CHAPTER IV.--CUT ADRIFT.
He did not have long to wait. Seemingly, whoever the marauders were--andas to their identity the lad could hazard a pretty good guess--they didnot bother much about lowering their voices.
"By the jumping crickey!" he heard coming over the water from theschooner, "jiggered if I kin make out what they cal'kelated ter use thishulk fer."
"Hush! Not so loud, pop. Ther sound carries tur'rble fur over therwater."
"As if I didn't know thet, Zeb, but what do we care? Them kids is fastasleep, and anyhow, we cut the dinghy adrift so they couldn't do us anyharm ef they wanted to."
"Thet's right, too; but some of 'em might be prowling about. They're upter all sorts uv tricks. I ain't forgot thet thar fence, I kin tell yer.My arm's a-tingling yet whar thet electricity hit me."
Soaked through as he was, and chilly into the bargain, Harry couldn'thelp smiling as he heard this eloquent testimonial to the efficacy ofthe "charged" fence. He had caught the name of "Zeb," too, whichspeedily removed all doubt from his mind as to the identity of themarauders.
"The precious rascals," he thought, while his teeth chattered with cold,"I'm mighty glad I did swim out here, even if I am almost frozen todeath. If they aren't under arrest to-morrow it won't be my fault."
Little more was heard from the schooner, but from what he could catch hesurmised that the two fishers were completely mystified by the craft.Presently he heard their footsteps descending the gangway and then camethe splash of oars. They were dipped silently no longer, a pretty suresign that the two rascals didn't much care if they were heard or not.After a moment the splashing sound grew more remote, and Harry knew thatthe two prowlers had taken their departure.
There was a scull in the motor boat and as soon as he was sure that theDaniels were out of earshot, Harry up anchored and began sculling themotor boat toward the hulk. The distance was so short that he did notwant to bother to start the engine, and in a few seconds he wasalongside the dark hulk. He shoved along the side till the motor boatgrated against the gangway, and then, not forgetting to make the motorcraft fast, he leaped up the steps, with the purpose of discovering whatharm, if any, had been wrought aboard the _Betsy Jane_.
Harry knew where a lantern was kept, and descending into what had oncebeen the cabin he began rummaging about for it. In the pitchy blacknessthe task took him longer than he had anticipated, but at last he foundthe lantern and the matches which lay beside it. Hastily striking alight he soon had the bare cabin filled with the yellow rays of thelamp. As has been explained, the _Betsy Jane_ had been purchased as asort of "trying-out" appliance for the inventions of Dr. Perkins, andtherefore the cabin contained nothing in the way of furniture. The lamp,in fact, had only been placed on board as a precaution in case a ridinglight was ever needed on the anchored hulk. But as she had remained ather moorings in the isolated cove this was not, of course, necessary.
A brief look about the cabin showed Harry that nothing had been molestedthere. In fact, as has been said, there was nothing to molest. A door inthe forward bulkhead led into the empty hold, and the boy next made hisway there, the lamp casting weird shadows on the timbers as he went. Hissteps rang hollowly through the deserted ship, and he could hardlyrepress a shudder as he threaded his way among the stanchions, which,like the pillars in a church, upheld the deck above his head.
Reaching what had been the forecastle of the _Betsy Jane_, Harry came tothe conclusion that nothing had been damaged below. His next task was togo up on deck. His examination below decks had been painstaking, and hadoccupied him some time, but he was determined to make it a thorough one.The fact is that an ugly suspicion had crept into Harry's mind as he layin the bottom of the motor boat listening to the two Daniels on boardthe schooner. This was nothing more nor less than a dread that theymight have "scuttled" the craft. From what he knew of them the two werecapable of anything, and he thought that in their rage at findingnothing on board that they could damage they might have bored holes inthe schooner in order to sink her. His investigation of the hold,however, had shown him--to his great relief--that nothing of the sort hadoccurred.
Coming on deck Harry made as careful a search for damage as he had donein the hold. But the inclined superstructure remained intact, andnothing indicated that the Daniels had done anything more than strollabout, trying to discover what the object of the schooner was.
So intent had Harry been on his task that he had, for the time being,completely forgotten that Pudge must be anxiously looking for him. Goinginto the eyes of the craft he sent a hearty hail ashore:
"Pudge ahoy! Oh-h-h-h, Pu-d-g-e!"
Then he stopped to listen intently. But no reply came to his hail. Hetried it again and again, without success. Then he determined as a lastresort to fire the agreed-upon three shots. He did not want to alarm hiscompanions unnecessarily, but surely, he thought, it would be a goodidea to arouse them and communicate what had occurred since he left thehut.
Up to that moment the boy had completely forgotten that he had left thepistol on the beach. He felt compelled to laugh at himself for hisabsentmindedness, but while the laugh was still on his lips somethinghappened that caused it to freeze there.
A mass of cold spray was suddenly projected over the bow. At the sameinstant the old hulk quivered at the smart "slap" of a wave.
"Gracious!" thought Harry to himself, "the sea must be getting up. Ireckon I'd best be going back ashore."
As he made his way aft toward the gangway he found that the sea mustindeed have risen since he came on board. The old hulk was rolling aboutlike a bottle, and he had to hold on to the rail as he made his wayalong the decks. Getting into the motor boat under these conditions wasno easy task. But it was accomplished at last.
"I guess I'll start the engine before I cut adrift," said Harry tohimself.
Later on he was to be very thankful he did. Turning on the switch andgasolene he began to "spin" the fly wheel; but beyond a wheezy cough themotor gave no sign of responding. For more than half an hour the boyworked with might and main over the refractory bit of machinery, but tono effect. The engine was absolutely "dead."
"What can be the matter with it?" thought Harry to himself. "It's neveracted this way before."
He stood up, too engrossed in his problem to realize what a sea wasrunning. Before he could recover his balance the pitching craft almostbucked him overboard.
"Gracious! the waves are getting up with a vengeance," exclaimed the boyto himself; "I can never scull ashore in this sea. Queer, too, there,doesn't seem to be any more wind than when I left shore. Certainly I'venever seen the sea as rough as this in the inlet before."
With the object of finding out what ailed the obstinate motor, hereturned to the deck of the schooner where he had left the lamp. Gettinginto the motor boat with it once more, by dint of much balancing andholding on he cast its rays on the single cylinder. Almostsimultaneously he saw what had happened. Somebody, he had no difficultyin guessing who, had removed the sparking points. No wonder that noexplosion had followed his efforts to get the craft under way.
"Well, here's a fine fix," thought Harry; "even if I could attract theirattention ashore I've got no means of getting there. Oh, if I won't geteven with those Daniels as soon as I get a chance! Wonder what I'dbetter do?"
His first move was to clamber back on board the schooner, for the wildrolling of the motor boat, as she plunged about at the foot of thegangway, was not helpful to thought. Gaining the deck once more Harrysought out the cabin and seated himself on the edge of one of the emptybunks which ranged its sides.
Suddenly it occurred to him that he was uncommonly sleepy, and at thesame time he thought that possibly it would be a good idea to pass therest of the night in slumber. He had no watch, but he imagined that itcould not be so very far to daylight. With this object in view he casthimself down in the bunk and, despite the hardness of the bed and thechilliness of his scantily clad limbs, he rapidly slipped away from hissurroundings into a dreamless sleep.
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When he awoke the sun was shining through the stern ports. That is, itwas for one instant, and then in the next it was obscured again. Harrywas enough of a sailor to know that this meant a cloudy day, withpossibly a piping wind scurrying the clouds across the sky.
"Thank goodness it's daylight anyhow!" he exclaimed, jumping from hisuncomfortable couch, with an ache in every limb in his body; "now to goon deck and attract their attention ashore."
Utterly unprepared for the shock that was to greet him, Harry bounded upthe companionway stairs and on to the deck.
Had a bomb exploded at his feet he could not have been morethunderstruck than he was at the sight which greeted him.
There was no island, no distant mainland. Nothing but miles upon milesof tumbling blue water in which the _Betsy Jane_ was wallowing about,casting showers of spray over her bow every time she nosed into abillow.
Harry's heart stood still for an instant. His senses swam dizzily. Then,with a sudden return of his faculties, he realized what had occurred.
The mooring rope of the _Betsy Jane_ had been cut or had broken, and hewas miles out on the Atlantic without a prospect of succor.