The argument was not convincing to the lad; but since there was nothing he could say against it, he returned to make his report to the keeper.

"Ay, Sammy is right," Captain Eph said thoughtfully when Sidney explained what could be seen. "It must be some poor fellows who have been blown away from their vessel while settin' trawls, or hand-line fishin'. Is the dory comin' straight for the ledge?"

"That's the way it looks now, sir."

"An' here I am tied down like a log!" Captain Eph cried bitterly.

"What could be done if you were in good condition, sir? The waves are breaking over the ledge, and the boat-house is nearly under water."

"I know all that, Sonny, an' yet there might be a chance to lend a hand in some way. Tied up as I am, it would be out of the question even to pa.s.s 'em a rope if they were right under the window. Bring down the gla.s.ses, an' help me move around near the window, where I can look out."

It was necessary for Sidney to ask Mr. Peters to a.s.sist him in carrying out the latter portion of the order, and when everything had been done in accordance with his wishes, the old keeper, seated in front of the open window regardless of the chilling wind, gazed intently at the tiny object so far away, in which might be human beings sorely needing a.s.sistance.

"They should be close aboard the ledge within an hour," Captain Eph said half to himself, "an' it looks as if she might strike near about here, unless them as are on board can pull her around so's to pa.s.s it."

"Do you really think there are men in her, sir?" Sidney asked, as he tried in vain to see the distant object without the aid of gla.s.ses.

"That I'd be willin' to swear to, Sonny, though how much life may be in 'em is another matter. They're fishermen, that's certain, an' have likely parted company with their vessel in a fog--"

"What's goin' on up there?" Uncle Zenas cried from below. "It seems as if you'd struck somethin' out of the common, else you're makin' a good deal of talk 'bout nothin'."

"You'd better run down an' tell him what's in sight, Sonny," the old keeper whispered. "Uncle Zenas is one of them fretty men that can't seem to wait with any show of patience when they think anything 'special is goin' on."

"What's the matter?" came in tones of impatience from the kitchen. "Have you all gone crazy?"

"I'm comin' down to tell you about it," Sidney cried, and a moment later the second a.s.sistant's face paled as he learned that human beings who stood in sore need of aid were probably near at hand.

"It'll be a case of seein' the poor creeters perish right under our noses!" he exclaimed. "What with Cap'n Eph so lame that he can't stand on more'n one leg, an' me laid up through bein' pretty nigh broiled, this 'ere crew ain't in shape to lend a hand, no matter how much sufferin' may heave in sight."

Mr. Peters had gone into the lantern after helping the lad move Captain Eph, and, because he found it difficult to remain in any one place very long at a time, Sidney went up to him.

The first a.s.sistant was standing near the lens, looking into the gla.s.s intently, and Sidney asked in surprise:

"What's the matter? Anything wrong there?"

"Not a bit, Sonny; I was tryin' to figger somethin' out."

"Has it to do with the lens, that you are looking at it so sharply?"

Sidney asked, and Mr. Peters wheeled suddenly around as he replied:

"I declare I don't know why my eyes happened to be on that, for it hadn't anything to do with what is in my mind. I was tryin' to figger how we might lend a hand if that 'ere dory strikes the ledge, as I reckon she will."

"You couldn't even stand on the rocks, while the sea is running as it is now."

"I ain't so certain 'bout that, though I'll admit that a man couldn't keep his footin' there, an' 'tend to much of anything else; but the tide is ebbin' now, an' it'll be within an hour of low water by the time that 'ere dory gets here. I'm thinkin' you'll be able to see quite a bit of Carys' Ledge by that time. Has Cap'n Eph made out anything new?"

"I didn't stop to ask him when I came up, and I may as well go back now."

Mr. Peters did not attempt to detain the lad; he was so deeply engrossed with the problem which presented itself, that it made little difference whether he was alone, or surrounded by the entire crew.

When he entered the keeper's room Captain Eph asked sharply:

"What's Sammy doin'?"

"Trying to figure out how he can help those who are in the dory, if she strikes the ledge, sir."

"I knew he was up to somethin' of that kind! Sammy may be pig-headed an'

irritable at times, but let anything like this come up, an' his heart swells out till it's too big for his body. He never counts the danger if there's a show for helpin' them as are in trouble."

"He asked if you had made out anything new, sir."

"There's no question about men bein' in the dory--two of 'em, an' one's alive, for I saw him climb over the for'ard thwart. I allow they're hopin' the boat will drift this way, believin' we can pick 'em up."

Until this moment there had been a faint hope in Sidney's heart that the dory might have no living freight, and now he grew literally sick with fear. It would be far more horrible for the men to be thrown up on the ledge when nothing might be done to aid them, than when the _Nautilus_ foundered, for then the sufferers could not be seen.

He had turned away that he might not look out upon the cruel sea, which could be so calm and smiling at times, when Captain Eph said suddenly:

"Tell Sammy to come down here. Oh, if I hadn't been so stubborn as to insist on gettin' inter this room!"

Sidney was considerably mystified by these last words; but he hastened to obey the command, and when the first a.s.sistant came down-stairs Captain Eph said hurriedly:

"If I'd staid in the kitchen where I belonged, we could have rigged a block to a bar across the outside of the west window, an' by overhaulin'

all the spare line in the store room, have enough to make a tackle that would reach from the tower, well down inter the water."

"Yes, but what then?" Mr. Peters asked breathlessly, understanding that the keeper was eager to do something toward saving life.

"With the loose end, well padded so's it wouldn't cut, belayed jest under your arms, there'd be a good chance for you to go well inter the surf, seein's how Uncle Zenas an' I could haul you out all right; but the trouble is that I'm up here, an' he's down there."

"I can fix all that in a shake," Mr. Peters cried excitedly. "Get on my back, an' if I don't have you down there in short order, it'll be owin'

to a stroke of hard luck."

Under almost any other circ.u.mstances the old keeper would not have made the painful attempt; but he was quite as eager to lend the sufferers a helping hand as was the first a.s.sistant, and Sidney was astounded by the rapidity with which the change was made.

Mr. Peters had not waited for Captain Eph to prepare for the move; but, swinging the old man's arms over his shoulders, he half-pulled, half-hoisted him on his back, running down the stairs as swiftly as he could have done without a burden.

Uncle Zenas cried out in alarm at the sudden appearance of the first a.s.sistant with the keeper on his back, and when Mr. Peters had lowered him into a chair, Captain Eph said grimly, striving to repress a groan:

"We had to come, Zenas, for we count on bein' ready for that 'ere dory, if so be she drifts in here."

"You look about as fit as I am for anything of that kind, Ephraim Downs," Uncle Zenas cried scornfully. "We're two poor old cripples who can't even help ourselves."

"I ain't so certain 'bout that, Uncle Zenas," the keeper said cheerily, for the hope of aiding others had brightened him up wonderfully. "I'm reckonin' that both you an' I can lend a hand. Hold on an' see what Sammy is doin'."

Mr. Peters had not waited to hear the conversation, but, immediately after depositing the keeper in a chair, had hastened to the store room, returning a moment later with a short length of joist and some seizing stuff.

Opening the window which looked toward the west, he shoved the timber through, pulling it across the aperture on the outside of the tower, and there making it fast.

A second visit to the store room, and he returned with a small pulley block, and a large quant.i.ty of rope about the size of that used on vessels as heaving-lines.