CHAPTER XII.

MR. PETERS' MISHAP.

On the morning after Mr. Peters had announced his intention of saving what he could in the way of timbers and rigging from the wreck, Sidney went on duty with Captain Eph, and instead of going to bed when his watch was ended, the first a.s.sistant remained in the room until the keeper asked sharply:

"What's the matter with you now, Sammy? Ain't you goin' to bed?"

"I want'er start for the wreck at the first crack of light, if Uncle Zenas will give me somethin' to eat when he gets up, an' there's no sense in goin' to the trouble of lyin' down jest for a half-hour nap.

I'll turn in a good bit earlier to-night."

"Have your own way, Sammy, but I'm afraid that you won't get enough from the hulk to pay for the labor you're puttin' out. Why didn't you speak to Uncle Zenas last night, so's he'd kind'er stir his stumps this mornin'?"

"He had his back raised so high because I was goin' alone, that I knew it wouldn't be any use, an,' feelin' kind'er warm as he was, he might'er said 'no' right up an' down," Mr. Peters replied with a faint smile.

Captain Eph did not continue the conversation, but turned his attention to the work of cleaning the watch-room windows, which Sidney had voluntarily taken upon himself, and Mr. Peters dozed in his chair until awakened by the movements of Uncle Zenas in the room below, which told that he was making ready for the day's work.

"I reckon I'll be off now," the first a.s.sistant said, going toward the stairway as if almost afraid to descend.

"Uncle Zenas hasn't built the fire yet," Captain Eph said carelessly, "an' it'll be a good half hour before the coffee is ready."

"I don't count on waitin' for anything hot," Mr. Peters replied as he began the descent of the stairs. "A cold bite is all I'm askin' for, 'cause the sooner I get away the better."

"If that was all you wanted, the wisest course would have been to got it without askin' leave of anybody," Captain Eph said half to himself, and then he tiptoed his way to the head of the stairs.

"What is the matter?" Sidney asked curiously.

"Nothin' as yet, Sonny; but I'm allowin' that Sammy won't find it all plain sailin' when he runs up against Uncle Zenas. The old man is pretty stuffy when he gets a notion inter his head, an' for some reason or other he's dead set against our tryin' to save anything from the wreck."

Captain Eph had not yet ceased speaking when loud, almost angry conversation could be heard from the kitchen, and Sidney ran quickly to the keeper's side. It was impossible to distinguish any words spoken in the kitchen, however, and, two or three moments later, the emphatic closing of the outer door told that Mr. Peters had left the tower.

"Uncle Zenas wouldn't give him anything to eat until breakfast time, an'

the poor, foolish fellow has gone off with an empty stomach, countin' on doin' a full day's work," Captain Eph said as he went to the window from which it was possible to have a view of the little cove. "I do wish our cook wasn't quite so crotchety!"

"Why didn't Mr. Peters take what he wanted from the pantry?" Sidney asked as he joined the keeper at the window.

"Then there _would_ have been trouble," Captain Eph replied as if startled by such a bold proposition. "It has taken me a good many years to find out that when Uncle Zenas gets reg'larly set against a thing, the most peaceable way is for Sammy an' me to give in at the start."

Then the two stood gazing through the window, unable to distinguish objects clearly because of the dim, gray light, until Mr. Peters launched the dory, pulling out of the cove with a steady stroke as if to show that the loss of a breakfast was not sufficient to turn him from his purpose.

Half an hour later the lamp was extinguished, and the keeper and his young a.s.sistant set about the daily routine of making ready for another night. The work was considerably more than half completed when the voice of the cook sounded impatiently from the kitchen, as he summoned them to breakfast.

"This is one of the mornin's when I reckon we can't afford to loiter many seconds," Captain Eph said grimly, as he began to descend the stairs, Sidney following close at his heels, and when the two were in the kitchen, the old keeper asked as if in surprise:

"Where's Sammy? Didn't he hear you call?"

"He went off without his breakfast," Uncle Zenas replied in a tone of irritation.

"What's the matter?" Captain Eph asked as if wholly ignorant of what had taken place in the kitchen. "Ain't sick, is he?"

"He's pig-headed, that's what's the matter with him. He's next door to crazy, countin' on goin' alone to the wreck, an' I told him plainly that I wouldn't countenance sich foolishness by givin' him anythin' to eat till breakfast was ready. Then he rose right up in the air, an' started off empty-handed; but if he ain't sorry 'twixt now an' noon, I'm missin'

my guess."

"Dear, dear, but I'm sorry!" Captain Eph exclaimed. "Sammy has got it inter his head that he can get enough from the wreck to go a long ways toward buildin' a motor boat, an' he'll work like a tiger, savin' stuff, never thinkin' that he stands a good chance of makin' himself sick by foolin' 'round while his stomach is empty."

Sidney fancied that he saw an expression of regret on the face of the cook; but decided that he had been mistaken, when Uncle Zenas said sharply:

"I ain't responsible for what he does in the way of foolishness, an' if it's his desire to go off before breakfast is ready, he'll have to take the consequences."

The keeper did not linger over his breakfast; as soon as the meal had been eaten he hurried back to the lantern, and, as a matter of course, Sidney joined him there without delay, the two working industriously and in silence until everything had been put in proper order.

Not until then did Captain Eph venture a remark, by saying as he looked toward the east, where could be seen a portion of the wreck:

"I'm allowin' that Sammy won't be able to put in a full day's work. The wind seems to be haulin' 'round, an' before noon the sea will be runnin'

so high that he can't do anythin' in the way of strippin' the hulk."

"Can you see him?" Sidney asked.

"Not without the gla.s.ses. Run down an' get 'em, Sonny. We may as well watch him, as to sit here twirlin' our thumbs."

The lad obeyed promptly; but no sign of the amateur wrecker could be seen, and Captain Eph said as he turned to gaze westward:

"The hulk lays in sich a manner that we couldn't hope to see him, unless he was aloft. h.e.l.lo, here comes a cat-boat from the sh.o.r.e, an' it wouldn't surprise me a little bit if the tinker Sammy talked about yesterday was comin' after that 'ere motor."

Because it was the first time since he landed on the ledge that he had seen a sail coming toward the light, Sidney gazed at it eagerly, until Captain Eph said:

"There's no use strainin' your eyes, Sonny, for it'll be a full hour before she gets anywhere near, with this wind. I reckon we'd better go down to the sh.o.r.e an' see the motor, for it ain't likely the tinker will care about stayin' here any very great while."

"Shall we let him take it before Mr. Peters comes back?" Sidney asked in surprise.

"Why not? When a man comes as far as he has while a storm seems to be brewin', it would kind'er be hard lines to hold him because Sammy was off wreckin'. We'll load on the motor as soon as it can be done, an'

send him back while the weather is decent, else he might be on our hands quite a spell. People can't get out here at this time of year jest when the fancy strikes 'em."

Although the motor was not particularly heavy, Captain Eph and Sidney soon came to understand that it would be quite a difficult task to get it down to the cove where it might be put aboard the boat, for the jagged rocks presented most serious obstacles.

However, the old keeper set about the task with a will, and by the time the stranger had run into the cove the work was well advanced.

"I allowed that you'd be wantin' to put about as soon as might be, owin'

to the looks of the weather, so Sonny an' I have been at work gettin'

this 'ere thing where it could be handled. I reckon this is what you've come after," and the keeper pointed to the motor.

"Yes, that's what brought me out here, though I wish now I'd staid at home, for the wind is likely to blow pretty fresh before I can get back," the machinist replied as he made his boat fast to the ways, and began to make a critical inspection of the motor.

"Well, what about it?" Captain Eph asked after it seemed as if the newcomer must have made himself acquainted with every portion of the machinery. "Think you can put it in shape?"

"Sure," was the confident reply. "It hasn't been hurt any to speak of, an' I can have it runnin' in a couple of days. Where's the man who made the trade with me?"

The keeper explained why Mr. Peters was absent and before he was at an end Sidney cried: