CHAPTER XXI
ON BOARD THE _CATSPAW_
Steve communicated the project to those aboard the _Follow Me_ which hadnow drawn up as near as she dared, and there followed a moment of blankamazement aboard the smaller boat. But discussion there was brief, andalmost at once Harry Corwin raised his megaphone again and bellowedacross:
"Go to it! What do you want us to do, Steve?"
"Nothing yet," was the answer. "We're going to board her first and seehow she looks. If we take on the job we'll want your heaviest cable."
Harry signalled assent. By this time they were within a hundred yards ofthe derelict, and, with engines just moving, they tossed about on thelong swells and had a better look at the schooner. She was about eightyfeet long, with a beam of probably twenty-two, and displacedapproximately a hundred tons. She was square-sterned and blunt-nosed,evidently built for capacity rather than speed. Her name, in goldletters on the bow, was quite distinct: _Catspaw_. Later, when theyrounded her stern, they saw that her home port was Norfolk. Her cargo,or at least so much of it as was above deck, consisted of rough pineboards, and every available foot of space was occupied with it. Thedeck-house was all but hidden. The mainmast dragged by a tangle of ropesaft of the starboard beam and was acting as a sort of sea-anchor. Forthe rest, her lumber-piled deck was swept clean save for a splinteredgaff that had become wedged in the boards. Her hull had been paintedblack, but not very recently, and a dingy white streak led along theside.
The two cruisers worked cautiously around to the leeward side of the_Catspaw_, the _Adventurer's_ tender was dropped over and Steve, Joe andHan climbed in. Boarding in that sea was no child's work, for the bigswells, which slammed into and sometimes over the schooner without mucheffect, tossed the dingey high in air. But by rowing hard at first andthen taking advantage of the quieter water near the schooner they atlast reached the old black hull in safety and, while Han managed theboat-hook, the other two scrambled aboard.
As they had suspected, the hulk was utterly deserted, and the fact thatthe forecastle and the captain's quarters were bare of anything ofvalue and that the davits were empty indicated that the vessel had beenabandoned in order. There was a good deal of water in her, but, as Stevepointed out, she wouldn't sink in a dozen years with that load of lumberto hold her up. "She wouldn't show much speed," he said when they hadcompleted their investigations and were once more on deck, "and she'lltow about as easy as a lump of lead, but it's only thirty miles or so toPortsmouth, and even if we make only two miles an hour, and I guess wewon't make much more, we can get her there tomorrow. That is, we can ifour cables hold and the weather doesn't get nasty. I don't much like thelooks of that same weather, though."
"Well, the barometer is rising," said Joe, "and that means--"
"Never mind your old barometer," laughed Steve. "Anyway, we'll have a goat this. If we have to give it up, all right, but we'd be silly not totry it. Come on and we'll get the cables aboard."
Two hours of hard work followed. With the cruisers tagging along nearby,suiting their pace to the slow drift of the schooner, the boys cut awaythe wreckage and rigged a jury-mast at the stump of the foremast. Onthis they spread a spare forestaysail which they dug from the saillocker. That it would aid greatly in the ship's progress Steve did notexpect, but it would, he figured, make steering easier. Then thecruiser's heaviest anchor cables were taken aboard and made fast at thebow. A "prize crew" consisting of Joe, Han and Perry, from the_Adventurer_, and Wink and Bert, from the _Follow Me_, was placed incharge and enough food for two meals supplied them. The galley stove wasstill in running order, although it reeked of grease, and there was afair supply of wood handy. Bert Alley, who had volunteered to do thecooking, objected to an inch or so of water that swashed around thefloor, but the others pulled a pair of old rubber boots from a chest inthe forecastle and he became reconciled. At noon they all returned totheir respective cruisers and ate dinner, which, under the conditions,was no easy matter. They had to hold the dishes to the table and swallowtheir tea between plunges. Joe was inordinately proud of himself thatday, for, in spite of the nasty motion--and there's nothing much morelikely to induce sickness than a long ground-swell--he not only remainedon duty but consumed his dinner with a fine appetite. It rained quitehard for a half-hour about noon and then ceased just in time for themto set off to the _Catspaw_ again. It was decided that the _Follow Me's_tender was to be left with the schooner, in case of necessity, and Joeacknowledged that he felt a bit easier in his mind when it had beenhoisted, not without difficulty, to one of the davits.
"It's all fine and dandy to say that this old tub can't sink," heconfided to Wink Wheeler, "but--um--suppose she _did_ sink? Then thatlittle old dingey would be worth about a thousand dollars, I guess."
"It would be worth about ten cents," answered Wink pessimistically,"after we'd crowded five fellows into her in a sea like this!"
"Well, anyway, she's bigger than ours," said Joe. "And I saw a life beltdownstairs--I mean below."
Joe and Wink were to take watches at the wheel, Perry and Han were totend to the sail and keep a lookout and Bert was to cook. Steve issuedhis final directions at a little past one and then the two hawsers werestretched to the cruisers. Another squall of rain set in as the finalpreparations were made. A code of signals had been arranged between thethree boats, a flag or piece of sailcloth to be used while the lightheld and a lantern after darkness. The "prize crew" cheered gaily asthe others pulled away in the _Adventurer's_ dingey and were cheered inreturn, and five minutes later the two cables tautened, the water foamedunder the overhangs of the motor-boats and, reluctantly and evenprotestingly, the _Catspaw_ obeyed the summons and started slowly tofollow in the wakes of the distant cruisers.
Han and Perry, at the bow, waved caps triumphantly as the blunt nose ofthe schooner began to dig into the waves, and Joe, at the wheel, shoutedback. The three-cornered sail was shifted to meet the following breezeand soon the _Catspaw_ was wallowing along slowly but, as it seemed, ina determined way at the rate of, perhaps, three miles an hour. Perry,protected by a slicker, seated himself on the windlass and felt veryimportant. Now and then someone aboard one of the cruisers waved a handand Perry waved superbly back. Those cruisers were a long way off incase of danger, he reflected once, but he decided not to let his minddwell on the fact.
Joe found that the wheel of the _Catspaw_ required a good deal moreattention than that of the _Adventurer_, and his arms were fairly tiredby the time he yielded his place to the impatiently eager Wink.Steering the _Catspaw_ with the sea almost up to her deck line was agood deal like steering a scow loaded with pig-iron, Joe decided. Not,of course, that he had ever steered a scow of any sort, but he hadimagination.
The _Adventurer_ and _Follow Me_ were heading West Southwest one-fourthWest to pass Boon Island to starboard, and Kittery Point lay some thirtymiles away. As it was then just short of three bells, and as they weremaking, as near as those aboard the _Catspaw_ could judge, very nearlythree miles an hour, it seemed probable that by two o'clock that nightthey would be at anchor off Portsmouth Harbour. Of course, there wasalways the possibility of bad weather or a broken cable, but the_Catspaw's_ crew declined to be pessimistic. They were having a royalgood time. There was enough danger in the enterprise to make itexciting, and, being normal, healthy chaps, excitement was better thanfood. Perry proclaimed his delight at last finding an adventure quite tohis taste.
"Being wrecked on that island the other day was poor fun," he declared."And it was dreadfully messy, too. But this is the real thing, fellows!Why, this old hooker might take it into her head to go down _ker-plop_any minute!"
"Huh," replied Wink Wheeler, "that may be your idea of the real thing,Perry, but it isn't mine. I'm just as strong for adventure as you,sonny, but I prefer mine on top of the water and not underneath!"
"Shucks," said Joe, "this thing can't sink. Look at all the lumber onher!"
"Yes, but it might get water-logged," suggested Bert from the door ofthe deck-house. "Wo
od does, doesn't it?"
"Not for a long time," said Joe. "Years, maybe. And this lumber's new.You can tell by the looks of it."
"Well, don't be to sure," advised Perry, darkly. "You never can tell.And there's another thing, too. We're top-heavy, with all these boardspiled up on deck here, and if a storm came up we might easily turnturtle."
"Oh, dry up," said Han. "You're worse than Poe's raven. Besides, shecouldn't turn over, you idiot, as long as the lumber floated. She'd haveto stay right-side up."
"Wish we had a barometer aboard," said Joe. "We'd know what to expectthen."
"You mean we'd know what you'd tell us to expect," replied Perryironically. "And then we'd get something else. For my part, I'm gladthey took their old barometer with them."
"They took about everything that wasn't nailed down except the stove,"said Wink.
"That's nailed down, too," said Bert. "Or, at least, it's bolted. Howmany do you suppose there were on board when the storm hit them?"
"About five, maybe. Perhaps six. I guess five could handle a schoonerthis size. Five are handling her now, anyway," Joe added.
Nothing of moment occurred during the afternoon, if we except occasionalsqualls of rain, until, at about five, those on the schooner observed asmudge of smoke to the southward that eventually proved to be comingfrom an ocean tug. The tug approached them half an hour later and ranalongside the _Adventurer_. The boys on the _Catspaw_ saw the boat'scaptain appear from the pilot-house and point a megaphone toward thewhite cruiser, and glimpsed Steve replying. What was said they couldonly surmise, but the tug's mission was evident enough.
"He wants the job," said Joe anxiously. "Wonder if Steve will let himhave it."
"I hope he doesn't," said Wink. "We can do the trick without anyone'shelp, I guess. Besides, he'd want half the money we'll get."
"More than half, probably," said Han. "He's still talking. I wish he'drun away smiling."
He did finally. That is, he went off, but whether he was smiling theycouldn't say. They fancied, however, that he was not, for the _Catspaw_would have made a nice prize for the tug's owners.
The tug plunged off the way she had come and was soon only a speck inthe gathering twilight. It seemed a bit more lonesome after she hadgone, and more than one of the quintette aboard the _Catspaw_ wonderedwhether, after all, it might not have been the part of wisdom to haveaccepted assistance. Darkness came early that evening, and by six thelights on the _Adventurer_ and _Follow Me_ showed wanly across thesurly, shadowy sea. Han and Perry had already prepared the two lanternsthey had found on board and as soon as the cruisers set the fashion theyplaced them fore and aft, one where it could be plainly seen from theboats ahead and the other on the roof of the deck-house. While they wereat that task the darkness settled down rapidly, and by the time they hadfinished the cruisers were only blotches against which shone the whitelights placed at the sterns for the guidance of the _Catspaw's_navigators.
The boys ate their suppers in relays about half-past six. Bert hadprepared plenty of coffee and cooked several pans of bacon and eggs, andhad done very well for a tyro. Later the _Adventurer_ turned on hersearchlight and against the white path of it she was plainly visible. Amore than usually severe squall of wind and rain broke over them abouteight and when the rain, which pelted quite fiercely for a few minutes,had passed on the wind continued. It was coming from the northwest andheld a chilliness that made the amateur mariners squirm down into theirsweaters and raincoats. The _Catspaw_, low in the water as she was,nevertheless felt the push of the wind and keeping her blunt nosepointed midway between the two lights ahead became momentarily moredifficult. At the end of an hour it required the services of both Joeand Wink to hold the schooner steady. Perry and Han, huddled as much outof the chilling wind as they could be, kept watch at the bow. Keepingwatch, though, was more a figure of speech than an actuality, for thenight was intensely dark and save for the lights of the towing craftnothing was discernible.
The sea arose under the growing strength of the nor'wester and soon thewaves were thudding hard against the rail and the piled lumber andsending showers of spray across the deck. The _Catspaw_ rolled andwallowed and the watchers at the bow soon knew from the sound of thestraining cables that the cruisers were having difficulty. Bert crawledforward through the darkness and spray and joined them.
"Joe says they'll be signalling to cast off the hawsers pretty quick,"he bellowed above the wind and waves. "He says we aren't making anyheadway at all now."
"Gee, it'll be fine to be left pitching around here all night," saidPerry alarmedly. "If we only had an anchor--"
"I'd rather keep on drifting," said Han. "It'll be a lot morecomfortable."
"Maybe, but we'll be going out to sea again. Seems to me they might keephold of us even if they don't get along much." Perry ducked before thehissing avalanche of spray that was flung across the deck. "There's onething certain," he added despondently. "We've got to stay on this oldturtle as long as she'll let us, for we couldn't get that dingey off nowif we tried!"
"What's the difference?" asked Han. "They'll stick around us until thewind goes down again, and we're just as well off here as they are onthe boats. Bet you the _Adventurer_ is doing some pitching herself aboutnow!"
They relapsed into silence then, for making one's self heard above theclamour of wind and water and the groans and creakings of the schoonerwas hard work. They watched the _Adventurer_ for the expected signal fora long time, but it was nearly ten when a lantern began to swing fromside to side on the cruiser. A moment later they heard faintly theshriek of the _Adventurer's_ whistle.