Part 16 (1/2)

Hardly had they secured possession of the two long and stout poles than the end of the island hove in sight. They were very close to it now; indeed, it almost seemed as though an agile fellow might have made a flying leap, and with half-way decent luck manage to alight on the sentinel rock that guarded this point.

But no one tried that desperate game; in fact, it was doubtful whether it even occurred to Davy or Step Hen before they had been carried past, and the widening gulf rendered such a movement impossible of accomplishment.

But the three lads toward the bow of the drifting boat were desperately engaged in trying to swerve the cruiser more and more behind the island, ere they got so far that they would lose the benefits of the half-way calm condition existing in the lee of the sh.o.r.e.

Fortunately the water did prove to be fairly shallow at this point, just as the scout-master had predicted; for vast quant.i.ties of sand had been deposited there from time to time through such storms as the present one, and also the melting of the ice that drifted there during each breaking-up season for ages past.

The poles easily reached bottom and secured a firm hold there, so that the boys were enabled to throw their full strength upon the other ends.

And the Chippeway Bell was thus shoved around, so that the anchor, which was watched by Step Hen and Davy Jones, could be easily thrown ahead, thus preventing their drifting further away from the friendly sh.o.r.e.

And this having been accomplished the three scouts were almost ready to drop down with fatigue, for they had worked strenuously.

CHAPTER XVI

MAROONED

”Hurrrah!” shouted b.u.mpus, who had been so worked up during this struggle between his comrades and the greed of the elements, that he had hardly taken time to breathe.

Davy, and Step Hen too, seemed ready to throw up their hats, and cheer with exultation because of their wonderful deliverance from continued perils.

All of them were pretty well soaked, though it had not rained at all; so that their bedraggled condition must have come from the water that was in the air, and an occasional wave that slapped over the boat when it broke.

Although they had apparently secured a firm grip on an anchorage, and it would seem as though their present troubles were over, Thad did not sink down like his two fellow laborers, to pant, and rest up.

He proceeded to scramble aft, for he had made an alarming discovery, and wished to start an investigation at once.

The boat sat much lower in the water than he had ever known it to do; and this circ.u.mstance seemed alarming. One look into the cabin told him the reason, nor was Thad very much surprised to find that it was already knee deep in water.

”How did this come in here, fellows?” he asked Davy and Step Hen, who from their positions might be expected to know; ”did you notice many waves pour over the stern of the boat?”

”N-no, hardly any water at all came in, Thad,” replied Step Hen, astonished when he came to look into the partly submerged cabin for himself.

”She kept riding like a duck, and was ahead of the waves most all the time,” was the testimony Davy added; which might be set down as the first words of praise given to the little craft thus far during the cruise.

”Why, goodness gracious, Thad, we must be sinking!” bellowed the amazed b.u.mpus, also craning his fat neck the best way he could, in order to peer into the cabin.

”Just what she is doing,” replied the scoutmaster, composedly; because they were now in comparatively shallow water, out of the reach of the storm; and it did not matter so much what happened after this.

”Sprung a leak, mebbe?” suggested Giraffe, joining the group.

”Wouldn't be surprised if that was what happened,” Allan added, as, he too took a survey of the flooded interior.

”Then, like as not she'll go down right under us, after a bit, Thad!”

exclaimed b.u.mpus, in new excitement, as he contemplated the distance still separating them from the point of the island, and mentally figured whether he could float to safety with that life preserver on, and one of his chums towing him.

”She will, and that's a dead sure thing,” Giraffe told him.

”We ought to get her in closer before that happens, hadn't, we, fellows?” Step Hen wanted to know.