The Light Keepers Part 18

The cook built a fire, and the cheery glow went very far toward restoring to Sidney the courage which had oozed out of his finger ends as the tower trembled under the blows of the tempest.

"You two have been up in the watch-room till you're half frozen," Uncle Zenas said as he shoveled a generous supply of coal into the stove. "It has grown cold mighty sudden, an' I reckon Sonny will need his coat by the time I get it done."

"When will that be?" Captain Eph asked, hoping rather to turn Sidney's attention from the raging of the gale, than because he was eager for information.

"If nothing happens I'll take the last st.i.tch in it by noon. I got on famously with the work while you were ash.o.r.e."

Then Uncle Zenas, after having filled the coffee pot, brought out the partially finished garment for inspection, and before they were done critising it, Mr. Peters came down-stairs, complaining bitterly of the cold.

"It was lucky we went ash.o.r.e yesterday," he said as he warmed his hands over the stove. "I reckon it'll be quite a spell before we make any more visits, or have any visitors."

Captain Eph was on the point of replying to this remark when suddenly, even amid the roar of the tempest, could be heard a dull, booming sound, so foreign to anything which the gale brought to their ears that even Sidney ran to the window in alarm.

The gray light of the coming day had dispelled the darkness in some slight degree: but the swirling downpour of snow was so great that it was impossible to make out the crests of the surges twenty feet away, yet all four remained at the window silent and motionless.

Then came that which they feared to hear--another dull report brought on the wings of the gale, and there was no longer any doubt in the minds of the keepers.

"G.o.d help 'em!" Captain Eph cried fervently as he began to pace the room nervously, and Sidney asked:

"Help who, sir?"

"The poor wretches who are firin' that 'ere gun with the idee that there may be some one near who can give 'em a hand."

"Do you mean that there is a wreck?" the lad asked, speaking in a tone so low that none save the old keeper heard him.

"Ay, Sonny. This ledge makes off to the east'ard near half a mile, an'

the craft, whatever she may be, has struck there."

"How can you tell without seeing her, sir?" Sidney asked, as if hoping to convince the keeper that he had made a mistake.

"In the first place, she must be there because the wind brings to us the sound of her signal gun; she might be only half as far away on the other side, an' we couldn't hear anything, owin' to the gale."

"She must be a large craft, else she wouldn't have a gun aboard," Mr.

Peters suggested, and Uncle Zenas nodded in token that he was of the same opinion.

"I can't make out why any craft should be hereabouts in an easterly blow," Captain Eph said with nervous impatience. "It seems to me that any half-careful skipper would have clawed off sh.o.r.e at sunset, unless he knew his way as I do this 'ere ledge!"

"Don't you count on trying to do anything?" Sidney asked as the men moved nervously about the small room.

"That's what makes it so tough, Sonny," Captain Eph said in a tearful tone. "There's nothin' we can do, but stay here an' think of the poor wretches who are facin' death."

"Couldn't you go out in one of the boats, sir?"

"Bless your dear heart, Sonny, it ain't possible! The dory is the better sea-boat of the two, an' we couldn't even launch her, to say nothin' of pullin' up into the teeth of the gale."

"My boat doesn't need any pulling."

"She wouldn't be more'n an eggsh.e.l.l in this sea. There's nothin' but a life-boat that could do the trick, an' the nearest station is a good fifteen miles away."

Again the wind brought to them the boom of the gun, and Sidney covered his eyes with his hands as if to shut out the picture his fears had painted.

Mr. Peters went swiftly from window to window, although knowing full well that nothing could be seen from either. Uncle Zenas walked from the door to the stove, and then back to the door as if questioning whether he should not open it, despite the fact that every now and then a wave would dash against it, while Captain Eph paced swiftly to and fro, stopping now and then to listen.

"There ought'er be a fog signal with this 'ere light!" he cried angrily, and Uncle Zenas asked helplessly:

"S'posen there was? It wouldn't help them poor fellows out any, an' I'm doubtin' if the best whistle that was ever made could have been heard a mile away to the east'ard."

"There'd be some little comfort in blowin' it to tell the poor creeters we're here an' willin' to help 'em. If she's a square-rigged vessel, as I count she is, there's a chance of her holdin' together till mornin', an' we're got to sit with our hands folded, listenin' to their calls for help!"

Uncle Zenas ground more coffee to add to that which was already on the stove, and then tried in vain to set about getting breakfast; but succeeded in doing nothing.

It was a positive relief to Sidney when the keeper finally said:

"It's gettin' well on to sunrise, an' I'll go inter the lantern. Of course there's no show of our bein' able to lend a hand out yonder; but yet it won't do any harm to be ready, so eat your breakfast as soon as it's cooked, Sammy."

"What about yours?"

"I don't want any."

"Neither do I. Do you think a man could eat while that gun is bein'

fired?"

Captain Eph ascended the staircase slowly, and Sidney asked timidly if he might be allowed to go with him.

"Of course you may, Sonny. There's never any need of askin' to go with me, my boy, for I'd like to have you by my side every minute of the day or night."

Not until the two were in the lantern did Sidney speak, and then it was to cry, as he burst into tears:

"Oh, Captain Eph, wouldn't it be dreadful if the wreck was the _West Wind_, having come out here after me?"

"Bless your heart, Sonny, it couldn't be her no-how, for she's way down by Porto Rico by this time."

"But father might have heard where I was, and come back after me!"

"Now don't get any sich idees into your head as that, for your father don't even dream where you are, more's the pity. Why my report hasn't yet reached the inspector, consequently there ain't a single soul, outside of us four, who knows anything about the wreck of the _West Wind_, because he hasn't come out here about it. Did the _West Wind_ have a gun aboard?"

"No, sir."

"Then that part of it is settled. The craft that's taken the ledge yonder is a heavier vessel than your father's, so you can count him right out of your mind, so far as this wreck is concerned."

CHAPTER IX.

THE WRECK.

It was not surprising that Sidney should have feared the appeals for help came from the crew of the _West Wind_, for even Captain Eph had questioned in his own mind whether such might not be the case.