CHAPTER XIV
THE SQUALL
"Sturgeon Island, did you say, Allan?" remarked Step Hen. "Sounds likeit might be a good fishing place. If we happened to land there, perhapsBumpus and Giraffe might manage to do some big stunts, pulling insturgeon. Can anybody tell me what sort of a fish that is, anyway? Inever saw one, or a fellow that caught one, either."
"Oh! they grow to big size, and are caught in the Great Lakes in thiscountry. They take sturgeon eggs I believe to make this high-pricedstuff they use in the tony clubs and call caviar, or something likethat," observed Bumpus, who really did know considerable about fish andfishing, though of course he did not claim to be a fly fisherman,capable of casting seventy feet or more.
But the subject did not interest any of them just then. The way thatbank of ominous clouds kept advancing higher and higher soon kept theirattention riveted in that quarter.
"About how far away from our harbor are we, Thad?" asked Step Hen.
"Something like fifteen miles, I should say," came the reply.
Giraffe looked at the balky engine, and shook his head.
"Then we'd better make up our minds right here and now that we'll neverget to that place this day," he said, positively; and there was no onebold enough to accept of the plain challenge his tones conveyed.
"That means our only hope lies in Sturgeon Island, don't it?" Bumpusasked.
"Looks that way," Thad told him.
"But that don't seem so far on the map; you, just put your finger on thesame, Thad; and if she's close enough to do that, hadn't we ought to seethat island, ahead somewhere?"
"Suppose you take the glasses and look," suggested the pilot, who wasbusy with the engine that had stopped short again, and needed coaxing totake up its burden once more, "It's rather hazy, you'll notice, so thatyou couldn't be sure of anything more than three miles away, I reckon;but tell us what lies de ahead, will you, Bumpus?"
A minute later, and the fat scout cried out in considerable excitement:
"I can see land ahead, sure I can, fellows!"
"That must be the island, then," rejoined Thad, busily engaged.
"Our only hope, so we had ought to call it our island," Davy went on tosay, as he deliberately took the glasses from Bumpus, and glued thesmaller end of the same to his own eyes.
Then in turn everybody but Thad had to have a chance to look; and in theend it was the consensus of opinion that Bumpus had spoken only thetruth when he said there were positive evidences of some sort of landahead.
"Oh! if you could only get that old junk-shop engine to working for halfan hour, Thad, we'd have plenty of time to circle around to the leewardside of that island, and then we could get ashore, no matter whathappened to the Belle," Bumpus faltered, as he watched the skipper stillworking as rapidly as he could.
All at once the machinery started up again, when Thad gave the crank awhirl.
"Bully for you, Thad!" cried Davy, slapping the other heartily on theback; and then turning to look at the black clouds following after them,as though he would give fair warning that they meant to make a stifffight for the opportunity of finding safety.
"Go slow!" warned the other; "don't be too sure, because she's limpingalready, and I'd hate to risk my reputation in saying that we coulddepend on that thing five minutes at a stretch," and from the way Thadsaid this it was evident that he had by now almost lost all faith in themotor.
"Looks like it might be a race between the storm, and our getting behindSturgeon Island," said Giraffe, as he turned alternately from stem tostern of the boat, evidently trying to figure out what sort of chancethey might have for winning out in the end.
But they knew that it all depended on the engine; if it worked as wellas it was doing right now they could surely pass over the few miles thatseparated them from the island; and once in its lee it would not be sodifficult to gain the shore. Neither the wild wind, nor the gatheringwaves could disturb them, so long as the storm continued to come out ofthe south-west, for they were now cruising along the northern shore ofthe great lake, where the Dominion of Canada held sway, and not UncleSam.
So they watched it anxiously, and every time it missed an explosionBumpus would utter a grunt or a groan; only to catch new inspiration andhope when he found that it was a false alarm, and that they were stillgoing right along.
Thad was doing everything he knew how to encourage the engine to keep upthe good work; but he had already made up his mind to be surprised atnothing. There was a possibility that it might keep working fairly wellas long as they wanted, in order to find safety in the shelter of theisland; and then again it was apt to let down at any minute.
Thad, however, was not the one to show the white feather. He knew thatthere were several of his chums who might not be constituted just thesame as he and Allan, and Giraffe--Bumpus and Davy and Step Hen; and hisseeming cheerfulness was partly assumed in order to buoy their droopingspirits up; as scout-master Thad felt that he had many duties toperform, and one of these was to instill a feeling of confidence in thebreasts of his comrades.
"I can see a white streak on the water away back there!" announcedGiraffe, presently.
"That's where you've got the advantage of the rest of us, with your longneck, and that way of stretching the same," complained Step Hen; anddetermined to meet the other on his own grounds he clambered to the topof the cabin, where he could use the glasses he had taken from the handof Giraffe.
"It's the first blow of the squall, as sure as anything," he immediatelyreported; which news made Bumpus turn pale; for he had not forgottenwhat he experienced on that other occasion.
"Coming racing after us, like hot cakes!" added Giraffe. "Hadn't webetter get them life preservers out, and fastened on under our arms,Thad? Then, if so be the old tub did take a notion to turn turtle, we'dhave some show for our money."
"Make him stop talking that way, Thad, won't you?" urged Bumpus; "hejust does it to make me have a bad feeling down here," and he rubbed hisprojecting stomach mournfully as he spoke.
"No, I'm sorry to tell you he isn't saying anything too strong, Bumpus,"the skipper of the Chippeway Belle assured him; and after that poorBumpus had nothing more to say; only he clutched the cork and canvaslife preserver which was handed out to him, and with trembling handsproceeded to adjust the same under his arms; though it was a very snugfit, even if Giraffe had given him the largest in the lot under theseats.
"If anything happens, remember," said Thad, in all seriousness, as hewatched the rapid way in which that ominous white line on the water wasracing after them; "all of you try your best to land on the island.We're getting closer all the while to the same, and there seems to besome shore for us to crawl up, because, with the rocks I can see littlepatches of gravelly beach. Keep your eyes fixed on that, and doeverything you can to get there in case of a wreck."
"Wreck!" muttered Bumpus, as though talking to himself, as he often didwhen in trouble. "Didn't I dream I was on a ship that went to pieces instorm; and first thing I knew I had to swim for it, and me knowing solittle about doing that. Oh! I hope nothing happens, and that we ranswing around back of that bully old island soon!"
"So say we all of us, Bumpus," Giraffe echoed; and he did not mean todraw the attention of the others to the shaky condition of the fatscout, because, if the truth were told, every one of the six boys wouldbe found to be quivering with the dreadful suspense, while waiting forthat forerunner of the squall to strike them.
The engine still continued to keep them moving, although to the excitedimagination of some of the boys they seemed to be almost standing still.
"What do you think of it now, Thad?" asked Step Hen, with the manner ofone who hoped for good tidings, yet feared the worst.
"I don't just like the looks of that first rush of wind," replied thepilot; "of course if we pull through that we may be able to hold out,and gradually force a way around the island. I'm trying to head as nearas I dare, because if once we're forced past, there's nothing left forus
, you understand?"
Yes, they could grasp that point well enough, and Step Hen even besoughtthe one at the wheel to work in a little closer.
"Better take the chances of being thrown on the island than to becarried past by a fluke of the wind!" he declared, and Thad believed somuch the same way that he did change their course slightly.
The boys had brought out what most they wanted to save in case of awreck. One carried his clothes bag, with the blanket fastened to thesame; another had the double-barreled shotgun; while Giraffe made sureto see that his fishing tackle was safely tucked in with his belongings,which he had made up into as small a compass as possible.
As for Bumpus, he had gathered everything he owned, and looked as thoughhe might be a walking peddler trying to dispose of his wares to thecountry people. On the other hand there was Step Hen who did not appearto care an atom about his clothes and his blanket; but he had managed towrap something around the owl, and was all the while gripping the birdtightly; though Bumpus said he was silly to risk his own life, when allhe had to do was to cut the cord he had put around the cloth, unfastenthe chain that gripped the bird's leg, and give him a toss into the air,when Jim would look out for himself.
"Wish I could fly away as easy as he can," Bumpus wound up with; but inspite of all these suggestions the obstinate Step Hen still persisted inholding on to his prisoner, as though he meant to accept every chancerather than let him go.
"Hold fast, everybody, for here she comes!" called Allan, presently.
The puttering of the escape connection with the engine could no longerbe heard, because of the roar made by the rushing wind, and the splashof the curling water, as the squall leaped forward and rapidly overtookthem.
"Oh; my stars!" Bumpus was heard to call out, as he clung to somethingwith all his might and main; for the little cruiser seemed to be liftedhigh in the air, and carried forward on the top of a giant billow, onlyto sink down in the trough of the sea with a heavy motion; but stillkeeping head on.
But in that moment of time Thad Brewster knew that the fate of the boatwas effectually sealed; because the engine had given its last throb andthey were now a helpless, drifting object in the midst of those angrywaters!