CHAPTER X
HURRICANE ISLAND
Jane went over to him, smiling in her friendly way. The boy slippeddown from his rock with the grace of a wild animal. Jane thought thatshe had never seen a more beautiful and charming looking boy. Verytall and with a small well-set head, he had the unmistakable look ofrace.
"I am Jane Pellew and this is Allen Breckenbridge," said Jane with astrange little thrill as she realized that she had used Breck's fullname in the introduction.
She stretched out her hand and it was taken with the greatest poiseand courteousness. "I am Frederick Gray," he said, dropping her handand giving Breck a cordial little nod.
His voice had the peculiar quality of keeping the same tone, neverrising or falling at the end of a sentence, and there seemed to be adefinite spacing between each word. It did not, however, produce themonotonous, sing-song effect that Jane had so often noticed in the NewEnglanders' voices. The boy's voice was full and rich and soothing.
"I didn't see you until you stood up," Jane told him.
"No wonder, my clothes are just the color of the rocks. I sometimesfeel that I am really part of this island, do you know," FrederickGray said with a trace of wistfulness. "We watched your yacht come inthe other night. I was afraid you would go away without my seeing anyof you."
Jane wondered who "we" were. She had an odd feeling that the boy wasthe only person who stayed on the island, for as he had said, he didseem such a part of it.
Her wonder was short lived, for as she and Breck and the boy went up anarrow rocky path, approaching the first of the group of houses, twotow-headed little boys emerged from the bushes and ran scuttling intothe open door of the house.
Breck called after them reassuringly, "Hey, Buddies! Come back, wewon't hurt you!"
Frederick Gray smiled and told them that they were his youngestbrothers and that they were afraid because they weren't used to seeinganybody but his mother and father and his oldest sister.
"She is away at school now, so they will probably be afraid of herwhen she comes back."
"What in the world is she doing away at school this time of the year?"said Jane, in surprise.
"I meant college; she is at Columbia in the summer school," the boyexplained, adding rather proudly, "I am going to New York and livewith her this winter, because Daddy wants me to go to Horace Mannbefore I go to Yale."
"You are sure you have got time to show your island and sure you don'tmind it," Breck asked, feeling that if he were the owner of such anear future he would no doubt be very busy.
"You don't know how glad I am to see people. I'm always so glad whenpeople come on the island. It is really a pleasure to show themaround. You know, of course, that this was once a quarry, and at onetime several hundred workmen lived here."
"We didn't know it, but we certainly should have if we had given anynotice to that huge crane and all those slabs of granite heaped up onthe beach. The workmen, of course, lived in those cottages?" askedBreck interestedly.
"I wish Daddy would come out and tell you about it, because he knowsso much more about it than I do, though I was a little boy when wefirst came here. There is an awful lot of machinery connected with thequarry; I never have been interested in it, and so don't know verymuch about it. Daddy knows all about every kind of machine. But Ican't disturb him now because he is working on his plans for some sortof submarine detector," the boy told them as he led them past hisvine-covered home towards a frame building about a hundred and fiftyfeet long and fifty feet wide.
"How did you happen to come here to live? You don't mind me callingyou Fred, do you?" Jane asked as they entered the strangely shapedbuilding.
"My uncle had the contract to build a sea wall and he knew thatgranite was on this island. He found that it would be cheaper to starta quarry here and carry it over to where they were building the seawall than it would be to have to transport it from some other pointmuch farther away. After the sea wall was finished and there wasn'tany more use for operating the quarry, my uncle took his workmen andthey went back to their regular working place. Then, you see, myuncle didn't like to leave all these houses and machinery withoutsome one as a sort of overseer, and as Daddy likes to be quiet so hecan work on his inventions, they got together and made arrangementsfor us to come out here."
"Don't you ever get bored or lonesome," Breck asked the boy.
"It was more fun before my sister went away, of course, but therereally is plenty to do. I made enough money off lobsters last year tobuy that boat you passed on the way in and then, of course, there arean awful lot of books Daddy brought with us."
"Breck," said Jane, wrinkling her forehead, "why couldn't Fred sailTim Reynolds' boat back to Nantucket?"
Breck looked at the boy and shook his head. "Too much for him tohandle by himself."
But the boy's face lit up at Jane's words. "What size is she?"
"Thirty feet, Tim said, didn't he, Jane?"
"I could trim the jib aft and handle her all right," the boy said withsuch confidence that Breck would have believed him if he had said heintended to give Thomas Lipton and his "Shamrock IV" time and come inahead of him.
"Don't you suppose you could get some other boy to go along with you,so it wouldn't work you so hard?" Jane said, rather amused by Breck'srapid change of expression.
"Virg Bradford over on the mainland might go. I'll row over and seeand let you know tonight." The boy was delighted at the prospect of areal sail.
"Then suppose you just come in time for supper and we can talk it overwith Mr. Wing and Tim and see what they say," said Breck, notconsidering it worth while to mention consulting Fred's father, as itwas evident from the boy's account of the inventor and from his ownquick way of deciding things, that he was the man of the family.
Fred walked them the length of the building, telling them that it wasthe polishing room.
"You look mighty thinky," Breck said to Jane, noticing that she hadwrinkled up her forehead again.
"I believe it is a real thought, too, this time. I was just thinkingthat this long building might have been some ancient dining hall. Youknow the kind where 'the eagles scream in the roof trees.' With allthese cottages and this for a sort of mess room, I don't see why someone couldn't make a lot of money running this place as a sort ofsummer colony. It has a marvelous outlook, wonderful boating, and theswimming would be all right I suppose if you could ever get used tosuch freezing water. How about it, Fred?" she asked, turning to theboy.
"I go in every day and so do Mother and the kids. Dad too, if hethinks about it," Fred answered. "I used to think that it was an awfulpity for those houses to be empty in the summer and sometimes I triedto get Dad to talk about it, but he always said that it wasn't anyuse, because we had enough money and he couldn't be quiet if therewere a lot of summer people always about."
"Do you suppose there would be any trouble about renting the islandfrom your uncle?" Breck asked the boy. He had been looking around atthe attractive cottages with growing interest and a decidedlyruminating eye, since Jane had suggested the possibility of aflourishing summer colony. Gradually the thought was taking place inhis mind that it would be an unusual and remunerative way of spendingthe following spring and summer. The thought of himself as a risingyoung business man was amusing to him as he remembered his positionas a deck hand on Mr. Wing's yacht. Then he came to the realisationthat such a project would take some capital and he said a smothered"Damn!"
But Jane heard it. "What? Breck, things in general or some person orthing in particular?"
"Me first and next my luck, then things." Then he told her what he hadbeen thinking, adding that it would give him endless opportunity forcopy and also unlimited time to write but, of course, it was a foolishimpossibility.
"Breck, you are terribly ignorant about business and I don't suppose Iam much better, but I seem to know that there are such things ascompanies and, as long as I thought of it, I think I at least ought tohave a chance to buy some stock. Besides let's tell Mr. Wi
ng about it,and when I get home I will talk it over with Daddy. It would be anawful lot of fun even if we didn't make much off of it the first year.I know lots of people at home that are always trying to find some newplace to spend the summer. Dad and I were wondering what I was goingto do with myself just before I left this summer. I don't appear tohave been born with any special talents and I couldn't bear the ideaof making my debut. Of course, I couldn't take the housekeeping overfrom Aunt Min, because that's all she has in her life."
"Weren't born with any special talent! Why, Jane, you were born withthe greatest talent in the world, that of making everybody with whomyou come in contact love you. And you just wait till I can offer you ahouse to keep," Breck said, entirely forgetting Fred.
"Wouldn't these houses be enough to start on?" asked Jane. "I'm youngyet and not much of a housekeeper." Jane was blushing and her eyes hada very happy light in them.
"Oh, Jane! What do you mean?" cried Breck, catching the girl's handsand drawing her towards him.
"I simply mean that you needn't wait until you can get any more housesbefore--before--you--before--"
"Before what?"
"Before you ask me to keep one for you. Now aren't we modern, though?I reckon I've done the proposing, but I'm not the least embarrassedover it. Of course, if you had refused me, I might have felt a bitshy."
Jane's voice was muffled by reason of the fact that Breck was allowingvery little room for speech and her sentences had more punctuationsthan a mere writer can put in print.
"Refuse you! Oh, Jane, what a darling you are! I can't believe thisthing has really happened to me, when I think how miserable I havebeen during the last months."
"Well if you doubt it you can question the witnesses," laughed Jane.
"Oh, that boy Fred!" exclaimed Breck. "I forgot him."
But Frederick Gray had beaten a hasty retreat when he saw how matterswere going between his new-found friends and had disappeared around aboulder, but his little tow-headed brothers were not so nice in theirbehavior. Silently they had entered on the love scene and had stoodhand in hand viewing with wonder and astonishment the surprisingcarryings on of the Hurricane Island interlopers.
"Ith that girl your thweetheart?" lisped the younger one.
"Yeth, and the thweeteth thweetheart ever," declared Breck. "Comeback!" he called to Frederick, whose figure he could see in thedistance. "The worst is over, old man. That is, over until next time.You are going to be a member of this firm, Fred, so you must come andlet us talk it over with you."
"All right, sir," said Fred, whose ears were crimson fromembarrassment. He looked at Breck with even more admiration thanbefore. Any man who could win such a girl as Miss Jane Pellew wassurely a hero in the eyes of the island boy. Fred was almost sorry hecould not help being such a gentleman. When he saw how the wind lay,he felt it incumbent upon him to turn his back and walk off but he hada pardonable curiosity about how a man went to work to make love to agirl like Jane.
Hand in hand, Jane and Breck made their way to the beach. It seemed tothe pair of lovers that the already perfect day was even more perfectthan it had been before. The sky was bluer, the sea more sparkling.The "Boojum," riding at anchor in the bay, looked like a fairy ship,while the gulls that circled around her seemed whiter and moregraceful than ever gulls had been before.
"Oh, Breck, isn't life beautiful?" said Jane, but in the corner of hereye was a tiny unshed tear. "It is so beautiful I wish everybody knewhow beautiful it is, all the poor little sick children and tiredmothers."
"Why, honey, I was just thinking the same thing. I don't know whybeing happier than I've ever been in my life should make me think ofthe suffering children on the East Side, but it has somehow. Thosegulls shouldn't make me think of little half-starved children over onAvenue A. Heaven knows there is nothing white about them, except theirlittle pinched faces, but they do all the same."
"I know why you are thinking of them!" exclaimed Jane. "It is becausethis place would be such a corking one to bring the kids to. Let'shave our scheme be not just a money making one but one to helpsomebody besides ourselves. Oh Breck, let's try to have some of thoselittle creatures here with us every summer."
"Jane, Jane, what a girl you are!" and Breck wished there weren't somany little tow-headed boys on the island, for he felt he'd like totry to make Jane understand a little better how much he adored her butthe little Grays were trotting along by their side totally unconsciousof how out of place they were.