Part 3

The boys were too tired to talk much, and they were soon lulled to sleep by the dash of the ocean against the beach, and the rattle of the pebbles as they followed the receding water only to be tossed up by the next incoming wave.

*CHAPTER V.*

*THE SWIMMING-POOL.*

No bell was needed to awaken the boys in the morning; and one tent after another was thrown open to the breeze as the boys in undress ran down the beach for a plunge.

"Colder than Greenland's icy mountains," shouted Joe, as he met some of the boys on their way to the water when he was returning to his tent.

"Yes, colder than the north-east side of the pole," added David, who followed close behind.

"But jump in all of a sudden and it isn't bad," continued Joe.

The boys returned one after another, racing and jumping and exclaiming over their icy bath; and presently all were rosy and glowing with the exercise, ready for anything in the line of work or fun.

They found it hard to calm down at once, as they gathered in Mr. Bernard's tent for morning prayers; but at the first quiet reminder of the teacher the boys ceased their joking and listened to the Scripture reading and the fervent prayer that they all might be helped to live noble, Christian lives. He asked that they might not be contented to go through life selfishly, seeking only their own comfort and happiness; but that they might watch for opportunities to be helpful to others, and that they might be kept from all meanness of word or act.

When they came from the tent the savoury odour of breakfast was wafted to them from the cook-tent.

Jonas and Freitag had been fishing off the point as soon as daylight, and now the victims of their hooks--only an hour ago swimming in the broad ocean--were served up on tin trenchers, set at intervals along the table.

John and Jerry arrived in time to furnish the milk for the coffee, and room was made for them at the table, although they had already eaten breakfast.

During the meal the boys were discussing plans for the day, and probably the fishermen in their vessels a mile away heard the noise, and wondered at the babel of voices sounding across the waters.

The archery club announced that they intended to set up their targets in the pasture and practise.

The rifle club were asking permission to use their rifles in the woods, knowing that they were only to do so under the supervision of one of the teachers.

Some wanted to fish, and were discussing the relative advantages of the different shores of the island.

"If you want rock-cod I'd advise ye to go out on the point that juts out alongside the beach," said Jonas, throwing in a suggestion as he brought a fresh supply of bread.

"I am going to hunt for crystal quartz; who wants to go with me? I found quite a lump yesterday. See here," and little Fred Wurden displayed his treasure.

"My! where did you find that?"

"Oh, I've seen plenty of that! I know where there's plenty of it--a big hole in the rocks, where them shiny things are all hanging down!" said John, the light-keeper's son, with shining eyes.

"Where?"--"Show us!" cried a number of voices; and even Mr. Andrews made inquiries, and said he would go to the place after breakfast.

"As soon as the tide is right, I move we have a swimming match," said Joe Chester.

"When _will_ the tide be right, I'd like to know?" asked Dave.

"It is on the ebb now, and by the time our breakfast is done it will be quite low," said another grumblingly.

"Don't you worry; there's water enough in the ocean for you to swim in, if the tide is down!" said Jonas. "Yes, water enough, forty fathoms deep!"

Jonas shook his head knowingly.

"I've been out on the point more than once, and sometimes the water is still, and I can see bottom. I sounded with that long fishin'-rod o' mine, and, allowing for the tide, I reckoned there must be about as nice a pool left there at low tide as you'd want to see."

"Good!"--"Good for you, Jonas."

"Mr. Bernard, did you hear Jonas?" asked Joe.

"I think I heard, but there are so many talking at once I am not sure. If it is about a swimming-place, I assure you I will investigate the matter this morning, and find a safe place for you to go."

"Thank you, sir," answered Joe for himself and the others.

"I shall stretch ropes across, showing how far I am willing you should go out; and I expect you to obey me strictly. You know we have promised your parents to run no risk. We have camped out three summers, and have never met with an accident; and I sincerely trust our record may not be changed through any carelessness of ours."

The boys agreed to follow his wishes in every particular.

Then, having finished their breakfast, they scattered about the island, some going to the rocks to fish, some to pick berries, and others to practise with bows or rifles.

Mr. Bernard and two other teachers went to the beach with drills, iron staples, cement, and ropes, to make the bath-beach as safe as possible.

As it was ebb-tide, it was easy to see by the wet sea-weed on the sides of the little cove the height of the water when the tide was in; so there was no delay in locating the position of the first rope to be used at high-water.

Holes were drilled in the rocks, and strong iron staples cemented in, in which the rope was fastened.

After that was accomplished they sat on the rocks and watched the sea, or read until the tide was at its lowest, and the boys began to gather around, anxiously questioning whether there was "a chance yet."

"That looks like a first-rate swimming-pool, Mr. Bernard, just as Jonas said," remarked Joe, coming to stand by his favourite teacher.

"So it does, Joe; but wait till I make sure. The water is much deeper than it looks. I will get my bathing-suit and try."

"Hurrah! be all ready, boys; Mr. Bernard is going to try the water."

Led by Joe, the crowd scampered away for their trunks, and returned before Mr. Bernard appeared.

He came at length from the bath-tent, and went down into the water amid the cheers of the boys; and probably their applause prevented a hasty retreat when he learned from experience the temperature of the water.

"I am not taking this plunge for my own pleasure, boys!" he said, shivering and laughing. "I hope you will appreciate the act, for I am a martyr in your behalf."

The first six or eight feet from the edge sloped gradually from one to three feet in depth; beyond that the water deepened rapidly until he was floated from his feet and forced to swim; but everywhere the gravelly bottom could be seen, and he was sure there were no treacherous holes to trap the unskilful.

"Is it all right, Mr. Bernard?" asked Joe, standing on the rocks and swinging his arms, impatient for the leap.

"Yes, I think it is."

"May I come?" and Joe's body was thrown into a diving position.

"Any of you who are accustomed to dive may come here. The others must come in by the beach, where the water is shallower."

Before he had finished the sentence, some dozen boys dropped or dived into the pool, and presently he found himself surrounded by a circle of seal-like heads as the young swimmers came to the surface one after another.

"It is too cold for me," he said, as the boys challenged him to swim a match. "I must get dressed and warmed.--Mr. Andrews, look out for the boys. I will send Freitag and Jonas to drill the rocks for the other staples," and Mr. Bernard hastened away, inwardly determined that he had taken his last plunge in that pool. The more timid boys and those who could not swim at all stood at the edge, thrusting in a foot, and then dancing and shrieking at the cold.

John and Jerry stood looking on in open-mouthed amazement or admiration, Joe could not decide which.

"I promised to teach you to swim, didn't I?" cried Joe, coming through the water towards them, grasshopper fashion.

"But you needn't," said both boys retreating, as if fearing that he would seize them and force them in.

"But it's fun!"

John shrugged his shoulders.

Joe swam to and fro with his mouth open at the surface of the water, and blowing like a young sea-lion; then suddenly, to the horror of the two brothers, he disappeared beneath the waves.

"Oh, he's drowned!" shrieked both boys.

No one paid any attention to their cry, and John fairly danced into the water in his fright.

"He's gone under! can't somebody get him?"

"Who?" asked one of the swimmers, looking around.

"Why, that boy Joe. I saw him go under!"

"Oh ho, Joe Chester! You couldn't drown him if you should try. There he is away over there by the rocks. He's a regular water-rat."

And the speaker disappeared under the waves himself.

"I mean to learn to do that myself, Jerry," said John in a confidential tone.

Jerry nodded, as if to say, "So will I."

It seemed to the boys that they had hardly got into the spirit of the sport, before Mr. Andrews, with watch in hand, shouted, "Time's up, boys!"

"Oh no," groaned the swimmers. "Give us one more dive!"

"Well, one dive, and then you must come out."

The boys swam to the rocks, climbed up like dripping monkeys, and in a minute the pool was full of eddies where the divers had gone down.

As they came to the surface, Mr. Andrews shouted again, "Come; time's up!"

As soon as his words were spoken every head disappeared, and it was useless to call them again until they were obliged to come up for air.

"Come on, boys; we agreed to mind!" said Joe. "Let's go ashore;" and following his own advice, he swam in, and ran up the beach to the bath-tent, followed by his companions, all giving whoops and cries, to help to warm them, they said.

*CHAPTER VI.*

*THE FOG-STORM.*

There were two or three more days of pleasant weather, with boating and fishing and target-shooting; and then a fog crept in, hiding the ocean from view, and even shutting down like a thick curtain between the tents.

"Thick enough to bite," Joe said.

Everything was wet, and Jonas was cross; so there was not much comfort, although most of the party were cheerful and good-natured.

The table was taken apart and set up in the large tent; but Jonas and his Friday had further to travel with the meals, and they grumbled accordingly.

"No knowin' how long this fog will hang around," growled Jonas, as he set the tin plates down with a clatter.

"I've known it to last a week," said Frank Furman.

"A week! what are you thinkin' of? It about always lasts a week! I've known it to last a month!"

"O Jonas!" chorused the boys, glad to see any signs of good-nature, "have you really?"

"Humph! I camped out with a party once, and we never saw the sun after we landed till the day we left, and that was three weeks; for they were hardy fellows, and they said they were bound to stay till that fog cleared out, if it took all the vacation."

"Did they?" asked Joe, as Jonas paused in his story to count plates.

"No, they didn't. They got enough of it; and when the third week was ended, and the fog was packed down tighter than ever, one of 'em said, 'Come, boys, I'll give it up. I am completely mildewed now, inside and out. We have eaten and drunk and breathed fog for twenty-one days, and for once I've had enough of one thing.'"

"Well, Jonas, go on; what did the rest do?" asked David.

"Why, they all said 'Amen,' and packed up as quick as they could, and got into the yacht, and started for the nearest shore. We had to go by the compass, because we'd no idea where the sun was. Part of the way we rowed, and part of the way we drifted, and by-and-by we got ashore. Once in a while I see one of them fellows, and they laugh about it now, and call it a good joke; but they didn't laugh much then."

"You didn't neither, I'm sure," said Freitag, shrugging his shoulders.

"You are right there. I felt like I could bite a board-nail, for I had to work around, good weather or bad. No, there was only one fellow that called it funny, after the first two or three days; and that man nearly killed himself laughing about it! That fellow would have found a queer side to his own tombstone. He laughed about the fog, and he laughed at the way the other fellows took it; and he laughed so when he left the island, that the others threatened to throw him overboard. I've never seen him but once since, and he began again as soon as he spied me; and he dragged me into a shop and bought me a nice pipe, laughing all the time the shopman was doing it up. 'That was a jolly trip, Jonas!' says he; and I heard him chuckling after I left him.--But goodness, Freitag, ring that bell! the breakfast will be stone-cold."

"You don't suppose this will last," said Max Bernard disconsolately. "Our tent is dripping now. We'll all be sick!"

"Sick! nonsense! You won't get cold in a salt fog," cried Walter Martin.

"It will most likely end in a big storm," exclaimed Jonas croakingly, feeling quite safe in making such a prophecy.

The boys groaned at the suggestion, and one of them remarked that "there was nothing so consoling in dull weather as making toffy."

Joe, remembering that Jonas had lost his jackknife, slipped his own into his hand as a bribe, and got his unwilling consent to give them butter and sugar and a chance to boil it.

Joe Chester and David Winter were chief cooks on the occasion, with a large crowd of advisers and tasters; and when the toffy was boiled they poured it into a baking-pan to cool, and took it to the large tent.

Although Jonas had given them a generous supply of sugar and butter, there were so many boys the toffy was eaten before it was thoroughly cool.

They had a great deal of fun over it, and the pleasure helped to while away the dull day.

They could not have toffy-making every day, and the fog still remained. Some days the fog did not lift at all, and at other times it would disappear for an hour or two, giving them a glimpse of bright sunshine, then it would return to wrap them in as closely as ever.

One day they had the good fortune to see a fog-bow, which is like a rainbow in very subdued colours--"a Quaker rainbow," Joe called it.

After a week had passed, and the boys had exhausted their resources for indoor amusement, the storm predicted by Jonas commenced in the night.

Joe waked his friend Dave by pulling his hair, words having failed to arouse him.

"Let go there!" growled Dave.

"Wake up, boy! wake up! There's an awful storm!"

"What d'you say?" asked Dave sleepily.

"There's an awful storm, I tell you! Don't you hear the rain pelting on the tent? The wind blows like fury. I expect our tent will be down in a minute. The water is all running in under the canvas."

"Dripping through it, too," cried David, thoroughly awakened by the great drops that fell fast upon his upturned face, to avoid which he sprang from bed only to alight in a pool of water deep enough to splash under his feet.

Both boys laughed in spite of their discomfort, and just then Mr. Bernard came to the tent and rapped on the canvas.

"Boys, how are you getting on?"

"Oh, _swimmingly_."

"Yes, I presume so. It is a fearful storm! You are fortunate to have your tent standing. Several have blown down. You had better come over to the large tent. We have been strengthening the stakes around that. Wrap yourselves in your blankets and run."

The boys got on their rubber boots, and covering themselves with their red blankets, they opened the tent, stood a moment to watch the sheet of rain as it descended, and then ran across to Mr. Bernard's tent, which was about two rods away.

"Let us in!" cried Joe, bumping his blanketed head against the canvas curtain. Some one opened the tent, and the two boys stumbled in.

"Joe and Dave!"

"Oh, got drowned out, too!"

"Did your tent go down?"

"For once Joe Chester's got water enough!"

And the boys inside made room on the table where most of them were perched.

The teachers, with Jonas and Freitag, were driving stakes inside and fastening the tent to them to help to anchor it; and it seemed to need it, for sometimes the wind would sweep in beneath the canvas and swell it like a big balloon, as if it must either burst or go up in spite of ropes and stakes.

"God help the sailors!" exclaimed Mr. Bernard solemnly, as one of the sudden gusts died away.

"Oh, Ralph and Ben!" cried Joe. "Where are they? Do you suppose they are out in that little vessel, Mr. Bernard?"

"God forbid! I trust they are in some safe harbour. Fishermen are wise in such matters."

"But if they _are_ out!" continued Joe anxiously. "Ralph will be frightened! You know he is a coward, and afraid of the water, anyway."

"I don't see how they happened to go in a vessel," said Frank Furman.

"They went to get away from us all, poor fellows; they didn't know what else to do," said Joe pityingly. "Besides, the weather was pleasant then, and the water didn't look as if it ever could be rough; don't you remember?"

"I think they have been sick enough of it before this," suggested another.

"Oh, very likely they are safe in their own homes, and pitying us poor wretches. They would be likely to get that fisherman to put them ashore at the first port they made," added Ned Gould.

Still Joe worried about them, and Mr. Bernard was very solemn; he had been anxious about the two absent lads ever since the storm commenced.

The wind continued till morning, but the rain ceased soon after midnight, and the boys, wrapped in their damp blankets, lay across the long table with legs dangling down the side, packed very closely together, and trying to sleep; but the roaring of the sea, and the rattle of the stones tossed by the waves, the creaking of the tent as it swayed to and fro as far as the ropes would allow, all combined to keep them awake.

Some gave up the effort to go to sleep, and tried to while away the time by telling doleful stories of shipwrecks and other disasters; and then, growing sleepy at daylight when the others went out to see the havoc of the storm, they were sound asleep when Mr. Bernard's bell summoned the boys for prayers, and they had no time for a morning toilet.

The thanksgiving for shelter and safety in the fearful storm found an echo in every heart; and when he prayed for their two companions that they might be returned to their friends in safety and with the determination to be true and noble boys hereafter, Chester felt like uttering a loud amen.

The sun was shining brightly again, and every trace of fog was gone, but the wind was still blowing, and the sea a perfect witch's caldron.

After breakfast the bedding was taken out to dry, and anchored with large stones to the ledge to keep it from flying away.

The tents were once more pitched, and they all felt that with the return of the sun there was also a return of pleasure in camp-life.

Even Jonas seemed in a fair way towards good-nature again, and that made them all more cheerful.

During the fog-storm he had been crabbed enough; and Joe said if he saw a boy come within five yards of the cook-tent he would growl like a bear.

He was improving now, and when one of the boys suggested doughnuts for a variety, Jonas announced that the next job he "tackled" should be to fry doughnuts.[#]

[#] Small, roundish cakes.

"Twisted fellows, Jonas," suggested Joe.

"Yes, twisted."

"And will you give us one while they are hot?"

"Ye-es; go 'long with you, every one of ye."

*CHAPTER VII.*

*THE WRECK.*

John and Jerry were late coming with the milk, and they were in a state of great excitement.

"Did you hear about the wreck?"

"Wreck!" cried the boys in chorus, as they gathered around the news-bearers.

"Yes, a wreck."

"Where?" was the eager query.

"Right on that reef near the surf-bell."

"Tell us about it!"--"Anybody lost?"

"Yes, one fellow. Father's been talking with 'em. He can't but just make out what they say. She's just keeled up on that ledge. I tell you she looks awful!"

"She? Is there a woman there?"

"I don't know."

"Oh, he means the vessel when he says 'she,'" exclaimed Frank Furman.

"Wasn't it an awful storm?"--"Wasn't it!"

"I tell you we was scared, Jerry and me! I thought sure the old lighthouse was going over, and our house, too. Everything was creakin' and groanin', and the surf was flyin' up against the windows."

"Father stayed by the lantern all night; he afraid the light might go out," added Jerry. "We didn't know nothin' about the wreck till daylight."

"John, tell me what kind of a vessel it is," said Joe, pale with some sudden apprehension.

"It's a schooner."

"Were they fishermen, do you think?"

"I think so. They are trying to get her off before she breaks up. They think if they get her over to the Cape she can be mended."

Joe had already darted away to Mr. Bernard's tent, and rapping on the canvas, he asked hurriedly, "Mr. Bernard, may I come in?"

"Come."

"O Mr. Bernard, John and Jerry are here, and they have been telling us about a wreck over there on the ledge."

Mr. Bernard threw down his book and listened.

"One fellow was lost. The boys think it was a fishing-vessel. What if it should be the _Una_, Mr. Bernard?"

The teacher arose hastily and put on his hat.

"Did they know the name of the vessel?"

"I didn't ask, Mr. Bernard; I didn't dare to," answered Joe, still very pale.

"I will go over there at once."

"Oh, may I go too?"

A reluctant consent was given, and Joe boldly asked,--

"May we all go--Max and all?"

"Yes, you may all go.--Max, come with me."

Joe hastened back to the boys, shouting, "Come on! Mr. Bernard says we may go over to see the wreck!"

"Good for him! Hurrah, boys! we are off for the wreck."

"What did you say about a wreck?" asked Jonas, as John and Jerry delivered the milk at the cookhouse.

The boys enlightened him, and Jonas, turning to his man Friday, said, "Come on, Freit--we'll let the dishes go;" and seizing his hat he hurried after the boys, who were scampering off towards the lighthouse with the teachers.

They attempted to go by the shorter route over the rocks on the shore, in spite of John's warning, but after some of the party had been drenched by the surf they retreated to the woods.

Joe kept close to Mr. Bernard's side, without speaking a word, and some of the boys behind whispered, "They are afraid it is that vessel that Ralph and Ben went in."

This sobered them all, and there was very little conversation as the crowd hurried on. They could hear the "boom-boom" of the sea against the cliff long before they reached it, and Joe's heart felt heavier than ever.

Ralph had never been a favourite among his schoolmates, and Joe, especially, had never been attracted toward him. Their acquaintance had developed during the last weeks of the school, while the search was being made for the offender; and in helping him then he came to pity him, and feel an interest in him, quite sure that the boy had received a lesson that would make him hesitate to speak an untruth again.

At length John ran through the bushes out on the top of one of the high boulders, where he pointed to the dismantled vessel with the men working at the pumps.

"What's the name on the stern?" asked Joe, straining his eyes as the waves now and then left the end of the vessel.

No one could tell, but it was plain to all that the word was a long one.

"It can't be the _Una_, then!" cried Joe with a sigh of relief.

"No--thank God for that; but these poor fellows are having a hard time," said Mr. Bernard.

"Bad enough!" exclaimed the light-keeper, who had joined the party on the rocks. "They think they can save the vessel; but unless she is off before noon she's gone! She will break up fast in this sea."

"Is there no way for us to help them?" asked Mr. Andrews.

"No; it would be nonsense to try to get to them with my boat. The landing here is bad at the best; and I never think of going out except in fair weather."

"What kind of boats have you?"

"Nothing but a common sail-boat and a couple of skiffs, and they wouldn't stand a sign of a chance in this sea."