Chapter 23

AN UNEXPECTED WINDFALL

Dawn broke the following day without any sign of the storm's abating, and the boys were forced to keep close within doors. Despite their forced imprisonment, time did not hang heavily, and they found plenty with which to occupy their hands and minds.

Of course, all about the lighthouse was new to Ross, and he spent a good many hours exploring its delightful mysteries under the guidance of Lester and Mr. Lee himself, who had taken an instant liking to this new addition to his household and had given him a most cordial welcome, not only on his own account, but on account of his romantic story, which had appealed strongly to the old man's fancy and sympathy.

Bill busied himself with overhauling and getting into first-class shape his fishing paraphernalia, and discharged a neglected duty in writing a long letter to his mother, filled with enthusiastic descriptions of the glorious times he was having, and dwelling most, as may be imagined, on the hooking of the shark the day before.

Fred and Teddy had been delighted to find letters waiting them from the family at home, including one from their Uncle Aaron. They pounced upon the letters eagerly. That from their mother, to which their father had added a few lines as postscript, was full of pride at Fred's exploit and delight at the prospect opened up of being useful to their uncle in case they found the missing gold.

Teddy tore open the letter which bore the precise handwriting of his uncle with a broad grin on his face.

"Just think, Fred, of opening a letter from Uncle Aaron that doesn't contain a scolding!" he exclaimed.

"Don't be too sure," laughed Fred. "Perhaps he'll scold you for not having found the chest, instead of telling him you hoped to find it. Hello, what's that?" as a blue slip fluttered out from the envelope and fell to the floor.

Teddy was on it like a hawk.

"Glory, hallelujah!" he yelled, as he capered around the floor, waving the paper in the air. "It's a money order for fifty dollars."

"Fifty dollars!" cried his brother in amazement. "Do you mean to say that Uncle Aaron has loosened up as much as that? You must be crazy."

"Straight goods," replied Teddy. "Look for yourself."

Fred scanned the paper. There was no mistake.

"I take back what I said about your being crazy," Fred remarked, as he handed the money order back, "but if you're not, Uncle Aaron is. He must have had a sudden attack of enlargement of the heart."

He looked over Teddy's shoulder and they read the letter together. It was written in their uncle's customary style, except that it was tinctured with a more cordial feeling than he usually displayed toward his nephews. He spoke in terms of great respect of Mr. Montgomery and confirmed what the little memorandum book had revealed as to the amount of the debt. He declared that if the money was found he wanted nothing but the principal, and stated that the interest could go to Ross and his mother as a gift. He warned the boys about letting their hopes get too high, but at the same time urged them to spare no time or pains in the search. If they were successful, they could depend on him to reward them handsomely. As they might need a little extra money he was enclosing fifty dollars, to be used in any way they might think best in carrying on the hunt.

"He's not such a bad old chap after all," observed Fred, as they finished reading the letter.

"You bet he isn't!" echoed Teddy. "There are lots of worse fellows than Uncle Aaron."

With this qualified praise, they sought out their comrades, who were almost as delighted as the Rushton boys themselves were at the letter and the money order.

"It's up to us now to get busier than ever," remarked Lester. "It won't do to disappoint him after raising his hopes."

"That's what," replied Fred. "So get out the maps you were talking about yesterday, and we'll lay our plans for the next week or two."

The boys went to the room where the government maps were kept. These showed every creek and inlet and cove and indentation of the Maine coast, together with the depths of water at these points and a host of other details that were of use to seafaring men.

The boys went at them in a businesslike way, picking out those places most likely to be entered by a sailing ship, rejecting others that were difficult or dangerous to approach, until they had mapped out a program that would keep them busy for ten days to come.

Toward evening the storm gave signs of having spent its worst fury, and just before supper a rift appeared in the clouds on the western horizon.

"That looks promising," observed Lester to Teddy, who was looking out over the water with him. "Probably it will clear up during the night and we'll have a peach of a day to-morrow."

"I certainly hope so," replied Teddy. "I don't so much mind being cooped up for one day, but after that it gets kind of monotonous. The strenuous life for me, every time."

"Yes," agreed Lester, "one day is about my limit, too. If it's clear to-morrow, I'll have to go over to Bartanet to order some supplies and maybe you and the rest of the bunch will come along and keep me company."

"Surest thing you know," acquiesced Teddy heartily. "We can see all the excitement that may be stirring in that rushing burg, too. I notice that there's usually a great deal going on there--not."

"Well, I've got to admit that it isn't the liveliest place in the world," admitted Lester with a grin. "Still, once in a while, somebody wakes up long enough to start something. Not often, though, for a fact."

The others were equally anxious to go and the matter was settled, provided that the weather permitted.

As Lester had predicted, the next day was bright and clear and the boys were up early. Mr. Lee had made out the list of the things he needed, and the boys went merrily down to the little landing place where the boats were kept.

It was decided that they were to row over to the mainland, and Lester and Fred took their places at the oars while the others acted as ballast.

"I'll let you fellows row at first," remarked Teddy, in a patronizing tone. "It's easy going now with no storm in sight. I'll take it easy, but if any emergency should arise, I'll take the oars and bring the boat safe to shore. There's no earthly use, though, in an expert navigator like me spending his time in every-day tugging at a pair of oars. It would be wasting my giant strength for nothing."

"Oh, it would never do to let Ted row with an ordinary pair of oars," said Fred sarcastically to Lester. "He'd break those as easily as most people would break the stem of a churchwarden pipe. Back home, we had a pair of tempered steel oars made especially for him and even then he broke them every once in a while. It's really altogether too expensive."

"Yes, I should think it would be," replied Lester gravely. "He must be a good deal like a very strong rower we had about these parts a few years ago."

"Did he have steel oars, too?" asked Ross, keeping a straight face.

"No," said Lester slowly. "I've no doubt he would have used them if he could have found a pair, but as it happened there weren't any of that description around. He used to get around it, though, by using two very heavy wooden oars in each hand. That was all right as far as it went, but it wasn't good enough."

"Why, what was the matter with that?" asked Teddy.

"Well, you see, there wasn't any boat strong enough for him," explained Lester. "He'd sit up in the bow and start to row, and he'd give such tremendous strokes that the front part of the boat would tear away from the stern and go on without it. Of course, the people who owned the boats found this rather expensive, so after a while this man couldn't get a steady job in the fishing trade at all. He did get another position, though, and as far as I know is working at it yet."

"It must be a job requiring some strength," remarked Teddy. "What was it?"

"Carrying barrels of holes from a swiss cheese factory to be made into crullers," chuckled Lester. "I guess that will hold you for a while. If you like that one, I'll tell you some more."

"That's quite enough from you," said Teddy, with great dignity. "You're apt to bring a judgment on us with such stuff as that. One of these big waves may come slap into the boat and send us all to Davy Jones' locker, if you're not careful."