The Meadow-Brook Girls by the Sea; Or, The Loss of The Lonesome Bar

by Janet Aldridge

  CHAPTER XVII

  WHEN THEIR SHIP CAME IN

  There was no need to further impose silence on the Camp Girls.Eager-eyed, they leaned forward, gazing straight at the smiling womanat the head of the table.

  "I wanted Mr. McCarthy to tell you. However, as he refuses, I shall doso. You are to have a boat for the rest of the summer. The boat is thegift of Mr. McCarthy to the Meadow-Brook Girls directly, and to therest of you indirectly."

  "What kind of a boat ith it?" piped Tommy.

  "A sailboat," answered the visitor. "I have appointed Miss Burrell asthe commodore, though she doesn't know it. I understand she did verywell as the captain of the 'Red Rover' last summer. Now we'll give hera trial on salt water. You will look to her for your orders andpermission to go out, and I imagine you won't have any cause tocomplain of her treatment of you, eh, Harriet?"

  "O Mr. McCarthy! you embarrass me. But tell us about the boat,"answered Harriet laughingly.

  "It's just a little old sailboat, that's all--one I picked up atPortsmouth; but even though she's a tub, she is perfectly safe and youmay go as far as you wish with her, always first consulting with thecaptain and the commodore."

  "Oh, is there to be a captain? Am I to be the captain?" questionedJane mischievously.

  "My grathiouth, I hope not," exclaimed Grace.

  "No. The captain owns this particular boat, and he will be wholly incharge of the actual operation of it, acting upon the orders of thecommodore as to who is to go and when and where. Now it's all out andI'm glad of it. I--"

  Mr. McCarthy's further words were unheard because of the cheer givenby the Camp Girls, in which Mrs. Livingston and the guardians joinedenthusiastically, much to the discomfiture of the guest, who half roseas though to run away. Evidently thinking better of it, he settledback in his seat and wiped his forehead.

  Jane got up, and, running to her father, threw a pair of impulsivearms about his neck.

  "Isn't he the darling Dad, though, girls?"

  "He is," agreed the Chief Guardian.

  "You won't think tho after we have all gone and drowned ourthelvethfrom thith--from the--what ith the name of the thhip on which we aregoing to thail the thalt water?"

  "Her name is 'The Sister Sue,'" replied Mr. McCarthy.

  "Thave me!" wailed Tommy. "The boat may be all right, but think ofbeing drowned in a name like that! Now, if it wath 'The Queen of theTheath,' or thome thuch name ath that, I thouldn't so much mind beingdrowned in her, but 'The Thithter Thue'--thave uth!"

  "You are not going to drown at all," laughed Miss Elting, "so don'tbegin to lay any plans in that direction."

  "When is the boat coming here, Daddy?" questioned Jane.

  "To-morrow morning early, if they have her ready in time. I told theowner to slap some new clothes on her, and make her presentable byto-morrow, sure. How do you like the idea, girls?"

  "Oh, it's just too glorious for anything," cried Margery, now awakenedto the possibilities of having a sailboat of their very own. Tommyregarded her quizzically, opened her mouth to speak, then closed herlips.

  "What is it, dear?" questioned Miss Elting.

  "It ith nothing now. Maybe I'll thay it when we get to thea, providedButhter doeth not thay it for me."

  "See here! We have forgotten all about that buried treasure,"exclaimed Mr. McCarthy, at his ease once more after having escapedfrom the table. "Will you show me, Tommy?"

  "No, thir. That ith a dark thecret."

  "What, girls keep a secret?" scoffed the visitor.

  "Don't you think they can?" demanded Tommy, squinting at him with oneeye tightly closed.

  "Never saw one that could."

  "Then pleathe look at me."

  "By the way, Mr. McCarthy," called Mrs. Livingston, "did you mentionthe name of our new captain, the one who owns and sails the boat?"

  "That's so. I reckon I forgot that. He is known as Captain Bill. Hisreal name, I believe, is Cummings."

  "You are quite sure that he is all right, are you, Mr. McCarthy?"

  "Has a reputation second to none among the Portsmouth skippers. I tookcare of that, knowing you were a lot of lone women and girls downhere. I didn't see him personally. Took my friend Lawyer Roberts'sword for it, and what else I could pick up about the docks," added Mr.McCarthy. "But I must be thinking about getting back."

  "Surely, Daddy, you are never going to think of walking back, areyou?"

  "Not I. I hear an automobile coming. I'm just going to get out to theroad and beg a ride. They'll be keeping along on this road for atleast ten miles and I can walk the rest of the way in, if I have to.In case I do not see you again, Mrs. Livingston, here's good-bye andgood luck. I hope you all have a fine time with the boat. If thatskipper doesn't obey orders, day or night, get a telegram to meinstantly, and I'll bounce him right off. But don't let Jane send anytelegrams. She'll break me, she's so long-winded--"

  "Which I inherited," finished Crazy Jane. "Come on, girls; let's goout to the highway and see Dad off. We may have to watch him start offon foot."

  They met the men who were coming to pull the automobile out of the icepond. Mr. McCarthy gave them the additional job of towing the wreckedcar to the nearest garage.

  Mr. McCarthy was in luck. The automobile that they had heardapproaching was a big power moving-van that had been down the coastwith a load of furniture for a city family who were moving into theirsummer home. The driver was willing to give Mr. McCarthy a lift, and afew moments later the contractor was bowling along the highway on hisway to Portsmouth, thence on to his home at Meadow-Brook. The girlsstood waving to him as long as the big car was in sight, heoccasionally leaning out to wave back at them. They then retracedtheir steps to the camp, talking animatedly about the great treat instore for them--the sailboat with the homely name. They could scarcelycontain themselves until the morrow, when the boat was to arrive. Inthe meantime everybody went over to examine the trail that TommyThompson had found. As she had said, it led into the woods and wasthere lost. Harriet showed them as nearly as possible where she hadlain when the man stumbled over her, but search as they might theywere unable to find a single trace of the box that had so mysteriouslydisappeared.

  At supper that evening Mrs. Livingston advised the girls to saynothing to any one outside of their own companions regarding thestrange proceeding. She explained that, by remaining silent on thesubject, they might be able to learn more about it, and that perhapssome violation of the law might be at the bottom of it.

  Early on the following morning all the girls were up scanning the seafor a sail. A coasting schooner in the far distance, making up thecoast, was the only boat in sight. The day was brilliant withsunshine, the sea blue and sparkling. The lookouts could see a longdistance. The day passed and the night passed, but still no trace oftheir boat. Nor had the other mysterious craft paid another visit tothe bay. At least, if it had, none of the campers had been awake atthe time.

  It was late that afternoon when some one raised a shout and pointed upthe coast. There, about five miles away, was a tiny speck of whitethat they knew to be a sail. There seemed to be but a single sail,which told them that a small boat was carrying it. Then, again, thesail looked so white that they decided it must either be their boat ora private yacht cruising down the coast.

  "It does look more like a yacht than the 'tub' that Mr. McCarthydescribed," said the Chief Guardian. "If this is the 'Sister Sue' sheis a very trim little craft."

  The beach was lined with Camp Girls eagerly watching the approachingsailboat, which was coming on at what seemed to them to be anaggravatingly slow rate of speed.

  "What he needs is an engine," declared Jane. "Now, if he had thatmotor that's doubled up under the car we ran into the ditch, he couldmake some time."

  "That boat is sailing much faster than you think," answered Harriet."You will see when it gets opposite us how fast it is moving. It ismoving so fast that I can't make myself believe it is our boat."

  "I gueth we'll wait till it getth here," decided
Tommy, which voicedthe feelings of all. As the sailboat drew down into plain view,exclamations of admiration were heard on all sides. For asingle-masted boat she carried a great spread of white canvas and twojibs, each of which was full of wind, pulling powerfully. The windbeing off shore, the sloop was heeling the other way, showing quite aportion of her black hull, which was in strong contrast with herglistening white sides and snowy sails. The water was spurting awayfrom her bows, showing white along the black side below her waterline--all in all, an inspiring sight to the lover of boats and the bigwater.

  "Hurrah, see her go! She's skimming along like a scared cat. No, thatisn't our tub, darlin's. I know Dad. She will be safe, but she willcome limping and groaning down the line at a mile an hour, thenprobably go aground in the bay because there won't be room enough forher to turn about. You see if I'm not right."

  "You are all wrong," answered Harriet. "How do I know? Never mind. Youwill find that you are." She had seen a man hauling in on the mainsheets--the ropes that led from the mainsail back toward the cockpit.From that she knew the boat was preparing to change its course. Thisit did a few moments later, heading in toward the shore, but pointedat a spot a full half mile below the camp, as nearly as the girlscould observe.

  "Oh, that is too bad! See, they are going somewhere else," cried MissElting. "Why--why, what are they trying to do? Are those peoplecrazy?"

  "They are tacking in," answered Harriet.

  "Of course. How stupid of me."

  "It ith the 'Thilly Thue,'" shouted Tommy.

  "The 'Silly Sue'! hurrah!" yelled the girls, instantly adoptingTommy's nickname for the boat.

  "Oh, darlin's, isn't she the beauty?" cried Jane. She began dancingabout, several others doing likewise.

  "I thought you knew it was going to be an old tub," reminded Harrietteasingly.

  "I take it all back. When I see Dad I shall get down on my knees andbeg his pardon." Jane began running toward the bay, turning out to thebar as the most likely place to get a good view of their present. Shewas followed by the entire camp, Chief Guardian and guardians, who ranshouting and waving their hats.

  As the boat swept majestically into the bay the jibs came in and themainsail was lowered slightly, the boom being permitted to swing farout. The girls then saw that there were two men on board, one handlingthe sails, the other was stationed at the wheel. The craft crossed andcriss-crossed the bay, sawing back and forth several times beforereaching a position for which the skipper evidently had been heading.Then, all at once, he swung the bow of the boat squarely into thewind.

  "Let go!" he called.

  The big sail came down with a clatter and rattle of rings, and theanchor went overboard with a loud splash. The "Sister Sue" was atanchor in the bay. The skipper lighted his pipe and sat down allhunched together, puffing away with most aggravating deliberateness.

  "Aren't you coming ashore so we may get aboard and see the boat?"called Harriet.

  "Bymeby," was the laconic answer.

  "I am the commodore. I wish--"

  "The what?"

  "The commodore," answered Harriet, laughing so that she barely madeherself heard.

  "Commodore's quarters aren't ready," called back Captain Billy. "Letyou know when we're ready for you. We aren't going out again to-day."

  "I shall have to talk to the captain, I fear," said Mrs. Livingston,smiling faintly.

  Soon after coming to anchor the second man on the boat was observed tobe busy furling the sail, which he took his time in doing. Thisfinished, he hauled up pails of water with a pail tied to the end of arope and started swabbing down the decks. This completed, he wentabout other duties, which, to the row of girls sitting on the LonesomeBar, seemed trivial and for the sake of killing time.

  "Isn't it perfectly aggravating?" grumbled Margery Brown.

  The supper horn blew while they still sat there waiting. The CampGirls reluctantly turned back toward camp. They were disappointed, andso expressed themselves with emphasis while eating their supper. ButHarriet, who had been excused before the others had finished, hurriedout to take an observation. She was back almost at once.

  "Their rowboat is coming ashore," she cried, pointing toward the bay.

  Instantly every girl in the cook tent, without the formality of askingto be excused, pushed back her chair and dashed out. Mrs. Livingstonso far overlooked their breach of etiquette as to rush out with therest of them.

  "Come on, darlin's. They've come ashore for us at last. First there,first to go out. Go!"

  It was a race for the landing place, with Harriet and Jane runningside by side, Tommy Thompson following and gradually lessening thedistance between them in a series of flying leaps. Tommy could runlike a frightened fawn. Harriet heard her coming and increased herspeed. Tommy gained no more on Harriet, though she arrived at theirobjective point by the side of Crazy Jane McCarthy.

  "Ready to go out," announced the man. "But I can't take more than fiveat a time. Who goes first?"

  Harriet halted sharply at sound of his voice, and gazed at the manperplexedly. His voice was strangely familiar, but, try as she would,she could not think where she had seen him.