CHAPTER XV
CLEVER WORK
Imagine the horror of the six scouts when they realized that they werenow completely at the mercy of the storm, since the last barrier seemedto have given way when the treacherous engine broke down.
Even brave-hearted Thad Brewster felt that their case was desperate: andhe knew in his secret heart that if they managed to escape a serioussituation it must be through a narrow gap.
At the same time Thad always made it a point to put on a good face whenup against trouble. This was of course partly done because of hiscomrades, since, as the scout-master he felt more responsibility thanfell to the share of the rest.
Bumpus had been hanging on like a good fellow. He greatly feared lestsome sudden violent lurch of the boat toss him headlong into that yeastysea; which he was gazing upon with terror.
At the same time Bumpus had been closely observing the actions of theeccentric motor, and was one of the first to discover that it hadpetered out, giving up the ghost completely, as Giraffe would have said.
"Oh! what can we do now, Thad?" shouted the stout scout, as usualturning to the quick-witted one in an emergency; but for once even Thadwas at his wit's ends to know what to attempt, the situation was thatdesperate.
"Everybody hold on!" was all Thad called back.
There was hardly any need of this injunction, for each fellow hadmanaged to brace himself, so that unless the boat actually "turnedturtle," or at least was thrown on her beam ends, they could not bedislodged.
Thad was straining his eyesight as best he could, endeavoring to seeahead. The furious wind of course made this a difficult task, because itnot only sent the waves high, but as these broke into foam along theircrests, this was actually cut off as with an invisible knife, and blownaway in the shape of flying spud; so that the very air was surchargedwith a fine mist, rendering it hard to distinguish anything fifty feetoff.
Of course it was the island that the young leader was striving to seeall this while. He knew as well as anything that the one slim hoperemaining to them must rest upon their chance of finding some sort ofshelter behind this oasis in the watery waste.
At one time it had been Thad's hope that if the worst came they mightfind themselves thrown on the windward side of Sturgeon Island. Now heknew that this had been rendered an utter impossibility; because thestorm had swept down upon them so rapidly after their course was changedthat there had been no time for the cruiser to reach a position thatwould bring about any such result.
And then besides, the surf must be dashing high over that exposed end ofthe rocky island, so that even though they struck, it might be on anouter reef. In such a case who could say whether any of the boys wouldmanage to overcome the terrible difficulties lying in wait, and bethrown up on a sandy beach, rather than dashed ruthlessly against thecruel rocks?
So Thad crouched there near the bow, holding on desperately, and hopingfor he hardly knew what, save that he seemed to have an inspirationthere presently would come a slender chance for them to survive theblow.
"There's the island!" yelled Giraffe, pointing to the right.
Thad had seen it before the other thus called attention to the fact oftheir being so near safety, yet unable to quite reach it.
"But we're going along past it!" shrieked Bumpus. "Thad, ain't thereany way we could work in? Oh! think quick, please, or, it'll be toolate!"
They were moving quite fast, with wind and wave joining forces to sweepthe little helpless craft along. Just as Bumpus had said, unlesssomething could be done immediately it must surely be too late; for oncethey left the island behind, the whole immense inland sea would bebefore them; and their hopes of surviving the storm must sink too closeupon the zero mark.
Thad was thinking as fast as he could; indeed, his very brain seemed tobe on fire, such was the mental energy he was expending. But reallythere was nothing in the wide world that could be done then.
True, they had push-poles, but doubtless the depth of water would haverendered these utterly useless, even had they started to handle them.Nothing was to be hoped for in the direction of the engine, since thathad collapsed in the most cowardly fashion at the first swoop of theblow.
What then?
Thad had made one little discovery that gave a slender promise ofsuccor; and it is strange upon what a small foundation hopes can bebuilt at such a time as this. He saw that the wind had shifted just alittle; but this was enough to carry the drifting launch a trifle towardthe side of the island.
Now, it did not stand to reason that they would strike, no matter howlong that shore turned out to be; because there was enough current tosheer them off; but when the lower end of the island was reached, Thadreally believed there might be a sudden inward sweep of the water thathad been so long held at bay by the rocky shore.
There always is more or less of this eddy at the end of an island in ariver; and upon a large lake in our country it may be found as a ruletoward the eastern terminus, since the prevailing storms come from thewest, southwest and northwest.
The only question with the anxious lad was whether this eddy would havesufficient "pull" to drag them in behind the island. Upon that onesmall possibility rested all their hopes.
Thad knew that possibly he and his chums might render some assistance atthis critical moment, if so be they were ready.
"Allan--Giraffe, come here!" he called out.
The two scouts heard him above all the racket of the elements, which,what with the howling of the wind, the breaking of the waves against theboat, and the roar of the surf on the exposed end of the island,amounted to a tremendous volume of sound.
"Ay! ay!" Giraffe was heard to cry in return, as he proceeded to makehis way forward, clinging to every object that offered a stable hold,because the wind seemed trying its level best to tear him away.
Bumpus also heard the call, but as his name had not been mentioned hedared not take it upon himself to move so much as one of his tightlybraced feet. He seemed to feel that if he did so it would be at the riskof his life; and the thought of being cast adrift on that raging seafilled him with actual terror.
Could those boys have had a vivid picture of that scene just then, theywould never have been able to look at it again without shivering;because their faces must certainly have expressed the sensations thatfilled their hearts to overflowing.
But Davy, as the official photographer of the patrol, was too muchconcerned just then in holding on, to dream of making any use of hisvest pocket kodak; nor would it have been possible to have obtained anysort of view under such stormy conditions as surrounded them.
"What is it, Thad?"
Giraffe asked this question as he and the other scout managed to comeclose to where the patrol leader clung.
"We've got a little chance when we get to the end of the island, don'tyou see?" Thad bawled, making use of one hand to serve in lieu of aspeaking trumpet. "We're getting closer all the time, and will justskim past the last rock. And then is our chance, when we strike theeddy there always is beyond an island. Do you understand?"
Both scouts nodded their heads violently, and Giraffe called out:
"What d'ye want us to do, Thad?"
"We must get the setting poles out, and be ready to try and push withall our might and main when the time comes. Everything depends onthat!" Thad replied, also, at the top of his strong, young voice.
"But it may be too deep!" objected Giraffe; though at the same timefumbling with the rope that fastened one of the push-poles in questionto the deck alongside the cabin roof.
"We've got to take the chances of that," Thad went on; "and besides, youknow it always shallows where the sand is washed around the point of anisland. Hurry, fellows, because we must be nearly there!"
He lent a hand himself, for he saw that Giraffe was meeting with more orless difficulty in releasing the pole toward which he had turned hisattention; though had the conditions been different, the boy might nothave had the slightest trouble about getting it fr
ee. The boat waspitching so furiously, that he could only use one hand, because it wasnecessary for him to grasp some hold, lest he be tossed overboard, as abucking bronco hurls an unsuspecting rider from the saddle by a quickupward movement.
Hardly had they secured possession of the two long and stout poles thanthe end of the island hove in sight. They were very close to it now;indeed, it almost seemed as though an agile fellow might have made aflying leap, and with half-way decent luck manage to alight on thesentinel rock that guarded this point.
But no one tried that desperate game; in fact, it was doubtful whetherit even occurred to Davy or Step Hen before they had been carried past,and the widening gulf rendered such a movement impossible ofaccomplishment.
But the three lads toward the bow of the drifting boat were desperatelyengaged in trying to swerve the cruiser more and more behind the island,ere they got so far that they would lose the benefits of the half-waycalm condition existing in the lee of the shore.
Fortunately the water did prove to be fairly shallow at this point, justas the scout-master had predicted; for vast quantities of sand had beendeposited there from time to time through such storms as the presentone, and also the melting of the ice that drifted there during eachbreaking-up season for ages past.
The poles easily reached bottom and secured a firm hold there, so thatthe boys were enabled to throw their full strength upon the other ends.And the Chippeway Bell was thus shoved around, so that the anchor, whichwas watched by Step Hen and Davy Jones, could be easily thrown ahead,thus preventing their drifting further away from the friendly shore.And this having been accomplished the three scouts were almost ready todrop down with fatigue, for they had worked strenuously.