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

by Janet Aldridge

  CHAPTER XX

  OUT OF SIGHT OF LAND

  "The man wished to know to whom the boat out in the bay belonged,"Miss Elting was saying to the Chief Guardian. "He did not give hisname, but asked many questions--who the captain is, where we got himand how, and all about it. The questioner was very mysterious. What doyou suppose he could have been trying to find out?"

  "Perhaps he was a police officer looking for a stolen boat. Iunderstand a great many boats are stolen along this coast. But we donot have to worry in the present instance. Miss McCarthy's fatherwould not have given us a man who was not right in every way."

  "Oh, no," answered Miss Elting. "He seemed perfectly satisfied withwhat I told him, but he did spend quite a time strolling up and downthe beach, out beyond the bar."

  Harriet had overheard the conversation between Miss Elting and Mrs.Livingston. She smiled at the thought of the light she might possiblyshed on the inquiry made by the visitor that afternoon.

  The girls were sleepy that night and retired early, all save HarrietBurrell and Tommy, who asked permission to sit out on the bar in frontof the cabin, which permission Miss Elting readily granted. But Tommysoon grew weary and stumbled into the cabin, where she flounderedabout sleepily until she had awakened everyone of her companions.

  Soon after the camp had settled down Harriet was conscious of arenewal of the previous night's activity on board the sloop, and indue time the wireless sparks began sputtering from the aerials at themasthead.

  They had hardly begun when they abruptly ceased. Her ears caught thesound of the anchor chain scraping through the hawse-hole. The anchorcame aboard with a clatter, the mainsail was sent to the peak in shortorder, the boom swung over and the big sail caught the faint breezethat drifted in from the sea. The sloop, to her amazement, moved outfrom the bay. No sooner had it cleared the land than a fresh oceanbreeze heeled the boat down, sending it rapidly out to sea, where itsoon disappeared, sailing without any lights whatever, even the ridinglight having been taken in before the captain had started out.

  "What can it mean?" wondered Harriet Burrell. "I know somethingquestionable is going on here, but what is it?"

  There was no answer to the question. The tide was now booming on thebeach and a fresher breeze was springing up, the wind outside havingveered until it blew directly into the cove. The girl waited for thereturn of the "Sister Sue" until long after midnight, then went tobed. The sky had become overcast and a spattering of raindrops smoteher in the face. The prospect was for a drizzly night.

  When the camp awakened next morning the sloop was at her anchorage.What time she had come in Harriet had not the slightest idea, but itmust have been early in the morning, because the skipper was justfurling the mainsail as the girl emerged from the cabin. The sail wasso soaked that he had difficulty in bending it to the boom to which hewas trying to house it. But Harriet Burrell said nothing of herdiscovery at breakfast that morning. Later in the day she confided thesecret to Tommy. The latter twisted her face, grimaced and winkedwisely. The two girls understood each other.

  Captain Bill did not mention having been out with the boat, thoughHarriet gave him an excellent opportunity to do so that same day. Adrenching drizzle fell all day long. Of course, this did not interferewith the camp work. The Camp Girls never ceased their labors for rainor storm of any kind. Later on in the day the Meadow-Brook Girls wentaboard the sloop with their guardian, principally for the reason thatHarriet wished to take further lessons in seamanship. She had learnedher compass card well and earned the praise of the grizzled oldskipper, but she was ambitious to accomplish greater things.

  Several days passed, during which the drizzle scarcely ceased for amoment. But during all this time the young woman was not idle, so faras her new interests were concerned. She had asked questions,inquiring the names of things and their uses until she knew themintimately. The ropes and stays, from a mass of complex, meaninglesscordage, had resolved themselves into individual units, each of whichhad its use and its purpose; the compass was no longer a mystery, and,during a lull in the drizzle, when the sun had come out on the fifthday, Harriet was permitted to take an observation with the sextant,the instrument with which mariners take sights to determine theirpositions at sea.

  Harriet was instructed to catch the sun at its zenith, which she did,noting the figures on the scale of the sextant and from which, underthe instruction of the captain, she figured out the latitude of thesloop. He allowed her to do all the figuring herself. The result wasstartling. The skipper took her calculations, studied them, frowned,then permitted his face to expand into a wrinkled grin.

  "Young lady, did you think this was Noah's Ark!" he demanded.

  "No, sir. Wh--y?"

  "Because according to your figures the 'Sister Sue' is at this minutelocated on a line with Mt. Washington, off yonder in the White Range."

  Harriet flushed to the roots of her hair as her companions shoutedgleefully. At last Harriet Burrell had found something that she couldnot do. But the captain quickly informed them that to be able to takeobservations accurately, and then figure them out, required long andclose application. Some mariners never were really good at theoreticalnavigation. Nor had Harriet, as yet, mastered the principles oftrigonometry, which branch of mathematics underlies navigation.

  On the following morning the sun came out, and by the time the campwas awake the mainsails and jibs had been put out to dry. They werepermitted to swing free all day long and by nightfall were dry andwhite, ready for the next sail. Captain Billy had promised them a longsail, though not having told them where. That evening he consultedwith the Chief Guardian in her tent, with the result that theMeadow-Brook Girls, Miss Elting and five of their companions weretold to prepare themselves for an early departure on the followingmorning, provided the day were fair.

  The girls were delighted, especially Harriet, who looked forward toputting into actual practice the theories that she had learned. A fullday's provisions were put aboard, for these long sails could not bemade on schedule time in every instance. An early breakfast was eatenby those who were to go on the sail, after which, bidding good-bye totheir companions who remained behind, the sailing party set out forthe beach, where Captain Billy was awaiting them with the small boat.The passengers were put aboard in two loads, Harriet and Crazy Jane inthe first boat. The two girls set the jibs, which they had in place bythe time the skipper returned with the others of the sailing party.They then hoisted the mainsail, and were under way a very few minutesafter the party was snugly aboard. The "Sister Sue" sailed out of thebay to the accompaniment of fluttering handkerchiefs from the shoreand shrill cries of good-bye.

  "I'll thend you a pothtal card from Europe," shouted Tommy.

  The "Sue" dipped and heeled under the fresh breeze, and, with a "bonein her teeth"--a white bar of foam at her bows--reached for the opensea.

  "Take the wheel," ordered the skipper, nodding at Harriet. "Don't moveit much except to fill your sails. See that the sails are full andpulling strongly at all times, and watch the weather for squalls. Whenthe sails are pulling too strong, point the nose closer into the wind,but the 'Sue' will stand up under more than an ordinary squall. That'sit."

  "She is a splendid boat!" cried Harriet.

  "She is at least a well-balanced boat," answered Captain Billy."Having the wind on the quarter, we do not have to tack any on thiscourse. You see, we are headed Northeast by East three-quarters. Keepher there."

  "Were I to keep straight on as I am, where would we land?" askedHarriet.

  "England."

  "Oh, let uth keep right on until we get to England," piped Tommy. "Howfar ith it?"

  "Three thousand miles, more or less," replied the skipper.

  "Thave me!"

  She had followed the skipper forward, where he had gone to change theset of one of the jibs, Tommy watching him with questioning eyes.

  "There wath a man at the camp the other day," began the little lispinggirl.

  "A man? What did he want in
your camp?"

  "He wath athking quethtionth about you and the boat," replied Tommyinnocently.

  "Eh?" The skipper's filmy blue eyes took on a steely glint. "Askingabout me?"

  "Yeth."

  "What did he want to know?"

  "All about you."

  "Did he say what for?" Captain Billy showed more excitement in hismanner than Tommy ever before had seen him exhibit.

  "No, not that I know of. He athked the guardianth about you, tho Iheard, where we got you and who got you. Why do you thuppothe hewanted to know all of thothe thingth?" questioned the little girl, hereyes wide, questioning and innocent.

  "I don't know, Miss. Forget it."

  "Do you thuppothe it hath anything to do with the 'Thilly Thue' goingout in the night?"

  Captain Billy gripped the sheet that he was wrapping about a cleat,his red face took on a deeper shade, his eyes grew menacing. But Tommyrefused to see anything threatening in either attitude or gaze. Shechuckled gleefully.

  "Oh, I can keep a thecret. I haven't told anything, have I?" laughedTommy as she ran back to her companions, her eyes bright andsparkling. "I made him thit up and notithe thingth," she chuckled inHarriet's ear. "You watch him, and thee how mad he lookth when hecometh back here."

  The expression on the face of the skipper bore out all that Tommy hadsaid of him. Harriet rebuked her, and demanded to know what she hadsaid, but Tommy laughed merrily and ran into the cabin.

  The "Sue" was getting well out to sea now. The shore line was sinkinggradually into the sea. The land had become a faint, purplish blur inthe distance, a strong, salty breeze was blowing across the sloop andthe Atlantic rollers were becoming longer. The "Sue" was beginning toroll heavily, rising and falling to the accompaniment of creakingboom, rattling mast rings and flapping jibs. Keeping on one's feet wasbecoming more and more difficult with the passing of the moments.

  "Oh, help!" moaned Margery, in an anguished voice.

  "What ith the matter!" demanded Tommy, squinting quizzically at hercompanion, whose face was deathly pale.

  "Oh, I'm so ill," moaned Buster. Then she toppled over into thecockpit, where she lay moaning. Miss Elting and Hazel picked her up,carried her into the cabin and placed her on one of the cushionedlocker seats. Margery promptly rolled off with the next lurch of thesloop. "I wish I were dead!" she moaned.

  "Cheer up! The wortht ith yet to come," cooed Tommy.

  "Do you think this is perfectly safe?" questioned Miss Elting, afterhaving staggered outside. "The sea is very rough and we are a long wayfrom shore."

  "Not at all, Miss," replied the captain. "This is a very fine sea.Why, this boat could go through a hurricane and never leak a drop. Yousee, we are taking no water aboard at all. Where will you find a boatas dry as this, I'd like to know?"

  Thus reassured, the guardian felt better about their situation, thoughshe began to feel dizzy and a few moments later was forced to joinMargery in the cabin. Buster was still on the cabin floor, unable tokeep on the locker seat. She was tossing from side to side with everyroll of the sloop. Four other girls from the camp by this time hadsought what comfort was to be had in the cabin. Outside, Jane,Harriet, Tommy, Hazel and the skipper were taking their full measureof the enjoyment of the hour. Harriet got out a basket of food, and,bracing herself against the combing, proceeded to eat. Her companionson deck joined her. Tommy carried a roast beef sandwich into thecabin.

  "Have a nithe, fat thandwitch with me?" she asked.

  Dismal groans greeted her invitation. Harriet called her back.

  "You shouldn't have done that, Tommy," she rebuked. "It was mostunkind of you. How would you like to be aggravated if you wereseasick?"

  "If I got theathick I'd detherve to be teathed. Oh, thee the gullth."

  A flock of white gulls was circling over the "Sister Sue." Harrietflung overboard a handful of crumbs, whereat the birds swooped down,rode the swells and greedily picked up the crumbs. They started up andsoon overtook the sloop. For an hour the girls fed them; then, thecrumbs being exhausted, the gulls soared out to sea in search of othercraft and food.

  For some time the sailing party had been so fully engaged with theirown affairs that they had given little thought to their surroundings.They now began to look about them.

  "The land has disappeared!" cried Harriet. "We are out of sight ofland. Isn't this splendid? How far are we out from home, Captain?"

  "Nearly forty miles," he answered, after consulting the log. "Want togo back?"

  "Oh, no! Let's keep on going. How I wish we could keep on forever inthis way."

  "We will go on until we meet a ship that is due here."

  "A ship! Oh, where?" cried the girls.

  The captain pointed a gnarled finger at a faint smudge on the distanthorizon.

  "Yonder she is," he answered. "Shall we go out and meet her?"

  "Yes, oh, yes!" shouted the Meadow-Brook Girls gleefully. He changedthe course of the "Sister Sue" ever so little, and they went bowlingalong over the Atlantic rollers headed for the big liner that wasapproaching them at nearly thirty miles an hour.