CHAPTER II
DRAGGED FROM THE SEA
"He's gone!" cried Teddy in horror.
"And with that shark around!" exclaimed Bill.
"There he is!" yelled Fred, as his straining eyes caught sight of awhite face and a struggling figure at a little distance.
"Stand by with the boat hooks," commanded Lester to Bill and Teddy, ashe gave the _Ariel_ a turn and bore down on the drowning man.
Those of our readers who have followed the adventures of the Rushtonboys, as told in the previous volumes of this series, entitled "TheRushton Boys at Rally Hall" and "The Rushton Boys in the Saddle,"already feel well acquainted with them and the other occupants of theboat. Those who have not yet done so will need a word of introduction.
Fred and Teddy Rushton were the sons of Mansfield Rushton, a broker,living in Oldtown and doing business in an adjacent city, to which hecommuted. He and his wife, Agnes, were devoted to their boys, and theirhome was a type of all that is best and wholesome in American life.
An occasional disturbing element in it was the frequent presence of theboys' uncle, Aaron Rushton, who was a crusty bachelor with little likingfor boys. He was constantly preaching the need of a firm hand inbringing up his nephews and scolding his brother for his laxity in thatrespect.
Fred, who was nearly sixteen, was a year older than Teddy. Both werealert and vigorous young Americans, bright in their studies and fond ofathletic sports. Teddy was impulsive and given to playing practicaljokes, and a large part of Fred's time was taken up in getting hisbrother out of trouble.
One of Teddy's jokes caused a runaway in which their Uncle Aaron nearlycame to grief. He escaped personal injury, but lost his watch and somevaluable papers, and he was so angry that at last the boys' parents sentthem to Rally Hall, a boarding school recommended by Mr. Aaron Rushtonbecause its discipline was very strict.
The boys enjoyed themselves hugely at Rally Hall, for the year wascrowded with fun and adventure. They had enemies as well as warmfriends, and Fred had to thrash Andy Shanks, a bully who tried to put onhim the theft of some examination papers.
When vacation time arrived, they arranged to go out to the Snake RiverRanch in the West, to visit Bill Garwood, one of their chums at RallyHall. They expected to have a glorious time and were not disappointed.For the first time, they saw rattlesnakes and bears that were not behindbars in a Zoological Garden. A tangled web of events was being woundaround Mr. Garwood, Bill's father, in the effort of plotters to getpossession of his ranch where, unknown to him, a silver mine had beendiscovered. Teddy, by means of a moving-picture film taken by a companyat the ranch, was enabled to run down a plot to steal Mr. Garwood'scattle, and Fred had a chance to unmask a pretended ghost by which itwas sought to frighten people away from the location of the mine.
Their grateful hosts wanted the boys to stay all summer, but they had tocut their visit short, as they had promised to spend a few weeks withLester Lee at Bartanet Shoals on the coast of Maine. The lads had nowbeen with Lester for about two weeks, and Bill, who had joined them onLester's earnest invitation, had come a few days later. They had had, sofar, what Teddy called a "bang-up time" and the only thing that marredtheir pleasure was the fact that vacation was so nearly over. Hencetheir delight at the news in Melvin's letter that, owing to an injury toone of the buildings, the fall term at Rally Hall would open about amonth later than usual.
Lester had lived on the coast all his life and there was nothing abouthandling a sailboat that he did not know, but it taxed all his skill torescue the man who had been thrown into the water. Had the sea beensmooth, it would have been an easy matter to wear about and pull him onboard. But in this welter of wind and waves, it was all he could do toget the _Ariel_ to obey her helm. Twice he swooped down near thestruggling swimmer, but each time the waves beat the man back just farenough to be out of reach of the boathooks. Lester was coming round foranother attempt when he was startled by a cry from Teddy:
"There he goes! He's given up!"
The strength of the swimmer had failed. For another moment his armsmoved aimlessly. Then he slowly sank from sight.
The boys looked at one another in horror.
Fred was the first to recover from his paralysis. He kicked off hisshoes and thrust the rope of the sheet into Teddy's hand.
"Hold this, Ted," he commanded, "and do just what Lester tells you todo. You, Bill, hold on tight to this end of the line," he added, pickingup a coil at his feet, "and I'll take the other. Leave plenty of slacktill you see me come up."
Almost before they knew what he intended to do, Fred dived overboard.
The sides of the _Ariel_ were high and his dive carried the boy fardown. Down, down he went, looking through the dim green waters for awhite face and limp form. But his efforts were useless and he came upfor air.
"There he is!" were the first words he heard, as he shook his head andlooked around. "Over there to the right. Grab him, Fred, before he goesdown again."
Fred made a wild clutch at an object just beside him, and his fingersclutched an arm. He held on desperately, despite the waves that soughtto tear him away.
"You've got him!" yelled Bill. "Hold tight now and I'll pull you in."
There was no movement in the limp form, which made it easier for hispreserver. Holding tightly with one hand to the rope which had neverleft his grip, and grasping his unconscious burden with the other, Fredwas drawn to the side of the _Ariel_ by Bill's muscular arms. Butthe strength of all three was necessary to lift the two of them onboard, so Lester had to abandon the rudder, while Teddy left the sheetto help. They succeeded at last, after a vast amount of tugging andstraining, and laid the stranger's body on the deck, while Fred slumpeddown beside him trying to get back his breath.
"Why, it isn't a man at all!" exclaimed Bill. "It's a boy and I don'tbelieve he's any older than we are."
"Sure enough," said Teddy. "I wonder who he is."
"I've seen that fellow somewhere," affirmed Lester, "but for the life ofme I can't tell where. But that can wait till another time. What we wantto do now is to get to work. He can't have swallowed much water in thelittle time he was under. Get him down on his back with his head low.Tear his shirt open at the throat. Work his arms slowly up and down.Here, Bill, you take one arm and Teddy the other. You'll have to do itwithout much help from Fred and me, for we'll have all we can do to getthis boat to shore. The wind's getting stronger every minute and wesimply must reach land before dark."
He resumed the tiller, while Fred again took the sheet, and they swungthe boat around to its original course.
"I'd like to save the motor boat if we could," remarked Lester, as theyswung around. "It looks as though it had cost a heap of money. But justnow it's a question of life rather than money, and we'll have to let itgo."
"It does seem a pity," agreed Fred, as he glanced at the boat tossingabout helplessly, now wallowing in the trough and again rising to thecrest of a wave. "But perhaps it may keep afloat till the storm is over.We'll cruise around and look for it to-morrow or next day."
Bill and Teddy were working vigorously, applying all their knowledge of"first aid" to their unconscious passenger. For several minutes theirwork seemed to be without result, but at last they heaved sighs ofrelief as they saw a beating at the temples and a fluttering of theeyelids. A moment later the stranger opened his eyes and looked vaguelyaround him. He tried to speak, but no words came.
"Don't talk just now," Teddy admonished him. "You've been in a tightpinch, but you're all right. Just relax and go to sleep if you want to.We're on the job and we'll take care of you."
The eyes closed again, and the boys, seeing that the danger was past,stopped their "pump-handle work," as Teddy called it, and set aboutmaking the stranger's position more comfortable. They made a rough bedfor him with some blankets that they dragged from the tiny cabin and puta coat beneath his head for a pillow.
"The longer he stays asleep, the better it will be for him," commentedBill.
"It's lu
cky for him it isn't his last sleep," said Teddy. "It would havebeen that, if it hadn't been for that brother of mine," he added with atouch of pride.
"Fred surely is a plucky old scout and a quick thinker too," agreedBill. "He had his shoes off and was in the water before the rest of usfairly realized what had happened."
"He can swim like a fish," said Teddy, "and with that rope in his hand,I didn't fear but we could get him on board again. But my heart was inmy mouth when I thought of that shark."
"It was taking a big risk," declared Bill. "By the way, I don't seeanything more of that ugly fin. I guess he's given us the go-by forto-day."
But even as he spoke, there was a rush in the water alongside, and theycaught a glimpse of a dark body at least sixteen feet in length, and sawa wicked eye gleaming up at them. It was only for a second and again theshark vanished. But his sudden appearance, at the very moment they weretalking of him, made the boys shudder.
"He's following us!" exclaimed Bill.
"That's what," said Teddy. "He knows we're in a small boat and that thestorm may capsize it. If it were a canoe or a rowboat, he'd probably tryto upset it himself."
"He couldn't have been far off when Fred was in the water," shiveredBill. "He may have been making for him at the very minute we hauled himout."
"We got both out just in the nick of time, I guess," assented Teddysoberly, and his heart was full of thankfulness as he gazed at his elderbrother.
The latter just at present had his hands full. The storm had increasedin fury and was now blowing half a gale. The sail threatened to splitinto ribbons, and the gunwale was constantly under water as the_Ariel_ plunged along. Lester's muscles were strained to the utmostto hold the rudder against the heavy waves that seemed bound to disableit.
His face was set and worried, as he glanced alternately at sea and sky.He seemed to be debating a question that bothered him. At last hereached a decision.
"It's no use," he said as he jammed over the tiller and changed thecourse of the _Ariel_. "We'll never make Bartanet Shoals with thewind as it is now. We'd have to do too much tacking and beating up intothe wind."
"What will you do then?" inquired Fred anxiously.
"We'll make for a cove I know of, where we can wait till the storm isover," answered Lester. "And we'll have to do some tall hustling to getthere before night comes on. Here goes for a run before the wind."