CHAPTER XVIII
UNCLE TOM
Uncle Tom was undeniably glad to see them. He was sitting in the littleroom at the base of the tower which was his living room, smoking a greatcorn-cob pipe and idly turning over the pages of a book.
But as Connie entered and ran to him with a joyful cry, he put the pipedown carefully, flung the book on the floor and caught the girl in abear's hug.
"Well, well!" he cried, his great voice filling the room like thunder,"here's my little girl come back to me again. I was beginning to thinkyou'd deserted your uncle in his old age, Connie, lass. When did you getback? And who are these other very pretty young ladies you have withyou?"
"They are my chums and the nicest girls in all the world," said Connie,turning to them gayly. "You must have known they were coming, Uncle Tom.Mother said she told you."
"Yes, yes, so she did," said Uncle Tom in the same hearty tones thatseemed to fill the little room and--the girls could almost have sworn toit--make it tremble. "But my memory is getting worse and worse, Connie,lass," he added, with a doleful shake of the head that was belied by themerry twinkle in his eyes. "Let me see now, what was it their nameswere?"
Then laughingly Connie introduced the girls and Uncle Tom had some funnypersonal little thing to say to each one of them so that by the time theintroductions were over they were all laughing merrily and feeling verywell acquainted.
"I suppose you will be wanting to see the tower," said Uncle Tom, afterhe had shown them all around the quaint little room and introduced themto some of his treasures--queer racks and shells and pebbles that he hadpicked up in his wanderings. "Everybody always wants to climb the tower,and it's mighty hard on a poor old fellow with a weak back, let me tellyou." And again the doleful shake of the head was belied by the twinklein his eyes.
"Oh, we're in no hurry, please," put in Billie, turning from one of thesmall-paned, outward-opening windows that looked straight out upon theocean. "I think this is the darlingest room I ever saw. I could spenddays and days just looking around here."
Connie's Uncle Tom stood six feet two in his stocking feet and was broadin proportion. He had a shock of reddish brown hair that was becomingslightly streaked with gray, but his face was clean shaven. His featureswere rugged, rather than handsome, but his eyes were large and red-brownto match his hair and with an everlasting humor in them that madeeverybody love him who knew him.
And now he stood looking down at Billie's pretty, eager face, and, thoughhis face was grave, his eyes were laughing as usual.
"I'm glad you like it," he said. "I do. But then, I have to."
"I should think you'd want to," Billie shot back. "Why, I am sure I wouldjust love to live here myself----"
"No, you wouldn't," Uncle Tom interrupted, taking up his pipe and puffingat it thoughtfully. "It's mighty nice in the day time, I'll admit. Thenit's a mighty pretty, homey place. But at night, especially on a stormynight, it's different. The wind wails round here like a tortured ghost,the waves beat upon the rock foundation of the tower like savage beaststrying to tear it apart, and the tower itself seems to quiver andtremble. And you start to wonder--" the girls had gathered closer to him,for his voice was grave and his eyes had stopped laughing--"about theships away out there in the fury of the storm, some of them crippled,distressed, sinking perhaps. And you get to thinking about the men andwomen, and little children maybe, on board and wondering how many will bealive when the storm dies down. I tell you it grips you by the throat, itmakes your eyes ache with pity, and you curse the storm that's bringingdisaster along with it."
His hands were clenched, his face was hard and stern, and the girls feltthrilled, stirred, as they had never been before. But suddenly he jumpedto his feet, went over to the window and stood there looking out for amoment. And when he came back he was smiling so naturally that the girlscaught themselves wondering if they had not dreamed what had gone before.
"I didn't mean to give you a lecture," he told them gayly. And withstrange reluctance they shook off the spell and smiled with him. "Comeon, let's take a look at the tower, and then I'll give you some clamchowder. Would you like some clam chowder?"
They were too fresh from breakfast to be wildly enthusiastic even overclam chowder just then, but they knew the time would come soon when theywould be hungry again, so they assented happily and followed the broadback of Uncle Tom up the winding tower steps.
They exclaimed over the tower room, and the wonderful revolving light,but the thing that charmed them most was the platform that completelyencircled the tower.
They reached the platform through a small door, and as the girls steppedout upon it they felt almost as if they were stepping out into space.
The water seemed unbelievably far away, farther a good deal than itactually was, and Billie did not dare look down very long for fear ofbecoming dizzy.
It was almost half an hour before Uncle Tom finally succeeded in luringthem away from the platform, and then the whole crowd of girls wentreluctantly.
They went downstairs with Uncle Tom and listened to his yarns, with Brucecurled happily up at his master's feet, until the thought of the clamchowder he had promised them became insistent and Connie asked himpointblank whether he had forgotten all about it.
Uncle Tom indignantly denied the latter imputation, and set aboutpreparing the chowder immediately, the girls offering eager butinexperienced help. Bruce tried to help, too, but only succeeded, asusual, in getting himself in the way.
And after that came bliss! The girls succeeded in devouring a huge pot ofdelicious chowder--it was better than that they had had the night before,because it was freshly made--and it was after three o'clock before theyfinally tore themselves from the lighthouse and Uncle Tom and started forthe Danvers' bungalow.
"Come again and come often," he called after them in his megaphone voice,one hand stroking Bruce's beautiful head as the big dog stood beside him.
"We will," they answered happily.
"Especially if you give us clam chowder every time," Billie laughed backat him over her shoulder. "Good-bye, Bruce." She turned once more beforethey lost sight of the lighthouse keeper, and there he was, towering inthe doorway, his dog at his side, smoking his corn cob pipe and gazingthoughtfully out to sea.
"I don't wonder you love him, Connie," she said, shading her eyes withher hand, for the brilliant sunshine made her blink. "I think he'swonderful. He's like--like--somebody out of a book."
"Poor Teddy," said Laura, with a wicked side glance at her chum. "I guesshe'd better hurry up, if he's coming."
Billie tried hard to think of something crushing to say in reply, butbefore she could speak Connie gave an excited little skip that verynearly landed her in the sand a couple of feet below the boardwalk.
"Oh, when do you suppose the boys will get here?" she asked eagerly. "I'mjust crazy to go out in that motor boat of Paul's."
"Yes, to have the boys come will be all we need to make us perfectlyhappy," declared Vi.
"Well, they ought to be along in a few days now," said Billie. Then shesuddenly caught Connie's arm and pointed out toward the water's edge.
"Look!" she cried. "There are some people in swimming."
"Why, of course," said Connie. "We can go in swimming, too, to-morrow ifwe want to. Maybe Uncle Tom will come along. I always feel safer withhim, he's such a wonderful swimmer."
"Oh, I hope so," said Vi, adding plaintively: "I only wish to-morrowwasn't such a long way off," and she sighed.
The girls walked along in silence for a few minutes. Then Billie spoke asif she were thinking aloud.
"I wonder," she said, "what your Uncle Tom----"
"You'd better call him your Uncle Tom," said Connie, with a laugh,"because he's already adopted you."
"All right," agreed Billie. "I wonder what made Uncle Tom speak the wayhe did about storms and wrecks and--and--things----"
"Why, since he's a sailor," said Laura, "I suppose he
's been in all sortsof wrecks, and of course he thinks about them most in a storm."
"No," said Connie gravely. "No, that isn't it. You see," she lowered hervoice a little and spoke slowly, "Uncle Tom lost somebody in a wreckonce. She was a very lovely girl, it is said, and Uncle Tom was engagedto marry her."
The girls' young faces were very sober as they gazed at Connie.
"Oh," said Billie softly. "Now I see. Poor, poor Uncle Tom!"