Darry the Life Saver Part 19

Fis.h.i.+n' it might be, er somethin' thet way."

That night Darry played for the men, but they could not help noticing that much of his music was along the sad order.

In the morning the sky was still overcast, and the sound lay in a bank of half darkness that looked like fog, though the whistling wind seemed to forbid such a thing.

Abner was a little dubious about letting the boy depart, but Darry laughed at the idea of any harm befalling him.

He had several things he wished to attend to, and besides, Mrs. Peake would need him through the day in many ways.

He entered his boat and took up the oars for a hard row, for the wind was of too deceptive a character to allow him to make use of his sail.

The men of the station had come down to see him off, for by this time Darry had won his way into the hearts of every rough fellow, and they looked upon him as a sort of general ward of the crew, pulled out of the sea at their door and destined for great things.

Not one of them but who believed a bright future awaited Peake's new boy, and many were the predictions made among them, some even venturing the a.s.sertion that he would be president yet.

So they waved their sou'westers and shouted a merry good-bye to him as he rowed into the gray blanket of mist that shrouded the sound.

CHAPTER XVIII

THE IMPRISONED LAUNCH

The prospect ahead did not dismay Darry at all.

He had been a sailor for some years and was accustomed to meeting all kinds of bad weather.

Besides, his boat though old, was staunch, and could hold its own against waves that would upset another craft less steady; and then again he knew how to handle his oars with the skill that only long practice can bring.

By degrees he lost sight of the sandy sh.o.r.e.

He was now surrounded by a heaving sheet of water, and it required all his knowledge of things nautical to keep his bearings, for it was impossible to see even the slightest object on any side.

The situation would have alarmed many a lad less accustomed to depending on himself in emergencies.

Darry felt no fear.

He noted the direction of the waves, and unless the wind s.h.i.+fted suddenly, which it was not apt to do, he felt positive he could bring up somewhere along the sh.o.r.e near the village.

To his surprise he heard the sullen boom of a gun close by and wondered what any sportsman could be doing out there in that dense atmosphere, where it was impossible to see more than fifty feet away.

Certainly ducks could not be coming to stool under such conditions.

What could he be firing at then?

There it was again, one shot following another in rapid order, until he had counted six.

That would indicate the possession of one of those new style repeating shotguns, capable of holding half a dozen sh.e.l.ls, and worked with a pump action.

All of a sudden it struck Darry that possibly someone was in trouble and was taking this means of summoning a.s.sistance; though the chances were very slight that any bayman would be anywhere near with that gray blanket covering things--they knew enough to stick to the sh.o.r.e at such a time.

Our hero changed his course a little thinking it could do no harm to look into matters and see what the bombarding meant.

Should it prove that some green sportsman from one of the clubs was lost in the mist perhaps he would be glad of help, and might even promise to pay liberally to be taken ash.o.r.e in tow.

Just then Darry's mind was filled with an eager desire to make money, for he knew of a good use to which he could put it.

Again as he approached, the rattle of a fusilade came to his ears, followed by a series of shouts in a strained voice.

He was close on the spot apparently.

"h.e.l.lo!" he shouted in return.

An answering whoop came back.

"This way, please! I'm in a peck of trouble here!" he heard someone say.

Twisting his head around as he bobbed up and down on the rollers, our hero caught just a glimpse of some object that seemed stationary, with the waves breaking over it.

It was even worse than being lost upon the sound then--the unknown had driven his boat upon some half hidden rocks, and caught as in a vise she was in danger of being wrecked unless some other craft came upon the spot and pulled her off.

That accounted for the shots and shouts, her owner realizing his extreme peril, for he was two miles from land and the storm increasing constantly.

Darry pushed on and soon another surprise awaited him.

"h.e.l.lo! is that you, Darry?" asked a voice, and now he recognized it, so that even before he turned around again he knew he was once more in the company of Paul Singleton.

"How are you, sir?" he cried. "Looks like you had run aground in the middle of the bay. If you will give me a rope I'll try and drag you off the way you went on. That is the only thing to be done."

"I like the way you go about business," answered the young man. "I begin to have hopes that my poor little _Griffin_ may come out of this adventure with a whole skin. It began to look as though I might have to swim for it. Here you are with the painter, which I have fastened to the stern. All depends on how good a haul you can give, Darry."

"What happened to your engine, sir?" asked the boy, surprised that it was not working in the effort to help the boat off.

"I'll start it up again, but it did no good before, only churned the water. It seems I am wedged between two rocks so fast that even the lift of the waves has no effect upon the boat. They break all over us, and I'm wet to the skin and s.h.i.+vering in the bargain. You're as welcome as the flowers in May, Darry."

The engine was speedily started up and the little propeller thrashed the water at a great rate, but though the cedar craft trembled violently there was no change in her position.

"Keep that up and stay in the stern, so as to lighten the bow all you can. I think that is where she is caught fast. If you have anything heavy up forward and can manage to s.h.i.+ft it aft so much the better,"

called Darry, as he kept off by an expert use of the oars; indeed, Paul never could understand how he managed to do this and secure the rope to a thwart at the same time.

"There are a few things up there I can move--the water can and a lot of stuff in tins. Will you be able to hold out a few minutes longer?" asked Paul.

"Easy enough. Take your own time, sir. When you're ready tell me, and I'll give a series of sharp jerks. I hope we can make her move some."

Presently the owner of the motor-boat declared he had moved everything possible, and that the bow seemed to be a little more free than before, as though almost ready to rise with each flowing wave that swept past with a rush.

Darry set to work and began to use every atom of strength in his st.u.r.dy muscles; at the same time he engineered matters in such a clever fas.h.i.+on that every time he pulled his oars through the water it was with a rapid movement in the nature of a shock, so that the little hawser tightening, gave a drag at the imprisoned craft.