Janet Aldridge - The Meadow Brook Girls by the Sea

J >> Janet Aldridge >> The Meadow Brook Girls by the Sea

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It was late that afternoon when some one raised a shout and pointed up
the coast. There, about five miles away, was a tiny speck of white
that they knew to be a sail. There seemed to be but a single sail,
which told them that a small boat was carrying it. Then, again, the
sail looked so white that they decided it must either be their boat or
a private yacht cruising down the coast.

"It does look more like a yacht than the 'tub' that Mr. McCarthy
described," said the Chief Guardian. "If this is the 'Sister Sue' she
is a very trim little craft."

The beach was lined with Camp Girls eagerly watching the approaching
sailboat, which was coming on at what seemed to them to be an
aggravatingly slow rate of speed.

"What he needs is an engine," declared Jane. "Now, if he had that
motor that's doubled up under the car we ran into the ditch, he could
make some time."

"That boat is sailing much faster than you think," answered Harriet.
"You will see when it gets opposite us how fast it is moving. It is
moving so fast that I can't make myself believe it is our boat."

"I gueth we'll wait till it getth here," decided Tommy, which voiced
the feelings of all. As the sailboat drew down into plain view,
exclamations of admiration were heard on all sides. For a
single-masted boat she carried a great spread of white canvas and two
jibs, each of which was full of wind, pulling powerfully. The wind
being off shore, the sloop was heeling the other way, showing quite a
portion of her black hull, which was in strong contrast with her
glistening white sides and snowy sails. The water was spurting away
from her bows, showing white along the black side below her water
line--all in all, an inspiring sight to the lover of boats and the big
water.

"Hurrah, see her go! She's skimming along like a scared cat. No, that
isn't our tub, darlin's. I know Dad. She will be safe, but she will
come limping and groaning down the line at a mile an hour, then
probably go aground in the bay because there won't be room enough for
her to turn about. You see if I'm not right."

"You are all wrong," answered Harriet. "How do I know? Never mind. You
will find that you are." She had seen a man hauling in on the main
sheets--the ropes that led from the mainsail back toward the cockpit.
From that she knew the boat was preparing to change its course. This
it did a few moments later, heading in toward the shore, but pointed
at a spot a full half mile below the camp, as nearly as the girls
could observe.

"Oh, that is too bad! See, they are going somewhere else," cried Miss
Elting. "Why--why, what are they trying to do? Are those people
crazy?"

"They are tacking in," answered Harriet.

"Of course. How stupid of me."

"It ith the 'Thilly Thue,'" shouted Tommy.

"The 'Silly Sue'! hurrah!" yelled the girls, instantly adopting
Tommy's nickname for the boat.

"Oh, darlin's, isn't she the beauty?" cried Jane. She began dancing
about, several others doing likewise.

"I thought you knew it was going to be an old tub," reminded Harriet
teasingly.

"I take it all back. When I see Dad I shall get down on my knees and
beg his pardon." Jane began running toward the bay, turning out to the
bar as the most likely place to get a good view of their present. She
was followed by the entire camp, Chief Guardian and guardians, who ran
shouting and waving their hats.

As the boat swept majestically into the bay the jibs came in and the
mainsail was lowered slightly, the boom being permitted to swing far
out. The girls then saw that there were two men on board, one handling
the sails, the other was stationed at the wheel. The craft crossed and
criss-crossed the bay, sawing back and forth several times before
reaching a position for which the skipper evidently had been heading.
Then, all at once, he swung the bow of the boat squarely into the
wind.

"Let go!" he called.

The big sail came down with a clatter and rattle of rings, and the
anchor went overboard with a loud splash. The "Sister Sue" was at
anchor in the bay. The skipper lighted his pipe and sat down all
hunched together, puffing away with most aggravating deliberateness.

"Aren't you coming ashore so we may get aboard and see the boat?"
called Harriet.

"Bymeby," was the laconic answer.

"I am the commodore. I wish--"

"The what?"

"The commodore," answered Harriet, laughing so that she barely made
herself heard.

"Commodore's quarters aren't ready," called back Captain Billy. "Let
you know when we're ready for you. We aren't going out again to-day."

"I shall have to talk to the captain, I fear," said Mrs. Livingston,
smiling faintly.

Soon after coming to anchor the second man on the boat was observed to
be busy furling the sail, which he took his time in doing. This
finished, he hauled up pails of water with a pail tied to the end of a
rope and started swabbing down the decks. This completed, he went
about other duties, which, to the row of girls sitting on the Lonesome
Bar, seemed trivial and for the sake of killing time.

"Isn't it perfectly aggravating?" grumbled Margery Brown.

The supper horn blew while they still sat there waiting. The Camp
Girls reluctantly turned back toward camp. They were disappointed, and
so expressed themselves with emphasis while eating their supper. But
Harriet, who had been excused before the others had finished, hurried
out to take an observation. She was back almost at once.

"Their rowboat is coming ashore," she cried, pointing toward the bay.

Instantly every girl in the cook tent, without the formality of asking
to be excused, pushed back her chair and dashed out. Mrs. Livingston
so far overlooked their breach of etiquette as to rush out with the
rest of them.

"Come on, darlin's. They've come ashore for us at last. First there,
first to go out. Go!"

It was a race for the landing place, with Harriet and Jane running
side by side, Tommy Thompson following and gradually lessening the
distance between them in a series of flying leaps. Tommy could run
like a frightened fawn. Harriet heard her coming and increased her
speed. Tommy gained no more on Harriet, though she arrived at their
objective point by the side of Crazy Jane McCarthy.

"Ready to go out," announced the man. "But I can't take more than five
at a time. Who goes first?"

Harriet halted sharply at sound of his voice, and gazed at the man
perplexedly. His voice was strangely familiar, but, try as she would,
she could not think where she had seen him.

CHAPTER XVIII

FIREWORKS FROM THE MASTHEAD

"Wait for Mrs. Livingston," replied Harriet in answer to the man's
question. "You are not the captain, are you?"

He shook his head. Mrs. Livingston came upon the scene. Harriet
assisted her into the rowboat. The Chief Guardian directed the other
Meadow-Brook girls to get in, telling the girls who were left on shore
that they would be taken out to the "Sister Sue" as fast as possible,
until there was no more room. The others would have their turn soon
afterward.

If the girls had been pleased with the "Sister Sue" from a shore view,
they were enthusiastic at what they saw when they got on board. The
decks were white from scouring, the binnacle that held the compass
shone with mirror-like brightness, ropes were neatly coiled and
everywhere was the smell of fresh paint and the faint, salty odor of
the deep sea.

The "Sue" was some forty feet in length over all, broad of beam,
covered over about half her length amidships by a raised deck cabin, a
cabin that rises above the deck a few inches with narrow windows on
the two sides. Two doors from the cockpit led into the cabin. Into
this the Meadow-Brook Girls hurried, after one quick look over the
trim craft. They cried out for Mrs. Livingston to join them. The
interior of the cabin was in white with plush seats on each side, the
seats being broad and comfortable, affording lounging space for
several persons at one time. A tank holding drinking water, at the
forward end of the cabin, was the only other furnishing.

The "Sue" was far from palatial, but the Camp Girls thought they had
never seen a neater or prettier boat, and as for its ability to sail,
they had seen something of that as the sloop came into the bay.

Mrs. Livingston had remained outside to speak with the skipper.
Harriet soon joined them. Captain Billy was a type. His grizzled, red
beard was so near the color of his face that it was not easy to
determine where the beard left off and the face began. Billy had a
habit of avoiding one's eyes when speaking. Either he would be
consulting the deck of the "Sue" or gazing at the sky. He was looking
up at the clouds now.

"The captain says he can safely carry ten persons without crowding,
Harriet," the Chief Guardian informed her. Then turning to the
captain, "This young lady has been placed in charge of the boat by
Mr. McCarthy; of course, your judgment as to what is best for all
concerned must prevail."

Captain Billy's whiskers bristled. He swept the Meadow-Brook Girl with
a quick, measuring glance, then permitted his eyes to gaze upward
again.

"I was going to suggest, Mrs. Livingston, that we first take you and
the other guardians out for a sail, say to-morrow morning. I don't
think the captain will wish to go out in the evening," said Harriet.

He shook his head.

"Certainly not," declared Mrs. Livingston. "And now, sir, what about
your meals--the board for yourself and your man?"

"Get my own. He goes away early in the morning. Sleep on board, too.
You needn't worry about me. Got any gear you want to get aboard?"

"Gear?" questioned the Chief Guardian blankly.

"Dunnage?" nodded the skipper. "Anything you want to bring aboard?" he
shouted.

"No, thank you, nothing at present," answered Harriet.

"Man will fetch it off before he goes away if there is. Don't ask me
to do any packing."

"Our young women are perfectly able to help themselves," replied Mrs.
Livingston with dignity. "I suppose, however, that having only one
rowboat you will come ashore for us whenever we wish to go out?" she
added.

The captain shook his head. He was the most ungracious person they
ever had known. But when Harriet said they had better get word to Mr.
McCarthy at once, the captain changed his mind quickly. He said he
would come for them whenever they gave him the word. He told them,
further, that they would have to bring their own provisions when they
went out for a sail, but that he could show them how to catch some
fish if they desired to do so.

"We shall be ready to go out about ten o'clock to-morrow morning,"
Mrs. Livingston told him. "If there is anything you wish us to do, you
might call to the young women who occupy the cabin there on the
Lonesome Bar. I am very glad you are going to remain aboard your boat,
for we are not equipped for putting up strangers. But if there is
anything you wish in the way of supplies, do not hesitate to send word
to me. We have quite a quantity. We are obliged to go beyond the
highway for our drinking water, and it is a trifle brackish."

"Hadn't we better go ashore and give the others a chance to come out?"
asked Harriet.

"You and I will remain here. The others may go," returned Mrs.
Livingston.

Several boatloads of excited girls were put aboard the "Sister Sue."
The girls were enthusiastic; they chattered and sang and made merry,
Captain Billy growing more taciturn and sour as the moments passed.
Finally, Mrs. Livingston said they must put off further visiting of
the boat until morning; that night was now upon them. They bade good
night to Captain Billy, and his man put them ashore, Mrs. Livingston
leaving the sloop last.

"He is a queer character," she declared after joining Harriet on the
beach later on. "What do you make of him?"

"I suppose he is like many of his calling, gruff and of few words. But
there is something beyond that which I can't quite make out."

"What do you mean? Do you think that he is untrustworthy?"

"I don't know, Mrs. Livingston. I do know that I dislike him. Isn't
that silly in me?" asked the girl laughingly. "I have no confidence in
him."

"I think you are in error. Mr. McCarthy would not send us a man who
was not trustworthy in every way. He is supposed to be a skillful
skipper, and from my observation I know he will behave himself, so we
don't care what he is beyond that. Shall you go back to the camp with
us, or direct to the cabin?"

"To camp."

The girls sat about the campfire, singing the songs of the Camp Girls
until ten o'clock that evening, after which the Meadow-Brook party
bade good night to their companions and strolled down to the bar,
thence out to the cabin. All were keenly alive to the pleasures that
awaited them on the following day, when they were to have their first
sail in the "Sister Sue."

Harriet made ready for bed with her companions, but she was not
sleepy. She lay on her bough bed near the door, where she remained
wide awake, thinking over the occurrences of the past few days. A
sound out on the bay, as if something had dropped to the deck of the
sloop, attracted her attention. The girl crawled from her bed and out
to the front of the cabin on all fours. She then sat up, leaning her
back against the cabin; shading her eyes, she gazed off at the boat
riding easily in the bay.

The "Sue" was faintly outlined in the dim light of the night, but the
night was too dark to enable the girl to make out anything in detail,
nor was there a sound on board to indicate that any one was awake.

"It may be that the captain is putting his man ashore, or else has
just returned from doing so. Still, this seems to me a pretty late
hour to be sending any one ashore." Harriet thought she could now make
out the small boat floating astern of the "Sue," where it was
ordinarily kept, though she could not be certain of this. "Ah! There
is something going on over there."

The faint creak of block and tackle reached her listening ears, which
she strained and strained, even closing her eyes that she might
concentrate wholly on the sense of hearing. The creaking continued for
a couple of minutes, then ceased altogether.

"I wonder if the captain can be making sail to go out?" Harriet asked
herself, opening wide her eyes and gazing toward the sloop. But the
latter was riding lazily on the gentle swell as before, the girl being
unable to make out anything that looked like the sail. She thought she
surely would be able to see the sail, had it been hoisted.

Something was dropped on the deck, making a great clatter, then for
several minutes all was silent on board the "Sister Sue." Harriet
could not imagine what was going on there. After a time there were
further evidences of activity on board; noises, faint, it is true,
which indicated that something out of the ordinary was taking place on
the boat. Harriet wondered if she had not better call Miss Elting and
have her listen, too. Upon second thought, however, she decided not
to do so. In the first place she could see and hear fully as much as
could the guardian, besides which, were she to awaken the guardian,
the other girls undoubtedly would be disturbed. They might make a
noise that would prevent her learning what was being done on board the
sloop.

Harriet shivered, for she was in her kimono, while the breeze blowing
in from the sea was fresh and penetrating. She felt a sneeze coming.
The girl made heroic efforts to repress the sneeze, then, finding she
could not, stuffed an end of her kimono into her mouth and covered her
nose with both hands.

It was a long, shuddering sneeze that Harriet Burrell uttered. She
feared it had not only attracted the attention of the man or men on
board the sloop, but awakened her companions as well. The faint noises
on deck continued as before. No sound came from the cabin.

"Thank goodness, no one heard me," she muttered. "Why is it that one
has to sneeze when she doesn't want to, I wonder? I--" She started at
sound of a low voice close at hand speaking her name.

"Harriet, ith that you?"

"Tommy, what a start you gave me! When did you wake up? What are you
doing here?" questioned Harriet in a whisper.

"That ith what I wath going to athk you. What ith it?"

"Sh-h-h! You will waken the others."

"If you didn't wake them up with that thneeze nothing but a club will
wake them." Tommy crept close to her companion. "You thee thomething,
don't you?"

"Not much. The night is too dark. I can see the outlines of the 'Sue'
over there, but that is about all."

"Ith anything the matter with her?"

"I think not."

"Then why are you watching her tho clothely?"

"You are altogether too observant, Tommy. But don't speak so loudly,
please. There is nothing of any importance over there. Please go back
to bed. You will complain about having to get up for breakfast in the
morning."

"Did you ever hear me complain about having to eat?"

"I can't say that I ever did," smiled Harriet. "But you will catch
cold out here."

"Tho will you. You will catch cold firtht becauthe you have been out
here longer than I have. Anything elthe?"

"No, except that I am not going to waste my breath giving you advice.
When you become cold enough I presume you will go back to bed."

"Yeth, when I find out what ith going on out here. I won't catch cold,
but maybe if I thtay out here long enough I'll catch a fithh. There! I
know what you are watching. You are watching that 'Thilly Thue.'"

"Sh-h-h!"

The creaking on board had begun again. It continued at intervals for
several moments, both girls listening almost breathlessly.

"Wha--at are they doing?" whispered Tommy.

"I don't know. That is what I am trying to find out."

"My grathiouth! Maybe the captain is going to run away with the
'Thilly Thue'."

"No. Come to think of it, I believe he must be getting the boat ready
for our sail to-morrow."

"Not without a light. There ith thomething else going on. Oh, look!"

Following a period of silence, blue sparks began sputtering from the
masthead of the "Sister Sue." The girls could hear the sparks crackle
and snap spitefully.

"Oh, look at the fireworkth!" cried Tommy out loud. "The thhip ith on
fire!"

Harriet laid a firm hand on her arm. "Keep still!"

A faint squealing sound was now distinguishable, while the sparking
at the masthead continued with almost rhythmic regularity.

"I know! I know what it is!" gasped Harriet excitedly. "Listen, Tommy,
listen. Don't you know?"

CHAPTER XIX

SAILING THE BLUE WATER

"No, I don't know what it ith. If I did, I thhouldn't be athking you,"
answered Grace. "It ith either lightning, fireworkth or a real fire."

"It is wireless, Tommy. Don't you know now?"

Grace shook her head.

"Didn't you ever hear a wireless machine work?"

"No; but there ithn't any wireleth on the 'Thilly Thue,' ith there?"

"I--I don't know. I mean, I did not see any when we were out there
to-day. I don't understand it. What can he be doing with wireless so
late at night?"

"Maybe he ith telegraphing home to find out if the folkth are all
right," suggested Tommy.

Harriet did not smile. Her face was very grave, her forehead wrinkled
in thought. For the greater part of an hour, with brief intervals
between, the wireless on the sloop continued, the sparks at the
masthead sputtering and snapping with marked regularity. Had Harriet
Burrell understood a little more of telegraphy she would have known,
though unable to read the dots and dashes, that the operator was
calling some one who did not answer. After a long time he apparently
gave it up, for the sparking at the masthead ceased suddenly, followed
by a brief period of silence on board, then the creaking of block and
tackle was renewed. This was followed by a subdued thumping and
rattling about on deck, this lasting only a few moments. The "riding
light"--a light hung from the stern of the boat--was hung out, a dim
light appeared in the cabin, which after a time was extinguished, then
silence settled over the sloop for the night.

"That is all for to-night, I think," said Harriet aloud, but in a low
voice. "I do not know what it is all about, Tommy, but I do know that
something queer is going on here. Do you think you and I will be able
to solve the mystery?"

"I think tho. Don't you?"

"I do. This makes two mysteries for us to solve, one the finding of
that mysterious box and the other the mystery of the wireless on the
'Sister Sue.' I would suggest that you don't say a word about it to
any one to-morrow. Don't ask any questions, either--leave that to
me--but keep your eyes open while you are on board. Perhaps we may
discover something that we overlooked there to-day. Wireless on the
'Sister Sue'! I don't understand it at all. Be very careful that you
do not wake up the others when you go in. Make sure that you don't
fall over a cot and startle the girls."

"Yeth, I'll be careful."

Harriet remained outside while Grace was getting herself back to bed,
but the former darted in quickly upon hearing a crash in the cabin,
followed by a scream from Margery. Tommy had stumbled against Buster's
bed and fallen across it and on the sleeping stout girl. But Harriet,
knowing it would not do for the girls to know that two of their number
had been mooning out-of-doors, darted into her own cot, and before
they realized that she had just got in, was sitting up in bed
demanding to know what all the disturbance was about.

"Tommy, have you been walking in your sleep?" demanded Miss Elting.

"Yeth, I've been walking, I gueth. Excuthe me, Buthter. If you hadn't
been in my way I wouldn't have fallen over you. Good night, friendth."
Tommy tumbled into bed, muttering to herself. Harriet did not go to
sleep at once. She lay for some little time thinking over the strange
occurrences of the night, and wondering what it could mean. Then, her
companions having gone to sleep, she too settled down for the few
hours that remained before the rising horn blew.

Her first thought, upon awakening in the morning, was for the sloop.
Quickly scrambling out of bed, she stepped to the door and gazed out
on the bay. The "Sister Sue" lay at her anchorage motionless,
glistening in the bright rays of the morning sunlight, handsomer,
Harriet thought, as she stood admiring the pretty craft, than she had
appeared on the previous day.

The Camp Girls were filled with expectations of what was before them.
They were to sail shortly after ten o'clock, and for many of them it
was to be the first sail they had ever enjoyed. Breakfast was eaten
and the camp put in order in record time that morning. Promptly at ten
o'clock Captain Billy rowed the small boat ashore. He dragged down
some trees which he cut, thus making a crude pier for the girls to
walk out on, thus enabling him to leave the small boat in deeper
water. However, he could take out no more than five passengers at a
time. Mrs. Livingston told him that they did not care to sail far that
morning. It was her purpose to give each of the girls in the camp a
sail that day. Several trips, therefore, would be necessary.

"If that's the case, we can take a bigger load on the sloop," replied
the captain. "Pile 'em in."

"Will it be perfectly safe?" questioned the Chief Guardian.

"You can't sink her. The reason I didn't want a big crowd was that I
thought you would be going out a long way. We're likely to meet heavy
weather several miles outside. In that case a skipper wants plenty of
room to move about. Sometimes quick work is necessary, and--"

"I don't suppose that being a commodore will prevent my assisting in
sailing the boat, will it?" asked Harriet smilingly.

The skipper looked her over critically.

"I reckon we can make a sailor of you. Know anything about sailing?"

"No, sir."

"Yeth, she doeth," interjected Grace. "She wath the captain of the
'Red Rover' latht year."

"And sunk it," chuckled Crazy Jane.

"If you will tell me what to do, I shall be glad to start, Captain."

"All right. Get hold of that halyard and see if you can haul the sail
up," he answered, grinning mischievously. Captain Billy had not the
least idea that she possessed the strength to raise the sail. But
Harriet surprised him. She grasped the rope, and, though so light that
the weight of the sail nearly pulled her off her feet, she hauled it
slowly but steadily to the peak, then, throwing all her weight into
one hand and arm, made the halyard fast to a cleat on the deck.

"Is that right, sir?" she asked, her face slightly flushed from the
exertion.

"Great boomers, but you have muscle in your arms!" wondered the
skipper. "Now, please hold this wheel just where it is; I'll take in
the anchor. The man went back home last night. Don't need him with all
these strong-arm ladies on board. We'll be under way in a few minutes
now. I--Look out there!"

A sudden though slight puff of wind struck the mainsail, sending the
sloop ahead directly toward the shore. But without waiting for orders
Harriet sprang to the wheel, pointing the bow of the sloop, that had
heeled dangerously, right toward the wind that was blowing in from the
sea.

"Fine!" shouted the captain, shipping the anchor and scrambling back
to the cockpit as the sloop settled down on an even keel again, the
squall drumming on the ropes and stays. "You've sailed a boat before,
young lady."

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