Chapter 24

RIDING THE SURF

The words were spoken in jest, but they bade fair before long to turn to earnest.

Although the wind had died down, the waves were still running high from the effects of the storm. Lester, however, handled the oars like the skilled waterman he was, and Fred was not far behind him, so that the occupants of the boat felt that they could not be in safer hands. As they got farther out from under the lee of the lighthouse rocks, however, they felt the force of the waves more and more, and Lester had to draw on all his knowledge to keep the boat headed before the big rollers. As one wave followed another, it would shoot the boat ahead as though propelled by some invisible motor, and while this was very exhilarating, it also had a strong element of danger. As long as they went before the waves they were safe enough, but Lester knew that if they broached to, broadside to the waves, they would be swamped in the twinkling of an eye. The water was pretty shoal where they were, and while not actually surf was still near enough like it to keep them all tense and expectant.

As the boys approached the shore, they could see that there was a big surf breaking on the sands. Lester scanned it closely.

"I think we can get through all right, fellows," he said, "but if we should be swamped going in, it won't mean anything more than a good wetting. When I say the word, Fred, we want to act fast and together. If we can get a wave just right, we'll shoot in like an arrow."

"All right, say when, and I'll pull my arms out," promised Fred, taking a firm grip on the oars. "Let her go."

"Look out you don't pull the boat apart," admonished Teddy. "Remember, I'm in the stern, and I don't want to be left behind."

His more serious brother rebuked Teddy's frivolity with a glance, and then turned his eyes toward the line of thundering surf they were rapidly approaching. Lester was absorbed in the problem before him, glancing now at the line of breakers and then at the big waves chasing the boat, each one looking as though it must surely overwhelm it. At last, when they were not more than a hundred feet from the beach, Lester bent to the oars with all his strength, calling:

"Now, Fred, pull! Pull for all you're worth!"

An involuntary exclamation broke from Bill as he glanced astern. Close behind was a gigantic roller, its foaming crest already starting to bend over. As he gazed, fascinated, the crest broke and rushed at the little boat with a seething hiss. Up, up went the stern and the bow dug deep into the water.

"Pull, pull!" yelled Lester.

His oars and Fred's bent beneath the force of their straining backs. For a moment it seemed as though the wave must surely break into the boat and swamp it. But suddenly they felt the boat leap forward, as though some giant of the deep had seized it and thrown it from him. With the white water boiling under the stern the boat raced on, caught in the grip of the breaker and traveling inshore with the same speed at which the wave itself moved. The bow cut through the water, curling up a bow wave on each side that at times came into the boat.

Suddenly the little craft started to turn to starboard.

"Pull on the starboard side," shouted Lester, suiting the action to the word.

Fred promptly obeyed, and after a few straining strokes, the boat returned to a straight path before the roller and the next moment had rushed up on the sand, propelled by the last force of the breaker which went seething and hissing up the beach.

"Out! Get out! Quick!" shouted Fred. "Let's lift the boat up higher before the next wave comes. Lively's the word!"

The boys leaped out and rapidly dragged the boat up past the high water mark, just as another wave, even larger than the one that had carried them in, came sweeping over the place where they had landed.

They were a little white and shaken at the danger they had passed through, but at the same time were wildly exhilarated by the excitement of it.

"Whew!" exclaimed Teddy. "It seemed to me that we were traveling faster than the Twentieth Century Limited just then. Why, we were fairly flying. While we were going through I was scared to death, but now I think I'd like to go out and try it again."

"Not while I'm still in my right mind," protested Lester. "Surf riding is good sport sometimes, but not when there's the kind of sea running that there is to-day. It's possible to have too much of a good thing, you know."

"Oh, I suppose so," said the incorrigible Teddy. "But you fellows didn't have anything to worry about, anyway. I was in the stern, and if a wave had come aboard, I'd have been the one to get wet first."

"Yes, by about one-tenth of a second," laughed Bill. "However, all's well that ends well. I think we all owe a vote of thanks to Teddy for taking us through the way he did. Nobody could have sat there and watched others work better than Teddy did. I think he deserves all sorts of credit."

"Well, you see, I was neutral," explained Teddy. "If I didn't help you, you'll have to admit that I didn't help the wave, either."

"Ted wins," declared Lester. "Anybody who wants to prove anything against him has got to get up early."

"If he's ever accused of a crime, he'll be able to argue his way out without half trying," affirmed Ross.

"He could probably get off by giving the judge and jury a bad attack of brain fever," sniffed Fred. "But what do you say; shall we bail the boat out? We shipped quite a good deal of water."

"Not so much, considering what we came through," replied Lester. "Let's turn the boat over and save the trouble of bailing."

They turned it over on one side and soon had all the water drained out. Then they left it to dry out in the sun until they should be ready to return.

"Get a wiggle on now," enjoined Lester. "We've got a lot to do and we'd better get going at once."

The boys started off at a brisk pace and soon found themselves in the part of the village where the stores were located. They made the rounds, Lester making the purchases and having them wrapped up for him and his friends to call for and carry back later on. They met several of Lester's friends and the time passed so quickly that they were surprised when they found that it was past noon.

"Time to eat!" exclaimed Teddy. "Think of me passing up lunch time like that! I must be sick or something."

"It is rather a bad sign," admitted his brother. "Still I guess you're not going to die just yet. Only the good die young, and that lets you out. But what do you say to stopping in somewhere and getting a bite, Lester? Now that it's brought to my attention, I find that I'm almost as hungry as Ted usually is. And I can't put it much stronger than that."

"Well," replied Lester, "I was thinking that it might be fun to buy something here and eat it on the way back. We can get some sandwiches and other things and have a regular picnic after we get out of town."

"Great!" pronounced Bill.

"And the sooner the better," added Ross.

The lads stopped at the nearest store that promised to supply their needs. As they gazed in the window, trying to make up their minds what to buy, Teddy exclaimed:

"What a nuisance it is to choose! You always have to leave behind more than you take away. If I had plenty of money, I'd buy out the whole store. Wait till we unearth that fortune of Ross' and then----"

"Sh-h, keep quiet," warned Fred in a low tone. "You don't want to tell the whole town all you know, do you?"

"That was a slip of the tongue for fair," confessed Teddy ruefully, "but I won't do it again, honest. Besides, nobody could have heard me."