The Light Keepers Part 17

"If they are it won't be anythin' new, Sonny. Time an' time agin I've looked outer that window when it seemed as if this 'ere tower stood right in the sea, with never a rock showin' itself; but the surf ain't runnin' as high as it will be in the mornin'. Then, whether the wind dies away or not, you'll see the waves breakin' mighty near the kitchen door."

"But what about the motor boat?" and Sidney looked alarmed.

"Sammy called me after he'd been on watch a couple of hours, an' we went down to see what could be done. She's lashed fore an' aft to the boat-house, but with all that there's danger of her bein' stove, an' we can't do anything to prevent it."

"What shall I do? What shall I do?" Sidney cried in distress, for it seemed to him that if the boat belonging to the _West Wind_ was destroyed, the last link binding him to his father would be broken.

"There's nothin' you can do, Sonny," Captain Eph said soothingly, as he took the lad in his arms. "Out here we have to take whatever comes, without a chance of fightin' agin it. If your boat is lost you must try to look pleasant, an' thank G.o.d this 'ere gale didn't spring up before you reached Carys' Ledge."

The howling of the wind and the beating of the surf against the base of the tower made such a noise that it was necessary those in the watch-room should speak loudly in order that their words might be heard above the tumult of the elements. Sidney clung tightly to Captain Eph, with both arms around the old man's neck, for the danger seemed suddenly to have increased as he realized that they were beyond reach of earthly aid in event of any accident.

Never before had he understood how entirely alone were light keepers on an isolated station, nor how ominous the howling of the wind might sound under such circ.u.mstances.

"Could the wind blow this tower over, sir?" he asked, and Captain Eph replied as he stroked the lad's hair affectionately.

"Now don't get anythin' like that inter your head, Sonny, although I allow there's reason for it. When I first came to Carys' Ledge, an' was standin' watch on a night like this, it seemed certain the tower would go by the board; but after a time I made myself understand that it was almost as firm as the solid rock. Besides, not bein' so big as to offer much resistance to the gale, I question if even a full-sized tornado could harm it."

"But light-houses are sometimes destroyed," Sidney whispered.

"Anything like that doesn't happen once in a hundred years. I reckon you're thinkin' of Minot's Ledge Light, on the Ma.s.sachusetts coast, which was carried away in 1851; but in that case it was shown pretty clearly the mischief was done through the keepers' disobeying orders."

"Tell me about it, sir."

"Wa'al, Sonny, I allow it ain't overly cheerful talk on a night like this; but so long as it's in your mind I don't s'pose it'll make matters seem worse if we go over the story. n.o.body knows jest what time, on the night of April 16th, the tower was carried away; but it's reasonable to allow it was done about high water, which was an hour after midnight. It was built on iron piles set into the rock, instead of bein' a solid tower sich as are put up nowadays. I've heard them as should know, say that keepers weren't held up to the rules an' regerlations as strict as they are now, an' them as were in charge of Minot's Ledge Light had built a platform well down below the livin' rooms, where they could stow anything which it might not be convenient to keep inside. Here's what the Government engineer, who was sent to look after the matter, said about it," and Captain Eph, opening a book which lay near him, read the following:

"'The keepers had improperly built a sort of deck or platform, upon which were placed heavy articles, such as fuel, water-barrels, etc., which should have been in the store-room, designed for their reception.

The deck, in addition to the weight placed upon it, was fastened to the piles and braces, thus offering a large surface, against which the sea could strike.

"'In addition to this, the keepers had attached a five-and-a-half inch hawser to the lantern deck, and anch.o.r.ed the other end to a granite block, weighing, according to their account, seven tons, placed upon the bottom at a distance of some fifty fathoms from the base of the tower.

The object of this was to provide means for running a box or landing-chair up and down; but it is very clear that so much surface exposed to the moving sea had the same effect upon the light-house as would have been produced by a number of men pulling at a rope attached to the highest part of the structure, with the design of pulling it down.

"'At 4 o'clock on Wednesday afternoon, the 16th, or ten hours before the light fell, the platform above mentioned came ash.o.r.e at Coha.s.set. As this was forty-three feet above the line of low water, and twenty-eight feet above high water, spring tides, the sea had at that time reached within seven feet of the base of the store-room of the light-house.

Without undertaking to speculate upon the probable shock that the structure must have received from the effect of the sea upon a platform fastened to the piles forty feet above the rock, it is enough to know that the sea had reached within seven feet of the body or solid part of the structure.

"'Still increasing, it required but a slight increase in the height of the waves, after having reached the deck, to bring it in contact with the main body of the structure. When this took place it is plain to perceive that such a sea, acting upon the surface of the building at the end of a lever fifty or sixty feet long, must be well nigh irresistible, and I doubt not that the light-house was thus destroyed.'

"So you see, Sonny, carelessness had, 'cordin' to the belief of the Government engineer, a good deal to do with the loss of the light,"

Captain Eph said as he came to an end of the reading.

"Was that the only light-house ever destroyed in a storm, Captain Eph?"

"Bless you, no, Sonny. There was the Eddystone, off Plymouth, England.

It was a fanciful sort of a thing, an' disappeared during a hurricane in the year 1703. The tower was rebuilt, an' in 1755 was burned, because there was a good deal of wood-work inside, which you won't find in light-houses built nowadays. That makes up the list of coast lights that have been destroyed, so you see we needn't bother our heads about anything of the kind happenin' here, for Carys' Ledge Light has stood against many a worse gale than this."

"But it shakes as if it was going over," Sidney persisted, and Captain Eph replied with a laugh:

"This 'ere tremble ain't anything compared with what I have felt, an'

it'll be worse as the sea gets wilder, for--"

The old keeper did not finish his remark, for at that moment Mr. Peters'

head appeared through the trap door, as he said sharply:

"It strikes me that a man of your age, Cap'n Eph, could be in better business than tellin' stories about light-houses that have been carried away, to a lad who's gettin' his first taste of a storm in a place like this! I wouldn't have thanked anybody for spinnin' sich yarns the first year I came on this ledge. We didn't have a heavy sea in all that time but I expected the tower would go, an' when a nor'easter struck us, I allowed there wasn't any show of savin' our lives."

"I was only tellin' Sonny of the Eddystone an' Minot's, to prove that a light-house what's been properly built don't go under in any kind of a gale," Captain Eph replied, much as if apologizing for what he had said.

"I'd like to know what you're out'er bed for, Sammy Peters. It can't be more'n half an hour since you turned in."

"I haven't been asleep anyway," Mr. Peters grumbled, "an' the reason for it is that I can't help thinkin' we might do somethin' to put the motor boat in better shape. It stands to reason there'll be a heavy sea runnin' by sunrise, in which case there won't be much chance of savin'

her."

"I don't know what we can do, Sammy, unless we should turn out the dory, an' put her inter the boat-house, which couldn't be thought of for a minute because it's clean agin the rules an' regerlations."

"Of course you can't do anythin' of that kind. Cap'n Eph, no matter if Sonny's boat _is_ worth five or six times as much as the dory; but what about haulin' her up between the boat-house an' the tower? She'd be more sheltered there."

"We couldn't do the job without callin' all hands, an' I don't feel as if I'd be doin' right to take any chances jest to save property. The sea is breakin' over the ledge already, an' the rocks remainin' out of water must be covered with snow an' ice. Go back to bed, Sammy, for, as you know full well, we've got no right to stick our noses outside this night. After daybreak, if she's still sound, we may be able to work somethin' for her safety."

Mr. Peters disappeared without further remark, evidently realizing that the keeper was fully justified in refusing him permission to leave the tower at such a time, and Sidney said half to himself as he gazed through the window, trying to prevent the tremor of fear from being apparent:

"It must be uncomfortable in a light-s.h.i.+p when the storm is so severe."

"Uncomfortable, Sonny? There's where you get danger! We're snug as mice in here; but the poor fellows who keep a light-s.h.i.+p must have their hearts in their mouths at sich a time. In this 'ere report I found a little somethin' regardin' lights of that kind, which seemed to strike the spot. Here it is," and the keeper handed Sidney an open book, from which he read the following:

"The purpose of a light-s.h.i.+p is to do the work of a light-house in a place where one is necessary, but where it has not been erected because of the great difficulty, not to say expense, of such a structure. To insure permanency of position is a matter of great difficulty. When moorings have been made too heavy to drag, chains have broken; when they have held, mooring-bitts have been torn out; when they have held, the s.h.i.+p has foundered at her anchors, or the cable has been slipped, and the s.h.i.+p has sought a harbor or gone to sea for safety."

"Is there a light-s.h.i.+p near here, sir?" Sidney asked as he finished the reading.

"One lays off to the east'ard about twenty miles. I've never seen her, because she hasn't been on the station more'n two years. I don't claim to be anything of a coward in seafarin' matters; but I never wanted any part of a light-s.h.i.+p in weather like this. Let's have a look around the lantern, lad. If a body don't feel jest right in mind, it's a good idee to move about a bit, instead of stayin' in one place listenin', for the wind does contrive to make some mighty queer noises."

After a.s.suring themselves the light was burning as it should, the two went down to the kitchen, at Captain Eph's suggestion, and there ate quite a hearty breakfast from that which remained of Uncle Zenas' feast.

Then it was Sidney understood, even better than while they were in the watch-room, the danger which threatened the motor boat.

The waves were das.h.i.+ng entirely over the ledge, and now and then a heavy one would strike the base of the tower with a force which seemed to jar the entire structure.

"It'll soon be daylight, Sonny, an' then the storm won't seem so bad, even though it may be worse," Captain Eph said soothingly, as he noted the lad's start of alarm.

"Do you think my boat will be wrecked?"

"I'm obleeged to confess, Sonny, that the chances are agin her. It ain't likely much damage has been done yet; but it won't be high tide till eight o'clock, and then's when she'll get the worst poundin'."

The keeper and Sidney were yet sitting at the table when Uncle Zenas entered the kitchen, and Captain Eph cried in surprise:

"What sent you out so early as this?"

"There's sich a racket up-stairs that I can't sleep; I was awake when you two came through the room. What do you say to a cup of hot coffee?"

"It wouldn't go bad, Uncle Zenas, an' that's a fact, though Sonny an'

me have had quite a bite already."