CHAPTER XXII
FOUND
You will remember that Alvin Landon and Chester Haynes landed at SawyerIsland and made their way to the lower end of Barter Island, where theyfailed to find the stolen launch. The point which had caught theattention of Mike Murphy was several miles distant, on the other side ofSheepscot Bay and half as far from the landing at Isle of Springs.
While failure attended the efforts of the couple, it now looked as ifgood fortune had marked Mike Murphy for its own. He waited at Isle ofSprings until the _Nahanada_ resumed her way to Boothbay Harbor, when helooked around for some means of getting to the point on Westport whichdeeply interested him.
Among the loungers he noticed an elderly man, stoop-shouldered, thin,without coat or waistcoat, a scraggly tuft of whiskers on his chin,thumbs thrust behind the lower part of his suspenders in front, andsolely occupied in chewing tobacco and frequently irrigating theimmediately surrounding territory.
"The top of the day to ye!" said Mike, with a military salute. "Will yerengagements allow ye to take me on a little v'yage?"
The old fellow's stare showed that he did not catch the meaning of thequestion.
"Are you axing me to take you out in a boat?" he queried in turn; "forif you be, I may say that that's 'bout my size. Where do you want to betooken?"
Mike pointed across the river.
"You mean Jewett Cove, huh?" said the other.
After a little further talk, Mike found that the place named was a halfmile north of his destination. He explained where he wished to belanded.
"Sartinly, of course. I kin take you thar, though it's a powerful row;thar ain't enough breeze to make a sail of any use, and I don't own amotor boat like some folks round here as is putting on airs. Yas; I'lltake you thar; when do you want to start?"
"As soon as ye can git ready--but howld on! How much do ye mean tocharge for a little row like that?"
"A little row!" repeated the old man scornfully. "Do you want me tobring you back?"
"Begorrah! I niver thought of that; I haven't made up me mind, and yehaven't answered my respictful question."
The other chewed vigorously, spat and finally said:
"It's worth twenty-five cents to take you 'cross and fifteen more tobring you back."
Mike was astonished. Although his funds were running low, his naturalgenerosity would not be denied.
"I will pay ye half a dollar to row me over and if ye bring me back itwill be another fifty cints--but I'm not certain as to me coming back."
The trip might prove a failure. In fact the more Mike pondered the moreprobable seemed such a result. At the wharf a wise precaution occurredto him.
"Being as there's no saying whin I return, it will be wise for me totake along a snack of food. So bide ye here till I procure the same."
He hurried to the nearest grocery store where he bought a couple ofsandwiches and was back in a few minutes.
"I should think" grinned the boatman in an attempt to be facetious,"that the best place to carry them things is inside."
"Ye're right and ye can make up yer mind that's where they will find alodging place by and by. I'm riddy."
The old man bent to his oars and headed across the Sheepscot, leavingthe islet of Whittom on the south, and aiming for a point due west ofIsle of Springs. It was, as he had declared, a long and hard row, butthose muscles had been toughened by years of toil and seemed tireless.The swaying was slow but as steady as clockwork, and Mike sitting in thestern admired the rower, who paused only once and then for but a momentin which to wrench off with his yellow teeth a chew of tobacco from theplug which he carried in his pocket.
The shore in front was covered with a vigorous growth of fir, which, asis so general in Maine, found root to the very water's edge. The groundsloped upward, but the height was moderate. Mike had been half inclinedto direct the boatman to row directly into the little bay. This would bethe quickest way to decide whether the _Deerfoot_ was there, but hedeemed it wiser to make a stealthy approach. He wished to descend uponthe thieves without any notice. Besides, if they learned his purpose,they were likely, as he well knew, to elude him, as they could readilydo.
Standing on the shore, he turned to the old man:
"As I obsarved, I'm not sure whether I'll be coming this way agin. Wouldye mind waiting here for three or four days till the quistion issettled?"
His face was so serious that the other thought he was in earnest. Mikehastened to explain:
"Tarry until ye obsarve a motor launch comin' out of the cove; whin yesee the same, ye may go home; all ye have to mind is to wait andobsarve for mesilf."
The boatman nodded and Mike departed. He moved along the inlet, whichwas a great deal broader and deeper than the one visited by Alvin andChester later on the same day. He had to thread his way for two or threehundred yards through the woods where there was no path, before turningthe bend which until then hid the boat from sight. He was stilladvancing, all the time in sight of the sweep of water, when he stoppedwith the sudden exclamation:
"Woorah, now! but doesn't that beat all creation!"
Good cause indeed had he for excitement, for he saw the stolen_Deerfoot_ not more than fifty feet away. It was his good fortune tofind it with less than a tenth of the labor and pains vainly taken byhis friends.
He stood for some minutes studying the beautiful model, whose name heread in artistic letters on the bow. The picture was one to delight, andit expresses only a small part of his emotions to say that he wasdelighted beyond measure.
No person was to be seen on board, and he cautiously pushed on until hecame to the margin of the water. The boat was moored by a line loopedabout the small trunk of a tree, that seemed to be leaning out from thebank as if bending its head for that purpose, and by the anchor linemade fast to the bow. The craft was as motionless and silent as a tomb.
Quickly succeeding the thrill of pleasure was that of hot rage againstthose who had stolen the boat. He was more eager to meet them than totake possession of the property. But if on board they would be in sight,for though it was possible for two or three persons to find crampedquarters for sleep, they would not avail themselves of such unlessdriven by necessity.
"They have gone away fur a bit," was the conclusion of Mike, who thenext minute stepped lightly aboard.
"It strikes me that this isn't the best place to linger, as Tim Hurleysaid whin the lion jumped out of the cage after him. It isn't mesilfthat has kept an eye on Captain Alvin fur the past few days withoutlarning how to handle a motor boat."
Whoever had withdrawn the switch plug had left it lying on the seat usedby the steersman. Mike thrust it in place, and going down into theengine compartment gave a powerful swing to the heavy fly-wheel.Instantly the engine responded in the way with which he had becomefamiliar. He seated himself, grasped the steering wheel and havingpushed the control lever forward waited for the beautiful craft to shootforward. But though the screw revolved furiously the boat did notadvance a foot.
"That's mighty qu'ar," he muttered, staring about him. "What's henderingthe cratur?"
Still puzzled and with some misgiving, he pulled over the reversinglever. Instantly the boat drew back, but only for a pace or two when ithalted again, with the prow swinging gently to one side. Then the leverwas moved forward and on the instant the craft made a dive, only tofetch up so abruptly that Mike came nigh pitching from his seat.
He rose and anxiously peered around. The explanation suddenly broke uponhim.
"Arrah, I might have knowed I'd forgot something, as Dennis Tiernanremarked whin he landed in Ameriky and found he had lift his wife behindin Ireland."
Shutting off the power, Mike sprang ashore, uncoiled the rope from thetrunk and tossed it aboard. He sprang after it and after taking in theanchor, set the screw revolving again.
There was no trouble now. The _Deerfoot_ curved out into the bay, andsped forward with arrowy swiftness. Feeling himself master of thesituation, Mike's heart rose with blissful anticipation.
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"It's the aisiest thing in the world to run a motor boat like the_Deerfut_. All ye have to do is to turn on the power and kaap thingsright. Phwat the dickens is _that_?"
A stone weighing more than a pound whizzed in front of his face, missinghis pug nose by a half inch, and splashed into the bay beyond. Hewhirled his head around to learn the meaning and instantly learned it.Two well-dressed young men were standing on the shore at the spot wherethe boat had been moored. One of them had hurled the missile whichmissed Mike so narrowly, and the other was in the act of letting flywith the other. Had not Mike ducked he would have caught it fair andsquare.
"Bring that boat back, you thief, and take a pounding!" shouted one ashe stooped to find another stone.
"Begorrah, and that's what I'll do mighty quick!" called back Mike,shifting the wheel so that the boat began a wide sweeping curve thatwould speedily bring her to land again. "If ye'll wait there foiveminutes ye may enj'y the most hivenly shindy of yer lives."
How he yearned to get within reach of the miscreants, who stopped theirbombardment as if as eager as he for the encounter!
"Have patience, ye spalpeens, and I'll accommodate ye!" called backMike, heading straight for the pair.