The Rushton Boys at Treasure Cove Part 27

"Fifty dollars!" cried his brother in amazement. "Do you mean to say that Uncle Aaron has loosened up as much as that? You must be crazy."

"Straight goods," replied Teddy. "Look for yourself."

Fred scanned the paper. There was no mistake.

"I take back what I said about your being crazy," Fred remarked, as he handed the money order back, "but if you're not, Uncle Aaron is. He must have had a sudden attack of enlargement of the heart."

He looked over Teddy's shoulder and they read the letter together. It was written in their uncle's customary style, except that it was tinctured with a more cordial feeling than he usually displayed toward his nephews. He spoke in terms of great respect of Mr. Montgomery and confirmed what the little memorandum book had revealed as to the amount of the debt. He declared that if the money was found he wanted nothing but the princ.i.p.al, and stated that the interest could go to Ross and his mother as a gift. He warned the boys about letting their hopes get too high, but at the same time urged them to spare no time or pains in the search. If they were successful, they could depend on him to reward them handsomely. As they might need a little extra money he was enclosing fifty dollars, to be used in any way they might think best in carrying on the hunt.

"He's not such a bad old chap after all," observed Fred, as they finished reading the letter.

"You bet he isn't!" echoed Teddy. "There are lots of worse fellows than Uncle Aaron."

With this qualified praise, they sought out their comrades, who were almost as delighted as the Rushton boys themselves were at the letter and the money order.

"It's up to us now to get busier than ever," remarked Lester. "It won't do to disappoint him after raising his hopes."

"That's what," replied Fred. "So get out the maps you were talking about yesterday, and we'll lay our plans for the next week or two."

The boys went to the room where the government maps were kept. These showed every creek and inlet and cove and indentation of the Maine coast, together with the depths of water at these points and a host of other details that were of use to seafaring men.

The boys went at them in a businesslike way, picking out those places most likely to be entered by a sailing s.h.i.+p, rejecting others that were difficult or dangerous to approach, until they had mapped out a program that would keep them busy for ten days to come.

Toward evening the storm gave signs of having spent its worst fury, and just before supper a rift appeared in the clouds on the western horizon.

"That looks promising," observed Lester to Teddy, who was looking out over the water with him. "Probably it will clear up during the night and we'll have a peach of a day to-morrow."

"I certainly hope so," replied Teddy. "I don't so much mind being cooped up for one day, but after that it gets kind of monotonous. The strenuous life for me, every time."

"Yes," agreed Lester, "one day is about my limit, too. If it's clear to-morrow, I'll have to go over to Bartanet to order some supplies and maybe you and the rest of the bunch will come along and keep me company."

"Surest thing you know," acquiesced Teddy heartily. "We can see all the excitement that may be stirring in that rus.h.i.+ng burg, too. I notice that there's usually a great deal going on there--not."

"Well, I've got to admit that it isn't the liveliest place in the world," admitted Lester with a grin. "Still, once in a while, somebody wakes up long enough to start something. Not often, though, for a fact."

The others were equally anxious to go and the matter was settled, provided that the weather permitted.

As Lester had predicted, the next day was bright and clear and the boys were up early. Mr. Lee had made out the list of the things he needed, and the boys went merrily down to the little landing place where the boats were kept.

It was decided that they were to row over to the mainland, and Lester and Fred took their places at the oars while the others acted as ballast.

"I'll let you fellows row at first," remarked Teddy, in a patronizing tone. "It's easy going now with no storm in sight. I'll take it easy, but if any emergency should arise, I'll take the oars and bring the boat safe to sh.o.r.e. There's no earthly use, though, in an expert navigator like me spending his time in every-day tugging at a pair of oars. It would be wasting my giant strength for nothing."

"Oh, it would never do to let Ted row with an ordinary pair of oars,"

said Fred sarcastically to Lester. "He'd break those as easily as most people would break the stem of a churchwarden pipe. Back home, we had a pair of tempered steel oars made especially for him and even then he broke them every once in a while. It's really altogether too expensive."

"Yes, I should think it would be," replied Lester gravely. "He must be a good deal like a very strong rower we had about these parts a few years ago."

"Did he have steel oars, too?" asked Ross, keeping a straight face.

"No," said Lester slowly. "I've no doubt he would have used them if he could have found a pair, but as it happened there weren't any of that description around. He used to get around it, though, by using two very heavy wooden oars in each hand. That was all right as far as it went, but it wasn't good enough."

"Why, what was the matter with that?" asked Teddy.

"Well, you see, there wasn't any boat strong enough for him," explained Lester. "He'd sit up in the bow and start to row, and he'd give such tremendous strokes that the front part of the boat would tear away from the stern and go on without it. Of course, the people who owned the boats found this rather expensive, so after a while this man couldn't get a steady job in the fis.h.i.+ng trade at all. He did get another position, though, and as far as I know is working at it yet."

"It must be a job requiring some strength," remarked Teddy. "What was it?"

"Carrying barrels of holes from a swiss cheese factory to be made into crullers," chuckled Lester. "I guess that will hold you for a while. If you like that one, I'll tell you some more."

"That's quite enough from you," said Teddy, with great dignity. "You're apt to bring a judgment on us with such stuff as that. One of these big waves may come slap into the boat and send us all to Davy Jones' locker, if you're not careful."

CHAPTER XXIV

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 sh.o.r.e, 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 insh.o.r.e 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.