CHAPTER XVI
MAROONED
"Hurrrah!" shouted Bumpus, who had been so worked up during thisstruggle between his comrades and the greed of the elements, that he hadhardly taken time to breathe.
Davy, and Step Hen too, seemed ready to throw up their hats, and cheerwith exultation because of their wonderful deliverance from continuedperils.
All of them were pretty well soaked, though it had not rained at all; sothat their bedraggled condition must have come from the water that wasin the air, and an occasional wave that slapped over the boat when itbroke.
Although they had apparently secured a firm grip on an anchorage, and itwould seem as though their present troubles were over, Thad did not sinkdown like his two fellow laborers, to pant, and rest up.
He proceeded to scramble aft, for he had made an alarming discovery, andwished to start an investigation at once.
The boat sat much lower in the water than he had ever known it to do;and this circumstance seemed alarming. One look into the cabin told himthe reason, nor was Thad very much surprised to find that it was alreadyknee deep in water.
"How did this come in here, fellows?" he asked Davy and Step Hen, whofrom their positions might be expected to know; "did you notice manywaves pour over the stern of the boat?"
"N-no, hardly any water at all came in, Thad," replied Step Hen,astonished when he came to look into the partly submerged cabin forhimself.
"She kept riding like a duck, and was ahead of the waves most all thetime," was the testimony Davy added; which might be set down as thefirst words of praise given to the little craft thus far during thecruise.
"Why, goodness gracious, Thad, we must be sinking!" bellowed the amazedBumpus, also craning his fat neck the best way he could, in order topeer into the cabin.
"Just what she is doing," replied the scoutmaster, composedly; becausethey were now in comparatively shallow water, out of the reach of thestorm; and it did not matter so much what happened after this.
"Sprung a leak, mebbe?" suggested Giraffe, joining the group.
"Wouldn't be surprised if that was what happened," Allan added, as, hetoo took a survey of the flooded interior.
"Then, like as not she'll go down right under us, after a bit, Thad!"exclaimed Bumpus, in new excitement, as he contemplated the distancestill separating them from the point of the island, and mentally figuredwhether he could float to safety with that life preserver on, and one ofhis chums towing him.
"She will, and that's a dead sure thing," Giraffe told him.
"We ought to get her in closer before that happens, hadn't, we,fellows?" Step Hen wanted to know.
"We've got to try that same, and right away!" declared Thad, as hestooped to once more; pick up a push-pole.
"Here, you Step, Hen and Davy, take hold in our place, because you'refresh, and ought to do better work," Giraffe remarked, as he thrust hispole into the hands of the former.
Now, under ordinary conditions Step Hen might have wanted to know bywhat authority the lengthy, scout presumed to order him around, whenthey were of the same rank in the patrol; but he realized the force ofwhat Giraffe had said, and hence accepted the pole without a murmur,starting to work immediately; while, Davy did the same with the one Thadallowed him to take.
"When you get the boat part way up toward where the anchor holds,"observed the scout-master, "we'll drag the mudhook in, and stand readyto throw it out again. By pulling on the cable after the anchor gets afirm hold on bottom, it's possible to claw the boat along foot by foot.I've done that same many a time; and it'll help out more than a little."
They speedily found that Thad spoke truly, and under the influence ofpoles as well as the anchor drag the Chippeway Belle began to approachthe shore, much to the delight of Bumpus. When the fat scout, closelyobserving the setting poles as they were dipped repeatedly into thewater, discovered that they struck bottom in a depth of not more thanfour feet, he was ready to shout with joy. That meant it could not beover his head; and if the worst came, he might wade to land.
Despite the fact that their vessel was a wreck, and about to sink, theboys had no desire to complain just then. Their escape from threateningdanger had been too recent for them to feel ungrateful. Later on thegrumblers would no doubt start to work in their customary way, and findcause for venting their disgust because things did not come out as theymight have wished; but even Giraffe was bubbling over with satisfactionwhen he realized that they had actually managed to cheat the storm afterall.
It had been a close shave, however, and only for that bright thought onthe part of Thad, they might at that very moment have been drifting faraway, with their boat slowly but purely sinking, despite all the balingthey could accomplish.
But then, what was the good of scout-masters if they were not able to dothe thinking for the crowd, the reckless Giraffe would possibly havesaid, if the question had been put up to him.
Everybody was working like the busy bees; even Bumpus tried to assist inhauling at the cable, having moved forward when the boat no longerpranced and bobbed on the agitated sea like a skittish horse.
Of course, as the water was coming in so fast, the cruiser was bound topresently strike bottom; but it was the design of Thad to work her injust as far as possible, for as they had a block and tackle aboard hehoped they would be able to make some sort of rude "ways," where shemight be hauled out later on, patched up, and their interrupted cruisecontinued.
"Stuck fast, Thad; she's on bottom, and no use straining to try and gether another inch toward the shore!" announced Allan, presently; and allof them realized that he spoke the absolute truth when he said this.
"Well," remarked Bumpus, complacently, "we are on the wreck of our nobleship, and close enough to shore to salvage all our possessions; which Iconsider the greatest of good luck. Who'll carry me on his shoulders,now?"
Strange to say, nobody offered to undertake this task, where Bumpuspretended to feel very much hurt, though in reality quite merry.
"I was afraid you'd all speak at once, and have a quarrel over thehonor; but looks now like I might have to do the grand wading actmyself, holding up my clothes-bag and blanket, to keep from getting thesame more soaked than they are now. If we could only make a raft likeold Robinson Crusoe did, it would be fine. Can we get this cabin roofoff, and would it float, do you think, Thad?"
"We'll wade!" replied the scout-master, grimly, and that settled it.
"The sooner the better," remarked Giraffe, "because night's going todrop down on us right early to-day, and we ought to have a warm firestarted somehow, so's to dry us off," for Giraffe had the utmost faithin a fire being able to do about nearly everything necessary to the goodcheer of mankind, because he fairly worshipped a jolly blaze.
Indeed, as most of them had commenced to shiver already, owing to theirwet condition, and the stress of excitement under which they had beenrecently laboring, the thought of sitting before a comfortable fire didseem to buoy up their spirits amazingly.
"Get ready to slip over, and go ashore!" ordered Thad, "I'll take theanchor cable with me, and see that it's made fast to a rock or a tree.We may find a chance to mend the boat, and anyway it's just as well thatwe try and keep her here; though if the wind whips around no cable wouldhold her, I reckon."
Giraffe was the first to drop over. The water hardly came above hiswaist; but then his height was responsible for this, and cautious Bumpusdid not deceive himself on that account. Still he found that he couldeasily wade, and in a short time all of them had reached the friendlyrocks.
Here Thad made the rope secure.
"I'm going back for a few more things, and you might come along with me,Allan," the scout-master remarked.
"I reckon you think there's a pretty good possibility that the wind willveer around, sooner or later, and that the old tub won't be in sightwhen morning comes?" Allan remarked, as he pushed out alongside hischum.
"Chances tend that way," was the replied Thad, "and anyhow, it's betterthat we get
all the supplies we have ashore. Then if 'we have to playCrusoe for a while we'll have something to go on with."
"Our stock happens to be pretty low," remarked Allan; "and Giraffe wasonly this morning complaining that he didn't get enough to eat, and thatwe'd better stop off somewhere to buy more bacon and bread and suchthings. Too bad we didn't think of that when near Duluth, which placeyou wanted to avoid because of certain reasons."
They made the trip without accident. Then it was considered that aboutall had been taken from the stranded and half sunken cruiser that wasworth salving.
Already was Giraffe hunting for some good place where they might findshelter, and start a fire; for while it had not rained as yet, strangeto say, a flood was likely to come down at any moment, so long as theheavens remained as dark as they were still.
Bumpus was looking all around him. He did not wander away from therest, because it seemed as though that mysterious island on which theyhad been cast might be inhabited by wild beasts of prey, for all theyknew, ready to spring upon a nice, juicy morsel like him, and make ameal. That was one of the disadvantages in being plump, Bumpus alwaysinsisted, because envious eyes were won't to fall upon him first of all.
About that time Giraffe hove in sight again, and from his happy mannerit was evident that he had important news to communicate.
"Just shoulder your packs, fellows, and come with me," he hastened totell them. "I've run across the boss place for us to keep undershelter; and there's aplenty of nice dry wood handy, so we can lay in asupply before it rains. After all it strikes me that with our troubleswe ought to be thankful things ain't worse'n they are. With a fire afellow can do nigh anything to make you feel good. Come on!"