another chap came down to the wharf. I was standing at the door o’ my cabin and the second feller didn’t see me. ”

“ Jack shouted back to the watchman. “Slip on board, and we’ll go after him on the sloop.”
“You can’t, son,” replied Cap’n Crumbie. “There ain’t enough wind. Listen! Which way did he go?”
The watchman and the two boys strained [117] their ears, but the fugitive, after pulling a few strokes, had evidently dipped his oars in the water gently. Not a sound was to be heard, save the swish of the tide against the wharf piles and the side of the sloop. ”

“ In a few minutes the schooner was heading for Greenport, with the Sea-Lark in tow, and Captain Sennet was standing, amazed, amid the scene of wreckage in this little cabin of the sloop.
“Say!” He pushed his cap back and rubbed his head perplexedly, addressing Rodney. “For the love of Mike, will you just tell me what them fellers have been up to in here? Half the sheathing is torn down! They must ha’ gone clean crazy. Why—” Suddenly he stopped and his jaw dropped, as, turning round and glancing on to one of the bunks, he saw something which took away his breath. ”

“ The hawser fell with a splash into the water, and Jack brought the sloop round into the wind, leaving the Grace and Ella with enough way on to sidle to her berth.
An angry face appeared at the edge of the wharf.
“What d’ye mean by meddling in my affairs?” demanded Mr. Barker, scowling down on the boys.
“Meddling?” said Jack unruffled. “I was giving her a little tow. Doesn’t she look as though she needed it? It was quite a salvage job.”
“Salvage!” Mr. Barker’s surprise and consternation were ludicrous. “You get no salvage [178] out o’ me, young man! No one asked you to interfere. ”

“ He was down on our wharf yesterday, trying his best to be ugly about this little sloop. Said she got in the way o’ his craft, he did. He’s a misery. Don’t you ever leave the Sea-Lark lying in the way o’ his rotten old boats, or she’ll get crushed for a certainty, if he has anything to do with it. And he’ll sure make out that it was all your fault.”
“Thank you for being a passenger,” said Jack, as the vessel edged up to the hotel landing on the Point. “If you’re not going to stay ashore long I will wait for you.” ”

“ By eating very sparingly of their slender supply of crackers they would at least be able to keep alive for the present.
“I don’t remember the geography of this part of the coast awfully well,” said Jack, after they had made a cursory examination of the place, “but if this is Lobster Island it can’t be so far off the mainland. The wind certainly isn’t quite so strong now. I believe the worst of the gale is over. I’m going to climb up to the top of that rock and see if I can spot the coast.” ”