Part 19 (1/2)

Fis.h.i.+n' it might be, er somethin' thet way.”

That night Darry played for the men, but they could not help noticing that much of his music was along the sad order.

In the morning the sky was still overcast, and the sound lay in a bank of half darkness that looked like fog, though the whistling wind seemed to forbid such a thing.

Abner was a little dubious about letting the boy depart, but Darry laughed at the idea of any harm befalling him.

He had several things he wished to attend to, and besides, Mrs. Peake would need him through the day in many ways.

He entered his boat and took up the oars for a hard row, for the wind was of too deceptive a character to allow him to make use of his sail.

The men of the station had come down to see him off, for by this time Darry had won his way into the hearts of every rough fellow, and they looked upon him as a sort of general ward of the crew, pulled out of the sea at their door and destined for great things.

Not one of them but who believed a bright future awaited Peake's new boy, and many were the predictions made among them, some even venturing the a.s.sertion that he would be president yet.

So they waved their sou'westers and shouted a merry good-bye to him as he rowed into the gray blanket of mist that shrouded the sound.

CHAPTER XVIII

THE IMPRISONED LAUNCH

The prospect ahead did not dismay Darry at all.

He had been a sailor for some years and was accustomed to meeting all kinds of bad weather.

Besides, his boat though old, was staunch, and could hold its own against waves that would upset another craft less steady; and then again he knew how to handle his oars with the skill that only long practice can bring.

By degrees he lost sight of the sandy sh.o.r.e.

He was now surrounded by a heaving sheet of water, and it required all his knowledge of things nautical to keep his bearings, for it was impossible to see even the slightest object on any side.

The situation would have alarmed many a lad less accustomed to depending on himself in emergencies.

Darry felt no fear.

He noted the direction of the waves, and unless the wind s.h.i.+fted suddenly, which it was not apt to do, he felt positive he could bring up somewhere along the sh.o.r.e near the village.

To his surprise he heard the sullen boom of a gun close by and wondered what any sportsman could be doing out there in that dense atmosphere, where it was impossible to see more than fifty feet away.

Certainly ducks could not be coming to stool under such conditions.

What could he be firing at then?

There it was again, one shot following another in rapid order, until he had counted six.

That would indicate the possession of one of those new style repeating shotguns, capable of holding half a dozen sh.e.l.ls, and worked with a pump action.

All of a sudden it struck Darry that possibly someone was in trouble and was taking this means of summoning a.s.sistance; though the chances were very slight that any bayman would be anywhere near with that gray blanket covering things--they knew enough to stick to the sh.o.r.e at such a time.