Spencer Davenport

“ His more serious brother rebuked Teddy’s frivolity with a glance, and then turned his eyes toward the line of thundering surf they were rapidly approaching. Lester was absorbed in the problem before him, glancing now at the line of breakers and then at the big waves chasing the boat, each one looking as though it must surely overwhelm it. At last, when they were not more than a hundred feet from the beach, Lester bent to the oars with all his strength, calling:
“Now, Fred, pull! Pull for all you’re worth!” ”

“ He was the head harpooner of the first mate’s boat and many’s the time this old harpoon has struck a ninety barrel whale. Dad has any number of yarns to spin about it, and some day I’ll set him going and you’ll hear them all.”
“That’ll be dandy!” exclaimed Teddy. “There’s nothing stirs me up so much as a whaling story. I’ve often thought I’d like to make a voyage on a whaler when I am old enough.”
“There’s a good deal of romance and excitement about it,” admitted Lester, “but it’s very hard and dangerous work. A man takes his life in his hands when he ships for such a cruise.” ”

“ Even on board a big ship the men often have to attach the rope to a windlass to draw the big fellows in while they’re still full of fight. Even if he were stunned, I don’t think that all of us pulling together could lift his dead weight on board the Ariel.”
“Then what would we do with him?” asked Teddy.
“We’d have to tow him astern until we could run in somewhere and pull him ashore,” answered Lester. “That’s what the fishermen round here usually do when they hook one. Once get him on the beach, and the rest is easy.”
“Perhaps we’ll have a shark steak for supper,” said Teddy. ”

“ Their courses lay in opposite directions and amid a chorus of good wishes and hand wavings they rapidly drew apart.
“Well!” remarked Teddy, drawing a long breath when they were out of ear shot, “this has been an adventure with a great big A.”
“Who’d ever have thought when we started out yesterday that we’d run across anything like this?” added Fred, as he settled down with his hand on the sheet.
“That’s the beauty of the sea,” remarked Lester, as he brought his boat up a little more into the wind. “On the land, things jog along steadily and there aren’t so many surprises. ”

“ Home again, eh?” said their uncle, looking at the boys. Then he gazed questioningly at Ross.
“This is Ross Montgomery,” said Fred, by way of introduction. “Ross, this is my Uncle Aaron.”
“Hum!” came from Uncle Aaron. He gazed fixedly at the youth, who was smiling broadly. “You look rather happy.”
“Yes, Mr. Rushton, I suppose I do, for I never felt happier in my life,” returned Ross. “We’ve got good news.”
“The lost treasure has been found!” burst out Teddy, unable to control himself. “Every dollar of it, Uncle Aaron! ”

“ Anyway, I’ll give you what facts I know, and you can figure out for yourselves whether I have a chance or not.”
Ross waited a moment to collect his thoughts, and the other boys disposed themselves to listen. Their blood was bounding and their eyes shining. The situation was romantic in itself. The firelight played over their eager faces, the waters of the cove lay shimmering before them, while, at the outlet, the surf thundered against the rocks. The boys might have been castaways on some desert island in the tropics. The great world outside seemed very far away. ”

“ The clams were delicious as a beginning, and, topped off with the bacon and the rest of the bluefish, together with the fragrant coffee, furnished a meal that would have made a dyspeptic green with envy.
“Now, fellows,” said Lester, when the last crumb and last drop had vanished, “the storm has gone down, although the water’s still pretty rough. But we can start all right. I’ll swim out to the Ariel, get up the anchor, and bring her in far enough so you can wade out to her and get aboard. Then we’ll make a break for open water and take a look around for Ross’ motor boat.” ”

“ Lester scanned it closely.
“I think we can get through all right, fellows,” he said, “but if we should be swamped going in, it won’t mean anything more than a good wetting. When I say the word, Fred, we want to act fast and together. If we can get a wave just right, we’ll shoot in like an arrow.”
“All right, say when, and I’ll pull my arms out,” promised Fred, taking a firm grip on the oars. “Let her go.”
“Look out you don’t pull the boat apart,” admonished Teddy. “Remember, I’m in the stern, and I don’t want to be left behind.” ”

“ The jest and laughter ceased at once, and three pairs of eyes looked in the direction pointed out by the speaker.
“See that big bank of cloud climbing up the sky?” continued Fred Rushton. “There’s more than a capful of wind in that, if I know anything about weather.”
“You’re right, Fred,” said Lester Lee, who was handling the tiller. “And we’re a long way off from home! It’s up to us to turn about and make a run for it.”
“Oh, I don’t think it will amount to anything,” said Teddy Rushton, Fred’s younger brother, who was never averse to taking a chance. ”

“ Now that the strain of the chase for the Cove was 235 over, the boys’ appetites returned, and were all the keener because of the abstinence through the day. The lads set to work at once and in less than half an hour they had a steaming, savory meal prepared in the best style known to Lester and Bill, who were the acknowledged leaders in the culinary line. They ate as only hungry, healthy boys can eat, with digestions that asked no odds of any ostrich. Not until the last crumb had vanished did they settle back with a feeling of absolute physical content. ”

“ The power of the wind made her careen at a dangerous angle, and Bill and Teddy had to climb up on the further side to keep her from capsizing.
It was perilous sailing, but the bite of the salt spray on their cheeks and the swift pace at which they were moving filled the boys with wild exhilaration. They might have been four young Vikings out on a voyage of discovery, as they faced and dared the storm.
“See how she foots it through the water!” exclaimed Lester. “Isn’t she a beauty?” ”

“ My father was a sailor and the sea is in my blood. I never get tired of it and I’m always finding in it something new and exciting.”
“How do you like our new friend?” asked Fred.
“Fine,” said Teddy promptly.
“All to the good,” was Bill’s verdict.
“He seems to be the real thing,” agreed Lester.
“He’s certainly had hard luck,” said Fred. “If his father had been able to carry through his plans, life would be a mighty different thing to Ross from what it is.”
“It must be an awful strain on a fellow to be on a still hunt like his,” mused Bill. ”

“ Here, Bill, you take one arm and Teddy the other. You’ll have to do it without much help from Fred and me, for we’ll have all we can do to get this boat to shore. The wind’s getting stronger every minute and we simply must reach land before dark.”
He resumed the tiller, while Fred again took the sheet, and they swung the boat around to its original course.
“I’d like to save the motor boat if we could,” remarked Lester, as they swung around. “It looks as though it had cost a heap of money. But just now it’s a question of life rather than money, and we’ll have to let it go.” ”

“ Holding tightly with one hand to the rope which had never left his grip, and grasping his unconscious burden with the other, Fred was drawn to the side of the Ariel by Bill’s muscular arms. But the strength of all three was necessary to lift the two of them on board, so Lester had to abandon the rudder, while Teddy left the sheet to help. They succeeded at last, after a vast amount of tugging and straining, and laid the stranger’s body on the deck, while Fred slumped down beside him trying to get back his breath.
“Why, it isn’t a man at all!” ”

“ Fred lighted a fire in the rusty stove, Bill cut up some wood for fuel, Ross brought water for the coffee from a neighboring spring, Teddy cleared the litter of odds and ends off the rough pine table and set out the eatables, while Lester fried the bacon, warmed the beans and made the coffee. Everything, even down to salt and sugar, had come from their own stores, so that Mark’s meagre stock was not drawn upon for anything. ”

“ There’s still a chance to find the gold and pay my father’s debts.”
“It’s practically certain that the money is still there,” affirmed Fred. “The fellows who took it are all drowned–unless they’re living somewhere on a desert island, and that’s so unlikely after all this time that it isn’t worth giving it a second thought. The only living man, outside of ourselves, who knows about the gold is Tom Bixby. He’s just a rough sailor knocking about all over the world, and he too may be dead by this time. ”

“ How much more, if the reward were a chest of gold!”
“I don’t blame Ross a bit under the circumstances,” said Fred, “but I’m sorry just the same. We have so little to go by that we can’t afford to lose the slightest thing that may help us out.”
“We’ll see him again before long anyway,” put in Teddy hopefully, “and he may grow to know us well enough to put us wise to all that he’s been keeping back.”
“We’ll live in hopes,” said Lester. “But look over there, boys, and see a sight to gladden your eyes. We are almost home.” ”

“ Their morning in the salt air on the open sea had put them in fine fettle and they had enormous appetites.
“Well,” said Fred, when at last they were satisfied, “we have to hand it to you as a cook, Mr. Lee. You certainly know how to make things taste good.”
“Lester comes rightly by his talent in fixing up the eats,” declared Bill.
“A sailor has to learn to turn his hand to anything,” laughed their host. “He gets into lots of places where he has to depend on himself alone or go hungry. ”

“ But at last even their ravenous appetites were satisfied, and they lay back on the sand, blissfully content.
“Easy camping,” remarked Teddy lazily. “No dishes to wash, no beds to make, nothing to do till to-morrow.”
“Do you think the storm will be over by that time, Lester?” asked Fred.
“I guess so,” answered Lester, as he looked up at the sky where some stars showed through. “The clouds seem to be breaking away and the wind has died down a little. The surf doesn’t sound so loud on the cliffs outside, either.” ”

“ Lester muttered to himself, “but I was so interested in the letter that Fred got from Mel I didn’t notice those storm clouds coming up.”
5The conversation had ceased. Lester had all he could do to handle the tiller and shape his course, and Fred had to be on the alert in his management of the sheet, which strained and tugged under the force of the wind. It was a time for action rather than speech, and Bill and Teddy, who just then could do nothing but serve as ballast, looked on in silence as the Ariel tore through the waves. ”

“ With surprising agility for one so old, he did all that was necessary to lay it up snugly for the night. Then he clambered into a small rowboat that trailed at the stern, loosed the rope that held it and with a few deft pulls at the oars rowed in until he grounded on the beach. The boys ran forward and drew the boat far up on the sands above the high water mark, while Lester shook hands with the newcomer. ”

“ The second was to Bartanet Shoals, where the kindly keeper of the lighthouse had his part in the general jubilee. The third, and to the Rushton boys the most important of all, was to Oldtown, where Ross, who accompanied Fred and Teddy, had the proud delight of putting into the hands of Mr. Aaron Rushton the gold that paid his father’s debt.
“I wonder what Uncle Aaron will say when he finds out the money has been found,” remarked Teddy, when the three youths were on the way to Oldtown.
“I’ll wager he’ll hardly be able to believe his ears and eyes,” returned Fred. ”

“ It seems to me that we’re already far ahead of where we were this morning.”
“There’s another point too, Fred,” broke in Teddy. “Dick told Tom that the chest wasn’t buried, but was hidden somewhere. That gives us a mighty good tip. If we didn’t know that, we might waste our time and break our backs in digging, when it wouldn’t do us a bit of good.”
“That’s funny, too,” remarked Lester. “You’d think that burying would have been the first thing they thought of. In all the stories one reads of pirate hoards, the treasure is buried deep down in the earth.” ”

“ They flew along over the waves, cunningly coaxing every inch of speed out of the Ariel, and in less time than Lester had predicted they rounded to at the little dock on the leeward side of the lighthouse rock. A bronzed, elderly man, of medium height, came hurriedly down to meet them. ”

“ The wind had piled the waves up higher and higher, until they looked like an endless succession of undulating, constantly advancing hills and valleys. From the ragged crests the spray was torn and blown in solid sheets before the raging wind so that at times it was impossible to see the heaving waters beneath. As the breakers came up against the lighthouse ledge, their tops would curve over and come crashing down with mighty blows that it seemed must pulverize the solid granite. ”

“ Then, too, if he kills one of them the others are attracted by the blood of their comrade, and they tear him to pieces, while the native swims back home.”
“Nice lot of cannibals those sharks are, to prey upon each other,” said Teddy.
“Just like a pack of wolves,” agreed Lester. “Let one of them be wounded, and the others tear him into bits. These wolves of the sea do the same thing.
“Dad says that sometimes the native won’t even take a knife, but will just carry with him a stick of hard wood, sharpened at both ends. ”

“ It’s lucky we caught them before the storm came up. Is there anything left from the lunch?”
“Not a thing,” answered Lester. “You wolves went through that lunch like a prairie fire. But I’ve got some slices of bacon in the locker, and here’s some salt and pepper. I guess we won’t go hungry.”
“Not from the looks of that string we won’t,” laughed Fred, as he received from Lester enough bluefish to feed a dozen men. “Now hand over the other things, and by the time you anchor and come ashore, we’ll be ready to fill you up.” ”

“ I think he deserves all sorts of credit.”
“Well, you see, I was neutral,” explained Teddy. “If I didn’t help you, you’ll have to admit that I didn’t help the wave, either.”
“Ted wins,” declared Lester. “Anybody who wants to prove anything against him has got to get up early.”
“If he’s ever accused of a crime, he’ll be able to argue his way out without half trying,” affirmed Ross.
“He could probably get off by giving the judge and jury a bad attack of brain fever,” sniffed Fred. “But what do you say; shall we bail the boat out? We shipped quite a good deal of water.” ”

“ They lay around lazily for a few minutes, too happy and satisfied to move. Then Fred and Lester resumed their places, while the other two drew a bucket of water and washed the dishes and pans. This done, they slumped down comfortably in the stern, watching the body of the shark that lunged along clumsily in the wake of the Ariel.
“He has an open countenance, hasn’t he?” grinned Teddy, as they caught an occasional glimpse of the huge mouth on the under side of the head. ”