Part 14 (2/2)

”The skipper of a big tug in Houghton heard about it, jest as he was goin' to bed. He come racin' down to the wharf an' rousted out the crew.

His engineer was still on board an' they got steam up like winkin'. The gale was blowin' even worse up our way, but the old tug snorted into it jest the same. Out into the dark an' the snow an' the storm she snubbed along, tootin' her whistle like as if it were the Day of Jedgment. An'

if it had been,” continued the old man in parenthesis, ”no one would've known it in that storm!”

”When did you see the tug?” queried the boy.

”Couldn't see nothin',” was the answer, ”we jest heard that ol' whistle toot. One o' the men guessed it was the big tug all right an' wondered if she was ash.o.r.e somewheres with a tow. But, fust thing we know, she come up out o' the muck o' snow an' sleet an' the ol' skipper bellered to us through a speakin'-trumpet that he was come to take us to a wreck.

We snaked the gear on to that tug in about half no time, takin' the big surf-boat an' all the apparatus. The tug was a blowin' off steam, like as if she was connected to a volcaner. I tell you there must have been some fire under them boilers. An' when we started--I'm an old hand, boy, but I'm tellin' ye that I never thought to see Houghton. The ol' skipper sent that tug through at racin' speed like as if it was a moonlight summer night an' he had all the sea-room in a couple of oceans.

”'Air ye goin' to stop at Houghton?' I asks him, sort o' sarcastic, 'or are ye gittin' up speed enough to run on a mile or two after ye hit the sh.o.r.e?'

”'Don't ye worry,' he said, with a short laugh, 'ye c'n tie my ears an'

eyes up doorin' a hurricane, 'n' I can smell my way to port!'

”An' I'm tellin' ye he did. Without nary a light nor nothin' to guide him--for the snow was worse 'n any fog--he went full speed ahead. An'

when he tinkled that little telegraph bell to the engine room, I was wonderin' if he was within ten miles o' the place. But as that craft slowed down, ye can b'lieve me or not 's you like, she glided up to her own pier like as if it was a ferry-boat in a dead calm.

”'I've got to hand it to you, Cap'n,' I says to him, 'I wouldn't ha'

believed it unless I seen it.'

”'That's my end,' say the cap'n, 'I know my work, same's you know yours.

I'm bettin' my pile on you fellers makin' good 'most any ol' time.' Made me feel good, all right.”

”It sure does make a difference,” put in Eric, ”when you know that people have confidence in you.”

”Right you are, boy,” said the old keeper, and continued his story.

”That pier was jest a ma.s.s o' folks, thick as they c'd stand. An' when they saw the tug with us on board, they cheered, 'n' cheered, 'n'

cheered. There was a dozen to grab the lines 'n' make 'em fast, 'n'

before she was even tied up, a mob grabbed our boat an' apparatus an'

rushed it to the railroad.

”While we was a-comin' over the strait, the superintendent o' the railroad division was got up, 'n' told all about the wreck. He was a spry man, too, 'n' by the time the tug was in, he had orders out to clear the track 'n' a special train was waitin' in the station. She was ready fitted up with a couple of open cars for the boat an' apparatus, an' one coach for us.

”They didn't let us touch nothin'.

”'Keep your strength, men,' the superintendent said to the crew, 'my boys will put your stuff aboard.'

”They did. That boat an' the apparatus an' everything else was aboard that special, jest about as quick as we could climb into the cars. We had a special train all right! She jest whizzed along that track, not worryin' about nothin'. Signals didn't matter, for the track had been cleared in advance. The superintendent had come on the train with us.

He'd wired ahead to Marquette, an' when we slowed up there was another bunch in the station to welcome us. The train was covered in ice an'

snow, an' the front of the locomotive looked like a dummy engine made out o' plaster o' Paris.

”The station was alive with men, all just on edge with waitin'. They had sleighs but no horses, the footin' was too bad. An' so the boat an' the apparatus-car was put on the sleighs, an' the men dragged it along themselves at a whole of a clip! They wouldn't even let us walk, but toted us along in a sleigh, too.”

”Why?” asked Eric.

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