The Rushton Boys at Treasure Cove Part 2

The latter just at present had his hands full. The storm had increased in fury and was now blowing half a gale. The sail threatened to split into ribbons, and the gunwale was constantly under water as the _Ariel_ plunged along. Lester's muscles were strained to the utmost to hold the rudder against the heavy waves that seemed bound to disable it.

His face was set and worried, as he glanced alternately at sea and sky.

He seemed to be debating a question that bothered him. At last he reached a decision.

"It's no use," he said as he jammed over the tiller and changed the course of the _Ariel_. "We'll never make Bartanet Shoals with the wind as it is now. We'd have to do too much tacking and beating up into the wind."

"What will you do then?" inquired Fred anxiously.

"We'll make for a cove I know of, where we can wait till the storm is over," answered Lester. "And we'll have to do some tall hustling to get there before night comes on. Here goes for a run before the wind."

CHAPTER III

A WELCOME REFUGE

The change of course had not been effected without s.h.i.+pping a considerable amount of water as the boat hung for a moment in the wind.

Bill and Teddy bailed desperately, and an instant later the _Ariel_ was heading in a new direction. The wind now, instead of striking her sail at an angle, was following directly over the stern, and the little craft fairly flew. The power of the wind made her careen at a dangerous angle, and Bill and Teddy had to climb up on the further side to keep her from capsizing.

It was perilous sailing, but the bite of the salt spray on their cheeks and the swift pace at which they were moving filled the boys with wild exhilaration. They might have been four young Vikings out on a voyage of discovery, as they faced and dared the storm.

"See how she foots it through the water!" exclaimed Lester. "Isn't she a beauty?"

"You bet she is!" responded Teddy with enthusiasm. "I don't wonder that sailors get so fond of their boats that they'd rather go down with them than live without them."

"I can't say that I've got so far as that," laughed Lester. "But I'm sure I'd feel as bad about losing the _Ariel_ as you boys would if you lost Star and Colonel."

"You'd feel mighty bad then," responded Teddy, as he thought of the horses that he and Fred had brought with them from the West.

At this moment, his attention was attracted by a movement on the part of the boy they had rescued. They had sheltered him as much they could, but they could not prevent an occasional dash of spray from striking his face and this had hastened his awakening. This time, his eyes were lighted with intelligence, and it was clear that he had largely recovered from the effect of his immersion.

Teddy bent over toward him.

"How are you feeling?" he asked with a friendly smile.

"Better," was the response in a faint voice. "I can't remember yet, though, just what happened to me."

"A big wave threw you overboard," broke in Bill. "We happened to be cruising near by, and we picked you up."

"I guess I must have hit my head against something when I went over,"

said the stranger. "I don't remember a thing that happened while I was in the water. Did I swim?"

"You seemed to be swimming a little," said Teddy, "but I guess it was more instinct than anything else. You went down before we got to you.

But you'd better not talk any more just now. We'll be on sh.o.r.e before long I hope, and then we'll tell you all about it."

"There's the sh.o.r.e now," called out Bill in accents of relief, as he pointed to a long dark line ahead of them.

On the right it seemed to be sandy and level, but a little to the left there was a rocky elevation, against which the waves broke with a thunderous roar, sending back sheets of crested foam.

The boat kept on with unslackened speed and the boys grew somewhat uneasy as the tumbling breakers grew plainer to the sight. But that uneasiness became consternation, when Lester with a quick twist of the tiller headed the _Ariel_ straight toward two immense rocks that seemed to stand out as sentinels on the coast.

"Lester!" shouted Bill in warning and then stopped. A look at the strained intent face of the helmsman told Bill that he knew exactly what he was doing.

They came nearer and nearer, and the faces of the boys blanched at the fearful turmoil of the breakers. Then Lester threw the tiller to port.

"Sit tight!" he yelled, and the next moment the _Ariel_ dashed straight for a point midway between the two giant rocks.

There was an awful moment as she staggered through that seething turmoil of raging waters. But this was followed by an immense relief when they found themselves rocking on the waters of a sheltered cove, which, while rough, were like a mill pond compared to the sea outside.

Before them stretched a sandy beach, which bore no trace of human habitation except a tumbled down hut which stood fifty feet inland. A few scrub pines were scattered here and there, and some dejected looking bushes grew in a little patch of green that the sand had not yet swallowed up. It was not an attractive landscape, but to the boys, after escaping the perils of the sea, it seemed a bit of Paradise.

"Lower the sail, Fred," directed Lester. "We'll get out the sweeps and feel our way to a landing place."

The sail came down with a run, and Fred rose and stretched himself after having been so long in a cramped position.

"Lester, you're some sailor," he said in hearty admiration. "You handled the _Ariel_ to the queen's taste. I take off my hat to you."

"Same here," echoed Teddy. "It certainly looked as if it were all up with us when you came shooting toward these rocks."

"It was a dandy bit of work," said Bill warmly. "It's a lucky thing for this crowd that you were at the helm. If you hadn't been, we might be food for the fishes by this time."

"Oh, I don't know," returned Lester, flus.h.i.+ng a little at the chorus of appreciation. "I just happened to know of this place, and I knew we had to get to sh.o.r.e before dark. So I took a chance on making it. But it's nearly dark now, and we've got a lot to do, before we're snug and tidy for the night.

"The first thing to do is to find a shallow place where you fellows can wade ash.o.r.e. Then I'll take the _Ariel_ out a way and anchor her.

As soon as that's done, I'll swim ash.o.r.e and join you."

They poled the boat in carefully with a pair of long sweeps until their soundings showed them that they were in less than three feet of water.

Here Bill and the two Rushton boys jumped overboard, and while they held out their arms to him, Lester carefully let down the stranger. He could walk by this time, although he was still weak and shaky, and the boys helped him to the sh.o.r.e.

"Now you sit here for a while," said Fred, when they had reached a point twenty feet or so up the beach, "while the rest of us hustle around and get something to eat. Do you feel hungry?"

"I'm beginning to," smiled the other. "I guess I can punish my part of the supper pretty well."

"Good!" said Fred heartily. "That reminds me. Say, Lester!" he called, as he waded back, "hand us over that string of bluefish. It's lucky we caught them before the storm came up. Is there anything left from the lunch?"

"Not a thing," answered Lester. "You wolves went through that lunch like a prairie fire. But I've got some slices of bacon in the locker, and here's some salt and pepper. I guess we won't go hungry."

"Not from the looks of that string we won't," laughed Fred, as he received from Lester enough bluefish to feed a dozen men. "Now hand over the other things, and by the time you anchor and come ash.o.r.e, we'll be ready to fill you up."

"That's a big contract," grinned Lester, "but I'm going to hold you to it."

He poled the _Ariel_ out a little way and dropped the anchor. Then he made everything s.h.i.+pshape about the little craft, slipped into the water, and swam ash.o.r.e.

He found that his comrades had not been idle. Teddy had ransacked the hut and found an old frying pan and a bent up broiler, probably left there by the hunters that made this their rendezvous in the sniping season. Bill collected all the shrubs and twigs that he could find, and taking a match from an oilskin pouch started a fire. Fred was busy with his clasp knife, cleaning the fish, and when Lester reached them, he had half a dozen speckled beauties ready for the frying pan.

"Let's use the busted broiler instead," suggested Lester. "Bluefish are twice as good broiled as they are fried. We'll use the frying pan for the bacon."