CHAPTER VIII
WHAT FRANCES FOUND
"Portland harbor is so beautiful that I hate to leave it," Ellen saidto the other girls as they were getting under way.
"So do I," agreed Mabel. "There never was anything so lovely as thatharbor with the lighted bridge running across it."
"And it just seemed too wonderful to be true for those northern lightsto appear on top of everything else. I would have given anything ifthe rest of you had been up on deck to see them too. I didn't knowwhat had happened till Breck stuck his head up through the galleyhatch and told me," Jane said.
"Speaking of Breck," Frances put in, "have you ever seen anything likethe change in that gentleman? When we first came on board, he wassilent as the grave and solemn as any owl, and now he works around ondeck, whistling and he talks a lot more. And," she added, "he knowshow to talk remarkably well too."
"But have you noticed to whom he talks?" inquired Mabel with a teasingglance at Jane.
"Why no, come to think of it, I hadn't noticed particularly."
"As if you would notice anything, Ellen, with Jack anywhere near you.If I ever get so wrapped up in my fat Charlie, will you all promise todrown me?" begged Mabel.
"You are both of you unbearable. But promise to drown you? No, itwould hasten your death too much," and Frances laughed at Mabel'spleading face. "The disease is just as bad in you as in Ellen. Theonly difference is in the way it affects you. It makes Ellen a littlequieter than usual and you a little noisier."
The "Boojum" had gathered speed and was roaring along with the spraycoming over the bow and drenching the girls to such an extent thatthey were forced to go and sit tamely in the cockpit, a thing that wasdistasteful to them all, but particularly to Frances and Jane.
"If our wind and luck hold, we can easily make Vinal Haven tonight,"said Charlie, looking up from the chart he and Jack had been reading.
"For my part," announced Frances, "I hope it doesn't. We have been toolucky, always doing just what we set out to do. With the exception ofturning over at Plymouth, everything has happened according to Hoyle."
"Well, we will see if we can't arrange a little shipwreck for thebloodthirsty lady from the wild and woolly west," laughed Jack.
At sunset the "Boojum" was nosing her way through a little group ofislands, lying purple on the dark water. To port lay the largest, itsrocky cliffs taking on weird lights from the sinking sun.
Jane caught her breath in a little gasp of admiration. Reaching forthe chart, she quickly found their whereabouts. "Mr. Wing," she calledexcitedly, "this is just too lovely a spot to pass. The chart saysit's Hurricane Island and dead ahead is Old Harbor. Can't we stop heretonight instead of going on to Vinal Haven. Old Harbor ought to be agood anchorage. It is protected on three sides by these islands."
"Why Plain Jane, as far as I am concerned, we can. The others are aneasy-going bunch and generally want to do whatever anybody suggests.Let me see the chart."
Jane hung over him until he nodded his head in approval of theharbor's description on the chart and then dashed forward to free theanchor.
"Oh! Breck, did you ever in your life see anything quite as beautifulas that big island with the sun slipping down back of it?" she askedhim as he leaned against the foremast, looking out for buoys.
"I am mighty glad you asked Mr. Wing to anchor here tonight. I wasjust thinking that was just what I would do if I were on my own boat."
"Can you tell whether those purplish humps on the island are houses orjust huge boulders? It seems a funny place for a settlement and,besides, there isn't a single light in any of the windows if they arehouses and not rocks," asked Jane, peering into the fast-gatheringdarkness.
"Tomorrow, if you say so and there is time, I'll row you over and wecan find out. I don't believe I ever heard of Hurricane Island before.It's a nice adventurous kind of name though."
Mabel came bouncing along the deck in the way peculiar to her andbroke in with, "Everybody is raving about the beauty of this placeand, of course, I know it is really lovely but nobody will listen tome and my material thoughts. I have seen one million lobster pots, Iknow and, Breck, please try and see tomorrow if you can't get some forus. Where there are so many lobster pots, there must be some peopleto take the lobsters out."
The next morning directly after breakfast Jane and Frances took thedinghy and rowed over to explore a small island running up into a highpeak. Mr. Wing had promised to let the little party stay at thisinteresting spot for as long as they liked. The original plan had beento cruise on to Bar Harbor and then come leisurely back to New York.With one accord, it had been decided that it would be more fun to stopat Old Harbor for a few days than to go on to Bar Harbor for, as Mabelsaid, "there is nothing at Bar Harbor but clothes and silly littlemen," and Charlie had said, "What about the fluffy little girls?"
Jack and Ellen and Mabel and Charlie had gone out in the tender tofollow some fishermen and make arrangements for getting Mabel thecoveted lobsters. Mr. Wing, the steward, and Breck had stayed aboardthe "Boojum" to keep ship, which meant for Mr. Wing, lying on the deckmattress and dozing in the sun; for the steward, a general galleycleaning, and for Breck the filling of many sheets of white paper withhis surprisingly small writing.
"Now that we are here," Frances said to Jane as she jumped out on therocky beach of the island, "I don't see what in the world we are goingto tie the dinghy to."
"Why not lug one of these rocks down and set it on the rope? Thatought to hold it," suggested Jane.
Assuring themselves that the dinghy was made fast, the two friends setout to see the island. It was literally covered with blueberries, asthey had so often found to be the case in the other little islandsthey had seen during the trip.
After eating her fill, Jane announced that she was going to lie downand go to sleep in the sun.
"Lazy Jane, no sleep for me. I am going to climb to the very top ofthe hill and to the very top of the huge rock on top of the hill.Excelsior! It will be a gorgeous view up there. You ought to come."Frances started out with many flourishes of a long stick she hadfound.
The warmth of the sun and the sound of the water beating against therocks that bordered the island soon sent Jane into a delicious sleep.
Frances clambered up the hill, stopping now and again to look out overthe water, the panorama becoming more beautiful as she climbed higher.It was difficult climbing too, for there were many loose rocks andshe started several miniature land slides.
On the extreme top of the hill was a rocky plateau, in the center ofwhich lay a shallow pool of stagnant water. As she drew near, two hugeblack crows cawed and flew from its edge.
"Ugh!" she said. "How very gruesome, and how silly for me to betalking out loud." Then she heard a little sound as of a sharp,intaken breath, coming from behind a big, flat rock to the left ofwhere she stood. She went quickly and leaned over the rock. At thesight of a man's prostrate figure she involuntarily drew back.
"Dern the luck," said the figure in a rather weak voice.
"If you would ask me I would say 'bless the luck'," contradictedFrances, coming forward to see what was the trouble.
At the sound of her voice, the man tried to raise himself on an elbowbut, making a wry face, he gave it up.
"I am in luck now somebody has come, but I have been here sinceyesterday afternoon," he said.
"What in the world happened to you?"
"Slipped on a rock. Think I must have broken my thigh bone; anyway Ican't move my left leg."
"It would hurt terribly to move you without a stretcher, wouldn't it?"
"One thing certain, it couldn't hurt me any more than just stayinghere."
"Well, then I will go down and get Jane," announced Frances.
"What good will a Jane do? I don't want to be rude, but this thinghurts like the devil."
"Say whatever you want to; you might be allowed that. I'll be back ina jiffy." Frances shot down the hill with lightning speed. She pouncedon Jane and woke her with a little s
hake.
Jane rubbed sleepy eyes and raised a critical eyebrow.
"Broken-legged man--up on top--by himself--how in the world can we gethim down?" panted Frances.
"Have to improvise a stretcher," said Jane, wide awake at once. "Thankheavens for the blessed old Camp Fire organization. We can take theoars and slip our skirts on them and that will make a dandystretcher."
"Jane, you are a perfect peach! I never would have thought of that,"Frances told her friend as they ran down to where they had left thedinghy.
To their dismay they found that the tide had gone out and the constanttugging had slipped the rope out from under the rock and the dinghywas slipping along on the tide about a hundred yards from shore.Quickly the girls got out of their skirts and, in their jersey silkbloomers and flannel blouses, waded out into the water toward therapidly receding boat.
Giggling a little with excitement, Frances said, "Goodness, but I amglad we left our shoes on. These rocks would have simply killed ourfeet."
Soon they were in deep water and they struck out with the strongdouble over arm that had been the envy of Ellen. In no time, they hadwriggled over the side of the dinghy and were pulling for the island.This time the two girls dragged the dinghy clear of the receding tideto be sure that they would have no further misadventures.
Each one taking an oar and a skirt, they started the uphill climb.
"Suppose you hadn't found him, Frances. Wouldn't it have been awful?"and Jane shuddered a little at the thought. "What does he look like?"
"I didn't have time to notice much but that he had on a heavy graysweater and fearfully dirty white duck trousers. I don't even knowwhether he is big or little."
On reaching the rocky plateau, Jane exclaimed, "Frances, this is themost moving-picturey place to discover an injured gent I ever saw!"
Frances led her around the big rock and she looked down at the man."How much do you weigh?" Jane asked by way of greeting.
The man smiled a little at this and answered, "One hundred and eighty,but, after no dinner or breakfast, I suppose I have wasted away to amere nothing."
"Well, Frances, that means each of us carries ninety pounds down thehill. But we can do it as long as we don't have to do it every day."
"Of course, I couldn't think of letting you do such a thing," objectedthe man.
"I would like to know how you are going to help it. To be sure, wecould go back to the boat and get one of the boys, but that would justdelay the game and I know you ought to get that leg set as soon aspossible. Besides, I don't believe men are any better in an emergencythan girls, 'specially Camp Fire Girls; do you, Jane?"
The girls slipped the skirts on the oars and laid the improvisedstretcher close beside the man. He was able to help them a littleand, without causing him too much pain, they at last had him on thestretcher.
"I am awfully sorry for you; it will be hard on you going down thishill, but we will try not to bump you," Jane promised him.
The man on the stretcher had not lost a bit of his hundred and eightypounds, the girls decided as they lifted their load. Both of them werethankful for their hard muscles and good wind. After what seemed ages,they reached the beach and set the stretcher in the dinghy. Then bothof them threw themselves flat on the seaweed that the tide had leftand rested and caught their wind. The man had lost consciousness fromthe painful journey down and from lack of food.
"No use bringing him to till we get on the boat. It will hurt himhorribly getting him over the side. Another thing, Jane, there won'tbe room enough for both you and me in the dinghy now. You pull abetter oar than I do, so you get in and row the man out and I'll swimalong out in a minute. I'll get there soon after you do."
"But I could come back for you," objected Jane. "You must be deadtired."
"Of course I don't feel 'fresh as a daisy,' but it is no harder forme to swim out to the boat than it is to row out."
There was no one on deck of the "Boojum" as Jane brought the dinghycarefully alongside. She called to Breck and he came up from thegalley.
At his surprised look she said, "Frances found this broken-legged manup on the top of the hill on that island and we brought him down. Hehas fainted or something and I don't see how we can get him over theside of the 'Boojum'."
"How in the world you two kids did it is beyond me, but I will askquestions later. Mr. Wing and I can rig up a bosun's chair and get himon board all right."
Breck waked Mr. Wing and they set to work to rig the bosun's chair andsoon had the man lying on one of the transoms in the saloon.
"Now," said Mr. Wing, "it yet remains for us to get a doctor to him."
"Mr. Wing," said Breck in an embarrassed way, "it wouldn't do for menot to tell you this. I have had three years of medicine at Harvardand was with an ambulance corps in France during the first two yearsof the war. What I mean is that I can set the leg and I think I hadbetter do it before it swells any more. Jane, you get some waste fromthe locker to the right of the engine and pack some long planks forthe splints. If it is necessary, we can get him into a cast atPortland."
With deft hands Breck got off the man's shoe and cut away the ducktrousers. Jane, with her head in a whirl, found two suitable boards inthe galley, evidently parts of a box in which provisions had come, andshe mechanically began to pad them with waste. "That makes him aboutthirty," she thought, "because it has been two years since the war. Ihope he doesn't think of me as a perfect kid. I will be twenty-one ina month, anyway."
A wet and bedraggled Frances clambered over the side and appeared inthe saloon just in time to get a weary, grateful smile from the man ashe came to.